//-------------------------------------------------------// Phoenix in Equestria - dota 2 -by Ediros- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue The ancients, powerful beings out of the outer space. Many moons ago they were locked up together inside a prison: the Mad Moon. But, their desire to destroy each other finally split them and their prison apart, sending them crashing right onto the world full of life. There they started to influence everyone and everything around them. It didn't take long for their rivalry to rise again and so the battles for the shrines began, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind them. Such battles always attract a lot of attention, sometimes unnecessary. Over the time many would join the fray, even the forces of nature like: fundamentals or elementals. One of the watchers was a great-great infant of the keeper of the light, the first of all fundamentals, Phoenix. He has seen multiple fights and clashes for the shrines and the suffering that came with it. It was too painful to bear and so the Phoenix took terrestrial form, eagerly traveling to shine its warmth upon those who may need it most, and perhaps seize upon its solar destiny. "Such a beautiful story and soon it will be gone," said bitterly Phoenix as he stared at his opponents: Enigma, Chaos Knight, Silencer, Ancient Apparition and Pit Lord. Enigma the Fundamental, one whose true history is long lost to the eons and who can shatter entire planets if he desires. Chaos Knight the Fundamental of Chaos, a seasoned veteran of many battles, whose might only few can withstand. Silencer a mage that lives up to his name, despised by all the casters. Ancient Apparition, who calls himself the Ice Elemental - quite logically, being a creation of eternal cold and ice. But then again, he is actually the elemental of the universe's Heat Death, and grows stronger as it approached. And last, but not least Pit Lord. A horrible demon, that can teleport entire army almost everywhere and wreck havoc upon his foes and a nemesis of Legion Commander. All of them were alive and barely wounded, while his allies were dead, after the coordinated attack of the enemy team. If he was any closer, he would be dead too, but it did not matter at this point. All the towers and barracks were gone, leaving the radiant shrine in the middle of the base wide open. He knew he had no chance to win, even though he tried so hard. He killed enemy heroes nine times and did not die even once, while at the same time he was seven-slotted and made as much space for his team as he possibly could. Still it was for nothing. He was alone, all by himself against five angry heroes. He was going to lose no matter what he did, but if he had to die protecting the shrine, he would do it the same way he was born, as the sun! With the little mana and health he had, he was able to activate both Shiva's guard and fire spirits. Fire spirits were conscious birds of fire, created, by his own core, which would attack his foes. Shiva's guard on the other hand was a piece of armor that granted bearer a freezing aura, while allowing the user to activate Arctic blast every thirty seconds. Phoenix sent the spirits flying towards enemy heroes, before he activated Shiva's guard and his ultimate, Supernova. Changing himself into a scorching sun, he waited for the inevitable to happen. As he expected all the spirits were casually dispelled, by the magic immunity, while his foes charged in. To his surprise it was Enigma, who blinked in first and started to channel his black hole right on top of phoenix. It was unexpected to say the least, as no magic could work on his sun. However, what happened after, was even more shocking. The black hole was actually sucking the sun in! He could not believe it, even now at the brink of death. Awaiting his end, Phoenix said sadly: ”Goodbye, Grandpa.” Before the darkness covered everything. Author's Note Well, this is my second story I decided to write. It is not perfect, but I like it. Oh and this one is probably going to be slightly better, I think, mostly because it is just one hero to write about, not 2. Hopefully, I will be able to release chapters more often. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 On the other side of the universe, in a small library, looking almost exactly like a tree. A young unicorn, called Twilight Sparkle was rummaging through her numerous books. She was trying to find one particular book, with no success so far. She was sweating and was clearly annoyed. She has already taken all the books from the shelves, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember, where she could possibly put it. Desperate, she called, ”Spike!” “Yes, Twilight?” A small, purple, baby dragon asked , as he came from upstairs. “Have you seen my book “Basic Levitation for the fillies”? ” She asked, still rummaging through her collection. “Hasn't Derpy borrowed it for Ditzy?” Spike asked, while munching what looked like a blue gem. “She did? I can't really remember,” Twilight admitted, while turning towards her assistant. “No wonder, you were at one of your adventures during that time, so I had to do it myself,” Spike explained and ginished the gem. “Well then, I suppose that's okay. Although, you could have said something,” The unicorn countered, before she begun to set the books back on their places. “Yeah, you are right...,” Spike admitted reluctantly as he scratched his head, “but, at least I did not turn our whole library into a book fort.” Twilight looked around at her neatly arranged books and they really did look, like some sort of castle. With a sheepish grin, she returned all the books to their primary places. “Okay then, I am done with my check list for today's morning. Now let's head to Sugar Cubs Corner. If we head out now, we should still have ten minutes left," Twilight said and begun walking towards the entrance. “Oh, Twilight, now you are exaggerating,” Spike said in response, before he smiled, shook his head and hoped on Twilight's back as they left the library. *** It was dark and quiet. Each of his feathers felt, cold and … wet? Like someone has put his body into a cold water and left it for it's own. “So, this is death? I imagined it differently” Phoenix said, as his mind drifted around. “It seems, I won't see enchantress again or Grandpa.” It saddened him, a lot, enough to make him cry a small tear, that he did not feel. He knew, that he couldn't do anything about his situation, so he closed his eyes and allowed the nothingness to take him. It seemed like he has spend hours upon hours in this empty space. Not a whisper was heard, not a noise was made for what seemed like an eternity, but maybe it was just a few minutes? Then suddenly, a voice pierced his ears. “Do you want to live?” It was grim, genderless and scary. It made his heart skip a beat. Forcing all the strength he had, he nodded his head. He did not want to stay anywhere close to that THING, no matter what. “Very well then, see you among the living,” the voice whispered grimly, before it disappeared. Phoenix waited patiently and soon enough, he felt his body warm up a bit. He could almost feel his muscles. He started to cheer up, before the pain announced it's presence in every single cell of his body! It felt like his body was torn to shreds, atom by atom, piece by piece. The feeling was so strong, that he closed his eyes and gritted his beak. To make things worse a light started to shine right into his vision, blinding him. He felt like some sort of puppet that was constantly pierced with the needles and tossed around at the same time! If he had known, what he was getting himself into, he would probably would have chosen death. However, before he could understand the true meaning of pain, he felt air passing through his feathers, before his skull connected with the ground. *** The sun was shining, birds were chirping and everypony seemed extremely happy. Seeing this, Twilight couldn't help but smile. She grew attached to this small city and her friends. She felt so full of energy and almost started to sing, before she stopped herself. She did not want entire town to go singing along with her, because it would mean getting late. She continued her stroll, until she reached her destination. Then she entered the bakery and checked the time. Yep, she still had 10 minutes left. Looking around, she found a small round table right in the corner, with enough seats for seven ponies. As she got closer, Spike hoped of her and both of them sat down. They waited patiently just a couple of minutes, before the rest of her friends arrived. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy at the end of the group. All of them smiled as they greeted with Twilight and Spike. “Are we going to order or not? I am getting hungry,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently. “Don't worry Rainbow Dash, we are onto it. Let's go order something,” Twilight said, while the rest followed her. The order was soon placed and soon each of the mares got a dessert of their own desire. Spike on the other hand got himself an ice cream filled with gems. “So girls, who do you think was worse Discord or Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at Rarity, before she continued, ”Because, I think both were quite wimpy, never fighting for real.” “Well Darling, if you ask me I think the worst was prince Blueblood, even Discord had more tact than him,” Rarity answered bluntly. “I think Discord was fun and I think he would probably like my parties. Nightmare Moon was just a big meanie,” Pinkie Pie said. “I think, Discord was one tricky fella. You could never say, what would he do next,” said Applejack. “Umm... I think both Discord and Nightmare Moon were quite scary, but I feel Discord was kinder than Nightmare Moon,” Fluttershy whispered. “How about you, Twilight?” Spike asked. “Well, for me personally Discord was the worst. All that chaos and lack of order, how can you even live in such condtions? And on top of that, because of him, I almost lost all my friends,” Twilight said as she smiled. The others soon followed her. They were happy to be here together. “I think this entire situation deserves a toast,” Rainbow Dash said as she rose her dessert, ”For Equestria?”. “For Equestria!” Ponies said in unity and rose their cups. They were about to eat, when a loud rumble along with huge shock wave interrupted them. All the deserts were spilled and even some ponies fell from their chairs as the ground shook. “What the hay, was that?!” Applejack shouted, as she got herself from the floor. All the ponies looked confused, but above anything else afraid. “I don't know Applejack, but we'd better check it out,” Twilight said as everypony run out of the building. Once they exited the building, they saw a trail of smoke, coming right from the everfree forest, while everyone else in the city was frantically running around. However, before they could decide what to do, Spike exhaled a letter. “Spike, Is that a letter from princess?” Twilight asked. “I think so, here let me read it. Ekhem... Dear Twilight Sparkle, by the time you will be reading this letter, I have already sent a squadron of finest guards to investigate this phenomen. I don't want you or your friends to go to the Everfree, no matter what. What I want you to instead is try to keep everyone as far as possible. With regards, Princess Celestia," Spike read the letter. “Well, that is surprising don't you think, darling?”Rarity asked . “I don't get it, what could possibly be more dangerous than Discord or Nightmare Moon? Doesn't princess trust us?” Twilight asked. “I don't think that is the reason. I think the princess doesn't want to endanger us again, after all that happened,” Applejack said. “Oh come on, you are not going to tell me that we are going to miss that one out?!” Rainbow Dash almost shouted. “Princess Celestia told us to stay and this Is what we are going to do. The only thing I can do is to send a letter and explain princess that we can handle it,” Twilight answered. “So, what are you waiting for?” Spike asked. “Well, first of all we have to calm everypony down, we will worry about other things latter. Now let's go!” Twilight said, before they left. *** “Head … hurts … a lot,” Phoenix muttered, as he tried to free himself from a deadly trap, that was earth. After a few attempts, he was able to escape, all by himself and then he fell on his back. Panting heavily, he stood up and looked around. It seemed like he created quite a mess. Flames were burning around him in a vertical circle, spreading over the forest and creating even bigger fire. Summoning his power, phoenix absorbed all the flames, healing himself. Sighing, he looked around. A scorched earth, dust in the air and no plants whatsoever in fifty meter radius. It looked similar to his supernova, but different at the same time. Shaking it off, he checked his condition. It seemed all of the items were intact, but … muted? Well, not a big deal. He checked his regeneration and to his bewilderment, he was healing and restoring mana at a pace of a snail. He also couldn't cast any of his spells. Now that was rather troublesome in his current conditon. He had to run for now, but as he tried to fly the pain brought him back to earth. Gritting his beak, he tried again and this time, he was able to fly to the forest. He couldn't tell if it was a radiant or the dire as the trees were too different for any of them. Besides, it was almost pitch black and dead quiet. It made him feel nervous and it didn't help that he was the brightest damn object in the area. At least, he wasn't scorching the earth around him anymore. Phoenix frantically looked around, before he spotted a cave. It was small, dark and it looked more like someone dug a hole and then left it for it's own. Still, It was big enough to let him fly inside without hitting his head, so it wasn't that bad. The floor of the cave was filled with rocks and loose stones, one bad move and he would fall and dirty his feathers. He would have to burn all the dirt on him and that could attract unnecessary attention. He looked around carefully, as he glanced around the corners. It seemed like the cave was empty. Relieved, Phoenix sat down. It seemed like he was safe for now. He checked his condition once more and this time he was able to notice that nasty bugger he had acquired. It's name was: Unknown? Well, that didn't look pleasant, also it would last for another... five minutes?! It was way too long, he couldn't stay here that long. Each second was valuable and he just couldn't spend it doing nothing. There were so many things he could do instead, like fly, bath in volcano, heal someone or something. Hell, he would be even happy with sitting at the fireplace and warming his fathers, but creating a fire wasn't really smart in his current situation. Still, It is not like he had a choice. He was weakened after that weird death-like occurence and ,if he somehow managed to wait that five minutes, he would be fine, but until then it was a lottery. “I wonder if I had caused any commotion?” Phoenix asked as he stared at the entrance of his cave. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 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 ;) //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 “Well captain, It seems the Phoenix has escaped,” Princess Luna said, while watching the majestic bird, which was flying away from them. “I am truly sorry for what has just happened. I did not expect it to be so fast, neither I expected Hydra to come,” Shining Armor admitted and bowed. “It was not your fault, captain. We …. I am the only to blame. If I wasn't so trusting towards it, then maybe it would go differently,” Princess Luna said and smiled sadly. “We are both at fault, your Majesty. What surprises me most is the fact that I have never seen such Phoenix in my whole life,” He admitted, his eyes focused on the creature. “You are not the only one, captain. This creature worries me greatly, because who knows what is it capable of doing?” Luna said, while bitting her lip. *** “HELL, YEAH! WOOHOO AND THIS IS WHAT I CALL SPEED!!!” Phoenix shouted happily as he soared through the sky. Barrel rolls, aileron rolls, diving, It felt so damn good. However, he wanted to see if he hasn't lost his touch over the years, during his time at defense of the ancients. [Watch This ->( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMnIPxtM_Mc ), as it shows better all those maneuvers, I can't describe.] Flapping his wings he increased his altitude, until he was at the edge of the Troposphere. He looked around, made sure nothing was flying by, before he smiled and dove towards the earth. The speed he could achieve at ease with just diving, was capable of almost breaking the sound barrier. A typical layer was starting to form around his body as he was coming closer and closer to breaking it. All there was needed was one tiny flap of the wing. It was the time, Phoenix spread his majestic wings, flapped once and broke the sound barrier. Flames, hot air and powerful shock wave were all released at the some time as a giant ring of blazing inferno covered the sky. Not so far away from it was Phoenix, who was admiring his own work. It was truly beautiful, spectacular and it took him only half of the kilometer to reach that speed! He felt really proud of himself, but that put another question. Could he go any faster? Smiling, he reached the edge of the troposphere once again and then he dove towards the earth. Flapping his wings, he quickly broke sound barrier and left ring of fire, blazing behind him. The trail of fire was coming out of his wings and feathers as the second layer was forming around his body. He flapped his wings even harder and then all the hells broke loose. In a matter of seconds Phoenix almost reached the ground level and just before he hit it, he made a sharp turn and soared right just above the tree level. All the trees unlucky enough to be too close were burned, rooted out and sent flying. Phoenix quickly turned towards the sky and soon he started to slow down, until he found himself staring dumbfound at all the destruction he has just caused. Not only the second ring of blazing inferno was five times bigger than the previous one, it also was much hotter. Even here, ten kilometers away from it Phoenix could feel heat coming from it. The sky was colored red from all the flames, resembling active volcano. The only good news was that the ground wasn't nearly as affected as the sky. Of course there was a trail of broken trees and scorched earth, leading through the forest, but other than that it wasn't that bad. At least there weren't any settlements nearby for that matter. Still, It meant he had to be careful, when flying so fast otherwise he could accidentally hurt somebody. Phoenix quickly put out all the remaining flames, before he was back at appropriate height. Now, that he had some fun, he decided it was a good time to learn a little about this world and it's inhabitants. Quickly increasing his attitude he flew towards his crash site, which was couple hundred kilometers away. If he remembered right there was some sort of settlement nearby. Soon enough it came into his view. It was a small town, slightly bigger than an ordinary village. Numerous houses had their roofs covered in hay, with few exceptions. In the center of the town stood town hall and if front of it there was a big trading square. It's inhabitants were the same type of equines he encountered in the forest, except they didn't wear any armor. Also, It seemed like they weren't very perceptive mostly because it seemed nobody has noticed him yet. Then again at this altitude, he would be surprised, if they could notice him in the first place. That meant if he stayed at this attitude, he wouldn't cause any commotion, heart attacks or anything else. For the next few hours, he just stayed in the air and observed the equines and their behavior. He came to a few conclusions. One, they created community. Two, unicorns could use magic. Three, pegasi could walk on clouds and fly really fast, even faster than viper. And four, they were highly intelligent. Some manufactured toys, some repaired clocks, some of them were farmers and many many more. In any case, he still wasn't sure about going in and trying to communicate. He had no idea, whether those creatures would attack him or not like the ones in the forest. Still, it was getting late, the sun was setting down and the equines were returning back to their homes. It would be better, if he observed them a little more, just to be certain. “Now then, it would be actually a good time to see a sunset,” Phoenix said, as he flapped his wings and quickly found himself in space, staring at the planet. It was filled with oceans, huge forests and multiple mountains. This world was full of life and hope, it would be a shame if something bad happened to it. Now then, what about the sunset? Phoenix waited patiently as he stared at the planet, waiting for it to turn around. It didn't take long, until something completely different happened. “What the...?!” Phoenix asked as he stared at the phenomenon. The planet didn't move at all, instead the sun circled it. It was almost impossible, nobody except Elder Titan or Weaver or Keeper of the Light could do such a thing, not even ancients dared to control the sun. Seeing this sort of anomaly was getting him angry and his core was getting hotter and hotter. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was tampering with nature's laws for your own personal cause. He was furious at this point, his body covered entirely in flames as he glared at the planet below him. It would be so easy to destroy it. One solar beam and all the life on it would perish, including the one responsible for it. In his rage, he started to prepare his power to erase that planet from the universe, before it struck him. Not everyone is responsible for this. If I kill them, I will be nothing more than a murderer... Phoenix calmed himself down and sighed. His core was already cooling down, while the flames on his body were fading. Soon he returned back to the optimal temperature of the one-tenth of the surface of the sun. He looked at the planet and tried to find something, anything that would explain all that madness. Then he spotted the same blue equine he had met in the forest. She was currently standing at the balcony and channeling a spell. “Could it be?” Phoenix muttered, before he dove towards the earth. His gut feeling was telling him that she was connected to it, but he had to be absolutely certain, otherwise he would hurt innocent creature. As he dove he lowered his core's temperature and the amount of light he was expelling. Now his core wasn't warmer than one of the creatures body temperature and at such a starry night, he would be much less visible, although it did limit his combat abilities a bit. Phoenix looked around, before he spotted a perfect spot. It was a rather high hill, filled with trees and bushes. It also had a great view at the castle, that village and nearby surroundings. He carefully landed, ducked under the bush and focused his attention on the equine. She certainly was casting a spell, which moved the moon, although he couldn't tell if she controlled sun too. Soon, she finished casting, sighed and flew into the night towards the village, he has been investigating. Once she got there, she started circling around the town. Every few minutes, she would stop in front of a house, light her horn and then an aura enveloped head of the equine inside. Her first victim was a small unicorn foal, who was wriggling in his bed with a grimace on it's face. After a few minutes, Phoenix could see the result of her magic. The foal was sleeping peacefully, while the blue equine was smiling. “It seems like she has got some sort of control over others dreams. Hopefully, she is not like Bane,” thought Phoenix as he continued watching the equine. The spectacle would repeat itself through the whole night. After seeing it few more times, Phoenix was quite certain that she didn't have such scary abilities like elemental. He sighed with relief. He did not want to be nightmared ever again. The next few hours passed like a blink of a eye and soon the equine flew back to her castle with a Phoenix on her tail. There she quickly ate some supper, changed her clothes, before she went to sleep? That was surprising, then in that case, who controls the sun? While he was thinking about it, another equine came from the other tower. It was tall, taller than the blue equine with completely opposite color palette. It had similar frame to the blue equine, so he assumed it was female as well. She had multicolored mane, which was flowing in the air, even though the wind was too weak to do such thing. She also had white fur, wings and horn, just like the blue equine. She looked up in the sky and lit her horn, before the sun started to rise. Now, he was certain. She was responsible for rising the sun. “You will pay for enslaving a star,” Phoenix said, while gritting his beak. Wait, but what if the blue one, can raise the sun too? Hmmm... Whatever, if she can she is going to pay too! Then he made sure, he was well prepared for fighting so powerful foe, “Let's see: Black King Bar, Scythe of Vyse, Shiva's Guard, Pipe of Insight, Guardian Greaves, Heart of Torasque and last, but not least Aghanim's scepter. Everything seems intact. Alright then, I am coming for you!”, Phoenix growled, before he flew towards the equine his core burning with rage. Author's Note Small Change in narration, now the future chapters Phoenix will have Scythe of Vyse instead of Refresher orb, because let's be honest he wouldn't use it anytime soon. Also Guardian Greaves replaced Boots of Travel (since they are far batter) //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 Princess Celestia woke up early this morning, she yawned, got out of her royal bed and changed her royal pajamas. She brushed her flowing mane, went to the kitchen and ate a breakfast. This time it consisted of tea, some toasts and a couple of sweet apples from Sweet Apple Acres. Once she was finished, she sighed with delight before she came back to her tower and entered the balcony. There she gazed at her kingdom with a smile, before she started to rise the sun. She was almost finished, when suddenly, something flashed brightly on her left, before it impacted the tower. An inferno of flames erupted from it, collapsing the structure and sending all the debris pummeling towards the ground. All that was left from the structure was a furious mare, who was staring at her foe. It was an enormous Phoenix hovering right in front of her. It had fiery feathers, an unusual shape of a beak and multiple items, engraved into one white, solid piece of armor on top of it's chest. However, Celestia was too angry to bother with such tiny details. With a mighty, royal canterlot voice she asked, ”How dare you?!” The Phoenix didn't answer, instead he screeched and send another ball of fire towards princess. Celestia quickly teleported out of harm's way and sent beam of light towards Phoenix. What she did not expect was it's speed and agility. It quickly took a sharp turn to the right and flew below the princess and then right behind her before it sent another fireball towards her. Seeing this, Celestia knew that she would not be able to outmaneuver the creature, so she teleported far away close to the Everfree. That should prevent the more damage to be caused to the city. She watched as the Phoenix quickly canceled the fireball that was meant for her. It seems like, it does not want to destroy the city, that means it is after me. Celestia bit her lip as the realization hit her. Well, at least now it shouldn't be able to hurt any of my subjects. Although, why did it attack me in the first place? However, before she could come up with an answer Phoenix turned towards her and rapidly accelerated. A layer was forming around his body as he was flying faster and faster and then all hell broke loose. Celestia barely had time to create a barrier, before the Phoenix with a speed of sound slammed into it. The attack was so strong that Celestia gasped from surprise. Her barrier was almost shattered from just a single blow. Numerous cracks have already appeared and the Phoenix was not done yet. It was pounding the barrier with fireballs and it's claws, before both of them crashed into Everfree. Flames covered the entire area for a brief moment until they were absorbed by Phoenix, which seemed to enjoy it. Princess Celestia was glaring at the Phoenix as she was trying to come up with a plan. It is certainly faster, more agile than me and it can control all sorts of flames with no problem at all. So if a close range combat in not an option then maybe magic will do the trick. She lit up her horn. An aura enveloped Phoenix, stopping him from moving. It seemed surprised as it struggled to break free. She wouldn't let him go now, but more than anything she wanted why did it attack her? Celestia prepared herself to cast another spell, but then Phoenix flapped his wings once and broke her seal. The amount of raw muscle power required to perform such a feat was incredible. And yet it was capable of doing so. She lost her focus and she barely had time to create another shield, before it rammed into her and sent them both tumbling on the ground. She quickly teleported out, high into the sky and watched raging inferno spreading where she had been just a moment ago. She started to charge her horn, while she was keeping an eye on her foe. It was frantically looking around, until it spotted her. Phoenix screeched loudly, before he charged her. Celestia quickly released beam of energy, which to her surprise hit the creature. However, what happened next made her jaw drop to the ground. It was resisting the beam, furthermore it was coming closer and closer with just the strength of it's muscle. “Incredible,” Celestia muttered, before she teleported out to the surface of the ground. She was watching Phoenix as it turned around right towards her. For a few seconds, they were glaring at each other, expecting the other to move. Phoenix then rolled once in place and birds of pure light were expelled from his body. Celestia noticed they were similar to it in some way and that the creature winced like it was hurt. Those flame orbs seem almost bird like and... did making them hurt the phoenix? It was unexpected, but at the same time it could give her some edge. If she could force it to use more of this spell than sooner or later, it should be too weak too fight. As she expected the creature sent of one of birds right towards her. She quickly blinked again this time behind Phoenix and was ready to cast a spell, when one of the birds hit her before she could react. The power of the attack was comparable to getting hit by a avalanche that was on fire. Celestia crashed into the ground and coughed up with blood. Her mane was full of dirt, her fur burnt in several places and the blood was spilling from many wounds. She barely was able to look at the Phoenix, which landed and was coming closer and closer towards her. The heat radiating from it was powerful to burn the ground around him and even her natural resistance to fire was at the edge. The creature stopped just in front of her, grabbed her throat, lifted her head and made her look into his beak. She could sense an overwhelming desire to kill. She was terrified as she watched Phoenix, which created a ball of inferno on it's right wing. It was the end, she would die here, killed by a Phoenix. No, that can't end like! NOT LIKE THIS! She clenched her teeth and focused her magic. If she had to die, she would take that damn bird with her. Her horn started to glow as she focused all her power in one single attack. Then she heard a loud crackle before a lighting bolt hit and surged through her body, before she fainted. “Leave our sister alone!”Luna yelled , before she landed in front of Celestia. She had to hurt her own sister, otherwise it would have have killed her. Just for that she was furious, her eyes were glowing with power as she was glaring at Phoenix, which was just a few meters away. She deeply regretted letting that creature go and because of her Celestia got hurt. Luna gritted her teeth, before she teleported Celestia out of the battle to her own royal chamber and focused her attention on Phoenix. It seemed confused, as it was looking around. Then it put out all the remaining flames, before it screeched and glared at Luna. “I don't who the hell are you, but you will not stand in my way. The only one I want to get rid of that is that damn hellfire bitch, who controls the sun!” Phoenix screeched, before he charged the equine. As he expected she blinked out, so he quickly turned around and sent fireball behind him. Turns out he was right, the equine almost instantly created a shield, before the attack hit her. Flames and smoke erupted around her, blinding her. Luna turned herself into smoke, right at the time, before the flaming bird passed through her. She sighed with relief, before she blinked to the earth. In the meantime Phoenix was eying the battlefield and thinking where could the white equine be? She probably was somewhere far away, hidden and there was no way he would be able to find her anytime soon. He was really, really angry and that blue equine was a perfect target practice. He summoned two fireballs, one of which he sent towards the equine, while the second one he sent in front of himself. What he did not expect was the equine's behavior. She grabbed both of his attacks using magic and sent them back towards him. He was about to absorb them, when out of blue they exploded. Luckily for him he was fireproof, the downside was that they created a bunch of smoke and a shock wave. He quickly cleared the air, before he looked around. The equine has disappeared and he was all alone. Phoenix sighed. That didn't work as planned. He was about to fly away, when he again noticed the blue equine, standing on earth and glaring at him. For a few seconds they just stared at each other, waiting for the other to move. Phoenix knew that she could use magic and she could control his fireballs with no effort, so long range combat wasn't really an option. He quickly flapped his wings and flew towards her. Something is wrong, why isn't she doing anything? Unless, oh crap. He quickly took a sharp turn to the left and sent a fireball at her. He stopped in the mid air and watched as the form of equine collapsed and dispersed into the wind. I knew it, It was an illusion. In that case, where is she? “Take that!” Luna yelled, before she fired a lighting bolt towards the Phoenix. He barely had time to react before the spell sent him flying towards the ground. The impact of the crash shattered the earth, sending rocks and boulders in all directions. Luna wiped a sweat out of her brow. She had to be really careful when using that spell, but it was more than capable of shattering a Hydra. If she was lucky, she probably hurt him enough to make him stop fighting. It didn't take long until she got an answer. Phoenix quickly flapped his wings, until he was at the same altitude as her. It didn't seem like her attack did any sort of damage other than pissing him of. Luna glared at her foe as she prepared for combat. Then it all started. Phoenix attacked her faster than ever before slashing the equine with his talons. She barely had time to put a shield, before it slammed into her. The impact was strong enough to shatter the barrier and lose her balance. “Now is the time,” Phoenix muttered, before he grabbed the equine, by her throat, spun around and sent her flying towards the earth. He quickly followed it with a barrage of fireballs right behind her. The equine was able to stop herself from, hitting the ground by blinking out. In the meantime fireballs hit the ground and turned it into a pool of lava. He quickly absorbed all that energy and it turned back into scorched earth. Phoenix sighed. All he wanted to is to get rid of one damn creature, is that too much too ask for? However, because they are are so cowardly, he has got no other choice other than chasing them. It didn't help that he had no clue, where could they possibly be. Finding any of these equines would take ages. He was about to leave, when the same blue equine teleported back with a squadron of troops, similar to that he saw in the forest. However, they weren't quite the same. They were dark as night, their eyes similar to that of a dragon. Some had twisted horns, while others had bat wings. “Well this is problematic. I really don't want to fight them, but it seems I have to. I also have to be careful or I will accidentally burn them to crisp. So for now my temperature has to be as low as theirs,” Phoenix muttered, as he lowered his temperature and the amount of light he was expelling, while watching the equines. “Captain Dusk, I need you to go gather the elements of harmony and bring them here immediately, we need their help,” Luna said. “Yes your highness!” Unicorn answered, before he left the battlefield. Luna quickly flew into the air and prepared to set a trap. She had to contain that Phoenix, until Elements Of Harmony arrive. If they could do that, they should stand a chance. The troops already knew what to do. They were taking positions and watching the creature at the same time. So this is their plan? Really? I should have expected that. Unfortunately for you, I have seen this tactic way too many times. The blue one along with the flying ones are going to distract me, while the rest of them will prepare a trap or some sort of spell. So, what I have to do is to knock them out, without killing them. Oh, this is going to be interesting! Phoenix said happily, before he folded his wings and dove towards the earth. Seeing this pegasi quickly followed him. They were trying to block his path and change the way he was going. But, their speed and agility were inferior to his, so he just made a sharp turn, before he hit the ground and flew towards unicorns. This time though, they blinked away before he was able to come closer. So, they DO learn from their own mistakes. Well then, let's see if you can handle this! Phoenix flapped his wings and broke the sound barrier. The trail of living inferno blazing behind him was a good way of getting all sorts of nuisances. He focused his attention on the blue equine, who was watching him with her eyes wide open. If he could get rid of her or the unicorns it would be much easier fight. He knew what he had to do next. Flapping his wings, he slowed down and stopped at the cloud level. He could see the battlefield clearly and all he had to do was to hurt them enough so they couldn't fight him, but at the same time he had to be careful not to kill them. He quickly summoned his fire spirits as he felt his life energy drain away to form into small fire birds each capable of burning entire city, before he fired them in four separate locations, away from the equines. For a second equines looked surprised, before the spirits impacted the ground. Powerful shock wave and inferno of flames cracked the earth and sent all the unicorns flying, before most of them hit the ground and fainted. Luna's jaw dropped to the ground as she watched all that destruction, caused by one Phoenix. “Take everyone away from here, I will fight this monster myself, now go!” Luna shouted. All the guards obeyed silently and soon the battlefield was empty once more. Luna was glaring at the Phoenix, biting her lip and trying to come up with a plan, while It paid no attention to her and just looked around like he was searching for something. The spectacle continued for a few seconds, before the Phoenix turned it's attention towards her. “Okay it seems like I didn't kill anyone and I forced them away at the same time. All that is left is to beat the crap out of you!” Phoenix screeched his core burning with power, before he engaged the equine. Seeing this, Luna quickly blinked to the surface. There using her telekinesis she grabbed a couple of trees and sent them towards the creature. Just as she expected her foe simply burnt them to ashes, with just a few fireballs. She had to think of something else. Suddenly It struck her, she knew what to do. She quickly jumped into the air, before she turned away from the Phoenix and flew into the Everfree forest, with Phoenix on her tail. Unfortunately for it, she could turn into a smoke and blink. After a few narrow turns, she was at her destination. It was one of Everfree's rivers, surrounded by trees and bushes. A perfect place for a trap. Luna turned herself invisible and landed on top of the branch. It didn't take long, until Phoenix arrived. It was hovering above the water, looking around suspiciously. Now is the time! She quickly teleported right above the Phoenix and grabbed him using her telekinetic force. Then she threw the Phoenix into the river, which flickered for a second with light, before it stopped. It didn't matter how strong that Phoenix was, because if there is one thing Phoenixes were weak to It was water. Luna was watching the surface of the river, searching for some sort of movement that would indicate, where that creature was. The time was passing and she was getting anxious. “Where is it? It is just water so it should be at least alive, right? I didn't kill it, did I?” Luna asked. She wanted to stop the creature, but not murder it. She decided to wait just a little bit longer. “That equine is getting on my nerves,” Phoenix muttered. He was currently sitting at the bottom of the river, barely shining using his powerful claws to prevent being swept down with the current. He really didn't like cold water, but compared to Tuskar's ice sigil it wasn't that bad. Still, he had to come up with a plan. He could technically fly away, but he was too angry at the time to think about such an option. But, thanks to that equine, he literally cooled his head and could think strategically. Weighing his options, he decided it would be better if he just left. He let the rock go, traveled with the river, before he spread out his wings and erupted from the water. He quickly flapped his wings and was about to reach cloud level when the damn equine appeared right in front of him. She still looked quite pissed, judging by the looks. “Give me a break!” Phoenix screeched, then he sighed and stopped in the mid air, while glaring at her. “We will not let thee escape!” Luna said in mighty, royal canterlot voice. She knew that creature was strong, really strong. It had defeated Celestia in mere seconds and caused more destruction than an Ursa Major. Regardless, she had bigger problems to worry about. “I really don't want to hurt you, but if you keep on fighting I won't go easy on you,” Phoenix screeched and summoned a few fireballs, revolving around him. Seeing this Luna prepared her magic. She was about to cast a spell, when she noticed something. The elements of harmony have arrived and they were standing at the edge of the forest. Luna smiled, sent a lighting bolt towards Phoenix, which it easily evaded, before she teleported to Twilight, her friends and captain Dusk. “Elements of Harmony, I hope Captain Dusk explained the entire situation. We need your help, that Phoenix over there...,” Luna said as she pointed it with her hoof. “Has hurt our sister, endangered our subjects and caused all this destruction. We need to stop it right away.” “Your captain filled us in, we are ready to use the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I could beat that Phoenix up with my own hooves in ten seconds flat,” Rainbow Dash said, while she was punching the air. “Rainbow Dash, we don't have time for it, we need to use use the Elements of Harmony right away,” Twilight said. The other mares nodded their head in agreement, before they started to channel a spell. Phoenix was curiously looking as they started to shine and form a circle. Part of him wanted to run away, but more than anything he wanted to see what those equines were capable of. It didn't take long, until they finished and sent a giant beam of rainbow light towards him. “Oh no you don't!” Phoenix screeched as he casted his favourite spell, Solar Beam. Two spells collided with each other, one beam of harmony and peace against a beam of life and death sending powerful shock wave and shaking the ground. The power of their beam was stronger than his, coming closer and closer until its end was just several meters away before it stopped. Phoenix could feel even more power coming from his core, which was becoming stronger the longer he expelled the beam. The air around him shimmered as he was becoming hotter and hotter. The trees caught on fire and the ground started to turn into the lava. He started to gain upper hand, his beam pushing back theirs faster and faster. He could see fear creeping on their faces as they realized it wasn't working. He was about to finish them, when suddenly the same blue equine appeared on his right and sent a lighting bolt towards him. He quickly stopped his solar beam, took a sharp turn to the left and flew away before any of the projectiles could hit him. He managed to see how both of them passed through the area, where he had just been before they disappeared in clouds. That was dangerous, if had got hit by any of this something bad would have happened, although he didn't know what. Granted he could always use his black king bar and gain magic immunity but he would rather not reveal it and besides he wasn't certain, if it could protect him from that beam. Now he was getting angry, he focused his attention at the blue equine and was about to attack her when suddenly something crashed into his back and sent him pummeling towards the ground. Luckily for him the blow was quite weak so he was able to stop in the mid air, before he turned towards the new opponent. His expression quickly changed from angry to dumbfound when he saw his enemy. It was another phoenix just like him, although smaller. It also had completely different shape of body and head, similar to that of a bird of prey. He was genuinely surprised, when the other Phoenix spoke. “How dare you hurt Celestia?!” Philomena yelled. “You mean that white equine that rises the sun? She deserved it and furthermore, she was lucky to escape alive,” Phoenix answered. “But why, why did you attack her?!” She asked. “Oh come on, don't play dumb with me. You are a phoenix just as I am, you know how she enslaved our brother and how she uses him to satisfy her and her country's desires,” Phoenix answered. “I don't even know what are you talking about, but if you think I am going to let you go just like that then you are deeply mistaken,” Philomena said, before she attacked the Phoenix. She started off with a few fireballs, which he quickly absorbed. “Oh so fire in not an option it seems, well then let's see if you can handle this!” She charged the Phoenix. What happened next made her realize, it was not the brightest idea. The Phoenix grabbed her with an ease, before he crashed her into the earth and pinned her down. “Oh no,” Fluttershy said after watching the spectacle. It was too much for her to handle. She was about to fly in and help Philomena, but Twilight grabbed her by her tail and kept her in place. “Don't go Fluttershy! If we attack it, it might hurt Philomena!” Twilight shouted. “But we have to do something!” Fluttershy cried. “I know, but right now I want you to calm down. I know what I need to do,”Twilight said . Fluttershy nodded before she landed and focused her attention at both creatures. Twilight focused her magic and enveloped Philomena in her aura, before she teleported her out. Phoenix seeing this turned his attention towards them and jumped into the air and flew towards them. "Everypony spread out!" Twilight shouted. All the mares jumped in separate directions, except Rainbow Dash who charged Phoenix head on. She was about to ram him when it grabbed her and sent her flying towards Applejack. She crashed into her and both were sent tumbling on the ground. Seeing thi,s Twilight teleported her friends out before Phoenix could reach them. “Philomena!” Fluttershy shouted. "Oh no..." Twilight muttered as she watched Phoenix, which grabbed Philomena and then flew into Everfree forest. She helped her friends out, before they followed them “Let me go!” Philomena screeched. She was struggling with all her might, but it was no use. He was way too strong for her and there was no way she could defeat him. She finally gave up and just glared at him. “Why, why are you protecting that equine? What does she mean to you?” Phoenix asked, while gently flying through the forest. “She is my friend and this is why I will not let you hurt her again!” She yelled. “I see. Well then, allow me to ask you one question. Why does that white equine control our brother sun?” Phoenix questioned. “Our brother sun? Wait what? Sun isn't a living creature, It is just an object in space. Where did that even come from?” She answered, surprise evident in her voice. “Wait a second. You mean that... Oh. I get it now, we aren't from the same kind. That explains most of the things you said. Still, it makes things easier,” Phoenix said as he rose Philomena using one of his claws and made her look into his face. “Now I want you to tell me at least one reason why I shouldn't kill so called Celestia?” “Because It wouldn't change anything," She tried, her voice shaky. “Explain it right now!” Phoenix squeezed her throat. “Calm Down! Look, I wll explain everything, but if you keep on behaving like this you will only make this worse,” She said, her breath coming in rasps. “So what do you suggest I should do?” He questioned, while lowering the pressure on her throat. “Let me go and I will meet you tomorrow at this battlefield in twenty-four hours then I will tell you everything I know,” Philomena said. “Seems like a good idea. However, let me warn you. If you do not come, I will kill your beloved Celestia. Do I make myself clear?” Phoenix pushed his talons down harder to prove his point. The leaves around him catching on fire. “Yes, yes I promise I will come!” Philomena babbled, her eyes darting back and forth for an escape. “Well then I bid you farewell for now,” Phoenix said, before he let her go, spread out his wings and flew to outerspace. “What has just happened?” Twilight asked as she stared dumbfound. “I wish I knew Twilight Sparkle, I wish I knew...” said Princess Luna and started putting out all the fires. Author's Note YAY CHAPTER FINALY FINISHED! It took way longer than I thought. I suppose I am not the best combat writer, but whatever. I hope you are enjoying it so far, because I feel really happy myself. It is certainly better than my previous story. Now before I go I want to ask you a question. What sort of categories and characters should I add? Dark? Comedy or maybe gasp romance? HEhehe, kidding on the last one. Still, please give me a sign, because it seems to me that it deserves more than a crossover? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5I6MtqMewY THIS IS HOW SUPERNOWA WOULD WORK! And special thanks to Europa for pointing out all the errors. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 Phoenix watched the equines' planet while staying in the outer space. He could clearly see that not only equines were attending to their own business. There were also Gryphons, some weird Minotaurs and even some dogs that could drill underground. All of them living unaware of how close they were to their demise. He sighed. Why do they even control the sun? What would happen if they didn't? I wish I knew... The next few hours he spent waiting for the night. Once it arrived he focused his sight on the same castle which he had attacked. There he spotted the same blue equine standing on top of a different tower. Her horn started to glow before both the Sun and the Moon changed their positions. He watched the entire spectacle with disgust, but he didn't move an inch. So she can control both objects just like Celestia. Well at least that confirms my suspicions. He kept on watching the blue female as she took care of all the nightmares that plagued the equines. Just like the previous night she stopped at a house, her horn shone then an aura enveloped the pony's head, and after a few seconds it became peaceful again. The night passed rather quickly and then another day begun. Phoenix quickly folded his wings and dove towards the ground. It didn't take long until he arrived at his destination. The battlefield hadn't changed a bit. Scorched earth, trees burnt down to ashes and the overwhelming atmosphere of death. He pitied all the trees that were destroyed during the fight, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't associated with trees like Treant Protector or Nature's Prophet and he couldn't grow plants out of nothing. He shook his head and waited. After a couple of minutes he could hear flapping of the wings and he could see that female phoenix coming towards him all by herself. She looked angry, but she didn't say anything and just landed in front of him. “So you came?” He asked. “It is not like I had a choice,” Philomena growled . “That is true. Now please explain me why do these equines control both the moon and the sun?” He demanded, his sight focused on the other phoenix. “Well you probably know that most of the time planets circle around the suns not the other way around. It used to be the same in Equis case, but unfortunately it caused too much pain and suffering. You see Equis almost doesn't spin around its own axis. If it kept circling like this, this world would be in great imbalance. Imagine an eternal night covering one region for a quarter of a year. Living in such conditions would lead to conflicts and fighting over limited resources. In order to prevent that many unicorns gathered and using their united power they moved the sun and the moon allowing all the creatures to live on their own. Later on, this ritual was taken over by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. And this is how it is,“ Philomena answered, while taking a deep breath. Hopefully it was enough to convince him not to kill Celestia or anyone else for that matter. She couldn't tell if he was frowning or not, mostly because he lacked both eyes and even a real face for that matter. Then of out blue he turned his attention towards her and snapped, “I see, but couldn't they, I don't know, spin the planet instead?!” Philomena staggered a bit from the outburst, but she regained her footing and said, “No they couldn't. Don't ask me why because I don't know the details myself. From what I know something prevents Princess Celestia and others from spinning it around its own axis.” “Okay I understand it, but that brings me another question. If that Celestia can move an entire sun, all by herself then how come did she lose to me so easily?” Phoenix asked. This was something that bothered him a lot, he was quite certain that they fight, would be much more equal and that he might lose. Someone who can control the sun, should not be underestimated. “Well I want to blame cake for that," Philomena said while Phoenix just quirked his head in confusion, "but honestly I suppose that over the years and lack of any real threat Celestia became lazy and subsided her training. I also, do not think that moving a sun requires too much energy, in Equis case. Now I think I deserve some answers myself. Who or maybe what in the name of Celestia are you?” “My name is Phoenix and I am a star,” Phoenix saidcasually like it was nothing. “I don't think by a star you mean a rock star, right?” She asked and rolled her eyes. “Correct, by the star I mean the same type of star that your princess raises and lowers each day,” Phoenix explained. “Wait, you are kidding right? I can understand you aren't like me or any other phoenix, but a star? I can't believe it,” Philomena exclaimed, while blinking her eyes. She took a step back as the realization hit her. “Then you should. In any case I would like to thank you for your cooperation. Oh and please tell your Princess that I am sorry...” Phoenix said, before he spread out his wings and flew away into the outer space. “No wait! I've got more questions!” Philomena shouted but he was already gone. She sighed, spread out her wings and flew back to Canterlot Castle and Celestia. She was located in southern wing of the castle surrounded by guards and protected by a barrier. It was huge, covering the entire structure like a bubble its color blazing blue. It was a powerful magic allowing to pass through only those who were marked with a special spell. Only a handful of ponies could come close to Celestia, including Luna and her. Guards on the other hand were stationed outside of the barrier. She passed through the it and then through the window before she landed on Celestia's bed. There she was lying in a white bed, covered in bandages. She slept peacefully while the doctor monitored her condition. Philomena was really mad at that phoenix for what he had done but hopefully he would leave Celestia alone. She came closer and nuzzled her master, before Princess Luna came in. She came closer to Celestia's side and grabbed her hoof before she turned her attention towards the doctor. “Is she going to be alright?” Princess Luna asked. “Princess Celestia has taken severe injuries but she should be alright. A couple broken ribs and bones, some nasty cuts but above everything else those burns. I have seen my own share of things through my whole life but only a couple of times to such a degree. Still, we are doing everything we can but it is going to take a while before she fully recovers, your majesty,” The doctor answered. He then took a glance at Philomena, but shrugged it off. “I see, “ Luna said while turning towards a doctor. “Could you leave for a second, I would like to be with my sister alone.” The doctor nodded and left the room. Princess Luna sighed and stood next to her sister. She shook her head and said, ”This is all my fault sister, if we had caught that phoenix before, none of this would have happened. I will do everything I can to stop it.” She kissed her sister on the cheek, then she opened the door and left the room. Once she was outside she turned towards the doctor. “There are a couple of things I need to take care of so I am leaving everything to you doctor.” The doctor nodded before Luna teleported out to the throne room. She quickly summoned a few scribes and gave them instructions. They quickly wrote them down before they left the room. Luna sighed. I just hope that cursed Phoenix doesn't show up anytime soon. *** “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”Phoenix screeched as he proceeded to bash his head against an asteroid ten times larger than him. He could feel pain coming from his core even though there was no wound there. The amount of heat it was releasing was enough to melt the asteroid. After a couple of minutes he finally relaxed a bit. He regretted attacking that pony now that he knew why they control the sun. “I am a prime example of carelessness, stupidity and violence. Just... Gargh!” Phoenix screeched. He sighed. He had to calm down. He imagined a surface of the sun and soon he could think clearly once more. I have to make it up to them and I have do something big, that would prove that I am not their enemy. I can't really heal Celestia, because she is most likely surrounded with guards and others. If I tried to break in I would probably cause even more harm. So what should I do now? Phoenix took a look at Equis. Maybe if he waited long enough they would forget about it, but it just didn't feel right. He had to do something, something heroic that would prove that he is not an enemy otherwise he would never forgive himself for hurting an innocent creature. He pondered the idea for a few seconds, before he came to conclusion that it wouldn't be a bad idea to help them instead of fighting them. He focused his sight on the planet and started watching it. Just after a few hours he was bored beyond belief. Nothing exciting has ever happened regarding the ponies. No hurricanes, no earthquakes, not even a flood, literally nothing. He was waiting for a miracle to happen while griffons and minotaurs were constantly in some dangerous situations. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he found his golden egg. It was a big passenger ship heading towards an iceberg. Seeing this Phoenix smiled, folded his wings and dove towards it. He stopped a few kilometers above and started watching the spectacle. The sun was shining, the sky was cloudless and there was almost no wind. Initially the ship was swimming towards the iceberg before it started to change its course while it was just several meters away. Technically he could go in and just melt the ice before it hit the ship, but it wouldn't be nearly as heroic as saving the entire ship. In the meantime the ship collided with the iceberg. The sounds of metal being torn to shreds and screams of ponies were heard at the same time. A few big chunks of ice fell down on the ship, shattering all over it before the ship started to sail away. Phoenix spotted a huge gash on its left front side. A lot of water was flowing into it tremendously fast, there was no time to waste. Phoenix quickly flapped his wings and flew towards the ship. He flew to its left side, while being watched by a single unicorn equine before he dove into the water. The steam instantly appeared before he grabbed the ship's hull and inspected the damage. The gash was about five meters long and a meter wide, big enough for him to pass through. He made his way inside before he got down to work. Piece by piece he pushed all that bent metal back to its primary place before he started to welding the whole thing together. The water boiled up as soon as he sent part of his power through his beak to repair the damage. He was working fast while trying to get this done as fast as he possibly could and in about a minute he finished the entire thing. It didn't look pretty but at least the ship shouldn't sink right away. Now he had to get rid of all that water. He weighed his options before he decided that boiling it would be safest although he still had to be careful not to melt the entire thing or shatter it from a sudden change of temperature. Using his weaker version of his solar beam he started to cut a hole right above him. *** Captain Peterson watched as the iceberg hit the ship and tore its insides. He could feel the entire ship vibrating from the impact before it started to swim away. However It was too late the damage has already been caused. The alarm was ringing, while ponies were screaming and frantically running to gather all their personal belongings. He quickly made his way towards the front of the ship and watched in horror as gallons of water flowed into his beauty. Of all the places to have both control failure and engine failure you had to be really unlucky for something like this to happen. He was about to leave when suddenly he noticed a shape coming closer and closer. He focused his sight on it and soon he was able to recognize a creature. It was a phoenix and it was flying towards him. Then it dove into the water right were the ship was hit. He grabbed the railing and took a look at water. He caught a glimpse of red before it disappeared. It bothered him tremendously but he had no time to think about it so he grabbed the nearest crew member and ordered him to keep an eye out on the gash. Once he did that he focused his mind on the passengers and rushed to his crew. He hoped everything was going alright. The ponies were pushing each other trying to get to the safety boats as soon as possible. Luckily his crew was managing the situation but he still decided to give them a helping hoof. Then out of nowhere a bright light shone from the front of the ship where he had just been. Peterson spun around turning his attention towards the source of the light. His eyed widened as he noticed a beam of energy cutting through his ship. “What the hay is going on?!” asked the Captain as he continued watching the spectacle. *** The first wheel of steel fell right in front of the Phoenix causing a splash before it sunk to the bottom of the room. The water filled almost the entire room leaving his head just a few centimeters away from the hole. He quickly passed through it and took a look around. It seemed like he was in some sort of room meant for storing all sorts of frozen food. It was quite cold but nowhere near unbearable and he started cutting through another layer of metal. Two layers later he finally reached fresh air. Now what he had to is to boil all that water. He jumped into in and started to warm it up. He had to be careful though, if he used too much energy too quickly he could crack or even melt the metal. He could feel his temperature rising while his core was releasing waves of warmth into the water. Little by little the water was heating up. Five minutes later it was already boiling. For the next next twenty minutes he kept on delivering the heat and watched as the salt crystallized while the water level dropped. After a few minutes he was finished leaving only a small puddle on the floor. He sighed with relief before he spread out his wings and flew into the air. He stopped increasing his altitude once he could clearly see entire ship. It wasn't sinking anymore but the ponies were still panicking and a few lifeboats were about to be lowered, although some of the passengers were looking at him. However the most important fact was that there wasn't any smoke coming from the chimney so he assumed it could not move on its own. It seemed like he had to bring the entire ship to safety. Phoenix flapped his wings and moved to the back of the ship. There he pushed his head against the metal and started to push the ship. The ship jerked for a second before it started to swim. Little by little it gained speed, while it changed its course towards the small waves. Phoenix didn't know who did that but he was grateful. It made his job much easier. Phoenix smiled. At least for once something is coming together. *** Everypony stopped moving and started to watch the phenomenon, their eyes wide open. There was a beam of light cutting through the ship's hull right in front of them. Suddenly it started to make a circle. Once it finished a loud bang was heard just before the beam stopped. Nobody knew what was going on, but they were too afraid to find out. After a few minutes of nothing happening they started to get anxious before they noticed steam coming out, where the beam had just been. “Fire!” somepony yelled and everypony started panicking once more. Most the passengers were too busy to notice a phoenix flying out of the ship, which then flew to the back of the ship. Those that did just stared in awe just like Captain Peterson who watched as the majestic bird came closer and he could take a better look at it. It was truly beautiful and he could feel power radiating from it. Then if flew to the stern of the ship and started to push it. With just a couple of flaps the ship started to move. “Incredible... wait a second I have got an idea!” The captain said to his crew, before he teleported back to the deck and took a look at measuring instruments. Just as he thought, the water level stopped increasing and it back at zero. He quickly grabbed the steering wheel and spun it around before the ship started to change its course. They were now coming towards the waves preventing the ship from capsizing. He grabbed a magical microphone and said, “Dear passengers please remain calm and return to your cabins. Everything is now under control.” The ponies were still a little bit nervous but they returned back to their cabins. In the meantime he sent a part of the crew members to inspect what happened. A few minutes later they returned with their snouts wrinkled in confusion, while some were staring off into distance. The Bosun said, “I don't know how that's even possible but there is no gash. That phoenix has somehow repaired all the damage. It is not a perfect job but the ship should be able to make it back to the port.” “Wait, do you mean that this phoenix has welded the entire gash?” The captain questioned, his eyes narrowed. “I suppose so, sir. This phoenix seems to be friendly enough but we should still be careful,” The Bosun answered. “I understand. In that case we should use this opportunity and repair the engine. Keep everypony calm and happy while I try to communicate with the creature,” Captain ordered and began to make his way. “Sir yes sir!” The sailors replied, before they went back to work. Captain Peterson set the course before he teleported out to the back of the ship. He grabbed the railing and took a look at the phoenix. It was flapping its majestic wings, pushing the entire ship all by itself. It was really impressive and a little bit scary at the same time. Captain coughed and then the creature spun its head. It had no eyes but somehow Peterson could feel it was fully aware of everything happening around it. It made him shiver but he calmed down. “I would like to thank you for saving my ship, my crew and my passengers. We are truly grateful,“ The captain said and bowed his head. “I have no idea what you just said but judging by the bow I suppose that you mean not to harm me. If that is the case, then keep that up and you will be back home in no time,” Phoenix screeched before he got back to his job. Captain Peterson didn't know what to think about this response so he decided to let it go and returned to the deck. A few hours later the ship was still a far cry away from the port, but they were getting closer and closer each second. Judging by the pace the ship is traveling, it should arrive at the port around noon. Hopefully nothing bad will happen along the way. Somehow the ship was fairly fortunate and the night passed in tranquility. However, while Phoenix wasn't tired at all by this sort of thing it certainly was one tedious job. Scratch that it was so damn boring that he summoned a few fireballs and started to shape them into multiple different things like heroes he had met before. Most of the ilusions constisted of Enchantress and Keeper of the Light, although once or twice he shaped Terrorblade's metamorphosis and even Viper. Unfortunately it didn't last long until he got tired of it too. He sighed, let the ship go for a second and took a look around. “Nothing dangerous around and the port is just a few hundred kilometers away! Finally!” Phoenix screeched and started pushing even harder, the waves kept hitting the ship but were too weak to reach the outer deck. In just a couple of hours the ship reached the port's outskirts. Suddenly he could hear the engine starting and noticed it could go on it's own. He sighed with relief before he took off into the air. The ponies currently standing on the deck were waving their hooves and embracing each other, smiles on their faces. He didn't know why but he could feel different type of warmth circling in his core, something he hadn't felt for a while. He was about to leave when he noticed the Captain and his crew who were looking in his direction. Then the captain took off his hat and saluted, the rest of the crew copying him. Seeing this Phoenix smiled, bowed his head and flew away. Author's Note That took so freaking long! Why does it always take so much to write a single chapter? Ech.. Nevermind. In any case I hope you like this chapter. It is kind of slow and stuff but I have to make Phoenix understand all the trouble he caused in a good manner. Still that one is finished before the end of the year and hopefully the next chapter will come before the end of January. Until then I hope to see you again. But before that... SECOND DISLIKE!!! Chlip... I wish I knew why though Ps: I couldn't develop Phoenix and Philomena ship because it just wouldn't work. Maybe something will happen between them but I doubt it is going to be a passionate love. (I don't know myself what will I write) PPS: This fiction wouldn't be nearly as good without Europa's help and you should definitely check his fictions. They are really good. //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter 6 //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter 6 “How are you feeling, sister?” Luna asked. She currently stood by the white bed, where Celestia laid. She was still covered in bandages but at least she was conscious. “I have been better. More importantly, can you tell me what exactly happened after you struck me with a lighting bolt?” Celestia asked and watched Luna's pained expression. She didn't hold any grudge for it but Luna was still disappointed with herself. Luna shook her head and said, “After you fainted, we teleported you to our tower and then we engaged that phoenix in combat. It seemed upset after it had noticed that you were gone, so it attacked us instead. Sister that creature is one of the strongest foes we have ever battled. It shrugged off our lightening bolt, survived being soaked in cold water and defeated squadron of our finest guards in mere seconds. Those are astonishing feats by themselves but the creature was strong to fight the Elements of Harmony and overpower them!” “Wait a second. What do you mean by that? Did it resist the attack?” Celestia asked. She was getting really worried. How could that phoenix fight the Elements of Harmony and even stand its ground? Then again, it has defeated her, but the Elements too? “It didn't exactly take the blow, instead it countered the elements with … we don't even know what it was. This spell looked like a beam similar to yours sister but much stronger and more dangerous. It was strong enough to overpower the elements, put the trees on fire and even melt the ground!” Luna exclaimed as she looked at Celestia. The look of utter shock and disbelief was written all over her face. Celestia bit her lip and tried to comprehend all the information. “If that phoenix is strong enough to defeat the Elements of Harmony, then we have to capture it as soon as possible. You need to make an announcement, Luna. If anyone sees that creature, then they need to report it immediately. Hopefully we will find it before it hurts anyone else,” Celestia ordered, her eyes narrowed. *** “I saved the ponies, saved the ponies. Hell yeah!” Phoenix screeched happily as he soared in the sky. With this I should be able to redeem myself at least partially. Although one more good deed wouldn't hurt, right? If I remember correctly, there was a village near to the battlefield. If I helped some ponies around there then it would boost my chances of getting friendly with them. He flapped his wings and flew towards the village. A few minutes later he was already there. All the ponies living there attended their own business instead of hiding in their houses and that was definitely a good sign. He focused his sight and noticed an equine he had met before. She wore the same stetson as the last time and she was selling apples with a smile on her face. Well hell, her presence in the village means that other ponies are not far away. If I showed up I would be attacked on sight and then they would use their crazy beam again. I would rather not tempt fate. He decided to stay in the air for the next few hours because sooner or later something bad was bound to happen, at least he hoped so. It didn't take long until he spotted a peculiar sight. Three little ponies walked to the same forest, where he had fought Celestia. That is not a bright idea. I'd better make sure nothing bad happens to them. He lowered both his core's temperature and the amount of light he was expelling. It certainly was an odd feeling even though he got used to it. It was like all the warmth and heat suddenly flushed into his core leaving rest of his body a bit chilling and a bit weaker. Still considering that he didn't burn everything in close proximity it was a good trade off. Phoenix sighed before he silently glided behind them. Once or twice they looked behind them, like they were aware of his presence. Fortunately they never bothered to look at the sky, which he was grateful for. When they entered the forest he followed them inside as he stayed out of sight but close enough to be able to interfere if something went wrong. One of the advantages of being a star, was his sight and hearing which allowed him to “see” even if he was somehow blinded. That and the ability to detect any type of heat even if it was very far away. The ponies were following a beaten path for a couple of minutes before he heard a quiet growl. Why I am not surprised? He heard paws hitting the ground and rattling of wood as the creatures that made them came closer. He silently took into the air and watched the ponies who were unaware of the danger. If I go in and safe them before those wolves or whatever they are arrive then they might think that I am dangerous and we can't have that happen, so let's see how it goes. The noise got louder before he heard a loud roar and a pack of monsters jumped onto the road. They resembled ordinary wolves except the fact they were completely made out of timber. They had sharp claws, viscous jaws and a desire to kill in their eyes. The ponies screamed, before they started running away with wolves on their tail. Phoenix wasted no time. He quickly took off and followed them as he stayed right behind the ponies. The wolves were surprised when they noticed him but they paid him no attention and focused on the prey in front of them. Suddenly one of the wolves jumped, jaw spread open, claws extended. It probably would have succeeded, if it weren't for Phoenix who grabbed the wolf in the mid air and tore him apart with his talons. Seeing this the wolves growled but they continued their chase nevertheless. After a minute or so the ponies escaped the forest and arrived at a small meadow before they suddenly stopped. There were even more of those monsters in front of them and no less behind them. They turned around expecting to see more of them. However, what they saw instead made their jaws drop to the ground. A huge Phoenix was hovering right in front of them, slowly flapping its wings. It was at least three times as tall as they were with its wingspan five times bigger than that of a Rainbow Dash. The ponies hugged each other uncertain what to do with a look of fear on their faces. Seeing this Phoenix could sense anger building up in his core. “How dare you attack them?!” He screeched before he landed right in front of the ponies and glared at the wolves. He could hear the other other wolves coming closer so he quickly set up a firewall circling him and the ponies, leaving only a small passage between him and the wolves in front of him. The ponies screamed as the fire raged but they didn't know it wouldn't hurt them unless he ordered it to do so. Phoenix continued watching the wolves as they gathered in front of him and then they they started to howl. One by one their bodies started to glow before they fell apart and formed into one giant wolf. It was huge, its' paws that were as big as he was and a single claws was about as big as half of his wing. It's head was at least twice bigger than him with a single tooth as big as he was. Not to mention that it was as long as a big whale. Phoenix sighed before he gathered all the flames that circled around him into a single fireball which he sent towards the monster. The monster swung its paw against the fireball with the intent of deflecting it . What it did not expect was the power of the attack. A huge inferno of flames twice the size of the claw burst out where the fireball hit, leaving only a scorched stump. The monster looked dumbfound at the remains of his limb before it turned towards Phoenix. There it noticed several more fireballs circling around the phoenix, all bigger than the first one. Seeing the wolf yelped in fear before it ran back into the forest. Phoenix sighed with relief before he absorbed all the fireballs, put out all the flames on his body and looked at the ponies right in front of him. They shivered in fear as they watched him. He didn't mean to hurt them so he decided to let them calm down and took a few steps back. They looked a bit surprised before they started talking among each other. I wonder what are they talking about? *** “What just happened?” Sweetie Belle asked. She was still a bit anxious though with her eyes spread wide open and limbs locked up around Apple Bloom's neck. “I don't know, Sweetie Belle but I think that this fellow isn't evil,” Apple Bloom said. “Of course he is not! He just beat that giant timber wolf in no time!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She stared at the phoenix with a smile on her face. “It's almost as cool as Rainbow Dash!” Hearing this Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other before they turned towards Scootaloo. “Okay then, let's assume that it's not evil. However, can we trust it?” Sweetie Belle asked. She still didn't trust that creature, especially after seeing its power. With just one attack it was capable of chasing off that timber wolf with ease. Of course, she wouldn't trust it just like that. “I really don't know, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom answered as she took a good look at the creature. It had two bracers attached to its legs and a white breastplate, protecting it. The breastplate had multiple items engraved in it. In the middle of it there was a golden cross like object with two red eyes sticking out. Then on the right side there was a weird ruby like shape shining brightly. On its left side there was a scythe like object. The last two items were directly below the cross. The first one resembled a sapphire while the other looked similar to a pipe. She had no idea why was it wearing so many items but it certainly struck her curiosity. “Does it really matter? Because it was really awesome! Hey do you think it will let us ride on its back?” Scootaloo asked. “I don't think it will...” Sweetie Belle answered but then the creature laid down on its armor, put out the flames all over its body and gestured them to hop on. Scootaloo squeaked from happiness before she hopped on the phoenix and found a comfortable spot. It was warm, cosy and she could grab its beautiful feathers. She looked at her friends and noticed that they were starring at her with surprised look on their faces. Then she remembered the girly sound she had made and flushed red. Scootaloo cleared her throat and said, ”Come on girls what are you waiting for?” Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom reluctantly climbed up and found a spot for themselves. Suddenly all the ponies felt a pull towards the Phoenix. They were about to ask what had happened when suddenly Phoenix spread out his wings and jumped into the air. They screamed in unison as they felt sudden change of pressure which lasted for several seconds. The Cutie Mark Crusaders slowly opened their eyes and took a look around. They gasped from the view before them. Ponyville was similar to a shape of a huge wheel, then right above it was Cloudsville although they were too far away to notice pegasi. Then there was Everfree forest below them two huge craters in the middle of it separated by a distance. They admired the scenery for a couple of seconds before Phoenix started to flap his wings and flew towards the town. I really don't like the idea of going into that town, mostly because those crazy ponies live there. However, I have to bring them back to safety otherwise this whole rescuing them wouldn't make a lot of sense. Ah damn it all! I don't care anymore. I will bring you back safe and sound even if I have to fight again! And with renewed determination he flew towards the village. *** Rainbow Dash loved flying more than everything else. She spent almost every part of her life either flying or practicing to become to the fastest flier in entire Equestria. However, every once in a while she appreciated taking a short nap during the day. All she had to do is to make that damn cloud comfortable enough. She already beat it up, all that was left to do was to find a cosy position. It didn't take long until she managed to do so and closed her eyes. She was on the edge of falling asleep when suddenly she heard a scream and immediately woke up. She frantically looked around and spotted the same phoenix which she had met before. What shocked her was the presence of Cutie Mark Crusaders on its back. She remembered how it had humiliated her last time and could feel burning, impulsive anger building up in her body, but above everything else the desire to save Scootaloo and the others. She took off into the air and flew behind the phoenix. The creature turned its head slightly before it screeched and sped up. “Oh you want to race?! Then let's see how good you are!” Rainbow Dash yelled before she quickened up her pace. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were unaware of her presence as they held on tight, their eyes closed. She gritted her teeth as she closed the distance. She was about to grab its tail when suddenly the phoenix dove towards the earth. She quickly followed it coming closer and closer until she was just a few inches away from it when suddenly the phoenix slowed down. Rainbow Dash barely avoided it and almost collided with it before she took a few turns and found herself in the midair. She took a look around and then noticed that the creature landed right in the middle of the Ponyville. Most of the ponies formed a circle around the creature before she landed in front of it and glared at the phoenix. The phoenix either didn't care or it didn't notice and just stood there with CMC on its back. Then Scootaloo raised her head and her eyes went wide. Somehow she was already in Ponyville, faster than she could possibly imagine. She was about to shake her friends when she noticed that they were as surprised as she was. Then suddenly the phoenix laid down and let them go. They didn't waste any time and climbed down before Scootaloo rushed to Rainbow Dash with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle next to her. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried as she hugged the pegasus. She returned the hug before she looked at the phoenix. It sat down and just watched them and didn't move an inch. It made her anxious but for now she focused her attention on Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Are you girls all right?” Rainbow Dash asked and inspected whether something happened to them. She didn't spot any wounds or bruises so she assumed they were safe and sound but that didn't make her any less angry towards the phoenix. “Yeah, yeah we are fine. That phoenix over there.” Scootaloo pointed her hoof at Phoenix. “It saved us from a big bad timberwolf! And then it brought us here,” Scootaloo answered before smiling. “Wait what? It saved you?“ Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes wide from the information. She was about to ask the details when she noticed her friends standing at the opposite side of the circle. “Apple Bloom!”Applejack said and ran towards her little sister. “Applejack!”Apple Bloom cried as she hugged her sister back. She was relieved to see her sister and her smile. In the meantime similar scene happened next to her as Sweetie Belle and Rarity embraced each other. Once everypony calmed down a bit they turned their attention towards the phoenix which sat there all that time. Suddenly Twilight spoke, ”Can somebody explain to me what is going on?” “That phoenix saved us from big bad timber wolf and brought us here,” Sweetie Belle answered. Hearing this ponies started to whisper among each other. Twilight on the other hoof bit her lip and thought deeply for a second before she came up with a plan. We cannot just attack it or tell what it has done to Princess Celestia otherwise we will cause fear and commotion. We have to take it somewhere else and communicate with it. I hope Fluttershy can do it. “Fluttershy,” Twilight said and the pegasus squeaked before she hid behind Pinkie Pie. Twilight sighed before she continued, ”Could you communicate somehow with that phoenix?” “I … um I guess I could try,” Fluttershy answered timidly before she slowly approached Phoenix. Its head following her all that time until she stopped right in front of it. She gulped and slowly raised her head and soon she could see its head. “Um... my name is Fluttershy and I am an animal caretaker. What is your name?” “Holy hell, I can understand you!” Phoenix screeched. He wanted to say something else but his sudden outburst must have startled the mare and she hid behind her hooves. He didn't mean to do that and did the first thing that came to his mind. He apologized, “I am sorry I didn't mean to scare you.” He was surprised himself that he did that but it seemed like it worked. She slowly stood up and smiled. It was one of the most caring and beautiful smiles he has ever seen and he couldn't help but smile himself although it looked like he just pouted. “My name is Phoenix and it is a pleasure meeting you.” “It is alright, it is nice to meet you too Phoenix,” Fluttershy said. “Pleasure is all mine. Now then can you understand everything I say?” He questioned. She shook her head and said, “Just simple things.” “I see. I would like to thank you for that, miss Fluttershy. And I would like to assure you that I mean no harm,” Phoenix said and begun waiting for a reaction. She titled her head and asked, “You mean to hurt us?” He could see fear in her eyes as she took a step back. “No, no, no you got it all wrong! I am not your enemy... “Phoenix answered . He really messed that up, again. She looked at him with those puppy eyes and he didn't know why but it felt like he was about to hit Enchantress which was one of the worst things he has ever experienced. Luckily he managed to control himself and sighed. If I knew these ponies could be so damn cute I wouldn't let my guard down. In any case let's hope that she was able to understand what I had just said to her. In the meantime Fluttershy turned towards her friends and said, “Um... he says that he is not an enemy.” “Yeah right,” Rainbow Dash said to express her skepticism. “But why then did it att... umf,” Applejack said before Rarity pushed her hoof into Applejack's mouth. “I think questions can wait darling,” Rarity said and Applejack nodded before she continued, ”Twilight darling, do you think we could invite our guest here to your library? From what I have heard it should be more or less fireproof, isn't that right?” “Well I guess you are right, Rarity,” Twilight admiited, while taking a look at a Phoenix. He certainly is bigger than Big Macintosh and a bit wider but he should be able to pass through the door rather easily. “However first of all, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle I want you to go home right now.” “But, but … Twilight! We can get our Cutie Marks if we stay with it!” Scootaloo cried. “No buts! I can understand your intentions but for now let us take care of this. We will let you meet it soon enough and then you will tell us the entire story,” Twilight said and teleported the ponies to their club house. “Okay then Fluttershy please tell him to follow us. We will bring him to the library,” Twilight said. Fluttershy nodded before she turned her head towards the phoenix and said, ”Umm... Could you follow us to the library?” Phoenix nodded and then Fluttershy smiled before she nodded towards her friends. “Okay then let's head out to the library,” Twilight Sparkle said before they started walking towards the building with Phoenix following them. The crowd watched the entire spectacle for a few minutes but soon enough ponies returned back to their business. As Twilight and her friends walked Phoenix couldn't help but notice the tension surrounding him. He wasn't surprised though. After all the trouble he caused it was only natural to be afraid of him. Well I just hope that I can explain everything and with a stroke of luck they will forgive me. After a couple of minutes of walking they have finally arrived at their destination. It was a huge tree with several windows and doors big enough for him to pass through. Once they were inside he noticed a small purple like creature with scales. It was similar to a dragon in ways but unlike Jakiro or even Dragon Knight. “Hey Twilight, who is it?” Spike asked as he took a look at the phoenix. Twilight didn't answer and instead she locked the door, summoned her quill and notepad before she circled the creature and stopped right in front of it. “His name is Phoenix and he is the one responsible for the recent trouble. Now then please listen everypony,” Twilight said and all of her friends turned their heads towards her, “I am going to cast a universal translation spell that will allow us to understand him. However the spell takes more energy if there are multiple users so we need to be fast and precise. Is that clear? “ The ponies nodded in unison before Applejack raised her hoof and asked, “I have got a question Twilight. What are we going to ask it about?” “Well most importantly we need to know why it attacked Princess Celestia. After that we will see,” Twilight answered and focused her magic. Her horn started to glow before she casted her spell. A big sphere similar to that of a bubble appeared right in the middle of the room spreading over everyone. Once it finished expanding Twilight asked, “Can you understand me?” Phoenix turned his head towards source of the voice. He could somehow understand her, most likely due to that sphere. It surely made his life easier. “Yes I can understand you,” Phoenix answered. However instead of a voice he could hear himself screeching. What the …? Why didn't it work? “Did anypony understand what he had just said?” Twilight asked as she looked at her friends who shook their heads. Why didn't my spell work? She looked at the phoenix and repeated her question. Her eyes went wide when she noticed that the creature nodded its head. “Did you just nod?” Phoenix repeated the gesture and Twilight squealed in glee. She was worried for a second there. She turned off the spell before she turned her attention towards her friends and said, ”It looks like that he can understand us but it doesn’t work the other way around. So that means we can only ask questions that can be answered by simple “yes” and “no”. Now that we know that, could you do something for me Applejack?” "Sure Twilight. What do ya need?” The farmer asked. “Can you give us a sign whenever Phoenix tells a lie?” Twilight asked. “I guess I can but don't cha think it would be insulting? He did save Apple Bloom and others,” She questioned. “I know that but we need to absolutely certain that it means no harm. Otherwise it might turn out to be nothing more than an act. Okay then, is everypony ready?” All the other mares nodded their heads in unison before Twilight renewed her spell. “Okay then, Mr. Phoenix I am going to ask you a couple of questions and I would like you to nod or shake your head depending on the question. Is that alright with you?” Phoenix nodded, Twilight took a deep breath and asked, “Did you attack Princess Celestia with the intent of harming her?” Once again Phoenix nodded. Twilight bit her lip before she wrote down the answer in her notepad. In the meantime her friends glanced at each other and the dialogue continued. “Did Princess Celestia harm you in any sort of way?” Phoenix wanted to nod but it wasn't entirely true, so he shook his head instead. He could see all the ponies staring at him. It seemed like he had confused them with his answer. Hopefully next question will clear everything up. “Okay then another question. Do you intend to harm anypony else?” asked Twilight and watched as Phoenix shook his head energetically. She was confused. Why did he attack Princess Celestia if she didn't harm him? And why he doesn't want to hurt anypony else? It makes no sense, unless... “Did Princess Celestia hurt any of your kind?” This time Phoenix nodded. Twilight looked at Applejack but she shook her head which meant that the creature didn't lie even once. She had a hard time believing the fact that the Princess would hurt one of the phoenixes. Why would she do so in the first place? I have to ask her about this. She turned off her spell, looked at her friends and asked, “So what do we do now? We can't really threaten him so any ideas?” “Who cares? Let's just beat it up and bring it to Princess Celestia,” Rainbow Dash said as she punched the air. “Last time you fought him he was able to to beat you in mere seconds and don't tell me you let him do that because I know for certain that you never hold back. Now then are there any other ideas?” Twilight said while Rainbow Dash flushed red before she crossed her front hooves. “I know, I know. Let's throw him a “Welcome to Equestria, please don't burn us!” party!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully as she bounced off from the floor. “Oh Pinkie...” Everyone said in the unison. Hearing all that commotion Phoenix wondered whether it was a good idea to come here. Sure I can run away but what is the point? It is not like they can threaten me even with that crazy beam. Sure it is powerful but it takes way to long to prepare and this time I know exactly what to expect. “Um... maybe we could teach him how to communicate with us, Twilight?” Fluttershy proposed. “That is ... a great idea, Fluttershy! I can't believe I didn't think of it in the first place,” Twilight admitted and both mares smiled. She could feel that she she used a bit of her magic and broke a sweat so she whipped it with her hoof and turned towards her friends. “Okay then, I think it is settled for now. I can't really use this spell for long periods of time with so many ponies.” “I have to agree with you, darling. It is time to call it a day and get back home. I have got several new designs in my mind and I would like to see them in real. Besides I would like to know what exactly happened in Everfree forest so I hope you don't mind Twilight,” Rarity said. She didn't like the creature yet but it certainly was unique and struck her imagination. “It is okay, Rarity. I think I can handle it myself,” Twilight answered. Soon all the mares bid their farewell before they departed leaving Twilight, Spike and Phoenix all by themselves. Then Twilight sighed and turned towards Phoenix with a grin on her face. Phoenix didn't know why but suddenly he felt an urge to run away from that mare. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that I am going to regret this. Author's Note THAT TOOK SO DAMN LONG! I really wish I could just write a chapter every week but I just can't because there are too many things to deal with. In any case I hope you like it so far and if you spot any errors please give me a sign. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7 There was a knock on the door before they swung open and the unicorn with a white coat came in. He was holding a newspaper as he turned towards the princess and said, "Good morning, Princess Celestia. How are you feeling today?" "I feel much better than yesterday, thank you for your concern doctor Hooves," Celestia answered. Hearing her answer, he smiled and took a look at the instruments. Everything was working just fine so he didn't need to worry, at least for now. Then he turned towards princess as he unfolded the newspaper. "Your majesty, May I suggest reading this newspaper? I found an interesting article about a particular phoenix that might interest you." Celestia nodded and was about to levitate the newspaper to herself when suddenly Luna teleported inside, startling both of them. The newspaper hit the ground as the princess of the night turned towards Celestia and asked, "Sister, did you read today's newspaper?" "I was about to do that before you came in," Celestia answered and smiled. She was really happy to have Luna back, although sometimes she tended to overreact. Hearing her answer Luna flushed red before she opened the newspaper and levitated it to Celestia. Celestia's horn shone brightly as she grabbed it and started reading. With each line her eyes were getting wider and wider until she finally reached the photo. The photo showed the same phoenix that had attacked her before and the ship it rescued. For a few seconds she just stared at it before she folded the newspaper and turned towards the doctor. "Could you leave us alone for a few seconds, doctor? I need to discuss a couple of things of a royal matter." "Yes, your majesty," the doctor answered before he left the room. At the same time Celestia turned towards Luna and asked, "Is this confirmed?" "Unfortunately yes, sister. We have investigated this accident earlier this morning and all the passengers spoke the same thing. That they were rescued by the phoenix which then flew away. What do you think it means, sister?" Luna asked. "I am not certain. All I know is that this creature is different than I initially thought. On one hoof it attacked and tried to kill me but then on the other hoof it rescued my loyal subjects. Why would it do that? Unless... It's a trap to lure me out," Celestia answered as she thought deeply. "Hmm... it certainly is a possibility. We need to be cautious for now. We won't rest until we capture that phoenix!" Luna said in the Royal Canterlot Voice before she teleported out. Celestia sighed as she looked at the article again."What is it up to?" *** I immediately regret my decision! For the last few hours Phoenix studied with Twilight Sparkle learning the basics of their language. It wouldn't be that bad, if said unicorn did not try to ask about pretty much everything. Luckily for him, he couldn't speak yet, so he could not answer her questions even if he wanted. Fortunately enough she gave up after he had ignored her twentieth attempt. Still he had to admit it was surely refreshing to study something that was not connected to killing others. "And this is how you write in past simple, do you understand?" Phoenix nodded as he stored all that valuable knowledge in his core. Their letters are unlike anything I have ever seen so far, but it seems like I am getting better at this. Twilight smiled as she watched her guest. It was hard early on when she tried teaching him but she enjoyed this activity a lot. It reminded her of her studies with Princess Celestia. Then the phoenix summoned a flame that enveloped one of her quills before it rose into the air and wrote down the letters on a single scroll. When he showed her this ability the first time she almost screamed and tried to put it down. After that incident she understood how it worked more or less. It was similar to wool in touch and it did not burn anything yet no matter how flammable the object was. She took a look around and noticed that it was already dark. She glanced at the clock which showed that it was half past eleven. Her stomach rumbled as she blushed furiously before she said, "I'm going to take a shower and get something to eat. Would you like something yourself?" Phoenix shook his head and continued writing all the letters again along with the words he has learned so far. Twilight turned off her spell that surrounded both of them in close proximity. It made her stagger a bit before she went to her bathroom, took a quick shower with warm water that made her moan a little before she went to the kitchen. There she ate some juicy apples, drank some tea and returned to her guest before she summoned the translation bubble once more. "Phoenix?" He turned his head towards her. "Let's call it a day. We have made an excellent progress and if we force ourselves through the night we won't achieve anything. So I'm going to sleep. If you need anything I will be upstairs, okay?" He nodded before the bubble disappeared. The sudden shook made Twilight a bit wobbly but she regained her composure. She was about to go when suddenly Phoenix made her squeak from the surprise as he lifted her using his flames before he put Twilight on his back and went upstairs. Twilight was definitely all red on her face as he laid her softly on the bed and covered her with a sheet. Twilight smiled and said, "Thank you, Phoenix". He did not answer, instead he simply nodded and went downstairs. She felt really tired and it didn't take long before she fell asleep. In the meantime Phoenix sat down next to the table and opened another book using his flames. He started reading but his mind was busy on the other matters as he thought about everything that had happened. It seems like I'm finally getting somewhere but at the same time I have caused too much trouble to be able to fly around unnoticed. Sure I have helped those ponies but their princess is still probably quite mad. I wonder ... what should I do now? It took him just a couple of minutes before he came up with a perfect solution to his problem. Smiling, he closed the book, opened the door, went outside, made sure nobody was watching, spread out his wings and flew to the Everfree forest. There he landed on the battlefield and calmed himself down. He took a deep breath before everything started. Slowly but surely multiple flames started to envelop his entire body, covering every little part of it. The air temperature began to increase, causing the surrounding area to shimmer from the heat. He gritted his beak as he prepared for the inevitable. Seconds later a wave of pain passed through his body. The flames were shining brightly as his body changed its shape. He could feel his claws disappearing as they were being replaced with hooves, his beak with a pony's head and so on, until it finally finished. Where once stood a huge flaming fire bird now stood a pegasus pony in its place. He had grey draconic eyes, huge feathered wings colored red and orange, a tail similar to that of a lion and a fiery fur and mane that seemed like it could be set on fire any moment. He also had a pair of brown bracers attached to his hind legs and the white breastplate that changed its size to suit that of his user. Phoenix had no idea how this worked but he appreciated that fact nevertheless. Another benefit of participating in battle of the ancients. Although I always wonder how the hell all the items stay on you when you get turned into a sheep? It took him a couple of seconds to catch his breath before he looked at his body. He was impressed that it worked so well but he had to make sure that it didn't hinder him in any way. He spread out his wings, jumped into the air and started his maneuvers. After a couple of rounds he was fairly certain that this body didn't limit him at all. In fact an additional pair of limbs could be useful. Phoenix smiled before he landed on the ground and started walking towards the Ponyville. He needed some fresh air and besides the night was beautiful. The silence around him was a nice change of pace. After a couple of minutes he finally arrived at the edge of the town. He was about to go to the library but then he noticed the same blue equine he had fought earlier. What is she doing here? Oh yeah, she is probably manipulating the dreams or something. Phoenix compelled the thought as he watched the princess. It could be dangerous if she realized who he was, especially if she noticed him with his armor. Then again meeting with her was inevitable. The sooner he got over it, the better it would be and that way he wouldn't risk Twilight and others. Phoenix made up his mind, took off his armor, hid it in the barrel behind one of the houses and started walking towards the town's square. It didn't take long until the mare noticed him. He knew she was watching him but made absolutely nothing to make her realize that fact. What he did not expect was the invisibility. He could still hear her hair waving, her heart beating and her face frowning, not to mention she emitted heat making it easy to find her even when she landed in a dark alley on his left. Once he passed her, she started following him silently. After a couple of minutes he reached the town's square and stopped with the princess mimicking him. Then he sighed, smiled, sat down and started watching the sky. It had to look weird. A lone stallion, sitting on a dirt, in the middle of the night, starring at the stars. I could have came up with something better now that I think about it. Whatever, what is done is done. He sat there silently and the only indicator that he was still alive was his slightly moving chest. A couple of minutes later the princess finally decided to act. She turned off her invisibility, cleared her throat and asked, “Who are thou and what are thou doing here so late?” Phoenix turned his head around and then he immediately got up and stared surprised at the princess of the night. He then opened his mouth but nothing came out. He then shook his head as he pointed at his throat. “Can't thou speak?” Luna asked as she cocked her eyebrows. Her eyes widened when she noticed that the stallion nodded. She then bit her lip and said, “We are sorry, we didn't mean to offend you.” Phoenix smiled and nodded. Seeing this Luna smiled herself as she took step forward and asked, “Thou can write, isn't that right?” Once again Phoenix nodded and then the princess of the night summoned a quill and a parchment before she levitated them in front of the phoenix. She pointed the tools and said, “Please use this tools and answer our questions. What are thou doing here at such time?” Phoenix sat down, grabbed the quill and the parchment and wrote down, “It is a beautiful night and I wanted to see it.” The princess looked a bit surprised by the simplicity of the reason and the terrible style of writing but she didn't show it in the slightest. I don't know who that pony is but I have never seen anyone like him. Could he be somehow connected to that phoenix? And why is he as tall as I am? She bit her lip as she pondered her questions. Then again that phoenix also wore an armor and the stallion in front of her had nothing like this. She shook her head as she glanced at the stallion and asked, “What is thine name?” Well shit. I completely forgot that she might ask about such a trivial thing like a name. Think Phoenix think what is a name that you can use? Hmmm…. I got it! Phoenix grabbed the quill a bit tighter as he wrote down, “My name is Xin.” Luna raised her eyebrow as she read the letter before she said,”That is a unique name, Xin. Did your parents give to you?” “My parents left me for my own many years ago,” Phoenix wrote as he glanced at the princess. She seemed surprised to say the least as she took in all that information. She took a look at the stallion who seemed unfazed by the answer. It was like it didn't bother him at all. Still it made her feel bad. Then she bit her lip and said, “We are sorry, again. We hope thou don't mind our questions.” Phoenix shook his head as he wrote down, “It is okay. However, may I ask what is your name?” “You mean you don't know us?” Princess Luna exclaimed as she widened her eyes. I didn't expect that. But this would explain why he did not seem bothered by our presence. “My name is Luna and I am a princess of Equestria.” “Princess?” Phoenix wrote down as he cocked his head. “I don't know what that title means, but it is a pleasure meeting you, Princess Luna.” Then he smiled making the princess flush red. How many years has it been since someone addressed me like this? Then Phoenix grabbed the quill again and wrote down, “I am sorry as it may seem rude but I need to go. I hope you don't mind, Princess Luna?” “Please just call me Luna and that is fully understandable. We have taken much of thine time and we would like to apologize for that,” Princess agreed and smiled slightly. At this point Phoenix was getting a bit anxious. This mare has got some serious communication issues. Hmm… I wonder if this will work? Phoenix stood up, grabbed both the quill and the parchment using his wings before he took a few steps towards the princess and handed them over. She smiled as she made the tools disappear. She was about to say something when the stallion came closer and patted her head. She was so shocked that she didn't say a thing until it was over. She was about to use her royal canterlot voice to lecture the stallion but then he spread out his wings and jumped into the air causing the dirt around to move. She quickly teleported out into the air but when she took a look around the stallion was gone. Who was that and why did he pat my hair? Doesn't he know who I am? Oh, that's right he doesn't. The way he acted towards me reminds of my loyal subject many years ago. Hmm … Xin, thou really are mysterious. Then she smiled and got down to work. She could not see Phoenix who was watching her from the shadows wearing his breastplate and his bracers. Well, that went okay, I guess? In any case now I have to hide and make sure that she doesn't see me at least for now. Still that felt nice, I didn't know that you could take so much pleasure from patting someone's head. Although now that I think about this it was quite dumb to say the least. I wonder if patting the princess on her head is a crime? I need to read some books. Phoenix silently moved behind princess' back until he was right in front of Twilight's library. Then he slowly opened the door, making sure that it didn't squeak as he entered the building. Once he was inside he closed the door, breathed out, sat down next to the table, opened the book titled “Equestrian Gentleman” with his flames and started to read. *** Twilight was sleeping peacefully in her bed when suddenly Spike's scream woke her up. She jumped out of her bed and teleported downstairs. There she noticed Spike who was pushed against the wall his mouth covered by a hoof of a red Pegasus. He was bigger than her, probably as big as Princess Luna and once he turned towards her she saw his eyes. They similar to that of a dragon and above everything else creepy. Without a second though she fired off a wave of energy, sending the stallion tumbling on the floor. Spike did not waste any time as he hid behind her and before stallion got up she yelled, “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?!” The stallion looked confused as it stood up. Then he summoned fire letters out of thin air which said, “What was that for, Twilight Sparkle? Can't you recognize me?” “No, I am certain that I have never seen anyone like you!” She shouted. “But you were teaching how to write just an hours ago,” the letters spoke as the stallion raised his hoof and put his on his breastplate before he smirked and wrote, “It hurts, you know?” “Wait a second,” Twilight said as she eyed the breastplate then the realization hit her and asked, “Phoenix, is that really you?” “Finally, took you long enough,” Phoenix wrote and smiled. “But what happened? Why are you a pony?” She questioned and began circling the stallion. “It occurred to me that some of the inhabitants of this world are still afraid of me so I decided to change my form in order to avoid commotion,” Phoenix answered. “That is ... unexpected,” admitted Twilight before she summoned her quill and notepad and wrote down another piece of information about Phoenix. Then she took a look at him. Now that she looked at him she had to admit he did look similar. Fiery feathers, white breastplate, bushy tail and draconic eyes. It looked similar but different at the same time. No wonder she did not recognize him in the first place. However that brought another question. “When did you do that?” “Around midnight. I left your house, transformed, met princess Luna on the way here and got down to reading,” He wrote in the air. “I see, wait a second. Did you you just say you met princess Luna? How come she did not recognize you?” She asked, her eyes narrowed. “Well, I might as well tell you, although I have got a question. Can you pat a princess on her head?” He asked. “You did what now?! You patted princess on her head?! What in the name of Celestia were you thinking?” She questioned, her voice raised. “Nothing particular, I just felt like it,” Phoenix answered and smirked. Seeing this Twilight facehoofed and shook her head. “In any case patting princess on her head is not a crime but I think you might have made her your enemy,” She answered. “Hmm… I see. Well then would you like to listen exactly how it went?” He asked. “How exactly do you mean by that?” She asked, her eyes narrowed. “Each word and the expression of the princess along with mine,” He explained. Twilight's eyes widened when she said, “You can't be serious.” “Watch me,” Phoenix said as he told Twilight about everything that happened when he left the library. As he expected she was taking notes from the entire story and once he finished she just stared blankly at him for a few seconds. “Okay let me get this straight. Sometime during midnight you went outside and changed your form so that you would look less like a phoenix, even though you still look like you came from a different world. Then you went on hoof to Ponyville where you met Princess Luna who asked you a few simple questions and you answered them with lies. After that you were supposed to leave but instead you patted princess Luna on her head before escaping to my library and reading almost all of my books. Is that correct?” She asked “One hundred percent accurate sum up, good job,” Phoenix said and smiled. “Are you crazy?! Have you even thought for a second what would have happened, if something went wrong?!” She asked. “You make it sound like I made no precautions what so ever. Trust me, Twilight if I wanted to reveal myself I would just put myself on fire and stroll through the town or just blow up your library.” Phoenix deadpanned as he stared at the unicorn before he continued, “I made sure nobody was around when I left your library and I met princess Luna so she would not meet me here with you.” “I can understand that, but why didn't you ask me about it? I could have helped you,” She asked. “This is why, Twilight Sparkle, and I hate putting others in danger,” He explained. “I see, that is... good to know. Now if you excuse me I need to take a bath and eat something, thanks to you I didn't have time to do it. Can you stay here while I do that?” Phoenix nodded and sat down next to the table before Twilight left. In the meantime Spike's stomach grumbled. The little dragon excused himself and left Phoenix all by himself. Meanwhile inside the kitchen Twilight ate her breakfast before she turned her attention towards Spike who was munching on gems. “Could you do something for me, Spike?” Twilight asked. “Sure thing, Twilight, what do you need?” Spike asked. “I want you to go gather Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and then bring them here, is that clear?” She asked, while putting some butter on a piece of bread. “Sure thing, but don't you think it is a bit too fast for our “guest”?” He questioned. “Maybe a little but the faster we know why he attacked Princess Celestia the faster we will be able to act according to what he says and of course to study him,” Twilight said and squealed. “I guess that makes sense. Alright then, I will go and get them,” Spike said before he ran out of the library. In the meantime Twilight went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, dried her hair and went to her guest. He sat there, reading books. She took a deep breath before she walked up to him. She was about to say something when suddenly Phoenix asked, “So how long is it going to take before your friends arrive?” “How do you know about that? Did you eavesdrop?” Twilight countered as she glared at her guest. “In fact I did. However It is not my fault that I have got an above average hearing sense that allows me to hear for example other inhabitants at the other end of your town.” Twilight just stared at him with her eyes wide open as he continued, “In any case I think we need to talk. I have been watching you for a bit and especially when you were taking notes of me. Now I have got a question. What do you plan on doing with this knowledge? Do you plan on betraying me as soon as you get to know all my strengths and weaknesses?” “No I would never do something like that,” Twilight sputtered as she glanced at the Phoenix, who was still glaring at her. She cleared her throat and said, “I don't plan on betraying you. It is just a fact that you are unlike anything I have seen in my life and this strikes my curiosity. I hope you don't mind?” “Normally I wouldn't but unfortunately I have been to your laboratory and some of the objects in there bother me a lot. Especially that one with a tons of saws, drills and such,” Phoenix said. “Wait, what? I don't have anything like that!” She shouted. “Of course you don't, I was just teasing you,” Phoenix said and smirked. Twilight on the other hand twitched a bit before she calmed down. “When did you start to act like this? When we studied you have never been like this,” She muttered. “I didn't change a lot. This is me normally,” Phoenix said but Twilight just stared at him for a few seconds before he admitted, “Okay, I did act differently but that's because I was rather wary of you and I didn't want to either scare or disappoint you. I like having fun and I have not had much lately, so I guess it must seem weird to you.” “It is. Well if this is how you really are then I can't really help it,” Twilight admitted and smiled before she continued, “Still, that brings another question. Why didn't you have a lot of fun before?” “Because I was trying to survive in the battle of the ancients,” Phoenix explained. “A battle of the ancients? What is that supposed to be?" She asked. “It is a long story. I will explain everything once the rest of your friends arrive, okay?” Phoenix said before Twilight nodded and situated herself on the opposite side of the table. For a couple of minutes silence reigned the library before the door swung open. Phoenix and Twilight turned their head towards the door and watched as the five mares and small dragon walked in. Once they noticed their eyes widened as they stared at the Phoenix. It didn't take long until Rainbow Dash said, “What is that thing supposed to be?” “Yeah, it is nice to see you too, Rainbow Dash. I am so delighted,” Phoenix wrote as he rolled his eyes. “Hey, you got a problem pal?!” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice raised. Phoenix glanced at the mare who was hovering right in front of him with her hooves crossed. Then he smirked, stood up, looked into her eyes and said, “You look kind of cute with that angry expression.” As he expected the mare reacted in the most predictable manner. She flushed red and tried to punch him but unfortunately he was too fast for that. He quickly dodged to the left and grabbed the pegassus making her fall on the floor. She quickly regained her footing and was about to charge him again before a certain orange pony with a stetson grabbed her tail and kept her in place. She sent a death glare towards Phoenix before Twilight cut in and said, “Enough! Rainbow Dash calm down this instant. And you Phoenix, why did you do that?!” “Oh come on! Don't admit it wasn't fun or at least unexpected,” Phoenix and smirked again. This time Twilight twitched even more but luckily managed to calm down. In the meantime her friends whispered among each other as they discussed the things she just said. She took a deep breath and said, “Okay everypony. I think you deserve an explanation. This pony here is the same Phoenix that we have recently fought.” The mares looked at each other but said nothing and let her continue. “So Phoenix, why don't you tell us why did you attack princess Celestia?” “As I was about to say … Wait. Oh hell no. Princess Luna is coming here and if she notices she me then ... well, I hope you got your house insured, Twilight,” Phoenix said, a cold sweat coming down his face. “Wait how do you know about that?” She asked. “I can sense all types of heat around me that includes heat signatures, especially if it something I have met before. Also, I have got my super hearing. In any case I need to hide or she might get suspicious, I will be back once you finish talking with her,” Phoenix wrote, smirked and quickly opened the hatch in the library. There he jumped in and closed the hatch. In the meantime Twilight and the rest of the mares quickly sat down along with small dragon. Just as everyone was getting comfortable the door swung open. Ponies eyes went wide as they noticed Princess Luna and immediately bowed. “Twilight Sparkle, we are here to investigate certain rumors about a phoenix that was seen around here,” Princess Luna said as she and two bat ponies went inside and closed the door. The ponies stood up and glanced at each other before Twilight said, “Princess Luna, I am surprised to see you here. May I ask what caused this sudden visit?” “We have received several letters that told us that you and your friends have recently met our infamous phoenix. We would like to clarify it as soon as possible,” The princess explained. “Well it is true that it came here, princess Luna. However, it left after it had saved Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Twilight said. It wasn't entirely true but she had to lie otherwise things could get ugly. “We know that it saved your relatives but the reports indicate that you brought it here and we would like to know why?” She asked. “Well, we tried to communicate with it in order to understand why did it attack princess Celestia,” Twilight said. “We see now. Please tell us the whole story,” Princess Luna said. Without further ado Twilight told what they were able to find out, although she stopped before she got to the teaching part and altered the history a bit. “We see. So the creature answered the questions and then it left without a warning? That seems like something it would do. We would like to thank you for your cooperation. Unfortunately we need to ask thou to do something for us. If you ever spot that phoenix please report it immediately as it still needs to pay for all its crimes. Now then we bid thee farewell,” Princess Luna said before she turned around and walked outside. There she entered her carriage. We have to report our findings to our sister as soon as possible, maybe she will be able to explain what the elements have just said. The guards spread out their wings before they accelerated and took off into the air. *** Twilight sighed deeply before she turned her head towards her friends, “So what do we do now?” “Well, I don't think we should report that Phoenix is here otherwise...,” Rarity said before the hatch was opened again and Phoenix walked out from it. “She will come here and try to capture me, won't she?” Phoenix wrote in the air as he glanced at the ponies. “Exactly,” Rarity admitted as she took a look at the being. She bit her lip, frowned and said, “I don't want to be rude or anything, darling. However don't you think that the way you look is a bit weird?” “It probably is, but at this point is doesn't really matter as I have already met Princess Luna,” Phoenix said, causing all the ponies, except Twilight, to widen their eyes from the information they just heard. Rarity was about to say something but he interrupted her and said, “In any case. Now that you have all gathered here it is time for me to explain why I attacked your beloved Princess Celestia.” The mares nodded their heads before he continued, “As you already know I am different than an ordinary phoenix you can meet in your world and that is because I am a sun.” “A sun? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked as she wrote another piece of information in her notepad. “Is that some sort of title or something like that?” Phoenix shook his head and said, “No, by a sun I mean the same kind of sun that Celestia raises and lowers each and everyday.” Twilight's jaw dropped to the ground along with other mares as she finally understood what was going on. She gulped and asked, “Applejack, is it true?” The mare nodded her head as she stared at the phoenix. Twilight slowly inhaled and then breathed out the air. She was about to ask another question, when suddenly Pinkie Pie jumped into the air and then landed right in front of the phoenix and asked, “So can I throw you “Welcome to Equestria, please do not burn us” party?” Phoenix starred dumbfound at the mare, who was just a few inches away from his face, with his eyes spread wide open and slightly open jaw. He took a step back and asked, “May I ask what is that “party” that you speak of?” The mare's eyes went even wider to a point where Phoenix had to question the possibility of such feat before she said, “Don't tell me you have never been to a party?!” Phoenix simply nodded before the mare hugged him before he could react, told him she would throw him the best party ever and then she zipped through the door leaving a pink dust behind her. Phoenix turned his head towards the door and stared at them for a few seconds before he asked, “Could somebody explain to me, what has just happened?” “It is just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie,” Twilight answered before she closed the door, “Now that we know who are you, could you explain why did you attack Princess Celestia?” “Isn't that obvious? She can control the sun, that is the only reason I needed to attack her,” He explained. “But why did you try to kill her?” She asked. “I thought that if I got rid of her nobody would rise and lower the sun and the natural cycle would continue on its own. However, a couple of days ago I met another phoenix who explained to me why she does that and I felt bad for causing all the trouble and acting based on my own emotions. Since then I have been trying my hardest to prove that I am not an enemy and repay all the trouble I have caused so far,” Phoenix admitted and watched as the mares frowned. It was pretty obvious that they had to comprehend all that information before they could form a conclusion. "There definitely was a mention in newspapers that a ship was saved by a phoenix...," Rarity said, while the rest of the mares glanced towards her. Twilight bit her lip, before she asked, “So, what are you going to do now?” Phoenix shrugged and said, “I don't know. I have nowhere to go so I thought about staying here.” “I see … still, do you know you are considered a criminal in entire Equestria?” She asked. “I am fully aware of this. This is why I would like to ask you for a piece of advice. What should I do to be accepted into your society?” Phoenix asked. “Um … it is hard to say. The simplest solution would be if you apologized to Princess Celestia in front of everyone,” Twilight said. “Hmm… considering the fact that your princess could not defeat me I suppose I could do that, although I thought there would be more subtle way,” Phoenix said, while scratching his chin. “I think I might have an idea,” Rarity exclaimed with gleaming eyes, “How about we get Princess Luna to fall in love with Phoenix? That way once he reveals his identity she would not attack him?” “Rarity, do you honestly expect this to work? It isn't one of your romantic books,” Twilight deadpanned. “I know, I know it is way too farfetched, but I couldn't help myself,” Rarity admitted with a smile. “May I ask why is miss Rarity's plan bad? I find it hard to believe it would be worse than apologizing to your princess?” Phoenix said and the mares turned towards him with a surprised look on their faces but above everything else a flush of red on their cheeks. Twilight cleared her throat and said, “It is not exactly a bad idea, It is just the fact that princess Luna isn't the most social pony and I don't know if it would make things better or worse, but at the same time, you have already spoken with her so I guess it would work.” Phoenix raised his brow before he shook his head and said, “Okay then. Have you got a better idea, Twilight Sparkle?” “I am afraid not but for the time being I think that you should stay low and ...,” She started. “No,” Phoenix interrupted and then he continued, “If I did that it wouldn't help at all. So what I am going to do is help around the village until I come up with a better plan.” “Wait a second. Have you already had the plan? Then why did you ask about it in the first place?” She asked. “It is simple, really. I wanted to hear your opinions and start a conversation. One of your books said that asking others about their point of view may rise their opinion about you,” He admitted. “I see… Well then, why don't you help Applejack first? Her orchard certainly wouldn't mind another pair of hooves,” Twilight proposed. “Now hold there, Sugar cube. I don't want to be rude or anything but are you certain that he won't burn any of the trees?” Applejack questioned, her eyes narrowed. “I understand your concerns, miss Applejack. However I want to assure you that no harm shall be done to your orchard and to further prove my point I will give you this and my promise,” Phoenix said as he raised his left wing. Then of the bigger feathers started to glow and after a few seconds, it uncoupled and then flew towards Applejack before landing in her mane. The mare shone for a few seconds before the glow disappeared. She blinked a few times and asked, “What the hay was that?” “First of all, please answer one question. Do you feel refreshed?” He asked. Applejack blinked her eyes before she felt surge of energy rushing through her body. It felt similar to having a good long rest along with a healthy breakfast. She turned towards the phoenix and said, ” Now that you mention it, I feel like a have just had a good long sleep. How did you do that?” “I have simply transferred a bit of my energy into that feather. So, whenever you feel tired you can touch it with your hoof and then it will work. It can also heal you and others, even from diseases so feel free to use it in any way you want. However, please remember it has got a limited supply of energy, so it would be better if you kept it for emergencies,” Phoenix explained. “I see. Thank you, partner.” Applejack said and smiled. “Don't mention it. Now then, shall we get going?” Phoenix asked. Applejack nodded her head and they were about to leave when suddenly Twilight said, “Wait!” Everyone's eyes turned towards Twilight before she continued, “Could I have one feather myself?” “I am afraid I can not do that right now,” Phoenix answered. “May I ask, darling. Why would it be a problem if you gave more than one feather?” Rarity asked as she turned towards Phoenix. She wanted a feather like this herself. It looked beautiful and the way Phoenix described it made her a bit jealous. “Well how should I explain it? My feathers don't grow back as fast as other birds do. For a feather like this to regrow I need to wait a week before it grows back and I would rather not look like a plucked chicken by fulfilling your request,” Phoenix answered with a small smile before he continued, “That is one of the reasons. The second reason is that this is my way to say a thank you for trusting me.” “I see. Well in that case I will not inquire about it until you want to give me one from your own free will,” Rarity said. “Thank you, miss Rarity.” Phoenix bowed and then turned towards Twilight. “Do you understand that now Miss Sparkle? I am grateful for all you have done for me so far and I will give you another feather but I would be more content if you could wait a bit until my first feather regrows. Is that all right with you?” Twilight nodded with a smile and said, “I understand that. If this is how you want to do it then I will wait. However, don't expect I will forget about it.” Phoenix shook his head and said, “It has never been my intention. Now then I will take my leave with Miss Applejack. Is that alright with you?” “Hold on a second, how can we know that he won't try anything funny?” Rainbow Dash asked as she crossed her hoofs and glared at the phoenix. “If you don't trust me then you are free to come along, as long as Miss Applejack is fine with this,” Phoenix proposed. “Please call me Applejack, I feel a bit weird when somepony calls me miss,” Applejack said as she scratched a back of her head. “I am sorry…Applejack. I hope you don't mind? “Phoenix asked and smiled. “It is alright. Now then shall we get going?” Applejack asked and passed through the door. “Ladies first,” Phoenix said as the group looked surprised at him before they took his offer and went outside with Spike on Twilight's back. Once they were outside he closed the door using his tail before Twilight locked the door with her key and then they stared walking towards the orchard. Phoenix looked at the group and noticed that they were smiling themselves. He didn't know why but once again he could feel a different type of warmth circling in his core. Somehow this whole atmosphere was unlike anything he has experienced so far. Even at radiant's camp when heroes celebrated their victory it has never felt this good. Huh this is funny. Here I am, a living manifestation of a sun speaking with ordinary creatures instead of fighting for the ancients and somehow I like it much more than a thrill of the battle. I think I am going to enjoy staying in Equestria. Author's Note IMPORTANT: PHOENIX WILL NOT STAY IN THE PONY FORM FOREVER! First of all, I would like to thank you, Drakalian for your astounding work. I appreciate it and thanks to you the chapter is released much faster. And now: I AM BACK !!! Probably, maybe? Just kidding. In any case I am sorry it took so long to post another chapter. However I had a couple of hectic months when I had to prepare for the exams. On the upside I have already started working on another chapter and so far I have astounding amount of 300 words! That sounded better in my head. Now onto the important stuff. As you may have noticed that the story took a turn towards different direction. I wonder what is going to happen? See you in the next chapter!