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The Creation of the Phoenix

The phoenix is a thought to be immortal mythical bird of fire. It possesses the ability to ignite its wings while flying in order to spread light or strike fear into opposition. When it comes time for it to die, it turns to ash and a new phoenix rises from the ashes. Its tears and feathers are said to have magical qualities. Though its origins can be found in a few rare myths, phoenixes are around in present day Equestria.

—Excerpt from An Ornithologist’s Guide to Modern Equestria

“Princess Twilight Sparkle. I’ve been looking everywhere in here for you!” the old librarian said as she trotted around the corner, a thick and ancient book levitating in her magical grip.

“Mrs. Dewey! I didn’t know you still worked here!” Twilight grinned as she walked over to meet the pony who had seen her often as a filly. “Just like old times then. What book has made you so excited?”

“This book was just released from the Restricted Ancient History section.”

Twilight levitated the book over to her and looked at the spine. “Myths from the Creation of Equestria and Beyond. This should be under children’s, not history…”

“Well, when I say released, it was more so taken out of the section by the Princess herself and given to me to deliver to you when you next came in here. I would expect that she left you some sort of letter inside. She seemed to be in a rush. I’ll be at the front desk if you need me.” The gray librarian turned around and headed back to the front of the Royal Canterlot Library leaving Twilight mystified.

“Why wouldn't the Princess just give this to me herself?” Twilight mused, before opening the age-old cover. A page of royal stationary lay inside with Princess Celestia’s writing on it.

My faithful Princess, Twilight Sparkle,

While you are no longer a direct student of mine, you might benefit from a few stories that I think will help you in your future studies. As this book was already falling apart, I took the liberty of arranging the myths in the order that I believe will best suit this purpose. And, if I might add, none of the myths are completely false.

Princess Celestia

“Well that’s interesting. I wonder what the first myth is.” Twilight put the letter aside and went to flip the title page before the name of the author caught her eye.

“Starswirl the Bearded,” she whispered, her voice filled with wonder and awe. “This book was written by Starswirl the Bearded. I immediately take back anything I said about this being a children’s book. He would never write something like that.” Her eyes drifted to the footnote beneath her idol's name. “Written with the assistance of the Celestial Sisters. No wonder Celestia said that every myth had at least a grain of truth.” With that declaration, she flipped the page to see what the first myth was.

The Creation of the Phoenix headed the top of the ancient paper. Words written in smooth calligraphy filled the pages, still as sharp as the day that they had first been penned.

“Well here goes nothing,” Twilight said and began reading.

* * *

After the reign of Discord, little beauty remained intact. No flowers bloomed, no birdsong filled the air. The Celestial sisters ruled, but it only over very little, as very little had been left by the scourge of harmony. Ponies grieved for what was lost after years upon years of chaos. The sun and moon rose, but they were the only celestial bodies to do so. The stars had vanished during the reign of chaos. When the moon was full, the land below was filled with light, but it all fell into shadow as the moon’s light waned. Torches had to be lit to illuminate the night. But sources of fire were running out. The knowledge of how to create steel had been lost to chaos, as had many of the unicorn’s magical abilities, and few other ways to create light were available. Ponies came pleading to their queen of light to fix this, make the moon full and provide them with fire. But Celestia had a greater idea.

She flew to the sun and captured the essence of flame and brought it back to Equestria. But it was a wild thing and could not be contained except by the most powerful of magics. However, the goddess of the Sun was not done yet. She breathed life into the fire and shaped it, created a new kind of animal: the phoenix. A bird that lived to create light and to be reborn each night from the ashes of the previous fire. It died every morning with the sunrise, only to go through rebirth and light the night once more, even if the moon was full.

The phoenixes lit the land with care and provided a glow for work and fun to be continued, even in the darkest of nights. Some powerful magicians even kept phoenixes. But there was still as much that was not known about the birds as what was known.

After the rebirth of magic, their flame was no longer needed. And so the celestial sisters lengthened the lifespan of the birds to many years so that the phoenix, which could only be reborn one thousand times before losing its fire, could fill the land with beauty and light even during the day.

And so, another legend was born: The legend of the Solar Princess and her journey to the sun to bring light in the darkness.

Footnote: In rare cases, the phoenix has been known to give up its life so that others may live. However, this has only happened twice throughout Equestria’s history and even that is still a source of great speculation. For further reading on this myth, refer to the section entitled The Rise of the Celestial Sisters.

Author's Note:

How many myths will there be? I dunno. I'm open to suggestions. Will there continue to be myths interspersed with Twilight's reading and her actions and whatnot? Definitely.

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