Surviving Equestria's Queen

A finger and a thumb. That’s all it took for Discord to wipe out the zombie plague, restoring the life of every pony that had been zombified in the process.

Well, except for some of the nobility. Evidently even his magic had limits. Not that Flash thought it was any real loss at all, especially not from his cushy hospital room, where he’d had to heal from the injuries he’d sustained. Injuries that were quite minor, all things considered. Exhaustion was more of an issue than the injuries themselves had been.

He tried to have words with Queen Twilight too, but she’d refused to see him. Something about how she “should have listened to Starlight” and “there’s no need for two sensible ponies to scream at me.”

Whatever that meant.

But it was enough that Flash decided he was going to move back to the Crystal Empire. Forget Canterlot. He’d take the cold and the higher salary over risking even a single second longer in the presence of Queen Twilight’s messed-up decision making.

So as his train pulled into the Crystal Empire station and he flew with his suitcase back to the castle, he was hopeful, happy, even.

That was, until the skies went dark, and something appeared, firing a green surge of energy down onto the Crystal Empire’s shield.

“FLASH!”

Flash looked up with a start to see Captain -- no, Prince Shining Armor standing there. “Sir?”

“Good to see you’re back. We’re going to need your help. The empire’s under siege.”

“...no. No, please don’t --”

“From aliens!”

Flash dropped his suitcase.

“But don’t worry Flash, I’ve got the perfect plan!”

And Flash’s face fell into his forehooves

“For pony’s sake.”