Author's Note

Sorry this didn't come out yesterday, I was busy with real world crap.

A Bird in The Hoof

A week had passed. Celestia was in town for some reason. Me, Twi and Rainbow where waiting for Flutters outside of sugar cube corner.

"So, what do I have to do to get to be one of the Princess's royal guards, anyway? Is the pay good?" Rainbow asked a guard. "Hello? Anybody home?" She asks him when he doesn't respond. "You're good. Too good" she said as Flutters run up to us.

"Made it" said Flutters as she caught her breath.

"Halt!" Said the guard Rainbow was pestering.

"Who goes there?" Asked a second guard.

"It's all right, sirs" i said.

"She's on the list" added Twi.

"Thanks, you two" said Flutters

"I'm glad you could make it, Flutters" i said.

"It wouldn't be the same without you" said Rainbow as we all headed inside.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to finish taking care of a patient first" said Flutters.

"Oh, you and your tender loving care of little animals. I just know Princess Celestia is gonna love that about you. I mean, I hope she will... I mean, of course she will!" Said Twi.

"Wow, Twilight. I thought I was the only one who got nervous at social gatherings" said Flutters.

"Oh, it's not that. She just want's the princess to approve of her friends" i said.

"But she's met us all before" said Rainbow.

"And read about you in my letters. But this is the first time she's spent any real time with you. I want everypony to make a good impression" said Twi.

"Well, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Besides, it's just a casual get-together, right?" Asked Flutters.

"Don't touch me! Watch the dress! Careful, you're gonna spill that on me! Oh, oh, that looks delicious. What is it? Oh, does it stain?! Keep it away from me!" Said Rarity on the other side of the room.

"Perhaps not that casual" i said.

"Uh... which is the salad and which is the appetizer again? And which am I supposed to eat first? Oh, never mind. I'm not hungry" said AJ from the table.

"It's okay, Twilight. So our friends' manners aren't perfect. I doubt the princess will even notice" said Flutters.

After awhile Celestia had properly met all of Twi's friends except for me and Flutters.

"And what about you, dear? Fluttershy, is it?" Asked Celestia.

"Me? Oh yes, Your Highness" said Flutters.

"I understand from Twilight Sparkle's letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures" said Celestia.

"Yes, I love to take care of animals" said Flutters.

"As do I. As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures, great and small" said Celestia. "Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects" she continued as a bird in a nearby birdcage squawked. "Philomena, my pet. You're awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts" she said.

"Oh... my" said Flutters.

"She is quite a sight, isn't she?" Asked Celestia.

"I've never seen anything like it" said Flutters.

A guard walked up to Celestia and whispered into her ear.

"Really? Well, if I must" said Celestia quietly. "I'm sorry, everypony. I'm afraid I have to cut the party short. The mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls. Thank you for a wonderful time. It's been a joy getting to know you all better" said Celestia as she left with her guards.

"Well, I don't know for sure how things went with the princess, but at least no big disasters happened" said Twi as Flutters walked up to Philomena's cage.

"Oh, you poor little thing. How did you ever get in such bad condition? Don't you worry, Philomena. I'll nurse you back to health. As a favor to the princess, who's obviously just far too busy to care for you properly" said Flutters as she grabed the cage and ran away.

A few hours later me and Twi where knocking on Flutters door.

"Hi, Fluttershy! I just wanted to drop by and say thank you so very much for making such a good impression on the princess today" Twi said. then she noticed Philomena. "What is Celestia's pet doing here?!" She asked.

"I couldn't leave the poor thing there. She needed my help" said Flutters.

"Oh no. This is bad" said Twi.

"How could I just walk away and not do anything?" Asked Flutters.

"But she doesn't belong to you!" Said Twi.

"I had to do something" said Flutters.

"Without telling anypony?! Without asking permission?!" Asked Twi. "I know you had good intentions, but you have got to return the princess's pet!" She said.

"You're right, let's go" said Flutters.

"If we hurry, we can put her back before anypony even realizes she's missing" i said as there was a knock at the door. "Hide the bird" i whispered as I opened the door.

"We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here" said Guard one. I stepped out of the way reveling Twi.

"We regret to inform you, miss, that the royal pet has gone missing" said guard two.

"Really?" Asked Twi.

"Well then you guards better be on your way if you're gonna find the princess's missing pet. Philomena, was it? Thank you ever so much for keeping us in the loop" i said before they left.

"Aren't going to return Philomena?" Asked Flutters.

"We can't now" said Twi.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You have no idea what the princess is gonna do if she finds out that Fluttershy is the one who took her pet, do you?!" Asked Twi.

"Do you?" Asked Flutters.

"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!" Said Twi.

"You really think the princess would do that?" I asked.

"Okay. Granted that probably won't happen, but do you wanna take any chances?" Asked Twi.

"All that really matters to me is that poor little Philomena here gets well" said Flutters.

"That's very noble of you. I'll write to you when you're banished. Unless I'm banished too somewhere there's no post office. Then you'll have to write to me. Deal?" Asked Twi.

"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" said Flutters.

"Did you give her any kind of medicine?" I asked.

"I tried to, but she wouldn't take it" said Flutters.

"Then you have to make her take it. 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!" Said Twi.

"She can't fly" said Flutters.

"No excuses!" Said Twi.

After a bunch of attempts at healing the damn bird.

"It's for your own good, Philomena, I promise. Please, just relax and try to get some sleep" said Flutters.

"What's this soup over here? Smells delicious" i said.

"I made it for Philomena. But she wouldn't eat it" said Flutters.

"Oh, she'll eat it, all right" said Twi as she grabbed the soup. Philomena squawked in fear at this and flew out an open window.

"No! Philomena! Come back!" Said Flutters as we all chased after the damned bird.

We chased her into Ponyville and started running by our other friends.

"What are you three doing? Are you having a race?" Asked Rainbow.

"Excuse us!" I said as we ran between Rarity, AJ and pinkie.

"Sorry, but we've gotta find-" Flutters tried to say before a guard yelling cut her off.

"The princess's pet bird!" The guard yelled pointing to the top of a fountain.

"Philomena, come down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" Said Flutters as she ran over to the fountain.

It was at this point Philomena burst into flames and Flutters started crying.

"What is going on here Twilight?" Asked Celestia as she walked up to us.

"Yes, your Majesty, there's been a terrible accident" said Twi.

"It's all my fault" said Flutters.

"No, Princess. Fluttershy didn't know any better. It was my fault" said Twi.

"I'm the one who did it" said Flutters.

"But you were only trying to help" i said.

"Some help I was" said Flutters.

"Will ya let me do this? She'll go easier on me" said Twi.

"But it's my fault!" Said Flutters.

"No, it's my fault!" Said Twi.

"No, it's my fault! Wait, what are we talking about?" Asked Pinkie.

"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. So, if you wanna banish me go ahead" Said Flutters.

"Oh, stop fooling around, Philomena. You're scaring everypony" said Celestia as she walked over to the pile pf ashes. Not long after the ashes burst into flames and a bird on fire came out of said flames.

"I don't understand! What is that thing? What happened to Philomena?" Asked Flutters.

"That is Philomena. She's quite a sight, as Celestia said. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn't that right, Celestia?" I asked.

"A phoenix?" Asked Flutters.

"A phoenix is a majestic and magical bird. While it appears healthy and happy most of the time, every so often it must renew itself by shedding all of its feathers and bursting into flame. Rather melodramatic, if you ask me. It then rises from the ashes, fresh as a daisy. All just a normal part of the life cycle of a phoenix. I'm afraid mischievous little Philomena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you, Fluttershy" Celestia explained. "Say you're sorry, young lady" Celestia said to her bird. Philomena made an 'I'm sorry' sound.

"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?" Asked Flutters.

"Of course not, my little pony. Where on Earth would you get such an idea?" Asked Celestia.

"Twilight has quite the imagination" i said.

"I appreciate that your heart was in the right place, child. 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" Celestia said to Flutters.

"I know. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Next time I'll ask before taking matters into my own hand's" said Flutters.

A couple hours later and Celestia was hanging out with me, Spike and Twi in the Treebrary.

"I didn't get to talk to you at brunch earlier" said Celestia. "I'd like to know more about you.

"I'll tell you my story at the grand galloping gall in a couple weeks" i said.

"I guess i can wait that long" said Celestia. "Goodbye Twilight, Goodbye Spike" said Celestia as she teleported away.