"Seriously? It's not seventeen? I think something's wrong with your calculations, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash, pondering over how in Equestria four plus fifteen did not in fact equal to seventeen, much to her surprise.
“Wow, you know what? It is seventeen! Bravo! Champagne! Spectacular job! In fact, you did so good, you passed the class, here is your invisible diploma to never ask me to teach you anything ever again,” said Twilight, who had just had enough of teaching Rainbow Dash basic math.
She did, at one point, know multiplication and addition, but she blocked any memory of anything she learned from school, aside from the English language, that had some use to her.
Twilight was attempting to practice teaching, as Princess Celestia had advised her to do, but she may have been too ambitious when she said she would start with the brilliant mind of hoofball-playing Rainbow Dash.
They were sitting across each other in the middle of Twilight's house, where Rainbow Dash was on a wooden chair made of pristine Oakwood, and Twilight was on a comfy red couch. This couch exhibited leather of good quality, but nothing luxurious. Non-lit candles sent off a scent of fresh cranberries, and the only other scent was of new books Twilight had yet to read. Her library was rebuilt, after the Tirek incident, but wasn't refurnished in any way, and she had caught up on any books burnt in the explosion by buying them again.
“Alright, give me that invisible diploma! I think I’ve earned it! Once I figure out what a diploma is, of course!”
Twilight held her hoof out, and Rainbow Dash pretended to hold the diploma, feeling like she had just earned a million bits at a spelling bee.
“Okay, you may leave now,” said Twilight, as she motioned to the closed, brown door of her rebuilt library.
Rainbow Dash trotted to the door, opened it a bit, and gave Twilight a proud smile before shutting it.
Twilight let out a tired sigh, but a voice in her head told her that this was a stupid thing to get her hopes down about. She had all the time in the world to practice on anypony, and it even made her feel a little warm seeing Rainbow Dash smile with happiness instead of wince at anything to do with ‘teaching’.
Twilight could still use something to get her mind off things, so she visited her bookshelves to find the book that she was just reading.
She was currently catching up on her ‘Equestrian History for Dummies’ book which, although it boasted a name that was meant for young minds or not-so-bright ponies, she couldn’t wait to get back to reading the book’s chapter on phoenixes, and how their lives work.
The page had simple descriptions of what phoenixes did and didn't like, what their life cycle was, all things Twilight knew, but one paragraph in particular caught her eye.
'Phoenixes are actually much more powerful than some assume, and they have the power to create something called a 'Starbend', which will focus one huge yellow ball of gas and eventually explode, destroying herself and everything around her in a one-hundred-kilometer blast radius, they also have moves like ‘Nebula’ and ‘Starswirl’, both of which also have devastating effects'
Twilight read this and had gone to a different page, a page about an organization that had threatened Equestria at one point.
She saw a page describing the intricacies of Equestria’s designs, and another page on how to spot changelings.
Twilight breezed through the book, with no interruptions or annoyances, just her and that book for what seemed to be only a few minutes.
She couldn’t take her mind off the lore that had been enriched in her deep thoughts from this book, maybe these simple books for simple minds were easier to read than a more advanced one, even if that’s what Twilight thought she preferred.
She had finished with the book, and glanced outside her window, where it was already nighttime.
‘Time flies when you’re having fun,’ thought Twilight to herself.
She set the book back into its place on the bookshelf, and as much as she would want to continue reading, she needed some rest.
After walking upstairs, she put her head on the bed of her pillow, and stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come.
Within what felt like an hour, she awoke to sunny skies and the grunts of Spike as he snored like he was a full sized dragon.
“Ah, wake up Spike, we’ve got work to do,” said Twilight, as she got up from her bed and took out her list of things to do.
“Okay, let’s see… we’ve got clean-up of the house, we’ve got to rearrange any misplaced books, the exact same chores as yesterday, perfect,” Twilight was getting ready to start until she heard the doorbell.
“Oh, coming!” said Twilight as she rushed to the door and held the handle with her magic.
She opened it to see Celestia, looking worried and in despair.
Twilight was taken aback by the sight of Celestia and her mood, and she had to take a while to regain her breath.
“Celestia! What are you--- What are you doing here!” said Twilight, still mystified.
"Stay calm Twilight, may I come in?"
"Sure! Please, make yourself comfortable," Twilight sat Celestia on the comfy red couch she was sitting in before, her plot was still imprinted there from the amount of time she was reading that book.
After Celestia settled, Twilight asked what the problem was.
“It’s about Philomena, she is acting weird, but I came because I needed research on phoenixes, and you may have the book I need,”
"Yes, I was reading a very informative book about it recently, it was called 'Equestrian History for Dummies'"
Celestia gave Twilight a confused look.
"It'll make sense, trust me"
Celestia went to the bookshelves and took out the ‘Equestrian History for Dummies’ book.
Before she started to read, she sniffed at the smell of the candles.
“Well then, cranberries? I didn’t know you liked their smell, I thought you were fonder of Pineapples,” said Celestia, who was trying to lighten the mood, because she knew Twilight was worried whenever Philomena was involved.
Celestia took out the book and opened to the page on phoenixes, and looked for the kind of behavior Philomena was exhibiting.
“Ah, that’s the paragraph,”
Celestia saw a paragraph that read exactly what she needed to know.
“Sometimes, if a phoenix looks agitated or is more aggressive, she being contacted by another phoenix, in which case you must take said phoenix to the other one before she slowly becomes more restless,” Celestia had gained the knowledge she needed, and looked at Twilight with seriousness, but she saw a way to make light of the situation, and her face slowly exhibited a light grin.
“Well then, looks like we’re going on an adventure, come bring your friends to the train, we’re going to Canterlot to meet our little Philomena in the Royal Castle,” said Celestia, examining every part of Twilight to see if she was excited, because she knew it would help Twilight find Philomena faster.
“Yeah, let’s go see what that phoenix wants!” said Twilight, which made Celestia sigh a sigh of relief.
After gathering all of her friends, they waited at the train station, where their train was about to arrive soon.
“Oh, I hope we can help that poor phoenix, she seems like she is so sweet,” said Fluttershy, pondering over how Philomena was doing.
“Yeah, I need an excuse to see Philomena again! I mean, have you seen her wings! Amazing!” said Rainbow Dash excitedly, who seemed to enjoy Philomena’s color, as she always marveled at the beauty of her fiery attributes.
“Okay, the train is arriving soon, brought what you need?” asked Twilight.
“Why yes darling, I have even left my extensive wardrobe at home this time around, so that my little spikey-wikey won’t have to do much work!” Rarity kissed Spike on the cheek, where he fell to the floor with happiness clouding his heart.
The sound of the train chugging along signaled everypony to get ready, and the smell of smoke agitated Applejack a bit.
“This darn-tootin’ smoke is another reason I hate this darn ‘technology’, you never see this stuff at the apple farm, there we avoid tractors,” said Applejack.
“What darling? I’ve seen some tractors there before,”
“Well Granny Smith and Big Mac keep insisting it makes things ‘efficient’, I think that’s a load of horse apples!”
The train had arrived and Rarity and Applejack were still chatting, until they had noticed Rainbow Dash calling them over.
They both entered the train and sat down across from each other against two red seats.
“Main point is; I don’t think that ‘technology’ shindig is going anywhere anytime soon, I’m sure of it,”
“Believe me Applejack, it’s what’s always on the market nowadays, you should see the profit the makers of those things make!” said Rarity, who voted for technology.
“Yeah, whatever, you just wait, in a couple years’ time, nopony’s gonna be using technology, mark my words,” countered Applejack.
The train began to move, and Twilight was with Celestia near the front of the train, which felt weird for Celestia, as she normally boarded specialized trains for herself and Luna.
“So, how is it like with you and Luna nowadays?” asked Twilight, trying to break the awkward silence between them.
“Oh, its fine, just a little bumpy, what with how she never helps with anything, just stays in her room and plays with Button Mash all day, little filly doesn’t know he’s playing with Royalty,” said Celestia in a motherly tone.
“Well, to be fair, you don’t do anything…” said Twilight jokingly.
Halfway to Canterlot, Applejack had decided to break the silence between her and Rarity, still sitting across each other.
“So, how is opalescence doing?” asked Applejack.
“Oh, her. She’s fine, bugs me every once in a while. She’s still a cute little darling, though.”
“Yeah, what about your little sister?”
“Sweetie Belle? She is at Yakyakistan, with her parents.”
“Oh, that’s pretty darn cool.”
“I guess, I’ve heard rumors of the Canterlot Knight being there, and that’s been worrying me.”
“The Canterlot Knight?”
“You’ve never heard? The Canterlot Knight used to terrorize Canterlot, but it’s been traveling all around Equestria, going to every place you can name”
“What does ‘terrorizing’ mean exactly?” questioned Applejack worryingly.
“It started stealing, so that really got on my nerves. Then, he started capturing, stealing ponies and doing Celestia knows what with them”
“Shoot, that sounds pretty bad alright”
They were interrupted by a maid handing out complimentary newspapers.
“Sure, I’ll take one,” said Applejack, requesting Rarity help her turn the pages, as she could not herself.
Rarity helped her turn the pages until she stopped at one, and when she stopped she turned rock solid, like she had just seen something terrifying.
“What? What’s the problem?” asked Applejack, turning over the newspaper to see what Rarity was looking at from the other side.
“Oh no, that’s not good…” said Applejack, reading every line with her heart skipping a beat every time she read.
‘A mare, colt, and a filly were found missing from a train station in Yakyakistan, the names of them are not identified yet, but we have a sketch of one of them, given to us by a witness’
The sketch was of Sweetie Belle, and now this ‘Canterlot Knight’ was the only thing on Rarity’s mind.
Without hesitation, Rarity ran to Celestia with the newspaper in her grasp with her magic.
They were currently having a conversation on, ironically, what to do about the Canterlot Knight.
“Look at it, that’s technology far beyond our time, obviously taken from somewhere beyond Equestria. I think we need to be on high alert, it could be anywhere,” said Twilight to Celestia, also holding the newspaper in her grasp.
“Yes, look at that armor. Looks like it could be made of a new kind of steel we haven’t discovered yet, and look at the shape of the head. They’re obviously trying to keep anypony in that thing anonymous,” said Celestia, holding the same newspaper and examining the section that showed a full picture of how the Canterlot Knight looked like.
The picture showed the Canterlot Knight eyeing the city from the top of a building. The armor it bore was a very futuristic looking steel suit, but the steel looked upgraded. It looked like as if a tank could have run over it and it wouldn’t even bare a scratch. The eyes in the helmet were sharp ended rectangles facing a little down, emitting a bright blue light. The chest plate had inklings of red on it, and they just added to the menacing look of the Canterlot Knight.
Just then, they were interrupted by Rarity dashing to them, holding out the newspaper.
They were startled when Rarity showed them the article they were just about to read, and Celestia had to take a while to think about what to do.“Hmmn, this is grave news indeed. We must be wary in Canterlot, it looks like his work in Yakyakistan is done, and with the ‘Canterlot’ in his name, there is a high chance he’s here.”
Celestia had said this and then looked outside. They were at the mountainous region, extremely near to the Royal Castle, and Celestia could only see the side of the mountain covering up the view.
All of a sudden, the train came to a violent halt.
Anypony not in their seats, like Rarity, was thrown into the front of the train. When Rarity was thrown, she landed on the window, almost breaking it. The conductor was unconscious from his head smashing into the train's controls.
Twilight saw the waiter who was handing out newspapers was thrown from the middle of the train to the white kitchen room at the back, knocking her unconscious as well.
After regaining their balance, Twilight and Celestia looked around the train for the rest for the Mane 6.
Applejack was knocked out, her head resting on the table. Pinkie Pie was on top of the waiter, also unconscious. Fluttershy was on the train tracks that were behind the train, and her body shape was outlined from the broken window in the back of the train. However, she was conscious, and she was holding Angel, who she brought with her.
Twilight and Celestia were the least-harmed, as they were only in pain from their stomachs hitting the table head on. After they regained their balance, dozens of ponies in futuristic armor broke through the train's ceiling. Each one of them went to one of the Mane 6, and while most of them looked the same, one of them stood out.
The Canterlot Knight.
He approached Twilight and grabbed her in such a way that it made Twilight feel like she was a feather.
He looked Twilight dead in the eyes and was still holding her up high.
"Whatever you think you're doing trying to find this pheonix, you have to stop. I don't want to hurt you more than I have, so if I ever see you even trying to find that pheonix, death is not a mercy I will grant you"
The robotic sounding voice had a liveliness to it. It was that of a colt, a colt with a high-pitched voice that was extremely confident. Hearing that voice would make you do anything, and this dramatic entrance was him confirming to Twilight not to interfere.
He and his colleagues all ascended up to the sky with the same rope they climbed down with, leaving paralyzed and broken ponies on the train.
Twilight and Celestia lay there, they didn't move. They were paralyzed not physically, but in thought. It was like they got shouted at by their parents, and all they wanted to do was stay there and think about what they've done.
After they snapped back to reality, they gathered the Mane 6, including Fluttershy, who was still on the train tracks.
The train was too damaged to move, so they had to walk along the tracks. They had to be careful, because they were on the edge of the mountain, where a vertigo-inducing drop was to the right of them.
Celestia held Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie with her magic, but it was hard. Rainbow Dash, who was still conscious, was struggling with Rarity, who was awake but paralyzed. Twilight was in charge of Applejack, who was fairly light.
They reached the station, where ponies waiting for the train were surprised to see Princess Celestia bruised instead of their train.
She announced that the train had an accident, and everypony left feeling more angry than worried for Celestia.
They walked to the Royal Castle, but as they walked, they saw wanted posters for the Canterlot Knight being slightly wisked away by light winds.
After reaching the Castle, they went to the nurse, who patched up Twilight and Celestia, and let the unconscious rest on soft white sheets.
"So, what do we do? Is it really wise to chase this other pheonix?" asked Twilight.
"I've read the page that you showed me. It said that Philomena could get more aggressive, and we don't need another explanation on how powerful they are. This is mandatory, we're chasing that Pheonix"
"Alright then, let's go find Philomena"
Celestia went to the room where Philomena was located in. The room was designed for Philomena's comfort, with yellow and red flowers intricately designed on the walls. Yellow candles sent off a nice atmosphere, and there was a expensive chandelier on the ceiling. Not to mention, Philomena's favorite smell, peaches, was present throughout the room, being exhibited by one feather-shaped air freshener.
"Where is Philomena?" cried Celestia, noticing the empty cage in front of her.
"It's the Canterlot Knight, that's who," said Luna, who came with a saddened face.
"Luna! Are you ok!" said Celestia as she embraced her sister, who didn't manage a smile.
Celestia was taken aback as she left her embrace and looked at her with the worried face.
"What happened?"
"I only heard the sound of Philomena in pain, and when I came, the Canterlot Knight had put her in a cage, and left"
"Well, we had a little 'meet-up' with him just recently," added in Twilight Sparkle.
On the ceiling, the glimmering yellow chandelier gave off a cool and calm aura, which was a humongous contrast to what the overall mood of Twilight and Celestia was.
Twilight stepped a few small steps forward and inspected a lonesome and empty cage in front of her.
It contained nothing but a few colorful feathers, obviously that of Philomena. Just like the cage, they eerily laid there atop the small silver bars on the bottom of the cage. It was almost a reminder left by the Canterlot Knight, ‘Don’t mess with me or I will make you suffer worse than what I may do to this bird’.
Twilight gave Luna a worried look and then asked a question that was on her mind.
“Why couldn’t you stop the Canterlot Knight?”
Luna rolled her eyes, feeling that Twilight was going to be mad at her or she would put the blame on her.
“What do you think? That I stood there like sheep as he whisked Philomena away? No! I merely had a glimpse(!) of him taking Philomena away, I only saw him being lifted up by a rope he was holding as he took Philomena from her cage.”
Twilight looked up to see a hole in the ceiling. It was not a perfect circle, because the edges were rugged, bumpy, and looked as if it had been blown out. ‘What on Equestria could you get your hooves on to make a hole like that?’ thought Twilight.
“So why didn’t you fly out when he took Philomena? You have wings, and there is a giant hole in the ceiling,” said Twilight.
“Why, of course I did! When I flew out of it, I saw the Canterlot Knight hanging on a rope attached to some futuristic device with spinning blades on top, and I was so unfamiliar with it that I did not dare to go near it. As you say, sister, fear the unknown.”
‘Of course, a helicopter. What else could it be, my agency is full of them, looks like somepony got their hooves on it. Although, it may not be inspired by mine, unless the Canterlot Knight took a hard and long peek into my dozens and dozens of them. I think I am going to have to put the agency on lockdown,’ pondered Celestia, who was curious as to how the Canterlot Knight’s helicopter looked ‘exactly’ like.
“Okay, we’ve got to get moving and find that heli--- I mean, uh… flying thing,” said Celestia.
Celestia and Luna had walked to a room titled ‘Tracking’ and waited for Twilight to follow.
When Twilight came in eagerly, she saw what looked like an array of faintly flashing lights, and the sounds of beeps and boops whirred throughout the room.
Twilight was overwhelmed. She had not anticipated in any way that she would walk in to what felt like a portal to the future. In fact, she was expecting a portal to the future hidden somewhere.
“This is amazing! Where’d you get all this?” asked Twilight.
“It’s… uh… we found it! Yeah, that’s it. I found it laying around somewhere in the far off Equestrian lands!” nervously responded Celestia.
“I have not known nor realized that thine sister was holding such things in her possession,” said Luna, looking at the machines and almost as bewildered as Twilight.
“Hey Luna, maybe you should rest your pretty little head. I think these flashy buttons are going to do a big number on you,” said Celestia in a motherly tone.
“I think thine sister is correct; I shall indeed rest my head.”
Luna went out of the room, leaving Twilight and Celestia alone with a giant screen that had an entire map of Canter--- scratch that, an entire map of Equestria.
“Okay, let me break it to you. This is all stuff from my agency, just things that I use in case of emergency. Don’t ever think about coming into these rooms without my permission. And especially try to stop Luna from coming in. I don’t want ‘curiosity killed the cat’ to become ‘curiosity killed the Shakespearian horse’.”
Twilight nodded awkwardly and proceeded to have her breath taken away by the vast majority of flashing buttons. She could have stayed here for hours.
“Okay, see that map?” Celestia held her hoof out to a red and blue dot near Yakyakistan, “That’s where they are. Blue for Philomena. Red for Canterlot Knight, or as I like to call it, red for dead.”
“Got it. Although, I have a question. What are we going to do about Sweetie Belle? If she’s in trouble, isn’t that number one priority for us?”
“I suppose so. But read and take a long hard look at the book you showed me back in the library. Starswirl? Nebula? StarBEND? I think you see my point. Nopony with the evilness of the Canterlot Knight can get a hold on that phoenix.”
“What’s that Phoenix even looking for?”
“A mate? A long lost brother? An ancient artifact? I have no idea, but whatever it is, she wants it. From what I can gather, she might kill the Canterlot Knight anyway if he can’t get her what she wants. Although, the Knight seems to have planned this all out, I see no reason he wouldn’t know how to deal with that.”
“Hmmn, I see your point. Just saying that I think Sweetie is in pretty deep. He nearly knocked us out of unconsciousness with the train incident. I think he is going to do something to Sweetie that won’t be pretty.”
“Hush! Don’t bring such talk. We will save her and she will be okay, whether that’s what the Canterlot Knight wants to even do anyway!”
“Okay, okay. I get it. I’m sorry, just worried.”
“I know, my little pony. I’m worried too.”
Eventually, the red and blue dot on the screen stopped moving. They were dead center in Yakyakistan.
