//------------------------------//
// Third Lesson- Posey Search 
// Story: The Magnificent Six 
// by Paradise Oasis 
//------------------------------//

Third Lesson- Poesy Search

"Your highness, we searched high and low!" an out of breath Twilight exclaimed, galloping back to Cadence's passenger car. "Poesy's nowhere to be found on board!"

The train had pulled in for a stop at a station, halfway between Bright Valley and Fort Rainbow Dash. The four fillies had searched from the coal car to the baggage compartment, and had so far turned up empty hooved.

"Are you certain of this, Twilight?" the Princess asked, a look of worry growing on her face. "Did you and your friends check absolutely every possible spot on the train?"

"I even checked the roof, though horsemaster knows what she's be doing up there!" Firefly snorted. "I'm afraid she might have fallen off the train when we were moving!"

"Oh no!" Glory Wailed, trying to hold back tears. "Poor Poesy!"

"She didn't fall off the train, Poesy was taken!" a snarling and snorting Steamer came trotting into the car, throwing a bag of sparkling dust onto the table in front of Cadence. "This was collected off the back rail of the caboose, where Posey was last seen standing!"

"Flutter Ponies!" The alicorn snorted, looking down at the bag of Flutter sleep pollen. "I might have known they'd be behind this!"

"The Flutter Ponies?!?" Twilight was aghast. "They must have realized her connection to Fluttershy, and nabbed Poesy to 'free' her from our evil influence!"

"That poor gal!" Firefly snorted, before readying herself to charge off. "Lemme at those bug- winged clowns, I'll mess em up good!"

"Yeah, what are we waiting for? Lets go get our girl back!" AJ agreed, stamping her hoof. "Nobody just takes off with our friend like that and gets away with it!"

"Steamer, let them off the train at the ponyspire pass in the black mountains. They can make their way south from there," Cadence ordered the teenage colt. "You and I shall continue on to Fort Rainbow Dash, where we shall inform them what has occurred!"

"But my lady, I can't do that!" Steamer protested, stamping his hoof. "I can't just leave the lovely Miss Posey to-"

"That's an order, young colt!" she snorted. "It's your duty to see the rest of the passengers on this train safely to Fort Rainbow Dash! Leave the rescuing and heroics to the women!"

"Don't worry, Steamer!" Surprise giggled. "We'll bring Posey back in one piece!"

"Come on, girls!" Glory agreed, making for the door of the passenger car. "Let's get a move on! We gotta teach those flutter freaks a lesson!"

...

The six fillies got off the train and made their way into the deep into the woods. From the trees, two flutter fillies watched them make their way down the path.

"So, they're going to try and attack us to get their friend back!" Morning Glory snorted. "Typical embrace of violence from lesser ponies!"

"Well, to be fair Morning, they are trying to rescue their friend that we kidnapped!" A flutter with a pink coat and mane countered. "How would you react if the queen or I got taken?"

"Why Honeysuckle! Are you siding with them?" her disbelieving friend asked. "I can't believe you'd even think that we're in the wrong?"

"Anyway, we should follow them, and make sure they don't ruin our queen's plans!" The two took off, flittering silently after the five fillies.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Glory asked, looking ahead at the creepy path ahead.

"Sure I'm sure!" Twilight replied, her horn glowing. "I detect the trail of flutter dust, leading off in this direction!"

"Boy, this trail sure is spooky!" Applejack commented, looking at the bent and gnarled trees that seemed to suck up the sunlight, preventing it from getting through the branches. "This place reminds me of something out of a Halloween story!"

"Aw, come on, girls! It's not that bad!" Surprise bounced up to one of the bent trees, staring at a part that looked like a scary face. "My family has always said you need to giggle at the ghosties!" She looked at the tree. "Ha ha ha!"

"ROOOAAAAAARRRRR!" The tree howled back, raising it's branches at her like arms.

"AIEEEEEEE!" Surprise wailed, flying away in a panic. "It's alive! Run!"

"Watch it, girls!" Twilight called out. "These trees have been enchanted!"

The trees began hurling wooden spikes from their own bodies, trying to impale the ponies to the ground.

"Hey, watch it, ya overgrown shrub!" Firefly snapped, dodging several of the spikes by zipping through the air.

"Oy, these things are annoying!" Applejack snorted, dodging to and fro to avoid a splintery death. "Why don't our two unicorns burn these things up?"

"Good idea!" Twilight exclaimed as she and Glory lowered their horns. "Time for the world's biggest campfire!"

The two unicorns unleashed a stream of hot flames, incinerating the trees and their projectiles in a fiery blast. But the girls soon found the flames spreading, and soon the entire woods were ablaze!

"Aieee! Run for it!" Glory wailed, as she Twilight, and AJ galloped away. "Or all our gooses are gonna be cooked!"

"Ugh! I don't wanna be a crispy critter!" Firefly snorted, soaring ahead of the flames. "Remind me to never encourage those two pyros ever again!"

"I always wanted to roast marshmallows over an open fire!" Surprise agreed, flying after her friend. "I never wanted to BE a roasted marshmallow!"

"I didn't know we had living trees of death as a defense!" Morning Glory whinnied, astounded. "How did our military develop those without unicorn magic?"

"Those aren't part of our defenses!" Honeysuckle added, her eyes narrowing. "Someone else is trying to strike at the new harmony bearers!"

The two fillies looked back towards the other five ponies, who continued talking.

"It was the witches, I'm sure of it!" Twilight snorted angrily. "They are the only ones who would try and do us in like this!"

"You sure it wasn't one of those flutter ponies?" Firefly grumbled. "I don't think they'd be exactly eager to see us find their hidden kingdom!"

"They don't have this kind of magic, Firefly!" Glory told her. "And we already know Hydia's been dogging us every step of the way!"

"We'd better be careful then, girls!" Applejack snorted. "We don't know when those spell casters, or the flutter ponies, might try to attack us again!"

"You ponies worry too much!" Surprise giggled, flying above them. "We'll get Posey back, and everything''ll be fine!"

"I wish we could have your confidence, ya overgrown clown!" Firefly snapped. "You don't take anything seriously, this is all just one big game to you!"

"Hey! My friends’ lives are not just a game!" the white Pegasus snorted, flying up into Firefly's face. "I just have a little more hope that thing will turn out ok in the end! AND I don't worry my mane out about every little thing!"

"Well, it'd be nice if ya worried about something!" Firefly yelled back. "You're idea of dealing with a threat is to squirt it with a water flower and put a whoopee cushion on it's seat!"

"Well! I guess some ponies just know as much as they think they do!" the indignant white Pegasus snorted, flying ahead. "I'll just be flying up here, while you grumpy old nags trot back there and complain!"

"Would you two please cut it out!" Twilight yelled angrily. "If we're going to rescue Posey, we need to work together!"

"It's no use trying to work with her, Twi!" Firefly growled, rolling her eyes. "Surprise is only good if ya wanna put a stink bomb in somebody's bed!"

"Yer selling her too short to quickly Firefly!" Applejack warned her as the five ponies trotted down the path. "If she's half of the pony her ancestor was supposed to be, there may be more to that filly than you can possibly know..."

...

"Y-you want me to drink this?" the timid Poesy asked, staring at the Flutter pony uncertainly. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Don't worry, my dear! It's perfectly safe!" Wingsong smiled sweetly, trying to reassure the earth filly. "Just drink this, and we'll let you go home!"

"Posey, don't do it!" Prince Clover whinnied, slamming his hooves against the cage. "Who knows what vile substance they put in that drink!"

"Be silent, stallion! You'll be going home to your mare soon enough!" the flutter mare snorted. "Besides, do you actually think  we'd hurt the descendant of our own patron pony!?!"

In the background, Posey saw an unhappy Flutter mare staring at her sadly, almost apologetically. The mare seemed to be fighting back tears, even as her eyes shifted back and forth from Posey to the drink.

"Dr. Cloud Puff, our dear physician, prepared this medication specifically for your nerves!" Wingsong shoved the bubbling purple concoction into Posey's face. "Trust me, one sip of this, and you'll feel better than you ever have in your life!"

Posey closed her eyes, lowered her head, and nodded. "Okay, I'll have a sip."

Taking the mug from the eager Flutter Pony, Posey looked back up at the now-weeping Cloud Puff, and smiled.

"It's okay, doctor! Don't feel bad!" Posey told her, downing the liquid. "I forgive you."

Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen, at first. It was only a few seconds before Poesy started to sputter and cough. The yellow earth pony suddenly collapsed, her body twitching and going into spasms.

"Uh-ungh- igh- aieeeeeee!" she screamed in agony, tears streaming down her face. "Ahhhhh! Make it stop!"

Slowly, a pair of insect wings began to grow and uncoil from her back, even as the yellow earth filly whined and shrieked from the pain. Her new wings extended to full size and strength, quickly drying and crystallizing in the dim light.

"Goodbye, Poesy of Bright Valley." Wingsong smiled eagerly. "Hello, Starry Wing of Flutter Valley!"

"What have you done to me?" Poesy wailed, looking back at her newly formed wings. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!?"

"You-you animals!" Prince Clever Clover roared. "How could you do this?!? Have you no conscience?"

"Well done, Doctor Puff!" Wingsong congratulated her, as they trotted out of the jail. "I shall make sure you are well rewarded for your services!"

"The serum is a liquid form of the ancient flutterwing spell, so it's effects are temporary," Cloud Puff snorted. "You'll need to keep giving her the treatments to keep her from reverting to an earth pony. I've given the formula to your lackeys so they can keep making more!"

"Thank you, Cloud!" She smiled, staring back in at the weeping filly. "You have done a great service to your kingdom!"

"You self-righteous monster! How dare you!?" the doctor snapped. "You have perverted my medical craft into an abomination, twisting everything I stood for!"

"You'll see things differently soon enough, my dear doctor!" Wingsong snorted as she trotted away from Cloud Puff. "...and so shall our dear queen!"

....

"You should not have sent them on a dire mission like this!" a concerned voice whispered in her mind. "Twilight and her friends weren’t ready for this!"

"This will make them ready, my love." Princess Cadence told the voice. "Remember how your sister and the other original six helped us with King Sombra? Twilight and her friends shall be Harmony Bearers forged in the fires of conflict!"

"There is more than battle to being a harmony bearer, Cadence!" the voice chastised her. "They have other skills and abilities that will have to be tested!"

"It's not easy training them on my own, Shining!" the alicorn whinnied sadly. "I wish you were still here in body to assist me!"

"It is only through the power of our lifebond that I am here at all!" Shining's voice echoed softly. "I will never leave you, my darling, no matter what may come!"

"But you would be here in body, as well as spirit..." Cadence replied guiltily. "...were it not for my incredible stupidity!"

The voice said nothing more, for the remainder of the train trip.