Chapter Ten – A Pony that will do Anything for Love.
So that was that, Twilight had found the spell and Flare was going home.
He had spent days, days, just trying to figure out what to do about this new life that he had been thrown into.
He had made his decision and he wanted to stay here in Equestria, here with all of his new and wonderful friends.
But that was all for nothing.
One the other hoof, he wanted to see his other friends too. Sapphira, Lucy, Velvet and all the others. How long had it been since he saw Sakura and Kai? Or his family for that matter.
He had been aimlessly wandering around the castle for hours now and the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. His mind barely registered the time though as he passed through a large door and outside into a Guard training field.
His bloodshot eyes gazed listlessly around and he saw targets lined up across one side of the field and he knew just how to blow off some steam. Taking aim, (though difficult due to his emotional drain and sleep deprivation) he opened his mouth and shot a stream of flame at one of the targets, only to have the target absorb the attack and shoot it back at him.
Flare took it head on as his Flash Fire absorbed right back. He gave the target a hard stare and then leered at it as it mocked him, daring him to just try that again.
“So that’s the way you want it huh?” His eye twitched as his body became wreathed in electricity. He ran full pelt at the target and collided head on with it, smashing it to pieces as his Wild Charge obliterated the inanimate object.
“And that’s how it’s done!” He shouted triumphantly, right before the recoil shock from Wild Charge wracked his body and he let out an involuntary yell in pain.
He collapsed to the ground and panted as the shock finally kick started his brain. “Just what the hell am I doing?” He groaned. He closed his eyes for a moment as the world around him was completely silent and he slowly began to drift off to sleep as his exhaustion caught up with him.
It’s too bad that fate decided to mess with him some more as a sudden shout woke him up. Flare glanced up from his decidedly comfortable spot on the ground to see a white unicorn stallion walking towards him… and he looked rather displeased.
---
He had just wanted a normal morning, just one. But apparently in Canterlot that was simply too much to ask. Captain Shining Armour had woken early, his Guard training still keeping that particular habit, despite all the ‘exercise’ he had been put through recently.
His wife snored adorably next to him and he gently kissed her forehead before slipping out of bed and off to clean himself up. With the conclusion of the wedding, he had been given a leave of absence that would last another week or two, but if Shining wasn’t around to keep the Guard on their hooves he just knew the jokers would slack off.
But when he arrived at the field for arcane combat magicks, he had found something that caused the otherwise stoic stallion to do a double take. The ground around the magic reflectors was scorched black and the remaining targets still seemed to hold some sort of magical feedback as they crackled with lightning. Even more surprising was the creature that lay just beyond them. It seemed to be somewhat pony shaped, but looked larger and more slender, having a build that resembled an alicorn. What’s more is that its mane and tail appeared to be on fire.
“Hey! You there!” Yelling at the odd beast probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was only a minute until training hour and this field would soon have two dozen Guard to back him up if it decided to attack. He just hoped that whatever it was, it was feeling friendly.
---
Flare got to his hooves and blinked a few times to try and gain some sort of clarity. “I am seriously not in the mood for this,” He grumbled as the unicorn stopped a few feet away from him, his horn had a pale glow to it. “What do you want!?” Flare said, his voice showing every bit of irritation he was feeling. “I’m dealing with a lot of crap right now so get lost!”
Shining was taken aback just a bit by the sudden outburst from Flare. His ear flicked as the sound of other voices could be heard as a contingent of Solar Guard and one or two Night Guard spilled out onto the field.
“Hey, it’s Captain Armour!” One of the guards called out, drawing attention to him.
“Ready yourselves!” He ordered, “This might get ugly.”
Several of the guardsponies looked past him to see Flare standing a few feet away. “Oh, that’s Flare Blitz!” One of them stated. “He’s a guest of the Princess.”
“Well he’s done quite a number on our training field,” Shining Armour pointed out. “And he seems to be in quite a mood as well.”
“Y’know, I’m standing right here!” Flare really wanted to hit this unicorn now.
Shining turned his attention back to the Pokémon and snorted. “Then perhaps you would be so kind as to explain yourself?” Shining took a step forward and stared Flare down.
“Explain what? That I broke your little toy?” Flare’s mane began to flicker faster as he became more irritated. “Not my fault that I’m stronger than a training dummy.”
What was with this guy? Shining read his facial features and he seemed to be a bit all over the place. He sounded angry, but his eyes read that he was stressed, possibly upset about something? Plus he mentioned earlier that he was dealing with something.
“That aside, this is property of the castle and you have no right to do as you please-“
“So what are you gonna do about it pretty boy?”
Several guards ‘ooh’d’ when that gauntlet had been thrown down. The last guard foolish enough to challenge their Captain was thrashed so soundly that he was scared to even look at a unicorn for two weeks.
“That is not a path you wish to walk!” Shining Armour warned him. “If you are indeed a guest of the Princess then I will let everything slide until Her Highness can clear up this ‘misunderstanding’ so to speak.”
It was the obvious choice, the smart choice.
It really is too bad that Flare Blitz was not being a smart pony right now.
“Well then why don’t you run and hide behind your precious Princess then?” Flare taunted.
That did it, Shining’s horn flared to life as he fired a blast of magical energy at Flare, who barely dodged to one side to avoid it. The Pokémon returned fire, literally, as he let loose a torrent of flame at the startled the captain, but he still managed to block with a shield.
“Breathing fire? It’s certainly something that I never saw that one coming.” Several lances made from magical energy appeared above him and he fired them one after another, causing
Flare to break out into a wide, circular run to avoid them. Almost a dozen attacks later, Shining smiled and it was too late for Flare to realise that he had been played as his hoof stepped onto a magic circle. Chains erupted from it and bound Flare to the spot, preventing him from moving.
“You’ve got some odd magic, I’ll admit.” Shining said as he walked a bit closer. “But that Spellbinding Circle will see to that.”
Several other guards sighed as they passed a few bits around. A few had honestly expected Flare to last a bit longer.
“Spellbinding?” Flare looked at the runic circle and smiled. “So it’s a spell that binds magic huh?”
A blast of fire and heat forced every nearby pony to jump back as Flare’s body erupted with power as he poured all his strength into a Flare Blitz attack.
“Too bad that won’t work with me!”
***
What a night. Twilight had returned to Celestia’s chambers late into the previous evening, but had refused to say what had transpired between herself and their fiery friend, but nothing occurred within these halls that Celestia did not know about, some well-placed listening runes saw to that rather effectively.
The alicorn princess stood out on her balcony after raising the sun and gazed out at her city. Though the sun had barely graced the sky with its brilliance, her little ponies were already up and about, living their lives as best as they could.
A stifled yawn followed by the shuffling of hooves told Celestia that her cute little pupil was up and about. The alicorn turned and saw the unicorn with a bed-ragged mane and dark rings under her eyes.
“Oh my dear Twilight, did you not sleep well?” Celestia already knew the answer but she wanted to hear her view of what had happened.
“No, I couldn’t really sleep at all…” Twilight had for some reason come to Celestia’s room last night and after a while of silently crying she had fallen into an uneasy sleep by the diarch’s side. “Why Princess? Why did it turn out like this?”
Celestia smiled gently as she levitated a brush over and began to run it through Twilight’s coat and mane. “That is something that even I cannot answer,” She admitted. “But I suspect that there is an underlying emotion that could trigger such a response.”
“Underlying… emotion?” Twilight could barely think and her teacher was being cryptic again. Well, at least Twilight thought she was.
“He is a good pony and I expected great things from him,” Celestia continued as she poured some rejuvenating magic into her student to wash away the dark lines and fatigue. “I still do in fact! It would just seem that-“
The Princess was promptly cut off as the sound of an explosion rocked the palace walls.
“What in the name of me was that?!” Celestia exclaimed, dropping her teacup in surprise.
Princess and pupil ran towards the source of the noise and as they rounded a corner, another alicorn awaited them.
“Cadence!?” Twilight ran over to hug her sister-in-law but another explosion interrupted them.
“Why can’t our reunions ever be normal?” Cadence whined as the three mares continued to find the source of the disruption.
***
Okay, Shining Armour was now willing to admit that he may have underestimated his opponent. He had never seen magic like this before and it was seriously throwing him off of his game.
Flare Blitz on the other hoof was tired. He had expended quite a bit of energy escaping that sealing spell and after a sleepless night and an empty stomach, he probably wasn’t going to last much longer. Having overused his recoil attacks he now had to rely on his physical attacks.
“Is that.. all ya got?” He panted as he got to his hooves once more. “Woulda thought that a ‘Captain’ would be a little tougher.”
“Same to you monster!” Shining really hated to admit it, but whatever this thing was, it was tough. Several of his guard had offered a helping hoof but he refused. Plus he had seen a few of them making bets and made a mental note to discipline them later.
Both stallions stared at each other for a moment as they pawed the ground, wondering what the other’s next move would be. It seems that both had the same idea as they charged headlong at one another, both charging an attack that would be the finishing blow.
“Flare!?”
The sudden shout from a voice familiar to them both threw them off. Flare and Shining paused and looked towards the entrance to the castle and the source of the voice to see three mares standing there, a range of emotions on their faces. One was mortified, one bemused and one was rightly pissed!
“Twiley?” The spell Shining had been preparing faded and he straightened himself. “When did you get here?”
“Last night and yes, it’s good to see you again too big brother, but I’ll get to you in a moment.” Twilight walked right past him and in one fluid motion, struck the side of Flare’s face with her hoof. “Just what in the hay are you doing!?”
Flare was shocked, Twilight actually hit him! He just sat there stunned for a moment and blinked a few times. “Um… sorry?” He finally replied, though he himself wasn’t sure what he was apologising for. Probably everything since last night.
“Sorry doesn’t even begin to cover it!” She yelled. Shining took a step back from the angry unicorn. He had never seen his little sister this mad before, well, not recently anyway. He had his own problems however as a pink alicorn strode over to him, her glare locked on to her target.
“Shining Starsparkle Armour!” Shining winced when Cadence used his full name and several guards snickered. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” She said sternly. She wasn’t as angry as her little sister, but Shining had a sinking feeling that he was getting the couch tonight. “Fighting with somepony out of the blue like that. You’re better than that Shining Armour.”
Shining and Flare shared a sympathetic glance at one another before pointing hooves at each other.
“He started it!” They said in unison and Celestia finally let out a short laugh.
***
In the audience hall, the two admonished stallions sat in silence as their mare’s continued to berate their foolishness.
“Twilight, Cadence?” Celestia stepped forward to place a hoof between them. “I think that they understand quite thoroughly.”
The sisters looked at them and saw Shining and Flare huddling together, wishing that this storm would pass, and hopefully they would live to tell their children.
“Well, I suppose…” Twilight calmed down and then the full impact of what she just did hit her. “Ohmigosh! I hit you! I’m sooo sorry Flare I didn’t mean to. I was upset and you were fighting with my brother and I-“
“What does it matter anyway?” Flare suddenly said, his voice was curt and cold. “You’re just gonna ship me off back home and forget I was ever here!”
“Why you-” Shining took a step forward but Celestia put a hoof to his chest and stopped him, shaking her head.
“This is something they must work out for themselves.”
Neither Flare Blitz nor Twilight Sparkle noticed however as they glared at one another.
“What the hay Flare!?” Twilight took a step towards the Pokémon. “You think after all of this, I would forget you, just like that?”
“Well you seem pretty eager to get me home, so why don’t you tell me!”
“Eager? Does this sound familiar?” Twilight lowered the pitch of her voice to a poor imitation of the Pokémon. “Well that’s great, can’t wait to go home.” Her glare intensified,
“sounds like you’re the eager one here!”
“Well did it ever occur to you that I don’t want to go home!” Flare yelled.
“Well did it ever occur to you that I don’t want you to go home!” Twilight screamed back.
…
…
…
Shining Armour just facehooved while the two princesses shared a quiet giggle.
“W-what did you say?” Twilight’s voice lost all its former strength.
“I could ask you the same thing…” Flare’s anger was gone with the wind as he pawed at the floor with his hoof.
There was another bout of awkward silence before Twilight and Flare began to giggle softly and then they erupted into uproarious laughter.
“It would seem,” Twilight said in between giggles. “That we have been very silly ponies.”
Flare nodded as his laughter wound down and he took a few deep gulps of air.
“I-I don’t want to go back, I want to stay here in Equestria!” Flare said suddenly. “Please Twilight… will you let me stay?”
Twilight looked unimpressed, but her expression slowly changed until she had a smile that could rival Pinkie’s happiest mood. She suddenly flung herself forward and wrapped her forelegs around Flare, knocking the startled stallion to the ground.
“Of course you can!” She said, tears dripping onto Flare coat as she nuzzled him. She sat up and wiped her face, “I have to be honest with you too, the reason I didn’t tell you about the spell… it’s because I didn’t want you to go.”
That information took a moment to sink into Flare’s head, “So if we had simply told each other this a week ago…?”
“We could have avoided all of this” Twilight finished. The two of them stared at each other and then laughed once more.
“It would seem that an important lesson has been learned here.” Celestia said as she approached them and placed a wing over Twilight and Flare.
“Yes,” Twilight replied as the two of them got up. “You should be upfront with your feelings, not hide them until it’s too late.”
Flare shook his head; this was like the ending to a cartoon for children. “But I suppose it’s true though,” He said to himself. So this was it, he would stay here in Equestria and life would be grand. No big surprises or disasters or whatnot.
The large throne room doors were flung open as a group of mares, barged into the room. Rainbow Dash and Ditzy were the first to reach Flare as the tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly.
“Please don’t leave!” Ditzy pleaded, her golden eyes showing a rare moment of total focus as they stared into Flare’s. “Please?”
“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed. “Who’s gonna give me some awesome competition? You’re the only thing with four hooves that can keep up with me!”
“You guys…” Flare started to explain but the others had caught up and pounced on him too.
“You’ve provided me with such wonderful inspiration!” Rarity said.
“And my animals really seem to like you.” Fluttershy added.
“You’re nice to hug~” Pinkie giggled.
“An’ ah still gotta teach ya’ll to buck apple properly!”
Twilight smiled as Flare struggled against the ponypile before finally giving up and sighing.
“Girls…?” He paused, half expecting to be interrupted again. “I’m not going anywhere!” He said, making everypony pause. “If you’d all give me a minute to explain, I’ll say that I’m staying here in Equestria…”
His sentence was cut off again as he was hugged even tighter as everypony shed tears of joy. Even Twilight joined in.
“So uh… not that I’m ungrateful or anything,” Flare spoke up, though his voice was somewhat muffled. “But why are you all here and what made you think I was leaving?”
“Because I found out how to send you home and you and Twilight left for Canterlot so suddenly…” Sparkler had been a bit quiet up until now and suddenly squeaked when Flare pulled her into a hug.
“Well I suppose that his little excursion was a tad unplanned…” He shot a glance to Twilight and Celestia who both returned unassuming grins. “But you all don’t have to worry about anything, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Well my little ponies, it would seem that you have all come long way,” Celestia flared her wings before tucking them in at her sides. “What do you all say to a royal sleep-over?”
Pinkie’s eyes went as wide as saucers as she pulled her party cannon out of her mane and pulled the cord. There was a deafening bang and the whole audience hall was covered in streamers, balloons and other party goods.
“Um, Twilight? Where did she…?” Celestia looked around at her former throne room.
“That is something that will never be answered…” Twilight replied in a sombre tone, before breaking out into a wide smile. A slumber party with the Princess? This was gonna be great!!
The party itself was great. Applejack and Rarity had started another pillow fight but once Celestia stepped in, well calling it a curbstomp battle would have been an understatement. Leaving the farmer and the fashionista waving the white flag, Celestia looked around for her student and saw her chatting with Sparkler and Ditzy.
But something was missing from this little shindig, mostly on the location of a certain alicorn of the night.
“Surely you want to see your friends too sister.”
***
Though Flare was having fun, he needed some air and decided to head to his new favourite spot in the castle, the gardens.
The moon was hanging brightly in the sky and Flare enjoyed the quiet moonlit stroll. The soft crunching of the leaves beneath his hooves and the occasional noise from a nocturnal animal made for a natural symphony.
But there was something else too, an actual song was being sung. Following the sound he eventually found its source, Princess Luna.
The alicorn was sitting in a clearing, the pale light of the moon shining down, giving her an ethereal glow. A whole bunch of animals sat around her, sitting in silence as Luna sang the hauntingly beautiful melody.
He stood there and listened for a moment but when he took a step forward a twig snapped and Luna suddenly stopped, looking in his direction.
“Who goes there!?” She asked. “Show thyself!”
Flare stepped out into the clearing and he got the strangest sense of déjà vu. Luna noticed his smile and cocked her head, curious as to its reason and a little angry over the intrusion.
“And to what reason dost thou interrupt Us?”
Flare’s smile lessened somewhat, but a friendly one still remained. “Sorry Princess Luna, I just heard your song and it was really beautiful.”
Luna blushed slightly over the compliment, but did her best to keep her poker face. “And yet thou stands there grinning like a court jester. Did thou find Our song amusing?”
“What? Oh, no that’s not it.” Flare shook his head, a few glowing embers falling from it. “Seeing you here like this reminded me of when I met a pony named Selene… she’s your maid right?”
Luna sighed and mentally slapped herself. There was no way she could slip away and transform now without it looking suspicious. She would simply have to bite the bit and try to hold a conversation without panicking.
“Y-yes, Selene has been a good friend to Us for some time now…” Her heart raced a mile a minute and her voice was a little husky, though through good luck Flare didn’t seem to notice.
“I see…” He remembered the story properly now and the mare before him didn’t seem to be a scary creature of nightmares… she did seem to be scared of him though.
“Can I ask you something?” He suddenly said, catching the mare off guard.
“Y-yes?”
“Are you afraid of me?” He simply asked.
Luna suddenly stood up as storm clouds began to gather. Her eyes flashed with righteous fury as her wings beat up a powerful wind, causing Flare to dig his hooves into the ground to prevent being knocked down.
“We are not afraid of a little foal!” Her powerful voice reverberated throughout Flare’s body and he winced from the sheer volume of it. “It is you who should be afraid!”
“Why would I be afraid of you?” Flare asked back, deciding that it would simply be best to remain calm. “You seem nice enough, shouting and lightning aside.”
This threw Luna for a pitch as the wind died off as quickly as it had appeared and she lowered herself to the ground. “You… you do not fear Us?”
Flare shook his head, “Not really. I know that you used to be somepony called Nightmare Moon, but I don’t think that’s any reason to be afraid of you now… It’s not like you’re still her right?”
“I-I suppose that I…” Luna found herself fumbling for words. Why was this Pokémon so different from the last? She had expected something much different from the gentlecolt that stood before her. He reminded her of Twilight Sparkle in that sense.
“I suppose that we have not been entirely truthful with you either,” She said. “We thought of thou as a liar and a trickster, but t’would seem that Our assumptions were incorrect.”
Her body began to glow and shrink until the unicorn Selene stood in her place. Flare stared for a moment before he put the pieces together. “Selene? You’ve been pretending to be the Princess!?”
…
Luna smacked her forehead with enough force that she probably left a permanent dent. “No you foal, I am the princess!”
“Ooohh, that makes more sense.” Flare nodded wisely and smiled. “But why the charade? What made you think I was a liar?”
“Tia probably already mentioned it,” Luna responded, returning to her true form. “But thou are not the first Pokémon to grace Our land, but the other had less than pure intentions.”
“What happened?” Flare asked. “Did they do something bad?”
“That question t’would be quite the understatement, but it shall be a story for another time.” Luna fluffed her wings and looked towards the castle and the sounds of the party from within. “Tis rather cool tonight… perhaps thou could show me what Tartarus-raising racket is coming from the palace?”
“Escorting the Princess to the ball huh?” Flare smiled and nodded. “Sure, Let’s go Luna!”
***
Despite the rowdy festivities, almost everypony paused when the doors creaked open and Flare returned with Luna at his side.
“Sister? And Flare Blitz?” Even Celestia didn’t see that coming and she walked over to her younger sister, embracing her warmly. “And what’s going on here hmm?” She whispered into Luna’s ear.
“Tis a secret.” Luna giggled and danced away from her sister’s grasp. “Now that We are here, the fun shall be doubled!” She announced. “Where is the bobbing of the apples?”
“It’s not really that kind of party…” Twilight began to point out before Pinkie pointed to a large barrel full of water and delicious Apple Family brand apples.
“Right over there Luna!” Pinkie showed her and Twilight deadpanned.
Flare walked up to the unicorn’s side and brushed up against her. “I think that I’m really going to enjoy it here.”
Twilight blushed at the touch but agreed with him. “I’m glad you’re staying…” She whispered.
Flare looked down at her, a curious glint in his eye but before he could as what she meant by that, Twilight vanished in a flash of pale blue light.
“Wait, what?” Twilight looked around, not expecting the sudden scene change as Cadence’s smile rivalled that of Pinkie Pie.
“You. Are so. IN LOVE!!” Cadence giggled and bounced. “My little Twilight loves somepony!”
“Cadence!?” Twilight turned beet red and tried to hide behind her mane. “I-I…”
“Am so totally in love with that handsome devil of a Pokémon?” Cadence finished her sentence. “No point in trying to deny it little Twiley.”
Twilight just murmured, wishing she could dig herself a hole to hide in. That was until she saw the look in Cadence’s eyes and the subtle glow to her horn.
Twilight knew that look all too well. “No Cadence. You will not ‘help’. Not one spell.”
“Aww c’mon Twiley,” Cadence whined. “Pleeeeeaasseeee!”
“No Cadence!”
“Party pooper!”
Twilight teleported back to the party and was shortly followed by Cadence, who was still pouting. “Sorry about that Flare,” She apologised. “Cadence had something she wanted to talk about.”
“Which required a kidnapping?” He asked and Twilight nodded.
“Yes, apparently.” Twilight raised her voice so Cadence and Celestia could hear. “And if Princess Mi Amore Cadenza does something like that again, I’m telling Celestia!”
Celestia raised an eye at that and looked to Cadence, who smiled sheepishly in response.
“So where do we go from here?” Twilight asked. “If you’re going to stay in Equestria, do you know what you’ll do?”
Flare shook his head, “I hadn’t really thought that far ahead actually.” Twilight looked appalled at his absolute lack of an actual plan for the future, but his impulsiveness was one of the things that she liked about him. “I can’t battle here, but I can still race… I don’t know.”
“So this is your happily ever after then?” Ditzy asked him.
Pinkie’s whole body suddenly twitched violently and Twilight sighed. “I knew this was too easy…” She muttered as a large tear opened in the air in the centre of the throne room. Streams of energy poured from it as everypony scrambled away from it, surprised as to what the hay was going on.
A powerful flash of light burst forth from the centre of the portal and a creature the likes of which Equestria had never seen emerged from it.
It had a large white body, similar to that of a pony’s, though more elongated. It had a grey torso and a large glowing gold ring around its waist. Standing at nearly 10 feet tall, its red eyes scanned the room before falling directly upon Flare Blitz.
“I-I don’t believe it!” Flare stammered, staring at the creature before them.
“Who is that? What is that?” Twilight said as Shining Armour took a defensive position in front of her and the Princesses, his horn glowing fiercely.
“It is about time I found you!” A commanding voice resonated in their heads. “You have been rather difficult to locate.”
“W-why are you here?” Flare asked, his voice a little shaky. “Lord Arceus?”
“Arceus?” Twilight repeated. She had heard Flare mention that word a few times before, but who was he?
“The lost Ponyta, Flare Blitz” Arceus said. “I have come here in order to take you home!”