//------------------------------// // Welcome to Sunny(?) Flower Fields // Story: My Little Paper Mario // by Codex92 //------------------------------// Reaching the end of the magical corridor, the group finally exited and arrived at Flower Fields. Instead of expecting the land to be sunny like they expected, the skies were filled with gray clouds, every single inch of it covering the land in the dreary weather. There were plenty of flowers as far as the eye could see, and some Bub-ulbs were wandering about, seeming nervous about the state of their land. "Oh my," Fluttershy uttered. "This is Flower Fields?" "Wasn't it supposed to always be sunny around here?" Goombario asked Parakarry. "Yeah, but this is the heaviest amount of cloud coverage I've ever seen," the Paratroopa said, just as surprised as the rest of his companions. "I don't like those clouds," Rainbow said. "Those don't even look natural to me. And I should know since I was on the weather team for a long while." "You are right," a voice behind them said, startling everyone as they turned around, only to see the door they came out of, which was part of a large tree. "Flower Fields is in grave danger, and we need help." "Who's there!?" Pinkie questioned, holding her hammer high as she prepared to slam it down on anything. "I've got a hammer, and I'm not afraid to use it!" "Up here, young ones." They all looked up and saw a pair of eyes on the tree, watching it blink a couple times as it looked down at them. "I-Is that...a talking tree?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I know the flora in this world can be sentient, but...did we also just come out from this tree as well???" "Yes, I happen to be the gateway to Flower Fields from the gate in Toad Town," it said. "I am called the Wise Wisterwood, and I'm so glad to see you have come to aid us, Mario." "What happened here?" Kooper asked. "What's with all the clouds?" "It all started about a week ago," the Wise Wisterwood began. "A wicked creature called Huff N. Puff invaded our land with his followers. They brought these dreary clouds to our skies, and it's been dark and cloudy ever since. The sun doesn't rise in the sky anymore, and we're all growing weak and fading." "Oh my, how terrible," Rarity said. "Wait, you mean there's a sun refusing to rise?" Sushie questioned. "There's a sun who rises and sets to give all the flowers in this land the light they need? And I thought the sun and moon being moved around in Equestria by magic was the strangest thing I've ever heard." "I do remember a rumor going around from all the Lakitu flying around causing trouble for us," the wise tree said. "They talked about Huff N. Puff holding someone captive." "Is it somepony who looks like us?" Twilight asked. Looking down at Twilight and the other mares, he was surprised to see the familiar creatures. "Ah. So, you must be the friends Applejack had mentioned." "Applejack's here!?" the ponies exclaimed simultaneously. "Why, yes. She's been trying to help us while also keeping low in the flower patches to hide from Huff N. Puff's army," he assured. "She was caught by them, too, but she managed to escape. She got injured by a Lakitu's Spiny egg and rested for a little until it healed." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, surprised to know not all of them had been completely captured by Bowser's army since their separation. "Do you know where she went to?" "I believe she headed east to gather some berries to eat," the tree said. "She should be back by now, but it's been a while since she left." "Applejack can take care of herself no problem," Rainbow said. "So, how can we help you get rid of this Huff N. Puff guy?" "Well, it's impossible to reach where he is at the moment," Wise Wisterwood said as he looked up at the dreary sky. "He's residing on a land of clouds called the Cloudy Climb, but these gray clouds are probably too thick for you to even break through." "Pth! Please! I can bust clouds that shoot lightning! These'll be a breeze to bust up!" Rainbow shot up into the air and flew into the gray clouds, everyone looking up as they watched her. She let out a yell and punched a gray cloud, only for it to bounce her back with a yelp as she tumbled down a little. Righting herself up, she stared at the clouds in confusion before flying back and kicking them again. Over and over, buck after buck, even trying to bite into the gray clouds, she couldn't destroy any of them. They were too thick, and it only seemed like more just keep coming every minute. Defeated, Rainbow hovered down to the ground, pouting angrily as she plopped down on her plot. "...They're way too thick. I can't bust them..." "Ok, so, how do we get up to Cloudy Climb, then?" Twilight asked. Wise Wisterwood hummed in thought as he recalled how to reach Cloudy Climb, even though his roots were permanently connected to the ground. "I do believe you can reach Cloudy Climb if you plant a Magical Bean that can grow high...Actually, I think there is a flower that has such a bean. Her name is Petunia, and...she lives east of here. That's the same direction Applejack went to as well." "So, all we have to do is plant a 'magic bean', and it'll grow into a giant beanstalk for us to climb?" Bow asked. "Why does it feel like this idea was stolen from a children's storybook?" "At least we have a plan to get up there," Twilight said. "And I'm pretty sure Huff N. Puff is holding one of the two remaining Star Spirits hostage up there with him. So let's find Petunia, and Applejack, and get us that seed." "Be careful on the paths," Wise Wisterwood warned. "Aside from Huff N. Puff's followers, there are some dangerous flowers and animals that won't hesitate to harm anyone." "Yeah!" said a voice closeby. Everyone turned to a strange looking flower with a dopey, suspicious grin. "Them Crazee Dayzees won't try to put you to sleep with their singing, and them Bzzaps'! stings won't hurt like the dickens one bit, hyuck yuck!" The Wise Wisterwood let out a sigh of annoyance, rolling his eyes. "Ignore him. Anything he says is the opposite, so just be careful." "Duly noted, considering not every place around the Mushroom Kingdom isn't safe." Heeding the wise tree's advice and ignoring the odd flower, the group began making their way east. Along the way, they did encounter the strange bee-like creatures called Bzzaps! and the bipedal flowers called Crazee Dayzees, along with the brown cloud enemies joining them called Ruff Puffs. The Bzzaps had really powerful stingers, despite being quite frail when pummeled, and the Crazee Dayzees songs did end up knocking a few of them out with their singing, mostly Mario and the ponies since they seemed to be targeted occasionally. The Ruff Puffs weren't much of a hassle, Rainbow easily bucking the living clouds into next week, though they were quite solid for being made of cloud. They began getting closer to an open field where Petunia lived, but there seemed to be a problem as they got closer to where the big, sentient petunia was settled. "Ow! Cut it out you stupid-AH!" a feminine voice screamed out. "Do something about these pests, Applejack!" "Ah'm tryin'!" The mares gasped as they heard that familiar southern drawl, quickly running out to the field to see what was happening. When they reached the field, they found Applejack running around, trying to stomp her hooves down on a group of green-furred Monty Moles constantly popping up from the ground. They dove back in their holes each time Applejack tried to stomp on them, making the living flower yelp and squirm in pain and discomfort as they seemed to dig their way across her roots. "Quit runnin' away, ya no good varmints!" "Applejack!" Twilight called out. The farm mare skid to a halt as she heard her name, looking in the group's direction as she found her friends. "Girls!" She was about to run over to them, only for one of the Monty Moles to pop up in front of her and throw a rock at her face. "Augh! Why you little-!" She leapt up tried to pounce the mole, but it blew a raspberry at her and ducked in its hole, quickly covering it up so she couldn't chase it. "Consarned critters! We gotta catch up later!" "What is going on out here!?" Bombette asked, the moles now throwing rocks at the group as they avoided their surprise throws. "Well, Ah was tryin' to get some berries to eat, but then these varmints started showin' up and nibblin' on Petunia's roots!" Applejack explained. "And they hurt!" Petunia shouted, waving her leaves angrily before yelping again. "STOP IT! Ugh! I hate being stuck out here! Ever since the sun didn't rise, I've been droopy and miserable!" She then pointed out the the Monty Moles as they popped up and made fun of her. "And this guy, this, jerk, that troublemaker, that wicked creature, and that-!" She then pointed at the berry tree, where a Crazee Dayzee was just minding his business, not doing anything aside from watching. "...Oh. Well, ignore him. He's not harmful." "Tell that to the ones who kept putting us to sleep back on the path here," Rainbow muttered. "Not only are these stupid moles eating at my roots, but I'm afraid they're going to eat my seed collection!" Petunia added. "Please help me, because Applejack's trying, and they're too fast for her! OW! I SAID QUIT IT!" "Oh, maybe I can convince them to stop," Fluttershy suggested. She calmly walked up to one of the Monty Moles, staring at her with a rock in his claws. "Hello, Mr. Mole. I know you're hungry, but I don't think it's right to eat someflower's roots if it's hurting them. Would you like something else to eat instead?" It cocked its head in confusion, but after a moment of thinking, it let out a grunt of disinterest and dove back in its hole, going for Petunia's roots as she yelped again. "Ok, that didn't work." "Then a flank whooping's all it's gonna take to get them to stop!" Rainbow said. "Split up and cover every inch of the ground, guys!" Everyone split up and spread out, watching out for any holes being dug up and any heads poking up from said holes. Rainbow, Watt, Parakarry, and Bow took to the air, catching the Monty Moles by surprise if they could feel the ground thumping from everyone's steps, and dive down on any of them that popped up to mock them or throw rocks. "Found one!" Pinkie shouted, leaping up and slamming her hammer down on a mole that popped up near her. It was too slow to react, getting whacked in the head and began seeing stars. Kooper added some more pain to the dazed mole, ramming into its face with his shell toss, sending it flying out of its hole. Twilight spotted another, using her magic to drag the Monty Mole out, tossing it up in the air for it to get zapped by Watt, slapped repeatedly by Bow, and as it fell, getting blasted by a powerful gush of water from Sushie. Parakarry and Rainbow spotted the third one far from the others, the pegasus grabbing the paratroopa as he ducked in his shell, then dove down and used the withdrawn Koopa as a weapon, smashing the Monty Mole hard in the head and knocking it unconscious. The last one popped up beside Mario, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom quickly swinging his hammer down into the ground, creating a small quake that pushed the Monty Mole out of its hole. It panicked and tried to dive back down, but Rarity snatched it with her magic, holding it out for Goombario and Bombette for them to tackle it, sending it tumbling toward Applejack, who bucked it hard toward its other unconscious friends in a pile. With the Monty Moles dealt with, Petunia breathed a sigh of relief, no longer feeling sharp teeth chomping on her roots. "Wow. I can't thank you all enough. I feel so much better now." "No problem, Petunia," Applejack said. She turned to face her friends, only to be tackled by a pink blur. "Applejack! I missed you so much!" Pinkie cried, crushing the poor earth pony mare with her constricting hug. "Y-Yeah, Ah missed y'all, too," Applejack wheezed. Pinkie finally let go as the rest of the Mane Six got together in a group hug, reunited after being apart for so long in this new world. After a moment, the Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants watching as they let them be, the ponies finally broke up the hug. "Ah'm so glad to see y'all again. Ah expected the worst." "You have no idea how worried we all were for each other," Twilight said. "But now we're back together again." "And all that's left is to find a way back home after kicking Bowser's spiky butt back to his kingdom and save Peach!" Rainbow said, slamming her forehooves together. While the mares caught Applejack up on what she had missed, Mario approached Petunia. "Thanks again for helping me from those dumb Monty Moles. I want to give you something." She then grabbed a green bean seed from her stash of seeds she stored beside her, handing it to Mario. "This is a Magical Bean, one of my greatest seeds to keep. But don't plant it." "Uhh, why not?" Goombario asked, Mario cocking his head in confusion in response to Petunia's plea. "Why not? Because as a seed, it has so much freedom!" she explained. "After it's planted, it sprouts and won't move ever again! Don't you think that's sad?" Overhearing Petunia, Applejack approached the flower. "Petunia, we need that seed in order to save your home," she said, getting caught up on why everyone was here now. "Ah've been a farmer for all mah life, and Ah've tended and grown hundreds upon hundreds of apple trees in mah orchard back home. Y'all can trust me to take care of the beanstalk when it grows." Petunia whimpered, knowing she could trust Applejack as she was the only one who ever came by to visit her after she arrived in Flower Fields, but she didn't want any of her seeds to be planted and remain stuck in a terrible place like she was. But, if it meant finally being able to see the sun again and no longer see any clouds blocking their skies, then she had no choice but to let them plant and grow the Magical Bean. "...Oh, alright," she finally said with a sigh. "I guess if you must. If you want to make it grow and reach where those jerk clouds are, you'll need Fertile Soil to plant it in and Miracle Water. Posie and Lily should have what you need." "Thanks, Petunia," Applejack said. "Now that Ah'm reunited with mah friends, Ah promise we'll save Flower Fields and the whole kingdom from Bowser." Petunia saw them off with a wave as they began to head back, Applejack quickly stopping by the berry tree and bucking down several red berries, feeling incredibly hungry after chasing those Monty Moles. After eating her fill, saving some for later as Twilight put the remaining berries in her bags, they made it safely to the field with the Wise Wisterwood. "Ok, so in order to reach Cloudy Climb, we'll need that Fertile Soil and Miracle Water, but for it to grow, we're going to need the sun," Kooper said. "The sun's going to be a problem if these clouds are so thick that not even Rainbow Dash couldn't bust through." "Well, Ah think Ah have some idea," Applejack said. "When Ah woke up here, Ah ended up somewhere in the northwestern part of Flower Fields. And right in front of some of Bowser's followers if Ah saw one of them magical turtles like the one in the purple robe in Peach's castle. They had this strange machine, but Ah didn't spend much time knowin' what it does when Ah ran from them...after one of them thought mah hat belonged to him." "A machine?" Twilight asked. "Did you see what it did?" "No, but one of them Lakitu fellers who ended up sparin' me told me it was called the Puff Puff Machine," Applejack said. "What the hay is a Lakitu?" Rainbow asked. "They're like miniature Koopas, only they're their own species and ride on fluffy clouds that have a face," Goombario explained. The mares found it hard to imagine something like that, but as they turned to Applejack, she nodded her head. "Eyup. And the clouds actually express themselves, too." "I want a little fluffy cloud pet!" Pinkie squealed. "Where can I buy one!?" "Ah don't think they can. It's like a part of them, even though Ah knocked one of them off a cloud before." Applejack looked up at the cloudy sky. "Ah sure hope that Lakilester's finally quit and ran off." "'Lakilester'?" Rarity questioned. "What an odd name. Was he the one who helped you?" "Sure was," Applejack said. "Haven't seen him since he helped me, but any Lakitu that flew by, Ah hid in the flowers to avoid getting caught. No idea why they were so interested in me, but if they were gonna make me do hard work for them, Ah wasn't gonna let them turn me into a slave." "It's a good thing you didn't get caught, then," Parakarry said. "And hiding in the flowers is pretty smart. If I were flying in the air and looking down, I wouldn't be able to see you with the yellow flower patches matching your fur and hair." "I have no idea why Bowser wants to capture us after zapped us with the Star Rod, but now that we're back together, we'll have to stay together until we face him," Twilight said, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie nodding their heads in agreement. "Now, onto saving Flower Fields and getting the next Star Spirit. We need to find Fertile Soil, Miracle Water, get rid of these clouds, and make the sun, which is different from the actual sun that rises and sets throughout the rest of the world and is possibly as alive as the flora in Flower Fields, rise in the sky for the Magical Bean to grow. But where do we go first?" "Ah've been around most of Flower Fields while Ah was here, mostly just explorin' and figurin' out how to get back to the kingdom," Applejack said. "The only place Ah haven't been is to the path northwest of here. There's a pit of thorns that are too far for me to jump, so gettin' across is gonna be a problem...Although, there was a strange flower that blew bubbles, but it didn't seem to have a face like Petunia, Posie, or Lily, so Ah didn't bother checkin' if it could talk or not." "A bubble blowing flower!?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "Applejack, you must take me to this bubble flower! I must see the bubbles and pop them!" "Pinkie! We can't be playing games right now!" Twilight chided. "Or pop bubbles! We're on a serious time limit to stop Bowser, and if we can't stop him in time, he'll destroy the Mushroom Kingdom!" "Aww," Pinkie whined, plopping on her belly as she pouted. "Anyway, Posie's to the southwest and Lily's to the southeast," Applejack continued. "It was a little bothersome gettin' to them 'cause of these flowers protectin' a gate that lead to them. Luckily, these berries grown around here are their favorite food to eat, and since they know me, they'll let me pass to meet them." "Flowers...that eat berries," Twilight uttered, not surprised seeing how there were plants that like to take a bite out of anything that moves in the Mushroom Kingdom. "At least they're not like Piranha Plants." "Uhh, Piranha whats?" Applejack asked in concern. "As long as there aren't any of those terrible things here, we're fine," Rarity said, relieved by Applejack's confusion. "Well, now that we've got someone who can guide us around who isn't rooted to the ground, let's find our gardening supplies and grow us a beanstalk!" Bombette said. They made their way down the southwest path first, starting out meeting with Posie and getting the Fertile Soil first. Along the way, Applejack got to know the rest of their Mushroom Kingdom companions joining them and Mario in fighting back against Bowser. Aside from Bow being snide, Applejack let it slide as she reminded her of Rarity in a way, the others were a delight to be around: Goombario was pretty knowledgeable and acted as a walking encyclopedia, Kooper was a critical thinker and an adventurer, Bombette was pleasant despite being a walking sphere of explosive power, Parakarry was a bit klutzy, but determined to his job like a certain mailmare Applejack knows all too well, Watt was pretty young, but really mature and excitable for her age, and Sushie was wise and caring, though pretty strict being the oldest out of the group. It was an oddball of a retaliating group of heroes, but each of them had their unique abilities and strengths that were sure to aid Mario and the Mane Six in defeating Bowser. After walking through the path, passing the red flower Applejack mentioned who allowed them to pass, a few enemies in their way, and a yellow berry tree, they arrived at Posie's little corner of Flower Fields. It was a peaceful little area with a small waterfall streaming water into a small lake, the path bridging over the water to where the animated yellow lily rested under a beautiful tree made out of crystal, easily catching the girls' attention with the shimmering berries in its branches. The stigma that served as Posie's nose was pretty big for a normal flower. The ground beneath her and the tree behind her looked very rich and fertile, Posie practically living in the Fertile Soil they need for the Magical Bean. Spotting them, Posie waved at them as she saw Applejack with her companions. "Applejack! So good to see you again!" Posie greeted with a giggle. "Who are your new friends!? Visitors from outside Flower Fields!?" "Howdy, Posie," Applejack greeted. "These are friends of mine, and they're here to help clear the skies for all of y'all." Applejack then pointed to her pony friends. "And these are mah best friends from mah world: Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie." "Oooooh! You're all like a rainbow!" Posie complimented. "If only I could see one if it weren't for the clouds covering the sky." The others couldn't help but stare at Posie's elongated stigma as she talked. "What is with her mouth?" Bombette whispered. Posie overheard the Bob-omb, giggling at what everyone was looking at on her. "Oh, this isn't my mouth! This is my nose!" "Your nose?" Watt asked. "Umm, that's your nose?" "Why, yes! Because of the rich and fertile soil I'm in, my nose has grown pretty long," Posie explained. "She's right about the soil," Applejack said. "It's even grown this crystal tree behind her. And yes, those berries up there are made of real crystal." Rarity gasped as she looked at the berries, some of them shimmering even without any sunlight shining through them. "Those berries are actual crystals!? I must have one for my pieces back home!" "Would you like one?" Posie offered. "There's plenty of them, and ripe for the picking." "Yes!" Rarity quickly said, wincing a little at her unladylike response and cleared her throat. "I mean, if you're sure you can part with one." "It's not a problem! I wanted to give Applejack one for visiting me every so often, but she says she doesn't like pretty things, so I guess it's me giving it to her for you!" Applejack let out a nervous laugh, wishing she wasn't given a crystal berry as she knew Rarity would gush over the unique crystal not of their world. "Just give me one moment." Posie took in a deep breath and began grunting. The ground began to shake a little as the flower exerted more force, doing something that began worrying everyone, the crystal tree shaking more and more as she grunted louder. After one final, heavy grunt, a crystal berry finally plopped down beside her. "Phew...Oh, I guess that was a bit unladylike," Posie said with a timid giggle. "...What the heck was that?" Bow asked aloud. "And how did she shake the tree?" Sushie asked curiously. "My roots are connected to the crystal tree," Posie explained. "It's not so bad most of the time, but don't go smacking the tree with anything hard. I can feel it, and it hurts if the tree gets hit." Their question answered, Applejack decided to move on to why they really came to meet Posie. "Posie, ya mind if we might borrow some of your soil? We need it to make the Magical Bean grow so we can find this Huff N. Puff creature and kick him outta your home." "Oh, but of course!" Posie said. "This soil will make everything grow big and strong! Hopefully not as big as my beautiful nose." Most of the group sighed in exasperation, unable to believe a long nose on a flower would make them pretty. Posie scooped up a good amount of Fertile Soil with her leaves, holding it out to the apple farming mare. "This should be enough. I got plenty to spare." "Thanks, Posie," Applejack thanked. Twilight levitated the soil, keeping it in the air so it didn't get her saddlebags dirty with all their supplies she kept. She also took the crystal berry, Rarity quickly snatching it as she looked it over with a gleeful giggle. "We'll bring the sun back up and get rid of all these clouds for y'all." "Good luck, everyone!" Posie said as she waved goodbye, the group heading back down the path and returned to the central area of the land. "Ok, I don't want to carry around a small mound of dirt while we travel around. Where can I plant the bean?" Twilight pondered. She looked around the area, finding a bare circle of dirt nearby. "Hmm. That looks like a good enough spot for the beansprout." Placing the Magical Bean down on the ground, the alicorn covered it with the Fertile Soil. "There. Now we just need the Miracle Water and some sunlight, and it should grow." Applejack lead the way once again, taking the group down the southwest path. They passed by another guard flower, this one yellow, who let them pass knowing the earth pony on her usual visits to meet Lily. This road was a bit treacherous as Applejack's warning about seeing pits filled with sharp thorns. In the middle of the slightly broken, and very thin, platforms were several red vines with thorns jutting out from them. The jumps were simple to get over, although Bombette needed some flight assistance since she barely made it over to one of the platforms. After slowly, but carefully leaping their way across, ignoring the Crazee Dayzees frolicking in the flowers and passing another berry tree, where the berries were colored blue in this tree, they arrived at what seemed to be an empty pond, a tree with strange berries shaped like a bubble on an island in the middle. "Wait, somethin's not right," Applejack said. "Where's the water?" "There's supposed to be water here?" Goombario asked. As everyone got a better look, they saw some grates that connected to a side of the empty pond, which acted as a water channel to water the flowers further down. "This looks like there should be a pond here. But how could the water have dried up without the heat of the sun if it can't show itself?" Applejack gasped, looking further ahead. "Oh no. Lily!" Worrying for the flower living in this side of Flower Fields, Applejack ran ahead, jumping into the empty pond, climbing up the ledges on the other side as they shaped a makeshift staircase, the others quickly giving chase. On the other side, there was another pond, though it was just as empty as the smaller one behind them. Inside was a large water lily looking incredibly worried and frightened. Applejack leapt inside and ran up to the water flower. "Lily! What happened to the water!?" "Oh, Applejack! It's horrible!" Lily exclaimed. The others caught up and joined Applejack, wondering what had happened to Lily. "Those things riding on those clouds took my precious Water Stone!" "What!?" Applejack exclaimed. "Them Lakitu stole the Water Stone!?" "Uhh, mind giving us some context as to what this 'Water Stone' is and why it's important?" Bow questioned. "The Water Stone's what makes the water flow out through Flower Fields, and it's the Miracle Water we need for the Magical Bean," Applejack said. She growled, hoping one of those Lakitu wasn't who she wanted it to be. "He better not have changed his mind." "Without that Water Stone, I'll wilt away and die," Lily said. "I'll be crushed by my own weight. It's bad enough that the sun can't rise because of these clouds, but I need to float on the water or else I'll die." "We'll get the Water Stone back," Kooper promised, Mario nodding his head in agreement. "Do you know where the Lakitu flew off with it?" "I think they went west from here, but that's all I know," Lily said. "Please bring it back soon. I think I'm already wilting." "Just hang on, sugarcube," Applejack assured. "We'll be back soon. Come on, y'all! Let's hunt down them cloud-ridin' thieves!" The group headed back, climbing up the stairs connected to Lily's pond and hurried back to the central hub of Flower Fields. Applejack wondered why the Lakitu needed the Water Stone in the first place, but she better not see the one who helped her escape from the others when she arrived here. "Applejack, do you think it's possible to Lakitu who saved you...might be the thief?" Twilight asked in concern as she noticed the farm mare's conflicted expression. "Ah sure hope it ain't," she said. "He ain't no thief, and he doesn't want to be involved in all this, but he has no choice." Looking at the two other paths they haven't gone yet, Applejack guided the others to the western path, the northwestern one unable to be explored because of that pit of thorns. Along the west road, passing by another guard flower with blue petals, they ran into Spinies, quickly dealt with by a hammer crashing down on them, sending them rolling away with a bit of magic, or, for Mario, using the magic gained from Fluttershy to bounce on them, flipping them on their backs, and making them easy targets for the others. "Phew. Ah hate them spiky critters. Ah had to avoid them while reachin' this confusin' hedge maze up ahead. Wasn't able to explore much since there didn't seem to be an end to it." "Those are Spinies, and those come from Lakitu," Goombario said. "They have Spiny eggs stored in their clouds, and they're both a projectile and a ground trooper they can toss. Their shells are pretty tough along with those spikes on their shell." Continuing on, they reached the entrance of the hedge maze Applejack talked about earlier. Before Rainbow could hover above the top of the hedges to see if there was an end, a pair of Lakitu began flying around. They seemed to be searching from something from the air, too focused on that to pay attention to the large group of heroes below them. "Aww man!" one of them said. "Where'd it go!? We're in so much trouble!" "'We'!? You're the one who was holding onto that stone!" the other one said. "If I lose my cloud because of you, I'll wring your neck out!" "This week just sucks!" the first one whined. "First I lose my cool hat to that weird creature, who we're now ordered to catch, and now we lost the Water Stone!" The second Lakitu facepalmed in irritation, but Applejack recognized the hat enthusiast as one of the few Lakitu who tried to chase after her before. "What next!?" "Seriously, get over that stupid hat," the second Lakitu grumbled. He then looked down, doing a double-take along with his cloud when they spotted the mare with the stetson hat they met a week ago. What was worse was that Mario was with them, along with a ragtag group of characters part of their world and the five other ponies Kammy ordered them to search for. "O-Oh crap! It's that thing!" "Huh?" The first one looked down and gasped. "Hey! My hat! And that animal who stole it from me!" "Ah'm a pony, ya cloud-brained turtles!" Applejack exclaimed in annoyance. "And this is mah hat!" "Forget her stupid hat! Let's get them and catch those creatures!" Both enemies swooped down, picking up Spiny eggs from inside their clouds and tossed them down, creating Spinies as they hit the ground. "Yeah, you don't stand a chance," Rainbow said, zooming off and ramming into the Lakitu, snatching them off their clouds and holding them out in her hooves. "Ahh! There's flying ones!?" one of them screamed as he flailed in panic. "You're not really observant with the detailed descriptions on them, are you?" the other asked in annoyance. "Please drop me so I don't have to work with him anymore." Down below, the others made quick work of the Spinies as they were outnumbered. Once they were beaten, Rainbow lowered the defenseless Lakitu to the ground. Their clouds grew nervous, stuck in the air without their tiny Koopa mounts flying them around, but Fluttershy took them, feeling bad for the animated clouds. "These things are supposed to be dangerous?" Rarity asked. "I think their little pets are more threatening than they are." "These two are more annoyin' than anythin'," Applejack said. She approached them, both cloudless Koopas slowly backing away from the earth pony, only to bump into Rainbow's forelegs. "Alright, you two. Talk. Why did ya steal the Water Stone from Lily?" "Why do you want to know!? It's confidential!" the Lakitu thinking Applejack's hat belonged to him said, only to get smacked upside the head by his partner. "We're not going to win, you dunce," the other Lakitu said. "If Mario's with them, we've already lost." "Don't tell them any-!" The defiant enemy was silenced as his annoyed partner shoved his hand against his mouth. "We were going to try to use that Water Stone to power the Puff Puff Machine and make more clouds," the Lakitu said. "But butterfingers over here dropped it somewhere around here, and we can't find it. So, if you think you can find it, be my guest." Applejack stomped her hoof, startling the small Koopas. "Ya better hope we find it before Lily withers away, otherwise the both of ya are gonna be meetin' Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee personally," Applejack warned, bucking the air hard to emphasize who she was talking about. Both Lakitu gulped, fearing getting kicked by the mare's powerful hind legs at full force. "So, what are we gonna do with these two? Keep them hostage?" "Can we!?" Pinkie asked. Everyone turned to look at her, the pink mare sitting on one of the clouds as she began floating around in a circle. "This thing is really fun! And soft." "Hey, that's my cloud!" the first Lakitu exclaimed angrily. "Now ya know how Ah felt when ya took mah hat from me," Applejack reminded the Lakitu. "Now, Ah got one more question: Where's Lakilester?" "Lakilester? Why are you interested in him?" the second Lakitu asked. His eyes widened after a moment pondering why Applejack was wondering about someone who was supposed to be her enemy. "...Oh...He did not help you get away from us, did he?" "He did what!? No wonder why we couldn't find her!" the first Lakitu exclaimed in shock. "Oh, he is so getting his cloud taken!" "Y'all ain't gonna tell anypony! Now tell me where he's at now!?" Applejack demanded. "I don't know!" the second foe answered. "He was called by Huff N. Puff for something, but that's all we know!" Getting her answer, seeing they were being honest, Applejack let out an irritated huff. "Fine, then...Pinkie, get off the cloud." "Aww, are we letting them go?" Pinkie whined. "You can't be serious," Bow grumbled. "They ain't gonna do anythin'," Applejack said. "If they can't do a simple job right, there's no way this Huff N. Puff will believe them. They even lost the Water Stone, so their credibility wouldn't be that high." After a moment of consideration, Mario decided to let the Lakitu go. Even if they were to get backup, they wouldn't stand a chance with their group teaming up against them. As soon as they were freed, Pinkie jumped off the cloud she was sitting on, letting the tiny Koopas back on their mounts and fly away. "I hope you're right about them failing to bring reinforcements, Applejack," Twilight said. "They aren't the brightest bunch out of the others when they chased me," Applejack reassured. "Now let's get to findin' that Water Stone. And fast." The group entered the maze, the ones able to fly hovering over to help guide the others through the thick maze of foliage. "Ah hate goin' through here. Ah feel like Ah'm goin' in circles, and there's these weird pipes stickin' out of the ground." "Did you try going in them?" Goombario asked, jumping up onto a nearby one as they stood by the top right one of the maze. "No...Why?" Applejack questioned skeptically. "Well, Applejack, a strange thing about this world and these big pipes," Twilight explained. "They actually transport anyone who go down them to another pipe. Maybe these can lead us to the other side." Testing the pipe, Goombario jumped down, the warping sound echoing as he disappeared before he reappeared elsewhere. Spotting the Goomba from the air, Rainbow saw him pop up in the southern-most part of the maze. "I don't think that's the one!" Rainbow said. "I see a red pipe on the other end, and there's three others: one in the middle of the maze, one close to where you guys, and the other to the top left!" It took a bit of time navigating the maze to reach the other pipes. While getting around, they found no sign of the Water Stone hiding in the foliage, and managed to reach the center pipe, which lead them to the other side of the maze. Once all of the grounded party exited the pipe, they found what lied at the end. Resting under a gazebo in the private garden was a large rose, too busy admiring her leaves and smoothing her petals. As the party approached her, she finally noticed her guests. "Oh, hello," the rose greeted. "It has felt like ages since anyone has ever visited me. I am Rosie. All of you admire my beauty. Just no touching." "Uhh, right," Applejack mumbled. "Is it me, or does this flower remind anypony else about Rarity?" Rainbow whispered under her breath. "Am I not the most beautiful flower in all the land?" Rosie asked, though it was rhetorical as she continued. "I am quite breathtaking, far prettier than any other flower in Flower Fields." She looked at Mario, ignoring the ponies and Mushroom Kingdom allies. "What do you say? Aren't I just incredible?" The plumber had no idea what to answer, so he just nodded his head, unable to deny that Rosie was pretty for a flower. "I knew it. Honest and charming, and I bet underneath that bushy mustache, you're quite the handsome fellow." "Yup. Definitely a lot like Rarity," Rainbow uttered, Rarity scoffing as she overheard her pegasus friend. "Please, I do not sound like that," Rarity said in offense. "Actually, she almost seems to have the same voice as you, Rarity," Fluttershy said. "Really?" Rosie and Rarity asked simultaneously. They pondered it for a moment, but the rose and unicorn shook their heads in disagreement. "I don't hear it, darling." "Me neither," Rosie said. "Anyway, moving past how I sound, I do appreciate all of you admiring me, so I'll show you something special." Reaching behind her with a thorned vine connected to her, holding out a blue stone that seemed to gleam like the surface of the water gently moving. Applejack gasped, recognizing the stone as she's seen it before in the center of Lily's pond when it did have water. "Isn't this stone just divine? Those cloud creatures dropped it earlier today, and I couldn't resist its shimmering reflection, so I decided to make it mine." "Rosie, that ain't no ordinary stone!" Applejack said. "That's the Water Stone!" Pinkie bounded closer to the flower and looked at the stone, watching the rippling waves from inside it. "Oooooh. It really is pretty." "Rosie, we need that stone," Applejack said. "Lily's pond is all dried up without it, and if she ain't in water, she'll die." The farm mare tried to reach out for it, but Rosie selfishly pulled her vine back. "Sorry, but it can't be helped. This stone is mine now." "WHAT!?" everyone exclaimed. "How can ya just say that!?" Applejack questioned. "Don't ya even care about one of your fellow flowers dyin'!?" "Look, as hard as it is to believe, Lily thinks she's always a delicate little flower," Rosie reasoned. "And she thinks she's prettier than I am." She then hummed in thought. "Then again, if Lily were to wither up, there'll be no other flowers to set off my beauty...Ok, I guess I can part with this stone if you bring me something more beautiful than this. If you do, I'll trade for it." "Ok, we are clearly not alike at all," Rarity said in disdain to Rainbow's earlier statement. She pulled out her crystal berry and looked at her reflection, fussing with her curls. "I would have given up something special to me in exchange for a friend's life without hesitation, unlike a selfish rose who's more vain than I am." Everyone slowly looked at Rarity, eyeing the crystal fruit she held in her magical aura. She looked up from her reflection, noticing the looks they gave her before looking down at her recently gifted berry. It was a lot prettier than the Water Stone, and if the sun were out, it would have shimmered a lot more. Rarity let out a sigh, hating herself for her poor word choice and unable to deny the Element of Harmony she lived by. "Oh, fine." She approached Rosie and held out her crystal berry. "Would you trade this for the Water Stone?" "Ohhh. How gorgeous!" Rosie exclaimed. "This is far prettier than this ugly stone!" They made the trade, Rosie already staring at herself in the berry's reflection while Rarity gave the Water Stone to Mario to hold. "Make sure to bring that back to Lily, and be sure to tell her her life was saved because of me." "Sure. We'll be sure to tell her," Rarity uttered sarcastically, the group leaving Rosie's garden and leaving the rose to admire herself. "I hope you all are happy I gave that crystal berry up for that selfish flower." "We can ask Posie for another one if we see her again," Sushie said. "I'd like one myself." "Rainbow, can ya give this stone back to Lily?" Applejack asked. "No problem," Rainbow said, taking the Water Stone from Mario and hovered over the maze. "I'll meet you guys back by the Wisterwood tree guy!" "And don't forget about the Miracle Water we need for the Magical Bean!" Twilight reminded, Rainbow nodding her head as she flew off to Lily's pond, the others making their way through the maze and back to the central area of Flower Fields. Rainbow flew over the fields, making her way southeast to Lily, clutching the Water Stone tightly in her forehooves. She was cautious of any Lakitu, or any Ruff Puffs that floated around, but luckily, they were busy searching the ground. To the north of where she was going, she could see the clouds being created by the Puff Puff Machine rising up into the sky. They'll eventually get to destroying that machine, but right now, they needed to save Lily, get the Miracle Water, find the living sun in this land, and figure out how to reach the Puff Puff Machine and then destroy it. She hovered down into the empty pond beside Lily as soon as she arrived. "Lily, we found your Water Stone!" "Oh, thank goodness!" Lily exclaimed in relief. "Quick, place it in here!" She pointed at a hole that was in the center of the pond, the Water Stone able to fit perfectly inside it. "Ok. So, like this?" Rainbow asked as she put the stone inside the hole. The Water Stone shined for a brief moment before water began shooting up like a geyser, catching the pegasus off guard as she was lifted up by the spout of water. "Whoa! What the hay!?" The pond began to fill up with water, the geyser spraying mist out to the flowers around them and refilling the channels as water now flowed freely throughout the area. Rainbow leapt off the spout and landed on the ground, shaking off the water that had soaked her before looking at the now filled pond, Lily floating happily as her water had returned. "Whoa. Did all that water really come from that stone?" "Yes, and I feel so much better now," Lily said. She floated over to the other side of the pond, grabbing a watering can, and filled it up as she made her way to Rainbow Dash. "Here's a pail of Miracle Water for you as thanks for saving me." "So, this water is all the Miracle Water we need for the bean?" Rainbow asked curiously. "This water must be everywhere around here." "It is, and it'll help grow any plant watered with it in an instant," Lily said, only to frown as she looked up at the sky. "But, without the sun, I don't think that'll happen." "We'll get the sun to rise, and clear away these dumb clouds, too," Rainbow assured, only to pause as she realized what she said. "We're going to raise a sun...If only Princess Celestia got sucked in with us, she would have made this job a lot easier." Shaking away the possibilities of having Celestia around, Rainbow grabbed the pail and hovered in the air. "Thanks for the water, Lily!" "You're welcome!" The pegasus flew off to reunite with the others, being careful not to fly too fast and spill all the water for the Magical Bean. Spotting her friends down by the Wise Wisterwood, Rainbow landed beside them, placing the pail down in front of her. "One bucket of Miracle Water checked off!" "Now all that's left is to find the sun, and find a way to shut down this Puff Puff Machine," Twilight said. She then looked to the living tree. "Wise Wisterwood, do you know where the sun is?" "I do know where he resides," Wise Wisterwood said. "He usually rests at the top of a tower to the northwest, although getting there is dangerous unless you can fly over the thorn pit. But, there is a Bubble Plant who can help you cross if you give him a bubble berry." "Umm, what's a bubble berry?" Watt asked. "Is this a bubble berry?" Pinkie asked, pulling out some of the berries that came from the tree close to Lily's now refilled spring. "Yes, that is a bubble berry," the elder tree confirmed. "When did she get that?" Bow asked. "Well, when Applejack ran on ahead to check on Lily and the rest of you followed, I took a moment to gather me some of these yummy looking berries!" Pinkie explained. "And since we got a crystal berry early on so we didn't have to backtrack,-" Pinkie then looked out to something the others couldn't see. "-and we know how annoying backtracking can be in places like these,-" She then addressed the others as she continued. "-I thought they might have been important." "Wait, so that flower that blew bubbles is alive, too?" Applejack asked. "Huh. Ah guess Ah didn't bother checkin' every plant." "All of us flowers are not alive, Hyuck yuck!" the dopey flower said. "In fact, we can't even talk, or have eyes!" Ignoring the lying flower, they turned their attention toward the northwest path, where the sun was sitting on his tower, unable to rise because of the gray clouds above them. "Well, let's see if this Bubble Plant's bubbles are strong enough to hold us across the thorn pit." Making sure the pail of Miracle Water was safe beside the Wise Wisterwood, the group headed off to meet the sun and tell him they'll get rid of these clouds very soon. Up high in the clouds, Lakilester paced nervously on his cloud, which only worried his mount more as it shuddered in fear. "It's alright, buddy," he said, calming his cloud with a light pat. "Huff N. Puff doesn't know. Our 'search' for Applejack is throwing them off, but at least she's fine." "Lakilester!" a booming voice rang out from the clouds beneath him, startling the Lakitu as he gulped nervously. "You still haven't found the creature Lord Bowser requested us to search for?" "N-No, Master Huff N. Puff, dude, sir!" Lakilester said. "I-It's a slippery little thing! Its body camouflages with most of the yellow flowers down on the surface, but I'll find it!" "Master Huff N. Puff!" Flying up through the clouds, the two Lakitu that escaped from the heroes stopped beside Lakilester as they looked down at the group of clouds where their leader was inside. "We have some good news and bad news!" "Well, spill it," Huff N. Puff demanded. "Ok, so the good news is that we found that animal thing who took my hat!" the first one said, the second one facepalming before taking over, none of them noticing Lakilester's shock, his sunglasses thankfully masking his eyes. "He means we found the creature His Highness is looking for, and the other five that we were supposed to be on the lookout for." Lakilester began to sweat, his cloud shivering more in fear as their lies were about to be discovered. He could feel Huff N. Puff's suspicious gaze staring right at him through the thick clouds he was in. "So, you two found them, and Lakilester had failed in his searches for the past week..." "But here's the bad news," the second Lakitu continued. "They're with Mario and a group of people fighting alongside him, and they outnumbered us and caught us off guard." He then looked at Lakilester suspiciously. "And the orange one we found and tried to chase when she appeared in that ball of light said your name, Lakilester. It was almost as if she was looking for you." "W-What!? D-Don't be crazy, man!" Lakilester stuttered. "M-Maybe she heard my name while she was hiding!" "Lakilester!" Huff N. Puff said, making the Lakitu wince as he slowly looked down. "You seem to be treading on very thin ice. Were you helping that creature escape and unable to find it on purpose to keep it hidden from me?" Lakilester gulped, shaking his head, but the fear on his cloud said otherwise. "...I am going to give you one last chance, Lakilester. Find those creatures, take out Mario, and bring those creatures to me. If you fail to do so, I will not only take your cloud away, but also your precious Lakilulu's cloud as well." Lakilester gasped in shock. "No, wait! Not Lakilulu! Don't hurt her, please!" "Then go! And don't come back until the deed is done!" The Lakitu grunted, unable to disobey as his girlfriend's cloud was on the line, floating off through the clouds to search for them, for real this time. Lakilester panicked, having no idea what to do, or how he was going to face Applejack if he attacked her and her missing friends. And with Mario around to protect them, he was sure to lose no matter what decision he made. Even though he had no other choice, all he cared about was protecting Lakilulu and getting her out of this mess they got into. "Applejack...I'm sorry," he apologized, lowering himself down beneath the thick clouds as he hovered down into Flower Fields. "I have to do this...for Lakilulu..."