Pikmin Rescue Mission - Day 1: Far away from home - Part 2
Within the halls of the Castle of Friendship, there was silence. Not a sound to be heard. While eerie at first, Spike found he quite enjoyed the silence. At the moment, he was on his way to do a task Twilight asked him to do, which was to sort books in the library of the castle.
It sounded simple enough. Sort and categorize. Well, it would be simple, had it not be for the sheer height of the library. Seriously, who needs that many books? Well, Spike wasn’t complaining. If it meant a little quiet around the area while the alicorn does her thing, then he could handle using a ladder.
Humming a tune to himself, he made his way to the library. It was at first very easy to get lost within the castle, but it didn’t take too long to get used to.
Spike opened the door and was about to start his work…
…when he froze upon entering the door.
His eyes widened upon seeing some intruders. More specifically, a bunch of tiny, yellow-colored creatures with big, pointy ears. Some had leaves, some had buds, and some had white flowers on their little heads.
The drake didn’t know how to react. What were these things? And what are they doing in the castle? How did they even get inside?
It didn’t like they were doing harm. Some were looking, a few were playing, and a couple more were just standing or laying around idly. Still, Spike had never seen such creatures before.
There was only one thing he could do. So he gently put down the books next to the door, quietly took a few steps back, then proceeded to speed-walk his way to Twilight’s room.
A minute or two later, he made it to the room, panting a little heavily.
He walked over to the alicorn and started tugging on her hoof. “Twilight. Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.”
Twilight scoffed. “Spike, what is it?” she asked, a little annoyed. Any annoyance faded away when she noticed him looking a little frightened. Annoyance morphed into concern. “Is everything alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Please come with me to the library.”
“Okay…?”
Past incidents have taught the Princess of Friendship to not disregard any concern from her assistant. So she decided to do her task later and went with Spike to the library. Her concern only heightened when she saw how quickly he was walking there.
What could be so bad that has Spike so startled?
Sure enough, his worry passed on to Twilight when she saw what was in the library. Tiny yellow creatures with big ears and flower stems, leaves, buds and flowers varied. Not much changed from their previous actions, Spike noted to himself.
One of them almost looked at them, but the duo quietly shut the door in time, leaving a gap big enough for them to see but not be seen. They didn’t know what to expect, were they about to be hostile or something?
The same creature gestured their direction to its comrades, not towards them, but towards the books, which slightly made the duo weirded out. However, worry slowly but surely turned into wonder when the alicorn and drake saw what the creatures started doing.
They all rushed over to the books, and started carrying them. Some of them tossed each other - quite high, the duo had to note - and some of them, on top of the books, started doing somersaults, which moved the books to the ground.
Afterwards, a couple of them formed into groups and started carrying the books towards the shelves. A few more went forward and started sorting themselves into more groups. Some were on the bottom, and some were at the empty places, where the books were initially supposed to go.
Once a book reached the bottom of the shelves, with timed movements, the creatures tossed the book up to the other ones, who tossed it higher, and the last couple of ones sorted the books into the empty spaces.
Twilight and Spike looked in awe as the little creatures were able to organize themselves so incredibly well, and perform a task together an individual creature would deem implausible. As tiny as they were, they were outstandingly intelligent, as well as particularly assiduous.
A couple of minutes later, all the books were sorted, and the creatures performed some somersaults, seemingly a celebratory reaction.
“D-Did you-did you see that?” Spike asked.
“I did…” the princess replied. “Fascinating ones, they are. Though I wonder, what are they?”
Before Spike could say anything, one of the creatures pointed upwards, catching the attention of the other creatures. He and Twilight looked up to see what it was pointing at. The gem lamp on the ceiling?
The duo looked back to see the creatures climbing up the bookshelves. After a while, with surprisingly big jumps, the creatures made it to the lamp.
Twilight felt uneasy. What were they planning to do with it? Steal it? Damage it?
Playing with it, however, was something she had not expected.
All of them did different things, some just sat, some hugged the lights, some passed little lights back and forth, some emitted… sparks?
As if Spike and Twilight weren’t perplexed enough by the mysterious (but oddly endearing) tiny intruders, some of them started emitting sparks of electricity, and the ones that had buds had said buds light up as if they were Hearth's Warming Eve lights.
“Twilight, what is going on here?” Spike whispered, not taking his eyes off the creatures.
“I have no idea, Spike…” Twilight muttered.
Uneasiness returned when one of the creatures made eye contact with the duo. It also seemed nervous, and gestured to its comrades, and after a few seconds, all of them were looking at the drake and the alicorn.
“What do we do?” Spike whispered.
Twilight moved forward a bit. “Hello!” she said. “Are… are you… harmless?”
Spike gave her a look that said, ‘Seriously?’
Some of the creatures looked at each other, and a few then started making sounds towards them. Were they trying to say something? Some of them perked up a little, and started looking around, searching for something. It was becoming a bit of a cacophony.
The duo sighed in unison. “Where’s Fluttershy when you need her?” Twilight asked out loud.
“Um, I’m right here.”
They yelped upon hearing the quiet pegasus’s voice. “Oh, I’m sorry… I-I didn’t mean to scare you.” Fluttershy bashfully whispered.
Twilight exhaled. “It’s fine, but… we have a little bit of a situation.” she gestured to the creatures, who were all now looking at Fluttershy.
“Oh!” she smiled. “More Pikmin!”
“Pik-what?”
Twilight and Spike didn’t get an answer, but instead a loud, sharp whistle from the pegasus. The creatures - Pikmin, was it? - all perked up, jumped over to the bookshelves, and after climbing down, ran over to Fluttershy, and jumped in her mane.
Fluttershy giggled in endearment. Meanwhile all Twilight and Spike could do was gawk.
“Wha-eh-wha-ha-how???” Twilight exclaimed, causing Fluttershy to giggle more.
“They react to whistling. The Pikmin, I mean.”
“Fluttershy, what the hay is a Pikmin?” Spike bursted.
Twilight gasped. “Spike!”
“What? You were thinking the same thing!”
Twilight then turned back to Fluttershy. “But seriously… little creatures called.. Pikmin? What is going on here?”
“Perhaps I can offer an insight.” They heard a deep, male voice from the latter’s mane. Then another strange little being with a big nose wearing a spacesuit popped up from the mare’s mane.
Spike blinked. “… can this day get any weirder…?”
The drake felt more than unsettled staring into the seemingly lifeless eyes of the little creatures known as Pikmin. Red and Yellow Pikmin, he was told. The Red Pikmin each had noses, the Yellow Pikmin had big ears.
They just… stared. Some tilted their heads. What was going on through their little heads?
He took a step back… and they took one forward. Another step back. Another step forward. After a while, he sped up a little, and one of the Red Pikmin started running towards him.
“GAAAH! Get away from me!” he yelled as the little creature chased him. The other Pikmin started laughing at the exchange between the two species.
In the meantime, Twilight and Fluttershy sat down as the other creature hopped onto the table.
“Forgive me for all of this, this was not at all planned,” he apologized. “This is all a new experience for me as well, as it is for you.”
“Oh, well,” Twilight started. “It's alright, no harm has been done. Maybe a scare here and there, but otherwise these creatures appear quite… amicable, I would say.”
“Not to mention adorable…” Fluttershy quietly added.
“Quite, and very helpful little companions as well.” the little spaceman said. “Oh, I do apologize, I don’t believe I have introduced myself. I’m Captain Olimar, captain of the S.S. Dolphin, the spacecraft I operate.”
“A pleasure, Captain Olimar,” Twilight smiled. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, former pupil of our prestigious ruler Princess Celestia.”
“She’s also the Princess of Friendship.” Fluttershy said, attempting to be a little cheeky.
“Princess?” Olimar asked, surprised, before beginning to bow. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I bow, or…?”
“Oh no no no!” Twilight shook her hooves frantically. “That’s not necessary! I haven’t been a princess for that long, I just… I’m still not used to the title.”
“Okay, that’s understandable.” Olimar said. “But anyways, I have not arrived for small talk. I, along with the Pikmin and my crew, were on our way home, when their nest, which I named the Onion, started behaving rather erratically. Before I knew it, it was descending towards this planet, and so I flew after the Onion to help the Pikmin.” Olimar looked down sadly. “But alas, the Onion separated and spread across the area.”
Olimar looked at Fluttershy and smiled. “It was thanks to your friend Fluttershy that I was able to find some Red Pikmin, and it was quite lucky that we found the Yellow Pikmin here.” He then went into thought. “Unfortunately, I have not a clue where to search next. She suggested we come see you about this predicament.”
“Captain Olimar mentioned eight Pikmin kinds in total.” Fluttershy continued. “Each of them has their own Onion. He also mentioned Glow Pikmin, but… i-it’s unlikely they made it here.”
“Right, thank you.”
“I see…” Twilight hummed in thought. “If there are eight of them, they must each prefer their own environment. Tell me, what kinds of Pikmin exist?”
“There are red, blue, yellow, purple and white for the same color, as well as Rock Pikmin, Winged Pikmin, and Ice Pikmin. The red ones are fire-resistant, yellow can conduct electricity, blue can breathe underwater, purple have the strength of ten Pikmin, and white can resist any acid-like substance. And I believe the latter three are self-explanatory, adapted to earth, sky, and cold environments respectively.”
As Olimar was explaining, the gears in Twilight’s head were turning actively. From his descriptions, she could already name a dozen possible locations of the missing Pikmin. Now all they had to do was test the credibility of her theories.
That may have to wait though, as Twilight might have a question answered to a discovery she made that morning. Specifically, what she was researching before Spike alerted her to the Pikmin, as well as Fluttershy and Olimar having made their appearances.
“Tell me… what does an Onion look like?”
“Well,” Olimar started. “Like the name suggests, it resembles the shape of an onion, it has a sprout on top as well.”
“Would it happen to be white on the outside and yellow on the inside, resembling a daisy?”
Olimar’s little eyes widened. “Why yes! Have you found an Onion?!”
That surprised both ponies. “Wait, that was an Onion?! Is that why the Yellow Pikmin were in my home?!”
The captain then had an idea. “Fluttershy, would you please help me outside of the castle?”
A few minutes later, everyone was outside of the Castle of Friendship, on the side. Spike stood near Twilight, Fluttershy to her right, and Olimar, along with the squad of Red and Yellow Pikmin stood a few meters away from the Equestrian trio.
Olimar turned around. “Before we look for the Yellow Onion, I suppose it would be a wise idea to move my base here. Princess Twilight, would you mind?”
Twilight smiled. “Not at all. And please, just call me Twilight.”
Olimar nodded and got out a little electronic device. A tablet, he said it was called. After tapping a few buttons, he put it away and turned around, seemingly waiting for something. A minute or so passed in silence, occasionally broken by some Pikmin hums, after which Olimar pointed to something in the sky.
It seemed to be a spacecraft, and next to it was an interesting looking ship, completely red with a sprout on the top. Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike looked in wonder as they came closer, and eventually landed next to each other, in front of them.
Fluttershy looked in wonder. That must be the S.S. Dolphin. And could that be…?
“That’s it!” Twilight exclaimed while pointing to it, as the nest gave out a little light underneath it. “It looked just like that, only yellow!”
Fluttershy then heard multiple little voices.
“The nest! She found the yellow nest!”
“Huzzah! Our nest is here!”
“I knew we came to the right place!”
She looked a little strained. All the little creatures were talking and exclaiming all at once. It became quite overstimulating for her.
“Everyone! Settle down, please!” Fluttershy suddenly yelled, getting the attention of every being. The Pikmin stopped and all just stared at her. She then realized what she just did and instantly shrunk in on herself. “O-oh, I-I-I’m so so sorry, I d-didn’t mean to yell… o-oh my…”
“Is… everything okay?” Olimar asked, concerned. “I did not assume the Pikmin would be this loud, normally their commotions do not pester my ears. Granted, I assume your ears are more sensitive than mine, as they are bigger too…”
“I think I know what the matter is.” Twilight chimed in. “Fluttershy’s special ability, aside from being an exceptional caretaker, is Zoolingualism. While the Pikmin may sound unintelligible to us, Fluttershy understands every word they say. I suppose her trait extends to beings outside of Equestria too!”
Olimar’s tiny eyes widened. “Oh my word… so you mean to say that she can communicate with the creatures with direct speech instead of a mere whistle? That’s amazing!” He looked at Fluttershy, who seemed to be doing okay now. “You never cease to amaze me, Miss Fluttershy! Your world is absolutely full of wonder! May I log this entry, please?”
“O-oh! Um, a-alright, I suppose…”
“Splendid! Thank you!”
Twilight cleared her throat. “As much as I would love for you to note down your findings… can we deal with the Onion in my backyard, please?”
Olimar looked at her sheepishly. “Ah, yes! My apologies. Please lead us to the Onion.” Olimar then pressed a button on his spacesuit, and the three metal lines near his mouth changed to a whistle. He then blew it and all the Pikmin perked up, and went over to him.
A minute later, everyone was behind the Castle of Friendship, where Twilight led them to what appeared to be a familiar looking craft in the ground behind the castle.
Olimar cheered upon seeing the Yellow Onion, and the Pikmin cheered alongside him, causing Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike to smile.
“Huh, y’know what?” Spike said. “They’re actually kinda adorable, in a strange way.”
“Uhh, Spike?” Twilight commented, as Fluttershy giggled. The drake then noticed that some Yellow Pikmin were somersaulting on his scales.
“AHH! GET THEM OFF, GET THEM OFF!”
He quickly shook the Pikmin off, but they got up quickly. They seemed annoyed.
“Sheesh, no need to be so jumpy…”
“You’re ten times our size, and you’re the one scared of us…?”
“We could easily be your next meal, at this rate…”
One Yellow Pikmin smacked the other on the head.
“Hey! Don’t give him any ideas!”
“Oh come on, it’s not like he can understand us…”
… they then slowly looked back at the drake, equally as uneasy as he was. “… right?”
“So…” Twilight started. “First things first, let’s get the Onion out of the ground.”
The alicorn’s horn lit up, causing Olimar and the Pikmin to all stare in awe. She attempted to lift the Onion out of the ground, but not five seconds passed when the Yellow Pikmin began acting strange. They disbanded, not listening to Olimar, one half went in front of the nest, while the other half charged at Twilight.
“Don’t touch our nest!”
“Eep!” Twilight yelped. “W-what?”
“Um, Twilight, I… don’t think the Pikmin are t-too happy with you trying to move their nest…”
“B-But I was just…” the alicorn looked despondent.
“I believe I have an explanation for that…” Olimar started, having already switched back to his translator. “You see, the Onion is sacred to the Pikmin. It serves not only as their home and means of transport, but also as a means of reproduction. Not only that, but the Onion regulates the Pikmin population themselves, more specifically on how many can be outside at a time.”
He looked down in worry. “I believe that if something were to happen to the Onion… it would eventually bring about a Pikmin extinction.”
Fluttershy gasped. “E-Extinction? You mean… they could d-die out?”
Olimar looked quite sad. “Let’s just say… PNF-404 is not a kind home to the Pikmin.”
In that moment Twilight realized, in her hastiness to help, she had forgotten to consider the thought process of the little creatures themselves. The captain was right, if the nest was a home for the Pikmin as well as the craft responsible for their existence, then in their place, she would be just as protective over it as well.
“Sweet Celestia, you’re right. I would be just as worried as they are. I’m so sorry, Pikmin.” Her statement seemed to relax the Yellow Pikmin, and they went back to the rest of the squad of Red Pikmin.
The Hocotatian then smiled. “But worry not. Why don’t we let the Pikmin help out?” With that said, he switched back to the whistle and blew it, and with that, around twenty Yellow Pikmin rushed to the Yellow Onion, and started digging all together, making little sounds as they did.
Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy were all surprised at just how organized they worked. Whilst the latter two had witnessed it before, this was Fluttershy’s first time seeing Pikmin work together as a group. She was astonished to see just how smart they were, despite being so small.
“Wow, look at them dig!” Spike exclaimed.
“At this rate, Yellow Pikmin dig as quickly as diamond dogs dig for gems… it’s incredible to see how diligent they are! Fascinating!” Twilight commented with a smile.
“A-actually, I would compare them more to ants than d-diamond dogs…” Fluttershy added with a slight smile.
Twilight made a small gasp. “Of course! It makes sense! Pikmin work together in groups, organize and perform tasks quickly and efficiently, and aid each other just like a colony! They’re like ants in the form of half plant, half animal-like creatures!”
Olimar smiled. “I am not entirely sure what ants are, but if they are as diligent as you say, then the Pikmin may just have a Dandori competition.”
The Equestrians looked confused. “Gesundheit?” Spike asked.
Before the captain could explain, he heard cheers behind him, signaling the Yellow Pikmin had finished digging. As they turned around, they picked up the Yellow Onion and began to take it away.
“Uh, where are they bringing it?” Spike asked, to which Olimar only smiled.
“You shall see.”
Observed by a group of Red and Yellow Pikmin, twenty Yellow Pikmin brought the Yellow Onion back to the Red Onion, much to the confusion of the Equestrians. What significance did it have to bring one Onion to the other?
They were about to find out, as the Red Onion seemed to sense the Yellow Onion near instantaneously. It sucked up the Yellow Onion, and it turned the Red Onion’s color to yellow, then back to red, before it began spinning with red sparks surrounding it. Before anyone knew it, the Onions fused together to create a bi-color red and yellow Onion. It then sprouted out a yellow seed, and as it burrowed into the ground, a leaf came out.
The trio had mixed emotions, from perplexity, to awe, to wonder, to curiosity. Two extraterrestrial crafts merging into one was not a sight they were used to.
“Miss Fluttershy, would you please?” Olimar asked, gesturing to the sprout in the ground. While Twilight and Spike were unfamiliar with the sprout, Fluttershy already knew it was a Yellow Pikmin, waiting to be plucked. She spread a wing, walked over to it, and gently plucked the Pikmin out of the ground.
It performed a backflip as it came out, as well as another, higher somersault when it touched the ground, emitting sparks as it looked around curiously. It had its eyes fixated on the one who plucked it, tilting its head in a rather adorable manner.
Fluttershy smiled brightly and kneeled down to the Pikmin. “Aren’t you just the most precious little thing?”
“The sun! It’s setting!”
She was alerted to a Red Pikmin pointing at the horizon, and the sun was indeed beginning to set. That brought about uneasiness onto Olimar and the Pikmin.
“Oh dear. Time flies when you’re at work.” he commented. “I should probably be heading back into the Dolphin.”
The Equestrians looked confused. “Er, why?” Spike asked.
“The habit I have is flying alongside the Onion into orbit. It is normally safe there, and the Pikmin are also unharmed that way.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary.” Twilight waved them off. “You’re more than welcome to stay in the castle, both you and the Pikmin, Captain.”
The Hocotatian looked surprised, along with the critters. “I would not want to impose, Miss Twilight…”
“Nonsense. The castle is big enough to house the entire population of Ponyville.” Twilight smiled wryly. “Trust me, I witnessed it firsthoof.”
Captain Olimar still looked a little unsure, but some Yellow Pikmin went over to Olimar and started talking. The Hocotatian may not have understood it, but Fluttershy understood multiple statements. It all came down to the same context.
“It’s safe here. Let’s stay here.”
Olimar still looked unsure.
“T-The Yellow Pikmin said that it’s s-safe here.” Fluttershy quietly assisted Olimar in communication. It caught the captain a little off-guard, but he quickly recovered.
“Well, in that case, I thank you dearly for your assistance, Miss Twilight.” Olimar smiled at Twilight, while a few Pikmin cheered.
Twilight was about to respond, until Spike tugged on her a little. The drake gestured to her, asking if she could come to the side for a bit. That left Fluttershy together with the extraterrestrial beings.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Twilight…?” Spike asked the princess uneasily, still a little freaked out by the Pikmin. “We don’t exactly know what they’re capable of…”
“Spike, come on.” Twilight sighed in exasperation. “The captain and the Pikmin are stranded on our planet. The least we can do to help them is give them shelter.”
“I dunno…”
“I’ll get you some of your favorite gems to snack on.”
“Deal!”
What a crazy day.
Fluttershy had never in her life thought that this would ever be a possibility. Not just the meeting of creatures from different planets, but the opportunity itself to meet new creatures, creatures that are plant-based as well, simply astonished her. She still had to get her head wrapped around it. Even now, all she could do was smile as she watched a few Pikmin play outside the Onion. A cloth was prepared on the table in the library, as well as a flower pot of soil for the Onion. She then noticed three Pikmin having a bit of a conversation.
“Shouldn’t we go into the nest?” a Red Pikmin asked two Yellow Pikmin.
“It’s okay. It’s safe here.”
“How do we know that?”
“Have any creatures here tried to eat you yet?”
“Well… that scaly creature was eyeing me a bit…”
“Don’t worry about Spike,” Fluttershy said to the Pikmin, getting their attention. “He may be a baby dragon, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Besides, he prefers to eat gems over, er… creatures.”
They looked unsure. “If that’s so true, why does he keep watching us?” the Yellow Pikmin on the right asked.
She simply shrugged. “Let’s just say it’s a new experience to meet creatures from another world. Besides, we don’t exactly know what you guys can do. And Spike knows less than us.”
That silenced them. “Okay, I guess I can understand that…” the Red Pikmin said.
“Now, it’s getting late. You should go into your nest.”
“Like I said!” the Red Pikmin said with pride, saddening the two Yellow Pikmin.
“But I wanna keep playing…”
“Me too…”
“Rest is important, you need to regenerate your energy for tomorrow. We have a long day ahead of us.” Fluttershy said in an almost motherly tone.
The Yellow Pikmin still looked saddened, but understood, and went back to the Onion. The Red Pikmin stayed.
“Hey, uh…” It looked sheepish. “Thank you for plucking me. I normally don’t say that, but I was scared. I’m glad you found me and not something else.”
That was when she realized that this was the first Pikmin she plucked, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but coo at what the little one said. She lowered her face to the table, carefully nudging the Red Pikmin in a light nuzzle. “You’re very welcome, little one. I’m also glad to have found you and your friends.”
The Red Pikmin hugged her cheek upon her saying that, and the pegasus felt her heart explode.
This was quite a day, indeed. And Fluttershy was excited to meet the rest of the Pikmin. She only prayed that wherever they were right now, they were okay.