Epilogue - Love, Life, and Until We Meet Again.
“C’mon, boy, put yer back into it!” Supernova yelled as Flare Blitz dragged a heavy barrel attached to a harness that he wore. “Yer only got a little bit to go!”
A very young Ponyta panted heavily as he ran around the oval-shaped racetrack, crossing the finishing line and collapsing in a heap. Supernova went to walk over to him when a female Rapidash smacked him upside the head.
“Just what in blazes do you think you’re doing to our son?” she said angrily, unhitching the young colt. “He’s too young to be doing this sort of thing.” She picked Flare up and headed back to the barn.
“Aw, C’mon, Ash. I’m only tryin’ to toughen up the boy. He ain’t hurt!”
“Maybe so, but I hope you like the stars!”
“Whu, why?”
“Because you’re sleeping outside tonight!” she said, slamming the barn door shut in his face.
“What!? Oh, C’MON!!”
The scene played out as a tall, black shadow watched from nearby with a curious look on her face.
~*~
“How is he?”
“Not good. His magic circuit has almost completely burned out.”
“Can we fix it?”
“With time, but his life-force…?”
“There’s… there’s nothing we can do to fix that.”
“How long?”
“A few months… maybe a year, year and a half at most?”
“And after all he did…”
*~*
Flare Blitz ran through the burning forest, searching for any wild Pokémon that might be in trouble. A few Pidove hid in a small alcove in a tree. Flare coaxed them out and had them fly to the north, away from the encroaching flames. The heat was intense, but Flare barely felt it.
Trees crackled and burned, falling around him, but Flare couldn’t see anyone else. Did the other Swordsmen find everymon else?
The tree line exploded as an extremely angry Garchomp burst into the clearing, firing Flamethrowers in random directions.
“This is your fault?” Flare yelled. “Do you have any idea how many Pokémon you’ve hurt?”
“So what!? I’ll burn everything to the ground! I’ll burn it all until the pain stops!” She slammed the ground, sending a powerful Stone Edge at the Ponyta, who nimbly dodged the attack.
“Hey, calm down, okay?” Flare’s plea went unheeded as the Garchomp continued to rage. Thick smoke began to choke the air, and even though the flames wouldn’t hurt him, the smoke could suffocate him.
“Look, just stop, and maybe I can help you!” Flare suddenly ran at the enraged Dragon. He had an idea, a very stupid idea. The Garchomp screamed again, opening her mouth and aiming a Hyper Beam. At the last second, Flare activated his Quick Attack and closed the gap, pushing the dragon’s head up as she fired the attack harmlessly into the sky.
A dark shadow watched as three other Pokémon arrived some time later to find Flare holding a sobbing Garchomp amidst the charred remains of the forest, a gentle rain washing away the flames…
*~*
“He’s still out?”
“Yeah. The doctor says he’s stable… but…”
“But y’all don’t know when he’ll…?”
“If-if only we’d gotten here sooner…”
*~*
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Despite the words that had been exchanged, despite the words that he himself had said, it still hurt.
It hurt so much.
“Love…” Flare walked endlessly. He didn’t know where he was going, and he didn’t care. The fact was that everything that made him happy was gone, and he didn’t know if he could get it back.
“So that’s it; you gave up?” A shadow asked.
“No… I thought I would, but in the end, I just couldn’t.”
“Why?” the shadow asked. “You had nothing, your love was taken, and your life had no direction. So why?”
“I just couldn’t. If you lose your way in life, there’s always a way to find the path again.”
“Oh?” The shadow seemed curious. “And what might that be?”
Flare looked at the city that lay ahead of him, perched atop a mountain in the middle of a lake. But more importantly, standing on the road ahead of him was three Pokémon: a sassy, little Pikachu, an overly friendly and flamboyant Espeon… and a stoic, battle-happy Garchomp.
“Friends, family, someone to love… that’s the reason why I can go on. Why I can always go on, no matter what!”
“Friends, huh?”
*~*
“Can we remove it?”
“His state is stable, but delicate. I would advise against it.”
“But we don’t know what it’s doing to him… what ‘she’ is doing to him.”
“We’re administering daily scans. his mental health is stable… He’s dreaming.”
“Dreaming? What about, I wonder?”
“We don’t know; even she can’t see them.”
*~*
Flare had no idea what was going on. The sky that had once been a clear, crystal blue was now a swirling sea of chaos. It was as if the town itself was floating in the swirling, black clouds.
Soon, he was almost there. Every human and Pokémon in the town was gathering at the gardens in the middle of town, and he was almost there. And then he tripped. A loose cobblestone slid out from under his hooves, and the Fire Horse Pokémon went face-first into the pavement. He barely had time to register the pain before the purple energies caught up with him and he was sucked into the void.
“So that’s how it happened?” The shadow stood next to him in the endless void. “I’m surprised you survived.”
“Almost didn’t, but I had help.” As he said that, a golden light appeared.
“Are you lost?” a soothing voice asked him. “Do you want help finding your way?”
Flare could not respond, but ever so slightly he moved his head as he continued to reach for the light.
“Alright then; I will help you...”
“So she helped you?”
“Yeah. It took me a while to figure it out, and I don’t think she knows that I know… but she saved my life.”
The shadow snorted. “Always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Yeah, but it’s alright.”
The shadow sighed. “I suppose…”
*~*
“I want you to know that no matter what…I-I love you more than the moon, the stars, and everything in between. I know that, somewhere deep down, you can hear me… Please, come back to me."
*~*
Oh man, so much pain. Flare Blitz groaned as he opened his eyes; they felt as heavy as lead.
The room he was in was dark; the only light was coming from the pale glow of a heart monitor. Its rhythmic beeping was already getting on his nerves.
“Where?” He tried to speak, but a tube down his throat almost choked him. Grabbing it with a hoof, he frantically pulled it out, coughing and spitting out bile as he finally got it out. He took several deep breaths and laid his head back down when a dizzy spell washed over him.
“Urgh, *cough* where am I?” The room was too dark to see any details, and Flare noticed that his mane was back to normal.
“Looks like a hospital, maybe?” He looked to his left and saw a transparent figure standing next to his bed. “So… what will you do now?” The mare looked straight into his eyes, her teal cat-like gaze as intimidating as always.
He gave Nightmare a weary smile. “I… have a promise to keep, right?”
Nightmare Moon looked away. “But you can’t even stand. How can I expect you to—”
Flare shifted, sliding off of the bed and onto the floor. “See, I can—” He was cut off as he fell to the floor with a painful thud.
“Heh, that looked painful.”
“Oh, shut up,” Flare grumbled. “I got this!” It took a while, but he eventually picked himself up off of the cold floor and stood on shaky hooves. “See, I told you.”
“Well, look at you. But you can’t do this. Your magic is… well, it’s recovered, but should you really do this?”
Flare opened the door; a faint pale blue glow that the Alicorn Amulet was giving off lit up the room enough to see it.
“So, where exactly are we going?” Nightmare fell into step next to him. “We need to go to the Dais where the sun and moon used to be raised.”
“Really? Well, I was hoping to take a little walk first. There are a few things I want to talk about first.”
“Talk?”
The sun was rising as Flare walked towards the castle. Leaving the hospital wasn’t difficult; the staff had paid no attention whatsoever to him walking out the front door. The hospital he was in seemed pretty close to his destination, and he made it there in about fifteen minutes. Walking around the back and into the gardens, he was glad to see that the damage to this area was minimal. It was a pretty stark contrast to the castle, which looked like it was barely standing. Temporary support pillars held many of the walls and towers in place, and signs of construction were everywhere.
“Wow… I wonder how long I was asleep.” Flare yawned.
“Even I am unsure; the passage of time is difficult to gauge in the Dreamscape.”
“Speaking of that,” Flare said. Walking around in the warm sunshine made him feel considerably better. “I know I was dreaming… and you were watching?”
Nightmare nodded, closing her eyes and recalling what she had seen and heard. “You’ve certainly led an interesting life. Born with great expectations already on you, you’ve defied them and lain your own path in life. You found friendship, love, and then great pain… yet you rose above it and pushed forward… You are quite admirable.”
Flare let out a low whistle, “Quite the praise coming from the feared ‘Queen of the Dark,’ Nightmare Moon.”
“My own life, it was… limited, I suppose. I was born and banished in the span of only a few minutes. Then I spent a thousand years festering in my own hatred, only to come back and be defeated once more…”
“So you were never even given a chance, huh?” Flare felt a little bad. Sure, she tried to plunge the world into Eternal Darkness, but she wasn’t given a choice.
“I will make no excuses, but… nopony even cared to try. All they cared about was their precious little Luna!” Her frustrations grew, and she couldn’t even hit anything. Being incorporeal sucked.
“So how were you born?” Flare asked. “I take it that you didn’t come from an egg?”
“An egg?” What the hell? “Of course not! I was created when Darkrai tried to corrupt Luna with dark magic. It didn’t turn out the way he wanted though, as Luna’s own magic partly rejected the curse, and instead she was simply driven mad. That madness developed a life of its own, and thus I was created.”
“Seems legit,” Flare said. “But I don’t get it, how did Darkrai get here in the first place? How did he get sealed away?”
Nightmare smiled and nodded. “Even now, I don’t know how Darkrai first arrived. He made his presence known not too long after Celesta and I… Luna discovered the Elements of Harmony. We defeated Discord, and after a few months, Darkrai appeared.” She paused to think for a moment, sifting through the memories she inherited from Luna. It used to be easy, but after bonding with Flare, she got some of his too, and now her mind was a tad cluttered.
“He showed up, claiming to be from another world. He appeared to be friendly enough, and told
us… Celestia and Luna all about his world, the world of Pokémon.”
“And this was over a thousand years ago?” Flare couldn’t contemplate living that long.
“Yes, but we never realised that he would be almost as big a threat as Discord. Well, Celestia never saw it coming, anyway. To her, it appeared that We had succumbed to depression and jealousy… as if that alone could cause such a change!” She snorted and stamped a hoof silently on the ground. “Darkrai’s plan was to use me to overthrow Celestia and rule Equestria… But due to my going mad, he had to change it up. He then planned to let the two of us fight and then take out the exhausted winner.”
“I would not let him have Equestria. I would not return to a place of Darkness that was not my own creation. So when Celestia activated the Elements of Harmony on Us, I sprung my trap!”
“And that was?” Flare was on the edge of his seat, so to speak.
“I used the one Pokémon attack that I knew of, though it was more like a magic-based copy… Destiny Bond!”
Flare gasped. “So when you were sealed away…”
“The spell activated, and he shared the same fate!” Nightmare Moon gave a hearty laugh. “Even now, the priceless look on his face never fails to amuse me!”
“Unreal.” Flare stopped to sit on the grass and catch his breath. He hadn’t walked very far, but he was already tired. A distant noise caused his ears to twitch. “We need to hurry!”
Nightmare Moon nodded. So this was it. Was he really going to do it? Doubts still plagued the mind of the dark alicorn. What if he backed out? What if this was just an elaborate setup to hoof the Amulet over to the Princesses, to be destroyed forever?
“Well, I don’t have anything to lose… other than what life I have left…”
*~*
The sun had risen, and Twilight Sparkle walked quietly through the plain-coloured halls of the hospital. How many times had she walked this hallway already? Well, it had been nearly two months, and she visited at least twice a day, so… About sixty or seventy times, give or take a few.
But this time was a little different; a terrified-looking nurse stood outside Flare’s room. Upon seeing Twilight, the poor mare looked like she was about to be eaten by a Manticore.
“Um, is everything alright?” Twilight asked. Wait, was something wrong with Flare?
“Well, um… the thing is,” the mare stammered. How was she going to explain this to a mare who could probably disintegrate her on the spot?
“What’s wrong?” Twilight tried to remain calm, but there was a notable crack in her voice.
“It’s Mr. Blitz; he’s well—” The nurse never got to finish, as Twilight shoved past her and into the room, a room with nopony in it.
“W-where is he? Where’s Flare!?” Twilight panicked and spun around to face the nurse, who was trying to make herself as small as possible.
“I-I-I don’t know!” the mare sobbed, breaking under the pressure. She was new, why did they assign such a high-profile patient to her? “When I came in to change his dressings this morning, he was already gone.”
Twilight had shifted from panic to full-blown meltdown. What if Darkrai had come back? They hadn’t found anything after the decisive battle, and it was unclear if the dark Pokémon had survived.
“I need to find him!” She turned back to the mare. “Search the entire hospital! leave no bedpan unturned!”
The nurse nodded and bolted from the room; she was going to need help. Twilight charged her horn and teleported straight to the palace throne room, eliciting a surprised yelp from Princess Celestia. Several Solar Guards trained their spears on her, until they realised who she was.
“Twilight?” Celestia placed a hoof over her heart and sighed. “Whatever is the matter? You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“I’m sorry, Princess!” Twilight said hastily. “But it’s about Flare. He’s gone missing!”
Celestia nodded, and a quick order had her guard running from the room to organise a search party. “Do not worry, Twilight; I’m sure that Flare is alright.”
Twilight nodded and then smacked her forehead with her hoof. She had her ‘Friend-Finder’ spell. She lit up her horn once more and closed her eyes, trying to find Flare Blitz. After a moment, the spell pinged, showing him near the ceremonial dais at the back of the castle.
“What? Why is he there?”
*~*
Flare looked at the intricately carved stone stage. A beautiful engraving of the sun and the moon was etched into a stone that looked like marble.
“This stone platform is thousands of years old. It is where ancient unicorns used to move the sun and moon, long before Celestia and I showed up.” Flare noted that she didn’t correct herself this time. “Even to this day, we have no idea what it is made of. It is the only one of its kind in the world.”
“And this is where we’ll do it, huh?” Flare stepped up onto the stage, and the moment his hoof touched it, he could feel something emanating within it. He couldn’t help but let out a surprised gasp. “Whoa!”
Nightmare Moon stepped onto the stage as well, and when she did, she seemed a little more solid than before, not realising that she was visible now. “Well, now’s the time. I suppose the Elements of Harmony will jump out of that bush and destroy me once and for all.”
To her surprise, Flare turned with a deep scowl on his face. “What the hell? I said I was going to do this. If it wasn’t for you, then none of us would be here right now!” He took a step forward and his muzzle almost touched hers. “I gave you my word; it may have been because I thought I had little choice at first…” His expression softened, but he never broke eye contact. “But now I want to help you, as one friend to another.”
Nightmare took a step back. This was impossible. “Y-you can’t be serious. I’m NIGHTMARE MOON! Why? W-why are you still going to do this?” She wanted to cry, but Flare wasn’t going to let her.
“Let me ask you this: if you were so convinced that I was going to betray you, then why did you help me in the first place?”
Nightmare Moon opened her eyes wide, completely unable to respond. Why did she help? She was so sure that she’d be betrayed, so why?
“And that’s why I’m going to help you.” Flare turned back to the stage, and his horn flickered to life. A magic circle covered the stage. It was small at first, but extra rings began to form, expanding the circle bit by bit.
As he continued to cast, his magic supported by the mystical stage and the shining amulet around his neck, he didn’t see a group of ponies teleport nearby.
“Flare!?” Twilight ran over to him, but a barrier in place didn’t let her near. “W-what are you doing!? Why is Nightmare Moon there?”
“FLARE BLITZ!!” Luna’s Canterlot Voice erupted in full volume. “CEASE THY ACTIONS AT ONCE!”
“Sorry, Luna, but I can’t do that.” Flare opened his eyes to look at the group. Twilight, Luna, Celestia, and… Princess Cadence? Shining Armor and the Element Bearers were there too, and they were all wearing the artefacts.
“Princess Luna, what is he doing?” Twilight examined the circe, but she’d never seen anything like it.
“‘Tis ancient magic, thought to be long since forgotten to all but a select few. My sister and I are the only ones who should know it.”
“But what does it do?” Shining, Rainbow, and Applejack had started to pound on the shield, but it refused to give. Shining switched to shield-cancelling magic, though it too was having no effect.
“It calls upon powerful magic,” Celestia explained. “Magic that is banned because it defies all laws of nature and ethics.” Her brow furrowed. “It is a spell designed to resurrect the dead!”
“What?” Twilight looked horrified. “He’s using Necromancy!?”
“Neigh, ‘tis worse than that!” Luna’s horn flared to life as she used the same spell Shining was casting. “‘Tis a spell that trades a life for a life. One dies, and one lives a true life, rather than unlife.”
Twilight turned and blasted at the shield. “FLARE! DON’T DO IT!”
Flare was beginning to sweat. The spell was damned hard, despite the fact that Nightmare was the one orchestrating it. “Can you guys shut up! I’m trying to concentrate.”
Sapphira rocketed down from the sky, slamming the shield at full force and causing it to crack. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”
“Giving a friend a second chance!” Flare said. “Just trust me on this one, okay? I’m going to be fine!”
Twilight looked into his eyes and then stopped attacking the shield. Her friends looked shocked and yelled at her, but she tuned it out. “Do you mean it?” she spoke into his mind gently. “Will you really be okay?”
“Yeah; trust me on this one… please?”
Tears streamed down her eyes as she turned to face everypony. “Stop! Please!”
Luna’s face was full of rage. What, in the name of Tartarus, did this unicorn think she was doing!? But the momentary lapse in attacks on the shield was all Flare needed to complete the spell, and the stage, along with himself and Nightmare, lit up with a blinding light.
*~*
Atop a castle tower, a pair of yellow eyes watched the scene unfold while he munched on some paint chips. Discord smiled a toothy grin and sipped on his chocolate milk.
“Drama, romance, action, and the magic of Friendship! What wonderful work!” He clapped gleefully and raised his eagle talon. “It’s almost ready, but it needs a little flavour, a small dash of… Chaos!” He snapped his fingers and cackled. This was going to be great!
*~*
As the light began to fade, Flare stumbled off of the stage. Twilight caught him with her magic before he could fall.
“Flare? Are you alright? Please speak to me!”
Flare looked up, his eyes swirling a bit. “Hey there, Fairy~ ♫Doo doo do doooo♪! Fairy learned Double Team!” Flare giggled as Twilight sighed. Yeah, he was fine.
“What, in the wide world of Equestria, did you do?” Twilight held him close and sighed softly. “We were all so scared—“
“I am quite furious, actually!” Luna interjected.
“Most of us were scared.” Twilight kissed him on the forehead. As she checked him for injury, she noticed one big difference about him. The Alicorn Amulet was gone!
Flare groaned as the world stopped spinning. “That was the favour… I brought her back.” He turned his neck to look at the stage, nearly throwing up as he moved his head. “Oog. Okay, don’t do that.”
“Her?” Twilight froze as she tried to peer through the fading light. The Amulet was gone, and Flare mentioned reviving a ‘her?’
“Oh, Flare, please tell me you didn’t just revive Nightmare Moon!” Everypony gasped when they heard that. He’d revived her?
Hoofsteps could be heard from the stage, and the light finally cleared, revealing a dark pony with a deep blue mane.
“That’s right, you little foals!” She rose to her hind legs and cackled. “Nightmare Moon has returned!!”
Everypony was silent as they stared. Was this for real? Nightmare smiled as she gazed upon their shocked faces.
“What’s the matter? Scared?” She cackled again, and then paused mid-laugh as something occurred to her. Her voice sounded… strange.
Everyone’s expressions suddenly changed. Flare just stared blankly, still trying hard not to puke. Twilight’s mouth just hung open.
The other ponies had varied expressions: worry, shock, disbelief and… mirth? Celestia had a hoof covering her mouth, but Nightmare could still see a smile behind that hoof.
Princess Luna held no such restraint as she rolled around on the ground roaring with laughter.
“What the hell is so damned funny?”
“A-are you feeling, alright?” Celestia’s voice cracked. “Does your perspective seem... different?”
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Nightmare blinked, and then her eyes widened.
Everypony seemed… taller? She stepped closer to Flare until she was standing right in front of him, and even though he was sitting, the stallion seemed to tower over her.
“What the hell is going on?” She glared at Luna. “And would you stop bucking laughing!”
Fluttershy gasped. “Even if you are Nightmare Moon, a little filly should not say things like that!”
And just like that, Nightmare Moon’s world shattered. “F-filly?”
Twilight’s horn lit up, and she summoned a small mirror. Nightmare gazed into it and let out an ear-piercing shriek as the reflection of a little black alicorn foal stared back.
Meanwhile, a certain Spirit of Chaos laughed his ass off.
*~*
Not too long after, Arceus arrived, bringing Mew, Lucy, and Velvet with him. He had come to tell Flare that their world was doing fine. Mew had managed to free him shortly before Darkrai was defeated, but because he was busy keeping their world stabilised, he was unable to come help.
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Flare said. “And thanks for bringing my friends; I’ve really missed them.”
Twilight was ecstatic to have more new Pokémon to study, including this “Zebstrika” character who had apparently been living near Ponyville the whole time. Twilight couldn’t help but bounce with excitement.
“So this is where you’ve been?” Lucy looked around the decimated city. “Well, it’s uh… nice?”
“It usually looks a lot nicer.” Flare gave her a hugged her, and then received a very enthusiastic hug from Velvet.
“Oh, darling, we were so worried about you and Sapphira!” He looked around, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she, anyway?”
Flare shrugged, peeling the clingy Espeon off of him. “Beats me. She’s probably picking a fight somewhere.”
“We need to return soon!” Arceus said. “The gap between worlds is still unstable, and Darkrai is still nowhere to be found.”
“Yeah, well, you can leave without me!” Sapphira flew in through one of the open windows. “I’m staying here!”
Everyone turned to look at her. “What?” came the collective cry.
“You heard me. Alamos Town is fine and all, but Flare seems to get into waaay too much trouble. Someone has to be here to bail him out.” Sapphira winked at the stallion, who simply smiled sheepishly. What could he say against the truth?
“Be that as it may, you simply can’t—”
“Yeah, well I ain’t giving you a choice!” Sapphira thumped her chest. “Y’see, if you want me to go back, then you’ll have to make me!” She narrowed her eyes and flew up to stare Arceus in the face. “And if you doubt my strength, then ask Palkia what happens when you piss me off!”
Arceus nodded. “So that’s why he was crying. Well, I suppose your mind shall not be changed.”
His children were getting so rebellious these days. He turned to Lucy and Velvet. “And I suppose you will want to stay here also?”
“Whatever!” Lucy shrugged. “As long as I get three meals and nap time, I don’t really care where I go.”
“Hmm, think of all the wonderful fashion I could see here! The theatre, music, mmm~ and that too~” Velvet smiled giddily. “Oh, um… yes, staying with my friends is also important.”
Arceus sighed. “Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. I must make haste, so give Celestia and Luna my regards.”
Mew floated down and gave Flare a kiss on the nose. “So my little ‘gift’ helped out, huh?”
“Yeah, thanks a bunch, Mew!” Flare nuzzled the little Pokémon, eliciting a giggle from her. “Take care, okay?”
“And you as well. I’ll say ‘hi’ to Viri for you too, kay?”
Arceus began to open a gate. “Ah, I almost forgot; I have something for you.” His eyes and ring flashed with golden light, and a bracelet with a stunningly beautiful stone appeared around Flare’s leg. A similar stone mounted in a silver necklace also appeared around Twilight’s neck.
“What are these?” Flare looked at the gem; it was a cloudy, creamy colour with what looked like flames flickering gently within it. Twilight’s gem was a multitude of colours with a helix-like design. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“This is just a little something for all the hard work you’ve done and the great things you’ve accomplished. There is not another one like it in the universe, so take care of it.”
“Thank you, Lord Arceus!”
Arceus nodded. “Well, I wish you all the best of luck. Farewell, my children!”
Without another word, Arceus and Mew disappeared through the gate back to their own world.
“I can’t believe you did that for him!” Mew said as they floated through the Void. “But will it actually work?”
“Perhaps. Only time will tell… and I believe that he will need it in the future…”
*~*
“So this is the girl you’re with now, huh?” Lucy walked alongside Twilight, looking up at her. “When I heard that it was one of these ‘ponies’ that you were with, I thought it was the one that came with you back then… Sparkler, was it?”
Flare’s eyes suddenly went wide. “Sparkler! I totally forgot. Where is she? Is she okay? We got separated in the Void and I thought that—“
“Flare, relax,” Twilight giggled. “She’s fine. Spike told me that Sparkler arrived in Ponyville and landed in the middle of a Changeling invasion. But apparently, Miss Sapphira showed up not too long after and helped out.”
“More like cleaned up, really,” Sapphira said. “That Zebstrika had done pretty well, even before I got there. I wanna fight her next time we meet!”
“And I see you haven’t changed much either.” Flare winced as he laughed. “Ow. Okay, that still hurts.”
“Well, of course! You wake up after being in a coma for two months, and the first thing you do is cast ancient, powerful magic!?” Twilight scolded him. “Honestly, what were you thinking!?”
“Sorry, I just wanted to keep my word.” That reminded him, “How do you think Nightmare is doing? Do you think Celestia and Luna are going easy on her?”
“Going easy? She’s Nightmare Moon!” Twilight gave an irritated sigh. “I don’t know what’s going on, actually. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been talking with her ever since you brought her back. Even Cadence hasn’t been allowed in.”
As if on cue, the doors to the throne room opened, and the two regal alicorns entered.
“Ah, so you two are already here? That speeds things up somewhat.” Princess Celestia gave her beloved student a hug, and then, to Flare’s surprise, hugged him too. “Do not scare us like that again,” she whispered to him.
She straightened herself up and cleared her throat. “Right, where was I? Ah, we have something to tell you.”
There was a dramatic pause, and she smiled widely. “I’d like to introduce you to somepony!” Luna stepped to one side, revealing a black alicorn, her blue mane tied up in a simple braid and fidgeting as everyone stared at her. “But we thought that a change of name was in order.”
“There was nothing wrong with my name!” The filly shouted, looking rather indignant. “My name is Nightmare Moon!”
“Well, when you were a part of Luna, perhaps.” Celestia’s expression turned serious. “We are still unsure what happened when you cast that spell. Flare, our little friend here explained that you didn’t die because she technically wasn’t dead.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the bone-headed stallion. “And while I am on the subject, don’t EVER do anything like that again. What was wrong with you? Did you not think you could trust us, your friends?”
“I’m sorry, but…” He sighed; he had no excuse. “I should have told somepony. It won’t happen again, Tia.”
Celestia blushed; being called by her nickname in front of everypony was a bit embarrassing.
“When you’re done flirting, can we continue?” Nightmare sighed.
“R-right, of course!” Celestia coughed. “As I was saying, we can explain why the spell worked, but we are still unsure why she was revived as a filly.” Celestia sat on her throne and yelped as a loud flatulent noise pierced the hall.
Twilight looked absolutely mortified, and Flare held his tongue, trying not to laugh. Luna gasped and put a hoof to her mouth.
“Sister! Show some manners!”
“It wasn’t me!” Celestia cried, reaching under her throne and pulling a whoopee cushion out. It had a picture on it: some kind of weird face with a massive, twisted grin and the words “U Mad?” written on it.
Celestia closed her eyes, took a few gentle breaths and then opened her eyes again, looking much more composed. “Discord, you have three seconds to get out here,” she said, her voice icily calm.
“Aw, did the big bad pwincess have an accident?” The chaotic spirit chuckled. “Lighten up, Tia. It was a joke. Flare, over there, seems to find it pretty funny.” He pointed at the stallion, who quickly stopped his giggling and put on his best poker face.
Luna, once again, showed no self-restraint as she chortled at the prank. “Heehee. It’s funny because it sounded like she—“
“Yes, we are all quite amused!” Celestia snapped, before placing a hoof to her chest and taking another breath. “Can we please get back to business? And you still haven’t explained where you were during the incident”
“Aww. Why so serious?” Discord said, his face covered with clown makeup. “And here I thought I could shed some light on Nightmare’s ‘little’ problem!” He wasn’t about to tell Celestia that he’d been taking a 48-hour bubble bath and writing saucy fanfiction.
“And what do you know about it?” Nightmare said. “Speak up, Mad Spirit!”
“Mad Spirit? Haven’t heard that one in years.” Discord wiped the makeup from his face and nodded. “Well, it’s pretty easy to explain, but I thought that it would be obvious.”
“Discord!” Nightmare growled. It looked positively adorable.
“Well, I did it; that’s why I know.” Discord replied, saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“WHAT!?” Nightmare was furious. “Change me back to normal this instant.”
“Sorry, Former Moonbutt, but no can do.” Discord shook his head. “And even if I wanted to, I cast during the revival process, so there is no way to revert it.”
Nightmare went wide-eyed as she sat down. “W-what? No… no way?”
“It’s the truth; just like Flare is a ladies’ stallion and Celestia’s butt is big. I can’t do anything now. You’ll just have to grow up like everypony else.”
“Why?” she sobbed, genuine tears rolling down her cheeks. “Why would you do this to me?”
“Well,” Discord stroked his goatee, which changed colours with every stroke, “mostly because I thought it’d be funny. But…”
“But?” She was going to kill him. She didn’t know how, and she didn’t know when, but she was going to murder that Draconequus in the most violent way possible.
“Well, how would everypony react to Nightmare Moon walking the streets? Now, how do you think they’ll react to an adorable little filly stealing all their d’awws?”
Nightmare tilted her head and blinked in confusion. “Doors? Why in Equestria would I steal a door?”
It was a good thing that living with Fluttershy had built up Discord’s resistance to cute, because that was weapons-grade adorable.
Celestia sighed and gave up. The train of thought was derailed and burning in a ditch somewhere, so she might as well sit back and just watch. It wasn’t long before Cadence, Shining, and Twilight’s other friends turned up.
It took even less time for Cadence to run over to the new little filly and start doting on her, fixing her hair, and cuddling her.
“Hmm?” Cadance prodded at something that was tied at the end of her braid. It was a small wooden circle with an intricate pattern woven with string in the centre. “What’s this?”
“It’s called a Dream Catcher; Luna gave it to me,” Nightmare explained. “I am hoping that when I go to sleep, I will awake from this personal hell and be ruling Equestria like I should.”
Flare perked up at this, and a smile crossed his muzzle. “That’s perfect!” he cried out suddenly, startling everyone with his outburst.
“W-what? What is?” Twilight asked.
“She needs a new name, right?” Flare said excitedly, recalling the previous conversation. “Well, how about Dream Catcher?”
Nightmare turned the slightest shade of pink as she averted her gaze. “W-well, if I must change my name, then I suppose that will be adequate!”
Aww,” Luna pouted. “I thought we agreed to name you Luna Jr.?”
“Like hell!” Dream snapped. “Flare gave me this name!”
“Loli and Tsundere?” Discord shook his head again. “Those two are going to have a field day with this one.”
“Well, at least she’s too young to be a threat,” Twilight sighed.
“Darling, where did you get that beautiful jewel?” Rarity had walked up next to her and was examining the necklace that Arceus had given her. “It’s simply marvellous~”
“Lord Arceus gave it to me, and he gave one to Flare as well.” Rainbow snickered when she heard that.
“Wow, Flare, do all the guys like giving you jewelry?”
“Oh, shut up!” Flare said, playfully punching her shoulder. “You’re just jealous.”
Celestia giggled and smiled as she watched everyone laughing and playing about. Even after such disaster, everypony was in such good spirits. It really warmed her heart. “Well, I suppose that just about clears everything up… except for one small thing.”
“What’s that?” Flare asked, pulling himself out of Applejack’s headlock.
“Living arrangements for Night–ah, my apologies–Miss Dream Catcher.” Celestia looked around her castle, which was still far from being rebuilt. “Canterlot is in a state of disarray, and looking after it, as well as a feisty little filly, will be difficult…”
“I can take care of her!” Flare said, pulling Dreamy into a hug and causing some of them to gasp in surprise. “She’s my friend, so I’ll be glad to watch her for a while.”
“And what of you three?” Celestia asked, looking at Sapphira, Velvet and Lucy. “I assume that you will also be going with Flare Blitz back to Ponyville?”
“Seriously. The town's name is Ponyville?” Lucy sniggerd.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Velvet said, having a little more poise than his friend. “I trust that it won’t be an issue?”
“Not at all,” Celestia replied. “I’m sure you will all fit in just fine.”
Flare smiled, still holding Dreamy in his hooves. Right now, just going home and spending time with Twilight was all he could really think of. With any luck, fate would allow him a brief respite before they were pitted against another world-endangering threat.
Twilight walked over next to him and nuzzled him gently. “Are you ready to head home, Flare?”
The stallion inhaled and exhaled. “Yeah; let’s go home.”
~END~