The Winter Solstice

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 2: Pre Carnival Jitters

Summer Hearth, royal bodyguard of Lady Sapphire, arrived at the dining hall to collect Princess Sapphire and escort her to her room. Upon her arrival Lady Sapphire was already standing outside the doors of the hall speaking with Lord Smolder. Summer was quick to notice how flustered she was and how awkward Lord Smolder seemed to be.

“Everything… okay?” Summer asked slowly.

“Yes, everything is just fine. Smolder and I were just about to call it a night.” Sapphire replied.

Summer eyed the two of them suspiciously. “Okay…”

Smolder stepped out into the hall. Summer noticed the flames on his mane were rippling rather peculiarly, which told her that he was rather nervous for some reason.

“Goodnight… Sapphire.” Smolder said with a bow of his head.

“Pleasant dreams, Smolder.” Sapphire replied.

The two mares watched Smolder head down the corridor, doing his best to walk naturally, knowing that their eyes were completely fixed on him.

Once he was out of sight, Summer looked over st Lady Sapphire to see that her face had become smitten and spaced out.

“Ahem!” Summer cleared her throat.

Sapphire jumped at Summer’s effort to snap her back to her senses. Trying to act like she wasn’t completely entranced by the lord of the castle’s flank.

“Shall we?” Sapphire questioned.

Together the two mares made their way back to their rooms. Summer waited until they were alone and out of earshot of anypony before grilling her with questions.

“How… was your dinner with Lord Smolder, my Lady?” Summer asked cautiously.

“It was… interesting.” Sapphire replied.

This time Sapphire could not hold back a smile. This alerted Summer that something much more personal might have taken place.

“Interesting how?”

Sapphire cleared her throat trying to regain a more regal composure.

“We shall be staying for another day here at castle, Summer. Lord Smolder has asked that I accompany him to the carnival tomorrow in exchange for—“

“Hold up,”

Summer threw on the brakes hard. Sapphire stopped to look at her seeing the bewildered expression she wore.

“What happened to the ‘mother and father will be absolutely livid if I’m not back home tomorrow’ talk we had earlier?” Summer asked in a voice that poorly mimicked Sapphire’s.

Sapphire flushed at her mockery. “Well… that was then and this is now.”

“So when I have a date with my special somepony it’s tough carrots, but when Lord Hot Saddle asks you out on a date then—“

“It’s not a date!” Sapphire snapped.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that your hooves we’re tied on this matter. I guess you take orders from him now and you simply can’t refuse to go to the carnival with him.”

“It’s merely a favor for a favor! He will be accompanying me to the Winter Solstice in return for me accompanying him to the carnival.”

Summer choked a surprised laugh. “Are you being serious right now?”

“What?” Sapphire asked meekly.

“You seriously asked Smolder to be your date for the Winter Solstice?”

“It’s not a—“

“Where he will have to dance with you in front of all the Lords and Ladies from all over Equestria before being introduced to your parents, namely your father, as your date for the evening, and accompany you to the Well of Spirits?”

Sapphire was flushing a bright purple now, realizing the amount of exposure they would have in front of many royal ponies. The carnival was much more reserved and local which would limit the amount of ponies gossip on why they were there in the first place.

“Have you told him you like him yet?” Summer asked abruptly.

“What!” Sapphire quipped in surprise.

“Oh come one, you spend everyday with him, have all your meals together, you live in the same castle, attend meetings and events together. I know it’s for a specific purpose but I was just wondering if you’re… you know…”

Sapphire flushed a deep purple. “What?”

It was Summer’s turn to flush a light shade of orange. “Getting fresh with him?”

In an unladylike fashion, Sapphire attempted to silence Summer by covering her mouth with her hooves, but Summer fended her off.

“I’ve already told you that Smolder is interested in Ms. Herbal!” Sapphire hissed.

“So you have no feelings for him then? None at all?”

“Well of course I have feelings for him, it would be a lie to deny that. But, it’s strictly mutual and solely based on a friendship!”

Summer narrowed her eyes at the flushing princess. It was easy to tell when Sapphire was embarrassed, but Summer was one of the few ponies who knew her well enough to know when she was lying.

“Strictly mutual?” Summer questioned.

“The strictest.”

Sapphire found herself being pulled into a hug. A rare thing when concerning Summer. The hug lasted for well over a minute, as it was gingerly returned by Sapphire who felt confused to why it was needed.

“Maybe he likes you too.” Summer whispered.

Snowflakes started to trickle down from Sapphire’s mane. Summer didn’t get a response back. Perhaps it was from the embarrassment she was feeling or maybe her refusal to admit it, but Summer almost knew for certain that it made her stop to question such an idea.

Backing away, Sapphire seemed rather troubled by the notion.

“I’m here to help transition Smolder into the life of a king. More so than what he already is. It would be unfair to Ms. Herbal if I used my good intentions to try and… and… well…”

“If that’s all you got as an excuse than let’s go back home tonight.” Summer interjected.

Sapphire looked surprised by her response. “I beg your pardon?”

Summer seemed annoyed now. “If you’re not into him then why the hay did we spend all these months hanging around here anyways?”

“To… to help him become a better King.” Sapphire retorted.

Summer scoffed. “So going to this carnival is going to make him a better king how exactly? At best it would have taken a month to get him on track and that would have been the end of it.”

Sapphire’s mane started to billow like storm clouds from her annoyance with Summer’s snarky remarks.

“What is your problem?”

“I signed up to protect a Princess not a wallflower.”

“Excuse me!”

“Just tell that stupid colt you like him and be done with it!”

Sapphire tried to speak but found herself to frazzled to even form a single word. She could feel her face growing warm and her mane showering snowflakes.

Summer took a firm hold of Sapphire’s shoulders, staring her down in a fierce way.

“Tomorrow you’re going to tell that blithering idiot of a colt how you feel, you’re going to let him stew in his own dumb feelings to let him figure out which mare he wants to have as his special somepony, and you’re going to move on with your life with or without him.”

Her words were blunt and clear, yet they seemed to cut deep within her. It was true that there were such times that the idea did cross her mind, but she was always too afraid to say it.

“You’ve always fought for what you wanted, Sapphire. You were so afraid of being promised to him that once he let you off the hook you anchored yourself to this idea that you owe him something. If you do really want this colt as your special somepony, then fight for him, but don’t pretend that you’re being held back by any pony other than yourself.”

A few tears started to fall from Sapphire’s eyes, vulnerable at times, but rarely in front of Summer. Immediately Summer took to hugging her once again, trying to console her.

“If he tries anything weird… I’ll kill him, okay?”

Sapphire choked a laugh, clutching her friend tightly and feeling her heart begin to race.

“I’ll tell him tomorrow…”

---

“Did you just invite yourself to my romantic night out with Summer by asking the Princess Sapphire to tag along?”

It was late evening, having finished our dinner, Sapphire and I parted ways in the halls on the way to our rooms for the night. Bleak had waited outside my Royal Chambers, as he normally would every other night for an updated schedule on where Summer would be. This time though I had given him the good news of how I was able to get Sapphire to stay an extra day. Bleak wasn’t too thrilled about how I handled it.

“She said she wasn’t going to stay! I had to think of something to keep her here!” I shouted in my defense.

Our conversation continued into my Royal Chambers, far from the earshot of any passing pony. My decor had upgraded a bit since Sapphire’s tenure here. I now had a rather large marble large desk off to the side of my room where the ruined Void Mirror used to reside. She added some specially made armchairs that were hoof crafted by the ice ponies of the north. Promising to be flame resistant for hours on end.

“You are the worst wingpony in all of Equestria.”

Bleak approached my desk. Pouring himself some of the experimental grape juice that Tiff Pitchstone had been working on. He claimed it would elevate a pony’s mood and let go of our mental inhibitors, but dull our senses in the process. He nicknamed it the Juice.

I approached Bleak again. “I just asked her to be my date for the carnival, and—“

“So you asked her out on a date?” Bleak asked in surprise.

“It’s not a date!”

Bleak took a swig of his drink. Seemingly unaffected by the promised effects it was supposed to have.

“You literally said it was a date though.”

My face flushed. “Sapphire knows what I meant.”

“Ha!”

I watched Bleak take another drink of his cup before pouring more. My mane was beginning to flare, embarrassed by how Bleak laughed at my predicament.

“Smolder, you have no idea what you’re in for. You said it was a date. Sapphire accepted it. You’re done. You can try to talk your way around it, she may even let you take it back, but it’s on. Every minute you’re with her at this festival she’ll be judging you on everything and seeing if you’re a worthy somepony.”

“We’re just friends! I’m going with her to the Winter Solstice in return! It’s a… mutual agreement.”

Bleak snorted. “Oh yeah, sure. Totally.”

Before Bleak could take another drink of his cup I snatched it away. Slamming back down on the desk looking quite annoyed with him.

“Sapphire said that we could go alone!”

This time Bleak’s attitude changed completely. The sudden realization that it wasn’t going to be a double date seemed to erase all of his concerns.

“Oh… well that changes everything.”

“So you and Summer can… can… do whatever it was you were planning to do.”

Bleak’s brow perked up. Looking rather surprised with me.

“You’ve... been around the ice block haven’t you, Smolder?”

“Ice block?”

“You know, when you get to talking with a mare, and things start to get a bit more personal. You bring her home and…”

It was clear by the way my face burned that I knew what he was talking about, but it revealed that I had not been around the ice block. In a flash I snatched up the cup filled with juice and downed it in two gulps before clearing my throat.

“I'm not about to have this discussion with—wow…”

My entire body was overcome by a numbness that seemed to tickle my nose and stretched all the way down to my hooves. I felt strangely relaxed, although a bit hazy with my thoughts.

“Is this the first time you’ve had a drink like this?” Bleak asked.

“Flame ponies rarely drink.” I confessed.

“Have another.”

I held out my cup watching Bleak pour a generous amount in. He took a cup for himself, pouring some more while I took another drink.

“You know that I know what you’re talking about, because I’ve been told what it is you’re talking about by others who have talked about it.” I stated.

“Hey, it’s cool, Smolder. I mean, things haven’t exactly been easy for you. Who’s got time to date when their fighting monsters from another dimension?”

I took another drink feeling a buzzing sensation rush through me. “I had been so focused on getting the Elements of Harmony, that the Orc and the dragon just rushed into the picture and before I knew it I was in another dimension. I didn’t even have time to think about… about…”

“Sapphire?”

I stared down at my nearly empty cup. Swirling it a bit. I saw the spout of the pitcher tip into my cup as Bleak poured me more.

“I thought about her a lot.” I mumbled.

“She’s a very pretty pony.”

“I’ve also hurt her a lot. Doing things behind her back. Making her cry because of it. I am such a horrible pony to her.”

Bleak hesitated to drink. Noticing that Smolder had stopped drinking as well.

“I… know the feeling.” Bleak said. “But, that’s what colts do.”

“Try to do everything ourselves so hey don’t have to worry?” I asked.

Bleak took a long drink. “No, we’re just idiots.”

I chuckled taking another drink. Bleak motioned towards the chair behind me, he himself walked around the desk to pull the desk chair out. We sat down, taking another drink before Bleak filled our glasses again.

“I hurt Summer plenty of times back in the day. Being a con artist has its ups and downs, but mostly downs. Especially when you’re running from the guards and one of them happens to be your girlfriend.” Bleak said.

“Did she ever catch you?” I asked.

Bleak grinned from behind his cup. “A couple of times. When I let her.”

I took another drink. I thought about asking him something personal and the words found their way out easier than I thought. “Have you ever.. you know... kissed her?”

“Many, many, many, many times.”

I held in a laugh, unsure why I found that amusing. Holding onto my cup with two hooves now, letting it tilt from side to side slowly. I closed my eyes, leaning back in my chair, feeling very relaxed.

Bleak tapped the side of his cup a few times trying to work up a question of his own. “You... ever kiss Sapphire?”

I hummed for almost a minute thinking about it. Then I nodded my head yes. Bleak seemed rather surprised by this admission.

“When?”

I smiled. Shaking my head back and forth in my refusal to reveal it.

“Do you love her?”

I opened my eyes slowly. Taking a deep breath and letting it go. Sipping my drink now I found myself not wanting to speak anymore.

“Sorry, that’s a bit too personal.” Bleak said.

Looking over at him, I watched Bleak shake the pitcher finding it empty of the juice and seemingly displeased at having gone through the whole thing so quickly.

“Do you love Summer?” I asked.

“Favorite season of the year.” Bleak replied looking directly into the pitcher.

“No, not the season, I meant-“

“I do. She’s the only pony I want to wake up to in the morning. The only pony who makes me feel like I can be a better pony. She’s the only one who makes my cold heart feel like it’s on fire. She’s my special somepony.”

I tried taking another drink, realizing my cup was already empty.

“You ever have a feeling like that, Smolder?” Bleak asked.

“I did, but she’s a earth pony. Not a flame pony.”

Bleak smirked. “Not a fan of red heads, huh?”

I lifted my hoof to look at fires raging just under the clear surface of my hooves.

“I can’t… touch her.”

“You’ve been practicing on internalizing you flames though, you still got a chance.” Bleak insisted.

The truth of the matter was that with the incorporation of ice ponies and flames over these past several months, many flame ponies were learning how to internalize their fire to create just a cloud of smoke and allow for them to interact with normal ponies. It was the same technique used by the ice ponies to internalize their ice. Several had already achieved this feat which only spurred hundreds more to learn, but I hadn’t made any progress since I started many months ago.

“I learned a long time ago that I’m... not like everypony else. I needed to become what every pony needed me to be. I’ve accepted that.”

There was a long pause after that. Bleak was focused on the scars upon my arms and the intense fires that burned within my hooves.

“Why… did you put yourself through all of that anyways? What did you owe anypony?”

“No pony owed me anything. It’s about doing what’s right.” I recited.

“What’s right?” Bleak scoffed. “You could do a hundred thing right and all any pony will ever remember is what you did wrong. I mean look at your old pony. Everypony still refers to him as the Mad King.”

I took a drink from my cup looking at Bleak. “Is that how everypony looks at you?”

For the first time I had seen Bleak become agitated, his mane billowing snowflakes at the implications of his colored past.

“I don’t think Summer sees you that way. Just how I don’t see my father as a mad pony anymore. It doesn’t change what has happened, but I understand his reasons now.”

Bleak shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I don’t need to. Summer trusts you completely and that’s good enough for me.” I replied.

A look of surprise came across Bleak’s face. “She said that to you?”

“Other than myself, you are the only pony Summer allows to be alone with Sapphire. That says a lot.”

“Well… she’s not my type.” Bleak mumbled, flushing slightly.

I smiled resting my head back in the chair. Closing my eyes and feeling myself become very relaxed. I could hear Bleak tracing his hoof around the lip of his glass cup, a low ring coming from it.

“For a King, you’re not all that… kingly.” Bleak mumbled.

I opened my eyes halfway to look at him. Bleak clearing his throat to phrase his point better.

“What I mean is that you’re more… down to earth. You don’t have a superiority complex about you like lots of nobles tend to have.” Bleak said.

“I didn’t think I’d make a very good king either.” I replied.

“Seriously?”

“Until somepony convinced me otherwise.” I mumbled.

“Who was that?”

“A friend that believed I could make a difference in every ponies life, after having made such a difference in mine. I owed it to him to try and be the pony he believed me to be.”

Bleak frowned a bit. “Isn’t that asking a lot of somepony your age?”

“He only asked me to try, then to try again, and try as many times as need be. Because once you stop trying, you’ve given up, and he never gave up on me.”

I saw that Bleak could only stare at me. Unsure of what to say.

“He… must have been some pony.”

“He wasn’t a pony. He was my friend… my mentor… my dad.”

I looked down at my cup to see that it had become several. All of them swirling around and around in awkward circles.

“I’m kinda… getting tired…”

My eyes were beginning to close. I felt my head resting against the back of the chair and felt the cup slip from my hooves.

The cup was caught by Bleak, already on his hooves looking no worse for wear from his drinking. His tolerance was years in the making, although the juice wasn’t all that strong to begin with. Returning the pitcher and cups, he looked back towards the resting Smolder having felt a bit guilty about how much he had given him to drink.

Taking the arm of Smolder, Bleak pulled it over his shoulder before picking him up off the chair.

“Come on, your majesty,” Bleak groaned.

Smolder’s hooves dragged against the ground. Bleak doing his best not to drop him. Reaching the granite, Bleak carefully let Smolder slide onto it before letting him drop all together.

There were no blankets or pillows to be had. Just a massive slab of granite. Bleak never liked sleeping on granite, although the times he had it was just for the night and he usually wasn’t alone.

Bleak crossed the room stopping before touching the large brass handle on the door. Taking a look back at Smolder, having spent the better part of the evening drinking with him and speaking candidly with one another. He had to smile. Where at one time he had never even seen the King and Queen of the Frozen North, the King of the Ashen Fields had accepted him as a friend and even gone as far to do him a favor.

”Thank you, Smolder.”

Comments

[Stellar_]

Dang, some great emotional scenes in this chapter! Shame this story is so low in views.

And I'm interested how this Love Triangle will play out.