"To the ignorant, the irrational fears of others are a thing to be amused with. Phobias, paranoia, and irrational thinking are things to scoff and toy with. Remedies to boredom and off the hand subjects for discourse. The ignorant see silliness, in the place of suffering. They hold amusement, in place of empathy." - Nobody Important
And so he stood there, Bulkbiceps, his mouth agape, his eyes tearing up. His mother had taken him to go pick grapes, she was going to make him his favorite jelly and peanut butter sandwich made with love... Things rarely go as we plan.
"Mom, are you sure we should be going so close to the Everfree"
"Don't worry sweetheart. Momma has got you, nothing can hurt you. Look! Butterflies!" Indeed there were butterflies in the air around them, fluttering their oddly hypnotic patterned wings daintily. If only they had known the changes these insects would bring into the colt Bulkbiceps, they would have known to fear them, rather than adore. They approached a small clearing in the forest, lined with many bushes of bright purple berries.
"Ok sweetie, now you go over there and collect as many as you can, Ill be right over here doing the same. The young colt walked over to a group of bushes parasitically feeding off a withered tree. He sat there, plucking them off with his wings, completely oblivious to the silent death that would soon occur mere feet behind him. The young mare sat there, picking berries from the bushes, joyously anticipating the labor of love she would soon endure for her son. The butterflies daintily landed on the mare, gently tickling her with their pincers, subtly inserting their deathly poison into her, while she blindly sat there, unaware of how slowly her life was slipping away. She reached for a particularly plump berry, seeing as how it hung lusciously in the air, tempting her with the viscous liquid periodically dripping from microscopic holes, facilitating the liquid from one side of the cellular wall to the other. This may seem like the berry's method of systematically spreading its seeds through the feces of those that prey upon its fruit, however, the seeds are actually not fully formed until after the berries have fallen from the branches. Instead, they form a symbiosis with the butterflies that slowly swooned over its shrub. It lures the prey into the vicinity with its appealing scent, and the butterflies would sweetly take hold of the prey and silently exterminate it, and would ravish the body, leaving the remains for the berries to feed off of. This process had been executed many times, and this mare would be no different. Her hooves began to tremble. She paused, unsure what was wrong. Her heart was beating irregularly, her breathing began to slow, and her eye lids drooped. She was losing herself and she didn't even know it. Silently, she fell to the ground, her face falling into the bushes, the butterflies slowly descended upon their prize, feasting upon the lifeless husk of the once vibrant mare.
Bulkbiceps had just finished the gathering and now stood behind his mothers lifeless husk
"Mommy? Why are you leaning into the bushes?" The colt approached his mother's corpse, and closely examined her, then gaped in horror as he realized what he was seeing. The butterflies crawled over the body like maggots, laying small eggs into it that would slowly eat their way out. The child burst into tears, and ran from the Everfree, into a small bakery and fell to the floor, wailing. He would later be admitted to an orphanage where he would stay till he was old enough to look for himself.
Many years later, Bulkbiceps stood there, playing with the local disasters-yet-to-come: SweetieBelle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo. It warmed his heart to see the young children enjoying a life he had only a small taste of. He had taken it upon himself to protect the fillies and colts of Ponyville. He spent years strengthening and maintaining his body so that he could appear as a form of rock, a person whom the little ones could trust in and run to for help, someone who could protect them. He wanted to give the children something he never had as a child, a guardian. Suddenly, horror! The familiar pattern of those carnivorous insects appeared right in his face, unable to harm him without the assistance of the weakening effects of the scent from the flowers. That did little to stop the panic attack that quickly ensued. His heart rate spiked, his breathing quickened, his pupils dilated, and suddenly, he was the colt from years ago, he immediately burst into tears, and fled for his life, hating himself for leaving the children with those deceptive beasts.
Sweetiebelle was the first to speak up.
"Um... girls? What do you think is wrong with Bulkbiceps?"
"Oh dontcha know? He's got one of them phobia thingies. Can't stand the sight of butterflies. Scares him right out of his hide"
"Really? Wow, that sucks balls. Lets keep training!"
The other two shouted in unison,
"Yeah!" And so they went back to their playful practice, oblivious to Bulkbiceps' need for comfort and consolation.
Bulkbiceps sat there in his house, wailing on the floor
"Why mommy? Why did you leave me? Why did you have to go? Please come back mommy? I miss you!" And so he spent an hour, wailing and pleading for her to come back, and all the while blaming himself for leaving those three children, and for not protecting his mother from the evil butterflies that to this day taunt him from within the forest.
The next day, he walked over to Sweet Apple Acres, making certain that Applebloom was ok, and intending to ask her what happened with the butterflies. When he got there, he sighed happily to see she was safe. He asked her what happened with the butterflies, and she said they just flew off. By God this is the worst fanfic I've ever written, good day to you all.
