Rise of Char

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 24: Fleece Family

Argo Fleece stepped out from his chamber, his nose nearly pressed against the stone tablet he carried in his hoof. Strolling down the corridor Argo emerged into a small seating area where Gleam Fizzle, younger sister to Flare Fizzle, sat at her desk gazing longingly at the doors leading into the Main Hall where all the special guest ponies were mingling. Gleam was a very light colored black, her fire was a dark orange that her sister was very jealous of, and her cutie mark depicted a few exploding fireworks that seemed to gleam when she walked around.

"I need the reports from yesterday morning, Ms. Fizzle." Argo said, not looking up from his stone tablet.

Gleam sighed loudly. Completely oblivious of Argo standing off to the side of her and ignoring his request; lost in her daydream. Argo reached out, without looking, with his free hoof to take the stone tablets Gleam was supposed to be giving him but felt nothing come in contact with his hoof. Looking perplexed, Argo looked up from his tablet to see what the hold-up was and saw Gleam spacing out.

"Ms. Fizzle?" Argo asked aloud sounding very annoyed.

"Mr. Fleece isn't seeing anypony today." Gleam said as if rehearsed.

Argo stepped in front of her desk, and then positioned himself in her line of sight that made her jump in her stone chair.

"You will not be seeing anypony if you don't get me those reports!" Argo snapped at her.

"Of course, Mr. Fleece!" Gleam said frantically.

Scrambling out her chair, Gleam pulled open several drawers looking through several stacked tablets. Slowly but surely, Gleam came to a halt, lowering her head in shame as she looked over her shoulder at Argo.

"W-W-What reports did you need?" Gleam asked sheepishly.

"Yesterday morning." Argo replied narrowing his eyes at her.

Gleam slammed several drawers shut before opening the appropriate drawer and retrieved the stack of tablets. Placing them on the desk in front of him, Gleam sat back down in her chair and tried to seem busy by writing on a blank stone tablet. Argo scooped the stack of stone slates from the desk, Gleam could feel his glare as he headed back towards the corridor. A sudden upheaval of laughter came from the Main Hall, which had both Gleam and Argo looking towards the stone doors.

"I cannot wait for this day to be over and done with." Argo mumbled.

Looking over at Gleam, expecting her to approve of his statement, found her gazing at the door and leaning against her hoof. Argo appeared in front of the desk once more, causing Gleam to fumble for her charcoal and start writing right away again.

"It's apparent that our 'honored guests' will not be settling down anytime soon." Argo said dropping the stack of reports back onto her desk.

"Q-Quite right, sir." Gleam said quickly pulling the stack back.

"Take the rest of the day off, Ms. Fizzle." Argo said walking away from her desk.

Gleam nearly dropped the stack of stone tablets, quickly contorting her body to catch the loose tablets from sliding out from her hooves. Hopping over to the drawer and letting them fall in, Gleam turned to look at Argo in astonishment.

"You really mean it, sir?" Gleam asked.

"Is there a problem?" Argo asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"N-No, sir. No problem at all." Gleam said quickly, trying to hide her excitement.

Argo nodded in agreement. Strolling back down the corridor as Gleam silently screamed in joy and danced on the spot. Quickly clearing up her desk and signing out on her time slate, Gleam through a quick salute to her desk before hurrying to the stone doors leading to the hall. Just as Gleam placed her hoof on the door, she felt it push inwards as Burning Sand seemed to be struggling to open it more then he already had.

"Senator Sand?" Gleam asked in surprise pulling the door open for him.

"Oh, good afternoon, Miss… uh…" Burning Sand squinted his eyes at her trying to remember her face.

"It's Gleam Fizzle, Senator." Gleam stated showing him in and closing the door behind him.

"Oh, yes that's right, I mistake you and your sister." Burning Sand replied strolling into the room.

"Was there something I can help you with, Senator Sand?" Gleam asked quickly, her eyes glancing at the door but choosing to be a good receptionist.

"I'm just here to see Argo. I'll show myself in, if you don't mind." Burning Sand replied heading down the corridor.

"At least let me escort you." Gleam offered striding up next to the elder Flame Pony.

Argo crossed his chamber to his desk that had several more stone tablets stacked at different heights. Seating himself in his chair, Argo took one off the top letting it drop in front of him as he started to skim over it. It was about a minute before there came a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" Argo asked looking up towards the door.

"It's me, Ms. Fizzle, sir." Gleam said from the other side of the door.

"What is it, Ms. Fizzle?" Argo asked aloud.

"Senator Burning Sand to see you, sir." Gleam replied through the door.

"Show him in, Ms. Fizzle." Argo replied looking back down at the tablet.

The stone door to his chamber slide open, Burning Sand stepped inside with Ms. Fizzle.

"A little bird told me you'd be working today, Argo." Burning Sand said with a chuckle.

"There are no birds in the Ashen Fields, Sand." Argo replied.

"It's a figure of speech." Burning Sand stated.

"How did I ever get by without you?" Argo mumbled shaking his head.

Argo looked over at Gleam who was standing by the door, she seemed rather anxious to get to the festivities.

"Good day, Ms. Fizzle." Argo said waving her off.

"Good day, sir." Gleam replied quickly, bolting from the room and slamming the stone door behind her.

"She's an energetic one, isn't she?" Burning Sand asked curiously, glancing over his shoulder.

"She's reliable most of the time, when she's not distracted." Argo commented, once more reading the slate in front of him.

Burning Sand carefully seated himself in the stone chair facing Argo's desk, it was brought in from the waiting area to allow representative ponies a place to sit when speaking with him.

"Is it safe to say you won't be joining the activities this evening?" Burning Sand asked watching Argo read quietly.

"Lord Smolder has requested our presence later tonight, in place of his family at the King's Table, we shall be filling in for them." Argo informed him.

"Are you going to be the grumpy Uncle of the family?" Burning Sand asked jokingly.

"Was there something you needed?" Argo asked impatiently looking up from his stone slate.

"Just making conversation." Burning Sand replied honestly.

"I'm in no mood for conversation at the moment." Argo replied to him.

"You're never in the mood for anything." Burning Sand retorted.

"Fine, you wish to have a conversation, then so be it." Argo said, dropping the slate onto the desk and leaning back in his stone chair; looking very irritated.

"How have you been?" Burning Sand asked cheerfully.

"Marvelous. How was the Crystal Empire?" Argo replied quickly.

"In all my years I never thought color would be something I would have forgotten. The multitude, the variations, Argo, it was an unbelievable sight." Burning Sand said reminiscing of his journey.

"Lovely, nice speaking with you." Argo said dismissively, picking up his slate once more.

"Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were so accommodating to me." Burning Sand continued, still reminiscing about his trip.

Argo did his best to drown out Burning Sand's ramblings. Looking back down at his tablet, Argo tried to focus back in on his work but his mane continued to flare. With a frustrated grunt, Argo pushed the tablet away from him, leaning back in his chair and rubbed his brow with his hoof. Argo took a deep breath and let out a sigh. A knock came at the door.

"What is it now, Ms. Fizzle?" Argo asked aloud.

The stone door slid open. Pinkie Pie's head popped in through the door and that was enough to have Argo facehoof himself at the sight of her; Burning Sand glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey, Mr. Fleece, do you have a minute?" Pinkie Pie asked with wide smile.

"Of course he does, come in, little pink pony." Burning Sand said aloud before Argo could refuse her.

"Great!" Pinkie Pie shouted in glee.

"You have thirty seconds before I tune you out." Argo replied still rubbing his hoof against his face.

"I just wanted to talk to you about something." Pinkie Pie said strolling into the chamber.

"If this is about the band, I can't say I really care for the 'Cream of Clopton', but frankly I really don't care about any of this anymore." Argo stated, pulling the tablet back towards him.

"That's what I'm here to talk to you about." Pinkie Pie said approaching the desk.

"I already said, I don't care about the band." Argo said shooing her away towards the door.

"This isn't about the amazing band known as the Cream of Clopton, it's about some special guest ponies." Pinkie Pie replied.

"We have a one size fits all rule that we are adhering to. The only accommodations we made were for Royalty." Argo stated half-heartedly, still pretending to read the stone tablet in front of him.

"This is actually about a personal matter." Pinkie Pie continued.

"Please take your troubles someplace else, Pink Pony, I have much work to do." Argo said dismissively.

"At least give her the chance to speak, Argo." Burning Sand said seeming interested.

"Say whatever it is you came here to say and then leave." Argo said rubbing his hoof against his temple.

"So the other day I was speaking with General Hearth and he told me something that I didn't know was as secret until I spoke to Sparky who said it was a secret but not a secret that ponies tell other ponies but more a secret that ponies don't speak of because it involves a personal problem that the original pony didn't want other ponies knowing." Pinkie Pie started to explain.

"I didn't catch a word of that." Argo said shaking his head at her.

"She was told something in confidence, Argo, try to pay more attention." Burning Sand said seeming to understand her ramble.

"I thought long and hard about what I should do and what I shouldn't do. Because some things just have to work out for themselves, but I then realized that sometimes a pony needs to get the ball rolling for that certain something to start happening. So I ran into Princess Sapphire yesterday, smacking the living hay out of Smolder's head for some reason in his Royal Chambers, causing even more rumors, but apparently they were just trying to get his horn to grow. So I told her about my problem and she agreed to help me send a letter to the Frozen North if I never talked about what I saw to any pony, but I ended up telling you ponies anyways so don't tell no pony." Pinkie Pie continued, taking a deep breath.

"I'm just going to keep nodding my head at you." Argo said staring blankly at her, his head slightly bobbing up and down.

"This is getting really interesting, I had no idea Smolder and Sapphire were seeing each other in private." Burning Sand said looking very excited at what she was going to say next.

"Through her connections, Princess Sapphire helped track down a group of Flame Ponies that lived in a small commune that had been refugees from the age of the Mad King. Several of those Flame Ponies showed interest in returning to the Ashen Fields after realizing that the ban had been lifted." Pinkie Pie stated.

"If those Flame Ponies want to return, I don't have say in it either way, that is for our soon to be crowned King to decide." Argo replied.

"Two of those ponies just so happen to be Mrs. and Ms. Fleece." Pinkie Pie finished, sounding very sincere.

Argo's mane didn't plume, nor did it blaze, it nearly snuffed itself out. Burning Sand and Pinkie watched as he sat motionless for several seconds, stone faced, before his flames returned as a small burn. Staring at Pinkie Pie, looking very frightened by this news, his eyes full of sadness, as he started to shake. It almost seemed like he was going to faint. Slumping back in his chair, eyes wide in disbelief, looking very vulnerable and feeble; a feature no pony would had ever thought possible.

"You… spoke… to..." Argo mumbled quietly.

"That's not possible. Helena never made it to the Frozen North. Argo said so himself. It was tragedy that Argo has had to live with since the day's of the Mad King." Burning Sand stated looking very surprised; not believing a word of it.

"Mrs. Fleece made it alright, with their little filly who isn't such a filly anymore." Pinkie Pie replied looking excited.

"How is this possible, Argo? You told me your family never made it past the mines." Burning Sand asked sounding confused.

Pinkie Pie looked back at Argo who was shaking all over. He seemed helpless, looking around his desk as if there was going to be something that was going to tell him what he needed to do.

"Argo?" Burning Sand asked looking concerned.

"I lied." Argo said quietly.

"You what?" Pinkie Pie and Burning San asked in surprise.

Argo glanced up at Burning Sand who seemed very concerned, as did Pinkie Pie.

"I had a few connections left in the North, just before the Mad King went to war with Equestria. One of the contacts I had, told me about their arrival a few weeks after she had left. That they had both made it safely." Argo confessed, speaking very solemnly.

"You knew your family was alive this whole time?" Argo asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Argo replied drawing his eyes down to his desk.

"Then why the hay are they still up in the North? Better yet, why are you still here?" Pinkie Pie asked, leaning over his desk to ask him nearly face to face.

"They... believed me to be dead." Argo replied quietly.

Pinkie Pie seemed taken aback by this, Burning Sand slowly shook his head in disappointment.

"Why would they think that?" Pinkie Pie asked in astonishment.

"Because that's what I told my contact to tell them, so that Helena would never have reason to return; even if she wanted to." Argo answered, refusing to look up at her.

Pinkie Pie slammed her face down on the desk, the very thought of it made her shake her head. Lifting her head, Pinkie Pie saw Burning Sand standing by Argo's side. Pinkie Pie watched him violently shove Argo out of his chair. Argo, having been taken by surprise, had no time to brace himself as he fell hard onto the floor.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. Doing something so horrible to your family, it's completely beneath you. All these years ponies have sympathized with your pain only to find out that you've never lost anything, you're just simply hiding from it." Burning Sand said, scolding him.

"Helena left me!" Argo shouted angrily, getting to his hooves and standing up to Burning Sand.

"So you, in turn, pretend to be dead?" Burning Sand questioned him.

"What was I to do? Beg Helena to come back to a warring Kingdom? The Frozen North was far away from the troubles of the Mad King and it was better for Goldie to grow up there then in the aftermath many of our ponies went through." Argo argued with him.

"Goldie?" Pinkie Pie asked, interjecting herself into the conversation.

"Golden Fleece, the name of Argo's daughter." Burning Sand explained, not taking his eyes off Argo.

"Having them believe that I was gone was the best way to keep them from coming back to the Fields." Argo said definitively.

"I always believed you to be a pony of honesty, Argo Fleece. Even if your honesty was blunt and rude at times, you always spoke your mind. Now I see that you're just a sad, angry, old pony who wishes he was some pony else. A pony that had gone after Helena rather than stewing in his own self-pity all these years." Burning Sand said looking very disappointed in him.

"I did what I had to do, Burnie! You wouldn't understand!" Argo shouted at him; looking very conflicted with his own words.

"I know that not a day goes by that I don't wish to see the ones I lost, Argo. Some of us don't have the luxury to choose anymore." Burning Sand replied coldly.

Argo didn't have anything to say to him this time, and couldn't bring himself to look Burnie in the the eye anymore. Burning Sand took his leave, pulling open the stone door and leaving without saying another word. Pinkie Pie looked over at Argo who seemed to be at war with himself. Attempting to justify his reasons and trying to beat down the guilt that seemed to be boiling over inside him.

"Argo…" Pinkie Pie said slowly waiting to see if he would reply.

"Just leave me alone." Argo mumbled in defeat.

"I really think you should see your family." Pinkie Pie said confidently.

"No, I don't think I will." Argo replied bitterly, sitting back down in his chair.

"But Argo…" Pinkie Pie started again.

"I said no, Pinkie Pie!" Argo shouted, his mane flaring.

Pinkie Pie stared at him, even though his face was screwed up in anger, she could see the pain lurking behind his eyes.

"They're waiting out in the seating area." Pinkie Pie said, glancing over her shoulder at the doors.

Argo suddenly looked very frightened. His anger falling away, his flames diminishing very quickly.

"Why? Why did you bring them here?" Argo asked covering his head with his hooves.

"Because you made a lot of mistakes in the past, and you've made up for nearly all of them except for this one." Pinkie Pie said leaning across his desk.

"I haven't changed at all. I'm still that same arrogant pony, Pinkie Pie. Still the Treasurer of Castle Char, still a strict, cold hearted pony that drove them away in the first place. They already know I've lied to them, they'll take one look at me and leave." Argo said bitterly.

"I'm going to level with you, you're one mean son of a diamond dog, and not in the good way. Your attitude stinks and getting a compliment out of you is like squeezing water from a rock." Pinkie Pie confessed.

Argo lowered his hooves from his head. Pinkie Pie could see the years of stress and regret on his face.

"But this is your family, Argo. Something you protected, a treasure you couldn't replace. You have a chance to get it back, to invest in it, and cherish it once more. Don't keep trying to hide it, you need to embrace it, and let yourself be vulnerable for once." Pinkie Pie said comfortingly.

Argo lowered his hooves. Pinkie Pie was surprised to actually see him looking very scared at what he was being asked to do; he always seemed to be made out of stone.

"To be lectured by such a fool of a pony, not even a quarter my age." Argo mumbled rubbing his nose with hoof.

Pinkie Pie watched Argo wrestle with his emotions for a while before, for the first time in a very long time, Argo genuinely smiled.

"I'll… be right out." Argo said quietly, staring down at his desk. "I just need to compose myself."

Pinkie Pie beamed at him. Bouncing towards the door in excitement at the thought of a family being reunited once more sent chills down Pinkie's spine. Quickly making her way out from the chamber, Pinkie Pie could see Gleam speaking with two other Flame Ponies at the end of the corridor. Gleam glanced over her shoulder to see Pinkie Pie miming with her hooves to stretch; asking her to stall for time.

The older mare was Helena Fleece, a dark grey Flame Pony, her fire was light red and her cutie mark bore a small pile of treasure. The pony beside her was Golden Fleece, she was a fairly light grey pony, her flames were a deep yellow and her cutie mark was a golden thread that curled.

"Mr. Fleece is single hoofed the most important pony working for Prince Smolder. He is the first pony to arrive and the last pony to leave every day, he is the economy of the Ashen Fields. It has been an honor to work for him." Gleam said graciously.

"Sweetheart, I know this pony. He gives saddle soars a good name." Helena remarked sounding uninterested.

"Mother!" Goldie hissed in disapproval.

"It's true dear. Your father is the most closed off, inconsiderate pony that has ever walked these fields." Helena replied not missing a beat.

"How did you two meet? If you don't mind me asking." Gleam asked curiously; finding the idea of her standing up to Argo inspiring.

"I was his secretary." Helena replied simply.

"You were his secretary?" Gleam asked in disbelief.

"You don't need to pander to me, honey. I know what it's like working with that colt, so don't start playing up the old wind song for that pompous pony. He's rude, demanding and won't let you have a day off unless you're missing a leg; he might even ask if you just limp into work anyways." Helena mumbled, frowning at her own memories.

"Tell me about it." Gleam mumbled under her breath.

"You still ended up marrying him, mother." Goldie said eyeing her.

"That doesn't change the fact that he's a cold, unfeeling rock of a pony." Helena stated turning up her nose.

"How did you end up together?" Gleam asked sounding very curious.

"Good luck, I've been asking her about that for years now." Goldie replied rolling her eyes.

"I sang your mother a song." Argo said aloud from the threshold of the corridor.

Helena, Goldie, and Gleam all turned to face Argo who stood wearing a very serious expression. There was an awkward silence that followed his remark. Pinkie Pie stood off to the side, Gleam slowly sliding away from Helena and Goldie, trying to make her way to the door. Goldie would have liked nothing more then to hug her father, having never seen or known all her life, but her mother made it perfectly clear that they were to be angry with him when he showed his 'big dumb face'.

"Argo? What a surprise, and here I thought you were dead." Helena remarked coldly.

"I got better." Argo replied snidely.

"Just so we're clear on this, you wrote a series of anonymous letters to me expressing your undying love before finding the courage to confess that it was you all along." Helena pointed out.

"If I recall correctly, you wouldn't shut up about your secret admirer pony for weeks on end." Argo retorted.

"I recall you standing me up twice on two of our dates, apologizing out the saddle for it in the following letters claiming you had pony pocks and a hernia. Only to finally confess that it was you writing these love letters through a rather poorly written love song you sang to me on our third, but first real date." Helena snapped hotly.

"I told you I would have improved upon it, but you ran away before I could get the chance." Argo replied coldly.

"Would that have been before or after bleeding ponies dry for every last ounce of gold they had to fund the Mad King's war?" Helena asked angrily.

"It was after…" Argo said trailing off.

Helena noticed that his tone had changed. His stern exterior had fallen, much like how it used to disappear when he spoke sweetly to her, when it was just them.

"When I came home to our empty house, finding an empty crib, and realizing you weren't coming home ever again." Argo said, his voice starting to tremble.

Argo's age was beginning to show through, the years of regret causing him to look feeble, and it hurt Helena to see him so vulnerable. Helena stepped towards him, trying desperately to keep the scowl she wore but it was quickly being beaten back by her trembling lip.

"You know why I had to do it, Argo." Helena said, her voice also trembling.

"Yes, and you know why… I had to do what I did." Argo said remorsefully.

Helena nodded her head yes, not trusting herself to speak in fear that her emotions would get the better of her. Argo managed a very sorry looking smile, making Helena choke back laugh at his meager expression.

"I've missed you so much, Helena." Argo confessed.

By the time Argo had finished his sentence, Helena was already embracing him with all the years of separation put into this one hug. Goldie was not far behind, taking Argo's other shoulder, hugging him tightly and rambling in his ear how good it was to finally meet him.

"I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you, Argo." Helena whispered to him.

"I'm sorry for making you choose between us and our treasure." Argo whispered back.

Gently kissing his daughter on her forehead, Argo shared a long overdue kiss with Helena. It was a few more moments before they separated, Helena smiled warmly at him as he smiled back. That's when Argo suddenly felt Helena's hoof hit him upside the head, staggering him a bit, while Argo looked at her in surprise.

"That's for trying to make me believe you were dead. How dumb do you think I am?" Helena asked sounding very cross.

Pinkie Pie watched as Argo attempted to explain his way out of being in trouble once again, as Burning Sand strolled over to her.

"You did a very kind thing to a very unkind pony, Pinkie Pie." Burning Sand said to her looking very approving.

"Every pony deserves a chance to be happy." Pinkie Pie replied happily.

Comments

[Rammy]

Um Burning Sand Pinkie is about laughter not kindness...

[Turtlehaus]

8448284
Thank you for pointing that out. I'll rework it to be more in line with what Pinkie Pie is known for.

[Rammy]

8449541 sure.

[Mihoshika]

So I ran into Princess Sapphire yesterday, smacking the living hay out of Smolder's head for some reason in his Royal Chambers, causing even more rumors, but apparently they were just trying to get his horn to grow.

...This statement isn't as innocent as it seems, I guess.