Rise of Char

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 9: Waking Smolder

It had been three days since Smolder had fallen asleep, and for three days Smolder has been unable to wake. It wasn't clear to any pony, not even Wingston that something was wrong with him. Most chalked it up to extreme fatigue, but by the second day, not even Wingston's hit to the head with his trusty staff was able to rouse him. Every pony had hoof at trying to wake him, but it was apparent that an outside force was keeping Smolder asleep. With no other pony to turn to, the entity within the mirror being the only culprit, Wingston turned to Princess Luna for help. Luckily, Princess Luna had already gotten a head start.

Nightshade, Peanut, and Cosmic were laying in infirmary beds ready to take their eighth nap of the day; while Princess Luna kept watch over them.

"There has to be an easier way to fall asleep." Cosmic complained rolling over in his bed.

"Running laps around the castle is getting old real quick." Nightshade mumbled placing his pillow over his face.

Peanut was already asleep, snoring soundly under his covers. Princess Luna stepped between Cosmic's and Nightshade's bed glancing at the two of them.

"You must fall asleep soon, we must try and reach Smolder's dream again." Princess Luna urged them.

"Can't you just enchant us with a spell or something? To have us go asleep and stay asleep?" Cosmic asked curiously.

"A sleep spell would put you into a deep slumber. I need you ponies to be in a lucid dream state so that we can avoid another embarrassing and awkward situation." Princess Luna explained glancing at Cosmic.

Cosmic blushed furiously, rolling over in his bed to hide his face beneath the covers. Nightshade chuckled to himself, thinking of how he was never going to let Cosmic live it down. Within the hour, all three Royal Guard ponies had fallen asleep, allowing Princess Luna to work her magic. With a flash of blue light, Princess Luna reappeared with Nightshade's dream world.

Ever since being forced out of Smolder's dream, Princess Luna had been working with Nightshade, Cosmic, and Peanut to breach Smolder's mind. It involved lots of sleeping and managing to maintain a lucid dream state.

Nightshade stood in front of the Throne Room once more, standing guard as usual, when Princess Luna suddenly walked through the Throne Room doors.

"Are you ready, Private Nightshade?" Princess Luna asked curiously.

"Yes, I'm just starting to wonder if I'll ever be able to dream again without thinking you're going to show up and try to break into Smolder's dream." Nightshade said looking rather unsure.

"I assure you, Private Nightshade, this lucid dreaming state will become less frequent once our task is done and you will be able to dream of Belle once more uninterrupted." Princess Luna replied.

"Please, don't tell her." Nightshade begged with a pleading look.

"Do not worry, Private Nightshade, Belle has similar dreams of you." Princess Luna said.

"Really?" Nightshade asked looking surprised.

A flash of blue light from Princess Luna's horn created a blue door within the hallway of the castle. The door knob turned, opening the door to reveal the mess hall where Peanut was eating some apples. Nightshade and Princess Luna crossed over into Peanut's dream.

"Hey." Peanut mumbled chewing on a bite of his apple.

"Are you ready, Specialist Peanut?" Princess Luna asked.

"Hang on." Peanut said tossing the rest of the apple into his mouth.

"You know this is a dream, right? You're not really eating an apple." Nightshade asked looking curiously at him.

"I know, but dream or not. I don't let food go to waste." Peanut said strolling up to them.

"Let us gather up Private First Class Cosmic and be on our way." Princess Luna stated.

Another blue flash of her horn created another blue door in the mess hall. The door knob turned, the door swung open revealing a large parade filled with colorful ponies marching down the streets of Canterlot. Princess Luna, Nightshade, and Peanut stepped through the door into the crowd of ponies lining the street cheering Cosmic's name aloud. A float made in his spitting image rolled past them, Cosmic sitting atop waving to his cheering fans.

"Well this isn't surprising." Peanut said with short laugh.

"It appears Private First Class Cosmic was not able to create a lucid dream." Princess Luna said surprisingly.

"I think he had other things on his mind." Nightshade said with a huge smile pointing at the float.

Cosmic was being hugged by a dreamt up Princess Luna, swooning in his presence as Cosmic winked at her with a heroic smile. Princess Luna rolled her eyes, her horn creating a flash of blue light made the parade and all the dream ponies vanish leaving only Cosmic standing by himself in the middle of the street. Cosmic looked around for a moment, unclear about what just happened.

"I'm dreaming… aren't I?" Cosmic asked sounding sheepish.

"Yep." Peanut replied.

"Did I have the same dream again?" Cosmic asked sounding a bit nervous.

"Oh yeah." Nightshade said smugly.

Cosmic did his best to hide his embarrassment, casually walking over to them and making it a point not to look at Princess Luna. Princess Luna smiled amusingly at Cosmic.

"Alright every pony, are we ready to try and reach Smolder again?" Princess Luna asked aloud.

"Yes, ma'am." The three ponies replied; Cosmic still wasn't making eye contact.

Princess Luna's horn began to glow a brilliant shade of blue, a red door appeared before them. The door slowly began to fade to black, the door knob melted away and the edges of the door began to seep with smoke. It wasn't anything the ponies hadn't seen before.

"Alright, let's get to it." Peanut said dreaming up a large ax in his hooves and approaching the door.

"We're coming, Smolder." Nightshade mumbled dreaming up a large canon and cannon balls.

Cosmic stole a glance at Princess Luna, unfortunately Princess Luna was already looking his way and Cosmic blushed furiously before dreaming up a metal helmet to cover his face.

---

I found myself standing at the balcony from the Royal Chambers, overlooking the Ashen Fields. The populace of Flame Ponies had gathered below but their collective attention was focused towards the mountain. A thunderous crack rang out over the land, the force of wind whipped the flames of our manes flat, and I saw a line of blackness draw itself in the air. The line split open with a vicious tear, the Flame Ponies all bowed before this dark portal as I spread my wings open; flaring my fire. I could see a castle bathed in a low tint of green light beyond the portal. A bolt of lightning pierced the black skies of the world within the portal, silhouetting hundreds of up-right figures standing within the darkness.

"…Smolder…"

I recognized this voice somehow, but couldn't place it.

"…help us…"

The castle beyond the portal suddenly began to crumble away. A storm of smoke reached out from the darkness, gripping the castle. The silhouetted figures were crushed by the falling debris, the rest being scattered by the storm just as the portal began to close.

"…come into the Void…"

I felt the fear in this voice. I felt myself moving to leap off the balcony, to reach this portal before it closed. This voice. I heard it before, but I can't remember where.

"Enough!" A voice rang out from out like an echo over the fields.

The portal slammed closed, the Flame Ponies below vanished from sight while Castle Char melted away beneath me. I found myself in a sea of white, no sky, no floor, no anything, but white as far as I could see.

"Smolder!" A voice cried out to me from the whiteness. I knew this voice.

"Nightshade?" I asked curiously.

There was an implosion of blue smoke. A blue door suddenly appearing a few feet in front of me. Princess Luna emerged from it with Nightshade, Cosmic and Peanut beside her. I felt myself smile wide seeing them, as they too seemed very happy to see me.

"Guys! It's Smolder!" Cosmic cried excitedly.

Before Cosmic, Nightshade, or Peanut could make a move, Princess Luna spread out her wings to keep them at bay. I felt rather confused by this, until I realized that Princess Luna wasn't looking at me but something that was behind me. Turning to look I saw a cloud of black smoke hovering a few feet behind me. It seemed to have a shape, but it was nearly formless; two yellow glowing faint orbs seemed to sit within it.

"Identify yourself." Princess Luna declared.

The cloud of black smoke did not respond.

"You have invaded the dream of Smolder and you will tell us why." Princess Luna demanded.

"…no…"

The cloud of black smoke suddenly expanded to enormous size, the smoke barreling towards me as I stepped back in surprise. A sudden blast of blue magic went sailing over my head striking the black cloud with immense force. A shrill cry echoed in the whiteness as the black cloud dissipated from sight.

"What was that?" I asked looking at where the cloud once hovered.

"It was an unknown entity from the ruined Void mirror that entered your dream and blocked me from reaching you." Princess Luna explained.

"Blocked you?" I asked looking rather surprised that anything could one up her.

"With the help of your friends, I was able to break through and dispel the entity." Princess Luna said motioning towards Nightshade, Cosmic, and Peanut.

Cosmic, Nightshade, and Peanut rushed over to me excitedly. To my surprise they all tackled me to the ground, I had not realized that this was still a dream and that my fire could not hurt them.

"Princess Celestia and I came up with the idea of having these three ponies go to sleep and together assist me in trying to reach you." Princess Luna explained.

"Princess Luna basically pulled us out of our dreams and put us into yours. Our collective thoughts overpowered that black smoke monster and saved you from… what did we save him from again?" Nightshade asked looking back at Princess Luna.

"I-" Princess Luna stopped short looking rather surprised herself.

"From the nightmares, right?" Peanut asked curiously.

"Yes! The nightmares!" Princess Luna agreed nodding her head.

"Nightmares?" I asked curiously getting to my hooves.

"Is it not what you've been having these last three days?" Princess Luna asked curiously.

"I really wouldn't consider them- wait! Three days?" I asked suddenly realizing her words.

"Yeah dude, we've been trying all this time to break through." Cosmic replied.

Three days. I knew I was tired, but I couldn't believe I slept through three whole days without even waking up once.

"By the second day, Wingston was becoming increasingly concerned about you. Believing that the entity was keeping you from waking, we decided to double our efforts in entering your dream." Princess Luna continued.

"I've never taken so many naps in all my life." Peanut said with a chuckle.

"I didn't even realize how long I had been sleeping." I said looking dumbfounded.

"There is much you have missed during you sleep, and when I release us from this dream you will awaken." Princess Luna said having her horn begin to glow.

"I really don't know what to say." I said feeling bad that every pony had gone through so much to simply wake me up.

"What matters is that we sent that entity packing and freed you from your nightmares." Cosmic said proudly.

"No pony messes with our friend." Nightshade said giving me a gentle shove on the shoulder.

"We also got paid to sleep all day." Peanut said with a grin.

Every pony laughed at this, even Princess Luna found it amusing. I found myself hugging these three ponies who immediately hugged me back.

"I won't be able to do this when I wake up, but I want you ponies to know I'm glad to have friends like you watching out for me." I said, knowing that this was as close as I'll ever get to them.

Princess Luna's horn began to glow, a flash of blue light enveloped us. The whiteness disappeared and my world went black again. Luckily, it was dark just because I had my eyes closed. From the moment I tried to lift my head I could feel my whole body begin to crack and my muscles stretch. Groaning, I stretched out over my granite, yawning loudly before opening my eyes to see that I was back in my old room.

This came as a great surprise to me having fallen asleep in the Royal Chambers and turning up here. My eyes were suddenly drawn to the ruined mirror positioned across from me. Apparently, it had made the trip into this room with me in one way or another.

Remembering what Princess Luna said about the entity coming from the mirror I thought it best to keep my distance for now. Deciding to inform Wingston, or any Flame Pony, that I was finally awake I headed towards the door of my room. Just as I reached the door I heard soft whimper come from the mirror, I could tell that it came from a place of pain rather than sadness. I struggled with my choice to approach the mirror, unsure if my concern for the entity who had kept me asleep for three days was justified. Seating myself a few paces away from the mirror, I cleared my throat.

"Hi." I said aloud.

There was no response from the mirror, but I expected as much.

"Do you want to tell me why you kept me asleep for so long?' I asked aloud.

Once more the mirror did not reply and I felt myself roll my eyes at the idea of me talking to myself.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, remembering the blast the entity took from Princess Luna.

"…no…"

I was surprised to hear the mirror reply in such a snarky way. It almost seemed to be annoyed that I would ask such a thing.

"It sounded like it hurt." I insisted.

"…shut up…"

The entity in the mirror apparently had an attitude. I knew that there was a lot I needed to get caught up on and talking to this mirror wasn't at the top of my list of things I needed to do.

"I'm not sure why you kept me asleep for so long or what you were trying to show me, but unless you're willing to talk to me without these little games you're playing I won't bother listening to you." I said with a sort of authoritative tone.

The mirror remained silent. It was my cue to leave.

"…please…"

I stopped short of leaving, bringing my attention back to the mirror.

"…I need you…"

"For what?" I asked curiously.

Before the mirror had a chance to speak the stone door to my room slid open as a Royal Guard pony poked his head into the room. Glancing at the slab of granite, noticing I was missing and turning to see me standing off to the side, the Royal Guard pony stepped into the room.

"My King, I thought I heard you speaking." The Royal Guard said looking relieved to see me.

"I was making conversation." I replied turning to him.

"With whom, my King?" The Royal Guard asked curiously.

"Please inform Wingston that I'm awake and alert. Mention that I am also undamaged." I declared ignoring his question.

"Yes, my King." The Royal Guard pony said straightening up and taking his leave of the room.

I looked back at the mirror. It's twisted, mangled metal made it unpleasant to look at.

"There are things I need to attend to, if you wish to speak further I will return later and you we can continue our conversation then." I said aloud.

"…stupid Flame Pony…"

"What?" I asked not sure if I heard that correctly.

"…stupid… Flame… Pony…."

"You're stupid!" I snapped.

The mirror did not respond. My mane flared a bit. I shrugged off the mirror and headed for the doors.

I opened the stone doors to my old room; I looked down to see Wingston standing before me. I was surprised to see him so soon, but his sudden embrace was more than welcomed.

"I'm glad to see you awake, Smolder." Wingston said stepping back.

"Glad to be awake." I said with a smile.

"Good. There is much that needs to be done and little time to do it in. Come along." Wingston said motioning for me to follow him.

I rolled my eyes a bit. Wingston's affection was as short as he was. Although his sense of duty would give a career soldier pony a run for their money. Stepping in front of Wingston, I lowered myself down to have him climb aboard so that he need not walk. This time Wingston was the one to roll his eyes and proceeded to climb on my back and we descended the stairs of the Main Hall together.

"So what's been going on while I've been asleep?" I asked curiously.

"Fortunately, our friends from Ponyville have done an extraordinary job of keeping our ponies busy, but also handling the day to day issues they have faced. Limiting the need for your personal council on certain matters. The matters that could not be dealt with I proceeded to resolve them on your behalf." Wingston explained.

"Cool. So what's been going on?" I asked again.

"You have an appointment for a fitting at Stitch Rose Shay." Wingston said simply.

"A what?" I asked looking over my shoulder at him.

"A fitting. You will have your measurements taken for your Royal outfit that you will wear during your Coronation." Wingston explained further.

"Coronation? I thought we already settled that?" I asked sounding very surprised.

"Argo has allowed Pinkie Pie to plan your Coronation, which is in two days, and Rarity's seamstresses in training are very eager to meet with you." Wingston explained in even more detail.

"Why would Argo let Pinkie Pie-" I began but Wingston interrupted.

"General Hearth assisted Pinkie Pie and a Flame Pony by the name of Ruby to obtain a deed to a building in the shopping district for a bakery. It will be catering the event." Wingston said.

"I thought General Hearth was looking for some pony to be the leader of the Royal Air Force?" I asked.

"He is. Rainbow Dash is putting our pegasi Flame Pony volunteers through what she is calling Rainbow Week. She has made great progress with our ponies." Wingston said.

My questions continued, only stopping to get directions from Wingston on where this Stitch Rose Shay place was. Wingston explained things further to me while Flame Ponies on the streets greeted me and I noticed a great improvement in their morale.

Eventually we reached a shop that had a rather new sign chiseled into a large stone tablet above the door reading 'Stitch Rose Shay'.

"Smolder! Darling!" Rarity exclaimed stepping out from the shop.

"Hi, Rarity." I greeted her.

"I am so glad to see that you're up and about once more. We were all very concerned when no pony could wake you." Rarity said looking rather relieved.

"I'm alright, I promise. Wingston said I had an appointment?" I asked looking unsure.

"Of course! They've been waiting for you." Rarity said ushering me inside the shop.

"They?" I asked believing that Rarity was going to be the pony to this.

The inside of the shop had several tables stacked with a multitude of colored garments, a few hats lining the stone shelves and so rather cool looking capes that caught my eye. I was suddenly pulled forward by small Flame Pony who dragged me to the back room. Wingston had the right idea of jumping ship before being dragged into the back.

"Good luck, my King." Wingston said with a small wave as I looked confused at the pony pulling me with Rarity bringing up the rear.

The back room had a platform in the middle of the floor; several tables were up against the wall covered in different bundles of fabric. The other side of the room has more tables holding old metal sewing machines, and an assortment of other iron tools ranging from scissors to needles. I was pushed towards the platform in the middle of the room, where a rather intimidating female Flame Pony was staring rather coldly at me.

"He should have been here over an hour ago." Rose said sounding very annoyed.

"He just woke up, darling." Rarity stated strolling over to the fabric table.

"So the King likes to sleep in?" Stitch asked curiously walking over to the equipment table and retrieving several needles.

I stood motionless on the platform, I had a lot of experience doing this for Rarity but my nerves were uneasy at the idea of these ponies in practice having a go at me. Glancing over I saw another colt Flame Pony silently measuring my hoof.

"Hi." I said.

"…Hi." Crow said softly.

The colt walked away writing down something on a stone tablet with chalk. I could tell that this was going to be a while.

"So… did you ponies make all that clothing in the front?" I asked sounding curious.

"What's it to ya?" Rose asked giving me a cold look.

"Now, Rose, he is only making conversation and he is your King so be nice." Rarity said in a disapproving tone.

"Did you see my hats?" Stitch asked curiously walking over to me and throwing a large piece of fabric over my back.

"I did." I replied watching her stick needles into the fabric.

"Let me introduce you to the Ashen Fields newest seamstresses, Ms. Stitch, Ms. Rose and Mr. Shay." Rarity announced stepping in front of me and pointing to each pony as she named them off.

"It's Skull Candy." Rose said with her face turning red and her mane flaring.

"Of course, darling." Rarity said dismissively.

"We've been making clothing for all the Royal Guests that will be attending your coronation." Stitch explained thrusting more pins into the fabric. I tried not to wince.

"It has been such a challenge but these ponies have put all of their passion and souls into making this deadline." Rarity said looking very proud.

"I'm sorry if this has caused you any trouble." I said watching Stitch throw more fabric over my flank.

"Don't worry about it, it will be reflected in your bill." Rose said in matter of fact tone.

"Oh… okay." I said feeling like Argo would have something to say about it.

I felt the fabric be pulled off of me in a single tug from Stitch. Crow approached me again, standing in front of me and doing more measurements.

"What did you make?" I asked curiously to him.

"What?" Crow asked seemingly taken aback.

"In the store? What did you make?" I asked again.

"Crow has actually designed all of the clothing for the Royal Guests, Royal Guards, and will be designing your outfit from scratch." Rarity answered for him as Crow stepped around me to measure some more.

"You must be really talented." I mentioned looking over my shoulder.

Crow looked up. I saw a smile break out across his face as he nodded a few times before going back to measuring my hind legs. He was a rather odd pony, I thought.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I made?" Rose asked looking annoyed strolling up to me and placing yet another cloth over my head.

"No." I replied quickly.

"Why not?" Rose asked sounding offended.

"Because I'm afraid you'll hit me." I said honestly.

Stitch snorted back a laugh. Rarity covered her face to hide her smile as Crow slowly backed away from me. Rose's face turned a rather bright red. She stepped up onto the platform to get face to face with me and I felt like that hit was coming.

"I made the capes, I'll have you know." Rose said looking flustered.

"Oh! Those were really cool." I said suddenly remembering the stylish capes out front.

Rose now looked caught between flustered and appreciative. She didn't know how to respond and decided to just give me the cold shoulder and went back to work.

"No worries darling, I assure you that these ponies will do the finest job." Rarity assured me.

"I know they will." I replied.

My response drew the attention of every pony in the room.

"You do?" Stitch asked looking surprised.

"Sure." I replied.

"How do you know?" Rose asked suspiciously.

"Because every pony believes that I can be King. If ponies are willing to give me this chance then I willing to believe in any pony that puts their heart into anything they do." I said simply.

There was a sudden silence that followed. I wasn't sure if I had something stupid or perhaps wrong.

"Thank you." Crow said from the sewing machines.

"It's cool." I replied.

It was another hour before the Flame Ponies would let me leave. Although I didn't leave quite yet, I reunited with Wingston who was watching the store during this time and browsed the selections. Having only brought a hoof full of bits I ended up buying a hat, which seemed to excite Stitch to no end. I wished the Flame Ponies luck as Rarity escorted us to the exit.

"It would mean a lot to the Flame Ponies if you wore the hat while you walk around town. I'm sure it will bring a lot of business to Stitch Rose Shay." Rarity quietly mentioned to me.

"No problem." I said with a smile putting the hat on my head.

"Take care of yourself now, darling. We'll send word when your outfit is ready." Rarity said as I exited the shop with Wingston on my back.

"That hat looks ridiculous on you." Wingston mumbled disapprovingly.

"You're just mad that you didn't bring any bits." I retorted with a smirk.

"Why would any Flame Pony want to wear a hat?" Wingston asked shaking his head.

"Why not?" I asked.

"The purpose of a hat is to protect oneself from the heat and rays of the sun. You're pretty much both." Wingston explained it to me.

"I think it looks cool." I said adjusting it.

"I forbid you from buying anymore." Wingston threatened me.

"What kind of pony needs more than one hat?" I asked with a chuckle.

"You'd be surprised." Wingstom replied.

Comments

[Night_Striker]

what kind off pony would need more than one hat? your fater XD this one made me laught