The sun shone brightly, broken into beams and splashes of light through the scattered clouds. The horizon in the east still grumbled, the trailing edge of the vanishing storm leaving a light mist in the air. In one spot, the sunlight gleamed through hovering moisture, creating a vaporous and dazzling rainbow.
“Hehahah!! Woooo!!!” Firefly threaded herself through the wavering image, her periwinkle tail snapping behind her like a pennant. She stretched her wings and rolled, spiraling in and out of the bright spectrum as she followed the rainbow downwards. She straightened her wings long enough to aim for the heart of a fluffy white cloud, ‘poofing’ through it with outstretched hooves. She angled back towards the rainbow before she could see it, slashing through it while aiming her body like a torpedo at another cloud on the far side, corkscrewing from cloud to cloud as she followed the rainbow earthward.
Another ‘poof,’ another thick clump of cloud, and the pegasus emerged from the far side of it, slamming her hooves suddenly and painfully into another pony. “Woah!”
“Oooff!” The sky-blue pegasus’s eyes boggled and crossed as two pink limbs collided with her side. Her wings faltered, and gravity began dragging her towards the rows of trees far below.
“Hang on!!” Firefly shouted as she tucked her hooves and swept into a dive, her wings pinned nearly to her sides. The falling pegasus below her tried flapping, but one of her wings seemed a little too slow. Her efforts just sent her spinning in broad circles. Firefly squinted against the wind. “I’ve got you!”
Just as they passed the branches of the orchard below them, Firefly looped her forelegs around her target’s haunches and flapped hard, stopping their mad plunge from the sky. An explosive breath left Firefly’s muzzle, and she laughed in sheer relief. “Wow! That was a close one, huh? Heheheh, whew!”
“Bhurrglnn…” Her companion moaned, struggling to draw a breath. Only then did Firefly note that the pegasus was folded in half over her limbs, with her hooves jammed deep into the blue pony’s diaphragm.
“Oh! Sorry!” Firefly opened her arms and let the pegasus tumble to the ground in a heap where she slowly uncurled, drawing steadying breaths. “And, uh, I’m sorry I flew into you, Whistler. I didn’t see you there.”
Wind Whistler stood on shaky hooves, clearly favoring her side. She breathed deliberately, as though through a cramp. “Naturally you didn’t see me. There was a cloud between us.”
“Well… Well yeah. There was, wasn’t there?” The look of guilt slowly melted off of Firefly’s features, taking the concern with it. “It was a total accident! Heh.”
Wind Whistler raised an eyebrow. She continued in a reasoned monotone. “Perhaps the true lesson here is that cloud-diving is a hazardous--”
“Guess I’m off the hook! Wow, that’s a relief.”
“I don’t think that’s entirely--”
“I don’t suppose some gratitude for saving your hide might be too much to ask? ‘Cause I totally did.” Firefly shook some of the clinging moisture from her mane and struck a bit of a pose, wings outstretched.
Wind Whistler’s ruby eye twitched, just slightly. “Which wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been flying so recklessl--”
“Hey AJ! How’s it going?”
An orange earth pony trotted out from between the trees of the orchard, munching happily on a bright red apple. “Oh, not bad.” As she ducked beneath a thick branch, her hoof slipped in a patch of mud and she stumbled a little. She recovered her balance quickly, though. “What’re you two doing out here?”
Wind Whistler nodded. “Good morning, Applejack. See, the story is, I was flying--”
“Whistler here was just thanking me for heroically saving her life from a disastrous fall!” Firefly grinned in a slightly smug sort of way.
“Wow!” Applejack exclaimed between bites. “That’s pretty amazing.” When the earth pony spoke, it sounded like her nose was just a little stuffed. “I guess it’s a good thing Firefly was around, huh?”
Whistler grimaced as she gingerly stretched one wing, then the other. “I am finding the point difficult to argue, that’s for certain…”
“So,” The earth pony pulled a few strands of mane out of her mouth as she chewed her apple. “Did you guys see what was making all that smoke?”
Firefly’s eyes flew open. “What smoke?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.” Whistler said, nodding in the direction of Paradise Estate. “I was on my way over to investigate when--” A gust of wind, some protesting branches, and a few drifting leaves were all that remained of the brash pegasus. Whistler scowled. “One day, I might actually finish a sentence around her…”
Applejack swallowed noisily, wiping her mouth with a fetlock. “I would never interrupt you, Whistler.”
The pegasus nodded solemnly. “And I thank you for that.” She gestured with a wing. “Shall we investigate?”
Applejack nodded, glancing around for another tasty treat as they broke into a trot together. “It’s probably just Gingerbread burning another batch of baked goods. Right?”
Wind Whistler nodded. “Of course.”
“What are these things?!?” Firefly hopped backwards as a plate shattered to pieces just where her hooves had been. The entirety of Paradise Estate seemed to be covered in little glowing figures with wings, buzzing angrily about the place.
“I-” The soft reply was almost lost amidst the clamor working its way through the house. “I’m not sure, but I think they’re some sort of fairy.” The yellow earth pony cringed near the counter, a cluster of young foals quivering behind her flank.
“Evil fairies, maybe.” A green glow buzzed right up into Firefly’s muzzle, causing her to go a little cross-eyed. “Yah!” With a deft hoof and a puff of glowing dust, she batted the nuisance clear into the next room. “Get out of our house, you little jerks!”
“Don’t hurt them!” The soft voice gained a little volume. “They might be awfully rude, but that doesn’t--” A loud crash, and the earth pony’s eyes locked on a cluster of crumpled flowers, now relocated to a cozy spot on the tiled floor, amidst shards of pottery and clumps of dirt. Her green eyes welled with tears.
The kitchen table began clattering noisily past, pushed by more winged lights. Firefly stuck out a hoof to keep it from jamming into her side. “Why are you worrying about these little neon fart clouds?” Firefly glanced behind her, gasped and shot into the air. She collided with the top of the china cabinet just before it toppled over onto the cowering ponies below. “Posey, get the little ones out of here!”
“Oh!” Posey blinked her eyes clear. “Of course. Stay close to me, little ones.” The earth pony scooted towards the doorway, the young foals practically hiding underneath her tail, casting frightened glances around their home.
The pressure against the back of the cabinet doubled, causing Firefly to inch backwards through the air. “Grrrr… No you don’t!” Her wings blurred, and the back of the fixture slammed into the wall behind it, rattling the dishes stacked neatly inside. Firefly backed off, and a satisfied smirk graced her features as a trio of lights swayed dizzily from behind the china cabinet. “Serves you troublemakers right.”
There was a flash of purple light from another room, and a wave of magic swept Firefly from muzzle to tail. She felt her fur stand on end. As she shook the sensation off, she noticed all the lights had stopped moving. They just hovered in place, the tinny buzz of their wings now audible once the crashes and thuds had ceased. “Ugh… What was that? Could this morning get any weirder?”
Firefly galloped from room to room, searching for the source of the flash. In the study she backpedaled, sliding to a stop on the wooden floors. In the gloom of drawn curtains, a white pegasus blinked owlishly in her direction, illuminated by random floating lights. Firefly sighed. Here was a pony who knew her way around old legends and myths. “Paradise! What in the world is going on here?”
Paradise shrugged. “Beats me.”
Firefly buried her face in her hooves.
“I mean, Brush Pixies have never been spotted this far from the Glimmerrush Woods before…”
“Ah-ha!” Firefly’s hoof snapped into a dramatic point. “You do know what these things are! I knew it!” Just then a figure shifted behind the pegasus, and Paradise shuffled out of the way as a lavender unicorn struggled back to her hooves. Firefly squinted, her look of triumph replaced with confusion. “Twilight? Huh. Welcome back.”
Twilight winced, rubbing her horn gingerly. “Mmnff… Did… Did it work?”
Paradise gently poked a hovering blue glow, which drifted lazily through the air. The pony’s grin flashed a brighter white than her coat. “I’d say it did! That’s a nice magic trick you got there!”
The unicorn blushed and hid behind her bangs. “Thanks. And I’m not back.”
“Yeah, no, that’s great, thanks...” The frozen pixie drifted gently into Firefly’s face, and she shooed it absently away. “I don’t mean to sound, you know not grateful... But seriously, what are you doing here?”
“Oh.” Twilight’s pleased expression soured a little. “Well, since you must know, I was collecting rare herbs in the Moss Caverns near the castle, when the most ominous feeling came over me. I remembered my mentor telling me how, because of my special connection to magic, I would sometimes get strong intuitions abou--”
“That’s great.” Firefly was already glancing distractedly about the room. “Good story. Liked the first bit. How about we gather these Brush Pesties up and--”
“Pixies.” Paradise corrected firmly.
“Yeah. Bush Pixels. We ball them up and send them packing! How about it?”
Paradise corralled a pink one and studied it intently, squinting into the glow. “I just wonder what terrible thing drove them out of their forest. I hope nothing bad happened out there.”
Firefly flapped around the small room, gathering up what little creatures she could find in her arms. “Well, I know what terrible thing is about to drive them out of Paradise Estate…” She said as she stretched a hoof behind a cushy lounge chair, her tongue sticking out in intense concentration.
Twilight shook her head sadly. “That’s just it. I have a bad feeling about all of this.”
In that instant the pixies surged back into motion, shadows shifting chaotically through the study. The gathered mass in Firefly’s arms practically exploded, flinging her and the chair halfway across the room. From the kitchen, a massive crash reverberated through the floor, accompanied by the distinct chiming of shattering dishes.
Paradise’s long ears drooped. “Oh dear…”
All that was visible from beneath the overturned lounger was a twitching blue tail. A dazed moan seeped out between the thick cushions.
The scene on the front lawn was complete pandamonium. As the morning sun continued to rise, it shone down upon panicked ponies galloping to and fro, pulling their manes in distress. Foals cried or clung to one another. Loud crashes and bangs shook the once peaceful house as glowing lights weaved through every open window, and, with additional crashes, through the closed ones. Voices were shouting at the top of their lungs, both inside and outside the house.
But something made Applejack’s expression brighten with hope. “Hey! At least the smoke isn’t coming from Paradise Estate!” She took another bite of her apple, chewing happily from where she sat at the edge of the lawn.
Wind Whistler was sitting beside her. “I do believe you score a point there.”
“A point?”
“Yes… One which you seem to have missed entirely.”
“Hmmm…” Applejack thought for a moment, then shrugged, dismissing the comment. It was her usual tactic when she didn’t understand something. “Want a bite?” She proffered the treat to her companion in the crook of her hoof.
Whistler smiled in gratitude. “Thank you.” She took the fruit and munched happily on the remainder of it as the two ponies watched the bedlam unfold. Another series of crashes, and a thin trickle of smoke unfurled from the east window, drifting lazily into the sky. “Okay, now the house is on fire.”
“What? Oh geez!!” Applejack lurched to her hooves, galloping madly up to the porch, tripping violently on another pony’s tail in her haste.
“Applejack!” Whistler shouted, alarmed. “There’s a very high chance you’ll get yourself!... And she’s gone.” She rolled her eyes and broke into her own gallop, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a lounge chair crashing to the ground right in front of her, spraying sod and white foam innards everywhere. She clutched at her pink tail, wings spread and eyes wide with shock. A shouting voice drew her attention skyward.
“Let me go! I’ll buck them into next week! I swear! Get offa me!” A struggling pink blur writhed and flapped above, but was slowly dragged down by Paradise clutching her lightning bolt flanks. “I said let me go!”
“Woah, Firefly…” Wind Whistler stood, cocking her head to the side. “You okay?”
Paradise struggled to speak around the tail thrashing like a big fish in her grasp. “I think… She’s mmffff… a little upset...”
“I would agree.” Whistler nodded solemnly.
“Grrrrrrrrrrr….” Firefly’s determination clearly ran out, and she sighed heavily. “Oh, what’s the use…” She slumped in mid-air, collapsing straight to the ground below her with a despondent plop. “They call it ‘Paradise Estate,’ but every dang week something seven shades of crazy happens around here.”
“I respect the analysis.” Whistler rolled her eyes. “Remember Grogar?”
Firefly perked her ears at the name. “What, the smelly goat thingy?”
“He was a ram demon necromancer, if I recall. That was pretty horrific. Makes this morning seem positively benign.”
Firefly gestured broadly. “There, see?!? That I could handle! Put that dirty nerdobanter right here in this lawn, and I’d put a hoof right between his eyeballs. Bam!” Another sigh. “But these little radioactive gumwads… I don’t know… There’s just too many of them.”
“We need to find out where they came from!” The voice came from the center of a purple burst right next to the pair as Twilight winked into existence.
Firefly screamed and fell over, revealing a battered-looking Paradise gasping for air. “Bright moongravy!...” The pegasus gulped more air into her lungs. “How much do you weigh, Firefly?”
She answered from her back on the grass. “It’s all muscle… Mostly.”
“Hi Twilight. Welcome back.” Whistler pointed over the roof of the house to the thick black column of smoke drifting from the distant forest. “Logic would indicate the troublesome pests came from that direction.”
“Hey, I bet you’re right! That definitely looks horrible enough to be the root of this calamity! And I’m not back, I’m just visiting. Kind of.”
“Ooooooohhhh, okay!” A tremor ran from Firefly’s hooves, up through her shoulders and to her wingtips as her face broke into a huge grin. She immediately lifted into an unconscious hover. “Great! All we gotta do is follow that smoke, find whatever unhomed these spazzy nightlights and put a hoof between its eyeballs! Easy peasy!”
Whistler paused, looking pensive. “I don’t think we have enough information to make a logical choice.”
“I agree.” Twilight nodded. “I think we should go talk to the Princess of the Dawn. She’d know what to do.”
“I dunno.” The voice came from a mushy mass bumping into Twilight’s shoulder, making her turn to find something that might have once been a pony, calmly eating a shiny red apple beside her. “Her pink mane kinda freaks me out.” The pony was unevenly covered in tomato sauce, water, flour, oatmeal, and if one’s nose was to be believed, nutmeg. Lots of nutmeg. Even her eyes were obscured.
“Applejack?” Whistler gawked. “Is that you in there?”
“I put out the fire, in case you were wondering.” Applejack said around another mouthful of the somehow pristine apple.
“Maybe we should put it to a vote.” Whistler pondered into a hoof. “Find out who wants to go into the scary forest, and who wants to ask the Princess for help.”
“I don’t think she wants to vote.” Paradise gestured towards the dwindling Firefly, speeding off towards the thick, billowing smog in the distance.
“Dangit… Firefly! Wait for us!” Twilight shouted in vain.
“Should we go after her?” Applejack’s question hung in the air for a few beats, as the surrounding cacophony continued.
“Count me out.” Paradise nervously brushed some dirt off a fetlock. “Adventures always get my mane in a nasty tangle. Takes me days to sort it out.”
“But Paradise!” Twilight pleaded. “You know all kinds of legends and stories! Your help would be… really helpful!”
“I’ll go.” Applejack stuck a hoof up in the air, flinging gobs of oats and sauce everywhere.
Twilight sighed dramatically. “Would anyone else like to come with?”
Whistler just glanced around from beneath worried eyebrows.
Applejack blinked her eyes free. “Oh, hey Twilight! Welcome back!”
The unicorn groaned and slumped to the ground.
“But… But where’s Firefly going? Will she be okay? What’s making all that smoke?”
“Do you want to hear the end of the story or not?”
“Mmmm hmmmm. Before my parents get home...”
“Then settle down, kiddo. I’m getting there.”
Firefly flitted across a lush meadow dotted with woodland critters, all of them scampering away from the forest as fast as their little hooves, paws, legs or wings could take them. The forest was like a dark green blotch beyond the sunlit grass, obscured and covered by the clinging smoke. Firefly hesitated at the edge of the meadow, landing gingerly on her hooves. She glanced around nervously, hoping nobody was around to see her acting scared. Which of course she wasn’t. Not exactly. It’s not like there was a full grown dragon in there or anything, right?
Something tugged on her tail, nearly making her jump out of her feathers. A squirrel had stopped long enough to get her attention, gesturing for the pegasus to flee with her. Firefly smiled, taking a moment to comfort the critter with a gentle nuzzle. Then she set her shoulders, took a deep breath of clean air, spread her wings and launched herself into the mystery of the woods.
The sunlight vanished as leaves and branches closed in. Firefly weaved back and forth, threading her way carefully towards the source of the smoke. The smell was acrid with ash and bad eggs. It stung her nose, made her eyes water. The breath she was holding began leaking out of her nose, but she tried hard not to breathe in. She squinted as light began to flicker in the distance.
A few more trees, a few more obscuring branches, and the pegasus was confronted by a searing wall of flames. The forest was on fire! Squinting hard into the glare, Firefly began to make out a shape in the flames. A giant bird thrashed around, a bird seemingly made of lava and pure heat and sunstuff, its plumage causing great gouts of flame wherever it touched. She saw it through a wavering haze of heat, and she gasped.
The smoke made Firefly double over into a coughing fit, and her hacking convulsions drew the beast’s glare. She could feel the creature’s eyes boring into her, and she scrambled backwards, falling over herself in her coughing fit. The fiery monster crawled towards her, walking gracefully on its legs and wings alike. It snaked around an intervening tree that instantly erupted into a great bonfire. It chattered to itself as it closed in on its prey. The heat pressed down on Firefly like a wall, pinning her in place.
“Oh look! It’s a phoenix!” The voice made the giant bird’s head snap around, and the heat lifted a fraction. Firefly blinked her dry eyes and tried to focus through the smoke and haze.
Wind Whistler stood among the trees, waving her forelegs in the air. “Hey birdbrain! Come and get me! I’m over here!”
The phoenix launched itself at the newcomer, who vanished behind a tree. At the same time, a pair of gentle hooves lifted Firefly to her feet. “Come on!” Twilight whispered in her ear. “Let’s get out of here!” As the two began a fast gallop away from the blaze, an ear-rattling shriek of frustration pierced the woods, and Firefly began to feel a wave of heat overtake them from behind. She stifled her coughing and ran faster, but it felt like the phoenix was gaining again, quickly.
A voice shouted from their other side. “Oy! Featherweight!!” Paradise’s voice taunted. “Come and get me! What are ya, chicken?” With an angry squawk, the dire bird took off in pursuit of this new target. “Oh, ponyfeathers…”
“Paradise, no!” Twilight slid to a stop, her horn aglow with magic. In a burst of light she appeared right next to Paradise, and in another burst of light both ponies vanished just as an avalanche of burning feathers crashed into the spot where they’d been. Firefly panted and panted, unable to spare a breath of relief for her friends. The trees ahead were thinning, just like the smoke. The air was beginning to taste a little cleaner. Almost there…
Firefly burst back into the meadow, clean air filling her lungs. She wiped the sweat off her brow and sprawled into the cool, dewy grass. She laughed a little, relieved that she’d made it clear of the clutches of that monster. But then the crackling sound of flames cut her laughter short, and the sweat on her coat dried instantly. Firefly gulped and rolled to her feet in time to see the phoenix emerge from the trees, hissing angrily.
She was scared. She was terrified. But she stood her ground. “Mess with my friends, will ya?” Firefly scraped a hoof against the ground. She had no idea how, but she wanted to fight this big meanie. “Bring it on.” Just then an apple thunked off the creature’s head, impacting just before it withered into ashes. The phoenix’s head swiveled around slowly, glaring daggers at the newcomer.
Applejack stood well off to the side of the meadow, near the river that marked its border. “Hey!” She shouted. “You’re a bird!”
Firefly tensed with fear. “Applejack! Run away!”
The earth pony, feeling the heat of the phoenix’s glare, decided that fleeing probably wasn’t a bad option. She spun neatly on her hooves, broke into a full gallop, and immediately tripped and splayed herself across the ground.
With a menacing chirp of triumph, the phoenix launched itself towards Applejack’s prone form.
Firefly’s wings blurred. She shot ahead of her nemesis, feeling her mane singe and her lips parch. Each breath was painful, and she had to squint through the heat to see her friend. But she kept her wings beating, her gaze locked, her whole body tensed with determination. The beast was right behind her, its fiery breath scorching her tail and spine. She spread her arms...
A door slammed from somewhere below, the sounds of life suddenly adding dimension to the previously empty house. The storyteller broke from her trance, losing the compelling weave of narration. A voice called up the stairs. “Hello! We’re home!”
“Oh, come on!!!” A tiny bundle of blankets on a small bed complained bitterly. “They can’t be home yet! It’s not fair!”
The young woman rose from her chair by the bed and stretched. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She said, flashing a mischievous grin from beneath red bangs.
The blankets huffed dramatically, and a young girl’s head emerged. “ I swear you do this on purpose. Stupid…” The child’s arms emerged, clutching a pink doll shaped like a pony, with a blue mane and a blue tail, and little wings. She started buzzing it around her head, doing loops and spins.
Voices drifted up from downstairs. “Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice.” That was Daddy’s voice.
“It’s no trouble.” That was the best babysitter in the whole universe, even if she liked telling cool stories and dragging out the scariest parts and leaving her hanging like a big stupid.
“We mean it.” That was Mommy. “It’s so nice to go out once in awhile. The show tonight was quite spectacular.”
“Honestly, it was my pleasure.”
“Here... for going to the trouble tonight.”
“Oh! That’s really too generous, I-I couldn’t…”
“Nonsense dear! Take it, we insist.”
“Well… Thank you very, very much.”
“Our daughter loves it every time you visit.” The little girl scowled at Daddy’s remark, still determined to be angry at where the story left off. “She talks about you and your stories all the time. I don’t know where you come up with this stuff week after week, to be honest. It must be exhausting talking about all this kid’s stuff all the time.”
A pause. “I don’t mind, truly.”
“Well, thanks again for babysitting, dear.”
“Mind if I just nip back up to say goodnight properly?” The child instantly broke into a beaming smile at hearing those words, her legs making the mattress bounce excitedly through a barely contained squeal of joy.
Footsteps, and the storyteller appeared once more in the doorway, only to discover a frumping pile of blankets. She spoke softly. “Do you want to hear the end of the tale?”
A pair of bright, yet determinedly frowning eyes appeared.
“So, Firefly smashed into Applejack at top speed, grabbing her friend in her hooves without slowing down even the tiniest bit. The two tumbled straight into the river, the cold water sweeping over them, carrying the pair downstream. The phoenix, unable to stop, dove in after them! The incredible fire of the phoenix met the harsh waters of the river, and do you know what happened next?”
The child’s eyes were wide, all pretense of frumpiness forgotten, as she shook her head no.
“There was a great eruption of water!” The storyteller’s arms launched skyward and spread out, mimicking a geyser, accompanied by a tiny gasp from her audience. “Steam and vapor shot everywhere! Fire and water duked it out in a primal battle of the elements! But the cold of the river was too much, and the phoenix fire eventually went out.” She slumped, the crux of the telling all but spent. “With the magic of the phoenix fire gone, the other fires dwindled as well. And the ponies made it home safe and sound.”
“Woah…” The girl breathed. “That was a close one.”
The storyteller nodded in sage agreement.
The little girl pondered in serious thought. “But what happened to the, um, phoenix?”
“The phoenix is a creature of myth. For most of its life, it lives as a simple bird with long, beautiful feathers. But when it gets too old, it bursts into flame! Then, once the fire dies down, a beautiful baby phoenix rises from the ashes, fresh as can be. This time, the baby phoenix hopped out of the stream very, very far away, near the great ocean. And it flapped its little wings and flew off in search of a new home.”
A contented sigh rose from the blankets.
The storyteller chuckled under her breath. “Now it’s time for bed. You should have been asleep a long time ago.” She patted the child affectionately on the head. “Goodnight, kiddo.” She reached over and flicked off a desk lamp, filling the room with shadows like the backdrops for grand images of fantastic lands and magical beings.
The storyteller almost made it out of the bedroom before a small voice stopped her.
“Lauren?”
She paused in the doorway.
“Would you tell me another story next- the next time you, um, come over to babysit?”
The storyteller’s eyes lit with a joyful smile.
