Twilight felt a lump in her throat as the trotted further away from Ponyville, the town now at the edge of her vision whenever she turned her head to look. Yesterday, Peewee had come with her to the picnic, and now, he had had come with her again, possibly for the last time.

A little voice in her head told her that she was unlikely to find his parents. A little voice in her head told her that, if she tried but failed, she might just have to bring him back home. A little voice in her head was silenced and ignored. If she didn’t find his parents today, then she’d try again another time.

Twilight was unsure if she did this because she wanted to do what was best for him, or because she was afraid of what she would try if he stayed with her. Somehow, this had become the compromise, her way to ask for consent. She would offer him to return, and only proceed if he chose to stay.

She turned her head around again, and could not see Ponyville anymore. The road to the Badlands was long, around the entirety of the Everfree forest and further, but time was not an issue. Plus, if Peewee was going to leave, then the way home would be a lot easier...

But then, the weight on her back disappeared. Twilight turned around to see Peewee flapping his wings, staring into the direction from which they had come.

Seconds passed, during which Twilight was at a loss for things to do. A shiver ran down her spine as the phoenix turned around, watching her with an untypical expression. It was almost as if he was tilting his head...

Are they intelligent, or are they not? I have seen reality point into both directions.

Did he know? Die he understand where she was trying to lead him, even so early on?

“Do you want to go home?”

No reaction.

“I can bring you back to your parents.”

The phoenix blinked.

“I...” The words got stuck in her throat as he flew towards her, landing on top of her shoulder, and leaning his head against hers. His touch was hot, almost painfully so, and more so than usually. Was he saying goodbye? Would he not need her to come with him? Was this the last time that she-

But he was not. He flew back upwards, fixating his gaze onto where Ponyville had been. She could not see it anymore, but maybe he could? Then, he made an unmistakable gesture with his head.

“You want to stay?”

As an answer, the phoenix flapped his wings, slowly flying the way back. A sense of euphoria took over Twilight as she followed, quickly being forced into a canter as he accelerated his flight.

“Hey. Hey!”

Peewee turned his head mid flight, letting out a strange cry, only to go even faster. A smile spread across Twilight’s face as she galloped after him, soon evolving into a laugh as they raced each other... heading back home.

Author's Note

Future Chapters are going to be longer – still not long, but more like normal length than what’s been presented so far. The first fourteen chapters are sort of an extended prologue, in my mind, that happened to fit naturally into tiny chunks, but now as things will begin to get real, that will change. This is as far as the story has/had been published by the point of submission.