//------------------------------// // Cry of the Phoenix // Story: The Break of Day // by Blackbird182 //------------------------------// Copperhead was a master smith. Crystal welding or fusing was a complex process that involved superheating magic-conductive crystal dust and fusing it to a surface in complex runes. It was a delicate work as well, requiring precise temperatures, unerring lines and curves to get the runes to actually function, and a steady grip. Even the slightest crooked line or a slightly over or under heated patch of crystal could ruin an entire rune. Most who practiced the art were unicorns who were extremely skilled with telekinesis. Still, it was a process that could take days or even weeks to finish. Without telekinesis, only using hoof and tooth, Copperhead finished it before dinner. All while educating her on the best route to the City of Light. “You’ll have to swing around northeast of that big mountain there,” he said as he prepped his tools and she sketched the runes. He must have been referring to the Mountain, where Canterlot resided. “The pass to the City is northwest, but a direct northwest route is perilous, full of monsters. Safer to go the long way around.” “Why do they congregate there?” “Don’t know, don’t care too,” he said. “Just hordes of monsters and demons between here and there. They like mountains, so keep as wide a berth from any of the local mountain ranges you can.” “Once the mountain’s behind you, head north; there’s a little village by the name of Grace, right on the eastern side of the big falls. You’d have to be ‘specially daft to miss it. I’ve heard there’s been some storms of late around there, though, so watch yourself.” Copperhead grinned at that, eyes far away, as if recalling something. “Something funny?” He shook himself out of his daze. “Not particularly. Just remembering a mare I was sweet on, once upon a time.” “Oh? Want me to carry a message for you?” she said, smiling mischievously. “Not really,” he said dismissively, a little too quickly. “Anyway, it should take you a few days to reach the village. Last pegasus I talked to said it took three and a half days pushing it. So about four or five days if you don’t drive yourself to hard.” “Speaking of which, when you fly, keep yourself low over the canopy, and low over the tops of the grasslands.” “Why?” She said, handing her finished runes over. He inspected them. “There’s a particularly dumb but dangerous monster that often flies up high. It’ll snag anything flying from above. If you keep low and keep an eye upwards, you can dip beneath the trees or into the grass and find a hiding spot. They’re not particularly smart, and will usually give up pretty quick, if they don’t kill themselves smashing into something,” he explained. He pushed the runes back to her. “Your lines are crooked.” She took the runes and inspected them. “One you reach Grace, you can get more precise directions, but you’ll probably want to head west before turning north into the City of Light. If you meet a caravan or a traveler, don’t hesitate to join up with them. Safer that way,” he said. “Now fix those runes so I can get to work.” She finished them, correctly the second time, and he set to work. By dinner he had finished, and she ate a light meal, prepared her things for a predawn departure, and went to bed early. And now it was the next morning. She slept soundly, no nightmares or hallucinations to torment her. Copperhead greeted her with a few apples for breakfast. “Sure you’ll be fine, flying while it’s dark?” She nodded. “Yes; I have a trick or two.” She offered the stallion a smile. “Thank you again for everything you’ve done.” “My job, lass,” he said, giving a crooked smile. “Just don’t forget to swing by again to repay me for the supplies.” She smiled again, laughing lightly. “Of course.” She glanced skyward, then looked back at him and nodded. “I’ll be going, then. Farewell, Copperhead, and be safe.” “Naturally. Now get, so I can sleep some more.” With a flap of her wings, she was up in the air and moving. Sparing a goodbye wave, she focused on her route, horn glowing as she did. Through her eyes, the dark morning lit up in stark grays. A deceptively simple technique in use, it allowed her to manipulate light to allow her to see when it was dark. It would have been exceptionally utilitarian, had it not been so incredibly complex to use – precious few could even begin to learn the fundamentals. Keeping in mind Copperhead’s advice, she leveled out at a comfortable altitude just above the trees, where she could just weave around the taller ones. Her trip from them on until the Sun rose was uneventful, and eventually she let her vision return to normal. She was moving quickly but pacing herself. Thus, by the time the Sun had risen over the horizon, Copperhead’s place was far behind her. The Mountain that was once her home was to the west, far off to her left, and seemed to have barely shifted even after a few hours of travel. Nothing happened of note until near high noon. The day was proving to be favorable, with only a few small clouds in the sky and a fair wind that didn’t hamper her flight. Even in its depressingly vacant state, the land around her was as beautiful as ever, virgin forests and grasslands expanding in every direction, famed by beautiful blue skies above and snowcapped mountain ranges in the distance. Then she spotted them, out of the corner of her eye. Two fast moving shapes, flying over a grassy range of hills off to the east. The smaller of the two was bright red-orange, like a flame. The other, much larger, figure was very birdlike, and was pursing the smaller. She hesitated a moment, but the possibility that a pony was being hunted by one of the monsters Copperhead spoke of drove her to close the distance. It didn’t take long to catch up, as she had the advantageous position. The bigger creature she could make out first. It was large, two or three times her size. It reminded her of a cormorant, with large wings and a long neck, tipped with a sharp beak, but the creature was mangy and twisted looking, a nightmarish perversion of a regular animal, much like the baboon monsters she had fought. This one, at least, didn’t have a skeletal face. The other figure, she found, wasn’t a pony, but a phoenix. As one of the fastest and most agile creatures that could fly, it easily kept out of range of the monster’s grasping talons (with rotten looking tips) and snapping beak (which, she noticed, was lined with irregular, jagged teeth). But the monster was persistent, never slowing or tiring in its single-minded pursuit. The phoenix would tire, eventually, but the monster never would. Put a stop to this. She never had the chance. A great shadow passed over them all, and she heard the sound of something big fly overhead. And it was fast, easily overtaking her. Whatever it was grabbed the bird monster out of the sky, and her initial impression was dragon. There was an awful meaty ripping-tearing sound, and the anguished wail of the bird monster as it died almost made her feel sorry for it. The following scream of the newcomer was unpleasant, sounding more like the grinding shriek of steel on steel, like a braking train, than any natural beast call. The phoenix gave a terrified squawk and sped up, trying to put as much space between it and the new monster as possible. She paused to get a better look at the thing. She regretted doing so. That is no dragon. She wished it was. It was as large as a dragon, but that’s where the similarities ended. This thing was shaped like a great bird, but its entire body seemed to be made of some kind of blade. Its head and crest were shaped like the head off of a halberd, and its talons were like grasping sickles. Its great wings looked sharp as razors, and its feathers and pinions were like double-edged swords, while a long, lashing tail was like a chain of daggers. Along its back rose long, sharp bladed spikes, in three rows, and its breast was covered in pines. Its color was of rusty metal, or at least, she hoped was rusty metal and not blood stains. Despite its speed, its size meant it had to swing wide to turn around, dropping its recent kill as it did so. She caught the glimpse of a hateful red eye as it turned to face her. Power gathered to her horn, and she fired a piercing beam of golden light. The glow was bright and powerful, and it caused the monster’s body to shine, briefly blinding her as it did. Her eyes widened as the light faded. The monster seemed completely unfazed and unharmed. And it was speeding up. She turned, dived low over the forest, and flew as fast she could, spotting the red glow of the phoenix and following it. The monster shrieked again. She spotted a long clearing in the canopy. She dove, slipping beneath the canopy and weaving through the trees. She heard it behind her, close enough to make out the sound of metal rattling against metal, and then she heard the repeated sounds of something cutting through things, followed by loud crashes. On a straightaway, she rolled, glancing back. The creature was flowing low into the woods, its wings slicing through branches and leaves as if they weren’t there. She righted herself and sped up again. It would catch her, she realized, if she didn’t stop or shake it somehow. The ground below her dipped, opening out into a low crater-like area, with scattered trees and boulders. She caught a glint of fiery red out of the corner of her eye, but ignored it. She’d have to distract it somehow, otherwise she’d never lose it. Her attacks were likely useless, but… She gathered power again as she fled, and once it was charged to her liking, she rolled again, releasing her spell. A brilliant golden orb shot out, but she was already rolling back and facing forward when it detonated. It was a harmless blast, but the flare lit the area up like the sun itself. She heard the beast shriek again, almost painfully, and she stopped to see what came of her plan. The flare faded, and the beast, eyes closed and head thrashing, careened off course, plowing headfirst into a large mound of boulders. It demolished the stone and kicked up a massive cloud of dust, obscuring it from view. Everything was quiet for a moment. Cautiously satisfied the creature was out of action for now, she turned and flew on, eyes focusing back on her path north. Then a massive beam of heat and hate lanced out of the dust, nearly killing her. It missed, the lance of power striking the far end of the crater wall and cutting across a large swath of land, kicking up clouds of smoke, ash and dust. She could feel the uncomfortable heat as it passed underneath, and the shockwaves of its passing tossed her sideways and down to the ground. She landed in a patch of tall grass, and thankfully she wasn’t far enough of the ground to cause injuries. The monster bursting out of the dust and scrambling across the ground on talons and wings, shrieking and wildly firing death beams she was not thankful for, and neither was its surprisingly swift land speed. Its crazed red eyes finally found her, and it focused in on her, light glowing from deep within its mouth. She didn’t hesitate, firing a quick beam of her own directly into the mouth of the monster. Disturbed, the monster’s charge detonated within its mouth. The creature staggered and swayed, but eventually caught itself and refocused on her. Its maw and throat, she noticed, were red hot, and she thought its sharp teeth were actually melted. She didn’t spend much time looking as she took flight again and dodged away from the creature. She saw that glimpse of red again, and finally glanced towards it. The phoenix was still nearby, circling. It flew close, circled her twice, giving a cry as it did, then it dived down, flames engulfing it. A blast of fire struck the monster as the phoenix flew past and circled around again. The beast roared, and she saw in that moment the metal blades melting under the intense heat. Grinning slightly, she spread her wings and ascended, further above the battlefield as the phoenix launched another attack. The monster retaliated with a few bullet-like shots of its energy beam. A trio of explosions obscured the phoenix from her sight, and she feared it was struck, but a moment later it dived out of the smoke and circled wide. Satisfied it was fine, she focused herself, gathering power again. Phoenix fire was intense – so intense, only the oldest and most resilient of dragons could withstand the heat. She had never fashioned a fire spell nearly as hot, and in fact, hadn’t actually fashioned battle flame spell in ages, but she did so anyway, soaking up the warmth and light from the Sun to fuel it. She’d have one shot at this, though, as she could tell she was taxing her reserves, and phoenixes only had so much flame to throw around in such a short time. As she gathered power, the monster finally regained strength to fly again, flying a wide circle around the crater, spewing its deadly ray and scarring the land. It spotted her, she noticed as it circled, and started to climb, roaring. It was wounded, its back spines half melted and its left wing heavily damaged. White light was glowing from deep in its maw. “Here,” she said quietly, “let’s try this.” And she released her spell. A large fireball shot forth and struck the monster head on. It screeched again, and she dodged out of the way as the monster careened past where she was floating, descending lazily as she watched it burn. It reached the peak of its climb and hung there a moment, then the phoenix, circling back around, launched another blast of fire. With a great wail, the monster plummeted, striking the earth with a mighty noise. It thrashed and writhed, but the flames continued to eat at it. By the time they died away, the beast was nothing more than a badly melted husk. She gently touched down, near where the beast had crashed the first time. She watched the carcass for a little while, regaining her strength. If that is the nature of these beasts, then the land is truly under threat of darkness. The cry of the phoenix caught her attention. Her ally swooped down from above, landing it on a nearby stone. It – she – sat regally, regarding her with the same lazy pride that all members of the species emanated. She regarded the beautiful red bird for a while, as it did her. “I believe,” she said at length, “that we know each other.”