Little Fluttershop of Horrors
LITTLE FLUTTERSHOP OF HORRORS
a “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” fanfic
by Erin Mills
“My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” ©2012 Hasbro/DHX Media
On the 23rd day of the month of September, on a world elsewhere in the cosmos not too dissimilar to our own, the Equestrian race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence.
And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent, and unlikely of places...
–
There were many ways that the ponies of Equestria described the inhabitants of Ponyville. Kind, hard-working, rustic, charming. The list went on and on. However, whenever something unexpected or startling happened, there was another adjective that came into play:
Susceptible to panic.
Such was the case when there was a total eclipse of the sun one afternoon. Said eclipse was not part of any special celebration, the weather teams from Cloudsdale has no official notifications from the Princesses in Canterlot that one was going to happen, and in general, everyone in Equestria was surprised when it happened.
In Ponyville, the inhabitants panicked.
Fluttershy, however, was nowhere near the center of Ponyville at the time. She had been out seeing to the first swimming lessons for a family of otters in a pond near the Everfree Forest. The yellow pegasus was on her way back home, leaving the otters to splash and frolic to their heart's content when the moon blotted out the sun.
“What?” she gasped, looking around in panic. “What's happening?”
She had decided discretion would be the better part of valor, when there was a flash of green light and a odd high pitched humming sound. Fluttershy paused as the melody reached her ears. It was strange, but also oddly soothing.
Her normal panic dissipated as she began looking for the source of the humming. It was a slow, mild rhythm. As she searched, she became convinced it wasn't the product of any sort of instrument.
As she rounded a bend in the trail, the humming became louder. Fluttershy began moving in the direction of the music, not noticing that the eclipse had ended and the bright sunny day was returning.
“Hello?” Fluttershy called. “Is someone there? I heard your music and—oh!”
Fluttershy blinked. Sitting on the side of the path, near a bush, was a plant.
A potted plant.
Fluttershy quirked an eyebrow in confusion and brought her head down to the plant. While animals were her forte, taking care of the various critters in and around Ponyville meant that she did have to know most of the flora in the area as well. And she was certain she had never seen a plant quite like this.
It had some similarity to a flytrap, but the pod of the plant was considerably larger, resembling an oversized light green walnut nestled in a variety of light pink and white petals. Fluttershy extended a hoof and lifted the pot so she could look closer at the plant. Her lips curled up in a small smile that mimicked the seeming smile on the 'lips' of the pod.
“Well, aren't you a cute little thing,” Fluttershy cooed. “I don't think I've ever seen a plant that could smile before, much less hum. Did someone drop you during the eclipse? I know I probably shouldn't just take you with me if you belong to someone, but I—”
Fluttershy's voice trailed off as she heard the rhythmic humming again. Her eyelids drooped halfway and her grin widened. The music was so...nice.
“Let's go home,” she cooed, setting the plant on her back and turning back towards her house. “I'm so glad I found you.”
–
“SISTER!” Princess Luna cried as she barged into the throne room of Canterlot Castle, the Royal Canterlot Voice at full power. “I HAVE NEED TO SPEAK WITH THEE!”
“Inside voice, Luna.” Princess Celestia chided with a small smirk on her face. Luna snorted openly and approached, lowering her voice.
“Didst thou...I mean, did you take liberties with my moon this afternoon?”
“The eclipse? No, Luna. You know that was part of our agreement when you returned to power. The moon is your rightful domain again.”
“You are certain? This was not one of your practical jokes again, like we did twelve hundred years ago?”
Celestia couldn't keep a small snort of laughter from escaping. “No, dear sister, my taste for tweaking the snouts of the dragons has long since past. But, if I'm being honest, I thought perhaps you were the one trying to play the prank.”
“Not I,” Luna said. “In fact, now that I think of it—”
Celestia watched patiently as Luna turned to look out one of the windows, closed her eyes, and channeled magic through her horn. Underneath the night princess's eyelids, Celestia could see a faint glow as Luna communicated with the moon.
After a moment, Luna opened her eyes and assumed a perplexed expression. “Twas not the moon.”
Celestia blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
Luna turned to look at her sister. “The moon has been in its proper place since I lowered it at dawn. It hasn't moved any more than it is meant to. 'Twas not the moon that blotted out the sun, Tia.”
Celestia rose form the throne and she joined her sister at the window. She did not ask if Luna was sure. After a thousand years of exile, Luna had become more in tune with the moon than Celestia herself was in tune with the sun. If the moon told Luna it hadn't caused the eclipse, then something else had.
“You know what I will have to do then,” Luna said.
“You can't!” Celestia surprised herself by the vehemence in her voice. “You haven't been to the Great Dark In-Between for centuries, Luna!”
“But if the moon did not cause the eclipse, then the only logical answer is that it was something that came from out there. Something that wasn't a meteor or asteroid.”
“Then I'm coming with you,” Celestia said, firmly. “We can search for it together. Between the two of us, the search would take less time.”
“And how far are you prepared to search, dear sister? To the furthest reaches of the Great Dark In-Between itself?” Luna turned to look at her sister. “How long are you prepared to let our little ponies languish in the dark? The search may take days. Perhaps longer. With my return, once again you are the only one who can raise the sun each morning, just as I am now the only one who can raise the moon.
“You must stay here, Tia. Equestria can go without the moon for a time, but it cannot survive without the sun. Sending somepony else is not feasible. Even the most powerful magic of the unicorns still would not enable them to survive beyond the atmosphere. Who else can journey out there to investigate?”
Celestia let out a deep breath. “You're right, of course. But—”
“But nothing, Tia,” Luna said sharply. “You have visited the Great Dark In-Between with me in our youth, before we took up our duties. You know there are other worlds with other life on them. You know not all of it is friendly. Equestria has enough problems with the enemies that are naturally part of our world without interlopers from beyond trying to stake a claim.”
Celestia opened her mouth to reply, then closed it and her eyes, and nodded. Then she leaned forward and nuzzled her sister. Luna startled at the sudden contact, then closed her own eyes and returned the nuzzle.
“Be careful, Lulu,” Celestia whispered. “I only got you back a short time ago. I don't want to lose you again.”
“You won't, Tia,” Luna replied, equally quiet. “I'm not going far. I'll be a week at the most. If further exploration is necessary, I'll return home first so we can plan a more in-depth search. We just have to be sure.”
Celestia nodded again and pulled back from her sister. “A week. If I don't hear from you by then, I will be coming after you, my dear little sister. Responsibilities be damned.”
“Yes, Tia.”
“In the meantime, while you search the heavens, I will be searching the earth. If something has used the eclipse to visit us, I will make sure it knows that it is not welcome.”
Luna smiled. “I'm certain you will. Quite definitively.”
Celestia returned the smile. “I love you, Lulu.”
“I love you too, Tia.”
Luna closed her eyes and with a flash of silver light, she was gone. Celestia looked out the window again, then quickly went to the doors to the throne room and threw them open.
“Prepare the chariot,” she ordered the guards outside the throne room. “I wish to visit our kingdom.”
Little Fluttershop of Horrors
Fluttershy was perplexed. The plant she had brought home wasn't doing well at all. It was two days later and the plant had begun to wither and brown. She had given it water and changed out the soil in the pot just to be sure, but nothing seemed to be working.
Which was why she had decided to bring it to Sweet Apple Acres and ask Applejack for some advice. Right now, the plant was sitting on a workbench in the barn. Applejack was examining the plant, her lips curled up in concentration.
“Where'd y'all say you found this, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.
“Just outside of the forest after the eclipse. I tried taking care of it, but...well, while I know some things about plants and flowers, this one just seems to be stubborn. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong.”
“Not so's I can see,” Applejack said. A thought occurred to her. “Have you tried feeding it?”
“Yes, I tried some plant food.”
“Hmm. Not sure what else I can do then, Fluttershy. If this were a tree or some other kind of crop I could probably help you. When it comes to houseplants or flowers though...wait!”
Applejack put a hoof to her mouth and let out a shrill whistle that carried across the farm.
“Applebloom!” she called. After a minute, the younger Apple sister appeared, followed by her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
“What's up, sis?” Applebloom asked. “We were just headin' into town.”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. “Do I wanna know what y'all are up to?” Any time the three fillies went 'cutie mark crusading,' disaster had a tendency to follow.
“Pinkie Pie said the Cakes were going to hand out free samples of some new cookies today!” Sweetie Belle answered. “We wanted to make sure we got some.”
“Assuming Pinkie doesn't eat them all first.” Scootaloo added.
“Well, there's somethin' else y'all can do for us while you're in town. Run by the library, and ask Twilight to bring any books she's got on raisin' plants. 'Specially flytraps.”
“Can do, sis!” Applebloom said. “Let's go, girls!”
With the speed available only to the young and enthusiastic, the three fillies vanished over the hill towards the center of Ponyville. Applejack raised a hoof to her mouth again and called after them.
“And make sure you don't cause problems for anypony while you're there!”
She turned to look at Fluttershy and the two friends giggled at the antics of the younger ponies.
“While we're waitin' for Twi,” Applejack said, “I got a family of badgers settin' up home in the south field. Maybe you can convince 'em to find somewhere else to live so's nopony gets upset?”
“I'd be glad to.”
After the badgers had been convinced to relocate, Fluttershy and Applejack returned to the barn to find Twilight Sparkle waiting for them. She had her saddlebags and they were almost bursting with books.
“Hi, girls!” The purple unicorn called as the other two ponies approached.
“Howdy, Twilight!” Applejack greeted as they reached the barn.
“I got the books you wanted. I didn't know you were interested in flytraps, Applejack.”
“Oh, it ain't for me. Fluttershy found some really weird plant in the forest a couple of days ago and she's having trouble getting it to grow right. Looks like a flytrap, so I figured you might be able to help.”
“Sure thing. Where is it?” Twilight asked. The three ponies went into the barn. Twilight's eyes widened when she saw the plant sitting on the workbench.
“This is amazing!” she said, “I don't think I've ever seen anything like this.” Twilight's horn glowed and the books in her saddle bags floated out and piled themselves up on the bench. Another floated over and opened itself in front of the unicorn.
“Let's see here. Typically flytraps sit with their 'mouths' open, then wait for insects to land in them. If they trigger the hairs in the traps, it closes and then the insects are digested.”
“Oh, that's horrible.” Fluttershy cringed behind Applejack.
“Looks like the plants developed it to cover for nutrients that aren't provided in their natural environments,” Twilight replied, lost in “research mode.” She glanced over at the plant next to her books. “But this flytrap isn't open. It's closed. Was it open when you found it?”
“No,” Fluttershy answered. “It's been closed ever since I found it.”
“Hmm. If this were a normal flytrap, then I'd say it probably had something in that pod already. But, if that was the case I don't think it would look so sick. Have you tried putting it where it can get at some insects?”
“I left it outside all day yesterday while I was out helping the critters in the Whitetail Woods,” Fluttershy said. “But it was starting to turn brown when I got home. I asked Angel if he'd watered it and he said he had.”
“Well, as near as I can figure, this plant is probably starving, for want of a better word. But if the pod doesn't open, I don't see how else it can eat.”
“Does that mean it's going to...die?” Fluttershy asked, trepidation obvious in her voice. Twilight and Applejack exchanged a look. Looking after animals, Fluttershy was well aware that death was a natural part of the life cycle, but that didn't mean she liked the concept.
“Not if I can help it,” Twilight said firmly. “I'm going to go back to the library and check some other resources. If I have to, I'll contact the gardeners at Canterlot to see if they have any advice.”
“Shoot, we can talk to Roseluck in town, too!” Applejack said. “That pony knows everything about the plants around here.”
“Oh, that's okay, girls,” Fluttershy said, “You don't have to go out of your way to do that. I'm sure I can figure out how—”
“Fluttershy, you may have discovered a new species of plant,” Twilight interrupted. “That's important. We just can't let it die off!” Twilight gathered up the books with her magic and stuffed them back in the saddlebags. “Let's head into town. We can check with Roseluck and get some lunch before heading to the library.”
–
It was sunset by the time Fluttershy got home. She walked into her cottage and placed the plant gently on the kitchen table. She fed Angel, too tired to pay any attention to the indignant expression on the rabbit's face.
They had no success. Twilight's books had nothing that could explain why the flytrap wasn't acting as others did. Roseluck confessed herself perplexed by the mystery plant. And Ponyville being Ponyville, it wasn't long before nearly every pony in town knew about Fluttershy's new plant and offering their own advice. Although Pinkie Pie had to be forcibly restrained by Applejack from trying to force feed the plant ice cream, the pink earth pony's peculiar brand of logic being “Maybe it just wants dessert first.”
It was frustrating. All that effort and nopony could figure out what to do for the sick plant. Fluttershy hated not being able to do anything for a sick creature, plant or animal. She sat on the stool at the table and looked at the plant, which had wilted even more as the day wore on.
“I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to do for you.” She said to the plant. “I wish I knew what you needed to grow. I don't want you to die on me. I'd never want that.”
As if it had heard her and become disheartened, the plant suddenly wilted even more, with the pod sagging on its stem. Fluttershy's eyes widened.
“Oh no. Nonononono! Hang on, I'll get...something. Just hang on!”
She quickly went to her sink, intending to get some water. In her rush she knocked over a glass, which fell into the sink and shattered. Fluttershy let out an “eep” of surprise and reached in to clean up the broken glass. She pulled her hooves back almost immediately as she felt a stabbing pain in one of her forelegs. She looked at her leg and noticed that she had scratched herself on one of the shards of the glass. Not badly, but enough to break the skin and cause some blood to flow.
Not really thinking about it, Fluttershy raised her hoof to her mouth and began sucking at the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She stopped for a moment to check her progress then paused.
The sucking sound was still being made, and not by her.
Fluttershy whirled around, looking for the source of the sound and stared in disbelief when she found it.
The plant.
The plant had raised its pod and the “lips' were now making sucking sounds and motions, like it was suckling at something. Fluttershy flew over to the table and looked closer.
“You're responding! What do you need? Do you—”
She paused and looked down at her bleeding hoof. The sound had started just after she cut herself and she'd begun sucking on the wound. Fluttershy blinked as the pieces came together.
“Blood? You like blood?” Fluttershy couldn't hide the disgust in her voice, but she extended her cut leg towards the plant. As the cut came close to the lips, the pod suddenly opened and snapped shut. Fluttershy barely managed to get her hoof out of the way in time. The plant began making the sucking noise again.
Unsure of what she had just seen, Fluttershy slowly extended her injured leg again, and the pod snapped open and closed once more when her leg got close. She frowned and switched forelegs, sticking out the one that had no cut.
Her frown disappeared as her eyebrows raised when the plant's pod shifted to the side and upward, the leaves folding over themselves, looking for all the world like a fussy foal who didn't want to eat their vegetables. She switched back to the injured leg and held it at a point just past the pod's maximum reach. The pod shifted forward and opened wide, a strange tongue-like stamen vibrating as it tried to get at her hoof.
Fluttershy dropped her hoof and the pod closed, shifting upward to face her. Even though it didn't have any eyes, the pegasus had the uncanny feeling it was staring at her with want and need. She actually felt bad for tormenting the poor thing like that.
“Well,” she said after a few moments thought, “I guess a few drops couldn't hurt.”
She raised her injured leg over the pod, which swiveled upward and opened wide. Fluttershy bit down on her bottom lip and pressed on the cut with her free foreleg. The cut was already healing, but a few drops of blood fell into the eagerly waiting plant. The pod closed, made a few motions that looked like it was swallowing, then returned to it's normal dormant state.
Fluttershy looked at it for a few moments, then sighed. “I hope that was enough for you.”
She turned and headed for her bathroom to clean up her cut and put a bandage on it, before turning in for the night.
As soon as she closed her bedroom door, the plant began moving again. The pod rotated on the stem, the leaves flexed, and the dead petals that surrounded the pod fell away. In short order, the leaves grew bigger and the pod itself expanded becoming larger and greener. Small cracks began appearing in the flowerpot as the roots of the plant lengthened and competed with the soil for more space.
After the growing was completed, the pod swiveled on its stem, as if it was admiring the fruits of its labor, and the odd lips of the pod curled up at the ends once more in a vaguely self-satisfied smile.
–
Dearest sister,
I wish you could be here with me. The Great Dark In-Between is so much more vibrant and beautiful than I remembered. While I could see it during my time on the moon, naturally, you'd understand that I wasn't in the right mindset to appreciate the beauty. I wish we were in a situation that we could share this grand sight. Perhaps a day trip would be in order once we're certain Equestria is safe.
So far, I have had no luck finding the object which caused the eclipse, but it is still early days into the search. I am finding some promising leads, however. Strangely enough, I have found some suffocated bits of what appears to be plant matter floating in orbit around our world. This must be significant. I will investigate further and send my findings as soon as I have them. There are a couple of comets nearby. Perhaps I shall ask them if they have sensed anything.
And yes, dear Tia, I am taking care of myself. I shall see you soon.
Your loving sister,
Luna.
