Flare of Hope

The prophecy speaks in riddles. On the day that the child with the power of creation and destruction leaves his home, the beast will begin to grow in the vessel left behind, only to be defeated...

The clouds were scarce at the high altitude, which only added to the serene beauty of the skies. In the crisp early winter air, two pegasi darted through the sky.

"Giving up already?" The mare shouted back to the stallion.

"Not in your wildest dreams!" The stallion shouted back. "Dash would call me a wimp, if I did!" At that particular moment, Sky Breaker happened to spot a small, familiar looking, powder blue dot on the ground, far below. "Hey, CC. Does that look like Star to you?"

"Nice try, Sky. I'm not gonna be distracted like that again."

"No, seriousl- whatever." Without warning, Sky Breaker slowed to a crawl and banked hard to the right, headed toward the ground.

Cloudchaser looked back just in time to see the stallion making his turn.  "Hey... Sky, wait!" She turned quickly to follow him.

"Hey, Star! Wait up!" The stallion called, drawing closer to the ground.

Star looked up to see a white dot getting bigger and bigger. It sounded like it was calling somepony's name. "Is that..." she thought out loud, as she stared at the growing dot. Once it was close enough that she could see that it was a pegasus flying toward her, she dropped to the ground, and braced herself for a collision. "Oh no... Sky Breaker." She closed her eyes in time for a powerful gust of wind to hit her, blowing her back a few inches. She looked up to see the stallion hovering a few inches above the ground.

"Hey, Star. What are you doing out here by yourself? I thought you and Flare were inseparable."

Just as he finished, Cloudchaser landed on the ground right next to him. "You two aren't fighting, are you?"

"No no. I just needed some timr to think."

"So you ARE fighting?" Sky spoke, obviously not satisfied by Star's initial answer.

"No, we're not fighting. But I'm really worried about him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, did Flare ever let out his feelings around you, Sky?"

Sky Breaker backed up, a bit. "Whoa, Star. What kind of stallions do you think Flare and I are?"

"That's not what I meant. I mean have you ever noticed that Flare's bottling up his emotions?"

"Well, yeah. But I never tried to force anything out of him."

"Well, I'm worried that if he keeps bottling it all up, he's going to become an emotional Molotov Cocktail."

Cloudchaser cocked her head to the side in a bit of confusion. "What's a Molotov Cocktail?"

Sky Breaker, in his typical fashion, nearly flipped the subject on its head in a way only he could. "Well, it's when you take a glass bottle, and fill it with kerose-"

"Sky! Focus, please!"

"Er... sorry. So, you think he's just gonna keep bottling up his emotions until he explodes on someone?"

"Exactly! And with all the power he has, I'm afraid he'll end up doing something really bad. I'm talking Nightmare Moon bad."

"Sweet Celestia! Nightmare Flare?! That actually has a nice ring to it."

"Focus, Sky! I need to speak with the princess about this."

Sky Breaker shook his head, as if trying to straighten out his train of thought. "Sorry... so, how do you plan on reaching her? She's all the way in Canterlot, and you're here in Ponyville. I mean, unless you have the means to instantly instantly mail her a letter, you'd have to wait a while before she replies."

"Well..." Star began. "As much as I hate to say it, and believe me, I REALLY hate to say it... there might be a way."

***

The silence of the library was quite normal for the setting, as a lone pony sat quietly over a book, reading away. The silence was so usual to the young shut-in that the quick knocking on the door caught her by complete surprise. "Who the hay could that be?" She rose from her stool, and trotted down the stairs, toward the door. As she opened the large wooden door of the library, her curiosity turned to complete surprise. "Sky Breaker? I never thought I'd see you here. What seems to be the occasion?"

Sky smiled awkwardly, and put on his best acting face. "Well, I need to send a letter to the princess, and Star said that you'd slam the door in her face if she knocked on the d- oops."

Twilight peeked out the door, and spotted Falling Star, and Cloudchaser hiding on the side if the building. "I should've known. Sky Breaker wouldn't have come to the library of his own accord."

Star removed herself from her hiding spot, and slowly trotted toward the door, half expecting to be zapped by Twilight's magic. Soon, the two mares were standing face to face.

"You do realize I have a restraining order against you, right?"

Star sighed. "Yeah, I get it, but what's going on here is a bit bigger than our girl drama, and I need to speak with Princess Luna immediately."

Twilight kept her heavy glare on the apparent unicorn. "Fine, but I'm writing the letter. I'm not going to be left in the dark about this. Especially not if my Prince Charming is involved."

Star nearly retched at the last part of Twilight's little speech. At that point, she figured it would be better to teleport to Canterlot, and retrieve the princess herself, but she knew she couldn't leave Flare alone, and she wasn't about to send Skybreaker to Canterlot. "Fine. You have a deal." Within minutes, the letter was sent, and all they could do is wait.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Flare was dying from boredom. He had decided to go through his books. Unfortunately, he had already read the books, and the his boredom increased after a few pages. After a few more minutes, he was passed out on the couch. After a few minutes of a dreamless nap, he awoke to a dark blue light filling the room. As he slowly opened his eyes, he could barely make out the shape of an alicorn forming at the center of the light. The sight alone was enough to startle him into rolling off the couch, and land on his back with an extremely unceremonious WHUMP! "Er... afternoon, Mom. What are you doing, here?"

The midnight blue alicorn looked around the small house, then to her son, who was still on his back. "I decided to come pay a visit. I trust your vacation is going well."

Flare managed to get to his hooves, and look back to his mother. "Yeah. Everything's going great. We spoke to Deep Bass the other day."

The princess of the night nodded in acknowledgement. "Indeed. You can always learn more about your enemy from one who has already done battle with them. Deep Bass defeated Indulgence, the shade of Gluttony and Greed. Have you anything else you want to tell me?"

Flare looked down at his hooves, one of which was subconsciously pawing nervously at the ground. "Well, I've been doing a bit of thinking, and... well, Star and I met this little orphan filly..."

Princess Luna gave her child a look that was a mix of compassion and concern. "Dear, I understand your feelings, however not all things are black and white. As much as I adore the thought of being a grandmother, I would like for you to think this out."

Flare sighed a heavy sigh. "I have thought this out, Mom."

"Oh?" The princess questioned with a raised brow. "So, this filly would live in Canterlot with you? And what of her friends, here in Ponyville? Would you truly be able to separate that filly from her friends?"

"No, I guess not."

"Secondly, who will teach her to fly? You've barely mastered the art, yourself, and Lady Star hasn't even learned how to use her wings, yet."

"I guess you're right."

And the last thing will weigh more heavily on you more than it will her." The princess's expression turned grim, coincidentally just as Falling Star made an unnoticed entrance. "I won't watch you spiral downward, when you bury your own child, dear. I'm already afraid of how you will react, when your friend, Skybreaker passes on. Thankfully, Miss Star managed to erase her name from the Reaper's list. I would die inside, if I had to watch your heart break like that again."

"I... didn't think about that, Mom."

Star shot a look of concern at the two, hoping that she had made the correct decision in calling the Princess into the situation. "Is everything alright, Your Highness?"

Princess Luna turned toward the newest arrival, and nodded. "Yes, Miss Star, everything is fine. I'm actually quite glad that you arrived. I was quite worried when I received your letter."

Flare looked at Star, and mouthed the word "Letter?"

Star found her forehoof mimicing Flare's from before. "Well, I didn't know where else to turn..."

"Do not feel guilty, dear. You acted as you should have without a second's delay. Now, Flare," she said, turning to her son, "I understand you are having a hard time dealing with your emotions. I understand that it can be hard to talk to other ponies about your feelings, but it is imperative that you learn the repercussions of letting your emotions build to the point that they get the better of you."

Flare raised an eyebrow at his mother. "Um... what do you mean?"

"My child, I will show you exactly what will become of this world, should you allow your emotions to take control of you."

The Princess's horn began to glow, as she approached her son. When she came close enough, she allowed her horn to tap onto his own. For a second, Flare felt a slight tingle, as the world around him began to melt away like a giant wax sculpture in the sun. What replaced it was nothing short of hell, itself.