//------------------------------// // Chapter 32: Against The Dying // Story: The Phoenix King // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// The Age of Light. Reign of King Scorch The End of the Fourth Year - The Wedding Fifth Year - Gift of the Dark Marsh Scorch was dressed in his Royal Armor; hoof crafted by the finest metallurgists in the Ashen Fields, the palladium metal gleamed from his own flames. The sleek design of his armor outlined his broad physique, his pauldrons only enhancing this image, while his bracers upon his legs brought attention to how tall Scorch had become. The Main Hall of Castle Char was packed full of prestigious and political dignitaries, the families of the Noble Houses, and the melting pot of spectating ponies that traveled from all over Equestria to see this momentous occasion. The King of the Ashen Fields was to be married. Standing at the top of the staircase, the Throne Room doors just behind them, Scorch was accompanied by General Hearth, his Best Pony, Lady Frost, the Bridesmare, and Princess Celestia who had been asked to officiate the ceremony. "Are you nervous?" General Hearth asked curiously. General Hearth stood beside Lord Scorch, holding them gem that Scorch was to place within the headdress of the soon to be Queen. It was an old Flame Pony tradition to place the proposal gem within the headdress, while in turn; the gem presented by the Queen would be placed within the armored chest piece of the King. It was an old tradition, based upon old Flame Pony conjecture that the value each placed upon one another was of heart and mind. The General was dressed in his Royal Armor, having gone to great lengths rigorously polished it the night before. "I'm not nervous. Are you nervous? Because I am certainly not nervous." Scorch whispered to him. "You sound nervous." General Hearth remarked. "Who's nervous? You're nervous. Asking me about being nervous. Get a load of General Nervous over here." Scorch hissed; he was very nervous. "Can I offer you some comforting words, my Lord?" General Hearth offered to him. "Only if they are comforting." Scorch mumbled. "Once you see Lady Sunbeam, the world will seem to melt away, and your whole focus will be on her and nothing else." General Hearth said to him. Scorch swallowed hard; finding it rather hard to believe. "Was it like this on your wedding day, General?" Scorch asked curiously. "Oh no, there wasn't even a fraction of this many ponies attending our wedding. Good luck to you though, sir." General Hearth replied quickly. Princess Celestia chuckled quietly to herself at Scorch's unfortunate plight, while Scorch narrowed his eyes at General Hearth in annoyance; General Hearth looked away smiling to himself. The doors of Castle Char began to slide open. From the paved roads outside a gilded white carriage slowly rolled up, being drawn by Royal Pegasi Soldiers. The pipe organ at the end of the Main Hall that had dozens of pedals, four layers of piano keys, and nearly a hundred knobs began to breathe sound into the hall. The melody in which the musician pony played started off in a repeating form of ominous breaths of sound; it soon became more sentimental with the sudden introduction of precision strikes to the lower spectrum of keys. There was truth to General Hearth's words Scorch had found, it seemed almost otherworldly to him as he saw only the carriage down the corridor of light. From it, Glow had emerged, draped in the whitest of Fire's Breath; it was equivalent to silk, but fire proof. Her headdress was a mixture of her crown, with several additions of silver branches, made of real silver, that traced the features of her face. Her flames danced in the breeze, making the silver in her crown shine like starlight, her gown flowing behind her that seemed like white snow the rippled like the sea. They were face to face with each other now. Only the soft melody of the organ reached Scorch's ears, his eyes captivated by his Queen, smiling ear to ear; seeing her smile back. The words of Princess Celestia seemed distant to him, the organ still repetitiously captivating the beauty of his Glow. "Hi." Glow whispered to him; her face flushed. "I love you." Scorch whispered back. Glow smiled wide, unable to hide it as she stood diligently and attentive as instructed in their rehearsals prior. Scorch reached out, taking her hoof in his, pulling her just a bit closer; seemingly lost within her eyes. Flushing even more now, Glow was worried that Scorch would not make it to the end of the ceremony before kissing her, but was relieved that he took it no further than what he had. "Now, before every pony, present and past, we ask that you offer one another with a gem, marking the cornerstone of this union." Princess Celestia announced to them. Lady Frost stepped forward, offering Glow a deep red gem that reflected the flames that danced upon Scorch's mane. Placing it within the crevasse, hearing a small click to signal it was secured in place. General Hearth proceeded next, holding out a soft yellow gem to Scorch, one that matched the flames of Glow's mane. Scorch took it, holding it in his hoof, staring at Glow intensely; the smile never leaving his face. In old Flame Pony tradition it was the common practice to not speak during the ceremony, as it was considered an extremely serious event. Although, the pause that Scorch took in placing the gem within Glow's crown made it clear that he was about to say something. "You are everything I imagined love would look like, what love would feel like. For whenever my hope faded, or when the darkness began to creep in, you were always there, my Glow, showing me the way back from that lonely place. Now here we are, just one final pledge to be said, where you shall become mine, and I, yours, I want you to know that my love for you will never cease. That our flames will burn for an eternity, together, as reminder of my promise to you, that I will always love you; always." Scorch said to her. His voice soft, words confident, his expression gentle, but serious in his promise. These were words Scorch only uttered when they were alone; his public displays of affection for her were limited to what was considered common practice among Royalty. Glow could only stare at him, unable to think of a single word that would have expressed the love she felt for him. Scorch placed the gem within her crown, smiling all the while. Glow could hear Princess Celestia proceeding with the service, but she didn't need to be asked whether or not she was willing to be with Scorch for the rest of her life. There were cheers from every pony within the Main Hall; it seemed to shake the castle. Scorch and Glow locked together with a kiss, making them the newest Royal Family in Equestria. Princess Celestia snapped the book shut in amusement, realizing that the ceremony had already met its end, beaming happily at the two of them as they finally parted from one another. Glow could feel the sudden realization that this had made it real. The annoying colt that kept coming back to her shop every other day, ordering the most hats any pony would know what to do with, all in the attempts to get closer to her, had finally stolen her heart and made her his Queen. Glow could not have been happier. "Congratulations, you two." Princess Celestia said to them. "Thank you, Princess Celestia, for presiding over our ceremony and sharing this day with us." Scorch replied in gratitude. Taking Glow's hoof, leading her down the staircase back to the entrance of Castle Char where every pony waiting outside will be able to see them. The cheering had not died down, nor had the organ that continued to play a more delicate version of the ominous opening, that made it feel hopeful and inspiring. Princess Celestia watched Glow and Scorch leave together, hoof in hoof, feeling that the bond they had forged today would last their lifetime, and perhaps a time after that. It had been a few months since their wedding; the position of Queen had been described to her in great length before the actual ceremony; just to give her an idea of what the position entailed. Daunting as the task may have seemed to her back then, it was her love for Scorch, and the desire to be with him that made her willing to go through with it. During the course of these few months, Scorch made it a point not to allow her to become overwhelmed with the responsibilities that came with her title. Glow was very appreciative of Scorch's concern, wanting to put her best hoof forward, she did want to start slow with the responsibilities presented to her, allowing the Noble and regular ponies to become comfortable with a new Queen. For Glow had ideas of her own that she wanted to implement within the Kingdom, things she had discussed with Scorch in past months who found many of them to be quite inspired, but she knew better than to demand change so quickly. She needed to earn the respect of her ponies first, to make their concerns her priority, and fulfilling her duties without fail, and when every pony considered her to be competent she would introduce her ideas. That particular morning, Glow was walking alongside the perimeter of the Dark Marsh, wearing a very elegant grey cloak that Scorch had given to her along with astonishing new wardrobe fit for a Queen. Taking in the morning air, while overseeing the newest additions to the battlements General Hearth had built in the Kingdom's defense a few weeks prior. It was just one of the few duties Glow was able to alleviate from Scorch's busy schedule, that didn't interfere with her own, but with the title of Queen now, she took every duty seriously no matter how routine it may have seemed. "As you can see, your Royal Highness, we have added three more watchtowers to the southeast perimeter to keep a closer eye on the Dark Marsh; increasing our response time by as much as twelve percent." General Hearth informed her. "Very good, General." Glow said rather formally; her voice trying to sound regal. General Hearth chuckled to himself. Glow felt her face flush. "Too much?" Glow asked him sounding embarrassed. "Forgive me, my Lady, but I thought you were doing an impression of King Scorch." General Hearth confessed. "If I was to do an impression of him it would be more like this." Glow stated. Throwing out her chest, Glow marched rather authoritatively wearing a rather grim face. General Hearth laughed aloud, covering his mouth with his hoof, doing his best to keep it together. Glow even found herself laughing at her antics, feeling that her status didn't change her as much as she feared it would with certain ponies. General Hearth and Glow continued on, still laughing together over the mannerisms of Scorch when something caught her eye. Near the edge of the Dark Marsh, something was moving out from the tree line, it was much too difficult for Glow to see exactly what it was but she could see it falling down over and over again. General Hearth glanced up at her, noticing that she was looking towards the Dark Marsh, and turning to see the small creature stumbling in the distance. "Be careful, my Lady, we don't know what-Glow!" General Hearth had begun, but was shock to see her run off towards it so suddenly. Glow's long galloping strides put considerable distance between General Hearth and herself. Slowing her pace, Glow reached the creature that had stumbled from the Dark Marsh; it was a bat. It was badly beaten, its wing viciously torn from its arm, breathing erratically from its exhaustion and pain. Its eyes slowly opened, noticing Glow standing over it, its long wingless fingers trying to reach out for her; small screeches escaping its mouth. Somehow she knew that this was the Orc's doing. Quickly disrobing her cloak from her back, Glow covered it without a second thought, and using her magic she quickly wrapped it around the injured bat. "My Lady, you cannot just run off like that, especially so close to the Dark Marsh." General Hearth called to her, galloping just a few steps behind her. "Hearth, I'm sorry but we will have to finish the inspection of the battlements another time." Glow said quickly, turning to him holding the injured bat wrapped in her cloak in her arm. "My Lady, what have you got-" General Hearth had begun but Glow had taken to the air; flying back to Castle Char. General Hearth watched Lady Sunbeam soar towards the castle. A small smile crept across his face, knowing of how kind a pony she was, and how perfect a choice she was to be their Queen. Scorch was in a meeting with the Head of the Noble Houses, discussing the funding of armored carriages to better protect supplies from being destroyed by Spider attacks. It was not a very thrilling discussion, but one that made sense in the overall scheme of things. It wasn't until a Royal Guard, with not quite all the information, interrupted the meeting to inform Lord Scorch that Lady Sunbeam was in the Infirmary. The speed in which Scorch galloped to the Infirmary must have set some sort of record for the fastest short distant sprint in Ashen Field history; what was more impressive is that he did not use his Flash Step. The doors to the Infirmary flew open with a very frightened Scorch scanning the room. Glow stood off to the side of a granite slab, watching three Unicorn Flame Pony doctors carefully treating a patient. "Glow!" Scorch shouted with a mixture of fear and relief. Glow turned to only feel Scorch's arms come around her, holding her tightly, and kissing the side of her head. Her face was flushing as the doctor ponies looked on, smiling to themselves at the spectacle Scorch was making, but Glow didn't really mind it all that much; she enjoyed his doting over her. "What are you doing here, Scorch?" Glow asked curiously, finding a moment to have him ease off on his hugging assault. "Some pony had said you were in the Infirmary. I-I-I-I feared the worst for you." Scorch said quickly, still looking her over to ensure she was alright. Glow rolled her eyes at him, lightly slapping his face with her hoof at his concern. "I'm fine, really." Glow said to him, giving him a soft kiss. "Then why are you here?" Scorch asked curiously, smiling from the kiss. "I found a wounded bat near the edge of the Dark Marsh; he was in desperate need of our help." Glow replied motioning to the unconscious bat upon the granite. "A bat?" Scorch asked curiously, if not confused. Scorch peered over at the patient the doctor ponies were working over. Indeed there was a rather badly beaten bat, unconscious, resting upon the table being mended and treated for its injuries. Breathing a sigh of relief, Scorch was just grateful that it wasn't Glow lying there in its stead. "Will it survive?" Scorch asked the doctor ponies. "Hard to say, my Lord. We are unfamiliar with its species, but we are doing everything we can to save it." One of the doctor ponies replied. "Of course, it's going to make it Scorch." Glow hissed at him, feeling that he was giving up to easily. "I'm not saying it won't, Glow, it… it just seems like it's been through an awful lot." Scorch explained to her. Scorch had a point. The bat did seem to just barely clinging to life, and Scorch knew how easily Glow's emotions tended to get worked up over these sorts of things. It was hard for her to see Soldier Ponies injured from Spider attacks, or ponies suffering from the effects of poison, but even thought this bat was no pony she was still hoping that it would make it nonetheless. "If it is alright with you, my Lord, if you the Lady Sunbeam could wait outside, we will let you know of its condition as soon as we can." The doctor pony asked of them. "Of course." Scorch replied, taking Glow's hoof and leading her from the Infirmary. Closing the doors behind them, Scorch hugged Glow once more, which she returned in kind. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Scorch." Glow said pulling away from him. "I'm just thankful you are alright." Scorch said sweetly, placing his head against hers. The two stood there for a moment, enjoying the company of one another before Scorch sighed again, knowing that his meeting was still waiting for him. "I have to return to the meeting, Glow, b-b-but I'll see you at dinner tonight." Scorch said with a smile. "Don't work too hard." Glow replied, kissing him once more. Scorch smiled at her, walking around her in better spirits, before heading back towards the meeting room; walking a bit slower than usual to drag out the allotted time of the meeting as much as possible. Glow looked back towards the Infirmary doors, her optimism told her that the bat was going to make it, but even if it did, it was going to have a difficult life ahead of it. "Scorch?" Glow asked, calling after him. Scorch turned towards her; looking at her attentively waiting for her to continue. "If the bat does make it, would it be alright if I… took care of it?" Glow asked slowly. "W-W-Wait, what?" Scorch asked in surprise, tripping over his words. "The bat is crippled and will need help… adjusting to its new life. I was just… hoping that you'd be alright if I kept him here, in the castle, where he would be safe from the Orc and its spiders." Glow explained to him. "Glow." Scorch replied. "You are my Queen now. You don't ever have to ask for my permission for something like this. I'm alright with you taking care of this unfortunate bat, but just be careful it doesn't bite your or something. Glow beamed at him. Feeling a sudden empowerment from his words to her. She was the Queen now, no more just the honored guest like she was before and now able to make these sorts of decisions on her own. It also made her feel like Scorch really trusted her with her decisions and choices, like he had claimed to during their lunch dates together. Turning towards the Infirmary doors, Glow waited patiently for the doctor ponies to deliver her the good news she knew was coming. Two days had passed since the doctor ponies had assured Lady Sunbeam that the bat was in stable condition. During those two days the bat lay resting, unconscious or asleep, which gave Glow time to prepare for what she had instore for the bat once it awoke. The bat's eyes fluttered open. The lingering bruising pain of its injuries was far less severe now, allowing it to move with some ease. Lifting itself front the granite, it took notice of the grey cloak that was still wrapped around him, and bandages that wrapped his wingless arm. Lightly flexing its long fingers, the bat hissed in pain, gnawing on the bandages and hissing so more. Its ears perked up at the sound of rock sliding against rock, it turned to see a somewhat familiar Flame Pony that stepped into the room. "You're awake?" Glow asked with a smile. The bat remained motionless; its eyes staring unblinking at her. Glow carefully approached the granite slab, trying to make sure she didn't make any threatening moves that would make it fearful of her. She stood at the end of the slab, smiling at the bat, trying to make it feel at ease. "I was worried that you weren't ever going to wake up." Glow said to it. The bat didn't respond. Staring silently at her. "You must be starving. I have brought some of these fruits from the Dining Hall; I hope you find them to your liking." Glow said to it. With her magic, Glow made a couple of apple magically appeared out of thin air before placing them near it. The bat did not hesitate to reach out with its good wing, biting into it feverishly, but it only seemed to get through half an apple before it seemed to take a breather. "I'm… not sure if you can understand me… but you're safe here." Glow said to it, trying to emphasize the word. The bat quickly picked up the cloak that was bundled around him; looking at her quizzically. "No. No you can keep that." Glow said to it reassuringly. The bat didn't seem to really understand as it bit into the apple again. Deciding that the bat was moderately comfortable with her presence, she conjured a rock slated book out of the air with her magic; drawing the attention of the bat. She placed it near it; glow opened it to a slate that had an etching of a bat. "This is you." Glow said to it. "A bat." Glow flipped the slates a few more times before stopping at an etching of a Flame Pony. "Flame Pony." Glow said patting herself on the chest to emphasize it. The bat lifted one of the stone slates, looking rather curious about it, but all of Glow's hopes were smashed when the bat used that slate to smash the apple it was trying to eat. The mush of the apple was much easier for the bat to scoop into its mouth now. Glow sighed in defeat, but smiled at the bat's cleverness. Nearly six months had passed. Glow had spent several hours a day with the bat, attempting to teach it to read and write, if only to communicate with it better. Its screeches were difficult to discern but it only did so when it needed to get her attention; the rest of the time it drew pictures or wrote words to convey its thoughts. Having given it a room, a small one, as Glow loaded it with furniture appropriate for its size and books for it to read. For within those months, the bat had shown great aptitude in its ability to read, having been lent books from the Royal Library every other day to read whatever it could get its wings on. It wore the cloak that Glow had given it, she had it hemmed of course to fit it better, and practiced every day to learn to walk on its claws; a difficult feat for a bat. On this particular day, Glow had taken the bat outside, to simply walk with it and speak with it about the on goings of her life. The bat was able to understand her word for word now, having been able to write his responses quite clearly to her, and seemed to enjoy her conversations. Refusing to allow itself to be carried, Glow watched the bat stumble and fall nearly every few steps as it tried to walk upon its claws. "I admire your determination to walk upright, but I don't think you'll be able to with such ease any time soon." Glow said to it. Falling once more, the bat was slow to rise again, looking rather defeated in its attempt to move under its own power. Not wanting it to be discouraged, Glow looked about, finding a rather old, but strong tree near the edge of the Dark Marsh. She galloped over to it, using her magic to break a large piece of wood from its branch, before heading back towards the bat. Carving the piece of wood, shaving some of the rougher edges, Glow offered it to the bat who took it slowly took it. "I hope this will help ease your burden just a bit, my friend." Glow said to it with a smile. Glow noticed that the bat was beginning to cry, its arms shaking as it held the staff she had made it. Quickly lying down onto the ground beside it, she tried to comfort it as best she could. "I-I-I-I'm sorry! Was it insensitive? I didn't mean to offend you." Glow quickly said to it. "Weee-" The bat softly screeched. "What?" Glow asked looking curious. "Weeeng-" The bat screeched again. Glow watched as the bat struggled to form the words it wished to speak. "…Wing… ston…" The bat was able to whisper to her. "Wing… Wingston? Is that your name?" Glow asked in disbelief. The bat named Wingston nodded its head to her. Glow smiled wide, astonished that this bat was beginning to speak in their language. She watched as his long cloaked wingless fingers reached out to her, much like it did when she first found him, she moved her hoof closer to him, feeling Wingston place it gently on her hoof. "…thank... you…" Wingston whispered. Glow smiled warmly at him. Something inside her told her that she had made a lifelong friend that day, some pony she could trust, and it gave her an idea that she was sure Scorch would be rather surprised to hear.