//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Anomalies I // Story: Scoota-who?! // by LunaScribbles //------------------------------// Anomaly 1: Spirit-Transfer I paced around the clouds, practicing these spells. I learned the ability of basic telekinesis. It wasn't as strong as Twilight's but the fact I was able to do something like this made me grin. I was definitely compensating something for my lack of flight. Thank you, Sweetie Belle... even though giving me this book was kind of an insult to my inability to fly. Eh, at least I can use magic now. At this point, I've read the book from cover to back now. The only spell I know how to do is telekinesis. All the other spells require some kind of extra power that, according to this book, requires an extra spirit. There's a spirit summoning spell in this book... Jeez, Sweetie Belle, did you get this book off of Twilight's or some abandoned cabin in the woods notorious for demons. Eh whatever. What could possibly happen if I were to summon a spirit right now? With a wave of my hoof, I used my magic to flip the page. I could've used my hoof there, but using magic was making squee. I loved it! Nevertheless, I started chanting the words written on the book. "Corporis puto secundum Spiritum." with a flash, I heard numerous loud sounds. It startled me! Making me nearly fall off my cloud! Good thing I got Rainbow Dash to watch over me. "Hey Twilight! I thought we were gonna go dragon watching today!?" "It doesn't say that on my checklist... and dragon watching isn't until next Thursday." the studious lavender alicorn said as she flipped through her lists. "Awww, that sucks." As Twilight flipped through her notes, she then noticed something in her checklist for today. "Heyyy, shouldn't you be watching over Scootaloo? You told me to write it down here in case you forgot... turns out you did." "OH CRUD!" in a flash, Rainbow Dash was reduced to a blur. Twilight giggled as she checked that one off the list. Flashing, sounds of ponies talking... or what I assumed to be ponies talking, and strong winds. I covered my face from the strong winds and kept my stance on the cloud. An image began to form in front of me. It nearly made me cringe at the look. It was of a mangled body of a... whatever it was. Was it still alive? I looked closely only to jump back in fright as it writhed in agony. “Carrie Turner! Thank you for everything you’ve done!” I heard the... thing say as its head then dropped to the ground with a thud. Then in a flash, my body felt weak... I then read the subtext below the spell. 'Do not use under any circumstance. You have been warned.' "Ah horseapples." I then coughed as I passed out on the cloud. Anomaly 2: Flower Anomaly "Gee, Twilight's recipes fer a growth serum were pretty lame... like come on? Giant's nail clippings? Blech..." I said as I tried finding a flower to suit the recipe. I then passed by the poison joke garden. I chuckled to myself, reminding myself of the time my sister and her friends got affected by it when they didn't listen to Zecora. I then reread the list and looked at the text below the flower ingredient. "Huh... "can be any flower". Well, ah'll be! Time to use mah noggin for IMAGINATION!" With a careful move of the hoof, I picked a poison joke as delicately as possible. Then, I tried finding a plant that would look funny when supersized. After a few steps, I went up to the first weird looking flower I could find. "Ah, pee you, what in tarnation is that smell?" I gagged at the smell of rotting oats. I then saw this flower. "Woah, are ya' causin' all this smell, lil' guy?" Applebloom giggled a bit as she thought it'd be funny if making this flower grow big would be a good source of pranks. She then went to work with her portable alchemy kit. Carefully handling the poison joke, she used an essence extractor and poured the poison joke's blue essence in a beaker. She then brought out the giant's clippings, a spotted mushroom, dragon's tooth (thanks, Spike), and a serpent's tear. With a mortar and pestle, she ground them all to a fine powder and poured it inside the beaker. The liquid, at first, reacted violently to the powder but it then simmered down as it became an orange colored liquid. Now, for the moment of truth, I poured the concoction all over the plant... I felt a powerful explosion against my body. It all happened so fast that I didn't even know what happened. I couldn't feel anything. My entire body felt charred. My brain was the only thing conscious at the moment. I could still see what was happening, yet my body couldn't move. It was either out of the force that pushed me was enough to break my forelegs and hindlegs, or something else. Either way, I felt like I've made a horrible mistake. I saw that flower. My potion worked, that's a plus, but it also looked alive. It was crawling towards me. Crap crap crap... Is it gonna eat me? Oh Celestia, no no no... It grew a vine from its base and it started to approach me. It then wrapped around me, lifted me, and placed me inside its hole in the centre of all the petals. As I was placed inside, the petals begin to wrap up, enclosing me. I guess this is the end of me... Suddenly, I heard a voice. "You are going to die... I don't want that." it echoed inside. "You gave me life. Out of all the plants, you gave me life. I appreciate that. I am a plant that copies anything that enters my centre. It gives me nutrients, while not harming the ecosystem surrounding the Everfree forest." "Well... that's comforting." I coughed. "However, the copies I make are of non-sentient beings. Usually flies, insects, and other things. I've swallowed a few Breezys and they just ended up as fresh corpses, and I felt sorry." "Sweet Celestia!" "No fear... I'm a sentient flower. All flowers have a connection with the spirit of the flowers; however, only sentient flowers can summon. She has magic strong enough to give the copy a soul. "Well, make sure it's mine..." I coughed before the feeling of my brain. "Rest now, little one." "Another sentient flower?!" a sunflower had exclaimed, raising both its vines and flailing them about. "Impossible m'lady! Only a select number of sentient flowers can exist." The flower spirit nodded. "Tis' an anomaly. Having more sentient flowers could deal damage to our kind, especially that it is within proximity of Ponyville. We can't risk ourselves being discovered. However, it is a cry of help." "What if it is a trap?" a rose had queried. "What if those ponies purposefully made their own sentient flower to capture you? You did mention that it could deal damage to our kind, so how much are you willing to take this risk?" "I don't know. I'll make at haste nonetheless just to see who is sending me this message of help." "B-b-but?!" "I'll be fine Rosas. I'll be back sooner than you can say Springtime!" With a flap of her wings, she then made haste to the Everfree.