For the first time in her life Rarity found herself flying. She soared over the overgrown bushes of the sanctuary; feeling for all the world as as if Princess Luna herself had strapped wings onto her back.
Then she fell. Heavily. Into a conspicuously large pile of mud.
Mentally cursing whatever poor luck had made her land precisely in that spot she quickly wiped the dirt from her muzzle, then turned to check on her saddle bag. She sighed in relief, the new weave was holding. Enough of her things had already gotten dirty today. If the princess's dress was ruined it would well and truly have become a fashion travesty.
A loud cry came from across the glade, quickly followed by a singed Stetson and an even more singed Applejack.
The bird was still hovering above the statues, poised to attack. Just below its talons the marble unicorn now had some rather blackened vines hanging over its face.
Carefully she deposited her saddlebag on the ground before looking back at the fiery bird now swooping down towards Rainbow Dash.
“Well then,” Rarity thought “I suppose I had better get back to the fight.”
“How dare they!? How dare these TRAITORS despoil my mistress’s garden!?”
Philomena flapped her wings, sending the blue one spinning through the air. The orange one once again tried foolishly to entangle her with vines. If she were a thousand years younger she would have laughed. Her mistress would have laughed too.
But this was not a thousand years ago. Now she was the only thing between these minions of the Betrayer and the last unspoiled piece of her Mistress’ legacy.
The pink one leaped up, attempting to catch her and drag her out of the sky as if she were some insensible chicken. Philomena moved an inch to the right. The pony missed. In a feat of Discordian proportions however it still managed to make a grab for one of her pinions.
In her haste to pull away Philomena caught a whiff of its scent. It stank of the Traitor. Just like the last one.
The yellow one still stood there, watching. She made no move attack. If Philomena had not known better she would have assumed there was no malice. But she did know better.
Even from her post she had seen them change. One by one they fell. Death or betrayal, it did not matter. In the end they all bowed to the False One. They had forgotten her Mistress and had turned from her light. Even now she had returned they sought to despoil her legacy.
Didn't they?
Philomena was aware a thousand years without her Mistress's wisdom had made her jaded.
She smelled again.
Beneath the scent of the traitor ash and smoke clung to their coats. And there was something else. Something she had felt all day.
Fear.
For no reason she could logically discern that emotion had permeated the forest ever since the Sun had not set. The first true day for a thousand years had been marred by darkness. Darkness that turned her wings to lead every time she thought to fly home to finally rest on her Mistress's shoulder.
The same darkness that had followed the first.
No pony had disturbed her for almost a millennia. So why today? What could these intruders possibly want if not to destroy even more of her Mistress's legacy?
The first offender rushed back towards her to continue the fight. Philomena glanced once more back towards the watching pegasus, then pushed the doubt aside.
She already knew her Mistress’ wishes.
No matter what Celestia's legacy would be protected.
She dived down to meet the challenge.
Fluttershy stood frozen as the furious bird above them screeched in anger before swooping down to attack Rarity.
Living fire danced along the bird's crimson wings, bright magic snapping and crackling until it overflowed, reaching toward the ground with burning fingers.
Quietly she watched the flame spark as it fell, hypnotised by the light. She still remember the flames from earlier, endlessly hungry to burn up everything in their path. They had barely gotten out alive. Any second now those flames would hit the ground and the ancient sanctuary would be consumed in the flames of its own protector. A cruel irony.
Flame met grass. Then winked out of existence.
Cautiously Fluttershy leaned closer, trying to get a better look. Nothing. The fire had disappeared. Not a since blade of grass had been so much as singed. That shoudn't have been possible. Unless...
Magic.
But Firebirds didn’t have magic. That was why they usually lived in the remote deserts of Saddle Arabia. Their flames were renowned for parching what little grass lay around. It couldn't be them.
So what was it?
Mentally she went over the possibilities. Most avian species had no magical ability at all. And even less had anything approaching elemental control. And none at all would have any reason to defend so viciously a garden abandoned far longer than they had been alive from a group of ponies simply passing through.
It made no sense. No bird lived that long.
In an instant her mind caught upon the answer. A phoenix. Regenerative qualities allowing them to live for thousands of years, highly attuned magical capabilities, a furious loyalty to those who earned their loyalty…
A crack of thunder stuck overhead.
Up in the sky Rainbow wrestled with a wild Everfree storm cloud. A blast of flame from the phoenix made her grip tight to avoid being thrown loose. A wild lightning bolt borke free from the cloud.
It arced down towards the pheonix. She moved to dodge but Fluttershy could already tell she couldn't do so in time.
Glancing up Fluttershy saw Rainbow wrestling with a wild Everfree storm cloud. A stray lightning bolt arced down towards the phoenix. The bird moved to dodge, but Fluttershy would already tell she would be a second too slow.
The lightning hit. In that brief moment of impact the glamour shimmered as the phoenix began to fall from the sky.
Beneath the magic she was skeletal. Even from a distance Fluttershy could tell she hadn;t eaten properly in days. Phoenixes were native to the dragonlands. This far from home she'd have to be scavenging far and wide to achieve the proper diet.
It was clear she hadn't. Her wings were matted from disuse, faded shades of grey with the odd crimson feather poking out at an odd angle. There were even gaps where it looked like she had tried to rip them out herself.
Even her talons looked cracked and worn.
She glanced back at the others. Slowly they were regrouping, circling the phoenix as she struggled to stand.
Both sides full of desperation.
“STOP!”
They froze. Mostly out of shock. Quickly Fluttershy trotted across the clearing, brushing past the others to scoop up the phoenix in her forelegs.
Rarity, ever composed, recovered first. “Fluttershy, what in Luna’s name..?”
“I think,” started Fluttershy quietly. “No, I know, this was, is, the Lost Princess’ garden.”
“But what does that have to do with anything?”
“She was protecting it from us.”
Rainbow Dash growled. “Nothing. Not only has that no good, vindictive foal of a manticore foalnapped Twilight, but now we have to deal with her evil pet Flamebird too!”
Philomena hissed angrily.
"It's not like that." Fluttershy corrected. "The Nightmare," Philomena's ears pricked, "has actually hurt her even more than she's hurt us."
“Great.” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Somepony else who’s been screwed over by Infernia.”
Applejack shook her head in confusion. “But they're the same pony. Aren't they? If she's been here all this time how could Infernia possibly have hurt her?"
“Because she’s not Infernia’s pet. She’s the Lost Princess’s”
"But they're the same pony!"
Fluttershy shook her head. "That's just it. I don't think they are. Remember what Princess Luna said? I think there's something wrong with her. Something the elements can fix."
She turned to look down at the phoenix. "And I think you know that, don't you?"
The phoenix gave a very slight nod.
"Fluttershy, it's a bird."
“No Rainbow. She's a phoenix. They're incredibly smart, and loyal. She wants what we do.”
Pinkie cocked her head in confusion. “Huh?”
“She wants to save her owner. We want to stop Infernia.”
She looked over at the phoenix. “Will you help us?”
Philomena looked at the yellow pegasus. She could see no lie in her eyes. Maybe the elements could help.
Flapping her wings to test them she managed to gently lift herself off the ground. In her minds eye she could already see where they needed to go.
She glanced back at the Mistress's supposed rescuers. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
She shook her head. That wouldn't do.
Now where had that other one galloped off to?
"You're sure it knows where it's going?"
"She. And yes she does."
"Much as I hate to say it I'm with Fluttershy. I don;t think we'd have found her tracks again if it hadn't been for that bird."
"I think I hear something."
"I don't know Pinkie. Looks kinda empty."
"No there's hoofprints see. One set only. The rest all go round in circles."
"Maybe you're right Pinkie."
"Do you think she managed to escape Applejack?"
"I don't think so Rares. Far as I can tell there's only one set of tracks. Hers."
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