Equestria Girls Final Fantasy Adventures

by GuardianDemonsWriter

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Flash Sentry, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Romance, Equestria Girls, Final Fantasy
Length: 21838

After an encounter with a mysterious painting, Flash Sentry encounters a new world.

After Flash Sentry accdentally falls into a mysterious painting (thanks Pinkie) he encounters another world. Twilight Sparkle takes it upon herself to rescue him. Based on a role-play that I did on DeviantArt. Also based on the game: "Final Fantasy Record Keeper"

Published 2022-05-04 22:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-06-16 16:12:39 UTC

Final Fantasy IX Part 1

It began like any other day. Flash woke up, had breakfast, said goodbye to his siblings and went to school. They were going on a field trip to the Canterlot Art Museum to see a few new paintings. Nothing could go wrong then right?

Right?

A simple field trip. Nothing can go wrong.

When they got to the museum, there were advertisements everywhere for a new piece of art of something called “Tantalus”. Flash thought that they were talking about the dude from Greek myths where after stealing food from the gods (or serving his own son as food to them), they punished him by holding food right out of his reach. Pretty karmic for a guy like him.

So obviously the art had to do with him.

Flash was surprised that it was instead an art piece of some sort of airship. A very familiar airship he might add. He swore he recognized it from somewhere. And the painting seemed to be partly obscured by purple clouds. Strange.

As he was thinking about this, he saw Pinkie rushing towards him. She was apparently excited since there was apparently a painting that she wanted to see right next to the “Tantalus” painting.

This can’t be good.

Before Flash knew it, Pinkie slammed into him in her rush to get to the painting.

“Woops, sorry Flashy!” she said.

“Pinkie! You can’t run in here!” Sunset scolded.

But as the two were talking, Flash stumbled. And fell straight into the painting. No, scratch that. He fell INTO the painting. It was some sort of portal. He fealt his foot being grabbed by someone, but whoever grabbed him lost their grip and he fell right through the painting. He saw a swirl of bright light and then, he blacked out.

“Owww,” Flash moaned as he struggled to get up.

“Hey, Flash, are you okay?” a voice asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Flash groaned.

“That was some fall you took there,” the voice continued, “you fell right off the ladder as we were climbing down,”.
“Yeah, wait what?”

Flash opened his eyes. He was on a wooden floor. As he slowly got up he looked at the person who was talking to him. He was about his height, had blonde hair, and a long…tail? Oh.

Oh no.

He was staring at the face of Zidane Tribal.

Back at the museum, there was much panic. For one thing, Pinkie’s antics had gotten security involved, so a guard was placed in front of the painting. Which was preventing anyone from getting close to it.

Sunset did not know how, or why, Flash fell through the painting, but she needed to find some way to rescue him. During lunch at the museum cafe, she got out her journal and began to talk to Princess Twilight, to see if she knew of anything like this.

"Hi Twilight,"

“Hey Sunset, what’s up?”

“Oh nothing much except Flash Sentry fell through a painting at a museum here,”

“What!?”

“Yeah, you can thank this world’s Pinkie for that,”

“Wait, so the painting was some sort of portal? Did it look like it led anywhere in Equestria?”

“Well, not really. At least nowhere I’ve heard off. Rainbow tried grabbing him, but her hands slipped, and now there being guarded, so we can’t stage a rescue mission,”

“Do you need my help?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, aren't you busy with princess stuff?”

“If I was, I wouldn’t be able to go on crazy adventures here, now would I?”

“Point made,”

“How is Flash by the way? Er…just wondering if he’s asked about me,”

“He’s been doing fine. He was a little depressed earlier in the year, but he’s gotten better,”

“Why was he depressed?”

“I sort of told him to…get over you,”

“...”

“Twilight?”

“Why? Did I ask you to break us up?”

“Well, I figured since you’ve only interacted twice, I’d figured that a relationship would not work between the two of you and…well he did gain an interest in your human self, but she’s taken so…I’d thought I’d help him get over you. And it’s not as if you were actually dating or anything,”

“I mean, I get your point, but you could have had him talk to me through your journal. And I probably should have visited a bit more. I was kind of disappointed how our last interaction went down,”

“You mean how Trixie basically ruined your first--”

“YES, and…well did he ever feel bad at all about his…actions under the influence of the Sirens?”

“I don’t even know if he remembers that, but before he was influenced, he was asking about you,”

“And, I admit, while his words did hurt, he was right. I was in over my head about it. At least the hug he gave me was nice”

“Er, maybe we should figure out a way to rescue him first. Who knows how much trouble he could get into, with not having magic at all. We don’t know where that portal leads,”

“Alright, sit tight, and meet me at the statue later. I’m going over there. We should meet at night,”

“Right, how should we do this then?”

“I’ll go alone. I’m very sneaky when I want to be,”

“I didn’t know you are willing to…break in and enter a locked building at night,”

“Would not be my first time!”

“You will need my help to get over to the museum though. You probably don’t know where it is,”

“Right. I’ll be over there later,”

It was late at night when Twilight entered the human world. Sunset was waiting for her when she exited the portal.

“Okay, the museum is not actually that far from here,” Sunset said, “so we should be able to get there pretty easily,”.

“Are we going to walk all the way there?” Twilight asked.

“Well, no,” said Sunset. “We would have to drive. Fortunately, I got us a ride. She pointed to the car that was sitting in the school’s parking lot.

“Since when did you get a car?” asked Twilight.

“It’s Flash’s. I got my license not that long ago. And since I do not have my own car to drive, Flash made a spare key for me so I could use his car,” Sunset explained.

“I see,” said Twilight.

“So how are we going to break into a museum?” asked Sunset.

“Oh, I have a few magic tricks up my sleeve,” said Twilight.

Later at the museum…

“Okay, we are here,” said Sunset, “now what?”

“First, we, or in this case, I should unlock a window,” said Twilight, “I know of an unlocking spell that can unlock it,”.

They went over to one of the windows. After Twilight had cast a spell on it to unlock it, she opened it slowly. She looked around to see if there were any guards around. Once she was confident that none were around, she climbed in.

“Be careful in there,” said Sunset.

“Always,” said Twilight.

Twilight looked around. According to Sunset on the way there, the painting that Flash fell through was in the featured art section. After searching for a little bit, she eventually found it. Unfortunately, there was a guard standing right next to it. She would have to distract him somehow. Perhaps a small spell to make him fall asleep would work. She casted a small sleep spell at him which made him fall asleep.

“Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let’s see what this painting is all about,” Twilight said to herself.

She walked over to the painting to see that the airship was still there. And it was still partly obscured by purple clouds. Twilight wondered how Flash could have fallen through it. She decided to reach out to see if it would react to her. Suddenly, it seemed to have grabbed her and started to pull her into it.

“Well, here we go then,” Twilight told herself as she was pulled in.

Author's Note

So, I got this idea from a role-play that I did on DeviantArt. Basically, Twilight, Flash, Sunset, and Starlight were put into the Final Fantasy VI world by Discord. So that was one of my main inspirations to do this. The fact that they go into the Final Fantasy worlds via a painting is inspired by Final Fantasy Record Keeper. I'll mainly be sticking to Final Fantasy games that I've played (and understand the plot of).

Final Fantasy IX Part 2

This was turning out to be a weird day. First, Flash fell into some painting thanks to Pinkie, and now he was standing in front of Zidane Tribal. Who, last he checked, was a character in a video game, not a real person. Then again, there was an entire world filled with ponies that he had visited. Not for very long sure, and it was a long day for him and everyone else, but he got to at least see it. So being in a world where video game characters came to life wouldn’t be that impossible.

“Uh, Flash are you all right?” Zidane asked, breaking Flash out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” Flash sputtered. “Oh, um…yes! I’m fine!”

“Well then stop standing there! We have to go meet up with the others,” Zidane said, leading Flash to a side room. When they entered it, it was pitch dark inside. Zidane lit a match and went over to a candle. Once he did so, three others entered the room from the side.

“Ah, Zidane! Flash! You have arrived!” said the first person, who was an average looking human. Flash figured that this must be Blank.

“The meeting will start soon, are you two ready?” the second person asked. His face was partly obscured by a red bandana, but judging from the pointy ears and teeth, Flash figured that this must be Marcus. That left the last person, who must have been Cinna.

Before Zidane or Flash could respond, there was a crash behind them. Someone wearing a monster mask burst out from behind them with a “raaaaagh” battle cry.

After defeating the Masked Man, who turned out to be the leader, Baku, he got up while rubbing his head. “Ugh, be more careful guys,” he moaned before leading them all to the side room. Once there, he spoke up. “All right, listen up! We, the traveling thieves, Tantalus will be arriving in Alexandria shortly. There we will put on the play ‘I Want To Be Your Canary’. Marcus will be the main star,”.

“Naturally,” said Marcus, “I am an excellent actor. Course, the real kidnappers will be Zidane, Blank and Flash,”.

“I’ll distract the audience with these little buggers,” said Blank, holding up a strange little creature. “I can’t stand oglops. But I’ll manage. Flash and Zidane, that will be your cue,”.

“Okay!” Zidane nodded, “that is when I kidnap Garnet, and Flash kidnaps Twilight right?”.

“You bet!” said Baku, “you two are gonna kidnap the two princesses,”.

“Um, am I going to act in the play?” Flash asked.

“Sorry, but you will meet up with Blank and Zidane. Stay in the wing, and meet up with them after they duel,” Baku responded.

Finally the airship arrived at Alexandria. The ship moves into place near Alexandria castle. As citizens begin to gather to see the play, a young boy watches. Meanwhile Queen Brahne is watching with excitement. Not noticing that her daughter is looking solemn. The other girl that was sitting on her other side had a confused look on her face, but kept quiet.

As the play begins, Baku walks onto the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight’s performance is a story that takes place long, long ago. Our heroine, Princess Cornelia is torn from her lover Marcus. She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo. When our story begins, Marcus, having heard this, crosses swords with the King. And now Your Royal Majesty, Queen Brahne, Your Highnesses, Princess Garnet and Princess Twilight…noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents ‘I Want to Be Your Canary’!”

Meanwhile, backstage, Cinna, Zidane, and Blank are rehearsing their lines.

“Bereft of father! Bereft of mother! Marcus, thou hast lost even thy love!” said Blank

“Fortune hath escap’d thee! For what end shalt thou live?” said Cinna.

“For the sake of our friend…let us bury our steel in the heart of the wretched King Leo!” said Zidane.

“Aye!” said Cinna and Blank.

The three of them run forward onto stage, where Marcus is facing King Leo, who is flanked by two soldiers.

“We shall protect thee, Kinsman!” said Blank.

“Pray, shethe thy swords! This villain is mine alone!” said Marcus.

“Nay Kinsman! For I too have lost a brother to this fiend!” said Cinna.

“What ho? Out, vermin! Away! Thou darest bare the sword before the King!? All who stand in my way shall be crush’d!” said King Leo.

“Treacherous Leo, my Kinsman’s suffering shall not be in vain! For I shall instruct thee in his incomparable pain!” said Zidane.

The battle commences as Zidane, Marcus, Cinna, and Blank battle Leo and his two guards. Once his guards are defeated, and he has taken enough damage himself, Leo runs off.

“Arr…Grrr…Thou hast not seen the last of me, Marcus!” said Leo.

“Come back!” said Zidane as he tries to follow him, but he is blocked by Blank. “Outta my way Blank!” Zidane says.

“Consider this Zidane,” Blank replies, “If Prince Scneider where to marry Princess Cornelia, peace would reign over the kingdoms!”.

“Tis foolishness! If all were so easy, why, none would suffer in this world!” Zidane responds.

The two have a short sword fight, exchanging “ahas!” and “mphs!”

“En guarde!” says Blank.

“Expect no quarter from me!” replies Zidane.

The two exchange in the sword fight again. Zidane’s efforts only managed to impress 40 nobles. Queen Brahne was not impressed.

“Come back here!” Zidane states as Blank runs away.

“We shall finish this later!” said Blank.

The two run into Flash, who had managed to sneak into the castle. After knocking out some Pluto Knights, they put on their armor to disguise themselves. “Okay, now all we have to do is sneak this sleeping medicine into Garnet and Twilight’s tea,” said Blank, “I’ll take care of the Queen. I got a little surprise for her heh heh,”.

The group run up the stairs, with Zidane almost running into a figure wearing a white cloak with red stripes, and Flash almost running into a figure wearing a red cloak with white stripes.

“Excuse us please,” said the white cloaked figure. Zidane takes a moment to examine her face. “Is there something on my face?” the white figue asked.

“I’m just wondering if you are the one,” said Zidane flirtatiously.

Meanwhile, Flash was examining the red-cloaked person. “Hold on,” he said as he got a closer look. He’d recognize those violet eyes anywhere, “T-twilight?!” he said in a shocked tone.

“Flash?!” Twilight said in response.

“What are you doing here!?” they asked at the same time.

“I’m escaping…no, wait, I came here to rescue you!” said Twilight in a whisper.

“And I think I am supposed to kidnap you or something,” Flash responded awkwardly.

Before Twilight could respond, Garnet rushes past them, grabbing her hand. “Come on Twilight, we have to go!” she says, dragging her away.

“Who were those two?” asked Blank.

“Those were the princesses!” Zidane responded. As both he and Flash ran after them.

Meanwhile, two jesters run up to the Queen. They are blocked by a man clad in armor. “We must see the Queen!” the first jester says.

“See the Queen we must!” the other jester says at the same time.

“The Queen is busy right now,” Steiner responds, “come back later,”. However, a woman with an eye patch over one of her eyes speaks up.

“Is it an emergency?” she asks the two jesters.

The two jesters nod. “An emergency it is,” the first one, Thorn, says.

“The princesses are missing!” the other one, Zorn, says.

“Very well, I’ll see what I can do,” the woman, Beatrix, responds. She goes up to Queen Brahne while Steiner fumes behind them.

“Your majesty, it seems that the princesses have gone missing. And Garnet has made off with the Royal Pendant,”. This gets Brahne’s attention.

“Why of all the nerve!” she says. “General Beatrix and…” she states, forgetting Steiner’s name.

“Captain Steiner of the Pluto Knights, your majesty,” responds Steiner.

“Yes, yes. Go find Garnet and Twilight at once!” Brahne orders.

“Yes your majesty” Steiner and Beatrix say at the same time.

Steiner searches the castle for Garnet and Twilight, finding several of his Pluto Knights goofing off or doing other things other than guarding during the search. It’s very embarrassing that all of his knights are a bunch of idiots, while the main Alexandrian army is an all female battalion. That Beatrix had to one-up him in everything! While searching, he climbs one of the tall towers of the castle, getting pretty winded on the way up. “I-I should work out more,” he grumbles as he makes his way to the top. Once he gets up there, he sees Garnet and Twilight running away from Zidane and Flash.

“P-princesses! D-don’t worry! I’ll protect you from those brigands!” Steiner yelled from the tower.

Meanwhile, on the tower, both princesses climb up to the ledge. “Uh, are you sure about this?” Twilight asks a bit nervously as Garnet hands her a cord to hold onto, while grabbing one of her own. Both of them swing on the cord to the airship as Flash, Zidane, and Steiner (from his tower) watch on.

“Come on, let’s follow them!” Zidane says as he and Flash each grab a cord and swing down to where Twilight and Garnet landed. Steiner tried the same, but ended up crashing into one of the airship’s pillars. Zidane and Flash land in an area where the band is playing.

“Where did they go?” Zidane asked. As if to answer his question, Garnet and Twilight run around knocking over several band members (Twilight apologizing as she does so). Zidane and Flash run after them as the two princesses run into a blue-haired girl, Ruby.

“Woah there! Where are you two off ta’?” she asked.

“Pardon us, we are in a hurry,” said Garnet as she drags Twilight off.

“Sorry about that!” she called off as she was dragged away.

‘Well, at least she apologized,’ Ruby thought as Zidane and Flash ran into the room.

“Hey Ruby, those were the princesses, okay bye!” Zidane yelled as he and Flash ran by her.

“Zidane! Didn’t ya see the way th’ white-robbed girl hit me?!” Ruby called out after him. Zidane did not hear her though.

Finally, Garnet and Twilight stop in the room that Flash and Zidane were in earlier. Zidane and Flash run inside the room, both looking winded. “Okay…phew…it looks like…you two…have finally…made up your minds,” said Zidane.

“Do you two own this ship?” Garnet asked Zidane and Flash.

Zidane flustered a bit while thinking ‘aw she figured it out huh?’.

“Well, you see, the truth is, I am Princess Garnet, and this is my…sister, Twilight,”

‘Sister!?’ Flash thought, ‘Twilight is not your sister! Though I suppose our presence here is forcing this world to correct things. Maybe that is why Zidane referred to me by my name even though he should not know me,’.

“I am heir to the throne of Alexandria,” Garnet continued as Flash was lost in his thoughts. “And I wish that my sister and I be kidnapped right away!” she says as she grabs Zidane’s hands.

“Huh?!” Twilight said, clearly confused about the entire thing. “Flash, do you know what is going on here?!”

“Wait, how do you two know each other?” Zidane asked.

Before either of them could answer, there was a knock on the nearby door. Someone on the other end shouts “Princess!”.

“Hurry!” Garnet tells Zidane. “They’ve come for me!”

“Well, then follow me. I’ll do my best to kidnap you,” Zidane responds. He leads Garnet, Flash, and Twilight out of the room before Steiner crashes through.

“Princesses?! Where are you?!! What has happened to the two of you!?” He states as he looks around.

Meanwhile, the group runs into Cinna, who shows them an escape hatch. But Steiner and a Pluto Knight catch up with them. “Don’t worry princesses, you two will be safe with us!” the Knight says. “Just relax and we’ll get the two of you out of here!”.

“Hold on a minute!” said Stiener, who was beginning to suspect the Knight. “I’m the Princesses’s protector!”

“Sorry, but the Princesses…” said Zidane

“Are coming,” said Cinna.

‘Well, I guess I’m doing this,’ thought Flash as he and the Knight both say “with us!”

A battle commences where Flash, Zidane, Cinna, and the Knight all battle Steiner. Flash was not sure what he could really do, but he tried to help and managed to get a small hit on Steiner. The battle ended when Steiner hit the Knight, revealing him to be Blank. However, the strike also released all of the Oglips that Blank was hiding under the armor.

“Gah!! Oglips!!” said Steiner as he flailed around. The Oglips spooked Blank and Cinna too, as they also flailed around. While Steiner was distracted, Zidane, Garnet, Twilight and Flash ran into another room. Meanwhile, the play was still going on.
“Tonight, I shall finally see my daughter Cornellia betroth’d to Prince Schnider! And then Prince Schnider and his kingdom shall be mine!” King Leo said as he gave out an evil laugh.

Two guards walk onstage with Marcus in hand. “Your majesty!” said one of them.

“We have caught an intruder!” said the other guard.

“Why my poor Marcus!” said Leo, “Hark lad. No matter how much thou dost treasure Cornelia…no matter how deeply she might believe she doth love thee…never shall I see her marry a peasant such as thee!”. A bell rings once. “When the bell strikes three, under the axe thou shall be!” The bell strikes a second time.

Meanwhile, Zidane and the others ran into a dead end.

“What do we do now?” Garnet asked Zidane, “we can’t go any further from here!”

Zidane thought for a minute. Cinna then runs into the room. “Zidane! Get on number 2! Flash, you get on number 3,” he says. Flash and Zidane oblige with the two princesses getting on the same platforms.

Before they could say anything else, Steiner runs into the room, yelling “Stop!”. He runs into Cinna, and then stops on another platform. All three platforms begin to rise.

Meanwhile on stage the bell rang for a third time and Leo was still talking. “Furthermore!” he began as the three platforms begin to rise. Leo pauses, unsure on what to do.

“Guys, just improvise!” whispered Zidane.

Steiner was confused about the entire thing. “What’s all this about?” he asks.

Suddenly, Marcus breaks free and runs up to Garnet. “Cornelia!” he proclaims, confusing Garnet.

“Um…” she stammers.

“Cornelia is Marcus’s lover, just play along!” Zidane whispers to her. Garnet nods.

“Oh Marcus! I have missed you so!” she says as she goes up and hugs Marcus. “I wish to never leave thy side. Prithee, lead me from this place!”

“Hey, you are pretty good,” whispered Zidane.

“Thanks, I’ve studied drama, and this is my favourite play, so I know it by heart!” she whispers back.
“Hey, Queen Brahne is still watching, so let’s get on with it,” whispers Baku.

“See King Leo? Thou shouldst give them thy blessing,” said Zidane.

“Never!” yells King Leo. “Never leave his side, thou sayest? Foolish banter! I’ll not allow it! Cornelia shall marry none other than this man-Prince Schnider!”. Gestures to Flash who has a confused look on his face.

‘Wait what?!’ Flash thinks. He decides to roll with it, as he too had some acting experience.

“M-marry the Princess?! M-me?!”. he asks.

“Aye! And this traitorous crew, I will put to death!”.

Zidane and Marcus attack the two guards who run away screaming. King Leo approaches Garnet. “Pray sweet daughter, come home to the castle with me,”.

“Nay father! I shan’t return!” Garnet declares.

“Cornelia, trouble me no more. This wedding is for our own welfare. Be mindful of that,” Leo responds.

“Not if I can help it!” yells Marcus as he rushes forward. “Now is my moment of vengeance! For my parents, and for my love Cornelia!” He draws his sword. “I shall cut thee down!”. He goes to stab Leo, but Garnet throws herself in front of the sword, getting stabbed instead. “No…Cornelia!!” he yells out.

“Mar…cus, forgive me. I still love my father…” Garnet says weakly.

“Cornelia!” states King Leo.

“Princess!” states Steiner, thinking that she was really dead.

“Prithee, forgive my selfishness, Father, and spare my sweet Marcus,” says Garnet.

“What have I done?! Am I never to hear her loving voice again?! Am I cursed to never again feel her soft touch!?” O, cruel fate! Thou hast robbed me of all I treasure!”. He then stabs himself causing Zidane to cry “Marcus!”. Meanwhile, Queen Brahne is watching with great interest.

“This is the most amazing play ever ha ha!” she states. ‘Now where did Garnet and Twilight go?’ she wonders to herself.

Meanwhile on stage, Leo is crying over his daughter. “Forgive me!” he stammers, right before he is interrupted by a kid wearing blue robes and a steepled hat running away from two Pluto Knights.

“S-stay back!” he stammers. He then casts a fire spell which causes Garnet’s cloak to catch fire.

“Yowch!” she cries as she takes it off, ultimately revealing herself.

Realizing that Garnet just revealed herself, Baku quickly took action, “Zidane, it’s time!” he tells Zidane.

Zidane nods. “Princess Garnet, let's get out of here!” he tells her.

“Now hold on!” Steiner protested. “Princess, I can’t let you or your sister go with these thieves!”

“Steiner, your service is no longer required. Don’t follow me anymore,” Garnet replied.

Steiner paused. “Princess, I’m afraid I can’t comply,” he says. “Seize them!” he orders the other two knights.

After a quick battle where Zidane, Garnet, Flash, and Vivi battle Steiner and the other two knights (who quickly run away when they realize that they are fighting a losing battle), Baku has Cinna start up the airship so that they could escape. However, Queen Brahne notices the airship leaving and orders harpoons to fire at it. She then orders a cannon that was above her to shoot something at the ship, a bomb!

The bomb lands right behind Steiner, who is too busy fighting Zidane, Flash, Vivi, Garnet, and now Twilight to notice.

“Steiner! Turn around! There is a bomb behind you!” Garnet calls out to him.

“Yeah Rusty! Turn around!” Zidane yells.

“Hah! I’m not falling for that trick!” says Steiner.

“Turn around you dum dum!” Flash yelled at him.

While they were trying to get Steiner to listen to them, the bomb explodes right as Steiner turns around. “Wait what?!” he says. The explosion frees the ship from the chains as it goes off flying in the distance. Brahne shakes her fist in rage.

“Blast it!” she cries. “Zorn! Thorn!” she calls out.

The two jesters come out from behind. “Is the experiment ready?” she asks. The two nod and say that it is ready. “Good, send it after them!” she orders, “I need the Princesses alive! Garnet especially!”.

Author's Note

Final Fantasy IX belongs to Square Enix.
The play scene is technically written by Hironobu Sakaguchi since I didn't know of a good way to leave it out (the only real change being that Flash has Steiner's line from the original)

Final Fantasy IX Part 3

“Ugh…ow,”. Flash got up and rubbed his head. “Where am I?” he wondered. He looked around to see that he was outside the airship.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” said Cinna, who was bringing more crew members out. “I had to carry you out after we crash landed in the forest.

Crash landed? Wait, that’s right. Flash tried to remember what happened. He knew that the airship was flying away from Alexandria, but the Queen had attacked it, and as it flew away, the damage from the bomb exploding caused them to crash land. He had seen Zidane jump off, but he was still onboard, so that is why Cinna had to carry him out.

“Hey Cinna? Where is Zidane?” he asked.

“Zidane?” said Cinna, “I know that he jumped off, but I haven’t seen him,”. Zidane then walks up to them. “Oh nevermind, there he is!”.

“Flash! I see that you’ve made it out safely!” Zidane calls out.

“Yeah, it was all thanks to Cinna here,” said Flash.

“Aw, it was nothing. Can’t leave the crew in there to get hurt from the flames!” said Cinna. “Speaking of which, now that everyone is out, I’m gonna help the others put out the fire now, and see how much damage we sustained,”. Cinna goes and works on the airship.

“Flash, have you seen Garnet and Twilight?” Zidane asked.

“No I have not,” said Flash.

“I hope they and that kid who was with them are alright,” said Zidane

Meanwhile, in the forest, Garnet, Twilight and Vivi are fleeing a pair of mysterious shadows. Vivi tries to hold them back with his attacks, while Twilight is assisting. ‘Geez, these things are worse than the beasts that are in Everfree Forest!’ she thinks.

“Watch out!” Garnet yells as the pair of shadows pass over them

Meanwhile, Zidane and Flash are on their way to the area where Garnet, Twilight and Vivi were attacked, fighting several goblins along the way. They were pretty easy enemies to fight, as they never got a hit on Flash (mostly because Zidane got a hit in before he did). They come to the area from before where Vivi is shaking in front of a plant monster. Steiner and Twilight are also there as well. “T-that t-thing, i-it has her!” said Vivi shaking with fear.

Meanwhile, Steiner was yelling at the plant monster. “Let the princess go, you foul beast!” he yelled at it.

Zidane rolled his eyes. “Yeah I don’t think it is willing to listen to you Rusty,”. He, Steiner, and Flash battle the plant monster, with Zidane immediately going into Trance while doing so. His skin and hair became a pinkish color. Ziane easily defeated the plant monster while in Trance. After the three of them defeated the monster, it fled with Garnet into the forest. Unfortunately, a monster then captures Vivi. After a quick battle, where Vivi helped out while he was trapped by using fire spells on it, Vivi is freed from it once the monster is killed. In it’s dying moments, the monster releases a spread of spores on the group, hitting Vivi, Steiner, and Flash.

“P-princess,” Steiner says weakly as he blacks out.

Flash woke up in one of the rooms on the airship. “Ugh, my head,” he moaned. He looked around. Dang. So the whole thing was not a dream.

He tried to get up only for a female voice to stop him. “Easy, Flash. You still have that plant monster thing’s spores in you,” the voice said. She hands him a bottle. “Here, one of those…thieves told me to give it to you,”. Flash drank the liquid in the bottle. And slowly opened his eyes. He saw Twilight staring right back at him.

“Gah!” he cried out as he stumbled out of bed.

“Good, you’re awake. Because now you can explain what is going on, and where we are,” said Twilight, her previous sweet tone turning to an annoyed one. Oh boy, this was going to take a while.

Meanwhile in another room, Steiner was fuming. “How does their boss think he can save the princess?!” he grumbles. While he was aware that the other princess was saved, he was still determined to save Garnet. “And this…medicine that they gave me…it smells terrible and the color is weird…it better not be poison!” he grumbled while taking the medicine. It was not that bad after all.

“Wow, okay, so we are indeed in another world that we entered through a painting. A world that is a…video game? In your world? Interesting. I know that Sunset once told me that she was a gamer, but I didn’t even know what she was really talking about,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, I’m sort of the one who got her into them when we were together,” Flash admitted. “Though I guess she mainly got into them because she wanted to learn how to use her hands,”.

“True, but now we have to figure out what to do next,” Twilight mused.

“Well, we should go out and save Garnet,” Flash said simply.

“Are you sure? Is that how things are supposed to go in this world? I figured that this world somehow corrected itself to adjust to our presence here. It made you part of this thieves guild, and me Garnet’s sister? Well, I suppose I am a princess, so that sort of makes sense,” Twilight said.

Flash nodded. “Anyways, I’ll talk to Zidane. We will go and rescue Garnet. You are coming with us, correct?” he asked.

Twilight nodded. “Someone has to keep you out of trouble!” she said playfully. “Besides, I am curious about this Trance thing that Zidane did when he battled that plant monster,”.

The two were interrupted when Zidane knocked on the door. “Hey Flash, are you ready to save Garnet?” he asked from outside the room. “We are gonna have to fight Baku though in order to leave Tantalus, so be ready,”.

“I’ll be there in a second Zidane,” Flash called out. “Sorry, Twilight, I have do go and take care of something,” and he left the room.

The two arrive in a secluded room where Baku was waiting for them. “Took you two long enough,” he grumbled. “Well? Are we doing this or not?” Zidane and Flash nodded. “Heh, good. Get ready!”

One short fight later…

“You two got me pretty good,” said Baku. “All right. Go on! Go and rescue Garnet. Don’t worry about us, we can get out of here on our own,”. Zidane and Flash nodded and left the room.

“So you two are no longer members of Tantalus?” Cinna asked when the two, along with Steiner, Vivi, and Twilight, came outside. The two of them nodded. “Well, that means that you got to pay for my supplies now. Sorry,” Cinna said.

After getting some potions for the fight ahead, the group headed on into the forest to rescue Garnet. While they were going through the forest fighting the various monsters, Steiner and Vivi tried an experiment. Vivi would cast magic on Steiner’s sword allowing him to channel that magic energy in it when he fought the monsters. Eventually, the group found Garnet, who was trapped in a giant plant monster. “Get ready everybody!” said Zidane as the battle commenced. They were then suddenly joined by a surprise appearance by Blank.

“Didn’t think I’d let you fight this thing by yourselves, no did you?” he asked.

“Well, there are FIVE of us fighting this thing,” Zidane replied.

“Good point,” said Blank.

After a tough battle, the giant plant monster was then defeated, releasing Garnet. Unfortunately, this set the entire forest after the group. “We should probably start running now,” said Blank.

“Good idea,” said Zidane.

The group quickly ran through the forest, fighting off the creatures that were released when the plant monster died. As they were running, the forest started to turn to stone. “Hurry!” shouted Blank as the group ran for their lives. Unfortunately, Blank was caught by the vines that were chasing them. In his last moments before he was petrified, he tossed a map at Zidane, who caught it. “Get…to…Lindblum,” Blank said before he was completely petrified.

“Blank!!” Zidane yelled as the group made it out of the forest.

It was now nighttime. The group had set up camp. “We should set out for Lindblum tomorrow,” Zidane stated, much to Steiner’s anger.

“No, we need to go to Alexandria and return the princesses! And have you two rightfully punished!” he declared.

“Now see here Rusty!” Zidane growled.

“R-rusty?!” Steiner stammered. “I am Aldebert Steiner! And I won’t be insulted by a lowly criminal such as you!”

Twilight and Flash just watched. “Is…this how they are at this point?” Twilight asked Flash.

“Yeah, but Steiner does get a little better. He removes the pole from up his back later on,” Flash replied. “Best not to let them know that, seeing as how we might mess with the timeline. As long as we stick to how things went in the game, we should be good,”.
“You there! Blue-haired thief! What are you whispering about with the princess!” Steiner called out, noticing that Flash and Twilight were talking to each other.

“It’s nothing that you should be concerned about Rus--I mean Steiner,” said Flash. Steiner just grumbled at that reply.

“Well, at least you refer to me by my true name,” he said. “Maybe I’ll make sure you get a lighter sentence than him,” he pointed at Zidane.

Twilight then walked up to him. “Steiner was it?” she asked.

Steiner stumbled at Twilight speaking to her. “Y-yes princess?” he asked.

“I would much appreciate it if you don’t act so rude toward my friend,” she said.

“You’re friends with this…lowlife?” Steiner asked.

“Yes, and I would appreciate it if you don’t call him ‘Lowlife’ or ‘Thief’ or ‘Criminal’ or anything like that. He referred to you by your real name, correct?” Twilight asked.

“Well, y-yes but--,” Steiner stammered, clearly at a loss for words. He paused for a bit. “Yes, Princess,” he mumbled.

“Good, I’m glad that we are clear on that,” said Twilight as she walked to the tent that she and Garnet were sharing. “I suggest that you get some sleep,”.

Flash chuckled to himself. Twilight sure knew how to put Steiner in his place. It was one of the things that he admired about her. He was still thinking about her when his thoughts were interrupted. “Wow, that’s pretty awesome that she stood up for you! I’m pretty jealous!” said Zidane.

Flash sputtered. “It’s not like t-that!” he stammered. “S-she’s just a friend!

“Sure she is,” said Zidane. He had a strange look in his eye.

‘This can not bode well,’ thought Flash.

The next morning, the group took down camp. They walked for a while until they ran into a cavern. “I-i know this cavern,” Vivi said. “My grandpa told me about it. It’s supposed to be filled with monsters,”.

“It’s pretty beautiful,” said Garnet.
“Well, what are we waiting for, let’s go inside!” said Zidane. The group walked into the cave. While looking around (and fighting monsters along the way every time mist comes out of one of the vents), they found a treasure chest that was blocked by some ice. “Hey Vivi, I bet you can melt that ice!” said Zidane

“I-i don’t know,” Vivi said nervously.

“Come on Vivi! I know you can do it!” said Garnet.

“Yes, Sir Vivi, show us that power of yours!” said Steiner.

“A-all right,” said Vivi. He concentrated for a bit, and then with a yell of “fire!” he sent a small blast of fire at the ice, melting it and revealing a pathway to the treasure chest.

“Nice job Vivi!” said Twilight.

“T-thank you,” Vivi said shyly.

After collecting the treasure, plus some more with Vivi’s assistance, the group heads deeper into the cave. Zidane walked ahead where Twilight was. “Come on princess, it’s not too far to the exit now!” he said.

“Ummm, okay?” said Twilight, with a bit of confusion on her face.

Meanwhile in the back, Flash was watching them walk. ‘I should not get jealous,’ he thought. ‘It’s just Zidane being, well Zidane,’. He then noticed that Garnet was walking right beside him, a strange look of annoyance on her face. “Is something troubling you?” he asked.

“It’s nothing,” Garnet said, but Flash knew, probably from hanging around Applejack a lot, that she was not being very truthful. He was then caught off guard by Garnet looking right at him. “That is nice blue hair you got there,” she said. “It’s so sparkly too!”

“What?” Flash said.

He then felt as though someone was staring a hole in the back of his head. And it was not Steiner. He was too busy cheering on Vivi as they fought the monsters in the cave. ‘It’s probably nothing,’ he thought.

As they got deeper and deeper into the cave, it began to feel colder. “D-does anyone else notice h-how cold it is getting?” asked Garnet.

“Yeah, n-now that you mention it, it is getting colder,” said Zidane.

Suddenly, Garnet began to stumble. “P-princess!” Steiner yelled as he ran to her side. “What did you do to her?!” he asked Zidane.

“I didn’t do anything,” said Zidane. “She must have fainted due to the cold,”.

As he was saying this, Vivi also began to stumble. “S-s-so c-c-cold,” he said. And then Vivi fainted. And then Steiner, and then Twilight.

“D-do you h-hear a ringing sound?” asked Flash.

Zidane nodded. “It’s coming from that way,” he said pointing in the direction where the sound was coming. The two then headed over to where it was coming from. They arrived in an open area and see a figure in front of them. It paused and turned around to look at them.

“Why aren’t either of you asleep? My blizzard should have done that to you,” the figure, known as Black Waltz 1, said.

“You are the one who is causing this blizzard?” Zidane asked.

“That’s right!” Black Waltz 1 said as he jumped down in front of them. “Sealion! Get them!” he called out, and a monstrous being appeared right beside them.

“Get ready!” said Zidane as Flash nodded. The two then commenced a battle with Black Waltz 1 and the Sealion.

“Take out the mage first!” Flash shouted as he stuck the mage with his daggers.

“Right!” agreed Zidane as he too struck the mage.

“Grr,” said the mage as he was dying, “You might have defeated me, but my Sealion will destroy you! And if it fails, well 2 and 3 will take care of…you,” he said.

“Now for the Sealion!” said Zidane.

“Right!” agreed Flash as he struck it. But after he did so, he felt a strange feeling. ‘W-what is this?’ he thought as he began to glow with a bright light. Wings suddenly sprouted out of his back, and his hair became longer. He also felt something else sprout from his back. ‘Am I…trancing?’ he thought. If he was, then let’s put this temporary power to good use. Using his newfound speed, he quickly struck the Sealion, and as he did so, a bolt of lightning struck it. As he felt more faster, he struck again and this time the beast went down. And as soon as he entered trance, the wings disappeared, and he turned back to normal. “That was…amazing an exhausting,” he said.

“We should check on the others now that the blizzard should go away,” said Zidane. Flash nodded in agreement, The two then went back to the area where everyone else was.

“Hey, is everybody alright?” Zidane asked as everyone else began to get up.

“Y-yeah,” said Vivi.

“I’m fine,” said Garnet.

“Are you responsible for this?!” accused Stiener.

“No I am not,” said Zidane as Flash helped Twilight get to her feet.

Steiner grumbled for a bit before Garnet spoke up. “He said that he did not have anything to do with it, Steiner,”. Steiner continued to grumble as the group made for the exit. Unknown to them, a pair of jesters where watching closely.

The group finally reached the exit of the Ice Cave. They where all standing on a cliff overlooking a small village. “There’s a village down there,” said Zidane. “We could stay there for the night,”.

“No! We are heading back to the castle!” protested Steiner.

“Rusty, would you just shut up for five minutes?!” Zidane snapped back.

“Both of you be quiet!” scolded Garnet. She began to make her way down the cliff before Zidane stopped her.

“Hold up, people might be looking for you and Twilight. It’s best if we gave you a fake name for now,”.

“Very well.” said Garnet, “what shall I be called?”.

“How about…Dagger?” Zidane suggested.

“Dagger…I like it!” said Garnet, now Dagger.

“I’ll stick to Twilight,” Twilight said. ‘Because I’m already used to civilian life,’ she thought.

“Oh, and one more thing Dagger,” said Zidane. “Try to use more…informal language. Instead of saying ‘very well’ say ‘alrighty!’.

“Hmm..very we--I mean alrighty!” Dagger agreed cheerfully.
The group then headed down to the village below.

FFIX Part 4

The group, consisting of Zidane, Dagger, Vivi, Steiner, Flash, and Twilight arrived in the village of Dali. “We should find a place to stay for the night,” Zidane suggested. Everyone else nodded. It had been a long day for them, and it was time to get some rest. They went to the nearest inn. When they entered, the owner was asleep at the counter. “Excuse me, good sir? We would like a room or two please?” Zidane said.

The owner kept sleeping until a cat on the other end of the room went up to him and woke him up. “Huh?” he mumbled. “Oh, right, we have two rooms available, one for the gentlemen and the other for the ladies,” he said.

“Excellent, we’ll take them,” said Zidane. He, Steiner, Vivi, and Flash went to one room, while Dagger and Twilight went to the other room next door to it. Steiner and Vivi almost immediately fell asleep. “Heh, those two are pretty tired,” said Zidane. Flash nodded in agreement. They then heard voices from the other room.

“Do you hear that?” asked Zidane.

“Yeah, this inn must have thin walls,” said Flash.

“I know we shouldn’t eavesdrop on them, but they might be talking about us!” Said Zidane.

“Well, I’m going to respect their privacy. So you can listen to them if you want,” said Flash

“They are talking about us,” said Zidane simply.

Meanwhile in the other room, Dagger and Twilight were indeed talking about them. “So, it seems like Zidane was taking an interest in you,” said Dagger with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

“Don’t tell me that you were jealous. Because it was not like that at all,” said Twilight.

“Oh I’m not jealous,” said Dagger. “You on the other hand looked like you were about to burn a hole in that other boy’s head when I talked to him.

Twilight blushed at that statement. She was no Applejack, but saying that she was bad at fibbing was an understatement. “I-I was not jealous!” She replied. This only got her a weird look from Dagger.

“Then why didn’t you walk with him?” She asked.

“Well, I uh…” Twilight stammered.

“And it is pretty obvious that you somehow know him from somewhere. So spill it. What is your deal?”.

Twilight didn’t know what to say. “He…helped me. When I was in a jam,” she said.

“Oh really? Well I haven’t met him before now, so I don’t know how you’ve met him before, so go on!”.

“Well I was…framed for something and he cleared my name. I was…disguised as a commoner so no one knew that I was a princess. This one person framed me for a mess that…they made so I nearly got in trouble for it, but Flash came to my defense and proved my innocence,”. That should be good. Besides, Twilight was not technically lying. Flash didn’t know that she was a Princess when he defended her back then.

“Well, maybe you should ask yourself how you really feel about him. He seems like a nice enough guy,” said Dagger.

“Y-yeah, he is really sweet,” said Twilight.

“We should get to sleep,” said Dagger, “tomorrow, we can figure out how to get to Lindblum,”. The two of them then went to sleep.

The next morning, everyone got up. They all decided to explore the village and find out some way to get to Lindblum. Except Steiner who wanted to go to Alexandria and was trying to find some way to do so. He then decided to work for the local tavern. Meanwhile, Dagger was watching an old woman work on the fields.

“What are you working on?” she asked her.

“The crops,” the old woman responded, “gotta get these oglops off of them,”.

“Oglops? You mean like this?” said Dagger, holding up a small bug-like creature.

“Yeah, that’s it. Although girls your age usually freak out when they see one,” said the old woman.

Dagger, realizing that she should act more like a “normal'' teenage girl, threw the Oglop into the air with a shriek. The old woman was confused about the action, but disregarded it and went back to tending the crops.

Meanwhile, Vivi was watching the windmill slowly turn. He’d never seen one before, but his grandpa mentioned that humans and other races use them to generate power. He then heard a quiet sound coming from somewhere.

“Kweh!”
“Huh? What is that?” he wondered. Meanwhile, two children were watching him.

“Is that one of those things?” the boy asked his companion, a young girl.

“Looks like it,” the girl said. “We’d better tell one of th’ grown ups!” The two of them hurried off somewhere.

As Vivi was watching the windmill, Zidane ran up to him. “Hey Vivi, what’s up?” he asked.

“N-nothing,” said Vivi. “I just heard a weird noise,”.

“A weird noise? From where?” Zidane asked.

“I don’t know, but the noise sounded like ‘Kweh’,” said Vivi.

“Huh, that’s the sound that chocobos make. But I have not seen any around here,” said Zidane.

Unknown to both of them, Twilight and Flash were watching from a bit away. “Chocobo's, what are those?” Twilight asked.

“They are a type of bird that is used for getting around in this world. Sort of like…” he paused unsure on how to say what he was about to say. He didn’t really want to talk about how humans ride horses in front of the girl who basically was a horse. Or pony in this case.

“Yeah? Like what?” Twilight asked.

“Er, how about we go check out that shop over there,” said Flash pointing to the item shop and running towards it.

“Flash! Get back here!” Twilight yelled as she ran after him.

Meanwhile, Zidane left to do his own thing while Vivi continued to watch the windmill. Not noticing a couple of men sneaking up behind him. Suddenly, they grabbed him and dragged him off somewhere.

Zidane and Dagger arrived back at the inn to see Flash and Twilight talking.

“So every year when we have a renaissance festival, Vice Principal Luna gets really into it! She uses old-timey speak like ‘thou should’t run in thy hallways!’,” Flash was saying.

“Ha Ha, yeah, the Luna in Equestria was like that when she visited on one Nightmare Night. She can be a bit theatric,” Twilight said, “What else?” she asked.

“Oh, one time, I think it was after a night where Principal Celestia drank a lot, over the announcements she revealed that Luna went through a whole ‘dark and broody’ phase when she was younger. Apparently she called herself ‘Nightmare Moon’,”.

“Hmm, interesting. Our Luna turned into Nightmare Moon because of her jealousy towards Celestia, but what happened with your world’s Luna is a lot tamer,”. The two suddenly notice Zidane and Dagger watching them.

“How long have you two been standing there?” Twilight asked.

“Long enough,” said Dagger. ‘Glad that she’s making progress,’ she thought.

“Have any of you seen Vivi?” Zidane asked?

“No we haven’t, it’s just been us two,” said Twilight.

“That’s weird, he was watching the windmill for a while, and that’s where I last saw him. We should go and investigate it,” said Zidane. The others agreed and went back to the windmill where Vivi was last seen. While looking around, they heard a faint noise like someone was crying. “Vivi? Is that you?” Zidane asked.

“Zidane?” a small voice asked. It was coming from a small hole in the ground.

“Vivi! Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“I-i think so…” said Vivi. “But I don’t know where I am,”.

“Stay right there, we’ll find you,” said Flash.

The four of them looked around and eventually found an entryway in the building next to the windmill. They went down into the cellar revealing an underground passageway. They decided to head down it to see if Vivi was anywhere.

As they were walking along, they saw two men escorting someone. It was Vivi! They made him get into a box and began to talk to each other.

“Don’t know how this one escaped,” the first man said.

“Eh, I don’t know why it matters since we are only getting paid to produce these things,” said the second man.

“True, but might as well put this one with the others,” the first man said.

As they were talking, Zidane, Dagger, Twilight, and Flash were watching from a hiding place. “Those scumbags!” growled Zidane as he began to take out his daggers. “I’m gonna teach them a little ‘lesson’,”. He started to walk forward, but was stopped by Dagger.

“Hold it,” she said. “Those images on those crates…they are Alexandria’s. Could mother be involved in this?” she wondered. As she was thinking about this, the two men left which allowed them to go over and free Vivi.

“Hey Vivi, are you alright?” asked Zidane.

“Y-yeah,” said Vivi.

“You know, what you should have done is defend yourself,” said Zidane. “You could have yelled ‘LEAVE ME ALONE!’ or use that fire spell you know,”.

Vivi was silent for a bit.

“We should look around some more,” said Dagger, breaking the silence. “I want to see what this has to do with my mother. The others agreed and looked around a bit more. They soon found out where the chocobo noises were coming from (one was kept in a pen) and after opening a door, they released a bunch of mist, which set monsters loose on them. After fighting off the monsters on their way through the hideout, they eventually came upon something strange.

It was a machine that was using the mist from outside to create things that looked like eggs. Another chocobo was running on a wheel in order to power the machine. “I wonder what those eggs are?” said Zidane. The group goes into the next room where they see what the eggs really were.

They are black mages. And they look similar to Vivi. The poor kid was shaking, clearly confused about all of this. “W-what?” he asked, barely able to get what he wanted to say out loud.

“What are those things?” Twilight asked, “and…why do they look like Vivi?”.

“I don’t know but we shouldn’t stay here,” said Zidane as he led the group outside. In the distance, they could see an airship. “Hey, maybe that airship will take us to Lindblum!” said Zidane. As they started to head towards the airship, something swooped down in front of them.

“Hold it!” the creature demanded. “I am Black Waltz Number Two. You may have defeated One, but you won’t defeat me!” he said as he engaged in battle with the party. “Princesses, stand still while I exterminate these insects!” he declared.

The battle then commenced as Zidane and Flash attacked Number Two with their daggers, while Dagger and Twilight healed them if they got too injured. Vivi tried to use a Fire attack on him, but he only laughed. “You call that a fire attack?” he asked, “this is a fire attack!” he announced as he used a powerful fire attack on the entire group, seriously hurting them. But after a quick healing from Twilight and Dagger (and a few potions), they were back on their feet and eventually vanquished Number Two.

“Come on! Let’s get to the airship!” said Zidane as the group ran to the airship that was waiting in the field. When they got there, they saw that Steiner was standing right next to it.

“Hey Steiner, does this ship go to Lindblum?” Dagger asked.

Steiner didn’t respond right away. The ship was actually going to Alexandria, but the princess did not want to go to Alexandria. It would be best if he just plays along. “Er… yes,” he said. Twilight immediately detected a lie in his words, but before she could speak up, Zidane spoke first.

“Cool, nice of you to get us this airship, Rusty,” he said. Steiner just grumbled in response. The others started to climb the airship. Steiner going first, then Dagger, then Zidane, then Twilight, Flash, and Vivi. Although Zidane got a good feel of Dagger’s ass (“Ooh! Soft!”). Once on the airship, they discovered that the Black Mages that they saw back in the village were working on it. They did not respond when talked to. They eventually went up on the deck to get a good view. Unfortunately, they were being followed.

A smaller ship with the third Black Waltz along with Zorn and Thorn was following them. “I will succeed where One and Two failed,” Three said as the ship got closer. Right as they got right next to it, Three casted a thundera attack right at the ship.

“Gah!” Zidane cried out as the ship took damage. “What is happening out there?!”. He, along with Flash, Steiner, and Twilight ran outside to see what was going on as Dagger kept control of the ship. They saw Three floating above the deck. The black mage workers, along with Vivi, were standing in front of him. The black mages seemed to be protecting him from Three.

“What are you doing you fools!?” Three yelled at them, “Outta my way!”. He shot another thundera attack at them which caused a huge explosion. The black mage workers casted fire spells at him, but he brushed them off. “Fine, be that way you useless automatons!” Three yelled as he shot all of them with lightning causing all of the workers to fall off the airship as Vivi watched helplessly.

“Hey Vivi, are you alright?” Zidane asked. Vivi said nothing. He began to shine with a bright white light.
“They were alive…how could you do that to them?!” he said with anger as he began to glow brighter.

“Bah, they were mindless. They had no emotions!” Three said. “But it is strange, you are different somehow. Doesn’t matter. I’ll get rid of you just like the others!”.

“No,” Vivi said as he glowed brighter than before. “You. Will. Not!” And with a flash of light, he completed his transformation. His clothes were now all white, and powerful magic radiated off of him.

“What is going on?” Twilight asked Flash.

“That’s trance, it’s an ability from this world. It comes out during strong emotions,” Flash replied.

“I can feel his magic, it is very powerful,” said Twilight.

“FIRE!” yelled Vivi as he launched a fire spell at Three. “AND AGAIN!” he yelled as he launched another one.

“Gah!” Three yelled as the fire attacks, plus attacks from Zidane, Flash, Twilight, and Steiner, harmed him. He fell off the airship and back into his own. Severely damaged, he flew into a rage, causing Zorn and Thorn to bail out of the ship. “Princess…must…destroy…only…made…,” he mumbled as he casted a final powerful lightning spell at the airship and gave chase.

Meanwhile, Dagger was steering the ship towards the gate. “We are almost there Dagger, keep going!” Zidane yelled. The ship went inside the gate, but Three was not too far behind. And the exit was closing as well. Fortunately, the airship was able to make it through the gate, though not without sufficient damage to it. As for Three, his ship crashed while inside the gate.

“There it is,” Dagger said. “We finally made it to Lindblum,”.

FFIX part V

The airship finally arrived in Lindblum. It was a huge city that sat above the mist, with several airships coming to and from it. The airship that the party was on pulled into the castle, which was massive. “That castle is even bigger than the one in Canterlot,” Twilight said. Fortunately, no one paid attention to that. The ship docked and everyone got out. A guard was waiting for them.

“Ah, you must be the princesses. Follow me please, the regent is waiting,” the guard said as he led them away. They soon got on an elevator and went to the top level. When they got into the throne room, they could not see anyone.

“Where’s the regent?” Dagger asked.

As if to answer her question, there was a strange noise coming from the throne. “*Gwop?*”. A small creature appeared behind it and hopped right onto the throne.

“An oglop!” Steiner shouted as he rushed into it, knocking the oglop over. This got him tackled by many of the guards in the room.

“Please calm yourself, that is Regent Cid,” the chancellor said.

“What happened to him?” asked Dagger.

“He was cursed to look like one. It happened in his sleep. Oddly, it happened right after Lady Hilda went missing,” the chancellor said.

“Indeed *gwop*,” Cid said. “I thank you for bringing Garnet here. I see that Tantalus has done a good job *gwop*. Me and Baku go way back. Come, I’ll give you all a tour,” he said as he hopped over to the exit and led the group out of the throne room and back to the elevator. When they got to the middle level, they went to a workshop where several half-finished airships were docked. Including one that was larger than the others. “This is the Hilda Guarde II,” Cid states. “It is unfinished due to my *gwop* condition, but if it was finished, it would have run on steam and not mist. Anyways, I have some business to attend to, see you all *gwop* later!”. And with that, Cid hops away.

“Come along princesses. Let me show you to your rooms,” the chancellor says.

Dagger and Twilight begin to follow him. “I guess I’ll see you later then,” Twilight tells Flash.

“Y-yeah, see ya,” says Flash. He tried to say something else, but Zidane dragged him away.

“Come on, let’s go get something to eat,” says Zidane, “I know of a great place to eat here,”. Vivi and Steiner also left to do their own things.

Zidane and Flash went to a small cafe in the middle of the city. As they sat down to eat, Zidane noticed a female patron. “Hey there!” he called to her,

“Um, can I help you?” the girl asked.

“I just want you to know that I know how to get on an airship!” Zidane said.

“Oh really?” the girl said sarcastically.

“Yep! If I win the festival of the hunt, I’ll take you on a date!” Zidane said cheerfully.

Flash just rolled his eyes. Zidane will always be Zidane. He went to sit down on a seat that just happened to be right next to another young woman. “Sentry,” she said as she ate her soup.

“Wait, you’re Freya right?” Flash asked.

“Congrats on remembering my name,” Freya said dryly as she continued to eat. “At least you are not like him over there,” she said, pointing at Zidane.

“Well, I do have someone I’m interested in, but she is not here right now,” said Flash.

“So, you plan on entering the festival?” Freya asked.

“Maybe,” Flash said. There was not much else to do after all, and participating in the festival would continue the plot.

“See you around, Sentry,” Freya said as she left.

Meanwhile…

Vivi entered the store and had a look around. He hadn’t seen many stores before, mainly because his grandfather never took him to one. He usually caught his meals (which consisted mainly of frogs). And Vivi wasn’t able to stop at one in Alexandria. He then saw something that caught his eye. “Excuse me?” he asked the shopkeeper.

“Yes, dear?” the shopkeeper asked kindly.

“What is this?” he asked, pointing at a small nut.

“That’s a Kupo Nut,” the shopkeeper answered. “Moggles love them,”.
“I think that I will buy it,” said Vivi, giving the shopkeeper the Gil.

“Thank you dear,” the shopkeeper said. “Say, you might want to get off the streets pretty soon. The festival of the hunt will start soon,” she said.

“What’s that?” Vivi asked.

“It’s a festival where animals are released and people hunt them,” the shopkeeper explained. “It’s a pretty big deal around here,”.

“Alright, just a few animals,” Vivi said as he left the store.

As he left, the shopkeeper just realized something. “Wait, I said animals instead of monsters again didn’t I?” she asked herself.

Meanwhile…again.

Steiner was walking through the city. And he was completely lost, Alexandria was not this complicated, but this city is way too big. He decided that the best course of action was to ask someone for help, He then saw a red mage walk by. “Excuse me madam!” he called out to her.

“Yes? What do you want? And what’s with the getup?” the red mage asked.

“I would like directions back to the castle,” said Steiner simply.

“Really? Jeez you foreigners get lost all the time,” the red mage grumbled as she walked away.

“H-hey!” Steiner called out after her as she walked away.

Zidane and Flash eventually went back to the castle. After getting some sleep in the guest rooms, they were suddenly woken up by something. “Do you hear singing?” Zidane asked Flash.

“I do,” Flash responded.

“It sounds like Dagger and Twilight are both singing together,” said Zidane, “let’s go check it out,”. Flash nodded as they headed in the direction of the singing. Unfortunately a guard blocked their path.

“Sorry, this is a private area, no one but the princesses are to enter,” the guard stated. “Wait, are you Flash Sentry?” he asked Flash.

Flash nodded. “Um, yeah. Why?” he asked.

“Well, Princess Twilight told me it was okay to let you through, “ the guard said. “And I guess that Zidane is allowed as well since Twilight convinced Garnet to allow him through as well. So you two can go right ahead,” the guard said.

“Thank you,” said Flash as he and Zidane went down the hallway. After passing by the room that the princesses were staying in, they climbed the tower to see the two princesses practicing their singing. Flash wasn’t gonna lie, Twilight’s singing was amazing. He was speechless while watching the two. Zidane felt the same way about Dagger. Their presence startled the two girls.

“Oh, Flash, Zidane! We…uh didn’t see you there,” said Twilight awkwardly. “So how’s the city?”.

“It was fine,” said Flash. “We just had lunch and came back here,”.

While he and Twilight were talking, Zidane was showing Dagger the telescope that was on the tower. “Hey, I can see a chocobo from here!” he said. As he was looking through the telescope, Dagger saw something that was in his pocket.

“What’s that Zidane?” she asked him, pointing to it.

“Oh this?” Zidane said, holding the object up. “This is Sleeping Weed. We were going to use it to knock you and Twilight out in order to kidnap the two of you, but you came along willingly, so we didn’t use it,”.

“May I have some? I uh, have trouble sleeping,” said Dagger. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. Clearly, Dagger was lying since she had slept well in Dali.

“Are you sure?” Zidane asked. “I mean, too much of it is bad for you, but alrighty then!” he said, giving Dagger the sleeping weed.

A while later, everyone was gathered in the room that Twilight and Dagger were staying in. They were waiting for the Festival of the Hunt to start. The organizer asked everyone who was participating (Zidane, Flash, Vivi, and Freya) what they wanted for their rewards. Zidane wanted some Gil, Vivi wanted a card, Freya wanted an accessory, and Flash wanted a new weapon. “Alright then, here are your starting areas,” the organizer said. Flash was starting in the industrial district. “Well, then. Good luck to all of you,” the organizer said.

“Wait!” Twilight said as she ran up to Flash. “Er, be safe please,” she said awkwardly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve survived the Evil Forest and that Black Waltz dude. I can handle this,” Flash said.

“Well…okay then. I trust you,” said Twilight.

Flash was escorted to the industrial district. He saw several of the monsters that were released on the streets. He unsheathed his daggers. “Let’s do this,” he exclaimed. He fought several of the Mu that were around the industrial district. Meanwhile, Twilight, Dagger, and Steiner were watching from a bridge.

“Come on Flash, you can do it!” Twilight cheered from her watching point. ‘It’s a good thing that Fluttershy isn’t with me,’ she thinks to herself, ‘she would have a heart attack if she sees this sort of thing,’.

After a few minutes, Flash went to the business district. He then saw a giant boar-like creature.
Zidane suddenly appeared and stood right next to him. As did Freya and Vivi. “Shall we take this one on together?” Zidane asked. Everyone else agreed, even Vivi who was more nervous about it.

“Whoever does the finishing blow, gets the points,” said Freya as the four of them engaged the Zaghnol. During the battle, the Zaghnol charged itself up with electricity, which prevented the group from physically attacking it. Vivi’s fire and ice spells were effective when this happened. When the Zaghnol was no longer charged, Freya was able to do the finishing blow to it, which made her the winner.

“Congratulations Ms. Freya,” the organizer said as he handed Freya her prize. It was a Coral Ring. An artifact that defends against electricity. Fitting, given that the Zaghnol primarily used lightning attacks during the fight. They had all gathered in the throne room afterwards.

“Yes, you indeed did very *gwop* well Freya,” Cid said. Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open, and a soldier entered the throne room. He appeared to be the same race that Freya was.

“R-regent…Cid. I b-bring d-ire news!” he groaned, struggling to speak. Cid hopped over to the soldier, but was stopped by the Chancellor.

“Sire, you must not be seen like this!” he reminds Cid.

“Take a good look at him,” he told the Chancellor. “His injuries have blinded him. Let’s hear what he has to say first. Speak soldier of Burmecia,” he told the soldier.

“We are…being attacked by…an unknown enemy…strange beings with pointed hats,” the soldier explained.

“W-what?” Vivi asked, startled at the soldier’s words. Could he be talking about the black mages that he had encountered back in Dali?

“It’s okay Viv,” said Zidane, reassuring the poor kid.

“Please…Regent Cid…we…request aid,” the soldier continued before finally collapsing. Dagger ran over to him to see if he was still alive.

“He’s gone,” she confirms. Everyone stood in silence for a few minutes before Freya stood up.

“I’m going to Burmecia,” she announced.

“I’m going to go with you,” said Zidane.

“Me too!” Said Vivi. “That soldier mentioned something about those black mages. I want to investigate that,”.

“Well, it appears I can’t stop you two,” Freya replied. “How about you, Sentry? Are you coming along as well?”

“...Alright,” said Flash.

“Wait, I want to go too, I want to see if my mother is involved in this,” said Dagger.

“...Dagger, I think it is best if you stay here,” said Zidane.

“What?!” Dagger shouted, annoyed.

“We might encounter dangerous stuff,” said Zidane.

“I’ve been through dangers!” huffed Dagger.

“But this might be more dangerous,” said Zidane.

“For once, I agree with this thief,” said Steiner. “You and Twilight shall remain here,”.

This time, it was Twilight’s turn to be surprised. “Wait what?!” she exclaimed. Flash quickly pulled her aside.

“Twilight, I think you should just go along with it,” Flash whispered to her.
“And you are sure about that?” Twilight whispered back.

“Positive, this is how things are supposed to go at this point. You can go with Dagger and Steiner. I’ll go with Zidane, Freya, and Vivi,”.

“...Okay Flash,” Twilight replied.

“Hey Sentry, what are you whispering about there?” Freya asked curiously.

“Er, nothing Freya!” said Flash. He noticed that he was getting a strange look from Steiner as well. “Nothing at all!” he said.

Cid then decided that he should speak up. “How about we *gwop* have some food? We can talk more after that,” he said. Everyone agreed, and they all headed to the dining hall.

At the dining hall, everybody sat down to eat the feast. “This feast is to celebrate the ending of the Festival of the Hunt,” Cid explained. “So dig in everyone!”. Everyone (except Dagger) started to eat the food.

“It’s really good!” said Zidane.

“Indeed, though I’m feeling a bit…woozy,” said Freya as she suddenly slumped over.

“Freya? Are you alright…oh man,” said Zidane as he slumped over as well.

“G-guys?!” said Vivi as he two slumped over.

“What is going on?!” said Steiner in a panicked voice. “Is it poison!? Oh, I think I’m starting to feel its effects!” he groaned.

“Steiner, stop being so dramatic,” said Dagger as both Flash and Cid slumped over. “It’s just some sleeping weed that Zidane gave me. It should just knock them out for a little while,” she explained.

“Are you sure they’ll be alright, Dagger?” Twilight asked.

“Positive! Now, let’s go to Alexandria. Mother has some explaining to do,” said Dagger.

After Dagger, Twilight, and Steiner left, everybody who was in the dining hall woke up. “Heh, Dagger is more clever than I thought,” said Zidane. “I’d be impressed if I wasn’t the one who she tricked,”.

“Well then *gwop* I’ll unlock the southern gate so you all can head to Burmecia,” said Cid, “you should also stock up on supplies,” he continued.

‘Yeah, because our main healer has left,’ Flash thought.

The group headed out of the castle and back to the business district. After buying many potions and tents, plus synthesizing a few new weapons and stuff, they headed out of the city using the southern gate. They traveled for a while until they found a marsh.

When they headed into it, they walked along the path until they got to a pond where several frogs were hopping around. A peculiar being was seen chasing them. After the strange person left, Zidane grabbed a frog. “This frog might be useful,” he said. They headed in further until they got to a hut. The creature from earlier was standing in front of it.

“Me smell frog,” it said. “You have frog for me?” it asked Zidane.

“Uh sure, here you go,” said Zidane, handing the creature the frog .

“Yay! Yummy frog!” the creature said. “Me Quina! Me join you on journey!” they said.

“Wait what--?” Zidane said as Quina ran ahead of them. “Well…okay then, I guess he…she…they are coming with us,” he said as the group left the marsh.

They finally arrived at the South Gate and traveled through it in order to get to Gizamaluke’s Grotto. When they got to the entrance, they encountered an injured Burmician Soldier. “Hey are you alright?” Zidane asked.

“I am not,” the soldier mumbled. “These things called “black mages” attacked us. They came out of nowhere! Here, take this bell, it will help you proceed through the Grotto,”. He gave the bell to Zidane. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to rest here,” he said.

After using the bell to get through the doors, the group ran into Zorn and Thorn. “We meet again!” Zorn declared.

“Again we meet!” Said Thorn at the same time.

“Black mages, attack!” ordered Zorn.

“Attack, black mages!” ordered Thorn at the same time as two black mages engaged the party. After the battle ended, the two jesters ran away. After running through the archway and into another black mage (actually two of them) they obtained another bell. They then advanced further into the grotto where they met another soldier.

“Who’s there?” he asked, not recognizing any of them.

“It’s me Freya,” Freya replied. “And the others are Zidane, Vivi, Quina, and Flash,”.

“Thank goodness you are here! This place is overrun with monsters! And Gizamaluke won’t let us leave for some reason. He’s usually tame, but he’s very aggressive. I advise you to take caution if you encounter him,”. The party then moves on until they get to a room with a massive bell. A moogle was standing in front of it.

“Oh dear, kupo,” she said as she paced in front of it. When she saw the party she ran up to them. “Hey, do any of you tall folk have a kupo nut? With that I can save my darling Moguta, kupo!”.

“I do,'' said Vivi as he handed the kupo nut to the moogle.

“Thank you, kupo!” said the moogle as she tackled the bell, knocking it over, and revealing the moogle that was trapped under it. “Thanks for your help, kupo!” the female moogle said.

As they left the room, Moguta ran up to them. “Hey, you need this holy bell in order to get past the door, kupo!” he said, handing Zidane the bell. “I wish you good luck against Gizamaluke, kupo!”.

The party used the holy bell on the door which allowed them to pass through it. When they got to the area on the other side, they heard a roar. “That must be Gizamaluke,” said Freya, “prepare yourselves,”.

As the battle commenced, the party found it hard to fight Gizamaluke without a healer. Freya focused on jumping, while Vivi threw thunder spell after thunder spell at it. Zidane and Flash switched between attacking, and healing the others with potions when necessary. And Quina did their own thing. Finally, after a long battle, Gizamaluke was defeated, and the party exited the grotto.

Meanwhile, Steiner, and a disguised Twilight approached the Grand Citadel South Gate. Two guards were guarding the gate. Steiner approached them, carrying a sack on a stick. “Greetings, My companion and I would like to pass this gate!” he declared.

“Sure thing sir, go on ahead!” the first guard said.

“Wait a minute,” the second guard said as he glanced at the sack that Steiner was carrying. “What’s in that sack? And why does it smell so bad?”.

“That’s Ghestal Pickles!” said Steiner. “They’re my favorite!”.

“Ugh, they must be spoiled or something!” the second guard said, holding his nose. “Go on ahead!”. Steiner bowed and went on ahead, Twilight following close behind. After finding a Gate Pass that another guard left behind, the two of them exited the gate area and entered an area where a train was waiting. It was then that Dagger was let out of the sack.

“Finally, I get to stretch my legs!” She groaned. “It was getting cramped in there!”. The group entered the train that would take them to Berkema on their way to Alexandria.

“I hope Flash and the others are doing all right,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, but I’m sure they’ll be fine,” said Dagger as the two of them sat down.

Twilight was about to speak again, when she was suddenly caught off guard by a blinding light.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party finally made it to Burmecia. When they entered the town, it was in ruins. There were injured Burmecians all over the streets along with many monsters as well. They ran into Zorn and Thorn again, who set two more black mages at them. After defeating them, the group continued their way through the city. “I can’t believe that the city was attacked by Alexandria,” Freya said.

“Were the two nations allies?” asked Zidane.

“Yes, we were,” said Freya.

Meanwhile, some Burmecians were not being nice to Vivi. “Hey, get out of here you monster!” one of them yelled at the poor kid. Flash wasn’t sure if he should intervene, but he couldn’t stand bullying so he decided to step in.

“Hey, the kid is with us!” he said.

“But he is one of those things that attacked us!” the Burmecian said.

“Is he attacking you now?” Flash asked him.

“Well, no, but,” the Burmecian started to say before going silent. “Just leave me alone,”.

The group headed onwards through the city until they eventually reached the entrance to the throne room. They observed three figures. One was Queen Brahne, one was a woman wearing an eyepatch, and the third was a silver-haired figure. “I wonder who that is?” Zidane wondered.

Suddenly, a Burmecian soldier jumped into the room. “Hey! What do you Alexandrians think you are doing huh? I thought that we were your allies!” The three figures looked at the soldier before the woman with the eyepatch stepped foreward.

“Are you here to challenge me?” She asked.

“W-what?” The soldier asked. “Well, sure I guess,”.

“Very well then,” the woman stated. She drew her sword and pointed it at the soldier who realized that he was clearly in over his head. “Let us duel!”. She rushed at the soldier who cowered before Zidane and the others decided to intervene. They rushed into the throne room protecting the soldier from the woman as she came to a halt.

Queen Brahne and the silver-haired man decided to get out of there. “General Beatrix, I trust that you can deal with these interlopers,” Queen Brahne said.

“Yes, your highness,” said Beatrix. As she faced the party, she observed who it was that she was going to fight. Two thieves, one black mage (was this one more sentiant than the others? Interesting), and one…whatever Quina was, Beatrix wasn’t sure. She also noticed Freya who had a look of pure rage on her face.

“So you are the general who was in charge of this attack,” Freya said, barely able to contain her rage. “Why? Why did you attack Burmecia? Aren’t we your allies?!”

Beatrix looked at her. “My Queen has commanded it, and I am loyal to her. Now are we going to battle or--” she was cut off by Freya jumping in the air and slamming her spear down, just barely missing her.

“You’ll pay for what you have done, bitch!” Freya yelled. She began to glow brightly. Then there was a flash of light and when it cleared, Freya was clad in armor from head to toe. She jumped into the air once more and when she came back down, spears began to rain down on Beatrix who used her sword to try to knock back as many as she could. She was then attacked with a thunder spell from Vivi, and an Aqua Breath from Quina. Freya then clashed her spear with Beatrix’s sword. Beatrix had to admit, she wasn’t expecting Freya to trance, and the others were giving her a fair fight. But she had to end it before they beat her.

“You are strong warriors,” she huffed. “But I believe that it is time for me to end this! Stock Break!”. Her sword shined brightly “You are no match for me!” she declared. She slammed her sword in the ground in front of the party, dealing damage to all of them. “Ignorant fools,” she stated as she walked away.

As the party all began to faint, Flash began seeing a bright light. ‘What…what is happening? Wait, this happened before…in the museum….’. He felt himself going through what seemed to be a tunnel until the light faded. He groaned as he opened his eyes. Wherever he was, it was dark. But he could see a faint figure in front of him.

“Flash? Are you all right?” the figure asked.

“Twilight? Is that you? Where am I? Am I back in the museum?” Flash asked.

“I uh…don’t know how to really tell you this, but you are not at the museum,” Twilight said. She lit up her horn. Wait, horn?

“You’re in Equestria,” Twilight said, as her horn-light revealed her pony self. “And you’re a pony again,”.

Author's Note

Yeah, FFIX isn't the first world that Flash and Twilight will visit.

Chapter VI: Flashback I: Spring Breakdown

To say that Flash expected his Spring Vacation to be interesting was an understatement. Sure, the cruise ship was nice, he got to see the Rainbooms play, the food was exquisite, there was even a magic show. In Flash’s opinion, it was better than Trixie’s but he’d never tell her that.

So when the ship got caught in a storm, and Sunset, Rainbow, and this world’s Twilight went to a nearby island to investigate some sort of magic thing, he knew that this was about to get a lot more interesting. He was currently in one of the life boats along with Micro and Sandalwood. They were going to the island that Sunset and the others went to because there was a way to get back to the mainland on it.

And it involved going to Sunset’s world.

Flash was a bit excited to see Equestria for the first time, but also a bit nervous since he will become a pony. Micro and Sandalwood were also interested, but that is mainly because they kept bothering him about the other Twilight.

Who he hadn’t seen personally since the Battle of the Bands.

Who he might have almost kissed if it wasn’t for a certain performer interrupting them.

When they got to the island, they saw Sunset waiting for them.

“Okay everybody, this island has some dangerous plants, so stick near me while I bring you to the portal. We will go in a few groups at a time so the rest of you stay on the beach,” Sunset told everyone.

The first of these groups consisted of the remaining Rainbooms, Flash, Sandalwood, Micro, Lyra, Derpy, and Bulk Biceps. They all followed Sunset into the jungle on the island and too a quicksand pool. “Uh, I don’t mean to be a bore, but that’s quicksand,” Mirco commented.

“Yeah, that’s the portal to equestria. It’s not the most epic or convenient like back at school, but it’s what we have,” said Sunset. “Okay, everyone go in one at a time please,”. Everyone started to go into the pool/portal, with Sunset using her magic to give them an extra push. First, the Rainbooms went in, then Bulk Biceps went in, and finally Flash, Micro, and Sandalwood went in (Lyra and Derpy went in after them).

Flash felt that he was going through a long bright-yellow tunnel. Then there was darkness. He then heard Twilight’s voice. “Hold on, the portal led us to a cave,” she said as she lit up her horn. She led the group outside the cave. Soon, Sunset exited the cave as well.

“Now, I know it might take some time to get used to your new bodies,” she started to explain, but the majority of the group wasn’t listening.

“I’m a pony now!!” Lyra squealed as she ran around. “And I can use magic!” she said as her horn glowed yellow-ish.

“Wait, hold on--” Sunset started to say before Lyra shot a bolt of magic from her horn, just barely missing Sunset. “Sigh. Please refrain from using magic please? We don’t want to call attention to ourselves here. Especially since many of you have counterparts in Ponyville,”.

Meanwhile, Flash and his friends were checking out their new bodies. Flash was a Pegasus, Sandalwood was an Earth Pony (who’s cutie mark was a recycling symbol), and Micro(who’s cutie mark was a nucleus) was a Unicorn. “Dudes, check it out!” said Sandalwood. “We are all ponies!”.

“Yeah, and I guess I can technically use magic?” said Micro, “Though like Sunset said, I probably shouldn’t test it out right here,”.

Flash was also checking out his new Pegasus body. He saw Derpy and Bulk attempting to fly, and even though Bulk had tiny wings, he was actually able to fly. Flash looked at his newfound wings (and ignored the fact that he, and everyone else were basically naked) and attempted to flap them. After hovering in the air for a few seconds, he fell flat on his stomach. Sandalwood helped him up.

“Alright everypo-er I mean everyone, follow me!” said Sunset as she led the group through the woods and into Ponyville. They got through the town with almost no incident except for Lyra attempting to escape, but she was held back by Sunset.

It was a good thing that Pinkie was behaving.

They eventually arrived at a giant crystal structure that was just outside of town.

“Here we are, Twilight’s castle. Er-this world’s Twilight,” said Sunset. “I am just going to drop you off here and go back to collect the next group,”.

After initially surprising Twilight with the group, Sunset left to gather the next group while the current group was sitting in the castle.

“Um, hello everypony,” said Twilight. “I know you are all probably confused right now, but I assure you, you are all fine. And yes Rarity, you are technically naked right now, but don’t worry, that is pretty natural here, but if you would like, I actually have some spare clothes,”. Rarity soon calmed down, but was still hyperventilating a bit. “Er, anyway, while you wait, a friend of mine is available to help those of you who turned into unicorns. You might be here for a little bit, so it would be good of you to control your magic,”. She was looking right at Lyra as she was saying this.

As the group split up. Micro went with the unicorns (Rarity and Lyra as Sunset and Sci-Twi went back to the cave to help the next group) in order to learn how to control his magic. Everyone else went off to do their own thing.

“So when are you going to talk to her?” Sandalwood asked Flash.

“Well, I’m still thinking about it,” Flash mumbled.

“Ah, I see. Even though Sunset told you to get over her, you still have something for this world’s Twilight?” Sandalwood asked.

“Yes, but don’t tell Sunset that. I don’t want to go through that again,”. Flash responded.

“I thought things were cool between you and her now,” said Sandalwood. “Didn’t you two start over as friends or something?”.

“Well, technically. When I asked, she had to go and fight that Poison Ivy wannabe,”

That got a laugh from the human Pinkie who was sitting not too far from them.

“Ha! Harsh! But it's so very true!” she said.

“So, again. Are you going to talk to her?” Sandalwood asked Flash.

“Well,” began Flash as he looked her way. It seems that Twilight was helping Fluttershy fly, while Bulk and Derpy looked on. Like him, Fluttershy was flying very awkwardly, but she did manage it.

“Looks like she’s busy!” said Flash as he began to trot away, but he was stopped. Micro was holding him in place, a black magic aura surrounding his horn and Flash himself.

“Woah dude, your aura is black?” Sandalwood asked.

“Yeah, apparently, a unicorn’s magic aura is similar to their eye color,” said Micro. “And since I have black eyes, well…”

“Um, Micro, could you put me down please?” Flash asked.

“Certainly,” said Micro as he walked over to where Twilight was. He set Flash down so that he was closer to her. “I’ve put you down,”.

“Thanks, Micro,” Flash mumbled dryly. He got up to walk away, only to run smack into Twilight.

Again.
“Ow,” he groaned.

“Oh, um..Flash! Sorry about that, I didn’t know you were there!” Twilight said awkwardly. Flash had to admit, she was cute as a pony, especially since this was her true form.

“It’s alright,” said Flash. He looked toward his friends. Micro was forming a magical thumbs up by conjuring a magical hand. Sandalwood looked like he could make a thumbs up if he wanted to. “Yeah it’s alright,”.

“Oh, that’s good,” said Twilight. “So, uh, have you come to learn how to fly?” she asked.

“Er, yeah!” said Flash, regaining his composure.

Now he could feel that a certain farmer was giving him a weird look.

“Yep that’s totally why I’m here in front of you right now,” said Flash. He glanced at the farmer who was rolling her eyes.

“Well, then flying is really simple once you get used to it. I know I had to when I got my wings, but since you have little experience, I can help you,” She said.

Flash spent the next few minutes learning how to fly with Twilight’s help. It took a bit to get used too, but he was able to learn quickly. According to Twilight, that was his body getting used to his new form. “So, uh…how’s school?” she asked.

“I’m doing pretty well,” said Flash. “Why?”

“Oh, um…no reason,” said Twilight. “I just wanted to know how you’ve been since the Battle of the Bands and all,”. ‘Since that was the last time I saw you,’ she thought to herself.

“I’ve been good. I participated in the friendship games but I lost the baking challenge,”.

“Yeah, that was because he and Bon-Bon were trying to bake a cake, but they somehow made a loaf of bread,” said Derpy as she flew by.

Twilight giggled. “How did you bake a loaf of bread instead of a cake?” she asked.

“Because he was distracted by the human you,” Derpy said again.

Flash facepalmed in embarrassment (which was easy to do in the air, since his hooves where off the ground).

“Really now?” said Twilight. “Did you, uh, make friends with my human self?”

Flash wasn’t sure if Twilight meant just friends or more than that.

“I’m friends with her, yes,” Flash said. “I mean, we are both in the science club together and she is really smart in that department,”.

“I bet she is if she is me,” said Twilight with a dejected look on her face.

“Oh, but she got together with some guy named Timber Spice or something,” said Derpy again as she flew by. “They met at Camp Everfree. It was also the place where Sunset told Flash to get over--,”. Bulk covered her mouth with his hoof just in time.

“What? What did Sunset tell you, Flash? Did…did she tell you to get over me?” she asked.

Before Flash could respond, the doors to the room opened up and Sunset stepped through. “Sorry that it took so long Twilight. The Diamond Dudes turned into Diamond Dogs, and I had to keep them from digging for gems,”. She then noticed that Twilight was talking to Flash. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked.

“Oh, no! Um, of course not Sunset!” said Twilight. “Sorry about that Flash, I have to go speak with Sunset now,”. She flew down to where Sunset was to talk to her while Flash was left by himself.

“Wow, tough luck dude,” said Bulk.

“Yeah, sorry I almost ruined things again,” said Derpy.

“It’s okay Derpy, you didn’t mean it,” said Flash.

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have spoken up like that. What if I made things worse?” she asked.

“Derpy, it’s okay,” said Flash. “I got to talk to her a little bit. It’s a good thing she didn’t find out what Sunset told me,”.

Well, Flash was wrong. After the rest of the cruise goers were all at the castle, Sunset and Twilight directed them to the portal. Flash tried to talk to Twilight again, but she was too busy making sure that the portal stayed powered. He took one last look at her as he went through the portal.

When the last human-turned-pony left through the portal, all that was left was Twilight and Sunset. “Hey Sunset?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah Twilight?” Sunset answered.

“Did Flash go in with the others? I hadn’t seen him since we talked earlier,”.

“Yeah, he went in,” said Sunset. “Why? What were you talking about?”

“Oh nothing,” said Twilight. “We were just catching up,”.

“Okay, Twilight. See you later then,” said Sunset as she entered the portal.

“Yeah,” said Twilight as she glanced at a Pegasus-modified shirt in a corner. A familiar looking shield and lighting bolt could be seen on them. “See you later,”.

Author's Note

This chapter is a flashback in case you hadn't noticed. So it does not take place after the previous chapter.

Chapter VII: Interlude I.

“So, we are back in Equestria now, not in my world?” Flash asked as he and Twilight stood in the darkened room, the only light source coming from Twilight’s horn.

“Yep, looks like it. Not really sure on how we got here, and I don’t know where we are exactly, but since we are both ponies, I can say that yes, we are indeed in Equestria,” Twilight responded. “Where we are in Equestria is another question,”.

“Do you think you could shine that light on where I had just come from?” Flash asked.

“Sure,” Twilight responded as she shone her light where Flash had come from. It was a painting not unlike the one at the museum. The art style was similar. Only instead of an airship, the painting featured Beatrix facing down Zidane and the others. “Interesting,” Twilight mused. “This painting seems to be similar to the one at the museum. She slowly reached her hoof out to touch it. The painting did not respond to her touch. “Well, it seems like it was a one way trip,” she stated, “but enough of that, we should probably find out where we are so we can get you back home,”.

“Yeah, I’m sure my parents might be wondering where I am,” Flash responded.

The two of them walked through the room which had other paintings hanging on the walls. Some were covered in sheets. And some were obscured by darkness. They eventually found a door in the back which was locked. Fortunet;y, Twilight knew of a spell that could unlock it. Once she cast it, she opened the door to reveal a set of spiraling stairs going upwards. The two of them started to climb up them, but there where a lot of stairs. “Do you mind if we fly up these stairs?” Twilight asked Flash.

“Sure, my legs…er hooves are getting tired,” said Flash. He then realized something. “Wait, I haven’t flown since Spring Break when I was here last. So I might be a bit rusty,”.

“That’s true,” said Twilight. “But don’t worry. I’ll help you,” she assured him. The two then took off. Even though Flash’s flying was a bit rusty, he was able to get the hang of it, and the two flew up until they reached the top of the stairs to another door. After Twilight unlocked it again, they exited the door.

“Wait,” said Twilight. “This is…Canterlot Castle? I didn’t know it had a secret room with a bunch of paintings that lead to other worlds. Princess Celestia didn’t tell me…wait,” she said, just realizing that if they meet Celestia, Flash might feel a bit awkward. “Uh, Flash, if we see Princess Celestia, could you uh…promise not to freak out? I know she’s a princess here, and you are used to her being your principal and all,” she said awkwardly.

“Um, sure Twilight,” Flash said. “I can do that for you,”.

“Good,” Twilight replied as the two went down the hallway. There weren’t any guards around, so they were able to go as they pleased. “We will have to go through the throne room to get to the exit,” Twilight said. “Then we can fly to Ponyville. You think you can handle that?” she asked. Flash nodded. They turned a corner and came out to the throne room. “Just relax and don’t be too nervous,” Twilight assured Flash.

It was then that Celestia noticed them. “Oh, Twilight, I didn’t know you were visiting!” she said looking up from her papers. “And…who is this?” she asked, looking at Flash.

“Well, it wasn’t a planned visit, and this is…the human world’s Flash,” said Twilight while Flash respectfully bowed.

“I see. How did he get here exactly?” Celestia asked.

“Well, you see, there was this painting at a museum in his world. And when he approached it, that world’s Pinkie knocked him into it. Sunset called me and I went to investigate. I was also brought to that world. We met a few interesting people there, and then suddenly we were back here in Equestria again,” Twilight explained before stopping to catch her breath.

“You didn’t happen to meet a blonde-haired boy who had a tail, right?” Celestia asked.

“Er yeah, we did,” said Twilight. “He was quite the flirt,”.

“Interesting,” Celestia muttered. She seemed to have an amused look on her face. Flash could swear he could hear her mutter something about Zidane, but it wasn’t really clear.

“Is there something wrong, Celestia?” Twilight asked.

Celestia suddenly snapped back after she looked like she was in deep thought. “Sorry about that. I’ll have to look into this,” she stated. “In the meantime, you should probably get Flash back to his world,”.

“Right, we better get on that,” said Twilight awkwardly. The two of them started to leave the castle. As they were leaving, they nearly ran into Luna who was entering the throne room.

“Sister, have you seen my…” she started before she noticed Flash. “I didn’t know Shining and Cadence were visiting,” she stated.

“Oh, no. Luna, this is the other Flash. The one from the human world,” said Twilight. Flash then bowed respectfully.

“Oh, so you are Sir Flash of Canterlot High?” Luna asked, “well then it’s an honor to meet Twilight Sparkle’s suitor,” she said.

That comment made both Twilight and Flash go bright red. “S-suitor?” Twilight sputtered.

“Yes, I remember you telling me how Sir Flash assisted you during your quest to get your crown back,” said Luna. “I wondered if he was truly the gentlecolt that you described him as. And I see that thou are,” she says, addressing Flash.

“Luna, it’s n-nothing like that!” Twilight huffed.

“The fact that you are sputtering in your speech and your coat color has changed begs to differ, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied.

Flash had to admit, the pony Luna shared the exact same imposing presence as his vice principal did. She’d get like that whenever she scolded a student (in particular, whenever the Diamond Dudes tried digging for gems in the school grounds). Despite this, this other Luna was pretty polite.

“L-let’s just go,” said Twilight as she began to leave, Flash following behind her.

“It was nice to meet you” he called out to Luna as they left.

As soon as they left, Celestia approached Luna. “Twilight is so lucky. Too bad she’s not realizing her feelings,”.

“Are you just saying that because you fell in love with that Mirror Sombra?” Luna asked.

“Well…maybe,” said Celestia.

“Let’s just hope that Shining Armor does not find out about this,” said Luna.

“Oh, yeah. He’d definitely go ‘overprotective-big-brother mode’,” said Celestia, giggling a bit.

After some consideration, Twilight decided that it would be best to take the train back to Ponyville instead of flying. Mainly because Flash wasn’t used to flying. He felt a little guilty that Twilight was the one who had to pay for the train tickets (as he didn’t know how to find his wallet, or where ponies kept their money anyways), but she assured him that it was fine. They rode in silence on the train for a while.

“So,” Flash started. “Do you think it will be daytime in…my world?” he asked, whispering the last part.

“I think so. Our worlds are more synced up now, so it should be fine,” Twilight assured him. “Anyways, I hope Celestia finds something about that world we’ve been too. It sounds like she is familiar with it,”.

“It also seems to me that it’s too coincidental that she knows of a world that exists as a video game in my world,” Flash responded.

“Yeah, though Sunset told me that apparently there’s a video game series that has a character named ‘Tirek’ in it, while Tirek is a real creature here. Granted, I’m sort of glad that there’s not a counterpart as far as I know,” Twilight responded.

“There is,” Flash said.

“Huh?” Twilight asked, a bit confused and shocked at the same time.

“There is a guy who goes by the nickname ‘Tirek’. He works at the post office. He’s a bit grumpy, but he’s actually pretty nice. This was a bit before Sunset arrived,”.

“That’s interesting. Well, I guess if he’s not planning on ruling the world anytime soon, then it’s all good,” siad Twilight.

“Heh, yeah,” said Flash. “Apparently, there was this guy who was dressed up like a Christmas elf who threw a party this one time, and Tirek actually enjoyed it. He accidentally let it slip one time when we were on a field trip, and Pinkie didn’t let him hear the end of it”

“That’s…interesting. Weird, but interesting.” said Twilight.

Eventually, the train arrived at Ponyville. “Okay, now that we are here, we should get to my castle,” said Twilight as the two of them walked through town. They noticed that ponies where giving them odd looks,

“Do you think that they might think that we are…” Flash started before seeing Twilight’s horn glow.

“Hold on, this might feel a bit weird,” she said as a bright flash of violet light surrounded the two. When the flash cleared, both were gone. The townsfolk quickly dispersed as soon as they gathered.

Twilight teleported right into her castle’s foyer with Flash in tow. “Sorry about the sudden teleportation Flash, but I wanted to get us out of there before everypony started to ask questions,”.

“It’s alright,” said Flash, his head a bit dizzy. “I haven’t experienced teleportation before, so I obviously wouldn’t be used to it,”.

“That’s good,” said Twilight, as she led him through the halls. “My portal room is just down this hallway, so it shouldn’t take us long to get you back home,”.

“That’s cool,” said Flash.

As they were on their way to the portal room, they encountered Starlight coming out of a side room. “Oh, Twilight, you’re back!” she said.

“Hi Starlight, how were things while I was gone?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, the same as usual,” said Starlight. “Since you were gone for two days, Sunset messaged you in the journal, so I had to answer for her. Then I had to tell the others about it, but they figured that you’d be alright especially since you were ‘off to save your coltfriend’ as Rarity put it,”.

She had said that one line in Rarity’s voice. Flash figured that she must have used some sort of magic. Twilight on the other hand was going red again. “Coltfriend? Why would they think that?” she asked.

“Oh, well, you go by yourself to rescue him from another world? Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all,” Starlight said sarcastically. Twilight and Flash both sweatdropped at that statement.

“Right, so uh, let’s get him home then,” said Twilight as they went to her portal room, the journal being where Twilight left it. “Just got to write a message to Sunset and we should be good to go!” said Twilight.

“Hey, Sunset! It’s me Twilight. I rescued Flash, and am ready to bring him home!”

Twilight waited for a few moments to see if Sunset would reply. After a few minutes, some text appeared in the journal.

“Twilight? Oh, that’s greaaaaaaat, Sorry, you sort of woke me up in the middle of the night. I can’t get to the portal right now, so Flash would have to stay there for now,”.

“Really? I thought time was sort of the same between our worlds,”.

“Actually, it’s a few minutes off. Anyways, I talked to Flash’s bandmates and they agreed to let Flash’s family know that he’s hanging out with them on the weekend to explain his absence. His parents didn’t mind, since they are not around much anyways,”.

“Well, that’s good to hear at least. I’ll see you tomorrow I guess?”

There was no response from the journal as Sunset had already fallen back asleep.

Twilight turned to look at Flash. “Sorry Flash, looks like we have to wait until tomorrow to get you back home.

“It’s alright Twilight, I’m sure I can find somewhere to stay for the night,” Flash responded.

“You know I can prepare one of the guest rooms for you. I have so many, and most are pretty much empty,” Twilight told him.

“Well, empty except for all the ones she had filled with books,” said Starlight, causing Twilight to give her an annoyed look.

“I don’t want to be a bother Twilight, I’m sure I can find somewhere in town to stay, although I don’t know how to access my money,” Flash responded.

“You just think of grabbing your money and it will appear, but that’s not the point, Flash. You’re my guest, and you won’t be a bother to me,” said Twilight. “Plus, we don’t want the townsfolk to really know that you’re a human,”.

“Are you sure?” Flash asked.

“I’m a Princess, so I officially order you to stay here at my castle,” said Twilight. “That came out weird, I know. But you are technically a visitor from another land, and I am the ruler here, so I am technically supposed to grant you shelter,”.

“Well, all right then, if you say so,” said Flash.

“Now then, I’m sure you’re hungry after our little adventure today, and I’m feeling a bit hungry myself, so let’s get something to eat,” said Twilight as she and Flash headed to the main room, Starlight following close behind.

Author's Note

There will be a bonus scene in the fanfiction.net version of this chapter.

Chapter VIII

As the sun rose over Ponyvile, courtesy of Celestia, Flash woke up in the room that he was staying in. He groggily got off the bed in the guest room he was staying in. He almost forgot that he was a pony, because he tried standing on his back hooves, only to fall on his face. After getting back up, he stretched his wings. He took a look around the room, as he didn’t get a good look at it last night. It was a cozy room, with a basic bed, a desk, and a small bookshelf. He walked to the door and began to open it. He looked down the hallways of the castle. ‘Am I the first one up?’ he thought to himself as he trotted down the hallway. Looking around, he could see that Twilight had a nice castle. Unfortunately, he forgot to look where he was going as he was trotting.

“Gah!” a voice cried out as he ran into somepony.

“Uh, sorry about that, “said Flash as he got up. He then realized that he ran into Twilight, much to his embarrassment. “Oh…uh,”.

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Sorry, it’s my fault. I was coming to wake you, but I see that you’re already up,”.

“Heh, yeah. Still feels weird having these wings though,” said Flash.

“Well, it took me a while to get used to my wings when I first got them, so you are not exactly alone in that department,” she giggled again.

“Yeah, but I got the flying part down,” Flash demonstrated, hovering a few inches off the ground.

“Anyways, we should probably go to the portal, and make sure that you get home safely,” said Twilight.

“Er, yeah. Let’s do that,” Flash agreed.

The two of them then walked (or flew in Flash’s case) to the room where Twilight was keeping the portal. “Okay, let me just set it up, and you can just walk through,” said Twilight as she used her journal to activate the portal.

Once the portal fired up, Flash landed on the ground and began to step through the portal, Twilight following behind.

The two of them stumbled outside of the statue on the grounds of Canterlot High. Due to it being a long weekend, there was no one at school.

“Not going to lie, but it feels good to be back to my own world again,” said Flash, stretching his arms.

“Yeah, I’m glad I could get you back here,” said Twilight.

“I should probably check on my brother, my sister is home, but I want to make sure that they are all right,” said Flash as he started heading for his house. As he headed back to his house, he was suddenly stopped by Twilight.

“Um, I wanted to give you this before we left, but I think now is a good time,” she said awkwardly, giving Flash a book. Flash recognized the book as the same type of book that Sunset uses to communicate with her. “This is for if I need to contact you if we find any of those paintings again,” Twilight explained. “Since you helped in that last world we went in, you might be of some help if we find another world,”.

“That makes sense,” said Flash. “Well, see ya later then, Twi” he said as he left for his house.

“Yep, see ya!” said Twilight as she watched Flash leave. After a few seconds, she decided to go see Sunset while she was here. She didn’t have much to do in Equestria anyways.

A few minutes later, Flash arrived at his house. It was a simple townhouse, despite his families’ status. As he entered the front door, he was immediately greeted by his sister, Aqua. She had blue hair just like him, but it was tied to a ponytail. “Hello Flash,” she stated annoyedly, crossing her arms. “Where have you been for the past few days?” she asked.

“I’ve been at a friend’s house,” said Flash. “For a…Flash Drive thing,” he said.

Aqua raised an eyebrow. “Yeah right, and First Base scored a home run recently,”.

“Really?” Flash asked, not picking up on the sarcasm.

“No, you dummy!” Aqua stated, throwing a playful punch on her older brother. “But I had to keep an eye on him since you weren’t around. I had a date with Blitz planned and everything, but since you weren’t around, I had to cancel it. So, you owe me,”.

“Fine, fine,” Flash mumbled. “So, mom and dad are still on that trip of theirs?” he asked.

“Yep, they are,” his sister confirmed. “But stop changing the subject, and tell me what happened,”.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,“ Flash replied.

“Ha! With what goes on at Canterlot High these days, I’m not phased by anything. I was brainwashed by that bacon-haired ex-girlfriend of yours, I acted nasty due to those three other girls with weird hair, and I nearly fell into a portal into some other world. So, try me big bro. How is your little adventure different from mine?” Aqua asked.

Flash began to think that she had a point. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But you must not share this with anyone. Not even Blitz,” he said.

“I promise,” Aqua stated.

“Pinkie Promise it,” Flash told her.

“Really? Are we really going there? Well, all right. I Pinkie Promise,” Aqua replied.

Flash then explained everything that had happened. The mysterious painting. Meeting Zidane and the others. How the world he went to adjusted to the presence of him and Twilight. He also explained how he stayed in Equestria.

“I see, so you had to stay at your girlfriend’s place, huh?” Aqua teased.

Flash went a bit red. “S-she’s not my girlfriend!”. “She just offered me a place to stay. I suggested an alternative, but she insisted,”.

“Well, all right then. This doesn’t happen to be that Twilight girl, right? I thought she was dating that boy she met at camp. What was his name again? Lumber Wood? Limber Spice?” Aqua asked.

“His name is Timber Spruce,” Flash corrected. “And this Twilight is a different Twilight that is dating him,”.

“Oh, you’re talking about the Twilight from the Fall Formal,” Aqua replied.

“Yes, I’m talking about her,” Flash confirmed.

“Well, then I’d like to meet her sometime,” Aqua stated. “I just want to make sure that she’s better than the other one,”.

Flash facepalmed. “Aqua, I told you. Sunset is no longer like that, and you know it,”.

“I just don’t like anybody hurting my big bro,” Aqua replied defensively.

“Hey, being protective of siblings is my job,” Flash shot back.

“That won’t stop me,” Aqua replied.

“Anyways, where is First Base anyway?” Flash asked.

“Oh, he’s probably in his room reading comics or something,” said Aqua.

“No, I’m right here,” said a voice from the dining room.

The two siblings turned around to notice that First Base was eating a snack at the table.

“How didn’t we notice you before?” Aqua asked.

“You were too busy talking to each other, and I didn’t wanna be rude,” First Base explained.

“Well, I think I’m going to grab some lunch, myself,” said Flash as he went to do so. Unfortunately, he accidentally dropped the communication journal that Twilight had given him.

“Ooh! What’s this? First Base asked as he picked it up.

“First Base, could you please give that back?” Flash asked as calmly as he could.

“First, tell me what it is,” First Base replied.

“It’s something very important to me, and I don’t want you messing with it,” Flash replied. “Plus it’s magic, and you don’t know how to handle it,”.

“And you do?” First Base asked with a sly smile.

“Five of my classmates have Sailor Moon powers, so yes, I know about magic. Plus, my ex-girlfriend is from a magic filled world,” Flash responded. “Now that I answered your question, please give it back,”.

“Hmm, nah!” First Base stated as he ran off with the journal.

“FIRST BASE SENTRY YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!” Flash roared as he ran after his little brother.

Meanwhile, Twilight managed to find Sunset at the mall during her break.

“So, Flash is safely home now?” Sunset asked. “Sorry I couldn’t be at the portal, I had to go to work,”

“Yeah, he’s all right,” Twilight commented as she ate the sushi that Sunset provided. “He said he had to go to his house to check on his siblings, since he had been gone for the past few days.”.

“Ah yes. Aqua and First Base. I remember them,” Sunset responded. “Let me tell you that Aqua is a bit protective of Flash, even though she’s younger than him,”.

“I take it that you had met them when you were the old you?” Twilight asked.

Sunset sighed. “Yep. One time, I made him take me out when he was supposed to be at his self-defense training class, and he got in trouble with his sensei,”.

“He takes self-defense. I never knew that about him,” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, he takes it with four other boys and his younger sister. One of the boys is the nephew of his sensei,” Sunset responded.

“Interesting,” Twilight replied as she went back to her sushi. But just as she was about to take a bite, her tray was stolen by a girl with cyan hair in curls. “Wha? Hey! Get back here!” Twilight called after her as she ran after her. As she ran after the girl, she noticed that a very tall, and muscular guy with red skin was also chasing after her. He managed to catch up to the girl and grabbed her in her arms.

“What have I told you about taking other people’s food?” he asked the girl in a scolding tone. The girl just rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Twilight. “I told you that if we were to go to the mall, then you have to behave!” he said. The girl just rolled her eyes as she handed him the sushi tray. “Thank you,” the man said as he handed the tray back to Twilight. “Sorry about her. She’s a real troublemaker. But I hope she gets better when she starts school,” he said.

Twilight, meanwhile, was getting a feeling that this man was familiar to her. He had a deep voice to go along with his muscled body. “It’s…uh no problem!” she said innocently.

“Oh, thank you. Yeah, usually she stays with my brother, but today I had a day off from the post office, so I thought I’d bring her to the mall. Oh, my name’s Tirek. Sorry if I hadn’t properly introduced myself. Well, I gotta get going,” he stated as he walked away, carrying the girl in his arms, who did an eyelid pull taunt to Twilight.

Twilight just stood there watching as Tirek carried the girl as they walked away. “Twilight!” Sunset called out to her as she ran up to her. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah…I’m fine Sunset. I just met someone…well two someones actually, who are locked in Tartarus in Equestria,” Twilight responded.

“Oh, Tirek and Cozy?” Sunset asked. “Yeah, Tirek works at the post office, and had just adopted Cozy Glow recently,”.

“Huh. You know, Flash told me about this world’s Tirek. Guess he isn’t a villain in this world,” Twilight responded.

“Yeah, well we better finish our lunch before my shift starts again,” Sunset reminded her.

“Right behind you,” Twilight stated as she followed Sunset. “I can tell you what happened during the adventure I had with Flash.

“Maybe you should wait until the rest of the girls are available,” Sunset responded. “They were the ones who were worried about him,”.

“That’s fine with me,” Twilight replied.

Author's Note

Thanks to DeeShimmer from Discord for being my unofficial Beta Reader.

Aqua is based on Nya from Ninjago.

I don't own MLP.

Chapter IX

After Flash got the journal back from First Base (and making sure that he didn’t write anything embarrassing in it), he hid it in his backpack where it would be safe. He went through the rest of the week quite normally. His parents were still away, so that meant that he had to be in charge of First Base while they were gone. Aqua was also in charge of him, but on some days, she’d go and hang out with Blitz. As for Flash himself, he’d go to the mall to relax or play with his band. It wasn’t until the following weekend when the journal began to glow when he got up that morning. He picked it up and saw a message from Twilight.

“Hey Flash. Don’t know when you’ll get this, but a painting similar to the one that we went in was found recently. If you are able to, come to Equestria and let me know when you are at the portal on your end so I can unlock it for you. Oh, and one more thing, the ones who are bringing the painting are my relatives, so try not to get into a fight with one of them,"

Flash read the message over again. So, Twilight found another one of those paintings. This was going to be interesting to say the least. He grabbed his backpack with a few snacks in it and headed out the door before he was stopped by Aqua. “And just where do you think you are going?” she questioned.

“I have to do something important,” Flash responded.

“Well, I’m not going to stop you. Just don’t take all weekend, okay?” Aqua asked. Flash nodded and stated that he hoped it would only take a few hours or a day at most. He left the house and decided to take his bike over to the school to get to the portal. A few minutes later, he arrived at the school. Since it was Summer Vacation, there was no one around. Flash got the journal out of his backpack and began to write in it.

“Hey Twilight, it’s me. I’m at the statue at the school. I’m ready when you are,”

He waited a few seconds to see if Twilight would respond. He then noticed that the statue portal was glowing slightly. He walked toward it and stuck his hand in it. Seeing that it had gone through, he then walked through the portal.

After the rush of going through the portal (which was technically his first time actually using the statue portal to go to Equestria), Flash felt the floor of Twilight’s castle below him. He saw that Twilight was waiting for him. “Oh good, you’re here,” she said. “The ones who brought the painting are upstairs,” she explains, gesturing with her wing for him to follow her. The two eventually reached the main area where the Cutie Map was. There were two ponies waiting there. One appeared to be an alicorn like Twilight, and the other was a white unicorn wearing formal wear. “Flash, this is my brother, Shining Armor and his wife, Princess Cadence,” Twilight explained.

“Nice to meet you both,” Flash said, while bowing.

“I take it that you’re the Flash Sentry of the mirror world?” Princess Cadence asked.

Flash nodded. “Yes, your majesty,” he said politely.

“You are a polite young stallion…or man in this case. Anyways, I have that painting that I told you about, Twilight,”. Cadence went over near the entrance. “You can bring it in now,” she announced. Two ponies then came into the room. One was a tall Earth Pony who had a dark red coat with a light red mane. He was pulling a cart with something on it that had a sheet over it. Next to the Earth Pony was a Pegasus that was flying right next to him. He had a dark blue coat, with a blonde mane. “These two are Biggs and Wedge. They are the new guards who came with us,” Cadence explained.

The Earth Pony, Biggs, bowed before Twilight. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess,” he said in a deep voice. He then elbowed his companion who had landed right next to him.

“Huh? Oh! Right!” the Pegasus, Wedge, stated as he bowed as well. Compared to Biggs, who was built like Big Mac, Wedge was on the smaller side. About a head shorter than Twilight herself. He could be mistaken for a foal if one didn’t look closely enough.

“You two can be at ease,” Twilight responded. Biggs and Wedge then stood back up and went back to the sides of the painting. Twilight then got a look at their cutie marks. Biggs had one of a boulder being smashed on the ground, while Wedge had one of a dagger surrounded by a tiny tornado. They were not Crystal Ponies, so Twilight figured that they were recruited from someplace other than the Crystal Empire. “Since you already know who I am, I should introduce you to a friend of mine who’s going to help us,” she said gesturing to Flash with her wing.

Flash walked up to both of them. “My name is Flash Sentry. It’s nice to meet the two of you,” he said.

“We know who you are,” Biggs said, his emotion not changing. “You are one of the royal guards…but last I checked, you are supposed to be back at the Crystal Empire,”.

“Er…well I’m not exactly from this world,” Flash stated. He then looked at Twilight to get a sign on whether or not he should reveal where he was from. Twilight gave a nod of approval. “I’m…from a world where there are creatures called humans. I was invited here because I have knowledge about the painting that was found…sort of,".

“Interesting…” Biggs mused.

“Are you the Princesses foalfriend?” Wedge asked all of a sudden. This caused Flash and Twilight to blush and sweat drop and Biggs to facehoof. Flash couldn’t help but notice that Shining was looking at him strangely.

“Ahem, now that introductions are out of the way,” Shining Armor began, “we would like to show you the painting that we discovered,”. He nodded to Biggs and Wedge, who pulled down the sheet that was on the cart. The object underneath the sheet was another painting like the one at the museum and the one that was in the basement of Canterlot Castle. This one showed a snowy landscape, with three figures in the middle of it. Like the painting at the museum, there were purple clouds on the bottom of it. “We found it in a hidden room in the castle. We don’t know if it is from Sombra’s reign or before it,”. Shining Armor explained.

“Hmm, where there any other paintings like it?” Twilight asked. “When me and Flash left the other one, we came out in a painting in the basement of Canterlot Castle. We don’t want to be lost in the Crystal Empire after we complete whatever we need to do in this one,”.

“We aren’t sure, but we did have a few guards search the storerooms underneath the castle just to be sure,” Shining Armor replied. “And so far, they haven’t found anything,”.

“Well, that’s good. Before I forget, Flash is there anything important that we need to know about this world?” Twilight asked, turning her attention to him.

“Well, in this world, there is a war going on between two factions. You start out by playing as someone who has been brainwashed by the enemy faction,” Flash responded. After seeing Twilight nodding for him to go on, he continued. “And…I think I should go in first and you come in a bit later. Sort of how things went the previous time,”.

Twilight mused on this thought for a bit before speaking up again. “I admire how considerate and honest that you are being with me on this. However, I feel like I can handle whatever happens when we step through that portal. Besides, I don’t want things to go south for you,” she responded. Flash wanted to protest, but he had a feeling that Twilight would veto it anyways.

“Okay, this is agreeable,” he replied.

“Then let’s go,” said Twilight as both of them stepped through the portal as Shining Armor and Cadence watched.