In Which Fluttershy Falls Down A Hole
Fluttershy wasn’t normally one to say she was bored of something, but this was one of those rare times when hearing about poets and authors of long ago for over two hours was tiring, even for her.
She lay on one of the bottom branches of the cherry tree, dangling just above Twilight. The snowy blossoms fell gently as she swung her hooves back and forth rhythmically with the wind. It would be a calm spring day if Twilight wasn’t enforcing Equestrian history through poor Fluttershy’s ears.
“... and the vocabulary used by those poets have been used for generations since. Though, after many years, these words have been altered to change with the ponies who use them. For example, the... Fluttershy, are you listening?”
Said mare gasped in surprise, nearly letting go of the kitten in her hooves, then gazed down at Twilight below. “O-of course I am,” she said, smiling. She had heard most of it, but was too entranced with the kitten’s soft fur to comprehend. “I loved the part about the, um, poet with the, uh, wings.”
Twilight frowned. “I have never mentioned a single poet with wings. Most of them were unicorns at that time,” she said, then sighed and levitated the book back to her face. “Just pay more close attention, okay?” The speech continued.
Fluttershy sighed, then looked back into the sky. A clear blue backdrop was dotted with fluffy clouds, thanks to the pegasi. It was too nice of a day to listen to a history report, in Fluttershy’s opinion, but she wasn’t going to crush Twilight’s feelings. She wanted somepony to listen to her papert to Celestia, and Fluttershy happily obliged - sort of.
Out of the corner of her eye, a white blur dashed across the grass. Was that Angel? And, if so, where was he going? Fluttershy turned her head in the direction of the blur and, sure enough, Angel was plowing through the flower fields like it was nothing. Something golden and sparkling dangled out of his paws.
Fluttershy’s curious side got the best of her, much to her dismay. She didn’t want to totally ditch Twilight before she was even finished, but she wanted to know where her precious baby was going. If he got into trouble, Fluttershy would be held responsible, surely.
She rose to her hooves, careful not to distract Twilight. Then, with slight movements and the soft fluttering of wings, she landed on the ground and quickly started chasing Angel through the fields. The last she heard from Twilight was, “Now, Hayspeare was a stallion that brought a new era of theatre into the world...”
Fluttershy had no idea Angel could run so long so fast. She kept repeating his name, insisting that he slow down or stop and explain, but he paid no attention. He seemed like he was late for something important, and there was nopony that he would let get in his way.
Suddenly, Angel froze by a hill, looked back at her, then leapt into the hole in front of him. Fluttershy had no time to stop; as she waggled her hooves around for some friction, there was no slowing down and she let out a slight squeal before falling in the hole as well.
A rush of cold air blew against her face and mane, which was a drastic change from the warm weather back outside. The tunnel flew past like a hurricane, and Fluttershy was so scared that she forgot she could fly.
Finally, her senses returned and she flared her wings out. If she didn’t flap them, she would slowly float down the whole and not get hurt when she reached the bottom. Fluttershy let out a puff of relief, then gazed at her surroundings.
All about her were shelves of mysterious items. Most of them were things you would find at a tea party, but there were toys and jars of strange foods as well. If she knew Angel was such a hoarder, she would have told somepony sooner about his problem. Fluttershy would have to take care of that once she got out.
If she got out.
After deciding to explore the treasures on the sides as she floated, she took an item off of a shelf. It was a small blue box with gold trimming and a small crank at its side. Cautiously, Fluttershy began to turn the crank. She had a feeling deep in her pit that it was something that would scare the life out of her.
Soft music played as she turned, and Fluttershy felt like nothing in the world would ever go wrong to her again.
When the song ended, Discord’s laughing face on a spring jumped out of the box and let out screams of joy, waving its head at her. Fluttershy cried and her wings switched back to their original position at her hips. She started falling again.
This time, though, it didn’t last long and she hit the hard dirt below her with a sickening crunch and thud. Fluttershy went out cold.
After a minute or two, she slowly rose back up. She had no idea where she was. It was damp, cold, and huge - everything she didn’t like in a place. Her head throbbed, and Fluttershy put her hoof up to rub it.
Something silky yet small was in the way. By the feel of it, it was a bow. Why was there a bow on her head? Fluttershy, utterly confused, looked down at her body and jumped back in shock. She had on a light blue dress with puffed sleeves and white stockings. On her chest and stomach was a clean apron.
Fluttershy knew for a fact that she didn’t go down the hole with a dress or bow on. She rarely ever wore clothes. So why was she wearing them now, down a rabbit hole even?
“Why am I here?” Fluttershy said to nopony in particular, standing up and glancing around at the doors and tunnels around her.
“That’s a good question.”
Fluttershy jumped and whipped around. At the far edge of the room there was a large blue door with intricate designs both on it and around it. And, standing beside the door, was a pony the Fluttershy knew all too well.
“Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed and took off in her direction. To her surprise, Dash stared at her in disgust and moved away just as Fluttershy was about to hug her. Fluttershy stared at her, eyes wide. “Dash? It’s me, Fluttershy!”
The mare that Fluttershy thought was Rainbow Dash frowned. “Who’s Dash? I’m the pony who guards this place, chic. What rock have you lived under?”
This mare was a pegasus with a sky-colored coat and a rainbow mane, but in a suit similar to Shining Armor’s. Besides that, she looked just like Dash. How could this not be her? “But...” Fluttershy finally managed. “You and my friend seem so familiar. You even have the same voice!”
The guard scoffed. “Yeah. Like anypony is the same as me. I’m unique,” she said, then her tone lowered and she gave Fluttershy a hard look. “Everypony here is unique. Mad, you might say, but unique nonetheless. Of course, Hatter may actually be mad, but that’s not the point.”
Fluttershy had no clue what she was talking about. Hatter? Who in the wide world of Equestria was that? And the Dash look-alike had mentioned ‘everypony’. There were more of them? Did they all look like Dash?
“Hey, you gonna drink that soda up there or what?” the guard interrupted. Fluttershy stopped her worried thoughts and stared at her again.
“What soda?” she said.
The guard pony sighed, rolling her eyes, then pointed a wing toward a table Fluttershy didn’t know existed until then. “There’s a soda up there. Drink it and you will shrink so you can go through the door.”
Confused, Fluttershy look at the normal sized door. “Can’t I go through it like this?” she asked.
The guard opened the door wide, revealing a wall. At the base was a miniature door that Fluttershy couldn’t even fit her hoof into. “This is just a fake door for protection reasons. You can’t get in unless you shrink. You’re new here, aren’t you?”
Fluttershy sighed and walked over to the table. This world was so overly complicated. She lifted the bottle to her mouth and read the label. It said “Drink Me” and bubbled from inside the glass container. Popping it open with her wing, she eyed it reluctantly, then gulped it down in a bout of unladylike slurps.
“That tasted funny,” she said, then felt herself slowly shrinking. The guard wasn’t joking. “It’s like pie, berries, cinnamon, rock candy, sugar cane, and custard... Soda shouldn’t taste this sweet, should it?” By the time she finished speaking, she was next to the now gigantic leg of the table.
She shrieked, then looked around. The Dash guard was stifling her chuckles as she gazed down at her. “You’re so adorable when you’re the size of an ant,” she commented, smiling.
Fluttershy felt blush creep over her cheeks. Why did she have to make this so awkward? “Can I go through the door now?” she said quietly. “I want to see what’s on the other side.”
“I’d check to see if you have any weapons, but you don’t look the type.” Fluttershy pouted. “Go on ahead.” The guard sidestepped, and Fluttershy immediately flew open the door and charged inside.
“Angel! Angel dear, are you in here?” she cried. “You’re worrying me to death! Come back home!” But Fluttershy couldn’t see anything but the forest she was in.
The dark, creepy, purplish-black, loud, haunting forest.
She flipped around to find the door and demand to go back up the hole, but the door had completely disappeared. “W-where’s the door?!”
“What door, my dear?” A chilling yet familiar voice wormed its way up Fluttershy’s back, and she slowly turned to one of the trees. “There was never possibly a door!”
Lounging on one of the lower branches of the tree was a white unicorn mare with curled royal locks and a lavender dress. On her head were a pair of similar colored cat ears, and her tail was replaced with a lashing striped one. “Rarity? Is that you?”
“Who?” The cat-Rarity gave her a confused glance, and Fluttershy would shrink down even more if she could from her yellow eyes. This was far less like Rarity that she would have wanted. “No no no no. I’m Cheshire, but I insist you call me Lady Cheshire, darling.” Then she grinned.
Her smile was the widest and scariest thing Fluttershy had ever seen. Ever.
Talking to her won’t be so hard. “Okay, Lady, uh, Cheshire. Can you please tell me where to go?” I’m trying to find my way and-”
“Your way?” Fluttershy slowly nodded, now wishing she didn’t ask that. “I think you mean the Princess’s way. You can’t have your way, only hers. Everything is her way, to put it simply.”
“Oh.” This doesn’t sound fun at all, she thought with a sigh.
Author's Note
I actually began writing this a half a year ago, but I lost interest. So now I'm attempting to finish what I started.
The Alice in Wonderland I'm using belongs to Disney, and the chapter names were inspired by the chapter names in The House at Pooh Corner, I believe.
