Hex

Phoenix paced back and forth in front of the barn, shrouded in darkness. There was about a half hour left before Celestia rose the sun.

Alright. Everything's going cool. Princess Twilight knows what she's doing. I don't have to go through this much longer... he thought. He looked around, taking note of the layout of the farm. Should remember this place; might come in handy later. Moments later, Applejack approached him.

"Howdy."

"Yo. You finished helping Princess Twilight?"

"Yup." Both ponies looked around, occasionally catching each other's eyes by accident. By this point, they had both realized there wasn't anything else for them to talk about at the moment. Minutes later, Phoenix broke the silence. "So... where am I staying?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Applejack motioned for him to follow. "Right down at the end of this here hall. If y'all need any help, I'm sure Granny or Big Mac will be glad to-" She stopped when she noticed that he wasn't there anymore. Frustrated, she stormed into the room she had specified to find him sitting on the bed. "You know, it's a tad bit rude to wander off while somepony's speakin' to you."

"You didn't notice me leaving? My bad... Hey, you... you didn't tell me you had family living here." He shifted his eyes side to side; Applejack walked up to him.

"I figured you would have guessed that," she responded, glancing out of the doorway. "I reckon they'll understand your... situation. You don't gotta worry." Phoenix's face remained unchanged. "C'mon! Buck up!"

"Yeah... yeah... Thanks for, you know, letting me stay here..." he said, trailing off.

"Ain't no problem. Besides, it's nice to have a pair of wings helpin' out with the chores and such around here," she replied happily. Phoenix chuckled at the remark and brought his attention to the window in the room he had been given. The moon could no longer be seen. "Looks like Princess Celestia's gettin' ready to raise the sun. I suppose Granny'll be up shortly, as well." Applejack gasped at her statement. "Hey! Maybe Granny knows somethin' to fight off this curse of yours!" she exclaimed.

"I ain't so sure about that."

"She knows a good bit about... well, everything, really. I bet she'll know what's up with you! It's worth a try, at least!" He stood up and slowly trudged over to the doorway.

"A'ight, fine..." Phoenix groaned. Together, they walked back down the hall and went off to find Granny Smith.

"What do ya think you're doin', young'un? Wakin' me up in the middle of my nap..." Granny Smith was barely even half awake when Applejack shook her out of her slumber.

"Granny, I got somepony who could use a bit of help. Don't be frightened now, okay? He don't mean no harm..." Applejack explained as she stepped to the side. Phoenix took her place, spreading his wings in shock upon hearing Granny Smith shriek moments after seeing him.

"Demon!" she cried.

"No, n-no, it's a curse. I got cursed," he attempted to explain. Granny Smith, after a brief period of silence, snapped at him.

"Well, why didn't you say so sooner?!" Slowly and steadily, she rose from her chair and moved in the direction of a nearby closet. "Hmm... Now, you just stay right there; I got somethin' that should fix all o' that in a jiffy." Phoenix walked over to Applejack as she disappeared from view.

"I'm still not entirely sure about this..."

"Welp, it's a little too late to change yer mind now, friend." Seconds later, Granny Smith returned with a bucket of sky blue paint, a couple of bags of cotton balls, and a tube of toothpaste. Phoenix immediately stepped back.

"Okay, what is all this mess?" he asked.

"We gotta get all this dark energy out of you! Take all that red and black and stuff, and cover it in the opposite! That should fix you up right quick!" Before he even had time to question her logic, she was already smearing his coat with the toothpaste and paint, occasionally sticking cotton balls to it. When she had finished, she brought out a mirror. "Just focus on takin' the bad and gettin' rid of it!"

"I look dumb," he grunted.

"Aw, that ain't important!" Granny Smith cackled. As the sun rose into the sky, Phoenix tried to focus on undoing the curse, gradually losing faith in the paint-toothpaste method Granny Smith had forced him into.

"Granny, I dunno if this is working right..." Applejack whispered, turning to her.

"Shh! Yer gonna break his focus!" When the mares had turned around, Phoenix had disappeared. "Oh... I guess the curse must've taken him with it..." Granny Smith concluded.

"Nah, it didn't. He just wandered off. He's done that before... It's pretty irritating, actually." Grumbling to herself, Applejack walked away to find Phoenix, leaving Granny Smith to herself.

"Hold on a minute!" she called out. I wonder... Maybe it'd help her more if I looked for this fella on my own... She sat back down to think. "Then again... I... I should probably..." With that, Granny Smith fell back to sleep. Applejack, who was headed towards his room, hadn't even decided on where to look for him, when he stepped out of the bathroom and into her view.

"That method didn't work at all," he said, turning away without giving her a chance to say anything.

Unbelievable... Fighting back her anger, she followed him to his room.

"Well, at least Princess Twilight's still searching for a counter spell. Honestly, I'm pretty glad I found her before sunrise." Applejack stepped into the doorway.

"Yeah, there's still that..." She walked up to him. "... Why was it so important to find her before sunrise, exactly?" she asked.

"Well, it's like I said, I don't really enjoy being seen like this. Sun's down, moon's high in the sky, all the little ponies are asleep. Not gonna be seen." He sat down. "When the sun rises, ponies are gonna be awake. That's why I waited until nightfall to set out and find her."

"And why you decided it'd be a grand idea to leave everything behind." Applejack added, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah! Again, it's like I said, I can meet new friends and get new stuff! It ain't really-" He was cut off.

"But, again, you can't replace your family. Did you even tell them you were leavin'?" Phoenix turned away again.

"I wonder how long it'll take Princess Twilight to find that counter spell... How long do you think it'll be?" She turned and closed the door, bringing his attention back to her. "Yo, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Y'all keep avoidin' my question. I'm gonna ask once more. What about your family?" He didn't speak, or move, or even blink. He sat there, staring at her. "... Let's try this. If you don't answer my question, you're gonna be lookin' for another place to stay." She met his eyes. A few seconds later, he dropped his gaze and sighed.

"I come from a loving family, okay? They help out around town, they're always friendly to their neighbors... There ain't nothing wrong with them. It makes me so angry that I left them behind to come here, but I had to," he said, his tone changing drastically. Applejack just looked at him, sorrow in her eyes.

"I... I'm awful sorry I kept pushin' you to answer, Phoenix. You don't gotta say no more if you don't want to." She turned to open the door, when Phoenix got up and stopped her.

"No, it's fine. By the way, while we're on the subject-" He walked back over to the bed. "-Phoenix Flame isn't my real name. That's the name I began using after the curse."

"...Well, I had a feeling it wasn't. You paused when you were introducin' yourself back at Twilight's castle," she mentioned. He made an expression that Applejack assumed was something close to a smile.

"So you noticed that. My real name is Silent Breeze, and there are a few pieces of my story that I haven't told you." Applejack walked over and sat next to him.

"Go on. I'm listenin'."

"I am considered a rogue in my homeland. Stealing from some random pony, giving to some other random pony. I wasn't born into a poor family or nothing; it's just my special talent. I didn't exactly love finding that out, but I figured that there were worse talents out there. Being the local thief, every other criminal thought it'd be a good idea to blame me for their crimes. I was the scapegoat, basically. It got around the point where ponies kind of just assumed that I did something. You can imagine the trouble I had to deal with. Of course, you can't be a thief without some charm. I could talk myself out of... most situations."

"Most, huh? Not all? I'd think that a real good thief would be able to talk their way out of all problems," Applejack said, unimpressed.

"I say 'most' because the mare that put this curse on me believed that she heard me breaking into her house in the middle of the night." She looked shocked.

"She put this messed up curse you for that? What in the name of... She could of just gone to find the guards..." she started to trail off; he could no longer understand her.

"I know! Ridiculous, right? I operate in complete silence; she wouldn't have heard me."

"As dumb and over-the-top as that was for her to do, you still missed one thing, though. You didn't really explain what made you decide to leave your home for good." Phoenix, or rather Silent Breeze, thought back to before he left in search for Twilight.

"Well, remember when I told you I stayed inside all day? That was a lie, too. I went outside and found that it became much harder to talk my way out of anything and everything ponies blamed me for."

"Why did you think that was a good idea?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know, actually. I must not have been thinking straight." He stood up. "That's all there is. There's my story." As he opened the door, she stood.

"I just got one more question. Why tell me all this?"

"I trust you. We just met not even an hour ago, I get that, but... There's something about you. I dunno what it is, but... You're alright. Plus, you let me into your home without question the day we met. I owe you. Might as well be truthful while I'm here." There was a pause.

"I'm real glad you were honest with me, even if it took you as long as it did. Yer welcome to stay as long as you like, Silent Breeze," she said, smiling. "Just don't steal nothing, you hear?"

"Call me Breeze. And no promises."