//------------------------------// // Chapter 40: Nothing Grows When It's Dark // Story: Rise of Char // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// My son, I will not be here to council you on the troubles you may face during your life. You will need to remember that our family has always ruled with wisdom and strength. Even with our great power, we have always shown restraint in using it against our most fearsome enemies. For all our wealth and ingenuity our most valued success comes from the trust the ponies of Equestria have given us. I tell you this, Scorch, for when my reign comes to end. You shall be King. The Great Dragon Char's head came to an abrupt stop. Nearly telescoping its neck, forcing it to trip over its own claws, and slamming its wings hard into the ground. Char's body falling over on its side, unable to keep its balance from the awkward position its neck was in. Sapphire drew herself from the rubble, eyes widening with disbelief at the sight. The tips of the Great Dragon Char's fangs were all around me, its teeth inches from my body, but unable to penetrate an invisible field around me. The center of my forehead was burning a brilliant white, my magic shielding me from the fangs of the dragon. "…push it… back…" Mira's voice echoed in my head. With a deft motion of my eyes, the Great Dragon Char's head was thrown backwards, the force so powerful that it clawed at the air trying to save itself from the fall; my forehead was blazing with pain. Slamming hard on its back, the ground shook, breaking open under its immense weight. Its wings beating heavy through the air trying to right itself, roaring in frustration, spouting bursts of fire from its mouth. Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Lady Frost and Lord Tundra took advantage of the Dragon's plight. Matting its wings down with ice, large magical chains started wrapping themselves around the tail of the Great Dragon Char. Princess Celestia had broken away from the fight with the dragon to see what had happened. "…nice…" Mira's voice echoed. "Smolder?" Sapphire asked behind me. Turning to look over my shoulder, I watched her recoil from the sight of me. I could see her favoring one of her hooves, her fractured wing bent awkwardly against her side. Fire jumped from every part of my body, my anger rising, feeling the flames flare violently. From the corner of my eye, I could see the Orc staggering to its feet, clutching its head from being thrown by the dragon's forceful landing. The eyes of the Orc met mine. There was a look of confusion about its face, until it recognized what it was looking at. "…get him…" Mira's voice echoed in my head. My forehead pained me, a streak of fire lashed out from my mane lassoing the Orc by the arm. The Orc struggled against the flames, swiping at the fire to free itself, but my magic could not be undone. With a turn of my head, the lasso of flames pulled the Orc from its feet, throwing him through the air until slamming hard against the ground several yards away. "…good… you can… stop…" Mira's voice echoed in my head. Hordes of spiders swarmed towards me, in the defense of their master. My fire was mounting, raging like an inferno, I drew my eyes towards the legions of spiders that were still battling across the fields. Raising my wings, I felt my forehead begin to sear with pain again. With a single beat of my wings I sent a wave of fire screaming out like a pulse across the fields. The fire passed harmlessly over every Flame Pony within a mile of me, but turned every spider they fought to ash. The Soldier Ponies were taken aback by the sudden fiery immolation of their enemy. The horde of spiders that stood between the Orc and I froze in terror at the sight. "You're in my way, and I can tell you that is not a safe place to stand!" I shouted at the spiders blocking my way; my voice now mixed with the roar of my flames. "…you can… stop now… Smolder…" Mira's voice echoed once more. The hordes of spiders scattered before me, racing towards the western and eastern parts of the fields, doing their best to avoid coming close to the Soldier Ponies. I could see the Orc slow to move, trying to lift itself back onto its feet. I got not but a step forward when Princess Celestia soared down out of the air beside Sapphire, looking extremely worried if not frightened by my appearance. "Smolder! Smolder, listen to me! You've protected Sapphire; you've done it, now stop!" Princess Celestia shouted at me over the howling of my flames. "This ends before any pony else gets hurt!" I shouted, my voice mixing with the screams of my fire. "Smolder you can't control it! It's going to consume you!" Princess Celestia shouted. Raising my hoof, I drove it hard into the ground. My forehead burning. Pillars of rock jutted out from the earth, striking the Orc from beneath, bouncing him from one pillar to the next that sprang up. The Orc hit the ground face first. It was slow to move, digging its fingers into the ground from the pain. The dirt around him started to blow away, a wave of heat swept over the Orc, as I stood towering over him. I watched the Orc roll over onto its back, its right hand clenched a Queen's fang, swinging at my leg to pierce me. Lifting my hoof, the Orc missed, as I brought it back down onto its arm pinning its hand that held the fang. The hiss of its armor started to fill the air, it was melting beneath my hoof, and I watched the Orc scream in pain striking at my hoof with its free hand. "I warned you, I gave you a chance, but you wouldn't listen." I said to the Orc driving my hoof down harder. I felt a bone snap beneath my hoof, the Orc cried out in pain. "…Smolder… stop…" Mira's voice echoed in my head urgently. "Now you're going to pay for everything you've done!" I shouted; my fire roaring. Magical chains sprang up around me, quickly wrapping around my legs, and body. I looked over my shoulder to see Princess Celestia's horn shining brilliantly, restraining me, and pulling me away from the Orc. "You're going to burn out, Smolder, you have to stop!" Princess Celestia shouted pleadingly. "I am the King!" I shouted; the center of forehead illuminating. "…Smolder please… stop…" Mira's voice asked pleadingly. An explosion of magic emanated from me; shattering the chains trying to subdue me. Princess Celestia stepped back, horn now creating a barrier of magic between her and my flames. I could my forehead thriving. My flames surged around me, strands of fire flared out striking the ground, whipping through the air. My hide started to crack even more, steam hissing from these scars. The Orc had taken the opportunity to run, attempting to put as much distance between us as possible. It called out to its spiders, unable to convince any to come to him out of fear of what had happened to the ones I had burned. Preparing to fly after the Orc, the ground shook once more drawing my attention to the dragon. The Great Dragon Char rolled itself over, breaking free from the ice, once more on its claws. Char's wings were flapping aggressively, trying to keep the flying Royal Families away from it. Its tail struggling against the chains, striking at the magical tethers with its claws, and breathing fire at its tail in frustration. Its massive head turned towards the small ball of fire that had knocked it over, clouds of fire escaping the edges of its mouth before roaring aloud once more. Flaring my mane, challenging the Great Dragon Char, an explosion of fire from my mane swept across the fields forcing many to shield themselves from the heat. I had seen my father control the Great Dragon Char, his power at the time is similar to the power I now had, and I planned on turning the Orc's own weapon against him. The debris, the rocks, the dust, began to levitate around me. My magic seemed to burning a hole through my head, but I chose to ignore it. I had broken the line of the spiders, stopped the march of the Orc, and I was about to claim the dragon as my own. "Stop it!" Mira's voice shouted inside my head. I suddenly felt several metal prongs pierce my legs, the Void Crown restricting my movements as the brim of the crown squeezed tighter around my head. The pain was too much for me to handle, shutting my eyes I lost concentration, the force emanating from me dissipated. "Smolder… Smolder, you have to listen to me." Mira's voice echoed in my head quite clearly. All the sounds of the battle faded away, the immense roar of my flames disappeared, and I was left in silence. Opening me eyes, I saw nothing but blackness around me. I looked down to see two yellow eyes staring up at me. Mira had pulled me into my mind to speak with me face to face. For the first time I could see Mira clearly, she was twice as tall as Spike, her two small hands were pressed against the sides of my face. Her skin was an olive black, the markings on the Obelisk were drawn over her legs and arms like tattoos; softly pulsing a dim green. Her stardust like hair was long, neon blue, that seemed to trickle through the air like water. "Let me go!" I shouted angrily at her. "No! This isn't who you are, Smolder!" Mira's voice echoed trying to reason with me. "I don't care!" I shouted flaring my mane. "Liar! You've always cared! Always have and always will!" Mira's voice echoed, slapping me across the face. I struggled but I was unable to move. I was restrained in both mind and body. "Can't you see yourself? What you're becoming? What I... nearly turned you into?" Mira's voice questioned me. I lessened my struggling. The blackness around us melted away, Mira stayed in front of me, the battlefield once more visible. My eyes glanced to the right then to the left, the faces of the Soldier Ponies looked almost terrified of me. Looking over my shoulder I could see the confused and worried looks of both Sapphire and Princess Celestia. It seemed like no pony else could see Mira but me. "You can't let this power change you." Mira's voice begged me. "If I burn out, I'll do it defending those I care about." I whispered to her. "What about your promises?" Mira's voice echoed. I fell silent once more. Staring into her dim yellow eyes, feeling my stomach tighten at her words. "You said you knew what sort of pony you were, a pony that kept his promises, or was all that a lie? Are you just another King too afraid to rely on any other pony then himself to see things through?" Mira's voiced asked, sounding upset. I stopped struggling against the metal prongs of the Void Crown, realizing I had gone too far. "You need to let go, and be who you've always have been. I'm... going to absorb the dragon's fire that's in your body." Mira's voice said pleadingly, gently stroking the side of my face. "You'll be yourself old self in a moment and it will destroy what's left of this mirror." "Who am I supposed to be, Mira? I'm supposed to be a King, a soldier pony, this big hero, but it seems like I'm just a mad pony like my father was." I asked solemnly. "Do I have to keep reminding you?" Mira asked sadly, this time lightly slapping me on the face. The prongs of the Void Crown suddenly twisted, I cried out in pain, I could feel the fire raging inside me start to diminish; the crown starting to turn red hot. Mira withdrew herself from, stepping back watching me struggle in pain. "Mira!" I managed to groan out. "You're not a King, you're not a hero, you're not a soldier, and you're definitely not a mad pony." Mira's voice echoed. The Void Crown started to crumble away, my flames almost returning to normal; the shard of glass dropping to the ground before me. It was already melting away; I stared at the now ghostly image of Mira seeing the soft glimmer of her yellow eyes start to fade. "…you're a…stupid… flame pony…" I felt myself waver on the spot, my own flame burning once more, my hide cracked and blistered. The pain in my head was so overpowering that I no longer felt it, letting myself slump over on the spot. I felt hollow, more exhausted then I had ever been in all my life. I could feel the hoof steps of ponies coming towards me but I didn't have the strength to lift my head to look. Sapphire and Princess Celestia had rushed to my side. Princess Celestia stood watch for spiders while I felt the cold touch of Sapphire hoof on my face. I could see that I had worried her; I saw Princess Celestia looked concerned for me as well. "Smolder? Can you hear me, Smolder?" Sapphire asked hurriedly, stroking my face. "I went... too far." I whispered. "Why? Why would you do that to yourself?" Sapphire asked in disbelief, almost physically upset. "I didn't want to lose you." I whispered. "I'm so tired of losing those I care about." I felt Sapphire's hoof cover my own. I could have sworn I heard her call me a stupid flame pony. "Smolder needs a doctor pony right away." Princess Celestia said to Sapphire who nodded in agreement. Sapphire pulled my arm over her shoulder, lifting me off the ground. I could barely walk the way I was. The Castle was not all that far from where we were but it seemed like miles compared to how exhausted I felt. "I'm sorry." I said as loud as I could hoping Princess Celestia would hear me. "There is nothing to forgive, Smolder. We put our trust in you to do the right thing." Princess Celestia said reassuringly. "You once told me that you didn't want to be like your father, to feed your flames with your anger, and you proved to me today that you meant it." The Great Dragon Char reared back, scales glowing underneath it once more, flames escaping between its teeth ready to blast another torrent of fire towards Castle Char. Just as it opened its mouth, an enormous lion paw pinched it closed, effectively forcing Char to choke down its fire. "That's quite enough fire for one day, if you please." Discord said, keeping a firm grasp on Char's jaws. Discord was almost the same size of the Great Dragon Char, his voice booming over the fields drawing every pony's attention that had not already seen him. Char reached up to its snout, striking away Discord's paw, snapping at him as Discord stepped back looking flabbergasted. "Why are you snapping at me? Have you any idea who I am? I am Discord! Master of-" Discord's voice boomed over the fields, only to be halted by Princess Luna buzzing near his ear. "Discord! What are you doing?" Princess Luna asked him aloud. "Well, after I was done doing my research of the Void at home, I decided to reupholster my couch with bacon before catching up on my soaps. Then I remembered Princess Celestia telling me to lend a hoof or a paw or a claw, or whatever body part to the battle today." Discord explained to her. The Great Dragon Char's tail whipped through the air, striking Discord across the face, staggering him, causing Princess Luna to fly away, and watching him fall on the western mountains with a comical squeaky toy noise. Rubbing his face with his paw, Discord looked very much annoyed. "It's impolite to interrupt someone when they're-" Discord began to scold the dragon when he saw Char leaping at him. Spreading its wings, covering countless miles in its shadow, Char landed hard onto Discord leveling part of the western mountains. An enormous cloud of dirt billowed up around them. Char's tailing swinging side to side as the Royal Families hovered nearby watching the spectacle. Char was snapping wildly at Discord's head, being restrained by Discord's outstretched arms. Discord seemed to have had lost his patience for the dragon. Tossing Char to the side, leveling the last of the western mountain range. Discord got to his feet holding up his claw and paw to the Great Dragon Char; challenging him to fisticuffs. "Alright, Smaug, let's see what you got." Discord taunted, bouncing around like a boxer. The Great Dragon Char slithered towards Discord, trying to bite him, Discord connected a right and a left, then another right, right again, a quick jab, and whipped his own tail around striking Char across the head. Char went down hard onto the ground, while Discord danced around the dragon with boxing gloves magically appearing over his claw and paw, telling it to throw in the towel. Clawing angrily at the ground, trying to get its claws underneath it, Char roared in anger, spewing clouds of fire from his mouth. Discord was once more holding his enormous boxing gloves up to defend himself when Char bit down hard on his glove. Wrenching its head hard towards the ground, trying to tear Discord's arm from his body, but Discord wasn't about to lose his favorite paw. "Unfang me you brute!" Discord shouted, striking Char in the side of the neck with his free glove. Char's tail whipped around, wrapping itself around Discord's neck trying to pull him in the opposite direction; attempting to split him in two. With his face turning blue, Discord suddenly popped like a balloon, showering hundreds of copies of himself onto the back of Char, covering the dragon in mountain of Discord. The last thing that had been running through Ray's mind was reaching the center of the field before Queen Spiders could reach Lord Smolder, then she noticed the sun had been blotted out entirely by a leaping dragon. When she finally had come to, she was lying beneath several clumps of crushed spiders. Crawling her way out from the pile of spiders, Ray could see no trace of her battalion, Soldier Ponies were running scared, the dragon was fighting with some mismatched creature, and the fields were smashed beyond recognition. Wondering if she had hit her head harder then she had first thought, Ray spotted a familiar figure staggering its way across the fields in its iron armor; the Orc. It seemed to be hurting, attempting to get away. Ray decided it wasn't going to have that chance. Testing her wings to ensure that they were up to the task, Ray leapt into the air to pursue the Orc. Her height gave her a better view of just how far away the Orc's spiders had retreated, aside from upturned boulders littering the field; the Orc was alone for the most part. Diving out of the air, her hooves outstretched, Ray collided into the back of the Orc knocking him flat. Doing a flip in the air, Ray landed on her hooves, mane flaring ready to battle. Lifting its head the Orc face turned from fear to relief at the sight of her, having believed it was Smolder that had caught up with him. "Going somewhere?" Ray asked. The Orc didn't offer a response. It was favoring its arm, trying to keep it close to his chest while it got to its feet. Ray could see a few spiders from the corner of her eyes, crawling up from the cracks in the ground around her. A spider crawled towards the Orc, holding out its hand the spider spewed some webbing into its palm. Sticking the webbing against the Orc's chest, it placed its smashed arm against it making a makeshift sling. Ray took notice that the mace the Orc once held was no longer on its person. "Eat her." The Orc mumbled. Several spiders skittered out from behind boulders, up from cracks, hissing at Ray and baring their fangs. Leaping into the air, Ray hovered above them, spraying her fire down onto those closest to her. Ducking back and forth from webs being shot up at her, some spiders tried climbing the boulders to get a better height to leap at her. All the while, Ray kept an eye on the Orc who was being assisted by his spiders. Ray could see a spider bite the Orc in the arm; it caught her by surprise for the Orc to purposely poison itself. That's when she felt something hard hit her from the back. Slamming hard to the ground, the world was spinning around her, tearing off her helmet and staggering away trying to get the ringing out of her ears. Glancing up, Ray could make out a Queen Spider atop one of the boulders, having batted her right out of the air. Spiders on the ground were rushing her, forcing Ray to draw her attention away from the Queen to defend herself with breaths of fire. The Queen clicked its fangs together, waiting for a moment in which it felt safe to strike at the Flame Pony, waiting for it to have her back completely turned. Ray turned to blast a spider trying to bite her wing when the Queen finally decided to jump. "Oh no you don't!" Rainbow Dash cried streaking out of the air. Slamming hard into the side of the Queen, Rainbow Dash knocked the Queen off course, having her land hard a few feet away from Ray. "Rainbow Dash!" Ray shouted in surprise mixed with relief. Dropping down near Ray, Rainbow Dash didn't have any fire to threaten the spiders with but the look on her face was enough to stop a spider in its tracks. "How's it going, General?" Rainbow Dash asked; keeping her eyes fixed on the spiders in front of her. "Just thinking how lucky I am to have you looking out for me." Ray replied. "Don't go getting soft on me now." Rainbow Dash warned. The Queen Spider screeched loudly, rising to her legs, towering above to the two of them. The spiders beneath her were slowly moving in on the two of them, now that their Queen was there to support them. "Think we can take her?" Ray asked. "I've already got it covered." Rainbow Dash replied. "What do you mean?" Ray asked, sounding confused. "I was a bit too fast for him, but he should be coming along right… about…" Rainbow Dash trailed off, looking towards the skies. Solar dropped out of the sky, blasting a surge of fire on the back of the Queen, causing her flail about. Hovering around her, Solar continuously sent blasts of fire at the Queen, forcing her away from Rainbow Dash and Ray. The spiders started to swarm towards the Queen's aid, forcing Rainbow Dash and Ray to fight them off. Rainbow Dash was quick on her hooves, spiders trying to bite her would see her one second and lose sight of her the next. Stomping, kicking, bucking, and punching her way through spider after spider. A glint of metal had caught Ray's eye, it drew her to the boulder the Queen had once been on, seeing the Orc leaping off the top at an unsuspecting Solar. "Solar!" Ray shouted in a panic. Solar turned around, the Orc whipped its arm at Solar, its chain wrapping around Solar's chest. The Orc fell, coming to a hard stop, as all its weight was transferred into Solar, ripping him right out of the air with a painful yell. Ray lost sight of the two of them with the thrashing Queen staggering around. "Let's move, Rainbow Dash!" Ray shouted, leaping into the air. Rainbow Dash exploded off the spot after her, soaring just over the Queen trying to see where the Orc and Solar had come down. They spotted Solar struggling against the chain; spiders were trying to take a bite out of him, while the Orc wrangled him back to the ground whenever he tried to fly. Ray dived towards Solar to free him from his chain, while Rainbow Dash targeted the Orc. Rainbow Dash streaked out of the sky at the Orc, seeing her out of corner of her eye, the Orc swung his injured arm at her striking her to the side of him. Rainbow Dash collided with the ground hard, feeling very dazed from the impact, but not as bad as the Orc who screamed in pain from his arm. The spider that had bit him earlier had numbed the pain in his arm, but only by so much. Having hit Rainbow Dash at the speed she was going probably broke another bone in his arm easily. Getting to her hooves, Rainbow Dash watched the Orc release the chain he was holding to nurse his arm. "Need a hand?" Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk. "No," The Orc mumbled. "Just time." The Orc stepped to the right, falling into a crack in the ground. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted; feeling cheated. Several spiders rushed out of that very same crack towards Rainbow Dash who decided to vent her frustrations out on them. Ray dropped out of the air, wings flaring with fire, striking the ground hard and spreading her flames all around the area. The explosion of fire set nearly every spider ablaze, forcing them to run into the cracks in the ground or bury themselves in the dirt. Solar was given the chance to untangle himself from the metal chain while Ray kept the few spiders that remained at bay. Ray looked over her should to see if Solar was alright, she saw him nod his response and she nodded back. A large tree trunk sized spider leg dropped down between them; the Queen was blackened from the burned hair and shell from the fire before. Ray leaped into the air to get away from the Queen only to have her shoot a sudden glob of web at her. The webbing stuck to Ray like glue, the weight was too much to keep airborne for long, the Queen's leg swung through the air to bat her down. Solar flew up towards Ray, slamming into her, and getting caught in the glob of webbing as well, but knocked Ray out of the way from the Queen's leg. Landing hard on the floor together, Ray and Solar struggled to free themselves from web, breathing fire to dry it out as the Queen stomped towards them. Realizing that there wasn't enough time to burn through it, Solar lurched to the side, putting himself in the path of the Queen while shielding Ray. "What are you doing?" Ray shouted, still struggling to get free. "Protecting you." Solar replied. "We're both going to get smashed if we don't get out of this." Ray pointed out to him. Solar thought for a moment, believing Ray had made strong point. He looked over at her, watching her continue to struggle. Ray looked at him; she could see his stoic face suddenly change to a small smile which made her heart jump in this already tense situation. "If that's the case," Solar said quietly. "I always wanted to be your special some pony." "What!" Ray shouted, feeling her mane flare and face burn red hot. The Queen Spider raised her front legs over them with an ear splitting screech. Ray lowered her head closing her eyes, while Solar did his best to shield her as much as possible. The ground quaked for a moment, the sound of rocks showering stone was heard, followed by sudden hard thud. Ray and Solar were still tensing their bodies, awaiting the legs of the Queen to strike them, but the blows never came. Slowly opening his eyes, Solar's eyes snapped open in surprise nudging Ray to do the same. Ray opened one eye to something strange, the Obelisk had skewered the Queen from the ground below. Slowly coming to the realization that they were not about to be turned into mashed potato ponies, Solar and Ray tried to figure out what had saved them. "Isn't that the Obelisk Wisp was looking for?" Ray asked curiously. Solar nodded in agreement, looking slightly baffled. Ray watched Solar turn her way, the sudden fear of being crushed was now being replaced by her fear of Solar's sudden confession. Her face burning hot, mane flaring something awful, but Solar was once more back to his stoic expression; although Ray knew she would have to say something in regards to his feelings. Leaning over, Ray quickly kissed Solar on the cheek before occupying herself with the glob of webbing that bound them together; refusing to ever look at him again.