Have you ever questioned your sanity? Don’t answer that, because we all know that your answer would probably be yes. After all, all of us get to that point at least once in our lives. Starlight was at that very point at this moment. Why the heck am I doing this? I must be insane! She was certain that she was crazy. After all, how could someone like her be able to use something like the Elements of Harmony? But, for some reason beyond her understanding, she was charging on with these six ponies- Thunder Blitz, Crescendo Dream, Berry Punch, Cherry Cobbler, Serenity, and Maestro Spectrum- that for some reason, she considered friends. She sighed to herself. Well, at least I’m not alone in this crazy venture. That wouldn’t be very good at all. Starlight looked around at her friends and smiled to herself. Maybe Moondancer was right. Maybe it’s time to… let the past go. All of the sudden, the group stopped, and Maestro held a hoof in front of Starlight to prevent her from going into the field of green flowers. Starlight was confused. “Why did we stop?”
Maestro scoffed. “You call yourself a student of the King? Then surely, you should recognize this flower from the lessons. The Draining Poppy.”
Starlight took another look over the flowers and gasped. It was true, these were Draining Poppies. The thorns at the tip of the petals along with the dark green spirals on the petals made that quite unmistakable. Starlight gulped. “So, how do we get around these things then?
Crescendo piped up. “What’s got you so freaked out? Aren’t these just flowers?”
Maestro shook his head. “Draining Poppies are hardly a normal flower. These nasty things drain magic, hence the name. Basically, they’re a unicorn’s worst nightmare. Didn’t expect to see them in the Everfree, however.”
Cherry then struck a hoof on the ground. “Well then. Our only recourse is to have somebody fly the unicorns in our group over this field-”
“I’m afraid that’s not going to work.” Starlight butted in with a shake of her head. “This flower can drain more than just unicorn magic. It can also drain flight for a short time. The only ponies that can’t have their magic taken are those without flight or unicorn magic.”
Cherry huffed. “Well then, it’s up to Berry and I to carry the unicorns across.”
Berry cocked her head. “Why? Can’t they just walk through it like us?”
Maestro rolled his eyes. “Oh, the naïvete of youth. No, we can’t. Without magic, unicorns can hardly move. If we walked through this, we’d only slow you guys down.” He then charged up his horn. “This spell will neutralize my weight so it won’t slow you down. I’m trusting you, Berry.” His hooves then proceeded to glow. He then got onto Berry’s back.
Berry was surprised. “Huh? It’s as if nothing’s there on my back. But may I ask, why me?”
Maestro shrugged. “Don’t know. Just felt like it, I guess.” He then turned to Starlight. “You should follow soon after.” Berry then proceeded to trudge through the field of poppies, and Lightning, Serenity, and Crescendo followed soon after, with their wings hanging limply at their sides.
Cherry then got down to the ground. “C’mon, Starlight. Get on!”
Starlight nodded. She lit up her horn with light blue magic and encased her hooves with it. “I might not be able to fully cancel out my weight, but this’ll have to do.”
Cherry nodded. “That’s fine.” Starlight climbed on, and Cherry stood. She wasn’t slowed down too much, so she soon got near the edge of the poppy field. The others were there, waiting. However, before Cherry took another step, a tremor struck. “Hold on tight! Don’t let go!” Starlight managed to do so, somehow. The tremor tore open a large gap that cut them off from the others.
Starlight gulped. “How are we supposed to cross? That’s far too wide!”
Cherry dragged a hoof across the ground. “I’ll get us across.”
Starlight shouted. “Are you CRAZY? You could get us killed!”
Cherry turned her head to look at Starlight, and spoke with determination. “I can get us across. Just trust me.”
Starlight was astonished. That look in her eyes… She truly believes that she can do it… So I guess that I… “...Alright. But if we die, I won’t ever forgive you.”
Cherry smirked. “That’s fine by me!” She then galloped at full force, and jumped just as she reached the edge of the gap. With outstretched hooves, Cherry managed to grasp the other edge, and pull them up. The group cheered, and Starlight jumped off Cherry’s back.
Starlight sighed. “Thanks, Cherry. I don’t know how I can-”
Maestro then cut in. “Can we worry about this later? There’s still a world to save!” The group nodded, and started to trot off. If they had looked back, they would have seen a shadowy figure close the fissure with magic, and dispel the poppies.
The figure then looked towards the group. “They certainly are quite something. I wonder just how far they’ll get through my tests…” Then, the figure chuckled somewhat softly. “It’s certainly going to be entertaining to see how far they’ll get.”