> Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Knight of Friendship
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Frozen Wanderer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Equestrian North...

A bitter wind blew across the fields, a fresh coat of snow riding it down from the heavens. As that snow landed on a field of white, a single train track began to shake as a the powder started to fall off the iron rails. Here, a snowplough train rocketed across the white plains, chugging along the track as it made its way to the Crystal Empire.

Within the carriages of the train, we find Ponyville's most famous ponies staring at the winter wonderland. And as this happened, one of the ponies, known as Scootaloo, was practically vibrating in her seat. "Oh, I can't wait! Flash is gonna be a knight soon!"

"Only if he passes his test," Sweetie Belle countered, only for her friend to glare and huff at her.

"Oh please. After everything Flash's been through, passing some measly test is gonna easy."

"She's right!" Springer added, "What's Flash gotta worry about? This thing's gonna be a piece of-"

"CAKE!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she held out three slices of cake, handing them to the jakhowl and fillies. Pinkie giggled at their eager appetites as she stuffed her mouth with a fourth slice. "And Springer's right! Flash'll be fine! And when he's made a knight, I'm gonna throw him the biggest party ever to celebrate!"

"I'm down for that!" Wild finished as his puppets hopped up and down on his shoulders.

"Down for that! Down for that!"

"I don't know girls," Twilight Sparkle said from her seat. "We don't know what kind of test Flash has to take before he's knighted."

"Oh lighten up Twi," Rainbow Dash told her as she flew through the carriage. "Whatever this test is, Flash'll nail it. After all, Scootaloo's right about him being through a lot. Nightmare Moon, Lightning, Discord-"

"Did somepony call for me?" The ponies all hopped in place at the voice, soon looking up to see the draconequus laying across the baggage rack.

"Discord?" Fluttershy gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"What, isn't giving somepony support something friends do?" He snapped his fingers, warping him a flash of light to the center of the carriage with a cheerleader outfit. Four more Discords appeared next as they began to cheer. "Go Flashy! Go Flashy! Go Flashy!"

"We get it Discord. Get rid of your other selves." Iron growled, making Discord roll his eyes as the cheerleaders disappeared. "And you better not try and mess anything up."

"Oh please, would I really do that?" Discord huffed as a halo appeared over his head.

"Yes," Applejack dryly replied. "Nothing's off limits to you if you think it'll make yah laugh."

"And I'm pretty sure some of us are still a little miffed at you for what happened with Tirek," Lightning added.

Rarity nodded in agreement. "So if you have plans to cause any issues during this test, you can just leave right now."

Discord pouted as he crossed his arms, Fluttershy floating up to him. "They're right Discord, this is really important to Flash, so I want you to promise me you'll behave." She gave Discord the best puppy dog eyes she could make, causing the chaos spirit to sigh.

"Very well," he held out his hands to show he wasn't crossing his fingers. "I promise not to make any trouble for Flash."

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie asked next, making Discord cross his heart before pulling out one of his eyes and sticking it in a cupcake. "Perfect!"

"Now then..." Discord wiped his eye with his elbow before putting it back in its socket. "Where exactly is our little test taker?" This made everyone in the carriage look around, only to get the response of silence. "Not here?"

"You're right...where is he?" Twilight asked as she stared down the door to the leave the carriage.





One carriage over...

Flash was watching the mountains fly by in the window. His heart was beating a mile a minute, low grumbles coming out of his mouth. "Come on....come on! Relax!" He patted his cheeks with his hooves. "I've got to do this...so I need to-"

"Flash?"

"YAH!" Flash leapt up, forgetting he had wings for a moment before slamming into the floor. "Ow..." he moaned as he picked himself up, now seeing his friends move into the carriage. "Don't sneak up on a guy like that."

"Sorry." Twilight added as she helped him up, "But what are you doing in here...all alone?"

Flash immediately looked away, "Just...sitting by myself."

This statement made Twilight raise an eyebrow. "You're worried about the test, aren't you?"

"What?" Flash asked before letting out a fake laugh, "Don't be ridiculous."

He jumped up onto the bench and put his hooves behind his head, "I'm fine."

Springer tilted his head at this, "Really? Then why am I sensing enough panic to make six and a half hyperventilating Fluttershys?" As these words were said, the jakhowl found himself on the receiving end of two glaring pegasi, "Err....maybe I'm not sensing that?"

Before anyone else could say anything, Discord appeared behind him and hooked him up to a polygraph. "Don't think you can hide anything from us boyo. Now, what's wrong?"

Flash rolled his eyes, "I'm fine."

In response, the machine's needle flew from left to right really fast. "That's not what the machine says."

"Well the machine is broken. I'm fine!" The needle sped up so much it broke, Pinkie and Lightning needing to duck down as the needle flew over them. The shattering sound of glass that happened next made everypony flinch, making everypony glare at the chaos beast.

"Heh heh..." Discord laughed as a collar appeared around his neck to pull. "Oh, look at the time. I'd best be off," snapping his finger, the being teleported as the broken window repaired itself.

"Well....at least he fixed his mistake." Applejack grumbled as she tapped the window.

"I guess he is learning," Rarity added as they all turned back to Flash.

The pegasus now seeing the focus on him again, he let out a sigh, "Look everypony, I'm telling you, I'm...fine. Just because this is the most important test of my life, the moment I've been waiting for since I first became an apprentice and messing it up would make me be seen as not ready to take this step-" As he was saying this, his breathing had got more rapid until he broke out in a full-on panic attack.

The others all grimaced at this as Pinkie handed him a paper bag. He quickly took it, a minute passing as he stuck his head in bag, Twilight now rubbing his back, "You okay now?"

"Never better," Flash wheezed out.

Twilight rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Turning to her friends, "Can you all give us a minute?" They all nodded, soon leaving the two alone. "Alright Flash...talk."

"I'm fine Twilight."

"You just had a full-on panic attack."

"It wasn't a panic attack. What you saw was...excitement. Yeah, it was an excitement attack." Twilight just replied with a flat, unconvinced stare, "Seriously, it's nothing you need to worry about."

"Flash, if you feel like you need to worry about it, then so do I." She placed a hoof on his, "We're a team. Anything bothering you bothers me."

Flash just sighed, turning away, "I just...I just keep thinking...what if I'm not ready?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "What if I'm not ready to be a knight? I mean...look at everything the other knights went through to become the ponies they are today. I've never had some great heartbreak that defined me. I never lost my parents, or I thought I had but I didn't. Heck, I've never had a friend turn evil. I'm just...a normal pony."

"You really think a normal pony could do everything we've been through? Flash, after everything you've done, after all the evils you faced, do you really think you're not ready?"

"Yeah...I do." Flash grumbled as he glared back at Twilight, "Think about it. Name one big event where I took the villain down on my own without any help." Twilight opened her mouth...only for nothing to come out. "Exactly. Not only that, I haven't had a good track record lately. I mean, I lost to Tirek, couldn't do a thing to the Sirens by myself, got beat by Shade instantly, and...I did nothing to Starlight. I just...keep failing." He slumped back into his chair. "I want this...more than anything. But wanting something and being ready for it are two completely different things."

He pulled out his Celestic Gear and scanned it over, "If I didn't have this sword, if Grand hadn't made me his apprentice, I...I wouldn't be anything important. I'd be the same pony I was the day we first met. A nopony."

Twilight sighed as she got off the chair and pulled his weapon out of his hooves. "Flash, you are not a nopony. Trust me. I have known you longer than anypony else and if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're are an incredible pony." Flash's frown start to go into a smile as Twilight continued, "And you're right. Without your sword and your title, you'd be just like you were when we first met. A selfless colt who's willing to stick his neck out for anypony he sees in trouble, even if he barely knows them."

"But-"

"Hold it!" Twilight interrupted as she put both hooves on his shoulders, "Listen muscle for brains, you are the bravest, most stubborn, most determined...knucklehead I've ever met. Being an apprentice, having this sword, didn't give you that. They just made it-"

"Easier?" Flash finished.

Twilight nodded. "And for the record, you are worthy of being a Royal Knight. Heck, you should already be one, but I won't argue with that...that's for arguing with Grand. Not only that, you might not have some depressing backstory, which being abandoned by your parents still puts something in my books, but you've done more as an apprentice than most knights have done in their entire lives." she tapped his chest with her hoof, "You...are ready."

Flash and Twilight stared at one another for several seconds, Flash's smile now returning as he replied, "Yeah...you're right. Thanks Twi." His entire body shook like a leaf, "Don't know what happened to me there."

Twilight giggled at this. "Now you can't complain the next time I start to panic."

Flash just rolled his eyes, "Okay...I promise, but only on the big stuff. You're digging your own grave when you're going nuts over one book being in the wrong section of the library." Twilight growled back, only for both to break out in a fit of giggles. And as they did this, they continued to stare at each other, not realising their faces were getting closer. But when they were a just an inch away...

"Next stop, the Crystal Empire!"

This announcement made both gasp, their faces quickly retracting and heads turning in different directions. "We uh...we should get our things." Twilight said while twiddling her hooves.

"Good idea," Flash added as they both started to go into the next carriage, both not looking at each other.

The train soon pulled up to the station, the ponies all leaving the train as they walked into the Crystal Empire. Gasping at the sight, still surprised at the empire's beauty, especially Lightning and Wild since it was their first time coming.

"Dude!" yelled a voice, making them look up and saw Soarin above them all. Here, he landed by Flash, rushing up to him both giving him a noogie. "Hey bud! Looks like I'll have to start calling you sir, huh?"

"Soarin! I still need to breathe!" Soarin laughed at this before getting off of him. "But thanks. Didn't think you'd be here."

"You think I'd miss my best bud's big moment?! I flew to the train station the moment I finished reading Grand's note. Spitfire's gonna have my head, but it's worth it." He then felt somepony punch him in the shoulder, making him turn to his marefriend.

"Forget somepony?" She asked with crossed hooves, only for Soarin to blush as he put his wing around her.

"Sorry. Just wanted to give Flash my best before the others."

"It's cool...I guess." Rainbow muttered as she tried to hide her own blush.

Soarin turned back to Flash, now seeing him tilt his head in confusion. "Others?" Soarin just smirked before telling them to follow, the group soon arriving at the castle. There, they spotted a lot of familiar faces, in particular the three princesses along with Shining Armor. Right by them was the Royal Knights, all giving hopeful smiles, along with Trixie, Solid Script, Gorgenia, and...

"Mom! Dad!" Twilight exclaimed as she ran over and pulled her parents into a hug. "I didn't know you were coming."

Night Light laughed as she let go. "You think we'd miss this?"

Velvet nodded and walked over to Flash, pulling him into a hug. "We're so proud of you."

"Thanks. I'm glad you're here."

In that moment, Grand Hoof patted his apprentice's back, "Well kid, this is it. You're but one step away from finally becoming a Royal Knight. You nervous?" In response, Flash did a small gulp, the others laughing at this.

Heather shook her head at this, showing a soft smile, "Don't worry. We know you're probably a little anxious, but that's perfectly normal."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Yes, I remember how I felt when I realized I was going to be knighted."

Luna giggled at this, "Oh, I'll never forget that. If I remember correctly, you spent the whole morning brushing your mane. By the time of the test, your hair was straight enough to be used as an ironing board." This made them all laugh as Ruby blushed more then her red crystal mane allowed.

"Yeah...thank goodness I had that awful mission after the test so you could delay my knighting." Ruby muttered, getting a small playful shove from Luna.

First Aid spoke up next. "Just remember to relax and to not let your nerves get the better of you. This may seem like a lot to handle, but in time you will get used to the idea."

"Indeed amigo," Tidal chuckled. "I look forward to speaking to you with an equal title."

"Now hold on," Skybreaker stepped up. "I respect the kid as much as the rest of you, but the way you're talking it's like he's already completed his final trial. I mean, no offense kid, but we can't be getting ahead of ourselves."

"That's a bit mean," Soarin grumbled, only to see Celestia step in front of them.

"Sir Skybreaker is right. I too am looking forward to seeing Flash be knighted, but just because I wish for it doesn't mean I can allow it should he fail."

Seeing this, Cadance spoke up. "But we still have faith that Flash'll pass and be knighted."

"Yeah," Shining added, "I'm sure whatever it is, Flash'll be able to handle it no sweat."

"If you say so," Flash replied before turning to Grand. "So what is my test anyway?"

Before Grand could reply, Springer raised his paw. "It's not gonna be a written test about what he's learned as an apprentice, is it?"

Grand laughed. "HA! No, it's not anything like that. Though it will test Flash on everything he's learned."

"So what is it?" Scootaloo asked as the Royal Knights all stepped into line.

Once Iron was in line, Grand began. "Flash Sentry, your final trail will be a combat situation. Your opponent will be one of the Royal Knights and only by defeating them, can you officially call yourself one of us."

This statement put everypony on edge, Flash now wide-eyed at hearing the task. "Okay...so who am I fighting? Is it you Grand?"

He shook his head. "No kiddo, I'm not the one you'll be facing."

"Alright," Flash turned to Ruby, "Figured there'd be a reason I had to come here for my test."

"I'm not your opponent either," the crystal unicorn replied.

Flash raised an eyebrow, now turning to Skybreaker. "Not me kid."

"Sorry amigo, not me either."

Heather and First shook their heads, "Nope."

"Your opponent will be somepony else."

Flash slowly turned to Iron, giving him an 'are you serious?' look. "You want me to fight him?"

Grand laughed again, "No, its not Iron. Your opponent is the one knight you have yet to meet. But be warned, his skills rival that of any other knight, and he is fully aware of all your skills and abilities."

"That's not fair," Pinkie chimed in, "Why does he get to know all about Flash and Flash get's squat?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah! Flash should be given a file on him or something."

However, Grand just shook his head. "No, the whole point of this battle is to test Flash. If Flash cannot adapt to an opponent he knows nothing about, he has no right being a Royal Knight."

Spike huffed as he crossed his arms. "Well that sucks."

"Oh dear....what if Flash get's hurt?" Fluttershy mumbled before turning to Script. "Oh, can't you make those special runes they used when Flash fought Iron at the Grand Galloping Gala? The ones that make injuries disappear when they leave it."

"I already have," Script told her before frowning. "But it won't be as powerful as that one. This enchantment will only prevent fatal injuries."

"Why?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from Script that was directed at Grand. They all turned to the older earth pony, who had a serious stare on his face.

"I don't like it, but it's part of the test. Should Flash become a knight, he'll face many dangers and risk injury on a great scale. If he's scared to be hurt, he doesn't deserve the title."

"So he needs to show he can fight without worrying about being hurt?" Springer asked.

"Like when he was willing to fight Nightmare Moon so we could get away?" Rarity went on.

"Or how he fought Lightning when he was supercharged with the alicorn amulet and completely off his rocker?" Rainbow followed suit.

Pinkie then continued. "Or when he went up against Discord, Sombra, Doom, Tirek?"

Grand let out a groan, "Alright, I get it. I admit Flash has proved himself more then willing to put himself in danger."

"Something he should have learned to avoid by now," Twilight shot the pegasi a glare before growling at Grand, "Though to be fair, I think everything that has been stated should mean he should become a knight already."

"It doesn't work like that princess." Grand replied, only to get a death glare from the princess.

"Even if he solves problems that threaten the entirety of Equestria, which include your own family Grand? You know, something you should solve?"

Grand gave his own glare back, irritation in his voice. "This is how the tests work, princess. We can't change it just because we want to."

"It's fine," Flash interrupted. "If this is what it takes for me to become a knight, I'll do it. So, where is my opponent?"

Grand scratched his head at this, "That's a good question. He should be here by now, but-" He stopped talking as a sudden chill filled the air, which all knew was unusual since the Crystal Heart's magic should keep out the empire's artic winds. Everypony shivered at the surprising temperature drop, but Celestia, Luna and the Royal Knights, minus Iron and Ruby, all smiled before turning to where the cold wind was coming from. "There he is."

Everypony turned to where they were looking, now seeing a cloud of fog move through the streets. And as it drew closer, the crystal ground was covered in a thin sheet of ice while the lampposts started growing icicles. Almost everypony went wide-eyed at this, Spike and the fillies now trying to hide behind the larger ponies in fear as Skybreaker shook his head, "Really Cold? Do you have to make such an entrance?" He pulled out his Celestic Gear and pointed it at the cloud, unleashing a very weak version of his Sky Force attack to blow the cloud away.

As it did, a single pony was revealed wearing a brown cloak with a black scarf and goggles. The pony sighed before magically pulling down the hood and removing the scarf and goggles, revealing a unicorn who looked around the same age as Tidal. He had a light blue coat along with a snow white mane and tail. "It's the first time some of these ponies are meeting me. I had to show them why they should respect me."

"Are you sure you're just not giving them freezerburn instead?" Heather added with an eye roll.

Celestia walked in front of them at this, Cold now bowing, "Rise Sir Cold, as it has been a long time. How has your work been going?"

"Not well. We have much to discuss your majesty," Cold turned to the rest of the ponies. "Though this subject is best left for a more...private setting." Celestia nodded before glancing back at the crowd.

"Everypony, allow me to introduce you to Cold Steel, also known as the Frozen Wanderer." Cold stepped past Celestia, bowing to Twilight.

"Greetings your majesty. I apologize for not being at your coronation. My work leaves me little chance to visit Canterlot and other cities."

Twilight, still not use to ponies bowing at her, tried to resist looking away as she replied, "It's...no big deal. I'm sure you were working on something important."

Cold stood back up. "Either way, I hereby pledge my undying loyalty to you as I do with the other princesses. I am yours to command."

"Good to know..." Twilight replied before Cold turned to Ruby.

"It's an honor to meet you. I studied your history thoroughly and was amazed by your abilities. It helped me in my training a great deal."

Ruby nodded, "Um...thank you? Though I doubt a few stories could have helped you that much."

"More than you know," Celestia chimed in, "Show her." Cold nodded and removed the cloak he was wearing, revealing his cutie mark to be a snowflake on a shield. What it also revealed was a metal collar with a light blue crystal on the front.

Ruby stared at the item, blinking, "Is that?"

"Yes, but let's not spoil the surprise for my opponent." He turned to Flash, "Speaking of which...." Flash suddenly started to stand a lot straighter as Cold walked up to him. There, he began to circle around him, as if inspecting him. "So this is the famous Flash Sentry. The Element of Courage who has been through more then most apprentices have seen in a life time."

"Yes sir," Flash replied as disciplined as he could.

Cold finished circling him and moved back in front. "You don't look like much, though that makes sense. According to your profile, you were some street rat thief Grand picked up one day...and it shows. I don't approve of criminals, even former ones." This caused Flash to sigh, having expected something like this while the others glared at Cold. "But if my line of work has taught me anything, it's that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I look forward to seeing how well to do when we clash, even if I don't approve of it." With that, he turned to the princesses. "Excuse me your majesties. It was a long journey here, and I'd like to be well rested for tomorrow."

"Of course," Cadance spoke up. "I'll have somepony show you to your room." Cold gave his thanks before heading into the castle, leaving the rest of them staring blanking at his leaving figure.

"Well...that didn't go well." Flash added with a big frown.

"You'll have to excuse Cold," Grand told them. "His work has him travel to many remote areas and he doesn't get to socialise with many ponies."

"I'll say. His aura was...not friendly at all. In fact, there wasn't a single bit of goodwill in there." Springer added. "Is that why he wasn't there when we went after Doom?"

Iron nodded in agreement. "Could have seriously used him back then."

Skybreaker turned to his student. "Doom may have been a great threat to Equestria, but he wasn't the only one. Cold travels outside of Equestria to gather information about those who might wish to do use harm. It's not fun, or glamorous, but he does it without question, and he does it well."

"And I'm gonna have to beat him?"

The knights all nodded at Flash. "It'll be hard amigo. You sure you're up for it?"

Flash frowned at this, only to turn to his friends. There, he saw nothing but looks of confidence, Twilight giving him the biggest one as he remembered their conversation on the train. "Yeah..." he turned back to the knights, "I'm up for it." The knights all smiled back as Celestia suggested they head inside to rest for tomorrow, all nodding back at this.

But just as they were about to head inside, they suddenly heard a voice. "Wait!" They all spun around to see a familiar unicorn mare running down the street.

"Mom?" Flash and Scootaloo both asked in unison as she sprinted up to them.

Misty Veil began to pant as she wearily went up the steps, her horn starting to spark, "Flash...Scoot...aloo," She magically grabbed her children and pulled them, the three hugging each other in a sudden embrace.

Once they pulled away, Flash blinked at her, "Why are you here? I figured you wouldn't be able to make it until tomorrow."

Misty giggled at this. "As luck would have it, your father and I were preparing to head to Ponyville when we got your note. Since there was a train heading to the Crystal Empire the same day, it wasn't hard to change plans."

"Where's dad?" Scootaloo asked, only to now hear a loud grunting noise.

They looked past the mother and saw Trail Blazer slowly flying up to them while pulling a large cart. The cart was carrying twenty large boxes, which was quite a strain as he moaned out, "Hey...kids."

Twilight lit her horn up and unclipped the cart from him, effortlessly pulling it as the pegasus let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks." the princess nodded as he went over and grabbed Scootaloo, pulling her into a hug. "Hey squirt."

"Hey dad," Scootaloo smiled before pulling away and allowing Flash and Trail to clap wings hello.

Once that was done, Flash showed his parents over to the rest of the group. "Mom, dad, let me introduce you to my friends. Everypony, these are my parents, Trail Blazer and Misty Veil."

"Hello," Misty waved, the others waving back.

"Hi."

The ponies all gave their individual hellos before Night, Velvet, Cadance and Shining walked up to them. "Mom, dad, this is the Sparkle family. They're the ones that looked after me."

Misty and Trail both stepped up to Night and Velvet before holding out their hooves. "It's great to finally meet you."

"Thank you so much for looking after our son," Misty added, only to get two glares from Night and Velvet.

Twilight grimaced at this, remembering that she told them about their first encounter with Flash's parents and the reasons they gave, only to get a half-kind of acceptance from the two. "Mom..." they turned to Twilight, "Dad...it's okay."

Sighing at their daughter's wishes, the two parents took the hooves and shook them. "It was a honor to have Flash in our home."

Velvet nodded in agreement, "You have an amazing son."

"We know," Misty replied.

With the intros over with, Flash turned to the box filled cart. "So what's with all this stuff?"

His parents shined two huge grins. "It's what we were coming to Ponyville to show you." Trail tapped the boxes with a smirk, "You see, these boxes contain all the info on the place you were born Flash."

"You mean-"

Misty nodded, "Yes. We finally remember everything about your birth and what happened back then. And with it, we might finally have some answers on your unusual power."

Flash turned back to the boxes, blinking at the sight. His mind was already a mess considering the test he was about to have, only to now see new answers right in front of him. It was here he realized one thing. Everything about who he really was, the reason why he was abandoned, his strange powers, and why put on this path was now there, all in this pile of boxes.
> Flash's Birth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash and his friends had now brought all the boxes up to the throne room, Cadance having several tables and couches ready for the process. There, each pony took a box, all going over piles of papers, pictures and ancient runes that pre-dated even old ponish.

"This is nuts," Rainbow commented as she pulled out a picture of a wall of runes. "How are we supposed to understand this stuff if we can't read it?"

"There has to be some way to translate it," Twilight responded as she turned to Trixie. "You having any luck?"

Trixie shook her head. "I haven't studied any ancient languages like this, so I have no idea how to possibly translate it." She glanced at Solid Script and saw his horn lighting up, "What are you doing?"

Script didn't reply, instead closing his eyes as a layer of magic sprouted out of his horn and created a rune. "Alright...let's try this." He grabbed one of the papers. "This is the best decoding rune circle I know. If this doesn't translate it, I don't know what will." He dropped the paper into the circle, everypony watching the runes glow as the paper quickly followed suit. After about thirty seconds, the glow faded, Script sighing as he picked up the paper, "Well, that didn't work. There wasn't even a reaction..."

Flash stuck his head in another box, this one filled with maps. He then turned to his parents. "There has to be something we can read. You're the ones that wrote all these things, don't you have any idea what it means?"

His parents both sighed as they shook their heads. "We're sorry honey, but....well, we were really only copying them down, hoping to find a way to translate them when we returned to Equestria. But then we lost our memories."

"Great...more lost memories." Springer added with a small sigh, only to get a wing smack from Twilight.

A few others raised their eyebrows at the parents' statement, Candance speaking up, "I'm sorry, but how exactly did you lose your memories?"

"We don't know. We woke up one morning and suddenly, poof! Almost all of our memories of these boxes and where Flash was born were gone." Trail bit his lip at this, "It was like...we woke up with a blank space in our heads."

"It was strange," Luna continued as she pointed to herself, "They even came to me, hoping I might be able to help them. I went into their dreams to try to help see their memories....but I couldn't do it. It was almost like a power greater than mine was denying me access." She glanced at Flash, "Similar to when I tried to help you during your nightmare situation."

Flash grimaced at this, "I remember that. I was so happy when that finally ended."

"So...why do you think you're remembering now?" Pinkie asked as her head popped out of one of the boxes.

"Good question," Misty replied as she gripped one of the papers. "It was weird. One morning, we just woke up and...well, we remembered everything. We knew we needed to tell Flash this, so we got the boxes and rushed over."

Rarity shook her head, "That can't be right. There has to be a reason why you now remember everything."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Did anything happen right before ya'll started remembering?"

Misty and Trail thought for a moment, only for both to go wide-eyed as they both said in unison. "Tirek!" Everypony in the room shuddered at that memory, now realizing what they were getting at.

Celestia rubbed her chin at this, "So Tirek draining your magic also drained whatever magic was keeping your memories locked away. And even after your magic was returned, your memories remained. Interesting..." She gave her sister a glance, "Makes sense, as Luna kept her locked memories because there was no magic for Tirek to absorb out of us alicorns."

"True...but it doesn't help us find a way to decipher this stuff." Grand added as he glared at Flash's parents, "Maybe if we knew more about the place you got all this."

They both nodded in agreement, Trail starting, "If we're going to explain that, we'll have to start with why we were going there. For starters, it began when Misty and I were trying to discover the origins of all life. After all, its a subject that has intrigued many scientists and explorers alike."

Misty chimed in here, "But to find the answers, we couldn't remain in Equestria. So our journey took us outside the kingdom, further than any map ever showed. Now, there's a long story in terms of that journey, but let's skip to the most important part. You see, we discovered a legend about a temple deep in a jungles that was said could only show itself to a select few, and never more than once. The legend also said that the temple depicted the stories of the ancient alicorn tribes."

This caught everypony's attention, Ruby speaking up. "The alicorns are supposed to be the oldest of all races."

"Not only that, they're possibly one of the first to come into existence." Celestia added, "If you found a temple depicting their history, it would be an unthinkable discovery."

Trail and Misty both nodded with big smiles, "That's why we went looking for it. We spent weeks travelling through the jungle..."





Years ago...

Trail and Misty were not happy. They had been drifting through a dense jungle for more days than they could count, growling as Trail cut down another plant. Seeing this, Misty looked down at the grass, noticing familiar grooves in the dirt, "Hmmm...have we been here?"

"Are we lost?" Trail asked, only for his wife to give him a small frown.

"Not sure. Could you go check up there?"

"Sure." Trail responded as he flew up to the treeline, soon descending with a sigh, "Nothing."

Misty now let out a sigh. "I don't understand. All the legends say it should be somewhere in this jungle. There must be some kind of spell that prevents it from being seen by the naked eye."

"But then how did the ponies that found it first...well, find it?" Misty didn't reply, just grumbling as Trail crossed his hooves at this, "Hun, it's gonna be getting dark soon. We'd better set up camp before Celestia lowers the sun."

"I....yeah. I guess you're right. Maybe we'll find something tomorrow."

"That's the spirit." Trail added as they pulled out some camping equipment. There, they pitched a tent and began eating rations along with jungle fruit. They didn't talk, communicating with pure eye contact before going to bed.

That night...

Misty found herself in a world of white, nothing in her vision. As she stood there, a golden light shined in front of her, but despite how bright it was, it didn't hurt the mare's eyes. Feeling drawn to it, she tried to trot up to it, only to realize that the light didn't seem to be getting any closer. But as she did this, the light started to move away.

"Wait....come back!"

As she did this, Trail yawned as he rolled over, trying to put his hoof around Misty on instinct. But when his hoof met dead air, he blinked his eyes open, only to go wide-eyed, "Misty?" His head raised up, now seeing he was alone in the tent. "Misty?!"

He quickly left the tent, seeing the camp empty as well, and took to the skies. Flying over the treeline, he saw some movement and swung down to his fleeing wife. "Misty! Misty, stop!" the pegasi yelled as he landed, now seeing her eyes were closed. "Misty!"

The mare just ran past him, pushing her husband aside. Blinking at this, he remembered that his wife had never sleepwalked, making him even more worried as he followed her. The pegasi cried out to her again and again, but she didn't respond. And as he tried for a fifth time with no response, he stuck to just following her. A little over an hour passed next as he followed, only to notice her come to a sudden stop.

"Misty?" he asked as he walked up to his wife, only for her to start swaying. Before she could kiss dirt, he swooped in and caught her, "Misty!"

"Huh?" the mare replied as her eyes started to flutter open, "Trail?"

"You okay?" Trail answered as he helped her up.

"Um...I think so?" she responded as she blinked at him, then started to look around, "Where are we?"

"I wish I knew. You were sleepwalk-er, sleep...galloping. You didn't stop until you came here."

"But why would I..." Misty blinked at this, tilting her head as her brain caught up, "The dream."

"Dream?" Misty glanced at her husband, soon explaining her sleep. Trail just raised an eyebrow at this. "Weird. Say...did you ever sleepwalk before we met?"

"I don't think so. But why would I..." She stopped as her eyes went wide, causing Trail to stare at her. He quickly realized she must have been having a vision of the future, only to see her gasp.

"What did you see?" Trail asked, only for no response. Instead, she began to trot away again. "Misty? Oh, not again..." The pegasi began to follow her again, "Misty, don't-" his words came to halt as she suddenly disappeared before his eyes, her form completely vanishing into thin air. "MISTY!"

The husband quickly ran to where she was, only to find nothing. Flaring his wings, he flew up and started to look around, fear in his eyes, "Misty?! MISTY?!"

"Trail?"

Looking down at the sudden voice, he saw his wife now back where she was before. Soon landing, he quickly hugged her while starting to pant, "Misty! Oh thank goodness! Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry." Misty replied as she returned the embrace. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"But...what happened? How did you do that?"

"I...I don't know." She left the hug and stared back at the spot, only to walk up to it and disappear again. But before Trail could panic, she jumped back into eyesight. "You have to try this."

Blinking at it, he walked up to where she was...only to not disappear. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Hmmm..." Misty reappeared and grabbed his hoof, "Let's try it together then." Nodding back, he let her pull him along.

This time, Trail's eyes caught a bright flicker as he felt himself pass through something. And when the light faded, he went wide-eyed at the next sight. Standing before him was a temple, one beyond ancient with moss and age surrounding every ounce of it. Around them were bounties of trees with every fruit you could image, and as he stared back, he saw a magic barrier where he was once standing. Not only that, the barrier was dome-shaped, one that covered the whole temple.

"Incredible..."

"I know. This has to be it Trail," she pointed to the building, "Let's go take a look inside." Trail quickly followed her, the two finding a large set of upward stairs. Walking up to the top, they then found more stairs, all that headed down into the temple. "Here we go..."





The Present...

"And this was it? This was what you found?" Twilight asked, holding up the papers to demonstrate her point.

Trail nodded, "Yes. I returned to our campsite and brought them back to the temple, though I needed to rig up an elaborate series of pointers so I could find my way back. Once we had our things, we got to work documenting all the shapes and murals that filled the temple."

"Sister...take a look at these." Luna held up several photographs, "Is that what I think it is?"

Celestia leaned down and squinted at the pictures. "Hmm..." she hummed as she looked them over. The first showed a kind of sun-like object, while the second one showed the sun but it now had what appeared to be an alicorn inside it. Following this was a picture that showed the alicorn without the sun, while the next showed light coming off the alicorn and becoming several new suns. After this, it featured one where many different ponies were appearing inside the suns, all which were gone in the next photo, as it instead showed only the alicorn with the ponies. "Fascinating."

As she viewed these, Twilight continued to stare at the unknown language. "But what is this? If it's the language of the alicorns, you'd think Celestia and Luna would know it."

Celestia turned to her and shook her head. "The fact is Twilight, we know nothing of the alicorn race and their culture. Other than what Starswirl the Bearded told us."

"And that wasn't very much," Luna finished.

"How do you not know about alicorns?" Springer asked them with a tilt of the head. "What about your parents?"

Celestia and Luna both gave glum frowns. "We don't know who our parents were. Starswirl said he found us as foals, though we don't remember him doing so. Honestly, before Starswirl found us, it was...well, it was believed our race was extinct."

"Weird..." Rainbow commented as she rested her hooves behind her head.

Now seeing her mentor and her sister looking glum, Twilight turned back to Flash's parents. "So what happened after that?"

"Well...like I said before, we got to work researching the temple and all its secrets. We discovered many items inside, including a special thread that was almost indestructible." Flash and Scootaloo both glanced at each other, knowing what that thread was used for. "We only intended to stay there for a few weeks, long enough to get research material to bring back to Equestria so that we would be allowed to bring a greater investigation team." She slowly eyed her son as she said her next words, "But things...changed when we discovered I was..."

Several of the ponies all raised an eyebrow at this, only for Rarity to gasp. "You were pregnant?"

Misty nodded, subconsciously rubbing her stomach in memory. "The journey through that forest was a dangerous one. We feared that attempting to return through it may cause me to miscarry. So, we decided to remain in the temple until I gave birth."





The Past...

Misty was relaxing against a pile of ancient blankets, her stomach noticeably rounder as her horn was glowing. In her magic was two sewing needles, ones she was using to knit a blanket out of the thread she had found in the temple. In that moment, Trail flew up to her while carrying a plate of fruit, "Dinner is served, my love."

Misty giggled before putting her knitting down, taking one of the morsels of food, "Mmm...as good as ever."

Trail chuckled back as he sat down, chomping on a pear while other hoof started gently stroking Misty's stomach. "So, have you decided on a name yet?"

"No, nothing yet. You?"

"Nothing if it's a filly."

"What about a colt?"

"Well...one idea did come to mind."

"Go on."

"My father always told me our family was descended from the legendary hero Flash Magnus. Growing up, I always loved hearing about his adventures. So...I guess, if it's a colt, we could name the foal after him."

"Flash Magnus?"

"Maybe not the Magnus part, but I do really like the name Flash."

"Flash? Flash..." Misty hummed at this, her head tilting back and forth, "Yeah, that's a good first name. But he'll need something else..." Her eyes glanced over to a few of their bags, seeing the piles of relics inside, "How about...Flash Relic?"

Trail nodded instantly, "Not bad. I like it." he gave her a slight frown, "Though we'll need to think of something for a girl."

Misty was going to nod, only to feel a small kick, "I don't know why, but I don't think we'll need to." She rubbed her womb, "Something tells me we're having a colt, and I don't need my visions for that."

Trail started chuckling again, having learned a long time ago not to doubt his wife's instincts. He looked down and rubbed the belly again, "I can't wait to meet you son."

The months continued to pass as Misty's pregnancy moved along without issue, even without having any medical check ups. During that time, the two continued to document their findings and kept them safe in a magical pocket dimension spell Misty had learned to create. And in the last few weeks of her pregnancy, Misty started having trouble moving around, until-

"TRAIL!"

The pegasus flew up from the lower areas of the temple, now finding Misty clutching her stomach, "Misty?! What's wrong?!"

"Nothing's wrong, except I...I think Flash is coming." Trail's eyes went wide, panic instantly settling in as he gripped his wife's hoof.

"I'm here for you. All the way."

Time began to slow as Celestia swapped the sun and moon, the temple now being filled with Misty's cries of pain. This went on for hours, Misty's contractions happening in shorter and shorter intervals. "AAAAAHHHHH!" She screamed at another contraction, gripping Trail's hoof as she did so. Trail flinched at the pain of his crushed hoof, but didn't say anything as he watched his wife in uncontrollable agony.

And once the contraction ended, she let him go as he moved down and looked under the blanket they had placed over her lap. "I think...I think he's crowning." He glanced back up. "Deep breaths. The second you feel the next contraction, push with everything you have."

Misty nodded and took a long, deep breath. Hearing this, Trail readied his hooves. There, another contraction struck, making her let out a mighty cry while pushing as hard as she could. "AAAAAHHHHH!"

And as Trail grabbed his birthing son, a bright light made him look up and see Misty's eyes flash a brilliant golden shine. "Misty? MISTY?!"





Misty blinked her eyes opened, only to go wide-eyed as she found herself back in the white void. Before she could ask anything, a bright light made her look up, now seeing a golden sphere flying over to her. Moving at high speed, it had a barrage of golden orbs behind it.

"Hmm?" Misty muttered as the first orb slowed down in front of her, the mare blinking as she saw what was inside. Here, she saw was her and Trail standing in front of a building, Misty holding a red bundle in her hooves. "Canterlot Orphanage?" She asked as she read the sign, watching the two kiss the bundle before placing it on the doorstep and loudly knocking. They then ran out of sight, hiding in the distance as a pink unicorn walked out and found the bundle. Gasping, the mare reached down and opened the blanket, revealing an orange pegasus with blue hair.

In that moment, the golden sphere flew past her. "Wha-" She yelped as she stared at the fleeing sphere. "Was that...me and Trail? But-"

As if an answer was ready to show itself, a second orb reached her. This one showed a twelve year old colt, the orange pegasi running through a park with a purple filly. There, the scene changed to show the pegasus being hugged by the filly and what she assumed was her family.

The orb then flew away like the last, soon being replaced as another orb showed the colt standing beside a gray earth pony. It showed the colt on an obstacle course, the earth pony congratulating him before changing to show the colt in front of- "Princess Celestia?"

On cue, the orb zipped away, more spheres now appearing in front of the mare. Image after image began to show themselves, all with the pegasus in action. One was him fighting a dark alicorn, anothing fighting a super powered electric unicorn while a third showing him fighting a creature that was like a zoo rolled up into one being. Not only that, another light showed the pegasi hugging a young pegasus filly before changing to show him tucking her in. Eventually, a final light flew up to her. This one showed the pegasus and the six mares she had seen him with all placing magical gems into a crystal tree.

And as soon as that scene ended, the orb exploded, the light forcing Misty to shut her eyes. As she did this, a new sound filled the air, making her open her eyes and she found she was back in the temple. Looking down at the noise, she saw Trail with the source in his hooves. Her child, Flash Relic.

She held out her hooves as he gave the foal to her, Misty holding it close as tears filled her eyes. But as she held onto her son, she couldn't help but notice he looked exactly like the pegasus she had seen in her visions. "Trail...I need to tell you something. Something...amazing, but...also painful."

"What?" Trail asked as he saw the huge frown appearing on her face, "What's wrong, my love?"

"We...we need to give up our child."





The Present...

"It wasn't easy, but Trail and I eventually came to the decision that we had to leave Flash at the orphanage."

Trail nodded in agreement. "When we arrived back in Manehatten, we stored our research away before heading to Canterlot. We stuck around for a few weeks after leaving Flash, mainly to make sure everything went okay. But when we saw how good the unicorn was that took care of the orphanage was, we headed back to Manehatten to try and translate the unknown runes."

"But that's when we lost our memories. All we could remember was Flash's birth and the visions, but nothing else." Misty pulled out a picture, Flash and Twilight recognizing it as the one she showed them before. "And this was the only photo we had on us at the time."

"That's quite a story," Grand commented as Misty placed the photo on the table.

"Hold on there." Twilight Velvet interrupted as she tapped the table, "So...you didn't question this at all? You forgot everything but the visions, and you still decided to leave your foal?" Everypony turned to her now, all seeing the flat stare on her face as she continued, "I mean, I know you trust your visions and all...but you decided that so easily?!"

"It wasn't easy." Misty replied, only to flinch at Velvet's expression turn into a death glare.

"You gave up your children." Velvet hissed, making everypony else at the table wince. Flash opened his mouth to interrupt, but Velvet's tone made him whimper out as she continued, "You gave them up, as in...you decided to do this as soon as you gave birth! That's what you just told us-"

"We didn't just decide right then and there!" Misty interrupted, a glare starting to appear on her face, "We discussed long and hard, but what I saw, I knew I needed-"

"That's not what I meant." Velvet responded, crossing her hooves, "I know what Flash has done. What I'm saying is that even though you saw all of this, and I understand that Flash needed to accomplish everything he's done...well, you sound like you would do it all again if you had another vision."

"Wha-how dare you!" Misty screeched as tears began to appear in her eyes, "Do you have any idea how much it hurt us to do what we did?!"

"I don't. I don't throw away children." Velvet added, this action making her husband pat her side.

"Honey, maybe you should-"

"Don't Night Light." Velvet replied, glaring at him, "We spent years with Flash in our family and we all loved him, as he is family to us. Real family." Her glare intensified at her husband, "Don't tell me this doesn't tick you off."

The unicorn sighed in response, "It does...but you're causing a scene."

Velvet started to look around at the room, now seeing the mix of faces. There was fear, sadness and glum frowns all around. Taking a deep breath, "Sorry. I didn't mean to...go so far."

"Its fine Mrs. Velvet." Celestia chimed in, "There are some things that somepony has to say."

"Agreed." Misty added, wiping her tears as she let out a small hiccup, "I'm...sorry Mrs. Velvet. I know what we did was...wrong in many ways, but-"

"We believed we were doing something right." Trail interrupted as he wrapped a wing around his wife, "And we know it was cruel in your eyes, but we thought we were doing the right thing."

Velvet wanted to respond, but as she felt her husband's hoof sling around her neck, she looked up at him and saw him shake his head. Sighing, she glanced back at the couple, "I...still don't understand how you can think that, but..." She turned to Twilight, seeing a frown on her daughter's face. "I guess we should move on, and....figure the rest of this out."

"I could not agree more." Celestia added as she tapped the table, making almost everypony turn to her. A big smile graced her face as she pointed at the picture, "For one, we now know how Flash gained his powers."

"We do?" Scootaloo asked while blinking, only to see Celestia nod.

"Yes. If that temple was where those ponies used to worship this strange magic, it's a good idea to assume it was built in that location because it holds some kind of connection to the magic. If the connection still existed, then it's safe to assume the magic was leaking into the temple and being absorbed by those within it."

Most of the ponies began to catch onto what she was saying, First chiming in next, "I see. So you believe that Misty was absorbing the magic throughout her pregnancy, and the magic was channeled into Flash." Seeing that everypony was now staring at the doctor/knight, he continued, "During pregnancy, a mother's magical abilities weaken as all their internal magic is used to help the foal's magic development. If Misty was absorbing this unknown magic, it was being used to develop Flash and began to become a very part of him."

Fluttershy raised her hoof. "Um...if it's a part of him, then why can't he use it on command like other ponies use their magic?"

"A good question," Luna replied with a hum. "And sadly not one we can answer until we learn what magic it is."

"And our best bet of learning that is somewhere in here." Twilight added as she magically opened another box and pulled out a pile of photos, the first now making her raise an eyebrow. "Hey Flash, come look at these." Flash leaned over and saw the pictures, the first showing an alicorn while the second was presenting some kind of tornado.

"Is that..."

"I think so. Its that light tornado that appears around you whenever you transform." She went to the last picture, which showed the alicorn now wearing armor within the tornado. "I wonder..." She placed the three pictures next to the one Misty had shown them, that one appearing to complete the transformation.

"So the final form of Flash's ability is the tornado disappearing?"

"Just like when he fought against Tirek," Lightning added, the group soon explaining the event in the battle versus Tirek. Surprise and amazement followed this as the unicorn finished, "He would have beaten Tirek if he hadn't frozen up."

"So why did he freeze up?" Sweetie asked.

"Good question," Rarity replied.

"And answers of which lay somewhere in here," Tidal held up one of the boxes. "Does anypony have another idea on how to read these?"

Gorgenia and Wild shook their heads, "Script's runes couldn't do it. That alone worries me."

Flash let out a long sigh, grabbing one of the papers. He hadn't really looked at the papers with much focus up to this point, his eyes barely trying as he stared at the runes. "Great, just great. The one chance I have at learning what's up with me and I can't because...I can read this."

Everypony turned to him with raised eyebrows as Twilight asked, "What?"

"I can read this," Flash put the paper down before glancing at the others, "I've never seen these before, but somehow I understand what they're saying."

"How?!"

"I don't know! It's not like it's turning into Equestrian or anything. I just...know what they mean."

"Incredible..." Celestia gasped.

Scootaloo rushed up beside her brother, "So what's it say?!"

"Hold on," Misty said before her horn sparked, now shuffling the papers with a magical aura. There, they began to pile up on the table in an instant. "There. Now, they're in proper order."

"Okay..." Flash took the first piece of paper while Twilight's jaw dropped at the organisation spell.

"You have got to teach me that."

Misty chuckled, "I would be happy too." With that, everypony turned to Flash as he read the first piece of paper. He had entered Theta Mode so he could read faster, looking confused by some of the words. But as he read, he spotted a single phrase that kept appearing in the text.

"Sacred Light." This statement brought mixed reactions from all the ponies. Most showed confusion, while Twilight, Script and Misty seemed to recognise that phrase as Grand, Celestia and Luna all went wide-eyed.

"What's Sacred Light?" Applebloom asked.

Twilight scratched her head at this, "I've only read a few books explaining it. It was one of the few mysteries that Starswirl could never figure out."

Misty nodded in agreement. "I've also only found glimpses of it in our research. The phrase was uttered in several tomes, one of which lead us to the land we found the temple in."

"So what is it?" Spike asked.

"It is the source of all good magic in this world." The ponies all turned to Celestia, she and Luna both showing semi-frowns on their faces.

Grand stared at them with baited breath, "Your majesties...you know of it?"

"Yes. Starswirl would tell us about it all the time. His research spoke of how it was one of the first types of magic to exist in this world, and from it spread out the magic that makes up our world today. He believed that it is what gave life to the many types of ponies of this world."

"Wait..." Twilight grabbed the photos Celestia and Luna had been looking at earlier. "Maybe this mural is depicting the creation of ponykind." She pointed at the sun, "This must symbolise the Sacred Light." She then pointed to the one with the alicorn inside the sun, "And this symbolizes it giving life to the first alicorn."

Misty began to catch on, pointing to the next image. "And this represents the alicorn giving life to the rest of ponykind."

"Exactly."

"But how could magic give life to something?" Spike asked with tilting his head. "Isn't it just...energy?"

Celestia shook her head, "That's not what Starswirl believed. He theorized that the Sacred Light was actually a conscious entity, and it used its power to shape life the way we'd shape clay."

This made everypony go wide-eyed, Rainbow now asking, "So...this Sacred Light thing is living inside Flash?"

"I don't think its exactly that." Twilight answered as she glanced at another picture. "My best guess is that Flash has a magical connection to the Sacred Light and it's giving him power. That also explains a lot about Flash's many other powers, mainly his accelerated healing and his immunity to most magics."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "The Sacred Light was cancelling the magic out. At least, any magic that originated from it. Any form of unicorn, pegasus, earth pony and alicorn magic, specifically any type of light magic will be made useless against Flash."

"So only dark magic affects him?"

"Looks like it. After all, Flash was affected by Sombra's magic." Ruby commented as she grimaced at the memory of her lost friend. "The Umbrum must not be a species that was given life by the Sacred Light."

Flash, who had been quiet up until this point, suddenly spoke up as he remember something. "Wait...what about Discord?" They all turned to him. "His magic was able to take away my wings, but it couldn't force me to act differently from who I really am. So does Discord's magic originate from the Sacred Light?"

"It's a bit of both actually." Everypony hopped in place at the voice, soon looking up to see Discord, sitting on a movie chair eating popcorn. "Hey."

Iron growled, "I thought you left."

"Nope," Discord replied as he floated down, "I just decided to stay out of the way like I promised."

Iron opened his mouth, only for Celestia to chime in, "What did you mean when you said it was a bit of both?"

"Oh, well it's quite obvious. You see, I've known about the Sacred Light for a long time as well. Of course, I didn't know Flash had it, but it would make sense why he'd have a resistance against my magic." He snapped his fingers as a professor outfit appeared on his body along with a blackboard. Tapping it with a pointer as words began to form on the screen, he started to explain, "You see, the Sacred Light has been a part of my species's culture for a long time. We draconequus are what you'd call a crossbreed. Born from the union of two entirely different species, the first draconequus was the child of a creature born from the Sacred Light and another born of the Corrupted Shadow."

"Corrupted Shadow?!" Grand gasped, quickly closing his mouth to try and not get the others attention.

"That's something else Starswirl was studying," Luna added. "Its the source of all dark magic in the world."

Discord nodded as the board showed a black cloud, "That's right. It's the Sacred Light's polar opposite, which is why the fusion created my species." He saw some of the younger ponies were still confused, making him roll his eyes. "When you take something and combine it with its exact opposite, the result will be something completely unexpected with no sense of reality. Pure chaos. So when you take the most powerful source of positive energy, like the Sacred Light, and combine it with the most powerful source of negative energy, Corrupted Shadow-"

"The resulting energy is the most powerful source of chaos energy," Twilight finished.

"Exactly. So since my magic is a fusion of both Corrupted Shadow and Sacred Light, Flash is able to resist it just enough from my chaos magic."

"Wow...my head's starting to hurt." Springer moaned as he rubbed his head.

"Yeah. That made almost too much sense for you." Flash added, which Discord just shrugged at.

"Wait a minute!" Rainbow spoke up, "Then how was Flash immune to Chrysalis brain washing and Tirek's magic draining abilities? You saying him and those Changelings came from the Sacred Light?!"

Celestia nodded again. "Just because they are now creatures of darkness, doesn't mean they originated from darkness. Luna is an alicorn and she succumbed to the darkness and became Nightmare Moon." Luna growled at this, making her sister turn and frown, "No offense."

"None taken."

"Not only that, I've used dark magic before," Twilight added. "When we were searching for the Crystal Heart, I had to use it to open the passage to Sombra's hidden chamber."

Script hummed at this. "So only creatures born of the...Corrupted Shadow?" The older ones nodded, "Can actually affect Flash?"

"Exactly. And luckily for Flash, there are very few surviving creatures in this world that were born from it. The only ones I know about would be the Umbrum, which are currently sealed away, and the Tricksters."

"Tricksters?!" Springer gasped, Discord just nodding.

"That explains why rune magic works on me." Flash commented with crossed hooves. "I mean, I wasn't able to get past Script's runes during the Battle of Canterlot and the ones Shade used worked to seal me into that dream state."

Twilight nodded at this, "Not only that, Shade showed us that his species the Tricksters invented rune magic. That alone-"

"THEY WHAT?!" Solid yelped as he went wide-eyed, "What do you mean the Tricksters created rune magic?! Are you saying that weird fox thing I helped make a cell for helped make rune magic?! Why haven't I been told this?!"

"Well...its a long story Solid." Twilight admitted with scratching the back on her head, "You see, Shade kidnapped us and showed us past events where-"

"Hold on there, your majesty." Grand interrupted, "You can give Solid a report of that later. Why don't we get back to the main subject at hoof instead of talking about-"

"Don't say it." Solid hissed as he glared at the knight, "Don't you dare say it."

Lighting put his hoof in front of Solid while Gorgenia and Wild gripped the unicorn's sides, "Now's not the place for that Solid."

Glancing at his friends, he let out a sigh, "Fine..."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at this, leaning over to whisper to Grand, "What's his problem?"

"He hates me for...a long list of reasons." Grand grumbled, rubbing his face with a groan, "Something I'll never be able to fix."

Flash tapped the table, making everypony look back at him. "Should I continue reading?" The others all nodded, making him stare at another sheet of paper, "Purest souls whose heart's ignite, channel the power of the Sacred Light. Only those to wield its might, shall have spirits shining bright. Who uses its power to do what's right, to face against evils that they smite. But those with darkness blinding sight, shall not be gifted Sacred Light. So go forth and have no fright, let your courage shine so bright. Protector of all things right, wielder of the Sacred Light."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Wild asked.

"Not sure. The answers probably lie somewhere in the rest of the writings." Misty turned to Flash with a huge smile. "And now that we actually have a cipher, we can work to translate the rest." In that moment, she spotted Scootaloo yawning. "But I think it's time somepony got to bed."

"She's right," Applejack patted Applebloom's head. "Come on sugarcube."

"You too darling," Rarity told Sweetie.

The Crusaders all moaned at this, only for Celestia to stand up. "We all should be getting some rest. We have a big day tomorrow, and will need all the energy we can get. Especially you Flash." Flash nodded as everypony began to head to their rooms.

And as they left, Grand walked in front of the alicorns, "Your majesties, can I talk to you both for a moment?" He looked back and saw that Twilight and Cadance had also left the room before turning back, "I believe what we have learned today may be connected to what Cold has been looking into..."
> The Test
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The next morning.


Everypony was up bright and early the next morning, the group arriving in the main hall to find a long table that was covered in every type of food they could name. Before you could say bon-appetit, they all sat down and began to enjoy the delicious meal.

"Wow! This is so good!" Soarin moaned through a full mouth.

"You said it!" Rainbow added as a piece of lettuce fell out of her stuffed mouth.

Rarity, who was sitting next to them, stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Ugh...can't you two show a little bit of table manners while you're in a place of refinement?"

"Loosen up Rare," Applejack countered before shoving her face into a pancake mountain. Rarity just sighed at the sight, rubbing her face as she took a small bite of a biscuit.

Across the table, Flash was finishing off his tenth spring roll and fourth cup of OJ. As he did this, he saw that Cold Steel or his mentor weren't here, making him even more nervous. It was here Twilight commented on it, "Say...does anypony know where Princess Celestia or Luna are? They're gone along with Grand."

"I haven't seen Princess Luna." Trixie added while twiddling her hooves, "Though if its her, she was probably up late last night, princess of the night and everything."

Cadance looked up from her own meal, swallowing some scrambled eggs, "If you're wondering where they are, they said they needed to talk to Grand and Cold about something important, and then they're gonna head to the arena once we're done here."

"Huh. I wonder what it is. You'd think she'd want us to know about whatever it is." Twilight commented with crossed hooves.

"I'm sure its nothing," Velvet told her daughter. "If it was, I'm sure they would have had told you and Cadance." Twilight shrugged at this before digging into her breakfast again, everypony else doing the same. Once the plates were magically whisked away, everypony headed to the stadium.

Meanwhile...

"This is...troubling," Luna admitted as Cold finished telling them everything he knew.

"I'm sorry for not coming to you about this sooner. I wanted to gather a little more information about the cult before I bothered you with it, but it seems if I had just told you when I told Grand, I would have saved a lot of time."

"It's alright," Celestia assured him. "You've already gone above and beyond your call of duty. But it's probably best if we let other ponies help us look into this."

"The best ones probably being Twilight and Flash's parents," Luna added, "After all, they've directly researched the subject."

"That might not be such a good idea," Grand countered. "If they learn about this cult, they may jump to the conclusion that they want to use Flash's Sacred Light for something. I'm not saying they don't want to, but we need more info before causing panic."

"True..."

Cold let out a long sigh. "Hard to believe I'm facing off against my biggest clue to this cult. And it really worries me considering the trail I've been following recently."

"What do you mean?"

Cold rubbed his face down with a moan, "Well...any time I'm close and find an alive witness, I can't seem to interrogate them."

"How so?" Grand asked with a raised eyebrow, "No offense Cold, but you're usually top pony when it comes to interrogation."

Cold shook his head, "Not this kind. Every alive witness I find has two signs that they've been affected by the cult. One, their body is unresponsive, complete with blank eyes and no movement except the mouth. I've even taken them to doctors and other unicorn scholars, but they all say its not a spell or magic that's affected them."

"And the second sign?"

"They all say one thing on repeat. I literally can't make them say anything else." Cold bit his lip as he repeated the next words, "They all say: 'A shadow is about to consume this world.'"

"A shadow?" Luna repeated while blinking, "Do they mean the Corrupted Shadow?"

"I don't know." Cold took a swig of coffee next before continuing, "But that's not what worries me. What worries me is that the witnesses have just started saying it. In fact, it started around the time I heard that the Elements took down Tirek."

"Is that why you came back to Equestria?" Celestia asked next, getting a nod in response.

"Yes. I feared the worst, and...to be honest, considering what Grand has told me in terms of what has happened recently, I believe I was right to be bothered." Cold took a final gulp of coffee before turning to Grand, "And maybe my timing is a good thing with this match against your apprentice. After all, if this Flash kid can learn to control that power, he'll make a valuable weapon for Equestria." The trio all frowned at this, sharing a concerned look as Cold got up. "Grand, you wanted me to be this colt's opponent because I'm the only one who can truly test him. Well, I intend on pushing him to his very limit. I won't hold anything back in this battle, so you'd better be right about him being ready." Cold put on his gear with a long glare at the old knight, "Because what I saw yesterday, I saw nothing even worth looking at."

Grand's frown grew as he let out a long sigh. "We'll have to find out Cold."





It wasn't long till the four reached the arena, now finding Flash on the field, doing some stretches. Celestia and Luna moved over to the stands and sat down beside Twilight while the knights moved over to where Flash was. "Alright kiddo," Grand patted him on the back. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," the pegasus replied before turning to Cold and holding out a hoof, "Let's have a good match."

But Cold didn't shake it, instead just giving Flash a dark glare, "This isn't a game. We're not playing Hoof-ball. This is a test, to see whether you're worthy of the title Royal Knight. And to pass this test, you'll need to overcome your toughest opponent yet."

Flash smirked, doing a small snort, "You're my toughest opponent yet?"

"Yes, I am." Cold growled as his glare intensified, "You see, this time you won't have anypony coming to your rescue. To win, you have to beat me all on your own. The question is...can you?"

Flash's brow furrowed as his smirk also increased, "Let's find out."

Cold said nothing else as he stepped back, Flash doing the same thing. As they got into position, runes began to shine along the stadium wall, a barrier of magic soon appearing before becoming completely invisible. "That's new," Twilight commented as Pinkie tossed some popcorn to see if it would go through.

"We asked Script to add it in after the Equestria Games," Shining added as he glanced over at Spike. "After the um...incident."

Everypony nodded back as Grand began to speak up, "Now, this battle will consist of a single one-on-one match between Flash Sentry and Cold Steel. There is no time limit and it will not end until one of the fighters either concedes, or is no long able to continue fighting. In addition, any outside help will result in the fighter it's designed to help being disqualified. Is that understood?" Flash and Cold both nodded.

"So it's basically like when I battled Sentry at the gala," Iron added.

Celestia nodded, "Except there's no time limit."

"This'll certainly be a challenge for Flash." Solid commented, Gorgenia nodding in agreement, "His strength, skill and physical endurance will be pushed to the limit."

"Oh goody!" Discord cheered as he morphed into a baseball outfit that had a massive foam finger, "This is gonna be good! Here's hoping Flash doesn't lose to quickly." Another Discord appeared holding a camcorder, "I wanna get a lot of footage!"

"He's not gonna lose," Scootaloo barked at the chaos monster.

"Yeah! He's got this in the bag!" Rainbow added before turning back to the field, "Do it Flash! You can win!"

"You heard her! Win this match and become a knight!" Soarin continued.

"You can do it!" Fluttershy yelled in a surprisingly loud voice.

"You got this sugarcube!"

"We believe in you darling!"

"Get 'em Flash!" Spike yelled while Sweetie and Applebloom chanted 'get 'em' over and over.

"Win this FLASH!" Pinkie screamed.

"Don't make me look bad by losing to this guy! You beat me, remember?!" Lightning hollered, the rest now cheering as a big smile appeared on Flash's face.

"I can do this." he whispered to himself, "I'm finally gonna do it."

"Are both fighters ready?" Grand asked, soon seeing the two nod. "Then battle...BEGIN!"

No sooner had Grand said that, Flash ignited his blade before charging at Cold. "Flash Cutter!" He swung the blade at Cold's head, only for a shield to suddenly appear. "What the?" Flash yelped as his blade clanged off the defending weapon, his eyes now seeing what it was made of, "Ice?"

As Flash jumped back from the defensive maneuver , he watched the shield turn into frozen dust that began to spiral around Cold's horn. "That all you got? I knew you were nothing, but I didn't think it was that pathetic." He spat as the dust began to reform into a sword, "My turn!"

He charged back at the defender, Flash almost taken back by this. However, he blocked the attack with his sword just in time, "This magic..." He looked down at Cold's necklace, now seeing the front gem glowing, "So that's it." He pushed the sword back and quickly jumped over Cold, flying to the other side of the field. "Your magic's just like Ruby's."

Almost everypony in the stands raised an eyebrow at this, Twilight catching on, "Wait...so his is like Ruby's, but with ice?"

"Exactly," they all turned to Celestia. "When I first met Cold and discovered his ability, I told him about Ruby and how her magic was just like his. That lead to him studying her fighting style and eventually making his Celestic Gear to something almost exactly like hers."

"Wait..." Twilight turned back to the battlefield and pointed at Cold's necklace, "That's his Celestic Gear?"

The princess of the sun nodded. "It's really just the crystal, named the Eye of Winter, which connects to his magic and allows him to perform his ice making magic easier."

"So he can do anything Ruby can?" Luna asked her sister, Celestia nodding again in reply.

Back on the field, Flash smiled as he stared at Cold. The Frozen Wanderer raised an eyebrow, "What are you so happy about?"

"My biggest issue was I didn't know how you were gonna fight." His sword began to glow, "But if your magic and style's like Ruby's-" He suddenly disappeared before Cold sensed a presence behind him, glancing back to see the pegasus swinging with full might, "Then I know exactly how you'll fight!"

CLANG!

Flash's eyes went wide as he saw his sword come in contact with a large ice spike, one that had shot out the ground between the two ponies. "What the?" He didn't have time to react as another spike shot out of the ground below him, making him jump back for safety.

Cold turned to face him, a low glare on his face. "Pretty foolish, thinking you have your opponent all figured out." With that, the unicorn's horn started to glow. "I may have modelled my abilities after Ms. Scarlet at the beginning, but over the years, I've learned to make these skills my own and even abandoned several techniques that didn't work for me." He jumped up onto his back hooves, "Don't think you have me figured out!"

With that, he slammed his hooves into the field, unleashing a wave of cold air. Flash quickly took to the air as he saw the attack spread across the field, covering the ground into a sheet of ice. Several large spikes came next, shooting out randomly as he turned the battlefield into a frozen wasteland.

"Wow," Flash said as he landed on one of the spikes. "If you ever get tired of being a Royal Knight, I bet you'd make a fortune in the snow cone industry."

"Funny," Cold leapt up onto a spike parallel to the one Flash was on. "But it'll take more than bad jokes to save you."

"Bad?" Flash looked insulted, only to switch to serious mode as Cold's horn began to glow.

"Cold Force!" From out of his horn shot a tornado of white powder, making Flash duck down behind the spike.

And when the attack finally ended, he stuck his head out to see the spike was now covered in tons of smaller spikes. "Note to self, don't let that hit me." He looked over at where Cold had been standing, only to find nothing, "Where'd he go?" His answer came when he turned around, his eyes now seeing what looked like an arrow heading straight for his head. "Whoa!" He ducked again, his vision now seeing Cold standing on the ground with several arrows floating around him.

"Show me, apprentice of Grand! Show me why I should accept you as a Royal Knight!" The arrows began to home in on Flash, making the pegasi take to the skies. Here, he dodged each one, deflecting a few as he flew straight at Cold.

"Take this! Flash Driver!" Flash turned into a spinning drill of light, zipping right for Cold as he summoned a chunk of ice in front of him.

"Cold Defender!" The ice quickly morphed into a large thick shield, which the drill slammed into. It took several seconds, but the move spun right through the defense, only for Flash to land and see Cold was gone. As he did this, he spun around to raise his blade up, "Cold Saber!" A blade of ice swung into his sword, the defender blocking in that moment. Flash and Cold stared at one another for a second, only for Cold to yell, "Cold Hammer!" An ice hammer appeared next, slamming Flash's side in an instant.

"AUGH!" Flash cried as he was sent flying, sliding the ground before landing into one of the ice spikes.

"Flash!" Twilight screamed while several others flinched.

"That had to hurt," Discord commented.

"Tell me about it," Soarin added.

"Come on bro!" Scootaloo cheered, "Shake it off!"

Flash moaned as he pulled himself out of the cracked up ice spike, looking up to see Cold trotting while forming another ice sword. "How pathetic. I will admit you have some skill, but not much more than any other guard is expected to have." Flash growled at this. "When I said before that you don't look like much, I was only judging by looks. But...it seems I overestimated you and your abilities." He pointed his weapon at Flash, "So far, I've seen nothing that would convince me that you're worthy of holding the title of knight. In fact, I've seen nothing that would convince me you should be something worth Grand's time to train."

Flash let out a burst of angry steam from his nostrils, his head staring at the ground, "So, you wanna see something different?! Fine!" his head shot up, now showing his eyes were completely white, "I'll show you something you've never seen before!" He charged at the knight, only for Cold to swing his sword, unleashing a barrage of ice arrows.

But as this attack tried to reach Flash, he effortlessly dodged each one until reaching Cold, the unicorn swinging his sword to counter. As he did this, Flash ducked under the blade and thrusted a hoof into Cold's chest. Cold coughed as he was pushed back, just managing to stay on his hooves as he slid along the ground.

"So this is Theta Mode," Cold created two blades that he swung around his body. "The form that increases his mental input and reaction time. Figures a weakling has to rely on something so pitiful to keep up with a regular moving unicorn. Let's put that power to the test, shall we?"

"Oh shut up!" Flash yelled as he charged at the unicorn, the two meeting at the center of the stadium. There, they began trading blows, ice meeting steel with tremendous force. The two kept swinging their blades around at incredible speeds, Rainbow and Soarin being the only ones able to keep up with the movements.

"Cold Blast!" The unicorn shot a single magical blast out of its horn, Flash just managing to move his head out of the way, the beam now hitting a nearby spike, making it explode.

Flash leapt back into the air, his blade still glowing, "Flash Cutter Barrage!" He wildly swung the weapon around to fire multiple energy blades in Cold's direction, but the Royal Knight slammed his front hooves into the ground, making a wall of ice appear to block the attacks. "Flash Grinder!" Seconds later, a spinning wheel of light ripped through the wall, but the unicorn remained calm, instead creating a ramp of ice that the wheel roll on and over Cold. Flash stopped the motion and pointed the crossguard at the knight, "FLASH FORCE!" The laser beam flew out of his weapon, Cold going wide-eyed at the attack.

KABOOM!

A bright flash of light filled the stadium, forcing everypony to shield their eyes. It lasted a good thirty seconds before finally beginning to fade, allowing everypony to look back at the field and see a large cloud of mist and smoke covering the spot Cold had been standing.

"Did he do it?" Springer asked.

Celestia frowned. "I'm...not sure."

Flash continued to hover in the air, waiting to see if Cold was down for the count. But as the cloud began to fade, his eyes went wide as he now saw a large ice sculpture, which appeared to be some kind of rope that was thicker than Flash was tall and was curled up. "What the?" He asked, only to blink as he saw the sculpture begin to move. He watched as the top half limped upward, revealing to be some kind of snake creature, but with the head of a dragon. "No way. Living ice?"

"I told you," Flash looked up and saw Cold was standing atop the creature's head. "I've taken my magic past what I learned from studying Ruby's. Not only am I able to create static constructs like swords and shields-" His horn began to glow as a block of ice appeared in front of him, only for it morph into a large bird. "But I can also make dynamic constructs!" With that, the ice bird sped towards Flash at high speed.

The pegasus barely had enough time to flap away, almost not avoiding its razor sharp wings as the ice dragon began to slither up to him. "Whoa!" He yelped as the beast headbutted him, knocking him into another ice spike.

Cold took this moment to leap off the dragon's head, now calling out, "Cold Tiger!" More ice grew out of the ground, taking the shape of a tiger that began charging into Flash.

The apprentice knight picked himself, swing his blade ahead, "Flash Cutter!" An energy blade beheaded the beast, causing the whole body to shatter. But no sooner had he done this, the ice dragon coiled its body around the ice spike and tried to smash its head into him. Flash took to the sky again to dodge it, only for the bird to appear again. Seeing this, Flash swung his sword again, shattering the flying menace into countless pieces.

But back on the ground, Cold's horn kept glowing as the shattered pieces of the bird began to reshape. It was soon revived, charging at the pegasi again. The pegasus went wide eyed at this, Theta Mode unable to keep track of so many opponents and making him wildly slashing at the attackers. But as he cut it down, two more birds appeared, only for one to slash him with their blade-like wings. "Augh!" He flinched before spinning, using a Flash Driver to hit them all at once. The birds all melted, but Flash was forced to stop rotating as his ears spike up.

"LOOK OUT!" He heard Twilight scream, turning around to see the tail of Cold's ice dragon fly down and hitting him with enough force to shatter an ice spike, complete with Flash flying through the shattered pillar.

His friends and family all flinched seeing this, Fluttershy, Velvet and Misty covering their eyes as Spike cried out, "This is nuts! This is supposed to be a one-on-one fight!"

"Yeah!" Scootaloo added, "Cold's cheating!"

Shining shook his head at this, "Not quite. Would you say Flash was cheating if he used something like this on Cold?" The two tried to counter, only to get nothing.

While this happened, Twilight grimaced as she saw Flash pull himself up, his form panting. Frowing at the sight, she turned to Celestia, "Hasn't this gone on long enough?"

Celestia shook her head. "You heard Grand tell them the rules. Unless one of them surrenders or is knocked unconscious, the battle will continue."

Twilight turned back to the field, biting her hoof as Cold started to walk up to him.

"In the heat of battle, a warrior's true character is revealed." Cold commented as Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "And depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent."

Flash growled as he raised his sword. "So from this one fight you think you've got me all figured out?"

"I do." Cold replied while making four more ice tigers and a sword, the ice dragon now curling around the field with its head right behind him. "You claim to say you're worthy of being a knight when you can't even defeat one of the ponies you think you're equal too. But from what I've seen, you're a thousand years away from being on any of our levels."

As he said this, Flash began to growl, "Oh shut up! You don't know me! You don't know the kind of enemies I've fought and beaten before!"

"But I do know about your previous battles. I was given all your information before this fight. And what I saw only showed one thing." What he said next truly began to cut through Flash's resolve, "You're nothing on your own."

Flash's eyes went wide at this, making Cold start to do a silent grin as most of the ponies in the stands were wondering what he was talking about. "I admit, you've faced some pretty powerful enemies. But how many have you fought and defeated on your own?" Flash didn't respond, not even looking Cold in the eye. "A shockwave making unicorn, a Scorpentine and a poisonous thestral. Other than that, you haven't been able to stand up against any other enemy you've faced on your own." Flash's whole body started shaking, and it wasn't just from the cold air affecting him. "On your own, you lack what is needed to keep Equestria safe, and its not just power. There's something even more important you lack, something that you will never be able to become a knight without."

"Oh yeah? What's that?!" Flash asked through gritted teeth, looking back up to lock eyes with his opponent.

Cold's replying expression sent shivers down his spine. "Simple. A reason."

"Huh?"

"A reason. A reason for becoming a knight." He pointed his sword at Flash. "When Grand first offered you the chance to train under him. When he told you you could become a knight, why did you accept? What was the deciding factor that made you agree to go through everything you went through up to this point? What has been driving you to push past your limits and stand back up when you were knocked down? What...is your reason to beat me?"

Everything around Flash seemed to fade away, making him blink. Memories flowed through his head, his mind going into a mushy mess. But as he did this, Cold let out a long sigh, "Disgusting. You stand before me without even knowing why you're here? What an insult." The ice tigers and dragon both let out a roar, "YOU DARE TRY TO DISGRACE THE KNIGHTS BY TRYING TO BECOME ONE OF US?!"

The roar snapped Flash out of his funk, just in time to dodge the claws of one of the tigers before using his sword to shatter it. "Flash Grinder!" He spun into a wheel that struck the second tiger, zipping out of his attack to block the third's claws. "Flash Cutter!" He slashed through the third's claws and neck with the actual blade, firing an energy blade through this, hitting the fourth. Here, the dragon roared as it opened its mouth to try and take a bite out of him, but Flash pointed his sword at the ground, "FLASH FORCE!" The blast of light rocketed him safely into the air, missing the dragon as it clamped its mouth shut.

But as he flew up, he saw the dragon's tail tip flick up and toss something into the air. That something was Cold, who shot past Flash as he swung his blade through the air. "Cold Arrows!" The icy projectiles flew out the sword, making Flash swing his blade to deflect them. Unfortunately, the shots fired were more than he could imagine, one striking Flash's hoof.

"Augh!" Flash's grip on the blade weakened as Cold tossed his sword at him. Trying to block it, the force of the blade knocked the sword out of his hoof.

Everypony gasped as they watched the sword slam blade first into the ground, then looked back up as Cold landed on his dragon's head. "It's over," he said as his horn began to spark, "COLD...FORCE!" He launched a tornado of freezing air at Flash, the pegasus having no way to defend or dodge the attack.

"GAAAAH!" Flash screamed as the wind slammed into him, forcing him into the dirt. As he landed, a large cloud of mist followed, covering him in a fog.

"FLASH!" Everypony in the stands screamed as they watched this, Twilight's covering her mouth in shock.

It was here that the mist cleared, now showing what had happened to the pegasus, making Twilight gasp again, "Oh no..."

"So pathetic. I can't believe I wasted my time coming here for this." Cold spat as he stared at the sight before him. Flash was trapped in a cage of ice, the sight making the audience squirm.

"Somepony get him out of there!" Sweetie screamed as Rarity pulled her close so she couldn't see.

Grand turned to Celestia, asking what she wanted him to do. Celestia sighed at this, replying, "Give him one minute. If he doesn't escape by then, the test is over and he'll have failed."

Grand nodded and turned back to the ice block, mentally counting while everypony else began to pray.

"Come on Flash," Springer whispered.

"Don't give up," Applejack continued.

"Don't let this guy beat you," Rainbow growled.

"Flash..." was all Twilight could say.

Inside the ice, Flash lay there with his eyes closed as he felt the cold dig into him. His body felt like it had been through a meat grinder, and it didn't help that Cold's words were rattling his brain. "Why am I fighting?" He whispered, "Why...why does that matter?" A low breath followed his as he grit his teeth, "I'll figure that out later," he started digging deep, his body shaking as he tried to move, "Right now..." the ice around his body began to steam up and melt, "All that matters...is me beating him!" His eyes shot open, both now glowing gold as that light began to spread around the rest of his body.

SMASH!

Ten seconds before Flash's deadline, the ice shattered as a tornado of light flew into the air.

"WHOA!" Heather yelped as everypony looked up at the spiral.

"Is that Flash?" First asked.

"Yes! Its the Sacred Light." Everypony marvelled at the image before them, now seeing the armor appear on Flash's body.

Springer was practically vibrating in his seat. "This is just what he needs to turn things around! Go Flash!"

However, Cold just blankly stared at the image before him. Leaping off his dragon, a curious smile appeared on his face. "So this is Sacred Light. To think I'd find the answer to me quest in what I'd thought would be a distraction from it. Granted, it doesn't look impressive at all." he created another sword and pointed it at Flash, "Come! Show me if this is worth my time!" The dragon slithered up to Flash, opening its mouth and thrusting its head at him.

But the armored pegasi just disappeared at the incoming attack, making Cold blink before he caught sight of a light behind him. There, Flash was hovering in the air with the tornado now a bubble around his body. The pony shot straight at the knight, making the unicorn morph his sword into a shield. However, Flash just threw a single armored hoof at the defense, instantly shattering it. Seeing this, Cold did several back-flips to get out of range, Flash following after him as the dragon curled itself around Cold.

There, it thrust its head, only for Flash to come to a stop and hold both hooves out. In a single motion, it caught the dragon by the end of its nose before pushing it down, the ice sculpture smashing into the ground as Flash flew up. With this move in mind, Flash dive-bombed into its head, shattering the dragon into a pile of snow.

As his last defense disappeared, Cold raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. How about this? Cold Eagle Flock!" Multiple ice blocks appeared before being shaped into the birds, all now flying at Flash with tremendous speed. The glowing Pegasus just glared at the sight, only to suddenly double in number. "What?" Cold growled as he saw this, the two Flashs becoming four, then eight, then sixteen. "Afterimages?"

Everypony watched as the Flash army did battle with the ice birds, each one missing as they flew through the afterimages before destroyed by the real one. While this was happening, the crowd began cheering.

"GO FLASH!" Pinkie screamed.

"This is awesome!" Wild cheered, his puppets repeating the last word.

"Such incredible power," Script gasped. "To think he had it all this time."

Lightning just shook his head, "This has been his ace in the hole for longer than even he realises. It's probably what helped him beat me."

"And now our amigo will use it to earn the title of Royal Knight."

Skybreaker grumbled at that comment, "He hasn't won yet. Cold won't make it that easy."

As the last bird was destroyed, Cold's horn pointed to the sky. "Cold Shower!" He fired a spell into the air, the beam exploding as it create a rain of multiple icicles.

Flash looked up and saw them coming, his doubles disappearing as he started working to dodge them. But even with his increased speed, several managed to strike at him. "Augh!" He glared at Cold, who seemed to be giving him a mocking expression. "I'll show you!"

"Oh please. Cold Pillars!" He raised his hooves before slamming them down, creating a line of ice spikes.

"Flash Driver!" Flash began to spin and morphed into a drill of light, shocking everypony as he began to carve through the spikes.

"He can use his attacks without his Celestic Gear?" Luna asked.

"Of course," Celestia replied. "Because he's using a power that's possibly equal, if not more powerful than Alicorn Magic."

Flash burst through the last pillar and was now in front of Cold, only to spin around and swing a back hoof into Cold's face. "GAH!" The unicorn flinched, but managed to dig his hooves into the dirt before yelling, "Cold Pillars!" He smashed the ground again, unleashing another wave of spikes.

This time, Flash was unprepared as one of the spikes shot out and slammed into his stomach. He cried out as the wind was knocked out of him, falling back as he tried to land on his hooves. But as he did this, he flared his wings and charged Cold, a barrage of punches hitting his face until Flash spun around and slammed his tail into his face. This made him slide back to the very edge of the field, only to finally come to a halt to catch his breath.

"Truly," he panted, "incredible power."

Flash let out a snort. "Impressed yet?"

Cold straightened himself up next, his glare returning. "No. I will admit, this power would certainly help protect Equestria. However...having power on its own is useless without control, and I know for a fact you have barely any control over it." This made Flash's eyes go wide, "You have no idea how to activate it at will, and until you've learned that, you'll never be able to protect Equestria to your fullest ability." His horn began to glow, "And even with this power, you're not invincible. In fact, I'm sure you're even weaker than you were before."

In that moment, four long ice vines grew out of the ground before the ends created the same dragon heads as before. Flash quickly shot into the air, dodging four biting mouths as they started to chase him. He then jumped off the back of one of them before punching through the neck of another, only to spot another two coming at him. His wings coming to a stop, he fell down as the duo smashed into each other, shattering to pieces.

But before Flash could open his wings again, the first dragon slammed its head into him, making him crash into the field. Letting out a moan as he opened his eyes, the dragon thrusted its jaw, trying to swallow him whole. Everypony gasped as the mouth snapped shut and began to lift its head. That is, till light began to leak out of its teeth. Wide-eyed, the dragon's head exploded, Cold now watching as Flash flew down in a tornado of light.

"Tired already? I haven't even started." Cold mocked as the pegasus panted, exhaustion all over his face.

"I've had it with you! This ends NOW!" He leapt at Cold, ready to pummel the living heck out of him...only to suddenly freeze up. "Wha-" Memories flashed in his head to his battle with Tirek, his body skidding into the ground.

"Oh no," several of his friends gasped as they remembered back to that battle.

"Not again," Lightning groaned.

"What's happening?" Twilight asked, having not been present before.

"Flash!" Misty cried.

"Get up!" Trail told him.

Flash tried to pick himself up, only for his body to refuse. "What...why..."

Cold just raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Disappointing." He began to trot up to him, his horn sparking. "You say you're ready, but you're the furthest thing from it." He held his hooves together as the magic flew off his horn and swirled between them. "Don't come back until you have the power to defeat me on your own. Until you know why you want to become a knight. Until you've mastered this power." He raised his hooves high. "Ultimate final move!" He thrust the orb into the ground, "CYCLONE BLIZZARD!"

The orb exploded into a giant tornado, one that began to move across the battlefield towards Flash. Everypony gasped at seeing this, Twilight even trying to cast a spell, only to be stopped by Celestia, who held up a wing. All they could do was watch as the vortex hit the pegasus, the defender crying out in pain as a barrage of ice smashed into his body. And after a full minute of this, the cyclone faded away to show a severally battered Flash fall to earth while the audience all cried out, "FLASH!"

Grand ran in first, catching him right before he could touch the icy dirt. As such, he flexed his hooves, trying to cushion that damage. But that did not matter, as Flash slumped over, his consciousness starting to fade out.





The magic barrier faded next, the audience now rushing onto the field. The ice was beginning to recede at this point, which let them get to Grand as he laid Flash down.

"Is he okay?" Scootaloo asked as they gathered around him.

"Don't worry, he's a fast healer," Grand assured her. "After some rest, he should be okay."

He then turned to where Cold stood, only to see a not pleasant sight. Cold ran up to Grand, a death stare in his eyes, "What was that Grand?! I thought you said he was ready!" he yelled before pointing to Flash, "Does that look ready to you?!"

Grand didn't respond, only to see Rainbow fly up between them, "Hey, lay off! He almost beat you!"

Cold simply rolled his eyes before pushing her aside, Soarin quickly catching her, "Oh please. In a life or death battle, almost defeating one's opponent is meaningless. If this had been a real battle, he would be dead by now. A flawed weak pathetic weapon like that does not belong on the battlefield."

"Weapon?!" Twilight screeched, stepping up and glaring at the Frozen Wanderer. "Flash isn't a weapon! He's a pony, a living being!"

Cold just glared back at her, looking down on her as if she was nothing. "No your highness, he is a weapon. A weapon to be used against Equestria's enemies, just like how I, Grand and all the other knights are weapons. Our only purpose is to fight those who threaten this land. After that, nothing else matters."

"That's enough Cold." Grand interrupted, only to get a death glare from the knight.

"You know I'm right Grand. I can't believe this is what you trained." Cold leaned over with a snarl, "I'll never accept such a weakling in our ranks!"

With that, he turned to walk away, leaving everypony glaring at his back.

"What a jerk," Pinkie commented first.

Twilight sighed and shook her head, "Just ignore him." She turned back to the barely conscious Flash, "We have to get him some medical attention."

Cadance stepped up next, "The castle has a medical crew. Let's get him there first."

"Then let's get goin," Applejack tried to pick Flash up with the rest of the earth ponies, only for Flash to let out a loud pained cry, making them gently put him back down.

"He must be worse off than we thought," Misty whimpered as she sat down to hold Flash's head.

"How are we supposed to get him to the hospital if moving him hurts?"

"Oh, I have an idea!" Fluttershy chimed in as she looked up, "Discord?"

"Yes?"

"Can you teleport us all to the hospital?"

Discord shined a toothy grin, "For you Fluttershy, absolutely." He snapped his fingers, the group now being enveloped by a bright flash of light. And when it died down, everypony saw they were in a blank white room while Flash was now snug in a medical bed.

"Huh. You got us here on your first try. That's a surprise." Iron commented, making Discord grumble before another cry of pain from Flash drew everypony's attention. Cadance rushed out to find a doctor while everypony else watched the defender whimper. A few minutes later, several crystal ponies walked in and asked everypony to wait outside, which they agreed to.

"I can't believe Flash lost," Springer added as he sat down on a hallway bench. "Even when he was using his Sacred Light."

"He would have won if he hadn't frozen up," Scootaloo complained with a sigh.

Apple Bloom turned to Celestia, "But why did he?"

Celestia looked down at the filly, trying to force a smile to reassure her. "I...don't know. If the Sacred Light truly is a conscious magic, then it would make sense that it would be able to affect Flash however it wanted while he used it. It's possible it didn't like Flash using its power, so it froze him to prevent its use."

Everypony grimaced at this as Lightning spoke up. "So even if he learns to activate it whenever he wants, it'll just end up freezing him every time?"

"Maybe," Celestia replied with a glum frown. "To be honest...I just don't know."

Seeing no answer, Springer turned to Grand, "Hey Grand, was he right?"

Grand looked down at the jakhowl, "Was who right?"

"Cold. You know, that part where he said the knight being weapons. Is that really what we all are?"

Grand let out a long sigh, shaking his head, "No, he isn't. That...mind set of his has always been Cold's biggest issue. He sees ponies for what they can give to Equestria, but not as ponies themselves. He grew up under...unusual circumstances, which caused him to see the world differently." He let out another sigh, "He was right about one thing though."

"What?"

"That Flash doesn't have a reason for being a knight."

"What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked.

Grand didn't reply at first, looking up at the ceiling to think of how to word his next sentence best. "Flash doesn't remember the reason why he accepted the offer to be my apprentice, but I do. The reason he wanted to be a knight was so he could have the acceptance and respect he didn't have before."

"But he is accepted," Pinkie pointed out.

Rarity nodded in agreement, "And he's one of the most respected ponies in Equestria."

"But he wasn't when he became my apprentice." Grand grumbled, "He became my apprentice barely a day after Twilight's family took him in. At that time, as far as he was concerned, they could have kicked him out in a week or two."

"We wouldn't have done that," Night told him.

"But at the time, he wouldn't have thought of it that way. Flash back then...he saw you taking him in was a major inconvenience for you. I could tell, as he always acted like he was ready to go back to the streets at any second." Grand rubbed his chin, trying to not shake his head, "The kid didn't know what others being kind to him meant. To him, he was a street colt that everypony saw as a pest, and had no reason to believe you all wouldn't also come to see him that way. He barely knew you at that point."

Night and Velvet glared at the knight at this, growling at his words as Velvet countered, "I can't believe you would see him that meekly. That Flash I know is nothing like that. He's a part of our family from the first day he was with us."

"My wife's right." Night continued, "I'll admit we could tell it took him a while to feel he was a part of our family, but you're insulting us if you say he didn't want to be part of us."

Grand just looked away, "That's exactly why Flash accepted my offer. He thought him being a potential knight might stop you from making him leave and get accepted by somepony." Now both parents were angry, especially hearing how much Grand was looking down on his apprentice. That is, till he turned back and sighed, "But things are different now. Over the years, Flash did feel like he was accepted into your family and he earned the respect of many ponies of Canterlot. Then when he helped stop Nightmare Moon and became Ponyville's Defender, he kept growing higher."

"And that wouldn't change if Flash became a knight," Ruby caught on. "He accomplished his true goal, the reason for wanting to be a knight before he even became a knight." Ruby gave Grand a slight glare, "Then why is he taking this test now? He should already be a knight Grand. Why did you delay it?"

"Because he lost his reason. Without it, Flash'll never be able to achieve the rank of knight."

"So...he has to find a new reason because he accomplished his old one?" Rainbow asked, "How is he supposed to find that out?"

"I don't know. That's something Flash needs to figure out on his own." Grand answered, only to see everypony waiting for him to keep talking, "What?"

"Well, what should we do to help?" Twilight added, only to see a glare from Grand.

"Nothing." Grand instantly responded. "If we do anything, he won't become a knight."

Twilight's eyes narrowed at this, "So...we're not allowed to help him? Us, his friends?"

"No. If you did, it would make everything he's ever done up to this point meaningless." Grand looked away again, "He should find his own path, without interference."

Twilight just blinked at this, only to let out a snort, "That...is the single, dumbest thing I have ever heard!" Grand looked back, now seeing a glare from the princess, "You can't be serious! We're his friends! He needs us!"

"Not for this. You can't help him. If you do, he'll never gain Cold's acceptance."

Twilight stood up at this, an angry glare on her face. Celestia was about to step in, but Twilight caught something in the corner of her eye. It was Solid Script, who was shaking his head before he gestured to Grand. A click went off in the young princess's brain, making her sigh as she looked down on the old knight.

But before she could speak up, the doors opened and the medical team walked out. "How is he?!" Twilight asked.

"He'll be fine. Nothing's broken, but there's a lot of bruises covering his body. They should start to clear in a day or two as long as he doesn't overexert himself."

"Thank you doctor," Celestia said before the medical team left, the group soon entering the room.

Twilight, Scootaloo and Flash's parents were the first to his bed, seeing almost ninety percent of his body was covered in bruises. He was sitting up, blank, dead eyes on his face. "Flash, are you okay?" Twilight whispered, only for the defender to not respond, just looking down at his hooves. "I know this is hard, but it's not the end of the world."

"Yeah! So what if you failed?!" Scootaloo added, only to cringe as she saw him flinch at that, "We uh...we still love you."

Flash's mouth didn't move, making Misty start to speak up, "Sweetheart...you..." her body couldn't move, now seeing the lifeless state the pegasi was in.

Trail then placed a wing over his wife. "Don't worry Flash, there's always next time. We promise we'll help in any way we can."

"Us too," Velvet continued as the rest of the ponies in the room nodded in agreement.

Again, Flash didn't respond. This made everypony grimace, some now fearing Flash might never say anything ever again. "Come on everypony," Celestia spoke up. "We should leave Flash alone to rest for a while." Everypony nodded and headed outside, all until Twilight was the only one still in the room.

The alicorn reached out and grabbed his hoof. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna let you give up on your dream. We'll figure this out together, like we always do." She then gave him a weak smile, but Flash didn't reply. Instead, he just rolled over, facing away from the princess. The motion made her ears flop down, her eyes almost about to cry as she saw him do this. Sighing next, she turned and left the room.

Over the next few hours, Flash received multiple visitors. His friends, family and doctors all came in and out to see how he was doing, but none managed to get an answer out of him. He didn't eat anything that was brought to him, nor did he give thanks when Grand came to return his Celestic Gear.

"Here ya go kiddo." Grand said as he put Lightbringer on a table by the bed. "Take care of this, alright?" His mentor glanced over, only to see Flash still turned away. In that moment, Grand just sighed and shook his head, quickly spinning around before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. And as he left, he found that Twilight waiting right outside, a glare on her face, "Your majesty?"

"That's it?! You're not going to say anything to him?"

Grand just shrugged, "I can't. It would be meaningless to help him right now. In fact, nopony should be seeing him right now."

"I see..." Twilight growled as she pushed past him, lifting her hoof up to open the door, "I guess we'll have to show Flash that he needs his friends, especially when his mentor agrees with some heartless knight we don't even know."

"Cold isn't heartless princess, he-"

"I don't care. I'm going to help Flash Grand. I don't know how, but I will." She gave him one last glare, "Honestly, my mind is still reeling after watching that match and I can barely control my anger, but...I know he needs help. That's at least something I can do." Grand reached out to stop her, only for her swat his hoof away, "No Grand, don't-"

"Leave him alone, your majesty. We can't help him. Go to bed."

"I will-"

"You can't. Not with this."

Twilight was about to yell at him, but her eyes showed her the truth. Flash's mentor wasn't going to budge, making her sigh, "Fine. But I will do everything I can tomorrow, and you will not stop me."

And so, night fell. Twilight went back to her room, her mind half angry half sad as she flopped down on her bed. Flash was the same, staring out the window as Cold's words swirled in his head. Anger began to boil in his mind, only for Twilight's words to now echo: "We'll figure this out together, like we always do."

"Is that really right? Am I...that weak alone?" he muttered to himself as he slumped out of bed. Flinching in pain, he stared out the window, now seeing a frozen wasteland filled with crystal mountains in the distance.





The next morning...

Once again, everypony was in the main hall enjoying breakfast. Everypony was commenting that they loved the food, Soarin and Rainbow both stuffing their faces in competition with Scootaloo cheering Rainbow on. The only one not eating was Twilight, who wanted to go see Flash, but Cadance had told her that the doctors would be checking him right now. She had agreed to wait, planning to take Flash some breakfast.

But as that thought went through her head, the doors of the hall were ripped open before a doctor ran in, catching everypony's attention. "He's gone!"

Everypony's eyes went wide, only to see a purple flash zip by, making half the ponies almost fall out of their seats. Turning to see Twilight's chair now empty, the rest left their food as they tried to follow. And as they got to the room, a round of gasps commenced as they saw Twilight was now alone, a certain patient missing.

The alicorn was standing in the middle of the room, staring down at a pile of discarded bandages. She picked them up in her magic and brought them up to her face, only to glance over at an open window. "Flash..."

At the same moment, up in the Crystal Mountains and past the point of the Heart's protection, Flash was walking up a pathway leading into the deepest part of the mountain range. He knew his friends had probably discovered his disappearance and it wouldn't be long before they came looking for him.

But that didn't matter. His wings folded, small breaths coming out of his mouth, he trudged through the snow as he muttered out, "I'm sorry everypony, but this is something I have to do."
> Into the Mountains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"FLASH!"

That was the word being constantly yelled out that morning in the Crystal Empire. The citizens of the city were all awakened by this sound, going out to see many non-crystal ponies running around, all screaming at the top of their lungs.

"FLASH!" Twilight screeched while flying close to the ground, "FLASH, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Come on partner!" Applejack hollered while searching the city's farmland, "Show yah-self!"

"Flash!" Rarity cried from the balcony of the castle, Trixie beside her. Pinkie had lent them both a pair of binoculars, which they were using with giant frowns on their faces, "Oh darling, where are you?"

"Flash?!" Pinkie opened a trashcan and looked inside, "You in here?" Blinking at the empty container, she then walked up to a nearby small rock and lifted it up, "Flash?"

"Uh...babe? I don't think he'd be able to fit under there."

"Maybe...but you know the old saying Wild. Leave no stone unturned." Wild chuckled at this, slinging his hoof around her shoulders as he began to direct his puppets to look around.

At the same time, Fluttershy was with Iron, looking for some animals that could help in their search. "Thank you," she replied to some snow bunny friends she had made during their first trip to the empire. The rabbits began to hop away, ready to spread the word to the others as the pegasi let out a sigh, "They said they didn't see anypony. They were asleep until about an hour ago."

Iron let out an exasperated growl. "Damn it Sentry, where in Celestia's name did you go?!" Fluttershy gave him a soft nudge, making him nod before they made their way back to the castle. There, they found Springer meditating near the Crystal Heart, his ears flaring as a blue flame encased his body.

Most of their friends walked up as well, Twilight now asking, "Find anything?"

The jakhowl let out a deep breath as he opened his eyes, only to shake his head. "Nothing. I can't lock onto Flash's aura. He's either really far away, some rune magic is interfering with me, or he somehow figured out how to block our connection."

"I'm guessing it's the first option," Ruby commented with crossed hooves, "I know all the security protocols in this city, including runes if they were setup. Not only that, there's no trace of him anywhere in the empire."

"He wasn't in the park," Heather added.

"Nor was he at the spa," First continued.

"He wasn't at the knight museum," Gorgenia stated as she, Lightning and Script walked up to them.

"Or the stadium," Skybreaker announced as he flew down.

Tidal let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Oh amigo, where are you?"

Twilight looked up as she heard another set of wings beating, now seeing Rainbow and Soarin. "Find anything?"

"Nothing," Rainbow replied as she touched the floor and brushed herself with her wings. "The station master said there weren't any trains last night."

Soarin nodded in agreement, "And he didn't see anypony around the station last night either."

Spike tapped the side of his head in frustration, "This is nuts. If Flash didn't get on a train, then where is he? He couldn't have just vanished into thin air."

Twilight was about to respond, only to see her brother and the rest of the princesses now leaving the castle. They were followed by a troop of guards, all who began to filter out through the city. "What's going on?"

Shining walked up to answer them. "I'm having the guards go door to door. Hopefully somepony will have seen him."

"And if they haven't?" Scootaloo asked with a big frown, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle patting her side. While she asked this, two pairs of parents began to make their way to the group.

"Did you find him?" Velvet chimed in first, "We helped search the castle, but found nothing."

"No, nopony has found anything." Grand grumbled with crossed hooves, only to punch the ground in anger, "Damn it Flash!"

Twilight huffed at the sight, tapping her hoof to the ground, "We need to find Flash. Now."

"She's right gramps." Lightning added as he put his hoof on Grand's shoulder, "Calm down. You're usually much cooler than this." Grand looked back at his grandson, the sight instantly pushing away the anxiety the old knight was feeling.

"Oh dear...there has to be someway to find him." Misty sighed, only for a bulb to go off in her brain, "Wait! What about the dish we gave him?! I know it's a long-shot, but he could have brought it with him."

Twilight slightly gulped at that, "Uh Misty, we um...well, we kind of...don't have that anymore."

"Why not?" Trail asked before Pinkie spoke up.

"Oh, it transformed into a magical key that we used to open a magical treasure chest that gave us the power to defeat Tirek and then grew into a magical castle out of the ground." She took a deep breath after that, forcing Misty and Trail to just stare at her with wide eyes.

"Ooookay," the mare replied, "I have more questions about that, but they can wait until we find my son."

"Don't worry," Celestia assured her. "We'll do everything in our power to find him."

Luna nodded in agreement, "But for now, I suggest we rest up."

"What?! Why?!" Twilight yelped, "We can't just stop looking!"

"I didn't say that. I'm simply suggesting we spend our time preparing for our next search. We'll wait for the guards to finish going door to door. If anypony saw him, then we'll be rested to go after him. If not, we can start working on our next plan. Either way, it's better than wandering around exhausting ourselves."

Twilight opened her mouth to counter, only for brain to tell her no. "Okay. That does make sense."

Celestia shined a small smile as she placed a hoof on her former student's shoulder. "Don't worry Twilight, Flash is strong. I'm sure wherever he is, he's okay."

But these words fell on deaf ears as the group headed into the castle, Twilight now whispering to himself, "Flash...where are you?"





Meanwhile...

Up in the mountains, the still injured Flash was trudging through a wasteland of pure snow. Despite reaching the crystal mountains, now having travelled throughout the night and morning, he had not stopped from putting as much distance as possible between himself and the empire. In fact, he had already passed by three mountain tops and was now nearing the peak of his fourth.

There, he stared down and spotted a large forest, a blanket of snow covering the tree ceiling. "Not bad. This should work for now." He stretched his wings next, only to flinch in pain as he started to fly down. There, he landed and trotted into the treeline until he found a large tree, spinning around to slump down by the piece of lumber. As he did this, his mind began to wander as the memories of his battle against Cold swam through his brain. He kept replaying the scenario over and over, Cold's words echoing in his ears.

"In the heat of battle, a warrior's true character is revealed. And depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent."

Flash's whole body shook, trying to mentally block out the words.

"I admit, you've faced some pretty powerful enemies. But how many have you fought and defeated on your own?"

Flash raised his hoof, his eyes twitching as he remembered Cold's next words.

"On your own, you lack what is needed to keep Equestria safe. And it's not just power wise. There's something even more important, that you will never be able to become a knight without. A reason."

He suddenly let out a frustrated cry, screaming as he slammed his hoof into the tree trunk. The blow caused the whole thing to shake, a pile of snow now falling on top of the pegasi. Another scream of anger followed this as he pulled himself out of the white powder. Shaking off the snow, he then gripped his Celestic Gear, Lightbringer now out of his sheath.

"RAUGH!" he yelled as he turned and started slashing at the trunk, trying to make sure each slash was stronger than the last. Again and again he slashed at the tree, Cold's words continuing to play through his head.

"Disappointing."

"You say you're ready, but you're the furthest thing from it."

His blade started to glow, Flash not realizing he was charging it up as more words replayed in his mind.

"Don't come back until you have the power to defeat me on your own. Until you know why you want to become a knight. Until you've mastered this power."

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Something inside Flash broke as his weapon was now super charged, its energy instantly slicing the tree like butter. The blow made the pillar of lumber tilt, the defender looking up as it began to fall. Seeing this, Flash jumped away as the snow-filled wood fell, another pile of white fluff falling on top of him.

Flash continued to growl as he picked himself out of the snow, Cold's words continuing to haunt him. "RAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!" he screamed as Flash slammed his hooves into the ground like a barrage of punches, snow shaking off all the trees as he screeched. The pegasi kept yelling, his throat burning as his hooves went numb from the blows. Here, his legs gave out, his face kissing the snow as tears poured down his form.

"Why...why...why..." he repeated, the apprentice now going through more memories. This time they were him as a colt, a thief on the streets. There, there was no family, no friends, no Grand. No training, no...nothing. Just Flash, trying to survive...alone. The thought made him go back to Cold's words, making him mutter out, "Is he right? Am I...am I just a...a worthless criminal?"

He put his face back into the snow, tears restarting, "I'm...I'm so weak." His hooves started to move to his face, "Why...why?! WHY AM I SO WEAK?!"

The lone defender wasn't sure how much time passed there. Minutes, hours...it didn't matter as he pulled himself up and leaned against another tree. As he did this, he looked up and sniffed, his mouth quivering as he bit his lip. No words came out of his mouth, his mind now going through the rest of his life. He remembered every day as a colt, going through the streets again. His thoughts went over being a thief again, making him look down at his hooves.

A sigh went out of his nostrils, "Did I never change?" he asked himself as he stared back up at the sky, another memory going through his head. This one was when he met a certain purple unicorn filly, watching her get bullied. Remembering the moment he saved her, she...she let him stay with his family.

"Twilight..." he whispered as he thought about her. The question of what would she do now went through his head, only to give himself the answer. He knew she would give him some great speech about how important he was to everypony...only for his mind to come to a stop. Blinking at the thought, he stared at the clouds in the sky.

And as he did this, he went wide-eyed. "Everypony…"

His friends. He could see what he believed to be all his friends in the clouds. One of them looked like Springer, another now forming to see Scootaloo. Spike, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Grand, Shining, Lightning and the rest of the knights were also there. There were even ones that looked like the princesses and both his and Twilight's parents.

Slowly, the different shaped clouds all began to come together, as if to perform one big group hug. But as it did this, it slowly started merging together until they created a new figure, one he knew all to well. It was his first and best friend, the one who had stood by him through thick and thin.

"Twilight." he repeated as tears went down his face. "Twilight..." The cloud alicorn seemed to stare down at him, the two locking eyes as everything around them disappeared. Flash felt his heart begin to beat heavily, his face turning red at her depiction. But as he did, images of a dark figure standing over a beaten Twilight and the rest of the ponies he loved suddenly filled his mind. And as he shook his head, he stared at the sky...only to see a smirking Cold Steel.

He picked himself up at the sight, the thoughts of his friends now vanishing in his head, "I have to get stronger...I have to beat him!" he yelled as he gripped his sword and flexed his wings. Letting out a roar, he swung at another tree, "RRAAAHHH!!!"





Back at the empire, the place was a buzz with activity.

The Crystal Guard was going door to door, asking if anypony had seen Flash while our heroes were patiently killing time. Celestia and Luna were busy filling out paperwork, (the situation didn't mean this stuff could be forgotten) while the Royal Guards were doing some light training in case it was discovered that Flash had been captured. Spike had gone off the find some gems while Springer had taken the CMC out to try and cheer Scootaloo up. At the same time, Gorgenia had taken Lightning, Script and Wild off to see her newest crystal creations.

Meanwhile, Twilight was pacing around in her room so much that she was creating a grove in the crystal floor. She wasn't alone, as the rest of the female Mane Seven and Cadance were there with her. "Oh...what's taking so long?! The Empire isn't that big! How could they not have asked everypony yet?!"

Cadance went up and patted her shoulder, "Twilight, they're doing the best they can. I know you're worried about Flash, but fretting over it isn't gonna help."

Twilight turned to her sister in law and her friends. "It's better than doing nothing! Flash could be who knows where doing who knows what, and he's still hurt! All it'll take is him running into the wrong situation and he could be..." She didn't finish her sentence, tears forming in her eyes. The ponies all grimaced at the sight, unable to create the words to help her.

That is, till Pinkie got up and bounced over to Twilight before pulling her into a hug. "Don't worry Twi-Twi. Flashie might be injured, but do you really think that'll be enough to take him down?"

"Darn tootin," Applejack added, "That stallion's too stubborn to die."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Especially when he still has stuff left to do with his life."

"Besides, he knows if he let himself get beat, he'd never hear the end of it from us." Rainbow continued while putting her hooves behind her head. "Heck, I know I won't let him hear the end of it."

Twilight just pulled away from Pinkie, her frown growing as she looked away, "But..."

Another hoof patted her shoulder, making her glance up and see Fluttershy, "Don't worry. Flash will be fine."

Twilight softly pushed Fluttershy's hoof away, "I'm sorry. I know you're all worried and trying to help me stay calm, but I...I just can't help it. I just..." she placed a hoof over her chest.

"You feel like your heart is being gripped by something, ready to squash it when you learn something's happened." Twilight turned to her sister in law, now seeing a smirk on her face, "I know the feeling. I felt the exact same thing when Shining first joined the Royal Guard. I was scared he'd be sent someplace dangerous and end up getting hurt...or worse."

Fluttershy nodded with a soft smile, "I'm always worried Iron's gonna be sent out on a mission he might not come back from. When I learned about his fight with Tirek, I was horrified something bad might have happened to him."

"Me too!" Pinkie chimed in, "Even though Wild doesn't have a really dangerous job, I still get this tummy ache whenever he goes off."

Rainbow seemed to blush as she looked away. "And...well...I guess I get a little worried whenever I see Soarin about to do a high risk stunt."

Twilight blinked at this, her brain not clicking as she tilted her head at them. "But that's because those are ponies you love."

"Exactly," Cadance replied with a huge smile.

Twilight kept blinking, "This is Flash Cadance. That's different compared to you...couples."

Everypony went wide-eyed at her response, all resisting the urge to facehoof. Cadance especially let out a huge sigh as she walked up to Twilight, "Twily…we need to talk."

"About what?" Twilight asked, a blank expression now on her face, "Will it help us find Flash?"

"Oh, you have got to be-" Cadance whispered to herself, her will not trying every way to not rub her head with her hooves in frustration. "Calm down Cadance. You're the princess of love. You can do this...you can finally do this...you can finally solve your greatest failure, and-"

"Do what?" Twilight interrupted, a frown now appearing on her face as she heard Cadance's silent words, "What did you fail at Cadance? Do you need help with it?"

A facehoof finally happened next, Cadance's hoof now stretching her face as she shook her head, "Oh...I can't believe this."

"Believe what? What is-"

"Stop." Cadance demanded as she put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "Twily, it's time you finally admitted it. You love Flash. And by love, I mean romantically."

Twilight's eyes went wide at this, her face growing bright red. "What?! What are you-" She gasped as her wings reflexively flared up, "That's...what are you talking about?! That's ridiculous!"

"Twily...you-"

"Flash and I...we're just friends." Twilight interrupted again, "I mean-"

"Oh, come on Twilight!" Rainbow yelled as she pointed at the princess, "You and Flash have been crushing on one another for ages!"

Rarity nodded before rolling her eyes, "She's right darling. Heck, ever since you got back from your first adventure to the human world, the two of you have been acting out every cliché from the romance department."

"Plus you two have been acting like an old married couple since the day we met you," Pinkie added, Applejack nodding in agreement.

Fluttershy then put her wing over the princess, "Twilight, I know it can be scary to admit how you feel about somepony. I felt the same way before I told Iron. But once you do, you'll feel so much better. Like a weight is lifted off your soul."

"But Flash and I...huh?! We-we-we're not like that!" Twilight barked back, "What are you talking about?!"

"Twily...just admit it." Cadance sighed, "You've been like this since...well, since forever. Trust me, I know. I've dealt with it for years now, with failure at every turn to get you two together." the princess leaned forward with a dull stare, "And that's before you met your friends."

"Cadance!" Twilight's face was full tomato red now, "You know we're not like that! Sure, me and Flash grew up together...heck, we're practically siblings!"

"Oh really? Then how come I've never heard you call him bro or your BBBFF like you do with Shining?" She watched as Twilight opened her mouth, only for no sound to come out. "See?"

"That doesn't prove anything!"

"It proves you don't see Flash as your brother." Cadance countered as she leaned back, "And he doesn't see you as his sister."

"Huh?! Why wouldn't he?" Twilight responded, blinking before a click went off in her head, "Wait...how do you know that?!"

"Because he would have called you sis or something if he did. He's calls Shining his bro, and he calls your parents mom and dad. Heck, I remember him calling Spike his little bro." She pointed at the purple alicorn, "But he's never called you by a sibling name, and its all because he doesn't see you as his sister." Twilight tried to respond, but Cadance wouldn't let her, putting her hooves on the young alicorn's shoulders while staring deep into her eyes, "Twilight, I know love and Flash loves you. I'm the Princess of Love, and I know he loves you more than a friend or a family member."

The others all nodded, Applejack speaking up. "And ya'll love him just as much. We've known it for ages."

"We've been trying to get you two to realize it for quite a while darling," Rarity commented next.

"But it's like some higher power is trying to keep you two apart," Pinkie said before shooting a glare at a certain wall.

Cadance shook her head at this, only to refocus her vision on Twilight, "Here, let me help you. Twily, I want you to close your eyes." She did so. "Now, I want you to picture Flash in your mind." A small sigh followed, only for the girls to notice a small smile starting to appear on the mare's lips, the sight making Cadance smirk. "Now...describe Flash for me. What do you think about him in your own words?"

"Well..." Twilight tilted her head at this, "He's an idiotic meathead who never thinks before he acts."

The girls all rolled their eyes at this, Cadance sighing yet again. "Should have saw that coming."

"Should I stop?"

"No!" Cadance instantly replied, increasing her grip on Twilight's shoulders. Seeing her flinch, Cadance softened her hooves as she continued, "Keep going. What else do you think about him in your own words?"

"He's also a moron who doesn't listen to me half of the time, which is really frustrating. He likes to annoy me with loud rock music, he never cleans up for himself, he likes to avoid taking showers just to irritate me, and he never lets me forget that time I forced him to read the entirety of-"

"Skip this part please!" Cadance asked, shaking her shoulders.

"What should I say then?"

"Just...think about more than the flaws. Think about...what else you think about Flash. And be completely honest with me."

"What else I think? Um...well..." Twilight put her hoof to her chin, "Uh...if I'm honest, I think he's one of the most selfless ponies I've ever met."

Cadance's smile retuned at this, "And what do you like about him the most?"

"I like..." Twilight paused, her brain now showing a full image of Flash in her mind, "I like how he's always ready to face a challenge head on, even if he has no idea how well he'll do with it. I like how he's always there for those who need somepony, even if it's somepony he barely knows and doesn't even really like. I like how he's always willing to stand up for those who can't do it themselves. I like how he would always be there for me back when I would get frustrated on my tests under Princess Celestia." A big smile started to form as she continued, "I love how he never stops pushing himself and never gives up no matter what obstacles he comes across. I love how he'll never abandon a pony, no matter how much they push him away. I love how caring he is, or how he'll never go back on his word. I love..." she opened her eyes and saw the others smiling at her, "What?"

"Twilight, you do realize you've been saying 'I love' instead of 'l like', don't you?"

"I...I have?"

"Gotcha!" Rainbow cheered with a huge smirk, "Just admit it ya egghead."

"You're in love darling."

"Come on!" Pinkie jumped up and down, "You know you wanna admit it already!"

Applejack chuckled while tipping her hat, "Twi, there ain't a thing wrong with fallin' in love sugarcube. It's actually cause for celebration."

Twilight blinked at this, her mind now going a mile a minute. She remembered all the memories of Flash, when she first met him to when he helped her in that thunderstorm that faithful day. The memory of dancing with Flash at the gala and at the Fall Formal. She then remembered back to her talk with Sunset in the mirror world, jealousy raging in her head just like when Trixie showed interest in him. As this thought swam through her head, she remembered the moment on the boat with just the two of them, feeling she was close to him in those moments.

And as the image of Flash entered her head, she couldn't help but notice how her heart began to beat ever so much faster.

"I...I...I'm...in love...with Flash?!"

"There we go," Cadance pulled her into a hug, "It's okay Twilight. I know this is confusing, but in time, you'll grow to love how you feel about him."

"B-but Flash...Flash and I...I don't...what if...what if he doesn't love me back? What if I...why do I-"

Cadance pulled back and tapped her chest. "Trust me on this Twilight. Flash loves you, even if he doesn't realize it yet. If you tell him how you feel, he'll reciprocate your feelings."

"But...but...what if-"

"Twilight, slow down." Cadance interrupted, "Calm yourself-"

"I can't!" Twilight exclaimed, her whole form now shaking, "Me and Flash?! But I...why would I...I mean...look at us!" She put her hooves to her face as she continued to shake, "What if Flash and I start dating?! What would I do?! All we do is argue all the time! Why-"

"That's a perfectly natural thing sweetie," Cadance assured her. "All couples fight. Shiny and I have our disagreements from time to time."

Pinkie rapidly nodded at this, "Yeah! Me and Wild don't always agree with one another! Like the time me and him argued over how much sugar goes into my special orange and lemon ice cream cake!"

Rarity walked in front of the party pony. "It's just like when we helped those ponies under Starlight's hoof. We made them realize that its okay to argue and disagree. Remember, just because friends argue, it doesn't stop them from being friends. It's the same with couples."

"Iron and I disagree all the time. Doesn't mean we don't love one another. It just means there are a few issues we need to sort out."

"And even Soarin and I have our disagreements. Like which Daring Do book is the best or how he likes pies but I hate them."

"Wait...you don't like pies?!" Pinkie gasped, making Rainbow's face turn red.

Cadance patted Twilight's shoulders again, getting her attention, "Twilight, ask any couple and I bet they'll say they've had a fight of some kind recently."

"I couldn't agree more darling. In fact, it'd be more unusual if they didn't," Rarity added.

"Wait! Stop for a second!" Pinkie yelled as she pointed at Rainbow, "What happened to all those pies I've made for you?"

Cadance rolled her eyes at this, turning back to Twilight. Unfortunately, all she saw was a shivering mess, "B-b-b-but what if Flash and I get into such a huge fight t-t-that we end up breaking up?! W-w-what if that happens and being around one another becomes so awkward that it ruins our friendship?!"

Cadance resisted facehoofing as she sighed, "Twily...you can't let fear stop you from going after what you truly want. Do you know how much courage it took for your brother to ask me out? He was willing to dress up like an idiot and ride on a float while singing his heart out to an entire stadium of polo fans, all because he loved me enough to risk making a fool out of himself."

Twilight tried to respond, only to giggle at the memory of that story. Unfortunately, this was soon replaced with panic again, "I don't...I just...augh!" She started rubbing her hooves into her head, "What do I do?! What should I do?!"

"Start by telling Flash how you feel. After that, just take some time for both of you to think about what you want in life. Eventually, everything will just fall into place."

Twilight's eyes shrunk at that statement. She felt one second from fainting, her whole body shivering as she started to look around the room. Here, she saw all her friends nodding in agreement with Cadance. Smile were on all their faces, true confident grins. Her breathing started to reset, going back to its normal pace as she suddenly felt a cloud of doubt and confusion leave her mind. "Alright. I...I...I'll tell him."

"YAY!" Pinkie cheered.

"Atta' girl!" Cadance pulled her into another hug. "Now come on. I'm sure the guards will be back from their patrol soon. Once we find Flash, you can give him an ear-full before telling him the good stuff." Twilight nodded, Cadance slowly helping her leave the room with the rest of the girls.





Meanwhile, in another part of the castle...

Twilight Velvet and Night Light were lost. Granted, they had never got the chance to explore the castle that their son now technically owned, which they had to admit wasn't as ridiculously big as Celestia's….but that didn't mean much in terms of getting lost.

Thankfully, this didn't last long as they took another left turn down a hallway, only to see the entrance to one of the castle's study rooms, Misty and Trail working over some research documents at a table. Both looked up to see them walk in, the two couples not making eye contact as Misty asked, "I guess you think we should be leaving this alone until we find Flash?"

"No," Velvet replied as they sat down opposite to them. "Until we know where Flash is, I suspect we all need something to keep our minds occupied."

Trail let out a snort. "Not for us. We're actually hoping to find a way to help Flash while we're doing this."

"How?"

"We think one of the reasons Flash left was because of what Cold said, about him not having control over the Sacred Light. If we can find something that can help him learn to control it-"

"Flash might come back?" Velvet finished.

Misty nodded, "It's worth a shot."

"And we won't rest until we find what we're looking for."

Night raised an eyebrow at this, "So you don't plan on looking for Flash?" This made Trail and Misty look back up, only to not give an answer, "Well?"

Misty and Trail sighed before the mare spoke up, "You know Flash better than anypony. You really think, even if we found him, he'd come back?" This time it was Night and Velvet who didn't respond, letting Misty continue, "No, you'd probably have to drag him back. And even then, he'd likely try to escape again."

"The only way to get him to stay is to help him overcome his issues. So when everypony finds him and brings him back, we'll hopefully have the answers he's looking for. So many ponies will be looking for him, so us helping would be pointless."

"You...are making a lot of sense," Velvet told them.

Misty nodded again. "I know you think we're terrible parents, but everything we've done, we've done for our children."

Velvet and Night both shared a glance, Night now responding, "We do believe that."

"But you have to accept that what you did has consequences, especially to Flash. I hate to admit it, but Grand was right about what he said yesterday on how Flash saw himself in our family. And even when he finally felt accepted, he still did everything he could to make sure he didn't become a nuisance. Did you know that he once hid a toothache for three weeks because he didn't want to waste our time taking him to the dentist?"

"Yes, we did actually." This made Velvet and Night raise an eyebrow, making the parents now explain the magic dish they used for years. "We might not have been there physically for Flash, but we were always watching over him."

Misty bit her lip as she said these next words. "When we found the dish and used it to see Flash, we were shocked to learn he was living on the street. We rushed back to Canterlot to find him, but by the time we got there...well, he had already met you. And because of that...we..." She then got up and walked around the table, only to bow, her head kissing the floor. "Thank you. Thank you for showing Flash the love he deserved. Thank you for everything that was supposed to be our responsibility. I know we don't deserve your forgiveness, so I won't ask for it. Just know you'll always have our gratitude."

Both Velvet and Night went wide-eyed, Velvet slightly taken back. Closing her eyes for a second to calm herself, she responded, "Please, stand up." Misty did so, Velvet looking her straight in the eyes. "I might not agreed with your methods, but I...I'm starting to see what I want to see for somepony like you."

"What do you mean?"

"I...I can see in your eyes the love that only a mother has for her children. And if Flash is willing to forgive you, then I guess we can look past it as well."

Trail and Misty both smiled, the mare now crying tears of joy. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Night replied as he turned back to the table, "And maybe we can help with this. You said you had a way to decode it?" Trail nodded and handed them the cipher Flash had helped them create last night, the two quickly working to memorize it. "Alright, time to show you where Twilight got her organization skills from."

But before they could truly get to work, the study room's doors swung open. They turned to see a panting Shining Armor, "There you all are! Mom, dad, the guards found somepony who saw Flash!"

This made the four parents go wide-eyed before running after Shining, all soon exiting the castle. There they saw Twilight, Cadance, her friends, the princesses and knights along with the rest of their group. There was also a crystal guard standing beside a light green crystal mare.

Celestia now seeing that everypony was there, she spoke up, "Alright. Now, tell us what you saw."

"Yes, your majesty," the crystal mare nodded. "Well, last night I was taking out the trash before going to bed and saw a pegasus with a sword walking through the streets. I was gonna report this, but then I remembered seeing him during the Equestria Games and figured he was just here and helping patrol." She bowed, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Cadance assured her. "At least now we know that Flash wasn't taken by anypony. Do you have any idea where he was going?"

"I just saw him heading north," the mare pointed in said direction. "Towards the crystal mountains!"

"He's gone to the crystal mountains?!" Twilight exclaimed, most of the group now gulping at the sight of the snowy wasteland in the distance.

"He's likely gone there for training," Grand commented before turning to Ruby and Shining. "We need to prepare for the voyage up there." They nodded and began to give orders to the guards as the Mountain Knight turned to the rest. "Unfortunately, it'll take time to gather the necessary gear to head up there."

"What?! Why?! And how long?" Twilight yelled, only for Ruby to step in.

"A good while. Those mountains aren't in Equestria or the Empire's territory, so they don't follow the same rules."

"You mean...its like the Everfree Forest?!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Exactly. Charging up there without the proper equipment, route and pony power would lead to us losing more than we're gonna save."

Shining nodded in agreement. "Plus those mountains are massive and Flash already has a good day and a half's head start. He could be anywhere in there by now. If we're gonna find him, it'll need to be a large scale expedition and that's gonna take time."

Twilight's brain was at war with itself. The logical side was yelling wait while the emotional side kept chanting that they were wasting time. But as this happened, logic began to take over as she sighed, "Fine...but we have to leave as soon as the preparations are ready."

"And we'll get them done as fast as we can," Grand assured her as they headed inside.

As they did this, Twilight zipped into the castle's library. There, she started asking for every book on the Crystal Mountains, only to find two books about them. One was about the many predators that lived up there, while another just had a passing mention about ponies who went up there and never returned. Despite this, she still read every single page, her eye scanning over everything she could. And as she did this, time flew by as the castle's librarian came up and told her the place was about to close.

Letting out a gasp as she went to a window and saw the sun setting, she gave back the books before flying through the castle. "Princess!" she yelled as she hopped onto a balcony that had Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Grand and Ruby. "Are we ready to go?"

However, she saw nothing but frowns as Ruby spoke up, "Our apologies princess, but the preparations took longer than expected. With the sun setting, we'll have to wait until morning to head out."

"WHAT?!" Twilight's screeched, the sound almost making the whole castle shake, "We can't do that! Flash is-"

"Princess, climbing the mountains at night is a death sentence," Grand interrupted, the same stiff look on his face that Twilight saw last night. "We have to be smart about this."

Twilight let out a long growl, her mind now telling her that this was just another excuse on the pile. She started to consider asking Celestia and Luna to hold off on switching the day and night, but knew that that would cause chaos all over Equestria. But as she glared at Grand, Celestia stepped up to her student. "I know this is hard, but we have to wait. We'll head out early tomorrow, that way we can be at the mountains as I raise the sun." She raised Twilight's chin to look at her, "Be strong. Flash will be fine, I promise you."

Twilight, after locking eyes with her mentor, knew she couldn't defy the pony in front of her. Letting out a sigh, "Okay. But we're leaving as soon as possible, got it?"

"Of course. Now everypony else has already gone to bed. You should go get some rest too."

"Fine..." Twilight grumbled before heading out to her room.

And as all but Grand exited the room, the knight slammed his hooves into the floor, "Damn it! Why?! Why is this happening again?!" He put his hoof to his head as tears began to fill his eyes. Turning around, he glared at the distant mountains as the night started to hide them in its shadow. "Flash...please don't tell me I failed you too. Please...please be okay."





Back on the mountain, the whole forest had been completely cleared of trees. Among the fallen logs, Flash was panting in exhaustion, having spent the entire day training. His stomach was telling him to find food, now remembering that he hadn't eaten anything after breakfast. That mistake was beginning to catch up to him, the pegasus falling onto his flank against a log, more tears trying to appear in his eyes.

That is, till a small piece of white snow landed on his nose. The sight made him get up, looking up to see that more was about to fall. "Not good..." he whispered as he began to trudge through the snow, "Have to...find shelter..."

As he continued to trot, his mind stated to swirl. He began to think about back to all the ponies he had left in the empire. No doubt they knew he was now gone, one pony in particular probably ready to give him an earful. He shook his head at the thought, "Twilight...yeah, she's probably angry. Can't wait to get that lecture."

But as he said that, the image of the alicorn shined in his head. "Twilight..." The image made him blink, the memories of Cold finally going away as he thought about her. He remembered the adventures they had been going on, especially the Fall Formal. Though he didn't know it, his face was starting to turn red as he kept walking, "Twilight...I'm so sorry."

And as those words left his mouth, the in built music maker all ponies possessed began to play, causing him to sing.


(Flash)
I'm out here on my own
To face the day alone
I need you, to get me through the night


He continued to trot through the snow, everything around him beginning to remind him of her.


I'm lost out in the cold
I want someone to hold
I feel you're near, though you're out of sight


Images of the two's time together flowed through his mind. When they met, the night they spent in the treehouse, going to Ponyville together as they made their friends.


And even though we're far apart
I search the moonlit sky
I make a wish to be home with you
Can't you hear me cry?


He then reached a rocky wall next and began to scale it, only using his wings for balance due to the strong winds now blowing down the mountain.


Show me the light
Someone to lead and guide me
Show me the light
A love to stand beside me
Show me the light
When I fear the dark
A ray of sunshine, a rainbow's arc


He almost slipped and fell, only for his front hooves to grab a single rock, his grip barely holding on. Feeling this, he let out a sigh as he continued to climb to the top.


Show me the light






Back in the empire, Twilight continued to make her way through the castle's corridors until she reached her room. There she spotted Spike asleep in his basket, and trotted over to the window. Sighing, she slumped her head down while staring at the mountains.

The fear that something might have happened to Flash continued to plague her mind. As it did, she could feel tears going down her face as Cadance's words now repeated in her head. "Flash..." she whispered, her memories now showing when she first met him, the kindness he showed her on that rainy night.

She was in love with Flash, her first and best friend. Even after hours of knowing this, the idea still felt so weird yet so...right. And as she looked back up at the mountains, the music player began to make the same music Flash had been hearing.


(Twilight)
I'm reaching for a star
Wondering where you are
Where is the...love searching for me too?
Oh, beyond the mountain top
The dream will never stop
Give me a sign
I'm running out of time


As these lyrics left her mouth, a ghostly image of her loved one appeared beside her. She knew he wasn't real, but it didn't matter to her as it began to sang.


(Flash)
Oh, I know someone is on their knees

(Both)
Praying for me now


They turned to one another, their faces moving closer together.


(Both)
Won't you come and hear my pleas?
Save me somehow
Oh, somehow


But as they were about to kiss, the ghostly Flash disappeared. The very action made Twilight tear up again as she turned back to the window.


(Twilight)
Show me the light
Someone to lead and guide me
Show me the light
A love to stand beside me






Back on the mountain, Flash had now come across a large lake that had several frozen islands littered across it. Knowing it would take too long to go around, he began to jump from one island to the other.


(Both)
Show me the light
When I fear the dark


He soon arrived on the other side, only to gasp as he saw the ghostly image of Twilight standing in the snow. However, as he saw that, he began to stagger back and forth, trying to move up to her.


(Flash)
A ray of sunshine


The Twilight began to run off, Flash trying everything he could to follow.


(Twilight)
A rainbow's arc

(Flash)
Show me the light


Twilight then came to a stop, turning around...only to vanish. "Twilight?"


(Both)
Show me the light


Tears started to run down his face as he stared at where she once was. But as he did this, he saw a cave in the distance. Feeling another pile of snow fall on his back, he looked up and saw a barrage of clouds heading his way. He then trotted inside the cave, igniting Lightbringer to keep himself warm. And as he did this, he huddled down, his whole body shivering as the long night began.





Back at the castle, Twilight's tears were truly flowing now.

She wanted to be with Flash right now. To know he was okay, to hold him close and tell him the truth. The alicorn began to choke, wiping her tears as more came through. "Oh Flash..."

But as she did this, her ears suddenly spiked up. Opening her eyes, she saw a swirl of dark clouds in the distance, all heading for the mountains. Her brain told her one thing. A blizzard was about to happen.

"Flash...if he's caught in that, then...then he might not make it tomorr-"

She couldn't finish those words. Instead, her mind told her one thing. Leave. She had to leave. She had to be with him. And as this happened, her horn instantly sparked, her whole form vanishing with a single blast of light. A second later, she reappeared in the castle courtyard, her tears now gone as she went into a full-on sprint.

That is, till she suddenly hit something. "Augh!" she yelped as she felt her body slam into a hard surface. Rubbing her nose next, she stretched out a hoof, only to now feel an invisible wall in front of her. "Huh? What the-"

"Well well well, never thought I'd see the day." Twilight hopped in place at this, quickly looking up to see a grinning Discord floating above her. "Twilight Sparkle, disobeying Celestia's orders."

"Discord!" Twilight growled, tapping the 'wall' with an impatient hoof. "Don't stop me! In fact, where have you been all day?! You could have helped us!"

Discord merely chuckled as he floated to the ground. "Oh, I had some chaotic business to take care for in another realm. I have to say though, I really missed out. I was so surprised to learn what had happened once I got back." He then sprouted blue hair and his wings were replaced by a pair of orange pegasi ones. "Flash...having ventured into the wilderness all on his own-some, and now you're all planning on performing a daring rescue operation."

Twilight's eyes narrowed, "Can you find him?"

Discord shook his head, "Sorry, but we've had this conversation before. I can't bring him to you unless I know where he is. The only way I could do it right now is if I teleported the whole mountain range to the empire, and I doubt Cadance would like that. But..." He shined a cheeky grin as he snapped his fingers, "Perhaps this will help you." As the snap happened, Twilight suddenly found herself dressed in full mountaineering equipment, complete with a stuffed saddlebag.

Twilight opened the bag and saw it was filled with food, medicine and even a map of the mountains. Gasping, she turned back with a huge smile, "Thank you so much Discord!"

Slightly wide-eyed at the sight of the grin, Discord tried to look away, "Err...no problem. Just uh...trying to be helpful."

"Well, you're pretty great today." Twilight commented as she tried to continue, only to hit the 'wall' again. "Augh!"

"Oops. Sorry." Discord snapped his fingers again, "Here ya go."

"Yeah..." Twilight moaned as she rubbed her nose again. "Um...thanks again Discord."

With that, Twilight ran off, Discord smirking at the sight. "Go get 'em girlfriend."

Twilight ran as fast as her legs would allow her, not stopping despite already feeling short of breath. The barrier that kept the winter weather out came into view, making her grin. But as she did this, a giant ice wall appeared, forcing her to come to a halt. "What the-"

"Your majesty," she turned to see Cold appear out of a pillar of mist.

"What do you want?!" she growled, only to see a blank expression on the knight's face.

He trotted up to her, his face now morphing to a disapproving frown, "Princess, I can't allow you to head out into the wilderness. You're far too important to Equestria to risk your life on such a pointless task."

"Pointless?!" Twilight yelled, her eye twitching at the statement. "How is saving Flash's life pointless?!"

"For a princess, one of the most powerful ponies in the kingdom, to risk her life just to save some common pony, who is nothing but a street rat thief...it is something I cannot allow. Equestria needs you. I does not need some pathetic-urk!"

Cold's words failed him as suddenly felt a magic aura grip his body. The force slammed him into the ice wall, Twilight stomping up to him. "DON'T! Don't you dare finish that sentence!" She took a deep breath next as she continued, "Equestria needs Flash just as much as it need me. My life is no less important than anypony else's."

"You are an alicorn princess," Cold told her, his blank face unchanging. "That makes you an important part of Equestria. I know you think you're doing a duty and you think that pegasus is worth something, but he isn't."

"You don't know who Flash really is."

"But I do." Cold countered as he leaned up to her face, "I don't know why you would see anything in him, but I've seen his profile. He's a worthless mite that was thrown away and became thief on the streets. It is only by Grand that he was allowed to do anything worthwhile, but yesterday showed he has no right to even exist, as he is a mockery of a soldier. He is not something that an alicorn-"

"He is more than that! So much more than that!" Twilight screamed, her hoof now grabbing his neck, "Don't you dare insult him like that! He's not some pony you can read about and you think you just figured him all out!"

"But he is. I have figured every bit of him out, and that was before our battle. A weakling criminal like him could never beat me, as that pegasus-"

"Is one of the only reasons I even became an alicorn," she finished for him, her grip increasing as she stared deep into the knight's eyes. But despite all the magic she was releasing, there was no fear on his face. It was blank, no emotions, nothing. The sight made her sick, reminding her of the ponies under Starlight's control, ones that could barely show any emotions for themselves. Growling at this, she threw him aside as a heat spell shot out of her horn, melting the ice. "Cold, I'm honestly not in the mood to deal with you, but I'll tell you this: I don't know what made you think the way you do...but it's the wrong way to live life."

Cold picked himself up and raised an eyebrow, only for Twilight to continue speaking, "The way I see it, I'm guessing you're only loyal to Equestria as a kingdom, but you aren't loyal to the ponies that live here."

"Of course. Ponies come and go, but the kingdom remains." Cold instantly replied, "I glad you understand. Ponies like that pegasus are-"

"The ones that make Equestria what it is." Twilight finished for him again. "Without them, the kingdom would just be a bunch of land with no purpose." With the ice now melted, she stepped through the barrier. "I'm going to find Flash because he's a citizen of Equestria, and as a princess, it's my duty to make sure he's safe. But more importantly, I'm going to find him because he's important to me....and he's my friend."

"He is not worth it princess. Please turn back." Cold immediately countered, his horn sparking, "It is not safe, and it does not matter whether he is a friend or not."

"And I'm guessing that's why Grand chose you." Twilight commented as she turned back to him, "It isn't because you're strong. Its because you're exactly the opposite of Flash."

"Of course. He is nothing, while I am-"

"He's so much more than you." Twilight interrupted, a pure glare in her eyes, "He understands true friendship while you don't understand a thing because you don't have any friends. But if you did, you'd see why keeping friends safe is more important than keeping myself safe."

However, her words fell on deaf ears. Sighing, Cold shook his head as he summoned another ice wall. The sight made her growl at him, causing him to walk up to her, his face still showing no emotion, "Princess, it is not safe. I will not repeat myself again, you should not-"

"Shut up! That's an order!" Twilight spat as she walked up to him, her next words making even his face start to show emotion, "You will let me go, you will not tell anypony what happened here, and that is an order! You will not defy me, or else I will do everything I can to take your knighthood away."

"You..." Cold's eyes went wide, only to start twitching as a hint of anger showed itself, "You can't-"

"I can, and I will. You will stay here and be quiet until Flash comes back to beat you. That's final."

She then turned and shot a blast of magic, this one instantly destroying the second ice wall. Cold tried to form words, wanting to stop her...but his own mind failed him. He just sat there and watched the princess get bombarded by the cold, only to vanish in a snowy wind. No matter what, she was going to find Flash and bring him home.
> The Storm of Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Years ago.


A light flurry of snow was descending from the skies, the powder falling down upon a small village that was one of Equestria's most northern settlements before the Crystal Empire returned. Within the village's territory was a forest, a house next to it. In this moment, the house's door slammed open, a light blue unicorn colt with a white mane and tail rushing out. Here, he leaped into a giant pile of snow. "YEAH!" He cheered before crashing into the snow, his head popping out next as he glanced back at the house, "Mom, Dad, come on! Let's play!"

From out of the house, a light blue earth pony stallion with black hair and a pink unicorn mare with white hair showed themselves through the door frame. "Calm down Cold," the mare told the colt. "You know we have to finish tending the crops before we start having fun."

"Aww...that's boring!" Cold whined as he tried to sink into the hill of snow.

The stallion let out a hearty laugh as the he gestured to the woods behind their home. "It may be boring, but it needs to be done son. Our crops are what help keep our village prosperous."

"I know, I know..." Cold moaned as the aura of his mother's magic gripped him, pulling him out of the snow. There, they went around and found themselves at a large greenhouse-like building with multiple pipes sticking out from the top and going up into the trees. The trio soon stepped inside, a wave of heat shooting out and making Cold flinch. "Ugh...stupid heat."

Once inside, they found themselves surrounded by tons of flowerbeds, all with loads of veggies within the dirt. Cold's mother started first, her magic being used to turn a lever on the wall, activating a sprinkler system. The water then sprayed over the plants, melting the fresh snow that the pipes had collected throughout the night.

Cold just sighed at the sight, huffing as he grabbed a pot of plant food and began to use his magic to throw it over the soil. As he did this, he kept doing small glances to the barely visible outside from the greenhouse. Still sighing, he began to wipe his brow, feeling the bucket of sweat already appearing in his mane. "So hot..."

But as he whispered to himself, moaning at the thoughts of the outside world he loved to explore, hours of weeding, replanting and fertilizing passed. Time felt like it was creeping as his family finished their job. And as he was told he could go outside, he blasted out of the greenhouse, throwing himself at the nearest snow pile. There, his parents laughed as their colt cooled himself off while making a snow angel.

While he finished this and pulled head out of the snow, the colt's eyes suddenly went wide as he asked, "What's that?" He pointed up at a point of the sky that wasn't being obstructed by the trees, now looking at a trail of black smoke.

His parents glanced up and gasped, the father quickly patting his son and saying, "Stay here. We'll be right back."

Before Cold could reply, his parents ran through the forest. Seeing them rush off, Cold quickly noticed they were going to the village, making him start to pull himself out of the snow. As he did, he began to run after his parent's trail, soon reaching the edge of the forest. But as he did this, his eyes went wide at the next sight.

The village...was on fire. Flames blazing through the streets, already claiming the lives of several buildings. Jaw dropping at the sight, Cold's hooves reflexively started moving as he ran into the village. There, he began to cry out as he reached the streets, "Hello?! MOM?! DAD?! Anypony?!"

There was no response. Only the sound of roaring flames could be heard.

And as he shivered at this sight, he turned a corner of one of the streets...only to go wide-eyed again. The colt was speechless as pure fear took him over. In front of him was a street littered with dead bodies, all ponies he knew growing up with looks of horror on their faces. The way their bodies were pointing made it look like they'd been running from something, only to then be cut down.

Cold began to heavily pant as he started to run away, quickly leaving the village. And as he went over the hill before getting to his house, another sight made him scream, "NO!"

In front of him was his house, flames consuming it as he saw some ponies standing to the side. They were of all kinds, the group carrying torches and weapons. The lot then turned, now showing their faces which were covered in scars and eye-patches as they saw the frightened colt.

"Looks like those two weren't being very truthful when they told us nopony else lived here," one of the ponies chuckled.

"Great....just great." a pegasus added as he and several other pegasi flew over to Cold, immediately surrounding him, "That means we had a reason for putting them out of their misery."

"Huh?!" Cold gasped, only to see the pegasi roll his eyes.

"The ponies in there kid. They're gone."

This made Cold's eyes go wide, tears starting to appear as he connected them to the ponies he had just seen on the village streets. "No...why?"

The first pony laughed, "Why not?!" He pointed to a bag in his hoof, "They had stuff we wanted, so we took it. Plus...it was fun."

A waterfall was now pouring out of Cold's eyes, "You...you monsters."

"Whatever..." the ponies all pulled out weapons, all grinning at the colt. "Don't worry about it kid. YOU'LL BE SEEING MOMMY AND DADDY REAL SOON!"

The colt's eyes continued to grow in fear, whispering as he shrunk into the snow under him, "No...no..." His life began to flash before his eyes, only for his horn to suddenly spark, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" In a flash of light, the snow around his hooves shot off the ground, instantly hardening into spikes made of solid ice.

Cold's eyes went wide as he watched the ice he had created circled around him, the shards impaling every single pony. The bandits had looks of shock on their faces as life left their eyes, their last sight being a pony that had just earned his cutie mark, even if he didn't know it that moment.

And as the colt stared at the sight, he found himself staring into the lifeless eyes of a circle of ponies he had killed. He began to pant, his breathing vibrating as he cried out, "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" His horn sparked again, this one causing the ice to revert back to snow. The action made the bodies slump into the snow, blood splattering everywhere as he began to run as fast as he could into the forest.





The Present...

Cold was now inside the Royal Knight Museum, staring up at the crystal statue of Flash. His eyes were alternating from a stare and glare as he looked up at it, memories of what Twilight said going through his mind.

Without the ponies in Equestria, it wouldn't even be Equestria. It would just be pointless land with no purpose.

Gritting his teeth at that, he whispered to himself, "You're wrong..."

"He's so much more than you. He understands true friendship while you don't understand a thing because you don't have any friends. But if you did, you'd see why keeping friends safe is more important than keeping myself safe."

Cold glanced down, rubbing his eyes as he muttered out, "Friends...why is that important? That doesn't matter..."

"Cold?" He turned to see Grand walk up to him, the old soldier tilting his head, "What are you doing here?"

Cold didn't reply at first, turning back to Flash's statue. "Just...thinking."

"About what?" Grand stepped up beside him, both now looking at his apprentice's statue.

Against, Cold paused before responding, "I had an...interesting conversation with the Princess of Friendship earlier."

"Twilight?"

"She told me something that's got me feeling...confused."

"What did she tell you?" Cold ran through part of the conversation, mainly saying how what she said about Equestria. The details made Grand hum in response, "I see...she's right, you know. Ponies may come and go, but each one help carve this how this kingdom shapes out. In that way, the princesses are no more important than the ponies who pick up litter off the street."

Cold just sighed at this, "Maybe....but I don't see it. What she said made a lot of sense, but something inside me is telling me she's wrong. Dead wrong."

"I see." Grand grumbled as he looked away, "I know growing up the way you did caused issues with how you see life. You spent eight years alone in the frozen north, forced to see things for only their use to your survival." Cold nodded in agreement, "But it's different now. You did that because you're alone, but you don't have to be alone anymore. The knights, the princesses...even Flash and his friends, would all be willing to let you be their friend if you let them. And in time, I'm sure you'll see what me and Celestia have been trying to tell you for years."

Cold just clicked his tongue, "Tch. I think its far too late for me Grand. You of all ponies should know better that I don't do friends. Such a thing is pointless to me."

"It's never too late to change."

"And do you honestly think Flash and his friends would try to be my friend? Even after what happened before?"

"They know you wouldn't have done what you did if you weren't under orders, though you could have definitely chosen your words differently."

Cold sighed and shook his head, "I just...I just can't see what made you chose to train him. I read his profile, and I know you didn't know that he had the Sacred Light." Cold glared at Grand, snarling under his breath, "I've read everything on him for that battle, and all I saw before he met you was nothing but a street rat thief! How could you possibly want to take him under your wing?!"

Grand actually laughed at this, "Hate to say it, but it's hard to explain. When I first met him, he was fresh off the streets. He had amazing skills that he had developed in order to survive living on his own, just like you."

Cold rolled his eyes in frustration. "He's nothing like me. He's-"

"I'm not finished Cold." Grand interrupted, "As I was saying, I didn't have any opinion of him until I heard how he saved Twilight from some bullies. There, I saw his cutie mark and realized that with his skills and age, he was a perfect candidate for one day becoming a knight."

"So...that's it?" Cold raised an eyebrow at this, "You just saw him as clay to mold because of that?"

Grand shrugged with a smirk, "Isn't that how all student teacher relationships begin?" His expression then switched to a frown as he continued, "You see, I realized something after my son was arrested, and it was the event that made me realize Flash's greatest power."

Cold blinked at this, tilting his head in confusion, "Greatest power?"

Grand nodded. "I said earlier that everypony helps shape Equestria in some way. Each of them has a quality that benefits those around them, something I like to call their greatest power. Flash's greatest power is one that helped me and so many others. He inspired me."

"Inspired you? How could he possibly do that?"

Grand shined a small grin. "After Doom was arrested, I was practically a zombie. It's likely I would have given up my duties as a knight," he let out a low hum. "But then, I happened to see Flash training by himself." Grand's smile returned as he continued, "He was having trouble mastering a certain sword style, and without him knowing, I watched as he struggled to grasp the concept. Time after time he would fail, only to pick himself back up. He had no help, nopony to watch over him...but despite that, he soon performed the style perfectly." He turned to Cold, "Seeing that struck something deep inside me. Flash easily pushed himself through the obstacles and setbacks, something that well....most soldiers I train never do. I watched as he kept passing through every problem, which...well, it inspired me to get back in the ring and do the same thing."

Cold didn't respond as Grand continued, seeing the grin grow on the old knight's face. "Ever since then, just looking at Flash makes me feel inspired...and I'm not the only one. Twilight and the rest of his friends, Iron Core and even my grandson have been inspired by him. Heck, he did what I couldn't and saved him. I have no doubt that without him, they would have been fine...but they wouldn't be half the ponies they are today if Flash hadn't been there. That's why I want him to become a knight. Not only because he deserves it, but also because his greatest power is to inspire others. I know he isn't the perfect solider, but he's one that can relate to common pony and help them grow." Grand's grin grew to biggest size possible as he finished, "And I believe that that inspiration will help them become better ponies, which will help Equestria become a better kingdom."

Cold let what Grand said sink in, only to shake his head. "My apologies Grand, but I don't think I can believe you." Cold glared at the old knight, "I didn't see anything you just said, especially in the being 'inspiring' department when we fought. There was nothing special about him except the Scared Light, which infuriates me to no end."

Grand sighed, his smile instantly gone. "I admit, Flash wasn't at his best during your battle. I think learning the truth about his past might have knocked him off his game, which got worse after what you told him." He grimaced at the memory, "I wanted to do nothing more than yell the answer to Flash, but-"

"It wouldn't have meant anything if you had," Cold interrupted, "A knight cannot be told what their reason for being one is, the same way a pony cannot be told what their cutie mark is going to be or what they want to do with their life. Only they can decide what their future holds, and only a knight can decide why they wish to be one."

Grand rubbed his head at Cold's response. "I know Cold. And even if we know what Flash's reason is, unless he figures it out himself, it'll never truly sink into his heart." He looked back up at the statue, "But I have faith Flash will figure it out. He'll discover his purpose for being a knight, and when he does, he'll be back to challenge you again." He turned to Cold, "But will you accept his challenge?"

Cold didn't say anything, continuing to stare at the statue. His mind battled itself, the words of Princess Twilight stuck in his head. "We'll see..." With that, he walked away, his face showing a dark glare as he exited the building.

Once he was gone, Grand looked back up at the statue. "Flash...be safe. You're too important to Equestria to be lost."





Meanwhile...

Up in the mountains, Flash was still sitting in the cave, trying to keep himself warm. The heat off of Lightbringer's glow continued to give him little to what he needed, but the defender didn't mind. Instead, he continued to yawn as sleep somehow eluded him as he continued to torture himself over thoughts of his battle with Cold.

Memories of the battle shook him, especially the ones featuring his use of the Sacred Light. "Why..." he moaned to himself as he put Lightbringer to his chest, now remembering the same thine happening in front of the pirates and Tirek. "Why...why does that keep happening?"

His wings folded over his body, shivering as he felt cold graze over his fur as he kept talking to himself, "What is it...what am I missing? Why...why?" He closed his eyes, heaviness hitting his pupils, "Sacred Light...just...what am I?"





A mountain or so away...

Sound of purple hooves trudging through deep snow could barely be heard as a tempest of winds billowed down the mountain. Over the constant white powder was one alicorn, the pony gasping as she pulled her hooves again and again out of the snow. "Gah! Why is this so blasted deep?!" Twilight moaned as she put her wings over her head, trying to shield herself from the icy wind.

She could barely see anything through that powerful flurry of snow in front of her, now feeling her body repeatedly sinking into the snow. Even with the winter gear Discord had given her, the princess's body was still shivering like crazy. Not only that, the storm made flying impossible, which was already bad as she tried to hike upward. "There has to be a faster way..." She groaned, her horn flaring as she tried to give herself light in the blizzard filled night. But as she said these words, a bulb went off in her head, "That's it!" Her horn sparked, light consuming her body as she started a floating spell, one reducing her weight as she started to trudge through the snow again. Once the spell was done, she placed her hoof into the snow, seeing it didn't break. After a few more tests, she was satisfied and continued to make her way through the blizzard.

"FLASH! FLASH, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" There was no response, especially when a furious gust of wind took all the sound she could make. "FLASH!" she screamed, her eyes squinting as she teleported a few hundred meters in front of her. "FLAAAAASH!"

She yelled one more time, only to trip as she teleported herself to the edge of a bank. "Eep!" she yelped as the edge broke, making her slip and fall down a small slope. Her face kissed snow first, the mare's head slowly popping out next as she stuck out her tongue, "Eww...so wet."

The alicorn continued to moan while dragging herself out of the pile, only for her ears to spike up as she heard a new sound. Looking up, she saw a tidal wave of frozen water coming for her, her horn reflexively sparking as she teleported herself out of the avalanche's path just in time.

"Whoa..." she moaned as she quickly found a rock wall, leaning against it as she let out a sigh. "That...was too close."

And as her back slumped over on the rocks, Twilight whispered, "Stupid meathead...why are you making this so difficult?!" Sniffing next, she turned and looked up at the mountain, staring at the huge task in front of her. The very sight made her remember back to Grand's words.

"Princess, climbing the mountains at night is a death sentence."

"He wasn't wrong..." Twilight admitted with a huge frown, "But still...Flash..." These words made more memories surface, all being Grand's and Cold's words.

"It would be meaningless to help him right now. In fact, nopony should be seeing him right now."

"Princess, I can't allow you to head out into the wilderness. You're far too important to Equestria to risk your life on such a pointless task."

"No...they're wrong..." Twilight put her hooves to her head, more of Cold's dialogue going through her head.

"It is not safe, and it does not matter whether he is a friend or not."

Twilight's face scrunched up at this, her hooves rubbing her head. She was starting to see what they were saying, fear consuming her as she felt her body shiver like crazy. "What am I doing?! I can barely move, and...and..."

And as she tried to talk herself out of it, Cadance's words swam into her head.

"Twily...you can't let fear stop you from going after what you truly want."

Those words made her go wide-eyed, energy flaring in her body. The image of Flash was now covering her brain, one that made her face go full blown tomato red. Her wings extended at these thoughts as she slammed her hooves down and stared up at the mountain with a determined stare. "Cadance's right! I can't be scared!" Her horn sparked as she started make her way back up the mountain, "I'm coming, you meathead! Just you wait!"





Flash's eyes were flickering, blinking as he let out a yawn. But as he did this, he quickly went wide-eyed as he saw the new sight before him. In front of the defender was a very familiar hallway, one with chequered floors and doors with different cutie marks.

He was inside his subconscious, just like when everypony was trying to help him awaken the Sacred Light. The sight made him rub his chin in thought, his hooves quickly making their way down the hall of doors, "This is..."

It was here he arrived in front of the door that had his cutie mark emblazoned on it. Sighing at the sight, he reached out to grip the door handle, slowly opening it. There, he peeked inside and saw nothing but darkness.

"Sacred Light!" He called out into the darkness, now entering the room. "Get out here! You owe me an explanation!"

No response.

Flash's right eye twitched in anger, "Why would you give me this power and then make me freeze up or collapse every time I use it?! Do you know how much danger I could have saved my friends from being in if you hadn't stopped me?"

Again, no response.

"ANSWER ME!"

His voice echoed through the darkness, the sound ringing through his ears. And as the noise faded, the defender's eyes squinted as he saw a golden light in the distance. Blinking at the sight, he saw go above him, making him hold his hoof up to the block the light as the light started to show itself as a giant golden sun-like orb. Seeing this, he felt a familiar wave of heat, the orb shining a radiant glow.

"What is-" he tried to say, only to go wide-eyed again as several spheres shot out of the sun. He started to reflexively backpedal at this, the orbs now surrounding him. His eyes scanned each one, gasping as he saw what was inside. One showed his battle against the Timberwolves as they tried to kill his parents, another in the temple when he fought Ahuizotl and his goons. The next few showed Score and his cronies, fighting against the pirates, Tirek and the Dazzlings.

"I don't...understand." He commented as he continued to watch, the events now looping in the orbs. Not only that, none of them were the actual battles, but just the moments he transformed. The sight made him growl, his brain burning as he put his hooves to his head, "What is all this?!" He looked up and yelled at the larger orb, "Why can't you just tell me?! I know you can talk, so talk! What is the point of all this?!"

The sun didn't respond. Instead, the orbs flew back up into the sun before spitting out a new sphere. There, it floated down and shined itself in front of Flash's eyes. Blinking at it, he looked inside and gasped. It was showing Twilight, completely decked out in mountaineering gear, who was travelling through what looked like a blizzard.

"I don't remember this..." Flash muttered before a certain thought went through his head. Looking up at the sun, he asked, "Hey! Is this...is this something that's happening right now?!" The sun didn't reply, Flash glancing back down as he saw Twilight trudge through the snow.

But then the image flickered in and out of focus, making Flash gasp as he saw something new. It was Twilight now wearing a horrified look on her face as a giant shadow seemed to loom over her. "Twilight?" She opened her mouth before letting out a scream he couldn't hear, only for the image to blur out. "TWILIGHT!" The orb flew back up into the sun, Flash glaring up at it. "What was that?! Is that something that's already happened, or is it happening right now?!"

No response again.

"TELL ME! TELL ME RIGHT NOW!!!"

As he screamed at the sphere, it just sat there, unmoving. But as he yelled one more time, the orb suddenly unleashed a pulse of light. Reflexively trying to guard against it with his wings, the blast struck Flash, knocking him out the door and back into corridor, "Augh!" he yelped as he kept hurling down the hallway, "Wait! What are you doing-"





"AAAAAHHHHH!" Flash cried as his eyes shot open, springing to his hooves. He began to gasp for air, his legs shaking as his eyes rapidly blinked. Here, he saw he was back in the cave, the storm still raging outside. "Wha...huh?!"

He darted his head back and forth, soon rubbing his head as he moaned, "What was that about?! What is..." his eyes went wide as a new thought flashed to the front of his brain, "Twilight! Twilight, she was in some kind of..."

The defender couldn't finish his words, glaring back to the outside of the cave as he remembered that last image, "Twilight...she's in trouble!"

Not wasting a minute, he spread his wings and shot out of the cave with Lightbringer in hoof. "Twilight! I'm coming!"





"FLASH!" Twilight screamed into the blizzard. "You stupid meathead! Where are you?!"

The alicorn was not in the best condition right now, exhaustion taking over as she had stopped teleporting due to lack of energy. As the night grew darker, she was now focusing all her energy into just making a light with a horn, its heat barely pushing the icy wind back. But even with this source, she could still barely see anything in front of her, "FLASH!" She called out again, "Are you out there?! Please answer me!" But there was no answer, causing her to sigh again, "Flash...where are you?"

She continued trudging through the snow, her eyes squinting as a new sight came into a view. "Hmm?" she whispered as she saw what it was, "A cave..." Twilight quickly ran up to the cavern's mouth, commenting to herself, "If its him, he'll probably be inside one of these." She took a deep breath and yelled, "FLASH!"

An echo immediately spawned, flowing through the darkness in front of her. It felt infinite as she spiked up her ears, trying to hear a response...only hear nothing. No voice replied, making her frown. But as she did this, a new sound could be heard, one that seemed to be hoofsteps. Smiling at the noise, she started to walk inside as she repeated, "Flash? You in here?"

But that smile started to fade as she felt the earth beneath her begin to shake. Looking down at the tremors, her ears started to realize that it wasn't the sound of hoofsteps, but something much heavier. Glancing back up, she started to go wide-eyed as a figure in the darkness began to loom out of the shadows. It had bright red eyes, bipedal with thick white fur covering its body. On its head was a red crest, which complemented its blood red eyes and sharp teeth.

"A yeti..." Twilight whispered as she started to backpedal, the two soon exiting the cave as the monster followed her. Fear started to cover her face as the yeti let out a brilliant roar, only for the yelled to cause the whole mountain to shake. Twilight gasped as she then saw the effects of the roar, a new avalanche of snow now heading for the two. She desperately tried to spark her horn, a magic barrier soon projecting out as the white powder buried both in a flurry.

A few minutes passed as the last bit of snow settled atop two piles, the cave now gone in a burying blanket of snow. As for one of the hills of snow, the iced water began to melt as Twilight's shield pushed the rest out of the way. Gasping for air, she slumped down as she muttered out, "That...was scary." She glanced up at her horn, frowning as she kept trying to catch her breath, "Used...too much magic. Flash...where are you already?!"

But as these words left her mouth, her ears spiked up again as she started to hear a scratching sound. Gulping at the noise, she turned to the other snow pile as it started to shake. She tried to get out of the snow as the pile kept rumbling, only for the snowy ground to explode as the yeti flew out of the hole. He then landed in front of the alicorn, swiping his claw instantly.

"Get away!" Twilight screamed as she leapt back, barely dodging the attack. Her horn sparked again as she summoned a fireball, firing it directly to the yeti's forehead. But as it tried to hit him, he swatted it away, making him roar again. She then fired a full beam of magic, this one now pushing the yeti back. However, her horn soon sputtered out, the alicorn now being reminded again that she had been using her magic constantly up to this point. "Oh no."

"RAWR!" it yelled as it slashed at her again, this time another beam of magic firing out and striking his claw. The burn made him instinctively reach back, but his other claw swung at her.

"AAAH!" she yelped as she hopping back again, her wings reflexively spreading as she tried to backpedal. But as she did this, a gust of wind hit her wings, knocking her into the air. "Whoa!" she cried as the gust pushed her up and into the side of the mountain, her body slamming into a rock wall. The blow made her fall like a rock, her body landing on her wing with a thud.

"Grrr…" growled the yeti as she looked back up, now seeing him walk up to her. Shrinking back at the sight, the mare rolled over and started to try and drag herself away. However, it seemed to be in vain as she saw the yeti leap into the air, ready to strike her as he roared, "RRRAAAWWWRRRR!!!"

"FLASH CUTTER!" yelled a new voice, a familiar energy blade slicing through the air as it struck the yeti in the chest, knocking the beast back.

An orange blur landed between her and the monster next, Twilight smiling at the sight, "Flash!"

He turned back to glance at her, Twilight instantly noticing he did not look well. His face was ragged, already short of breath as he put the blade up to his shoulder. She could tell he was exhausted and hungry, but before either could say anything, a growl made them both turn to see the recovering yeti, "Back off fuzzball!" he yelled as he raised his sword, only for a small glimmer of light to shine off it.

"RAWR!" it yelled as it swung at Flash, making him hop back from the attack. He pointed his blade at the beast, but the sword's light just sputtered. The sight made him grimace, the monster swiping at him again, which Flash dodged back while backpedaling again.

"Aw crap." Flash muttered as he slashed his sword, no energy blades coming out. Flash could feel the effects of his full day of training catching up to him, his energy now gone. Looking back up at the yeti, Flash braced his sword back as he got into a fighting stance. "The old fashioned way then."

The yeti roared again as he threw his claws down, Flash slashing both back, making the yeti cry out. A slip of blood flew out of the claws, the monster flinching for just a second before trying to smash the defender again. This time Flash wasn't able to dodge, a single swipe of the claw knocking the pegasi back as he landed into a pile of snow. A low moan followed this as Flash popped his head out, "Great...way to go Flash, you just made him mad."

As this happened, Twilight tried to pick herself up, only to flinch as she felt pain strike her hooves and wing. Gasping at this, she started to spark her horn, pointing at the yeti. But as she did this, a small beam of magic shot out and hit the yeti's face...only for the monster to do a small flinch.

The beast turned to glare at her, but his attention was taken back to Flash as he slashed at the yeti's legs. Screaming in pain, the yeti swung at the defender again, the pegasi dodging by hopping back. Seeing Flash dodge two more attacks, Twilight squinted as she tried to focus on her horn, "Come on magic...give me something...anything!"

While she did this, the yeti smacked Flash into another pile of snow, the pegasi gasping as he felt his body land into the white powdery mess. The yeti then stood over him, leaning down to bite right into the orange pony's head. Grimacing at the incoming attack, Flash closed his eyes as the beast got closer.

Twilight went wide-eyed at the sight, quickly taking off her saddlebag as she tried to see what else Discord had packed for her. However, all she found was some warm blankets, some canned food and a can opener. "Oh no..." She whispered as she looked back up, now seeing Flash about to be literally chewed up by the yeti. "NO!"

And as the yeti was about the chomp his fangs down, a large can suddenly struck his forehead. The feeling made him lean his head back up, confused as another bonk hit his head. He turned next, only to see Twilight throw one more can into his face.

"Get away from him!" Twilight cried as she threw another can, the yeti batting this one away. The last one soon followed, the feeling from it hitting his head making the yeti growl. Flash groaned and started blinking as he saw what was happening, now seeing the beast get up to go after Twilight.

"No..." Flash muttered as he saw Twilight backpedal, fear on her face as the yeti's shadow about to get close to her. He then felt his hooves clinch, making he slump over in the snow. Barely gripping his sword, he glared at the back of the yeti's head and threw his sword...only for it to fly over the beast, lodging it into a nearby rock. "No..."

He glanced back at Twilight, seeing tears go down her face as the yeti lifted its claws up. Her horn kept sputtering, Flash now trying to crawl over to her as he saw fear consume her face. "No...Twilight...Twilight..." he whispered as he tried to move, only for his body to say no. "Come on...I gotta...I gotta…protect her! I...I..."

His eyes looked up one time again, tears going down his face as he saw Twilight be covered by the yeti's shadow. "NOOO!!!" he screamed, a click going off in his brain as a spark shined within him. Before he could react, he felt strength pour into his muscles, a shining light blasting off his body. A tremor happened after this, making both Twilight and the yeti turn to him, only for both to gasp as they saw Flash now standing, "Get...away...from...HER!"

With that, his eyes shot open to reveal they were shining gold, light now exploding off his body. Both Twilight and the yeti awed at the sight as the light wrapped around him into a tornado while armor appeared around his body. This also sent out a wave of heat, melting all the snow around them.

Flash took a deep slow breath, now feeling his exhaustion leave him as he saw his injuries vanish off his body. Glaring back up at the yeti, he took a battle stance. "Yo ugly! Come get some!"

"RAAAWWWRRR!!!" the yeti roared back, pouncing at him next. But as it did this, the tornado around the armored pegasus morphed into a bubble before he easily leapt to the side, dodging the attack before slamming his hoof into the beast's jaw.

The beast staggered back, roaring again as he tried to charge at Flash. As he did this, Flash spun like a top, slamming a back hoof into the yeti's chest, knocking the monster back again. The yeti let out a lower growl at the blow, now pouncing at the defender...only to miss and crash into the snow.

"FLASH DRIVER!" yelled the pegasi as he appeared above the yeti, turning into a spiraling drill of light. The beast gasped at the incoming attack, hopping to the side as the drill struck the snow. But as it hit the dirt, the snow beneath the yeti exploded as another tornado of light zipped out of the snow and struck the yeti.

"RAAAWWWRRRR!!!" it screamed as it went flying back, Flash flapping his wings to steady himself after the drill attack before landing in front of Twilight. The light around him forming the tornado once again. 

The princess was wide-eyed at the sight, gasping as Flash glanced at her. "Flash? Is that...is that really you?"

Flash just nodded, turning back as another roar came from the distance. "Don't worry Twilight," Flash replied as he stared at the yeti, the monster slowly getting up, "I promise...I'M GONNA PROTECT YOU!"

And as these words left his mouth, the tornado of light exploded off of Flash's body, the glow now streaming to his back. Doing so formed a large bubble of light, which then morphed into the twin swords that were crossed between his wings. However, Flash seemed to barely notice his full transformation as he charged at the yeti while Twilight stared at him in awe. "Flash..."

As Flash and the yeti got closer, the pegasus reached back and drew his light swords. "Flash Cutter!" He swung the first at the direction of the beast, hitting him dead-on as his fur began to burn from the blow. The yeti hopped back in pain as the remaining sword morphed into a bubble that Flash held in both hooves before slamming it into the ground. "Flash Vortex!" He jumped up so that he was only standing on his front moves, the bubble popping below him, light exploding from the sphere before making another tornado of light that flew across the ground like a top.

The yeti growled at this, trying to slash the tornado, only to feel his paws burn in the flames of the bright light. Gasping in pain, he put his claws into the snow, trying to cool them off as another bubble of light formed on Flash's back before morphing into two swords. Flash smirked at this, charging at the yeti again as he roared before trying to strike back.

However, as Flash got close to the beast, the swords on his back exploded into a stream of light before wrapping around him. "Flash Grinder!" Flash curled up, forming a wheel of light that hit the yeti dead on.

"RAAAAWWWWWRRR!!!" It cried in pain as the wheel slammed into it's head, bouncing off as the yeti fell back. The wheel then exploded as Flash landed back onto the snow, the light swords forming on his back once more. Looking back, he saw his opponent was almost knocked out, barely able to move in the white dirt.

The defender took a deep breath, taking to the air as the swords flew off his back and spiraled between his hooves, forming a sphere of light as he pulled back, "FLASH..." The yeti hopped back up, roaring again as it leapt at the pegasi, "FORCE!"

Flash thrust the sphere, a single stream of light blasting out of the orb. The laser struck the monster, instantly blowing him into the earth. And as the laser attack stopped, the yeti fell over, knocked out with a long trench now formed from where the laser had hit him into the ground.

Both Flash and Twilight panted at the sight, Flash floating down as the light faded away on his form. The pegasi felt his hooves tap the snow, glancing down at his hooves as he saw the light hadn't made him freeze up. "Huh..."

"Flash?" Twilight chimed in, Flash turning to Twilight with a somber expression.

"I'm okay Twi," he assured her before flying over to grab his sword. "But let's get out of here before tiny wakes up and asks for round two." Twilight nodded and quickly began to pick up the cans she had tossed at the yeti, though needing to be careful not to use her injured hoof before heading to the cave Flash had previously been at. Once there, the two collapsed on the ground, both heavily panting as they slumped over to the cave's walls.

After a full five minutes of getting their breaths back, Flash sat himself up and glared at Twilight, "Alright...now that that mess is over...what are you doing here Twilight?!"

Twilight got up and stared directly into his eyes, her anger matching his perfectly, "I'm up here to find you. What were you thinking, coming up here alone in your condition?!"

Flash sighed at this, "I'm training Twilight."

"Training for what, the idiot Olympics?! Are you hoping to get a gold medal for being a moron?!"

Flash tried to reply with a more intense glare, "I'm training to take on Cold and beat him."

Twilight just let out a snort, "And why did you have to come up here to do that? Why didn't you wait until your injuries healed?!" She leaned forward, growling at him, "Why didn't you let us help you?!"

Flash continued his stare, his face unflinching, "Because this is something I have to do alone."

"Says who?! Cold?!" Twilight screeched as she leaned even further, "You can't be serious if that's what you're thinking! What does he know?!"

"He knows I'm weak!" Flash screamed, their faces about to touch each other. But before anything could happen, Flash turned away, "When this storm passes, you're heading back down to the empire. I'll take you as far as the first mountain-"

"No," Twilight interrupted with crossed hooves, "You're coming with me. I didn't come all the way up here to not come back with you."

Flash glanced back, sighing, "I didn't ask you to come find me."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You are such a meathead. We're friends Flash, you don't have to ask me to come help you."

"I don't need any help."

"You do!" Twilight yelled, stomping her hoof before flinching at the pain, "Flash...you need your friends, especially right now!"

"Oh yeah?! And who was it that I just had to save from some yeti?!" Flash barked back, pointing at the princess, "I know it wasn't me that needed saving!"

"That doesn't matter!" Twilight countered, "You need my help now because you're doing something really stupid!"

Flash rolled his eyes at this, turning away again, "Oh please, like I need your help. What, you think I can't look after myself either?!"

"I didn't say that," Twilight instantly replied, only to see Flash turn around with anger screaming on his face.

"Admit it! You think I'm weak too!"

"You're not weak. But you don't need to do something stupid like this to prove you're strong either."

This time, it was Flash's turn to roll his eyes as he turned away again. "You don't get it."

"Seriously?! Then tell me what I don't get."

"You wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand?"

"EVERYTHING!" Flash yelled as he turned back once more, this time the expression he wore now scaring Twilight. A pure death glare was on his face as he started to walk up to her, panting in deadly anger as he continued, "Listen here little miss princess who thinks she knows everything! Well, you don't know me! You don't have a clue about how I feel! You've never wanted something so much that you've done everything in your power to try and get it, only to be told you're not good enough for it! All your life, you've never struggled to do something Twilight! Everything comes so easy for you, but not for me!" Twilight's eyes went wide, tears trying to form as she wanted speak up, only for Flash's rant to continue, "You're not the one who was left at an orphanage because of some stupid prophecy! You're not the one who spent years starving on the streets! You're not the one who trained everyday of his life until your bones almost broke! You're not the one who went through all that, just to be told you're just some stupid, weak pathetic criminal that's not GOOD ENOUGH!"

"Flash..."

Flash turned away, his tone slowly lowering, "I'm weak Twilight...I always have been. I've always relied on others to help me, and that's made me even weaker." He closed his eyes as tears began to form, threatening to break free as he looked down. "Lightning...Sombra...Doom...Cold...they were all right. I'm just...I'm just some street rat thief that doesn't deserve to exist." He put his hoof to his face, water now streaming down his leg. As this happened, he looked down at his blade, only to drop it, the clangs from the falling metal making Twilight almost gasp. "I'm not worthy of Lightbringer. Heck, I'm not worthy of anything. I'm...I'm so weak. I'm so pathetic that I can't protect anything I care about. Cold...was right. I'm...I'm nothing." He looked back, only to stare past Twilight and out at the blizzard, "I...I can't go back. I have to get strong...and nothing you can do will change that."

He then walked past her, slumping over as he stared at the entrance of the cave. "Tomorrow...you're going back to the empire Twilight. You can't help me. I...I'm not something worth your time."

Flash continued to stare out of the cave, expecting Twilight to give some big heartfelt speech. He knew it was coming, he had gone through a thousand lectures from her. This time though, he knew it wouldn't help. That is, till-

SPLAT!

"Ow!" Flash yelped as he felt something hard and cold to hit the back of his head. He rubbed the spot, turning to see Twilight staring at the ground with several levitating snowballs at her side. "Twilight?"

"The Flash I know is full of energy. He's a leader, always trying his best. He's always positive and he never gives up." She lifted her head next, showing Flash her own eyes were a combination of tears and pure anger, "He hangs on till the very end. He always comes through!" A scream followed this, her magic now launching all the snowballs. "YOU'RE NOT ACTING LIKE THE FLASH I KNOW!"

Flash flinched as the snowballs began to hit him in the face, "Twilight! Quit it!"

"NO!" She screamed as the snowballs continued to splat all over him, the defender now shielding himself with his wings.

As he did this, he got up and grabbed her by the chest before pushing to the ground, pinning her to the cave's floor. "STOP IT!" He yelled, only to freeze up as he saw a fully sobbing Twilight now under him, the sight making his heart clinch.

"Please...I want my Flash back." Her hoof moved up until it was touching Flash's cheek, "The Flash that's supported me and so many others to become the best we can be. The Flash...I fell in love with."

Flash's eyes went wide at this, his brain trying to process what she had just said. But as he did this, Twilight slowly picked herself up as she stared into his eyes, "Flash, you were never weak. You're the strongest pony I know. And no matter what Cold told you, relying on others is never a weakness. If it was, do you think Grand would have asked for your help when you went after Doom?" Flash didn't reply, tears now going down his face as she continued, "It's true you've never defeated a truly powerful opponent alone, but neither have I or almost anypony. It wasn't me who defeated Nightmare Moon, or Discord or Sombra or Tirek. It was us."

She put her hooves up to his face, tears still escaping her eyes. "You, me, and all of our friends...we won against them because we worked together as a team. Working together doesn't make us weak. In fact, not being able to accept help is more of a weakness than needing help. You of all ponies should know this." She then placed her head on his shoulder, her hooves hugging him. "You said you want to become strong so you could protect the ponies that you care about. Well...you're a pony I care about, and I want to protect you."

"Twilight..."

"And I'm not the only one who cares about you. You're not alone anymore, you haven't been since the moment we met. Me, Scootaloo, Springer and Spike. My parents, your parents, the princesses...our friends. They want to protect you as much as you want to protect them. So please..." she leaned back, tears pouring down her face as she let out a sniff, "Don't listen to Cold. Don't...don't push us away."

As Twilight's words sunk into Flash's heart, his mind started to break. He thought about every life-threatening event he had gone through, all of them scaring him to the core. But despite this, he found the courage to push on, the strength to overcome those barriers.

And as he remembered these events, he knew one thing. His friends were there. They were his source of courage...his source of true strength and power, even when he fought alone. No, he had never fought alone, as his friends were there, even in spirit, believing in him.

"I'm...not alone." he whispered, new tears forming in his eyes as he put his hooves around Twilight, his wings also hugging her. The gesture made her blush, a small 'eep' escaping her breath as he pulled her close, "Twilight...thank you. I...I finally understand. Thank you for showing me."

This made her finally smile as tears kept flowing down her face. She clenched her hooves around him, "No problem. But please, don't ever leave me like that again." She pulled away next, locking her eyes with him as a frown tried to form on her face again, "I...I don't want to lose you."

Flash gave a small smile back, "I won't. I promise." With that, the two continued to stare into each other's eyes, the duo feeling themselves moving closer and closer to one another. And then, their lips met.

Time froze at this singular moment, seconds feeling like years as they continued to embrace each other. And as they pulled apart, both were fully blushing as they thought about what they had just done.

That is, till Flash broke the silence. "Did that feel...weird to you?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, it felt right. A little overdue, but right."

Flash smirked back, "Same." With that, he pushed his lips back onto her. Twilight almost went wide-eyed at this, only for her brain to say buck it and closed her eyes as they got deeper into the kiss. She then placed her hooves around his neck while he placed his around her waist. Her horn sparked next as it opened her saddlebag before pulling out the blankets, Flash now grabbing the zipper of her winter jacket.

The two were in for a night they would never forget.
> Flash's Reason
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash's eyes kept flickering, his body now slowly feeling the world around him fade. And as his vision returned, he saw he was once again in the chequer floored hallway, the many doors lining the walls of his inner mind now standing in parallel. Seeing this, he started to trot down the corridor, soon reaching the door that he knew was the deepest part of his subconscious, staring up at it with a glum frown.

After taking a deep breath, Flash reached out and grabbed the handle, slowly turning it. "Here we go again." As the door swung open, Flash stared into the darkness of the room, his hooves shuffling inside. When he did this, the bright sun from before floated down, now moving to be exactly above Flash as he stared up at it, "Alright, why did you bring me back here this time? Gonna show me a bunch of images for no reason again?"

In that moment, the sun let out a small sphere, this one floating over to Flash's face. The defender leaned up to the orb, his eyebrows raising as he saw an image of last night, a scene of him transforming against the yeti. He started to watch the scene play over and over, memories of that moment going through his head.

He remembered the fear he felt when he saw the beast about to attack Twilight, and how much he wanted to protect her. "Strange...this feels so different now." he said to himself as he watched it again. "Why did that time work so well? Was it because the battle was so short?" he blinked at the image, now seeing Twilight on the sidelines, "Twilight...all I wanted to do was protect you."

As his words escaped his mouth, more spheres began to appear around him. "These are..." he tried to say as he saw the first one, his mind racing over these events, "The Timberwolves." The defender now saw him transforming in front of his parents, seeing the determination on his face to protect his family. "The temple." That was next as the armor appeared while he was trying to stop Ahuizotl from hurting his friends. "Big Score." Flash then saw the Sacred Light shine as he destroyed the large boulder about to crush everypony. "The pirates." This one showed Fluttershy and Spike about to be attacked, himself transforming to save them. "Tirek and the Dazzlings." These times were the same, all him gaining his power to protect his friends.

It was here that another orb came down, Flash gasping at the sight, "This is..." It was his younger self, now spotting lightning fly off his body as he tried to save a filly from falling debris. As this happened, his cutie mark appeared, shining as he got to safety. "Huh. So that was the Sacred Light back then."

He glanced back at the other orbs, now seeing the moments he froze up in those fights. The sights made him blink, rubbing his chin in thought, "I don't...why did it freeze up then? What's the difference?" He went back to the pirates fight, now seeing Flash grinning at the terrified pirates...only to come to a halt. A click going off in his brain, he turned to the Tirek fight, seeing himself get confident right when he was about to beat the monster, only to freeze up again.

It was here he realized something, his fight with Cold wasn't being shown. His memories of the battle went over in his head, now glancing at all the spheres before looking up at the sun, "You...I can't use this power for myself, can I? You want me to use it to protect ponies, don't you?" He asked, only for the orbs to fly up to sun. There, a new sphere came down, this one showing the showing the piece of paper Flash had read with his parents.

"Purest souls whose heart's ignite, channel the power of the Sacred Light. Only those to wield its might, shall have spirits shining bright. Who uses its power to do what's right, to face against evils that they smite. But those with darkness blinding sight, shall not be gifted Sacred Light. So go forth and have no fright, let your courage shine so bright. Protector of all things right, wielder of the Sacred Light."

Those words made Flash go wide-eyed, his brain putting the pieces together of what the script meant. "No way...I get it now. This power...I can't just use it, can I?" The orb floated back up into the sun, Flash now staring at the larger glowing sphere. "The Sacred Light...it isn't mine, is it? You would have taken it away if I had become a criminal or done anything bad."

The sun didn't respond, but Flash knew he was on the right track as he continued, "I understand now. This is a gift, something you'll take away if I misuse it." He lowered his head next, putting a hoof to his chest, "If that's the case...I promise I won't use your power for anything other than what you see as a good cause. I'll only use it to protect others, and only as a defense in battle." He looked back up at the sphere before bowing, "I promise you won't regret giving me this power."

It was here that the sphere finally responded, letting out a pulse of golden energy. That energy flowed down to Flash, covering his body while making him feel a warm sensation that ran through his entire being. The embracing feeling clicked into the defender's brain, one that made him understand one thing. Deep within him, he felt a new power awaken.

Looking down at his hooves, he gave a soft kind smile, "I see. So that's how your power works." He looked back up again, "I can use it whenever now, can't I?"

The sun didn't respond, but Flash knew its reply. Nodding his head, he said, "Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me. I won't abuse this gift. I promise."

With that, the sun flew into the darkness. Second by second it grew smaller until it was finally gone, leaving Flash alone in his own mind. Blinking at this, he crossed his hooves as a new thought entered his head, "Oh yeah...I need to get back to Twilight. But um...how do I get out of here?" He stared back at the darkness the sun had vanished into, "Yo uh, Sacred Light! Can you, you know...wake me up or something?! Hello?!"

Unfortunately, there was no response. But Flash didn't reply to this, he knew better at this point. As such, he crossed his hooves, thinking about everything that had happened. His mind swam through a sea of memories, all of them about him using his power to protect others. But as he did this, he knew he never did it for revenge or any dark purpose, but just to protect those he cared about.

Now, he knew this power was for just that, to protect others. Even against the impossible odds, he knew this was why he had this power. A small smile began to appear on his face at this...only to sigh again as he still didn't know how to get out of here. But as he thought about this, his mind drifted back to Twilight. A red blush now covered his face as he thought about her, only to start thinking about his friends and family. He could feel a bit of weight on his shoulders now, those thoughts pressuring him as he knew one thing. He wanted to see them again, to be around them...to protect them.

But as he did this, his eyebrows raised as a colorless orb suddenly appeared in front of him. Blinking at it, he leaned over and saw the orb was showing him the scene where he got his cutie mark. Smirking at the sight, another sphere appeared right by it, this one showing his fight against Nightmare Moon. There, he saw himself defying the crazed alicorn, ready to give everything to save the girls.

One by one, more orbs appeared around him, all showing his past fights. And as Flash watched each one, both defeats and victories, he saw him helping and protecting others every time. But as he saw this, another orb appeared and showed Flash in front of a talking Grand, "Flash, after hearing your story and after seeing how well you did on the obstacle course, I believe you have great potential as a protector."

A second orb shined right by that one, this one also showing Grand, "You tried to help somepony you barely knew and your survival on your own for so long shows you have will. You have the potential to be a Royal Knight, my boy. You've shown it in mind, body and soul."

A third orb appeared, this one showing Celestia's motherly face. "You are a protector. And I believe, now more than ever, that Grand Hoof made the right decision in choosing you as his apprentice. I believe you are destined to one day become a member of the Royal Knights."

Another set of orbs began to float around him, each one showing a different pony he cared about, all saying something to him. Unfortunately, their words all started to merge together, his ears unable to comprehend the dialogue. But as this happened, he watched every pony being shown, a smile appearing on his face as a single thought left his mouth, 'No matter what, I will protect them all."

And as these words entered the void, a click went off in the pegasi's brain, his eyes going wide, "That's it...that's it!" The world around him then changed from a black void into an explosion of color, the shining light spiraling around him as realization hit him like a freight train.

But as the light began to die down, the defender now saw that the orbs were gone. Instead, a single image stood before him. It was himself, back when he was a colt. The young pegasus was teary-eyed, water dripping down his face with a huge frown. Dirt, mud and bruises covered his body, injuries that Flash still remembered from those old days.

A frown started to appear on the older Flash's face, only to go wide-eyed at the next sight. Next to his colt self appeared a filly, the sight making both versions of Flash smile. It was Twilight, who came up and hugged Flash, the mud and bruises now vanishing from the colt's body. The sight made the older Flash tear up, only to gasp as he saw the next sight.

Twilight's parents and brother now appeared, followed by Cadance, Celestia and Grand. Spike then appeared, along with Soarin as the colt Flash began to grow up. It was here that Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy appeared, Scootaloo and Springer suddenly warping up to Flash. Next was Iron, along with the rest of the Royal Knights, and even Lightning and his friends began to appear.

And as this happened, the other Flash disappeared, now grown up to his current self. But as for real Flash, tears were pouring down his face, his hoof trying to wipe away the water now flowing down his hooves. Happiness. That was what he was feeling as the ponies surrounded him, his eyes now locking at a certain purple alicorn. A look of pure determination was on her face, one showing both trust...and love.

As he stared at her, memories of the previous night rang out in his head. He had never felt more happy, as if he truly knew what he had finally obtained. It was something he didn't want to lose, no matter what the cost.

"I understand now," he told them as they all smiled back. The army of ponies then transformed into a rainbow of light that began to wrap around him like a tornado, only to leap into his chest. As it did this, Flash's grin grew as he felt a weight of doubt finally lift off of his heart. "No more doubting myself. I know who I am. I am Flash Sentry, student of Grand Hoof. The Element of Courage. Defender of the Peace. And I will be a Royal Knight, cause I now know my reason! I...I have a purpose in my life!" He looked up into the void of his inner mind. "And nothing is gonna stop me from fulfilling that purpose! NOTHING!"

With that outcry, the void cracked open, fading away as Flash saw the world start to vanish. And as it did, the biggest smile he had ever given was on his face.





A certain purple alicorn began to shiver like a leaf as her eyes flickered open. Her hooves clinching next, she could barely feel the blanket over her body as she gripped it. The mare's back now felt the thin blanket under her, the cloth barely giving any comfort from the rocky cave floor. Letting out a small yawn, she rubbed her eyes as she began to wake up.

That is, till she noticed somepony missing, making her mutter out, "Flash?"

Blinking at where he had been last night, thoughts of yesterday evening now going through her head as her face turned bright tomato red. A smile began to creep on to her face as she remembered every moment, knowing she'd never forget it. But as she remembered, her smile began to fade as she saw no sign of the stallion. Pulling her head up, her eyes glanced around the cavern, only to notice Lightbringer leaning against a nearby wall, making her sigh in relief.

And so, she began to pick herself up, wrapping the blanket around her back as she let out another yawn. It was here that she turned to look at the mouth of the cave, only to see a certain pegasi staring at the sunrise outside. A smile returning to her face, she clenched onto the blanket as she slowly made her way to him.

"Flash?" she said as she trotted up to him, the pegasi's wings twitching at her voice before turning to her. And as he showed his face, Twilight almost gasped. His expression was different, one she had not seen on him before. It was a look of...pure serenity, or at least that was how she would describe it. The defender's eyes were bright and calm, brimming with confidence as they looked like doubt and stress had seemingly been removed from his soul. Not only that, his smile was natural, no joy or excitement, but rather...one filled with heart and peace.

Twilight could only blink at the sight, unable to respond. However, Flash didn't seem to notice her surprise, instead just smiling as he replied, "Morning Twilight."

Twilight's eyes darted away for a second, her blush trying to hide itself with no success, "Um...morning Flash."

"How ya feeling?" Flash asked as he gestured her to sit down by him. She silently complied, slowly placing herself down beside him as she noticed his smile grow.

"I'm....good. In fact, I feel-"

"Great? Same here." Flash finished, a small blush starting to appear on his face as Twilight's face went full red, her head nodding.

"Yeah...definitely great." Twilight admitted as she pulled on the blanket, her whole body shivering. Seeing this, Flash wrapped his wing around her, making her gasp for a second, only to accept his wing-hug a moment later. "Thanks."

"No prob. This place ain't exactly warm."

The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, even though it was actually a few minutes before Twilight looked away, now twiddling her hooves, "So uh....Flash. I um...about uh....you know, last night-"

"Yeah..." Flash glanced away, a huge blush appearing on his face, "That was uh...well..." His mouth began to quiver, the right words now not wanting to escape his lips. Despite this, he looked back at Twilight, only to see nothing but pure beauty in his eyes. The very sight made his brain stop working, words pouring out of mouth as he replied, "It was the best night of my life."

Twilight's face couldn't get any redder at that statement, her wings trying to flare in pure embarrassment, only to feel Flash's wing preventing them to get loose. She felt like she wanted to hide in a corner now, not knowing what to say or how to react to the situation. But as she felt this, she saw the huge smile on his face and the giant blush he was wearing, causing her to respond, "Yeah...same here. Last night was...amazing."

The two stared at each other, their eyes locked again as time began to melt around them. But as this happened, Twilight's brain finally caught up to her as her eyes slightly looked away, "But uh...Flash?"

"Yeah?"

"Um..." She began to twiddle her hooves again, "What does it mean...for us?"

"What do you mean?" Flash replied, tilting his head.

"I...I don't know." Her eyes glanced back up to his, "I mean, I um...I uh...I love you Flash. And...I don't know how long I have, but-"

"You're scared?" Flash finished for her, getting a nod from the princess. "Yeah...same here."

"I thought so..." Twilight mumbled as she looked away again, "I mean....I know what I said and last night happened and everything, but I...I-"

Flash's wing tightened its hug, making Twilight now feel Flash's chest as he put a hoof around her neck. "I know. You were uh...you were probably thinking what I was thinking. You know...thinking things could go bad with us."

"Yes...no...I don't know." Twilight admitted as she rested her head on his shoulder, "I just...can't believe I said that and you...accepted it."

Flash's smile continued to grow as he heard those words, his head turning to hers as she lifted it off his shoulder. There, he put his hoof to her chin, "Twilight...I love you too. More than...well, anypony could imagine but..." his hoof slid off her chin as he looked away, "I...I don't know either. I know that I feel this way now and...I guess I was scared too. I...I just knew in the back of mind that it would go badly and...I um...definitely didn't want to lose you, and-"

"Lose our friendship?"

"Yeah." Flash nodded, the stallion now looking back at her. As he did this, he saw the expectant look on her face, one that made him smile as the sun drew close to being fully risen in the horizon. The biggest smile began to morph onto his face, eyes filled with blazing confidence as he said, "But...considering everything we've been through Twilight, that sounds really dumb. I mean, do you really think we would ruin our friendship after all we've done? Every challenge we've faced...we've always done it together."

Upon hearing those words, Twilight felt her heart skip a beat. A long gulp went down her body as she felt tears of joy go down her face, "Yeah. You're absolutely right." She then felt Flash's wing pull her again, a small 'eep' escaping her breath before the two closed their eyes, their lips joining in a sweet embrace. Time began to slow again as the did their act of love, the fear that Cadance had told her about truly fading away.

"Flash...I..." she moaned as they exited their kiss, only for her brain to tell her to shut up and do one thing. Put her hooves around his neck and kiss him again. Obeying the order immediately, the two embraced again, tears now appearing in both lovers' eyes as they continued.

Unfortunately, their need for oxygen stopped the embrace from going on forever, the two slightly gasping for air after that second long kiss. And as they recovered, Flash pulled Twilight close again, his mouth moving on its own, "Twilight...you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. If I never met you, I wouldn't have the great life I have right now." He then stroked her mane, his face fully red as he said, "I love you...and I promise that as long as I live, I'll love you with all my heart and protect you."

Twilight's face was filled with tears now, a giant smile on her face as she pressed herself up against Flash's chest. The rhythmic sound of his heart made her release a happy sigh. "And you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't imagine a world where you weren't with me. I love you Flash Sentry. I love you, and no matter what happens in life, I'll always be there for you."

Their hug continued, tears of joy descending both faces as their embrace kept going. But as they did this, a icy wind blew past them, making both shiver on the spot. "Brrr…." Twilight whimpered as she held onto the stallion, Flash trying to warm her by tightening his wing-hug.

"Yeah...its still really cold here." Flash added as his body started to remind him where he was. "We uh...should get moving."

"No."

"Huh?" Flash looked down at the mare, her hug still tight as ever, "Twilight-"

"You're warm. Wanna stay with you." she pouted, her face rubbing up to his chest. "So fuzzy..."

"Twilight...the empire is warmer. We should go back."

The princess raised an eyebrow at this, pulling her head back as she looked up at him, "Oh? You didn't forget our chat last night? Don't wanna go whack down another forest of trees?"

Flash chuckled at this, shaking his head, "No, I haven't forgotten. You were right Twilight, I'm not alone anymore. I have you and everypony else beside me, and as long as I have them, I'll have the strength to take on any challenge."

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, now fulling releasing the hug, "Thank Celestia."

"Yeah...we should probably get to her first. I bet she's worried about you." Flash added as the two headed back into the cave, ready to make preparations for their trip to the empire.





An hour or so later...

At the base of the mountain, a large flash of light occurred before dying down to reveal a large group of ponies. Celestia and Luna were leading the group, panting after having teleported so many ponies at once. As for why they had done this, by some miracle, Spike woke up early for once, only to notice Twilight was missing. One rush into Celestia's chambers later, he accidentally made a huge panic within the whole castle, everypony now rushing around to find the missing princess.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for a few ponies to figure out where Twilight had went, Ruby and Grand quickly making plans to go out to the Crystal Mountains as soon as possible. This was followed by them getting the Elements along with the princesses, knights and a few others all volunteering to come along for the expedition.

And as they arrived, Shining quickly cast a shield spell as a light snow shower began to fall on them. It was here that Ruby walked up to the front of the group, "We should split up. Prince Shining and I know these mountains quite well, so we should lead the groups."

Shining nodded at this. "Agreed. We can form two separate groups, each of us heading around one side of the mountain."

"Make it three groups." They all turned to see Cold, most frowning at the knight as he showed no emotion on his face despite the worry that was on everypony's faces. "These kinds of mountains are similar to the ones I've trained on. I'll be able to lead a team up them." Almost everypony grimaced at this, Cold not noticing while he continued, "One team will go one way around the mountain's base while the other team goes the opposite way, and I'll lead a team straight over it."

Before anypony could say anything to Cold, Celestia spoke up. "Very well. Cold Steel, Grand Hoof, Skybreaker, Lightning Blitz, Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Applejack and I will head straight up. Ruby, Luna, Trixie, Fluttershy, Iron, Script and Spike will go around the west side of the mountain while Shining will lead the rest of you around the eastern side. Everypony understand?" They all nodded, only to see Fluttershy raise her hoof, "Yes Fluttershy?"

"Yeah um...sorry for asking this, but..." Fluttershy twiddled her hooves as she darted her eyes back and forth from looking at Celestia, "Has anypony seen Discord? I know he was here two days ago, and I was thinking he could help us."

"Well-" Celestia tried to say, only for her ears to hear a voice above the group.

"I wouldn't worry about that." the ponies looked up to see Discord, a big toothy grin on his face. "Hello everypony. Sorry for being away. Let's just say...a lot has happened while you ponies have been chilling out at the Crystal Empire."

"What do you mean Discord? And where have you been?" Celestia asked, only for Discord to point down at a certain non-pony.

"Why don't you ask him?" Discord commented as everypony glanced at where he was pointing, now seeing it was Springer. The jakhowl had his eyes closed, his ears twitching as a faint blue aura cover his body.

Cold gave the jakhowl a blank, yet slightly disapproving stare, "What's wrong with him?"

"He must be sensing something." Ruby replied as she gave him a slight glare, Cold not seeing it but obviously not understanding why she looked angry at him. The crystal pony went back to the jakhowl, a calm smile now on her face, "What is it Springer? What do you sense?"

"Something great." Springer replied, his eyes opening with a huge grin as he pointed at the mountain, "Here it comes!"

The group turned to the mountain, now seeing a snow flurry cover the steep slope in front of them. But as they blinked at the sight, everypony started to squint as they saw a figure hiding in the icy wind, the knights and Shining readying weapons on instinct. And as they stared at the figure, it started to split into two as it got close, only for the flurry to melt away.

There, the figures showed two pairs of wings along with a certain familiar horn, both now walking up to Shining's forcefield. "FLASH/TWILIGHT!" The ponies all screamed as they ran over to the two, Springer, the Mane Seven and Twilight's family all pulling them into a hug.

Tears began to fall down a few faces as the knights put away their weapons. And as the hug began to end, Night Light was the first to speak up, "What were you two thinking?! Who knows what could have happened to you two up there?!"

Twilight frowned at her father's words, only for Flash to step between them, "Don't blame Twilight. She was just trying to help me." He then looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry everypony. I know I caused you all a lot of trouble and worry, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness...but I am sorry. I...I let my failure get the better of me and I acted without thinking about how my actions would effect you all." He did a low bow, "I'm really sorry everypony. For everything."

He waited for somepony to say something, but no such words came out. Instead, he glanced back up...only to see almost everypony smiling at him. It was here that Celestia spoke up, showing her signature motherly smile, "Rise Flash Sentry, you have no reason to apologize. I know you have been having a hard time, and I know that ponies your age have a tendency to act without thought when they're having trouble. Need I remind you of Twilight's little 'want it need it' problem?" Flash and everypony aware of that event laughed, Twilight blushing at the memory as Flash picked himself up.

It was here that Pinkie and Springer leapt at him to pulled the pegasus into another hug, soon mimicked by the most of the rest of the group. But as the last pony hugged him and pulled away, Flash caught sight of Cold, his face morphing back into one of pure determination. Everypony watched as Flash walked past them, stopping in front of the unicorn as they knight raised an eyebrow. Once there, the two stared each other down until Flash spoke up. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said."

"And?"

"You told me not to come back until I have a reason for being a knight. Well...I have one."

"Of really? And what would that reason be?"

Flash smirked back. "I'll show you when we have another battle. If you're willing to take my challenge."

Cold stared into his eyes, only to glance at Grand. Remembering the conversation they had the previous night, he then saw Twilight, a glare on her face. He could feel a small chill as he looked back at Flash, only to notice something. In Flash's eyes was not doubt, fear or indecision. Instead, they showed pure, unwavering confidence and determination.

However, this didn't impress him. His mind told him he was intrigued...but that was it. As such, he spoke up, "Normally...I would say no." Everypony frowned at this, several glares following his next words, "To me, you still look exactly like a worthless criminal. However..." he glanced back at Grand and Twilight, sighing at his next words, "I can't believe I'm saying this...but I'll make an exception this time. We'll have our battle tomorrow. Just don't disappoint me."

He then turned away, now finally showing a hint of emotion as he looked back at glared at a certain purpled alicorn, "Also, Princess Twilight....you're wrong about everything. I'll prove it to you tomorrow."

With that, he walked out of Shining's shield and into the snow showing, disappearing into the cold white void. But as everypony glared at the spot the knight was, Flash just smiled back, "Don't worry, I won't disappoint."





Everything seemed like a blur after that, the group returning to the empire. When they saw the returning ponies, Flash's sister and parents ran over and pulled him into a deep hug. They were so happy he was back and safe, only to soon give him a serious lecture and a half. Once that was done, Flash and Twilight explained what had happened up in the mountains, making sure to leave out...certain details, mainly everything about their relationship. The group was especially surprised at Flash's perfect Sacred Light transformation, but he didn't tell them about the dream on over figuring the it all out.

Flash wanted to tell them about the dream, but chose to keep it a surprise until the battle tomorrow. Now Flash was alone in his room, Springer having left to spend the night talking to Luna and Ruby. The defender was now laying on the bed while looking up at the ceiling, his mind going back and forth over tomorrow's battle and Twilight. That is, till a knock on the door caught his attention and made him sit up. "Come in."

The door opened, revealing his mentor as he walked inside, "Hey kiddo," he said as he moved over to the bed and jumped onto it before sitting down, "You okay?"

"Yeah...just a little nervous."

"Understandable. Unlike before, you know what you're up against now."

"Cold isn't gonna make this fight easy."

Grand nodded at this, a small smile on his face, "But I know you'll prevail. I see it in your eyes." Flash smiled back at his substitute grandfather, only to see a frown now on Grand's face. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you Flash. I know you've been having troubles, but there was nothing I could do to help you. The whole 'reason' thing is something all knights must face, and it's something they can only truly realize on their own. But even so, I wish I could have been of more helpful to you."

Flash shrugged at this, "Its cool. You've been more than just helpful. You're the pony who helped give my life purpose and saw the potential in me that never would have been tapped if you hadn't made me your apprentice."

"Maybe...but it's likely you would have eventually joined the guard, and with your skills...Celestia would have made a knight one day anyway. I really just sped up the process."

Flash shook his head at this. "But you didn't just teach me how to be a knight. You taught me how to be the best version of myself I could be while you gave me room to grow the way I wanted to grow. I don't care what you, or anyone else, thinks, you've been a great mentor to me."

Grand looked away, now wanting to show that he was feeling embarrassed by the praise. "Thank you Flash. You know...it's funny. When I was your age, I never thought I'd end up a Royal Knight, let alone the teacher of one. Heck, I never wanted to be a knight."

"Really?" Flash gasped at this.

Grand nodded, "I didn't think I deserved it. I was a...very different pony when I was younger. As a colt, I made a mistake that cost a lot of ponies...something that can't be replaced. Because of that, I vowed to never let myself become anything worth celebrating. I joined the guard and did my best to keep Equestria safe, until Celestia chose to promote me to a Royal Knight." He looked up at the ceiling, "I didn't want to take it. But at that time, Canterlot was having...problems. The city needed me to step up, so I did so." He sighed at this, "That was my reason for being a knight, and it still is. To atone for the sins of my past."

Flash blinked at this, now realizing he had never really heard about Grand's past except about Doom and Lightning. But as he thought about this, Grand continued, "I guess that's why I wanted to train you. Maybe I thought that me bringing another Royal Knight into the world was also my way of atonement. Unfortunately, my family...decided to go against my decision, and I'm sorry for that."

"Well, I'm glad you did it."

"Thanks kiddo." Grand replied as he hopped off the bed. "You should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right." Flash watched as the earth pony head for the door, "Hey Grand?"

His mentor turned back, "Yeah?"

"For the record, I think you've more than made up for whatever mistakes you've made in the past. Though uh...I know you still have problems with Solid Script, but...just be honest with him like you were with me right now. I know you have problems doing that with him, but..."

"I know." Grand sighed at this, shaking his head, "It ain't easy Flash, admitting your mistakes."

"Yeah. But that's why you should do it." Flash added as he now showed a big kind smile, "I know it'll work out. Trust me. Solid didn't like me much in the old days either, and he's warmed up to me."

Grand tried to smile, but he just couldn't do it. "Thanks kiddo. And for the record, no matter what happens tomorrow, I'm proud I got to train you. You're a pony any knight would be proud to call his apprentice."

With that, the Royal Knight shut the door behind him, leaving Flash alone. Here, the pegasi pulled the covers over his body...only to feel no sleep come to him. It was going to be a long night.





Meanwhile...

Twilight was in her room, now combing her hair before going to bed. As she did this, her ear perked up as she heard a knock on her door. "Come in." She responded as she turned to the door, only to see Cadance and her friends step inside, the group all giving her the same look. "Oh hey girls. What's up?"

Cadance gave a massive smirk as she slowly trotted up to the alicorn, "Twilight...is there something you wanna tell us?"

"No, I don't think so." Twilight replied as she put her brush down.

"You sure sugarcube?" Applejack asked while Rarity moved up beside her.

"Oh really darling? Nothing that might have happened last night? You know...involving you and a certain...pegasus?" Rarity asked as her smirk mimicked Cadance's. And as this question exited Rarity's mouth, Twilight's face instantly went bright red, only to try and turn away to hide it.

"BUSTED!" Rainbow and Pinkie cheered as they suddenly appeared right in front of her turning head.

Fluttershy started clapping her hooves, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it finally happened!"

"Wha...but..." Twilight tried to respond, only for Cadance to grab her with a magic pull, Twilight letting out an 'eep' as she put the purple alicorn into the center of a circle created by the other five girls. "Um..."

Cadance let out a long sigh with a roll of the eyes. "Twilight, I'm the princess of love. You really think I didn't sense it when you two admitted your feelings? I knew it the moment you both appeared together coming down that mountain." Twilight shrank on the spot, now seeing a look of pure delight on Cadance's face, "Now...tell me everything." The rest of the girls all leaned in in unison, all showing the same looks on their faces.

Twilight did a long sigh, knowing she couldn't get out of this one. Groaning, she began to explain the previous night, starting with Discord helping her. They all went wide-eyed at this, and continued to gasp at certain points of the story as Twilight told the rest of her tale, making sure to leave out some certain intimate details.

"That's so...beautiful," Rarity said while wiping away her tears.

"I'm so happy for you," Fluttershy added as she pulled Twilight into a hug.

Twilight returned the embrace, small tears going down her face, "Thanks girls. I'm happy too." She then pulled away and placed a hoof over her heart, "Honestly...I don't think I've ever been this happy."

"I know the feeling." Rainbow admitted, her face showing a slight blush that everypony giggled at.

It was here that Twilight turned to her sister-in-law, now seeing she was literally sobbing. "I know you're happy for me Cadance, but don't you think that's a little much?"

Cadance sniffed as she rubbed her eyes, "These aren't tears of joy, Twily."

"They're not?"

"No!" She broke out crying again, "Why couldn't I have been there?!" Everypony leaned back at this, now slightly grimacing as Cadance rubbed her hooves into her head in frustration, "I've spent over a half a decade trying to get you two together and this is all I got! I wasted all that time in heart-wrenching failures, only to get this!" Her eyes narrowed as she glared at Twilight, pointing at her as steam went out her nostrils, "I deserved to be there when you finally confessed!"

"Uhh...Princess Cadance?" Rainbow chimed in, "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have confessed if you were there."

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Rainbow's right. We probably wouldn't have done it if you were there."

"But...but...the love confession and everything I've worked for..." Cadance moaned, new tears appearing, "I spent so much effort, so many years, so many other couples I had to ignore to try and get you two together...only to see nothing! WHY?!"

"Oh! I know!" Pinkie spoke up, everypony turning to her, "What about that potion Zecora gave you? You know, the one that needs alicorn magic and lets you see the past? Couldn't she make some for Cadance to use so she could go see how it happened?" This statement made Cadance instantly stop crying, huge wide eyes appearing on her face as a grin began to-

"NOOOO!!!" Twilight almost screamed, "I don't want anypony seeing that!" She put her hoof into Pinkie's mouth while giving Cadance a pleading stare, "Cadance, please. It's...private what happened. Something only me and Flash should know the..." her face went full red as she looked away, "Intimate details of." Cadance's smile and wide eyes was quickly replaced by a pout, only for it start to fade as Twilight showed a giant apologetic frown. "I'm sorry, but...please. Please just live with the knowledge that it happened. Please..."

Cadance wanted to counter, only to let out a long sigh, "Fine....I'm not somepony that would just invade your privacy like that." She then pointed a hoof at her, "But I at least want pictures of your first date! And...I get to officiate your wedding and you have to name your first born daughter Cadance!" While she said this, Twilight's face had turned from purple to deeper shades of red as steam began to release itself out of her head.

"Cadance!" Twilight screeched, "We just confessed to each other! We don't even know if-"

"You will." Cadance interrupted, leaning in with a growl, "Trust me, you will."

"But...but..."

The princess of love shook her head at the squirming Twilight, letting out a laugh next. "Alright, I've had my fun. I'd better be getting to my room before Shiny sends the guard out on a search and rescue. The rest of you should be getting to bed as well, as we all know that there's a big day tomorrow." They all nodded and got up to leave, all giving their goodbye hugs to the Twilight. And as they left, Cadance was the only one that remained as she put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "Twilight, I know I was being pushy and I'm sorry. I just..." she let out a long sigh, tears reappearing in her eyes as she gave Twilight a kind smile, "I really am happy for you. You and Flash are a perfect couple."

Twilight didn't respond, just nodding with a weak smile before Cadance left the room. And as she found herself alone, she flopped onto the bed...only to find sleep was eluding her. Even after Spike had come back from his extra long bubble bath and fallen asleep, she was still wide awake.

"Flash..."





The next morning...

Once again, the stadium was filled with the same ponies as before, all waiting to see if Flash could defeat Cold in battle.

"COME ON FLASH!" Scootaloo cheered.

"You got this!" Springer added.

"FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!" The younger members of the group, plus Pinkie, chanted.

Celestia watched as Flash did some warm-up stretch's, concern on her face as she remembered breakfast. Flash had come in with exhaustion on his face, drinking eight cups of coffee in a row. The sight was unnerving, especially when she thought about yesterday. When Flash had returned to the empire, she had him undergo a medical checkup, only for it show that his was in perfect physical health despite staying the night in a frozen wasteland after fighting a monster. As such, she knew something else could be wrong in terms of mental health. "Please be careful Flash." She whispered as she glanced over at her student, seeing an also ragged Twilight that had drank ten cups this morning, "Twilight might not be able to take seeing you beaten again."

All conversations stopped when a cold breeze filled their stadium, making them turn to see Cold walking onto the field. Glares followed this as he showed no emotion, a completely dead look on his face as the knight saw Flash yawning, "Late night?"

Flash cricked his neck in response, "Those castle beds aren't as comfortable as they look."

Cold raised an eyebrow, "Oh? If you're too tired-"

"Backing out already, huh?" Flash chuckled with a smirk, making Cold almost frown.

"Tch. Don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, Grand stepped between them, "Now, this battle will consist of a single one-on-one match between Flash Sentry and Cold Steel. There is no time limit and it will not end until one of the fighters either concedes, or is no long able to continue fighting. In addition, any outside help will result in the fighter it's designed to help being disqualified. Is that understood?" Flash and Cold both nodded.

Everypony in the stands watched as Grand walked back to a safe distance while the runes activating to keep whatever attacks were thrown out away from the audience. They all began to pray a silent prayer, hoping this match didn't turn out like the last one.

Flash's got into a fighting stance with Lightbringer glowing, Cold doing the same while sparking his horn. "Are both fighters ready?" They heard Grand ask, nodding in reply. "Then battle...BEGIN!"

As soon as these words left Grand's mouth, Flash shot like a rocket at Cold. "RRRRAAAAAHHHHH!" he screamed as he charged, his blade now glowing orange as Cold's horn sparked. The battle had finally begun.
> The Knight of Friendship
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"RRRRAAAAAHHHHH!" Flash screamed as he charged at Cold, everypony watching in the stands already on the edge of their seats. It was here Flash reached Cold, his weapon glowing orange as he yelled, "Flash Cutter!" He swung the sword at Cold's head, only for a shield of ice to suddenly appear, blocking the energy blade. Flash flared his wings next, leaping back as the shield broke apart before reforming into a sphere of ice.

"Cold Eagle Flock!" From out of the ice flew a swarm of bird shaped ice sculptures, all flying at Flash with bladed wings. Flash glared at the sight, quickly jumping around as several dive-bombed at him. And as the attack continued, a few birds shattered upon impact into the ground while others were cut to pieces by Flash's blade. However, this meant nothing as Cold's horn sparked, "Cold Field!" A sheet of ice covered the floor next, Flash making sure to stay in the air as Cold sent another barrage of birds, these all surrounding the defender.

"Got no choice." Flash whispered to himself as he entered Theta Mode, the pegasi speeding up as he sliced through the line of birds before swinging his sword at Cold, "Flash Cutter!"

"Cold Saber!" Cold formed a blade of ice at that command, the sword blocking Flash's strike with ease. But as he guarded himself from the attack, Flash appeared in front of the unicorn, quickly spinning like a top before slamming one of his back hooves into Cold's chest. The blow knocked him sliding back, the ice grinding as Cold pushed himself to a halt.

"Cold Tigers!" His horn flared as a trio of tiger shaped sculptures appeared, all pouncing at the defender.

"Flash Driver!" He spun into a spiralling drill of light, smashing the first tiger before turning around, slamming both back hooves into the second. This blow knocked it back into the third, all three tigers now shattering into icy dust. Flash then spun around, hopping back to his hooves with weapon in hoof, "Not too shabby if I say so myself. Impressed yet?"

Cold smirked as he formed his own blade. "Your dance moves are impressive, but not enough for me to deem you worthy of being a knight. Or even existing." With that, he galloped up to Flash, slashing at the pegasi. But the apprentice knight easily blocked the blow, quickly countering with a cut from his own blade that shattered the ice sword. In response, Cold summoned an ice axe and swung it at Flash's neck, only for Flash to destroy it as well.

This went on for several long minutes, Cold creating a new weapon that Flash easily cut through each time. And as this went on, the audience watched in confusion and surprise, all wondering if the fight was now perfectly even.

"I can't tell who's winning," Spike commented.

"I don't think anypony's winning," Springer replied with crossed arms.

"Which shows how much stronger Flash is compared to their last battle," Celestia added with a glum frown. "Before, Flash could barely keep up with Cold, but now they're both even."

Luna sighed at this, "Which means this is a battle of stamina and strategy, both of which they each possess above the other. Flash in stamina and Cold in strategy...but Cold has more experience."

"Which means Cold still has the edge," Trixie gulped while Luna nodded. Everypony else grimaced at this, only for their ears to start hearing the sound of crunching popcorn.

They looked up, only to see Discord scarfing down a whole tub of popcorn. A series of glares following this, Discord chomping down on a clawful before asking, "What?"

"Really?" Applejack growled, "Ya'll eating popcorn right now?"

"Don't you know how serious this is?!" Rainbow added.

"Well excuse me, I'm worried about Flashy losing again." Discord told her as he started eating part of the tub that was holding the popcorn. "I'll have you know, being nervous makes me hungry. Even chaos spirits need to watch their blood sugar."

Everypony rolled their eyes before turning back to the battlefield, Cold now summoning two swords. Flash blocked the first blade, only for the second's approach to force Flash into just blocking the blade rather than destroying it. Cold smirked at this, swinging back and forth as Flash could only block each attack. And as he did a push after a two swipe-combo, Flash leapt back and took to the skies. "Oh no you don't. Cold Blast!" Cold yelled as several magic bullets shot out of his horn.

"Flash Vortex!" The pegasus spun his sword around, creating a whirlpool of light that blocked the ice barrage. As these projectiles disintegrated from the light, Flash charged at the knight while spinning, morphing into a wheel of light, "Flash Grinder!"

"Cold Pillar!" Cold yelled as he slammed his hooves into the frozen dirt, a barrage of ice spikes now shooting up between him and Flash. The shining wheel hit the first one and cut through, soon going through the second before stopping as it hit the third, all its speed now gone. But as Flash came to a halt and gripped the ice spike, his ears shot up, "Cold Force!" Looking up, the unicorn was now on top of the spike Flash was on, a tornado of cold air forming from his horn.

"Whoa!" Flash yelped as he leapt off the spike, quickly spinning up into the air as his sword began to glow, "Flash Cutter Barrage!"

"Cold Saber!" Cold responded, creating a pair of ice swords that he quickly used to ward off the energy blades. And as he did this, he hopped off the spike as his horn sparked again, "Cold Dragon!" As soon as he hit the ground, several serpent like ice sculptures flew out of the dirt, all ready to strike the pegasus.

The defender quickly slashed at the first ice beast, beheading it with ease. But as this happened, two more charged at him, Flash flapping back to dodge both, only for a third to appear and clamp its mouth down on him. "FLASH!" His friends all screamed, only to gasp as the head shattered a second later, Flash flying out with a roar.

"Flash Cutter/Cold Saber!" The two yelled before clashing, their blades now firing out a powerful gust throughout the whole battlefield. The two pushed, both glaring at each other before a backlash of force hit both, Cold's sword shattering while Flash was knocked flying back. Landing, Flash grinded his hooves into the battlefield, trying to slow himself down. But as he did this, he looked up and saw Cold galloping at him, the unicorn spinning to kick Flash's face. The pegasi swiftly pulled his head back, evading the strike as he threw a punch. Cold grabbed the hoof and rolled back, pulling Flash down with him. He then shoved his back hooves into the pegasi's stomach, knocking him rolling down the icy floor.

The pegasus grunted as he spun like a ball, quickly getting back to his hooves. It was here he noticed that his Celestic Gear was behind Cold, the scuffle they just had being the reason it was now over there. Growling at the sight, Flash zipped into a bum-rush, flying at Cold at high speed. "RAAAHHHH!!!" he yelled as Cold tried to spark his horn, only for Flash to tackle him before he could muster a spell. The sudden blow knocked Cold back, but it wasn't enough as Cold immediately hit Flash back.

Flash was pushed off the knight from the blow, only for Cold to swing another hook at the defender. Quickly blocking, Flash tried another punch as well, but Cold blocked it as he tried to do a jab. The two then both did jabs, both smacking each others' faces, only to counter with hooves to gut. Pain surged in both bodies, Flash quickly countering by socking Cold in the jaw. But as this blow hit, Cold slammed his hooves into ground as his horn started to glow, causing an ice spike to fly up into Flash's stomach. The blow propelled the pegasi into the air, his body soon falling with thud as it cracked the icy floor.

"Hmm...I actually felt that. Still, its not enough." Cold hissed as he started to pant, just now noticing his body slightly feeling exhaustion.

"Is he okay?" Fluttershy squeaked as Flash rolled over, his form trying to get up. "Oh dear..."

Rarity quivered at the sight. "Agreed darling. This battle is starting to get even more brutal than their last one."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Except Flash is managing to keep up with Cold. Look!" She pointed at the Frozen Wanderer, everypony now seeing a glare on the unicorn's face as he kept panting.

"Looks like Flash is finally pushing him," Lightning added.

"But is Flash gonna be able to push him any further?" Iron finished with crossed hooves.

Twilight stared down at her lover, seeing exhaustion all over his body. Her eyes shrinking at the sight, now remembering the first fight and starting to see it overlap with this one. But as she blinked at the sight, her brain clicked as memories of these past two days with Flash now telling her to do one thing: She got up and yelled, "COME ON FLASH! YOU CAN BEAT THAT JERK!!!"

The pegasus shined a small grin as he felt his energy return from his lover's cheers, his panting stopping as he kept his eyes on Cold.

As for Cold, upon hearing Twilight outcry, it made him let out a growl, "I'll admit, you've gotten stronger. I'm honestly surprised a worthless weakling criminal like you could gain this much power in such a short amount of time."

"I have you to thank for that." Flash replied as pushed himself up back onto his hooves, "You said I was weak because I didn't have a reason to be strong. But that's different now, because I found my reason."

"Which you still haven't told me about," Cold hissed, his horn starting to spark. "You finally gonna tell me, or are you just bluffing?!"

Flash did a small shrug, "Nah, I have one. I'm not a bluffer. It was just so obvious a reason that it doesn't even need to be said out loud. It's the same reason Grand became a knight, along with Skybreaker and any of the other Royal Knights." He pointed at Cold, "Even you."

Cold raised an eyebrow at this, only for both to say in unison. "To protect Equestria."

Flash nodded, "But that's where our reasons diverge." He saw Cold's head tilt at this statement, "Your reason for becoming a knight is to protect Equestria...the kingdom itself. But the rest of us, we're here to protect the true Equestria. We live to protect its ponies."

Cold's eyes started to rapidly blink, now remembering what Grand and Twilight had said before. But before he could reply, Flash continued, "Tell me, if the only way to save Equestria from being destroyed was to allow half its citizens to die, would you do it?" Cold didn't reply, his expression turning back to a blank one. He looked...insulted, which made Flash smirk, "You probably would and wouldn't lose any sleep over it, all because you think the only thing that matters is the land itself. But to me, I wouldn't bat an eye if this land was obliterated." This statement made Cold's face start to show anger, irritation on his face as Flash continued, "As long as the ponies that live here survive, that means Equestria will live on. Equestria isn't the land the ponies live on, but the ponies themselves. If this kingdom was destroyed, the ponies could just move somewhere else and that new land would be Equestria. So that's why I'll become a Royal Knight, to help protect the ponies of this kingdom from any threat that might try to to cause it harm. But it's not just that that makes me want to be a knight."

"What else?"

Flash just glanced at the stands, pointing at the ponies up there. "Them."

Cold just glared at the stands, his brow narrowing before looking back at Flash. There, he saw the pegasi closing his eyes, patting his chest with a look of reflection on his face. "For the longest time, I had nothing. I was just some street rat that barely managed to scrape by." His eyes then opened, Cold seeing a burning flame of determination ablaze inside them. "But then I met Twilight and her family. It was there that I felt love and affection for the very first time." The Sparkle family all smiled at this as he continued, "Over the years, I've met more and more ponies and become friends with so many of them. They helped me grow into the pony I am today, the pony I never knew I could be." Flash's grin grew to a massive size, "Before I met Twilight, I never truly lived. I was just...surviving. It wasn't until I met them that my life truly began." He turned to the ponies in the audience, "I went from being a street rat with no family, to having the largest family in all of Equestria."

The whole audience all smiled at this announcement. "Oh Flash..." Celestia whispered as she couldn't help but shed a tear.

While this happened, Flash turned back to Cold, looking more serious than ever. "When Grand took me on as his apprentice, he told me I had the potential to be a great protector. And what I was meant to protect was whatever I deemed worth protecting." He used his wing the point at the crowd, "Well in my eyes, the only thing worth protecting in this world are the ponies that made it a great place to live in. That's why I'll become a knight. That's why I'll fight. That's why...I'll beat you! For them...my friends!"

As soon as he said that, something sparked inside him. He closed his eyes, his mind asking the magic inside him one simple thing: Just this once, let me go all out.

"Now I'll show you..." his eyes opened, both now shining pure glowing gold. "The power I'll use..." the rest of his body began to glow. "TO PROTECT THEM ALL!" With that last outcry, the light exploded off his body, spiraling around him into a tornado of light. Everypony gasped at this, now all seeing the armor appear around his body as the tornado exploded off of him. The light flew around him until it came together into a bubble on his back, which then morphed into two overlapping light blades.

Cold just blinked at the sight. His irritation was mostly gone, instead showing a new emotion. Surprise, albeit very slightly, "I see. So you managed to gain control of the Sacred Light."

"No."

Cold raised an eyebrow, "No?"

Flash shook his head, "I haven't gained control of it. I can't. Nopony can. The Sacred Light is a living magic, and nopony has the right to control it. Instead, I can borrow the magic from the Sacred Light, but only if I intend to use it in a way it sees as fitting."

"And intending to use it to fight is...fitting?"

"No. I'm supposed to only use this power to protect." He then bent over, a huge smirk on his face, "But it's letting me use it just this once to kick...your...flank!"

"I see..." Cold put himself into a fighting stance, his horn now shining, "I must say, for the first time since meeting you, I'm intrigued. Show me."

"I will! Let's do this!" Flash yelled as he flared his wings, charging with a roar.

As this happened, Cold jumped onto his back hooves. "Cold Dragons!" He slammed them into the ground, causing a trio of serpent like dragons to shoot out of the ground.

The armored pegasus came to a stop as the three chomped down on him, only for him to flap backward, spreading his wings as he flew above the ice monsters. Looking down, he pulled the twin light swords off his back, swinging them down as he yelled, "Flash Cutter!"

With three bright flashes of light, the Cold Dragons were atomized as Flash began to swoop down. Seeing this, Cold's horn sparked, "Cold Blast Barrage!" Cold unleashed a gatling wave of magic blasts, but Flash just put his swords in front of himself, spinning them like a fan at tremendous speed. The move cut them all apart as he started to get close to the knight. "Cold Saber!" The unicorn formed a quick sword, blocking Flash's as they now found themselves inches apart from one another, only for Flash to start pushing him back. "This...strength! Where...?"

"You told me I was too weak to stand on my own. Well here's something you don't know about me. I'm never alone! My friends are always with me, even if I can't see them!" Flash leaned in, his eyes shining gold as yelled, "I know they're cheering for me, and that alone will give me the strength to overcome any opponent, INCLUDING YOU!" With that, the swords smashed through Cold's, only to vanish. Instead, Flash swung his back hooves around, striking Cold in the face.

"GAHHH!" He yelped as slid back on the ice, only to grind his hooves as he flared his horn, "Cold Force!" A tornado of ice shot out of his horn, Flash now seeing it as he was still off balance from his last attack. The attack then struck him, knocking him back. But before it could freeze him over, Flash slammed his hooves into the ground, a glow of light shining over his body as he kept his balance. That is, till he looked up and saw a charging Cold, "Cold Saber!"

"Flash Cutter!" Flash countered as twin blades appeared in his hooves, both swords now clashing. Cold then summoned a second blade, swinging both in an x formation while Flash crossed his to block. This was followed with a dance of blades, Flash countering with a right thrust and Cold blocking before a horizontal swipe of his other sword. Cold blocked both, knocking Flash's swords back before trying a thrust himself, only for Flash to quickly block it as well.

And as this exchange happened, Cold suddenly leapt back, "Cold Flock!" he yelled as a horde of frozen birds appeared around him. "Get him!"

"Oh no you don't! Don't think you're the only one with numbers on your side!" Flash yelled as he took to the air, only to seemingly multiply into an army of three dozen or so Flashs. The birds started to strike each one, only for all of them to just vanish. Down below, even Rainbow and Soarin were having a hard time telling where the real Flash was as the two armies of Flashs and birds fought, Flash constantly vanishing in the air.

It was here that the armies destroyed each other, leaving only Flash and Cold. And as this happened, the defender suddenly vanished mid-air, only to reappear in front of Cold while spinning in an attempt to slam his back hooves into Cold's head. The unicorn leaned slightly back as his horn flared, summoning a shield of ice that Flash's hooves shattered in an instant. Unfortunately, this was enough for Cold to leap back, now slamming his hooves into the frozen dirt. "Cold Pillar!"

"AUGH!" Flash moaned as a large spike of ice shot out of the ground, smashing right into his stomach and propelling him into the air. Seeing this, Cold shot a beam of magic into the spike, causing it explode. The blast hit the pegasi, making him scream as he fell to the ground with a thud. "Oof! Urgh…"

"Can't let him rest," Cold told himself before jumping onto his back hooves. "Cold Dragons!" He slammed into the ground again, this time creating ten ice serpents.

The still recovering Flash looked up and saw the icy army, his wings quickly spreading as he dodged the first dragon by taking to the air. While he did this, the second appeared and chomped at him, but Flash zipped above him and slid down the serpent's back while he looked up at the third snake coming for him. "Flash Driver!" He spun as the light swords exploded before wrapping around him, morphing him into a drill that cut through the dragon.

But as he stopped spinning, several more dragon heads leapt at him, making him flap higher as he tried to dodge each head. As he did this, he took both swords off his back and slammed them together, forming one giant light sword. "Super Flash Cutter!" He spun around as a storm of energy blades flew out, each one cutting off the heads of every serpent as everypony cheered.

Unfortunately, as he did this, two more heads grew out each of the stumps, making Flash grimace. He quickly went into evasive maneuvers as he kept dodging each chomping head.

"Flash keeps getting pushed back," Trixie commented, "He can't seem to close the gap between them."

"Those Cold Dragons are just too damn strong," Iron added with crossed hooves.

The others nodded as Lightning spoke up. "And whenever he cuts one down, Cold just makes two more from it."

"They're more like Cold Hydras," Script finished as they saw Flash land, only to jump to the side to avoid being crushed by a dragon's head.

"What now?" Scootaloo asked in worry, "Is Flash...gonna lose?"

"No," they all turned to Twilight. They expected to see a look of worry, only to see nothing but absolute confidence on her face, "Flash won't give up. After all...he knows we're here cheering for him."

It was here that Everypony remembered what he had said before turning back to the field. They saw Flash not even remotely phased at the situation, seeing him dodge each attack with ease. "Look at him," Applejack chuckled. "He's not even scared."

"Its because he knows he's not alone." Rarity added.

Celestia smiled as she thought back to the day she was reunited with her sister, when Flash had created the Element of Courage. "Flash greatest strength was never the Sacred Light. It was the strength he got from having his friends beside him. So as long as he knows we're supporting him, his power has no limit."

As if to prove her point, the dragons all came together as Flash held his hooves into the ground. The heads charged at him, but he didn't even flinch. Instead, he pulled his hoof back and as the dragon got within inches of him, he let out a mighty cry before thrusting his hoof into the center dragon. The force shattered the dragon, only for its blast to strike the rest, destroying all the icy creations.

"Such amazing strength," Heather gasped.

Skybreaker nodded, "Probably on the same level as an earth pony."

The princesses were just as amazed as Luna spoke up. "Incredible speed and strength, combined with the magical abilities he's showing....in this form, Flash is practically an alicorn."

"Its not just that." Springer commented while shaking his head, "Flash's emotions...they're nowhere near a mess. He's been calm the entire time, barely showing any anger or fear or...anything. There's not even confidence in his emotions, just...calm and focus."

"And Cold?"

Springer shivered in his seat for a second, "I'm....not sure. Last time, Cold didn't show an inch of emotion. But this time, I felt a tinge of intrigue and...anger. He's become more focused as the fight continued, but...I don't know. I still feel barely anything from him."

"I see. To think Cold would change like that." Celestia answered as she crossed his hooves, "Cold is a...unique individual. He's not somepony that...well, shows emotions." She then saw a glare from Twilight, only to shake her head at her former student, "Let's stop for now. You all need to cheer Flash on, don't you?"

"YEAH!" Springer yelled as he hopped off his seat, "GO FLASH! GO FLASH!"

Back at the battle, Flash and Cold stared one another down. Both glaring at each other, Flash summoned the light on his back into a sphere in his hooves while Cold's horn sparked. "Flash/Cold...FORCE!" The two launched their attack, both slamming into each other in an instant.

KABOOM!

The force of the combined attacks sent a shockwave across the field, pushing everypony into their seats while Flash and Cold struggled to not be blown away. And as this happened, Cold was straining to keep his balance while Flash just flared his wings, charging ahead. "Time to end this!" Flash yelled as he multiplied into almost a hundred copies of himself.

"Cold Sabers!" The unicorn created a pair of swords, only to start spinning around at high speed. The force began to form into a tornado of ice, a flurry of ice blades surrounding him as he struck all but one of the Flashes down.

However, Cold then saw Flash land back down, the light swords exploding off his back before spiraling into a orb that Flash now held in on hoof. "Ultimate Final Move!" Flash pulled the sphere back before tossing it like a buck-ball.

The sphere shot across the field, the Frozen Wanderer using his magic to fuse his two swords together into one large blade as he swung in an attempt to cut the sphere in half. But before the sword made contact, the orb's direction shifted a hundred and thirty five degrees. "What?"

He watched as the sphere fly above him, only to see Flash appear over it. Before Cold could ask what was happening, Flash curled up and started to spin, his back hoof then thrusting into the orb. The following strike caused the orb to explode, causing a light to cover Flash as he charged down at Cold with a huge grin on his face. The light began to spark off his hoof like lightning as Flash turned into what looked like an arrow of light. "SHINING IMPACT!"

Cold's brain caught up to him as his horn started to reshape his sword into a shield. He held it up as the two forces collided, Cold now feeling himself be pushed back by the force of the attack. "Please...hold." But as he said this, cracks were already appearing on his shield. And as a final crack appeared, the sound of ice shattering could be heard as his makeshift barrier was destroyed as Flash struck Cold's chest. "AAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!" He screamed as a surge of electricity consumed his body.

"So...this is the power Flash gets from his friends," Cold whispered as he felt himself being struck, pain searing though his body, "You weren't kidding Grand." With that, the two were encased by the light before-

KABOOM!

The sphere exploded, unleashing a super bright light that almost blinded everypony. They all shielded their eyes as the stadium shook, this lasting for almost a minute before both the light and shaking began to weaken. It was here they opened their eyes, now seeing Flash land, his body panting as he touched the frozen ground. The audience turned to the other side, now seeing a downed Cold with smoke coming off his body.

"Is...is it over?" Spike asked.

"I...I think so," First replied, only to grimace as he saw Cold begin to move, slowly picking himself up.

"OH, COME ON!" Pinkie cried while Wild facehoofed.

"He can still fight, even after taking a hit like that?!"

Flash got into a fighting stance, fully ready to go without a comment. But as he did this, Flash turned to see Grand walk onto the battlefield, "Huh? Grand, what are you-"

"Hang on kiddo." Grand interrupted, his mentor now staring at Cold, "Cold, you alright?"

The unicorn, now back on his hooves, was panting as blood dripped down his forehead. He then put his hoof over his head, gasping as he started sway back and forth, "I...I can't beat you."

This statement made everypony go wide-eyed, Flash raising an eyebrow. "Wait...what?"

"I can't beat you, not in this condition. There's no point in continuing to battle. It's over...you've won."

Grand smiled before holding up his hoof, "Cold Steel has forfeited the match." He pointed to his apprentice, "So Flash Sentry is hereby declared the winner!"

Flash's eyes slowly grew wide, the light covering his body vanishing to show he was back in his normal form. "No way."

"FLASH!" He quickly turned to the voice before a bright flash of purple light burnt his eyes, something slamming into him.

"Augh!" he moaned as his eyes started to clear, now seeing one Twilight that had tackle-hugged him. And as he got back up from the sign of affection, the two saw that all their friends were beginning to surround him, each giving their own hug or hoofshake to Flash in congratulations. Discord even made a banner appear while confetti rained from the sky. And when the last one did so, they pulled away from Flash to let him see all the Royal Knights standing in a line.

He walked up to them as Grand spoke up. "Flash, you have achieved victory in this battle, but more than that, you showed the resolve and dedication needed to be a knight."

"You sure ain't no slouch," Skybreaker added.

Ruby nodded with a giggle, "Truly, the Sacred Light made the right decision in choosing you as its wielder."

Tidal shined a cheeky grin next, "You've got my heart beating with joy amigo. I look forward to standing beside you in our next battle."

"Same here. You did great Flash," Heather added.

First did a gesture of agreement, "Truer words were never spoken."

Iron smirked. "I admit, even I'd have trouble facing off against you in that form."

All eyes were then on Cold, who seemed to remain silent. His body was still beaten up, long slow pants leaving his mouth, "You've given me a lot to think about, but one thing is certain. The Royal Knights could use a weap-er...a...pony like you in their ranks."

Flash smiled as he saw Celestia, Luna and Cadance step up to him, Twilight quickly running over to join them. The princess of the sun gave a huge grin next, "Flash, not once did I ever doubt I'd be standing before you like this. I knew from the day you became Grand's apprentice that I would one day be knighting you."

"Thank you, your highness." He bowed, "I swear I'll keep Equestria safe."

"I know you will. Now...all we have to do is make it official." Celestia glanced at the rest, "Let's get to Canterlot, shall we?"





A few days later...

The main hall was again filled just like it had been during Twilight's coronation and Iron's knighting. The ponies there were residents from all over Equestria, all ranging from nobles to everyday common ponies. Shining Armor and his guard were standing to attention around the edge of the room while the Royal Knights were in front of the stage, all dressed in a blue variant of Shining's suit.

On stage, Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight were standing there in their best robes, each with a ceremonial sword on a cushion next to them. At the front of the crowd, Springer, Spike, the remaining members of the mane seven, Flash and Twilight's families and even Lightning and his friends were seated on the first two rows. Discord was also there, though he had agreed to take up his pony disguise.

Behind them were many other ponies Flash had grown to call his friends. All over the hall, the many ponies were talking about the guest of honor. Each one seemed to have a story of a time they had seen him in action, most not having a bad word being said about him.

It was here that Celestia tapped the stage with her hoof, the entire hall quickly being bathed in silence before the alicorn began to talk. "We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion. The knighting of a very special pony. For years, he has served Equestria and its citizens with courage, integrity and honor, all standing up against foes that most ponies would cower before. And now, the time has come to reward him for his valor." She turned to the door. "Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present Equestria's newest Royal Knight: Flash Sentry!"

In that moment, the doors of the hall opened as the stallion of the hour stepped inside. He was dressed in the same suit as the rest of the Royal Knights, his hoof pressing on the red carpet as the many ponies all clapped for him. He couldn't help but smile, especially when he saw his friends grinning at him, but then requipped his serious face as he arrived in front of the stage. His eyes shot from side to side as he saw Grand and Cold on either side of him, then looked up at the four princesses.

"Flash Sentry, you stand before us this day to offer your unending service to Equestria and all its inhabitants." Celestia picked up her sword. "From this day, and until your dying day, do you swear to protect this kingdom from any threat it might come under?"

"I swear," Flash replied while bowing, Celestia giving her usual motherly smile before lowering her sword and tapping it onto Flash's shoulders.

She then stepped back as Luna walked up with her sword, "Flash Sentry, from this day until your dying day, do you swear to uphold the knight's code? To do no evil, and allow no evil to go unpunished?"

"I swear." Luna nodded at this before lowering her sword, tapping it onto Flash's shoulders.

Cadance was next as she presented her sword, "Flash Sentry, from this day until your dying day, do you swear to safeguard the citizens of Equestria? To protect them from danger, even at risk of your own life?"

"I swear." Cadance calmly smiled before tapping Flash's shoulders as well.

Finally, Twilight stood in front of Flash, a smile on her face as she stared at the pony she loved, "Flash Sentry, from this day until your dying day, do you swear to never abandon those in need? No matter the circumstances or the pony, from your closest friend to your most hated enemy, do you swear to stand by their side and protect them from harm?"

Flash's eyes glanced up at Twilight, the two staring in pure bliss before Flash gave his response. "I swear."

Twilight's eyes filled with tears as she lowered the royal sword and tapped his shoulders. "Arise, Sir Flash Sentry. Royal Knight of Equestria." With that, the hall exploded into applause as Flash picked himself up. He did a small sniff as he turned away from the princesses and stared at all the ponies now congratulating him.

And as the clapping came to an end, the knight did a small gulp as he spoke up, "Erm...thank you...everypony." He took a deep breath, his thoughts trying to organize themselves. "It's uh...its hard to believe I'm standing here. When I first became an apprentice, I thought I'd be knighted in a week." Everypony laughed at this, "But as the years passed, I was starting to think I'd never be knighted."

He let out a long sigh at this as he regained his focus, "I know I'm not perfect, I'll definitely admit that...but I've been on one heck of a journey since I became Grand's apprentice." His memories swam through his head as he continued, "I've been forced to see some awful things, some trying to destroy something I care about while others just tried to bring me down for fun of it. But...because of all the things I've seen, all the ponies I've met, for good or for ill, I've become better. I learned, I grew, I made mistakes and understood why I made them, and how I can stop myself from doing them again. Its thanks to that that I've became the pony I am today."

"It...hasn't been easy. A few times since I've started, I've wanted to give up." Flash's face now showed a large smile, the grin continuing to grow, "But I've met a lot of amazing ponies. Loved ones, colleagues, friends...oh, most especially my friends." He looked down at the first two rows. "My friends, you have been the most amazing of all. It's because of you that I didn't end up like the many criminals I've now vowed to fight, so...so...so thank you all!" Now everypony's smiles were the same as his as tears tried to appear in his eyes. "And so, I will fight to protect the friends I have, along with all the friends they have...and all their friends too. Because to quote a good book, 'a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet.'"

With that, he ended his speech and the crowd broke out into a barrage of cheers. The rest of the Royal Knights walked up next before doing an about turn, now facing Flash as Grand spoke up. "An excellent speech Flash, which has only affirmed my choice in your title." He walked up and patted Flash's shoulder. "My boy, the strength you gain from those you care for is truly unrivaled. You understand that friendship is more important than all the magic, wealth and power in the world. And for that reason, I here by dub thee Flash Sentry...The Knight of Friendship!"

Shining took this moment to call out to the guard. "Company...SALUTE!" The guards all saluted at the Knight of Friendship, Flash nodding as they finished the maneuver. He then joined the rest of the knights as the crowd gave one final cheer, all yelling out Flash's new title over and over again.

Flash couldn't help but smile, the sound of his title sounding ever so sweet. He saw the rest of the knights smiling with the exception of Cold. From this point forth, Flash was no long a squire. He was Flash Sentry...The Knight of Friendship.





That night...

Much like at Iron's knighting, there was a party in the great hall that could rival that of the Grand Galloping Gala. But unlike the gala, this wasn't a dignified get-together. It was a full blown, off the wall, you'll sleep for a week Pinkie Pie party, and everypony was loving it. Up on stage, Vinyl Scratch was scratching the discs like no tomorrow while everypony was having a blast on the dance floor. This included Discord, Pinkie, Wild, Rainbow, Soarin, Spike, Springer and the CMC, along with several other young ponies that had been invited.

Other ponies were simply talking, all enjoying the delicious food while telling certain...stories. "And then, Flash started swinging from the light fixings until he reached the door." Donut Joe said as the ponies around him kept laughing, "Meanwhile, I got a broom in hoof, trying swat him like a fly, but he manages to dodge every time. And when he got to the door, he managed to do a little victory dance before rushing out." The laughter increased as they all imagined a young Flash doing a victory dance with a bag of donuts in his mouth.

Meanwhile, Flash and Twilight's parents were talking about Flash's colthood, mainly over him and Twilight trying to cook Velvet a mother's day breakfast. "Never in all my years had I seen the kitchen in such a mess. I was finding pancake mix in different places for a week, including behind the fridge."

They all laughed before Misty asked, "How did it taste?"

Night let out a hum as he tried to remember, "Well...the toast wasn't too bad, though it did start life as a fruit salad. That was somehow Flash's doing, even though we were so sure it was Twilight." Both he and Velvet shook before saying in unison, "And that was when we had Twilight take a week off from Princess Celestia to teach her how to cook...and we had her use Flash as her taste tester." Again, Flash's parents burst out laughing, Velvet and Night also joining in.

Meanwhile, on the very edge of the room, Cold was watching as the party go on. He had to admit, parties weren't his thing. If you had invited him to one several days ago, he probably would have gone into a big speech about how parties were just a waste of time and resources. However, his mind was elsewhere, still thinking about what Flash had said during their battle.

"Before I met Twilight, I never truly lived. I was just...surviving. It wasn't until I met them that my life truly began."

His mind just couldn't wrap around this, causing him to go to the only individual he even remotely respected: Princess Celestia. Asking her about what he said, she replied by telling him that survival and living were two different things, and that living makes memories while survival is just...being alive.

He now knew he didn't have anything like that. Cold had memories to be sure, but only specific details. If you asked him what he ate for lunch last week, he knew he wouldn't remember. He had no need for the little things, he had always been like that since...that day. Thinking about this, he looked over the party, his mind now mentally going over Flash's speech. He knew his brain wouldn't forget this, the notion making him turn away, ready to leave the castle.

"I'm not needed here." he commented to himself as he left the room and passed through the castle's garden, the animals there scurrying away in fear of the sight of him. It was here he spotted what he had hidden here earlier before Flash's knighting, his saddlebag and cloak.

And as he placed the two on his back, his eyes spiked up as heard somepony behind him speak up, "Leaving so soon?" He spun around and saw Grand staring at him.

"I've strayed from my investigation long enough. I have to get back on their trail. You know what I told you about the latest victims." Cold turned away with a low sigh, "It bothers me."

"I understand. I don't like it either." Grand replied while crossing his hooves. "Listen, I'll contact you if we learn anything new about the Sacred Light or the Corrupted Shadow."

"Celestia has already affirmed me in that. Flash's parents will be keeping her informed and she'll send the info to me. Plus..." he pulled a piece of paper out of his bag, "She managed to get me a copy of the cipher. If I come across any of this writing in my investigation, I'll be able to read it."

Grand nodded, only to add, "Hey Cold, could I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You seemed...different in that last fight. Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"During the fight, you weren't badmouthing or insulting Flash like you did in your first battle. Care to explain? I'd hate to think he won because you weren't going all out."

Cold shook his head, "No, I was giving it everything I had. I just didn't insult him as much because I knew it wouldn't work this time. The insults were simply a way of throwing an insecure opponent off their game, but I knew that tactic wouldn't work this time."

Grand chuckled at this, "So you saw it too."

"It was before our fight. I saw no doubt or insecurities to play on. Using insults wouldn't have worked this time...even if I do think he kinda deserves it."

"Well, thanks to you, Flash has finally managed to cast off all his doubts." Grand added with a big smile, "So...thank you for helping him achieve his best."

"Whatever..." Cold growled as he turned away, "But it wasn't really one-sided. He's given me something to think about as well."

"Really?! Never thought I'd hear you say that."

"Well...he did beat me, so maybe there's some truth in what he's saying." He looked down at the ground, "Maybe there is more to this kingdom than just the kingdom itself....but I don't see it. I still think you, him and Princess Twilight are wrong...but it is getting me thinking."

"Does that mean you'll finally be open to being friends? You know, like me and Celestia have been asking for years?"

"No." Cold instantly replied, making Grand sigh.

"Seriously?!"

"Absolutely. I have no need for something that pointless." Cold turned back to Grand, his blank face showing itself, "I'll admit, I'd like to try and view the world the way your apprentice does, as it might help me see something new...but I need to figure it out how to do that first. Besides, I know my method works Grand, even if I'm intrigued by something new."

"So...you'll at least try?"

Cold didn't respond for a few minutes, only to shake his head as he turned away, "I might. I need to get going."

Grand said nothing as he watched Cold walk away, disappearing into the darkness as a smile creeped onto his face, "Flash, you did it again....well, almost. Cold is one stubborn stallion, but maybe...maybe he's finally coming around."

Once Cold was completely gone, the old pony went back to the castle, only to see a whole group of worried ponies. At the front was Twilight, panic starting to spread all over her face, "Princess? What's wrong?"

"Flash is gone." she replied, her mouth about to start biting her hoof in worry.

"He just disappeared," Rainbow added while waving her hooves. "Nopony's seen him for about an hour."

Soarin nodded in agreement, "He said he was heading to the bathroom, but he hasn't come back. And we checked all the bathrooms here, and he wasn't in any of them."

Grand hummed at this, knowing his apprentice wasn't one to avoid parties. It was here he saw Springer meditating to the side, "Springer?"

"Hang on..." the jakhowl replied before slowly opening his eyes. "Hmm....it feels like he's at...Canterlot park?"

"The park?" Everypony raised an eyebrow at this, only for Twilight to gasp.

They all turned to the alicorn as her horn sparked, "I know where he went!" she exclaimed as a flash of light consumed her, making her vanish from sight.

"I'm sure she'll have him back soon," Rarity giggled as Rainbow snickered.

"Unless they decide to have a make-out session first."

"Huh? Why would they be doing that?" Shining asked with two raised eyebrows.

"Wait...did it finally happen?" Iron added, getting several nods in return. "So it finally happened. Thank Celestia that's over."

"No kidding." Wild groaned, rolling his eyes. "You have no idea how many times we kept trying to give Flash the hints to just go to her already during guy's night!"

"Tell me about it." Cadance sighed, "I spent too many years trying to get them together."

As everypony kept complaining, Shining Armor just stood there with pure confusion on his face. His eyes twitching as his brain couldn't understand what was happening, he then yelled, "What are you all talking about?!"

Everypony turned to him, surprise on every face....except his wife. She was facehoofing as everypony replied, "Twilight and Flash."

"What about them?" Shining replied, not noticing his wife's gesture.

"Uh...they're together? You know, like a couple?" Rainbow added, the others nodding.

"THEY ARE?! WHY?!" Shining gasped, only to feel a magic tug on his ear. "Ow! Cadance! What are you-"

"Come on, you meathead. We need to talk about how ignorant you are." Cadance grumbled as she walked away, pulling her husband as everypony else stood dumbfounded.

"Oh dear...did he really not know?" Fluttershy muttered out.

"I guess it runs in the family." Iron finished, shaking his head.





As Twilight teleported to the park, she dusted off her dress from the blast of magic. "Now...where was it? I think...through here?" She took to the air, flying over a few trees while trying to not incur Rarity's wrath by damaging her dress. Soon, she found what she was looking for.

It was a large old oak tree, complete with a dilapidated treehouse on its branches. Sitting at the base of the tree was the pony she was looking for, Flash Sentry. Landing beside him, she commented, "Wow. I can't believe this place is still in one piece. I figured it would have fallen down years ago."

"Same. I've been meaning to come see it for a while...but I just didn't seem to have the time. But right now...it just seemed right."

"Makes sense. This really is where it all started for you."

Flash let out a small chuckle, "Yeah. My journey to becoming a knight started the day I brought you here. Now I'm back and became a knight and well, its almost...symbolic."

Twilight giggled at this. "Look at you, waxing poetic." She leaned her head onto his should with a huge smile, "But just because this is the end of your journey, doesn't mean you can't start a new one."

"True." He turned to her as she lifted her head, "And I'm glad you're here with me as I start it. Just like before."

The two stared at each other, only to lean in and kiss, their hearts racing as their loving embrace continued. And as the lovers pulled back, they stared into each other's eyes for what felt like a lifetime...only for Twilight to get up and say, "Alright mister knight. You can't miss out on a party that you're the guest of honor at."

Flash chuckled at this as he stood up, "Can't argue with that. But uh...could we not teleport? I'd...like to fly back with you. You know...it looks like a great night for it."

Twilight just nodded as she spread her wings. "Sure. Help me, would you?"

"For you? Of course." Flash replied as both took to the skies, sharing one last kiss before taking to the air.

And as they left, Flash spared one final glance at the treehouse that had once been his home. Seeing it, he began to live through all the adventures he had gone on since leaving it so long ago. Living with Twilight, training with Grand, moving to Ponyville and meeting his friends. Searching for the Elements and facing Nightmare Moon. Defeating Lightning, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Doom, Sunset, Tirek, the Dazzlings, and Starlight. Finding his family and saving Equestria countless times. His journey to become a knight had been an amazing one, one filled with hardships and trials, but also joyous moments and incredible times.

But now, that journey had come to an end, and now...Flash was ready for a new chapter. He knew it would be filled with hardships, trials, and dangers...but also happiness, joyous moments, incredible times and...even love. He knew he wouldn't be alone, for he had the ponies he had come to love and cherish with him.

For he was Flash Sentry, The Knight of Friendship.