Stolen Fire

by Tzelael

The Hidden King

Daylight, what little of it there was, began to fade as Fluttershy made her way back home. The girls had stayed with Pinkie to the end of visiting hours, or so they were told– 6:00 PM seemed a bit too early for hospital visiting hours to end. That point became moot when the five ponies were effectively thrown out by the hospital staff.

“Well, at least we got to see Pinkie for a while...” Fluttershy smiled while she remembered the conversations they had at the hospital room. Her smile quickly faded when she remembered something else about the visit.

“Twilight said we needed to get him out to the Everfree Forest around 2:00 AM... That way, nopony will see him and by the time they’d wake up and anypony realizes he’s gone, he’d already be far, far away...” The words “Far, far away” echoed in Fluttershy’s mind. She paused for a minute, then shut her eyes tightly. In her contemplation, she swallowed hard and shook her head at her own thoughts.

“It’s for his own good, Fluttershy... If he stays too long, another one of us might get hurt... And he might get hurt...” She sighed and continued up the road to her house. It was still unnerving not to see any of her critters in the area to greet her. When she got to the door, she heard low, mournful rumbles from within the cottage. She gently opened it and saw Stitches, curled up tightly in a ball while his body convulsed at random intervals.

“Stitches?” Fluttershy asked quietly as she gingerly approached the patchwork pony. Still shaken, he slowly uncurled and turned to face Fluttershy.

“What’s the matter?” The pegasus leaned down while Stitches feebly tried to speak. After his groans and stutters proved to be unintelligible, he pointed to the table. Fluttershy saw the quill, inkwell and paper sitting there and brought them over. He took the quill and dipped it in the well, the ink dripping all over the paper as he clumsily scratched across it.

Fluttershy read the words written on the paper. Her mouth opened, but it only produced words after she overcame her disbelief at what the stallion suggested.

“Wh-Why would you say that?” Fluttershy asked with a weakened voice.

Stitches wrote down his response, then shoved the paper on the table for Fluttershy to see.

“Who did? Who told you this?”

For a few moments, when he wrote the name, his penmanship improved dramatically, almost as if the name itself was etched into his brain.

Fluttershy fell silent, but only because she scrambled to find the right thing to say to him. This was the same pony Twilight mentioned earlier, and now she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted Stitches dead.

“Well... You don’t want to die, do you?” Fluttershy composed herself long enough to ask the question, while she simultaneously tried to suppress the sinking feeling in her stomach.

Stitches quickly shook his head.

“Then you don’t have to...” She stroked the creature’s back. With every once of her willpower, she maintained smile and kept an upbeat tone. “My friends and I already have a plan. We’re going to get you out of here before that... Flamebearer does anything to you.”

Stitches looked up, hardly reassured. He slowly wrote on the paper again, sliding it to Fluttershy again.

Fluttershy shifted about uncomfortably... She wasn’t sure how to handle this. Her eyes darted all over the room, desperately searching for any source of inspiration. She then saw one of the books she borrowed from Twilight. She lit up and looked between the book and Stitches.

“... Stitches, go get something to eat, then meet me up in your room. You’re going to need to rest up if you’re going to make the trip!” Fluttershy ran to get the book, Codex Cover’s Illustrated Classics. She desperately searched for one particular page, then stopped at the one she found earlier at the library.

At the central table of the library, Twilight held up a map of Ponyville and surrounding areas that bordered the Everfree Forest. She drew a line from the approximate location of Fluttershy’s Cottage through the forest. She stopped in the middle when she heard a rapping on the door. She walked to the door and opened it, then jumped with a start when she saw who it was.

“Miss Sparkle... I trust you’ve had time to consider my proposal.” Professor Flamebearer held his hoof in the door. Twilight steeled herself and made eye contact with him.

“Actually, now that you mention it, I did want to discuss your proposal... And the information you gave me.” She opened the door all the way and allowed the stallion to enter. She closed the door behind him, then called up to Spike.

“Spike! Get some tea for our guest.”

Spike leaned over the upper floors and called back downstairs. “Sure, give me a second!”

Twilight walked Professor Flamebearer over to the table. He sat on one side of the table and pulled out his notes. The professor sat down and folded his forelegs over each other.

“So, has my information been useful to you, or is there something missing from it?”

Twilight looked through the notes, then back up at Flamebearer. “They’ve been a great deal of help... They’re very detailed, and incredibly specific... I’ve actually been meaning to ask–” Spike walked down with a set of cups and a teapot. He filled both the ponies' cups.

"“Thank you, Spike." He left the set on the table with a mild hint of disdain for the stallion. Twilight smiled and nodded at her dragon aide. She tilted her head toward a blank scroll and quill, and Spike grabbed them and headed upstairs. "As I was saying... I’ve been meaning to ask about how you managed to get this much information.”

Flamebearer lifted a foreleg, took a sip of his tea, then set the cup back down on the saucer. “I’ve been after the Leaden One for some time now.”

“And there aren’t any others in the world, right?” Twilight maintained eye contact and sipped her tea again.

“I never found any others.” Professor Flamebearer leaned back, his forelegs crossed over his chest.

“Then how did you get these very specific details on how he was constructed?”

“... I beg your pardon?”

“Then allow me to refresh your memory...” Twilight cleared her throat and held up some of the notes. “‘Each body part and organ is cut out from a different corpse. They’re infused with a concentration of the appropriate humour, most of them being infused with bile and blood. Most of the organs were too desiccated to be useful and had to be replaced, but curiously enough, the liver remained intact.’” Twilight swallowed her own disgust at what was being described here, then continued.

“‘The body was then fitted with electrodes for the next storm. The texts suggest that electricity may be an excellent conduit of the Divine Fire...’ This is certainly a lot of intelligence you’ve gathered about the creature you’ve pursued and evidently never caught.”

“Enough!” The professor slammed his hooves on the table. The tea fixtures jumped in the air briefly, clinked back onto the table's surface while his cup spilled a few drops over. Twilight sat back with the faintest smirk of satisfaction. Flamebearer took deep breaths before he looked back at Twilight. “Yes. I have withheld information about how I was involved from you, but I thought you should know my intentions before you knew what I did.”

“So you created the Leaden One.”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle... That... Thing is my creation. In the few months he existed, he’s already managed to cause greater devastation than I anticipated. He is a mistake I intend to learn from and correct.”

Twilight’s head leaned off to the right, curious at his choice of words. “Learn from...?” She shook her head, then looked him sternly in the eye. “Just what in Equestria possessed you to even consider making something like this in such a horrible way?”

Flamebearer paused for a moment, his eyes fixed on his tea while he gave his answer.

“Would you believe I got the idea from an old Pony Tale?”

Fluttershy sat in her room by the empty bed, the storybook held open on the last page of the story. She took a deep breath and flipped it back to the beginning illustration. She stared at the drawing and swallowed deeply before she put it on the end table. She walked outside the room and poked her head out of the doorway.

“Stitches! Come upstairs!” Fluttershy went back inside the room with the book. After she sat back down by the bed, the sound of Stitches walking up the stairway clunked through the house, each hoofstep several seconds apart. When he finally got to her room, his head was hung low, ears drooping. He drudged toward the bed, avoiding eye contact with Fluttershy as much as he could.

“You’re going to need some rest early before you head out... We plan on getting you out in the middle of the night.” Fluttershy offered a gentle smile, and Stitches simply plopped onto the bed. He didn’t bother telling her so, but Fluttershy could tell he wasn’t actually tired. His eyes drifted away from her, looking down at the sheets. Fluttershy held the book out, tilting it to the side so Stitches could see it, even if he wasn’t actually looking at it.

“I think it’s time I read you a story,” Fluttershy said, smiling as she looked back and forth between Stitches and the book. “This one is called ‘The Tale of the Hidden King.’ She held the book up and showed Stitches the picture. The creature lifted his head in shock, pointing at the picture while he stammered.

“That’s right, he has the same Cutie Mark that you do.” She turned the page and began to read out loud.

A long, long time ago, long before Equestria was founded, ponies lived separately in three tribes: the unicorns, the pegasi, and the earth ponies. The unicorns lived in a Kingdom where their best and brightest rose the sun at dawn and brought out the moon at night. Ruling over all of the unicorns were King Aurum III and Queen Aes V.

The King and Queen ruled over the unicorns with generosity and compassion, and were both very wise when it came to all the problems that would affect the Kingdom. While the Noble Houses were greedy and exploitive, King Aurum and Queen Aes gave much of their time and energy to help the poor.

Unfortunately, a few years into their rule, a plague devastated the Unicorn Kingdom. It wiped out hundreds of ponies, including Queen Aes, who was with foal when she died. King Aurum was overcome with sorrow. He was loyal to his wife to the end and refused to remarry.

If he were to marry a noble, she would do everything she could to further her House’s schemes, and if he were to marry a commoner, the Houses would be infuriated by his breach of tradition. He also knew that if he didn’t produce an heir, one of the Noble Houses would take over and destroy everything he worked for.

Just when the King was ready to give up and choose a noble house that would succeed him, his servants told him that a Mystic had demanded an audience with him. The King allowed it, and spoke with the stallion who entered.

“Citizen,” said the King, “You come to us when our heart is heavy with grief. Our Queen has fallen and our line is at an end, but we will hear you. What do you ask of a broken King?”

“My King,” said the Mystic, “I do not come for my sake, but for yours. Your whole Kingdom mourns your loss, but it need not be the end of your line.”

“What hope can you possibly give us, with none who would be able to carry on our work?” asked the King.

“Patience, my King. You may not have a mare to bear you a foal, but I will teach you how to create a son to make your work last forever!”

The King did not believe the Mystic at first. It was too fantastic, too unbelievable to be true. King Aurum became angry with him.

“First you waste our time, and now you mock us! Make your true intentions known or get out of our sight!”

The Mystic held out a book, offering it to the King. “I do not mock you, my liege. Within this book are all the secrets I’ve learned about creation’s fire,” the Mystic insisted. The King considered and realized that he had virtually no other options.

“Let us suppose we believe you,” said he, “What is your price for such secrets?”

“My liege, my secrets being used by one such as you, rather than by one unworthy is payment enough,” said the Mystic.

The King accepted the tome from him. “Mystic, if you speak truth, then you will have my eternal gratitude.”

“The book holds all the information you need. From the earth will you find Red Clay to make the body, then you must nourish it with the Waters of Life. Finally, you must infuse it with the Divine Fire of Creation itself.”

The King heeded these words, then for sixty days and sixty nights, he labored in the Great Work. Using the secrets of the book the Mystic left him, he built the body with Red Clay from within the Earth and nourished the body with the Waters of Life. The time came where he called upon the Divine Fire and ignited it within the body. When the body stirred, the sign of Saturn appeared on its flank. King Aurum declared with pride,

“Arise, my son! From the Fire you were born, and it is the Fire that runs through your veins, Sulfros, Created Prince of the Unicorns!”

“‘The Tale of the Hidden King’?” Twilight asked in confusion. “I suppose it makes sense, but it’s just a story. Why did you even think it could be done, and how did you get ‘Dismember corpses and steal bodily fluids’ from–” Twilight suddenly fell silent as Flamebearer spoke.

“If I recall correctly, the exact words were, ‘Red Clay from within the Earth’ and ‘the Waters of Life.’” Twilight stared wide-eyed into her tea. Flamebearer took a brief sip of his own, then dabbed the mess he made earlier with his tie. “You understand, don’t you?”

“... In ancient pony times, clay was often a metaphor for flesh, and waters of life could refer to bodily fluids like blood, bile and phlegm...”

“Very good, Twilight Sparkle.” Flamebearer set his cup back down and slid it to the side. “You’re beginning to think like a true scholar.”

Twilight shivered at the idea of being compared to the same pony who exhumed and mutilated dead bodies. Everything fell into place for her. Everything except–

“... Why did you do it? You know how the story goes... If you were really paying attention to it, wouldn’t you know how badly it ends?”

“I believe I made it clear that I made a mistake with this creature.” Flamebearer then looked out the window. His gaze became distant, as though he no longer realized where he was. “My career was going downhill... Then I started hearing about reports from excavations from the old Kingdom where they discovered actual records of King Aurum III.”

“But... Records of the Aurum Kings were almost impossible to come by after the migration to Equestria,” Twilight muttered as she rubbed her hoof across her chin. “There was only ever scant information about them for centuries aside from that story.”

“Yes... It appears the tale was incredibly historically accurate, which would explain a great deal about the ambiguity that analysts have found.” Flamebearer coughed after he caught himself before he could ramble further off-topic.

“But... The point is that a truth in fiction had been discovered. I wondered how King Aurum III created Sulfros, and then I saw the oldest translation of the story, about the Mystic that visited the King.”

“What about him...?” Twilight tilted her head.

“The original word wasn’t ‘Mystic,’ but ‘Alchemist.’ A later translation probably changed it because they felt that the word ‘Alchemist’ was too on the nose, and was beginning to be associated with quackery and charlatanism. Translations after that would say ‘Philosopher,’ then it would be changed to ‘Mystic’ in modern times.” Flamebearer stood up from his chair and began to walk around the library.

“In light of this new information, I began to do extensive research into alchemy itself, learning its symbols, its philosophy, and its way of thinking. Eventually, after I did... I read ‘The Tale of the Hidden King’ and deconstructed the symbolism with alchemy in mind and was struck with inspiration.”

“And you used what you saw in the book to create the Leaden One...”

“Yes... I was in rapture over the work. It would be my magnum opus, my greatest contribution to ponykind!” Flamebearer rushed up to Twilight and threw his hooves onto her shoulders. He stared straight into her eyes. “Think of it, Miss Sparkle!”

The professor stood at her side, holding up a hoof in the air as his speech became more frantic. “If somepony was able to create new life, think of the possibilities!” He paused for a moment, lowering his voice after making eye contact with Twilight again. “We’d completely understand the building blocks of life itself.” He separated himself from the unicorn mare, pacing about the room while throwing his forelegs up to punctuate each syllable.

“Think of the ailments we could cure, the diseases that would be wiped out! The very concept of disease would eventually disappear forever, and it may even come to pass that we could transcend death itself and become immortal!” Flamebearer breathed heavily, his mane suddenly disheveled and his glasses askew, hanging low enough to show the bug-eyed gaze he gave the young unicorn mare.

Twilight stared in shock at Flamebearer. She backed slowly away from the table. “But... I’m guessing that things didn’t work out that way when you made him.”

Flamebearer regained his composure and paced around the room while he spoke again. “Unfortunately, no. When I was performing the first experiment, I was working under the assumption that ‘Divine Fire’ was actually an ancient way of referring to lightning. I believed that a thunderbolt would bring the creature to life.”

“Didn’t it?”

“It did... But when it came to life, I...” Flamebearer gulped for a moment, then glanced at the ground. “I was horrified at what I saw. From the very moment I saw the creature, it evoked a kind of primal terror buried deep inside of me. All I could do was run away. By the time I got back, the creature was already gone...”

“As much as I’d hate to suggest this... Did you try making another one?”

“I did... I had spare parts in case the first one didn’t work.”

Twilight shuddered. “How... Disgustingly efficient.”

“I did exactly what I did before, down to the last detail, but when the lightning struck... It didn’t work. It’s why I only said that lightning was a conduit of the Divine Fire, not the Fire itself in the notes I gave you. It is... Something else, something I don’t think ponies have ever quantified before.”

“So... You want to capture the Leaden One so you can study him and find out why he came to life in the first place.”

“Don’t forget, Miss Sparkle, I said the Leaden One was a mistake.” He adjusted his glasses and hardened his expression to a deadly earnestness. “And I intend to correct it.”

“I see...” Twilight looked upstairs. “Spike, did you get all of that?”

“Sure did, Twilight!” He held up a scroll filled with copious notes he had taken of the conversation, words often spelled however he’d seen fit at the time. “I’ll send it off to the Princess at once!” The scroll disappeared in a jet of green flame.

Bewildered at what happened, Flamebearer began to stutter. “I-I... Twilight Sparkle... Please... Please reconsider! Think of the advancements for ponykind!”

“At the cost that comes with it, it isn’t worth it. You’ve already committed grave robbery and desecrated the dead more times than I think anypony in Equestria ever has, and created a pony who is doomed to be miserable beyond words. I can’t run the risk of you finding out its secrets so that you can try it again.” Twilight’s horn began to glow, and locks clicked firmly in place inside the door.

“The Night Watch will be here any minute to take you into custody.” Twilight smirked with satisfaction. “I’m sure there are extenuating circumstances that may waive a prison sentence, and given everything you’ve said, I think you can easily plead insanity.”

Flamebearer stopped in his tracks, then sat down in silence. He looked around the room and appeared defeated as Twilight kept an eye out the window.

Fluttershy continued to read the story to Stitches. The patchwork pony sat up attentively as he listened to her tell the story.

King Aurum began to teach his newly created progeny everything he knew about being a ruler and how to be a part of the Kingdom, including how to speak, read and write. He taught the Prince that, as a King, he would have to put the needs of his subjects far ahead of his own. A whole year passed, and the King devoted virtually all of his time and attention to Sulfros, neglecting food and rest until eventually he died.

Before Aurum III passed on, he told the court that he had named his successor, Prince Sulfros, as the heir to the crown. The Royal Court was assembled and the Prince was about to be crowned the King of the Unicorns. After the coronation, however, the ponies of the Court suddenly went mad in his presence. Many of them panicked, some of them even tried to murder him right there.

The new King was forced to run away and hid among the populace of the Unicorn Kingdom. He tried desperately to find companionship and friends, but he was turned away everywhere he went, and every pony he met lost their mind in his presence. Eventually, he was forced to hide among beggars in disguise. He wandered throughout the whole land, and was more aware of the needs of the people of his Kingdom than even his Father before him.

However, Sulfros knew that he could not return to the castle without the ponies of the Royal Court trying to murder him. He remembered that since his Father had passed away, he was still the rightful King, and anything he said was still considered a valid royal edict.

King Sulfros then began to write Royal Commands and sent them to the Palace. He devoted many of the Kingdom’s resources to the aid of lower-class unicorns who wished to enter Magic Academies and the distribution of jobs to unicorns whose powers weren’t tied into the movement of the sun, moon and stars. Each of his decrees were followed to the letter, but because of his continued absence yet consistent lordship, he became known through the entire land as the Hidden King.

However, now more ponies moved upward in society, the Nobles feared for their place in the kingdom, and of ponies who were formerly commoners gaining power and defying tradition. The nobles conspired and delivered an ultimatum to the Hidden King Sulfros– if he does not return to the throne, he forfeits his right to rule, and the Nobles will elect one of the houses to become the new Royal Family.

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before she read on. Stitches was on the edge of the bed, his mouth hung open. She already read through the story earlier, and it was so close to what Stitches went through, save for what happened toward the end of the story.

Sulfros couldn’t return to the throne because he would be murdered, and would be doomed to be hated by all ponies forever and would lose his power as King. The story said that he lived beyond the lifespan of any pony of the time, even to the point that he was still there even after the Kingdom was overtaken by the blizzard that forced them to leave. In that time, he grew to hate all ponies and lived in isolation, and was eventually frozen by the Wendigos that fed on his hate.

Stitches finally spoke up. “Wha-Whaaaaat haaaaap-p-p-peenned?” His rumbling voice was laced with curiosity as he tilted his head.

“He... He...” Fluttershy composed herself, then looked at Stitches. “... He didn’t come back to the throne, because he knew that even if he came back, he’d be killed and he wouldn’t be able to help anypony else. Along the way, he started to feel down, though, because he had to help everypony in secret and he’d never be thanked for everything he did.”

“At his lowest point, somepony came to him who didn’t lose her mind when he was nearby. He knew he couldn’t stay with her for very long, because of what would happen to everypony else around him. He’d leave for years at a time, then would come back to see her again... She looked forward to his visits, and he looked forward to them too... Whenever he’d leave, and the world would get him down... He just remembered that there was always somepony who cared about him.” Fluttershy slowly closed the book, looking down at Stitches.

The patchwork pony smiled He reached out and touched Fluttershy’s hoof with his. Fluttershy smiled at him, though her eyes watered at his touch. She reached to the other end of the bed and lifted the blankets over him.

“Get some rest, Stitches... You’ve got a long journey ahead of you.”