//------------------------------// // A Little Phoenix Takes Flight // Story: Peewee's Big Adventure // by AbstractThought //------------------------------// Peewee’s Big Adventure by Abstract Thought In a forest far from any pony settlements, yet uncomfortably close to dragon settlements, there lived a family of phoenixes. This family of phoenixes wasn’t particularly special, except that one of its members was a young fledgling who, as an egg, had been saved and raised by a sadly rare nice dragon, at least before being returned to his own kind. His name…was Peewee. Well, at least that was the name he preferred to go by. Peewee wasn’t the name his parents had wanted for him–they originally planned to name him Pietro–but he refused to go by any other name than the one given to him by his dragon caretaker. His father had argued that Peewee, while cute as a kid’s name, was an ill-fitting moniker for a full-grown phoenix. Peewee, in his simple wisdom, had simply replied, “Who says I’m ever gonna be a full-grown phoenix?” Thus, the name stayed. At first, Peewee had been happy with his new family. Finally, he wasn’t the only phoenix in the world! Now he had parents who could teach him all about phoenix stuff and siblings who he could play with and get into childish arguments with! But as time went on, his cheer gradually deflated like a party balloon left abandoned on the floor. His thoughts kept drifting back to Spike, the dragon who had adopted him in his time of separation and taught him everything he new about being a pony…which turned out to be pretty useless as soon as it was revealed that he was not, in fact, a pony. In short, he was homesick. But wasn’t he technically home now, with his real family? Or was Spike his real family? How could he work out such a conundrum? He wasn’t even old enough to worry about puberty! He at first tried to bury his confusing feelings and keep a smile on his beak, but that didn’t work out for too long as all the constant smiling hurt his face. He then tried sleeping a lot so he wouldn’t have to think, but he just kept dreaming about Spike and the fun times he had with him. Why did his brain hate him so much? And so it came to be that one colorful, sunset-drenched evening, Peewee came to a decision. “Dad, I have to talk to you about something,” Peewee said to his father. The young phoenix had no idea what his father’s real name was, since he only responded to “Father” or “Dad”, even by his own mate. Peewee found that rather strange, since his mother had no problems being addressed by her real name, Penelope. Maybe it was a dad thing? Oh well, he had bigger things to worry about. “Yes, my son?” he asked in a deep and regal voice that he had clearly spent a lot of time practicing. “Well…” Peewee paused and whistled softly, something he often did when he was nervous. He couldn’t really explain it, but he always felt calmer when there was music, especially when it was his own. Maybe it was a bird thing? “That’s a nice melody, son,” Father complimented. He should know; he spent a lot of time practicing his whistling too. “Uh, thanks!” Peewee definitely felt warmer and more comfortable from that compliment. Or maybe it was the setting sun? Either way, he was ready to continue. “So anyway, I’ve been thinking, and…you know I love you, right?” “Of course, son,” Father assured him, draping a gentle wing over the young phoenix. “Your love is truly a gift. I don’t know what I would do without it. After all,” he continued, his voice rising dramatically, “what is a family without love? What, indeed, is society without love? To live without love is a life I don’t wish upon anybirdy, and I will make sure that you never have to live without–” “I wanna go back to Spike!” Peewee blurted out with all the tact of a pony kicking a dragon in the face. Father flinched as though a pony had kicked him in the face. A really small pony, of course, but still. “Wow, that’s…quite an announcement, son,” he said after a breathless silence. “Especially since you interrupted me in the middle of a speech to make it. That was uncalled for, son.” “Sorry, Dad,” Peewee replied meekly. “Son, please tell me,” Father beseeched as he looked his flesh and blood in his cute little eyes. “Have I been a bad father? Have I not given you enough love? Have I failed to provide you with the necessary worms and berries to satisfy your palate? Because I can always give you more! Your siblings are big enough to get their own food and hug themselves, anyway!” “No, Dad, of course not!” Peewee reassured quickly as he waved his wings frantically in front of him. “Then what is it?” Father pressed. “Is it your siblings? Has Priscilla been making fun of your tail feathers again? Is Percival still trying to give you purple nurples? Do I need to talk to him again about why that’s not possible? Please, whatever is troubling you, I can fix it! It’s my duty as your father!” By this point, his face was uncomfortably close to Peewee’s, prompting the tyke to scooch back a bit. “It’s nothing like that, trust me!” Peewee said, his insides all aflutter with nervousness like a pony he couldn’t remember the name of. “It’s just…Spike was the first guy I saw when I was born, and even though he wasn’t a phoenix or a grown-up, he was so nice to me!” A smile came to his face as fond memories of his former caretaker came to him. “I felt like we had so much in common! He taught me all sorts of cool things, like how to breathe fire, and how to play my belly like a bongo, and even how to smell my feet! I used to snuggle with him every night when we went to sleep, at least until no-fun Twilight told me it was “bad for my development” or something. Pfft, like she would know!” He blew a raspberry at the distant pony, then, with a wistful sigh, continued, “Don’t get me wrong, Dad; I’m really happy I could be with my real family, but, well…I just felt something with Spike, like some kind of life connection or something. I don’t know how to explain it. I just…need him, and I think he needs me.” Father went silent and stared off into the distance for a while, long enough for Peewee’s left foot to fall asleep. “I see,” he finally said. “If you truly miss him…I suppose I can’t stop you from returning to him.” Peewee blinked in surprise. “You can’t?” “Well, I could always physically restrain you and watch you constantly,” Father replied thoughtfully, “but eventually I would become exhausted from the constant surveillance, allowing you to escape while my guard was down. I could always track you down upon regaining my energy, but then our lives would become a constant game of cat and mouse, eventually destroying the bonds between us and tearing our family apart. Therefore, it is in everybirdy’s best interest if I let you make your own decision on the matter.” “Uh…” Peewee stared blankly at his father, still trying to wrap his mind around what he had just said. Sometimes Father could be downright disturbing in his matter-of-fact explanations, like when Peewee had asked where babies come from and Father had told him every intimate, soul-crushing detail of how he was born. And then there was the time that Peewee had nearly broken his wing in a flying accident, and Father, in hopes of easing his pain, had told him about the time he had broken all his bones as a kid and described in immaculate detail about the excruciating pain he had felt, at least until he learned how to turn into ash and become reborn good as new. For some reason, Peewee hadn’t slept well that night. “So…does this mean you’ll take me back to Spike?” he asked hopefully. “No, my son,” Father answered solemnly. “You must go on this journey alone.” Peewee felt his lower beak drop and hit the branch he was perched on. “WHAT?!” Father gave a low chuckle at his son’s reaction. “I must say, you’re taking this better than I expected.” “You really expect me to get back to Spike all by myself?!” Peewee protested. “I’m just a kid! I’ve never flown farther than the top of that mountain with water-flavored ice cream on it, and that was only cause Paulie and Phaedra were there to help me!” “That may be true, son,” Father replied, “but part of the purpose of this journey is showing how much you’ve grown. You’re not the same little chick that tried to eat my beak when we first met.” “I’m not?!” Peewee gasped. “Have I been replaced by a changeling?! Are there even changeling birds?! Are they all out to get me?!” Panicked thoughts ran through Peewee’s mind like rabbits who were all late for some sort of rabbit party, at least until Father calmly rested a wing on Peewee’s head. “Calm down, son, that’s not what I meant,” Father explained with greater patience than most birds have for their chicks. “What I mean to say is that you’re growing up. It won’t be long before you’re capable of being independent and starting a family of your own. That is why you must journey alone, as a test of your growth and strength. Also, if I supervised you throughout your journey, your mother would have to watch all five of your siblings by herself. Do you really wish to subject her to that?” “Uh, I guess not,” Peewee muttered. “Then it’s settled!” Father said with an air of decisiveness (and just a hint of smugness). “We shall prepare for your journey! Now come along, Peewee! We shall prepare a splendorous farewell feast for your departure!” With that, he flew off to the nest where the family dwelled. “Wow, what kind of feast?” Peewee asked excitedly as he flew behind him. “Well, just the usual worms and berries,” Father admitted. “But they’ll be significant worms and berries!” “Oh, boy! That sounds delicious!” Peewee chirped, as birds tend to do. “Indeed, my son,” Father replied. And they were delicious. Of course, worms and berries were always delicious, but that’s beside the point. Peewee’s stomach felt more at ease after only a couple of those delectable treats. Sadly, that was all he got to eat before the stomach-churning topic was brought up again. “So, Peewee, dear,” his mother asked him as he was on his second worm. “You said you had something to tell us?” Peewee gulped nervously. “Uh…look what I can do!” Thinking fast, he grabbed the nearest berry and balanced it on top of his beak like a seal, if seals had beaks and berries were the size of beach balls. “Pfft, that’s nothing,” his brother Paulie scoffed. “Check this out!” He grabbed a blue bouncy ball he had next to him and balanced it on his beak like Peewee was doing, only better. “Hey, where’d you get that thing?” Percival asked through a mouth full of chewed up berry paste. “Found it,” Paulie said simply, accidentally unbalancing his ball and making it roll over the top of his head and off the nest. “Oh, bird droppings!” Their mother gasped. “Paulie!” she scolded. “Watch your tongue!” “How am I supposed to do that?” he countered. “My beak’s in the way.” He stuck out his tongue to demonstrate. “Thee?” “I’m pretty sure Mom meant that she wants you to not use any more expletives,” Peabody explained. After a short pause, he turned to his mother and added, “That is what you meant, right?” “Yes, Peabody, that is what I meant,” she confirmed with the serene smile of a mother who’s done this a hundred times before. “Mm-hmm, I thought so!” Peabody said with the haughty pose of a know-it-all who’s been proven right at least 95% of the time, give or take 1.5%. Father cleared his throat as loudly yet majestically as a phoenix could, which was…well, it had to be heard to be believed. “As fascinating as this all is, I believe Peewee still has an announcement to make.” He turned to the young fledgling, who was still concentrating on balancing his berry like his life depended on it, and, with a brilliant flash of motion, snatched the berry off his son’s beak and gulped it down. “That’s enough of that nice trick, son. Now why don’t you tell your family your big news?” After a stunned stare at his father for that trick that made his trick look like the old “wave a twig really fast to look like you’re bending it with magic” trick, he cleared his throat in a not-nearly-as-majestic way and began, “Uh, I…” “Ooh! I know! You’re going to lay an egg!” Phaedra burst out with an excited squeal. “Male phoenixes can’t lay eggs, Phae,” Peabody said. A pause, then a turn to his father, for a change. “They can’t, right?” “No, they can’t,” Father affirmed. “Oh, thank goodness!” Peabody sighed in relief. “Uh, no, my news has nothing to do with eggs,” Peewee said. “At least I don’t think it does. Maybe I’ll find an egg or something?” He felt a subtle nudge from his father jolt him back to the main topic. “Oh! Anyway, uh…” He gulped down the last of his nervousness (which tasted remarkably similar to rotten lemons) and forced out, “I’ve decided to leave the nest.” There was a stunned silence at that announcement, which was broken by Percival cheering, “Yes! More food for me!” When he noticed all the others glaring at him, he forced his expression into one of gloom and added, “Uh, I mean, oh no, Peewee’s leaving!” “I think you’ve had quite enough food for today, young fowl,” his mother scolded. “Go to the time-out hollow, and don’t come out until I say so.” “But Mom–“ “Now!” she snapped, flashing brilliantly to show she meant business. With a sigh and a grumble, Percival flew over to a nearby tree hollow that the parents used whenever they wanted to punish somebirdy. In the hollow lived a squirrel that loved getting visitors and would always tell those who stopped by stories about his life, most of them nut-related. Without fail, his stories were dry, long-winded, and just plain boring, guaranteeing that no one would ever want to visit him again by choice. Before she became a mother, Penelope had had the misfortune of visiting him and being subjected to his dreadful storytelling, and she was only able to get away from him by claiming she had to go save the world, an excuse that would buy her at least 22 minutes. Once she started having chicks, she got the idea to use what she had gone through as a deterrent from misbehavior, and it turned out to be quite effective. Of course, the squirrel had no idea that he was being used as a method of punishment; he just thought he was really popular with kids. The only one who actually liked any of his stories was Peewee, though that was mainly due to his being used to dry and long-winded stories, thanks to Twilight. Turning back to Peewee, his mother asked, “Peewee, dear, why would you want to leave so soon? You’re still a growing chick! It’s only been a month since I’ve had to stop chewing your worms before you could eat them!” “Mom!” Peewee griped, his face developing a blush that was somehow visible despite the feathers covering his skin. “Ha-ha, what a baby beak!” Priscilla said while pointing and laughing, something she’d perfected through constant practice. “I’d think twice about making fun of your brother like that, Priscilla,” her mother warned her with a disconcerting smile. “Unless you’d like me to bring up what happened when you tried to use poison ivy as head decorations?” Priscilla’s eyes widened, then she sat down and crossed her wings with a huff. “You’re no fun.” Her mother simply giggled at that reaction. Don’t mess with the mom. “Anyway,” Peewee cut in, “I know I’m young, but I feel the need to spread my wings and make something of myself out there! You know, something that looks just like me but is better in every way! Isn’t that what we all want? To go on incredibly long journeys so that you can find yourself or some other weird saying?” He decided not to mention the part about him wanting to ditch his family because he preferred being raised by a baby dragon. It was tough enough having to explain that to his old man; he really didn’t want to have to relive the drama with the rest of the nest as well. “What exactly can you find out there that you can’t find here?” Phaedra asked. “All sorts of things!” Peewee said, his wings flapping excitedly as he recalled the wonders of his old environment. “There’s these things called books that can tell stories with these weird scratches on them called writing, and there are these things called video games that can create pictures that change when you hit these things called buttons, and then there’s the pink dessert pony! Mmm! She makes the best things ever, like cookies and cakes and cookies and donuts and cookies and brownies and…mmm, cookies…” His eyes glazed over like donuts as sugar clouded his vision and fogged up his brain. Another silence settled in like a friend who comes by for a “little” visit and can never be convinced to leave, until he was forcefully shoved outside by Paulie’s innocent voice. “Has Peewee gone crazy, Dad?” “Yes he has, my son,” Father answered with immeasurable wisdom, “and that’s why I think it’s a good idea for him to go on this journey. He needs to see the world for what it is before he can truly grow. I mean, look how small he is compared to the rest of us; he has yet to have the experiences we’ve had.” “Like laying eggs?” Phaedra suggested. “Will you stop it with the eggs already?!” Priscilla and Peabody snapped at the same time. They went silent and stared at each other when they realized what had happened. “Wow, that was spooky,” Priscilla said. “I don’t even want to think about the odds of that happening,” Peabody added. “As I was saying,” Father continued in hopes of bringing dignity back to the scene, “it is of utmost importance that Peewee goes on this journey. He has an adventure to experience–a big adventure of Peewee’s one might say–and we must be supportive of him if he is to reach his full potential.” He turned his proud gaze to Peewee and said warmly, “Now, son, let us have one last family hug, to give you the morale-boosting strength that only love can provide.” Peewee didn’t answer; he was still in an imaginary sugar-induced stupor from all the memories of cookies he had eaten. “Son?” Father nudged him gently with his wing. No response. Losing patience, Father took a deep breath, lowered his head to Peewee’s level…and blew an epic raspberry right into Peewee’s earhole. “CAW!” Peewee crowed like a raven attacked by a rabid desk and leapt up into the air like a jackrabbit that lost his jack. Unfortunately, he forgot to flap his wings and ended up landing on top of his father, causing them both to flop hard onto the nest. Peewee quickly shook his head like an overused metaphor and was brought back to his senses. “Hey guys, what’d I miss?” he asked innocently. “Group hug time!” Phaedra cheered. “Yay!” Peewee dashed over to Phaedra and gave her a hug tackle, his favorite method of hugging, and the other siblings (except Percival, cause he was still in timeout) and his mother joined in the hug. It was the best bird hug Peewee had ever had. He could feel the love coursing through his body, giving him the strength he’d need to conquer the universe. Or to return home to Spike. Whichever. “Bye, Peewee!” Paulie cried. “I’ll miss you soooooo much!” Phaedra added. “Be sure to visit and tell us what you learned over there!” Peabody chimed in. “You better not mess up your tail feathers!” Priscilla demanded, doing her best to wipe away the tears building up without anyone seeing (and failing). Peewee laughed in loving merriment. “Aw, you guys are the best!” He then turned and noticed that his father was still lying on the floor of the nest. “Is he going to be okay?” he asked, feeling guilty. “He’ll be just fine, dear,” his mother assured him. “He’s taken plenty of knocks to the head since I’ve known him. No need to worry about your father…” She then pulled Peewee closer and whispered slyly, “Or should I say Peckin’ Pa?” Peewee stared at her. “Wha?” “Better get going, dear!” she said out loud. “Don’t want to miss any adventure now, do you?” “Oh, right!” Peewee took to the air and said with a farewell wave, “Bye, everybirdy! I’ll be sure to visit you someday!” With that, he took off toward the great unknown, with nothing but the feathers on his back and a couple of spare berries in his pockets. …What? You didn’t know all animals had pockets? Clearly you fell asleep during biology class, you naughty foal. And thus began Peewee’s great journey to Ponyville, the humble town where he had resided with Spike before his return to the nest. The energetic phoenix had set his doubts aside and was focused only on completing his journey and reuniting with his beloved godfather, a reunion that would set right all that was wrong with the world! …At least until Peewee fell asleep in mid-flight after only a few minutes, because he had forgotten that it was late and past his bedtime. End of Part 1