Prologue: The Lava Phoenix and the Sun Princess
Somewhere on ancient Earth, the Firebird gazed down at the dwindling destruction. Lava flows were ceasing as the Earth began cooling. He knew he would need to go into hibernation soon, but decided to take one final look at the fires.
Just as he was about to go back into hibernation, he sensed something, something not from his world. Ever since the mysterious entity known only as the Raven Force had created him and his kind, they were told that if they sensed a magical SOS, they were to respond immediately. Firebird had been waiting a few months to go into hibernation, a few minutes couldn't kill him.
With his Raven Power, he teleported away, unsure how long he would be gone. Little did he know this moment would change him forever.
Elsewhere, we see Celestia looking at the moon before she lowers it. As she stared at the pony shape on it, tears fell down her cheeks, remembering the conflict between her and Luna all those years ago. It didn't help the fact that in a few years from now, the spell would break, and nothing would be able to stop Nightmare Moon this time. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a male voice coming from behind her.
"Excuse me," said the voice.
Startled, Celestia jumped as a she turned around. Standing before her was a tall, handsome looking stallion. He had a deep red color, his name and tail were slicked back to look like bird feathers and were a bright orange color, his eyes a fiery yellow. His Cutie Mark looked like a phoenix rising out of a volcano, and he just seemed to radiate heat.
"Are you alright ma'am?" the stallion asked.
"Y-yes," she replied, wiping her tears away.
"You just wiped tears out of your eyes, you stuttered, you're lying to me," the stallion pointed out.
"I am not," Celestia replied.
"Ma'am, I am a nature spirit, and we're naturally good at telling when some creature is lying," the stallion countered.
"A N-nature s-s-spirit?!" Celestia asked in shock.
"Do you not have those here?" the stallion asked.
"No, it's just that, here nature spirits and other types of spirits are considered higher beings than mortals, second only to the gods and goddesses," Celestia explained.
"Funny, that's how it is in my universe," the stallion replied with a raised eyebrow. "Speaking of which, that is part of the reason I am here."
"And why is that reason?" Celestia asked.
"My world, in my universe, was created by a very powerful being, known only as the Raven Force," the stallion replied. "Where he comes from, or what he is exactly remains a mystery."
"Then what does he have to do with this?" Celestia asked.
"It's a ridiculous reason, as frankly, I don't really care, but he wants me and my fellow spirits to help others that we sense are downtrodden or whatever," the stallion replied truthfully, as he frankly didn't really care, he just wanted this over with.
"He must be very wise then," Celestia commented.
"Or very foolish," the stallion mumbled under his breath.
"So, why are you upset?" the stallion asked, pushing aside any dislike for his god.
"Well, it goes like this," Celestia began, as she proceeded to explain everything to the stallion.
She started from the very beginning, of how after they defeated Sombra, they turned their attention to their small village in Equestria, learning magic under their mentor, a powerful wizard by the name of Starswirl the Bearded. The stallion asked what a wizard was, much to the confusion of Celestia (remember, back on Earth, wizards, witches, etc. don't exist yet). She explained about them anyways, and continued with her story. She told him about how, after defeating Tirek the Evil Centaur who planned to steal all the magic the ponies had, they had been crowned the princesses of Equestria. She spoke of how they had fended off the Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, saving their kingdom, and restoring harmony.
"Everything was great, and then it wasn't," Celestia said sadly.
"What happened?" the stallion asked.
"My sister saw how much our subjects showed me their love and admiration for the daytime I bring, and how she received no love or admiration for the beautiful nights she brought," Celestia told him. "She began to grow jealous, but I ignored it. She came to me with her complaints, and I chose to ignore them."
"Let me guess, that didn't go so well?" the stallion guessed with a raised eyebrow.
"If anything, I just made it worse than it already was," Celestia replied grimly. "She came into contact with a powerful being known as Nightmare Moon. The two made some kind of deal, and Nightmare Moon possessed my sister. I refused to fight, and it nearly cost me my life. In the end, I was forced to use 6 of the most powerful items in our world: the Elements of Harmony. With them, I banished her to the moon, and bought us a thousand years, but the I spent all the magic in the Elements, and they reverted into stone versions of themselves, while the Element of Magic disappeared into another dimension entirely."
"How long ago did you banish her?" the stallion questioned.
"977 years ago," Celestia said sadly.
"So you have 23 years left before she returns," the stallion replied. "What can I do? To help, I mean."
"Unless you somehow have a way to restore the Elements, then I'm afraid not," Celestia replied.
"Well, I have to help somehow, my kind is going into hibernation for a long time in my world, and I really wanna go home," the stallion said in a grumpy tone.
"What do you mean by "your kind"?" Celestia asked, completely confused.
"The truth is, I am actually from another world, one that is currently being birthed and molded at the moment," the stallion replied. "I am a being born of Earth and fire. I am known as... The Firebird."
"It is an interesting name, but was the pause and dramatic pose necessary?" Celestia asked.
"I was trying to inspire awe..." the Firebird grunted in annoyance.
"Well, did you need to be dramatic about it?" Celestia asked.
"It's a nature spirit thing, you wouldn't understand," Firebird replied.
"Well, you don't see us higher beings like gods and goddesses being dramatic," Celestia deadpanned.
"I'm in the presence of a goddess?!" Firebird inquired fearfully, knowing that he hadn't exactly been courteous. He began bowing multiple times, repeating, "I'm sorry! I had no idea I was in the presence of a goddess, please forgive me!"
"Geez, you act as if I'm gonna obliterate you, or something," Celestia said, slightly embarrassed by the sight.
"But I disrespected you, should I not be punished?" Firebird asked, still apologizing, not even looking up.
"Yes, you did disrespect me, and while I am upset about it, I'm not going to do what you think I'm gonna do," Celestia assured.
"Then how should I make it up to you, my lady?" Firebird asked, standing up.
"Well, if you join me for dinner tonight, then I will explain it then," Celestia replied. "It'll be nice to have someone else over for dinner other than my distant relative, Amadeus."
"Let me guess, he's an asshole?" Firebird asked.
"Hmm... yeah, I guess you could call him that," Celestia replied, smiling in amusement.
"Alright then, what time?" Firebird asked, smiling right back.
5 years later
We then cut to Canterlot Palace, where a young Sunset is playing with her toys, while her older brother, Ash Magma, was practicing his fighting style.
"Ash, do you have to practice where I'm playing?" Sunset demanded, giving her brother an annoyed look.
"Sis, someone has to be able to protect you," Ash replied, not even looking in his little sister's direction.
"But the last time you practiced while I was playing, Mr. Fuzzy got sent to the Emergency Room!" Sunset pointed out, holding up her favorite teddy bear.
"I told you, what happened to Mr. Fuzzy was an accident, Sunny," Ash replied, adopting a remorseful look.
"You two were arguing..." Sunset reminded him, giving him a deadpan look.
"You know, I don't have as good a memory as you," Ash replied, trying to pretend like he didn't remember.
"Don't even try that, Mister "I like to burn down everything I see whenever me, mom, and my sister visit the zoo"," Sunset shot back.
"Hey, those Timberwolves were charging," Ash pointed out.
A few years later, Sunset was walking through the halls, her school work in her bags. As she arrived at the throne room doors let her mother, Celestia, that she had returned from school, she heard two voices on the inside.
"Son, I don't about this," Celestia's voice sounded off.
"Mom, you, me, and Sunset all know that with me going out on adventures all the time, I am not fit to one day take the throne and lead out people," Ash's voice replied.
"But your sister won't like this," Celestia pointed out.
"I'll explain it to her when I see her, mom," Ash replied calmly. "Besides, I could never leave without saying goodbye to her."
Sunset's eyes widened in shock, sadness, and anger. She turned around, and quietly stormed off to her room.
Later, as Sunset worked on her schoolwork, a knock was heard from the other side of the door.
"Enter!" she called out, her voice neutral, but her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
To her upmost annoyance, it was none other than her older brother, Ash Magma.
"Hey, sister," Ash said softly.
"Hmm," Sunset grunted.
"I just wanted to tell you that, well, I'm going on another adventure," Ash told her.
"Ok, you don't need my permission," Sunset replied, barely hiding the venom in her voice.
"Sunny, is everything alright?" Ash asked in worry, catching the venom in her voice.
"No, everything is fine," Sunset replied, not even bothering to hide her sarcasm. "Now get out."
"Sunset, what's wrong?" Ash asked. "You know you can talk to me about anyth-"
"Can I?" Sunset demanded angrily. "Really? When you're practically never around?"
Ash flinched at that last sentence, a shocked look on his face.
"While you're always out there adventuring, I'm here with mom, worrying if you'll ever come back!" Sunset continued. "You're not around anymore, and everytime you are, you stick around for a day or two, and then go off on another adventure! Three times you missed Nightmare Night, six times you missed Hearthswarming! And for what?! To go on some adventure!"
"Sunset, I-" Ash tried to speak, sadness all over his face.
"You know what?" Sunset interrupted, fighting back her own tears. "Go."
"What?" Ash asked softly, barely even audible.
"I want you to leave, Ash," Sunset said venomously. "Like you always do. But this time, don't bother coming back. Cause then you'll just leave again."
Without saying a word, Ash silently left the room, closing the door on his way out. As Sunset stood alone in the darkness, she threw her books at the wall in anger, not caring that her tears were falling like a waterfall at that moment.
Two years later...
We then cut to the day Celestia shows Sunset the infamous mirror, and when Sunset sees herself as an Alicorn.
A few days later...
After Sunset argued with her mother, she ran into the throne room, and while not looking where she was going, she tripped and fell into the mirror, unknowingly into her father's world.
Two years later...
As Sunset set to work on repairing the damage she had done, she started to feel suspicious, as if someone was watching her. As she looked around, she saw the figure of a man standing in the distance. He appeared to wear a suit with different shades of red, red tinted sunglasses, fiery red hair, and fiery red skin. As soon as a car passed in front of him, he disappeared into thin air. Sunset looked around, wondering where the man had gone. And why, as Sunset had noticed, had he given her a disappointed look?
Five days later...
The Rainbooms, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset, and Spike celebrated as the crowd dispersed. As Sunset looked to the leaving crowd, once more, she saw the same man from 5 days ago standing there, this time wearing a fiery red polo shirt, red khakis, and an approving smile on his face. As several students passed in front of him, once again, he disappeared.
"Hey, Sunset, you wanna come over ta mah house?" Applejack asked, snapping Sunset out of her pondering.
"Huh, what?" Sunset asked.
"Duh, we're going over to AJ's house to have a slumber party, silly," Pinkie replied.
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure, I'm down for that," Sunset agreed, still freaked out by the man that had clearly been spying on her.
"Is everything okay, Sunset?" Spike asked with worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just..." Sunset replied. "I thought I saw something..."
"What?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It's nothing, it was probably just my imagination," Sunset replied, massaging her forehead. "In both instances, I was just tired and exhausted."
"Uh huh, if ya say so, Sunset," Applejack conceeded, not believing a single word of it.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired out of my mind, and would love nothing more than to go to sleep right now," Rainbow Dash said. "So let's skedaddle, before either we all collapse from exhaustion or Granny Smith accidentally locks us outside the house."
The girls agreed and left, not noticing the man that Sunset had seen watching them from afar.
"You have grown so much my child," he said. "I look forward to when we can see each other for the first time."
The figure then glowed fiery red, and flowed away, disappearing into the night.
