Raising Fire

Princess Sparkle closed her eyes and breathed in the light morning air, the sun rose magesticly into the sky and seemed to add the finishing touch to the scene before her.

The princess was standing at one of the many open windows lining the circular room at the top of the highest tower in Canterlot Castle.

It really was a beatiful room, the stone lining it was white but the sun streaming in through the windows lit it a orangey glowing cream colour. The roof had inticate designes of pegasuis unicorn and earth ponies bowing down to a huge circle in the middle of the cieling, with an image of the sun goddess and her sister survaying their subjects, an blank stare on their inked faces.

Twilight spread her wings, the morning breeze ruffling her purple feathers. She might have just flew out the window if she hadn't heard a noise behind her.

"Princess Sparkle...." She turned, her surpirse vanishing as she remembered why she was up in the tower in the first place."

"Pheonix, welcome. Are you ready to begin our first lesson?" The colt stared up at her with eyes the colour of glowing embers.

Pheonix's fur was charcole grey, but his mane was edmittedly the most extodinarily coloured one she'd ever seen.

It was a red orange with flecks of gold in it. It didn't have two or even three defined colours like most ponies, each hair was a different  shande of red or orange, it reminded her alarmingly of fire.

"Yes princess Sparkle," When he spoke his head and his mane moved, it really did look like fire, flickering and tossing, it was fasinating to watch.

Twilights hourn glowed and out of no where in front of her student appeared two spheres. One was solid gold, the othre solid silver, they were about the size of ping pong balls.

The princess trotted nobly towards him, lowering her magestic head to his height. "I want you to levitate them for me." She could feel the colt smile. His hourn glowed the same ember red as his eyes and the gold and silver ords lifted into he air with ease.

Pheonix smiled, this easy? wow, his parents were over recating about these lessons. Just to prove to the princess this was too easy for him, or to impress her, or because he was bored, he made the two ords rase each other round the circular room. The princess raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything until the spheres came to a stop in front of them.

"Pheonix, did I ask you to do that?" He had gotten this stuff from teachers a hundred times, and would have gotten it alot more if it wasn't for his considerable charm. But it was different coming from a princess, maybe it hadn't been one of his better ideas to mess around in her private lessons. Not that he would let her know that.

"No princess, but you see, I was bored." It came out before he could stop it. Oh hell, oh hell, oh hell, oh hell.

"Bored Pheonix? Well, we shall continue with the exersize and see if it entertains you." She stared at him coldly as he turned back to the ords floating before him. He had avoided prison, that was a relife, he just had to use all of his self control and not buck this up.

"What shall I do now princess?" He asked, trying to sound as inncent as possible.

"Just hold them there, Pheonix." Her own horn glowed and the orbs enlarged slightly, to about the size of a tennis ball.

It was slightly harder to hold up, but a hardly noticble difference. The Princess's purple aura again burst into light, makking to two ords every so slightly larger and harder to support.

This continued until they were the size of a football. Baring in mid they were both solid heavy metals, the young colt was straining to support them.

His hooves spread on the stone floor, his head down and a bead of sweat trickling down his face.

The princess, watching him carefully, expanded them even more. His magic gave out and he fell over panting on the cold floor. She caught the two spheres before they could dent the floor and getly lowered them to the ground.

Standing next to pheonix she lay down next to him.

"That was to show you that you still have much to learn, and you should listen and respect me as your princess and your teacher." Pheonix gazed up at her, his puppy eyes coming out just when he needed them.

"I'm sorry Princess Sparkle." The monarc smiled, puppy eyes clearly wouldn't work on her but she seemed amsued, was that a good thing?

"We shall resume your lesson, then you may rest." She stood up and wlked over to the basket ball sized gold and silver orbs.

She levitated the gold one to the top of the room, where it glowed for a while and then burst into flame. It was a moment before he realised it was a miniature version of the sun.

Her aura disappeared and the ball of flame still hung there, mirroring the real sun's position in the sky.

He watched it for a minite and opene his mouth to ask a question.

"It gives off no heat, and is only alight when its elder," She nodded outside "Is masked by cloud and the ponies in here needs light to work. At night its sister will appear so that this room is never without a gardian, like the world you see before you."

He colsed his mouth and nodded.

"Now, we shall continue your lesson."

--Three hours later--

The sun hung low in the sky, preparing itsef to make the journey over the horrison to make way for its sister.

Pheonix Sparks was laying next to Princess Sparkle, still panting from the exausting practises that she had planned for him, he had extrodinary magical ability but had never had had it tested to this extent. It was almost as exausing as having to be amazingly awesome 24/7.

He watched the sun in the room, it was lowering as well, hovering a few feet from the floor.

He looked up at the painting on the cieling, examining it closer.

There were unciorns earth ponies and pegasuis bowing to a circle in the middle of the cieling. Squinting he saw it was a large white alicorn and a midnight blue one. They stood twice as tall as their subjects, survaying them regally.

Celestia and Luna he thought, thinking back to his days in the academy where he had nothing better to do than pour through half the books in the mythology section.

Mythology, they were myths. There were painting of them here and there in the castle and a statue in Canterlot but ot many ponies believed they ever existed at all.

He had been relively well behaved during the remainder of the lesson, but he hoped he wasn't streching his luck.

"Princess, were princesses Celestia and Luna real?"

Twilight turned around and looked at him with a sad smile.

"Yes Pheonix, they were."

"Oh." Was all he could manage before coming up with another question.

"Did- did you know them, Princess?"

Twilight smiled sadly at him again, he stared back at her curiosly.

"I more than knew them. Celestia was my mentor and Luna was my friend. I became Celestia's student when I was a little younger than you. Celestia raised the sun each morning and raised it in the evening and Luna did the same with the moon. They ruled over Equestria in peace and harmony." She glanced spitfully at the painting on the cieling. "They never made ponies worship them like that."

Pheonix digested the information, expecting the princess to say no more on the matter and dissmiss him, but she went on.

"I assume you are familiar with the holiday tradition of nightmare night?" She asked, turning yet again away from the now setting sun. Pheonix nodded, confused  by she was bringing this up.

"Do you know why you celebrate it?" He frowned. "Isn't it somthing to do with pleasing a god? It used to be conpulsery to surrendor candy to the god, but nopony does that anymore."

The princess nodded, pleased by his answer.

"You are half right, Luna thought that ponies weren't paying enough attension to the night so she turned to the darkness and became 'Nightmare Moon'. She rose up against Celestia, who was forced to banish her own sister to the moon for a thousend years." Pheonix was enthralled. He hadn't heard this myth before, and Twilight knew it actuly happened! He sounded like a geek, but..there was somthing about fresh information that motivated and fasinated him. It was even possible that nopony knew for certain if Celestia and Luna ever existed at all exept the princess and now himself.

"Did she ever get out?"

"Yes, and she would have likely distoried Equestria if I hadn't found the elements of harmony and converted her with the powers of friendship." She said this whilst looking out the window, and he couldn't help notice she was blushing slightly.

The powers of friendship? It sounded like it came from a foals story book, but he had heard of the elements of harmony, and from what he had read, he thought that there were six of them and each needed to be held by indvigual ponies. But the princess was very powerful, and she could easily control all of them. But she wasn't that powerful then, right? that was about two and a half thousend years ago and she would still be mortal because she was crowned two and a half thousend years ago, any book will tell you that.

"You harnessed the elements of harmony all by yourself?"

"Well, no I had help."

"Who helped you?"

"My..my friends."

Ha! answer! But she was definitly blushing now, it was clearly a painful topic.

"I'm sorry if I offended you princess." Again, puppy dog eyes came out right when he needed them.

Twilight turned around, smiling magesticly.

"Why would you offend me, my student? You have worked hard today, I dissmiss you. The guards know who you are, they will let you pass. Goodnight Pheonix Sparks. I shall see you tomorrow."

Pheonix left feeling confused but excited, he actuly wanted to go to her lesson the next day, he had never wanted to go to school, dispite his amazing gardes.

As soon as Pheonix was out of the room, Twilight ran at the window and jumped through it.

She let herself fall, once again considering and disgarding the possibility of suicide as she caught herself with her wings and flew agrass the gardens, her gold slippered hooves skimming the lush green grass.

Whenever anypony asked, she told them she had harnessed and used the elements, but that was the first time she emmitted to anypony that she had had help.

Circling around like a bird of prey, she turned and flew in the direction of the throne room, ready to smile and act calm and magestic to whoever Sunset had arranged for her to meet with.