Chapter Seven – A Pony Fights and a Pony Plays.
Flare panted as he stood between a group of frightened foals and their teacher and quite possibly the biggest snake he had ever seen. His head pounded and his body was covered in minor wounds, but by Arceus he was not going to let it touch those children.
“Miss Cheerilee, I’m going to distract it and when I do I want you to get those kids to safety!”
Cheerilee was terrified, they had just been searching for a simple flower and a massive snake monster had emerged from the Everfree Forest. Flare Blitz had blocked its initial attack and been injured in the process.
“B-but what about you-“
“Don’t worry about that!” Flare yelled back. “All that matters is the safety of those kids.”
Flare turned his attention back to his opponent, an enormous snake about 20 feet long. It was covered in muddy brown armour that was a hard as stone. Its head swayed back and forth as its yellow eyes bored their way into Flare.
“Ssssuch a ssstrange pony,” It hissed. The snake’s voice sent shivers down Flare’s spine. “Already cooked and ready to be eaten.”
“Yeah? Just try it!” Flare retorted. He looked back at Cheerilee and nodded before running at the beast. He closed in fast using Quick Attack and slammed both his hind legs into the creatures’ body with a punishing Double Kick. He suddenly staggered forward as his hooves practically bounced off of its armour and as Flare struggled to regain his footing, the snake lashed out with its tail, sending Flare tumbling across the field.
“Sssuch a chore,” The snake hissed with a bored tone before advancing on Cheerilee, Spike and the foals. “Sssuch a feassst, I can’t wait.” Its forked tongue flicked out, tasting the fear in the air.
“S-stay back, I-I mean it!” Cheerilee stood forward, but her legs were shaking like a leaf in a tornado.
The snake licked its lips and opened its maw, saliva dripping as it lunged forward, only to have something slam hard into the side of its head, knocking it to the ground a few feet from the children.
Flare landed next to them, his body crackling with electricity from the Wild Charge attack. “Run! NOW!” He yelled and Cheerilee froze for a second before herding the foals away and back towards Ponyville as fast as their hooves could carry them.
The Titanoboa pulled itself up and shook its head. The attack had hit him full on but the mud armour coating it had absorbed almost all the damage.
“Little fool!” It hissed, spittle flying from its mouth and sizzling when it hit the ground. “I”ll consssume you, that dragon and then thossse children!”
Flare pawed at the ground as flames began to consume his body as he activated his Flare Blitz attack. “Bring it you overgrown Ekans, I’ll roast you alive!”
***
“I think that we’re finally getting somewhere.” Twilight adjusted some algorithms on a large chalkboard next to her as Sparkler brought back two cups of potent coffee.
“About time,” Sparkler yawned. This research was interesting and she enjoyed learning from the older unicorn, but she was exhausted. Twilight levitated several books at once, taking notes and writing down theories and possibilities. Just how could she maintain so much energy?
The peaceful quiet was suddenly interrupted by the library door flying open with a loud bang. Twilight and Sparkler ran upstairs to find an out of breath Cheerilee and Dinky.
“What happened, is everything alright?” Twilight saw that the teacher had some scratches while Sparkler was tending to a bawling Dinky.
“No…” Cheerilee panted as she leaned against the door-frame. “It’s Flare, he’s in a great deal of trouble!”
***
Flare’s body was wracked with pain from the continuous use of Flare Blitz and Wild Charge, but they seemed to be the only attacks that had any sort of effect. The serpent was too fast to let him charge up a Solarbeam. The snake struck with its tail once more and Flare was too exhausted to dodge. He was sent flying and out of the corner of his eye, a large tree was getting very close, very fast.
“Well this is going to hurt.” Flare closed his eye and braced himself for the impact… but it never came. He opened his eyes to find himself floating just a few inches from the tree, his body surrounded by a magenta hue.
“Flare, are you okay!?” He looked behind him to see Twilight standing there, her horn glowing as her magic held him in place. She galloped over to him and gasped when she saw the injuries covering his body.
“I’ve been better,” He groaned. “Is everyone else alright?”
Twilight nodded and then let out a shriek as the snake attacked again, only to be thrown off guard by a burst of emerald flame. It did nothing, but it provided enough of a distraction to let Twilight teleport herself and Flare across the other side of the field to where Spike was waiting.
“What do we do Twilight!?” Spike panicked. “This thing is really strong and really mad.”
Twilight didn’t have a chance to respond before she had to put up a barrier to block the enraged serpents’ attack once more.
“Jusssst give me the dragon and I’ll let you go.” It hissed menacingly. Twilight doubted that the thing would keep its word and there was no way she was going to give up Spike to save herself.
“No way!” She shouted back. “Why don’t you just go back to the Everfree?”
The snake roared and slammed the barrier hard, causing it to vibrate and crack. The mud coating its body came from the Everfree and possessed anti-magical properties. Twilight’s barrier was not going to survive much longer.
Flare groaned and got to his hooves. He wasn’t going to let Twilight and Spike get hurt, not while he could still draw breath. Spike placed a claw on his side as Flare’s legs wobbled slightly,
“Dude, just stay down. Twilight will get us out of here.”
Twilight strained to keep up the shield as the beast rained blow upon blow on it. As long as the barrier was up, she wouldn’t be able to teleport them, but if she dropped the barrier then she doubted that she would have enough time to re-cast.
“Twilight can’t keep this up long,” He groaned. He needed his attacks to hit harder, harder than that stupid snakes armour. “Dammit, if only I had Sapphira here, she could use her Flamethrower on me.”
Then Flare had a possibly brilliant idea. He turned to Spike with a new determination in his eyes.
“Spike, I need you to use your flames on me.”
Both Spike and Twilight stared at him. “Are you crazy?” Twilight exclaimed. “Why do you want Spike to burn you?”
“I need you to trust me and I’ll explain everything later, but I think that we have little time left, so make with the flame dragon boy!”
The Titanoboa slammed its whole body on the pink bubble, shattering it like glass. The trio barely managed to avoid getting crushed as Spike and Flare tumbled to the left and Twilight to the right.
“Spike! Do it, please!” The small dragon was hesitant, but Flare was hardly a normal pony and the situation was desperate.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” He muttered and opened his mouth, sending a stream of green flame at the Pokémon.
The effect was one neither of them expected.
The Titanoboa turned towards Twilight and bared its cruel-looking fangs. The fiery one was half dead already and the dragon was no threat, but the horn headed pony could be dangerous if left unchecked. “Time to feasssst.”
It never got the chance as something powerful slammed into its side, sending the beast crashing to the ground hard. Twilight looked up and her heart skipped beat at what she saw. Flare Blitz was standing over her protectively, his usual fiery mane was blazing a brilliant emerald.
“Flare?” Her voice was shaky from the shock and the sense of awe she felt looking upon him.
His body began to glow with a golden light as his Morning Sun skill activated. The wounds on his body began to close and his scratches and bruises healed. He had hoped Spikes’ flames would activate his Flash Fire ability and power up his fire attacks. But they had done something else, rather than just his fire attacks being powered up, Flare felt like his entire being was brimming with power.
“Impudent. Little. PONY!!” The Titanoboa rose up, his eyes filled with pure rage. “I’m going to sssmash you like a bug!”
Flare used Flare Blitz once more as the flames erupted from his body, tearing up the ground around him. He blazed forward like a meteor, slamming into the snakes’ midsection and carrying it several meters across the ground before exploding with enough force to send Twilight and Spike sprawling across the ground from the shockwave.
Flare jumped clear from the smoke and skidded back. Twilight went to run to him, but a single look from him stopped her. “Stay back, he’s not down yet.”
No sooner had Flare said that, the snake launched himself from the smoke and collided with the ground as Flare leapt high into the air. He was feeling great right now and let out a giddy laugh as he landed on the snakes head with a loud thud, driving the beast into the ground.
“Graahhh!” It lashed out with its tail again and Flare leapt and landed on it, running up the length of the creatures’ body, he delivered blow after blow along its armour. The Titanoboa shook him off and Flare hit the ground and rolled away as the tail struck the ground where he had landed.
Spike watched the fight with wide eyes. Just what had his fire done to Flare? “Twilight…?” He stammered. “Is Flare okay?”
Twilight studied Flare with a trained eye for detail. She saw the grin on his face and she knew what that grin meant, she once wore that same smile. Flare was riding the high that someponies could get when using massive amounts of magical energies.
“I don’t know Spike…” Twilight was concerned, both for Flare’s safety and what was happening to him.
“I’ll give you a chance,” Flare suddenly said, halting his attacks. “Return to where you came from and I’ll forget this ever happened… but if you continue to harm my friends…”
“I’ll ssstop when all of you are in my ssstomach!” The snake opened its mouth and shot a blast of green liquid at Flare. The Fire Horse Pokémon narrowly avoided it as the liquid struck the ground and hissed as the acid-like substance melted away the earth, leaving an ugly black crater.
Flare snorted as an emerald inferno surrounded him. He blitzed forward and even as the snake braced itself for the impact, the sheer force of the strike still drove it back several feet. Flare jumped back near Twilight as the attack faded and his flames intensity slowed.
“Last chance!” He growled, “Go home and leave Ponyville alone or I’ll punish you!”
“And how will you do that?” The snake sneered, “My armour will ssstop anything you throw at me.”
Flare paused and smirked, earning a look of confusion from the Titanoboa. “Is that so?” Flare replied. “Are you sure about that?”
Before the beast could reply, numerous cracks formed along the muddy coating before large sections of it crumbled away.
“It was the heat,” Twilight murmured. “The heat from Flare’s flames caused the mud to dry out and become brittle.”
The snake howled and bared it’s wickedly curved fangs, dripping with acidic venom. “Playtime isss over! DIE!!”
Flare sighed as his body glowed with golden light. As the snake got closer, Flare narrowed his eyes. “I’ll say it one last time, leave!” The snake was silent as the slithered its way closer to him and Twilight and Flare closed his eyes. “So be it,” He whispered. “I gave you your chance.”
Twilight’s horn lit up as she began to cast a protective shield but stopped when Flare opened his mouth and fired a massive beam of golden light. It was as brilliant as the sun itself and tore up the ground as it blasted the Titanoboa full on. The beast roared as the beam lifted it off of the ground and launched it deep into the Everfree Forest.
Once the light and noise died down, Flare was standing there, his flames returning to their normal hue. He turned to Twilight and ran over to her, “Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you? What about Spike?”
Twilight put a hoof to his chest and gave him a reassuring smile. “We’re fine, it’s okay.” She gazed across the field and the devastation that reduced it to a scattering of flowers that somehow managed to survive the onslaught.
“That’s… good.” Flare suddenly felt very, very tired and the ground was looking real nice for a nap. Twilight gasped when the stallion suddenly collapsed to the ground unconscious. After a quick check she saw that he was simply asleep and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is he okay Twilight?” The worried dragon asked her again and Twilight nodded. After a moment of casting, a flash of light enveloped the three and teleported them back to the library, where quite a few ponies were waiting.
“Whut in tarnation happened Twah?” Applejack was the first to see to them as Sparkler and Rarity lifted Flare Blitz onto the couch.
“It-it was like nothing I’d ever seen.” Twilight replied. Ditzy and Fluttershy brought everypony some tea, which Twilight took gratefully. “There was a giant snake, an Titanoboa I believe it’s called.” She levitated several books over and began to scan through them. “I think I have something here about them, they’re quite fascinating actually. Did you know that they can-“
“Twilight, give us the egghead lesson later.” Rainbow replied, causing Twilight, Cheerilee and Sparkler to scoff in annoyance. “Just tell us why Spike looks like he’s scared out of his mind, why Flare is fast asleep and what that massive light show was!”
Twilight took a moment to organise her thoughts and began to tell them everything, from the Titanoboas’ attack to Flare displayed the incredible power he possessed. “I can’t believe how powerful he is.” She looked over to the sleeping stallion, wondering just what else he was capable of. But she felt something else too, it was a feeling she couldn’t place her hoof on. “He’s amazing.” She whispered.
***
Night had already fallen by the time Flare woke up. Everypony was still there and it was Twilight that was the first to hug him.
“I was so worried about you!” She stammered and then smacked him on the shoulder. “And you’re a complete idiot!”
Rarity opened her mouth to chastise the unicorn, but Ditzy stopped her, shaking her head. Flare rubbed his shoulder and gave her a sheepish stare. “Yeah, it probably was a bit stupid. Sorry about that.”
“At least you’re okay.” Twilight hugged him again. “But try not to do that again.”
“I’ll try, but it’s hard to contain all this awesome!” Flare stretched and once some stiff muscles had stopped complaining he sighed. Pinkie saw that as her chance to bounce across the room and huggle Flare. “Oh , I’m sooo glad you’re okay. We should totally have a party!”
It took but a moment before Flare was buried under a pony pile and he groaned. “Seriously girls?”
***
Ditzy had taken her daughters home and Cheerilee had also left after thanking Flare for saving her and her students. Twilight’s friends decided that they would stay the night, just in case that serpent tried anything. Flare knew that the snake would not be coming back anytime soon, but he wasn’t going to complain. He figured that this would be a good chance to get to know them better.
“So Flare?” Rainbow Dash sat down on the rug next to him, nestling a mug of hot chocolate in her hooves. “I was wondering, are you gonna enter the Solar Run in a few weeks?”
“The Solar Run?” Flare gave her a quizzical look. “What’s that, some kind of race?”
Rainbow nodded enthusiastically and beamed. “Yeah, it’s like the biggest ground race event of like ever!” She pulled a flyer out of her saddlebag and showed him. It was a noticeable orange poster with silhouettes of the three pony types on it. “It’s a long distance run through several terrain types and the winner of it gets the most amazing prize, a wish granted to them by Princess Celestia herself!”
“Whoee! I plum fergot all bout that thang!” Applejack exclaimed, breaking away from Rarity, who was trying to brush her mane. “Mah family sure could use the money ta fix up tha farm.”
“Ooh, I could get my animals a new bath and stockpile supplies for the winter.” Fluttershy cooed.
“I could throw the biggest party Equestria has ever seen!” Pinkie exploded upwards in a shower of confetti.
“I could design some fabulous racing outfits for everypony.” Rarity’s mind was already racing itself with ideas and designs. “It would be wonderful advertising!”
“Heh heh heh, books.” Twilight giggled. “So many books.”
Flare snorted in amusement and looked back to the prismatic pegasus. “What about you Skittles? What do you want?”
Rainbow glared at the strange nickname, but decided to ignore it. “I just want to win!” She said with a determined huff. “If I win this race then the Wonderbolts are sure to notice me and beg me to join them!”
“I see,” Flare pondered on it. If he decided to race in it, then what would he wish for? Celestia had already stated that she wasn’t able to send him home so that was out. A lifetime supply of Passho berries made his mouth water, but they didn’t exist here.
Rainbow waved a hoof in front of his face, but Flare was well and truly lost in thought. “You are so like Twilight.” She suddenly flapped and flew upwards as Rarity landed where she had just been previously sitting, a manebrush wrapped in her magical field.
“Oh, come now Rainbow dear!” Rarity pouted. “It’s not like I’m going to bite.”
“Yeah, and the moment I let you have your way, then I’ll be dolled up in frilly frou-frou crud.” Rainbow retorted. Rarity snorted in disdain but she wasn’t able to reach the pegasus so she turned her attention back to a certain apple farmer, who gulped nervously.
“Now Rare, y’all dun wanna do that!”
“Oh but I do Applejack dear. You will be the belle of the orchard after I’m done with you.”
Applejack struggled in protest as the fashionista took hold and dragged her upstairs. Flare and Rainbow Dash howled with laughter as sounds of the hapless earth pony struggling against her fate could be heard.
"Hey Flare!” RD asked him. “Even if you don’t race, would you mind helping me out tomorrow? I wanna do a practise run of the course and you would make a great training partner.”
“Well I don’t mind,” Flare replied. “What about you Twilight, did you need me for anything tomorrow?”
Twilight put down the book she was reading and shook her head. “Actually, if it’s alright with you I think that Sparkler and I could take a break tomorrow.”
“It’s fine with me.” Flare replied. “You girls are doing everything you can to get me home safely.”
“Thank you.” Twilight smiled. “And I think I’ll come to that race, it will be a good opportunity to get some more data on your abilities.”
“Always the bookworm.” Flare grinned. “But that’s what I like about you.”
Twilight suddenly flushed a deep red and hid beneath her mane. A rather good impression of Fluttershy actually. “T-thanks…”
“Ooh this’ll be fun~” Pinkie said, bouncing on the spot. “Dashie versus Flarey. A race of epic proportions! Sounds like a blast!”
“I’ll do my best to cheer for you both.” Fluttershy said and inhaled deeply before letting out the softest and most adorable ‘yay’ that Flare had ever heard.
“Between Dinky, Twilight and Fluttershy. I think I’ll die from a cuteness overload.” Flare smiled and Rd nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, Dinky alone can do you in, but with the egghead and Flutters…” The Pokémon and the pegasus both clutched at their hearts dramatically and then fell over laughing.
The giggles were cut short when Rarity descended the stairs before shooting a fierce glare at the top of them. “Come now Applejack, nopony is going to laugh at you.”
“Ah aint comin down thar lookin like this!” She said from beyond the door. “And ah just know that Rainbow is already grinning like a foal!”
“No I’m not!” Rd replied with a huge toothy grin. “C’mon Applesmack, get your flank down here!”
There was a moment of silence before AJ replied. “Only iffin y’all Pinkie Promise not ta laugh!”
Rainbow sighed and then all five ponies went through the motions. “Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye!” There was a yelp from Twilight when she actually poked herself in the eye.
“Every. Single. Time!” She muttered.
Applejack emerged from the room and Rainbow quickly stuck a hoof in her mouth to keep the promise. Pinkie still glared at her though.
The farmer looked quite radiant. Her mane was brushed and done up into a long, golden braid. Her coat was shiny and her tail was a red ribbon tapered at the base. Her eyelashes had been curled and a hint of blush was applied to her cheeks.
“Wow Applejack!” Flare almost whispered. “You look beautiful.”
Twilight slowly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it really suits you AJ.”
“Aw shucks y’all” Applejack turned as red as her apples and pawed at the floor with her hoof.
The evening after that was filled with laughter, smores and Flare heard the stories of all the adventures that Twilight and her friends had been through, from defeating Nightmare Moon to Twilight’s first Winter Wrap-up. The fiasco that was the Grand Galloping Gala as well as Discords’ return, Rainbow’ Dash performing the Sonic Rainboom at the Young Flyers Competition and the wedding of Twilight’s big brother and a Princess.
“Wow, you guys have been through a lot.” Flare was impressed with what these six mares had done, what they had been through and how incredible their friendship was.
“Best Friends Forever right?” Pinkie’s legs stretched to an impossible length as she wrapped her friends up in a massive hug and they all shared a laugh. Flare found himself smiling too and the smiles continued long into the night.
***
It was around mid-morning the next day when the seven friends were gathered at Sky Mirror Lake. The water was so still that it looked like a sheet of glass. Flare and Rainbow Dash were looking at a map with a bright red line that marked the path for the race.
“So we start here at the lake and then it’s onto the Whitetail Woods.” Rainbow traced her hoof along the map as she explained the various sections and the type of terrain to expect. “Once we’re clear of the woods it’s a long distance run across these open plains until we hit the finish line near Ponyville.”
Flare looked at the clear, blue sky and wondered if they ever had bad weather here. Twilight had explained to him that Pegasi controlled the weather and whatnot, though that didn’t really surprise him. Several Pokémon had the ability to influence the weather so this was something he was used to and then a large purple object floating in the sky quickly caught his attention. It was a hot-air balloon with Pinkie at the helm.
Twilight stared at it and then pressed her hoof against her forehead, “Where in the name of Celestia did Pinkie get my balloon…? Never mind, I don’t want to know”.
Rainbow walked up to the starting line and pawed at the ground with her hoof. “So Wondercolt! Do you want to forfeit? You’re just going to lose anyway”.
Flare knew she was fast, Twilight had explained as much last night… but this was a challenge that he could not turn down… his Laramie lineage demanded it.
“So are there any rules?” He asked the brash, young mare. “Or is it just an all-out dash to the finish?”
“Oh, hadeeharhar!” RD deadpanned at the bad pun. “But as far as rules go… I suppose I could not use my wings…” She shot a glance at Applejack and then looked back to Flare. “You could probably use the handicap.”
Flare shrugged; guess she underestimated him, “Fair enough. If that’s what you want”
“Alright everypony! Let’s all give a hoof to our two competitors!” Pinkie announced from her megaphone.
“Pinkie? Who the hay are you talking to?” Twilight called out from below.
“Them.” Pinkie simply replied and Twilight turned to see dozens of ponies who had gathered to watch the race, stomp their hooves in applause and cheered loudly for the two ponies.
“One of these days…” Twilight groaned, “I’m going to learn not to ask…”
Flare looked at the crowd of ponies cheering and wondered how in just one night, they had gone from ignoring and cowering in fear of him to cheering his name. “They certainly changed their tune fast,” he muttered.
“It’s prolly cause of all the foals you saved yesterday.” Rainbow replied, overhearing his comment. “Half the town owes you a debt of gratitude and almost everypony sees you for the nice colt that you really are.”
Flare blushed a bit but said nothing as he and Rainbow stood side-by-side, the Pokémon wondered how a simple practice run turned out like this. Pinkie hovered above in the balloon… now accompanied by Spike. “This race is going to be spectacular!” Spike said using his little microphone. “We all know that Rainbow is fast, but Flare’s pretty quick on his hooves as well”.
“Well we will just have to see about that!” Pinkie replied. “Dashie’s gonna win this for sure. Nopony can beat her!”
Dash cringed a little at the pet name Pinkie had called her, but remained her usual, confident self regardless. Flare looked at her, attempting to judge her capabilities, his parents had taught him how to read an opponent’s skill level by several factors. Their stance, the pace of their breathing, the look in their eye… Everything about this Rainbow Dash just screamed confidence and an abundance of power and energy, if she were a Pokémon… This race was gonna be a doozy!
“Get Ready!” Pinkie called out.
Flare and Rainbow got into position, eager for the race to begin.
“Get Set!” Spike then added.
You could feel the atmosphere as the two participants itched for the next words of the commentators. Spectators held their breath and it was so quiet you could hear a rabbit fart.
…
…
"GOOOOOOOO!" Pinkie and Spike called out in sync and Rainbow rocketed off of the start line, leaving naught but a dust cloud in her wake.
“Hah! This is almost too easy” She laughed as she thundered down the lakeside path. “Maybe I should take it easy… I almost feel sorry for the guy”. She glanced back to check where Flare Blitz was, “He’s probably still sitting at the start line…” What she saw was something she never expected in a thousand years, “WHAT THE HAY!?”
Flare Blitz was right behind her! He gave her the most charming smile and then ran straight past her, leaving her wide-eyed as to how he could be so quick. Granted, she was nowhere near as fast on the ground as she was in the sky… but for him to take the lead so quickly. She snorted and then kicked herself into gear, no more Little Miss Nice Pony! She soon caught up and poked her tongue out as she took the lead once more.
The two ponies were soon out of sight as they headed into the forest. Spring time meant that the whole forest was a canvas of colours, from the lush green of the trees to the vibrant hues of the flowers. Rainbow and Flare kept a steady pace until RD broke out into a full gallop.
“See you at the finish line Wondercolt!” She called out and left Flare in the dust. Flare blinked both in confusion and to clear the dust before neighing loudly and bolting after the competitive pegasus.
The sound of hooves thudding through the forest drowned out everything else as the two ponies shared a grin as they swapped between first and second.
“I’ll admit that you got some skill!” RD yelled out as she pulled ahead. “But you’re still a million light-years away from challenging me!”
“I dunno Skittles, there ain’t much of a gap b’tween us!” His Kanto accent slipped a bit as he overtook her. “An’ now that gap’s in mah favour!”
It had been quite a while since Flare raced like this, and especially against someone who was this much of a challenge. The muscles and tendons in his legs protested as he pushed himself further, matching the cyan mare’s pace. She looked almost annoyed as he past her again… but at the same time he could tell that she felt the same rush he did, the thrill of the challenge that made him want to run forever.
“I was right about you” Rainbow panted as she caught up to him, “You are pretty quick… on the ground at least”.
“You’re not so bad yourself” Flare replied, “I guess not everyone here is a total slowpoke pony”.
Pinkie and Spike hovered high above the treetops, watching the two ponies run side by side, neither of them giving an inch.
“Dashie and Flare are still tied, which is funny cause they’re not actually tied together… speaking of tied, I saw the most unusual thing yesterday when I was asked to babysit, Cause Mr. Cake took some rope and half of the stores stock of whipped cream upstairs with him right before I took the twins out. Isn't that weird Spikey?”
Spike shrugged whilst the Cakes sat in the stand and turned almost every shade of red on the colour spectrum. It was a good thing most ponies had a tendency to tune out Pinkie’s ramblings. Spike decided it would be up to him to provide useful commentary. “The two racers seem to be evenly matched. The outcome is still anyponies’ guess”.
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as she took the next corner as tight as she could, trying to pass Flare on the inside, Flare tried but the smaller pegasus overtook him as they neared the end of the forest and out onto the open plains.
Rainbow laughed triumphantly as she was the first to hit the field, but that moment of victory was short lived as Flare was only a second behind her. “Oh he is good!” Admittedly she wasn’t running quite as hard as she would in the real thing, but she was trying to win and Flare was making her work for it.
The finish line was about two miles out and Flare was beginning to feel the strain. Muscles that hadn’t been used in a while were starting to complain and Flare groaned slightly. If he was going to enter then he would have to start exercising again. He still had some bruises from yesterday too and they did not like the strain.
The turn coming up was the last one before the finish line and that would be she would make her move.
“So tell me,” Rainbow asked as they slowed just a bit to catch their breath. “How do you like Equestria so far?”
“It’s nice,” Flare panted. “I really like it here.” The spontaneous musical numbers were a tad strange and the laws of physics seemed to be more like general guidelines… but he liked it here.
Rainbow smirked and asked the next question on her mind. “And how about Twilight?”
Flare smiled as thoughts of the purple unicorn filled his mind. Ever since arriving in Equestria and becoming friends with the small equines, he had found himself enjoying the company of one mare in particular. That night they spent watching the stars was one of the fondest memories that he had in awhile.
The fact that he went completely silent and just smiled and blushed did not go unnoticed by Rainbow and she suddenly raced forward, putting a massive gap between them. “Later Wondercolt! See you at the finish line!”
Rainbow was about to kick it into overdrive when she saw something that really defied belief. Flare suddenly shot past her like a bullet, leaving a faint, white trail of light as he blazed down the path. There was no mistake, this was one of those abilities of his. She couldn’t remember its name but his speed was incredible.
The moment they broke into the last part of the course, Flare used his Quick Attack and began to gain a tremendous lead. In Ponyta races, each Pokémon was allowed to use one Quick Attack per race, knowing when to use it was crucial to a successful racer. The finish line quickly approached and most of the ponies in the stands were stunned at this turn of events. A cyan blur suddenly blitzed past him and across the finish line, a rainbow trail in her wake. A followed a second later, stunned that he lost at the last second like that.
“Aaannnnd the winner is… RAINBOW DASH!” Pinkie and Spike cheered, as RD shook her hooves in victory. Though truth be told, if she hadn’t used her wings to accelerate at the last second…
Twilight trotted over and wiped Flare’s forehead with a damp towel, whilst Fluttershy and Applejack went over to Rainbow Dash. “That was amazing, I’ve never seen a race like that before” Twilight grinned.
Applejack didn’t look amused though. She gave RD a stern look and sighed, “Y’all used yer wings didn’t ya? I thought yer learned that lesson already”.
Flare intervened before Rainbow could respond however and spoke up. “It’s alright Applejack, I would’ve preferred if she’d use her wings from the start”.
“Wait, what? Why?” Everypony was quite confused to hear this, especially AJ and RD.
“I don’t like having a handicap like that, if I’m up against someone, then I want them to bring everything they have” Flare said. “It’s not much fun otherwise”.
Applejack smiled and turned to Rainbow Dash, “Well ah suppose yer off the hook this time” She said with a smile. “But dang can that boy run!”
“No kidding, I nearly crapped clouds when I saw him on my tail like that… We totally have to race again, no-holds barred next time!”
Flare brohoofed her in response. “Count on it… Dashie”.
“Argh, d-don’t call me that” RD responded, blushing furiously. She rose into the sky, looking down at her group of friends, “I have some errands to run now, so I’ll catch you all later” and with that she soared off into the distance.
“I think I’ll head home too” Flare said, “now I’m calling this place home?” He thought to himself, rubbing his temple with his hoof. “I’m a little tired”.
“I’ll come with you” Twilight said, “You look exhausted”.
“Thanks” Flare sighed and the two of them left for the library.
***
Flare Blitz approached the library, limping slightly as every muscle in his legs protested to the movement. That race with Rainbow Dash had wiped him out more than he thought it would, but damn that was fun. He was going to race her again! The three of them walked inside and Spike went off into the kitchen to prepare dinner whilst Twilight and Flare sat down on some comfortable cushions near the fireplace.
“Mmm, oooh yeeaaah…” Flare moaned as he sank into the soft pillows. “That feels good!”
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked him. “You look a little sore.”
“Yeah, just pushed myself a little too hard, nothing to worry about-” He was cut off as Twilight began to knead his shoulders with her forehooves.
“Wait! Wha?” Flare began to protest before his eyes rolled back and his muscles turned to jelly. “Oooh man that’s nice,” He moaned softly as Twilight gently massaged him.
Twilight levitated a small book over and opened it. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she read the instructions and then nodded to herself as she began to trace small circles around his shoulder blades, eliciting another moan of relief from Flare. She read more of the instructions and began to work her hooves lower down his back and rubbed his upper spine and ribs. Flare no longer cared about anything at this point. Arceus himself could descend and dance a tango with Pinkie Pie and Flare would not have given a single buck. He just wanted this wonderful mare to continue kneading him like a marshmallow.
Twilight stopped for a second to read the next set of instructions and blinked in confusion… was this right? Well of course it’s right, it’s written in a book, so it must be right, Right? She moved her hooves lower down his back, almost to the base of his tail and then slowly began to rub his flanks… rather sensually. Flare yelped in surprise and jumped up, causing Twilight to fall backwards onto her rump and blink in confusion again. Did she hurt him?
“W-w-w-what are you doing!?” He stammered, a small thought in the back of his mind wondered where that might have gone if he hadn’t stopped it. He promptly told that thought to shut it.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Twilight said. She floated the book she was reading up to him so he could read it. “I was just following the instructions in this physical therapy book.”
Flare read the title and promptly face-hoofed. “One hundred and one ways the relive his stress,” he groaned as he read the title out loud. He looked at the subtext on the inside of the cover jacket, “Learn how to stimulate your partner and yourself through sensual massage.”
Twilight blinked again and her face went from lavender to bright red in an instant and jumping up suddenly she tore the book away from him and attempted to bury herself in the pillows. She would simply die here, buried in pillowland where her shame couldn’t be seen by anypony.
“Uh…” Flare wasn’t sure how to respond to this. “It… felt nice?” He stated stupidly, hoping that he would survive the next few seconds.
Twilight looked up from the pillows and stared at him, her face still a deep crimson hue. “Well… as long as it helped… I guess it’s okay,” She murmured quietly.
The two of them stared at each other and then the noise of someone clearing their throat broke the awkward silence. They both turned to see Spike standing there, tapping his foot.
“What are you two doing? I’ve been calling you to dinner for the last ten minutes,” He said and then smirked. “Or maybe you two need some alone time?”
Flare and Twilight hurried into the dining room and began to eat dinner, trying to put that little ‘moment’ behind them. Spike just stood there, wondering what the hay just happened.
Flare went to bed shortly after dinner as his fatigue caught up with him and the moment his head the pillows he drifted to sleep. He began to have a dream that he’d had a few times since arriving in Equestria, it involved him running across an endless, open plain with his mother and father. This time however was a little different, for as he looked to his sides to see his parents they weren’t there, instead of the two Rapidash running at his side it was a familiar lavender unicorn. Flare’s eyes fluttered open and he groaned as he put a hoof to his head.
“You have got to be kidding me…”