Flare of Love

Cloudsdale Sky High Amusement Park, 2:21 P.M., March 20th, 2012

“Alright, I want the next place we go to be a surprise.”

“That sounds cool. But how are we gonna get there without me knowing where we’re going?”

“It’s simple, you cover your eyes while we fly there. I can hold your hooves as I guide you there.”

“Wow, okay. I like it.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment before flew over to him. Whatever reservations she’d had seemed to be gone. “Let’s get goin!” She had covered her eyes with her hooves, waiting for him to guide her. He came up behind her and put his hooves around her. He took her hooves in his, then paused before taking off.

“Ready?”

“Y-yes...let’s go.”

He slowly lifted them off the cloud and took off into the air. She almost reminded him of Fluttershy right now, with her eyes covered, a slight tremor in her voice. He kept going up, higher into the air. “She’s so adorable.” He thought, “But she seems really nervous.”

“How are you handling flying right now?”

“I’m fine. D-don’t worry.”

“Are you sure? You sound a little nervous.”

“I-I’m not nervous. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“Just remember, no looking until I say you can.” The two continued to slowly fly through the air for a long time. At long last, he saw his destination ahead, and soon after, set them down on the cloud. Rainbow Dash was in for a pleasant surprise this time.

“Can I open my eyes yet?!”

“Go ahead.” Midnight took a step away from her as he removed his grip from her hooves. “I’d be surprised if you didn’t remember this place.”

“Of course I remember this place. I can’t believe it’s still open.”

“Everyday after school we’d come here with Fluttershy.”

“Yeah, it’s been so long since we came here.”

“We would always get the same things every day. You’d always get the same sized medium cone, I’d always get a chocolate shake, and little Fluttershy always with her small sundae. Those were the days. Nothing mattered, anything could be fun, and life was just...easy.”

“It’s too bad we can’t make things easy like that anymore.”

“I wish those things could never change.” He thought

“Come on, let’s go in.” He said. They walked up and stepped through the front glass doors for the first time in six years. They looked around to see the place of their childhood. “Wow, it hasn’t changed a bit.”

They stood in the doorway for a moment after they entered and looked around. The place was the same as they remembered it. The ponies inside were different, but everything else was just as they had left it, years ago. The booths were the same bright colors, and the silver counter was as spotless as ever. Just as they stood there, taking in the sight, a familiar pony walked out from the back room.

“Hey I remember you two.” The pony behind the front counter said, “You’re two used to be some of our best customers. What ever happened? Where’s Fluttershy at?”

“That’s a long story.” Midnight said, “Fluttershy’s living in Ponyville right now, and so are we. You’re the old man’s kid right? Where is he now?”

“I’m sorry to say, but the old man everyone knew and loved passed way 2 years ago. He wanted me to run the place when he was gone.”

“Oh, we’re sorry for your loss.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m over it. So are you two, y’know, together?”

Midnight looked down at Rainbow Dash. “It’s Rainbow Dash.” He thought, “I don’t know with her if she wants people to know or not.”

She looked back to the pony behind the counter, “Why yes, yes we are.” She said proudly.

“Well congratulations. But to be completely honest, as I watched you 3 grow up, I could tell you two would end up together. So, do you two want the usual? It’s my treat for the happy couple.”

“That would be nice.” Midnight said, “Thanks.”

“And it looks like our favorite booth is open as well.” The two walked over to the open booth and sat down in the same spots they always did. “Oh my gosh, it’s so much like before.”

“Yeah the nostalgia is definitely there.”

The pony running the store walked up to the booth and handed them a tray with their ice creams on it. “Here yah go. Just like you two always ordered.” He left the two ponies to talk alone.

“Thank you.” Midnight called out, “So Rainbow Dash, how did you know that I wanted you to answer his question with just a look?”

“I don’t know. I just had that gut feeling that’s what you were getting at.”

“That’s weird. *sigh* it’s too bad Fluttershy’s not here. It would make our whole time here at Cloudsdale Creamery again today complete.”

“That would be nice. Say, remember the first time we ever came here?”

“Of course, we spotted it when we were trying to cheer Fluttershy up that one day.”

North Cloudsdale, 3:26 P.M., August 26th, 2001, 11 years ago

“Oh come on Fluttershy,” Midnight said, “You shouldn’t care about what those bullies say.”

“But they’re right. I’m a terrible flier.”

“But no pony ever starts off as a good flier.”

“Yeah, I bet you even every single one of the Wonderbolts were terrible fliers at one point.”

“It’s just that it’s hard to deny them when it’s true.”

“Poor Fluttershy.” He thought, “It’s so hard for a little timid pony like her to deal with being hurt.” He looked away and he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey, we’ve never been here before.” Midnight pointed to a new looking restaurant. It was an ice cream shop called Cloudsdale Creamery. The word Cloudsdale was written in big, red, bold letters, with the word creamery under it within a gold oval. There was a picture of an ice cream cone right above the words within a red circle with a golden outline. “Come on, let’s go get some ice cream, my treat.” The three threw open the shiny new glass doors and walked in. A nice old pony looked at them from behind the counter.

“Well hi there! Welcome to my new store.” The pony’s voice was raspy but friendly. “What can I do for the three of you?”

Midnight flew up to the counter, “I’ll just have a medium chocolate shake. Rainbow Dash, what about you?”

“How big of something can I get?”

“Anything on their menu that you want. It’s my treat for both of you.”

“Awesome! I’ll take a large vanilla cone.”

“You sure you can finish all that?” The old pony asked, “Our large cones are larger then you’d think.”

“I can handle it! Give me the biggest cone you have.”

“Ha ha, alright we can get you the large. And for you Fluttershy?”

“Oh, I’ll just have a sundae.”

“You sure? It’s my treat so you can have anything you want.”

“It’s okay, I’m not that hungry anyway.”

“That’ll be 12 bits.” Midnight pulled the bits out of his school bag. “Thank you. I’ll have those ready for you in a second. Why don’t you three have a seat wherever you want? You three are my very first customers.”

The three walked over, and sat down in a booth that was 3 down to right to the right of the door. It was right up next to the window, and would be the place they would sit every day after school. Midnight sat by himself on the far side of the booth. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat on the other side with Rainbow Dash in the window seat, “I’ve gotta wonder. How do you have so much money Midnight?”

“Have I not told you that yet? I’m from Canterlot.”

“Wait, what? Why have you never told us this before?”

“I just thought I already did. Anyway, I lived in the upper middle class part of Canterlot. And you know how much more money families have if they live in Canterlot. I just took all of the money I had plus a little extra.”

“So your family is like super rich compared to ponies in Cloudsdale.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Rainbow Dash dove into the extra large cone she had ordered, but struggled to finish. “Having problems there?”

She slammed her head down on the table, “Maybe.”

“Ha ha, I think you might’ve bit off more then you can chew. Literally. Can I suggest getting something smaller when we come here next time?”

“Mhmm.” She kept her head lying on the table.

Fluttershy looked concerned and had stopped eating her sundae. “Are you okay Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just didn’t think it would be so big.”

“Hey, you two up for making this our regular spot every day after school?”

Fluttershy nodded, Rainbow Dash kept her head on the table and replied with a tired grunt.

“Alright, I think once Rainbow Dash’s brain freeze passes over, we’re gonna get going.”

Rainbow Dash picked her head up off of the table, “I think I’m good. Let’s go.”

The three hopped out of their booth, and walked out the glass doors.