//------------------------------// // Fascinating Nature // Story: My Little Pony Next Generation: The New Harmony! // by Alphamon_Ouryuken //------------------------------// Prism Bolt rose from the thick canopy of the forest and hovered in place for a few seconds, eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary. A trail of smoke, blue flames, prissy whining. Anything that could point to the presence of their friends. When he couldn’t spot any sign of them, he descended back from where he came through and met again with Starburst, Turquoise and Anthea. “Nothing yet,” he announces with a disappointed sigh. “They’re probably still stuck in that tunnel.” Star let out a sigh before looking at the other two ponies. T looked down in miserable disappointment while Annie was more subdued with her reaction. ‘Like she often does,’ thought Starburst. “Very well. We need to keep pushing forward, we’ve wasted more than enough time and aren’t still close to the ruins.” She said as she started walking forward, with everypony else falling back behind. “If only that jerk dragon lady had let us in her cave we’d been done a lot sooner.” Prism said before noticing Annie snickering for some reason. “There’s no point on keep wallowing on that, Prism. At least we got away without severe injuries.” Starburst rebutted. “Hmm, if you say so.” He conceded. After a few seconds of just walking in complete silence, Prism let out a frustrated groan. “I’m bored.” Starburst’s eye twitched. “And what exactly do you want me to do?” She asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “Easy, grumpy-pants. I was going to suggest we all play a road game or something.” “Ooh! Let’s play ‘I Spy!’” Anthea suddenly called. “I’ll start. I Spy with my little eye something green.” “It’s me.” T deadpanned. “Wow, you’re good!” Anthea giggled before glancing in Star’s direction. “Ok, I see with my little eye… somepony that has a big-” “Annie!” T interrupted. “-pair of wings.” Anthea finished, giving her boyfriend a coy glance. “What did you think I was gonna say?” She asked as T looked away to hide his blush. The two pegasi simply rolled their eyes, Prism in amusement and Star in indifference, before continuing talking. “Seriously shorty, we should do something else besides walking.” “I understand what you’re trying to do, Prism.” Starburst immediately said. “You want to distract everypony from what has happened, lift our spirits. But right now we can’t afford any distractions. We have to remain focu-WAUGH!” Something had snuck between Star’s and Prism’s hooves and had tied itself around them. They were lifted from the ground and unceremoniously dropped a few hooves back. After recovering from the surprise, Starburst scanned the area to find their assailant, but with no luck. Prism Bolt on the other hoof, was too surprised to move, but not too much to stop him from expressing his thoughts. “What in the hay was that?!” “I don’t know!” Replied Star, who still couldn't find the creature that snared them. “What happened?” Annie asked from behind the group. “Something grabbed me and Shorty and threw us away!” Said Prism, finally getting on his hooves. “Did you see where it went?” “No. And I don’t see any kind of movement either.” Said Starburst, who folded back her giant wings and took a tentative step forward. When nothing happened, she took another step but was immediately lifted from the ground and dropped backwards. “Okay, what is going on?!” “Did anypony see what it was?” Anthea asked, raising her voice above Star’s. “It looked like some kind of vine.” Blitz answered, eyes fixed on the treetops. “You mean like a Plunder-Vine?” T ask, nervously wrapping his wing around Anthea. “No, those are more aggressive than this.” Annie explained diligently. “I think I know what it might be. Does anypony see a big, pink bud somewhere?” Soon enough, the three other ponies spotted a bright pink, onion-shaped bud growing on the ground a few gallops away from where they were standing. From beneath the bud, they could see several roots and vines growing into the ground and the treetops in a gnarled mess of vines and branches. “Question: How didn’t we notice that before we began looking for it?” Prism pointed out. “Well, there’s the bud.” Starburst deadpanned before addressing the blind unicorn. “What is it?” “It's a Ticklish Bloom,” Annie explained with a worrisome tone. “It doesn’t like anything getting near it's bud, so it’ll try to keep us away from it.” “Okay then. Let’s just go around it and move on.” Star states, eyeing the plant cautiously. “That could literally take us hours, Star.” Annie replies. “Ticklish Blooms aren’t arbitrary about what is too near for them, so the radius of their territory is never constant. It could cover three meters from this bud to where we’re standing on this edge, but it could be five kilometers from the bud to the edge opposite from where we are. There’s no way to know. We would be wasting a lot of time going around it.” “Then what about flying over it?” Starburst asked. “Or does it also dislike things going above it?” “Pretty much, yeah.” Anthea confirms with a frown. “There is a way to get through its territory, however.” She adds. “Somepony has to get near it and tickle it.” There was a stagnant silence after Annie revealed the trick to get past this new problem. This silence was broken by the exasperated sigh of an orange pegasus. “Seriously?! Is it literally a ticklish plant!?” Star asks incredulously. “And let me guess, the reason it doesn’t want us near is because it doesn’t want us to tickle it, correct? Then how is tickling it gonna help us in any way?!” “Well, duh! It’ll actually make it stop from pushing us back.” Prism said, suddenly having a mirthful smirk on his face. “Ugh. This doesn’t make a lick of sense.” Starburst muttered bitterly. “We're in the Everfree Forest,” Prism retorted. “The only thing that makes less sense than this place is Mr. Discord.” “Besides, this is the only way past that plant. If you move fast enough, you might be able to dodge the vines and get near the bud.” Annie explains. “See Shorty? It’s a race now.” Prism claims, his previous mood long gone. “The first pony to tickle the onion wins!” Starburst directed a deadpan glare at her fellow pegasus. “This is serious, Prism. There’s no time for silly games.” “Then what if we bet on it?” He said with a toothy grin. “If I win, I get to call you ‘your majesty’ for a year, and you can’t complain.” “That’s not gonna happen!” She interrupts. “But if you win, I stop calling you ‘Shorty’ for an entire year.” Prism continues. “I-” Star trailed off at the mention of what Prism is willing to do if she wins. The offer is tempting. Still, the idea of making this task a silly competition is bound to just be a waste of time. “We’re not racing to tickle the bloom. And that’s final.” Surprisingly, Prism simply shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He said… ...right before crouching to a running position. “ReadygetsetGO!” He shouted as he darted into their target, taking sharp turns left and right as vines started to reach out for him. “Hey! I wasn’t ready!” Star screamed behind Prism as she flew into the gnarled maze after him. “Should I help out?” T asked as he stood beside Anthea. “Nah, let the love-birds have their fun.” Annie replied with a silly smile. T gave his marefriend a sceptical look. “You know they’re not a couple, right?” “Let me dream, Blitz!” She grumbled under her breath. Back with the pegasi, both Starburst and Prism Bolt expertly flew around their target, banking and hovering between the impossibly quick vines that weaved around them. Star’s small frame allowed her to slip through the loops before they could tie themselves around her, and her amazing wingspan gave her enough power to remain afloat for much longer. Prism on the other hoof, compensated his large size with his impressive maneuverability, changing directions so quickly, that the vines chasing him around were having trouble keeping up with him. Both ponies were doing a good job avoiding being snared by the vines, but getting to the bud has proved to be a more difficult challenge, since all the vines came directly from it. Star then began analyzing the situation; their objective was clear, now was the matter on how to reach it. Before Starburst could devise a plan however, a vine got hold of her right hind leg and dragged her towards her starting point, where Prism was already waiting for her. “Ready for round two?” He asked in a challenging tone. Star gives him a disbelieving stare. “Prism, this is not time for distractions.” She says as she takes a take-off position. “Whatever you say, Your Majesty.” And with that, the two pegasi took off into the air once again, flying between vines and brambles toward their objective, each of them falling back to how they were performing a few seconds ago, with Prism Bolt zig-zagging through the air and Starburst slipping past knots and loops. She wasted no time to analyze the situation this time around. To reach the bud, I have to get past its vines. The problem is that the vines are coming directly from the bud, so getting closer raises the probability of getting caught by it. I gotta find a window to make my- “Waugh!” Star yelped as another vine snared itself around her barrel and brought her back to the beginning. Seconds after she was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, another vine brought a complaint Prism and released him in the air before he landed next to Starburst. “Having fun yet?” “How can you have fun at a moment like this?” Star asks with a bemused stare. “So… you aren’t?” Prism asks in a slightly disappointed tone. “Of course I’m not having fun!” Star exclaims, a little stronger than she intended to. Prism just stared at her for a second before letting out a chuckle. “See shorty? That’s why you aren’t going to win. You’re focusing too much on the problem. If you loosened up a bit, maybe you could beat me.” “Oh yeah? If we go by that logic, you should have reached the bud already.” She countered. “Yes, but watching you get pulled back is just too fun to miss it out.” Prism commented, earning a few laughs from Annie and T, much to Starburst dismay. Starburst let out an annoyed snort before looking back at the Ticklish Bloom. “Why must everything be a game to you?” “Hey, not everything is a game to me.” Prism quickly corrected before taking on his usual smirk. “I just like to enjoy the things that I can. But I don’t like doing fun stuff only by myself. It is always better to have fun with somepony else. You should try it sometime. But anyway, ready for round three?” Prism asked before prepping for take-off. Starburst pondered on what Prism just told her for a few seconds. She then rolled her eyes before prepping too. “Just for the sake of saving time, I’ll play for real.” “Yeah! Now that’s the spirit!” Prism said before the two of them took off, actually racing this time. Starburst had no idea of what she was doing, their objective was the same, but apparently she couldn’t ponder on how to achieve it or else she’d fail again. And not only that, but since she’d decided to humor Prism on his silly contest, now she had to worry about him getting to the bud first. Knowing that, she decided to focus only on getting their task done and not on how. Her musings were broken, not by a incredibly annoying vine, but by an equally annoying blue blur that whipped past right in front of her, making her spin in place. “Augh… Prism Bolt, you did that on purpose!” She said oblivious of the vine that caught her just a second after. “Of course. I gotta make sure you don’t beat me.” Prism said between laughs as he continues to zip past knots and vines. “Is that all you got, you overgrown weed?!” Prism taunted as he dodges another vine attempting to coil around his hooves. “My mother could dodge these things blindfolded!” Pushing back her discomfort, Star took to the air again. For a while, both pegasi kept going at it for a while, each of them getting the upper hand on the other until the other recovered and turned the tables once again. Throughout the entire ordeal, Starburst couldn’t avoid having a smile on her face. Only after what only seemed like an hour, the two of them were panting, hovering in place just outside the Bloom’s range. “Having fun now?” Asked Prism, showing off a cocky grin. “Oh, I will.” Starburst said with a smirk of her own.”After you eat my dust.” And with that, the two of them took off once again. No more wasting time, this time one was going to reach the finish line. Starburst really felt like she was enjoying the small at this point, but now the thrill of competition escalated to a wish for victory. Plus, she wasn’t gonna let Prism Bolt win if he pretended to make good of his word. She looked to her side and saw Prism bolt flying along with her, intent on outsmart her at the last second probably. “Careful Shorty,” Prism chuckled. “I think they might be drawn to your sass-whoa!” The stallion was cut off as a vine sprouted just in front of him, causing him to veer to the right and falling into a cat-cradle of vines and roots. Starburst turned back towards the bud and flapped her wings as fast as she could. She slipped between loops, knots and cat-cradles, causing the vines to end up twisting and tangling around themselves in a vain effort to catch her. Finally, she had a direct route towards the plant’s center. That’s my window.’. Without thinking it for a second, she dove right to the bud, turned left and started wiggling her right wing as her momentum reduced the distance between herself and the Ticklish Bloom. The moment the feathers started tickling the base of the plant, all the vines stiffened up and the pink onion started to shake and… Laugh! It was a high pitched laugh, like a foal who had inhaled a bit of helium. It squealed and giggled in such a manner, that Starburst couldn’t help but chuckle herself at just how absurd it was, ignoring completely how all the roots and vines started to extract themselves into the ground. In just a few seconds, the path was completely clear. Starburst stopped tickling the bloom and it let out a sigh of relief after its torture was over. Star took a deep breath before turning to see her companions approaching her. Her face became stone-like as she addressed the other pegasus. “What happened to you back there?” Prism looked like he was taken off-guard for a second before he returns the question. “What do you mean?” “You usually don’t miss a turn like that. Knowing you, there’s only one reason for you to do such a mistake…” Starburst stated before a smirk crept up to her muzzle. “Your ego slowed you down.” She watched in silent amusement as her three friends looked at her in disbelief. Proud of her delivery, she turned on her hooves and started walking down the unobstructed path. “Well, I guess we can continue now. Let’s go.” She says. Prism Bolt was the first to recover and let out a short chuckle. “Good one Star. You got me there.” He said before starting walking along with Annie and T. “She’s wrong though,” Annie says with a knowing smile “You let her win, didn’t you.” “I may have.” Prism answered nonchalantly, smiling as he watched Star leave. It was very rare to to see her genuinely enjoying situations like this, even when she participated in their little get-together’s it seemed like she was only there out of some sense of duty rather than enjoyment. “But still, it was a fun race, wasn’t it?” “Yeah, it was.” Turquoise answered. “Well, that little obstacle could've been a lot worse...” Annie stated from beside T “How so?” T asked curiously. Annie gave her lover a devious grin “Those Vines could've gotten a little too friendly...” Everypony stops and stares at Annie in shock, registering what she'd just implied. “...Gross.” Prism deadpanned while T covers his face with his wings. “EWW! Annie!” Star groaned as she trotted ahead, trying to distance herself from the unicorn. “Honestly, where do you even get these gross ideas?!” ~~~o~~~ Back in Canterlot, Amber Lily sneezed as she stood guard near the patissiere entrance where she and other ponies had taken refuge. Next to her, Hot Head and Lucky Star stared into the streets outside until the sudden sneeze broke their concentration “Good grief. You’re not getting sick now, are you?” Asked Hot Head with a hint of dread in his voice. Lucky, for his part, watched with curious concern. “I don’t think so.” Said Amber while rubbing her muzzle with a hoof. “Maybe some of that armor dust got in my nose.” She offered before taking a look back at the other ponies hiding inside the building. “Man, I can’t believe this is really happening. And it was such a nice day too.” “Well, I don’t think that demon-sheep cared much about letting anypony enjoy the lovely weather.” Lucky muttered as he returns his gaze to the streets. “I think it was a ram.” Hot Head says aloud, but went unnoticed by his friends. “At least he’s not rampaging through the city,” Lucky sighs. “I don’t know for how much longer we’ll be safe in here, though. We’ll have to head out sooner or later.” “Just where’s everypony else?” Hot Head asks. “Do you think they left the city?” “Probably. There’s no way to know, though.” “Then why are we staying cooped up in here? Let’s make a run for it and escape too!” “Hothead, don’t be stupid. It’s not safe out there.” Amber chides. “We don’t know what that jerk is going to do if we leave.” “I know, but staying in here won’t make the problems go away. There’s something we gotta do.” “I agree with Hot Head. But we gotta be patient for the moment. There’s no telling what might~” “Help!” Came a voice outside of the store, making all three ponies turn their heads around. “Did you hear that?” “Somepony’s outside!” “There!” Hot Head points a hoof at the street. In the building right across, a blue pegasus mare with blueberry, frizzled hair stumbled right out of the door, limping badly on one wing and looking dazedly to her surroundings. “Wait here, I’m gonna get her!” He says just as he dashed out of the door and into the street. The pegasus was surprised by his sudden appearance, but offered no struggle as he scooped her up and flew her back into the store in almost three seconds. “Are you okay?” He asks before a yellow hoof hits him in the top of his head. “You jack-a-mule! You could’ve been caught or something out there!” Amber Lily reprimanded him. “Ow… What was I supposed to do, Mom?” He whines as he rubs his head. “I wasn’t gonna leave her outside by herself.” “Any other time, I’d have commended you for being so gallant, there’s a crazy evil warlock jerk terrorizing the streets!” She argued back. “Shut up you two!” Lucky chided before walking up to the mare. “Are you okay? Is there anypony else in that building?” The blue pegasus simply shakes her head as she looked at the three of them and to the inside of the patissiere. “Do you know where anypony went?” Lucky asked again. The pony nodded this time, before speaking in a frail voice. “G-grogar… he entrapped everypony with that jewel of his. Everypony. I haven’t seen anypony since.” She explained. “Shoot. We gotta go now.” Hothead exclaims. “Of course we won’t. It’s way too dangerous out there still.” “Calm down you two. All we gotta do is wait a while longer and wait until nighttime, then we’ll make our way out of the city.” “That won’t happen.” Said the pegasus mare, who stood up in her four hooves. “Grogar already went to the castle and entrapped the Princesses and their families. The night won’t be coming.” “What?” Amber Lily asks in astonishment. “Oh man, that’s not good.” Hot Head muttered, pacing back and forth on the entrance. Lucky Star, however, eyed the mare with skepticism. “Wait, how do you know that?” The mare simply blinked before asking. “How do I know what?” She asks back. “That the Princesses have been captured too? We’re way far away from the castle, and it’s been only a few minutes since that Grogar reared his ugly face around. If he captured the princesses, and you saw it, then how did you arrive here so fast on a broken wing?” The mare blinked before frowning and putting a hoof on her face. “I knew I was missing something. Let’s cut it with the charade.” In a flash of blue and green light the mare was replaced by the monstrous ram they’ve all feared to stumble with, right in the middle of the store. Grogar cackled as ponies panicked and ran around the building before craning up his neck and vacuuming it clean of every pony hiding in the room. “Well, that could’ve gone better…” He says as his frame grew more even larger, “No matter, they’re taking care of.” He inhales deeply. “Hah… this is definitely better. Now…” Grogar walks up to the door of the store, which crumbles to rubble at his touch. “Onto the rest of Equestria.” ~~~o~~~ Claire and Golden pressed their ears flat on their heads as Cotton Candy continued singing about the goodness of sharing and caring, as they all kept walking down the mine tunnel. “My goodness, this song is awful.” Claire muttered between clenched teeth. “It’ll be over soon.” Del muttered back. As if on cue, Candy finished the song on a high note which echoed on a large round chamber they’ve just entered. The half-dragon rolled her eyes. “Honestly CeeCee, was the entire song really necessary?” She asks as Del began exploring the area. “Of course! My mom always says that a good song helps lift a pony's spirits and turn their frown upside down!” The enthusiastic mare explained as she placed her hoof around Claire. “Especially in a dark and lonely place like this!” “Yes, I suppose That is a better alternative if we take everything into account.” Claire mused to herself before turning her attention back to Candy. “But please pick a shorter song next time.” “No promises. Hey Del, Found anything yet?” She shouts at the stallion before the eldest pony could retort. The farm pony was preoccupied looking at one of the chamber’s walls, which seemed to hold a rudimentary mine map bolted to it. “Well, this here chamber only has two entrances apparently.” He says looking back at the two mares and pointing a hoof at the tunnel. “That one we just came from, and…” He says, slowly moving his other hoof to the opposite end of the chamber. “That one over there!” He announces after locating the second entrance just a few trots to his left. “This map says that this is a direct route to the surface. Just going straight.” He says as he started walking along the wall towards the door. “Well, those are certainly good news.” Crystal Clarity says, making a beeline towards the second tunnel, with Candy right behind. “See? I told you we could trust Rox~” A cracking sound stopped Candy on her tracks and made her look at the floor on the chamber. She quickly rubs her elbow on the surface, and immediately goes several shades paler. “CLAIRE! Stop moving now!” The sudden outburst caused the two older ponies to jump up in surprise. “Candy, what’s wrong?” Claire asks as she turns in place. “No, don’t~!” Cotton Candy tried to warn her. However, Crystal Clarity’s clawed hoof breached through the stone beneath it, causing a number of cracks to open and spread all across the floor. “move…” In a blink, the entire floor shattered and the two mares started falling. “CeeCee! Claire!” Golden Delicious yelled from the entrance of the second tunnel. He glanced over the ledge to find another floor just two meters below where the first used to be. And just a few meters away from him were the two mares. “GIRLS! ARE YOU OK?!” He calls from above. “Define ‘OK.’” Claire retorted sarcastically. “Right, stupid question.” Del mumbled sheepishly. “Come over so I can pull you up” “NO! Crystal Clarity, don’t move an inch!” Cotton Candy commanded. This time, Claire did as told and remained laying on her stomach. “Very well. Can you maybe explain what is going on now?” Claire asks as patiently as she could. “Claire, we are standing over Moskovite.” She plainly explains. “Moska-what now?” Golden asks from his vantage point. “Moskovite. It is a thin layer of volcanic stone that forms inside lava shafts. It is incredibly thin and also incredibly fragile. That’s why it fell apart just a few seconds ago.” “How do you know that?” Claire asks. “Auntie Maud taught me.” “So wait a sec.” Del says. “That thing that just broke down was that volcanic fake floor thingie. Didn’t you just say that you’re laying on another one?” Candy’s ears wilt down at this. “Yes. We were lucky that there was a second layer here. But I can’t tell if there’ll be another one.” She shoots Claire a frenzied stare. “That is why we cannot move, or else it’ll break again!” “Well, we can’t stay here forever either, There must be a way out!” Crystal Clarity countered. Del takes a glance at the tunnel behind him before turning back at his friends. “Don't worry, I'll go and see if I can find a rope or something!” He shouted before taking off into it. “I'll be right back, don't move!” “No duh!” CeeCee called out as the two of them laid down. ‘Gotta hurry, gotta find a rope before it's too late!’ Del thought to himself as he galloped through the empty cave, searching frantically into any and every branching path he found in the main tunnel. However, something caught his eye when he looked into the third exit he found, a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel As he got closer his eyes widened in disbelief as he realized what exactly he was looking at. “The Tree of Harmony!” He exclaimed as he approached the object that he and his friends were looking for. There it was, illuminating each corner and cranny of the cavern. They have found their goal And what was more important: he had found it before Prism! Now, Golden Delicious finds himself on a golden opportunity to show up to Prism Bolt, he thought with a chuckle. “I just gotta stand next to it and wait for the others to arrive.” Even after saying this, he couldn’t shake away the feeling that something was off. Shrugging it away, he took a step forward… and immediately fell flat on his barrel after tripping with something. “Well, that’s embarrassing.” He muttered before looking at his hoof and finding them tangled up in a long rope. That’s when it hit him. “THE GIRLS!” Del immediately shook his head in disbelief as he turned away from the tree, how could he have forgotten about them so easily?! Del stood up before taking the rope in his mouth and giving one glance at the tree. He could simply wait for the others, but he could not possibly leave Claire and Candy hanging! He turned away and started trotting down the tunnel and back into the lava shaft. “Girls, I’m back. You still with me?” “No, we went to Prance and partaken on haute cuisine.” Came Candy’s sardonic comment. “Alright. I found a rope. I’ll throw it at ya and you try to tie it around yourselves.” “Got it, dear.” Claire answered. A cracking sound started resounding around the chamber, followed by Candy saying. “Please hurry!” Del had to throw the rope at least four times before Clarity could reach it with her telekinesis. After some agonizing seconds, she gave a nod. The cracking started getting louder, so Del planted his forehooves on the ground and lowered his head before giving the rope a sharp tug. In an instant, Crystal Clarity and Cotton Candy were sent flying in his direction, just in time before the second layer of moskovite gave away and down a bottomless abyss. Both mares crashed into the stallion, who gave a sigh of relief after seeing both of them safe and sound. Candy was the first to recover. “Let’s NOT do that again!” “Seconded.” Says Claire as she climbed off from Del’s barrel and helped him up. “You sure took your sweet time. What kept you?” She asks with a raised eyebrow. Golden Delicious, on his part, rubbed the back of his head and gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I got a little carried over after finding the Tree and wantin’ to show up to Prism and all…” “WHAT?” Asked the two mares before taking off trotting down the tunnel, with Del soon falling back behind them. “It is just by the third…” He began, taking the front of the procession, but when he reached the branching path where he had found the Tree, he only found smooth, untouched stone. “Exit.” He said after fully stopping in his tracks. “It… it was right here. I swear.” Claire gave him a concerned stare. “Del, dear. Should I ask you if you’re feeling well?” “I… guess I’m a bit tired, is all.” He said with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I wasn’t going to leave you hanging onto certain death just to one-up Prism once again. Hehe.” Clarity and Candy gave him both knowing smiles of their own. “Whatever you say.” Said Claire before moving onwards. “Men.” CeeCee commented before starting to walk behind Claire. “He-hey! I resent that!” Del retorted before falling back once again. “I mean, I came back for you in the end. That has to count.” “Yes, and we appreciate it.” Claire said, with a tinge of snarkiness in her voice. “You girls don’t believe me, do you?” “Nnnope!” Candy answered. Del frowned at both of them, but then shook off his head with a smile. “Meh, it ain’t that important. Let’s get out of this dang cave, shall we?” He offered before all three continued walking up the tunnel.