Flare of Hope

The sun was rising over Ponyville, and Flare awoke to a soft jabbing at his side. He had manged to ignore the jabbing until- POMF!

THUD!

Whatever was jabbing at his side had managed to find his wing, which caused the wing to burst out, smacking whatever was poking him, and knock it to the ground. Flare opened his eyes, and turned his head to see the light purple pegasus laying on the ground, rubbing her cheek. Flare could imagine that being slapped in the face by an invisible wing could be rather shocking, if you weren't expecting it. "So, you really are a royal."

Flare raised an eyebrow. "Who told you?"

"Star and Sky did. I think it's actually pretty cool."

Flare looked at this mare, and only one thing crossed his mind. "I'm sorry, but I can't stop thinking about this. How do you style your mane, normally? A bit of hairspray and a high powered fan?"

"Um, actually-"

SMACK!

Flare turned to see an angry looking unicorn glaring daggers at him. "Flare!"

"What?! I thought it looked cool!"

"Oh."

Cloudchaser had backed away, and was giggling. "You two are so adorable! And to answer your question, Your Highness, yes. That's exactly how I style it."

Now, it was Star's turn to have a good laugh. "She... she called you... YOUR HIGHNESS!"

Flare looked straight into the fibers of the wonderfully soft carpet, hiding a blush of embarrassment.

After a moment of merciless teasing, Flare heard the sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs. "Oh, thank goodness," he thought. "Sky's gonna come down, and they'll stop."

Flare couldn't have been more wrong. "What's with all the laughing?"

"Cloudchaser called Flare 'Your Highness!'"

Then the teasing started all over again, with Sky rolling around on the floor, laughing like a maniac.

"You two stop teasing," Cloudchaser cut in. "It's my fault for not knowing that he didn't like being called that."

Flare looked up at her, almost like a freshly rescued kitten. "Thank you, you kind, caring mare. One day, they shall sing ballads of Cloudchaser the benevolent, and I will say to them how true their tunes are."

"Thank you. That is very kind of you, Your Majesty."

The two unicorns were trotting through the town, off to get a bite to eat. Flare definitely needed to fume a bit after the events of the morning, and the mega daisy burger at the local sandwich shop was just the nemesis that Flare needed to vent his frustration. Star could barely stifle her queezy stomach as she watched Flare release his rage on the giant piece of flowery goodness. After the culinary therapy session had finished, the couple carried. On about their day on the town, visiting the local shops, and fruit stands, when the now appeased prince finally touched on the subject that had been on his mind all day. "Hey, Star?"

"I know, Flare. You've been thinking about Scootaloo, haven't you?"

Flare simply nodded. "I've been thinking, and what if we could actually make a difference in at least one one pony's life?"

"Well, if given that opportunity, I would take it without question. Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Flare couldn't hide anything from Star. She knew his thought process all too well. "More than likely."

"Flare, we don't even know where to begin searching. For all we know, her parents wouldn't even want her back."

This was new. This was the first time Star couldn't read him like a book, and he was well beyond shocked. "No, babe. I mean what if WE became her parents?"

"Flare, I don't think that's such a good idea."

"And why not?"

"Right now, she thinks we're just unicorns. She'll freak if she finds out that her new daddy is the one and only prince of Equestria."

"And how do you know that?"

Before Star could even think of another reason, her attentions were snatched away by a sound that she, as a teacher, knew all too well.

"Hey, blankflank, where are your loser blankflank friends at?"

The two unicorns turned to see Scootaloo being harassed by two other fillies.

"Would you two just leave me alone?"

"What's the matter, blankflank?" The little pink filly cackled. "Nopony here to stand up for you? Guess you're not as tough as you pretend to be, huh?"

Then the little grey filly lashed out with something that infuriated the observing prince. "You gonna go cry to mommy and daddy? Oh, that's right, you don't have one!" That one pushed Flare over the edge. Even more so when he approached, and saw the tears in Scootaloo's eyes.

"Hey! You two leave her alone!"

The two bullies turned and looked at Flare with mock looks of innocence on their faces. "Sorry, Mister. We were just playing."

Flare was glaring full medieval arsenal at the two fillies. Why? Because daggers just wouldn't be enough. He would have completely lost his cool if Star didn't step in. "I'm not buying that for a second. You two get lost!"

The two fillies looked up at the adults, quickly realized that they weren't buying it, and trotted away.

"Are you alright, Scoot?"

Scootaloo looked up at Flare, tears still in her eyes. "Y-yeah... I'm *sniff* fine."

"Why do they pick on you so much?"

Scootaloo looked up at Flare, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "'Cause I haven't got my cutie mark, yet. My friends and I tried everything, and we still haven't got em, yet. That and because I can't fly. And I'm an orphan. Why do they have to be so mean, Flare?"

Flare hugged the filly, holding her close, letting her cry into his fur. "Some ponies like to make others suffer because they feel bad about themselves, Scoot. It's not your fault that they do that."

Scootaloo looked up at Flare with teary eyes. "D... do other ponies pick on you, too, Flare?"

"Flare, why didn't you tell me about that?"

"I didn't think it was necessary. And I think I found a decent way of coping with it. Don't you?"

"Flare, I have a hard time believing that a shot of jager and an hour long nap is a very good way of dealing with stress. In fact, it sounds like you're just-"

"Bottling my emotions?" Flare looked at Star, seriously.

"Yeah. That's-"

"Exactly what I'm doing?"

"Yeah... and it's-"

"Not healthy. I know."

"Yeah... and I'm-"

"Leaving me. I know." Flare"s attitude had worked its way from serious to nearly sad.

Star looked over at Flare, a hint of worry in her eyes. "No! I'd never do that! I'm just starting to worry about you, babe."

Flare shook his head. "Well don't. I'm perfectly capable of handling my emotions. Tuck away the bad, so they only see the good. That's how I've been doing it for years, and that's how I'm gonna do it for the rest of my life."

"But Flare-"

"But nothing, Star. This conversation is over."