>Day Rise of the Phoenix in Equestria.
>A gentle wind blows through P0nyville.
>The sun hangs high in the sky, signalling that it is currently about mid-day.
>Few clouds blemish the sun's stage.
>Today was almost perfect.
>The only thing that could complement the day was...
>"Here you are, dearie."
>Mrs. Cake set a small box on the table in front of you.
"Thank you, Mrs. Cake."
>She nods and trots back inside.
>You continue to take in the gorgeous day as you sit outside of Sugarcube Corner.
>It's been a few weeks since you and Anon came home.
>Life just went back to what it's always been.
>No conflict, no worries, no problems.
>Instead of staying at home and waiting for Anon to get off work, you opted to wander around town for most of the day.
>Somehow, you always found yourself sitting at one of the small tables outside of Sugarcube Corner around lunch-time.
>A sweet smell emanates from the box in front of you.
>Your stomach rumbles a little bit.
>The smell is too much, even though you ordered it specifically to take home.
>The box opens with a tap of your hoof, revealing a large slice of the Cakes' famous Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness cake.
>Your mouth waters as you lean in to take a bite.
>Your teeth sink into the cake as the front door of Sugarcube Corner bursts open.
>A large bipedal creature comes sprinting through the door.
>Its clothes are on fire.
>You sigh as it starts rolling on the ground.
>Several of the books Anon took from the tower were cookbooks.
>One in particular had a cake Anon kept trying to bake for the Cakes.
>He called it baked Alaska or something.
>It's been three days of trial and error with that recipe, and every day at lunch-time he comes running and screaming out of the store.
>You continue to eat your cake as you watch him finally put the fire out.
"Having fun, dear?"
>He looks up at you.
>His shirt was almost burnt off of him.
>"Absolutely."
>He sits across from you at the table.
>"I think I've almost got it. I just need to stop getting oil on my clothes."
>A hand reaches for your cake.
>You swat it away with a hoof.
"Get your own."
>He scoffs and starts to pout.
>"Oh come on, Speck! There's no way you're going to eat all of that."
>You close your eyes and smirk smugly.
"Watch me."
>You go to take another bite of your cake, but find it isn't in front of you.
>Your eyes snap open to find Anon holding the cake in his hand.
"Put it down, Anon."
>"Make me."

>You climb onto the table and glare at him.
"Give it back, Anon."
>"Nope. And your stare could only kill lesser men. I am not one of those men."
>You screech and tackle him.
>He holds the cake close, careful not to drop it.
>He laughs as you bat your hooves at his face.
>"Speck, stop! That tickles!"
>A crowd starts to form as you try to beat Anon senseless.
>All he does is laugh.
>He doesn't even try to block your hits.
>Tears start to form in your eyes as you slow your assault.
>You sit down on his stomach and start sniffling.
"Why are you always so mean to me?!"
>"Because, it's funny watching you over-react to someone touching your food."
>He sits up and you tumble into his lap.
>You look up at him as your tears fall from your eyes.
"I don't find it very funny."
>He rolls his eyes and gives you the cake back, which you hold in your hooves.
>"So can we come in and order our sweets, now?"
>Anon looks over at the offending pegasus.
>"Nope. I'm not done having a moment with my special little bat."
>The crowd sighs and disperses a little.
>Anon picks you up and sets you back in your chair.
>You grumble at him and continue eating your cake.
>"I have to get back to work. I'll see you later, okay?"
>You nod and finish the cake.
>Anon walks back inside.
>Four hours to go.

>"Dearie? Could you please stop trying to light the cakes on fire?"
>You pull another almost-finished baked Alaska out of the oven.
"Absolutely."
>She smiles at you and continues frosting some cupcakes.
>You quickly pour a bit of oil over the cake and hold a match to it.
"Not."
>The cake successfully lights on fire.
>You throw your hands up in success.
>Mrs. Cake stares at you, her face almost resembling the day she met Speck.
>"ANON YOUR HAIR'S ON FIRE!"
>You smirk and start whispering to yourself.
"You must have lost your wits, yeah."
>The smell of burnt hair reaches your nostrils.
>You look over at Mrs. Cake with a raised eyebrow.
"Is something burning?"
>She rushes at you with a small bucket of water and throws it at your face.
>"Your hair was."
>She glares at you.
>"Go home, Anon. You've been lighting the cakes on fire all day."
"But that's how they're supposed to be."
>She sighs.
>"Not in my store, Anon. Go home."
>There was no arguing with her.
>She shooed you out as you hung your apron by the door.
"I'll be back tomorrow then."
>She rolls her eyes.
>"Leave the matches at home, then."
"No promises."
>She shuts the door on you.
>Nowhere to go but hang around town.
"Wonder where Speck is..."
>It wasn't four o'clock yet, so she wouldn't be home.
>Maybe she was on the other side of town.
>There was a good bit to do over there.
>You decide it would be a good idea to go there, in case she was wandering around.
>At the very least, it would be a good time killer.
>You start to head towards the east end of town.

>This shouldn't surprise you.
>Speck sits outside of the schoolyard as the children enjoy their recess.
>She sighs to herself as the children run by and play.
>Time for one of those depressing conversations she loves to have.
>They started up and became more and more frequent since her mother passed last month.
>You sit beside her and she immediately looks up at you with a slight frown.
>She's so cute, and she isn't even trying.
>"Anon, can we have a foal?"
>There are so many things wrong with that.
>You slowly place your face in your hands.
"Speck."
>There is absolutely no easy way to say this.
"I don't think it'll work like that. I'm not a p0ny."
>She raises an eyebrow.
>"I... I was thinking about adoption, Anon."
>Well this is awkward.
>You look away from her and blush.
>She keeps staring at you.
>"What did you think I meant?"
>You cough into your hand and start shaking your head.
"Some human thing, you wouldn't understand."
>She smiles and sighs.
>"You're so strange."
"Yeah, let's go with that."
>She leans against you and smiles.
>"So can we adopt?"
"We've only known each other for, what? Three months?"
>"So? You said you'll never leave me again. We love each other. Why not?"
>She has a point.
>That was a thing you said, and that is a thing you feel.
"Let me think about it, Speck."

>A muffled scream catches your attention.
>Speck looks towards a corner of the school building, a concerned look on her face
>Three little pegasus fillies come trotting around the corner, giggling to themselves.
>Your little bat darts past them and around the corner.
>The fillies pass by you, and you hear them mutter something about a "freaky looking pegasus."
>Oh wonderful.
>Three months in town obviously wasn't long enough for the children to start accepting Speck.
>If you did decide to adopt, how would the fillies and colts there react?
"Guess that'll just be dealt with when we get there."
>You start walking over to where Speck ran off to.
>As you approach, you hear a light whimpering accompanied by Speck humming a sweet little tune.
>You've heard that tune before.
>She sang something that sounded like it shortly after her mother's funeral.
>You were going to turn this corner to find a dead p0ny, weren't you?
>No, apparently not.
>Speck lay about a foot away from a little bat filly.
>The filly's left eye is nearly swollen shut, and a small stream of blood trickles out of her right nostril.
>Her left wing looks broken and she has scratches dug into her coat.
>Tears fall down her cheeks as Speck hums to her.
>She does her best to crawl towards your bat.
>You turn to go alert one of the teachers of what happened, but coincidentally, you run into one right around the corner.
>"O-oh my. Excuse me."
>She tries to pass you.
>She gasps and starts to approach Speck, who pulls the filly closer to her.
>You speak up to prevent her from getting closer to Speck.
"Hang on, three little pegasus fillies just assaulted that bat filly."
>She turns and raises an eyebrow.
>"Oh? Three little pegasus fillies just told me they found a bat filly beaten and crying in a corner."
>Oh, you see how it's going to be.
"They were muttering something about a weird looking pegasus."
>"Are you accusing my students of harming one of their fellow students?"
>Speck goes back to calming the filly down.
"Yes, I am. What's the alternative? That she hurt the filly?"
>You point at Speck, who's starting humming again.
"You know what, forget it. Call the kid's parents, I'm reporting this to Luna and Celestia."
>The teacher looks startled, her cyan eyes going wide.
>"P-princess Celestia?"
>You nod slowly.
>"Th-that won't be necessary."
>She laughs nervously.
>"Besides, she doesn't have parents. She comes over here from the orphanage with a few other p0nies."

>Coincidence after coincidence, right?
>Speck asks you if you can adopt a child, a child gets beaten up, she rushes to it, the bat filly turns out to be an orphan.
>The teacher tried to take the filly with her to the orphanage, and then the hospital.
>Speck refused and insisted on keeping the filly with her.
>The orphanage's Matron found it humorous and asked Speck if she'd like to adopt the filly.
>You said you still had to think about it.
>The Matron smiled and nodded, completely understanding.
>Speck, the Matron, and you all arrived at the hospital together.
>The doctors set and cast her wing, gave her some antibiotics, and set her up in a small room for the night, where she now slept.
>The Matron left shortly after, but Speck insisted that you stay.
"Speck. You're acting really overbearing. You don't even know this kid."
>"It doesn't matter, Anon. She needs me."
>That was debatable, and highly doubtful.
>She hugs the filly close and kisses her on the forehead.
"I doubt that, Speck. She'll be fine here for the night."
>She scoffs at you.
>"Anon. There are no bat p0ny orphans. There never have been, and for one to be here now is wrong."
>Well she got mad real fast.
>"If a bat foal's parents unfortunately pass, then they are immediately taken in by the next mare she is closest to."
>That's interesting.
>"I want to know what happened to this foal's parents and why she wasn't adopted by any other bat p0nies."
>Speck glares at you.
>"I don't care if you object or not."
>You shrug.
>It's impossible to argue with Speck anyway.
"Sure. Whatever makes you happy."
>You sit beside her and hug her close.
>Speck brushes the filly's pale purple mane out of her face.
>You look up at a clock that hangs in the room.
>Almost five o'clock.
>Time flies when you're worrying about an orphaned bat child.
>Speck looks so complacent just being near that child.
>It's weird.
>She isn't acting like her usual hyper-active, overly excited self.
>It's decided, then.
>You won't adopt.
>Sure, it's selfish, but you like Speck the way she is.
>You don't want her to become some overbearing motherly stick in the mud.
>She was going to hate you.

>You stroke Speck's shoulder.
"I'm gonna head home, alright?"
>She nods and gives you a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
>"Okay."
>The trek home was long and uneventful, but you had to get there as soon as possible.
>You ran as fast as you could, darted through the front door and into your study.
>You grab a piece of parchment and a pen and start scribbling.
"Dear Luna,
One of your stars is currently in an orphanage in P0nyville.
Speck wishes to adopt her, but I fear that may not be a valid route to take.
Your presence in P0nyville is urgently requested for reasons that it would be better for you to see for yourself.
-Anon"
>You fold the letter quickly and hold it over one of three candles on your desk.
>Specifically, the blue one.
>Celestia gave you three ever-burning candles when you moved to P0nyville, in case you ever needed to write to any of the Princesses.
>She said it was similar to having a dragon companion, but you opted out of that.
>The flames overtake the letter as it disappears.
>Several moments later a small scroll plops down on your desk.
>You pick it up and hurriedly open it.
>"Dear Anonymous,
>I will be there tomorrow as soon as the sun rises.
>Please, look out for that little bat until then.
>- Princess of the Night,
>Luna"
>Perfect.
>Now to come up with a plan.

>The clock in the room chimes eight o' clock.
>You've been whispering stories and songs to the sleeping filly for the past three hours.
>She slowly starts to wake as you begin to hum another tune.
>Her large, dark blue eyes stare up at you.
>"Mom?"
>You shake your head and smile softly as you stroke her mane.
"No, no. My name's Speck."
>She reaches her hooves up and tries to hug you.
>You lean close to her and let her wrap her forelegs around your neck.
>She squeezes you tightly.
>"Thank you, miss Speck."
"It's not a problem, little one.'
>"M-my name's Sirocca."
"Well, that's a cute name. Where are you from?"
>"I'm fr-from the orphanage."
>You smile and rest your head on the side of the bed.
"Do you like it there?"
>She shrugs, her frizzy, poofy mane bouncing against her shoulders.
>"I guess. Some of the kids aren't t-too nice, but it's not as bad as school."
"Don't worry about that, little one. Everything's going to get better soon."
>She smiles and closes her eyes as best as she can.
>"Good night, miss Speck."
"Good night Sirocca."
>You stroke her cheek as she starts to snore.
>A yawn parts your lips, so you decide to adjust your chair to be able to comfortably lay your head on the edge of the bed.
>Even a watchful guardian needs her sleep.
>And tomorrow would bring bright new beginnings.