Equestria. Saddle Lake. Afternoon.
Created by the elixir that was originally made by Rosa Maledicta, two new species of ponies had been created and brought into this world due to Twilight Sparkle's test run with the elixir. Classified as Flora Ponies by Twilight, these two ponies had the coats of the flowers they were based on. Daisy and Paradise. They were even given those names.
"They don't seem all that reactive...but welcome to the world. Daisy. Paradise." Twilight greeted them both and yet she didn't get a proper reaction from the Flora Ponies. "Spike! This is one of the best discoveries we've made so far! It was a good idea to test this elixir out."
"Yeah but...now I'm convinced we can't use it yet. It brought those flowers to life. So what's it gonna do against the Despair Plants at this rate?"
"That's why we won't use it right now. It still needs work. But for what it gave us, the potential is great. To think that Roseluck's family had this with them...But this could be the Rift Energy, Equestrian Magic, or the Harmony Phenomenon at work. Or all of them."
"What about these two? What do we do with them?" Spike asked.
"Well..." Twilight pondered as Daisy and Paradise were anomalies now. What purpose do they serve now that they've been made? While thinking about it, the Flora Ponies would suddenly move, alerting the Princess of Friendship and the Dragon Trainer. They looked at themselves, raising their hooves to see what they truly were.
Being made out of flowers was rather bizarre despite the fact that they were originally flowers. One could say that they still were at the end of the day, just taking on the shape of ponies. The wind would blow, affecting their bodies as they finally showed some emotion. They were as fragile as actual flowers, affected greatly by the wind as they would close their eyes, grimacing and twitching. Once they felt the wind against them, they knew what had to be done.
After their usual aura of silence, the two Flora Ponies looked at each other and then at Twilight, viewing her appearance and how it brought out her purple coat. After a synchronized nod, the Daisy and Paradise Flower bodies that they had would suddenly rustle before emanating that same incandescent light from before. Twilight and Spike had to squint for the third time in a row due to how bright the light was. Judging by this, it looked like they were going through another transformation. And it was so soon.
However, the transformation was not much. They retained their original statures but with something clearer. Their slight similarities to Roseluck and Rosa Maledicta would fizzle out a bit while still being somewhat existed in their mane styles. For the most part in the front. Emerging from the light, the flowers that they were made out of had vanished but were still present as the full transformation of these Flora Ponies was complete.
"What just happened?! They transformed again?!" Spike gasped. The Flora Ponies would then look at themselves, seeing how much clearer they were as their Cutie Marks were now the flowers they originally were.
"I think they bloomed!" Twilight exclaimed, believing that this was an example of flowers blooming. And it was an impressive bloom. One of the best, if not the best that she's seen so far. "They look more like average ponies but...look at their eyes and manes."
Twilight and Spike would notice the green glows in their eyes as they were as verdant as the grass itself and even the trees. Glistening beautifully in their pupils,
"You two look beautiful! You'll fit right in at Ponyville or anywhere else. I mean...if you want to. You practically live here. Saddle Lake's your home after all." Twilight suggested, hoping they would say something this time now that they have full appearances.
And yet, they stayed silent. However, they would finally start showing emotions, showing more reactions rather than just staring at each other. No longer did the wind harm them as they had the solid body of a pony. The Flora Ponies would get adjusted to their new bodies, flailing their hooves around. And when doing so, their respective flowers would fly out.
A swarm of daisies flew out of Daisy's hoof, passing by Twilight as they would fly elegantly through the wind. Twilight and Spike watched as the daisies took off into the air, followed by the Paradise Flowers. And the way they left their hooves was another form of magic. The flowers did not materialize. Instead, they looked like they came straight through their hooves and yet there wasn't a hole or anything that would pave the way.
"Oh...I need to know more about you!" It was safe to say that Twilight would find herself being occupied on the day, fixating on these Flora Ponies. And she always came prepared. When she arrived at Saddle Lake earlier, she brought a pen and paper with her to jot what she would discover with the elixir. This went beyond what she originally planned.
The Flora Ponies, after shooting out flowers, continued to waddle around just to get a good sense of movement. Thankfully, with how they changed their appearances, they could walk just fine.
"Alright. One burning question. Can you understand me?" Twilight questioned, hoping that the Flora Ponies, despite their lack of speech, could understand Twilight. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. You can hear and understand me, right?"
In response, Daisy would walk up to Twilight, eyeing the Princess of Friendship down. Twilight watched Daisy's movements, wondering what they meant and if she should be careful. But Daisy's appearance and whole demeanour didn't seem to warrant any caution so far. Finally, one of them would reply to Twilight and that would be Daisy herself. All it took was a singular head nod.
"Oh, you can hear me!" Twilight exclaimed as her voice was truly heard by these Flora Ponies. "Okay, so they can understand my words. But they can't speak...Unless they haven't been taught to speak yet."
"Espeon?"
"I know that doesn't add up, Eve. They look like they're my age at least. I didn't think they'd show up like this after all." Twilight giggled. "Alright. Daisy. Paradise. Those are your names. I bet you can recognize those if someone was to ever call for you. And about the flowers you sent out...Are your insides flowers?"
"That's...kinda gross." Spike grimaced, realizing how disturbing it must be to have someone's insides be flowers. "But I guess it's not that out there." However, after thinking about it, compared to some Pokemon, this wasn't that strange.
"This isn't exactly what we need to stop the Despair Plants, but we're getting somewhere. Princess Celestia will love this though even if it's not what we were looking for. Back to those flowers...you have magical abilities of your own, shooting those flowers out. I wonder what else you can do. Could you show us something else?"
Paradise would suddenly turn away, looking at the Pokemon nearby instead. She would turn her attention to something else instead of listening to Twilight any further. She's been doing this for a bit now. But Daisy seemed to be all ears.
Daisy would then spot the lake that was up ahead, deciding to approach it. But instead of walking, prancing or any other form of common movement, she would surprise Twilight and Spike with her own unique form of movement. Something that seemed new to the Flora Ponies.
Her whole body would dematerialize back into flowers. A vast quantity of daises appeared, being around the same size as her statue as there was no trace of her pony body to be found. She travelled via this stream of daises, moving from Twilight's spot all the way to the lake. After reaching the lake, her whole body would return to her pony form.
"What kind of movement was that?!" Spike's eyes would almost pop out of his head.
"Oragnic Transporation! They're not made out of the same genetic makeup as us, Spike. On the outside, they have solid bodies like us but on the inside, they must made out of flowers. That has to be it! I mean, I could always have Rainbow Dash's Luxray confirm that but still! What an amazing way to travel, Daisy!"
Proud to hear that, after dipping her head into the lake, Daisy would look back at Twilight, putting on a bright smile. From what Twilight and Spike could gather, Daisy was rather bright and curious. Which made sense considering how she was just brought into existence as a Flora Pony. But as for Paradise, that was a different story. She was still curious but was less engaged with what was being said by Twilight. It was until Espeon nudged Twilight that she spotted Paradise walking away.
"Huh? Ah! Wait, Paradise!" Twilight bellowed, quickly getting in front of Paradise. The rather stoic plant would stop once Twilight got in front of her via a quickly spread of her wings. "We didn't talk to you yet. You were just wandering off there, weren't you?"
Paradise would then shrug, showing that she could emote various emotions that were common. And judging by how she pulled off this emotion flawlessly, Twilight could see the contrast between her and Daisy. It was even in their expressions. Daisy seemed to be jolly while Paradise was rather stoic.
"Okay...I think we should let you get out there. How about we head to Ponyville, you two?" Twilight suggested. "Not sure how that would go...I'm not sure anyone would notice that you're a completely different species of pony. A new one too that I made up. What do you say?"
Once again, the only way for them to confirm things was by nodding. The most common gesture they knew. And it would take Daisy and Paradise looking at each other. After confirming that they would accept that offer, together, both of them used their unique travelling method. In unison, they would dematerialize back into their plant forms with Paradise obviously taking on the form of a Paradise Flower.
The two of them would move as fast as they could in these forms, which was impressively fast as seen by how quickly Flora reached the lake. Spike would come in contact with Daisy's movement as he would find himself being spun by the wind pressure she made. "Woah!"
"Wait for us! Do you two even know the way!?" However, they would go without Twilight leading the way. It was hard to tell if they even knew where Ponyville was. Quickly, Twilight would follow them. "Come on, Spike!"
"I-I'm coming..." A bewildered Spike would hold his head before smelling the air, which had a different scent to it now. "Smells like daisies all of a sudden..."
Ponyville.
Surprisingly, they knew where Ponyville was. When passing through Saddle Lake and by extension White Tail Wood, the stream of daisies and paradise flowers had found Ponyville. Perhaps it was the size of it that also helped them find it. And at the speed they travelled, it didn't take long for them to find this lovely town of ponies and Pokemon which was always lively during the day and in some cases the night.
Arriving here by following them were Twilight and Spike and by the way they were running, it looked like they were just randomly chasing flowers that were carried off by the wind.
"Twilight? Spike?" Ash spoke as he was the first to notice them chasing these flowers, followed by Pikachu. But soon, after reaching Ponyville, the flowers would return to their pony forms, materializing within Ash and Pikachu's sights. Daisy and Paradise had shown themselves once more beyond just Twilight, Espeon and Spike. "What the?!"
"Pikachu!"
"Finally...Hoh, they move fast in that state..." Twilight panted along with Spike and Espeon. They caught their breaths after pursuing these Flora Ponies. "That's another thing to note down. In that state...they move incredibly fast. As fast maybe a Staraptor...I'll call that Floral Movement."
"Sweet name as always." Spike sat down after catching his breath, complimenting Twilight's naming methods once more. Simple but effective.
"Anyway...Welcome to Ponyville. It looks like you two knew where it was from the start." Twilight welcomed them to Ponyville, which was currently moving for two reasons. One, it was either because of Hilbert and his boastful behaviour that would always get a reaction out of someone. Or two, further celebration of Rainbow Dash's big win. Both brought further life into this town.
Daisy and Paradise took a gander at the scenery, witnessing the flourishing life that was as bright as it could be. The movement of Pokemon that would help their trainers in their day-to-day lives or even how they could be seen running and playing with the children. Some were taking part in Pokemon Battles which were always enjoyable past times. A flash of different elements would go off, captivating their eyes.
But something else would captivate them. The presence of an Aura could be felt. Within the atmosphere, this Aura was extravagant, even if it was not visible at the moment. When feeling this Aura, a smile would grace the faces of these Flora Ponies as it was rather calming. Their tails would swish in response to this Aura. And who else would possess it than the one who was approaching Twilight's side?
"Hey!" Ash and Pikachu came over after witnessing the Flower Transportation. Flora and Paradise felt it from Ash Ketchum, who had a great ordeal of Aura. "What was that?! That was really cool?!"
"Pikachu!"
"Oh, Ash. I guess you saw it for yourself." Twilight spoke, getting in between the two Flora Ponies. "You're going to be shocked with what Spike and I discovered."
"Mhm." Unexpectedly, catching Twilight off guard, Daisy would finally exude a sound. It was a simple sound but it was something that involved language.
"Wait!" Twilight's mane and tail stood up as a prolonged gasp emerged out of her mouth. "You can talk now?! Did you just evolve!"
"Sorry for the scare." Indeed, Daisy could now form proper sentences. Her gestures would improve, bowing her head as an apology.
"You seem pretty freaked out about it, Twilight," Ash said, unaware of what Twilight experienced back at Saddle Lake.
"They couldn't speak just yet, Ash. These are Flora Ponies. Ponies that I created back at Saddle Lake by using Roseluck's elixir." Twilight explained, introducing this new species to Ash and Pikachu.
"Flora Ponies?! Sweet!" Ash and Pikachu's eyes lit up with stars. "A whole new species as well?! Nice stuff, Twilight!"
"Pika-Pikachu!"
"Well, it looks like they're learning as time goes on. Just minutes ago, they couldn't speak at all. I could only understand them with gestures and they could only hear my voice and understand what I was saying." Twilight sighed. "Congrats on learning how to speak, you two. There's more about you that I have to learn about.
"The Aura helped..." Paradise would finally speak next. And her first words were about the Aura, glancing over at Ash.
"It did? What?" Twilight would also glance at Ash. "With just these few words, she could understand what Paradise was suggesting. After looking at Ash, her attention would draw back to the two Flora Ponies. "Hold on...Are you saying that the Aura is what made you learn how to speak?"
"Mhm." Daisy would confirm along with Paradise's silent nod. After confirming this, Twilight would quickly jot this down. A new revelation has been made once again. "Note...Aura seems to affect Flora Ponies. At least, for now."
"Well, nice to meet you." Ash held his hand out. "My name's Ash. And this is my partner Pikachu."
"Pikachu!"
"We know. We know who you two are." Daisy held her hoof out, placing it on Ash's hand. "We've been watching your battles whenever you showed up at Saddle Lake."
"Eh?" Ash uttered as he could feel the softness of Daisy's hoof. Despite having the normal appearance of a pony on the outside, holding her hoof felt like touching actual flowers. "You have?"
"Wait, you have?!" Twilight exclaimed. "You already knew?! Are you telling me every battle that's happened over at Saddle Lake, you remember them?!"
"Of course, mom," Daisy replied, catching Twilight off guard once more.
"Look at you, Twilight. You've already got yourself some daughters. How neat is that?" Ash would giggle, teasing Twilight and going along with Daisy's claim.
"T-They're not...!" Immediately, the Princess of Friendship would pull back, blushing as Spike and Espeon would also giggle at this sudden callout from Daisy. "Why'd you say that all of a sudden?" She would grizzle her teeth. "Is it because I brought you into this world?"
"Mhm!" Daisy would give out another 'Mhm', this time with more emphasis in her voice.
"Okay then...So you know everything that's happened back at Saddle Lake. Which means you've seen everything that's happened there. At least, from your point of view as flowers, which is pretty limited. Umm...Any concept of food?" They stayed silent from this. Daisy and Paradise did not grant Twilight any new answers. The looks on their faces made it clear that they weren't sure what to say.
"Mmm..." Paradise muttered as no clear concept of food came to her.
"Ah...We saw um...what do you call it again? A picnic?" But Daisy had something that she managed to say. From her own mouth, she spoke about a picnic, having a concept about it.
"A picnic? Oh, you must mean the time when everyone gathered at Saddle Lake to see a Suicune!" Twilight recalled that moment. "I wish I was at Saddle Lake by then...but thanks to Ash over here, I got to see Suicune anyway."
"Well, welcome to the World, you two. You're gonna have a lot of fun, see a lot of stuff, do a lot of stuff and so on." Ash spoke. "And you've already done something cool by travelling like that."
"Oh, what's that?" Daisy would focus on something else that grabbed her attention as she used her Flower Movement once more. Dematerializing into daisies she would head further into Ponyville.
"Oooh..." A curious Paradise would also find interest in something. "What is that?" Soon, she would also dematerialize into Paradise Flowers.
"Ash. I still don't know what to do with them. They're new to the world, after all, and I don't know where to take them. And they're also very curious despite only ever seeing Pokemon Battles."
"Why not have them live with you?" Ash brought up an obvious suggestion that Pikachu, Spike and Espeon agreed with.
"Live with me? I don't know...My castle's getting occupied at this point. I don't think I have enough rooms in my castle to have them stay over."
"Come on. You're the mom. We can arrange that." Ash brought up the fact that Twilight was viewed as their mother because of how she created them. "You can always squeeze in a new room for them with Rift Magic."
"Why'd they have to call me, mom? It's weird...But I guess I am. And I do have a lot to teach them." Twilight vehemently sighed while shaking her head. "Even though it looks like they reacted to your Aura. It's because of that, they learned how to speak."
"Yeah. The elixir made them. But do you think it's the Rift Energy inside or something?" Ash asked.
"Maybe. I'll figure that out eventually. But you know..." Twilight twirled her mane before a smile graced her face. She was ready to capitalize on something and it involved Ash. "I don't mind them calling me mom...It makes sense anyway. But it would only make things better if they had a father...Just saying."
"Oh yeah...That would make a full-on family." Ash nodded as Twilight grinned, believing that Ash would say some words that would satisfy her. "Spike!"
"Eh?" Twilight's pupils shrunk. That was not the response she was looking for as she was hoping that Ash would've seen himself as the father, but instead, it was Spike that he chose, kneeling to face the Baby Dragon.
"You were there with them. That makes you their dad, right?" Ash brought a logical point. Spike was there with Twilight after all.
"I guess so. I'm slightly older than them too. But I know more." Spike proudly said. "I'm gonna raise them to be Dragon Traienrs just like me. If they want, that is. No pressure."
"Nevermind..." Twilight sighed as her head and wings would drop. "Ash. Spike. At least help me find them. Just in case something goes wrong. And by tomorrow, I'll have to figure something out since by then, I'll be at the Pokemon School."
Twilight, Ash and Spike would go after the Flora Ponies, who had already travelled away, entering the rest of Ponyville. So far, the Flora Ponies seemed rather harmless. Perhaps it was the fact that they came from gentle plants. Perhaps it was the Aura around them.
However, being incredibly sentient to the point where they are akin to actual ponies, their reactions would vary. Daisy's interests brought her to a table of food that had been made because of Rainbow Dash's celebration. She would creep up on the table, raising her head before resting her neck on it.
"Oooh..." The concept of food to her had been further expanded as she saw more kinds of food compared to what was viewed during that picnic. Granted, she was not aware of their names but she could care less. It was their appearance that made her so curious.
And how would she interact with these? With no one at this table currently, Daisy would tilt her head, opening her mouth as she attempted to eat the food in front of her. And already, she was failing at it. She would clamp her teeth together, at leasting having a concept of biting. But it wouldn't do her any good if she couldn't reach the food. Right now, Daisy was only tasting the air.
"Mmm...Tastes as good as the Sun." And yet, she still tasted something as she brought up the taste of the Sun. At the end of the day, she was a plant at heart, benefitting from the radiance of the sun." Daisy would look at her hoof before realizing she had these to her advantage. "Aah..."
After learning she had hooves to grab, she would do the most logical thing. At least to her. Once again, the daisies would fly out of her hooves as she used those instead of grabbing the food. The stream of daisies would fly over, grabbing chunks of food on the table. After grabbing the food, Daisy would control the flowers to drag the delicacies her way. She would taste the food after dropping it in her mouth, having her own way to grab what she needed.
"Those things can grab as well?!" Twilight gasped after witnessing Daisy using her flowers. And even though no one else was at the table, that didn't stop some ponies from witnessing Daisy's usage of flowers.
It wasn't just Daisy showcasing what she could do. Paradise found herself coming across a line. There was a line for those who took Hibert's advice and were lining up to be taught by him. Curious, Paradise wanted to get involved immediately, but she was a bit too late for that. Many had already gathered, forming a long line that would draw out some time.
"Hmm..." Paradise grumbled as just looking at this long line bothered her. Her eyes would twitch as she certainly wasn't willing to wait that long for the line to shorten. Wanting a quicker process, Paradise would also use her respective flowers. With her hoof out, she summoned a stream of Paradise flowers. The flowers would then move around the legs of everypony, going underneath them.
"Huh? Hey!" A pony cried out as she was dragged away by the Paradise Flowers, moving her to the back of the line where Paradise was now ahead of her. The same would happen for everyone else as they would be swept from their position from these Paradise Flowers.
With each pony being moved out of the way, Paradise would move ahead, heading further into the front. Soon, it would be just her.
"Hm?" Hilbert rubbed his eyes, seeing the order of the line change drastically in a few seconds.
"Hey, no cutting!" The ponies would rant, noticing how their positions have changed thanks to Paradise. All of a sudden, she was now the one in front.
"Uh, Paradise." Ash arrived, kneeling in front of the Flora Pony. "That's not the best way to go about it. You gotta wait for your turn to line up."
"But I don't want to." She said with a blank and monotone tone. Clearly, she had her own feelings about lines that she expressed by moving everyone else out of the way.
"Well, since you're interested in this, how about you come with me? It'll make things quicker for you?" Ash suggested. Judging from how Paradise approached this line, something like this piqued her interest. To save up time for everyone else who lost their positions, Ash would bring Paradise with her.
"What was that all about?" A confused Hilbert said before shrugging it off.
Ash and Twilight would bring the Flora Ponies to Twilight's Castle, where Twilight agreed to keep them at. These two didn't exactly have a home even though Saddle Lake could be considered their home, despite how static they were for many years.
Upon entering, Daisy would immediately gallop inside, using her Flower Transporation to move around. Paradise would take a quick look at the place before also using her unique form of travel.
"Okay. They might be a little chaotic, but that's fine. They're learning. They can stay here for a while until I figure something out. I have a lot to teach them and a lot to research about Flora Ponies. They have a different physiology fro mus and maybe a different set of magic. I'll be stuck in here for a while researching them."
"And I wanna get involved." Ash pointed at himself, wanting to stick around as well. "But you should probably find them first now that they've scattered. After that, Fluttershy and everyone else have gotta meet them."
"Oh, right, right!" Twilight gasped, realizing the mess they could cause inside the castle. "Daisy! Flora! Slow down for once!" The Princess of Friendship would take flight, pursuing after them. But since they scattered, she couldn't choose both locations at the same time. Thankfully, that's why Ash and Spike were here as they would follow the Flora Ponies.
This new species of ponies was certainly curious and fantastical. They carried a ton of potential without a doubt. Daisy and Paradise both had a lot of curiosity within them and both so far had their own way of reacting to things. Considering Twilight Sparkle their mother, the Princess of Friendship had more on her hooves to deal with now.
As for the elixir, it was not yet ready. Granted, it was impressive what it was capable of doing, but to stop the Despair Plants, the elixir didn't seem like it would help stop them at all.
As the journey continues.
Chapter 61 End.