[ 5 ] Failure or Opportunity

Chapter Five – Failure or Opportunity

After being sent to bed by Princess Celestia, Twilight couldn’t press the issue with Silent Flare anymore. She knew that the alicorn was in the custody of the Princesses, but she couldn’t get over the fact that maybe they wouldn’t be enough to hold him down. After all, if Twilight had read everything about that prophecy, and she did, she knew that that same alicorn was the one that overpowered Celestia and Luna multiple times. Finally, the one point that finally eased Twilight’s tense muscles was that this alicorn had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know who he was or where he was.

Twilight rolled over on her bed, getting comfortable under her sheets before releasing a sigh. Her stress dissipated and she felt the dark abyss edging closer to her, ready to consume her until morning. Twilight didn’t fret; she could finally rest in peace. That, my friends, was a big, fat lie.

A knocking on the library’s front door made its way into Twilight’s room and bounced around the walls. The flustered Twilight groaned and stepped out of bed. She cantered down the stairs lazily as the second knock rang through the air. Twilight continued to descend slowly and soon enough, she was at the front door ready to give the disrupter a piece of her mind.

Twilight took a deep breath and opened the door and began, “Well, go away!” Twilight immediately sat back and covered her muzzle with her hooves. “Princess? I’m so sorry. It… I just… I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be apologetic for, dear Twilight. I am merely here on account of your letter. You’ve told me that this alicorn, Silent Flare, was present. No?” Celestia gracefully entered the room and finished her statement before making herself comfortable on one of the sofas.

Twilight shut the door and looked back at the princess. She was obviously confused. She knew that Celestia had already come by to pick up Silent Flare. Why was she here now to do the exact same thing? Twilight began, “Um, Princess? You already came by and took him.” She let out a nervous chuckle and waited for an answer from the solar princess.

Princess Celestia maintained her royal composure but assured, “Dearest Twilight, I’ve only just arrived here in Ponyville. How could have I already collected this alicorn?”

“But, you were here not twenty minutes ago and reassured me that you would take him and confront him together with Luna.” Twilight couldn’t understand what was happening. She knew for a fact that she had given Flare to Celestia. She suddenly gasped and widened her eyes tremendously. “Oh, my gosh. What if he cast an illusion spell on me and then just escaped on his own?”

“Twilight, clarify your words. Are you saying that you no longer have the alicorn?”

“His name is Silent Flare, and yes Princess. I no longer have him.” Twilight let out a sigh of failure as she stared at the ground. Her eyes began to water and a few tears made their way down Twilight’s muzzle. She let out a shaky sigh and looked back up at Celestia. The Princess was staring down at Twilight with a grim expression.

“If you’ve lost him, then where would he run to? He must know that you are acquainted with every pony of Ponyville. Surely, he would be wise enough to know that this place wouldn’t be safe for him.”

“Well, Princess. There was one pony that cared tremendously for Flare. I believe that he, too, cared for this mare in such a way. Maybe we could ask her?”

Princess Celestia’s gaze fell upon Twilight, who squirmed a little in place as response to the tension that was building. Celestia then diverted her eyes to an arbitrary location and hummed in thought. Without looking away, Celestia asked, “Do you know of this pony? What’s her name?”

Twilight looked up and wiped the wetness from her eyes, transferring it to her left forehoof. “Yes, the mare’s name is Lyra. She lives with BonBon a few blocks from here.” Twilight’s voice was shaky and her sniffles were quite audible.

“Alright then, Twilight. For tonight, we shall rest. Confronting a pony at night will not do any good at obtaining needed information. Please return to your resting chambers, I will make myself comfortable with these sofas.” Celestia remained in place and looked to Twilight.

Twilight’s gaze locked with Celestia’s for a moment before Twilight spoke up, “No Princess! Please, I insist you use my bed. It’s much more comfortable than these sofas down here.” Twilight stared at the Princess with plea, but Celestia shook her head, “No Twilight. Your bed must nourish the owner. I am quite content with sleeping on these sofas. Don’t take any heed at all.” With that, Celestia picked up a few sofas in her golden aura magic and placed them in a square so all the cushioning pointed inwards. Putting all the sofas together gave Princess Celestia enough room to sprawl herself out generously without any discomfort.

Twilight was still hesitant at the Princess’s notion, but didn’t refute it for a second time. She simple bowed and made her way back up the steps, careful as not to wake Spike. The light downstairs went out with a click and soon enough, Twilight was in her bed and under the covers. She had failed the Princess. The thought didn’t leave her for a good hour or so. Only when exhausted, did Twilight finally manage to get sleep, if any.

I stretched my hooves out and let out a yawn.  I shook my head a few times and shot out my wings to give them a nice good stretch as well. My wing muscles were pretty tense; I’ll have to do a mega stretch on them. I got up onto my hooves and stood my full height. I opened my wings up and pointed them at the sky, making sure to keep pulling them upwards before I slowly lowered them towards the ground. I then curved them inwards and wrapped them around my belly. I tugged on each one and held my wings like that for a solid two minutes or so. I let out a deep sigh and yawned once more. I like this morning. Ah, another beautiful day in the depths of the Everfree, even if I just got back last night.

I took a moment to look around to see that I was still in the dugout deep within the caves. I looked up, and sure enough, the exit. However, the exit wasn’t not blocked. There were changelings buzzing around above and I couldn’t help but laugh a little. I don’t even know what was funny. Just seeing black, bony, bug ponies buzzing around was funny I guess. I don’t know. Either or, I flared my wings out and began to flap them. I flew out of the hole, making sure not to bump into any of the changeling minions going around. I had no idea where to go within these tunnels, they were too extensive and sophisticated for the average pony. Luckily for me, I wasn’t the average pony. I was an alicorn. Unluckily for me though, I still didn’t know how to get out. I just trotted along a tunnel until I saw another hole to the my top right. If there was a hole on the ceiling, then it led upwards. Right? Right.

I followed the tunnel up, and up, and up. It twisted and turned and made sharp angles, but it still continued to go upwards. The buzzing of changelings behind me began to dull and fade away entirely as I continued up the tunnel. This tunnel was long. I will tell you that right now. I’ve never been in any other tunnel that was this long ever in my life. It kept going on and on. After about fifteen minutes, I’d assume, of trotting down the tunnel, guess where I am. Still in the tunnel. Still trotting along.

“Ugh, I hate this place.” My patience began to wane and I knew that I needed to find the exit fast. I hate this tunnel. It was starting to stink too. Like animal feces or something. I began to gag and cough so I stopped and flipped right around. I’ve gone too deep. Time to bail. I escalated my trot into a full out gallop. The smell was traumatizing. It was the smell of utter filth and disgust. Nothing could compare to such a smell now. If you think you’ve smelled some bad stuff, you haven’t been down this tunnel.

Even though I was far enough away from the stench to smell it physically, I could still smell it mentally. The stench continued to nag at my thoughts until I shook my head. Oh, that stunk horribly. I was sick of being underground. It sucked. I could swear that I was sweating underneath my coat. I appreciated the warmth that it provided, but it was poorly lit, humid, and it stunk. I gave up and began clawing my way upwards. Yes, I began clawing at the dirt that made the ceiling of the tunnel with hooves.

I continued to dig away and push myself upwards into the dirt with my wings. I flapped profusely, forcing my hooves to work overtime. After about twenty seconds or so of groveling through the dirt, the little dirt left between me and the open air collapsed inwards. I continued pushing until I felt the nice breeze and smell of trees. Only then, did I set myself on the ground and shake wildly, sending loose dirt everywhere. I’m out. That worked.

I looked around, to find that I was in the middle of nowhere. “I have… absolutely no idea where I am. Well, at least I’m out.” Knowing nothing better to do, I flew up above the trees and scoured the entire area. Ponyville could be seen to my right just a little ways, but I couldn’t find anything to help me direct myself in the direction of the changeling hive. I let out a low hum and lowered myself back onto the ground that I had burst out of not too long ago. I closed my eyes, focusing on my ears and straining them. I was trying my utmost to hear anything that could point me in the right direction.

Sure enough, all the straining pulled off. I heard a faint noise that as indescribably and my left ear swiveled around and twitched to hear it. The faint noise continued on its own and began to fade out, so I began to gallop in the direction I had heard it. I was anything except quiet. Man, I was ripping through the foliage, desperate to return to civilization. I slowed my gallop into a quiet trot and continued to hear for anything that could help. It was the noise again, but this time it was more defined. The sound was a low buzzing, like a bee. Changelings.

I continued off towards the sound and was sure to look around as well, trying to pick up any sight of the bug ponies. Desperation began stacking itself up in my mind like a failed game of Tetris. I had no idea where Chrysalis or her minions were, and I was stuck somewhere in the Everfree. The Everfree… I liked the Everfree. Why did I not want to be here? A sense of nostalgia roamed through the air and I let the feeling overwhelm me and fill me. It was such a good feeling.

Unfortunately, I broke the nostalgic aura and perked my ears up once more, trying to detect anything audible. The buzzing was back and it filled my ears, sending knowledge to my brain. I was off once again, galloping towards the sound. This could very well be a trap, but hey. I kind of didn’t like being completely alone. I felt better with other things around. Like… like a manticore?

I halted myself right outside a clearing with multiple fallen over trees that had mounds in front of them. This is where I should be. I was about to completely forget why I stopped outside the clearing and dive for a hole. In the middle of the clearing, a manticore was grooming itself and lapping at its paws. Truth be told, this manticore was pretty big. If you have a good imagination, and you can picture how big I am, then you should be able to know how big almost ten times my size is. The mass of this beast literally took up the whole clearing. I bet branches from the upper levels of the trees gets caught in its mane, it’s so big. Inha- ha- hale…. Ex-exhale… My breathing was suddenly labored and it was hard to stay silent in doing so. I must’ve failed horribly because the manticore had stopped lapping at its right paw and was eyeing the tree I was hiding behind.

Shit… No please don’t. Don’t come towards me. I looked back into the clearing and made eye contact with the manticore for a whole second. The connection was broken when something pulled me to the right and dragged me across the dirt and shrubbery. I continued to be dragged along until I fell into a through a hole. What was going on? I looked to my left to see my ponynapper was Chrysalis. She was gulping air and it was easily discernible that her breathing was labored as well. That manticore was huge.

“So… Chrysalis. Do you get any beasts that big? What was it?” I asked through breaths.

Chrysalis continued to breathe deeply, but her breathing became much steadier. As soon as she had her breathing completely under control, she looked at me and said, “That was a manticore. That’s the biggest one I have ever seen. They shouldn’t be down here.” It was obvious that Chrysalis was worried. She probably couldn’t take on a manticore at all, let alone a mega manticore.

I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane, “So we have absolutely no way to get rid of it? Dang it.”

Chrysalis continued to eye me for a few more seconds before looking down at the ground. This was a storm that we had to wait out, unless I could do something about it. I went a little ways back up the hole and waited a couple seconds patiently. After I heard nothing, I continued to travel up the tunnel. After repeating this process a few times, I made it to the very end of the tunnel. I poked my head out of it and scanned the open area before me. I didn’t see anything at all. The manticore had just vanished into thin air. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn’t question it.

I slid down the hole and landed next to Chrysalis. I looked to her and said lazily, “The thing just ran away. That boring waste of nature.”

Chrysalis looked to me then back at the tunnel that I had slid down. She then used her wings to create a low, buzzing sound. Changelings poked out of holes and started popping out of every nook and cranny around. The buzzing became so intense that I had to flatten my ears to prevent deafness. Chrysalis then flew up to the tunnel to the surface and I simply followed.

When we were out, I pulled Chrysalis to the side and said, “I’m going back to Ponyville. It’s too busy around here and I don’t know what to do to pass the time.”

Chrysalis just laughed and said sarcastically, “Yea, Ponyville. I’ll take you. Just wait.”

I rolled my eyes and clicked my tongue, “I’m serious Chrysalis, and I’m going to go see Lyra and BonBon. I don’t think that they know that I’m here. I want to make sure they’re alright.”

Chrysalis’ stopped laughing and sighed. “Why do you have to go back there? You will be hunted every second that you are there. You do understand that, correct?”

I simply nodded and continued to stare at Chrysalis with a grim expression.

Chrysalis then returned my nod and said, “I will permit this, however, you mustn’t go now. It is daylight and somepony might see you. Leave at night, with the cover of darkness.”

I was bored. I had absolutely nothing to do to pass the time. I saw the first orange hues make their way into the sky as the sun set. I sighed annoyingly and scratched my ear with a hoof. I was above ground and in front of a random mound of dirt. I couldn’t find anything to do so I slowly lowered my head onto my hooves. I might as well sleep. Oh how I loved sleep. It was something that I could always look forward to in a day of awesomeness or chaos. It didn’t matter. I shut my eyes and yawned quickly. I steadied my breathing and let sleep take hold of my body.

“Hey Derek. Derek. Derek! HEY RETARD.” It was me. I as a human. I was calling out to another human who was laid out across a couch. The human on the couch, Derek, simply rolled over and placed his pillow over his head. I rolled my eyes and moved towards the front of the couch and picked up a little device off the table with multiple buttons on it. I pointed the device at a large black screen and pressed down on a red button. When the screen sparked to life, I sat down on Derek and watched it until Derek squirmed uncontrollably.

I got up off the poor soul and ripped the blanket from his grasps. “Derek. Get up.”

“Nerr. I dern’t werner.”

“Get up Derek. GET UP. GET UP.” I hopped up onto the couch and began jumping on Derek’s back as I continued to chant “GET UP. GET UP.”

I heard a few pops from Derek’s back as he flailed his arms around. “Alright. ALRIGHT. Get off me, Jake.” I jumped one last time before falling to the ground next to the couch. Derek sat up straight and tilted his neck side to side, letting out an orchestra of crackles and pops.

“Ha, that’s it?” I scoffed at Derek’s pathetic pops and sat back down on the couch and diverted my attention to the screen.

“Oh, you’re so funny," Derek snarked and continued, “what’s on TV?” He began to pick the sleep from his eyes and stretched his arms up, yawning. I yawned as well, damnit. That shit was contagious.

I replied boringly, “Nothing interesting.” I began switching channels and calling off the contents, “News, news, weather, boring, boring, cartoons. Eh, it’s not My Little Pony or Adventure Time. More news, boring, boring. Ah, this sucks.” I pointed the device in my hand at the TV again, but Derek spoke up.

“Lemme see the remote. I bet I can find something we can watch.” I shrugged and passed him the remote.

“Alright Derek, while you look for something, I’m going to the bathroom.” I then proceeded in getting up off the couch and casually strolling across a room and into a hallway before coming up to a door. I pushed open the door and yawned while stepping inside. I looked at myself in the mirror real quick and scoffed at my appearance. I had a dark brown to black hair color with yellow highlights streaking down the strands. My build wasn’t the best, but I wasn’t fat. I wasn’t exactly scrawny either. I guess it could be considered an average build for a man that doesn’t eat like a pig or go through intense workouts.

I looked to the toilet on the floor and proceeded in doing my business. When I was finished I walked over to the sink and washed my hands. I peered at my clone in the mirror while washing away and looked at my eyes closely. They were a shade of brown lighter than my hair. I finished up washing my hands and turned around to dry them off on a towel before walking back out into the living room, where Derek was reclining on the couch. I made my way to the couch before turning to see what was on. It was an old episode of Adventure Time.

“Derek, we already watched this episode. Didn’t we?”

Derek simply shrugged and said, “Yea, but why not watch it again? There’s nothing else to watch.” Derek did have a point. I just sat silently and continued to watch the episode.

I woke with a start and looked up immediately at the dark purple night sky. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s around 8pm. I looked back down at my hooves and closed my eyes, imagining Jake’s body from my dream. I felt the “water” inside me drain ever so slightly and I saw my outline as an alicorn change into that of a human. I opened my eyes once again to see the last wisps of flame from my magic die out. I felt my hand and each appendage jutting out of it.

I pulled my hand to the front of my face and looked down at myself, I was a human alright. What I didn’t understand though, was the fact that I wasn’t a crimson red anymore. I was the same color as I was in my dream. Well, as far as I knew, I was the same color. I had garments on as well. I wasn’t wearing them when I was an alicorn. I was wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt. I must’ve morphed to have clothes on? I’m not too sure. There wasn’t much light from the stars. I knew that I wasn’t red however. I took in a deep breath and spoke quietly.

“So, I’m Jake.”

It was almost evening, and the sun was lazily hiding behind a few hills. The vibrant orange and red sky reflected the time and Twilight knew that she’d be leaving with Celestia to look for Lyra any minute. Twilight sighed and backed up from the window and trotted back into the main room of her library. The rest of the mane six were there patiently waiting. Spike was there too, but he didn’t like what was going on so had hidden behind one of the sofas.

Twilight looked at each of her friends individually before speaking up. “Alright, you all know why I asked you to come here, right?”

“Right. You called us here to hunt down that one stallion dude.” Rainbow Dash was floating above the group and had her hooves crossed. She was less than amused at this ‘Silent Flare’ guy.

“Yes, Dash, but not as menacingly as you put it. I just need you all to keep an eye out for him. If you find him, come back and tell me because we really need to catch him.”

Applejack spoke up unconvinced, “Wah do yeh want us to do this here spyin’ thing again? It isn’t too kind and ah don’t feel too comfortable in doin’ it.”

“We need to keep an eye out for him because he isn’t just an alicorn.” Twilight sighed nervously.

“He isn’t an average alicorn? Darling, what is that supposed to imply?” Rarity was as hesitant as Applejack in going around spying.

“Well, you see.” Twilight couldn’t even begin to explain that Silent Flare was actually an evil warlord from ancient Equestria that had been condemned. Thankfully, Celestia had spoken up in Twilight’s stead as she descended the stairs.

“The alicorn pony you all know as Silent Flare, is actually the most powerful pony that ever existed. His name is Lord Dunamis. He was the grand monarch of most of the Equestrian land back almost 5000 years. His level of power exceeds Luna’s and my own. We must contain him before he can realize that he has an unbelievable amount of potential.”

Everypony, even Spike, gasped and looked at Princess Celestia in shock. The ponies knew that Celestia was one of the most powerful beings in existence. Now, they had just heard of somepony that exceeded Celestia’s power twofold. Even Twilight was in a shock at the immense amount of power.

Spike was one to speak up and slice the silence, “Flare’s that powerful? Whoa, that’s awesome!” Spike was prancing around happily at how his friend was powerful.

Twilight looked at Spike’s enthralled state and was less than amused, “Spike! Flare is a villain. How could you feel happy for him if this villain is much more powerful than Princesses Celestia and Luna combined?” A thought then formulated inside Twilight’s mind and she turned back to Celestia.

“Princess, do the Elements of Harmony have any effect on him? Surely they must if he is a villain.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I am not certain that the Elements will have an effect on him. The Elements were a legend while Dunamis was in power. There were only bits and pieces of information about the Elements. It wasn’t until 2000 years later that they were unearthed in a dig site. If we ever get the chance, then we will have to see.

Twilight’s hopeful expression drooped and she eyed the floor. To recount her knowledge, the ponies of this town will have to keep an open eye out for Flare, or Dunamis. If they don’t find him soon, then he might return to the villainous Lord Dunamis and conquer Equestria once more.

“We should get going now.” Twilight spoke to his friends. “Princess, we’ll be going to Lyra’s house. Spike you’re coming too.”

I walked around, trying to find Chrysalis. I didn’t dare go into the tunnels in my human state. I pulled aside one of the changelings that was going back into a hole. I had to morph back into Silent Flare to convince him that I was actually, the same pony that was always here. I changed back into a human and asked the changeling to get Chrysalis. The changeling simply nodded and dove into a nearby hole. Within seconds, Chrysalis appeared behind me and called out.

“So, I see that you can morph into the human that you were before. How? I was led to assume that your memories were... out of reach.”

I shrugged and looked back at my hands. “I don’t know. I had dreamt of Jake a few times and well…” My voice trailed off and I looked away from my hands and back down at Chrysalis. I was at least half a yard taller than her now.

Chrysalis simply nodded in understanding.

“With your permission, I’d like to go and check up on Lyra and BonBon now.”

The Changeling Queen before me stared at me and gave a slight nod, “Go.” I nodded a few times before morphing back into Silent Flare. I wasn’t about to run all the way to Ponyville as a human. It felt comfortable to be one. I felt as though I could walk and run normally, but I couldn’t fly as one. As Silent Flare, I flew up and above the forest canopy like I have before. I set my eyes ablaze once more and scanned the area for Ponyville. I saw it not too far away on my right and I began flying in that direction before dousing the flames in my eyes.

Lyra and BonBon were in their common room, gazing at a lit fire in the fireplace. The only thing that was audible was the crackle and sizzle of the wood and the sniffles of Lyra. She was legitimately depressed that she couldn’t find Flare. BonBon knew this as well. She was sad too, but Lyra took it harder. After a long wait and uncomfortable silence, BonBon decided to shatter it.

“So, um. Do you remember anything about being with him last? Like where he was or what he was doing…”

Lyra picked her gaze up off the tissue in her hooves and looked at BonBon. After a few seconds, she gazed back at the tissue and said, “Well, I was in the library with Twilight and her friends. I was so happy to see him when he came down the stairs and I hugged him. He sat with me on the sofa.” Lyra’s eyes lit up slightly and she added, “He called me ‘honey’!” She sniffled once more and then drooped back down. “He’s gone now.”

BonBon regretted bringing Flare back up again. She just couldn’t help Lyra out. She was in a severe depression and BonBon couldn’t help her best friend out. It was such a horrible feeling of failure. An idea then popped up into her mind.

“Well, uh, Lyra. How about we go check out the next Human Convention? Together.” The last word drooled out of her mouth slowly and regretfully. BonBon never went with Lyra to any of the Human Conventions, even if they were held in Ponyville. BonBon let out a shiver and returned her nervous stare back at Lyra for the impending response.

Lyra sniffled a few more times before looking up at BonBon. The smile on BonBon’s face made her like kind of uneasy and nervous. Lyra couldn’t help but let out a light laugh before asking, “Are you sure? You never went, ever. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m not even sure that I want to go anymore.”

BonBon’s eyes grew extremely wide at the last sentence. Lyra didn’t want to go to a Human Convention? SINCE WHEN. THIS WAS LYRA WE’RE TALKING ABOUT. The one and only pony that is so famous around Ponyville for being the most obsessed with humans, and here she is not wanting to go to the next convention, which by the way, is held in Ponyville a week and a half from now. BonBon was surprised at her friend’s indecisiveness. Normally, Lyra would snap up any chance to do or have anything to do with humans before there was even a chance for competition.

BonBon lowered her head in defeat. She couldn’t convince Lyra that it was fine. She couldn’t convince her that everything was going to be okay. Lyra was never sad like this before in her life. BonBon thought about the situation and found that it all went back to Flare. Flare left, causing Lyra to feel like this. This whole dilemma was all Flare’s fault. BonBon’s faced overturned into a scowl and she stared at the couch she was on. How could Flare do such a thing? Lyra brought him here, to her home, and she clearly felt some kind of connection with Flare. However, Flare completely ignored Lyra and devoured sandwiches and probably emptied the water in our water cooler. He didn’t even say goodbye properly. He just left.

BonBon got up from her spot on the couch and trotted upstairs, leaving Lyra alone with only the company of the sizzling fire. Lyra didn’t mind though, she barely took notice. She was so exhausted that she was about to just fall asleep on the couch in front of the warm aura. Before she could, however, a knocking on the door attracted her attention. She composed herself the best she could and went to answer the door.

“Who would come to my house at such a late hour?”

I had landed right at the town’s edge and was hidden behind several trees that separated the actual town land from the Everfree. I could feel the coldness of night slipping through my fur and chilling me. I shivered and blew out a breath of hot, wispy air. The barely visible cloud before me told me that it was getting cold. Damn.

From where I was, I couldn’t make out a path to Lyra’s house. I had no idea where I was. I looked around to see if I could find any useful landmarks, but it was too dark. I wasn’t about to set my eyes ablaze again either. The light would undoubtedly attract attention, even if it was late at night. I crept out of my hiding place and start trotting down the path and made my way into the city. If I recall correctly from my flight to Twilight’s house with Spike, Lyra’s house is down the road from Twilight’s. Spike said that. Okay, it can’t be that hard.

I looked around for Twilight’s giant tree home. It was kind of impossible to miss. That is, if it was daytime. Fucking damnit. I should’ve just came during the day. I took a risky chance and allowed my eyes to become the deep blue. I looked at the ground and then at a hoof before realizing that the flames from my eyes don’t give off light. They obviously are brightly colored themselves since they’re a bright cyan, but they don’t let off any light. It’s like seeing a fire in an endless abyss where nothing reflects the light. Awesome. What’s more is that I can see everything as if it was clear as day. Is this what all alicorns do when they aren’t normally able to see in the dark?

With perfect vision, I trotted along the streets, occasionally ducking into an alleyway or rolling up into a ball to hide the bright flames from my eyes. Luckily, ‘occasionally’ wasn’t most of the time. I probably only did so twice, and they were to random sounds that I heard. I continued to trot along and after a while, I found the giant tree. The giant tree. What I really meant was the motherfucking hugeass tree of no return, ‘cus this tree is like no other.

Anyways I swiveled around from the entrance and trotted away from it. Lyra’s house couldn’t be too far away now. As I start to think about it, Lyra is probably the only pony I can trust in Ponyville now. Wait, no. That can’t be right. Twilight probably still believes that Celestia took me to Camelrot or whatever. That, my friends, is the perfect cover.

I trotted more casually around, attempting to find Lyra’s house, like I said a billion times already. After a few minutes, I noticed a light coming from around a corner. It was a dim light, but it was there. I immediately glued myself to the house on my left and edged towards the intersection. I turned my eyes off and slowly poked my head around the corner. The light was coming from another corner a little ways down the road. This time though, it wasn’t dim. It was a bright light. A light that was bright.

I took in a deep breath and muttered, “Camo mode.” I then galloped across the street and flattened my figure against another building. Trust me, it’s hard to flatten yourself when you’re a foot or so short of being  as tall as a small market stand. Eh, whatever. I shimmied closer to the second intersection and took in a few deep breaths once more. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale… Exhale… I steadied myself and poked my head out from my shelter.

What I saw immediately made me retract my head and widen my eyes. Damnit. Twilight’s here. I slowly took another deep breath to calm my pounding heart. Why my heart was racing, I haven’t a clue. When my heartbeat dropped to a mildly tolerable level of pumping blood, I peeked at her again. I noticed Celestia wither her this time. They were just about to knock on the door. A familiar door. The door that opened into Lyra’s home. The exact same home that I was trying to get into. Damnit. Those two won’t make this easy for me.

I looked back at the street I was on to make sure nopony was lurking around. Confirming that no one was around I began to edge myself out of my hiding spot, just to see Celestia and Twilight go through the doorway and have the door shut behind them. Well, gee. That didn’t ruin my plan at all. I huffed a bit and galloped as quietly as hooves on stone could and pressed up against Lyra’s door. I strained my right ear to listen on what was going on inside.

The voices were very faint and required maximum concentration to hear. In this situation, my concentration was maxed out tenfold. I was trying my utter best to hear in on what the mares inside were saying.

“Princess Celestia, what brings you here?” I heard BonBon’s voice ask.

The voice that I could assume to be Celestia’s replied, “I am here on account of a missing pony. I understand that he used to reside here with you and Lyra.”

I heard a grunt and then Twilight’s voice spoke, “Yes, his name is Silent Flare. Do you two know anything?”

There was the longest and most painful silence ever. I had to endure it too. It became agonizingly anxious to know what was going to happen next. All I heard was a random outburst that I couldn’t make sense of. It began, but the voice was shaky and quite often interrupted with little sniffles and hiccups. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

Twilight then spoke once more, “So you’re saying that Flare wasn’t here? And the last time you saw him was when he was at the library.

There was a subtle ‘uh huh’ and then another outburst. “He’s such a jerk! He left me here all alone and didn’t even say ‘goodbye’! I never want to see him again!” I could hear Twilight humming in thought. I could also picture BonBon shooting a dirty look at Lyra. That was something funny to think about.

Celestia then asked, “BonBon, do you know anything of this alicorn’s whereabouts?”

“No, Princess. Lyra was the one with him most of the time. I simply made him sandwiches to eat because she asked me to.”

I heard a rustling and then hooves hitting the floor.

“Thank you my little ponies. Now, before we keep you up any later, I advise getting some rest. I once again apologize for intruding on such a late hour.”

With that, the hoofsteps grew louder and louder until I finally realized that they were making an exit. I’m not going to lie. I fucking panicked. I looked around frantically to find something to hide behind. Without any more options, I simply spread my wings and shot them down wards. I flew up with insane acceleration and idled in midair before gently floating back downwards. I saw the Princess and Twilight leave the house and begin walking down the street. I let out a heavy sigh and continued to descend slowly. When I knew that they were far enough away for me to land without attracting any attention, I did so. I pulled my wings in close, and quickly closed the distance between the ground and me. Moments before impact, I spread my wings once more and flapped a few times to land softly.

I looked down the street at where Celestia and Twilight walked off before quickly making a 180 and trying my luck on the door lever. It wasn’t locked. I pulled the lever down and eased the door open. The door itself didn’t make a sound, but I forgot that hooves do make quite a bit of noise. I hissed and drew a sharp breath before continuing in before shutting the door quietly behind me.

I entered the living room and looked around. Lyra and BonBon hadn’t taken any notice of my quiet, yet audible, hoofsteps. They were too busy gazing at the fire to notice my sudden intrusion. The fire’s heat radiated around the room and painted an orange-yellow tint on everything in the room. I imagine this being what a true home felt like. Well, excluding the sorrowful faces on the two mares before me. I took a deep breath, once again before speaking up.

“I’m so sorry Lyra.” My voice obviously scared the living daylights out of the two ponies because they jumped up. They literally jumped up off the couches and into the air. When they both landed, they each turned to see my head hung low and a look of regret on my face. I didn’t want them to be mad at me at a time like this. I didn’t know that Lyra would be shocked and broken like this either. BonBon immediately got up and made her way to me. She then took her hoof and drove it into my face. I closed my eyes preparing for the strike.

Instead, all I heard was a metallic clang. I opened my eyes and BonBon’s hoof was touching my fur, but sparks were flying around. I sighed and took BonBon’s hoof in mine and pulled her aside. I lowered my head and pulled her onto my back before trotting deeper into the room. BonBon was motionless through the ride, but I could feel her whimpering. The amount of sorrow that this room had was more than enough to create tensions that Celestia herself would have a hard time breaking.

I lowered BonBon on her spot on the couch and cantered slowly to the second couch Lyra was on. I sat like she did, like a human, and took in a deep breath. She was shaking and looking away. It was obvious that she didn’t want to see me, so I thought up something real quick. My body began to engulf itself in flames, which scared BonBon who was looking at me. Lyra didn’t know what had happened though. After going through the morph, the fire died out and I extended a finger and tapped her shoulder.

Lyra turned ready to punch my face in like BonBon had tried not too long ago. She stopped mid-swing and simply gasped. The ball of blankets in her lap began to shuffle and move about, but Lyra quickly clamped it down.

I heard a young, boyish voice from within the blankets. “Hey! Lyra, let me out! What’s going on? I heard Flare’s voice.”

I set my hand on the ball of blankets and stroked what felt like Spike’s back spines. I then said, “I’m not Silent Flare. My name’s Jake.”

The blankets immediately fell quiet and motionless. Lyra even loosened her grip on the cloths some. Spike then popped his head out and looked up at me. His eyes went wide and his head immediately sunk back into his blankets.

“What’s that?! LYRA.”

Lyra remained quiet and BonBon spoke for her. “That’s him. That’s Flare.”

“No it isn’t! Flare’s a red alicorn. That’s a monkey thing!” He then jumped out of the blankets and ran over to BonBon and pointed at me. “That isn’t an alicorn. That is a naked monkey thing with clothes on.”

BonBon gazed at me expectantly and I understood immediately. My body was once again engulfed in flames, which beckoned a yelp from Spike. After only a couple seconds, the flames dispersed and me, in the body of Silent Flare, sat on the couch. I gazed at Spike and remembered something that I wanted to show him. My eyes once again disappeared into a sea of cobalt and the cyan flames licked the sides of my head once more. Spike was even more intimidated and scared and jumped up onto the couch and hid behind BonBon’s head.

Needless to say, Spike’s reaction to my eyes was spot on with Lyra’s when she first found out about them. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Lyra looked over and saw my eyes and snorted.

“Big deal. He has glowing eyes. Get over it Spike.”

Spike came out from behind BonBon and walked up to me. I returned my eyes to normal and picked him up. At first Spike was resistant, but I easily overpowered him and put him next to Lyra. Spike, then gasped, as if remembering something important.

“Oh my gosh! Flare…”

“It’s Jake… Silent Flare was a name I made up when I couldn’t remember my real name.”

“Alright them. Jake, Twilight told me to stay over will Lyra until you came back. She wanted me to tell you to go meet her at her tree. Let’s go!”

Before the Spike could make it to the door, I pulled him into a crushing bear hug. It’s not me showing affection for him, not now at least. It was me preventing him from going anywhere. Spike was squirming around and I eased my hold on him just a little so he could breathe.

“Spike, I can’t go to Twilight.”

Spike spat out a few red fur strands and looked up at me. “What? Why not? She said Pinkie was going to throw your party.”

I sighed and recalled the events that happened on the night before Chrysalis came to save me. “Okay, umm… Spike, remember when you first brought me to Twilight’s house and I went unconscious?”

“Well, yea. But what does that have to do with anything.”

“When I woke up, I met Twilight’s friends. You know, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and your girlfriend."

Spike’s cheeks were a rosy red and he scratched the back of his head, “Aw shucks. Rarity’s not my girlfriend, but that would sure be nice.” Spike started to doze off to Lalaland again. I sighed and yanked his tail. He yelped and a stream of fire escaped his mouth.

When we glared at me, I continued. “Anyways, when that was all over, I fell unconscious once more. When I woke, Twilight had me strapped to a table and started calling me a weird name like Dunce or something. She wanted to send me to Camelrot.”

“Uh, it’s Canterlot.”

“Yea, Canterlot. Whatever.”

I put Spike down in between Lyra and me as he looked up and put a claw on his chin in deep thought. He finally shrugged slightly and said, “I guess we shouldn’t tell Twilight then.”

“Yea, don’t tell her. However Spike, I don’t want you to lie to her either. She’s your owner after all.”

Spike winced slightly when I said ‘owner’. “Owner? No dude, Twilight’s just a pony that I’m an assistant for.”

To me, that was darn near the same definition as having that pony as an owner. I sighed and lifted Spike up once more and set him back on BonBon’s couch.

BonBon watched and listened to our conversation and finally said, “I won’t tell anypony either. You can trust me Fla- err.. Jake.” She smiled and set her head down, ready to sleep. Spike then climbed up on top of BonBon and curled up into a ball before dozing off himself. I was left with Lyra.

I looked over to Lyra and tried to think up something to say. When I couldn’t think of anything, I simply turned back into the human Jake and put my hand through her mane. It was quite obvious that Lyra was pleasured by this. I heard a low hum, almost a purr, and she pushed her head up into my palm. I scoffed a little before saying, “Didn’t know you wanted it that badly.”

Lyra immediately slapped my hand away with her hoof. She then glared at me with a smirk. I began to laugh and nudged her playfully. She then jumped up and leaped at me. I caught her midair, but her weight made me put her back down in front of me. Okay, so, ponies are heavier than they look. They are pretty compact, but they’re not the lightest thing in the world. Lyra looked into my eyes, but as you know, I was uncomfortable with the intimacy. So to fix the problem, I just pulled Lyra in for a hug and simply held her tight. I sighed and squeezed tighter before saying, “I’m sorry.”

Lyra pulled away and looked at my human face. “You know Jake, you look different.” Well, hahaha. So funny. It’s not like I’m a human now or anything. Cough cough.

Although my sarcastic side tried to reply, I pushed it away and asked, “I do?”

“Yea, you’re a human now. Jake, you’re so stupid.”

I rolled my eyes and said, “Well my bad.” I set Lyra back down and lied down. My entire length took up pretty much the whole couch, but Lyra made do. She just hopped up onto my chest and lied down with her face a few inches away from mine. I put my hand in her mane and laid my head back on the armrest. This was just a perfect scene. The fire was crackling and warming everyone. BonBon was on the other couch with Spike and I was over here with Lyra. Nothing could ever break this moment up. That is, except for a hollow knock on the door…

The door blew open and Twilight barged in. I instinctively flattened myself into the couch, attempting to go undetected. Twilight then looked around the living room. Spike and BonBon had woken up and Lyra hadn’t even shut her eyes yet. All three of them just looked over at Twilight with annoyed expressions.

Spike spoke up, “Twilight, I told you that I’d tell you if Jake got here.”

“Jake? Who’s Jake?” Twilight was quizzically suspicious and began looking around.

I don’t think I could hold up this gimmick for long. The dancing fire in the fireplace helped conceal me with the dark colored couch with all the dancing shadows it casted.

Spike shook his head and quickly corrected himself, “I meant Flare. I said that I’d tell you if Flare got here.”

Twilight snorted and continued her search, “Spike, are you sure you aren’t hiding him anywhere. I feel a massive amount of magic in this very room.” Spike gulped audibly and waved his hands in front of him.

“No, I’m not! Twilight, come on. You know me. I’m not hiding Flare.”

Twilight’s gaze continued to scour over the room. At one point, she made eye contact with and locked on. She raised an eyebrow at first, but soon after smirked slyly and looked back at Spike.

“Alright, as long as you’re not hiding him here. Just tell me when he comes.” She then used her purple magic to fix the door on its hinges and scampered out.

Spike wiped away sweat from his forehead and looked to me. I was pulling myself out of the cushions and lay back down comfortably with Lyra still on my chest. I feverously stroked her mane as Spike spoke to me in relief, “Whew, she didn't find you. That was a close one.”

I quickly shook my head and gulped, “No, she knows.”