//------------------------------// // Chapter VIII // Story: Equestria Girls Final Fantasy Adventures // by GuardianDemonsWriter //------------------------------// 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.