For a Phoenix Feather

The next morning he was woken from his sleep by the scent of pancakes and coffee and the faint sounds of pans and silverware clinking from downstairs. Her side of the bed was made and a towel was set out for him if he wanted a shower. In the light the room was much brighter and cozy, the bookshelves around them holding such old-looking books, and there was one photo that stuck out on her dresser. It was not the most expected picture, but what it held was shocking to most ponies. She was in the picture with the god of chaos himself, Discord.

An exasperated, dwindling sigh emitted from the tangled mess of blanket that concealed a rather groggy unicorn. As he sat up, a stray lock of mane fell across his eye. He blew it out of his face and got out of bed with as much grace as he could muster. This involved stumbling to the floor with a resounding whump and muttered words not fit for foals. After righting himself, he noticed the towel and decided a rinse would make him much more presentable.

Several minutes later, he had finished toweling off and made his way back downstairs. The scent of fresh food drew him inexorably to the kitchen, where his host was at the table dishing out breakfast.

"I'm pretty sure this is my stomach and sleepiness talking, but," he continued as his gut growled, "you are my goddess."

Twisted felt her face heat up a bit before she laughed, shaking her head, "Oh yeah? When do the offerings start?" She pulled the plates onto her wings as she moved the food to the table, setting a plate down for him, "Come on then, sit." She smiled, setting her own plate down as she went back to the kitchen for the cups. She was happy he seemed well rested, though she felt better rested than she had in a while. She wondered if it was because she had company or if the day before had just exhausted her into a dreamless sleep.

"Depends, what exactly do I have that you'd like?" he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "This food looks amazing. You didn't have to go to all this trouble." Even as he said the words, his traitorous horn made light of his words as it began making quick work of slathering the pancakes with butter and syrup.

She chuckled, stealing the butter from him when he was done and adding an odd amount to her own cakes, "I think I did. For fear of you eating my table." She quirked a brow, sticking her tongue out at him as she poured syrup over her cakes. "So," she paused and looked up at him, "you sleep well?"

He nodded and swallowed a mouthful of sweet, buttery, fluffy goodness. The mare knew how to make some truly amazing pancakes. "Surprisingly, yes. I'm not used to getting to sleep so quickly somewhere new. I usually stay up thinking about all kinds of things." He vaguely remembered wanting to ask her a question, but like a fading dream, could not for the life of him remember what it was. He gave an unnoticeable shake of his head before continuing. "I guess you're just really good at making me feel at home," he offered with another sizable bite of pancake. Oh yeah, that's the stuff...

"Well good! I'm glad." She finished up and got down to take her plate to the kitchen "There's more if you want!" She called over her shoulder as she washed her dish. It was the first opportunity he had to focus on her this morning. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a ribbon, as well as her own tail. Her bandana was gone, probably still sitting on the table next to her bed, and hanging around her neck on a thin black string, was the item in question. From what he could tell she never took it off.

With his stomach sated, his mind began to pick back up where it left off. It did not take more than a quick glance for his various faculties to make their assessments and come to an agreement. With the way she'd tied up her mane and tale, she was cute. The whole image was kind of ruined by that strange black triangle though...

That jogged his memory. "Hey, been meaning to ask you where you got that medallion-thing. I've never seen something quite like it before." He finished the last of his third helping and levitated the remaining dishes over, beginning cleanup without conscious thought. Old habits, he supposed.

She twitched before looking down at the triangle, picking it up in her hoof, "Well uh, funnily enough I don't really know what it is. Just that I can't get it off." she looked over at him with an apologetic smile. "It's creepy, right? I remember finding it when I was little and well... After I put it on it never came back off." She shook her head and dropped it, the rope making a soft thunk noise as it was pulled taught by the ugly metal thing.

It took her a few minutes to put everything away but afterwards she went upstairs to get ready, "You're free to go through my library if you'd like. Being an author I doubt you wanna but I'll be just a minute, okay?" She waved her hoof at him before ascending the stairs, the shower turning on a few minutes after.

He gave her a friendly smile and took up her offer, perusing her books. He was surprised by the variety he found, but ultimately could not concentrate on any he pulled from the shelves to flip through. What she had said about her talisman... medallion... whatever it was, was less than reassuring. He felt like he was missing some serious pieces to completing a puzzle.

Evidently, he had been staring at the index of one of the various books he had browsed through for some time, as he did not hear Twisted Ribbon return as he muttered to himself, "Nothing has ever stopped me when a friend needs me." It took him a moment to realize he was not alone, and his cheeks briefly flashed pink at being caught so deeply engrossed in his thoughts.

She watched him curiously, her mane slightly curly as she pulled it back up into a ponytail. She knew this trip would be long and she would not have time to preen when they were out there. "You okay space cadet?" she teased, pulling her saddle bags onto her back and rearranging her wings to be more comfortable.

"Anyway," she said and paused, setting his saddle bags on the ground carefully since she had brought them downstairs along with his blanket and scarf, which were folded atop the bags, "You ready to go? I didn't wanna open your bag to put those away so... " She blushed in embarrassment. she always acted like some kind of mom to ponies she befriended and she did not really know how to turn it off.

He readily snapped-to, and with a flourish of magic folded and tucked away the blanket and wrapped his neck with the scarf. His bags glowed with the cool azure aura of his magic as he slipped them onto his back and secured them. A quick run through indicated everything was right where it needed to be. He added the map she had given him yesterday to its contents.

"Well, no time like the present. Let's get to it!" he nearly cheered as he made for the door. Gloomy thoughts were hard to keep around with his eyes on the prize, so to speak.

After locking up she lead the way further into the forest, the sounds of the birds and other animals being their only company. From time to time they'd see something, though they were pretty calm, being around Twisted, and they would just walk by and leave them be. A couple birds landed on her wings and she shook her head, pushing her wings straight out to make a perch for them, "Odd birds," she offered and chuckled, looking back at Vermilion with a smile and asking, "How you holding up back there?"

He had been walking in silence for some time behind her. Strange beasts? No problem. Creepy woods? Challenge accepted. But seeing the calm which followed his guide wherever she went, and the nonchalance displayed with her new passengers, he could only be amazed. "I'm doing fantastic. Aside from being followed by a number of lesser predators in the bushes to our left, this is pretty much just a relaxing nature walk. You said it was about a three day trip? How far off are we heading?"

She chuckled softly, one of the birds rearranging itself to the top of her head, "Yeah. Honestly I think these 'passengers' are hiding from the predators." She put a hoof to her lips for a moment before looking back at him again, "Well, honestly we're getting closer to Ghastly Gorge. They like to have their babies there. But this path is actually safer than going the other way around." She shook her body gently, sending the birds on their way before turning to face him, "You've been awful quiet so far. Something on your mind?"

"Nothing really important. I'm used to traveling alone so I just slip into my own thoughts as I travel. Bit spacey of me, I guess." He offered an apologetic shrug. "Any particular reason we're travelling past a place called Ghastly Gorge? I can't imagine a place would have a name like that without good reason."

"Like I said. Phoenixes like to have their babies there" She had waited for him to catch up before beginning her stride again next to him, "They feel it's safer and it's honestly not as bad as it sounds." She chuckled softly as she looked at the canopy above them, "So glad we're going through the forest, anyway. Direct sunlight on camping or long trips is just miserable, don't you think?"

"Agreed. Sunlight and I have a strained relationship at best. Too many late nights and evenings stargazing to get a taste for it." They continued to talk amicably as Twisted lead the way, occasionally referencing the map to ensure they were still heading the right way.

It was some time later when Vermillion paused mid stride, ears searching for a moment before his nose wrinkled. "You smell that?" A quick sniff quickly yielded a powerful stench of rotting vegetation.

She shook her head violently as if to try to get the scent out of her muzzle, "Geez, what the buck is that?" She groaned, pulling her bandana up over her nose as she looked over at him. "Should we go check?" She tilted her head a bit, looking around and pacing from one side of the trail to the other to see if she could find the source without getting off the path.

Like a thunderhead obscuring the sun, Vermillion's expression darkened, his stance shifting subtly. Gone was the friendly demeanor, replaced by a subtle aggressiveness. His horn glowed with magic.

From a ditch near the road, a low, unnatural growl emanated, a pair of lambent, feverish green eyes slowly approaching. A pair of accompanying growls indicated a total of three.

She felt her hair stand as she took a few steps back, immediately recognizing the beasts for what they were. "Oh dear..." she stood next to Vermillion, her wings fluffed up protectively as she watched the group approach them. She glanced down at her talisman, a cold sweat settling on the base of her neck as she forced the fear from her body, "Not this time." She shook her head before looking at him, "How good are you at combat, by the way...?" She chuckled nervously as the creatures walked out onto the path before them, the terrible scent in their faces now.

"I guess I never mentioned it, did I?" His voice had dropped lower, the emotions muted under a veil of practiced discipline. With an astonishing flourish and the sound of splitting air, his sword whipped out and hovered steadily before him in a low guard. "Writing doesn't pay too well. The Royal Guard Reserve does."

She took a few steps back from him, her ears pinned back as a small tremble started, "R-Royal Guard eh...?" She shook off her anxiety before turning to the wolves. No, there were more pressing matters at hand, though she had started to suspect he had not found her by accident.

Her expression changed as she glanced at her partner, "After you, my friend."

He took a long, deep breath, exhaling slowly and getting a firm grasp on his emotions. He carefully focused on not letting the adrenaline rush of danger take the lead, as much fun as that could be. On the road, just him, it was fun.

He'd never risk somepony, especially a friend, just to enjoy a fight.

As they closed, he could see the wariness in their posture. A long gash across the face of the pack leader indicated they were no strangers to blades. He chalked it up to their infamous reconstruction capabilities. Essentially, they were instinctive magical constructs without pity or remorse. That suited him just fine.

He wouldn't have to hold back and worry about guilt later.

His magic had been extended along the blade of his sword, but it receded and focused on the hilt for control. The one on the right leapt first and a twist of the sword brought it low before the upswing severed the wooden jaw cleanly from its head, bark chips spraying from the keen steel edge. The one on the left leapt for Twisted.

"JUMP!" the unicorn barked, a pane of shield magic appearing in front of its paws and sending it tumbling towards her. With its prey distracted, the pack leader pounced past the sword.

Twisted was up in seconds, her wings spread wide before she was in front of him, her hooves buried into the pack leader's head and the creature went limp. She whipped around, her very aura almost visible as she glared at the remainder who had stopped to witness their leader "die." She was doing everything in her power to keep her talisman under control, though... he could have sworn it had started to glow gold as she headed towards the others, making sure to keep out of his way.

The pack leader had crumbled to twigs, Twisted having shown a surprising amount of skill and speed. When his eyes caught the gold flash, he snorted and felt his temper flicker to the fore before he focused on the remaining two. He watched as the one he had cut before retrieved its jaw, and he heard faint scratching in the dirt as the pieces of the pack leader began twitching.

"Time to move. Get airborne," he instructed as he began backing away with as much alacrity as he could muster. He found it hard to concentrate on casting anything complex, which was a new issue for him, but stowed the thought for later. The sword floated in front of him as he waved it back and forth in a warding defense pattern, always in steady motion. The pack leader had reformed his upper half and his hind parts were slowly trawling through the dirt.

Tough bucking creatures, he reflected ruefully.

Twisted darted up into the air, hovering above him as she looked over the scene, "I think we need to take them all down at once then get the buck out of here!" she called to him, remaining out of his way for now. She eyed the group, her muscles tensing as they all began to turn on him, her own concerns worrying her as she felt the itch come back.

Damn. This is not the time for a freakout. Twisted took a deep breath as she looked down at him, trying to focus on the thought that she had allies down there too. "V-Vermillion.. If you don't tell me what to do I m-might need you to back off..." The last part seemed to trail off quietly so she could not be sure if he had heard her.

Vermillion had indeed barely heard her, but he registered enough of what she said for a few trained reflexes to kick in. First rule of battle: remain focused. Twisted needed a target, so he would give her one. The pack leader was on the right, the others to his left. "Hit the center, now!" He angled for the leftmost timber wolf, leveling his sword to point at it tip-first. Then he poured as much telekinetic power behind it as possible and launched the blade straight into its torso, impaling it and beginning a severe split in the log. A quick whirl presented the beast with his rear hooves, which he bucked forcefully into the hilt, ramming the sword fully through and splitting the beast like tinder. The wolf collapsed as he turned to check on his companion.

Twisted had her back to him, the leader split into pieces that made one wonder if it would ever recover fully again, though that seemed like the least of his worries. Whatever was ailing her seemed to be winning. She turned, her expression cold and angry as she bolted for the last of the wooden beasts, slamming her side into it and toppling it over. She glanced at him as she forced it down, "Finish it." She growled, a twitch running through her as her expression softened, "We need to get out of here before the others reassemble."

No, no! His sword wasn't close enough. As she glanced at him the one she had knocked over righted itself and leapt at her. She would not dodge in time.

"TWISTED!"

The next moment was a bit of a blur. He was readying a simple fire spell, one he had used to start campfires or roast a bit of food on the road. He doubted it would be enough to end the wolf, but without his sword... He tried to focus the flame like a blowtorch as he aimed his horn to spear its head.

As he did he reached out blindly with his telekinesis for his friend, desperately seeking purchase. The moment he did, his magic tinted viridian and he let out a roar than crescendoed with a furious whinny as all the the frustration and fury he bottled away from day to day burst forth into fiery wrath. Any fine magical control was gone, but all the emotion had to go somewhere.

As his horn speared the jaws of the leaping wolf, his flame spell went from a bright azure flare to a blazing gold-emerald inferno. The fire consumed the wolf as he viciously bucked it off and staggered back panting, eyes pinpricks and breathing ragged.

As the last of his dwindling magic faded, he glanced at his companion to see if she was alright, and spotted what he had grabbed to pull her free.

The black triangle was encased in his magic, which faded back to blue as it finally snuffed out.

In the confusion of fire and magic the only thing the mare could do was protect herself. Which usually did not end well for all involved. She felt the flames and magic almost immediately as it hit her medallion, her eyes widening as they faded into a glowing gold. In the moments he held it in his magic, he felt it. An uncontrolled chaos that would only rival the god himself swirling within the metal triangle; the memories, the blood it had soaked in, all while it was with its bearer, the mare before him.

She glared at him as it fell limp around her neck, her wings up in a defensive position as she neared him, her hooves digging deep into the ground beneath her as if her very presence was heavier. The remainder of the wolves had gone, perhaps in self-preservation from his flames or from the force before them now. Either way, the two were alone again and it felt like the entire forest had come to a halt.

He blinked a couple of times, regaining control of his faculties long enough for several thoughts to manifest, in order:

1. Headache, ahhh headache, too much magic, too much magic, too much magic...

2. Heeheehee she's cute when she's mad.

3. Why is everything going dark oh yeah I'm gonna...

This was followed by his eyes rolling up and his body collapsing to the ground from magical exertion.

The sound of crackling wood and smell of smoke woke him up, his shoulder rather sore though nothing else seemed to be injured. Upon inspection he noticed a hoof-print bruise. His memory was kind of foggy as to where it came from, or how he got here; wherever here was, anyway.

But that could wait, as he was brought back from his thoughts to notice a sleeping form next to him, her wing draped haphazardly over his back while the other lay limp and bruised on the other side. Twisted had moved him here, from what he could guess, and from the glowing eyes in the trees he could safely assume that they were still in Everfree.

Instincts had him reaching for his sword with his magic, but he only got as far as locating it in its scabbard before his head surged with pain. Right, overdid it with the magic before. Ow. They were not attacking, so he accepted that it was relatively safe, and went back to the last memory he could scrounge up. The last fully coherent thought he could remember was 'Burn, motherbucker!' Huh. After that it was hazy. Something about cute? The hay did he do after fighting?

Pass out, he grumpily reminded himself. Stupid, stupid. Letting emotion get the better of him, showing his temper again. He grumbled to himself as he lay there, trying not to disturb the sleeping mare beside him. "Feathering years I haven't had to worry about this hayseed..." Having gotten what little vitriol was left in his system out with that statement, he took a moment to look her over. He was slightly concerned how her wing had been bruised, or why he had a hoofprint on him that, as he touched it, ow, still hurt. Regardless, the fact that he was still in one piece said enough. He had done enough to buy time for her to get them out of there in one piece. Physical bruises were not an issue for him, he had had enough before.

He'd deal with the mental ones from kicking himself later.

Her ears perked a bit as he shifted, opening her eyes and looking up at his face, her wing still lazily thrown over his back through it did retract a bit as she awoke. "How's your shoulder?" she asked softly, her voice rougher than usual as she looked him over. She twitched a bit as she turned and looked at her wing, sighing softly as she made it fold up and rest against her side, "Clumsy..." she muttered under her breath before turning to him again, tilting her head a bit. Her expression seemed almost blank, though that could have been chalked up to being drowsy.

"Ow," he stated quite eloquently. Up high, brain. "I'll be fine with some food," he offered and winced as his head throbbed, "and some rest. All I remember was my fire spell doing way more than I've ever managed before and that wolf going up in smoke." He could not resist a little victorious smirk at that. "Mind filling in the gaps?"

She averted her eyes and clicked her front hooves together, "Well..." She paused for a minute before giving him a weak smile, "You scared off the others.. but when you passed out I had to get us out of there so I carried you here." She was almost relieved for his memory loss, but she would never let him know that.

"That's good. Thanks for pulling me out, by the way." His expression was warm and friendly again, but there was a bit of strain on it he was trying valiantly, but failing, to hide. "I'm glad you're not too banged up." He looked as if he wanted to say more, but turned to stare into the fire for a time. It was a couple of stretched moments before he spoke again.

"I hope I didn't worry you. I usually try to keep my cool, but something pushed me over the edge." He frowned slightly, then smiled as he finally grasped a silly reason to. "That was really awesome with the fire though. I've never been able to make it do that before." Then he looked pensive. "Still, that's weird. Even when I'm steamin' mad I can't get it to do that." He looked back at her and caught sight of the triangle again. Why did it give him the strangest feeling looking at it? He felt like he was forgetting something important.

She closed her eyes and laid down on the blanket she had put beneath them before setting him down, her wing still draped over him, "No problem. We're friends, right?" She yawned softly as she drifted asleep, the string of her talisman wrapped softly around her leg, though it lay in the dirt in front of them. After she was out, the forest seemed to fall asleep as well. The only sounds around them were the soft breeze, insects and nocturnal birds around them, giving him time to gather his thoughts.

He smiled softly as she fell asleep, his eyes once again drawn to the talisman. This was probably a terrible idea, but... he reached out with his magic to touch it and cut the connection instantly, his headache exploding into a migraine. He bit his lip nearly to bleeding to keep from screaming and waking Twisted up. He found himself exploring the full depths of foul language he had accrued over the years in his head until the pain subsided back to a dull throb.

Well, that was interesting. That explained where all the extra power came from and why it left him with such a raging headache earlier. Must have grabbed it to pull her out of the way. Through the headache it was hard to really examine the magic infused with the talisman, but he was definitely now sure it was magical in nature. What had she said about it? He thought back to that morning, now seemingly an age ago.

"Well, uh, funnily enough I don't really know what it is. Just that I can't get it off." she looked over at him with an apologetic smile, "It's creepy, right? I remember finding it when I was little and, well... After I put it on it never came back off."

That did not bode well. Sounded like something out of a Daring Do novel. A cursed necklace, of all the ridiculous ideas. The talisman had glinted gold as his magic touched it. He tried to recall if he'd ever seen that effect before and drew a blank. It was like a feathering research project from university; all questions, no answers, and no idea where to get information. He tried to recall if it had reacted at all during their fight, but all he could remember was the stench of timber wolves and the feel of his sword in his magic. Twisted had sounded nervous, but that was normal in a fight. Hay, even he was never completely sure how a fight would turn out.

Either way, this trip was far from over. He decided rest was a good idea, but it would have to wait. Someone needed to stand watch until she woke up. Well, sit watch, close enough. He tried to figure out what time it was and how long he'd been out as he waited.

It took a couple hours, but she did wake up, stretching her wings out only to wince violently, biting her bottom lip. How had she forgotten about that? She slowly folded her wings, one aching from the bruise and possibly broken bones in it and the other from stiffness from having it around him. She yawned a bit and groggily looked up at him, tilting her head, "I didn't wake you did I?"

She paused for a moment to see the bags under his eyes before she frowned, "Go to sleep." She almost ordered, getting up from where she had been laying next to him to stretch the stiffness out of her limbs. She then turned back to him, remembering his complaint from earlier and heading into her saddlebag. She had to have something. "Ah ha!" she exclaimed softly, pulling out a small vial before setting it in front of him, "Take this and get some sleep. It should help with your magic headache."

He rubbed his eyes with his hooves and settled in on the blanket more comfortably first. Then, he eyed the vial carefully. Medicine, lovely. "Does it taste like medicine?" he asked bluntly, distaste written on his features. Doctors and medicine had never been on his good side. Lousy shmucks always trying to find something wrong with ponies...

Twisted stared at him before laughing, covering her mouth with her hoof before a small snort made her go silent, her face a bright pink. "U-Uhm.. Ahem," she muttered, trying to hide her blush and recover from her unwilling laughter, "N-No I made it myself. I made sure it tasted like melon or something sweet... I don't like how medicine tastes usually." She rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed smile. He must think she was a child for how much she loved sugar.

His face broke out into a grin as he exclaimed, "Aw sweet, I love melon!" He stopped himself from lunging for the vial though. Leaning into a hoof with a short cough, he quickly got a hold of himself. "Ahem. Thanks, I appreciate it." It was really hard to keep a straight face with her looking at him like that, though. He decided to simply down it to prevent his face from betraying him. It did, just not how he was expecting. His eyes went a little wide as he smiled. "Wow, this actually tastes pretty awesome. You holding out on me, Twisted?" He almost blushed as he realized it was only the second time he had called her by name, the first in casual conversation.

She giggled softly at the light blush that rose to his cheeks before nodding, "And if I am, Vermillion?" She stuck her tongue out at him as she added a few more logs to the fire and pulled out two apples from her satchel, tossing one to him. "By the way, you can ask for food or a break ya know." She chuckled before poking more fun at him, "I heard your stomach all the way over here." She seemed back to normal, bits and pieces from the battle slowly starting to come back as his headache began to subside.

Fatigue finally superseded needs and pain, so he simply stuck his tongue out and harumphed down onto the wonderfully soft blanket beneath him to get some proper rest.

His head was silently crying its thanks to its benevolent master for deigning to consume the brew. Who said he could not be kind to his body once in a while? Funny thoughts aside, he did find it easier to piece together the details of what happened during the fight. She had grown more aggressive as the battle went on, and he remembered the death glare he had received right before passing out. Putting two and two together, he almost got fish, but then his brain caught up and made four. Stupid brain, don't go doing that.

Best guess he had right now was that the talisman was some kind of berserker charm; the more stressed she got, the more likely she was to wallop anyone nearby. Good to know, or at least kinda get. He was still working on that one. There would be time to ask more later. Right now he could really use some...

He promptly proceeded to break his record for loudest snoring.

Twisted pulled out another blanket and lay down on it as she refrained from laughing at his sudden snoring. He could rival a bear! She shook her head as she watched the trees, her ears perked, though she was pretty confident that they would be left alone for a little while. After the display the both of them had made she doubted any of the creatures were willing. She thought back and sighed heavily. Why could she not control it..?