The Phoenix Princess

by Sonic Rainboom Dash

The fiery conclusion: part 1

Night Light stared at his sleeping daughter as he placed her on the couch in the den of the Apple family’s farmhouse before letting out a sigh. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her. A week ago, she was as healthy as you or me; then she started getting weaker and weaker the more time passed. I don’t want to lose her, not like our second child.” he said after a minute of silence between him and the stallion, who introduced himself as Big Macintosh, or Big Mac as he wished to be called. Upon seeing Big Mac’s questioning look, he continued “Stillborn.”

Bic Mac nodded his head in understanding. Before he could speak up, a young mare’s voice reached his ears. “Hey, Big Mac! Ya haven’t seen a couple of new ponies around have ya?” The pony said as she entered the door, “Pinkie’s holding the part- Oh! Well howdy,” she stopped suddenly when she saw Night Light.

The pony was a light orange, with a straw-colored mane and tail. Her emerald eyes had a pure honesty to them that, were she from Canterlot, she would be ranked in the same noble category as Fancy Pants and Blueblood. “Ma name’s Applejack and welcome...to- Sweet Celestia!” The mare, Applejack, exclaimed when she saw Twilight sleeping on the couch. For a moment, Applejack saw red as all the pain and grief of her parent’s death came rushing forth at the mare that had the gall to try and steal her apples so long ago, before calming down to look closer. As quick as her rage came, it faded as fast when she saw the state the mare was in and the fact that there were subtle differences between the two.

“W-What happened to her?” Applejack whispered, having flashbacks to the nearly starved filly she saw so long ago.

Night Light sighed with a reply, “I don’t know either.” He turned back to Twilight with determination, “but what I do know is that I want her to see her next and final dawn.”

Applejack looks up at Night Light shocked by his answer. Wanting more answers she inquires, “W-What do you mean by her final dawn?” Big Mac nodded in agreement with his sister’s question for Night Lights statement made some sense, but he wanted to understand as well.

Night Light turned to the two with sadness in his eyes and heart. “She’ll more than likely not make it tomorrow due to her current illness.” He said when the three of them heard Twilight softly moan in some pain, but it’s mostly just from her starting to wake up.

When Twilight opened her eyes, Night Light and the two Apple sibling’s jaw dropped; where before, Twilight’s eyes were a common violet, now her eyes had a deep crimson to them, along with being pupiless. As she moved, though, something strange happened. Her body started changing from lavender to a bone white, while her mane and tail burst into flaming feathers accompanied by wings made of fire.

During the spectacle Twilights body slowly turned into ash. After a few moments, Twilight was seemingly nothing more than a pile of fuming ash.

Before anypony could react, however, the trio heard music coming from seemingly nowhere.

“Where’d you get the notion you’re only a pony?” the singer said quite suddenly before one of the flames in the lit fireplace started moving freely from the source.

“You know there’s a dark place
that will make you something more”

Night Light watched in growing terror as the flame started morphing from a single ember of fire to a pony of fire, looking like molten magma was flowing through its veins.

“I could sell a one-way to absolution,
To the wholly abstract
Where we’ll never drift back ashore.”

Just as the pony made of fire fully formed a vortex of wind surrounded the ash pile that was once his daughter. With a bright flash, Twilight was no longer a pile of ash, but now alive again, but Night Light could feel something was wrong. For one, the fact the Twilight was still bone white, her mane and tail still looking like feathers on fire, and the wings made of fire were still there, it was her eyes that worried him the most. Even though they had been pupiless before she turned to ash, they still had life behind them. Now, they looked as lifeless as a puppet, and Night Light just knew that was what she was at the moment.

“I’ve been living on the far side
Leaving hoof prints in your mind
Tell me all your secrets
I could be your key to the afterlife.

Feel the rhythm in my cold heart
I could make your soul a work of art
Just a touch of heaven
Walking with the dead makes you feel alive

We could take a ride on the road to paradise
You’ll abandon your bones
For a desolate home away
Have you seen the watcher’s castle born of ice?
It’s a comforting hold
For the wandering souls to stay

I’ve been living on the far side
I’ve been leaving footprints in your mind
Tell me all your secrets
I could be your key to the afterlife

Feel the rhythm in my cold heart
I could make your soul a work of art
Just a touch of heaven
Walking with the dead makes you feel alive”

The Apple siblings looked at Twilight in a way as if they’ve never in their lives seen something like this before. However, the one who was genuinely terrified was Night Light, as he was watching his daughter become a ‘puppet’ of this creature.

“Oceans away from home
Deep in the danger zone
I’ll carry you

Skipping the pain of death
I’d like to steal your breath
And make you new

Live beyond this divide
I promise you the other side
Abandon light inside of you

You’re ascending now
And breaking through
Nothing living is ever true

Twilight’s color slowly returned to its respective colors, albeit slightly darker. The feathers that made up her wings, mane, and tail had the primary color as her lavender coat as well as being tipped with the two iconic variants of purple. Her tail itself is now longer and thicker than it was in her previous form. The only things that remained unchanged were the fact that her eyes were still crimson and still wholly pupiless and the lifeless, glassy look in them.

I’ve been living on the far side
I’ve been leaving footprints in your mind
Tell me all your secrets
I could be your key to the afterlife

Feel the rhythm in my cold heart
I could make your soul a work of art
Just a touch of heaven
Walking with the dead makes you feel alive.”

As the final lyrics were sung, the fire pony lit up its horn and started to form a fireball above its head, but what was worse was Twilight’s horn lighting up as well, albeit with some struggle, and creating another fireball. Her eyes were dead, and no emotion could be seen in them. Before either pony could fire off the spells, three blurs of silver, gold, and blue slammed into the two. The silver and gold blur’s slamming into the fire pony, while the blue blur slammed into Twilight, knocking her out, somehow also removing the spell that was being placed on her. Before her eyes closed, Night Light saw his daughter’s eyes change back to their violet color, and the pupils were on her crimson eyes before closing.

Author's Note:

this arc is soon coming to a close.
next chapter is the end of the discovery arc

Comments

[Viper Pit]

i wonder if one reason why it takes chapters so long to come out is because you have to find music

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8849004
sometimes. other times it's finding a way to blend the emotions into it so that it comes out like a nice, smooth emotional milkshake.

[Viper Pit]

8849033
alright well to hopefully speed up the process (if only a little) here is a song that I think could work probably maybe

[Mystic Sunrise]

So. What the buck just happened? Cause none of this made any sense.

[Cipher800]

8849068
Death and rebirth. Phoenixes have a way of cheating death: being reborn from their own ashes. That's exactly what happened here. Though one question remains. What will Twilight be like when she awakens?

[Mystic Sunrise]

8849219
That explains some of it, but not everything. Though I get the feeling those magic blasts came from Celestia and Luna. But that still leaves who the fire pony was.

Though I get the feeling that it was actually helping Twilight here. Not hurting her.

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8849423
Oh. Your wrong on both counts.
All will hopefully be revealed in the next chapter. I think.

[Mystic Sunrise]

8849496
Ah. I'm not even mad at being wrong. As long as the question gets answered at some point.

[Cipher800]

8849496 8849516
Lemme guess? Phoenixes?

[ChiefKitsune]

Please tell me you plan to write more for after the Summer Sun Celebration.

Oh-Kay well that was a thing, a great thing as well as one of the worst cliffhangers I've seen.

[LostArchivist]

That was odd. The flames were expected, but the strange flame entity is weird. What was it?

Also, the death of the one who would have been their second daughter is interesting. I wonder if it actually WAS her, and she came back, or if that was simply the reason that the original was replaced by the phoenix one in this timeline?

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8849862
The second option. It's why they readily adopted Twilight.
8849844
The cliffhanger isn't what it seems to be. Instead think a few chapters ago and you'll find the answer.

[ChiefKitsune]

8849980
I meant that it was so good it was terrible for the readers, cause that's like giving a sip of water to a man in the desert. You left me at the least begging Spoopy, Celestia, Luna, and the all powerful Flying Spaghetti Monster for more soon.

I'm not really sure that's a cliffhanger or not.

Darling, does it matter? Our beloved Twilight just burned to death. But I must say that your coat looks even better now.

I've....gotta admit that was a....pretty awesome way to go.....but I'm going to make sure mine is at least 20% cooler.

Oh can I help?! Can I? Cause I've got plenty of neat ways to go. I even have a list for you all...yeas the CMC and Spike I wouldn't leave them out either. Pulls a scroll out of her mane. Now let's see...
Rainbow Dash my number #1 way for you to go in the coolest way possible is.....to become Cupcake

Uh...no thanks Pinkie I'm good and I just realized that I won't come back to hear how Awesome it was.

Ugh...A few things; One I hope Spike remembered to restock the Brain-Bleach, Two it may have look cool it still sucked especially the days leading up to it, and three a Cliffhanger is a melodramatic or adventure serial in which each installment ends in suspense in order to interest the reader or viewer in the next installment.

Eyup

Also Pinkie would you so kind as to tell us how to stop breaking the 4th Wall and remember to ask before you go and drag all of out here from now on. I just hope that the reinforcement enchantments I put up in my basement laboratory contained the resulting explosion of my interrupted experiment or else I'm going to need a new Castle.....Oh I also hope that if anything the fact my castle is made of crystal that it is the only thing destroyed sense any of the ponies left in town are expendable background ponies.

Um Twilight you mean that the town's ponies are your friends and you don't want to see them hurt, right?

Ah yes that's what I meant to say.

Yeah okay well I'll leave so you can go home without revealing the secrets of the Walls of the 4th Dimension.

Okie Dokie Lokie

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8850776
Pinkie, next time, just install a door, I don't have much money to always rebuild the wall every time. As for you dash, hehehe, you and the rest are going to have a very interesting friendship with Twilight. And unless I say otherwise, not a romantic one. After she'll teach you a thing or two.

[ChiefKitsune]

8850938
Dial tone I'm sorry but Pinkie is unavailable at the moment due to her community service or rebuilding the 4th Wall again. Thank you and please try again later.Dial tone

Yeah you and every other author that has thought about writing a story with Pinkie in it.

[Cipher800]

Hey, where's the new chapter?

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8878907
sorry, been busy so I haven't had a chance to start it yet

[BrightKnight 42]

how long till update?

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8915699
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have been very busy work and my editors have been awake for a while.