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// Day 2, Part 2: Killer Bugs and Shiny, Green Memories 
// Story: Pikmin 
// by Dunsparce 
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I might end up drowning in my own tears if I keep crying, but I can't stop. I've let my partners down. One of our comrades is dead. DEAD! Because of me! Since then, two more of my Pikmin have vanished, most likely abandoning my stupid flank. Just losing one Pikmin has caused me to lose all hope.

This is where I die; lost and hopeless in a forsaken alien forest. All I can see are the scarred faces of my cute little army. I'm lost in darkness, figuratively at the moment, but soon I'll be lost in the darkness literally and with no way out but death.

Breath escapes my body, carrying my precious time with it. The air tank on my back pesters me to move, but budge I do not. I simply stand in my own depression, horribly awaiting a bulborb or other alien creature to come along and eat me.

Suddenly, a red Pikmin tugs at my side frantically. I can feel his eager heartbeat through my suit as he touches me. A strange sensation, the feeling is. Perhaps he has found something?

The Pikmin pesters me to follow him with tugs on my space suit and odd noises. I can see sweat running down his face. When I finally decide to get up, the others are instantly alerted and rush to me. After mere feet, the Pikmin points into the woods. I peer into the woods and to my knowledge, it seems to be going slightly downhill. I almost question the Pikmin before I see a sparkle in the corner of my eye. Insane I may be, but imagine that I did not. That was real and I intend to find out what. Perhaps there is still hope? Most likely not, but it doesn't hurt to try.

I whistle to grab the Pikmin's attention. Pikmin's? Pikmins'? It appears I haven't discovered a possessive plural version of my new word yet. Anyway, they all jump to an military-like attention stance and await my next move. For the first time in hours, I smile. Smiling never felt so amazing.

The thick forest in front of me is more intimidating than a full grown dragon, but I must push through. I can't let this chance to return slip away! As soon as I take a step into the dark part of the forest, I hear unfamiliar sounds. I shake my head, gulp, and press on into the dark green portal leading to my worst fears with utmost difficulty. 

Those same sounds I hear keep getting louder and louder, creating a reaction of my heart beating faster and faster. I flinch at every sound, every twitch of a leaf that my radar ears and eyes can process. Suddenly, a Pikmin makes a pipsqueak sound to my left and nearly makes me jump a foot. Then, I hear more and more of the same sound. I turn around to see what has grabbed my little troopers' attention, and to my very big surprise, they are climbing a plant stalk. It must be the pink spheres that attracted their attention. What could it hold, I wonder?

Once they reach the top of the stalk, they begin to ruthlessly beat the pink sphere with the leaves on their head. It's as if they're hypnotized by it, never stopping until it cracks and breaks. Suddenly, they all fall off of the red sphere, which actually turned out to be a berry, with sticky yellow fluid following them down in clumps. I stand like a clueless rock, staring at the Pikmin as they begin to slurp up the liquid with an unpleasant sound. The liquid is very sticky, yellow and edible, so I've decided to name it nectar after the similar substance back home. Then, something odd happens; the leaves on their heads turn into flowers! This is an incredible discovery! It is as if the nectar is a type of steroid to Pikmin! If only I had something to write it down on.

Once the nectar becomes completely sucked up, the Pikmin race back to me, jumping with energy and excitement. I suddenly feel… confident. My little troopers show that they’re ready for anything. I grow a determined face as I whip my head toward the thick woods. I still see the sparkle that I saw earlier, except a lot closer. I turn toward my Pikmin fearlessly. 

“Alright, guys, we’re making a run for it. Are you all ready?” I ask to my battalion of little red plants. They jump in the air, probably signaling that they are prepared.

I flinch back at the sparkle with a smile and charge. I hear noises from all around me, but I ignore them. I’m leaping over huge branches and leaves fearlessly and I hear my Pikmin behind me with their tip-toe steps covering every fraction of a second. As the sparkle gets to be put mere feet in front of me, I take a leap of faith into it. I soon find myself sliding down a dirt hill, constantly staining the perfectly white suit I wear on my body. I stop sliding when I hit a hard object. Looking up to see what it is, I can’t believe my eyes. 

Its green glow cannot be mistaken, this is the Sagittarius! Before I left, Spike gave it to me as a present. Looking down at it, my heart fills with sadness. Spike’s reflection appears on the shiny, green dome as I once again shed a tear for the second time today. 

Suddenly, I hear that same grumbling noise I heard throughout the run through the thick forest again, coming from all around. What could it be that is stalking me? I look around but I see nothing! I feel most unnerved, staring into the forest, hearing fear but not seeing it. And then, a scream hurt my heart. The same scream that pierced my soul earlier this day. I look back to my battalion of little red soldiers to see one struggling for his life. I gasp as my heart begins to beat faster than a rock-band drummer solo and I whistle at them as loud as I can. The struggling soldier breaks free from the invisible monster, revealing its true identity. I am in shock to see that the enemy is no more than a bug with fangs. A mere bug shall not disrupt my quest for home! I grow a mean face as I grab a Pikmin from my army.

“Stupid bug,” I shout, “I will see to it that you will not best me! EAT MIDGET PLANT THING!”

I throw the Pikmin harder than I’ve ever thrown anything in my life, and since I’m Twilight Sparkle, that’s not saying much. I’m a bookworm nerd, not a baseball player, which is likely the worst possible physique for a survival situation ever. The Pikmin I threw flies through the air like a rocket and lands directly on top of the bug and slams it hard with its flower. The bug immediately flips over and stops moving and the Pikmin comes rushing back to me. 

“YES!” I cheer, “I win! That wasn’t threatening at all!”

Suddenly, I hear the same sound again and my courage level drops to zero. I hear a scream to my left, then to my right, then two behind me, basically spinning me in circles. I shout and begin to run away from the scene, the free Pikmin following me quickly. After I travel a few yards, I turn around in horror as I see at least four of my best friends getting leisurely munching on by these demon spawned bugs.

“Hey! Stop munching on my friends, you wretched, single-minded bug-thingy!” I yell as I begin to catapult Pikmin from my hooves. At least ten Pikmin rain down on the bugs. I hear clicks, clacks, squeaks and squeals from the mini battlefield before me. I’m sweating up buckets as the battle rages on. After seconds that seemed like days, the horrible sounds came to a stop. The Pikmin rush back to me happily as though nothing happened. I’m astonished by how quickly these creatures’ moods can change.

I stare out into the place of which the battle was held, seeing six total purple bugs on the ground, not moving an inch. I slowly tip-hoof over to the corpses that lay on the ground to get a better look at my enemy. I see that their gigantic pincher-like fangs were not just used for attacking, but for digging. They had been stalking me from underneath the ground. Could this be why Pikmin do not sprout on their own? This is most likely the case, and because of this assumption, I have named the bugs “Shear Grubs”.

While not a threat to my physical body, these Shear Grubs are a threat to the Pikmin, so I must be on my guard. My attention wanes from the dead grubs and shifts to the Sagittarius, still sitting where it was before and just as battle-clean. It is as if it had a shield around it the entire time that protected it from any damage.

The Pikmin surround the Sagittarius and pop it up off of the ground with ease. They carry it over to me and stare at me. I still see little Spike’s reflection in the shiny dome. I know he would want me to not give up, so I must prevail! Equestria cannot do without its element of magic! The problem still remains, however; how will I get back to my ship before sunset?