There was not a single pony within the Ashen Fields that did not have something to do. With the aftermath of the war still lingering upon the fields and their thoughts, the Flame Ponies were ready to move on and restore, yet again, a life they desired. One of peace, pride, and humility. For much like anything with the Kingdom of Flame Ponies, everything begins between a rock and a hard place. The same could be said for Winter Snow, the Ice Pony assigned to assist Ruby Simmer in the bakery.
"Hello? Excuse me!" Winter shouted to several Flame Ponies lugging heavy stones down the street.
His words were unmet as the Flame Ponies were much too busy with their own duties to stop and assist a well-dressed Ice Pony. Looking about, Winter attempted to touch base with another group of Ice Ponies clearing large chunks of debris from a collapsed stone hut.
"Can any pony lend me some assistance?" Winter asked allowed.
"What?" Francis the Flame Pony asked; his voice full of gruff.
"Ah, yes, how do you do? I'm Winter Snow Junior the Third; heir to the House of Snow, my father is Icicle Snow. Perhaps you've heard of him?" Winter introduced himself.
"I ain't never seen snow." Francis the Flame Pony remarked.
"Perhaps you've misunderstood me; my father isn't literally snow, that would just be absurd. Our family is named after snow, deriving from our long lineage of-"
"Look pal, I've got four more stores to clean up before I get a break so why don't you just run along and find some other pony to bother." Francis the Flame Pony suggested returning to his rock clearing.
"No! Forgive me! I'm just looking for some directions to where I need to be." Winter insisted in a pleading tone of voice, quickly stepping in front of Francis to stop him from leaving.
"Alright, Whitey, where you heading?" Francis the Flame Pony asked with a sigh.
"I'm looking for the bakery, I've seem to have gotten lost somewhere along the way." Winter replied, showing Francis his rock slab.
"Alright, listen up cause I'm only going to say this once." Francis the Flame Pony began.
"A-A-Alright, I'm listening." Winter stammered.
"You're going to down the street and make a left; you're going to keep coming until you see a large boulder." Francis the Flame Pony began.
"Large boulder." Winter repeated.
"Turn around when you reach the boulder." Francis the Flame Pony instructed.
"Turn around?" Winter asked in surprise.
"Next you're going to go right, squeezing between two shops. If you see the dead spider you've gone too far." Francis the Flame Pony continued.
"Where am I supposed to go before I reach the spider?" Winter asked bewildered.
"While you're in between the shops you'll find a small hole to climb into. Take the stairs inside and jump from the third story window onto the shop with the triangular roof." Francis the Flame Pony explained.
"You're kidding!" Winter exclaimed.
"From there you'll be able to smell the bakery and that's when you just follow your nose." Francis the Flame Pony said in conclusion.
"I… where… smell?" Winter mumbled, obviously lost already.
"Alright, good luck pal." Francis the Flame Pony said before getting back to work.
Winter slowly walked out of the destroyed shop, looking very confused as he headed off down street once more. Maxine, Francis's wife, came out from the back room only to catch a glimpse at the Ice Pony walking away.
"Who was that, Frank?" Maxine asked.
"Just some Ice Pony asking for directions to the bakery, Maxine." Francis the Flame Pony replied, bushing a large piece of rock out the shop.
"You don't know where the bakery is though." Maxine replied in surprise.
"He doesn't know that." Francis the Flame Pony replied with a chuckle.
Stitch Rose Shay had been closed for a few days, mostly due to their own volunteer work to help rebuild much of the shops that had been detonated during the battle with the spiders. With much of the reconstruction well under way by stone cutter Flame Ponies, Stitch, Rose, and Crow were able to once more open for business. Orders had been placed by Ms. Fleece for several new banners, along with many other regular Flame Pony orders concerning common apparel.
Rose carried a rather large bundle of cloth on her back, a banner for the castle, and bucked it onto the cart waiting outside. Visually tired, Rose took a deep breath and let out an exhaustive sigh before returning inside.
"How many orders do we have left, Stitch?" Rose asked.
"Sixty-two." Stitch replied, checking the stone slate in front of her.
"You're kidding!" Rose exclaimed in disbelief.
Quickly making her way over to the counter, Rose took the stone slate to have a gander at it herself and felt her heart drop at the remaining sixty-two orders waiting to be filled.
"The good news is that we're finished with the Ms. Fleece's order for the castle." Stitch informed her.
"What the bad news?" Rose asked curiously.
"Crow called in sick today." Stitch replied.
"What!" Rose exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah, he had the Mail Pony drop by to let us know." Stitch explained.
"I'm taking the rest of the day off." Rose said hastily, making for the door.
"You can't! We have orders we need to fill!" Stitch shouted, leaping from over the counter and latching herself onto the back leg of Rose.
"Crow is sick! Let go!" Rose said defiantly, attempting to shake her off.
"He'll be fine! I can't finish all these orders by myself!" Stitch protested, refusing to let go.
While the two mare Flame Ponies struggled against one another with raised voices, the small bell hanging over the door jingled as the door swung open. A small Ice Pony colt stepped into the shop, he was a unicorn, he was light blue in color, and his cloudy mane seemed to be caught in a breeze that only he could feel. He did not have a cutie mark, but the way the young colt carried himself seemed to ooze confidence. Both Rose and Stitch stared at the young colt in a blank stare.
"Are you the owners of this establishment?" The young Ice Pony colt asked.
"Are you lost little colt?" Stitch asked in a babyish voice.
"Little?" The young Ice Colt snapped, his face turning a darker blue from embarrassment.
"We're the owners, what can we do for you?" Rose asked, quickly pulling her leg free from Stitch's grasp.
"I am Reginald Van Freeze, third son of the Freeze family, and four time winner of the Artic Fashion Gala. I am here to assess the possibility of a potential merger of our clothing stores and your…" Reginald paused for a moment to look over the crude and rigid store before him. "Shoppe."
"But you're just a foal." Stitch remarked in surprise.
"My age has nothing to do with my skills! I have designed gowns and clothing for the richest and fanciest of ponies the world over! Ponies would crawl on all fours just to get an appointment with me to design them something!" Reginald snapped back, his face flushing once more.
"Then why aren't you working with them?" Stitch asked curiously.
Reginald seemed taken a back, he had let his bolstering get the better of him. Truth of the matter was that Flame Pony clothing was quickly becoming a very sought after commodity. Seeing as there was only one shop in all of Equestria that produced it, the other high end business ponies would sure to be coming around offering for their own mergers to capitalize on this craze. Reginald's father had decided to strike a deal before any pony else and had left this task to his youngest son who was desperate to prove himself.
"Like I said, I'm here to see if your shop has what it takes to make it in the big leagues." Reginald reiterated.
"Big leagues?" Rose asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Designing for the most respected of ponies, celebrities, nobles, foreign ambassadors, and even the Princesses." Reginald explained.
"We're not interested, thanks." Rose said flatly, obviously done with the whole conversation.
Rose moved towards the door, much to the horror of both Reginald and Stitch; both for different reasons.
"You can't leave Rose! We have orders to fill!" Stitch shouted in protest.
"S-S-Surely you wouldn't want to throw away this opportunity to expand your business!" Reginald shouted with great concern.
"I'm going to go take care of Crow." Rose said defiantly.
"Crow would want you to stay here and help! Rarity always said that the clients came first!" Stitch protested once more.
"Indeed! Wouldn't… uh… um… Crow! Wouldn't Crow at least consider this opportunity?" Reginald asked, struggling to capitalize on what Stitch had said.
Rose paused at the door. Looking over her shoulder, she could see the pleading looks on both their faces. It was obvious that what they did here meant a lot to Stitch, that without Crow or herself being here Stitch wouldn't be able to manage on her own. Reginald seemed to be around the same age as Stitch, even though he put up a strong front, it was obvious from the worry on his face that this 'deal' of his meant more to him than it did them. With a defeated sigh, Rose turned away from the door, silently apologizing to Crow for not being there for him.
"Alright, let's get to it." Rose mumbled heading towards the back of the shop.
"Yes!" Reginald and Stitch exclaimed together.
Bleak Weather stood in armory of Castle Char down in the dungeons. It was rather barren to be called such a place. It housed more relics then it did actual armaments, but it was most likely emptied for the battle against the Orc. Having been reassigned to be a Soldier Pony rather than Labor Pony by Ray Horizon, Bleak was still fuming over the colt Solar Wind that showed him up. Spinel and Topaz were rummaging around in some stone chests looking for some armor to supply him with.
"Here we go." Topaz said aloud.
Bleak could see a worn chest plate, and some grieves in Topaz's hooves. It wasn't as shiny or as new as General Ray's but Bleak had worn way worst growing up. Trying the chest plate on for size, it slid on without much difficulty, fitting snuggling around him, and his grieves were adjustable which made it a perfect fit. The armor was layered with a thin coat of frost from the freezing touch of Bleak's hide, and made it look much cooler in Bleak's opinion.
"Alright, let's get topside and show you how we do things." Spinel said, heading towards the dungeon door.
"I don't get a sword?" Bleak asked curiously.
"Why would you want a sword?" Topaz asked curiously.
"All the Ice Ponies in the Frozen North carry swords." Bleak replied.
"Why?" Spinel asked curiously.
"Why not?" Bleak countered his question.
"Because you can conjure up a blast of ice, what's the point of the sword when you can just freeze something solid?" Spinel asked again.
"Well…" Bleak began, trying hard to think of a good reason. "It's… cool?"
Topaz and Spinel looked at one another. Checking the sides of their flanks, a small smile formed across their faces with the ideas of swords being a part of their attire.
"We'll bring it up at the next meeting." Topaz said excitedly.
"I'm going to want two swords." Spinel remarked happily at the idea.
Bleak followed the two Flame Ponies up from the dungeon. Noticing that the extra weight of the armor, Bleak was mildly annoyed having to climb the steps, but it beat the hay out of shoveling snow or rocks. Being led out of Castle Char, Topaz and Spinel escorted Bleak to the east side of the Ashen Fields where there was even more construction going on.
"Where are we going?" Bleak asked after a while.
"To Dash Academy." Topaz explained. "Seeing as your stay here will be brief for the most part, you're going to get a crash course with Academy Leader Flare Fizzle for a day or two on how we do things."
As they approached the Academy, it was obvious that it was still being built, but what surprised him was that the Academy was for pegasi ponies. In the Frozen North, the Royal Air Force was one of thee, if not, most difficult programs to enter. With lineage, letters of recommendations, money, and political influence all-being needed to even ask for an application to join. Bleak marveled at all the Flame Pony pegasi that flew overhead, running drills, practicing formations, and just honing their skills.
"Don't think we're just dumping you off on some other pony, Flare Fizzle is one, if not, the most strategic minds we have in the Ashen Fields. You'll learn a lot from her." Spinel said reassuringly.
The main doors to the Academy had not yet been installed, which allowed them to walk right in. Parts of the roof were still missing, although is worked well into the design they were going for, as large sun roofs were being installed to allow pegasi Flame Ponies easy access from the air. Everything looked very new, the stone was sleek, marble seemed to shine, and Bleak gawked at the craftsmanship of the Flame Pony stone cutters; comparing it only to the ice sculptors of the Frozen North.
Spinel walked off for a moment while Topaz stayed behind with Bleak. Bleak looked around at the rooms being built, most likely classrooms to teach young recruits, while other parts seemed to barracks for ponies on call. Spinel returned with Flare Fizzle after a few minutes had gone by.
"Ma'am, this here is Bleak Weather. General Horizon has personally requested him to be given the chance to become a Soldier Pony." Spinel introduced her to him. "Bleak, this is your new teacher, Commander Flare Fizzle."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Flare said politely.
Bleak had only heard muffled noises coming from Spinel. His heart was beating so loud that it rang in his ears. Never before had Bleak seen such a beautiful mare, the way her fire fizzled off her elegant wings. The piercing no nonsense look in her eyes sent shivers down Bleak's spine as the thoughts of Ray seemed to 'fizzle' away.
"The pleasure- no, the honor is mine, Commander." Bleak said humbly, bowing his head to her. "To be in the presence of such a high ranking, strategic tactician that thwarted one of the greatest threats ever faced in the Ashen Fields is truly humbling if not overwhelming."
"H-Hardly. Spiders are very simple minded. Strategy barely played a part in it." Flare replied, feeling a bit flustered by Bleak's praise.
"It is no wonder why young Ice Pony fillies look up to you as an inspiration. Your humbleness is only surpassed by your intellectual mind and radiant confidence you cast." Bleak continued.
"Bleak you sly dog, you should write greeting cards for Stablemark." Bleak thought to himself.
"We'll leave it in your hooves, Commander." Topaz said.
Giving her a salute, Topaz and Spinel headed for the exit leaving Flare and Bleak alone. Flare was still bit flustered, the idea of being a role model to young fillies never occurred to her. Whether or not this was true was beside the point, Bleak had made a good first impression, and his smug smile showed that he knew he had won her over.
"Commander Fla-" Bleak began to speak when a sudden crash shook the room.
A large stone pillar had fallen over. It seemed slightly chipped from the impact but the stone pillar was meant to be placed upright before the Stone Cutter Flame Ponies were to chisel it. The metal chains the Stone Cutter Ponies were using to lift it had a wink link somewhere and snapped causing it to fall. The commotion drew a lot of attention but thankfully no pony was hurt.
"I got it." A voice rang out over the murmurs of Flame Ponies looking on.
Bleak watched as a rather brawny and tough looking Flame Pony pegasi headed over to the pillar. Feeling his mouth drop open, Bleak watched as the Flame Pony single hoofed lifted the end of the pillar all by himself. It was sure to weigh nearly half a ton, but this pegasi Flame Pony lifted it as if it were a mere parcel. Flapping his wings, the pegasi Flame Pony flew up into the air, lifting the pillar up with him. Standing it on its end, receiving several cheers and claps from the on looking Flame Ponies. Bleak's mouth still hung open as Flare quickly walked away from him to approach this pegasi Flame Pony who seemed to thrive on the attention.
"What have I told you about doing that, Wisp?" Flare demanded, sounding annoyed.
"It was just one pillar, Flare Bear, it wasn't even that heavy." Wisp replied, trying to sound suave.
"The last time you did something like that you had thrown your back out." Flare stated angrily.
"I told you not to tell no pony!" Wisp hissed, looking around to see if any pony heard her.
"Don't expect me to massage you again if you come home twisted up like a pretzel." Flare snapped at him.
"Wait…" Wisp said thinking about it. "Is my place home, or is your place home? Cause you've come over to at my place for the last couple of days but-"
"Are you trying to embarrass me in front of every pony?" Flare hissed, covering his mouth with her hoof.
"If I recall," Wisp began, moving her hoof away from his mouth. "You were the one that kissed me in front of every pony."
Flare's mane sizzled in embarrassment. Her face flushing as Wisp leaned closer to her. Bleak's heart was squashed like a watermelon under a mallet as the frighteningly strong pegasi Flame Pony kissed Flare for all to see. There were some cat calls from the Flame Ponies around them, a few sharp whistles as Bleak's mane flared in bitterness.
"What is with these Flame Pony colts?" What's an Ice Pony got to do? Fight a dragon to get pretty pony?" Bleak thought to himself.
"The Great Dragon Char wrestled against the Void in vain, for it tore it from its claws, snapping its very bone, and dragging it through the portal!" Princess Sapphire exclaimed dramatically.
A swirling vortex of snow represented the King's Portal; the sculpted Ice Dragon was magically moved through it as it turned to snow to visually represent its disappearance into the other dimension. Like it or not, Tea was seemingly captivated by Sapphire's ability at storytelling, but no more so then Chapel and Florence who hung on every word eager to hear more.
"With Smolder's power fading, the King's Portal began to close. In his last act, Smolder shared with me his parting words and this metal seal. 'I'm leaving the rest to you and the others.' It was then that the portal closed, trapping Smolder within the Void and leaving us without any means of getting him out." Sapphire narrated.
With her magic, Sapphire dissolved the Smolder sculpture along with the swirling vortex of snow, leaving not but her own self sculpture on the field. Florence and Chapel clung to one another, hearts racing between them, emotionally invested in Sapphire's story while Tea felt the need to ask for more.
"I thought you said we could rescue him?" Tea asked curiously.
"Yeah!" Florence and Chapel shouted in unison.
"At this point we have had no means of doing so. It wasn't until a few days later that I figured out what Smolder meant with his parting words and the seal he had given me." Sapphire replied, casually wave her wings to and fro; magically removing the ice that caked Tea's room.
"What did it mean?" Chapel demanded, taking hold of Sapphire's hoof.
"Out with it!" Florence demanded, taking a more direct approach and clutching Sapphire's face.
"Alright! Restrain yourselves!" Sapphire shouted back, shaking herself free from them.
Sapphire's horn began to glow once more. A sudden pop had a metal seal appearing out of thin air. It floated down to Tea who was quickly mobbed by Florence and Chapel to get a better look at it.
"I don't get it." Chapel remarked, looking at it confused.
"Neither did I at first, but Smolder has proven that he can be quite clever when he chooses to be." Sapphire explained. "With his dormant magic channeling itself through relics of his ancestors, giving Smolder visions of the past, I was able to do something similar and see into Smolder's past."
"Shut up." Florence remarked in disbelief. "You can do that?"
"Ice Ponies are credited for our spirituality, and use of magic to connect on more… intimate levels of the mind." Sapphire said, flushing slightly. "With my spiritual reading for Smolder during his Coronation, I… uh… well I'm sort of… spiritually connected with him… to some degree. G-Giving me the ability to tap into his past with the help of objects he owns; the seal being the obvious."
Tea did not like the idea of Sapphire being so 'intimately connected' with Smolder, but after hearing the events that led up to today, Tea was able to look past it as Smolder seemed to have an agenda.
"So what did you see?" Tea asked curiously, examining the metal seal.
"Well I was planning to share this with every pony back home, in the Frozen North…" Sapphire began, knowing that her stay here and had gone on longer then she had anticipated.
Sapphire let that thought sink in for a moment. She had been here for several hours, even though the lantern she had come for was within her reach. Most assuredly, Tea would have let her take the lantern to save Smolder knowing that the need was dire but yet she had allowed herself the time to socialize with them. More to the point, Sapphire could not remember the last time she had performed an 'ice sculpture show' for any pony, not since she used to treat the foals and fillies back in the Frozen North in her youth. Secretly, Sapphire had a great love for sculpting, a hobby her father was more than glad to share with her and teach her. Being able to share this with Tea, Florence, and Chapel, being able to be herself had gotten her to realize that she had unknowingly allowed herself to have fun; for the brief time that it was.
Tea, Chapel, and Florence patiently waited to see what sort of regal excuse she was going to come with to keep this information to herself.
"I suppose telling you three now couldn't hurt." Sapphire admitted.
Sapphire left her chair, sitting with on the floor with the rest of them. Taking Chapel's hoof, along with Florence, she urged Tea to do the same as the four mares sat hoof in hoof in a circle. With her magic, Sapphire levitated the seal to the center of their circle as it started to pulse a magical glow.
"Every pony closer your eyes and relax. Try your best to quiet your mind." Sapphire instructed, her eyes starting to glow a brilliant blue.
Florence and Chapel did as they were told, almost too excited to be a part of this. Tea was slow to close her eyes, her mind was quite a storm at the moment over several different things, but did her best to try and push it all away for the moment. As soon as her eyes had closed, Tea was once more inside Smolder's Royal Chamber at Castle Char. The four mares were still hoof in hoof, their eyes closed but seeing the memories projected through the seal with Sapphire's magic.
There was a yellow and black blur that speeded around the room; Tea was able to make out that it was Smolder moving extremely fast; as if his memory was being fast-forwarded. The room barely changed through this, blurs would enter and leave in a flash, the garbled mess of words running over one another.
"I need your help." Smolder's voice echoed.
"…it will hurt…" Said another voice Tea was not familiar with.
More of Smolder's words came echoing. None seemed to coincide with one another. It was as if bits and pieces of his past were scrambled being played out of order. At times, there was great pain in his voice, while others a deep sorrow, but mixed within all of this was the voices of Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, General Hearth, Wingston, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and many more. Everything suddenly stopped, Smolder sat within the center of the circle, his armor rent and his body badly beaten from the battle with the Orc. Smolder sat facing Sapphire; there was no sound that came from the licks of his flames.
"For some time now I've been hearing something call to me from the Void, and that something has become someone, and she is calling for help. There is a Storm, the Void as we call it, that Lord Smoke locked away which has been destroying the creatures I've come to know as Void Walkers. I've promised to help them. Although, that's not the only reason I'm leaving." Smolder began, his voice echoing.
"I want to find my family… if that's still a possibility. This is something I have to do, so please understand why I left. You had said that the friends I have made have become my family. That they believed in me just as much as I believed in them. So I'm choosing to believe that my family will come for me, and that we can save these Void Walkers together." Smolder's voice echoed.
"The Portal within the Ashen Fields is one of four. The other three are scattered across Equestria. Finding these might give you more clues on what this Storm is, and how we can stop it. Seeing as you smashed our only clue to the past, you might have better luck elsewhere." Smolder's voice echoed, with Sapphire frowning slightly.
"The Ashen Fields portal is the only one we know that works, and that it only responds to my family's flame, I should tell you that Tea has a lantern with a bit of my fire in it." Smolder paused for a moment. "If you do decide to get the lantern, let Tea know I'm sorry, she doesn't like it when I do these sorts of things, but that's just because she cares about me"
Tea smiled to herself. Even battered and beaten, Smolder was still worried about how her feelings.
"I'll do what I can from within here." Smolder said conclusively. "Thank you, Sapphire."
With that Smolder dissolved away. The Royal Chambers faded into darkness. Tea's eyes fluttered open, as did Florence's and Chapel's, once more sitting within Tea's room. Sapphire's eyes were still glowing brightly, her horn pulsing with the metal seal. The magic flickered from the metal seal, dropping to the floor. Sapphire's eyes returned to normal, although they seemed dim and dull as she too slumped to the floor.
"Sapphire?" Tea asked in surprise.
Sapphire did no stir.
"We've killed a Princess!" Chapel shouted in horror.
"She's just unconscious, take a chill pill, jeez." Florence remarked, checking her pulse.