//------------------------------//
// The Daily Routine Of A Flame Pony Prince 
// Story: The Flame Prince 
// by Schlat 
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It had been roughly two hours since I had begun to file through the endless amount of paper/clay tablets on my desk, though mostly clay. The reason for which I’m certain is self-explanatory. 

Paper was another resource that was next to impossible to acquire out here. Even if you had the bits for it, it almost always had to be artificially made. Through multiple methods from spellcasting to playing with chemicals. Along with the spell required to keep it from bursting into flames when picked up by a flame pony meant that even the nobility sometimes had trouble acquiring it. 

Which only added to my surprise when I saw the practical mountain of paper sitting on my desk, alongside the tablets, waiting to be read. My main duty over the years had been the position of Regent of Ashen which meant that I had grown accustomed to micro-managing a lot at once, but even this was getting to be borderline outlandish. Thankfully however a lot of it was simply reading a petition or request and deciding to sign off on it or not. Ranging from a proposed construction project to new weapons for the army. However a few things would have to go through a meeting or two before they would get the metaphorical green light. 

I looked over at the two guards stationed on either side of the door to my office. “Blaze, Solar?” I asked. Both returned my gaze before Blaze spoke up. “Yes, my prince?” 

“How are your accommodations in the barracks?” Solar looked puzzled but Blaze answered my question. “They are fine, but the beds could use some repair. Same with the weapon racks. That and some of the spears are getting on in life” she added. 

“Yes, this report by General Pyre said as much. At that I do believe an inspection is in order” I replied, Blaze simply nodded. “We’ll begin once I get through these last few bits of papers sorted”. Then I turned my attention to the other guardsmare in the room. 

“What do you think about the state of the barracks Solar?”. The guard seemed surprised that I had spoken to her directly, and it took her a second to formulate a response. “We-well my prince, everything that Blaze said is correct. But it really isn’t an issue, just more of an inconvenience really”. 

“Be that as it may Solar, an army can have the best, most motivated soldiers at its disposal. But if they are not well rested, not equipped with the best weapons and equipment available, and are not in peak physical condition you will hoof your enemy an advantage. A situation like that in combination with our already low marepower would almost certainly lead to our defeat. We cannot have quantity, so we must have quality” I explained. Solar seemed to understand this, and looked at the floor, as if in thought. 

“Actually my prince, I’ve noticed that some of our armor’s enchantments seem to have dulled a little recently as well”. Blaze also nodded her head at that, I was actually genuinely surprised. “Really now, huh I was not aware about that Solar, and to think that I might have sent your comrades out in weakened armor last month… Well we can’t have that, I’ll have some of the unicorns look at the enchantments later today. Thank you for bringing this to my attention”. 

“I-it was not a problem at all my prince” she answered. “Hehe, believe it or not Solar but you’ve probably saved quite a few lives, valuable ones at that” I said. 

“Oh, uh thank you my prince” she replied. To that I smiled, “Solar my dear, please, when in private call me Flameheart”.





About an hour or so later we had arrived at the barracks, soon to begin our surprise inspection. First however I wanted to speak with Plasma and inform her what I would be up to. Since she ran a tight schedule and I wanted to be considerate of that. 

Blaze thankfully was able to inform me of where she was, that being the training grounds. Which were located behind the barracks, built into Mount Vulcan. 

When we did find her she was sparring in one of the training arenas, but the surprising part was who she was sparing with. That being General Pyre herself, the Supreme Commander of the Royal Guard. She worked in conjunction with Grand Master Holy Spark, ’leader’ of our order of knights, to keep Ashen and it’s surrounding communities safe. 

The black furred, orange maned mare with bright orange eyes was of great contrast to the silver furred Captain. Even if it was a bit hard to tell thanks to the red, orange, and black armor they wore. It seemed their fight had attracted a small crowd as well, with royal guards and knights both lining the railings of the arena. Watching with such great interest that none seemed to even notice my arrival.

Both ponies struck their swords at each other at the same time, producing a cling noise before said swords met at their crossguards. Plasma then tried to kick and sweep Pyre off her hooves, but she managed to jump over her. Bringing her sword around to try and strike Plasma, who dodged to the left just in time as the sword grazed her helmet. 

Pyre kept up her momentum however and began to slowly crawl forward while striking madly. However she was still swinging conservatively, saving most of her strength for the hits that mattered while keeping Plasma on the defensive. It seemed to pay off as Plasma was slowly backed into a corner. 

Then something unexpected happened. Plasma charged straight at Pyre while unleashing one of our great many gifts that have been bestowed to us since time immemorial, Fire Breath. 

Pyre was soon covered head to hoof with pure, hot, flame. If she had been a regular pony she would have likely received serious burns or if she was a unicorn she may have very well been incinerated. But as she was a flame pony she was fine, if a bit warm. Same for the armor which had protective enchantments. 

But Plasma hadn’t used the heat to try and incinerate Pyre. She was instead relying on the blinding light to escape Pyre’s offensive, and it worked. As she had managed to jump around to the side and then get behind the general. 

Seeing her opportunity she struck… and met metal, and then a hoof to the face. Pyre then forced her sword to the ground with her own before tackling Plasma, pinning her to the ground as the ponies around us began to chant the numbers one to five. When the former number was reached I stepped forward, content with the entertainment I had seen and eager to continue with the days activities.

“Captain Plasma has been fairly bested in combat, the winner is General Dante Pyre” I proclaimed. Much to the surprise of many of the soldiers and knights that had been spectating. Pyre herself actually seemed surprised to see me, as we didn’t interact much thanks to our jobs. Still, we got along quite well when we did have to work together.

“Prince Flameheart… it is good to see you again your majesty” she said. 

“Likewise, general”. Pyre was an older mare like Plasma, which was rare in the guard. The Order was a different story though. “How goes things in the guard. Anymore Deathworms giving you trouble?” I joked. 

“No no, nothing that requires your immediate attention my prince. Though I assume you received my letter?” she asked. “Indeed, and that is the reason I’m here. I would like to personally inspect the barracks to see for myself the issues you described as well as to find any others that may have slipped through the metaphorical cracks”. 

“Very well, do what you need to do. Though I ask you do not get in the way of Captain Plasma’s and my own training and demonstrations”. 

“Reasonable, though you should probably let others have a chance in the ring if you wish for them to improve” I joked. Pyre merely gave a light chuckle in response. 

“Perhaps the young colt is right general, we can’t expect improvement from them if we never let them fight” Plasma added. Seeming to have fully recovered from the fight.

“Hmm, how observant of you captain” Pyre retorted. “Indeed general, I myself may jump in for a round or two tomorrow or before the end of the week” I added. Both mares seemed surprised at this. 

“Really my prince, I thought you were too busy these days to train with us?” Plasma asked. “Well, when your job may require you to fight you should be as prepared as possible” I replied. Both mares shared a look before at this. 

“While I understand that as heir to the realm you should be trained in combat, but why would you need to fight. Is an invasion expected?” Pyre asked. 

“No but I am to be departing for Equestria by the end of the week for confidential reasons”. Not only were the two ponies infront of me shocked but some of the surrounding ones were as well, including Blaze and Solar. Plasma opened her mouth to say something but I beat her to it. 

“It doesn’t matter Plasma, what’s done is done and what’s said is said. I won’t be gone for long and once I return we will have more power than we know what to do with” I proclaimed. 

“Very well my prince, very well” Plasma replied. 

“Anyway, while this conversation has been nice I have work that I need get back to, so I will leave you both to it” I proclaimed. 

“Very well, have a good day your highness” Plasma added. “The same to you both”. I looked back towards my own guards. “Come along you two, the barracks aren’t going to inspect themselves”





The inspection had taken about an hour and a half. While Pyre’s report had been quite accurate the damage could really just be chalked up to required maintenance. Though Solar also seemed to be correct on the armors enchantments needing to be worked on as well. 

All in all it wouldn’t be a very noticeable drain on the treasury. Which after letting the mage company know about the waning enchantments let us get along to our next destination for the day, the underground farms. They, like the barracks, had been built into and under Mount Vulcan during the early days of our settlement here. As underground was the only place water could survive here, and since the rocky surface was not capable of sustaining plant life this was the only place we could grow anything. 

When we arrived the head farmer, an orange mare with a white mane called Fire Flower informed us that several of their crops were failing this year. This wasn’t unusual, as trying to grow regular flowers, wheat, barley, oats, and other fruits and vegetables was next to impossible even all the way down here. Even with enchantments. 

What the problem was is the fact that more crops than usual were failing this year, and nopony had any idea why. Nothing should have really changed. So it was a complete mystery. 

However, after a quick test of the soil/rock that the crops grew in revealed that there was very little nutrients in the soil itself. 

“So we have two options. Either wait for the ground to regain the nutrients naturally and forbid this and next years growing seasons. Or find a way to enrich the ground naturally” I proclaimed. 

“It appears that way your highness” Fire Flower said. This was bad, while I did understand agriculture somewhat I could hardly be called little more than a novice. Which meant I didn’t really have an answer for Fire. 

“Very well Miss Fire, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will look into this and find a solution, is there anything else you need before I depart?” I asked. “No my prince, thank you for your time today. We all appreciate it” she replied. “Very well, and it is not a problem Miss Fire, you are all my subjects and as a ruler it is my job to take care of you, good day” I added. With that I turned around and signaled to Blaze and Solar that it was time to leave. 





“How bad is it my prince?” Blaze asked. “Bad Blaze, we’ve had crop failures before but this is in a new league”.

“But I thought that the unicorns’ magic could keep the ground fertile?” Solar asked. “If that wasn’t the case wouldn’t it have already become barren” she added.

“Yes, you are correct Solar. But the ground, even that far below, was already so barren when we arrived that even with magic it was a miracle that we got anything to grow at all. Their magic just kept the ground fertile, if increasing its fertility at all. Until now it seems” I explained. “Oh” was her reply.  

“I’ll see if I can come up with a solution, but if not we’re just going to have to construct more farms” I added. 

With that we continued on, our next stop was a meeting held in the town hall about building regulations. Apparently some of the stone used in the construction of a new bridge over one of the lava rivers that run through Ashen was more brittle than usual. Which was also confirmed by a team of specialists. 

I ordered that the bridge be closed and rebuilt, as well as to make sure the stone was strong enough to handle the weight of a decent cart. 

After that I checked in personally with the mayor and oversaw a training exercise of Ashen’s youth, as thanks to the dangers out here military service was a requirement, of which you had to serve for ten years before you could retire. With a lot not… but that was why we had them go through exercises like this so early on in their lives. To prepare them for the hardships to come. Though that would change once I got ahold of the elements. 

With that completed we stopped at the local tavern to get lunch. I also used the opportunity to check in with the taverns keeper, Brandy. She almost always knew every little tidbit of information in and around Ashen, and was my go too for when I wanted said information. Though today it would just be checking in to see what had happened in my few weeks of absence. 

“Good afternoon Mrs. Brandy, how are you” the cream coated, red maned earth pony mare smiled back, and yes she was an earth pony. The only one in Ashen. She used to be some sort of criminal, a bootlegger” I believe they called her. Apparently all she did was smuggle an illegal form of alcohol from place to place. While on the run she had found herself here and decided to start up a proper business. That was eight years before I was born. 

“Afternoon my prince, and it’s just as I always say, business as usual. Why’d ya come by, it’s been a minute. Need more information?”. Brandy always was more on the talkative side. 

“No no, just wanted to check in while grabbing some food. How’s business?”. 

“Same as before your highness, now how is my favorite prince doing?” she replied.  Brandy was always a bit more of the flirtatious type as well. Either that or she was emboldened to make those comments by being constantly drunk. 

“He’s doing quite well, thank you” I smiled. We continued to talk about irrelevant topics for about six more minutes before I said farewell to her for the day, me and my guards taking my food for the day. Though I would probably be back just before I left for Equestria. I would need to know as much as possible about it and she was the best pony we had to mitigate that issue.

After that we inspected the city’s defenses for about two hours before retiring back to my office for the rest of the evening. Blaze and Solar stood guard like before while I mused around with the documents still waiting for attention on my desk. Occasionally asking them for how they felt or thought about something. 





Eight o’clock was dinner time for the residents of the castle, and since I hadn’t eaten for over eight hours I did not want to miss it. Blaze and Solar were still following me but would be relived once I reached the dining hall, as I wouldn’t be leaving the castle this late at night so the guards on duty were considered more than enough for security.

A part of me was always excited to see what Smoker and his team had prepared for the evening. Something which was not disappointed when the two guards stationed outside opened the doors. 

The scent of steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, alongside cooked meat filled my nostrils. 

“Good evening Flameheart”. My mother was also present, seated at the head of the table. “Good evening mother, how was your day?”. 

“Oh long and boring, yourself?” she replied. 

“The same I suppose, running around the whole city like a headless chicken”. She chuckled at this as I sat down at the opposite end of the table. ”So many nights like this one. Just me and her… and the guards I suppose”. 

She never did tell me exactly what had happened to my father, but it had nearly destroyed her. From her incoherent ramblings to muttering how she failed to protect him. 

Although I had tried at first I eventually gave up on trying to coax it out of her, for fear that it was driving her even more mad. That coupled with me comforting her when I was young to taking on some of her responsibilities over the years had seemed to help her regain her sanity. Or get over the heartbreak, whichever it was. 

“So, anything actually interesting happen on your ’long and boring day?’” I asked. “Hehe, well Lady Brimstone came in to inquire about the establishment of another quarry. That was about as interesting as it got, the rest were just about laws and general politics” she replied. 

I nodded and proceeded to tell her about my own day as we ate. She didn’t like the situation with the farms but relaxed when I told her I would handle it. She laughed as I recalled the fight between Plasma and Pyre, stating that the former ”has still got it”.

After that our conversation ranged from the state of the realm, old memories, and to how the chandelier above us needed to be dusted. Eventually we finished our meals and I informed her that I would be taking a few more days off to train with Plasma before I departed for Equestria. 

“Very well, I will manage in your absence but please hurry back. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to micro-manage everything on your level” she joked. “Ha, I will try mother, I will try”.

With that we both parted for the night and I headed straight for my tower, as always greeting the guard stationed at the bottom. Once I reached my room I all but flopped onto my bed, throwing my clothing onto my desk chair infront of my bed. Once again getting a good view of the mare in the moon. 

For some reason in that moment I felt something well within my chest, something that felt… unnatural.