"That's it for today, girls!" It was the end of a warm Summer's day, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were just getting ready to go home. The three fillies happily skipped out of their clubhouse and headed towards town.
"What are we gonna try tomorrow?" Sweetie Belle asked. Apple Bloom sped up to catch up to her two friends.
"Well, we could go into the forest and try climbing trees, or we could go to the library and help Twilight out," she suggested.
"I like that idea, Twilight always needs some help!" Scootaloo quickly responded.
"It's settled then!" Apple Bloom spoke loud and clear, making sure everypony heard. "See you tomorrow, girls!" She turned and headed towards Sweet Apple Acres.
"Are you sure we should do this? I mean, Spike's always there; Twilight might not need any assistance." Sweetie Belle began to look worried. Scootaloo ran ahead and stopped in front of her.
"Of course! Tomorrow's Saturday, and Spike never wants to help on weekends, you know that!" she said confidently.
"Well, okay!" Sweetie Belle replied, suddenly full of joy. She ran into Rarity's boutique, almost knocking over one of the mannequins sitting around the room. Scootaloo could hear the complaints and shouting from where she was sitting. Her happiness quickly faded to depression, as if she had just gotten horrible news. She sighed and headed towards the forest.
"Stupid parents," she muttered as she walked around the low-lying plants and tree roots. "I hate it here..." There was nothing but sadness in her voice.
"We'll be back later, honey!" a voice in her head told her. This made her angry, and she kicked a tree. After a while, she stopped and crawled inside a nearby bush.
Might as well sleep here, it's not like I have an actual bed anymore, she thought to herself. She was just about to drift off into sleep when she heard a noise coming from close by. "Huh?" She poked her head outside and looked around. There was a green glow coming out from behind the trees. Frightened, she quickly ducked back down. Three stallions, a pegasus, an earth pony, and an alicorn, stepped out.
"Sweet Luna, Mystery, where did you throw it?" the pegasus said, a mix of boredom and fear in his voice.
"Yeah, we're gonna get in big trouble when the boss finds out!" the earth pony almost shouted. He was clearly more worried than the pegasus. Finally, Mystery, the alicorn, decided to speak up.
"You mean if she finds out. We'll find it, trust me." The earth pony turned to the pegasus, who was looking up into the dark sky.
"How come you're not worried, Phoenix?" he whispered.
"No need to whisper, it's not like Mystery cares. Also, I am worried, but I know that we'll find it eventually," he said, this time with confidence in his voice. Mystery took a few more steps forward, then tripped over something. Phoenix looked down and picked it up. "Found it!" he said with relief. It was an ancient-looking black cube with symbols carved into it, and it was the size of a small woodland creature, like a squirrel.
"Oh, thank Celestia!" The earth pony had to sit down, the whole situation made him tired.
"Get up, Black Swan. We still have to get it back before she wakes up, you know," Mystery said, taking the cube from Phoenix. Scootaloo had heard the whole thing, and tried to stay as quiet as she could. Just as the three were walking away, however, a branch fell into the bush, as if nature was working against her.
"Ow!" she said loudly. "Stupid branch!" The three stallions stopped, and turned around. Scootaloo gasped, for she had not expected them to hear her.
"What was that?" Black Swan asked.
"I dunno, hold on." Phoenix walked towards the bush she was hiding in. She was trying to stay still, but she was shaking from fear, causing the bush to rustle. Phoenix reached into the bush, unsure of what to expect.
He brushed his hoof against the leaves carelessly, as if there was nothing in it at all. When he tapped Scootaloo's leg, however, he immediately focused on getting her out, even though he didn't know it was a filly. She fell out of the bush, and looked up in shock. Phoenix sat there, just staring at her, until Mystery called his name.
"Hurry up! We don't have much time!" Phoenix looked in his direction and pointed his hoof to an area past him.
"Take the cube back, I'll meet up with you guys soon," he commanded.
"We'll cover for you," Black Swan said, and he and Mystery began to walk back the way they came.
"Don't hurt me!" Scootaloo blurted out. He looked back at her, and laughed.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, silly! I don't attack fillies unless ordered to, and even then, my friend Mystery normally gets me out of that." He stood up, and took out a box of matches. "Stay back," he told her, and she returned to her position inside the bush. He gathered a few sticks and leaves into a pile, and struck a match. The match glowed a bright orange as he dropped it onto the pile. The fire was small at first, but slowly began to grow.
After a while, Scootaloo could see his entire body clearly. He was black with red stripes and red eyes. His cutie mark was a single fire.
"Wow!" she said in amazement.
"Don't get too excited, I'm not as cool as I look," Phoenix said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice. This confused Scootaloo.
"But... what?" she was finally able to say. He knew what she meant.
"Star Swirl the Bearded looks like a homeless stallion-" He turned away. "-but he's far more amazing then I will ever be. Looks can be deceiving, you know."
Scootaloo stood up and said, "I don't believe you, I want proof!" He was caught off-guard by this sudden outburst, but regained himself soon after.
"Okay, here," he said as he quickly drew a line in the dirt. "This line represents the number of ponies I know," Phoenix stated. He then drew another line, this one much, much shorter. "This line represents the number of friends I have. Look at the difference..."
Scootaloo studied the lines for a while, then asked, "How is that possible?"
Phoenix walked up to her and replied, "I'm not as great as many ponies expect me to be. I hope that answers all of your questions, because I'm done explaining myself." She frowned, and he put his hoof on her cheek. "Sorry, I just get a lot of questions like these, and I'm kind of tired of repeating myself."
"Hold on..." He placed his hoof back on the ground. "What are you even doing out here so late at night? Shouldn't you be home with your family?" he asked. Scootaloo gasped; she hadn't prepared for a question like that.
"Um," she began. "I...I...I don't know where they are." A tear rolled down her cheek. Phoenix's expression changed from confusion to concern.
"Hey now, don't cry," he said, attempting to console Scootaloo. When she wouldn't stop, he crouched down and gave her a hug. "You can't live here in the forest by yourself. If nopony will take care of you, I will," he said softly.
"You will?" Scootaloo said between sobs.
"Yeah, why not? We'll look for somepony in the morn-" she cut him off.
"No! I mean... will you please take care of me?" The entire situation she was currently in had made her forget about Rainbow Dash, who would have been her definite first choice.
"Well, I don't know if Mystery and Black Swan will like it, but I guess I could." Suddenly, he looked as if he just remembered something, something important. "Mystery and Black Swan! I gotta get back to the base." He was about to fly off, but Scootaloo stopped him.
"Please, take me with you?" she asked innocently.
Phoenix thought for a while, then said, "Sure, hang on."
At sunrise, Phoenix landed in front of a large, pyramid-like building.
"Woah!" This, too, amazed Scootaloo.
"This is where I work, and where I live now. I used to live in the Canterlot Castle, but ponies expected too much of me. Of course, they still expect a lot from me now because of the way I look..." he explained, knocking on the door. Mystery opened it, and his expression quickly changed.
"Where were you!?" he exclaimed, annoyed by Phoenix being gone all night. "Do you know how long we've been waiting? You're lucky the boss didn't wake up in the middle of the night."
Phoenix stepped past him, still carrying Scootaloo, and responded, "I know, I know. Oh, and this little filly's gonna be living with us from now on." This surprised Mystery so much that he was barely able to stand upright.
"Are you insane? The boss is never gonna let her stay!"
"Calm down, I'll talk to her when she wakes up." Mystery glared at Phoenix, who returned the look.
"Just don't mess up. You've been doing that a lot, lately..." he said, and walked back to his room.
"What was that all about?" Scootaloo asked.
"Our boss gets real saddle-sore when other ponies are let inside," Phoenix explained, "Well, she's always saddle-sore, but that's not important." He walked down the hallway, which was ornately decorated with pictures of ponies and lined with silk. When he finally reached his room, which was at the very end of the second floor, everypony was already awake.
"Breakfast's ready!" Black Swan called, unaware of Scootaloo's presence.
"I'll be down in a minute, I have stuff to take care of," Phoenix called back. Scootaloo got down and walked around his room for a while. "Stay up here for now, I don't want anypony else to find you when I'm not around." As he turned and walked out of the doorway, she sat down and began looking through his possessions for something to do while she waited.
Phoenix slowly walked through the doorway leading to the kitchen. It was a large room, but the four ponies, including the boss, were still running out of space. "What's for breakfast?" he asked as he sat with his two friends and co-workers.
"Hay..." Mystery said, still sleepy. He had been up most of the night, preparing for their boss to wake up so he could say Phoenix owed him one. When she didn't, he only got about a half-hour of sleep before he came home.
"That's boring," he complained.
"Well, it's all we've got. Somepony was supposed to go into town this morning to buy groceries, but he wasn't here..." Black Swan said angrily. Phoenix got up and headed for the stairs, his plate carefully balanced on his back.
"I don't do groceries," he said as he left his friends to deal with their food, "Get somepony else to do it." Mystery and Black Swan looked down at their plates.
"Hey Mys-" he couldn't even get the rest of the sentence out before Mystery stood up, a green field of magic around Black Swan's so-called 'breakfast'.
"No!" he quickly answered, and vanished.
He sighed, and headed towards the front door. "If somepony has to do it, it might as well be me..." he muttered and walked towards Ponyville.
Back in Phoenix's room, Scootaloo was looking at the various photos lying on a desk in the corner of the room. Phoenix walked in and set the plate down on a shelf by his bed.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking at these pictures." He made his way over to her, and picked one of them up.
"Hey, I remember this!" he said, grinning.
"What is it? What is it?" Scootaloo was eager to find out.
"It's a picture Mystery took at a surprise birthday party for our boss!" Phoenix took the picture over to the opposite side of the room. "It wasn't really her birthday, though; she didn't like it too much." He stopped and stuck his head out of the doorway. "Hey, Mystery! Come here!" Mystery, who had gotten back in bed, simply groaned and tried to ignore him. For the love of Celestia, if he's asleep... Phoenix thought.
"Mister...uh..." Scootaloo paused. She had just realized she didn't know his name. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about that for too long.
"Call me Phoenix," he said in a cheerful tone. "What's your name?"
"I'm Scootaloo." Knowing his name made her feel a little better. "What about the other two? Who are they?"
"Well, you see the black one with the green mane?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "That's Mystery. He's pretty cool once you get to know him."
"Oh... What about the other one? You know, the purple-and-black earth pony?" she asked.
"That's Black Swan," he replied. "I'd show you a picture of my boss, but trust me, you'll know her when you see her." Phoenix stopped, then quietly said, "Hey, Black Swan's been pretty quiet..." He then called to Mystery, who was desperately trying to get some sleep. "Mystery! Where did Black Swan go?"
"He went to get some groceries or something, I don't know!" was the response he got.
"You're kidding me..." he said under his breath.
"Phoenix, I need to meet my friends at our clubhouse." Scootaloo walked up next to him. "It's super important."
"We're too far away for you to go on your own; you'll get lost in the woods. I'll take you," he said, walking out of the doorway. "Mystery, I'll be back. I have to take Scoots to meet her friends."
"...Who in Celestia's name is Scoots?" Mystery was fully awake now, for he had given up on trying to get any rest.
"You know, the filly that lives with us?"
"Oh, yeah. Well, see you later."
For most of the trip, Phoenix was answering more of Scootaloo's questions. Most of them were questions about this morning, like why he had brought up a pile of hay, what he normally does after he wakes up, and why none of them ever get fired. He looked down and spotted the clubhouse not too far away, with help from Scootaloo; he started to decelerate.
"I have a few more que-"
"Too late! We're here!" Phoenix landed near the clubhouse; close enough for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to notice him.
"Who's that?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I don't know, but look! Scootaloo's with him! He must be safe, right?" Both of their voices were inaudible to her and Phoenix.
"Would you like to meet my friends?" Scootaloo asked, slowly walking towards them.
"Maybe later, Mystery's probably still angry about this morning, and Black Swan's probably trying to deal with him, so I have to go." He turned to fly away. "I'll come back later," he said, and flew back home.
"Good morning, Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Who's your friend?"
"Sorry, but I want you to wait until you meet him," she told them. "Anyway, what are we doing today?"
"We're supposed to help Twilight, remember?" Sweetie Belle reminded.
"Oh, right!" The three fillies headed to the library. On the way there, however, they ran into Black Swan, who had just bought groceries at the market, as Mystery and Phoenix had forced him to.
"He doesn't look too safe, maybe we should just go around him..." Apple Bloom said with caution. Scootaloo was already running up to him.
"Relax, I've got this!" She slid to a stop inches away from him, and he looked down to her. "Hi, Black Swan!" She could barely contain her excitement. Black Swan dropped the things he was carrying.
"How do you know my name?" he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I know Phoenix-" she paused and picked up one of his bags. "-he showed me a picture of you, him, and Mystery."
"Oh,that makes sense..." He took the bag from her and picked up the others lying on the ground. Good, nothing's broken. "Where did you meet him?" he asked.
"Well, you know how you guys were walking around the for-" She quickly looked back at her friends, who were now just hoofsteps behind her. "Um, I'll tell you later, I gotta go..." she said, and she ran past him.
"Wait for us!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she and Apple Bloom chased after her. By the time they had caught up to her, Scootaloo was already at the library. "Why'd you leave us back there?"
"Oh, uh..." She needed to think, and fast. I can't tell them I've been living in the forest for so long... Oh, wait! I don't have to! "It's a long story," she finally answered, and knocked on the door. Twilight opened it, just as happy as she always is, and gave the three fillies a joyful smile.
"Hello, girls!" she greeted them as they quickly, but carefully, stepped into her home. "What do you need?"
"We wanted to help you organize your books!" they all said in unison.
"Well, you three picked the right day! Spike's being a lazy dragon, and he doesn't want to get up..." She pointed one of her forelegs at Spike, who was still resting in his dragon bed. "Spike! Get up!" she ordered.
"But it's Saturday!" he whined. This whole ordeal lasted for a couple minutes until Scootaloo spoke up.
"We don't have all day, you know!" Twilight hadn't told them what to do yet; she had grown tired of waiting.
"Sorry, girls. Spike never wants to help out on the weekends; normally, I spend a lot more time trying to convince him to do something productive." Twilight turned towards the three, thinking of things they can do. "Hmm... Why don't you three start over there?" She pointed to a section of the library that had not yet been checked.
"That sounds great! Come on, girls!" Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo went over to the bookshelves and began to sort things out. In the middle of cleaning, however, bad thoughts began to enter Scootaloo's mind.
Phoenix never told me when he'd be back; he said 'later', just like Mom... she thought, trying to focus on placing the books in the right spots. What if...what if he leaves me, just like my parents? She was lost in her mind now and was putting the books everywhere but where she was supposed to.
"Uh, Scootaloo? You know those books don't go there, right?" Apple Bloom questioned. Scootaloo didn't respond; she just kept putting books down.
"What's wrong with her?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I don't know." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued to organize the bookshelves, despite their friend doing things incorrectly. It took a little while, but they managed to re-organize all of the books, and they even got rid of all of the dust.
"Great job, girls!" Twilight said. The three fillies looked down at their flanks to see if their cutie marks had appeared.
"Still no cutie mark..." Scootaloo frowned. "Stupid books."
"You tried your best, sorry it didn't work out. Anyway, it's getting late, you three should get home." Together, they walked out and headed for their clubhouse.
"What happened back there, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, you were putting those books in all sorts of crazy places! Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just...uh...tired," she lied. "It's pretty dark out, you two should go home, I'll stay back at the clubhouse and check on things." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement, and then they turned around to head home.
Back at the base, the guys were sitting in the kitchen, eating apple pie for dessert.
"Hey guys, who's your favorite princess?" Phoenix asked.
"Celestia, of course..." Black Swan answered.
"Definitely," Mystery added. Phoenix didn't share their opinion.
"What? You guys are crazy, Luna's the best princess!" The two stallions looked at him for a while, then laughed. "What's so funny?"
"Princess Celestia controls the sun and the moon, and Luna tried to bring eternal night!" Black Swan exclaimed.
"First, that wasn't Luna, that was Nightmare Moon. Completely different. Also, didn't Celestia give control of the moon back to her?" Phoenix explained.
"You know, I never found out. I think so, but I could be wrong..." Mystery said. Suddenly, Phoenix jumped up, kicking the table a little, and also scaring his friends.
"What? What is it?" Mystery almost shouted.
"I completely forgot about Scootaloo! I gotta go!" He ran out of the front door and down into the forest a little before taking off. Okay, don't panic, you'll find her eventually... He heard a branch snap behind him, and he turned to see what caused it. Not a good move. Due to lack of focus, he began to fly lower and lower, until his leg struck a tall tree, sending him spiraling into the forest below.
Scootaloo was still sitting in the clubhouse, counting the minutes as they passed by. "Where could he be?" she asked herself.
Phoenix, still lying on his stomach from the accident, slowly opened his eyes. "Sweet Luna, that hurt..." he said quietly. He stood up and tried to fly away, but a sharp pain in his wings wouldn't let him. "Hope they aren't broken... I don't have time to deal with them now, I have to find Scoots!" He ran through the forest, hoping he was going the right way.
She stood up and walked outside, trying not to cry. I guess he isn't coming after all...
He ran and ran, until his legs began to ache. "I can't stop now, I must be close..." he said, this time louder than he wanted. Without knowing it, he had waken up a manticore, and it wasn't too happy. It jumped out of the trees and growled at him. "Oh no..." He backed up until he tripped over his own hooves; he was unable to fight in his current state.
Scootaloo couldn't hold them in anymore, and she let the tears roll down her face and onto the grass below. Hey now, don't cry, She remembered Phoenix's voice, and she thought about that night in the forest. This only made her cry harder.
"Don't do it," Phoenix said, trying to calm the beast down. It raised its paw, preparing to strike. "Don't do it!" He covered his face, preparing for it to strike him down. When it didn't, he slowly lowered his guard and saw it lying on the ground a few feet away, sleeping against a tree. "I know that feeling," he said, and continued on.
"I should have known he would never take care of me." Scootaloo was now sitting a few feet away from the clubhouse, and she had given up any hope of Phoenix returning.
He was sprinting as fast as he could now, completely focused on finding her. He saw an opening in the trees, and part of the clubhouse roof. There! He didn't bother slowing down, he had no reason to. Scootaloo heard him running, and looked up.
"What the-" She never had time to finish her sentence. Phoenix dove out of the trees and grabbed her. He held her tight, but he made sure he wasn't hurting her. He landed on his side and loosened his grip. She screamed a little, but she knew she was safe.
"I'm not losing another one," he said, drying her eyes. "Let's go home." On the way back, Scootaloo kept thinking about what he said.
Another one? What did he mean by that? she thought, frequently glancing at the pegasus carrying her. "Phoenix?"
"Yeah?" He stopped and directed his attention to her. She wanted to ask him about his statement earlier, but the words wouldn't come out.
"Never mind," she said after a while. "Thanks for coming back for me."
"No problem." He continued walking until he found an open area in the trees. "We're not gonna make it back in time, so we might as well sleep here," he said, letting her down.
"Oh, okay." Scootaloo went over to a bush away from Phoenix and lied down. "Good night." At sunrise, she was awakened by the sound of the wind blowing through the trees above. Still tired, she slowly walked over to him; to her, it looked like he was still asleep. "Stupid trees," she muttered. Phoenix slowly opened his eyes. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"
"No, I've been up for some time." He went to stand up, but Scootaloo placed a hoof on his leg.
"We don't have to head back yet, do we?" Phoenix thought for a moment.
"I guess we can stay here a little while longer." Scootaloo yawned, and rested her head on his chest. "Still tired, huh?"
"No, I'm...I'm just..." She slowly drifted back into sleep. Phoenix shook his head and carefully got her onto his back.
"Mystery and Black Swan are waiting..." he whispered, and headed back to the base. The door was unlocked, for both Mystery and Black Swan fell asleep before the sun rose, so Phoenix easily slipped in without alerting anypony. He walked up to his room and let Scootaloo fall into his bed. Then, he went downstairs and woke up his friends.
"Huh...Phoenix? Where were you?" Black Swan asked.
"Sorry I'm so late, I injured my wings trying to find Scoots. Some tree or something, I don't know."
"For Celestia's sake, we can't take you to the hospital every other week, be more careful," Mystery scolded.
"I know... Oh, is the boss awake yet? I've gotta talk to her." Phoenix turned his head towards the stairs, impatiently tapping his hoof on the wooden floor.
"Uh, yeah, I think. Let's go find out!" Mystery said with excitement.
"No need, stallions." The three turned around to see a large, yellow-and-orange unicorn mare standing outside of the front window. Phoenix walked up to her and bowed.
"Good morning, ma'am," he said confidently. "I would like you to do me a favor."
"Yes, Phoenix?" she said, striking fear into him and the others.
"Well...uh..." He backed up a little. "You see...I kind of have a filly up in my room, and I was wondering if she could live with us?"
"What?" she said angrily, causing Phoenix to run back to his friends for comfort. "Absolutely not!"
"Her parents abandoned her; she was all alone until I found her. Please?" he begged. His boss was unmoved.
"Black Swan? Mystery? Did you know about this?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am..." was their response. She scowled at the three frightened stallions that stood before her, then sighed.
"I guess she may stay, but you three are taking care of her; I will have nothing to do with her." Mystery and Phoenix shouted in joy, while Black Swan remained calm. "Don't disappoint me, Team Orion."
"Uh, could you please not call us that?" Mystery asked.
"Yeah," Phoenix added. "We prefer Phoenix, Mystery, and Black Swan, ma'am."
"Very well, then." She walked away, her hoofsteps causing the ground to shake.
"Sweet Luna, that could have gone horribly wrong." Phoenix walked back upstairs to check on Scootaloo. She was hiding under the covers of his bed, and she screamed when he touched her. "It's okay, she's gone now." He lifted the covers, and she ran to him.
"Who was that pony?" she asked, still full of fear. Phoenix looked out of his window; he could still see her in the distance.
"That was my boss. Hopefully, she won't come back for a while." Black Swan and Mystery stuck their heads through the doorway.
"We got lucky back there, Phoenix..." Mystery said.
"I'm just glad that she wasn't in a bad mood, because I like our house the way it is." Black Swan walked in and spotted Scootaloo trying to hide behind Phoenix. "Who's that?"
"This is Scootaloo." He stepped to the side, revealing her. "Remember that night we had to get the boss's cube back? Well, she was hiding in the bushes, and she was also the reason I took so long coming back."
"Uh...hello," she said shyly. She had seen his friends in the past, but she didn't know what to expect of them. Looks can be deceiving, Phoenix said so.
"Hey there!" Mystery said cheerfully, walking towards her. "I guess you're gonna be living with us from now on, huh?"
"Well, Phoenix said you guys might not like-"
"I'm sure he meant the boss, right, Phoenix?" Phoenix, who wasn't paying much attention, looked up.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I meant the boss," he said, walking past Black Swan and Mystery. "What time is it?" Black Swan glanced at a small clock hanging in the hall.
"About 11 AM, why?"
"We've gotta meet the boss in a few minutes, remember?" He went downstairs and picked up a box of matches lying on the kitchen table. "Something about getting rid of unimportant documents, I don't know, I wasn't listening." Black Swan came down after him.
"She has that cube, why can't she do it herself?" he asked, causing Phoenix to stop on his way to the front door, which was still unlocked.
"Because she's lazy and doesn't like us, so she makes us do all of her work," he answered. "Now, come on, we're running out of time."
"Fine... Mystery, watch Scootaloo while we're gone, and for the love of Celestia, lock the door after we leave."
"Nopony tries to rob us anyway, why do we even have that stupid lock?" he complained.
"Just do it," Black Swan ordered, and he and Phoenix left to find their boss. Mystery dragged Phoenix's covers over to his room; his own were dirty.
"I'm not locking that door," he muttered, and got into bed. Scootaloo walked down to their living room. Burnt matches and worn-out books were littered all over the floor, and the walls had several marks on them.
I guess one of them was supposed to clean, but didn't feel like it, she thought. She then turned around and noticed the front door was cracked open. I'm supposed to stay with Mystery, but... She took a few steps towards it, and placed her hoof on it. I wonder what Phoenix's boss makes them do... If I hurry, I can catch up to him! She slipped out and ran after him.
"We remembered to close the door, right?" Black Swan and Phoenix were walking through the forest; Phoenix's wings were still injured.
"Even if we didn't, Mystery probably will," Phoenix replied. Scootaloo saw them through the tree branches, and slowed down to match their pace.
"Are you sure we can trust him? He does like to mess things up..." Black Swan asked, concerned.
"Relax, I'm sure he listened this time." Phoenix dropped the box he was carrying. "Horseapples. Hold on, Black Swan." He stopped to find it; Scootaloo noticed right away. She came to a stop just a few steps away from him, and hid behind a tree. She looked down, and there, sitting right next to her, was the box of matches.
"Come on, Phoenix, it can't be that hard to find a box of matches." Black Swan was growing impatient.
"It blends in...with the dirt... I think," he said. Scootaloo quickly kicked the box towards him, making sure none of the matches would fall out, then returned to her position. It hit him in the leg, and he looked down and picked it up. "Found it, now let's go."
"We better hurry." Black Swan and Phoenix ran ahead, still unaware that Scootaloo was following them. They reached a hole in the ground, and stopped.
"Why did she pick this place again?" Phoenix asked.
"Because she's weird, now go down." Slowly and carefully, they walked down into the hole.
A few moments later, they reached a large room. Scootaloo stopped in the hallway; there was no way she was going in there. The room had ancient-looking pillars lined up on both sides of the entrance, and the cube from the forest was on a pedestal in the center. Their boss was inside, with a pony tied up in a nearby corner.
"Uh... who's that?" Black Swan asked. The boss walked over to them, an yellowish-orange field of magic around the cube. "That, my dear stallion, is the reason you two are here."
"I wanted to burn something..." Phoenix complained.
"Now is not the time for complaints, Phoenix!" The cube began to grow, and grow, until it was larger than both Black Swan and Phoenix combined. With a puff of magic, one of the sides opened.
"I don't like the looks of this." Black Swan was getting worried. The now open cube began to suck up air. It wasn't very powerful at first, but slowly turned into a swirling vortex.
"Sweet Luna!" Phoenix shouted. Both of them were holding onto separate pillars, trying not to get sucked in. "Have you lost your mind!?" The pony was quickly dragged out of the corner and into the cube, for he had no way to save himself. Suddenly, both of them heard shouting.
"What the hay was that?" Black Swan asked, scared for his life. He and Phoenix looked over towards the entrance, and they both screamed. Scootaloo was being pulled into the vortex.
"Phoenix! Black Swan! Help!" she cried. Black Swan and Phoenix reached out as far as they could, but still couldn't reach her. Then, Phoenix spread his wings.
"Phoenix, no! Your injury!" Black Swan tried to talk his friend out of it. It wasn't working; Phoenix wasn't listening anymore. He tried as hard as he could to fly over to her, despite the immense power of the vortex, and the severe pain. Inch by inch, he was slowly reaching her.
"No, I..." he whispered, for he was too tired to speak up. I can't do it... He was slowing down. I just can't... He closed his eyes, and was about to let his body go limp, when he heard a voice.
"Don't quit now, or you'll lose another one. Is that what you want to happen?" He opened his eyes, and tried again. "You can do it, I know you can." He moved faster and faster; Scootaloo was getting closer and closer to the cube. Then, with the last bit of energy he had, he dove towards her. "For me."
"For you," he whispered, and tackled her out of the way. She closed her eyes tight, and refused to open them; she was sure she would be dragged in. She wouldn't stop screaming, for she was unable to. "Scootaloo! It's okay!" he shouted. She slowly opened her eyes, and her screaming went silent.
"Phoenix?" she asked, her mind full of thoughts. The vortex slowed down, and the cube returned to its normal size. The boss looked down at him, and he looked back.
"Shame." she said. Phoenix didn't want to hear any more.
"With all due respect..." he began. "I don't give a flying feather if you're my boss, I'm not letting anypony hurt my little filly." The boss's eyes widened in surprise. "If you harm one hair on her head, I will tear your soul from this land." He held Scootaloo protectively. "Understand?" Black Swan, mouth wide open, passed out.
"Yes, Phoenix, I understand. I apologize for any damage I might have caused to you or your friends. You are done for today, and you may go home," she said.
"Good. Come on, let's go." He woke up Black Swan and headed back the way they came.
"Hey," a voice called behind him. He looked back; it was the boss. "You know, if you weren't so committed to protecting that filly of yours, you would've been put inside this cube as well."
"Thanks, if you weren't so powerful, I probably would have attacked you," he said back, and left. After arriving back home and yelling at Mystery, he and Scootaloo headed to Ponyville.
"Thanks for saving me back there, Dad..." she said.
"Come on, you know I'd just like to be called Phoenix, nothing else."
"Oops, sorry Phoenix." She looked up and saw Rainbow Dash resting on a cloud. "Hey, Rainbow Dash!" She looked down and landed in front of her.
"Hey, squirt! Haven't seen you around in a while, how's my number one fan been?" Scootaloo looked up at Phoenix, who smiled down at her.
"It's a long story."
