Chapter 15
Peewee the Phoenix
Once Hearth's Warming ended, everypony returned to Canterlot. The classes were back in session and everpony talked to each other about their Hearth's Warming experiences. Twilight was the only pony who didn't talk about what she did for Hearth's Warming. She wanted to get her mind off of the crystal mirror, so she decided to study with Applejack in the library. After everything that happened last night, Twilight couldn't help but feel disappointed that she couldn't find any books on Star Swirl.
"Girls! I found him!" called an exited voice. Twilight and Applejack looked up to see Rarity approaching them, carrying a heavy book. The book was so old it looked like it was written hundreds of years ago. "I found the book on Star Swirl!" Rarity exclaimed as she set the book on the table. "Incredible! Where did you find it, Rarity?" Applejack asked. "It was in the section for famous ponies." the white unicorn replied. "Great job, Rarity!" Twilight praised. "Now we can finally solve this mystery!"
Twilight and her friends then opened the book and started to read it. "It says that Star Swirl was a powerful unicorn who created a powerful object called the Sorcerer's Stone." Rarity read. "The stone has the power to make ponies immortal." "Immortal?" Applejack repeated. "Yes. Being immortal means that you will never die." Twilight explained. "That must be why Flintheart tried to sneak passed Cerberus. Cerberus is guarding the stone!"
Applejack and Rarity gasped upon learning the purpose of the three-headed dog. "We need to tell somepony what Flintheart is planning, but there is nopony to trust." Rarity said. Twilight and her friends started to ponder in silence. "Actually." Twilight spoke up. "There is somepony we can trust and we are going to visit him tonight."
It was nighttime in Canterlot, so the prefects were staying on guard making sure that everypony was in bed. What the prefects didn't know was that three invisible ponies were silently sneaking passed them. Twilight recently learned to use her invisibility spell on multiple ponies at once, making it easy for the unicorn and her friends to sneak outside the castle. They kept moving until they came across a cottage sitting at the edge of the castle grounds. As soon as Twilight knocked on the door, she heard loud hoof steps from inside.
The door opened to reveal a stern-looking Big Mac. "Who's there?" he asked. Twilight then retracted the spell making her, Applejack, and Rarity visible to the stallion. "Big Mac, we need to tell you something!" Twilight spoke up. "Oh it's only you three!" Big Mac sighed. "I'm sorry, but I can't have any visitors at the moment, so please go back to your dormitories." Just as Big Mac was about to close his door, the three ponies shouted, "We know about the Sorcerer's Stone!" Upon hearing this, Big Mac eyed the ponies curiously. "You three could get into a lot of trouble for what you know. Come inside and tell me what you know about the stone." Big Mac stepped to the side allowing the trio into his cottage.
The inside was surprisingly small for a stallion like Big Mac to live in. It was dimly lit with candles and a fireplace. Twilight and her friends took their seats at a wooden table where Big Mac poured them cups of tea. "So, what is it that you know about the stone?" Big Mac asked as he sat down. "We are aware that the stone has the power to give eternal life." Twilight explained. "We are almost certain that Flintheart is planning to steal it." "Nonsense! Professor Flintheart is a Canterlot teacher! Even if somepony wanted to steal the stone, they would have to make it through the various trials guarding it!" Big Mac placed his hoof over his mouth once he realized what he said.
"Do you mean that Cerberus isn't the only thing that's guarding the stone?" Rarity asked. Big Mac remained silent, not wanting any more secrets to slip out. "There are other obstacles passed the trap door aren't there." Applejack guessed. "Eeyup." "And you are not going to tell us anything else, are you?" Twilight asked. "Nope." the stallion replied. Twilight and her friends knew that they won't get any more information. They were about to excuse themselves and leave when they heard a cracking noise from the counter.
"It's hatching already?" Big Mac ran to the counter and grabbed a bright red egg with multiple cracks on it. Twilight and her friends watched in awe as Big Mac set the egg on the table. "Big Mac, is that a phoenix egg?" Applejack asked. "Eeyup! I won it in a bet with somepony. He seemed very happy to get rid of it." The egg started to form more cracks until it broke apart.
The creature inside the egg was a tiny bird with orange feathers. It gave one look at Big Mac and gave a high pitched chirp. "Aw! He thinks I'm his mommy!" Big Mac cooed as he picked up the phoenix in his hooves. "I think I will name him Peewee." "Why name it Peewee?" Twilight asked. "Why not? He is the smallest bird I ever saw."
Even though it was nice for Big Mac to have a pet of his own, Twilight and her friends didn't feel comfortable with keeping Peewee a secret from everypony. What would the school staff think when they find out that their groundskeeper was keeping a rare creature in his cottage? "Big Mac." Applejack spoke up. "Pardon me for saying this, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to keep a phoenix hidden here. The school would find out sooner or later." "I must agree with Applejack." Rarity chimed in. "Peewee needs to be with his own kind. Besides this cottage is no place to take care of a rare creature.
Deep down Big Mac knew that his friends were right, but he couldn't bear to part with his new pet. "Look, I know that it seems hard to take care of Peewee, but I can make it work for the little guy." Before the stallion could argue anymore, he gave a suspicious glance behind the three ponies. "Wait, who is that pony outside my window?" The trio turned to see a blue unicorn spying on them from the window. She realized that she was caught and immediately galloped out of sight.
"That was Trixie!" Twilight answered. "This isn't good." Big Mac fretted. "She must have overheard our conversation. I want you three to return to your common rooms and not say a word about this to anypony." "We won't tell anypony, but we will continue this conversation later." Twilight said. Twilight and her friends soon left the cottage and made their way back to the castle.
The three ponies returned to the castle and sneaked through the dark halls once again. "I wonder who gave that egg to Big Mac in the first place." Twilight whispered. "Not many ponies are able to acquire such a rare item." "Excuse me! I hope I'm not interrupting anything!" called a voice in the hallway. Standing in front of the three friends was Professor Cadance who looked displeased with them. "Miss Lulamoon, here just told me that you three were sneaking out after bedtime. Twilight and her friends glared at Trixie who was very pleased with getting them in trouble. "Professor Cadance, we can explain!" Twilight pleaded. "You will have plenty of time to explain in my office." Cadance said.
The pink alicorn led the ponies to her office and started to scold them for what they did. "Nopony is supposed to be out after dark under any circumstances! Not only that, but keeping a baby phoenix hidden in a cottage is against the law! I will make sure that the baby phoenix is returned to it's own kind." Twilight and her friends knew that this was coming, but they couldn't help but feel sad that Big Mac is going to lose his only pet.
"Now, for sneaking out I'm going to take away 50 house points each!" Cadance explained. "50 points!" the trio exclaimed. With that many points taken away, they lost the house cup for Gryffindor. "Yes, and all four of you will have detention with Cranky tomorrow night." Trixie then raise an eyebrow at Cadance's last statement. "Excuse me Professor, but I must have misheard you. I thought you said 'all four of us.'"
"I'm sorry Miss Lulamoon, but you heard me correctly." the pink alicorn said. "You were out of bed as well, so you are going to be joining your friends in detention." Trixie glared at Twilight and her friends who were covering their smiles. Although the night went bad for everypony, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity felt satisfaction knowing that Trixie finally got what she deserved.