The library was under attack.
Or rather, besieged. A vicious, unrelenting and just plain awful war had broken out and apparently its newest victim was sure to be the Ponyville Library, this great bastion of knowledge. The size of the invading army could not be assessed, nor were there any clear ideas of their armament. Diplomatic channels were closed and the enemy refused to open a viable communications system. Their goals, strengths, weaknesses and numbers were unknown, thus one could only guess the atrocities that would be let loose upon this tranquil and serene port of wisdom, should it fall into the hands of this faceless foe.
Even the estimates were more than staggering, bordering on catastrophic. The skies would darken and the earth itself shatter from the incredible fury of the Element of Magic as she unleashed the full force of her powers against whoever dared pose even the slightest threat to her lair. Celestia’s grace save whomever would fall before her vengeful eyes, had the enemy finally revealed itself to her.
It had started out so innocently, too. There were no clear hostile intentions, just a few minor mishaps at best. Soft rustling in the midst of the large oak branches had suggested a presence even before the first strike occurred, but Owloysius discarded them as the works of his lesser cousin-species, perhaps a hummingbird. A swell and quite pretty branch of the family, but woefully scarce on an intellectual level.
A bright light had begun to disrupt the precious sleep of the unicorn overlord of this domain over and over again, greatly reducing her capabilities for daytime tasks as well. Luna's moon was quickly identified as prime suspect and being the ever-so-kind assistant, he'd taken up the arduous task of closing the shades. He’d heard rumors that disrespecting the Moon Princess had resulted in horrible things in the past, but he guessed she wouldn’t have appreciated if Celestia had kept beaming at her with her sun, while she tried to rest.
This simple, yet doubtlessly clever tactic had worked wonderfully for all of three minutes, after which she had woken up once more. A quick check had yielded quite unexpected results though, considering that fact that the moon was no longer even visible from the window. As such, he was faced with a rather puzzling dilemma, concerning the cause of this phenomenon. The addition of charred leaves dragged in by the wind also helped little to lessen his worry. Something was out there, nefariously waiting for the moment when Twilight Sparkle would no longer be able to put up much of a fight and possibly either devour, kidnap or even just plain assassinate the studious unicorn.
With not another night to spare, he had begun to sacrifice some of his precious daytime sleep to install a series of protective structures against whatever had chosen to break the tranquil atmosphere of his new home. He could hardly count on Spike if a clash were to occur, considering the baby dragon’s need for extended periods of sleep, especially during the night. This was his battle to fight, for the glory of not only his landlady, but his honor as a member of the smartest avian species ever to grace Equestria with their mighty hooting.
It was a simple, more or less easily executable, yet undeniably brilliant plan. First off, he had managed to get his claws on a ball of yarn, although acquiring it had also included a sacrifice on behalf of his dignity. While he was still in the midst of setting up the elaborate sensor array of branches and strings, the other two residents of the tree-house had arrived. In a rush to cover up his clever plans, he had to resort to acting like an avian version of Opalescence, rolling around with the lightly colored strings like some common pet. If Twilight had been any less tired, he was sure she would have reacted a great deal more confused, than just raising a brow at his antics. It had done little to lessen the sting of Spike’s laughter though.
A few hours and a barrage of interruptions later, his first and final line of defense had been completed. With the density of the tree, there was absolutely no way the mysterious aggressor would be able to approach any of the windows without tipping off at least one of the branches. He made sure to bug all of them with the strings he’d painstakingly acquired earlier that day. If it touched any of them, he’d know right away.
Twilight had chosen to postpone midnight studies for another evening, which considering her exhaustion today, had to be amongst the wisest decisions she could have made. It served his purposes nicely, allowing him to not only prepare the final phases of his cunning plans, but also observe the fatigue of a not-so-average unicorn. He scribbled a couple of notes once the residents of the library had fallen asleep, all the while mentally preparing himself for the upcoming confrontation.
An hour or so had to pass before the first few strings had begun to rattle and jitter around, alerting the owl right away. He’d left his paper as it was and descended to the floor, carefully observing even the tiniest bit of movement the strings would made. He could easily picture it before himself as the intruder swiftly glided from branch to branch, getting closer and closer to Twilight’s window.
While his kind was utterly pacifistic in nature, not to mention free of all hubris and malice, Owloysius felt a twinge of grim satisfaction as the familiar light had begun to emerge outside the window, ready to end Twilight’s attempts at having a peaceful night. Just as it would have started bothering the unicorn, her faithful nightly assistant reached out and pulled hard on the final string, unleashing the colossal power of his defense system.
His work paid off almost immediately, as the light seemed to shudder to the unexpected creak right above it. The air itself had grown still for a second, only for a good liter of cold spring water to exit gracefully from the rusty old bucket, hitting the intruder for massive damage. The loud squawk that followed this attack indicated his plan had worked without flaw, soaking whatever had been haunting the tree-house. Twilight let out a brief snort to the noise outside, but merely turned to her other side, sound asleep.
Satisfied at the complete success of his mission, he immediately thought of chronicling his victory with a letter to his professors, in which he'd make extra sure to elaborate on every single detail of his cunning plan. He was tempted to hoot in celebration of his victory, but found it far too barbaric of an idea to follow through with. Instead, he'd just hunt himself a couple of mice tonight. Particularly fat ones.
The moment he turned around to complete these new objectives however, several things became apparently to him, in brief succession. First of all, the other window was open, for some mysterious reason. Second, a number of puddles and droplets had formed a rather easy-to-follow line, starting from the window frame. And lastly, there was a tall, sleek and quite humid bird glaring down upon him, eyes burning in anger.
While the Moonlit Archives, the library of his home-forest had several books on the nature and abilities of these legendary second-cousins, he never thought he'd get to see one with his own eyes, much less this close and never this angry. The soaked phoenix flared her wings at him, just about doubling her already impressive size. Not that this served to calm his nerves in any way, especially as he began to feel quite warm.
Steam quickly rose from the feathers of the phoenix, further alarming the already panicked owl that he might have been inclined to reconsider his future as a scholar and instead picture himself as a roasted meal, or a pile of ash. He considered taking a subtle leave like a true gentleowl, but considering the flames rising from the phoenix’s wings, he wasn’t sure how viable that tactic might have been at this point.
She loomed over him, her feathers blazing in bright red and gold. He knew he would be sauteed in a matter of seconds, but couldn’t find it in himself to run nor fly, paralyzed with fear. Just before he would have needed to say goodbye to this beautiful world forever, a runaway pillow swooped past them, making them flinch. Both avians glanced aside, only to see Spike snuggling into his bed once more, mumbling something about Owloysius always leaving the lights on. While he normally would have been quite ready to disprove such slanderous allegations, considering what he’d just been saved from, he couldn’t find it in himself to complain.
They stared at each other again, the phoenix no longer blazing and the owl more or less capable of movement once more. The interrupt had left both in an awkward stance, unsure what to do now. She was the first to react, bopping him on the head, in a slightly angered fashion. He closed his eyes from the hit, silently waiting for the inevitable flames that would dance through his feathers in mere seconds.
Except, the searing sensation never came. Hearing the sound of paper rustling, he peeked around after a couple of moments, looking for the tall tower of flames that was about to devour him, or perhaps an inferno brewing just under him. He found neither. The phoenix had left as abruptly as she arrived, hardly leaving anything more than an open window and a couple of misplaced rolls of parchment on the nearby book stand. Nothing he couldn’t rectify in mere minutes.
A thought suddenly entered his head though, with all the subtlety of a runaway freight train. Even from this distance, he could clearly see there was a paper missing, possibly the most important of the bunch, the very reason he’d spent so much time in Ponyville. The role of assistant had served his purposes greatly and greatly advanced his work towards completing his thesis on pony psychology, especially once he realized how valuable Twilight’s friendship reports were. That single piece of paper contained all his notes of the past few weeks and it had been stolen, his only lead being a cheery squawk from just beyond the window.
That pompous, overcooked rooster!
With a single beat of his mighty wings, Owloysius was already in the air, speeding out the window like a bullet, exploding into the night and several branches someone had apparently placed far too close to the exit. He heard that annoying squawk again, the phoenix’s amusement highly obvious. He struggled through the pack of leaves with an angry hoot, only to see her perched nearby, his precious notes held tightly in her claws. She raised a wing and beckoned him closer, taunting the scholarly owl.
His dignity could not bear with such a blow, allowing him to double his efforts towards reaching her, once he was free from the tree’s binds. He let out a roaring hoot once again, trying to be as intimidating as possible for an owl. She extended her wings and flew right past him, making him stop in his tracks as well. She raised her claw and let him see the parchment clear as day, further angering the normally very calm owl. As much as he hated even the idea of it, he knew he had to catch her, if he ever wanted to see his notes again.
The phoenix proceeded to taunt him by letting the rolled-up parchment dangle from her claw, like fresh meat. That was the arrow that finally managed to breach even his defences. This was all an owl could take and no more. Such wanton disrespect for knowledge and higher learning could no longer be tolerated. Pacifism and diplomacy went right out the den and were replaced by the distinct wish to decorate his first publication with her feathers, claws, wings, or even her head.
Even she seemed a little bit surprised as he launched himself into the air, only her sharp reflexes saving her from a particularly angry feathered bullet. A moment later however, she regained her composure and took off right away, forcing the raging scholar to follow her. He immediately turned around in pursuit of the flaming lady, his unblinking eyes holding fierce determination. He would either get his notes back, or die trying. That was his solemn vow.
Owloysius certainly did not have the upper hand in this race. While his efforts were commendable, far beyond any exertion his kind usually put themselves through, it still only barely matched up to the far slower beats of her wings. What infuriated him even more though, was the mockery he was subjected to, without halt. Not only did she tease him by greatly varying her pace, but also by letting by abusing her magic whenever he had fallen behind too much, providing him with the most annoying signal flare one could imagine. Had anyone still been awake in Ponyville at this hour, they surely would have enjoyed the brief lightshow taking place above.
It had hardly taken more than a couple minutes for them to be flying over Sweet Apple Acres, the fiery maiden still holding a couple feet worth of advantage. Thinking quickly, she descended into the midst of the blooming apple trees, adding a maze to their race. The poor sap had no idea he had a far superior knowledge of this area though. This was far from the first time he’d ever been here, in fact, this had been part of his hunting grounds for many moons. Winona had been tough on him the first few times for intruding upon her master’s territory, but he had little difficulty in arranging a suitable compromise. It was truly wondrous how a few well-placed compliments and tricky arguments could sway just about anyone.
His audacious adversary soon realized her mistake. Her larger wings had given her an advantage in the air, but down here in the midst of all these trees, she couldn’t pick up speed nearly as quickly as she would have needed to elude him. The branches and apples were all densely packed in neat clusters, making it just about impossible for her to lose him. At some points, he had been close enough to bite down upon her tail feathers, but decided against it. He would not stoop down to her level of blatant barbarism, despite the dark thoughts he’d harbored earlier. One’s composure may falter from time to time, but he was most certainly a better owl than to let petty revenge dominate over his goals.
For the most part, anyway.
Philomena quickly realized that flying through an apple orchard in the middle of the night with her wingspan, had been about as smart as trying to peck the scales off a dragon. Every single tiny branch seemed to be having it out for her in one way or another, usually by sneaking up on her out of nowhere. As a creature of flames, she wasn’t quite as good at navigating through the dark of the night. She allowed herself to radiate a tiny bit of light at least, so she could see, but no more. She had to hold herself back, unless she wanted the whole orchard burnt to the ground.
The phoenix glanced back for a second, but could no longer see her pursuer. She slowed down ever so slightly, his absence confusing her. It was odd indeed, especially with how adamant he had been about retrieving his scribblings. She held the stolen parchment tightly in her claws and dashed straight into the midst of the closest tree. Her eyes sought out a slightly larger branch and she immediately descended upon it to get a little breather.
It had been far too long since she’d been able to enjoy a little race such as this. Even one as short as this reminded her of how much she truly loved the world outside of Canterlot. Truly a shame the Elder Sister was so aware of her mischievous nature and scarcely let her wander on her own. It just forced her to use more creative methods to grant her the freedom to roam the lands.
A loud rustling noise broke her trail of thoughts, bringing the phoenix back to reality right away. She flinched and peeked around, the minimal light emanating from her feather not helping much. While she could not see the perpetrator, she would have bet her gilded cage the owl had caught up to her. She flapped her wings lightly, ready to carry on with the race, the moment she caught sight of him.
Another rustle came in response, but to her surprise, it seemed to have come from a completely different direction. She turned around and gazed upon a lone leaf falling before her eyes. A third noise followed the two shortly, again from a vastly different direction. Philomena shifted rapidly on her perch, a mild feeling of paranoia washing over her. Her body heated up and the glow of her feathers intensified ever so slightly, to a point where she still considered it to be safe. She still wasn't keen on setting the entire orchard on fire.
An entire series of snaps and crackles almost made her reconsider though. The phoenix rapidly looked from one and to another, but could not see the owl. Judging from the trap he’d set for her, she was sure he was behind this as well, expertly manipulating the surroundings to frighten her. Yet even with this knowledge, she still couldn’t help but shift around uncomfortably, feeling intimidated.
Finally, she had had enough of waiting and spread her wings wide, tensing up before the inevitable lunge back into the air.. Another crack resounded from above, but this time accompanied by the most ill-conceived battle cry of all times. The very nature of the awkward ambush left her frozen, allowing the owl to downright dive bomb the momentarily stunned phoenix. Time itself slowed to a standstill for both of them as the owl collided with Philomena, sending them hurtling towards the ground.
She quickly flapped her wings a few times, slowing the speed of their fall to a mostly harmless level. The birds hit the ground a few moments later, leaving both a tad bit disoriented. The impact had caused a big enough shockwave to summon a small nova of dirt, as if this had been the final strike of a titanic battle. She had little doubt he considered this attack just that—a grandiose finishing blow.
The owl waddled up to his claws, swaying dangerously from side to side. Pinning her down in such a way was a rather clever idea, but her slender form left him with little space to stand. Even her slightest movement left him desperately flailing about. He soon found his balance though and glared down upon her. His wings extended as much as possible, in an attempt to appear fearsome. He even topped it off with the most fearsome hoot he could muster, leaving her with a very definite feeling towards Owloysius and his unconvincing theatrics.
She found him just plain adorable.
He glared at her for another few moments, quite obviously relishing his victory. The phoenix on the other hand, continued to lie still and look harmless. She tried her very best not to imagine him as a large ball with feathers sticking out from its sides. He broke eye-contact after just a few moments and glanced around to locate his primary target. A slow rumble began to grow in her chest, as he found the parchment lying right next to them, slightly roughed-up and worn, but without any fatal tears, except—it was completely blank.
Philomena could swear she heard the cogs in his brain grind to a halt all at once. She could tell right away that he never expected such a resolution. The rumbling of her chest exploded into a series of little squawks, while the owl continue to stand like a feathered statue. She quickly lifted her wings to support his sides, seeing as her giggling upset his already precarious balance. He hadn’t even blinked since then, confused beyond all bounds of reason.
The phoenix carefully set him down on the ground and freed herself from under him. He still seemed mostly frozen, but pointed at both the parchment and her, shifting his gaze between the two. His befuddlement was one of the cutest things she’d ever seen and also served as a more than fitting punishment for that bucket of water. She even pet him on the head lightly, adding insult to injury.
Owloysius finally came to from that and shook his head so intensely, that she was certain it had just spun several full circles. He raised both of his wings and spread them wide to look intimidating, all the while trembling in pure anger. She merely tilted her head and stared at the fluffy ball of rage ready to explode, only to finally lean forward and leave the lightest of pecks on his beak. His wings dropped as if he were carrying a stack of books in both, his eyes once again showing that adorable confusion she’d had so much fun watching.
By the time he had come to his senses again, she was already up in the air, playfully flaring her tail feathers. Only then did he seem like he had noticed the rather large crimson feather tucked into one of his wings, almost like a parting gift. Normally, she didn’t bother fooling around this much with any other bird she’d come across. The owl was definitely smarter than most though, perhaps even too much for his own good. She couldn’t imagine him doing much besides studying, which was quite a shame. Nevertheless, she had fun and even considered returning to bother him another day.
Within just a few beats with her beautiful wings, she was already several dozens of feet from the stunned owl. Her feathers blazed in gold and crimson as she allowed a soft trail of light to follow her. It was a highly melodramatic and tacky gesture—acting like a living signal flare—but she was in far too much of an euphoric state to care. The closer she got to the dark forest before her though, the more her mood soured.
Flames sprung alive and danced along her feathers, giving her a both fearsome and majestic appearence. She hated this forest. It reminded her of days long past, far beyond the memory of any ordinary bird or pony. Her blazing wings brightened from the tempest of emotions coursing through her. While the damage wasn't obvious right at first glance, the woods still wore the marks of the battle she had been forced to bear witness to, as did all its inhabitants.
The ancient castle nestled in the heart of the forest beckoned her, like so many times before. The battle of the Sisters had ravaged the forest beyond repair and destroyed far more than stone and marble. It was a feeble hope, dimmer than the weakest spark, she still visited the ruins on occasion, hoping to catch a glimpse of a burning, golden or red feather somewhere.
A sudden surge of danger shot through her. Acting through instinct, she quickly pulled her a wing upwards and turned sharply to the left, only to see an unnaturally slender form swoop by her previous position. It stopped soon after it found no target, allowing her to observe its green, snake-like body and rapidly flapping insect wings. The creature let out a high-pitched shriek and quickly pitched its oversized head from side to side. Its bug-eyes soon centered on the brightly glowing phoenix, prompting the predator to shriek again and show its impressive set of small, yet very sharp teeth.
Philomena gazed at the creature for a few seconds, flames still dancing across her wings. She found it odd a creature of such a weak frame would attack her, though her curiosity was not left to fester for long. The buzzing sounds of its wings seemed to intensify and soon she could see several more of these creatures rising from the dark woods, tempted by her light an the promise of a meal.
Sparks jolted into the air as the phoenix turned to leave, only to find they were already closing a circle around her. She looked around and could see more than a dozen of these corrupted predators rising to meet and possibly take a bite out of her. Three couldn’t seem to keep their hunger in check and soared through the air to meet her right away. She could see all three of them and simply executed another sharp turn, evading the first two without any difficulty.
The third got lucky and slammed into the phoenix, though it hardly managed to tear more than a feather or two out of her right wing. The pain still caused her to let out an angry squawk and swipe it away with the other. While she didn’t carry as much strength in her as other birds may have had, her searing feathers destroyed the snake-like creature’s wings the moment they got so much as close to them.
Barely injured, but angrier than ever, she faced the creatures once again as the two rejoined their ranks. She had always had a feeling the forest resented her presence at least as much as she hated it ever since its birth. Her eyes seemed to downright glow, her body burning brighter than ever before. If the Everfree had truly chosen to turn itself into a battlefield, then she would purge this plague with fire, in the name of the Sisters.
The last gulp of the bubbly liquid had finally run down his throat, the foam coating much of his feathered face. He had never quite been able to understand why ponies seemed to love this particular mixture so much, but the multitudes of tastes and the way it tickled his tongue had quickly convinced him of its magnificence. He made a mental note to somehow let Twilight know he’d love to have more of this.
He looked up from the empty bowl, only to see his kind host carefully pushing another one up to him. He extended his wings and offered a thankful, though perhaps a little too enthusiastic hoot. Once she had sat down again, he took yet another sip. His mood had improved quite a bit since that phoenix had left him amidst the ruins of all sane thoughts. The blank parchment and her parting gift were still lying around, but he tried his best to ignore them.
Winona had come across him just as Philomena left, having wondered what all the commotion had been. Despite him being hardly more responsive than an average slab of stone, she managed to put the studious owl back together with a well-placed blow to the head. Sure, it had taken a bowl of apple cider just to get his headache to ease up, but even he had to admit the mild pain was preferable to a permanent stupor.
He had been somewhat discouraged to find her attitude was still pretty harsh, but she proved to be a superb listener and full of simple, yet sensible and highly useful advices. She proved to be much more intelligent than he’d originally given her credit for, which made him feel rather ashamed for always thinking of her as a relatively simple-minded creature. She had little in ways of deeper academic knowledge, but easily linked everything together and had claimed the phoenix fancied him. Of course, he regarded this as an unfounded and completely illogical theory, yet at the same time, it put everything in a vastly different perspective.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense in a strange and awkward way. He wasn’t even sure whether he was supposed to feel privileged, disturbed or both. Still, it did come to him as flattery, however strangely delivered it may had been. These musings manifested in rather odd shifts of expressions though, ranging from cute to just plain horrific. Winona rose to bump him over the head once more and return the owl to reality, only to find him snap a glare at the barn entrance.
Owloysius flapped his wings and flew over to the door without even looking at the confused dog below. He was certain he had heard a peculiar noise, one that had always been synonymous with danger. A quick peek towards the Everfree Forest roused the uncomfortable foreboding brewing inside him. Barely visible flares of red and yellow broke the dark of the night, shifting and twisting in the strangest of patterns.
A quick bark caught the owl off-guard, the source of it quickly filling his vision. Winona her head slightly, pushing something crimson before him. He hardly even had to look at it to know it was the feather Philomena gifted to him. The edges were already marred and blackened as if an invisible fire was slowly consuming it, inch by inch. The shepherd of the Apple family barked and yowled, jerking her head towards the forest and flickering lights in the distance. He no longer needed any convincing though.
By the time Winona would have looked back at him, he had already grabbed hold of the feather and was in mid-flight, heading straight towards the Everfree Forest. He flapped his wings with all his might, the stiflingly thick woods taking up more and more of his vision, the closer he got. Although it did not burn him, the feather felt warmer with every passing second. He knew he had to hurry.
As he passed by the first couple of trees, his ears caught wind of that horrid shriek he had wished he would never have had to hear again. Loud buzzing joined into this cacophony soon enough, confirming his suspicions even before he first laid eyes upon those airborne predators. Serpent flies were common beasts of the Everfree, but mostly preyed on creatures smaller than them. They were cowardly by design and as such, he found it both terrifying and fascinating that they would go for a target like her.
It had taken a remarkably short amount of time for him to find Philomena, in no small part thanks to the lightly singed branches and leaves she had left behind. He flew below the treetops, much rather listening, than outright looking for her. Serpent flies were very noisy creatures, especially when they were confident about their upcoming meal. While flying through a clearing, he had finally caught a glimpse of the phoenix herself, on the run from several of these highly agitated predators.
Even from this angle though, he could clearly see she’d been on the receiving end of some punishment as well. Her wings seemed mostly intact, apart from a couple of glaring featherless gaps, but her tail was in ruins and he could see several gashes across her chest. The very sight of such drove the owl into a frenzy and he could only barely resist breaking out in a series of disapproving hoots. This was not the time for an outrage though, he knew that much.
Instead, he sped up and continued to follow the group, all the while staying out of sight. He continued to hide in the midst of branches, expertly dodging every obstacle despite his physique. He had once been a resident of this forest and the skills he acquired were still there. The serpent flies above screeched and separated, two of them taking a dive under the treetops in an attempt to cut her off.
Owloysius had expected this from the very start though and the moment they were below him, he swooped down from the darkness, holding Philomena’s feather in his beak. He once again employed the battle technique that brought him victory over the phoenix and slammed right into the unlucky creature. The force of this ambush sent it spiraling towards the ground, like an downed airship.
Without a second to waste, he picked up his flight again and extended his sharpened claws—courtesy of Rarity and Fluttershy, both of whom insisted that any assistant of Twilight Sparkle deserved at least some form of pandering. Their care had paid off at this very moment, as his claws grabbed onto the serpent fly’s delicate wings. Just as the predator could have tried to shake him off, he pulled the brakes on his flight and outright ripped its wings off. The loss of its wings sent the serpent fly hurtling right after his colleague.
With two down, he continued to hunt after the rest. He had no idea how many may have attacked her originally, but he was pretty sure none of the ones that caused her harm survived past that one moment. Attacking a being of pure flames, while sporting wings no stronger than that of an average insect seemed to him like a superb, yet incredibly unproductive way of suicide. Not that it mattered to him, since he had little compassion towards creatures that would attack a lady in such a manner.
Philomena managed to dodge another attempt at her life in the meantime, scorching any of the serpent flies that dared come too close. One of them chose to be bold and snapped at her wing, managing to drive its teeth right to the bone. Even from such a distance, the owl could see as she seemed to explode in flames from the attack, completely incinerating her attacker. Still the damage had been done. To his shock, she could only wriggle in the air for another second, before plunging into the darkness below.
Her wing was burning in agony, blinding her to the outside world. Even just falling caused so much pain she was afraid she would black out at any given second. She extended her other wing to alter her fall and prevent herself from crashing headfirst into the ground. The air caught into the feathery appendage and jerked her rather violently to the side. Her fall twisted sideways and morphed into a deadly spiral instead, further disorientating the phoenix.
The landing was abrupt and painful, just as she had expected. One moment she was still hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds, only for the next to find her in the strange mixture of earth and water, fallen and drowning at the same time. All the air left in her lungs was expelled forcefully from the impact, quickly replaced by unending amounts of water, so cold it felt like she'd been pierced by arrows of pure ice. The last of the flames protecting were snuffed in an instant, leaving her as vulnerable as a fledgling.
For a moment, the phoenix almost subjected herself to her fate, before her survival instinct kicked in. She trashed about in a desperate attempt to find the edge, her pathetic wing-strokes hardly moving her more than an inch at a time. Even through the dark waters, she could see her blood painting the water red. Her head soon broke into the cold air of the night once more, allowing her at least a gulp of air. She managed to hold onto a rock with her claws, but her grip was just not strong enough to keep her attached to it. She managed to crawl out of the water and onto the jagged stone, wounded and clinging to the last remnants of her stamina.
A shriek from above reminded her that the worst had not yet come to pass though. The serpent flies that had survived up till then were practically enamoured by the sight of the her broken and battered. The losses they have suffered never even crossed their minds, all of them far too focused on their now helpless prey. They were hungry beyond comprehension.
Philomena met their starved stares with a weak, but defiant glare. Although she was far too weak to fight back anymore, she was not about to give them the satisfaction of a successful hunt. Her body twitched and her feathers began to softly glow once more. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the upcoming torrents of pain, while her body continued to heat up. Forcing a rebirth before its time was an agonizing procedure, but it was still a better alternative, than to be eaten alive by a bunch of malformed flying snakes.
Loud hooting suddenly filled the ears of the phoenix, breaking her concentration. Her sizzling feathers simmered down, no longer being brought forcibly to their boiling point. She glanced upwards and could hardly believe her eyes. High above the looming serpent flies, a brown ball of feathers was staring down upon them, its figure partially obscured by the setting moon. What truly caught her eyes though, was not the bird itself, but much rather what it carried in its claws. Even from such a distance, the crimson glow was unmistakable, immediately revealing the identity of its guardian as well. It was a phoenix feather—her feather.
The call kept on echoing through the woods and brought silence to every other noise. Her feather was glowing brightly in his claws, its deep-red glow giving him a very intimidating aura. He seemed larger and far more ferocious than she remembered, though she did not trust her senses anymore. The serpent flies were less than impressed and shrieked in unison to scare him off. Next to a delectable meal like her, they had no plans of bothering with a simple owl.
Another figure burst through the dense collection of branches, just as the call finally died down. Philomena couldn’t see it quite well, only that it was taller and a little less thicker than Owloysius. Once it got close to him though, the glow of her feather shed some light on at least its piercing glare. It opened its beak and recited the same call the owl had used, its voice slightly sharper and with a demanding edge to it.
The serpent flies were still hardly intimidated, despite the fact that this second owl did look a whole lot more threatening than the other one. They shrieked to call the rest of their hive, only to receive dead silence as a reply, couple with the suspicious lack of any backup. Instead, two more owls entered the scene, as if either the call, or the red glow had been acting like a magnet to them. The pair were hooting loudly, one after another, like a particularly annoying set of twins.
Sounds of branches creaking, leaves rustling and wings flapping filled their air, as more and more figures emerged from the nearby trees, gathering around Owloysius like a murder of crows. Philomena’s chest started rumbling again and she son found herself quite amused by the situation. Until then, it seemed like the only way out for her would have been a purposeful suicide, only the owl she had spent so much time gleefully pestering, to summon a whole battalion of his kind, all just to rescue her. It was all so poetic, yet awkward at the same time.
The collective hoot from more than a dozen owls of different shapes and varieties were making her head swim even more than before. Her wounds and the fatigue had finally caught up to her. The ‘army’ had formed an arrow, with Owloysius at the tip. He was still holding on to her glowing feather, as if it were a banner. She felt herself slip in and out of consciousness, her mind barely registering what was going on anymore. The owls had gathered. The serpent flies had not run off. The two sides were inches away from a battle that promised to rock the forest to its very core.
And at that moment, the darkness finally swallowed her whole.
A loud crackle brought the phoenix back to reality shortly after. She jerked her head once the fog of her dreamless rest receded from her mind, hoping she hadn't missed out on the no doubt titanic battle. To her surprise though, not only could she no longer see owls, nor serpent flies, but she was not even out in the forest anymore. Part of her immediately wondered whether she had merely dreamt all that had occurred. The pain in her wing however, suggested otherwise.
Confused of the sudden change of scenery, she peeked around for clues. The carved masks adorning the walls, or the numerous exotic herbs hanging from the ceiling to dry out weren’t all obvious indicators, but once Philomena saw the striped equine figure emerge from behind a curtain, she knew she was safe. Although it was cheating a little, the Elder Sister often had her accompany the alicorn whenever she was negotiating with zebras.They were often very hard-headed about certain issues, but had a profound respect for her kind and seeing one in allegiance with the Sun Princess always helped bring any kind of treaty under the roof.
“Ah, I see you are awake,” Zecora spoke up. Her smile was bright as approached her and peeked under the plate, looking quite satisfied with what she saw. “This bed of coals should soothe your ache.”
Sure enough, what would have been unbearable heat for most creatures, was more like a comfortably warm bath to her. The last droplets of water had long since evaporated from her feathers and the burning coal made her body just about glow. Her kind healed faster the more heat surrounded them and unless she took a nosedive straight down to the belly of a dragon, she knew this was the next best thing. She squawked softly, letting the zebra know she well on the way to recovery.
She heard a soft hoot as an all too familiar owl hopped off a nearby table. He skipped over to the phoenix, obviously joyous she had awakened finally. He had a thin roll of bandage around his head and just by looking into his eyes, she could tell he was very tired, but seemed to have suffered no injuries. Her mind reeled back to her last conscious moments and recalled how fearless he had been in standing up to the serpent flies, a far cry from how most owls would have acted. Then again, her kind was also usually touted as smarter, than to take on an entire hive of winged predators.
“A fine friend you have in him, as few would have taken you through a forest so grim.” the zebra said and raised a hoof to rub the tip of his head a little. The owl tried to keep a dignified demeanour, but couldn’t resist showing how much he liked to be spoiled.
“Your wounds should heal fast in the cradle of fire,” she continued, “but you’d do best to quickly leave this mire.”
The mild pain in her wing made her words ring all the more true. She did not wish to face the forest again, even if that meant having to forget her visits to the castle ruins. The more she looked at the owl, who had endured her silly little game and was still ready to outright fight for her life, the less inclined she felt towards chasing shadows any longer. She had an eternity to find more of her own kind, but this simple, yet intriguing owl would fade from the world, eventually.
Although he was quite different than what she normally would have preferred, she knew he had all the right qualities. He was smart, there were no doubts about that. His heart was in the right place as well and she had no doubts he was of a perhaps painfully honest breed. All these coupled together into a cute bundle of brown feathers she knew she could love, if only he would have removed his gaze from the book he’s been reading for the past five minutes and noticed her swooning over him.
Philomena gently flicked a spark off the edge of the plate and onto the owl’s his tail feathers, counting down the seconds till he would react. She certainly had her work cut out for her.
Princess Luna was quite pleased with herself.
The court she held that night was fairly uneventful, with only a handful of the usual bickering nobles willing to stay up long enough to bring their cases to her. It had given her plenty of time to mingle with her newest guards instead and was pleasantly surprised to find Celestia had managed to acquire ones that did not seem to be all that intimidated by guarding her, of all ponies. Sure, they were nervous, but warmed up to her much faster than she would have hoped.
The alicorn’s steps had a certain joyous rhythm to them as she was walking towards the balcony to lower the moon. Her head felt a little bit heavier than an hour before, but even though she was tired, she was still quite happy. The nobles were pacified, the bill proposals she had to go through were minimal in length and she had been invited to the wedding of the youngest daughter of the Griffon King. Even Philomena and her guest had managed to return before-
What.
Luna retraced her last few steps, stopping dead in her tracks before the cage of the phoenix. Sure enough, there was a quite familiar owl in her cage as well, sleeping soundly in her embrace. It had taken a moment to sink in, but she quickly recognized him. The alicorn’s hoof came alive on its own and took its rightful place at her forehead, accompanying her sigh. Every single night she regretted letting Philomena out, yet every single night she would make the same mistake, over and over again.
“This was not part of our agreement.” She tried to keep her voice to a whisper, so as not to wake the owl. “I agreed to let you out, but I sure don’t remember saying you can bring anyone up here, much less Twilight Sparkle’s assistant! Tia will have my head for this!”
Philomena reached out of her cage and lightly stroked the alicorn’s muzzle, all the while looking into her eyes with the most well-rehearsed and practiced sadness Luna had ever seen. She shook her head to break the spell, but she already felt her heart beginning to give up. Her hoof struck the ground with a loud clop as she forced herself to keep it together. In an instant, her features darkened and her glare sharpened, in spite of the ministrations of her and her sister’s pet.
“No, that won’t work this time,” the princess of the night stated firmly, just barely resisting to break out her regal voice. “You’ve used and abused my generosity far too many times and-”
Don’t look at her, don’t look at her!
“And you can’t just go around and do whatever you like! If you want me to keep letting you out, you’ll have to...obey...the rules...”
Her speech was breaking up the more Philomena kept staring at her with those sad, heartbroken eyes. She clung to the sleeping owl and let out a soft squawk for added effect. Luna was right. She knew that, the phoenix knew that, every single pony in Equestria would have known that and yet the bird still managed to make her feel like she was about to send a foal to the wolves. Even when she tried to break eye-contact, she just couldn’t do it. There was no escape, no running from her will. Finally, she could do nothing but abandon her pitiful rebellion and surrender.
“I’ll send a letter to Twilight Sparkle.” The alicorn lowered her head. “And I’ll distract Tia as well, just don’t pull that look on me again, please.”
Her phoenix overlord squawked happily, accepting her submission. The princess sighed slogged towards the balcony in defeat. She silently vowed to become strong enough to resist her influence one day, even though she had a nagging suspicion that day would never come. Philomena wrapped her wings around Owloysius once more and snuggled up against him, watching with amusement as Luna prepared to lower the moon.
She had a mate between her wings and a princess in her claws—she was officially running this place.
