Misty, Sprout, and the monsters of Knottshurr Island

Chapters

Prologue
Morning In Maretime Bay
Back to the Ridge
Gathering Information
Transported To Zephyr Heights
Researching
Breakthrough
The Tea Room
Mane Melody Head Scratchies
Arrangements to be made

Prologue

11:59PM, Friday night.
Starlight Ridge was peaceful. Almost every Auroricorn was sleeping soundfully. It had been about a week since the new mane 6 had freed the ridge of the Allura’s evil ways. Although there had been nowt heard from the Jaquin since that day, there were still strange going’s ons around the ridge, as the townsfolk were about to find out that night.

12:00AM.
From one high mountain, something could be heard. Some kind of eerie low pitched voice, almost singing a tune. Slowly, more sounds were heard; What sounded like a steel pan, a powerful horn, sudden bell strikes, followed by odd organ noises. One by one, the Auroricons inhabiting the area were woken from their slumber. Whilst it wasn’t uncommon for the odd wake up in the middle of the night, this time every single pony was awoken by the strange noises coming from the mountain.

These odd sounds, which sounded like some sort of ambient music, lasted for about three minutes. Then, just as suddenly as it had began, the music stopped. The Auroricorns were all shaken and curious, but decided to simply go back to sleep that night. The music had been sudden, and the Auroricorns were still all half asleep.

*MLP*

The next morning, everypony had very much forgotten about the sounds. Some put it down to a shared dream, which has happened before, and those who didn’t believe that came up with some other excuse.

12:00PM.
Everypony was minding their own business, when suddenly the eerie low pitched voice came back. One by one, more sounds were heard. History repeated itself it seemed, and the exact same song heard last night played again. The music began again. Once more, three minutes and no more, stopping as abruptly as it had started. At this point the Auroricorns were a little frightened as to who or what was making those noises. However, as the saying goes, once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is pattern. The Auroricorns decided to wait until midnight, to see if the music would be performed again.

11:59.50PM.
The Auroricorns waited in anticipation. Sure enough, the exact same song roared into life. The three minute performance echoed over the peaks that night. And once again, three minutes, and then the abrupt finish. At this point, the song was no coincidence. The Auroricorns figured this would keep happening if they didn’t do something about it. Whatever that spooky music was would keep being performed, every midday and every midnight, with no definitive end unless if intervened.

They all figured they needed to seek help of the mane 6. Not even all of them, just the one would work. Which one they didn’t know nor care, as long as they could be brave enough to go up the mountain and see where the eerie music was coming from. The Auroricorns themselves were still getting over not being ruled by Allura at that point, and were a little too cautious to see on their own terms. For all they knew, the source of the music could be even worse.

*MLP*

Early the next morning, Comet was called from Equestria by another Auroricorn to pass the message on. Comet knew Maretime Bay better than the other Auroricorns, so he was to be the one to find them. The message was successfully passed, and Comet went to find the mane 6.

When Comet got to Maretime Bay, he went straight to the police station since it was closer to where the teleported had dumped him. When he didn’t find Hitch or any other pony there, he directed his path to the Crystal Brighthouse. But when he got there, it was locked. He let out a groan, not wanting to keep his kind waiting. He did however find a note. He picked it off the door. It ready the following;

Gone for the weekend. Be back on Sunday, but we’ll be tired. XXXX.

Comet let out another groan, and decided to take the note back to Starlight Ridge to show the others. The Auroricorns would just have to bide their time.

Morning In Maretime Bay

8:30AM, Monday Morning.

Sprout Cloverleaf was sitting in a cafe, waiting for his food. He had been waiting for about a quarter of an hour. That week was a week off for him, but Sprout had agreed to sweep the sidewalks for the morning, for some extra compensation. He had nothing better to do anyway, no events to go to that he knew of. He was having his breakfast, and then getting to work.

“Hi Sprout.”
Sprout looked up. Even though he wasn’t despised by the public anymore, it was a rarity for somepony to say good morning to him.
“Umm…” He said slowly, “Hi… Misty?”
Sure enough, the newest member of the mane 6 sat down next to Sprout.
“Uhh, what are you doing here?” Sprout asked.
Misty shifted along to sit next to Sprout, and then she spoke; “Well, I heard you had extra work today, and I don’t really have anything on my resume today, so I figured I might aswell join you.”
“Umm, thanks,” Sprout said, “Just the morning.”
“Is this new for you?” Misty asked.
“Uhh, not new,” Sprout said, “Just not very often. I’m a kinda keep to himself kinda pony.”
“Oh,” Misty said “If you don’t want me to, you-“
“No no,” Sprout said quickly. Too quickly for his own good, “I mean, I wouldn’t mind it. I don’t usually have somepony to talk to..”
“Thanks,” Misty said.
“Yeah,” Sprout replied “I’m just waiting for my breakfast, and then I’m getting to work. It’s only a couple of hours. Better than some workdays I’ve had.”

*MYM*

After Sprout had finished his burrito and apple juice, he stepped outside the cafe, where he had left his broom. Misty followed him, with her own apple juice only half drank.

“So, any adventures recently?” Sprout asked, as he picked up a broom.
Misty thought for a moment, “Apart from the whole Starlight Ridge fiasco, not really. It’s been kinda chill for a little while. I say a little while, but it’s only really been a week since that.”
“Tell me about that,” Sprout said.
“Well, after we defeated Opaline,” Misty began, “A strange portal opened up in front of us. And it made Izzy, who was standing the closest, change a little…”

Misty spent about 20 minutes telling Sprout of her adventures through the portal.
“And I did have a really good snooze. I actually woke up I’m the middle of the night, and it took a couple of days to get my already shattered sleep schedule in order.”
“Wooh,” Sprout remarked, shaking his head a little, “That’s sounds like a great time. Better than anything I’ve been through recently. You’ve been off saving worlds, I’ve just been doing boring old community service.”
“Eh, somepony has to do it,” Misty said, quickly realising she might’ve come across as offensive, “Uhh, sorry if I offended you.”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Sprout replied, “I’ve heard worse from others.”
Sprout put his broom down, going on break for a while. He took a flapjack out of his sachet and ate a little of it.

“I wish I could go on one of your adventures,” Sprout remarked. “You make it sound like so much fun.”
“Is this jealousy or genuinely wanting to have one?” Misty asked jokingly. Though Sprout took it seriously.
“No no, I really do want one,” He replied. “ Like I said, it sounds like a good time.”
Sprout continued sweeping, as Misty finished her drink and put the carton in the recycling bin. Sprout gave her a look, happy she followed the rules of litter placement.

“There you are!” Said a voice. Misty whirled around. It was Comet, an Auroricorn from Starlight Ridge, and he looked worried. He had always been the skittish type, but today it seemed there was some reasoning for it. “There’s trouble in the ridge! Strange noises! Almost like music!”
“Whoa Whoa Whoa, Whoa…” Misty said, trying to calm Comet down, “Just tell me slowly what you need to tell me.”
“We’ve been hearing strange music coming from a mountain, everyday and night at 12 AM and PM. It’s this eerie music, almost like some kind of ritual. But that’s only speculation, don’t quote me on that.”
“Weird noises, huh?” Misty asked.
“Yep, that’s what I said,” Comet replied, “No pony’s dared to go find out what causing it, so we figured somepony like you might be more daring.”
“Hmm…” Misty thought for a few seconds. She then turned to Sprout, with a courageous grin on her face.
“Sprout,” She said, “You may have just gotten your wish!”

Back to the Ridge

All was calm in the forest surrounding Starlight Ridge. Suddenly without warning, a portal opened up, and Misty and Sprout, all glittery now having been transformed into Auroricorns, stepped out to soak in the atmosphere.
“Here we are,” Misty announced, “Starlight Ridge!”
The first thing Sprout noticed was the unusual glittery and neon effects his skin had undergone. His usual tomato red skin now faded into a sparkly yellow hue at his knees, and his mane was now full of glitter. “Woah, I look awesome!” He said, “And so handsome!”
“That’s just something that happens when we travel to this dimension.” Misty explained, “I don’t know why it happens. Anyway, shall we get going?”
Sprout was still a little overwhelmed about the changes to his body. “Just give me a minute, this is a lot to take in.” He said.

After a couple of minutes of getting Sprout acclaimed to the new landscape, Misty led her friend through the small village, towards an Auroricorn. “Morning ladies, gentlemen. So, where are these strange noises coming from?”
“From atop that mountain,” One of the Auroricorns remarked, pointing to a mountain, “We were scared whatever’s up there might be dangerous. That’s why we brought you here.”
“You brought us here to find out what it is, because you were scared?” Sprout asked, a sense of humour in his voice.
The Auroricorn simply answered “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Oh…” Sprout replied after a short pause. “Well, leave it to us, we’ll go suss it out, and then everything will be okay.”
“Thank you brave ponies.” The Auroricorn replied in awe.
“My name’s Sprout by the way,” Sprout called as they left, “and I assume you already knew Misty. Bye!”

It took at least 10 minutes to get to the top of the mountain. That might not seem like a long time, but even with no snowstorms to speak of, the path was steep, and the constant slipping didn’t help. When they eventually stopped at the top, they spent about 2 minutes catching their breath.

Sprout was the first to speak, or rather grunt. “Ugh… this is a steep mountain.”
“Yeah, no kidding…” Misty replied, also out of breath. “I’m kinda more used to you at walking long distances, but still...”
“Yeah, I should workout more.” Sprout replied.
Misty thought for a few seconds. “I can take you to a gym sometime if you want.”
“Not until I get a better job. By the time I’m finished I’m always exhausted. Too tired to do anything else but go home, have dinner, and just lounge around for the evening.”
“You could always join me and my friends.”
“Nah, I’m not ready for a step that big yet.”
“Eh, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

The two waited a couple more minutes before they regained their strength. They stared at the mouth of the cave. Completley silent. Misty checked the time on her phone, 11:58AM. “Shall we head inside then?” She asked, looking at Sprout. Sprout showed a little bit of nervousness, but also curiosity.
“Yeah,” he finally said, meekly, “Let’s do it.”

*MYM*

The two stepped inside. The cave was naturally dark, with seemingly no natural light source. Misty lit up her horn. All around them, strange ‘structures’ were dotted around the cavern, clearly there, but not bright enough to fully make out. They were both scared, but neither were undetermined.
“Hello?” Misty called, causing a small yelp of fright to escape Sprout’s mouth.
“Oh, sorry Sprout.” Misty apologised.
“Next time you wanna do that,” Sprout said, hugging himself a little, “warn me in advance.”
“Yeah, sure…” Misty said.

Then, they were both drawn to something. Both of their pairs of eyes locked onto an odd structure in the middle of the room. It was a tiny, purple mountain. And it had a face. Or rather, it had four of them. It had one big face on the side of it, and three smaller purple boulders on top of it, all with their own little eyes and mouthes. And the two noted a strange slightly glowing orb circling the mountain.
“Look at that,” Misty said,
“I can’t not look at it,” Sprout replied, in awe of the odd sphere circling the mountain.
“Not that, this,” Misty said, pointing to what looked like exposed crystals on the side of the mountain.
“Huh, weird…” Sprout remarked. “Do you think that has something to do with this? They both look kinda Crystal like.”
“I dunno,” Misty said slowly, “I’m not really a big Crystal expert.”
Sprout went to touch the orb with his hoof.

Then without warning, the orb suddenly surged into the exposed crystals of the mini mountain, making a sound like that of a bell striking. The mountain’s eyes and mouths began glowing with a bright blue hue, and an eerie organ like noise followed the strike of the bell. Naturally, the two ponies’ first instinct were to scream in fright, and back away as quickly as possible. Both backed up to opposite sides of the room.

Misty backed straight into a four legged creature, with a massive hollow horn protruding from its head. The creature then put a hand to its mouth, and a loud horn blow was heard, knocking Misty off her feet.

Sprout backed into a collection of ice like drums, which were subtlety hit by some kind of floating disembodied puffball of sorts, with a look of pure horror on its face. The puffball began slamming itself into the drums, making steel pan-esque sounds.

Without warning, the cave suddenly began slowly lighting up, with a dark blue hue, revealing at least a dozen other strange and dimly coloured creatures;

A tree with a hollow face, and three big scraggly arms, two protruding from this sides, and an extra to the right side of its head.

A small furry creature, with no arms legs or eyes, just two ears, a mouth with a blue log for a bottom jaw, and a small stump on its head.

A stack of sentient mounds, the bottom one with one eye, the second sporting wings and a beak, and the top one which looked a little like a diseased one eyed pumpkin.

A one eyed icy stalagmite protruding from the ground. How bit it actually was they weren’t certain.

A smaller tree with a face and three long fingers, holding a big black ball, pulsing with small beams of light.

A babushka looking rock, holding a a piece of rag it had presumably knotted all by itself.

A small furry creature with one leg, sporting two little maracas.

And another furry creature, this one a little like a spider, resting atop a branch with four leaves made of ice.

Altogether, these creatures began performing some sort of ambience music, which Misty and Sprout figured was what the townsfolk has overtone over the weekend. At first, the two could only stare, and marvel at the bizarre monster like specimens, as their performance completed its opening. Finally, Misty spoke; “At least we found the source of the music. Now we just need to fi-“
“Please…”
The two jumped, and looked where the voice had come from.
“…do…”
The three armed tree had began speaking to them.
“…not…”
It spoke to the beat of the music.
“…fear us!”

The two were silent for a moment as they took in what the tree had said. “Umm, okay…?” Misty said, “We won’t fear you. I assume this means you’re friendly.” Misty tried her best to take the tree’s advice and not be scared. But the overall ambience and spooky creatures didn’t make it easy.
Now it was Sprout’s turn to speak up. “Yeah, Uhh… So, the town has been a little disturbed by your midday and midnight, Uhh… ‘performances’. Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
The three didn’t answer. It simply swayed with the beat, as if waiting for a chance to speak again.
Sprout spoke up again; “Hello? I Asked you a question.”
Still nothing.
“I said, who-“
“We…”
The tree spoke again.
“…are…”
Every time the tree spoke, its hollow face and head pulsed with bright blue light, not unlike the purple mound beforehand.
“…from…”
“…from a land…”
“…not…”
“…like…”
“…your own!”

“I think he speaks with the beat of the song.” Misty said.
“Yeah, I gathered…” Sprout said, struggling a little at processing what was happening. “So, where is your home anyway?”
The tree once again remained silently swaying to the beat.
“I think he has to wait for the song to let him speak again.” Misty commented.
“Okay… when do you think-“
“We’ve…” the tree spoke again, in its warmly and gritty voice.
“…been…”
“…here…”
“…three days!”

“Three days,” Misty said “Friday, and the whole weekend.”
“Well how can we help you home then?” Sprout asked.
The two ponies waited for the tree to answer, looking around at the creatures as they did so. The creatures were contributing to the music in the weirdest ways. The babuska rock was plucking its knitted blanket, and it was making string instrument like noises as it’s armed partly lit up with every pluck, and the ice stalagmite was releasing long icy sighs as if to transition the song from verse to verse.

“…I…”
“…am…”
“…not…”
“…too sure! You…”
“…should…”
“…ask…”
“…Some-one else…”
“…if…”
“…they…”
“…could help!”
Then, just as abruptly as it had started, the music ended, the echos bouncing off the walls signifying the end of their performance.

Sprout spoke again; “Umm, we’re gonna have a quick discussion about this, heh… outside.”
“Yeah, outside,” Misty chimed in “No offence, it’s just a little, Uhh…”
“Eerie?” Sprout suggested.
“Yeah, that,” Misty said “it’s a little eerie in here, heh. We’ll see you in a minute.”
With that, the two started trotting towards the exit. The creatures didn’t stop them, they simply watched as these new life forms left. However, The ice stalagmite released a cheeky little spray of cold air behind Sprout.
“AGH!” He cried, “Okay, I’m going I’m going!”

The stalagmite chuckled to itself. The bottom layer of the small mound however hummed to it, as if to tell it off. The other mounds chipped in. The top one seemed to want the bottom mound to let it go, and what the middle mound said they couldn’t tell, though it seemed to disagree with them both. Other creatures pitched in too, making random non-on-beat noises as if to communicate, almost as if they were having an argument. Misty and Sprout noticed the tree signal to the massive horned creature, and that creature blew an extra loud noise to get all the other creatures’ attention. They looked at the horn creature, and then at the tree. Though the tree didn’t speak, its (lack of) body language told the whole story. The tree seemed to signal that the creatures needed to calm down, and remain chilled, chill being the appropriate word, even though the way the tree spoke, it was unlikely to say a word like that.

*MYM*

“Okay, soooo, what do we do?” Misty asked.
“Beats me.” Sprout replied, “Lemme think for a minute.”
The two did just that. They sat in the snow for a little while and thought.
“Apart from the big tree, we can’t really understand the others,” Sprout remarked, “I think we need Hitch for this. He can understand animals, right? Maybe he can understand these monsters and figure something out.”
“Yeah, he can talk to animals,” Misty said, “Though I wouldn’t really call them monsters.”
“Okay then,” Sprout replied, “Let’s get Hitch here, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
“You’re right,” Misty replied, fully on board with Sprouts plan at hoof, “let’s go get Hitch.”

Gathering Information

Misty and Sprout walked through Maretime Bay, with Hitch in the middle.
“So, the Auroricorns have been hearing strange music every midday and midnight for the past three nights.”
“Yep, right so far.” Sprout replied.
“And it turns out to be a collection of nightmarish creatures-
“I wouldn’t use the term nightmarish.” Misty commented.
“Well what would you call them?” Hitch asked.
“…Something else.” Misty said.
“Fair enough,” Hitch replied, “So a collection of something else creatures, are gathered in a cavern in a mountain, claiming they’ve been there for 3 days, with no knowledge of how they got there, or how to get home.”
“Yeah that’s seems about right,” Sprout said, “And we want you to use your animal translation skills to get to the bottom of this.”
“Sure, I’ll give it a go.” Hitch said, smiling.
“Alright then,” Misty said, preparing the teleportation device she borrowed from Izzy.

Then, Hitch had a thought.
“I’ve actually just thought,” Hitch said, “What if we need to transport them somewhere more comfy?”
“Hmm?” Sprout said, inquisitivley.
“They’ve been there for 3 days, maybe they’d like a change of scenery. And to some extend, acoustics.”
“He’s got a point,” Misty said, “Sprout, why don’t you go and get some transport for them? A couple of carts would probably be enough. Have them ready around hereish, and we’ll transport the creatures to here.”
“Okay then,” Sprout replied, “Though I would’ve liked to go back to the ridge. But, you know that place better than I do. I’ll get to work.”

Sprout trotted off, whilst Misty and Hitch stepped through the portal after it had formed. Misty and Hitch bolted it towards the mountain where the creatures were resting. The Auroricorns gave the two a wide path as they ran through the town, and up the mountain. After they reached the top, they rested as Misty had before with Sprout. After a little while, they trotted in.

*MYM*

Sure enough, the creatures were there, not set up in a formation this time, but just laying around in the cave. Some of them looked sad, whilst others looked more okay with the current situation.
“I’m back guys!” Misty called. All the creatures looked at her. “And this is Hitch, he can talk to you, or rather he can understand you.”
“Alright Misty, if you set up the portal, I’ll get to work.” Hitch remarked.
“You got it Hitch,” Misty responded, and both got to work.

“Okay,” Hitch began, brandishing a pen and paper, “Let’s start with names. Who are you guys?”
The small furry creature with a log for a lower jaw spoke first; “We are the monsters of Knottshurr Island. That’s spelt K, N, O, T, T, S, H, U, R, R, and then just ‘island.’”
“So you refer to yourselves as ‘monsters’?” Hitch asked.
The purple mountain’s biggest face spoke next. “Yes, we come from a land of monsters.” The top smaller face spoke too. “Clue’s in the name, ‘my singing monsters’.”
“‘My singing monsters?’” Hitch asked.
Now it was the small tree’s turn to speak; “Yes, or MSM for short. We specialise in musical performances.”
“Yeah, the town knows all about that,” Hitch remarked, “I’m afraid you’ve all been disturbing the peace. Quite severely, performing ever 12 hours.”

The babushka rock then spoke, “Oh my, we’re all very sorry dear. It’s just What we do in our home dimension.”
(A friendly reminder, to Misty, they were all making random sounds.)
“Your home dimension, you say?” Hitch asked. “So you were transported here somehow.”
Now the four legged horned monster chipped in, “Ayup, no idea how, just ended up here one afternoon. Happened when we were sleeping.”
“Hmm, I see…” Hitch said, as he wrote this all down. “Well gentlemen, and lady, I have good news and bad news. Bad news is I have no idea how to send you home. Good news is, we’re going to escort you to more luxurious accommodations while we figure this out.”

Just then, Hitch’s phone began ringing.
“Umm, just a second.” Hitch reached for his phone. It was Sprout. Perhaps something went wrong.
“Hey Sprout. Something gone wrong?” Hitch asked.
“No no, everything’s fine,” Sprout began, “I was just thinking Maretime Bay is a very hot place, and some of the monsters, like that giant ice pick for example, seemed better adapted to more chilled places, like tundras. I think we should take them to Zephyr Heights instead of Maretime Bay.”
“Hmm…” Hitch had a think for a moment, “Yeah, that seems like a good idea. Good thinking there Sprout.”
“Thanks Hitch,” Sprout responded, “I’ll get the teleporter to Zephyr heights… somehow.”
“Okay, I’ll see ya in a bit.” Hitch said.
“Alright, bye.”
“Bye.”

“Okay fellas,” Hitch said to the monsters, “You’ll be transported via portal and otherwise to Zephyr Heights. They have top notch air conditioning for you if you need it at all.”
All the monsters agreed, eager to have a change of scenery, and Hitch looked over to Misty, who had the teleported ready to go.
“Just say the word and it’ll fire up,” Misty said to him.
“We’ll have to wait a while,” Hitch replied, “Sprout is taking the other end to Zephyr Heights. He thought it would be better than Maretime Bay, for guys like him.” Hitch pointed to the ice stalagmite. “While we’re waiting, let’s get your names. Do you prefer to be referred to by your actual name or your species name?”
The monsters all said different things, but they mostly agreed it would be easier to be referred to by their species.
“Okay then. Everybody line up!”
“Uhh, Hitch,” Misty said, “Did you just say ‘everybody’?”
“Well they’re not ponies, sooo… yeah.” Hitch replied.
“Huh, fair enough,” Misty said. And with that, Hitch got to work.

*MYM*

Meanwhile, Sprout was hitching a ride on the Mare Stream, curtesy of Zipp.
“Thanks for this at such short notice,” Sprout said.
“No problem Sprout,” Zipp replied, “I was just a little worried the girl couldn’t hold all your wagons.”
The plane was towing a lot of wagons. There were at least four in a big net, dangling underneath the airbus.
“It’ll probably be fine. It’s not too far to Zephyr Heights, isn’t it?” Sprout asked.
“Probably not as far as you think,” Zipp replied, “We’re probably over halfway there. You know, I’ll never forget the day me and Izzy made this baby. My pride and joy, though it’s probably Izzy’s pride and my joy, logistically speaking. It used to be an old tram just lying around, but me and Iz saved it from scrap. Kinda proud of myself, using her ‘uni cycling’ to repurpose something long thrown on the scrap heap.”
“Woah, you got a stove in here?” Sprout said, his voice slightly quieter. He had ventured into the back of the bus while Zipp was talking.
“Tell me before you eat something!” Zipp said loudly so Sprout could hear.
“Oh, umm.. I kinda already started eating this flapjack…” Sprout called back.
“That’s okay, you can have that.” Zipp said.
“Thank you!” Sprout replied.

Transported To Zephyr Heights

“Read that back to me.” Misty said. Hitch has just finished collecting all the names of the monsters.
“Okay, from left to right,” HItch began, “We have Knottshurr Tree, Bay, Mount Tuzzpikk, BoOoo, Bel’yawn Zirro, Flocca, Cleomace, Babushka Knittshurr, Souxls Vessel, Mount Mound, and of course Chimbickle. Those are all very peculiar names.”
“Yeah,” Misty replied, “Never heard names that weird before. No offence.”
The Babushka Knittshurr plucked her blanket.
“She says none taken, love,” Hitch said to Misty, “She said love, not me.”

Misty trotted to the portal, which was open. She peered her head through.
“Hello? Sprout?”
Sprout was a few feet away from Mist, surrounded by wagons. Some were horse drawn, others had little bikes at the front of them.
“Oh, hey Misty,” Sprout greeted, “We’re ready to go.”
“Great, I’ll get them,” Misty replied, and backed into the portal. “We’re ready to go fellas!”
“Okay, one at a time everyone.” Hitch said calmly, but to no prevai. Every monster moved towards the portal as quickly as they could. Some were slower than others, be it by not as adapted for movement or needing to carry equipment. There was actually very little collisions, which was a surprise to Hitch. He was used to ponies shoving eachother in lines. In any case, every monster managed to make their way through the portal in one piece. Misty and Hitch shared a look, and then trotted after them, and closed the portal behind them.

When they arrived in Zephyr Heights, having morphed back into their usual physical forms, they saw Sprout trying to organise the monsters into the carts; “You over here, you over there, you two in this one, hey, rope is not food! Spit it out, now!”
“Classic Sprout,” Hitch remarked. He still hadn’t forgotten the days of Sprout’s dictatorship phase, when Hitch and the others were trying to reunite pony kind. Sprout heard Hitch’s remark, and whirled around.
“Hey Hitch,” He greeted, “I’m getting everything sorted out don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Hitch said cheekily, “Anyway, apparently these monsters come from a place called ‘Knottshurr island, and they like to be referred to as monsters. Even though they all have individual species, but as a whole they are all monsters.”
“Bit of a weird name. What is Knottshurr Island?” Sprout asked.
“Not sure.” Hitch replied. This was followed by a rimshot curtesy of the Flocca providing the drum noises, and the Cleomace making the symbol sound. “Thank you!” Hitch called. The two waved back at him. “I’ll explain on the way. Let’s get moving.”

*MYM*

“Apparently, Knottshurr trees only ever feel comfortable speaking words when performing. That’s why they never speak unless in song.” Hitch was explaining as they came to the palace gates.
“Huh, that’s a bit selective,” Misty replied.
“Different strokes, different folks,” Hitch replied.
When they eventually got to Queen Haven’s castle (I mean, where else would they take them?), Hitch had been trying his best to explain what these strange monsters were all about. But Sprout was still a little lost, as was Misty. Not even Hitch was entirely sure he’d gotten the whole thing completely right.

Pipp met them at the gates. “Hey ponies! I heard all about it, and I was wondering-“
“If you could take a video of them?” Sprout interrupted, smirking. Even Sprout knew all about Pipp’s popular ClipTrot channel, with her millions of subs.
“…Well, can I?” Pipp asked, taken aback by how well Sprout of all ponies seemed to know her gimmick.
“Fellas,” Hitch said to the monsters as they waited for the gates to open, “Pipp wants to know if she can film you, so more ponies can see you.”
“We’ve seen a few phones in our time,” the Flocca remarked, “Sometimes people from the human world come to film us. Go right ahead.” All the other monsters agreed.
“Yep, they’re absolutely fine with it.” Hitch announced. Pipp gave a big squee, obviously without the sound effect, no pony had made that noise when squeeing for generations.

*MYM*

Pipp: Hi there PippSqueaks, I’m buzzing right now, because you are not gonna believe what we’ve found in Starlight Ridge this morning.
Hitch: Umm, actually, they’ve been there for two days.
Misty: Three days.
Hitch: Ye- What she said.
Pipp: Yeah, okay, the Auroricorns found them before we did, but from what I heard they called in Misty and Sprout to go find out what they were.
Misty: Actually, Comet only wanted me, but I let Sprout come along since he wanted his own adventure.
Sprout: It’s true.
Pipp: Okay then. I’ll show you these monster in detail when we get into the castle. They like to be called monsters by the way, that’s not offensive to them. See y’all in a bit PippSqueaks.
(Mount Tuzzpikk murmurs something. The other monsters snicker.)
Pipp: What did he say?
Hitch: He says ‘she’s a PippSqueaks herself’, referring to you of course. They don’t know you take offence with that.
(The monsters look at Hitch, and then at Pipp.)
Pipp: Yeah… see you inside.

*MYM*

In the castle, Queen Haven was waiting to greet her unexpected visitors. Whilst she looked taken aback upon seeing what they looked like, she was nonetheless welcoming to them, as she was welcoming to every creature that stepped foot in her kingdom.

“Greetings, umm…”
“Monsters,” Hitch said.
“Monste- ..My dear Hitch, that is extremely rude!” The queen proclaimed.
“No no, they refer to themselves as monsters,” Hitch reassured, “My Singing Monsters, the lost landscapes. The lost landscapes being where they’re from. Apparently they came here through a portal, even though he said they were sleeping. It’s a little confusing.”
The queen thought for a minute. This was a lot to take in. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about any ‘Lost Landscapes’, or at least the ones you may be referring to.”
“They come from an island called ‘Knottshurr Island’,” Hitch continued, “It’s spelt like this.”
Hitch threw a scrunched up note as the queen. The queen caught it unfolded it, and read it. “Hmm… I’m afraid I’m not familiar with this at all. Take them to the library. Perhaps there you can find a spell of sorts to send them home.”
“As you wish, your majesty.” Sprout said, gesturing ‘gracefully’. And with that, they marched off two by two, led by the guards Thunder Flap and Zoom Zephyrwing.
“Ridiculous name,” the middle Mount Mound remarked, “Queen Haven. What is she, queen of the hay bales?”
This prompted a chorus of snickers from the other monsters.
“You know it’s a good job nopony else can understand you,” Hitch commented, “or else you’d be out of here in an instant.”
“Okay, so, I can’t have fun?” The mound remarked.
“Not in front of the Queen.” Hitch claimed, shooting a glare at the middle mound. The mound rolled its eyes, and dropped its wings. And then, they kicked back, and all simply waited to reach the library.

Researching

It wasn’t a long journey to the library, no more than 2 minutes of slowly transferring through the palace. Pipp had finished all her filming for the time being, so she had skedaddled somewhere else at that point. That left the original three to get to the bottom of how to send their new friends home.
“Anypony have any idea where to start?” Hitch asked, after a gulp.
“Ask the monsters if they can read,” Misty told Hitch.
Hitch took a book off a shelf, and showed it to the monsters. “Umm, can you guys read this?” He asked. The monsters glanced at the paper, and nodded to Hitch.
“Okay great. They can understand English.” Hitch said to Misty.
“Good, that’ll make things easier,” MIsty proclaimed, “every pony and monster, fan out!”

And every pony and monster did. Even Thunder and Zoom decided to pitch in. They all spent a good hour, flipping through books, trying to find something, anything, to give them a clue to teleporting the monsters home. And yet, their efforts remained fruitless for a good long while. After an hour of searching through book after book after book after book, they decided to take a break.

“Hard work, real hard work,” the Chimbickle remarked.
“He says real hard work,” Hitch told the ponies.
“I agree, wholeheartedly,” Zoom said, slumping down into a corner.
“Maybe we need help,” Hitch suggested, “You know, as if we didn’t have enough already.”

Misty was taking her timeout to examine the weird orb that continuously floated around Mount Tuzzpikk. Upon seeing how inquisitive Misty was, the orb seemed to start and rotate around Misty. Tuzzpikk saw this, but was unpaused, and just sat in place, resting.
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand how you monsters work.”
The Bay made some grunting noises.
“He says most others don’t,” Hitch said. “Would be nice though, to have a little more, I guess insight on how guy guys operate.”

The orb kept circling Misty curiously. Little did Misty know, it was looking for a place and moment to strike.
“It’s pretty,” Thunder commented, “That much is apparent.”
“Yeah,” Misty agreed, “Pretty neat.” Misty was almost mesmerised by the bright lights being projected by the orb. “You know, I wonder what would happen if this thing-“
Before Misty could finish her sentence, the orb suddenly smashed itself into her side. Everyone jumped back as blue light began pulsing from Misty’s eyes, nose, mouth, hooves, and ears. Even her cutie mark lit up as the very same eerie organ sound Mount Tuzzpikk came echoing out of her. The orb also ventured round, and struck her other side, the bell sound chimed, and the organ sounds played again. After the track was complete, the orb parted ways with Misty, and the poor unicorn stumbled to the floor, clearly dizzy from what had just happened.

“Ugh… what happened?” She asked.
Mount Tuzzpikk said something she couldn’t understand.
“Apparently that can happen to any creature when the orb hits them,” Hitch explained, “It just chooses Mount Tuzzpikks because they’re the easiest to work with.
“Ya don’t say,” Misty said dizzily, and her head plonked back on the ground.
Tuzzpikk murmured something else.
“He says the dizziness may last 5 to 10 minutes if you’re not used to it.” Hitch remarked.
“Great…” Misty said, still resting her head on the ground.
“We’ll have 10 more minutes break, and then we’ll keep looking,” Hitch advised, “It’ll go without a hitch, right Sprout?”
No answer. Hitch looked around, but the tomato red stallion was nowhere to be seen.
“Uhh, where’s Sprout?”
Everyone looked around. They figured Sprout must have left when they weren’t looking.
“…And where’s the Bel’Yawn Ziro?”
Sure enough, the icy monster was also gone.
“Maybe he’ll turn up again?” Zoom proppsed.
“Yeah, he probably hasn’t left the castle,” Thunder reassured, “He wouldn’t have made it past the other guards.”
“You’re right,” Hitch said, relaxing a little bit, “He probably will show up after a while.”

*MYM*

Meanwhile in another part of the castle, Sprout was busy walking around the palace, following the Bel’Yawn Zirro. The oversized ice pick had snuck away to explore the palace, and Sprout had followed suite to make sure it didn’t get into any foreseeable trouble.
“Hey look, maybe it’s time to get back to the group,” Sprout suggested, “I know it’s not like me to say something like that, but I’ve been in real trouble before around these parts. And if they think I snuck off with you, or was the one to let you sneak off, I’ll be in trouble. And like I said, I’ve had more than enough trouble in recent history.”
The Bel’Yawn Zirro didn’t answer. It slid into another room. The room was full of valuables and breakables. Sprout knew this would spell disaster.
“Okay, no,” Sprout said as assertively as he could, “Not in here! I’m not having you break everything and then blame it on me! Out! Now!”
But the ice pick simply let out an ice groan, and slid around, picking up things to examine, and then putting them back down, all out of the order they were set up in. Sprout watched on, wanting to get the oversized icicle out of there, but having no idea how to do it. The Bel’Yawn Zirro for the most part, was sliding around, occasionally letting out an icy groan, and continuing to pick things up, and then place them down once examined, in any old area.

Sprout was having none of this. “Hey! This is your definition of appropriate behaviour? No wonder you got lost in our dimension!”
The Bel’Yawn Zirro didn’t answer. It simply tapped a vase with one of its icy tentacles (which you wouldn’t normally see for its species normally buried themselves underground). And of course, the vase toppled to the ground, smashing into bits upon impact.
“Oh come on, am I talking to myself here!?” Sprout shouted in anger, “I say ‘don’t touch that’ and you say ‘uuuuuugh’. I say ‘can we talk about it’, you say ‘uuuuuugh’. I don’t call that communication.”
Sprout’s rant was followed up with a sigh from the Bel’Yawn Ziro.
“Ya see!?” Sprout said, “That’s your answer for everything!”
Then Sprout made the mistake of leaning against the Bel’Yawn Zirro. Obviously he quickly retracted himself upon learning how cold he was. Then again, he basically was a giant ice pick, he figured he should’ve seen it coming. He did see the icepick shoot a smug grin at him.
“The sooner we get you home the better.” Sprout said, clearly annoyed at how much he’d been iced that morning. “Now let’s head back to your group before you cause any more trouble.”

Breakthrough

“I found something!”
Every monster and pony ran around to where Misty was. She brandished a book titled ‘A beginners guide to the study of inter dimensional travel’.
“How is that supposed to help?” The Flocca asked.
“He says how is that supposed to help?” Hitch repeated.
“It has answers on how teleportation works. Maybe it has answers on some way to teleport them back home.”
“Maybe,” Hitch remarked, “Bring it over here, and we’ll give it a read.”

Misty set the book down on a pillar, and used her horn to scan ready the book. “This could be something.” She pointed to a paragraph; Inter dimensional Portals.

If something(s) is/are teleported between universes, in order to return it/them to their home dimension, a special spell* is required to form a return portal between dimensions. The spell must be performed in the exact same place the original portal opened up at, and must be performed a week after the portal originally formed. However, if the spell is not performed one week after the original portal, it can be performed again after another week.

*To read about the special spell, see chapter 4.

“That explains a lot,” Hitch remarked.
“Yeah, that’s kinda what these thing are meant for,” Misty joked. Hitch sniggered and rolled his eyes.
“So, where do we go from here, then?” Hitch asked.
“I guess we first have to wait a week like it said,” Misty began, “Bit I’m sure we can find things for them to do until then.”
“I think I’ll speak to Sunny about this special spell,” Hitch proclaimed, “Alicorns can probably easily handle a special spell like this. But what do we do with these guys?” Hitch pointed to the monsters, some looking distraught that it would be a few more days before they got home. Everypony and monster thought for a moment.

Misty said “Why don’t you take them to the tea room in Bridlewood? Ponies love to perform there, surely these monster would like to aswell. And besides, they’ve only been performing in Starlight Ridge, maybe their music should be played where others would appreciate it.”

“Not a bad idea,” Hitch remarked, “Whadaya say boys? And girl?” The monsters all chimed in, seemingly all agreeing. “Huh, I think it goes without saying they’d love it there.”

“Okay then,” Misty agreed, “I think I’ll take this to Sunny if you take them to the tea room.”
“No problem,” Hitch agreed, “But first we need to find that Bel’Yawn Zirro. I’ll go look for him, you monsters wait for me outside.”
“I’ll go with him,” the Bay said.
“He says he’s coming with me,” Hitch said to Misty, Thunder and Zoom.

*MYM*

“They can’tve gone far, I know this is a big castle but still,” Hitch remarked.
“Knowing him, he could be anywhere,” the Bay remarked, “But he’s probably somewhere admiring valuables. HEs got an eye for them you know.”
“Really,” Hitch responded, “Common in his species?”
“Not really,” The Bay replied. “Just because a monster is the same species doesn’t mean-“
“Wait a second,” Hitch interrupted.
The Bay stopped talking, and both of them began hearing footsteps on the floor above them. They could also hear a faint voice saying, “This way! I know you’re not dumb!”
“That’s Sprout alright,” Hitch remarked.
They then heard an icy sigh accompany Sprout’s voice.
“And that’s presumably the Bel’Yawn Zirro.” Hitch added. Even though Hitch could understand the monsters unlike other ponies, the Bel’Yawn Zirro still exclusively communicated with icy breathing. Either that, or this particular one just wasn’t chatty.

The noises got closer to them, until Hitch was able to pinpoint them in the room above him. And, they could both make out creaking floorboards also getting louder with every step they could hear them taking.
“Should we go get them?” The Bay asked.
“Maybe,” Hitch replied, “But I can’t help but think…”
Hitch paused to pick his next words. But whatever Hitch was going to say next was interrupted by the sudden loud crashing that came from the ceiling, as Sprout and the Bel’Yawn Zirro fell through the roof, which to them, was the floor. Bits of rubble and plaster fell everywhere, and there were the two of them, nestled in the middle.
“Hey Hitch,” Sprout greeted casually.
“Hey Sprout,” Hitch replied, also casually.
“…That hurt.” Sprout remarked.

*MYM*

“I was going to say I can’t help but think they might crash through the ceiling,” Hitch was explaining to Misty outside the castle, “And then they did, just like that.”
“Did it hurt?” Misty asked.
“Well he said ‘that hurt’ after he fell,” Hitch replied, “But he did say it casually.”
“FYI, that was not my first time falling through a roof.” Sprout commented.
“Really?” Misty asked Sprout.
“Yup,” Sprout replied bluntly, “I’ve fallen through maybe about 3 of them previously. Long stories all of them.”
“We’ve got time,” Misty said, “It’s a while to Bridlewood, especially from this height.”
The monsters seemed interested to hear Sprout’s story aswell. “Well since you asked, I guess I can tell one of them. The one I remember most of all.”
“Tell us Sprout,” Misty said enthusiastically.
“Let’s get loaded up first, and I’ll tell you on the way like you said.”
“You heard him fellas,” Hitch said to the monsters, “Everybody to the wagons.”

NOTE: I will write Sprout’s story one day, but I’d like to focus on the rest of the story at the moment. It won’t have to be read to understand the next chapter.

The Tea Room

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
“I think three knocks would’ve done it.” Hitch said to Sprout.
“I haven’t really been here this much,” Sprout replied, “Not been banned or anything, just don’t really swing by that often. And-and not because of any biases, any I had-”
“Okay, okay,” Hitch calmed Sprout down, “I think you could use a drink after that story.”
“Yeah, a drink would be nice,” Sprout said meekly.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, and there was a dark green unicorn greeting them. His look of ennui quickly turned to shock and horror upon seeing what was on the other side of the doorframe.
“Hi Jasper,” Hitch greeted him, “The tea rooms got some visitors.”
Jasper gazed lonely at the monsters before him.
“They’re nice, they won’t attack,” Hitch reassured him, “…Will you?”
The monsters all shook their heads, except for the Bel’Yawn Zirro, who nodded, was smacked by the Soulxs Vessel, and then nodded.
“Umm…” Jasper faltered, “I, uhh… Come in.” Jasper was clearly taken aback, but gave a weak smile. He held the door open, making sure he was on the other side of it, and the monsters entered.

It was a standard day in the tea room. Onyx and Dapple were performing some spoken poetry, half of the tables were occupied by various ponies, most of which were unicorns, and there was Alphabittle, whipping up some drinks.
“Uhh, Alphabittle,” Jasper called, “you’ve got guests.”
“Ah, guests,” Alphabittle replied, emerging out of the kitchen, “What can I, uhh…” he trailed off as he too caught sight of the monsters.
“they’re cool, they’re with us,” Hitch reassured him. “They mean no harm, but they do want to perform.”
The monsters all nodded enthusiastically.
“Hmm,” Alphabittle slowly muttered, examining them, “Where are they from?”
“Not from this universe,” Hitch explained, “They came here through portal from a place called Knottshurr Island, in a place called ‘The Lost Landscapes.”
“Huh,” Alphabittle replied, clearly as lost as every other pony who had been listening. Most of the tearoom’s attention was now on these weird monsters. “You said they wanted to perform, correct?”
“Yes,” Hitch replied.
“Yeah,” Sprout chipped in, “They’re singing monsters, even though most of them play instruments. You should really hear them, me and Misty did, and it sounds really good.”
“Huh, alright then,” Alphabittle replied, “We’ve got a free spot after Onyx and Dapple are finished, I’m sure you can do your performance after them.”
The monsters all exitedly smiled, except for the Knottshurr Tree, who couldn’t change his expression.

*MYM*

“Alright, you guys have fun,” Hitch said to the monsters, “Me and Misty are gonna go find Sunny and discuss this book.” Hitch eyed to the book Misty was levitating. “You sure you can look after them, Sprout?”
“Sure,” Sprout replied, “And if things get outta hand, I’ll have backup.” He irked towards Alphabittle.
“Okay then,” Misty said, “See ya fellas.”
And with that, Misty and Hitch promptly left, leaving Sprout in charge of the monsters for the immediate future.
“Remember ladies and gentlemen, the song may be eerie, but these monsters mean no harm.” Sprout reassured everypony.

The monsters were prepared, the stage was set. Now all they needed to do was perform. It was only a two minute performance, and all the monsters were eager to impress. They signalled to eachother a few times before counting eachother in. The Bay and the BoOoo started off, and then the Flocca and the Chimbickle made their contribution. And one by one, the monsters began their melancholic ambient music. At first, the other ponies were all taken aback by the overall sound of the song, though none were entirely put off.

The unicorns in particular were used to melancholy themes, from the times when their magic was taken away, so their performance was much more welcome than back in Starlight Ridge. Everypony was loving it. Even Alphabittle was impressed.
“And they perform this every single day?” Alphabittle asked Sprout.
“Apparently yeah,” Sprout remarked, “Don’t ask why, I’m clueless. Anyway, you got any drinks?”
“Here, have some of this,” Alphabittle handed Sprout some orange juice.
“Thanks,” Sprout thanked him, and drank. He then walked over to another table to enjoy the performance.

By this point the performance was halfway through, the ponies were becoming more accustomed to the visitors themselves. They weren’t half as horrifying when they found how chilled they actually were. Chilled, for the fact most of them looked like they came from icy climates, which of course they had. Some were even swaying along to the beat. Though none dared to sit themselves any closer than they already were, especially next to monsters like Mount Mound for example..

*MYM*

“So let me get this straight,” Sunny began, “They came from another dimension, and we can only send them home by casting a special spell, which only I can manage.”
“That’s right,” Hitch claimed. He and Misty had called Sunny when they were a little distance away from the Tea room for slightly better reception. Sunny had been at her smoothie stand back in Maretime Bay when she received it. Lucky for them she was on break, so could talk for a while. They had explained the whole ordeal to her in about 5 minutes.
“But to make it work,” Sunny continued, “We need to perform it in the place they originally came from, exactly a week after they arrived here, in our dimension. Do I have that right?”
“That’s what the book said,” Hitch remarked, “So basically yeah, that’s about it.”
Misty chipped in, “You should start learning the spell now’s o you can be ready in time.”
“We’ll I haven’t really been that into spells all my life,” Sunny explained, “Not just because of the lack of magic and being an Earth pony, but just because there hasn’t really been any big need for spells like that over the years. I mean, most if not all unicorns nowadays only use their horns to levitate things.”
“I get that,” Misty replied, “But it shouldn’t be that hard, right? There’s been harder spells. Plus I’m sure these monsters would like to get home sometime.”

Then, Hitch had a thought. “I’ve just had a thought,” He said aloud, “Where are we gonna keep them?”
“Huh?” Misty and Sunny said in unison. Before they began rattling on about jinxing, Hitch spoke again;
“It’s still four days before we can perform the spell. Where are the monsters going to sleep? I don’t think they’d like to sleep in the mountains in the Ridge again.”
“He has a point,” Sunny remarked to Misty, “It’s a little sudden to have to think about where to house them until then. And with Hearth’s Warming right around the corner, everywhere’s gonna be very busy by next Friday.”
Sunny was right, the first of December was in two days time, and even by the third of the month, everywhere was going to be very bustling over the oncoming days, and it would only get worse after December 1st until the 25th. It was a dilemma to be sure.

“I think we’ll just have to house them around town.” Hitch decided. “I’m sure some ponies wouldn’t mind housing one or two of them for half a week. And maybe Sparky could use a roommate.”
“Maybe we could house a couple in the Brighthouse.” Sunny suggested. Even with Misty recently moving in, there was still more than enough room for a few extra hooves, or claws, or tentacles, or limbs in general. Misty knew she would love to have a little Flocca jumping around for a couple of days.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said aloud. “Let’s do it!”
They all agreed and trotted off, Sunny to arrange accommodations, and Misty and Hitch so see how the monsters were getting along back in the tea room.

Mane Melody Head Scratchies

The morning after accommodations were met for the monsters, Pipp walked into Mane Melody to start the days work.
“Morning everypo- U-, what is he doing here?”
The Knottshurr Tree was nestled in a corner of the building.
“Morning Pipp,” Jazz began, “He just kinda showed up this morning, and sat in the corner.”
“Uhh, okay…” Pipp said slowly, “Wouldn’t he deter customers? I mean, he’s not the prettiest, no offence.” Pipp turned to the tree to reassure him she wasn’t trying to offend.. The tree made an interpretation of a shrug, putting his hands up, as if to say ‘none taken’. He then beckoned Pipp with one of its hands over to where he was..
“He hasn’t really,” Jazz explained as they walked over, “In fact, he’s kinda popular around here. Everyone’s been recommending his services. He’s actually managed to earn a few extra bits.”
“…Services?” Pipp asked, her confusion at what Jazz had just said clear as day. Jazz sat her boss down in a comfy chair.
“Watch this,” Jazz said, shoving the chair next to the tree, which turned to Pipp slightly. It then cracked its knuckles, somehow, and put one of its scraggly hands on Pipp’s head. It then slowly began dragging its hand up and down, like a 3 pronged octopus head massager.

At first Pipp was taken aback, but the intense pleasure she was receiving from the scratching calmed her almost instantly. She closed her eyes gently, and a bright cat smile materialised on her face. Jazz smiled, seeing Pipp so happy and relaxed. She slumped back into her chair, fully enjoying her head scratch, curtesy of the Knottshurr Tree.

“So, changed your mind?” Jazz asked slyly.
“I never said I wanted him to leave,” Pipp began, “But I honestly can’t remember what I was gonna say after, this feels soooooo good. He can stay.”

*MYM*

A couple of hours passed, and business in Mane Melody was booming for a little while. The Knottshurr Tree had been giving out head scratches all morning, and each customer had left satisfied. Whilst the tree was on break, he had let the PippSqueaks (Seashell, Glory, and Peach Fizz.) nestle all over him. Seashell was lounging in his head hole, Glory was cradled in his mouth and Peach Fizz was being held in one of the tree’s hands. As usual, the tree showed no emotion, but he practically radiated ‘this is fine’ energy. As long as they didn’t inconvenience him, he would be alright.

Then, the doors to Mane Melody flung open, and in trotted Posey Bloom.

Posey was a notoriously hard to please Earth pony, and also one of few to resent Pegasus and unicorn magic at first when it first returned to Equestria, on the accounts of how crazy it had turned her life all of a sudden. Even though she had eventually grown to accept magic, partly due to the new upgraded Earth pony magic, she remained an easily irritable pony. As stated, she had had a peaceful life before the magic returned, and her current life was proving a little too much to be blindly happy all the time.

“Morning Posey,” Rocky Riff greeted her.
“Morning Rocky,” Posey replied.
“How was your morning so far?” Rocky asked, taunting the demon.
“It’s been fine,” Posey remarked, “I’ve only had 2 close calls with a reckless Pegasi this morning. One was trying to deliver mail, and the other was showing off.”
“Huh,” Rocky replied, “Would you like to take a seat at all?”
“Yes,” Posey said with a sigh…
They had gotten lucky that day, Posey had had one of her better morning.
Posey sat down, unknowingly next to the Knottshurr tree. The Pippsqueaks had left at that point, and the tree was enjoying some peace and quiet. Or he would have if the shop wasn’t still heaving. The tree had overheard Posey’s conversation, and whilst he as usual didn’t speak, he felt pity for the poor Earth pony.

Slowly, the tree moved one of its three hands towards Posey’s head. And slowly slipped it over her cranium. At first, Posey was filled with surprise and fear.
“Hey, what do you, think your…!!” Posey trailed off as the tree’s long spindly fingers were dragged up and down. Unbenonced to Posey, the tree’s other right hand undid her bow at the back, letting her hair droop down freely. The head scratches worked wonders. In no time at all, she felt much more relaxed than she had been all morning.

“This tree works wonders,” Posey remarked to Pipp, “Is it a new addition?”
“Not exactly,” Pipp explained, “He’s only here for a couple of days and then he’s hopefully returning home. You remember all the commotion yesterday with those Knottshurr monsters?”
“Oh, so he’s one of them?” Posey asked.
“Yes he is,” Pipp explained, “He’s the Knottshurr Tree. He’s been here all morning.”
“Well he certainly gives good head scratches.” Posey remarked, “Have you considered getting something like that to install here?”
“Well I have now.” Pipp replied looking at the tree.

Author's Note

Sorry I took so long to get another chapter out. A lots been going on, but I decided to dump this chapter to give you something while I work on the rest of the story.

Arrangements to be made

Misty and Hitch walked back into the tea room. The performance was long over, and the monsters were broken up into little groups, kind of like a mascot convention of sorts. Everypony was getting pictures, and poking and prodding the monsters. They would be asking questions, but only the Knottshurr Tree could speak where everypony could understand, and he only talked during their music performances.
“Hi Sprout,” Misty called, walking over to his table.
“Oh Misty,’ Sprout said back, “Yeah, I’ve got things in perfect working order here.”
“I can see that,” Misty replied, “Everything’s seems laid back around here, you did a good job.”
“So Sprout,” Hitch pitched in, also joining him at his table. “We can get them home by way of a special spell, but it has to be performed at the exact same spot, a week after they arrived, so we need to house them for four days.”

“Uhh, but I don’t really want one of them roaming round my house,” Sprout replied, “Apart from maybe him.” Sprout pointed to the Bay.
“Yeah, you can have the bay,” Hitch said, “I’m sure Phylis would love snuggling with him.”
“Heh, yeah,” Sprout said, scratching the back of his head.”

“Gentlemen, and lady,” Hitch called to the monsters, urging them to come over. “You guys are gonna have to be housed around town for the next few days while we wait to perform the spell again. You can stay wherever you want as long as the residents consent.”
“Yay!” The Flooca exclaimed. Every monster seemed excited to be offered places to stay.
“I wouldn’t mind those three staying here,” Alphabittle pointed to Mount Mound. The mounds smiled at him, clearly content with that.
“And I’m sure I’d like the Flocca at the Brighthouse,” Misty said, “And maybe the Cleomance too.”
“And I can take that one,” Jasper said, pointing to Babushka Knittshurr, “She could knit me a nice blanket or two.”
“Alright gather round everypony,” Hitch proclaimed, let’s get everything sorted.”

*MYM*

DISCLAIMER: The next few chapters will be an anthology of sorts, showcasing all the crazy shenanigans the Knottshurr monsters get themselves into over the next few days while waiting for the spell to be performed. Coming soon!