The Winter Solstice

by Turtlehaus

Chapter 6: Lights Out

Sapphire and I walked hoof in hoof for a time. Traveling down the length of the Dark Marsh in mostly silence, I found myself smiling at the familiarity we shared between us, unable to bring any sort of meaningful conversation to my mind, but anxiously trying to find the perfect moment to give Sapphire this stone.

Every minute passed offered a new and inventive way to present it to her. Each new idea became much grander and more deeply meaningful than the last. Yet with every new thought birthed a scenario where I failed miserably and no outcome seemed to succeed in my mind.

“Smolder?”

Sapphire’s voice gave me a start with a flash of fire rippling down my mane.

“Yes, Sapphire?”

I felt her hoof slip from mine. She stopped walking, looking rather distraught or perhaps uncomfortable at what she was going to say. Turning towards her I noticed that we were nearly alone, having walked so far along the edge of the Dark Marsh that we had secluded ourselves from the carnival.

“There is something I’ve been meaning to tell you…” Sapphire began.

Her hooves massaged each other, her eyes kept avoiding mine doing their best to stare at each side of me. My heart was beating loudly in my ears.

“Sure!” I replied with a squeak.

“But… there is something I need to know.” Sapphire continued. “If you could just be honest with me about this…”

“Of course,” I blurted out. “Anything.”

Her eyes met mine. If my heart beat any harder I was sure it would be audible to her.

“What happened between you and… Ms. Herbal?” Sapphire asked.

I could only compare the blow to my heart to that of the mace the Orc had once used to break my ribs. I stood silent. Unable to think of where to begin.

“Um… I… she…”

Sapphire stood waiting with such patience, allowing me to gather my thoughts and waiting for an answer. I found only a few words to let slip.

“We’re… just friends.” I mumbled.

“I believed her to be your special somepony. I know you never admitted to it, at least not to me, but the connection you two shared made it rather obvious you had strong feelings for one another.” Sapphire fired back.

Again I stood dumbfounded, realizing she had been waiting to have this conversation with me for quite some time. Her response was quick, as if preemptively guessing what some of my answers would be.

“I… we…” I found myself stammering unable to respond.

“Did something happen? Did you two have a fight? Is it because of the proximity you and I have had with one another that has caused a riff between the two of you?” Sapphire questioned.

“It has nothing to do with you.” I blurted out.

Sapphire looked hurt. My response was meant to eliminate her as a reason, but she took it differently.

“So you won’t tell me?” Sapphire asked quickly.

“No! I mean… I can’t!” I replied.

“And why not?” Sapphire demanded.

“Because… because…” I struggled to find an answer.

“Well?”

“Because you’re not supposed to know.”

Sapphire’s cloudy mane furrowed angrily, her eyes glassy from the tears she was holding back. At this moment I knew I had defined our relationship, one where I kept secrets that would always end up hurting her.

“Sapphire--”

“Thank you for inviting me out tonight, Lord Smolder. I think I’ll turn in, I have an early start tomorrow.”

Without missing a beat Sapphire whipped around and proceeded back towards the castle. Her cloudy mane quietly stormed, producing a darker color than usual.

“Sapphire! Please wait!” I shouted.

I chased after her. Not daring to touch her, I quickly placed myself in front of her and hoped that she wouldn’t blast me aside. She stopped abruptly and threw me a piercing stare that stabbed my heart.

“I… made a promise not to tell.” I confessed.

“Thanks for sharing.” Sapphire scoffed.

Stepping forward, Sapphire slammed her shoulder into mine to push past me. The wrenching of my gut told me I needed to pick what I was more afraid to lose. My promise to Tea or my relationship with Sapphire.

“I can’t fix this!”

Perhaps it was the vagueness of my words or the sadness that filled my voice, but it got Sapphire to stop. She turned to me again, looking angry but puzzled at what I meant.

Narrowing her eyes at me she asked aloud. “What?”

I lifted my hooves, looking at them with such misery, unable to remember all of the words Tea had used to describe my condition.

“My hide...” I began. “It’s too damaged. It’s why I can’t suppress my flames.”

I could see Sapphire’s face change in an instant at the realization of what I had said.

“My visits to Manehattan were to help Tea with her research on Alicorns, but it was also to determine if I could reverse the damage.” I continued. “But--”

I let my head drop feeling all the emotions and memories of that fateful day come flooding back.

---

“It’s always a pleasure to see his Royal Highness,” Chapel quipped.

Placing the diaphragm of her stethoscope on my chest, I felt my mane flare seeing her lean in so close to me.

“Oh my your heart is racing, My Lord.”

A clipboard struck Chapel on the back of her head as Tea glared at her.

“If you’re not going to act professionally about this you can just leave.” Tea remarked.

Chapel pouted looking sheepish. “I was only teasing him.”

This particular hospital room was one of very few that were being renovated to accommodate Flame Ponies here at the Manhattan Hospital. This one was near completion, having nearly everything in the room flame retardant, holding several state of the art medical devices that could be used to run several tests in Flame Pony ailments or diseases.

At the behest of myself, with a few encouraging words from Princess Celestia, the Manhattan Hospital has allowed early use of this particular room to a few medical students who had been hoofed-picked to give the King of the Ashen Fields a series of check ups. This had been my sixth in six months.

“I’ve got the thermograph calibrated.” Florence announced.

Chapel stepped aside to allow Florence to scan me with her meter.

“You run hotter than most flame ponies, Smolder. Although, I don’t see any new lesions or further increase of heat in your hooves or legs.”

“He’s hotter than most-“

Tea bumped her out of the way with her flank before she could start again. Approaching me with a tape measure.

“Lower your head for me, Smolder.” Tea requested.

I did as asked watching Tea measure my horn. Their series of tests were the same ones I’ve dealt with in previous visits. Apart from creating a medical record for me, they were studying me for the research paper I had promised Tea I’d help her with months prior. Each of them were focusing on a different facet of Alicorn physiology.

“Six and half inches.” Tea reported.

Chapel giggled.

Tea frowned at her. “Seriously?”

She scribbled down the length, eyeing me with a coy smile before hurrying off to reference the data Florence had collected.

“Sorry about her, Smolder.” Tea said.

“It’s cool.” I mumbled.

A smile formed across Tea’s face that sent my heart racing again. She put a pen sized flashlight in her teeth, taking a hold of the sides of my face with special fire resistant gloves that each of them wore over their hooves.

She pulled on my cheeks to open my eyes wider, flashing the light across a few times before massaging behind my ears near my neck as if feeling for something.

“Did we get the test results back yet?” Tea asked aloud.

Tea squished my face, forcing me to make a face before smiling wide and letting go. My mane flared from embarrassment while Florence retrieved a folder from the box marked Lord Hot Saddle.

“How many times are you going to run this test, Tea?” Florence whispered to her.

“As many times as I need to.” Tea hissed back.

“You’re not making this any easier on either of you by postponing it with needless tests.” Chapel snapped back.

“This is supposed to help-“

“Is everything, okay?”

My question seemed to catch all of them off guard. While very talented and brilliant in their knowledge of medicine, their bedside manner was still lacking as their worried faces already had me feeling uneasy.

“We’re just talking about your test results and hoping to look for more options in… in…” Tea trailed off looking to her friends for help.

Unfortunately, they both looked at her with sorrowful expressions, knowing that it was the hardest part of any doctor pony's job to give a patient bad news.

“Can… can I speak to Smolder in private, please?” Tea asked them.

Florence patted Tea on the arm encouragingly, Chape nodding her head that this was the right thing to do. Stepping out of the room, I felt rock after rock landing in my stomach feeling that this wasn’t going to end well.

“Smolder,” Tea began softly. “How has repressing your Fire been going?”

I hesitated for a moment, thinking about the question before it made sense to me and answered quickly but honestly.

“I-I havent been able to do it yet.”

Tea took a deep breath doing her best to steady herself.

“The amount of damage your body has sustained from your battles with the Elder Dragon and your… uh… fight with the um… Storm…”

Tea gripped the file close to her chest looking very sorrowful at what she was about to say.

“It’s physically impossible for you to repress your flames now.”

I stood frozen. Blinking a few times before hearing myself squeak. “What?”

“Y-your hide has suffered too much damage, especially around your hooves where your hide is missing or so thin that it cannot suppress your flames.”

I looked down at my hooves, lifting them up to my face to see my fire flourishing.

“I’ve ordered several tests these last few visits hoping to find a solution involving skin grafts or even some sort of prosthetic covering but… we just don’t have that kind treatment for somepony in your condition.”

“I-I-I can try to use the power of the Phoenix!” I blurted out. “It’s healed me before and-and-and I bet it can reverse this! I just need to work with Mira more to find—“

Tea took hold of my hoof. Smiling weakly at me.

“That power did this to you, Smolder. Even before that, you were already severely injured from that dragon. If it could have healed you, don’t you think it would have by now?”

“I… I… I don’t… if I didn’t…”

“Smolder—“

“I kept burning… pushing myself… and it’s cost me everything.”

I felt Tea take both my hooves now, holding them tightly.

“I know you’re not regretting saving Sapphire from that dragon or saving all those poor creatures from that evil storm, Smolder. I know for a fact that you’d do it again if you had to.” Tea said comfortingly.

“I’m… so sorry, Tea.” I whispered.

I winced, feeling myself beginning to cry. The realization that I took away any chance we had at being each other’s special somepony had finally settled in.

Tea gripped my hooves, shaking them up and down. “Hey, hey, hey… Smolder, look at me.”

I lifted my head, feeling my mouth quivering but doing my best to keep myself from crying. Tears were slowly falling from Tea’s face as well, but she didn’t seem as close to breaking down as I was.

“I’ve… known about this for a while. I tried hard to find a way to fix this… to help you… but I realized that I was just afraid of losing you. That’s when I realized I lost you a long time ago.”

I watched Tea wipe her eyes, having composed herself rather quickly and smiled at me again.

“I always wanted to protect you, you know? From all the ponies who wanted to use you or ask you to do things that would put you in harm's way, but in the end you always wanted to help any pony regardless of how much danger it put you in.” Tea began. “Over this last year I’ve felt like I was chasing after you, clinging to those few days we had in Canterlot, and not realizing that your journey was taking you further and further away from me.”

“Tea--”

I felt her hoof press upon my lips for a moment. She removed her hoof slowly, showing how worn the gloves were already from just having held my hooves for a brief moment.

“My friends tried to get me to see it, but I wouldn’t listen. I didn’t want to face the truth, but one friend encouraged me to not give up. A friend who put her life on the line several times for you and put her feelings second to mine.”

Surprise washed over me realizing who Tea was referring to.

“I will always be here for you, Smolder. You’re always going to have a special place in my heart. I really wish things could have been different, but I learned that there are some things that we will never be able to do.”

My heart was breaking, that it was a truth I knew all too well. That no matter how badly I wanted to be like other ponies, I had to accept that I was never going to be like them.

I lowered my head, unable to stop myself from crying at the realization that I could never be with Tea as my special somepony.

For what felt like hours I cried, feeling Tea gently stroking my face and trying to calm me down. Unable to embrace me, to comfort me like any normal pony could or would with a simple hug, Tea used her words to help soothe my shattered heart.

“Smolder, take as much time as you need to heal from this. I will still be here, you can talk to me whenever you want, but we need to give ourselves the chance to be happy again.”

“Maybe… maybe… I can just jump in a lake and… and we can just…” I stuttered through my crying.

“And what?” Tea asked, holding back a laugh. “Try to make out? Me with second degree burns and you swollen and puffy all over?”

I choked a laugh. Unable to stop myself from laughing again as Tea joined in. After a minute of silence, unable to cry anymore, I felt myself calming down but still feeling very empty inside.

“Take as much time as you need, Smolder.” Tea whispered to me. “I’m very touched that you felt so strongly about me as I did you.”

I smiled weakly at her.

Tea let go of my hooves, her gloves having reached their limit of being in contact with me. She pulled them off and tossed them in a nearby bin.

“Just do me a favor, Smolder.”

“Anything.” I replied.

“Please don’t tell, Sapphire.”

I looked at her in confusion.

Tea flushed at her own request, but smiled in the end. “She shouldn’t have to feel like she’s second best. If you two end up together… I hope that it’s because you truly do have feelings for her as you did me.”

---

“Smolder?”

I looked up from my hooves to see Sapphire sitting in front of me. Regret and sadness covered her face as she gently took my hooves and traced her own hoof across my scars.

“Forgive me… I shouldn’t have pressed you on something so heartbreaking.” Sapphire whispered.

“No,” I mumbled. “I’m sorry, Sapphire. For always keeping secrets from you.”

“This is something that was none of my business and I understand now why you were so guarded by it.” Sapphire retorted.

“This isn’t why I didn’t want to tell you,” I said hurriedly.

Sapphire’s interest peaked again, wondering what I had yet to reveal. Once again I realized that I was about to redefine our relationship.

“Tea… she had asked me… because she felt… we felt…” I struggled to find the words.

I stared into Sapphire’s beautiful eyes, feeling her cool touch upon my hooves, and in that moment I realized that the fear I had over this promise, the fear I had over how she would feel just seemed to disappear.

“I… really like you… Sapphire.” I said slowly.

Clouds of steam rose from our hooves. Sapphire’s face flushed a bright purple with her ice reacting to her embarrassment and melting against my fire.

“I just didn’t want you to feel… second best.”

My admission was hard to say. There would always be doubt now, that if things had been different I would have pursued Tea instead. Although, keeping it a secret up until now had been a dark cloud over us and I could never truly be open with her about it.

“You weren’t my first choice either, Smolder.” Sapphire stated.

It was as if somepony had slapped me upside the head. I looked at Sapphire in shock over her own admission.

“What?” Sapphire asked with a smile. “Granted I never acted on my impulse at the time, but there was a colt I admired a great deal and had significant feelings for.”

“Who?” I asked quickly.

Sapphire narrowed her eyes at me. “Perhaps this will be one of my secrets that I keep from you.”

I found myself unable to argue seeing as I had been the greatest offender of such things since the beginning. Sapphire bit her bottom lip and squeezed my hooves tightly.

“There was a snow pony prince from the south pole. I met him only once, but he was so…” Sapphire trailed off looking rather smitten.

I found myself snorting in response. It was involuntary but it summed up my feelings for another colt being on her mind. Sapphire smiled wide, almost laughing at my disapproval.

“But, I have my heart set on a different colt.” Sapphire whispered.

Leaning in, Sapphire rested her head against my shoulder feeling her hooves slide up my arms and around my neck. I instinctively put my arms around her and pulled her in close as if worried she’d be taken away from me.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while now, Smolder.” Sapphire whispered to me.

“I… I’ve been wanting to… say something too.” I whispered nervously.

“Isn’t that Lord Smolder?”

We quickly parted seeing a group of flame ponies having stumbled upon us. It was apparent that none of them were paparazzi ponies, although old enough to know that they had stumbled upon something extremely personal and realizing the gravity of such a discovery.

“Is-is that Princess Sapphire?” Another flame pony asked.

“What? Ha! We’re-uh- just hanging out and talking.” I lied horribly.

I looked to Sapphire for help but she had already taken off without a word. My first instinct was to call after her but I was still clinging to the notion that this group of flame ponies didn’t know who we were. I immediately had the feeling of despair, believing that the moment had arrived and I had blown it completely.

“I think he just got dumped.” Whispered a flame pony.

“Nuh uh!” I shouted at them.

Flustered and embarrassed I felt my hooves moving, trying to catch up to Sapphire.

---

“Stupid! Stupid, Sapphire! What the hay were you thinking?”

Sapphire cursed at herself. Feeling thin layers of ice spread across her face from her embarrassment.

“Stop running! Where are you going? Turn around and go back there and tell him already!”

Sapphire further urged herself to come to grips, but her legs carried her further away. The blaring noise of the carnival had suppressed her ability to focus, her embarrassment clouded her judgement, and her familiarity with Smolder had nearly caused them to become personal with one another.

Her brisk stride, along with her constant berated breaths of contempt for herself had given Sapphire the time she needed to get a grip again.

“A bit please.”

“What?” Sapphire asked.

There was a rather older pony standing outside a rather large cave entrance that was decorated with many lanterns surrounding its maw. The pony had a chest of bits beside him, along with a few slates to pass the time while waiting for interested ponies to explore the caves.

“One bit to take a walk through the thermoluminescence caves, ma’am. Interested?”

“Sorry, I must have wandered over here by mistake I was just—“

Sapphire turned back to find me walking right up alongside her. Short of catching my breath and looking rather nervous, I smiled weakly hoping to win back her favor.

Sapphire pursed her lips, finding it hard to continue her train of thought before dropping her gaze from me.

“A couples night, huh? Well we got a tunnel for that too.” The old pony mumbled.

Together we watched the old pony motion to us for the bits he needed. I quickly dug into my pocket and withdrew a few of the last bits I had.

“You two can take the infamous red tunnel. Said tunnel is on your right, can’t miss it. Don’t be worrying about getting lost or anything like that, we dug these tunnels ourselves. They’ll lead you out on the other side of the fields.”

I found some courage to speak. “Why is it infamous?”

The old pony looked at me, then to Sapphire, and chuckled out right.

“If I need to say it then perhaps you should take the blue tunnel.”

His laughter was enough to get Sapphire and I to flush again. I took hold of Sapphire’s hoof, doing my best not to seem nervous as I walked her into the cave.

Sapphire didn’t pull away, nor did she try to resist following me in, but she kept her eyes glued to the floor.

Through the maw of the cave we found ourselves being guided by very faint lights that brought us to the first tunnel that had hints of purple further down.

I continued to lead Sapphire on, feeling her beginning to shake, but I mistook it as my own fearing the approaching infamous tunnel.

We paused at the opening of the second tunnel. The faint hints of red further in seemed enticing, but we could also see the soft blue of the third cave up head.

Sapphire stood solid on the spot. Not daring to make a move towards the red tunnel, but was too nervous to even suggest a different one. I myself was beginning to have doubts about the red tunnel.

“We… we could always… just…” Sapphire mumbled softly.

I looked over at Sapphire, seeing the slightest gloss of teary eyes beginning to set in. At that moment I knew I needed to take the red tunnel.

“Will you have my back, Sapphire?” I asked.

My question got Sapphire looking my way. It was enough to get her to smile from how cliche our promise to each other had become, but it eased the tension between us considerably.

“Always.” Sapphire replied.

Leaning onto my arm, we walked hoof in hoof into the red tunnel wondering what we would find. To our amazement it was a plethora of thermoluminescence rocks that had been mined and placed to create an intense glow of red that bathed the tunnel the further we walked in. Intermixed were other smaller colors that mixed and changed the lighting slightly to add variety to it all.

We quietly enjoyed the stillness and beauty the tunnel offered us. Eventually it let out into chasm that had a secret hot spring surrounded by the red thermoluminescence rocks that acted as some very romantic mood lighting.

“I... was told that ponies are having to make appointments to be able to schedule appointments for the new spa that just opened today.” Sapphire remarked.

“You could give it a try, if you like.” I offered.

Sapphire bumped me with her flank. “Don't even joke.”

I felt her squeeze my hoof, leaning her head against mine.

It felt as though the moment we were about to share out on the fields was long gone. I didn’t know how to go about bringing it back up without sounding crass about it. My stomach was starting to turn again, realizing my own cowardice and uneasiness about letting things stay this way. I pressed my hoof against my stomach to settle it when I felt something sitting within my pocket.

“Sapphire…”

Digging into my pocket with my free hoof, I glanced over at Sapphire who was so beautifully illuminated by the red glow that I felt my heart jump to my throat. My mane flared at the sudden implication of what I was about to do.

“Here.” I croaked.

With a shaking hoof I held out the small leather pouch to her doing my best to stop my body trembling.

Sapphire looked rather surprised by my gesture. She carefully took it with her magic, not letting go of my hoof but using her free hoof to shake the pouch into.

The small blue cordierite stone fell into her hoof. Instantly a smile swept across her face at the sight of it, realizing what I had given her. The ghostly white magic within the cordierite swirled for a moment, producing a snowflake that floated to a fro as if it were falling from the sky before disappearing back into the stone.

“You bought one for me?” Sapphire asked softly.

“It was— I wanted to— you…”

Most of my words were garbled, unable to admit to the obvious question she had asked me.

She brought it close to her chest. Unable to keep herself from smiling over what I had given her.

“Smolder…” Sapphire began.

“Yes?” I quipped.

Sapphire leaned against me, taking her free arm and wrapping it around my shoulder leaning her head against my chest. Our clutched hooves parted into a hug with one another. Her hoof upon my chest and mine upon her back.

“I wanted to tell you that you’re… that I wanted you to be… to be… my…” Sapphire mumbled to me.

There wasn’t anything for it. My heart was pounding so loud that it nearly deafened my ears. Sapphire slowly lifted her head to me, once more so close, and yet frozen in place. Every nervous thought I had was flashing through my mind, ranging from my breath to how much I blinked.

I stared into the soft blue sapphires that were this princess pony’s eyes. I felt her trembling, flushed a dark shade of purple, but deathly silent aside from the soft breaths she took from her slightly parted lips.

Sapphire mouth began to open. Whatever words she wanted to say, the thoughts she wanted to express, the fear she felt about what would happen, had been stolen from the sudden look of disgust that flashed across her face.

“What is that smell?”

Covering her face with her hoof, Sapphire stepped back unable to handle the sudden stench that had drifted towards us. In a panic I sniffed my hoodie wondering if it had been the offending odor or perhaps even myself but after having smelled it I knew what it was.

“Sulfur.” I stated.

The water within the spring started to churn, beginning to drain itself from cracks that spring from its edges. Quakes soon followed, causing the cave to tremble and break apart around us. I took hold of Sapphire’s hoof steering us back down the tunnel we had come from overhearing the faint sounds of chanting coming from beneath us.

With great speed we rushed from the tunnel meeting few other couples having started their journey down this route. The tremors were becoming more aggressive, faster in its intensity, and the fainted chanting grew louder.

Having just reached the entrance of the cave the ground behind us began to give way. Swallowing all manner of rock and stone into the ground. Collapsing a large portion of the ruined mountain side into the sinkhole that quickly appeared.

The chanting from below grew louder, intermixing with the shouts of ponies coming to see what had happened having seen the giant dust cloud of the ruined mountain rise into the air. Deep within the sinkhole a deep red glow was pulsing with the echoes of the indiscernible words chanted bringing it closer to the surface.

I stood at its edge staring down into the pit watching the red flow grow closer and the shadows of ponies thrown against the dust clouds before us. A sudden gust of wind mixed with sulfur rushed passed, clearing most of the dust in the air to reveal a most surprising sight.

Hundreds of flames ponies in obsidian themed armor marched up from the darkness of the pit. Their hides were similar to ours, although at the base of their manes, hooves, and tails looked as if magma flowed beneath their skin.

At the front of the grand army was a flame pony mare. Her hide littered with countless scars ranging from minor to severe, the one upon her eye had changed the color of her iris to a dull grey while the other burned like a red hot coal. Her flames mimicked the flow of magma, her hide the darkest shade of black I had ever seen, and she wore no armor save for the obsidian crown she wore upon her head.

I felt Sapphire’s hoof try to pull me from the edge but I stood firm in place. This mare and her army stopped their march just a few feet apart from us. Her eyes fixated upon me.

“I seek the King of Flame Ponies.”

The mare’s tone was aggressive, almost commanding.

“And you are?” Sapphire remarked.

“I am Blight, Ruler of the Magma Ponies, and we have come to reclaim our ancestral homeland from the usurpers.”

Comments

[Night_Striker]

its alive!!!!! and damn from flame to magma ponies? whats next lightning? but poor smolder cant get 1 day to relax! XD