Kii didn't remember much from before Mama awakened her, she knew that she kind of slept but knew what was happening around her to some extent. Things were moving, Ponies were coming and going and all she could do was to see them off while defending herself without actually fully understanding what she was doing. She didn't want to go to sleep again, it was strange how clear everything around her was now and how dim and dark her past now seemed. She could see and move and talk, she now had a Mother who cared and loved her as she felt through their bond, a Big Sister who accepted her and they were now playing together, and many more things that were yet to come! She wasn't alone anymore!

"Found one!" Kii called out as she made a vine grow from the ground with its tip wrapped around a big black seed that felt funny. "Sis, this one even have roots!"

"Mommy said that these things were bad, right?" Teria walked closer and looked over the seed, a ball of Magic appearing between her horns as she opened her mouth and the Magic from seed was pulled into her mouth as she swallowed it all. "Mmmm, but they taste delicious!"

"Mou! How can they taste so good to you but not for me?!" Kii pouted as the black seed crumbled into nothing. "I'm the Spirit of Nature here!"

"But I'm the one who can drain Magic from everything!" The young Centaur stuck her tongue out. "You literally eat them, so that means that you taste the whole thing, while I only devour the Magic and all Magic is tasty!"

"That's not fair!" The young sprite crossed her arms over her chest.

They were searching for Plunderseeds for hours now, Mama and her friends were still at Zecora's place and talking over the tea while Kii and Teria were having fun with their own mission. They made some serious progress with it, over a couple of dozens of black seeds were successfully found and drained by the young Centaur, Kii wasn't sure just how many there were but they will find them all. Mama said that with these things out of the way the land would be left without the danger of being consumed by the Plundervines, the tale about how the Tree of Harmony was needed for now and with it being drained it would leave a very big opening for some vile beings to come and harm Equestria. While the most dangerous that Mama was aware of she would be taking care personally, there always was a chance that a 'bigger fish' would come by when it will smell blood and easy prey. Discord's sole presence and reputation made sure that the land was protected during his rule over it, only the Elements of Harmony were able to overcome him and that was through his arrogance and uncaring attitude.

'Mama will take care of the meanies, while I and Big Sis will make sure that she won't be distracted by the small things!' Kii smiled slightly as she walked towards the next location she could tell a Plunderseed was residing in. With her senses being spread as far as she could and due to Mama being so powerful her range and precision were rather high and she could tell that the area they were heading towards wasn't natural. She was warned about the possibility of encountering Ponies and how she should avoid it at all costs, and also make sure that nobody would see Teria as it will be even worse and will probably bring down the might of the whole Equestria's Army upon them. She would need to get there herself and without being seen, it would be rather easy as she could simply move through the ground or just emerge from the nearby plant. Her sister, on the other hand, didn't have such a luxury and therefore would need to stay put while Kii will go after the Plunderseed.

"Something wrong?" Teria asked as she saw the Spirit of Nature stopping.

"Yes, the next Plunderseed is located in the area populated by Ponies." She pointed in its general direction. "I'll go and just appear out of a tree and will grab the seed while you'll have to wait here."

"Do I have to?" Whined the Centaur, her ears dropping slightly. "Mommy told me so much about Ponies and I really wanted to see them. Aunties are cool and all, but I wanted to see how their town was and how they were living there."

"Don't worry, Mama will surely find a way for you to visit that place soon!" Kii tried to cheer up her sister. "Maybe even to say hello to some of them!"

"Maybe." Teria perked up slightly.

It was enough for the Dryad as she let herself sink into the ground and then move right through the earth towards the place where she could feel the Plunderseed being present. She was aware of everything around her, every strand of grass and every tree was connected to her due to her being the Spirit of Nature and so she instantly knew that someone was not far from the seed itself and apparently was attacking trees. While Kii couldn't actually interfere directly, her curiosity was stronger as she decided to at least look just who decided to be bold enough to harm Nature so violently. It was a matter of seconds for her to find an appropriate position and for her eyes to open on the bark of one of the apple trees to watched as a blond green-eyed Earth-Pony was doing her best to kick all the apples from the trees around her.

'What?' Kii knew that these trees were grown here to be harvested by the Ponies, but the generosity of Nature should not be so brutally abused! Kicking a tree to make it drop all of its fruits was downright barbaric and Mama said that she was also free to protect Nature as she saw fit from the ones who was against it and tried to control or destroy it. While technically this wasn't the Everfree Forest and therefore she shouldn't do anything about it there was always an exception and Kii believed that she just found one! With nothing but a thought, she made the nearby roots grab the Plunderseed and pass it along towards Teria so the Centaur would be able to destroy it, Kii would need some time to deal with this uncultured brute.

Said brute was a tall Earth-Pony mare with blond hair and tail, green eyes and dressed in short pair jeans shorts from under which you could partially see her Cutie Mark of several red apples, shirt, that had its low ends tied under her breasts, cowboy boots, and a stetson. The ends of her hair and tail were also tied up with red ribbons and she wore a harness that crisscrossed over her back and chest that held two big baskets on her sides where she carried the apples. Nothing of it actually clued Kii about the reasons for her violent behavior, she also looked rather exhausted but it didn't bother Kii in the slightest as she enfolded her presence and connected with every tree in the vicinity. As the young girl came closer to the one and was prepared to kick it the Dryad took action, the rather thick branch that was right behind the mare suddenly moved and with a blinding speed delivered a harsh blow right at the back of her head. Her obviously weakened condition and a direct hit from a Magically Reinforced improvised wooden club made the blond tree-abuser crumble onto the ground unconscious even despite her innate toughness as an Earth-Pony.

'This done, and now to undo all the damage she had done.' Kii focused on the surrounding trees and soon small thin brown vines came from the spots when the apples were originally hanging and shot towards the stolen fruits. Connecting to the leftover stalks the veins instantly pulled back and made the apples return to their rightful place, good as new and without a single one out of place as the Dryad repeated the process over and over again while making sure that nobody would see her. The loss of fruits was collosal and some trees weren't able to reclaim theirs, but Kii just channeled some Magic and helped them grow new ones while also rejuvenating them and adding some innate protection that would make these trees far harder to bully by stupid Ponies. If they wanted fruits then they will show some proper respect and apprciation for the Nature that generously provided them with the source!

It took her about half an hour to finish everything, including the purge of some leftover Magic that came from the Earth-Pony and some others that obviously worked here and replacing it with her own to make things easier for the trees. Kii couldn't identify just who the other three were, but she thought that maybe they were the other Ponies that lived on this farm and helped around here from time to time. It was really nasty things to do to infuse the trees with Magic like that, making them deliver the fruits at a far higher rate and basically force Nature to bent over and give out for free. Kii's little infusion would cause the trees to reject the alien Mana and protect themselves, and, in addition, they will stay healthy and more resistant to outside forces than before.

Satisfied with her work Kii sank back into the ground and moved towards where Teria was waiting for her, the young Centaur was pacing impatiently and looked rather worried about the fact that her younger sister was missing far longer than she was supposed to with the Plunderseed destroyed. As the Dryad emerged from the ground she was immediately met with the questions about her whereabouts and why she didn't return earlier. After a brief explanation, Teria calmed down and even laughed with her about the punishment that befell on the violent tree-abuser, even if it wasn't all that violent or even long-lasting. Kii would make sure that the reasoning stick, as she would be checking on this particular place rather often with her being position in the Everfree Forest to defend it make sure that nothing bad will come out of it. Mama spoke something about an annoying tree that wasn't even a tree, but that was for a later date and nobody was quite sure what to do with it and how to make sure that it won't be a problem later on.

Teria grunted as she pulled a rather sizable rock from the ground and then threw it away, apparently, one of the Plunderseeds got stuck between the rocks and Kii couldn't get it without some time-consuming effort to wiggle her way in. The direct approach was far faster and easier than that, and Teria was all for it as she threw another piece of stone away and uncovered the big black seed right under it. Picking the thing up she opened her mouth as the small sphere of Magic came alight between her horns, she reached out and grasped the Magic of the seed and with a hard yank pulled it into her gaping maw. Whoever this Discord was he sure knew how to make things with his Magic, these Plunderseeds were delicious and she could feel her own Magic overwhelming and devour the newly absorbed one really quickly due to its lack of any actual capability to resist.

Mommy said that she will get a nice reward for her job, it was nice and only made her try all that harder to finish cleaning up the Everfree Forest as soon as possible. Teria also knew that she would be given a chance to prove herself later on, Mommy was mumbling something about her cleaning out the stupid red rock from its pollution and getting rid of every little shit that lived in it. She wasn't sure what was the whole thing about, but it sounded like she would be able to drain a lot of Magic and that would be awesome! Mommy also knew places where Teria would be able to fight some very dangerous critters, it was very fun sparring with Aunty Starry but the point was that she could use her full capabilities due to risking leaving Aunty without Magic and that was what stopped her from utilizing her full potential. She absently wondered if she should've drained that Earth-Pony that Kii knocked out, but decided against it as it would've been stupid since that mare's condition would've alerted the other Ponies in the town about her presence.

Suddenly Kii stopped and looked to the side, her eyes narrowed as they glowed with Magic. Teria didn't question it, she just prepared her own Magic and took position beside her little sister, whatever was coming should be really dangerous if it managed to get the Dryad so tense. Suddenly there was a howl of pain and wet snapping sound that was followed by the tearing one, now the Centaur was absolutely sure that whatever was there was strong as Kii wouldn't have to concentrate to kill anything weak. With a grin, she walked past her sister and followed the direction she heard the sound, it wasn't hard and as she walked Kii walked behind her and every branch of vine moved out of the way to let them through. After moving past another tree Teria saw just what got the Spirit so worked-up, the clearing that she entered looked rather torn as several Plundervines were sticking from the ground and in a position as if they were grasping something. The lack of remains of whatever it was didn't concern her as she knew that Mommy's Power just made them disappear, but she was curious just what hiding here and waiting to attack.

"So, what was it?" Teria looked around but didn't find anything worth notice.

"A Manticore tried to hide here and was preparing for an ambush." Kii's eyes glowed and the Plundervines retreated back under the ground. "I used the Plundervines to tear it in two, Mama is happy that we're making sure that nothing would get past us but she's also concerned that somebody heard its call."

"Is there anyone here?" Teria raised an eyebrow.

"No, I would've known as nothing can escape the gaze of Nature." Dryad answered. "She's also concerned that the Pony I knocked out is actually one of the Elements of Harmony and therefore has a major pull in the event yet to come."

"... So, we should've taken her with us?" Centaur blinked, not understanding what the problem was. "Or I should've drained her?"

"No, it's just that she's important and Mama don't want us to attract any unwanted attention from the Elements until we will be strong enough to oppose them." The leaf-haired girl frowned. "She's also saying that we shouldn't come close to the Ponyville, as there are some very dangerous individuals living there. And they are dangerous not because of their strength, but because they are in a position to ruin Mama's plans and probably also expose us to Equestria's citizens."

"Can't Mommy just beat them?" Teria still didn't see the problem here. "She's strong and I'm pretty sure that she could've taken on that mare that you knocked out all by herself."

"The problem is that Princesses are too strong for Mama." Kii blinked. "At least at the moment, and battling them will result in us losing. But mama have a plan and she will become much stronger soon, she just needs time and some work on the side."

"What about Aunties?" Teria liked them and didn't want them to remain weak. "Will they too become stronger?"

"Yes, but Mama is making sure that it won't happen too fast so they will be able to adjust to their own capabilities." Dryad made her way further into the forest. "This way, another seed isn't that far away and we should hurry up if we want to finish it here before the nightfall."

"Alright!" Teria grinned as she trotted after her sister. "I'm really up for a cake that Mommy promised us!"

«What about us?» Kii asked Mama through their Bond. «Will we be able to fight too?»

«I'm not sure...» Mama answered with hesitation. «The problem here is that I'm unaware just how strong our opposition will be, their performance grows with their Level and so far it wasn't all that hard but we won't be able to tell until I'll cover the whole thing with you two. How far are you through the seeds?»

«We destroyed about three dozen of them, but there are more to go.» Little Dryad smiled as she skipped through the Everfree Forest. «What about you? What are you and Aunties doing?»

«Oh, mostly listening to Zecora's tales about her homeland and trading jokes.» There was an impression of her snorting. «Mine apparently needs some work, as nobody could understand even a half of them. What about Teria?»

Kii looked to the side and watched as the young Centaur drained another seed with a satisfying smile on her face, apparently they tasted like chocolate and cotton candy to her. The Spirit of Nature honestly couldn't see just how her sister could find these things delicious, they tasted differently and the same at the same time and made her tummy gurgle as she digested one that Mama asked her to. Whoever this Discord was her sure knew what he was doing with these Plunderseeds, Kii could feel just how powerful they were and how she could use them to literally render any Magic user helpless and borderline crippled.

«She's enjoying it.» She pouted again. «Why can't they taste good for me too?»

«Probably because they are unnatural creations of Chaos Magic.» Mama noted dryly. «For Teria it's just Magic and she can actually taste it, while for you they are actual physical objects and I'm pretty sure not meant for eating. Discord was powerful and very few could boast being able to best him, but a good creator he was not. Honestly, if he ever put any effort into whatever he was doing I'm pretty sure that there won't be a single soul being able to challenge him or even slow him down. Good thing we know where he is and how to get rid of him permanently. While tearing away his Magic would piss all over Celestia's plans for him at a later date I'm more than happy to do so simply because all the negative consequences won't be coming even close to removing the risk of him wrecking havoc around Equestria.»

«So... You're going to stop him?» Kii tilted her head to the side.

«More in lines with preventing him from even properly escaping in the first place.» She could feel Mama's smugness through the Bond. «He's just too dangerous to be left unattended, it won't take much as without his Magic he's basically nothing and nobody.»

"Hey, sis, where to next?" Teria called out.

Kii blinked and then spread her awareness, there was one one and very faint trace that she could feel right now. It was kind of strange as if something was muting it somehow but not fully. She was pretty sure that it was still in her range and after a bit of manipulation the local plantlife she managed to see just what was in the way of her senses.

«Mama, what is this?» She sent an image through the Bond.

«That... is the Tree of Harmony, Basically the Magic Mc'Gaffin of all Magical Mc'Gaffins of this World.» Mama answered with a slight hesitation. «I have no clue just how it will react to you two, but as long as you wouldn't try and directly attack it I think everything will be alright. Just make it quick and stay at a reasonable distance with it, the damn thing have some nasty tricks up its sleeves for anyone who disagrees with what Harmony is preaching about in Equestria.»

"Let's go." Kii made her way towards their next target. "Mama said that it's near the Tree of Harmony, some kind of a crystal tree that makes bad things happen to the people who disagree with Harmony."

"... What?" Teria blinked as she trotted behind the Dryad. "A tree that hurt people?"

"No, it's a crystal that looks like a tree and hurts the people who disagree with what Harmony stands for." She made a face. "Mama warned us to stay away from it, I'll try to recover the Plunderseed as fast as possible and not come into contact with the thing."

"Can't I just drain it?" The older of two siblings asked. "It's Magical, right? So I should be able to drain it like any other thing."

«I would advise against it.» Came Mama's voice. «It's a Deus-Ex-Machina that literally bend reality to its whims simply because its only goal is to promote 'Friendship is Magic' crap without actually caring how many morally questionable acts it will have to commit. Brainwashing? Sure! Enslaving? For Harmony! Petrification? Presto!»

Kii felt a shiver of disgust running down her back from the images and examples Mama sent her through the Bond, whatever this thing was... She really had no clue what to do here, the sheer level of pure malice that the Tree of Harmony possessed made her almost want to vomit. She forced these feelings down and made a note to never come even close to the abomination thing no matter what, and also warn Teria to do the same.

"Mama said no, and also showed me just what happens to anyone who tries to oppose it." Kii shuddered. "We're not coming even close to it, I'll try to retrieve the see from the maximum distance and then we'll make our way out of there as fast as possible."

"It's really that bad?" Teria tilted her head to the side.

"Yes." The Dryad nodded and quicken her pace. "Let's go."

Teria watched as her sister stood on the edge of the huge gorge that separated them from the old Castle, the little Dryad's eyes were glowing brightly as she was trying to carefully and safely extract the Plunderseed from beneath the Tree of Harmony. It was taking her far more time than it would've originally required because she had to make sure not to come into contact with the accused thing no matter what and therefore couldn't just rush it like she did before. From her brief explanation about what she doing Teria managed to understand only the fact that she must not be disturbed or distracted no matter what, something about her risking a wrong twitch or something like that. Well, that was a pretty straightforward thing for the young Centaur, simply keeping Kii unbothered would be pretty damn easy at this point as nobody actually ventured this far into the Everfree Forest.

Mommy was still with Zecora and Aunties, Teria had no clue what they were talking about and it didn't bother her as the adult things tended to be boring and sleep-inducing at best. While she liked spending time with Mommy, the long babbling of her Aunties about things she didn't quite understand made her uncomfortable and she just tuned them out most of the time. Suddenly Teria heard a growl coming from behind her and looked around, while she did expect to run into some animals here there wasn't any actual chance that they may pose a danger to her or to Kii as they simply were too strong to be defeated by mere critters.

"Well, what do we have here?" Said a deep female voice.

"Never saw something like this, maybe she's new here?" Another voice said, this one with a strange, slightly high-pitched and raspy undertone.

"Oh, it will be a very delightful surprise for us to find something new this early after coming here!" Another voice, but this one less deep and with a hissing mixed in.

The creature that was standing before Teria was a mix-bag of three animals, with its right head being that of a sabertooth tiger along with its from legs and front-right side of its body. It's left head being that of a goat along with its back legs and its left from and whole back sides of its body. Its tail, on the other hand, was literally a snake with its head being the tip, and all three pair of eyes of the Chimera were staring at her right now. Teria felt no actual fear, the thing wasn't all that big or strong like a Manticore or actually Magically Powerful like Mommy or Aunt Starry, it was just a large beast that could talk and had three heads and her instincts were silent about its approach so it wasn't a threat. Also, Kii wasn't bothered by it, so it was of no concern at all for her.

"You want something?" Teria asked with a tilt of her head.

"Hm..." Tigress' head sniffed the air. "I can smell Ponies on you, but they are not around here right now. Luck apparently is on our side right now! After such a long journey from the Flame Geyser Swamp we, almost instantly, found ourselves a meal and a half, sisters!"

"Truly..." Hissed the snake as it bent its body to get closer to Teria's face. "What's a little one like you doing all the way here?"

"Oh, Mommy sent me and Kii to collect the bad seeds that would've grown into big black spiky vines that would've basically overrun the forest and attacked everyone and everything that had Magic." The answer made the beast stop and blink. "Oh, I probably shouldn't have said it. I hope Mommy won't be too angry about it, and if I deal with you then there won't be a problem anymore anyway!"

This caused the Chimera to blink again, with all three sets of eyes, which included the snake's as it for some reason had eyelids.

"You deal with... us?" Goat's head asked in disbelief.

"Of course!" Teria nodded with a smile. "Mommy didn't teach me how to erase memories with Magic so I'll just be hitting all three of your heads until I'll do enough damage to cause the loss of memories! Or I can just kill you, but I'm not sure if I should as Mommy said not to attack the local population but you're not a Pony or a Griffon or any other species that can be counted as a part of the population, but you also can speak..." She frowned with a pout. "You're confusing!"

The logical fallacy and the weird accusation made the three-headed Monster blink again, its three minds were trying and failing to comprehend what the flying fuck was happening. Chimera was used to simple things, like Ponies running away from it, it eating everything eatable it can get its claws and teeth on, including Ponies and their food, and defending its territory from time to time from some other critters. Some Ponies were brave enough not to show fear, some even somewhat fought back, most just used tricks to escape with their hides intact, in rare cases some Ponies were even lucky enough to land a couple of blows before fleeing. The current situation was totally alien to the beast and it simply didn't possess the brainpower, nor the previous experience or points of reference, to figure out on itself.

"... What?" Tigress' head asked.

"Mama said to finish the ugly thing off and move on, it's presence only endangers the local population." Kii suddenly chimed in and all attention suddenly was on her. "You can have this one, sis."

Suddenly a small vine broke out from the ground with its tip wrapped around a big black seed, it put its prize on Dryad's open palm and then retreated back into the ground as if it wasn't there just a moment ago. Then, without any warning, another plant broke the surface of the ground and within seconds a rather big bush formed from the earth right next to Kii, its branches heavily wavered together and interlocked in such a way that made it look like an armchair made out of leaves. The leaf-haired girl happily jumped right into her new seat, making the Chimera blink again while Teria just wondered if she could persuade Mommy to let her sister make her a bed like this at home.

"Alright." Centaur said as she filed the question fo later and turned towards her opponent. "If Mommy says it's alright to beat you up then I don't need to hold back!"

Chimera didn't have much time to comprehend just what was happening as a small sphere of Magic suddenly appeared between Teria's horns, the next thing the creature knew was pain as a rather sizable beam of Magic slammed into Tigress' head with a enough force to through the whole creature back and slam it into a tree. Mixed cries of pain, confusion and anger came from the three mouths of the beast, even if from Tigress' it sounded a tad bit gurgling as a trickle of blood leaked from its maw. Goat's head managed to pull the body up while the Tigress' was stunned and still seeing stars and Snake's couldn't actually control anything besides its part of the body, it turned with a growl towards the Centaur but it was too late as all it saw was a small red fist heading directly towards its nose. With a crunch and a spray of blood, the Goat's head howled with pain as its muzzle was broken with the force of the attack.

Teria didn't even flinch as she leaned slightly back to avoid being bitten by the snake, going for the most convenient she answered with the same move and her jaws closed around the base of its neck. Her sharp fangs managing to pierce its scaly skin, drawing blood and making the head starting to emit gurgling noises as it struggled to free itself. Apparently, the burst of new and much more agonizing pain snapped the other two heads from their own daze as they both twisted and, with angry snarls, shot towards Teria's shoulder and head. Their charge was stopped short as she grabbed one of Tigress' long fangs with her left hand and Goat's slightly smaller thin tusks with her right one, her strength enough to prevent the Chimera from doing any progress. Without any good footing due to it being pressed against the tree Chimera had no way to gain any leverage to outmaneuver its opponent and free itself, it also left Teria unable to let go without the risk of being bitten herself and left her with not many options for an attack.

'I hope this will work, Mommy won't be happy with me if I will lose because of doing something stupid.' Teria knew that she couldn't beat Aunty Starry in a straight-up combat, while Mommy didn't even need Magic to simply crush her with pure brute strength, but she also knew that she wasn't physically weak, so it left her with a very interesting option. With a heave, that made her hooves almost sink into the ground, she started moving her occupied hands in a slightly different direction, to Chimera's surprise and to Teria's glee her idea actually worked and with a final flex of her muscles she managed to actually lift the beast from the ground. Not making the rookie mistake of gloating over her achievement Teria wasted no time and, with a forced half-spin, sent the beast flying into the nearby tree with enough force to almost topple it over.

Chimera released a painful grunt as its side impacted the tree and the air was driven out of its lungs, Teria had to release the Snake's neck that now was gurgling, spitting blood and wheezing due to its throat being severely damaged by Centaur's jaws. Only inborn instincts managed to make the creature attempt to sloppily roll away to avoid a pair of hooves being driven right in the Tigress' forehead, the impact with the ground created a small crater and made a small amount of fear to leak into the creature's minds. It also wasted no time and lashed out with its right paw, but Teria raised her left hand to block the attack and receiving four small cuts on her forearm, enough to draw blood but not enough to warrant any actual concern.

In retaliation, she delivered a rather devastating blow with the back of the same hand now clutched into a fist right into the left side of the feline's head. Apparently, the same trick didn't work out twice and with a surprising speed the Goat's head lashed out in an attempt to bite said limb, Teria put her right hand in the way and the sharp teeth of the creature closed right around the metal bracer on her wrist and failed to even scratch the metal that was supposed to be used to restrain Tirek at his full Power. She barely managed to lift her left one to prevent the serpentine head from tearing into her throat, instead, its maw locked on her elbow with the teeth barely managing to pierce the skin as it was still somewhat weakened due to the damage that was done to its own throat.

Teria was short on libs to stop the feline head from biting off her own face, and as it lunged forward she did the only thing she could think of at the moment. With all the strength she could muster she pulled her head back and the delivered a devastating blow to its nose with her forehead, the crunching sound told her that something gave in during the impact and she was pretty sure it wasn't her skull. Tigress' head pulled back with an angry and somewhat painful whine as the blood started flowing from its slightly misshaped nose, the bones obviously crushed by the collision against a much tougher opposing force. When its mouth opened again to either attack or roar at the Centaur Teria didn't waste a moment and shot a dense and overpowered beam directly down its throat, the sheer force behind the blast made the head snap back but the damage was already done as the beast started thrashing in pain from having its throat and one of its spines reduced to cinders.

She jumped back as she watched Chimera blindly lashing out on the ground while howling from pain as one of its heads was having trouble getting any blood flowing into its brain. This basically left it open for an attack, and that was at least something good so far, now she had a proper target and a very good opportunity to test herself.

'Well, it worked...' Teria spat out some snake's blood that was left in her mouth. 'Somewhat...'

Without giving the damn thing regain its bearing she charged up her Magic, this time she pushed everything she had into it and fired directly into its now unprotected belly. The blast was far more intense than the first one and by impacting its target managed to launch the Chimera back and right into another tree, this time Teria didn't let up and kept firing without caring about her reserves slowly running lower. She could feel the resistance of Chimera's body against her Magic, and she could tell how it was slowly waning and giving into the assault of concentrated assault of potent Mana Blast. As soon as her Mana passed the point of one-third of her full reserves Teria stopped the attack, taking several deep breaths to get her heartbeat back under control while she looked over the results of her last attack.

Chimera looked almost overcooked, the fur was gone and the skin was black and cracked all over. The wounds that weren't cauterized were bleeding heavily and with each harsh and ragged breath it took small bursts of a red life-liquid shot from its mouths. Wheezing and groaning, the hissing of air being expelled and the gurgling of blood being breathed in and exhaled, the whole picture was kind of gross but it didn't bother Teria all that much as she was more concerned with the fact that the damn thing was still alive! This wouldn't do and she decided to finish the job, the only thing keeping the thing alive was its inborn vitality and it was a rather easy obstacle to overcome. She opened her mouth and a small sphere of Magic ignited between her horns, she could feel as her own Magic reached out and sank its proverbial claws into whatever innate one was left in the beast.

It was a quick process, the whole thing took less than five seconds before Teria felt the Essence of now dead monster slid down her throat and increased her own Power. The scratches on her arm instantly healed and even her reserves were somewhat refilled, even if far from fully. The taste was kind of odd, like three different things at the same time that were mixed together but not fully so you still could figure out just what the original ones were. Teria loved the feeling of her body growing, being filled with more Power and gaining new heights, it all reminded her that she was getting closer and closer to Mommy in terms of a statue and will soon catch up with the rest of her family. This time she gained a lot, at least by her standards and this fact left her grinning in glee as she literally skipped back towards Kii and away from the husk of the Chimera. But she also saw how the earth beneath the corpse suddenly started shifting and it made her stop, several vines burst from the ground and fully enveloped the dead body and with an almost a sickening series of crunches and snaps dragged the whole thing underground through a big hole that closed afterward. The tree that was hurt by her blast started healing and the grass sprouted from the ground, blood and pieces of flesh were gone faster than it was seemingly possible and the whole thing returned to its original untouched state.

'Must be Kii taking care to not leave any evidence.' Teria shrugged as she again started bouncing towards her sister.

«That was actually pretty decent.» Mama noted as she finished observing the fight through Kii's eyes. «She will need a lot of work and even more training, but a credit is where the credit is due. Almost flawless victory in her first fight, not a dangerous one or anything like that but still incredibly good one.»

«Mama, when will I be able to fight too?» Kii asked as she stood up from her improvised chair and made it sink back into the ground. «The animals here aren't any fun and they lose too fast, can go and find something else? I want to show what I can do like Teria did!»

«Well, maybe when we will be venturing through those caves with giant spiders and Trolls...» She mused. «It will be a perfect opportunity for you to demonstrate your own talent and how powerful you can be when you want to!»

Kii didn't even bother to look as a vein suddenly shot from the nearby tree and wrapped around a big stick that almost hit her over her head, the rather short assailant yelped as even more of these shot out and wrapped around her legs, arms, torso, and even tail. She didn't want to risk it as she knew what Mama could do with her tail if she wanted to, this little attacker won't be given any chance of escape.

"Let ma' go!" Called out a voice as the young Dryad turned around to look at her opponent. "I'll kick ya' butt!"

«Well, fuck.» Mama sounded actually stunned here. «How the fuck did you manage to miss her?!»

«Ah, well...» Kii shifted sheepishly. «I never sensed any physical presence beyond several meters around me and sis, and she probably stayed away from us for that long. Seeds don't need to be sensed physically, their presence in the World is enough for me to pinpoint their location, she probably stayed far enough from us until we encountered the Chimera... Or even before I put my full concentration into pulling that one seed from under the Tree of Harmony.»

«... I'm honestly not surprised about the amount of sheer dumb luck she displayed here, it's in her very Nature to pull stunts like this.» The Alicorn deadpanned. «You have no idea what she will do with two companions when they'll join her in her endeavors.»

"Who is that?" Teria asked as she came to stand beside Kii. "Where this filly came from?"

«From the farm, she's the younger sister of the girl you almost clubbed to death.» Mama supplied. «Her name is Apple Bloom.»

She looked over the struggling girl, bright red hair that went down to her waist along with a long tail, amber eyes and slim build for an eight years old. She wore a pair of shoes, blue jeans, and a yellow shirt, it was kind of funny how she was trying to wiggle her way out of the restraints.

"This is Apple Bloom, the younger sister of the one who I knocked out." Kii explained.

"Ya hit ma' sister, grass head!" The small girl called out with a scowl that made her look more adorable than scary. "I'll beat yar' flank!"

"She was abusing Nature, and as a Dryad it's my duty to protect it." She paused and then pouted. "And it's leaves! Not grass!"

"Keep telling yourself that, weed." The small redhead stuck her tongue out with a smug look on her face.

«Stop letting her draw out this pointless argument.» Kii could almost see her mother facepalming. «Just try to calm her down and reason with her, I'll talk with the girls and see what they think we should do about it. I'm still a bit baffled about how she managed to actually follow you up to this point, Everfree Forest sure doesn't live up to its reputation.»

"Should I drain her?" Teria asked. "I mean, it's not like we can just let her go or something like that, right?"

"What da ya' mean?" Apple Bloom looked at the Centaur with wide eyes. "Are... are ya' goin' to drain mah blood!?"

"What? No!" Teria shook her head. "I was talking about Magic, I can drain it from you and leave you here to stay until you'll die."

This made the young girl pale and start struggling, even more, this time from fear.

"We're not going to do it." Kii tried to explain.

"Wait, we aren't?" Teria looked unsure at this revelation. "Then how are we going to keep her silent? Mommy said that we should make sure that nobody would find us and reveal our existence to the others?"

"I'll keep silent, Ah promise!" Called out the girl.

"No, it will only make thing more complicated in the long run." Dryad shook her head. "Mama to keep her here talk to her, explain things so she wouldn't run to the first adult and tell them about us."

«Celestia will rise all the troops and call all the cavalry if someone even remotely looking like Tirek will be sighted near the town where her precious little pet lives.» Mama added. «We hide from them in the Illusion Barrier, but it won't be enough as she will know about the fact that we actually exist. Keep her entertain while I'll get everyone organized here and we'll arrive soon.»

"What Mommy said?" Teria, apparently, saw Kii's faraway look.

"She said that you look to similar to Tirek, and that will make Celestia raise the troops to attack you." The Spirit explained. "She will be here soon to make sure that things will be taken care of, we only need to make sure that Apple Bloom here won't escape." She looked at the girl that now looked between the two with fear in her eyes. "I'll put you down and release you, but only if you promise not to run away."

The redhead, who had the beginnings of tears in her eyes nodded once and then was unceremonially dropped onto her butt as the veins retracted back into the ground and trees. She slowly pulled herself back onto her feet and looked at the two, sniffing slightly as she rubbed the sore spots on her hands and wrists. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a bright flash of light as six figures teleported into the clearing. Kii felt as her connection to Nature around her flicker which meant that an Illusion Barrier was deployed, Mama wasn't taking any chances.

"Well, this is one way to screw things up." Mama was standing with her arms on her hips and a deadpan expression on her face. "I expected many thing to go wrong, including the scenario with a maniac with a borderline Omnipotence breaking out and bending the whole land over his mismatched knees while introducing it to its first experience with anal with his tail. This kind of takes the cake, you managed to run into one of the only Ponies around that wouldn't simply dismiss you two as a mere dream or hallucination."

"We didn't, she ran into us... Or after us." Protested Teria.

"Does it really matter at this point?" Aunty Lemon asked and then looked at Mama. "What are you going to do with her anyway?"

"... Zecora, anything?" Mama, in turn, looked at the present Zebra.

But before she could answer a blur of red, blue and yellow shot towards her and revealed itself to be Apple Bloom that was bouncing on her feet right in front of Mama with her hands clasped before her chest and her eyes literally sparkling as she all but glowed at Mama.

"Ya're Princess!" The miniature redhead squealed. "A real darn Princess!"

"Actually, no." Mama said with a slightly crept out expression. "I'm an Alicorn, but I'm not a Princess, I never accepted the Title."

This made Apple Bloom stop bouncing and frown.

"Nah~ah!" She shook her head. "Ya're an Alicorn and therefore ya're a Princess!"

"It really doesn't work that way." Mama deadpanned. "There should be a coronation, an official acceptance of the position, literal mountains of paperwork that would need to be filled out, I'm not even sure what else at this point. I literally went through none of these, and therefore I'm not a Princess and any form or capacity."

"Ya have a horn and wings, that makes yar' a Princess!" Protested the girl. "Where 're yahr crown?"

"Don't have one." The Alicorn groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "If I was a Princess then wouldn't I have been really well known or something like that? The moment someone will gain a full set like me they will be instantly dragged into the Canterlot by Celestia and then simply forced into being one, I escaped that fate because I was lucky enough to Ascend somewhere where she couldn't actually notice and reach me. Trust me, if I had a crown forced upon my head I would've torn it off and then destroyed it with all the Power I had at that moment at my disposal."

"But why?" Whined the child. "Isn't being a Princess like tha best thing in tha World?"

"Nope." Mama shook her head. "It honestly sucks, you literally have no freedom and have to work her way through the problems of other while carrying a whole Nation of whiny little shits on your back who have not guts or even a half of a backbone. Whoever said that being a Princess is anything even remotely connected with fun or joy was lying you right into the face, and I'm telling you this now so when you'll see someone becoming one you would know that you should pity them and offer your condolences instead of congratulating them and giving your well-wishes."

«Mama, are you talking about the time when Twilight Sparkle is destined to Ascend?» Kii asked curiously.

«Yes.» She answered through the bond. «I'm not sure if it will still happen or not, though.»

"Hey, mah sister told me that!" Protested Apple Bloom with a huff.

"Well, she never knew better so, of course, she would tell you that." Mama rebuked. "Celestia and Luna kept this little fact under tight wraps, who want to wear a crown if they will be aware that it's made of thorns under the pretty wrappings?"

"That's silly!" The filly crossed her arms over her chest. "Why would anyone make a crown out of thorns? It'll hurt to wear on like that."

"It's a saying, I was talking that the position sucks so much that the crown could be made out of thorns and it won't make a difference!" Mama's wings twitched in agitation.

"What does it suck?" The small redhead frowned and cocked her head to the side, trying to understand the twist of speech. "Candy? Lolipop? I once tried those strange sticks that mah brother likes so much, but they were so sore!" She scrunched her nose from the memory.

"I was talking about how bad it was." Mama's left eye twitched.

"Oh." Apple Bloom's face brightened. "Then why didn't you say it?"

"Should we... do something?" Asked Aunty Shi quietly.

"Nah, this is just too funny." Answered Aunty Min with a grin.

"... You know, screw it." Mama looked at Teria. "Drain her, I'm don't give a flying fuck anymore."

"Wow, so anyone can be a Princess?" Apple Bloom was riding on Mommy's shoulders as the four of them made their way towards the farm. "Oh, I meant Alicorn." The small child correct herself when Mommy cleared her throat.

After Aunties and Zecora were teleported back to the hut she, Teria and Kii decided to take the small girl back to the farm by foot so Mammy will have time to explain to her the importance of keeping their secret safe.

"Yeah, and it's not such a big deal anyway." She shrugged. "I was a Unicorn before, all I got were wings and a huge bill for all the clothes I need to but to keep myself decent because nothing of my old ones fit anymore."

"Hmmm..." The little girl put on a thinking face. "Can Ah be one too?"

"Sure." Mommy blinked but didn't stop. "Why would you want to? It will take a lot of work and probably even more than you're now imagining to come even close to the Ascension, you literally will simply get bored doing something like that for so long."

"Nah, if it will get me mah Cutie Mark then I'll be glad to do so!" Answered the small redhead.

"Wow, you're one of those, huh?" The Alicorn mused with a smirk. "Also, drop the accent, I'm well aware that you're capable of speaking normally and not like a redneck that just rolled down the hill where he lived like a hermit."

"... How did you know?" Apple Bloom asked with a small voice.

"You miss words on occasion, I noticed it as soon as you started talking." Mommy shrugged. "You're good and was able to fool your family into thinking that you too spoke with an accent, but I'm honestly not sure just why you bothered. It's not like they will kick you out for not sounding like a hillbilly all the time, they should be proud that they have at least someone around that doesn't sound like they're going to spit something on your boot any moment soon." This made the girl giggle a little. "So, reasons?"

"Well, Applejack was always so proud of her phrases and all slang she used... She sounded kind of cool and with me growing up around her I thought that it was how speech actually was supposed to sound at the beginning." She smiled. "She was so proud that I was imitating her that I simply never stopped, even after I figured out things a bit more clearly and understood that only our family spoke like that."

"Well, that sounds kind of sweet, but ultimately stupid." The tall Alicorn said with a snort. "You're obviously handicapping yourself for the sake of appreciation, and that is basically equal to purposely stepping on a rusty nail for nothing. You think that if you stop talking like that she will love or care for you less or something?"

"No, I'm not that silly." Apple Bloom shook her head. "I just want to show her that I'm proud of being her little sister and it's kind of funny to speak like that."

"Well, to each their own." Then Mommy stopped. "Hey. you said that you want to get a Cutie Mark, right?"

"Of course I do!" The girl explained. "Bullies in the school always go on and on about how I'm a 'Blank Flank', showing off their own Cutie Marks and..."

"And why do you even care about what they say?" The Alicorn asked. "I mean, you're going to get it sooner or late anyway, and so their taunting has absolutely no actual reason or base for it to be actually harmful. If you were somehow incapapble of getting one then sure, but at the same time you would've been in your full right to bash their heads against the nearby wall till either their skulls or the wall would've given in." Mommy snorted. "You're not handicapped, whoever is teasing you are just trash and shouldn't be concerned with no matter what. Also, don't take any shit about 'turning the other cheek' crap, it never works. In the end, you'll end with your whole face so black and blue that not even you will recognize it in the mirror!"

Apple Bloom shook her head as if trying to get a nasty image out of her head.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Her voice was a bit hesitant but hopeful.

"Well, first, stop caring so fucking much about your Cutie Mark." Was the answer. "It only gives them an opening and you a rusty nail in the ass, just do what you like and it will appear one way or another. Behaving like an obsessed cretin won't do you any good, you'll just lose time doing so that you could use for something that you actually enjoyed doing all by yourself even without the glorified reminder that Cutie Mark is all about in the end."

"... What?" The girl's voice was filled with disbelief.

"What did you think it was all about?" Mommy raised an eyebrow. "It's more like a reminder than anything else, whatever crap you were told before was probably a huge pile of how important it is and how you need to follow your call and all that shit, right?" She looked up to the girl's stunned face who nodded. "New flash, kid. It's all one big pile of shit with sparkles placed all over it. These marks are nothing else but reminders of what you're good at, they told you absolutely nothing new because by the moment you'll get one you already will know just what is your talent is. Whatever shit about they telling you something or prophesying about your future is a big pile of crap that needs to be cleaned out from your mind before it will move any further in your life."

"... So..." Apple Bloom asked with a trembling voice. "My sister being so proud about hers...?"

"Is your sister suffering from some kind of a mental disorder if she needs a tattoo on her ass to remind her of something she already knew from the fucking start. While she has a profitable business, it's such a low goal and a really unambitious route to take that I'm pretty sure that average was her actual dream due to extremely low self-esteem." Mommy continued. "Remember kid, you have no limits or boundaries around you no matter what anyone will tell you how your 'Destiny' is determined by the ass-stamp. Reach higher, no matter what you will try and no matter what situation you will find yourself in, always strive for a higher sky that is filled with diamonds." A mix of a snort and a chuckle escaped her lips. "Sorry for sounding cheesy there."

Apple Bloom didn't react, she just looked at the back of Mommy's head with wide eyes.

"What do you do for life?" She asked after several seconds of silence.

"Oh, me and the girls? We fight monsters." Came the answer with a smirk in it.

Author's Notes:

A/N: Well, this happened. My first Interlude!
I know that some people will rage about me breaking the Cutie Mark Crusaders and so on, but please don't think that I forgot about the other two and will simply let them go. Oh, I have plans for these little girls and you won't believe me just what will happen with their Cutie Marks and how they will gain them!
As usual all the criticism, questions, suggestions, etc. you can leave in the Reviews!