A Place to Call Home
As Phoenix and Fluttershy exited her library, Twilight magically shut the door. She turned around to find her assistant missing in action.
"Spike?" She called.
"Be out in a minute!" The childish dragon voice answered.
She rolled her eyes with a small grin as she realized where he had disappeared to. Casually, Twilight walked up the stairs into the bedroom loft of her library and looked at her personal desk. There sitting on the desk was a scroll that had been delivered sometime today. An instant bolt of shock went through her as she noticed the unread scroll which beared the royal seal. She quickly became frustrated and let out a groan.
"SPIKE!!! Why didn't you tell me that I had a letter from the princess?!" She yelled downstairs and through the restroom door.
A toilet flush could be heard from behind the door and Spike's muffled voice followed.
"It came right as Fluttershy and that little pegasus colt were coming in. Uh....Phoenix! I was getting ready to bring it to you but didn't want to be rude in front of company!" He answered with a defensive tone.
Twilight let another groan escape as she picked up the scroll in her magic aura and slid the seal off of one end. The sink could be heard running as Spike finished his business.
"EWWW! What happened to the soap?! Why's it all slimy?!" The dragon's muffled voice called from beyond the shut door.
Twilight hadn't heard him, she was focused on the letter from her mentor and the Equestrian Deity that was in front of her. She unrolled the scroll and began reading out loud from the top.
My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,
Your findings do indeed put my mind at ease. However, when I asked you and your friends to investigate the Everfree Forest, I also sent a detachment of my winged guard to scout the skies above the Everfree and they did report back a most peculiar finding. It seems that a rather large area of the forest has simply disappeared. The only thing left in this area was an open grassy field. I can't say that I'm going to concern myself with it at the moment due to the strange things that do happen in the Everfree on such a regular basis. But, Princess Luna has agreed to look into it. She seemed very intent that she be the one to examine this new finding and anything surrounding it.
As for the little pegasus colt that you found there, I hope that he is fairing well and making a speedy recovery. It is indeed odd that a foal would end up in the Everfree by themselves, but even more odd and worrying that they have no one out looking for them. Such family neglect isn't unheard of but has been very very rare while I have reigned. I hope that he will end up in caring and capable hooves.
I will try to keep you informed of anything that Luna discovers regarding the Everfree Forest. As always, I look forward to your letters and your continuing lessons.
Princess Celestia
Twilight looked up from the hovering letter, deep in concentration.
'How could a section of the Forest just vanish? I've never read or even heard of something like that before...' She thought.
"Do you really think Phoenix's parents just abandoned him there?" Spike asked in a sullen tone, effectively making Twilight jump and drop the scroll onto the floor.
"Oh...! Sorry..." He added as his spikes went a bit limp.
Twilight cleared her throat and gave the little dragon a warm smile.
"I don't know how Phoenix ended up in the forest. But he did tell us his parents were gone." She said.
Spike's upper lip quivered a bit as she spoke.
"What do you mean gone...?" He asked.
Twilight looked at him and gave him a frown. That was all he needed as an answer to his question.
"Ohh... Poor little guy..." He said in a pitying voice.
"HEY! Maybe I could take him over to Bon-Bon's place for some sweets or something!" The dragon exclaimed, his spikes perking up. "You know... to try and get to know him a bit."
Twilight gave the dragon a little nod. A flapping sound could be heard from the window in the loft and they both turned to see a certain cyan pegasus approaching. The pegasus squeezed her way in through the open window and landed with a soft thud on Twilight's bed.
"Hey guys!" The pegasus greeted. "I just flew by and saw you two talking up here, so I thought I'd stop in!"
"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Spike replied.
Twilight gave her friend a very displeased look.
"Ever here of something called privacy? Or knocking? Or common courtesy? Or...." Twilight droned before the prismatic pegasus interrupted her.
"Okay okay! I get it. I'm sorry. I'll knock next time or something."
Twilight dropped her head and let out a frustrated sigh. Rainbow hopped down off of the bed and landed on her hooves next to Twilight.
"Sooo....what's up?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I just finished reading a letter from Princess Celestia. She says that there's a big chunk of the Everfree Forest that's missing!" Twilight said. "She also says that Luna is going to be investigating it and that she will keep us up to date on anything that she finds."
"Huh... that's weird....." Rainbow replied trying to show a fake interest. "What about the little colt we found and took to the hospital?"
"Oh, he got out this morning. Seems like he's doing really well considering the condition he was in when we found him." Twilight added nonchalantly.
"Wait a minute....!" Rainbow said cocking an eyebrow. "Who'd they release him to? Did his parents finally show up?"
Twilight and Spike both dropped their heads again. While it didn't affect any of them directly, it still hurt to know that a child was going to grow up without their parents.
Twilight took a deep breath to regain her composure. "No, his parents are deceased."
Rainbow Dash's rough facial features suddenly took on a compelled softness as the statement sunk in.
"But, Fluttershy is taking care of him now! At least, until they find some of his family or something." Spike chimed in.
Rainbow's jaw could have hit the floor if it stretched that far.
"Wait.... Fluttershy is taking care of him?!" Rainbow asked as the shock subsided.
"Sure is! She actually insisted on it when we went and visited him at the hospital yesterday." Twilight answered.
"But....Fluttershy takes care of animals...! Not kids...!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"That's what I thought at first also. But, when you see the two of them together and how he reacts to her.... It really is a perfect match." Twilight said with a large smile. "They just left here not too long ago. Maybe you could catch up to them and see for yourself."
Without saying a word, Rainbow gave her wings a powerful flap and bolted out the window she used as an entrance earlier. The other two in the room gave each other a little surprised glance before shaking their heads and going on with their business.
"One of these days, I'll teach her to use the door..." Twilight said under her breath.
~~~~~
I had such an obvious limp going by the time we reached the market square again. I wasn't even trying to hide it anymore and I had quit trying to walk at a decent pace. The pain in my flank had more than doubled and everytime I set my hoof down on the ground it felt like someone was ramming a hot spear into it. Between that and the fresh taste of sanitization still stinging my taste buds I'd hoped that we weren't too far away from a comfy bed and a, hopefully hot, meal.
A few more steps and I'd had all I could take. I sat down on my rump and with my back legs stretching out in front of me.
Fluttershy took a few extra steps before she turned and noticed I was no longer at her side. I heard a little gasp escape her mouth as she turned around and noticed that I was now sitting on the ground.
"Phoenix...?" She said, the concern evident.
I dropped my ears as I caught her gaze.
"Is it your leg?" She asked as she walked back to me.
I gave her a little nod.
"How much further is your house?" I asked in a hopeful tone.
I was really hoping that we would have already been there by now. We had passed so many houses between Twilight's Library and the market square. Yet, we were still walking. The sun had turned from its warm mid-afternoon yellow to a darkening orange as the evening hours were approaching. The shadows were starting to stretch back to the east and the little clock tower in the market square looked to be pointing towards about five o'clock.
"Oh... It's still quite a ways away..." She answered with a frown as she looked me over. "I guess I never told you that I actually don't live 'in' Ponyville... My house is a little ways out of town."
Defeat was what I felt. Defeat at the hands of a powerful foe, represented by the wound in the side of my flank.
'No way!' I thought as the statement sank in. 'How in the hell am I going to make it the rest of the way?!'
"Umm..." Fluttershy said almost in a whisper.
I looked up from my hooves to once again meet her gaze.
"Would you want to maybe ride on my back?" She continued.
I cocked an eyebrow as a vision of ponies riding ponies popped into my head. It was the most ridiculous looking thing I could have imagined and I shuddered at the thought of it. Not only that, but I had tried horseback riding when I was younger and I remember falling three different times from the horse. It was something I can remember not being very good at.
I brought my self out of my little trance to respectfully decline but suddenly felt something squeezing itself under my rump.
I let out a little unsteady shout as I realized that Fluttershy had taken my silence for a positive answer. She had squeezed her nose under my rump and used her head to scoop me up from underneath. It was a very unpleasant feeling to say the least. As she stood up, I slid down her neck and came to an unsteady stop on her back. She brought her wings up on either side of me and gave my body a little squeeze to keep me steady. Her feathers tickled my sides and I couldn't help but let out a little giggle.
I was definitely blushing at this point, the burn in my cheeks was almost scalding. I glanced around and found a few of the other ponies around us had stopped and watched. The air was thick for a few seconds with their random bursts of cute "Awws." For all they knew, this loving mother mare was lifting her little foal up to carry him the rest of the way home and it was adorable. For me on the other hand, I was certainly learning yet another lesson on humility.
"You'll be a little steadier if you put your front hooves on my withers and sit up a bit." Fluttershy's voice chimed as she looked back at me with a rather large smile showing.
I raised an eyebrow as I looked down at her back in confusion.
'What are withers...? I know nothing about hors....er, pony anatomy!' I thought frustratedly.
I slid my front hooves underneath me and braced them on her shoulders. I looked back up to her eyes to see if I had guessed correctly and she shot me a little nod which led me to believe I had. I brought my back up straight as I braced my rear hooves against her sides the best I could.
"Ok, ready to go?" She asked as she turned her head back forwards.
"No... wait...." Was all I managed before I felt her lift her hooves and take off at a steady trot.
I felt myself slip a little bit and I ended up on my stomach against her back again. I felt her wings squeeze me a little tighter and realized that she must have felt me falling. I bounced against her back as her hooves met the ground but, as she trotted onward I managed to put my hooves back on her shoul... withers, and propped myself back up again. She was right about it making me feel steadier and after a little balancing act, I was riding smoothly on her back.
"HEY FLUTTERSHY!" Yet another familiar voice sounded from up above.
Fluttershy had suddenly stopped and I felt myself lunge forward a bit. Once again she applied enough inward force with her wings to keep me steady.
I looked up to see who the owner of the voice had been and Fluttershy did the same. A sky blue pegasus came soaring down in front of her and with a quick flap of her wings landed on her hooves. I looked around Fluttershy's neck and suddenly I was transfixed on what I saw.
I don't think I'd ever seen such an explosion of colors before.
'They don't even make tie dyed shirts that have that much color.' I thought as I stared at her.
Her mane and tail had all the prismatic colors of a rainbow through them. But, the most captivating thing was the dark pink color of her irises. She gave her tail a flick which brought any stray hairs from flight back under control and then ruffled the feathers on her wings before folding them to her sides.
"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy said.
"Hey!" She answered. "I just got done talking to Twilight. She said that you're fostering the little pegasus we found in the Everfree?!"
"Mm-hmm!" She answered as she turned her head back towards me. "He just got out of the hospital this morning."
The chromatic pegasus walked over to Fluttershy's side to get a good look at me. I couldn't help but stare into those pink eyes of hers.
She turned her head back to Fluttershy, displaying a concerned look.
"You sure you're gonna be able to take care of him? I mean, he was quite a handful out in the forest." She stated.
I gave her an annoyed look as I listened to her.
'Sheesh! It's not hard to see that I'm right here...!' I thought.
"Oh, I think everything will be just fine." Fluttershy stated confidently.
Rainbow turned her attention back to me and I stuck my tongue out at her and blew a raspberry. It was a very childish thing to do thinking back on it but hell, when in Rome right?
She shot me a surprised look before narrowing her eyes in frustration.
"Hey...!" She stated crossly.
I shot her a smug grin and then tilted my head upwards proudly.
"Phoenix...!" Fluttershy's displeased voice echoed.
'Whoops...' I thought suddenly.
I turned and saw Fluttershy giving me a cross look and I wilted a bit. I turned my attention back to Rainbow Dash.
"...Sorry..." I said in a quiet voice.
She gave a smug smile before reaching up and roughly messing my mane.
"That's all right..." She replied. "So Phoenix huh? Cool name! But, you know... I think you still owe me something after bloodying my nose in the forest though." She added sarcastically.
I searched my memories before finally remembering somepony grabbing my tail and me kicking them in the face. I wilted a bit more as I remembered now where I had heard her voice and seen her before.
"Uhh....Sorry about that too." I added.
"Eh." Rainbow said as she shrugged her wings. "It's all good. You've got a heck of a kick in you though, I'll give you that."
A little grin came across my face at the stray compliment.
"So how long before you can fly again?" She asked as she pointed a hoof at my wings.
I gave her a little shrug of my shou...withers before I caught Fluttershy shaking her head and sending an awkward expression towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow and myself both displayed a raised eyebrow before Fluttershy caught me looking at her.
"Oh, uh, we should get going Phoenix. We still have a little ways to go to get home and then we'll sit down for a nice yummy dinner." Fluttershy said as she shot me that caring glance that always managed to pacify me.
I gave her a little nod before turning my head back to Rainbow Dash.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around little dude!" She said as she grabbed my neck in one foreleg and gave me a gentle hoof-noogie with the other.
"I guess I'll stop by your cottage tomorrow morning when I'm finished with my weather duties so we can talk." Rainbow Dash added, talking to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy gave her friend a nod and in a prismatic blur the pegasus was up in the air and off into the clouds above. I was awestruck at her flying ability. I don't remember ever seeing anything move so fast that it left a trail behind it blur. I gave a quick glance back to my wings.
'Would I be able to fly like that?' I wondered.
"You ready?" Fluttershy asked.
I nodded as I took one last look up at where Rainbow Dash had disappeared to. Fluttershy soon took off at the same steady paced trot as before. I was ready for it this time and had myself effectively braced up. We continued along a smooth dirt road that led out of the town and over a few small hills. After scaling the last hill a quaint little cottage came into view at the end of the road. Fluttershy quickened her pace slightly as she came down the little hill and approached what must be her home.
It was small but what it lacked in size it definitely made up for in character. It looked like a lot of the other houses in the town but it had that farmhouse feel. As we got closer I could see a chicken coop that was neatly fenced in as well as a neat looking pond that was a stone's throw away from the house.
"Well, we're here!" Fluttershy said excitedly as she cast a glance back to me. "Welcome to your new home Phoenix!"
I threw her a smile as the words rang inside my head. As we approached the door she opened it up with a hoof. We took a couple steps inside and Fluttershy flipped a light switch on the wall with her nose. The late evening sunlight that was quickly becoming nothing more than a dim glow was quickly replaced by the brightness of the lamps in the main room. She turned and shut the door behind us before taking a few steps into the center of the room and laying down on her stomach. I treated that as my cue to take up walking on my own again and slid off of her back and onto my hooves. The break from walking had definitely helped. While I was still hurting, it was much more tolerable to stand and walk on my own again.
"Why don't we get those bandages off of you for now. That way you can stretch your wings for a bit and take a nice hot bath." She stated as she walked up to me. "While you're taking your bath I'll get a nice dinner prepared for us."
I sighed and nodded my head.
Fluttershy grabbed one end of the bandages and brought them loose so they fell in a small pile around me. The feeling reminded me of taking my socks off at the end of a very long day and the ecstasy that normally followed. I looked back at my wings to see that my left one had sprung back to its usual position on its own accord, sticking up and off to the side a bit. I moved my right wing as I remembered where the muscles had been and how to control them. I stretched it straight up into the air from the top of my back and gave a small grin.
"My goodness." Fluttershy said in a surprised tone.
I looked over at her to see what had her so surprised. She turned her attention from my wings to my eyes.
"I never noticed it before but, you certainly have rather large wings for being as young as you are. They look really strong too." She continued.
I smiled at her for a brief moment before remembering that one of them was pretty much useless. I dropped my stare to the floor as my smile faded.
"That might mean something if they both worked..." I said with the depression evident in my voice.
Fluttershy stuck a hoof under my chin and brought my eyes up to meet hers. She had a nice warm smile on her face again.
"You just need some more time to heal is all. You can't rush that process, especially after such an injury." She said.
I gave a defeated nod and turned my attention back to my wings and stretched my right one upwards again so I could have another look at it.
"Besides, with wings as strong looking as these... I bet you'll be an amazing flyer once you've recovered." She added as she ran the edge of a hoof up along the tips of my feathers.
The feeling from her doing this was intense and sent my brain into a nose dive. It was as if each feather tip that she touched sent a really powerful tickling sensation through my wing. It folded itself up against my right side almost involuntarily as a really loud giggle escaped my mouth.
I heard Fluttershy let out a little gasp and I turned to see her displaying a sly grin.
"You're wings are ticklish!!" She said in an almost accusatory tone.
I dropped my jaw a bit as I watched her stick her nose to the underside of my right wing while it was at my side. Using the tip of her nose she brushed several of my feathers along their tips. This caused the same sensation as before and I couldn't help but let loose another bout of childish giggling.
'Ticklish....! Really?! Even as a kid...well...first time as a kid, I wasn't ticklish.' I thought
"It's really rare to find a pegasus that has ticklish wings." Fluttershy said with a slight giggle herself. "The only other one I know of is Rainbow......oop!" Fluttershy stopped abruptly, throwing a hoof up to her mouth.
I raised an eyebrow as she looked down at me and brought her head down to my level, a worried expression evident on her features.
"Don't tell anypony I told you that okay?! She made me promise that I would keep that a secret!" She said almost as if in a panic.
"Uh, yeah, I promise I won't say anything about it." I answered.
Her warm smile returned and she took a few steps towards me and started nudging me towards an open door. I stumbled a bit as I got up and walked where she wanted me to. The door led into the bathroom of her cottage. This was my second look at the inside of a bathroom in this new place, but the first time I actually was focused enough to pay attention to the details. Surprisingly, it was a lot easier to focus on the details when I didn't have a bar of soap magically held in my mouth. The amenities were pretty much the same as I was used to, just a little lower to the ground if nothing else.
She walked over to a pristine looking claw foot tub and turned the water on. After adjusting it to where she thought the perfect temperature would be, she turned back down to me with a smile.
"I'm gonna go get dinner ready. You take a nice hot bath and clean up and then come out when you're done." She said.
I gave another nod and she trotted out of the bathroom, closing the door till it was open just a crack.
I lifted myself up onto my back hooves while placing my front ones on the edge of the tub. The tub really didn't look all that hard to get into. Even for a small colt like me it looked very manageable. The steam from the water was starting to fill the small room and I watched as bubbles formed on the top of the water.
'Fluttershy must have added some kind of soap or bubble bath.' I thought.
I lifted myself up to the edge before trying to slide my rear legs over the edge and carefully navigate my way into the water. Should have taken a different approach though. For as soon as my right rear leg was over the edge of the tub, I slid the short ways down the porcelain edge and landed with a splash in the water. The only thing I had managed was to keep my head above the water.
The water felt amazing as I splashed down. The warmth penetrated my sore body and the scent of the soap Fluttershy had added was very pleasant as well. It smelled like a mix of rose and lavender and it was almost intoxicating to the senses. I rolled over onto my back in the water with my head opposite the side of the faucet. I adjusted my left wing with a hoof and moved my right so I could lay down. As the feathery appendages submerged into the hot water, the sensation that they fed into my brain was one of pure ecstasy. I could feel all of the muscles that connected them to my body relaxing. At first it was an alien sensation but soon I realized that my left wing, the one that I thought useless, had feeling in it. A smile came across my face, happy in the knowledge that I might actually be able to fly.
I took another look over myself as I laid there in the tub, the warm water still flowing from the faucet and surrounding me. My tail with its bright red and yellow hair floated along the surface of the water, I gave it a quick flick at the dock and let a little laugh escape as it made a part in some of the bubbles. I let my head rest against the wall of the tub and saw some of the fiery colored stray hairs from my mane float from around my neck. I took a deep breath as I let all of my muscles relax into the water.
A final realization had hit me and caused a rather large smile to come across my face. For the first time since I ended up in this unexplainable new world... I was comfortable and even enjoying being in my new body. The sound of the faucet running continued and provided a white noise that, paired with the relaxing feeling of the warm bath water and the scents of the soap, effectively tranquilized me. Within a few minutes, I had drifted off to sleep.
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
1,061 users online
2,052,822 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Apologies to anyone who's comments got deleted today. I deleted my 'author's memo' chapter right before I published the new chapter and didn't realize that it would clean out all the comments that people had posted to it. Sorry about that.
Really worth the wait, this story is really good so far ^_^ I've enjoyed reading this so far ^^
Well, that can be dangerous, especially since the waters still on, unless she has one of those safety drains that keeps it from overflowing, but still.
Anyway, awesome chapter, keep it up.
another very good chapter.
Reality hits you hard bro
I looking foreward to his first school day and the meeting with the rest of the Crusaders^^
Hehehe, I had a smile on my face throughout the chapter.
You guys all rock! I'm stoked you all enjoyed it!
I was really disappointed when Pinkie didn't pop up behind something and shake her head disappointedly.
Also, Phoenix drowns. The end.
3174343
I guess that means the next chapter just got a lot shorter. J/K!
Btw asking people what they think of my new Icon Its my OC and im going to be using it in my fan fiction. Its about Roland from the Dark Tower series he gets ponified into a unicorn. Where he finds a bracer that he can store magic energy in to become human for limited amounts of time. He does this for fights. Its going to be awesome.
If you would like to Hear my summery about it drop a line.
3189886
Sounds awesome!!!
dam i love it and i hope he dusent drown because i like this too get as long as griffin the griffin has
*Gets out of hospital* Awesome I'm free!!!!
*Drowns and goes back* NNNOOOOOOOOOoooooooo 
Oooooowwwwwwww,
3170990 For some reason as I was reading this comment I hear Gabe Newell's voice say It will be worth the wait....
yay, he has big wings to impress all the mares
7301275 For his age, I say more like all the filly's.
Well now I know what whithers are.
Aaaaand he falls asleep. In a running bathtub. While being small enough to probably comfortably submerge his entire body in a half filled bathtub. Yeah, nothing’s gonna go wrong there.