Chapter 54
The Glass Blower
“Charcoal, Charcoal! Come see this one! They’re blowing glass!” Lilac excitedly squealed, urgently beckoning her brother to yet another hoof-made crafts shop. Charcoal audibly groaned and drowsily trudged over to the dancing pink filly, tired of trekking after her all day long. He’d been on his hooves for hours, interrupted only for a snack break that in his opinion, hadn’t lasted nearly long enough.
Charcoal hung around in the doorway, not very interested. Lilac, in contrast, couldn’t get enough. She stood on the tips of her back hooves, propped up against the viewing window to get a good look. Her bouncing was causing the oversized red winter hat to slowly slide off her head. Just watching it caused Charcoal to tug at his own blue scarf. The accessories were compliments of Aunt Rarity, of course, but Charcoal hated wearing any clothing. The only reason he wore the ridiculous scarf and hat at all was because his parents made him- thestrals were very sensitive to the cold, after all. But... his parents weren’t here, were they? With a sly grin, he clenched the scarf between his teeth, yanked the hat off and stuck both in his saddlebags.
Charcoal was wondering whether or not he could sneak off for a nap as the glassblower wrapped up his current project. The gray-maned black stallion within the workroom set down his current project and dug out tools he could use to safely shape the glass. Charcoal yawned, but Lilac was still dancing.
“Do you think he’d let me buy the one he’s working on now?”
“I dunno. How long does it take to cool? I doubt it’ll even be ready by today. What is it, even?” Charcoal squinted a little more intently at the artist’s crafsmanship. It looked like some sort of decorative bulb with an extremely skinny neck.
“It’s going to be a flower vase... I think. But it would be perfect in my room!”
“The last thing you need is more flowers.”
“I love flowers!”
“No kidding. It’s only plastered on your flank.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“In all honesty, yeah, I am, a little.”
“Aww! Charcoal wants flowers on his flank!” Lilac innocently giggled. Charcoal narrowed his eyes, especially when a random group of teenagers at the other end of the shop started sniggering.
“Do not,” he grumbled, tuning the world out again. This was precisely why he didn’t like to hang out with other ponies.
“Well, I’m going to get one anyway,” Lilac decided.
“You mean you haven’t already spent all your bits at some other shop?” Charcoal teased. He instantly regretted the words spewing out of his mouth. He probably shouldn’t be talking about money in front of strangers. His sister, on the other hoof, didn’t know any better.
“No! I didn’t see anything I wanted until now.” She turned back to watching the glassblower. Charcoal eyed movement from the corner of the shop, and moved out of the doorway as the other teens started to file out. They almost made it to the door.
“Hey, kid. Wanna lend me a few of those bits?” a cobalt blue pegasus teen with stormy gray hair snickered. Lilac looked him over. He was a little larger than Charcoal, probably a year or two older.
“No,” she wrinkled her nose and turned her back on him. The group chuckled. Charcoal’s heart pounded as he sized them up. There were three of them, all older and bigger than he was. Plus, he had Lilac to look out for if they started causing trouble.
“Aw, come on, doll,” another red unicorn pressed.
“Yeah, we’ll pay ya back,” the third yellow, freckled earth pony winked.
“I don’t believe you,” she flatly stated.
“Come on, Lilac. Let’s go meet Mom and Dad,” Charcoal hurriedly suggested, sensing danger.
“But I didn’t get a vase.”
“We’ll come back later,” he promised, pushing his way through the ring and tucking her under his wing. “Excuse us.”
“What’s the rush, pal?” The red unicorn stepped in his way.
“We’re only havin’ a bit of fun with her.”
“Well, we don’t appreciate it, and we really need to leave.”
“So soon?”
“Our parents will come looking for us if we don’t turn up soon,” Charcoal tried.
“What kind of parents would leave their kids all out on their own?” Charcoal was silent. The colt did have a point- what good parents left their children alone in an unfamiliar town?
“I wonder if they actually have parents.”
“Of course we have parents!” Lilac spat from beneath her brother.
“And the last thing on a homeless kid’s shopping list would be a hoof-blown glass vase,” Charcoal quickly added.
“Eh... fair enough.”
“Look, why don’t you just go your merry way and we’ll go ours?”
“Sure. Just give us the saddlebags and we’ll leave ya alone,” the blue ringleader bargained.
“Not happening.” Charcoal stood firm. They might be outnumbered, but he still held an advantage.
“Char?” Lilac shuddered from below him.
“You really want to take this outside?” the pegasus shoved his nose to Charcoal’s.
“Who said anything about taking this outside?” Without giving the pegasus time to respond, Charcoal burst into a fiery blue inferno, causing the teenagers to squeal like girls. They tried making for the door but ended up entangled in each other. When they looked back, a very angry dragon had taken the place of the thestral colt, still guarding the pink filly.
Charcoal wasn’t very large- about the size of Garble when Acrylic originally took him in. But boy, was he fearsome. The saddlebags had been discarded, giving no hint to the domestic pony he really was. Charcoal was now a wild beast. His longer-in-the-front haircut translated to a frightening mohawk of lime green spines on his neck, and pearly whites gleamed as he bared his teeth. Outstretched claws twitched in anticipation. He stretched out his wings to their full length in order to make himself look bigger and more threatening. With yellow eyes burning in anger, Charcoal wielded his sharp-pointed tail carefully, currently raised and ready to strike.
“What’s going on in-” the glassblower froze when he found a dragon preparing to face off with a pitiful cluster of teenaged colts.
“Get. Out.” Charcoal growled. Without another word, the boys all fled the premises, knocking into a table on their way out. One of the glass creations sitting on the edge wobbled, wobbled... and shattered to the floor.
“What in the world do you think you’re doin’?!” the grouchy older pony demanded. “Scaring off my customers like that. Why, I-” he stopped again when a trembling pink filly buried her face in the dragon’s stomach. He was even more confused when the dragon tenderly accepted her into his embrace. The dragon’s scales lightly flickered blue, and became lost beneath the blanket of fire for a moment, finally coming back into view as a green thestral colt. He turned to face the glassblower.
“Sorry about the mess, sir. We’ll get out of your hair before we cause any more trouble. Come on, Lilac.” He gently picked up his sister’s bags as well as his own, and still coddling the filly, turned for the door.
“Wait,” the elderly pony called. Charcoal and his sister paused. “I can’t let ya go out like that. Why don’t ya come in an’ sit down for a moment?” Looking to his frightened, shivering sister, Charcoal readily agreed.
“Thank you.” The stallion gestured to a far door which Charcoal promptly led Lilac to. The shopkeeper, meanwhile, sidestepped the shattered mess and flipped the sign on his door to read ‘Closed.’
The room the stallion had indicated opened up into his living space. A warm furnace heated the room opposite two worn couches. It was cozily decorated, with glass pieces and rustic ornaments lining the mantle and even taking up a bit of space on the bookshelves. There were two other doors that presumably led to his other rooms. Charcoal was careful not to invade the stallion’s privacy further, neatly stacked their bags next to the couch, and sat down with trembling Lilac.
“Sorry you kids had to be so unfortunate as to run into Cool Draft’s gang,” the old pony croaked, striding in. “They’re always stirrin’ up trouble. I’ve had to boot ‘em outta my shop more than once.”
“They’re scary,” Lilac barely managed. The stallion sympathetically looked her over.
“How ‘bout some tea? That always settled my nerves,” he offered, moving off to one of the doors. Propping it open with a door stop, he didn’t wait for an answer and headed off to what was presumably the kitchen.
“Please,” Lilac sniffed.
“We don’t want to be any trouble, especially after that mess,” Charcoal spoke over her. “Which we’ll be happy to pay for, by the way.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” the pony shrugged, coming back into the room. “Burr. Comin’ out of that firin’ room to this chill isn’t good for my old bones. Ya mind fetchin’ some more wood for the fireplace, son?”
“Not at all, Mr.-?”
“Blow Pipe.”
“Blow Pipe,” Charcoal repeated. “I’m Charcoal Stormwood, and that’s my sister Lilac Bud.”
“Pleasure ta meetcha,” the black pony dipped his head. “There’s firewood outside in the shed, there.” Charcoal noticed another door partially hidden by the bookcase.
“Sure thing, Mr. Pipe. I’ll be right back, Bud.” Charcoal quickly ducked outside.
Blow Pipe looked again at the nervous filly on his couch. She stared at her hooves in silence. Pipe looked for a way to break the ice.
“So tell me, darlin’. Where’re yer parents?”
“I don’t know,” she truthfully confessed.
“Ya don’t know?” he raised an eyebrow. “Well, where do you live?”
“Ponyville. We’re on vacation here for a few days,” she informed.
“And ya don’t know where your parents are?”
“We were going to meet them for lunch.”
“So you’re meanin’ to tell me yer parents just got up and left ya alone in a strange town?”
“Usually I like going off by ourselves. But those ponies today...” Lilac shuddered. “We don’t have anypony that mean in Ponyville.”
“No, I suppose not,” Blow Pipe clenched his jaw.
“Golly, it’s cold out there,” Charcoal shivered, shaking off a light dusting of snow before reentering the glass blower’s home. Several logs were tucked underneath each of the colt’s wings, even a few balanced on his back. Blow Pipe would be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed.
“Just set ‘em down there on the rack.” Charcoal obediently rolled the wood out from under his wings perfectly into the tray, then took the wood off his back and placing it in the fire. “Don’t burn yourself, now,” Blow Pipe cautioned.
“It’s alright. I’m a thestral. We’re fire proof,” Charcoal informed, sticking his hooves right through the flames to set another log down.
“I suppose that makes sense, seein’ as how ya set yourself on fire and transformed into an all out dragon!” the stallion chuckled. “Do all you thestrals do that?”
“Nope! Just my brother! He’s super special!” Lilac piped up, back to her peppy old self at the chance to brag on her brother.
“Is that so?” Blow Pipe took a seat on the opposite couch.
“Mom didn’t know she was pregnant with me when our Aunt- friend- Twilight cast a transformation spell on her. The magic somehow fused into me, so now I can switch back and forth whenever I want.”
“Interesting,” Mr. Pipe mused. “I don’t see many thestrals ‘round these parts. Too cold for ‘em, I guess.”
“For sure,” Charcoal agreed. “We’re not cold-blooded like dragons, but we’re still really sensitive to the cold.”
“You’re welcome ta huddle by the fire, if it helps. Room’s not heatin’ up fast enough for me, let alone thestral kids.”
“I can fix that,” Charcoal offered, concentrating on the fire place. The flames were momentarily converted to his blue color, grew a bit, and a heat wave soon washed over the room.
“Well, I’ll be! Y’all sure can be nifty ‘round here.”
“It’s the least we can do.”
“I wonder, how hot do ya think ya could make a fire?”
“Well, it depends on the size. The smaller the fire, the hotter you can make it. You should really talk to my dad about it. He’s the best fire dancer in Ponyville.”
“In all Equestria!” Lilac corrected. Both stallions chuckled.
“I just wonder... ya think I could hire a young thestral lad to help keep the glass furnace goin’?”
“I guess it depends on if you could convince them to come live up here in this cold. And if they could keep it as hot as you need. I’ve never tried to melt glass before. I bet it’s gotta get pretty hot, though.”
“Try 1500 degrees C,” he chuckled. Charcoal rubbed his chin in thought.
“Maybe... I could try, if you like. Test it out on the one we broke so you aren’t wasting any materials.”
“I don’t want you cutting yourself on those shards,” Blow Pipe sternly denied.
“Would dragon scales get cut by glass?” Lilac wondered.
“I doubt it.” Blow Pipe gave him a dubious look.
“Look here, boy. I ‘preciate what you’re tryin’ to do, but meltin’ glass is dangerous enough when ya do know what you’re doin’. I can’t let an inexperienced kid like you go messin’ ‘round with that stuff. Are we clear?” Charcoal ducked his head in submission.
“Clear.”
“Alrighty then.” The tea kettle soon called the old pony away, and the two were left alone in the living room.
“Charcoal!” Lilac hissed as her brother quickly shifted and crept back out into the shop area.
“The least I can do is try,” he shrugged, barely turning around. Lilac nervously looked after Blow Pipe in the kitchen and scuttled after her brother.
It didn’t take him long to pick out every last shard from the wooden planks, the job made easier by his sensitive dragon eyes and fine-pointed dragon claws. He picked out the largest two shards that looked like they should fit and set the rest on the table. He concentrated, and after all the training his father had given him since he was a foal, it wasn’t hard to focus an extremely small and intense flame along the edge. The glass soon glowed red hot, and a visible seam bubbled up where the edges met. Satisfied when they thoroughly connected, Charcoal moved onto the next piece.
“I forgot to ask you youngin’s if ya’d take sugar in yer tea,” Blow Pipe called from the kitchen.
“Two lumps, please,” Lilac quickly covered.
“And you, Charcoal?”
“Same,” he distractedly called, beginning to multitask and fit several pieces at once. The vase was now halfway reformed, but the gooey glass was beginning to sag in some places. It was especially difficult to find homes for the tiny shards. He ended up just sprinkling most of them along the surface. When he heard Blow Pipe’s hoofsteps returning from the kitchen, he raced outside, careful to hold the bells silent with his tail, stuck the lopsided creation outside by the door in a cushion of snow, which kicked up a geyser of steam as hot met cold. He heard a loud *CRACK* of glass, and cringed. The snow must’ve cooled it too fast and re-cracked the recently repaired creation. He didn’t have time to mourn the loss before remembering he was still in dragon form. He shifted back just in time- Blow Pipe just poked his head in with the tray. He furrowed his brow in suspicion.
“Just admiring your other work,” Charcoal innocently shrugged.
“Hmm...” Blow Pipe squinted and searched for anything out of place, but spotted nothing, save for the two overly sweet ponies grinning at him from the shop. “Well, come sit yourselves back down. Tea’s ready.” Lilac bounded after him, and Charcoal followed a bit more slowly to try and slow his heart rate. That was too close.
“Here you are,” Blow Pipe passed out teacups.
“Thank you!” Lilac chimed.
“Thanks,” Charcoal gratefully reached for the teacup, but was interrupted when a small blue fire suddenly exploded from his hooves.
“Jumpin’ junebugs!” the shopkeeper cried, ducking the smoke and doing his best not to spill the tea. A scroll now rested in Charcoal’s hooves.
“Sorry! I bet that’s my dad,” Charcoal apologized, hurriedly unfurling the scroll.
“Dad’s a mailpony. He figured out how to send letters through thestral fire,” Lilac explained when Blow Pipe didn’t recover from his shock.
“I’d heard ‘bout it a’fore, but I never did see it with my own eyes!” Blow Pipe shakily set the cup back on the coffee table for Charcoal to retrieve himself.
“They’re waiting for us at the café,” Charcoal reported. Lilac had only gotten a sip of her tea, and reluctantly set the cup back down.
“Thanks for having us, Mr. Pipe,” she sighed.
“Hold yer horses, there. I want you to write back and have ‘em pick ya up here.”
“T-that’s okay, Mr. Pipe! We’ll be fine! The restaurant’s only a few blocks away,” Charcoal quickly argued. He really didn’t want his parents finding out about today.
“I insist. Wouldn’t want you two running back into Cool’s gang on the way. And I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t want to have a word with yer parents myself.” Blow Pipe began mentally preparing as to how exactly he intended to lay into the irresponsible couple.
“But-!”
“No back talkin’ to yer elders, young colt, it’s rude. There’s stationary over on that table if ya need it.” Charcoal flattened his ears, and left with no other choice, reluctantly sat down at the desk.
Torchwood frantically knocked on the door of the address our son had sent him. Though the sign read ‘Closed,’ an older black earth pony with a grayed mane answered the door.
“Mr. Pipe?”
“I assume you’re Charcoal and Lilac’s folks,” he narrowed his eyes.
“Are they alright?” I hurriedly asked.
“They’re inside,” he held the door open for us. Torchwood’s long legs quickly took him to the center of the room, and he scanned the room. I was right on his heels. At almost the exact same time, we spotted Charcoal’s green and brown form lingering in a far doorway.
“Hey Dad,” he quietly acknowledged.
“Charcoal,” Torchwood sighed in relief, moving over to our son. I followed a little less gracefully, legs wobbly in relief. This made it even harder to keep my balance when Lilac jumped at me headlong.
“Momma!”
“Are you two alright?” I shut my eyes and squeezed her tight.
“Fine,” Charcoal matter-of-factly stated.
“They are now,” the shopkeeper clarified. “But they were almost robbed by a local gang a’fore ya got here.”
“WHAT?!” I stroked Lilac’s purple mane and looked into her apologetic eyes. Torchwood turned a little more sternly to Charcoal, expecting answers. The colt just looked down and refused to make eye contact.
“Which wouldn’t have happened at all, had you been here,” Blow Pipe finished. Torch and I both looked sharply up, not expecting such an accusation from the glass blower. “You shoulda known better n’ ta leave yer kids unsupervised in a strange town! Celestia knows what else coulda happened to ‘em!” Torchwood lifted his chin, and glared down on the undaunted pony.
“I appreciate you taking care of our children, sir, but I didn’t come to be lectured on my parenting methods.”
“He’s right, though. You always go running off and leave us alone,” Charcoal quietly yet bitterly sounded. Torchwood looked aghast that the words had come out of his own son’s mouth.
“Charcoal!” I scolded.
“You do! Sorry if we’re not the ‘real family’ you wanted, but Lilac should still come before hippogryph hunting!”
“What are you talking about, Charcoal? Of course we’re a family,” I tried stretching out my wing to beckon him.
“I heard you last night! You care more about your stupid hobby than us!”
“That’s not true!”
“CHARCOAL!” Torchwood tried to grab him before he could take off, but Charcoal had already bolted out the door. My husband turned back to me. “I’ll go after him. Take Lilac back to the cabin.” He was also gone before I could protest.
“Torch!” I took a step after him.
“You hold it right there. You’re not leavin’ your girl again! Why, back in my day...” I just blankly stared at the stallion as he went on and on, lecturing about what a terrible parent I’d turned out to be. Lilac huddled beneath me, ears flattened as she also tried to tune him out. I felt her form shift and finally leave my side as she returned to the back room, but I was still so numb that I barely registered the fact.
“Here’s the bits for the vase we broke, Mr. Pipe,” she interrupted his spiel, holding up a small pouch of her allowance. She had returned only after donning her bags, scarf and hat, prepared to leave. He paused, looking down at her and remembering that she indeed did owe him a few bits. He took the payment without a word and turned back to me. But before he could continue, he looked over the floor to find said vase. Lilac offered me Charcoal’s abandoned bags, which I took and slid over my own back.
“Thanks for everything, Mr. Pipe.” Lilac took the chance to escape and dragged me out behind her.
“I wasn’t finished!” I shut the door behind us before he could go on.
“Thanks for that, Lilac,” I sighed, relieved to be out of the old grump’s mane. “Now, come on. We need to go.”
“Just a minute.” She crouched by the door, opened up her bags and picked up a few pieces of broken glass.
“What are you doing?” I stopped her before she could put the sharp fragments in her bag.
“Charcoal tried to fix the vase we broke. He melted the pieces back together, but then put it outside before Mr. Pipe caught us. I guess the cold cracked it again.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re trying to put it in your bag,” I took the shards from her, accidently slicing my own hoof in the process. Fortunately, Lilac remained unscathed.
“I want Charcoal to fix it for me again,” she explained.
“Isn’t that stealing?” I raised an eyebrow.
“I just paid for it, remember? And besides, Mr. Pipe would probably just throw it out.” I had almost forgotten about the exchange of money.
“Well... alright, but I’ll carry the pieces.” I emptied a shopping bag we picked up on the way to lunch, and carefully dumped the pieces inside. Satisfied, Lilac led the way back to our cabin. I followed a bit more slowly and robotically, worried about my boys.
“And Momma?”
“Yeah?”
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re a great mom.” I smiled.
“Thanks, Lilac. I needed that.”