A Shard of Lightning

Chapters

1. Lightning Strikes Twice
2. The Betting Disaster
3. A New Kind of Meta

1. Lightning Strikes Twice

~FLASH~

Chapter 1: Lightning Strikes Twice

If there's one thing I've learned after becoming a hero is that the universe had no limits. Secrets and mysteries may be uncovered but there's always something more out there that it just might be under your nose. I know, i was there...

And it all started in that day...
-Barry Allen, The Fastest Man Alive

In the hot and busy streets of Central City, a red streak of yellow lightning flashes right by the road, dodging cars, people and things alike in a sparkly stream of turns with uncanny precision. Many are the people that notice the swift change of wind, jumping and smiling in surprising as it goes for they know who he is, the mysterious red streak that looms around, Flash, the hero of Central City.

Somewhere, a fire breaks out on top of a corporate building. Firefighters try their best to control the raging flames, splashing their water hose over it while screams fill the air until the red streak shows up, running up from the windows to burst inside, going up and down several times.

In a blink of eyes, several men and women find themselves on ground level, safe from the danger. Out though confused at first, they quickly cheer on the spot, thanking their savior masked in red in gratitude, admiring the gold lightning symbol shinning in middle of the red circle in his chest. He waves back at them, adorning an 'see ya' pose before his body crackled with energy, departing in a glint of light.

This is how it is everyday for Flash as he runs, feeling the wind part away from his face, letting the electricity course through the skin into the red leather which dispersed the attrition heat. With a single thought, the world seems to slow down under his lightning heightened reflexes to think and act, seeking to maintain order and the become the guardian angel Central City needs.

Piercing the roads as he see fit, Flash makes through into a certain circular building near the river, the Star Labs. He storms inside the halls, knowing the place upside down to reach the cortex, his little hideout.

With a sudden zapping sound signaling the presence, the fine lad with a shoulder length hair over the computer flexed his arms on the back of his head and smirks playful and laid-back, “Ah there you are Barry, you took your time out there, what gives?” Greets Cisco heads up from the computer desk.

Flash, or as his true name has been told, Barry took down his mask and breath forth, “Oh sorry Cisco, I was quite busy on the way here. I prevent some bank robbery, saved a cat falling in the next corner and then had to evacuate a whole building that caught on fire. You know, the usual” He gloats pointing out with a satisfied grin.

“Ah yes, quite the hero stuff” Out of the corner, from the wing section of the cortex, a black dressed man approaches operating the lever for his mechanized wheelchair to move forward.

Crossing his fingers, the enigmatic Harrison Wells smiles, “Always saving people, hunting things… that’s kind your business nowadays isn’t it, Barry?”

“Uh, yeah! That’s right, just putting this gift to some use” Barry nodded reluctantly, shrugging his shoulders before pointing at the lightning symbol in his chest. He did in fact enjoy being able to save people after all.

“Of course you are, it's good for practice at least. Now, can you tell me how’s the weather out there?” Wells asked passing by to reach the computer interface beside Cisco. The data image of Central City’s atmosphere was glowing brightly on the windows but it was the loud booming sound echoing outside that answered his question.

“Ah let’s just say the city is about get flooded. Clouds were closing in tight on my way back. Why?”

“That’s just what we needed!” Cisco flared excitedly, grabbing down some piece of metal underneath the desk. From the looks of it, it’s kind of gear-like disk with small limb appendages made of steel or some metallic equivalent. The device reminded Barry of the Quantum Splicer they have built to help Firestorm from blowing up, only that it’s a little smaller in size.

“Behold, my own Arc reactor! Now I just need to make the rest of suit so that you become, get this, the Iron Flash...” Cisco declared exposing the device in splendor before frowning, “No, that actually sounds ridiculous and unoriginal...”

Barry blink his eyes, his face going quizzical by his friend antics.

“Look, we know you have been pondering around on how to get yourself faster, okay? That whole issue with the Man in Yellow? Yeah, we all want to kick his ass too so here’s the thing, Wells and I came up with one awesome idea to get it done” He continued.

“We believe that by linking your body directly to a source of energy, one similar to the one your cells emits, we could manually supercharge them using an external factor as a boost” Wells explained the ordeal exposing the simulated data over the main monitor so everyone could see it.

There on the video, red colored cells inside Flash’s body shook violently with a golden hue. Them with the holographic device on chest, a pulse booms out making the cells to vibrate faster and faster through the body’s circulation, making Barry's running animation cycle faster.

“That said, we had two theories in mind. One was to study the effects of tachyon particles on your body. Knowing how important the device was for Man in Yellow, I figured we might give it a try. However, after that last problem, we don’t have any other tachyon prototype available, so Cisco opted for a more... basic solution” Wells complemented.

“Yeah so I thought, why not power you up with the same process that gave you the speed and created the Flash? Running some tests, we came up with this" Cisco showcased his new apparatus, "An electromagnetic device coupled with a mini dark matter particles core that will absolve any kind of energy it comes through and channel all over directly into your body!”

"A process meant to replicate minor particle explosions in close proximity, ergo..."

“ All we need is the same source of energy to kick start the reaction and today I believe Mother Nature owns us some favors” The ever geeky nerd grinned like a mad scientist, thrilled as more thunders echoed in the background outside.

“Ah, that’s... That's great, let’s do it then” Barry stared at his friend with a tinge of fear in his face and simply agreed reluctantly. He looked at Wells trying to decipher his thoughts before heading out with Cisco, leaving crippled man to smile to himself alone, his shadow barely reflecting the shape of a certain being in Yellow.

Things were going well...

~FLASH~

Thunders roar on the shaking skies just above Ponyville. On a clear field, storm clouds were being drawn together by a trail of rainbow light darting left and right. Rainbow Dash, Ponyville's finest flier, draw her wings forth and slashed the air, surrounding and gathering all the thunder clouds she could muster in a single cluster.

Glaring at her work, she nods in satisfaction and waves down on the ground, signaling her magical friend, “All good to go, Twilight!”

And down there, a lavender colored unicorn smiles with excitement, “Thanks Rainbow. Now keep it that way while I prepare the spell. Spike, the book please”

“Right here!” Turning around, her little assistant arrives carrying a giant grimoire on his back. Twilight levitates the book out of Spike's hands and fervently scrolls through it's pages, stopping on a marked page.

“Well, that's one tight storm packed together. Are you sure your magic can handle it?” Spike stared at the clouds just as one lighting soared out with a extremely loud thunder. The little dragon quickly latched himself into Twilight’s foreleg.

“Of course it can. Most unicorns in the past were known to use spells to control the weather and tend the land before the three pony races united in Equestria” Twilight nodded, reading the lines with cheer curiosity.

“I thought only the grand wizards could do it safely… Celestia was quite clear on that, being dangerous and sort” Spike retorted holding parchment of paper while poking his chin in thought. There was a line somewhere with her warning, quote “For research purposes only”

Rolling her eyes however, Twilight diminished, “I know, I know, but can't you see it? This book has feats passed down through generations by many magicians since a long time. While there are risks in every field of magic, our ancestors managed to wrap them up for safe use. I'm sure can replicate their success and win the bet just fine!” She affirmed with confidence.

“Ha you wish! Come on Twilight, why don’t you just give up and admit it, pegasus are only masters of weather. No unicorn magic could beat us when it comes to out job!” Rainbow Dash gloated, relaxing down on top of a cloud. It was all funny entertainment for her. What started as a small history lecture of how proud the unicorns were in the past now evolved in a rivalry between both of them with Twilight trying to prove how magic could best what a pegasus excels at.

Rainbow Dash was baffled at first. It was challenge for her ego, one she couldn’t just let it be. Sadly for the unicorn, the cyan pegasus just beat every test Twilight came up. It didn’t take much effort though. Flying, cloud-walking and now weather manipulation… Rainbow Dash could everything with eyes closed and hooves tied so she wasn’t worried. And despite realizing magic has it's limits, Twilight however took it to the heart, to the point of asking Celestia for a new spell book of the old Unicornia Kingdom to catch up and try one last bout.

“Hmm… I don’t think this is a good idea, Twilight” Spike utters his concern as the unicorn snaps the book closed.

“Don’t worry Spike, I’ve everything on control. Now, if you just give me a moment...” Channeling the magic from her horn, the unicorn closed her eyes and converged her thoughts on the clouds themselves, picturing them to be clear. On the tip of her horn, sparks of energy crackled to life, her will forced into them. When it was ready, she fired the beam spell, piercing the skies in a way that scattered the storm apart in waves.

For seconds everything seemed fine and said storm was seemly calming down at sight. But then, the mix of energies, both magical and natural, began to clash violently forming waves of waves of lightning bolts that began to tear the sky itself, infecting other clouds and expanding the storm further and further and instead of dispersing it.

“Uh, that doesn't look good” Spike muttered scared as he stared at the looming thunderstorm raging on, which sent bolts right at the Rainbow, who was closer.

“Wow!” Flying in twists, she dodged the lightning bolts that were now drawn into her direction, out to get her down. Things were quickly spiraling out of control at the moment but Twilight hasn't said a word yet, “Hey! Should I put these clouds down or what?” She barked out, immediately zapping up to dodge another flash.

“Almost... there…!” Twilight had sweat crawling her face down, her eyebrows tightening deep putting all effort to attempt controlling the ravaging weather storm that now glowed in her magic tone of color. One stronger beam pulse and finally the results were showing. The sky itself began to shrink down shrouded in a purple glow. The once spreading clouds started to collapse into one another as if there was toilet flushing out upwards, sounds and all.

Rainbow Dash and Spike stared astonished. The magic's dispensing effect is different than the good ol’ Pegasi bucking. If the clean sun heating their bodies is any indication, the spell had done it's job and everything ended just fine.

“Wow… You did it Twilight, the sky is wiped clean!” The Pegasus irked in a flare before stopping, reconsidering, “I mean, not as fast as I could do it though but you did it anyway. That was awesome!” She praised.

Twilight saw her own work and wiped her forehead in relief, “Y-yes, it's a success-”

However, before she could finish her sentence, a white sparkle of light sprout forth in the blue of the sky and from it, a large flash exploded out. The seemly following explosion was so bright and spontaneous that they barely had time to react for what happened. The lightning came down, shattering the ground with with a force that could be felt all over Equestria.

All the residents of Ponyville, who were happening going on their day-lives relatively carefree felt a tingling chill on their spines. In one second, all the world suddenly became brighter and once they saw the cause of it, it was too late.

Everything went white.

~FLASH~

Moments later, Barry finds himself standing on top of Star Labs, staring uneasy at the unwelcoming weather looming all over. He had the device implanted in his chest humming a sound as it was activated.

“Ah, guys? Are you sure this will work?” The scene and atmosphere left Flash quite skeptical over the plan.

“Considering all the simulations we made, yes Barry, it will work… probably” Wells related over the mic in his ear.

“Probably!?”

“Don’t worry Barry; I’ve added some top notch insulating material into your suit. In worst case scenario? You might fell only a tiny spark” Cisco assured him confident in his work but not really helping the situation.

Barry once again faced the clouds anxious. To think he would again get himself to be struck by lightning. Even if it was a willing choice, he couldn’t help but to fell worried for what might happen. He didn’t want to be in a coma again. Not with the city crawling with other impossible beings like him. But then again, he didn’t have much of choice. His nemesis was out there, hidden away somewhere else unpunished. Barry knew he had to get faster to stand a chance.

Thinking what’s at stake, the Flash shook his worries away and got his conviction straight once more. What’s there to happen, will happen, and he had be ready for it.

Soon enough standing still like a rod, it happened. First the flash, then the sound it followed. The lightning parting from the skies fell on top of the Scarlet Speedster. As expected, Flash felt the sudden jolt of energy enter his body, clawing deep into his nerves in every inch of his being in instantaneous moment.

Back at the cortex, Cisco and Wells observed the statistics in Barry’s suit going unsteady, monitoring his health condition as it fluctuated in a chaotic waves. “Barry, how you’re holding up?” Asked the former from the mic.

“Shocking good. I fell like I’m high or something. It’s... awesome and scary at same time” Barry affirmed vigorously as he felt the effects of the device. He held still in place after the power was out, his body twitching from the remaining sparks. Curiously, the energy absolved from the lightning formed gold trims all over the torso of his suit but it’s like his skin was drought in cold shower.

“The conductor is working, we should see if it shows results. Barry, you know what to do” Wells suggested, already smiling with expectations.

“Alright...” Flash took a breath and jumped at little, harming up before drawing the power from his body with a single thought. His eye crackled in lightning and then, from the top of the Star Labs to down the street, one huge yellow streak shot down like a bullet to the ground and crossed several blocks almost instantly.

“Wow… look at that!” Cisco’s jaw dropped down when he saw the speed count go between four or five times the average speed Flash runs in normal conditions. The sensors on screen showed Flash’s dot zigzagging around the entire city in record time.

From Barry’s point of view, his surrounding went from one blurry mess of things into some blue streams of pure energy. As his speed rose, the space around him began to distort, deforming his body and the world to accommodate the known relativistic effects.

Light began to split in colors like there was some sort of prism in front of him, making everything go rainbow. His back however, went black entirely leaving a huge hole that seemed to invade the corner of his eyes like a tunnel.

“Okay, everything is going well. Barry’s body is holding up to the speed, so is the suit with the friction and nothing bad seems to be happening. We’ve done it, it was complete success” Affirmed Cisco leaning back satisfied with the results.

Wells however became serious, “No, something is off...” Barry’s statistics were going off the scale, the speed boost he received is beyond what the device should be capable of, “Barry, do you felt anything else?”

“...”

“Barry?” No response. The mic signal was still intact with the suit, which means that Barry should have heard it but for some reason didn’t. His dot on the map, kept running straight, speed going faster and faster way beyond their the theoretical conditions.

"Okay, i'm seeing this right, his suit just received a butt load of energy out of sudden. What's going on?"

“Guys, I can go faster!” Running unnoticed, Flash just explored. While it was a strange experience running at such extreme speeds, Flash had no problem discerning his actual position in relation to his surroundings, he still could see exactly where he wanted to go. With the path becoming clearer, Flash wished to go further in to test the limits of this new potential.

But he got no response from the mic.

“Guys?” It was then that Flash sensed something wrong. A pulse shocked forth from the device in his chest, spreading a white wave of energy into his body in a rush, “What the-”

Flash was caught off guard and ended tripping himself down, sending him body flailing around on the asphalt ground in hyper speed, rolling for minutes until a full stop, leaving a bloodied and broken Barry spread on the street.

“Ow...” If it wasn't for his high enchanted regeneration and better fortitude, his limbs would most certainly be torn out from impact alone. Yet, Flash didn't had the time to recover. The Cisco's device implanted in his chest was pulsing for powerful surges of white lightning, making his body muscle go rigid and strained. For the following seconds, Flash couldn't neither move nor speak.

The most bizarre scene however is what happened with Central City afterwards in his fall. Everything seemed to lose color becoming a monotone land akin to old movies. The people, the cars, everything else on the street was completely still, somehow frozen in time. All the noise and sound of the world went mute, colorless and dead except for him, who was apparently an helpless observer.

Flash felt a chill on his spine faced with all the null and void Central City. In one second this had to be the second most scary moment for him so far, going just behind losing his mother. What had happened? Did he mess up with time again? Broke something in the space-time continuum for good? The possibilities scared Barry as he thought of the impossible happening once more.

Alas panicking alone, a sound of thunder echoed in the otherwise silent city. Barry forced his out, looking for the source when suddenly, a streak of yellow-red light flashed across the street, followed by six more just right behind it in sequence. It's odd and yet familiar. If anything, those streaks were like him, the blur of a speedster running.

Yellow, Red, Blue, Light Blue, White and Black, all flashing a flickering trail streak known for speedsters like himself.

Flash felt his heart skip a beat. Just the first color left him alarmed as they ran around out of his sight. Since he was unable to follow their movements, he could only guess who their where and what were their purpose.

It didn’t last long before he got attention though. Before he knew, his body was vaulted upwards instantly, thrown aside in a gigantic cyclone that came out of nowhere. He didn't even fell the impact as his limbs flailed of the air wildly by the winds, almost knocking him unconscious by the force alone. And in middle of that chaos, Flash felt something tearing his chest apart while voices could heard struggling against each other in a brawl.

“It is mine… Urgh!”

“No!”

“I got it, I got it!”

“Aaargh~”

“Gotcha! AH-”

“Now the power is mine!”

It was hard to distinguish them apart. Flash could barely see what was happening just as he fell down on ground once more. Disoriented, a glint of white fell really close to his eyes, it’s some kind of stone glowing in a mystical light flickering , the only clear thing his eyes could work to see.

A shard of lightning.

Flash could tell that it's this that they were fighting for just as they did everything to tear it from the front of his face.

Confused, lost, and in middle of a situation were he couldn't tell who is who, Flash did the only thing he could at moment, he forced his arm out and grabbed the stone…

And from there, everything went white, again.

~To be continued~

!Author Notes!

And so it begins, one my first stories. Kinda inspired by Onomonopia is doing with superhero stories. Still, i have say it, it's incredibly hard to find Flash from Arrowverse stories out here in Fimfiction. At first i thought it was because the Arrowverse is still new, barely 3 or 4 years since release while the fandom remains limited. Plus, the fact that the name Flash carries an... known, reputation from Equestria Girls, it's kinda hard to find anything related to our Speedster Hero.

Alas, i have grand plans for my story, and i kindly ask for comments and ideas, especially ideas >_<

2. The Betting Disaster

~FLASH~

Chapter 2: The Betting Disaster

Back at the Tree house, or what’s left of it, Twilight had her face down in front of the two regal princesses that govern Equestria. After what had happened, the unicorn could only wince under the eyes of her mentor Celestia, the pristine alicorn of the sun, who stared at her prized apprentice with a sneer of disappointment.

“So let me understand, you, Twilight Sparkle, received my gift of trust and attempted to cast use a spell only the grandmasters of old history have done, which known for being extremely dangerous to tamper with... because of a bet?” Celestia cast a solemn glance as she spoke.

“I-I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t mean to, I was just…” Twilight tried to clarify herself when Rainbow Dash zipped in.

“I-it was my idea, your highness. I convinced Twilight that there’s no magic capable to replace any Pegasus as awesome as me” She blurted, chest high in the unicorn’s defense. In truth though, Rainbow Dash glanced around quite anxiously to avoid the princess judging glare.

Celestia shook her head slowly, “I appreciate you standing for your friend Rainbow Dash but am I afraid Twilight has made a dire mistake in her judgment this time”

“A dire mistake indeed, there was a reason why each pony race worked together in history to survive. Each time they attempted to work on their own the results would end quite, unsatisfactory...” Added Princess Luna as she inspected around, “Still, it baffles me, what exactly happened here?”

Looking outside through a hole on the wall, Luna and the others saw the remains of Ponyville. The entire town was in shambles, buildings were torn down, entire ceilings crumbled down into stands and several ponies were found attempting to salvage what’s left of the outcome. Twilight’s tree house for instance was also damaged as all branches and leaves were washed away, leaving only a hollow trunk with broken windows and torn roofs for a library.

Twilight gulped thinking the event, “I… don’t know. When I cast the weather spell, everything was going just fine for a second, but then...”

~FLASH~

A sparkle sprouted forth in the sky, and from it, a large thunder boomed out in an instant. It was so loud that it’s sound shock wave blasted forth, deafening and blinding the three of them on spot. The clouds that were once condensed exploded in a rush, flaring a maelstrom of lightning bolts everywhere along with raging turbulent winds to scar the sky whole.

Twilight and the others who were the closest in the epicenter felt the strongest impact. All of them were practically sent flying out, blasted away by an force of nature gone rampant.

Under danger, the unicorn reacted on instinct, her horn flaring alive some magic shield as reflex to encase herself. An electric storm surrounded Twilight, who hugged the ground itself while maintaining her magic just to survive. Spike however was without luck, being thrown into air just outside the shield’s reach along with Rainbow Dash. The force of the explosion sent both of them spinning wildly into air with the wind currents dragging their bodies away in a mad stall.

While caught off guard and confused, the Pegasus was the first to recover. Quickly regaining her senses, she angled her wings in a way to balance and stabilize her position midair. Narrowing her eyes, Rainbow Dash peeked out her surroundings only to see herself inside a massive cloud of lightning breaching it’s sparks in roots everywhere.

“Somepony heeeeelp!!” A scream echoed, the tone of a childish boy completely frightened. Spike was being helplessly catapulted several miles away.

“Hang on, Spike!” Without even thinking, Dash just rushed, adjusting the suppressing wind currents in her favor to snatch the little dragon away from danger. She zapped through, dodging a few bolts and then, “Gotcha!” She zapped in with him caught on her back, slicing the air away. The pegasus then, shifted her direction to fly upwards beyond the cloud line to escape the thunderstorm shaking around them.

“Uff, thanks...” Muttered the little dragon dizzy and weakened. Rainbow Dash would answer something but shut her mouth as her eyes widened in sight from top of the clouds.

Being that high on the view, they both could see how the storm grew and spread even further, going as far to go beyond Ponyville into the horizon. Like an avalanche, the leftover clouds that remained were flickering with energy sparking inside in a mix of gold and purple hues as well as a small tinge of red somewhere. It was a spectacular sight, both beautiful and frightening at same time, a terraforming explosion of both weather and magic that would shock Equestria whole in a invasion.

“Wow….” Both of the could stare at awe when the thunders flared, slowly but surely, until the clouds went calm, leaving only a grim gray wall of the skies beneath.

Back on ground, Twilight’s desperate shield dissipated and the unicorn quickly coughed her lungs out. Her strained to see through the resulting dust clouds from the fallout, too hard to breath any clean air, too dense for any light to pierce. Standing up to her hoofs, the first thing that came in her mind was to find her friends.

“Spike! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled their names out loud, searching the area over and over. It was then that panic began to rise in the lone unicorn, her heart pumping intensively as she felt distraught about what happened. What was that thunder explosion? Was it her spell? Did she lose control or it was just a misfire? If so, how did it happen? More importantly what about her friends? Are they okay?

“Over here!” Two voices answered together, hear ears perking up. Twilight’s mind was thrown into endless questions to a point she was about to faint when a rainbow trail poke a hole in the sky and darted at her direction.

“Rainbow Dash, Spike! Oh thank goodness. Are you two okay?” Twilight called out running at them and inspecting both in a rush. The cyan pony just arrived, dropping Spike at her feet before shaking her body whole. Her coat was a little messy and dusty but there was no significant wound other than her new stylish spiky spark mane.

“Nah, I’ve been worse. The Dizzitron can shake ponies better than that” Rainbow blurted without concern. Her experiences in the Wonderbolt Academy were showing results. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for Spike whose stomach didn’t take the down trip that well. Still Twilight felt relieved to see them both okay.

Thunders still echoed all over the place, showing the disaster inbound but that was just the beginning of her problems...

~FLASH~

“Hmm, I do remember reading incidents with weather magic before, but they never were so… destructive” Spoke Luna giving her own thoughts. The damage Twilight has done did in fact reach great lengths than anything recorded in Equestria.

“Twilight always had a gift for magic. It took years to teach her to control all that power when her talent first sparked. I suppose that what happened here must be worst kind of magical surge channeled into a single dangerous spell” Commented Celestia studying the same lines written the grimorie she had given to her apprentice.

“I thought it didn’t work at first, so forced it little more but I was sure I had it under control. It didn’t know it would do that much-” Twilight tried explain herself out but a single glare from the Princess silenced her.

“You didn’t think at all” Celestia then stared outside in a frown, “Just in this town alone there are about thousands of reports over property that got damaged. Several ponies either got hurt and many more are still missing in the process. Worse still, the weather that we once controlled is now growing unstable even though the best of our Pegasi subjects are on job to contain the magic remains spreading through Equestria. If anything Twilight, you need to consider what you have done”

“...” And with that, the little unicorn fell flat. Twilight did her best to hold back her tears as she knew it wasn’t over yet. Rainbow Dash and Spike each put a hoof/claw at her shoulder for comfort.

“Easy sister, she still has much to learn. You know we all can be irresponsible time to time. She was just a little eager to prove her worth. Besides, neither of us could have guessed this result. Even with her magical prowess, i believe this incident to be rather unnatural in kind” Affirmed Luna, taking pity on the poor soul. She may know little about Twilight as Celestia does but she did know the unicorn had a kind heart.

“True… but be that as it may, she has to know the consequences of her mistake” Retorted the elder sister.

Spike fearful of losing a dear parent stepped forward, “Say, what will happen to her? Will she get… banished or something?” He asked making everypony, specially Luna, to fell a little chill on their spines. They all stared at the Sun princess for the answer.

Celestia remained silent for a few seconds before sighing, “No, she won't be banished...” She confirmed sparkling hope as the children heard the words. Her stern face remained firm though, “I haven’t decided on the proper punishment yet. As far as I know there is still the matter of what was found after the explosion”

“Ah yes...” Princess Luna then levitated something from a table nearby. It’s a piece of circular stone with a roughly shaped lightning in one of it’s sides, one of the things that was recovered in the epicenter of what is now considered a weather magic explosion. Everypony on the room could felt a tinge of power leaking out from it as shone some alluring light in their eyes, flickering in reaction of a foreign force.

“That human you had found... Would you please clarify about that, Twilight?”

And the unicorn nodded, remembering the discovery. Her curiosity took over her fears as she began to explain once more...

~FLASH~

“So, what just happened here?” Asked Rainbow Dash as they see the effects of Twilight’s spell on the terrain around. The magic backfire, if you could call it that, was more destructive that Twilight imagined. Just a simple weather spell gone wrong resulted in an explosion of energies strong enough to leave a giant circular crater in an otherwise once beautiful plain.

“Well, talk about change of scenario. I hope you got some excuse ready” Commented Spike narrowing his eyes to see the horizon.

Upon hearing those words, Twilight immediately jumped, “Oh this is bad, this is really bad! Princess Celestia will have heart attack once she finds out” The unicorn began to panic for good on the thought of her worst fears coming true, failing Celestia. Her mind stormed with mad fast thoughts as she fell down on fear and denial, trying to hide herself and the world under her own hooves.

“Uh… it’s not that bad, is it? Can’t you just fix it with another spell or something?” Suggested Dash only receive a mad stricken glare from her distraught friend.

“Another spell!? Look around Dash, no amount of magic can undo all this damage that quickly, it’s just impossible!” She retorted in dismay, her eyes already twitching, “Even worse, it’s a disaster! Princess Celestia will declare me a failure for sure!”

And as she ranted, strange cracking sounds could be hear from down the crater. It was a buzzing sound, like electricity in constant hum but different from a thunder echo...

“Do you know what will happen now? I’m going to be banished from Equestria! Once she learns about it I’ll be definitely be sent into the moon, or even the sun for what I have done!”

Spike and Dash glanced at each other, thinking on how to handle this when the latter heard something coming from the edge of the crater, the buzz noise was getting stronger.

“Okay but there has something we can do right?” Spoke the little dragon trying to calm a despaired Twilight.

“There is nothing we can do about, Spike! Once I’m caught I’ll be remembered in history as the failed apprentice, a mad magician who brought ruins to Ponyville and Equestria as whole! It’s over, I’m done. Twilight Sparkle will be forever stained in history... Ha,hahaha...” The unicorn then laughed in her hysteric self-depreciation, not even noticing the growing sound.

“Uh, guys?” Dash, unable to explain what she was seeing, opted to call their attention.

A strange mesh of yellow lightning, rose out from the crater. The loud sound startled Twilight out of stupor, frightening her as she finally realized a presence. That was when they saw it. Deep down, in the middle of the cavity laid a glowing storm static on the ground around something. It was cracking with energy, flickering sparks out of it’s own while it’s body vibrated constantly. They thought it was a rock of sort but the shape was far too odd.

“What in Equestria...” Rainbow Dash hovered close and saw with her own eyes, a strange creature coated in red. it’s shape resembled a biped of sort, shed in a mix of red and yellow while it's face had a pinkish mesh on it, all blurred to be seen amidst it's shaking form. What did draw the pegasus attention however was the glowing white circle in the creature's chest that had a lightning design imprinted on it, flickering static on it own.

“What is it, Dash?” Yelled Twilight curious to know more. It was kinda hard to see from the cliff's edge.

“I don't know, a monkey I guess?” The pegasus replied as she tried to look through the body's vibration.

“A monkey? Of that size? That can't be, they live far in south. Hmm...” Twilight muttered with a quite thoughtful expression in her face. Hey memory sorted everything she knew about similar creatures when suddenly, a bright flash of light flared from crater. Before she knew, Twilight merely saw a blur coming at her direction.

"Urg-" The unicorn was catapulted into rolling crash as Rainbow Dash crashes, ending with the pegasus weighting her back.

“OW!” Her friend irked.

“R-rainbow Dash…!” The unicorn lifted her friend with her magic and straightened up, “You're okay? What was that?”

“Urg, I don't know. That thing almost fried me when I got too close!” She said recalling the moment. When seeing the scarlet creature, Rainbow Dash felt this feeling crawling her skin. The lightning that coursed over reflected in her eyes with energy. It's chirping sound... it was calling her in a mesmerizing lure when then, one blink later, Dash just felt her body being swatted aside. She didn't even realized how she was stuck by a giant static lightning bolt.

“At least you're not hurt. We need to head out of here and get back to the tree house. The princess should know all about…. this...” Suggested the unicorn hesitantly. For a second, Twilight did felt a chill on her spine. She was forgetting something.

“Uh Twilight? I think we have bigger problems...” And Spike quickly reminded her of why as the little dragon pointed into a direction. Following his gaze, their eyes saw an armada of royal guards, both golden and black, filling the skies in formations coming right out from a certain castle on top of the mountain. Their adornments and banners of both sun and moon signaled exactly what was coming.

That when Twilight froze again, glancing the torn down terrain and remembering her predicament. Her heart skipped a beat. The princesses were coming and they would not be happy…

“Oh no...”

~FLASH~

“… so that's when we brought whatever the thing is, dropped him upstairs and just meet you here” Rainbow Dash finished the story as the Princesses were thoughtful about it.

“I see...” Celestia glanced at her sister, who simply nodded before continuing, “This is a quite unique situation”

“Yes, a human here on Equestria, in his true form. It shouldn’t be possible, unless...” Luna affirmed as she observed the stone is her magic grasp. The thing did react strangely to her power, lightning sparks now and then, changing from red to white, “We must investigate this thoroughly, Sister”

Twilight’s ear did irk up when she heard the word, “So he’s really a human? This is amazing! I thought Lyra was crazy but now… Wait, how come I never found any book on the subject?” She asked with eyes gleaning towards the staircase that leads into her room.

“You didn’t because the knowledge of it is too dangerous. It's know since a thousand eyes ago that humans are unique creatures that do not come from this world and as such, do not belong to it. There are reasons for that of course, but we ought to check our Royal Archives for a concrete answer” The Moon Princess spoke recalling a certain crystal mirror in their possession.

“In meantime, we need keep an eye on him. His presence here could mean the existence of foreign factor in our lands. We must learn of his conditions and treat him with most care while we solve this, which makes me wonder… Where's the rest of the Elements?” Inquired Celestia as she considered her options.

“Applejack and Rarity are together in Manehattan, something about family business I think” Rainbow Dash quickly filled in.

“Pinkie Pie left a letter yesterday. It seems her family had found a mysterious rock tunnel around their farm. She's out to celebrate with them and won't back in for a week” Affirmed Twilight as Spike handed her a scroll.

“And Fluttershy?”

Rainbow Dash and Twilight shared a glance, both unable to answer, “She's supposed to be here I guess…” Spoke the unicorn.

Thus silence filled the room. Its was quite the worrisome situation. All the chaos going around Equestria and the Chosen Elements are themselves separated. Celestia could only sigh in resignation.

“Very well then, one problem at time. You two are to go and check on your friend to see if she’s safe. With her kind nature, her help would be most appreciated. Luna and I are going to stay back make sure our human guest is well... kept...” At the end of her speech, everypony followed her gaze and saw it: a red adorned being came into sight just over the stairs. Twilight and the others stared agape, shocked by his sudden appearance as he stood there, looking at them in a wide eyed manner.

And Flash, with what he saw, the first thing that came in his mind was, “Oh boy...”

~To be continued~

!Author Notes!

Well lads, there it is, the first encounter. Now, i don't have much to say, never thought it would take this long to approve a submission. ?I guess the intake on stories is that big. Oh well, at least gives me time to write out. Now, unlike other HiE fics out there, the excuse to throw a character in Equestria is never quite explored sometimes. I do wish to expand that to create a plot device from it. We've three season of Flash so far and there are many things confirmed so i could explore. I just hope it ends well.

For note thought, if it wasn't clear in the chapter 1, this Flash is from season 1, all the way up to episode 17, so look out.

3. A New Kind of Meta

~FLASH~

Chapter 3: A New Kind of Meta

The day Barry first met with ponies was quite the shock for the Forensic Scientist/Hero Speedster. To say that his brain began to hurt like hell for it didn’t help much. It is like his skull has been cracked open and a worm kept digging itself deep ever since he woke up. If Barry had to guess, he would rather think he was still dreaming, or hallucinating even as he tried make sense of things once truth came.

It all started in that room...

With a gasp of breath, The Scarlet Speedster first shot straight up from the bed awake in a rush. His sight was blurred and unfocused, his body, rigid and clamped. It took a few second shaking his head for him to recollect himself and realize he was not in the cortex, being assisted by his friends in Star Labs, as it should be. In fact, he woke up in some bedroom, covered by a single blue blanket.

“What the… Where am i?” Suddenly finding himself in this unknown place, Barry was quite disoriented. Fear and alarm started to kick in and luckily, the memories came in fast: The test; the lightning; the speed; it all happened in a blink of eyes. He was running, testing Cisco's chest thingy when the said thing simply burst out his torso and made the world stop or something like that.

“Oh man...” He groaned grasping his face. A headache was quick to form in response. Throwing the blanked aside, Barry stood up and assessed the situation. From the looks of it, he still got his mask covering his face, not that his identity was actually secure. Barry was quick to remember the dangerous issue of his real identity being spread out.

Could have someone uncovered it? He was unconscious sure, but for how long? Looking around, there was a clock nearby and… It seems he was out for hours already. Unconscious and helpless, for everyone to play with. The implications were many and they all brought result enough to make anyone worried sick.

“Cisco, are you there?” He hastily linked up his ear comm.

“...”

“Hellooo? Wells? Guys? Come on answer me...” He begged on to no avail. Unfortunately, not a single sound came out of it, not even static noise.

“Great… just great...” Barry shook his head again. He was now stranded in an unknown scenario, cut off from his friends without support. Plus, to complicate further, his chest emblem’s gone, along with the Cisco’s blasted device. Yay. Oh well, at least he isn't trapped or locked away, which is a plus. In fact, seeing that the door and windows exposed felt like a good sign. Whoever rescued him apparently had no bad intentions to be seem yet, or so Barry hoped it to be.

Leaning up in the wall, he made his way to downstairs, finally deciding to meet his would-be rescuers downstairs.

It was then that the Scarlet Speedster stumbled into a shocking discovery.

“Oh boy...” Barry just stared. He stood there as the world around him slowed to a crawl so that he didn't miss a detail from the unfathomable creatures that now stood before him.

Horses. Pastel colored horses. Erm... They did resemble them, kinda, but rather deformed in certain way, having something extra to add. Some had wings, others had horns, two of them with both rather, all with their eyes and head cranium sizes matching nothing shown in any biology study he ever knew.

“...”

“Well, he looks fine to me, Sister” Spoke the darkest of the equines breaking the ice that had installed. When she spoke, Barry just let his jaw fall for a second.

“So it seems…” Addressed the polar opposite one in a quite serene voice. She looked at him, her very expression reflecting the white sun itself, “Now, don't be afraid. I'm pretty sure you must be very confused by now but I assure you, we don't mean to scare. Why don't we just come by and ask some questions?”

Barry’s mouth however, was already moving in shock, “Who-Wha-How-D-Did I hear that horse just talk?” He blurted agape, pointing fingers.

“Hey, that's the princess you're talking to!” Shouted out a flying cyan horse with a crazy rainbow style mane, startling him. Clearly, a pegasus if he ever seen one.

“Rainbow Dash!” A purple foal berated her, flaring some kind of light from her... horn; which means, unicorn. Whatever it is, said unicorn managed to silence the pegasus in a wrap, who’s now encased by some luminous force, not only immobilizing her but also dragging her body back like a solid block, somehow remaining floating still without the equine flapping it's wings.

“Wookay, you DID talk, that's... weird” Barry concluded, yearning him an awkward silence from them, “I-i mean, not that I didn't seen weird before, it's just, different, I think...” He exclaimed, trying to salvage himself from being rude. Granted, since this might be the first time he seen anything this kind of... meta, as he quickly choose to believe. It’s the only way to explain all this kind of situation really. Barry quickly pondered on what kind of bizarre situation they were at when the particle accelerator’s explosion happened.

“Hmm, not the reaction I was expecting but it's better than most. Usually your kind tends to panic quite often when they first see us ponies” The moon drawn equine concluded with an amused smile.

“Well, I am talking to, talking ponies... I mean there's a Pegasus, Unicorns and some mix of both, I think” He affirmed, trying to keep things casual.

“There is also a dragon here!” Affirmed a cheerful young voice belonging to a certain scaly lizard beside the purple unicorn. How did he not see that!?

“R-right, of course there is… So, who are you guys again?” He reluctantly asked trying to ignore the whole mystical theme around him.

“Why, where is my manners? I’m Princess Celestia, an alicorn of if you will. This is my sister, Princess Luna; my prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle; the young dragon, Spike; and lastly, Rainbow Dash” The Sun Royalty smiled as she introduced everyone using her wings like limbs to showcase them.

Barry raised an eye brow at Celestia, or more specific, her name. It was curious to him. With names like these he just heard, one can only assume they’re hiding something. Then again their appearance does give credit to the nicknames due to all the bright colors and symbols they have. Just look at Rainbow Dash. Even Cisco would agree it’s a fitting name with that RBG-like hair, and given she’s kept hovering above ground wasting her energy with her wings instead of just sitting down suggests she might be someone athletic, hence the Dash.

“Uh, nice to meet you all then, I’m… The Flash” Barry greeted his name somewhat taken back. He hastily kept wondering when they bring out the matter his identity for a second. For now he just got a few nods and a watchful glare from the cyan pegasus.

“Well Flash, now that introductions are out of the way, I suppose you do have questions of you own in mind, right?” Suggested Luna.

“Uh, yeah, many” He played along, “For starters, where am I and how did I got here?” He motioned, addressing the oddly shaped library they were in.

The Moon princess just glanced at her sister, who just replied, “It’s a long story...”

“Spike, could you fetch us some tea, please?” Suggested Twilight to the young lizard.

“Right away!”

Barry just arched an eyebrow...

~FLASH~

Moments later, Flash was using the very stairs were he came from as a chair to sit down, given the appropriate utensil didn’t serve his large human body. He stared the ponies, who were just drinking tea, with quite disbelief in his face.

“…So you’re telling me that I’m in this land you call Equestria, that you two rule over in a Diarchy and that because of some freak magical weather accident, I just happened to simply puff my way here via some... magic weather explosion, like, from nowhere?” He recapped, word by word the answers he got.

“Putting it simply, yes, that’s pretty much it” Celestia just nodded short, as a matter of fact.

Barry couldn’t resist massaging his sinuses, “How long I was unconscious, again?” He asked staring intently at Twilight, who was surrounded by tons and tons of parchment she just sparked out of nowhere during their chat. The unicorn was furiously writing on it with feather quill, using her... magic, to do the job.

“A few hours at most, why?”

“Just asking...” Barry feared his mind state. Was he hallucinating? He did get shot with lightning after all so it's not hard to imagine another nine months of sleeping could do to his head… All that power, messing with his body and brain once more. It frightened him just thinking of it.

“It must be a shock for you, waking up in unknown world so far from home and friends. Trust me, I know that feeling” Luna affirmed relating.

“Indeed, this is indeed quite an unknown situation. None of us would imagine things would go to such extent” Commented Celestia taking sip of her tea, also with her glowing magic horn.

“Oh you have no idea” Barry snorted with a snark smile. Going by their word alone, what he just heard and saw not only defies every logic he knows for granted but also challenges the very definition of the word. It's funny though as there's this nigh possibility that these girls might be interpreting their powers in the wrong way, believing everything to be magical instead of considering a scientific perspective. Barry just didn't know how.

Hell, Clyde Mardon, AKA the first Weather Wizard, believed himself to be a god only because he could manipulate atoms through their electrons to create, shape and control all sorts of dangerous weathers. His nickname reflects that at least, therefore it makes sense that these... ponies, would think similar in that sense. That is, considering they were human in first place.

“It is a sudden unwanted change of pace but alas no need to worry though, we will make sure that your stay remains as hospitable as you wish to be” Luna assured him with a smile.

“Wait, I'm/He's staying?” Both Flash and Rainbow Dash voices blended, causing them to glance each other.

Barry was about to speak but the pegasus beat him to it, “Why we're keeping this thing here?” She pointed out harshly.

“He’s not a “thing”, Rainbow, he has a name. Plus, we have little to no idea of how Flash ended up here. If what princess said is true, he doesn’t have anywhere to go right now, considering...” Twilight argued.

“You don't know that! If anything, that weather disaster might be right his fault actually, he was there too!”

“Hey, I didn't do any hocus-pocus okay? I didn't even know what actually happened in first place…” He retorted, not happy with were this was going to.

“Hmph! I'm still suspicious. I mean, you just show up in some weird, science experiment that also screwed with weather? That's a reeeeally coincidence you know? I think he's hiding something!” Accused Rainbow Dash crossing her arms/forelegs… somehow.

Hearing that, Flash frowned, “Me, hiding something? Look who's talking! All the this nonsense of magic and kingdoms. I mean, do you really want me to flat out believe there’s an entire pony world outside these walls?” He confronted her.

“Well, yeah! You think the Princess would lie!?” She barked back.

“...”

“I-In that case, how give you a tour around the town? That way we could prove our point” Suggested Twilight breaking the cold. The unicorn glanced at her mentor, who nodded in approval.

Barry however, just snorted, “Heh, you know what? I have a better idea. I’ll go out and meet my friends on my own, if you don't mind” He proposed, standing up to his feet.

“W-what?”

Having heard enough, Flash just walked toward the door when the cyan pegasus blocked his path. She was really out against him for some reason.

“You’re not going anywhere, bugger” She threatened.

Only to deal with his grinning face, “Try me” He dared, blinking his eyes once before just vanishing before her very eyes.

“!?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t even gasp as his body instantly vibrated into a blurring mesh of red, darting out of the room so fast that he left nothing but a gust of wind and trail of yellow lightning. The others could only stare agape in that second.

And just in time that Spike had arrived, carrying some lunch.

“Sorry for the wait, it took me a while to bake them but here’s some cookies!” The little dragon looked proud for a moment before noticing their faces, “What?”

“H-he’s gone!?”

~FLASH~

“Barry’s is... gone?” Parroted a voice that made Cisco flinch as he and Doctor Wells faced the wrath of a certain police officer back at Star Labs.

Joe West, a long standing detective; a loving father; a good friend. He went through many trials in his life his wife left him; his best friend got jailed; and the mother of his now adoptive son was killed by something that can only be considered an enigma. These and many other crazy things happening on Central City left Joe to become a very protective person of his few beloved.

“Uh, yeah, he just… disappeared” Cisco shrieked under the detective’s glare, “I-i mean, there's no sign of his presence anywhere, no signal, no comm. Things just went dark for no reason”

“Oh really?” Joe frowned, not exactly happy to hear that.

“I'm looking at these specs you guys developed and there's this minimal possibility that the device could either go from burn out all muscles and organs to total molecular disintegration, so…” Added another scientist in the group, Caitlin Snow, the once bio-engineer of Star Labs and now another member of Team Flash, carrying a tablet pad of sort.

“Yes, a possibility of 1 in every 570.000 simulations in the worst scenario. So, while a potential threat indeed I have to say that the odds are extremely, extremely, unlikely. Or at very least unlikely, compared to what we could have won as result” Wells explained with a composed face, treating the whole situation as it is, an experiment. Both Cisco and Caitlin were rather shocked by his cold outlook while Joe shakes in denial.

“You bastard!” The detective swears in anger, going all the way to grab the crippled man by his collar, “That was my son you screwed with!”

“Joe, Joe wait!” Cisco tried to ward out the angered father but a single glare from Wells made him stop.

“That obsession with Barry; His speed powers; Always with the experiments! I don't know what you want from him but once I find out...”

“Don't worry, Detective. Barry is out there somewhere. I'll dedicate all my resources to find him, wherever he is, I promise you that”

“You better or I’ll make sure you never walk free ever again, wheelchair or not” And then, dropping the doctor down, Joe took calming breath, his eyes surveying around before stopping a Cisco, “You guys fix this mess… fast” He demanded, leaving the room.

Silence installed still for a second. Even when facing the man's grief, Wells just assured him of his efforts in the most calm form possible, to the point most would just consider him an, amoral man who only cause problems. Cisco and Caitlyn however knew him better, realizing that this all just an act for him to take the blame for all the disaster that had just happened.

Or at least, it's what they believed.

“Dr. Wells… I-”

“Don't, Ramon. I know very well how you're feeling but we need to focus first, go and prep out satellite to search for any abnormalities on Barry's last known signal. Caitlin, I need you to get our van and equipment on it. Any other questions, let me know...” The Doctor gave out his orders and dismissed them, driving his chair away from the cortex and leaving the scientists by themselves.

Out of sight, the man known as Wells frowned as he crossed the corridor alone. His chair stopped on some section, just beside some random wall. However, when passing his hand on it, a light came forth from it and seconds later the wall itself began to dismantle, giving way to a hidden room, pad in a mysterious white dotted design.

The Time Vault was open and Wells, or more exactly, the Man in Yellow could finally be alone to reflect on the questions plaguing his mind since the incident.

“Hello, Dr. Wells. Not a good day I assume?” Greeted an electronic tone of voice taking form at his presence. The white dot design of the walls began to glow in the Vault, creating a hologram of lights in the shape of a seemly human head.

“Not its not, Gideon. Now please, show me the future” He asked the artificial intelligence, causing the hologram to change, formulating into some sort of press journal. The news of Central City Citizen from April 25, 2024 revealed itself, picturing the same thing Wells had seen over and over.

FLASH MISSING
VANISHES IN CRISIS

“And yet, what had happened?” He whispered in thought. As far as he knew, Cisco's theory was but a joke compared to what he truly knew for results. While a sound proposal, the Speed Force isn't drawn into someone that easy, not without the ideal solution of Tachyon Particles themselves at very least. Only an event as catastrophic as the particle explosion could generate a process powerful enough to grant such effect.

“Gideon, search Tachyon particles, find me any evidence of Time Travel” He suggested, already thinking on some options. Something else must had interfered, some unknown parameter or situation.

“No signatures detected”

Wells arched an eyebrow, “None? That can't be… Search for any references of Flash or Barry Allen”

“Searching… ! There are infinite references in the potential future” Responded Gideon.

“So nothing had truly changed? Hmm...” Getting his results, Doctor Wells could only sit down and cross his fingers in face of this unusual situation.

“Given my observations, I assume you seek me to keep an eye for any changes?” The AI formulated, already processing many instances of Flash's presence across the time-line of the future.

“Yes indeed… Now, where are you hiding, Flash?” He muttered, curious to know where his prize is at.

~To be continued~

!Author Notes!

Third chapter guys… Man this one was nightmare to write. Jesus, after reading some many fics out there I thought that writing main character first encounters would be easy! Like, you just had to know how the characters would behave and write reactions from there but damn, this one was hard for me.

I rewrote this chapter many many times… It took me a while to finally fit Barry's goofy personality to create a convincing encounter while trying to preserve his analytical mind. It's like I can't just get it done. Even now I still think these chapter can be written better somehow but I’m really trying to avoid it as i fell the narrative going off at the end. Maybe it's because i like to take it slow...

Then again, I just discovered that I am kinda of a detail freak of sort. I can't help but to trying picture the whole scene for my readers in every aspect. This is a problem as it can conflict with the “flow” of a narrative. I get that I must “show and not tell” but… its hard >_<! I ask you guys to help me with criticism on that... Is the story going too slow? Is anything out of pace? Anything helps.

Anyway, thanks for reading and joy for all…