Flashfire honestly didn’t know how it’d happened, really. One minute, he was up in his Voyager conducting atmospheric surveys of a planet, and then a loud explosion and the next thing he knew was he found himself face deep in a pile of snow. Wreckage lay around him, fires having long been snuffed out because of the biting windchill. In front of him, was a deep yawning chasm of staggering proportions.

Behind him, buried in a mountainside was what remained of his Voyager. Coldcast had picked himself up off the ground, and before he could do so let out a scream of pain as he clutched his leg. Broken, it seemed. He wasn’t going to be going anywhere, at least not like this. Grabbing ahold of a piece of shrapnel, he snapped it in half before he used it as a makeshift pair of crutches and began moving. Standard protocol normally dictated him to stay near his ship and await rescue, but given the howls he heard in the distance and his current state, he figured it best to get moving and get as far away from here as possible before the scavengers came.

“An accident maybe?” Flashfire thought to himself even as he used the scarf on his uniform as a makeshift muffler. “Meteorite showers are common in this part of the galaxy, we were all warned about them by the Doctor and he asked us to keep part of our sensors scanning for incoming. Sadly, from the look of it I didn’t exactly pay mind to that warning. Seem to be doing that quite a lot lately. First Corvus, and now… well, wherever this is. Going to take a miracle to find me, this storm isn’t going to do me any favors.”

First things first, he noted. Find shelter from the storm, make a fire to keep warm. His eyes lingered to the little carrier strap on his waist, holding his personal favorite Kyutamas like Andromeda, Lyra, and Ara. Not to mention that other one.

Ara, the Altar Kyutama, Flashfire mused. The Altar Constellation, thought to be once worshipped by those who favored the arts of witchcraft and sorcery. It’d long been an important constellation to the early unicorns.

And it was especially important to him.

Flashfire then let out a bitter chuckle at the irony. No, it wasn’t the fact that he was back on a planet resembling the one he swore to leave behind. No, it was the fact that he tossed his adoptive sister’s rapist on a place similar to this. No, while it wasn’t frighteningly cold, it was still a desolate wasteland. While Flashfire didn’t kill him, he might as well have. He’d rationalized it at the time as a rapist deserving no place in life, but sometimes he wondered… did he go too far, leaving him to die like that? They could have just locked him up in the brig, or placed him under armed guard for the rest of the journey, however long it may have been.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment, he set his thoughts on the here and now. Surviving the night. While this planet had a sun, it was bitterly cold now even with it blazing high above. Once night fell, and Flashfire had no honest to god idea on how long he had till that came, then it was game over.

“So, journey’s end for me I suppose…” Flashfire thought as he set his stuff down on a nearby rock, now inside a small cave of some sort. His hands briefly went to the Astral Blaster he kept at his side, but decided against it. No. A smarter, or perhaps more cowardly buck would end this quick. But he had faith in his friends, and in himself. He had faith he’d find a way to survive this, and he had faith in his friends that they’d find him… somehow.

Gently nudging his horn, just trying to urge it onwards to light up even a little and eventually, he was successful and his horn sparked little green embers that quickly died out. Whether it was from the cold winds, or his own… issues he didn’t entirely know.

He’d have never have been qualified if they knew. Hell, he suspected he probably did fail Galaxy Garrison Qualifications, and someone who liked him decided to give him a free ride through anyways.

There was a reason he took to Coldcast so well, poor kid was struggling just like he was. They both had a different form of issue, but they were still two birds of the same feather in a way. They both had problems, and they both needed each other.

Coldcast’s were just more… obvious you could say.

Flashfire smiled in remembrance at the day he first met the snot-nosed little griffon. Spunky as all Hell, had a bright mind and a drive to succeed. But he had his problems. For one, growing up in the system did him no favors. While it did give him this desire to prove everyone wrong, it also gave him so many lingering insecurities it wasn’t even funny.

Flashfire and he still didn’t entirely know why to this day took to the loner of a griffon and took him under his wing as it were. Maybe it was the fact that he could tell both had some severe problems, maybe he just wanted to do it because he knew nobody else probably would. In either case, both quickly formed a bond of brotherhood that not even Dark Matter would break. Fact was, he would surmise that their brotherhood would take on the universe.

Thinking, letting his mind work. That’s how Flashfire would survive, he realized. Not give into despair, think of something other than what was otherwise a hopeless situation. Keep the brain at work, use those little grey cells. That’s what was usually the first to go in a time like this, someone’s sanity. Flashfire intended to make it be seen fit that in this situation, that wasn’t the case. His body would go before his mind ever did.

Equus: Galaxy Garrison Training Camp

It was six years ago -Give or take- when they first met. Flashfire was a recent graduate himself and already ranking high on a few of the teachers list of recommendations for the Voyager Flight Squadron program. He’s faced pretty much every simulator there was, and got high marks on all of them. Written theory tests, the ones that asked you what you might do if you faced a specific sort of issue in space such as crash landing on some desolate world or having troubles communicating or negotiating with some sort of foreign culture? Those were no issue for the 21-year-old Lulamoon either. Thankfully, there were no tests that catered specifically for some particular Equestrian race because Flashfire knew that's exactly where he would have stumbled and everyone would have figured out his little secret.

In short, barring a few minor hiccups here and there the young unicorn was doing fairly well for himself. If asked, he would have just remarked that he was proud to be doing his duty for his species. Just following in the hoofsteps of his so many times great auntie Luna when she did her part to try and save Equestria from the coming fire. He was just doing his family proud.

Mind you, in truth he personally thought Luna has committed a senseless form of sacrifice even with the powers of the Draco Kyutama as there would have been no stopping the sun no matter how much you tried. He personally thought that all four Princesses should have made for the bunkers as soon as they knew the sun had entered its entropy. Quite a few would probably deride him if they ever knew what he thought, but Flashfire had no time for foolish endeavors no matter the purpose. If it couldn't be done, it couldn't be done. Simple as that.

Mind you, there was probably a part of him that went against this defeatist way of thinking but more often than not it was ignored. Not helping this was Flashfire’s unique set of circumstances, a rare genetic disorder that appeared in his family. It skipped a few generations, but Flashfire was one of the ‘lucky’ ones. He simply put, thanks to this mutation couldn't perform magic like most unicorns could. Even performing the simplest of spells was next to impossible for him and strained his body greatly. Now, it was common knowledge among the garrison that Flashfire was never seen performing magic but nobody knew exactly why. The most common speculation was that he had such huge reserves that like the now legendary Twilight Sparkle before him he needed special training to control his magic.

“If it were only that…” Flashfire muttered in self-disgust as he stepped out onto the school grounds, shaking his head. “If it were only that.”

More often than not, he managed to keep himself from thinking on it too much and start to feel sorry for himself but every now and then…

A sea of chatter caught his attention and his ears perked up from the commotion. His amber eyes drifted across the grounds to where he saw a sea of recruits clad in their distinctive orange and white jumpsuits surrounding a simulator, with Professor Stripped Gear amongst them. His bright yellow Dorado Kyutama hung around his neck via a chain as always.

“Oh, that's right… I forgot it was today…” Flashfire murmured to himself as he watched a cadet of the hippogriffia species step into this box-like simulator. These things were meant to prepare you for the real deal, the powerful X-90 class fighter craft that were meant to protect the colony ships. Flashfire had found a personal favorite in the fast, maneuverable RGZ-95 ReZEL Waverider manufactured by Kshatriya Industries. Today’s item on the agenda? The simulation nicknamed the Kobayashi Maru after something from this old sci-fi novel series. The unwinnable one, at least in theory. It was meant to judge how cadets braced with failure. Started out simple enough, but the conditions the cadets faced escalated fairly quickly as they progressed through it eventually hitting a level block. Something that was impossible to beat.

Only thing was, the cadets didn't know this particular scenario was a no win one. They’d only be told that after each one had their go. This test was specifically designed to weed out the arrogant cocky ones who were in no way suited to pilot the Waveriders in any significant capacity. Personally, Flashfire expressed both his support and his doubts about this particular thing to Headmaster Gills. On one hand, yes, he’d see the cocky young bâtards weeded out but on the other if the cadets knew that this scenario was unwinnable ahead of time they might just try their damndest to beat the system, break the game. On the plus side, he’d see who he would truly want backing him up on the battlefield. However, the way this thing was designed it was in no way going to give anyone here a proper judgment on how one dealt with death as well as life on the battlefield in a flight command situation. Another thing though, if the cadets knew they were going to lose no matter what, they might adopt a defeatist personality to the dilemma and might not even bother.

In a way he supposed, debating this pile of crap was a Kobayashi Maru in itself.

One cadet, the young male hippogriff from before had made it all the way through to level three and was now piloting a mock commander variant of the Waverider assault craft in the simulation leading his crew throughout an asteroid belt. Next level, the meteor storm.

Then, the hippogriff flunked as he lead his crew headlong into a massive asteroid. Groaning, he stepped out and his scores were tallied. Next up was this white griffon, who rapidly caught Flashfire's eye as he rapidly soared through the levels eventually making it through to the meteor storm.

“He's going to hit the level barrier soon…” Flashfire thought. “But he just doesn't give up!” He continued to think as he watched this recruit -Coldcast if he remembered right- dodge each and every meteorite sent his way. By this point, his Waverider had evolved into a mock version of the Eagle Voyager and once more a sea of chatter had broken out.

“Wow… look at him go! He's on fire!” someone shouted, and a few agreements joined in as Stripped rapidly began jotting down notes. However, there were some dissenters.

“Look at him,” the hippogriff from before muttered crossing his arms. “Who does he think he is?”

“Punk comes from nowhere,” this earth pony agreed with a small nod as the griffon reached what was supposed to be the final level, this flight over a magma jet covered planet. “And where does he think he gets off showing off like that?”

“Comes from nowhere, and that’s all he'll ever be! A nobody!” the hippogriff agreed, and Flashfire noted Coldcast was beginning to lose his focus thanks to the remarks. Small beads of sweat appeared on his face even as he dodged jets of flame. He started making small rookie mistakes, and eventually the inevitable happened. A magma jet erupted and the simulation came to a screeching halt.

“Shut up…” Coldcast whispered as he climbed out of the simulator, with what looked to be tears streaming down his face making the cadets only laugh harder. “Just shut up, you hear!?!”

Finally, Flashfire had enough, and finally speaking up, he let out a tell of: “Be silent!” and the crowd listened even as he pulled Coldcast aside. “Ask yourself, what would you get out of this? I didn't see any of you lot doing better than he was!” He roared. If Stripped Gear wanted to say something, he thought the better of it.

“Come on kid, let's get you away from these little snots,” Flashfire said in a soft tone towards Coldcast, who nodded weakly.

“T-Thank you… but you didn't have to step in back there…” the young griffon whispered.

“Didn't have to, but I did,” Flashfire replied before he put a hand on the young griffon’s shoulder. “Listen, if it makes you feel any better -Coldcast was it?- that test was rigged from the start. You were never supposed to win. Nobody is.”

“Sure seemed like I was going to win…” Coldcast muttered.

“And that would have been your mistake right there, thinking you were unbeatable. Cocky thinking like that, only going to get yourself and your flight squadron killed. The whole point of this test? Its to gauge one's reactions to failure,”

“Real fine job I did back there then…” Coldcast muttered before Flashfire looked him dead in the eye.

“You mustn't let mistakes weigh you down. Acknowledge them and take what you've learned to move on. That is the privilege of being a man,” Flashfire stated kindly, his veins briefly glowing pink. “Sure, you screwed up back there but to be honest, in your situation anyone would have. The question is now, what will you do with them?” Flashfire asked poking the younger pilot in the chest.

“I… I don't know,” Coldcast whispered with his head hung low before he looked back up at Flashfire. “Hey, why the Hell are you helping me anyway? What do you get out of this?” he shouted.

“Absolutely nothing,” Flashfire stated.

“Then why…?” Coldcast whispered once more. Flashfire simply gave him a smile.

“Does being kind need a reason?” Flashfire asked. Now he remembered where he’d heard Coldcast’s name before. He’d sworn he had somewhere else before, it was only now he was recalling where. Coldcast, he was someone from the orphanages enrolled in the Garrison via Prince Stardust’s Lend a Helping Hand program and was rapidly catching a few eyes thanks to his abilities. Whether that translated to one of the Legend Kyutamas choosing him for whatever reason was another question entirely but Flashfire personally saw potential in the kid. He’d want him backing him up on the battlefield in his personal Waverider fighter craft, the Kyushu. “Personally, I think this entire version of the Kobayashi Maru is flawed. If I had my way, I'd change the whole damn thing around. Make it truly unbeatable. As it stands now, it is in a rather winnable state.”

“...Wow, you're a real confidence booster, you know that right?” Coldcast drawled.

“Just being… well, I wouldn't say realistic but what I'd do is provide the cadets an impossible choice of some sort. Save a doomed supply craft or at least try to before getting attacked by this unbeatable force, or leave the craft to its own demise. Either way, you’d get a good judge of reaction there. You’d see how pilots face fear in the face of certain death. Whether they show bravado and want to go out in a flamme de gloire, show cowardice and not do anything at all or maybe something else.” he shrugged.

“...And you haven't been made a teacher why?” Coldcast asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Beats me,” Flashfire shrugged once more. “Guess I'm a little bit too arrogant for that in some way. Or maybe I just wouldn't do well in a classroom full of still wet behind the ears snot-nosed brats who only got here because their parents paid good money. Not someone who does well with others I guess.”

“Which begs one to wonder,” Coldcast remarked as he looked towards the Cerberus Kyutama hanging around Flashfire’s neck. “Why do you have one of those? I'm not stupid, I know what having one of those means.”

“Found it in the ice one day, or rather below it when I was lending this friend of mine a helping hand. Saw a bright glow, and there it was. Needless to say, took everyone by surprise really… Agh, look at me. I'm babbling. Coldcast, the point is while others may not see it, I do. You've got potential, you just need someone to help you along.”

“And that someone is you?” Coldcast asked skeptically.

“If you want.”

Flashfire chuckled, the two did learn a lot from each other in those early years. Knocked the arrogance out of both of each other.

“Sure wish those teachings could come in handy now…” he thought as the blizzard began to rage…

The winds howled outside as Flashfire waited rescue. It’d come, all in due time. He just needed to wait, and survive until then. That was all. Keep his brain active and working, avoid making it the first thing to go. He needed his brain if he was going to survive the night, providing that particular problem ever arose and he wasn't found within the next few hours.

“À mon seul désir…” Flashfire thought to himself. That particular saying was an old one, first found on the now ancient tapestry titled the Mare and the Alicorn. It had many possible translations, but the one Flashfire preferred -Wasn't sure why- was this: “My greatest desire.”

It was pretty damn unclear what the weaver’s greatest desire actually was and as aforementioned it may not have even translated to that. Flashfire frowned, his thoughts were starting to get all jumbled up, confused. Nonsensical. Why now of all times would he be thinking of some ancient tapestry and it's possible meanings? Right now his greatest desire was to get off this blasted planet, this frozen Hell.

He knew perfectly well the dangers of self-diagnosis and the possible inaccuracies that often came with it, but this jumbled up branch of thoughts combined with the fact that he knew from his suit readout that his core body temperature was dropping lead him to only one possible conclusion amongst many. Hypothermia. Flashfire laughed bitterly, as if to add to everything else today when the lady Faust decided to make him her personal chew toy, now accompanied by all of that was hypothermia setting in! What a good laugh, what a nice piece of hilarity that must have been for her.

Now, more than ever he needed to get off this planet. Right, he couldn't wait out rescue that might never come. Well, a rescue that might never come unless he started to get proactive about the whole thing. So, unless he did something, and he wasn't entirely sure what yet the snow would be his grave. He wouldn't even need a shovel, the snowfall would do the burial for him.

No mourners, but then again what little did they need to mourn about? Not much like Flashfire had contributed much to the world besides being a great pilot.

Flashfire smacked himself in the face about then, idly wondering if suicidal thoughts were part of the disjointed mess of confusion that came with the onslaught that was hypothermia. Of course he’d contributed something to the universe aside from being a fair pilot. Without him, Coldcast, his sweet -well, maybe not exactly sweet- adopted baby brother would be lost and alone. Flurry Heart… well, he wasn't still entirely sure where he and her stood. That was something he’d had to figure out with her if -no, when- he got out of this mess.

Question was, how to do it exactly? Well, the most obvious way was figuring out a way to transmit his location back up to the Shining Armor or at least it’s scout craft like what would have been his fighter squadron called the Nahel Argama had he not become a Voyager pilot. So instead, some kirin named Spring Showers got the position. Two problems with his plan though. One, the raging storm outside his cave and two more than likely his communication system onboard his Voyager was most likely wrecked and beyond his skill to repair. Advanced ship mechanics was not one of those courses he’d aced he shamefully admitted. Might have been in part due to him spending so much time making out with his then-girlfriend at the time in Crescendo. Yes, that one. So she was a siren, did it really matter?

Suppressing another shiver, his mind not to thinking about how to get out of this mess. Sure, he failed advanced ship mechanics badly, but he still recalled some of it. That some of it might have been just enough to fix the Cerberus Voyager’s communication systems and get off a communication up to the ships. They’d never leave him behind, that much he knew. As soon as they realized he was missing, they’d get set to work on finding him. He shivered again. He knew this was his body’s way of fighting off the cold but that still didn't make it any less pleasant. Then again, pleasantries had been few and far between as of late.

Suddenly, he noticed a strange glow and pulled out his Cerberus Kyutama which was now flashing intermittently.

“Okay…” Flashfire slurred out, his voice sounding as if he was drunk. Another symptom of hypothermia, he vaguely remembered. “That's strange.”

Not really having any time to ponder what that could have possibly have meant, Flashfire grabbed his sword and pulled his hood over his head as he headed back out into the blinding cold.

Almost in an instance, the winds hit him biting and slashing into his clothing as his fur began to ice over. Flashfire quickly pulled out his Ara Kyutama and used it to ignite his sword. The magical fire, it’d hold… for a little while anyways. Hopefully just long enough.

Hope, that's all he had right now. That and his intelligence.

He just had to put faith in both of them and believe that they’d both be enough to get him out of this mess. After all, there really wasn't much else he could do in this instance he thought even as he began cutting a pathway back to the crashed remains of his ship. All the while, his Kyutama continued to blink brighter and faster and something howled in the distance.

Night had fallen by this point, the hours going by in a blur. By this point, Flashfire could barely see more than a few feet in front of him even with the Ara Kyutama. To help him deal with this particular problem, he materialized the skill version of the Aquila Kyutama and placed it in his gauntlet giving it a gentle little nudge. Flashfire groaned when nothing happened. He’d forgotten that the skill versions of the Legend Kyutamas were next to useless unless used by their chosen Paladin.

“Memory loss…” Flashfire remembered, his head In a daze just barely able to remember where he crashed. Not helping was the fact that nearly everything looked the same by this point in this whiteout. “Another symptom.”

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to remember where exactly in these snow-covered hills he’d crashed into. Another howl cut through the late-night air. Flashfire shuddered, and not from the cold. He really did not want to meet whatever those howls belonged to.

However, it seemed fate had made up its mind for him as something leaped out of the darkness and blindsided him. With a crashing sound, Flashfire landed in a snowdrift as his sword flew out of his hands. He then caught a glimpse of his attacker, two piercing yellow eyes belong to this tusked canid creature covered in thick wooly fur.

Flashfire went for his pistol, but it seems he hadn't need to have bothered as the thing spotted his still flaming sword and ran off in fear. Sending a mental prayer to whoever was listening, Flashfire picked himself up off the ground and retrieved his weapon before forging on ahead. He was practically stumbling now, staggering as his sickness got worse and worse.

This was foolishness, folly really. But there wasn't much choice in the matter. He had to, no he needed to make it back to his ship or else the cold would eventually claim him. Flashfire was afraid, he’d admit that. He was alone, probably close to death and there was every chance he’d never be found. A little nagging voice in his head just told him to give up now, let the cold take him. He deserved his rest. Flurry and Coldcast, they could pick up where he left off. Someone else could become Cerberus Seagreen and the leader of the Rangers.

By this point, Flashfire was very content to listen to that voice. He didn't know why, but his body kept pushing itself forwards in spite of it all, and in spite of Flashfire wanting to just give up and die. It’d be quick, it would be just like taking a long nap. In fact, death after all, one of his family members once said, was just the next great adventure. But some small part of Flashfire was ignoring every lick of common sense and was still clinging onto that last flicker of dim hope.

He hated that part of him. Yet again, his old defeatist mindset was returning, and even as he took another step forwards he stumbled down a hillside, rolling and tumbling into the snow before he finally hit bottom.

But what was at the bottom of that hill was something he never could have expected. In the midst of some rocks was a Voyager. Not his Voyager, but a Voyager all the same. It was small, red, and looked like a little four-legged lion complete with a tiny mane. By this time, Flashfire’s personal Kyutama was glowing brighter than ever almost like a mini supernova.

It didn't burn or sear, in fact it was like an almost comforting warmth in his hands. And then he spotted it. In a small snowdrift glowing bright red was another Kyutama with the head of a lion inside its orb-shaped crystal. That's when it clicked inside Flashfire's head. This was why his Kyutama continued to glow, it was resonating in response to another Kyutama and another Voyager.

“But… but what good will this do me?” Flashfire asked himself. He chided himself for being stupid. Of course it would do him good if he did this right and brought this sleeping titan out of its long hibernation.

“The… the rescue team!” he slurred out. “Even if they don't recognize this signature, they'll still come looking won't they?”

He smirked, hope slowly beginning to return to his mind and to his body. He pushed himself towards to the unknown Voyager, shoving the Lynx Kyutama into his Kyuchanger just to improve his vision. He eventually found a door, and using the Hercules Kyutama pried it open with a brief burst of strength returning to his arms.

“Just… just one last hurdle, that’s it!” Flashfire breathed out. “Come on man, you can do this! Allons-Y!” he declared as he staggered inside the half-frozen cockpit. Slamming the Ara Kyutama into a slot, the ice slowly began to thaw and melt away. Now, all he had to do was figure out a way of awakening this giant and send out any form of signal. Prying open a small hatch, he quickly found himself with a soldering kit, a hammer and a small wrench. Back to basics, that’s what he’d have to go to. Remember every lesson he’d ever learned about repair and hope that it still applied here to this ancient-looking craft. And it was ancient, around the age of the Draco Voyager if he had to take a guess. Possibly even older. It had just been sitting here, waiting for someone to come along and bring it back to life.

Flashfire chuckled to himself as a vague memory stirred itself to the surface. Something someone had once said, something that he never should have forgotten and under normal circumstances would never have. It was just a collection of simple words, one phrase really but it had stuck with him throughout his entire life ever since he first met the stallion who first said it.

The phrase? “Where there's life, there’s hope.”

Equus: Galaxy Garrison Training Camp

“Where there's any form of life, there’s hope. That's the phrase I like to live by,” said one Stripped Gear of Equestria as he walked with his friend Flashfire Lulamoon to their next class. “There is no such thing as a no win scenario. Not in my mind. There never will be. Even if there’s only the slightest chance of a victory, well I'll take that chance. Because that’s the kind of stallion I am.”

The stallion, aside from being in training to be a top scientist had his perhaps overly ambitious eyes on the medical corps. Said it would net him all the mares, that they loved a buck in scrubs. Flashfire didn't know what he was on about really, just one love in his life -even if said love happened to be a siren- was good enough for him. While both Flashfire and Stripped came from very old family lineages, that was about the only thing connecting them really. The two couldn't have had an odder friendship. One, a rather arrogant and admittedly intellectual stallion who preferred test tubes over ponies, and the other a young stallion with a love of the arts and a known magical defect. Yet somehow they clicked, and in fact Stripped was possibly one of the only ones who knew of Flashfire's disability.

“Well, you're confident,” Flashfire stated in a deadpan tone, adjusting the tie on his uniform. In his shoulder bag, he carried several play scripts for the Garrison’s drama club including a certain play crafted by this Kirin named Autumn Blaze oh so very long ago.

“You carry yourself with confidence, and nobody bothers you. Here, watch this!” Stripped said as he leaned up against an empty classroom’s door and adjusted his glasses. “See here? This is how cool guys lean against things. When you see a guy leaning against a thing looking this cool, you think, “Wow! That guy doesn't have a care in Equestria. Not a guy who leans on things that cool.” So tell me, do I or do I not look cool?” Stripped asked.

“You look like you're trying too hard to be on the cover of a bad noire novel,” Flashfire deadpanned as Stripped Gear then fell flat on his arse. Flashfire had to fight back a laugh. “Anyone ever tell you that you're a complete imbecile at times?”

“E-Excuse me?” Stripped stammered out in shock. “Me, a complete imbecile? Did you not see the scores I got on my IQ test?”

“Evidently the machine was faulty,” Flashfire continued to deadpan. “I mean, you couldn't say I'm more of a try-hard even if you tried. See what I mean?”

He gestured to several mares nearby who were giggling at poor Stripped as he tried to pick himself up off the floor. The most prominent of which was this griffon hen, mostly white-feathered with some blue markings.

“...Wow, talk about taking a guy's pride and chucking it out the bloody front door…” the chocolate-brown unicorn muttered.

Eventually Flashfire took pity on him and helped him up.

“See, I'm going to give you a piece of advice now,” Flashfire continued. “Mares, griffon hens, whatever. They don't care about any of that. They like a buck who’s honest with himself, instead of someone who tries to be something he’s not.”

He mentally added to himself mares probably wouldn't go for a pony who kept a skull in his dorm room fridge for experiments.

“Yeah yeah…” Stripped muttered. “Only reason you know so much about romance as it is, well that's simply because you're dating a siren.”

“Well, to be fair they were the original romantics…” Flashfire remarked. “So Crescendo would know wouldn't she?” he pointed out.

“Yeah yeah…” Stripped Gear muttered. “You're just jealous of my IQ!”

“I honestly don't see what there is to be jealous of, if you ask me,” Flashfire replied as the next bell rung. “Now come along, Stoneheart’s a real pain in the derrière and only Celestia knows what he'll have to say if either of us is late for class.”

Stripped shuddered. If there was one thing both he and Flashfire could unanimously agree on without question, it was in fact that Professor Stoneheart was indeed a real pain in the arse.

Eventually, classes ended for the day without much incident -Stripped hadn't even made anything blow up for once!- and the two ponies found themselves back in their dorm room later that night. Flashfire, as he looked out his dorm window to the icy plains beyond the school grounds wondered what it was like, back in Equestria's Golden Age. Back before Sunfall Dawn as it was called. He’d seen the simulations and paintings of course and read about it in datapads, but he had never felt the green grass beneath his hooves or felt the warm sun against his fur.

Nearby, at his desk Stripped was working on one of his little experiments as always even as Velvet Remedy’s soft voice came crooning in through the airways. There Stripped sat, fine-tuning the crystal orb-like structures of the Taurus Black and Dorado Yellow Kyutamas. Flashfire wasn't sure how the young unicorn had managed it. How he had somehow figured out how to reverse engineer the Draco Kyutama and mass produce its abilities. And yet somehow he’d manage to do exactly that.

“So, I gotta ask,” Flashfire commented, just barely looking up from his textbook. “What inspired you to do it? I mean, what did you just wake up one day and decide, hey I'll start reverse engineering Princess Luna’s signature trinket? Or how did you do it?

“I… I honestly don't remember truth be told,” Stripped remarked with a touch of embarrassment. “It just called out to me, y’know? Least that's what I like to think,”

“You know any normal pony not knowing exactly how or why he reverse engineered an ancient artifact from beyond the stars would probably consider that worrisome right?” Flashfire remarked.

“I like to believe it was an inspiration sent to me by her!” Stripped replied haughtily.

“And who’s ‘her' exactly?” Flashfire asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s always been there, lurking in the back of our minds. As long as us ponies believe in that goddess called Possibility, anything could happen!” he declared, and just like that, the Dorado Yellow and Cerberus Seagreen Kyutamas flew into Stripped and Flashfire's hands. “See what I mean? I like to believe these things are alive in some way, and where there's life, there's hope.”

Even now, as Flashfire struggled to get the Leo Minor Voyager back online he repeated those words to himself.

“Come on Red…” he whispered. He honestly didn't know why he was talking to a machine, it wasn't like it could hear him and talk back. But for some reason, just like he did with his personal Voyager, he felt a living emotional connection with this one. “You can do this, you can pull yourself together. You feel it don't you? Just like me. You want to get up and move, to be king again. You're the same as me aren't you? You felt trapped, without hope. But that's where you're wrong. Nobody's without hope, not really. You just got to believe. Now come on boy, roar for me!”

Little by little, as he spoke lights began to flicker back on, red lines covering the inside of the cockpit even as Flashfire recalled old memories on ship repair and set to work on fixing this one.

“Do you hear me boy? You know, I thought getting out of this was yet another Kobayashi Maru, an unwinnable scenario. But then I remembered some words a friend told me once. Do you want to hear them?” he asked. A low groan seemed to be his response. “Good, I thought you did. They went: “Where there's any form of life, there’s hope. That's the phrase I like to live by. There is no such thing as a no-win scenario. Not in my mind. There never will be. Even if there’s only the slightest chance of a victory, well I'll take that chance. Because that’s the kind of stallion I am.” There's hope for you here boy, you understand me? Now roar for me boy. ROAR!” Flashfire shouted, and just like that all lights came online, and two bright yellow eyes on the Voyager’s face opened and the leonine ship let out an earthshaking roar before firing a bright red beam into the heavens as it pierced the night sky. “Okay, good. Glad to have ya back with us boy. Now, if there's anyone up there listening, anyone who has a problem with me and my new philosophy of there never being any no-win scenarios and me and my friends taking on the universe… to HELL with you!”

Seems someone did want to take an issue with that little declaration as outside several familiar howls cut through the air and Flashfire heard the distinctive Vworp! Vworp! Vworp! sounds of teleportation. Flashfire looked outside and saw several of the ‘Warp Hounds’ as he’d come to call them gathering. He patted the control panel of the Voyager before grabbing both the Ara Kyutama and his Astral Blade. There was that old saying about when the wolves were knocking at your door you either turned and ran or you stood your ground. Guess what Flashfire chose.

“You stay here okay? I'll be right back. Seems some unruly mutts need a few lessons in manners,” he told the mech before heading outside. “Well, here I am! You want me? Come and get me!” he shouted at the hounds, gesturing to himself. “But there's something you gotta know first before you do. My name. I am Flashfire Lulamoon, the last of the Lulamoon and Glimmer lines, and the Howling Star Cerberus Seagreen and you do not frighten me. Now, I believe it's time to test your luck.” he stated in a perfectly calm tone before charging into the fray.

Blood flew and spattered the snow as Flashfire cut down the first two of the five hounds with his sword, before the third leaped towards him fangs bared. Flashfire loaded up the Canis Minor Kyutama and fired, making this third hound roll over like some over-affectionate puppy dog, tongue out and panting.

“Well, now that's just disturbing…” Flashfire mused. That'll be haunting his dreams for a while, that one. He didn't have much time to think on this, as the fourth hound tried to bite down on his arm only for its fangs to meet the starmetal of his sword and shatter on impact. Flashfire then punched it in the face before he heard a Vworp!

Next thing he knew he was sent flying backwards into a snowdrift via another hound, much larger than the others and bearing a red stripe along its back marking it as the pack leader. Flashfire's eyes widened. He recognized this one, it was the same one that had attacked him before! It evidently recognized him as well, hiding by the rage-filled eyes. His hands went to the strap on his waist and he fished out that Kyutama. He fired, sending a swarm of pink butterflies towards the Warp Hound pack leader momentarily blinding it as he scrambled away.

“Good little papillons. And thank you… Fluttershy, for lending me access to your Element of Kindness.” Flashfire thought. But he wasn't out of the fire yet, as more Warp Hounds came teleporting in to assist their pack leader. And as for Flashfire, the energy from the Hercules Kyutama was beginning to run out and he felt the symptoms of hypothermia beginning to set in now stronger than ever before. As the hounds closed in, laser fire lit up the snow as three distinct ships flew in making the creatures stagger. One themed after a blue wolf, another a yellow swordfish, and finally an orange scorpion.

“I knew… I knew you guys would come. I had my faith in you…” was Flashfire’s last thoughts before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so whopping return to form after my trip to New Orleans. Funnily enough, over 90% of this chapter was written while I was there, except for the first thousand words or so, via tablet and as anyone who's ever done that can tell you... Not fun. Not fun at all.

Anyways, I was hoping this chapter would provide some more insights into Flashfire's character, who's always been one of the more closed off Paladins really. And provide an answer to that massive secret a certain embodiment of despair hinted at a few chapters back. Hell, this has been hinted at since Vela really, with Stripped noticing the fact that Flashfire almost never uses magic if you may remember.

Okay, the Leo Minor Voyager. Ironically enough in the show, despite the fact that all it gives the Mecha is a shoulder cannon, the Kyurangers actually gained this as their final powerup, this thing somehow surpassing the massive Delta Base Megazord-like Orion Voyager. That sorta logic beats me really.

Now, the hypothermia. Now, I looked this up on Mayo Clinic, and it says the symptoms are as follows:

Shivering
Slurred speech or mumbling
Slow, shallow breathing
Weak pulse
Clumsiness or lack of coordination
Drowsiness or very low energy
Confusion or memory loss
Loss of consciousness
Bright red, cold skin (in infants)

Now, if it seemed to come on rather fast for Flashfire, keep in mind that I wasn't exactly clear on the timeframe in this chapter (Quite on purpose I might add) just to make it that little bit more believable. But I'll state it here, quite a few hours did pass between the time Flashfire crashlanded (And keep in mind he was already out in freezing temperatures then) and the time he set out to find his Voyager once more. So, plenty of time.

As ever, feedback and your thoughts are welcomed.