Philomena spent the next few days mostly lying on her pillow, caught up in her worried thoughts. She wouldn't eat or drink; only when she passed out did she sleep.
Celestia quickly grew concerned. No matter what she tried, nothing seemed to help Philomena. The phoenix was much too occupied in fretting. What if bursting into flames hurt? She asked herself many questions, and as she did so her fear grew more intense until, before long, the poor bird couldn't take it anymore. She couldn’t bear to see Celestia so horrified and, even more so, couldn’t imagine facing such a terrifying fate—and so, in a desperate attempt to escape the truth, she made up her mind. She would wait for the two young princesses to fall asleep. Then, she would leave.
But first, before she could go, she had one thing that she had to do. She flew lazily into her first friend’s room and, with watery eyes, she set one of her feathers on the nightstand.
"Goodbye, Celestia..." she whispered before she then she flew out of the room. Before she could leave for good, however, there was another she had to wish farewell; on the younger princess’ nightstand, she left another of her feathers. "Goodbye Luna, and thank you for your kindness..." she thought. Then she soared out the window and into the night, her destination: the forest.
The wind blew cold that night, chilling Philomena to the bone and making her shiver. When she noticed a tree with a hole in it, she swooped in with some slightly damp leaves in her beak to sleep on. Though it was not easy, she curled up and eventually fell asleep.
She dreamed of Princess Celestia that night.