//------------------------------// // Rescuing the Fearsome Five // Story: My Little Paper Mario // by Codex92 //------------------------------// The group walked back to Yoshi's Village to see if there was any other way inside the active volcano. Kolorado lagged behind them, his cheeks swollen and red from the smacking he received for the practical joke he pulled earlier after needing to get rescued twice. Kooper was a little bit embarrassed, his idol carelessly getting into trouble, even if he thought he deserved to get slapped by Bow for messing around when there's a serious matter at hand. "So, you worship that idiot?" Bow asked the blue-shelled Koopa, Kooper loosening his bandanna around his neck nervously as he let out a small, equally nervous laugh. "W-Well, he didn't become a famous explorer for nothing," he reasoned. "His archaeological knowledge is outstanding, he's discovered plenty of artifacts from lost civilizations in the past. Prof. Kolorado is my idol, and I want to be an explorer like him." "Except where you're more competent and can defend yourself, he isn't and is a trouble magnet." As much as Kooper wanted to defend his idol, he couldn't deny that Kolorado was going to hinder their progress through Mt. Lavalava when their goal was to rescue the Star Spirit deep inside the volcano. "For goodness sake, he's careless to forget mentioning his future escapades to his own wife, getting himself in even more trouble outside of his adventures. He should just stay in the village while we find this stupid treasure of his." "I'm dead set on finding that treasure, Miss Boo!" Kolorado exclaimed, his bravado quickly disappearing when Bow quickly turned around and leered at him. "B-But I'll be more careful..." "I doubt that," Bow muttered. They arrived back in the village, hoping some of the Yoshis are willing to help them. Oddly enough, the peaceful village wasn't all that peaceful as the colorful dinosaurs were all in a panic. All of them were running around wildly, searching desperately for something, some of them in tears as they seemed to be calling out to something or someone in their native tongue. "What is going on here?" Rainbow asked. "Wasn't this place just calm a few minutes ago?" "All the Yoshis are in distress," Fluttershy said. She spotted the Yoshi chief trying to calm down the rest of his tribe and approached him. "What's happening?" "Oh, this is just terrible!" the chief said. "We can't find the children anywhere! They're missing!" "What!?" Fluttershy looked around, flying up in the air to see if the Yoshi kids were hiding somewhere, but she couldn't find any sign of them in the village. "Oh no! What about Sushie!? Wasn't she watching them!?" "She was, but I don't know where she went to, either!" the leader said. "I hope those troublesome boys didn't run off into the jungle. They know it's dangerous in there!" "Fluttershy, what's going on?" Twilight asked as the rest of the group ran up to her. "I think the Yoshi kids might be out in the jungle," she said. "We need to find them before they get hurt!" "So this means we'll find information after we find the kids and bring them back safely," Goombario summarized. "Figured there'd be some kind of roadblock." "Be careful out there," the Yoshi chief warned. "It's rare for any of us Yoshis to travel through Jade Jungle, but it is very dangerous. Be wary of the plants out there, as they can be just as deadly as any other wild animal out there. Some may catch you off guard by being harmless and can easily fool you." "Dangerous plants in a jungle. No biggie," Rainbow gloated. "We can totally handle this." "Yes, quite," Kolorado said. "Children are the future, after all. Now, let us venture forth into the jungles and-" "You're staying here," Twilight interrupted. "As much as we appreciate the extra help, Kolorado, after getting ambushed by both Jungle Fuzzies and Spear Guys, you're better off staying in the village so we don't waste too much of our time and energy saving your life again." The rest of the group nodded in agreement, Kooper hesitating slightly before he solemnly agreed with his friends. Seeing the vote was unanimous, Kolorado sighed in defeat. "Alright, then," he said. "Though, perhaps staying here would be a benefit. If any of the rascals make their way back here, I shall watch over them and make sure they do not endanger themselves again." "Good plan!" Pinkie said. "Now, let's find some dino babies!" The Yoshi chief lead the rescue party over to the entrance to Jade Jungle, staying behind to calm his panicked Yoshi brethren while they went out to look for them. In the jungle, it's what they all expected: exotic flora, dense foliage, the land split apart in small islands a large mass of lake water that can only be passed by makeshift bridges out of old trees and logs that connected some of them. They could hear snoring from across the water, already spotting one of the missing Yoshi kids sleeping in the branches of a tree, which was the dark blue Yoshi kid. "Well, we found one of them," Rarity said. "What is he doing sleeping in a tree?" Fluttershy flew over the water and hovered up to the branch, apparently enjoying the nap he decided to have. The pegasus cleared her throat loud enough for the young dinosaur to hear her. He woke up and yawned, stretching his arms, opening his eyes and yelping in surprise. "M-Miss Fluttershy!" the dark blue Yoshi kid said, giggling nervously as he tapped his fingers together. "Uhh, hi?" "What were you and the other boys doing out here in this jungle?" Fluttershy asked, leering at the Yoshi like a disappointed mother. "You all knew how dangerous it is to be out here, and the five of you went in anyway." "W-Well, we wanted to play hide-and-seek," he explained. "It was boring playing in the village, and there aren't many hiding places there. So...we thought we could play here. I got tired while playing and decided to take a nap while I hid." "So you don't know where the others are?" Fluttershy asked, the Yoshi shook his head in response. "What about Sushie? Where is she? Is she out there trying to find you?" "...Uhhh..." He stammered, looking away from the pegasus's gaze as he tried to come up with an excuse. One thing none of them ever wanted to do was make Fluttershy mad or disobey her, given what she called "The Stare" that paralyzed them into obedience. She was clearly giving him "The Stare", left with no choice but to be honest with her. "...We put Miss Sushie up in a tree to the eastern part of this area...She was gonna ruin our fun." "We're both making sure you don't get yourselves hurt, and when we find her and the other Yoshi kids, you're going to apologize to everypony in the village. Understand?" The dark blue Yoshi kid nodded his head in shame, promising to apologize to everyone with his friends for running off. Fluttershy picked him up and carried him back over to the others, putting him down and gently pushing him in the direction of the village. "Now, you stay in the village and wait for us to come back." "Ok, Miss Fluttershy," he said before walking back in the safe perimeter of the village. "So, what were they doing out here, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "They thought it was a good idea to play hide-and-seek out here, and because they ran off to try to have fun, they put Sushie up in a tree east of here so she wouldn't ruin it," Fluttershy said. "Oooooooh, those boys are all in big trouble," Pinkie said. "Don't these Yoshis discipline their kids if the do something dangerous?" Rarity asked. "Honestly, if my little sister, Sweetie Belle, wandered into the Everfree Forest for some crazy adventure, I'd be furious and keep her locked in her room while she's grounded!" In order to find the other four missing Yoshi kids and Sushie, Mario suggested everyone split up into different groups. Those who were able to fly, or bound from island to island for Pinkie's case, began scouring the jungle in search of the Yoshis, separating in different directions with a partner or two: Pinkie leaping over to the far west end with Goombario and Bombette on her back, Mario, Kooper, and Rarity to the east to look for Sushie, Twilight and Watt heading north-northwest, Rainbow and Bow flying farther northwest, and Fluttershy and Parakarry searching around the northeast. "Help! Someone get me down from here!" Sushie cried out, unable to flop out of the branches after struggling for the past few minutes. "Ooooogh! Those boys are in so much trouble! I'll make sure their parents keep them in the village until they reach adulthood!" As the Cheep Cheep fumed with anger while also worrying for the Yoshi kids' safety, she spotted Mario, Rarity, and Kooper walk across the tree bridge toward the tree she was stuck in. "H-Hey! Hello!? Mario! Up here!" The trio looked up, finding Sushie helplessly stuck up the tree like a cat. "Sushie! There you are!" Rarity said as they ran up to the tree. "Are you alright, darling!?" "I'm not hurt if that's what you mean," Sushie said. "I can defend myself quite well, seeing how traveling across the ocean to see my daughter can be dangerous, but I'm not that useful on land!...Or in a tree. Can you get me down from here!?" "Just hang in there, Sushie!" Kooper said. "Rarity, you think you can lower Sushie down with your magic?" "I may be a unicorn, but my magic isn't as strong as Twilight's," the unicorn said. "I've only used my magic for finding gems, grabbing fabric and sewing supplies in my boutique while working on my designs, not really a lot of heavy lifting." "I don't think Cheep Cheeps are that heavy," Kooper said. While Rarity and Kooper discussed how they can get Sushie down, Mario decided to try an idea of his own. Using his hammer, he pulled his arms back and swung hard, making the tree shake and send the Cheep Cheep tumbling down the branches a little bit. "Oof!" Sushie yelled out. "Ok, that nearly did it! Try again!" Mario gave the tree another couple whacks, finally freeing Sushie as she stumbled down the trunk and rolled across the ground. She shook her head, thankfully free and unharmed from the fall. "Thank you so much. I'll make sure those boys are properly grounded after I find them." "We're finding them as we speak," Kooper said. "The others split up to find them a lot quicker." "You all know it's dangerous out here, right?" Sushie asked. "We've been in far worse dangerous situations before we arrived here, Sushie," Rarity said. "There's always some kind of disaster that happens back home, so nothing really truly bothers us after facing Nightmare Moon, Discord, changelings, Sombra, Tirek, and dangerous creatures from the Everfree Forest." "...Wow. I don't even know which world is teeming with the worst danger..." Sushie quickly shook her head, putting aside her thoughts on what Equestria was like as she focused on the current matter. "Ah! We can talk later! We need to find those kids!" "We did find one of them already, so we've got four more of them left to find," Kooper said. "Hang on, boys! Sushie's coming!" The Cheep Cheep flopped across the ground faster than Rarity would have expected her to move, jumping into the water and swam ahead. "I'm still surprised to know that she's able to breathe on land as well as water," the unicorn noted. "Does she even have gills?" "We'll discuss that after we know those kids are safe," Kooper said, running off across the bridge to catch up with her, Mario and Rarity following suit. "Hey, wait for us!" Pinkie hummed along to a song that only she could hear playing in the background, Goombario and Bombette holding on for dear life as the mare bounded over the water to the small islands in the jungle. They had no idea what song Pinkie was singing, but it was fitting for the environment they were in and was kind of catchy. "Man, this jungle is pretty big," Goombario noted. "And so much water. You'd think there was enough surrounding Lavalava Island already." "Well, it is a jungle, after all," Bombette said. "But if we're going in the volcano after rescuing the Yoshi kids, I'd better keep my fuse away from the liquid hot lava. I really like blowing up, but I don't want to end up accidentally knocking anyone else into a pit of it." While searching around for one of the Yoshi kids, Pinkie paused in midair, her ears perking up to the sound of crying somewhere in the mass of bushes on the far west end of the jungle she bounced toward. Unfortunately, she stopped over the water, all three of them yelping as she suddenly fell with a splash. Pinkie swam up to the edge of land where the crying came from, pulling herself and her smaller companions up after getting them soaked. "Pinkie!" Goombario exclaimed with a cough. "Why did you stop like that!?" "Well, maybe getting my fuse wet can be a good thing once we find a way inside Mt. Lavalava," Bombette pondered to herself. "I heard crying!" Pinkie said, shaking herself dry while also making the Goomba and Bob-omb yell as she jostled them as well. Once she was dry, her wet mane and tail poofed back to its curly self as she pointed at the dense foliage. "You hear the squeaky, cute Yoshi crying over there?" "I hear it now," Goombario said after shaking out the water that got in his ears. "Question is, where is the little tyke?" "Here, little Yoshi!" Pinkie called out, Goombario and Bombette jumping off the pony's back as they began searching through the bushes. "Auntie Pinkie Pie's here to rescue you!" "I'm over here!" they heard, coming from a bush farther down. They pushed through some of the thick bushes, getting closer to the upset Yoshi kid. However, one bush that got in their way shook on its own. It suddenly stood up, red eyes glowing from underneath the leaves as it bared its sharp teeth to them, lunging at the trio to bite them. "Look out! An M. Bush!" Goombario called out, all of them quickly dodging out of the way. "Those things are poisonous! No wonder the chief warned us to watch out for the plants!" "What kind of a name is 'M. Bush' for an monster anyway!?" Pinkie asked. "He just jumped us in plain sight and ambushed us!...Ohhhhhh! I get it! M. Bush, ambush! It's a pun!" She yelped as the living ambushing bush lunged at her, quickly pulling out her hammer, blocking its poisonous fangs with hilt to avoid getting bitten. "Hey, I wanna laugh at your punny name!" She then spun around, swinging the M. Bush around and tossed him over to Goombario. "Heads up!" Goombario jumped up and headbutted the living bush, making sure to avoid its chompers as he sent it flying higher in the air. It fell down toward Bombette, unable to light her fuse since she got wet, so she tackled it instead, sending it flying into the water. Defeated, it flailed in the water as it swam toward land, running off to find a new hiding place for weaker victims to surprise. "Ok. Good to know we can't trust the plants here," Bombette said, steering clear of the other bushes where one of the Yoshi kids were in. "Now, where's the Yoshi?" "Over here." Stepping out from a normal bush was the red Yoshi kid, thinking it was safe after hearing the M. Bush splash into the water. "Am I safe?" "You are now, kid," Goombario said. "Ok," he uttered. "Miss Sushie was right. We shouldn't have disobeyed her...and tricked her into getting stuck in that tree. She's gonna be really mad at us." "Well, you've learned an important lesson, so maybe she'll let it slide knowing you're safe," Bombette said. "Now, where'd the rest of your friends go off to?" "I don't know. We all split up to find a hiding spot, so I guess the others could be anywhere," the Yoshi kid said. "Well, let's get you back to the village where your precious little head can stay safe!" Pinkie said, patting the little Yoshi on the head, then picked him up and put him on her back. Goombario and Bombette jumped up on Pinkie's back as well, holding on tightly as Pinkie took a running start, leaping over each island that didn't have a bridge as she made her way back to the village. Nearly halfway there, she spotted Sushie swimming like mad in their direction, leaving a trail of water waves behind her with each harsh swish of her tail fin. "Hi, Sushie! Looks like Mario found you!" "Huh?" Sushie skid to a halt and turned around, now noticing Pinkie, Goombario, and Bombette with one of the Yoshi kids. She swam toward them and leapt out of the water, bouncing up onto Pinkie's head and nearly knocking the rescued Yoshi off her back. "Oh, thank goodness! So, that's two of your little rascals rescued! You three keep him safe! I need to find the other boys!" Before they could tell Sushie the others have split up to find them, Sushie bounced off Pinkie's head and dove back in the water, swimming off to search for the rest of the Yoshi kids. On an island close to where the entrance to Yoshi's Village was, Mario, Kooper, and Rarity stood by the edge, unable to catch up to the Cheep Cheep in her natural element. "Hey, Pinkie!" Kooper called out. "You found one of them!" "Yup! Move aside, everypony!" Pinkie ran forward and leapt across the water, landing on the other side with the plumber, Koopa Troopa, and unicorn. "Now we have three more left to find!" "And Sushie's determined to find them," Rarity said. "She's way too fast for us to catch up." "I think the others can handle finding the rest of them," Goombario said. "They can easily fly over the trees and come back safely. Thank goodness there aren't any baddies that can fly around here." "But what about Fluttershy?" Bombette asked. "She didn't exactly seem like a fighter compared to the rest of you girls. She probably wouldn't even harm a Fighter Fly." Pinkie and Rarity looked at each other, then back to their Mushroom Kingdom companions. "Well, she has gotten a bit braver since all six of us were best friends, but if there's a cute little critter that's being threatened, she can get pretty aggressive." "How aggressive?" Kooper asked curiously. "There was this one time we all got sucked into a comic book and we got super powers," Pinkie said. "She once turned into a wild, crazy, and really really mad bulking hulk pony when the villain called The Maneiac smacked a firefly and hurt it with the powers she had, and she destroyed a dangerous machine, turning it into crumpled metal bits." "And there's also something she has called 'The Stare'," Rarity added. "One look in her gaze, you'd be paralyzed with fear...although, she only does it on any animals that don't listen to her." The red Yoshi Kid whimpered at the mention of Fluttershy's 'Stare', never again crossing her over that line as he and his friends learned that lesson the hard way when they didn't listen to her. "Little dinosaur dudes! Where are you!?" Rainbow called out as she flew over the water with Bow floating behind her. They didn't have to risk getting attacked by Jungle Fuzzies or Spear Guys down below, though trying to find the Yoshi kids would be difficult if they were hiding in the bushes or underneath the trees. "Hey, can Yoshis swim?" "They can, and can hold their breaths underwater for quite a long time," Bow said. "At least, that's what I've heard. But in the rivers around here, I doubt no sane Yoshi would want to risk taking a dip in the jungle." The duo flew over to a couple islands out in the direction they headed in. There were a couple trees and some bushes on the farthest one, and down below they saw one of the Yoshi kids, a light blue one. "Found one!" Rainbow called out, zipping down into a dive, unfurling her wings mere inches away from the ground to stop her descent before crashing. Bow rolled her eyes as the pegasus showed off, slowly hovering down to join her. The Yoshi was crying, but not out of being in danger, more like helplessly lost. "Easy, kid, we're here." "Huh?" He looked up to see the cyan pegasus searching for him. "...You're one of Miss Fluttershy's friends, right?" "Yeah. Rainbow Dash," she introduced herself. "Now, how about you start explaining why you and your buddies thought it was fun to go somewhere dangerous to play a game? I mean, I can handle it if I were your age, and beat down every baddie that gets in my way-" Bow smacked Rainbow upside the head, stopping her gloating before she left an impression on the young Yoshi. "We're supposed to be keeping them from doing something reckless, not inspiring him to keep doing dangerous stunts like this." "Ow. You really do hurt with those stubby hands." Bow growled at the insulting compliment, resisting the urge to smack the pegasus around and keep her mouth shut permanently. "Anyway, we're taking you back to the village, no ifs, ands, or buts. Got it, runt?" Instead of whining like the Boo expected, the Yoshi kid was actually relieved to be going back home. "Ok," he said with a shrug. "I was 'it' anyway, and I couldn't find the others. Miss Sushie was right; this jungle is actually kinda scary, and I didn't know where I was going. Can one of you be 'it' instead?" Bow and Rainbow looked at each other in surprise, both of them expecting at least a little resistance from the Yoshi kid. "...I think all of us are sort of 'it', since the others are out looking for your other three friends." "Three? But there's five of us," the light blue Yoshi kid corrected. "We found your darker counterpart napping in a tree," Bow said. "He told us what you five did to Sushie as well." The Yoshi gulped nervously, now starting to get worried about going back home. They soon heard something splashing down the river, where they found the Cheep Cheep being mentioned swimming toward the island. "Speaking of, here's the Cheep Cheep now." "Ahh! Hide me!" the Yoshi kid said in a panic, hiding behind Rainbow Dash and tried to camouflage himself with her tail. Sushie leapt out of the water and bounced over to Rainbow and Bow. "Have you two found any of the-?" She paused when she saw the cowering Yoshi kid behind the pegasus. Their similar fur/skin color could have made him blend in with the mare easily, but hiding under her tail with his back turned, showing off his red shell-like saddle revealed himself. He waited for the inevitable scolding, but Sushie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Ok, that's two more left to find. Make sure he gets back to his parents safely! I hope the others found the other two!" Without another word, the Cheep Cheep leapt back in the water and swam off, splashing the trio with a wave of water. Bow had managed to turn intangible to avoid getting wet, snickering at the soaked pegasus and her wet mane as she spat out some water that got in her mouth. The light blue Yoshi kid peeked around the pegasus, slightly confused. "She didn't...yell at me?" he asked. "She probably will when all of you are safe," Bow said, only making the Yoshi panic more. Rainbow leered at the Boo. "Nice choice of words, Bow." She shook herself dry, getting Bow wet as she shrieked in surprise, growling while giving the pegasus an icy glare. "Come on. Let's head back to the village and wait for the others." Rainbow picked up the Yoshi kid and flew up into the air, Bow trailing after her while she wrung out her bows with an annoyed grumble. Twilight and Watt flew around, searching through the underbrush in the area of the Jade Jungle they headed for. Twilight used her magic to check each of the bushes for any dangerous plant-life they were warned of, noting how the M. Bushes hard sharper-looking leaves and were a brighter pale green than the darker bushes around them. She easily dealt with the ambushing plant-monsters by tossing them into the water, watching them swim away to find a new hiding place. "Find any of them yet, Watt?" Twilight called out, the Li'l Sparky floating up to her as she looked around the other side of the water where there was a small cliff rising several feet higher from the ground on the island. "Umm, no," Watt said. "I don't see any Yoshis. But there was a fun little whirly flower that actually lifted me up to that cliff." "A 'whirly' flower?" Twilight looked over to where Watt flew off to, showing her what she was talking about. She hovered over the water, seeing this kind of flower before back when they first arrived on Lavalava Island. She inspected the flower's petals as it slowly spun around from its stem. "This is a weird flower." "Climb on! It's fun!" Watt said. "We're in the middle of finding the Yoshi kids. We don't have time for any fun anyway." As much as she wanted to avoid this strange flora, her curiosity over how it was able to make Watt fly up easily winning her over. "...Or, maybe I could do one small experiment." She jumped up onto the flower, the petals spinning a bit faster as the alicorn began to slowly spin around against her will. "Whoa! Ok, this flower must have some strange wind currents it releases to make anything landing on it float and-" She suddenly yelped as the flower spun faster, making her spin around like a top with a scream as she hovered up in the air. "AHH! Help! I can't control myself!" Watt watched curiously as the alicorn flew higher than she did, though it might be because she was a ball of electricity and the wind current didn't really affect her that much. Twilight screamed, getting dizzy as she moved over the cliff and toward a group of thick bushes. When she finally stopped and fell, breaking a few branches from the foliage as she landed. "Umm, Twilight? Are you ok?" Watt asked, floating up to where she landed. "Ugggggh. I need to practice flying more aerodynamically..." The alicorn shook her head once her eyes stopped spinning around. As she stood up, she noticed something that was hidden behind the group of bushes; a green pipe sticking up out of the ground, which happened to be one of those warp pipes she was told of in this world. "Well, that's an interesting place to hide one of these." "Somebody help!" a young voice from inside the warp pipe called out, along with the sound of sobbing. "I'm scared! It's really dark!" "Someone's in there?" Twilight stood up and poked her head over the hole. "Hello!?" "Help me!" the voice said. "I don't know where I am! I want to go back home!" "Maybe it's one of the Yoshi kids we're looking for," Watt said. "From the sound of that crying, I think it sounds like one," Twilight said. "Hang on! We're coming!" She jumped up and dove into the pipe, hearing a strange noise around her as she entered it. She had no idea where it lead, or why her velocity slowed down as she went with whatever direction it took her, Watt following behind her as she whooped in excitement. The pipe soon shifted to a ninety-degree angle, the same warping sound effect came again when she exited the pipe, now in a dark cavern. "Wow. That was actually...kind of fun...And I just realized it's pitch black in here." Twilight lit up her horn to illuminate the cave, Watt floating out behind her as with the warp pipe sound effect as she exited. On the small hill of piled up rocks, the green Yoshi Kid crawled over toward the edge when he saw the light that suddenly brightened up the cave a little bit. "There he is!" Watt said, floating up to Twilight's horn. The contact with her glowing appendage caused the Li'l Sparky to shine brighter than normally when someone holds her like a flashlight. Twilight and the Yoshi kid yelped and shut their eyes as the room became blindingly bright. "Oopsie. Too bright." She flew off the alicorn's horn, dimming the room back to the lavender glow of the mare's aura. "Ok, Watt, better stay away from me and Rarity if our magic can react to your electrical body on contact with our horns," Twilight warned, rubbing her eyes as they readjusted from the sudden brightness. "We're here to get you out of here, little Yoshi." "Thank you," he said, blinking the spots out of his eyes. "I thought it would be fun to play with this spinning flower I got on, but it sent me spinning around and around and flying in the air, and I suddenly fell down and ended up here. It was so dark and scary, I thought I would never find the way out." "Well, we've got you," Twilight assured, levitating the green Yoshi kid down onto her back. "Let's get you back home." "What about my other friends?" the Yoshi asked. "Our other friends are looking for them right now," Twilight said. "They'll find them and bring them back before you know it." Making sure the Yoshi was holding onto her tightly, Twilight walked through the pipe, yelping as it sucked her back up, Watt floating through after them. Once she reached the top of the entrance pipe, she leapt off the edge, wishing she could study how these warp pipes worked if it weren't for the important threat of tyranny from an evil Koopa King whose power is growing more and more with each day the longer he holds the Star Rod. As the trio began to make their way back to the village, they spotted Sushie swimming fast through the water, who managed to see the purple alicorn and floating ball of electricity up on the cliff with the fourth Yoshi kid found and rescued. Sushie dove into the water, quickly turning toward them and leapt up high out of the water, breaching over the height of the cliff and flopped beside them. "That's four of them! Now, only one more. You all are a big help after all." "Have you been swimming around the jungle trying to find the other Yoshi children?" Twilight asked. "Aren't you exhausted?" "The ocean's a lot more dangerous than a jungle. I can handle myself in a fight if I need to," Sushie said. "Now, all that's missing is the yellow Yoshi kid. Where could he be?" "Little Yoshis," Fluttershy called out as she searched around the bushes by a stone statue of a bird matching the one that was in the village. There were two pillars set symmetrically before the statue, although one of them appears to have crumbled to separate blocks, possibly due to nature weathering the stone to fall apart. She and Parakarry searched high and low around the thick foliage of the forest they scouted, the Paratroopa mail carrier hovering over to one of the strange, curly plants as he looked in another bush. Fluttershy gasped when she looked at him, spotting one of the exotic plants moving as they formed into a mouth with green saliva dripping down from it. "Behind you!" "Huh?" He looked behind him, yelping and flapping his wings to avoid the snapping jaws of the carnivorous plant. "Whoa! What the heck!? That was a normal plant!" Fluttershy flew over to Parakarry, making sure he wasn't harmed by the dangerous plant. "I think the Yoshis called those Hurt Plants. They look similar to Heart Plants, which are harmless and sometimes drop these little hearts, but these ones are poisonous." "I'm kinda thankful Yoshi's Village is nowhere farther in the jungle if there are dangerous, 'innocent' plants like these." Staying far away from those plants, even if there were some that were harmless, they continued searching for any of the Yoshi kids. "HEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!!" Both pegasus and Paratroopa turned their heads to the east, hearing a young boy's cry down into a section of the jungle. "Oh no! That's one of the Yoshi kids!" Fluttershy exclaimed. They both flew off to help the poor Yoshi in distress, but when they found the yellow Yoshi kid, he was surrounded by a couple Piranha Plants that were twice as big as the ones back in Forever Forest. Despite how terrifying the living, sharp-teethed plants were, if anything was going to harm an innocent, cute, and cuddly animal, they were not going to have a good day with the animal-loving pegasus in her line of sight. "Hey! You leave that little Yoshi alone!" The Piranhas turned to face the pegasus and Paratroopa, ignoring the scared Yoshi kid as they spotted bigger prey to fill their stomachs. As they shuffled toward them on their leaves, the yellow Yoshi ran into the bushes and hid for safety, peeking through the leaves to see what will happen. "Ok, I think I can take on these two Piranha Plants while you distract-" As Parakarry tried to explain his plan, Fluttershy let out a battle cry and charged forward, fueled by anger at the carnivorous plants as they tried to eat one of the young Yoshis she looked after. She slammed her hooves into one of them, giving it whiplash as its head sent flying back and managed to hit the ground, letting out a dazed groan. The other one lunged its head at her to bite her, but the mare bucked its chin and chomped nothing but air. The Paratroopa's jaw dropped in surprise as the timid pegasus wasn't quite as timid as Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, or Rainbow Dash made her out to be. "...Uhhhhhhh..." Fluttershy tackled the stunned plant she just kicked, wrapping her hooves around its stem-like neck and squeezed it tightly in a choke hold, making its head flail about as it gasped for air. It tried to move its mouth down to the pegasus, releasing a foul gas from its mouth to poison her, but she kept far away from its poisonous breath while keeping a firm hold on its neck. "You two aren't going to harm that little Yoshi if it's the last thing I do!" Fluttershy said, letting out a grunt as she lifted the Piranha Plant up and suplexed its head hard into the ground, using her "massage" sessions with her bear friend, Harry, to her advantage. While Parakarry just watched in utter dumbfoundedness, Sushie flopped over to where she heard the cry for help as fast as her aquatic nature allowed her to. "What's happening!? I heard one of the children, and-!" She paused when she saw Fluttershy wrestling with one if Lavalava Island's most dangerous of creatures to encounter. "Oh my word...She's fighting a Putrid Piranha? By herself!?" Parakarry snapped out of his awed daze and looked down at the Cheep Cheep at the mention of what that kind of living plant was called. "'Putrid' Piranha?" "They have a poisonous breath, and if anyone gets a whiff of it, they're sure to be their next meal." The one Putrid Piranha Fluttershy knocked out earlier snapped out of its daze, growling while baring its teeth at the pegasus pummeling its Piranha Plant partner. Sushie gasped as she watched it sneak up on her, opening its mouth to release its noxious breath, but she wasn't going to let that happen. "Oh, no you don't, you bulbous brute!" The Cheep Cheep flopped forward and bounced up high, letting out a yell as she belly flopped hard on the sneaking Putrid Piranha's head. Bouncing off the plant's head, it looked up in confusion and spotted Sushie, the purple and white-scaled fish bloating herself up and squirted out a burst of water out of her mouth. The pressure from the shot out water slammed the Putrid Piranha into the ground, flattened even more by another belly flop. Fluttershy gave the Putrid Piranha she was in the middle of tussling with another hard kick in the jaw, sending it flying off and piling on top of its friend. Confused, she looked up and saw Sushie land beside her, glaring angrily at the defeated Piranha Plants. "Sushie? When did you get here?" Fluttershy asked. "Just in time to save you from the other Putrid Piranha coming for you," she said. The two plants weakly stood up and faced their opponents, though they didn't stand a chance against them after the pegasus appeared to seem meek and helpless. The yellow Yoshi kid ran out from his hiding place and into the safety of his two caretakers, hiding behind them and staying far away from the carnivorous Putrid Piranha Plants. "You two better leave, and I hope you learned your lesson not to hurt these little Yoshis around us ever again. Understand?" Fluttershy's warning went unheard as the Putrid Piranhas growled. "I said do you understand!?" The pegasus opened her eyes and kept them wide open, glaring at them as she used "The Stare" on them. Their intimidation failed in comparison to Fluttershy's piercing gaze, frozen in fear and shuddering in terror. They didn't know why they were terrified of her, even if they did get beaten up by her and Sushie, but those eyes paralyzed them as if they were staring into their very souls. Eventually, they obeyed the pegasus and fled, pulling themselves into the ground and escaping before her powerful stare turned them into living stone statues. As soon as they left, Fluttershy relaxed with a sigh, glad that it was over. "That 'Stare' of yours sure does work wonders," Sushie complimented. "Kinda hard to tell where their eyes are to know where to leer into." "I only use my Stare only when necessary, and it was so those Piranha Plants don't get themselves even more hurt," Fluttershy said. "I don't think that would be an issue when they're a lot more dangerous than a Fuzzy." Sushie and Fluttershy turned and looked at the yellow Yoshi kid. "And as for you, young dinosaur..." The Yoshi winced, clenching his eyes as he prepared for a scolding from the Cheep Cheep. Instead of being told how crazy he and his friends were, Sushie bounced over to him and hugged him, surprising the Yoshi with a squeak. "You have no idea how much you five worried me. Worried everyone back in the village. We warned you the jungle was dangerous for a reason, and hopefully, you all learned your lesson after this experience, right?" Without a word, he nodded his head, promising never to wander off in Jade Jungle again after nearly getting eaten by Putrid Piranhas. "Good. Now, let's head back home and assure all your parents that all five of you are safe and sound." The Yoshi kid was a little surprised to hear such concern from Sushie, usually pretty strict with them in a firm tone of voice as if commanding them to stop their recklessness. Despite how harsh she was, all she did was look out for them, knowing more about the dangerous monsters that could hurt them and keep them safe. Fluttershy snapped him out of his thoughts, holding the Yoshi in her forelegs while Sushie leapt onto her back as they flew off back to Yoshi's Village. Parakarry tried to wrack his brain over what he had just seen, or what the others would think when he told them what he had witnessed. "...Fluttershy's stronger than she looks...And what the heck did she do to make them run away?" Everyone regrouped back at the entrance to Jade Jungle once all of the Yoshi kids were found. They headed back in the village, where all the Yoshis waited anxiously for the return of the children. Once they were spotted, their parents ran up to them and hugged them tightly. The young Yoshis swore not to go into the jungle anymore, especially after hearing how close of a call the yellow Yoshi kid had with those Putrid Piranhas. "Thank you all so much for your help," the Yoshi leader praised as he approached the heroic party. "I am sorry for the young ones causing such trouble during your stay." "Eh, think nothing of it," Rainbow said. "Just happy to help out." "Well, now that the children are safe, we have a little question to ask you," Twilight said. "You see, we all need to find a way inside Mt. Lavalava. As dangerous as it is, we need to find one of the seven Star Spirits held captive deep inside, and we need to find a safer way to get across and make our way inside. Do you by any chance have any way of getting there?" The Yoshi leader was silent as he pondered his answer. Even though Mt. Lavalava was far more dangerous to traverse than Jade Jungle, Mario and his large group with Fluttershy and her friends were able to deal with the foes that wander about the area. There was also the fact that Bowser was causing trouble again, even going so far as to nearly kill Mario and steal Princess Peach's Castle from the ground and lifting it into the sky. He soon let out a sigh, knowing they would find a way sooner or later. "Ok. I think I might know a way," he said. "Follow me." The leader lead the way as the others followed, even Sushie as she grew curious as to why everyone was crazy enough to want to go inside of an active volcano ready to blow at any moment. Kolorado let out a groan, unable to do anything as that itch for adventure was nagging him to explore the volcano before he blows up. "Oh, blast," he muttered to himself. "Seems like I wasn't needed to help watch the children when they brought them back all at once." He tapped his foot impatiently, but before they could explore the volcano, he needed to wait until they found some way to get across the small chasm of flowing lava. "...Wish there were some books or tomes of this island I can look through." He then looked out toward the jungle, the party he traveled with heading out to where they had entered Yoshi's Village. "...Or maybe just a little stroll through the jungle just to get a little fun out without them noticing." Kolorado slowly made his way out of the village and out into the jungle, only traveling not too far away from the safe haven of village. Even if there was no treasure out in the area, he could always bring back a souvenir if his hunt for the treasure in Mt. Lavalava was a bust.