Omega and Diamond walked down the yellow brick road as Padma told them.

The two of them looked around at the land surrounding them. It was definitely very colorful, like something out of a dream.

In this particular land, there were lots of stargazer flowers, beautiful white and purple flowers that sparkled like stars.

"Look at the stargazers!" Diamond said.

The flowers smelled so sweet. They reminded Omega of her cousin Lamenta, and the night they spent stargazing together. Lamenta loved the stars, and while being a ballerina was her dream, another career she loved to imagine was astronomy.

"Wow. Lamenta would sure love these." Omega sighed. She picked one of them, and took a whiff of it, the scent so soothing.

Omega put the flower in her hair and continued on with Diamond. But it wasn't just flowers they encountered; they also came across some berry bushes covered in strawberries! Omega's favorite. And conveniently, there was a little basket she could use to pick some. So she did, and Diamond helped.

"Yummy!" Diamond licked her mouth, her whole muzzle covered in berry juice. "These are the best strawberries ever!"

"They sure are," said Omega, taking a bite of one herself. "But let's save some for later."

The two friends continued to follow the yellow brick road until they reached a cornfield, where there was a fork in the road.

"Hmm... I wonder which way we're supposed to go from here?" Omega stroked her chin in wonder.

Diamond spotted some wooden poles in the middle of the fork in the road. The poles formed a cross that looked like it should've been holding a scarecrow, especially given the fact that they were in a cornfield.

"Shouldn't there be a scarecrow somewhere around here?" Diamond pointed out, seeing no scarecrow on the wooden poles.

Omega thought it seemed strange too.

"Hmm... you know, you're right." She said. "This all seems strangely familiar."

That was when some crows flew over and started pecking at Omega's basket and trying to steal her berries. But Diamond started kicking at the pesky birds while Omega started making her hands glow, hoping to scare them off, but they just kept coming at her.

"Shoo! Get away!" Omega shouted. "These berries aren't for you!"

And then, something jumped out from the cornstalks and made a bunch of clanging noises that frightened the crows away.

"Hmph. Pesky little birds, though not that little, they are an enormous threat to the cornfield." said a voice that sounded familiar to Omega.

Dusting feathers from her hair, Omega looked up and saw a walking scarecrow who looked an awful lot like...

"Tech?" said Omega.

The scarecrow adjusted his glasses a bit and said,
"Tech-Crow is my full name, actually. However, I am sometimes referred to as Tech simply as a nickname. Or I would be, if my duty did not require me to be here."

Diamond and Omega looked at the scarecrow oddly. He definitely looked a lot like Tech. Only, he was full of straw and stitching like any ordinary scarecrow. Tech-Crow took notice of the flower in Omega's hair. Actually, more fascination than anything else.

"Hey, that flower you are wearing. Where did you get that?" asked the scarecrow.

"Back down the path. There was a whole field full of them back the way we came." Omega said, taking it out and letting him get a closer look.

"The shooting stargazer. I have heard of these, but always believed them to be a myth, seeing as they do not grow around these parts. Mostly corn for miles, as well as occasional dandelions and grass." Tech-Crow looked at the flower, and his eyes seemed to light up at the sight of it. "I must admit, however, that I feel rather odd looking at this particular plant... something very peculiar. I feel, warm inside."

"I think the word you're looking for is happy." Diamond said. "Haven't you ever seen flowers before?"

"Aside from the occasional passerby holding flowers, I cannot say that I have seen many, seeing as I cannot leave the cornfield, even if I wished to."

"But you're a walking scarecrow. Why can't you leave the cornfield?" Omega asked.

"All I know is unlike the scarecrow most might expect, I was created with an exceptionally informed brain. I specialize in computing data, logistics, and most importantly, using such to keep the crows away from the corn. And the same method has proven effective, which is convenient, seeing as the two of you could have been seriously hurt had those crows gotten one more minute of swarming time."

"If whoever created you was able to create a scarecrow like you, why couldn't they make more than one?" Diamond said. "Doesn't it get kind of boring just chasing crows away all the time?"

"I would not question it being boring. As far as I can tell, logistics have proven themselves critical in keeping stability."

"Haven't you ever thought of doing something a little more fun to do your job? Or why not get out sometime, and do something creative?"

"Creative?" Tech said.

"Yeah, you know. Imagination, dreams, all kinds of fun stuff going on inside your head. Not relying on logic for everything." Omega explained.

"Yeah, just getting loose... kinda wing it." Omega said, spreading her wings.

"Hmm...that is an entirely new concept to me. Creativity." Tech-Crow said, stroking his chin. "And another thing I do not know is what you were doing in this field to begin with."

"Oh! That's right. We never even introduced ourselves." Omega giggled. "My name's Omega, and this is my friend Diamond."

"We're on our way to the Emerald City to see the wizard so he can help us get home." Diamond added.

Tech-Crow started to think for a moment.

"I have heard of this great and powerful wizard. But I question why if he is so great and powerful, he has never shown himself." said the scarecrow.

"Well..." said Omega. "Maybe if you come with us, the wizard can grant you creativity too."

"Are you certain of that?"

"It could happen. I earned magical powers, my brother gained the power to turn into a merman, and Diamond can turn anything into... well, diamonds, and you're a walking, talking scarecrow with a brain. Anything is possible. And no one is really here to stop you from leaving."

"I suppose you do have a point." Tech-Crow said. "Very well, I shall join you. You will require adult supervision, after all."

So, the scarecrow took Omega's hand, and together, they and the jewel pegasus filly started walking down the yellow brick road down a path Tech-Crow knew very well.

"Tell me more about this creativity business."

Omega began telling Tech-Crow about all the many ways people were creative. Some liked to draw pictures, others liked to build things with all kinds of materials. Some even proved to be so good at bringing their imaginations to life that they became famous for it and inspired many artists for generations.

"Dad always says there's so many ways to be creative. He does it all the time, mostly with mechanical stuff. My little sister Gabby loves to make things using lots of glitter sparkles, and my cousin Lamenta likes to paint stars. Even my mom has been very creative in a lot of ways in her time as a senator." Omega said, thinking about her family. She started to feel sad as she thought about more members of her family. "My Uncle Carmine does music... he's always writing another song and creating dances to make you feel a lot of things."

The more time Omega spent thinking of all the creative things her family did, the more she was missing them. Her mom, her dad, her brothers and sisters, her aunts and uncle, her cousin, her grandmother... and her grandfather.

"Your family sound like a very creative bunch." Tech-Crow said.

"They are. The last time I saw any of them, my grandpa tried to rescue me from a tornado."

Omega sniffled as she thought of her grandpa again.

"You appear depressed. Did something bad become of your grandfather?"

"I don't know. I didn't see what happened to him before we got blown away." Omega sniffed again, feeling tears threatening to fall. "I just want to get home to him and the rest of my family."

"If they are as loving as you say, surely they must be worried sick about you."

That didn't help Omega much though. But, Omega held back her tears and just continued down the yellow brick road.

"How far did Padma say the Emerald City was?" Diamond asked.

"I don't know, but now I wish I'd asked." Omega said.

"If my memory serves correctly, and it most typically does, I believe I once overheard other passers saying a shortcut could be found through Peachy Forest. As long as the yellow brick road remains visible, we should arrive at the Emerald City with time to spare. Hopefully before sunset, especially with this Wicked Warlock of the West I've heard about roaming around."

Omega shuddered at that thought and just held Tech-Crow's hand as they continued walking until they found a sign that guided them to Peachy Forest.