Ponyfinder: The Lost Flowers

by David Silver

7 - Nature Cares for Results

Dazzlebug nodded at a piece of bark festooned with writing, but also pictures. Each picture had a number beside it. "A simple method, but accurate." She pointed at the tally marks. "It seems you found a great number of living beings, but you erred away from things that would be too numerous to track this way." She passed the bark back to the student that had turned it in. "It is good to understand your own limits, but we must also work to grow past them."

She trotted the short distance to the flower mares and Tree Whisper. "I am given to understand that you four have worked together on this project. I did not specify this was a group project." She turned a hoof to her chin. "But, I also never said it was not. Nature cares for results, in the end. Show me yours."

Tree had been expecting one of them, likely Rose, to step forward, but instead she was prodded with a notebook. She grabbed the book in her magic and spun it around at the teacher. "Here you are, teacher. A count of animals, shrubs, trees, and flowers."

Dazzlebug was flipping from page to page. "Hm... Hm! This is no mere tally..." She turned the notepad held awkardly in her hooves to the rest of the class, revealing a lot of writing that wasn't counting. "It would seem they encountered two dangerous things and took quite a few notes about them." Her eyes resumed reading quickly. "Hm. You harvested some Toxic Humor?" Her eyes went to Rose. "You don't appear to suffer any mark of the experience."

"Done properly, Poison Joke isn't that dangerous."

"But a patch that close to the city is. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. We will be rid of it. You can keep the flower you already claimed, but you must be vigilant. One flower can become many, with Toxic Humor, and then we have a problem." Dazzlebug reached out to thump Rose on the chest. "Where did you learn the technique? Harvesting it is no simple task. Only a trained horticulturist has a chance."

The three flower mares struck a dynamic pose together. "I did say," noted Rose. "We're florists."

Daisy bobbed her head. "Not even the first pesky flower we ever dealt with."

Lily nodded with a sigh. "Wish I coulda seen it."

Dazzlebug gave the notepad back to Tree Whisper. "I didn't see any writing that looked like yours. How did you assist?"

Lily lurched forward. "She saved me!"

"And me!" chimed Daisy. "She was our brave and knowledgeable bodyguard."

Dazzlebug's suspicious look turned to a warm smile. "That is a valuable service. And a good lesson." She waved a hoof at the rest of the class. "A druid that is too focused on study can become victim to the very nature they would wish to learn. While many of us prefer to work in solitude, having someone there to watch your back can make quite the difference. Thank you for showing us how that can be done." And off Dazzlebug went to grade the next effort.

Tree sank to her haunches with a relieved sigh. "That could have gone worse..."

Rose leaned to the side towards Tree. "You really did help us. We weren't just covering your flank."

Tree quirked an ear at Rose. "Why would you think that? I didn't even get close to you until the end."

"You were watching my girls." Rose inclined her ears at the other two who were watching the teacher as she continued grading. "That always counts in my book."

"You've all learned something." The teacher sat in the center of the circle. "Good. Some things can only be experienced, firsthoof. Since it was brought up, let's talk about natural hazards. Sharp eyes won't help you if you don't know what you should be looking for." And so she began to go over various natural pitfalls that could trip up a would-be druid. This included the sap and the poison joke(known locally as toxic humor) that the flower mares had located.

---

The three sagged onto soft spots around their new home. "We did it," cried Daisy with a grin. "We don't fail at school, take 2."

Lily rolled her eyes at that. "I'm not against learning more about nature, but we're florists, not zoologists. When we get home, what good will knowing a bunch of alien animals be?"

Rose cycled her hooves in the air, sprawled on her back. "We're stuck here for now. We may as well know the lay of the land, which includes the things that live on it."

A sharp knock brought all three sets of ears to the door. "Hello?" The bee that had taught them their first spell. "May I come in?"

Rose quickly rolled upright, sitting up on her haunches. "Sure! Yeah." She watched the door open, but there was more than a bee. Tree Whisper came trailing in after him. "Huh! Um, hi?"

Tree had an awkward smile, forced to be sure. "Hello, thank you for having me..."

The bee stepped to the side. "I want to continue our magic lessons. I hear you're doing very well in your other classes. Good! I asked if that meant you could learn more magic and was told that, yes, you can!"

Daisy pointed at Tree Whisper. "That's exciting, but why is she here? Not that I mind her around, but she doesn't know magic yet, does she?"

"I do not," got out Tree through grit teeth.

"That may change today," half-sang the bee as he skipped from one set of hooves to the other. "The head druid approved you learning a cantrip. I will teach them their second, and you, your first." He looked to the girls. "And I want you to help her. The head druid thinks you may, or may not, be good at that. She'd like to know. She considers Tree Whisper your pupil, for magic. If nothing else, showing can be a great way to remind yourself of the basics. Show her how to speak the words, and move with the flow of nature." He moved for the door.

To Rose's confusion. "I thought you were going to teach us a spell?"

The bee paused, looking over his shoulder. "I could, but why teach something not all of you are ready for? Show her how to understand magic, then we can proceed to the new spell. Consider it motivation!" And he buzzed off, as bees were well equipped to do.

Lily, however, looked quite excited. "I can pay you back for your help."

Daisy bobbed her head. "Alright. I was tired from learning today anyway. Let's do some teaching!"

Rose began to smile, affected by the infectious cheer of her compatriots. "It's settled then. We'll start the same way he did for us, with the song of magic."

"Nature's song," noted Lily. "There are different songs. Songs of gods, songs of the mind, and songs of the arcane." She tapped her hooves with each type of song. "Thankfully, we only need to worry about the natural songs."

Tree's ears twitched softly. "The four traditions, yes. I've heard of those. We are primal users." She flinched. "Um... I intend on being a primal user. I did not expect my first teacher of those arts to be another student."

Rose set a hoof gently on Tree's closer shoulder. "We will take this seriously. You took watching over us seriously, it's the least we can do. Now, can you sing?"

Tree blinked quite slowly at that. "Sing?"

Daisy bobbed her head. "It is the song of nature. Singing helps!"

One advantage Equestrian ponies had, singing came to them as a second nature. "I am no bard." Tree took an unsure step back. "I haven't... sung before."

Rose shook her head. "Now I know you're lying. Even grumpy gusses sing sometimes. You never wished somepony a happy birthday?"

Tree flipped her ears back. "That is not the same."

Daisy leaned in with a big grin. "Oh, yes it is. Until you can sing nature's song, no magic for you. You said you can do the dance with your horn, lucky, but there's no shortcut for the song."

The three flower mares crowded around Tree, unified in the idea that singing a song had to come first.

"Ugh!" Tree sank to her haunches. "Fine! You are my teachers. I will try to respect your approach. Very well... How do we begin?"

The three backed away. Rose spoke up first, in song. She spoke the very first few syllables of the fiery song they knew, emphasized sing song in it, her form shimmering with power that should not have come from just such few utterances of an unfinished spell.

Daisy took the slack without pause, continuing the spell and starting to glow herself as she musically trilled her piece.

Lily brought it home, finishing the song, the three of them crackling with shared fiery energy. They met, hooves out, touching, and a ball of flame erupted between them. "See?"

Tree's mouth hung open. "That... That! That... is not how magic works."

Rose cocked a brow at Tree. "You don't know any spells, and you're telling us, who just cast it, that's not how it works?"

Tree wobbled a shaking hoof at the fire they created. "I don't know how to cast spells myself, but I know the idea of them. Cantrips are not made to be cast as a group! What you just... Who taught you that?!"

The three shared looks. Daisy shrugged softly. "I just followed the flow."

Daisy bobbed at that. "I heard Rose sing the first part and thought I should just... do it?"

Rose rubbed behind her head with the hoof not busy holding up the fire. "I just wanted to sing with my girls, and we did. It clearly worked." She nodded at the fire, larger than the one created when any of them did it on their own. She smirked suddenly at Daisy. "So, what's their name?"

"Big Jane!" Daisy burst into giggles. "She's large and in charge. You can tell she's all kinds of sassy." The fire just crackled. It was a fire. It had no opinion that anyone but Daisy could see.

Tree began to dance from hoof to hoof, standing properly to do so. "Outsiders! I don't... I can't..."

Rose leaned forward, the light of the fire casting new shadows over her face. "You won't know until you try. Now, to repeat." She began the song, but said it slowly, too slow for any power to rouse.

Daisy picked up at the same point, just as slow, but keeping the song going without any prompting outside the song itself.

Lily finished it, nice and slow. "Those are the words. Get the words down and you're halfway there. Follow the flow with your body." She wriggled a bit in place, keeping her hoof touching the others'. "And you have a spell."

"And... you have a spell, right." Tree did a circle in place, muttering the strange words to herself.

"More of an 'ah' on that second one," advised Rose.

"Yes, right." Tree kept repeating it, trying to get a grasp of the words. They had no meaning, but they meant everything! The words of nature itself, primal magic.

Daisy inclined her head. "You're reciting it like a recipe."

"Instead of singing it," added Lily. "Go on."

"I'm getting the words down," huffed out Tree. "You outsiders grasped this in a week, and I am sure you're very proud, but I'm not that."

Rose patted Tree on the shoulder. "You are an amazing pony. Don't think of us that way. I think you can shine just as bright."

Daisy lifted the hoof with the fire attached, bringing it away from the other two mares. She began to cradle and giggle, clearly enjoying the larger flame they had created.

Lily rolled her eyes at Daisy's joy. "You're doing fine. Get the words down, but then we sing."

Author's Note:

Magic! The mares are on an accelerated course. It seems Tree's been invited to join the fast track, if she can keep up.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Better be careful make that an Everlasting Flame on a Bonfire. Might get Undead turning up?

[Chrome Masquerade]

Rose shook her head. "Now I know you're lying. Even grumpy gusses sing sometimes . You never wished somepony a happy birthday?"

Fun fact: Happy Birthday is actually copyrighted! Currently owned by Warner/Chappel Music.

That said, who's gonna catch you for it?

[Chrome Masquerade]

Rose cocked a brow at Tree. "You don't know any spells, and you're telling us, who just cast it, that's not how it works?"

She has a point~.

[Chrome Masquerade]

Lily finished it, nice and slow. "Those are the words. Get the words down and you're halfway there. Follow the flow with your body." She wriggled a bit in place, keeping her hoof touching the others'. "And you have a spell."

After all...

You have no idea how long I've wanted to use that meme!