The Flowers of Anguish
By Theflamesofsorrow
The daylight finally escaped with the sun submerging beyond the horizons. A unicorn, fur as dark as the depths of space itself, stepped into the outside of her front door. Her white long mane and braided tail shimmered in the beauty of natural darkness. The time was right for the activities of other equines to cease slowly into slumber. Save for Silver Night, a thief who chose a life of living off others. For what she lacked in magical prowess, she made up for, if not at least tried, with agility.
She had equipped with a basic packing; brown leather sash tugged on her loin and abdomen, with saddlebags on another, extending around and behind her hindquarters. Her cutie-mark barely concealed underneath, a group of four stars around one larger one. It lacked some detail compared to most cutie-marks, likely a reflection of her limited magic as a unicorn.
“Another day, more loot to save. From the possession of hapless creatures that is… Heh heh heh…” she chuckled.
With that in mind, she initiated her typical mission. The need for strategizing occured, in many cases, doing whatever possible to avoid capture. It wasn’t like she had family to support for or take care of her. She was pure rogue, and made it all the more imperative to preserve freedom. This meant keeping a low-profile, restricting her theft activity, and finding the most valuable practical targets. If it meant breaking a poor sap of his life savings, so be it.
Silver slipped behind one of the trees, sticking to the background. A practice that would decrease the likelihood of anypony, or creature getting the drop on her. She trotted lightly with her head level and on the lookout for anything opportune along the way, but in actuality, the purpose of this trip was reconnaissance. Some new residences had popped up in close proximity of the woods, just between Ponyville and her own hometown, the Everfree Forest. Fresh homeowners are sure to have some loot lying around with minimal security before they’re settled into their comfy new homes.
The thieving mare kept at a pace, hoping to catch her potential targets tired, possibly sleeping. After all, they must be exhausted from transferring everything into their homes. Not to mention their delicious valuables. Rays of Luna’s brilliant moon shone through the broken canopy, giving an aura of deep blue tint throughout. No sight of civilization anywhere. It appeared the pony had a bit of a ways to go, her hooves crushing the broken twigs and dead leaves audibly cracking along the ground.
The thick white bang blocking half her vision would make traversing in the dark troublesome but Silver was more comfortable with it than increased visibility. Still, she needed to focus directly ahead with one of her unobstructed green eyes and continued to move like a shadowy figure of the night. It’s hard to say if she were aware of her disadvantages or she embraced them.
If by misfortune, there weren’t any riches to relieve these ponies of, it would only mean to pay Ponyville itself a visit. Not her favorite locale, the village being too densely populated with Equestria’s happiest denizens for her tastes. Simply put: less ponies usually means less attention. Not to mention it had dried out of some decent riches.
Towards the edge of Everfree’s outskirts, the mare saw candle-like light swelling in the distance. Once she breached through, her hooves landed upon soft, moist grass. The experience pressed a feeling of voyage within. Like being out of her own element. Silver picked up speed, galloping efficiently at the predetermined objective, her equipment rustling along the pony’s sides. The awfully royal looking structures sat on a large wide hill, beaconed by the illumination contained. The crook will be arriving soon.
Inside the confines of their exotic new home, the ponies were finishing up unpacking their things before getting ready to call it a night. One of them relaxed on a couch with the light on. Another was enjoying the scenic view of the neighboring town. The housing had been built overlooking a greenhouse at the bottom of the hill. To an observer, it’s appearance was as if they were intent on collecting the unique plants that grew exclusively from the forest. In fact, the owners were actually members of an elitist preservation society from Canterlot.
Something of this regal caliber was unheard of around Ponyville. Though the construction was complete, it had yet to be furnished with decorations along the walls and balconies. The paint was fresh and might be a slip hazard for the uninvited. For such superior design, it wasn’t likely they paid off the mayor. Nay, more like she welcomed the idea and sold out this part of the land.
The unicorn was unfazed by it. Rather, it excited her to think these folks were potentially rolling in it! She hopped over the small picket fence with ease, but landing unexpectedly in a flower bed on her stomach. Naturally, she would leave a small horse sized depression among the recently matured flowers.
None too concerned for leaving evidence, she even ate a few merely because she could. An instinct that has become too challenging to constantly suppress over time. Living day by day from what one could from stolen goods, it was only natural to instantly eat something as tasty as flowers when they’re shoved in the face. Silver picked herself off and went right up to one of the royally styled walls.
Step by step on the tips of her hooves, she decided it was safe to, in one motion, raise her head and survey the garden a bit. The place was well kept, definitely used hired workponies to facilitate the yards. Perhaps the fanciest layout she’s ever come across, particularly the stone work, pottery, and intricate size. So beautiful, it made the pony feel entranced. A peculiar lattice had been erected alongside a window.
“PERFECT!” Silver thought.
The dark equine moved into position, back to the wall, flipped her hair over, and carefully peeked into the window before she would ascend. The room was well illuminated with lighting, and there be but one pony identified in the room. Except he was mostly obscured by the couch he layed in; just one of his forelegs were in view. Her confidence bolstered, believing nopony would recognize a disturbance so long as a certain guest didn’t do anything reckless.
All that was left was to locate anything worth stealing and then get the Tartarus out of there! It’s not easy for a quadruped to climb a ladder, let alone the reality it didn’t qualify as that! Fortunately, Silver Night was experienced. Not a pro, barely an intermediate, but experienced nonetheless. Using her best efforts to place her hooves in the square holes “Hoofholds”, she went on to climb with caution. The pony’s hooves crept into each hole delicately, pushing her body higher and higher.
A thief’s line of work was never a dull moment, of course. At one point, the recently situated makeshift ladder, not at all intended for a full-grown mare to mount, started breaking off the wall. Silver quietly gasped and looked up! The lattice begun to lose contact to the wall and her weight made it lean over. Stuck without a choice, the mare scampered up to the roof! At the last second, one of her hind hooves got stuck just as she had her chest up to the gutter!
Soon, the unicorn was being pulled in two directions. Using quick thinking, she swung her other free hind leg up to get a grip using all three legs. However, in doing so, the once trapped hoof dangled along freely and the lattice crashed down on the ground, knocking a elegant birdbath in its defeat. Sounds of crumbling stone echoed from the destruction as the bath fell onto the concrete stone paths. The thief cursed herself, vainly trying to control her volume, then brought herself on top and overlooking the yard. One of the residents emerged from the building.
“Dammit, Kale! Those roofers didn’t do their job right!” the angry resident shouted, returning inside and audibly arguing at some rich schmuck pony.
Slowly, the mission became jeopardized by Silver’s clumsiness. She had to try harder from now on. As it turned out, much to the dismay of one certain intruder, that resident wasn’t wrong. The expensive yet poorly installed tiles she stood upon slipped. The unicorn lost her balance and shrieked, swiftly moving backwards but fell, as if a waterfall of tiles poured from under her feet. The pony once again collided with the ground, this time with a loud THUD! Dazed and lying down ass-up, a loose tile from above smacked the unicorn on the back of her head. Good thing her thick mane cushioned the blow. The accident-prone thief sat up, soothing her bump.
“...What in dear Equestria was THAT?!” a male pony said.
“EEEEK! You go look! YOU’RE THE EXPERT!” to which this sounded like the resident before.
“Awww, buck me in the ass!” whispered the clumsy thief.
It was time to make an escape, but Silver had all intentions of returning another time. The mare poised to dash outward. Instinctively, she darted into the thick lush plants of their garden, losing any tail there may have been. Yet again, another incident would befall her. Something green, long and firm caught Silver’s hoof vaulting over the fence. Another sudden shriek spawned as she rolled down the hill, becoming wrapped in what was a hose, eventually covering her from the neck down to the hocks.
Meanwhile, the two clueless ponies back in the garden were examining the mess left behind. Despite Kale, the male pony having some suspicions as to what happened, his partner ridiculed his choice of service as the fault. Granted, they were no detectives. The lack of obvious signs prevented any defined reasoning. Yet, Kale couldn’t help look over the queer hole in his flower bed as the other walked away rudely.
At the bottom of the hill, the momentum finally died out, leaving the nocturnal unicorn struggling until, at last, utilizing her magic to undo the hose. Having regained her physical freedom, the thief rose up and then kicked the dirt behind her in a huff. The heist was a failure, as far as she’s concerned. In that moment, just when it seemed necessary to resort to daily pickpocketing, a glimmer of hope made itself known.
The Greenhouse!
It stood before the mare, granted it’s probably just a bunch of dumb flowers. “But… what if?” she thought to herself, standing in awe of it. The presence was daunting; many plants seemed to rule the very space of its existence. The glorious moonlight gave it an aura of intrigue as well as solidify its significance from the common garden plants outside the house. Like going to a six-year old’s birthday party, only to find the real fun were the adults passing the bong upstairs. For a pony who lived in the enchanted environment of the wilderness, even she knew how important this is!
Silver approached the door like a curious animal. The door denied access when she pushed the lever.
“...Just what are they even thinking when they lock a glass house anyway?” she grumbled.
Instinct told her to watch her back, those ponies from before could be following. A quick glance behind found no noticeable activity. Just complete, desolate silence. Relaxed, the thief went ahead to scout around the transparent shell of this fascinating-looking, encased garden. Among the frail glass walls stood out a point where the plants ceased to grow. Finally, a way to look inside! Silver “planted” her own eye on the wall to see. She refrained from letting the icy cold glass deter her.
Scanning the contents revealed a variety of expensive plants: deadly, tame, edible, poisonous, rare, imported, natural. The pure amount defied the spacious structure. Of all the plants though, the one in the center seemed extremely special, like a monument to all of these ponies accomplishments. A single, large golden flower, constantly giving off pollen that fell around it. In fact, it got top billing, separated from the rest of the more unworthy plants within its own glass prison.
“That flower! It must be worth MILLIONS! Ihave to swipe it!” the thief muttered.
Unexpectedly, a bee appeared from behind the flower. It hovered around, seemingly interacting with the flower as a bee should.
“What’s this?... Strange… Must of snuck in there. You silly little thing!” thought Silver as she plotted on how to enter.
Turning to sit with her back against the glass, a direct approach might be the right answer, as she just wanted in and out of there. The quicker it was done and over with, the better. She still had to figure out how to sell it anyway, fast enough to not stress its longevity. The pony used her magic to bring a lockpick from the depths of her saddlebag to her hoof. The time had come to get cracking!
The front entrance was encountered by Silver’s sneaky master of unlocking skills. During some tinkering using lockpicks, a loud “POP!” occurred, leading the door to open. Little did the once again hapless mare know, there was a hive amongst one of the plants. Not by accident ethier; they constantly kept the flowers, or rather one particular flower, in check. None were disturbed by the slightly broken silence of Silver walking in, unknown of their presence. Most of them were asleep, save for the one from before.
The bee was happily returning with all the pollen it could carry. That flower required to be maintained regularly, and it was a win/win anyway. He had nearly finished up when he turned around and, for the first time, what seemed like have been lost to memory, he saw a pony. Not just any pony, but a rather mysterious looking one. The bee sensed it as an intrusion and quickly flew in the hive to alert the rest.
Approaching the flower, Silver realized a panel did not exist to access it with mere hooves, but noticed a small opening above it that connected to a tube with a filter in it. Visually, there were no other obvious method available. She then brushed aside the tube mechanism. It clattered on the floor like a frail appliance breaking apart on hard flooring. The mare feared nothing for the sound she was making, but once she begun to use her magic to grasp the flower within her levitation, the sound of something buzzing was rapidly increasing in volume.
Troubled, she looked up and, to her horror, a massive beehive came into view originating from inside one of the large plants. It vibrated intensely and a swarm brewed from within. They were witnessing her attempt to snatch the beautiful rare flower. If it was taken, it was sure to die very soon. The swarm swiftly took formation and flew in hastily, charging at her.
Their victim screamed and galloped out to safety. However, refraining from closing the door behind her would be a mistake never forgotten. The bees capitalized, proceeding to follow-thru with their pursuit. The pony headed towards the dark forest. Silver sprinted with every fiber of her being. She hated not meeting her quota for a night. It would be even worse if all she got was a bunch of bee stings. As agile as she is, the bees were catching up like a flooding room to a ceiling. At this rate, she’d been lucky to get home with just a few stings shall the trees ineffectively disorient them.
Regrettably, the success of reaching the woods were short-lived. One bee lunged ahead, prepped with a stinger of drooling venom, and plunged forward. The thief hadn’t paid attention, her only viewpoint zoomed in on the point of travel. However she suddenly received a different kind of “point”. The bee pierced her left buttock and delivered a painful sharp sting.
“YEEOWWCH!!!” shouted the receiving pony, “Ahhh, that… STINGS!!!”
She had never been stung before, and of all places! It was like something incredibly thin and metal just rudely intruded into her flesh! Right where she typically sits! Soon, another would follow suit; stinging her on the opposite buttock with a similar reaction.
“AH-HA-OOWW!”
The newly found pain spurred her faster! The unicorn made a notion that moving between the environment could confuse the insects. Back and forth, she swayed between the various trees, yet still the bees maintained sight of their target. After the two that stung returned to formation, more engaged her unprotected buttocks. It’s not like a braided tail discouraged them.
“OUCH!”
“OOOOF!”
“OOH-HOHOOO!”
“AHH! BUCK!”
By this time, her butt was becoming red and galloping made it hurt more! One more bee stung a little too close to her privates.
“YAAAAHHHH!”
Silver jumped up into the trees while reaching to her buttocks all in a helpless reflex. Those bees didn’t see where she went; simply gone in the blink of eighty-six thousand eyes! They collectively looked left and right, left and right. Schools of leaves gently fell around them. In response they peered upwards and could see some figure shambling above the wooden limbs, mumbling obscenities.
Fed up with tonight, Silver just wanted to go home and take a cold bath. A faint hope sustained in her that those damn bees would leave her alone now. Speaking of sustained, she had been stung for days to come. Without a doubt, she needed to recover for awhile with her ass not touching anything for a while. On top of that, the humiliation was just as bad. Sure, she’s been clumsy before, but could this be considered fair karmic treatment?
It wouldn’t surprise anypony that by walking along the branches, one of them snapped. She wasn’t a cat, but a full-grown mare after all. Just the destruction of a single branch was enough to send her flying down to the ground. Muzzle-first, the momentum buried her entire head in the dirt, leaving her stunned. Realizing they were free to punish the naughty thief, the bees took their time to ensure their stingers were primed and extended as far as it could be.
Pitch black and full of muted silence, Silver came to for a bit, then made an effort to light her horn. To her surprise, there was nothing but soil everywhere. Her body felt exposed; it stayed outside and her limbs were able to move at their leisure. Through the silence, she could just make out a sound. It sounded like an engine mildly revving in the distance. Louder and louder, it clicked in her mind the bees were back! Immediately, the stuck pony pushed as hard as she could to free her head, only to find herself trapped! Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe, realizing she needed air. The bees outside are aware of this as well. Ironically, what would happen ended up saving her from suffocation. All together the bees piled on top and side by side from each other, forming a sided “porcupine” or a bed of stingers directed at a target.
Working as a team, they accelerated forwards unto the mare’s protruding bottom. Silver knew it was only a matter of time but she was getting screwed in a lot more ways than one. Without so much as allowed a second thought on the matter, a large number of pointy, painful, penetrating needles blasted her ass! Injected into many places at once, her instinctive response caused her horn to break through the surface, simultaneously free herself loose, and accompanied by what originally begun as a muffled scream.
“...aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
Launching upwards, the poor but rescued pony galloped away back home, echoing more yells, yelps, and hollers of pain that her nerves queued up from all the shots she just accumulated. Only way she could muster the stamina to remain conscience and still run, she dragged her sore, swollen, butt along the ground. The bees felt very satisfied, faithful this intruder would not return for awhile, even if she still had the guts to do so. Now they needed to assemble back at base and let their generous owners handle the rest.
Sobbing, hurt, and even feeling some slight numbness elsewhere, Silver managed to drag herself home and slowly pushed in her door, went inside, and secured it. Then, she wasted no time in resting with her ass in the air while she recovered. For her to stay afloat, she must resort to petty theft like pickpocketing and scams for a while. Though, it wouldn’t be for a couple of days until she could withstand doing so via walking and other physical means, when she becomes able. All this means was she will double the effort to avoid being seen. Her ass had become so bright red and injured, it hurt just to think about.
Even so, she couldn’t help but wonder how long will it take before she’s recovered.
Author's Note
If you like it, let my friend know you do!
