Equestrian Heroes

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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Dressed and ready Naruto gave himself a once over in the mirror. He was prepared and ready for Celestia's arrival. Her visit to the town had been a rather surprising announcement but nonetheless it was going to be interesting.

Suddenly, a knock at the door garnered Naruto's attention and he went to open it. On the other side was Twilight, dressed in the garb she had worn when she first came to Ponyville.

"Hey Naruto, are you ready?"

"Yeah," he answered as he dusted himself off. They were all ready for the big brunch at Sugarcube Corner.

"Well, come on! We can't be late!" Twilight insisted as they began making their way to the location.

"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight presented herself to the guards.

"Provisionary officer Naruto Uzumaki." He followed in suit.

"You may pass." They answered at once with strong conviction.

There sitting at the middle of the long table was her majesty herself. There were guards watching the entrances and exits of the area. There was also Mayor Mare and her aides with the Cakes of course, who were hosting the Brunch and of course the Bearers themselves.

"Oh Naruto, I hope this goes well," she'd said before the Princess had arrived. "I want everypony to make a good impression with the Princess."

"I'm pretty sure that's next to impossible. Everything will be fine just don't worry," despite his reassurances Twilight noticed the blond was distracted.

"Something bothering you Naruto?" she asked as he noticed his attention was somewhere else.

"I don't think Fluttershy is here yet. I should wait outside to help her get in, there's a good chance she might be intimidated by the guards."

"Okay, then. I hope she gets here real soon." Twilight began walking over to Princess Celestia to greet herself.

He turned around and walked out the building. Standing still and watching the area, which reminded him of those two chunin guards whose duties were to monitor the entrance. They looked straight forward with bold eyes. Despite the mood they brought to the area, he took a seat outside on a bench on the other side of the road and waited for Fluttershy.

After a while, Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the shop and hopped out. "So... what do I have to do to get to be one of the Princess's royal guards, anyway?" She asked them. They didn't answer but only continued looking forward. "Is the pay good?" She nudged one of them. They still didn't reply. "Hellooo!" She exclaimed in their ears. "Anybody home?" After noticing that they still hadn't move, Rainbow Dash looked at them straight in the eye and began making weird faces. She looked at their face to see if they had any effect. So far, there was none. She then stuck her tongue out and threw her head around. She observed their faces again. "Ooh, you're good." There was only silence. "Too good. I'm bored." She turned around and took notice of Naruto noticed me. "Oh, hey Naruto!" She flew over to him. "What's up?"

"I'm out here waiting for Shy to show up. Would hate for her to miss the brunch because she was intimidated by the guards."

"Oh, okay." She was silent for a moment. "Want some company?"

"I'll be fine, just go back and enjoy the brunch." He suggested as Rainbow simply shrugged.

"Alright I'll see you later then." She flew in a flash towards the inside of the shop.

Moments later there was Fluttershy trailing forward with dainty sprint.

"Phew. Made it." She panted. She began walking towards the building but the guards suddenly spread their wings and stared at Fluttershy.

"Halt!"

"Who goes there?"

Fluttershy gulped and began backing off. "No one. Never mind. I'll go home."

"Hold on!" Naruto boomed in a commanding tone as he moved to Fluttershy's side. "She's on the list. She's one of the bearers. Fluttershy."

The guards lowered their wings and allowed Fluttershy to walk in.

"Thanks, Naruto." Fluttershy said as they walked in.

"No problem shy," He said as he reached out to cup her hand. "You look lovely." He said, complimenting the sundress she was wearing. He placed a tender kiss on Fluttershy's lips causing her wings to flutter briefly as she replied in something in an inaudible tone.

Twilight noticed them and went over to them, greeting them. "I'm so glad you could make it, Fluttershy. It wouldn't be the same without you."

With that they turned back to the party, where Spike had just finished cooking up some small pies with his fiery breath. Spike grabbed another tray and repeated the process. "How's everypony doing?" He asked them, however before they could answer he replied with a, "Good? Good."

"Anything else we can get for you, dearies...? Ooh, I-I mean, esteemed guest." They heard from the table Princess Celestia was sitting at.

"Everything is fine, Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Princess Celestia responded in a sweet tone.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to finish taking care of a patient first." Fluttershy explained to as she walked over to the table where the others had gathered.

"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!" Twilight replied nervously, even twitching as she spoke.

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

"Oh, it's not that. I just want the princess to approve of my friends. "

"But she's met us all before." Fluttershy pointed out.

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

"Twilight I've known the Princess the fifth of the time you have and even I can easily tell you're worrying over nothing. What, you think she's going to throw us in a dungeon or something?" Twilight's expression told him that was the wrong set of words to use.

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

"Don't touch me! Watch the dress! Careful, you're gonna spill that on me!" They heard Rarity from across the room. Naruto immediately went breathless as he always did when Rarity wore that dress. That Unicorn had no idea the thigns she did to him at things.

Mrs. Cake stopped by and offered her one of the apple cupcakes in a platter. "Oh, oh, that looks delicious. What is it?" Rarity lifted her hand to get one, then instantly took it back. "Oh, does it stain? Keep it away from me!" She cowered in the room, looking around frightened for any dangers to her dress.

"Or... perhaps not that casual." Fluttershy added.

"That's Rare for you." Naruto shook his head.

"Uh... which is the salad and which is the appetizer again?" Applejack questioned near us as she sat next to a table, cautiously looking at the food. "And which am I supposed to eat first?" She began to open her mouth to different kinds of food, but then stopped herself because she wasn't sure of which one to eat. "Oh, never mind. I'm not hungry."

He walked up to her and looked over at the food. "Don't stress it Jack, the princess isn't going to care what you eat first. It's a casual party. If we were worrying about being fancy there would have been all matter of delegates and such here."

Applejack sighed in relief. "You're right, Naruto. I shouldn't worry about this fancy eating." Applejack replied and began eating the first thing she saw.

As if on cue he saw Pinkie Pie suddenly bounce into his path and all over the party. "Woohoo! Cookies, candies and pies, oh my!" She used a knife with scary proficiency and cut a pie in several slices before downing a slice with a gulf. "Oooh!" She spotted the chocolate fountain on one of the tables. "Chocolate Fountainy goodness!" She grabbed a cup and scooped several servers of chocolate goodness. Then she rushed over to the table Princess Celestia was at. Princess Celestia was just about to eat one of the apple cupcakes when Pinkie Pie appeared right in front of her. "You enjoying the party so far Princess?"

"Indeed I am."

"You're going to love the Apple cupcakes, there the best!" With that Pinkie downed one whole, despite that Celestia still smiled warmly. While it may have offending most other royalty, Celestia always enjoyed it when her ponies could be open with her.

Mrs. Cake gasped widely and rushed over to Pinkie Pie to remove her from the table. "Hey!" Mr. Cake came towards the table and placed a new plate of tea.

"A thousand pardons, Your Majesty." He apologized.

Pinkie can be rather exuberant."

"That's quite all right, thank you." Princess Celestia responded.

Princess Celestia picked up the cupcake and took a bite of it. Afterwards, she took a sip of the tea. She placed the teacup back on the small plate.

"Empty teacup at 4 o'clock!" Mrs. Cake suddenly alerted.

"Uh, I see it, honey bun!" Mr. Cake replied, rushing over to refill her teacup.

"Oh, um... thank you." The Princess awkwardly thanked them. She wanted to say something, assured them that such treatment wasn't necessary, but that always had a nasty little habit of back firing thanked.

"Not at all, Your Highness."

The Princess took another sip of her tea, bringing Mrs. Cake to immediately refill it again.

"Thank you again."

"Oh, but of course, Your Majesty."

She took another sip. They refilled it again. She took a sip. They refilled it. After, she looked at them each, a little playfully, and made a slurp sound, but didn't drink the tea. They poured more tea in the cup, but it actually overflowed outside the cup. "Gotcha!" The Cakes smiled nervously.

"Oh..." Twilight sunk underneath the table in a worried tone.

The Princess looked over at Fluttershy, who I was with near the table. "And what about you, dear? Fluttershy, is it?" She asked.

"Me?" Fluttershy questioned, surprisingly. "Oh yes, Your Highness."

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

"Yes, I love to take care of animals." Fluttershy responded, happily.

"As do I. As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures, great and small." We heard a sudden cough in a bird cage near Princess Celestia, surprising us but the Princess. "Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects." The bird began to furiously cough. After, it presented itself when it flew up and stood in the middle of the cage as its head tilted to the side. "Ah, Philomeena, my pet. You're awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts." The bird only returned more sickly coughs.

"Oh... my." Fluttershy pulled back with a disturbed expression on her face.

"She is quite a sight, isn't she?" The Princess asked with a serene smile.

"I... I... I've never seen anything like it." Fluttershy replied as she continued to observe the bird cough.

With this conversation over Celestia's gaze fell on to Naruto. "Naruto, how lovely to see you."

"Likewise, your highness," he replied, bowing to her. "I hope you're enjoying your brunch."

She gestured to the empty place to her right. "Please, sit with me. I feel its been quite some time since we just sat and talk."

"Of course, Princess." He placed himself next to her, looking up into her caring face.

"From what I read of Twilight's letter things have been rather busy here. Fending off hydra, battling diamond dogs, and fighting off a stallion herd. I feel at ease to learn despite such threats you have all been taking care of yourselves and the others."

"What can I say; I live to play the role of the hero." Then his tone and expression became more humble. "Still, even with my prowess the one who is really impressive is Twilight, though you already know that. I assume she has also told you about the projects we've been working on?"

"Indeed she has; reading the theories on the inner workings of chakra and magic integration you two have been working on is quite fascinating."

Naruto's face practically beamed with happiness as he continued the discussion."Its just a matter of regaining enough of my power to efficiently use Yin-Yang chakra. Then we're going to need an earth pony or Pegasi volunteer as I believe a Unicorn's innate magical ability might be too abundant for a safe first trial."

"It appears Twilight is becoming as much as an influence on you as you are on her." She noted as she noticed her student looking on not so subtly with rapt attention. While Celestia was indeed hoping that Luna and Naruto would end up together, she saw no issue in getting Twilight in on the action. The mare after all was like the daughter she always wanted, well almost; she really wished Twilight would overreact a tad bit less, but she loved her all the same and someone fun loving like Naruto.

"That's true in all honesty. Twilight is one of kind. Very caring for one, with a thirst and joy for knowledge and learning. If I could describe her I would say witty, driven,

"Oh yes, Your Highness," he replied happily. "She's better than I ever hoped she would be. She's witty, caring, kind, and rational. "

"Is that it?" She knew the moment she would even subtly suggest something akin to Twilight's looks he would probably pick up on it.

"Well there's still much more I need to learn about her. In time I can see our friendship growing and even if she doesn't know it or believe it, she is remarkably beautiful." He answered honestly. He figured he might as well answered honestly because chances are Celestia was looking for a full assessment on his thoughts on Twilight and no sense dragging it out.

Seeing Twilight's cheeks lit up was the cue Celestia was looking for. With the door now opened she would seek Cadance's counsel in order to see where and when little nudges could be made. Her musings came to an end when one of the royal guards came over to the table and began whispering to the Princess.

"Really? Well, if I must... I'm sorry, everypony. I'm afraid I have to cut the party short." Twilight suddenly spat out the tea she was drinking but immediately covered her mouth with her hand. "Forgive me; I have received word from one of the traveling delegates of an issue that has come up. Royal duty calls. Thank you for a wonderful time. It's been a joy getting to know you all better." She then began walking gracefully out the door as the ponies awed in her presence.

Afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Cake began cleaning up the party. Pinkie Pie performed a cartwheel, hyper, out the door, bumping into the other ponies.

"Stay right where you are." Rarity warned as she trotted slowly out the door. "All I want is a clear path to the exit. NOBODY MOVE and my dress won't get hurt! Stay back! Back, I say!"

Applejack walked out the door while carrying some dishes to eat later.

Twilight sighed. "Well, I don't know for sure how things went with the princess, but at least no big disasters happened."

"See, told you that you were worried about nothing. Celestia approves of the other bearers now stop stressing yourself over it." He began looking around. "Hey where's Fluttershy? Did she leave already?"

"Hm. I don't think so… she just… vanished." Twilight responded. Twilight rubbed the front of foot against the back of her other leg. "Uum Naruto, well…" She began with an uncertain undertone. The blush in her cheeks deepened at this point and she gazed warmly at him. "I heard what you said to the Princess… about me."

"You did huh?" He thought the Princess was up to something.

"You meant it, everything you said right?" the question carried a hopeful tone.

"Of course I did Twilight. You're a wonderful mare with a strong drive, inquisitive nature, and a caring personality and even if you don't think so you're beautiful."

"But…I'm so…plain," she whispered. "I mean compared to the girls…" She found herself interrupted.

"That's not fair Twilight. You can't compare yourselves to the others because you're all different. Besides considered how daft I was for the longest time and still a bit am regarding all the things considered attractive in mate I think I can say that my observations are honest."

"I'm sorry, its just, nopony ever said such sweet things like that about me before…"

"Nopony outside of your family ever complimented you?" he asked as she shook her head.

"If they did it wasn't genuine." She answered as he began to recall the story Twilight had told him and the other bearers about the time she was invited into a social circle whose plan was to use her to get closer to the Princess. The frequency of such a thing was what made Twilight so jaded about friendships in the first place.

Well, he hoped Rarity and the others wouldn't be too annoyed at what he was about to do. "Twilight, want to go out and get lunch some time?"

"W-What? You mean…like a date? Like courting? B-Between a stallion and mare like date? Of course you mean that what else kind of date would it be? Well besides two mares not that I'm saying you're a mare."

A grin broke out on Naruto's face, "Twilight you're rambling," he then added, "Is that a yes?"

"YES!" That came out louder then she intended. "I mean of course, I just have to check my schedule for when I'm free. So we can be prepared. I mean set things up. I mean this is so unusual. Not that you're unusual. I mean the situation since it's usually the mare that asks the stallion and I'm just going to stop talking now before I embarrass myself any further." Twilight trailed off and fell into an awkward silence and couldn't look anymore adorable if she tried, striking an eight out of ten on the Fluttershy adorable meter rating.

"Well, get back to me when your schedule is clear then," he replied, giving her an out of the situation."

"Right, see you later!"

She waved goodbye and was soon out of sight. Well since he was already in the market area he might as well see if there were any good deals. Everything seemed to be going fine until he was approached by members of the guard.

"How may I help you today?"

"We are looking for Twilight Sparkle and we were wondering if you knew where she was. It is essential that she be informed of a dire emergency."

That drew his curiosity; he hoped that didn't mean some disaster was on the horizon. "I'm afraid the last time I saw her was at the brunch. If I may ask what is the nature of the emergency? Perhaps I can lend my assistance"

"The royal pet has gone missing and we would be grateful for any help you can provide. Have you seen her anywhere?"

"Philomena? No, not since the brunch, sorry. I'll keep an eye open for her though and inform you immediately if I see her."

"Very well, thank you." With that, the two guards left to find Twilight.

So Philomena was missing? How could that have happened? Last anyone saw of her she was safely in her cage. Even if Philomena herself wanted to leave the cage she wasn't in any condition to fly, that much was certain. Could someone have stolen her? Considering Phoenix tears were extremely valuable and potent that seemed rather likely. The tears of a phoenix could cleanse even the most violate of poisons and toxins. Then again considering Phoenixes weren't a common day creature would anyone recognize it as such? The only reason he himself knew it was a Phoenix was because Celestia had told him and explained what Philomena was some time ago. Phoenixs rarely bothered with most of the populous so what lore was known about them was only contributed by Mythic Zoologists, poachers or those who bonded with Phoenixs so he highly doubt some random pony in town would have recognized the sickly bird for what it was and it wouldn't be like somepony would have just decide to take her to care for her out of the kindness of their heart. "Unless that Pony was Fluttershy." The most likely of scenarios.

Speaking of said pony she was looking after the Phoenix. Picking up a thermometer from the shelf nearby with her teeth and placed it in Philomeena's beak. After a second, she began burning up and the thermometer was at the highest point. Fluttershy gasped and quickly removed the blankets. She placed an ice pack on Philomeena's bare head. Philomeena began cooling down. The thermometer now dropped to the lowest point and Philomeena began shivering fiercely. Fluttershy gasped again and removed the ice pack, placing the blanket over her again. The thermometer immediately filled up again and Philomeena was burning up. Fluttershy removed the blanket and placed on the ice pack again, which made the bird shiver once again. Fluttershy removed the ice pack and placed the blanket, only to repeat the process over and over for several times. This caused the thermometer to repeatedly move up and down until it finally broke. "This is far worse than I thought. What you need is some medicine. Stat!" Philomeena released another fierce hack, causing Fluttershy to flinch back.

Fluttershy walked over to one of her cabinets and searched through them for a while. After, she pulled out a huge pill and placed it on a plate. She brought it over to Philomeena and presented it before her. "Here you go, Philomeena. This will fix you right up." Philomeena moved her head towards it and sniffed it, but then she stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Doctor Fluttershy expected that." Fluttershy responded as she sat on one of her chairs. Fluttershy grabbed a big bag of food and poured it all over the pill. Philomeena stuck her tongue out but licked the food instead. After a moment of silence, she instantly began pecking at the food, devouring everything. "Always works."

Her would be triumph came to an end instantly when she noticed that the pill was still lying on the plate. "Uh... Almost always." Philomeena released another cough.

Naruto began his trip over to Fluttershy's cottage. Suddenly he found himself cut off by one of the town's more enthusiastic mares. This was going to take awhile.

When her idea for the soup failed Fluttershy came up with another idea. "Look, Philomeena. I brought a fellow feathered friend by to cheer you up. Hummingway here was sick once too, but he let me help him and got better in no time. Didn't you, boy?" The hummingbird released an agreed chirp. "Say hello to your new friend Philomeena." The hummingbird flew gently towards Philomeena and rubbed his head on hers. "Aw, look. I think he likes you." The hummingbird flew back to Fluttershy. Fluttershy and her hummingbird flew in the air. Fluttershy began singing several notes, leaving the hummingbird to complete the song. "Your turn now, Philomeena. Go ahead. You can do it." Fluttershy flew towards the bird, repeating the notes she sang for the hummingbird, however, Philomeena returned a look which seemed as if she was to spit something out. After a moment, Philomeena coughed out food which landed on Fluttershy's face. "Um... good try?" She removed the food from her face.

Fluttershy had gone into the bathroom to wash her face. When she returned she grabbed Philomeena and brought her over to the bathroom. Fluttershy wrapped a towel on Philomeena's head and one on her waist. "I know what'll clear up that tickle in your throat. A humidifier." She turned it on and took a deep breath. Refreshing. How's that feeling now for you, Philomeena? Better?"

The room was engulfed in steam. Fluttershy observed Philomeena as she began taking a deep breath. Fluttershy gazed at her excitedly, waiting for her to exhale just fine. Philomeena coughed instead, removing Fluttershy's grin. "Oh..." A few of Philomeena's feathers sprung out. "That's okay. I know lots of other ways to take care of you. Don't worry. You're gonna get better. How about..."

She had set up candles and aroma sticks near the fireplace and sat Philomeena comfortably in a cushion. "Aromatherapy?" Philomeena took in a breath and sneezed afterwards, having more feathers spring from her.

Next, Fluttershy filled her tub with warm water and placed the bird in there. "Warm bath?" Instead, Philomeena sucked up all the water and looked really swollen.

Fluttershy sighed. She looked through her cabinets and found some cream. "Ointment?" She squeezed some of it on Philomeena's head, but it only caused her to grow pimples on her entire body.

Philomeena gave another cough and her head fell to the ground. "Oh, Philomeena. I thought it would be easy to nurse you back to health, but I've tried everything I know. And look at you. You're worse than ever."

Suddenly, a knock on the door drew her attention. Fluttershy quickly moved to the door and listened, yet the door burst open, having Twilight walk in to greet her. "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..." She noticed the bird and gasped loudly. "What is Philomena doing here?"

"I couldn't leave the poor thing there. She needed my help." Fluttershy reasoned.

"Oh no. NonononononoNO! This is bad." Twilight began to panic.

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

"But... but... she doesn't belong to you!"

"I had to do something."

"Without telling anypony? Without asking permission?"

"But…"

"I know you had good intentions, but you have got to return the princess's pet!"

The two mares were so engrossed in their dispute they didn't even notice Philomena fall off the table.

The thump was enough to gather their attention as Philomena pulled herself up, gasping a long breath before suddenly she appeared to freeze in mid-inhale.

"You're right…" Fluttershy conceded with a sigh. "Ok, let's…" Philomena finished her gasp with a raspy cough, making them both flinch, "go…"

Naruto couldn't help but feel annoyed that Fluttershy wasn't at home. Where on earth was she? Maybe one of the other girls in town knew where he could find Fluttershy?

Back in town he noticed quite a number of guards were looking for the phoenix. Thankfully all the others were all gathered near the fountain so he didn't have to go all over the town. Before he could even broach the question Flutters and Twilight had popped up, searching between and around the others.

"Hi!" Pinkie Pie responded cheerfully to Fluttershy.

Twilight grabbed Rarity. "Beg your pardon!" She picked her up and looked beneath at the ground.

"Put me down!" Rarity ordered. Twilight placed her down afterwards.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack exclaimed.

"Sorry, but we've gotta find..."

"The princess's pet bird!" The couple of guards interrupted Fluttershy's explanation.

Everyone looked up to see Philomeena sitting on top of the fountain we were next to. She rarely had any specks of feathers on her now.

"Philomeena, come down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" Fluttershy worriedly commanded.

Philomeena's last feather was separated from her body. She dramatically made an exaggerated death rattle until she finally let her body drop lifelessly on top of the fountain while she stuck her tongue out. For a few seconds, there was this highly awkward moment that seemed to last for minutes. She suddenly began making those dramatic motions again until her body fell off the fountain.

"I'll catch you!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she ran over to where Philomeena was dropping towards the ground.

Fluttershy continued running and dove towards Philomeena as she dropped. Suddenly, Philomeena literally burst into flames as she dropped towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy gasped as she saw the ashes of Philomeena fall lightly on her hands. Every other pony gasped heavily as they saw Philomeena's ashes. Fluttershy could only stare at the ashes, shocked. As the ashes slipped through her hands, she started tearing up and biting her lower lip. She began crying and whimpering.

"What is going on here?" A voice suddenly asked in a demanding tone. It was none other than Princess Celestia. Immediately bows were being used by Everypony. Princess Celestia looked over to Twilight. "Twilight?" She questioned, causing Twilight to quit her bow.

"Yes, Your Majesty…" She responded in a depressive tone. "There's been a terrible accident."

"It's all my fault." Fluttershy presented herself to the Princess.

"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 you let me do this? She'll go easier on me."

"But it's my fault!"

"No, it's my fault!"

Fluttershy then stepped forward. "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 back to you, honest." Princess Celestia walked over to the burnt ashes. "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."

Princess Celestia looked over at Fluttershy then at the ashes. She lowered her head and remained quiet for a moment.

"Oh, stop fooling around, Philomeena. You're scaring everypony." She suddenly spoke. The ashes moved and shot upwards towards the sky. Everypony gasped. The ashes spun midair and formed something magnificent, causing every pony to awe in its appearance.

"I don't understand!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "What is that thing? What happened to Philomeena?"

It flew and landed on Princess Celestia's foreleg. "This is Philomeena. She's quite a sight, as I said. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn't that right, Philomeena?"

Philomeena released a proud answer, no longer the naked bird she was a few minutes ago, but a majestic creature instead.

"A... A phoenix?" Fluttershy questioned.

"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." She lowered her head towards us and whispered. "Rather melodramatic, if you ask me." She pulled away. "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 Philomeena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you, Fluttershy."

Naruto could only face palm. Of course Celestia of all ponies would have a pet with a mischievous streak.

Philomeena lowered her head in embarrassment. "Say you're sorry, young lady."

Philomeena 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?"

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

Fluttershy looked over at Twilight, who was staring towards the ground, nervously. "I guess I have some imagination."

"Fluttershy really did do everything she could to try to take care of Philomeena for you." Twilight added.

"And I do 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 Philomeena was a phoenix and saved you all this trouble."

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

Twilight made an expression where she looked as if she just remembered something. "Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember." She responded as she looked at Philomeena standing on her shoulder

As the royal guards brought over Philomeena's cage, Philomeena rose in the air and flew, giving Fluttershy one of her feathers, which landed softly on her ear. Fluttershy looked back at her and smiled. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Philomeena. No hard feelings."

Rainbow Dash looked at the guards for a moment and flew up to Philomeena. She whispered something to the phoenix. Philomeena nodded and flew to the top of the cage between the guards. She spread her wings and began tickling their noses with the tip of her feathers. After a few seconds, they began snickering and soon laughing out loud. Philomeena flew over to Rainbow Dash and tapped her wings with Rainbow Dash's hand. "Yeah!" She laughed with Philomeena.

Twilight, Princess Celestia, Fluttershy, looked at them. Soon everypony was laughing in the area.

"Well then… I should get back to Canterlot." She looked over to Philomeena. "Come on, Philomeena. It's time to go home."

Philomeena gave a squawk and waved to Rainbow Dash. She returned to her birdcage and waved all of them goodbye. The royal guards had also brought a carriage to take Princess Celestia back to Canterlot. The Princess gave them one last wave and smile before she left.

Everypony sighed happily. After the excitement died down everyone went on their way.

"You know, I was hoping to catch you because I expected you to fret over Philomena's condition considering your kind heart. Everything worked out in the end though."

"I…I suppose I should have asked somepony before taking matters into my own hand." Fluttershy admitted.

The two of them continued their talk as they made their trek down the road to make the most of the day they had left.