Chapter 3
The Rise of Solar Flare
Scootaloo got up and out of bed as she yawned. “Scootaloo you’re going to school, aren’t you?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “I know, I know, you don’t have to tell me twice.” said Scootaloo. She put on her school uniform and her saddle bags. “What’s with that power?” Scootaloo asked herself. “All can it does is to enslave those that look at it?”
Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon were lounging next to Scootaloos motor bike. “Can’t wait to see the look on her face.” said Sweetie. She was left behind with the motorcycle yesterday. It wasn’t long until the orange pegasus showed up. “Good morning Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle greeted. “Thanks for taking my bike back home,” said Scootaloo as got on her motorcycle. “I’m going to need it to…” Her line was cut short when she started the engine, causing the bike to fall apart. Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon began to laugh at Scootaloo, but the orange mare sighed. “I guess I deserved it for yesterday.” said Scootaloo.
Applejack’s old truck stopped where the bike broke apart earlier. “What are you waitin for?” asked Applebloom. “Oh right, we’re going to miss school at this rate.” said Silver Spoon as the three hopped on into the truck. “Why would they do this to you?” Applebloom asked Scootaloo. “It’s a long story,” Scootaloo replied. “That’s their reason.” There was silence between the four. “I startin to hear rumors about that black titan,” said Applebloom. “I wondered if it has to do with that box Scoots had been talkin about.” “Beats me, too bad I didn’t get to see that titan.” said Scootaloo.
“You have to keep this a secret Nyx.” Jorgen lectured the black alicorn. “There are rumors about Knightmare spreading around Equestria, and we don’t anyone to know about the project.” “But what about the militia?” asked Nyx, who was worried about the Pandora Project. “It’s okay Nyx, they agreed to keep it between us,” Jorgen replied with a heartwarming grin. “Now you are dismissed, so you can get to school.” Nyx eagerly got aboard Rainbow Dashs jeep before it took off. “I can’t wait for a new Daring Doo movie,” said Dash. “It’s going to be based on the book about the spirit crystals.” “My class is supposed to watch it for a field trip.” said Nyx.
Almost everyone involved in yesterday’s incident attended Yamato’s funeral. It was a very sad morning. “He was a righteous warrior until end,” said the pony priest as he held the bible of Celestia. “He had done an noble deed that spelt suicide and saved us all. Let us not forget the happy and delightful times we had with him.” Kairi placed her brother’s cell phone on his coffin then returned to the sorrowful guests. “Salute!” ordered the Alliance general. Not only Alliance officials such as Dante saluted for Yamato, but the Equestian militia as well. Pumpkin Cake started to cry and hugged Pound Cake, her brother. “If only our parents were still alive.” she said. Pound showed remorse not only for Yamato, but the deceased Mr. Cake and Ms. Cake.
“It’s sad that Yamato didn’t get to live,” said Rainbow Dash. “I wished that I showed up to help him.” “Sometimes you can’t save everyone Dash,” said Nyx. “I had to save as many ponies as I could on Judgment Day.” The jeep stopped at New Canterlot Academy for Foreign Students. “It looks like we’re here Nyx.” said Dash. “Thanks Dash, I owe you one.” said Nyx as she got out of the jeep and walked into the front door.
“Good morning Nyx.” said Sweetie Belle, who was still giggling from the incident with a certain motorcycle. “What’s so funny Sweetie?” asked Nyx. “She had to get her revenge on me,” said Scootaloo. “Anyways, how did you survive?” “They shot my amulet,” Nyx replied. “So I had Rarity fix it for me.” There was silence. “Still, we got a field trip to a Daring Doo movie,” Scootaloo continued. “But the other class gets to watch the Hunger Games, so it’ll be interesting.” Two classes started to leave school, so the ex-crusaders joined them for the trip. Among one of the students was Diamond Tiara, she noticed Scootaloo then compared her to the mysterious tactician from yesterday. “Did she really help us?” she asked herself.
“This is unacceptable!” yelled a Neo Axis general. “First, the Alliance opened Pandora’s Box, then a sly circus freak destroyed our camp!” He threw his chair across the room, but Dylan dodged it. “Please clam yourself sir.” asked Dylan. “All right, can you tell me why Krauser sold us out?” the general asked back. “I’m afraid that the horse responsible for the destruction of the camp took on his personality just to exploit us,” Dylan answered. “She might be a expert on titans.” “So Krauser is a P.O.W. now, he was a good man.” said the general. “But I am aware that he is willing to work with the most dominant side.”
“I will have to check on the secret weapon, I vowed to teach those desperate dogs a lesson they’ll never forget.” said Dylan as he left the briefing room. He remembered the day he fought with the spy. “I will try to avenge you as promised Krauser.” He thought to himself for a second then let out a sigh. “Will you help me Fire-edge?” he asked himself.
After both movies ended, the two classes went to Hamburger Plaza. This area of New Canterlot was famous because some citizens mostly ate their lunches there. During lunchtime for the field trip, Scootaloo saw Diamond Tiara and felt that she needs answers for question about yesterday. The orange pegasus walked up to Diamond, and then the pampered unicorn just stared at her rudely. Scootaloo triggered the power in her left eye and asked “Are you a member of the Equestrian militia?” “Yes, I am part of the militia.” Diamond Tiara answered obediently, under the influence of Scootaloo. “Who taught you how to pilot a titan?” the orange pegasus asked again. “Vinyl taught me how to pilot the titan.” Diamond replied.
Scootaloo ceased the use of her powers and walked away, but she realized that she forgot to wipe Diamond’s memory. Scootaloo used her power on Diamond Tiara again. “Can you forget that we had the talk?” she asked. This time, Diamond was not under the influence. The only thing that she believed is that Scootaloo was trying a mere prank. “You don’t scare me you freak!” yelled Diamond Tiara as she moved somewhere else in Hamburger Plaza. “Why is my power not working?” Scootaloo asked herself in panic, she knew Diamond will remember no matter what.
“Can you tell me about Pandora’s Box?” asked Applebloom. “Sorry, but it doesn’t ring a bell.” Nyx lied, knowing that the Pandora Project must be censored to the public. “Maybe you can try kendo, doesn’t hurt to learn how to defend yourself.” Sweetie Belle walked up to Nyx, traumatized. “What’s wrong Sweetie?” asked Nyx, she was worried. “A cop showed up in a titan,” Sweetie replied. “He got the whole bank cornered.” Nyx looked around until she saw the titan Sweetie was talking about. “Oh, he just a member of Crystal Bell,” said Nyx. “As you know about it, they’re the secret police Luna had founded after Judgment Day.” Sweetie Belle began to calm down, knowing that Princess Luna had done something to replace the royal guards that disbanded.
Scootaloo noticed Cheerilee across Hamburger Plaza. The former teacher of Ponyville came to Scootaloo’s side and asked her “Pulling pranks as usual?” “Yep, I got Diamond Tiara riled up.” said Scootaloo as she grinned. “Anyways, can I ask you some questions?” “Sure, just keep my training with card games personal.” Cheerile replied. Scootaloo blinked, triggering the power in her left eye. “Who is Stalin?” asked Scootaloo. “He was a ruthless dictator of the Soviet Union in Russia.” Cheerilee answered, under Scootaloo’s will. The orange pegasus blinked again, return her left eye to normal. She blinked again, triggering the power once more. “Who killed Lincoln?” she asked again. Cheerilee just stared at Scootaloo’s left eye then said “If you want to know, try taking Earth history classes.”
Nyx watched as an Earthling does something only unicorns and alicorns can do, using actual magic. “What is he doing?” she asked Applebloom. “I’d swear you’re always falling behind the date, do you?” Applebloom replied. “He’s infected with Unicorn Syndrome, some sort of disease that allows those humans to use magic.” Nyx felt dumb for a moment, she believed that she needs to keep up with the time. “I have to admit, that disease has been too helpful for doctors to find the cure.” said Sweetie Belle. “After all, we have to evolve sometimes.”
“Of course, it only works once per target.” Scootaloo thought to herself for a moment until Diamond Tiara spoke through the bush. “So you’re the one who helped us, didn’t you?” she said. “Yeah, so?” said Scootaloo. “Maybe if you dress up more regally, you’ll might be able to convince Glida into letting you control the militia.” said Diamond Tiara. Scootaloo realized that the ghost of Celestia gave her power, so she must look just as good as she was powerful in order to be a decent leader. “Thanks for the advice Diamond, I’ll go to Ponyville when the trip is over.” said Scootaloo as she left to meet with her friends for the remainder of the trip.
“Order 66 has arrived!” warned Pound Cake. Pinkie Pie looked out the window of Sugarcube Corner for Earthlings throwing moldy cupcakes and stale peeps at the bakery itself. Instead, she saw anargument between a heartless human and a griffon. “I’m afraid it not going to end well.” said Pinkie as her stomach growled. When she’s not hungry when it does, it means that a fight is going break out. Pumpkin Cake hid herself so she’ll be safe.
“Just admit it! You’re nothing but a desperate gang member!” demanded Glida. “You’re not the boss of me, I can do what I want!” argued the blonde haired Earthling, who was wearing a typical gang outfit. “Just because you’re a fighter doesn’t means you can…” before Glida finished her line, the human punched her in the head. “Flock off featherface, your gang is nothing compared to mine!” he taunted. Then a titan aimed its net rifle at the two. “Don’t you have something better to do than to arguing?” asked the furious pilot. “You better count yourself lucky that the feds showed up.” said the Earthling as he walked away from Glida. “Good riddance for now Jack!” yelled Glida.
In the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was makingan unusual dress. It consists of a knight’s upper armor and steel boots, with white fabric with light blue highlights used to make the shirt for ponies. The skirt cape was made with that same fabric, with the trimmings made with golden fabric. The wing coverings, which was popular with teen pegasus hence it doesn’t restrict the ability to fly, was enchanted so it’ll give away the illusion of white feathers falling off when the wings move. Rarity was making some final touches to the helm designed for the dress itself. She then considers the dress complete and walked up to the orange pegasus. “Your dress is ready madam.” said Rarity. “Good, within two minutes, you must forget that you made this dress.” ordered the pegasus with a left eye looking like a dragon’s. She neatly packed the dress itself in a briefcase then left.
The guard titan was riddled with bullets before the pilot had to eject. “What the hell?” asked Glida, she was very angry with the Ronins for breaking the law her gang were trying to protect. “They gone too far with us by scaring Jack away from the fight!” yelled the pilot, who was a member of the Ronins. Glida could not believe that she ended up in another gang war in Ponyville. But luck spared her when the leader of the Ronins told his gang to head back home. Glida suddenly received a text message from an anonymous sender known as Solar Flare. She starts to read it. “Bring your gang to the public monorail; we’ll talk during the ride.”
“Just as I planned,” said Scootaloo, who was holding a briefcase. “All that’s left for me to do now is to take the form of my other self.” She got the aboard the monorail train, and disappeared. It wasn’t long until the Equestrian militia showed up and boarded the train. Diamond Tiara looked out the window until she received the cell phone call from Solar Flare. “Tell me this, what are the Galactic Alliance doing with ponies?” Solar Flare asked. “They’re treating us just the same as their own kind.” Diamond answered. “Now what are Neo Axis doing to ponies?” Solar Flare asked again. “They’re using us as slaves and can do what they want to do to us.” Diamond answered. “Very well, tell your gang to meet me in the first passenger cab.” Solar Flare ordered.
“Was that Solar Flare?” asked Glida. “Yes, it’s her,” Diamond Tiara replied. “She’s waiting in the first passenger cab.” “All right, let’s go to the front of the train.” Glida ordered and the Equestrian militia went to the first train car in the group. When they arrived, it was empty. Nothing is there, excluding a regal pegasus knight dressed in a style Celestia deemed noble. “Understanding is a part of political nature that was forgotten,” said the knight in a familiar voice. “And now that you learned to understand, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Solar Flare.” “Thanks for your help yesterday,” said Glida, she remembered the voice from yesterday’s incident. “But you still got to work on your stealth skills.”
“I am aware of my flaws and you should too,” said Solar Flare. “That’s why we must join together to overthrow Neo Axis.” “But we’re just a small gang,” protested Pound Cake. “There’s no way we can beat them!” “That’s why we need to enlist the help of Princess Luna.” Solar Flare had something planned. “Did anypony forget that Luna was Princess Celestia’s sister?” asked Fluttershy, the once shy pegasus turned into a brave, defensive sniper for the militia. “Now I get the idea,” said Glida. “You remind of that princess, so there’s hope after all.” “You catch on very quick Glida,” said Solar Flare. “Tonight is the tenth anniversary of Celestia’s demise, and we will meet Luna in the event only to set fire to hope as the Knights of the Sun.” The entire gang agreed, knowing that they need all the help they can get.
On the highway of New Canterlot, a parade float carrying the statue of Celestia drove slow enough for everyone to see. It reminded Earthlings that they shouldn’t throw happiness away, but it reminded Equestians of the tragic moment of Judgment Day. Princess Luna rode on the parade float with Crystal Bell titans as armed escorts. During the event, Celestia’s chariot showed up, blocking the parade float. “Is this some kind of insult?” asked a former royal guard. “It is not the insult, but rather a new fire that is burning.” The mysterious knight declared. The media crew aimed their cameras at the knight, going as far as zooming in.
Luna was not surprised, she predicted that her sister had something up in her sleeves despite the death of the well-loved princess herself. “Who are you?” asked Luna. “My name is Solar Flare,” declared the knight. “Now let this be a warning for the strong, hinder or kill the weak and we will destroy you!” Those words could make Neo Axis very angry, but they inspired Luna. “I am glad that you’re willing to fight for the sake of my sister,” she announced. “But do you have an army?” “The militia is willing to fight by my side,” answered Solar Flare. “But I need your help as well if you want to rid Equestia of Neo Axis.”
Nyx was shocked, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing on T.V. “Mom, is that the ghost of Celestia?” she asked Twilight. “It can’t be,” said Twilight Sparkle, who was very shocked about Solar Flare’s sudden appearance. “Princess Celestia would never wage war at all!” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the Alliance emergency code. “What’s seems to be a problem?” asked the moderator. “A wacko named Solar Flare is trying to deface Celestia’s personality.” Twilight answered. “I know, we gotten a lot of reports about her,” said the moderator. “So far, she’s bent on destroying Neo Axis and saving the slaves.”
One of the Crystal Bell titans suddenly turned on Luna. “The jig is up both of you,” declared the pilot. “If you don’t turn yourself in Solar Flare, the princess will die!” Solar Flare just stood on the chariot while witnesses started to panic. “I’m afraid you made a big mistake,” she declared. “The militia still got the stolen titans.” Two Neo Axis titans, recolored to match Celestia’s nobility, appeared out of nowhere and opened fire on the traitor. The titan fell to its knees as the pilot loses control. “Damn you!” roared the pilot. “Don’t you have any shame at all Harris?” Luna asked furiously. “I had you in my trap until they showed up,” said Harris. “Now you have to worry about reinforcements!”
“Is Nyx around you?” asked the moderator. Twilight knew that Nyx was working for the Alliance, so she believed that security needs all the help it can get. “She’s right next to me, so hand over my phone to her.” Twilight answered as she gave up the phone to Nyx. “What’s going on?” Nyx asked. “We got a situation in Highway 17 and your support is needed there,” said the moderator. “So we’re sending Knightmare to a location nearest to you.” “Roger that,” said Nyx. “I’ll meet the crew at the coordinates you given me as soon as possible.” Nyx hung the phone call up and gave the cell phone back to Twilight. “Gotta go mom,” said Nyx as she ran off.“The Alliance needs my help.”
“Here they come Pound,” warned Diamond Tiara. “They’re armed with gatling rifles.” The two titans went past Princess Luna and stood guard. Meanwhile, two Neo Axis titans, in their original colors, traveled through the highway. But bad luck came to the pilots when two wrist stakes impaled their titans and started to pull them. “Eat dirt you slowpokes!” Vinyl Scratch taunted as the wires connected to the stake retracted. The impaled titans soon started to tear apart and explode, killing the pilots.
Nyx’s codec system started to tickle her ear, so she answered it very quickly. “Good news Nyx,” said Jorgen. “Solar Flare’s group took out the invaders, so no need for Knightmare for the time being.” She let out a sigh then said “Alright, keep me posted on Solar Flare.”
“I am very impressed with how you dealt with the spy,” said Princess Luna, she started to sense the strange power within Solar Flare. “But it seems that you possess the Cybernova, great power my sister had sacrificed for immortality.” “So that’s the name of the power I got,” Scootaloo, who was using the persona of Solar Flare, thought to herself about it. “I still got a lot to learn.” “You catch on pretty quick Luna,” said Solar Flare. “After all, we share the same enemy.” “In return for saving my life,” declared Luna. “I will lend you the spare weapons Crystal Bell has.” “Thank you for giving me the essential equipment,” said Solar Flare. “My knights will use them well.” Celestia’s chariot turned around and left. “The world needs a hero like her,” Luna thought to herself. “Neo Axis has gone too far to earn the forgiveness of my people.”
Whoever is writing this story, he’s about to take a very original turn in where it’s going.
- Pinkie Pie