2- Canterlot Calamities
The Flames of the Phoenix- Canterlot Calamities
Things were going alright for Prince Blueblood on this beautiful sunny day, courtesy of his dear Auntie; Princess Celestia. He had enjoyed a rather delicate morning in the gardens with Mr. Fancy Pants and his wife, Fleur De Lis as they had a properly cooked breakfast. It felt good to be treated with respect like how he believed that Nobles were suppose to be treated. He despised of being treated anything lower than that.
However, as he returned back to the castle so he could check in on Princess Celestia, he could hear a new voice coming from the hall. A female voice that sounded like she had a lot of power and passion. For a moment, the stallion thought that the voice belonged to a mare. But when he opened the door, The Unicorn was greeted to a very… Different sight.
“Hello Auntie-. What the? Who… is this?”
The person that Blueblood was referring to was Ember. She stood in the room with her back facing towards him and had turned around at the sound of the new voice.
Celestia was the next one to speak. “Blueblood. This is Ember Valkyr. She will be our guest for the time being…”
“Ember? Is that right? I really like your name. It’s really beautiful.”
For a moment, Blueblood felt like he was going to win her over the same way he did to Rarity at the last Grand Galloping Gala before it turned into a complete Disaster. However, what he got in return was a lot different than what he expected as he trotted closer.
“Is that so…?”
*SMACK!!!!*
Ember rammed her fist into the side of Blueblood’s head, knocking him out of the hallways and sending him flying twenty or so feet. “Sorry about that. It happens to a lot of people who get in my personal space.”
“How big is this personal space of yours?” Discord then asked, rubbing his chin.
“About a three foot radius on all sides. Plus, this also commonly happens when I believe that someone is trying to seduce me. Case in point, Mr. BlueBroke.” She said, cracking her knuckles. “It’s a good thing I didn’t use any of my Life Force energy or else his mane and fur would catch on fire.”
“Well, he was always one for toasted marshmallows.” Luna sighed as she trotted over to where her sister was. “Come on, why don’t I give you a tour of Canterlot? It’ll give Celestia some time to send a letter to the elements.”
“Pardon me, but what are these elements that you are referring too?”
Celestia and Luna looked at Ember with surprised expressions. “You don’t know of the Elements of Harmony?”
“Only heard about them once or twice. I don’t exactly know who or what they are.” Ember answered honestly. She had been all over the country, but had only heard bits and pieces of words on different subjects. Nothing to really put together. It was like a Jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces.
“The Elements of Harmony are a collection of Artifacts that have been used countless times to save Equestria from Peril. The wielders of those artifacts are the Mane Six, Six ponies that live in Ponyville and also are like daughters to Princess Celestia and I.” Luna explained. “In fact, one of them is a princess like Celestia and I. Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and something tells me she would have a lot to ask you.”
‘Sounds like a reporter wanting to interview me… Fan-freaking-tastic.’ Ember mentally sighed. “Well Luna, where should we begin with the tour?”
“Follow me, right this way.” Luna told Ember as they passed by the shocked body of Prince Blueblood that was still on the floor. Trying to think about what just happened as Celestia facehooved herself.
“You should’ve given her some space, Blueblood.”
“Auntie!!!”
Ember and Luna were beginning to go through the halls of Canterlot as The Alicorn gave the human a tour of the castle. All the ponies that were there for Day court and also all the guards on duty stopped and stared at Ember as she walked through the main hallway to the garden. The hedges themselves have been given a bit of a “makeover” from Discord so they would resemble Celestia and Luna as well as the Royal Couple of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. The Human was cautious though not to touch any of the plant life in hopes of not accidently setting anything ablaze. Despite her best intentions though, a leaf falling on her arm evaporated into cinders and almost caught an oak tree on fire if Ember didn’t dismiss the flames.
“Wow… that is quite some talented magic you have there.” Luna complimented Ember as she dismissed the fire with a finger snap.
“You mean my control over fire. It’s not magic. It’s life force energy. There’s a difference between the two.” The human explained. “Life Force is the union of your stamina and the strength of your soul. It can be easy to conjure, control and use; but hard to master. I only know all of these abilities because of what Philomena’s father passed down to me. But I’m still finding new ways to use my powers everyday.”
“Interesting. But how is magic so different from it?”
“Magic is like air. You breath it in and breath it out as well as use it for multiple purposes. It’s all around you even though you can’t normally see it.”
“That… is a valid comparison.” Luna complimented. The Two of them continued to move on as they now had reached the Barracks. Where the two of them found something very… surprising.
Guards were fighting against each other with armor and swords for sparring purposes. But instead of the normal one against one ruling, it was one against all. A single unicorn stallion in the middle of the arena was holding a spear with his magic while many others around him came at him from all directions. With a few swift motions, the stallion was able to quickly disarm the other guards and have them fall to the floor in defeat.
“Now, do you yield?” He asked them. All of them said the exact same answer as they returned to the bleachers.
“Who is that?” Ember asked, watching as a few more recruits entered the ring.
“That is Shining Armor. Princess Sparkle’s older brother.”
“He’s quite skilled in combat.” The human girl smiled, soaking it all in as she watched with awe. As he finished up the next few rounds, she heard the stallion boast a new question.
“Anypony else want to spar before we conclude this training exercise?”
That was Ember’s chance as she stepped forward, Luna alongside her. “Is that a challenge I hear, Captain?”
Shining Armor looked confused as he looked at the Princess that was by her side. “Princess Luna, who is this girl?”
“She is Ember Valkyr. She’s only staying for a little while, but that’s not important. What is important is that I believe Ember wants to challenge you. And it is not polite to keep a lady waiting.”
“If your friend thinks she’s up for it, then be my guest.” The Guard captain said as he levitated a towel to wipe the sweat off of his forehead and face. “It’ll be a nice change of pace.”
Ember smiled as she hopped into the training grounds. “You’re too kind.”
“Choose a weapon. You wouldn’t want to face an opponent unarmed.” Shining suggested to her, pointing his spear at the nearby weapon’s rack. The others watched as she inspected each of them, carefully looking at the craftsmanship of each of the weapons that were available. But, what she said next surprised all of them.
“Thanks for the offer, but I believe I’ll let my fists do the talking.”
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Luna. “Are you sure about that?”
“Positive. I just might surprise you of what I’m capable of, Shiny.”
Shining Armor grinned. He honestly did not expect to be called “Shiny” by anypony else other than his wife or his sister. The Stallion made the first move as he went forth in a sideways motion to strike Ember. The human dodge it effortlessly as she did the one thing the Captain never expected.
Grab hold of the spear and yank it towards her, causing him to fall forward.
“Woah-!!” Once the stallion was close enough, Ember hit him with a forward palm strike in the face, causing Shining Armor to lose focus and drop his spear.
“Too slow.”
Ember was already at the next step in her attack as she struck Shining in the chest while he was on his hind legs. Anything harder and the stallion would have a few cracked ribs. The Stallion fell backwards into the weapons rack as Ember snapped the spear he was using in half like a Twig.
“Anything else?”
Shining Armor charged again, this time with Dual swords as he tried to focus his strikes. However, Ember was quick on her feet and dodging the Captains intended strikes, making him swing aimlessly. At one point, the human even was able to disarm the unicorn, leaving it to where they blocked and parried each other’s sword attacks with their own counters. Both of them were evenly matched. But Ember still had a few surprises for him. Especially when with the next sword strike, she followed it up with a powerful roundhouse kick filled with Fire energy that launched the captain through the wooden door of the training grounds.
“A good display, but you must remember that there are no rules when it comes to combat. You must expect the unexpected. Foresee the Unforeseen. Predict the unpredictable.” Ember told Shining Armor as she helped the Stallion get back on his hooves.
“You, my friend, are quite skilled.” Shining Armor told her as they walked on back inside.
“Why thank you, sir. I appreciate the compliment.” The human girl replied as they made their way to Princess Luna. “You’re not half bad yourself.”
Shining Armor twitched a little once he heard the comment. “H-half bad? I graduated at the top of my class when I was in the Royal Academy, with outstanding marks in weapons training about five years ago.”
“Well, I’ve been around this world for about a thousands years, give or take so…… yeah, there’s that.”
Shining Armor now just stared at Ember, eyes widening… trying to understand if he heard that right. However, it was too much to comprehend as he soon passed out on the floor.
“Is… he going to be okay?”
“I hope so. Otherwise, we’ll need a replacement captain.” Luna replied as they walked out of the barracks and back onto the main street of the city. Both the Princess and the Mancer continued to walk throughout the city, introducing Ember to every nook and cranny of what was within the castle’s walls. She previously never had the chance to visit Canterlot, unlike other towns and cities, because of some of the new defenses to the city that would dismiss illusion based disguises. A precaution against future changeling attacks, but also a problem for the human since it would cause her pony disguise to fade away into a puff of smoke and ash. Some places were also not seen by the human due to other constraints.
Countries that were across the sea would be exhausting to travel to, even if she did try to fly there because her Life Force energy could only carry her so far. Plus, the higher she flew, the more energy she would drain. It was something she called The Icarus Factor based off of the legend of one man who made wings out of wax so he could fly, but when he went too close to the sun, his wings burned up and he went crashing to the ground. In Ember’s case, her Life Force energy would burn up and she would pass out mid flight before reaching wherever she intended to go. Also, those who decided to travel by boat had to go through a check in process that was long and excruciating. It made her think of when she was back on earth and there was something called “TSA screenings” in order to get on a plane.
Over the few centuries she had been alive, Ember had visited a lot of cities inside Equestria. Vanhoover, Applewood, Las Pegasus, Ponyville, Manehattan, Pie-ami. You name it, she would remember her brief time there. However, there were some places she had never been too besides Canterlot. For example, The Crystal Empire had only been saved a few years back and Ember had not heard about it being freed til almost a year later when she had heard about the Equestria Games being hosted there. Another example would be Cloudsdale since the Mancer did not know any powers that would allow her to walk on clouds so she couldn’t fall through them. Then there was the mentioning of the village referred to as “Our Town” by Princess Luna. It was a strange name and for a moment, given the description of the Geographical location, Ember thought that the town resembled Dodge City. A small desert town to the East of Appleloosa. Either somepony rose to power since the last time she had been to the sandy area nearby the San Palomino Desert… Or this was a new town she had not visited in general that flew under her radar.
Out of all the places she had been too before though, only a few of them she would consider as her favorite. One place was a woodland area named Hollow Shades to the northeast of Canterlot. It was a quiet forest with a beautiful ecosystem. In addition, the wildlife there took a liking to her after she saved them from a forest fire fifteen years ago. She thought that the pony that Luna described as “Fluttershy” would be interested in going with her to there sometime so she could meet some of the species that called those woodlands home.
Soon, the two of them returned back to the castle, where Celestia and Philomena were waiting for their return inside the hall of elements. The Alicorn that was described to Ember as Princess Cadance was also there too. “Welcome back Sister. Did you two had a nice walk around the city?”
“Yes we did.” Ember replied. “Is Prince Blueberry okay? I hope I didn’t hit him too hard earlier.”
“He’s retired to his quarters to rest. You do not need to worry about him.” Celestia answered the Mancer’s question with a small chuckle as she turned her head towards Cadance. “Ember, I would like you to meet my niece. Princess Mi Amora Cadenza, the Princess of Love.”
“Please Tia, Cadance is fine.” The Pink Alicorn insisted as Ember shook her hoof with an outstretched hand. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you, Ember. Even my husband had high praise for you earlier when you faced him earlier today. If I wasn’t so busy, I would’ve come on over to watch you face him.”
“It’s quite alright actually. To be fair, and don’t tell him I said this, but I was going easy on him.” The Mancer told her. “If I was fighting seriously, then a lot of bits would have to be used to fix any damage to surrounding property and I rather not have that happen. Besides, I can control more than fire.”
That caught the princesses and Philomena off guard for a moment. “You can?”
“Yeah. I’m not quite skilled with it, but with the amount of time I spent at the Smokey Mountains, I’ve slowly begun to learn how to conjure, control and bend Magma.”
“Magma? Isn’t that Earth related magic?”
Ember shook her head. “You must be thinking about Lava, which is the combination of Magma and heat from the planet's core and earthen rock that’s formed as a Molten Soup. Magma is just the molten liquid itself. I’ve only begun to learn the basics though. Do you think there’s a chance I might find what I’m looking for in the royal library?”
‘Possibly.’ Philomena told her. Cadence only heard a small chirp as she stared at Ember in confusion. She seemed to understand the bird, but didn’t know why.
“Oh I almost forgot… Here.”
Ember placed her finger at the base of Cadence's horn; where it met her forehead and a small spark occurred. “There we go. Done.”
“What was that all about?” Cadence asked.
“That was so you can hear Philomena. Did Celestia mention to you about how only a few individuals could only hear phoenix speak mentally?”
“I was going to, but that was when you and Luna came through the door.” Celestia answered the Mancer’s question. “As for your question Ember, it could be possible. I recommend you check the Advanced Magic section of the Library and see if you can find anything that can help you.”
“Thank you kindly, Princess.” Ember told her. She remembered where to go after going through the entire city. The Mancer’s mind was like a big storage bin and her eyes were like the lenses of a camera. Almost every time she blinked, a photo of a location or place was saved inside her memory. But only when she converted the Life Force needed to make a snapshot a permanent imprint in her memory.
After about three minutes, she entered the library and moved up to the almost empty second floor. Looking at the section numbers, she remembered the location of the section Celestia told her from looking at the Directory as she walked in.
“Let’s see… Row numbers… 400 through 500…” Ember spoke to herself as she looked up. Soon, she came across the right row and began to look some more. “Here we go. Now… Starswirl’s guide to Advanced Sorcery.” She cracked open the book and flipped to the table of contents, looking for any clues on the studies that she wanted to look at. However, something else caught her attention.
Ember…
The Mancer stopped looking in the book and stood up, looking around her. She had just heard a voice that the girl had not heard in over a thousand years.
“P-phyrron?”
Behind you, child.
Ember turned around to see a red and orange bird that looked very much like a ghost as she heard it speak to her. Do not be alarmed. This is only a mere message that I have left behind for you. I would’ve told you when you were with me, but my priorities were the safety of my daughter instead of my own. You are one of many that have arrived in Equis under different circumstances. In different versions of Equestria, each one far more different than the last. You are only getting this message right now because you found what I had left behind for you inside that book.
Ember looked downward, realizing that there was a feather of a phoenix in the book. The section of the book being The Theory of Clover the Clever. The only theory in the book was one called The Displaced Theory, which had the exact same details as the spirit had described.
This may be hard for you to take in all at once, but soon, you will encounter someone that had entered under the same circumstances. You will recognize her when you see her use a strange form of powers that are not the same as your life force. Thank you for helping Philomena. I am proud of you, Ember.
The spirit faded as the feather grew warmly inside the girl’s hands. Taking a red ribbon she had as a spare hair tie, Ember tied the ribbon across it and then inscribed a message into it using her powers.
I am Ember Valkyr, the Tortured Phoenix. If you are in need of help, call upon me and my pain and rage will turn your enemies to ash.
Then, she spilt the feather into multiple feathers and tossed them into the air, each one disintegrating into nothingness while one remained for her to keep. She closed the book. There was no need to try and find the Magma section of the book. She thought it would be better for her to go back to the castle. It was about time she got some rest. Because something told her that tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Especially when Celestia told her that they were going to meet her student in Ponyville. And one of them happened to be part of the Apple family… Which meant the one thing that she would personally wasn’t prepared for was going to happen.
She was going to return to the barn the Mancer built for Golden Apple and his daughter… Granny Smith.
End Chapter 2
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5958626 Been trying what I can. Any help would be appreciated
5963463 Ember's like a flame. At some points, it burns with rage while other times, it simmers down. her emotions are varied over the many different things she's been through. Also, be my guest for drawing her and have fun!
5958837 Mister Frost, I have an anomaly I would like to bring to light; Time Spacing.
It reads as if when Ember was taken by ponies 1000 years ago Golden Apple was there with her at the camp of the slave drivers. If that is true..
Then how old is Granny Smith?
5968052 ever heard the saying time flies? That's what it is for Ember. She's still the same age, but Granny met Ember when she was a filly years after breaking free.
5968746 well, yes, but saying that 1000 years were covered by 2 generations? And that she's still alive afterward?
Fix the time spacing. It sounds silly saying that only 2 generations passed in 1000 years
Excuse me good sir, but I believe you mean
If you would take my opinion I think this sentence makes him sound like a colt. By that I mean it sounds childish, in my opinion it should be something like this;
Or some other cheesy sentence involving how beautiful she is and heat. This is MY opinion.
So... Ember broke free from her torture after her friend died some 995 years ago (take some years because we don't know how long she was held captive). She then met with the brother of the friend that died and his daughter at the time was Granny Smith. So, 995 years later and Granny Smith is still alive?
7454171 Continue reading. It'll make sense once you reach some of the further chapters
Sniff sniff.... That SCENT!!!! SniffSniff.... I smell an ISkallian!!!
8559052
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Umm... hi, great chapter but at the beginning when Luna was explaining element bearers she called them the “mane six”. While this is a common name for them in the fandom in the show they’re just called “a he element bearers”.
Its sad on these older stories that the links don't work anymore.