Another day in Ponyville, another potential threat to all of ponykind that could only be stopped through the power of friendship. Things of this type had happened to Twilight Sparkle so many times by now, she was starting to get a little tired of them. But this time seemed to be different.
It had all started earlier that day, after a massive rainstorm. The weather pegasi in charge that day had made a slight mistake, and combined that day's rainstorm with the day before's rainstorm. Now, normally all this would lead to is a very soggy day, and a few reprimands. Of course, things just couldn't be simple, as that was also the day that a group of unicorns, all the way from Canterlot, had come to Ponyville to work on a new magical spell.
Specifically, the effects of using magic to enhance natural growth of grass and other plants. Twilight had even signed up to be a guest member of the group, this being a topic she foresaw as probably being important sometime in the near future. However, after all the rain, most of Ponyville had been left quite muddy, with almost no usable ground to be found.
However, Twilight quickly came up with a solution. "Why not just go to my friend Fluttershy's cottage? True, it's at the edge of the Everfree Forest, but she happens to be renovating at the moment, and currently has no floors," is what she said. And it was true, for the most part. What had actually happened was that a mole friend of Fluttershy's had been injured, and whilst she let him recuperate, she also removed part of her flooring to allow him a safe way back into his tunnels.
So off they had went, the study group from Canterlot, with Twilight in tow, to the house of Fluttershy. Twilight knocked, and when Fluttershy opened the door, Twilight explained what was going on. Of course, as soon as the story was over, Fluttershy gave the OK. Some ponies might have seen it as her being a doormat, but Fluttershy really didn't mind helping other ponies. Besides, Holey had recovered not too long ago, and she had been planning on fixing her floor as soon as she could get the help from Applejack.
So in the group went, Twilight tailing them as she tried to hold in her excitement. Finding a suitable patch of land, they formed a big circle around it, with Twilight outside it, preparing to make notes.
The first unicorn lit up his horn, as he started the first part of the spell. In succession, the other six ponies lit up their horns and intoned their respective parts of the spell. A bolt of green energy shot across the horns, and slowly started to go faster and faster as a darker green colored mist started to form around the land they encircled.
Twilight frantically scribbled down her notes as she observed the proceedings. Soon, plants started to grow with an alarming speed, some not even native to that part of Equestria. Twilight was amazed. But as quickly as this happened, something much more amazing happened. It started slowly at first, just as the leader of the aforementioned group started the last passage way. Slowly, a white stalk started to worm its way out of the ground, growing larger and larger as the spell went on. A small red cap was soon spotted at the end of the stalk, which expanded even quicker. Then, suddenly, the first white stalk stopped growing, and a second smaller one burst from it, supporting the red with white polka dot cap.
By that time, the mushroom was huge, almost the size of a grown mare, and was squishing most of the other plants. Finally, as the lead unicorn of the group finished his spell, the mushroom cap stopped growing. "That's.. huge," said Twilight, awe-struck by the size of this.
"I certainly didn't see this coming," said the leader, as surprised as Twilight.
"Neither did I," said the first of the other six.
"Well, it was a possibility, but on this scale.." trailed off the second pony.
"This wasn't in predictions," muttered the third.
"I'll be... Now that could serve quite a few ponies," said the fourth, her stomach growling.
"Thirty-four, thirty-five... Oh, sorry, I was counting the spots," said the fifth. Facehoofing, she added, "And now I lost track.
"Can you imagine what could happen if we could vegetables of this size on a daily basis," fantasized the sixth. His stomach also growled.
Arriving in what was either the nick of time, or a result of very good hearing, Fluttershy opened the door that lead into her kitchen, and said, "Alright everypony, who wants lunch? I have sandwiches!"
"I do!" exclaimed the seven ponies in unison, as Twilight just smiled. She had wanted to stay and study the humongous mushroom, and this presented the perfect opportunity.
As the research group rushed past Fluttershy, she beckoned to Twilight, and said, "Twilight, if you're hungry, I made a hay sandwich just for you."
"Oh, no thanks," said Twilight. "I'll stay here. This mushroom intrigues me, and I want to study it," she explained, as she pointed to the mushroom in question. It was a really big mushroom, all things taken into consideration. Even bigger than the plants it had squashed.
"Well, alright then," said Fluttershy, visibly dejected.
Twilight knew that she should have accepted Fluttershy's offer, but the mushroom was so tantalizing, she just had to study it. "First things first, I have to collect a sample," said Twilight. She had a habit of talking to herself when she was excited or curious, both of which she currently was.
Fortunately, along with the papers and quill, she had also brought a few tools of her own. Grasping a scalpel with her magic, she walked up to the mushroom. It should have been easy, all she had to do was cut a piece off of the cap, but as she made the first incision, she stopped dead in her tracks.
Why? Very simply, because she heard what could only be described as a voice. Even more, a voice saying, "Would you rather mind not cutting into me? That really hurts, you know. Would you like me to take a chunk of you out? Of course not."
Twilight started to freak out after she regained her senses. "How is this- What's going on? This is impossible! This is scientifically impossible! Mushrooms can't talk. They simply can't talk. Why, a mushroom talking makes as much sense as an earth pony suddenly sprouting wings and flying, without magical assistance."
"Well, don't look at me, pl-" the mushroom voice cut itself off with a cry of pain. "This unbearable agony... hey you, the one with the knife," said the mushroom.
"Yes?" asked Twilight, unsure as to what in Equestria was going on. "Oh, by the way, my name is Twilight Sparkle," she said, realizing she hadn't introduced herself.
"A pleasure, I'm sure," groaned the mushroom. It wasn't exactly very expressive, being a mushroom and all. "Now, knifelight, you see a... I suppose a stalk thing, I can't see it very well myself, right? What I want you to do is cut it open. But only with the tip of knife," it explained, occasionally interrupting itself with groans.
Twilight didn't exactly have much of a choice. Either she cut the mushroom open, and see what was inside it, or leave it be, as it experienced what seemed to be a lot of pain and see it get taken away by the research group (Who were apparently having a very tasty lunch, considering how long they'd been in the kitchen.)
Picking the scalpel back up, she carefully inserted the tip into the stalk, and made a quick but firm slice downwards. As she looked up to see what she had accomplished, she took an inadvertent step backwards.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this, Miss Knifelight," said the mushroom... pony? For what Twilight had seen inside the stalk, was none other than a fully grown pony, with a white coat, and a weird red-white mixture mane, which surrounded his head much like the mushroom cap. At least, Twilight assumed it was a 'he', but she really couldn't tell. Do mushrooms even have a gender? She was no mycologist.
"Who or what are you?" asked Twilight, trying to grasp the current situation.
"Well, I seem to be what you ponies call a... 'mushroom', apparently. All I really know is that I suddenly started to grow very quickly, my 'head', if that's what you call this thing," he said, pointing to his head, "started to fill up with all these ideas, and after you, dear Sparkler, cut me open, I suddenly found myself in this body. All I can say," he said.
"Do you... have a name?" asked Twilight, as she tried to digest just what was going on. She knew it couldn't be some form of prank by Discord, because he had taken a small vacation to the realm of chaos as Fluttershy dealt with her mole. Apparently the spirit of discord and disharmony didn't like moles. Who knew.
"Well, no, I'm just a mushroom," said the mushroom. "But my head is telling me that you ponies all have these things called names, so I suppose I'd better come up for one myself. How about Room," offered the mushroom pony.
"Why not," relinquished Twilight, as she just threw her hooves up in the air. Today was just not her day. "So, Room, now what?"
"I suppose I should go and find my brothers and sisters, as the terms apparently go," said Room.
Twilight blinked a few times. "You have... relatives?" asked Twilight.
"Of course! Don't you know anything about mushrooms? I was just a single spore! And whatever did this to me, probably did this to all the other spores."
"And what makes you think that?" said Twilight, her head tilted to one side.
"Oh, I just saw a few of them wandering outside. And I don't think they'll appreciate the whole concept behind mushroom soup," said Room, as he pointed to a nearby window.
"How do you even KNOW what mushroom soup is? You didn't even exist until a few minutes ago," said Twilight, as she walked over to the window. Sadly, it was just as Room had said, there were several other mushponies walking around, with decidedly angry looks on their faces.
"As I told you, my head got filled up with all sorts of information as I grew. I don't know how though," said Room, before asking, "So, what should we do?"
A sudden idea struck Twilight, as to how Room gained all these thoughts, specifically the ones about mushroom soup. But she'd have to wait until later to test it, there were more pressing concerns to attend to. "Well, I suppose we should start with rounding up all of the mush-ponies, for lack of a better word. They probably burst out of their stalks without help, unlike you," she said, as she started to ponder.
Before Room got a chance to speak, Fluttershy opened the kitchen door again. "Hey Twilight, your friends just left. Want to- Who's that?" she interrupted herself with, as her eyes came across Room.
"He's... a friend of mine," said Twilight. It wasn't exactly a lie; he seemed friendly enough. She did wonder why he wasn't angry at the concept of mushroom soup though. She'd have to ask later. "Now, you said the research group just left? That's not good," she said.
"Why not?" asked Fluttershy.
"Come with me, and I'll explain on the way there," said Twilight, suddenly grabbing Room by the hoof, and running out the front door.
It was a simple plan, all things considered. Rather like the time Pinkie Pie had cloned herself. Except this time, the mush-ponies wouldn't be half as nice as Pinkie. She, the seven other ponies from the research ponies who had cast the spell that created Room, Room himself, and the other ex-Elements of Harmony, would help cast a spell to attract all the mush-ponies into the town hall, hopefully before they caused any real chaos.
Twilight was glad she had time on her side, because if she left so many angry mush-ponies alone, there was no telling what could happen. As all of her friends gathered in the hall, the research ponies already in formation, Twilight took a deep breath. Before she did anything else, there was a question she had to ask. Turning to Room, she said, "Hey, Room. I just have to ask. Why aren't you so angry about mushroom soup? I mean, all of your siblings seem to rebel against the very idea, so why don't you?"
Applejack, the last pony to arrive, heard what Twilight had asked, and walked up to Room. "Yeah, how do we know that you're not going to try and mess us up as we help with that spell?" she asked, glaring at Room.
Room shrugged. "The elder sibling has to have a cool head, I suppose." Twilight opened her mouth to object to that reasoning, but Room continued, "But if it helps, I have a faint mental link with my relatives. And all I can feel is pure anger, without all the other things I'm feeling."
"Yeah, Roomy here seems like a great guy! I certainly like him," said Pinkie Pie, who had sneaked up on Twilight without her realizing it.
Twilight jumped, but then went back to studying Room. She knew Pinkie Pie well enough to know she could do things like that, and she had something more pressing to think about; besides, it was still amazed just how quickly Room had picked up on the Equish language. "You say you have a mental link, hm? Then I'll have part for you to play in the plan as well," she said, grinning. "Now, everypony, are you ready?!" she shouted, just so everyone could hear her.
A resounding 'yes' echoed back, impressive considering the fact that there were so few ponies in the hall. "On my mark, lend me your magic!" said Twilight, as she readied herself. "Ready, set... Go!" she shouted out. Soon, she felt magic pouring into her, which she channeled into a large spell, large enough to cover all of Ponyville, specifically tailored to the mush-ponies. The spell contained a simple, irresitable message: 'Come to the Town Hall."
And soon they did. Twilight saw what she could almost call a horde of mush-ponies file into the room, one by one, until it was packed full. Seeing no stragglers, she broke off the spell. "Now then," said Twilight, turning to Room, "I'll need your help with this next part."
"I'm all ears! Well, no, actually most of me is still mushroom, but I do have two ears," replied Room.
"Good," said Twilight, deciding it was best not to point out that 'all ears' was simply a figure of speech. "Now, that mental link of yours... I'm going to share with you some of my magic, and I want you to use it to ask a very simple question: 'What do you want?' Is that okay?" she asked.
"Sounds fine to me," said Room. "Now, fill me up!" he exclaimed. The mush-ponies, at this point, were getting angry, but Twilight had set a magical spell across the doors, which when activated, made them close until she wanted them to open.
Twilight took a deep breath, and lowered her head until her horn touched Room's head. She slowly channeled magic into it, pouring it into Room, who soaked it up... rather like a mushroom, obviously enough. This lent more evidence to her theory, which Twilight made a mental note to talk about later.
"Wow..." said Room, suddenly quiet. The feeling of magic was a truly wonderful one, but one which seemed vaguely familiar. He just couldn't remember where he had felt it before. Snapping himself out of it, he thought with all his might, and concentrated on the mental bond that had formed when he was first created. "What do you want... what do you want? What do you want? WHAT DO YOU WANT?" he was yelling in his thought, as the voices of all the others started to drown his out.
But then he realized something. He summoned all the magic he had been lent by Twilight, and sent it into whatever counted as his brain. Taking a deep breath, he gave one last thought, with all of his might and Twilight's magic behind it
"What... do you all... want?"
"To return."
came the answer.
"To return!" yelled out Room, not realizing how loud he was.
"To return?" repeated Twilight. "Why... that's it!" she said, upon an idea striking her. She rushed over to the group of research ponies, and after some rushed muttering, stood in the middle of them, as they once again made a circle.
But this time, they all chanted at once, with Twilight's voice added into the mix. This was a different spell... Or, rather, it was the same spell as before, but in reverse, and with a few modifications. And amplified by Twilight's magic, to cover the entire Town Hall.
And soon enough, results started to show themselves. A green mist formed around all the mush-ponies, and soon... soon they started to shrink. And shrink. And shrink some more. Finally, as they reduced more in size, they started to change shape as well. And by the time Twilight was finished with the spell, they had all reverted back to their original mushy selves. Except, that is, for Room.
For, as it turns out, Twilight had actually left a little bit of magic in his mental link, focused on that, and used it as a focal point for the spell. And it worked, as all the mushrooms attested. Oh, sure, Town Hall would be unusable for a few weeks, until a better place for the mushrooms had been found, but that didn't worry Twilight. Town Hall had been destroyed and rebuilt more times than she could count, in all honesty.
Turning to Room, she said, "And that, is that. Oh, and my name is Twilight Sparkle. Not Knifelife Sparkler."
"Whatever you say, Knifey," replied Room, as he took on a contemplative gaze. "So, now what?" he asked.
Before Twilight got a chance to reply, Pinkie Pie popped up, and said, "Why, a party of course! It just simply wouldn't do to have you stay here, and not have a welcome party!"
"A party it is then," said Twilight, as she hooked her hoof around Room's again, and dragged him off with her.
A little while later, in the midst of Pinkie Pie's party in Sugercube Corner, Pinkie Pie approached Twilight, and said, "See, I knew that Room would turn out well."
"Yeah, that's right," said Twilight, thinking back to her words earlier. This had been a rather hectic day, all things considered. But at least it was all over now.
"In fact, he's actually a pretty fun guy."