(1) Cinder Phoenix Trilogy: The Secret of Cinder

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Little Unicorn And Her Big Secret
Chapter 2: Act Like A Normal Filly
Chapter 3: Her First Day At School
Chapter 4: There's Something Wrong With Celestia
Chapter 5: Cindy's Cutie Mark

Chapter 1: The Little Unicorn And Her Big Secret

The wind howled violently as Cindy tried to sleep beside a tree in the Everfree Forest. Although she was scared of the Everfree Forest, like most other ponies, she still decided that it was best to stay away from Ponyville. She didn't like to be in big crowds. She prefered to be alone, without anyone annoying or pestering her. Besides, she had a big secret that she wouldn't like to reveal.

When she was almost asleep, Cindy heard a loud roar that seemed nearby. Her eyes shot open. She leaped into a nearby thorny bush and curled into a ball. As the thorns pierced her coat, she winced in pain, but she didn't dare make a noise in case if the owner of the roar heard her. She stayed there until she couldn't bear the pain anymore, then she peered out of the bush for dangers. Infront of her, was a large, brown bear peering viciously at her.

Cindy immediately pulled her head back into the bush, hoping that the bear didn't see her. She heard the bear roaring again, and then she felt the bush moving. Oh no! She thought. The bear must've spotted me! The bear whined when the thorns struck it's paw, but continued bashing at the thorn bush anyway. When the bear had bashed away so much of the bush that Cindy could almost see it, she began to panic. What will happen when that bear catches me? She implored. Will I die? I don't want to die! I wish someone could rescue me... After a while of bashing, the bear finally abolished enough of the bush to see Cindy.

Cindy closed her eyes tightly, and curled into a ball, knowing that she couldn't run away from the bear even if she ran as fast as she could. The bear was just about to bite her when Cindy heard a quiet voice and the bear canceled it's action and backed away. "Stop," the voice said softly. " What are you bashing at?" Cindy opened one eye, and saw that the bear wasn't attacking her. She wondered who the voice belonged to. She peered over the remains of the bush, and saw a yellow pegasus with pink hair standing there.

The pegasus looked at her. "Oh my," she said with disbelief. "A unicorn filly?" Cindy curled into a ball in the remains of the bush, out of sight of the pegasus. The pegasus walked over quietly to her. "Don't be frightened," she smiled. "I'm a friend." Cindy uncurled herself and peered up at the pegasus. "D-Did... Did you save me from that bear?" She whispered, pointing at the bear. She wasn't sure if she should've trusted the pegasus, but she talked to her anyway, since she did save her after all.

"Save you?" The pegasus asked with a laugh. "She was just messing around with you, little one. I'm sure she didn't mean any harm. I'm Fluttershy, and I'm friends with most creatures near Ponyville." She peered around. "But I- I'm not sure about the Everfree Forest. The creatures here are... well... dangerous... and... well... I don't like dangerous things..." Cindy perked up her ears and said, "They aren't that scary once you live here... Like that crazy zebra that lives in a hut somewhere around her that I met yesterday, she ain't scared of any creatures here. I myself, am a little scared, though bu-" Fluttershy cut her off mid-sentence by asking quickly, "Don't you have parents that should be taking care of you?"

"No."

"You don't?"

"I'm an orphan."

"Oh... Well... Would you like to come with me instead of being all alone in this dangerous forest?"

Cindy stared at Fluttershy. It was a nice offer, but Cindy still didn't know if she could trust her. She thought for a while. She didn't like living alone, but she didn't trust anyone to take care of her. Eventually, she agreed to go with her.

While Fluttershy brought Cindy to her house, Cindy asked her what she was doing in the Everfree Forest in the first place. "Oh," She replied. "I was getting some food for my critter friends, and while I was getting food for the bear, she smelled something. So she went outside my house and started following the scent.

"Meanwhile, I could find the bear anywhere. I searched all over the house. I was just about the give up when I noticed that the door was open, so I peered out. Then I saw her dashing into the Everfree Forest. I knew that it was dangerous there and that she could've died, so I followed her.

"When I caught up with her, I heard a lot of bashing and I thought that she might've been fighting with a timberwolf. I peered out from behind a tree when the noise stopped and I saw her standing upright in front of a demolished bush. I knew that she was going to attack it again, so I told her to stop. I thought that she was just messing around, but then I saw you and knew that she was trying to attack you.

"I told you that she was just pretending to attack you for fun, just so that you wouldn't be as scared, but now I realise that you probably have more sence than to think that she was just playing with you an-" Cindy cut off her sentence by asking, "Wait, wait, wait... Does all this mean you accually have a pet Bear?!"

"Mhm... Kinda..."

"Kinda?"

"They're not really my pets... They're more like friends."

"They? You mean there's more than one?!"

When they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, she opened the door and lifted her hoof to walk in, but Cindy ran in so fast that she almost fell over. "Woah," Cindy exclaimed. "Look at all these animals! There's squirrels, chipmunks, mice, birds and even cute little bunnies! Hey, look at this bird, Fluttershy. It looks just like me! It's so-" "...Uhm," Fluttershy interrupted. "It looks just like you? But you're a filly... Aren't you?"

"Wait, I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"About birds?"

"...No?"

"I didn't tell you?! Well... I... ...I can turn into a bird... "

"What was that?"

"I can turn into a bird... "

"Pardon...?"

"I can turn into a bird.."

"You can burn a bird?! Why would you do that?!"

"No... I can... turn... into ...a bird..." Cindy managed to say, and then she showed Fluttershy that it was true by demonstrating by taking the form of a small, red bird. Fluttershy gasped, clasping her hooves around Cindy and held her close to her to take a closer look. "How...? I must tell my friends!"

She started to fly out the door, but Cindy cried out, "No! Please, Fluttershy...! I want it to a secret... please promise that you won't tell anyone..." Fluttershy looked at Cindy with an anxious face. "B-But... Okay, fine then," She replied, letting go of Cindy, letting her hover in front of her. She sighed and then recited doing the actions too, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." "Oh thank you, Fluttershy!" Cindy said happily, turning into her unicorn form again and hugging her.

Author's Note

http://cinderunicorn.deviantart.com/art/Chapter-1-Image-for-Secret-of-Cinder-436899539?ga_submit_new=10%253A1393454416
Yeah, I don't know how to attach it to the actually story :fluttershbad:

Chapter 2: Act Like A Normal Filly

Fluttershy started taking the thorns out of Cindy's mane and coat. "You poor thing," She said. "I'll make sure that bear won't hurt you again. She must've scared you to death!" Cindy nodded, wincing as Fluttershy pulled out a thorn too quickly. When Fluttershy finished taking out the thorns, she went to get some food for herself, Cindy and her animal friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was reading a book when Spike came up to her and asked, "Twilight, are you busy?" Twilight put down her book and looked at Spike. "No," She replied. "Why?" Spike walked over to a corner of the room, picked up a scroll and handed it to Twilight. "This is from Princess Celestia." Twilight levitated the letter infront of her face and began to read it.

To my faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle,
A very important bird has gone missing. She was last seen flying into the Everfree Forest. I know that to you it might seem weird that I am requesting you to look for a bird, but it is imperative that we find this bird! I will explain why this bird is so important later, but right now I just need you to find her. We believe that she might be in Ponyville, because there is no trace of her in the Everfree Forest or anywhere around there, I've sent some pegasi guards to search. If you could help us by searching Ponyville with your friends, that would be most appreciated, Twilight. She is a small, red bird that looks slightly like a phoenix hatchling.
Yours, Princess Celestia.

Twilight stared at the letter. "A bird?," Twilight asked to herself. "Why in the name of Celestia would she want a bird?" She sighed. "But if she requested that we find this bird, then I guess we need to do it... But how?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Fluttershy's home, Angel refused to eat his food. Again. "You never know what it tastes like until you try." Fluttershy said, trying to persuade him to eat some. But Angel just wouldn't try it. He crossed his arms and shook his head before kicking the bowl away. "What will you eat then?" Fluttershy asked. Angel jumped over to the bookshelf and found a cooking book. He opened it to a page with a delicious looking salad. Fluttershy sighed, and opened the door.

"Where are you going, Fluttershy?" Cindy asked, glancing up at her while eating. "I'm going to get some ingredients for Angel's food," Fluttershy replied, pointing at the cooking book with her left forehoof. "He's bit picky with what he eats." Cindy didn't want to left alone for two reasons. One, she didn't feel safe around the bear. Two, now that she got a friend, she didn't want to leave that friend.

Fluttershy started to walk down the passage outside her house whilst Cindy was thinking. Cindy galloped to the door, lifted her right forehoof and cried out, "Wait, Fluttershy!" Fluttershy flew back quickly and said anxiously, "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

"No," Cindy replied. "I just wondered if I could come with you... that's all..."
Fluttershy landed on the ground. She sighed with relief. "Oh," She replied. "Of course you can. I thought that you'd hurt yourself or something!" Fluttershy smiled at her. "Come on," She said. "We'd better get going before it gets dark."

At Sugarcube Corner, Twilight walked in and looked for Pinkie Pie. However, that wasn't necessary. Pinkie immediately greeted Twilight as soon as she walked in the door. "Pinkie this is serious," Twilight said. "We need to find a bird for Princess Celestia!" Pinkie raised a hoof to her mouth. "Hmm... A guessing game? Is it Philomena?"
"No, it-"
"Oh, I know! It's one of Fluttershy's birds, right?"
"No, Pinkie. It's a p-"
"Ooh, ooh! I know! It's a pet that escaped from Canterlot!"
"No, i- Wait, Pinkie, I think it is accually." Pinkie cheered, raising both hooves in the air.
Pinkie paused mid-cheer and asked, "Why does Princess Celestia want a bird..?"
"I don't know, Pinkie," Twilight replied. "She said that we'd find out after we found her. Can you help?"
Pinkie thought for a minute. "Hmm," She said. "Maybe Fluttershy would be better for the job."
"You're right!" She cheered. "But where can we find her? She could be anywhere in Ponyville right now..."
As if she could read their minds, Fluttershy walked in the door of Sugarcube Corner.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight cried out happily, trotting over to her. "We were just talking about you right now. We need your help!"
Cindy cowered behind Fluttershy, a little scared of Twilight. Twilight and Fluttershy talked about the reason why they needed help. Oh dear, Cindy thought. What happens if Fluttershy's friends don't like me? Will Fluttershy not like me too then?
"Pinkie thought that you'd be best at the job," Twilight said. "We really need to find that baby phoenix."
Cindy heard her words and looked at her from behind Fluttershy's tail. She started trembling with fear. Fluttershy felt the trembling on her leg, looked down at her and Twilight noticed her.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "I didn't know that there was a filly behind you. Where did she come from?" Twilight stepped forward, smiling at Cindy. Cindy backed away. She was a little scared of the unicorn. She bumped into something behind her, so she turned around, thinking it was a chair. She saw a pink earth pony standing there, smiling at her. "Hi there!" she said. Cindy yelped and jumped under Fluttershy's tail. "What did I do?" Pinkie asked, frowning.

"Don't be frightened," Fluttershy said, turning around and stroking Cindy's mane with her left forehoof. "They're friends. They won't hurt you. Go on, say 'Hi'!"
Cindy slowly crawled forward and looked at the strange ponies. Then she whispered shyly, "Hi..." Pinkie jumped up and down with excitement.
"Hi!" She exclaimed. "This is Twilight, and I'm Pinkie! What's your name?"
Cindy replied, "I'm Cinder, but most ponies called me Cindy."
"I found her being attacked by a bear in the Everfree Forest this morning," Fluttershy added. "If I hadn't followed the bear, she would've died."

"Anyway, as I was saying," Twilight said, focusing on what she was saying. "We need to find a little phoenix hatchling that Princess Celestia needs. We don't know exactly why she needs it, but she said that it's imperative that we get it soon. Fluttershy, we need you." Fluttershy looked at Cindy.

Cindy forced a smile and tried her best to look excited, "Ooh, ooh! Can I help? I'd love to help!"
Twilight looked at her. "Oh, sure! The more ponies the better." She said.
Cindy cheered convincingly and added, "Oh, I'll look out for it whenever I have spare time."

Fluttershy looked at her anxiously, wondering if she'd tell them her secret. "Oh, I'll search my house for one, in case if it flew in while I wasn't looking," She said. "And I'll search around the town too. Come on, Cindy. Let's go find this bird."
"Thank you!" Twilight shouted to her as she and Cindy galloped away.

When they were out of sight from Twilight and Pinkie, Fluttershy and Cindy looked at each other anxiously. "Cindy," Fluttershy said with a quiet voice. "You never said that Celestia wanted you. You just said that you were a bird. I thought you wanted to keep it a secret because it's magic that most unicorns can't do." Cindy looked up at her with a sad face. "No," She said. "I wanted to keep it a secret because I think that she wants me to die... I think she doesn't like me... I heard her talking with Pegasi guards and every time he mentioned me, Princess Celestia looked angry and..."
"But that doesn't m-"
"And everytime she looks at me, she frowns..."
"Bu-"
"Every time I talk she frowns..."
"But, Cindy, that doesn't mean an-"
"Especially when I use my Royal Canterlot Voice To Talk To Luna! ...It's a joke me and Luna has.."
Fluttershy put her hoof up to Cindy's mouth. "Cindy," She said. "None of this means anything. It could just mean that she was in a bad mood or something." Cindy pushed away Fluttershy's hoof. "You're just like Celestia," She said, tears in her eyes. "You don't listen to anything I say or take my side on anything I say!"

She ran away from Fluttershy as fast as she could, until Fluttershy couldn't see anymore. "Cindy wait!" Fluttershy yelled, but she wasn't loud enough. She sighed, and sat down with her head down. It started raining on top of Fluttershy. Fluttershy put her hooves on her head, groaning. She heard a laugh that she recognized. It was Rainbow Dash. "Whoops," Rainbow said, giggling quietly. "My bad!" She started flying away but she noticed that Fluttershy looked sad. "Uhm," she said. "Let me just fix that..." She flew over Fluttershy, pushing the cloud away.

Fluttershy still sat there, staring at the ground. Rainbow landed beside her. "What's wrong, 'Shy?" She implored. Fluttershy looked at her with sad eyes. "I found a filly," she frowned. "And I really upset her, and she ran away from me... Now I don't know where she is!" Fluttershy stared at the ground again. Rainbow sighed. "I can find her for you," She said, even though she didn't exactly want to. Fluttershy jumped up and hugged her friend. "Really?!" Fluttershy asked happily. "She went over there." Fluttershy pointed at the direction to Sweet Apple Acres.

Rainbow flew as fast as she could and soon caught up with Cindy. She landed in front of her. "Stop!" she cried out. Cindy used her magic to knock her aside, which was strange. Most other fillies her age couldn't use magic like that. "Woah!" Rainbow cried out as she was forced away. "Not cool!" She flew quickly up to Cindy, and grabbed her tight. Cindy tried to use her magic to make Rainbow let go of her. Rainbow held her grip. She flew up high with Cindy and tightened her grip on her more. Cindy used a spell to hurt her wings. Rainbow let go of Cindy and fell onto a cloud. Cindy fell from the sky, and she wouldn't turn into bird form in case if she blew her cover. She closed her eyes tight and felt her fall into something soft. Even though it was soft, she went unconscious because of the height she fell from.

When she awoke, she saw that she was in Fluttershy's house again. Then she saw Fluttershy. She felt a pain in her back which she guessed she got from the fall. Since her back hurt, that meant she probably wouldn't be able to use her wings in bird form. She groaned. Fluttershy looked at her sadly.
"Cindy-" She started, but she was interrupted by Cindy.
"No," Cindy said. "Don't talk to me..." She looked away.
"Cindy, listen to me," Fluttershy said. She walked over to Cindy and stroked her mane with her left forehoof. "I won't tell Celestia, okay? I promise. But you need to act more like a normal filly."

Cindy looked up at her sadly. "You're not mad at me anymore?" she asked. "I never was angry at you, Cindy. I was just concerned," Fluttershy replied. "Tommorow, we can get you some friends. We can bring you to school and you'll learn how normal fillies act."
"Okay," Cindy replied, though she didn't really like the idea of school.

"We had best go to sleep now, it's late." Fluttershy said, bringing Cindy to a bed upstairs. Fluttershy sang her a lullaby when she was in bed. "Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed. Drifting off to sleep, leave an exciting day behind you. Drifting off to sleep, let the joy of dream land find you. Hush now, quiet now. Lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed."

"That was awesome, Fluttershy!" Cindy said, her eyes half closed. "But... It makes me tired..."
"It's supposed to make you tired," She smiled, turning off the light. That's what it's all about. Now, go to sleep, Cindy."

"Good night, Mommy.."

Fluttershy blinked. She was about to say 'What?' but, she heard Cindy snoring lightly, so she decided not to say anything. She walked out of the room quietly, making sure that Cindy didn't wake up.

Chapter 3: Her First Day At School

Cindy woke up. "Where am I?" she asked herself. She was in a dull grey room. She looked around and found that she had a chain around her neck, attached to the wall. She walked forward until the chain stopped her from going further. She tried to break it with magic, but she found that she could use any magic. Huh? she thought. What is this? No magic?"Fluttershy!" she called out. "Are you here?" There was no reply. She sat down and started crying a little.

Then she heard a laugh. She stood up. Huh?! she thought. She saw a dark figure moving towards her. As it got closer, she recognized it as Fluttershy! "Fluttershy!" Cindy cried out, hugging the figure when it got close. "Hello again, Cindy," a voice said. She recognized the voice as Celestia and noticed that 'Fluttershy' now had a white coat. She looked up and saw Celestia there instead with a chainsaw floating beside her, held up with her magic. Cindy gasped and tumbled backwards. She saw Luna slide to her from another corner of the room and land in front of her.

She used to her magic and Celestia froze. Luna turned around to face Cindy. "We know not why this would appear in thy dream, little filly," She said. "But however it happened, we can try to help." Cindy peered at her. Does she not know who I am? she thought, half joyed and half sad. Can she not tell? "How can thou have such an impression on our sister?" Luna continued, looking down at her, puzzled. "We thought that everypony had thought of our sister as a friend!" Cindy looked down at Luna's hooves. "I can't tell you why," Cindy replied, quietly. "It is a secret. You'd just laugh like everypony else." Luna lifted up Cindy's head with her left forehoof. "No we wouldn't," she replied. She leaned closer and whispered, "Sometimes, we are scared of her too." Cindy giggled.

"Anyway," Luna continued. "It is time for thou to wake up. Soon, Tia will raise the sun and we will have to rest. Don't fear our sister, she is not to be feared." Luna vanished, and so did Celestia. The room got darker and dark, until Cindy couldn't see anymore.

After that, Cindy woke up. She looked around and saw that she was in the room Fluttershy let her stay in again. She sighed with relief. She sniffed the air. "Hmm?" she said to herself. "I smell something delicious!" She jumped out of the bed and walked downstairs. "Fluttershy?" she asked, wondering where she was. She spotted some pancakes on a plate in front of her. She trotted delightfully over to them, and started to eat them. "Oh there you are," she heard Fluttershy whisper. Cindy looked up and saw her flying above her head. "I was looking everywhere for you, Cindy." After Cindy ate the pancakes, Fluttershy walked over to the door, opened it and said, "Come on, Cindy. You need to go to school."

Cindy happily skipped out the door as Fluttershy showed her the way to the school. "I'll come to bring you home at lunchtime, okay?" Cindy nodded and walked nervously into the classroom. On the way, to the school, Fluttershy said to act normally and not use much magic, only if it was necessary. As she entered the classroom, a purple earth pony greeted her. "Hello," she said. "My name is Ms. Cheerilee and I will be your teacher. Let me introduce you to the class." Ms. Cheerilee waited for the class to settle down.

"Good morning, Class," she said. All the fillies and colts stopped talking and responded by saying hello back. "Before we start our lessons, I'd like to introduce you to your newest classmate, Cinder." All the classmates looked at her as she walked quietly over to an empty desk. Beside her was a grey filly and a pink filly with a tiara matching her cutie mark. They both glared at her. Cindy avoided eye contact with them, and sat down on her seat and picked out a few books from her saddlebag.

"Our first lesson today will be about Nightmare Moon," Ms. Cheerilee said. "Does anypony know the story already and like to share it?" None of the class knew, so Cindy raised her left foreleg. "I do, Ms. Cheerilee," she said. Ms. Cheerilee smiled and told Cindy to stand up and tell it.

"A long, long time ago," Cindy started, standing up. "There were two alicorn sisters. The older one, Celestia brought up the sun in the morning and the younger one, Luna brought up the moon at night. The ponies played during Celestia's day, but slept during Luna's night. She didn't have many friends.

"One faithful day, Luna refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. Celestia tried to reason with her, but the stubbornness in Luna's heart transformed her into a terrifying monster, Nightmare Moon. Although Celestia didn't want to do it, she defeated her sister with the Elements of Harmony and sent her to the moon. After that, Celestia had to control both the sun and the moon."

The class stared at her. The silver filly that sat next to her started clapping her hooves together slowly, followed by the rest of the class. Cheerilee smiled. "Thank you, Cinder," She said. "Now, who knows what the six Elements of Harmony are called?" Again, Cindy was the onlypony who raised her foreleg. "Honesty," she recited. "Kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty and magic."

"Good job, Cindy," Ms. Cheerilee said. They continued on their lessons until the bell rang for them to go outside. When Cindy went outside, the two fillies that were sitting beside came over to her. She was sitting down and reading a book when they came over to her. "Hey," the pink one with the tiara said. "Why would you show off so much like that with the stories? Only I'm allowed to do that!"

They looked at her flank. "Oh," the grey one said. "Hey, Diamond Tiara! It looks like there's another blank flank in our school..." They both grinned at eachother. "Oh, so we do," the one called Diamond Tiara said. "Blank flanks are so lame... Don't you agree, Silverspoon? Everypony already has their cutie marks... Except you!" Then Silverspoon joined in saying, "And look at her filthy coat! It's so dirty that its almost black and black is lame. Messy pink hair and grey coats don't go well together."
They started laughing. Cindy stood up. She was angry now. "Leave me alone," She said.
"No!" They both said, laughing.

Cindy had enough of this. She used her magic to make them both float in the air. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she shouted at them. She threw them with her magic into a puddle of mud. They ran off, getting the furthest they could from her. A yellow filly with red hair came over to her. "Woah," she said. "Ya do have great magic. Ya taught those girls a lesson they'll never forget. They bully everypony, not just ya!" Cindy looked at her. "Does she bully you? Since you don't have your cutie mark...?" she asked. The filly nodded. "Mah name's Applebloom. It's a pleasure to meet ya!" Cindy and Applebloom shook hooves. She made her first real friend.

Once they went back into class again, Cindy noticed that both Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon were trying to stay away from her. They won't be bothering me ever again, she thought. She learned many things that day, about stories from Ponyville and how Fluttershy and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra. The other things they learned about she already knew of.
When school time ended, all the fillies and colts galloped out the door of the classroom, eager to get away from the school. Cindy wondered why they were so determined to get away. She stayed in longer, asking Ms. Cheerilee questions about Princess Celestia and phoenixes. Fluttershy and Applejack started to get worried, not knowing that Applebloom and Cindy were still in the classroom.
"Where are they?" Applejack implored, looking at the school with confusion and worry. "They shoulda came out a long time ago." As if reading her mind, the two fillies ran outside, towards them.
"Sorry we're late!" They said together, giggling as they noticed.
"Ya'll worried us sick," Applejack lectured. "We thought something happened to ya, Applebloom. Don't do that again." Applebloom just rolled her eyes, but Cindy hung her head, drooped her ears and took it more seriously.
"I'm sorry!" she cried out with a sad face. "It's my fault, I asked Ms. Cheerilee if she could answer a few questions. I never thought you would be angry at us... Please don't be mad at Applebloom!"
Applejack tilted her head, looking at Cindy. She didn't think she'd be that worried just because she said that. "Don't be like tha, Sugarcube," she said. "We aint gonna punish ya and Applebloom or anythin'. We're just sayin' to tell us in advance before ya do that kinda thing, okay?" Cindy stopped looking sad and scared and looked up at Applejack. She nodded her head.
"Can Cindy come over to play later, Applejack?" Applebloom asked, smiling at her bigger sister. "Well," Applejack replied, looking at Fluttershy. "Of course she can, but it's up to Fluttershy. If she says No, then I'll have to say No too." Fluttershy looked at Cindy, then Applejack, then Applebloom and then back to Cindy again.
"Sure," She said. "But first, Cindy needs to eat some food. She might be hungry!"
Applejack shook her head in disagreement. "We can feed her," She smiled. "We have plenty of apples back at Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Pies, Apple Fritters, Apple cake, Apple Jelly, Apple Wheat, Apple... bloom, Apple-"
Applebloom cut her sentence off with her giggling. "I think she gets the point, sis," She said, putting a hoof over her own mouth to stop her from laughing.
Fluttershy smiled, "Well okay then. If it's no trouble..."
Applejack shook her head. "No trouble whatsoever."
They all waved goodbye to Fluttershy and headed for Sweet Apple Acres. As they went, Applejack kept talking about Fluttershy, how much she loved to talk about Cindy and how much she enjoyed being around her. Cindy never though Fluttershy liked her that much.
After they ate, Applebloom called her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to come with them. After Applebloom introduced Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to Cindy, She made her close her eyes as her friends took her to the Cutie Mark Crusader headquarters. They told her to stand in front of a desk and listen to Sweetie Belle as she recited something from a paper. So she did. Scootaloo made some loud music from some bongo drums to the right of Sweetie Belle. When she was done, Sweetie Belle unraveled the scroll and began talking.
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders elect Cinder as a sister, friend, candidate, ally, gall pall, comforter, chum of chums-"
Scootaloo coughed. "Don't start all that again like with Babs! Just get to the point, Sweetie!"
Sweetie flipped through the speech. "Oh yeah, here!" She cried out as she found the part she was looking for. "You are solemnly sworn in this day in witness of your fellow sisters, friends, candidates, allies, gall palls, com-"
Scootaloo cut her off by jumping up beside her and pushing the page away. "Congratulations on becoming a Cutie Mark Crusader!" she exclaimed as they threw a red cape with a blue and yellow logo to her.
She put it on with her magic. All three of them stood there, beaming at it with pride.
They spent the rest of the day playing and trying to get their cutie marks. When Cindy got home, she literally collapsed from exhaustion. Fluttershy gave her a cupcake that she bought for her from Sugarcube corner. After she ate it, she fell asleep on the chair she was sitting on, so Fluttershy had to carry her up to her bed. She put a warm blanket over her and went back to sit on the couch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight sat down. She was exhausted. "Oh, Spike," she said to her dragon friend in a sad tone. "We'll never find this bird! It could be anywhere!"
Spike sighed. "I know, Twilight," he said. "But don't give up hope! The princess knows you can do it!"
Twilight sighed. It was just so hard. There could be a little red bird anywhere. But she knew she couldn't give up. If she did, the princess would be furious.

Chapter 4: There's Something Wrong With Celestia

Luna sat down on 'Celestia's chair' in the throne room and began to think. Why was Tia so upset over our bird friend? she wondered. If anything, we should be upset being her friends and all. As far as we know, Tia didn't even like her, let alone miss her when she was gone. Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Celestia walked in slowly, freezing Luna's thoughts. She looked at Luna.

"Move," she commanded softly but seriously. Luna just stared at her at first, but when Celestia gave her a glare that would not allow any contradictory words, she galloped away from the chair. Celestia sat down on the chair and put her one of her hooves to her cheek. She sighed.
"What will I do, Luna?" she questioned. "Equestria depends on us finding this bird. I can't rest thinking about the power she has..."
Luna blinked. "Pardon?" she asked, tilting her head. "She's just a bird."
"She's not just a bird," Celestia said bitterly. "She's a very powerful bird."
"She's a hatchling," Luna argued back. "Not a pony-eating phoenix."
"Yes, I know... But when she grows up, she will become powerful. And we need to teach her to use it for good instead of evil. We don't want her to kill everpony, do we? As it is, she already knows plenty of magic, both good and evil. Soon, once we find her, we will need to reform Discord also, just in case if she does get out of hoof. I can't even imagine how much damage she could do to Equestria if she turns against us."
"So, thou will be using Discord, Discord of all things, the master of chaos, as an item to stop her? Pfft..."
"Yes."
"But, Tia, how could thou use him if he attacks thou?"
"Don't worry, Luna" -She put her hoof up to her mouth to quieten her down- "I have a plan."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cindy woke up to see light blinding her eyes. She moaned. Fluttershy was standing beside her, blocking out a little bit of the light.
"Good morning, Sleepyhead," Fluttershy smiled. "You slept in a little more than usual, so I was going to wake you up, but you looked so happy, so I didn't. At least until it got a bit too late, then I did."
"Five more minutes," Cindy moaned, pulling the blanket over her head.
"But it's so late already," Fluttershy sighed. "You'll be late for school."
"Why didn't you say so?!" Cindy gasped, jumping out of the bed. She galloped as fast as she could, found a hairbrush and combed her mane. She rushed out the door with her saddlebags floating in front of her with her magic. Fluttershy dashed after her, telling her softly to wait, but she didn't hear.

At school, they learned much more maths than usual, because yesterday was History Day and they learned a lot of history. They learned a little bit about Ponyville today too, but no where near as much as yesterday. The day seemed to fly for Cindy, but that's because they were actually off school early. Fluttershy was nearly inside the classroom instead of outside when they finished up.
"Cindy," she said quietly. "The princess is here to see Ponyville,"
"She is?" Cindy implored, looking at the chariot arriving in Ponyville. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. If we go, she'll just think we're a face in the crowd."
"I hope so, Cindy."

As the chariot landed in the middle of Ponyville, crowds of ponies gathered around from all around Ponyville to greet the princess. The third pony to greet the princess, was in fact Cindy. Cindy had tried to hurry as fast as she could to make herself seem like a noble pony who loved Princess Celestia. She couldn't help but shake in her presence, however. Celestia noticed, but fortunately decided to think that it was nothing. When the ponies finally stopped bowing before her, she went to the library to talk to Twilight and her friends together. Cindy came too, but stayed outside, looking in the window.
"Any luck with finding the bird, Twilight?" Celestia asked hopefully.
"No," Twilight admitted solemnly. "It's useless. It could be anywhere!"
Celestia's horn glowed with magic and started dragging her towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy stepped back a little, but the more she moved back, the more the magic brought Celestia closer.
"Did you see the bird, Fluttershy?" Celestia asked, looking down at her seriously.
"N-No," Fluttershy insisted, looking behind her, guiltily.
"Don't lie to me, Fluttershy."
"I didn't see her..."
"Fluttershy"-Celestia sighed.-"It's really important that you tell me! It's more important than you think. Please?"
"No!" Fluttershy said as loudly as she could, galloping over to the window, raising her hooves violently, but opening the window gently and galloping out.

Celestia flew after her. In Fluttershy's house, Celestia managed to persuade her to tell her where she was.
"Fluttershy," she said, hugging her with her wings. "You need to tell me. I won't hurt her or kill her or anything like that. I just need to take her with me. Please?"
Fluttershy didn't want to betray Cindy, but she had to tell. "She's in the library, on the window."

"Thank you, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia added as she walked out the door to find Cindy. Fluttershy sighed. I broke a pinkie promise... she thought. Both Pinkie and Cindy will be upset with me now... She watched as Celestia walked away when she realized that she really shouldn't have told her at all. Maybe Cindy was right! Fluttershy thought. Maybe the princess did want to kill her or hurt her. Maybe she was just telling me that so she wouldn't try to stop her!

At the library, Cindy sat down, waiting for Fluttershy to come back for her. After a while of waiting, she saw Princess Celestia approaching her from the corner of her eye. Cindy pretended to be honored by her princess, bowing down before her.
"Did you see a small, red bird, little one?" Celestia asked, smiling at her.
"Nope," Cindy smiled.
"Are you sure?"
"No- Yes. But I can help you." They both started searching the library, inside and outside. After a while, Celestia gave up and started using her magic. Her magic tried it's best to locate Cindy, retracing everywhere she was. When she stopped in front of Cindy, she stopped her magic.

"What's this? My magic leads me to you, little one. That can't be right." She walked away to try again, not noticing Cindy's fearful eyes. As she tried again, the same result happened again: she was led to Cindy. "Strange," she said, peering at Cindy. Then she realized something. She started using her magic, directing it towards Cindy. When it reached her, it forced her to turn into a bird.

"Uh oh," she muttered to herself. Before Celestia could do anything, she flew towards to door as fast as she could. Celestia spun around and her magic closed the door shut just before Cindy reached it. The magic then reached out and grabbed Cindy, levitating her in front of Celestia.
Celestia grinned triumphantly at her. "I have you now," she said, opening the door and walking out, Cindy floating behind her. Cindy stared at the ground in defeat. She wondered what punishment would await her. As they went into the chariot, she noticed Fluttershy flying towards them.
"Fluttershy!" she cried out happily.
Celestia noticed Fluttershy and ordered the guards to go faster. The guards flew quickly into the air as fast as they could. Fluttershy couldn't keep up. Cindy's smile soon disappeared. Fluttershy tried to go faster, but as she did, Celestia turned around and blasted her with her magic. Fluttershy fell into a tree below, though she wasn't majorly hurt because it was only a light blast.
"Cindy!" she cried out as loudly as she could as she watched them disappear from her sight.
Looking down, she saw Twilight, Rarity and Applejack standing there, looking up at her.
"Are ya alright, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, an anxious look on her face. "We saw ya falling into that tree and wondered if ya'll were okay."
"Yes," Fluttershy frowned, flying down to them. "I'm okay, but there's something wrong with Princess Celestia."

~~~~~~~~~

At Canterlot, Celestia jumped out of the chariot. With her magic still grasping Cindy, she flew down to the old cave beneath Canterlot which held Princess Cadence and Shining Armour when the Changelings attacked. "I love this cave," Celestia's voice echoed through the cave. "It's my favourite place to stay and think."
"That's... nice," Cindy smiled sarcastically.
"You don't like it?" Celestia asked, grinning at Cindy. "Well that's too bad, because this is where you will be staying!"

Before Cindy could reply, Celestia turned to face a rock behind her where Cindy saw a figure walking forward from. When it got close enough for her to see, she saw a small, white filly with a bright pink mane with her head down. When the filly lifted up her head, Cindy saw that she was just like her pony form. At first, Cindy was confused but then she realized. Before she could say anything else, she saw rock enclosing around her and everything went black.

A few years ago...
The hatchling hatched out of her egg. The mother bird looked at all her other hatchlings, then back at the newly born one. It didn't look like the rest. Maybe this egg got lost from another nest and rolled into her nest accidentally?
"Ma..ma?" the hatchling chirped. The mother bird took a few steps back. She was hopelessly confused. Not even her could speak the language ponies spoke, yet this new born could just magically speak? The mother bird felt as if something was breathing behind her, so she turned around quickly. Flying beside the nest was a pony. One with both a unicorn horn and wings.

"I think we found her, Luna," the pony said. A second pony came out, one that looked almost like the first pony, only dark blue and smaller.
"Finally," she groaned. "We've been searching for ages, Tia."
"I know," Tia replied. "But it might be necessary that we get this bird to use her powers."
"But..." Luna started, but she knew better than to argue with her sister. Using her magic, Tia gently picked up the hatchling. "Don't worry," she smiled. "We'll take good care of you, little one. You can come with us to our castle! We won't hurt you."

The hatchling agreed to go with them and after a few days, Celestia wanted to name her. But before she even chose a name, the hatchling refused to be named by her.
"Cinder," she chirped. "My name will be Cinder."

Cindy woke up and remembered her past, thinking that Celestia was nice to her. She knew that something must've happened to her. She wouldn't just act like this... Would she?

Chapter 5: Cindy's Cutie Mark

Cindy used her magic to light up her surroundings. She was still in the cave, but by the looks of it, she was inside some hollow crystal. She stayed there for a while, thinking about everything that just happened, then suddenly Celestia's grinning face appeared on all the sides of the crystal.
"I just thought I'd say hi," Celestia smirked. "Before I take over all of Equestria!"
"Hi," Cindy frowned. Then she realized what Celestia just said. "Wait... Don't you already rule over Equestria?"
"That's what you think. Surely you already know...? Well whatever, it doesn't matter. Soon you'll see, but it will be too late then."
Before Cindy could react, Celestia vanished from her view.
"Wait!" Cindy cried out, her voice echoing. "You'd better tell me what you meant!"

She blasted at the crystal until a hole was made in it. She jumped out and saw Celestia lying there, looking a bit bruised. Cindy looked at her angrily, trotting over to her.
"Tell me what's going on!" she hissed. "Why did you capture me here? What's this about taking over Equestria?"
"I didn't capture you," Celestia replied quietly. "Queen Chrysalis did."
"Queen who-salis?"
"The queen of the changelings." She pointed at a spiky band around her neck with her wing. "And I can't do anything with this anti-magic bracer around my neck!"

Cindy blinked at her and realized how foolish she was. How did she not figure it out before? Without further ado, she started pulling on the anti-magic bracer. It looked like it wasn't on tightly, but she still couldn't get it off. Then she noticed a little triangular hole. She stared at it for a while until an idea formed in her mind. Her magic reached out and retrieved a chip from a crystal and began shaping it into a triangle. She placed it into the hole and to her surprise, it started glowing. She turned it clockwise and she heard a clicking sound. The bracer opened and Celestia took it off her neck with her hooves.

"Thank you, Cindy," Celestia smiled. "We must get out of her and stop Queen Chrysalis before it's too late!"
They galloped around the cave, searching for a way out. After a long time, they eventually found an exit, but guarding it were 5 changelings.
"How do we get around them?" Cindy whispered.
"Turn into a bird," Celestia replied quietly, pointing at the ceiling of the cave. "We might be Table to fly over them."
Cindy turned into bird form and they both flew as high as they could. Quietly, they made their way around the changelings, trying to avoid any unwanted attention. Fortunately, the changelings didn't notice them. Once they were away from them, Celestia and Cindy landed on the castle floor and Cindy turned back into filly form.

They heard 'Celestia' speaking inside the throne room. They galloped into the room and saw that Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack were there. They all looked at Celestia and Cindy, and then back at the other Celestia.
"What in the hay is goin' on?" Applejack asked, bewildered. "How can there be two Princess Celestias?"
"She's Queen Chrysalis!" Celestia glared at her copy. "Somehow she's returned to take Equestria again."

"How did you get past my changelings?" Queen Chrysalis snorted. "It doesn't matter. You're all too late! I've already got enough power to do anything I wish. And the reason is because everypony loves me now."
Her magic transformed her back into changeling form. She walked over to the window and noticed that her changeling army were already pouring into Canterlot. "Soon," Chrysalis grinned. "I will control all of Equestria, and you are powerless to stop me!"

Twilight's ears perked up. She knew what to do. She motioned for Cindy, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack to follow her. They ran out the door and a changeling tried to stop them, but Chrysalis just shook her head. "Let them go," she smiled. "They can't do anything, even if they wanted to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash flew around bored. She looked for her friends, but they were no where to be found. After a while, she flew to the library. She walked in and saw Spike.
"Hey, Spike," she smiled at the baby dragon. "Do you know where Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy are? I can't find them anywhere!"
"That's what I was wondering too!" Spike said sadly. "I thought that they might've been in Cloudsdale for some reason, but I guess that since you can't find them either, I guess they're not. Maybe they're in trouble!"
"Spike," Rainbow frowned. "I'm sure they're fine. They'll turn up later. I guess." At that moment, Pinkie Pie hopped into the library.
"There you are!" she cried out happily. "I've looking for you guys all day! But where's Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity? Fluttershy offered to help me bake muffins with Derpy last week, but she couldn't come, so she said she'd help today. But when she didn't turn up, I went to ask her why she couldn't come, and then I noticed everyone was missing!"
"We're looking for them too, Pinkie," Rainbow replied. "I've been looking everywhere."

They stayed talking for a while, and then suddenly Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Cindy galloped in the door.
"There ya'll are!" Applejack smiled. "We need ya'll to wear the Elements of Harmony. Queen Chrysalis's trying to take over Equestria again!"
"Where are the Elements of Harmony anyway?" Rainbow asked.
"Why," Rarity replied. "I believe Celestia has them now. She took them when Discord returned."

Twilight groaned. They probably had to fight many changelings to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. Twilight started using her magic, and they appeared in Canterlot in the room with the Elements. For some strange reason, there weren't any changelings guarding the Elements. Twilight took out the elements from the box and put them on their owners.

They walked back up to the throne room. Chrysalis stood there grinning at them. The room had changelings on the ceiling, on the ground and on the walls. On the ceiling, Celestia was imprisoned in a piece of slime. Twilight gasped and Rarity pulled a horrified face. The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony stood side by side and began to use the power of the Elements. When the magic hit Chrysalis, she made a shriek. They stopped using the Elements once she stopped and saw that she was still there. She didn't even look the slightest bit effected.

"You think you can defeat me with your precious Elements of Harmony?" she laughed. "Think again. I have so much power! It's going to take a lot more than that to defeat me!"

Her magic reached out to Cindy and tried to control her. Although Cindy was immune, she decided it would be fun to act like as if it worked. She walked slowly over to Chrysalis, trying her best to look as if the spell had worked. She stopped by her side and turned around, looking at Fluttershy with a wicked expression on her face. Chrysalis laughed, and turned around the look out the window. Cindy quietly crept towards Fluttershy and her friends. Looking up at her, she freed Celestia, using a spell she learned from a book in the Canterlot library. Cindy winked at her friends, and they knew then that she was only messing around with Chrysalis.

"You must try to defeat her with the Elements," Celestia whispered to Cindy. "You are very strong, and you might just be able to
defeat her!"
Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack stood side by side, focusing on Chrysalis. When she turned around, Cindy turned into bird form and flew over them. She felt bigger than before. Chrysalis eyed Cindy. She looked just like a phoenix now, only without the yellow in her feathers.

The bearers of the Elements of Harmony all started floating. A rainbow linked them together. Then the rainbow linked to Cindy. Cindy's feathers started to become hotter, until she totally caught fire. Cindy didn't notice she was on fire, she just felt like as if she just ate a lot of sugar and was full of energy.

The rainbow hit Chrysalis, followed by a strange wave of red magic. Chrysalis screamed, and this time it was a real scream. The rainbow spread to the rest of the changelings. After the Elements finished, the changelings were no where to be seen. The flames on Cindy's feathers vanished and she automatically turned back into her filly form beside Fluttershy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, there was a celebration held for Cindy and her friends. After a little speech, Celestia pulled a curtain and there was a new glass window. On it was the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony and Cindy in bird form in flames. Over them, was Queen Chrysalis and three changelings.

After the celebration, Rarity made Cindy a lovely new dress. Fluttershy gave her a daisy necklase and Rarity found a way to dye it. They left, but before they did, Fluttershy told her that she'll visit her as soon as she can, and she told her not to forget her because they could always write to each other. Cindy gave her a hug before she left and watched them go back to Ponyville. At least she could go to Canterlot's Magic School for the Gifted.

She spent ages waiting for the day Fluttershy returned. She was thinking about getting bullied at her old school. If she ever went back, she'd probably be bullied again. It was only until later that day when she was having a bath that she noticed that Diamond Tiara couldn't bully her anymore. Because she had a cutie mark. It was a fiery phoenix.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading The Secret of Cinder! There'll be a second book, so if you liked it there'll be more for you to read shortly. There will be more characters that aren't created by Hasbro in it and it'll be like a diary. (A gift from Celestia :trollestia: )