The sun was setting over Horizon when Sunny finally finished all his daily duties and was left all to himself. Another day at work. Another day of going through dozens of fake smiles.
Well, at least now he could relax and devote himself to the only passion he had left.
Prim took some pencils from the drawer when his gaze fell upon the bright red and yellow quill laying on the bottom. He shook his head to stop the stream of memories flooding his mind. Now was not the time. He brushed off the light brown mane from his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The hoof flew back and forth over the paper, drawing gentle lines with the pencil. All the worries and problems of everyday life began to fade, as more and more lines appeared on the paper. Slowly the lines began to take shape. A pony. A tree. A lantern. Rain.
Loud knocking came from behind. Sunny shuddered and quickly looked back. No one. Prim waited for another minute before shrugging and turning back to his table. He took a pencil again, preparing to finish his work, when he caught something unusual with the corner of his eye. Glancing out the window, Sunny froze. He blinked, trying to steady his breath: sitting on the roof of the opposite house was a brilliant white phoenix. The pony slowly approached window. Too afraid to blink. Too afraid to breath. Captivated by a graceful creature, he tried to memorize all its features, when suddenly came the realization.
The bird was looking at him.
“Wh… who are you?” The bird cocked its head. Almost as though it were… smiling?
Prim shook his head trying to straighten up his thoughts. When he looked at the building again, the phoenix was gone. He Hit his head across the window pane. Missing a once in a lifetime opportunity, a fitting end for the shitty day. Or maybe he was just going insane. Both opportunities seemed equally possible. He returned to his table, determined to at least finish the drawing, knowing full well now what the final detail should be.
However, no matter how hard he tried, it always felt wrong. It’s not like Prim couldn’t remember the look of a magical bird; that was something that would stay with him for the rest of his life. But every time he attempted to draw it, something seemed off. He tried to put the phoenix on a tree, on a cloud, behind it but none of it felt right. And the worst part was that he couldn’t for the life of him understand what.
He failed to notice evening turn into the night, too determined to finish his drawing no matter what. When midnight came, the sounds of the busy city slowly disappeared, easing in a false sense of tranquility. The sudden rustle of wings broke the silence, however, and a shadow fell upon the lonely silhouette behind the table.
Prim raised his head, feeling slightly dizzy after a rough awakening and looked around… After a few moments, unable to find anything, he fell back into slumber, letting princess Luna take care of his worries for the rest of the night.
***
Sunny was walking around the city. The sun was shining unusually bright for that time of the year. Usually fall came with a lot of heavy rain, to help farmers with irrigation. But it seemed like today the pegasi weather team decided to have some mercy if only for the ponies living in the more urban areas.
It's been a week since Prim saw the Albino Phoenix (or at least that was the name he got for it from some old story book at the local library). A week of trying to draw the rare creature. A week of failing and starting over. A week wondering if he really saw it, or was he just gradually going insane.
Today was the last chance of figuring it out. Apparently, there was a science and history convention being hosted in the main city hall, and he was determined to ask them all the questions he had on his mind. The anxiety and fear of making a fool of himself slowly disappeared the closer he got to the meeting place.
The main street was very crowded even by usual Sunday afternoon standards. Suddenly, Prim froze in place, his eyes widening. On the far corner of the street, he saw a brilliant white feather disappear behind a corner. It looked exactly like the ones on the bird he remembered from his vision. Without wasting another moment, he dashed into the alley, afraid of losing track of the feather.
Running around the corner, he was headed straight for a figure idly walking alongside the road. He tried to stop himself and shout a warning, but it was too late. Prim crashed into the figure at almost full speed and fell onto the ground, his sketches flying everywhere.
“Ouch! I’m sorry, I ju…”
The words got stuck in his throat when he opened his eyes. Right in front of him was the feather he was chasing, attached to the green hat. However, if the feather was impressive, the owner was even more so.
A tall canine stood in front of Prim, their white fur seeming almost ethereal under the ray of the afternoon sun… Prim remembered stories of diamond dogs and had seen them in photos, too, but the creature peering down at him didn’t look like any diamond dog he’d seen before.
“Are you alright?”
The stranger had a very soft and soothing voice.
Prim looked at the paw that offered to help him get up. That was not the reaction he expected. Especially not today.
“Uhh… I’m alright, thank you.” He took the paw and stood up. “Sorry, I should’ve been a lot more careful. I hope you aren’t hurt.”
“It’s fine, I’ll be alright. Would you mind returning my hat?” Said the stranger with a soft smile.
Prim blushed and awkwardly offered the hat, muttering random apologies. The stranger chuckled and looked at the sketches laying all over the ground.
“If you don’t mind me asking, where were you hurrying to?” The hat owner smiled, surprising Prim not only with the sudden interest in him, but with the fact that this was the first time in years Sunny saw a smile actually reaching someone’s eyes.
“Oh, actually…” Prime Blushed even more, now looking like a tomato. “Actually, I was trying to catch you.” The canine raised the eyebrow. “Well, not you, exactly. I saw the feather and, well… yeah.” He trailed off and stared at his hooves.
“Ah, yes the album Phoenix. Or white Phoenix, as you might know it. It’s not real, of course, since the existence of the bird itself is in question. But you can find very good imitations if you know where to look.” He extended his paw to Prim again “I’m Cirrus, travelling artist, and I assume—” He motioned towards sketches. “—your colleague.”
Sunny shook hooves with Cirrus, only now noticing the case with art supplies Cirrus held with his other paw.
“Sunny. I draw stuff.” He muttered sheepishly. “You can call me Prim.”
“Well, Prim, if you’ll forgive my curiosity, what caused such fascination with the Phoenix?” he asked, gesturing to the plethora of phoenix sketches. “I doubt that even I have so many drawings of it, and I was researching the legend for the past couple of years.”
Sunny’s eyes widened.
“You researched it? Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been traveling across Equus in search of new and exciting things to draw. And the legend of the white phoenix really captivated me. Of course, I don’t think I’ll ever find a real one, but I heard Princess Celestia has her own pet phoenix, so I figured that was as close as I could get to achieving my goal. Wasn’t expecting to see someone so passionate about it, though. Not that I’m complaining of course.”
He smiled and helped Prim to pick up his sketches from the ground.
“Thank you.” Prim nodded, conflicted over whether or not to tell Cirrus about his vision. Usually he was pretty secretive about it, but for some reason Prim felt like he could trust this strange traveler with anything. “I… I actually saw it. I think.” He blurted, and immediately looked at the ground, waiting for the laughter. But it didn’t come.
“Hm… that would explain it. Would you mind telling me more whenever you’re free?”
A sigh of relief escaped Prim.
“I’m free now.”
He was not letting his chance to talk with probably the only person on the whole of Equus who would believe him to slip away.
Cirrus frowned. “Weren’t you going somewhere?”
“It’s… not important. How about we continue this at… at my place.” A light blush returned to his face.
“Fine with me. Would you mind if we stopped at the Majestic quill’ to get some art supplies?”
“No,” Sunny smiled, feeling a huge sense of relief. “Not at all.”
***
“So, this is the building you saw it on?” Cirrus looked at the place where the bird sat a week ago. “Interesting. Well I can hardly blame you for being so obsessed over it.”
“You believe me?”
Out of all the things that's happened today, Prim wasn’t sure which one surprised him the most: that he most likely met the only other person who was interested in the Albino Phoenix in Equestria and then let said complete stranger into his house, or that he actually enjoyed that stranger’s company.
“I mean, I’m not sure myself if I actually saw one, or if it was just a stress-induced hallucination.”
“Does it matter?”
“What?”
Of course, it mattered! How else Prim was supposed to know what actually happened with him that evening?
“Well, let’s pretend you get your answer,” said Cirrus. “What next? What would change for you?”
Prim was about to reply, but stopped mid-sentence, realizing that he didn’t know himself.
“What I believe is that you saw something. It might’ve been the rare phoenix, or just your imagination, but what matters is that it gave you a lot of inspiration to be creative and learn something new.” Cirrus took a long sip from his cup of tea. “Wouldn’t you say that you enjoyed your time trying to draw it?”
“I… I would, but… what could it mean?”
“Depends. For me, it means that I got a tasty cup of tea and a pleasant company.” Cirrus winked and took another sip. “For you, well, you tell me.”
Sunny felt like his face had been set on fire. He composed himself and tried to think about it. “I guess, it made things… different. And finally gave me a purpose, something to try and achieve.” He looked at the unfinished drawing. “Although, I’m not quite there yet.”
Cirrus followed Prim’s look.
“I see. Mind if I try? I think I can help with this one.”
Sunny nodded, to his own surprise. Just who was that Cirrus, that he managed to gain his trust so quickly. Prim curiously followed Cirrus’ paw, as he put line after line on the sheet of paper. Twenty minutes after, a large phoenix sat beside the pony, sheltering her from the rain with its wing. “So, what do you think?”
“I… It’s perfect!” Sunny dashed forward and locked Cirrus in a tight hug. “Thank you!”
“Whoa! No problem. Sometimes we just need a small change of perspective to move forward.” He freed himself from the hug and looked at very flustered Prim. “You know, I think I will stay here for a while.”
“Really? Why?”
The fact that someone like Cirrus wants to stay in that gray and boring town was shocking to say the least.
“How can I miss the opportunity to study Equestrian urban landscape and the place where someone saw album Phoenix at the same time. Especially in such good company.” Cirrus beamed at Sunny. “Alas, I need to go and check in at the hotel. How about we meet tomorrow at noon in that lovely café you have across the street?”
“S… Sure. That sounds great!”
“Well, in this case farewell, my friend.”
Cirrus went out of the door, closing it behind.
Friend. This wasn’t a word Sunny was used to hearing often. Especially towards himself. He looked at the drawing again and was overcome with an unusual feeling. Confidence.
Confidence that no matter what happened next, everything would be alright.
