Out on a Limb

by arcTangent

Rating: everyone
Tags: Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Comedy, Angel, Fluttershy, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Random
Length: 9114

Fluttershy is accidentally transformed into a tree.

Fluttershy has turned into a tree! Now Twilight must find the root of the problem.

Sorry for that pun. Don't worry, my bark is worse than my bite.

Wow, I'm really branching out with these jokes!

Too bad this is only a pre-seed-ent for what's to come.

These puns arbor-ing you, aren't they?

Wood-n't you like me to stop now?

Man, I can't be-leaf you're still here.

Fine, I'm done. I'll let you enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Wait! Don't go! I'll sup-plant these jokes for better ones if you come back!

Okay, I get it. I'll stop.

Published 2012-03-06 22:54:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-03-09 01:58:02 UTC

Unbe-leaf-able!

Twilight frowned at the hopeless mess staring her in the face. She was currently working on a new spell that she hoped would improve the conditions at Sweet Apple Acres, but it wasn't going well. Sighing, she magicked away the massive pile of branches, leaves, and other assorted plant-based materials and decided to try again.

She focused magic power into her horn as she visualized what she wanted the result to be. Her horn began to glow purple as the aforementioned object started to materialize in the space she was willing it to occupy. Yes! she cried internally. Almost got it!

"How's it comin', Twi?" Applejack interrupted, breaking the lavender unicorn's concentration and disrupting the spell. A semi-materialized tree appeared where she had been trying to create a fully-formed one.

"Not very well, thanks to you," she grumbled as she once again made the remnants of the butchered spell disappear.

"Well, excuse me, princess!" the earth pony shouted, which didn't make sense considering the fact that Celestia was currently residing in her castle in Canterlot at the moment. Twilight decided to ignore it and try the spell one more time.

She concentrated with all her might, drawing forth every last drop of magical energy from her body. She was physically straining now, her muscles rigid with fatigue, and she was starting to develop a migraine. Still she focused on the tree that she was attempting to make appear in the ground in front of her.

Just when she thought she was about to drop from exhaustion, a sapling sprouted from the ground. Smiling despite her pain, she watched with glee as the sapling grew bigger and bigger, until it sprouted into a fully-grown apple tree, fruit and all.

"Phew!" Twilight sighed in relief as she relaxed, breathing deeply. The spell had been a success, but she was exhausted.

Applejack cheered enthusiastically. "Way to go, sugar cube!"

"Thanks," Twilight replied between breaths. "It's not easy to create a whole new spell, let alone one as difficult as materialization."

"All ya needed was a little practice. Ah reckon with some time you'll have it down pat!"

The unicorn was too tired to respond verbally. She flopped down onto her back in the shade of the magically-created apple tree. Inspecting her craftsmanship, she scrutinized the tree to see if anything was out of place. It looked fine to her--no extra limbs, no odd colors, no missing leaves. Everything was in order, exactly as she liked.

Applejack decided to capitalize on the success of the spell by bucking the tree with her hind legs. A bushel of apples fell from the tree into the bucket that she'd brought with her for that exact purpose. Taking an apple for herself, she loaded the contents of the bucket into the saddlebags strapped to her back. She took a bite of the apple, letting the sweet juice drip down her chin and savoring the sweet flavor of the red fruit that she was named after.

"Mmmm!" she sighed with a mouthful of apple. "Just as good as the naturally-grown ones!"

Twilight sat up, now having recuperated enough to be able to function. She pointed her hoof at the bag of apples on Applejack's back and said, "I'm incredibly thirsty. You wouldn't mind if..."

She didn't have to finish. Applejack was more than happy to give her friend a hooffull of red apples. Twilight took one and bit into it with a loud CRUNCH. It wasn't her favorite fruit in the world, but it was nutritious, providing essential vitamins required for biological growth.

"Well, ah better be going," the orange pony said. "Ah've gotta prepare these apples to be sold tomorrow mornin'. Heck, maybe I'll save a few for cookin' since they were so dang good!"

Twilight stood up. "Are you sure you can eat all those by yourself? It looks like quite a lot."

"Buck you, Twilight, I can eat all these apples!" Applejack shouted extremely uncharacteristically before trotting away towards her family's farm.

Twilight scowled. Applejack sure was acting strange today, first with the princess comment and now this. It seemed kind of funny in a way, but she couldn't really laugh about it because a thought just occurred to her:

The day before, she had promised AJ that she would try to develop a new spell that created apple trees. With the spell, she hoped she would be able to increase the quantity of apple production at Sweet Apple Acres, thereby bringing in new profits. As the spell had worked, Applejack would be back at a later date to get her to fill the orchard with magically-produced apple trees, meaning she'd need to cast the physically tiring spell over and over again to get the same results.

"UGH!" she groaned loudly as she slumped over on the grass again, already dreading the taxing day that lay in store for her in the near future. To herself she moaned, "Why couldn't I have chosen a less tiring profession, like Fluttershy's?"

Fluttershy squealed as she ducked to avoid the chair that narrowly missed her head. "Oh, why couldn't I have chosen a less tiring profession, like Twilight's?" she griped as she chased a chaotic Angel around the room. It was time for his weekly bath, a chore that he absolutely refused to participate in. It was the same routine every Thursday: Fluttershy would draw a bath, her rabbit would protest and run rampant through her cottage, and she would chase him down and force him into the tub. It never failed.

"Now, Angel Bunny..." the pegasus pleaded between crashes of furniture hitting the walls, "...it's just a bath, it's not going to hurt you...you need to get cleaned up every once in a while...I'll make it quick, I promise..."

Despite giving her best effort, her words had no effect. The small white ball of fur was still creating mayhem in her living room. She sighed, her wings sore from flying around, and wished she could take a break.

Suddenly she heard a huge crash, much larger than any other. Angel had knocked over the wooden sculpture Apple Bloom had made on the night of her sleepover. It wasn't much to look at--in fact, it was an eyesore--but she still felt as though the rabbit had gone far enough.

It was time to break out The Stare.

Fluttershy only used her hypnotizing glare in extreme circumstances. This certainly qualified. After all, she couldn't expect her pet rabbit to continue toppling her furniture and get away with it. She placed her hooves firmly on the ground, opening her eyes wide and staring threateningly at Angel.

Angel immediately stopped running, as if he knew what his owner was doing. Mesmerized, his face went slack-jawed and he started to drool due to a lack of muscular control. He was paralyzed, rendered helpless by the will of Fluttershy.

The yellow pony stood her ground. She continued to stare at him for an exceedingly long length of time, not backing down for a second. She bit Angel by the scruff of his neck and carried him into the bathroom, where she dropped him into the bubble-filled bathtub. He sank under the surface of the water and came up seconds later looking very displeased, bubbles clinging to his wet fur.

Fluttershy giggled at this sight. "See, Angel Bunny? Was that really so bad?" She bent over to pick up the shampoo and said, "Now if you'll just cooperate we can get this done in no time at all, okay?"

She frowned. The shampoo bottle wasn't in its usual place next to the tub. Then she remembered she had used it all up last week. She'd have to go into the pantry and get another bottle.

She straightened up and spoke to her still unamused pet. "Stay right here, Angel Bunny. Mamma will be right back." She turned around and hurried into the kitchen before he could make any sudden movements.

Now let's see, she said to herself as she rummaged through the cabinets, pushing aside food products and cleaning supplies. Cream of Oats, sunflower seeds, dish detergent, soap--AHA! Here's the shampoo!

She ran back to the bathroom. "Okay, Angel Bunny, it's time for your sha-"

She never finished the sentence.

The shampoo bottle fell to the floor with a dull thud, landing right in the middle of the river of soapy water leading from the bathtub out the door of the cottage. Angel had escaped!

"Oh no, oh nonononononononooooo!" Fluttershy muttered in panic as she frantically galloped out the front door chasing the escapee. She followed the trail of water as far as it went, which was only a few feet from the house. She stopped, terrified, and yelled, "Oh no! Angel Bunny could be anywhere by now! It'll be impossible to track him down now!!"

Then she stopped yelling. He was sitting conveniently at the edge of the property line, munching on a carrot he'd stolen from the garden.

She narrowed her eyes, spotting her target. "Oh, somepony's going to be in big trouble!"

She took off like a police officer in hot pursuit of a madman. Angel dropped the carrot in surprise and hopped as fast as he could into town, scaring half the village in the progress. Everypony moved aside to let the pegasus through. Because once you get Fluttershy riled up, you won't be able to stop her.

You don't believe me? Go ahead and try.

Yeah. I thought so.

Twilight was feeling more refreshed than she had after watching all those exercise videos Rarity had gotten her last Hearth's Warming Eve. She'd had a good half-hour's rest, she'd downed a whole can of Minotaur energy drink, and she was feeling better than ever. In fact, she was feeling so much better that she decided to give the tree-creation spell another go. Since she'd have to learn it eventually, a little practice wouldn't hurt much.

She strained again, focusing her magical energy towards her forehead. It was a little easier now that she knew how to cast the spell, but it still required a lot of power. She created four tall apple trees in her front yard before she was forced to take a break.

Spike had brought her some lemonade while she was working, which she had set down on the ground for when she was thirsty. She now took a sip of the yellow liquid and instantly did a spit-take. Spike had mixed up the ingredients and put a half-cup of sugar and two cups of lemon juice instead of the other way around. It was way too sour for her taste. She shrugged. At least he gave it a shot.

She decided to practice the spell one more time. She concentrated on the tree she wanted to create. Her horn glowed the familiar purple glow that signified it was using magical power. She siphoned the energy into her horn and--

A white blur knocked her off her hooves. She stumbled backwards, sending the bolt of magic out in front of her. There was a loud popping noise as Twilight stood up again and stared at her accidental creation.

Situated immediately in front of her was an apple tree. It was much like the other tree's she'd conjured up before, except it had a yellow bark and pink leaves. Also, it had a nose, a mouth, two ears, and two teal eyes.

Twilight's mouth was agape. "F-F-Fluttershy?" she managed to choke out in disbelief. She'd turned her friend into a tree!

"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked curiously, obviously not realizing the fact that she was now a tree. "What happened? Why are you looking at me like that? And why do I feel so stiff all of a sudde-"

She broke off midsentence. She was now looking down at her new features, staring at the bark that had replaced her skin, the roots that firmly planted her in the ground, the branches that had become her arms.

She let out a bloodcurdling screech that made Twilight cover here ears. "WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ME?" she wailed. "WHY AM I A TREE? IS THIS GOING TO BE FOREVER?"

Twilight shushed the whimpering Fluttershy-tree hybrid. "Calm down. You must have accidentally gotten hit by one of my spells."

"Well, change me back! I don't want to be a tree forever! I want to be able to take care of my animal friends, like Angel Bunny--" She gasped. "Oh no! He's still out missing! I've got to find him!"

"Shhhhh, it's all right. I think I read a book the other day about reversing transformation spells. I'll go check it out. You stay here while I'm gone, okay?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"Oh, right, 'cause you're a tree, and trees have roots, and--" She cleared her throat, noticing the conversation had just reached the awkward level. "I'll go find the book."

As the lavender unicorn galloped into the library, Fluttershy was left alone to recollect her thoughts. She supposed being a tree wasn't so bad. It's not like Twilight had turned her into a fish that couldn't breathe outside of water. All she needed was some sunlight, a little water, and some carbon dioxide, and she could create her own energy using photosynth--

Stop thinking that way, she interrupted herself. Photosynthesis, hah! I must be more insane than Pinkie Pie!

She looked down at the ground and saw a tuft of rabbit fur. I sure hope Angel's all right, she thought sorrowfully. She really wanted to go and look for him, but that wasn't possible in her current state. She subconsciously wriggled one of her roots as she thought about her missing bunny, as well as all her animals back home.

Wait a minute. She wriggled her root again, checking to make sure she hadn't imagined feeling it move. No, it was definitely functional. She smiled. Maybe she wasn't stuck after all.

Two's Company, Tree's a Crowd

Spike grumbled something inaudible under his breath as he swept the library's floor. He'd spent the entire day cleaning the house without being allowed to go outside. It wasn't that it was an exceptionally nice day (the pegasi on weather patrol had made sure of that), although that was part of the reason for his frustration. Mostly he wanted to get out of the house to avoid Owlowiscious, who had been watching him from his perch next to the podium where Twilight often wrote letters.

He still didn't trust that bird, no matter what Twilight said. He was convinced that the seemingly vacant expression and inability to say anything other than "Who?" was all a facade, that he was biding his time until the right moment to strike. But Twilight couldn't see the truth about him, convinced that he was as innocent a creature as any of Flutterhsy's many pets. And she let him know this in no uncertain terms. But so what if he was being paranoid? Better that than to let his guard down.

The purple dragon was still thinking about Owlowiscious when Twilight ran inside. "Spike, I need you to do me a favor," she said frantically.

Spike didn't want to hear it. "Oh, sure, just like how I needed a favor and you forced me to slave away inside, sweeping up a floor that's not even dusty, all while being threatened by that--" he gestured towards Twilight's pet owl "--menace?"

Twilight's anxious look was replaced by one of annoyance. "Spike, Owlowiscious is not out to get you. And you're just doing your routine chores, the ones you do every week. Now stop complaining for a second; I need you to help me look for a book."

Spike rolled his eyes, obviously still agitated over the arduous labor. He crossed his arms over his chest and said in a flat voice, "Fine. What do you need?"

"Remember that book on Transfiguration spells I was looking at a few days ago? Or, more precisely, reversing Transfiguration spells?"

"Yeah."

"Help me find it."

"Didn't you lend it to somepony?"

"Now who in all of Ponyville would need a book about how to reverse a Transfiguration spell? I'm really the only unicorn around here who takes her magic seriously."

"I remember Lyra coming in here recently. Didn't she ask for it?"

Twilight took a second to register this information. Suddenly she facehoofed as she remembered the same thing: the unicorn had come by to pick out that exact book, though she hadn't given a good reason as to why she wanted it. In fact, she seemed very suspicious the whole time she was there.

Twilight realized what this meant for Flutterhsy's current predicament. She'd have to go find Lyra, get the book back, find the spell for reverting arborified ponies into their rightful forms, and use it on her pegasus friend. This was going to take some time, and she didn't know how long she had. The longer a transformed object stays in its new form, the longer it takes to reverse the process. And she'd never turned a pony into a tree before; there were too many unknown variables to be certain whether the spell would even work.

Well, standing around isn't going to solve anything, she told herself. She had to track down Lyra as soon as she could. She hurried out the door to tell Fluttershy her plan, but when she saw the large hole in the ground where Flutter-tree had been, she froze.

Flutterhsy was missing.

"Oh, or the love of..." Twilight ran back inside in a hurry. She went over to Spike, who had resumed cleaning and had his back facing the door.

"SPIKE!" she yelled, nearly scaring the baby dragon out of his wits and making him jump straight up into the air. As he checked to make sure he didn't have a concussion when his head had hit the floor, she yelled, "She's gone!"

"Who?" Spike replied in an unintentionally perfect impersonation of his archenemy.

"Fluttershy!" she shouted. Before her assistant had time to answer, she grabbed his arm and pulled him with her out the door in search of the missing tree-pony.

Walking as a tree was exponentially more difficult than walking as a pony. Trees don't have joints, so it required a lot of energy for Fluttershy to move her "muscles." In fact, she wondered how it was possible for her to move at all, seeing as plants don't really have nerves. Then again, she was able to talk and think, and she knew for a fact that trees didn't have brains.

Oh, this is making my head hurt! she griped internally as she thought about the theoretical impossibilities she was currently facing. She knew nothing about all that sciencey stuff. She chalked it up to Twilight's magic, which was a simple enough explanation for her.

"Oh, Angel Bunny!" she called out as she walked around Ponyville, ignoring the confused glances she was receiving from the locals. Finding her lost pet was far more important than explaining her current predicament.

Where could he have gone? she thought. What did I do to make him run off like that? I just wanted to give him a bath. I wasn't doing anything to hurt him!

Her branches creaked. She walked in no particular direction, scanning the ground looking for Angel. It was a long, slow, agonizing process for her to even move. If she didn't see him soon, she was going to petrify.

After what seemed to take days, she spied a small white ball of fluff at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Her mood brightened significantly as she excitedly hurried over as fast as she could, her roots churning up the dirt like the wake of an ocean liner cruising at high speed. "Don't worry, Angel Bunny!" she called with great joy. "Mamma's coming!"

She entered the forest. Immediately she froze, noticing the sudden drop in volume. The air was deathly still, and there was not a sound to be heard. Odd, considering the forest was usually populated by noisy, rambunctious critters. The least she should have heard was the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze, but it was as if she'd instantly gone deaf.

Then she heard movement. So she wasn't deaf after all. But she'd lost sight of her rabbit, if that's really what she had seen, and was now standing all alone in the middle of a clearing. She couldn't shake the ominous feeling that had befallen her the second she'd arrived.

"H-hello?" she called out to whoever was moving around. "I-is anypony there?"

A barely audible whisper from behind made her turn around. She didn't see anything but a cluster of trees. But these were no ordinary trees, she realized slowly--they had gruesome fangs and wicked, bloodshot eyes, and their expressions were curled into grotesque snarls.

She gave a small squeak in fright. They were about to attack her! She shut her eyes tight and prayed silently that she'd make it out alive.

Then she remembered what Pinkie Pie had told her once when she and her friends were in a very similar situation. She decided to stand up to her fears as she had been instructed with the aid of musical cues.

She opened her eyes, staring the menacing trees in the face. With a determined look she emitted a small laugh--though it couldn't really be counted as a laugh. It was far too feeble, sounding more like a cross between a whimper and a sniffle.

She tried again, a little louder. Still the threat did not go away. Mustering up all the courage she'd learned from her cheering lessons with Rainbow Dash, she took a deep breath and expelled it.

"HAH!"

The noise echoed loudly, resonating through the woods and amplifying the volume. It was so loud that it even scared Fluttershy herself. When the echoing stopped, she ceased cowering and looked up to find that the trees no longer appeared frightening. She smiled at her bravery and lifted up a root to continue her search.

That's when the forest started to come alive.

She froze in mid-stride. The trees surrounding her didn't have horrible, disturbing faces anymore. Instead they now had sickeningly delighted faces, their lips upturned into smiles. But there was nothing cheerful about these smiles.

Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs. The now-moving forest was closing in on her, surrounding her, trapping her...

Twilight realized how crazy she must have looked, galloping through town asking everypony if they had seen a large yellow tree pass by recently. They all stared at her like she was a madmare and continued on their daily business, shaking their heads as they passed.

How hard can it be to find a walking tree? she bemused, still clutching her assistant. The latter was being tossed about wildly, flailing like a flag in the middle of a hurricane.

"Slow--oof!--down--ugh!--Twi--ouch!--light--ack!" he yelled as he was thrown against the ground again and again, unable to keep up with his mistress.

The unicorn was in so much of a hurry to find Fluttershy that she didn't even notice Applejack passing by until the two headbutted each other. She yelped as she fell on her hindquarters, dropping Spike in the process.

Dazed, she sat up. The blow to her noggin had left her seeing double. Two images of the earth pony rolling over to get her hat spun around in front of Twilight's face. She shook her throbbing head, and her vision was restored.

"Applejack!" Twilight shouted. "Thank goodness! You wouldn't have happened to see Fluttershy around, would you?"

Applejack took a moment to reply. "No, ah just came by ta pick up some fruit at the market." She picked up her empty saddlebags that had fallen off in the collision. "Why? Is something the matter?"

Twilight grinned sheepishly, a bit embarrassed to tell the truth about how she'd screwed up. "Well, you see, there's been a sort of...ah...hmm...how to put this delicately...uh...a mix-up. Yeah, a mix-up!"

"What kind of a mix-up?"

Twilight opened her mouth to reply when she heard a scream. It sounded like it was coming from the Everfree Forest.

They both looked at each other, knowing instantly from whom it had come. There was only one pony in town capable of producing such a terror-filled cry at such a high pitch. Well, to be more precise, only one tree.

Applejack spoke. "Looks like we know where Fluttershy is."

Twilight sighed. Boy, was she going to have a fun time explaining this one. "Maybe you'd better follow me..."

Stick-ing to your Gut

On the way into the forest, Twilight summarized the whole incident to Applejack: about how she'd been practicing the spell when Fluttershy got in the way, how it had turned her into a bizarre tree-pony creature, how she'd somehow been able to walk in her transformed state. Spike, who was trailing along behind them at a snail's pace, chimed in occasionally to boast about his bravery in the face of danger, all of which of course was a fabrication.

"Ya know," the cowpony joked when Twilight was done telling the story, "ya might wanna think about sending a letter to the princess about all this!"

Twilight looked confused. "Why would I do that in the middle of the week? I always write my letters at 10 o'clock on Saturday mornings. Although this week it was a little later, about 1 o'clock, I believe?" She trailed off, getting lost in thought about how loosely she adhered to her mental schedule. Maybe she should pick up the slack and get her letters out at a consistent rate.

When the two ponies and one dragon entered the forest, they felt the same ominous atmosphere that Fluttershy had noticed upon arriving. They looked around, taking in the stillness of the air and the silence of the woods around them.

"Twilight?" Spike spoke up. "It's spooky in here."

She nudged her assistant aside. "We'll just go in quickly, get Fluttershy, and then go get the book from Lyra to change her back. It'll be quick, I promise."

They trotted deeper into the forest until they reach a clearing. The site looked suspicious enough without the large pits dug into the ground serving as an indication that something had taken place not too long ago.

"Did it just get a whole lot chillier in here all of a sudden?" Applejack said as Twilight bent over to inspect the mysterious patches of dirt where something large had obviously been resting and only recently moved.

"I think so," the lavender unicorn answered. "Just as an estimate, the temperature seems to have dropped from about 50 degrees Fahrenheit to 40 degrees Fahrenheit."

"So, it got 20% cooler?" Spike asked innocently.

Twilight scowled, as if what he had just said was supposed to refer to something witty and humorous that she didn't understand. This had been happening a lot to her today. She went back to studying the dirt patches.

Upon closer observation, she saw what appeared to be an intricate design of concentric circles laced around themselves. The pattern also looked very familiar. But where had she seen this before...

Then it hit her. This was the same sort of pattern Fluttershy had left behind when she'd moved from her spot in front of the library. There had been trees here before, and now they'd moved!

She shared her findings with Applejack, who looked dumbstruck. For as long as she'd lived, she'd never heard of a tree getting up and moving itself around. Then again, with unicorns you never could tell. "Bucking magic," she said in exasperation, "how does it work?"

Twilight smiled despite herself. At least she understood this reference. It was about one of her favorite musical groups, the Insane Unicorn Posse. She didn't think Applejack was into them. She made a mental note to ask her about her tastes in music later.

Then she heard something. She shushed the earth pony and perked her ears up to listen. She could barely make out the faint sound of drums being played in the distance. "Do you hear that?" she asked. "It must be Fluttershy!"

"Whoa, now, sugar cube," Applejack said before Twilight could run off. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Ain't that Zecora, playin' one of her traditional songs?"

"No, Zecora's instruments are smaller and don't make as deep or loud a noise. This is something else entirely."

Spike, being the pessimist he was, cried out, "What if it's a scary monster? Like, a hydra or a manticore or..." He gasped. The worst of his fears had just entered his thought process. Timidly he whispered, "...or a cockatrice?"

"Spike, don't be silly. Those creatures don't make such loud noises. If anything it would be an Ursa Minor, maybe even an Ursa Major!"

Spike's face contorted into one of pure shock. He turned paler than Pinkie Pie had when she used too much baking soda in her cake mix and got flour all over her. He became literally paralyzed by the intense fear and was unable to move.

Twilight sighed, picking up her stationary assistant, and deposited him into one of the pockets of her saddlebags. When she saw the strange look she was getting from Applejack, she said, "He'll come to in an hour. This happens all the time."

She turned towards the sound of the far-off drums. Chuckling at the absurdity of the situation, she said, "Now let's go find Fluttershy before she wilts!"

It took them at least ten minutes just to find the source of the noise. It took at least that long to comprehend what they were seeing.

The tree that was Fluttershy was perched on a throne made out of plant materials, adorned with flowers and leaves. Two torches glowed from either side of the throne, which seemed a bit ironic considering the highly flammable environment they were placed in. Fluttershy appeared to be wearing a crown of laurel leaves, and she was sitting cross-legged with a look befitting someone very powerful.

But what struck Twilight and Applejack as the most bizarre was the army of trees surrounding the throne, all kneeling over in an act of respectful admiration. They all muttered a chant that was indiscernible from the bushes from which the ponies watched, but they suspected it was something of praise. Off to the side a large tree was pounding on two timpanis, creating the booming sound they had heard. Two rather small trees were holding massive maple leaves and fanning their leader with them. The whole scene seemed both majestic and frightening at the same time.

"What're they doin' ta Fluttershy?" Applejack whispered.

Twilight shook her head. "It looks like they're... worshiping her! But that doesn't make any sense!"

"Why would they do that?"

"The hay if I know. But whatever the case, we have to decide what we're going to do now. Should we come right out and make ourselves known, or should we sneak in with disguises?"

"Well, I kinda like the idea of a disguise, but how the buck are we gonna make 'em?"

"True. Creating tree costumes would take a lot more time and effort than we can afford. But maybe, with the right spell..."

Twilight, who was concentrating on devising their modus operandi and had her back turned to the ceremony taking place, didn't notice that the drumming had stopped. She also didn't notice the orange earth pony's expression change to one of shock.

"Uh, Twi?" she urged quietly, interrupting the unicorn's train of thought.

Angry at the distraction, she snapped, "What, Applejack?"

AJ pointed her hoof towards what she was looking at. "Ah don't think we'll be needin' no disguises."

Slowly, as characters often do in suspenseful moments such as this, Twilight turned around. There, watching them from their hiding spot in the bushes, was the throng of anthropomorphic trees that had previously been hailing their new leader. Whereas before they had looked peaceful and reverent, their faces now displayed anger and irritation.

Twilight gasped. "Mother of Celestia..."

Queen Fluttershy, Dark Lord and Empress of All Botanical Organisms, smiled at her devote subjects as they bowed at her roots. It pleased her to see such acts of loyal servitude displayed in her honor.

Scrub Brush, the royal messenger, approached the throne hastily. "My lady," he said breathlessly as he bent over as far as his diminutive stature would allow. "I bring news from the dungeon master."

Queen Fluttershy looked at the small courier with a displeased look. "What is this news of which you speak, knave? This had better be good, or you'll get no CO2 for a month!"

Scrub gulped. Nervously he unfurled the scroll in his hand and read off, "Ahem. 'Two prisoners have been spotted just outside the throne room. It appears they were attempting to overthrow Her Royal Highness, Supreme Commander of the Forest. They have been detained and shall be put on trial immediately.'" He rolled up the scroll and gave another bow, waiting for his ruler to respond.

Fluttershy placed a branch on her chin, digesting the news. Then she grinned. "Very well. I shall reward the dungeon master greatly for his valiant servitude."

The messenger gave out a sigh of relief, thankful that he hadn't been punished this time. But he'd acted too soon, because Fluttershy soon leaned over and yelled, "And as for YOU, filthy servant! You seem to have forgotten the proper protocol. Are you not forgetting to kiss the ground in front of me to show your unwavering devotion?"

Scrub turned pale. He had forgotten the new rule the Dark Lord and Empress had made. "Don't worry, Your Omnipotence," he stammered out, "I'll get right on that--"

"It's too late for you!" The ruler of the forest snapped her fingers, an act that shouldn't have been possible with branches for arms and sticks for hands. Two bodyguards appeared from the shadows and picked up the now-flailing messenger. "Take him away!"

The bodyguards did as they were instructed. They carried Scrub, who was now screaming and bawling at the top of his voice, into the shadows from whence they emerged. Soon there was a small THUNK and the courier became silent.

Pleased, Fluttershy grinned maniacally. Then she realized how thirsty she was. "Guard!" she yelled at the nearest tree. "Fetch me my water, posthaste!" The guard obeyed and ran to complete his task for the Almighty One.

She then turned to the two workers fanning her. "FASTER!" she barked, and they proceeded to move their giant leaves as fast as physically possible so as to make their empress happy.

Fluttershy grinned as the guard returned with a glass of spring water for Her Majesty. She took a deep gulp of the cool liquid, savoring it as it passed through her whole body, restoring her leaves to their healthy pink color.

She cackled. "It's good to be queen!"

The next thing Twilight knew, she was chained to a wall in an underground room. Her front hooves were held high over her, supporting the full weight of her body. She must have hit her head or something, because she felt dazed and disoriented. Or perhaps that was just due to her numb wrists, which were beginning to chafe from the strain.

She turned her aching head to see Applejack in an identical position, looking just as confused. There was no sign of Spike anywhere.

"Applejack!" she whispered, for she had no idea if they were being monitored and she didn't want to create too much of a disturbance.

"Twi?" the farmer called back. "Where in Equestria are we?"

"Some kind of dungeon, I think." She looked up at the ceiling, which hung high above their heads. Water dripped down from somewhere onto the floor, creating an echoing plink that was bound to drive anypony insane.

"What're we doin' down here? We're supposed ta be rescuin' Fluttershy!"

Twilight answered, "I know! But I guess she sent her...guards or something to apprehend us."

"That still don't make any sense! Why was she on that throne? Just what in the name of Celestia did they do ta her?"

"I know just as much as you do, AJ. But we're not going to find any answers hanging up on this wall like rag dolls."

"Well, how d'ya suppose we get out of-"

She was cut short, having just noticed that Twilight was now on the ground, freed of her restraints. Applejack blinked as she stared at the unicorn, unable to understand the speed at which she had cast a Severing charm on the chains. It didn't make much of a difference anyhow, as Twilight did the same for her friend's binds. Soon they were both free.

Twilight took charge. "All right, Applejack. Let's find the exit and get the hay out of here!"

"And don't forget Spike!"

"Oh, yeah. Him too."

They explored diligently, not wanting to squander too much time in the dank cellar. There were no conspicuous exits to speak of, just their luck. Applejack considered digging a hole to escape, but Twilight advised against it, seeing as it would only take them deeper underground.

"We have to go up," she said, glancing at the dark ceiling above her head.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Applejack replied incredulously.

Just as she had the last time she'd asked that question, she was soon proven wrong. Without warning, the ground began to tremor violently. She almost lost her balance as the earth quivered under her hooves. She turned to Twilight to ask what was going on, but she should have known that it was only the unicorn's doing. One look at her brightly glowing horn was enough to tell Applejack that Twilight was using an Earthshaker spell to get them out of the dungeon.

Then they began to move. A small patch of dirt, barely big enough for the two of them to stand on, skyrocketed upwards as a huge mountain of earth emerged from below and rose towards the ceiling.

Clinging to her friend in fear of falling off the dirt mound, Applejack cried out, "Confound these unicorns! They drive me to insanity!"

Twilight was too busy controlling the mountain forming under her to listen to the orange pony's ramblings. They were close to the ceiling now, and it would require impeccable timing to pull of the next trick.

Come on, come on! she willed silently. The ceiling was right on top of their heads, inching closer, closer, closer...

"NOW!" she shouted as she jumped off the ever-rising mountain, dragging Applejack along with her. There was a huge BOOM as the momentum of the dirt pile carried it upwards through the ceiling, smashing a hole that provided a means for their escape. What's more, the sloping mound of earth provided an easy way upwards, negating the need to scale the walls (her backup plan).

Applejack stared at the massive pile of dirt. She still didn't understand exactly how it had happened, but at this point she didn't care. She was just glad to have a way to escape.

Twilight turned her attention to Applejack. "Somepony must have heard that crash. That means we haven't got much time before we're spotted."

The earth pony understood completely. "Then let's get going!"

A Bittersweet Conclusion

Twilight and Applejack galloped through the woods. They didn't know how far away the dungeon was from Fluttershy's throne, but they had to find it quickly and without being seen, or there would be ramifications.

Twilight was right about one thing: the guards had been alerted to their escape and were currently combing the area, searching for the missing prisoners. Fortunately for the convicts, the trees assigned to guard duty had terrible eyesight; they passed by several of them without being apprehended. Soon they didn't even need to jump to the side and dive into the bushes. They trotted on by without a word.

Man, Fluttershy really needs to find better help around here, Twilight thought as she and her partner-in-crime searched for the leader in question.

Several unsuccessful minutes later, Twilight articulated a quite immaculate statement, one that would later be carried over through generations of ponies long after her passing, forever immortalizing her and her words of intellectual wisdom. "I think we're lost."

Applejack stared at her. "Ya think?"

"If only something oddly convenient would happen at this precise moment that would allow us to continue on our mission instead of wandering around aimlessly!" Twilight moaned.

As if on cue, she head the shouts of her assistant calling her name. "Twilight!" Spike yelled. "Help!"

She blinked. "Well, that was oddly convenient. Come on, AJ, let's stop wasting time and find Spike!"

"But we don't even know where he is!" Applejack cried.

"I'm over here!" came Spike's answer, sounding much closer than the ponies had realized seconds before. He was in plain sight of the two of them, about twenty yards away. He was dangling over a campfire, his arms and legs bound on a spit, as a small group of ravenous-looking trees licked their lips and proceeded to don white cloth bibs.

"Huh," Twilight said with a confused expression. "Wonder why we didn't notice that sooner."

"Who cares?" Applejack shouted as she ran to save the dragon. "Let's get him outta here!"

The group of trees had formed a tight circle around their fire. One tree who seemed smaller than the rest was passing out forks and knives, which the other three trees held high above their heads in anticipation of their meal. Spike emitted another shriek of terror as the carnivorous plants opened their large maws and dove in for the feast.

Before Spike could even have time to blink an eye, there were suddenly four unconscious tree trunks lying facedown on the ground. Applejack was burying her hoof into one of the tree's backs to make sure it was really down, as Twilight pulled Spike out of the fire and off the spit. He watched, his underdeveloped brain having been unable to register the events as they'd happened, and tried to piece together the situation with the information he was receiving. It wasn't working.

"But--how did--and then--you were--and they--but you--" he stammered incomprehensibly.

"No time to explain," Twilight said with finality. "We've got to find Fluttershy and get her home before something worse happens to her!"

"Twilight," Applejack responded. "Fluttershy's a walking, sentient tree who's gone mad with power. What could possibly be worse?"

Fluttershy was beginning to grow bored. All she had done since becoming Dark Lord and Empress of All Botanical Organisms was sit on her throne, drink water, and watch as an entire forest of talking trees bowed down before her. As pleased as she was to have command over anything for once in her life, it was starting to become stale. She needed more entertainment in order to keep things fresh. But what could she possibly do to stir up some excitement?...

"I know!" she shouted aloud. "I'll organize a mass execution! Yes, that's exactly what I need to liven up this place!"

The guards closest to Fluttershy glanced at each other worriedly. "Um, Your Supremacy?" one of them spoke. "How exactly is a forest-wide killing going to liven up things?"

"Yeah," spoke the other guard. "Wouldn't it deaden them?"

The forest queen turned to the two subjects, a look of anger upon her face. "Don't tell me what to do! Buck the police!"

The first guard paused before responding, knowing full well that an angry Fluttershy was not good news. "But Your Almightiness, we are the police."

Fluttershy was really steaming now. The guard had gone too far. "I don't need you to tell me how to rule my empire! For I am now Fluttershy, the Supreme Overlord of Everything that Lives In Addition To Everything that Does Not Live, and you shall address me as such or you will not address me at all!"

"Your Omnipotence, isn't that a rather long title?" the second guard asked.

"Yeah, can't you abbreviate it or something?" the first guard chimed in.

Fluttershy, now breathing heavily in an attempt to control her rage, had had enough of her backtalking, disrespectful bodyguards. With an outcry of exasperation and anger she swung a branch at full force towards her underlings, which knocked them both over onto the ground.

The tree guards were astonished at the speed at which their empress had attacked. It dawned on them that they were in serious danger of being executed. They quickly got up and scampered away, leaving the snarling Fluttershy standing in the center of the clearing, filled with a deep internal rage.

She realized that all the other trees were now staring at her, watching with terrified looks as they imagined all the terrible things the Supreme Overlord would do to them if she had her way. They cautiously backed away from their leader, who noticed the movement and lashed out with all her strength. When the nearest tree fell hard on his face, it set off a warning sign that told the others it was time to get the hell out!

A stampede instantly erupted among the tree-people. The entire Everfree Forest seemed to uproot itself and run faster than Rainbow Dash had upon hearing that the Wonderbolts would be giving away free posters for the first one to meet them in Cloudsdale.

As they ran, they heard the demonic cackles of their ruler as she drove them away with her shrieking. Soon Fluttershy, who was supposed to have control over everything that exists in the entire universe, was suddenly all alone, standing in the middle of what was once a forest. But when all the trees had fled from her, it had transformed into just a flat, grassy plain. A single tree cannot call itself a forest; it needs to be surrounded by a multitude of other trees to be classified as such.

She realized all this as her breathing slowed and her anger subsided. She glanced around, seeing not a single tree anywhere in the vicinity. The power-hungry, malicious Fluttershy was now gone; the animal-loving, kind Fluttershy had returned.

And the old Fluttershy was very, very lonely.

Twilight, Applejack, and Spike had been walking for what felt like an eternity. The sun had started to rise over the forest canopy. Twilight hadn't realized how long they had been looking. It only now occurred to her that they had entered the forest some time in the late evening. They'd been at it for over eight hours at least.

Applejack was about to collapse. "Boy, ah'm plum-tuckered out. Can we go home now?"

"No," Twilight insisted. "We can't leave until we find Fluttershy."

"We've searched every possible place, and we haven't seen her! Where else could she be?"

To answer the earth pony's question, a rather large crowd of tree-creatures suddenly came barreling towards them, shouting, "RUN! IT'S QUEEN FLUTTERSHY! SHE'S GONNA GET US!!"

Twilight barely had time to react. She threw up a quick Protection charm, creating a magical barrier that prevented them from getting trampled by the horde of trees. The rampaging trees parted around the barrier as they ran by, leaving the ponies and Spike unharmed.

When all the trees had fled, Twilight gazed at the scene left behind from the stampede. The forest was barely recognizable anymore, looking much more like a calm meadow that a dangerous wooded area. It was rather serene to look at, with everything exposed due to the lack of trees to hide behind. And with the sun rising over it all, it had an almost magical quality to it. Yet at the same time there was a hidden layer of sadness, invisible upon first glance. The more she looked at the treeless plain, the more it depressed her.

Thankfully, with all the trees out of the way, it was easy to see where Fluttershy was. She seemed quite far away, standing in the middle of the meadow. It was hard to make out exactly what she was doing from the distance.

The ponies quickly galloped over to the abdicated queen, calling out her name. She looked up to see her friends coming to her, and she perked up immediately.

"Oh, Twilight!" she yelled gleefully as the unicorn approached, followed by Applejack and Spike. "I'm so sorry I ran off like that!"

"It's okay, Fluttershy," Twilight consoled her. "Just tell us what happened since you left."

Fluttershy took a deep breath. "Well, I was worried about Angel Bunny, so I went to go find him, and I thought I saw him in the woods so I went in, and then the trees attacked me! And it was sooooo scary, I thought I would pass out! But then I saw that they weren't attacking me after all; they put a crown on my head and made me their leader. And then I guess I got...carried away." She finished the tale, glancing sheepishly at the ground so as to avoid her friends' gazes.

Twilight saw that Fluttershy was emotionally damaged from the experience. She and Applejack both ran up and wrapped their front legs around the tree trunk, giving their friend a big hug. Fluttershy noticed this and proceeded to awkwardly attempt to put her branch arms around the two of them.

There was a short silence as they held each other, which was broken by Spike rudely complaining, "My feet hurt! I wanna go home!"

Twilight broke away from the group hug and began to reprimand the dragon for his insensitivity, but Applejack interrupted her. "He's right, sugar cube. We have to find out how to change Fluttershy back to normal!"

"I agree," Twilight said. "It would be very wise of us to consider heading back into Ponyville."

"And we need to find Angel Bunny!" Fluttershy added.

"Then what are we doin' standing around?" Applejack said. Then she smiled as the thought of a clever pun. "Pardon me for sayin' this, Fluttershy, but we've got ta make like trees and leaf!"

Their first priority: getting the book back from Lyra. Twilight knocked on the door to her apartment, but Bon-Bon was the one to answer. She explained that Lyra was busy with an...experiment of some sort and couldn't come to the door, but she was glad to fetch the book for them.

Twilight turned to the index and scanned the page. When she found the spell for turning trees into ponies, she read it several times to make sure she knew how to properly cast it. After feeling confident enough, she closed her eyes and imagined Fluttershy as a pegasus, in her normal form. Her horn gave off the familiar glow as magic power was drawn into it. Within seconds Fluttershy was back in the body to which she belonged.

She flexed her muscles, glad to finally be free from that stiff tree form. "I've never felt so limber in my life!" she cried happily.

"Don't ya mean lumber?" Applejack joked, causing the two of them to giggle loudly.

Twilight did not join in the festivities. She was busy staring transfixed at a small white object heading towards them. At first she thought it was just a piece of trash, but then she remembered: Ponies don't litter! That's bad for the environment! She chuckled to herself, wondering how she could have possibly come up with that ridiculous notion.

As the object came closer, she began to make out two floppy ears. Turning to Fluttershy, who was still rolling on the floor laughing, she said, "Hey Fluttershy, isn't that your rabbit?"

Fluttershy stopped snickering and looked out at the unidentifiable white object. She could see that it had long ears and a bushy tail. Her mouth broke into a wide grin. "It is! It IS Angel Bunny!"

She rushed over to her rabbit, quick as a whip. She scooped him up in her arms and cradled him, saying, "Oh, Angel Bunny, don't you ever run away from Mamma again! I was worried sick about you! Now let's go home and I'll give you a nice, juicy carrot to eat...in fact, a whole bushel of carrots!" She gently flew home, hugging the rabbit tightly against her chest so as not to drop him. Soon she was out of earshot.

Applejack watched her go, then turned to Twilight and said, "Well, this has been quite the adventure! Ah think ah'll go home and rest fer a while. I've had enough of this magical whatnot!"

"I thought you wanted me to come over and plant some trees for you?" Twilight asked.

The cowpony shook her head violently. "That's okay, Twi. Ah've dealt with enough trees fer one day." She waved a hoof goodbye and said, "See y'all tomorrow!" before trotting home to Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight smiled. It had been a rough day indeed. Maybe a little rest was a good idea.

"Spike, cancel my appointments for today. This girl's got a lot of relaxing ahead of her..."

Twilight frowned at the gelatinous mixture covering her library's floor. No, that's definitely not it, she said internally. Frustrated at the amount of progress she wasn't making, she cleaned up the sticky results of the failed spell. This was just like what happened the other day.

It was a few days after their toilsome adventure. Pinkie Pie was planning another one of her insane parties, and she needed lots of sweets and treats for the guests to eat. She'd prepared a wide variety of desserts, including cakes, cookies, candy, and crème brûlée, but there was still one item missing from her list: marshmallows.

"Oh, Twilight," she'd asked the purple unicorn, "can you pleeeeeeeaseeee use a spell that makes marshmallows? That would be so super-duper FANTASTIC! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeeaaaassssseeeee?"

Sighing, she'd acquiesced to her friend's outrageous request. As she had with the apple tree spell, she conceptualized what the perfect marshmallow would look like. She could feel magic power being drawn from within her, arching its way into her horn. When enough magic had accumulated, she sent out a concentrated blast.

Then Rarity walked in, and all hell broke lose.

"Dearest Twilight, you wouldn't still happen to have that Gossip Filly book series, would you? I've heard wonderful things about it and I'd like to--"

POP!

When the dust settled, Twilight looked at the results of her spell. There, in the middle of the floor, was an ordinarily-sized marshmallow, a tuft of dark blue hair identical to Rarity's curling out of the top of it.

She sighed. "Here we go again..."