Celestia's Finest Power Ponies: When Worlds Collide

[Miltonian]

“Oh please.” Discord manifests a giant set of scissors. “I can do that whenever I want.” Without waiting for permission, he cuts a hole in the air. “Viola!”

The tear in reality shows Princess Celestia sitting in a pool of scented water the size of a wading pool. Her usual royal attire is set aside and her flowing mane and tail are soaked and float on the surface of the water like normal hair. Two attendants are paused in the middle of rubbing shampoo through her mane. The three of them stare at the intrusion.

Celestia’s cheeks flush. “DISCORD!”

“Yipe!” Pulling a needle and thread out of nowhere, he quickly sews the gap shut. He then stands in front of it. “Nothing to see here, everypony!”

Fluttershy covers her mouth, face bright red.

[D.KnightSpider]

The tear in reality is enough to shut down all conversation. The Power Ponies look from one to another to Fluttershy to Love and back again.

"Jus' so ya know?" Zapp says. "That was freaky."

And then a pony's scream interrupted the proceedings. It was quickly followed by the sounds of breaking concrete and shattering glass. The sounds of an impending stampede came shortly thereafter.

The Power Ponies darted to the rooftop ledge and were greeted to the sight of greenery running amok. The Mare-tropolis Mayor and Chief of Police were desperately trying to keep order, meanwhile over-sized vines and foliage were doing everything possible to cause trouble. Green tendrils whipped about to tear up property. Leafy green buds, reminiscent of Venus Fly Traps, attempted to gobble up ponies and bystanders.

The chaos was so complete that it did Discord's heart good.

"It looks as though our discussions will have to wait." Matter-horn exclaims. "Everyone, it's GO TIME!"

As one, the Power Ponies leaped over the roof's edge and prepared to intervene.

"I'm going to say it. Do you want to say it? Because if you don't want to say it, I'm going to say it because somepony has to say it. So can I say it?" Mare-velous asks.

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and get it out of your system." Saddle Rager mumbles.

"Yes!" Mare-velous exclaims as the team hits the ground. Amid the group's dramatic pose, she bellows: "It's time to Power Pony Up!"

[Elbeyon]

Love jumps to her back hooves and starts giving Sunbutt a massively exaggerated wave. Her grin is cheek to cheek and her blush covers nearly her entire face.

Once the portal is closed, Love grabs her stomach and starts laughing. "That was unexpected! I'll need to write an apology letter or my buns are fried toast. My crime was technically in another dimension. Does that make me out of jurisdiction?"

The chaos begins. Love jumps to attention with the other ponies and follows them down, though farther in the background as an extra in the important group shot.

Love starts running to help ponies and cups a yell toward Discord. "I could really use my grenade launcher!"

[Miltonian]

Fluttershy sighs. "You get used to it," she says to Zapp.

The commotion immediately gets Discord's attention. He studies it carefully, framing it with his mismatched claws like a photographer trying to see if he can get a picture just right or not. "Hmm," he says, "Amateur stuff, but a good amateur."

"Oh my goodness," Fluttershy says, "It's like the Heart of the Everfree Forest down there!"

"I wonder if the seeds taste like raisins?" Discord muses. He clears his throat. "Anyway..."

He switches to his 'narrator mode'. "The horror! It seems that giant plants are attacking the city! Could some nefarious villain be sowing the seeds of a greater revolution? Is this situation growing out of control? And can the Power Ponies save the day?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Like a well-oiled machine, the Power Ponies swing into action. Saddle Rager takes measured steps toward the commotion, all the while muttering about cabbage, broccoli and plants not knowing their proper place on the food chain. She begins hulking out-- growing bigger and more massive with every step.

Zapp goes high, bringing the lightning down upon oversized Fly Traps. Her aim strikes true and obliterates a few empty snappers. Mare-velous tosses her lasso about two oversized vines, buying time for a few ponies to escape.

Radiance forms a pair of purple shears that starts cutting down greenery.

The Masked Matter-horn is going to town, tossing out one-liners left and right.

"Wood you mind if I cut in?" She asks as a leafy tendril is kicked apart. Her horn lights up orange as a burst of flame rips through the air to incinerate a Fly Trap. "Hasta La Vista, weed-y!"

Fillisecond struggles compared to the others. A stray tendril lashes out, grabs a nearby lamppost and forms a makeshift tripwire.

Fillisecond plows into the vine at full speed, trips, and goes flying through the air. A surprised shriek leaves her as she flies toward an open-mouthed Fly Trap!

The citizenry itself is in chaos. Ponies dart back and forth, running from one trouble spot to another-- never quite escaping the place of battle.

Love has her wish granted with unexpected haste. A blue glow lights up the air before her. Half a second later, a familiar grenade launcher drops into her waiting hooves.

There's a sticky note attached to the launcher that reads: "Compliments of Drex".

[Miltonian]

"Leaping into action, our heroes take to the stage!" Discord shouts, a megaphone in his hand, "And though the crowd still panics, a few of them stop for just a moment to observe and wonder at the marvelous heroics taking place before their eyes!"

As for Fluttershy, she is trying to usher away those ponies from the area. "Everypony, please proceed to the next street over-- Um, excuse me? Mister?" She taps an elderly stallion on the shoulder. He looks up from his newspaper and right into her smiling face. "If you don't mind, we're evacuating this area. It's too dangerous at the moment."

[Elbeyon]

Love will have to accept what happened to her at face value. This isn't really the time to be doing any type of research. She glances at the note and grins. She says, all happy, "You ponies can teleport without magic!? This place is amazing! Drex, you are amazing!"

Love goes to save a pony... which just happens to be a Power Pony. She enters a proper shooting position, up on her back hooves, and brings her launcher to bear on the fly trap trying to eat Fillisecond. She tries to fire a round of Bouncy Tangler into its open maw.

[D.KnightSpider]

Love's shot strikes true! The Fly Trap's jaws close around the Tangler round an instant before it detonates. The Tangler seals the fly trap's mouth shut, preventing it from snapping up Fillisecond like a chocolate pretzel.

The shot does nothing, however, to change Fillisecond's momentum. She rams into the now-closed Fly Trap face-first, bounces off and drops to the ground-- disoriented and stunned.

"This... this doesn't seem like my day." Fillisecond whimpers.

Meanwhile, since the Tangled Fly Trap can't eat it's prey, it decides to tenderize it. The Fly Trap rears back, preparing to bring its webbed head down upon the hapless Power Pony.

----

The stallion puts paper down. He squints at Fluttershy. "What's that? Is the Mayor done already? Let me see now, where did I put that hearing aid..."

He begins slowly turning his pockets inside out, searching for the aforementioned hearing device. Is he completely oblivious to the chaos around him? Yes. Looks like Fluttershy encountered one of those bystanders.

[Elbeyon]

Love keeps moving closer to dangerous plants so she can help more ponies when needed. She didn't know what was going on or if some pony was behind all of this, but she had to do what she could to help. She had to help every pony!

Love lines up a shot like a walking turret on the glued Fly Trap. "Not a day.", she says to Fillisecond. "It'll only take a second to lighten up the situation." A trigger hold sends a burst of blue lasers at the plant.

[Miltonian]

A flashing orange target appears on the plant in front of Love. She hears Discord's voice in her head. "Aim for the weak-spot!"

"Um, sir? Sir...You can't hear me, can you?" Fluttershy sighs. "I'm sorry, sir. But I have to get you out of here." And then, using the strength that can suplex a bear, she gently wraps her forehooves around him and tries to lift him into the air to carry him to safety.

[D.KnightSpider]

With Discord's assist, Love easily mows down the Tangled Fly Trap. She catches the plant's stalk mid wind-up causing the head to go flying backwards through the air. The head crashes into a mess of vines that were threatening Fluttershy's retreating civilians and flattens them (the vines, not the civilians) effortlessly.

Love certainly has her choice of targets. Mare-velous and Zapp have their hooves full dealing with some kind of demented creeper vines, Radiance is frantically trying to keep pace with sprouting vines and Saddle Rager is... tearing through everything like tissue paper. She's probably okay.

It looks like Matter-horn is trying to evacuate the Mayor, but she's being threatened by an oversized, thorny stem with a yellow bud atop it.

Fluttershy manages to grapple the oblivious stallion and haul him into the air. His struggles cease the moment that they get airborne as he locks up rigid. Looks like some pony is scared of heights.

Her actions draw the attention of the other civilians. They begin following her toward safety. Up until three vines burst through the wall and attempt to grab Fluttershy and her living cargo, anyway.

[Elbeyon]

Love gives a big old energetic hoof up to Discord. She shouts, "Thanks, bud!" She was glad he had her back. Fillisecond was temporarily safe too!

The question is what to do now. Everything was a huge mess. Ponies' safety always comes first though. Love will try to help fight back the green menace so Fluttershy can save everypony. She lobs some stickys toward any plants that are trying to capture ponies.

[Miltonian]

"Eep!" Fluttershy says. She was, unfortunately, never the best flier. But she was always good at getting out of the way. And so, she turns and looks for a different way, a way around the vines. If none is available, she'll do the pegasus thing and go straight up. As fast as she can. Which is to say, a snail could beat her.

"Oh dear," she says, "Hold on, sir."

Discord gives Love a huge, foam thumbs-up right back. "Do a barrel roll!" he shouts to Fluttershy.

He clears his throat and slips back into a narrator's role for a moment. "And so the battle is joined!"

[D.KnightSpider]

"'Hand gone stir'?" The old stallion bellowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

A snail isn't going to outrun the lashing of the fiendish plants. However, Love's grenades are more than quick enough to gum up the works. Her grenades splatter across the walls and city street. The sticky residue binds the vines so that they can't lash out at the evacuees.

Fluttershy's escape vector is clear. Yet, not all is perfect. The random splash damage prevents a few earth-bound civilians from making a proper escape.

Double not-perfect is that Love's antics have attracted some attention. There's a rumbling under her hoof and then a new Fly Trap bursts out of the ground. Its jaws snap open and shut as it prepares to lunge at Love.

"Zapp! Hold on!" Radiance shouts. A vine has wrapped itself about the aforementioned weather witch's legs and is refusing to come free.

[Elbeyon]

Oops! Love cringes as her splatters goes off course. 'Sorry Fluttershy!' she thinks to herself. There isn't another moment to dwell on the mistake as she feels something underneath her hoofs. She tippy taps off the potentially unsafe grounds.

She stares down the Fly Trap as the monstrosity rises up. When you have a hammer everything looks like a nail... Love rises her gun to look down the sights, her trash panda dangling in the movement, and waits for the lunge. When its path committed to, she pulls the trigger to fire off some blue lasers into it's mouth.

[Miltonian]

Discord stares down at the chaos below him, claws tented and studying it carefully. A mini-Discord with a white glow and halo appears on his shoulder. "You could help, you know," Angelcord says, "Snap your fingers and all this goes away!"

"Nopony's been in serious danger yet," Discord says.

A red-tinted Discord appears on the other shoulder. "Buddy!" he says, "You never call anymore. What's up? I'd almost begun to think you didn't want me around." Spirals appear in his eyes and he laughs. "Ya know what would be hilarious? If the heroes switched sides! Imagine the chaos that would erupt. Eh? Eh? Eeeeeeh?" Devilcord nudges Discord playfully. "Ooh! Speaking of eruptions, make the ground into a volcano. That shoots soda. And then drop a giant mentos in it."

Angelcord gasps. "You wouldn't dare! Think of what a waste of a Mentos that would be." Devilcord cackles evilly.

Discord's eyes narrow. "I'll see how this plays out without my interference," he says.

Fluttershy finds a safe place to set the stallion down. "Everypony run to the nearest royal guard station," she says, "I'm going to go save the others!" She'll head back for the stranded civilians.

[D.KnightSpider]

Upon reaching safety, the crowd of rescued ponies breaks out into applause. Grateful hooves stamp the ground. Brilliant smiles light up in appreciation. Whoops and hollers die down as Fluttershy goes to speak.

Silence reigns as their newfound hero departs. The crowd looks to one another and then some pony asks the obvious: "What's a royal guard station?"

Three ponies are trapped behind the sticky patches. From the look of this, they're safe, but given the way huge ground is shaking that could change any moment.

--

It looks like 'fool me once / fool me twice' is in play. The Fly Trap seems ready for Love's assault and deftly twists aside to dodge the lasers.

The Fly Trap is alive, but it lost its line of attack. It curves about to grab Love from the side. The delay gives Love time to react.

Meanwhile, the vine drags a screaming Zapp underground. Another Fly Trap smashes the ground, closing the tunnel behind the vine.

The loss of Zapp stuns the Power Ponies long enough for a Fly Trap to latch onto Saddle Rager. Radiance gets clobbered by a thorny whip/vine.

[Miltonian]

Fluttershy bites her hooves nervously. "Okay. Grab hold of me. And run as fast as you can. When I say so, jump as high as you can. If...if we're lucky, we'll glide right over." She waits until they have a good grip before leading the charge for the sticky barrier. "Rainbow Dash does this stuff all the time," she mutters, "Can't be that hard. Oh what am I saying?"

"Well there went one!" Devilcord says gleefully.

"Hmm," Discord says noncommittally, "She'll be fine. Captured, perhaps, But fine."

Angelcord peers over to where Love and Fluttershy are having their own struggles and wrings his halo nervously. "This might be a good time to intervene..."

Discord chuckles. "Oh come on, me! Have some faith in your friends. That's what friendship is about, is it not?" He surveys the battlefield. "Still...this could use a little...something." He holds a claw up contemplatively and, softly, snaps.

The plants all turn purple with pink polka-dots.

"There we go!" Discord grins. "That's perfect." He grins at the Power Ponies, summons a foam finger with the words 'GO POWER PONIES!' written on it, and waves it in the air. "I'm helping!"

Angelcord glumly kicks a pebble. "Don't we have a job to do?"

"Hmm? Oh yes." He clears his throat. "The horror! It seems Zapp (who is definitely the best Power Pony) has been kidnapped by Miracle Grow's mysterious, malodorous plants! What will happen now? Oh, I can't bear to watch!"

[Elbeyon]

Love goes to stare down the beastie again and throws her hoofs up into the air and runs away. She zigs and zags as she tries to gain some ground between the plant and her.

She taunts it as she runs, "I had a plant once upon a time! It was a cactus! It died because I forgot to water it!"

Little in the way of an attack angle, Love dives behind some rubble. Into cover? No! A few seconds ago her eye caught a catastrophically ill-engineered piece of rubble on the verge of collapse! Love tries to time her kick just right and gives the piece of wall a mighty wack to try to crush the stalking vine.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Purple and pink Polka Dots?" Matter-horn's angry voice shrieked over the din of battle. "Whatever will you do next? Wear white after Labor Day?"

Apparently, she missed the fact that it was Discord's handiwork. The outburst seems directed at whatever villainous force animates the plants.

The last pony on Fluttershy's makeshift airlift clears the ground just Fly Traps erupt from all sides. Their snapping jaws and whipping tentacles flail after the evacuating ponies. As the ponies effortlessly glide over the sticky residue, the jaws and tentacles whip about to smack them out of the air. Their efforts are in vain and, in fact, backfire splendidly. They drive themselves into the sticky residue and find themselves adhered to the pavement. They won't be causing any trouble for a while.

Fluttershy's airplane train gang lands on the other side of the sticky mess with ample room to spare. She must have been very good at 'The Floor is Lava!' in her youth.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you!" A middle-aged mare grabs Fluttershy in a hug. "I thought we were going to die!"

"You're. So. Awesome!" A younger colt adds. Excitement laces his voice.
----

Love's opposing Fly Trap must be related to Yogi Bear, because it's proving to be smarter than the average plant-- and it hissed angrily when she spoke of killing a cactus.

Her makeshift Jenga Tower collapses does its job! Almost. The Fly Trap veers off at the last moment, avoiding having its brain-equivalent is splattered across the sidewalk as most of the rubble misses. 'Most', not 'All'. A portion of the bricks and mortar slam into the plant's stalk and bury it-- pinning it in place. The head begins thrashing wildly in an effort to free itself, but it's going nowhere any time soon.

Looks like Love has a plant-like snake by the neck. It's easy pickings now.

Saddle Rager and Radiance disappear underground. The tunnel entrances slam shut behind them.

[Miltonian]

Discord grins in amusement. "What do you two think? Should I count offending her fashion sensibilities past the point of no return interfering? Or is it just plain old fun?

Devilcord and Angelcord exchange glances. "Fun," they both answer.

Discord raises his claw and grins. "Thought you might say that."

Silly faces appear on the plants. Cartoonish expressions that shift and morph in reaction to their surroundings. The one that Matter-Horn pummels to a pulp has a comically terrified one while the one menacing Love wears that of a barking dog. However, the faces are all drawn in bright, neon orange.

"Half their number are down!" Announcer-Discord declares, "Is this the end?"

Fluttershy looks around and her eyes go wide. "Oh my. He's right." She turns back with a smile to the rescued civilians. "Thank you, everypony. But you really have to run. And don't stop until you're far away from here. We'll handle...whatever this is."

[Elbeyon]

Love points her laser rifle at the creature and is about to pull the trigger when it turns yapping dog. She turns away from it as she tries to pull the trigger, but she gives up soon enough. "I can't do it!", she admits. She shouts at the creature, "Stop making that face! I didn't even have a pet plant growing up! Not even a dog! I had a lizard that was fond of me one time, but he wasn't really even a pet!"

She runs from its mouth, past the rubble, and down it's stock where she tries to sticky it to the ground to take it out of the fight.

The worrying news causes her to look around in a fright. Several of the power ponies do seem to be out of sight. "Matter-horn", she shouts, "We need a new plan!"

[D.KnightSpider]

The moment passes as the rescued civilians realize that, while temporarily safe, they're not quite removed from danger just yet. They turn and erupt into gallop for freedom-- screaming all the while.

All except for one lonely, elderly stallion. He finangles with his pockets for a moment and then, with a triumphant shout, produces an ear bud. It's quickly stuck in his left ear.

"Now what's this about hamster gears?" He asks. "And can you believe how overgrown this place is? With all these taxes, you'd think they could afford a gardener!"

It's a question of what to do now. The elderly stallion isn't in any immediate danger, but the same can't be said for the Mayor's delegation. Matter-horn can't hold back the plants forever, and getting to the Mayor will require crossing the foliage war zone. On the other hoof, would this stallion really be safe if left unattended?

---

Matter-horn couches low as a storm of energy dances around her head. A bolt of flame leaps from her horn to incinerate the attacking vine, while it's terrified expression shrieked in unheard fear.

"Majora's Mask... " Matter-horn panted in recognition. "I should be grateful he didn't go with Shop of Horrors. That would require that they talk."

She shakes herself and resumed her fighting stance. The mayor cower behind her.

She called to Love: "We're open to suggestions, dear. Until we get the mayor to safety, I'm afraid this is a losing battle. We need to find the source..."

A Fly Trap closes about Mare-velous. Matter-horn's right. For every plant they uproot, two more take its place. It's worse than a comic book villain organization at this point.

[Elbeyon]

Love taps her chin. "Source... Source..." A light bulb of an idea goes off. "The source! We need to get to the root of the problem! Don't put your head into a tuber!" Love starts firing her lasers at the heart harassing the two heroes and mayor. "This germ is really breaking through the foundation. A shoot down the stem might lead to the problem!"

[Miltonian]

Fluttershy takes a deep breath. "Sir," she says, "I'm afraid we're bringing in landscapers to deal with it. The plants have gotten a bit...lively. So, if you don't mind, I need you to, um, run while I go try and save the mayor from being eaten by a venus fly trap. Please, don't argue. Just run."

And with that, she will turn and head back into the jungle of plants.

Discord's eyes narrow at the stallion. "Hmm. Well, if he gets in trouble, I suppose Fluttershy would be heartbroken if I didn't go down to save him. I'll keep my eye on him."

[D.KnightSpider]

From the way the battle's shaking out, 'plant beats laser' must be true. Love's shots miss their target as the vines deftly dodge her assault. In diving out of the way, they give The Masked Matter-horn and the Mayor a little bit of breathing room. This gives the Masked Matter-horn the split-second needed to act. An ice ray coats the steps of City Hall, forming a frigid Slip 'n Slide.

"Go, go!" Matter-horn shouts.

The Mayor and his entourage need no urging. They take the slide for freedom!

Minor problem for Love and Matter-horn: without the mayor to occupy them, the vines and Fly Traps have no incentive to hold back. Four vines whip about and charge straight for Love. Matter-horn finds herself hemmed in by two Fly Traps and two vines.

Fortune continues to favor Fluttershy. She makes her way to the base of the slide to meet the Mayor and his two comrades. Unfortunately, none of them have brakes and the slide is slick. They tumble off the makeshift escape ramp and crash to the ground.

"Mayor Loophole at your service!" The mayor blusters as he picks himself up. A second look at Fluttershy changes his tune. "Oh, wait. You're the evacuation mare. If you get us out of here, then I'll get you a medal!"

That might be easier said than done. Or maybe not. Now that Loophole has escaped the top of the city steps, the attacking plant-life seems to have no interest in him. Instead, they've begun scaling the sides of City Hall. They might be able to... just walk away?

Discord, meanwhile, has a pleasant diversion from the battle below. The elderly stallion appears to take Fluttershy's advice. He turns around and toddles off through the city streets at a lazy pace. A few vines and a Fly Trap try to snap him up, but each one misses or harms itself due to random chance.

A vine goes to wrap about its target but it squashed flat by falling debris. A

Fly Trap overshoots its target when the elderly stallion stops to pick up a penny-- it buries its teeth in a boulder and finds itself stuck fast. It looks like the elderly stallion will be alright without outside interference.

[Miltonian]

Fluttershy's eyes flick between the Mayor and the other ponies. They needed help, but then again, her role was clear. If she went off and something bad happened... Well, better to get the civilians safe and then come back. And so she smiles warmly at the mayor and his entourage. "Please follow me and hurry," she says and then will lead them to safety to the best of her ability.

Discord snorts in laughter, watching the old stallion go. Did he have a hand in it? Who can really say. He turns his attention towards Fluttershy once again. His eyes narrow. "She would have done it even without the medal offer," he mutters.

Angelcord nods. "Yes, it's just the way she is."

"Good thing too," Devilcord cackles, "Otherwise we wouldn't get away with nearly so much."

Discord clears his throat. "Well I think that's enough from both of you." They vanish in a puff of smoke. "Can't have the joke overstay it's welcome."

[Elbeyon]

The precision of lasers may be a flaw when Love can't hit a moving target! Matter-horn's flamethrower would be awfully hoofy right now.

Loophole and friends escaping away from the closest overgrown bush is a very welcomed development. The four vines heading for her are much less appreciated. These things are real weeds! A menace to society!

Oh, my. How do these things even work? They seem to tracking Love really well, right? Love will make a slow steady backwards retreat on her two hooves, her harness compensating, and fire off a wide effect stun grenade toward the ever increasing number of greanies.

[D.KnightSpider]

Love's cautious retreat does her no favors. The vines adapt to her tactics and pull back as though expecting something new. They respond to her grenade with a backhanded slap that knocks the grenade off of its intended fight path.

The grenade tumbles end over end upward through the air... where it harmlessly explodes.

Love does get the sense that she may be looking at the problem in the wrong way. The way the vines moved looked a little... off. Almost like it wasn't self-directed but an old marionette.

Two of the vines remain on defense. The other two charge Love. It's time for fight or flight.

---

With all the difficulty of a pleasant stroll in the park, Fluttershy leads the mayor and his companions safely through the, er, 'green' zone. Her eyes spot danger before it can strike and her confident course keeps the others from panicking.

Before they know it, they've reached safety.

"Thank you, thank you!" Loophole all but dances with glee upon reaching safety. "You're a natural at this! How much are they paying you? I'm sure I could top the offer and give you an official position within the government. I could always use someone of your caliber on my security team."

"At least you didn't offer to kiss her." One of the Mayor's companions mutters under his breath.

"Pay him no mind." Loophole says a little too quickly. "He's my soon to be ex-chief of security.

---

Fillisecond disappears underground. For Matter-horn, things are desperate. One vine has a solid grip about her horn, preventing her from lining up a shot. Meanwhile, a Fly Trap closes in for the 'kill'.

[Miltonian]

"Oh," Fluttershy says with a smile, "They don't pay me. I volunteered. Now if it's not too much trouble, you should still run away. There's no telling how far these will spread."

She glances behind her and gasps. "Oh my! The Power Ponies..." She turns and bows to the mayor. "Will...will you be alright from here on out? Because I reaaally should go now..."