The depths of the Everfree Forest were foreboding at the best of times. Only a little sun light managed to pierce the thick canopy of the trees. It was not a place that was often frequented by ponies. Yet this little fact did nothing to prevent the yellow pegasus with a pink mane and light mint green unicorn with a white silver mane and tail from continuing their journey deeper into the untamed depths of the Everfree.
Fluttershy and Organical pushed their way onward undaunted by the ever more treacherous terrain. They were on a mission assigned by Princess Celestia herself, as well as the council of nobles. Only three months ago the land of Equestria had endured the worst parasprite swarm in recorded history. Thousands perhaps tens of thousands of acres of farm land had been destroyed. It didn't take long for the farming ponies to call on the Canterlot elite for an extreme and permanent solution. The solution came out a week later in the form of the AR2 Parasprite pesticide.
Celestia however advised against the total extermination of the spiecies without first understanding their role in the ecosystem, and with her prodding the council of nobles determined to send Fluttershy on a survey mission. Organical, a friend of a friend who knew somepony, and also happened to have her cutie mark in being an environmental advocate, was selected to confirm her assessment and aid the pegasus in the field.
"Fluttershy, can I ask you something?" Organical broke the silence the two had been walking in since they entered the Everfree this morning. She was surprised it lasted so long aside from them greeting one anther she hadn't heard Fluttershy utter a single sound.
"Huh, yes." Fluttershy stopped and turned around. "What did you want to know?"
"Why are we here?" Organical looked away.
"Um, we're here to save the parasprites. Aren't we?"
"Do you think that parasprites are worth saving?" Fluttershy gasped.
"Organical, I'm surprised to hear you of all ponies ask that." Organical looked away, she already felt ashamed of her thoughts, not that she should the damage that the parasprites had caused was incalculable, but still it hurt her to think their total destruction was completely necessary, and now on top of that she had Fluttershy judging her. She nearly jumped when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you, but it looked like you were upset, I just wanted to give you a comforting hoof is all, if that's alright with you."
"You're not mad at me or judging me? Even though I just said that the parasprites need to be wiped out, and your here to save them?" Fluttershy shook her head side to side.
"I'm not mad a little sad, but not mad." Fluttershy gently put her wing around Organical and began walking again this time side by side, with her assistant. "I can understand your outrage. You're a lot like my friend Apple Jack that way. You like nature, and want to see it safe, but when something breaks the balanced norm that your used to." Fluttershy paused waiting for Organical to finish the thought.
"I try and fix it." Fluttershy nodded and smiled.
"Sometimes though things don't need to be fixed. Like when we first dealt with parasprites, Twilight tried to make it to were they wouldn't eat anything else and so wouldn't multiply. In the end they nearly destroyed the town by eating it. Then there was the time that I got turned into a bat when Apple Jack tried to keep vampire fruit bats from destroying her crop." Fluttershy looked up at the trees. "But I also understand that sometimes you have to intervene, like when a cockatrice turned Twilight to stone and nearly did the same to me."
"What did you do?" Organical looked at Fluttershy shocked.
"I told it to undo what it did."
"That was all."
"I did it very sternly." Fluttershy nodded. "Many times the things that need to be changed don't need to be changed by drastic action. I don't think that it is necessary to completely destroy the parasprites, and I don't think that Celestia does either, and I think deep down you don't either."
"I don't know what I think. The parasprites destroyed so many crops, there's a famine now. What have they done except cause problems? Eep!" Organical jumped as something brushed up against her side.
"Well I think that we're about to find out," Fluttershy said, as the little light blue ball with wings fluttered deeper into the forest, as though it had nary a care in the world. The two trotted after it. It didn't even care that it was being followed. If flew through a think bush, and the two of them pushed their way through. "Wow!" Oganical screamed at the sudden lack of ground beneath her.
"Hold on." Fluttershy grabbed onto her and gently lowered her down to a ledge.
"Stupid parasprite lead us off of a cliff." Organical glared down at the little blue ball that continued to flutter carelessly down to a small clearing, which was full of parasprites of every color.
"No I think it lead us to their natural habitat and the cliff was just there." Fluttershy used her wing to brush off some of the dust on Organical. "Besides it wasn't a steep drop or a long one. That's odd."
"Huh, what is?"
"There's no nest down there. Just a bunch of fruit trees."
"Parasprites only exist for eating, doesn't sound to surprising." Organical squinted trying to get a better look at the fruit trees. "What kind of tree is that, I've never seen anything like that in my studies."
"The Everfree does have a unique flora and fauna." Fluttershy studied the trees as well. "But you're right, I've never seen anything like this either." She looked down and saw another ledge. Four meters down. "Let's go get a better look. Do you want me to carry you down?"
"No thanks I've got it." Organical jumped off of the ledge and skid down to their new vantage point. They watched the parasprites for nearly two hours doing nothing but flying around and eating the fruits from the strange trees. "Told you nothing surprising. Parasprites only exist to eat."
"Yes but look there are only four new parasprites."
"So?"
"It's been two hours they should have doubled their numbers several times over by now." There was a squelching sound as a rotten fruit fell from one of the trees. Suddenly all the parasprites were gone. "What's going on?"
"I don't know." The two of them watched as the strange rotted fruit began to shake, and after a moment twigs and roots began to sprout from it, and give it form. Twigs became branches that formed into limbs roots slowly became sinews. The two watched in awestruck horror as in only a minute the fallen fruit turned into a fully grown timberwolf. "Did you just see what I just saw?"
"Yes."
"I think we need to go back, and tell the council of nobles about this."
"Uh-huh." The two quickly and quietly left the forest. To return with their report on the parasprites, back to the nobles of Canterlot.
Author's Note
Organical belongs to Organical This was written with her permission. Hope you liked it.
