Chapters Our story begins on a night like any other in Ponyville, with everypony either just heading to or entering there own homes to go to sleep after a hard days work in Ponyville. But sleep is something not everyone does during the night. For one pegasus, the night is her time to relax and be herself without having to act like someone she isn't. With no one seeing and judging what she does or how she acts it was like complete freedom for her.
Once all the lights in Ponyville had begun to go off, a certain blue pegasus could be seen peeking out one of the windows of her cloud mansion. But once the final light had gone out in the streets of Ponyville, she began trotting away from the window and towards her front door. She had a huge grin on her face that if anyone saw, they would think she had gone crazy.
As the happy pegasus reached the door, she quitely and slowly opened it and began tiptoeing outside until she had enough room to spread her wings. After some quick streches, the pegasus spread her wings as far as she could. She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with as much of the night air as possible, and breathed out again as she jumped off the front of her house. She closed her eyes while in her head she began counting backwards from three. Once she reached one she pulled up sharply, just avoiding smashing into the ground face first.
When the pegasus got as high as the clouds, she sat down on what looked like the fluffiest cloud around her. While the pegasus was sitting on the cloud, she began looking down at Ponyville and noticed how beautiful it was when there was no pony walking the streets. To her, it looked so calm and peaceful as she looked at the sight before her. She closed her eyes and began smiling to herself again. After quite some time, the mare opened her eyes and stood up, ready to do what she came her to do in the first place. She started to practice her dancing. This was the third night she had come out to practice, and like every night, she looked one last time to make sure no pony was around. And after seeing no pony was out, she got into her starting position. The starting position was the pegasus standing up on her two back hooves on a cloud. Once she managed to balance herself, she began doing slow careful spins were she was standing. But after doing five, she triped herself on her left hoove and fell face first into the cloud.
"Why do I even still try this" The pegasus muttered into the cloud bitterly.
As the pegasus looked up towards the night sky, she saw a small blue dot in the sky. But as she looked closer, she saw that it was expanding, but once it got as big as a pony, it retracted back to a small dot. Then it exploded outwards, but didn't make a sound as it did. All it did was send a weak shock wave of energy, which barely moved the watching pegasus on the cloud. After a few seconds had past, the pegasus saw what looked like a dark blue pony falling from the sky, fast. The pegasus quickly sprung into action flying as fast as a bullet towards the falling pony. But unfortunately, as fast as she was, she just missed the pony as it fell face first into an open field, making a small crater.
The pegasus quickly flew to the centre of the small crater to find the blue pony, she saw it was just lying there, so she began to inspect it for injuries. As she started looking over the pony, she noticed it was a stallion from the way he was built. And she also noticed a pair of wings, but as she looked towards his chest, she saw a small piece of broken metal in it. She looked closer to see if he was still breathing, and was glad to see his chest moving, but just bairly. So, she decided to tap his head while shouting hello in his ear to get a response. After about a few seconds of this, the stallion began aggressively coughing while the mare sighed in relief. But was cut short when she saw he was coughing blood. She tried to lift the stallion, but stopped when he weakly tried to shove her away and heard him cry out in pain. He coughed slightly more 'till she set him down and saw his head move to were she was.
"What...ever you...do...NO hospitals...PLEASE just take...take me somewhere...safe" As the stallion finished, he passed out again.
The mare began to panic on the spot, unsure what to do. In her mind, she thought she had to take him to the hospital. This looked serious, but something in the back of her mind was screaming "NO!" at her. And the feeling was becoming stronger every second, so against her better jugement, she lifted the stallion onto her back and began flying towards her home as gently as she could. And she knew she would regret this sooner or later.
As the mare arrived home with her guest, she gently lay the stallion on his side so he wouldn't choke on his own blood. She quickly ran to her bathroom to grab some towels. When the mare came back from the bathroom, she noticed the stallion was trying to sit up, but kept falling down when he came close. So she quickly ran to his side to help him.
"Woah there! Take it easy there buddy, just lie down while I take a look," the mare spoke gently.
As the stallion lied back down, he grunted when he felt a sharp pain in his chest when the mare began pressing a wet towel down on his chest.
"So...what's your name?" the mare asked politely.
"Its Phoenix. What's yours?" the stallion responded aggressively while trying to sound polite.
"Rainbow Dash...now can I please take you to a hospital? This looks really serious" she replied with panic and concern in her voice.
"If you really want to help me pull this out of my chest as fast as you can when I say, and before you say 'no.' By the time you get me to those butchers, I will have bled out with the amount of time it will take to get me there, and wait to be seen to. So, now your left with a choice...pull this out of me when I say and I will do the rest, or you can let me die slowly from blood loss. Your choice, but make it fast" Phoenix spoke quickly with panic in his voice.
The mare just sat there, unsure what to do for a couple seconds until she did agree it would take a while to get to the hospital. It took a while to just get home and the Hospital is on the other side of Ponyville, she wouln't make it. After about a minute of thinking, Rainbow Dash walked up to Phoenix and sat beside him as close as she could. She put her hooves on the piece of metal.
"I know you must be panicing in your head right now, but I can take pain and doing this is saving my life. Now, are you ready Rainbow Dash?" Phoenix spoke calmly.
Rainbow Dash nodded her head while her hooves were shaking slightly.
"Three...two...NOW!" Pheonix shounted.
As the metal was pulled out, Phoenix quickly covered the wound with his hooves and began applying pressure. But as he did, Rainbow Dash turned around to see Phoenix's hooves had turned from dark blue to bright orange, and his eyes had turned from sky blue to red. After a couple of seconds, the end of Phoenix's hooves ignited and a sizzling sound could be heard as well as the smell of burning flesh. But after about a minute, Phoenix pulled his hooves away and lay his head back, panting. After a few seconds had passed and Phoenix's eyes and hooves had turned back to normal, while Phoenix could be heard sighing in relief.
Rainbow Dash had been just sitting in the same spot for about a minute now, trying to comprehend what just happened to Phoenix. But every time she was about to say something, she immediately stopped herself. She eventually found herself just staring at Phoenix. A few minutes had passed now since Phoenix had burned himself, and after hearing nothing but silence, he finally lifted his head up. Only to be greated by Rainbows Dash's head about an inch away from his that caused him jump,
"How did you do that!? Oh, oh, oh! Can you teach me? I bet that would look so awsome on me! Just imagine fire the colour of rainbows behind me durring one of my awsome stunts!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly.
As Phoenix looked at the pegasus before him, he could see her excitement and curiousity. But this sight only caused Phoenix to relive part of a memory.
"Were am I?" Phoenix said hoping to change the direction of the conversation.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she looked at Phoenix, but stopped as she saw the expression he was trying very hard to hide. Knowing what he was doing she decided to back off this topic, for now anyway.
"You're just outside Ponyville."
"Wha- oh, wait you're an Equestrian arn't you?"
"No, I'm a Griffon," Rainbow said jokingly.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Well, thank you for all tonight, but I must be on my way now," Phoenix said as he walked to the door.
"Wait, you're just gunna leave in the middle of the night?"
"What are yo- oh," Phoenix said as opened the door to darkness.
Wanting to ensure she got her answers, Rainbow quickly asked Phoenix a question.
"You wanna spend the night here?" Rainbow Dash asked casually.
After hearing this, a smile slowly formed on Phoenix's face. As Rainbow Dash saw this she began walking towards what looked like a closet and began looking inside it. While Rainbow Dash was looking in her closet, Phoenix looked around the room. He noticed one recurring thing, this mare had a lot of posters of a group called The wonderbolts.
What these Equestria's done with there military since my last visit? Phoenix thought, as he shook his head.
Phoenix suddenly heard the mare's hoofsteps behind him and turned around to see her with a blanket folded on her back, and a pillow in her mouth. When Phoenix made eye contact with Rainbow Dash, she began throwing these items one at a time so Phoenix could catch them.
"There is a chair or sofa you can use to sleep on, and I will be in the first room on the left so if you need anything, let me know," Rainbow Dash said, informatively.
"Thank you again...for everything you've done tonight. I owe you my life," Phoenix spoke happily.
After Phoenix finished, they both agreed that it was late, so they said there goodnights and went to there beds. But as Phoenix lied down on the sofa, he got a feling of deja vu. So he got up to sleep on the chair instead and as head hit the pillow, he immediately fell asleep.
The Summer Sun Celebration
As the morning sun shined over Ponyville, Phoenix was still sleeping in Rainbow Dash's chair; but was suddenly woken up when a beam of light shinned in his face. Phoenix didn't move, he just began smilling to himself as he absorbed the heat coming from the light.
Good morning sun Phoenix thought, happily.
As Rainbow dash felt the sun hit her face, she wasn't as happy as Phoenix, in fact she was the opposite. She quickly pulled her covers till it covered her head and turrned to face her door instead of the window, but as she turned around she felt the light of the sun hitt her face again. Opening one eye she saw the mirror on her wall that the light was reflected on and groaned.
Why did dad have to teach me that? Rainbow complained to herself as she got out of bed and walked out her room.
Rainbow began walking to her kitchen to make herself some coffee after just waking up. But stopped when she saw Phoenix just sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face, going from ear to ear, while his body was glowing orange and his mane and tail began moving like their was a wind blowing through the house. At first, the sight freaked Rainbow Dash out, but also intrigued her. So she walked up to Phoenix and tapped him on his shoulder, but the result caused Phoenix to jump of the chair and land on the floor face first; which knocked him out. Rainbow facehoofed while she walked to the kitchen to finish her original plan.
As Phoenix opened his eyes, he saw that there was a note in front of him.
Dear Phoenix,
Sorry I had to leave you without saying bye, but I had to go to work. I will be by town hall if you want me to show you around Ponyville.
From,
Rainbow Dash
Once Phoenix finished the letter, he set it back down on the table, got up, walked towards the door and flew out. As Phoenix was flying through the air, he noticed the sun was warmer and brighter compared to the sun from were he was from. But as he remembered his past he cringed and felt a shiver along his spine, so he immediately began thinking of where town hall might be instead.
Phoenix had been searching everywhere from above Ponyville for Rainbow Dash and town hall for about an hour now and had seen no trace of her, so he decided to land and ask somepony for directions. As he landed, he noticed everyone was rushing around and couldn't get anypony's attention; until he saw a pink pony with a pink fluffy mane. She was not running, but skipping down a street, so he ran towards her.
"Excuse me, miss? Do you know were the town hall is?" Phoenix spoke quickly.
"Of course I do, but how can you not know? well, unless you're...HUUUUUUH! NEW HERE! town hall is that way. I gotta go," The pink pony said quickly in an excited tone.
Phoenix just stood in place, trying to comprehend what just happened. But eventually, he just shook his head and started walking in the direction the pink pony pointed to. Phoenix had just arrived at town hall, but he couldn't see anypony until he felt a hoof tapping on his shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir, are you Rainbow Dash?" A lavender unicorn asked.
"Huh, no, but i'm actually looking for her myself," Phoenix replied politely.
But both ponies were interupted when the pegasus they had been searching for crashed into them.
After a couple of seconds, Phoenix began standing up and looked where the two mares were. He saw that the lavender mare's mane now looked as fluffy as the pink mare's from earlier. Rainbow Dash was laughing on the ground at the unicorn. As Phoenix walked up to the mares, he turned to the unicorn.
"Hello again miss?" Phoenix asked, curious.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm guessing the laughing one is Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, obviously annoyed.
"Yeah, that's Rainbow Dash. I'm Phoenix, nice to meet you." Phoenix said extending his hoof to Twilight.
"Yeah, yeah, that's great. RAINBOW DASH, may I speak with you?" Twilight said while walking past Phoenix and towards Rainbow Dash.
Phoenix stood in place, supprised at how fast Twilight's manners had just changed, but decided to forget about it. Instead, he walked towards the two mares again.
"You should see the look on your face! Ha! Your a laugh Twilight Sparkle, I can't wait to hang out some more," Rainbow Dash said before flying towards Phoenix.
"What was that about?" Phoenix asked, confused.
"Twilight there said that I couldn't clear the sky in ten seconds, but I totally proved her wrong!" Rainbow Dash said proudly.
Phoenix facehooved. "You are aware she just tricked you into doing your job, right?" He said in a flat tone.
"Oh...Wanna get something to drink from Sugercube corner?" Rainbow Dash asked pitifully.
"Yeah, sure," Phoenix responded with concern.
Why did I have to say that, now i've upset her, great work Phoenix. he thought to himself.
When the duo arrived at Sugercube corner, Phoenix went to sit at the table that was in the left corner, while Rainbow went to order two drinks. After about a minute of waiting later, Rainbow Dash returned to the table with a tray of two drinks in her mouth. Once Rainbow had sat down across from Phoenix, they both grabbed their own cup and began drinking. Rainbow Dash was taking slow sips since the drinks she got was very hot coffee, but when she looked across the table; Phoenix had just finished downing it, leaving her concerned and slightly amazed.
"Did that not burn you?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious.
"Pfft, all that heat did to me was just make me feel good inside," Phoenix replied casually.
"Ohhhkaaay...do you mind if I ask you about last night? You know, since we both have a minute," Rainbow Dash asked.
"Why is everpony rushing around this town?" Phoenix asked, looking around.
"It's the Summer Sun Celebration today, now I re-" Rainbow Dash said, trying to steer the conversation back to last night. But was interruptedby Phoenix.
"What's the Summer Sun Celebration?" Phoenix asked while staring out the window.
"Why are you avoiding my question Phoenix?" Rainbow Dash asked, irritated.
"Because I don't have anything to say about last night. So, what's the Summer Sun Celebration?" Phoenix asked again, still looking out the window.
"It's the celebration of Princess Celestia's defeat of Nightmare Moon. But why don't you-" Rainbow Dash tried to finish, but was interrupted when a pink pony came running in; shouting for Rainbow Dash. But when she saw Rainbow Dash having coffee with Phoenix, a devious smile slowly spread across her face.
"Oooooh! Already making moves on the new guy, are we Dashie?" The pink pony said in a sing song way, while raising and lowering her eyebrows at Rainbow Dash.
"WHAT! No, I was just showing Phoenix around town," Rainbow Dash stated while her cheecks turned a very slight red that could only be seen if you really looked.
"Suuuure...well you two are invited to the party I'm throwing for the new unicorn that's in town," The pink mare said excitedly before running so fast, it looked like she vanished.
"She seems..." Phoenix started.
"Hyper? Get used to it," Rainbow said, before she picked up her cup and continued her drink.
After Rainbow Dash had finished and paid for their coffee, the pair began looking at the invatation. Both looked at each other, confused.
"You know, I forgot Ponyville had a library," Rainbow Dash said while rubbing the back of her head.
"How can you forget that?" Phoenix asked, suprised.
"Because reading is for eggheads Phoenix," Rainbow Dash told him defensively.
Phoenix facehoofed at her reason. "One day, you will see that you're wrong Rainbow Dash."
After a few minutes of walking, the pair finally made it to the Library. But when they were about to knock, they were pulled in and silenced by the pink pony from earlier. After they were pulled in, they were immediately pushed through the crowd until the lights came on and everypony shounted: "SUPRISE!" startling Phoenix. Once the crowd settled down and everpony began talking to each other, Phoenix looked around and noticed a table near the centre of the room with what looked cupcakes and drinks. So seeing those two things, Phoenix walked over. As Phoenix looked the table over he was begining to feel disapointed when all he could find were empty bottles, but when he did see a small red bottle, it was quickly taken by Twilight. When Phoenix looked to his right, he saw that the pink pony from earlier was behind Twilight, talking non-stop to her. But as Phoenix started to look away, he was pulled towards the pink pony in a crushing hug as she continued talking.
"See! And now you have lots and lots of friends!" The pink pony finished excitedly.
But as the pink pony finished, Twilight's mane and tail was on for a second before she ran up the stairs; crying slightly. Once Twilight was gone, the pink pony still hadn't let go of Phoenix. so he began tapping her hoof.
"Excuse me, miss. But...I need...air," Phoenix struggled to say.
"Oh, heeelooo there! I'm Pinkie Pie, do you wanna be friends?" Pinkie asked, excited.
"Sure, if you...realese me," Phoenix gasped out.
When Pinkie let go of him, she gave him a quick hug before asking. "So, whats your name?"
"My name's Phoenix" he said
"Wanna make some more friends since your new here?"
"Sure...why not," Phoenix replied, slightly uneasy.
Once Pinkie got her answer, she dragged Phoenix across the room until they came across an orange earth pony with a brown hat.
"Phoenix, this is Applejack. Applejack, this is Phoenix. He's new in town." Pinkie announced while jumping on the spot.
Phoenix and Applejack both extended their hooves and greeted each other. "Howdy Phoenix, it's mighty nice tah meet you," Applejack stated in a strong country accent.
After Applejack, Pinkie introduced Phoenix to two more ponies. One was a high-class talking unicorn named Rarity. From what Phoenix got, she seemed quite kind. The other, was a yellow pegasus named Fluttershy. Her name fit her well, for the pony was very shy. She had backed away from Phoenix. Pinkie Pie had gone away and into the crowd after that. Phoenix decided it was time to find something to drink.
After a few minutes of looking at every table, Phoenix had come to a conclusion. There was nothing left to drink at this party. All that was left was empty bottles. Phoenix searched the last table again, but he was suddenly interupted when a plum coloured earth pony tapped him on the shoulder.
"Having trouble finding a drink, I see," The earth pony spoke confidently.
"Yeah, is there something you need miss?" Phoenix asked, slightly annoyed.
"I thought that I would let you know that I already raided every table here. By the way i'm Berry Punch, by the way," Berry Punch said proudly.
"Just my luck when I need a drink, there's none," Phoenix growled with a hint of aggresion in his voice.
"I'm guessing you've had quite the day then," Berry Punch said in a concered voice.
"Well, more of a bad last night," Phoenix replied, more calmly than before.
"What's your name?"
"It's Phoenix."
"Well, Phoenix since I drank everything here, why don't you come round to my shop tomorrow and have a couple drinks on the house."
"Um, sure. Why not. What's your shop called?"
"It's called the Druken Berry. And Well, its more of a pub so it should be noticable. Well...I quess i'll see you around since the Summer Sun Celebration is about to start," Berry said while walking towards the entrace of the library.
As Berry Puch walked out the door, Phoenix was approached by Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
"Ready tah go Phoenix?" Applejack asked.
"yeah...i'm ready to see this celebration," Phoenix responded
After a quick walk to town hall, the small group headed inside. But once he noticed some bottles, he was filled with hope that he would get a drink now, but was dissapointed when he found them to empty. After a quick look around he noticed Berry Punch who only gave Phoenix a quick wink; which caussed him to facehoof and walk back towards his friends.
"Pillies and gentlecolts! As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great plessure to announce the begining of the Summer Sun Celebration!" The crowd began cherring. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise with the longest day of the year!" The crowd cheered again. "And now, it is my great privilege to give the pony who gives us the sun and the moon. The good, the wise, the brigner of harmony to all of Equestria...Princess Celestia!" The mayor announced.
As the curtain was pulled back by Rarity, everpony stopped cherring and instead gasped.
"She's gone!" Rarity announced to the crowd.
As the crowd started to panic, a purple cloud of smoke began to appear near where Rarity was standing; and suddenly, a black alicorn appeared from the smoke.
"Oh, my beloved subjects. Its been so long since i've seen your precious little sunlight faces," The alicorn said.
"What have you done with our princess?" Rainbow Dash said while attempting to fly up to the alicorn, only to be held back by Applejack.
"Why...am I no longer royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" The alicorn called out annoyed.
After the alicorn asked the question, Pinkie began saying lots of names before being silenced by Applejack who shoved an apple in her mouth.
"I know who you are, you're The Mare In The Moon. Nightmare Moon," Twilight said darkly and flat.
"well, well, well. Somepony who remembers me, then you know why I'm here then," Nightmare Moon replied.
Twilight began looking nervously around while reapeting part of a sentence.
"Remember this day, my little ponies, for it was your last, from this moment on, the night will last, FOREVER!" Nightmare moon finished by laughing loudly, making everpony in the room terrified.
As Nightmare Moon continued to laugh at the crowd, a few pegasi guards began flying up to her; only to be sent flying away when the alicorn summoned a thunder cloud to shock the guards. As Phoenix saw the guards be sent across the room, he was about to fly up to Nightmare Moon. But he reconsidered when he saw Applejack give him a death glare that told him to stay in place. When he looked back at Nightmare Moon, she suddenly turned intoa cloud of purple smoke and flew out the entrence. Phoenix looked back around only to see Rainbow Dash escape from Applejack's grip and fly after Nightmare Moon, and Twilight running out the door as well.
"We should go after Twilight and find out what she knows," Phoenix told Applejack.
"Ah agree, a'll go get the others. You go get Rainbow," Applejack said, worry edged in her voice.
Phoenix flew away from the earth pony and out of town hall. He quickly found Rainbow Dash flying in place outside.
"RAINBOW DASH! COME HERE!" Phoenix shouted at the top of his lungs.
The cyan pegasus turned to Phoenix. "We've got to go after her," Rainbow Dash said eagerly.
"No, we need to know what we're going up against first. And I believe Twilight may know more than any of us."
"Then let's go!" Rainbow said as she started flying towards the Ponyville Library.
"Have yah found her yet Phoenix?" The said pony turned to Applejack's voice. He saw Pinkie Pie and the other two ponies he met that night, Rarity and Fluttershy, accompanying her.
"She's heading towards the library."
As Phoenix, finished the girls ran towards the library; but when Phoenix was about to go after them, he noticed a pony wearing a dark black cloak. The pony was completely covered with the cloak. The pony vanished as soon as Phoenix blinked, leaving him slightly nervous and concerned.
After a short run across Ponyville, Phoenix had arrived at the library. When he walked through the door, he was immediatly crushed as Pinkie came flying backwards towards him.
"Hey Phoenix!" Pinkie said happily to said pony.
"Pinkie...could you get off me...please," Phoenix gasped.
As Pinkie, realised she was sitting on Phoenix, she quickly got off him and helping him up; but before Phoenix could thank Pinkie, Twilight started speaking.
"There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty and loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery."
As Twilight continued to talk, Phoenix walked over to Applejack to find out what was going on.
"Psst! Applejack! What's she talking about?" Phoenix wisppered.
"The elements of harmony. Weren't y'all listening?"
"Yeah, I got that. but what are they?"
"All I know is that they might be the only thing that can stop Nightmare Moon."
"There's allways me..." Phoenix muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Let's go find these Helements of Armory."
"It's Elements of Harmony, Phoenix," Applejack said flattly.
"That's what's I said. Now, are you coming or not?" Phoenix said quickly while walking out the door.
"Well, at least we know who isn't going to be honesty," Applejack muttered.
After walking through an empty Ponyville, the group had made it to the entrance of the Everfree Forest. But as they all looked forward, they all stopped in place when they spotted a pony wearing a dark black cloak that covered all the pony.
"Hello...?" Twilight asked nervously.
"I require the presence of Phoenix." The cloaked pony announced in a cold voice that sent a shiver down everponys spine.
"I'm here. What do you want?" Phoenix asked in a voice that sounded more like a demand than a question. He walked in front of the group.
"You six, continue your quest while Phoenix and I have a quick talk."
"Not without Phoenix, creep," Rainbow Dash growled defensively will hovering next to Phoenix.
"It's alright Rainbow, I'll be there to help you girls beat Nightmare Moon. I promise. Now go find the elements," Phoenix said to the six, smiling at them.
"We can't just leave you Phoenix," Rainbow Dash said.
"Yes, you can. Now go save Equestria."
As they all entered the forest, Phoenix's face turned from happy to serious as he looked back towards the cloaked pony.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Phoenix asked sharply.
"I need answers."
"About what?"
"How are you still alive!?"
"What do you mean?"
The cloaked pony began rubbing his temples before speaking again. "I am NOT in the mood to play games with you. Tell me how you surrived the Legion."
When Phoenix heard the word "Legion," it sent a cold shiver down his spine that caused him to tense up. "Are they still alive?" Phoenix asked, slightly nervous.
"I don't know, maybe"
"what do you mean by 'how did I survive?'"
"I don't have much time, so I will make this quick. Tell me what was happening to you before you came here," The cloaked pony said quickly.
"I was in the middle of being stabbed by a legion, then there was a blue light and I was here. Now, what does this hav-"
"That was the day you died Phoenix. Do you see the problem with you standing here?" The cloaked pony interupted in a flat tone.
"So, how am I here then?" Phoenix asked nervously.
"I have no idea, but I could correct the mistake" The cloaked pony said as a scythe appeared beside him." But then again...this is probably the most interesting thing to happen to me in a long time" The pony spoke while scratching its chin.
"What are you going to do then?" Phoenix asked worriedly while staring at the scythe.
"Nothing...I want to see what happens. Now you better run along if you want to catch up with those girls."
"You still haven't answered one of my questions...who are you?"
"You will remember one day Phoenix. Now run, you're needed."
Phoenix was about to speak again, but the cloaked pony vanished from sight; leaving Phoenix frustrated at the lack of answers he got. But also relieved that nothing bad had happened to him.
As Phoenix ran through the dark forest, he began having a harder time seeing what was in front of him the deeper he went. But after just missing many trees, he eventually smashed through the middle of one. Phoenix stood up, grunting in pain as he felt a sharp pain in his side, and looked to his side to see a piece of bark from the tree had just stabbed him. Phoenix began trying to pull it out but stopped when the pain became too much.
I hope the girls arn't too far, Phoenix thought as he began walking forward slowly.
Phoneix continued walking through the forest, the pain in his side only got worse. After a few minutes of walking, Phoenix collapsed were he was standing.
Maybe...this is for the best if I give up here. Those girls deserve better than me anyways. I'm nothing but a broken coward. A few tears escaped Phoenix's eyes.
After what felt like a few seconds, Phoenix quickly opened his eyes when he heard someone scream and saw a bright light in the distance. That must be the girls. Sounds like there in trouble! " As Phoenix tried to move out of the small puddle of blood that had formed around him, he stopped when he felt the pain in his side return. I'm sure they will be fine, right? As Phoenix questioned himself, some old memorys of his came to mind. One were ponys were screaming in pain, begging for help as Phoenix did nothing but watch from a distance. He clossed his eyes quickly as a shiver went down his spine when he remembered this.
*No, I will not stand by and watch as others suffer like last time, Phoenix thought. "No, today I show courage instead of cowardice," he spoke aloud as he stood up and began walking forward. "TODAY I DO WHAT I WAS BORN TO DO!" Phoenix shounted as he looked back at his cutie mark; a flaming shield. He ran ran fowards to were he had seen the light flash.*
After running for about a minute, Phoenix had arrived at an old destroyed castle and looked it over. He suddenly heard the sound of something breaking that came from a tower near him, so he ran in that direction. He groaned when he came across a pair of stairs.
*Whoever invented stairs, I really hate them right now. Phoenix thought while slowly walking up the stairs and placing a hoof on his side.*
When Phoenix reached the top, he saw that the doors were already open and as he looked through, he saw all the girls floating in the air with necklaces around them. Except for Twilight who had a tiara. Phoenix smiled slowly when he saw this.
I guess they didn't need me after all.
But as Phoenix continued to watch, he saw that the light around the girls was becoming dimmer. *That can't be good he thought but began getting worried as the girls fell to the floor; Nightmare Moon laughing at them.*
"Prepare die ponies!" Nightmare Moon said to the girls as she fired a blast of magic at them.
Phoenix saw this and ran towards them while his mane and tail slowly became a flowing fire. When Phoenix reached them, he jumped over them and quickly made a small wall of fire that blocked Nightmare Moon's blast. Which created a loud "bang!" as it hit. The girls opened there eyes, and they were all supprised to see Phoenix; but even more supprised at his mane and tail. One of them was about to speak, but they were cut off by Nightmare Moon's voice.
"A fireblood!? But how is that possible? your kind died out ages ago!"
"I survived and through me, they surrive," Phoenix responded simply.
"You look familiar, fireblood." Nightmare Moon said as she looked over Phoenix, but when she saw his cutie mark, her eyes went wide. "Step aside Phoenix and save yourself. it is what I heard your best at after all."
"Not this time."
"Why would you, of all ponies, risk your life to save these girls?"
"Because, they are my friends. And my friends need me to be brave," Phoenix finished a small ball of fire appeared above him that began moving down to his neck. As it reached his neck, it turned into a necklace just like what most of the girls had. Once the necklace was around Phoenix's neck, all the girls and he began to hover in the air again as the bright light returned. After a few seconds, a fiery rainbow was fired at Nightmare Moon that surrounded her until a bright white light was seen.
The light dissapeared and everyone began getting up, except for Phoenix who continued to lay on the ground. As the girls started to celebrating among themselves, Rainbow Dash looked over and saw Phoenix hadn't gotten up yet. So she walked over to him but gasped when she saw a small puddle of blood around Phoenix.
"PHOENIX! can you hear me?" Rainbow Dash said while shaking him.
"hmm...um yeah...did we get her?" Phoenix said weakly.
"Yeah, we got her. now get up."
"Could you do me a massive favor and pull this out of my side please. I can do the rest like last time."
When Phoenix finished, Rainbow Dash placed both her hooves on the wood, causing Phoenix to flinch. But as she pulled as hard as she could, she barely moved it.
"It won't budge, what should I do Phoenix?" Rainbow Dash asked, panicking slightly.
"I don't know, but I think i'm gonna sleep now" Phoenix said quitely as he passed out, but not before he saw the all girls running towards him and a white light glowing behind them. *I guess it's time, Phoenix thought as single tear escaped his eye.*
After what felt like an eternity, Phoenix began slowly opening his eyes, but was immediately suprised. When he saw nothing but darkness. Phoenix looked around and became very worried and concerned that he was standing in endless darkness.
I guess this is it then. At least I went out helping save many lives, Phoenix thought as he smiled to himself.
"You're not dead, well, not yet anyway," the cloaked pony from earlier said as it appeared behind Phoenix.
"You again, where am I and who are you?"
"To answer your first question, this place has been called many things; by many ponies. But the one I think best describes this place is the void. So, we'll go with that."
"Okay, why am I here then?"
"You're here because both life and death can't claim ownership of you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Think of it as a game of tug of war. With life and death on either side, and you being in the middle. But you're stuck in the middle until one side wins."
"Oookaaay, so what do I do while I'm waiting?"
"I dunno...got any cards?"
Meanwhile in Ponyville
"How is he doing, doctor?" A tall white alicorn said to a brown unicorn stallion.
"Well, to be honest princess, we don't know. Shortly after you brought him here, there was a bright light. And now when we try and get any of our equipment near him, it either melts or bursts into flames."
He must of summonded his barrier, Celestia thought. "Oh, I see. Well, keep me updated, I need to speak to this stallion. Are the girls still with him?"
"They all left a while ago, except for two."
"Thank you doctor," Celestia said as she walked past the doctor towards the room Phoenix was in.
As Celestia walked into the room she saw Twilight sitting in a corner surrounded by a few piles of books, and Rainbow Dash sleeping in a chair not far from the bed Phoenix was in. Celestia walked up to the many books around Twilight and began levataing a few towards her. The books she levitated were all medical and biology books, and as Celestia saw this it brought a smile to her face.
"Have you tried looking at medical spells yet, Twilight?" The princess said softly.
When Twilight heard the Princess, she jumped and threw the book she was reading to her side; hitting Rainbow Dash in the face.
"Princess! I thought you and your sister left for Canterlot yesterday!"
"What did you do that for, egghead!" Rainbow Dash shounted.
"Oh, sorry Rainbow," Twilight replied sheepishly.
"It's alright. Oh, hey Princess," Rainbow Dash said casually.
"Good morning my little ponies, where are the others?"
Rainbow started streching. "Applejack's got some applebucking to do. Rarity's got some outfits to finish. Fluttershy's got to look after her animals, and Pinkie needs to help the cakes at Sugar Cube Corner," Rainbow Dash listed.
"I see, do you not need to work?"
"I took a day off."
"Princess, what did you suggest to me?" Twilight interrupted.
"Books on medical spells, but I don't think any of our spells will work on a fireblood," The princess stated sadly.
As Twilight and Rainbow heard Celestia say the word "fireblood," they both looked at each; wide eyed and smiling at each other.
"Princess, what's a fireblood?" Twilight asked.
Celestia walked to the window, clossing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"I don't know much, but what I do know is that the firebloods were a mighty race of ponyies that had the ability to control fire. It was my sister who would talk to and meet the firebloods, I only met one fireblood before they died out," Celestia said flatly.
"How come I've never come across them in any books before?" Twilight asked.
"If you would like to learn more about the firebloods, you should ask my sister. Or Phoenix when he wakes up, now if you'll excuse me; I have to go," Celestia said before teleporting away.
As Twilight saw Celestia teleport away, she grabbed her saddlebag and left the room while Rainbow Dash walked to the window Celestia was at. But when she got there, she was suprised when she saw a few drops of water on the sill.
Was Celestia crying? Rainbow Dash asked herself.
Back in the void
"Alright, one more time, how am I alive but dead at the same time?" Phoenix asked the cloaked pony.
"For the last time, your Element of Harmony is keeping you alive by acting as an anchor to the living world," the cloaked pony said and rubbed it's temples.
"Okay, but you still haven't told me who you are yet."
"I am someone you once knew, I guess you could say we were best friends at one point."
"Then why don't I remember you, if we were best friends?"
"You did it to protect yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"What do you plan on doing if you get to live Phoenix?" The cloaked pony asked while looking away.
"Why must you always avoid the questions I need most?"
"To protect you."
"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't explain this to you. Not until you remember," The pony replied before disapearing.
Back at the hospital
Thirty minutes had past since Celestia and Twilight had left Phoenix's room, and Rainbow Dash still hadn't left. But during these thirty minutes, Rainbow Dash had been trying to piece together what little information she had about Phoenix; but had come up with no answers to her questions yet.
"You're definitely representing your element, Rainbow Dash," a light blue alicorn said while standing at the doorway.
"Huh? Oh, hey Luna," Rainbow said.
"Strange, you do not fear us like the others who coward when we walked in here."
"Well, me and friends did kick your flank last night," Rainbow Dash stated proudly.
Luna rolled her eyes at the statement before speaking again.
"How is he?" Luna said quietly.
"No pony knows, but they're assuming fine."
"Good, where are the others?"
"They all had important stuff to do."
"We see."
There was a long pause after Luna spoke, both ponies unsure what to say.
"Luna, what's a fireblood?" Rainbow asked, breaking the silence.
"What makes you think we know?"
"Your sister said you used to speak to the firebloods."
"She is correct, but I only spoke to one."
"What was it called?"
Luna moved towards the bed Phoenix was lying in and started stroking his hoof.
"I spoke to a stallion named Phoenix."
"How? You've been on the moon for a thousand years, right?"
"Indeed. Perhaps we can get an explanation when he wakes." As Luna finished, she moved to Phoenix's ear and wispered something to him.
When Luna finished wispering in Phoenix's ear, she teleported away; leaving Rainbow Dash alone once again.
A few hours had passed since Luna had left, and it was starting to get dark outside. Rainbow Dash still hadn't left Phoenix, so one of the nurses decided to ask her to go home.
"Excuse me miss, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave for the night."
"What time is it?" Rainbow Dash asked tiredly.
"Nearly midnight."
When Rainbow Dash heard this, she stood up and walked out the door. The nurse closed it as she left.
Back in the void
Phoenix had been alone in the void for what felt like forever and was starting to feel like he was going crazy. But Phoenix was suddenly startled when the cloaked pony appeared in front of him.
"Your back?" Phoenix asked, suprised.
"Yes, with good and bad news. What do you want to hear first?"
"The good news."
"You might be getting out of here very soon."
"What's the bad news?"
"You need to give a good enough reason why you should get to live."
"Oh, well, I don't know," Phoenix said sadly while rubbing the back of his hoof.
"Really, come on Phoenix!"
"I'm needed for the elements of harmony to work."
The cloaked pony put a hoof to the side of his head, and after a few seconds began shaking it.
Phoenix was begining to panic now, he couldn't think of anything. But suddenly, he heard a voice in his head: wake up Phoenix, your friends need you. As Phoenix heard this voice, he instantly reconised it as being Luna's. He felt stupid for not thinking of his friends.
"My friends need me."
"Good, that's the type of thinking you're going to need."
"So, can I go?"
"Yes Phoenix. Until we meet again," the cloaked pony said as it bowed at Phoenix.
Back at the hospital
Phoenix opened his eyes slowly, and was happy to see furniture around him instead of nothing but darkness. But as he looked towards the door, he saw a white earth pony mare. She was shaking while looking terrified.
"Excuse me, but could I get drink? You have no idea, how long I have been trying to get one."
The mare responded by dropping the tray she had in her mouth and ran out the door, leaving Phoenix confused.
"Is there something on my face?" Phoenix asked aloud while feeling his face.
Phoenix got out of bed, and walked out of his room down a dark corridor, but was stopped when a stallion wearing a blue jacket grabbed his shoulder and tried to stop him.
"Where do you think you're going?" The stallion said aggresively.
"Where ever I want,"
"Sir, I'm going to have ask you to come with me."
Phoenix looked around, but stopped when he saw a sign that said: Hospital. And as he saw that word, he immediatly burst into flames; knocking the stallion back slightly.
"Get away from me you butchers! You're not taking any of my organs!" Phoenix shounted as he flew out the front doors of the hospital and into the night sky.
Phoenix flew towards Ponyville as fast as he could, but was having some difficulty because of how dark it was.
Whoever sent me to a hospital is getting there coat burned off when I find them, Phoenix thought angrily.
Phoenix landed in Ponyville by a well, and as he looked around, he noticed a big building that looked very out of place. He walked up to the building and saw a sign next to the door that read: "The Drunken Berry Inn."
I wonder if Berry can offer me a place for the night? And maybe a drink too if i'm lucky, Phoenix thought to himself as he walked in.
As Phoenix walked in, he saw that the building was completely empty, except for Berry who was drying some glasses. But once she saw Phoenix, Berry dropped the glass she was drying; letting it smash on the ground.
"You're supposed to be dead!" Berry said, wide eyed.
"Who told you that?" Phoenix asked as he sat down on one of the stools by the counter Berry was at.
"Everyone! They all said you died saving Ponyville!"
"Well I didn't, but I did come close."
"Where have you been?"
"The hospital, how long has it been?"
"A day"
"That's not a bad time for nearly dying, could I get a drink?"
"Huh? Oh Yeah, of course."
"Do my friends think i'm dead?" Phoenix asked worryingly.
"I don't know, maybe," Berry answered as she gave Phoenix a drink.
"Would you mind if I stayed here for the night?" Phoenix asked as he finished his drink.
"I'll let you stay for a few days, but after that you're gonna have to pay me."
"Understood. So, were am I sleeping?"
"This way," Berry said as she walked towards a staircase.
As both ponies reached the top of the spiral staircase, Berry began walking up to the first room on the left in the corridor they were in.
"Alright, this is your room, do you have any questions?" Berry asked as she handed Phoenix a key.
"Yes, were is your toilet?"
"Downstairs."
"Alright then, see you in the morning Berry," Phoenix said as he walked into his room.
The room was quite small, but not small enough to feel cramped. It only held a few pieces of furniture that included a wardrobe, a small desk and a bed. Phoenix began walking to the small window next to his bed, and stared out towards the night sky, and after a few minutes he noticed a pegasus sitting on a cloud looking sad.
Looks like Ponyville has a night owl, I wonder who it is. Phoenix thought as he walked to his bed and tucked himself in.
But as Phoenix clossed his eyes, he falied to notice that he wasn't alone in his room. "Good night Phoenix, please try to remember me," the cloaked pony said before dissapearing from sight.
"PHOENIX! Help me!" a mare shounted.
Phoenix quickly opened his eyes to see her standing in the middle of a burning village, with many ponies running around screaming.
"Help me!" the mare screamed again.
"I'm coming Fireheart! hold on!" Phoenix shounted as he ran through the burning village.
Phoenix could barely see anything, except for a light in the distance, because of the amount of smoke coming from the buildings. Every second that passed got worse, and for some reason everything was getting darker.
"AAAAHhhh!" the mare screamed in pain.
Phoenix ran into the house the mare was screaming in. He was devastated when he saw the mare being lifted in the air by her neck with a black sword through her chest; by a shadow of what looked like a stallion. The shadow turned and smiled at Phoenix while walking forward.
Phoenix suddenly sat up quickly in his bed; panting and sweating.
It was only a dream, Phoenix thought as he rubbed his eyes.
After a couple of minutes, Phoenix got out of his bed and walked downstairs to were Berry hopefully was. When Phoenix walked into the room, he saw Berry was washing glasses.She stopped when she saw Phoenix.
"Are you okay?" Berry asked, concered.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well. Apart from the fact that your coat, mane, and tail looked messed up, and that you look like you've been crying."
"Well I'm fine, could I get a drink?"
"Sure," Berry responded. She quickly made a drink and passed it to him.
After Phoenix finished his drink, Berry walked to the front door.
"Come on Phoenix, I've got to lock up while I go out," Berry said while pointing out the door.
"Yeah, yeah I'm coming," Phoenix replied as he walked out the door.
Once both ponies were outside, they went there separate ways. With Berry heading towards the Ponyville market, and Phoenix walking through the town.
As Phoenix walked through Ponyville, he pased many ponies, but none were the ones he was trying to find. But suddenly, Phoenix heard what sounded like a group of mares; so he walked in that direction.
"Quite! girls, there's no use in arguing," Twilight said to the five mares around her.
"But Twili-" Rarity started to say before being silenced.
"No "buts," this is my choice. And I'm going to make it on my-" Twilight said before stopping and going wide eyed.
"Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"Phoenix?!" Twilight said, causing the group to look were she was looking.
"Hello girls," Phoenix said and smiled at them.
Rainbow Dash suddenly tackled Phoenix, giving him a tight hug before the rest of the girls joined in.
"How long have you been out of the hospital Phoenix?" Twilight asked.
"I left last night. Oh yeah, who's idea was it to send me there?"
"We all agreed, why?" Rainbow Dash answered.
"Oh, no reason. So, what were you girls arguing about?" Phoenix said as he and the girls got up.
"We were arguing about who should get Twilight's extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala," Rarity told him.
"What's the Grand Galloping Gala?"
"What!? How can you not know about it? It's one, if not, the most popular and well known celebrations in all of Equesrtia," Rarity pronounced.
"Um...I'm not from around here," Phoenix replied, smilling nervously.
Rarity gave Phoenix a questioning look. "Well, The Grand Galloping Gala is an annual royal ball that celebrates the completion of Canterlot."
"So, it's a big party then," Phoenix said.
"Pretty much," Pinkie answered.
"Oh, well. In that case, one of you girls can go."
As the girls heard Phoenix's answer, they all went back to argueing with each other.
"Quite! Can you all please go away until I decide who's getting the ticket?" Twilight said as she lowered her head while the others went their seperate ways.
"Rough day?" Phoenix said as he walked up to Twilight.
"Yeah, I just dont know who to pick," Twilight said quitely.
"Want some help deciding?"
"Sure, but do you mind if we go get something to eat? I'm kinda hungry," Twilight said and her stomach growled.
"Are you sure "kinda" is the right word?" Phoenix asked while grinning at Twilight.
"Okay, I'm starving. Lets go."
As Twilight turned around, Phoenix noticed a small dragon sitting on her back. "Woah! Twilight, there's a dragon on you!"
"Huh? Oh yeah, Phoenix, this is Spike. He's my little assistant."
"Hey," Spike said.
"Um, hello," Phoenix said as he cautiously moved his hoof forward.
"You okay?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, it's just that when I usualy see a dragon, they always try to kill me."
"Oh. Well Spike's friendly."
"Good to know."
After a quick walk, and explanation from Twilight about what was going on, the trio arrived at a small restaurant and all sat around a small table.
"Ohhh, what am I going to do? All five of my friends have realy good reasons to go to the gala," Twilight said while laying her head on the table.
"Agreed, but you could always ask for more tickets, maybe"
"No Phoenix, I'm grateful for just these two. It would be rude to ask for more."
"Point taken."
After a few seconds, a waiter walked over and asked the group what they would like.
"I CAN'T DECIDE!" Twilight shouted.
"Twilight, he just wants to take your order," Spike said.
"Oh. I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich."
"Do you have any rubys?" Spike asked as the waiter just looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"No? Okay I'll have the hay fries. Extra crispy."
"I'll have same. But make mine as hot as possible," Phoenix added.
"What do you think Spke?"
"I think we need to try a different restaurant."
"She means the tickets, boy," Phoenix said.
"Oh, you're still on that? Wait, did you just call me boy, Phoenix?" Spike asked with a hint of annoyance.
"Yes, I did. Now are you able to help Twilight or not? Boy."
"I'm Not. And I don't like being called boy, so stop it."
"What are you gonna do about, boy?" Phoenix asked with a smirk.
"I'm gonna breath fire at you if you don't stop."
"Go ahead...boy."
Spike leaned over to Phoenix and breathed a small fire at him, which failed to reach the pony.
"Pfft! I've seen hatchlings breath better fire than that!" Phoenix laughed.
"Both of you, stop it! I need help!" Twilight shounted.
As Phoenix looked at Twilight he noticed several ponies running around in the background.
"Madame, are you going to eat your food in the rain?" The waiter asked in a thick Prench accent.
"It's not raining." But as the group looked around, they all saw it raining except for were they were sitting.
"Hi there best friend I've ever had, enjoying the sunny weather?" Rainbow said while sitting next to a hole in a cloud above the group.
"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" Twilight asked.
"What do you mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought i'd kick a hole in this cloud so you could dine in peace, thats all," Rainbow said quickly.
"Rainbow. You're not trying to get extra consideration, for the extra ticket, by doing me extra special favours, are you?"
"Me? Oh no, no, no. Of course not," Rainbow said as Twilight returned an unimused face. "Seriously, I'd do it for anypony. "But as Rainbow finished, many ponies ran by in the rain; causing Phoenix to cover his muzzle as he quietly laughed.
Rainbow laughed nervously as she backed away slightly from the hole in the cloud.
"Rainbow, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favours. So I would appreciate it if you would close up that cloud right now."
"Uh, fine," Rainbow groaned as she zipped the cloud shut, but doing so caused the group underneath to be soaked.
"Twilight, it's raining!" Rarity said as she walked up to the group with an umbrella.
"No, really?" Twilight responded sarcasticlly.
"Come with me before you catch a cold," Rarity said as she dragged Twilight away with Spike running after them.
"So I guess I'll just stay here alone then. And in the cold rain!" Phoenix shounted and lowered his head. But after a few seconds, he noticed that the rain had stopped. He looked up to see Rainbow smiling at him.
"Would you like to join me?" Phoenix asked while smiling.
"Sure, but isn't all the food wet now?" Rainbow asked as she flew down to the seat in front of Phoenix.
"I'll heat it up with my fire, do you want it warm or burning hot?" Phoenix asked as he pointed his hoof at Twilight's sandwich.
"Definitly warm," Raindow answered as she looked at the sandwich hungrily.
Phoenix's hoof glowed as he warmed both sets of food on the table, one at a time.
"This is pretty good, want some?" Rainbow asked after she took a bite of her sandwich, with her mouth slightly full.
"I'm good," Phoenix answered.
After both ponies finished, Rainbow decided to speak up.
"Hey Phoenix, what's a fireblood?"
"How can you not know what a fireblood is? You'd have to live under a rock to have not heard of them," Phoenix asked questionably.
"Well, I've never heard of the firebloods. So tell me."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, tell me already!"
"So you've never heard of the group of ponies who helped the alicorn sisters take back Equestria from Discord?"
"Who's Discord?"
"You need learn some history Rainbow. Is Celestia still in charge?"
"Well duh, she's been the ruler for over a thousand years," Rainbow said.
"A thousand years?" Phoenix said quietly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, what were you asking again?"
"Uuuuhhhh, I was asking what a fireblood was," Rainbow groaned.
"A fireblood is a race of pony that has control over fire in a way that relates to their cutie mark."
"Ooooh!! So, your a fireblood, right? What can you do then?"
"I excel at using my fire in defensive ways."
"Like that wall of fire you used to save us."
"That is a basic use, yes."
As Phoenix finished, Twilight ran past them; followed by what looked like the whole town.
"I guess you're not the only one who wants that ticket now, Rainbow," Phoenix smirked.
"THE TICKET! Sorry Phoenix, but I gotta go," Rainbow said and flew away.
Well, it looks like I've been sent forward in time by almost a thousand years, some how. Well, I guess I'll walk to the library and see if there's any books on history. Although, I'm not sure how reliable they would be if Rainbow's never even heard of the firebloods, Phoenix thought as he walked to the library.
After a slow walk through Ponyville, Phoenix arrived at the library and walked in.
"Oh, I can't decide. This ticket is so important to all of you." Twilight said as she lay on the floor, and covered her face with her hooves.
Phoenix walked up to Twilight and lifted her face until it was level with his own. He then placed both his front hoofs on either side of her head. "Close your eyes and relax," Phoenix said gently. And after a few seconds, Twilight obeyed.
Phoenix's hooves glowed as he too, closed his eyes. After a few seconds, Phoenix removed his hooves, and both ponies opened there eyes.
"What did you do?" Twilight asked.
"I sent a calming wave of fire through your body, you should be able to think better now."
After a few seconds Twilight spoke up. "Alright girls, I've decided," Twilight anounced as all the mares looked at her excitedly.
"Spike, take a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that one of joys of frienship is sharing a blessing. But when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends, can make you feel pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invetation, I will be returning both tickets to The Grand Galloping Gala."
"WHAT?!" all the girls shounted.
"If my friends can't all go, I don't wanna go either,"
"Well, that's not the answer that I was expecting you to choose, are you sure this is what you want to do Twilight?" Phoenix asked as he rubbed the side of his head.
"I'm sure, Spike, you can send the letter," Twilight said. And Spike did as he was asked.
"Now you won't get to go to the gala either."
"Its okay. I couldn't possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me, so I would rather not go at all," Twilight said as all six of the girls and Phoenix shared a big hug, while Spike gagged and eventualy burped a letter. "A letter from the princess? That was fast."
"My faithful student Twilight, why didn't you just say so in the first place? Seven tickets to The Grand Galloping Gala," Spike anounced,
"Now we can all go," Twilight said happily, as her stomach growled causing her to laugh nervously.
"Allow us to treat you to dinner," Rarity said as everypony, walked out the door taking there ticket, but Phoenix stopped as he got out the door. He flapped his wings and was about to take off, until Rainbow tapped him on the shoulder.
"You coming Phoenix?"
"No, I'm gonna get some rest, that calming wave really drained me of my energy,"
"Oh, okay, see you tomorrow then," Rainbow said, trying to sound happy as she walked back to the girls; disapointed.
Phoenix looked down at the ticket in his hoof. Well, I guess I could always talk to Luna if I go and maybe confront Celestia about what she did to my people as well.
After a short walk through Ponyville, Phoenix arrived at the Drunken Berry Inn and was greeted by Berry as he sat down on one of the stools at the bar Berry was standing at.
"You look better than this morning," Berry said happily.
"Thanks."
"Although, it still looks like there's something bothering you."
"I'm fine."
"Okay, I get since we just met that you're not going to open up to me very soon. But promise me that you will talk to somepony soon, okay?"
"Maybe."
"Better than nothing I guess, Hey, you wanna try a new drink I've been working on?"
"Sure."
Berry lifted a large plastic barrel that was sitting on its side on the floor. She filled two glasses and handed one to Phoenix. After both ponies finished there drink, Phoenix spoke up.
"What's the srange taste?"
"That would be a little something called alcohol Phoenix, you like?" Berry asked smilling at Phoenix.
"I do, can I have more?"
"Sure," Berry replied as she poured what wasn't going to be the last one of the night.
Phoenix slowly opened his eyes as he felt the ground he was lying on shaking.
"Stampede!" a mare shounted not far from Phoenix.
Phoenix slowly rolled himself until he was lying on his stomach. As he fully opened his eyes, he looked around he saw that he was lying in the middle of Ponyville by the water fountain with many bottles scattered around him.
How did I get here? And why is the ground shaking? Phoenix thought.
Phoenix walked over to the fountain, and looked at his reflection to see that his coat, mane, and tail were a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Wow, I look worse than yesterday.
Phoenix suddenly heard many ponies cheering as felt the ground stop shaking.
There's one problem gone. I wonder if any of these bottles still have anything left in them, Phoenix thought as he inspected the bottles lying around.
A few hours after the the stampede
Rainbow Dash was flying through Ponyville getting in a quick flight before the celebration Ponyville was having for Applejack. She stopped when she saw Phoenix, lying on the ground next to the water founting, laughing.
"You okay, Phoenix?" Rainbow asked as she cautiously approached said pony.
"Ne'er better lassie," Phoenix said in a strong Scottish accent.
"What happened to you?"
"Ah tried a new bevvy Berry mixed."
"Oookaay. So, why are you speaking weird?"
"Ah dunnae kinn," Phoenix answered as he laughed while Rainbow facehoofed.
"Come on, we better get going before we're late for the celebration."
"Whit celebration lassie?"
"The one for Applejack, and stop calling me 'lassie,'" Rainbow said, irritated.
"Och, whit did she dae?"
"She saved the town from a stapede this morning," Rainbow answered as she lifted Phoenix to his hooves.
"'At explains th' shakin'."
After a slow walk through Ponyville, the pair arrived at town hall to hear Twilight start her speach.
"Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to-" Twilight said before she was interupted by Rainbow Dash.
"Did you see AppleJack's slick moves out there? What an athlete! This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome." Rainbow said as she pushed her hooves into her face before being shoved to the side by Twilight.
"Exactly. And-" Twilight tried to say, but was cut off by Pinkie Pie.
"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time."
"What does that have to do with Applejack?" Twilight asked.
"Oh. Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!" Pinkie said, causing the crowd to cheer.
"Oh-kay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter-" Twilight said before Fluttershy butted in.
"Twilight?"
"-Rupted" Twilight finished.
"Twilight, I'm sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census. It's were we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season. She's gonna help me gather them all using her wonder herding skills," Fluttershy finished. She, Pinkie, and Rainbow returned to the crowd after.
"Anyone else?" Twilight asked, annoyed.
"Ah can probably hink ay somethin' tae say," Phoenix said as he walked up to the podium. "Noo, wit was it Applejack did again Magic Butt?"
"What did you just call me?" Twilight said.
"Ah called ye Magic Butt, hae ye got a problem wi' 'at?"
"Why would you call me that? And why are you speaking Scottish?"
"Ah called ye magic butt coz yer butt is magical." As Phoenix finished, some of the crowd giggled quietly, including Rainbow who was holding her muzzle shut.
"Phoenix, off the stage now!" Twilight demanded, as her cheecks got redder by the second.
"Whit ur aw ay ye laughin' abit? Hae ye nae looked at thes mare's flenk afair?"
The giggling in the crowd only got worse as Phoenix finished. As Phoenix heard the crowd he walked up to Twilight and pointed at her flank.
"Swatch at thes an' teel me thes isnae magical."
Those in the crowd who were holding back there laughter let it all out, as Phoenix pointed at Twilight. Deciding she wasn't having any more of this, Twilight shoved Phoenix of the stage knocking him out as he fell face first into the ground.
After a few minutes Phoenix began to wake up to the sound of Twilight talking.
"Was it just me, or did Applejack seem a little-" Phoenix barely heard Twilight say as he heard a constant rining in his ears.
Ow, it feels like I've been kicked in the back of the head.
"Tired?" Rainbow asked Twilight.
"Dizzy?" Fluttershy said.
"Messy? Well, did you see her mane?" Rarity said.
"She seemed fine to me. Woo! Woo!" Pinkie said.
"Would who ever is wooing please, SHUT UP!" Phoenix shouted as he slowly got up.
"Sorry," Pinkie whispered sadly.
Twilight walked up to Phoenix and slapped him, hard.
"Ow! What was that for Twilight?" Phoenix asked as he rubbed his cheek.
"That was for embarrassing me in front of everypony," Twilight said, angrily, as she walked away.
"Can somepony please explain what I missed?" Phoenix asked after a few seconds.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Rainbow asked.
"Waking up next to a fountain when the ground was shaking, what was happening then by the way?"
"There was a stampede, but Applejack stopped it before anypony got hurt." Rainbow told Phoenix as everypony walked away from town hall.
"Oh, okay then, but how did I get to the town hall?"
"You walked here with me."
"Okay, how did I end up lying here on the ground?"
"Well during your eh...speech to Ponyville about Twilight, she shoved you of the stage.
"Are you sure she didn't kick me off? I'm guessing that I owe her an apology for whatever I said," Phoenix decided as Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Well, I guess i'll go over to the library now, see you around Rainbow. Phoenix said as he walked in the direction of the library.
After a slow walk through Ponyville, Phoenix arrived at the library and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Spike opened the door.
"Can I help you?" Spike said, forcing himself to be polite.
"Is Twilight home? I need to speak to her."
Spike turned away from Phoenix and shouted inside the library for Twilight.
"Tell him to come up to the balcony if he wants to talk!" Twilight shouted.
Spike opened the door, letting Phoenix inside and pointed to the stairs leading to the balcony. As Phoenix reached the top of the stairs he saw Twilight sitting on the balcony with a few books around her.
"What do want Phoenix?" Twilight said as she flipped a page of the book she was reading.
"I came to apologize, and to ask what I did."
"You don't remember?"
"Nope, all I know is what Rainbow told me after you left."
"What did she tell you?"
"She said I gave a speech to Ponyville about you."
"Yes, more specifically about how magical my butt apparently is," Twilight said as she continued to read her book.
"Oh, well I do apologize for that"
"It's all right, you sounded drunk," Twilight said as she sighed.
"What does drunk mean?"
"How can you not know what drunk mea-" Twilight started, but was interrupted when both ponies heard Rainbow Dash screaming as she crashed into Twilight's balcony.
"Can I help you?" Twilight asked, slightly annoyed.
"I think somepony else needs your help," Rainbow answered.
"Applejack?" Twilight asked flatly.
"Yep," Rainbow replied before she passed out.
"Phoenix, could you help Rainbow while I go have a word with Applejack?"
"Sure."
Phoenix walked over to railing of the balcony, and lifted Rainbow onto his back. With Rainbow securely on Phoenix's back, he walked down the stairs of the library into the main room.
"What happened Phoenix?" Spike asked, concerned.
"Rainbow crashed into the balcony."
"Is she alright?"
"Yes."
"Should we get help?"
"Have you not got something to do instead of pestering me, boy?" Phoenix asked, irritated.
Spike gave Phoenix a death glare before walking away.
I've forgotten how annoying dragons can be, Phoenix thought as he placed Rainbow on one of the sofas in the library.
After waiting a few minutes for Rainbow to wake up, Phoenix decided to look at the many bookshelves around library.
Huh, it looks like these ponies did a better job at preserving important information than my people did, although I do wonder how much of this information is valid, or complete? Phoenix pulled out a random book from a bookshelf that read "Dragons."Interesting, these ponies have little to no knowlage of dragons, Phoenix thought after he quickly flipped through the book. Phoenix continued looking through the many books in the library until he heard Rainbow groan behind him.
"Uuuh, where am I?" Rainbow asked confused.
"Inside Twilight's library," Phoenix said as he walked towards Rainbow.
"Oh yeah. I crashed into the balcony, didn't I."
"Yes, yes you did."
"How long was I out?"
"A few hours."
As Phoenix answered Rainbow, both ponies fell silent as the ground began shaking.
"Again?" Phoenix asked, as Rainbow flew out the library.
"STAMPEDE!" Rainbow shouted after she saw something in the distance coming towards Ponyville.
Phoenix facehoofed when he saw that the stampede was a large group of bunnies.
This is just embarrassing. Is this really what counts for panic now a days, I bet these ponies wouldn't last a minute in my time, Phoenix thought as rubbed his face.
A few minutes after the stampede finished, Twilight walked into town.
"The horror, the horror," a very pale yellow earth pony mare said.
"It was awful," a grayish raspberry earth pony mare said.
"A disaster. A horrible, horrible disaster," a pale magenta earth pony mare said.
"I don't get it." Twilight said.
Neither do I, Phoenix thought as he flew over to Fluttershy.
"Oh my. Oh...please stop, little bunnies. Oh no! Please, let's go home. Oh my goodness," Fluttershy fretted as she tried to gather up the bunnies around Ponyville.
"Have you got this?" Phoenix asked.
Fluttershy nodded as she ran after the many bunnies. Phoenix looked towards Twilight, and saw that she walking away. He flew after her.
"Twilight wait up."
"What do you want Phoenix?" Twilight asked as she continued walking.
"I want to know what's going on."
"It's Applejack, she wont stop applebucking to rest, and as you can see it's causing problems for everpony."
"Have you tried reasoning with her?"
"Of course I have!
"Whoa, calm down."
"Sorry. Could you please use that calming wave thing on her like you did to me last night?"
"If I did, it would kill me"
"How would it kill you?"
"The more magic I use, the weaker I become. it would be too much for me."
"Wait, how can you use mag-" Twilight started before she was cutt of once again.
"Ask your questions later, lets help Applejack first," Phoenix said as ran forward a few steps before stopping and turning around. "Where does Applejack live?"
"This way," Twilight said as she ran towards Sweet Apple Acres.
"Must...keep...buckin'...just a few more. Must finish harvestin'," Apple said as she bucked a tree.
"All right, Applejack. Your applebucking hasn't just caused you problems, it's over-propelled pegasus', practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say, you. Need. Help," Twilight said.
"Wait, she did what?" Phoenix asked, confused.
"Ha! No, I don't. Look, I did it. I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without your help. How d'ya like them apples?" Applejack said, proudly.
"Um, how do you like them apples?" a big red stallion said as he pointed at the many apple trees still to be harvested.
"Where'd all the apple...?" Applejack mumbled as she fainted.
"Applejack, Applejack," Twilight said as she stood over Applejack.
"Huh?" Applejack said as she opened her eyes.
"Oh, good, you're okay. Now Applejack, I completely respect the Apple Family ways. You're always there to help anypony in need, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you."
Applejack looked at the trees that needed to be harvested, and gulped at the sight. "Okay, Twilight."
"I am not taking "no" for an answer--what?" Twilight answered suprised.
"Yes, Twilight. Yes, please. I could really use your help," Applejack begged.
"I'll go get the others," Phoeni said as he flew off into town.
As Phoenix arrived back with the rest of the girls, they all got to work quickly. Phoenix, Rainbow and Twilight helped Applejack buck the apple trees while Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity carried the fallen apples away. After a few hours, the group finished and Twilight began writting a letter.
"How's that letter coming along?" Phoenix asked Twilight.
"Pretty good, would you like to hear it?"
"Sure."
"Dear Princess Celestia,
My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could have, and she's always there to help any pony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it, so while frienship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
"How about y'all take a little break? I got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya!" Applejack said as passed out her drinks. "Girls, I can't thank you enough for this help. I was acting a bit stubborn."
"A bit?" Twilight said.
"Okay. A mite stubborn, and I'm awful sorry. Now, I know the town gave me the prized pony award, but the real reward is having you six as my friends."
"Phew! That applebucking sure made me hungry," Rainbow said.
"And I've gott he perfect treat," Spike announced as he walked over, holding green muffins.
"Eeew...Spike, I threw those all away. Where'd you get them?" Pinkie asked.
"From the trash."
"EW!" all the girls said at once.
"Just a little nibble? Come on."
"EW! Gross!" all the girls said as they walked away.
Phoenix turned around to where Spike was standing and turned the muffins he was holding into ash. He then walked towards the girls not saying a word to Spike who stood in place looking at the pile of ash.
After saying goodbye to his friends, Phoenix slowly walked through Ponyille thinking to himself.
Well, this was quite the day I hope things calm down tomorrow.
As Phoenix finished his thought, he arrived at the Drunken Berry and walked in. But when he did, he was suprised when he saw Berry sleeping on one of the tables. A key near her head was resting.
I guess I'll lock up tonight, Phoenix thought as he locked the front door and switched off the lights before he walked up to his room. As Phoenix entered his room he looked out his window to see what looked like the pony he saw two nights ago sitting on a cloud.
Just like Fireheart, Phoenix thought as he got into bed with a smile on his face.