Philomena soared through the air, relishing the breeze as she twirled around Ponyville and all the decorations going up for Hearth’s Warming.
Colors were hanging off of every building, contrasting brightly against the snow that surrounded them while the residents of the town buzzled about, smiles shown proudly as they passed and gave greetings to each other. Philomena alit on the roof of a building overlooking the main square, a little light of flame dancing on her wings to warm herself up.
Moments later a feathery friend landed beside her, his hoots alerting her to his presence as he got closer to the warmth her fire was giving off. Owlowiscious nodded his head in gratitude as he stopped a couple inches away from her, and stared down into the town square with her, enjoying the sight of ponies frolicking around the area.
A stray snowball dampened his mood with a few indignant hoots as it splattered on his head, Philomena chirping in amusement as he glared down at nearby group of fillies and colts while he shook the snow off.
Clumping together some snow in his claw, he flew over the square and dropped it on the offending foal, rewarding him with an indignant yell as he hooted in victory.
He circled Philomena once before starting to make his way to the Everfree with the phoenix following close behind. Before the pair knew it they had come upon the reason for Philomena’s visit, a little cottage on the edge of the woods.
They passed bears and mice, foxes and hares, and all other manner of creature on their way into the cottage where they landed on a perch with a group of other birds, the pony Fluttershy nodding in greeting as more animals made their way in and around the large room they met in.
“Thank you for coming everyone! I’m so glad you could make it, there’s a lot that needs done for Hearths Warming this year and Mayor Mare wanted us to help out. We’ll be doing a bird choir and helping decorate the tree for the town square this year, so I want all the birds to stay here while the rest of you go with Harry and Angel to find stuff to decorate with. Is that okay with everyone?”
With a series of salutes and sounds of affirmation, the mice, cats, snakes, and giraffe followed the bear and rabbit out the door while Fluttershy looked around the room and nodded in satisfaction at the group, smiling at Philomena as she hopped a little closer in anticipation while Owlowiscious remained where he was.
“Time for us to begin! Let’s start with the sparrows. Now, a one and a two…”
Philomena fumed from the side as Owlowiscious hooted along with the rest of the birds chirping to the tune Fluttershy instructed.
”Oh my! What a… Unique sound, Philomena! But, maybe you could sit this out? I’m sure we can find something else for you to do!”
So what if her chirps were a bit scratchy! She was just as good as any flamingo or peacock!
It was enough to leave her feathers steaming, the frustration keeping her from seeing that the other animals had come back to the cottage at first, Harry and his group bringing in winter flowers and berries of all kinds.
“Oh, these all look so lovely! Stack them all over there, okay?” she gestured to a room adjacent to the one with the choir, opening the door in for them, “We need everything ready for when we leave later.”
Philomena shot a curious gaze that way, only to see something sparkling on a table there from the sunlight coming through a window. With five pointy bits on the shiny yellow part and a dark green poll sticking out of the bottom.
It caught her gaze, and she couldn’t help giving a few hops towards the group of animals, entranced by the shine of the bauble. Owlowiscious glanced over just as she flapped into the room with Harry's group, letting out a questioning hoot before following her.
Fluttershy was directing the rest of the creatures, having them set the colorful display to the side of the room where it piled to the height of Harry, the bear's head just an inch or so higher than the pile. She didn't see the pair of birds landing on the table behind her, who now took a closer look at the object.
Philomena's own glowing feathers made a sheen on the crystal surface of it as she leaned over, entranced by how it captured her eyes. Owlowiscious let out an awed hoot, standing opposite her as he stared at it.
"You two seem curious!" Fluttershy startled the pair with a giggle as she walked up to the table, "That's the star Rarity gave me for the top of the tree." She tapped a hoof to her mouth with a hum before looking back to Philomena, "This star is very important, maybe the most important part for decorating the tree! But since you aren't in the choir anymore, would you place the star later, Philo?"
Philomena chirped out an affirmative, saluting with a wing and standing straight backed as she narrowed her eyes in a serious manner.
Fluttershy giggled at the display, "Wonderful! Now, let's get the rest of you outside so you can all eat after the hard work you did getting all of this!" She gave a smile to the two birds before ushering the rest of the animals out of the room, leaving Philomena and Owlowiscious alone with the decorations and the star.
Owlowiscious was about to follow Fluttershy out of the room himself when he saw Philomena picking up the star, flying it out of the room with a huff of pride. Owlowiscious shook his head, bemused by her, before following.
It wasn't long before disaster struck.
Philomena was being as careful with the star as she could be, holding it as carefully as a mother hen would hold an egg. But while eating bird seed with the other birds, a series of loud pops sounded out and scared the animals, birds startled to the skies while mice and squirrels ran up trees, and Harry letting out a fearful roar as he stumbled and fell over, all the while a small white bunny was laughing a few yards away from where all the other animals were eating.
Fluttershy rushed out of the cottage when the noise happened, and gasped as she saw all the popped firecrackers next to the bunny, "Angel! What is the meaning of this?!"
Philo didn’t stay to watch and listen as Angel explained himself, flying back down to the bird feeder that was now underneath the body of Harry the bear, where she had dropped the star in her panicked flight away, the bear in question getting up just as she got there, a painful groan coming from him.
She sifted through the debris of the feeder, moving loose wood out of the way for a good few moments before seeing the star lying on the ground.
It wasn’t the in the worst condition… But it had split in half, from the top point to the bottom right, and her eyes bugged out as she let out a dismayed squawk at the sight.
Owlowiscious, drawn by the noise, landed next to her and let out his own dismayed hoot of surprise.
Philomena felt tears forming, and let out a few slow sorrowful chirps. This was the most important part of decorating the tree! Fluttershy had trusted her!
A wing on her back shook her from her thoughts, Owlowiscious having a determined look on his face as he nodded to the star. He flew over and grabbed the two pieces with his claws, Philomena following him as he flew away from the carnage of the cottage’s front yard.
Over stretches of forest and Sweet Apple Acres, they flew back into Ponyville proper before stopping at a circular building that was a purple and magenta color.
Carousel Boutique.
Philomena was confused as they flew inside the structure, startling a pony who had opened the door, and landed at the front counter.
“Goodness!” “What in Tartarus…?” “Why are there birds here?”
Ignoring the comments of the ponies around the room, Owlowiscious let out a few authoritative hoots as Rarity was drawn out of the back room of the boutique by all the commotion. Her eyes lit up as she recognized Twilight’s pet owl.
“Oh, Owlowiscious! Whatever are you doing here with…” Her words trailed off as she saw the two pieces of the star on the counter. “Fluttershy’s star…? Oh dear…”
Philomena nudged the two pieces over, understanding what Owlowiscious wanted by coming here, and put them to where the two broken sides met.
“I see… I’m afraid that I can’t fix this. Maybe somewhere in Canterlot…?” Rarity shrugged, uncertain, “I don’t have any more, so Fluttershy will need to find a new star somewhere else. I’m sorry that you made the trip here for nothing.”
Philo’s head slumped in disappointment, but she chirped out a thanks as she grabbed the two pieces and flew back out of the still open door, Owlowiscious hooting his own goodbye as he followed behind her.
Philomena paced back and forth on the roof of the town hall as she thought about what to do, the broken star a few steps away while she was waiting for Owlowiscious to come back from the library with whatever his next idea was.
She could show Fluttershy the broken star… But it was her fault it was broken in the first place. She might get in serious trouble if she didn’t think of something! What if Celestia heard about it?!
Wait… Celestia. Philo paused as the thought struck her. Her owner had a sister who does stuff with stars. She may be dark and scary, but… She wouldn’t mind if Philomena borrowed something, would she?
Her train of thought was interrupted as Owlowiscious hooted his arrival, returning with a bottle of glue clutched in his claws. He landed beside her and held it up proudly.
Philo watched with a tensed breath as the owl worked, turning to a disappointed sigh as the two pieces were brought back together.
No matter how many globs from the bottle Owlowiscious put in the crack it wouldn’t disappear, just becoming even more pronounced as the white glue visibly and thickly held the two halves in place. It was back together, but…
Owlowiscious sighed, hooting his own disappointment. He did his best with what he knew, with how he saw Spike and Twilight always fix broken vases and stick paper together, but the crack wouldn’t disappear. Philomena pat him on the back, her gesture raising his spirits a little.
But his hopes were really raised as Philo started chirping out a new idea they could try, and he nodded his head in agreement as she explained it, leaving him determined to do his best to help.
Philomena might be a phoenix, but she was also the pet of Celestia, the ruler of Equestria. A simple bird she might be, she still had a few magical tricks that her owner had taught her, ones she was more than eager to use with Owlowiscious.
That’s how the two found themselves burning across the sky in a blaze of fire. Owlowiscious, though alarmed at first, was unharmed from the flames as they rapidly made their way to Canterlot.
It was scarcely a half hour before they were in the city walls, Philomena cutting off her spell as they soared over the cityscape and to the castle, the guards barely batting an eye at the antics of Celestia’s mischievous pet.
Owlowiscious followed her up to the top of the Castle, to one of the two more prominent towers where they landed on the balcony.
Philomena was just about ready to head in before Owlowiscious took her attention with an indignant hoot, holding up a singed wing.
She winced at the sight of the blackened tips and sheepishly shrugged with a nervous grin. The owl just shook his head with a sigh before gesturing with one wing to continue.
Eager to move on from her slight mistake, Philo flapped over to the door, hovering in place as she pulled the latch open and pulled the door out, opening a crack between it and the wall that she and Owlowiscious quickly made their way through, landing on the floor to look around.
The room was dark, save for the light cutting through from the door. The windows were all covered, and the walls and ceiling were painted to mimic the night sky, with the shapes of stars standing out in stark yellow contrast to the darker blues the rest of the room had.
Along the walls were dressers and tables, with a writing desk on the opposite side, and in the middle stood a giant shrouded bed where a grinding noise came from, a sound Owlowiscious thought was eerily similar to how Harry sounded when he was sick.
Philo took it all in, the similarities to Celestia’s own room all too canny. And since she knew where her owner kept all the best stuff… She hopped into the air and made a beeline to the vanity, where she struggled to tug open one of the doors. Owlowiscious wasn’t far behind, and they managed to get the tightly shut door swinging out, making a blessedly silent bang against a thick curtain.
Inside, where normally there would have been crowns, jewelery, and cakes in Celestia’s room, the last was replaced by a group of glowing things, shaped just like their own broken star. They were all different colors, from greens to blues, and reds to purples.
But there in the center, Philo and Owlowiscious saw the perfect replacement, a bright yellow star the exact shade as their own, but glowing brightly.
They each looked to the other with barely restrained excitement.
“Where could those two have gotten to…?”
Flutter shy had spent the afternoon looking for the two birds that had been missing since Angel’s prank earlier that day. Harry and the others had seen them flying off to Ponyville while she was busy with the bunny, and asking around she found an answer from Rarity.
“They were trying to fix the star…?”
“They were. But… You mean you didn’t send them?”
She had to stop looking for wherever they had gone to as the sun slowly made its way across the sky, and the time had come for her and the animals to decorate the tree in the town square.
The ponies had started gathering as Fluttershy guided the mice to the finishing touches on the ornaments, the birds warming up on the special roost that was set up for their choir.
She looked around nervously, from the top of the tree to the friends she had made around town that had come out.
It was only just as the sun was passing behind the distant mountains, as the birds were supposed to begin their singing, that her worries were finally put to rest about the two vacant avians.
In a blaze from the sky, Philomena circled the town square to the sounds of an awed audience. Steadily, as she circled closer to the tree, the fire died out and revealed the star in her grasp, glowing brightly on the crowd who were now thoroughly wowed as she set it on the top of the tree, a discreet squeeze of glue from her other claw and some heat keeping it in place.
Owlowiscious flew down from the other side of the town square and perched down on the choir’s roost with a questioning hoot to Fluttershy.
For her part, she could only sigh with relief and smile at the owl, “Yes, you may start the choir, Owlowiscious.”
The other birds fell in tune as he started the first notes to the first song, the ponies all around listening eagerly to the harmony.
Fluttershy stood back and watched with them, only stopping as Philo landed next to her, looking nervous.
Fluttershy hid a giggle behind a hoof before patting the bird on her head.
“You didn’t have to do all that Philo…. But thank you. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”
And Philomena couldn’t be happier, sitting there and listening to the chorus from Owlowiscious and the choir.
Author's Note
Bonus Scene:
Luna yawned as she raised the moon, idly grabbing a snack when back inside as she started to make her way to the dining room for breakfast.
Hmmm… A bit crunchier than usual…
Shrugging the oddity off, she continued munching.