> The Phoenix's Father > by Script Singer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > (1) Regret > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Philomena returned to her mother and her sister. "I'm sorry, but I think I need to stay with Celestia. She needs me right now more than ever." She said when she arrived. "We will miss you." Philomena's mother said, tears welling up in her eyes. "If you find dad, tell him I said thanks." After one final hug, Philomena flew back to the castle. "Are you ready, Celestia?" Philomena said as she flew to Celestia. The alicorn sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be..." she muttered. They both flew out of the castle and into the forest on their way to Canterlot. --- Philomena stared out the window, watching the moon. It had been a long few years since they had moved to Canterlot. Philomena had wished she went with her family and she wanted to know where her father was. On the other side of the room, Celestia got into her bed. She got under the covers and closed her eyes. --- Celestia stood at the old castle. It was falling apart. Nightmare Moon threw herself at Celestia, causing her to fall to the ground. She could hear Luna's voice. Tia, Tia help me! I'm scared! When she looked back up, instead of seeing Nightmare Moon, she saw her sister. "Luna..." Celestia whispered. Tia, it's dark... help... Nightmare Moon struck again, taking the opportunity in stride. Celestia was thrown back from the force of the impact, landing her next to the elements of harmony. "I'm so sorry Luna..." she whispered. She powered the elements with her magic as Nightmare Moon began moving for another attack. As she came close, a beam of light shot out of the elements and hit her directly. TIA!!!! NO! The beam flew toward the moon. Sister, help! Celestia watched as her sister was carried to the moon with the beam. The cries echoed in her head. - - - Celestia woke up in a shock. She sighed when she realized it was just a dream. Quickly recovering, She looked over at Philomena. --- Flames surrounded Philomena. She watched in horror as the forest that carried her old family nest burned. She heard a cry in the distance, pulling her out of the daze she had entered. Looking in the direction of the cry, she began to fly towards it, hoping to find its source. She saw her family, watching them burn to flames. She hovered in the air, waiting for them to arise from the ash. Nothing happened. Another phoenix flew in beside them. Father! Philomena tried to cry out, but words couldn't escape her mouth. Seeing that she couldn't communicate, she landed next to him. She watched her father as tears streamed down his face, crying for her and the family. She watched her father turn to ash. - - - Philomena woke up, flapping her wings frantically. Celestia quickly walked over to her. She stared at her pet in confusion when tears streamed down her face. "Philomena, what's wrong?" she asked. "Father... father..." Philomena squawked repeatedly, trying to communicate. Celestia brought her pet close and hugged her. - - - Celestia just sat with her pet for a while, holding her. Thoughts came into Philomena's mind as she rested in Celestia's embrace. She decided to say what she had wanted to say since the day of Luna's Banishment. "I want to find my father." Philomena uttered. Celestia looked at her. "I know you need me, but I need to find him. I can't let this thought control me any longer..." "Go." Celestia said. "And I don't want to take 'no' for an answer... Wait, what?" "Go." Celestia repeated. "You feel like this is what you are supposed to do, then go." "But, what about you?" "I'll be fine, Philomena." Celestia looked up at the moon, and with a small smile, she got up and went outside to bring forth the sun. Philomena flew to her side and embraced her after she raised the sun. "Thank you, Celestia." she chirped. They decided that Philomena would not leave right away. So she was able to eat first so she could have her strength. After she ate, she was on her way. Philomena said her goodbyes and flew out of the window. She looked over the city of Canterlot as she flew before making her way to the Everfree Forest, to find her family. > (2) Hello Again > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Philomena flew into the forest, on her way to the old nest where her family was when she last saw the. She landed in the nest, resting her tired wings from the long journey. Despite her leaving fairly early, it looked like that Celestia was lowering the sun for it to set. Philomena's quickly eyes grew heavy from exhaustion, she shut them, intending on resting them a little so she could stay awake and wait for her family. She listened to the sounds that came in from all directions, but try as she may to stop it, they slowly faded away. - - - There was a rustle in the bushes. Philomena quickly opened her eyes and darted her head around to try and find the source of the noise. It was dark, must darker than she remembered. She figured that she must have fallen asleep. The noise continued. She perched herself on the edge of the nest and looked carefully. As she watched, she noticed a brightly colored feather. "Who's there?" Philomena chirped. The creature walked out of the bush, her fears relieved when she found out who it was. "Mother!" Philomena flew down to her side and embraced her. She noticed that her wing was wrapped. "What happened?" "I just hit my wing, I'm fine dear." she uttered. Philomena's siblings soon returned with food. She embraced them as well. "Have you found father yet, mother?" Philomena asked. "No," Philomena's brother answered. "Sphinx, Rayven and I haven't been able to find him yet." "Fuzz thinks he knows where he might be though." Rayven claimed. "We met up with an old friend of Mom's and asked for them to help us." There was a squawk in the air. Everyone looked to see an eagle soaring in the air, it landed next to them when it noticed them in the nest. "Ember," the eagle spoke. Philomena's mother walked forward. "I found a safe place for you and your family to stay for the night. Follow me." The eagle turned around and jumped, soaring into the sky. Fuzz, Rayven, and Sphinx followed. Philomena decided to walk with her mother. She had wanted to catch up with her since she had been gone for such a time. "An old friend of mine, Ying, has decided to help us on our journey." Ember said, explaining what had been going on. "He and I have been good friends together, he once saved my life." "How did he save you?" Philomena asked. "Let's just say, long story short, it was similar like your story. I fell out of the nest and dragons tried to get me." Philomena looked at the sky, watching her siblings flying with Ying. "Have we gotten anywhere to finding dad?" Ember shook her head. She had seamed tired, possibly from the journey of finding Philomena's Father. "What was his name?" Philomena said, trying to break the silence. There was a long pause. "Hendrix." she finally answered. "Hendrix Flames. He was always a bright fella." Ember smiled. After a large amount of walking, they came before a large tree. Philomena's siblings began landing on some of the branches, their eyes already beginning to close, tired from the long journey they had already taken. Philomena helped her mother up to a branch. She then rested herself next to her, shutting her eyes. Before she fell asleep, she felt Ying land on the tree. --- Philomena opened her eyes to see the forest around her. She turned to her side, where her mother lay. Ember slowly opened her eyes, the unusual movement stirring her from her sleep. She looked up and smiled when she saw Philomena's face. Philomena flew up to the top of the tree, to where her siblings were. They had already been awake for a while so she decided to catch up with them for a while. Before she could open her beak to talk, there was a loud roar. Philomena quickly flew to her mother's side. "Is it a dragon?" Philomena asked. "Without a doubt." Ember chirped. They could hear faint squawks in the distance. Sphinx, Fuzz and Rayven flew down to the ground with everyone else. "I don't like it, I'm going after it." Rayven said, flying toward the sound. Philomena flew after her sister. Ying flew down to the ground with the others. He watched the two phoenixes fly after the sound. “Good luck you two,” He said as they flew off into the distance, “You'll need it.” - - - The roars grew louder, and the cries were less faint. Philomena and Rayven flew faster, soon finding themselves in front of a cave. They noticed a Phoenix flying fast, trying to get away from a dragon. The dragon was almost desperately attempting to match the birds speed, making it grow tired much faster than it would have liked. Luckily for the dragon, however, the phoenix couldn't take it any longer. The phoenix fell out of the sky and hit the ground, exhausted. At this, Philomena and Rayven took action. They flew into the dragon's face before it could make any attacks. Annoyed with the continued delay, the dragon flung its claws in the air, hitting Philomena hard and throwing her into a wall. She let out a loud squawk as she made impact, before hitting the ground hard. "My wing!" she cried. "Philomena!" Rayven yelled. She tried to fly and aid her sister, but the dragon continued swinging its claws, causing her to stay away. "Rayven, I can't fly, help me!" Philomena tried flapping her wings while running from the dragon, but only created pain in her wing. The dragon tried to smash her with its claws, but only managed to pluck a feather or two. This was still enough to make Philomena let out another squawk. She found herself next to the other phoenix. She watched in horror as she saw the dragon striking its claws once more. Seeing no way out of the situation, she prepared herself for her death. However, the phoenix next to her took last minute action. It flew up into the dragon's face. "No!" it yelled as it threw its flame up. Beams surrounding the phoenix, temporarily blinding the dragon. That beam.... Philomena thought. "Leave my daughter alone!" the phoenix yelled again. Philomena stared at the phoenix with shock. "Father...?" she whispered. The dragon struck its claws at Hendrix, sending him hurtling towards the ground. "No!" Philomena squawked, rushing to her father's side. Seeing he was breathing still, she looked back up at the dragon. It was readying its fire breath for one final attack. But before it could use it, a unicorn jumped in front of Philomena and Hendrix, creating a force field. The pony glared at the dragon. The dragon roared in anger as the unicorn shot beams at the dragon, causing it to retreat. The pony turned to Philomena and her father. "Don't worry," she uttered with a small smile. "you can trust me." Philomena stared at her father, unconscious. "Rayven flew down to Philomena's side. "I sent her as fast as I could, what's going on?" she asked. "Who is this phoenix?" Philomena stared at her sister. "Father." she answered.