Ponyville was given yet another lovely day to start. Fluttershy was tending to the animals in her cottage. She finished bandaging the leg of a mouse
"There you go, Mr. Mousey." She told him, carefully pushed the wheelchair to a nearby mouse hole, where the mouse family was waiting. "Now you stay off that leg and do everything I told you. And it will be just like new in no time at all."
The mouse squeaks a thank you to Fluttershy.
"Oh, you're welcome. Happy to be able to help." Fluttershy said. All the while, Angel was running towards Fluttershy with a watch in his paws and a panicked look on his face.
Angel got to Fluttershy and jumped headfirst towards her from behind, which got her attention. She turned to him and Angel gestured to and shook the watch.
"You… found a watch?" Fluttershy asked, trying to figure out what Angel was trying to tell her. Angel shook his head before imitating a clock. “You… wanna be a watch?” Angel shook his head again and began running in place, pointing to the watch yet again. “You're running! Running out of time? No. You're… late?"
Angel nodded and pointed through the open door, where the clock just began striking four. This reminded Fluttershy that she was late. She was late. For a very important date.
"I'm late for a very important date!" She yelped. "The big brunch for Princess Celestia at Sugarcube Corner. Oh, the princess is here in Ponyville for a party, and we all promised we'd be there. But I'm not there! Oh, do I look all right? Do I need to bring anything? Maybe I shouldn't go." She jumped when she heard the trumpet fanfare. "Aah! It's starting! I'm missing it!"
She started to run out the door. Angel sighed with relief, and he began hopping away when Fluttershy came back.
"Oh, thanks, Angel." She said before flying back out. Angel shrugged and went back to hopping. Then Fluttershy came back again.
"I mean, if you hadn't reminded me, I might have not remembered, and then I wouldn't be there, and everypony would be wondering where I was and…" She blinked when he thumped her foreleg. "Oh, right. I'm late." She flew out the door again. Angel quickly hopped over and shut the door, locking it. It began rattling before Fluttershy caught the hint.
“Oh, okay then. See you later.”
My Little Pony,
My Big Changeling too
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…
[Bandit]
(My Little Pony)
We used to wonder what friendship could be
(My Big Changeling too)
[Twilight Sparkle]
Until you all shared its magic with me
[Rainbow Dash]
Big adventure
[Pinkie Pie]
Tons of fun
[Rarity]
A beautiful heart
[Applejack]
Faithful and strong
[Fluttershy]
Sharing kindness!
[Lightning Sprint]
Motivate the team
[Bandit]
Heroics makes it all complete
You have my little ponies
Do you know you're all my very best friends?
Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, two of the Royal Guards, both white pegasi with golden armor, were standing guard outside the door. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint peered out the door at the two guards before hopping out to talk to them.
“So… what do I have to do to get to be one of the Princess's royal guards, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to get a reaction.
"You mean what do WE have to do. Hellooo? Anybody home?" Lightning Sprint asked, waving a hoof in their faces. No reaction, Lightning Sprint looked at Rainbow Dash.
“First one to get a reaction wins a milkshake from the other?” Lightning Sprint suggested.
“Deal.” Rainbow Dash said as she zipped over to try first. She made faces and silly noises. They didn’t react at all.
Lightning Sprint walked up to one and slowly moved her face closer to his, the goal to make him uncomfortable.
“You guys are good.” Lightning Sprint said.
"Yeah, Too good. Booooooring." Rainbow Dash said as she went back inside.
“Lame.” Lightning Sprint said as she flew back inside as well. As they went back inside, Fluttershy finally arrived, a bit out of breath.
"Phew. Made it." She then headed for the door and gasped, startled when the guards suddenly blocked her way with their wings.
"Halt!"
"Who goes there?"
Fluttershy gulped and she began backing away. "No one." She said, not wanting to cause trouble. "Never mind. I'll go home."
Bandit looked past the door and at Fluttershy. Then he looked at the guards.
“Swift Bolt, Arctic Flash. It’s cool, she’s with me.” Bandit informed them. They lowered their wings.
“Apologies your highness.” Swift Bolt, the one on the left said.
“No worries.” Bandit told him, patting them both on the back. He opened the door to let her in. Fluttershy walked in and as he walked Fluttershy inside, the guards smiled. Dropping it right before Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint peeked out to see a reaction.
“Thanks, Bandit.” Fluttershy said as she got inside.
“So glad you could make it Fluttershy. It wouldn't be the same without you.” Bandit told her as he led her to the main room where the party was being held.
Spike was in the kitchen, heating some of RaspCherry cupcakes that Mr. Cake had made, ringing the bell each time, Mrs. Cake came over to get the fresh batch.
Out in the main room, Mr. Cake carried around the tray on his head, offering the food to the ponies gathered. "How's everypony doing? Good? Good."
Mrs. Cake, who was carrying a tray of cupcakes on her head, approached the main table, where Princess Celestia was seated.
"Anything else we can get for you, dearies…?" she began and corrected herself as she was joined by her husband. "Ooh, I-I mean, esteemed guests."
"Everything is fine, Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Celestia reassured them. Klaw was under the table batting at Celestia’s tail, who was putting it under the table on purpose for him. Fang was taking some of the scraps off the table to eat.
“Sorry I'm late." Fluttershy apologized as she and Bandit walked to the main table. "I had to finish taking care of a patient first."
“You and I both share a love for animals, so I know for a fact mama is gonna love that about you.” Bandit told her. Fluttershy giggled a little.
“Aww, you call Princess Celestia mama.” Fluttershy pointed out. Bandit scrunched his face with unamusement, blushing with slight embarrassment. “You know Bandit, I thought you were gonna be nervous about being here.”
“What’ve I got to be nervous about. Sure, she’s the ruler of Equestria and is the most important pony on the face of this planet, but she’s still my mother. I trust her with everything, so I got nothing to worry about. Especially with her meeting my friends.” Bandit said with a proud smile.
“Um….I was talking about the social gathering.” Fluttershy said, letting him finish before saying something.
“Oh….my bad. Well, it's just a casual get-together. Nothing to be nervous about.” Bandit said. Seconds later, he heard Rarity’s voice.
"Don't touch me!" Rarity shrieked. Bandit looked over to see Rarity in the middle of the room, wearing the dress she'd made for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala. "Watch the dress!" she hissed at any pony that got too close. "Careful, you're gonna spill that on me!" She smiled when Mrs. Cake offered her some of the RaspCherry cupcakes. "Oh, oh, that looks delicious. What is it? Oh, does it stain?! Keep it away from me!" she yelped and backed away from the food.
“Huh, I guess it isn’t that casual.” Bandit said, very unamused.
Applejack was seated at the main table and was looking perplexed by the different kinds of food, unsure of which item she should eat first.
"Uh… which is the salad and which is the appetizer again?" she wondered. "And which am I supposed to eat first?" She looked between the food items again and then hung her head in frustration. "Oh, never mind. I'm not hungry."
Bandit rolled his eyes with a smirk.
“Manners don’t have to be perfect. I don’t know why everyone’s trying so hard.” Bandit said with a smile before realizing something. “Hey, Twily. Where are you?” He called before Pinkie zipped past him. Eyeing all of the treats she could find. “Whoo-hoo! Cupcakes, candies and pies, oh my!” She shoved a pie in her face. She then spotted the chocolate fountain.
“Oooh! Chocolate fountainy goodness!" She said as she stuck her head into the fountain and pulled it back out. The chocolate hardened around her head and then cracked, then broke off, revealing that she was happily munching the chocolate. She then bounced over onto the table, where Princess Celestia was about to eat a cupcake. "You gonna eat that?!" she asked before eating the cupcake herself.
Mrs. Cake gasped and she ran past, yanking the Pinkie off the table by clamping onto her tail.
"Hey!"
Mr. Cake returned to the table with a teacup and RaspCherry cupcake. "A thousand pardons, Your Majesty."
"That's quite all right, thank you.” Celestia said. As she picked up the cupcake, Bandit walked over with Chad on his head. Chad’s mouth was covered in red frosting. He looked at the cupcake, Celestia offered him a bite, which he shockingly turned down.
She was shocked, but took a bite and drank her tea. She placed it onto the saucer, making Mrs. Cake notice the empty cup.
"Empty teacup at 4 o'clock!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed.
"Uh, I see it, honey bun!" Mr. Cake responded, he then raced over and refilled the cup.
"Oh, um… thank you." Celestia said, a little surprised by the gesture.
"Not at all, Your Highness." Mr. Cake said happily.
Princess Celestia sipped her tea and this time, Mrs. Cake refilled her cup. "Thank you again."
"Oh, but of course, Your Majesty." Mrs. Cake said. Bandit and Chad rolled their eyes with smirks, humored by this as Bandit grabbed a teacup himself.
Celestia drank and got her drink refilled twice before deciding to have a little fun. She pretended to take a sip, making Mr. Cake go to refill. However, instead of an overflowing teacup, Bandit placed his teacup over hers, making Mr. Cake pour into his teacup instead.
“Aww.” Celestia playfully pointed at Bandit.
“Gotcha.” Bandit winked. Then he saw Twilight duck down at the end of the table. “Oh, there you are Twilight.” Bandit said as Fluttershy walked beside Twilight.
“Oh, you’re Fluttershy, right?” Celestia asked as she turned to look at her.
"Me? Oh yes, Your Highness." She confirmed.
"I understand from my son and Twilight Sparkle’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures." The princess commented.
"Yes, I love to take care of animals." Fluttershy nodded.
"As do I." Princess Celestia agreed. "As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures, great and small." Behind her was a seemingly empty cage, and Applejack jumped when something inside began coughing and red/orange feathers began flying out. "Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects." She then heard the coughing and turned to the cage as an ill-looking bird appeared from the bottom of the cage, climbing up onto the perch, still coughing and hacking. "Ah, Philomena, my pet. You're awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts."
“Hey Philomena!” Bandit said as he opened the cage and stuck his hoof in. Philomena sickly perched onto his hoof. Philomena kept coughing and hacking, losing more feathers in the process. Bandit chuckled and scratched under her chin, seemingly disregarding
"Oh...my." Fluttershy said.
"Is it supposed to look like that?" Lightning Sprint whispered to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash shrugged, completely unsure.
Princess Celestia noticed Fluttershy's concerned expression and glanced at the bird. "She is quite a sight, isn't she?" She remarked.
"I… I… I've never seen anything like it." Fluttershy stammered while Philomena coughed again. Klaw came out from under the table with Celestia’s tail in his mouth and looked at Philomena.
“That’s because she’s a-” Bandit tried to say, but Philomena quieted him with her featherless wing placed in his mouth. He rolled his eyes before putting her back in the cage. “Okay then, back in the cage with you.”
Swift Bolt came up to Celestia and cleared his throat before whispering into her ear.
"Really?" Princess Celestia asked and he nodded. "Well, if I must…" she sighed and spoke to the gathered ponies. "I'm sorry, everypony. I'm afraid I have to cut the party short.” At that moment, Twilight almost spat out her tea. “The mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls. Thank you for a wonderful time. It's been a joy getting to know you all better."
She then turned to Chad and pinched his cheek.
“We’ll talk about getting you and Spike a pet.” She said before walking out with Swift Bolt and Arctic Flash, leaving the cage with her pet bird behind to retrieve later. Bandit looked up at Chad.
“You and Spike want pets? But we have Klaw and Fang.” Bandit said as Klaw began batting at his tail.
“Well, he’s more your pet. You do most of the care taking.” Chad clarified.
"Phew!" Applejack said, thankful she no longer had to figure out what to eat first. "Now I can eat someth'n! I'm starved!"
Before she could take a single bite, Mr. Cake cleared the table, and she sighed, disappointed. "Oh…"
Pinkie was cartwheeling towards the exit, knocking a few ponies through the exit. Two more ponies were going to move to the exit, but Rarity was heard making commands.
"Stay right where you are." Rarity ordered as she began backing out of the shop. "All I want is a clear path to the exit. Nobody move and my dress won't get hurt! Stay back! Back, I say!"
Applejack walked towards the exit with a bunch of food items on top of her snout as she walked out the door. Bandit looked at Spike and Chad.
“You guys wanna take care of Philomena while Momma’s gone?” Bandit asked them. Chad and Spike turned to one another and nodded their heads. Bandit turned to the cage and was surprised not to see Philomena in it. He got closer and looked at the bottom of it, he saw feathers rather than what he saw last time she disappeared to him.
Fluttershy returned to her home and went inside with Philomena perched on her back.
"Oh, you poor little thing." She said sympathetically, setting the sick bird on the couch. "How did you ever get in such bad condition? Don't you worry, Philomena. I'll nurse you back to health. As a favor to the princess, who's obviously just far too busy to care for you properly."
Philomena coughed and slumped over, losing several feathers. Fluttershy still looked like she felt bad for the condition Philomena was in.
"I'm sure the princess will appreciate the help." She said as she helped her up and then frowned when the bird slumped over again. "Oh my. We'd better get you to bed right away."
Fluttershy picks up Philomena and takes her to a small bed that she set up, tucking her into the bed with a thermometer. "There." She said before seeing the red line skyrocket and the bird began sweating a lot. She quickly removed the blanket and placed a cold pack on the bird's head. Moments later, the red line dropped drastically and the bird began shivering violently.
Fluttershy quickly removed the cold pack and tucked the blanket around Philomena, only to have the bird's temperature skyrocket again. She switched between the cold pack and the blanket several times until the end of the thermometer shattered.
"This is far worse than I thought." Fluttershy realized, her concern skyrocketing as well. "What you need is some medicine. Stat!"
Soon, Philomena was sitting on a small chair and coughing weakly as Fluttershy set a plate down with a single pill on it.
"Here you go, Philomena." Fluttershy said. "This will fix you right up." She watched eagerly as Philomena sniffed the pill and then turned around snobbishly, folding her wings at the pill. "Doctor Fluttershy expected that." She remarked, with a smug look on her face, having dealt with stubborn animals before and knew how to deal with her. She grabbed a large bag and dumped a small pile of birdseed on top of the pill, hiding it from view.
Philomena immediately began eating the birdseed, pecking through it like a jackhammer, and soon the birdseed was completely gone.
"Always works." Fluttershy said smugly [towards the audience] before turning back to Philomena. She gasped when she saw that the pill was still on the plate. "Uh… Almost always."
Taking a different approach, Fluttershy made some soup and offered it to the sick bird after blowing on it a bit to cool it down.
"There's nothing like homemade soup to cure what ails you." she said, nudging the bowl toward the bird, who sniffed at it and then turned her beck up at it like she did the pill. "Come on now. You're not gonna get better if you don't cooperate."
She pretended to eat some of the soup. "Mmm… See? It's delicious. Good and good for you." When the bird still refused to eat the soup, she picked it up and began making train sounds. "Here comes the choo-choo train. Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, whoo-whoo!"
However, each time she tried to feed the soup to the bird, she turned her head away, and all the way around, multiple times before the rest of her body spun around, back to normal before face-planting in the soup.
"Oh dear." Fluttershy said as Philomena pulled her head out to look at Fluttershy. "Don't worry, Philomena. I know what'll make you feel better. Wait right here. I have just the thing." Fluttershy trotted off right as Philomena coughed and went back into the soup.
When Fluttershy returned, Philomena was busy eating some seeds that were meant to be for some mice.
"Look, Philomena." Fluttershy said, showing a green hummingbird that was sitting on her forehoof. "I brought a fellow feathered friend to cheer you up. Hummingway here was sick once too, but he let me help him and got better in no time. Didn't you, boy?" She asked happily.
Hummingway nuzzled against Fluttershy before he hummed. "Mm-hmm!"
"Say hello to your new friend Philomena." Fluttershy said with a smile. Hummingway flew next to Philomena before landing on her back and nuzzling her neck. "Aw, look. I think he likes you." Hummingway flew back to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy vocalized the theme song. Hummingway hummed the same way. She smiled before looking at Philomena.
"Your turn now, Philomena. Go ahead. You can do it." Fluttershy said. she vocalized them again, before waiting for Philomena. Philomena began making choking sounds before hacking out the mouse seeds she was eating earlier. Fluttershy stumbled and wiped it off. "Oh! Um… good try?"
After cleaning her face, Fluttershy walked into the bathroom where Philomena had a towel around her waist and head.
"I know what'll clear up that tickle in your throat." She said cheerfully. "A humidifier." She went to the water heater and turned it on… soon steam was coming out and filled the bathroom. She took a deep breath and looked hopefully at Philomena. "Refreshing." she commented. "How's that feeling now for you, Philomena? Better?"
Philomena took a deep breath, which gave Fluttershy a false sense of hope. Philomena then coughed violently, losing several feathers.
"Oh… That's okay." Fluttershy said, gathering up the feathers and tried to think of something else to help the sick bird. "I know lots of other ways to take care of you. Don't worry. You're gonna get better. How about…"
Fluttershy had Philomena in a room with a bunch of candles.
“Aromatherapy?” She suggested. Philomena sniffed in some of the smoke, and then let out a sneeze. Seconds later, she lost more feathers. Fluttershy pouted.
She began to fill up a warm bath for the sick bird.
“Warm bath?” Fluttershy asked. Soon, Philomena began soaking up water like a sponge and then lost some more feathers.
“Ointment?” Fluttershy asked, placing ointment on her head, only for the bird to receive warts, in addition to losing more feathers.
Fluttershy was now desperate to help Philomena, so she took drastic actions. So much so, that she had a head mirror on.
"Scalpel." She requested. Angel handed her a scalpel, which she used.
"Surgical tape." She requested and the white bunny handed her the roll of tape.
"Feathers." She was given the bowl that she'd put the feathers in. While she worked on the bird, Angel wiped the sweat off her forehead, and she was soon done.
Philomena looked up at Fluttershy from the floor, her feathers had been taped back onto her, and she coughed, losing several feathers.
"Oh, Philomena," Fluttershy moaned, disappointed that she couldn't help the sick bird. "I thought it would be easy to nurse you back to health. I've tried everything I know. And look at you. You're worse than ever."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
“Royal guard! We’re looking for the Princess’s missing bird!” A voice said from the other side. Fluttershy gasped and began to look around. Philomena squawked, but Angel closed her mouth. Fluttershy began to panic before running to open the door. She hugged the forelegs of the stallion on the other side, not realizing it was Bandit.
“I’m so sorry! I meant well I pro-”
“Relax Fluttershy, it’s me. I was just kidding.” Bandit said while chuckling. Fluttershy looked up at him and sighed with relief. “I am here for Philomena though.”
She stood up and led him inside. “I don’t mean to be degrading or anything, but leaving a good impression on my mother and then stealing her pet is definitely not a good look.”
"I couldn't leave the poor thing there." Fluttershy informed her friend. "She needed my help."
“Believe me Fluttershy, no she didn’t.” Bandit said as he held out his hoof. Philomena got out of Angel’s grip and perched on his hoof. “You see, Philomena is a-”
Philomena bit his ear making him recoil. He glared at her.
“You seriously wanna go through with this?” He asked her. She nodded and Bandit rolled his eyes. “Fine. But only because you can make me go deaf.”
“She can?” Fluttershy asked as she looked at Philomena.
“Well, yes. But that information will come later.” Bandit said as he went to the door. Philomena began coughing again. Fluttershy slid in front of Bandit.
“W-wait, can I at least give her the pill?” Fluttershy asked.
“She won’t eat it, but you’re welcome to try.” Bandit said as he gave Philomena to Fluttershy. Fluttershy went back to the back to try and feed Philomena the pill. At that moment, Swift Bolt and Arctic Flash arrived.
“Your highness, we weren’t expecting to find you but we have some bad news.” Swift Bolt started.
“Your mother’s pet has gone missing.” Arctic Flash finished. Bandit gave them a gesture to relax.
“Tell her it’s a code 602.” Bandit said. Both guards seemed to look confused.
“Code 602?” Arctic Flash asked.
“She’ll know what that means.” Bandit said. They looked at each other, saluted, and flew off. As they flew off, Fluttershy ran in.
“Bandit! Philomena-”
“Ran away when you took your eyes off for one second?” Bandit asked. Fluttershy nodded. “Oh boy that takes me back. Come on, let’s find her.”
Bandit walked out and bumped into Twilight, making her yelp.
“Oh, sorry Twilight. What brings you here?” Bandit asked her. Twilight stood back up to look at him.
“I came to thank Fluttershy for making a good first impression in front of Princess Celestia.” Twilight said. Bandit rubbed the back of his head.
“About that.” Bandit started.
Twilight ran over to Fluttershy with a panicked expression on her face.
“You took the Princess’s pet?!” She asked her, trying not to be so loud.
“I-”
“And then you lost her?!” She exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, I-”
“We need to find her fast. If Celestia finds out that you took her pet, she might banish you from Equestria. Or throw you in a dungeon. Or banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to!"
"You really think the princess would do that?" Fluttershy asked.
"Okay. Granted that probably won't happen, but do you wanna take any chances?" Twilight asked. “We have to find that bird!”
“There she is.” Bandit pointed out. Philomena was on a bench, saw Bandit see her, and then she bolted. Fluttershy and Twilight zipped off after her, but the bird was fast for its condition. Bandit looked at the time before tapping his chin. He received a call from Celestia.
“Yes mom?......Oh, you said yes?.....They’re here now?.....Right now right now?.....Okay I’m on my way.” Bandit said he spread his wings. He took to the skies. “Yeah, a code 602. Remember when I was 7?”
Back with Twilight and Fluttershy, first, they followed Philomena around a tree only to wind up losing track of the sickly bird. They kept running before stopping and looking to see where she could have run off to. Not knowing that had they looked up, they’d see Philomena running across the branch.
As the guards were seen walking around Ponyville, asking around for the whereabouts of the bird using posters, Philomena was crossing a streamer, out of their sights.
Later, Twilight and Fluttershy came across a bench. Where a bird in a mustache, reading a newspaper looked at them. They began imitating Philomena. The bird shrugged. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other before running off to try and find Philomena, unaware that Philomena was the bird in the mustache.
Philomena ran past the guards from behind, Twilight and Fluttershy snuck past to not be seen. Philomena evaded them when they tried to follow her. They bumped into each other, stunning one another long enough for Philomena to run past.
The guards put up yet another poster, only for Philomena to draw eyebrows and a mustache on it and then take off.
Fluttershy and Twilight were racing side-by-side toward the center of town, still looking for Philomena, before being joined by Rainbow Dash and Lightning Sprint.
"What are you two doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Are you having a race?” Lightning Sprint asked flying upside down. They both then got excited.
“Can we join?” Rainbow Dash asked. Lightning Sprint straightened out.
“OneTwoThreeGO!” She counted before she and Rainbow Dash zipped off.
Twilight and Fluttershy both exchanged looks and kept running toward the fountain, where Rarity, Applejack, Chad, Spike, and Pinkie were hanging out.
Pinkie was eating a cupcake when she was suddenly lifted on the back of Fluttershy, who was searching the ground.
"Excuse me." Fluttershy said as she looked around.
“Hi!” Pinkie said joyfully. Twilight got to Chad and opened his mouth, looking inside.
“Hi wiligh.” Chad said before his mouth was closed. “What’s wrong?”
Twilight moved over to Rarity, picking her up to check the area.
“Beg your pardon.” She said as she searched.
“Put me down!” Rarity demanded. Twilight placed her down seconds later.
“What’s going on?” Spike asked, a little confused.
"Sorry, but we've gotta find…" Fluttershy began.
"The princess's pet bird!" Arctic Flash called out. Everyone turned their eyes to the top of the fountain. Philomena was sitting on the top of the statue, coughing, and she only had one feather left on her tail.
"Philomena, come down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" Fluttershy called out, very worried. Just then, the last feather fell off. Philomena coughed and dramatically fell onto the head of the statue. She got back up to choke and dramatically fall off.
"I'll catch you!" Fluttershy called out, racing forward as Philomena fell. She got close enough to dive forward, so she could catch the bird in her hooves when Philomena suddenly burst into flames.
Bandit arrived from the library with Klaw and Fang seconds after the flames turned the bird into ash. Fluttershy gasped as she landed on the ground, catching only warm ashes in her hooves. Her lips began trembling as the ashes fell to the ground in a pile and she began crying and whimpering over her failure to help Philomena.
Swift Bolt and Arctic Flash’s jaws were dropped as Celestia arrived.
"What is going on here?" She asked. The other ponies bowed. “Twilight?”
Twilight lowered her head as she walked forward. “Yes, your Majesty, there's been a terrible accident.”
Fluttershy then stepped forward.
"It's all my fault.” Fluttershy confessed.
“Flutter-” Bandit tried to say.
“No Bandit. It’s all my fault. I should have taken Philomena back when you came to get her. But instead, I insisted on trying to help her without Celestia’s permission.” Fluttershy then turned to Celestia. “I really was only trying to help the poor little thing. Then I was gonna bring it right back to you, honest. So, if you wanna banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to, then that's what I deserve."
Bandit and Celestia looked at one another before nodding. Bandit stepped over to the ashes.
“Okay you little drama queen, you can stop your joke. You had your fun.” Bandit said to the ashes.
“Bandit!” Fluttershy exclaimed, surprised at Bandit’s ‘heartlessness’. She was going to say more, but the ashes began to move. They flew up into the air, creating a small tornado, and the gathered ponies, dragon, and changeling gasped. Staring in awe as the ashes became a beautiful red, orange and yellow bird. Said bird flew onto Bandit’s outstretched hoof. Fluttershy began asking questions.
“I don't understand! What is that thing? What happened to Philomena?” Fluttershy asked.
"This is Philomena." Celestia answered. "She's quite a sight, as I said. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn't that right, Philomena?" “ She asked and Philomena squawked in agreement.
"A… A phoenix?" Fluttershy asked. Like the Tigrischirophido, she didn’t know what that was as she hasn’t heard of that animal before. Philomena nodded at her.
"A phoenix is a majestic and magical bird." Celestia started to explain. Philomena took flight again, flying around to show off. "While it appears healthy and happy most of the time, every so often it must renew itself by shedding all of its feathers and bursting into flame.”
“Just a bit melodramatic, if you ask me." Bandit said to Fluttershy before Celestia continued explaining. Philomena landed on Celestia’s forehoof this time.
"It then rises from the ashes, fresh as a daisy. All just a normal part of the life cycle of a phoenix.” Celestia finished.
“She decided to use this occasion to mess with you, the mischievous rascal. She did that exact same thing to me when I was 7, it was horrible. I would’ve told you sooner, but she has the power to make me go deaf. Sorry Fluttershy.” Bandit told her. Celestia looked at Philomena with a slightly stern look.
“Say you’re sorry young lady.” Celestia said to Philomena. Philomena made vocal cues to sound like ‘I’m sorry’ to Fluttershy.
"So… aren't you gonna banish me?" Fluttershy asked as Klaw batted at Philomena’s tail. Philomena looked at Klaw, then Fang, and the spread her wings and flying to them, engaging in play. "Or throw me in a dungeon? Or banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to?"
“What is with all of you and thinking that mama’s gonna banish you over something small?” Bandit asked. Twilight grinned at him. He referred to Celestia as mama again. He realized, blushed, and face hoofed before Celestia nuzzled the top of his head.
"I guess I have some imagination." Fluttershy defended Twilight.
"Fluttershy really did do everything she could to try to take care of Philomena for you.” Twilight added to defend Fluttershy just a little bit more.
"And I do appreciate that your heart was in the right place, child." Celestia agreed. "But all you had to do was ask me and I could have told you Philomena was a phoenix and saved you all this trouble. Or asked Bandit, when Philomena isn’t around to deafen him." She nudged Bandit, who nudged her back.
“I know." Fluttershy agreed. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Next time I'll ask before taking matters into my own hooves."
“You want me to write this down momma?” Chad asked, appearing on Bandit’s head again.
"No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember." Celestia said. Swift Bolt and Arctic Flash walked over with Philomena’s cage. Klaw and Fang saw the cage and recognized it was time for Philomena to go, so they stopped. Philomena waved with her talon, Klaw waves with his paw as Philomena flew off. Planting a feather in Fluttershy’s mane. She looked up at it and then at Philomena.
"It's beautiful," Fluttershy said delightedly. "Thank you, Philomena. No hard feelings."
Philomena flew to Bandit and nuzzled under his chin, making him chuckle and pet her wings gently. Lightning Sprint looked at the guards, looked at Philomena, and got an idea. She flew over and whispered in Philomena’s ear.
“Hey, you know what you should do? You should go over there and tickle them.” She said. Philomena looked at Bandit, who both heard the whisper, and nodded.
Philomena flew over to land on top of the cage, spread her wings, and tickled the guards' noses with her feathers. Soon both royal guards were laughing.
“Yeah! Rainbow, you owe me a milkshake!” Lightning Sprint celebrated. Rainbow dash sighed but then smiled. As everyone shared a laugh, Celestia looked at Bandit.
“Did you get the packages?” Celestia asked.
“Sure did, but I gotta ask, what pets did you get Spike and Chad?” Bandit asked. Celestia looked at Chad on Bandit’s head, soundproof bubbled his head, and then whispered in Bandit’s ear.
“Colossal Mellivora Badger and a Harpy eagle.” She answered. Bandit went wide-eyed as the bubble came off Chad.