"This is your singing telegram, I hope it finds you well!
You're invited to a party, 'cause we think you're really swell!
Gummy's turning one year old, so help us celebrate!
The cake will be delicious, the festivities first-rate!
There will be games and dancing, bob for apples, cut a rug,
And when the party's over, we'll gather 'round for a group hug!
No need to bring a gift, being there will be enough,
Birthdays mean having fun with friends not getting lots of stuff.
It won't be the same without you, so we hope that you say yes.
So, please, oh please R.S.V.P. and come, and be our guest!"
Phoenix stood in silence as Pinkie stood before him whilst dressed as a joker playing card with a wicker basket filled with pink pieces of paper strapped to her head. Phoenix used his magic to take one of the slips from the basket. He unfolded it and read the invitation that was written inside.
"Sounds good, I'll see you there." Phoenix said simply. Pinkie then grinned widely as she threw the outfit off to reveal two large party poppers strapped to her. One to her head and one to her body.
"See you later, Feenie!" Pinkie said happily as Gummy grabbed onto her tail and she bounced through town towards Sweet Apple Acres. Before Phoenix could close the door, Ditzy Doo landed in front of him dressed as a mailmare.
"Letter for you, Mr Fortesque" Ditzy said cheerfully as she hoofed a scroll to him.
"Thank you, Miss Doo. I see that the postal service accepted you. The job interview went well, I presume?" Phoenix said as he took the letter in his magic.
"Yeah! I'm having so much fun with it! But, you don't have to call me 'Miss Doo'. Just Ditzy'll do." Ditzy said kindly.
"Only if you extend the same to me. Just call me Phoenix." Phoenix responded in kind.
"Oh. Okay, Phoenix. I hope you have a good day!" Ditzy said happily.
"Thank you, Ditzy. I hope you do too." Phoenix replied pleasantly.
Ditzy then flew away to continue her round before Phoenix walked back into his house and looked at his letter. It was from Celestia.
'I suppose the big bloody seal should have given it away.' Phoenix thought. He removed the seal, unrolled the scroll and began to read.
...
Positive.
The tests that Phoenix was a subject of had shown positive results. His brain had the same abnormalities as Cognito's did.
'I can read minds. Wait... Hmm... Maybe I should try to perform some tests of my own.' Phoenix thought to himself. He then shook his head quickly and slapped himself.
'What am I thinking?! It would be a complete invasion of privacy! ...However... If I don't bring it up with anypony and just keep it a secret, I suppose I won't harm anypony. I'll just have to be careful and try not to discover things that I shouldn't.' Phoenix then looked up in thought.
'Then again, I usually see those kind of things just by looking at ponies' reactions and behaviour anyway. This is pretty much no different.' Phoenix thought. After he came to a decision, Phoenix left his house and walked into the town market. He looked around and eventually saw Hoops and Rainbow Dash flying together. Phoenix stayed out of sight and tried to remember exactly how he felt when he heard Rarity in the diamond caves. With those feelings in mind, he turned his attention to Hoops and focused his mind. After a few attempts, he began to hear whispers in his mind. As he focused harder, the whispers became clearer and his nose began to bleed.
'Why won't these feelings go away? I just want to make her happy.' The whispering voice belonged to Hoops.
'I guess he still feels the same as always.' Phoenix thought sympathetically. He wiped his nose with a few tissues before trying again on Rainbow Dash. His nose began to bleed again, albeit less severely as he concentrated. However, his head had begun to ache quite painfully. Phoenix tried to ignore the pain as he continued to concentrate.
'My heart feels weird... Kinda... fuzzy.' The whispering voice of Rainbow echoed through Phoenix's mind.
'Well, well, well. What an interesting development.' Phoenix thought with a smirk. He wiped his nose again as he walked back to his house to prepare the news for Gummy's party and grab the first pain pills he could get his hooves on.
Hours later as the sun was beginning its descent in the sky, Phoenix began his walk towards Sugarcube Corner. He entered the café to see Pinkie Pie jumping around while the girls were watching her and giggling.
"Evening, girls." Phoenix announced as he entered.
"Hey, Feenie! What's up?" Pinkie asked excitedly.
"Actually, there's something I'd like to announce." Phoenix said seriously, immediately catching everypony's attention.
"What's up, Phoenix?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I've subjected myself to some tests that Celestia was running on somepony else. Do you remember Cognito from my trial?" Phoenix asked to which the girls nodded and Twilight mumbled something that sounded like 'Princess Celestia'.
"Well, she mentioned that the tests were to detect some abnormalities in his brain." Phoenix clarified.
"Wait. Phoenix, dear... are you saying...?" Rarity asked.
"Yes. The results came back positive. I can read minds." Phoenix finished. Silence fell before Rainbow Dash began laughing.
"Yeah, right! You had us goin' there, Nicky!" Rainbow said, amused.
"Do you want me to prove it?" Phoenix asked.
"Yeah. Dare ya. What am I thinking?" Rainbow replied. Phoenix focused his attention on her before beginning to concentrating. Blood began to drip from his nose once more, causing shock to fill everypony else. Eventually he exhaled and staggered slightly before turning back to Rainbow.
"You were thinking that maybe you should test how sensitive your hooves are." Phoenix said as he wiped his nose once again. Rainbow's eyes grew wide as her cheeks took on a shade of pink. The rest of the girls looked to Rainbow for confirmation, to which she nodded.
"What kind of sensitive, Dashie?" Pinkie asked. Everypony seemed to share the thought that that wasn't the first question that they would have asked. Rainbow's face turned a little more red before she answered.
"Just... sensitive." Rainbow replied shyly. Nopony replied after Phoenix covered Pinkie's mouth before she could ask further.
"I think it goes without sayin' that you shouldn't read anypony's minds without their say-so." Applejack said to Phoenix.
"Agreed. I was about promise that I wouldn't, to be honest." Phoenix replied. Pinkie pushed Phoenix's hoof out of her mouth.
"How do we know that you're serious about that?" Pinkie asked suspiciously. Phoenix stayed silent for a moment.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Phoenix said as he did the actions that went along with the swear as well. After everypony seemed satisfied with the promise, they returned to the party. Everypony continued to eat, drink, dance and party as the sun had set from the sky and night had fallen. Everypony then began to leave to the respective homes, but Phoenix decided that he would walk Applejack home, to which she didn't object. As they walked, Phoenix decided to dispense some information for Applejack.
"You're kiddin'! How do you know?" Applejack asked.
"Back when I was testing my new abilities, I happened on a thought from our favourite rainbow-maned daredevil. It was about her heart feeling fuzzy." Phoenix explained.
"Hmm. Ah get the feelin' you're gonna play matchmaker." Applejack said with a wry smile.
"Maybe~. I do plan on convincing Rainbow to invite him to Pinkie's party tomorrow." Phoenix replied.
"Eh, that'll give us a chance to meet 'im."
"I agree. It would be nice to actually meet him rather than just revealing his greatest secret." Phoenix said a little guiltily.
"Well, y'did give him the chance to actually get closer to his crush long enough for her to like him back. Maybe he'll be grateful." Applejack optimistically replied.
"Maybe." Phoenix replied simply as they reached the door to the farmhouse. As Applejack opened the door, Apple Bloom ran up to her.
"Applejack! Winona knocked over your flowers!" Apple Bloom said in a panic.
"What?!" Applejack said before rushing to the kitchen. Apple Bloom and Phoenix followed her to see that the sunflowers had not only been knocked over, but in a panic, Winona had trampled them as well. Apple Bloom leaned over to Phoenix and motioned him to come closer.
"Those were from her secret admirer. That's why she's so sad." Apple Bloom whispered as Phoenix nodded in mock understanding as he knew who they were from. Phoenix walked over to Applejack as she sat on her haunches.
"AJ, it's alright. They're just flowers." Phoenix said as he tried to comfort her.
"It's not just the flowers, Phoenix. They were a symbol of... mah secret admirer." Applejack said, seemingly annoyed about having to use the term to avoid revealing their relationship.
"...Well, if your secret admirer is serious about their feelings, I'm sure they'll give you something a little more... permanent." Phoenix said with a kind smile after having a moment to think. Applejack looked up and gave him a teary smile, having caught on to what he meant. She stood up and wrapped her hooves around Phoenix, but she was clearly annoyed about making it look like a friendly hug. Applejack and Apple Bloom then bade their goodbyes to Phoenix and he began to leave. However, as he left the house, Apple Bloom caught up with him.
"Phoenix, do you know who Applejack's secret admirer is?" Apple Bloom asked. Phoenix didn't change his expression, but inside, his stomach had begun to twist. He knew he'd have to choose his words with care.
"I can't say that I do, Bloom. Sorry." Phoenix replied. Apple Bloom sighed in a mix of sadness and annoyance.
"Ah was hopin' you did." Apple Bloom replied.
"Why's that?"
"Well... after Caramel, Ah was hopin' that Ah could learn about this secret admirer so Ah could warn her if Ah needed to."
"Bloom... Don't get me wrong, your intention is pure and you're just looking out for your sister. Your heart's in the right place and I know it. But, if she decides to find out who this secret admirer is and get into a relationship with them, that's her choice." Phoenix said softly.
"Ah know... Ah just don't want her to get hurt again." Apple Bloom replied.
"Applejack is a strong, level-headed mare. If she thinks the admirer's bad news, I'm sure she'd see it from a mile away." Phoenix said confidently.
"Ah guess." Apple Bloom replied, a little more optimistically.
"Now, you should really be getting to bed, Bloom. But, out of curiosity, what kind of pony would you want the admirer to be like?" Phoenix asked. Apple Bloom slowly walked towards the front door as she thought.
"Ah don't know. Just... nopony bad." Apple Bloom said as she walked through the door and began to shut it, but stopped halfway.
"Actually... Ah'd want them to be just like you, Phoenix." Apple Bloom said before waving and shutting the door. Phoenix sat motionless for a moment before smiling and beginning his walk back into town, excitement for many things buzzing through his mind.