Sunny was spending the entire afternoon with Papa Smurf, trying to learn as much as she could about Smurfs and how her father saved his life so many moons ago. “So, let me see if I got the story down,” she said. “While my dad was on his travels, he found you wounded in the woods, and brought you back to Maretime Bay before I was born, helped you get to full health again before you returned to the village?”

“That’s the story. Argyle was so welcoming, and made me feel right at home, both of sharing our love of knowledge,” Papa Smurf told her with a chuckle. “He would be so proud of you and your accomplishments, Sunny.”

“...I think he would too,” Sunny said. “I miss him… a lot.”

“As do I. But carrying on his mission is a way to keep his memory alive,” Papa said comfortingly. “So… what if I showed you a spell I showed your father during my recovery?”

“Would you?!” Sunny said in delight. “Oh, that would be amazing!”

“Wonderful! Then get me some of the ingredients from this list!”

Sunny smiled and immediately got to work, handing him the powders and viles he needed while Papa hummed a little tune. “Time to smurf some magic. Summon a vision, and see what our future holds.”

Papa took the final vile and examined it closely. “I must get the visioning potion just right. The magic is always strongest during the blue moon.”

With one drop of the liquid in, a vision began to rise from the cauldron, showing Smurfs happily playing and having fun. “Wow, this is amazing!” Sunny said in delight, vigorously taking notes. “Ah… so far, so good,” Papa smiled. “Lots of smiles and smurf berries. Clumsy's sitting still. That's always good.”

But suddenly… the vision changed to reveal a wand that its end looked like a roaring silver dragon, causing Papa to gasp, startled. “A dragon wand!”

“Whoa…” Sunny gulped. “That’s got Paradise and Opaline vibes written all over it!”

Suddenly, the vision changed to see Clumsy frailing through the air, trying to get the wand into his grasp. “I got it, I got it!”

“Clumsy…?” Sunny said softly, wondering what this could mean. Suddenly, the vision showed many Smurfs in cages, Gargamel laughing victoriously, and then, to top it all off, the Smurfs and the ponies frailing through a portal, screaming Papa and Sunny’s names. “Oh, Clumsy…” Papa muttered worriedly. “What have you done…?”

“Visions aren’t always meant to become true,” Sunny said, equally as worried. “Clumsy would never do that on purpose. But… if it did happen…”

“Hey, Sunny! Hey, Papa!” Clumsy greeted as he and Izzy entered the cottage as soon as the vision faded away, and Papa gasped, startled. “Clumsy!”

“...are you okay…?” Izzy asked, reaching out to Sunny in comfort. “Yeah,” Sunny said, sparing a glance toward the cauldron. “We’re fine. Just… a little surprised. Hang on… why aren’t you two at the Blue Moon Celebration rehearsing?”

“You know. A couple guys got smacked in the face, so I thought I'd make some smurf root mud packs to…” Clumsy tripped on a loose board, nearly colliding with the shelf before Izzy helped steady him. “...take down everyone’s swelling.”

“Are you learning a lot about your dad and the Smurfs, Sunny?” Izzy asked optimistically, and Sunny sighed with a smile. “More than I ever thought, Izzy. It’s really great to rest a little before we find the third crystal.”

“We’ll find it soon,” Izzy chirped. “We just gotta be patient.”

“Aww, Papa, you’re smurfed outta smurf-root,” Clumsy said, going to the door. “Izzy and I can go pick some!”

“No!” Papa said quickly, stopping the group. “Those fields are too close to Gargamel's castle. I'll get the smurf-root. Izzy, you make sure he stays in the village and out of trouble. Do you understand?”

“Sure thing,” Izzy nodded, a little confused. “Right, Clumsy?”

“Okay…” Clumsy sighed. “If you say so.”

The door closed, leaving Papa and Sunny alone. “Sunny, for the past 500 years, the vision has never been wrong,” Papa told the mare sternly. “Whatever we saw, I can’t let this happen to my Smurfs.”

“And it won’t,” Sunny said comfortingly. “We’ll make sure of it.”

XXXXXXXX

Clumsy decided to go and do the opposite of what Papa Smurf told him, but Izzy was right behind him, trying to convince him otherwise. “Clumsy, didn’t you hear what Papa Smurf said?” she asked. “These fields are way too close to the home of Bad Guy Central! We could get in huge trouble!”

“Oh, you mean ‘Just stay in the village, Clumsy’?” Clumsy scoffed. “Ha! Look at all this smurf-root, Izzy! Once we get back to the village and show all this off, they are going to be so proud of me.”

Izzy hadn't thought of it that way, and she knew that Clumsy wanted to prove himself to the other Smurfs as much as he could. “Well… the least I can do is walk with you… just to make sure you’re safe.”

Unbeknownst to Clumsy and Izzy, Azrael prowled upon from behind a dead log, and Gargamel inched up to them with a rather surprised look on his face. “I'm all for helping you prove your worth and everything, but I still don’t think Papa will be happy about this,” Izzy said worriedly, but Clumsy quickly scoffed. “Ah, c’mon, Izzy. It’s not like being out here for five minutes is going bring trouble.”

But just as he finished, a large shadow loomed over then, and the unicorn and Smurf look up to see Gargamel holding a large net. Clumsy dropped the smurf-root and held on to Izzy. “G-G-G…”

“Boo,” Gargamel immediately swung the net at the two. “Gargamel!!” Clumsy and Izzy panicked as they raced away, Azrael hot on their tails. “Ahhh! Help!” Clumsy wailed as they jumped over a log. “Good kitty. Good kitty. Look, look! Uh, a pile of yarn. A nice, juicy bird!”

Suddenly, Clumsy and Izzy disappeared within the protective barrier. Azrael came to stop and stared in confusion while Gargamel’s eyes widened in realization. “So, that’s it!” the evil wizard said walking up to the barrier. “It’s invisible. Oh, those sneaky… wait, wait, wait, wait. We don’t know if it’s safe.”

Thinking quickly, he grabbed Azrael and threw into the barrier, and Azrael screamed as he vanished into thin air. Gargamel stood there with skeptical smile. “Azrael? Are you dead?”

The cat meowed from the other side of the barrier, giving Gargamel the signal it was okay to cross over.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Sunny and Papa were on their way out to check on preparations for the Blue Moon Festival when they were approached by Misty, Sparky, Hitch and Smurfette, the three formers hearing about what Papa had been doing and wanted to know more. “So, what did you see in your visions, Papa?” Misty asked. “Nothing... apocalyptic, really.” Papa cleared his throat, leading Sunny to nod. “Everything is going to be just fine. And we're gonna find the crystal and get back home soon.”

“Perfect!” Smurfette said happily. “Another year we don’t have to worry about that mean, old…”

“GARGAMEL!!” Clumsy shrieked as he and Izzy screeched to a halt. “Uh,” Sunny chuckled, “we know who she meant, Clumsy.”

“No, no!” Izzy shook her head violently, pointing her hoof toward the bushes. “GARGAMEL!!”

At that moment, Gargamel burst from the bushes, leading Misty and Smurfette to gasp in horror as Izzy chuckled nervously. “We mighta, kinda, sorta accidentally let him to the village!”

“Ugh, and Pipp was right about one thing,” Misty groaned. “He is uglier than Opaline!”

Gargamel laughed evilly and nd crushed one the houses to position himself. That's when the panic ensued, and Smurfs ran for cover wherever they could. “Smurf for your lives!” Vanity shrieked. “EVERYBODY, SKEDADDLE!!” Farmer wailed as Azrael popped from behind one house and chased after them. “Into the forest, everyone!” Papa ordered, and Clumsy, Smurfette, Izzy and Misty went in that direction while Sunny and Hitch stayed behind, not wanting them to flee. “Papa, we have to retaliate!” she said. “This village is your home, and we can’t let that wizard destroy it! What about the Blue Moon Festival?”

“This is a dire situation, Sunny,” the elder Smurf said. “And I won’t let my friend’s daughter be harmed by anyone else.”

“Sunny, Hitch, Papa Smurf! What’s going on?” Zipp asked as she and Pipp flew down to them. “It’s Gargamel! He’s after the Smurfs!” Hitch cried as Sunny shifted into her alicorn form. “We gotta stop him!”

The four ponies immediately rushed off, and Papa sighed and began to give orders to everyone in the village. “Sound the alarm, Crazy!”

Crazy bellowed his best siren noise through his mouth, and Gutsy directed Smurfs away from the village before he caught sight of Azrael and got an idea. “Hey, cat! Azrael, over here! Come on!” Gutsyy mocked as he ran into a house. He tumbled through the window, just as Azrael crashed his head through, becoming stuck since he couldn’t fit his whole body through. “There you go, you nasty cat,” Gutsy grabbed Azrael's whiskers before running off.

XXXXXXXX

Gargamel whipped and swiped his net to catch any Smurfs that got too close, but was interrupted when something collided with his jaw. In a rage, the wizard turned to see Zipp staring angrily at him. “What the heck are you?”

“Your worst nightmare.” Zipp growled and rammed into his jaw again, but as she prepared to do it a third time, Gargamel grabbed her with a tight fist. “You might be some used to me. Could probably use you as a stress toy.”

“If you want to her my sister,” Pipp said punching Gargamel’s nose, letting her sister go free, “you’re gonna have to get through me!”

Gargamel readied his net and swung, trying to catch the two pesky pegasi. While he was distracted, Hitch came in and, using his earth pony magic, summoned roots from underground to wrap around the wizard’s feet. With his feet entangled, Gargamel lost his balance and fell to the ground, and Sparky laughed in amusement. “That’ll teach him,” Sunny said confidently... but that confidence was soon lost when Gargamel got out of the vines. “It’s gonna take more than that to stop the great and powerful Gargamel, tiny pests!”

But before he swung the net again, he caught sight of Papa Smurf creeping toward his house. “Papa!”

Papa gasped and ran for his home, but was crushed under Gargamel’s foot, causing Papa to be launched back. He got up, narrowly avoiding Gargamel’s net. Suddenly, Sunny flew up to the evil wizard with Sparky in her hooves, and Sparky blew a wave of fire into Gargamel’s face. Gargamel stepped back, lifting the net over his head which promptly caused it to get stuck in a tree branch.

Papa took the opportunity to run into his ruined house. He opened a latch door and broke through a layer glass to grab a shoulder bag. “Let go! Cursed nature!” Gargamel yelled. “Sunny, follow me!” Papa called to the alicorn. “You got it!” Sunny cried. “Guys, let’s go!”

The others obeyed and followed after her before Gargamel gave chase with his released net in his hands, and as he ran past it, Papa unlocked a lever wheel which let go of a length of rope. “Here comes papa, PAPA!!” cried Gargamel as he got closer. The rope fed through several caster wheels that held a large rock that dropped and dislodged a log that swung right for Gargamel. He saw the log coming, however, and ducked at the last second. “Ha, ha, Papa. Your primitive little defenses, they’re useless against me, sir!” Gargamel boasted. “I laugh at them.”

Unknown to him, the log knocked over a bucket of rocks that poured into another bucket. The change in weight lifted an empty bucket which loosened another length of rope which let loose another, 100 times bigger log. “Oh yeah?!” Zipp challenged, spreading her wings as she prepared to knock into his jaw again, just as Papa lifted his arm up in her way. “Wait for it.”

Just as Gargamel lifted his net for a catch, the giant logged slammed into him. Gargamel was sent flying right into the house Azrael was stuck in. Both wizard and cat flipped amongst the rubble. “Holy guacamole!” Hitch cried with wide eyes. “Ha, ha. How’s that for primitive, Gargamel?” Papa asked rheotircally. The others laughed at the wizard’s expense before Sunny turned to the others. “Come on, guys. Let’s catch up with Misty, Izzy and the other Smurfs!”

XXXXXXXX

Izzy, Misty and Clumsy panted as they led the Smurfs away from the village, Izzy being further ahead than the other two. “I think we lost him!” she said. “But I doubt this is all gonna blow over!”

“Sure it is!” Clumsy assured. “We can fix this. I just gotta think.”

Before them was a fork in the road, and while Clumsy studied the sign, the other Smurfs ran to the right, while another sign pointed left, saying ‘Go This Way’, and Clumsy immediately saw this as a sign. “Yes! Follow me, everyone!”

But, what he didn’t know was that, after he tripped over a vine, the sign actually said ‘Don’t Go This Way’, stirring up fear between the unicorns. “Uh oh…”

Suddenly, as the rest of the Smurfs ran down the other path, the other ponies, Papa, Smurfette, Grouchy, Gutsy and Brainy made it to the fork, and Smurfette saw Clumsy going the wrong direction. “Clumsy, you’re going the wrong way!”

“He’s heading for the Forbidden Falls!” Brainy said. “Oh, boy... that doesn’t sound good,” Hitch commented. “Why do you think we put up the sign.” Gutsy said. “With the blue moon coming?” Grouchy asked incredulously. “Quickly, ponies and Smurfs!” Papa cried. “Stop him!”

Not wasting a single second, the group ran down the path after Clumsy. “Unbelievable...” Gutsy grumbled. “The one time we want him to trip and he’s running perfectly!”

“Clumsy!” Smurfette called. “Oh, this is a predicament.” Brainy said worriedly. “Agony ahead?! Anybody reading these signs?” Grouchy wondered out loud, reading some of the signs above them. “This is a predicament!” Brainy said with more apprehension. “This guy’s killing me!” Grouchy muttered as they entered a cave. “Looks like we’re down to 99 Smurfs!”

“Oh, this is not good at all...” Brainy said, and Zipp rolled her eyes. “Yeah, tell us something we don't know!”

“Wait a sec,” said Sunny. “What did those signs mean about not going in especially when there's a blue moon?”

“No time for that,” Papa said urgently. “Come on. We need to hurry.”

Clumsy kept running until he found himself teetering off a ledge that overlooked a waterfall and an underground pond. “Clumsy!” Misty yelled, just as Clumsy lost his footing and fell. Luckily, he grabbed hold of a root sticking out from under the ledge. “HELP!!!”

“Well, we tried. Let’s go,” Grouchy began to leave when Gutsy cut in. “Hold on, lad! We’ll form a Smurf and pony bridge to get you.”

One by one, the Smurfs and ponies began holding each other over the edge to get to Clumsy, with varying comments for the others.

“Not the Smurf bridge!”

“There we go.”

“Yeah, pardon me.”

“You’re heavier than I thought.”

“This is not a Smurf and pony bridge,” Brainy began to say. “It’s clearly a chain…”

“Smurf it, Brainy!” the ponies, Gutsy and Smurfette cried. Smurfette then noticed light from the blue moon shown through hole in the cave wall. “The blue moon!”

The light glistened against the waterfall, but unfortunately, a vortex began to form from the waterfall's surface. “Oh, my pony!!” Hitch cried. “What’s going on?” Pipp wheezed. “What is that?!” Misty pointed to the forming vortex. “Oh, no!” Papa said in realization. “The vision!”

“Come on, guys!” Sunny cried. “Hurry!!”

The group was able to pull Clumsy off of the root, but the vortex was becoming so strong, it began to suck the group closer and closer toward it. “Look out for the hole!” Grouchy exclaimed. “No, it’s more of a vortex. Or a portal.” Brainy explained. “Smurf up! It’s a hole-- AGH!!”

Grouchy began to lose his grasp on Brainy’s feet. The vortex began dragging the Smurfs and ponies closer to it. Zipp and Pipp desperately tried to flap their wings get the chain away from it...

...but no matter how much they tried, it wasn't enough. “Hold on!” Smurfette yelled. Just as Papa Smurf slipped from the rocky edge, he managed to grab hold of stick, saving everyone from the vortex.

However, the stick wasn’t a stick at all, it was a net. And the net belonged to Gargamel, who laughed victoriously with Azrael hissing and clawing out the Smurfs and ponies. “Oh no!!” Pipp cried in horror. “Looks like you got the short end of the stick, eh, Papa?” Gargamel chortled, pulling the group closer. “Now you belong to me.”

Papa glared firmly as they reached the wizard's grasp. “Not this time, Gargamel.”

Papa Smurf let go of the net just before Gargamel could grabbed him. The wizard watch in shock as the Smurfs and ponies were sucked into the vortex, all screaming and none of them knowing where the portal would take them.

Author's Note

Friendship Productions has officially agreed to be my co-writer for this story, so anything I post, give him some of the credit for.