Jason checked his Pip-Boy's map function as he examined the physical map he was given, comparing the two. He smiled as he saw the arm(foreleg?)-mounted device was more accurate to the shapes of buildings and width of streets, though he had to give the maker of the physical copy some credit due to its accuracy.

A familiar bark came towards him and he turned to see Dogmeat running up to him.

"Hey, boy, doing alright?" he said.

"<Bark, Bark>!" was the dog's reply.

The canine stopped in front of Jason and began to nudge his rear leg while whimpering.

"Found something?" he asked.

"<Arf>!"

Jason placed the map in one of the duster's pockets as he stood up before following Dogmeat.

\\\\\\//////

Fawkes took a step back slowly as he examined the cyan pegasus while she was suspended in mid-air, encased in a familiar lavender glow. She was frozen in a pose that looked as though she were dive-punching someone as she scowled at him.

"Twilight, let me go!" the cyan pegasus said.

"Rainbow, calm down," Twilight urged. "Why would you just attack Fawkes out of nowhere like that? You should count yourself lucky that my reflexes were on point just now."

"Twi, there's a giant yellow thing standing in the middle of your Castle ready to attack the Crusaders! How am I supposed to calm down?"

"Rainbow Dash, he's not attacking us!" Scootaloo said as she cast the larger pegasus a pleading look.

"Yeah, we were just playing Sky Pirates!" Spike added. "He was pretending to be their airship!"

Rainbow looked down between the fillies and dragon before she dropped her look and smiled sheepishly at Fawkes.

"Uh... hehehe, sorry about that," she said.

Fawkes reached a hand out into the purple field and patted Rainbow's head.

"There is nothing to worry about... you didn't hit me, and I... can understand your concern. I look terrifying, and most others that look like... me, do not retain enough mental fortitude, to keep their rage in check."

As he withdrew his hand, the purple aura faded around Rainbow and retreated into Fawkes' arm. As it did, his veins began to tint a deeper color as his flaky skin smoothed out a bit. Rainbow watched with wide eyes, as did Twilight, who called off her magic as she watched the phenomenon unfold.

"Whoa, that's cool," Rainbow said.

"Fawkes, what was that?" Twilight asked.

Fawkes stared at his arm as it began to accelerate its regenerative properties, the skin turning from yellow to peach for only a moment before it returned to its old color.

"That... that felt like..."

The ponies heard a knock at the Castle's main doors and turned their attention to the source.

\\\\\\//////

Jason waited at the entrance to Twilight's Castle and chuckled as he watched Dogmeat paw at the door.

"Easy there, boy," he said. "I don't know what's got you worked up, but there's no reason to get all antsy."

The hinges creaked as the door slowly moved open to reveal...

"Oh God damn it," Jason cursed.

There, in the doorway, was the rainbow-maned pony from earlier. Apparently, they shared the same sentiment about one another as she scowled at him.

"What do you want?"

"First of all, definitely not to talk to you, but I guess that miracle won't be granted," he answered. "Secondly, I don't know, Dogmeat apparently found something he wanted to show me. I may have left something behind that he picked up on."

"In that case stay outside while I look for it," she said before thrusting the door shut.

At least, she would have had Jason not put a hoof in the doorway. It slammed on his foreleg and bounced off hard, Jason hiding his wince as he felt his bones shake from the force.

"Yeah, no. I'm not about to describe anything of personal value to you for any reason, so I'll find it myself."

"No way, plothead. I just found out that Twilight has a guest here and I don't think she'd appreciate some jerk crashing in and ruining everypony's day."

"And yet you're still here."

"Rainbow, who is it?" Twilight called from the interior.

"Just some crazy trying to get inside!" Rainbow called back.

"Look, the sooner you let me in, the sooner I can get what I need and the sooner I can leave," Jason reasoned.

Rainbow glared at him before kicking the door open.

"Just get your crap and get out," she said before flying inside.

Jason motioned his head for Dogmeat to take the lead, which lead to Dogmeat running in with Jason following. They went past the front-most rooms in the Castle, leaving Jason to wonder what Dogmeat was trying to find.

"... just some jerk with a weird jacket and a cowpony hat," he could hear Rainbow say.

"Wait, did he have a foreleg-mounted device with grey parts and a green and black plate of glass?" he heard Twilight ask.

"Ugh, yeah, that guy. He's a super jerk."

"Rainbow, he's definitely not a jerk. I think you may have started on the wrong hoof, but-"

"Twilight, I tried to be friendly, and that didn't work for squat. He just kept walking away and shouting at me."

"Maybe he wanted to be left alone."

"Then why would he come here?"

'Why the Hell am I listening to this,' Jason thought.

Dogmeat was pawing at the door and looking at Jason. Realizing that what they needed was likely inside, Jason exhaled through his nostrils and pushed the door open.

Inside, he saw the two ponies conversing, three fillies playing with Spike, and...

Jason's eyes widened as he felt his heart jump.

"Fawkes?"

Author's Notes:

Hey, self advertisement!

If you like stories, then check out some of my newer ones like [Stand Proud] and if you like crossovers, check out my Titanfall story, [The War of Crystals and Titans]! That's all, thanks for reading!