Tear Jerker / The Flash Sentry Chronicles

The Element of Courage

• Just how Flash had to survive on the streets by himself as a kid for years before he met Twilight, needing to steal food in order to survive. He is also disliked by others due to his history of living on the streets, with many believing he is unworthy of being Grand Hoof's apprentice and is just a "street rat."

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 1

• Trixie tells Twilight and Flash her backstory, how she dropped out of Manehatten Institute for Magical Learning due to being unable to keep up, despite her family's high standards and her own father being a teacher at the institute. So now she travels Equestria performing tricks and boasting about herself to get the praise she couldn't from her own father.
• Lightning Blitz's corruption due to the Alicorn Amulet. He was always a bully to Flash before, but under the influence of the amulet his anger is magnified and he tries to overthrow the princesses and openly insults his grandfather Grand Hoof, even saying he doesn't care if he dies.
  • After the amulet is destroyed Lightning apologizes to Grand for everything he did, saying Flash is more worthy of being an apprentice then he'll ever be. Though Grand tells Lightning he could have become a knight on his own it means that Lightning's own jealousy and anger made him do horrible things essentially due to a misunderstanding.
• The rules for the Battle of Canterlot, where anyone caught in a rune must fight each other until only one is left standing. These rules not only dwindle the heroes number but also turns friend against friend.
  • The heroes numbers quickly dwindle in the beginning of the battle. Shining Armor, Soarin, and Big Mac are all defeated while trying to fight Lightning's friends so they can save their friends and family, and Trixie is caught while trying to escape the city to get help and knocked out. Soarin and Big Mac just have enough energy to apologize to Rainbow and Applejack for their failure before being knocked out, and Shining Armor ends up Taken for Granite like the Mane 6 and Cadance.

Flash Sentry, Chaos and Disharmony

• During the field trip to the Castle in the beginning, the foals are all scared and mad to see Gorgenia after her role in the Battle of Canterlot. While understandable it is also sad to see she still has a long way to go to make up for her mistakes.
• Flash watches as all his friends from Ponyville are corrupted and turned into jerks by Discord, and then tries to calm Twilight down when she is ready to rush into battle so she never has to see them again. After he talks to Twilight and tries to get her to calm down, all he can decide to do next is face Discord, even if he'll more than likely get killed.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 2

• Flash suffers from repeating nightmares, surrounded by fire and screaming for help. His friends try to help him to the point of getting Princess Luna to enter his dreams.
  • It is revealed that the nightmare is actually a memory from when Flash was young. He was caught in a fire in the Canterlot Orphanage as a foal and was presumed dead by the staff. The memory was so awful and he was so young he actually forgot about it to try to cope. The orphanage even set up a memorial for Flash with his given name due to thinking he died in the fire.
  Dedicated to the memory of Flash Relic, whose life was lost far sooner than it should.
• During "Luna Eclipsed", Flash explains how living on the streets was difficult and how he could have starved. The reason he loved Nightmare Night was because all he needed was a bed sheet as a ghost costume and he could get all the candy he wanted to keep him going for weeks afterwards.
• Having Scootaloo poisoned and slowly dying from getting stung by a Scorpentine and Flash slowly panicking as he tries harder and harder to save her.
• Springer learns that there might be another Jakhowl in Appleloosa and is excited at the idea of meeting another of his kind. But it turns out to be a trap, and the "Jakhowl" is actually a "Trickster", a species that are enemies of the Jakhowls, named Shade. So instead of finding another of his kind, Springer just found his own Arch-Enemy.

Flash Sentry, Crystal Darkness

• Ruby Scarlet isn't confident in Flash's abilities when they first meet, calling him a squire and believing the princess has forsaken the empire by sending him and a bunch of civilians instead of the Royal Knights.
• Seeing two good friends like Ruby Scarlet and Sombra now enemies and trying to kill each other.
• Flash is ultimately unable to defeat Sombra himself, even with help from Ruby. He ends up with a large X shaped scar across his chest as a constant reminder of the battle. Though he at least manages to ultimately help the others win by blasting his horn from behind and allowing Cadance to win their Beam-O-War before he passes out.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 3

• At the end of "Wonderbolts Academy", Rainbow confesses to Soarin that she is nervous about being a lead pony and is afraid she might mess up or give the wrong order. It is a major contrast to her usual confidence.
• Flash spends the first few chapters having Took a Level in Jerkass due to trying to be more serious after his near death experience against Sombra. His new attitude leads to him lashing out against Pinkie Pie for her pranks in "Gremlins", and growing frustrated when all their plans to stop the Gremlins fails. Thankfully, Pinkie manages to get him back to normal.
• Twilight spends most of "Magic Duel" nervous and jealous of Trixie after Trixie confesses to her that she is planning to ask Flash out on a date. Twilight even has an Imagine Spot where Flash and Trixie start a relationship and eventual family together, which leads to him being out of her life forever. Trixie later calls out Twilight for selfishly wanting Flash to herself.
• Springer spends most of "Just for Sidekicks" calling out Spike for his greed and refusing to help him take care of the pets. Most of this is justified as Laser-Guided Karma, until they are on the train to the Crystal Empire. Spike and Springer get into a huge argument, which even scares the pets and Crusaders a bit. It eventually leads to Springer giving Spike a "The Reason You Suck" Speech for his greed and being untrustworthy, until he ends up crossing a line by saying Spike couldn't even be trusted to take care of a baby phoenix, referring to Peewee. Springer ends up immediately regretting saying this and tries to apologize, but Spike doesn't want to hear it.
• The Doom Raizer arc is filled with moments of this, taking up half of the overall story and firmly establishing itself as being Darker and Edgier from what is seen in the canon series.
  • Two of Doom's minions, Toxic and Hiveena, both have tragic backstories that eventually led to them serving Doom.
    • Toxic developed his poison when he was 10 years old, which ended up hurting anyone he touched. He was made an outcast among his own kind, even by his own family, with no cure ever able to put his poison under control permanently, and they eventually tried to kill him for it despite having no control over it. He survived their attempt thanks to his venom and Doom finding him, and with Doom's help he eventually got his revenge on the ones who tried to kill him, doing to them what they tried to do to him.
    • Hiveena was different from the other Changelings in her hive, able to perfectly copy anything, including their magic and knowledge of how to use it. Chrysalis took an interest in her and trained her to use her abilities, with Hiveena believing that her mother truly loved her and was proud of her. But one day she overheard Chrysalis talking to Pharynx about her, and how she was getting too strong and could potentially overthrow her, just as Chrysalis says she did to her own mother. In order to prevent this, Chrysalis orders her to be killed, with Hivenna rushing to escape the hive while being chased by Pharyx and his guards. She only manages to escape thanks to help from Thorax, who she had a friendship with, but then had to spend months by herself before she was found by Doom, who offered her revenge and the opportunity to be the next Changeling Queen if she helps him.
  • Skybreaker, a Royal Knight that Flash has idolized for a long time, is initially cold and distant towards him and Springer at the start of the mission. He isn't even that pleasant to his own apprentice Iron Core, believing that neither of them are ready for a real Royal Knight mission yet. He later tells Flash that the reason he was so hard on him was because Flash reminded him of himself when he was young. He was cocky and often joked around, believing he was unbeatable, until he met an enemy he couldn't beat and almost died, only for his mentor to take the lethal blow for him instead.
  • The whole arc revolves around Doom Raizer and his hatred for his father Grand Hoof. Doom blames his father for everything that ever went wrong with his life, including the deaths of his mom and wife, and the path his own son Lightning Blitz went down. Grand tries several times to get his son to stop his Evil Plan, but every attempt ends in failure. Grand is clearly heartbroken when he needs to fight his own son.
    • By the end of the arc, Grand tells Doom that he has given up on him and is done blaming himself for what his son has done. While this does show Character Development for Grand, it is sad to see a father give up all hope for his son. Doom for his part doesn't care at all, and tells Grand he is proud of what he is. Grand however tells Doom that if his wife Daisy were still around she would be ashamed of her old husband too.
• There are a few moments during "Magical Mystery Cure". When the cutie marks of Twilight's friends are switched, and the memories of the town are changed with them, Iron, Wild, and Lightning all come close to leaving town due to not being able to remember why they all wanted to stay in the first place.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: EQG

• Flash is a bit upset when he sees that the human version of Grand Hoof is just a janitor, believing he deserves better.
• It is revealed that the human version of Lightning Blitz was Sunset's original boyfriend. Sunset ended up manipulating him, despite the rest of his friends telling her to stay away from her. When she was done with him she planted some contraband in his locker that ended up getting him expelled. The last thing he told his friends was to keep their band, The Royal Knights, going even without him.
• Flash briefly mentions his sister Scootaloo to the human Iron, but comments he is trying to avoid meeting her human counterpart because he thinks it will be less trouble that way.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 4

• When Twilight has her vision of Luna becoming Nightmare Moon, Luna is seen ranting not just about the ponies basking in Celestia's day and ignoring her night, but also of Celestia not caring about how she feels, saying that "they're all gone". Luna is clearly hurting over something but Celestia doesn't understand over what, because Luna claims she doesn't know and believes Celestia doesn't care. Exactly what Luna can't remember is eventually revealed in one of the worst possible ways two stories later.
  Luna: They're all gone sister! All of them! I...I don't know who they are....but they're all gone! I know they're all gone and you don't care!!! You don't care at all!
• Flash and Scootaloo's reunion with their birth parents, Trail Blazer and Misty Veil, is soiled somewhat with Flash's anger towards them for abandoning them for so long. He punches his dad and calls him out for abandoning him and Scootaloo for years, including how he grew up on the streets for years and how he didn't even know he had a sister until she almost died. He even outright rejects his birth name of Flash Relic, saying that he "Flash Relic" died when the orphanage he was abandoned in burned down, and now there is only "Flash Sentry". As it turns out, Flash later admits he wasn't so much bad at his birth parents, but was just scared of opening up and letting them into his and Scootaloo's lives because he was worried what might happen if they left and hurt them again.
• Trixie is shown to suffer from a massive Inferiority Superiority Complex by the time of "Kamen Pony". Just when she thought she was making improvements and catching up to Twilight in terms of magical abilities and studying skills, Twilight suddenly became an Alicorn Princess, increasing her rank and abilities. Trixie took this as a sign that she can never catch up to her and it has slowly begun to affect her own progress to the point Luna recommended she take a week off to clear her head.
• Springer ends up going to hell and back in "Jakhowl-Day".
  • After stopping some criminals, Springer has an argument with Flash where Flash tells him he went using his battle form against them when he didn't need to and ended up destroying evidence. When Flash says that from now on he can't use the form without his permission, Springer storms off.
  • Springer ends up going to Zecora to rant to her about his and Flash's argument. He mentions to her how using his new powers makes him feel closer to the other Jakhowls, and how it hurts to admit that he is probably the last one. He even says that sometimes he feels he shouldn't stay in Ponyville, since he feels like the odd one out and doesn't even really know any of the ponies in town.
  • Each of the loops Springer experiences, where each hour ends with Ponyville being destroyed by a mysterious explosion.
  • One loop has Springer spying on Flash and Twilight. Flash feels maybe he was too hard on Springer in their argument and explains to Twilight he is worried about Springer. Knowing that Shade is still out there is troubling enough, but Flash is also worried for Springer's future, since they don't know if any other Jakhowls exist to teach him properly, or if they ever do find one it could mean Springer might leave forever, which he admits is a bit selfish of him to think.
  • Springer eventually goes through the loop so many times that he suffers a breakdown. Due to being unable to discover who or what caused the explosion, and doing everything so often nothing is fun anymore, the only thing he can think of doing that might end the loop is to kill himself, so he tries to stab himself with Flash's sword. Flash and Twilight managed to stop him, and he ends up explaining everything to them and is reduced to tears over his situation.
  • When everyone finds the bomb that appears to cause the explosion in the final loop, Springer attempts a Heroic Sacrifice to save his friends and the whole town. Trapping himself and the bomb inside an aura shield he tells for Twilight to contain him to stop the explosion. With time almost out Springer says what he thinks will be his final goodbyes to everyone, thanking them all for making him who he was and telling them he loves them all. Luckily, once the bomb goes off, it is revealed that the whole experience Springer went through since the first loop at Zecora's hut was actually a "vision quest" that showed him what he wanted to know, whether he should stay or leave town and showing him more about everyone who lives there.
• Rainbow's dilemma in "Rainbow Falls" is given a bit more emphasis than it did in the actual episode.
  • When trying to get advice on what she should do from Skybreaker, he explains even though he is from Cloudsdale like her he needs to remain neutral because he is a Royal Knight. Knights like him and Flash aren't allowed to compete in the games because doing so would show favoritism to one city more than the other, and they must be equally loyal to all of Equestria. The way he explains the duties of being a knight are so difficult, and require detaching from friends and family for the greater good, that even the most loyal of ponies struggle with it. All he can tell Rainbow is that ultimately, no matter which side she chooses the other will end up being hurt because of it and risk not qualifying for the games.
  • After faking her injuries, joining Soarin in the hospital, and figuring out how Spitfire and Fleetfoot were planning to replace Soarin with her, Rainbow ends up explaining everything to him, including how she faked her injuries. Soarin reacts with shock at hearing what Rainbow did before seeing her sadness, and just seems more disappointed with her than angry. This hits especially close since it has only recently been established that the two of them have been dating. When Soarin resigns himself, saying that now neither team will be able to qualify, Rainbow just mumbles to herself over letting this happen before resolving to fix everything.
  Rainbow: Way to go Rainbow. You let both teams down, and you pretty much did it for no real reason. I failed Ponyville, Cloudsdale, the Wonderbolts....and him.
• Almost Iron's entire experience through "Iron's Revenge". Despite having finally settled into his life in Ponyville and his relationship with Fluttershy growing stronger, he lets his anger get the best of him once again. As soon as he learns that Longhorn, the murderer of his parents, has escaped prison, he jumps the gun and abandons his post in Ponyville to go to Dodge Junction, Longhorn's last known location, without telling anyone where he is going to get revenge. Fluttershy follows him when she sees him leave and sees him at his absolute worst, like angrily questioning bystanders for any information on Longhorn, and later sees him almost kill one of Longhorn's goons when he won't tell him what he wants to know before she manages to stop him. When Iron finally confronts Longhorn he is painfully outmatched and is almost killed by him himself. The last thing he sees before losing consciousness is Longhorn taking Fluttershy hostage. Thankfully, things start to turn around for him in Part 2.
• "Detective Discord" has a few moments:
  • Lightning Blitz and Solid Script are framed for stealing famous painting, and are quickly arrested due to minor circumstantial evidence pointing to them and their previous criminal records, despite their attempts to go straight.
  • Flash struggles to put up with Discord's antics while they are investigating. Eventually, when Flash is pursing a suspect that he believes is the true thief, Discord turns the floor to ice to try to help, only to end up interfering with Flash, resulting in the thief escaping and Flash and Discord being ejected from the museum. Flash finally tears into Discord back at the hotel, for not using his powers more practically to help, which eventually just turns into him shouting at Discord for not caring about any consequences his actions have on others and not taking anything seriously at all, and only offering to help because he wanted to entertain himself like always. Discord actually remains silent throughout Flash's whole breakdown, before giving his own response and heading off.
    Discord: You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target. Yeah, you're right, I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold hearted cynic like you, but I don't like to hurt ponies' feelings. Well, you think what you want about me, I'm not changing. I like...I like me. My friends like me. Chaotic beasts like me cause I'm the real article! What you see is what you get!
  • Flash realizes the next morning that he may have messed things up with Discord, and thinks that maybe the reason Discord jokes around so much and pulls his pranks is because back before he had friends nobody wanted to be near him so he acted out just to get attention, even if it was only through anger and fear. Flash actually understands being an outsider nobody wants anything to do with, and wishes he could tell Discord he doesn't need to act like that anymore.
• Flash's small moment of doubt in "Twilight's Kingdom Part 1", where he wonders why he still hasn't become a Royal Knight yet despite Iron having already become one, and wonders what he could be missing. He is worried he might be stuck as an apprentice his entire life.
• Discord, despite having bonded with Flash previously, still betrays Equestria to join forces with Tirek and helps him absorb the magic from the various ponies. He even assists Tirek in battle, stopping all the Royal Knights and allowing Tirek to drain them.
• Tirek briefly taunts Springer over the disappearance of the rest of the Jakhowls, and expresses how much he loved hearing about this back in Tartarus since it meant he wouldn't have to deal with another army of them.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Rainbow Rocks

• It is revealed that Lightning had the option of returning to CHS after Sunset admitted to having framed him and getting him expelled, but he declined since he grew accustomed to his new school. Lighnting's refusal to come back though still leaves the Royal Knights one member short in their band, and short one friend.
• When Grand sees everyone affected by the Hate Plague caused by the sirens, he immediately assumes Sunset is responsible before Flash tells him otherwise. It just shows that Sunset still has a long way to go in her redemption, with even a guy like Grand still suspecting the worse out of her.
• Flash eventually has enough with the Royal Knight's bad attitude, regardless if they are being affected by a spell or not, and tells them off for acting like monsters. He regrets his words shortly afterwards though, thinking he might have just made things worse with them.
• When the sirens finally get Grand under their spell they have him attack Flash when he tries to stop Rainbow from revealing her magic. Though this was Grand's human counterpart, it was still probably painful for Flash to fight any version of his mentor.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Forgotten Darkness

• There are so many examples that the whole story could arguably be an example itself. The very premise of the story is the reveal of why Springer and Shade are the only members of their races seen in the Present.
  • The Final Battle between the Jakhowls and Tricksters shows that they were all sacrificed as part of Dark Mist and his partner Vile Rune's plan to create the Alicorn Amulet. Springer only survived because his egg was protected by a spell Luna cast previously, and Shade ended up coming back as part of a contingency plan Dark Mist set up in advance. But the near genocide of two races was ultimately all for a cursed amulet, which ended up being a Power Up Letdown when Luna still managed to curb-stomp Vile even while he was wearing it, ultimately making the sacrifice to create it All for Nothing.
• Seeing Luna suffer through the flashbacks along with the Jakhowls.
  • When Ruby disappeared along with the Crystal Empire, Luna locks herself in her bedchamber to mourn for her friend while Sharp Paw tells his mate Clear Paw what happened. Though Luna overcomes her sorrow when Clear and Sharp show her their egg, containing their own Jakhowl, though they were hoping that they could have shown it to Ruby too.
  • Luna sees all the Jakhowls sacrificed to create the Alicorn Amulet, and is powerless to stop it.
  • After defeating Vile Rune, Luna is approached by a mysterious golden figure, who instructs her she must seal Sharp and Clear's egg away until it is safe for it to hatch. After it has been sealed the figure offers to seal Luna's memories of the Jakhowls away to help her cope with her grief. She accepted the offer and had all her memories of the Jakhowls sealed away, with her only being able to vaguely remember Sharp Paw because he was her partner, but shortly afterwards her grief over being unable to remember was the final push that changed her into Nightmare Moon. In the Present, when Celestia finds the magic lock on Luna's brain keeping her memories sealed she undoes it, and all the memories rush back to Luna and cause her to briefly breakdown sobbing.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Our Town

• Double Diamond slowly realizes that Starlight has been lying to him and the entire village, as Flash breaks down Starlight's "equality" idea bit by bit until he finally convinces Double Diamond by showing him the "Staff of Sameness" is nothing but a stick and nobody knows what Starlight's real cutie mark looks like because she never removed it. This realization causes Double Diamond to breakdown crying, believing Starlight was truly his friend since she even saved his life once.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Knight of Friendship

• While all of Flash's friends and family gather at the Crystal Empire to be there for him during his test and the hopes he becomes a Royal Knight, Twilight's parents finally meet Flash's birth parents. Though Flash has accepted his birth parents, Twilight's parents simply glare at the two of them at first before being reassured by Twilight. Twilight Velvet in particular does not hide her disgust at them for giving up their children, no matter what their reasons might have been she still sees it as them just throwing their children away.
• Flash's battle with Cold Steel:
  • Cold shows to be a much bigger Jerkass than he let on previously. It starts with him refusing to shake Flash's hoof before the battle and it gets worse from there.
  • Pretty much everything Cold says to Flash is one big "The Reason You Suck" Speech, criticizing his reliance on others for all his major victories in the past, having little to no actual control over his powers, and having no real reason to be a Royal Knight.
  • Cold defeats Flash, and immediately turns all his remaining anger on Grand Hoof. Saying that Grand wasted his time by telling him Flash was ready to be a Knight when he clearly was not, and that Grand and Flash have both disgraced the Knights due to Flash's poor performance.
  • Cold claims that the Royal Knights are nothing but weapons, and that is their only purpose. Grand claims this is due to unusual circumstances he was raised in, causing him to only see ponies for what they have to offer Equestria rather than actual beings with lives.
• Although Cold was a major jerk, Grand agrees with one thing he said, Flash has lost his reason for wanting to be a knight. Originally, he thought being a potential knight would stop Twilight and her family from kicking him out of the house eventually, and would help others see him as more than just a colt off the streets. But now that he has friends and has been accepted by almost all of Equestria, that original reason is gone and he must find a new one.
• Flash doesn't say a word to anyone when he is recovering after his defeat. He just faces away from everyone who visits him. Understandable, given what was probably going to be the best day of his life suddenly becoming the worst day instead.
• A flashback, reveals that Cold Steel’s home village was attacked and destroyed by bandits, and that his parents were killed along with the rest of the villagers. It also reveals that he had spent years living on his own up in the north, having to survive with what little resources he could scavenge up, which is what most likely lead to his cold demeanor.
• When Flash and Twilight take shelter in a cave after fending off a yeti, the two get into an argument over what Cold Steel had told him. It culminates in Flash exploding at Twilight, telling her that she wouldn’t understand what he’s going through, and how he had to struggle to get where he was all to be told he wasn't good enough, while Twilight pretty much had it easy. Flash expects Twilight to try giving him another heartfelt speech about friendship, but instead he gets pelted by snowballs from Twilight while she screams that he isn't acting like the Flash she knows. Flash eventually gets fed up and pushes Twilight to the ground, pinning her down and screaming at her to stop it. After he screams at her though, he suddenly sees Twilight sobbing as he holds her down, and his heart aches seeing her like that.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 5

• Flash and Scootaloo try to find things to do with their friends to avoid going back to the Castle of Friendship. Just like with Twilight, they both miss living at Golden Oaks Library after it was destroyed by Lord Tirek.
  • Scootaloo especially misses Golden Oaks Library, because to her, it was the first place she ever truly felt at home at.
• Double Take being forced to become a criminal due to Wolf saying he owes him for saving him from a life on the streets until Iron manages to get through to him.
• The true source of Cold Steel’s Cynicism Catalyst is revealed in "Building Bridges". A royal guard named Noble Banner had found him in the north, and brought him back to Canterlot to train him. Sometime later, Noble Banner was sent on a mission to the Badlands, but never came back. This lead to Cold Steel to become the apathetic pony that he is.
• Though a minor moment, Rarity's small moment of Self-Deprecation in "The Ultimate Ponyville Diet". When Lightning discovers the real reason she and her friends are exercising is because they have all gained weight and confronts her about it, trying to convince her crash dieting will only hurt her, Rarity lets all her emotions out. She admits that she is a bit jealous that she is one of the only two members in her group of friends without a lover and wants one herself, feeling that at least Applejack has a valid excuse for not having one yet. But she feels that now that she has gained weight, and in her own mind has become fat, nobody will want to date her.
• Soarin has a major Broken Pedestal moment towards Wind Rider in "Rarity Investigates". Soarin said previously how Wind Rider was his idol and his personal hero, who encouraged his dream of being a Wonderbolt when everyone else told him it would never happen and trained him when he was at the academy. But throughout the chapter he slowly grows angrier at Wind Rider for his accusations toward Rainbow, even almost punching him when he rudely says that Soarin is only defending her because they are dating and that she only made it as far as she has because they have slept together. He ends up losing all his respect and trust in his former mentor when Rarity reveals he tried to frame Rainbow, and he wonders if Wind Rider was always like that and that everything Soarin has used to motivate himself and make himself who he is today was based on a lie.
• After accidentally inhaling Post-Mortem flower pollen, Flash's life was put on the line in "The Day Flash Sentry Died", and all characters try to prevent him from dying. But when Flash dies, everyone, especially Twilight, was absolutely devastated and Twilight was crying on his body and begging Flash not to leave her. Fortunately, it was only temporary since Flash woke up and survived his near-death experience.
  • Flash also suffered a Dying Dream throughout the chapter. He experiences what his life would be like if he never saved Twilight from those bullies, and it is so much worse. He is eventually captured and thrown in prison, and even after he gets out he is treated as a criminal by everyone, even his friends from Ponyville, even when he tries to do the right thing. It gets so unbearable that he nearly gives up and accepts his death to end the torment, until he hears his friends calling out to him in the real world.
• In "A Flash of Darkness", Twilight Sparkle finds herself fighting against an evil version of Flash Sentry. In his timeline, Rainbow Dash was killed by him, preventing the Sonic Rainboom from happening, thus preventing Twilight and her friends from getting their cutie marks. Flash meanwhile, hid onboard the Friendship express, but was eventually kicked off when the conductor found out that he didn’t have a ticket. Then he trekked up to the north, where the Crystal Empire reappeared, and King Sombra tried and failed to possess him rather than reconstruct his body. Despite that, Flash was given Sombra’s memories, knowledge, and ambition, which he used to conquer Equestria, and killed those who would have been his friends and comrades. Then he found the Time Travel spell, which lead to him discovering the existence of other timelines, as well finding out that the other versions of himself were his polar opposites, which drove him on a crusade to rid the multiverse of the other Flashes.
• When Twilight, Spike, and Starlight hide from the evil Flash, they find the Tree of Harmony. It is dying in this timeline because the Elements of Harmony were never found and thus never returned to it. The worst part though is when Twilight and Spike find Springer’s egg in the trunk of the tree. It is grey and dead like the tree, never having hatched like it was supposed to and so Springer was never born. When Spike goes to pick it up, it crumbles to dust as soon as he touches it. As Twilight and Spike both begin to cry at the sight of this, Spike says that this future is the worst one of them all.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Friendship Games

• Along with Cinch blackmailing Sci-Twi the same way she did in canon, she also threatens that if Crystal Prep should lose the Friendship Games, then Flash Sentry would be expelled, with the excuse that it would be due to "cutbacks" from lack of funding.
• When Flash finds out that Sci-Twi was competing in the games because of him to keep him from getting expelled, he enters a brief Heroic BSoD and blames himself for her situation, believing instead of helping her he has just been hurting her.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: War of the Lost City

• When Salix is defeated by Flash during the first official match of the "game" the teams are forced to play. Storm and Terror, and the other cultists watching, all freak out when they see him Reduced to Dust. Even if they found Salix annoying at times he is still one of them, and it seemed like a gruesome way to go. Though the next chapter reveals that he didn't actually die.
• Terror Card separates Trixie from Soarin and Cold during one of the fights and beats her down while telling her how pathetic and weak she is and has no future because of it. Considering how Trixie previously had some serious self-confidence issues this probably hit really close to home.
• Shining Soul reveals she is an alicorn, and explains when it first happened to her about two weeks ago she accidentally hurt her brother Fire Heart. She was afraid she almost killed him, and is now afraid of it happening again and possibly hurting all her new friends too.
• It is revealed that Terror Card hates her ability to see into the future because when she was younger she was only able to see bad futures, especially to those she became close to, and was never able to stop her visions from coming true. She thus saw fate as being set in stone, and follows Shadow Corrupter because he was the first one whose future she couldn't see.
• When Trixie shows everyone the journal she found after she beat Terror Card, Flash is able to translate parts of it and they all discover that the city was affected by some kind of plague, which was most likely responsible for wiping the city out. The children were immune to the plague for unknown reasons and put to sleep inside bubbles in the hope that they could live their lives in the future without the disease. Everyone assumes that Heart and Soul might be two foals from that time and that the spell made them lose their memories but it also implies that they were the only survivors since there seem to be no other foals running around the city.
• Shining Soul goes missing after one of the battles, and her brother Fire Heart is understandably terrified for her. Flash and the others are scared too but try to comfort Heart, since he needs them now more than ever. Then things end up even worse when Heart himself is selected as one of the fighters for the next battle.
• It is revealed that Storm Blade was the one who killed Noble Banner. Storm is revealed to have once been called Swift Wing, and was training to be a Royal Knight like Noble Banner, with the two of them joining the guard at the same time and becoming friends. But when they took their final tests at the same time, only Noble passed. So Swift became bitter and angry at Noble. Then on their last mission together, he rejects Noble's apology to him, basically ending their friendship, and steals the Celestic Gear that was meant for Noble to use it himself, before murdering Noble to make sure he would never have to give it up, and eventually joined the Cult of Shadow, now going by the name of his Celestic Gear, Storm Blade. It is bad enough seeing Swift's fall from grace and turn to the dark side, but murdering his friend over it, and knowing what that did to Cold Steel just hurts.
• After Flash defeats all of Shadow's minions himself, he quickly discovers that Shadow has also defeat all of his friends. The two are transported back to their respected castles before they can fight each other, but Flash notices none of his team is around like usual. He runs to the medical room, only to find all three of the healing pods empty. Flash takes a moment to mourn his fallen friends, believing they are all gone forever. Though Sombra manages to snap him out of his depression pretty quickly it is still a sad moment.
  The pegasus slowly shut the door and headed back upstairs, his movements slow with his head hung low as he got to the dining room. Never before had Flash felt so alone, not even before he met Twilight, as he stood in the room that should have been filled with the voices of his friends. But the room was silent. His friends were gone.
  Flash: I'm sorry, I...I lead you all to your doom. And now, who knows where you are.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 6

• In "Spike's Heartbreak", Spike finally learns about Rarity dating Lightning Blitz and he doesn't take it well at all.
  • The chapter begins with Spike making his way to Carousel Boutique, hoping to spend his day off with Rarity. When he gets there though he finds a lot of stuff out of place and a noise coming from upstairs. Thinking that Rarity might be in trouble he barges into her bedroom intending to "save" her, and finds her on her bed with Lightning Blitz on top of her, kissing her neck. Spike is enraged at this, thinking that Lightning is trying to force himself on Rarity (i.e. rape her) and attacks him for it. But to his surprise, Rarity pulls him off Lightning instead of thanking him like he expected, and explains Lightning wasn't forcing her to do anything and that they are together. This destroys Spike inside and he runs back to the castle in tears.
  • Spike spends the rest of the day in his room, bawling to himself and ignoring everyone's attempts to cheer him up. He eventually convinces himself that if he can change himself to be something Rarity wants then she'll leave Lightning for him. This includes begging Twilight to change him into a pony and stalking Lightning to learn why Rarity would like him and try to copy that himself. Naturally, none of these work out for him in the end.
  • Rarity for her part gets a few moments too. When everyone learns what Spike is trying to do, Lightning finally points out that it is her own fault Spike is like this, saying that although she never encouraged Spike's crush on her she also never tried to stop him either, to the point she seemed to actually lead Spike on and take advantage of his crush to get a few favors out of him. When Rarity looks to everyone else for support, they just glare at her and agree with Lightning. Rarity reflects on this and realizes all of the times she ended up misleading Spike, leading her to realize her mistake.
• The reason for Springer's refusal to be called "father" is because he is worried that if Ace and Mira see him as their dad, they're going to start seeing each other as siblings and fears the Jakhowls won't be rebuilt if Ace and Mira don't repopulate the species together, due to seeing each other Like Brother and Sister.
• We finally meet Trixie's father and we learn that he was a horrible father to Trixie. Such as when Trixie receives a gift from her uncle, Regal proceeds to throw away her gift before she can open it.
• In "Newbie Dash", Rainbow is nearly rejected from becoming a Wonderbolt by the Board of Directors, due to them sharing Wind Rider's opinion that Rainbow didn't truly earn her place on the team due to her relationship with Soarin. They force her and Spitfire to compete in a race against each other, where if Rainbow loses she'll be instantly expelled.
  • The night before the race, Soarin visits Rainbow at her home and apologizes to her, blaming himself for her current predicament due to starting his relationship with her before she officially joined. Soarin recalls how he started it all when he kissed Rainbow that night at the academy, and Rainbow, briefly becoming angry at him for his choice of words, asks him if he regrets it or if he would happily throw away the time they spent together. Though thankfully Rainbow doesn't blame him for anything happening and assures him she wouldn't change anything about their relationship.
  • It was brief but still, the audience and Wonderbolts, especially Soarin, thought Rainbow and Spitfire were "crushed to death" when rocks buried both exits.
    Soarin: No....this can't be real.
• In "Following the Grand Script" despite Script seemingly getting along with Grand earlier, the chapter reveals that he still holds a grudge toward Grand for his treatment toward him which culminated in their heated argument where Script believes Grand is trying to separate him from Lightning and accuses him of doing it and ends with him telling Grand to stay away from him.
  • We finally learns why Grand didn’t want Lightning to be friends with Script, he was a Rune Magic user and those magic are what killed his wife, and he considered rune magic to be evil and wanted nothing to do with it.
• The argument between Springer and Ace in "Misadventures of Springer 3: Springer the Teacher", which ends with Ace quitting the training and Springer believing he messed up with Ace again, as he genuinely wants to help him.
  • Ace breaks down in tears after seeing the state Springer ends up in from battling Shade, and blames himself for it.
• In "To Where and Back Again", Fake Flash telling Heart to leave him alone and he doesn't have time for him, causing Heart to cry about it.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Legend of Everfree

• Flash running away from Sci-Twi after he accidentally hit her with his power.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Dragon's Awakening

• Twilight was barely focusing on helping others with fixing the house as she was very worried about Spike after he was captured. Worrying that she may never see her beloved Spike again.
• In a flashback when Silverbolt shows his and Fira's egg to Starswirl, he admits to Starswirl that the egg will most likely not hatch anytime soon. Mystic Dragon eggs are different from other dragon eggs by the fact that every Mystic Dragon is born with a unique destiny, and they don't hatch until the time is right to fulfil it. Silverbolt himself says he was an egg for over 200 years before he finally hatched, being passed from family member to family member in the process. He realizes it is likely he and Fira will never get to meet their hatchling, but he can't bring himself to share this with Fira, because his wife is so excited at the idea of being a mother and is already talking about how much she will love their future child and hopes it will be happy and healthy no matter what type of dragon it is.
• The death of Fira sent Silverbolt into Unstoppable Rage on Malafear.
  • What makes her death even worse is not only Spike learns she was his mother but he just witnessed her death... poor Spike.
• Silverbolt's Heroic Sacrifice to stop Malafear. Even if it was inevitable he wouldn't survive, it still hurts.
• Flash was forced to surrender himself to Malafear after he threatened to feed Heart to the dragons, Malafear uses his spell to transform Flash into his brainwashed dragon, much to the horror of the heroes, especially Twilight.

Grand Hoof: The Legend Begins

• The aftermath of Grand's failed attempt to drive away the Manticore. The whole town is in a depressed state due to the deaths of so many foals, with Grand himself traumatized and in a state of shock from his role in the tragedy.
• We see Grand and Doom as Royal Guards, and Grand still lets his mistake from his childhood effect him, with him constantly refusing promotions for his work, under the belief he doesn't deserve any of them. This puts him in conflict with Live Wire, who we know will become his wife someday, due to her believing he is being lazy or not taking his responsibilities seriously.
• Number Cruncher takes Grand Hoof and Doom Chaser to meet his marefriend Remarie, but when they see her she appears to be kissing another stallion, Center Stage, when he is actually forcing it on her. Cruncher runs off, thinking Remarie is cheating on him, only to miss her shoving Center off her and declaring her love for Cruncher.
• Doom Chaser's Heroic Sacrifice, carrying a stone slab that Bomber turned into a bomb into the air to prevent the deaths of innocents. Even if he was Doomed by Canon due to never appearing in the present, it is still a heartbreaking scene for Grand to have to helplessly watch his friend die. This scene is also similar to how Lightning Blitz nearly sacrificed himself to save Canterlot years later in Season 5, but the biggest difference of course is Lightning survived because Flash saved him at the last moment, whereas Doom wasn't so lucky here. This puts Lightning's moment a bit Harsher in Hindsight, since Grand nearly lost his grandson the same way he lost his best friend, and against the same threat no less.
• Doom's death obviously hits Grand pretty hard, with him going on a warpath against Bomber and Technica and only worsening his It's All My Fault mentality.
• The Reveal at the end of "Bombastic Reveal", that Number Cruncher is Bomber.
• The death of Number Cruncher.
• The ending confirms that Grand Hoof and Live Wire named their son Doom Raizer after their deceased friend Doom Chaser. Unfortunately, it is safe to say Doom Raizer did not live up to his namesake's legacy.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 7

• When Flash ends up getting attention by everyone at the carnival once everyone realizes who he is, Scootaloo starts to get annoyed at everyone going gaga over her brother. Then when two mares start fighting each other over him, she blows up at them to back off before running off. The heart to heart she has with her mom shows how even though she loves her brother she is jealous of all he has accomplished and doesn't know how to live up to that.
• When the plague that wiped out the Lost City of Faust returns and infects most of Ponyville, Soul is panicked that she might lose her new home to the same thing that destroyed her first one. She unfortunately feels even worse when she discovers she has unknowingly been a carrier for the plague for years without realizing it, and was the one who accidentally infected the town. This gives her a minor guilt complex.
• In "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Webs" Flash and Soul manage to complete their mission from the map and save New Omniara. However, Soul feels guilty for how her actions led to Camera Trap sacrificing his life to save everyone he put in danger, and she was unable to do anything to save him herself. Flash tells her he learned from his job is they can't always save everyone, and that is a possibility she will face if she chooses to become a doctor. It is also one of the rare moments in the series where a character is shown to die outside of any flashbacks.
• During "Reinforcements from the Future", when Flash works with a future version of Fire Heart, he eventually learns that at some point in the future, he will die in battle. Heart says he died saving every kingdom, but everyone was left miserable afterwards for a long time, and Twilight never really got over it. Though Flash seems to be okay with this at first, he eventually swears to himself that he is going to survive and change the future for the better. Fortunately, as revealed later in Season 9 and The Last Problem, while Flash did sacrifice himself in order to save Equestria and the world, it was only temporarily as he was brought back to life by Faust. Also, Heart was actually lying about Flash being dead, as he was instructed by Future Flash to do so.
• Rarity spends most of "It Isn't The Mane Thing About You" purposely avoiding Lightning Blitz so he won't see her ruined mane. She's afraid that due to how he grew up in Canterlot, he wants to be with a mare who looks amazing and beautiful, even remembering how he was attracted to her back when they first met, and is afraid that if he sees her with her ruined mane he won't want to be with her anymore and will break up with her. Meanwhile, Lightning spends the whole day looking for Rarity after she comes back from Zecora's and can't find her anywhere. He runs around trying to find her, worried about her, and eventually starts to feel like she is avoiding him for some reason, especially since they have a date the next day to celebrate Mare's Day together. Thankfully though, once Lightning finally finds her by waiting for her at her home and learns why she has been avoiding him all day, he is able to assure her he isn't going to throw what they have away and break up with her over her mane, leading to the couple sharing a romantic heartfelt moment together.
• Tidal Wave finally finds Muerojo, the pirate that killed his father, and becomes obsessed with finding him and ending him no matter the cost, even at the expense of his ship and crew. Pirates are already Tidal's Berserk Button, but this being a personal matter makes him even worse. It gets so bad that the map ends up sending Fluttershy and Iron Core to Manehattan to make sure Tidal doesn't go too far. Eventually, Fluttershy and Iron manage to talk him down and realize what he is doing by explaining how Iron went through a similar experience with Longhorn, leading to Tidal to apologize to his crew for his behavior.
  Iron: This pony took everything you cared about from you once. Don't let him do it again.
• When Tidal, Iron, and Fluttershy confront Muerojo, it turns out he doesn't even remember Tidal's dad, since he has killed so many ponies it is tricky for him to remember any specific ones anymore.
• Grand Hoof is almost killed by Trial-G, with his heart briefly stopping and him needing to be revived by Solid Script. Also, this happened on Lightning's birthday, with him almost watching his grandfather die, after they had a strained relationship for so longer and have only recently started to repair it.
• "Bat's the Way Home":
  • While Rogue and his friends are on their journey to Rogue's old home, Rogue expresses to Applejack how he is worried he will find out something about himself he doesn't like, like there was a reason he was kicked out before, like because he was a criminal before.
  • Rogue is reunited with his mother, Echo, who explains to him that she had to leave him with the golden apple tree she found because it was the only way to save his life after Fangpire ordered his execution due to seeing him as a burden on the cloud due to his condition with his venom.
• The flashback in "Web of Memories" reveals that Sharp Paw's parents were killed by Tricksters when he was just a kid. Shortly after this, another Jakhowl called Strong Strike took the opportunity to become chief of the Jakhowls himself, by challenging and beating Sharp's weaker grandfather, and then beating and exiling Sharp himself when Sharp tried challenging him for leadership. Thankfully though, this led to Sharp meeting and befriending Princess Luna, who agreed to train him to help him overthrow Strong and take his rightful place as chief. Though this was successful, it also meant that Sharp had been burdened with the responsibility of leadership ever since he was a kid.

Flash Sentry's EQG Chronicles

• While Human Flash and Sci-Twi are on their first official date together, Sci-Twi realizes that she has been taking Flash for granted and that she doesn't actually know anything about him beyond what anyone else knows and wonders if she has any right to call him her best friend.
• After Wallflower finds out that Flash didn't lose his memories of Sunset being good, she tries to improvise by knocking Flash out, locking him in her basement, and covering her tracks by erasing him from everyone's memories. Even she realizes it isn't a smart move, and that she could go to jail if word gets out on what she's done.
• After everyone loses their memories of Flash, it is much easier for them to realize something isn't right since a lot more evidence of him is left behind compared to Sunset. At Sci-Twi's house that night, her family notes how there is a lot more food then they expected, enough to feed four people instead of just the three of them. Sci-Twi later finds Flash's room in the house with all his stuff still in it, and when Springer comes inside he whines and looks upset. Even without remembering Flash, he can still tell something is missing without him.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Movie

• Springer has to watch his young charges Ace and Mira get Taken for Granite during the invasion, and is forced to leave them while he and the others escape.
• When Flash and the others arrive in Seaquestria, Flash mentions Wingill, to the shock of everyone, including Wingill's mother Soft Current. Soft actually shakes Flash, begging him to tell her he's alright, where he is now, and if he can come home. Flash ends up explaining to everyone how Wingill joined a cult and became something like a general to the evil unicorn Shadow Corrupter, and fought Flash and his team in a war, which Wingill's side eventually lost. Soft is reduced to tears over this, hearing how far her son has fallen, and when Flash explains how Wingill and the others had their memories wiped, it means he doesn't even remember her now.
• When Springer and a team of Royal Knights prepare to go through the Rune Gate and help Flash fight Void, Heart is reluctant to join at first, fearing he might make things worse if he goes and remembers how everyone said he was a lot like Flash when he was a kid, and they all said he was "a loser".

Flash Sentry Chronicles: School's in Session

• When the School of Friendship first opens, Fire Heart and Shining Soul are transferred from Cheerilee's class to the school. Neither of them are very excited that they won't be able to hang out with Button Mash, Rumble, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon as much anymore, or are scared they could lose their connection to them entirely.
• Flash and Twilight have an argument when it becomes clear that Twilight is blindly following the EEA rules for running a school and her enforcements of them have taken away everything that made the School of Friendship special and fun, instead of knowing how to adapt like Flash warned her she would need to. After Flash reveals he has been secretly teaching the students his own way, and he refuses to change it even when Twilight tells him to, she reluctantly decides to fire him. Fortunately for her Flash's doesn't hold it against her, and happily takes the position back when she offers it to him after apologizing.
• Fire Heart seems to develop a crush on one of his fellow students at the School of Friendship. When the school is temporarily shut down, Heart is noticeably saddened by her departure, more so than any of the other students leaving. Unfortunately for him, the student he crushes on happens to be none other than Cozy Glow! It definitely feels like Fire Heart is setting himself up for heartbreak, especially since Cozy's darker side is made clear much earlier on, and she seems to take an interest in him shortly after meeting him.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 8

• When Flash Sentry and Flash Magnus start bonding with each other, Flash explains to Magnus how his dad's family can apparently trace their roots all the way back to Magnus himself, which would mean they are possibly related. Magnus at first says that is impossible since he never had any kids of his own, but then he remembers that there was someone special in his life, Sparkling Effervescence. Magnus speaks fondly of her, and even said he hoped he could have a home with her, until he had to sacrifice himself with the other Pillars to stop the Pony of Shadows. He also confirms that he slept with Sparkling the night before he and the others faced the Pony of Shadows, which might have resulted in her getting pregnant.
• Magnus has a brief Heroic BSoD after he loses to Electra in their first encounter because he lacked the basic knowledge of water conducting electricity. As he is kicking himself, he starts to think he isn't cut out for this new world with so many powerful ponies, and even briefly considers giving up Netitus, his iconic shield, believing it should be in better hooves than his. Thankfully Flash is quick to talk him out of it and assure him he can still learn from his mistakes and keep trying like he always has.
• When Starlight is talking to Maud about her own potential love life, and thinking about the qualities she would find attractive in someone, she says they would have to live in town with her, since she never sees a Long-Distance Relationship as working, and she doubts she will move anytime soon due to working at the School of Friendship now. When nobody currently in town comes to mind as a potential partner, she briefly laments that she is going to live "the life of the old crone". Though thankfully Maud is there to assure her otherwise, telling her she never thought she would find someone to date before meeting Mudbriar, and since Ponyville is such a popular place she is sure Starlight will eventually meet someone who catches her eye.
• Soarin plans to ask Rainbow Dash to marry him in "Viva Las Pegasus", but the problem is he keeps getting nervous about actually doing it, afraid he might mess it up, or that she will tell him no and it will ruin their relationship. At one point he chickens out of what could have been a perfect moment to pop the question, while the two of them are watching a romantic rainbow fountain display together. He ends up getting so stressed over it he goes to a bar to try to drown his sorrows before his parents step in.
• In canon, Sky Beak and Ocean Flow's relationship status was kept ambiguous at best, with them living separately from each other but the actual status of their marriage never being commented on. Here though, it is confirmed the two of them are no longer married due to both of them wanting different things. Though thankfully the two are still Amicable Exes and still care deeply about each other, even if they are no longer together.
• In "The Break Up Breakdown" Heart learns about the various forms love can take, though the dangers of falling in love are also briefly addressed.
  • Discord points out falling in love always has the potential for heartbreak, such as the one you love doesn't love you back, or only pretends to like you back, or they do like you back but change their minds later and break up with you. He uses Spike as an example, recalling how heartbroken he was when he found out the mare he loved was already dating somepony else, and felt like nothing would ever feel good again.
  • Towards the end of the chapter, when Spike is running through Ponyville to find Big Mac, he briefly sees Rarity and Lightning on a date at a café smiling at each other. Seeing them together, Spike briefly remembers how he once spent Hearts and Hooves Day with Rarity, before taking a deep breath and continuing on. Even if Spike has come to terms with Rarity's relationship with Lightning, and has mostly moved on from his previous crush, it seems a small part of him still hurts from it.
  • Heart gets a few more Ship Tease moments with Cozy Glow, but it is made even more clear that Cozy is attempting to use him to further her own goals, whispering to herself that if she can get Heart to trust her then everyone else will trust her too. Discord's comment of someone pretending to love you back might have been more appropriate than he realized.
• In "The Quest of Redemption", the Crystal Ponies lose their trust in Cadance after finding out she kept Sombra's survival from War of the Lost City secret from them. Even Cadance believes that once Ruby and Sombra succeed in finding the last piece, the Crystal Ponies would definitely want Amore to replace her.
• "School Raze" has a few moments:
  • Due to Magic failing all across Equestria, Flash has started to lose access to his Sacred Light. This leaves him very weak and tired for most of the two-parter, and he eventually remembers what happened to Shadow when he lost the Corrupted Shadow, realizing if he loses the Sacred Light he will die. When the Mane 7 and Spike are trapped in Tartarus, unable to open the door without magic, Flash tries to perform a Heroic Sacrifice and use the last of his Sacred Light to open the door for the others, with Twilight stopping him. Once they all finally escape, it is almost the end of the third day and Flash finally collapses from exhaustion, with his friends gathering around him in worry. It is clear he almost died had it not been for the students returning the magic at the last moment.
  • Cozy Glow's betrayal hits Fire Heart especially hard. He is not only betrayed by his friend, but his very first crush. Cozy offers him a chance to join her, but makes it clear she can't release his sister Soul and Starlight with him. Heart chooses his sister and friends over Cozy, so she has no problem leaving him to be sucked into another dimension forever. Although Cozy is defeated in the end, Heart is still left heartbroken and devastated by her betrayal, with him even saying he is never going to let himself get as close as he was with her to anyone ever again. Flash, Twilight, and a few others can tell he is clearly not okay but aren't in any condition to help him right now.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Jakhowls Rising

• Springer being Alone Among the Couples. Not just among the rest of the Mane Characters, but practically the rest of Ponyville too. At first he thought he was fine being single, since all his friends were single when he met them and they were all happy, so he thought they were all he would ever need. But now, having seen them each find someone to call their special somepony left him feeling hallow due to never being able to have what they do, all because he is The Last of His Kind.
• Fire Heart is still hurting from Cozy Glow's betrayal, becoming a lot moodier since then. His crush betraying him and everyone else shook him to his very core, causing his joy and his happy and upbeat personality to almost completely vanish. Now he is always acting serious, constantly annoyed by everything, and a lot of his fellow students have given him the wide berth because of these changes. Flash and the others have tried to cheer him up a few times, and it seemed like they almost succeeded at times, only for something to Go Horribly Wrong and remind him of Cozy, putting him back to square one. Soul is also very worried for her brother, since she can't do anything to help him herself besides pray for him, and fears that if he doesn't turn things around soon, she will lose the happy and excitable brother she knows and loves forever.
• Heart is upset when Twilight explains it might be a possibility that Ace and the other Jakhowls might feel so at home in Aurarora that they might decide to move out of Ponyville and stay there permanently. When he hears this all he can do is fly away from everyone. Not only is he still hurting from what happened with Cozy, now he might need to say goodbye to even more friends, including a potential future partner. Things are not going well for him.
• Sirius' death. He has been nothing but a Reasonable Authority Figure and Cool Old Guy to Springer and the others, who didn't deserve what happened to him. Right as he expresses relief that he got to live to see his tribe be free to see the outside world, and peace seems to be well on its way between them and Equestria, he is suddenly Impaled with Extreme Prejudice from behind by Razor Claw, who sees him as weak for trying to make peace with the "enemy" and believes he will destroy them. When everyone finds Sirius slowly dying from his wounds, Mirage is left devastated, begging him not to leave her.
• Springer's farewell is no doubt the biggest tearjerker. After spending years with his friends and family in Ponyville, he now needs to stay in Aurarora as its new chief. Though he and the pups will still be able to visit Equestria, this marks the end of a major point in everyone's lives, and Spike, Heart, Soul, Twilight, and Flash are all clearly Trying Not to Cry as they all say their goodbyes. It is even sadder when you remember the rest of the Mane Cast, and even the rest of Ponyville, isn't there and can't say goodbye themselves, after seeing how much they all care for Springer and the pups.

Flash Sentry Chronicles: Evil's Uprising

• Despite Mean Flash previously appearing to be the Token Good Teammate of the Mean Seven and getting to be the Sole Survivor to apparently live his life in peace, he really gets the short end of the stick in this story.
  • Shroudheart tracks him down and reveals to him that in every timeline he always dies within a year. The reason varies from his identity being discovered, the real Flash kills him in self-defense, or the magic that brought him to life just runs out. Shroudheart ultimately convinces Mean Flash to join his plan to destroy the real Flash, with Mean Flash even openly saying he hates the real Flash and wants his life for himself.
  • The final scene of the story has him suffer a Fate Worse than Death when he unwillingly becomes the new host for Armalum.

Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S 9

• Heart is a lot moodier in "Forest Therapy" as he still haven't gotten over Cozy's betrayal. This is shown by him acting much more violently during training, to the point of frying the simulated bad guys alive, and refusing to have fun on the camping trip with his friends to the point he eventually snaps at them. Ultimately though, he starts his path to recovering when First and Ruby talk to him, and tell him if he lets what happened with Cozy dictate his life forever then she'll have won.
• We see the rest of Wild Smile's family in "A Wild Family Vacation", and while he gets along great with his younger cousins the rest of his family doesn't think too great of him, with some even insulting him behind his back. He has even kept his role in the Battle of Canterlot a secret from everyone, including his parents, because he is scared of what they will think of him if he admits it.
• In "A Dash of Parenting Advice", Rainbow and Soarin discuss eventually having kids together when they are chosen to train some young fillies and colts that won a contest. Rainbow isn't excited about having to raise a kid from birth herself and all the stress and sacrifices that comes with it. After talking with some of the parents of the kids and hearing about how much hard work it is for them but how rewarding they find it, Rainbow breaks the news to Soarin how she feels she doesn't want to have kids. Though she is willing to compromise with Soarin, being willing to adopt an older kid and Soarin saying that is okay with him, Soarin is still deeply saddened by this since he wanted a kid that was part of the two of them, and knows it wouldn't be fair for him to force Rainbow to do something she doesn't want to do. Though thankfully, Rainbow becomes more open to the idea of having kids of her own after spending some time with Comet Streak, one of the young colts, and tells Soarin maybe she was wrong before.
• In "The Last Crusade", Flash and Scootaloo have an argument before Scootaloo shouted she hated Flash.
• In “Let’s Do the Time Warp Again” Trixie, Pinkie, and Fluttershy are pulled into the past, and witness Celestia banishing Nightmare Moon. Celestia spots them not long afterwards, and after they explain to her how they are from the future she asks them if she ever sees her sister again. After a moment of hesitation, Fluttershy confirms that yes, she will return, but not for a thousand years. This causes Celestia to drop the Elements of Harmony in shock before her legs give out beneath her, and she proceeds to break down crying.
  • Applejack's reunion with her parents is both sad and heartwarming. She is conflicted over possibly warning them of their fate so they will still be with her in the Present, but Rogue tries to warn her how that could have catastrophic effects. When they are pulled back to the Present, Applejack cries out how she isn't ready to leave yet and while everyone else is happy to be back home all she can do is cry that it isn't fair. She does get a second chance to say goodbye though, when she returns Baby Apple Bloom to them before leaving them forever through the last time portal, but all she can do afterwards is cry.
• Remarie makes a reappearance in "Grand's Regret", and we learn she never moved on from Number Cruncher's death. She never dated again after him and therefore never had a family of her own, with her great nieces Rarity and Sweetie Belle being the closest thing she has to family now. She claims that Number Cruncher was her One True Love and she could never find anyone after him, though she later admits to Rarity it was actually because she never wanted to feel the pain of losing someone again. The chapter ends on a bittersweet note, where despite Remarie and Grand Hoof restarting their friendship and spending a lot of her visit together, they still remain Just Friends, despite their grandnieces and grandson hoping they could be each other's Second Love.
• "Flash's Destiny" is no doubt the most heartbreaking chapter.

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