//------------------------------//
// Chapter 61: The Dark King Null (Part 2) 
// Story: The Phoenix King 
// by Turtlehaus 
//------------------------------//

The vast mountain ranges of the kingdom of Naught had been sheared away, deep valleys within the land of shadow had turned to rocky terrain, for the shockwave had brutalized the land and at the center of that blast had been Null. A massive crater within the fields of Ouroboros where Null had once stood now marked the large dividing crack that had split the world in two. I floated down to lip of the crater, staring down into the darkness below, watching the world slowly drift apart inch by inch as I searched for signs of the Dark King. 

Wick and Pyre emerged from layers of earth and sand, coughing from the amount that found their way into their nose. Princess Sapphire was next, followed by Twilight and Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike sprang up from the dirt along with Pinkie Pie. Each pony shaking and coughing the dirt from their lungs as they surveyed the area. 

“Is every pony alright?” Twilight asked.

“Let’s go again! Let’s go again!” Pinkie Pie chanted.

“All present and accounted for.” Pyre replied. 

Wiping the sand from his scales, Spike caught a glimpse of a small flame off in the distance where the meteor had struck down. 

“Smolder!” Spike shouted. “Hey! Smolder!” 

Spike was already running to meet up with him when Wick intercepted him by grabbing onto his tail. 

“The fight isn’t over, little dragon, it would be best if you stayed back for now.” Wick warned. 

“Are you saying that it survived that attack?” Rarity asked. 


“Smolder…”


The voice of Null echoed across the world. From the abyss I could see Null’s broken body floating up from the darkness, no more than torso with a shattered helm and shredded pieces of an arm. Strands of embers poured out of Null, it resembled a circulatory system that I had seen in the Infirmary back at Canterlot, although the picture was of ponies and not of this humanoid. With his body reforming itself, I could see that the fractured helm that shielded Null’s face had not been fixed along with the rest of him. I could see from the cracks within a single yellow eye fixated upon me, burning in its socket. 


“Why are you merely prolonging the inevitable?”


I found myself not responding right away. I was not inclined to humor Null with any sort of conversation, but deep down I could hear WIngston’s voice urging me to talk. 

“I’ll accept your unconditional surrender at anytime.” I replied.


“This isn’t your world, nor are these creatures your kin, but yet you fight to protect them… to help them. Why?”


The yellow eye of Null brought back memories of Mira’s looking through that small piece of Void glass. Her continuous pleas of asking for help, hearing the fear in her voice that she tried to mask so well, and recognizing that same desperation to save what was left of her home.

“My father made a lot of mistakes. It affected the way the world saw us, how we saw ourselves, and how we felt about others. We were suffering and I was sent to steal a power that promised to save us. What I found was a group of ponies that showed me some kindness and offered me their friendship when I asked for help.” 

Null’s fists clenched, veins of burning embers raced up his arms from his rage.

“We were saved by complete strangers who risked not only their lives, but never asked for anything in return. That’s when I decided that I would make that very same promise when I became King, that I would never turn away any pony that asked for help, because I am here because of somepony else.” 


“What do you know about suffering? Try living your life bound in chains! Forced to hide your face from the world! Hated by everyone around you! Knowing deep down that you were never meant to exist!”


I could hear the anger in Null’s voice, everything about him screamed rage, but I could see his pain. For how empty Null appeared there was a storm beyond the one that he controlled, a pain raging inside what was left of him, and it felt so familiar to me. 

“I know.” I said. “I was a mistake too.” 

Null leaned back, screaming into the empty skies, his anger overwhelming him. Dark energy erupted around him, tracing from the abyss below to the heavens above, lightning crackling around him. Like a shot Null dropped out of the air towards me, the sudden impact broke the ground beneath us. My wings had blocked Null’s outreached arms, holding him back as it seemed to only anger him more. Breaking off from the deadlock, Null launched into a tirade of attacks throwing punch after punch and kick after kick at me.

I could feel the rage in every punch Null threw. Something felt off about him. While the idea of beating me down into submission seemed to be his current goal, I couldn’t help but feel that there was something else troubling him. While the Storm had yet to return, it seemed as though Null grew stronger with every passing minute and I began to wonder why he seemed to so weak when the two were together. 

My thoughts were enough to distract me for a brief moment as I felt Null’s kick connect with my chest, fueled by dark energy as the power behind it threw me high into the air. My wings shot open, slowing me, as I turned back to see Null already flying towards me with his arm wretched back and hand clenched into a fist. 

The fire upon my wings grew nearly three fold, rolling forward I slammed my fiery wings down upon Null sending him rocketing towards the ground and crashing hard into the dirt. Almost immediately Null was on the offensive again, firing all manner of dark energy bolts up towards me, a barrage scattered wide that proved difficult to dodge. 

A flash of my horn had a magical shield surrounding me as the dark energy impacted it like rain upon water. Most of my time training with Mira had been around focusing my magic, I in particular chose to rely on a strong shield above everything else. I relied on my fire as a means to attack and in this case it proved the only real thing that harmed Null in any lasting way. Feeding a strong surge of magic into my shield, it rapidly expanded, before bursting like a bubble and sending a wave of energy through the air. It shattered all of the dark energy being thrown by Null, who in turn was forced to shield himself from the blast. 

From the clouds of dust hundreds of fireballs broke through, each one striking the ground around Null and exploding into a pool of fire. Clasping his hands together, Null released a burst of dark energy that blasted the fire away from him, but in so doing discovered that I had hidden myself in one of those very fireballs. 

A torrent of fire exploded from my mouth, blasting Null from his feet and pushing him across the field. Even as I landed I didn’t let up my attack, forcing Null further and further to the edge as I could feel my fire only growing fiercer with each passing second. 

A beam cut through my fire, black as lacquer, expanding rapidly as it split my fire apart, Null sprinting towards me his fist pulsing with black fire. Swinging my wing to meet his fist, I focused my magic to the point where our strikes would meet to reinforce the power behind my strike. The resulting clash sent out a shock wave causing our attacks to stalemate once again. The glow of Null’s eye burned from behind his helm, his arm shaking from the fury that burned inside him. 

Twisting his body, Null’s other arm swung around to strike again as I threw my hoof out to meet it. This time my flash step ignited, feeling the fire already exploding from my hoof as our punches landed and released an fiery explosion that consumed us. In that moment I saw the shell of Null’s hand peel away, a familiar silver skin appearing underneath, and the fear that overcame him.



Within the throne room of Castle Char sat several of the most distinguished flame ponies of the kingdom. First was that of Alex Papyrus who had been tasked to search for anything and everything concerning the Void within the dungeons of the castle. Next was General Ray Horizon who had come into her own as a leader and a soldier during the battle with the Orc, Gorun. There was Burning Sand the eldest of the group, charismatic and quite the politician, who had served the realm faithfully for many years. Golden Fleece, the daughter of Argo Fleece, had taken her father’s position as head of the Treasury and has continued to manage the financial welfare of the kingdom. Included was the leader of the newly renovated academy and the royal air force Flare Fizzle. Princess Luna and Discord had traveled back from the Summit to aid in the effort to find an alternative means of opening the portal. 

“It can’t be done.” Alex stated.

“Your negativity is not helping.” Goldie replied.

“Whether it be six hours or six years it cannot be done. There is simply too much to sort through and there is no guarantee that there is another way of opening the portal.” 

“Technically, five hours and thirty-four minutes.” Burning Sand mentioned.

The entire throne room was filled with stone slates of whatever Alex could dredge up from the dungeons. With Lord Smoke having destroyed any mention of the Void, alongside the Mad King’s destruction of much of their history, all that was left was ledgers, letters, and some hidden text to be sorted through. Everypony was lending a hoof in pouring over these slates, hoping to find any mention of the Void, but nothing had been found yet. 

“If we cannot find an alternative soon we’ll have to abort this whole plan and convene once again to determine what is to be done.” Princess Luna said.

“Is everything written in stone?” Discord asked.

“We’re not fans of paper.” Ray mumbled.

A loud slurping sound was heard as Discord began licking slate after slate. “Obviously you lot are not very keen on dusting either.” 

“Is that really necessary?” Flare asked sounding disgusted. 

“It’s how he reads things.” Princess Luna stated.

“Would it not be more beneficial to ask that Arcana if there is another way?” Alex suggested. 

Picking up another slate to go over, Princess Luna shook her head in dismay. “I’ve spoken with the Arcana, she claims that the only one capable of opening portals alone is the other Arcana that spoke with Smolder.”

“Who in their right minds would make such a ridiculous way of powering these portals?” Ray asked.

“It takes quite a lot of energy to rip open a portal to another dimension.” Discord mentioned.

A gently thudding sound was heard, Ray was slowly knocking her head against a stone slate in her hooves having reached the end of her patience. There was nothing for it though, no amount of frustration was going to open the portals, and time crept ever on. 

The doors of the throne room slid open, Tea Herbal, Florence Gale, and Christie Chapel entered at the far end of the hall. Each of them carried a platter with small stone cups of tea that Tea herself made. 

Each of them took a different side of the room, offering each pony a cup, the smell of jasmine and honey filled the air. It was a welcome distraction from the unprofitable research.

“How’s it going?” Tea asked.

“Everyday since the King’s disappearance I’ve been pouring over every single slate I could possibly get my hooves on. I’ve learned military strategies, cookbook recipes, rock poetry, and even a self help slate for those suffering from acute ember build up but not a single thing about the Void.” Alex lamented. 

“Acute ember build up?” Chapel asked.

“It’s when a flame pony doesn’t correctly breathe fire and accumulate embers upon their teeth. It’s rather a lot like cavities in regular ponies, except it is the inverse and we have a build up of harden rock.” Alex explained.  

As interesting as it was to learn of flame pony ailments, the news of no progress was difficult to ignore. Passing over the last cup of tea to Princess Luna, Tea picked up a slate from the top of the pile to see it referencing measurements of banner hanging heights. 

“None of this would be happening if I had taken better care of Smolder’s flame.” Tea mumbled.

Everypony looked towards Tea sympathetically, knowing that the accident was no fault of her own, but knew how much guilt she was still carrying with her. 

Tea felt Princess Luna’s hoof touch her shoulder gingerly. “It was a gift, nothing more. It was meant to be treasured by you, not guarded. We will find another way.”

Her words were enough to make Tea smile. Chapel and Florence were already helping in searching through the stacks of slates for any clues to the Void. Tea moved herself closer to Alex’s pile, the largest of within the room, feeling that her chances would be better there. 

Oddly enough, the first stack of slates that Tea came across were rather new, thinner and much more sleek then the others. It bore no title, yet the slates inside seemed to detail the events that had taken place during the return of the Mad King many months ago. 

“What’s this?” Tea asked.

Alex leaned over his stack of slates, a sudden flourish of his flames erupted from his mane from embarrassment as he stumbled over his own hooves to reach her. 

“That -that -that is nothing! Please put it down!” Alex stammered. 

Tea easily sidestepped the fumbling Alex who found himself falling face first into a stack of slates having failed to retrieve his side project. 

“What is it?” Ray asked curiously.

“It seems like the beginning of a history book, detailing the events that happened during the return of the Mad King and Smolder’s rise to power.” Tea explained looking at it more thoroughly. 

“Are you authoring this particular text, Papyrus?” Burning Sand questioned.

Alex got to his hooves looking rather mortified. “I-I-I can’t say that it is of any quality. I felt responsible for keeping a detailed record of our current history, seeing as we don’t have much of an old one.” 

“I find that rather commendable, Mr. Papyrus.” Princess Luna praised him.

“It even has references.” Tea mentioned. “It even has first hand accounts from particular flame ponies.” 

Alex attempted to take the book from Tea once more, but was outmaneuvered again as she walked off with it. 

“You went around asking ponies to recall their experiences during that time?” Flare asked.

“Only a few ponies, General Hearth was the best source for much of it. I haven’t had much time to really flesh out the battle with the Orc, but I feel rather confident about the prior chapter.” Alex confided. 

Ray lit up at the idea. “Were you going to interview us?” 

“I have some rather important things to add if this is going to be recorded for future generations.” Flare insisted. 

“I can’t be as important as being on the front lines.” Ray countered.

“That can be a side note, the strategies used to win that battle is what future flame ponies should be interested in.” 

Ray was already on her hooves, nose to nose with Flare who in turn was refusing to back down.

“The only side note worth noting is your ademdom for the requisition for time off to be filed a week in advance as being the most asinine thing a Academy Leader has ever done.” Ray barked.

“Perhaps if you were on time to the daily security briefings for once you’d actually be able to take part in some of these discussions.” Flare snapped back. “Instead of playing hide the salt lick with Solar.” 

Flames were surging from both Flare and Ray now, the two becoming rather irritated with one another. Goldie did her best to try and calm them, offering them their own personal recounts of the battle to be submitted on slates and allow Mr. Papyrus to sort it out. 

Alex was quick to intervene stating that history books were about the factual accounts of what had taken place and that flame ponies tend to exaggerate their stories due to their pride. This only further fueled Flare and Ray’s frustration with the idea that either them would be untruthful of their accounts of the battle that Alex was implying. 

Tea had taken the book to Florence and Chapel to see how detailed Mr. Papyrus had been detailing the events of the return of the Mad King. It appeared that Mr. Papyrus was something of an artist himself, as their were rather detailed etchings of the significant moments chiseled into parts of the slates to reference the material. 

The events of the Mad King’s return had been published by many pony news sources after the fact. Much of what had transpired seemed to crossover many of the articles Tea had read, while only minor details differing from paper to paper. Turning the next slate over, Tea found herself staring at a rather familiar sight that had been plastered on many of the headlines, but all of them had different takes to what it was.

“What happened here?” Tea asked curiously. 

Flare had a firm grasp on the collar of Mr. Papyrus’s newly tailored vest, while Ray looked ready to clobber him by the way she massaged her hooves. Fortunately, Alex noticed that picture that Tea had been referencing and got ecstatic over the idea of sharing some of his knowledge. 

“This particular image harkens to the moment where Lord Smolder had broken free from his earthly bonds, figuratively of course, and reemerged to us a new pony. His red fire now resembling that of his mother’s. A very warm and inviting yellow fire that washed over the fields and every pony. It also brought about wings for-”

The loudest raspberry suddenly escaped from Discord’s mouth, tongue flapping like flag caught in the high breeze as he sprayed his tea all over the place. Princess Luna was quick with her magic to shield most of the splash zone while everypony else held up slates to shield themselves. 

“Discord!” Princess Luna shouted.

“I’ve just thought of it! I cannot believe it, it’s been right under my nose this entire time!” Discord exclaimed. 

“What’s it talking about?” Ray asked nauseatingly.

Discord threw out his his chest in triumph. “I know how we’re going to open the portal!” 

Everypony fell silent. Looking at Discord as if he had been playing a rather cruel joke on them, but his triumphant persona persisted beyond a comparable punchline. 

“Then tell us, Discord, how do we open the portal?” Princess Luna asked.

“Why with you and you and you and you and you…”

Discord quickly pointed to Alex, Burning Sand, Flare, and Ray before turning on his claw to Goldie.

“But not you, sorry.” 

No pony seemed to understand what Discord was talking about, nor did they see why four flame ponies were needed but not a fifth. 

“Why can’t Goldie help? Wouldn’t it be better to have an extra flame pony?” Flare asked.

“You are absolutely right, that’s why we’re going to get every flame pony in this kingdom to help us. Sweet Celestia, I am so smart that I simply can’t believe it at times.” Discord stated.

“You still haven’t told us what your plan is Discord.” Princess Luna insisted.

Discord quickly slithered over to Tea, taking a firm hold of her hooves as he forced her to lift the book once again to show them the picture. 

“This is it!” Discord exclaimed.

“What?” Alex asked looking puzzled. “Lord Smolder isn’t here.” 

Discord disappeared on the spot before reappearing before Mr. Papyrus. “Technically that isn’t completely true.” 

Turning around to face the others, Discord was now wearing a full military garb with big sunglasses and a corn cob pipe. Instinctively, Ray and Flare snapped to attention, but found themselves cursing under their breath at Discords antics. 

“General Ray Horizon and Admiral Flare, gather up your armies, round up the civilians, and have them meet us at the Obelisks. Time is not on our side so be quick about it.” Discord commanded. 

Ray and Flare looked at one another, feeling like they should do as they were asked.

“Enough games, Discord, tell us what you have discovered.” Princess Luna demanded.

“Mr. Papyrus, tell me what are the origins of the flame pony? To be more precise, how was it that the flame ponies came to be?” Discord questioned him.

“Well, uh, let’s see the old story goes that the Elder Dragon Char had taken pity on a village of ponies that had gotten caught in the volcanoes eruption, having been turned to stone from the intense heat. It was through the Elder Dragon’s magic that it shared its fire with us and-”

“That’s it!” Discord shouted.

“What’s it? Burning Sand asked.

“The Elder Dragon shared its fire with you ponies, but as I recall, during the Mad King’s short lived return he took away every flame ponies fire.” Discord began. “Which means that when our little statue of a prince decided to make his triumphant return, it was his fire that swept across the fields and reignited everypony.”

There was a sudden silence of realization that came over every pony in the room. Smolder had shared his fire with every flame pony that the Mad King had stolen from, all except for Goldie who had not been present at the time. It would stand to reason that their fire was in some way a bit of Smolder’s at least to a point and could potentially be used to open the portal again.

Princess Luna looked rather uneasy about the idea. “Discord… this is a huge gamble, we don’t know if this is going to work. We can’t ask the flame ponies to give up their fire again to open-” 

“That’s why we gather every pony in the Ashen Fields, we have them share just a bit of their fire. Surely every flame pony in the kingdom would be more than enough to power this portal. This has to work, there is no other option, we either try or we’ll be forced to call it off.” Discord explained. 

Princess Luna looked to every pony, seeing their hopeful and yet unsure glances at this plan. There was no time to test it. It would have to work or three portals across Equestria would open and the plan would fail right then and there. Although, if by some miracle it did work, it would give them the fighting chance they needed to succeed in rescuing every pony. 

“What do you say, Princess Luna?” Discord asked. 

“Gather the flame ponies. We’re opening the portal.” Princess Luna stated. 



Large gusts of wind carrying the residual heat of Smolder’s flames washed over everypony, it was hot dry heat that lacked all moisture in the air. Laced within the heat was this feeling of despair and emptiness from the dark energy that lingered in the air. 

“I’m failing to see how any pony can take this creature down presently.” Rarity remarked. 

“I think Smolder has a pretty good idea.” Spike mumbled.

A blast of wind rushed across the fields, causing everypony to shield their faces as the all manner of sand and rock flew past them. Each passing moment the battle between Null and Smolder was becoming more intense.

Sapphire turned to every pony, flaring her wings to get their attention. “Twilight, Rarity, the three of us need to circle around the left side of the fields and find an opening to assist Smolder. While Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will-” 

“Every pony needs to stay put.” Pyre interrupted her. 

“Stay put? You’re not seriously suggesting that we-”

“Can’t you feel the fire that Smolder is currently producing?” Wick interrupted her. 

It wasn’t hard to feel the heat that was coming from the battle between Null and Smolder. With each blast that swept over the fields, the residual heat that hadn’t dispersed told of how intense the fire Smolder was putting out burned. Clearly, if any pony was to get closer to the fighting, they’d be burned by the heat alone or worse.

“Our brother is starting to realize just how strong he is. Mad as our father may be, our line has always been one strength and wisdom, while our brother seems to have at least one of those qualities, its safe to say he’s coming into his own with this power.” Pyre explained. 

“Smolder will not be able to keep this up forever, which means we must take advantage of this opportunity.” Wick added. 

“If we can’t get close enough to help Smolder, then what can we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“Finding Princess Celestia and the rest of your friends is the best option we have right now. With her help, Wick and I will be able to assist Smolder until the portals are open. The rest of you will need to stay out of the fight and not allow Null to capture you.” Pyre explained. 

With yet another explosion rocking the fields, it was clear that having every pony together again would be the best option. Wick and Pyre motioned for the others to begin following them, but found Sapphire stepping back in defiance. 

“I’m not leaving him.” Sapphire stated.

“Lady Sapphire, I cannot deny the loyalty and strength of an Ice Pony, but I do know that Smolder would never forgive himself if he harmed you or any of these ponies. Indirectly or otherwise.” Pyre reasoned with her.

“I’m not asking for your permission, Lord Pyre.” Sapphire replied. 

Before the Twins could argue their point further with her the sound of the Storm broke over the fields. Every pony was looking towards Smolder and Null in the distance as the two had ceased their battle for the moment. 

Spiraling upwards from the abyss the Storm was making its presence known once more. Lightning cracked and flashed from the split within the earth, with the Storm groaning and howling, reaching up towards Null. The sheer scale of the Storm was unbelievable, it spanned nearly the whole of the split within the world. The air trembled from the roar of the Storm, it brought Null to his knees clutching his silver hand at the base where the corruption hadn’t been renewed. 


“I don’t know… I don’t know... I don’t know... ”


Null cowered from the sight of his own hand, while the Storm seemed to speak to him through the groaning of its power and bolts of lightning that flashed within. Slowly lifting his silver hand into the air a strand of the Storm lashed out consuming Null’s hand as his cries of pain rang out. I could not help but feel anger at the sight of it. 

A sudden flourish of my flames had surprised the Storm as the clouds retreated from Null, but his hand was once more husk like. Clutching it to his chest, Null got back to his feet, breathing heavily as he paced backwards to the edge of the split. Stepping off the edge of the clifface, Null was levitated into the air by the Storm, his yellow eye still trained on me. 


“This is where you die, Fire King.”


Massive claws reached over the side of the cliff face, smashing down on either side of me. The ground beneath me was starting to give way from the impact as I leaped back fanning my wings to carry me further back. From within the Storm I could see a gigantic crown of horns rising from the abyss. A massive head, scales as black as the night, it's tattered and torn leathery wings being lifted every higher by the Storm. I was once more face to face with the Great Dragon Char. 

It appeared lifeless, its right arm still twisted from when the Storm had broken it to drag it through the portal. Legions of its scales had been torn away as if it had been eaten from the inside out. 

Null drifted down to the brow of the Great Dragon Char. Slamming the palm of his hand upon the head of the dragon, the Storm funneled through Null’s back and fed into the dragon through his arm. The neck of the Great Dragon Char started to bulge, the Storm flaring out from beneath the scales, as it climbed the rest of the way over the edge. I was already leaping away watch the  wings of the dragon become coated with the Storm, and its missing eyes flared with the dark clouds. The jaws of the Elder Dragon opened up, spewing the Storm like fire from its throat as its roar was mixed in with the thunderous groan of the Storm.