“Shoot.” Twilight Sparkle mutters to herself.
"No ones able to pick me up..."
She ponders on what to do. She could always call an Uber, or even walk home. Unfortunately she was low on money and lived across town.
Without a choice she begins to make her way home until she sees Flamera leaning against the Wondercolt statue. The girl was on her phone typing, presumable also asking for ride as well. What confused twilight was that she had usually seen her flying home instead of getting a ride. Twilight's thoughts are put on hold as Flamera puts her phone in her pocket. Awkwardly Twilight begins to pace around Flamera's vicinity subtly trying to get her attention. The girl hadn't noticed so Twilight was forced to say something.
"Flamera, what a surprise!!! What are you still doing here!" she says awkwardly.
Flamera slightly jumps screaming “BWAH!!!” at the sudden response but gains composure and looks behind to meet Twilight.
"Oh... hey whats up." Flamera responds rather neutrally.
"Did i scare you? Sorry i didn't mean to." Twilight says chuckling at her own rigidness.
"You did but it happens all the time, I was super engrossed with something on my phone so thats why i jumped like that. I'm oddly sensitive to random noises."
Flamera continues to type on her phone. Twilight fiddles with her hair as tries to think of what to say.
…
"Sooooo...... What are you still doing at school?” Flamera asks breaking the awkward silence.
"Oh uh... Ive been trying to text my family about picking me up but none of them say they can." Twilight response scratching her neck.
"Heh, definitely have been there before. My parents said the same thing but its a little different when you're family only can afford one car. I was actually asking them the same thing you were."
They both chuckle a little. Flamera goes back to her phone, but is still paying attention to Twilight who continues to go back to playing with her hair.
"Hey Flamera...?
"Hm?" she glances to the purple girl.
Twilight gulps in anticipation for the question shes about to ask.
"Do you mind.... Um.... Taking me home?"
"I just told you no ones able to pick me up?"
"I know that's not how you get home every day."
Flamera's eyes widen. The sudden shift in attitude caught her off guard. Continuing to bluff she closes her eyes
"Well yeah, I get picked up by my parents!!!"
Flamera gives her best grin and she looks at twilight, hoping she would drop it. They stare for a few seconds.
"Can you fly me home?"
Flamera drops her backpack in response.
"How the fuck do you know about that?"
"You dont make it too subtle. Plus sunsets told me that you have before. Ive also seen you in the air with your backpack."
She just stares at twilight.
“fan - fucking - tastic" the demon thinks to herself.
"Listen I'm not some cab, I don't just take people around town!?!?"
Flamera says turning away from twilight
"But I've seen sunset on your back before?
Flamera's blush becomes more apparent.
“ARE YOU GUYS STALKING ME OR SOMETHING?” Flamera yells while supporting herself on the statue with her right arm.
“What??? Uhm……. No?” twilight replied with a twinge in her voice and a tiny grin. Truthfully, they had been “stalking” her cloaked disguise before being revealed.
"UHG … cant you just walk home?"
Flamera wines slouching her back upwards.
"I could but its awfully dark out and i have to pass parts of the city."
Flamera's scowls in response
“just use your flashlight on your phone” she mutters under her breath.
"Please Flamera?"
Flamera's face didn't budge until she gives up and sighs in defeat. Truthfully is was rather dark out and she wasn't sure if Twilight would be able to defend herself in the event something did happen.
"Fine.” she says seething
“But two things."
"Firstly, don't get the impressions that this is a service I provide, I'm not an Uber driver."
Twilight nods in understanding
"And two, don't tell anyone else i did this for you. You can tell Sunset and I guess I don't mind you telling your other friends but don't go telling random people i don't know that i do this got it?" she yells pointing her finger to herself.
"I understand" Twilight replies.
"I do need to ask how heavy your backpack is."
"Oh... Uhhhh."
Flamera's eyes shrink as Twiight's bag makes a heavy "thud" noises as it falls out of her grasp. She looks up to meet Twilight's awkward but cheeky look.
Flamera sighs angrily
"Alright put half of the books from your bag into mine. You'll need to wear mine since its harder for me to hold. You don't mind that I hold your bag do you?"
"Nope not at all!”
Flamera opens her backpack for twilight who slides two big textbooks into it. Its then zipped up and handed to twilight
“Feel free to adjust the straps I don't care. Make sure my water bottle doesn't slip out either.” Flamera says glancing at the distance between the two of them.
“You mind standing back a bit?” Flamera says sheepishly, rubbing her dry hands.
“Oh! Sure, sorry i didn't know i was in your personal space.”
“No its not that i just don't want you to get hit by anything” Flamera says turning away from Twilight.
“Huh? Oh, right.” Twilight says taking a few steps back. Once at an appropriate distance she slings the backpack over her shoulders.
Flamera gives Twilight a look that cant really be described. It was a mix of distance with a side of fear. Judging by Flamera's prior responses twilight figured she put her on the spotlight a bit. She didn't say anything but the thought lingered.
As Twilight stared back with a more than curious yet innocent look, Flamera slightly hunched over, but is interrupted.
“Did you want me to close my eyes???”
“No???!!? Not if you don't want to? Just like don't scream.” she response in annoyance.
Taking in a breath she returns to her hunched position and begins to change shape. The transformation went smoothly, despite what twilight has seen prior. The only thing concerning was her bones cracking and the wings that spliced out of her back.
It was rather beautiful actually. With the transformation done she moves a bit due to recoil. Turning back to Twilight, who was still staring in partial awe she reached out her arm with an open hand in order to take Twilight's bag. Flamera's eye brows slanted in confusion to the delay, but this broke twilight out of her stupor. She quickly gave her the bag.
“Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to stare!” she smiles awkwardly while looking at the ground.
“Its fine. Sunset more or less acted the same way. It's just hard getting used to people telling me that they think its cool and not scary or disgusting”
“Oh…. I'm-“
“Stop apologizing. Its fine don't worry about it.” she replies with an oddly curt voice.
Flamera stretches a bit and cracks her neck. Her wings extend to their fullest, with twilight still in awe. She awkwardly speaks up.
“So how is this gonna work?”
"Like this." Flamera proceeds to lower her torso by getting on all fours.
"Hold your arms around my waist, just below my chest. Just please to not break my ribs. "
Twilight proceeds to do as such, albeit awkwardly because Flameras position. Putting her arms around her stomach, the demons body feels oddly warm, like a hand-warmer.
"If you need to you can hold onto my horns and straddle your legs around my hips. My stomach faces the ground when I'm flying so either way you should be fine."
"Are you comfortable holding me like this?"
"I think so? I'm worried about your wings though, will they be able to move if I'm closer to your head?"
Flamera tightens her wings, pointing them outwards
"They'll be more like this once we're up in the air" she says while the bookworm looked up.
"Are you ready?" Flamera asks turning her head to Twilight.
She looks around to make sure everything is secure in Flamera's backpack.
"All good!"
"Make sure you hold on extra tight right now. My back will be straight up until I'm high enough got it?"
The girl nods. Flamera returns to being on two legs and grabs Twilight's bag. With a stretch of the back, she begins flapping her long leathery wings as she flies in place for a second.
With no objections being made, the momentum in her wings gets stronger as the wind from them makes the two girls hair flow. Flamera finally ascends into the air, with twilight holding for dear life. The warmth from the demons body soothed any nerves the girl may have had previously.
It took approximately 2 minutes for Flamera to reach the correct altitude. Her body was relatively easier to grab now so Twilight decided to move a little closer to her wings. She had shut her eyes when Flamera took off but half way through opened them. She had been on flights before, but being able to everything compared to a small window was breathtaking.
"This view is incredible...."
They both point their gaze towards Canterlot City's skyscrapers. It was impossible to see them from ground level at chs, but being in the air made them visible.
"Okay so where am i exactly taking you?"
"Do you know where CPA is?"
"Vaguely? Any other pointers you can give me?"
"If you look straight towards the skyscrapers its in the middle on the outskirts of the city."
"That works for me boss." Flamera response casually as she continues to fly at an above average speed.
"..."
"Soooooooo......." Twilight says awkwardly
"Is there a reason why your body feels so... Warm?"
"I think I just operate at a higher temperature. Although i really haven't used a thermometer on myself in this form."
"Well that's probably not true, the average human temperature is about 98.6 degrees."
"But I'm not human....?" Flamera chuckles.
"Oh... Right"
"..."
"I got a question for you actually. Not sure if you'll know it buts its worth asking" Flamera asks.
"Whats the question?"
"Well I was curious on why CHS and CPA are so close to each other. In my old neighborhood there were elementary and middle schools that close but our high schools were always the furthest apart."
"Well CHS and CPA are loosely connected through the Friendship Games."
"You do know what the Friendship Games are correct?"
"I've only heard about it through word of mouth, otherwise I have no idea what it is."
"Oh well basically every 4 years the two schools get together to compete in a wide variety of things."
Flamera scoffs "Seems kind of redundant since high school sports do the exact same thing. Not that that's any better anyways."
"Tell me about it, I was blackmailed into competing in the last one." she jokingly remarks.
She furrows her eyebrows but retains a warm, soft smile on her face.
"But I don't know where I would be if i didn't, that's how I was introduced to the most important people in my life. Even with how traumatic the games were for me, I came out of it with actual friends, something I never imagined I'd have. Transferring to CHS was one of the best things that's ever happened to me..."
Flameras nerves brought her own experiences with other schools to light, but she immediately shoved them down. Twilight could feel a subtle change within Flamera's temperature. Silence fell upon the two until Twilight could no longer hold her question back.
"What was Manehatten High like?" Sunset had let Twilight in on some of the things Flamera opened up about, and Manehatten was one of them. She had told Sunset about it before and didn't mind if she told her friends about it. At least that's what she initially thought.
As soon as the question was said, Twilight felt a sudden spike of heat from Flamera's body. On the other side, she was glad Twilight couldn't see her vapid expression. She dumped her woes of her past experiences with Sunset, but never expected to have to tell it again. This time however it actually would matter. Sure sunset could easily empathized with a situation like that, it was basically her entire thing. But since twilight lived and faced through a similar situation, she felt like talking about it again would just be repeating herself.
"Um.... It was..."
The silence from Flamera made Twilight back down on her question.
"If you aren't comfortable talking about it yet that's completely fine, totally understand"
Realistically Flamera wanted to just drop it, but the awkward stain that would linger throughout the flight would slowly burn in her head.
"No it's fine, I was already thinking about it when I asked about CPA."
She took a breath in and out.
“All the Manehatten schools have some sort of reputation. East had all the sports players, west had all the druggies and north, the one I went to was where all the rich kids went to.”
“Unfortunately I wasn't apart of that majority. “ She scoffs
“The schools surrounded by 3 neighborhood with expensive houses. One of the neighborhoods literally has mansions in them.”
“I actually had transferred middle schools between my 7th and 8th grade year. It made high school incredibly difficult for me since my relationships from my prior school were stripped away from me.”
“And that's not even including my demon side awakening but anyways.”
“I really hated it there…. My home situation and friend group drama only added onto my misery.”
“Oh… I'm sorry it was so rough for you…”
“I take it you feel similarly about CPA?”
“…more or less yeah.”
“I'm sorry things were shit for you as well. I don't know about you but going from being popular to a freak really fucks with your confidence.” she says lightheartedly
“How was middle and elementary for you though?” she asks trying to steer the subject into a better light.
“It was alright, nothing too out of the ordinary for someone who focused on books more than anything else. Things only started getting harder when i got to CPA my freshman year. I was too engrossed in reading to really care about friends when I was younger. And I really never broke that habit till I met Sunset and the girls.”
Flamera chuckles. “I was the same way except I never read. But also no one wanted to be my friend so stopped trying”
“Why?” Twilight asks.
“Why no one wanted to be my friend…?”
“Mhm? Well, I should also ask you why you never read but its not relevant.”
Flamera didn't really know how to respond. There were two reasons but she didn't know which one was the truth.
“I..I don't know.” she says shifting her hands around the bag.
“I always used to think its cause all the girls were freaked out by me because of my “tomboy” nature and interests but things changed as i got older so I really don't know.”
She takes a pause before starting again
“But really it's cause of me as a whole I think. It's not even demon related either. I guess people just found me mildly annoying, weird or creepy. Maybe even all three. Or maybe they knew I was a demon before I did.”
The melancholy response made Twilight hesitate on continuing this conversation but she keeps going.
“That feeling only got worse in high school as I started to hyper-fixate on things to cope with the lucrative amount of issues I had at the time. And not to mention the demon stuff. ”
Noticing the sadness in the air Flamera quickly whips back to reality
“But things are different now I guess and I'm in a school that doesn’t judge as critically as Manehatten did.”
Flamera turns her head smiling with her brows nit.
“I'm sure you understand the feeling too huh?”
Twilight returns with a smile of her own with her eyes closed.
“Did you have to hid your magic in Manehatten?” Twilight asks, weary of the conversation dipping in tone.
“It was…. Complicated to say the least. People knew but it wasn’t something they told teachers about. I never really understood why besides the threat of a demon burning them to smithereens, but even then I was still pretty awkward until provoked. I never was in this form in school. I had such a restraint on my emotions back then. Ultimately yes, i did but only the blunt of it for obvious reasons.”
“Why do you ask…?”
Twilight fidgeted her position in response.
“Uh… no particular reason!!!” she says clearly trying to divert the question.
“I was just…. Reflecting on my own experiences with magic I guess.”
Twilight looked to Flamera who was dead silent, presumably waiting for twilight to speak again. All that she could hear was the sound of the wind and Flamera's leather wings flapping with a swooshing sound.
“I also wanted to hear how about your own experience….” Twilight says with a semi whisper.
“Elaborate.” the demon says almost broodingly
“Well, we both came from terrible schools. I didn't know about magic let alone another dimension filled with it till the Friendship Games. How did you react to it?”
Flamera's face slants as she tries conjure the feeling again.
“You’re hitting deep on purpose aren't you?” she quizzically asks.
“I…is that a problem? If so I can totally drop-“
“No it's fine. Its nice to be able to empathize on a matter like this for a change.”
She felt like she owed her something else, despite the ride she was currently giving.
“I know I had no control that night, but I owe you guys something for almost killing you.“
“I wasn’t raised knowing anything about my heritage or magic. My life was completely normal up until i was 13. Obviously I was horrified at the sight of my pointed ears and a tail at the base of my spine.”
“The day I turned into whatever this is however.…” she says gesturing to her body with one hand, pointing to her flapping wings.
“I knew my life would be hell from then on.”
She swallowed.
“You probably can't relate to most of that I assume.” Flamera says with a sombre tone.
“Besides being terrified at my own magic no. I was afraid if I accepted my own magic, I'd turn back into Midnight Sparkle."
“I'm just glad i had the girls to help me through it, especially Sunset.” Twilight smiles.
“Mhhhh....” Flamera replies.
”By the way we’re in my neighborhood now so my house should be about…." Twilight looks around the area and squints.
"Right there!” She says pointing to it.
Flamera's stops flying and moves her neck to the right in attempt to see which was shes pointing. She squints at the area, flying in place.
“My vision isn't as good as it used to be so as we get closer tell me if I'm going the wrong way.”
“It's the only purple one you shouldn't miss it?”
“a purple house? Who the fuck lives in a purple house?” Flamera thinks to herself.
“Aight put your arms around my neck, you’ll have more support that way.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mhm, once i get to a upright position you’ll understand why”
Twilight follows accordingly, proceeded by Flamera's descent into the well kept neighborhood. Once Flamera got to a reasonable height where should could change her position, she did as Twilight shifted to a more comfortable state. Getting closer and closer to the house Flamera takes in the neighborhood shes inches closer to. The houses were pretty large, with Twilight's included. Each house had a older look to them, but looked rather new inside (from the houses that didn't have their blinds down or lights off). Flamera's legs bend to support the two’s weight as she finally settles on the pavement with a sharp clink from the pointed nails on her feet. She once again hunches down to accommodate for the 2ft high difference. As soon as Twilight slid off of her back, the demon returned to her normal posture. She turned to Twilight who was adjusting her glasses, offering to trade bags which she obviously accepts. Both of them open their bags as Flamera hands her both books that were placed inside her own bag.
“Damn you live in one of these giant ass houses? How many people are in your family?” Flamera remarks looking around at the neighborhood.
“Just me and my parents, my brother Shining Armor lives with his fiancée.”
“SHES RICH!!! SHES LOADED!!! ASK HER FOR MON-"
“Thanks again for doing this Flamera, i really do appreciate it.” Flamera's intrusive thoughts are interrupted by Twilight's genuine tone.
Flamera smiles in response
"of course you'd let your greed say that..."
“Oh, you’re welcome…. Surprised I even did this but I would have felt really bad leaving you there.”
Flamera looks to the front door of the purple house. The colors oddly worked on it when looking at it close up.
“You got a way in right?” Flamera says pointing to the door.
“Yes I do, if its locked I can always unlock it with my geode…. Or the house key.”
“I gotta get going though, I'm sure Spike is starving since it's dinner time.”
“Do I have your phone number?” Twilight asks.
“I honestly figured Sunset would have given it to you by now but I guess not. To be honest I don't really use my messaging app. I'm more active on my Snapgap.”
She rummaged through her backpack. “Here let me pull up the QR code and you can just scan it.”
She turns up the brightness on her phone and points it to Twilight who also pulls out her phone.
Pointing her camera at the screen, Flamera's account comes right up, which Twilight immediately follows.
“Alright thanks again Flamera!!” Ywilight says while inching closer to her house waving to her ride.
Flamera returns with a wave of her own and a dumb, goofy smile. Part of her was proud that she actually did something nice for once.
Once Twilight enters the house, Flamera opens her phone to her messaging app for any unread texts.
mom please don't have anything for me to do
ahh shit
can you pick up the prescription’s at the pharmacy you have two rdy
whats in it for me
pizza 🩷
youll have to pick it up though
SIR YES SIR!!
Flamera eagerly grabs her backpack and begins to light sprint, letting her wings take flight as she soars through the sky.
