//------------------------------// // Toxicology Testing // Story: Fluttershy Digs Deep // by MagicS //------------------------------// Fluttershy pleasantly hummed to herself the entire time she flew down beside the worm as it took her and her friends to the bottom of this impressively deep cavern. Her friends didn’t exactly seem to be having as much fun as her when it came to riding but she didn’t exactly blame them. The worm was pretty incredible and it made sure to keep them steady on its back while it descended, the thing just never seemed to run out of length at all. And before too long the bottom of the cavern approached, with the light from Daylight’s horn giving the ponies and Angel enough illumination to see it. While Fluttershy was kind of hoping to see direct evidence of the living rock creatures they were searching for, instead she just saw an empty bottom of the cavern. Despite the worm saying that the rock creatures were pretty much right down here. She didn’t say anything though since the worm had been so helpful and friendly. Fluttershy’s hooves landed daintily on the rocky bottom of the cavern and she glanced up with a friendly little smile to see the worm lowering to its belly so her friends could just slide right off it without any trouble. Something they all did immediately. Angel Bunny then quickly came hopping up to her and hugged her legs, making Fluttershy giggle and affectionately rub his head. “That was a… different experience. And not one I would care to repeat,” Daylight Gleam said while her hooves shook. “I’ll agree with you on that one,” Amethyst Star said. “I’m fine,” Maud said, walking between the two of them to Fluttershy. Once the worm felt everyone was off its back it shifted its head until it was facing Fluttershy. With a few undulations and strange squeaky noises coming from it, it began speaking to her again. She nodded along pleasantly, only occasionally cutting in with an “Oh” or “Okay” as the worm spoke to her. Lastly it shook its head repeatedly and then started to recoil, sliding and slithering all the way back up to the top of the cave. “Thank you so much, Mr. Worm!” Fluttershy waved goodbye to him. “You were a huge help to my friends and I!” “Was he? Weren’t the rock monsters supposed to be here?” Daylight raised an eyebrow at her. Fluttershy smiled back at her. “That’s what we were just talking about.” Fluttershy pointed off at the side of the cavern. “Shine your light over there, please.” With a shrug, Daylight did so, the powerful light from her horn illuminating nearly the entire wall of the cavern, as well as the dark archway of another cave leading out of it. “Mr. Worm said that if we go through that cave that in just a short distance we’ll come across a small forest and then right after that forest is where the rock creatures live,” Fluttershy explained. “Small forest?” Amethyst Star repeated. Fluttershy nodded. “I’m not sure exactly how that works down here either—but after everything else we’ve all seen... “It’s probably relatively normal,” Daylight Gleam snorted in bemusement. “Whatever,” Amethyst shrugged. “Let’s get going then.” “There was one other thing though too,” Fluttershy said, raising her hoof to get the rest of the group’s attention. “Mr. Worm said not to touch, smell, or taste anything we see in the forest.” “Why?” Daylight asked. This time it was Fluttershy’s turn to shrug. “He didn’t say.” “Guess we’ll find out on our own then,” Daylight sighed. “It’s probably nothing. Like always I’m sure we’ll be okay down here as long as none of us do something stupid,” Maud said and began walking towards the cave. At the same time, both Daylight Gleam and Angel Bunny glanced over at Amethyst Star, who angrily glared at them. The cave was nothing more than a wide and short semi-circle in shape with nothing hanging down from the ceiling nor any branching paths leading from it that they could see. It made for an easy place to walk through and all four of the ponies stood side by side together as they made the journey while Angel Bunny hopped slightly in front of Fluttershy’s hooves. The cave truly was only a short little jaunt though, just as the worm had said. It was only about five minutes in that they saw light coming from the end of it. “Is that fire?” Amethyst Star asked. Daylight Gleam shook her head. “No, it’s not the right kind of glow for fire. And we would probably feel the heat by now if it was. Right now it’s still just really humid.” Fluttershy thought about what Daylight had just said. It wasn’t really humid, it was exceptionally humid. The air was wet and their manes and tails were all starting to cling together because of the moisture. “Daylight? Can you turn off the light from your horn? I want to see how strong this other light is.” “Of course,” Daylight complied and canceled her spell. Instantly things became dark in the cave but not pitch black. More like a dark night where the moon was still out and you could at least see other ponies’ faces. Up ahead now the light glowed a pale white and it got stronger every passing second. Whatever the next chamber was, Fluttershy was guessing it was going to be lit up like a sunny day. Angel Bunny sniffed at the air and smelled something he didn’t like, sticking his tongue out, and Fluttershy remembered the worm’s warning. They weren’t in any forest yet though but it was still making Fluttershy a bit nervous. Nervous was kind of just her thing as much as she tried to shake it. The other three seemed much calmer than Fluttershy. Or at least Maud seemed calm as per usual. Daylight had her face set in a serious frown and Amethyst Star was wiping her sweaty forehead and just seemed annoyed. “Here we are,” Daylight said, snapping Fluttershy out of her thoughts. A ray of light from above temporarily made Fluttershy close her eyes as she stepped out of the cave. When she opened them again she saw a large circular chamber covered in green trees, bushes, and flowering plants of all types and colors. It was like they had walked out into some kind of botanical garden. She used her wing for a little cover and looked up to see where the light was coming from and much to her unsurprise she saw a large bed of glowing crystals embedded in the ceiling. Just like the ones above the strange flower garden she had seen much earlier in her adventure down here. These did not faintly glow red though but were a pure white, bringing with them heat and life to the plants below. “Well it’s pretty nice looking at least,” Amethyst Star said. “Mm, yeah.” Fluttershy nodded but she wasn’t very enthusiastic. There was definitely something wrong with this forest. “Let’s head on through it already then? I’d like this little subterranean adventure of ours to be over and done with,” Daylight Gleam said and started walking for the trees. Fluttershy, Amethyst, Angel, and Maud followed her. All of the trees here looked to be of the same type, not especially big, leafy green with generally thin branches and trunks compared to something like an oak or redwood tree. They even had fruit on them that looked like small green apples. “Well if anyone’s hungry it looks like there’s plenty of fruit here,” Daylight said, her horn glowing as a powder blue aura firmly grasped one of the fruits. Fruit… small green apples… the worm’s warning… Fluttershy thought. She then sucked in a sharp breath of air and her eyes went wide as she lunged for Daylight Gleam. She grabbed the white unicorn and clapped her hooves around her horn. “Stop!” “Gah!” Daylight yelped in pain and annoyance. “Fluttershy, what’s the big deal?!” “It’s poisonous! Don’t touch that tree and definitely don’t eat that fruit. It’s all poison!” Fluttershy yelled. She let go of Daylight’s horn and gulped while Amethyst, Maud, and Angel came over to her. Looking up at the tree, Fluttershy explained: “This is called a manchineel tree. Its fruit, sap, everything about it is toxic.” Realization hit her as she then looked around the rest of the forest and carefully checked out the other plants. She pointed to a flowering white plant. “Hemlock.” A green shrub. “Poison Sumac.” To another plant with bell-shaped white flowers. “Lily of the Valley.” Over to a group of trees different from the manchineels. “Yews.” A group of pretty pink looking flowers. “Oleander.” And then finally to a leafy green plant that Amethyst Star was standing right next to. “Deadly Nightshade.” Fluttershy gulped. “E-Every single plant in this whole forest is poisonous. Deadly poisonous.” She looked around some more between most of the big groups of poisonous plants. “There’s also poison ivy and oak growing all over the ground. So touching that wouldn’t be a fun experience either.” “Okay—this place is now officially creeping me out,” Amethyst Star said, backing away from all the plants around her. “I didn’t know you knew so much about poisonous plants,” Maud said to Fluttershy. “Well, I’m not a plant expert or anything, but taking care of so many animals, wild and ones that just live outside, I need to know about what dangerous things they could possibly eat. So knowing about things like this is just part of animal care to me,” Fluttershy said. “Also I was probably just scared of accidentally eating or touching some of these myself on accident. Even if it’s a very unlikely danger you still know how I can get.” “I think we should walk through here as quickly—but carefully—as we can,” Daylight suggested, also wincing away from the nearest plants. “That’s probably a good idea,” Fluttershy nodded. “Just the scent and vapors from all these poisonous plants together makes breathing here for too long a little dangerous.” She looked down at Angel. “Angel? I want you to hop up on my back so you don’t have to worry about anything.” Angel didn’t need to be told twice. The rabbit hopped right up on her and clutched at her shoulders. And very carefully the ponies all walked together through the deadly forest. Fluttershy pointed out that most of the plants and trees were alright to at least touch, but you just shouldn’t smell or taste them. Otherwise it would be near impossible to get through here without at least brushing up against something. There were several things that would cause itchiness or a rash to break out if you touched them, like the poison oak, so the ponies had to do their best to hop over or avoid that. Even if it meant getting near something potentially much more dangerous like a hemlock plant. “This is just crazy,” Daylight Gleam muttered. “I’ve seen plenty of poisonous plants and stuff before in my life, but never so many together like this.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but go into a temporary “Twilight mode” each time she saw a plant she actually recognized. “Oh! See those two?” She pointed to get the attention of the others. “Those are the plants that strychnine and ricin come from. And that pretty one over there is called foxglove.” “It looks like something I would eat on accident if I was walking through a forest,” Amethyst Star gulped. “I could definitely see you doing that,” Daylight Gleam nodded. Amethyst Star rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, we all know I’m the most likely one to brush up against something poisonous down here or take a big sniff of oleander. You don’t have to keep reminding me.” The group pushed through a copse of lily of the valley bushes and now found themselves before a large group of trees that were taller than the manchineels and yews. They were a little weird looking too, with spikes going up and down their trunks. “Fluttershy? Got any info on these?” Daylight asked. “Mhm,” Fluttershy nodded. “These are sandbox trees. Careful not to touch them, and not just because of the spikes, the sap is poisonous too. Also the fruit explodes.” “Oh, well, that’s lovely. Let’s scoot through these then,” Daylight said. “Suck in your guts...” Amethyst added. “It’s a shame, so many of these plants are so pretty. I would love to plant some of them around my cottage if I could,” Fluttershy said. “Mudbriar would be happy to be here right now,” Maud said. “It’s too bad he’s not. He’s going to be very jealous when I tell him about this part of our journey.” “That’s right, Mudbriar loves trees and wood doesn’t he? Maybe you can get him a plant for a gift when we get back to the surface?” Fluttershy suggested. “He might like that,” Maud accepted. “You’re probably still really looking forward to when we find the rock monsters, right?” Amethyst said to Maud. “I can barely hold back my excitement.” Fluttershy giggled at the contrast between Maud’s words and how she said them. “Well, I’m excited for that too, but more so we can figure out what’s been happening down here and then we can try and get food for the moles.” “I think first we have to focus on getting through this forest. It’d certainly be bad to accidentally walk up against something you shouldn’t,” Daylight said as she navigated between the trees. Another thing that was making them want to get out of here quickly was the humidity. It was still so dang wet in the air inside this forest. And it got practically unmanageable the further they went in. The ponies and rabbit were now all sweating buckets and looking like they had just come out of a sauna. It was affecting their need to focus on all the dangerous plants around them too. Fluttershy looked up at the glowing crystals in the ceiling and wondered if they had something to do with the unnatural humidity. “How much longer is it going to be before we’re out of here?” Amethyst Star asked. She panted with each breath and had her tongue hanging out of her mouth. “I don’t think we have that much more of the forest to get through,” Fluttershy said. “Judging by the size of the chamber and all.” “Good,” Amethyst Star panted. “I just hope there’s a very clear and obvious tunnel on the other side,” Daylight Gleam said. “There should be. I don’t think Mr. Worm would’ve just let us off like this otherwise,” Fluttershy said. “Boulder is getting wet,” Maud announced. “So he’d like to get out of here too.” Angel Bunny then took the opportunity to flop over and lie across Fluttershy’s back. He clearly had had enough of the heat and humidity. Even though he had been getting a free ride the whole time. Eventually they got out of the large group of sandbox trees and came face to face with a thick wall of bushes, plants, and miniature trees that allowed no path between them. So they were going to have to walk through this whether they liked it or not. Fluttershy noticed lots of nightshade grouped together—very poisonous to ingest but not so bad to brush against as long as they didn’t have any cuts. If they had to force their way through it might as well be there. Better than brushing against the hemlock or hogweed at least. “Ick, I’m gonna have nightmares about this place,” Amethyst Star said. “Every time I go buy something from Roseluck, Daisy and Lily I’m going to be wondering if it might kill me.” “I don’t think they sell anything like this… although some are perfectly safe to have and grow around your house. As long as nopony eats them,” Fluttershy said. “Then remind me not to go eating random flowers out of somepony else’s garden...” “You shouldn’t be doing that in the first place,” Daylight Gleam said. And then narrowed her eyes at Amethyst. “Have you done something like that?” “Uhh...” Daylight Gleam snorted in annoyance and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, let’s just hurry up and get out of here.” Angel Bunny tiredly nodded in agreement from his prone position. “No need to worry about that, I think we’re almost through,” Fluttershy said, carefully pushing aside the safer leaves and plants that she could with her wings. Her words turned out to be correct as there were only a few more plants in the way and through their branches and leaves the ponies could now see the cave wall on the other end. Fluttershy made sure they weren’t about to walk over poison oak or do something dumb like that right at the end and then gave the go ahead for everyone else to follow her. Carefully, but speedily and happily, the ponies all left the small poison forest. And came face to face with another cave. “I swear, this had better be the last cave we have to go through,” Daylight Gleam glared in annoyance at the geological creation. “Amen to that,” Amethyst Star nodded. “I have a feeling it is,” Fluttershy said. “Call it a sixth sense but I also just want to believe in our worm friend.” “I would trust your sense anyways,” Maud said. “You’re a very reliable pony.” Fluttershy smiled at her. “Thank you, Maud.” “Well, I trust you too and all but let’s hurry up? I want to get somewhere where I don’t feel like I’m sweating off all my body wight,” Amethyst Star said. Some more tired nodding came from Angel Bunny at that. “The further down we go the hotter and muggier it will get,” Maud said. “Wonderful,” Amethyst groaned, shaking her head. Flutteshy giggled and took a step into the cave. “Come on—there’s no time to waste!”