Chapter 10

Philomena The Phoenix

After the dueling club ended, Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity headed over to the girls' bathroom to discuss their plan to finding the true heir of Slytherin. With all of the attacks happening around the school, Twilight and her friends knew that they needed to figure out who the heir is as soon as possible.

"So, what is this plan that you have, Rarity?" Applejack asked.

"I'm glad that you asked, Applejack! I just found out about this potion called, Polyjuice Potion. It can change a ponies appearance in somepony else." Rarity explained. "We might be able to use it to turn us into Slytherins."

"Of course!" Twilight realized. "If we disguise ourselves as Snips and Snails, we might be able to ask Trixie what she knows about the Heir of Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets. She has to know something!"

"That sounds like a good idea." Applejack agreed. "But who are you going to be disguised as, Rarity?"

"I already made my decision." Rarity said as she pulled out a small string of a pony's mane. "I'm going to be disguised as a Slytherin named, Suri Polomare."

As Twilight and her friends were talking, Twilight took a look around to make sure that nobody was watching. She didn't want anyone to be listening in on their plan.

"Um, girls? Do you think it is a good idea for us to be discussing our plan in the middle of the girls' bathroom?" Twilight asked. "Somepony can come in here any minute."

"Not to worry, Twilight! Nopony comes in here because they are too scared of Moaning Moon Dancer." Rarity explained.

At that moment, Twilight and Applejack exchanged confused glances with each other, unaware that a ghost pony with glasses was floating right behind them.

"Who?" Twilight and Applejack asked in unison.

"Moaning Moon Dancer." Rarity repeated.

"Who's Moaning Moon Dancer?" Applejack asked.

It was at that point when the ghost finally decided to reveal herself to Twilight and Applejack. "I'm Moaning Moon Dancer!" The ghost yelled, startling Twilight and Applejack. "Oh, just don't worry about me! It's not like anypony has ever cared for poor Moaning Moon Dancer!"

Moon Dancer looked as though she was about to cry, so she towards one of the stalls and flew in the toilet, splashing water all over the floor. At that moment, Twilight and Applejack sent confused looks towards Rarity.

"Moon Dancer is kind of sensitive." Rarity admitted before she and the rest of her friends got back to discussing their plan.

A few hours later, Twilight walked through the hallway of the castle as she made her way back to the Gryffindor common room. It was going to take a couple of months before the Polyjuice Potion would be complete, so she thought that she might as well relax in the meantime.

It wasn't long before Twilight suddenly heard a voice. It was the same voice that Twilight heard on Nightmare Night. Just hearing the voice was enough for Twilight to realize that someone else was about to be attacked. Wasting no time, Twilight ran towards where she heard the voice and was met with a horrific sight.

Right in front of Twilight stood the petrified forms of the pony from the Dueling Club and the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Fancy Pants. Right as Twilight got a closer looked at the victims, Twilight was startled as she heard Cranky's voice.

"Caught in the act! Professor Celestia will have you expelled for this, Twilight!" Cranky said as he turned to get a teacher.

"No. Cranky, wait!" Twilight tried to call out for Cranky, but he already left.

Once Cranky left, Twilight was greeted with a familiar flapping noise. That was when Twilight noticed the flyders flying out a nearby window. The purple unicorn briefly observed the flyders, silently wonders what they were doing here in the first place.

It wasn't long before Cranky returned with Professor Cadance. The sight of the two petrified ponies left Cadance in shock before she turned to face Twilight.

"Professor Cadance, I swear it wasn't me!" Twilight defended.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. This is beyond my control. Please, follow me."

Having no other choice, Twilight followed Cadance through the halls until Cadance stopped in front of a statue. Cadance took out her wand and cast a spell on the statue, causing it to spin around until a secret stairway was revealed.

"Now, head up these stairs, Twilight. They lead up to Professor Celestia's office, where she would be waiting for you." Cadance explained.

Twilight gulped before she nervously walked up the stairs. The walk up to Celestia's office caused Twilight's heart to beat faster every second. She didn't have any doubts that she would be expelled. Once she gets expelled, Twilight would have to leave her friends behind and go back to living with the Riches.

Twilight soon found herself face to face with the door to Celestia's office. With a gulp Twilight opened the door and stepped into the office. She looked around and Celestia was nowhere to be found. Instead, Twilight took notice of a bird covered in red and orange feathers. The purple unicorn stared at the bird in awe as she had never seen a creature this magnificent before.

"Twilight Sparkle. I never thought I'd see you again." Twilight turned around and noticed the Sorting Hat sitting on one of the shelves. "It would appear that this year is not going well for you. I stand by what I told you last year. You would have done well in Slytherin."

Twilight shook her head. "You're wrong!"

At that moment, Twilight decided to ignore the Sorting Hat as she walked over to the bird to get a closer look. She only took a couple of steps before the bird was suddenly engulfed in flames and burned to ashes. All Twilight could do was stared at the ashes in horror. If she wasn't in enough trouble already, she could only imagine how Celestia would react, knowing that her pet bird just died.

"Twilight?" came the voice of Celestia from the top of the stairs.

It was at that point when Twilight began to panic. "Professor Celestia, your bird. It just died, but I swear, there was nothing I could have done! It just got engulfed in flames all of a sudden!"

"It was about time too." Celestia calmly replied, much to Twilight's confusion. "You see, Twilight, Philomena is a phoenix! Philomena hadn't been feeling well lately, but because she is a phoenix she is able to be reborn from her ashes!"

Right as Celestia said that, the ashes began to move as a baby bird popped out. With a smile, Celestia walked up to Philomena and gently patted her head with her hoof.

"Welcome back, Philomena!" Celestia smiled at her pet.

Twilight couldn't help but smile at this heartwarming moment as well. The moment was soon interrupted as Big Mac burst into Celestia's office, panting for breath.

"Professor Celestia, Twilight wasn't responsible for the attacks!" Big Mac panted.

"Big Macintosh." Celestia tried to speak, but Big Mac didn't let her finish.

"I know Twilight and she would never do anything like this! You have to believe me!"

"Big Macintosh!" Celestia spoke up once more. This time, Big Mac stopped to listen. "I don't believe that Twilight is responsible for the attacks."

Big Mac stood in silence, clearly embarrassed by the ruckus he caused. "Oh. I guess I'll be on my way then."

With that, Big Mac walked back downstairs, leaving Twilight and Celestia alone once more.

"You don't think it was me, Professor?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, Twilight. You are not in trouble. But before you go, is there anything you'd wish to tell me?"

"No, Professor." Twilight replied.

"Very well. Then, you may return to your common room, Twilight."

Twilight then made her way back downstairs as she made her way back to the common room to get some rest. During her walk back to the common room, Twilight started to worry about all of the recent attacks that had occurred around Canterlot. Everyday, more and more ponies have been petrified. This made Twilight hope that the Polyjuice Potion would be ready soon so she could gather as much information as possible on the Chamber of Secrets.