History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E22ABirdInTheHoof

Princess Celestia is at Sugarcube Corner for brunch, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are all supposed to be there. Fluttershy, however, is running late due to her nursing yet another woodland creature back to health. Twilight is over-anxious today, seeing as this is the first chance the Princess will have to really get to know her friends, and the rest of the mane cast aren't faring much better: Rainbow Dash tries to get a reaction out of the stoic, intimidating royal guards, Rarity is freaking out about anything potentially staining her dress, Applejack has trouble remembering her table manners, and Pinkie Pie's being...well...[[GenkiGirl Pinkie]] [[CloudCuckooLander Pie]].

After the guards leave, Twilight tells Fluttershy they can't return Philomeena now, and she tries to help her get Philomeena better, this time with a little "tough love"...which means shoving medicine down the patient's throat, putting a cone on her so she doesn't pick at her feathers, and putting a blanket over her birdcage to make her go to sleep. During an attempt to force-feed Philomeena a hot bowl of soup, however, the bird escapes, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy in hot pursuit. The chase goes all over town, until finally, the two ponies catch up with Philomeena, who looks about ready to keel over. And she does, in fact, falling to the ground and…bursting into flames.

With nothing but a pile of ashes where Philomeena used to be, and the Princess approaching the distraught ponies, Twilight prepares to take the blame. However, Fluttershy intervenes, and confesses taking Philomeena in the hopes of nursing her back to health. Princess Celestia briefly mourns her pet, before suddenly perking up and telling Philomeena to snap out of it, saying that she's scaring everypony. Immediately, a magnificent, fire-colored bird rises from the ashes and flies around the ponies. Turns out Philomeena's a phoenix, and her sickness and bursting into flames are just a natural part of her life cycle. However, that doesn't really excuse her JerkAss behavior towards Fluttershy, so the Princess makes her apologize. Celestia also forgives Fluttershy for taking Philomeena, but points out she could have avoided all of this by simply asking to take care of her. With the lesson learned, the episode ends on a happy note…but not before Rainbow Dash takes advantage of Philomeena's mischievous nature by convincing her to tickle the royal guards.

* JimmyHartVersion: Of "Yakkety Sax" during the BennyHill-[[ShoutOut esque]] chase.

* ThePhoenix: [[spoiler:Philomeena, as it turns out.]]

** [[FridgeBrilliance Philomeena was just reborn into a new life.]]

** Celestia also has an earlier moment when she tries to eat a muffin (levitating it towards her mouth), only for Pinkie Pie to do [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswdcwebXYQ&feature=related this]] And yes, Celestia lets her live after that.
* ScoobyDoobyDoors: When Fluttershy and Twilight are chasing down Philomeena. With TheJimmyHartVersion of Yakkity Sax playing in the background.

* SeriousBusiness: Mr. and Mrs. Cake take catering and baking for Celestia ''VERY'' seriously, at the point of using a military code to detect and identify…a tea cup that needed a refill. This actually gets on Celestia's nerves to the point she pulls a joke on them to get them to lighten up; a fake sip and they refill it only to spill it.

** Angel imitates [[AliceInWonderland the White Rabbit]] when reminding Fluttershy about the brunch with the princess, leading her to remark "I'm late! For a very important date!"

** Philomeena eats bird seed in a manner similar to [[LooneyTunes The Roadrunner.]]
** The chase scene with Philomeena is similar to BennyHill.

* {{Troll}}: [[spoiler:Philomeena]] did it for the lolz

* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Fluttershy puts herself (and Twilight, by extension) in a world of trouble by trying to heal Princess Celestia's sickly-looking pet bird without permission. We can thank her [[FriendToAllLivingThings relentlessly caring nature for that.]] Celestia didn't get the chance until the end of the episode to tell her that Philomeena was [[spoiler: a phoenix close to its death and rebirth.]] The Princess then almost quotes the trope by name, stating that Fluttershy could've simply asked her ahead of time and saved all the trouble.

* WingdingEyes: Philomeena gets the "dead Xs" version.

** Twilight facehoofs when she realizes Fluttershy stole Philameena.

* Troll: [[spoiler:Philomeena]] did it for the lolz

* [[FacePalm Face Paw]]: Angel, once again when he just can't get the message across to Fluttershy.

Princess Celestia is at Sugarcube Corner for brunch, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are all supposed to be there. Fluttershy, however, is running late due to her nursing yet another woodland creature back to health. Twilight is over-anxious today, seeing as this is the first chance the Princess will have to really get to know her friends, and the rest of the mane cast aren't faring much better: Rainbow Dash tries to get a reaction out of the stoic, intimidating royal guards, Rarity is freaking out about anything potentially staining her dress, Applejack has trouble remembering her table manners, and Pinkie Pie's being...well, [[GenkiGirl Pinkie]] [[CloudCuckooLander Pie]].

After the guards leave, Twilight tells Fluttershy they can't return Philomeena now, and she tries to help her get Philomeena better, this time with a little "tough love" - which means shoving medicine down the patient's throat, putting a cone on her so she doesn't pick at her feathers, and putting a blanket over her birdcage to make her go to sleep. During an attempt to force-feed Philomeena a hot bowl of soup, however, the bird escapes, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy in hot pursuit. The chase goes all over town, until finally, the two ponies catch up with Philomeena, who looks about ready to keel over. And she does, in fact, falling to the ground and…bursting into flames.

* SeriousBusiness: Mr. and Mrs. Cake take catering and baking for Celestia ''VERY'' seriously, at the point of using a military code to detect and identify… a tea cup that needed a refill. This actually gets on Celestia's nerves to the point she pulls a joke on them to get them to lighten up; a fake sip and they refill it only to spill it.

Princess Celestia is at Sugarcube Corner for brunch, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are all supposed to be there. Fluttershy, however, is running late due to her nursing yet another woodland creature back to health. Twilight is over-anxious today, seeing as this is the first chance the Princess will have to really get to know her friends, and the rest of the mane cast aren't faring much better: Rainbow Dash tries to get a reaction out of the stoic, intimidating royal guards, Rarity is freaking out about anything potentially staining her dress, Applejack has trouble remembering her table manners, and Pinkie Pie's being...well, [[GenkiGirl Pinkie]] [[CloudCuckooLander Pie]]. Despite all this, Celestia seems to be taking the whole event in stride, even finding a chance to pull a lighthearted prank. Also, Celestia didn't arrive alone today, as she brought her pet bird, Philomeena, along. Fluttershy notices that the bird seems to be really, ''really'' sick. When Celestia has to leave early due to the mayor of Ponyville wanting to see her, Fluttershy, unseen by anyone, decides to take the creature home in order to take care of it.

With nothing but a pile of ashes where Philomeena used to be, and the Princess approaching the distraught ponies, Twilight prepares to take the blame. However, Fluttershy intervenes, and confesses taking Philomeena in the hopes of nursing her back to health. Princess Celestia briefly mourns her pet, before suddenly perking up and telling Philomeena to snap out of it, saying that she's scaring everypony. Immediately, a magnificent, fire-colored bird rises from the ashes and flies around the ponies. Turns out Philomeena's a phoenix, and her sickness and bursting into flames are just a natural part of her life cycle. However, that doesn't really excuse her JerkAss behavior towards Fluttershy, so the Princess makes her apologize. Celestia also forgives Fluttershy for taking Philomeena, but points out she could have avoided all of this by simply asking to take care of her. With the lesson learned, the episode ends on a happy note…but not before Rainbow Dash takes advantage of Philomeena's pranking nature by convincing her to tickle the royal guards.

* TheMcCoy: Fluttershy insists on taking care of Philomena despite the fact that she could potentially get into hot water with Celestia.

* VomitIndiscretionShot: Philhomeena, right into Fluttershy's face.

Princess Celestia is at Sugarcube Corner for brunch, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are all supposed to be there. Fluttershy, however, is running late due to her nursing yet another woodland creature back to health. Twilight is over-anxious today, seeing as this is the first chance the Princess will have to really get to know her friends, and the rest of the mane cast aren't faring much better: Rainbow Dash tries to get a reaction out of the stoic, intimidating royal guards, Rarity is freaking out about anything potentially staining her dress, Applejack has trouble remembering her table manners, and Pinkie Pie's being...well, [[GenkiGirl Pinkie]] [[CloudCuckooLander Pie]]. Despite all this, Celestia seems to be taking the whole event in stride, even finding a chance to pull a lighthearted prank. Also, Celestia didn't arrive alone today, as she brought her pet bird, Philomena, along. Fluttershy notices that the bird seems to be really, ''really'' sick. When Celestia has to leave early due to the mayor of Ponyville wanting to see her, Fluttershy, unseen by anyone, decides to take the creature home in order to take care of it.

As it turns out, taking care of the bird is easier said than done. Philomena doesn't go along with Fluttershy's usual regimen of medicine, hot soup, and bedrest, and all her alternative treatments don't seem to make any difference, either. With such a stubborn and rapidly-declining patient, everything looks hopeless for Fluttershy. Twilight stops by Fluttershy's cottage and immediately panics when she sees Philomena, convincing Fluttershy that she could be severely punished for stealing the Princess' pet. They're about to return the bird before anyone notices she's missing, but the royal guards show up at the door, informing the ponies that the royal pet is missing and that they're on the lookout for her.

After the guards leave, Twilight tells Fluttershy they can't return Philomena now, and she tries to help her get Philomena better, this time with a little "tough love" - which means shoving medicine down the patient's throat, putting a cone on her so she doesn't pick at her feathers, and putting a blanket over her birdcage to make her go to sleep. During an attempt to force-feed Philomena a hot bowl of soup, however, the bird escapes, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy in hot pursuit. The chase goes all over town, until finally, the two ponies catch up with Philomena, who looks about ready to keel over. And she does, in fact, falling to the ground and…bursting into flames.

With nothing but a pile of ashes where Philomena used to be, and the Princess approaching the distraught ponies, Twilight prepares to take the blame. However, Fluttershy intervenes, and confesses taking Philomena in the hopes of nursing her back to health. Princess Celestia briefly mourns her pet, before suddenly perking up and telling Philomena to snap out of it, saying that she's scaring everypony. Immediately, a magnificent, fire-colored bird rises from the ashes and flies around the ponies. Turns out Philomena's a phoenix, and her sickness and bursting into flames are just a natural part of her life cycle. However, that doesn't really excuse her JerkAss behavior towards Fluttershy, so the Princess makes her apologize. Celestia also forgives Fluttershy for taking Philomena, but points out she could have avoided all of this by simply asking to take care of her. With the lesson learned, the episode ends on a happy note…but not before Rainbow Dash takes advantage of Philomena's pranking nature by convincing her to tickle the royal guards.

* EpicFail: Subverted with Fluttershy's attempt to heal Philomena, who only gets worse until she ''spontaneously combusts''… But of course that was just the whole normal phoenix thing, and she gets better.

* ExpressiveHair: Twilight's tail when she finds Celestia's guards are looking for Philomena.
* FriendlyTickleTorture: At the end of the episode, Rainbow Dash convinces Philomena to tickle the guard-pegasi's noses to get them to laugh.
* {{GASP}}: Mr. and Mrs. Cake when Pinkie Pie noisily eats some of the sweets meant for Princess Celestia, and later while Twilight is panicking about Fluttershy taking Philomena without permission.

* ThePhoenix: [[spoiler:Philomena, as it turns out.]]

** [[FridgeBrilliance Philomena was just reborn into a new life.]]

* ScoobyDoobyDoors: When Fluttershy and Twilight are chasing down Philomena. With TheJimmyHartVersion of Yakkity Sax playing in the background.

** Philomena eats bird seed in a manner similar to [[LooneyTunes The Roadrunner.]]
** The chase scene with Philomena is similar to BennyHill.

* WantedPoster: Philomena sneaks around drawing mustaches on one poster the Celestia's guards put up.
* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Fluttershy puts herself (and Twilight, by extension) in a world of trouble by trying to heal Princess Celestia's sickly-looking pet bird without permission. We can thank her [[FriendToAllLivingThings relentlessly caring nature for that.]] Celestia didn't get the chance until the end of the episode to tell her that Philomena was [[spoiler: a phoenix close to its death and rebirth.]] The Princess then almost quotes the trope by name, stating that Fluttershy could've simply asked her ahead of time and saved all the trouble.
* WingdingEyes: Philomena gets the "dead Xs" version.

After the guards leave, Twilight tells Fluttershy they can't return Philomena now, and she tries to help her get Philomena better, this time with a little "tough love" - which means shoving medicine down the patient's throat, putting a cone on her so she doesn't pick at her feathers, and putting a blanket over her birdcage to make her go to sleep. During an attempt to force-feed Philomena a hot bowl of soup, however, the bird escapes, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy in hot pursuit. The chase goes all over town, until finally, the two ponies catch up with Philomena, who looks about ready to keel over. And she does, in fact, falling to the ground and...bursting into flames.

With nothing but a pile of ashes where Philomena used to be, and the Princess approaching the distraught ponies, Twilight prepares to take the blame. However, Fluttershy intervenes, and confesses taking Philomena in the hopes of nursing her back to health. Princess Celestia briefly mourns her pet, before suddenly perking up and telling Philomena to snap out of it, saying that she's scaring everypony. Immediately, a magnificent, fire-colored bird rises from the ashes and flies around the ponies. Turns out Philomena's a phoenix, and her sickness and bursting into flames are just a natural part of her life cycle. However, that doesn't really excuse her JerkAss behavior towards Fluttershy, so the Princess makes her apologize. Celestia also forgives Fluttershy for taking Philomena, but points out she could have avoided all of this by simply asking to take care of her. With the lesson learned, the episode ends on a happy note...but not before Rainbow Dash takes advantage of Philomena's pranking nature by convincing her to tickle the royal guards.

* AudibleSharpness: With the ''wings'' of Celestia's guards.

* EpicFail: Subverted with Fluttershy's attempt to heal Philomena, who only gets worse until she ''spontaneously combusts''... But of course that was just the whole normal phoenix thing, and she gets better.

* NewspaperThinDisguise: Initially it appears that this is not going to fool Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy...
** PaperThinDisguise: ...but then they fall for a fake mustache.

* OffModel: When the camera zooms in on Ms. Cake attending to Princess Celestia at the beginning of the episode, Ms. Cake appears to have her husband's cutie mark. This is corrected after the scene change
* ThePhoenix

* SeriousBusiness: Mr. and Mrs. Cake take catering and baking for Celestia ''VERY'' seriously, at the point of using a military code to detect and identify... a tea cup that needed a refill. This actually gets on Celestia's nerves to the point she pulls a joke on them to get them to lighten up.

* WantedPoster: Philomena sneaks around drawing mustaches on the posters.

* AbsenteeActor: Spike appears at the party so Twilight can talk to him, but recieves no lines.

** Celestia also has an earlier moment when she tries to eat a muffin (levitating it towards her mouth), only for Pinkie Pie to do [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkyZR86HEY4&feature=related this]] And yes, Celestia lets her live after that.

** Celestia also has an earlier moment when she tries to eat a muffin (levitating it towards her mouth), only for Pinkie Pie to do [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqoXOPqsTf8 this]] And yes, Celestia lets her live after that.

** Celestia also has an earlier moment when she tries to eat a muffin (levitating it towards her mouth), only for Pinkie Pie ''to jump onto her table and snatch the muffin away right from under her nose with her mouth and then gulp it down noisily on the spot''. Celestia simply gives her a rather mild DeathGlare, and Pinkie is pulled off the table by the store owner. She just did something other monarchs (whether fictional or [[TruthInTelevision not]]) would have interpreted as Treason at its worst.

Princess Celestia is at Sugarcube Corner for brunch, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends are all supposed to be there. Fluttershy, however, is running late due to her nursing yet another woodland creature back to health. Twilight is over-anxious today, seeing as this is the first chance the Princess will have to really get to know her friends, and the rest of the mane cast aren't faring much better: Rainbow Dash tries to get a reaction out of the stoic, intimidating royal guards, Rarity is freaking out about anything potentially staining her dress, Applejack has trouble remembering her table manners, and Pinkie Pie's being...well, [[GenkiGirl Pinkie]] [[CloudCuckooLander Pie]]. Despite all this, Celestia seems to be taking the whole event in stride, even finding a chance to pull a lighthearted prank. Also, Celestia didn't arrive alone today, as she brought her pet bird, Philemena, along. Fluttershy notices that the bird seems to be really, ''really'' sick. When Celestia has to leave early due to the mayor of Ponyville wanting to see her, Fluttershy, unseen by anyone, decides to take the creature home in order to take care of it.

As it turns out, taking care of the bird is easier said than done. Philemena doesn't go along with Fluttershy's usual regimen of medicine, hot soup, and bedrest, and all her alternative treatments don't seem to make any difference, either. With such a stubborn and rapidly-declining patient, everything looks hopeless for Fluttershy. Twilight stops by Fluttershy's cottage and immediately panics when she sees Philemena, convincing Fluttershy that she could be severely punished for stealing the Princess' pet. They're about to return the bird before anyone notices she's missing, but the royal guards show up at the door, informing the ponies that the royal pet is missing and that they're on the lookout for her.

After the guards leave, Twilight tells Fluttershy they can't return Philemena now, and she tries to help her get Philemena better, this time with a little "tough love" - which means shoving medicine down the patient's throat, putting a cone on her so she doesn't pick at her feathers, and putting a blanket over her birdcage to make her go to sleep. During an attempt to force-feed Philemena a hot bowl of soup, however, the bird escapes, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy in hot pursuit. The chase goes all over town, until finally, the two ponies catch up with Philemena, who looks about ready to keel over. And she does, in fact, falling to the ground and...bursting into flames.

With nothing but a pile of ashes where Philemena used to be, and the Princess approaching the distraught ponies, Twilight prepares to take the blame. However, Fluttershy intervenes, and confesses taking Philemena in the hopes of nursing her back to health. Princess Celestia briefly mourns her pet, before suddenly perking up and telling Philemena to snap out of it, saying that she's scaring everypony. Immediately, a magnificent, fire-colored bird rises from the ashes and flies around the ponies. Turns out Philemena's a phoenix, and her sickness and bursting into flames are just a natural part of her life cycle. However, that doesn't really excuse her JerkAss behavior towards Fluttershy, so the Princess makes her apologize. Celestia also forgives Fluttershy for taking Philemena, but points out she could have avoided all of this by simply asking to take care of her. With the lesson learned, the episode ends on a happy note...but not before Rainbow Dash takes advantage of Philemena's pranking nature by convincing her to tickle the royal guards.

* EpicFail: Subverted with Fluttershy's attempt to heal Philemena, who only gets worse until she ''spontaneously combusts''... But of course that was just the whole normal phoenix thing, and she gets better.

* ExpressiveHair: Twilight's tail when she finds Celestia's guards are looking for Philemena.
* FriendlyTickleTorture: At the end of the episode, Rainbow Dash convinces Philemena to tickle the guard-pegasi's noses to get them to laugh.
* {{GASP}}: Mr. and Mrs. Cake when Pinkie Pie noisily eats some of the sweets meant for Princess Celestia, and later while Twilight is panicking about Fluttershy taking Philemena without permission.

** [[FridgeBrilliance Philemena was just reborn into a new life.]]

* ScoobyDoobyDoors: When Fluttershy and Twilight are chasing down Philemena. With TheJimmyHartVersion of Yakkity Sax playing in the background.

** Philemena eats bird seed in a manner similar to [[LooneyTunes The Roadrunner.]]
** The chase scene with Philemena is similar to BennyHill.

* WantedPoster: Philemena sneaks around drawing mustaches on the posters.
* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Fluttershy puts herself (and Twilight, by extension) in a world of trouble by trying to heal Princess Celestia's sickly-looking pet bird without permission. We can thank her [[FriendToAllLivingThings relentlessly caring nature for that.]] Celestia didn't get the chance until the end of the episode to tell her that Philemena was [[spoiler: a phoenix close to its death and rebirth.]] The Princess then almost quotes the trope by name, stating that Fluttershy could've simply asked her ahead of time and saved all the trouble.
* WingdingEyes: Philemena gets the "dead Xs" version.

* SeriousBusiness: Mr. and Mrs. Cake take catering and baking for Celestia ''VERY'' seriously, at the point of using a military code to detect and identify... a tea cup that needed a refill. This actually gets on her nerves to the point she pulls a joke on them to get them to lighten up.

** Angel imitates [[AliceInWonderland the White Rabbit]]. Fluttershy also quotes the famous "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!" line.

* NurseWithGoodIntentions: Fluttershy.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Just in case you forgot this about Celestia, she refers to an immortal being of myth as "''young lady''".

* {{Troll}}:
** Philemena. Celestia implies that the phoenix itself has been having fun at Fluttershy's expense the entire time, up to and including when it burned to ash in front of her. And considering Philemena revived the moment Celestia told her to stop scaring everypony, it's likely she was staying ash just for fun as well.
** To a lesser extent, Celestia when she plays a joke on Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Though in this case, it was an attempt to get them to lighten up and not just for her own amusement like Philemena did.