The Creation of Harmony

by Time Ponies are cool

The Key To The Gates

Chapter XVIII: The Key To The Gates

"How could you let this happen, Sapphire?!" Queen Ember furiously yelled at her daughter upon hearing news of the loss of the phoenix egg. The doors of Sapphire's chambers were broken down and burning in red fire as the slaves hurried about trying to clear away the debris. Queen Ember had her wings flared and her fangs bared at Princess Sapphire, with her mouth glowing with red fire behind her teeth. Her yellow eyes were full of fury as she glared at her daughter. The queen was a corkscrew horned, dark green dragoness with wide wings and a whip like tail. "Do you understand what you've done?! I told you never to let that egg fall unto the wrong claws!"

Princess Sapphire stood still, petrified of her mother's rage. Sapphire could not bear to look at her mother's glaring eyes, so she averted her own eyes and said, "I'm sorry, mother. I... I..."

"You what?"

"Nothing... I merely thought that that if... Well, 'tis not my fault! The pony tricked me!"

"Are you really so naive as to be fooled by a simple pony?! You are a disgrace! I cannot believe how I ever could have called you my daughter!" Ember turned away from Sapphire and walked towards the pedestal. She stared at the empty space atop the pedestal and furiously spat white fire at it, turning it into a pile of dust and rubble. "The protection of the egg is the single most sacred duty of the royal family! And you failed! Since the abdication of Queen Cinder we have kept the egg safe! Your grandmother's grandfather protected it! Your grandmother's father protected it! Your grandmother protected it! And I protected it before passing it unto you! You had one duty! How could you have failed?!"

Sapphire was struggling to hold back her tears. She kept her face out of her mother's view, fearing how her mother would respond to seeing her cry. One tear escaped from Sapphire's eyes and fell to the granite floor, and around the spot where it fell, a layer of frost covered the floor. The tears of dragons have magical properties: tears of anger come from the white fire and is acidic, burning through everything they fall on; tears of happiness come from the red fire and makes the ground fertile where they fall; tears of laughter come from the green fire and makes flowers grow where they fall; tears of grief come from the blue fire and freezes anywhere they fall. Ember turned around to face Sapphire and noticed the patch of ice on the floor. She realized how cruel her words and actions were and calmed down.

"Oh Sapphire... I apologize. I was too harsh." Ember softly said.

Her mother's sudden tenderness made Sapphire break down and she fell down on her bed crying. What was worse than her mother's rage was her own guilt. Through her weeping Sapphire said, "No, it is I who must apologize, mother. I felt that you did not love me and the pony promised me..." Sapphire paused to wipe away her tears and turned to face her mother. "He promised me that he would pretend to be my captive and upon seeing that I've captured an alicorn, you would come to appreciate and love me."

Ember sat beside her daughter on the bed and gently placed Sapphire head on her shoulder as she stroked the spines down her neck. "Sapphire, my dear little girl. Of course, I love you. You are precious to me. And I know it for truth that you are a capable and responsible young dragoness. Why else then would I entrusted the egg, our kingdom's most crucial possession, to your protection?"

Sapphire wiped her tears away again and sniffed. She lifted her head from her mother's shoulder and said, with a confused face, "But 'tis just a cold lifeless egg. What value is there in that?"

Ember sighed and stood. She dismissed all the slaves and ordered them to leave the room, allowing her and Sapphire complete privacy. Once all the slaves left and Ember ensured that nopony was listening, she spoke. "Sapphire, it is time you learned what the egg is... 'Tis the key to the Gates of Tartarus."

Sapphire went pale with shock upon hearing the truth and she gasped. "By the gods... What have I done?" She grasped her chest and collapsed onto her bed. "Oh, what have I done? W-w-we have to find it! We cannot allow that pony anywhere near the Gates! We have to stop him!"

Ember placed her claw on Sapphire's shoulder to calm her down. "For now the Gates are safe. The gods placed many barriers to thwart any attempt to open them. The dragons, Mount Dechrau, Cerberus. All the greatest evils of the world are locked behind those Gates. One does not simply make it through such obstacles. And even if such a feat is accomplished, one needs incredible power to break the egg. Only absolute masters of each of the four fires or a pair of centuries-old alicorns could possibly have enough power."

Sapphire relaxed as she listened to all the things in the Master's way and was convinced that opening the Gates was an insurmountable task. She quickly stood and said, "So, 'tis impossible for the pony to open the Gates? He is but one alicorn, and it requires two. And he seemed quite young. Surely he cannot be hundreds of years old. We are still safe, yes?"

"Quiet, Sapphire." Ember scolded, "Do not take this as an excuse for your fault simply because the gravity of it is not so great." Using her right claw, she flicked a chip of wood from the broken door across the floor. She walked out of the room, into the hall and motioned for Sapphire to follow her. Sapphire obeyed and followed her mother down the alabaster-walled and basalt-floored hall.

Ember spoke as she led her daughter through the halls. "Though he is one mere alicorn, I doubt that we can simply dismiss him as an irritation. The Sun has been lying still on the Western horizon for six hours. It has not moved, which can only mean King Concordius has lost his power. We can only assume this pony is responsible, and if he was able to overcome Concordius, the most powerful pony in the world, then 'tis best that we regard him as a serious threat." The two dragonesses walked through a pair of doors opening out into a terrace on the side of Mount Inferno. To their left was the side of the mountain, and carved into the white alabaster was a relief of the Four Dragons flying across the sky and presiding over the seas, forests, plains and mountains of the world. It was an image of the lost glory and grace of Drakonia.

Queen Ember called for her personal slave and a zebra entered the terrace. He knelt before the queen and waited for orders. Ember spoke to the slave in Zwahiri, "It seems the time came sooner than I expected. Bring me her armor. And bring Comet, Amber and Ruby. Quickly." The slave ran off to carry out the orders, then Ember turned to Sapphire and said, "Look at the Sun, Sapphire. 'Tis been such for hours, now. If it continues, the balance between night and day will have collapsed and order will fall. If you capture that pony, we may find a way to restore the sky."

Sapphire looked at her mother with surprise. "What do you mean by, 'you'?"

"The egg was your responsibility, still is, and shall be 'til you pass it onto your own children. So 'tis your duty to bring the egg back. This is your chance to redeem yourself. Do not fail me twice."

Shortly afterwards, the zebra slave return with several other slaves, each bearing a piece of iron armor on their backs. Ember then ordered them to equip Sapphire with the armor. They put on her chest plate, gauntlets and mask. Once the princess was fully dressed, her brother and two sisters, all wearing their armor, entered the terrace. Comet, Ruby and Amber.

Sapphire's eyes widened and her mouth curled into a smile as she realized what was happening. Ember continued talking.

"As far as we are aware, only the dragons know where the Gates are, so that pony will likely be flying in search for it. I shall go with the Royal Guard to protect the Gates for the next few days."

Sapphire, once she had coped with the delightful shock, embraced her mother and said, "Thank you, mother! Thank you! I shall find him, and I shall ensure he is a pile of ashes by sunrise."

Ember returned the embrace. "The Sun shan't rise at all if you cannot find him." Then she let go of Sapphire and spoke to her other children. "Comet, Ruby, Amber. You have a vital task on your claws. The phoenix egg has been stolen from Sapphire and 'tis essential that it be found. You shall accompany your sister as she searches for it. This shall be her first journey away from home, so take good care of her."

The three siblings nodded and lined up at the edge of the terrace, ready to take off. Sapphire then joined them.

Before they took off, Ember gave them some final instructions. "And whatever you do, do not let the Senate know of this misfortune. They may vote our family out of the throne for it."

"Yes, mother." Sapphire replied, "And I swear, mother. I swear, I shan't let you down this time."

Ember smiled. "Now go." Ember raised her head high and breathed out a plume of all four fires, signaling for the four young dragons to fly. Comet, Ruby, Amber and Sapphire leaped off the edge and spread their wings. Sapphire briefly struggled and frantically flapped her wings, but her two sisters helped her gain a good gliding posture and they all glided gracefully to the South.

Comments

[Nolongerposting]

I love this story. You've done an excellent job of weaving the backstory into the rest of the story. It was a little iffy at the beginning but quickly shaped up to a truly epic story. I can't wait for the update. For now you have left me with a thousand unanswered questions, a sign of a good writer so long as you can pull them all back together and I believe that you can.

[Time Ponies are cool]

2305480 Thank you so much. The beginning chapters were awful since it was my first time doing actual proper story-writing, but I improved a lot in the later chapters(I'll probably re-write the first few chapters some time in the future). I'm glad to have another reader for whom to write!

[Nolongerposting]

2312403
No Problem I've done that a million times. I'll get five or six chapters into a story and I'll go back to see if I'm staying consistent with what I originally wrote and I couldn't believe how bad my writing was.

[Jaypelt]

OH COME ON I NEED MOAR oh if thats okay with you..

[Time Ponies are cool]

2313182I'll be sure to satisfy. Glad to see you enjoyed it.