Flare of Hope

Flare of Hope Ch. 1:

"Child, perhaps Twilight Sparkle can give you some… pointers on controlling your power. That is all I'm suggesting."

Two Alicorns, one a mere three quarter size of the other, were making their way down a magnificent hallway, toward the royal court. It wasn't all that often that the Princess of the Night chose to have somepony sit by her side, but she was only too happy to force this particular pony to sit in.

"Princess Luna, I've only been a pony for two days… and I don't even know how or why I'm coping with this so well. Why does this feel so natural?!" The steel grey Alicorn stallion with his straight black mane stopped in place, staring at Luna, as if she had the answers… which she did… kinda.

Luna moved closer to her fellow alicorn, and nuzzled his neck "Flare, you don't have to be so formal with me. I AM your mother, after all. And the answer to that question is quite simple. You've always been one of us, Flare. You just never knew it."

"I don't see how I can believe any of that, princess. I've been a human all my life. I've even seen baby pictures! I was cute as fuck! And I wasn't a pony. I was a normal, human baby."

Luna rolled her eyes, and continued down the hallway. "Fine. If you don't believe me, go find out. Your history is sacred Equestrian history. Only those who dare to delve into the depths of the most cryptic history know who you are. Perhaps you should pay a visit to Ponyville, and talk to Twilight Sparkle."

Flare knew all about Twilight Sparkle's obsession with knowledge, and figured that it sounded as good a plan as any. "Sounds like a plan to me. As long as it gets me out of this stuffy castle." He took a step back, and closed his eyes, attempting to focus. His horn ignited in a blue, flame-like aura, as he focused harder. He was surrounded by an orb of blue flame, that disappeared a moment later. Luna looked in awe, as she was pleasantly surprised. He had actually teleported… almost.

She turned around, and let out a laugh, as she saw Flare half sticking out of the wall, an unamused look on his face, and a few hairs of his mane burning slowly from the blue flame. The princess giggled, and licked her hoof, pressing the wet hoof to the burning hairs, a small sizzling sound signifying that the small fire was out. "You know, dear. You should really allow me… I don't burn carpets when I teleport."

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Twilight Sparkle was just settling down from a long day of studying. She had made her evening tea, lit a fire in the fireplace, and let Spike go to bed. Now, she was sitting by the fireplace… wait for it… studying. She had been studying by the fire for a few hours, and was starting to drift off, when she heard a knock at the door. She forced herself to her hooves, and headed for the door. "I wonder who it could be at this hour? Ugh… Bass isn't back in town, is he?" She swung open the door, and found herself face to face with not only the princess of the night, but another alicorn, who was just a bit taller than she was. "Oh, princess! How can I help you?"

"Ah, good evening, Miss Sparkle. I'd like to introduce you to somepony you may have read about." Luna stepped aside, to fully reveal the other alicorn. "This is Prince Equinox Leo Constella Valentine Flare."

The stallion blushed, furiously at the mention of the full name that had been given to him upon becoming a pony. "Please, Ma'am. Just call me Flare."

Twilight's eyes went wide, and she stared at the new alicorn. She had met Celestia, Luna, but an alicorn stallion was news to her. "So… you're… the… I… OHMYGOSH!" Twilight dashed to a bookshelf, and began throwing books from the shelf, mumbling something to herself. "Aha! Found it! 'History of the Eternal Son!'" She dashed back to the two alicorns, waving the book that was held in her telekinetic vice.

Flare shot a glance between the princess, and Twilight, figuring that maybe there was something that he had missed. When he was a human, he had seen every episode of the show, at least twice. Through all the episodes, he had never heard anything about this subject.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your studies."

Flare turned to give the princess another glance, only to spot a flash of blue light where she had been standing. "Uh... Wait a second, princess!" He turned and looked back at the smiling unicorn, who was still holding the book. "Why are you smiling so big?"

"It's not every day that I get to meet a legend, in the flesh. Come on. I've got a story to read you."

A few minutes later, Twilight was piling pillows into a large mound. "Is that enough pillows for you, your highness?"

Flare looked at the mountain of pillows, a slight astonishment on his face. "I told you I didn't need any... And stop calling me that."

"Nonsense. Royalty deserves respect. Now, if you'll lay down, we can get to reading."

Flare climbed onto the mound of pillows, trying to make himself comfortable, eventually finding himself sprawled out over the pillows in a most unbecoming fashion. Twilight couldn't help but giggle at this. "So, how old are you, your highness?"

Flare raised an eyebrow at the unicorn. "Twenty-one years old. Why?"

The little bookworm looked at the strange alicorn, slightly confused. "That doesn't seem right. The alicorn that's mentioned in this book was said to be born over a thousand years ago."

Flare grinned. "Of course. That's because it wasn't me."

"Well, If you're the Princess's son, then this is definitely about you. Here, let's read." The librarian opened up to the first page. "Here we go. 'A few years before the tale of the mare in the moon, another deep secret of Equestria was woven. In the days of old, the Princess of the Night bore a foal. This foal was the first alicorn colt born in thousands of years, and would be the only one born throughout history. Not long after the foal's birth, a grave prophecy was put in place. The prophecy stated that one day, a great darkness would threaten the kingdom of harmony, and the elements of such may prove ineffective. That is the point that the eternal son, wielding magic not of this world, would vanquish the darkness, and save the kingdom. Along with the court wizard, Starswirl the Bearded, the two eternal sisters placed the son in another world to prepare for the battles of his future.' I always did love that story." She looked back at Flare, who was staring, slackjawed at her. "And apparently, not long after that is when Luna became Nightmare Moon. I don't know, but I think you should ask her a little more about this. Maybe she can tell you things that I don't know. She WAS there, after all." Twilight looked up from the book again, and spotted a snoozing alicorn sprawled across a mountain of pillows.

Twilight giggled, and ruffled the sleeping alicorn's mane. "Well, he's definitely not like his mother."