My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: A Bird in the Hoof

A/N: Sunrise Blossom here, and don't worry, I'm still in this story, but the last chapter and this chapter will be primarily around Twilight and Fluttershy trying to help Philomena, and yeah, there did tend to be some racists stuff during the first season of the show. Of course, everything does resolve itself in the end, and we all get used to Discord's chaotic way of doing things…eventually.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

CHAPTER FOUR: BIRD CARE ISSUES PART TWO

'Does the princes already know?!' Twilight Sparkle thought wildly while forcing her alarmed expression into a smile instead.

"We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here," one of the guards informed her.

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

"Really?" Twilight Sparkle asked with a nervous smile and laugh. "You don't say!" She heard Philomena cough, and she quickly backed up so that she was next to Fluttershy and began coughing instead, with the yellow pegasus joining in in order to cover up the coughing of the sick bird. "It's that dry night air."

"But it's daytime," Fluttershy reminded her.

Twilight Sparkle quickly backtracked. "Well… day air's even drier," she said quickly. "You guards better be on your way if you're gonna find the princess's missing pet. Philomena, was it?" she asked as the guards exchanged looks before leaving. "Thank you ever so much for keeping me in the loop. Bye!" she called after them before slamming the door hut and sighed with relief. "Phew… What are you doing?!" she yelped when the yellow pegasus went to the door.

"Going to return Philomena, remember?" Fluttershy reminded her friend.

"We can't now!" Twilight Sparkle yelped.

"Why not?" Fluttershy asked, feeling confused.

"You have no idea what the princess is gonna do if she finds you're the one who took her pet, do you?!" the purple unicorn exclaimed.

Fluttershy hadn't considered that. "Do you?" she asked, worried.

"Well… no," Twilight Sparkle admitted. "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!"

The yellow pegasus didn't like the sound of that. "You really think the princess would do that?" she wondered.

"Okay. Granted that probably won't happen, but do you wanna take any chances?" Twilight Sparkle asked, trying to calm down and think of a way out of this mess.

Fluttershy shook her head as the sick bird poked her head out of the basket. "All that really matters to me is that poor little Philomena here gets well," she stated as Philomena coughed.

"That's very noble of you," said Twilight Sparkle with a slight smile, but she was still worried. "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?" she offered.

"Please, Twilight," the yellow pegasus requested. "You just have to help me get Philomena healthy and then we can return her to the princess. And everything will be fine." She winced when Philomena coughed and fell out of the basket.

Twilight Sparkle nodded, staring at the sick bird, who was looking even worse. "Did you give her any kind of medicine?" she inquired.

Fluttershy nodded. "I tried to, but she wouldn't take it."

Twilight Sparkle groaned. "Then you have to make her take it," she insisted. "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!" And she went to the table to retrieve the pill.

"She can't fly," the yellow pegasus pointed out.

"No excuses!" the purple unicorn snapped, got the bird to open her beck, and dropped the pill inside. To her delight, Philomena swallowed the pill this time. "Done. Okay, what else?" she asked.

"Uh… well, she keeps pulling her feathers off," Fluttershy answered as said bird began pulling out feathers after sitting up. "The ones that haven't fallen out yet from all her coughing, I mean," she added.

Twilight Sparkle found some paper that she made into a cone and shoved it over Philomena's head, preventing her from picking at her feathers. "There you go."

Philomena didn't like wearing the Cone of Shame and she tried to get off, groaning as she tugged, shoved, and rolled around the floor, trying to get rid of it.

"I don't think she likes it," Fluttershy remarked, concerned.

"Tough love, baby," said the purple unicorn. "You want her to get well, don't you?"

The yellow pegasus nodded. "Of course, but…"

"Next!" Twilight Sparkle interrupted her friend.

Fluttershy did a mental checklist of what she'd tried to help the sick bird. "Well, she desperately needs some bed rest, but I can't get her to stay put," she admitted.

Twilight Sparkle grinned, snatched up Philomena and stuffed her into a bird cage, covering it with a tarp. "One step ahead of you." And she went into the kitchen for something else to do to help the bird get better.

Fluttershy went to the cage, which was shaking since Philomena was trying to get out and was squawking angrily. "It's for your own good, Philomena, I promise," she said reassuringly. "Please, just relax and try to get some sleep."

Twilight Sparkle found the still-warm bowl of soup and sniffed. "What's this soup over here?" she asked, interested. "Smells delicious."

"I made it for Philomena," Fluttershy responded. "But she wouldn't eat it."

Twilight Sparkle magically picked up the bowl and carried it over to the cage, grinning. "Oh, she'll eat it, all right," she stated, removed the tarp, and she opened the cage, only to have Philomena scream, and bolt out of the cage, nearly knocking her over. "Hey! Where are you going?" she yelped, putting down the soup and chased after the bird, just as she bolted out the pet flap on the base of the door.

"No!" Fluttershy yelped, chasing after them both. "Philomena! Come back!"

How can one sick bird move so fast?!

A/N: I've been wondering how Philomena can move so fast when he wasn't feeling well, either. R&R everyone!