Today, it was a special day over at the Canterlot Castle. Tia woke up one morning to find a greetings message by the door saying 'Happy Birthday Tia.' This was indeed Tia's birthday today and no, I'm not going to tell you how old she is...I don't wanna risk offending the princess and give Pinkie an excuse to break the fourth wall.
"Morning Tia." Woona said as she woke up, "Happy birthday, sister."
"Thank you Woona." Tia replied as they got out of thier beds and shared a sisterly hug.
Tia left her bedroom and Woona followed her into the dining room where Bond Racer was nomming through a carrot cake slice, he noticed the two fillies sitting around the table and smiled.
"Well good morning to you both and happy birthday, Tia." Bond greeted.
"Thank you, Bond." Tia replied, "I wonder what presents I'll get this year."
"Oooh, will it be the new Nintendo Gameboy?" Woona asked. "I always wanted one of those."
Bond raised his eyebrow, trying to figure out what Woona just said.
"Hey! Fourth wall breaking is my job!" Pinkie complained as she jumped into the room.
"Pinkie!" the story writer scolded lightly. "Get out of that timeline now or you'll create a time paradox!"
"Okie dokie lokie...la la la la..." Pinkie then bounced out of the picture and was not seen again.
"Alright fillies, whatever that was...we forget about it and move on now." Bond said, "Anyways...there's no such thing as a Nintendo Gameboy in this universe." he then looked at Tia, "I'm sure that whatever present you get will be something you'll want to cherish."
Just then, they saw Cosmos and Galaxia walk in with a card and a gift with Tia's name on it.
"Well, good morning Tia, happy birthday." Cosmos said as he handed out a card to Tia whilst Galaxia gave her a warming nuzzle around the face.
"Now for me to get my sleep..and Woona, you should be as well." Cosmos added.
"Sleep in the daytime?" Woona asked, "But why?"
"Since you now have your cutie mark and that you can raise the moon, the responsibility for that duty now lies in your hooves instead of mine."
"To put it in another way, you must sleep during the day so that you're well rested and alert to raise the moon to start the night and that starts today." Galaxia added.
"So I get to sleep during the day...cool!"
"Well, it may sound cool at first, but I don't think you're aware of the disadvantages that may have an incoming impact on you, socially." Bond intervened.
"Huh?"
"Oh umm...never mind, you'll learn it all, eventually."
"But if we may go back to the subject..." Cosmos said as he looked at Tia, "...we have left a birthday present for you out in the Canterlot gardens, your mother will take you there now." he then looked back at Woona, "Come on Woona, it's time for your first sleep during the day so you're ready for the night."
"Okay father...I hope the birthday continues by then." Woona replied as she began to walk out of the dining room with Cosmos.
"We'll make sure it does." Galaxia assured, "Bond, you might want to have a look as well."
"Okay, show me the way." Bond replied.
Bond, Tia and Galaxia then left the dining room and walked into the Canterlot Gardens to find some kind of birdcage wrapped inside a huge cloth, keeping it a secret for the moment.
"What's in there?" Tia asked.
"That my dear, is your birthday present...but it's not just a present, it is one that you must keep and to love and care for all time." Galaxia replied.
"Oooh, shall I do the honour of removing the cloth?" Bond asked.
"By all means...do so, now."
Bond used his magic to float the cloth away which revealed a big golden bird cage with a red fire looking bird inside, it was quite big too.
"Wow!" Tia exclaimed. "That is one big bird!"
"That's what she said." Bond muttered.
"Yes Tia, this is what we call a phoenix and he already has a name as we bought him from the Cloudsdale pet store." Galaxia replied.
"Wait, wait, wait...they had a pet store up there in the past?" Bond asked.
"Yes and..."
"Never mind, I'll leave the book of logic alone."
"Good...now Tia, this phoenix bird is called Philomena, he was trained to follow the orders of it's owner and now, that is you."
"Thank you mother...I will take care of him as much as I can." Tia said as she hugged her mother.
Soon, Tia and Galaxia brought Philomena into the outhouse area which will be the bird's new home. Tia and her mother then left the castle to do a bit of birthday shopping in Canterlot, Bond of course towed along as he got the chance to see the streets of Canterlot as well as a glimpse of Cloudsdale. He then noticed that there was a huge green land near a lake which he could see, he then remembered that back then, there was no Ponyville before the Apple Smith family founded the town.
Sometime later, it was around dinnertime, Woona and Cosmos were up and awake and eating away along with the others. Tia talked all about what she did in her shopping and thought of writing it the sisters diary which the parents really liked hearing and so did Bond.
Woona however was a little unsure about a phoenix living here and she feared of it being let loose and catching small prey, such as herself, due to her still filly size which all of them laughed at, thinking that she's making a big deal out of something that couldn't happen.
Later that night as Galaxia had gone to bed early, Woona began the night by raising the moon and she got the hang of it pretty quick. Cosmos was in the throne room, watching the moon rise and he smiled once more before looking over huge piles of paper, he began writing with his quill.
Elsewhere in the castle, Tia was busy feeding Philomena, but she had to have the cage door open in order to do so. She had just finished giving her pet the last bowl of some small meat when she heard a voice calling her.
"Tia, finish off what you're doing with Philomena, it's bedtime for you now." Cosmos called.
"Okay, father." Tia replied, "I'll see you again tomorrow."
Tia then dashed off away from the greenhouse and into the castle to the share bedroom...but then, there was trouble. Tia forgot to close the cage door and lock it securely, she had left it wide open without noticing and Philomena who got the wrong idea about it, flew out of the cage and out of the greenhouse as it roamed free all around the Canterlot Gardens with nopony looking, not even the gardeners were paying attention.
Woona had come out of the castle and to the gardens, thinking that she could see Tia's new pet being locked away and not being afraid. However, when she arrived at the greenhouse, she saw the cage door open and no sign of the phoenix.
"Uh oh...her pet has escaped!" she exclaimed, "We need to find her or Tia will be very upset."
Then, she heard a squawk from the sky...and there she was, the bird was flying around in circles before it noticed Woona, however, the phoenix misunderstood her size for a prey it swooped down to the ground and missed Woona.
"ARGH!" Woona shouted, "IT'S AFTER ME!"
Woona then galloped out of the gardens as fast she could and one of the gardeners finally took notice what was going on to see the bird flying through the castle door.
"It's gone into the castle...the king's not gonna like this." the gardener said.
Meanwhile, Bond was drinking down his first pint of orange cider as there was none of Applejack's apple cider back then, he then heard Woona yelling for help down the hallway, he suddenly finished off his drink and left his room and flew from his tower room and made his way into the main castle hallway, just in time to see Woona galloping really fast with tears in her eyes.
"Woona! Are you alright? What's happening?" Bond asked worryingly.
"A BIRD IS AFTER ME!" she yelled as she stopped and then hid behind Bond's backlegs.
Bond looked ahead to see Philomena who was in pursuit...he stood right in front of Woona, trying to protect her.
"NO!" he scolded, "Philomena, this is not your prey. She is a filly pony...not seed food!"
The phoenix squawked back at him as he stopped chasing and flapped his wings in mid-air.
"What is going on here?" Cosmos asked sternly.
"Oh father..." Woona sniffed, "...that red bird tried to eat me."
"Red bird...oh, Philomena, you're out of your cage, did Tia forget to lock your cage door?"
Philomena squawked several times as if to reply to that question.
"I see...but you're right, it's only her first time looking after a pet."
"Wait, you can understand what Philomena is saying?" Bond asked.
"Yes indeed, now let's put this phoenix back in his cage and I think we can call it a night."
So, Cosmos led Philomena into the greenhouse and she flew inside her cage before the king shut the door and locked it. Woona was able to cheer up after going through the trauma of being scared and chased by the big bird, but it was a good thing that Bond was there or who knows what might've got knocked down and broken across the halls and other rooms.
The next day arrived and Tia and Galaxia heard about what happened last night. Tia felt guilty for not taking her responsibility of looking after her pet seriously and wanted to make amends for Woona. The parents agreed, so by nightfall and with Bond's help, they got Philomena to land by the fireplace in another big room where it was Tia, Woona and the phoenix, whilst the King, Queen and Bond were watching outside, just in case.
"Are you sure, Tia, is it safe?" Woona asked who was still worried about the bird.
"Yes, it's alright now, he won't do anything unless he follows my orders alone." Tia replied.
"That's good to know...I'm happy you had a great birthday, by the way."
"Thank you sister...but I'm sure that very soon, you'll have your birthday and I think it'll be wonderful for you."
"I hope so too..."
There were no more words needed after that point, both the sisters snuggled up close before Tia began to fall asleep. The pet bird stayed where he was before he flew out of the room and was sent back to the greenhouse, whilst Galaxia went off to bed. Bond was about to call it a night as well when Cosmos brought him forward and talked quietly.
"Bond, we have some private news for you, Starswirl is currently working a spell experiment that may open a portal to help you get back to your own timeline" he whispered.
"Really? How far has he got?" Bond asked.
"He's made a start, but it's gonna take a long while. Not only that, next weekend is the Canterlot Carnival and I want you to keep it a secret. As much as we want both of our children to be with us as a family, we can't allow Woona to come along as it's her duty to sleep through the day so she can work as princess of the night."
"Ouch, you sure you wanna go through with that? She'll be devastated and really upset."
"Yes, but our children have duties to uphold, it's ruler-ship first, families second."
Cosmos and Bond then took the conversation away from the room and into the throne room where Cosmos took his seat.
"Well, forgive me for disagreeing with you King, but I don't think that's a wise philosophy to follow."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it would lead to a great tragedy, far in the future."
"A tragedy involving Woona, happens in the future?"
"Yes, but I cannot say anymore nor do anything about it as it will cause a time paradox and mess up the universe timeline."
"Then say no more Bond, not another word...you should go and rest, make sure you keep on taking care of our daughters until it is time for Galaxia and I to leave the world and hand the kingdom to Tia and Woona."
"Alright, I'll carry on as normal...goodnight, king."
Bond then left the throne room and went back to his own room, noticing Woona enjoying the night sky who was now more happy and brave. He showed a sad look on his face, he was worried about Woona's feelings getting hurt by next weekend when the carnival arrives. He wish there was something he could do in order to make sure Woona at least could have fun at the carnival.
So Bond got out a paper and a quill and began to write down an idea he came up with...