//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Trickster Priest // by Fresnor //------------------------------// The two just stared at each other daring the other to blink first. It would be hard to tell from an outsiders perspective though as one set of eyes appeared to be out of focus and dull while the other didn't appear to be open at all. With a cough from the sickly looking phoenix, the two separated with Xellos turning to look at Celestia as she rode along in her chariot as he ignored the glares from the pegasus escort. “Do you really think that bringing her with you to Ponyville is a good idea? With some of the stories I've heard floating around your guard she can be rather mischievous, enough that I've heard a few are in therapy.” The princess just gave a patient smile as she looked over at the two. “Oh you worry too much, Xellos. This is just a simple visit to get to know Twilight's friends better and from what I remember Fluttershy is extremely shy. Philomena will be the perfect excuse to get her to open up and talk voluntarily. I see no way for her to get into any of her usual mischief in a town like Ponyville either.” Xellos just looked at her for a few moments more before turning his gaze back to the elderly phoenix. Eventually he just shakes his head before glancing over at the approaching town. “Well don't say I didn't warn you. At least I won't have to worry about being bored today with her on the loose.” Before any of the nearby ponies could blink he vanished from their view but not before a last whisper of words floated around to them. “I wonder if Pinkie has a tub of popcorn I could borrow.” The guards were slightly relieved at his disappearance after receiving orders contrary to what their reactions would have been to such a dangerous threat. At the same time the began to worry about what the monster had planned while they were away from the capital. ~~~~~~~ Xellos was actually disappointed by how little was going wrong with the party and he had barely touched his popcorn because of it. Sure the antics of Rarity and Pinkie were mildly entertaining but he was expecting a bit more with the mischievous phoenix around. He watched as the princess was drawn away from the building and was about to leave himself when his attention was drawn to the birdcage that was abandoned by the guard. “Well, well, well. I may have given up too soon on my expectations of seeing something interesting happen.” He watched as a familiar pink-maned pegasus snuck up on the cage and opened it without anyone noticing. After coaxing the bird out and onto her back she performed a feat of stealth that would have been something more expected of Pinkie Pie than the shy pegasus. His interest finally piqued, Xellos followed after the pair to see what was about to happen. What followed was a somewhat entertaining bit of interaction between the two, though it left the monster annoyed at the phoenix as the kind mare didn't deserve the treatment she was given by the molting trickster. When Twilight arrived, followed soon after by a pair of royal guards who didn't even bother to do much of a search as a precaution. Seeing an opportunity, Xellos decided to taunt them a bit just to liven things up some more. “I'm surprised to see you two out here. Weren't you both supposed to by guarded the princess' precious bird right now?” The two guard stallions froze in place before slowly turning to glare at the monster. Neither of the two said anything as they had been told to do nothing to provoke him so they soon faced forward again and went on their way. They did put on a bit more speed though at Xellos' parting words. “Well you had better hurry and get back to her. Who knows what punishments the princess will mete out if something were to happen to Philomena.” With a chuckle as the two rushed back towards town in a panic, Xellos turned back to see the door to the cabin open and the bird he was keeping an eye on take off running followed soon after by the two ponies. This was the start of an entertaining chase scene between the three around Ponyville while trying to avoid each other as well as the royal guard. “Those two really have no clue what they are dealing with do they? I would have thought that Twilight would have known something since she was being taught by sunbutt as well as the fact that her brother is a guard as well. Last I checked every guard has to deal with that pest as training for dealing with annoying nobles.” After watching the two, as well as a pair of guards, walk right by the bird hiding behind a newspaper he let out a sigh and shook his head. “This was amusing at first but now it's just sad. Maybe I should give Twilight a hint to remind her if she actually knows anything about her.” Floating down from his perch he waited for the purple unicorn to pass by him before stick out the bottom of his staff into her path and shifting back into the physical plane. With predictable results Twilight went flying and landed upside down in a hay cart with her vision directed towards the monster. With a groan she picked herself up and leveled a glare at him. “What was that for? Don't you have something better to do than to annoy me?” With a shake of her head Twilight looks around trying to spot her quarry. “I don't have time for this, I need to find Philomena before the princess finds out.” As she was about to rush off she ran face first into a barrier causing her to growl at Xellos. “How rude. And here I was just trying to help you with your little phoenix problem. Of course I would have thought you knew all about her what with you being around the princess so much. Even then I would have thought your brother would have said something since he would have had to have served guard duty for her at least once by now.” Twilight's glare turned to a look of confusion as his words hit her. How does he know about my brother? I never mentioned him to anypony since he arrived, though I probably should make a note to do so. And what does he mean that I should know about Philomena from him? I don't remember Shiny ever talking about a... phoenix... The unicorn's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as she remembered something she had overheard her brother telling her foal-sitter. <><><><><><><> The door to the Twilight household slammed open as the elder son returned from a rough day at the castle drawing the attention of his younger sibling away from her book. “I can't believe that the Princess has us guarding that blasted bird all day and tells us to keep her in her cage while not allowing us to lock her in or anything. We spent all day chasing her around the castle just to lose her in the kitchen fireplace. We thought that she burned to ashes in there but when we got back to her room we found her smugly sitting inside of her cage.” The stallion threw himself onto the couch next to his sibling's foal-sitter who proceeded to run a hoof through his mane. “It wasn't until afterwards that the princess told us that Philomena is nearly impossible to kill and it would take dark magic to do so. The only time it is easy is during something the princess called her period of rebirth, whatever that means. When that time comes around the princess makes sure that she is always somewhere nearby so that nothing happens to her.” <><><><><><><> Xellos watched as Twilight's jaw dropped open as a look of realization came over her face and her eyes shrunk to mere pinpricks. “Oh ponyfeathers, I have to find Fluttershy fast.” With that the unicorn dashed off in search of her friend while the monster chuckled to himself. He moved at a leisurely pace after the purple mare and soon found the three he had been watching just as the phoenix burst into flames. His eyes narrowed at the look on Fluttershy's face while Princess Celestia explained things to them all. As the phoenix pulled herself back together he got a mischievous look on his face as he maneuvered around for the perfect opportunity. ~~~~~~~ Laughter spread through the gathered ponies as Philomena got the nearby guards ponies to break their steadfast stoicism at Rainbow Dash's behest. Things were cut short though as a voice rang out above the laughter. “AQUA CREATE!” The looks of joy became looks of shock as a column of water sprang up in the middle of the gathered ponies and proceeded to soak the phoenix that was hovering above them all. After the torrent ended they all stared at the grumpy looking bird as she was forced to land nearby as the weight of her wet feathers prevented her from flying well. The sound of chuckling turned all heads to see the figure of Xellos standing nearby and it was soon obvious that he was the one that cast the spell to drench the phoenix. Before any of them could react Philomena let out a squawk of outrage as she burst into flames, drying her feathers, before she took off after the now fleeing monster while trying to peck at his head. The guards looked between the fleeing phoenix and the princess before the latter let out a sigh of exasperation. “Just let them go for now. They've been like this ever since she set one of his favorite meals on fire and he accidentally caused her to explode.” Twilight and her gathered friends all looked at the princess before looking over at the two fleeing beings with a look of worry. Later, when the two returned looking a bit banged up, the princess was saying her goodbyes to the towns residents while Xellos was reclining against a tree near the chariot that the phoenix was riding in. The two refused to look at each other but it didn't stop the monster from saying one last thing to the bird. “Next time you decide to pull one of your pranks you had better make sure that it isn't going to be one that hurts somebody. I don't need you breaking an amusing pony like Fluttershy because you couldn't help yourself and if you do break them I might have to show you how bad of an idea it is to get on my bad side.” The phoenix didn't make a sound but when she glanced over at the monster she was forced to cringe away at the murderous intent that was pouring off of him. For once in her long life the bird actually felt true fear.