Phoenix Feather stood over the lifeless body of her closest friend, Sun Blossom. Her beautiful yellow companion had been laughing with her about their encounter with Stormy Knight not moments before and now she was gone. The shot came out of nowhere and the traitor vanished into thin air. Glimmer raced over to pull Phoenix Feather through the gates to Canterlot before the next bullet found its mark.
“She’s gone…” said Phoenix Feather flatly, as she allowed herself to be dragged toward the gates.
“I know,” Glimmer paused and gave a fleeting look toward the body of the fallen pony, “but we must get inside before the gates close.” She continued to pull Phoenix Feather toward the gates, pulling her through them just in time.
As the gates slid closed, Phoenix Feather collapsed into Glimmer’s forelegs. She cried tears of fire, but Glimmer didn’t seem to mind the burn on her coat as she cradled Phoenix Feather in her embrace as she wept.
“Why now?” cried Phoenix Feather through her tears. “We were so close! If only I’d have been more vigilant as we were returning, I’d have noticed the signs, I should have known better… that… that BASTARD!”
“He… he trained with the zebras before the war. They train to be invisible, you know this. They are sneaky, hard to read. He’s always been… different… You couldn’t have known…” Glimmer replied carefully.
“No! I could have seen, I could have done something! It should have been me! Not her! Not her…” Phoenix Feather screamed.
“But you didn’t, you couldn’t, and it wasn’t,” said Glimmer, with a hint of sadness. “The scouts are searching now, I’m sure they—”
“That bastard will PAY for what he’s done!” said Phoenix Feather determinedly.
“Of course he will!” exclaimed Glimmer, with more than a hint of concern at the growing rage in her friend. “Star Blaze will see to it that he is found and dealt with accordingly. The consequence for rebelling, for turning against Equestria… He will be found, and he will suffer—”
“No,” Phoenix Feather was filled with a hot rage, yet her voice was now calm, barely audible. “No. He’s mine. I will deal with him.”
Glimmer pulled away from Phoenix Feather just enough to look her in the eyes. What she saw filled her heart with dread and fear. There was a spark in Phoenix Feather’s eyes, a literal spark, like the beginning of a flame, smoldering somewhere beneath the surface waiting to explode.
I’ve never seen her like this, thought Glimmer, that pony has no idea what’s coming for him, she’s really out for blood…
Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the spark was gone, replaced again with the beautiful blue swirl that normally was seen floating in Phoenix Feather’s kind eyes.
“Yes, of course you are right,” said Phoenix Feather, quickly. “Star Blaze will handle it… Now, if you will excuse me, I must see to some things…” Then she turned from her friend and slowly walked away.
The hot rage Phoenix Feather felt with the death of her friend had cooled to embers for the moment. Now inside the gates of Canterlot, Phoenix Feather had other business to attend. The Colonel needed to be debriefed about their most recent mission. Slowly, Phoenix Feather headed north up the main road, past the visitor center and once inviting and busy treat shops, now only a few brave city dwellers wandered in and out, trying to maintain a modicum of normalcy amongst the strong military presence that now filled their beautiful streets. She sighed and continued toward the towering Canterlot Equestrian History Museum, in the shadow of the great palace, where no doubt Princess Luna was hard at work with her councilors, trying, even now, to find a peaceful end to the Armageddon that was upon them.
Phoenix Feather approached the marbled building with quiet awe. She had always loved this building. The care the builders took in constructing this beautiful museum could be seen upon first glance, the smooth façade echoing back to the old ways of building. Tall marble columns once rose in front of the entryway. Cracked and crumbling from the ravages of time and war, the columns were now reduced to piles of rubble. As she stepped past the columns, a guard approached. He checked her credentials and opened the large golden doors that led to the entry hall of the grand museum. Phoenix Feather stepped inside.
Now through the doors, Phoenix Feather was greeted by artwork of ages past. Ponies in Renaissance clothing gathered in gardens for a ball. Surrounding her were epic paintings of battles won, carvings of great war ponies, rearing up in excited victory, and sweet images of friends gathered in a grand throne room, celebrating the most recent princess, Twilight Sparkle, at her coronation.
Twilight Sparkle, now there was a princess. She was humble, honest, caring, loyal, and oh, so intelligent. Phoenix Feather had met her once, at her father's academy graduation. She had come to congratulate all the graduating ponies, but everyone knew she was really there to celebrate her friend, Rainbow Dash, who had graduated top of the class. Rainbow was friendly and loyal to a fault. That was something Phoenix Feather had always admired about her.
Phoenix Feather came to the end of the long hallway and stood in front of the entrance to the conference room. The door to the conference room was large, marble, and unlike any other conference room door she had ever seen. The door had six ornately carved ponies, positioned in a way which made one no more important than another, yet all were significant in the history of Equestria.
At the top, with her wings spread and a crown on her head, was Princess Twilight Sparkle. Clockwise from Princess Twilight was a shy looking yellow pony, eyes half hidden behind a beautiful pink flowing mane. She had three butterflies as a cutie mark. Phoenix Feather recognized her as a young Fluttershy, a sweet pony who had once saved Equestria from a dragon with her charmspeak.
Situated just under Fluttershy was a brilliant white unicorn with a perfectly maintained royal purple mane. Lady Rarity, the most generous pony Equestria has ever known, who had once saved an entire colony of river ponies with her generosity, was a sight to behold, even in marble. Applejack, the honest, was placed at the bottom left, as though her strength was a pillar holding them all together.
In her signature victory pose, Rainbow Dash hovered above Applejack. Always ready for a challenge, she was poised as though she had just won the Equestria Games, which, she probably had.
There they were, in all their glory, The Mane Six, Saviors of Equestria... Or at least, they used to be... Now, they were older... Still glorious, but not quite as resilient, not quite the sure-fire solution to Equestria's problems as they used to be. But they try, at least they did...
Where ARE you guys, thought Phoenix Feather. We could really use you right now.
The Mane Six had grown apart as the war lengthened, and now they had pretty much disappeared from their respective places at the ministries.
At that thought, Phoenix Feather turned her attention to what lay beyond the door. She sighed, and headed in to what was for so long, the meeting place of the Ministry Mares, as they had come to be called after their glory days. Many wars ended, treaties signed, alliances made. Made right there, beyond those doors.
"No pressure," she said to herself as she lit up her horn and magicked the door open.
Author's Note
This chapter is a short one. I feel like I need to edit the description of Canterlot and the outside of the museum some more, but I wanted some feedback from unbiased readers. I am working on the next chapter and like where it is going.
Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Also, thank you to the original FoE creator, Kkat.
