NOTE: Here is the next chapter! Enjoy!


Chapter 8: The Poppies

In the horrifying land of the west, the castle of Chrysalis was located on a hilltop, surrounded by hills of rock. There was a small river just below the brink of the fortress. Inside the main tower, Chrysalis was busy spying on the travelers through her crystal ball, and trying to think of a plan to get the ruby slippers from Twilight Sparkle. Next to her was Nikko, the leader of the flying changelings, who were the evil, winged creatures who served the wicked witch for many years.

"Aha! Another doomed idiot has joined the little posse, eh? Well, all the worst for you then! When I gain those ruby slippers, my power will be the greatest in all of Oz! But should I to do it? Should I pick them off one by one, or destroy them all together at once? The 'one by one' idea is interesting, but exhausting. So, 'together in a group' it shall be! And I know just what to do!"

Chrysalis went to a shelf, grabbed a can, twisted the lid off, and poured some of it into a small pouch. As Chrysalis started to sing, she poured what was in the pouch into her crystal that showed a field of poppies that Twilight and her friends were soon to come upon.

[Chrysalis]

I'll admit this is very, very wretched

The fireballs were without a doubt the best

But when talking about your life

Forget about your strife

Pull together, concentrate

And kill the pest

Wickedly, yes

So it's time to us some dark magic

Sorcery is used in time of need

So pay attention, dear

I've made it very clear

You're being done in by pretty little flowers

How pathetic

Go to sleep now

Poppies are bizarre

They're attractive to the eye

And very smoothing to smell

But they're deadly

Yes, they are

Go to sleep now

And once you're dead

I'll get those ruby slippers

And your bodies will be kippers

And I'll enjoy it

It's full of dread

Now your friends seem very nice

So they'll have to pay the price

Oh, you never should've arrived

In the Munchkin city

I could try hard to forgive

But I just can't let you live

So go to sleep my little pretty

"Sweet dreams!" the witch cackled, as the pollen of the red flowers were now covered in a very lethal poison.


Meanwhile, the travelers were getting closer to getting out of the dark forest. Once they got away from the trees, bright sunlight blinded them for a split second, but they continued on their way.

"My, this road seems to go on forever" Twilight groaned.

"I just don't know how much longer I can keep on walking like this" Spike added.

"Well, if you're tired, we could take a short cut" Scarecrow suggested.

Tinman looked over towards the poppy field and saw the yellow brick road on the other side of it. "Hey, the road leads straight towards this field. We can just cut through it right here and pick up the road on the other side."

"Well, let's go" Lion smiled, as the group started walking through the flowers.

"My, how you ever seen such beautiful poppies?" Twilight gasped.

"Oh, I think poppies are my favorite flower" Lion chuckled.

As they continued walking, Twilight, Spike and Lion seemed to be slowing down their pace, while Scarecrow and Tinman felt right as rain.

"Oohhhh...What's happening? I can't run anymore. I'm so sleepy" Twilight moaned sleepily.

This seemed to worry the scarecrow a little as he walked up to her. "Here, give us your hands and we'll pull you along."

"Oh, no, please. I have to rest for just a minute" Twilight sighed, as she slowly started to lie down in the poppies. Once she

"But you can't rest now, we're nearly there!" Scarecrow pointed out, trying to wake her up, to no avail.


Meanwhile, Chrysalis was watching this from her crystal ball, and she was enjoying every second of it.

"Nikko, bring me my golden cap!" the green-skinned witch ordered. "I'll call the flying changelings to fetch me those slippers! They should slide off easily now!"

Nikko went off to fetch the cap, while Chrysalis continued to watch her plan succeeding deviously.


In the poppy field, after failing to wake up Twilight and Spike, Tinman began to cry.

"Don't cry! You'll rest yourself again" Scarecrow warned his metal comrade.

"Come to think of it, forty winks wouldn't be bad..." Lion yawned, as he began to lie down, only to be kept up by Scarecrow and Tinman.

"Don't you start it, too!" Scarecrow complained, as they both struggled to keep him up.

"We gotta try and carry Twilight and Spike out of here!" Tinman suggested.

"I don't think I could, but we can try to" Scarecrow agreed, as he and Tinman let go of Lion, who fell to the ground, fast asleep.

"Oh, look at him. This is terrible!" Tinman began crying again.

"I'll say it is. I can't budge her at least an inch" Scarecrow sighed in defeat, after failing to lift the teenage girl's head off of the ground.

"It must be the scent of the poppies that's doing it" Tinman guessed.

"But it's common knowledge that flowers don't put people to sleep," Scarecrow replied. "It has to be something worse, like a spell or something."

Tinman suddenly came to a horrifying conclusion. "It must be the work of Chrysalis! What do we do? Help! Help!"

"It's no use screaming at a time like this! Nobody will hear you!" Scarecrow said angrily, until he figured it was worth a try. "Oh, help! Help us! Help us, please!"

Scarecrow and Tinman continued shouting for help, until the large, pink bubble floated over their heads. Inside of it were the two good witches of the north and south, Celestia and Luna.

"My sister and I can hear you, Scarecrow" Celestia spoke.

"And even though our magic can't over power that of Chrysalis, maybe a little combined magic of our own might help" Luna added.

That being said, the two witches waved their magic wands, and snow began falling from the sky and landed on the poppies, killing the poison.

"Hey, it's snowing!" Scarecrow beamed.

"No, it isn't" Tinman groaned.

"Yes, it is! Oh, maybe that'll help!" Scarecrow jumped with joy, before looking at his sleeping friends, who started waking up from their almost fatal slumber. "It does help! Twilight, you're waking up!"

"Oh, where am I?" Twilight asked in a daze.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Spike asked, as the puppy stretched his legs.

"You guys fell asleep, and we couldn't wake you" Scarecrow explained.

"Unusual weather we're having, ain't it?" Lion asked, while the others laughed.

Twilight looked up and noticed that Tinman wasn't moving an inch. "Look, he's rusted again! Give me the oilcan quick!"

"Oh, it must've been from this huge snowfall!" Spike said in shock.


In the land of the west, Chrysalis was watching all of this unfold, and she wasn't happy with these modifications to her scheme.

"Curses! Curses! Somebody always helps that girl!" Chrysalis growled.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" Nikko chattered, as he gave the golden cap to Chrysalis, who grabbed it and threw across the tower room in rage.

"But shoes or no shoes, I'm still great enough to conquer her. And death to those who try to stop me!" she shouted, before grabbing her broomstick, and running to the open balcony in the tower. "To the emerald city as fast as lightning!"

Once she said that, the witch saddled her broomstick and flew it with full speed towards the emerald city, cackling all the way.


Back at the poppy field, they managed to oil the Tinman's joints, and he was happy to see that his friends were out of danger.

"Twilight, Spike, Lion, you're all awake!" Tinman smiled.

"Our white magic has done its work," Celestia smiled. "Journey's end is now in sight."

"The emerald city!" Twilight pointed, while the others all smiled. "We're almost there! At last, at last!"

While the pink bubble began to float away, Celestia and Luna began to sing, while the travelers started walking out of the poppy field.

[Celestia]

You're out of the woods

You're out of the dark

You're out of the night

Step into the sun

Step into the light

Keep straight ahead for

The most glorious place

On the face

Of the earth or the sky

[Luna]

You're out of the woods

You're out of the dark

You're out of the night

Step into the sun

Step into the light

Keep straight ahead for

The most glorious place

On the face

Of the earth or the sky

[Celestia & Luna]

Hold onto your breath

Hold onto your heart

Hold onto your hope

March up to the gate

And bid it open

Open...

Open...

"Isn't it beautiful?" Tinman asked.

"Simply amazing!" Scarecrow replied.

"He really must be a wonderful wizard to live in a city like that" Twilight sighed.

"Well, c'mon, what're we waiting for, Christmas?" Lion asked happily.

"On to Oz!" Spike declared.

"To Oz?" Twilight asked.

"To Oz!" the other four boasted, as they all linked arms and danced down the road towards the city of emeralds.

[Twilight Sparkle and Spike]

We're off to see the Wizard

[Scarecrow]

We're off to see the Wizard

[Tinman]

We're off to see the Wizard

[Lion]

We're off to see the Wizard

[All Five]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[Celestia & Luna]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...


NOTE: The song Go To Sleep is to the tune of Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid. I might be a decent writer, but I don't think I'm a good song writer. Either way, I hope that you enjoyed it. Catch ya later!