Chapter 18: A Bird in a Hoof
Chapter 18: A Bird in a Hoof
It was a nice day out at the cottage, Flutters and I were tending to the animals as always, one of the things that the two of us enjoyed. In fact, I had just helped a mouse with his injured leg, getting it in a good cast.
“There you go, Mr. Mouse.” I said to him before using my magic to push his wheelchair gently over to his family, his little guy jumping for joy for his dad being okay. “Now you stay off that leg and do everything I told you and everything will be just fine in no time at all.” With a wave of thanks, the mouse’s wife pushed his chair as she got him back in their mouse hole. “Oh, it was nothing. Glad I was able to help.”
“I’m back.” Flutters said as she came over, coming back from tending to the owls. “Is everything alright?”
“Oh, just fine, Fluttershy.” I told her with a friendly smile. “Just helped our resident mouse family. Nothing to worry about.”
“Oh, that’s great.” Flutters said to me with a grateful smile. “I really appreciate you helping me, Leon. With so many animals to take care of, it wasn’t easy for me to look after everyone by my own.”
“You’re welcome, Flutters.” I said to her. “I’m just glad I was able to help.”
“Is something wrong, Leon?” She asked me as I started scratching my head.
“It’s nothing. Just kinda feel like I’m forgetting something.” Just when I said that, Angel came running in, bumping into Flutters.
“Angel? What is it?” she asked as the bunny got up and held up a watch. “You found a watch?” Angel shook his head, telling us that wasn’t it.
“Is what you’re trying to tell us haves something to do with it?” I asked, the bunny nodding. “Okay, mind giving us some clues?” He then started running in place.
“You’re running!” Fluttershy said before she started guessing as I thought about things relating to a clock and running. “You’re running out of time? No, you’re late?” The bunny then nodded and I pieced together what he was trying to say.
“Wait, are you trying to tell us that we’re late?” I asked, the bunny nodding again before motioning to the clock. Seeing it was six, I then realized that I did forget something. “Sweet Celestia! We’re late for a very important date! The big brunch for Princess Celestia today!” Angel then tapped his nose to show that I had it right before passing out. “We’ve been so busy with animals here that we forget that the princess was gonna be here in Ponyville for a party! We got to hoof it to Sugarcube Corner!”
“Oh, do I look alright?” Flutters said as she starting to freak out, looking at herself in the mirror before searching through her closet. “Do I need to bring anything? Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“Fluttershy, we all promised to be there.” I told her, trying to calm her down. “Besides, this is a good chance for you to meet my old pal Gold Star. He’s coming with Princess Celestia and we might not get another chance like this.” It was just then heard the fanfare. “Aah! It’s starting!” I then right over and opened the door. “Come on, Flutters! We’re missing it!”
“Okay!” She said before she stopped in between me and Angel, turning around to talk to the bunny. “Oh, thank you, Angel. I mean, if you hadn’t reminded us, we might’ve not remembered the brunch and then we wouldn’t be there, and everypony would be wondering where we were and…”
“Fluttershy!”
“Oh, right. Coming!” She told me as she came over to me. “See you later, Angel.” From there, we both then headed off to Ponyville, going as fast as we could to make it to the brunch.
Dusk’s view
“Great work with the pies there, Spike.” I encouragingly said to the dragon as he finished baking another batch with his flame breath.
“Thanks, Dusk. It’s nice to be using it for something other than sending letters for a change.” He handed the pies over to Mr. Cake. “How’s things out there?”
“Unduly tense and uptight.” I told him. “Everypony just seems to have a hard time relaxing.”
“Well, it’s not every day the Princess herself visits for brunch.” he pointed out. “Not to mention having the Mystic King around.”
"Touché, my assistant brother. You seem all right though.”
“Well, of course. I’m in here and they’re out there, so I’m just fine.” he said with a chuckle. “Hope this goes better than the last time the Princess came to visit.”
“Why? What happened?"
“Well, it was a complete disaster. Mainly because the town was overrun with Parasprites and they started eating everything, so yeah.”
“Parasprites? Oof! Read about them. I can see how that would be a problem.” I turned to leave. “Well, I’m off to mingle. Keep up the good work.”
“Will do. Have fun!”
I stepped back out into the brunch party at the Sugarcube Corner. As Spike had said, we were hosting it for Princess Celestia, who was visiting for the day. And she bringing along Gold Star with her. It’s sort of a custom that the Mystic King would accompany the Princess on moments such as this. Hearing he was coming for a visit as well, the guys and I were all excited to see our old friend again. I had been here on early hours, helping to set everything up and making sure Twilight kept calm. Her perfectionist attitude was making her jittery and irritable. Not so much with me, but I simply let it wash off me. I too had some nerves of my own about the visit.
I had stood at the door to greet the guests as they arrived. All of my friends were here now, except for Fluttershy and Leon who seemed to be running late. Rarity was telling anypony who stood nearby not to ruin her dress in any way, Rainbow was hovering bored in the air, Shield was trying to make the guards at the door lose their composition, Applejack was still unsure about how to eat her food with Dog trying to assure it was fine, Pinkie was bouncing happily around the room, and Twilight was fidgeting nervously by the door though obviously, trying to calm herself like I’d advised her.
“Oh, Dusk, I hope this goes well.” she'd said before the Princess had arrived. “I want everypony to make a good impression with the Princess, so she doesn't think badly of you."
“But she’s already met us, Twilight. And you’ve told her good things about us in your letters.” I’d reminded her. “Trust me, everything will be fine and I'm sure they'll all be on their best behavior.”
“Okay. But what if…”
“Twilight,” I’d firmly said, looking right into her eyes, “trust me, it’ll be fine. I’m nervous too. In fact, I’m shaking in my knees, but I’m not letting it get the better of me, no matter how much I’d like to.”
“Really?” She’d looked down to see my legs, which were shaking quite a bit.
“Yes, because I know how much this means to you and I’m going to do my absolute best to make sure Celestia’s good impression of me, or at least I hope she has one, stays that way. I even gave my fur and mane a special combing, see?”
“I didn’t notice." She’d smiled approvingly. “Thank you, Dusk. You…you always go the extra mile for me, don’t you?”
“Heh…I guess…” I’d tapped my claws on the floor before making an excuse that I should wait by the door to greet the guests and hurried away, hoping that she didn’t see my cheeks go bright red at that. It was there that I saw Shield still trying to annoy the guard with little to success. “Shield, knock it off. You’re not gonna make them snap. They take their job seriously.”
“Okay, fine. I was getting bored anyway.” Shield said as he walked back inside. “Besides, got to talk to Gold. Haven’t seen him since that last party in Canterlot.”
“I know. We have so much to catch up.” I told him. “Hopefully, Leon and Fluttershy get here before he and Princess Celestia leave.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute.” Shield told me.
“I hope so.” I said to him before deciding that there wasn’t really much else I could do, other than be a good host to the guest of honor. “I’m gonna go talk with Gold and Princess Celestia. Mind looking out for Pinkie? You know how she is with deserts.”
“On it, cap!” Shield said as he went off to look for Pinkie as I turned and made my way towards where Princess Celestia and Gold Star sat, the princess sipping her tea.
Ever since I had discovered about the relation that my powers might have to her sister, I had been hoping for a chance to speak with either of the princesses, perhaps find out what Princess Luna might be up to now. Besides, it had been a long time since I’d spoken to Celestia and I owed her a great deal. And I had barely managed to talk much with Gold Star since he got here. It would be rude to ignore either of them now.
“Hey, Dusk. How’s it hanging?” Gold Star casually greeted me, his mother looking up from her drink and smiling as warmly ad the sun she raised at the sight of me.
“Pretty good. You?” I said to him.
“Everything’s alright here.” he told me.
“Dusk Noir, how lovely to see you.” Celestia greeted me.
“Likewise, your highness.” I replied, bowing to her. “I hope you’re enjoying your brunch and if there's anything else I can get you, you need only ask.”
“Thank you, but everything is fine.” She gestured to the empty place to her right. “Please, sit with us. It’s been a long time since we spoke.”
“Of course, Princess.” I placed myself next to her, looking up into her caring face.
“Well, you’ve certainly been busy since discovering friendship’s magic. Fending off hydra, battling and befriending Diamond Dogs, participating in Magical Talent of Equestria. You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
“Yeah, you practically blew away the competition with those puppets of yours.” Gold Star added.
“I am, for the most part.” I humbly said. “I would prefer not to think much on events involving violence. I’m more of a thinker than a fighter.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Gold Star said. “Though, either way, you’re still the coolest guy I know.”
“I would say that such things require a little of both.” She smiled proudly at me. “It’s good you don’t take pride in violence though, when there are so many better ways to resolve problems.”
“In this, we are like-minded, Princess. I prefer intellectual pursuits to physical…not that there’s anything wrong with a little exercise, now and again.”
“Indeed.” she laughed appreciatively. “From what she’s written to me in her letters, Twilight seems to think you’re quite clever. Would you say that you’re clever?”
“Um… I suppose that I am quite intelligent.” I said modestly.
“And that you have a wide and varied knowledge of different subjects, due to your reading?”
“I suppose… yes, I do.”
“Dusk, are you kidding me?” Gold said to me. “You practically know everything there is.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say everything.” I admitted, feeling a little embarrassed by Gold’s comment. “There are some things that I know, but not everything.”
“Interesting…” A cunning glint shone in her eye.
Leon’s view
“Phew! Finally made it.” I said as me and Flutters tried to head in before we were stopped by the guards, the two blocking the doors with their wings.
“Halt! Who goes there?”
“Mm! No one, never mind.” Flutters gulped as she started backing away before I stopped her.
“Hold on, Flutters. I got this.” I told her before I talked to the guards. “Take it easy, fellas. We’re on the list.”
“It’s alright, good sirs.” Twilight told them. “He’s telling the truth.” With that, the guards then lowered their wings, letting me and Flutters in.
“Thanks for backing me up, Twi.” I said to her.
“I’m so glad you two can make it.” She told us. “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
“Like I’d miss a chance to see Gold Star.” I said, before looking around the Mystic King. “Speaking of, where is he anyway?”
“He’s over there with Princess Celestia and talking with Dusk.” Twilight told us, motioning to the three over at the table. “I still can’t believe you and Dusk know the Mystic King.”
“Oh, yeah. Us and Gold go way back.” I told her. “We’ve known him before he even became the Mystic King. Surprised you didn’t know, especially considering…”
“That I’m friends with Moon Dancer?” Twilight said to me. “I know. And I find it hard to believe that she’s actually dating the Mystic King.”
“Believe me, we were surprised as well when he told us.” I told her as we walked over to the table. “Considering how things between him and her were like, I didn’t think that would actually happen.”
“What do you mean?” she asked me.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” I told her before I changed the subject. “Sorry we’re late. We’ve been kind of busy with the animals. Just took care of a patient today.”
“Oh, you and your tender, loving care for little animals.” She said as she started looking a little nervous. “I just know Princess Celestia’s gonna love that about you. I mean, I hope she will. Of course, she will!”
“Twi, calm down.” I told her. “Geez, and I thought Flutters was the one who got nervous at social gatherings.”
“Oh, it’s not that.” She said to me. “I just want the princess to approve of my friends.”
“But she’s met us all before.” I asked her.
“And read all about you in my letters.” She told me. “But this is the first time she spent any real-time with you. I want everypony to make a good impression.”
“Wow, Dusk was right. You do like everything to be perfect.” I said. “Anyway, you got nothing to worry about, Twilight.”
“Leon is right.” Flutters said, backing me up. “Besides, this is just a casual get-together, right?”
“Don’t touch me!” Looking over, we saw Rarity over in a corner, dressed up in a fancy dress with some ponies around her. “Watch the dress!” She then shooed away a pony with some punch. “Careful! You’re gonna spill that on me!” She then relaxed a little when she saw Mrs. Cake with a tray of cupcakes. “Oh-oh, that looks delicious. What is it?” Her chill mood quickly changed into a panic before anypony knew it. “Oh, does it stain? Keep it away from me!”
“Well, as casual as it can get.” I told her before we heard Applejack and saw her and Dog sitting over at the table, Applejack looking as nervous as Twilight.
“Uh… which is the salad and which is the appetizer again?” Applejack asked, looking around the table. “Which one am I supposed to eat first?”
“AJ, for the last time, ya’ll can eat however ya like.” Dog told her. “Look at Gold Star. He’s Celestia’s son and he’s not eatin’ all fancy-like.”
“I know, but…” Applejack said before she groaned in frustration.
“Okay, our manners aren’t exactly perfect, but I’m sure the Princess is fine with it.” I told Twilight. “She knows much about the Element Gang so I bet she has an idea how some of us are like and can look past our flaws.”
“I hope so.” Twilight said before we looked to the princess, Dusk, and Gold Star as the Mystic King started talking.
“…See, Mom? I told you, Dusk practically knows everything.” Gold said to her.
“You were right, my son.” Celestia then looked at Dusk with a rather amused look on her face. “You and Twilight are more alike than I first thought.”
“I like to think so too.” Dusk said.
“You said that you had hoped you would be good friends because you're rather similar. Would you say that it's worked out like you hoped?”
“Oh, yes, your Highness.” Dusk said happily. “She’s better than I ever hoped she would be. She’s witty, caring, kind, clever, enjoys reading and learning, inquisitive, and, uh… beautiful…”
“Wait,” Gold said as he looked at Dusk with a sly smile. “Dusk, did you just say she’s beautiful?”
“Um, no?” Dusk cleared his throat and held up his necklace. “She made me this, you know. A sort of good luck charm.”
“What a lovely gesture.” she remarked, examining it. “Strange stones, I must say. It seems that you’re closer than I thought as well.”
“Is, uh…that a bad thing?” Dusk asked nervously.
“Not at all.” she assured. “I think it’s wonderful that you share so much in common. It makes your friendship so much more special and perhaps…” She remained silent for a few seconds, and then brushed her words aside. “Oh, never mind. Regardless, the two of you are good friends and I couldn’t be happier for you.”
“Re-r-really?”
“Of course. Compared to the day I first met you, in the gardens of Canterlot, you’ve changed so much since then. Much like I had seen before, friendship suits you, Dusk. And I hope it only makes you happier throughout your life.”
“Thank you, your highness.” Dusk mumbled.
Looking to Twilight, I saw her blushing while looking away with a smile, shuffling on her hooves. I nudged her a bit, giving her the same smile Gold had on him a while ago. This snapped her out of her trance before we kept on walking over to the Princess, the talk between her and Dusk continuing.
“So…how’s Princess Luna faring?”
“My sister is quite well. She still prefers to seclude herself than come out in public, but…some scars take time to heal.” She looked a little sad for some reason, like something bad had happened. That sadness left as fast as it came. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m just curious.” Dusk shrugged. “We don't really see much of her and I was just wondering as to why…making sure she’s okay.”
“Well, that’s very nice of you to…”
“You gonna eat that?” Pinkie didn't wait for an answer as she snapped up the Princess's cupcake in a single bite.
“Pinkie! Manners!” Dusk said to her with a glare. “Shield!”
“On it!” Shield said as he came over and dragged Pinkie away.
“Hey!” Pinkie said as she was taken away.
“A thousand pardons, your majesty.” Mr. Cake begged, setting down a replacement cake and backing away in case she might strike him down.
“That’s quite all right, thank you.” She glanced inquisitively at me, who merely shrugged, trying to convey without words that she was always like that and Dusk just went with it.
The Princess and Gold Star chuckled as they caught what he was doing and Celestia delicately bit into the cupcake and drained her cup of tea. A rather comedic scene ensued, where the Princess finished a cup of tea, only to have it immediately refilled by the Cakes. Just to mess around with them, she pretended to take a sip and let them pour the tea and overflow her cup.
“Gotcha!”
“Good one, Mom.” Gold said as he and Dusk laughed, making Twilight groan as she ducked down as we sat at the head of the table.
“Twi, it’s okay.” Dusk whispered to our fellow unicorn. “It’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.” Twilight said.
“Take slow, deep breaths.” He told her. "Trust me, it helps."
“Okay… slow, deep breaths…” She began to comply.
“Well, at least we now know where Gold gets his love for messing with ponies from.” I said, getting the two royals' attention.
“Hey, Leon. Long time no see.” Gold said to me. “Hear you still busy with some animals.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” I told him. “And helping out Flutters here.”
“I’m glad to find you sharing your kindness with others, young Leon.” Celestia said to me before she turned her attention to Fluttershy. “And what about you, dear? Fluttershy, is it?”
“Me?” She seemed quite surprised at being addressed. “Oh, yes, Your Highness.”
“I understand from Twilight Sparkle’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures as much as your little helper there.”
“Yes, I love to take care of animals.”
“As do I. As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures, great and small.” At this point, a hacking cough came from a bird cage beside Gold. “Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects.”
“Um, Princess?” I asked, getting her attention. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with that cage over there by Gold Star?”
“Oh, this?” Gold said, answering for his mom while looking like he didn’t care at all. “This is for Philomena, Mom’s bird.”
“Bird?” I was surprised by this. “I didn’t know she had a pet.”
“Well, she doesn’t really leave the cage or the castle much, so nopony really knows about her.” Gold said as another cough came from the cage. “Speaking of the bird, looks like she’s up from her nap.”
Watching the bird weakly flew up to her perch and stood atop it, I was shocked as it wobbled around. The bird looked like a complete mess. Kind of looked like a chicken or a turkey but with pale pink feathers. Wasn’t really sure what it was, but I could tell that it was not in good health. I felt sorry for the bird. Even Dusk grimaced at the sight.
“Ah, Philomena, my pet. You’re awake.” Princess Celestia said, smiling like there was nothing wrong. “Do say hello to our gracious hosts.” Philomena responded with another wheezing cough.
“Oh…my.” Fluttershy murmured in a concerned tone.
“She is quite a sight, isn’t she?” Celestia was apparently oblivious to Fluttershy’s reaction Philomena’s state.
“I… I… I’ve never seen anything like it.” she finally said.
“Yeah… me neither.” I said, not sure what say about this.
Dusk’s view
While we looked upon Philomena, one of the guards from outside cleared his throat and whispered something in Celestia’s ear.
“Really?” He nodded to confirm whatever he said. "Well, if I must.” She rose gracefully from her seat. “I’m sorry, everypony. I’m afraid I have to cut the party short.” Twilight nearly made a spit take at this. “The mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls.” She then looked to Gold Star. “Gold Star, I won’t be gone for long. Mind looking after Philomena while I’m gone?”
“Of course. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.” Gold Star promised her.
“Wonderful.” She then leaned to him and whispered. “And now you have some time to spend with your friends.” Straightening up, she then spoke to everyone. “Thank you for a wonderful time. It’s been a joy getting to know you all better.” With dignity and poise, she departed with her guards, everypony bowing to her as she passed. Applejack breathed a sigh of relief, her mouth-watering with anticipation.
“Now I can eat somethin’! I’m starved!” To her dismay though, Mr. Cake cleared the table by pulling on the cloth. Dog patted her on the back in comfort.
I hurriedly drained the rest of my tea, scalding my tongue in the process, and watched everypony leave the cake store, Pinkie doing a cartwheel and knocking over anypony that got in her way. Before anypony else could leave, they were stopped by a fiercely driven Rarity, who was also making her way out.
“Stay right where you are. All I want is a clear path to the exit. NOBODY MOVE and my dress won't get hurt! Stay back! Back, I say!”
“I see Rarity still as preppy as ever.” Gold said with a chuckle.
“Well, she does love to be poise.” I said before we saw Applejack and Dog leave, the earth pony expertly balancing several food items on her nose and back to wearing her Stetson and Dog using his magic to care some food with him, leaving me, Gold, Twilight, and Spike standing in the middle of the room. Twilight relaxed visibly, drooping her head and wearing a resigned expression.
“Well, guys, I don’t know for sure how things went with the princess, but at least no big disasters happened.”
“I’m sure it went fine.” Spike said. “If it didn’t, I’m sure we’ll be the first to know about it.”
“Well said, Spike.” I remarked. “Were you expecting any big disasters to happen?”
"Well, you never know, anything could have happened to spoil the day. You already know about the Parasprites from last time and the time before that was when Nightmare Moon was freed from her imprisonment.”
“Oh. I can see where your concern came from then.” I said. “But, like I told you, it was nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah… you were.” She sighed and looked at me. “Thanks for making a good impression on her, Dusk.”
“No problem at all.” I assured her. “I was happy to do it. Remember, it’s thanks to her we’re friends in the first place.”
“Indeed it is.” It sounded like a simple agreement, but I got the feeling that she was saying more than she was, enough to make me smile affectionately at her, which she returned.
“Well, now that my mom has given me some time to myself, how about you two show me around Ponyville?” Gold said to me.
“Gold, didn’t Celestia tell you to look after Philomena?” I asked him with a raised brow.
“Oh, that was just her way of getting me out of following all day.” Gold assured me. “Old Mena won’t leave that cage with the way she is. She’ll be fine.”
“Okay, if you say so.” I said to him. “Though first we’re gonna need to help clean up the leftovers of brunch. You can wait outside until…”
“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll help out.” Gold said to me. “You’re my bud and I’m always up to helping my friends.”
“Thanks, Gold.” I said to him with a grateful smile.
After helping Mr. and Mrs. Cake tidying up everything that had been leftover from the brunch, we decided to give ourselves a little break. Spike went back to the library for a nap, whilst Gold and I set off on one of my walks, accompanied by Twilight who requested to go with us to which I had no objections.
“Wow, this place is amazing.” Gold said, enjoying the sights I showed him in town.
“Oh, that’s only half of it, my friend.” I told him as we made our way through the streets of Ponyville. “Wait until we get to Sweet Apple Acres. I promise, you won’t regret it.”
“Excuse me, Dusk.” Twilight said to me. “I was wondering, why do you go on walks through Ponyville?”
“I just go on these when I feel like it.” I explained to her. “It lets me get some exercise and I get to explore the area.”
“That’s as good reason for them, I guess. But if you wanted to know about the area, why not just read it in a book?”
“Oh, I have, it’s just that this way is more engaging and healthier.”
“But if you’ve already read it in a book, what’s the point of the exploration?” she asked me, a little confused.
“Because, Miss Sparkle, there are some things that can’t be learned from any book. Most things can be, but others have to be seen with your eyes, held with your own hooves or claws, like Pinkie sense. Who knows? You may find something else one day a book can’t explain.”
“He’s got a point.” Gold said, backing me up.
“I doubt it.” she scoffed, though I noticed her cheeks went slightly red. “I may not have been able to explain Pinkie sense, but there’s nothing else in this world that can't be explained by looking it up in a book. I’ll stick to reading, thank you.”
“If you say so, Twi.” I shrugged. “I suppose that’s the studious mindset that comes from being the protégée of Princess Celestia. Not that that’s a bad thing, it makes you who you are and I like who you are.”
“I noticed.” The blush in her cheeks deepened at this point and she gazed warmly at me. “I heard what you said to the Princess…about me.”
“Did you?" Somehow, my voice became even quieter than normal. “Well, um… I…”
“You did mean it, didn’t you?” she asked. I didn’t respond, just nodded mutely and her expression softened even further. “Nopony’s ever said anything like that about me before.”
“N-n-nopony…at all?” I dared to ask.
“Nopony.” she repeated. “It was very sweet of you, that you would say that…thank you.”
“No problem.” I murmured, but I was glowing inside that she would acknowledge this of me. We held our warm gaze for a few seconds before Gold gave a chuckle.
“Do you two need a moment alone?” He said, making Twilight falter and break eye contact with me, flicking her head around nervously.
“No! I mean, um… it’s nice that, as a friend, Dusk think of me like that, um…not in any, uh…you know…” She trailed off and fell into an awkward silence.
“Twilight, are you..?”
I was cut off when she suddenly asked “You spend a lot of time with Rarity?”
“Um…excuse me?” I replied unsurely.
“Rarity. You spend a lot of time with her, I’ve noticed. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s great to spend time with your friends, but…yeah, you just spend a lot of time with her, that’s all." She said this all rather quickly and while trying to sound casual, but coming off as nervous.
“Er…I hadn’t really noticed.” I said, not really sure of what else to say.
“Really? Well, I noticed it, even if you didn’t, you know? Because I notice things about my friends, especially you because you work with me. I mean, I notice what we all do, not just you and I just noticed that about you. You know?” She was getting rather mixed up in her words and not being too clear in her meaning.
“Well…do you want me to spend less time with Rarity?” I asked, hoping to clear it up and calm her down. If anything, that made it worse.
“No, no! Of course not! I mean, you can if you want to. It’s not up to me to tell you what you should do with your friends. I mean, if it was, I’d tell you that you should be spending equal time with all of your friends, especially if most of them are girls and you’re one of the only guys. If you do, they might start thinking that there’s something else going on.”
“What exactly…would that be then?” It seemed like she wanted to talk about something important, but wasn't quite sure how to.
“I just thought that maybe, if you and Rarity are spending so much time together, you two may feel…something else for each other. Again, not that that’s a bad thing, I’m just saying…I mean, I'm not saying that you do but…”
“Wait, hold on.” I interrupted, finally seeing what she was getting at. “Do you think that I and Rarity feel…like that for each other?”
“Yes, yes! That’s exactly what I’m thinking!” she cried, sounding relieved. “Again, not that it’s bad if you do. I’d be happy for both of you if you did. It’s just that…well…what I’m trying to say is…do you?” A note of pleading made its way into this question.
I remembered how Rarity said that she seemed jealous when we separated at Canterlot at the school and I had noticed that a look of jealousy flashed across her face whenever I did something like hug one of the others, or even say that I was doing something with Rarity. Had she been thinking all of this time that I had romantic feelings for her? And if she did, what did that mean for the two of us?
“No.” I replied simply. “I don’t have…you know…romantic feelings for Rarity. She and I are cousins, that’s how we’ve seen each other for years. Plus, we’re just good friends, like I am with the others and you.”
“Really? Oh.” She looked quite abashed now, but at least that hysterical note had gone out of her voice. I always got concerned when she was like that. “Well, um…good.”
“Why is that good?”
“Oh, no reason!” she said suddenly with a forced smile. “I’m just, er…glad that this had all been sorted out, that’s all. We’re all just good friends, right?”
“Yeah…right.” I supposed it was too much to hope that she may harbor affection for me as I did for her, not yet anyway. I guessed she was still grappling with her emotions like Rarity said. Deciding it would be best to change the subject, I asked “What do you think of Celestia’s sister?”
Apparently just as glad at the change of subject, she relaxed visibly and a natural smile came back. “Luna? Well, she’s…she’s…” Twilight went silent, thinking for a few minutes, and then frowned. “Come to think of it, I don’t really know.”
“Why not? You and the girls are the ones who freed her from her corrupting power.”
“I know, but we didn’t really get the chance to talk to her.” she explained. “They left pretty quickly once the celebration was over, but I swear I could see Luna crying when they did.”
“Oh…that’s rather a shame.” I remarked. “I suppose it was tough for her, returning to her normal self after so long wrapped in a shroud of evil and hate.”
“Well put.” she agreed, raising an eyebrow at my eloquence. “Add to that, she was stuck in the moon for a thousand years and the fact everypony thought she was a monster and…”
“I know what you mean. Do you know much else about her?”
“Only what most know: she’s Celestia's sister, she’s just as magical as her, maybe less because she’s younger, she always speaks loudly…why does she do that anyway?”
“It’s the Royal Voice of Canterlot.” I explained. “Both Celestia and Luna used it to address their subjects centuries ago, but Celestia abandoned the tradition shortly after Luna was imprisoned in the moon.”
“Is there anything you don’t know?” she remarked admirably.
“I don’t think there is anything he doesn’t know.” Gold said, reminding us of his presence. “And I can tell ya about Luna. She is my aunt after all.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” I said to Gold. “So you know more about her, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. Most of it from my mom.” He told me. “Why do you want to know so much about her anyway?”
“Well, I’m just curious that’s all.” I told him. “I don’t really know much about her.”
“Yeah, I guess you didn’t see much of her back home, huh?”
“Yeah. She was secluded in the castle for quite a long time after that back in Canterlot and even now she seems…well…unsure of herself.”
“You thought so too?” Twilight spoke up. “And we’ve never really asked about her. I feel kind of bad, now that I think about it.”
“Me too.” I said. “But she’ll show herself more when she’s ready and it's best not to rush her until then. Still…it would be good if we did see more of her.”
“I know, she would be unique to talk to at any rate.” She hesitated for a moment. “Do you really think that there’s nothing we can do?”
“I don’t really know.” I admitted. “Celestia knows her better than we do. She is her sister after all. If she wants our help, I’m sure she’ll ask for it. Until then, we carry on.”
“I suppose that makes sense.” she said, a little regrettably.
“I just hope it’s not too long.” Gold Star said. “Mom really wants her around so we can be a family again.”
“So what is she like, Gold?” I asked the Mystic King.
“Well, from what Mom’s told me, she’s really kind, polite, and playful.” He told me.
“Playful?” I was surprised to hear this.
“Yeah, Mom told me she used to love playing with little foals back before the whole Nightmare Moon thing.”
“I think that behavior would be being like an elder than playful.” I told him.
“Well, Mom always did say she was wise.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll let you two catch up.” Twilight told us. “I need to go over to Fluttershy’s to thank her and Leon for making a good impression.”
“Not at all, Twi.” I told her. “We’ll met up with you with the others near the center of town.” Gold and I then made our way down the street. “See you later!”
She waved goodbye and was soon out of sight, though I did regret having to leave her.
“Hey, you okay, Dusk?” Gold asked me as we walked.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.” Wanting to change the subject, I then said “Hey, are you sure Celestia’s pet will be okay?”
“Oh, quit you’re worrying, Dusk.” Gold told me. “I’m sure Mena is just sleeping soundly in her cage right now.”
Leon’s view
After getting back to the cottage, I was just freaking out that we actually took Philomena without anypony knowing. Though Fluttershy didn’t seem much bothered by all this.
“Oh, you poor thing.” Fluttershy said with a gentle smile, talking to the bird. “How did you even get into those conditions?”
“Why did I let you talk me into this?” I said to her, knowing how much trouble we were in. “You do realize we practically kidnapped Celestia’s bird, right?”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” Flutters said to me as she put the bird on the couch. “We’re just nursing Philomena back to health as a favor to the princess.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, sure I want her to get better, but taking a royal pet without Celestia’s permission…”
“Leon, look at her.” I then looked to Philomena as the bird collapsed on the couch. “Princess Celestia clearly cares for Philomena but is too busy to care for her properly.”
“Uh… well…”
“Please, Leon?” Looking at her, I saw her giving me that pleading look of hers. When she gets cute like that, that’s when I know I lose an argument.
With a sigh, I then said “Fine. Let’s help Philomena get better.”
“Oh, thank you, Leon.” She said with a grateful smile.
“Well, it’s just one bird. How hard can it be?” I said before Philomena coughed, losing some of her feathers.
“Oh, my.” Flutters said as she took the bird. “We better get her to bed right away.”
With that, we brought Philomena over to a special bed we use for taking care of sick or injured animals like her (at least of her size anyway).
“There. Now let’s check her temperature.” I said before using my magic to place a thermometer in the bird’s beak. But, the second I did, she started burning up. “Oh, boy!” Acting quickly, I took the blanket off her and Flutters gave her an ice pack to help her cool down.
But that ended making things worse as the bird got too cold and started shivering. Taking the ice pack off, I put the blanket back on only for her to burn up again. I was practically putting the ice pack and blanket off and on, trying to make sure Philomena didn’t get too hot or too cold. After a while, I then had enough and put both the blanket and the ice pack on. From there, she was back to normal at the right temp.
“Oh, dear. This is far worse than I thought.” Fluttershy said. “What she needs is some medicine, stat!”
“I’ll go get some of the cold medicine.” I said as I then went off to grab some of the medicine. After getting some, I then put a cold pill on a plate and put it in front of Philomena. “There you go, Philomena. This will fix you right up.” Philomena sniffed the pill a bit before gagging. “Oh, don’t be like that.” I then pushed the plate a bit closer to the bird. “This will help you get better.” Philomena only turned away in response.
“Don’t worry. Doctor Fluttershy expected that.” Flutters said, pulling out a bag of bird feed before pouring a pile over the pill. After getting a taste of it, Philomena dove right in and ate all the feed. “Always works.”
“Uh, Flutters?” I said as we both looked and saw that Philomena didn’t eat the pill with the feed. “I think we should try something else.” Philomena then coughed, again losing some of her feathers.
Right there, I then went into the kitchen and prepared some of my grandma’s homemade soup.
“This should do the trick.” I said as I put a bowl of soup down in front of Philomena. “Some of my grandma’s special get-well soup. Nothing better than homemade soup to cure an ailment.” Philomena sniffed it and liked it as much as the pill we tried giving her. “Come on now. You’re not gonna get better if you don’t cooperate.”
“Leon is right. Just smell this soup he made for you.” Flutters said as she took a whiff of the soup. “Mmm! See? It’s delicious. Good and good for you.” Though Philomena still refused to eat it.
“Here comes the choo-choo train.” Flutters tried to get Philomena to try the soup, but that bird still refused to eat. “Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, whoo-whoo!
“Okay, that is one stubborn bird.” I said as I couldn’t believe Philomena refused the soup.
“Oh, dear. Don’t worry, Philomena. I know what will make you feel better. Wait right here.” Fluttershy then went off as I then took the bowl to the kitchen.
“Guess we’ll be having soup for dinner tonight.” I said before dumping the bowl out and washing it.
After I was done, I then went back and saw Philomena had gotten into the mouse food.
“Philomena.” I said with a chuckle as I got her away from the mouse food. “That’s mouse food. You’re not a mouse.”
“Look, Philomena,” Flutters said as she came in with our local hummingbird Hummingway, “I brought a fellow feathered friend here 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?” The hummingbird hummed in response. “Say hello to your new friend, Philomena.” Just from there, it didn’t take long for Hummingway and Philomena to become friends. “Aww, look. I think he likes you.” As the two flew up to each other, Flutters then sung out a few notes. “Ah, ah, ah-ah!” Hummingway then hummed the same tune before she turned to me. “Leon, would you like to join?”
“What? Me?” I was surprised by this. “Oh, I don’t know…”
“Come on, Leon. I bet you have a wonderful voice.”
“Well… If you don’t mind it.” I then took a deep breath and sung out the same notes. “Ah, ah, ah-ah!” Hummingway then repeated the tune.
“Leon, that was beautiful.”
“Thanks, Flutters.” We both then looked to Philomena. “Okay, Philomena. Now you try.” I then watched as she took in a breath, looking ready to sing. “Go ahead. Sing along. Ah, ah, ah-ah!” Though what came out of her mouth was not a voice, but a dry heave and some of what I had to guess was the mouse food she ate.
“Um… good try?” Flutters said as I wiped the coughed-up food off my face.
“Flutters, I don’t think a sore throat is gonna let her sing.” I told her as Philomena started coughing.
After coming up with an idea, Flutters decided to take her to the bathroom and use the water heater to help Philomena get better.
“I know what’ll clear up that tickle in your throat: a humidifier.” She said to Philomena before turning on the heater, filling the room with steam. “Refreshing. How’s that feeling now for you, Philomena? Better?” The bird took a deep breath, but only gave a nasty cough and lost some more feathers, much to Flutters' disappointment.
“Looks like putting Philomena into a sauna isn’t gonna work.” I said while walking in.
“Oh, that’s okay.” She told me. “I know lots of other ways to take care of her.”
“Well, one of them must at least better work.” I said to her. “She’s already lost a lot of feathers already.”
“Don’t worry, Philomena.” She said to the bird. “You’re gonna get better.”
“So what else can we try?” I asked.
From there, we started going through the list of things to help heal Philomena. Though, much like everything else we tried, they didn’t work. We tried using aromatherapy, but the smoke and scents just made her sneeze; we tried a warm bath, but Philomena (I don’t know how) actually absorbed all the water in the tub; and we even tried using ointment, but that just gave her a rash. Everything we tried only led to Philomena losing more of her feathers. By the time we tried everything, Flutters then tried to put Philomena’s feathers back on.
“Feathers.” Flutters said.
“Feathers.” I then used my magic to take the feathers in the basket and place them on Philomena.
“Surgical tape.”
“Surgical tape.” I then gave her the surgical tape and she got to work on taping the feathers back on, me using a rag to wipe the sweat off her brow. When she was done, we both cringed at how terrible Philomena was looking, even as the bird coughed.
“Oh, Philomena. I thought it would be easy to nurse her back to health.”
“So did I, Flutters. We’ve tried everything and nothing worked.” I said, feel regret we weren’t able to heal her. “Now look at her. She looks worse than ever.”
“Leon, what are we going to do?” Just when she said that, there was a knock at the door.
“Quick! Hide Philomena!” I told her as I went to answer the door. I opened it a bit to find it was Twilight. I tried to keep as calm as I could while talking to her while Flutters tried to hide Philomena. “Oh, hey, Twilight. What’s up?”
“Hi, Leon. I just wanted to drop by and talk to you and Fluttershy.” She told me.
“Really? Talk about what?”
“I just wanted to say thank you both so much for making such a good impression on the princess today.”
“Oh, it was nothing. Me and Flutters are glad the Princess approves of us.” Looking back to see Flutters having some trouble hiding Philomena, I tried to cut the talk short. “Well, it was nice talking to you, bye!” I tried to close the door, but Twilight managed to jam it with her magic.
“Wait, can’t I at least come in?”
“No!” Realizing I shouted, I then cleared my throat and tried to speak calmly. “I mean, we don’t really have time to talk now. We can talk later.” Just then, Philomena coughed out, getting Twilight’s attention.
“What was that?”
“Oh, that? That’s, um… Flutters! Oh, yeah. She’s come down with something today and I’m trying to help her get better.”
“You mean she’s sick? But she was just fine earlier today.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s just a recent bug. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to tend to her.”
“Do you need any help?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine. In fact, you can help by leaving. Can’t have you getting sick, right?” I then started using my magic on the door, just as Philomena started coughing again. “I’m coming, Flutters! See ya, Twi. Thanks for visiting.”
“Hold on. Let me take a look at her. Maybe I can figure out what she haves.”
“Not necessary. I got it under control!”
“Leon, I just want to help!”
“Don’t need any help! Just go!”
“Leon, let me in!”
“No!”
Right there, the two of us then began pushing on the door with our magic, her trying to open it while I was trying to close it. Though I tried my hardest, I lost this fight and Twilight pushed the door wide open, knocking me to the floor. Recovering from that, I looked to see Twilight glaring at me as she walked in.
“Leon, what in Equestria is going on with you?” She lost her glare when she heard a cough and looked past me and gasped. Looking to where she was looking, I saw that it was Flutters with Philomena in her hooves.
“Twilight, I can explain!” I said to my fellow unicorn.
“Leon, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she started freaking out, “what is Celestia’s pet doing here?”
“We’ve been trying to heal her.” I told her. “You know, as a favor to the princess.”
“Oh, no.” Twilight then facehoofed herself. “No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no! This is bad.”
“Please don’t be mad at Leon. I’m the one who took Philomena.” Flutters told her, looking guilty. “I couldn’t leave the poor thing there. She needed my help. How could I just walk away and not do anything?”
“But-but she doesn’t belong to you!” Twilight said to her.
“I had to do something.”
“Without telling anypony? Without asking for permission?!”
“But…”
“Twi, calm down. Look at this bird!” I said, pointing to the ill bird Flutters was holding. “She’s obviously sick and Fluttershy was just trying to help her because she knew Celestia cared for Philomena and didn’t want the Princess to lose her pet!”
“I’m sorry.” Twilight told me. “I know you both had good intentions, but you shouldn’t take an animal from somepony without asking first. You got to return the Princess’ pet!”
I took a moment to think about it before sighing and saying “You’re right. We got to give Philomena back to Celestia.”
“But, Leon…”
“Flutters, look at her.” Philomena then coughed a little as I continued. “We’ve tried to heal her, but only managed to make things worse. For crying out loud, we don’t even know what kind of bird she actually is. I’m sure Celestia might not be able to take care of her to keep her from looking like this, but she obviously does give her some care when Philomena needs it most. We got to take her back.”
Flutters took a moment to think about this before she sighed and then said “Okay, let’s go.”
“There’s my girl.” I said, smiling proudly at her before putting Philomena in a basket that I put onto Flutters’ back before putting a lid on it. “There. That should keep her hidden until we get her back to the cage.”
“Come on.” Twilight said as she and I went over to the door. “If we hurry, we can put her back before anypony even realizes she’s missing.”
“Then let’s get to Sugarcube Corner and…” I then gasped as I found Celestia’s guards on the other side. Calming down, I then talked to them. “Hello, sirs. What can I do you for?”
“We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here.” one of the guards said.
“Oh, that would be me.” Twilight said as she stood in front of the guards. “Is something wrong?”
“We regret to inform you, miss,” the other guard told her, “but the royal pet has gone missing.”
“Really? You don’t say.” Twilight said as she gave a nervous chuckle before Philomena started to cough. Thinking fast, I then started coughing myself.
“Oh, sorry.” I said, coughing with Philomena. “Just got… something… caught in my throat… Been bothering me… since the brunch.”
“Well, you guards better be on your way if you’re gonna find the princess’ missing pet.” Twilight said, pushing the guards out the door. “Philomena, was it? Thank you ever so much for keeping me in the loop. Bye!”
“Phew! That was close.” I said after Twilight closed the door, seeing the guards leaving from the window.
“Fluttershy, what are you doing?” Twilight said as I looked to find Fluttershy trying to head out the door.
“Going to return Philomena, remember?” Fluttershy told her before I got up and stopped her.
“Fluttershy, are you nuts?” I said to her. “We can’t take her back now!”
“Leon’s right!” Twilight said to Flutters. “They already know she’s missing! Which means we can’t return her!”
“Why not?” Flutters asked.
“You have no idea what the princess is gonna do if she finds you’re the one who took her pet, do you?”
“No. Do you?” Flutters raised a brow at her.
“Well… no.” Twilight told her. “But it can’t be anything good. 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 banished you to!”
“You really think the princess would do that?” Flutters said with fear.
“No, she wouldn’t. I doubt she’d make that kind of fuss.” I said to her before getting to what will happen. “Besides, even if she did, I doubt she’d have a chance once Gold Star is through with us.”
“What do you mean?” Flutters asked.
“Fluttershy, Gold Star is Celestia’s son, who wields like an arsenal of anti-magic swords that he can use to mutilate us.” I told her, telling her what Gold would do to us if we returned Philomena. “He’d let us go for just taking her, but if he finds out what we’ve done to his mom’s pet…” I then dreaded at the thought of an angry Gold Star using his swords to slice me and Flutters to pieces. “We’re dead meat!” Flutters gulped at the thought.
“He wouldn’t do that, would he?”
“He once tried to kill an Anti-bird for pecking him in the head. I’m pretty sure he’ll kill us for practically ruining Philomena.”
“In any case, do you wanna take any chances?” Twilight asked me.
“All that matters to me is that poor, little Philomena here gets well.” Flutters told her.
“That’s very noble of you, Fluttershy.” Twilight said.
“Yeah, it is.” I agreed with her. “But that alone won’t save us. There’s only one way out: we need to get Philomena healthy. If we give her back all healed up, Celestia and Gold might take it easy on us.”
“Good idea.” Twilight said. “Did you give her any kind of medicine?”
“We tried to, but she wouldn’t take it.” Flutters told her.
“Ugh! Then you have to make her take it.” Twilight said in frustration. “You can’t be such a pushover, Fluttershy! You need to show this patient who’s the boss. Make her straighten up and fly right!”
“She can’t fly.” Flutters said, not really wanting to be so forceful.
“She’s being metaphorical, Flutters.” I said as I got the pill. “But she is right. To do what’s best for others, sometimes you need to show a little tough love.” From there, I then opened Philomena’s beak with my magic and put the pill in, making her swallow it.
“Good work, Leon.” Twilight said to me. “What else?”
“Well, she keeps pulling her feathers off.” I told her. “I mean the ones that haven’t fallen out from all her coughing.”
“There you go.” Twilight said after she put a cone on Philomena, who then tried to pull the cone off.
“I don’t think she like it.” Flutters said.
“Hey, it’s tough love.” I told her. “We want her to get well, don’t we?”
“Of course, but…” Flutters didn’t even have time to talk before Twilight interrupted her.
“Next!”
“She definitely needs some serious rest, but we can’t get her to stay put.” I told her.
“One step ahead of you.” Twilight said before she placed Philomena in a cage and put a cover over it.
“It’s for your own good, Philomena. I promise.” Flutters said to her, the bird going wild in the cage. “Please relax and try to get some sleep.”
“Why isn’t she asleep?” I asked, surprised to find Philomena so hyper in the cage while it’s covered. “Aren’t birds supposed to fall asleep with a covered cage?”
“What’s this soup over here?” Twilight asked, talking about the pot of soup I made earlier. “Smells delicious.”
“Oh, that’s something I made for Philomena.” I told her. “But she wouldn’t eat it.”
“Oh, she’ll eat it, alright.” Twilight then picked up the bowl with her magic, looking to the cage with a crazy smile.
“I don’t like that look in her eyes.” I said to Flutters before Twilight uncovered the cage, opened it, and tried to make Philomena eat the soup, but the bird freaked out and ran right out of the cage.
“Hey, where are you going?” Twilight asked as Philomena went out an open window.
“She’s making a break for it!” I said, seeing the bird running away.
“No! Philomena, come back!” Flutters said before the three of us then started chasing her around town.
I’ll tell ya, it wasn’t easy. For a sick bird, she was really quick on her feet. We chased her around a tree, around the rooftops, even through the park when she tried to trick us with a disguise. Every time, Philomena managed to escape us. We had been chasing her all around Ponyville, but hadn’t even caught her. I just hoped we would find her before Celestia or Gold Star find her and see what we’ve done.
Dusk’s view
After following an alley, I reached the fountain statue of a smiling pony where the others were all gathered. Rainbow was hovering in the air, Pinkie was eating a cupcake from the brunch, Rarity was styling her mane, Dog and Shield were chatting away, and Applejack was balancing an apple on the end of her nose. They all greeted me as I arrived.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gents.” I politely greeted. “Nice to see you all looking relaxed.”
“You said it, sugarcube.” Applejack replied, not losing balance on the apple. “Don’t have to worry about no manners among friends, huh?”
“She didn’t have to worry about manners with Celestia neither.” Dog whispered, making Shield snicker.
“Perhaps you don’t, but the rest of us have some standards.” Rarity remarked. Pinkie chose this point to take a huge bite out of her cupcake and swallow it almost whole. “Well, most of us anyway.”
“Eh, I’m bored.” Rainbow announced. “There’s nothing to do and nothing's going on.”
“I wouldn’t say that, there’s always something going on.” I said.
“Hey, where’s Gold?” Shield asked me. “I thought you were showing him around Ponyville.”
“Oh, I was, but he got called out for something important.” I answered.
“What’s he called for?” Dog asked.
“Oddly enough, it’s Philomena.” I told him. “She’s gone missing and Gold has gone out to find her. We bumped into some guards that told us the emergency. Seeing this is Celestia’s royal pet, I suggest we all keep an eye out for her.”
“Well, that’s weird.” Pinkie noted. “Why would that silly birdie go wandering off like that?”
“It is rather peculiar.” Rarity agreed. “Oh, well. We’ll keep an eye out for her, just as Dusk said, and report if we do see her.”
“Meantime, back to it.” Applejack said, returning to balancing the apple on her nose.
Realizing that they were all doing their own thing, I figured I might as well do something to entertain myself. Allowing my magic to take effect and my mind to wander, I began to deliberate all of the details, the minutes passing by.
As I watched the swirling colors, a thought crossed my mind. Everypony knew the story of how Princess Luna had been corrupted by dark powers. If my power was in some way connected to hers, could that possibly mean that I too might become…corrupted? A fear began to creep up inside me at this idea. It was a possibility. I once read about a certain Fire Dragon who fell victim to this sort of thing. My swirling images of color had always seemed harmless enough, but what if they had been slowly changing me, like a slow-acting poison? Could it be that, one day, I might…stray down the path of evil?
“Dusk? Dusk, dear, are you all right?” Rarity’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “You seem to be rather…preoccupied.”
“Oh, um… it’s nothing, really.” I lied, not feeling comfortable telling them yet. “It’s just something rather…complex I’m thinking of.”
“Must be. I swear I could hear the cogs turnin’ in your head.” Dog remarked.
“You thinking about the Princess’ missing bird?” Shield asked. “That thing didn’t look so good, did it?”
“No, it didn’t.” I agreed absently. “Yes, um…I was thinking about it.”
“Always thinking away, aren’t ya?” Pinkie said brightly. “Come on, what’s going on in that unicorn noggin?”
“Give me a few minutes.” I requested, glad to be pondering something else other than my possible corruption. Besides, this might be a nice mystery to unravel.
Leon’s view
While running around looking for Philomena, heading towards the fountain where Dusk and the others were at, Rainbow Dash came over.
“What you guys doing? Are you having a race?” Dash asked, but we ignored her as we kept on going. “Oh, can I join? One, two, three, go!” After she dashed off, me and the girls looked at each other for a moment before getting back on track, rushing over to the others.
“Excuse me!” Flutters said, checking underneath Pinkie Pie.
“Hi!” Pinkie said, completely unfazed.
“Beg your pardon!” Twilight said, doing the same with Rarity.
“Put me down!” Rarity demanded.
“What in tarnation?” Dog wondered as I lifted him up with my magic before tossing him into the fountain. Twilight lifted up Dusk’s hat and checked underneath it.
“Pardon my intrusion,” Dusk said as Twilight put his hat back on his head, “but might I inquire as to what’s going on?”
“Sorry, but we’ve gotta find…” Flutters started before
“The princess's pet bird!” It was the two guards from before. looking up to the top of the fountain. Looking there, we saw Philomena standing on top of the statue, all but her single tail feather gone and looking worse than ever.
“Philomena, come down from there! You’ll hurt yourself!” Fluttershy ordered.
After losing her last feather, Philomena started and coughing. With a death rattle, she collapsed on the fountain. Then she stood up again, coughed once more, and started to fall straight off of the statue, hurtling towards the ground.
“I’ll catch you!” Flutters hurried forward, but just when she reached her, Philomena burst into flame and landed in Fluttershy’s hooves as a pile of ash.
Everypony gasped, except for Fluttershy and Dusk for some reason. Flutters whimpered and cried as tears streaked down her face.
“What is going on here?” Celestia demanded as we all bowed. “Twilight?”
“Yes, your majesty,” she responded, going on to explain, “there’s been a terrible accident.”
“It’s all my fault.” Fluttershy interjected.
“No, Princess. Fluttershy didn’t know any better. It was my fault."
“I’m the one who did it."
“But you were only trying to help."
“Some help I was.”
“Will you let me do this? She’ll go easier on me.”
“But it’s my fault.”
“No, it’s my fault.”
“No, it’s my fault.” Pinkie piped up unexpectedly. “Wait, what are we talking about?”
“We’re talking about what happened to Philomena, Pinkie.” I told her.
"Thanks for trying to protect me, Twilight, but…” Nervously, she stepped forward and faced the princess. “Princess Celestia, I’m the one who took your pet bird. I really was only trying to help the poor, little thing. Then I was gonna bring it 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.” In that moment of silence, I then knew what I had to do.
“Princess, whatever you decided to give Fluttershy as her punishment, then you can give it to me too.” I said, making Dusk and the guys gasp.
“Leon, you don’t have to do that.” Fluttershy said to me. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is.” I told her. “I knew it was wrong to take Philomena like that, but instead of stopping you, I helped you take her away. What’s happened here is just as much my fault as it is yours.” I then smiled at her. “Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I let you deal with something like that all alone? I’m sticking by your side, no matter what.”
Giving me that warm smile, she then pulled me into a hug. “Thank you, Leon. You really are the best friend I could ask for.”
Gaining the same smile, I then returned it. “No problem, Flutters.”
“I can’t believe this.” Looking past the princess, we saw Gold Star walking over, looking really mad.
“Oh, here it comes.” I said as Gold walked over to us, me and Flutter grabbing each other in a hug as we prepared for the worst.
“Honestly, after years of living together, why do I still put up with this bird?” Gold said as we both looked and watched as he walked past us and went over to Philomena’s ashes, nudging them with his right claw. “Hey, Mena. Knock it off. It wasn’t funny the last few times, it’s not funny now.”
“Wait, you mean she’s not reforming on purpose?” Dusk asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah, she thinks it’s funny to do stuff like this.” Gold told him.
“What are you guys talking about?” I asked.
“You didn’t tell him?” Gold asked Dusk.
“I was gonna tell him and everypony when they got here to the fountain.” Dusk told him.
“Tell us what?” I asked before the princess crossed over to the pile of ashes that had once been Philomena, bending over and examining it.
The Princess, with a smile, then said “Oh, stop fooling around, Philomena. You’re scaring everypony.”
We all then watched as the ashes rose into the sky as a thin stream, gathering at a single point in the sky. Once this was done, there was a blinding flash of light and a majestic, red-and-gold feathered bird hovered in the sky, soaring on the wind with everypony gasping and staring. Even Dusk laughed in sheer joy of watching it fly.
“I don’t understand.” Fluttershy stared at her, as she came to a rest on Celestia's leg. “What is that thing? What happened to Philomena?”
“This is Philomena.” she told her. “She’s quite a sight, as I said. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn’t that right, Philomena?” The bird gave a musical call in reply.
“A-a phoenix?”
“Dusk, why don’t you explain?” Celestia invited and Dusk then stood next to me and Flutters.
“Gladly, Princess.” Dusk said before he spoke to me and Flutters. “This is what I was going to tell you.” He then pointed as Philomena took flight once more. “The phoenix, also known as the Flamed Bird and the Monarch of the Sky and well-deserved titles at that. Incredibly magical and rather rare, they can live for hundreds of years, usually looking like this until a day like today, when they need to renew themselves from the long years. When that happens, they gradually molt their feathers and spontaneously combust, burst into flames that is, at the end of it, essentially dying. But then, as you saw, it is reborn from the flames, just as majestic and glorious as before. A strange lifecycle it must be said, but a very unique animal.”
“Well put, Dusk.” The princess said to him as Philomena perched on Celestia’s front leg.
“Rather melodramatic if you ask me.” Gold said in an undertone to us both.
“Hold on, I remember that bird.” I said as seeing the bird jogged my memory. “That’s the bird that set my tail on fire!”
“Yeah, Mena is the very bird that used to do that.” Gold said to me. “Much like Mom, she likes to mess around with ponies. Take it from me, she never misses a chance to mess with somepony.”
“Wait, you mean this whole time she was faking being sick?” I asked, now realizing what all this meant.
“Yes, Leon. I’m afraid mischievous little Philomena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you and Fluttershy.” Princess Celestia said to us before she spoke to the phoenix. “Say you’re sorry, young lady.” Philomena, looking ashamed, made an approximation of an apology to Fluttershy.
“So you’re not gonna banish us or throw us in a dungeon or banish us and then throw us in a dungeon in the place that you banish us to?” I asked.
“Of course not, my little pony. Where on Earth would you get such an idea?” Looking back, I saw Twilight look away from us at this point and I smiled.
“I guess we have some imagination.” Fluttershy covered, who also noticed and shared my smile.
“Fluttershy and Leon really did do everything they could to try to take care of Philomena for you.” Twilight added.
“And I do appreciate that your heart was in the right place, Fluttershy. 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 you could have asked Dusk, as there seems to be no limit to his knowledge.” she said in addition, smiling at Dusk fondly as he blushed and remained silent.
“I know. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Next time, I’ll ask before taking matters into my own hooves.”
“Sounds like she learned the same lesson you did back when we were with the Black Bulls, huh, Leon?” Dusk said, his blush replaced with a smug.
“Yeah, I guess she did.” Leon said before Twilight spoke up.
“Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?”
“No, that's quite all right.” Celestia assured. “I think I can remember.”
Philomena chose this point to fly above Fluttershy’s head and gave her one of her feathers, which came to nestle between her ears, as bright as a gold coin and as fiery as molten lava.
“It’s beautiful.” She gazed affectionately at the bird. “Thank you, Philomena. No hard feelings.”
“I’m not sure about that.” I said, not really feeling like forgiving Philomena. “Still doesn’t make up for all the times I got second-degree burns on my behind.” Just when I said that, Philomena flew off and swooped over Gold Star, his hair catching on fire.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow!” Gold yelled as he ran over and dipped his head into the fountain water, a sight I couldn’t help but laugh at.
“Okay, maybe I can forgive her.” I said as Philomena landed on my back and cawed the tune she tried to sing earlier before nuzzling my cheek.
The two guards came back, this time with Philomena's cage. Rainbow Dash, hatching an idea, flew up to the bird and whispered something to her. Philomena then landed in between the two guards and tickled their noses with her wings. Unable to contain themselves, they burst into fits of laughter and soon we all were at the sight of the well-disciplined guards losing control of themselves. Even Dusk laughed at this.
Luna’s view
Evening at Canterlot Castle, I was bringing out the stars and the moon in preparation for my vigil as Princess of the Night. While the spell did need much magic, it wasn’t as much a toll on my strength as it usually was, for which I was glad. Smiling as the stars began to twinkle above, I waited for the return of my sister.
It was not just out of missing her, although that was part of it too. Before she’d left, I’d asked her to speak to the pony known as Dusk Noir. The abilities he’d shown at the Magical Talent of Equestria contest were what had drawn my attention to the unicorn stallion. He had the power, yes, but for his personality… I had to find out about that as well…to see if he matched completely.
She came a few minutes later, joining me at the balcony where I stood. “Ah, my sister, you’ve done it again.”
“Thanks, Tia.” U said, using the affectionate name for my sibling. “How was the visit to Ponyville?”
“Just lovely.” she told me fondly. “The ponies were all very hospitable, Twilight and her friends are just fine, and even Philomena has finally renewed.”
“Ah, and about time too.” I agreed. “She’s been looking dreadful for days.”
“Yes, I’m rather glad for it myself.” she agreed. “How have things been here?”
“All quiet, nothing new.” I reported proudly.
“Excellent.” She was silent for a few minutes. “I spoke to Dusk Noir while I was there too.”
“Oh… him?” I tried to remain casual on the subject. “So…what is he like?”
“A perfectly pleasant and intelligent little pony, much like my student.” she said simply, as if that would be enough.
“Really? That’s it?”
“Well, what else would you need to know?”
“Tia, you know what I need to know. I need to know if it all points to him.” I said urgently.
“Luna,” she said in a firm voice, “while I do support you in whatever you do, as your sister, I feel that this time you may be mistaken. Fore Sight’s later writings were not as sane and stable as they once were and the text that you’ve been referring to falls into that category.”
“But the rest of them were right, why would this one be?” I asked her. “He was so sure of what he saw, what he had foreseen…”
“I can’t be sure, but it might be best if you let this go. He’s a good-hearted, young pony. No more, no less.”
“But…”
“Luna, please.” Partially pleading, partially ordering, I knew it was pointless arguing.
“Fine…if you say so.” I sighed, admitting defeat.
“Thank you. Now, I need to get some rest.” she decided, ending our discussion on the subject. “Besides, if you want to know more about him, why not speak with him yourself?”
With that question, I was left alone, staring out into the vastness of the night that I bought. I found it rather frustrating that my elder didn’t support me in my belief of Dusk, the particular pony in question, that it seemed like the ancient writing would highlight him. Although, this last question made me remark to myself:
“Perhaps I will, my sister. Perhaps I will.”
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