Somewhere on ancient Earth, the Firebird gazed down at the dwindling destruction. Lava flows were ceasing as the Earth began cooling. He knew he would need to go into hibernation soon, but decided to take one final look at the fires.
Just as he was about to go back into hibernation, he sensed something, something not from his world. Ever since the mysterious entity known only as the Raven Force had created him and his kind, they were told that if they sensed a magical SOS, they were to respond immediately. Firebird had been waiting a few months to go into hibernation, a few minutes couldn't kill him.
With his Raven Power, he teleported away, unsure how long he would be gone. Little did he know this moment would change him forever.
Elsewhere, we see Celestia looking at the moon before she lowers it. As she stared at the pony shape on it, tears fell down her cheeks, remembering the conflict between her and Luna all those years ago. It didn't help the fact that in a few years from now, the spell would break, and nothing would be able to stop Nightmare Moon this time. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a male voice coming from behind her.
"Excuse me," said the voice.
Startled, Celestia jumped as a she turned around. Standing before her was a tall, handsome looking stallion. He had a deep red color, his name and tail were slicked back to look like bird feathers and were a bright orange color, his eyes a fiery yellow. His Cutie Mark looked like a phoenix rising out of a volcano, and he just seemed to radiate heat.
"Are you alright ma'am?" the stallion asked.
"Y-yes," she replied, wiping her tears away.
"You just wiped tears out of your eyes, you stuttered, you're lying to me," the stallion pointed out.
"I am not," Celestia replied.
"Ma'am, I am a nature spirit, and we're naturally good at telling when some creature is lying," the stallion countered.
"A N-nature s-s-spirit?!" Celestia asked in shock.
"Do you not have those here?" the stallion asked.
"No, it's just that, here nature spirits and other types of spirits are considered higher beings than mortals, second only to the gods and goddesses," Celestia explained.
"Funny, that's how it is in my universe," the stallion replied with a raised eyebrow. "Speaking of which, that is part of the reason I am here."
"And why is that reason?" Celestia asked.
"My world, in my universe, was created by a very powerful being, known only as the Raven Force," the stallion replied. "Where he comes from, or what he is exactly remains a mystery."
"Then what does he have to do with this?" Celestia asked.
"It's a ridiculous reason, as frankly, I don't really care, but he wants me and my fellow spirits to help others that we sense are downtrodden or whatever," the stallion replied truthfully, as he frankly didn't really care, he just wanted this over with.
"He must be very wise then," Celestia commented.
"Or very foolish," the stallion mumbled under his breath.
"So, why are you upset?" the stallion asked, pushing aside any dislike for his god.
"Well, it goes like this," Celestia began, as she proceeded to explain everything to the stallion.
She started from the very beginning, of how after they defeated Sombra, they turned their attention to their small village in Equestria, learning magic under their mentor, a powerful wizard by the name of Starswirl the Bearded. The stallion asked what a wizard was, much to the confusion of Celestia (remember, back on Earth, wizards, witches, etc. don't exist yet). She explained about them anyways, and continued with her story. She told him about how, after defeating Tirek the Evil Centaur who planned to steal all the magic the ponies had, they had been crowned the princesses of Equestria. She spoke of how they had fended off the Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, saving their kingdom, and restoring harmony.
"Everything was great, and then it wasn't," Celestia said sadly.
"What happened?" the stallion asked.
"My sister saw how much our subjects showed me their love and admiration for the daytime I bring, and how she received no love or admiration for the beautiful nights she brought," Celestia told him. "She began to grow jealous, but I ignored it. She came to me with her complaints, and I chose to ignore them."
"Let me guess, that didn't go so well?" the stallion guessed with a raised eyebrow.
"If anything, I just made it worse than it already was," Celestia replied grimly. "She came into contact with a powerful being known as Nightmare Moon. The two made some kind of deal, and Nightmare Moon possessed my sister. I refused to fight, and it nearly cost me my life. In the end, I was forced to use 6 of the most powerful items in our world: the Elements of Harmony. With them, I banished her to the moon, and bought us a thousand years, but the I spent all the magic in the Elements, and they reverted into stone versions of themselves, while the Element of Magic disappeared into another dimension entirely."
"How long ago did you banish her?" the stallion questioned.
"977 years ago," Celestia said sadly.
"So you have 23 years left before she returns," the stallion replied. "What can I do? To help, I mean."
"Unless you somehow have a way to restore the Elements, then I'm afraid not," Celestia replied.
"Well, I have to help somehow, my kind is going into hibernation for a long time in my world, and I really wanna go home," the stallion said in a grumpy tone.
"What do you mean by "your kind"?" Celestia asked, completely confused.
"The truth is, I am actually from another world, one that is currently being birthed and molded at the moment," the stallion replied. "I am a being born of Earth and fire. I am known as... The Firebird."
"It is an interesting name, but was the pause and dramatic pose necessary?" Celestia asked.
"I was trying to inspire awe..." the Firebird grunted in annoyance.
"Well, did you need to be dramatic about it?" Celestia asked.
"It's a nature spirit thing, you wouldn't understand," Firebird replied.
"Well, you don't see us higher beings like gods and goddesses being dramatic," Celestia deadpanned.
"I'm in the presence of a goddess?!" Firebird inquired fearfully, knowing that he hadn't exactly been courteous. He began bowing multiple times, repeating, "I'm sorry! I had no idea I was in the presence of a goddess, please forgive me!"
"Geez, you act as if I'm gonna obliterate you, or something," Celestia said, slightly embarrassed by the sight.
"But I disrespected you, should I not be punished?" Firebird asked, still apologizing, not even looking up.
"Yes, you did disrespect me, and while I am upset about it, I'm not going to do what you think I'm gonna do," Celestia assured.
"Then how should I make it up to you, my lady?" Firebird asked, standing up.
"Well, if you join me for dinner tonight, then I will explain it then," Celestia replied. "It'll be nice to have someone else over for dinner other than my distant relative, Amadeus."
"Let me guess, he's an asshole?" Firebird asked.
"Hmm... yeah, I guess you could call him that," Celestia replied, smiling in amusement.
"Alright then, what time?" Firebird asked, smiling right back.