Chapters Where am I...?
Were the thoughts of Fenix Fire as he took in his surroundings. One moment he was enjoying the hot winds from beyond the San Palomino Desert, drifting through the air, and the next he was laying in some cold white stuff that seemed to be every where. All he could remember was a bright flash of light followed by a strange feeling of weightlessness and then nothing but darkness.
Slowly getting up onto his hooves, Fenix flapped his wings a few times making sure they were still there and undamaged. Nodding to himself he looked around noticing that he was in a small town of some sort. Walking along a wall of the building he was next to he stepped into the street and stopped.
This white stuff was every where and made his body feel cold and he didn't like it. It was still dark outside and it made him wonder how long he was out for. He could swear it was around noon time when he was making his rounds before that strange “thing” happened to him.
Hearing a agitated voice coming from his left, Fenix looked in that direction and saw a purple pony which looked like she was arguing with herself. He tilted his head a bit so he could listen better at her converstation.
“No, no, no! That's not what's supposed to happen, Spike.” she said. Stepping to the side he noticed a baby dragon was standing near her and that was whom she was speaking to.
“But Twilight...” he started before she cut him off.
“NO!” she said again and stomped her hoof. “The pegasus are supposed to clear the skies and melt all this snow.”
Snow. So that's what this white stuff is called. Fenix looked at the ground again and moved some of the snow around with his hoof. Still cold and wet which wasn't going to change his mind about not liking it.
“Twilight, look!” called the little dragon. Fenix's eyes quickly darted back to the two that were standing there as the purple pony turned around and her eyes grew wide and she let out a little gasp. Backing slowing, Fenix looked around for a hiding place seeing nothing close by. Bending his legs and spreading his wings he sprung off the ground and into the air.
With a few flaps he was a good 20 feet high before he felt that weird sensation around him again which made him try and flap harder. Realizing that he wasn't going forward but yet backwards, made him frightened even more and he started to panic.
“Nice catch.” he heard Spike say.
“Thank you.” replied Twilight. “Now what do we have here?” she said more to herself than to her capture. Fenix could only look at her from his suspended height, his bright blue eyes darting back and forth looking for a place to escape to when or even if he got the chance.
“I think it might actually worked Spike.” she said looking over the orange pegasus enveloped in her magic. “Let's take him back to the library.” she said as she turned around and started walking with him in tow.
“Let me go!” Fenix called out in a strange accent. The purple pony seemed to ignore him and continue walking towards a giant tree which looked like it was turned into a building of some sort. Fenix tried to struggle against the magic again but to no avail.
The little dragon opened the door and let them inside before closing it after Fenix and headed over to a desk picking up a clipboard and a quill. The purple pony walked over to the other side of the room and levitated Fenix over into a cage and magically locked the door.
Fenix, now freed from her magic, bucked the bars a few times before giving up and sitting down watching her. Why was he being treated like this? What did he do to be locked up and not free to fly? He thought to himself as he continued to watch her move about talking with the little dragon.
He glared at her when she approached the cage. “I've never seen a pegasus like you before.” she commented as she took a closer look at him. “We still have a few hours before sunrise and the start of Winter Wrap Up.” she added as she walked around the side and took a closer look at his cutie mark.
Fenix tilted his head. “Winter what up?” he said in that strange accent of his.
“Winter Wrap Up.” she said again. “You know, where we clean up winter before the first day of spring?” Fenix just looked at her confusingly as she walked back to the front of the cage. Giving up trying to explain Twilight then added, “Ever since the pegasus internal struggle which lead into a civil war and in turn over 50% of them died off the rest scattering to the far reaches of Equestria, there has not been any to help wrap up winter which in turn has Ponyville in a state of constant snow and ice because we can not clear the skies.”
“And now that I finally figured out a spell to locate pegasi and bring them back, because we don't use magic to wrap up winter here, we can finally clear the sky and melt all this snow.” she explained to him.
“Let me go!” he called out again.
“Why would I do that?” she questioned back.
“I don't know anything about this...snow.” he said as he glared at her again.
Twilight just laughed and cocked her head. “You are a pegasus and you don't know anything about snow?” Spike joined in the laughter this time as well as her horn glowed and a window opened. A moment later a decent amount of snow flowed through it and over the cage he was in. Fenix looked up watching it before the light purple glow around it disappeared and it fell on him covering him in that cold wetness.
“Snow!” Twilight called out and fell on the floor laughing as Fenix shook it off of him and tried to push it out the bars of the cage. His dislike for this snow grew even more as he tried to buck his way out of the cage once more, kicking as hard as he could.
“Give it up. You can't get out.” she called over to him as she got up and walked towards the stairs. “Spike I'm going to get a few hours of sleep. Clean up and get some rest. Tomorrow's a big day!” Twilight said with a smile as she walked into her bedroom and shut the door. Grumbling about how he always has to do all the cleaning the baby dragon swept and dried the remaining snow before heading to bed himself. Turning off the lights he walked into Twilight's room and closed the door behind him.
Fenix looked around the darkened room and the quietness it brought with it. What in Equestria was going on? Who was this unicorn and why was she intent on keeping him a prisoner? Fenix laid down a million questions running through his head before sleep finally over took him and he drifted off into that welcoming blackness.
The next morning, which was literally like a few hours, a loud metallic bang woke Fenix with a start and he jumped up hitting his head on the top of the cage and fell back down on his stomach holding his head.
“Uhhggg...” he said as he got up slowly and looked around still a little dazed.
“Good, you're awake.” said that familiar voice of the purple pony. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. What is your name?” she asked as she levitated a big pot away from the cage which she used to wake him up with. Fenix didn't answer and just sat there staring at her.
“Oh come on now. The silent treatment isn't going to get you anywhere, then again nothing is really going to get you anywhere without my say so. In other words let's be friends and tell me your name.” she insisted.
“Why should I tell you? Especially after the way you are treating me.” he spat back at her.
“Now that I think about it, the way you speak, you're from beyond the San Palomino Desert arn't you?” she asked him as she made her way to the front of the cage.
“What of it?”
“It's just I've read about the ponies from that area and always wondered what they are like. You are the first pegasus that I've seen that's like you.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” he glared back at her. Twilight pointed a hoof at his wings. Fenix turned his head and looked at them then back at her. “So what? Every pegasus has wings.”
“Yes but yours are different.” she said as if she was trying to explain something to a little foal. “Anyways we have a busy day today so let's get started shall we? Oh Spike!” she called out as the little dragon came running down the stairs. “Is everything ready?” Twilight asked.
“Yep. We're all set to go.”
“Alright then.” she said as she levitated his cage up and headed out the door with it behind her. Turning to Fenix Fire and smiling she said excitedly, “Let's get winter wrapped up!”
Chapter 1: Calm before the storm
Gray. Everything was a grayish color. Silence was the next thing Fenix noticed as his cage floated quietly behind Twilight and Spike. The only sounds that he could hear is the snow squishing beneath hoof and claw. The sun was up but from all the clouds in the sky one could almost pass it as early dawn. Fenix huddled closely underneath his wings trying to keep himself warm. It was more colder today than it was last night he thought as he kept as quietly as he could just watching and waiting wondering what's going to happen next.
There wasn't any other signs of ponies around at this time or maybe they have all left this little town. Fenix still didn't know exactly where he was at and seemed so lost. There was nothing here he could recognize or anything that seemed remotely familiar to him. As they approached the center of town he noticed a fountain in the middle of the square which still had running water continuously flowing from it. It was strange to him for he noticed much of everything else was covered in snow or frozen solid. He wondered if that purple pony had something to do with it. Maybe some kind of magic she used to keep the water warm.
Twilight stopped and floated the cage over and sat it down between two other cages each with another pegasus inside of it. Fenix first looked to his left and saw a white and yellow colored mare with matching yellow hair with streaks of white running through it. Her cutie mark was of a sunflower with a smile face in it. She was making herself as small as possible as if trying not to get noticed by the unicorn. Taking a glance to his right he saw a charcoal colored stallion with silver hair laying in his cage. Fenix couldn't see his cutie mark for his flanks were covered with snow which seemed to cover almost half of his body.
"But you mustn't..." said a soft voice.
"And why not?" said another more brash and confidant.
"Because the small critters and animals will not survive."
"So you're saying they are more important than we are?"
"Well no..." the soft voice hesitated then continued, "...but they still should be treated equally."
"Gah! Why are you being to stubborn, Fluttershy?"
Looking up Fenix could see two pegasi who seem to be arguing with each other about something. One was a pale yellow with pink hair and with 3 pink butterflies for a cutie mark. The other was a sky blue pegasus with rainbow colored hair and a cutie mark which looked like a cloud with a lightning bolt coming from it. The pale yellow pegasus seemed to have the softer, gentle voice while the other was trying to get her to see her view being blunt and strait to the point.
"This is the only way we can do it quickly enough to actually be on time." the sky blue one said.
"But Rainbow...we can't." she said again quietly.
Fenix heard movement to his left and turned towards the mare that was in the cage. She was now staring at him for Twilight as moved away from the cages and towards where the two in the sky were arguing. Her face was one of shock and curiosity and she slowly moved closer to the bars of her cage and quietly said, "Hello."
"Hello." Fenix said back just as quietly as the mare's eyes widened once again at his accent. She blinked a few times and shook her mane before responding back to him.
"I'm sorry. I have not seen a pegasus like you before..."
"I've been getting that alot here..." Fenix sighed and sat down on his haunches.
"Where are you from?" she asked as she sat down as well.
"From beyond the San Palomino Desert. Far to the south." he explained as she nodded.
"I used to live here in Ponyville..." she said sadly then added with a soft smile, "My name is Sunflower. What is yours?"
"Fenix Fire." Sunflower's green eyes drifted to his cutie mark and then back to his own icy blue ones. "What is it?" he asked her for she seemed curious.
"Your cutie mark..." Sunflower hesitated before continuing, "how did you get it?" Fenix looked back at his cutie mark and then back to her and shrugged.
"I don't really remember honestly." Sunflower looked down at the ground feeling a bit disappointed at his answer but that was the truth. He didn't remember how he had gotten his cutie mark let alone what his special purpose was. Suddenly his ears shot up at some shouting which seemed to come from the sky where the 2 pegasi were still hovering.
"NO!" Rainbow Dash yelled her arms open wide as she was looking down at Twilight. "This has to be the only way to get it done."
"But we cant!" Fluttershy said back to her.
"Wait a minute. Let me get this strait: you want to make a sonic rain boom to clear the sky and melt the snow all at once?" Twilight questioned the blue pegasus.
"Yep, that's the idea." she nodded.
"Well that's not a very good idea." Twilight replied.
"And why not?"
"Cause it will flood the valley and all the critters and small animals wont have a chance to survive." Fluttershy commented.
"Pretty much." Twilight agreed.
"Yeah so? What's more important: losing the Apple farm or saving a few small critters?" Rainbow questioned back.
"She does 'ave a point there." said a peach colored earth pony that was trotting up to Twilight. "If we wait to much longer we'll lose the orchard and then we will all starve ourselves." she added as she stopped next to the unicorn and looked up at the two pegasi.
"How much food do we have left in storage?" Twilight asked her. After thinking about it for a moment the earth pony replied, "About another months worth then we'll be plum out."
"I see. Thank you Apple Jack."
"See?" Rainbow Dash said holding a hoof out towards the earth pony.
"Yes I do, Rainbow, but Fluttershy is still correct in her own way as well."
Turning his attention back to the mare on his left Fenix asked her, "What's a sonic rain thingy?" The mare just blinked at him as if he just asked her if pegasi can fly. Seeing the seriousness on his face she just sighed and explained it to him.
"A sonic rain boom is where a pegasus like Rainbow Dash," Sunflower pointed a hoof at the sky blue pony with rainbow colored hair, "gets going so fast that it creates a sonic boom and a rainbow at the same time. It's pretty much how she got her cutie mark. She's the only pony in Equestria to pull it off."
"You can do that?" Fenix asked in amazement.
"Well me, no, but Rainbow sure can. She wants to do one and clear away all the clouds, snow and ice. It will of course but in turn it will also flood this valley and part of the lower orchard of the Apple farm. Most of the small animals that Fluttershy takes care of are still hibernating and will drown if she does that. So she's trying to convince her to wait it out and follow tradition."
Fenix just nodded and listened to Sunflower as she explained everything to him. Looking back over to where there is a crowd now forming on the ground below the two pegasi, Fenix cocked his ears and tried to listen in again. He didn't noticed that the charcoal colored pegasus to his right was awake and was also listening in to his conversation as well as the commotion that was going on near the fountain.
"I don't care! She can always get more critters and what not." Rainbow said agitatedly.
"How could you not care?" Fluttershy gasped and looked shocked at her statement.
"Everypony just calm down now, ya hear?" said Apple Jack. "There's no need to be fighting about all this. We're all tired of these long winters, which this one seemed to be the worst of."
"Excatly, and there is a nasty storm coming in from the East so we must get this done now!" Rainbow Dash stated as she pointed a hoof in that direction. "I know you earth ponies and unicorns can't really tell but us pegasi can feel it in the wind and in our wings." As she made that statement both Fenix and Sunflower looked at each other and both spread out their wings and ruffled their feathers. Sunflower stopped at the sight of his wing span as well as the shape of them.
"I see now..." she said quietly to herself.
"See what? My wings?" Fenix asked. Sunflower just nodded and gave him a sweet smile. Turning his attention back towards the others he wondered what the sky blue pegasus was going to do. Would she actually try to do a sonic rain boom or will she be convinced not to? He was both curious as well as worried for he knew if she did then they would most likely drown being trapped in these cages.
"Twilight dear, what is going on out here?" said a proper and refined voice as a pure white unicorn trotted up to the others. Fenix just glared at her. Another unicorn. She must be just like that other one that caught and trapped him in this confined cage.
"Hello Rarity. It seems we are at an impasse. Rainbow Dash wants to create a sonic rain boom and clear the ground and sky quickly but Fluttershy doesn't want her to do that because it will flood the animal's dens and homes, many which are still hibernating and will drown from the flooding. It will also cause problems for the lower orchard for all that water will also kill most of the trees there. On the other hand it will end this stupid winter and we will be able to plant and grow our crops again and rebuild or food supply."
"I see. That is a predicament." said the white unicorn. "Anything I can do to help?" she offered graciously.
"Not sure really. Unless you can talk some sense into Rainbow here." Twilight huffed as she looked up at the blue pegasus.
"I can at least try." Rarity smiled.
"Thank you, Rarity."
"Rainbow dear," the white unicorn called up to her friend, "could you come down here for a minute?"
"I can hear you just fine from up here, Rarity. What do you want?"
"Well don't you think we could go some place a little more...private...to talk things through?"
"We can talk right here. Once again: what do you want?" Rainbow was getting more and more annoyed with everypony and how they weren't seeing things her way.
"Well my dear I think we should maybe wait a few more days and see if Twilight can get a few more pegasi to help us out." Rarity said politely up to her.
"Rarity we don't HAVE a few more days. There's a nasty storm coming and it'll be here by tomorrow afternoon. We have to do something about this now or else it will be to late to do anything." Rainbow Dash pleaded with her. Fenix looked from the pegasus to the white unicorn standing next to Twilight. Rarity must be her name. She doesn't seem to bad, but then again his impression about unicorns hasn't been a good one. His icy blue eyes looked from Rarity to Twilight over to the earth pony, Apple Jack, up to Fluttershy and then finally resting on Rainbow Dash who was still arguing with Rarity and Twilight.
"Those were very special ponies..." Sunflower softly said.
"What do you mean?" Fenix turned to her as he inquired to her comment.
"Well a few years ago they had the power of the Elements of Harmony and used them quite a few times to vanquish evil all across Equestria." Sunflower told him. "They even tried to use it on this weather but with no luck. The weather is controlled by the pegasi unless you use some kind of weather magic which some unicorns have learned how to use. We don't use that kind of magic down here in Ponyville. It was founded by earth ponies and winter has always been cleaned up without the aid of magic for centuries."
Fenix nodded once again to her and turned his attention back towards the others. There were a lot more ponies gathered around now than there were not 20 minutes ago. Fenix noticed it was mostly consisted of earth ponies and unicorns. Where were all the pegasi? He though to himself as his eyes scanned those he could see. Some he could not for the giant fountain was blocking his view from part of the square.
"Fuck this!" said Rainbow Dash loudly as she darted strait up into the sky at an amazing pace. Fenix couldn't belive his eyes for he never has seen a pegasus fly that fast before.
"Oh no..." Sunflower whimpered and curled up into a ball in the corner of her cage. Fenix quickly looked at her then his eyes darted back to the sky blue pegasus slowly becoming a small dot in the sky.
"Twilight!" called the pale yellow pegasus as she landed softly next to the unicorn. "You must stop her...please!" Twilight just looked at her and then back up towards where Rainbow was for she was so high now that she was out of sight. "Twlight, please...." she whimpered softly getting low on the ground almost as if she was afraid of her.
"Twilight dear," Rarity motioned with a hoof, "are you really going to let her pull off a sonic rain boom?" she asked as she kept her eyes on the sky.
Turning towards Fluttershy, Twilight offered, "If I stop her will you do anything to help me?"
Looking up at her the pale yellow pegasus nodded and in a barely audible voice said, "Yes."
"Pinky promise me then."
"W-what..?" she looked surprised as she sat up. "but we don't have time for that."
"Yes we do. Now Pinky promise that you'll help me no matter what if I stop Rainbow Dash from flooding us all just to end this year long winter."
Looking around nervously towards Rarity and Apple Jack who both nodded towards her she finally gave out a soft sigh and made the promise. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Good." Right as Twilight said that a loud crackling could be heard as Rainbow Dash flew into view once more heading strait down towards them the air becoming visible around her. Fenix's eyes went wide at the sight and the speed at which she was moving and thought it was impossible to go that fast. Shaking his head as if tring to wake up from a bad dream he looked back up and she was still coming, faster and faster the air around her becoming more and more visible and now was shrinking in on her.
Smiling up at the sky Twilight's horn began to glow slowly. Brighter and brighter it got until there was another glow on top of that first one. Quickly looking at Twilight wondering what she planned on doing, Fenix's eyes shifted between her horn and Rainbow Dash coming in at an incredible speed. Suddenly that same glow appeared around Rainbow's right wing as her eyes became wide with surprise then glaring down at Twilight.
"Faster! Faster! Come on Rainbow...almost...." she told herself as she started to reach the thresh hold of the sonic rain boom.
Suddenly two things happened at once: first Twilight said the word, "Boom." and jerked her head slightly to the side, secondly Rainbow's right wing ripped from her body sending her spiraling out of control at that incredible speed. Blood and feathers rained down upon everypony on the ground as many gasps and then stunned silence filled the square. The only thing that could be heard was Rainbow's screams of pain as she free fell from the sky unable to stop or control her decent any longer with only a single wing.
Fenix couldn't take his eyes off of her as he watched her fall. Everyponies' eyes were on the sky blue pegasus as she came closer and closer to the ground. Seconds seemed like hours as they all watched her scream and fall and as quickly as it started it was all over as Rainbow Dash slammed into the wall of Sugar Cube Corner with a sickening thud which shattered the front windows sending shards of glass at the nearest ponies who were standing around watching. Sounds of breaking wood, glass and other things could be heard before there was nothing again. Nobody even heard the soft thud of Rainbow's right wing as it landed in the snow only feet away from Twilight.
"Rainbow Dash is that y..." called a higher pitched voice from inside the shop before turning to frantic screams. "OH MY GOD! RAINBOW!" was heard in the silence as a pink earth pony with a darker shade of pink mane came galloping out. "Twilight! Come quick it's Rainbow. She's hurt badly." Tears were in her eyes as she stopped in front of Twilight and pointed with a hoof towards Sugar Cube Corner.
"Yes, thank you Pinky Pie." was all she said and her horn began to glow again. She levitated Rainbow Dash through one of the broken windows cutting her already broken legs upon the sharp shards of glass. Rainbow's breathing was ragged and slowed for she had a punctured lung and probably more than a few broken ribs. Floating her up and above the fountain she held Rainbow there letting her blood drip into it making the clear water a rich crimson color.
"That's enough Twi." said the peach earth pony quietly to her.
"No she must be taught a lesson." Twilight said back and then in a louder voice so all can hear, "Listen up everypony. This is how we punish those who break the rules of tradition. Rainbow Dash decided on that HER way was better than cleaning up winter the proper way. The way we're been doing it for years now." Turning her attention towards the floating pegasus trapped in her magic she continued, "It is time we taught this pegasus some manners."
Fenix could only watch in horror as the scene unfolded before him. How could you treat some pony like this? Wasn't she a good friend of her's? He was saddened and confused and angry and filled with hate but most of all he was filled with sorrow for the young pegasus. His eyes filled with tears as he wished there was anything he could do to save her. He felt so useless, so helpless, and there was nothing in his power that he could do to help.
Twilight's magic split into two parts: one was holding Rainbow Dash the other encased her left wing and held it out for all to see. Rainbow tried to fight, to pull it back towards her body with the last remaining strength that she had but it was unless against the magic of Twilight Sparkle. As if on que more screams of agonizing pain shot through the square as everypony looked on as her left wing started to slowly tear away from her body. Skin and muscles ripping, bones snapping and feathers were being stripped from it. With a sickening pop sound her wing separated from her body as another spray of blood and tissue covered the ground and a few of the onlookers.
"Twilight, stop!" beckoned Rarity as her eyes were filled with tears. "Please, oh please for the love the Celestia stop this madness." She begged her friend. Twilight looked at the white unicorn and shrugged while releasing Rainbow Dash from her magic letting her splash down into the fountain. At that moment Rarity took off in the bolt as fast as she can, jumping into the water and started to cradle Rainbow's head.
"How could...you do this..." she cried as she looked into Rainbow's fading eyes. With her last bit of strength Rainbow spoke to Rarity.
"..sorry for...getting...your coat..." she tried once more coughing up some blood as the fountain water was now completely crimson which had started to soak into Rarity's shiny white coat.
"Shhhh don't speak now...save your energy..." she whimpered as she brushed some of her multicolored hair out of Rainbow's face.
"If...it wasn't for...the horn..." Rainbow smiled as she slowly reached up and touched Rarity's cheek, "I swear...you...Pinky Pi...." and with that she let out her final breath as her hoof feel back into the water as the last of the color faded from her eyes. Rarity broke down at that moment and wailed uncontrollably for her friend. The silence still lingered for everypony was afraid to move save for Twilight who turned and started slowly walking towards the three pegasi locked in their cages.
"Fluttershy, come." she called without looking behind her. Pushing slowly out of Apple Jack's hooves, the pale pegasus was crying softly for her friend as she walked slowly behind Twilight, her head down in morning. Apple Jack wiped her eyes and walked over to Pinky Pie as she just sat there crying silently in shock at what she just witnessed Twilight do to one of their most beloved friends.
"Now it's time to do what you promised and help me out." She said to Fluttershy as the pegasus stopped a few feet behind her before turning back to the three with a smile and an look in her eye that would freeze even hell over.
Chapter 2: Weather Control
"Twi could I speak to you for a moment?" called the peach earth pony wiping her eyes as she trotted over to the unicorn and pegasus. Twilight turned and looked over her shoulder at Apple Jack without saying a word. "Fluttershy could you excuse us for a moment?" she politely asked the pale yellow pegasus who just nodded and walked away to give them some privacy. Turning around Twilight just looked at her while tilting her head slightly and waiting for her to speak.
"Twilight I have to ask..." she started to say as she placed a hoof to her face, "what in Celestia's fuck was that?" she pointed her hoof towards where Rarity was still holding the cold form of Rainbow Dash tightly to her chest the tears still flowing from her beautiful eyes. Twilight looked past Apple Jack towards where she was pointing and then back to her.
"I would have to say a lesson well learned." Twilight said nonchalantly. Apple Jack just glared at her and stomped her hoof on the ground which would have been more meaning full if it wasn't covered in snow. "What?" Twilight said as she looked at the glaring earth pony.
"You just killed one of our good friends!" AJ screamed at her stomping her hooves continuously. "That was not a lesson well learned. That was...it was..." the earth pony couldn't finish her sentence as she broke down again and fell back on her haunches.
"It was more like...torture?" Twilight finished for her. All Apple Jack could do is nod and wipe her eyes. She just didn't have the strength to argue with her anymore and got up and slowly headed back over towards the fountian where the blood soaked Rarity was still weeping. Fenix just watched looking from pony to pony before turning back to the purple unicorn who stood in front of the three cages, her back to them.
"Oh Fluttershy?" she called as the pegasus slowly made her way back over and stood next to her not even looking that those locked away. "Shall we begin?" Twilight asked her. A silent nod was all the reply she would receive. "Good. Now I need you to teach these sad excuse of a pegasi how to clear this sky."
"But Twilight I ca..." she started to say.
"Are you going back on your promise, Fluttershy?" she turned on her with a seriousness to her voice.
"N-n-no..." she shrunk back and made herself as little as possible.
"Good, I thought so. Now like I was saying," she continued before being interrupted.
"I ain't doing anything for you. Especially after the way you treat your friends!" snorted Fenix. The other two pegasi turned and looked at him before he continued. "How can you treat your friends like that? How can you be so cruel?" He was angry and upset with what he saw and how she just acted so calmly about it. Almost as if she enjoyed what she did to a fellow pegasus.
Turning around while he spoke Twilight cocked her head and laughed at him while taking a few steps towards his cage. Sunflower cowered back into her corner trying very hard not to make eye contact with the purple unicorn. Twilight just stared at him from between the bars as he finished glaring daggers at her.
"That was nothing and I was tired of the way she would always act." she sighed in boredom and waved a hoof at him. "You'll never understand. You know what I'll deal with you three later. Fluttershy!" she called as she turned and walked away with that pale yellow pegasus in tow.
"Impressive." said a deep rusty voice from his right. Fenix turned suddenly and stared at the charcoal colored pegasus for he was now standing and moved over to the side of the cage nearest Fenix's own. "I've been here for quite a while and have never seen anyone stand up to Twilight Sparkle like that before. Well maybe Rainbow Dash a few times...until today...." he said turning away trying very hard not to recall the events that happened not to long ago.
Fenix turned his eyes towards the fountain and noticed Apple Jack and Pinky Pie finally helping Rarity out as all three of them dragged the still form of Rainbow Dash out of the bloody water. He watched them slowly make their way out of view towards the East side of Ponyville. He turned his gaze back to the stallion and he noticed he didn't have a tail. It was completely gone, not even a strand of hair left on his hind quarters.
"The name's Torch." he said as he turned and showed Fenix his cutie mark. Fenix blinked a few times looking from where his cutie mark should be to his eyes and back once again. "If you're wondering why I don't have a cutie mark..." he turned and face Fenix once again, "it's because that bitch of a unicorn removed it." He spat at the ground when he said that.
"She...removed it? How?" Fenix was stunned.
"Magic of course. She has developed a real prejudice towards pegasi over the last few years. I wonder why she even tolerated those other two."
"Because of the Elements of Harmony." Sunflower said as she continued to lay there, now with her head up and looking over at the stallions.
"That would explain it." nodded Torch. Fenix took everything as his eyes drifted around the area. Everypony had left the area as soon as Twilight was done having fun tearing apart her friend. The ground was covered with blood, the white snow dotted with speckles of red everywhere. It was a gruesome scene to take in, even her wing was still laying in the crimson soaked snow, feathers torn, softly moving in the gentle breeze that has recently showed up. Sitting down Fenix said a quiet prayer for his fellow pegasus and looked up into the darkening skies.
"She was right, ya know." Sunflower said. "There's a storm coming. A really bad one." she sighed quietly and laid her head back down. Fenix continued to watch the skies silently before standing back up and stretching out his wings. The cage was barely big enough for him to reach full wing span and he nodded to himself.
"It will be dark in a few hours. You should save your energy and get some rest." Torch said to him as he buried himself back underneath the snow. Fenix just nodded as he continued to watch the graying sky. The temperature was decreasing by the hour as he continued to sit there and watch the sky. Ponyville ponies continued on their daily activities completely ignoring the pegasi as Fenix just sat there staring upwards barely moving.
A few hours after night fall Fenix decided it was time. Getting up on all hooves he spread his wings once again and flapped them a few times. Sunflower woke up and turned her head at the sound before rubbing her eyes and asking, "What are you doing, Fenix?" She sat up and turned towards him as she watched him flap his wings slowly up and down. Torch opened his eyes and raised his head looking over at the strange pegasus.
The other pegasi continued to watch the strange orange one as he continued to flap his wings lifting himself off the ground slowly until his back reached the top of the cage. Fenix continued to flap his wings a bit harder and faster with every down push his back pressing hard against the top bars of his cage.
"Give it up buddy." Torch said as he laid his head back down. "These cages are way to heavy to try and lift by yourself or without any kind of magic..." Fenix continued to flap faster and harder with every push as he started to grunt every now and then. Sunflower continued to watch him silently wondering if he could really do it. After a few more flaps Fenix dropped to the ground bent his legs, thrust his wings down at the same time jumping strait up into the air slamming into the top bars.
Sunflower gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves as Touch's eyes snapped open and quickly looked over towards Fenix. "What the hell are you doing over there?" he said as he watched him do it a second time and then a third. "Stop it you silly pony. It's no use and you are just going to hurt yourself." Torch added. He was now sitting up watching Fenix slam into the top bars over and over again.
"Please stop." Sunflower agreed not wanting to see him hurt himself. Fenix continued to flap and jump up at the same time over and over, each hit getting harder and harder. On his next way down Sunflower could see a slight stream of blood coming from the top of his head which traveled down over his left eye. "Fenix, stop! You're bleeding." she called out to him as she paced back and forth near the side closest to him.
Jump. Ping. Jump. Ping. Jump. Ping. Fenix staggered a bit on that last landing as he started to feel a bit woozy as more blood flowed from his head and now cuts can be seen on his back dripping down onto the packed snow. Looking up at the bars he smiled to himself and wiped the blood from his eyes.
"3 more jumps..." he said to himself yet loud enough for the other two pegasi to hear him.
"Please no more!" Sunflower called once again trying to reach him.
"You're killing yourself. Stop this nonsense." Torch called from the other side. Fenix stretched his wings once more and bent his legs getting ready for another try.
Jump. Ping.
Sunflower's eyes began to water as she watched this pegasus hurt himself over and over. "Please stop...this is stupid. You're just hurting yourself and I can't take it no more...I don't want to watch another pegasus die today." she sat down and started to cry.
Jump. Ping.
Torch stood and placed his hooves on the side bars of his cage as he tried once again. "Have you gone crazy? Wasn't one death of a fellow flier enough for today? For the month? For the year???" His dark brown eyes were watery as he tried to talk some sense into Fenix.
Jump. SNAP!
Fenix flew strait up into the air before landing and collapsing near Sunflower's cage. She reach out with a hoof and placed it on his forehead wiping some of the blood away from his eyes. "I can't believe you just did that." she said softly as Fenix lay there breathing raggedly smiling up at the kind pegasus. Torch just sat back down in shock as he looked at the broken bars at the top of Fenix's cage. Getting up slowly he leaned against Sunflower's cage and winked over to Torch.
"I'll be back for you two." he said quietly to her as he steadied himself. "I promise."
Chapter 4: Feather's Fall
Rarity's message kept running through his head as Fenix made his way from building to building making his way to Sweet Apple Acres. "Find Apple Jack. Tell her what's happened. She will help." Fenix darted behind some boxes as a couple of mares walked by talking about the storm that's supposed to be coming in a few hours now and wondering if it was all true or not. He knew it was true for he felt it in his feathers and it will be on top of them soon enough so he must hurry and free his friends.
When it was clear again he quickly darted into the shadows of the next building. He was getting closer to the edge of town and it was becoming harder to stay out of sight with each passing building. He remember her telling him that when he came to the farthest building that he'll have to wait till it's clear and then fly as quickly as he could manage until he reached the lower orchards where he could then land and make his way through the trees until he reached the Apple's residents. Looking around Fenix saw a few ponies hanging around and needed to wait for them to clear off. It was only a few minutes that he had to wait for one of their friends called them over and that was his cue.
Taking off like a thunderstorm Fenix flew as fast as his wings and damaged body would allow. Staying low and as silent as his wings could be he reached the trees in only a matter of moments before he was able to land and slunk behind the nearest apple tree. Breathing heavily he waited till he had his breath under control before moving on.
"Been a long time since I flew like that." he chuckled to himself as he steadied himself and started to trot up the hills towards where the main house was at. He didn't have much time to just linger and was hoping he could find the earth pony quickly without to much trouble. It took him about another thirty minutes before he finally reached the last of the trees that were nearest to the house. Fenix waited a few moments and looked around waiting to see if he could find that peach earth pony.
Fenix started to become anxious for he couldn't sit around for to long. It was just wasting to much time just waiting for her to show up. She could be anywhere and he thought that it was time to just go out and find her himself. Fenix was about to take a step out of the shadows of the trees when he heard a heavy thud nearby. Crouching low he looked around from where the sound could have originated from. There it was again. Another heavy thud that sounded like somepony was kicking down the trees. Staying low Fenix made his way towards where the sounds were coming from moving from tree to tree.
Another heavy thud was heard as he saw the earth pony he was looking for. She was bucking the trees that still had some apples on it which fell into a waiting basket on the ground. He noticed it was hardly half full as she gazed up at the tree with a sad look in her eyes. Taking a breath he stepped out from behind the tree and made himself known.
"You are Apple Jack, correct?" Turning quickly and getting into a defensive stance, the earth pony's eyes glared at the orange pegasus as she stood her ground in front of the basket of apples.
"Ya can't 'ave them, ya hear?" she warned him.
"I do not want your apples. Rarity told me to come find you and ask for your help." He started to explain. Apple Jack relaxed a bit at Rarity's name and stood up a bit. Fenix sat down and started to tell Apple Jack everything. From his escape to the help he received from Rarity and Sweetie Bell. He told the earth pony about his and Rarity's conversation late into the night and how Sweetie Bell slept under his wing all night. Fenix went on to explain how Twilight showed up and Rarity hid him in a back room and tried to convince her that she didn't know anything. He continued to tell Apple Jack about how Twilight tortured Sweetie Bell just to get what she wanted from Rarity which Rarity still lied to her and how in the end she still killed the little filly with no remorse and just left Rarity there in shock.
"That's fucking insane!" Apple Jack couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Sweetie Bell is...dead?" Fenix just nodded as he just sat there not really looking at the earth pony. AJ made her way over to the orange pegasus and sat next to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. Fenix's eyes started to water as he did his best to remain calm but it was no use. He started to cry as he started to confess to the earth pony.
"I couldn't do anything...I couldn't help that little filly...and now she is dead!" Fenix shut his eyes tight as tears continued down his cheeks. "She...she even said she liked the way I talked." Apple Jack just pulled him close and held him for a few minutes before he wiped his eyes and looked over at her. "Thank you..." he said as she just smiled at him.
"Apple Bloom ain't gonna to take this very well. 1/3 of the Crusaders is gone." she said softly. She got up and helped the pegasus to his feet before continuing. "You said Rarity has a plan? Well let's head over yonder and get inside. You can tell me everything about it once we get out of this cold and get some lunch in our bellies." Apple Jack picked up the basket and tossed it onto her back before waving a hoof for him to follow her. Fenix followed behind Apple Jack as she made her way to the front door and went inside. He heard her speak to everypony about having a guest and to be kind to him as he hesitated right outside the door way.
Returning to the door she waved him in. "Dun be shy now. These are good folks in here and are mah family." Fenix followed her inside and stood to the side as she shut the door behind him. "Everypony this is...uhh sorry I forgot mah manners and didn't ask for your name." Fenix watched as three more earth ponies walked into the living room. A much older green mare, a big strong red stallion and another little filly wearing a pink bow that looked a bit to big for her. His icy blue eyes averted as soon as he saw the filly and he kept them on the floor.
"My name is Fenix Fire." he said with a sadness to his strange accent. "Please call me Fenix." he added as he looked back up at Apple Jack and she smiled at him.
"Well everypony this is Fenix and is a guest for lunch today." She finished her earlier introduction as she pointed a hoof at each one saying their names in turn. "That's Granny Smith."
"Well howdy there."
"That's Big Macintosh."
"Ayep."
"And this here his Apple Bloom."
"Glad to meet ya. Hope you are hungry me and Granny Smith have made some fresh apple pies and they smell delicious." she beamed with excitement. Fenix tried his best and give her a smile as she came trotting over and taking his hoof leading him towards the kitchen.
"Don't fret yourself now, Fenix and get something to eat. We'll talk in a bit." When they have left the room Apple Jack waved both Granny Smith and Big Mac over to her and related everything that Fenix told her not to long ago. When she was finished all three of the ponies sat there in silence for a few moments with the only sounds coming from the kitchen where Apple Bloom was showing Fenix all kinds of things and explaining what they were. In return he was cheering up a bit and was asking questions about everything.
"Here try one of these apple fritters." Apple Bloom said as she placed one on a plate in front of him.
"What's an apple fritter?" he asked as he looked at the pastry sitting in front of him.
"Just try it. You'll really like it!" she said with a smile. Fenix bent down and took a bite and chewed slowly then took another bite and smiled to the filly.
"You're right." he said after swallowing the bite. "This is pretty good." He took another bite and continued eating as she explained.
"We made those the other day but they last for a good while and are still just as good as the day they are first made." Apple Jack walked in as Fenix finished off his fritter and smiled at her.
"I see Apple Bloom 'as started with the entrees." she chuckled as she started cutting up on of the pies and dishing it out on plates for everypony. As they started eating Fenix noticed the time. 10:58AM. Roughly two hours before said storm was going to hit Ponyville. Not much time for Rarity's plan but he still had to try. When they were finished and had cleaned up Fenix laid out the plan Rarity had come up with.
Fenix crouched on top of one of the roofs near the main square waiting those last few agonizing minutes for their plan to go in effect. His body still hurt and luckily none of his wounds has opened up so far but his eyes and ears where sharp and on point. Fenix spotted movement near the fountain and he noticed it was Rarity getting into position and that was his que. She looked nervous and kept looking over her shoulder as if expecting Twilight to just magically show up out of nowhere. The white unicorn spotted him and gave a slight nod as she took a few deep breaths and her horn started glowing a light blue color. That same blue covered both of the cages as the pegasi inside of them watched her intently wondering what was going on.
"What is she doing?" Sunflower asked Torch as they were both standing waiting for anything bad to happen to them.
"I have no idea but I've never seen her use magic on us before. It was always Twilight that would do anything with us or the cages." he answered back. Fenix watched Rarity and the two pegasi closely waiting for his chance to act. Rarity seemed to be struggling with her magic as she closed her eyes and concentrated harder on the magical locks that were keeping them trapped inside. Fenix noticed that his cage was still there in the middle of the other two the top bars bent outwards from where he made his escape from. His eyes shifted back to Rarity and he could tell she was having trouble now and was starting to sweat a bit from the magical strain that was taking it's toll upon her.
"Come on Rarity...I know you can do it." he said quietly to himself urging her on.
"RARITY! STOP!" Screamed the familiar voice of that purple unicorn.
"Oh shit!" Fenix breathed as he quickly spotted Twilight running from the far end of town at a full gallop down the main road of town. Turning his attention back towards Rarity he noticed she didn't even flinch when Twilight called her name as she was focusing every bit of will power she had into her own magic. Looking back down the road he noticed Twilight's horn started to glow and then she just disappeared. He blinked a few times which caused him to sit up giving his position away. Quickly searching the area he saw her appear right next to Rarity as her eyes snapped open and she was smiling.
"I did it Sweetie Bell." Was all that Fenix heard as everything else seemed to move in slow motion. Twilight turned and bucked as hard as she could, one hoof hitting Rarity squarely in the throat while the other was a direct hit to her horn snapping it clean off. The cages of the pegasi opened slowly as their eyes widened with shock at not only being set free but also the brutality of Twilight's attack. Turning around as everything seemed to speed back up to real time, Twilight watched Rarity slam hard into the side of the fountain hearing ribs crack and break under the force of the impact. Charging at full speed she lowered her horn and rammed it into her heart blood spraying all over her face and the side of the concrete. Twilight pulled it out with another spray of blood as Rarity coughed some of that crimson liquid out onto the white snow as she looked up at her and smiled for she couldn't speak anymore. Enraged Twilight thrust her horn into her side again and again and again. By the time she was done Rarity's torso could hardly be recognized.
A whistle was heard from up above and both pegasi looked up and over to the West side of the square where they saw the orange pegasus waving for them to hurry and come. Quickly getting out of their cages Sunflower and Torch turned and were about to take off when they heard Twilight scream with rage once again as she started to build magical energy in her horn.
"NO YOU FUCKING DON'T!" Twilight lowered her head and fired a beam of pure magic at the two before they had a chance to take to the air. Torch was a bit faster and knocked Sunflower out of the way as she landed on her face in the snow quickly looking back in time to see half of Torch's body along with his right wing just melt to the bone as sizzling flesh and tissue could be heard falling to the ground. Half of his face had been blasted away leaving nothing but his skull exposed as he fell next to her and with his last breath he said, "Run..."
Getting up on all her hooves Sunflower flapped her wings and took to the sky as fast as her small frame would let her. Fenix was right there next to her as they went higher and higher out of reach of the crazy unicorn. They flew as fast as they could heading for Sweet Apple Acres as he wondered what happened to Apple Jack and why she didn't stick to the plan.
Laughing to herself Twilight sat down and called out to the two fading into the distance, "Let me show you something I learned from my brother!" Closing her eyes she began to power up her magical energies once again her horn glower brighter and brighter with each passing moment. Not long after there was a second glow, like an overglow to her horn, followed by a third. Opening her eyes she let all that magical energy go creating a huge purplish shield around Ponyville. Twilight continued to laugh to herself sitting next to Rarity's corpse blood still flowing out of it soaking into Twilight's tail and the surrounding snow.
"What the hell is that?" Sunflower shouted as a purplish wall seemed to form only feet from in front of them. Both pegasi smacked hard into it making them come to a complete stop.
"I have no idea." Fenix replied as he felt around with his hoof. "But I don't think we'll be getting out anytime soon." he added as he looked back towards where the distant laughter of Twilight Sparkle finally reach both of their ears. Sunflower moved closer to Fenix as they hovered there not knowing what to do now for Sweet Apple Acres was on the other side of the shield and they had no way to get there.
Chapter 5: Eye of the Storm
"What are we going to do, Fenix? What are we going to do?" panicked the mare as she looked back and forth hovering next to him. Fenix slammed his shoulder into the force field once again with no effect on it. He tried bucking it, hitting it, even biting it but nothing he did seemed to make even the slightest scratch in it.
"Excuse me..." called a soft quiet voice.
"Fenix I'm scared...we need to get out of here!" Sunflower turned and watched him give up in vain at his attempt to try and get through.
"Umm hello up there?"
Turning to her he flapped his way over and put his hoofs on her shoulders. "Yes I know and we will find a way out of here but right now we need to find a place to hide and get out of sight from that crazy ass unicorn." he told her.
"Pardon for interrupting but could you two..."
"But where are you supposed to go? Where are we going to hide safely from Twilight?" Sunflower's eyes were dark with fear that any moment she was going to appear and just kill both of them. Fenix steadied the pegasus and smiled to her which seemed to calm her slightly.
"Don't worry. I will get you away from her and out of this place."
"COME DOWN HERE!" the voice on the ground yelled up at the floating pegasi. Both of them jumped back in shock and almost fell out of the sky before looking at the ground below them. Fenix saw that it was the pale yellow pegasus that was arguing with Rainbow Dash the other day and the last time he saw her she was following sadly behind Twilight. Sunflower and Fenix looked at each other and then came down to ground level landing a few feet away from the other pegasus.
"Oh dear, I'm very sorry if I scared you." she said shyly as she hoofed the ground in front of her.
"What do you want?" Fenix questioned cautiously.
"Please I don't want any trouble," she stated as she took a step back from him. "I can help you find a place to hide...if you need one."
"Why should we trust you?" he glared at her. "You were with Twilight last time I saw you."
"Yes I know, but I don't want to be around her anymore. She has changed and it frightens me." she said quietly.
"But what about your promise?" Sunflower asked from behind Fenix.
"I won't help her with it!" Fluttershy stated stomping a hoof to the ground.
"So you're going to break a Pinky promise?" she gasped as she took a step forward standing next to Fenix.
"If that's what it takes then yes I will. She needs to be stopped before anypony else gets hurt or even worse." Fenix took a few steps towards Fluttershy and she made herself small and laid close to the ground looking up at the strange pegasus hoping he wasn't going to hurt her.
"What do you have in mind?" he asked her has he held out a hoof to her. Fenix helped her up and motioned for her to lead the way. Fluttershy trotted away with the two pegasi right behind her as she lead them through the back alleys and around the farthest buildings. Eventually they reached a normal looking place and took them around to the back end of it which was only a few feet from the force field. Opening the door which lead downstairs into the basement, Fluttershy made her way down as Sunflower closed the door behind them. Reaching the last stair Fenix could barely see in the dimly lit room but he could still notice Fluttershy from the wings as she walked over towards another pony laying in the corner.
"Who's that other pony?" Sunflower whispered as she stepped down and stopped next to Fenix. He just shrugged and kept his eyes on the two ponies in the corner. A few moments later Fluttershy came back over and waved for them to come with her. Upon closer inspection Fenix noticed the pony in the corner was that pink one from the day before who came running out of Sugar Cube Corner. Her hair was laying down flat against her face as well as her tail was not as poofy as it was the last time he saw her.
"This is Pinky Pie." Fluttershy said pointing a hoof in her direction. Fenix stepped over to her and laid down in front of her looking into her eyes. They would have almost been as blue as his but there was a grayish tint to them as she made no reaction to him at all.
"Pinky Pie." Fenix said as she blinked and looked at him. He sat up and her eyes followed him as they stayed locked onto his. "Pinky Pie." he repeated as she lifted her head slightly to get a better look at him. "My name is Fenix Fire. I come from lands way to the south. I was brought here against my will by Twilight Sparkle." Pinkie Pie flinched at the mention of her name as he continued, "I believe I was brought here for a purpose. One that is different than what she may thought it would be." As he spoke to her Pinkie Pie sat up somewhat still hunched over filled with sadness and sorrow from the loss of her friend.
Fluttershy stepped over and stood next to Fenix as Pinkie looked to her. "Our friends are dying," she said softly to her and touched her shoulder with a hoof. "We must stop Twilight before anypony else is hurt. Will you help us Pinky?" she asked her. Sunflower made her way over and stood on the other side of Fenix and looked down at the sad pink pony.
"I believe that he is here to help stop her as well." she added as she smiled at her. Looking from pegasus to pegasus, Pinkie's eyes finally rested on Fenix and she sat up strait and did the motion for the "Pinkie promise" and nodded to him. He looked at Fluttershy who explained that she just Pinky promised him that she'll help in any way possible.
"Thank you Pinkie Pie." he said quietly as he wrapped his hooves around her and gave her a hug. Pinkie just seemed to melt in his hooves as she silently wept for a few minutes. Releasing her Fenix turned his attention to Fluttershy and asked, "So what did you have in mind?"
"We don't have much time before this storm hits Ponyville," she started as they all sat down and listened to Fluttershy's idea. "We will be useless in the air so we need to get her trapped inside some place where we can get her to use up all her magic. Once she depletes it she will be exhausted and then we will be able to take her down."
"But isn't that dangerous?" Sunflower asked. "Because we'll be basically trapped inside with her as well. No pony would be able to survive very long outside in that storm."
"Yes it will be and she will have the advantage." Fluttershy noticed the despair in Sunflower's eyes and went on to add, "but there are 4 of us now and I believe in our strength." Fenix looked at the white and yellow pegasus and smiled towards her before turning back to Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie what are your thoughts?" he asked her. Pinkie just started waving her hooves around doing what looked like random motions.
"After what happened she has lost her voice and can no longer speak..." Fluttershy told them. Fenix looked back towards Pinkie who was still acting out her ideas that no pony could make sense of. "You don't have to worry about Pinkie Pie. She knows what to do." Fluttershy beamed at her good friend.
"Very well. Please continue Fluttershy." Fenix nodded.
"Well I'm not sure after that. I was hoping maybe, if you didn't mind, that you would take care of the rest."
"I understand. If we make it that far I will take care of Twilight Sparkle and end the madness that has consumed her." he stated with stomping a hoof on the wooden floor. "Just one question: how and where are we going to get her trapped when the storm comes?"
"We will use the town hall and I will bring her there myself saying that I have found you and that you two are hiding out inside town hall. Don't worry, I'll bring her right before the storm hits." she explained. Fenix and Sunflower both nodded to her as his icy blue eyes locked back onto Pinky Pie.
"You up for this?" She just stared back intently and gave him a slight nod. "Good. It's getting close now. Fluttershy please go out first and make sure the coast is clear. When it is tap on the door twice and we will head strait for the town hall and wait for your arrival." He told her as she got up started for the door. "Good luck, Fluttershy." he called to her as she started up the stairs and opened the door closing it behind her. It wasn't long before there was a slight tap on the door followed by another one.
"It's time to go." Fenix said as he got up. Sunflower and Pinkie Pie stood up as well and followed after him towards the stairs. Pushing past him Pinkie shot up the stairs and out the door before he could react.
"Pinky!" both of them shouted as they ran up the stairs and then stopped before going out. Fenix looked outside cautiously in every direction before stepping out himself. Sunflower shortly appeared right behind him and closed the door quietly. The wind had picked up and was getting stronger with each passing minute.
"We must hurry." he told Sunflower as they made their way to the town hall. They had to pass the center square to get to their destination. Luckily no pony was around for they were starting to take shelter from the building weather. Rarity's body was still laying there against the side of the fountain the snow around her still soaked with her blood as the fresh flurry that was coming started to fall on her cold corpse. The two pegasi quickly made their way across the square and towards the town hall. Reaching the doors Fenix found them unlocked and ushered Sunflower inside before going in himself and shutting the doors behind him.
"Now we just gotta wait for Fluttershy to get here with Twilight." he told her. "Find a place to hide..." he said as he looked around himself. "I don't want you involved in this fight." he told her. Sunflower made her way over and stood in front of him before throwing her hooves around his neck and holding him close.
"Please be careful..." she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek and onto his shoulder. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek and then galloped away looking for the best spot to hide herself away. Fenix watched her go before making his way to the center of the main room and turned to face the door wings out, legs bent and ready to face Twilight and hopefully undo all the wrong that she has created.
He didn't have to wait very long before the double doors flew open and a raging purple unicorn stood in their midst with an evil grin on her face. Fenix could see Fluttershy right behind her trying to catch her breath as the storm began to howl outside blowing snow into the hall as the winds ripped at their manes and tails. Twilight started to step forward slowly as he expression turned from rage and hatred to calm and cocky.
"You did well Fluttershy." she called back as the pale yellow pegasus did her best to shut the doors against the tormenting wind. She slumped down against the doors and just watched not really wanting to hurt her good friend. "Well there's one here, so where is the other?" Twilight asked as she stopped within 15 feet of Fenix.
"Don't concern yourself with her. I am the only one you should worry about." he snorted at her.
"You?" Twilight laughed and couldn't contain herself. "What makes you think you can beat me?" she taunted the strange pegasus. "You won't be able to get near me, especially in a place like this." she waved a hoof to the surrounding area.
"Well let's see just how good you claim to be." Fenix taunted back. He could see Fluttershy trying to crawl off and find herself a hiding spot.
"Don't go anywhere, Fluttershy, for this will be over very shortly." Twilight said to her without even turning her head.
"Okay." she said quietly.
"Don't listen to her! She doesn't control you!" Fenix shouted glaring at the unicorn.
"Okay." she squeaked even quieter.
"Ugghhh you pegasi think you're allll that. Controlling the weather, moving clouds here and there, thinking you can just do whatever you want whenever YOU want." Twilight spat slamming her hooves into the flooring.
"And you unicorns try to control everypony with your damn magic thinking you are above all of us, yet you can't fly!" he growled back at her. Fenix's icy blue eyes flared with anger as he remembered what she did to her very good friends. Twilight bent low and growled back at him seeming very pissed off at that statement. Good it's working, Fenix thought as he continued taunting her.
"You couldn't keep this pegasus caged up and the other two I was able to free as well. So much for your superior so called "magic". I bet you couldn't even keep a little bird locked up now that everypony knows that your prisoners are free." Twilight was seeing red now and let out a demonic roar which shook even the foundations of town hall. Fenix actually took a step back at her sudden rage and blinked thinking maybe he pushed her a bit to far.
"YOU. WILL. FUCKING. DIE!"
Chapter 6: Winter Wrapped up
Twilight's horn started to glow but Fenix was ready for her and jumped into the air and behind one of the supporting pillars that circled the main room of the town hall. Firing a beam of pure magic Twilight barely missed the pegasus as it hit the pillar and left a nasty scorch mark about as half as big as he was. That was to close, he thought as he hovered behind the pillar. Fenix heard a strange pop and then other as the unicorn appeared above him on the railing of the second floor and fired once again at him.
"Shit!" he called as he dropped himself a few feet the beam grazing the top of his mane as he put out a few strands of hair that were smoking. "Damn she's quick." he said as he flew quickly to the other side of the building and behind another pillar. He heard that strange popping sound again followed by Twilight's laughter.
"So it's hide and seek that you want to play?" she called out as her eyes searched the big room. Closing her eyes she calmed herself and started to listen intently for a few moments before locating the flapping of his wings. "Got'ca." she said as she teleported herself to the pillar he was hiding behind and fired strait up. Fenix only had a fraction of a second to act and tilted sideways as the beam streaked past yet hitting his right wing which caused him to scream in pain and spin awkwardly in circles before crash landing near the middle of the room. Looking at his damaged wing he knew he wouldn't be able to fly for quite a while and got up slowly as a trickle of blood flowed from his bandaged head.
Twilight slowly moved from behind the pillar towards the wounded pegasus with a smile and a look on her face that actually showed that she was enjoying herself. She stopped near Fenix and just laughed at him again. "You pegasi are nothing without your wings. All I had to do is wait for the right moment to bring you back down to earth." Fenix just glared at the unicorn and stood his ground waiting for her to make her next move.
"So tell me," she continued as she started to slowly circle him, "where is your pretty little friend? I haven't had to pleasure of playing with her as much as I did with that other stallion." Fenix remained silent as he watched her closely. She wasn't charging any magic and her horn wasn't glowing but that didn't mean he was going to relax around her. "There's no use to give me the silent treatment now, is there? I mean I had such big plans for all of you." Twilight sighed as she continued to circle the orange pegasus. As she passed in front of the doors he noticed Fluttershy still huddled closely by them covering her face with her wings shaking visibly.
"And what kind of plans did you have for us?" he finally asked.
"It's a secret." she replied with a grin then shrugging she went on, "but then again it's no use now that I've lost the best young flier in Equestria."
"You mean you killed her!" Fenix shouted back.
"If that's how you want to put it." Twilight commented. Suddenly her ears perked up and she turned her head towards the back of the main hall and smiled. "So that's where you are hiding." Twilight turned and started walked towards the small closet door almost hidden in the shadows by the stairway leading up to the second floor.
"Stay away from her!" Fenix shouted as he galloped at the unicorn before she spun to the side and buck him hard in his side sending him crashing to the floor once again knocking the wind out of him.
"Stay down." she said as she faced the door once again and blinked with a stunned look on her face. Standing directly in front of her was Pinky Pie with her party cannon only inches away from Twilight's face. "Pinky Pie...what are you doing here?" she asked surprised. Fenix noticed Fluttershy's head popped up from under her wings and looked over also a bit surprised.
"Pinky....Pie...?" she said barely above a whisper. That very moment Pinky fired her party cannon point blank into Twilight's face sending confetti and silly string all over her, blinding her and cutting her face in multiple places as she screamed and took a few steps back rubbing at her eyes. Pinky Pie turned and opened the door grabbing Sunflower and started running towards the stairs. Both Fenix and Fluttershy got as low as they could to the ground for Twilight started firing beams of magical energy randomly all over as her rage took over once again.
"I WILL GET YOU FOR THAT PINKY!" she screamed bucking and shooting in circles as she tried to get her vision back as her blood started to stain the floor. Pinky kept running with Sunflower as a beam struck her left back leg and she stumbled and fell bringing the pegasus down with her before skidding to a stop only feet away from the bottom of the stairs. Sunflower was up first and helped the pink earth pony to her feet. The white and yellow pegasus wrapped her arms around Pinky's waist and started to lift her up into the air. Both Fenix and Flutteshy just watched the small pegasus strain with effort but was able to make it to the second floor where they hid into another room right as Twilight's vision started to return. Her eyes were filled with hatred as she looked frantically around for that earth pony and when she couldn't find her she let out another blood curdling scream.
Her eyes fall on Fenix as he got back onto this hooves and smiled at her. "Well that was unexpected." he chuckled as he got his breathing under control. Twilight's horn started to glow as she stepped closer to him her purple face a dark shade of red and a killing intent could be seen in her eyes. He stepped slowly with her trying to keep the same distance between them at all times. If she stepped forward he took one back and vice versa.
"Twilight, please stop." said a kind voice in the deadening silence. The only other sound was the crackling of magic coming from Twilight's horn and the hoof steps of each pony. Fluttershy got up onto her hooves and started making her way over to Twilight as she stopped moving and just watched the pale yellow pegasus.
"Please stop. Don't you think we've had enough pain and suffering?" she begged her good friend as she stopped near her.
"Pain?" Twilight echoed. "You don't know what pain is, you fucking pegasus. Here let me show you!" she roared as she turned and bucked her hard sending her into one of the nearby pillars. Fenix heard the sound of bones breaking as Fluttershy screamed in pain as one of her wings was completely laying limp at her side. The kind pegasus just looked up at her friend in shock and disbelief as she wondered what made her change so much and act this way.
"Now let me show you some more pain!" Twilight laughed as she turned and aimed her horn at the cringing pegasus as she hid herself behind her front hooves. Her horn was glowing intently casting enough light that create shadows as she continued to laugh at her injured friend. Fenix knew it was now or never. She was distracted and it could be his only chance at stopping this insane unicorn.
Taking a deep breath he bent his legs and pushed with all his might breaking into a full gallop before jumping strait into the air. Twilight turned as she saw the strange pegasus leap into the air and grinned as she steadied herself to release a enormous blast of magical energy his way. Right as she fired Fenix landing directly on her horn as it pierced his chest missing his heart by only a few centimeters. He then reached around her neck with his front hooves and held her tightly locking her together with him. At the same time the blast of magical energy tore through his body ripping out his back, exposing his spine and part of his rib cage, as well as shredding both of his wings to pieces. Blood splattered all over the ground reaching the nearest wall and pillars. Fluttershy just watched in horror as the pegasus continued to hold Twilight to him her horn still locked into his chest.
"Let me go!" she yelled as she tried to buck him off of her but he kept holding onto her. Twilight began to panic as she continued to try and free herself before tiring out and started laughing again. "I'll just keep blasting you until you are nothing more than a pile of fucking blood and feathers." Fenix could actually feel the magic that she started to gather inside of him and knew that he wouldn't live through another one of her attacks. He was losing blood way to fast at the moment and felt that it was time to end this while he still had the strength to.
Fenix brought down a hoof hard upon Twilight's face and he felt her magic falter as he brought it down again as he heard her cry out in pain and shock as he magic completely dissipated. Again Fenix's hoof smashed into Twilight's face and once again she screamed in pain trying to pull her horn out of him and free herself.
Thud.
"This is for Rarity!"
Thud.
"This is for Sweetie Bell!"
Thud.
"This is for Rainbow Dash!"
Thud. "This is for every pony else you've hurt!" Fenix hoof was hitting harder and harder with every land that connected with Twilight's face as her right eye was broken and falling out of the socket, her mussel busted open, teeth missing, her ear broken as her jaw swelled up from every blow he was laying into her. Twilight noticed he was running out of steam as he took a moment to catch his breath and she started to gather her magic once more.
"Die you fucking bitch!" He screamed as he placed both hooves over her neck and with the help of his hind legs he twisted his body lifting her from the floor in a spin which snapped off her horn in a violent burst of magic which separated both of the ponies sending them in opposite directions. Fenix landing close to Fluttershy as she covered herself up from the magical wave that emanated from the point of origin as she was slammed against the pillar once more from the pressure of the magic. The wave passed through everything as it made it's way out of the building and out of sight.
Opening her eyes slowly she noticed Twilight was breathing erratically and she made her way over to her. Fluttershy watched as the light of life faded slowly from her eyes before they became completely dark and she took her last breath as death finally took her. The pale yellow pegasus sat down and wept for her friend even though she did all those horrible things.
Hearing hoof steps coming slowly down the stairs, Fluttershy turned and wiped her eyes seeing Sunflower helping Pinky Pie descend. She rushed over and they got her safely to the bottom as she looked at Pinky's back leg and gasped. "Oh dear. Will you be alright, Pinky Pie?"
"I think she will be in some time as long as she stays off of it." It was badly burnt and shriveled but will heal eventually. Fluttershy nodded as Sunflower noticed Fenix laying very still on the other side of the room. Flying quickly over to him she lifted his head into her lap and saw that he was barely breathing. "He's till alive!" she called to the other two as they made their way over to the pegasi. Fenix's eyes opened slowly and he looked up at Sunflower as that icy blue color started to dim.
"We...did it..." he coughed blood and gave a weak smile as Fluttershy and Pinky Pie sat down next to Sunflower, both with tears in their eyes on the verge of breaking down.
"Please don't try to talk..." Sunflower sniffed as she watched the color fade even more. Fenix looked over at Pinky Pie and slowly yet weakly started doing the Pinky promise. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." quoted Sunflower as his orange hoof fell from his eye and he lay still.
All three ponies broke down at the same time weeping uncontrollably at the death of the pegasus who just saved them all. Fluttershy was the first to get up and quietly said to Pinky Pie, "Let's give her some time with him." Pinky just nodded and let the pale yellow pegasus help her up as they started for the double doors. Pinky noticed it first as she pointed a hoof to her ear as Fluttershy stopped to listen.
"I don't hear anything." she said as she watched Pinky point to her ear again and then to the doors. They started up again and they both opened the doors together and what they saw both couldn't believe. "Oh my...." was the only thing that escaped Fluttershy's lips as their eyes must be playing tricks on them.
As both ponies took a step out the first thing they felt was the warmth of the sun then the dirt underneath their hooves. The sky never seemed so blue as the first song of birds could be heard in the distance. Everything was vibrant and colorful like it used to be even though it was still all wet. It looked like everything had sparkles on it for it glistened in the sunlight. Fluttershy and Pinky Pie looked at each other and then back towards where Sunflower was still weeping over Fenix.
The square was beginning to fill up with ponies as they couldn't believe what they were seeing either. Some thought they were still dreaming. Others thought they must have died and were in heaven. Some even started kissing the ground and smelling the grass and dirt again which brought back memories as one by one they started to smile and cheer. Pinky Pie threw her arms around Fluttershy and smiled brightly as she giggled at her friend welcoming back the first of the birds as they flew through the clear sky.
Two months have passed since the defeat of Twilight Sparkle as three ponies stood onto a small hill which a lone gravestone laid. Pinky Pie had a pegasus on each side of her. Fluttershy placed some fresh flowers on the grave as Sunflower said a small prayer. A soft breeze sprung up which flew through the manes and tails of the three ponies as they stood there silently looking at the grave.
Here lies Fenix Fire Savior of Ponyville May he rest forever in our hearts.
Both pegasi placed a wing on Pinky as all three looked at each other and smiled before turning their eyes upwards towards the crystal blue sky. Somewhere up there they knew he was watching over them and guiding those missing pegasi back to Ponyville once more. The three friends said their goodbyes as they trotted down the hill leaving the bouquet of flowers rustling in the afternoon breeze.
Chapter 3: The Darkest Hour
Fenix frantically flapped his wings looking for a place to hide and perhaps get some rest and tend to some of his wounds. Landing as quietly as he could near one of the buildings he tried the door and found it locked. Another door, another lock. Fenix tried a few more doors and received the same result. All locked. Granted it was late and everypony must be asleep now but that didn't stop him. He needed to get out of this cold weather and give his body a chance to regain some of it's strength back.
He noticed another building across the street which he could try but it was a bit risky. Hiding in the shadows of the building he was standing next to he took a few breaths and leaned against it as his vision blurred a little. Shaking his head he steadied himself and looked both ways as he listened closely. Fenix nodded to himself and pushed off the ground flying as quickly as he could to this lone round building. Landing with a grunt he checked the door and found that it was unlocked and swiftly stepped inside quietly as he could.
A tiny gasp was heard behind him as soon as he shut the door and locked it. Turning around quickly at the sound Fenix was staring at a wide eyed filly levitating a small glass a water next to her. "It's you!" she squeaked as her magic failed and the glass dropped to the ground spilling water everywhere. "Oops, she's going to kill me.." she said softly before turning back to the orange pegasus. Fenix spun around and tried to get the door unlocked as quickly as he had locked it but was having trouble fumbling with the lock and door for his vision was becoming more and more dark.
The little filly galloped over to him and placed a hoof on his arm. "Wait, I'm not going to hurt you." She had a soft kind voice as Fenix stopped fumbling with the door and looked down at her before swaying slightly and falling over staining the floor blood red which a few drops landed on the filly's face. "Ughhh now she's REALLY going to kill me." she said again.
Fenix awoke with a groan and slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was laying near a fireplace with a lit fire going. Something felt strange on his head as he reached a hoof up and felt some loose bandages that were wrapped around his head. He also felt some around his body as well as he tried to get up but his legs just didn't have the strength to hold him and he fell back down wincing with pain.
"Please try not to move." said that sweet sounding voice as the filly came into view with some more bandages and more clean towels. Fenix now noticed the slight glow around the objects and his eyes drifted to her horn which made him want to get up and get out of there yet his legs refused to move anymore until he got some rest. "Do not be afraid. I'm trying to help you." she said as she sat down the supplies next to him and started to clean off his face with one of the fresh towels.
"My name is Sweetie Bell. What's yours?" she asked him as she dipped the bloody towel into the water and started wiping the rest of his face clean.
"Fenix Fire." he replied to the filly. Why was this little unicorn helping him? She is definitely not like those older ones that he saw in the town earlier today. She finished with his head and reapplied some fresh bandages before she started removing the ones around his body. Fenix winced once more as she unwrapped them and tossed them into the garbage.
"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" she asked quietly.
"Not as bad as I thought." he smiled to her putting on a brave face. His back was full of lacerations both big and small. The smaller ones have stopped bleeding but a few of the larger cuts were still flowing.
"Oh dear. Umm.." Sweetie Bell looked around and added, "I'll be right back. Gotta get something to stop the bleeding before I make a bigger mess and my sister really really kills me." She galloped out of the room leaving Fenix alone with the crackling of the fire place as he laid his head on his arms and relaxed as his eyes started to slowly close. A moment later they snapped back open as he heard hoof steps coming down the stairs as a shadow could be seen in the next room.
"Sweetie Bell," said that sophisticated voice he recognized from earlier, "what are you do..." Rarity stopped in the middle of the door unable to finish her sentence at the sight of the orange pegasus sitting on her floor dripping blood all over it.
"Rarity!" squeaked Sweetie Bell as she came back into view with some more towels and strips of cloth. Looking down at her sister, Rarity's eyes shifted back to Fenix and then back down at the little pony. "Move you're in the way." she said as she pushed past her and placed the towels on Fenix's back trying to soak up the flowing blood before it covered the floor even more. Rarity just blinked a few times and then trotted into the room having regained her composure.
"Sweetie Bell can I speak to you for a moment?" she asked politely.
"Try not to move, okay?" Sweetie Bell told Fenix as he nodded slightly to her. As the two unicorns moved to the far side of the room, Fenix twitched his ears in their direction as he could still hear them.
"What is HE doing here, Sweetie Bell?" Rarity demanded.
"Well when I went down stairs to get some water I saw him standing by the door."
"Don't tell me you forgot to lock it again..." she sighed.
"Sorry..." Rarity looked past her sister over at Fenix as he turned his attention to the fire and replaced his head back on his arms remaining as still as possible.
"Well what's done is done I guess." she said as her eyes focused back on Sweetie Bell. "Let's get him cleaned up." Rarity added as Sweetie Bell smiled and they both stepped over towards Fenix. His eyes watched them carefully as the unicorns approached him and Sweetie Bell sat down next to him as Rarity took over with the cleaning and bandaging. She completely undid and replaced everything that Sweetie Bell had did and made sure everything was tight and secured and wouldn't come undone from just the slightest movements.
After about a good 20 minutes Rarity stepped back and smiled to herself. "There we go. He should be stable enough now to get some rest."
"Rarity," Sweetie Bell said as she looked over at her sister, "he has a name."
"Well isn't that nice of him. He hasn't been inclined to share it with anyone." she replied with a huff.
"He was with me." she beamed back with a smile.
"Congratulations." Rarity rolled her eyes.
"Maybe if you told him yours he will do the same?" Sweetie Bell offered as she looked over at Fenix. Rarity looked a bit nervous now and dug her hoof into the blood stained floor and sighed. Stepping closer to the orange pegasus she cleared her throat and formally introduced herself.
"My name is Rarity. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Fenix Fire." he said in that strange accent of his which made Rarity blink a few times.
"I like the way he talks." giggled Sweetie Bell covering her mouth with a hoof.
"Sweetie Bell! Don't say things like that." Rarity quickly scolded her sister.
"What? I do." she replied back.
"I'm sorry about that." Rarity told Fenix turning to him and started cleaning the area up.
"It is alright." he replied as he noticed Sweetie Bell move closer to him. He looked over at her and smiled as her eyes strayed to his wings.
"Well that's about all I can do for now. Guess we'll just have to clean up the rest in the morning. Well Mr. Fire," she started as she walked back over and sat down opposite of him.
"Fenix."
"I'm sorry?"
"Please call me Fenix."
"Oh yes, but of course. Well Mr. Fenix," Rarity started again.
"Just Fenix." he interrupted once again.
"As you wish." Rarity agreed feeling a bit annoyed with all the interruptions. "Well, Fenix, you can stay here for the night but you must leave in the morning." Looking over him once again she tilted her head and asked, "By the way how did you get out of the cage?"
"I jumped." he stated.
"You...jumped?" she repeated.
"Yes. I jumped until I was free."
"Hmmm." Rarity thought for a moment. "That would explain these cuts all over your head and back. That is quite impressive." She smiled at him before putting another piece of wood on the fire. "But I have to admit," she added before turning her attention back to Fenix, "you are a strange looking pegasus. No offense intended."
"None taken. Ever since I was," Fenix searched for the right word before continuing, "brought here, I have been told that quite a number of times. Do I really look that different?" he asked her.
"Well," Rarity tried to say delinquently, "yes and no. You look like every other pegasus but the size and shape of your wings are very different." she explained as best as she could. Fenix sat up slowly and stretched out his left wing which covered Sweetie Bell as he turned it from side to side and slowly flapped it a few times.
"I like them." Sweetie Bell said as she touched a hoof to his feathers. "They even feel a bit softer than Fluttershy's too." she commented as he lowered his wing to let her play with it.
"They don't seem so different to me." he said looking back over to Rarity.
"Well yes, but tell me about yourself. I know you are not from Ponyville or anywhere near by, where are you from?"
"Far to the south. Past the San Palomino Desert lies a small village with only about 100 ponies living there." Fenix answered.
"So why are you all the way up here in Ponyville?"
"It wasn't by choice." he said turning his head to look into the fire. "I was brought here somehow..."
"Twilight..." Rarity said more to herself than to him.
"Yes. That purple unicorn must have done it. She was the one that captured me and locked me in that cage." he said as he turned back towards Rarity glaring.
"She did mention a while back that she was working on a new spell to find and bring back the pegasi to help wrap up winter." Rarity thought aloud.
"What do you mean bring back the pegasi?" Fenix questioned.
"You don't know?" she asked. Fenix just shook his head not really knowing to what she was referring to. A slight movement to his left caused him to look down and he saw Sweetie Bell fast asleep curled up against the soft feathers of his wing. "Let me put her to bed and the I'll explain."
"She isn't bothering me." he said as she smiled down at the little filly. "Please continue."
"Very well then. About three years ago there was a power struggle between the Wonderbolts. Half of them didn't want to help clear the skies anymore and said the magic of the unicorns was more than sufficient the other half said it was their duty as pegasi to help out where they are needed. Well that cause a big uproar in Cloudsdale which in turn lead to a violent civil war in which over half of the pegasi were killed. The remaining flew off in all directions leaving the unicorns and earth ponies to deal with the weather themselves. The first winter after that was really rough here in Ponyville. We only had a few pegasi to help clean up the snow for Twilight refused to use her magic to help for it wasn't the earth pony tradition.
"We barely made it through that one but the following one was even worse. We couldn't clear the skies fast enough before another storm hit us covering everything up with even deeper snow. The other 3 pegasi that lived here left soon after the storm passed which left us with only two: Fluttershy and Rainbow..." Rarity seemed to stop there and pause for a moment wiping her eyes with a hoof before continuing. "Rainbow Dash. Just the two of them couldn't handle it all and Fluttershy being a weak flier made things that much more complicated. That's when Rainbow came up with the idea of using a sonic rain boom to clear away all the sky and melt all the snow all at once but she was voted out and we tried wrapping up winter the traditional way."
Getting up on her hooves she stepped towards the door and called back, "I'm going to make us some tea." Leaving Fenix once again in the quietness of the room, the only sounds coming from the warm fire place and the soft snoring of the filly wrapped up in his wing. Looking down at Sweetie Bell he thought that not all unicorns are bad or evil. Just the one called Twilight Sparkle. It wasn't long before Rarity returned levitating a try with two cups and a small tea pot. She placed it between them on the floor and poured each of them a cup of tea. Taking a sip from her cup she closed her eyes and gave a slight sound of enjoyment.
"Thank you." Fenix said as he took a drink from his own cup before putting it back down and asked, "What do you think she wants with me? Or even with the other two pegasi still locked in their cages?"
"To be honest I believe she is trying to get enough of them to end this year long winter we've been stuck in. Without the pegasi to move the clouds they have just been building up over Ponyville."
"So why doesn't Twilight just use her magic then to make it all go away?" Fenix asked.
"Two reasons. First because it's not the Ponyville way to use magic to wrap up winter. Second is that she doesn't know any weather magic. All the unicorns that knew that type of magic left when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna left taking Canterlot with them."
"What's a canterlot?"
Right as Fenix asked that Rarity was taking a sip from her cup and started to chock on her tea as she spat some of it out. After cleaning off her mussel she gave him a funny look. "Tell me you're not serious. You are joking right?" she asked. Fenix just shook his head and remained silent as he waited for her answer.
Placing a hoof to her face she explained once again. "Canterlot was the royal city of Equestria where the two sisters lived. Once the civil war broke out both Princess' put up a protective barrier around Canterlot and when things got really bad they just took the city and vanished. One minute it was sitting on the side of the mountain and the next there was this super bright glow and when the light faded the castle was gone. Most of the unicorns lived in Canterlot and all the ones that knew weather magic they took with them. So that is why I believe Twilight is trying to round up more pegasi so she can end all this."
"I see." Fenix said as he looked at his cup that has barely been touched. "There's a slight problem though...I don't know how to do any of that." he confessed. Rarity sat there opened mouthed for a moment before catching herself and bringing her composure back.
"You mean to tell me that you don't know how to move clouds even though you are a pegasus?" she asked in shock. Fenix continued to look down and just slightly nod for an answer. "Well then. Perhaps you were brought here for a greater purpose." Rarity added.
Looking up at her Fenix had a few questions of his own. "This, magic, of her's...can she use it again?"
Thinking about her answer she replied, "Only once every few weeks I believe. Twilight told me about it and how after the first time she tried using it it completely drained her of all her magical powers." Fenix nodded and asked another.
"How many times has she used it?"
"I'm really not to sure," she shook her head. "Only a hoof full of times I think. There was once or twice where it didn't work now that I think about it and she wanted some advice from me but I couldn't help her out. It was to advanced for me."
"Okay. One last question," he said changing the subject, "I need to free the other two pegasi but it would go a lot faster if I had some magical help. Will you help me unlock their cages?" Rarity just blinked at him and sat back at his strait forwardness. "Rainbow Dash was right. There is a really big storm coming which will make things a lot worse for everypony. I don't want them to die like that...in those cages." he looked away in disgust.
"I..." she started before looking at the sleeping form of Sweetie Bell as she moved slightly moaning something about the Crusaders and their next mission to find their cutie marks. "I don't know if I can. Twilight is very powerful when it comes to magic." she told him. "Let's get some rest and talk about this again in the morning." she added as she stood up and levitated the tray and began to walk out with it. Stopping at the door she turned her head and smiled sweetly at Fenix making him turn away and blushing slightly.
"I'll leave Sweetie Bell down here with you. She looks so peaceful and I wouldn't want to wake her. Good night Fenix."
"G'night Rarity." he said as he turned his face towards the fire and laid his head back down. He felt Sweetie Bell move closer to him and he adjusted his wing to cover her more as he closed his eyes and let his aching body relax and slowly drift off to sleep.
It seemed like it was only minutes when he awoke to the sound of knocking on Rarity's door. Fenix lifted his head and turned his ears towards the sound and wondered if he was still dreaming. There was another knock on the door and his eyes focused and the sleepiness faded away as he now knew that someone was actually at the door. Sweetie Bell stirred from under his wing and sat up as Fenix lifted it to give her some more room.
Yawning she said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "I'll get it." Stretching, Sweetie Bell got about half way to the door when there was another knock and a voice could be heard loud enough but still a bit muffled.
"Rarity are you up? It's Twilight Sparkle. We were supposed to get breakfast this morning." The sound of another knock could be heard this time seeming a bit impatient. Sweetie Bell stopped and looked back at Fenix and then to the stairs as Rarity walked clumsily down them.
"Yes yes I'm up now." she said to herself as she reached the bottom stair. Sweetie Bell dashed over to her and shook her sister.
"Rarity! It's Twilight!" she squeaked once again. "What are we going to do?"
"Twilight you say?" she blinked the sleep out of her eyes a few times before it hit her. "Oh shit, Twilight is here! Is it morning already?" Rarity looked frantically about as her eyes spotted Fenix trying to stand on his own leaning against the wall. "Distract her Sweetie Bell while I find a place to hide Fenix." she told her sister as she galloped over to the pegasus. "Come with me." she told him as she helped him walk into a side room.
When they were out of view Sweetie Bell took a deep breath and then opened the door with a smile greeting the purple unicorn. "Good morning Twilight."
"Oh good morning Sweetie Bell. I'm sorry if I woke you up but is your sister awake? We had an important breakfast meeting to go to."
"Umm she's getting ready and will be down in a few minutes." she told her.
"Oh that's good. Mind if I wait inside? It's a bit chilly out here this morning." Twilight said as she tried to push open the door so she could enter. Sweetie Bell quickly stopped it which halted Twilight and she looked confused at the little filly.
"It's not safe in here. She was up all night and it's a big mess in here right now." Sweetie Bell was trying her best to convince Twilight to stay outside.
"Oh that's alright." She smiled at the filly before pushing the door open with her magic knocking Sweetie Bell out of the way and trotted inside. Twilight only got a few feet inside before she came to a sudden stop, eyes wide as she looked around the main room and the blood on the floor. Her eyes followed the trail of blood which looked like something was dragged into a side room before disappearing around the doorway.
"Oh my gosh." she said quietly. "What happened in here? Is everypony alright?" she turned and looked at Sweetie Bell waiting for an answer. At that time Rarity walked into the room and broke Twilight's concentration on her little sister.
"Twilight, shall we be off? I'm starving and would like to get something to eat." she tried to distract her from what she was seeing.
"In a moment Rarity." she said as her eyes continued to take in her surroundings. Twilight also saw that both Sweetie Bell and Rarity both had dried blood in the manes, tails and on their bodies. "Rarity what happened in here?" she asked more seriously this time.
"Oh it's nothing dear. I was trying out some new designs and Sweetie Bell was helping me out." she laughed it off as if it was nothing. She could tell that Twilight was only half buying her idea. Trying to change the subject again she added as she stepped closer to the front door, "Shall we be off? Otherwise we'll be late and the food will get cold." Rarity held a hoof out towards the door waiting for Twilight to go first. Just as Twilight turned and started for the door Spike came running in huffing and puffing from being out of breath.
"Twilight. Gone. Pegasus. Two." he sputtered as he tried to catch his breath.
"Whoa slow down Spike. Take a moment and catch your breath then try again." she told him as she stepped over to him. After a few moments and his breathing returned to normal he explained.
"When I went to check on the pegasi this morning, like you always make me do, there were only two of them in their cages still." He told her. "The orange one with the funny accent and strange wings was missing. Not only that but the top of the cage was broken and there was blood all over the ground."
"WHAT?!?" Twilight growled taking a step back. "How is that possible? Nothing can break through those bars." she yelled at him. Spike just took a step back and remained silent. Twilight started pacing back and forth thinking to herself and muttering about how her magic held the bars together and other magical spells that she cast upon the cages.
"Twilight dear," Rarity started, "perhaps we can talk about this over breakfast?" she insisted.
"Rarity this isn't the time to be thinking about food." she said angrily back still half muttering to herself. "One of the pegasi have escaped and we need to find him now!" Twilight stopped in mid hoof and looked at the ground then it hit her like a lightning bolt. Turning slowly to face Rarity she eyes went cold as ice as she spoke between clenched teeth.
"Where. Is. He." Twilight took a step towards Rarity.
Laughing slightly to lighten the mood she shrugged, "I don't know what you are talking about dear."
Another step forward. "Rarity you WILL tell me where he is." she growled lowering her head a bit.
"Twilight please stop this." she said as she moved towards Sweetie Bell putting her behind her.
"Stop? You're telling me what to do now?" she lifted her head and looked down her mussel at Rarity.
"No I'm just trying to keep things calm here."
"Oh I AM calm." Taking another step towards Rarity she continued, "I know he was here. Look at all this." she waved a hoof at all the blood stains on the floor and the tracks that lead into the other room. "I swear to Luna that if you don't tell me where he is there will be more than just a few smears of blood on the floor to clean up." Twilight threatened.
"Twilight what's gotten in to you?" Rarity tried to reason with her friend. "Why are you acting like this?" she seemed a bit frightened of her now as she took a step backwards with Sweetie Bell hiding in her tail.
"What's gotten into me?" she repeated. "The question should be what's gotten into everypony else. It seems like everypony is content with it being winter all year long!" she huffed at her friend. "But I have a plan to save everypony and get the seasons back on track." Twilight laughed and then looked at Rarity again before her eyes shifted to the hiding form of Sweetie Bell. "Last chance. Tell me where he is, now!"
"I don't know..." she said as she watched Twilight closely.
"Okay then." Twilight's horn started to glow and a scream came from behind Rarity as Sweetie Bell was floating, wrapped in her magic as she held the little filly up above in between both of them.
"Put her down, Twilight!" Rarity called.
"Tell me where he is."
"I already told you, I don't know." Rarity's eyes stayed on Sweetie Bell.
"Rarity help me!" the filly cried to her big sister.
"Yes you do now tell me!" Twilight said getting more angry with each passing moment. "Tell me now or I won't be responsible for what will happen next." she warned.
Rarity looked at Twilight now with a scared concerned look in her eyes. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh I don't know..." Twilight shrugged and added, "perhaps something like this." At that moment a loud crack could be heard followed by a high pitched scream as Rarity's eyes shot up to her sister. One of Sweetie Bell's back legs was bent unnaturally backwards as the little filly cried and screamed from the pain.
"Oh my no..." Rarity cried. "No more Twilight. Please put her down. She's my only sister!" she begged the purple unicorn.
"Then tell me where that pegasus is hiding!" she angrily replied.
"I don't know!" Rarity repeated.
"Going with that again?" Another loud crack could be heard as Sweetie Bell's other back leg hung lifeless from her body.
"Rarity make it stop!" she cried, tears streaming down her young face.
"Umm Twilight I think..." Spike started to interject but Twilight turned on him quickly.
"Who said you could start thinking?" At that moment Rarity saw her chance and charged Twilight, head down aiming her horn directly at her heart. Unfortunately Twilight was slightly faster and Sweetie Bell slammed into her sister knocking them across the room. "That was a nice try but it looks like I'll be having breakfast alone this morning." Twilight stepped towards the two sisters and stopped standing above them.
"Twilight...why...?" Rarity asked barely able to speak.
"I don't have to explain anything to you." as her horn started to glow once again as Sweetie Bell started to move away from her big sister. Rarity held onto her for as long as she could before she was pulled away floating only feet above her. "I'll give you one more chance." she leaned close and whispered to her.
Between sobs Rarity finally gave her what she wanted. "Yes he was here. He said he was going to hurt Sweetie Bell if we didn't help him bandage his wounds and let him hide out for a few hours." She looked up at her little sister their eyes locking onto each other. "He left about 25 minutes ago and made us promise not to tell any pony. That's all I know!" she said holding out a hoof to Twilight.
"See that wasn't so hard, now was it?" she laughed as she turned around and started for the door where Spike was waiting silently. She stopped at the door and looked back towards Rarity. "Thank you, dear." and with that there was one more bone crunching snap and Twilight's horn stopped glowing as the limp form of Sweetie Bell hit the floor with a thud. Rarity's eyes went wide at the sight of her dead sister and fell into complete shock not able to even breath.
Twilight turned her head back around and stepped through the door closing it behind her and Spike. After a few minutes Fenix staggered his way out of his hiding place and over to Rarity placing a hoof on her shoulder and sat down next to her. The moment he touched her she collapsed into him and started weeping uncontrollably. There was nothing he could say or do save for just be there for her as his eyes watched the lifeless little filly that was sleeping next to him not only an hour ago.
Rarity shifted and sat up next to Fenix and wiped her eyes. Turning to him she spoke softly, "I'll do it. I will help you free the other pegasi before any other pony gets hurt." Fenix put a hoof on her shoulders and just nodded to her.
