Rise of Char

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 29: Kingly Gifts

Rainbow Dash dipped low to the ground, her reentry was met with the excited cheers for her performance by the Flame Pony pegasi she had overseen this week and the Royal Guards that were interested in seeing what all the hype was about. Rainbow's breathing was elevated, wanting to show off to everypony, and ending it on the Sonic Rainboom seemed like the best way to do so. The Flame Pony pegasi showered her with compliments, nearly beside themselves of how easy Rainbow Dash had made it seem to do such complicated maneuvers; wondering exactly how the Rainboom worked. Moments later, Ray Horizon swooped down, out of breath and stumbling on all fours attempting to keep herself up right.

"You were keeping pace pretty well up there." Rainbow Dash complimented her.

"I… lost… you… on the… thingy…" Ray said between sharp breaths.

Nearly falling over, she was caught by Solar Wind, who had come to her aid as soon as she landed.

"The triple loop to the double barrel roll nose dive is not easy to execute, let alone keep a formation." Rainbow Dash replied, understanding what the 'thingy' meant.

Ray was catching her breath when she realized who it was that was holding her upright. Solar's stoic expression did little to excite any pony, but having his arms around Ray caused her mane to plume in embarrassment. With her wings still numb from her excessive flying, her muscles weary from pushing herself to her limits, Ray could do nothing but flush and allow Solar to hold her upright.

"How are you feeling?" Solar asked.

"…fine…" Ray mumbled, refusing to look up at him in fear of letting him see her flushed face.

"I guess even the feistiest ponies can get tired from time to time." Flare Fizzle remarked.

Flare and Wisp Seeker were among the Flame Pony pegasi that had been looking on, dressed in some rather formal clothing, it was clear that they were not on duty and that they had arrived together.

"Maybe you'd like to give it a try, slow poke." Ray retorted.

"I'm quite comfortable down here, thank you." Flare replied.

"What are you ponies wearing?" Rainbow Dash asked with a stifled laugh.

"A suit and dress, hoof made by the ponies over at Stitch Rose Shay, it breathes like Equestrian cotton." Wisp remarked, admiring the metal cufflinks on his sleeve.

"We've been given the night off, and thought we'd enjoy ourselves." Flare added.

"I sincerely hope you have been." General Hearth said aloud.

The Flame Pony pegasi that had been crowding around parted quickly for General Hearth who approached them looking rather amused. Every soldier, guard, pegasi pony stood at attention at his presence but General Hearth waved it off.

"Did you catch the show, General?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding very excited and a wee bit hopeful.

"I wasn't around for the beginning, but I did see the rather spectacular finish." General Hearth replied, obviously referencing the Sonic Rain Boom.

General Hearth nodded to the ponies present, conveying his hellos, when he spotted his granddaughter in the arms of colt. Ray noticed her grandfather looking at her with puzzled face; she quickly squirmed away from Solar who remained unfazed by it.

"Come to enjoy the festivities, sir?" Flare asked curiously.

"I've been asked to sit with Lord Smolder at the King's table this evening." General Hearth confessed.

General Hearth removed his polished silver helmet, his ceremonial armor had been pulled from storage for this occasion but it seemed so much newer than him. The sleek sheen, the undented metal, the straight lines only enhanced how old General Hearth really was. There was wrinkles in his face, his hide was weathered from years of battles, a few old scars that could only be seen when the light hit them just right, and his stern but tired eyes revealed much about his life.

"That's cool." Rainbow Dash replied.

Suddenly Private First Class Cosmic pushed passed Rainbow Dash, quickly scanning the courtyard for any signs of his special some pony.

"Hey! Watch it, bub!" Rainbow Dash said, shaking her hoof at him.

Cosmic was desperately bolting from one corner of the courtyard to the next trying to locate her. With his heart pounding, not only for his anxious feelings, but the amount of running he was doing, it never crossed Cosmic's mind on what he was going to say to her when he did find her. Deciding that a higher vantage point would provide a better view of the area, Cosmic quickly decided to climb the nearest statue he could to gain some elevation.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked him aloud.

Cosmic was halfway up the statue when he leaned back to see who was speaking to him. Unbeknownst to Cosmic, it was none other than Argo Fleece who seemed rather unhappy with him.

"I'm… looking for some pony." Cosmic said slowly, still hanging from the statue.

"So naturally you decided to climb all over a three hundred year old sculpture of one of our most revered Generals?" Argo questioned his logic.

"I'm sure he'd understand." Cosmic replied sheepishly.

"She." Argo corrected him.

Cosmic looked at the statue a bit more carefully and saw that it was indeed a mare rather than a colt he was hanging from.

"The Flame Ponies were rather progressive, weren't they?" Cosmic mumbled to himself.

"Get down from there!" Argo barked, causing Cosmic to jerk in surprise.

Losing his grip, Cosmic fell from the statue and landed on the ground with a thud. While Argo immediately started to wipe off the hoof marks Cosmic made to the statue with his cloak.

"Dad, you shouldn't scare ponies like that." Goldie said, stepping into Cosmic's upside down view of the world.

In an instant, Cosmic was up off the floor, standing up at attention, and staring intensely at Goldie. Goldie breathed a laugh at Cosmic's stoic posture while Argo eyed him quite concerned.

"Hello again." Goldie said in almost bubbly sort of tone.

"Found your Dad." Cosmic said quickly, his eyes darting towards Argo then back to Goldie.

"I can see that, thank you." Goldie said with a smile.

"You know this monkey?" Argo asked curiously striding up next to her.

"He was one of the Guard Ponies that directed me to you." Goldie replied.

"He's not affiliated with our Royal Guards; he wouldn't have known anything on my whereabouts." Argo stated, sizing Cosmic up.

"He's was trying to be helpful, Dad." Goldie explained, coming to Cosmic's defense.

"Uh huh." Argo said, seemingly peering into Cosmic's soul.

"Dad you're making him nervous." Goldie scolded him, giving him soft shove.

"Good." Argo said flatly.

"Sorry, my Dad has bad habit of trying to intimidate ponies." Goldie said sympathetically to Cosmic.

"No trouble at all, ma'am." Cosmic replied, his voice cracking.

Goldie giggled while Cosmic's face flushed a deep red; causing Argo's mane to spark in sudden realization of what was going on.

"Monkey, I grow thirsty. Bring me and my daughter refreshments and make it snappy." Argo ordered him.

"Dad! You can't just-" Before Goldie could scold him, Cosmic had already bolted off to retrieve the drinks. "You need to learn to be kinder to ponies, Dad."

"You and your mother are blind to the things that are right in front of you." Argo said rolling his eyes.

"Careful, Dad, Mom and I know about your singing." Goldie said, trying to threaten him.

"If you know what's best for you, you'd put that under your saddle and keep it there." Argo warned her back.

Cosmic came rushing back, carrying two stone cups filled with apple juice in his arms. Trying to hide the fact that he was nearly out of breath, Cosmic smiled wide while giving them the drinks; taking small gasps of breath through his clenched teeth.

"My father likes to sing." Goldie said taking a sip of her drink; causing Argo to nearly choke on his.

"Well, my daughter has a thing for colts in uniform." Argo retorted, causing Goldie to spit take her drink all over Cosmic.

Goldie's mane flared, her face burning red hot with embarrassment. General Hearth strolled over to them, getting Argo's attention.

"Argo, Lord Smolder is expecting us." General Hearth said to him.

"Of course, if you two will excuse us." Argo said, following General Hearth to the King's table.

"I. Am. So. Sorry." Goldie said each word with such emphasis.

Using the hem of her cloak to carefully wipe away the juice that trickled off Cosmic's face, the warmth of her flames could be lightly felt through the fabric as her fire was still flaring from her embarrassment. Cosmic all the while stood perfectly still, heart racing, unable to comprehend his special some pony touching his face so tenderly.

"Bagaframic." Cosmic said incoherently, face flushing.

"What?" Goldie asked looking at him puzzled.

"Accident! It was an accident!" Cosmic spouted quickly, snapping back to his senses.

"I am really sorry about that, my Dad can be a pretty mean pony at times." Goldie said, her face flushing slightly.

"Yeah, you're a pretty pony- MEAN! He's a pretty mean pony!" Cosmic shouted, realizing his slip.

Goldie looked at him rather awkwardly. Cosmic could feel his face burning, this time it wasn't from his nerves so much as it was from Goldie's hoof slowly heating up his cheek from beneath her cloak.

"Gah!" Cosmic gasped, suddenly reacting to the heat.

"Sweet Celestia! I'm sorry! Here!" Goldie shouted in surprise, throwing the rest of her juice in Cosmic's face.

Cosmic sat there, eyes closed, feeling the juice run down his face. Slowly opening his eyes, he could see Goldie covering her own mouth in utter shock at what she had just done.

"Does this mean I have to get more juice?" Cosmic asked jokingly, feeling his stomach tighten at his lame attempt at a joke.

Cosmic's heart did a summersault when Goldie started laughing at his joke. Taking her cloak once more and beginning to pat him dry.

"We can get it together this time." Goldie said with a smile.

---

I found myself sitting at the King's Table, at least that's what it was called. It wasn't much anything really. Just an elevated stone table running horizontally across the northern part of the courtyard, my back facing the mountain, while I looked out to all the circular stone tables where the fancy guest ponies sat eating and drinking in their merriment.

It was tradition to have the King's family sitting at this table, so I invited those that I consider family to sit with me. The table held only held five seats, to which I offered to General Hearth, Burning Sand, Wingston, and Argo Fleece; the ponies that I knew best and trusted much of our Kingdom to. I sat at the center, Wingston and General Hearth sat beside me, while Burning Sand and Argo Fleece sat beside them. It was customary to have the leaders and nobles of the other Kingdoms to offer well wishes, support, or alliances to the newly crowned King, but I made it a point to bypass that entirely; yet some felt it necessary to do so anyways.

"Greetings Fire Pony!" Prince Rutherford shouted at me from across the table.

"Hey." I replied, keeping a firm hoof on my utensils as his booming voice seemed to shake everything on the table.

"Yaks respect the destructive nature of Fire Pony's fire!" Prince Rutherford declared stomping his hooves and shaking the table further.

"I appreciate that, Prince Rutherford." I replied, now using my arms to keep the dishes from sliding off.

"Yaks also respect the warmth and beauty that fire can bring!" Prince Rutherford continued, his personal guards stepping forward and placing two records on table before me. "Accept this gift of classical Yak music on behalf of Yakyakistan."

"Classical?" I asked curiously leaning over to look at them.

"Yak music is powerful!" Prince Rutherford shouted fanning my flames back. "Yet also, endearing and melancholy."

"I am very grateful for this, thank you, Prince Rutherford." I replied with a nervous smile.

Prince Rutherford returned to the courtyard as Wingston reached over with his staff to pull the records towards him.

"Flight of the Yakkys and the Moonlight Stampede." Wingston read aloud the titles of the records.

"Are they any good?" I asked curiously.

"Only if you want your ears to bleed." Argo mumbled to me, leaning over past General Hearth.

General Hearth and I tried to keep a straight face, forcing ourselves not to smile or laugh.

---

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood together, off to the side of the courtyard watching the Queen of Buckingham Palace approach the King's table.

"How could you not think to bring something for Smolder?" Princess Luna hissed to her sister.

"Me? You were the one who's been talking about coming here all week." Princess Celestia whispered back.

"Must we approach the table? Wingston informed us that Smolder did not wish it so." Princess Luna asked curiously.

"I wasn't planning to, but Cadance brought Smolder a prism from the Crystal Empire." Princess Celestia said, sounding rather annoyed.

"Traitor! How could she do something so under hoofed without consulting us?" Princess Luna asked, sounding rather bitter.

"That's what I said! Either no pony brings anything or we all bring something! Now we're going to look like snobby fancy ponies who couldn't be bothered to get the young Flame Pony King a gift." Princess Celestia hissed.

"Perchance we can run to market and find something fit for a King?" Princess Luna asked sounding hopeful.

"All the shops are closed; I only managed to find this." Princess Celestia said.

Using her magic, Princess Celestia retrieved a rather crude looking doll of Smolder, quite possibly a Flim Flam product being sold out in front of the castle.

"What is it?" Princess Luna asked looking rather disgusted with it.

"It's Smolder, what else could it be?" Princess Celestia asked holding it up.

"Is it at least fire proof?" Princess Luna asked curiously.

With a spark from her horn, Princess Celestia set a flame to the doll as it suddenly caught fire and burned away rather quickly. Dropping it to the stone floor, the sisters watched the doll turn to dust in a matter of seconds.

"Do we have a plan B?" Princess Luna asked promptly.

---

I thanked the Queen for her lovely gift of several boxes of tea leaves, something that Wingston seemed rather happy about; which I was glad because I could not stomach the drink. The gifts I was receiving were few and far between each pony who wanted to congratulate me, so I was rather content with the amount I had been given, as well as grateful for the thought the ponies put into it. Princess Sheva was next to come to the table, with her was a rather familiar face.

"Zecora!" I shouted in surprise, nearly jumping to my hooves.

"I'm glad I came, King of the Wild Flame." Zecora said happily.

"Wild Flame? That is not his name." Princess Sheva said looking puzzled.

"Smolder is his name, Wild Flame means just the same." Zecora explained.

I could see Argo rubbing his temples, I suppose not every pony is amused by the rhymes of a zebra, but I enjoyed it plenty.

"I'm glad to have you here, Zecora." I said.

"Excited are we to see you crowned, an important duty to which you are bound." Princess Sheva said.

"A gift from us who wish you well, a special mixture of soothing gel." Zecora continued, placing a jar of vibrant orange goo upon the table.

"That is a very old Zebra remedy, said to have magical restorative properties." Wingston whispered to me.

"I'm very grateful for this. Thank you." I said picking up the jar, admiring the color.

---

"Is that what I think it is?" Princess Luna asked in a hushed voice.

"Lady Sheva just gave Smolder a jar of Savanna Sun! That completely blows Cadance's prism out of the water!" Princess Celestia hissed in disbelief.

"All we have is a burned up rag doll." Princess Luna mumbled bitterly.

"Hey! I spent twenty bits on that!" Princess Celestia hissed back.

"You were taken for a fool, sister." Princess Luna said rolling her eyes.

---

I was surprised to see Princess Sapphire approaching the table, over her shoulder I could see Lord Tundra and Lady Frost standing off to the side beaming with pride. From the slight shade of purple on her cheeks, I could guess that she had not said anything to her parents about the wedding yet.

"Lord Smolder, on behalf of the Ice Ponies and the Kingdom of the Frozen North, I want to congratulate you on your Coronation." Princess Sapphire said in a very dignified tone of voice.

"Thank you… my Lady." I said awkwardly.

"As a token of our goodwill, I'd like to share with you a… spiritual… reading." Princess Sapphire said slowly.

"A what?" I asked looking confused.

"The Ice Ponies are a very spiritual herd, taking solace in nature and the concerning themselves more with the development of oneself and not so much in material objects." Wingston informed me.

"Every Ice Pony is expected to explore the meaning of ones' own identity, namely their cutie mark, and draw from that their talents, purpose, and power. If you are willing, I will perform a reading of your cutie mark, and… enlighten you of things you may not have known." Princess Sapphire said looking none too comfortable about this.

"S-S-Sure." I said, trying to make this go by as quickly as possible for her.

"Very well then, please lean forward." Princess Sapphire said, her face turning a deeper shade of purple.

I did as I was asked, leaning towards her as she leaned in as well. The tip of her horn touched my forehead, a sudden spark of light started to illuminate from her horn as she drew her head back. Closing her eyes, the light swirled down her horn and disappeared at its base. She opened her eyes once more, although they were pure white, as if she had gone into a trance.

"Smolder, Son of Scorch, Son of Phoenix, King of Fire. You are but a flicker, a spark, a faraway star. A heart filled with sorrow and sadness, surrounding itself with love and friendship. For what time will throw upon the Smoldering King, it will only feed his fire; it will consume the darkness, for his flame is meant to endure even when all other lights go out." Princess Sapphire announced in a very monotone voice.

Blinking several times, Princess Sapphire's eyes returned to normal, she seemed rather off balance.

"Are you alright?" I asked, concerned she was going to fall over.

"She'll be alright." Lady Frost said aloud, quickly coming to help Sapphire.

"A spiritual reading is a very intimate gesture, it allows the reader to look into a pony's heart revealing to them things that even they would not know about themselves." Lord Tundra explained also coming to check on Sapphire.

"Will she be alright?" I asked.

"Of course, Sapphire is just out of practice, she'll be her old self after a few minutes." Lady Frost said reassuringly, gingerly holding Sapphire in her arms.

"I'm… grateful to her for willingly sharing that with me." I said.

---

"We've should have gone first, sister, the gifts seem to only be getting better." Princess Luna said looking rather worried.

"I know, I know! Just try and help me think of something." Princess Celestia said, tapping her hooves against her head; trying to think of something.

---

I watched Sapphire's parents lead her away, telling her how much of a wonderful job she had done, offering her words of encouragement and love. I couldn't help but smile for her, as awkward as it was to have your parents around; at least they were there for you. I heard hooves approaching the table again; to my surprise it was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna who smiled at me. I couldn't put my hoof on it but they seemed to be acting a little peculiar.

"Hello, Smolder." Princess Celestia and Princess Luna said together.

"Hello." I said, giving them a small wave.

"Princess Luna and I-" Princess Celestia began.

"We were thinking of what to get you for your Coronation." Princess Luna jumped in nervously.

"We wanted it to be something meaningful." Princess Celestia added.

"Something that wouldn't collect dust on a shelf." Princess Luna pointed out.

"After doing some extensive digging-" Princess Celestia began.

"And in no way snooping." Princess Luna interjected.

"We found out something you might be interested in knowing." Princess Celestia stated.

I stared blankly at them, unsure of what they were talking about, as did General Hearth, Argo, Burning Sand and Wingston. Smiling nervously, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna glanced at one another, wondering who should be the pony to tell him.

"We found out when you birthday is." Princess Celestia said.

"It's June twentieth." Princess Luna followed up.

General Hearth raised an eyebrow. Argo looked very perplexed. Burning Sand was counting to himself of what day and month it was. Wingston was also trying to recall if that date was actually correct. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna smiled wide, waiting for my reaction; needless to say I did react.

"Ju-Ju-June…" I stammered.

I never knew my birthday. I could feel myself shaking, my heart was thumping. There was this indescribable feeling of joy I felt swirling inside me. I had a birthday. An exact day, a day which I could call my own, and it had not passed yet.

I suppose it means more to a pony who never knew, to those that will never know what it means to not have one. I've spent every year, on a different day, wondering if that day was the day. Now, finally, I had an answer, and it made me feel so much better knowing for some reason. It was obvious to any pony near me that I was doing my best not to cry, even though the act itself was impossible, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were doing their best to calm me down.

"We'll have a big party, at Canterlot, to make up for all the missed birthdays." Princess Celestia reassured me.

"We will have pin the tail on the Owlbear, and clowns. The pies to the face will be most enjoyable." Princess Luna added.

"Thank you." I said, with a very sincere smile.

"We are very glad to have you among us, Smolder." Princess Celestia said warmly.

---

From the North Tower, the Orc was peering through a makeshift spyglass, observing the King's Table and all those that sat there. The spyglass held on each pony, committing their appearance to memory, the Orc's attention eventually fell upon Smolder. Lowering the spyglass, the Orc descended the stairs that led down from the North Tower. In its decrepit state, the North Tower had been closed off to any and every pony until further notice. Having once been the lodgings of the court wizard from days long passed, the tower stood derelict and vastly empty. Focus on more stable parts of the castle took priority over the old North Tower, always viewed to be a part of the castle that would be torn down rather than rebuilt.

Unbeknownst to nearly every pony was a second staircase built into the base of the North Tower that led to the dungeons beneath the castle. Frequented by the wizard ponies of old, as a means to gather rare crystals from the mines more efficiently, to practice their spells and incantations. It was now a means for Gorun to enter Castle Char undetected.

Reaching the landing of the spiraling staircase, Gorun examined the stone door that had not been opened in several decades. Thrusting his shoulder against the stone door in attempt to force it open was met with little progress, having only shaken the old soot that seemed to plaster. Retrieving his mace, Gorun guessed the amount of strength needed to hit the stone door with enough force to jar it open. Clasping his mace with two hands, Gorun struck the stone door near the centered edge, effectively freeing the stone door from its layered soot and breaking large chunks of rock from it. Following it up with a savage kick, the stone door shattered open, spilling large bits of rock into the corridor.

The loud music echoed, only muffled by the helmet he wore. Rolling his shoulders, Gorun started off down the corridor in a leisurely pace. The Spider Queen's fang hung at his side, lightly knocking against his armor, twirling the gold coin in his fingertips.