THE BUBBLE BAND (Began 1/14/99) Harmony raised her conductors baton and began to conduct the baby pony band....SCREECCHHHH RAKKK LKSIOGFNEJR!!!! Harmony covered her ears and signeled everyone to stop playing. "whats wrong Harmony?" asked baby cuddles "Umm well I think we're going to practice our instruments in small groups at a time..." Just as Harmony began to seperate the ponies into groups, A Land ponie came tearing into the room screaming. It was Harmonys second-in-command a sweet heart sister called Flower-Dream who was [thankfully] only screaming with glee. "He's coming! He's coming! He accepted our invatation to come and play for the Spring festival!" she pretended to swoon, "He's sooo dreamy!" with that she plopped down onto the couch. "Forgive me," Harmony started, feeling a little disgusted with Flower-Dreams preformance "but Who exactly is coming?" Flower-Dream looked at Harmony with wide eyes and mouth open "WHO is coming? WHO is coming? Only the best looking, singing, preforming pony in all of ponyland!" the babies tittered, Flower-Dream wasn't usuallay so infaturated, thats why Harmony chose her to help with the BPB [baby pony band] Harmony sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere. She smiled "How about a name? WHO?" Flower-Dream looked a little heart broken after that, "His show name is Night Dreams! He is the dreamiest pony I have ever seen...Before Flower Dream could continue gushing on and on, a lone pony majestically pranced onto the scene. She was a pure white unicorn with silver hair,music note and flute. It was Lastly! She trotted up to where they were, and asked if Harmony neeeded her assistance with the band. Harmony told her "yes." "Hey!" Baby Moondancer cried out. "Who put bubble gum on my flute?!" Harmony looked over and to her amazement saw a large pink bubble coming out of the end of Baby Moondancer's flute. "Did you do this, Lucky?" She demanded of the baby boy pony who was sitting next to Baby Moondancer, although he was playing a trumpet and not a flute. "Not me!" Lucky cried out in defense. "Didn't do it! Honest!" He then started to wholeheartedly practice as if to endear himself to Harmony, and a blue bubble emerged from his instrument as well. "Cotton candy bubble gum?" Lucky asked, looking at his trumpet in amazement. "All right," Harmony put on her sternest face. "Who is doing this? Speak up now!" Silence reigned over the band, except for babies quietly blowing or strumming or beating their intruments. "Hey!" Several more voices cried out. "Who put this bubble gum here?!" Harmony looked at Lastly, bewildered. Lastly looked back with the same expression on her face. "Just WHAT is going on here?!" they asked simultaneously. There was a rumbling sound, and suddenly a racoon-morph-sized hole was made in the wall. Trixxy grinned sideways and fell over. Blu stepped in through the open window next to the hole. "Trixxy, there are things called WINDOWs, you know." Blu sized up the damage. "Now look what you've done." Trixxy's grin vanished as she looked at the hole in the wall. She walked up to it, looked around, then walked to the other side of the room and picked up a large cabinet. She carried it to the hole and set it in front. "All better!" Blu blinked at her friend, then redirected her attention to the ponies. "Hi guys!" "Hi Blu, Trixxy," Lastly said, "Sorry, but we don't have time for you right now, we're in the middle of a *scarey music* Magic Music-Room Mystery!!!" "Masterfully Managed by Magical Mister Mistoffellees!!!" Trixxy finished, giggling so hard she fell backwards. "Oh well, I never. Was there ever?" Blu said, prodding the purple Aliroo with her toe. "No, someone has been putting gum in the intruments!" Said Harmony. Bubble gum bubbles were floating around the room as the ponies tried to use their instruments. "BUBBLES!!!!" Cried someone from the door.... "What?" came Bubbles' voice as she walked into the room. "Why is everyone calling me?" "Err, that's not quite what we meant," Harmony said, pointing at the bubbles floating around the room. Bubbles looked and nodded. "I see what you mean," she mused. Just then Rainribbon.....(Dere it was! My BIIIIG entrance! *LOL!* Okay, okay, now back to our regularly scheduled RPG....) ....Came galloping into the room breathlessly. "Rainribbon, you're back from Lastly and Ember's party already?" Bubbles asked, surprised. "I figured you'd be there as long as the food held out!" Rainribbon nodded at her absently and panted, "Omigosh, guys, guess who's here! Just guess; c'mon, I'll give ya three guesses, and the first two don't count!" "Night Dreams?" gushed Flower Dreams. "Al Bundy?" someone else called. "It's a good job I said the first two didn't count," Rainribbon muttered. "No, it's Deionaera Mystagic!" The reaction was about what you'd expect. "Who?" everyone chorused. Rainribbon shook her mane, undeterred. "She's a dimensional traveller. A D-hopper!" "Isn't that what they use to travel dimensions in Robert Asprin's MYTH books?" Blu said. Rainribbon was already galloping off. "Follow me!" She led them to the courtyard of the Paradise Estate where a girl with calm blue hair sat in one of the deck chairs facing away from them. "Hey!" Rainribbon called. "I brought some of my friends!" The girl jumped and the ponies stepped back in shock as her hair turned a startled yellow. "Err--sorry. I was daydreaming," she said with a sheepish smile, turning to them. Her eyes matched her hair. She stood up and looked at the ponies. "Hi. Did Rainribbon already tell you my name?" The ponies and aliroos nodded simultaneously, staring with wide eyes at her. Deionaera looked at them querulously for a second, then her smile returned as she tugged a strand of her hair, which was fading from its bright color. "This, right? I guess I don't need to explain, but my hair and my eyes change color to reflect my mood. I have no idea what my natural colors are, if they even exist. I can control it if I concentrate, though." As she spoke, her hair turned deep auburn and her eyes teal. "Is that better? I'm sorry...I didn't mean to scare you all." She shook her head. "Again, I'm sorry. I'm handling introducing myself very badly, aren't I? No matter how many new people I meet, I never get used to saying hello...or goodbye." Rainribbon stepped forward and offered her hoof. "Well, THEY can stand around being dull, but I'm ready to have some fun! Are you hungry? Trixxy ate all Cupcake's cream puffs, but I think Gingerbread made some of her wonderful raspberry tarts." "*I* ate all the cream puffs?" Trixxy bristled. Deionaera looked past Rainribbon. "Aliroos?" she said. "Hi, guys! I've never been to your homeworld, but I hear it's a very cool place! It's probably one of the few places I'd come close to fitting in at." Trixxy stopped bristling. "Yeah, it's neat!" she said. "And it's not full of ponies who eat all your cream puffs," she added, glaring at Rainribbon. "*I* ate all the cream puffs?" Rainribbon bristled. "Fit in?" Blu broke in. "What do you mean?" Deionaera looked like she'd just remembered something important. "Wait a sec, and I'll make sure I can show you," she said, closing her eyes. Barely a moment later she laughed with giddy excitement. "YES! It's all there! Finally!" "Erm...what?" Harmony said, backing up a step. The girl looked sheepish again. "Oh, dear, I'm doing that bad job of things thing again," she said. "First, let me show the aliroos what I was talking about." Suddenly where a girl had been stood a pony, a perfect copy of Rainribbon. Everypony jumped about three feet, in various directions. "Are you an aliroo too?" Trixxy gasped. Deionaera shook her head and grinned. "Not unless I'm an aliroo who was born off the homeworld. I'm afraid I don't know what I am. So far as I know, I'm just some telepathic shapeshifter with no family and no past who gets sent from world to world on adventures by some mysterious force that not only do I have no idea who or what it is, it also has control over which powers I can use when I arrive on a new world. It's very rare that I have BOTH my telepathy and shapeshifting powers. That's why I'm so happy! Is that a confusing enough explanantion?" The Rainribbon look-alike panted a bit, then shifted her colors and symbol slightly so that she no longer looked exactly like Rainribbon. She was still a deep teal alicorn, but her mane and tail were a rainbow of colors and her eyes were almost a clear violet. Her symbol was-- "The Triforce!" Rainribbon almost fell over her own feet. "Hey! You're a dimension-hopper. Have you ever been to Hyrule??" Deionaera suddenly looked so happy she seemed to glow. "First thing I could come up with off the top of my head for a symbol. As a matter of fact," she continued with a giddy giggle, "I just got back from travelling with Link. I was just part of The Ocarina of Time!" Rainribbon looked like she might explode with glee. "REALLY?! You MET Link?!" "I've travelled with three generations of Links so far," Deionaera said dreamily. "I've been a major part of The Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, AND Zeldas I and II! Never been to Koholint though. And Link...They all look and act so much alike...." she sighed happily, adding nearly under her breath with a fierce flushing of her cheeks, "And they're all good kissers too!" Rainribbon was absolutely ecstatic. "You MUST come with me and tell me EVERYTHING!!" she shrieked happily. "Where's my tape recorder? Where's my video camera? Where's my N64?!" She galloped inside one of the rooms of the Paradise Estate. Deionaera looked at her new friends and shrugged with a slightly confused smile, then galloped after, tossing her mane. "I think Rainribbon has found a kindred spirit," Blu grinned, scratching her head in mystification. "I must say, this has been the most confusing day I've had in a long time!" Harmony said with a sigh. "We didn't even get to introduce ourselves or find out what she's doing here or anything!" Trixxy shook her head in bemusement. "I'm sure Rainribbon will return her to us once she's done with her interrogation," she grinned. "What now?" Harmony asked. "I guess we'll just have to carry on like normal till Deionaera comes out," Blu shrugged. "Trixxy, there's no chance of catching up to Fox and Falco to set up another match. Do you want to just stay here and wait on Deionaera? I'm kinda curious to know more about her, myself. A shapeshifter, a telepath, not an aliroo, and with no control over her powers?" Trixxy was staring off into the distance. "Raspberry tarts...." she drooled. Blu sighed. She prayed there wasn't going to be another sugar high any time soon. It would be a shame to have to hurt Trixxy. About an hour later, as sounds of practicing and bubbles popping came from Harmony's bandroom, and when Blu was almost exhausted from trying to prevent Trixxy from entering the kitchen, Rainribbon and Deionaera, back in human form, emerged from Rainribbon's room. Rainribbon was literally walking on air and Deionaera was still blushing. Blu left the raspberry tarts to Trixxy's mercy for a few seconds and hopped over. "Have fun?" she said with a wink and a grin, leading them back towards the kitchen where Trixxy was frantically searching for the treats. "I'm sorry we all didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves. At least it looks like you got to know Rainribbon," she laughed. A slightly wicked grin crossed Deionaera's face. "That's all right, Blu," she said innocently. "Huh??" Blu blinked with surprise. "How'd you...?" "I'm a telepath," Deionaera smiled. "I went ahead and introduced myself to your minds since I figured you wouldn't all want to wait till I came out. Don't worry, I didn't read anything incriminating. Not much anyways," she finished with a dark laugh. Blu smiled too. "Well, how about something to eat?" she offered as Rainribbon had earlier. "Oops, wait, I think Trixxy just found where I hid the snacks." "Victory is mine!!" a triumphant voice shouted from the kitchen. Blu sighed long and deep. "The adventure begins again." Deionaera's face turned serious. "Speaking of adventure...." she began. "When do we start our quest?" "Huh?" Rainribbon asked intelligently. "Whatever do you mean?" "Well," Deionaera started slowly, "Whenever I get sent to another world, it's always for a quest. And usually I arrive right smack in the middle of the adventure. Do you mean to say I've come here during a peacetime? Do you really mean you haven't had any trouble before I gothere?" "Not quite," Blu said. "There WAS that bit of trouble with the Hippoglyph...." "Hippogryph," Rainribbon muttered. "But that's over now," Blu finished. "Wow," Deionaera mused. "It's great to be on top of things for once! But I'll warn you, there WILL be an adventure here soon! I never get sent to a world for nothing! Though it would be nice for a change...." "WHAT THE HECK?!?!" several voices shouted at once from Harmony's bandroom. Blu looked at Deionaera and Rainribbon. "I think you're about to get that adventure of yours," she began as Trixxy began screaming hysterically. "BLU! ITS STAR WOLF! I HEEEEAAARRD him!!!! And I didn't even backflip over his ship!!!" She came running (well, closest an Aliroo can come to running) out of the kitchen. "Trix, that wasn't Wolf. Hate ta break it to ya; I'm in the mood for a dogfight myself. BUT I believe that, on principle, we are about to start an adventure." Blu looks to Deionaera (Hey, Rain, whats the number pad code for the ae thing?). "You can ...D-Hop, right?" "Yeah..." "Alright. And Shapeshift. This may come in handy later. Why, I don't know. It would help to have an extra hand/paw around, since all the other Roos can't find what out why we think ponyland is so interesting...But for now, we need to make sure that everyone is okay." "She's like a cross between an Aliroo, and a betazoid!" Announced Trixxy. "And a mood-ring!" They peek out of the room into the hall. Bubble gum was spattered everywhere. Over the halls, on the walls... "Eeeeek." "YUM!" *drool* "Erk!" Now that things had been acknowledged, they began to examine the scene. In the next room, all the ponies inside were covered in gum. "We've been smoozed!!" Cried Harmony. "Whats smooze?" "Thats smooze!" "I'm a failure!" "Yup, yup, Shadey failed." The room starts to darken... Hmm-Hmmmmmm.... K, sorry, off track.... "We've been smoozed!!" Cried Harmony. "Smoooze! Where??" Asked Rainribbon, coming back to life. "Its not smooze, its just...." Trixxy sniffed it, then took a bite. "Bubble Gum! With....Hmmm.....Regular flavor, and......" Blu claps a now-human-hand over Trixxy's mouth before she can take another bite. "No. definatly not. There's no sugar in the gum. "But I tasted it!!" "Guys, I think we have bigger problems than a hyper-active Trixxy," Harmony exlaimed. "Here comes Deionaera's adventure!" Lastly came prancing up with Ember. Ember stared at Deionaera, whose eyes were changing a bright blue. ''Hey! Ember's eyes do that too! (mine really do..light blue when I am happy,dark blue when I am sad or mad, and sea green when I cry.Its pretty cool.)Oh and by the way, I am Lastly and this is Ember. ''Hi!'' Ember said. Deionaera just stared at Lastly. She had never seen a prettier pony. She was amazed at her colors,white body and silver hair. Her flute and music note on her hip glittered brightly. Deionaera tried to shift into a pony replica of Lastly but found she could not. ''That's quite impossible to do. You cannot shift into a replica of Lastly or me,'' Ember explained as Deionaera frowned. Just then a flash of lightning exploded into the ground behind where the group was standing near the doorway of the bandroom. Screams burst out as baby ponies and instruments went scrambling. Blu, Trixxy, Ember, Lastly, Rainribbon, and Deionæra, who had turned back into her alicorn form, crowded out through the doorway to inspect the scorched ground, but smoke blocked their view straight ahead. Deionæra, who'd given up on copying Lastly and Ember (Something about Lastly's glittery symbol prevented her from shifting to match somehow, and the very fact that Ember had no symbol mysteriously prevented her from taking that form as well), abandoned that line of puzzling thought and cautiously crept into the thinning smoke. She stopped, however, as a foreign thought pricked her mind. She felt like she should recognize it, though.... "Who's there?" she asked sharply, probing. She felt Rainribbon doing the same. Lastly seemed to be observing. The stranger's thoughts suddenly turned wild, and she was forced to retract her probe. Rainribbon grumbled a bit as she too backed out. For several long seconds the group of ponies waited for the smoke to clear out, and Harmony and Bubbles joined them, having gotten all the babies to safety. Finally a dark form emerged for the smoke--a short figure in a hooded cape who leaned on a cane, but a frightening being anyway. Deionæra stepped back, just barely hiding her surprise. The others stepped back too. This, presumably Deionæra's adventure, had found her, and they weren't sure what to do, other than to watch and help if needed. "Deionæra!" the figure cried, reaching his/her/its arms to the sky and letting lightning play down its arms. Two eyes glowed out of the hood. "Lady Mystagic is here. Come out!" Everyone shifted nervously. This person was obviously touched in the head. Blu glanced at Deionæra. Her symbol wasn't the Triforce anymore. Now it was a rainbow mirrored in a river, a symbol like any ordinary pony would have. The strange person looked at the group. "Hello, odd little ponies. I know you've already met the girl I'm looking for, so don't bother telling me that you don't know where she is. I assure you, I can fry you all with one little snap of my fingers, so let's not play around, all right?" Deionæra shook her mane and stepped forward. "Idiot. What makes you think you can hurt us? You're just an old geezer with bats up your belfry." "You DO talk, eh?" The seeming-man turned to her. "I am known by no name but the title of Poe Seller of Hyrule Castle Town. Who am Iaddressing?" He was awfully imperious for such a little old man, Harmony thought. But this time Deionæra couldn't hide her surprise. She jumped back. "I am Rainstorm, twin of Rainri--" she began. Then she stopped and wrinkled up her nose. "Screw this. I'm not afraid of you!" She shifted to her human form and stepped to the front of the group again. She still had her mood-features under control, surprisingly. "You're from Hyrule, eh? What are you doing here in this world, and how did you know who and where I was?" "Hey, now, I'm the one who's talking here! Listen up, hon." "Why don't YOU listen while I tear your tongue out?" Rainribbon giggled. "What wit! This girl is a gem, I'm telling ya all that now!" Blu sighed. "Rainribbon, is this REALLY the time for such enthusiasm?" "It's ALWAYS time for boundless enthusiasm!" "I stand corrected. *Sigh....*" The Poe Seller was chuckling at Deionæra, who so far was still under control. "You don't recognize me? Well, then, let's get to know me better, hm? To start, who do you think discovered you in an enchanted sleep when you first arrived in Hyrule, and who do you think put you in the bed of the Poe Seller of Hyrule Castle Town? And who d'ya think told your young love Link that YOU were the traitorous Poe Seller, eh? Eh??" Deionæra's hair and eyes instantly turned furious crimson. "YOU'RE the jerk who tried to convince Link to kill me?! It's a good job Link is far more perceptive than you thought. If he hadn't come to trust me, you might have won. And that would have, as I say, sucked." She grinned wickedly, but her features didn't change. She crossed her arms and glared at the Poe Seller steadily. "And let me guess. You're also the one who told Ganondork--er, Ganondorf, and his soldiers where I was in Kakariko Village? Congratulations. You came even closer that time. The fairies could heal the cuts on my wrists, but they couldn't replace the blood I lost while Link was following us to Gerudo Valley. We lost four days waiting for me to recover! I'll be the first to admit--you're a crafty one, all right." She rubbed her left wrist unconciously and kept her gaze on the beaming Poe Seller. To the others Rainribbon said telepathically, *She's buttering him up. She knows that he's cocky and easy to manipulate. Heck, I can tell that, and he's got us blocked out! But she doesn't have a plan in mind yet. She's just taunting him now to test him out.* *I think I'm about done with the games,* Deionæra sent out to her friends. *He really ticked me off! I mean, trying to make LINK kill me?! That's pretty low! But what's he got against me? I've never even met theguy!* Fortunately, they were all spared trying to come up with a plan by the screaming that erupted from the bandroom again. (This is fortunate??) Bubbles of all colors spilled out of the doorway, chasing the baby ponies outside, who huddled with the others facing the Poe Seller. The ponies and aliroos and girl all backed away, nervously avoiding the Poe Seller as well. "Bubble gum!" Rainribbon and Trixxy yelled. "Smooze!" cried Bubbles. The Poe Seller nearly fell over laughing. "Bubble gum? That S-thing? Smooze? Don't you ponies know a Poe when you see one?" Deionæra and Rainribbon both caught their breath, each having fought Poes either in a game or in real life. The bubbles gathered around the group of ponies and changed shape. They were now evil ghostly creatures with tormented faces. "What IS a Poe?" Ember trembled. "Evil spirits of Hyrule who hate everything," Deionæra whispered, wide-eyed. Her mood-features had paled. "Vengeful ghosts." "I believe your other questions of the Poe Seller will have to remain unanswered for now, Deionæra," Lastly said. "We have much more pressing matters to attend to." "Can we teleport out of here to Star Manor, Lastly?" Ember asked desperately. Lastly shook her head. "They have us crowded in much too closely," she said. "I need a cleared space in which to create a portal." Blu said confidently, "We'll think of something. With all the powers among us, at least one has to get us out of this." She didn't seem to know which or whose power that was, though. "Someone had better come up with something fast," Harmony said in a shaky voice. "They're starting to spin around us! I don't like this one bit...." "....Spin? Don't mind these guys," Trixxy said, "As long as you have enough hearts..." "We're not in Hyrule right now!" "Ah yes. So the rules changed?" The ponies/aliroos/and one girl (sounds like a TV sit-com, eh?) began to bunch in a circle. The Poe swung around, spinning its lantern. Blu growled, something she was good at when she was angry, shimmered, and reappeared in a human form. She snapped her fingers and two bows appeared, complete with a quiver of arrows. She tossed one to Deionæra. She straightened her left arm and pulled the arrow back, aimed, and let go. The Poe dissapeared for a little bit, the lantern twirling around. Blu and Deionæra followed it, and when it reappeared, they both let loose arrows. The Poe sreamed, disintegrated, dissapeared. "Yeah baby!" Blu said, "Hey, I might not have stayed there long, but I picked up a few more talents..." The Poe Seller grumbled. Spinning wildly he turned on them with a malecious grin -- "That only works in Hyrule my dears . . ." "Didst ma'lady's call for a portal?" a familar voice inquired. The ponies turned, Oracle was standing beside a blue-green-purple swirling portal in which they could faintly see Star Manor. Lastly gave him a grateful smile and started through with Ember following closely behind. "Oracle?" Deionæra asked amazed, looking back over her shoulder at the black unicorn. He looked away from the portal, "Deionaera, I--" he started just as one of the Poes swung its lantern at Oracle, who dodged swiftly and thrust his alicorn at the evil spirit. The Poe shyed away from this symbol of life and light long enough for Oracle and Deionæra to push the last of the baby ponies through the portal and follow. Deionæra turned to the Poe Seller as she went through the portal and stuck out her tongue. "Suck on THAT!" Harmony flopped down on the ground as Oracle closed the portal. "What WAS all that?!" "I'd like to know that myself," Deionæra shrugged as she made sure they were all safe. Oracle was standing where the teleporter had been, checking for any signs of stray energy. "And I'd especially like to know why the heck that oddball is after me. Like I said, I never even met the guy." She looked around, then smacked herself on the forehead. "My backpack is still in Ponyland!" "You mean this backpack?" Oracle trotted to her, grinning and carrying the backpack around his neck. "I remembered you never leave home without it. When I looked for the ponies and saw it at Paradise Estate, I said to myself, 'She's here!' And what do you know...you are! I sent it ahead to Star Manor before coming to fetch you all." Deionæra removed her pack and hugged Oracle's neck. "I'm so glad you know the Little Ponies. I thought for sure I'd never see you again!" "How do you two know each other?" Trixxy asked curiously, rubbing her head--sugar hangover. Deionæra laughed. "We teamed up to slay the Dragon of Frateriss Peak a while back," she explained. "Me, Oracle, and a gang of thieves." "And you certainly fit in well as a thief," Oracle nudged her playfully. "My life's work." Deionæra blew on her fingernails casually and grinned. "When ya got it, flaunt it." Oracle chuckled. "So do you think there's anything in that pack of yours that might help us?" he asked. "Right!" Deaionæra snapped her fingers. "That was why I wanted it. Surely there's gotta be something in there--I didn't get a chance to clean it out after my latest Hylian adventure." She began to rummage through her backpack. "Hmmmm...brush, Lake Hylia soap, some Polaroids of Link and Hyrule--" Rainribbon jerked up from where she was nibbling a tree trunk and drooled--"Oh, oops. I still have a few Masks, some Ice Arrows, and the Fairy Ocarina. Hope Link won't be needing those any time soon. Hey Rainribbon, want some Deku Nuts? They're good as long as you don't set off the flash. I've got some Deku Seeds too; they're a lot like sunflower seeds." She giggled and pulled out something else. "Hello, what's this,now?" "Looks like a bottle," Rainribbon offered helpfully. Bubbles snickered. "Aha," Deionæra tapped the glass with her fingernail. "So it seems. But what would you say is IN this bottle, hm?" Blu stepped closer. The inside of the bottle was full of a swirling purple mass. "Cool!" she exclaimed. "It's a Poe!" "Not even an ordinary Poe," the other mused. "This is one of those huge Hyrule Field Poes." She laughed suddenly. "What's so funny?" Ember cocked her head curiously. Lastly smiled. "I think she has found her Poe Seller's motive," she said. "But go ahead, explain please, Deionæra. I'm sure there are some ponies who don't quite get it." She looked pointedly at Rainribbon, who was staring at the Polaroids and munching Deku Seeds. Deionæra laughed again. "The Poe Seller buys Poes, but no one knew why, or who he sold them to. Before Link met me, the Poe Seller asked him to bring all Hyrule Field Poes to the shop. We caught this one together with horseback archery--he fired the arrows while I controlled our horse Epona. But then after we caught it, we learned that the Seller was helping Ganondorf keep track of Link, so we never took it to the shop. I just stuck it in my pack and we forgot it." She shrugged. "And I assume this is why that guy is after me. He wants the Big Poes for some reason." "So...now what?" Trixxy asked. "What'll we do about the baby ponies?" Harmony looked at the scattered band. Lastly stepped forward. "I shall take them to a safe place until this is all over," she said. "Ember, could you help me?" She and Ember began rounding up babies. "Now, we have to prepare ourselves for when the Poe Seller finds us," Bubbles said. "But how will we know?" "Don't you remember the bubbles, Bubbles?" Trixxy asked. Blu stepped in. "Those bubbles turned into Poes...." "...Which probably means that the Seller is sending them ahead as scouts," Deaionæra put in. "When we start seeing bubbles, we'll know he'll be here soon." "Unless he traces the portal, though, it could take a while. There's an awful lot of dimensions out there," Oracle finished. "Well, then, that should give us some leeway to...." Deionæra began, when....