I sat near the nursing station holding an iron kettle in my hooves. After a few minutes had gone by the kettle began to whistle loudly. Tea strode over holding a tray of cups to which I carefully filled with hot water from the kettle. I placed the kettle on the counter while Tea placed tea bags in all of the cups and brought them to the ponies in the Infirmary beds.
The Next Big Thing was officially over, every pony was heading home which made it difficult for a Flame Pony like me to sit next to on the train. I elected to stay in Canterlot a bit longer, until the crowds had dwindled, before making my way back to Ponyville. In the meantime, I was Tea's personal assistant in the Infirmary today; taking care of all the ponies that had gotten sick during their visit.
At one point, I was asked to hold an incense stick for one pony to help him sleep, but every time I tried to hold it, the stick flared up and turned to ash. Tea stood by watching me struggle for a bit before coming to my rescue. She took the incense stick, lit the tip of it from my mane and stuck the other end in my mouth. The sickly pony seemed content with it, enjoying the smell of the incense and the warmth of my flames. I ended up having to sit next to the pony's bedside for nearly an hour before he drifted off to sleep.
By that time it was nearly noon. Tea had brought out a large box of papers from the backroom where she kept most of the filing. She ordered me to sit next to her while she went through it. I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to help until Tea threw a crumbled up piece of parchment at me. Bouncing off the side of my mane, the flames quickly burned it away and right then I knew what she needed me for. There was a few times where Tea would toss a crumbled up parchment into the air and watch me breathe a flame up at it. We watched as it would burn up on reentry and never reach the floor.
"So... you're going to have to go back to Ponyville tomorrow, huh?." Tea asked after a while.
"Yeah, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do when I get back." I said thinking about it. "Oh! I can finally get those boulders."
"Boulders?" Tea asked sounding confused; giving me a strange look.
"I was trying to build a stone house before I was brought here." I explained.
"With boulders?" Tea asked still not connecting the two.
"I break them up first." I mumbled starting to feel embarrassed.
"So you'll be living in Ponyville then?" Tea asked curiously.
"At least until the Summit meeting. If everything works out I'll go back to the Ashen Fields." I stated.
"So... you'll just leave your boulder house there in Ponyville?" Tea asked sounding confused.
I thought about it for a minute, I started to open my mouth but closed it quickly. She had a point.
"I guess it does seem pointless when you put it that way." I confessed.
"Does the Ashen Fields have a Mail Pony?" Tea asked fidgeting with her stapler.
"A Mail Pony? What's that?" I asked curiously.
"A pony that delivers letters to other ponies." Tea said slowly.
"Does the pony write all the letters?" I asked.
"No! The pony doesn't write all the letters!" Tea said surprised.
"Then why does the pony have to deliver all those letters?" I asked sounding confused.
"That's a Mail Pony's job! To deliver other pony's letters!" Tea shouted in disbelief.
"Why doesn't the pony writing the letter just give it to the pony they are writing it for?" I asked bewildered.
"Because that pony might live really far away!" Tea shouted in frustration.
I thought for a moment, having realized that critical component of a Mail Pony's usefulness.
"A Mail Pony does seem like a significant pony to have." I admitted.
"So does the Ashen Fields have one?" Tea asked.
"Have what?" I asked looking at her.
"A Mail Pony!" Tea barked.
"No!" I said recoiling away from her.
"Oh, okay." Tea said looking disappointed.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I could feel Wingston's staff hitting me upside the head. I felt like I needed to say something.
"Did... you want to send a letter to the Ashen Fields?" I asked slowly.
Tea didn't reply right away, she was still occupying herself with the stapler on the table.
"Maybe." Tea said quietly.
"Well it would be pretty dangerous to get a Mail Pony into the Ashen Fields. We don't have any pony watching the borders or the roads for Timber Wolves, Owl Bears and all sorts of creatures might try and attack the Mail Pony." I said trying to think of a safe route.
"Some Mail Pony's are pegasi. They can just fly over." Tea said rolling her eyes.
"I didn't think of that! That would make it easy for them to bypass it completely. The brimstone of the volcano might throw them off their game, though." I said scratching my chin.
"Have you even gotten a letter before?" Tea asked curiously.
"Nope." I replied.
"Not even one?" Tea asked sounding rather sympathetic for me.
"Flame Ponies usually chisel things into slates and give them to the pony it is intended for. We can't hold parchment or pencils." I explained. "Does a Mail Pony deliver rocks?"
"I'm not sure." Tea said looking at me weird.
"Did you want to send me a letter?" I asked, feeling that all this mail talk was leading to something.
"I was thinking about it." Tea said shyly.
"Why?" I asked curiously.
"What do you mean why?" Tea snapped turning slightly red.
"Why would you want to send me a letter?" I asked again.
Tea threw a hoof full of charts at me. They burst into flames on impact before scattering all over the floor leaving me to stamp them out in a panic but only causing them to burn faster. Eventually the charts burnt themselves out leaving small piles of ash scattered across the floor. Tea had retrieved a broom and pan from the back room, sweeping up the little piles before throwing the cleaning supplies back into the room before getting back to work.
"I could always just visit you here." I said, carefully approaching the nursing station.
"I won't be here for very much longer." Tea said promptly.
"Why not?" I asked in surprise.
"You're just full of questions today aren't you?" Tea asked looking flustered.
"I guess?" I replied sounding unsure.
"If you must know I'm going back to medical school to get my Medical Doctorate." Tea elaborated.
I stared at her looking very confused.
"I'm studying to be a Doctor." Tea said making it simpler for me.
"That's cool." I replied.
"Thanks." Tea said.
"You can't do that here?" I asked hopefully.
Tea shook her head no.
"I'll have to go back to Manehatten." Tea explained.
"We have only one real doctor in the Ashen Fields, and his name is Wingston. Well, sort of a doctor, he's more of a sage maybe? Maybe not so much a sage, but he doesn't like it when you call him a witch doctor; he is a bat though." I tried to explain.
"What?" Tea asked sounding confused.
"He carries a staff around. He hits me on the head with it sometimes." I said thinking back on it.
"Sounds like a very wise bat to me." Tea mumbled.
I sat down next to Tea who busied herself with actual work this time.
"How long will it take for you to become a doctor?" I asked.
"Four years." Tea said flatly.
"I bet you could do it in two." I said with a smile.
"It doesn't work like that." Tea replied.
I felt my smile drop; along with my stomach. I felt like some filly or foal just asking nonsense to an older pony.
"I appreciate that you think I could do that though." Tea mentioned with a smile.
"Well, you are the only nurse pony that works here." I pointed out, looking around the room.
"Oh yeah, I never noticed that." Tea mumbled looking up from her desk.
"I'll miss you Tea. You've been very kind to me." I said; my smile rebounding.
Tea stopped what she was doing to look over at me. She smiled wide nodding her head.
"Just don't go blowing yourself up while I'm gone, okay?" Tea asked.
"I'll try not to." I replied.
The doors to the Infirmary slid open quietly, two Royal Guards stepped through with Shining Armor following behind. I wondered if he had gotten his name because of his shining armor or if it was just a lucky coincidence. Either way he seemed to carry all manner of poise and authority with him. I found myself trying to mimic the seriousness in his face and causing one of the Royal Guard escorts to snort with laughter. Shining Armor approached the nursing station taking a quick glance at me before turning his attention fully on Tea.
"Ms. Herbal, is the Flame Pony cleared of all medical problems?" Shining Armor asked sternly.
"What?" Tea asked sounding confused.
"The uh, Flame Pony?" Shining Armor asked pointing his hoof at me.
"What about him?" Tea asked.
"Is he, like, sick or something?" Shining Armor asked curiously.
"That depends." Tea stated shuffling some papers around.
"On what?" Shining Armor asked.
"What you need him for." Tea said matter of factly.
"This is a classified matter on a need to know basis." Shining Armor said sounding stern once more.
"Let's see. Let's see. Nope sorry you can't see him, he has a case of the 'Nopes'." Tea said apologetically.
"The Nopes?" Shining Armor asked bewildered.
"That's right." Tea said writing the word nope on a piece of parchment with my name on it.
"He seems fine to me!" Shining Armor replied pointing his hoof at me accusingly.
"Nope." Tea said causally.
"Do you know who I am, Ms. Herbal?" Shining Armor asked throwing out his chest.
"Nope." Tea said again.
"I'm Prince Shining Armor, husband to Princess Cadance." Shining Armor declared stomping his hoof down.
"That's nice." Tea remarked filling out a chart.
"I command you to release this Flame Pony to me at once!" Shining Armor commanded.
"Nope." Tea said once more.
"Oh come on, please?" Shining Armor whined resting his head down on the desk.
"Nope." Tea said again.
"Well, when is he going to be cleared of the Nopes?" Shining Armor asked looking defeated.
"When I find out what you need him for." Tea explained.
"What are you his keeper?" Shining Armor asked annoyed.
"Nope." Tea replied.
"Alright! Alright! Just keep it under your saddle, okay?" Shining Armor exclaimed.
Shining Armor looked around the Infirmary to make sure no pony was trying to eavesdrop before leaning in to whisper.
"We have received word that some ponies went missing digging for gems in the mountains near the Everfree forest yesterday. We're not sure but we believe it may have been a cave in." Shining Armor whispered to Tea.
"What do you need Smolder for?" Tea asked back in a whisper.
"Smolder?" Shining Armor asked confused.
"The Flame Pony." Tea replied pointing to me.
"We need his help. The caves within the mountains are notoriously dangerous, and incredibly dark. The Flame Pony will provide us ample lighting and minimizing the risk of one of us getting lost or separated." Shining Armor explained glancing over at me.
"Nope." Tea said returning to her work.
"What?" Shining Armor retorted.
"Not going to happen." Tea replied.
"I thought you said his Nopes would go away if I told you what we needed him for?" Shining Armor asked sounding annoyed.
"Nope." Tea said.
It was clear that Shining Armor was about to have a conniption when Princess Cadance walked into the room.
"Everything alright, dear?" Princess Cadance asked curiously noticing the sour look on Shining Armor's face.
"Ms. Herbal refuses to let me see the Flame Pony." Shining Armor tattled.
Princess Cadance looked passed Tea to see me sitting by her side.
"Isn't that him right there?" Princess Cadance asked curiously.
"That's not… she wasn't… she said that… I…" Shining Armor's eye began to twitch trying to explain the odd set of circumstances that had led to this point.
"I'm only teasing, calm down dear, before you start saying gibberish." Princess Cadance said with a laugh before approaching the nursing station.
"Can we please speak with the Flame Pony?" Princess Cadance requested politely.
"Nope." Tea replied not looking up.
"Why not?" Princess Cadance asked curiously.
"Case of the Nopes." Tea answered.
At this point Shining Armor was pointing at Tea while looking at Princess Cadance as if this was the reason he was upset.
"I've never heard of Nopes before, is it serious?" Princess Cadance asked playing along.
"Nope." Tea said.
"Is he going to get better soon? We could really use his help with something important." Princess Cadance asked politely.
"Nope." Tea said again.
"Is that all you're going to say?" Princess Cadance asked suddenly sounding annoyed.
"Nope." Tea replied.
"Now listen here Ms. Herbal there is obviously no such thing as the Nopes so I demand that you release the Flame Pony from your care or I shall have to report this to Princess Celestia!" Princess Cadance demanded placing a hoof on the desk sounding extremely annoyed.
"Nope." Tea replied.
It was at this point that both Princess Cadance and Shining Armor looked like they were going to snap and it decided to intervene.
"It's cool, Tea" I said aloud.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to Smolder." Tea replied sounding worried.
She looked rather uneasy about this whole cave business but I smiled for her hoping it would put her at ease.
"I'll be okay." I said promptly.
"Thank you, Smolder." Princess Cadance said graciously.
"We have a chariot waiting to take us to the last known sighting of the missing ponies. We should leave as soon as possible." Shining Armor said to me.
"I'm ready." I said heading towards the door.
Before I left the Infirmary I looked back to give Tea a reassuring smile and a wave. Princess Cadance turned to Tea who made herself busy with paper work again.
"A case of the Nopes?" Princess Cadance asked curiously.
"One of these days Smolder is going to end up really hurt trying to appease every pony." Tea said sounding annoyed.
"Shining Armor will look after him. He never leaves a pony behind." Princess Cadance reassured her.
"He's a dork." Tea mumbled returning to work.
"He can be at times." Princess Cadance agreed.
"Wait, who are you talking about?" Tea asked curiously.
"Shining Armor. Why? Whom were you referring to?" Princess Cadance asked.
"Smolder." Tea replied.
Princess Cadance and Tea shared a laugh together.
I've never ridden on a chariot before, nor have I ever soared through the air, but I began to wish I had been born a Pegasi Pony. Shining Armor stood diligently, back straight, chest out, looking official and stern. The amount of wind passing us by licked my flames back and blasted back Shining Armor's mane.
"So you're married to Princess Cadance?" I asked feeling curious.
"Yep." Shining Armor said proudly.
"What's that like?" I asked.
"How's what like?" Shining Armor asked back.
"Being married to a pretty pony." I replied.
Shining Armor fidgeted a bit, a smile started to crawl across his face as he leaned over to me.
"It's awesome." Shining Armor whispered sounding rather excited about it.
"You don't get nervous or anything when talking to her?" I asked finding it difficult to talk to Tea at times.
"What? No, no of course not. I was a very articulate pony. Never had a problem talking to pretty ponies." Shining Armor said shaking his head.
I couldn't really tell if he was saying that to me or himself.
"Yeah me neither." I replied, trying to sound cool like Shining Armor.
"Princess Cadance and I are totally cool with each other. Real cool." Shining Armor said confidently.
"Cool." I said nodding.
The chariot dived lowed through the mist of the mountain, and pulling up sharply to bring us alongside the winding road that snaked its way towards the top.
"The missing ponies were last seen on the eastern side of the mountain!" Shining Armor called out to the Royal Guard Pegasi pulling the chariot.
We circled the mountain once before landing on a narrow path outside the mouth of a large cave. Dismounting the chariot Shining Armor stood with his hooves together while the Royal Guard Pegasi lined up in front of him. I remained on the chariot watching them get into formation, but none of them seemed to move or say anything. Shining Armor looked over his shoulder at me, he coughed out loud, but I didn't budge. He coughed aloud once more, the Royal Guards leaned over to look at me as well.
"Flame Pony!" Shining Armor called to me.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"Why didn't you fall in?" Shining Armor asked sternly.
"Fall into what?" I asked.
"Formation!" Shining Armor shouted.
"What?" I asked feeling confused.
"I'm your Commanding Officer. You have to fall into formation so I can give out the orders." Shining Armor decreed.
"But I'm not a soldier pony." I stated.
The Royal Guard Pegasi looked at each other while the sudden realization dawned upon Shining Armor.
"Right! Of course! That's what I meant!" Shining Armor said aloud.
Even the Royal Guards seemed confused now.
"Smolder, please come over here." Shining Armor said pointing to the spot next to him.
I did as he asked. Shining Armor turned to me with his head held high and his chest once more thrown out.
"I am decreeing upon you the rank of Cadet. This is only temporary, but it will serve its purpose for this mission." Shining Armor declared tapping one hoof to the ground.
The Royal Guard Pegasi seemed to take this matter seriously so I tried to look like I knew what was going on.
"These ponies are now your brothers in arms. This is Private Nightshade. To his right is Private First Class Cosmic, and to his right Specialist Peanut." Shining Armor introduced the royal guards to me.
"Hi, I'm Smolder." I said with a wave.
"Alright, Cadet. Go stand with the others." Shining Armor ordered.
I lined up with Private Nightshade who kept his attention forward.
"We're here to find three ponies that have gone missing. Our information has told us that the ponies were last seen entering the cave. We are to locate them and bring them home. The Eastern Cave is treacherous. From cave-in to the ground falling out beneath your hooves an to top it off its pitch black." Shining Armor said aloud.
"Sounds fun." Private Nightshade mumbled under his breath.
"Cadet Smolder has agreed to help us in our search for these missing ponies. He'll be our main source of light while searching. Stay close to him and we'll be aces." Shining Armor instructed.
The Royal Guards clicked their hooves together with a sudden grunt to show their understanding of Shining Armor's instructions. I nodded in agreement feeling completely out of place.
"Cadet Smolder you will be leading the way. Watch where you step. We'll be right behind you." Shining Armor commanded, pointing towards the cave.
"Alright." I replied.
"Yes, sir." Shining Armor corrected me but I didn't realize it.
The whole soldier pony notion was lost on me, making me feel like I should have had General Hearth teach me some of it. As i turned on the spot and started heading towards the mouth of the cave, Shining Amor rolled his eyes and told the Royal Guards to move out realizing that I wasn't going to grasp the concept anytime soon.
I was used to exploring caves back in the Ashen Fields. In no way was I an expert of geology but I could tell when something looked like it would break beneath a hoof. The caves here had less support structures built than the ones in the Ashen Fields. We crossed many junctions that had suffered cave-in long ago. Once or twice I stopped to tell the group of holes in the ground, old wood boards laid over them and they were easy to spot but I called them out anyways.
"What's it like being on fire?" Private Nightshade asked from behind me.
"What does not being on fire feel like?" I asked him back.
"Feels nice." Private Nightshade replied.
"I guess it feels like that. Except you can't really touch anything." I explained.
"That must be difficult." Specialist Peanut remarked from the back.
"At times." I stated.
"Stay sharp ponies." Shining Armor said aloud.
"I saw what you did during The Next Big Thing. Now that was a light show." Private First Class Comic remarked.
"I thought about getting one of those Flame Pony cape things for Belle." Nightshade mentioned.
"Belle?" I asked not knowing of who he spoke of.
"Belle is Nightshade's special somepony." Cosmic informed me.
"If he gets the courage to tell her that." Peanut remarked with a laugh.
"I'll tell her! Just not right away." Nightshade barked, his face flushed.
"Sure Shades, sure." Shining Armor chuckled.
"What about you, Cosmic? Whatever happened to that one pony? Fall?" Nightshade asked.
"Summer. She and I are going out for dinner tomorrow night." Cosmic declared happily.
"You're falling behind, Nightshade." Peanut laughed again.
"Belle's going to find some other pony by the time you work up the courage to ask her out." Shining Armor teased.
"I'll ask her when I get back to the castle! You'll see!" Nightshade snapped.
"Look out for the rock." I said pointing my hoof towards an exposed rock coming up from the ground.
Every pony stopped talking for a moment to take notice of the rock. Each one carefully stepping over it before chatting again.
"I'd like to see that." Cosmic quipped.
"He'll probably just faint like last time." Shining Armor laughed.
"I didn't faint! I just tripped!" Nightshade hollered.
"Sitting down?" Peanut asked with an amused smile.
Nightshade turned red with embarrassment.
"What about you, Smolder? You got a special somepony?" Nightshade asked, hoping to deflect the attention away from him.
"Nope." I replied.
"What about Tea?" Shining Armor asked curiously.
"What about her?" I asked.
"She seemed to be very protective of you." Shining Armor replied.
"You mean Tea Herbal? Now that's a pretty pony." Peanut remarked.
"She is, isn't she?" I asked agreeing with him.
"You're not interested in being her special somepony?" Cosmic asked curiously.
"I can't. There's a hole to every pony's right." I said pointing to it.
"Why not?" Nightshade asked stepping around the hole.
"I'm a Flame Pony." I stated.
"So what? Just because you're a Flame Pony doesn't make you any less of a pony." Shining Armor said.
The other ponies agreed. Voicing their support of no pony being less of a pony just because of where they were born.
"Because of our flames a Flame Ponies can't touch normal ponies." I explained to them. "Besides, Tea is going back to Manehatten to become a doctor, I won't be able to see her again for a long time."
Every pony had realized that I had meant the literal sense of the words Flame Pony.
"There must be some way you can turn that off?" Nightshade questioned.
"There isn't." I said in a rather sad tone.
"There's a lot more to a relationship then that, you need to be able to communicate, share common interests and a bunch of other things. Just because can't hold hooves doesn't mean you can't be Tea's special somepony." Cosmic argued.
"That wouldn't be fair to Tea." I mumbled.
"Isn't that her decision?" Shining Armor asked.
I stopped short. The other ponies slowed to a stop behind me.
"We Flame Ponies learned a long time ago that no matter how much we want to be like every other pony, we have to accept that there are some things we will never be able to do." I explained.
With a nod. Knowing this truth for as long as I could remember I started back down the tunnel once more.
"Ms. Herbal will be just fine without me." I said decisively.
Shining Armor, Peanut, Cosmic, and Nightshade lingered for a moment. Each feeling sad for my plight, before following me once again.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it?" Nightshade asked under his breath.
"Some ponies have a lot of chances to be happy and some don't even get the one." Peanut said walking past Nightshade.
"You better get on it, Shades." Cosmic said elbowing him on the shoulder.