> Pone-Kai Watch! > by TheFanficFanPony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Strange Creature In The Forest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Urgh! Stupid cicadas!" Diamond Tiara grumbled, lifting the bug-catching net off of her head and adjusting her little tiara on her head. Her usually perfect and combed lavender and white mane was ruffled and full of sticks, and that certainly didn't help the filly's attitude toward stupid school projects. Who ever heard of an assignment on the first week of school, anyway? The annoyed little pony stood up and picked up her net, sighing reluctantly, when something ran into her from the back. "Oh, sorry, Diamond!" a little, chubby blue unicorn laughed, blushing. "How many bugs have you caught?" "None, and you certainly aren't helping me any." Diamond answered, gently shoving Snips off of her back. Even if he had practically crushed her under his weight, it was hard to be angry at the goofy little unicorn for long. "How many bugs did you get?" "You'll never believe it!" another voice shouted as a taller orange unicorn ran up to join the group. "He caught one 'o them pink butterflies!" "No, Snails, it was purple!" Snips argued as Snails approached the duo. "Whatever." Diamond sighed as the two began to argue. "I can't beleive the two dumbest colts in class have more bugs than I do." she added under her breath. "Hey, Diamond! Didn't know you were here!" a higher pitched voice belonging to a little silver filly called out. "Silver Spoon!" Diamond grinned, and the two raced towards each other and bumped their rumps together. "Bump, bump, sugarlump rump!" they said in unison, giggling. "So, what're you doing here?" Diamond smiled as they trotted back towards Snips, Snails, and Diamond's bug-catching net. "I though you had, like, finished your assignment a few hours ago!" "I have!" Silver replied, returning the grin. "I just came back to see if I could find any more!" "Typical, Silvy." Diamond smirked, and Silver giggled. "When are you NOT outdoors? Anyway, I've gotta go catch some more gross bugs." "All right, then!" Silver chirped, and Diamond trotted off into the forest. The forest grew denser and denser and Diamond trotted as fast as she could, swinging her net like a maniac. She stopped, panting, and check her net. No bugs, as usual, she thought, sighing. Maybe I'm not deep enough into the woods yet? Suddenly, a bright flash caught her eye. Diamond turned around as the light bluish flash darted by again. Is that... a twittermite? Diamond thought, trying not to make a sound as she tracked the bug with her eyes, ears twitching ever-so-slightly to pick up any sound of it. Then, she lunged at it. "Oof!" Diamond grunted as she landed on the ground with a thud. The twittermite landed on her nose, and Diamond growled at it before it flew off, not giving her a chance to catch it at all. As she looked around, she saw that she was no longer in the Everfree forest that she knew. She stood up, dusting herself off as she noticed as large tree in the center of the sunlit field. A field of flowers deep in the Everfree Forest, Diamond thought. What kind of pony would think of that? "What the..." Diamond muttered to herself as she cautiously trotted towards it. Seeing nothing at first, she was about to turn around and leave when she noticed a strange-looking machine on the side of the tree. Diamond trotted back up to it, seeing that there was a slot to insert a coin in it- it was a capsule machine. Curious as to what was inside, she pulled a coin out of her saddlebag and inserted it, using her hooves to turn the machine (although it wasn't easy). With a thunk, a little, rock-like capsule popped out of the machine, and Diamond tried to pry it open. Suddenly, a bright blue flash of light burst from the rock, swirling around a strange floating figure. Diamond backed up slowly, but her scaredness kept her from moving too far. The figure laughed as the blue light disappeared, revealing a chubby, almost ghost-like figure floating happily in front of her with a wide grin on its face. "Hey there, my corporeal friend! I am Whisper!" The creature gave a little bow. "At your service!" "Umm, hello!" Diamond stuttered, barely getting out her response before the creature- Whisper, was it?- continued excitedly. "I'm a Yo-Kai, otherwise known as a spirit, ghost, extradimensional being-" Whisper grinning, bouncing around Diamond while she stood in utter bewilderment. "Never heard of it!" Diamond cut him off, stamping her hoof impatiently. "Seriously?" Whisper exclaimed. "Yo-Kai are the mysterious beings who cause all sorts of strange phenomena!" "What were you doing in that machine?" Diamond asked, but was barely able to finish before the talkative (and annoying) Whisper butted in once again. "I'm so glad you asked!" Whisper smiled, looking genuinely glad. "It was 190 year ago when a couple of self-righteous pony monks sealed me in this machine because I was apparently a menace to society! Anyway, what's important now is that you have managed to set me free!" Whisper twirled into the air before coming back down and continuing to blabber. "And now we have entered into a sacred bond; more than a friendship, more than a marriage- I'm forever indebted to you!" But as he finished, Diamond Tiara was already halfway across the clearing! I'm fed up with this guy, she thought, but Whisper rushed up to her, screaming. "Where are you going?" Whisper shouted angrily at an unamused Diamond. "Don't you understand what's going on?" "Not really." Diamond shrugged. "I came here to find a twittermite, not some annoying Yo-whatever. Now could you give me my money back?" "Unacceptable!" Whisper shouted, surprised. "There aren't any refunds here, sorry to say!" "Ugh. I'm out of here." Diamond grumbled, giving up. "All right! Have a nice- hey, wait up!" Whisper exclaimed, racing back to an increasingly annoyed Diamond. "Listen, you're really lucky! I come from a tribe of Yo-kai that know how to properly reward their liberators!" "Interesting." Diamond said, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Maybe 3 wishes?" "I'm not a genie, I'm a butler! A liaison! A butler-slash-liaison!" Whisper smiled, but grew angry as he saw Diamond's smile fall. "I've already got a butler." she said bluntly. Not backing down, Whisper kept persisting. "I'll solve any problems you might have! Yo-Kai or otherwise! Before you even know it! I can make you very, very popular!" "I'm already popular, too." Diamond sighed angrily. "Look, I just want to find some twittermites, ok?" "You want twittermites? I can get you twittermites!" Whisper shouted, then called, "Here, twittermites! Here, twittermites!" Suddenly, swarms of twittermites rushed towards Diamond and covered her with themselves. "Get me outta here!" Diamond shouted, trying to escape from the cage of bugs. "No need to thank me!" Whisper said, then turned to see Diamond trying to break free. "Ugh, go away, twittermites. You're not needed now." At his call, the twittermites fled, and Diamond Tiara looked up at Whisper in exasperation, finally giving up her fight. "Fine, you can come with me," she relented, and Whisper smiled and hugged her tightly. She smiled slightly at the odd creatures boundless gratitude, but she couldn't help thinking; what am I getting myself into?