Flare of Hope

Flare of Hope: Prologue

There isn't much I remember about my old life, aside from the little black book that Mom let me keep when I came back to this world. Well, if you could call it coming back. She said that perhaps the lessons I learned there could help me adjust to life in this new world. Hah. Judging by the last couple of months in the other world, I'd beg to differ.

I remember it was sometime around November, 2011 when I unwittingly stepped hoo- I mean foot onto the giant metal ring of hell that would drive me to madness. Ah, yes. USS Hornet. LHC-1. I had heard mixed opinions of the ship before I got there, but none of them could've imagined the horrors of working in the USS Hornet Deck Department. I was Pri- Gah! Seaman David Flare. I was a musician. I was an author. I was a poet. I was a Brony. And I had just signed my death wish… so to speak. I had adjusted rather well to shipboard life, and my bullshit work schedule. Every day that I wasn't on duty, I'd drive to the Wind & Surf wifi cafe on base, play World of Warcraft, and have a nice, long conversation with the woman who I saw as my mother. On Saturdays or Sundays, I would spend the day in the same wifi cafe, and watch the new episode of My Little Pony, as it was uploaded on Youtube. There was just something about the characters that made me feel… at peace. And when I saw Princess Luna in "Luna Eclipsed," I always felt as though I was just like her. In more ways than having issues making friends. This was a rather good life… until the shit hit the fan. After a while in deck department, the other seaman must've decided that it was time to try to break me. I was ridiculed every day, for the fact that I acted different from everyone else in the department. After a while of this abuse, I still hadn't broken. I just died on the inside. Nobody could tell that I was suffering. Nobody could tell that I just wanted to go hide in a fan room, and partake in the only thing that made me happy anymore. All they saw was the cold, emotionless David Flare, who seemingly didn't give a fuck. At least until the day that I had enough. I remember it so vividly. We were underway, doing training exercises, and I had just gotten off a late watch. I was finally returning to the berthing to relax, and watch a few episodes of MLP, before I went to bed. I walked toward the aisle that held my rack, and once I finally made it to my only sanctuary, I almost snapped. My lock was laying on the deck next to my rack, and my sheets, and blanket had been ripped off my bed, and thrown onto the floor. I immediately opened my rack to find all my musical equipment missing. I had a MIDI controller, and a beautiful USB microphone, and now it was gone. I couldn't believe it. I finally calmed down, after putting a decent sized dent in my locker, put my sheets, pillow, and blanket back on my rack, dressed down, and climbed inside. I then plugged in my headphones, and started watching Luna Eclipsed on my iPhone. I had seen the episode numerous times, but it was by far my favorite. I still couldn't figure out why. I let the episode play in the background, occasionally snickering at Pinkie Pie's antics, as I began studying a book on magic. I was on a page about how one would mentally channel a spell. It was quite riveting, to be honest. I was in heaven. At least until I was thrown back into the bowels of hell. The sounds of ponies occupying my ears quickly faded, as I felt my earphones being yanked out of my ears. Acting quickly, I closed my book, and rolled out of my rack, quickly hopping up to my feet, staring up at one of the other seaman. I was already furious… this was just the thing to push little Flare the Abuse Sponge over the edge.

"Give it back." I was growling my words, which due to my stature, and being all around scrawny, wasn't that threatening.

"Why, Flare? So you can go back to watching your gay little cartoons?"

"Look… I'm not in the mood. Just give it back." My mind was burning with rage. I began to feel hot all throughout my body.

"Or what? Little Flare the Flamer gonna hurt me? I'm not afraid of you, short shit!" I WAS pretty short. I was 5'7", 150 pounds, and weak as wet paper. But I was too furious to care.

"I'll show you a fucking Flamer!" My mind went blank, with the exception of visions of flames. I saw the essence of pure rage. And my rage engulfing my shipmate, sending him flying into the bulkhead ten feet away. I had no clue what had just happened, but I knew that when he woke up, I was dead. I grabbed my phone, and headphones, stuffed them in my pocket, and ran out of the berthing. If we had been in port, I'd have run off the ship. But we weren't, so I had nowhere to run. I ran as far as I could and hid in the far back corner of the most secluded fan room I knew of. I was afraid. I was furious. I was in tears.

As a tear ran down my face, and hit the deck, I heard a voice come from the speaker of my phone. It sounded… joyful. It… sounded like Pinkie Pie. The weirdest part was that the episode had been stopped since I was in the berthing. I looked down at my phone, and saw the joyful smile beaming at me. I couldn't believe it. Why was Pinkie Pie smiling at me? Then it got a lot more weird.

"Your mommy says it's time to come home, Prince Flare!"

I couldn't believe what Pinkie Pie just said. I had no clue who Prince Flare was. I had never heard of a character named Flare at all. And I definitely didn't believe it when a pink hoof shot out of my phone screen, grabbed me by the collar, and pulled my face toward the phone screen.

I blacked out. No dreams, or anything. Just black. I woke up what felt like hours later, my entire body in an intense pain. And as I opened my eyes, I was staring up at a midnight blue alicorn with a mane like the night sky.

"Welcome home," She said with a smile.