Fluttershy just finished showing Spike, her king, the bathrooms along with the one closest to the master bedroom. That bathroom looked even more nice and better looking than the other bathrooms that were inside the hellish castle. Spike was amazed as usual. He liked how he was getting a special treatment from all of this, but he still worried about Discord, and the others.
"Now, next is our new garden." Said Fluttershy. Spike followed her all the way down from the castle stairs and went outside the back of the large building. The baby dragon looked in awe as he was beholding the garden that Fluttershy mentioned before. It was all red and green with roses, tulips, and other sorts of red flowers. There was also many apple trees as far as the eye can see, especially a blend bat's eye, all of the fruits ripened.
"It's... beautiful. " Spike said, truly amazed by the sight of this new garden. Fluttershy smiled at him. "It does look very beautiful." Fluttershy agreed. As the two were walking through the path to the garden, a bunch of familiar face popped out of the flowers. It was all of Fluttershy's critter friends, but having a totally different appearance. They all had glowing red eyes, like they were creatures born from hell. They also had fangs like the ponies had, but... the weird thing was... they had no wings like the vampirized ponies had.
Scared, Spike was about to run away put Fluttershy stopped him, and held him to keep him from escaping. "No! Please! Spike begged, trying to struggle free.
"Shh, it's okay, Spike." Fluttershy said really softly, trying to make him relax. "They won't hurt you. They may look scary, but they are all still the sweet critter friends I know in love."
The baby dragon started to panic when the animals were coming towards him and Fluttershy. The yellow bat-pegasus kept shushing him very softy, and telling him that everything will be alright. Spike gave a shaking when he felt Harry the bear sniffing him with his massive nose. Then, he felt Harry give him lick on his face with his massive tongue. It made Spike a little disgusted, but calm too.
The other animals joined in on the sniffing and the nuzzling. It turns out Fluttershy was right, the animals really did mean Spike no harm despite their evil and demonic appearances "hehe, that tickles. " Spike chuckled.
"See, they are still as sweet and friendly as ever." Fluttershy said. "Say hello to our new king, my friends."
All the animals said their "hellos" to Spike, except Angel Bunny, who had his grumpy glare like he would usually have. He then gave Spike a scary face with his new vampiric appearance., making the baby dragon jump with a yelp, making him shake.
Fluttershy gave Angel a really angry stare, and said "Angel! Don't you dare scare Spike like that. He is your king, and you will treat him as such! Now, don't ever do that again, or you'll be locked up in your rabbit time-out jail! Do you understand me?"
Angel was really terrified by Fluttershy's yelling, and hr angry look. He nervously nodded a yes I response while shaking with fear.
"Good, now say you're sorry to Spike." Fluttershy demanded.
Angel didn't want too, but he didn't want to be in his little prison idle he didn't apologize. He gave a reluctant sigh, and said to the baby dragon in rabbit talk "sorry"
Spike didn't reply exactly, but he gave a small smile.
"That's a good bunny. " said Fluttershy back to her normal sweet voice. "I do apologize for Angel Bunny acting this way." she said to Spike. "He can be a grumpy bunny."
"No duh" Spike said sarcastically in his head. "So, I have a question." he said to Fluttershy. "Why do all the bat-ponies have wings, but the animals don't?"
"I... I don't really know, Spike." Fluttershy said. "I honestly don't know why, I was hoping that when I bit them, Oh- not in a mean way of course." she addressed her animal friends. They all made animal sounds that sounded like "Of course" or "No offense taken". Fluttershy smiled at them. "Anyway, Just because they don't have wings, doesn't mean that they can't fly." she said. "Let's see what i mean." she calmly said to her pets.
The animals smiled and they slowly levitated off the ground, and then with a spurt, they all flew into the beautiful, yet eerie night sky, like a couple of figure skaters performing for others. Spike was both amazed and terrified by what he was seeing next. Terrified, because it could mean a worse omen for All of Equestria if he doesn't fix this, and amazed to see animals besides bats and birds flying into the misty sky. "That's amazing." Spike said. Just then, the animals stopped their flaunting and landed safely back on the ground.
"See, they can fly." said the yellow pegasus proudly. "Come on, let me show you the rest of the garden."
Spike followed her as she was crossing the path down the garden, showing him the interior. Many apple trees were surrounded by the roses and other blood red flowers right below them. Spike bent down to smell a rose, and the scent of the flower was divine. "they smell... divine." he said with bliss. "But it looks like it's going to need a lot of watering to keep them alive."
"Oh, we don't need to." said Fluttershy. "Twilight put a spell on them so that they will never die and stay young forever, and so will the apples on the trees."
"Really."
"Yep." she flew to an apple tree and picked a fruit from the branch, a nice large one. She was still hovering, but she gave Spike the apple. "Try it." she said eagerly.
the baby dragon was a little unsure, but he slowly took a bite of the large juicy apple, and his eyes went wide from the delicious taste. He swallowed it, and he dreamed of swimming in an endless ocean filled with the same apples as the one he was eating, and occasionally, he would eat a few if he became hungry. He came back from his fantasy and said "This is delicious."
"Hey, Your majesty." called a familiar voice. Spike and Fluttershy looked up, and it was Twilight, and the rest of her closest friends, flying with the moon shining down on their silhouettes. All of five of Fluttershy's friends landed on the ground and walked up to the group.
"Twilight, guys, what are you doing here?" Spike asked
"We just came to check up on you, Spike." Said Rainbow Dash, gently wrapping her wing around Spike, close to her body. "So, are you feeling okay, Spike?"
"Yeah, I'm just fine." Spike answered.
"Great, what do you think of the castle?" Twilight asked.
"I... I... I think it's awesome." Spike answered. "I really like it." and then continued to eat the apple.
"Excellent." said Rarity.
"What do you think of the apples, sugarcube?" said Applejack.
"I love them!" Spike said with his mouth full before swallowing the food inside. "It's better than Sweet Apple Acres." Realizing that he might have offended her, he said "No offense."
Applejack chuckled and said "None taken, Spike. Glad you like them."
"Did you see the comic book room?' Twilight asked
"Oh yeah! It's my favorite part of the mansion!" Spike exclaimed.
Everypony laughed with him.
"Have you seen everything around the castle?' asked Rarity.
"Well.... I haven't seen the dungeon." said Spike honestly. Everypony's smiles then turned into frowns after he just said the word dungeon. "Can I... see Big Mac, and Zecora?" he asked
Fluttershy was uncertain, for she knew he wasn't truly fine with this event. She also worried, like the girls did with Pip, that he might plot a conspiracy to turn everypony back to normal and crush the dream of her and Spike ruling all of Equestria together. "Umm... I'm afraid I can't do that." said Fluttershy
"Why not?" Spike asked
"Well, because you might be plotting against us if you did that." Twilight said.
"And they would turn you against us." Rainbow added
"Oh no, no. It's not like that." Spike said "I just want to know if they are all okay." he said. "I just want to see how they are, and if they are not injured."
"Oh, Spike." said Fluttershy softly. "I told you we didn't hurt them, I promise they are feeling just fine."
"Yeah, we're giving them as much food as possible." said Pinkie Pie.
"Even though they are trying to convince us that we have been brainwashed, and that we got to snap out of it." said Applejack
"But we are just fine." Twilight added "And we are feeling just fine, and not brainwashed at all." she began to giggle evilly until it turned into a little more loud maniacal laughter. The other ponies joined in on the evil laughter, and there was a thunderclap with a blood red background, making Spike a little scared. He backed away in fear and began to tremble against the ground as he watched in horror.
All the ponies stopped their laughing as they had their fun, and they all noticed the scared Spike.
"Oh, Spike." said Fluttershy. "We didn't mean to scare you.... again."
"Yeah, Sorry Spike." Twilight added.
The other four one at a time apologized for their... traumatizing little short play called "Laughing bat-ponies from Hell."
"It.. it's okay." said Spike, as he was gently being lifted up by Twilight.
"Are you sure?" said Rarity
"Yep, i'm fine." Spike replied. "But next time... please warn me before you actually do that."
"Don't worry, Spike. We promise, right servants?" Fluttershy addressed to her slaves
"Yes, my queen." they all replied.
"See? We will go easy on the evil laughter." Spike smiled at her promise. Maybe he can trust her one hundred percent completely.
"Look, I will make you a deal." said Fluttershy. "Maybe tomorrow, I'll take you to my new dungeon, and I will let you see Zecora and Big Mac, alright?"
The other five made word of protest, unsure about that, trying to convince her otherwise.
"Silence!" barked Fluttershy. "My decision is final!"
The other five were also terrified of Fluttershy's tyrannic side, but they were still willing followers of their new queen, and reluctantly decided to go along with it.
"So... what would you like to do now, Spike?" asked Rarity
"Well... Can I read those comic books?" Spike asked with puppy eyes and a large, wide smile on his cute face.
Fluttershy giggled, and said "Of course you can, Spikey-Whikey. You can do anything you would like to do to make you happy."
"Yes!" Spike exclaimed with excitement. He rushed back into the castle in the speed of light, and went to his own little comic book room. The ponies and the animals smiled on at him, seeing how happy he is.
"Fluttershy, are you... sure about Spike seeing Big Mac and Zecora tomorrow?" asked Twilight, still with uncertainty.
Fluttershy.... was also a little unsure, but she said "I'm sure. Besides, we'll all be down there to make sure he doesn't try to turn against us, remember?"
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" said Rainbow Dash, now understanding how it will work. The other four now fully agreed to go through with this.
Meanwhile, Pip was just sitting on the floor in his little guest bedroom that he awoken in. After the Crusaders finished giving him the tour of the whole castle, decided to be alone for a little while. He was kind of a little depressed after that encounter with his brainwashed parents. He was slowly tracing the stain-glass floor with his small hoof, trying to make some circles from his smudges, and sometimes would do tick-tack-toe with the smudges.
The crusaders were a little worried about him, they didn't want to see him depressed like this. They all walked up to him to try and cheer him up.
"Pip, you okay?" asked Scootaloo with concern
"Yeah. I'm fine." Pip replied a little depressed. He said he was alright, but deep down inside of him, he's really NOT alright. "I just need to be alone."
"Well, Pip, would you like anything?' asked Applebloom.
"No, I don't need anything." Pip replied.
"Listen, Pip. I know that your mom and dad really scared you, but they were just trying to help you." said Sweetie Belle.
"Help me with what?" pip said sarcastically.
"Trying to make you part of them, as a family." Applebloom said.
"Yeah, they really love you Pip." said Scootaloo, sitting next to the colt. "They will make it up to you. We promise you that."
Pip didn't really respond, but he finally got back on his feet, and said "Look, i'm tired. I'm just going to hit the hay for a little while." Then he tucked himself in the guest bed, and tried to go to sleep.
Just then, Scootaloo had an idea. She had a sly grin on her face, and whispered to her comrades what she just thought, and then the other girls had devious looking grins too. Scootaloo slowly walked up to the bed, and the other two girls followed her. "Oh, Pip, one more thing." she said
"What?" Pip said, showing his face to the girls.
"We know just the thing to cheer you up." said Sweetie Belle.
Pip gave a confused look, and said "What do you mean?"
"We're just going to.... Tickle you!" said Scootaloo, then she used her tail and hooves to tickled Pip's feet under the covers, and he began to laugh uncontrollably.
"Stop! hahaha! Stop!" Pip begged while laughing uncontrollably.
"What's that? you want more? weird, but okay." said Applebloom teasingly. Now she joined in on the fun, making Pip laugh from the tickling.
"He obviously needs more, Applebloom." said Sweetie Belle. Now she hopped into bed, and joined on the fun. With six hooves and three tails tickling Pip, it was too much to bear for him. He kept on laughing uncontrollably, and constantly saying "Stop it!" or "No More!" and even "Uncle!"
After a few minutes of tickling, Scootaloo said "Okay, girls. He's had enough."
Then just like that, they all stopped their tickling, and let Pip catch his breath. His eyes were streaming with tears from the laughing he experienced. Scootaloo then wrapped her arm around Pip, happy to see a smile back on Pip's face.
"there's a face we wanted to see." said Sweetie Belle.
"So, do you feel better now, Pip?" Scootaloo asked
"Yeah." Pip laughed a little. "I feel alot better.
"Great!" said Applebloom.
"You know, maybe you're all right." said Pip with a smile. "Maybe i should forgive me mum and dad for what happened. I also understand that it wasn't them, it was just the inner vampires within themselves."
"See?" said Scootaloo, glad to hear that. "That wasn't so hard, wasn't it?"
"Nope." Pip replied. He then yawned, and tucked himself in again. "Look, I would love to play some more, but I'm really exhausted from all that tickling. So... maybe we can play again, tomorrow."
"Sure thing, Pip." said Sweetie Belle.
"Okay, Goodnight." said Pip, before trying to go to sleep
"Goodnight, Pip." said the girls. They all exited the room to leave Pip in his warm soft, slumber.
Discord was now trying to think of a plan to free his fellow comrades, and thought of how to get inside without raising any suspicion with the bat ponies inhabiting the now evil Ponyville. He really would like to go to Zebrica to tell the princess what is going on, but then he would think that it wouldn't be anything to worry about, and began to worry that Celestia would do something terrible to Fluttershy for causing such havoc that would spread to Equestria. All of a sudden, he thought of an idea at last.
"I'll just disguise myself as one of those goons back in Ponyville, And I will see if I can pry Spike, Pip, Zecora, and Big Mac from their hellish prisons." But then, he realized that it must take time, and that he must wait for every bat-pony to be sleeping, that's when he will strike and make his move. "Oh, I can also turn myself into an object that nopony would suspect to know that it was me. Since, I am the master of disguise after all.
"Discord?" said a familiar voice.
The master of chaos looked to see who it was, and it was a large minotaur with long black hair, horns like Zebrican buffalo, a buff appearance and white skin. He was a little bigger than Iron Will, the minotaur that trained Fluttershy to be assertive. "Achilles?" said Discord. "Oh, am I glad to see you."
Achilles was an old friend to Discord. Achilles was a rather kind minotaur, despite his intimidating appearance. The master of Chaos helped him with some personal problems like Helping Achilles making some now friends, and other helpful things. "Same thing for you, my friend." the Minotaur replied.
"What are you doing here?" Discord asked
"I was about to ask you the same thing my friend: what are you doing here?" Achilles replied.
"Well... you see, I am in a heavy pickle here." Discord replied sheepisly
"What kind of a heavy pickle?' the minotaur asked
"It's a rather long story." Discord replied. He then explained to his old comrade what is going on right now. The minotaur was quite surprised to here that, but he didn't really sound like it, but he was on the inside.
"That's... that's some crazy shit, Discord." Achilles said.
"Tell me about it." said Discord sarcastically. "Now, It is up to me to save my friends from this omen. I'm going in there tomorrow, and I will disguise myself so that the bat-ponies won't suspect a thing."
"Wait!" said Achilles, gently placing a big meaty hand on his shoulder. "It's kind of dangerous to go alone. Maybe I should help you."
"Oh no, no, no." Discord replied, rapidly nodding his head sideways. "It's far to dangerous for you to do. Besides, I have magical powers and well... you don't."
"Well, yeah. But I really want to help you, Discord. You helped me once, I help you." Achilles replied proudly. "Besides, I owe you for saving my life with that dragon attack near Prance."
"Touche." said Discord. "Very well. You can help me. Now, here's what we will do." he whispered into the minotaur's ear, and told him what the plan will be, and hopefully, it will work.
Rights for this song go to Alter Bridge