//------------------------------// // The Start of a New Story: Part 4 // Story: My Little Pony: The Next Generation // by Song Thought //------------------------------// The plan was to go have lunch to get to know each other, go their separate ways to get ready for the journey to come, then leave for the said journey the next morning. It was as simple as that. While walking through the town, Sweet Tune noticed that something was off. She wasn’t even here for that long, but it already felt different. Was it the fact that she was there with more ponies? Was it the time of day? Was it just the overall atmosphere? Something was off. She looked over to Orchard Drop, “Does something seem... different to you?” she asked. If anyone noticed a change in the atmosphere, it was Orchard Drop. The unicorn looked around to see what her cousin was referring to. “You mean the foliage that now looks a bit shriveled and... dead?” Orchard Drop pointed out. Sweet Tune looked around and noticed what Orchard Drop was talking about. All of the trees and flowers looked nice and lively when they first got here. Now they look like the complete opposite. They looked dead and discolored. They’ve only been here for a few hours, so this seems completely impossible. It was strange... and suspicious. Before she had the chance to talk to the rest of them about the issue, North Star appeared next to her. Her face was serious, and she started walking a bit faster. This made Sweet Tune start walking a bit faster. “I think we need to take a quick detour,” Sweet Tune whispered. “Agreed,” North Star responded, “Just keep walking towards the castle, the others have already noticed the situation.” Now Sweet Tune was scared. On the way to the castle, she could hear the citizens noticing the trees and plants, which have started to die at a quicker pace. There was fear in their voices. Turns out the plan wasn’t so simple. “So, explain to me again why this will stall these ponies from heading over here,” Bud asked Poison Ivy. The two were hiding in the Everfree Forest to avoid being seen by any Ponyville citizens. “Well, what else are we supposed to do? You’re pretty much useless in this situation. My essence could easily manipulate all of these trees to attack the ponies and the job would be done. What are you going to do? Play dress up?” “Hey! It’s not dress up. I can change my appearance at will, it’s that simple. Also, you can’t do something at that level with your essence. We all know that much power would be too much on you since you’re still alive.” Poison Ivy blinked at the pegasus, “Why, thank you, Bud. I almost forgot,” she said in a monotone voice. Both of them climbed onto a nearby tree to see if they can get a view of their targets. Bud noticed something else in the distance. “Hey, look. It’s that camp that the others talk about so much. That camp that...” he stopped himself before he said her name. The name of the pony that betrayed them. Her name isn’t said much anymore, and he didn’t want to get in trouble with anyone for even uttering it. “Don’t act like that. I know what you were going to say,” Poison Ivy said. The two of them stayed quiet for a while before spotting the nine ponies who they were sent to stall. A few of them exchanged worried glances as they started to spot the dying trees. A few of them even exchanged a couple of words about the situation. They started to walk a bit faster until they got to the castle at the end of the town. Poison Ivy got down from the tree and Bud followed right after. "So, what do you think will happen now?" he asked. "I assume this will stall them in a way. The ponies of this town will be frightened, and they will need some words of reassurance. That's when our little ponies play the hero card and calm them down, buying us more time." "And if it backfires?" "That's where you come in," Poison Ivy started; Bud got rather excited, "You will stay back and let the rest of us know if the plan doesn't go as expected." Bud's face fell, "That's it? I just get to clean up your possible mess?" he paused, "Wait, what do you mean 'stay back'?" Poison Ivy smirked, "Oh, yeah. I'm going to head back and tell the others what's happening. You get to stay here and watch our 'friends'." "Do you have to go? I've never been this far from the hideout, and you know how much I'm scared of this forest!" Bud said as Poison Ivy started to head back to their hideout. "Don't worry you crybaby! It'll build character!" Poison Ivy called back. All Bud could hear were her distant laughs as she got farther and farther away. "It'll build character," Bud mocked, "Yeah right, that's the reason for anything that happens apparently." He flew off to a nearer tree to, once again, spy on the nine ponies, "At this point, I don't think there's any more character to build." "So... the trees are dying at an impossibly fast rate on the same day the children of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony meet each other for the first time. Either it's the weirdest coincidence to ever happen in pony history, or something much more sinister is going on," Cream Cheese said while staring out a window in the castle. Sour Patch joined her to look out the window, "It also looks like everypony's gone to their houses to stay safe from any other weird things that could happen, so that's good." "So, what do we do now? This obviously means that Dark Magic and the others know that we're together and are starting to strike back," North Star asked. "Isn't it obvious? We go," Orchard Drop started, "The food we eat is from the plants. If we don't fix this soon, Ponyville will starve. Or worse, all of Equestria." "She's right. If we lie around, who knows what else could happen? It could even get worse," Diamond Glow said. "I mean, they're a team of ponies possessed by all of Equestria's past threats," Jupiter pointed out. They all paused and thought about that for a moment, "Ya know, I didn't need to be reminded of the reasons I should be scared of all of this. That would've been nice," Hurricane said. "Anyways, I agree with all of this. So, here's the plan," Sweet Tune started. She looked at Apple Crisp, "Do you still have that voice recorder?" "What voice recorder?" Apple Crisp asked. Orchard Drop lifted the voice recorder out of Apple Crisp's bag with her magic and gave it to her, "Oh, that voice recorder. Yeah!" "Okay, you might want to get this," Sweet Tune carried on. The new plan was to part ways now and pack their things at their homes. They would meet back at the castle in exactly an hour to head to the Everfree forest. Sure, they couldn't eat lunch, but they were able to give up not eating for a while to save their home. "Wait! What about the ponies in town? I'm pretty sure they're going to want an explanation on everything that's going on," Cream Cheese asked. "I'm sure I can handle that," a new voice came. All of the ponies turned their heads towards the entrance of the room, "Oh. Hey, Mom," North Star said. Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled at all of the ponies in front of her, "Hello everypony. You all look so grown up. Well, of course, you do. The last time I saw any of you, you were all only babies." "Mom, do you know what's going on?" North Star asked as she approached her mother. "Yeah, I heard everything. I'll even get your father to help," Twilight responded. "If you need any more help, I'm sure my parents will be able to help," Hurricane said. "Mine too," Cream Cheese added. "Alright then, I got it covered here. You guys go out and save the day!" Twilight said. "You heard her! Go pack, we'll meet back here in an hour!" Sweet Tune said. As everyone left, Sour Patch approached his cousins, "Are you nervous about this, like, at all?" Sweet Tune scoffed, "Nervous? Please... I'm absolutely terrified." "But, then again," Orchard Drop started, "there would be something wrong with you if you weren't." "So, it begins." A young mare with a brown coat and a wild dark teal mane looked up at the older mare across the room. She was looking down at a cauldron with a strange substance inside. "Did you say something, Fortune Teller?" the younger mare asked. She got up and walked towards the cauldron to see what the older mare was talking about. "It has begun, the next bearers are on their way. Tell Ceres and the others to get ready for their arrival. They should be here by tonight," Fortune Teller informed. "Okay, I'll make sure we’re ready by then," the mare said as she exited the hut, they were in. Fortune Teller smiled but noticed something else appeared in the cauldron, "What's this?" she said. A light blue pegasus with a black mane approached a gang of adult ponies and a mare his age. He looked frightened, poor soul. “Bud, why are you back so soon? I thought this little plan of yours was supposed to work?” a mare asked. She had a light brown-red coat and a light pink short mane that was perfectly curled. Her head was topped off with a large red hat, decorated with pink and red flowers and feathers. Her eyes were pink, and they stared into the young pegasus with a look of dissatisfaction. Her cutie mark was a microphone with a green liquid spilling out the end, a skull accompanied it. Streams of the same green liquid flowed out of the mare’s mouth and down the front end of her body, falling at her hooves. “It wasn’t my plan, Dolly. My only job was to come back and warn you if Poison Ivy’s plan backfired,” the young stallion responded. “And? Is that what happened?” Poison Ivy asked with an angry tone in her voice. “They’re coming anyway. Your plan didn’t work.” “Don’t go blaming this on me! At least I did something that intimidated them! You could barely intimidate a rabbit!” “There’s no way they were intimidated! They would’ve stayed back if they were! Maybe YOU S-“ “BE QUIET!! THE BOTH OF YOU!!” another mare chimed in. It was Shadow, “You two give me endless headaches with your yelling!” The two young ponies got quiet. Shadow motioned for them to leave the room. As they walked out, the mare said something to the pegasus that caused him to lower his head. “So, there’s only one thing left to do,” Dark Magic said to break the silence, “We get ready for their arrival.” Shadow whispered something in his ear, a smile spread across his face, “That’s an excellent idea.” He turned to the other ponies in the room, “Maybe our little Bud could be of good use to us. Bring him back in.” Once the pegasus was brought in, he looked up at Dark Magic with a scared look on his face, “Yes?” he said. “I want you to do something for us. Since you have the changeling essence, you can put magical barriers on the Everfree Forest, except for our hideout. Got it?” “Are you sure I can handle that? I mean that would require a lot of energy, and I’m still alive,” Bud said with a bit of fear in his voice. “We’ll find out,” was all that Dark Magic said before he motioned Bud to go out by himself. Fortune Teller looked up from the cauldron and looked outside. Hopefully, he hasn’t cast the barrier yet. She went back inside the hut and got to work, grabbing different ingredients from various cabinets and drawers. She mushed them, mixed them all in a bowl until it looked like dust, and took the bowl outside. She looked up, “Let’s hope this works.” She blew the dust out of the bowl and into the sky, making sure to stay concentrated. The dust swirled around like it was picked up by a gust of wind. Once it reached a certain height, it exploded like a firework and rained on the camp below it. A new barrier was formed around the camp, protecting them from outside magic. “That should do it,” Fortune Teller said, “Now, where was I? Ah, yes. The preparations. Our expected guests need to feel welcomed.” Sweet Tune looked at the forest in front of them. It was dark, eerie, and unsettling. Everyone was right when they said that the place was feared, and they were heading right towards it. At least she won’t be alone. Diamond Glow walked up to her, “I think I should lead the way. I’ve been here plenty of times and know my way around some areas. I even have a treehouse we can visit for extra supplies.” Sweet Tune didn’t say it, but she was very impressed. For a pony that was supposed to stay indoors, she sure explored a lot. She just nodded and let her take the lead. She looked at Sour Patch, “Are you ready?” “What made you think I was?” he responded. Sweet Tune laughed; it was reassuring knowing she wasn’t the only scared one. Orchard Drop approached the two, “Alright, I think everyone’s ready to go. It’s your word now.” Sweet Tune turned around to face the other 8 ponies, “This is it. It’s time to go in there and save Equestria. I mean, it shouldn’t be so bad. Our moms have done it a thousand times already.” She took one step into the Everfree, and something felt different. She assumed it was just the overall atmosphere of the forest and went on. The others followed. Jupiter, who was previously floating, randomly fell upon entering the forest. They came down with a loud thud, alarming the rest. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Just a bit scratched up,” they said in return. “But why did that happen?” North Star said, helping Jupiter. “You don’t think they did something to the forest, do you?” Cream Cheese said, a little frightened. Orchard Drop faced a nearby twig on the ground and focused on it. Nothing happened. She turned back to the others, “I can’t pick it up. Not with my magic at least.” Diamond Glow tried to do the same, nothing happened for her as well. She shook her head. Jupiter snapped their paw. Nothing. “Oh great! I just got my powers back! Couldn’t you have waited a little longer before taking them away!?” they yelled at the sky. Sweet Tune sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than they thought.