A bird in the hand and hoof
"C'mon girls, we're going to be late."
It's been another week since Cali came to join the group, and a week since the Pinkie sense incident, and Cali has been faring better than when she first came to town. She was able to become closer to the others and was moving steadily to being friends with more in the town, but just not yet. At the moment however, the humans were in Xavier's home getting ready for something.
"I know girls are known for taking their sweet time, but this is ridiculous!" Xavier announced, annoying the others.
"Hey, you said we needed to look presentable to a princess, so we are doing that!" Cali yelled back.
"Well why didn't you wake up sooner! We're going to be late for the get-together with the princess!"
A few days ago, Twilight got a message from the princess saying that she was planning to attempt another visit, but more as a casual get-together as to not get the entire town to stress themselves in making the town look nice. Twilight still stressed over it however and would have done just that if Xavier didn't interfere and got her to calm down. After she did calm down, she still went out to tell others about the princess's visit, but the majority of the visit would be contained to Sugar Cube Corner.
"I never said to dress up either, just to look nice for the princess." Xavier said. After a few more moments, Jasmine came down the stairs in a casual dress with her staff strapped onto her back as always, not frilly or anything but still nice looking, enough to get Xavier to blush a bit and turn away a bit as he hid a face of shock and surprise. "J-Jasime! Do you think you could check on Cali?!" Xavier stuttered out, coming out a bit too loud.
"Sure, I can do that." Jasmine said, oblivious to Xavier's current state as she walked over to Cali's room. Cali decided to set up her room on the ground floor, she didn't want to go up the stairs every time. When Jasmine entered her room, she took a moment to take it in. The day after the hydra incident, the trio of humans went out to get Cali a comfortable room to live in. Her room had a simple dark wood dresser with a coat pole next to it to hang up her hat and vest (she insisted on the pole greatly). She also had a desk with a good-sized tank that had plenty of things to keep her gecko Gex happy (He was in paradise with a smile). She had a basic lamp and a potted cactus near her bed, that bed having metal poles and a light blue blanket on it. As Jasmine was looking around, she noticed Cali putting her hat on. "Oh, Cali. Are you done?"
"Yep, I needed to coax Gex though." Cali said annoyed. "He wanted me to stay with him after the hydra scared him." Cali sighed. "I don't get why Xavier is so insistent in not being late, is this princess not happy with being late?"
"Well, from what I can tell, it's not that the princess is upset at it, she sounds kind."
"Well, we should get moving to keep Xavier from calling us out again." Cali then began to walk out of her room with Jasmine. Xavier saw them and came over to the two.
"There you are Cali, took you long enough."
"Ah quiet. Let's just get going." Cali said annoyed as she walked past him along with Jasmine. Seeing that the two were mad at him, he sighed and followed the two with his head down. When they left the house, Xavier noticed that he was walking next to Jasmine, and flustered he moved that made it so that Cali was in the middle of them. While Jasmine was oblivious to what he was doing with a head tilt, Cali took note of what he did and became suspicious of him. After some time walking, Cali decided that the awkward silence was too much for her, so she decided to try to start a conversation.
"So what's the princess like anyway? You've already said that she can move the sun by herself, so anything else?"
"W-Well, I can say that she is kind and honest." Xavier explained. "I haven't gotten to know her as well as the girls, but I can say that she is very kind to her subjects and treats them with respect. She also is wise, she has given some good advice the times I've met her."
"Wow, she seems very nice." Jasmine said.
"Yep, she is." After a bit more walking, they made it to their destination of Sugar Cube Corner. Outside of the cafe however was Fluttershy, though she was being stopped by two guards that were at the entrance with their wings out to block. "Oh, it's Fluttershy. Hey Fluttershy!" Jasmine called out to get her attention, to which it worked as she turned to see them.
"O-oh, hey everyone..."
"Everything okay?" Jasmine asked.
"Um, not really." Fluttershy admitted. "I was taking care of some of my animals when Angel reminded me about the get-together. When I got here though, the guards blocked me."
"Ah, I got it." Xavier said. "Don't worry, I got this." The girls looked at him confused as he went up to the guards who were still on guard. "Hello gentlecolts. I was wondering if me and my friends could enter? The princess's student Twilight Sparkle is expecting us." The guards looked at each other for a moment before looking back and lowering their wings. When the guards did this the girls looked impressed.
"Woah, that was impressive."
"Well, when you've lived here for a while, you pick up on some things." Xavier led the girls into Sugar Cube Corner. Once inside, the three humans and pegasus began to talk. "Alright, now the princess is a very tall pony with both wings and a horn, flowy mane and tail, and should be wearing a gold crown."
"You mean like her?" Cali asked as she pointed over to a table where the pony in question was sitting, eating a slice of cake.
"Oh, yep. That's her."
"Well she is quite the sight." Cali admitted as Jasmine was looking in awe at the princess with glittering eyes. "I wonder if she's available..." This statement was so out there that even Jasmine was broken out of her trance as the group collectively stared at her.
"What do you mean by that?!" Xavier asked dumbfounded.
"I mean if she's single. I wouldn't mind dating a pony that nice-looking." Cali explained nonchalantly.
"I- Bu- Ga-" Xavier was at a loss for words as he stuttered. "But she's a several hundred-year-old pony princess!!"
"And I know that. I'm joking." Cali said smirking. "A little joke I picked up living here."
"I-I- Oh forget it. Let's just meet the princess..." Xavier sighed as he gave up, walking over to the princess. Cali followed along with a smirk as Jasmine recovered and dashed to keep up, though Fluttershy was still processing what Cali said. As they were walking up however, they were stopped by a voice.
"There you all are." Looking over, they saw Twilight approaching, and she looked quite nervous. "Where were you?!"
"Sorry Twilight for being late, but the girls were taking their time when it came to getting dressed." Xavier said, getting glares from the two other humans.
"Well, whatever. As long as you're here, it should be fine. At least, I think it should be. It has to be, right?" Twilight began to ramble in worry.
“Wow, Twilight. I thought I was the one who got nervous at social gatherings.” Fluttershy commented as she rejoined the group.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized. “I just want the princess to approve my friends.”
"But she's met all of us, what's to worry about?" Xavier asked.
"And read about you from my letters.” Twilight said. “But this is the first time she’s spent any real time with you, I want everypony to make a good impression. Plus, this will be the first time that she’ll meet both Jasmine and Cali."
"I get that, but still." Xavier reasoned. "This is a casual get-together. There's nothing to worry about."
“Don’t touch me!” The group was interrupted from their conversation by a loud shout. When they turned, they saw Rarity in a very fancy dress, avoiding other ponies like her life was on the line. ”Watch the dress. Careful! You might spill that on me.” She was then approached by Mr. Cake holding a tray of cupcakes. “Ooh, that looks delicious!" Rarity admitted before she backed away form him. "Oh, does it stain?! Keep it away from me!" As the scene was playing out, Xavier face-palmed as the rest of the group were just watching the scene.
“Or...perhaps not that casual.” Fluttershy admitted as she watched Rarity.
"Yeah, let's just meet the princess." Xavier groaned. Seeing as there were going to be things that were out of the group's control, they all went over to the princess. Once over by princess Celestia's table, Xavier made a slight bow before speaking. "Hello princess, it is a pleasure to see you again."
"It's a pleasure to see you too, Xavier." Princess Celestia replied with a smile. "I take it you are well?"
"I am, princess." Xavier said as he rose from his bow. "We are all doing well." The princess smiled at him before turning her attention to the others, most specifically the other humans.
"And I assume that these are the other humans you've found?" The two tensed up a bit when princess Celestia noticed them.
"Why yes, princess, they are. Girls, introduce yourselves." The two came up next to Xavier.
"H-hello princess, I-I am Jasmine. I-it's an honor to m-meet you." Jasmine greeted with a bow, though she was a bit afraid.
"And my name is Cali, I hope that you're okay with us here." Cali greeted after, bowing with her hat to her chest in an act of respect.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Princess Celestia replied to them with a bow of her head. This act made the two less tense as they rose. "So when did you two come to Equestria?
"We met Jasmine after you left Cloudsdale during the young flier's competition." Xaveir began to explain. "And we met Cali a few weeks ago in Appaloosa's desert. They apparently woke up a few days before us meeting them"
"Interesting..." Princess Celestia pondered. "And they don't have any idea on how they got here?"
"No, they don't."
"This is quite the mystery." Princess Celestia admitted. "How did you all get here to Equestria?" This question got them all to wonder, with Xavier thinking out loud.
"I wonder too, maybe-"
“Whoo-hoo!" Their conversation was interrupted by a pink blur as Pinkie Pie ran past them.
"P-Pinkie! Calm down!" Xavier yelled out, annoyed at her antics in front of the princess. "This is a calm event! Get over here!" Xavier then began to chase Pinkie to try and slow her down, leaving the other humans, Fluttershy, Twilight and princess Celestia alone in an awkward moment.
"That gal's got some energy to her." Cali broke the silence, bringing a bit of laughter from the others. As they were laughing however, Jasmine noticed that the princess was staring at her with a puzzled face, and it was making her uncomfortable.
"Um, p-princess? Is something wrong?" Jasmine asked, snapping the princess out of her trance.
"Hm, oh. Sorry."
"Is there a problem with me?"
"No, no there isn't. It's just that I feel like I've seen that staff before..." Princess Celestia answered with uncertainty. Her words shocked the group.
"Wait, you think you know this staff?" Jasmine said as she took the staff off her back and showed it to the princess. "Because I found it next to me when I woke up here in Equestria."
"I don't know. I feel like I've seen it before, but I don't know where..." Princess Celestia trailed off, leaving the staff in a bigger mystery than before.
"That pony is fueled by sugar, I swear." Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by Xavier rejoining the group with an exhausted expression. "Did I miss anything?"
"You didn't miss much." Princess Celestia replied as she took a sip of her tea. "Just a little conversation with the other humans." As she was speaking, she put her teacup down, and once it touched the table...
“Empty teacup at 4 o’clock!”
“Uh, I see it honeybun!” Soon, the princess's teacup was refilled by none other than Mr. Cake with a teapot.
“Oh! Um...Thank you.” Princess Celestia thanked.
“Not at all, your highness.” The princess then took another sip of her tea, to which it was refilled by Mrs. Cake this time. “Thank you again.”
“Oh, but of course, Your Majesty.” Princess Celestia soon ended up in a vicious cycle where every time she took a sip of tea, it would be refilled. At least, it was until she took a second to look around before pretended to take a sip of the tea, to which Mr. Cake poured more tea into the already full cup, overflowing it. "Gotcha." As the scene was playing out, the humans were having a laugh while Twilight was sighing. As the humans were laughing, Xavier grew curious.
"So what were you talking about with the princess?"
"Well, she says that she might recognize my staff." Jasmine answered.
"Wait, really?!" Xavier said surprised.
"Maybe." Cali replied. "She said that she felt like she's seen it before, but she didn't know if she did or where. For now though, the staff is still a mystery."
"Well that's a shame..." As Xavier was mulling over the information, the Princess turned her attention back to the group.
"And what about you, dear? Fluttershy, is it?"
"Me"? Oh yes, your Highness.” Fluttershy said nervously.
“I understand from Twilight Sparkle’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures, correct?” Princess Celestia asked Fluttershy, who was happy to hear.
"Yes, I love to take care of animals." She replied happily.
"As do I. As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures, great and small." As the princess was talking, a very loud cough caught the group off-guard as they began to look around for the cough. It wasn't until they noticed a golden bird cage next to the princess. "Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects." As the princess was finishing her sentence, something arose from the cage and sat on the perch of the cage. That something looked like a bird, but it looked very poor with most of its feathers either gone or starting to fall off. The group looked concerned at the bird as it coughed again. "Ah, Philomena my pet, you’re awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts.” The princess said to it like nothing was wrong, the bird coughing again.
“Oh...my…” Fluttershy muttered in shock.
"I-is that another mythical creature?" Cali asked in concern.
"I-I'm not sure..." Xavier replied in a similar vain.
"She is quite a sight, isn't she?" The princess asked with pride, oblivious to the current state of her bird.
"I... I... I've never seen anything like it." Fluttershy responded in worried wonder. As they were looking over the bird, a guard from before came over to the princess and began to whisper into her ear.
“Really?” She asked the guard with wide eyes, which he nodded. “Well, if I must.” Princess Celestia soon stood up and began to announce something to the room. “I’m so sorry everypony. I’m afraid that I have to cut the party short.”
"Huh, why?" Xavier asked.
"Well, the mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls." The princess joked. "Thank you for a wonderful time. It's been a joy getting to know you all better."
"It was nice meeting you two princess." Cali said bowing. Smiling, Princess Celestia took her leave, her guards following her. As she passed everypony, they each bowed to her to show their respect. Once the princess left, the ponies began to funnel out of Sugar Cube Corner, meanwhile Xavier and the other humans were having a short discussion.
"Well?" He asked, wondering about the other's impressions of the princess.
"She's okay in my book." Cali admitted.
"Yeah, she's cool." Jasmine said happily.
"I'm glad. So shall we get going?" As Xavier was talking, Jasmine noticed that there was a distinct lack of a cage, and she was pretty sure that the princess didn't take the cage. After looking around a bit, she noticed that there was a faint trail of feathers that belonged to Philomina. After seeing it, she decided to follow it.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you two later." Jasmine said as she hurried out of the bakery, leaving the other humans confused.
As Jasmine was following the trail of feathers, she found herself at Fluttershy's cottage. Opening the cottage's door slowly, she gasped when she saw Fluttershy putting Philomina down onto a cushion.
"Oh, you poor little thing. How did you ever get in such bad condition?" Fluttershy wondered. "Don't you worry, Philomena. I'll nurse you back to health."
"Fluttershy?" Jasmine made her presence known as she entered the cottage, startling Fluttershy. "What are you doing with Philomina?"
"W-well, I was going to help nurse her back to health. I was worried about her condition, so I wanted to take care of her."
"Oh, well does the princess know?" Jasmine asked, to which she got a nervous look from Fluttershy. "You didn't ask?" Fluttershy shook her head. "But what is the princess going to think about you taking her pet?!"
“I’m sorry Jasmine, but I had to do something to help Philomena! Look at her." Jasmine took a second to look at Philomina, who coughed again as a few more feathers fell out. Seeing the bird looing so poor made Jasmine sad and made up her mind.
"Alright, you win. But I'm going to help as well." With a smile, Fluttershy hurried over to Jasmine and gave her a hug.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Fluttershy said happily as Jasmine returned the hug.
"It's no problem, I can't let Philomina alone like that anyway." Jasmine said as she broke off the hug. "Now, let's focus on Philomina."
"Yes, we shall." Fluttershy said as they turned to the bird. "As favor to the princess who’s obviously too busy to care for her properly.” In response, Philomina made another sickly cough that the two flinched at. "I’m sure Princess Celestia will appreciate the favor we’re doing for her, at least.” Philomina simply yet dizzily held her head in a wobble before it fell over in a strange angle.
"I don't think that's healthy..." Jasmine noted.
“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasp as she picked the bird up. “We’d better get her to bed right away!” She then took Philomina over to a small bed and put her in.
"Aw, that's pretty cute." Jasmine commented as Fluttershy put a blanket over the bird and a thermometer into her beak. In a sudden moment, the temperature went up significantly, and Philomina became red and sweaty. Alarmed by the display, Fluttershy quickly took off the blanket and Jasmine put an icepack onto her head to try and cool her off. This worked, too well as the temperature of the thermometer dropped and Philomina began to shiver as her body became an icy blue. The two caretakers gasped as Jasmine took the icepack off and Fluttershy reapplied the blanket, causing Philomina to overheat again. Soon a vicious cycle was made where the blanket and icepack on and off with Philomina going to different temperatures, the cycle breaking only when the thermometer shattered, shocking the two. "Well that happened."
"Oh, this is far worse than I thought." Fluttershy said in worry. "What you need is some medicine. Stat!" Philomina sent the thermometer remains out of her beak with a very sickly cough, earning a sigh from Fluttershy and a look on concerned shock from Jasmine.
After the events that occurred, Fluttershy decided to make some soup for Philomina, meanwhile she tasked Jasmine with giving Philomina the medicine.
"Okay Philomina, this should help you out." Jasmine said as she showed a pill Fluttershy gave her to Philomina, but the bird was not being cooperative as she turned away. "Oh, um..." Looking around for a bit, she noticed a bag of bird seed near a table and got an idea. Taking the bird seed, she put the pill onto a plate and poured a small amount onto the pill, hiding it from sight but not enough to ruin the bird's appetite from the soup being made. Satisfied, Jasmine gave it to Philomina, the bird soon began pecking at the small pile with hunger. "Yes." Jasmine said with joy, but as she was patting herself on the back, she noticed that the pill was still there, but the bird seed was gone. Jasmine sighed, sad knowing that she failed in the task as Fluttershy came over with a bowl.
"Did you give Philomina the medicine?"
"*sigh* No, I didn't. She won't take the medicine."
"Oh, well you tried your best, right?" Fluttershy said as she put the bowl down. "Maybe some homemade soup can help." She then blew on it to cool it off before offering it to Philomina. Unfortunately (and predictably) Philomina turned her head away in defiance. “Come on now, you’re not gonna get better if you don’t cooperate.” Fluttershy then pretended to drink out of the bowl. "Mmm... see? It's delicious. Good and good for you." Philomina still didn't budge as she crossed her wings and turned away. Seeing her, Fluttershy tried something else. "Here comes the choo-choo train. Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, whoo-whoo!" Picking up the bowl of soup, she brought it to Philomina's beak, the bird turning away. Fluttershy tried again, and the bird twisted her head in the same direction. this kept up until it became too much for her neck, as it began to spin her head like a propeller, leaving her dizzy afterwards and sending her head into the bowl of soup.
"Oh no, that's not good..." Jasmine commented as she and Fluttershy looked at each other in worry. Fluttershy then got an idea.
"I have another idea! Wait with her, I need to find something, be right back." Fluttershy then left the cottage, leaving Jasmine to watch Philomina who coughing, despite still being in the bowl.
As Fluttershy was getting something, Jasmine was sitting on the couch with a worried expression as she watched Philomina eat some bird seed that she gave her. She was worried about the condition of Philomina since nothing up to this point has been doing much to help, and she has continued to lose feathers.
"Look, Philomina!" Jasmine looked over to the door to see Fluttershy with a small bird in her hoof, more specifically a hummingbird.
"Aww, who's that little guy?" Jasmine asked, her worry leaving temporarily in the presence of the small creature.
"This is Hummingway. He was sick as well, but he let me help him and he got better, didn't you boy?" The hummingbird nodded as it began to fly over to Philomina. "Say hello to your new friend, Philomena!” Once close to Philomina, Hummingway began to nuzzle her in affection. “Aw look, I think he likes you!”
"That is too cute." Jasmine admired. After a bit more nuzzling, Hummingway flew over to Fluttershy.
“Ahh, ah-ah-ah, ah!” Fluttershy then sand a short tune, Hummingway mimicking the tune with perfect accuracy. The little show got a bit of applause from Jasmine as she was impressed. "Thank you, Jasmine. Now it's your turn Philomina." Fluttershy then flew closer to Philomina. “Go ahead, you can do it!” As Fluttershy was encouraging her, Jasmine noticed that Philomina looked uncomfortable and a bit off.
"Um, Fluttershy? I think something is wrong-"
*HACK*
Philomina coughed up the bird seed it was eating, right onto Fluttershy's face. As Jasmine was looking disgusted, Fluttershy began to wipe off the gunk off of her face.
"Um...good try?”
After what happened and Fluttershy cleaned herself off, she, Jasmine, and Philomina went into the bathroom.
“I know what’ll help that tickle in your throat, a humidifier!” Fluttershy said as she put Philomina onto a chair.
"Oh, good idea." Jasmine said approvingly. "I know that a humidifier is used in the spa for some nice, fresh air. " Smiling, Fluttershy turned on the humidifier in the room as it began to pump in clean air. Jasmine and Fluttershy took in a deep breath and felt relaxed.
"How's that feeling now for you, Philomena? Better?" Fluttershy asked. Philomina took in a deep breath as well, getting hopeful looks from the girls as they hoped that Philomina was finally healing. At least, until she wheezed and coughed again, losing more feathers in the process, dampening the moods of the two.
"Well, that didn't work..." Jasmine commented sadly.
"Don’t worry, I know lots more cures and remedies!” Fluttershy assured. "How about..."
Turns out that nothing worked.
Fluttershy decided to try anything to bring Philomina back to health, but nothing worked.
Aromatherapy left Philomina in a sneezing fit and felling down.
A warm bath somehow got Philomina waterlogged with the entire bath's contents.
Ointment strangely covered Philomina in blemishes as soon as it was applied.
Jasmine even tried to help out with her knowledge of massaging and tried to give her one, only for Philomina to gain a cramp in her back a short while later. (It really ruined Jasmine's moral)
Every different method also caused more and more feathers to fall out, and Philomina began to look more and more sick. It began to get so bad that Fluttershy went to desperate measures as she and Jasmine were huddled over a table alongside Angel bunny, all of them with a mask over their mouths.
"Scalpel."
"Scalpel." Jasmine said as she handed Fluttershy a scalpel.
“Surgical tape.”
“Surgical tape.”
"Feathers." This time Angel bunny gave Fluttershy a basket filled with the feathers that Philomina had shed during the time she was here. After a bit of working, Fluttershy backed away from the table to reveal that she had taped all the feathers onto Philomina, looking more goofy than actually healthy.
"Um, how does this help?" Jasmine asked.
"It doesn't..." Fluttershy admitted. "Oh Philomena! I thought it would be easy to nurse you back to health! But I’ve tried everything I know! And now look at you, you’re worse than ever!” Fluttershy was practically on the verge of tears as she looked at Philomina. Jasmine felt bad since she knew that Fluttershy was good with animals, but she didn't know how to help much so she just went in and hugged her.
"It's okay, you're doing all you can to help Philomina. I know it's hard, but just know that I will help you in any way I can. I don't know much about caring for animals, but I can still be here for you." Jasmine's words managed to reach Fluttershy and move her, so much that she felt better as she returned the hug, Jasmine's supportive words helping her feel better about the situation. Unbeknownst to the two however, the small crystal in Jasmine's staff began to glow faintly brighter and made a very quiet whir. The moment was interrupted however, as a knock at the door disturbed them. Fluttershy went over the door cautiously since Philomina was still here, but it did not matter as the door slammed open to reveal Twilight, much to her and Jasmine's dismay.
"Hi, Fluttershy! Oh, and hello to you Jasmine." Twilight said happily, though Fluttershy and Jasmine were not too happy seeing Twilight. "I just wanted to drop by and say thank you so very much for making such a good impression on the princess today..." She stopped and gasped when she saw what was on the table. "What is Celestia's pet doing here?!"
"I couldn't leave the poor thing there." Fluttershy began to explain. "She needed my help."
"And I couldn't leave Fluttershy with all the work." Jasmine added.
“Oh no...No no no no, this is bad!” Twilight exclaimed, getting worried.
"How could I just walk away and not do anything?" Fluttershy retorted.
“S-she doesn’t even belong to you!”
“I had to do something!”
“Without telling anypony, without asking permission?!”
"Um, girls?" The two looked at Jasmine. "Should we really be arguing about this? I mean-" She was cut off by lots of coughing and a loud bonk sound as they looked over to see that Philomina had fallen off the table. As Jasmine rushed over to make sure she was okay, the ponies continued to talk.
“I know you had good intentions, but you have got to return the Princess’s pet!” Twilight exclaimed.
"But-" Fluttershy was cut off by a very big gasp from Philomina who was in Jasmine's arms, but she froze mid-gasp, freezing. As they looked at her, Fluttershy made up her mind with a sigh. "*Sigh* You're right. Okay, let's..." Philomina finally coughed, getting everyone to flinch. "Go…” The three them made preparations to leave, mostly just putting Philomina in a basket to conceal her.
"If we hurry, we can put her back before anypony even realizes she’s missing.” Twilight planned as she went for the door. When she opened it however, she was terrified to see the two royal guards from the get-together right at the door.
“We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here.” The first guard said.
“We regret to inform you, miss, that the royal pet has gone missing.” The second guard added.
“Really?! You don’t say.” Twilight replied with a nervous smile, until a loud hacking startled them.
“What was that?” The second guard asked. Twilight fumbled to find an explanation until...
"*Ack* Sorry." The ponies looked over to see Jasmine "coughing". "I've been having a bit of a problem in my throat."
"Well, in that case, we should take care of our friend here." Twilight said with a bit of desperation as she began to push the two guards out of the cottage. “And you guards should be on your way if you’re gonna find the princess’s missing pet, Philomena was it? Thank you ever so much for keeping me in the loop, bye!” She then slammed the door onto them, sighing in relief. "Phew, that was close. Thanks for that Jasmine."
"No problem." Jasmine said. She then noticed that Fluttershy was headed for the door. "Fluttershy, where are you going?"
“Going to return Philomena, remember?” She responded as she reached for the door, but was stopped by Twilight.
“We can’t now!” Twilight exclaimed.
"Why not?"
“You have no idea what the princess is gonna do if she finds you’re the one who took her pet, do you?” Twilight yelled out in fear.
"Do you?" Fluttershy asked, getting an uncertain look from Twilight.
"Well... no. 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 banishes you to!"
"Um, Twilight? I don't think that's likely." Jasmine said, getting a glare from Twilight. Flinching, Jasmine continued. "W-well. I may not know much about her, but from my interaction with her, she is too kind and understanding to do those things." Twilight took a second to think over things.
"Okay. Granted that probably won't happen, but do you wanna take any chances?" Jasmine sighed at Twilight's overthinking.
"All that really matters to me is that poor little Philomena here gets well." Fluttershy explained as Philomina coughed again in the basket, opening it and falling to the floor again, earning more concern from Jasmine.
“That’s very noble of you. I’ll write to you when you’re banished. Unless I’m banished to somewhere there’s no post office. Then you’ll have to write to me. Deal?” Jasmine facepalmed at Twilight's overthinking.
"Please, Twilight. You just have to help me get Philomena healthy and then we can return her to the princess. And everything will be fine." Fluttershy's explanation made Twilight realize that she wouldn't budge on helping Philomena, so she thought of something.
"Did you give her any kind of medicine?"
"Well, I did try, but she didn't want to take it." Jasmine admitted as she showed the pill to Twilight.
"Then you have to make her take it." Twilight groaned, causing Jasmine to flinch. "You can't be such a pushover, Jasmine! You need to show this patient who's the boss. Make her straighten up and fly right!"
"She can't fly." Fluttershy said as Twilight took the pill.
"No excuses!" Twilight took the pill to Philomina who was lying on the floor still. She pressed onto her legs, opening the bird's beak like a trash can and dropped the pill in, the bird chewing it. "Done. Okay, what else?"
"Uh... well, she keeps pulling her feathers off. The ones that haven't fallen out yet from all her coughing, I mean." Fluttershy explained, gesturing to Philomina who was doing just that. Twilight simply put a cone on her.
"There you go." They then watched Philomina struggle for a while with the cone.
"I don't think she likes it." Fluttershy commented.
"Tough love, baby. You want her to get well, don't you?"
"Of course, but..."
"Next!"
"Well, she desperately needs some bed rest, but I can't get her to stay put." Fluttershy explained as Philomina once again proved it by moving around a lot trying to get the cone off, at least before running into Twilight.
"One step ahead of you."
Twilight's solution to the problem was to put Philomina into a cage with a blanket over it. It didn't work well as the cage was shaking violently as Philomina screeched from inside.
"It's for your own good, Philomena, I promise. Please, just relax and try to get some sleep." Fluttershy tried to comfort to no success. As she and Jasmine looked at the cage in worry, Twilight noticed the bowl of soup from before.
"What's this soup over here? Smells delicious." Twilight wondered.
"I made it for Philomena. But she wouldn't eat it." Fluttershy explained as Twilight used her magic to pick up the bowl.
"Oh, she'll eat it, all right." Twilight then went over to the cage and was about to open it to feed the bird, but Jasmine immediately knew what would happen when she opened it.
"Wait, Twilight! NO!" It was too late when the cage opened. Philomina became even more restless as she bolted out of the cage.
“Hey! Where are you going?!” Twilight asked as Philomena ran out of the cottage.
“No! Philomena! Come back!” Fluttershy cried out.
"No no no no no NO!" Jasmine yelled out as the three went after her. It soon became a seek and chase with little success as the three chased Philomina across town. After a while of chasing Philomina, a familiar rainbow maned pegasus flew next to them.
“What are you three doing? Are you having a race? Oh, can I play? One, two, three, go!” She then flew off in a rush, but the three were not amused as they continued to look for Philomina who they lost. A moment later they saw the rest of the heroes, including the humans who were with their pets this time. The searchers didn't have much time though to talk so they went over and looked over there, with Fluttershy picking up Pinkie.
“Excuse me!” Fluttershy said as she looked for Philomena.
“Hi!” Pinkie responded, spitting out a few pieces of food.
"Beg your pardon!" Twilight apologized as she lifted Rarity
"Put me down!" Rarity yelled out annoyed
"What in tarnation?!" Applejack said in confusion.
"What's going on here?" Xavier asked, Rune looking with a smile thinking they were playing.
"Sorry, but we've gotta find..."
“The princess’s pet bird!” The group looked over to see the guards from before looking up a pole, and on that pole was Philomina, who much to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Jasmine's dismay, had only one feather left on her.
“Philomena! Please come down here!” Fluttershy demanded worriedly. At that moment, the last feather popped out. Once it fell out, Philomina began to dramatically cough, wheeze, and gag before falling over, looking dead. After an awkward pause, she got up again and gasped, this time falling off the pole. "I'll catch you!" Fluttershy said as she ran in and dove to catch her. But before she could catch her, Philomina's unconscious body burst into flames, earning a gasp from Fluttershy. Once Fluttershy landed from her dive, the only thing she caught was a pile of ashes left from Philomina. As Fluttershy looked at the pile with tears, the rest of the group gasped in shock at what had happened, all except for Xavier who looked confused.
"Wait, isn't that..."
"What is going on here?” Looking over, the group minus Fluttershy looked to see none other than princess Celestia walking over. Upon seeing her, everyone bowed in respect, all except Fluttershy who was still mourning. The princess glanced at her before looking over to Twilight. "Twilight?” The pony in question rose and walked over, along with Jasmine since she was a part of it.
“Yes, your Majesty…” She responded with a sad tone on her voice. “There’s been a terrible accident.”
“It’s all my fault.” Fluttershy admitted sadly.
“No, Princess. Fluttershy didn’t know any better. It was my fault.” Twilight intervened.
“I’m the one who did it.”
"But you were only trying to help."
"Some help I was."
"Will ya 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 said jumping in the middle of the conversation, not knowing what was going on. "Wait, what are we talking about?" The sound of a whip was heard as Cali's whip wrapped around Pinkie's tail and pulled her away.
"Thanks for trying to protect me, Twilight, but... 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 right back to you, honest." After Fluttershy explained things, the princess looked at the ashes of Philomina. "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." As the group looked at the pile of ashes in despair, Xavier spoke out.
"Your majesty, Philomina isn't actually dead, is she?" The group save for the princess looked at him like he was crazy. "I think I've read about what Philomina did. So she isn't dead, is she?" Unexpectedly, the princess didn't show any form of sadness or hostility, but instead chuckled
"Looks like you caught me. Philomina, you've been found out. Might as well show them." Everyone looked at the princess confused, at least until Philomina's ashes began to move and flow into the sky. A few moments of the ash moving and a bright flash, a powerful yet graceful caw could be heard, and where the ashes were was a large, colorful bird that shined like a bright fire. As the group looked at it in confusion and awe, Xavier smirked.
"I thought so."
"Wh- What happened?! What about Philomina?!" Jasmine asked in confused shock.
“This is Philomena.” Princess Celestia replied as the bird landed on the princess's foreleg, much to the group's shock.
“W-what?!”
“Yes, she’s quite the sight, as I said before. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn’t that right, Philomena?” Philomina gave a proud caw.
“A...A phoenix?!” Fluttershy asked.
“A phoenix is a majestic and magical bird." Princess Celestia explained. “While it appears healthy and happy most of the time…” The phoenix rose from Princess Celestia's foreleg and began flying in the air.
“…every so often it must renew itself by shedding all of its feathers and bursting into flame." Xavier said, continuing the princess's explanation. The princess then leaned in close to Jasmine and Fluttershy.
"Rather melodramatic, if you ask me." She said, earning a short chuckle from Xavier.
“It then rises from the ashes, fresh as the day it was born. All just a normal part of the life cycle of a phoenix." Xavier finished as Philomina landed on the princess's back.
"Correct, young Xavier. You are quite well-informed." Xavier rubbed the back of his head in bashfulness. "But I'm afraid, mischievous little Philomena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you, Fluttershy and Jasmine.” Philomena lowered her head in embarrassment. "Say you're sorry, young lady.” Philomina gave a few squawks to show she was sorry.
"So... aren't you gonna banish me? Or throw me in a dungeon? Or banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to?" Fluttershy asked, leaving most of the group confused as to that description.
"Of course not, my little pony. Where on Earth would you get such an idea?" Fluttershy and Jasmine looked over at Twilight who looked sheepish.
"I guess I have some imagination." Fluttershy responded, leaving the reason up in the air.
"Fluttershy and Jasmine really did do everything they could to try to take care of Philomena for you." Twilight said.
"And I do appreciate that your heart was in the right place, children. 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" Princess Celestia said in understanding.
"I know. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Next time I'll ask before taking matters into my own hooves." Fluttershy said, leaching her lesson. Twilight then realized something.
"Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?"
"No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember." The princess then turned to Jasmine. "Now Jasmine, I was told that you and miss Cali would want to go to the Grand Galloping Gala this year, am I correct about that?" Jasmine nodded as Cali came over.
"But how did you know that?" She asked.
"Twilight wrote to me about it." The princess admitted. "And wouldn't you know it, I have two tickets with me right here." The princess then levitated two tickets over to the duo. They both took their tickets, though Jasmine was much happier about getting it, Cali was a bit iffy about it. "Also, I will think about your staff, Jasmine. It is curious to me, so I will think about it." Jasmine nodded, hoping to get some answers about it. "I think it's time we headed home Philomina." The princess then turned to walk away, but not before Philomina took flight over to Fluttershy and stuck one of her feathers into her head.
"It's beautiful. Thank you, Philomena. No hard feelings." Fluttershy said, forgiving the bird as it flew back over to the princess. Before she could however, she was stopped by Rainbow as she began whispering to it. Once she was done, Philomina flew away, but not to the princess, but rather to the guards and landed. Using the feathers on her wings, Philomina began to tickle the guards, the guards struggling to hold their composter. They finally broke though, as the two laughed hard as Philomina flew away and gave a high five with her wing with Rainbow's wing. The scene was ridicules enough to get everyone laughing, the mood happy as Fluttershy and Jasmine's little journey came to an end.
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