The Flareverse - What if's, Could have's and Should never have been's... but we did them anyway.

Chapters

Accidentally in Love, by Ausbrony (DitzBlitz)
Chaos decides that things were more fun down on the ground, so it stops rising, goes back home, and finds something else to do for the rest of the afternoon. By TheLetterJ
Guest Chapter - Maud About You (By The Letter J)
A very Flarey Nightmare Night

Accidentally in Love, by Ausbrony (DitzBlitz)

Flareverse - Accidentally In Love.

It had been several months since the Ponyta known as Flare Blitz had arrived in Ponyville. The ponies he had met had been friendly for the most part, but some were still wary of the flaming Pokémon. One pony in particular had been especially friendly to him: an odd pegasus mare by the name of Ditzy Doo.

She had been the one who had found him after he unintentionally arrived in Equestria, and she was the only one at the time who wasn’t terrified of him. Once he had healed from his injuries, the ruling sovereign, Princess Celestia, had paid the stallion a visit to determine if he was a threat to her little ponies. Ditzy had defended him the whole time, and it was decided that Flare Blitz would live with her until a way was found to send him home.

Flare was eventually accepted by the community and even had a job working at Applejack’s farm (once he convinced her that he wouldn’t burn the place down).

~~~

“Blank Flank! Blank Flank!” Two fillies danced around little Dinky Doo, chanting the insult over and over. The little unicorn had tried to ignore it at first, but their persistence had paid off, and tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

“Leave me alone!” Dinky yelled and tried to run, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon blocked her path.

“What’s the matter, Blank Flank?” Diamond taunted. “Gonna run home to your freak of a mom? Or maybe that fire monster you call a friend?”

“No wonder your sister left!” Silver added, and that caused the dam behind Dinky’s eyes to burst. She erupted into tears and ran past the two fillies, who remained and laughed until their sides hurt.

“This never gets old, huh?” Diamond giggled, and Silver nodded in agreement. “C’mon, Sil, let’s go get a milkshake.”

***

Ditzy Doo collapsed in a heap on the couch, her job as mailmare finally over for the day. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Twilight Sparkle hadn’t ordered a new set of encyclopaedias for the library.

No sooner had she laid down than Flare Blitz walked in. His fur was slick with sweat, and his eyes drooped a bit.

“Man, bucking apples is harder than I thought,” he moaned. “How does Ms. Applejack do it all day?”

Ditzy would have replied if she hadn’t been biting her lip while ogling the sexy stallion.

Her adopted daughter, Sparkler, had left about three months prior to Flare’s arrival, having gotten a job teaching at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Ditzy was incredibly proud of her daughter, but she missed her terribly.

Dinky hadn’t taken too well to Sparkler leaving either, and try as she might, Ditzy couldn’t seem to cheer the little filly up. But ever since Flare had literally fallen from the sky, Dinky had been back to her cheerful little self.

Utterly lost in her daydreams, it wasn’t until Flare gently prodded her in the shoulder that she snapped back to reality.

“Huh? Wha- It’s my muffin!” she said, fumbling her words.

Flare snorted and laughed. “I said ‘what would you like for dinner?’ I’m gonna have a shower, and then I’ll do some shopping.”

“You don’t have to do that!” Dinky said, flailing her hooves. “You just worked all day. I won’t have you do grocery shopping as well.”

Flare shrugged. “And you’ve been working pretty hard too, from the looks of it.” He put a hoof on her shoulder, and Ditzy calmed down. “So don’t worry. Let me clean myself up, and then I’ll get dinner.” He looked towards the setting sun. “And where’s Dinks? Shouldn’t she be home by now?”

Now that he mentioned it, Dinky was running late. And as if on cue, the door flew open, and Dinky Doo raced inside and straight upstairs into her bedroom.

Ditzy and Flare watched her and then looked at each other. What the hay was that about?

***

Dinky’s pillow was damp as she sobbed and screamed into it.

“Stupid Diamond-Poopie head! An-and stupid Poopie-Spoon!” Dinky smacked her pillow, which nailed Flare right in the face as he walked in.

“Ow, now that was uncalled for.” He said, putting the fluffy object back on the bed.

Dinky gasped and then turned away; she didn’t want Flare to see her cry. He often told her what a big filly she was, and big fillies didn’t cry. But when she then found herself sandwiched in a hug between Flare and her mommy the tears just wouldn’t stop.

“What’s wrong, Little Muffin?” Ditzy asked. It had been a long time since Dinky was this upset.

“Did something happen at school?” Flare guessed, and Dinky just nodded, hiccupping and sniffling.

Ditzy guessed the next part; this was feeling all too familiar to the mare. “Did somepony tease you?” she said softly, and Dinky nodded again. Ditzy frowned and looked at Flare, who nodded in return. “Well don’t worry; I’ll talk to Ms. Cheerilee tomorrow, m’kay?”

Dinky didn’t respond this time; she knew that nothing would change. Diamond and Silver would just find somepony else to pick on. She continued to sniffle until Flare nuzzled her gently. “Hey, Dinks, I’m gonna go shopping. You wanna come with me?”

Dinky shook her head; she just wanted to hide in her room, but Flare wasn’t having any of that. He knew the filly’s weakness, and he was going for a super effective hit. “And maybe I’ll stop by Sugar Cube Corner to get ice cream… I sure wish somepony would be there to help me eat it though.” He sighed as Dinky peeked out from under her mother’s wing. “I guess Pinkie could help me…”

“B-but she’d eat it all~” Dinky said. “An’ I want ice cream… Can I have ice cream, Mommy?”

Ditzy giggled and nodded. “Yes, Muffin, you can have some ice cream. Just don’t spoil your dinner, okay?”

“I promise!” Dinky saluted and jumped onto Flare’s back. She suddenly sniffed and wrinkled her nose, “Eww! Flare, you’re all stinky!”

Flare just chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, I need a bath. Lemme go out back and clean off, and then we can get going.”

The way Flare bathed was quite interesting, actually. The first time Ditzy saw, it had scared the feathers off of her. Flare once explained that water actually hurt him, so he had a different method of getting clean. The first time he did it here, he burnt a good deal of Ditzy’s backyard, so she had a section coated in fireproof tiles now.

Dinky hopped off of him, and Flare walked over to his tiled area. Closing his eyes for a moment, his entire body erupted with searing white flames. This fire was so hot that dirt, grime, and germs were totally incinerated. Dinky had to look away, the flames were so bright, but after a few seconds the flames ceased, and Flare looked as good as new.

“Much better,” he sighed happily. “I can’t do that at the farm; the last thing I want to do is burn the place down.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea.” Ditzy agreed. She also remembered that the first time Flare had done that, Dinky had used a fire extinguisher on him. That in turn gave the stallion a nasty cold for over a week.

“Can we get ice cream now?” Dinky asked, and Flare nodded.

“We have to get dinner first… any preferences?” he asked the mares. Ditzy didn’t really mind, she was fine with whatever.

“Can we have pancakes?” Dinky asked.

“That’s a breakfast item, dear,” Ditzy said, and Dinky thought some more.

“Muffins?”

Mmmuffinsss~” Ditzy hummed happily, and Flare facehooved.

“How about I decide?” he deadpanned, and the mares nodded. “How on earth did you ever survive until now?” he asked rhetorically.

“Sparky would do all the shopping!” Dinky said proudly, and Flare groaned. That explained a lot.

Jumping onto Flare’s back once more, Dinky snuggled into his fiery mane; it was so warm and comfortable~

“We’ll be back soon.” Flare said and left, leaving Ditzy to start writing a letter to a certain school teacher.

***

“So Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were teasing you?” On the way to the markets, Dinky had told Flare exactly what had happened earlier this afternoon.

“Uh huh. They said that Mommy was a freak an’ you were a monster… Stupid poopieheads!”

Flare had a pensive look on his face; maybe he should have a talk with the parents of these girls. “Well, don’t worry; it’s not true and you know it, right?”

“Yeah,” Dinky said. “But Flare… can I ask sumthin?”

Flare placed some bits on the counter of Golden Harvest’s stand and filled his saddlebag with some delicious carrots. “Sure, Dinks, what’s up?”

“Are you gonna go away soon?”

Flare stopped walking and looked at the little filly on his back. “Where… where did you get an idea like that?”

Dinky blinked. “It was when Sparky came over last time… I heard you talking with her… ‘bout going back home.”

“Ah…” Flare remembered that. Sparkler’s last visit had revealed that she may have found a way to get him back home. But the truth was that it was a theory… a really solid theory that might actually work.

“I don’t want you to go away!” Dinky started to cry again. “I like you, Flare…”

There was that too. Flare missed his home, and he missed his friends. But here in Equestria, he had made a lot of new friends. He thought of Dinky as his own child… and then there was Ditzy Doo.

“I dunno, Dinks, it was just something that Sparkler and I were talking about. That’s all.”

Once their shopping was complete, they stopped by Sugar Cube Corner. Dinky ordered a triple-choc fudge sundae, while Flare got an apple and cinnamon muffin. Before coming to this world, he had never eaten a muffin in his life. But ever since Ditzy had introduced him to the treat, had been hopelessly hooked.

“So where’s Pinkie?” he asked Carrot Cake. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

Carrot nodded. “She’s out delivering some last minute orders… did you need her for something?”

“No, just wondering…” Flare breathed a sigh of relief. He liked Pinkie, she was cute and made him smile… but most of the time she scared the absolute crap out of him. He was pretty certain that the rafters in here still had his hoof marks on them.

Dinky had forgone all table manners and dove headfirst into her ice-cream. Flare laughed as she emerged, most of her face covered in chocolate.

“Looks like you’ll need a bath when we get home.” Dinky smiled widely as she lapped the substance from her muzzle.

Flare picked the filly up by the scruff of her neck and put her on his back. “Don’t you dare get chocolate on fur… or I’ll tell your mom.”

Dinky responded by burying her face into the back of his neck.

Flare just sighed and giggled along with her. They headed for home, where Ditzy was waiting for them with a bright smile on her face. Flare never got tired of seeing that smile.

***

Once Dinky had gone to bed, Flare and Ditzy lay on the couch, sharing a book that Flare had borrowed from Twilight. “So that’s what really happened, huh?” Ditzy was going to have words
with Filthy Rich and Silver Platter… very strong words.

“Yeah, and there was something else too…” Flare told her how Dinky had overheard the conversation between him and Sparkler and that a way home had been found.

“I see…” Ditzy knew that he would have to go home someday.

Her train of thought was cut off as a shrill shriek filled the house, and Dinky raced downstairs.

“MOMMY!” she leapt onto the couch and buried herself under Ditzy’s wing.

“Again?” Dinky used to suffer from terrible nightmares, but it had seemed to have stopped a year ago… but every now and then, the nightmares would come back.

“What happened?” Flare peeked at Dinky, who was wide-eyed and shaking.

“The ghosts came back!” she shivered. “They follow me all th’ time!”

Flare paused for a second. Dinky was scared of ghosts? Admittedly, he thought that Haunter and Banette were creepy…

“Can I sleep with you guys?” The puppy dog eyes went on at full blast, and there was no hope for Flare and Ditzy.

“Yes, Muffin, you can sleep with me tonight.”

Dinky smiled and yawned. “Thanks Mommy… Thanks Daddy.”

Ditzy blinked in surprise and looked at Flare, “Did-did she just-“

Flare nodded, he was surprised as well. Yeah, he'd thought of Dinky as his own, but to have those feelings returned like that... “Yeah, she really did.”

***

The school bell rang, and Dinky was first out the door, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were hot on her hooves.

“What do you think we should today?” DT wondered aloud. “Tease the Blank Flanks? Or maybe throw an awesome party and not invite the Blank Flanks?”

Silver Spoon would have responded, but instead she pointed at something past Diamond. The pink filly turned to see Flare Blitz waiting to pick up Dinky.

“Heya, kiddo!” Flare grinned, leaning down to nuzzle her. “Thought I’d come and get you today.”

“Thanks… um…” Flare and Ditzy had told her what she said last night. Dinky was so embarrassed, but Flare had said he didn’t mind so…

“Thanks Daddy!” she beamed, and Flare’s heart just melted. That much cuteness should be not be possible, but Dinky made it look easy.

A shrill laugh cut through the moment like a sharp knife, and Dinky’s adorable face turned into a scowl.

“Did you hear that, Silver? The little Blank Flank called that monster her daddy!” Diamond laughed hysterically, but Silver Spoon didn’t join in. There was no way she was going to make that large stallion, who was on fire, any madder than he already looked.

She continued to laugh until Silver’s eyes suddenly widened and she bolted in the opposite direction, and Diamond Tiara noticed that she was standing in somepony’s shadow. She turned and looked up to see Flare Blitz, his fiery mane blazing fiercely and his eyes glowing crimson red.

“You have a problem with that, little filly… or should I say, afternoon snack?”

Diamond Tiara opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no sound came out. After a moment she simply collapsed to the ground, her legs refusing to work. She eventually became aware of a high pitched noise and soon realised that it was coming from her.

Flare took a deep breath and calmed down. He only meant to scare her a bit, not utterly traumatise her. “Uh, look, little filly?”

Dinky walked past him, and with one swift motion, slapped Diamond Tiara across the face. “Daddy is not a monster, Mommy isn’t a freak, and I’m not scared of you anymore!” She nodded as if to confirm her statement and headed towards home, leaving Flare to wonder where the hell that came from.

***

“SHE DID WHAT!?” Ditzy was about to go and give Dinky the scolding of her life, but Flare stopped her. “What are you doing? Circumstances aside, hitting somepony is not acceptable in this household!”

“And that’s why I told her that she’s not getting any sweets or muffins for a whole week,” Flare said. (And that was it, provided she kept quiet about him traumatising Diamond). “But she needed to stand up for herself; she needed that confidence to stand up to her fears…” Ditzy’s glare softened slightly, only slightly.

Flare swallowed; he still had something else to say. “And… I wanted to ask you something. Well, it’s more of a favour, really.”

Ditzy was surprised; Flare never asked for favours, not like this anyway. “What is it?”

“Well, I um-” He had been thinking about this for a while now, but only recently had he come to a decision regarding it. “I wanted to know… am I a bother? Am I in the way here?”

Ditzy stopped, blinked, and shook her head. “NO! Never!” she threw her forelegs around his neck and hugged him tightly. “You brought light to this family, and I’ll always be grateful for that. You could never be in the way, just the opposite actually; I don’t think that this family would be complete without you.”

Flare took a moment, letting that sink in. “Then that brings me to the favour I’d like to ask.”

“Ye~es?” Ditzy continued to hang off of him; he was turning the most adorable shade of red.

Flare coughed slightly. Why did she have to be so Arceus-damned sexy- Wait! Getting off topic here. “Well, I wanted to know if I could, maybe continue staying here for a bit?”

Ditzy dropped back down onto all four hooves and blinked at him. “You… what do you mean? You want to stay a little longer?”

Flare nodded. His mind was made up, and nopony was going to stop him now. “Yeah, like maybe staying here… for good?”

A variety of emotions crossed Ditzy’s face, and admittedly, Flare found it a little amusing to watch. She finally settled on ‘Sparkling eyes and face-splitting smile’ mode before hugging Flare tightly again.

“You can stay as long as you like…” Tears streamed from Ditzy’s eyes as Flare just leaned into the hug.

There was a blur from the doorway as Dinky attached herself to Flare’s leg. “Izzit true? You aren’t going away?”

Flare just smiled; he really did love being here. “Yeah, Dinks, I’m gonna stay here… if you want me to?”

Dinky nodded happily, and she soon found herself being pried off of the Pokémon by her mother. “This is good news, little one, and we’re going to have a party later to celebrate… But right now, we have some things to discuss, like you hitting a filly.”

Dinky’s ears fell back. Oh right… that happened.

***

Despite the smack and a warning from Ms. Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara’s teasing kept going, and Dinky would sometimes return home in tears. Flare thought about paying the little cretin another visit, but Ditzy had vetoed that idea.

Mostly because she wanted to spank the little filly herself.

But bullying aside, Dinky was happier than she had been in months, and it showed. The little unicorn was a ray of sunshine, and Flare joked that it was her that Celestia raised every morning.

Ditzy and Flare had been growing closer as well, but that hadn’t gone unnoticed by the community. Some had voiced their concerns, the same ponies that still harboured animosity towards Flare’s presence in Ponyville.

“So did you hear the latest?” A mare by the name of Honeydew whispered to her friends. “That Derpy is shacking up with that monster?”

“I know, right!” one of them responded. “And worse yet is that Princess Celestia’s little pet, Twibright… or whatever… is sticking up for them.”

“Not to mention the Apple Family and the Kicker Clan. How can they all be so damned blind?” Honeysuckle slammed her mug of cider onto the table. “That dragon that lives here is one thing, but now a pony that’s on fire!?”

“Pah, between Derpy and the fire monster, it’s a wonder that the town is still standing!”

Their tirade was interrupted as the Fire Brigade raced past, loud bells ringing to clear the streets.

A smirk crossed the muzzle of Honeydew, “Hah! Totally called it!”

***

The fire was coming from one of the largest houses in Ponyville, the Rich Estate. The weather had called for a dry spell to make up for a freak cold front last week, so the estate had gone up like a box of matches.

Flare Blitz, Ditzy and Dinky had come into town to do some shopping, but the moment Flare saw the plume of smoke rising, he bolted at top speed.

The scene he witnessed when he arrived was worse than the imagined. Most of the house was a roaring inferno, and Filthy Rich was being held back by several stallions in yellow coats.

“My daughter is still in there!” he yelled. “Why are you not saving her?!”

The hoses that the fire-ponies had were doing little to stem the flames, and Flare heard that some pegasi had gone to the Everfree to look for rogue rainclouds, but it would take some time to get them there.

“We could use oxygen-suppressing shields, but if that filly is still alive, she’d suffocate in seconds.” The unicorn wracked his brain for a solution before falling to his rump as Flare raced past at lightning speeds into the flames.

“What is he doing here!?” It was no secret that Filthy Rich was one of the strongest supporters of exiling Flare from Ponyville. “I’ll bet he started this blaze, and now he’s going after my precious Diamond!”

Ditzy finally caught up to Flare, just to see him disappear inside the burning building. “Flare!? What are you doing?”

“That monster is after my Diamond Tiara!” Filthy stomped towards Ditzy, “We told you he’s dangerous; we told you that he’s a monster. This is proof that he’s-“

He never finished as Ditzy’s hoof shot towards him, but seeing Dinky from the corner of her eye, she stopped the hoof an inch from his face.

It was a little known fact that, after years of teasing, Ditzy had taken to learning Lightning Hoof style martial arts… purely for discipline.

“He is not a monster!” Ditzy looked at the burning building. “Just what are you doing, Flare?”

***

Flare coughed as thick, black smoke choked his lungs. His body was fireproof, but smoke still affected him.

“Where the hell is that filly?” Flare searched room by room, but this house was friggen huge. Between the crack of burning timber and the roar of the flames themselves, it was impossible to hear her.

At least until a loud wail rose above all that, and that scream sounded very familiar. Flare bucked down a door to see a little pink filly cowering under a table, screaming her lungs out.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Her, of all ponies?!” He wasn’t going to let her burn to death, but it didn’t stop a scowl from crossing his face.

Diamond Tiara looked up, and once she saw Flare, she screamed even louder, which Flare didn’t think was even possible. “PLEASE DON’T EAT MEEEEEE!!!”

“Oh, for the love of- I’m not going to eat you, moron.” There was a sharp crack from above, and one of the rafters broke free, falling towards the table. Flare leapt forward, snatching up Diamond, just before the table was crushed.

“We have to get out of here now!” The whole building was coming down, but every time Flare turned a corner or passed a door, his way out was constantly blocked.

“I don’t want to die!” Diamond wailed. Flare looked left and right, but all he could see was a wall of flames. This wouldn’t be a problem if it was just him, he could simply walk through the fire, but with this filly…

“Dammit, what do I do?” There was another crack, and another rafter fell, striking Flare on the back. He yelped in pain, dropping Diamond Tiara to the floor as the heavy wood pinned him down. “ARGH!” Diamond tumbled head over hooves as Flare tried to get up, but the heavy burning wood kept him down.

“H-hey! Are you okay?” Diamond went to help him, but he glared at her. Opening his mouth, he fired a stream of flames past her and through the wall.

“You need to get out. This place is about to come down. NOW RUN!”

Diamond was shocked; he was going to sacrifice himself to save her? But her hesitation caused the opening to collapse. Flare groaned and his head drooped. “Dammit, I can survive these flames, but you…”

“Then why didn’t you say so?!” The building continued to collapse, and Diamond ran over to Flare. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault… If only I hadn’t…”

Flare groaned and slowly began to rise to his hooves, sweat pouring from him as he lifted the heavy burden on his back. “We, unh… have to leave…” He wasn’t going to die here, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her die either. “We’ll get out of here; rrrraaaRRRRHHHHHH!!!” His body erupted with blue light.

And Diamond Tiara thought it was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.

***

“C’mon, where are those rain clouds?!” The fire chief was running out of time, but a sudden burst of flames caused onlookers to scream as the house collapsed in a shower of sparks and dust.

“FLARE!” Ditzy screamed as she watched the pony she loved get buried alive. Filthy Rich simply fell to his rump, his eyes wide with shock. His Diamond, his precious filly… was gone.

There was silence. Just the sound of flickering flames and a grey pegasus mare crying her heart out.

That was until a bright beam of energy blasted from the ruins of the estate, causing everypony to gasp and stumble back. A blazing ball of flame landed a few feet away from them, and once the orange fire dispersed, a large unicorn stallion stood there, his blazing mane and tail flickering gently in the breeze.

Ditzy was shell-shocked. It looked like Flare, only it was taller, and it had a horn. But when she looked into its eyes, she saw something familiar.

“Is-is that you? Flare?”

The stallion took a deep breath, relishing the fresh air, and coughed a bit. “That was pretty rough, huh?” he chuckled lightly.

It was him, it was really him. That voice, that laugh; Ditzy’s vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears. But Filthy Rich stepped in front of the Pokémon first; his eyes were filled with rage.

“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER, MONSTER!? WHERE IS MY DIAMOND!?”

Flare looked down as a small filly stepped out from beneath him. Her pink fur was matted and coated in soot, but she was fine otherwise.

“I’m right here, Daddy!” she said and squeaked as Filthy Rich scooped her up into a hug.

“Thank Celestia that you’re safe, my precious child…” he sobbed quietly as Ditzy brushed past him and looked up at Flare.

“You… got taller,” she said quietly and hugged him and then quickly followed up by hitting him in the barrel. “Don’t ever do anything like that again! Do you have any idea how scared I was? I-I thought that you’d-“

She was cut off as Flare pressed his lips gently against hers. Ditzy’s eyes widened in shock before they slowly closed as she melted in his warm embrace.

The moment was short-lived, however, as Filth Rich and the Honey sisters confronted the Pokémon, their expressions filed with accusation.

“And just what did you gain, burning down my house!?” Rich yelled. “So you could play hero maybe? Make yourself look good?” Ditzy’s eyes flashed with anger, but Flare placed a hoof on her withers

“I didn’t torch you home, Mr. Rich. I simply saved a child’s life-“

“Fires don’t just happen!” Honeysuckle spoke up. “And last I checked, you’re always covered in flames.”

The badgering continued as Honeydew joined in. “Yeah, I’ll bet you started this fire, huh?”

Filth Rich glared at him. “I’ll see to it that you’re cast from this town and from Equestria, monster!” He pointed a hoof, which Diamond Tiara jumped in front of. “Wha? Diamond-“

“It wasn’t his fault!” she screamed. “I’m the one who started the fire.”

For the third time today, Filthy Rich’s flanks met the ground. “What? You did?”

Diamond scuffed at the ground with her hoof. “I wanted to make breakfast to show I was a grown up mare now… but I set the oven too high… and sorta left the door open…” she began to cry, and Flare knelt down and nuzzled her.

“It was an accident, okay?” Diamond sniffled, but nodded in response and Flare smiled. “Ditzy sets fire to our kitchen all the time!”

“Hey!”

Flare laughed and nodded. “You want to be a grown up, right?”

Diamond nodded, looking up at him.

“Then stop teasing your friends, it’s not what a grown up would do… needlessly picking a fight just to look important.” Flare lifted his head and looked at the three adults in front of him, who all gulped nervously. “I bet other fillies and colts would like to be your friends, but you almost died today without ever knowing that.”

Dinky stepped forward, and to Diamond’s great surprise, as well as Flare’s and Ditzy’s, pulled the other filly into a hug.

“We can be friends too, okay?”

Diamond nodded slowly and smiled. Maybe having some friends, real friends, wouldn’t be so bad.

Flare, meanwhile, turned his attention back to Rich and the Honey sisters. “As for you three… grow up already!”

“Where do you get off-” Honeydew never finished that sentence, as Ditzy rushed forward, faster than anypony could blink, but this time her hoof didn’t stop and it connected with Honeydew’s jaw. There was a light click, like the sound of a light switch being flipped, and Honeydew dropped to the ground.

“That’s for making my life at school a living Tartarus…” she said, slowly and calmly. Ditzy glanced at Honeysuckle, and both of her golden eyes settled on her new target. Honeysuckle wisely hit the dirt with her hooves covering her head. “Make that mistake with my family… and I’m sure you can guess what will happen.”

Honeysuckle nodded, refusing to look at the avatar of death that loomed over her.

Flare just blinked, and Filthy Rich looked like he was about to pee himself. Ditzy glanced back at them, the picture of innocence on her face as her eyes resumed their walled state. “Oops, I think I went a bit far,” she giggled.

“I have no words for how awesome that was!” Flare said in a hushed tone. He looked back at the smouldering house as the weather teams finally brought in some rain clouds to douse the blaze. “Well… I don’t think you can live there anymore,” he said to Filthy, who just nodded silently.

“I have a small caravan I can sleep in for the time being,” he finally said. “It- it will take some time to rebuild…”

Flare thought for a moment; he looked at Ditzy, who sighed and smiled back. “Look, Mr. Rich,” the stallion looked up at Flare, his expression one of regret and self-pity, “we can house the both of you… you and your daughter until you have a house again. Her schoolwork might suffer staying in a tiny caravan.”

The stallion, the one he had considered a monster, had saved his precious daughter’s life, and now he offered to give them a warm and safe house to live in. It was too much and the dam behind his eyes broke as he sobbed.

“I don’t deserve this kindness, especially from you and Miss Ditzy.” Flare sighed and pulled the stallion to his hooves.

“C’mon, none of that. You gotta be strong.” He motioned towards Diamond Tiara, who was now struggling against Dinky’s relentless hugging. “For her sake.”

Filthy Rich nodded and wiped his eyes. Flare looked to Ditzy and shrugged. Life sure was going to be interesting for a while.

***

Later that night, Diamond and Dinky were fast asleep, exhausted from the day’s events. Filthy Rich was given Flare’s room, but that left the Pokémon wondering where he’d sleep.

Well, at least it isn’t too cold tonight,” he muttered as he looked through a window. “I guess a few nights under the stars won’t hurt.”

The sound of somepony clearing their throat garnered his attention, and he turned his head to see Ditzy standing in the doorway.

“And just where do you think you’re going, mister?”

Flare sighed. “Well, Rich has my bed, and I’m not the type to snuggle with stallions…” He looked back outside. “And the couch is too small now, so I thought I’d-”

“And what’s up with that?” Ditzy cut in. “Why are you bigger now?” Her eyes wandered over his new form, from his long, pointed horn, all the way down to his muscular legs and toned flank. Oh, Sweet Celestia, her heart was beating a mile a minute.

“I’ll explain in the morning; it’ll take a while…” He looked at the full moon bathing the landscape with a gentle glow. “I don’t mind camping for a few days.”

Ditzy walked over to him, her face as red as an apple. “Well y-you don’t have to sleep outside.” She swallowed hard, trying to form the words. “M-my bed is pretty comfy; you- you’d fit in that.”

“And then what would you do?” Flare was a moron. “I can’t kick you out of your own bed.”

Ditzy squeaked and hid beneath one of her wings. “W-well… t-that’s because… I’d sleep with you”

Flare blinked, and then blinked again as his brain processed that. “You want to… together?”

Ditzy just nodded and blushed harder, if that was even possible, before walking towards her bedroom, glancing behind her to see if Flare was following.

Oh, he sure as hay was!

Chaos decides that things were more fun down on the ground, so it stops rising, goes back home, and finds something else to do for the rest of the afternoon. By TheLetterJ

Chaos decides that things were more fun down on the ground, so it stops rising, goes back home, and finds something else to do for the rest of the afternoon.

Flare had a deep-rooted hatred of the Void, the name he had given the space between Equestria and Earth. Twice before he had nearly died travelling though this place, so he figured that the hate was justified.

But this time…?

“Something’s… different.” This thought ran through Flare’s mind as he and Sparkler floated through the Void.

It wasn’t cold like last time, and despite being in an endless, open space, Flare didn’t have that feeling of being closed in and trapped.

“Is it because of the different method of getting here?” Flare didn’t really have much time to think about it as a white speck of light rapidly grew larger. “I guess that’s our stop. I wonder if everypony will be surprised to see us.”

Then Flare realized that there was a reason the Void didn’t seem as cold has it had before. “Umm... Sparkler, you don’t have to hold on to me so tightly.”

Sparkler pouted. “But I want to make sure we don’t get separated in this dark, empty void.”

“I think we’ll be okay,” Flare replied.

“Are you sure? I really don’t trust this place. Last time we traveled through it we almost died.”

“Sparkler, that was because Darkrai was trying to kill me, not because the Void is out to get us.”

“Well it doesn’t hurt to be safe.” After a brief pause, Sparkler continued in a voice that was barely a whisper. “And I almost lost you once. I won’t let that happen again.”

“What was that?”

Sparkler squeaked in surprise and her face reddened noticeably. Her hooves would have shot to her mouth, but they were busy with the much more important job of holding Flare either uncomfortably or incredibly comfortably close, depending on who you asked. She hadn’t expected Flare to actually hear her whisper, but alas, that’s one of the unfortunate consequences of holding somepony close and refusing to let go.

“Did you say that you’re afraid of losing me?”

“Ummm...No?”

“So that’s not why you’ve been Wrapped around me with your hooves Clamped on my flank like Shelder on a Slowpoke’s tail the whole time we’ve been here?”

With her metaphorical hooves caught in the metaphorical cookie jar and her literal hooves caught on Flare’s metaphorical cookies, Sparkler found herself trapped between a rock and a family of lost and rather mixed-up metaphors. There were only two things she could think to do. And Plan A was irrational denial.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sparkler, your hooves have been all over my flanks for the past twenty minutes,” Flare deadpanned.

“No they haven’t.”

“Yes, they have. They’re massaging my cutie marks right now.”

“That’s preposterous.”

“Well then, where do you think your hooves are?” A small community of pans erupted in panic as the tone of Flare's voice spontaneously killed several of its citizens.

“At the ends of my legs, of course.”

“Okay, I think you’ve been spending too much time around Pinkie. Or possibly Mew. But that’s not important right now. So where are your legs then?”

“Ummm...hanging down loosely as we float through the Void?”

“Not wrapped around me?”

“Well, maybe a little bit wrapped around you.”

“So then where do you think your hooves are?”

“I suppose they must be somewhere around you then.”

“Try checking my flanks.” The death toll was rising.

“You know I’m not the type of mare to go staring at my friends’ flanks, but I’ll do it if you insist.”

“...Sparkler?” She didn’t respond.

“Sparkler.” Still no response.

“Sparkler!”

“Hold whatever creatures it is that we hold, Flare. I need to do a very thorough check to make sure I don’t miss anything.”

“How about you tell me what you’ve found so far?”

“Well, you seem to have rather nice flanks.”

“Really.”

“Oh, yes. They seem to be very firm and muscular. And they’re just the right shade of white, too.”

“You don’t say.” Pans gathered with their families to tell their loved ones how much they loved each other, to hold each other close, and to wait for the end.

“Oh, I do say. And your cutie mark is quite nice too.”

“And is that all you’ve noticed about my flanks?”

“Of course not. I’ve also observed that your tail, while not strictly a part of your flanks, does offset them quite nicely. And it really brings out your cutie mark too.”

“Anything else?” A once small, but thriving, community of pans was now devoid of all life.

“Not at the moment, no. But I’m sure I could learn more about your flanks if you give me some more time to study them.”

“Do you even remember what you were supposed to be looking for down there?”

“A way back home?” Anypony who didn’t know any better would think that Sparkler had learned how to lie from Applejack.

“Your hooves.” Pans in nearby communities fled as he curse of Flare's voice spread. Not all were lucky enough to escape.

“Oh. Right. Those.”

“...Well?”

“They do appear to be in the general area of your flanks, don’t they?” Sparkler’s hooves had been caressing Flare’s flanks during their entire conversation.

“Now are you going to do something about it?”

“I suppose I must enact Plan B.”

“And what, exactly, is Plan B? Actually, what was Pla-” Flare was cut off by Sparkler placing her lips over his. She finally removed one of her hooves from his flanks so that she could instead hold his head against her own.

One unintended side effect of this kiss was that it finally freed the pans from the curse of Flare’s voice. But the cost was steep. Many good pans lost their lives that day, and those who survived were never quite the same.

Eventually Sparkler broke the kiss. “I’m sorry,” she said sadly. “I know you and Twilight are happy together, but I just can’t help but feel jealous. Twilight and I aren’t that different, so why couldn’t it have been me?” She sighed and looked away. “Maybe it could have happened if you’d never met Twilight. Or Rainbow Dash. Or my mom. Or the princesses. Or half of the other mares in Equestria, it seems. She stared off into the Void, which they were still floating in for some reason, as tears started to form in her eyes. “Maybe there’s another world out there somewhere where that happened. Where things worked out in a way that would let us be together. But that world isn’t ours, and it never will be.”

Flare gently lifter Sparkler’s chin up until they were staring in each other’s eyes. “Well, we’re not exactly in our world right now either.”

Sparkler gasped. “Y-you don’t mean...But what about Twilight?”

“Hey, we Pokémon have managed to keep our methods of reproduction a secret from the humans for millennia. I think we can manage to keep a little secret from Twilight too.”

And with that, they began to kiss again, and soon two pairs of forehooves, which actually only adds up to four hooves, managed to find their ways back to as many flanks. They would have kissed until the need to come up for air made them stop, but there wasn’t actually any air in the Void to begin with, so somehow they managed to get by without breathing at all. So instead they stopped when their tongues got too sore to continue because of all the wrestling they were doing.

They looked into each other’s eyes and-

***

“There you are, Discord!” Fluttershy yelled at the very handsome draconequus who was floating through the clouds that covered the ceiling of Luna’s room. Well, by Fluttershy standards, she yelled. If it was anypony else, it could barely be considered talking at an above-average volume. “What are you doing up there? Don’t you know we’ve got a war going on?”

“Of course I do. I’m playing a very important part, you know.”

Fluttershy, for some unfathomable reason, did not seem to trust the completely trustworthy spirit of chaos. “What part is that, umm, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’m the one keeping track of troop movements and the like on the map!” And with a snap of his talon, Discord teleported a startled Fluttershy (or as she is often known, a normal everyday Fluttershy) up above the cloud layer, where she saw what appeared to be the board from a game of Candyland, covered with game pieces from just about every other board game imaginable. Fluttershy thought it looked like Discord had just dumped out the contents of Pinkie’s game closet. (He hadn’t. It was actually Luna’s game closet.) “See, this is me and you over here,” he said as he pointed to a Molopony top hat and a dark pink Ticket to Ride train. “This is Chrissi,” a beetle waved its leg at Fluttershy as Discord motioned towards it. “And over here we’ve got our good friends Flareon and Firework.” He gestured towards what appeared to be surprisingly accurate small plastic models of Flare and Sparkler hugging each other in a not-quite-platonic way as they floated through the air.

“Ummm...What are they doing?”

“Hopefully heading back towards the board. I don’t know what I’ll do for entertainment if that stallion doesn’t get back here soon. But in the meantime, I made a story about what they’re up to. Want to hear it?”

“Umm, shouldn’t we help the others defend the city though? If you don’t mind, of course.”

“Don’t worry, I just won’t move any of the pieces on the board until we’re done. Now then, Flare had a deep-rooted hatred of the Void…”

***

By the time Flare and Sparkler returned to Equestria, Discord and Fluttershy had written most of a novel about what the two unicorns had been up to (Fluttershy turned out to be a huge help with the romantic parts). Flare and Sparkler denied every word of it, but it still managed to become the best selling book of the year.

Oh, and that whole invasion thing worked itself out too.

Guest Chapter - Maud About You (By The Letter J)

“This next one is about rocks. They're all about rocks.”

But alas, poor Twilight would not get to hear another of Maud’s thousands of poems about rocks. For before Maud could begin, the front door of the library opened, and a certain unicorn entered loudly. “Twilight, I’m home!”

Twilight’s mood improved immediately, and not just because she was spared from the beautiful poems that she just didn’t understand. “Flare! I thought you weren’t going to get back from Canterlot for another few hours,” she said as she wrapped him in a hug and gave him a quick kiss.

“I wasn’t, but Luna and I finished our training earlier than expected, so I took an earlier train.”

At this point, Pinkie decided that she had given the couple enough uninterrupted time to be all cute and mushy, so she started doing what she did best. Or at least what she did best in situations that met the guidelines her friends had laid out for her to explain when it was not okay to throw a party (she still wasn’t sure why “this is a regular and not exceptionally unusual occurrence, and it’s been less than twenty-four hours since your last party” was a good reason, but she went along with it because apparently there are times when not throwing a party will make ponies happier than throwing a party will), namely enthusiastic interrupting. “Hiya, Flarey! I’m so glad that you’re back from Canterlot now, because now you can meet my sister Maud and become best friends with her with all my other best friends!”

Twilight winced slightly and awkwardly looked away, but Pinkie and Flare were paying too much attention to each other to notice. And Maud, if she noticed, did nothing to show it. Not that she ever did. When Twilight looked up again, she realized that Pinkie had somehow managed to remove Flare from her hug without her noticing and had dragged him over to Maud so they could be properly introduced and what would undoubtedly be a lifelong friendship could begin.

“Flare, this is my big sister and best sister friend Maud. She lives back at the rock farm where I grew up, and she’s the best rock farmer I know, except for maybe my dad, but he’s basically a legend in the rock farming community, and even then it’s kind of a close call, and she’s visiting me before she goes off to school to get her rocktorate in rock science, and I won’t see her again for a long time, and now I’m helping her and all my Ponyville friends to become best friends! Maud, this is my best Pokémon friend Flare Blitz. He came here a few months ago from another world, and he was something called a Ponyta, which is a type of Pokémon and is a lot like a pony, except his mane and tail were on fire, but they didn’t burn anything, and they actually felt pretty nice, and then some crazy magic stuff happened, and he grew bigger and stronger, and then he fought off the god of his world so that he could stay here, and then some more crazy magic stuff happened, and he became a pony!” Even though he had known her for several months, Flare was still constantly amazed by how much Pinkie could say in a single breath.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maud.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Flare Blitz,” is what Maud said next, except she said it in a language that was comprised almost entirely of silence and that only she was fluent in. So Flare just thought it was a normal awkward silence.

In an effort to fight off the perceived awkward silence, Flare latched onto the only thing that stood out in Pinkie’s introduction. “So you like rocks, then?”

“Yes. They’re just about my favorite thing.”

“Oh. I never really learned much about rocks. Back home, they were rather hazardous to my health. Part of being a Fire-type, you know?”

According to traditional Equestrian means of communication, Maud did not reply. So Flare was left to awkwardly push the conversation along by himself.

“Umm...But I don’t have any problem with rocks, of course. In fact, A good friend of mine, Terrakion is his name, was a Rock-type. He was a bit of an old guy, but he was a lot of fun to prank and was pretty good sport about it.”

Flare continued to not understand Maud’s response, or even realize that she had given one.

“And...uhhh...I met a Graveler once. He was a nice guy, very laid back. Though we didn’t exactly meet in the best of ways.”

Flare took Maud’s silence as a sign to continue.

“You see, I was walking along at the base of Mt. Mortar when I heard some rumbling and crashing sounds getting louder and louder. I started looking around to figure out what was making the sounds, and pretty soon it hit me. Literally. Turns out it was a Graveler rolling down the mountain, and I had unintentionally wandered directly into his path. I was knocked out before I hit the ground.

“But like I said, this Graveler was a pretty nice guy, so he felt bad about accidentally knocking me out like that. Luckily he had some Revival Herb with him, so he was able to get me healed and conscious again pretty easily. He was really sorry about the whole thing, and showed me how to get around safely in Graveler territory. ‘Rocks gotta roll, so watch out while you stroll,’ he liked to say. I wonder what he’s doing these days.”

At this point, Maud decided that traditional Equestrian methods of communication would likely suit her purposes best. “So this Graveler was a rock?”

“Yeah, Graveler are basically just big, four-armed, living boulders. Oh, and they tend to explode a lot, for some reason.”

“Are all the rocks in your world alive?”

“Of course not. But there are plenty of Rock-type Pokémon. Onix, Boldore, Solrock, Lunatone, Nosepass, Rhyhorn, Sudowoodo...Oh, let me tell you about Sudowoodo. They’re rocks, but they look a lot like trees and like to pretend to be trees, for reasons that are completely beyond me. So it’s really easy to mistake one for a tree when you first see it. But believe me, you only make that mistake once. You see, I had just left the National Park when I first ran into a Sudowoodo…”

*****

“It was nice talking with you, Maud. We’ll see you later,” Twilight said as Maud left the library. Flare and Maud had spent almost two hours talking, mostly about Flare’s home-world and the rocks there. Between the intelligent rocks that lived there and the apparently magical stones that had all sorts of effects on the Pokémon that used them, Maud thought that Flare’s world was amazing (though it would have been hard to tell from looking at her). Twilight and Pinkie Pie had joined in too, as Twilight was always interested in learning about Flare’s world and Pinkie never liked being left out while her friends did anything. They would have kept going all day long, but Maud still needed to spend some time with Applejack and Rainbow Dash before it got too late.

“I enjoyed talking with you too. Goodbye.”

Pinkie, meanwhile, had pulled Flare aside so they could talk without the other two hearing them. “Thank you thank you thank you so much!” Pinkie said as she wrapped Flare in a tight hug.

“Huh? I didn’t do anything special.”

“I know, but Maud just wasn’t clicking with the girls, and I was afraid that my best sister friend and my Ponyville friends weren’t going to become friends at all. But thanks to you, Maud is friends with you and Twilight now, and I know it’s just a matter of time before she’s friends with the rest of the gang too!”

“Oh. Well, I guess you’re welcome then. But are you really sure Maud sees Twilight and me as her friends now? She didn’t really seem to like us all that much.”

Pinkie giggled. “Are you kidding? Of course Maud likes you. I’ve never seen her flirt so much before. She totally wanted to jump your bones back there. Though she probably would have wanted to fossilize them first so they’d be rocks. I mean, I really love my sister, but she’s just a teensy bit obsessed with rocks. Then again, who am I to talk? I’m obsessed with sugar, and sugar is a type of crystal, so it’s basically a rock too. I wonder if this runs in the family or something. My parents are kind of obsessed with rocks too, you know. You have to be to live on a rock farm if you don’t want to go crazy. Ooooh, I just thought of something! Rarity is obsessed with gems, and gems are a type of rock too! I wonder if Rarity is one of my surprise cousins! Ooooh that would be the greatest thing since the time I found out that Applejack is my surprise cousin!”

Flare had stopped paying attention to Pinkie’s rambling after she revealed that Maud had been flirting with him. Everything he knew about Equestrian and Pokémon social interactions suggested that Maud was completely apathetic towards him and just about everything else. Even when it came to rocks, she seemed to have a sort of apathetic fascination. But Pinkie was insisting that Maud had been flirting, and he did trust Pinkie to understand her sister. And that only left one logical conclusion. And, with a sigh, Flare finally accepted that inevitable conclusion.

“I will never understand mares.”

Author's Note

Okay, so I found this buried deep within my GDocs bowels and thought I'd post it. I liked it enough to warrant it anyhow.

Eheh, sorry I didn't get to this sooner J...

A very Flarey Nightmare Night

A Very Flarey Nightmare Night

“Seriously, Twilight?” Flare deadpanned. Do I really have to wear this?”

The large unicorn’s body was covered by a thick, starry-patterned cloak, and a huge pointed hat sat upon his head. The numerous bells that lined the outfit jingled and jangled whenever he moved.

But more important was the majestic, snow-white beard that adorned his face. It wasn’t a fake beard either. Real, full-bodied curls hung down from his face.

He waved a hoof in front of his marefriend’s face a few times as she simply stared at her hunky stallion. A small line of drool began oozing down her lip as a hungry look filled her eyes.

'Oh, by the sun, the things I’m going to do to him later… Wait; why is his mouth moving? Ooh, he’s talking…'

Flare sighed and simply gave up. Spike’s bedroom door opened, and he emerged dramatically, wearing some sort of superhero costume. Probably a character from one of his comic books. It consisted of a white singlet top and denim jeans, his scales were dyed a lime green colour.

“Hey, Spike, looking cool there!” Flare said, deciding that ignoring Twilight for now might be best.

“Pfft, you too, Grandpa Flare!” he guffawed. “How long did it take Twilight to convince you to wear that?”

Flare’s mind wandered to her ‘persuasion’ methods… “Not too long,” he smiled. “So, gonna be Rarity’s little hero tonight?”

“A-actually… I’m gonna be hanging out with the Crusaders and some of the other colts and fillies tonight.” Spike replied, his face was a light red colour.

'So Sweetie Belle or that Silver Spoon filly then?'Flare smiled. The little drake had been spending a lot of time with her lately. “Well, I hope you have fun.”

Spike nodded, and as he walked past Twilight, he poked her in the flank with a sharp claw, causing her to yelp loudly and snapping her out of her daydream.

“Huh? Wah! What!?”

“See ya later!” Spike called out, dashing out the front door. Twilight wiped the drool from her mouth and grinned sheepishly.

“Such great parental figures you two are,” A curt tone said as Dream Catcher walked out from her room. “Honestly, can’t you keep your wings down for one night?” she said to Twilight, whose wings were sticking straight up.

“I was just stretching,” Twilight hastily responded. “And where’s your costume? I thought the bunny one looked adorable~”

“You’re kidding... you’re kidding right?” Dreamy deadpanned so hard it could have caused a pan extinction. “I don’t do cute!”

“I thought it was pretty adorable,” Flare said. “Why don’t you just wear your Crusader cloak then? You’re gonna be hanging out with them right?”

Dream Catcher sighed and nodded, “Fine, But I’ll stick with you two until then.” She ducked back into her room and emerged a moment later, the crimson cloak adorning her back.

“Well, shall we get going, Flare, Dreamy?” Twilight’s outfit was something inspired by Flare’s world. She wore a wide-brimmed purple steeple hat and a matching flowing dress. Three smooth red stones hung around her neck, completing the Mismagius outfit. Flare thought she looked really cute.

“Yeah, the others should be waiting by now.” He held the door for her and offered a polite bow as she left the library and they headed out into Ponyville.

*~*~*

Like every other Nightmare Night, the small town of Ponyville went all out in decorating. Everypony was costume, and hordes of foals were running about, giggling madly.

Almost immediately after exiting the library, Twilight and Flare were assaulted by Pinkie Pie, who had dressed up as an Alligator, while Gummy was perched on her head in a little Pinkie Pie outfit.

“HEYA!” Pinkie cheered, causing Flare and Dream Catcher to jump as she popped out of a bush. “Wow, cool outfits.”

“Can you guess what we are?” Twilight said, giving a little twirl.

“Uh, Flarey is totally Starswirl the Bearded and you’re…. Uh…. Trixie?”

“No, wait! How come you got Flare’s right?” she questioned. “You know what, never mind. I don’t care this time.” She looked at Pinkie’s costume, “And you’re… Gummy?”

“Yepper deppers!” Pinkie cheered. “I am Gummy and Gummy is me!”

Flare grinned, it was pretty adorable. “So where’s everypony else?”

“Dashie and Rarity are already at the party, and Flutters and Discord will be coming later. I dunno where AJ is.” Pinkie giggled. “Okay, time is candy, and my candy bag is empty!” She yelled before charging off into the night to rob the innocent citizens of Ponyville of their delicious sweet treats.

“Well, that was something,” Flare said. “She really lives for nights like these, huh?”

“Yeah, Pinkie will be Pinkie, after all. Now shall we hit the town?”

~~~

Twilight and Flare eventually caught up with Spike and the three decided on a little Trick or Treating before the party. Spike was riding on Flare’s back, his candy bucket already half full by the time they found him.

“Howdy y’all!” Applejack called out. Her and Big Macintosh were wearing outfits that Flare didn’t recognise.

“Bonnie and Clydesdale?” Twilight asked, earning a nod from the cowpony.

“Eeyup, you like?”

“Very fitting,” Twilight laughed. “And where’s Apple Bloom? I figured you’d be trick or treating with her.”

“She’s hanging out with the other Crusaders,” AJ replied. “Ah think they plan to raid the town as a group.”

“That doesn’t bode well,” Flare shuddered. Lucy had been spending a lot of time with the Crusaders lately, he was rather scared now...

Those fears were confirmed when Lucy raced past, wearing a small helmet with horns on it and a suit of armour.

“All shall relinquish the candy to Us!” Lucy hollered, the legion of foals behind her all cheered. “FOR THE HORDE!”

“For the horde!” the foals echoed as they ran to the next house, one belonging to Ditzy. She was passing out candy filled muffins... what? They were good!

“Amateurs,” Dream Catcher sighed. “I shall have to instruct them on how a proper raid is conducted.”

“Try and keep the story PG,” Flare said tersely. “We don’t want this Nightmare Night to be anypony’s last.”

“I make no promises,” Dreamy replied, running after the others.

The clocktower eventually chimed and it was time for the Nightmare Party. Town Hall was the center of the festivities tonight, with a massive party for the entire town. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were even supposed to make an appearance.

An irritated-looking Garchomp stood out front, lacking any sort of costume. (Though most would agree that she looked scary enough anyway). Once she saw Twilight and Flare approach, a small smile appeared on her face.

“‘Bout time you two Lovebirds got here,” she said. Uh, Flare… what’s with the goofy-looking beard?”

“He’s so hot~” Twilight drooled again, blatantly ogling Flare as the stallion shook his head and laughed.

“Yeah, well, what about you? I almost didn’t recognise you with that scary out—Oh, wait, that’s what you always look like~”

“Oh, har har,” Sapphira snarled playfully. “Lucy and Velvet are already inside. Now c’mon.”

*~*~*~*

The inside was packed; most of Ponyville must have been there. Flare waved to Ditzy, Sparkler, Dinky, and many more of his Ponyville friends. Rarity’s outfit was really something: she was dressed as Princess Luna!

“Ah, good evening friends!” She greeted them; even her voice was spot on. “Art thou having fun?”

“Yeah, Luna, tons of fun,” Flare giggled. “Nice outfit, by the way. You even sound like her.”

“Well, naturally, darling,” Rarity said, with her own voice this time. “A lady must always have a hidden talent or two.”

“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash flew down from the ceiling, wearing a surprisingly realistic Daring Do outfit.

“Rainbow… did you get that from Miss Yearling?” Twilight asked, but Rainbow just shrugged, looking at a light gold Pegasus sitting on one of the indoor clouds. She wore a Wonderbolt’s outfit, brushing a piece of ash-coloured mane from her eyes.

“Mmmaayybee?” Rainbow giggled. “You look… cool?” she said unconvincingly as she eyed Flare.

“Yeah, yeah.” Flare waved a hoof. “I think your friend is waiting, Raindork.”

The prismatic Pegasus just poked out her tongue and flew back to where Daring was waiting.

“So, he’s the stallion you told me about?” Daring asked her friend. “Well, I gotta admit, he’s pretty cute. So is his marefriend.”

“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow replied, sighing. “Let’s not go there… how are you and Mr. A doing?”

“The usual,” Daring replied. “I like to play hard to get, and he plays along. We’ve been talking about moving in together though.”

“Cool. I hope it works out for you.” Rainbow really did wish her the best, she just wished she could be so lucky in love.

The doors burst open as Fluttershy walked in, wearing what appeared to be an outfit that made her look like a plushie version of herself. There was an apologetic look on her face as a tall figure strode ahead of her. He stood tall amongst the ponies, and only two actually recognised what he was.

“A human?” Flare said, genuinely surprised. “What the heck is a human doing here?”

“That’s a human?” Twilight said, the excitement in her voice not hidden very well. “But why is he with Fluttershy?”

“Ah, hello friends!” he said jovially. “Isn’t tonight simply magical?”

Wait, Flare knew that voice. “Discord?” he asked dubiously. “Is that you?”

“Hmm, usually,” he replied, drinking from the punch bowl with an absurdly long silly straw. “But tonight, just call me J.”

“Ookay?” Flare just shook his head. “You make about as much sense as Pinkie Pie.”

“What fun is there in making sense?” Both Pinkie and Discord said together.

“That’s creepy,” Flare muttered.

Mayor Mare was wearing some ridiculous clown outfit, which Spike was complaining about. And Zecora… Wow, Zecora was something else. She looked really cute with a long mane like that.

“Thank you for coming, everypony! And welcome to Ponyville’s Nightmare Night celebration!” Mayor Mare announced. “And I’d also like to announce that it’s our resident Pokemon’s very first Nightmare Night ever, So let’s make it a good one, everypony!”

“It’s also mine,” Discord called out from the back of the room, but no-one listened.

Everypony cheered as Flare blushed. Being the centre of attention wasn’t really his goal tonight.

“And our second announcement,” the mayor continued, “is that Princess Celestia was able to make it tonight!” Even more cheering followed as the curtains were drawn, to reveal nothing.

There was a chorus of gasps as the Mayor began to panic. This was like the Summer Sun Celebration all over again. A malevolent cackling filled the air as a plume of purple smoke rose from the balcony and Nightmare Moon appeared.

“No way,” Twilight whispered. What’s going on?”

Flare had to admit, he was a tad concerned at first, until he noticed something. He smirked and walked up to the Lunar Goddess, grinning broadly.

“You dare approach us!?” Nightmare Moon yelled, though Flare didn’t look too fazed.

“Having fun, Celestia?” he asked. The dark mare paused as her mane waved in front of her face, revealing her rainbow-coloured mane.

“Ehehheh, I guess I missed one little detail,” Celestia blushed. “I think I still managed to scare a few ponies though.”

She looked over his shoulder to see that nopony was even looking at her. They were all paying attention to Luna, who had walked in the front door with three of her thestral guards like a civilised pony. She had decided to wear her ‘Athena’ outfit, the character she liked to roleplay as in Oubliettes and Ogres.

“Aw…” Celestia pouted.

“It’s alright, I think you may have scared a foal or two,” Flare smiled, patting the mare on the back. “I thought you were a little scary.”

“Well, this is her specialty, I suppose.” Celestia said as Luna chased several laughing foals. “It’s good to see her so happy again.”

Soon the music started, and various couples made their way to the dance floor. Flare and Twilight stood close together, stealing small kisses from each other while they danced.

Spike and Sweetie Belle danced awkwardly, with Sweetie on her hind hooves. Silver Spoon and Button Mash tried to dance, but Button was a terrible dancer. He made a mental note to practise on DDR later...

Partners were switched, and Flare danced with Rainbow, Sparkler and even Luna. Twilight, on the other hoof, just danced with Celestia the whole time.

The lights suddenly went out, causing several ponies to shriek. A glowing green mist filled the room.

“Such little foals, all ripe for the picking~” The haunting, buzzing voice filled the room, several ponies already shaking. “Spending your day eating all that candy? It’ll just make you all the sweeter when we. Eat...YOU!I”

Queen Chrysalis flashed into existence, two Changelings standing next to her, snarling at the group of shrieking ponies.

“Oh, nice work Tia!” Flare grinned, but that grin faltered when he saw that Celestia looked just as worried as everyone else. “Uh, this is your doing?... Right?”

“No,” Celestia replied.

“Oh... crap.” Flare said. And from the looks of it, it wasn’t Luna either. “So... what are the odds that it’s the real Chrysalis?”

Twilight and the others surrounded the Changeling Queen. “You won’t escape this time Chrysalis!”

“Hah! Such bravado,” Chrysalis taunted. “But I’m afraid you won’t lay a hoof on me... want to know why?”

Twilight backed up as Chrysalis approached her, lowering her head to whisper in the Alicorn’s ear. A small grin appeared on the Changeling’s face.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake~”

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight responded without thinking, before putting a hoof to her mouth. “Wait a minute...”

The illusion spell dropped to reveal Princess Cadence. “Well, she got to impersonate me, so I figured that turnabout was fair play.”

“And how do we know you're the real Cadence?” Rainbow Dash retorted.

“Why would a Changeling Queen come to Ponyville for Nightmare Night?” Cadence replied. “The Crystal Empire doesn’t celebrate the holiday and I wanted to could catch up with my sister.” She nuzzled Twilight and smiled.

“W-well uh,” The Mayor was rather shaken over the Princess of Love’s little surprise. “Let’s have one last dance and then it’s time to give Nightmare Moon our tribute.”

“Tribute?” Flare said and looked at Dreamy, who simply shrugged. She wasn’t gonna complain about getting free stuff though. She would be quite disappointed later when she found out what it really meant.

The last dance was one Flare shared with Cadence this time, and it would have been nice if the mare had not been asking about his relationship with Twilight the whole time. Thankfully, the unicorn in question stepped in about halfway through to finish off the night with her stallion.

After the party wrapped up, and everypony had dropped their candy off at the statue of Nightmare Moon—Dreamy wasn’t sure if she should be impressed she had a statue, or upset it was getting more candy than her—they headed home for the evening.

Spike and Dream Catcher fell asleep relatively quickly, and Flare and Twilight had shed their outfits. The fireplace crackled gently, filling the library with a warm glow as the pair snuggled.

“Tonight was pretty fun,” Twilight sighed, nuzzling his side and sighing contently. The stallion nodded and returned the gesture, adding a light kiss on her cheek.

“Yep, I never would have thought Halloween was so fun here.”

Twilight blinked and looked at him. “Halloween?”

“Yeah, it’s a holiday back on Earth where humans…” he paused at looked at his marefriend, who had gotten a quill and some paper, an eager look in her eyes. “I’m not getting any Twilight Time tonight huh?”

“So, holiday?” she asked and he chuckled. Oh well, she was cute like this as well.

The moon shone brightly in the sky as Princess Cadence and her two Guards reached the border of Ponyville. Tonight had been a lot better than she thought, admittedly? She had actually had fun.

And even better? Her main reason for showing up had gone much better than expected. She had acquired enough food for her subjects to last a good long while.

“So... Shall we go home?” Her voice changed as she dropped her disguise, resuming her true form as the Queen of the Changelings. “We have some hungry Changelings to feed after all.”

Her two Guards nodded, their bags full of candy and other food as well. The two Changelings gathered around their Queen as she powered up her magic.

“Sweet Hallows Eve,” Chrysalis whispered to the night sky as she teleported away.

“Until next time~”