//------------------------------// // Epilogue – A Pony who found his Place. // Story: A Pony out of Place // by Ausbrony //------------------------------// Epilogue – A Pony who found his Place. There was nothing but darkness. Flare looked in every direction but the dark void seemed to stretch on forever.                     “Where am I…? What happened?” He asked these questions but received no response. He closed his eyes and searched his memories, trying to recall how he got here.                     “I remember fighting Arceus and using magic to almost win…” He had almost won… does that mean he lost? Did Arceus really send him back home?                     “Dammit! I want to stay in Equestria. I want to stay with my friends… with Twilight.” He screamed this as loud as he could, but his voice didn’t echo and he received no response. Maybe Arceus decided to just dump him in an empty void, doomed to live in darkness. … … And why was he uncomfortably warm? Flare Blitz rolled over and suddenly found himself falling for a moment before hitting a solid surface with a loud ‘thump’.                     “Ow…” He muttered and opened his eyes. Wherever he was, it was dark, save for the small amount of light his mane and tail were emitting.                     “Okay, unknown location. Now what did Viri teach me to do again?” He ran through a mental checklist of what to do when someone found themselves in a situation like this.                     “1. Check for injuries.” He flexed his legs and neck, but other than feeling a little strained he felt fine, until a sharp pain resonated in his brain. “Okay, I feel tired, my itchy horn is gone, but now I have the mother of all headaches.”                     “2. Check your surroundings.” He looked around, but it was dark. He couldn’t feel the wind and the temperature was comfortable, which meant he must be indoors. “Am I still in Equestria?” He was getting worried now and his breathing quickened.                     “3. Don’t panic.” “Probably a bit late to remember that piece of advice, but a glint on something shiny caught his eye and he noticed a door handle. “Let’s check behind door number one then,” He muttered and raised a hoof, opening to small wooden door. There was a light click and the door opened, into surprise, surprise… more darkness. Did someone forget to pay the power bill or something? He then heard something… a giggle? “Dude, that’s creepy,” He whispered and then the room was filled with light. “SURPRISE!!!!” Pinkie looked around and blinked. She had been certain that Flare Blitz was standing there a moment ago. She glanced up to see him dangling from the rafters, shaking like a leaf. “What are you doing up there silly?” She giggled. “The rafters are for batponies, not Pokémon.” Flare dropped back down and stared at Pinkie… she sure could be an odd pony. … … Wait a minute!? Flare looked around and saw that he was in the library in Ponyville, with dozens of ponies that he recognised. Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, AJ, Vanilla Bean, Mynx… all of his pony friends were here.                     “I… I’m still in Equestria,” He said slowly as it all registered in his brain.                     “Well duh!” Rainbow said. “You put up one heck of a fight so that Arceus guy let you stay”. Flare smiled widely before wincing in pain again, this headache was monstrous. There was a solid thump against each of his legs and looked down to see four fillies attached to each of them.                     “You really get to stay?” Applebloom asked hopefully.                     “Cause it would be awesome if you did.” Scootaloo said.                     “I really like your mane!” Sweetie Belle chirped.                     “Are you gonna marry Twilight?” Dinky asked. Flare knelt down to give them all a hug. “It looks like I do get to stay here, that is, if everyone wants me to?”                     “I believe we have already voiced our rather strong opinions of that particular topic.” Rarity stated. “We are not about to change that now.” She walked closer and suddenly ran a hoof through his even more brilliant mane. It flickered slowly and had an ethereal glow to it now, much like Celestia’s mane. “And I must say, you look divine.”                     “Now, Rare.” Applejack pulled the unicorn mare back. “He ain’t yours an’ you know it.” Rarity pouted and Spike glared at Flare. He would learn that stallion’s secrets. Flare looked around and noticed something. There were a lot of ponies crammed in here, except the one he wanted to see the most. He looked to Ditzy, who was still trying to pry Dinky from his leg. “Where’s Twilight?”   ***   Outside, on a hill overlooking Ponyville, four figures were deep in conversation.                     “And that is the problem.” Arceus said. “Should he remain as he is now, then his life will be in great danger.”                     “Is there anything we can do?” Twilight’s eyes watered. “You are the most powerful Pokémon ever right? Surely there must be something you can do?”                     “There is a way, it has been done before with success… but.”                     “But what?” Twilight almost yelled. “Is it dangerous?” Arceus shook his head and looked down at the little unicorn. “No little one, it is not dangerous. But it will change Flare irreversibly.” “What will change me?” The sudden question caused all present to turn to the source of the voice and saw Flare standing there. “If we’re talking about me, then can I join in?” Twilight ran over to him and stopped in front of him. Flare had already been taller than her, but after evolving…                     “You’re too tall to hug now,” Twilight pouted adorably and Flare smiled, leaning down and draping his neck over hers.                     “Well I guess it’s just something to get used to.” Flare was slightly taller than Celestia now and his head still hurt after he smacked it on the door frame of the library. Twilight broke the hug and looked up at him. “So how did you know we were here?” She asked him.                     “Well one of the pegasi at the party mentioned seeing you head this way.” Flare explained. He motioned towards Arceus and shrugged. “Plus he kinda stands out, even from a distance.” He suddenly winced again as his head pounded and Twilight placed a worried hoof on his chest.                     “Are you alright?” Flare took a deep breath as the pain subsided. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just a headache.” Celestia took a step forward placed a wing on his shoulder. “I’m afraid your affliction is much more than that.”                     “What do you mean?” Flare glanced at Twilight, who looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. “Alright, what the hell is going on?” “It is because of that little stunt you pulled during our match.” Arceus said. “You used magic.”                     “Yeah, sooooaaarrrggghhhh!?” Flare suddenly doubled over, his horn crackled and sparked with magical power and his whole body was wracked with pain.                     “You have two choices. Come back with me and I can purge the magic from your body before it’s too late.” Arceus stopped hovering and took a step forward, leaning close to Flare. “Or stay here, you can still be saved but you will have to give up all that you are.” “Arceus, please-?” Twilight went to stop him, she wanted to be with Flare but she could bear to see him hurt like this. Everyone suddenly jumped when Flare grit his teeth and slammed a hoof into the ground. “I… already… made my… decision!” The energy around him crackled and sparked with a renewed intensity. “So do what you have to do!” Arceus closed his eyes and nodded. “As you wish.” He turned to Celestia. “Would you be so kind as to assist me?” Celestia spread her wings and her horn lit up with a shining, golden light. The ring around Arceus’ waist also shone and the whole area was suddenly filled with the brilliant light.   May Fate guide you.   ***   Flare hadn’t returned with Twilight and his friends were starting to get worried.                     “Do ya think that Arceus fella would try somethin’ funny?” Applejack suddenly questioned and the reaction was instantaneous. Rainbow Dash and Ditzy suddenly shot from the room and returned a second later.                     “There’s something funny happening from the top of Ponyville Hill!” Ditzy exclaimed. “It looks like the sunrise.”                     “Sunrise?” Fluttershy replied, tilting her head in confusion. “But it’s only early evening.” Six mares suddenly ran towards that hill like their lives depended on it. For all they knew, somepony’s life did depend on them getting there as quickly as possible.   ***   Twilight had her eyes squeezed shut, shielding herself from the blinding glare. After a few moments, the light died down and Twilight blinked a few times to clear the spots she was seeing. What lay before her caused her to gasp in surprise. A large unicorn stallion lay on the ground. His coat was a creamy white and his mane was a stunning blend of red and orange. He groaned audibly and struggled to get to his hooves.                     “My aching everything.” He grumbled as he swayed a bit and decided that the grass was a better place to be right now. He raised a hoof and brushed a lock of hair from his face before freezing. “What the?”                     “Allow me to explain,” Celestia said. “The magic inside of you was unstable. The fact that you wielded it like you did was a miracle in its own right. But you were never meant to harness such power and how you did so is a mystery to me.” Celestia flexed her wings and gave Flare a moment to process that.                     “So we were left with two choices, either return you to your own world where magic’s influence would be cut off… or this, giving you a form that could safely resonate with the power that you acquired.”                     “So what does this mean?” Flare asked her. “Am I no longer a Pokémon?”                     “In a sense,” Arceus replied for her. “Your soul, if you will, is that of a Pokémon, even I cannot change that. Your body is pony and with that comes changes. You no longer have ties to nature and the elements. Water will no longer cause you harm but you cannot harness your power to absorb fire.” “So no elemental strengths and weakness, but no more Flash Fire either…” Flare pondered on this for a moment. “What about my attacks?”                     “They may or may not return, I cannot say. The same can be said with magic too, you may be able to harness it like a normal unicorn, or you will have lost any and all powers that you once possessed. Only fate and time will tell.” Flare nodded, that was pretty sucky news, but hey! At least he got to stay in Equestria. Speaking of which, he still had one more important thing to do. He motioned for Twilight to come over and she knelt down onto the grass in front of him.                     “Remember that I said that I had something important to tell you?” Twilight nodded and let out a breath that she didn’t realise she’d been holding. Flare paused and looked towards Arceus and the princesses.                     “Would you guys mind giving us some privacy please?” Celestia smiled and nodded. “Of course, come along you two!”                     “Fine,” Luna grumbled, it was just getting good though. Celestia chuckled and walked alongside her younger sister. “And perhaps you can explain to me how you knew teh rules of an official Pokémon battle hmm?” Luna snorted and fluffed up her wings. "It's a Princess thing.”   ***   Flare watched them leave and once they were out of earshot he turned back to Twilight. “Okay, so as I was saying…” Flare suddenly realised that he had no idea how to word it. “Okay, so um…”                     “I think I understand,” Twilight suddenly said. “And you need a little time to work it all out right?” Flare was surprised, Twilight could be quite perceptive. “Yeah, I want to do this properly. You deserve that much at least.”                     “I’ll wait as long as you need me to,” she whispered. “Neither of us is going anywhere, so I’ll always be right here… okay?” Flare smiled and closed his eyes, nodding softly. He really had fallen in love with the most beautiful and wonderful mare in the world. “I’ll try not to keep you waiting too long.” “Y’know what this calls for?” Pinkie said, popping out of nowhere, along with the rest of their friends. Flare jumped, but there were no rafters for him to cling to so he fell right back down again. “You’re going to say party right?”                     “I was gonna say a group hug, but a party is also good.” Pinkie grinned widely, pulling all her friends into a hug. How did her legs stretch like that? “Uh, Pink?” AJ said. “Didn’t we all jus’ finish a party?” “Duh! That was a ‘Flare gets to stay in Equestria Party’,” Pinkie replied. “This is a… ‘We all Get to be Best Friends Forever’ party!” “But we already know that we’re BFF’s,” Rainbow Dash said. “But it doesn’t hurt to be reminded,” Twilight smiled. Flare stared up at the Equestrian sky once more.                     “I’m going to miss home, no doubt about that,” He wondered. “But I’ve found my happiness here… and the best friends a guy could hope for.” There were probably going to be many more adventures waiting for him. The good times and the bad always walked hoof in hoof, but Flare was going to make his life here matter. His friends were heading back to the library to join the party and he followed them, smiling widely. “There had better be cake left!” He said. Until next time everypony!