Aurora snapped awake. Since she had begun raising the sun, she had developed a special connection to it. She could sense when it was time for the sun to come up, a sort of tugging inside, as if the sun was awaiting her call. She walked down the hall to Luna's room. She was still fast asleep, breathing heavily.
"Luna," Aurora said, nudging her gently. "Luna, we have to raise the sun now."
Luna rolled over and mumbled, "I want…chicken eggs…"
"Luna!" It was impossible to stifle a giggle at Luna's absurd request. "Luna, wake up!"
Her eyes opened slowly, yawning and stretching. "Morning comes too soon…"
"Come on, silly."
The two took a left after Luna's room and headed up the stairs to their balcony. The forest surrounded them. Aurora inhaled sharply. The cool air had a sweet scent, and a slight taste of promise. "Ready, little sister?" she asked Luna.
Propping her hoofs over the balcony like she had done last night, Luna gazed over the forest. She too took a deep breath. "Yes."
They took off together, Luna stopping part of the way up. Aurora felt the sun, rising with her. A few more flaps and it would be over the horizon. She closed her eyes, feeling the light and warmth beginning to creep from the sun into her. She reached the peak of her flight, and the sun lit up the world.
She heard her sister give a great cry of "Ooh!" Aurora opened her eyes, and noticed the dew on the grass and several branches. The light touched the dew drops and the sun created thousands of miniature rainbows everywhere. Everything sparkled.
As she landed, Luna trotted up to her, eyes wide with glee. "I wish I could do that!"
Aurora gave a shy smile. "I didn't do anything, Luna. The sun did all that. And the dew happens when…actually, I don't know how dew happens!"
The two started giggling, which turned into loud laughter. Luna fell over in a fit of giggles and Aurora sank to her knees, not even knowing why she was laughing so hard.
"Having a good time, girls?" Alcyone asked with a smile.
Aurora and Luna nodded, still giggling.
"Well, come down for breakfast. You have your lessons with Starswirl today, and I don't want you late."
Aurora and Luna followed their mother down the spiral staircase, down the long hallway to the dining room. Atlas sat at the head, levitating a stalk of celery to his mouth. He paused as his wife and daughters enter into the room. "Hello, ladies."
Alcyone blushed slightly, her wings fluttering in slight embarrassment. Luna beamed proudly and trotted as properly as she could to her place.
"Beautiful sunrise, Aurora," Altas said.
"Thank you, Papa." Aurora levitated a large carrot and took a dainty bite.
"Remember to finish your alfalfa, girls," Alcyone said idly as she prepared to eat a large apple.
Luna and Aurora shared a look of complete disgust. The two shuffled their food around, eating bits and pieces of hay, apples, and celery until there was nothing but the alfalfa left. Aurora stared at the green leaves, trying to figure out the best way to not eat it. She glanced up at Luna, who suddenly winked at her. Aurora nodded, their parents completely absorbed in their breakfast.
"Look!" Aurora gasped, pointing her hoof out the window just behind her parents. As they turned to look, she and Luna took off down the hall, giggling with their success at getting out of eating alfalfa. They both gasped as they face-planted onto the stone floor, their tails levitated in the air.
"Girls," Atlas scolded.
They both gave a sigh of defeat. "Fine."
Their tails were released and they shamefully trotted back to their spots at the table. Aurora struggled to swallow the alfalfa. It left a sour aftertaste in her mouth. She suddenly wished she had eaten this first so she could get the taste out of her mouth with an apple, or even some grass. At last, her plate was clean, and her mother excused her. Aurora walked as calmly as she could, and the moment she was out of the sight of her parents, she bolted to the river just out the back of the castle. She drank as much water as she could, the sour aftertaste slowly becoming less prominent.
Not long after the last remnants of the taste alfalfa had left her mouth, Luna came flying out, smacking into Aurora and sending both of them into the river. Aurora surfaced, the water feeling cold compared to the warm sun shining down from above.
"Sorry," Luna cried. "I just got so happy I could go, I wasn't watching where I was going."
Aurora shook the water out of her coat. "It's all right. You ready to go?"
"Yes!" Luna fluttered her wings in joy, rising a few feet above the ground.
"Race you!"
Aurora took off, the wind rushing through her mane. She loved this feeling. Suddenly, a periwinkle blur whizzed past her. Luna turned around, stuck out her tongue in a playful gesture, and zoomed off ahead. Aurora unfurled her wings and began to catch up to her sister. Just as she was about to get close enough to tackle Luna, a ferocious roar split the skies. Aurora and Luna both crashed into the ground as their wings locked up in fright.
"What was that?" Luna asked in a terrfied whisper.
"I don't know. Stay close." Aurora pulled Luna to her. Her hoof was shaking uncontrollably. A shadow blocked the view of the sun. It was enough to send the sisters into a bush. Luna stared in wonder while Aurora bit her lip in concern. A huge dragon had just sailed overhead, and there were hundreds behind him.
Luna looked up at Aurora. "What's going on?"
"I have no idea. I don't know why all these dragons are flying up there."
"You don't think…there might be a fight?"
Aurora gave her sister a quick hug. "I don't think so. Let's ask Starswirl. We're almost there."
Luna gave a nod, but she still looked unsettled.
A few more miles down the road was a little hut, nestled inside a tree. A loud banging sound, followed by red, green and pink smoke, emitted from the windows of the hut. Aurora and Luna gave each other an exasperated and amused look before opening the door.
"Starswirl?" Luna called, a large blue puff of smoke floating by her.
"Confound it all!" the blue unicorn cried in dismay, his star covered hat sitting lopsided on his head. He sat up, stroking his curled beard back to its usual position, the bells on his robes jingling, and gave the alicorns a very frustrated glance. A second later he suddenly broke into a broad grin. "My faithful students! Care to give an old unicorn a hoof up?"
Aurora magically lifted Starswirl up onto his feet. "This way's faster."
Starswirl stubbornly threw himself back on the floor. "Faster, but not what I asked. Besides, you didn't take my hat into consideration!"
Luna helped the unicorn up while Aurora placed the hat on his head, just the way he knew he'd like it.
"Much better," Starswirl said with a swish of his robes, the jingling bells ruining the dramatic effect he was going for. "Now, shall we begin? Or do you have questions for me?"
"We-saw-a-dragon-actually-it-was-a-bunch-of-'em-and-we-were-wondering-what-on-Equestria-was-going-on!" Luna said breathlessly.
"Oh, you saw the Great Dragon migration, did you? Yes, the dragons pass over Equestria on the way to their nesting grounds. For the most part, they leave us ponies alone, but…well, sometimes they do get riled up."
There was a sudden whooshing sound that passed over the hut, accompanied by a low pitched chuckle.
As Aurora and Luna dove under the large table in the middle of the hut, Starswirl wore a grim expression. "Teenage dragons again…"
Luna poked her head out from under the table. "What's wrong with them?"
"They tend to be the trouble makers of the dragons. They have a habit of smashing phoenix eggs before they've hatched."
As Aurora tried to rise in protest, she smacked her head on the underside of the table. She wasn't counting on her horn to impale a book positioned on the table. She wriggled herself free and then exclaimed in outrage, "That's horrible!"
"Well, I doubt they'll find any phoenix eggs. I haven't seen a roost in many years."
There was a shrill cry, one that sent shivers up the back of everypony. Starswirl's face fell. He trotted over to the door, and took a quick glance outside. A flash of light exploded outside. Luna and Aurora peeked out and were amazed at what they saw.
Two phoenixes were arcing over a group of three teenage dragons, casting a fiery red light over them all. Several phoenix chicks were hovering behind their parents. The three dragons, still flying at a high speed, crashed into the trees. The phoenix family took off, disappearing into the sunlight.
"Well!" Starswirl sighed. "There's something you don't see every day."
Luna gasped as the three dragons got up and roared in frustration. One of them, a red one, began to grin and chuckle. As the other two stared at their companion in confusion, he opened his claw to reveal what looked like an egg on fire.
Aurora thought of the innocent chick inside. Her family hadn't meant to leave her behind. But she had no way of getting a hold of the phoenix family that had vanished. Mustering her courage, Aurora trotted towards the dragons.
"'Rora!" Luna hissed.
She ignored her. She glared at the dragons. "Hey!"
The red dragon started laughing. "Look at this, guys! A little, pretty, pony! Trying to tell us what to do!"
The other two dragons started laughing, but Aurora stomped her hoof, and shouted, "You put that egg down now!"
The red dragon smirked. "Okay. If you can catch me." He took off into the sky, dangling the egg at the end of his claws. He blanched as Aurora matched him for height. The other two dragons soared skyward, closing in on either side of Aurora. She dodged effortlessly as the dragons met with a crunch. The red dragon turned for the woods, but she met him, still glaring.
"Give me the egg," she threatened.
"Make me!" The dragon pushed past her, and began to fly over the tree tops.
Aurora chased after him, rapidly thinking of a spell that would get him to stop. Instead, she flew on his right side, flying close, so that he would bank left and turn around. He was unaware of this as he made a large loop around the forest. Summoning her magic, Aurora shot a beam of energy at his wing. He stopped midair and examined his injury. In the shock of being hit by magic, he had also dropped the egg.
As the three dragons took off in a huff, Aurora realized in horror she was too far away to catch the egg herself. She could only see Luna's periwinkle mane among the green forest.
"Luna! Catch it!" she screeched. She dove down, hoping that by some miracle she would catch up to the egg before it smashed into the ground. As Aurora approached the ground, Luna dove across the dirt, her front legs outstretched. The egg bounced off her legs, and Luna magically secured the egg before it came to anymore harm.
"'Rory! I got it!" Luna called, bouncing for joy.
"Good catch!" Aurora gave her sister a hug.
Starswirl scoffed. "Typical. Going up against three dragons. Never thinking what's going to happen to them."
Aurora took the egg from Luna, examining it closer. It wasn't really an egg on fire, it had just been the way the orange stripes made it look. "So," she offered it to Starswirl, "what do we do with it?"
"Well," Starswirl said with indignance, though he too admired the egg's design, "I can tell my lesson is going to be completely useless after this. But…I suggest you take it home and see if anything happens."
"To see if it hatches?" Luna asked.
"Well, I'll do some reading tonight on phoenix eggs, if I have any materials. If it doesn't hatch by tomorrow, bring it back and we'll see if we can't help that baby bird out."
"So," Aurora asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement, "this is goodbye then?"
"What do you think I meant? To stay until we have boiled toad soup?"
"You've never had boiled toad soup…"
"Exactly! Now get going, and I'll see you tomorrow, my faithful students."
Aurora carried the egg, barely taking her eyes off it. In the sunlight, the egg had a pattern that resembled flames when the egg was rotated. It was a marvel. Something truly beautiful.
She didn't hear a word her sister said as they trotted home.