Gone in a Flash

Chapters

Chapter 1: Feels like yesterday, I asked you out.
Chapter 2: under Luna´s moon, in Manehattan.
Chapter 3: Sorry for the promise.
Chapter 4: A princess shattered mind.

Chapter 1: Feels like yesterday, I asked you out.

Hoofsteps was heard through the hall of the castle, not running but still it was faster than a normal walking sound, and much louder. That could be because of a number of things: it could be that somepony had something important to tell the princess about some invasion or other form of trouble in equestria, or it could be because a pony eagerly wanted princess Twilights help and advice for something. But today it wasn’t any of those things. It was however a yellow pegasi with a cutiemark of a shield with a lightning bolt who was so eager to see the princess.
It was late and even though he knew she probably was asleep, he couldn’t wait to see his lovely wife again. On his way through the castle Flash thought about how nervous he had been when he finally had asked twilight to go out with him. After the Tirek incident, Flash was assigned to Twilight’s castle in ponyville. Apparently she herself had requested that it was Flash who was one of the guards that should be there for her, and that though had always given him a warm feeling inside.
He remembered it like it was yesterday he asked her out. And remembering how nervous he was, he walked up to her when he knew she had the time to talk. It was when she was in the library reading some more books as she always liked to do when she wanted to relax.

“Oh hi Flash what are you doing here? I thought it was your day off?”
Twilight had lowered her book, so that she could see who had come into the library. When she saw it was Flash, she had smiled.

Flash remembered how he had bowed to her. Not wearing his armor that day, due to it was his day off.

“Yes princess uhm it is, I… I was just…”
Flash had in that moment blushed a bit. He couldn’t get the words out. He always pictured how he looked like a filly that was going to introduce themselves in their first year of school. Of course this was a big deal for him, because if she said no he would probably be moved to another castle or city to stand guard.

Taking in a deep breath Flash had finally asked her.
“I was just thinking if you wanted to… you know… go out with me?”

Flash had looked at Twilight, who was staring at him. In that moment, time had slowed down. One minute felt like an eternity.

Twilight began to make a small giggle, even blushing a bit herself. Noticing this Twilight had levitated the book she had read in front of her face.

“Yes flash, I would love to”
Twilight had lowered her book so flash could see her eyes again.
“So when are you picking me up then, for our little… date?”

“What about tomorrow, at seven?”

“Sounds like a plan”

A big smile had appeared on Flash´ face at that moment.
“Okay princess I will leave you to your books then”
Bowing one last time before walking out of the library again, barely holding back from running down the halls of the castle screaming in joy.

Flash was all lost in his thoughts, so much that he didn’t even notice that he were only a few steps away from their bedroom now. Flash began to walk a bit slower, not to wake her up, but it was hard though. He hadn’t seen her in a week now, due to some problems he had to solve in Appleloosa. And he wanted to spend some time with his wife before his next duty.
Now he knew how Shining Armor back in the Crystal Empire must have felt, every time something happened, and he had to leave his wife to solve the problem. But that’s just how it is being the captain of The Royal Guard.
When Flash was moved to Twilights castle, he was promoted to be the captain for the guards in Twilights kingdom. Not the biggest task due that it was in Ponyville, and it was a lot smaller than the Crystal Empire. But Flash had just been happy to get the possibility to show what he could do.

Flash reached out for the door to their bedroom, slowly opening it so he wouldn’t wake her up. He knew being a princess was a big task, and that she needed all the sleep she could get. Walking towards the bed he couldn’t stop smiling. There she was. The most beautiful princess in Equestria, and he was the lucky stallion who in the end got to be with her.

Flash crawled up in the bed next to her, giving Twilight a small kiss on the check. Looking at her, thinking of all the great times they have had together, and wondering what the future would bring for the two of them. After a while he fell asleep with his hoofs wrapped around Twilight.

Chapter 2: under Luna´s moon, in Manehattan.

Two weeks after Flash had returned home to his wife princess Twilight, they sat at the dinner table together getting some breakfast.

“Any important royal duties today princess” Flashed smiled, knowing Twilight rather wanted to be called by her name or just something else than princess. But he just couldn’t help it. He was in reality on duty and therefor called her by her title.

“Come on Flash, you know I prefer you call me Twilight, or just something else” she smiled while drinking some water. “But not so much, have to travel to the Crystal Empire to meet up with Cadence and Shining, you could come with me.”

“Yea I would love th…”

before Flash could finish his sentence a blue pegasi ran into the dining room.
“I’m terribly sorry your highness for the interruption, but new problems has come up in Appleloosa.”

Flash looked over at the guard “is it the Changelings again, I thought we scared them away two weeks ago.”

“They have come back in bigger numbers, it seems like they are trying to take Appleloosa. Probably to make a stronger army so they can take over Equestria.”

Flash looked over at Twilight with a worried expression. “Well seems like I have to see Cadence and Shining another time then” then looking over at the guard “send as many as we can to hold the line, I will join you as fast as I can.”

The blue pegasi naught’d and ran off to gather the troops and move to Appleloosa.
Meanwhile Flash quickly finished his breakfast and walked over to Twilight.

“It won’t be too long I promise, have fun in the Crystal Empire. And say hello to Cadence and Shining from me.”

“just promise you´ll be careful, I won’t have anything happen to you” Twilight said with worry in her eyes.
Giving Twilight a kiss on her mouth. “I promise Twilight. I’ll be back before you know it”

With that Flash ran towards their bedroom to gather his stuff for the trip. He packed a bag with something to drink and eat on his way, taking his armor on and walking towards the castle entrance.
When he got to the door leading outside, he turned around and saw Twilight standing behind him. He could clearly see the worry in her eyes, but still trying to keep a smile on her face.
Flash walked over to her wrapping his hoofs around her, giving her a long hug while giving her a long sweet kiss.

“Don’t worry about me, we won two weeks ago and we will do the same thing this time”

With that he ran for the door, pushed them open and flew towards Appleloosa.
Back on the ground Twilight stood looking after him as he flew. She had a strange feeling that this was not going to be as easy as the last time. She shook her head remembering she had to make herself ready for the trip to The Crystal Empire.

Flash flew as fast as he could towards Appleloosa, if this was worse than the last time he knew there was no time to spare. His mind raced in that moment. About how much damage the Changelings could have done to the place and how many casualties there would be.
And then his minds where on Twilight again, how she had woken up the day after he had come home and sneaked into the bed. How she had been so happy to see him in one piece that she by an accident had woken him up. And how they the last two weeks had spent as much time as possible together, only separated by a few royal duties and some training for a couple of recruits.

And then he thought back to their first date. Flash had made reservation on a fine diner in Manehattan. They had traveled by train, Twilight always preferred to use public transport if possible and never any of that “princess treatment” she wanted to be with other ponies and didn’t want to feel better or more important than others.
Flash remembered how they on their way had talked about his and hers childhood, her first day in ponyville and all the other adventures she had been on.

He remembered how after the dinner they had walked out to the sea near the bridge to look over at Equestria. He remembered how her mane shined in the lights on the docs as they sat there.
In that moment, he had taken the chance and moved a hoof around her body. He had felt how she moved in closer to him, moving her head up to look at him. And he was moving his head down to look at her. They had both looked into each other’s eyes for what felt like forever when they had closed in for their first kiss under Luna’s bright moon.

Chapter 3: Sorry for the promise.

When Flash arrived at the scenery it seemed calm enough. He had landed in the middle of Appleloosa, guards where running towards the apple orchard passing him on the way.

A reddish unicorn guard with a cutiemark of a sword and a shield stopped when he saw Flash “Flash Sentry?” he asked. The unicorn´s voice was a deep but clear voice.

“Yes and who might you be?” Flash asked, it was not a unicorn he had seen before.

“Sergeant Thunder Shield sir, I´ve heard you would come. Good to have a Captain here in this situation”

“So how is the situation Sergeant? Doesn’t seem like the Changelings have gotten into the town”

“they haven’t they started out on the orchard, attacking the farmers who was unlucky to be out there. Good thing we still had guards from the last attack. We called you out here due to that it seems like they are growing in numbers”

“I see and what about Captain Shining Armor? Will he be joining us here?”

“Captain Shining Armor will stay in The Crystal Empire in case the Changelings will attack there too”

“Thank you Sergeant, now let´s get out there and drive those Changelings away.”

With that Flash and the sergeant began to run towards the orchard, hoping that the guards could hold the Changelings until they got there. Sure enough the guards had managed to defend against the Changelings.
When Flash arrived at the scene he looked around, trying to figure out how much damage the Changelings had done. A couple of the apple trees had fallen over, and some guards were in the middle of opening a cocoon the changelings had sealed a farmer in, luckily enough it didn’t seem like there where a lot of casualties If any at all.
A green earth pony with a red and black mane came up to Flash, Flash new this pony. It was one of the guards that were assigned to twilight, who had stayed in appleloosa after the first attack two weeks ago.

“Hello Private, how is the situation” Flash asked the green pony.”

“Good to see you Captain Flash, we thought the Changelings had given up after the first defeat. But apparently they just gathered more troops for something bigger. And something tells me they aren’t done yet.” The green pony looked at shining with a worried expression.

“What makes you think that Private?”

“We saw the Changeling run off into a cave nearby, kind of strange if you have been defeated if you ask me. We have kept an eye out for them since and they still haven’t left the cave. It’s up to you what we shall do next”

Flash mind raced, if it were true the Changelings were just waiting to strike again, it could be a good idea to attack them first and end all of the attacks, at least for a while.
But of course there where the possibility that it could be a trap, should he risk it?
Flash´s mind raced with all the possibilities and he knew he had to make a decision and it had to be soon. After a couple of minutes he sighed, looking at the green pony with a determined look on his face.

“Gather as many troops as possible, we will make an attack on the Changelings and drive them away from here. You stay back with six other ponies to defend Appleloosa if anything happens”

“Yes sir anything else before I head off?”

Flash thought for a moment, thought about Twilight and what she told him. She had told him to be careful, but in this situation he couldn’t just stand back.

“There is one last thing, if anything happens to me. I want you to bring the news to Twilight. Understood?” Flash looked at the green pony with a serious expression on his face.

“Don’t think like that sir. But of course an order is an order”

With that the green pony ran to gather the troops needed. All the while Flash walked to the edge of the orchard, looking over at the cave where the Changelings waited.
It seemed like a hour had passed when the troops where gathered, still nothing from the cave. This could be a good or a bad sign.

Flash hovered in front of the troop’s o they could all see and hear him.
“Let’s end these Changeling attacks. They are hiding in the cave right over there. It’s not going to be easy or without any danger. But this is what we do we protect Equestria from creatures like this who only wants to destroy and kill. So let´s show them we won’t have any more of it”

The other guards cheered raising their hoofs in the air. They were only around fifteen guards, but due to the Changeling thread. Other cities needed protection too.
With that speech Flash led the guards to the cave.
It would only take them around ten minutes of walking to get there. The real trouble would be inside the cave itself, they didn’t know much about it other than that there were a couple of paths once inside.

When they arrived at the entrance, a unicorn used his magic to spark a light, to look for Changelings around the opening. Nothing, it was safe to enter.
Once inside the path split into 3 different directions.

Flash once again spoke up. “Okay we will have to split up to cover more ground, remember if you see any Changeling take it out. We will split into groups of five each. I’ll be joining the second group making us six in that. We will take the middle path while the other two groups take the side paths.”

With that Flash gave the order to move, he himself leading the way down the middle path. Thanks to the magic from the unicorns in the group they could see where they were going. It was clear the Changelings had been here before. The walls glanced with slime from what could have been old hives or cocoons.
The group got around halfway when they heard something above them, it was like a hissing noise followed by the sound of tiny wings buzzing away. The group looked up to see big holes in the cave. this was something that worried Flash. Now they didn’t just have to look out behind and in front of them, but also from above.

The group continues down the path, if they got attacked they would be in big trouble. The tunnels where only big enough for two ponies to stand next to each other, but they would be really close together then and wouldn’t be able to react. So the group had to walk in a line so they at least could react if any Changelings wanted to attack them.
Flash´s thoughts were all over the place, he tried to keep it cool and focus. But the sense that something terrible were to happen and that he wouldn’t see Twilight again, wouldn’t let his minds go. He even tried to think of Twilight and the good times they had together, but that just helped to make the terrible thoughts about not getting out of the cave again stronger.

Flash´s thoughts were shattered though, when he heard one of the guards in the back yell.

“They are coming from the ceiling and behind us sir”

Flash quickly turned to look, he saw how the guards were doing the best they could to fight them off, even getting a few Changelings down on the ground and finishing them. The unicorns in the group fired magic towards the ceiling to take a couple of the Changelings down.
Flash was just about to react and run towards the group to help them when he felt something grabbing his back hooves. He couldn’t react before he got dragged away from the group. He tried to kick the Changelings dragging him. Unfortunately they knocked him on the head, making him disorientated and unable to fight at the moment. When he got to his senses again Flash was surrounded by hovering Changelings, it was like they wanted him to fight back. Flash stood up looked around at the hovering Changelings, there must have been around twenty with him, and probably some in the tunnels stopping the other guards in their tracks.

A tear formed in Flash´s eyes as he thought about Twilight. He thought about never being able to look at her cute smile again, never being able to hug or kiss her again and never being able just to hear her voice.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but I can’t keep my promise of coming back to you.”

with these words Flash charged the Changeling swarm, putting up as much a fight he could, before going down to the swarm.

In the tunnels the sound of hoof steps was heard in an alarming speed. The remaining guards who was with Flash had won against the Changelings occupying them, now they only had one thing in mind and that was to find Flash and where he was taken to.
When they reached the end of the tunnel they ran into the other guards. Now there was only one tunnel in front of them. The guards who were with Flash explained what had happened to the other guards while they ran down the path.
On their way they got attacked by more Changelings, however they took them down with ease, the guards where so determined to reach Flash before anything happened to him.
However when they finally reached the big room they were stopped again by even more Changelings. A struggle broke out where three of the guards went down, but in the end the guards had won against the remaining Changelings.

In the middle of the room however they saw what they didn’t want to see. The remains of Flash was lying on the ground he looked drained, like he had gotten sucked every liquid out of him, and his normal yellow color was turned into a greyish color. The guards walked over to his corpse, near him were three dead Changelings. It sure looked like he gave them a fight to the end.

Bringing the remains of Flash outside the cave, they laid him on the ground. Ordering that a casket was made to him, and that princess Twilight where informed immediately.

Chapter 4: A princess shattered mind.

Twilight had returned the same day as Flash had left for Appleloosa, now it was two days later, and she still hadn’t heard from him. She walked nervously around her bedroom. She had this strange feeling something bad had happened, normally she was never this nervous when he was gone, but this time it was different.
“Maybe some reading can calm down my nerves.”
Twilight headed for the library with her head looking at the floor, her minds still spinning with thoughts about the first time she literally bumped into Flash in the crystal castle. And how she had gotten the chance to pick her own guards for her castle, she knew from the start that Flash was one of them.
Twilight didn’t get far though, her thoughts was interrupted by a green earth pony with a red and black mane running up to her. She could see from the armor he was wearing that he were one of the guards of the castle.

He bowed to the princess before he spoke up, his voice clearly trying to hold back sobs. In that moment Twilight knew something had happened to Flash.

“Princess Twilight, I’m here to report that the Changelings have been defeated, but…”
The guard clearly had problems holding back his tears.
“But Captain Flash didn’t make it, he fought to the end, to secure the land of Equestria, and to protect you my princess. The remains will be brought to Ponyville so we can give him a proper burial” with that the green pony had walked away slowly so Twilight could get him if needed.

At that moment, Twilights world shattered. Her minds began to think about all the things they had done together in the years. She thought about their first date, their first kiss, first time telling her brother Shining Armor that they were a couple.
She thought about the time they laid on a cloud, high up in the skies over Ponyville. Just to relax and get away from the princess and guard business. It was on their 2 year anniversary, they had laid there just looking at each other. And all of the sudden Flash had moved, he told her to stay where she were. Flash had hovered before her, while behind him Rainbow Dash shot up seemingly out of nowhere and begun to move the clouds and forming them.
It didn’t take long before she saw what the clouds spelled out.

“Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?”
Tears of joy had formed in her eyes, while holding her hoofs to her mouth to hold back the sobs, she had answered “yes Flash, a thousand times yes”
A big smile had appeared on Flash´s face. Rainbow Dash had overheard it all, and with a blink of an eye she had taken off to inform the other of Twilight´s friends.

Twilight thought about the wedding, how she had fun with her friends. How glad Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence looked at the ceremony. How her brother had come up to her with tears or as he would say “liquid pride” in his eyes, and how Flash and she had danced through the night, looking into each other’s eyes. In that moment she knew they would be together forever.
But then reality hit her and she broke down on the floor crying, her mind was blank for the first time. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t true what just had happened, but this time not even magic could help her.
Four weeks after Flash´s funeral Twilight was still in a bad shape. Her friends tried everything they could to get her in a better mood, but nothing helped. She was just staying in her room from morning until dawn. In her mind she had nothing to live for, he was here everything, he was the one she wanted to grow old with and he was the one who would have helped her ruling the kingdom through the hard times.
Everypony at this point tried to help Twilight, but she wouldn’t have it. Princess Cadance was the one who could get closest to her at this point, with Everypony else Twilight had used her magic to push them out the door or throw stuff after them, not to harm them, but she just wouldn’t talk to anypony.
Cadance entered Twilights room one night to check up on her.

“Twilight are you in here?”
Cadance couldn’t see or hear Twilight. Using her magic she lit up the room and started to walk around to find Twilight.
It didn’t take long before noticing that Twilight weren’t in there, but what Cadance noticed was that the windows were opened. Cadance quickly ran outside taking to the air once she got out there.
She was afraid of what Twilight would do, she knew Twilight was in a bad place right now, but would she really go the length and commit suicide?
Cadance used her magic the shine a bright light in the skies so she had a chance to see Twilight. The chance of finding Twilight however was small. But she had to try, she couldn’t give up.
Cadance flew through ponyville, hoping that Twilight walked around there or that some of her friends could help her look for Twilight. However she wouldn’t get the chance to ask Twilights friends before the sound of a scream above her filled the night sky, and shortly after a big thump right next to Cadance.