Flare of Love

Ponyville, 1:15 P.M., March 20th, 2012

“So, are you ready for this Midnight?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”

“Well, let’s go then.” Rainbow Dash walked ahead, up to the front door of a building that appeared to be made of sweets. A large sign showing a cupcake hung out front. Past her, Midnight could see the room was full of ponies, all enjoying the party. What the occasion was, he didn’t yet know. “Hey girls! Look who showed up at my house today!” Rainbow yelled inside. She waved for Midnight to come up to the door. He flew up next to Rainbow Dash and looked in the doorway.

“Hey ladies. How’s it going?”

Twilight and Fluttershy’s eyes lit up, “Midnight’s back!” Twilight yelled out. She ran up to the door. She was followed closely by Fluttershy and several other ponies he wasn’t familiar with.

“It’s um, it’s nice to see you again Midnight.” Fluttershy was looking down at the floor.

“Ha ha, timid as ever I see.”

“Come on in you two!” a bouncy pink pony said happily while hopping up to the door. “Come and enjoy the party!”

“Sounds good to me.” The two walked in to join the party. “So, I think now is a good time to get to know each other. I already know Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy obviously.”

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet y’all Midnight. The name’s Applejack.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Applejack. This is a party right? What’s the occasion?”

“It’s Applejack’s birthday today! So I decided to throw her a big party! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Ha ha, it’s nice to meet you Pinkie Pie. You set up this party? You sound like quite the ball of energy. That’ll definitely make things interesting. And happy birthday to you Applejack.”

“Well thank yah kindly, Midnight. It’s nice to see y’all are actually a nice fella, and Rainbow Dash didn’t just wind up with some kinda bad boy, wanna be cool, pony. She actually ended up with quite the gentlemen.”

“Thanks Applejack.” Midnight looked over to the little white pony who hadn’t said a word yet. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name is Midnight Flare. Everyone calls my Midnight for short. May I ask you what your name is?”

“Oh, you really are a gentleman, aren’t you? My name is Rarity. Rainbow Dash has told us all about you. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.”

“Thank you Rarity. But, enough about me. Why don’t you each tell me a bit about yourselves? Why don’t we start with you Pinkie?”

The pink pony’s eyes lit up with excitement at the chance to speak. “Well, I like parties, and cupcakes, and candy, and everything that’s fun!”

“I can see you’ll definitely are gonna be a pony who will make life interesting. Now how about you Rarity? What do you do for fun?”

“I run a fashion boutique, making dresses for all of the high class ponies around Equestria, and the top fashion designers,” she said, with an air of dignified self-satisfaction.

“Artistic type I see. Say, do you think you could design something for me for when I take Rainbow Dash to the Gala?”

“Why most certainly Midnight. I would adore doing such a thing for you.”

“Thanks Rarity. That’s really kind of you. Now how about you Applejack?”

“I run Sweet Apple Acres just outside of Ponyville. Applebuckin is mah life.”

“A hard working pony eh? Well that’s good to hear. Maybe you can show me how to applebuck some time.”

“Ah reckon that would be a mighty fine time Midnight.” She began to blush, “I’m gonna go talk with Rainbow Dash n’ Fluttershy. Have fun y’all.” She walked over to the table the other two ponies were sitting at.

“Hey, can I tell you two something important?”

“Okie dokie loki! I don’t see why not.”

“When I was gone for a year, I moved to New Fillhi and trained my fire power in the Haymalayan Mountains. I’ve never liked talking about this, but my lack of control of my ability was the reason I left my family in the first place. When I was there, I met a girl named Zero who is just like Rainbow Dash. She helped me a lot, and I became good friends with her but only friends. Earlier this morning I realized what day it was, and remembered I promised Rainbow Dash I would return. Zero told me she loved me, but I just couldn’t stay with her because I love Rainbow Dash more. I haven’t told her about Zero yet, because I don’t know how she would handle it. What do you two think I should do? I don’t want to break Rainbow Dash’s heart, but I don’t know if she would understand.”

“Midnight dear, you must tell her. Can you imagine the consequences if she found out on her own? If you just come out and tell her, the chances of her still loving you are far greater than if she found that out on her own. If Rainbow Dash ever us anything about you cheating on her, I will be quick to deny it.”

“Thanks Rarity, I think I’ll talk to her about it tonight. I think I’m gonna go catch up with Twilight. I’ll talk with you two some other time, okay?”

“Have fun!”

Midnight started to make his way over to Twilight when Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy suddenly walked up to him. “So, how are you enjoying yourself in Ponyville so far?”

“I think you’ve got yourself a really nice group of friends, Rainbow Dash. Hey, do you mind if I go talk with Twilight a bit? It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to talk to her.”

“Oh, okay. Have fun talking to your sister.” Midnight walked over to Twilight.

“Hey Twilight, how’s it going?”

“Oh, hi Midnight. I’m fine. How about you?”

“I’m good, I really wanted to talk to you, about your life after I left. I never really got to watch you grow up. So tell me, what’s happened in your life since I left? Anything interesting?”

“Well, some time after you left, I devoted my life to studying magic after seeing Princess Celestia raise the sun in the Summer Sun Celebration. Our parents decided to enroll me in Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. For the longest time I studied magic as Princess Celestia’s prize pupil.”

“Hmm... Princess Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. Where have I heard of that before? Oh fuck.” Midnight flashed back to the reason he had left Canterlot.

“*Grrrr* Fine!” The fire burst from Midnight’s horn, burning the four teachers alive. “What have I done?” He remembered his parents trembling in fear. “ Pull yourself together, I’ve gotta get us out of this.” He remembered the window. He remembered it as his only escape. The flames burned on his horn as he struggled to save the ones he loved, “Come on, I can do this!” The flames burst through the wall, opening a path for him and his parents. “Mom, Dad! Through the hole, come on!” The three ponies ran through the hole, and Midnight faded back.

“Midnight, are you okay?” Twilight looked concerned.

Maybe he had been silent a little longer than he thought, remembering that day. He looked up, back to his little sister. “Yeah, it’s just... never mind, it was a long time ago. It’s nothing. So how did you end up here in Ponyville? Last I remember, we lived in Canterlot.” Midnight deftly changed the subject back to Twilight.

“Well, it wasn’t too long ago actually. A few years ago before the Summer Sun Celebration, Princess Celestia sent me here to oversee preparations for the event. That’s when I ended up meeting my friends, here. I was supposed to return to Canterlot afterward, but I just couldn’t leave them, so Princess Celestia allowed me to stay.”

“I’m glad you’re happy here, I was just talking to some of your friends a minute ago, they seem like a great bunch of ponies to have on your side.”

“Yeah, they are,” Twilight said thoughtfully, “I hope you can get to know them better. They really are important to me.”

“I hope I can, I think I made a pretty good impression on them a moment ago, Rarity seemed nice, Pinkie Pie was just a ball of energy. Applejack was--” Rainbow Dash suddenly showed up at his side, looking like she was in a hurry.

“Hey Midnight, I think we might wanna get outta here. Rarity and Applejack got into a fight about being lady like, and it’s starting to get a little crazy.”

“Alright, let’s go to you’re place, we can have some fun time.”

“I think I would love that, Midnight.”