The Phoenix King

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 34: Well-Suited Friends

Trottingham had barely slept with all of the talk about the strange lights and noises coming from the moor from the evening before. The Police Ponies at the Yard had set up the podium to where the Constable would make his address to the herd of reporter ponies all anxiously waiting to hear the ‘official’ reason to what had happened.

The Constable was sitting in his office finishing the final notes of his statement he would give to the reporter ponies. Having only about an hour's sleep, periodic naps in between his reports, and generally trying to fit the events of yesterday in brief summary for his superiors. Luckily, Sir Arthur Tullius and the Duke had elected to return to Parliament to give their own report on what had happened on the moor, but it didn't save him any of the paper work; just a trip. Rising from his chair, tucking his statement within the inside coat pocket of his dress uniform and left his office.

Dozens of Police Ponies were cleaning the Yard from the battles that had taken place within the Cafeteria, as well as the hall. Ms. Lulamoon's smoke bombs left a thin layer of residue lining many of the hallways, the areas in which the bombs had gone off left sizable piles, but it was of little consequence when measured up to a Trottingham run by the Queen of Changelings. The captured Changelings themselves, still locked within their cells, would most likely starve in such a dreary place, but the Constable had made them a very 'fair' offer.

If a Changeling was willing to cooperate, offering whatever information upon their Queen, their hive, or anything of value; they would be escorted out to the boundaries of Trottingham and set free. Those that refused to do so would be kept for the maximum of five days, while being fed the love Sergeant Kowalski had for his safety pin collection; there were many Changelings that jumped at the opportunity to get out earlier. While it was true that these creatures, these Changelings, had attempted a hostile takeover, it very much seemed to be the Queen's plan and that these creatures were just her loyal servants that carried it out. The Constable could see no reason to keep any pony locked away for simply doing what their King or Queen had asked of them, they fed upon love, and many regular ponies have a hard time finding that themselves.

Walking down the corridor, the Constable could see Mr. Montague and Mrs. Genevieve Montague, his wife, standing with Mr. Bartlesby and Misses Minerva. Genevieve was a lightly tanned pony, her mane a oak brown, and cutie mark that bore a two gold rings interlocked with one another. It was apparent that Mr. Montague’s back was no longer paining him, at least not enough to prevent him from standing under his own power and seemed to be in chipper spirits.

“Siegward, really, fighting a Bugbear? You’re not a young colt anymore; you have to start acting your age.” Mrs. Montague stated shaking her head at him.

“We were under siege, dear, I had to do something.” Mr. Montague replied, trying not to get into trouble.

“Mr. Montague did save our lives more than once, and nearly won that fight with the Bugbear on his own.” Mr. Bartlesby spoke up.

“But really, Siegward, you shouldn’t be doing these sorts of dangerous things anymore. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Mrs. Montague said endearingly to him.

“Neither would we.” Misses Minerva added nudging James in the ribs.

“Ow. Oh! Right, well… you see… Mr. Montague… and Mrs. Montague, of course, we were wondering if… it will be a while before… well…” Mr. Bartlesby mumbled trying to find the right way phrase it.

“We would like for you to be the godparents of our foal or filly.” Misses Minerva stated.

Mrs. Montague looked very touched with the offer. Mr. Montague looked very moved, and fumbling for his handkerchief.

“We… we thought that… our uh… baby could use a good role model and uh…” Mr. Bartlesby stated, looking quite embarrassed himself.

The Constable smiled to himself at what he had overheard, having only just walked by them to reach the lobby where he would step out and address the awaiting reporter ponies. Passing the Waiting Room, the Constable had come across the door slightly ajar. Taking a moment to look in, the Constable could see Ms. Lulamoon, Rarity and Pinkie Pie speaking to one another.

“What are the two of you going to do now? Seeing as you found your two… pointy… rock… things.” Trixie asked curiously.

“We’ll most likely be in town for a couple more days, working with the research to send back a detailed report to Princess Sapphire.” Rarity replied.

“What are you going to do, Trixie?” Pinkie Pie asked her.

“I was going to stop by the hospital to see how Sir Lancaster was doing. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife before this whole ordeal and I think offering them two tickets to our play this week will make him feel a little bit better.” Trixie explained to them.

“That sounds delightful! Pinkie Pie we must really take a day to ourselves, see the play, and just enjoy everything Trottingham has to offer.” Rarity remarked longingly.

“I never got to try any of Trottingham’s ‘chips’ yet!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly at the idea.

“I’m sure I could come up with a few more tickets for you, but I’m not too sure about the chips though.” Trixie offered.

The Constable left the Waiting Room’s door; the smile never leaving his face. Entering the lobby, the Constable could see the crowds of reporter ponies waiting for him outside and seeing several of his Police Ponies standing just outside, keeping the crowds in check and awaiting his arrival. Stepping out of the Yard, the Constable was bombarded with several flashing cameras, dozens of questions being asked at him all at once. This was something he was used to, refusing to speak as he approached the podium where he adjusted the microphone to me level with his voice.

“Good morning.” The Constable said aloud; his voice being amplified by the speakers.

Every reporter pony started to fall quiet, getting ready to listen to what the Constable had to say.

“Yesterday morning, we received word of a missing pony, Sir Arnold Lancaster. We set out with a consulting detective by the name of Pinkamena Pie and her assistant Rarity to discover the whereabouts of said pony. In so doing we uncovered a plot by the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, to take over the Yard as well as Parliament.” The Constable began to read aloud off his paper.

There were many whispers running through the crowd of reporter ponies.

“Queen Chrysalis’s plan was offset by a Research Team that Duke Wellington himself put together, and attempted to claim an ancient artifact for herself. I am happy to report that both the Yard and Parliament are out of danger, Sir Lancaster has been recovered, mostly unharmed, and is showing excellent signs of recovery. I am not allowed to share with every pony at this time what had occurred out on the moor, other than the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers, led by Sir Arthur Tullius had met these intruders known as Changelings in open combat and won the day.” The Constable concluded.

There was an uproar of questions that came from the reporter ponies. The Constable tried to settle them down by waving his hooves down to quiet them before pointing to a reporter pony in the crowd.

“Constable, sources say that the Queen of these Changelings had gotten away, is this true?” The reporter pony asked.

“Queen Chrysalis had fled before we were able to place her into custody, but we are increasing our patrols and searches to ensure that she is still not lurking about.” The Constable replied; pointing to another reporter pony raising their hoof.

“We have had unconfirmed rumors that what happened out on the moor was similar to what had happened in the Ashen Fields, care to make a statement on that?” A rather well-informed reporter pony asked.

“Not really.” The Constable remarked; pointing to another pony.

“Sir, there has reports of similar humming sounds from different parts of Equestria, much like the one we experienced just last night. Is this somehow related?” Another reporter pony asked.

The Constable wasn’t surprised on how knowledgeable these reporter ponies were. Keeping a lid on the whole thing was just standard procedure until the ponies upstairs kicked back an official statement on what had happened; the Constable was just there to give them the bare facts of the case.

“Sir, why did the Yard put so much pony power into finding one lost colt?” A reporter pony called out his question.

“Are you saying that we shouldn't have tried so hard to find a missing colt?” The Constable asked curiously.

“Well… no, I just mean that…” The reporter pony mumbled; feeling put on the spot.

“Because that’s not how we do things here at the Yard. Every pony, no matter who they are, or where they come from deserves our help. Sometimes you don’t get to make that choice, sometimes it is made for you, but there are rare occasions when just your average everyday pony decides to do something more. What I had experienced yesterday was an unprecedented amount of selflessness, the desire to what was right, and all without reward from several concerned civilian ponies who just wanted to help find a missing colt.” The Constable explained to the crowd of reporter ponies.

No reporter pony asked another question. The atmosphere seemed very surreal at the moment, that this wasn’t just some predetermined response but something heartfelt.

“So that is what we do, all day and every day; we help ponies. Because in the end, we are all just ponies. Some have sworn an oath to be the ones to run towards danger, to put their lives on the line, while there are those who have made no such promises, but still choose to run towards it anyways. Because we believe that every life is worth saving.” The Constable said conclusively to them. “Thanks for your questions.”

---

Princess Sapphire escorted Tea Herbal, Christie Chapel, and Florence Gale on a tour of Castle Fjord. Much like her father, Sapphire was very proud of Ice Pony heritage, spending several minutes at each ice sculpture to give detailed accounts of its history, and making a point to inform them that her father sculpted the statues himself. Chapel and Florence were rather riveted by the whole tour, mostly because they were hanging out with a princess. Tea tried to seem rather curious about the whole thing, but much like Lady Frost, she didn’t care much for history in general.

The tour was to be cut short, due to the late hour, where temperatures outside would drop to below freezing, and it was rather ill advised to have normal ponies walking around at such times. Promising to bring them to the Arctic Bluff and the Noble Cliffside tomorrow, Sapphire ended her tour at the base of the second staircase leading to the third level of Castle Fjord that connected the Noble Pony area.

“The Noble Cliffside is where the wealthy Nobles reside. There are ice bridges that connect to the cliff’s edge that allow for easy access to Castle Fjord, as well as bridges that bring us down to the Arctic Bluff.” Princess Sapphire informed them.

Chapel, Tea, and Florence watched teems of ponies climbing up and down said stairs, all looking quite fancy in their clothing, and paying no heed to the ‘normal’ mares, but none forgot to bow their head slightly as they passed Princess Sapphire.

“Can I interest the three of you to dinner?” Princess Sapphire asked curiously, turning to them.

“You’re inviting us to dinner?” Chapel asked in disbelief; eyes shimmering in anticipation.

“Yes… it was an invitation.” Princess Sapphire replied slowly.

“You mean we can eat at the same table as you?” Florence asked sounding equally stunned.

“We’d love to.” Tea followed up, giving Sapphire a straight answer.

“Look Shannon, Princess Sapphire has returned from the ‘badlands’.” A rather aristocratic voice spoke up.

Princess Sapphire shuddered uncomfortably at the sound of this voice. Getting all of her frowns out as quickly as possible, she mustered up a half-hearted smile, turning to face two Noble colts that descended the stairs.

“Lord Borris, Lord Shannon, what a… lovely… surprise.” Princess Sapphire said slowly through clenched teeth.

“Who are they?” Tea whispered to Sapphire.

“My other choice in… suitors.” Princess Sapphire hissed under het breath.

"You're kidding!" Tea hissed back in disbelief.

Both colts were roughly the same age as Sapphire. Lord Borris was dressed in a black three piece suit that had two gold buttons, one of his eyebrows seemed perpetually cocked making him look inquisitive all the time, his cloudy mane was a deep blue, his hide slightly lesser shade from his mane, and his cutie mark bore a dancing polar bear.

Lord Shannon always seemed to be smiling, his teeth a pearly white, he wore a two piece suit, carried a cane that he did not use, but kept it under his arm. His cloudy mane was sort of clumped, giving off the illusion of him having shorter hair, its robin egg color made him seem approachable, but his lighter blue color hide made him look rather ghastly at times. His cutie mark depicted three icicles handing from an icy cave.

“Princess Sapphire, what a pleasure it is to have you back at the castle. I can only imagine how horrid it must have been spending over a week in the ‘badlands.’” Lord Shannon welcomed her.

“Badlands?” Tea asked sounding confused.

There was silence that followed Tea’s question, the two Noble colts giving her deadpan expressions.

“Was she talking to us?” Lord Borris asked looking rather surprised.

“Lord Borris, Lord Shannon, these are my guests; Tea Herbal, Christie Chapel, and Florence Gale. They’ve traveled all the way from Manehatten to be here today.” Princess Sapphire introduced them; trying to remain civil about it.

“Dreadful city, really. You can’t walk two steps without being asked to buy a cob of corn by some vendor pony. I mean really, keep it in the restaurant.” Lord Borris muttered; the two chuckling to themselves.

Chapel and Florence were about to defend the honor of Manehatten, but Princess Sapphire’s wing fanned at them to let it go; she seemed to want to have this end as quickly as possible and without trouble.

“Why call it the ‘badlands’?” Chapel asked, trying to sound civil.

“The ‘badlands’ that Lord Shannon and Lord Borris are referring to is the Kingdom of Flame Ponies; the Ashen Fields.” Princess Sapphire clarified for them.

“Nothing good has ever come from the ‘badlands’. Just a bunch of hot headed ponies fighting in the dirt, and digging for gold. Poor Princess Sapphire had to travel all the way down there to meet with the supposed ‘King’ of those lame ponies.” Lord Shannon jived, ribbing Lord Borris with his elbow.

“Lame ponies, you are a card, Shannon.” Lord Borris chuckled to himself.

“His name is Smolder!” Tea snapped; looking rather angry with them.

“Doesn’t matter what his ‘name’ is, the King is gone, got himself trapped in some other dimension; all the high Nobles know about it. Which means Princess Sapphire doesn’t have to wed that boorish oaf of a pony, and choose a colt of real nobility to be her special somepony.” Lord Borris replied giving Sapphire a very hopeful grin.

“Thank you for your continued… interest, Lord Borris, but I am not in any hurry to be married.” Princess Sapphire stated, trying to sound humbled.

"You mean that you two are her choices for a special somepony?" Florence asked in shock.

"Quite lucky for the Princess if I do say so myself. Although, there are many other young Noble Colts that could be considered, but we're the cream of the crop when it comes to our pull with the Kingdom." Lord Shannon informed them proudly.

Princess Sapphire grimaced, a painful frown of having to be reminded of that horrible truth.

“I can only imagine how your stomach must have turned knowing you would be married off to the King of the lame ponies, but rest assured Princess, Borris and I will be here to offer you alternate solutions.” Lord Shannon reassured her.

“Who’d want to hang out with you two?” Florence asked in a snarky voice.

“I beg your pardon?” Lord Borris replied looking flabbergasted.

“Oh my Celestia, you two are the most lamest colts we’ve ever met.” Chapel groaned rolling her eyes.

“I’ll have you know my father owns the largest deposit of-“ Lord Shannon began to retaliate.

“Largest deposit of ‘who gives a hay’.” Chapel cut in again with a disinterested sigh.

Princess Sapphire looked rather surprised with both Florence and Chapel’s attitude towards the Noble colts.

“How dare you speak to us with such disrespect!” Lord Borris shouted angrily.

"Colts who go on and on about themselves really are the worst." Florence mentioned, tossing her mane over her shoulder with a flick of her head.

"More like little foal's wanting attention." Chapel piled on.

"We have sat at the Royal Table for many a nights, talking in length with Princess Sapphire over a number of amusing-" Lord Shannon began to rail off.

“I can’t remember Princess Sapphire ever once mentioning either of you.” Florence cut in, sounding disinterested.

“I’m… I’m… sure the Princess didn’t want to… mix words with such commoner ponies when speaking about us.” Lord Shannon stated, looking rather demoralized.

“She did talk a lot about Smolder though.” Chapel said dreamily, looking towards Florence.

"Oh my Celestia! Smolder is like the hottest colt in all of Equestria right now! He was even featured in Equestrian Magazine's Most Handsome Colt!" Florence squealed in delight.

Tea knew that none of this was true, even though Smolder was pretty cute, but it was all just nonsense at this point. She had seen it several times before when she was working at the coffee shop back in Manehattan, some colt thought he could put the moves on one of them, but if they felt he was a little too forward they'd drop him hard. Needless to say, both Lord Shannon and Lord Borris looked very threatened by the claims Florence had made, whispering among themselves if either of them had ever read Equestrian Magazine.

“Do you remember when Princess Sapphire was regaling us about the battle that took place in the Ashen Fields? It was the part where she said how Smolder threw himself in front of that Elder Dragon’s fire to save her?” Florence asked her, sounding excited.

“Was that before he fought the army of spiders, or after he went hoof to fist with the Orc?” Chapel asked, thinking back on it.

“I think it was before he opened a portal to another dimension to beat that very same dragon.” Florence pointed out.

“Well, all that was after he gained the support of Princess Celestia to help him defeat the Mad King and free all of his Flame Ponies from the ‘badlands’. “ Tea added on, emphasizing their own word.

Lord Borris and Lord Shannon looked very flustered, unable to think of anything that could measure up to such claims that Florence and Chapel had made.

“We've… done… something similar!” Lord Borris blurted out, feeling very emasculated.

“Oh!” Chapel and Florence said together in fake surprise.

“Have either of you fought a dragon?” Tea asked curiosuly.

“Well… no.” Lord Shannon replied looking rather embarrassed. “But we have a painting of one!”

“Yes! A painting done by one of the most gifted artists in all of the Frozen North!“ Lord Borris declared proudly.

"A painting." Chapel repeated flatly.

"It's a rather... large painting." Lord Shannon mentioned; sounding rather sheepish.

There was a sudden and unfamiliar sound that floated through the air. Princess Sapphire had her hoof over her mouth, her wing covering her face trying to hide the fact that she was laughing at them. Try as she might to stifle her laughs, she could not, and her laugh seemed to be the final gut punch for both Lord Borris and Lord Shannon.

“I… we… you… good evening, my Lady.” Lord Shannon said quickly, bowing his head to her before heading back up the stairs; faced flushed.

Lord Borris bowed his head to Princess Sapphire without another word, glaring at the three of them, but Tea, Florence, and Chapel waved goodbye to them with victorious smiles.

“And don’t forget! King Smolder was Princess Sapphire’s first choice in a special somepony!” Florence shouted after them; hoping to serve them one last slice of humble pie.

Florence, Chapel, and Tea all smiled at one another, high hoofing each other for a job well done, and looking towards Princess Sapphire who was still very much in stitches; finding it difficult to draw a breath.

"They... they... they..." Princess Sapphire wheezed through her laughter. "They... have a picture... of one!"

Princess Sapphire couldn't help herself, she laughed aloud, perhaps the most genuine the three of them had seen her from her normal stern demeanor. Even so, her laughter was rather infectious as Tea, Chapel, and Florence weren't able to stop themselves from cracking smiles of their own and joining in on the laughter.

With all of their laughing, Chancellor Stone had arrived looking rather puzzled my their amusement.

"Pardon the interruption, my Lady." Chancellor Stone announced to her; making her presence known.

Sapphire turned her head towards him, taking several deep breaths and trying to calm herself down from her fit of laughter; giving him her attention.

"Your father won't be able to attend dinner tonight, he received a letter from Yakyakistan not too long ago asking for his aid." Chancellor Stone informed her; he himself did not seem to pleased in giving her this news.

Sapphire's smile quickly left her face. That stern expression returning, masking her disappointment, and sadness very well.

"I understand." Princess Sapphire replied nodding her head.

"Your mother is currently taking your father's place in a meeting at the moment, she will be unable to attend dinner either. Floe has elected to eat in his room." Chancellor Stone continued.

Tea could sort of see how difficult this was for Sapphire, she hid it well, but she was very upset at this news. It must have been hard waiting all day to see you parents and being told that she wasn't going to be able to. It seemed like a lonely life.

"If you could have the Kitchen send up something to eat in my room, for me and my guests, I'd appreciate it, Chancellor Stone." Princess Sapphire asked of him.

"Of course, my Lady." Chancellor Stone replied bowing his head to her.

Chancellor Stone walked off towards the staircase leading to the first level, while Sapphire started towards the left of the second floor staircase; Tea, Florence, and Chapel following her.

"You okay, Princess Sapphire? Chapel asked curiously.

"I... had gotten used to seeing my parents more often during my time in the Ashen Fields. It's... difficult to adjust back to the way things were." Princess Sapphire replied honestly.

There was sadness in her voice, but she carried herself in way that really inspired both Florence and Chapel. She was, in a way, a role model for them, a powerful, beautiful, intelligent, and we'll respected mare; something they themselves wanted to be some day.

Tea knew that look very well, the face of somepony hurting, Smolder had it, but now it wasn't just Tea here to be a pony to lean on.

"What size are you?" Tea asked, her question seemingly out of the blue.

"I beg your pardon?" Princess Sapphire asked looking towards her; Chapel and Florence giving her strange looks as well.

"I was just wondering if we could try on some of your clothes." Tea mentioned with the sudden excitement brimming from both Florence and Chapel.

"My clothes?" Princess Sapphire questioned it.

"You must have a like a thousand dresses, and a million pairs of horseshoes! What's your hoof size? Tell me it's a nine!" Chapel stated hopefully.

"You have to be like a size four! Tea's mom makes us eat all those pancakes and we pay for it every summer!" Florence whined, feeling bitter about her size.

"I'm... I'm sure we're close to the same size." Princess Sapphire tried to reassure her.

"We could totally have us a makeover." Tea pitched to them.

"Can I braid your hair? Chapel cut in, jumping at the opportunity to start an impromptu makeover.

"I don't think that my mane would be suitable for such... uh..." Princess Sapphire trailed off having not once tried to do
something with her hair.

"I can just shape it, it's pretty much a cloud, so I can just fluff a bit and give it shape." Chapel replied to her; looking over Sapphire's mane a bit.

The three mares walked down the hall trying to explain to Princess Sapphire the finer points of hoof polish and the need to exfoliate her skin. How the right kind of makeup would send certain messages without speaking, and how the eyebrows bring the face all together.

Princess Sapphire could feel her smile coming back, the absence of her father had sadden her, but her guests... her friends were still here for her. It was something she wasn't used to, but knew she wanted to keep.

Comments

[Stellar_]

Finally, I can read new chapters on FiMfiction instead of FF.net now.