We get to where the parade is being held. Vignette is singing, and it's pretty bad. Much worse than Flare pre-magic. The instrumentation is rather poor as well, and the crowd is voicing their displeasure.

"This crowd isn't cheering enough for –" It sounds like she threw the microphone somewhere.

Applejack lifts the front of the stage up to stop it and we run in front.

"Sorry to rain on your parade," Rarity says.

Applejack drops the stage. "Nice one!"

"But I'm afraid this evening is canceled! Now turn off your phone and hand it over!"

"Are you honestly asking a social media star to hand over her phone?" Vignette says. Of course it's not that easy.

"Yeah!" Applejack says. "She is."

"Rarity, this is the version of your friends that will be popular! I have the metrics to back that up."

I look at the holograms. I see one of myself with a dark purple stripe of hair, a matching tank top, black eyeshadow, black fingerless gloves, and short black shorts. The socks only come up to the ankles, and the hologram has the entirety of both legs. Seeing a projection of myself with a proper right leg is a little unsettling. It reminds me of what could've been if that crash hadn't happened... A thought that haunted me nearly all of last school year...

"Is... Is that supposed to be me?"

Flare snaps me out of my thoughts. I look at each hologram, but I don't see Flare. "Where?"

"The one with the big... Uh... The one that doesn't look like the others."

I think I see the one he's talking about. "The black-haired one wearing the crop top?" I recognize the face, but everything... else... "Oh my..." The Flare hologram is wearing a crop top, alright. And, well... The crops are significantly bigger than everyone else's.

"I think I understand what Vignette meant by 'the girl nobody can take their eyes off'."

Why did she make you a girl? And why are they so big...?

"Doesn't matter if they're real!" Vignette continues. "It's what you show people online!" That reminds me of the one Park Town episode. Hey, have you seen my new girlfriend? Here's her pic. I know she doesn't look like this IRL, but isn't she hot?

"No!" Rarity yells. "It's a chance to look like everything I've always wanted! What I really want has been right in front of me the whole time! My friends."

Flare steps in front of Rarity.

"Uh... Flare? What, uh... What are you doing?"

I'm with Rarity. What the hell is he up to?

He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, then takes a deep breath.

Ahh~

Oh, now I see what he's doing. It's good to see he's not worried about riling people up anymore. He puts his geode necklace on.

The others step forward. Rarity grabs his right hand and Fluttershy grabs his left, with everyone else joining in. They all do their pony-up sequence. So much for stopping Vignette with siren power, I guess.

This is the first time I've seen these clothes in person. They're the same as when they destroyed Wallflower's memory stone, but I was locked in a room with Trixie during that.

"No amount of online success is worth it," Rarity says, "without my real life friends to share in it."

They all look at each other happily, except Flare. He's smiling at the others, but it's not the happy kind of smile. More of an 'I want everyone to think I'm happy' smile.

A couple bolts of... Well, it's not electricity... I guess, magic? ...transfers from one geode to the next before reaching Rarity, which 'charges' her right arm. She throws her arm back and produces a white magic whip. She sends it through Vignette's phone, destroying the phone, and the holograms disappear.

"What have you done?!" Vignette yells. "Now how can things ever be perfect?!"

The group returns to the ground. "I love nothing more than someone telling me I made a perfect outfit, but I'd say... you got a bit carried away."

I look at Flare. He's looking at Rarity, expression changing between upset and mad. I've never seen him look that conflicted.

The Rainbooms put on their performance. As seems to be customary by now, it's a song relevant to what we just went through. Flare and I are in the crowd at the front end of the stage. He still seems concerned about something, but when I asked, he didn't respond. Now I'm worried again. In the 2 years we've known each other, he's never given me the cold shoulder. He at least says 'It's nothing', but he's been completely silent since he tried to use his power.

When their concert is finished, they go to the backstage area. Flare starts to walk around the stage, holding up his VIP pass. I follow him and do the same. We're stopped by a couple security officers, but they let us through when they see our passes. We climb onto the stage and follow them to the back.

Flare storms up to Rarity. "Why?" Uh...

Rarity turns around. "Oh, Flare! There you are!"

He's looking at her angrily. "Why did you stop me?"

"Um..." She nervously chuckles. "What... What do you mean?"

"Right before we ponied up. Just after I started singing?"

"Oh, that. W-Well..." she stammers.

"I know the first time I tried using my power, it didn't work, but I was hoping it would this time, since... y'know... Vignette herself wasn't shielded by Equestrian magic!?" Is that why he's been silent? He's been trying not to blow up around me?

"You see..."

"Not every magic problem needs to be solved by shooting a giant laser beam or magic whip at the object in question!"

I can hear the anger in his voice. "Okay, Flare, calm down a little," I say.

"I was gonna get her to stop teleporting people. To hand over her phone! I was gonna save the day for once!"

"Wait..." Rainbow says. "That's why you're upset? You're jealous of us?"

Flare closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "I just... I don't know why I'm here." He opens them. "Every time I get involved in something, it feels like I'm just along for the ride. Like, what did I bring to the Friendship Games that anybody could bring to the table? I got in the way at Camp Everfree, and Rainbow was annoyed I got involved."

"Well, that's because –"

"Not to mention the Equestria stuff. I followed the Element bearers to the ends of the planet, only to get captured and left in a cage while they had an epic battle against the Storm King. If I wasn't with you girls – or those girls – nothing would've changed. That's why I wanted to actually do something this time. I'd at least feel like I was important!"

Wow... I had no idea. "Flare..."

"Be honest. Am I a burden to all of you?"

"What?" Sunset says. "Of course you're not a burden to us!"

"But I haven't done anything! Whenever something magic happens, I'm just... there."

"So what?" Rainbow says. "We didn't become your friend expecting you to help us out all the time!"

"But I have a geode! Clearly that means I should!"

"Not necessarily," Twilight says. "Fluttershy didn't use her geode the last couple times we ponied up, for instance."

"I was about to use mine until somebody interfered!" He glares at Rarity.

"Well, I-I – That is –" she nervously stammers. "I-I thought you were distracting her for us!"

"You thought I was..." His expression turns somber and he looks down. "I was right. I am useless to you."

"N-N-No! That's not what I meant!"

He removes his geode and drops it on the ground. "See you girls at school, I guess. Only place I'm not a waste of space..." He starts walking away.

"Flare, wait..." I sigh. "Why doesn't he tell me these things?" I mutter. I mean, I tell him when I'm worried about something! I pick up and pocket his geode, then follow him.

After weaving through the crowd, I catch up to him. "What happened back there?"

"Exactly what I said," he says without looking at me. "I was worried I just got in the way, and Rarity confirmed it."

"No, she didn't. You know she didn't. When did you become so paranoid?"

"Festival of Friendship. It was true for those six, and it's true for these seven."

I grab his arm and stop him. "You are not a burden to them! So you haven't used your magic to save the day yet. So what?! If they had a problem with you, they certainly would've said something earlier! And if you were this worried, you should've brought it up with them, or at least me! I mean, I tell you everything I'm concerned about!"

He yanks his arm out of my grasp. "That's easy for you to say. You don't have magic." He resumes walking.

"You're right. I don't have magic. I'm the only one of my close friends who's a normal human. I mean, they are normal humans, just with magic pendants, but you know what? I don't worry about them thinking I'm a liability. If I did, I'd speak up. If not to them, then to you!"

He sighs. "I just... I just want to go home and sleep. Pretend this whole day never happened."

With how hard he is on himself right now, sleeping it off is probably for the best.

I follow him to his car. Now I'm glad I didn't drive here myself. I don't want Flare to drive home alone. I'm not afraid he'll do something rash. I just think he'll feel a little better if I'm with him. Make him think he has somebody who doesn't find him a burden. I absolutely don't find him a burden. If anything, I should be a burden to him with my missing leg. That's something I was a little worried about when I first developed a crush on him. I had to push that thought aside. It was the fear talking.

As I get in the car, I receive a text. It's from Sunset.

[SS] "Is Flare okay? He sounded really mad"

I text my response.

[OF] "He'll be fine. He wants to sleep it off and I want to keep him company on his way back"

[OF] "If you're gonna talk to him, I'd wait until tomorrow"

Flare is silent the entire drive back.

***The next morning***

I leave my house, get in my car, and head over to Flare's house. I hope he isn't still upset.

I park in front of his house, get out, and walk to the door. Door's locked. I get my key to his house and unlock the door. Inside, Flare and Rarity are hugging.

"I take it you two made up?" I ask as I close the door.

They separate and look at me. "We have," Rarity says.

"You were right," Flare says. "The girls would've told me if I was a burden to them, and I should've said something about it sooner."

"And we would've let him help if we knew." She looks at Flare. "Next time you want to help, we'll try not to get in your way."

"And I'll talk to you girls if I'm worried about anything." He looks at me. "Or at least my girlfriend."

I smile. That's all I ask for. If he's worried, talk to me about it. "That reminds me..." I reach into my pocket and pull out his geode. "I believe this belongs to you."

"Oh, right. Thanks."

I walk over to him and put the necklace on him. "Good as new."

He smiles, but then his smile quickly fades. "Uh... Liv? You don't think I'm a burden to you, right?"

He actually asked that? I cross my arms, tilt my head, and give him a 'Did you seriously just ask me that?' look. Same look I gave him yesterday at the arcade. "What do you think?"

"Just give me a straight answer."

I uncross my arms. "No, I don't think you're a burden to me."

"That's what I thought." He gives me a hug, which I return. "I wanted to hear it from you to put my mind at ease."

"After what you went through last night, I understand." We kiss.

"If you two are interested," Rarity says, "the other girls and I are going back to Equestria Land. Now that we don't have to worry about Equestrian magic getting in the way, we can have a full day of fun."

The me of 4 years ago would've never said something like this, but... "I'd rather not."

"You sure?" Flare asks.

"To be honest, the Equestrian magic stuff kinda dampened my excitement for amusement parks." I lean toward his ear. "And my fear of rollercoasters," I whisper.

"Okay, then. And I guess I'll stay with you."

"You don't have to."

"I don't want you to spend the entire day by yourself."

"Don't worry about me. You go have fun at the park."

He grabs my hands. "Spending time with you is way more fun than going to a park without you."

I'm pretty sure he's just saying that, but it's no less touching. "I'm not that fun," I say with a smile. I interlock my fingers with his.

"Of course you are! You're more fun than one of Pinkie's parties!"

"I thought you didn't like parties all that much."

"I like them. I just don't love them. I love you, though."

I chuckle. Sometimes he tries too hard to be romantic. "Prove it."

He leans forward and I do the same. Our lips connect, and I feel his thumbs start rubbing the undersides of my wrists. "Mmm..." I don't know why, but this feels incredible. Combined with his quick kisses, it makes me feel weak in the knees, and I love it!

"Aww~..."

Oh right! Rarity's still here! We quickly separate. "S-Sorry about that..."

"We, uh... We got a little caught up in the moment," Flare says.

"Oh, it's quite alright," she says. "It's nothing I haven't read countless times in romance novels." She starts walking to the door. "I'll leave you lovebirds to yourselves."

"Bye, Rare," Flare says.

"Have fun at the park," I say.

She opens the door and waves, then steps through, closing it behind her.

Flare looks at me and smiles. "So, was that enough proof for you?"

I return the smile. "I dunno... I might need a little more convincing."

We hold hands, lock lips, and he resumes rubbing my wrist. So good! I love him so much!

A/N: After putting off finishing it for so long, I had intended to simply include a couple summaries in the spring break story. Then I decided I'd try to finish it, and might've rushed things a little too much. But at least it's finished?