Twilight was shrouded in complete darkness. The last few minutes were a blur. She recalled fighting a strange creature with her friends, but that was it. She tried to remember what came next, but it hurt to think about it.
Slowly, she began to regain her senses. She felt a firm bed beneath her as well as a soft pillow at her head. Had she'd been dreaming? Had that whole adventure been nothing but an illusion created by her subconscious? If so, why did she feel an intense pain throbbing in her forehead?
Beyond the darkness, came a soft voice. The voice resonated in Twilight's head, giving her a slight headache. She tried to make out what it was saying but it was difficult. It gradually grew louder and even became deafening. She realized the voice was calling her name. Soon, it was becoming clearer to who was calling her. "P-Pinkie?"
Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes as the bright light came in. The light dimmed as a pink blur formed. "Twilight, hey Twilight...WAKE UP!"
"Gaahh!" Twilight cried as she sprung to life.
"Ugh, finally!" said Pinkie Pie, "I thought you were never gonna wake up!"
Fluttershy, who was sitting right beside Pinkie, lit up when she saw Twilight. "Nurse, she's waking up."
"Wh-where am I?" Twilight asked.
"You’re in the hospital," Nurse Redheart calmly replied, walking into the room. "From what your friends told me, you were all attacked by a monster in the Everfree. It knocked you unconscious."
"I remember that," Twilight said, rubbing her head. A cloth was wrapped around her injury. "But how did we escape?"
"Well," Fluttershy said, "I was confronting the creature when we were suddenly teleported. We were all back at the entrance of the forest. I assume you had woken up because you collapsed behind me. Since you didn't respond to my voice, I ran and got help. Soon, a couple of nurses followed me back and took you in."
"I woke up after that," Pinkie Pie added with a smile.
"So, the others are here too?" Twilight asked.
Redheart nodded. "But they may be still unconscious. Like you, they took a nasty blow to the head. Though I'm sure all they need is some rest and they'll be up and running by tomorrow."
Twilight sighed in relief. "Good."
Nurse Redheart continued, "But you're not any different princess. After your friends leave, I'd advise you to take a long nap."
"Yeah, but after that," Pinkie Pie said, pulling a long list out of nowhere, "we could throw a 'get well' party! Or if you're feeling better by that time, it'll be renamed to an 'I'm doing fine' party! In fact, we could host it in your room, Twilight!"
Nurse Redheart turned to Pinkie. "What?"
"Oh, I'm sure the doctor wouldn't mind," Pinkie said waving a hoof. "We could invite Applejack, Rarity, and Dash, too! No, we could invite everypony in the hospital! Hmm, we might have to take down some of these walls so they could all fit...."
As Pinkie Pie rambled, Twilight sank into her pillow and thought. Now that her memory was returning, so much was on her mind. But mainly, it was about the creature. Fluttershy noticed Twilight's silence and spoke up. "Is there something wrong, Twilight?"
"Oh sorry, just thinking," Twilight replied.
Pinkie stopped and jumped into the conversation. "About what?"
"Well...I can't get my mind off of the thing that attacked us. It seemed somewhat intelligent. Not like the manticores and timberwolves of the forest. And to think that yellow...substance was able to cancel my spell. It's just so mind-boggling. Gold is the only thing known to counter magic."
"Well duh, that's why it threw butter at you."
"But...only gold can cancel magic!"
"I know, butter."
Twilight shook her head. "Let's drop the subject. Have you seen Spike while I've been unconscious? I believe this is a matter that needs Princess Celestia's attention."
Suddenly, the door burst open as Spike barged in. "Sorry...I took...so long." he huffed.
"Ah good, you're here!" Twilight said, clapping her hooves. "Nurse, can you get me a quill and paper?"
"No problem," she said before leaving.
Spike took a few deep breaths before speaking. "What happened!?"
"Spike, there's no need to be alarmed. I'm alright."
"No no no, where's Rarity?!"
Twilight frowned. "Thanks a lot."
"She and the others are safe," Fluttershy assured.
"Really? Where are they?"
"Later Spike," Twilight said, "right now I need to send a letter."
Celestia lied in the comfort of her room, reading a book. She was interrupted when a small cloud of smoke entered her window. As it approached, the smoke disappeared, leaving a neatly rolled letter at its end. After catching the letter with her magic, Celestia unrolled it and read aloud.
Dear Princess Celestia,
This morning, a strange red tornado formed in the Everfree Forest. My friends and I went to investigate the remains and found a large house deep within the forest. As we knocked on the door, a bipedal creature opened it and attacked us. We managed to escape with minor wounds but we are okay. I believe the creature that attacked us may have intelligence, but I'm not too sure. I've never encountered a situation like this and I thought you should know about it.
"A red tornado?" Celestia said, astonished. "It can't be...." Celestia dropped the letter and opened a draw beside her. From it, she levitated a blank sheet of paper, some ink, and a quill. Without any delay, she began to write.
My dear Twilight,
I wish you had told me sooner. I will send a group of guards to take it down and bring it into custody. If this thing is really intelligent, we must seek its motives. If you can, describe every aspect of the creature in detail that we may locate it. But before we contain this creature, don't allow anypony to enter the Everfree Forest.
Celestia sent her message and waited anxiously for a response. A few minutes passed and another letter flew towards her. She immediately opened it and read.
Dear Princess Celestia,
As I mention in the previous letter, the creature is bipedal and lives in a house. It also wears clothes very similar to our own. Actually, its clothing was my first hint of its intelligence. Furthermore, the creature's arms, legs, and face are bare. It has a mane resembling that of a male pony. The creature attacked us with tools you might find in a shed: a shovel and a big mallet. But strangely enough, it had the ability to spawn a strange, magic-nullifying substance. I'd go into more detail, but the nurses insist that I get some rest. I hope this was helpful.
With a sigh of relief, Celestia lowered the letter. "You there," She called to a nearby guard.
"Yes, your majesty?" He said.
"Didn't I hear Shinning Armor was in the area? Fetch him for me; I have a mission for him."
"We're back in business!" A sunflower cheered as she was planted next to five others.
As the sunflowers glowed, miniature suns fell to the ground. Barry collected the suns with a gun-like machine and planted a peashooter.
"Okay zombies!" he said, "Get ready to pea defeated!"
"Please Peashooter," Sunflower said, "you're starting to sound like Barry."
A cabbage-pult, followed by two sunflowers and another peashooter, were planted next. Soon, a good amount of plants guarded the whole front house. Sunflowers filled the back row. Cabbage-pults made up the second and third. Peashooters stood in the fourth and fifth. And wall-nuts were in front. Barry had time, so he started planting defenses in the back of the house.
"I can't put my finger on it," Peashooter said, "but something is off about our lawn."
Sunflower rolled her eyes. "You mean, besides it being two times bigger and surrounded by a forest?"
"Yeah, besides those."
"Did we move or something?" Cabbage-pult asked. "I never understood why we lived next to a graveyard during a zombie apocalypse."
Sunflower turned to look at the house. "Pretty sure this is the same house.... But then how did we get here?"
"Time travel?" another peashooter suggested.
"But Penny isn't here. And you'd think she would be, considering she is the time machine."
Peashooter shrugged. "Maybe Barry rented a helicopter and moved the house to a safer place."
"A dark forest is a safe place?" Cabbage-pult said. "But then again, who am I to question Barry's reasoning."
"Maybe we could just ask Barry and stop guessing," Wall-nut said. "I'm sure he knows what's going on."
"Please no," Cabbage-pult groaned. "The fact that we can understand him but not vice versa makes it annoying; exasperating even. It's hard enough just asking him for some fertilizer..."
"Would you rather be left in the dark for the rest of the day?" Sunflower asked.
"Why not?"
"If it helps, I nominate Peashooter as the one asking. Since he knows him longest," said another cabbage-pult.
"What, no!" yelled Peashooter. "Wait...which one of us?"
All the peashooters turned left until they all stared at the one at the end. "Come on guys! I don't want to ask him!"
"Sorry, you're outvoted."
"But-"
Before he finished, Barry walked up, having just finished planting the army behind. "Hey plants, I just told the others in the back where we are. So basically we were whisked away by a magical tornado and landed in this forest, I guess. Oh, and small horses are trying to kill me. That's all."
The plants blinked as their owner strolled back into the house. "I liked the time travel theory better...."
"Captain Armor, are you sure this is the right place?" a guard asked. "It was implied that there was only one creature. I see an army of these strange plants."
Shining Armor and his crew hid among the bushes and spied what they thought was their target. Shining Armor's eyes fell upon the bipedal creature entering the house. "I'm sure the one Princess Celestia wants is the creature that just walked inside. We should be allowed to dispose of these other things."
"Do you think we can?" another guard said, unsure. "It looks like we're slightly outnumbered."
"Come on now, they're just plants. What are they going to do, shoot vegetables at us? We have our swords, our shields, our spears, and nothing to fear."
Ten seconds later...
"Augh! I'm down!"
The guards struggled to keep their shields up as it was pelted with peas. The lobbed cabbages forced the pegasi to the ground with their continuous fire. Even if they got close enough, the giant walnuts made it impossible to venture further.
"More incoming!"
"'Nothing to fear' he said," a guard grumbled. "'They're just plants' he said."
"Just hold your shield up, soldier!" Shining Armor ordered, ducking under an incoming pea. Suddenly, a loud spudow exploded through the area, followed by a sharp cry. He shot a look at the back and saw several guards on the floor, bruised and wounded. Before he could do anything, a speeding pea found its way directly between his comrade's eyes. His head was violently thrown back as he fell unconscious. Shining Armor tried to help, but the constant fire on his shield proved it impossible.
Shining’s horn began to glow. "I'm creating a shield everypony!" Soon, a purple force field covered the guards. Veggies dashed upon the construct, gradually creating cracks. "Protect the fallen; bring them to the back! Hurry!"
They followed as ordered and dragged their friends back. Shining began pushing his partner to safety. As he did, he stumbled across a metal stick with a red ball on it. Before he could react, it began to rise. The dirt separated and revealed a large potato under it.
"That doesn't look good..." He acted quickly and threw the wounded pony aside, right before the plant blew up.
SPUDOW!!
"CAPTAIN!"
Shining flew back, his armor completely obliterated. Everything seemed to slow. All the guards turned to see their captain lying motionlessly on the ground. The sounds of battle dulled as the magic shield deteriorated.
A brave unicorn took control. “Unicorns! Create another shield! I'll save the captain.” A second shield formed overhead and a few guards rushed to help. They circled their captain as one check for his heartbeat. "He's still alive, but barely. We must retreat immediately."
"No, we must avenge the captain," another guard said. "You can teleport yourself and as much wounded as you can. We will defeat these plants."
“Hurry, we can’t hold this shield for long,” the other unicorns said.
The unicorn began to argue, but a glowing leaf outside the shield caught their attention. The leaf floated from the house and made its way on one of the pea-firing plants. As it touched, the plant was engulfed in a bright light and a war helmet appeared on its head. It rapidly fired peas by the hundred, causing the force field to instantly shatter.
"Augh!" the unicorns cried.
"GO NOW!!" the guards yelled.
The unicorn reluctantly nodded his head and charging the spell. "Good luck." After that, he and the wounded were gone.
But as soon as they teleported, four more leaves powered up the pea-firing plants. As the light covered them, they aimed and fired.
Celestia and Luna, sat waiting for word about the creature. They waited for a few hours until Luna began to get impatient.
"Why are they taking so long?" Luna asked. "If it were my night guards, they would've captured this creature under an hour."
"Perhaps," Celestia said, "but I'm sure they're on their way now."
"Though, I can't say I know why you're trying to capture this creature. We could easily leave it where it is."
Celestia shook her head. "No, we can't. Don't you remember the last time a foreign bipedal creature magically appeared in Equestria? I don't know what this thing’s motives are, but it can't be good."
"I think you're just overreacting. Not all strange things come to cause destruction, at least not intentionally. I myself was once no greater than a monster, though I may have denied it. I was convinced I stood with reasonable intentions; I was too blind to realize what I was doing was wrong."
"So you think I should reason with it?"
"No, I think you should blast it with the Elements of Harmony as you did me! Maybe send it to the moon, I don't know. Isn't that why they're there: to create peace violently?"
"We can't. We already gave up the Elements to the Tree of Harmony a while ago."
"Ah yes…. What does that tree even do?"
"I'm glad you asked; it-"
At that moment, a Royal guard burst through the doors, gasping for breath. He rushed toward the princesses before he lifelessly stumbled to the ground.
"Message...for the princess..." he wheezed as he struggled to his feet.
"Somepony fetch some water for our messenger," Luna ordered.
Two nearby guards nodded and brought back a jug filled to the brim with clear water. The messenger savagely drank the container dry and wiped his mouth. Clearing his throat, he told the princess the message. "I'm afraid we have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"Good news, please."
"We were unable to capture the creature. All but few were slaughtered by an army of plants."
Celestia and Luna stared in absolute shock. "A-and the bad news?"
"No, wait that was the bad news... The good news is that we fought for nearly a whole ten minutes."
"How is this good news?" Celestia said, getting a little upset.
"Sorry Your Majesty, I didn't want to just bring bad news. Another thing, these plants were sowed personally by the creature. Meaning, to get to it, we had to get through the plants. Which, I might add, is impossible."
"Impossible?" Luna scoffed. "How could measly plants outdo a bunch of armed guards?"
Celestia shot an annoyed glare at her sister. "If they managed to take out my trained guards, I'm sure they're not as weak as you're making them out to be." Celestia turned back to the guard. "Please, how is Captain Shining Armor? Did he survive?"
"Thankfully, yes. Though he was caught in an explosion, the doctors say he'll eventually be alright."
Celestia sighed in relief. "At least I can be happy about one thing. You've done well in telling us this guard; you may leave."
The guard nodded and silently left.
"Celestia," Luna said, "allow me and my guards to attempt to capture this creature. I won't allow these plants to make a mockery of our kingdom!"
"I don't know..." Celestia said, "I rather you away from any danger."
"I've done things like this before, I can handle myself. Plus, with a mighty alicorn fighting along with her trained guards, there won't be any danger."
Celestia thought for a while before answering. "Fine."
"Okay plants," Sunflower said, "that battle was horrible."
At her remark, the plants burst out in fits of laughter. But their happy expressions faded when they saw that she was indeed serious.
She angrily folded her leaves and explained. "I mean it! We had no idea what we were doing!"
"But we won, right?" Potato Mine said, "what does it matter if we understood or not?"
The plants nodded in agreement, but the sunflower slowly shook her head. "You don't get it, we didn't win. The plant food did."
"Your point being?"
"If we needed to rely so much on plant food, what would happen if we were to run out? No, we should be able to win battles without an excessive use of plant food."
"That's Barry's problem," Peashooter said. "We're just planted somewhere and shoot what's in front of us."
"But these horses don't seem like they mindlessly walk into our fire. They make a plan, and they act upon it. It seems that if we want to win, we need to pull our own weight."
"Whoa whoa, you mean we should actually aim!?"
Sunflower stared blankly at the peashooter.
"He's kidding," Cabbage-pult assured. "But we know little about these horses. How do we fight them?"
"And another thing," Potato Mine said, "are we sure these guys are necessarily bad? One risked its life for another. To me, that's pretty heroic."
"You're just making an excuse so you don't have to work."
"Eh, I guess. But seriously, we need to know more about them."
"But where are we going to get that kind of information?" asked Sunflower.
"So, you need information?" a voice said.
The plants looked around but no one was in sight. Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the bushes. The plants turned and detected two figures parting the thick branches.
"If so, we're more than willing to share."