This is Flare's origin. This tale explains how he not only obtained his abilities, but how he obtained the 'flare sabre' and became a lawyer.
Meet Flare. An ordinary pony living an ordinary life. But he has a secret because one fateful day, he found himself saving ponies and helping them out of trouble.
It was the start of another day. Flare woke up, had breakfast and got ready for school.
"I hope this day is better than the last" Flare said with a sigh. He was reading a comic when his mom came in
"Flare it's time for school" she said
"ok mom" he replied. He put his comic away and left for school making sure to trot a bit faster than usual when he passed the park. As he passed the park he heard hoofsteps behind him. That got him galloping
"not today, please not today" he said to himself as he sped up. He rounded a corner and started to climb a drainpipe to escape. But they were soon pursuing him. So he bucked the pipe a few times and sent it falling down.
"Phew" he said to himself as he continued up the pipe. He jumped down onto some boxes and continued to school and passed a shop.
"This jacket is so cool" Flare thought to himself. He wished he could buy it but he had no money. He sighed and carried on his way. When he arrived at school, he was greeted by one of his only friends. They did their secret hoof shake and went to class. Flare sat in his seat and waited for class to start. But he sank in his seat when he saw a face he had wished he hadn't seen. There, at the door, was the pony that had a thing for bullying other ponies. He turned his head, scanning for somepony to mess with. Finally, his eyes snapped onto Flare, who by this time had already started to put away his doodle pad. He trotted over confidently and sat next to him.
"What you got there dweeb?" He laughed. Flare stood his ground and looked back at him.
"Why does it concern you?" Flare retorted in a shaky voice "Leave me alone!". The other pony stood up and soon they were practically in eachothers faces
"heh. You cant tell me what to do dweeb. I run your world so shut up, before i knock your head off. Dont think for a second i forgot what happened on the way to school" He grunted back.
"What gives you the right to pick on others? what so fun about it?" Flare angrily shouted
"Eh. Its just something I do. Now move aside dweeb" the bully grunted back. He shoved Flare back and started rummeging through his bag
"h-hey! thats all my belongings!" Flare said through gritted teeth.
"Na I'm good. Now lets see: pencils, paper, lunch. And whats this" he sniggered as he started to pull out something pink. Flare started to see red and soon, he dove and tackled the bully. Flare went to punch him but was soon stopped by the bully. He laughed and pulled him off before he punched Flare in the face.
"Try that again, and i promise you, I will hurt you" He grunted. Flare held his cheeck in pain and gritted his teeth. Soon tears formed in his eyes.
"SH-SHUT UP!" Flare shouted between his tears "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!" The bullies laughed and picked up his bag. Flare picked himself up
"p-please. Just stop." he whispered. As he stood up, the bully turned , dropped his bag, and galloped off laughing. As he dried his eyes, he looked over his stuff. Mostly it was stories and pictures but he brought something quite precious him. A plush pig that he got when he was a very young. But to his surprise it was in there. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat back in his seat and waited for class to start.
The day went as it normally would: He atteneded class, had his lunch, and attended some more classes. The bell rung and Flare said goodbye to his friends. He decided to take a shortcut through the park as he wanted to have a different walk home but as he was walking, he saw a glow in the bushes. Curious he looked in there to see an orange crystal there. Suddenly the crystal shot into his chest winding him. Writhing in pain he looked at his chest, only to see it going inside his chest.
"I wonder what that was" he said to himself. After that ordeal, he felt his chest. It felt warm, warm and strong.
"Whats with my left wrist " asked himself. He checked it to see a weird looking device on it. He tried to pull it off but it was stuck.
"This reminds of that one power ponies comic, I wonder how it works" he asked himself. As he picked himself up, he heard a scream.
"SOMEPONY HELP ME!" the voice shrieked. Without a moment's thought, he leaped into action and galloped off to the sound. He stopped and rounded a corner to see somepony getting robbed. Filled with rage, Flare flipped his scarf over his mouth, galloped over and jumped. Only to see that weird device glowing a strange orange and turning his hooves red and very hot. The baddie turned and saw what looked like a fireball come flying towards his face. The baddie only had a split second to react but failed. The hoof thwacked the villain and sent him flying. Flare felt brilliant as the pony who was getting robbed gave him a lovely hug and thanked him by giving him 10 bits.
"Hey look, your flank" she said. Flare turned quickly to see his cutie mark appearing,
" MY CUTIEMARK!" Flare shouted with glee He galloped off with speed in his face.
"My cutiemark is amazing" he shouted to himself as he raced off home with a smile in his stride. He burst home and went straight to the living room.
"MOM! MOM MY CUTIE MARK. IT'S HERE" this got his mom down the stairs faster than a bullet. She looked at it with surprise and asked "how did you get it?".
He explained to her when he found the crystal and what the device did and when the baddie was sent flying by his hoof. "Thats amazing, as a reward, we can go and buy that jacket you have always had your eye on" she said to him. They left the house and headed down to the shop. Flare was bouncing to and from the shop and when they got home, Flare was really eager to put on the jacket. He slipped it on and beamed with pride. He was just so happy that he could barely sleep. The next day he was all the talk because of his cutiemark.
"Maybe this was the break i was looking for" he asked himself as he sat at his desk with his two friends. A few years passed when Flare got his 'flare changer' as he calls it and suddenly he found himself in the same forest he found the crystal in. "memories are flowing" he thought to himself as he trotted along the path and found a cave.
"FLARE POWER" he shouted and his hooves glowed a bright red. He entered the cave with a little fear and ventured onwards. The cave went on for a little over ten minutes and came across another crystal similar to his "flare crystal". He went over to it and the crystal sprang up and fazed into him like before. Before he knew it, the flare changer changed itself. It became a slight bit different and flare wanted to try it. After finding his way out of the cave a thought passed over him. "If the flare changer has changed, shouldn't i get new powers?". As that thought passed through his head, the flare changer glowed a bright orange.
"If the flare changer changed, i'm changing the shout". "FLARE CHANGER! ACTIVATE!" he clicked the button and he felt different. Like something was going down his body. He looked to see a circle of fire going towards his body. It didn't feel hot, it felt a little warm. He went to rub his eyes only to see a sort of bandanna go over his eyes and become see through. He ran over to a pond and saw himself in his reflection. He was red with a black bandanna over his eyes, even though the bandanna was see through.
"These new powers are incredible" he said. He went back home and relaxed on the sofa and thought to himself "I wonder why it chose me? " as he fell asleep.
A few years went by as Flare went up to the graduation podium and collected his graduation certificate. "With all the money i've been saving during my job as a plumber really helped to buy an empty shop in the small town of ponyville."that is where i will continue my life" he said to himself.
After he came home, he put his things on his bed and thought about the future. Ponyville was a long way away from Manehattan and it certainly wasn't like it. It was just a quiet and peaceful town and it was just what he needed. He liked the quiet because he could read some books or draw something. He went ahead and got some cardboard boxes and set them on his floor. He put the boxes together and got to work.
He started to pack up all his thing as and he noticed a lot of things behind his wardrobe. He pulled it back and found loads of childhood things. He wondered when he lost all this stuff and when he was, found one of his old comics. He opened it and started to chuckle. He had forgotten why he loved these so much. Flare put them into a box and carried on packing. As he carried on packing his things, he thought to himself
"The ponies in my old comics are like how i used to be, i wonder if there are other ways to save ponies?" He put the box of comics asside and made a quick trot over to the library to look into other ways of saving other ponies. Later he found out about "lawyers". He never really considered being a lawyer as all his time used to be spent fighting crime. He thought about it for a while and decided to give it a shot. He made a quick stop off at the mayor's office and signed up to a lawyer course as he knew that it was a good thing to do.
"Doing this will not only let me save others in the law abiding way, but also a new way to direct my spare time". A few days went by and he went and sat in the classroom.
"Law school. This is gonna be a long road" Flare thought to himself as the class started. A few days turned into weeks. A few weeks turned into months. And a few months turned into 3 years and the next thing he knew, he was sitting and taking the bar exam. It was very hard. harder than anything he had done in a while but he carried on.
He left the room feeling confident and worried but he still kept his cool. A few weeks went by and he soon found himself putting on an attorneys badge. it didn't look how he expected it to look. It was heart shaped and pink. He tilted his head slightly but he still smiled at himself. He decided to relax for a while before taking on any trials.
He had hoped to have had some sort of action go on but nothing really happened. So he decided to remodel his shop to instead be an office for law. He made the decision and set about to work. He went ahead and ordered some furniture and a desk. No sooner had he posted the order and went home, a knock was heard on the door. He opened it to find a grey pegasus with eyes that seemed to defy all physics possible
"Special delivery!" she happily shouted. She presented a few boxes to Flare and then handed him some some papers to sign. Flare signed the papers and carried the boxes into the room and set about building the furniture. It took a while and a lot of angry noises but he finally finished setting it all up. He flopped back on the sofa and took a nap. He woke up to a knock on the door. It was that same pegasus. She looked confused.
"Have you seen a purple unicorn?" She asked. Flare wasn't really sure what she meant
"erm... no. Sorry" he replied. The pegasus wonky eyed looked confused. She presented a basket of muffins and nodded at Flare. So he took one and that seemed to make her happy. After she left, Flare ate the muffin and went back to sleep. While he slept, he had a dream. He dreamed that he was watching his younger self. He laughed at how unprepared and how much he slipped up but he still was a good hero. even as a kid, he still was a valiant hero. He woke up and found himself being poked by a filly with a large bow in her pink hair.
"Bleh!" Flare spluttered as she continued to poke him. "What is it?" He sat up and she hopped onto the sofa
"Howdy! My names Applebloom and my friends and I need help. So I was hopin maybe you could help?" she asked. Flare looked at her with a face that could only be described as a 'I dont wanna' face.
"Okay let me ask a few questions: one, what happened. Two, has anyone ever told you too knock. Three ,Why do I have to do it? i just finished moving into my new home plus, i'm tired and hungry." But as he went to say no, she gave him the baby-doll eyes. He couldn't say no.
"Fine. Why not? after all, i could use a walk and i could use this time to get a lay of the land and I could meet a few ponies." Flare replied with a sigh. He got up and put his jacket on
"Hey what's that thing on your jacket mister? It looks a bit weird for someone like you to be wearing."Applebloom said with a giggle
"it's an attorneys badge. And yes, i'm aware of how it looks." he said in a slight sighing tone. He glanced over to his left and right before shooting a look at her
"Im also aware of the fact that you decided to drink my drink" Flare replied in a slightly angry tone. He reluctantly followed Applebloom out of his shop/ office and down a road towards a fountain and Flare threw a coin into it
"I hope i can get this over with quick" he said to himself as they continued down the road.
As Flare and Applebloom passed a gate, they headed to an apple tree and went past it. Flare could just about make out a tree house and he assumed that they were headed there and soon enough, they were standing underneath it. They headed up the stairwell and inside were 2 other ponies: a unicorn and a pegasus. Flare thought these were the friends Applebloom was talking about earlier. She led him in and they sat down.
"hear ye hear ye! we have somepony to help us!" Applebloom shouted. She pointed at Flare and he gave an awkward wave.
"Why am I doing this? what have i gotten myself into?" Flare asked himself with a lot of worried thoughts. He composed himself and waited for Applebloom to finish. The two other ponies looked at him with a happy smile.
"Hi there! my name is Scootaloo and the unicorn over there is called Sweetiebelle" The pegasus explained. Flare gave another awkward wave before standing up
"I was told by Applebloom that there was something you needed help with. Can any of you explain what is it you need help with?" Flare asked. Scootaloo nodded gave Flare a ridiculous looking hat
"Wear this! you will look so cool while your investigating!" Scootaloo shouted. Flare gave a worried 'Oh no' face as he inspected the hat. It was almost every colour you could imagine and surprisingly, the stitching was ok. Sweetie belle looked at him
"I made it. do you like it?" she asked. Flare awkwardly nodded as he slowly put on the hat. He wanted to know what they were doing when the incident happened. He first went and talked to Applebloom.
"Applebloom, what were you doing at the time of the incident?" Flare asked "If you didn't know, all 3 of you are suspects." he also added. Applebloom showed little to no fear when she sat down with Flare the first time but when he was investigating, Applebloom shook ever so slightly. Flare reminded himself to not press her with questions too much.
Suspect explanation I woke up and had some breakfast before headin out. While I was on my way here when I noticed the door open. I hurried on over here as fast as I could and saw that our bag of sweets was empty. I then waited for Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle.
Flare's thoughts began to emerge into spirals. He needed more info.
"Do you mind repeating that and allowing me to ask you a few questions?" he asked. Applebloom nodded and prepared herself a bit
Suspect Interrogation
"I woke up and had breakfast before headin out" She started
"HOLD IT! what time did you head out?" Flare asked
"hm... well" Applebloom thought for a while "i'm thinkin around 11:30 because we always meet up at 12"
"ok. Anything else?" Flare asked hopefully
"hm... well... While I was on my way here when i noticed the door open and so i hurried over as fast as i could." she continued
"HOLD IT! what made you want to hurry? " Flare asked "it could have been either sweetie belle or scootaloo." Applebloom thought about it for a little bit and replied
"I didn't think they would be here so soon. I'm always the first here." Applebloom replied. While she said this, flare could feel a pressing feeling on his left hoof. He quickly looked at it to see the flare changer twitching. He looked puzzled and worried. It had never done that before. He discreetly pressed it and suddenly, his vision turned black for split second. He started to worry what would happen if these 3 random fillies were to uncover his secret identity but as he looked up, there was no circle coming down on him.
"um... mister? whatcha doin'?" Applebloom said with a confused tone. Flare snapped out of his confusion with a sudden jolt. He looked forward and looked puzzled. his vision was swirling around him. All he could think about was what he saw. Heat signatures. She started to glow red and was puzzled.
"maybe the flare changer is trying to help. This must be my way of telling the truth from the lies. I think when a pony starts to lie, they start to glow red" Flare thought. "Lets try it out!" Flare shifted his focus back onto Applebloom, who was looking quite puzzled.
"How come its always you first? wouldn't you have been late at least once?" Flare asked. Applebloom was struggling to get her thoughts straight.
"erm... uh.... well I live closest to the tree house. Im always first" Applebloom replied with confidence. As she said this, she started to lose the red glow slightly. Maybe the truth was starting to get out. But Flare wanted to just get out and look in a library. And anyway, Applebloom was a stubborn one to say the least. Flare pressed the button again and soon applebloom's colours were normal again. As he stood up, he said
"I dont even need to question anypony else. I have found evidence to pin this on somepony." he presented the sweet. "TAKE THAT!" the three fillies looked at each other and soon the culprit was found. Scootaloo started to look shifty.
"Fine you got me. I took them. BUT, I didn't eat them. i was saving them for later" as she said this, she trotted over to a chest of drawers and moved them slightly to reveal the bag of sweets behind them. She took them and put them on the table. Flare was kind of annoyed. He reminded himself to check everywhere next time. But as he turned to leave, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Applebloom was standing behind him.
"Thank ya for finding who took them Here!" Applebloom presented him with a few of the sweets. He took them and popped them in his mouth. They were really good. Like an Apple but that was to be expected as they were given to him by applebloom. He smiled and wave goodbye. He headed down the stairs and headed to the fountain he had put the coin in. As he did, he noticed a tree with a balcony. He made his way over and soon found out that it was a library. He headed inside and started to browse around the books. After about 3 hours, he found nothing. He sleepily headed out and went slowly home. He entered his home and flopped onto his bed and was about to fall asleep but then remembered that he still had the ridiculous hat on. He slowly took it off and threw it onto the hat rack. It flew across the room and landed bang on target. He knew he hadn't lost amazing aim. He soon took off his jacket and scarf. He put them on the end of the bed and soon fell fast asleep.
Flare woke up in a misty world. He tried to move but his body refused. He then saw a figure approaching him. He kept struggling and struggling until he was able to move his head. He turned to see the figure looking down at him. smiling. Staring. it sounded like it was whispering something.
"You were chosen because of your courage and passion. Use your knowledge and accuire your chosen weapon." It whispered. Flare was puzzled by its words but as he was a bout to question the figure, it dissapeared. Flare was annoyed as he wanted answers.
Flare awoke to find himself on his bed. It was a dream. But those words still rattled his thoughts as he put his jacket and scarf on. He was making some tea as he heard something come through his mailbox. He slowly went over to it and found a piece of paper at his door. He picked it up and went back to the kitchen. He made his tea and settled down in a chair as he opened the paper. He read it and spat out his tea like the fountain in canterlot. It was a map and a note. He hastily cleaned up his table and read the note.
You were chosen to wield the blade. Your powers of fire, Your will power and knowledge of this world will be your guide. Go now. And seek out the blade. Before its too late...
Flare fiddled with the note for a bit before realising its meaning. He looked at the Flare changer and suddenly got a burst of courage. He packed some snacks and bedding into his saddle bags and headed out. He rounded a bend and hurried as fast as he could along the road. He hadn't felt a rush like this ever since he got his cutiemark. He hurried past the town hall and spotted a mountain. He thought for a bit and decided to settle down and rethink his next move. He pulled out the map and using his orienteering skills, he found the mountain. He put the map away and headed up the mountain towards a cave.
"hm... i think i'm getting close" he thought to himself. He peeked inside of the cave and to his surprise, it was dimly lit. He then noticed an old torch. He pressed the button on the Flare changer and soon he had transformed into fiery hoof. After a few moments, the torch was lit. He carried it in his mouth and soon came across two piles of wood and an alter. His first thought was too light the piles of wood so that he could see. He directed the flame from the torch and split it evenly which he then threw at the two piles of wood catching the alight. He slowly crept over to the altar and climbed the stairs.
There it was. A blade that looked oddly like his primary colours. Red and orange. He felt proud as he got closer to the blade. It shone like the sun when Celestia moved it up to the sky. Flare didn't think much when he went too take it, but suddenly, some sort of creature swiped at him and sent him flying across the cave. Flare was in shock as the creature came closer. It looked like a bear that had been fused with a spider.
Without a moment's notice, Flare leapt into action! He jumped into the air and started spinning a ball of fire in both hooves
"EMBER GATLING GUN!" Flare shouted as lots of embers started shooting out of his hooves. The creature evaded with precise movements ast it started to charge at Flare. It knocked him flying a few feet and spat a weird goo at him. Flare landed and soon, the goo caught him off guard. He dodged as best as he could and soon, he could hear the creatures breathing heavy. He could tell now was the time to strike! He covered his hooves in a layer of Fire and charged at the beast.
"FIRE HOOF SHOT!" he shouted. His back two hooves moved almost as fast as Rainbow Dash's wings when she performs a sonic rainboom. The creature started to flinch as 10 kicks were hitting it a second. Flare backed off as the creature fell to the ground with a loud THUMP! Flare breathed a sigh of relief as he regained his composure.
"THATS ENOUGH!" a voice boomed across the hallway. Flare jumped with fright as he turned to see the same shadowy figure from his dream show up and floated over to Flare. apon instinct, Flare changed back to his normal self and slowly trotted over to the shadow. He inspected it for a few minutes. It was cold, like a wintery chill on a winter morning. it soon spoke.
"it seems my creature was not as powerful as I thought. Nonetheless, you have proven yourself to be worthy of this blade" it said in a creepy whispering tone. The hairs on Flare's back were soon standing slightly on end. He shook himself a few times and proceeded to collect the blade. The sheath snapped forward onto Flare's body and soon came the epic part. Drawing the sword. He grasped it with both hooves and began to tug it. It slowly came out and soon, it was nearly out. suddenly, a ribbon like fire came and surrounded both Flare and the sword. It spiralled around him as he drew it out further. It was nearly out. He kept going and as soon as the tip was almost out, the ribbon like fire went into the flare changer. It shook violently. Flare grunted and with one last shout, it was out. He raised it up high with triumph. As he went to put it into the sheath, he could see a dragon made of fire inside the blade. The dragon disappeared and soon, Flare could keep hearing whispers and soon they went. He shook hi head and put the sword in the sheathe. He slowly made his way down the stairs and soon enough, he was at the caves entrance.
He threw his saddle bags back on. The mountain was eerie. This was not what it was like on the way up. Suddenly, rocks started to fall! He went too power up and as he did, he could hear another whisper.
You found the power, now use the power. Let the fire dragon burn!. Flare powered up to try and blast the rocks but no fire came out of his hooves! He unsheathed the sword and made a great leap. He opened his mouth to try and say something but all that came out was
"Let the fire dragon burn!". The blade soon stated to glow and soon, a fire dragon came out of it and circled the blade. its head rested on the tip and without hesitation, Flare slashed with the blade. The rocks seemed to glint with a line inbetween them and soon, they split apart. Flare was baffled. What was this power? he soon landed and sheathed his sword a nd looked at his surroundings. He looked at the blade and shuddered. That was to much power. even by his standards. He decided that he should only use that power if his life depended on it. That power was not something to be used often. it was just to dangerous. He stood up, and was still in shock as to what he had done. He shrugged it off and continued down the mountain.
The descent was slow as Flare wanted to take in the view of the mountain tops. It was a sight to behold. The clouds danced in the sunset as the sun was being lowered by celestia. The moon glinted like the sea at night as luna raised it up to the almost night sky. Flare walked down the mountain and gazed apon the sunset with eyes of awe.
"I wish I had a camera to capture this moment. This is magical" Flare sighed. He checked the Flare changer. When it wasn't being used to fight crime, Flare had it on a watch setting. Not only for convinience, but also as to hide his powers. It was almost time to head home but he still had time to gallop home and grab his camera. So he did just that. He returned at breakneck speed and settled in a comfortable position. He settled on a hilltop and pulled out the camera. As he went to take it, he stopped. Something had fallen on his head. He looked up and rubbed his head. He was sat underneath and appletree so no surprise that an apple had fallen. All of a sudden, he felt hungry. Flare picked up the apple and inspected it. It looked very tasty. He took a bite and was blown away. It was crisp and juicy. Tasty! Flare took another bite. He kept going until there was only the core and tossed away the core. But he still kept a few seeds. Flare's mindset at the time was to plant them and head home. But instead, he stayed for a while longer. But as he went to get up, he remembered why he came back. The sunset! Flare whipped hs camera back out and snapped a few pictures. Flare breathed a sigh of relief as he put his camera back in his bags and headed home. He put his camera and bags down in his living room and flopped into his bed. Warping himself to sleep.
Flare opened his eyes and yawned. It was a warm sunrise and the sun shone bright in the sky as he threw off of the cover. The breath of the morning hit him as he got up and strecthed a bit. Water trickled out of the tap as Flare washed his face and had a drink of water. He threw his jacket on and picked up the blade, which he had almost forgotten about, and slipped it on him. He unlocked his front door and was about to step outside, he was almost run over by an orange blur. On closer inspection, it was Scootaloo on a scooter.
"Hey watch it!" Flare called out to Scootaloo
"Sorry!" she called back. Flare sighed and continued on his way. He was concerned about his abilities for the first time in his life. He wanted to talk with somepony about it, but was afraid of the amounts if news reporters would appear so he decided to talk to somepony who had pretty much all the answers. Princess Celestia. He got a few things together and went ahead to to try and catch the next train. The train was about to arrive as Flare made it to the platform. As it arrived, Flare was spacing out. What would he say? How would she respond? His mind snapped back to reality as the train doors started to close. He hurried dove inside the train with seconds to spare.
While the train was chugging along, Flare took a bit of time to gather his thoughts again. He was unsure as to what he was going to say and winging it was not an option. He took out a notepad and pencil and doodled inside it while staring out of the window. He was unsure what he was doodling and with what he was about to embark on was stressfull to say the least but worrying about it was not going to help nor was it going to keep him sane. He stared out of the window as he coloured in the last part of his tail and closed the book. He looked out of the window while letting the breeze calm him. It was a little after 5 minutes as he packed up his stuff and hopped off of the train.
Canterlot was a busy place with its shops and parks. He settled himself on a bench and pulled out his notebook. There were times where you could say that the world is on your shoulders but in Flare's case, it was a god that was on his shoulders.
"I should just get it over with. Not doing it is just prolonging the inevitable. Not to mention making me more nervous." Flare thought to himself. He packed up his things and continued on his way. He didn't bother bringing much money as he wasn't going to be here long but he was hungry. So he bought a snack and as he was, he noticed the castle. He slapped himself for not being able to spot it. He ate his snack and placed some leftovers in his bag. He stood up and headed out of the shop and to the castle. It was much larger than he thought. He headed in and was presented with two guards standing by the door.
"What is it you require with the princess?" one of them asked.
"I would like to request an audience with the princess. I am in dire need of guidance." Flare explained. The guards hesitated for a moment and stepped aside. Flare breathed a sigh of relief before opening the doors to the throne room. The throne room was nice. There was a long rug leading up to two thrones and the walls were decorated with ribbons of the princess Celestia's cutiemark. But there she was, the princess herself. Flare bowed and mustered up the courage to speak.
"Your highness. It is an honour to meet you but that is not why i am here. Mainly, I am here to seek guidance" Flare explained. The princess stood up and slowly trotted over to Flare
"I was waiting for you to come to me to this. But I am fairly surprised as to why you did not come to me about this sooner FireFlare, Or should I call you 'Fiery Hoof'?" she calmly said. Flare jumped back with shock. How did she know? When did she know? Flare's mind was in a jumble. He slowly lifted his head and tried to find words to say.
"Wh-what? How? When? Who? How do you know?" Flare asked with a stumbly tone. The princess smiled as she stood in front of Flare and put a hoof on his cheek
"I have known for a while. And to answer your question, you may not need my guidance. You have been doing well without my guidance and wisdom. " she calmly told him as she lifted her hoof away from his face. This was a lot to take in. But now was not the time for keeping quiet.
"Does anypony else know?" Flare asked.
"No. Only I know. Your secrets safe and sound" she assured him. He breathed a sigh of relief as Celestia trotted slowly back to her throne. But as he was about to leave, she spoke again,
"How long have you had these abilities?" she asked "I am quite curious". Flare turned around to face her once more and started explaining
"I was just a filly. I was walking home from a rough day at school and suddenly, I spotted a glow in the bushes. It was an orange and warm glow. As I picked it up, it shot right into my chest and that's when this appeared" He showed the flare changer to Celestia. She looked intrigued.
"Continue" she said. Flare wiped the sweat from his brow and straightened his blazer
"ok. I then was wondering how it worked but as i was, I heard a shout. And then I hurried over to the pony who was in trouble and helped her" he explained. Celestia was surprised.
"Alright then. you may continue with your heroic deeds on one condition. If you are caught doing villainous things with it, You will be banished." she sternly warned him. Flare shook a bit as he agreed. He was not about to be banished and lose out on living a good life. He waved goodbye to the princess and headed out of the room.
"That went better than expected" He said to himself. He headed out of the castle and went on his way. He relaxed on a park bench while eating something
"I'm glad I had the sense to save some of that" he thought to himself as he munched away. Thinking was the least of the things Flare was concerned about. The main thing on his mind was how the princess knew, or how long she had known. A few minutes went by and Flare checked his watch
"oops! I'm late!" he cried. He hastily packed up his things and made a quick dash to the train station. He rounded a corner and soon came to the platform. The doors were closing. Flare made one last dash and dove inside the train carriage. He settled himself on the seat and doodled some more.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid. It can't hurt if one pony knew" he told himself. He finished up the doodle and put his drawing stuff away. The train was nearing ponyville as he was just about to fall asleep.
"Wow it got dark fast!" he thought to himself. He got off of the train while being sure as to not bump into anypony. He felt like he was in school again with carrying all this stuff around and being all cramped in between everypony.
"atleast I dont have to worry about bullies or anything" he said to himself. He smiled at that thought and headed home for the night.
Flare woke up with a jolt. Something had come over him but he was not sure what it was. He checked his room. Everything seemed there. He had a sigh of relief but all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. It was the mailmare. Flare stretched and shook himself awake. The stiffness of sleep was finally getting to him. Even though he was still in his prime, he still had to shake himself awake at times. He slowly plodded over to the door to check his mail.
"Bills, spam mail more junk" he said to himself with a sigh. As he was flipping through his mail, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He had to really squint but his eyes were not playing tricks. That was most certainly somepony being punched square in the cheek. Flare leaped into action and galloped over to the situation. The ponys turned to see Flare standing there. Anger in his eyes. They laughed and started trotting towards him. Flare stood there waiting. They pulled their hooves to fight as Flare got himself prepared. The 4 ponies were getting closer and soon they tried to punch him but Flare weaved in and out. Flare stuck his hooves out and tripped them all up
"You want keep trying or are you going to back off!?" Flare shouted. The four other ponies looked at one another and made a hasty retreat. Flare helped the pony who had been punched up and headed home. Flare took a rest on his sofa.
"This feeling. It was like the time when I earned my cutiemark. It almost feels nostalgic" he said to himself as he sat up and looked at his flank. A good few minutes went by as he started to get hungry. An apple was all he wanted right now. He got up and went over to the fruit bowl but to his surprise, all that was there was one apple. He tilted his head slightly as he was sure there was more fruit there yesterday. He shrugged his shoulders and took the apple. As he was eating, he stole a peek out of the window. His humble home was more than just a home, it was a place to come to if you ever need help.
"A slogan is in order for this place. It needs one" Flare thought. He took a piece of paper from one of his desk drawers and started brainstorming. A good hour and a half went by when all of a sudden, he got it
"hm... how about 'Flare and co law offices, burning up the lies and seeking the truth'. I like it!" he smiled. He scribbled it down and put it in the drawer marked 'important'. Time was not moving as fast as it could have as Flare checked his watch
"It would be nice if time if time could move a bit faster" Flare thought. Maybe a visit back to manehattan could be good could do the trick and he could maybe visit his mom as well. Flare headed outside and locked the door. The walk to the train station was scenic to say the least but thus, he arrived at the station and boarded the train.
After a few hours, the train arrived at manehattan. The scent of home was refreshing. He got off of the train and headed to his mom's house. An hour went by as he arrived at her house.
"Guess whos home?" Flare shouted. A few seconds later, Flare's mom poked her head out of the kitchen
"Why hello Flare! Glad to see you." She said as trotted out and hugged him. They sat and chatted for a few hours before Flare got up and was about to leave when Flare's mom stopped him.
"When you left, you forgot something" she smiled. Flare tilted his head but soon smiled as she galloped off and brought him something he remembered well
"Well I never. Thats something I thought I took that" Flare gasped as she presented him with the plush pig from his childhood. It was looking good for the time he had not touched it. But as he was about to put it in his bag, he had an idea.
"Why not put it here?" He asked as he pointed to a shelf with a small space big enough for it. Flare's mom liked the idea. So Flare reached up and placed it on the shelf with a smile. They both chuckled for a bit before Flare checked his watch
"Well the time has sure gone by fast. And with that, I must be off, bye mom!" Flare shouted as they both waved goodbye to each other. Flare closed the door and was about to head to the station when something caught his eye. Smoke! Flare followed the smoke until he came across a building going up in flames. There were ponies gathered around
"Is there anypony left in there?!" Flare shouted over the ponys talking. One pony galloped over
"Yeah! One up on the second floor, the room is number 206!" He shouted back. Flare stood and was about to start thinking about whether or not to change into fiery hoof when all of a sudden, there was an explosion up on the 5th floor. This was motivation enough for Flare's body to charge over on its own. He climbed the stairs at breakneck speed and counted the floors he was climbing.
"1st passed, so here's the second." he told himself. Most of the door's numbers were burned off but a few were still there. Thankfully, 206 was still on the door. Flare could hear calls for help. Yup. This was the one. He charged over and kicked the door down. Fire engulfed the door but there was still a path of something wet. They must have left the taps on when running out of the room. There were a few seconds to spare so Flare called out
"HELLO! IS ANYPONY HERE?!" he shouted. He could hear cries for help underneath a table. He grabbed her and hoisted her over his back. He told the pony to keep calm and she nodded and guided him to the fire exit. But to his surprise it was blocked by fire. He galloped over to the stairs and saw a large gap had formed while he was in the room. He took a deep breath and jumped. He felt his entire life flash before his eyes but soon snapped back to reality. He was starting to fall. He grabbed the other pony and threw her up onto a path that led to the stairs.
"GO! RUN!" Flare shouted. The other pony contemplated but soon, she pulled him up just to the point where he cold crawl up and stand up. This was a first, to be saved by another pony. But now was not the time for thinking about that. Now the time was better spent escaping. Flare put the other pony on his back and slid down the handrail of the staircase and made a dash for the exit. Flare could feel the building shake. So he grabbed the other pony and threw her outside. She rolled out the door and looked up. She could see Flare galloping up to her. He put her back back on his back and made the home stretch. It was too close. The floor was collapsing above them! Flare used every drop of adrenaline inside of him to make a mad dash and dive outside. The floor fell in just after Flare made the dive. He helped the other pony down and walked her over to her friends.
"Th-thank y-you" She stuttered. Flare smiled put his hoof on her cheek
"No need to be so worried. Its all over. And your welcome" He chuckled. but as he started to walk away, he started coughing. The smoke had finally caught up to him. He could no breath with all the smoke inside of his lungs. He coughed some more until medical staff gave him a small oxygen tank to breath with. Flare took deep breaths. Oxygen had never felt better to have.
A good 10 minutes went by and as the building was out, Flare was feeling much better. He thanked the staff for the oxygen and went on his way. The train station was still up and running, so he took the train home. His bags were still on him. He must have forgotten to take them off. He settled down into his seat and waited for the train to stop. The train was moving faster than usual so it didn't take long for him to arrive back on ponyville. He got off of the train and made a beeline for home. He threw his jacket onto his sofa and galloped to his bed and flopped into it and went to sleep.
A good few months had gone by after he had saved that pony from that building but one day, He was closing his office for the day when he heard a shout for help. Flare smiled and changed into fiery hoof.
"This is what I had dreamt about when I was a filly. It might be hard, but it's also really fun" Flare thought as he charged towards the pony in danger.