The twisted Void Mirror remained silent for a time. I could see the faint glow of her yellow eye still staring up at me. It would periodically disappear from view before coming back to see if I was still there.
"…help you… with what…"
"Friends of mine… were attacked last night. All that was left was a spider's fang, and this gold coin." I said holding up the gold coin in my hoof.
"…so…"
"It has the face of my father, but his face was never minted onto coins. I don't where the Orc got this, and I need you to help find out where this came from." I explained to her.
"…how…"
"You invaded my mind once before to show me visions of the past. I need you do it again, show me where this coin has been." I told her.
"…it will hurt…"
"It doesn't matter." I mumbled, already having put through the ringer.
I watched the twisted metal of the mirror start to jerk violently, etching out towards me, a flat end of metal barb striking the coin and lifting it from my hoof. I felt the metal start to vine its way up my arms, digging itself beneath my skin, as the coin was raised high over my head. I grit my teeth through the pain; watching the coin come striking down on to my head and watching the world around me go swirling away.
"The amount of gold you are asking is simply beyond our means to appropriate, my Lord." Argo's voice started to float in through the darkness.
"Have the Mining Ponies work double shifts, have them digging through the nights if you have to." My father's voice came echoing soon after.
"My Lord even with that amount of mining, we will still be coming in grossly under the amount of gold you've requested." Argo insisted.
"Find me the gold, Mr. Fleece, or I will find another who can." My father's voice grew nearer.
The world around me swirled back into focus, I could see my father, much older now, tall like Celestia, but much broader and still looked like a normal colt. His face was sullen, tired looking, on the last thin line of patience. Argo was years younger, his face wasn't so hard and unfeeling, but he still looked very much determined.
"Right away, my Lord." Argo replied hurrying off.
There was a sudden shake of the earth, causing every pony, even my father to falter at its quake. As soon as it had come, the shaking had stopped, and most every pony continued on their way; save for my father who look turned very grim.
"Another demolition in the mines?" Wingston's voice came echoing.
"I have no time to trade words with you, Wingston; I'll be in my chambers." My father said already strolling away from him.
"The Queen is looking for you, my Lord. She's worried about you." Wingston called after him.
"Tell her I am not to be disturbed." My father said aloud, climbing the stairs.
I followed him up the stairs, watching him stride past Royal Guard Ponies who saluted him without falter or fail. Stepping into the Royal Chambers I headed after him, the doors slammed shut as I watched my father's tall, powerful, and regal stride come undone. Dropping to his knees, tearing the crown from his head, tossing it aside while he wrestled with his an unseen entity attacking his head.
"You can do this, you can do this." My father whispered to himself.
A second quake shook the castle, while my father slowly rose to his hooves once more looking towards the mountain. With his magic he drew a cloak from the wall hanger, draping himself, snatching a gold coin from the edge of a desk and threw open the windows. With a graceful stride my father leapt into the air, flying high into the sky above Castle Char, disappearing into the clouds above.
The world started to disappear around me, darkness surrounded me once more, yet the light of my father's fire suddenly came into view. His mane being the only part not cloaked by his robe, strolling silently through the darkness, he stopped short, looking out into the blackness. My father tossed the gold coin in front of him, which struck more gold coins piled beneath him.
"I'm doing everything I can! It's going to take time!" My father shouted into the blackness.
"Time Is What I Have Given You King!" A mass in the darkness cried, its breath nearly tearing the cloak from my father.
"A week is not enough!" My father shouted back.
"Centuries I Have Slept Only To Find That Your Kin Have Chased My Dragons From These Lands! You Will Pay For Your Disobedience With Gold Or Your Lives!" The mass roared nearly toppling my father over.
"I will get you the gold you seek, I just need more time!" My father insisted.
The mass in the darkness moved, a sudden glow of light began etching the creatures features, a blast of fire unlike anything I had ever seen came like a flood over my father. Bathing him flames. I could see now the mountain sized dragon resting in the darkness, my father no more than a bauble to it. The flames subsided with a snort from the massive dragon, my father tried to defend himself with his wings, his body was a bright cherry red rather than his coal black hide. I watched my father wince in pain, dropping to his knees, trying desperately to return to his normal temperature.
"Do Not Forget That Your Power Comes From My Own Flame! I Gave You Ponies Life To Serve Me! Now Bring Me My Gold Or I Will Wipe Out Your Pathetic Kingdom!"The Great Dragon Char roared.
I watched my father struggle to his hooves, the anger in his eyes, having to bow his head at this dragon. The world started to fade once more, my father fading away before slowly coming back into view.
My father was now sitting at the Summit, the leaders of Equestria seated around the large circular oak table looking rather distressed at my father who seemed to be very unhappy. Duke Wellington was addressing the Summit, in his hooves he held a rather long parchment, reading it off like a list for all to hear.
"Your army is three times the size of your citizens, you've issued more patrols, closed off your borders without substantial reason, and have been gathering gold by the wagon for purposes you have refused to mention." Duke Wellington said aloud. "Shall I continue?"
"Must you?" Scorch hissed at him.
"You've refused to reestablish a functioning Council, refused mandatory meetings we have held, your excessive mining has been felt as far as the Crystal Empire, and you have just recently burned over half of the Dark Marsh." Duke Wellington continued.
"What business is it of yours what I do with my Kingdom?" Scorch snapped at him.
"Hundreds, if not thousands of animals have had to relocate from the Dark Marsh. It was deemed neutral territory for Timber Wolves, Owl Bears, and Spiders to live without interference of any pony." Princess Celestia explained.
"It did not stop them from marching into my lands and attacking my Kingdom." Scorch replied.
"The war is over Scorch, the spiders have all but been rarely seen in your Kingdom. There is no reason to continue this Military State you've placed in the Ashen Fields." Princess Celestia insisted.
"I'm doing what is best for my kin; I would thank you to leave any and all future concerns with my rule to my Advisor." Scorch stated, getting up from his stone chair and turning to leave.
There was an upstart of arguments that swept the table, leaders and representatives making their voices heard of their displeasure in Scorch's words.
"I am the King!" Scorch bellowed whipping around; his fire blazing.
I watched the Summit begin to fade; the frightened silence that followed was met with darkness. The world spun back into view with my father, sitting by himself at the window looking at the mountain in the distance. Another quake came, this time pieces of the mountain started to crack, loose boulders came crashing down the side, and grimaced in anger.
"You can't do this, you know you can't." I watched my father mumble to himself.
"I can do whatever I want, I am the King." My father's voice was more shrill and angry now.
"The villages to the north will understand that they are in danger if you just tell them." Scorch muttered.
"The must remain a secret, it's my problem, I'll handle it!" Scorch snapped at himself.
"The dragon is every pony's problem, you're not strong enough to handle this on your own, and you need to tell some pony." Scorch whispered to himself.
"I need to dig deeper, I felt it, the power, this anger, just a little more! I can feel it surging!" Scorch hissed at himself.
"No power is worth this, you're losing yourself to hate you can't come back from. You've pushed just about every pony away to get this far, you can still turn back, you can plead with the Summit to-"
"Flame Ponies do not plead!" My father cut himself off, his eyes burning red. "I bowed to an Orc, bowed to a Dragon, pleading both times for peace! No more! Never again!"
A knock came from the door.
"Come!" My father shouted in anger.
A much younger looking General Hearth stepped into the room, his helmet under his arm and bowing low to my father.
"We've… taken the villages to the North, my Lord. The ponies there have been sent away." General Hearth said hesitantly.
"Burn it." My father ordered.
"…yes… my Lord." General Hearth said slowly, looking very troubled.
"General." My father said aloud before Hearth reached the door.
"My Lord?" General Hearth asked quickly, turning and bowing his head once more.
"You do not hold any ill feelings for me burning your father's house to the ground?" My father asked curiously.
I watched General Hearth wince at this, he seemed to struggle to speak, his mane flaring in his own anger; almost like he was going to lash out at my father.
"They went against the crown and… were traitors, my Lord." General Hearth said through clenched teeth.
"Good. Now burn those villages." My father said.
The world started to fade, my father rose from his hooves aging a while he walked. He walked a length of darkness once more. He was adorned with his armor; face shallow, eyes burning like a Mad King, the ground beneath him was nothing gold coins piled high and in droves. It seemed like years had passed for my father, the Great Dragon Char nuzzled its snout in the sea of gold.
"Char!" My father's voice boomed with same anger and madness I had come to know.
"I Did Not Call For You!" The Great Dragon Char roared.
My father's horn began to glow. The magic my father was summoning caused the gold coins around him to levitate. A blast of golden light fired from my father's horn, striking Char in the head, restricting its movements. Rearing back, Char's massive claws scratched at its own face, desperately trying to free itself as my father magically slammed Char's head into the sea of gold.
"Who am I?" My father shouted throwing his head to the right.
In a similar motion Char's head came slamming against the side of the rock face, shaking the whole mountain. Unable to speak, Char tried to claw the magic from his face once more, but only to have my father savagely force Char to slam its head against the rock face again.
"Who! Am! I!" My father shouted each word magically slamming Char against the gold it so greedily horded.
There came a loud moan from the Great Dragon Char, my father's magic faded, his burning red eyes stared menacingly at the massive dragon before him.
"You… Are… The King." Char said in agony.
"From this day forth, no pony will ever question it! Even now, Celestia has been defying me for far too long. With you, I will cover all of Equestria in fire. No pony will ever question my power ever again." Scorch said glaring menacingly at Char. "You remain down here until I have need of you."
My father's horn erupted with golden light; I watched the Great Dragon Char's eyes roll up into the back of its head before falling unconscious. I watched the world suddenly begin to tear, hundreds of shadows came slicing through the world. I could see the Great Dragon Char being swarmed by spiders, the missing obelisk protruding from its back, and the Iron Clad Orc picking up a coin from the ground below. I watched the world sputter in flashes of light; I could feel the darkness fading before I felt myself being thrown across the darkness.
I found myself in Argo's office, I looked around to see Argo and Burning Sand slumped onto the floor. I heard a chain slice through the air; I turned to see it wrapping itself tightly around General Hearth's throat. General Hearth reared back as Gorun fought against his struggling. The chain was wrapped so tightly that General Hearth could barely breathe, let alone spit fire. Lifting his leg, Gorun wrapped the chain around his boot and stomped hard against it causing General Hearth to come lurching forward falling hard to the floor. Gorun leapt forward, the Queen Spider's fang coming down hard into General Hearth's neck, causing him to seize up and slump over.
I could feel my heart beginning to race; I knew what this was and what was happening. I watched Wingston take hold of his staff, struggling to stand on his claws as Gorun took his time unraveling his chain from General Hearth. Wingston stood at the ready; his staff poised to defend himself.
"I was not aware the Flame Ponies had their own mascot." Gorun said aloud glancing at Wingston as he wrapped the chain back around his arm.
Gorun stepped towards Wingston, reaching down to take hold of him but was pleasantly surprised to see Wingston knock his hand away with a quick swipe of his staff.
"Do you really plan of fighting me?" Gorun asked, sounding very amused at the notion.
"If I must." Wingston replied, his staff still pointed at the Orc.
Reaching to his side, Gorun retrieved a large metal mace, palming it in one hand and admiring its size. Gorun swung it with such force that it broke the head off Wingston's staff, effectively causing him to let go of it as it splintered across the floor. Wingston staggered back from the blow, falling onto the ground and struggling to get up once more.
"So what are you to Smolder?" Gorun asked curiously kneeling before him.
Wingston started to crawl back from him, but Gorun reached out and took hold of the front of his cloak. Lifting him into the air with ease and speaking to him face to face.
"Would he be angry to see you like the others?" Gorun asked, motioning to the others ponies lying defeated on the floor.
Wingston's long fingers gripped the Orc's metal gauntlet, struggling helplessly against his hold.
"Would he be devastated?" Gorun asked lifting the fang to Wingston's face.
Wingston swatted the fang away from his face, being met with the amused laughter of the Orc.
"I like to think it would cause him a great deal of pain to find your broken little body." Gorun said.
Wingston spat in his face, which removed the Orc's smile very quickly.
"It will give me a great deal of joy to see you beg for your life, just like the last Orc that incurred the King's wrath." Wingston said.
I watched the Orc raise the fang in his hand, I felt myself move charging the Orc, believing that this was something I could prevent. Like a ghost I passed through the Orc, unable to touch him, I turned to see Wingston lying on the floor and the Orc standing over him. Tossing the fang aside the Orc gathered up the cloaks the ponies were all wearing, bundling them up and tucking them under his arm. I watch him head towards the door, turning for only a moment to flick the gold coin into the room before disappearing into the corridor. I could feel my anger rising, my flames leaping out, I screamed but no sound came out but it didn't matter, the world was fading away to that lonely darkness. I slammed my hoof repeatedly onto the ground, trying to vent some of my anger.
"…bummer…"
I perked up; looking around to see what had spoken to me. I could see something moving in the darkness, two yellow eyes faintly glowing, looking my way; it was Mira, or at least how she wanted to me to see her.
"I'm going to hurt him! I'm going to make that Orc pay!" I said, shaking with anger.
"…sure you will…"
"I mean it! I'll burn him! I'll make him suffer!" I shouted at her.
"…no you won't…"
"I hate him! I hate him!" I shouted at her through the darkness. "You'll see! I will make him pay for what he's done! I am the-"
"Smolder?" Wingston's voice came from behind me; effectively cutting me off.
I whipped around to see Wingston standing behind me. He was wearing his old grey rags that he had worn before I had given him his new cloak. He stared at me with great concern, sympathetically, waiting for me to reply.
"Th-Th-Th-They stole my rock." I head a very familiar voice behind me.
I stepped aside, looking behind me to see a very small me sitting alone in my room old room; crying without any tears. I watched Wingston cross the room to me, sitting beside me, we were nearly the same height. He carefully stroked my mane with his wrapped up wing, trying to comfort me.
"Wick and Pyre stole your rock again, didn't they?" Wingston asked.
"I-I-I hate them." I saw the young me mumble.
"No you don't." Wingston said.
"Y-Y-Y-Yes I d-d-do." I saw myself stutter.
"Do you want to hurt them?" Wingston asked, watching the little Smolder look his way. "Do you want to make them cry, and make them feel like you do now?"
I watched the small Smolder start to calm down, still sniffling and trying to catch his breath without coughing. Eventually, I saw myself shake my head no.
"You just want to protect what's yours, don't you? Make your brothers think twice before picking on you?" Wingston asked.
The little Smolder shook his head yes.
"If you want, I can teach you to breathe fire. So you can protect what matters most to you." Wingston offered, watching the little Smolder's face light up.
"Can you really teach me to breathe fire?" The little Smolder asked excitedly, getting to his hooves.
"Yes, I can, but you have to promise you'll do exactly what I say." Wingston warned.
"Yes! Yes! I promise!" The little Smolder shouted in delight.
"Alright then, the first thing you need to know is the first breath." Wingston started to explain, the little Smolder sitting down in front him listening closely. "Your first breath should always be to talk things over."
"Talk?" The little Smolder asked in surprise.
"The second breath should be used to try and end things peacefully." Wingston continued, holding up two long fingers to help visualize the number.
"What about the fire?" The little Smolder asked, only to get a quick smack on the head from Wingston's staff.
"I hope that when you're facing some pony you don't like, you'll try to talk things over, and if it doesn't work, try again. Because the third breath will hurt whoever you're speaking to. It's about using a power more effective than fire or any sort of weapon. It's the power to reach a pony." Wingston explained to him.
I watched the small Smolder nod his head in agreement. Wingston patting him on the head to show him a little praise.
"Now let's burn something." Wingston said in an amused tone.
I watched this memory of mine fade into the darkness, Wingston pointing at my ugly curtains and me doing my best to throw even a small fizzle of a flame at them. Feeling a strong sadness in the pit my stomach, I sat quietly thinking about how many times Wingston would have hit me for the things I had said today, for the things I said I was going to do. I thought about what he would say to me right now if he wasn't in hospital, unable to wake.
"…stupid flame pony…"
I looked up to see the yellow eyes once more in the darkness, staring at me. I felt myself smile, knowing she was in my mind and could hear my own thoughts; that's exactly what any pony would have said to me.
"Mira." I said aloud.
"…what…"
"Thank you." I said in the calmest voice I've all day.
"…you owe me…"
I watched the darkness begin to swirl, Mira was severing her connection with me. I suddenly realized I had more to ask her.
"Mira! Wait!" I shouted, hoping I catch her before she fell silent like usual.
"...what…"
"The obelisks, what were they meant for?" I asked.
"…it was a way… for the King… to visit us…"
"Could it be opened again?" I asked, watching the darkness continue to slip away.
"…only if you have… two…"
My Royal Chamber came back into view, the mirror was back to its twisted self, the gold coin lay at my hooves and yellow eye in the shard was gone.
"…and a stupid King…"
I nodded in understanding. Getting to my hooves I scooped up the coin, tossing it onto the table with the letters my mother wrote and stood at the windows looking out at the mountain. It was just like my father, knowing a threat that he felt he alone should face, not knowing it would drive him to madness trying to protect every pony and end up being the threat himself.
There came a knock at my door. I turned to see who it was; it was Tea poking her head in. I didn't think anything would make my heart feel any lighter, but I was wrong the second I saw her step in. She seemed very surprised at how big the room was, and how empty.
"Every pony said not to disturb you, that you just needed some alone time but…" Tea began, looking a bit nervous about her being there.
I glanced at my cloak from yesterday, lying on the floor near my slab of granite; I felt a sudden pulse from my forehead as it suddenly leapt towards me; like magic. I caught it, rather surprised as I had merely thought about going to get it and having it come to me. Tea also seemed surprised by this but continued to speak.
"I don't think it's the best for you, especially you, to be alone for too long. You need some pony to talk to, even if you don't think you need one and I just want you to know that I want to be that pony you can talk to and… and…" Tea started to trail off as I came striding up to her; rather heroically tossing my cloak on.
"I'm okay, Tea." I said quietly to her.
I carefully pulled Tea in for a hug. I think I surprised her with this as she turned a very dark shade of green and when she tried to speak she only let out a small squeak which embarrassed her even further. I pulled away from my hug, smiling at her; she smiled back but did her best to hide it behind her mane.
"Tea, I want you to go home." I said, gently putting my hoof on her shoulder. "I don't want you anywhere near this place while this Orc is around."
"Smolder, I want to be here, I can take time off from school and-" Tea was cut short by a second hug from me.
"Please Tea, I can't imagine what I'd do if you got hurt." I whispered to her.
I could feel Tea's arms squeezing me tightly. She eventually nodded her head on my shoulder, agreeing with me. Stepping away and throwing her mane to one side and looking like she was about to pout.
"You're not just trying to get me to leave so you can be alone with Princess Sapphire, are you?" Tea asked curiously.
"What?" I asked in surprise, feeling like some pony had just slugged me.
"Just… um… be careful, Smolder. Every time I see you, you're about to do something dangerous. So don't do anything reckless." Tea said, pulling a few strands of her mane behind her ear.
"You still have that lantern, don't you?" I asked curiously.
"Of course." Tea said quickly.
"Then I'll be there when you get home." I said reassuringly.
I could see Tea trying her best to not to roll her eyes at me. I escorted to from the Royal Chamber, down the corridor where Princess Sapphire was just starting to make her way down.
"Smolder, I was coming to tell you that I've administered the anti-venom to Wingston and it seems to be taking effect." Sapphire said encouragingly.
"I'm glad to hear it." I said feeling a small wave relief wash over me. "I have something to tell you as well."
"What's that?" Sapphire asked curiously.
"I've found your missing obelisk." I said, watching Sapphire's interest perk up.
"You have? Where is it?" Sapphire asked quickly.
"The Orc has it. He used it to weaken the Great Dragon Char; I believe he plans on using it against us." I said in a sort of urgent tone.
"Dragon!" Sapphire and Tea shouted in disbelief.