***

On Thursday afternoon, Rarity, and Spike walked together into a forest with numerous tall, slender trees. Rainbow Dash hovered near them. Spike was noticeably clutching at his cheek the whole time.

“We do appreciate you showing us the way to the phoenix’s’ nest, Spike,” Rarity said graciously.

Spike smiled up at her. “Anything for you, Rarity. Besides, I’ve been meaning to visit Pee Wee, as you both know.”

Rainbow Dash eyed the trees, scoping the area out in general and added a simple, “Mm-hmm.”

Rarity, meanwhile, saw he was still clutching at his cheek and half-frowned. She went on to say, “He really was an excellent pet. I can’t imagine why you set him free.”

Spike could tell she was watching, grimaced, and continued the conversation all the same. “Phoenixes aren’t meant to be domesticated.”

“I guess Princess Celestia has an exception,” Rainbow noted, still gazing into the scenery.

Spike continued, “Even in the wild, they like to keep to themselves.”

Rarity peered closely at Spike with a frown, then smiled to still talk about phoenixes. “Well, they are beautiful.” She paced in a circle around the small purple dragon as she spoke. “A few of their feathers will add just the right splash of color to my latest-“

Finally, she had enough as Spike kept hiding whatever was on his cheek. She used her unicorn magic, casting its light blue aura, to lift him. “Spike!” she said sharply. “What are you doing?”

“Agh! Nothing,” Spike said as she magically set him down and released him.

By now, Rainbow was more focused on Spike and Rarity than their surroundings and looking for Pee Wee.

“Is there something wrong with your face?” Rarity asked.

Spike sighed. “It’s a stone scale,” he admitted with mild shame. “It isn’t magical or anything like the call of the Dragon Lord. It’s just red and itchy and embarrassing.”

“Oh, precious pants,” Rarity said sympathetically. “That does look uncomfortable.”

Rainbow Dash nodded from her hover. “I agree.” She rubbed at her own cheek in sympathetic irritation.

“But even I get the odd blemish from time to time; it’s nothing to be embarrassed by,” Rarity tried to console Spike. Satisfied she knew what was happening, she walked forward once more.

Spike picked up his pace a little to keep up with her.

“You could pay Zecora a visit,” the pretty white unicorn offered a suggestion. “She makes a cream that works wonders.”

She recalled a separate, unpleasant experience and added, “Just don’t get the shampoo.”

The trio soon drew near to the sought phoenix nest. “There’s Pee Wee’s parents!” Spike said as he pointed at it. He looked side to side. “But I don’t see Pee Wee.”

“Maybe he moved out,” Rarity said. “Everybody has to leave the nest at some point.”

“Yeah, I’m not caught up on the nature of phoenix maturity, can’t say that’s been part of my reading,” Rainbow commented.

Just then, a phoenix swooped in between the Spike and Rarity, blowing wind through Rarity’s purple mane.

“Pee Wee!” Spike said excitedly and ran over to see his orange-feathered friend.

Pee Wee paused in his flight and swooped down again to fly a circle around Spike. He landed, and Spike gave him a hug. The phoenix was now a little taller than Spike. Pee Wee hugged the young dragon back.

“Hey buddy! It’s great to see you. I brought a couple of friends who wanted to ask for your help, if that’s alright,” Spike said.

Pee Wee nodded, ready to hear what the two ponies wanted.

“Rarity here would like some feathers for a dress she’s working on, if it’s not too much trouble,” Spike said and gestured to the unicorn.

Pee Wee nodded and plucked a few to give that Rarity happily accepted.

Spike sighed. Rainbow Dash descended to stand next to him. “Rainbow Dash here has something that’s uh…much more difficult and weird. Um, do you know what a ‘master mev’ is?”

The phoenix friend shook his head.

“Do you sense anything special about her?” Spike wondered, gesturing to her body. “Like does she seem different than the last time you saw her or from any other pegasus?”

Pee Wee looked at Rainbow Dash, studying her seriously for a moment, and shook his head again.

Spike sighed again.

Rainbow put a hoof on his shoulder in consolation with a warm smile. “It’s not a bad thing.”

He perked up a little that. “Okay, then. Your turn. Pee Wee, I promise that my friend’s friend is not going to hurt you, alright? No matter how scary it is, please stay.”

Pee Wee cocked his head, staring at the dragon with intrigue. He looked at Rainbow Dash, who again seemed like she always did, then Spike, and ultimately nodded.

Rarity and Spike made to clear themselves away in a proper spot.

Rainbow Dash backed away a few paces before tapping her hoof to the ground.

Pee Wee watched with curiosity as a red circle surrounded the sky blue pegasus. That was something he had not seen before. Then he saw the translucent essence of a leviathan. The bird’s beak dropped in awe, and he fluttered his wings before remembering to stay put.

Blitz stared down at him, meeting his eyes. None of the others could hear it, but she sent the message all the same. Master.

Pee Wee suddenly became very animated and nodded his head up and down, lifting into a hover. He chattered away at a quick pace.

“Master?” Rarity asked. “What’s he saying? Do you understand him now?”

“Not quite yet, but I’m getting something,” Rainbow said. “Blitz?”

Blitz looked from Pee Wee to Rainbow and simply nodded. She nodded at Pee Wee, then gestured her head to Rainbow and nodded yet again. That was enough for the master mev to grasp. “He actually does know what a master mev is. Blitz is some kind of trigger. That’s why she can message my title. It’s like the knowledge of what I am is locked away until I show up for creatures like phoenixes,” Rainbow explained.

“Oh,” both Spike and Rarity said at the same time.

“That’s rather fascinating, isn’t it?” Rarity asked rhetorically.

Pee Wee gestured his wing tip at his beak and chomped. Then he crossed both his wings and shook his head.

“Master, care to translate? Or do you still need Blitz?” Rarity asked.

“‘No biting’,” Rainbow said.

Spike sighed in relief.

“May I have your magic some other way, please?” Rainbow asked with a polite, careful tone.

Pee Wee shook his head but then gestured up to his parents.

“Master, I must ask you to keep translating for us, please,” Rarity requested.

“He’s young and even though I’m not biting him, it’s better to get the magic from his parents since they’re older,” Rainbow said.

Pee Wee confirmed with a nod. He held up a set of feathers for her to wait and flew up to the nest.

“He’s going to talk to them,” Rainbow explained.

Sure enough, Pee Wee chatted with his parents, and then the pair joined him, descending from the nest to see the dragon, ponies, and leviathan dread. Pee Wee gestured at Blitz.

“Go ahead,” Rainbow told her pet.

Blitz sent the Master message again.

The beaks of both parents dropped in awe much like Pee Wee’s did a moment ago when first seeing Blitz. The mother of the two flapped her wings to fly up and circled around Rainbow Dash, studying the master mev. Pee Wee chattered away.

“This one’s his mother. She’s scoping me out,” Rainbow continued to translate for Spike and Rarity, “and Pee Wee’s telling her what I just asked.”

The mother flew down to the ground and motioned at Rainbow then into her beak.

“She’s asking if the magic comes back. Now I gotta talk to her,” Rainbow said. She addressed the phoenix. “Once the magic is inside of me, it will go back to you in one week.”

She gestured at her own chest as she looked at the mother, then pointed her hoof at the mother phoenix.

Rainbow put her hoof on the ground and drew a straight line, then a circle above some space over it to represent the sun. She put a curve over the sun and drew tally lines up to seven. “Do yo understand?”

The mother phoenix examined the dirt drawing and nodded. She gestured at Rainbow again and flared out her wings emphatically. She gestured at her beak again and opened it, a feather pointing to its inner top. The mother phoenix gestured at her own eyes. She gestured at Rainbow’s eyes, then her own again. Pee Wee drew closer to her and looked at Rainbow Dash. He gestured his ‘no biting’ rule again. The mother nodded and copied his same gesture.

“She wants to see my vampire form with the enchantment on but still no biting,” Rainbow said. With a touch of mild surprise at the end of translation, she asked the mother, “Really?”

The mother phoenix nodded.

“To be fair Master, the enchantment does feel quite lovely,” Rarity reminded Rainbow. “Just as when you did with us, she knows to expect it.”

The master mev certainly didn’t mind. “Alright, sure,” Rainbow agreed to the terms.

Pee Wee and his father moved to the side so that only the mother phoenix would gaze on at Rainbow to feel the enchantment.

Rainbow Dash transformed and spread her bat wings wide. Her red eyes gazed on at the mother phoenix. The master mev sent an extra shimmer to round through her irises. She smiled to part her mouth and show off her fangs.

The mother phoenix opened her beak in awe, fluttered her wings, and encircled Rainbow Dash again. She returned to where she stood a moment ago,

Rainbow let her gaze linger for little while longer before she reverted to her standard pegasus form.

The mother phoenix flew over to Rainbow and hugged her neck.

“Heh, my pleasure,” Rainbow said, blushing as she pat the back of the mother phoenix with a hoof.

The mother flew back to the ground and gestured from her chest to her beak to an empty space at the air to Rainbow Dash.

“What’s she saying?” Spike asked.

“She can channel her magic into something to go into me,” Rainbow told him.

“Oh, it’s a good thing we brought the crown then,” Rarity said. “Shall I, Master?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Rainbow replied.

Rarity used her magic to take the crown out of her saddlebag and set it on the ground.

“Everyone, clear away. Give Mama Pee Wee some space,” Rainbow Dash instructed their company.

The mother phoenix mimed an amused laugh at how she was referenced.

Rarity, Spike, and Blitz did as the master mev said. Rainbow herself lifted into a hover, and Blitz lifted to match her master.

The mother phoenix channeled her magic in a large bright orange beam into the crown. When she was done, she wiped her forehead and appeared tired.

“Go ahead, Rarity,” Rainbow said as she returned to the general area with the crown and phoenix family.

Rarity opened her mouth, and Spike’s jaw dropped a little since it was the first he ever saw of the white unicorn’s fangs or her magic-eating. Rarity finished and simply announced, “Done.”

Rainbow hovered down, and Spike watched as the sky blue pegasus mev bit into Rarity’s neck. Spike gulped. He looked at Blitz who watched the entire thing quietly. He looked at the phoenix family who watched in quiet fascination. Evidently, it was okay to watch this particular bite for this particular business.

When the mevs were done, Rainbow bowed graciously to the mother phoenix. “Thank you very much. If there’s anything else I can ever do for you, let me know.” She outstretched her right wing.

The mother phoenix smiled and shook it with her own right wing. The father phoenix chattered at Rainbow and gestured toward the nest.

“It’s the least I can do,” Rainbow said with a warm smile, and she gently lifted the mother phoenix up to the nest. The father and Pee Wee followed.

Rainbow gave a little hoof bump to the other two, saluted, and descended to join her friends.

“So how much of that was Fluttershy’s magic?” Spike asked with mild curiosity.

“It’s too mixed in to say,” Rainbow told him. “It was her turn last night, so that probably helped too.”

“Do you really think so, Master?” Rarity asked.

“Just a guess,” Rainbow admitted.

“A master mev instinct guess though?” the white unicorn probed.

Rainbow nodded, thought for a moment and looked at Blitz. She held out her hoof. The leviathan drew closer and allowed herself to be pet. “Thanks again, Blitz,” Rainbow said in sincere appreciation. “That’s all for now.”

Blitz nodded and slipped away into a red circle on the ground.

Rainbow Dash looked at Spike. “Spike the Brave and Glorious does it again.” She offered him a hoof to bump.

He blushed, clutched at his stone scale, and bumped back with his other claw.

After that, the master mev winked and blew a kiss at her fledgling as the means to express gratitude for her Mitria’s part. Rarity blushed and smiled back. She giggled, rubbed her own cheek, and even blew a kiss back.

Spike looked from one to the other with his mouth partly open in jealous awe. He shook his head and reminded himself they were vampires. They had made it no secret the nature of their mev bond was an intimate one. He went back to rubbing at the bothersome stone scale on his cheek.

“Perhaps you should pay Zecora a visit sooner than later,” Rarity suggested to Spike.

“Not a bad idea,” Rainbow concurred.

The young purple dragon sighed and pointed at the stone scale. “I don’t want anyone else to see this. Besides, I’m sure it’ll clear up after a good night’s sleep.”

Rarity looked up at Rainbow Dash with a disapproving half frown.

Rainbow shrugged from her hover. As far as she could tell, it was just an ugly blemish and maybe it really would clear up on its own.

The three headed back to Ponyville together, phoenix feathers and magic in tow.