The Greenhouse Effect
Techorse Series #2
By Spirals95
Fluttershy was walking down a hallway of ordinary sorts. Beautiful paintings hung on the whitewashed walls, and the entire stretch had a lovely ornate carpet running down the middle. The pony moved gently, her head up in the midst of the peaceful room. She stopped at a window cut in the middle of the hallway and looked outside. It was a gorgeous, a grand meadow teeming with fauna including birds, rabbits, and frogs. The animals were playing outside in the grass gently, just enjoying the sunny day. Fluttershy wished she could join the creatures in their play, but knew she had to finish walking down this hall for some reason. The Pegasus pony sighed in happiness and kept walking, not stopping to look at anything else. Soon she was at the end of the lovely hallway, and a large door with a checkerboard pattern carved into it stood there. Fluttershy reached with a hoof to push the door open. Suddenly, the lights in the hallway blew out one at a time. Very rapidly the hallway became dim.
“Oh my, a fuse must have burnt.” said Fluttershy, “I’ll just go change it.”
Come to think of it though, Fluttershy couldn’t seem to remember much electrical lighting in Ponyville aside from Techorse’s castle and the town shops.
“Hmm, maybe I should just go get a candle instead.” she said while walking back down the dark hallway.
Fluttershy stopped to look out the window again, this time there were no animals playing, and it was dark and dreary outside.
“Maybe there was a thunderstorm, and the animals got scared away. Funny though, I didn't hear any lightning.” mused the pony as she let her long pink tail brush the ground.
Fluttershy started to get a little upset about the power outage, but shook her head at the silly fear and knew it was just a storm. She kept walking down the hall and reached the checkered door again.
“Did I go the wrong way?” she asked herself, “this is the same door.”
Fluttershy turned around and this time galloped to the other side of the hallway. The other side contained the exact same door.
“The maker of this building sure does like to put in checkered doors.” she thought aloud, “but maybe he’s just really good at checkers.”
The lights began to come back on a little bit, but did not go back to full strength, leaving an eerie amount of light in the hallway.
“Oh never mind, the power’s back. Thank goodness.” She said.
Fluttershy then pushed open the checkered door. The doors blew open from the light touch, and inside was simply a pair of jaws with a set of sharp teeth. She screamed in horror and turned around, then started galloping down the hallway, to the other side, where the pair of jaws was waiting at the other door. They snapped at her, trying to grab her. Fluttershy yelled again and changed direction, hoping to jump through the window to safety. As she made a beeline for it, the hallway began to tip upwards. With gravity acting against her body, Fluttershy started sliding back down towards the waiting mouth below. Panicking, Fluttershy flapped her wings furiously to try and avoid falling in, but a limb of some kind grabbed her rear legs and dragged her backwards. She looked back at the teeth below and was kicking and screaming as she drew nearer. Eventually, she felt the wetness of her attacker’s saliva on her back as she fell into the maw. Fluttershy let out one more cry of mortal panic as she saw the sharp teeth close in front of her. She felt a sharp pain in her neck as the jaws closed, there was a sickening crunch as vertebrae snapped, and Fluttershy was no more…
Fluttershy bolted up from her bed and shrieked loudly. She was in a cold sweat from her nightmare, and was unable to move out of pure fear. Realizing it was only a dream, the pony settled back down into her bed, which was quite damp. Fluttershy also realized,with a large degree of embarrassment, that it wasn't her sweat that was the only thing in her bed. Several of her fine, light-yellow feathers had molted from her wings out of fear, and were getting the bed greasy. The frightened pony got out of bed carefully, still shaking from the traumatic dream, and removed her sheets. After replacing them with fresh ones, she got back into bed slowly and pulled the sheet and blanket over her head. Deciding that wasn't enough, she went back for more blankets, until eventually she was hiding under 15 different quilts of various colors, which made it hot and dark in the bed. But Fluttershy knew she was safe now, so long as she didn’t go back to sleep at all. So she waited for morning, a shivering lump under the covers. A half-hour later, there was a loud banging at the door, which made her heart skip a beat.
“Miss Fluttershy!” called a voice in concern, “are you ok? Miss Fluttershy?” Fluttershy cautiously pulled the blankets away from her face and saw through a window in her tree home who was visiting. It was PAL, the tall robot having rushed to her aid.
“PAL?” she wondered out loud.
The Pegasus pony walked slowly to the door and opened it.
PAL knelt down and hugged her tightly, “Oh I was worried about you, Mrs. Fluttershy, with that bloodcurdling scream!”
Fluttershy was surprised, “I was that loud? I must have woken all of Ponyville.”
PAL continued, “No, but master installed sonic hearing on me. I forgot to turn it off tonight and picked up your cries of terror, so I assumed the worst and came to help.”
Fluttershy smiled gently and said, “Thanks PAL, but it was only a nightmare.”
“What is that?” asked the machine as he released his grip on her.
Fluttershy asked PAL with curiosity, “You mean you've never heard of a nightmare? It’s a scary dream!”
PAL stood up and frowned, “Oh. Robots like myself do not dream. Sorry.”
Fluttershy asked the robot if he’d like to come inside. PAL accepted the invitation, and soon the robot and Fluttershy were sitting by a warm stove in her kitchen. Fluttershy got herself a hot drink and sat down next to PAL. The robot could detect Fluttershy’s tiredness; she had dark circles under her eyes.
PAL asked her as she sipped her hot milk, “Please, tell me about this nightmare you had.”
Fluttershy said, “Well, I was in this beautiful hallway with a window in it. There were many playful animals outside the window, but I couldn't get to them. So, I decided to exit the hall through a door. Just then, the power went out and the hall was dark. I tried to leave anyway, but there was this monster with sharp teeth behind the door. I ran for my life, but it dragged me in and…” Fluttershy closed her eyes and tears streamed down her face, “crunch!”
PAL put a hand on her head and comforted her, “I may not dream, but I know to you that must have been terrifying.”
“I’m glad it was just a dream.” Whimpered Fluttershy, “but I’m not going back to sleep. What if I have that nightmare again? Or if it happens in real life?”
PAL stood up tall and said, “Fluttershy, I will make sure you get your sleep. Master Techorse built me to be a friend, and friends don’t let this happen!”
Fluttershy hugged the machine’s leg and said, “Thanks. Having a big strong robot around does make me feel better.”
PAL beat a metal fist to his chest and said, “I’ll stand guard over your bed while you sleep. I can easily last the night, and I can protect you.”
So that’s what they did, PAL stood at the foot of Fluttershy’s bed, quiet and motionless, holding a large broomstick in his hands. Fluttershy sighed, she felt safe now, and drifted back off to sleep. This time, she had pleasant dreams.
The morning sun cleared away the morning fog over Ponyville before the Pegasus ponies could get to it. It was a brand new day for the residents, time to get up and begin work. In particular, Applejack was dragging her display stand into the center of town, ready to sell apples and goodies made from them to passing workers. She finished setting up the cart, and then stacked up 3 empty apple barrels to the side in order to make a little more working room for herself. Getting out early to sell breakfast was simply one of the ways she earned her living, besides this, most apples were bought by the bushel via an order form. Today, however, she was out in the town getting a chance to talk to her customers face to face. The sun was still rising, it was about seven in the morning, and it was a little cold outside. After a few minutes, ponies started coming out of the colonial town homes to go to their jobs. A couple of them bought some goods from Applejack, but it seemed that today she was having less luck than usual. Applejack tried to never frown on her misfortune though, and maintained a cheerful expression as the morning went on. After an hour passed since opening time, Rarity passed by her stand.
“Good mornin’ Rarity.” Called out Applejack, “you’re up early.”
Rarity simply grunted a simple hello, obviously getting up this early was not planned; something had gone wrong. Applejack shook her head at her friend’s grumpiness and went back to selling a customer a fresh apple muffin. The unicorn pony took the muffin with his magic, paid Applejack, and then turned to leave. However, he accidentally knocked the barrels next to the cart down, and they started rolling towards Rarity. “Look out!” cried Applejack.
The three barrels spanned the entire road, so there was no way Rarity could move out of the way, and she couldn't jump them.
Spike, who happened to be in the area on a grocery run for Twilight, saw the love of his life in danger and shouted, “I’ll save you, Rarity!”
He took a rope off the ground and tied it to the roof of a building quickly. He then swung down on the rope to try to push Rarity out of the way. Unfortunately, Spike used way too long of a rope and “Tarzan’s” rescue attempt was cut short when he tumbled on the ground two feet from where he started. It was Spike’s silly attempt at rescuing her that caused Rarity to take notice of the incoming barrels. She turned and prepared to jump out of the way all by herself. But before she could, she was suddenly impacted by something heavy and pushed out of the way hard. After tumbling on the ground for a few seconds, yelling in surprise, she opened her eyes up to see what had pushed her.
Techorse was standing over her, turbofans extending from his battle saddle. Rarity got up and saw that she was filthy from a mud puddle that she had been dragged through in the rescue attempt.
“Augh!” she said in disgust, “Techorse you pig! I’m all muddy now!”
Techorse protested, “I just saved you from getting flattened, Rarity! It was a lucky thing I was getting breakfast at that café across the street, or you’d have been toast!”
Applejack walked up to Techorse and said angrily, “Those barrels were empty, Tech, they wouldn't have done a thing. There was no need to shove Rarity out of the way like that.” He turned to face her and said, “I just thought she was in danger and I needed to help.”
Rarity added with even more anger as she got up from the ground, “What, you thought because you’re a male you just have to swoop in and save the day? We girls can take care of ourselves, Tech!” Techorse hung his head in shame and started walking away slowly from the incident.
Soon, Spike caught up to him. “Aw don’t listen to them, Techie.” he said, “we tried our best.”
Techorse said to the dragon, “I’m not bothered Spike. They’re right you know, they can take care of themselves and really don’t need me at all.”
Spike said, “That’s not true. They do need you, especially Twilight. Have you seen how she looks at you?”
Techorse asked, “Is Twilight up yet?”
“Yeah. Want to visit?” answered the dragon.
“Yes, thanks.” replied Techorse.
Spike and Techorse went back to the library and walked inside to find Twilight learning a new spell from a book.
“Ah, what’s my favorite magic user learning today?” asked Techorse as he stepped in and took off his battle saddle.
“Good morning Techorse.” she answered as she looked up from the red book, “This spell lets me launch a magic blast into the air to create a fireworks-like effect. It’s really bright and long lasting.”
Techorse twisted his head a bit and said, “Kind of like an emergency flare.”
“Yeah.” Said Twilight, “If I ever get in trouble and use this, will you come help?” Techorse’s ears drooped and he frowned.
“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.
Spike answered with a sigh, “Rarity and Applejack took his head off cause he tried to help them. These barrels were about to run Rarity over, and Tech pushed her out of the way. Because she got muddy, she got angry and said that just because Tech's a boy doesn't mean he needs to save girls. They can take care of themselves.”
Techorse said with depression, “I’m not helpful.”
Twilight comforted him, “You help a lot. We all get into trouble, and it doesn't matter the gender of who helps us. I’m surprised Applejack didn't defend you.”
Spike gave the reason, “Poor apple sales. She was crabby over it.”
Techorse declared, “From now on, I’d like to stay out of the way. I’ll let you all handle things yourselves. I’m sure things will be better that way.”
Twilight said to him, “Look, if I ever use this flare spell, you can come and help me out any time. I’m not too proud to accept help from a colt, especially you.” She kissed him gently on the forehead.
“Hey, uh, Spike.” Said Techorse, “when you get done with your chores, want to come back to the castle and help me in the lab? I can have my mining probes get you some gemstones.”
Spike answered, “That sounds like fun! Can I go Twilight?”
Twilight asked her dragon, “Did you finish going through that pile of book returns?”
“Already done.” answered Spike.
“All right then, go have a good time.” said Twilight with a smile.
“Hey, later on, do you want me to swing by and take us all to dinner?” asked Techorse as he turned to leave.
Twilight replied, “I’d love to, but I’m going to help Fluttershy and Rarity tonight. We’re all going to take care of Mrs. Pottenturf’s greenhouse while she’s gone on vacation for the week. Tonight we’re setting up equipment so that we can water the plants automatically.”
Techorse said, “Oh, you’re going to set up irrigation and things to make the job easier.”
Twilight nodded and said, “That’s right.”
Techorse smiled, “All right, good luck with those plants, Twilight. Come on Spike, let’s go.” Techorse put his battle saddle back on and walked out the door with the dragon.
“Hey, can I ride on your back?” asked Spike, not wanting to walk the whole way on the cobblestone streets.
“Sure,” answered Techorse, “but remember the ground rules. No kicking me, no pulling on my ears, and if we fall off a cliff, no dumping me down it for a second jump.” Spike climbed up onto the saddle and grabbed the front of it.
Techorse said, “Hold on tight!” and started galloping back for his castle. As they traveled by the buildings of Ponyville, they encountered Fluttershy and PAL heading in the same direction. Techorse stopped suddenly, which caused Spike to fly off and land face first in a pile of straw.
“PAL!” shouted Techorse, “There you are. I wondered what happened to you this morning.”
PAL waved and said, “Oh hello master. I was just heading back to the castle now with Miss. Fluttershy.”
Techorse said hello to Fluttershy and asked her, “Why’s PAL with you?”
Fluttershy answered, “PAL heard me scream last night and came to protect me. It was so nice of him.”
Techorse looked at his robot and said, “Considering Fluttershy lives on the opposite side of Ponyville, I guess that sonic hearing really worked. What I don't understand is why you walked the whole way there in the middle of the night.”
PAL shrugged, “You ordered me to help your friends. I simply couldn't leave Fluttershy screaming like that and not do anything.”
His master said, “You did the right thing, but next time leave me a note or something. I thought you had wandered off and gotten lost.”
Spike came back from the straw pile and finished picking the last few pieces of the dried grass off his scaly skin. He asked impatiently, “Can we just get to your castle and talk about this later?”
Techorse apologized for knocking him into the straw, and then the friends continued on their way.
As they approached the front door of the castle, Techorse asked, “So Fluttershy, what caused you to scream loud enough for PAL to pick it up?”
She replied with a shiver, “I had the most awful nightmare last night.”
“Tell me about it when we get inside.” said Techorse.
“Aw, I thought we were going to mess with things in the lab!” protested Spike.
“Afterwords, I promise Spike. Fluttershy’s mental health is more important.” he replied.
PAL opened the large wooden doors of the castle, and the group of four entered. They went to the living room of the castle, and sat down on the sofas. PAL did not sit down like the others; instead he declared, “I shall bring you some drinks. Be right back.” The robot left to get the refreshments.
“All right Fluttershy.” said Techorse making eye contact with her, “Tell me about this nightmare.”
“Well”, said Fluttershy, “I was in this hallway that was very well decorated. There was even this beautiful window where outside, my favorite types of animals were playing happily. But then, the power in the hall went out, and so did the lights!”
“Ooh, scary.” said Spike sarcastically, wiggling his fingers. Techorse shot him a dirty look to make him stop talking.
Fluttershy continued, “After it got dark, I went the other way in the hall to look for a candle. But all I could find were these scary doors. When I opened one of them, there was this monster’s mouth inside, and it had all these sharp teeth! I tried to run away, but the hall tilted up and I slid backwards into it and… crunch!” Techorse winced a little bit, that was a terrible way to wake up from a dream. Now that he had heard the real scary part of the dream, Spike seemed a little more concerned about the nightmare.
“That sounded intense.” He said.
Techorse noticed Fluttershy was starting to shed tears, so he extended out a tissue to her with his robotic hands. Fluttershy blew her nose on the tissue and sobbed, “It was terrifying and painful, being eaten like that. If it wasn't for PAL, I would never have gone back to sleep. He was so nice, giving up his time and staying up all night to guard me.”
Techorse smiled and said, “He doesn't sleep, so I’m sure he was glad to help you rest. It’s what I programmed him to do.”
Spike got impatient and asked, “Can we go to the lab now?” Techorse sighed, “Yes. Let’s go. You want to come with us Fluttershy?” PAL entered the room with some drinks.
Fluttershy answered, “I think I’ll just stay with PAL and talk.”
“Ok. We’re headed to the lab PAL.” said Techorse as he and Spike left. The robot said nothing and sat down next to Fluttershy. “It seems Fluttershy enjoys robot therapy.” commented Techorse as he walked for his lab. When they got inside the laboratory, Spike started sifting through the various inventions to find something to do. He picked up an odd looking device, a metal pole with a sharpened revolving disk on the end.
“What is this?” he asked.
“It’s a weed whacker, powered by batteries from my patented solar charger.” answered Techorse.
“Oh come on, gardening tools are boring.” complained Spike as he tossed the invention over his shoulder.
“I’m not that mad of a scientist, so don’t expect any doomsday devices.” chuckled the inventor as he went over to the parts production computer. “Now let me see, what to make today?” he asked himself as he worked with the computer.
Spike got a wonderful idea, “Can you make cologne that makes dragons more attractive to ponies?”
Techorse stopped working with his computer and asked, “And just what would you do with that, Romeo?”
Spike dragged his foot and said, “Nothing, I was just wondering if it was possible.”
Techorse laughed and said, “Of course it’s possible, but getting the hormones for it would be tricky; Not to mention wrong on a bunch of levels.”
“I know that dream was extremely scary.” said PAL to Fluttershy, “but you simply must not let it bother you. It was only a dream and it’s not going to happen in real life.” Fluttershy was still letting tears out, she was a mental wreck. PAL gave the robot equivalent of a sigh and patted her on the head. “Please cheer up for this robot.” he asked. Fluttershy hugged the machine and continued to sob.
“This is simply going to take time.” thought PAL, “and I have to live through time in milliseconds. It’ll seem like forever.”
“Maybe if you thought of something more pleasant, Miss Fluttershy, it would help you forget.” suggested the machine.
Fluttershy asked, “Like what?”
“Well you do love animals.” said PAL, “maybe we should go into the garden out back and find some. They’re quite friendly.” Fluttershy’s wings flapped once as she stood up from the couch.
“That sounds nice.” She said with a smile. They left the living room to go out back.
As they walked down the hallway, PAL said, “You know, if you’d like to spend the whole day at the castle under my protection, I’m sure master wouldn't mind.”
Fluttershy answered, “I would love to, but I promised to take care of a friend’s plants while she’s gone. I have to leave for that this afternoon.”
PAL said, “Oh that’s ok.”
The machine calculated to himself, “That’ll help take her mind off her nightmare.”
The two exited through the back door and into the castle garden. A lot had changed since Twilight had found Techorse out here. The statues, fountains, and saplings were back in place, and the garden was filled with animals. A bluebird landed gently on Fluttershy’s wing when she held it out as a perch.
“You were right PAL, they’re so friendly.” She said softly.
PAL stuck out a robot finger for another bird to land on, but a squirrel jumped on it instead and stared at the machine. PAL snorted at the squirrel’s bold attempt at hogging attention.
Techorse finished welding the last piece of his newest creation into place. “It’s done.” He said as he flipped the welding mask up from his face.” The invention resembled a tiny suit of knight's armor typical of Earth warriors from medieval times.
Spike looked at the invention and said, “It looks like plain armor to me.”
Techorse nodded, “It is armor, for you.” Spike didn't understand why it was a great invention until he tried on the suit.
“Boy this metal’s light, it feels like I’m wearing nothing at all!” he said, smacking the chest plate.
Techorse laughed, “It’s carbon-reinforced aluminum, the strength of steel without all the weight. Combined with your scales, that stuff can stop bullets.”
Spike cheered, “This is awesome! It’s going to get me noticed by her for sure!”
Techorse blinked twice and gave Spike a confused look.
“Her?” he asked.
Spike decided to explain himself and whispered to him, “Can you keep a secret? I've told the others before, but I don't think I've told you, Techie.”
Techorse joked, “Your secret is safe with me unless I get tortured.”
Spike continued, “I have a crush on Rarity. But the others all think she’s way out of my league.”
Techorse rolled his eyes and said, “Your secret is safe.”
"That wasn't sincere,” complained Spike.
Techorse breathed heavily once and said, “Anyways, keep the armor. I’m sure Twilight’s going to get a kick out of you looking like this.”
It was now about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and Fluttershy bid farewell to the boys as she left for the greenhouse she was supposed to take care of. The sun began to set as she headed out the front door of the castle. She walked a mile or two to reach the greenhouse, where she found Rarity and Twilight waiting for her outside.
“Sorry I’m a little late.” She said meekly as she looked at their slightly annoyed expressions.
“Never mind that.” said Twilight with excitement, “We wanted to show you what Mrs. Pottenturf just got in her greenhouse!” The massive greenhouse was at least 500 feet by 400 feet, and the ceiling was 20 feet high on the glass structure. The ponies opened the front door on the building and were hit by a gush of hot air.
“Phew, it is simply steaming in there.” commented Rarity, “I’m taking a bath after this.”
“Remember girls.” said Twilight, “once we set up the irrigation tubes, we can leave.”
So they got to work threading the plastic piping with holes for the water to exit out of around the roof of the greenhouse. When the water was turned on, it would sprinkle all the plants evenly with the water they needed to live through the week.
Once they had completed the task of threading the piping on the ceiling, Twilight said, “Now that we’ve taken care of that, I can show you the special plants Mrs. Pottenturf ordered.”
Twilight moved her friends to a small table at the edge of the greenhouse and pointed to three large terra cotta pots. Each pot contained a single plant in the soil. The plants were about 4 inches high, and had a single bulb at the top. One was grey in color, another blue, and the final plant was purple.
“These are insect eating plants called swampland flytraps.” said Twilight, “They don’t get too big though, only about a foot high when they’re mature.”
Rarity poked one of the bulbs with her hoof, “These things eat bugs? Whatever for?”
“They’re carnivorous plants.” lectured Twilight, “They grow in poor soil and need to eat insects to get the nutrients they need. They’re called swampland flytraps in my books.”
Fluttershy said with a frown, “That must be so gross for a plant, having to eat insects to stay alive.”
“They don’t have taste buds Fluttershy, so they just decide what has the most nutrition and eat that.” Said Twilight, “I’m sure they don’t mind catching bugs at all.”
Just then, a dragonfly passed over the three plants. Not one of them budged. “Guess they’re not too hungry.” said Fluttershy.
Twilight continued, “Well, they’re too small now to need to catch any insects. But the plants are growing in poor potting soil so they will eat when they get bigger.”
While the girls talked, biting flies inhabiting the greenhouse began to discover their location and started nipping them. It wasn't long before Rarity began to complain about the flies trying to bite her.
“With all these bugs I sure wish those plants were hungry. I’m being treated like a 5 course meal by these flies.” She said, kicking her left rear leg backwards as one of the insects bit her flank.
Twilight remembered something and said, “There is a spell I know which will make these plants grow to their full size quickly. But I haven’t used it on this kind of a plant before. I've only used it to make flowers grow.”
Fluttershy said softly, “Well, I’d love to see these plants a foot tall, but I’m sure we should just leave once we’re done watering everything.”
So the girls did what ponies do to deal with flies; they swished their tails around to fan them away. However, there were simply too many biting flies to matter. One of the larger flies sunk its mandibles into Fluttershy’s back, and she changed her mind about the risky spell.
“Ouch! Maybe, Twilight, just use one quick spell to get rid of these bugs.” she said.
After losing another drop of blood to a hungry fly, Twilight started to agree with the plan to feed the plants early.
“Ok.” She said, “Just to get rid of these flies though, and then we change them back to saplings.”
Twilight’s horn started glowing, and the plants began to grow. They reached their full size of one foot tall, and their mouths grew some sharp teeth to help them catch the insects.
“All right Twilight,” said Rarity, “that’s quite enough.”
Twilight stopped using the spell. The plants began to move, snapping at the flies, which scared them away quickly.
“These plants really work!” said Fluttershy as the flies around her went away. Something began to go wrong however, as the plants glowed purple again.
“Twilight, I said that’s enough!” warned Rarity.
“I’m not doing this!” shouted Twilight in a panic, “they have a mind of their own!”
The plants continued to grow larger and larger, making the ponies back up. When the magic stopped, the plants were a good 10 feet tall, had several vines snaking out from the base of their stems, and had large mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth. Fluttershy’s heart jumped as she identified the plant’s mouths as the monster that had attacked her in her nightmare.
The three carnivorous plants scanned the area for food. Realizing they were much too large to eat insects, they of course decided to go for the three ponies before them. Twilight began to sweat as she realized what was going on.
Fluttershy asked with a dry swallow, “Twilight, do you think the plants still need nutrition at this size?”
“I’m afraid so.” She whimpered in response. The three plants bared their teeth.
“RUN!” shouted Twilight. The ponies split up and started fleeing from the moving plants. The greenhouse was maze like, with the various pots, shelves, and planters. This made it difficult for either the plants or the friends to maneuver very well. Twilight and Rarity reached the front door and tried to push it open, but the irrigation tubes had tangled up the door and it refused to open. The gray trapped plant spotted them and moved in for a strike. Rarity screamed and ran away to the right. Twilight fired a magic missile at the attacking plant from her horn, but the impact of the bolt simply enraged the thing even more. The plant snapped its jaws, and Twilight jumped out of the way just in time to avoid her getting her purple hide chewed up. Knowing now that her magic could not defeat the plants, she ran to an open pane of glass. Noticing it was dark enough to use her new spell, she prayed, “Please, let Tech see this!” Twilight fired her flare spell out the opening and up into the night sky. The purple blast provided a huge aura of light over the greenhouse.
Twilight turned to look at the gray plant pursuing her and continued to run around the greenhouse. Because they were locked in, their only chance for survival was if somepony came to help them. But until then, all they could do was run from the carnivorous plants and stay alive as long as possible. The pony who was getting the worst out of this was Fluttershy, to her, the nightmare she had was coming true before her very eyes. Only this time, the threat was real. Fluttershy dived behind a wall in the greenhouse and panted furiously, drawing in as much oxygen as she could. She stood up and shook with fear, hoping she had lost the plant with the blue trap. But a gust of carbon dioxide said otherwise, the plant’s trap was right in front of her. Fluttershy shut her eyes and screamed. During her cry of terror, her wings molted again from the anxiety. The plant reared back in surprise from Fluttershy’s accident, and the pony blushed. Even before a carnivorous plant, that was extremely embarrassing.
Outside, the flare had reached its brightest intensity and altitude above the greenhouse.
PAL spotted the bright light from one of the castle’s windows and said, “Master, come look!” Techorse and Spike looked out the window.
“I can’t see anything.” said Spike, too short to look.
“Let’s go to the roof.” suggested Techorse. The three guys went up a spiral staircase and pushed a wooden trap door open to reach the open roof of the castle. Techorse’s eyes widened at the sight of Twilight’s emergency flare.
“Well that was fast.” said Spike sarcastically as if not surprised, “she already needs your help!”
Techorse shook his head and said sadly, “Rarity’s there with her. If I go there, I’m just going to get chewed out again. I don't want to be an annoyance to my friends.”
“Master,” cautioned PAL, “they could really be in trouble. If something’s wrong and they get hurt, Twilight will be disappointed in you for not helping. It also doesn't help if Lady Rarity or Miss Fluttershy get hurt too. I suggest we help them.”
Spike said with shock, “Rarity might get hurt? We have to take action!”
“Easy...” said Techorse placing a hoof on the dragon’s shoulder, “we have no idea what’s wrong. It could be an accidental magic discharge.”
Spike pulled the pony closer to him, “I've seen Twilight make magic mistakes. This isn't one of them!”
Techorse sighed and agreed, “All right then, it’s time to gear up and head for the greenhouse. Gentlemen, to the laboratory.”
The three ran back down the spiral staircase and into the lab. Techorse donned his battle saddle, ensuring all his tools and weapon systems were ready. Spike put on his brand new armor again, and struck a fighting pose. PAL collected the gardening equipment, wrapped a dark mask around his eyes, and donned a solid black cape.
PAL stood up tall and strong while saying ominously, “I am circuitry. I am the night. I am BOTMAN!”
Techorse laughed hard at his robot’s joke and said, “All right fearless leader, let’s go!”
“To the botmobile!” joked PAL as he ran out of the room towards the back door.
“PAL, the greenhouse is in the direction of the front door!” called Techorse.
“I knew that!” said PAL in the same heroic voice as he returned to walk in the correct direction. The three guys went out the front door and began the run for the greenhouse.
Rarity was being pursued by the purple plant meanwhile, and ended up in one of the corners of the glass building. The plant knew she could not escape him now, and opened its jaws wide to consume her.
Rarity begged for her life, “I wouldn't make a fitting meal, kind plant! I’m mostly bones and I wear far too much makeup to be very tasty!”
A clay pot hit the purple plant, sending terra cotta shards into its trap. It turned to face Twilight, who had magically thrown the object. Rarity used this opportunity to run away, leaving Twilight stuck with both the gray and purple plants chasing her.
“This is pointless, those plants are invincible!” shouted Twilight as she continued to flee. Fluttershy was starting to run out of strength, and took a short rest on a red cushion she found on the greenhouse floor.
She gasped for breath and fanned herself with her wings. Fluttershy whimpered as the purple-trapped plant came around the corner and snapped at her. She turned and started to gallop away, but the plant’s vines grabbed her by the rear legs. It was a repeat of her nightmare.
“Nooooooo!” shrieked Fluttershy as she was dragged back by the plant towards the waiting teeth. Twilight and Rarity came around the corner to assist, but it was far too late. “Please, have mercy!” sobbed Fluttershy as the plant popped her into its mouth. To Twilight and Rarity’s disgust and horror, the plant swallowed Fluttershy whole.
“Oh no.” said Rarity with extreme despair, trying not to choke on her tears. The purple plant lost interest in continuing pursuit as it had eaten its fill. It started to rest on the greenhouse floor to enjoy its catch.
“I can’t believe this.” cried Twilight in shock. The ponies’ moment of sorrow was interrupted by the other two plants discovering their location. They continued running, but were losing hope fast; the loss of Fluttershy had permanently damaged their morale.
The team of three was still making good speed towards the greenhouse, but it seemed so far away, and Techorse feared something really was wrong. “We need to move faster.” He said.
“How?” asked Spike, “even though this armor’s pretty slick, we’re running as fast as we can.”
Techorse deployed his turbofans and said, “I can go faster if you hop on. PAL, use your new jet boots and follow us.”
PAL said, “Ooh, a new gadget to try.” Spike hopped up on Techorse’s saddle and held on tight as they took off into the night sky. PAL let the rockets in his footpads ignite, and putting his fists forward like a superhero, he followed them at high velocity. They were running behind, but if they hurried, they might still be able to do something.
Rarity and Twilight had decided to stick together, even though Fluttershy was history, they believed that strength in numbers was still important for survival. But Rarity had lost it and her light blue eye shadow had smeared from her tears.
“I can’t believe this is happening to us!” She bawled, certain she would be plant fertilizer by the end of the night.
Twilight whispered harshly, “SSHH! Those plants can pick up vibrations, even sound. Try to keep quiet.”
They moved slowly and quietly together around in the greenhouse, avoiding the only light being provided by the eerie grow lights above. The two ponies decided to duck underneath a well-concealed table in a dark spot in the greenhouse. Twilight grabbed Rarity and held her tightly as they hid underneath the table, trying to stay out of the plant’s field of vision. Several times the monsters passed them, but they went undetected. They held each other and shook in fear of the plants, psychology was most definitely not on their side today. As they cowered in fear, Fluttershy gently opened her eyes from inside the plant she was trapped in. Sure seemed peaceful for what was supposed to be her untimely end. It was rather cramped inside the pod at the base of the plant’s stem and pitch dark as well. She wanted to sob about her misfortune and thought about how her nightmare had come true. But then she remembered that she hadn't been "crunched" like in her dream. In fact, it didn't seem like the plant was doing very much despite her being held hostage. Perhaps there was a different outcome in her future!
Rarity and Twilight peeked out carefully from the table, and looked at the one door which allowed escape from the greenhouse. The door was locked still from the irrigation tubes. Twilight wondered if using her magic could loosen the tubes enough to untangle the door and allow escape.
She asked Rarity, “Rarity, I could try getting the tubes off with my magic. But the glow might attract the plants. Should I go for it?”
Rarity nodded and said desperately, “We need to get out of here and get some help.” Twilight began to work with the tubes slowly, careful not to let her horn glow too brightly. It would defiantly attract attention. The rubber hoses started coming apart, twisting away gently from the door. A vine started to snake from underneath the table, but the ponies were busy watching the door and didn't notice. The green vine wrapped around Rarity’s middle, and she shrieked loudly. This startled Twilight, causing her to drop the hose and stop untangling the door. She bumped her head on the table by accident, and got out from underneath it. Rarity was pulled out from underneath the table, where the gray plant held her up in the light.
“Help me!” she screamed as she struggled to get away. Twilight fired a bolt of energy at the plant, but the gray carnivore dodged it. It threw Rarity screaming into the air and opened its mouth wide. Rarity shut her eyes and cried out, “I hope you choke on me you brute!” before she fell into the trap. Twilight's heart sank in utter sadness before she turned around and ran away at full clip. She went to the middle of the greenhouse and started sobbing to herself, hoping Rarity and Fluttershy hadn't suffered.
Techorse, Spike and PAL landed outside of the greenhouse. They approached the front door and saw the tube twisted around the top. Using his robot hands carefully, Techorse untied the tube and opened the greenhouse door. The three entered the building cautiously.
“Twilight?” called out Techorse.
She heard him and shouted in relief, “Tech! I’m over here! HELP!”
“She is in trouble!” exclaimed Techorse, “don’t worry, I’m coming!” The team ran into the greenhouse and found Twilight sitting at an intersection of multiple planting walls.
“Oh thank goodness you’re here.” She said while sobbing.
“What happened?” asked Spike with deep concern in his voice.
“There were these three carnivorous plants, and we wanted to see them fully grown to handle some biting flies.” Explained Twilight, “so I used a growth spell I hadn’t quite mastered yet, and now the plants are eating us! They already got Rarity and Fluttershy!”
“Then we're too late!” wailed Spike at the loss of Rarity.
Twilight looked back and forth with caution, “There’s still one more looking for me, it’s...”
A vine grabbed Twilight by the hind legs and dragged her out of sight. “EEEK!” she screamed as she was pulled around the corner. Techorse switched rapidly to his laser cannons and rolled like a soldier around the corner to face the enemy. There, he watched in misery as Twilight was snapped up by the blue plant in seconds flat. Techorse fired away with the laser cannons without stopping, tearing through the top of the plant and inflicting lots of damage. This drew the attention of the other plants, who wanted to protect their captives by disposing of Spike, PAL, and Techorse.
As Techorse dueled the plant containing Twilight, Spike and PAL were left to fight the purple and gray plants. PAL took out the weed whacker from earlier and started it up. The purple plant engaged the robot, attempting to smash him to gears and scrap metal with its heavy vines. But PAL dodged the attack, jumped in the air, and brought the weed whacker swiftly down at full power. He severed the plant right in half, chewing up the base and spreading bits of foliage everywhere.
After he was sure the plant was through, he switched off the gardening tool and said, “Now that's gardening!”
Spike groaned at the horrible post-mortem one-liner and turned to face the gray plant. It snapped at Spike, and the dragon jumped to avoid the sharp teeth. However, he was a little slow, and the plant caught him in its jaws. But it found that it couldn't chew Spike, the armor he was wearing was too tough.
“All right!” said Spike, “this armor rocks!” He then took a deep breath and shouted, “Ok you stupid weed, this is for eating Rarity!”
Spike breathed a large amount of green fire all over the plant. Although it wasn't dry, the carnivorous plant was still flammable, and it burned away down to a stump quickly. Techorse was still battling the blue plant meanwhile, shooting lasers at it, chipping away foliage and vine. The plant threw pots and other things at Techorse in an attempt to beat its foe. He was determined to win though, and he either shot or dodged the thrown flowerpots. The yellow laser bolts continued to chip away at the monster, until it at last could take no more. Within a few moments, the plant was completely shot away by the energy beams, leaving only the bottom section.
Three burned plant stumps were all that remained of the enemies. Techorse took out his robotic arms and walked over to the remains, then stuck his arms into the hole in the plant's stem and felt around. He received a tug on the hands, and pulled Twilight Sparkle alive and well out of the plant. PAL saw this, and he retrieved Fluttershy from the stump of the plant he had defeated, then encouraged Spike to follow suit to save Rarity. Soon, the three girls were out of the plants and recovering from their dreadful experience.
Twilight hugged Techorse tightly and said with excitement, “You did it! We’re saved!”
Fluttershy wrapped her front limbs around PAL’s leg and said, “Thanks PAL. It just a shame that had to happen to those plants.”
"What? You've got to be kidding me," grumbled Spike.
"No, I'm not!" She explained, "I wasn't hurt at all, neither were Twilight or Rarity. I think they were just trying to defend themselves after Twilight used such an aggressive spell. Too late to know now, I guess."
The plants began to glow, and they slowly reverted back to their tiny sizes, also repairing the extreme damage they suffered in the battle. Their pods still tracked Twilight's motion, who walked up and carefully extended a hoof. Not one was interested in biting anymore, and in fact they gently rested on her hoof as if receiving a pat on the head.
Twilight backed away from the reverted plants and declared, “Huh. I guess you were right, Fluttershy. I'm never going to use a forced growth spell on a plant again, now that we know they find it mean.”
Techorse smiled and suggested, “Next time, don’t pick something carnivorous, and I’m sure it’ll be fine.” The friends left the greenhouse to go home for the night, but before they split up, Rarity knew she had something to say.
She tapped Techorse on the shoulder and said, “Um, Techorse, can I tell you something?” Techorse turned to Rarity and looked at her.
“What is it?” he asked.
Rarity hung her head, “I’m terribly sorry about my rude behavior this morning. I was upset about getting muddy, and didn't mean to yell at you like that. I made this whole thing about you being a showoff, when really, friends should be able to help each other no matter who they are. Can you ever forgive me, Tech?”
Techorse gave Rarity a quick hug, “Of course. Someday, you're probably going to end up saving me! But I still feel bad about dragging you through the mud.”
“It’s quite all right.” She replied.
Techorse couldn't take all the credit, “Actually, I mostly saved Twilight. Spike and PAL helped saved you from the plant.”
Rarity said, “Thank you so much, you brave little dragon, and you too, you metal hero!”
Spike smiled in happiness and high-fived his robot buddy.
"Hey, maybe I ought to tell Princess Celestia about this!" considered Twilight, "Since we learned that we should be willing to look past ourselves when we need help."
"I think that's a wonderful idea, and I'd be happy to help write!" agreed Rarity, smiling.
The friends began to split up to go to their homes for the night. PAL asked Fluttershy, “Will you be able to sleep peacefully tonight?”
Fluttershy shook her head and replied, “I’m over my nightmare thanks to you, PAL! Have a good night.” The robot smiled as Fluttershy walked away for her home.
He then joined his master Techorse and said, “I felt something when I helped Miss Fluttershy, but I can’t understand it because I’m a machine. Maybe you can explain.”
Techorse answered, “PAL, I programmed you to learn things, and you’re learning an emotion called joy. It’s happiness caused by helping others with their problems.“
The robot said the word to himself, “joy.” Spike and Twilight were walking alongside them, and Twilight wanted to say goodnight before they split up.
“Thanks again for saving us, guys.” She said softly.
“You’re welcome Twilight. Have a great night, and put a good word in for me with the princess when you write your report.” answered Techorse. Techorse deployed his turbofans, and PAL fired his rockets, and they took off into the night sky for the castle.
As they took off into the air, PAL asked, “What do you think of my costume?”
Techorse rolled his eyes and said, “It's pretty neat. But why not just be you?”
“I am me! I'm BOTMAN!” sang PAL happily as they flew back to the castle.
