S01:E22 - A Bird in the Hoof

[NavelColt 22,879]

https://mlpforums.com/calendar/event/125-%7B%3F%7D/?module=events

Title: A Bird in the Hoof
Air Date: April 8, 2011
Synopsis: Without asking permission, Fluttershy borrows the Princess's sick bird in order to heal it, and the ponies must work together to get it back before she notices.

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Stole the princesses' royal pet? Look out, Fluttershy. You don't want to end up imprisoned in the place the princess banishes you to. Experts tell us that's exactly what could happen. Edited May 27, 2014 by DashForever

[HomuraBL 851]

Now, this episode, loved it. Had amazing humor. Also, celestia was also amazing in this episode. It's also nice to see a lot more interaction with celestia on a normal scale.

 

It's also great how this is the first interaction with the phoenixes. I can't remember if I knew it was a phoenix before they revealed it.

[Rocket_Rainboom6 8]

I love this episode too because I really love Phoenix's there are so cool but in MLP:FiM they are so adorable! Also Fluttershy should have asked instead of go through all that trouble. Twilight was kinda funny here too. But Philomena was the most funniest of how she played around with Fluttershy and the end was funny too. So in the end this was my 2nd favorite episode.

[moongarnet77 47]

I was a little confused where I first saw Phillomina.... But I think I get where Celestia gets her mischieviousness from..... either way, I felt really bad for Fluttershy.....

[CrystalRose 636]

I love this episode. <3 It's so funny, little Philomena is hilarious all the way through. Dat cough.

 

Also Celestia trollin the Cakes with the tea. Oh, you.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

I seriously thought that Princess Celestia was gonna be a little ticked at Fluttershy when Philamena went into her ash state. But she is the Princess and she knows a lot about animals as much as Fluttershy.

[RainbowDashIsBestPon-3 1]

I also agree with thunder-dash. I swear princess celestia was going to be ticked at fluttershy. Great episode I loved it!! So ya I got to go bye!!!!

[HBdash 21]

Haha Phillomena trolled them.. but i feel bad for fluttershy.

[Icy Wonderbolt 34]

I hated the fact that Fluttershy got picked on or bulled by Phillomenal. I love the ending where Phillomeanal brusted into flames and then reserects herself.

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

Season one had many classics.

 

One of those here are A Bird in the Hoof.

 

Now I am hoping for more phoenix based episodes like this in Season 4.

[True Rarity 1,240]

I was sure Fluttershy could cure the bird... but when it caught on fire, my brother said, "Oh, a phoenix!" And then it made total sense.

My favorite part is when the phoenix tickled the guards' noses.

[Starlight Song 43]

A Fluttershy episode, a trolleista episode, and a pretty funny one.

Pinkie Pie randomly smashes her head into a pie.....

I also love the chase scene, with it's awesome music and hilariousness. 

[Batbrony 16,051]

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 is so full 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.

 

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!

 

ALL HAIL HER ROYAL TROLLNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

[TheLuigiLightning 65]

This episode was a good one, but the problem I've always seen is that Fluttershy is an expert on animals.  How could she have never heard of a phoenix?

[Radiance64 7,053]

Yeah, this episode was pretty funny. Philomena is so weird too, I love it. With the dungeon banishment jokes and the chase scene though, this episode always makes me laugh.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

I'm pretty sure I made this face back at my screen when it happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvYpWxr3fv4

 

Funny part about it too was that the stream froze, right on that smile.

Edited October 11, 2013 by Midnight Scribbler

[androba 0]

I do like this episode it very funny

MLP

[Wysteria 13]

Tell me...has anyone else noticed on the table spread at the beginning of the episode that there's a slice of HAM or HAMSTEAK on a plate?

[Frozen The Unicorn 484]

I found this episode very funny as well as good.

 

It had a good morale. Don't steal princess celestia's stuff.

 

I didn't know it was a Phoenix until the end.

 

The princess comes to tea

 

8/10

 

in a word : Phoenix

[closetbrony666 4]

Before I knew Philomena was a Phoenix, I thought it was hilarious that he just died and turned to ash. But that would have been pretty gruesome for an mlp episode obviously, so the fact that he was a Phoenix was pretty damn cool. Also, this episode showed Fluttershy making a morally ambiguous decision, and I'm pretty sure that hadn't happened before this.

Edited January 15, 2014 by closetbrony666

[IRegretThisWholePartOfM 58]

I cant really see Fluttershy getting in trouble for this. I mean, even Celestia knowing fully that the bird was a pheonix, could see that the thing was on its last legs. It was completely understandable for Fluttershy to take the bird as her real talent is in animals. Where yes, i can see the problem with taking her bird, her sole purpose was to help.

[Life Giver 1,063]

Man this episode is good for a few(many) laughs.... oh Philomena you're lucky that Celestia is your owner... you learn from the best to troll didn't you.

Edited February 12, 2014 by zombie king24

[SBaby 660]

This really is one of those episodes that I can watch over and over again.  It's hilarious, it has a decent moral, even if the whole situation was a big troll, and it also has some of the best Fluttershy moments in the whole series.

 

What's funny is the first time I heard the name of this episode, it made me think of the Columbo episode called 'A Bird in the Hand'.  Incidentally, someone combusted in both of the episodes.  The phoenix burst into flames in this episode, and a victim was blown up in the Columbo episode. 

 

But yeah.  Definitely one of the best Season 1 episodes.

Edited February 23, 2014 by SBaby

[Singe 2,111]

Guards got a wing boner after Rainbow Dash was flicking her tongue around.

[Pastel 7,630]

This episode has a very surprising ending, which is rather uncommon in MLP:FiM...

I like how Fluttershy desperately tried to save Philomena, she was really in character.

And the chase, so weird

Great episode.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Blobulle