Alice in underland

Alice in Underland

By Fillyphil

Part 1

“La la la la, la! La la la la, la!” Sang Equestia’s Life Loving Lady, her wonderous voice attracting small woodland creatures as she trotted down the forestry trail. Her mane was the most wonderful shade of light pink, mixed with innocent, sky blue eyes, and a soft shade of yellow for her coat, made for a natural beauty that rivaled even the most luxurious models in Equestria, added with a heart of gold, made her quite the mare that was often overlooked.

Winter has just been wrapped-up once more in Ponyville, and Spring was warmly welcomed by the ponies and wildlife. The Spring season was given one heck of a start, with the pegasi in Cloudsdale having sunny weather planned for the next couple weeks, and Celestia with the assistance of luna to bring the night and day. Equestia was in for a spring that they would never forget.

Fluttershy found the most joy from the Spring season out of all of Celestia’s subjects, for only in the woods, could she lose her timid nature for a strong personality. She smiled softly at the small animals, woken up just the day before with sleepy faces. She breathed in the many fragrances of the woods, the blooming flowers, the green trees, and the expansive grass. She took in the natural wonder and joy around her that many ponies usually took for granted. She loved the beautiful plants, the adored the critters, and sympathized for the impatient bunny on her back, with fur the color of angel wings.

“Oh please forgive me Angel, but I just couldn’t resist taking this scenic route, not on such such a beautiful day like this.” Fluttershy  apologized.

Angel Swiveled on her back and faced her with a disapproving look, tapping his large foot vigorously,

“Don’t worry Angel, I’m sure the others won’t mind if we’re a teensy bit late.” Fluttershy assured, not affected by the rabbit’s rude behavior.

Angel, now frustrated, sat down on her left saddle bag with an intentional “wump!”. the force combined with Fluttershy’s weak knees and the many the sandwiches in her left bag, nearly sent her tumbling. Fluttershy quickly moved her hooves to stop her potential collapse then took a second to regain her balance. After straightening out, she let out a harmless giggle and continued on the path.

“What a wonderful day!” Fluttershy thought, absorbing the natural beauty of the woods.

“... And then the dragon got hit over the head with a banjo!” giggled the Pink Party Pony, her green reptilian companion biting her trailing tail with an iron grip.

“What are you talking about Pinkie?” asked the Wise WItty Woman next to her, her mysterious night roamer turning its head while perched precariously on her flank, as if asking the same question.

“Derpy is right, randomly blurting out the punchlines of jokes is still super funny!” Pinkie Pie laughed, the bells on her saddle jingling as she convulsed in a mix of giggles and snorts, falling on her back in the middle of the field.

Twilight stopped to observe the pink pony engulfed in her own humor. She rolled her eyes with a grin at Pinkie’s extra giggly behavior. “ Don’t fall behind, we don’t want to be later than we already are.” Twilight said light heartedly.

“We’re already here!” Pinkie shouted unnecessarily loud as she recovered from her laugh-gasm instantly; she bounced toward the two contradicting ponies under a large, old, oak tree that sat at the edge of the tree line, a little jingle emanating from her with every bounce towards them. Twilight paused to try and grasp the brevity of how fast they traversed the field, but settled with “Time flys when you try too hard to understand Pinkie” and approached the three, the gems on her saddlebag glinting in the sunlight as she went on.

A bleached white mare approached the two, her mane filled with luxurious curls and colored a magnificent deep purple, her expensive saddle bags swayed as she walked over. “Oh hello darlings! Isn’t the weather on this fine day just wonderful? The perfect humidity balance does wonders for sustaining hair and makeup, don’t you think?” The Gorgeous Generous Gentle-mare said with a dramatic flip of her mane while a majestic persian feline batted at her well-kept tail, not as grumpy as usual.

“Uh, sure.” The Fair Farmhand Foal said a little unsure of the best answer. “Welp, the Apple trees are bloomin’ faster than big mack to lunch after a mornin’ of apple buckin’; the cabbages are fit as a fiddle, didn’ need an ounce of fertilizer; and the cucumbers are as content as ...well, a cucumber! Yep, this fine weather’s workin’ a up a spell on sweet apple acres!” A rambunctious K-9 hopped up from behind Applejack, enthusiastic to greet the newcomers and their pets.

Owlicious departed off of Twilight’s rear with a powerful flap of her wings, gummy following in her example while he let his grip go and waddled to the other two pets weaving through the grass.

“You look wonderful, Rarity, and that’s great news Applejack” Twilight agreed reluctantly. The two smiled, satisfied with the response.

Applejack reared up in an excited “yeehaw!”. Her rugged, yet fashionable saddlebag bouncing with her. “This weather is doin’ wonders for everypony and plant!” Applejack’s smile faded while she paused for a moment, and looked at Twilight and the giggly pony in confusion. “ Speakin’ of which, have any of you two seen Fluttershy, or RainboWAAAAAAH!” Applejack yelled out as a blue mass shot out of the tree blindingly fast and slammed into the ground next to the group, sending dirt and blades of grass flying. As the dirt settled, and the initial shock faded,  the Agile Allegiant Athlete was left standing in a glorious pose, a radically designed saddle tightly fastened to her midsection.

“Careful Rainbow!” Twilight said with concern, and a little agitation.

“Somepony could've gotten hurt!” Twilight said with a bit more agitation.

“Ahh! Twitchy Twitchy! Run for cover!’ Pinkie yelled, hitting the ground and placing both forelegs over her head. Almost immediately after she yelled her warning, a green mass toppled out of the tree and landed square on Twilight’s head.

“Ow! Twilight yelped in pain. The shell bounced to the ground after contact with Twilight’s head,  and a small, wrinkly head eased itself out of the green projectile.

“Aah ha ha ha ha!” Rainbow laughed, “Nice one Tank!” she hovered into the air and bobbed as she laughed, feeling a suddenly immense amount of pride for Tank. Twilight glared at the rainbow-maned pegasus in the air. “Hey, don’t look at me like that! Tank is just a newbie in extreme sports, I can’t be held responsible for his actions ...” She took another look at Twilight rubbing her head. “... Or his accidents!” Rainbow managed to say before falling into another fit of laughter. Pinkie joined in on the laughing, while Applejack snickered feverishly. Rarity even turned her head, shielding the large smirk on her face with her wondrous locks of hair.

Twilight let out a small smile at her chortling friends, but the same question coming to Twilight’s head that was asked before. “Rainbow, have you seen Fluttershy today?” Twilight asked. Rainbow calmed down and thought for a moment.

“uh... no. I flew over to her place earlier today extra early so we could both get to the picnic early like she always did, but when I got there, she was gone, so I figured she’d already left and I bolted over here.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“About forty minutes ago. Me and Tank got here first, even before Fluttershy, and took nap in the tree.” Rainbow Dash bragged while the others exchanged worried glances.

Rarity spoke up with concern, “ Forty minutes ago! Do you think something happened?”

Pinkie Pie chimed in “Yeah! Fluttershy should be here by now at least, figuring since me and Twilight were made late by somepony who was too busy eating a big-ol-cake.” Pinkie Pie nudged towards Twilight with a cough.

“Firstly, Pinkie, that was you who made me wait for you to eat that cake, and secondly, it was unnatural how fast you ate that huge cake.” Twilight corrected, pointing her hoof as to whom she spoke of to be clear.

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie laughed.

“Still, she has a point. Fluttershy wouldn’t be this late to our picnic.” Twilight said mixed with confusion and concern.

“Oh come on! Fluttershy’s a grown pony, she can handle herself. I bet something last minute came up that she just had to deal with.” Rainbow said, fed up with the unnecessary concern.

“Rainbow’s right, she can handle herself just fine, In fact, I bet she’s hightailin’ over as we speak.” Applejack said confidently. “In the meantime, who’s up for some horse square!?”

“I got my ball!” Pinkie sang, pulling a bright red orb from her bag.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The balcony doors shimmered into an ominous yellow glow, and were willed open, revealing a beautiful alicorn, twice as tall as anypony in her kingdom. The Powerful Pleasant Princess took a few steps outside, to admire her work in the sky. The sun glimmered a magnificent yellow with a tinge of orange, and its beams spread wide across the land, bathing the the city in a glorious soak of light, reflecting off the many grand spires and towers in the kingdom. As she looked bellow from her high perch, she spied the many fields and forests in her kingdom, shimmering a deep, forest green. The princess looked outwards, examining the snowy mountain tops far away, glimmering in the sun’s gaze, and she spotted the not so small anymore, Ponyville. Stretches of farmland covered around it, while a bustling town laid in the center. The princess closed her eyes, to better feel the cool breeze flow through her multi-colored mane, and the warm sun, pierce her coat, and warm her body. The princess felt chills for the first time in a while from this experience.

A smaller pony approached slowly in the dark room behind, herself nearly blending in with the shadowy surroundings. The Mysterious Misty Mare approached cautiously, the Princess not yet noticing. She finally spoke up in a meek voice that could rival Fluttershy’s, “It tis beautiful”.

The princess heard this, and spoke without turning, not surprised by the visitor. “I couldn’t of done it without you.”

“Ludicrous! You’ve doneth it for a millennium without thine’s help, both the sun and moon.” The alicorn spoke in the thousand year old speech, but with little of the confidence it was supposed to imply, hanging her head in self loathing.

“Not like the both of us did, so long ago.” The princess replied in her nurturing voice as she turned around and headed inside. She engulfed the closed drapes in the room with gold, and whisked them open, Princess Luna shielded her eyes from the sudden influx of light. As the light poured in, the room revealed its true beauty. The finest tailors weaved the now open curtains, rugs, and large pellow on the floor; craftsmen worked for days to craft the wooden furniture in the room, with master accuracy; and the stone walls and fireplace was sculpted by artists long ago, who exist no more. “ Only because you’ve resumed your position as co-ruler, and taken back up the royal duty of raising the moon, could I focus more on the sun, to make the day extra special.” Celestia explained, but her sister still bore the glum face. “And with you back, you can bring the wonderful nights that you used to create, something even I ,after a thousand years could not come close to,” Celestia sympathized. Luna blushed at the compliment, shielding her embarrassment with her mane that resembled the starry night sky.

The loud clopping of several hooves were heard outside the door to the room, accompanied with some loud shouts. The two princesses look towards the door just in time to see it burst open, shocking both the princesses with the loud slam. The two were surprised to see an averaged sized stallion the source of such force. Recognizing the brown colored colt, Celestia waved her hoof to call off the ten guards closing in behind him. After a moment, one guard mumbled a few orders, and all but the two that constantly stand guard outside the princess’s door left, the two waiting for the pony to try and pull something.

The stallion let out a small sigh of relief, dropping the clipboard he held in his mouth with a clang! and took a few moments to slow his breathing. Celestia waited patiently for the pony cladded in a white lab coat to catch his breath. He was a mess, smeared in dirt and various unknown chemicals on his lab coat, body, and more messy than usual mane. One could only tell that his cutie mark was an hourglass only after wiping off the dirt on his flank. Finally the colt lifted his head from his exhaustion and spoke, “Princess, … er, Princesses” the pony still getting used to two rulers over Equestria. “My lab in ponyville has revealed some startling geometric signals! I came as fast as I could when I read them!” and without realising it, he lifted the clipboard off the floor and tossed it towards the princess. The clipboard was swallowed in yellow halfway through its flight, and slowed down until it came to a stop near the sun goddess’s glowing horn. The scientist cringed, forgetting that this was the ruler of Equestria,and not a rugged lab assistant. The princess gave a small smile before reading it, relieving some of his tension, though the guards being a bit closer behind him didn’t help.

Luna came up and stood a bit behind celestia, reading over her shoulder. Luna, being the scholar of the two, recognized the graphs immediately, her eyes widening. “Oh my” the princess murmured as she finished.

Celestia finished a few moments after Luna, and a stern look spread across her face. “Dr. Whooves, we will discuss this further in ponyville town hall. Retrieve your assistant and prepare a presentation.” Dr. Whooves shook his head up and down quickly and bolted away. “Leeroy,” the green stallion turned towards the princess in surprise of hearing his name.

“Y-yes my lady?” the guard stuttered.

“Alert the crier to come at once, I have a few letters to send.” Celestia commanded.

“Yes your highness” The guard did a quick bow and galloped down the hall towards the door the scientist disappeared behind.

“And Joseph, inform the general that we are to leave to ponyville at 1:30 p.m. sharp, he will handle it from there.” The princess commanded the second guard , who only gave a quick bow and left.

“We?” Luna asked surprised.

“Of course “we” taking your position back comes with all the same responsibilities.” Celestia said with an encouraging smile.

Luna abandoned her royal tongue with her soft, personal voice. “Even after everything I did?”

Celestia gave her a reassuring smile, “I forgave you centuries ago, I only hope that you will find it within yourself to forgive me.” Celestia turned to nuzzle her sister, who eagerly returned it.

Fluttershy was enthralled with the forest, swept up in its beauty as she mindlessly trotted along the dirt trail. The endless beauty of the green oasis made her completely oblivious to the agitated bunny, trying to get her attention.

Angel pulled, even yanked at the pink mane, but received no reaction. He yanked at his own ears, grinding his small teeth in frustration at being so late to the picnic. He brought his small paws down to his sides in fists, with renewed determination. He hopped up in one great leap, and hit the left-side bag, this time sending the yellow mare tumbling.

Fluttershy let out a very audible squeak as she rolled over and face planted, tossing Angel over her head. Fluttershy laid on the ground, fighting back the tears that welled up as she felt a sharp jolt of pain shoot through her wing. Angel pulled himself up and looked towards Fluttershy, who was on the brink of tears. He slowly approached, engulfed in the guilt of what he just did. After a moment of sulking, Fluttershy placed her two hind-hoofs below her, and then her two fore-hoofs, shakingly lifting herself up with a few moans of pain. Angel looked up at her eyes with shame, his ears drooped down in remorse. Fluttershy couldn’t bare to see her close friend like this, so despite the pain, she let out a wry smile with her glassy eyes.

“You should be more careful, you could’ve gotten hurt” She tried to say in a jokingly way, cringing a little as she adjusted her right wing at her side. Angel hopped up on her back and inspected the injured wing. “Oh it’s nothing. Oh my, look at the time. If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the picnic. I know how much you enjoy our little get-togethers.” Fluttershy began trotting, trying to redirect the agenda. She glanced over to check on Angel, who she found sorrowfully inspecting the area a saddle bag flap used to be, leaving the contents naked to the outside world. “Oh clumsy me, I ripped the bag Rarity worked so hard to make for me” She said, trying to pin the guilt on herself, and in an attempt to make it seem as though nothing happened, she shrugs it off and continues trotting on.

Angel wrung his ear, the shame of making his only friend cry, and that afterwards she tries so hard to make him feel better about it, ate at his soul. Angel did his best to dust off the dirt off her coat and hair, trying desperately to make amends. He reached into the ripped open bag to pull out a brush, and fixed Fluttershy’s now messy hair. Fluttershy let him work, hoping that he would feel better about himself  from doing so. she brought her eyes forward off the ground from thought, to fall upon a small dark figure on the path ahead of her. She halted in her tracks, flinging Angel into the pink mane. She was shocked at first, but as she focused on the small shape, she spotted two small eyes, two ears, one with a cut in it that healed long ago, and a small brown bag on its back. It was a rabbit, about the size of Angel, except as dark as the night itself. It stared right back at Fluttershy, with the same look of wonder. Before she could further examine, the rabbit launched into the foliage on the left side of the path without provocation. Fluttershy took a few steps in pursuit, forgetting the pain in her wing for a moment of curiosity and great interest at seeing such an oddly colored rabbit. She stopped before she dove into the woods, remembering the woeful rabbit on her back. “Well that was odd,” Fluttershy said, trying to show as little interest as possible, knowing Angel’s craving for constant attention.

Angel seized the opportunity for self redemption. He hopped onto her head and jumped off in front of her, bobbing her head downward as he jumped. He faced Fluttershy and began squeaking and waving around gestures.

“Oh no, I would never, You would be late for the picnic.” Fluttershy said, refusing the offer.

Angel squeaked some more and gave a few more gestures with a concerned look.

Fluttershy thought for a moment at hearing this, “Well, yes I would like to, but you’re the most important bunny in my life.”

Angel smiled and gave a few more convincing squeaks.

“Well, if you know the way. Wait no, I couldn’t.”

Angel crossed his arms and shut his eyes in faked frustration and defiance, opening one eye a bit to watch her response.

Fluttershy knew the game he was playing, but gave in to his demands, “If you insist, but be careful, and be cautious around strangers. I’ll see you at the picnic” and with that, Fluttershy lept into the woods, filled with the energy of her excitement in meeting the mysterious bunny. Angel felt he could smile once more, happy to bring  joy once more to his only friend.

“Skadoosh!” Rainbow yelled as she spiked the ball with both hooves. The red sphere flew down into the nearest corner of Rarity’s square, and launched high into the air. Rarity saw this and took action, following the trajectory of the ball, leading her far out of her square. She felt the the dusty, dirt pit leave her hooves as she galloped out onto warm grass, eyes constantly on the ball. Just a few more feet, and Rarity would be right under it in time to give it a good whack back to the playing area, and with luck, into someone else's square. Her eyes fell to examine the landing point for the ball, and stopped dead in her tracks, evading certain doom. She let the ball fall, watching as it landed into a large puddle of mud with a “splat!” the splash zone only a few inches away. Rarity quickly checked her coat for any imperfections, when she noticed none, she let out a sigh of relief.

“That was too close” Rarity said with solace, yet another fashion disaster prevented.

“Yeah, but now yer’ out!” Applejack yelled over with a grin.

“Well excuse me, but my priorities include not looking absolutely horrid.” Rarity said with dignity, levitating the messy ball out of the pit with her horn. “Um, your ball.” Rarity said as she dropped the hardly red ball in the dirt at Rainbow’s hooves, sending up a small plume of dirt that covered it in a coat of reddish dust upon the mud. Rainbow took a look at the muddy ball, then shrugged as she wiped most of the mud off the orb with her hoof as Rarity took her spot at the sidelines behind Twilight with as much dignity as she could muster.

“Wakey wakey Twilight, it’s your turn to step up to the first square!” Pinkie called out as she bounced to the second square.

“Oh, oh yeah. Sorry, I drifted off a bit” Twilight said while moving to the first square, her mind still wondering elsewhere. “Something just doesn’t seem right. A Perfect day, exuberant plants, but a late Fluttershy?” Twilight thought to herself, gazing out at the mountain that held the glorious city of Canterlot, so far away, and so small from where she stood. “I got the worst feeling that something’s terribly wrong.” Her mind finished right before it was about to be cut off. A red ball slammed into the side of her flank, ricocheting off Twilight’s rear, hitting the far corner of Rainbow’s square at a low angle, too fast for Rainbow to even realise what happened until it was too late. The ball hit the grass and rolled to a stop out of the earth patch they stood in.

After a moment of bewildered silence, Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “What!?” Rainbow hollered in shock and irritation, her fore-hooves out to her far sides in confusion.

Applejack burst into laughter, stomping the ground with her front hooves. “ Hot dog Twilight! You are one lucky filly!” Applejack laughed from the third square, Twilight grinning a small bashful smile.

Rainbow furrowed her brows. “ That can’t be a legal move!” Rainbow yelled with agitation

“Nope! Fair game, butt shots are allowed! Sorry R.D.” Applejack said between bursts of laughter, not sounding very sorry.

Rainbow Dash huffed as she drug her hooves through the dirt, her wings lazily lifting her off part way from the ground as she hovered over towards Rarity. “I hate losing.” Rainbow mumbled to herself begrudgingly.

Applejack advanced to the 4th, king’s square, finally getting a hold on herself. “Whew! Twilight, you crack me up.” Applejack said with a last hoot. Pinkie Pie bounced over to the 3rd square, while Twilight took the second square.

Rarity approached the first square, Rainbow glumly taking the lonely waiting spot. “One moment Applejack,” Rarity said,0 stopping applejack before she ran to go get the ball. The ball shimmered into a blue haze, and levitated over to Rarity, who took a handkerchief from her bag next to the tree at the same time. She took the napkin and wiped the red ball of the remaining mud residue, leaving it nearly sparkling clean.

“Perfect, now let’s play ball!” Rarity said, dropping the clean sphere in front of Applejack.

Fluttershy fled into the woods, trotting at a fast pace while looking for signs of the curious creature. She spent minutes calling out to the rabbit as she ran ahead. “Hello? Mr. black bunny! If it wouldn’t be much a bother, could you please, maybe come out?” Fluttershy’s hope was gradually dwindling as she feared she lost track of the rabbit. As she slowed her trotting, she heard the rustling of bushes, and the speedy feet of a rabbit. “Hello?” Fluttershy called out in desperation, as she ran in the direction of the noise. She hopped over a bush towards the sound, and then stopped before continuing any further. She looked off in front of her, into the dense foliage of many varieties and hues. Fluttershy stared off into the murky part of the forest, mesmerized by its peculiar plants’ shapes and colors. Every second she spent staring into the thicket, the more details and mysteries she discovered, it was hypnotizing. She was woken from her gaze by the small black rabbit peaking up from a bush in the peculiar part of the woods, a look of distress across its face. Fluttershy’s brow fell in concern.

“Are you ok? What are you doing in such a scary place as this?” Fluttershy asked, lowering her head and approaching slowly. The rabbit only shook its head, then darted away into the forest. “Oh no! Don’t go in there!” Fluttershy called out to the bunny as it escaped into the foreboding wood, its scampering feet slowly fading away. Fluttershy was extremely worried for the bunny, but very much afraid of the looming Everfree forest.

Not willing to give up yet, Fluttershy took a step into the woods, then another, then another, until she was going at a slow trot, her eyes wide with fear, scanning around for any danger. fifty feet into the woods, and nothing happened. Fluttershy began to feel more confidence, not so afraid anymore of the quiet trees, until she heard a hoot from her left. She shot her face to the left, freezing in her tracks, scanning around for the perpetrator. Nopony but herself and the trees were around her. Then a hiss came from her right, “Hello! Who was that!” Fluttershy quickly called out, hoping nothing would answer her call. Suddenly a large branch fell out of a tree behind her and hit the ground with a thud, but Fluttershy didn’t bother looking back to see that it was just a branch, the thud close behind was the last straw before she began to panic. Fluttershy shot through the thick foliage, frightening and disturbing creature sounds being heard all around her. She was overwhelmed with fear, to the point of shutting her eyes tightly closed as she galloped aimlessly through the Everfree forest. By some miracle, she managed to miss trees and large objects, only hitting things as dense as bushes. Sharp branches scratched her face and back, thorns scraped her legs, and tears streamed down her face. a full 30 minutes of nonstop running felt like a century of torture. at the 31st minute, she ran through what felt like the thickest and most painful part of the woods, before subconsciously taking a leap, and then feeling nothing but cool air on her face, a second later, she landed, hitting the ground running. It took her a moment to realise that she felt no more bushes and brambles, and to stop. Her wonderfully pink mane was a mess with leaves, twigs, and dirt. She felt sore all over from the many cuts and scrapes. she stood there with her eyes closed, soaking in the pain and terror she had just experienced. She let out one sob after the other, the cuts on her face stung in the salty solution.

“Keep it together Fluttershy, don’t forget what you are here for.” A voice in her head said, imagining it was brave Rainbow Dash giving her a pep talk. Fluttershy ceased her sobbing, and opened her eyes to a large, brick  wall inches from her face, that she would of ran into if she didn’t stop. She backed away to get a complete view of the structure. It was made of dark, stone slabs as big as her head, and was covered in green moss and vines. She stared at the structure for a few more moments, trying to recall where she had seen this before. She turned around to see the Everfree forest looming over, a misty, dark chasm halting its progression of total takeover. Fluttershy’s mouthed dropped, realising that she had to have jumped over that to get here. She looked around some more, and saw that she was in a sort of open field, but it was none that she enjoyed. The field was damp, muddy, and covered in thick mist all around. High rising mist cut off most of the sunlight, only letting dim beams pass through.

As she looked around, she saw another stone structure, then another. She deduced that they all connected together, and in some cases, looked like they used to connect. She reexamined the structure that greeted her, noticing it was rounded like a tower, but its original height was unknown due to the crumbling top. Fluttershy snapped out of her trance as she remembered the concerned look on the black bunny. She looked around for any sign of the rabbit, but the ever-looming feeling in a small part in her head told her she had ran in the complete, opposite direction, and missed the sad bunny by a long shot, but she didn’t want to believe it. She took a few steps around the large tower, scanning around the open area. She noticed that there was not a creature in sight, relaxing a little to know there was no danger, but dreading the fact the bunny wasn’t here. Her mind became flooded, she was lost in the Everfree forest, that is crawling with the most dangerous creatures in Equestria, and she has no way of finding her way back home, all in vain for trying to help a bunny that she lost somewhere far behind her.

“Oh no.” Fluttershy managed to say before falling to the ground in tears. She cried for a while more, thinking how helpless she was. After a while, she just laid there, the top of her face peeking out of her crossed hooves, the wet, cold mud against her belly. She stared at the main structure of the building with one eye open, wondering what she would do. As she gazed at the building, the sobbing slowly subsiding, she spotted a tiny, black rabbit peek its head out of a hole in the side of the building, an even more concerned look across its face. Fluttershy quickly got up, not so relieved to meet the bunny, but relieved to know her effort wasn’t in vain. “Mr.Rabbit! Please don’t go!” Fluttershy yelled out desperately, as the rabbit shook its head once again and popped back into the hole. Fluttershy quickly trotted over to the hole, and observed that it was large enough for a small pony like her to squeeze through. Fluttershy was apprehensive at first to go into a dark cramped hole, but her renewed courage from an unknown location inside of her made her peak in to examine the inside. It was a large dark room, the floor lined in stone slabs, but that was as far as she could see. Fluttershy decided that if it’s good enough for a bunny, then she’s sure it’s fairly safe. She stuck her head through, her eyes not yet adjusting to the dark. She wiggled one fore leg through, then the other, and then slid her midsection through, cringing in the pain of her right wing that she had forgotten about until it slid through the hole. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room a bit more, now noticing it was quite large. She finally wiggled both hind legs through, stumbling a bit before standing up straight and examining the room.

Despite the dark appearance, the room felt safe, at least safer than the Everfree forest outside, which Fluttershy took great solace in. The inner sanctum of the building was decorated with many stone accessories like statues and arches that were speckled across the room , along with large stone columns that lined the walls. She took a few steps inward, the clopping of her hooves echoing through the building. “Hello?” Fluttershy called out, hoping for a little rabbit to come answering her call and nothing more, but only nothing ever came. She reached the middle of the room, and noticed a flight of stairs that led upward at her left. She reached the cracked stairs and saw they ran into a circle upward, judging from her position, she wondered if this was what she nearly ran into outside. She slowly ascended the stairs, dim beams of light shining through a few small holes in the wall. She peeked out one to spy the whole area from many feet above. She saw the tops of trees, and the occasional odd creature that flew around the canopy of the forest, she couldn’t see far past the forest, her vision being cut off by a thick fog. A thought flew into Fluttershy’s head, and she ascended the stairs quickly to investigate what she theorized. Before she could reach the very top, the tower was collapsed inward, preventing further exploration, but that wasn’t where she was headed.

Nightmare Moon is all that came to mind as she walked into the room,  staring at the stone pedestal that held a moldy throne. This was where Nightmare Moon was defeated, freeing Luna of her evil powers. This fact comforted the pony, knowing that this is where she and her friends knew that they would be best friends forever. She gave out a small smile as she walked down towards the throne, examining the columns and broken windows. She side stepped up to one of the window to see all of the lost kingdom, and where her and her friends gained entrance originally. she turned around to find an odd, mud structure catching her eye behind the throne. She walked towards it, soon realising that it was like a rabbit hole, but way too big for a tiny rabbit like the one she saw. As she rounded the throne, she saw that it was very large in fact, like the entrance to a bear’s den. The craftsmanship however was quite remarkable, nothing that a little rabbit could possibly be responsible for. Fluttershy stood at the entrance, contemplating whether she should call into it or not.

“Hello?” Fluttershy called into it, standing not but four feet away from the dark hole. She received no answer, she turned her head to listen for any sounds of life. She heard an ominous, but constant deep roar, like listening to the ocean inside a seashell. She retracted her ear and faced the tunnel, wondering if she should call again, but did not want to agitate whatever laid in there. Luckily for Fluttershy, she didn’t have to. A moment before she spoke again, two blue little rabbit eyes opened in the darkness, and peered directly at her, the sad expression still on them. “Are you ok? If you’re hungry, I got a tasty rabbit treat just for you” Fluttershy said comfortingly as she reached for her bag, but before she diverted her head, another pair of eyes opened, this time a magnificent orange, then another a deep red, and a fourth pair of a bright yellow eyes stared right at her. Fluttershy could barely contain her excitement, “Oh my, a whole bunny family? I might have enough treats for a whole bunny family.” Fluttershy said, her normal demeanour nearly returning. She reached into her left bag, and eyed the carrots she was going to take, until she heard a blood curdling laugh. She cautiously pulled her head towards the hole, to find the orange eyes bobbing up and down in a high pitched laugh. Fluttershy was dead frozen, the red eyes bobbed in a grunt, as the orange eyes made a scowl. These were not rabbit eyes, they were too big, and had slits for pupils, like a reptile.

The eyes slowly rose, above the only true blue bunny eyes, to the top of the burrow at easily twice as high as Fluttershy. Fluttershy didn’t move an inch, she couldn’t, her knees were locked, and her wings plastered to her sides. She saw one leg leave the shadows, followed by a body, the yellow eyed one took a step out. It was one of the most frightening things she’d ever seen. Green, green all over, the creature’s skin was green, covered in warts, scars, and black, singed spots; It wore a kind of tunic, made of singed cloth, and leather that made Fluttershy not dare think of where it was retrieved; his ears were long and pointy, as well as his nose; and most oddly of all, he only had two feet, standing straight up with two smaller limbs near its head. Fluttershy found herself backing up slowly without realising it, her instincts slowly taking over. The creature followed mockingly at a bit faster pace with an amused, toothy grin across his face. The other two stepped out, the red eyed one was larger and clad in crudely made, red and gray armor, while the orange eyed creature was dressed in a simple leather tunic. Fluttershy needed to leave, to go, to be anywhere but here with them.

she bumped into the wall behind her, scaring her while she let out a frightened scream, bolting around the creature, his face turning into as scowl as he barely misses grabbing at her pink tail with his long, pointy fingers. The smallest, orange eyed one quickly pulled out a few metal throwing stars from his bag. He tossed all of them at once, but to no avail, as they flew above and below Fluttershy as she raced to the exit. The Yellow eyed one growled in anger as he ran after her himself, its long legs striding him to Fluttershy’s quick pace to her disdain. Fluttershy was panicking, she hyperventilated as she heard the monster closing in behind her, the door was only twenty feet away. fifteen, twelve, eight, six, five feet away from the door, she was yanked painfully backwards, the goblin had grabbed a hold on her tail. He reached down pulled out a knife with his free hand from his belt. Fluttershy was beyond panic at this point, she gave a frantic buck. one hoof missed, flying by his head, while the other one connected with his left eye. He shrieked in pain as he dropped his knife and Fluttershy as his green, burnt hands flew to his face.

Fluttershy reached the stairs a moment later, and hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping twice, she could hear the screams from above as she descended. Close to the ground, she dared to look behind her, to find the orange eyed one sliding on the side of the wall as he quickly made his way towards fluttershy. She quickly returned her eyes to the front of her, and as she reached the bottom. The creature let out another disturbing laugh that made Fluttershy run faster, rather than freeze as she once did. Only halfway to the hole she got in from, did she realised that there was no way she could squeeze back through quickly enough to escape. Galloping down the middle of the room, she spotted a corridor in the corner of her eye, and took a sharp left towards the hall, deciding it was her best chance of escape. She took a quick glimpse behind her to see the orange eyed one skidding as he changed his direction towards her, getting ever so closer and closer, the blade was tinted with a red stain that Fluttershy wished was rust. She noticed a small amount of light at the other of the long corridor, but her train of thought on that subject ceased as she tripped on a misplaced stone, causing her to lose her balance and land on her belly, skidding through on her on the floor. She was sure that this was it, she messed up, but her natural instincts frantically fought back, and got back up. She did what she could only think of, she bucked backwards with closed, teary eyes, hoping it would connect with anything, and it did. She kicked the orange goblin as he pounced, hitting him right in the stomach, sending him sliding across the stone floor with the breath quite literally kicked out of him.

 Fluttershy bolted once more, not wanting to check if he got back up. She reached the source of light, to burst into a room with a familiar stone pedestal in the middle, that no longer held the elements of harmony. The little sunlight that the Everfree forest did have, shone on Fluttershy’s tear engulfed face, the shielding ceiling to the building being long gone. She saw the door way out, covered in a makeshift passage of vines, she was so close to escape. She bailed for the door, sprinting with the little strength she had left. At the last moment, she heard a “twang!”, and a second later, the thump of something hard hitting another hard object. She fumbled and tripped over, realising that other hard thing was the back of her head, she fell over on her side, teared vision slowly going black. She caught her last glimpse of light as she tumbled, “so close” she thought as she lost conscious.

The yellow pony’s body skid to a stop on the cold floor, a stone arrow hitting the ground with a clang, a dark red spot emerged on the back of her head, in deep contrast to her pink man. The red eyed goblin standing in the hall grinned a toothy, green smile, as he put the bow back in its rightful place next to the quiver. The orange goblin got up with a few more gasps, recovering from his encounter. He hobbled ahead of the large one to examine their kill. He reached the body and examined it for a moment before letting out a humored laugh.

“I don’t think you killed this one grog!” he laughed in his high pitched voice.

Grog the red eyed one’s face changed from smug to confusion “ Impossible!” he yelled over in his deep voice. “ I got ‘er right b’tween the ears!” he hobbled over with his awkwardly large frame.

“Nope! See? The arrow’s dull, you just knocked ‘er out!” laughed the skinnier one.

“Yah? and she jus’ about knocked you out with her hooves.” Grog retorted, agitated by the smaller one’s disrespect.

“Quit your bumblin about!”  Interrupted the yellow eyed one, covering the left of his face with his hand. He walked over with an irritated stride down the hall. “We gotta bring back sumthin’ for the hoard fast, or miss ‘Em won’t be too happy.” He seemed to be the middle of both of them in size and tone, but ahead both in authority.

“Well if Grog was a better fletcher, we wouldn’t be sittin’ around like this.” Complained the Orange eyed one.

“If Scum didn’t give us away with ‘is laughin’, we’d be half way to Underland by now!” Grog retorted. Grog and Scum bickered over top the pony’s body, the small dark rabbit dark rabbit watching the whole episode silently from behind a nearby pillar, wishing the pony never followed him.

“I don’t care!” yelled the yellow eyed one. “Just get what you can from the freakin’ pony! We’re already late as it is!” The yellow eyed leader massaged his temples due to a headache from the impact of the hoof. The two stopped bickering, both looking at the leader’s swollen eye. “Now!” he finally yelled, covering up again. The two grumbled as they began to ransack the pony. The yellow eyed one approached a nearby broken window, and pulled a shard of ancient glass from it, dusting it off to examine his swollen eye.

Scum kneeled down and unlatched the bag from the pony’s ripped side bag, and cooed in curiousity. “Ooo, gems. Some of them are fairly rare.” he said as he used his dagger to pluck one gem after another off the once gorgeous bag, now dirty and destroyed from dashing through a few hundred feet of dense foliage.

Grog flipped over the pony’s limp body with much ease after scum removed his bag, unlatching the bag on the other side of the pony. He stripped the bag of all the jewels on the outside, and sandwiches on the inside, snacking on everyone with a burp. He disappointedly removed nothing else other than a wicker basket and carrots that he threw away in disgust. Finishing before Scum, he reached into his side pack, to pull out a wrinkled piece of paper and piece of charcoal, and writing on the paper.

Scum noticed this and cried out, “Hey! you better not be adding that to your score!”

“Why not? Pony’s are three points, puttin’ me in the lead.” Grog said smugly. The leader ignored the new argument, taking out some pieces of cloth from his satchel to make a makeshift bandage.

“‘Cause you havn’t even killed ‘er yet, your stupid arrows are too dull,” Scum said demeaningly.

Grog frowned, agitated once more, “Then I’ll just fix that right up.”  he said as he pulled a large metal club from its place hanging at his side.

The rabbit observed from afar. He began to panic, looking around frantically for a distraction. Grog raised the club high above his head, gaining enough torque to really make a show. The rabbit looked around to spot the statue in the middle of the room. It was old and falling apart, a disturbance could send it toppling. He quickly scurried over, jumped up, and slammed the side of the structure with both feet. It made a loud groaning noise as it leaned, getting the attention of the three green ghouls. It finally tipped over with a deafening crash, smashing most of it into pieces. After the dust of the accident subsided there was a large crack in left in the floor where the statue landed, and a little black rabbit on the pedestal where it once stood. Grog took his club, and carefully placed it back at his side. Seeing this, the rabbit sighed with relief.

“Just cause our hideout’s a sham already, doesn’t mean you can go around wreckin’ the place even more.” Grog said in an oddly calm, but disapprovingly manner.

“Yeah,  Scorn doesn’t like anyone messin’ up his pad” Scum chuckled.

Scorn looked at the rabbit with fury in his one visible eye, the other now wrapped in an eyepatch. He dropped the piece of glass with a piercing crash, and marched over with intense anger, his breathing very audible, while his hands were clenched into fists. The rabbit was filled with a new fear as he was yanked upwards by the ears. “What do you think you’re doing? Are we a brave little bunny rabbit now, Mr. Bumbles?” Scorn said angrily, jabbing the rabbit in the stomach with his free hand. “Must we remind you of the consequences of extended non compliance? Rabbit stew is quite the delicacy around here.” grinned Scorn. Grog patted on his large belly for effect.

Bumble waved his paws around frantically and squeaked.

“Another pegasus needed for the pit?” Scorn repeated. He grinned a mischievous smile, noticing the bunny’s extended concern for the pony. He carried the rabbit over, still lifting it by the ears, to the pony’s body. “Oh, you are most certainly right, we do need another pegasus!” Scorn said dramatically. He kneeled down next to the pony and pulled her head up by her pink mane at an awkward angle, her face still wet with the many tears shed. “Oh, I don’t know, she looks awfully fragile.” He said sarcastically. He intentionally dropped her head without care, and grabbed her fore-leg, “Just look at these legs! they’re so small and weak! I don’t think she’d be very useful to us, alive that is.” he continued, knowing full well that the task needed done was not very difficult at all. The rabbit squirmed in Scorns hands, feeling great worry for the pony at what he implied.

“She didn’t look very weak when she hooved you in the face” Scum chuckled, interupting Scorn’s groove, Grog chuckling with him. Scorn dropped the rabbit and had a look of his own name on his face, but was interrupted before he could retort.

A loud, deep growl echoed off the walls, spreading all around the ancient kingdom, and beyond. A deep red emanated from the throne room’s windows. looks of fear and nervousness ricocheted off the three creatures. after a few moments, Scorn regained his composure and spoke, “Well, I guess today is this pony’s lucky day  Mr. Bumbles! The pony gets to live for now while she’s still useful” He approached the pony and crouched down again. “Congratulations! You have been nominated for deep pit scavenger!” He jokingly said, patting the unconscious pony on her soft pink mane. “Haul her up Grog, We got ourselves a lady guest.” Scorn said as he stood.

“Aw, come on!” Grog complained as he effortlessly, but begrudgingly, lifted the pony over his shoulder.

“Woo! Another straight week of bein’ in the lead!” Scum cheered as he raced down the hall, doing a few somersaults on the way. Grog hustled behind Scum with the pony bouncing over his shoulder, while Scorn followed behind, walking with both hand behind his back.

“Come now Mr. Bumbles, you know what happens if you’re late!” Scorn yelled out behind him. Bumble looked out the window for a moment, remembering the days of freedom in the forest, before he sorrowfully hopped after the goblin.

The four returned to the throne room with a few exchanged insults between two of them, before they all hopped down the hole, one by one, carrying the pony with them. The old castle now once again silent, like it had been for so many years. Nothing was left to hint towards Fluttershy’s fate, only disturbed dust on the floor, and a few small drippings of fresh blood.

Alice in Underland

Yes I know that the way I portray the castle in the Everfree forest isn’t a 100% accurate, based on what appears in the actual show, but it’s my Fic, I could make it out of waffles if I wanted. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my fanfiction, you devoting your time just to read my story is enough of a compliment.

Also, I do not own anything pertaining to the My little Pony brand, only certain ideas are my own. Please don’t sue me.

Tunnel Snakes rule