//------------------------------// // Fillies are the most dangerous! // Story: Flutterling // by Princess_Celestia //------------------------------// The three fillies paid no heed to Fluttershy, and instead continued to run around in the small room, knocking over various things. "Gotcha now, Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom yelled, jumping off the couch and attempting to bellyflop onto Scootaloo, who dodged just in time for Trixie to open the trapdoor under her. "What in the name of Fluttershy is going on up-" Her question was cut short as her face met Applebloom's stomach. Her head whipped back, and she fell into the small hive, knocked out cold thanks to a combination of her light changeling form and Applebloom's heavier Earth Pony body. "Whoops, sorry Trixie." She said, getting off the changeling's prone form. "Hey, yer not Trixie..." She said, "What are ya, anyway? Some kinda bug?" She asked, walking around her, before looking up, distracted, before memories of the wedding managed to come to mind. "Whoa, lookit this place! It's all glowy and gooey and stuff!" The other CMC soon poked their heads down the trap door, and were awed by the sight they saw, as Fluttershy danced around them, muttering things like "Oh dear, it's dangerous down there" and "Applebloom you must apologize to Trixie" and "Ooooooh I knew I should have just stayed in bed today..." It wasn't long before they had gathered in the small cavern, and started playing around, examining the goo (Tastes like mint), throwing goo-balls at each other, playing with Trixie's hat... It was a great playground for the three fillies, and they did everything they could to try to get their cutie marks, even if it was in 'goo tasting'. Fluttershy fluttered down once she got the nerve, spotting Trixie lying on the ground. She was torn, wanting to tell the fillies off... but she didn't want to bring attention to the area. The fillies were terrified after the wedding, after all. While her friends might have dealt with it rather easily, the fillies were... well, fillies! Still, she couldn't just leave Trixie unconscious like this. "Girls, it's not safe in here~" She said, in her sing-song 'Please act like my animal friends' voice that she had used before against the CMC. The fillies looked at each other, then sighed. They really wanted to enjoy themselves a bit longer, but they knew that Fluttershy getting that voice meant that they'd better obey her, since at least once before not paying attention to that voice meant dealing with a cockatrice, so they figured there must be something pretty dangerous down there. Applebloom lightly tossed Trixie's hat, and it fluttered onto the unmoving changeling, blocking her insectoid form before Applebloom could place her familiarity. The three crawled out of the trapdoor, looking up at Fluttershy as she closed the trap door behind them. "It's not safe down there!" Fluttershy said, as she looked each of them in the eye, making sure they understood. "There are so many sharp rocks down there, you could hurt yourselves!" "Yes, Fluttershy..." The three intoned in unison, looking a bit mopey about the whole thing. "That's better, now you three scoot along, before anything baaaaad happens." She said, trying to sound normal, though her voice managed to break as she said 'bad'. The three fillies slunk out the front door. Fluttershy sighed in relief. She listened as the three fillies talked to each other as they left. CRASH. Just as Fluttershy was finally calming down, and moving back towards the trapdoor, Applebloom dove through the window next to the door! "I JUST REMEMBERED!" She proclaimed, loudly, running up to Fluttershy and tackling her, her body fueled with adrenaline and good ol' earth pony magic, her eyes nearly bulging as she looked panicked. "Fluttershy! There was a changelin' down there!" She shouted, "It's gonna eat ya, Fluttershy! We gotta get you out of here!" She said, hopping off the prone pegasus and trying to drag her out the broken window by the ear, before Sweetie Belle returned to open the door. "Applebloom, just use the door." She said, sighing. Applebloom looked at Sweetie Belle as though she was a genius, before slowly changing direction, dragging the prone Fluttershy across the floor. Of course, Applebloom was a little filly, so it took all three of them to 'evacuate' Fluttershy from the 'dangerous' house with the 'evil changeling' in it, but they managed to drag her part-way out the door before Fluttershy came to. "Girls! Girls!" She said, looking around at them, and moving a bit to try to flip herself back onto her hooves, before remembering she wasn't a tortoise and just sitting up. "But Fluttershy!" Applebloom protested. "There's a Changelin' in yer basement! We can get our cutie marks in savin'... aaah, that ain't important right now! We gotta save you even if we don't get any cutie marks!" She said, blushing a bit at her near-selfishness, as she attempted to continue to pull Fluttershy. Fluttershy was now fully aware again, though, so she suddenly felt a lot heavier. Fluttershy got to her hooves, then looked at the three as they stopped trying to move her and gathered in front of her, confused. "Fluttershy?" Scootaloo asked, cocking her head. "Uh, why are you just standing there? Aren't you worried?" Fluttershy shook her head. At least this was a good chance... "Girls, I need to tell you something." Fluttershy said, a bit quietly, but stronger than before. She'd already told quite a few ponies, already, after all. "I..." WHAM. The trapdoor suddenly sprang open, and a very annoyed, very scuffed up Trixie began to crawl out of it, her chitin scuffed, dirty, and even slightly chipped in a few places. "YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THAAAAAT!" Trixie yelled, using her magic to brandish her damaged hat, cuts and rips all over it. "NOPONY HARMS TRIXIE'S HAT AND LIIIIIIIIIIIVES!" She bellowed, charging out of the trap door at the fillies, who all ran, scattering as Trixie yelled at them, chasing them. --- It was nearly an hour before Trixie returned, looking even worse, and covered in tree sap somehow. "Trixie... does not wish to talk about this." Trixie stated, flatly, passing by her queen. Fluttershy sighed, unsure of what to do. "Trixie..." She said, speaking up. If she was queen, she needed to at least sometimes prove it, after all. "Trixie." She repeated, and Trixie stopped in her tracks, turning to Fluttershy. Fluttershy sighed, and activated the illusion spell, becoming her Changeling form, as she needed to tower over her a bit more... From this angle, she could almost pass as one of her animal friends, which was just what she needed. Telling off one of her animals friends was much easier than telling off a pony or changeling. "Trixie. You may have just caused me..." She paused, thinking about how to say this. This was her first time talking as "queen" after all, so she didn't really know what to say. She swallowed, and pulled from the only resource she had. She stamped her hoof. "You have cost my hive dearly, Trixie! We have just lost three ponies who would have been our allies thanks to your temper!" She shouted. Well, she 'shouted', as she was actually speaking at only slightly over her normal level. "Now you will have to face my punishment!" She continued, "You will... um..." Her faux-Chrysalis, kinda-Celestia tone of voice that she was speaking in faltered. "Ummm..." Trixie at first was rather startled by her queen's sudden change in expression and mood, but then she felt the usual uncertainty radiate off her, and chuckled. "The usual punishment for insubordination is banishment." Trixie stated. Fluttershy's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you, Trixie." She said, happy to learn the 'proper' changeling way. "Then in that case!" She returned to her strange half-Chrysalis, half-Celestia tone. "You will have to spend the next half hour in your room!" She said, nodding. "And that's final!" She said, now sounding more like a mother with a rather rambunctious foal. Trixie merely smiled, and slunk back into the trap door. "Very well, Trixie will see you in half an hour, my Queen." She said. Fluttershy felt good about this. Finally, she'd managed to stand up for herself and act queenly! --- That night, she was just getting into bed when she realized something. "Oh." She said, "Trixie got her way again."