In the western reaches of Equestria lies the sleepy settlement of Manehattan, settled deep in the woods. The town, barely a decade old, was founded as a forward post for the expansion of the still young country. The streets were no more than dirt, pounded and packed hard from the travel of ponies passing through. The buildings themselves were no more than brick and log, but they were very cozy, and made travelers feel relaxed in the tranquil surroundings.
A pegasi known as Storm Slasher flew at full speed towards a clinic, spiraling from the clouds as soon as he heard from his co-worker about noteworthy events. Slowing down, he landed roughly right outside the small makeshift hospital. Bolting straight through the doors and past the front counter, he began scanning each door for the right numbers. Slowing to a stop, he heard the grunts and screams emanating from room 202.
Ignoring his surroundings, he opened the door and flew in scanning the tiny room, and there he saw her. In the corner of the room was Peach Luck, the look of pain disappeared from her face as Storm settled down and took her hoof in his own. As he squeezed reassuringly, she returned her attention to the doctor.
Like the shattering of a glass window pane, a cry rang out over the sleepy town. It wasn’t the cry of pain nor sadness, but the tell-tale cry of a newborn foal.
“It’s a girl!” The doctor called out, the two new parents turned to each other, starry-eyed and with grins to match. The doctor wrapped the foal in a clean towel and gave the infant to her mother.
“Oh my, she’s more beautiful than I ever imagined!” Peach Luck remarked as she looked at her foal with her shimmering white fur. Her mane fluttered softly with a soft pink sheen to it. She turned her attention to the horn, it was slender and pure white like the rest of her, but...there was something else on the foal. Something...that could only be described as a miracle.
Peach Luck gasped. “Doctor? Why does she have wings?”
The look of panic spread quickly across her face as the doctor reassured her. “Miss Luck, don’t panic. Your daughter is a very rare case indeed. It would seem your daughter is, in fact, an alicorn.”
Confusion spread across Storm’s face.
“Now doc, just how rare are we talking here?” Storm Slasher spoke in a gruff tone of voice that was tinged with fear for their newborn.
“Well, the last alicorn was born around six months ago...” he trailed off. If they weren’t panicked before, they sure were now.
Subsequently, the doctor put his hoofs up in defense. “But don’t worry, medical science has come a long way since then, we are going to put her in the intensive care unit.”
The doctor reached over as Peach Luck reluctantly gave up her newborn. “Don’t worry about it. If all goes well, she will be home with you by the end of the week.”
A nurse stepped in carting behind her a small gurney outfitted with several tubes that hung down at its sides. The doctor handed the foal to her as she set her down inside the rails and wheeled her off into the ICU.
“So. Have you two thought of a name yet?”
“Yes,” Peach spoke up with a bright twinkle in her eyes. “Celestia.”
The name rolled off her tongue like it was made of liquid. The doctor raised an inquisitive eye at Storm, who nodded in return.
Then, he said, “Couldn’t have named her better myself.”
“Very well,” the doctor nodded curtly.
“There are some things that you need to know about alicorns, but we can discuss that tomorrow. For now, miss, you need to get some rest. As for you Mr. Slasher, we need to fill out some paperwork. Nothing big, it’s just a formality, it’s not like I expect you to have a family heritage of alicorns.”
Storm leaned over to his wife, giving her a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back dear, try to get some rest, okay?” he spoke softly. Peach nodded in return as Storm followed the doctor out of the room and back into the hall.
“Are you okay, Mr. Slasher? You seem to be a bit out of sorts.”
Storm snapped his head and eyes up, he had been in a trance like state since the moment that he saw those wings.
How was this even possible? He thought to himself, firmly believing something like that is just pure dumb luck. Sure enough, his wife’s last name had shone through today.
“Uh, yes I’m fine,” he lied.
He was still panicking inside, what if she didn’t make it through the week? What if she did? How does one take care of an “alicorn” as the doctor called her? Too many “what if’s” plagued his mind, but the doctor spoke up as he tried to clear his thoughts.
“Don’t you worry, Mr. Slasher. Here in Manehattan we have the best staff on hoof 24 hours a day.”
Just then, they entered the doctor’s office. “Now please, sit down and take a load off, we’ve got a good deal of paperwork to go through here.”
The doctor leaned over his desk and pushed a button on his intercom. “Lilica?” he spoke into it. “Could you bring up two cups of coffee for us?”
“Sure thing, doctor.”
She spoke in a professional manner, clearly showing she had been a secretary most of her life. Storm looked around the office at the posters on his beige walls, a specific one caught his eye. It read ‘An apple a day keeps me away’ with a picture of the doctor sporting fake vampire fangs and a cape to match.
“Very well. Let’s get down to business.”
The next two hours were filled with questions and answers ranging on all topics from family history to known ailments that he may have had. After countless pages of paperwork, the doctor finally stood up from his chair. “Okay, I could use a 5 minute break. I’m going to release you to either go back to your wife or you can head home for the day.”
With a yawn, Storm said, “Thanks, doc.”
Storm headed back down the hall to room 202, taking in his surroundings as he went. The walls were much like the office he had been in, the fluorescent lights illuminating the patients in a manner that exhibited great care, as opposed to the hospitals back in his hometown of Cloudsdale, which felt and smelled way too sterile.
He reached room 202 and slowly pulled the door open, and as a result, it squeaked as if it were a century old. He winced, hoping it wouldn’t wake the new mother. Storm peaked his head in and looked around, Peach was fast asleep. She had earned the rest. Storm trotted over to one of the chairs next to the bed and sat down.
Looking at her now, she had seemed so peaceful as opposed to a few hours ago where her face had been red like a tomato, compared to its usual creamy colour. A lock of her deep blue mane fell across her face as she unconsciously reached up and pushed it out of her eyes. Storm Slasher thought to himself. This is the mare I will spend the rest of my life with, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Subsequently, he curled up on the chair, ready for a good nap himself. As he drifted off into the empty wasteland that is a dream he recalled all the events of this morning. Indeed, that day had truly been tiring.
~~.~~
To: The Council.
My name is Dr. Wellman and I am writing you today to report a very significant incident here at the Manehattan clinic. This morning, our town’s gardener gave birth to a foal. Normally, this wouldn’t be considered worth your time, however, this is no ordinary foal.
Peach Luck has given birth to an alicorn. After reviewing the parents DNA, they have the specific genotypes that match up with that of Case #0. The results of that, as I’m sure you remember, were dire. So I write you asking for what course of action to take.
I will be awaiting your swift response, the situation could become critical at any moment. Please make haste.
-With great respect,
Dr. Wellman
~~.~~
Sometime later that afternoon, Peach Luck had begun to stir awake. However, as she woke, she felt immensely sore as she worked her way into a sitting position. After all, she had fallen asleep about half an hour after Storm left with the doctor. She looked over at Storm, who was napping and snoozing in the comfy chair. While contemplating how cute he looked, the doctor had entered the room.
He said, “Ah, good morning to you, Miss Luck. I was hoping you were awake. I’ll give you a minute to get your bearings. Can you wake up your husband and come to my office when you feel ready?”
Considering the doctor’s tone seemed to radiate impatience, she decided to get going as fast as possible. She moved off the bed, and over to her husband, whispering gently into his ear. He woke with a yawn.
“Hey hun, we need to go talk to the doctor, okay?” She was as gentle as could be with her voice.
He yawned. “Yeah, okay.”
They got to their hooves and stretched, preparing for the emotional overload that they were bound to encounter. Storm Slasher’s usual stoic disposition was nowhere to be found, his entire mind consumed with “what if’s”. Peach was no better off, as she was on the verge of tears. For her, there was no thought that could prevent a mental breakdown, only the presence of her husband was a comfort to her.
They walked down a barren beige colored hallway, in silence, holding each other tightly; no words need be spoken, for their years together have helped develop an almost telepathic relationship. Storm opened the door, keeping it ajar for his wife to enter first. A second chair had been placed inside the room so they may both could sit comfortably. The doctor sat behind the desk, his usual smile was replaced with that of concern and fear. It was clear to both parties this would be a very serious discussion.
“Please, take a seat.” the doctor motioned a hoof towards the chairs across from him. “We have much to discuss, mostly about the child.”
“Very well,” Storm spoke. “But before all that, I want to know… is she-”
“The child is fine, she is showing strong vital signs, nothing more dangerous than an average foal at this stage. It’s when their magic first takes hold when it becomes dangerous.” The doctor wore a grimace. “The last alicorn died in a magical discharge at just two years of age.” His words hung in the air like a thick smoke.
“But how… I mean, the last one you said it happened at two years old, there’s no way that could be possible, the average unicorn can’t fully grasp-” Storm’s words were beginning to trip over themselves as he spoke.
“I’ll assure you that this is, in fact, entirely possible. For you see, an alicorn’s magic is many times stronger than that of the most magically adept unicorn. Starswirl the Bearded himself could not compete with even a young alicorn’s magic, and as for their wings, they are temperamental. The last alicorn could not fly, however the one before him did. She hadn’t been able to control her flight path and crashed into a tree at a speed of fifteen wing power.”
“So our daughter could-” Peach began.
“Destroy the whole town? Yes. I’m afraid that is a very real possibility, and at this point there is nothing we can do, other than sit and hope. Hope for the best of little Celestia, that she doesn’t engulf the town in a gigantic spell matrix that is completely out of her control.”
The doctor was very frank in his dealings, and was not shy about telling things how they were.
“However, you should know there is more to an alicorn than that. Because of their immense skill with the arcane arts, an alicorn has a lifespan far beyond our own. But because of the self-inflicted accidents, Equestrian scientists have been unable to determine just how long exactly.” The doctor’s face did loosen, just a bit. “Some speculate that an alicorn can live forever, while other say that they may live up to three hundred years, but there’s one thing for certain, they live a very long time."
“Mentally, they will continue to develop at the average rate of any other pony. Thought and cognitive abilities will grow at the same pace as every other foal in Equestria, so no worries there. As for their physical development, well, they will develop at roughly one tenth the speed of a normal pony, and that isn’t even constant.”
“So you’re telling me that my daughter, in fifty years time, will still be the size of a foal, but she will have the same mental capacity of any fully grown mare?”
“Precisely.” The doctor stood up. “Well, that’s just about all there is to it, check in with my secretary at the front desk before you leave. She has one more form for you to fill out, it’s to schedule a time for a checkup.” He opened the door for them to exit. “If you will excuse me, I have an immense amount of files I need to sort through right now, so I will see you in a week.”
The couple stepped out and walked down the hall in silence once more, this time towards the exit. As they approached the front counter they could hear very furious typing that which the speed, if done right, could produce a novel in just a few short hours. Behind a looming stack of folders was a mare going away at the little typewriter like it was a normal day, at least in theory.
“Uh, hello?” Peach was tentative to not to interrupt the unicorn. “The doctor sent us up here…” The mare turned, her face showing obvious anger and frustration from the task at hand, but when she saw Peach and Storm together, it quickly changed to one of delight.
“Oh! You’re the new parents!" She jumped up out of her chair. "Congratulations on the foal! I heard she was a beautiful white; that was always my favorite colour. Ah yes, here you go,” she handed a piece of paper over the counter to Peach, who took it in her telekinetic grasp and looked it over. It was just a checkup scheduler, which she promptly filled out and passed back over.
Subsequently, the mare said, “Wonderful! I’ll see you next week then. Bye-bye now!”
Storm’s stoic facial features and demeanor returned to him as he stepped out into the cool night air. “You hungry, babe?” he said to Peach, realizing he hadn’t eaten since last night.
“Yeah, I could eat, nothing too heavy though. Let’s just go for some soup, I doubt I could stomach a daisy sandwich.” She held her now flat stomach for emphasis. Truth be told, she could eat her own weight in food but she doubted her ability to keep it down.
The couple headed down the street towards Manie’s Pasta Hut for a hot meal, taking in the cool night breeze as it lapped across their fur, still full of anxiety as they tried to calm down for the night.
The doctor crossed the office and dug through mail that had just dropped into the mail chute of his oak door. Flipping through bills and junk mail, he finally found what he was looking for, a message marked urgent from Canterlot. The red envelope felt heavy as he opened it. Afterwards, he pulled out the letter.
~~.~~
To: Dr. Wellman
Thank you for the immediate action regarding this matter. However, we assure you that there will be no immediate danger. We had learned of the possibility of an alicorn being born in recent days but we did not expect it to be so soon.
The council has come to a majority ruling to allow the foal to exist as a normal pony, under two parameters.
One: You must have her come in once a week for checkups. Report all findings, changes and abnormalities to us immediately.
Two: Make sure that at least one parent is with the foal at all times once they take custody. If the foal is left in the presence of strangers, the results could be DIRE. We CAN NOT stress this enough.
Enclosed is a gift for the foal from two very important members of our council. The blonde one, and the Doctor made it themselves. Ensure that foal gets this.
-Counsel Mare Taranova
~~.~~
Dr. Wellman emptied the contents of the envelope onto his desk. Out came a small necklace with a pendant attached. The pendant looked like a curved teardrop; it was white with a black dot in the middle of the larger end.
He could faintly see his reflection in the glass as he looked across the maternity ward, its soft pink walls barely visible as the only light in the room was coming from the nurse in the room, as she floated a tray of bottles feeding each infant one at a time.
They were small creatures, so fragile and weak each one only separated by a few days. They all seemed so frail, the pegasi foals slept with their wings stretched out occasionally twitching. The unicorn ponies at this age were no more different than the earth ponies. Most just slept, though some it seemed were crying. The doctor was very thankful of the soundproof walls. Overall they looked like regular foals…
That is with the exception of one. She sat up straight looking straight back at him, her soft lavender eyes pierced his soul as if her vision itself had the ability to strike him down if weren’t for the glass separating them. Her mouth curled down in a merciless grimace, like she had tasted straight lemon juice. This was a disturbing scene as it didn’t mesh well with the rest of her beautiful features.
Her wings flapped once showing off their impressive size and feathers, yet something was off. She flapped once more, and he saw it, this time it had been much more pronounced. Well, he thought that’s one less problem to deal with. He cracked a smug grim, as if sharing in victory to which the alicorn simply returned with a glare, the tension was so thick that one could cut it and serve it like a cake. Doctor Wellman only found this more amusing as he broke into a full blown smile.
“Dr. Wellman, is something happening?” A bubbly voice that screamed for conversation called out. Lilica knew it was rare for an alicorn to survive for very long, but the doctor seemed obsessed, almost mesmerized even. And his oddly villainous smile only increased her worry.
Dr. Wellman furrowed his brow, ignoring the call of his trusted secretary Lilica, and instead focusing on the small foal's small white horn. Which itself was also too big to be that of a foal, he was thankful that she hadn’t yet gained power over her magic yet. 'If only I could perfect that magic restraint spell I cou-' His thought was interrupted by a hoof tapping lightly on his shoulder, surprising him a good deal.
“Doctor I’m concerned, you’ve been watching that foal for hours now, maybe we could go get some lunch together?” Lilica had been planning this day for a week, and she would be damned if she would let the doctor be consumed by his work again before she got what she had so desperately planned.
At the mention of food, he instantly perked up, the rumbling in his gullet reminding him of the past day when the alicorn had become conscious. “Yes I suppose I could use a break, did you have anywhere in particular you want to go?”
“Yeah, I figured we could go down to that sandwich shop you always talk about, I’ve never been there but it seems like the kind of place that could bring up your spirits!” Dr. Wellman simply grunted in approval and nodded. “Great!” The doctor followed her out of the hospital into the cool dry night air. A thought struck him, 'Wait, how long have I been working this time?'
“Lilica, what time is it?”
“Oh about six at night.” She said nonchalantly. The doctor was surprised at this; he had been on the clock for over eighteen hours. He took a mental note to set a timer to remind himself to go home once in a while. But who could blame him, it had been a stressful week after all, there was that Pegasus who broke both his wings, the entire family of unicorns who ran into a patch of poison joke, and that alicorn as well. Wait… the alicorn! The parents were scheduled to come by tomorrow!
Lilica noticed him tense up and came to a decision; with the current state they were in this was no time to be wooing him. She stopped, and the doctor looked at her, his head cocked to one side in confusion as she approached him.
“Dr Wellman, you seem tired, maybe you should go home and get some rest.” Her voice was much more soothing than it normally was
“Perhaps you’re right, it’s just that damned alicorn has me on the edge of my sanity. Very well, good night Lilica, I shall see you in the morning, after all Storm Slasher and Peach Luck will be coming in to claim her.” Lilica nodded her head, and with that Dr. Wellman headed off in the opposite direction towards his house. She gave a melancholy sort of smile as she continued to the diner alone.
~~.~~
The doors flew open as an over excited mare came bursting in at full speed towards the counter. Her eyes were as wide as a canyon, her smile a bright at the sun itself, her ears were straight up and her tail straight back, as if it were made of wood. She was followed by a Pegasus of equal excitement, as much as he tried to hide it, a smile as wide as Equestria itself broke out between his ears. It had been a week, today was the day they could take her little baby filly home!
Lilica was still sulking over the previous night's failure as the overjoyed couple clattered through the door and straight to the counter. Immediately recognizing them and knowing why they were here, she simply nodded in the direction of Dr. Wellmans’ office.
“That happy couple is heading for your office now doctor.” She spoke in a low and calm manner into the small transmitter.
“Very well, thank you Lilica.” He looked down at the small necklace on the desk; it was indeed peculiar, as it did not seem to be made by a traditional pony jeweler. It could be zebra made, but seldom were zebras ever in Equestria. His office door opened at an impossible speed somehow managing to not smash into the wall behind it, as a certain cream colored unicorn rushed in.
“Dr Wellman! Can we see her please?” The doctor jumped up in shock, and took a moment to steady his heart rate; he had at least expected a knock. He looked past her at the Pegasus walking in, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, only to be returned with a stupid grin.
“Yes, yes you may, come with me.” the doctor watched the couple head off to the maternity ward as he replaced the necklace into the envelope and placed the letter into his desk drawers. He trotted off down the beige halls after them. He came upon them talking to the nurse about how she was doing, and gaining the necessary knowledge to care for her themselves.
Peach Lucks eyes were wide and her ears stood straight up as she intently drank in every last word. Storm Slasher, on the other hand, had furrowed his brow and cocked his head to one side, only able to get the gist of the knowledge being spouted at them.
The doctor approached slowly so as not to distract them from the nurse. He came to a stop by the window once more, peering inside. He saw her as quickly as she saw him. Even as young as she was, she still emanated off the want, nay, the need for revenge. What he did was unforgivable.
The next hour was filled with paperwork and instructions on how to feed the baby, and other basic knowledge. They were making their way to the door when the doctor stopped them for a moment. “Oh! I almost forgot.” The doctor ran into his office and returned producing the small envelope. He placed it on a nearby counter where Peach wrapped her magical aura around it. “It’s a present from the council, and it’s very important, do your best to keep it safe and close.”
“Thank you so much Dr. Wellman.” The Pegasus remarked cradling the week old alicorn in his hooves. “I guess we’ll see you next week then.”
“Goodbye doctor.” Peach added
“Goodbye for now.” The doctor replied. And that was it, the doctor knew he had to keep a close watch on them, and he would do what he could to keep this town safe from that alicorn.
The couple returned to their home after what had seemed like hours of walking, even though it was just down the street. It was a small home but not too small, the layout gave it a snug feeling that was just perfect for a small family just starting out. The furnishings were still new, many of which were hoof made down the street.
Out back was a quaint garden that Peach kept, it held a few rows of assorted vegetables and even a row of peach trees in the back. Behind this garden was a fence that separated them from the pine tree woods that surrounded the town. Hanging from one tree in the back that had been there before they moved in, were two ropes connected at the end to a plank of wood. It truly was the perfect place for a foal to grow up.
As Storm took a seat on the couch inside his wife opened the envelope the doctor had given her. “Oh my!” Peach remarked as she drew the necklace out with her magic. Her eyes lit up full of wonderment for the simple yet elegant piece of jewelry. She placed it on Celestias’ neck.
~~.~~
Before they knew it a year had gone by, and soon after it had been five years. At this point Celestia was as smart as any other filly her age, but still half the size. Despite her age, Celestia's parents wouldn’t let her go to school yet, because of her size.
Another five years would pass with no complications. The white filly was still small, now the size of an average two year old foal, but her mind was coherent; her words now had purpose to them. She was still young but wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion about what was wrong and what was right.
“Mom,” Celestia spoke up one day during a breakfast of orange juice and hay. “why can’t I fly like dad?” It was a question she had asked many times, but she never did seem to get a straight answer from her parents. She understood that she was one of a kind being an alicorn, but there were still things she didn’t quite understand about herself.
“Well baby you’re a special case, you aren’t like the other Pegasus ponies or the unicorns for that matter…” Celestia tuned her out, her other always began the answer like that, and it seemed today wouldn’t be any different.
She tuned her mother out for the remainder of the morning, before finishing her hay and returning to her bedroom upstairs. She walked into the fairly sizable room; the walls were a soft sky blue which went well with the dark wood flooring. She didn’t have much aside from a stuffed doll of a dragon, she had a desk but it was still to big for her, the bed was also still easily three times her size as it was built for a full grown pony.
Full grown… Celestia wondered if that would ever apply to her. She trotted over to a full body mirror, mounted at ground level on the wall, and looked at her mane for a while; the soft pink was still a tangled mess from the previous nights sleep. She floated a brush off the desk as she began to hum a low tune to herself, making it up as she went along.
Satisfied with her now smoothly waving mane, she turned her attention to her wings. She flapped the left wing out, and then the right. With her wings now fully extended she attempted to move them in unison, but only succeeded in moving the papers of her desk. At this age she should at least be able to move them together, she tried to recall the Pegasus who lived in town that had made fun of her for it frequently, Though at this point she couldn’t remember him, he had grown up and moved on to middle school, while she remained in preschool.
Snapping back to reality she trotted over to her desk and raised her favorite necklace off the desk. She had the curved white tear drop for as long as she could remember, the most interesting part was the back dot. Her parents said it was from the council but she didn’t believe them, there was no way that Equestria's high government had paid any attention to her.
Looking as good as she thought she could she went back down stairs. She was determined to get answers when her dad got home. As she walked down the stairs she peeked at the clock, her eyes shot open and her mouth went agape. “Celestia you're-.” Peach began.
“I know, I know, I’m late!” Celestia rushed her words as she bolted for the door, “I’ll see you later mom, love you!” she ran out the door and straight down the dirt road to the school house. Some on lookers were confused as to how a little baby could move so fast at such a young age, but most towns-ponies didn’t know about her growth.
She trotted up to the schoolhouse, it was a small one room building with only twenty desks set up, and all of them, except for one were occupied. Well this is certainly strange. She thought. I thought there was always one empty desk… She looked over at the desk's new occupant, a little colt, with a sickly orange coat and deep blue mane and tail. He was about her size but undoubtedly half her age or less.
Peach Luck turned her attention to the hay in front of her, she hadn’t eaten much, she was just to nervous. Her stomach let out a deep rumble begging for a bite, but her body revolted denying it the chance at satisfaction. Her daughter was asking questions again, she knew that there was no way around it.
Storm Slasher returned home a few hours later to find his wife still at the table, her eyes were red and puffy, her coat was stained with tears and she was shaking without hesitation. He immediately ran over to her and took her in his hooves. They moved to the couch and sat for a few more hours in silence, waiting for the inevitable.
The front door slammed open as a wailing white filly with a soft pink mane charged straight through and out the back door. The parents stood up and trotted to the back only to see her hop the fence and charge into the forest beyond.
Her vision was blurred by the tears that had accumulated; she had never felt so ashamed in her whole life. To think that somepony could be so mean disturbed her. The low branches of the pine trees and the shrubbery whipped and scratched her as she ran further into the forestry. She had never gone more than a few feet into it, her parents had forbade her from it but she didn’t care, she just had to get as far away from the school as she could. The small pony continued into the forestry, no sounds could be heard but her hoof steps and the tinkling of her necklace.
Without warning she tripped on a root and was sent face first at full speed into the ground. She laid there, her face covered in bloody scratches, crying. The tears seeped into the wounds stinging her a great deal. She took stock of her surroundings as she sat up trying to wipe the endless cascade of tears pouring out of her eyes. She was in a small clearing in the forest, the afternoon rays of sunlight shone in through the branches.
She couldn’t stop crying, she hated that foal, he knew about her, and what she was. Her horn began to glow with a gold tinge, as she felt power like never before course through her. The horn glowed brighter and brighter, a second cone brighter than the first wrapped around it as sparks began to spew out of the tip. She channeled her anger into the magic, creating a ball at the end of her horn. If only she could just get rid of them all, she would never have to suffer such humiliation again.
As the ball grew something screeched out in an ear splitting cry. A ball of red as yellow cascaded down towards the ball of magic, colliding with its caster. Celestia lost the grip on her spell as it dissipated in a large cloud of soft gold mist. She was shocked; there was nothing here that should have prevented her from sending it. Standing up she looked around for the offensive object, and not twenty hooves from her was a large bird, colored with magnificent shades of red and gold. Its wing had been injured in the landing, and it struggled to stand up.
“Oh you poor thing.” She immediately felt remorse for the creature. She couldn’t help but feel it was her fault that the thing had hurt itself. “Here let me help you.” Celestia focused her magic as best as she could on the wing, she set the bone and the bird gave out a pained screech, followed by an appreciative coo. It would need some pain medicine and rest before it could move, both of which she figured she could provide. She picked it up in her magic and set the animal on her back, and strode off to the house.
~~.~~
The years passed without incident, the doctor lessened the meetings to once a month, then to even less at only 2 per year. It seemed that she was indeed the first alicorn so survive against al the odds. When Celestia had returned home with the bird her parents were shocked as she ignored them and wouldn’t listen, she had been to intent on saving the creature's life. She had named her Philomena after it had healed up. Philomena stayed with Celestia after she saved her, the bird must have felt repayment was necessary. A few years later she found out that the bird was a phoenix.
~~.~~
Near a sizable town called Hoofington on the outskirts of the city, was a small gathering of shacks. Those who couldn’t afford to live in town or simply worked on one of the farms lived here. In this part of Equestria things almost never changed. Life was monotone here. That is with the exception of the light brown stallion sporting a tie followed by a grey mare with crossed eyes showed up. The mare was carrying a small package towards a single hut, which emanated screams of pain and bloody murder.
The brown stallion charged in head first, knowing exactly what to do as he set out to help.
