Rise of Char

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 6: General Dilemmas

Private Nightshade had his ear trained to the Throne Room door; straining to eavesdrop on the conversation taking place inside. Private First Class Cosmic stood as the look out. Considering that the two ponies were Royal Guards, Cosmic was unsure of who he should be looking out for.

"Can you hear anything?" Cosmic whispered over his shoulder.

"I won't hear anything with your lips flapping." Nightshade hissed waving his hoof at him to keep quiet.

"Maybe we should change places." Cosmic hissed back seeming rather annoyed.

"Not a chance." Nightshade whispered covering his free ear with his hoof to ignore him.

"What are you two doing?" Specialist Peanut asked, suddenly strolling up on them.

Nightshade and Cosmic both jumped. Cosmic quickly rushed over to Peanut, covering his mouth his hoof and shushing him. Peanut looked very confused.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Discord are having an emergency meeting in there." Cosmic whispered to him.

"So?" Peanut asked confused with all their sneaking and secrecy.

"Nightshade said, that Princess Celestia said, that Princess Luna said, that Smolder was in danger." Cosmic explained in a hushed voice.

"What?" Peanut asked aloud in surprise.

Peanut rushed to the Throne Room door, pressing his ear up against it, along with Nightshade straining to hear whatever was being said on the other side. Cosmic decided to abandon his post, as look out, and join them with the eavesdropping.

---

Within the Throne Room, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Discord stood in a small circle. The Princesses were glaring at Discord who looked very sheepishly at them.

"Would you like to explain yourself, Discord?" Princess Celestia asked sounding rather displeased.

"Am I being accused of something?" Discord asked innocently.

"I have just received a letter from Wingston detailing the remains of the broken Void Mirror in Smolder's room that you put there personally." Princess Celestia stated magically raising the letter up to him.

"Oh! Yes! That! Well you see I was just merely returning it to its rightful owner was all." Discord said crumbling up the letter and swallowing it.

"That mirror should have been kept far away from the Ashen Fields, Discord." Princess Luna scolded.

"What has your manes in a knot? All I did was give the little Flame Pony a memento of horrors being a Mad King would bring. It was just a bit of fun, I didn't know that the little King would get so bent out of shape over it." Discord said looking rather annoyed.

"The mirror is talking, Discord." Princess Celestia said stomping her hoof down.

"Really? It wasn't doing anything like that when I found it." Discord replied looking genuinely surprised.

"So you honestly have no idea what is going on with that mirror?" Princess Luna asked looking suspiciously at him.

"Well technically, no, it wasn't speaking when I found it but generally speaking, it could be something or someone from the Void that is trying to communicate with our little Flame Pony King." Discord said scratching his chin looking rather curious about this development.

"Well your fun may have put Smolder in terrible danger." Princess Celestia said.

"Danger? What are you talking about?" Discord asked looking puzzled.

"Luna will have to be the one to answer that." Princess Celestia said turning to her.

"When I had received word that Smolder had fallen asleep, I didn't delay in entering his dream. I wanted to resolve whatever issues that may have been plaguing him and giving him nightmares. Upon my arrival I witnessed the Ashen Fields, a blaze with fire, while Smolder and the Mad King did battle at the base of the volcano." Princess Luna began.

"He's having nightmares about the battle with his father?" Discord asked.

"I don't believe so, although I do believe the events that took place that day did weigh heavy on his mind, but Smolder was winning that battle. I didn't have much time to really understand where his nightmares were stemming from, but I was to guess, it would have been from the loss of his brothers. It wasn't until I decided to intervene in the fight did I realize I was not alone." Princess Luna explained further.

"What do you mean?" Princess Celestia asked sounding interested.

"I felt the presence of another entity, a being that was already present within Smolder's dream. I attempted to find the entity with my magic but I felt my powers over the dream world weakening with every passing moment. That is when I saw the darkness pour out from Castle Char, an ocean of blackness covered the fields and surrounded me in shadow. I heard the laughter of a disembodied voice before I felt my connection to Smolder forcefully severed." Princess Luna concluded her story.

"That is very interesting." Discord said looking rather excited.

"That is not the proper tone or attitude I would take towards this matter, Discord." Princess Luna snapped at him.

"An entity capable of entering the dream world and break Princess Luna's bond from the Flame Pony? How is it not interesting? Our list of Ponies capable of such amazing feats is short and the list grows ever shorter on a Ponies who are unnerved by Princess Luna's attempts to reveal them." Discord stated.

"Something is at work here and we are without even a single idea of whom or what may be behind this." Princess Celestia stated.

"That mirror should be removed from Castle Char immediately." Princess Luna replied.

"Discord, return the Ashen Fields and relieve Smolder of this unintentional burden." Princess Celestia commanded.

"At once , Celestia." Discord said bowing his head quickly and disappearing on the spot.

Princess Celestia turned to Princess Luna who still looked rather worried about the whole thing.

"I hope that your encounter with this entity did not harm you in any way, Luna." Princess Celestia said looking concerned.

"Not at all sister, and that is what troubled me the most." Princess Luna confessed.

"What do you mean?" Princess Celestia asked curiously.

"I did not sense that the entity had any malicious intentions towards Smolder. What I did sense was something very similar to what I sensed within Smolder's dream." Princess Luna replied.

"And what was that?" Princess Celestia asked curiously.

"Loneliness." Princess Luna said somberly.

---

Nightshade, Cosmic, and Peanut still had their ears pressed hard against the Throne Room door. Each straining to hear the mumbled voices from the other side.

"Do any of you ponies hear anything?" Cosmic asked quietly still straining to hear.

"I heard something about a 'walking steer' or something." Nightshade mumbled, not quite able to make out their words.

"I think she said 'talking near her'." Peanut offered.

"This is ridiculous; we should just open the door a crack and listen in." Cosmic said taking his ear off the door.

"We can't do that, they'll see us!" Nightshade hissed, not liking the idea.

"We're not supposed to be listening in on their conversations as it is." Peanut warned him.

"Do you ponies want to know what is going on with Smolder or not?" Cosmic asked stomping his hoof down.

Peanut and Nightshade glances at each other, they turned back to Cosmic and nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled we-" Cosmic was cut short by the door suddenly opening and hitting him square in the nose.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood in the doorway looking rather surprised by the three Royal Guard ponies crowding near the door. The Princesses looked to see the one pony nursing his nose while the other two ponies tried to play it off like they were just hanging around by whistling and leaning on one another.

"Are you alright?" Princess Celestia asked sympathetically.

"Ness." Cosmic replied holding his nose.

"Why did the Royal Guard pony have his face so close to the door?" Princess Luna asked him curiously.

"Nie note know what nore knocking about." Cosmic said nasally.

"Perhaps these other two ponies would like to clear things up?" Princess Celestia asked looking over at Nightshade and Peanut.

"We were just, uh… smelling the door." Nightshade said quickly.

"Smelling the door?" Princess Luna asked looking completely confused.

"We were trying to figure out what's going on with Smolder." Peanut continued.

"Now that makes more sense." Princess Celestia said.

"It doesn't concern you ponies." Princess Luna said in a matter of fact tone.

"Of course it does!" Nightshade said aloud.

Peanut clopped a hoof over Nightshade's mouth and pulled him back to hold onto him.

"What he's trying to say, Princess Luna, is that in the little time we had, we have gotten to become friends with Smolder. We weren't able to do much of anything to help him in the Ashen Fields, but we're not just going to sit back while something or some pony messes with our friend." Peanut explained with the excessive nodding from Nightshade.

"Well put, Specialist Peanut." Princess Celestia remarked with a smile.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia." Peanut replied bowing his head.

"Private First Class Cosmic." Princess Celestia said turning to him.

"Ness!" Cosmic replied still holding his nose.

"I have a very important mission for the three of you." Princess Celestia said stated.

---

Rainbow Dash could not contain her excitement at the idea of teaching the new generation of pegasi Flame Ponies. Images flooded into her mind of Flame Ponies, years from now, looking back on what a great job she did with the very first Squadron of pegasi ponies. The images were so vivid that Rainbow Dash felt she was looking at snapshots of the occasions. What stirred her from these daydreams was a sudden herd of Flame Ponies that stood around chatting in the middle of the road. Almost twenty Flame Ponies all just standing around, shooting the breeze with one another and blocking her way.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Rainbow Dash asked aloud.

Every Flame Pony heard her voice; they all turned to see Rainbow Dash standing in the middle of the road looking puzzled. There was a sudden lurch from every Flame Pony as they formed two rows on either side of the street and stood at attention. Rainbow Dash looked even more puzzled now.

"What is every pony doing?" Rainbow Dash asked slowly.

"Ma'am! We are the pegasi ponies looking to become part of the new Royal Air Force! Ma'am!" Shouted a Flame Pony from the side line.

"You're all here to learn how to be better flyers?" Rainbow Dash asked in disbelief.

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" Shouted almost every pony at once.

"This is going to be so cool!" Rainbow Dash squealed to herself trying to contain her excitement.

Rainbow Dash quickly composed herself before walking down the road like a general inspecting her troops.

"Alright every pony, let's get one thing straight! I'm here because a friend of mine doesn't have time to whip your sorry flanks into the best Royal Air Force the Kingdom has ever seen. I'm going to be pushing you to your limits and then some. I'm not going to be here forever to hold your hooves whenever things go south so I'm looking to for ponies who want to be a leader. Ponies who not only want to set the example but lead by it. I want the ponies who will run towards danger, ponies that respect their fellow flyers and protect those that can't." Rainbow Dash declared loudly eyeing up every pony she walked past.

"King Matchstick put his flank on the line so you ponies could have this chance, you owe it to him to put your best hoof forward and make something of yourselves. Do I make myself clear?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly turning on the spot.

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" The two rows of Flame Ponies shouted.

"Good. Welcome to Rainbow Week." Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

Names were going to slow Rainbow Dash down, having a grand total of eighteen volunteers, she decided to simply number them off. Stating that if they made it through Rainbow Week she would consider learning their names, but until then Rainbow Dash simply wrote a number on each of their chests with chalk.

The first task Rainbow Dash had the pegasi Flame Ponies do was wing push-ups. She started off with only a hundred and after they were done with that she had them do it a hundred more with only one wing; then she made them do it with the other wing.

"Seventeen! Front and center!" Rainbow Dash shouted aloud.

A female pony roughly the same age and size of Rainbow Dash came running over quickly to her. Her flames were a light red, almost pink, and her hide was a dark grey. Her cutie mark depicted two wings jutting out from a helmet. She had the number seventeen on written on her chest as she threw it out standing before her.

"Ma'am?" Seventeen asked expecting a question to be posed to her.

"Every pony here seems to take orders rather well. Why is that?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously but in a serious tone of voice.

"Ma'am, every pony had to be taught how to fight and protect themselves from the dangers of the Dark Marsh and Cave Spiders by General Hearth. Ma'am." Seventeen replied quickly.

"That's all I needed, fall back in line recruit." Rainbow Dash said waving her back into the line.

"Ma'am!" Seventeen said aloud before rushing back to her place.

Retrieving her whistle from under her wing, Rainbow Dash blew hard into it and watched every pony get to their hooves. Some ponies seemed to be breathing hard while others looked like they hadn't even started.

"Every pony takes five." Rainbow Dash said aloud watching every pony relax from their statue like postures.

No sooner had the Flame Ponies relax did they all snap back to attention. Rainbow Dash looked around curiously to see what the fuss was about and spotted General Hearth strolling up to them.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Rainbow Dash." General Hearth greeted her.

"What's up, General?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"I was hoping to have a word with you in private, if it isn't too much trouble." General Hearth replied.

"No problem at all, let me just give these ponies something to do in the meantime." Rainbow Dash said stepping towards the Flame Ponies.

"Alright every pony, listen up! While I'm talking to the General I want you to give me one hundred wing flaps and none of you are allowed to leave the ground." Rainbow Dash announced completely voiding their promised five minute break.

The Flame Ponies began to flap their wings up and down; a steady pace was seen throughout them for flapping too fast would elevate them off the ground. Rainbow Dash let her whistle drop around her neck before walking a ways away with General Hearth.

"What can I do you for, General?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"First I want to apologize for being absent from the meeting this morning and that I did not get the chance to speak with you sooner." General Hearth started off apologetically.

"Hey, no worries General. Things are pretty busy around here." Rainbow Dash said reassuringly.

"I wanted to share with you my own personal recommendations for the leader of the Academy. If you were at all interested." General Hearth continued.

"Recommend away, General." Rainbow Dash replied looking excited.

"There are four Flame Ponies that show great promise, determination, and strong values. First of them being Solar Wind." General Hearth said pointing to the group of Flame Ponies.

"Which one is he?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously squinting at them.

"I believe he is the pony with the number three on his chest." General Hearth replied, also squinting to see.

"Number three, got it." Rainbow Dash said nodding.

"Solar Wind is our best long distance flyer, his stamina is unrivaled and the effort he puts into his training is unmatched. He is well respected by the other ponies but is hesitant to take command at times." General Hearth explained.

"Sounds like he's got some things to work out." Rainbow Dash said.

"The second is Flare Fizzle. She is the pony with the number twelve drawn on. She is the slowest of the four but only in flying. Flare excels in her mental abilities to assess situations in a matter of moments and take charge of the group without hesitation. Her flaw is her lack interest in becoming a stronger flyer." General Hearth continued.

"Sounds like we got ourselves a lazy pony." Rainbow Dash said narrowing her eyes.

"The third pony is Wisp Seeker, number nine. Our combat specialist, quick to the punch and light on his hooves. Capable of knocking a dragon on its tail and can knock an Owl Bear out with one hoof tied behind his back. Although he is brash, quick to temper and isn't much of a team player." General Hearth pointed out.

"A tough colt, eh?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Last but certainly least, number seventeen, the wild card, Ray Horizon." General Hearth said with a loud sigh.

"Wild card?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I am only including her because she is the fastest flyer of all Flame Pony Pegasi in the Ashen Fields. She is much younger than the other three, eager to please and has energy to burn." General Hearth explained further.

"So what's your hang up about her?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"She is my granddaughter." General Hearth said with a sigh.

"No way!" Rainbow Dash shouted in amazement.

"I am not including her as a recommendation solely on the fact that we are related." General Hearth said quickly trying to dismiss any thoughts of him playing favorites.

"Mhm, I gotcha." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.

"Ray desperately wants to be the leader of the academy, but she has a problem with authority figures. She argues, talks back, throws a tantrum when she doesn't get her way and only thinks of herself." General Hearth said with an exasperated sigh.

"Sounds like she's going to be a piece of work." Rainbow Dash said surprised at how cooperative she was earlier.

"I love my granddaughter, nothing will ever change that. Her rebellious nature has caused a great deal of conflict between us and her parents. I'm hoping that you can set her straight and make her realize what it means to be a true leader." General Hearth said sounding hopeful.

"Leave everything to me, General." Rainbow Dash said confidently.

"I appreciate you and your friends taking time to help our Flame Ponies, Ms. Rainbow Dash." General Hearth said graciously bowing her head to her.

"Don't mention it; it's kind of our thing. Thanks for your input, General, you've made my job a whole lot easier and made their training all that much tougher." Rainbow Dash replied.

"I will take my leave then, if you ever need anything feel free to come to me at any time. I look forward to seeing who you recommend to be our new Academy leader." General Hearth said.

"So am I." Rainbow Dash replied.

General Hearth accompanied Rainbow Dash back to the group of Flame Ponies who immediately stood at attention once more. Throwing Rainbow Dash a wave from his hoof, General Hearth excused himself from the company and retreated back towards the castle.

"Alright, listen up every pony!" Rainbow Dash shouted blowing hard into her whistle.

"General Hearth wants my recommendation on a Flame Pony who embodies the necessary skills and mindset of being a leader. With that being said I know what it takes to be the best, I know what I'm looking for and that is not something you should worried about. You should be concerning yourself on how you can be the best Royal Air Force Pony you can be, and how serving in this squadron can help protect your fellow Flame Ponies. This is not a contest, this is not a game, if I see any of you putting yourself or any of your fellow flyers in harm's way you're out of this academy. Do you understand me?" Rainbow Dash asked aloud.

"Yes, Ma'am!" The Flame Ponies shouted together.

"Alright then, let's get back to it." Rainbow Dash said blowing hard on her whistle.

---

The Royal Chambers were now vacant of both Smolder and the mirror. It did not stop Discord from appearing out of thin air, in a large spectacle of fireworks and trumpets, only to realize there was no pony to show off to.

"Strange, I could have sworn that I left both the Flame Pony and the mirror here." Discord said to himself scratching his chin.

With a snap of his claws the trumpets and fireworks disappeared from sight. Discord casually walked over to the door and squished himself through the cracks rather than opening the door. Popping out the other side into the hallway, Discord ran into Wingston and Spike who had just come from the corridor.

"Discord! See, Wingston! I told you Princess Celestia would get him here on the double!" Spike said excitedly pulling on his cloak.

"Wingston! How nice it is to see you again!" Discord said cheerfully patting him on the head.

Wingston swung his staff into Discord's goat leg and watched him hop around on one dragon leg mumbling under his breath.

"Is that anyway to say hello to an old friend?" Discord asked sounding hurt.

Wingston tried to hit Discord again with his staff but Spike intervened by holding Wingston at bay.

"We still need him to get rid of that mirror!" Spike said trying to hold back Wingston.

"Yes, yes, I'm here to take that nasty old mirror back to Canterlot with me. A thousand pardons for causing you such a headache." Discord said sarcastically bowing low to them.

"Just take the mirror and go. You have caused us enough grief for one day, Discord." Wingston said flatly pointing to the Royal Bed Chamber's doors.

"You mean in here?" Discord asked curiously pointing to the doors he just slid between.

"Yes… why?" Wingston asked slowly.

"I was just in this room and the mirror was absent from it." Discord said shrugging his shoulder.

Wingston quickly limped to the Royal Chamber's doors, pressing hard against it with Spike jumping in to help open it. The stone door slid open; Wingston's eyes darted towards where the mirror was last seen and saw that Discord was right.

"I told you, no mirror." Discord said peeking his head around the door.

With some unforeseen strength, Wingston slammed the stone door shut with Discord's head still inside and quickly hobbled back down the hallway with Spike jogging after him. Discord flailed for a minute trying to pull his head out of the door, with a loud pop, Discord's head came out flatter than a piece of parchment.

"The nerve of some ponies." Discord said placing his lion thumb in his mouth and blowing his head back to normal size.

Wingston hobbled down the hallway getting the attention of the two Royal Guard Flame Ponies who stood watch at the doors to Smolder's old room.

"Open… the doors!" Wingston commanded trying to catch his breath while limping as fast as he could.

The Royal Guards jumped in surprise at the command, quickly turning towards the doors and throwing them open. Wingston came staggering into the room with Spike right behind him, every pony, bat and dragon stared at the twisted mirror resting against the wall opposite of Smolder. A few moments of silence passed with Discord strolling up behind them and looking into the room.

"So that's where it is!" Discord said stepping over Wingston and Spike into the room.

"Shh!" Spike hissed pressing his claw to his mouth.

"Oh, right! The sleeping flame pony. How could I forget?" Discord asked sheepishly zipping his lips shut and tip toeing to the mirror.

"Careful Discord, there is something on the other side of that mirror!" Spike hissed at him.

Discord slithered up to the mirror, flicking one of the metal barbs jutting out from it before scratching his chin. Snapping his claws the mirror remained where it was, snapping it a second time the mirror vanished on the spot.

"Alright!" Spike shouted but suddenly slapped his claws over his mouth and glancing at the still sleeping Smolder.

Discord waited for a minute or two, staring at where the mirror had been. Spike looked at Wingston who also seemed to be waiting for something. A few moments later a black flame sprouted out from the floor and the mirror reemerged before them. Discord was now tapping his claws against his noggin, apparently in deep thought.

"Do you know what is on the other side of that mirror, Discord?" Wingston asked after a few minutes of silence from Discord.

"Not even the slightest idea, the mirror is limited to what the user is capable of. The Mad King could not move the mirror himself, thus making it stationary. Whatever is on the other side of this is trained in some black magic." Discord replied looking rather fascinated by it.

"Black magic?" Spike asked sounding worried.

"It is also known as Shadow magic or Dark magic. It is a very old and very dangerous." Wingston quickly explained approaching the mirror.

"You can tell by the black fire, it's a dead giveaway." Discord pointed out.

"Although you do not know who or what is in there." Wingston stated.

"I'm only making observations at this point, it apparently has made some sort of connection with Smolder thus allowing it to follow and find him wherever it goes. It can manipulate the mirror but nothing around it which means that its threat is limited." Discord explained.

"So getting rid of it is impossible?" Spike asked sounding very worried.

"Perhaps we can just give it what it wants and have it go about its merry way?" Discord offered an idea.

"It wants Smolder!" Spike shouted, once more slapping his claws over his mouth.

"Well that simply won't do. For now it appears that the mirror will have to stay here until I can find a way to severe the bound it has with Smolder. Much like it did to Princess Luna." Discord said threateningly, leaning over the mirror.

"Princess Luna?" Wingston asked sounding surprised.

"Princess Luna was forced out of Smolder's dreams by an unknown entity she believes it has come from the mirror. It is most likely a psychic connection on its part but it has only been able to enter his dreams so far. The Flame Pony doesn't look any worse for wear so I am inclined to believe that whatever it is, it doesn't want to hurt Smolder. At least not yet." Discord said pulling a magnifying glass out of thin air and examining the mirror.

"We were going to go down into the dungeons to look for any information that might have been left behind concerning the mirror. You help will be greatly appreciated Discord, since you've failed to help any up here." Wingston said turning to leave the room.

"Hardy har har." Discord said proceeding to follow Wingston.

"Are we just going to leave the mirror here with Smolder?" Spike asked nervously.

"We have too little dragon, there is nothing we can do until we know more about this mirror." Wingston explained patting him on the head as he limped by.

"Why don't you stay here and watch over the sleeping Flame Pony while the bat and I prowl the dungeons for more clues." Discord said eyeing Spike with his magnifying glass.

"O-O-O-Okay." Spike said shaking on the spot.

Wingston stopped for a moment, turning around and limping over to Spike. Placing his wing on Spike's shoulder, Spike could see Wingston trying to smile at him from beneath his cloak.

"I would not leave you here with Smolder if I did not believe you could protect him, Spike." Wingston said encouragingly.

"Really?" Spike asked feeling a little more brave.

"Protect my friend, Spike. I'm counting you." Wingston said withdrawing his wing and limping back towards the hallway.

The doors to the bedroom closed shut with the Royal Guards standing just outside. Spike tapped his claws nervously together glancing back at the mirror. Slowly sliding his way towards the sleeping Smolder, Spike kept his eyes fixed on the mirror hoping it wouldn't do anything scary.

"… BOO…"

"Gah!" Spike screamed leaping atop the granite and hiding behind Smolder.

A giggle was heard coming from the mirror, while Smolder chuckled in his sleep.

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[Rammy]

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