Flare of Hope

Ponyville... again. Winter was beginning, and snow was already falling to the ground, as the two lovers walked side by side. A light grey unicorn stallion with a cerulean mane, and a powder blue unicorn mare with a pure white mane trotted through the snow, toward a small house, near the town square. The stallion turned his head to the mare and smiled. "So, you never told me exactly why my mom wanted us to stay here for the winter."

"Well, I guess a little bit of insight wouldn't hurt. She wanted you to take a little bit of time away from the castle. She said that she knows that you've been under a lot of stress lately, trying to handle Cadance's duties, and now that she's back, you deserve a vacation. To be honest, I couldn't agree more."

"Okay, so why the disguises?"

"Well, now that all of Equestria knows who you are, it's safer this way. The disguises will wear off when we get back to the castle."

The stallion opened the door to the small, cozy cottage, and followed the mare in. "Fair enough. I mean, I wouldn't want any of the other six shades attacking Ponyville."

The mare stepped in, and hopped onto the couch, laying on her back. "Five."

"Five? I only beat one, and there's supposed to be seven, right?"

"Right. So, if ya'll trying to get to 'is house, yer gonna wanna hang a left at Sugarcube Corner, and keep awn goin till ya reach the edge of town. Ther's gon' be two houses. His's on th' left."

"Thank you, Miss Applejack."

"Anythin' ta help th' RBI, Miss Star." The orange country mare tipped her hat, and continued on her way.

"Well, that was easy."

"Well, it's not hard to find one of the biggest rockstars in Equestria."

"I could imagine it wouldn't be. So, this guy was the biggest rockstar in Equestria, then just dropped out and became a music teacher? That sounds a tad corny to me."

"Flare, we used to watch a show about colorful talking ponies."

"Yeah, but... It's actually kind of hard to come back from that one. Touché, mi amor. Touché. So, if anyone asks, my name is Lunar Flare?"

"Yep. It sounds half-assed, but just work with it."

After a few minutes of walking, and twice as long reminding himself why they couldn't just teleport there, Flare found himself looking at a rather nice house, with a beautiful mahogany door. The door itself was emblazoned with a bass clef, and an equally sized sixteenth note intertwined with the clef. "I guess this is the place."

"I guess so."

Flare reached up, and knocked on the door with a hoof. They had noticed a smoke rising from the chimney, as they approached, so it could be assumed that somepony was home. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a pure white earth pony mare with a long, red mane with sky blue streaks, and matching eyes. She looked at the two ponies, holding a young baby in her left arm. "Hello," she spoke in a soft, kind voice. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I am Falling Star, and this is Lunar Flare. We're agents of the Royal Bureau of Investigations, and we were hoping that the stallion of the house could lend us a moment of his time."

"Oh, of course. Come right in. He'll be home from work any moment, now." The mare stepped back, and motioned to the living room behind her with her head, keeping the infant secured in her arm. Flare, and Star had just stepped into the living room, when the mare asked politely. "Can I get you two anything to drink?"

Flare was about to make his request, when he was cut off by Star. "I'd like a-"

"No, ma'am, we're fine."

The mare smiled, as she lay the sleeping infant in a crib in the corner of the living room. "You two remind me of my husband and me, when we first met."

Star blushed at the mare's comment. "Wha-" Just before she could get a word in, the front door opened, and in stepped a solid white pegasus, with a mane well trimmed to hang a bit in the front. Both his mane and tail were solid black with a teal accent to it. Flare couldn't help but notice that while his face said "rockstar," his tie screamed "teacher." He also couldn't help but notice how Star's eyes were glued to the stalliin's own midnight blue eyes, which had small silver flecks throughout them, giving the impression of a night sky filled with stars.

The mare practically bumrushed him the moment he walked in the door, throwing her arms around him at the first opportunity. "Bass, you're home! How was work?"

The stallion hugged the mare back, smiling. "Work was great, Ivy. How's our little Allegra?"

"She's sleeping like a rock, dear." Ivory returned to four hooves, and nodded toward Flare, and Star. "We have company, dear. They're from the RBI."

Bass looked at the two ponies. "Hold on. I recognize these two. These are the two unicorns from the Gala." He pointed a hoof at Flare. "And if I remember correctly, that just happened to be a disguise... your highness."

Ivory looked at the two of them. "I think you may be right, dear. And I remember looking at her dress. It really was a lovely dress."

Bass smiled at the two ponies. "So, what can this humble subject do for a prince of Equestria?"

Flare stood dumbfounded at the fact that his disguise was so easily figured out, so Star spoke for him. "We're here in regards to a letter that was sent to the princess about a year ago, by one Twilight Sparkle." Star nearly cringed at the mention of that name.

"Oh... yeah. Here. Let's get a drink, and I'll tell you the whole story. Please, take a seat." Bass loosened his tie, and trotted into the kitchen, and came back out balancing a tray with four glasses of ice, and a bottle of Jimmy Trotter Blue Label.

Flare's eyes went wide at the sight of the bottle. The instant thought of just how well off this pony had done himself somewhat put things into perspective. Or maybe it was that the pony just happened to bring out a bottle of the Equestrian version of one of the greatest whiskeys of all time. Judging by Flare's taste for liquors, it was more than likely the latter. Before Bass could even make out a single word, Flare was already determined to gave at least one glass of the amazing amber liquid. "YES, I WOULD!"

"Wow. Outburst much?"

"Yeah, you could call it that. And accidentally slipping onto the Royal Canterlot Voice didn't help, either."

"I'm surprised Star didn't break the glass over your head."

"Oh, she would've if we weren't in public. She may have a temper a mile wide, but she knows how to keep it in check, when she has to. Which means she's probably going to have something insanely sadistic waiting for me when I get back."

"I could take your place. You know I handle sadistic EXTREMELY well."

"Sky Breaker... you're a very strange stallion, you know that?"

"Yep. And that's why you love me."

"So, when am I gonna meet the mare who's loony enough to handle you?"

Before Flare could even let out a laugh at the expense of his old friend, he heard a feminine voice speak from behind him. "How about now?"

For the record, there has never been a recorded instance of a Royal Canterlot Bitch Shriek, but Flare had come dangerously close to utilizing the first in the history of all Equestria. Upon releasing undoubtedly the girliest scream possible for any stallion (with the exception of Blueblood, who had no right to be called a stallion, whatsoever in Flare's book), Flare jumped maybe a foot off the ground, and disappeared in a flash of blue light, reappearing behind an empty wagon, where he stood stiff as a board, shaking like a scared kitten.

After recovering from a near paralyzing fit of laughter, Sky Breaker wiped a tear from his eye, and kissed the mare on the cheek. "Sorry, Chaser. I probably should've warned you about how jumpy he is."

Cloudchaser raised an eyebrow, and giggled. "Your friends are weird, babe."