Little Fluttershop of Horrors

by shallow15

Unexpected Events

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.”