Princess Celestia was having a bad day, a really unpleasant one. It was this sort of day, when everything went from from usual to instant madness in less that a minute. In the morning, she had to listen to bunch of whiny nobles that could argue about everything, then someone ate her cake, probably Luna, and to make things worse a meteorite crashed right into the Everfree, right after that. It just couldn't get any worse, right? Ending the meeting with nobles, she quickly teleported herself to the barracks. There she quickly rushed to her target, as the guards bowed.

“Captain Shining Armor, I want you and your finest guards to investigate the crash site. If you meet any enemy, do not engage and inform me about it immediately,” The princess ordered, while walking up to the captain.

“Yes, your majesty I am already on it,” Shining Armor said as he gestured towards his troops, who were already gearing up.

“You never cease to amaze me, captain Armor. Now if you excuse me,” Celestia said with a smile, before she teleported back to her tower. She had to write a letter to Twilight and her friends to prevent them from going into Everfree. It took her a few seconds, before she knew what to write. In a minute or so, she was able to finish. Pleased with the result, she send the letter immediately, before she opened her balcony and looked at the Everfree. The trail of smoke was still coming out of it and for a second, it seemed like something moved there. Celestia bit her lip, as she thought, what else she could do. Then it struck her. She grinned, before she teleported to Luna's room.

***

“I am star, like the angel in sky...,” Phoenix hummed as he sat in silence. Two minutes have already passed and he was already getting anxious sitting here like a duck, waiting for miracle to happen that would get rid of that damn thing. Well, at least nothing bad has happened, so It wasn't that bad. He has already recovered more than enough to be able to fight entire army and a few dragons on top of that. Still, this cave was boring as hell. No drawings, no fancy stones, not even a bat was inside, but the worst bloody part was that he still had some time left! Phoenix sighed as he once again focused on the entrance.

Hmm... Now that I am here, all alone I can actually recall all that has happened. He was in front of the ancient, before he let loose all his powers and turned himself into a sun. Then Enigma activated his black king bar, became magic immune, blinked in and casted a black hole. Phoenix didn't know why, but his sun was affected. Then there was darkness and that creepy voice, before he ended up here. It surely was different place, as he could not feel any influence of the ancients. That brought another problem, his current location. He had no damn idea where the hell was he. Of course, there were a few planets that could sustain life, but he couldn't recall this particular planet at all. That meant he was probably far away from home or worse. Phoenix shook his beak. There was no point in over thinking it. He would know soon enough.

He then looked looked at his feathers and noticed that they were actually quite dirty. Probably, because he fell, when he was still on the crash site. Normally, he would just use his flames to clean himself, but in his current situation, he had to resort to preening his feathers manually. Funny thing, he could not remember last time he did it. Smiling, he got down to work.

***

“So this is the place where the anomaly has occurred?”, Princess Luna asked.

“It is, your majesty,” Shining Armor answered as they looked around.

The entire area was burned to the ground in fifty meter radius, living no sign of life whatsoever. However, everything just outside the borders of perimeter seemed unfazed, like something was able to contain all the damage in one zone. That was impressive feat on it's own, but at the same time it was worrisome. Only a few creatures in entire Equestria were capable of causing that sort of destruction, including both princesses.

Luna looked around and sighed. Whatever that thing was, it was dangerous. She had to find it as soon as possible.

But, before she could do something, one of the guards shouted, “Everypony look here, I think I found something!” All the ponies rushed towards him as they surrounded the finding. It was a hole with some sort of prints close to it.

“It seems like something crashed into that hole,” One of the guards noticed .

“It could be the case, although I don't think it was some sort of meteorite, as there isn't anything inside. However, what is more worrisome are these prints. Here, It seems like something fell on the ground. Probably more than once," The guard explained, while pointing at the ground.

“So, it could be a bird or dragon or something?” Another guard asked .

“It could be, but I doubt it. If you take a close look, you will notice that it they prints do not resemble scales at all. But, if you look around, you will notice that there are no more prints anywhere close to it", the guard said, while everyone else took a glance of their surroundings, “See? None, which leads me to conclusion that our opponent can fly or something similar to this.”

“So, what you mean is that our foe has already flown away?” Princess Luna asked .

“This is certainly a possibility, your highness. Still, with all due respect I think this is not the case. I think it could have flown away just a short distance and then it hid. I would do so, If I hit the ground so hard. Besides, there are very few creatures who could get away with no injuries from such destruction, but there is no evidence of any of these creatures,” The guard explained, while the rest of the ponies listened carefully.

“Actually, that's quite a good theory. Good job, soldier,” Shining Armor admitted, before he continued, “Now then, I want everypony to spread out and search the area. I do not want anyone going alone, so choose a partner, understood?”

“Sir, yes sir!” All the soldiers shouted, before they left.

“Well, then captain, let's see if we can find something ourselves,”Luna said , before both of them left.

***

Phoenix looked at his feathers, with a feeling of pride. They were thoroughly cleaned and restored back to their former glory. This is how all the feathers should look, shiny, clean and beautiful. Smiling, Phoenix looked again at the entrance, while focusing his hearing. It didn't take long, until he heard flaps of multiple wings flying above him towards the crash site. On top of that he could hear horse shoes hitting the earth around him. Phoenix concentrated on his internal, burning core.

The shimmering of the air around him diminished and his talons stopped melting the stone floor into so much magma. His body would still glow, although not as much. He took a glance at the entrance. Well, there goes my theory, that I went unnoticed. He tried to understand all those weird noises, that seemed like language, with no success. He has never heard anything like it. It didn't resemble demon speech, Gondar's language or anything else for that matter. In his case, It meant that he wouldn't be able to communicate with those creatures, unless he got to know their language.

After a few minutes, all those things he heard before, went in completely random directions, except two, who were coming towards him. Two voices, one male and one female, probably. They were coming closer and closer, it was just a matter of time, before they find him. Now, he had to choose what to do. He could either stay here and hope they will not notice him or he could try his luck and run for it. Both options were dangerous, but if he left and alarmed the rest of the creatures, he would be outnumbered and who knows, what are those things capable of?

Still, there was an advantage of staying here, that was a small passage leading outside. If they tried to rush inside the cave, he would be able to defend himself, without letting every single one of them in, plus he had just one minute left, before the curse expired. So, it was decided, Phoenix calmed himself down as he waited for his opponents to arrive. Soon he could hear almost every word, they said. Then, they stopped for a second, before they peeked into his cave. Two tall silhouettes, one slightly higher than other. Phoenix gulped as he waited for inevitable to happen.

***

“The pegasi are patrolling the air, while earth ponies and unicorns are searching the woods. Whatever that thing is, it shouldn't be able to escape,” Shining Armor said as he strolled alongside the princess.

“I hope so, captain. We do not know, what is that creature, we are searching for, so we have to be extremely careful,” Princess Luna said, while looking around. She wondered, where could she hide, if she was a wounded and afraid. Probably somewhere safe, that wasn't far away and easy to hide. Suddenly, something briefly flashed on her right. She turned her head and spotted a cave. Carefully, she started walking towards it, with captain right behind her. Both were tense as they silently approached the cave. Something was shining brightly inside.

Seeing this Shining armor sent a silent flare into the air. His squad should be here in a matter of minute. Now then, peeking out of the corner, they looked inside. In the middle of the cave stood... Phoenix? Why would it be in the cave in the first place and what were all these items he was wearing? Could it be, that it was responsible for that destruction? It didn't look dangerous, more like it was in pain.

Coming closer, Luna cleared her throat and said, ”Please do not run majestic creature, as we mean no harm.”

Why can't they speak normally? Eh... Phoenix took a look at the creatures. They were rather small, the tallest one was just slightly taller than him, if he was sitting. He assumed it was a female, as he listened to her voice. Both creatures had horns, but only the blue one had wings. She also wore some sort of tiara and crystal shoes. The creatures resembled horses a little, but other than that he couldn't tell much more. He also couldn't tell, whether they could use magic or not, but it was better to assume they could. He still had to wait thirty seconds, before he would be back to his top form and then they wouldn't have an easy life fighting him. The time was quite a problem though, so he decided to stay at the distance and if they come too close, he would screech and spread his wings. He kept on watching them, as they talked with each other.

“I don't think it can understand us, your highness,” Shining armor said, whileas he staring at the creature. He has seen quite a few phoenixes in his whole life, but he has never seen anything like it. It was much taller than the ordinary Phoenix, it had different shape of head and beak and on top of that were all those items, it was caring. Most of the phoenixes almost never wear anything more than a simple fireproof bracelet. This one on the other had at least three different things. It probably wasn't a tamed phoenix, as only princess Celestia is known to have one. Biting his lip, he continued staring at the bird.

“So, what do you think, would be most appropriate solution, captain?” Princess Luna asked.

“I have already sent a signal in the air, so I think we should wait for the rest of the squadron. They already know what to do. In the meantime let's try to gain it's trust,” The captain proposed, while keeping an eye on the creature.

“I agree with you, captain. But, please do not interfere,” Luna said, before she walked up slightly closer and rose her hoof, “Friends?”

Phoenix was looking at the blue equine, with a puzzled look and head cocked to one side. It seemed like some sort of gesture. He remembered Sven and Juggernaut shaking their hands after successful battle. He would be willing to shake her hoof, it it weren't for the army of troops, waiting right outside outside of the damn cave! He knew they were coming, one of those two had to cast a spell, before they went in.

He just couldn't leave the cave now, unless he wanted to fight them, all by himself. Still, he had twenty seconds left until he would be able to fight them or escape. If he could drag it out long enough, he should be fine. Taking slow steps, he started walking towards the princess. After a few of them, he stopped and chirped timidly.

“It is actually kind of cute, don't you think, captain Armor?” Princess Luna said and smiled. She really wanted to pet that phoenix.

“It is, but I still think we have to be careful,” Shining Armor said. He still didn't trust that bird.

Okay, only ten seconds left, I can do it. Phoenix slowly moved towards the equine. All he had to do now is come closer, pretend to touch her hoof and fly away. Although, he would appreciate some sort of distraction, like big angry monster rampaging around. A loud roar shook entire cave and made ponies stagger as they turned their heads.

This is what he was waiting for. Phoenix quickly spread out his wings and quickly flew out of the cave, leaving all the ponies confused and behind him, The acceleration was so big that it took him less than a second to reach the cloud level. There he could see the monster, walking towards the equines. It had four heads, two tails, sharp teeth and scales, Hydra. Part of him wanted to help the equines, but the bigger part wanted to see their combat capabilities. Flapping his wings a few times, he quickly increased his altitude and started watching the fight.

Hmm.. The Hydra, a well rounded monster. If I remember correctly, it is capable of regrowing a lost head, can attack four separate targets and it can hit pretty hard. Those equines on the other hand are small, but there are many of them. They may actually stand a chance. Not even Hercules could contend against two. How about those two I met before? Oh there they are. Well then, let's see how well can they fight? The ponies took defensive stance while Phoenix observed the battlefield.

Both sides were glaring at each other, ready for the other to strike first. It didn't take long, until Hydra roared furiously and attacked the equines, each head striking the nearest foe. What the monster did not expect was the teamwork of the creatures. As soon as the monster attacked, the earth equines, without wings or horns, were teleported out of it's reach. In the meantime the pegasi scattered around, before they started gathering multiple above the monster. Soon, a large thunderstorm cloud was created, while unicorns provided distractions and support for the earth equines. Once the cloud was ready, all the pegasi kicked it with all their might, sending a lighting bolt right into the monster.

It's power was strong enough to stun the monster, making it fall. Overall, the show was quite impressive, although they still wouldn't stand a chance against Zeus. The Hydra got up and roared angrily, before it turned back and returned, where it came from. What worried Phoenix more than a Hydra, were those two he had met in the cave. None of them participated in the skirmish, except the male, who only briefly talked to his squadron. He had to be careful around them. Flapping his wings Phoenix welcomed the sky.

Author's Note

Sorry, for the delay, but I cannot post chapters too often, due to school and time.

I hope you enjoy it so far, and if you have any complaints then please write a comment.

PS: Phoenix items are still a secret ;)