MLP + Pikmin: Pikmin Rescue!

Chapters

Prologue: Voyage Log #81 - A New World
Day 1: Far away from home - Part 1
Day 1: Far away from home - Part 2
Day 2: The search begins - Part 1

Prologue: Voyage Log #81 - A New World

Author's Note

Hey y'all. You don't really know me, but this is the first story I've started in a while.

I've had no time to write stories lately. Moving to a new country is a lot harder than it looks. Especially when things don’t work out the way you intend them to… nonetheless, Pikmin is a franchise I fell so deeply in love with, and MLP is one I have wanted to revisit for a while. I’ve given this project a thought for a long time, more than my other ones, which are more or less dead at this point. I blame Thomas Astruc for one, myself for the other.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one.

Prologue: Voyage Log #81 - A New World

Prologue: Voyage Log #81 - A New World

This is Captain Olimar of the S.S. Dolphin. As I was traveling home to my homeplanet of Hocotate after an interstellar vacation, I was struck by an asteroid and crash landed on an uncharted planet, which was dubbed “PNF-404.”

On the planet, I discovered a new species, which I named Pikmin. Overtime, I met with another, dog-like creature, which I named Moss. Moss and the Pikmin helped me find the parts for the S.S. Dolphin, and I even ended up befriending a few Koppaites on the planet, who came for their own reasons. We needed more help after we were stranded for a while, which is where the Rescue Corps came in.

Eventually, we were all saved, and ready to leave. However, the Rescue Corps rookie had the idea of bringing the Pikmin along, to show our loved ones our saviors. Unfortunately, Moss was not able to come, but the Pikmin were more than happy to.

Initially, all was fine, until a couple of hours of flight later, the Pikmin’s nest, which I named the Onion, began to show signs of erratic behavior. Eventually, the Onion started descending as we reached the orbit of a planet, and quite fast, I might add.

We were all panicked and worried for the Pikmin, and I, as the discoverer of the Pikmin, deduced it was my duty to help them, as they helped me. So I flew after them with the S.S. Dolphin with the goal of aiding them. While my ship was fine this time, the same could not be said for the Onion.

The Onion separated its fused nests as it neared the planet’s atmosphere, and spread across different areas of a peculiar looking area with interesting structures. I supposed this may have been another uncharted planet like PNF-404, but I could not have been more wrong.

This planet was unbelievable, as it seemed to be inhabited by quadrupedal lifeforms capable of not only intellectual capacity, but to my astonishment, magical abilities! These abilities included strength, flight, and levitation, among others. One of them was kind enough to help me find the Pikmin, alongside her friends.

This is the story of how me, her and her friends ultimately rescued the Pikmin, and how we discovered the charted planet, known as Equus, containing the magical land of Equestria.

Day 1: Far away from home - Part 1

Pikmin Rescue Mission - Day 1: Far away from home - Part 1

…what just happened…?

A lone Red Pikmin lay near a field of flowers, close to a small creek. As it got up, it began to observe its surroundings.

That’s not our home… where are the others? Where is the nest?

The Pikmin looked around to see a structure similar to the one back home, only smaller, and filled with even more tiny ones. And all around it could see-

-predators!

It instantly dove into the flowers and started digging itself into the ground, praying that the big, scary predators hadn't seen it. Maybe with lots of luck, they would go away. Far, far away.

The Pikmin hadn’t been in the ground too long when it began to feel a vibration. Oh dear, this vibration wasn’t small. It was big. Very, very, very big. It felt itself shaking in the ground, hoping that the closing predator wasn’t going to see a trembling flower in the ground.

It heard something interesting though. It sounded like… humming?

Yes, gentle humming! In a way that sounded almost… comforting… like home…

But not long after it started, the Pikmin felt itself being tugged. The humming stopped, being replaced with sounds of struggling.

Oh no… I’ve been exposed!

The tugging continued. The Pikmin was terrified. This was it.

I hope I see my fallen loved ones…

As the Pikmin got tugged out, it opened its eyes after a few moments… and it could not believe what it saw.

It was quite a beautiful day, Fluttershy had to admit. After stepping out of her cottage, the pegasus took in a breath of fresh air. Combining the morning air with the smell of nature made sure that her day had a great start.

Speaking of great starts, as Fluttershy glanced over to her little flower field near the creek, and saw the flowers were in bloom. Feeling delighted, she went over to her field to pluck out the flowers. Ponyville’s flower trio had requested a few natural grown flowers be delivered, so she was happy to see them finally in bloom.

She walked over and started plucking them out with her wing, humming to herself a song she heard a few days ago. Songbird Serenade was really stepping up her game, as Rainbow Dash would put it.

As she was finishing up, she stopped to smell the flowers, only to notice a peculiar little flower, a smaller, white one with a red stem, seemingly out of place.

“Oh? I don’t remember planting this. How’d you get here?” she thought out loud. Still, a flower was a flower, so she began to pluck it out.

But this one was more tricky. Fluttershy needed to put in more force to pluck it out, and once she got it out, she saw that it wasn’t a flower, but a living creature.

A tiny, red creature, with tiny limbs, a tiny nose, eyes, and a flower looking like a daisy on top of its head. It seemed to be trembling, it had its arms and legs tucked in, and its eyes were closed. But not long after being plucked, it opened one eye, then both, and the creature and Fluttershy made eye contact.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

“Eep!” Both the creature and Fluttershy startled each other. The creature was dropped, and it began running around, panickedly. It tried to go towards her cottage, then to the water, then backed up into the bridge. Fluttershy herself felt startled, but the feeling went away after seeing it meant no harm. It simply looked scared.

“Please don’t eat me! Please don’t eat me! Please don’t eat me!”

The poor little thing was trembling at the bridge, having shut its eyes and awaiting doom. Fluttershy felt her heartstrings being tugged at. She had no idea what it was, but it was scared beyond belief. And she could understand why such a tiny being would be scared, considering how big she was compared to it.

“O-oh my, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you! Are you alright, little one?”

Her gentle voice seemed to calm the little creature down, and it stopped trembling.

“I-I-I guess? You’re… not gonna eat me?”

That question shocked Fluttershy greatly. “Why would I ever do that!?”

Now the creature simply looked… surprised. “You… can understand me…?”

“Um, y-yes, I do,” Fluttershy nodded. “I can understand all kinds of animal languages, it’s how I can take care of them best.”

The creature blinked. “That’s… w-wow. No one apart from my kind can understand me.”

“O-oh?” Fluttershy tilted her head, intrigued. “And what is your kind? … if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well… our leader calls us-”

At that moment, Fluttershy heard a strong, whistle-like sound in the distance. Immediately, the creature perked up and began to run in the other direction.

“Olimar! Olimar! I’m coming!”

“W-wait! Where are you going?” The creature ignored her and kept going, yelling the name of someone called Olimar. Wanting to make sure it’s okay, Fluttershy silently followed it at a steady walk as it ran.

The whistling got louder the closer they got to the Everfree Forest. Eventually, they discovered another little creature, and the red one ran eagerly to it.

This one had fair skin, narrow eyes and a rather big nose, along with three little brown hairs on its head. Another interesting thing was that it was wearing some sort of spacesuit, judging by the helmet covering its head. It started speaking to the creature before noticing Fluttershy… and then it looked in surprise, as did the pegasus.

“Um, hello there…” Fluttershy murmured.

The spacesuit-wearing creature looked in surprise, until the red creature tried to show it that she meant no harm. The spacesuit-wearing creature warily came a little closer, and said something to her.

Unfortunately, she did not understand. “Um, excuse me?”

The creature said something else.

“… I-I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

It then looked to think about something, before snapping its little fingers. It then pressed a button on its spacesuit, and the whistle sticking out of the suit was replaced by a metal plate with three lines.

“Do you understand me now?” it asked.

Now Fluttershy was the surprised one. “Oh! Um, y-yes… h-how did you do that…?”

The creature smiled. “Thank heavens! I was hoping this translator prototype would work. The technology from Koppai helps to embed useful features within my spacesuit.”

“Um, that’s, uh… nice…” Fluttershy honestly didn’t know what to reply to this. This sounded like something Twilight would say, let alone understand.

The creature then looked sheepishly. “Oh, I apologize, where are my manners?” It cleared its throat. “My name is Olimar. I am the captain of the S.S. Dolphin, my spacecraft over there.” The creature, Olimar, gestured to the craft, the Dolphin.

So this is Olimar. Fluttershy thought to herself.

“I assure you, the Pikmin and I mean no harm. We tend to avoid any unnecessary conflict.” Olimar finished.

“Oh, that’s alright,” Fluttershy quickly assured. “M-My name is… um… Fluttershy…” She still had trouble introducing herself to strangers.

Olimar looked sheepish again. “I apologize, my sensors did not catch that. Could you repeat it a little louder, please?”

“It’s okay,” the little red creature, the Pikmin, assured her. “Olimar is a good person.”

That gave Fluttershy the assurance she needed. “I’m… Fluttershy.”

“A delight to meet you, Miss Fluttershy.” Olimar said. “I trust you are already acquainted with the Pikmin?”

“O-oh, so that’s what they’re called? Pikmin?” Fluttershy wondered.

Olimar chuckled. “Yes, indeed. I am not one to brag, but I was the one who named them that. They resemble Pikpik carrots, my favorite vegetable, hence the inspiration.”

Sounds like something Twilight would do. Fluttershy thought to herself.

“Unfortunately, we cannot stay for long,” Olimar declared. “I am searching for more Pikmin, as their nest, the Onion, crash-landed on this planet, which is why I’m here.”

“There is more of them?” Fluttershy inquired.

“Oh yes, there are a lot more. The Red Pikmin here,” Olimar gestured to the Pikmin. “is merely one of nine kinds of Pikmin.”

“Nine?!” Fluttershy exclaimed quietly. “B-But… where… could the others possibly be?”

The captain looked down sadly, along with the Pikmin. “That, unfortunately, I do not know. There are a lot of them, and I haven’t a clue where to begin looking. It is lucky you found one, but I’m afraid it may take a while to find more.”

“If only we knew where to start looking…” the Pikmin commented.

Fluttershy felt devastated. She might never know what it felt like to be stranded on a completely different planet, but just the idea made her blood freeze. They were all by themselves, if only somepony could help them navigate Ponyville…

… I’m somepony.

Fluttershy felt herself smile with excitement. The opportunity to help out two entirely new species? A chance to get to know a new kind of animal? A story to tell for a lifetime, perhaps reaching even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves?!

“I can help you out!” she loudly exclaimed, startling Olimar and the Pikmin. She instantly realized her outburst and shrunk sheepishly. “That is… if you don’t mind.”

Olimar smiled gratefully. “Of course we don’t! We’ll take any help we can get!”

The Pikmin was happy too. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Aww, it’s no big deal, really… I-I know Ponyville like the back of my hoof, so it won’t be a hassle. We… can go to all the places the Pikmin m-might have ended up in.”

“Splendid!” Olimar exclaimed. “Then we’ve no time to waste. Ah, the question is, however… how will we get around? We are not exactly as, er… big as you are, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled. She knew exactly what to do.

Olimar would never have imagined experiencing anything like this. Riding on the back of a giant, albeit timid and friendly creature alongside the Pikmin, searching for the missing Onions. She was gentle, luckily, so the ride was not bumpy at all, and Olimar was invisible within her giant pink mane, as was the Pikmin.

“So, i-if I understood this correctly… we’re… not only looking for these little guys,” Fluttershy gestured to the Pikmin. “B-But also their nests? Onions, right?”

“Correct,” Olimar confirmed. “There are nine Onions for the nine kinds of Pikmin, one for each color, red, yellow, blue, purple, white for Pikmin of the same color, as well as gray for Rock, pink for Winged, and cyan for Ice.”

“But, um… th-that’s only eight?”

“Ah yes, the last one is a mystery, even to me. The Glow Pikmin. I haven’t seen one myself unfortunately, but I’ve heard their nest is not an Onion, forgive me for my error from before, but something called a Lumiknoll. The Glow Pikmin may not even be with us though, as they only come out at night, or in some cases, dark places like caves.”

Fluttershy nodded in acknowledgement. Inwardly, she hoped that meant they didn’t have to go into the Everfree Forest.

Along the way to her friend, Olimar and Fluttershy spotted a couple of plucks in the ground, which the captain immediately recognized as Pikmin. The good thing is, they were easy to pluck out and they were found very often. However, Fluttershy noticed something interesting, as did the tiny captain.

When Olimar whistled, the Pikmin immediately hid in her mane, only their flowers being visible. It looked as if she decorated her mane. They were acting similarly to when the Pikmin clinged onto Moss when he was riding the dog.

“Fascinating…” Olimar muttered.

“Hmm?”

“Whenever I whistle, the Pikmin immediately come to me. It is as if there is a certain frequency within my whistle that draws the Pikmin in. I don’t know if it’s always been like that, as I had merely discovered it by accident. Either way, Pikmin seem to communicate with sound waves. Do you know what that means, Miss Fluttershy?”

“... that the Pikmin communicate in a s-similar way to dolphins?”

He snapped his fingers. “Precisely! When a whistle is heard within a frequency, the Pikmin are drawn in, as how dolphins communicate with each other, and how they stay in groups, like the Pikmin do!” Olimar then perked up. “Oh my word, I have to log that!”

As Olimar was logging, Fluttershy looked deep in thought.

A whistle with a certain frequency… could that mean…?

The pegasus then tried imitating Olimar’s whistle. At first, no reaction, and she tried a few times in different ways. After a while, she tried a louder, sharper whistle with her hoof, and she was surprised to see around twenty Red Pikmin, mixed with leaves and buds on their heads, run up to her and climb her, hiding in her mane.

“Oh my… I-I think I did it…” she muttered.

“Pardon?” Olimar looked up from his log.

“I think I mastered the whistle,” Fluttershy repeated in awe. “They all came to me!”

She then whistled again, and surprisingly, around five more Pikmin ran up to her and climbed into her mane. Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle profusely.

“Aww, aren’t they just precious?” she cooed.

Olimar could only smile to himself. Such a sweetheart, she is. “Quite precious, indeed. And very diligent, too!”

They continued on for a while to their destination. Along the way, Fluttershy and Olimar whistled a couple of times to attract more Pikmin. The good thing was that it worked often, and Pikmin would rush up to her and burrow in her mane, leaving their flowers, buds and leaves visible, but mostly the flowers.

By the time Fluttershy, Olimar and the Pikmin reached the outskirts of Ponyville, there were around fifty-five Red Pikmin within her mane, she had estimated.

“Captain Olimar, Pikmin…” Fluttershy gestured with her hoof to the town in front. “Welcome to Ponyville, my hometown.”

The captain and the Pikmin were in awe of the town, especially Olimar. He began writing down his logs right away, so the pegasus figured it would be best to leave him to his devices.

After Olimar was done, she began to explain the different areas of Ponyville, and Fluttershy figured it would also be best to seek out Twilight. Being the smartest pony she knows, the pegasus was sure she would be a great help in finding the other Pikmin, as she could further determine their possible locations with her logical thinking and deduction skills.

Olimar hid in her mane to avoid attracting attention, but the Pikmin’s flowers in Fluttershy’s mane were still visible. She said she first had to pay a visit to a trio she promised to pick flowers for. Through the translator, Olimar was able to understand a few things he heard from the different creatures. It sounded like she was being complimented.

“Fluttershy, you look amazing! Did you do something to your mane?”

“Fluttershy, are those flowers in your mane? They look so beautiful!”

“Nice look, Flutters! That mane of yours rocks!”

Compliment after compliment Fluttershy felt her face getting redder and redder. Though she would have to admit, the flowers atop the Pikmin’s heads looked quite beautiful. Said creatures seemed quite relaxed within her mane, and Fluttershy smiled to herself. They were cute.

And just when she thought they couldn’t get cuter, once no ponies were nearby, she heard a faint sound from her mane. It sounded like humming. A gentle, light humming, an unfamiliar melody. Fluttershy felt her heart melt when the Pikmin sang.

“I’ve found that Pikmin have interesting ways to show their contentment,” Olimar commented, getting the attention of the pegasus. “One of those ways is by humming. As they communicate with sound waves, it would seem fair that humming is a way for them to show that they feel safe.”

Fluttershy smiled brightly. I can’t wait for Twilight to meet the Pikmin!

Day 1: Far away from home - Part 2

Pikmin Rescue Mission - Day 1: Far away from home - Part 2

Within the halls of the Castle of Friendship, there was silence. Not a sound to be heard. While eerie at first, Spike found he quite enjoyed the silence. At the moment, he was on his way to do a task Twilight asked him to do, which was to sort books in the library of the castle.

It sounded simple enough. Sort and categorize. Well, it would be simple, had it not be for the sheer height of the library. Seriously, who needs that many books? Well, Spike wasn’t complaining. If it meant a little quiet around the area while the alicorn does her thing, then he could handle using a ladder.

Humming a tune to himself, he made his way to the library. It was at first very easy to get lost within the castle, but it didn’t take too long to get used to.

Spike opened the door and was about to start his work…

…when he froze upon entering the door.

His eyes widened upon seeing some intruders. More specifically, a bunch of tiny, yellow-colored creatures with big, pointy ears. Some had leaves, some had buds, and some had white flowers on their little heads.

The drake didn’t know how to react. What were these things? And what are they doing in the castle? How did they even get inside?

It didn’t like they were doing harm. Some were looking, a few were playing, and a couple more were just standing or laying around idly. Still, Spike had never seen such creatures before.

There was only one thing he could do. So he gently put down the books next to the door, quietly took a few steps back, then proceeded to speed-walk his way to Twilight’s room.

A minute or two later, he made it to the room, panting a little heavily.

He walked over to the alicorn and started tugging on her hoof. “Twilight. Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.”

Twilight scoffed. “Spike, what is it?” she asked, a little annoyed. Any annoyance faded away when she noticed him looking a little frightened. Annoyance morphed into concern. “Is everything alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Please come with me to the library.”

“Okay…?”

Past incidents have taught the Princess of Friendship to not disregard any concern from her assistant. So she decided to do her task later and went with Spike to the library. Her concern only heightened when she saw how quickly he was walking there.

What could be so bad that has Spike so startled?

Sure enough, his worry passed on to Twilight when she saw what was in the library. Tiny yellow creatures with big ears and flower stems, leaves, buds and flowers varied. Not much changed from their previous actions, Spike noted to himself.

One of them almost looked at them, but the duo quietly shut the door in time, leaving a gap big enough for them to see but not be seen. They didn’t know what to expect, were they about to be hostile or something?

The same creature gestured their direction to its comrades, not towards them, but towards the books, which slightly made the duo weirded out. However, worry slowly but surely turned into wonder when the alicorn and drake saw what the creatures started doing.

They all rushed over to the books, and started carrying them. Some of them tossed each other - quite high, the duo had to note - and some of them, on top of the books, started doing somersaults, which moved the books to the ground.

Afterwards, a couple of them formed into groups and started carrying the books towards the shelves. A few more went forward and started sorting themselves into more groups. Some were on the bottom, and some were at the empty places, where the books were initially supposed to go.

Once a book reached the bottom of the shelves, with timed movements, the creatures tossed the book up to the other ones, who tossed it higher, and the last couple of ones sorted the books into the empty spaces.

Twilight and Spike looked in awe as the little creatures were able to organize themselves so incredibly well, and perform a task together an individual creature would deem implausible. As tiny as they were, they were outstandingly intelligent, as well as particularly assiduous.

A couple of minutes later, all the books were sorted, and the creatures performed some somersaults, seemingly a celebratory reaction.

“D-Did you-did you see that?” Spike asked.

“I did…” the princess replied. “Fascinating ones, they are. Though I wonder, what are they?”

Before Spike could say anything, one of the creatures pointed upwards, catching the attention of the other creatures. He and Twilight looked up to see what it was pointing at. The gem lamp on the ceiling?

The duo looked back to see the creatures climbing up the bookshelves. After a while, with surprisingly big jumps, the creatures made it to the lamp.

Twilight felt uneasy. What were they planning to do with it? Steal it? Damage it?

Playing with it, however, was something she had not expected.

All of them did different things, some just sat, some hugged the lights, some passed little lights back and forth, some emitted… sparks?

As if Spike and Twilight weren’t perplexed enough by the mysterious (but oddly endearing) tiny intruders, some of them started emitting sparks of electricity, and the ones that had buds had said buds light up as if they were Hearth's Warming Eve lights.

“Twilight, what is going on here?” Spike whispered, not taking his eyes off the creatures.

“I have no idea, Spike…” Twilight muttered.

Uneasiness returned when one of the creatures made eye contact with the duo. It also seemed nervous, and gestured to its comrades, and after a few seconds, all of them were looking at the drake and the alicorn.

“What do we do?” Spike whispered.

Twilight moved forward a bit. “Hello!” she said. “Are… are you… harmless?”

Spike gave her a look that said, ‘Seriously?’

Some of the creatures looked at each other, and a few then started making sounds towards them. Were they trying to say something? Some of them perked up a little, and started looking around, searching for something. It was becoming a bit of a cacophony.

The duo sighed in unison. “Where’s Fluttershy when you need her?” Twilight asked out loud.

“Um, I’m right here.”

They yelped upon hearing the quiet pegasus’s voice. “Oh, I’m sorry… I-I didn’t mean to scare you.” Fluttershy bashfully whispered.

Twilight exhaled. “It’s fine, but… we have a little bit of a situation.” she gestured to the creatures, who were all now looking at Fluttershy.

“Oh!” she smiled. “More Pikmin!”

“Pik-what?”

Twilight and Spike didn’t get an answer, but instead a loud, sharp whistle from the pegasus. The creatures - Pikmin, was it? - all perked up, jumped over to the bookshelves, and after climbing down, ran over to Fluttershy, and jumped in her mane.

Fluttershy giggled in endearment. Meanwhile all Twilight and Spike could do was gawk.

“Wha-eh-wha-ha-how???” Twilight exclaimed, causing Fluttershy to giggle more.

“They react to whistling. The Pikmin, I mean.”

“Fluttershy, what the hay is a Pikmin?” Spike bursted.

Twilight gasped. “Spike!”

“What? You were thinking the same thing!”

Twilight then turned back to Fluttershy. “But seriously… little creatures called.. Pikmin? What is going on here?”

“Perhaps I can offer an insight.” They heard a deep, male voice from the latter’s mane. Then another strange little being with a big nose wearing a spacesuit popped up from the mare’s mane.

Spike blinked. “… can this day get any weirder…?”

The drake felt more than unsettled staring into the seemingly lifeless eyes of the little creatures known as Pikmin. Red and Yellow Pikmin, he was told. The Red Pikmin each had noses, the Yellow Pikmin had big ears.

They just… stared. Some tilted their heads. What was going on through their little heads?

He took a step back… and they took one forward. Another step back. Another step forward. After a while, he sped up a little, and one of the Red Pikmin started running towards him.

“GAAAH! Get away from me!” he yelled as the little creature chased him. The other Pikmin started laughing at the exchange between the two species.

In the meantime, Twilight and Fluttershy sat down as the other creature hopped onto the table.

“Forgive me for all of this, this was not at all planned,” he apologized. “This is all a new experience for me as well, as it is for you.”

“Oh, well,” Twilight started. “It's alright, no harm has been done. Maybe a scare here and there, but otherwise these creatures appear quite… amicable, I would say.”

“Not to mention adorable…” Fluttershy quietly added.

“Quite, and very helpful little companions as well.” the little spaceman said. “Oh, I do apologize, I don’t believe I have introduced myself. I’m Captain Olimar, captain of the S.S. Dolphin, the spacecraft I operate.”

“A pleasure, Captain Olimar,” Twilight smiled. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, former pupil of our prestigious ruler Princess Celestia.”

“She’s also the Princess of Friendship.” Fluttershy said, attempting to be a little cheeky.

“Princess?” Olimar asked, surprised, before beginning to bow. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I bow, or…?”

“Oh no no no!” Twilight shook her hooves frantically. “That’s not necessary! I haven’t been a princess for that long, I just… I’m still not used to the title.”

“Okay, that’s understandable.” Olimar said. “But anyways, I have not arrived for small talk. I, along with the Pikmin and my crew, were on our way home, when their nest, which I named the Onion, started behaving rather erratically. Before I knew it, it was descending towards this planet, and so I flew after the Onion to help the Pikmin.” Olimar looked down sadly. “But alas, the Onion separated and spread across the area.”

Olimar looked at Fluttershy and smiled. “It was thanks to your friend Fluttershy that I was able to find some Red Pikmin, and it was quite lucky that we found the Yellow Pikmin here.” He then went into thought. “Unfortunately, I have not a clue where to search next. She suggested we come see you about this predicament.”

“Captain Olimar mentioned eight Pikmin kinds in total.” Fluttershy continued. “Each of them has their own Onion. He also mentioned Glow Pikmin, but… i-it’s unlikely they made it here.”

“Right, thank you.”

“I see…” Twilight hummed in thought. “If there are eight of them, they must each prefer their own environment. Tell me, what kinds of Pikmin exist?”

“There are red, blue, yellow, purple and white for the same color, as well as Rock Pikmin, Winged Pikmin, and Ice Pikmin. The red ones are fire-resistant, yellow can conduct electricity, blue can breathe underwater, purple have the strength of ten Pikmin, and white can resist any acid-like substance. And I believe the latter three are self-explanatory, adapted to earth, sky, and cold environments respectively.”

As Olimar was explaining, the gears in Twilight’s head were turning actively. From his descriptions, she could already name a dozen possible locations of the missing Pikmin. Now all they had to do was test the credibility of her theories.

That may have to wait though, as Twilight might have a question answered to a discovery she made that morning. Specifically, what she was researching before Spike alerted her to the Pikmin, as well as Fluttershy and Olimar having made their appearances.

“Tell me… what does an Onion look like?”

“Well,” Olimar started. “Like the name suggests, it resembles the shape of an onion, it has a sprout on top as well.”

“Would it happen to be white on the outside and yellow on the inside, resembling a daisy?”

Olimar’s little eyes widened. “Why yes! Have you found an Onion?!”

That surprised both ponies. “Wait, that was an Onion?! Is that why the Yellow Pikmin were in my home?!”

The captain then had an idea. “Fluttershy, would you please help me outside of the castle?”

A few minutes later, everyone was outside of the Castle of Friendship, on the side. Spike stood near Twilight, Fluttershy to her right, and Olimar, along with the squad of Red and Yellow Pikmin stood a few meters away from the Equestrian trio.

Olimar turned around. “Before we look for the Yellow Onion, I suppose it would be a wise idea to move my base here. Princess Twilight, would you mind?”

Twilight smiled. “Not at all. And please, just call me Twilight.”

Olimar nodded and got out a little electronic device. A tablet, he said it was called. After tapping a few buttons, he put it away and turned around, seemingly waiting for something. A minute or so passed in silence, occasionally broken by some Pikmin hums, after which Olimar pointed to something in the sky.

It seemed to be a spacecraft, and next to it was an interesting looking ship, completely red with a sprout on the top. Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike looked in wonder as they came closer, and eventually landed next to each other, in front of them.

Fluttershy looked in wonder. That must be the S.S. Dolphin. And could that be…?

“That’s it!” Twilight exclaimed while pointing to it, as the nest gave out a little light underneath it. “It looked just like that, only yellow!”

Fluttershy then heard multiple little voices.

“The nest! She found the yellow nest!”

“Huzzah! Our nest is here!”

“I knew we came to the right place!”

She looked a little strained. All the little creatures were talking and exclaiming all at once. It became quite overstimulating for her.

“Everyone! Settle down, please!” Fluttershy suddenly yelled, getting the attention of every being. The Pikmin stopped and all just stared at her. She then realized what she just did and instantly shrunk in on herself. “O-oh, I-I-I’m so so sorry, I d-didn’t mean to yell… o-oh my…”

“Is… everything okay?” Olimar asked, concerned. “I did not assume the Pikmin would be this loud, normally their commotions do not pester my ears. Granted, I assume your ears are more sensitive than mine, as they are bigger too…”

“I think I know what the matter is.” Twilight chimed in. “Fluttershy’s special ability, aside from being an exceptional caretaker, is Zoolingualism. While the Pikmin may sound unintelligible to us, Fluttershy understands every word they say. I suppose her trait extends to beings outside of Equestria too!”

Olimar’s tiny eyes widened. “Oh my word… so you mean to say that she can communicate with the creatures with direct speech instead of a mere whistle? That’s amazing!” He looked at Fluttershy, who seemed to be doing okay now. “You never cease to amaze me, Miss Fluttershy! Your world is absolutely full of wonder! May I log this entry, please?”

“O-oh! Um, a-alright, I suppose…”

“Splendid! Thank you!”

Twilight cleared her throat. “As much as I would love for you to note down your findings… can we deal with the Onion in my backyard, please?”

Olimar looked at her sheepishly. “Ah, yes! My apologies. Please lead us to the Onion.” Olimar then pressed a button on his spacesuit, and the three metal lines near his mouth changed to a whistle. He then blew it and all the Pikmin perked up, and went over to him.

A minute later, everyone was behind the Castle of Friendship, where Twilight led them to what appeared to be a familiar looking craft in the ground behind the castle.

Olimar cheered upon seeing the Yellow Onion, and the Pikmin cheered alongside him, causing Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike to smile.

“Huh, y’know what?” Spike said. “They’re actually kinda adorable, in a strange way.”

“Uhh, Spike?” Twilight commented, as Fluttershy giggled. The drake then noticed that some Yellow Pikmin were somersaulting on his scales.

“AHH! GET THEM OFF, GET THEM OFF!”

He quickly shook the Pikmin off, but they got up quickly. They seemed annoyed.

“Sheesh, no need to be so jumpy…”

“You’re ten times our size, and you’re the one scared of us…?”

“We could easily be your next meal, at this rate…”

One Yellow Pikmin smacked the other on the head.

“Hey! Don’t give him any ideas!”

“Oh come on, it’s not like he can understand us…”

… they then slowly looked back at the drake, equally as uneasy as he was. “… right?”

“So…” Twilight started. “First things first, let’s get the Onion out of the ground.”

The alicorn’s horn lit up, causing Olimar and the Pikmin to all stare in awe. She attempted to lift the Onion out of the ground, but not five seconds passed when the Yellow Pikmin began acting strange. They disbanded, not listening to Olimar, one half went in front of the nest, while the other half charged at Twilight.

“Don’t touch our nest!”

“Eep!” Twilight yelped. “W-what?”

“Um, Twilight, I… don’t think the Pikmin are t-too happy with you trying to move their nest…”

“B-But I was just…” the alicorn looked despondent.

“I believe I have an explanation for that…” Olimar started, having already switched back to his translator. “You see, the Onion is sacred to the Pikmin. It serves not only as their home and means of transport, but also as a means of reproduction. Not only that, but the Onion regulates the Pikmin population themselves, more specifically on how many can be outside at a time.”

He looked down in worry. “I believe that if something were to happen to the Onion… it would eventually bring about a Pikmin extinction.”

Fluttershy gasped. “E-Extinction? You mean… they could d-die out?”

Olimar looked quite sad. “Let’s just say… PNF-404 is not a kind home to the Pikmin.”

In that moment Twilight realized, in her hastiness to help, she had forgotten to consider the thought process of the little creatures themselves. The captain was right, if the nest was a home for the Pikmin as well as the craft responsible for their existence, then in their place, she would be just as protective over it as well.

“Sweet Celestia, you’re right. I would be just as worried as they are. I’m so sorry, Pikmin.” Her statement seemed to relax the Yellow Pikmin, and they went back to the rest of the squad of Red Pikmin.

The Hocotatian then smiled. “But worry not. Why don’t we let the Pikmin help out?” With that said, he switched back to the whistle and blew it, and with that, around twenty Yellow Pikmin rushed to the Yellow Onion, and started digging all together, making little sounds as they did.

Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy were all surprised at just how organized they worked. Whilst the latter two had witnessed it before, this was Fluttershy’s first time seeing Pikmin work together as a group. She was astonished to see just how smart they were, despite being so small.

“Wow, look at them dig!” Spike exclaimed.

“At this rate, Yellow Pikmin dig as quickly as diamond dogs dig for gems… it’s incredible to see how diligent they are! Fascinating!” Twilight commented with a smile.

“A-actually, I would compare them more to ants than d-diamond dogs…” Fluttershy added with a slight smile.

Twilight made a small gasp. “Of course! It makes sense! Pikmin work together in groups, organize and perform tasks quickly and efficiently, and aid each other just like a colony! They’re like ants in the form of half plant, half animal-like creatures!”

Olimar smiled. “I am not entirely sure what ants are, but if they are as diligent as you say, then the Pikmin may just have a Dandori competition.”

The Equestrians looked confused. “Gesundheit?” Spike asked.

Before the captain could explain, he heard cheers behind him, signaling the Yellow Pikmin had finished digging. As they turned around, they picked up the Yellow Onion and began to take it away.

“Uh, where are they bringing it?” Spike asked, to which Olimar only smiled.

“You shall see.”

Observed by a group of Red and Yellow Pikmin, twenty Yellow Pikmin brought the Yellow Onion back to the Red Onion, much to the confusion of the Equestrians. What significance did it have to bring one Onion to the other?

They were about to find out, as the Red Onion seemed to sense the Yellow Onion near instantaneously. It sucked up the Yellow Onion, and it turned the Red Onion’s color to yellow, then back to red, before it began spinning with red sparks surrounding it. Before anyone knew it, the Onions fused together to create a bi-color red and yellow Onion. It then sprouted out a yellow seed, and as it burrowed into the ground, a leaf came out.

The trio had mixed emotions, from perplexity, to awe, to wonder, to curiosity. Two extraterrestrial crafts merging into one was not a sight they were used to.

“Miss Fluttershy, would you please?” Olimar asked, gesturing to the sprout in the ground. While Twilight and Spike were unfamiliar with the sprout, Fluttershy already knew it was a Yellow Pikmin, waiting to be plucked. She spread a wing, walked over to it, and gently plucked the Pikmin out of the ground.

It performed a backflip as it came out, as well as another, higher somersault when it touched the ground, emitting sparks as it looked around curiously. It had its eyes fixated on the one who plucked it, tilting its head in a rather adorable manner.

Fluttershy smiled brightly and kneeled down to the Pikmin. “Aren’t you just the most precious little thing?”

“The sun! It’s setting!”

She was alerted to a Red Pikmin pointing at the horizon, and the sun was indeed beginning to set. That brought about uneasiness onto Olimar and the Pikmin.

“Oh dear. Time flies when you’re at work.” he commented. “I should probably be heading back into the Dolphin.”

The Equestrians looked confused. “Er, why?” Spike asked.

“The habit I have is flying alongside the Onion into orbit. It is normally safe there, and the Pikmin are also unharmed that way.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary.” Twilight waved them off. “You’re more than welcome to stay in the castle, both you and the Pikmin, Captain.”

The Hocotatian looked surprised, along with the critters. “I would not want to impose, Miss Twilight…”

“Nonsense. The castle is big enough to house the entire population of Ponyville.” Twilight smiled wryly. “Trust me, I witnessed it firsthoof.”

Captain Olimar still looked a little unsure, but some Yellow Pikmin went over to Olimar and started talking. The Hocotatian may not have understood it, but Fluttershy understood multiple statements. It all came down to the same context.

“It’s safe here. Let’s stay here.”

Olimar still looked unsure.

“T-The Yellow Pikmin said that it’s s-safe here.” Fluttershy quietly assisted Olimar in communication. It caught the captain a little off-guard, but he quickly recovered.

“Well, in that case, I thank you dearly for your assistance, Miss Twilight.” Olimar smiled at Twilight, while a few Pikmin cheered.

Twilight was about to respond, until Spike tugged on her a little. The drake gestured to her, asking if she could come to the side for a bit. That left Fluttershy together with the extraterrestrial beings.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Twilight…?” Spike asked the princess uneasily, still a little freaked out by the Pikmin. “We don’t exactly know what they’re capable of…”

“Spike, come on.” Twilight sighed in exasperation. “The captain and the Pikmin are stranded on our planet. The least we can do to help them is give them shelter.”

“I dunno…”

“I’ll get you some of your favorite gems to snack on.”

“Deal!”

What a crazy day.

Fluttershy had never in her life thought that this would ever be a possibility. Not just the meeting of creatures from different planets, but the opportunity itself to meet new creatures, creatures that are plant-based as well, simply astonished her. She still had to get her head wrapped around it. Even now, all she could do was smile as she watched a few Pikmin play outside the Onion. A cloth was prepared on the table in the library, as well as a flower pot of soil for the Onion. She then noticed three Pikmin having a bit of a conversation.

“Shouldn’t we go into the nest?” a Red Pikmin asked two Yellow Pikmin.

“It’s okay. It’s safe here.”

“How do we know that?”

“Have any creatures here tried to eat you yet?”

“Well… that scaly creature was eyeing me a bit…”

“Don’t worry about Spike,” Fluttershy said to the Pikmin, getting their attention. “He may be a baby dragon, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Besides, he prefers to eat gems over, er… creatures.”

They looked unsure. “If that’s so true, why does he keep watching us?” the Yellow Pikmin on the right asked.

She simply shrugged. “Let’s just say it’s a new experience to meet creatures from another world. Besides, we don’t exactly know what you guys can do. And Spike knows less than us.”

That silenced them. “Okay, I guess I can understand that…” the Red Pikmin said.

“Now, it’s getting late. You should go into your nest.”

“Like I said!” the Red Pikmin said with pride, saddening the two Yellow Pikmin.

“But I wanna keep playing…”

“Me too…”

“Rest is important, you need to regenerate your energy for tomorrow. We have a long day ahead of us.” Fluttershy said in an almost motherly tone.

The Yellow Pikmin still looked saddened, but understood, and went back to the Onion. The Red Pikmin stayed.

“Hey, uh…” It looked sheepish. “Thank you for plucking me. I normally don’t say that, but I was scared. I’m glad you found me and not something else.”

That was when she realized that this was the first Pikmin she plucked, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but coo at what the little one said. She lowered her face to the table, carefully nudging the Red Pikmin in a light nuzzle. “You’re very welcome, little one. I’m also glad to have found you and your friends.”

The Red Pikmin hugged her cheek upon her saying that, and the pegasus felt her heart explode.

This was quite a day, indeed. And Fluttershy was excited to meet the rest of the Pikmin. She only prayed that wherever they were right now, they were okay.

Day 2: The search begins - Part 1

Pikmin Rescue Mission - Day 2: The search begins - Part 1

The start of a new day always meant a new day of work on the farm at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack already woke up beforehand, and along with a coffee, took a stroll outside to check what was to be done today. As she stepped out, she noticed Apple Bloom already outside.

“Howdy there, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, getting her sister’s attention. “What’re ya doin’ up so early, sugarcube?”

“Oh, howdy sis!” the filly replied enthusiastically. “I wanted to wake you up a little earlier actually, but I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea or not, so I waited out here because I wanted to tell you of this amazing thing I saw yesterday!”

Applejack giggled and gave her sister a little noogie. “Alright you, what’s got you so worked up?”

The two sisters began strolling towards the field as Apple Bloom began to tell her story.

“Okay, so I know ya might not believe me, but I swear I saw shooting stars yesterday while I was coming back inside!”

“Shooting stars? At this time?”

“Trust me, I know what I saw! But this was weird! It started as one, but then it split into more!”

“Er, sugarcube, I ain’t no Twilight, but I don’t think shooting stars can do that…”

“But it did! I don’t remember how exactly, but I swear it did! And it was multicolored! It was almost like a nighttime rainbow!”

“Maybe it was Rainbow Dash doing a new Sonic Rainboom technique?”

“At this time? That pony sleeps longer than a bear during hibernation, and ya want to tell me that she’s doing Sonic Rainbooms at night?”

“... alright, I guess ya got a point there. Still, like I said, I think that shooting stars splitting like that is a little far-fetched.”

“But I know-”

Apple Bloom got cut off by the sound of the family dog, Winona. She sounded frightened for some reason. Before the girls could give it any thought, Winona sprinted towards them and hid behind Applejack.

“Hoowee, ya seem startled as a sheep by a timberwolf. What’s gotten into ya, Winona?”

She gestured towards… rocks?

“... rocks got ya so worked up? Yeah, they are movin’, but the field’s a little steep, girl. It’s fine.”

She just whimpered some more after she looked at the rocks.

“Uhh, AJ…?” Apple Bloom looked weirded out when she looked at her. “… do rocks have eyes?”

“Uh… no, they don’t. What kinda question is that?”

“… these ones do.”

Applejack looked at the rocks Apple Bloom gestured to, and she wasn’t kidding. These rocks did indeed have eyes. Tiny white eyes, along with gray limbs, and stems on their heads, with a mixture of leaves as well as purple buds and flowers. There were about ten or so, by the looks of it, and they were all staring.

“… what in the name of Celestia am I lookin’ at…?” Applejack thought out loud.

Apple Bloom seemed just as bewildered as her sister. She hid behind her sister’s tail. They didn’t seem dangerous though. Weird, but not dangerous. They were just… staring. Some tilted their bodies, and a few also began rolling around, like actual rocks.

After a couple of seconds of mutual, weirded-out stares, one of the rocky creatures gestured towards them in a “follow-me” way. The rest of the creatures joined their comrade, and also gestured.

Applejack and Apple Bloom looked at each other with uncertainty.

“… I think they want us to follow them…?” Apple Bloom looked at her sister. “Should we?”

“Well, do we have anything to lose?” she replied. So with a shrug, she, Apple Bloom and Winona began to follow the weird little rock creatures.

They weren’t very fast due to their size, and Applejack learned that the hard way when she felt herself step on something hard. It turned out to be the rock creature, but it seemed fine after being stepped on. It seemed annoyed, but otherwise it was fine.

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that, lil’ critter.”

The rock creature seemed to shrug it off, and joined its comrades. After a while, they reached the end of the hill, and the creatures rolled down the hill to join some more rock creatures. Oddly enough, they weren’t alone.

The ponies’ surprise doubled when they saw some more odd creatures. Purple ones, who looked to be bulky, had little limbs, hairs on their heads, as well as stems, said stems having leaves, pink buds or pink flowers at the top, mixed.

As if they weren’t surprised enough, these creatures were strong, as they had the capacity to carry an entire basket full of apples. Applejack had remembered that Big Macintosh woke up a little early to get some extra work done, but he was nowhere to be found.

The basket must weigh at least three kilograms*, and around thirty of these purple creatures were carrying one, no problem. At least four baskets of apples were being transported to the barn, the rock creatures contributing to their transportation as well.

“Hoo nelly, them critters are mighty strong.” Applejack said in awe.

“But what are they?” Apple Bloom asked, just in awe as her sister. “And why are they carryin’ the apples?”

“I’m as clueless as you are, sis…”

As the little creatures reached the end of the barn, before they could run back, the sound of a sharp whistle in the distance made them perk up. They looked in the other direction and ran towards something, or rather, somepony.

“There you are, little Pikmin.”

“Oh, hiya Flutters!”

“Fluttershy?”

Said timid pony walked up to them. “H-hello Applejack, Apple Bloom.”

The girls noticed that her mane had flowers in them, a mixture of white, purple and pink. One of the flowers seemed to move, and it was another half-plant creature, a red one with a nose. Another white flowered creature did as well, a yellow one with ears.

“S-sorry about the Pikmin. I hope th-they didn’t cause any trouble.” Fluttershy muttered.

The earth ponies were confused. “... say what now?”

“What’d ya call ‘em again?” Apple Bloom asked curiously.

“P-Pikmin. They’re called Pikmin.”

A minute of awkward silence passed by. Fluttershy didn’t know how to explain the situation, and Applejack and Apple Bloom had opposite emotions, Applejack seemed weirded out whilst Apple Bloom was in wonder of the half-plant creatures.

“I believe your friends deserve an explanation, Miss Fluttershy.” Another little creature looked out from Fluttershy’s mane, one wearing a spacesuit.

“... this mornin’ just got a whole lot weirder…” Applejack mumbled.

“So. lemme get this straight…” Applejack started. “Yer friend Cap’n Olimar here needs help findin’ these lil’ plant critters. Pakmin, was it?”

“Pikmin, Miss Applejack,” Olimar corrected. “Indeed that is the case. You were lucky to discover the Rock and Purple Pikmin. It would be easy to confuse Rock Pikmin for mere stones.”

“I gotta wonder though, why were they carryin’ our baskets?” the cowpony asked.

“It is an instinct of the Pikmin to carry things. When they have a destination, in this case, your farm, and objects to carry, in this case, those baskets of insect condos-”

“Inse- what?” Fluttershy and Applejack asked simultaneously, the latter more in disbelief.

“I-Is that not what they’re called?” Olimar asked, confused.

“Of course not! Those are the finest apples you’ll find in these here parts of Equestria!” Applejack shouted, with offense taken.

“M-My dearest apologies,” Olimar spluttered. “I had no idea. We do not have these kinds of specimens on my planet, and I had heard an AI named these objects.”

“H-He couldn’t have known, Applejack… he’s not from this p-planet…” Fluttershy added.

Olimar got out a little device and began to write something. “Note to self, insect condos are named apples in reality…” He stopped to glance up at Applejack. “... and farmers take great offense to misnaming their cultivations.”

He put his device away. “I apologize, we got off track. I am grateful for you being able to find the Rock Pikmin and Purple Pikmin. Did you happen to see their nest?”

“It’s c-called an Onion because i-it’s… well… shaped like an onion.” Fluttershy added.

Before Applejack could reply, Apple Bloom got her attention.

“Hey sis! Look!”

The group turned to Apple Bloom to see - according to Fluttershy - an utterly adorable sight. Apple Bloom was lying on the ground, whilst some Pikmin were performing somersaults on her back, and the rest were skipping around her in laps, humming a tune whilst they skipped.

“I think they like me!” Apple Bloom said with a big smile.

“Ooooh!” Fluttershy squealed. “How adorable!”

“Huh, now that is a fine sight to capture,” Applejack commented with a smile.

“A way for Pikmin to show their contentment.” Olimar added with a smile. “Anyway, have you seen a nest of the Pikmin? Any clue would be very helpful.”

Applejack looked a little despondent. “I’m sorry Cap’n, but I’m afraid not.”

Olimar snapped his fingers. “What a shame. Still, I thank you for locating the Purple and Rock Pikmin. We shall take them off your, er… hooves.”

Apple Bloom heard that and looked a little upset. “Aw, come on! Can’t the Pikmin stay and play a little longer?”

“I’m sorry sis, they can’t. They have somewhere to be, and y’all have school to get to.” Applejack reminded her sister.

“Okay…” The Pikmin got off her and stopped skipping, and looked up at her. “It was nice meeting y’all, Pikmin.”

With a whistle, the Pikmin perked up and all went into Fluttershy’s mane.

“It was a pleasure, Miss Applejack, Miss Apple Bloom.” Olimar said.

“Pleasure’s all ours, Cap’n.” Applejack tilted her hat, before giving him a weird look. “But can I just add… y’all have some real weird names for fruits. Next thing ya tell me, you call strawberries, I dunno… sunseed berries or somethin’.”

Olimar looked awkwardly and got out his device. “Note to self - sunseed berries are named strawberries.”

“… really?”

Apple Bloom couldn’t stop thinking about that morning’s events on her way to school. According to Fluttershy and Captain Olimar, the Pikmin, as they’re called, are half-plant, half-creature hybrids from another planet. They love to move things around, hence why they were carrying the apple baskets.

There were red and yellow-colored Pikmin with Fluttershy, and the ones Apple Bloom and her sister found were Rock and Purple Pikmin. Purple Pikmin could carry ten times their size!

It wasn’t long before she arrived at the Ponyville schoolhouse. She had no idea how she would concentrate today. It wouldn’t last long though.

Not long after she stepped inside and greeted her friends, however, she heard something peculiar from some conversations.

“Did you see the shooting stars yesterday?”

“Those shooting stars yesterday were beautiful!”

“Have you ever seen stars split?!”

Interesting. Apple Bloom only smiled to herself though, knowing exactly what they were.

It wasn’t long before Miss Cheerilee stepped in, and the class began. Apple Bloom could only hope that the Pikmin would be okay. Who knows? Maybe she could tell her friends about them. She’d find her wish come true during the after-class recess, however.

After a couple of minutes being outside, she noticed that the kids were gathering nearby. One pony in the middle. Scootaloo.

Weird… I wonder what she’s up to this time…

Apple Bloom was quite surprised when she saw what the commotion was about. Standing behind Scootaloo, looking up at her expectedly, was a Pikmin. A blue one, with a mouth, as well as a familiar stem and flower.

“What is that little thing?”

“Oh my gosh, it’s so cute!”

“Where did you get it from?”

Scootaloo looked a bit proud. “Well, I plucked it out, and it began following me!”

“What do you mean by plucked out?” Twist asked.

“It was in the ground!” Scootaloo replied. “I thought it was a flower, and I plucked it out, but then this came out!” she gestured to the creature, which was looking at her with a tilted head.

“What is that thing, Scootaloo?” Pipsqueak asked the pegasus.

“Not sure, honestly.”

They started talking over each other a bit, whilst Scootaloo simply looked back at the creature.

“Heya, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle greeted her friend, walking up to her from the crowd. “Did you see what Scootaloo found? It’s really cute!”

She looked at her friend in acknowledgement, but then directed her attention back to Scootaloo’s find. She walked through the crowd over to her.

“I…” She got the attention of the crowd. “I think this could be a Blue Pikmin.”

“A blue what?”

“A Pikmin. At least, that’s what Fluttershy called it…”

From there, the attention was derived entirely onto Apple Bloom. She felt overwhelmed, but she did her best to split her attention equally. Scootaloo seemed just as astonished that the farm filly knew what the little creature was.

“You know what that is?”

“Do you know where it came from?”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Whoa, whoa!” Apple Bloom tried to slow things down. “I-I don’t know much myself, but I’ll try!” She started one by one. “Er, it’s called a Pikmin. A kind of half-plant, half-animal lil’ critter. I don’t know where it came from, all I know is that it’s not from our planet, and no, it’s not dangerous.”

She realized that she may have said something she shouldn’t have. “They’re from another planet?!”

The critter behind Scootaloo winced.

“I-I think so! I didn’t understand much!” She then had a revelation. “W-wait, I-I’m gonna try somethin’...”

She tried to… whistle?

Eventually, after multiple attempts, she remembered how Fluttershy did it - she lifted her hoof to her mouth, and tried a sharp whistle. Nothing happened.

The fillies and colts looked confused. Why was she whistling?

“Aw, phooey…”

One of the colts, Rumble, walked up to Apple Bloom. He gave her a whistle.

“Here, use mine. I don’t know what you need it for, but I think it might help.”

“Thank ya, Rumble.” Apple Bloom smiled at him. She then whistled sharply into it, and all of a sudden, a bunch of Pikmin ran up to her, surprising everypony once more. Even the Blue Pikmin from behind Scootaloo ran up to her, and the Pikmin were a mix of blues and yellows.

“Oh, wow! It actually worked!”

The children then gathered around the little Pikmin, confusing them. Why were they suddenly so interested? Some of the Pikmin looked confused, some a little frightened, and some seemed to like the attention, laying down in different poses.

Eventually, one of the Yellow Pikmin pointed up to the roof of the schoolhouse, getting everypony’s attention.

“Our old frisbee?” Sweetie Belle asked. “That’s been up there for a while. But nopony has bothered to get it down.”

The same Pikmin ran over to one of the little tables. It jumped - quite high - up onto the table, and tried to get the fillies’ attention. The rest of the Pikmin seemed distracted though, so Apple Bloom wanted to use the whistle to get their attention. Before she could blow into it, Scootaloo got her attention.

“Wait! Can I try?” she asked, walking up to Apple Bloom. She looked a little conflicted, but eventually went along with it. She gave her the whistle, and she blew into it, then getting the Pikmin’s attention.

“Cool!”

“Okay, now I need it back.” Apple Bloom took the whistle back and got the Pikmin’s attention.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with it yet!” Scootaloo snatched it back and whistled.

“Scoot, I need that thing!”

“No! I want to play with them!”

“They want us to do something!”

“And I want to play with them!”

“Give it back!”

“Make me!”

The dispute went back and forth and back and forth. While the ponies seemed a mix of worried and entertained, the Pikmin looked overwhelmed. A few fainted, even, and most looked dizzy.

A loud noise got the attention of all creatures, the one Yellow Pikmin at the table, which was looking very agitated. Was it emitting sparks?

It was exclaiming something to them, but they didn’t understand anything. Soon enough, it pointed up to the frisbee on the roof again, and it kept pointing, as if it was gesturing something.

“... uhh, we don’t understand.” Scootaloo said.

The Yellow Pikmin looked exasperated. Then it pointed at Apple Bloom, then at itself, then made a gesture which looked to be one of throwing something.

It clicked for both of them. “Ya… want me to throw ya up there?”

It nodded. It then held a hand out, as if it wanted Apple Bloom to hold out her hoof. She did that, and the Pikmin jumped into her hoof.

“Alright, here goes nothin’…”

Apple Bloom threw the Yellow Pikmin, and everypony was amazed at how high it flew. A light throw was enough for the Pikmin to reach the roof. It tried to lift the frisbee, but failed, and gestured for more.

A group of four more bloomed Yellow Pikmin ran up to Apple Bloom. She threw them up there, and then they were able to lift the frisbee. They walked to the edge of the roof, then, with a few hoists, they threw the frisbee off.

Before anypony could wonder how the Pikmin would get down, they were taken back to see them jump off the roof. Some even did flips as they jumped. Before they could hit the ground, their flowers lifted up and slowed their fall. As they touched the ground, they took the frisbee over to the rest of the fillies, and placed it in front of Apple Bloom. The children were amazed at how well they worked together.

The Yellow and Blue Pikmin looked up at Apple Bloom, as if they were expecting something. But what? Their little chatter wasn’t understandable.

She sighed. “Where’s Fluttershy when you need her…?”

“Um, I’m right here.”

Everypony jumped, causing the timid pony to jump as well. The first thing they noticed is all the flowers in her mane.

“Fluttershy?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Er, I-I’m looking for…” She noticed the Pikmin, who she pointed at. “Them!” The Pikmin looked at her in… familiarity?

“P-please excuse me…” Before anypony could ask, Fluttershy whistled sharply. The Pikmin perked up and all ran over to her and jumped in her mane.

“Woooow…” All the students marveled at how easily Fluttershy handled the Pikmin.

“O-Oh, there are more. O-over there.” Fluttershy pointed at some flowers alongside the fence, said flowers having a mix of blue and yellow stems. “W-would you mind p-plucking them out, children?”

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Scootaloo suddenly ran over to one of the yellow stemmed flowers and plucked it out, getting a Yellow Pikmin. “Come on, everypony!”

From there, all the kids went and plucked them out, one for everypony, getting a mix of Blue Pikmin and Yellow Pikmin. Fluttershy smiled at them.

“Th-thank you, children.” With a whistle, all the Pikmin ran over to the timid pegasus and jumped into her mane.

“I-I need to go now. There are m-more Pikmin to be found. H-have a nice day.” With a shy wave, Fluttershy walked off again.

They all watched her walk off, and then they saw what the flowers were. They were all Pikmin. A red one popped up from the top of her mane, looking back at them with a tilted head, before disappearing into her mane.

“... is it weird that I miss them already?” Sweetie Belle asked, out of nowhere. It sparked agreements, all of the kids agreeing that it was sad to see them go.

“Recess is over, students! Back inside, please!” They heard the voice of Miss Cheerilee. She looked confused, most likely because everypony was gathered into one big group, which wasn’t a common sight.

“... did I miss anything?”

Author's Note

* Three kilograms are the equivalent to around six and a half pounds.

All positive words and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, as well as highly motivating. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.