//------------------------------// // Chapter 56: Path of Fire // Story: The Phoenix King // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// The Fields of Ouroborus laid fractured at Null’s feet. His hand digging deep into the black sand, feeling the grains pass through the tears of his husk like skin. The Echoes in their silent march dotted the area, wavering in ghostly smoke before fading back into the nothingness. Lifting his arms out before him, churning not only the Storm, but the ground around him. The familiar rasp of his voice had disappeared, a deeper and darker one had replaced it. The words Null spoke sounded like hollow drums laced over with a low hum that vibrated the air around him. It was known only as Black Speech, a language used only by the Eternal Masters, and never uttered without hate. The Storm thundered high over head, bolts of lightning struck the Fields of Ouroborus, leaving not but scorched earth in its wake. From the black sand, the Echoes began to emerge, their ghostly figures struggling to find footing. Hundreds if not thousands of these ghostly beings had risen. The black sand twisting up their limbs, making them solid and allowing them to sprint across the fields, and some even crawling with their disfigured appearance, and sliding into the crevasses of the world. Malformed and without light, these Echoes bore large clubs for hands while others derived blades for arms. Their faces twisted in unimaginable pain. “Find these intruders! Bring me these Lords of Light!” The ocean of black sand swelled like waves, hoards of these Echoes charged out from the dunes, heeding their master’s call. The Mad King towered above all, flames hued to a blood red, his rage having passed its limits and bringing him to the points of madness where silence spoke volumes. What was there to be said? For the mind of the Mad King was not entirely his own, blended with that of an Elder Dragon, who was to say that anything that was spoken would reach either and how each would respond. “All those years of endless mining for gold, your military state, your insistent solitude, was all in fear of occuring the Elder Dragon’s wrath? Why in all the kingdoms of Equestria did you not tell any pony? How could you be so arrogant to think that you could defeat such a creature on your own?” Wingston questioned him. “My reasons are my own. I no longer take council with you, my most trusted royal advisor.” The Mad King hissed. “I’ve taken council with you for many years, as your advisor and as your friend. Deny it if you must, but you were once able to show empathy for your fellow ponies. The events of Black Winter had always weighed heavy in your mind and heart. You blame yourself for not outright slaying the Orc when it first made itself known, wishing to have spared the Kingdom of such a catastrophe. I can only gather that this influenced your decision on solving this problem with the Elder Dragon alone.” Wingston determined. “You know nothing of what happened.” The Mad King muttered in disgust.. “You think I did not feel the eyes of my ponies glaring at me for failing them? That I was not reminded of the lives lost that day seeing orphaned children weeping for the parents in the weeks that followed? Do not claim to understand my reasons, Wingston, you were welcomed into my kingdom, but you were never part of our family.” Without words or flames, the Mad King drew himself away from every pony and proceeded to head towards a tunnel leading from the cavern. Wingston struck is staff hard against the rock floor, visibly angry at the Mad King for his words. “Then explain it to me if you can! Tell me what I fail to understand! Why would Scorch, son of the Wise King Phoenix, turn away from every pony and everything he has ever loved to face this Elder Dragon alone?” Wingston demanded. Flames from the Mad King poured out of him like water, it washed towards every pony prompting Rarity, Twilight, Princess Sapphire, and Princess Celestia to produce magical shields in their defense. It did not seem that this fire was intended as an attack, more so it seemed like the rage and bitterness of the Mad King had finally begun to seep out. “Give him to me.” The Mad King replied ominously. Wingston was not expecting such a response. He stood within Princess Celestia’s magical shield gazing after the Mad King wondering what he had meant. “That, my friend, is what the Great Dragon Char had demanded of me. My son or it would burn all of Equestria.” The Mad King turned to look at Wingston, his eyes blazing from his fury. There was no need to explain which son he was referring to, for the Mad King hated one of his sons in particular far more than any other. This hate the Mad King had for young Smolder, the hate this Elder Dragon felt for the son that spurred King Scorch to challenge him, it was because Scorch loved him and refused to give him up. “You and every pony here stand there in your vocal judgment of my life. Claiming me mad for what I had done. I tell you that any parent would gladly stand against an Elder Dragon if it meant sparing the life of their child. Why would I ask any other pony, any other kingdom to risk the lives of their own sons and daughters for the life of my son? No, Wingston, I cannot explain this to you. A father you may be to my son, but his father you are not.” The Mad King voice shook in anger. The fires of his eyes flared wildly, his madness taking hold again. He strode towards Wingston, the Mad King’s flames flourishing and scorching the sides of the cavern. “By what right do you have to judge me? What right do any of you have? You and your precious ideals of friendship and harmony, none of it matters when the life of your child is being threatened! Damn the throne, damn the kingdom, the ponies, the fields, our future, and damn you Wingston!” The Mad King towered over Wingston, a veil of magic separated him from his most trusted adviser. Even with all of his power, his crazed eyes, explosive flames, the madness of the king had fallen away for a short time and had spoken from his tormented heart. “What sort of council would you have given me? What choices did I have? Would you told to seek help? To allow my son to grow up knowing that so many had lost their lives to this dragon? No, Wingston. If any pony was to be blamed for the fallout of my choices, it was going to be me.” Scorch whispered painfully. The fury of the Mad King had him trembling. Mere moments of such lucid thinking had disappeared, the rage within his burning eyes had returned, and the magic of his horn beginning to swell. There was a trembling that could be felt by every pony, but its origin proved to come from much further out. It seemed like the tremors were coming from all directions. “Twilight…” Spike whispered sounding frightened. Twilight put her arm around Spike, glancing at all the tunnels within the cavern, having heard the distant echoes of countless footsteps grow louder and closer with each passing moment. The flames of the Mad King had revealed the disfigured humanoid creatures several feet down the tunnel they had all come from. As if mindlessly running over one another trying to reach them, their twisted and pained faces were fixated upon them. The Mad King turned to see this mob of monsters charging from the breach of the tunnel, clamoring towards him in a frenzy. With a rage filled roar the Mad King let loose a blast of magic that pierced through the mob, before expanding in a violent explosion that incinerated them in a flash. Even with such an incredible show of power the seemingly endless wave of creatures at the far end of the tunnel was racing back down the tunnel meet them again. “What in the hay are those?” Applejack asked aloud. From the opposing tunnel at the opposite side of the cavern a second wave of creatures had emerged, pouring out into the cavern like water. Princess Celestia’s horn flashed a brilliant white light that expanded quickly in the direction of these creatures and vaporizing them on the spot. Yet, the creatures continued to pour through leaving the Twins to jump in and blast a torrent of fire back through to keep them at bay. “Seal the tunnels!” Princess Celestia commanded. Several spells shot off in different directions, collapsing the tunnels the creatures had come from and a couple that had not yet been infested. “What are we going to do?” Princess Sapphire asked. “Run!” Wingston shouted. The eastern wall of the cavern has suddenly broke open, more of these Echoes had smashed their way through the solid rock attempting to reach them. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were quick to meet these creatures, using their tremendous speed they kicked the lead Echoes backwards into the hoard knocking them all down. Every pony was shocked to see that the creatures trampled their fallen kin just to reach them. Applejack jumped in bucking the first few Echoes while Twlight and Rarity provided her with cover fire with several spells that shattered the creatures apart. “There’s too many of them!” Princess Sapphire called out. The Twins watched Sapphires attempt to freeze over the new opening in the wall while the other ponies fought back the endless hoard of Echoes. “We’re leaving.” The Mad King’s voice had floated over them as he passed by heading towards a particular tunnel that seemed free of the creatures. Wick and Pyre rushes towards their father looking rather torn. “We can not just leave them, father.” Pyre began. “With our help we stand a good chance of-“ “The Storm will not rest until we are found. We must take our leave before the Storm gets word of our discovery.” The Mad King added. “So we are runaway and leave them to fend off these creatures alone?” Wick asked. “This is not a discussion!” The Mad King snapped. “You have no choice in this matter!” The Twins looked upon their father, watching the flickering flames of his fire leap from him at the anger of his words. Looking towards one another, Wick and Pyre knew that their father was right. “You’re right father, there isn’t choice.” Pyre agreed with him. “Goodbye, father.” Wick said with a smile. The Mad King watched his sons turn from him, racing back towards the others. Vengeful and hateful words were caught in his throat, the need to lash out at his sons were halted by a weight in chest. What little he had had been lost to him now, perhaps even forever with what sought after them. Princess Celestia’s magic swirled around her horn, slicing like ribbons through the air and cleaving the Echoes to pieces. The hole had become much larger from the insistent digging of the Echoes, their clubbed hands smashing away at the rock, arms shattering from the abuse. Pinkie Pie had Fluttershy loading up her party cannon with sizable rocks to fire back at the creatures while defending Princess Sapphire who struggled to contain them behind her ice wall. Wick and Pyre mantled over the lot of them, charging head first into the stream of Echoes breaching the wall. Engulfed in a ball of fire, using their superior speed and strength to tackle through the brunt of them before releasing a torrent of fire that pushed the rest back. A well placed shot with Pinkie Pie’s party cannon struck the rock face above the breach, causing a sudden cave in to the tunnel. The momentary seal was enough to give every pony a moment to breath but it wasn’t to last as the sound of digging could be heard again. “The tunnels at the south entrance are our best chance of losing them.” Pyre stated walking past every pony. “The networks are vast, looping in on one another, branching off to hundreds of dead ends, drop offs, and other caverns.” Wick noted. “Are any of them not going to get us killed?” Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically. “Just take the tunnels we run through and you’ll live to run your mouth off another day.” Wick replies. The tunnels from the upper north side the Mad King had held at bay were suddenly broke open and began pouring out with Echoes. Pyre and Wick stood out front of the group of ponies with Princess Celestia and Princess Sapphire standing behind them ready to defend against this hoard. A massive eruption of fire broke apart the ground beneath the Echoes, flames scorching them as they fell in the pits of fire. The cavern had been split, separating the Echoes from the rest of the ponies. The Mad King could be seen on the other side of the terrace, staring at his sons through the inferno that separated them. Teams of Echoes races into the fire of the Mad King, each failing to reach him before crumbling to ash at his hooves. Even with this division between them, the Twins could sense that their father had attempted to bridge some sort of message between them, if only for one brief moment. “Make for the tunnels!” Pyre shouted quickly. Princess Celestia magically lifted Wingston onto her back, gazing across the ravine to catch a glimpse of the Mad King walking through the flames into another tunnel, effortlessly scorching whatever Echo that attempted to maim him. “Come, my Lady. Before it is too late.” Wingston urged her. Every pony followed the Twins into the southern tunnels of the cavern, the sounds of the Echoes breaking through the rock walls behind them were slowly fading away. Princess Celestia fired a magical spell at the rock ceiling overhead drawing a scorching line through the roof as the tunnel collapsed behind them. The Twins led them down several tunnels, passing many more that seemed no different than any of the others, but none would question them. It almost seemed necessary to trust them now as it would be nearly impossible to find their way out of this maze like network in the dark. “Where are we going?” Daring Do asked aloud. “There are many places beneath this world that are harder to reach and more dangerous to traverse. If we’re lucky, and we don’t die trying to reach it, those creatures won’t be able to reach us.” Wick explained to them. “That’s very reassuring.” Applejack muttered. Sudden tremors were felt throughout the cave, quaking far more violent and thunderous than any time before. The tunnel itself was nearly shaking itself apart, causing every pony to lose their balance and cover their heads with hooves and magic from the falling rocks above. Almost like an explosion the tunnel was decimated from the force of the Storm driving its way through solid rock. Shearing the tunnel in two, having thrown every pony back and forwards from the blast. The Twins along with Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity had been thrown from blast further down the tunnel. Princess Celestia, Daring Do, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been knocked backwards within the tunnel. Princess Sapphire and Wingston were nowhere to be seen, most likely having fallen into the pit the Storm had created driving itself through. What separated every pony now was the raging Storm that roared with thunder and groaned in power. Bolts of lighting revealed Null descending through the Storm, floating between the two groups of ponies. The Twins were urging Twilight and the others to get to their hooves, almost begging them to run, as Null’s gaze turned upon them. “Lords of Light…” “We need to run, now!” Wick hissed frightenedly. “What about the others?” Twilight asked worryingly. “It’s after Pyre and I, your friends should be alright for now, so move it!” The Twins bolted off down the tunnel, Twilight chased after them carrying Spike as Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity followed close behind. Null touched down into the tunnel, absorbing the Storm back into its body before lifting his hand after the Twins and having the Storm come exploding out of his palm to give chase. A sudden blast of white magic erupted off of Null’s back, causing him to stagger forward, the Storm quickly dispersing from his body to shield him from his attacker. Turning his gaze behind, Null could see a tall white pony standing before him, echoing of the flame pony that had stood against him before, but this one lacked fire. Princess Celestia had merely stalled him for time, hoping to allow the Twins and the others to get away. Although, Null’s attention was upon them, and Celestia did not like her odds defending the ponies here while trying to face down this creature. There was no sign of Wingston or Princess Sapphire, she hoped beyond hope that they had been separated with the others, but as Null started to raise his arm towards her she knew that there wasn’t time to look for them. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were already flying back down the tunnel with Applejack galloping close behind, Princess Celestia conjured a light shield at the birth of the broken tunnel before running after the others. The Storm erupted from Null’s arm striking hard against the light shield, the resistance of the shield kept the Storm at bay for a moment. Null pulled back his arm, withdrawing the Storm from the shield before violent throwing it back out and shattering it with a violent explosion. Null found himself dropping to a knee, supporting himself with one hand, unable to continue his command of the Storm to give chase after these fireless ponies. With the Storm racing back into Null’s body, allowing him to lift himself from the ground, his attention turned once more to the tunnel the Twins had fled down, knowing that they were just minutes ahead of him. Wingston had been knocked from Princess Celestia, having fallen into the sizable hole the Storm hard created tunneling its way through. Luckily, Wingston was still conscious, for the most part, to keep his wits about him and reach out his staff towards the darkness hoping to catch something. After a few moments of helplessly falling through the darkness, his staff made contact with wedge of stone that clipped itself upon the rings of Wingston’s staff and had caught him of his fall. With his staff jutting out from the side of the cliff face, Wingston reached out with his good leg, catching his claws upon his staff and hung himself upside down. The experience was almost surreal for him in that moment, having not been upside down in several years, feeling as though he could spread out his wings and fly off into the darkness. Fortunately, Wingston knew of his limitations and simply shimmied his way towards the top of his staff where he climbed atop the outstretched rock to dislodge his staff. Not knowing if the others were alright or had fallen with him in the blast, Wingston knew he was on his own for the time being and needed to find a way to reach the others. Where ever they may be. Looking about in the darkness, Wingston seemed to be searching for something in the darkness, truth be told it was just his nervousness of some pony was watching him from the shadows. With a mild amount of embarrassment, Wingston took a deep breath and screeched rather loudly and fell silent to listen. Just like any bat, darkness was not his enemy, but a companion. His sonar still proved to be a strong ally, as it mapped out the cliff face around him, revealing some rather small holes dug by some unknown creatures that would accommodate his size. Having been in the company of flame ponies since his accident, there was little need for his sonar to see in the dark as to all the fire that surrounded him from morning, noon, and night. The tunneled holes were several feet above him, proving that he would need to scale the rock face to reach it if he hoped to get out of his current predicament. With another self conscious screech, Wingston could see a piece of rock jutting out over him, and using his staff he hooked on to it. Slowly pulling himself up the side of rock face, Wingston had only one thing on his mind, an answer for his friend. Princess Sapphire lay amongst the ruins of the tunnel, far beneath the ground, her snowy mane softly wisping. The explosion had initially not knocked her out, having fallen into the pit as well, a piece of the falling rocks had slammed against her head and knocked her out cold. Luckily, when an ice pony experiences such a trauma, they revert back to their original ice covered state to help defend them against potential predators. In this case, her ice had broken her fall, and kept her from any serious injury. When Princess Sapphire had finally begun to stir, she had no idea how long she had been out, or where she was for that matter. With her head pounding from the pain, her body aching from the fall, she collected herself as best she could trying to make sense of the world around her. Everything around her seemed still, there wasn’t a sound to be heard, and it only made her worried for the other ponies. It was clear that none had followed her done here and none had found her. Questions flooded her mind as to what had become of every pony else, but it did little to slow her resolve in finding every pony else. Using her magic, Princess Sapphire brightened the area to see that she had fallen into quite a large and empty cavern. It seemed almost abyss like, the floor was littered with the black sand that carpeted the rest of the world, but there was no other marker for her to see. Walking a ways away, Princess Sapphire hoped that she would come to some sort of edge, a cliff or rock wall, so that she may at least start to map out her area. After some time she had found something most troubling. Hundreds if not thousands of footsteps had been left in the sand, the creatures from before, running droves, had been through here and perhaps heading towards the others. With only the direction of these creatures footsteps to go on, Princess Sapphire flared her mane and galloped off in the hopes of finding her friends. The footsteps had gone on for almost a mile in one singular direction, crossing nothing but black sand the entire way before coming to enormous rock wall and a tunnel that the footsteps funneled into. Sapphire barreled through the tunnel entrance. The further into the tunnel Sapphire had gotten, the more it revealed of what these creatures had come up against. Stopping for a moment, Sapphire noticed the footprints had become staggered, their were a set of hoofprints in the mix, but she could not tell how many. Scorch marks littered the walls, grooves of powerful magic scarred the rock face, and the smell of sulfur filled the air. Further into the tunnel the smallest of lights plumed for just a moment, the echo of roaring flames traveled after it, and Sapphire knew what was up ahead. Focusing her magic, Sapphire prepared herself as she took off once more down the tunnel to face down the Mad King once again. There was no telling how the Mad King would react, if her presence would only anger him further, or perhaps cause a moment of lucidness for him. To endure such a shattered mind was nearly unthinkable to her, as many ice ponies who suffer from much less severe mind linking spells are quickly tended to in the effort to minimize the impression it would leave upon them. The thoughts of avoiding the Mad King all together had crossed her mind, but wandering aimlessly through the tunnels did not seem like a better alternative. Surely, the Mad King would point her towards danger, if only to be amused at her ‘feeble’ attempts to stand against the Storm. Although, if he chose to end her then and there, she would need to find some way of overpowering him. The light of the flames flared again, a bend in the tunnel bathed the tunnel in a fiery red, as the sound of rock breaking against rock echoed after it. Rounding the bend, Sapphire turned in, magic brimming from her horn and there in fire stood the King gazing back at her. “Sapphire?” A familiar voice asked in disbelief. There, standing just a few steps away, was Smolder with the same dumbfounded expression on his face that she had. Both our their manes were flourishing ready to fight, but together had lowered their guard at the sudden shock of finding one another. Sapphire’s mind was racing, but it was unable to comprehend what she was seeing. “Smolder?” Princess Sapphire asked in quiet disbelief. “Is… is that really you?”