Ah yes, "A Bird in the Hoof"! This episode is special to me really for one reason and one reason only, but we'll get to that in a moment.

When you get down to it, this episode is a pretty silly and nonsensical filler episode with some adorable, full-on animal caretaker Fluttershy, some panicky, OCD, "OMG Princess Celestia gonna banish our flanks!!!" Twilight (again, foreshadowing far greater things to come in "Lesson Zero"), and the two most devious, cunning trolls Equestria has ever known ( well, perhaps just next to Discord, or at the very least on par)! Still, it does have some serious merits.

Perhaps the best positive character trait on display in this episode is Fluttershy's qualifications as an animal caretaker. In all honesty, despite the fact that we've seen plenty of times just how good she is interacting with and caring for animals, I cannot think of any other episode where her abilities to take care of animals are so prominently on display or heavily dealt with. It's kind of ironic, given that everything she attempts with Philomena completely and utterly fails, but still one can't help but be impressed with everything Fluttershy's got up her sleeve in this episode. The patience she displays as well is extremely commendable and just further goes to show that Fluttershy easily embodies the Element of Kindness more than anypony.

Twilight, although as earlier stated hilariously freaking out throughout the episode, does show how close she's gotten to her friends at this point in Season 1 in one really big and notable way; she doesn't just tell the Royal Guard where Philomena is. Granted she partly doesn't want to get in trouble with Celestia herself, but it seems that she's more concerned with ensuring that Fluttershy stays out of trouble and doesn't suffer any punishment for her well-meaning but misguided royal pet "abduction". She certainly shows how much Fluttershy means to her as a friend in that she sticks with Fluttershy every step of the way till the very end.

'Scuse us sir, we mustache you a question! (sorry, couldn't resist

)

The lesson at the end, while simple, like so many of Season 1's lessons also has quite a bit of merit. The entire episode is essentially one wild goose chase, or rather, phoenix chase, as it were, and it all could've easily been avoided if Fluttershy just asked Celestia what was "wrong" with Philomena in the first place. A simple but novel lesson that many people should take to heart, as too often trouble or conflicts arise simply on account of miscommunication, or even something as simple as just not asking important questions to the right people.

But enough about that, let's talk about what really makes this episode special! This episode cemented one thing as being canon as far as I'm concerned: Trollestia

Prior to this episode, fans may have begun to notice that it seemed that dear Princess Celestia sometimes did things that were simply unnecessary and sometimes even amplified problems, and at that point we were just beginning to suspect that it might not just be dumb luck or coincidental. After all, this was the wise and benevolent Princess of the Sun who'd ruled Equestria for over 1,000 years! Surely this couldn't all be happening on accident, right?

Well this episode threw whatever doubts we had right out the bucking window! Well, more like sent them straight to the moon!!! The depths of Celestia's trolling in this episode are simply unfathomable and all over the bucking map! She starts by playing some innocent pranks on the Cakes, but then, THEN things get downright cruel. When Fluttershy, who the princess knows very well by this point is obsessed with caring for other animals, shows up, she witnesses on full display Celestia's pet bird Philomena looking crappier than a manticore with a case of the Mondays (don't look at me like that, it's all I could come up with ), who Celestia just so happened to decide to bring along on THIS particular trip, and then FAIL to explain to "OMG I love every animal in the world" Fluttershy is a phoenix going through a normal part of her life cycle. But does the madness end there, oh no, not by a long shot, for it is here that we are introduced to Trollestia's partner in crime, Philomena herself! This bucking bird drags Fluttershy through a frustrating day of fruitless endeavors that eventually culminates in what could've easily been an experience that left the poor pegasus scarred for life, and DID leave her in tears thinking she'd somehow been responsible for killing the troll-phoenix for at least a minute or two. And what does Celestia do when she shows up? She plays it completely straight for a minute or two before openly admitting that Philomena is screwing around with Fluttershy! SHE FLAT OUT ADMITTED THAT THOSE TWO JUST TROLLED HER!!!!!!!!

Since this episode, I've never been able to look at Celestia in quite the same light. I love her dearly, believe me, I do, she's a great mentor character, but I'm forever convinced in my head-canon that, despite all her positive traits, she still goes out of her way to troll her subjects when she can, to my eternal delight!!! Of course, this is half-joking of course, and probably wasn't the writers' intent in any way, shape, or form, but the evidence does appear to be there, plus it just makes for some great memes and running-gags in the fandom! Whatever the case, there is no denying that Trollestia has become one of the dearest and most prolific fanon gags to spin-off in the fandom, and this episode largely confirmed the idea of Celestia as the royal trollness for thousands of bronies such as myself. For that, it forever has a special place in my heart, and ranks up there as one of the most subtly hilarious episodes of Season 1, and the show as a whole for that matter, to date!