An Affinity With the Sun: Act II: Chapter VI

~An Affinity With the Sun~
{Act II}
[Chapter VI]
|Bird Brain|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>The cold floor is all that greets you as you awaken from an exhausted sleep
>Last night was a bit of a blur, but you remember the magical spout you had just before you passed out
>It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, normally you'd be awake by now and you find it strange that the palace workers hadn't even bothered to check on you
>Maybe you were getting too privileged
>You try to bring yourself to your feet to start the new day
>With a few wobbles you gain your balance
>Philomena now rests on the bed spread, she must have flown in in the middle of the night
>You find the magical book you checked out from the library across the room
>Flipping through the pages, you recall it saying something about being able to traverse the minds of others
>What a skill that'd be to have
>You figure since you were able to produce something last night, maybe you'd be able to conjure something today
>And who better of a guinea pig then your favorite fire bird?
>Your finger stops on the page with the excerpt
>It all sounds familiar, things about being extremely careful or you could wind up trapping your psyche in the mind of another
>It would be wise to avoid that

>You carefully take a seat next to Philomena as she enjoys her lazy afternoon nap
>It would be cruel to wake her, you think to yourself
>With book in hand you begin to read
>"First, one must clear all thoughts. Only concentrate on the sound of the things around you. Such as the sounds of the air, the buzzing of a bee, or the song of a humming bird. Synchronize yourself with nature, be one with the earth and you'll have access to all it's creations."
>Sounded easy enough
>You begin to only concentrate on the slight sound of Philomena's breathing
>Analyzing it, recognizing the seconds between inhale and exhale
>As you concentrate, you continue reading
>"Next, it's important to establish a bridge between you and the subject. Latch on to their thoughts, meaning open your mind to their projections. Once you can feel their thoughts, you will be able to ride your way into their mind."
>The next part sounded difficult
>You hardly knew what that meant, but nevertheless you give it a shot
>You try not to think of anything in particular, but try to imagine what her thoughts would be
>A moment passes in silence, a moment more, and another
>You're about ready to give up. Until an echo of a voice seeps into your brain
>You've never heard the voice, but you instantly identify it with the pheonix

//Seeds. Bird seeds. I need to preen my feathers. 100 years to go. Princess. Nonny, and Princess.\\

>Your eyes shoot open in shock
>It's an other worldly experience
>The voice was heard so clearly, yet it felt so alien and disconnected from the physical being
>Was this what magic was?
>You almost reconsider this idea before you press onward
>Again, you focus all thoughts on her, trying to grasp the voice from before

//Red. Loud birds outside. Princess is gone, have to look after Nonny for Princess.\\

>You find it easily the second time and you allow yourself to be drawn in by her thoughts
>The feeling that overcomes you is one you cannot describe

>Not even Steven King could describe this horrid feeling
>It felt so detached and empty as you flowed freely into Philomena's thoughts
>You could see nothing, but you could her every sound in her body
>Soon you'd find yourself in her dreams. One of her most common dreams
>Like Mr. Scrouge, your ghostly feet make contact with the grassy ground
>On the edge of a forest you can see Canterlot under construction
>Red flashes zip by you and into the forest
>Behind them follow 3 adolescent dragons, chasing them on all fours
>They make a b-line for you and your screams go unheard as they pass right through you, knocking you on your backside
>Nearly suffering a heart attack you rise to your feet
>Turning your attention toward the forest
>The trees and bushes brushed out of place by the large dragons
>By some inclination you follow
>Time seems to flow with the consistency off drunk Father Time and your instantly find yourself at the scene of a crime
>Two phoenixes lay dead among their brightly colored eggs
>"Hurry up and take the eggs so we can smash em' already!" one dragon says
>"Shut up, I got em'."
>The one that seems to be the leader collects the eggs and hands two of them to his friends
>They each snicker in their favorite pass time, which makes you sick to your stomach
>One egg hits the ground in a loud crack
>The second, not a moment later
>But before the third egg could be smashed, a familiar alicorn swoops down from above

>An alabaster white alicorn lands in front of their 'leader'
>Trying her best to seem intimidating
>It hardly works as the dragon reaches into the air to smash the last egg
>But the magical chime of her aura falls on everyone's ears as his claws are bound
>"Don't you have anything better to do than smash a bird's eggs?"
>A younger looking and sounding Celestia speaks to the 3 assailants
>"Whats it to you? You stupid horse!"
>The other two dragons chime in
>"It's my business to see that every living creature is treated well within my kingdom. And you have strayed far from the agreed reservation. As far as I'm concerned, you are trespassing on my land."
>The phoenix egg is guided from the dragon's claws and tucked under Celestia's wing
>"Hey, that's mine-"
>"Do you know how hot the Sun is? Your hides may be able to withstand the extreme heat of molten rock, but you'd instantly be burned to a crisp if you so much as step a foot near it. I could show you, if you'd like."
>You can't help but laugh at the threat, you never took her to be so upfront about sending someone directly to the sun
>But you figured it'd have to be some sort of boast, she can't just kill three young dragons could she? That'd start some sort of war!
>"You ponies, think you're so damn proud! My dad would turn your shitty piece of land into hell!"
>The young dragon is now shouting
>However, Celestia just chuckles at the threat
>"That may be. But today's victory however, belongs to me. And I'm sure your father would agree with me if I told him you had been breaking the law and straying from the reservation. Wouldn't he?"
>She shoots him a coy look
>Damn, Celestia was one ballsy horse!
>You notice the young dragon go silent with no reply
>"I thought as much. Now please return to your families, I'm sure they are worries about you."
>Her magical grip loosens around the dragon's wrists as she turns to take flight
>Begrudgingly, they turn away and head back, bad mouthing the pony-princess

>Again, you find time slipping away from you as you are carried into the Princesses' chambers
>Celestia sits alone, the phoenix egg sitting peacefully on a pedestal
>She idly goes over documents of some kind
>A familiar sight
>Shes humming some sort of tune, one you're sure you've heard before
>But the soft songs is broken by the sound of the egg cracking
>Piece by piece, the egg shell falls apart, revealing a yellow beak, and then red feathers
>Celestia stands up and approaches the egg, giving it small words of encouragement
>Finally, the egg completely falls apart and the phoenix chick spreads it's wings for the very first time
>"Kweh!"
>Are the bird's first words
>"And hello to you too!"
>Celestia calls back
>You presume the bird to be Philomena, it'd make sense after all
>You see her look around her station, maybe hoping to find more eggs that might of hatched with her
>Sadly there are none, but Celestia keeps her kind exterior
>"Don't worry. I'm sure your siblings are in a better place now. No doubt you heard all the commotion awhile back."
>Philomena nods in reply, abit solemnly
>"You know, I also have a sibling who isn't here with me now. We got into a pretty bad fight a long time ago. So you aren't alone in your loneliness."
>This adds some sort of comfort for Philomena, misery loves company after all
>"Now lets see, I supposed you'd want a name..."
>She puts her hoof to her chin, thinking of a name that'd be equally as magnificent as her new friend
>"How about......Armageddon, Lord of Fire!"
>She nearly shouts out the name, as proud as can be
>But Philomena recoils at the horrible choice
>"Kweh...."
>"What? I think it's a perfect name!"
>She plays offended and pretends to put up an argument
>It feels strange to actually catch the Celestia in this kind of form
>She much more outgoing and carefree, you wonder how she became the obsessed jailer she is.
>"Fine, how about....Philomena?"

>She's much more serious about the name this time
>Philomena thinks it over in silence, until she finally agrees
>"Kweeh!"
>Celestia looks happy with herself as she picks her new found friend up with her hoof and perch her on her head
>"Come Philomena, let's introduce you to everyone."
>And with that, you find yourself loosing connection
>The dream fades and the colors of the room fade into a mesh until they are completely gone
>Once again that terrible feeling over takes you as you are pulled back into your own body
>The transaction is something you'll never get used to
>Without too much time passing, you're back in your physical home
>Now able to open your eyes to a now awake phoenix
>Philomena greets you with a coo before perching herself on your head
"Ow, get your claws off of my head!"
>You shoo her off you and she takes flight, circling you in a playful manner
>You feel like you know Philomena more now as you think back on what you've just experienced
>You extend your arm for her to perch, which she does
"You sleep too much, you lazy bird."
>She coos again on your arm as you pull it closer to your chest
"Yeah yeah. We should probably go get something to eat. It's getting late."
>From the balcony you can already see the sun begin to make an effort to sink behind the horizon
>You don't waste any time making your way to the kitchen, now with your feathered friend
>You had more to look forward to this month after this successful experiment