How the Tables Turn

Blood got low in her stance, preparing for Phoenix to make the first move. Phoenix mirrored her, his entire body tensed in preparation. They stood there, two unmovable objects, unbreakable forces of patience and will. Then they heard it.

Wings were beating somewhere nearby.

“Hyyyah!”

Blood turned just in time to have a purple hoof come crashing down on her throat, sending pain coursing through her and collapsing her windpipe, making breathing difficult. Phoenix saw his moment of opportunity and reached forward, wrapping his foreleg around her and locking her head in a vice grip. He pushed off, first with his free foreleg, then with his hind legs, sending the two of them spiraling through the air. Blood came inches from slamming into the ground before she gave a powerful flap of her wings and held them in flight. She rolled over, barely holding them with steady backstrokes of her wings, and let Phoenix hang by his one foreleg.

She brought the two of them higher, eventually nearing the ceiling, and, with a quick shake of her head, sent Phoenix falling to the ground. She looped around quickly, smacking Phoenix in the snout with her hind hooves and sending him headfirst in his plummet.

Cloudchaser reacted quickly, flying up and catching him by the hind legs, and brought him to the ground at a slower pace. Blood would have none of it. She flew down and smacked Cloudchaser’s right wing, making her flaps uncoordinated, and sending her plummeting with Phoenix. The two of them landed slower than Phoenix would have initially, albeit still rather roughly. Phoenix saw stars for a moment before recovering from the tumble. Ashes gave a sympathetic whimper, willing her stallion to get up and keep fighting.

The small noise drew Blood’s attention, and she smirked devilishly. She flew over, surprising Ashes and grabbing her in the same grip Phoenix had fastened on her. She flapped her wings, lifting the two of them into the air and cutting off Ashes’ supply of air. Rainbow fell to the ground painfully, Ashes no longer supporting half of her body. Blood flew up near the ceiling, where Phoenix would not be able to reach her.

Phoenix once again saw his vision tinting with red as his eyes narrowed, and when Cloudchaser knocked the two of them out of the air, he wasted no time jumping on Blood and striking her mercilessly with all four hooves in turn. She kicked him off, standing up and spitting out blood, its metallic tang remaining in her mouth, and flared her wings, preparing to put the blades to use.

“I guess play time’s over then.”

Cloudchaser stepped up next to Phoenix, her wings also flared in preparation, but Phoenix stayed her with his hoof.

“No. This is my fight now.”

Blood chuckled. “Trying to be noble now, are we?”

Phoenix’s eyes narrowed further. “No. You made the mistake of making this personal.”

Ashes’ eyes widened in realization. This is what she had prevented in the cafeteria during the drawing, but there was no stopping it here. He was too enraged, and Ashes was too important to him.

There was a reason Phoenix had been named the way he was. There was a time, long ago, when he was a unicorn. That had changed the day he was born. The guards had been sure to remove his horn as quickly as possible.

However, his horn, as it is with any unicorn, is only a way to channel magic. So, while his horn was gone, the magic remained behind. And Phoenix had other, less orthodox, methods of releasing it.

Power seemed to emanate from him, radiating outwards in waves. His coat lightened, taking on a pure white, and his hair slowly began to glow a bright red. He lowered himself closer to the ground, and his hair took on a new form; fire.

Phoenix was named as such because he had the same magical properties as the bird.