Class Menagerie
Chapter Six
Class Menagerie
Crickets chirped around Fluttershy’s cottage as the last few warm rays of the sun faded from the sky. Inside the humble abode, animals were uneasily chattering and while a small furry belly gurgled in hunger before a little clawed paw scratched it.
“Starving...” chittered the raccoon as he lay on a plush green pillow, his stomach grumbling at him. “When is Feedmepony going to be back?”
“Her name isn’t ‘Feedmepony’.” The bunny rabbit thumped his foot on the window sill as he glared at the lazy critter. Normally, he would be more upset at such a display, but as he looked back out the window, concern for a different matter was painted on his face.
A black and white tuxedo-patterned cat looked up at Angel from where it had been cleaning its paws and face with his tongue. “Is it ‘Mypony’? Cat’s face rubbed on her, after all.”
“No,” Angel grumbled, the pace of his thumping foot growing faster.
“Is it ‘Prettypony’?” Foxiekins inquired, peering over the rabbit’s shoulder. “Because she is a very pretty pony.” The fox smiled as he imagined the beautiful pony that had recently taken him in. “Long pretty mane, pretty eyes, even longer silky tail and just the perfect curples for si—”
“No!” Angel shouted, turning around and shooting the most deadly of glares at the fox. “Her name is Fluttershy!”
“Does AngelBunny have any idea when Fluttershy will be back?” the poodle asked, whimpering as he pawed at the empty food bowl. On the side of the bowl, the name ‘Nigel’ was printed in gold lettering.
“No.” Angel’s gaze returned to look out the window in the direction of... its house.
“We have a special diet that must be prepared properly, otherwise we simply can’t eat it!” Nigel whined. “And if that happens, we will start to suffer from the shakes—or worse, go hungry and starve!”
“And that would be tragic,” the rat interjected, from his lofty nest. “Just tragic.” He peered into the shiny surface of a bit, and picked at his teeth.
Nigel shot the rodent an irritated glare and turned up his nose. “Hmph! We would not expect a rat to understand how delicate our stomach happens to be!”
“Not as delicate as Nigel’s owner, that’s for sure.” The rat snickered and nibbled something off his claws.
“What was that, rat?!” Nigel barked.
“Nothing,” the rodent chimed, nonchalantly looking over his tiny paws.
“Well! At least Nigel has a name, not to mention an owner!” The poodle barked, putting a paw to his chest with pride. “Rat doesn’t have that—after all, even the lowest vagrant pony would not adopt vermin!”
“Hey! This rat happens to be a fancy rat and has just as much breeding as Nigel and his special Canterlot Kennel does!” the rat angrily chittered, throwing bits of hay from his nest at the dog below.
“Will-all-the-noise-out-there-please-stop?!” The argument was abruptly broken by three shrill, pleading voices in unison. The three glittering little heads which owned these voices popped out of their small house. “Humming-birds-trying-to-sleep!”
“Rat, you heard the flittering birds,” Angel said, jumping down from his post and glaring upward while crossing his little arms. “Stop antagonizing Nigel.”
“Nigel started it!” the rat protested.
“No, Nigel did not,” Angel scolded, waggling a little claw at the rodent. “And even if Nigel did start it, Angel is finishing it.” The poodle turned his head before immaturely sticking his tongue out.
Foxiekins snickered. “Is it always this noisy when Prettypo—er, Fluttershy is—” The fox suddenly yelped in fright and jumped away from the window to the safety of a stack of pillows.
“What is it now?” Angel asked, looking at the cowering fox.
“Monster!” Foxiekins shrieked, his ears pinned down and his tail bushed out in terror. “Outside! Monster!”
The chatter died down as the reddish glow of eight little eyes peered through the window. The animals inside froze in place, horrified at the prospect of dealing with some horrible monster from the Everfree Forest without Fluttershy there to protect them.
The silence was broken by a sharp sound on the glass.
Tap-tap-tap!
Nigel yelped, fell to the ground and crossed his paws over his eyes. “What was that?!”
Angel climbed back up to the window to get a better look at the interloper. “Calm down,” he told the other animals, his tone softened in an attempt to sound reassuring. “it’s just a big, dumb, hairy spider. Nothing to be afraid of.”
Without warning, the spider jumped at the window, fangs glistening! Angel jumped back a few feet in a streak of white, before his hind foot thumped a loud threatening sound on the floor.
“‘Nothing to be afraid of’?” Rat snickered.
Angel shook his head, trying to clear it of his sudden rush of energy and terror. “Hmph! Easy for Rat to say when he is lying in a safe place, like always!” he retorted, still trembling.
“Is the bunny implying that rats are cowardly?” The little rodent’s whiskers twitched angrily. “That is nothing but a rumor used to drag rat kind’s good name through the mud!”
“Like how rats are bringers of illness, disease, and death?” Raccoon asked. This question was only met with a piercing, yellow-eyed glare from the rat. “Raccoon only wanted to be part of the conversation...”
“Well, Raccoon shouldn't be sticking his claws into a conversation where he's not welcome!” Rat shouted, his right eye twitching, before he crossed his little arms and turned his nose up at the ceiling.
Another series of taps coming from the window interrupted the argument. The animals turned their attention once more to the creepy looking, blue-furred spider, waving few of its appendages at the group to see if it could get their attention again.
“Isn't AngelBunny going to go and get that?” Rat asked snidely from his perch.
Don’t even know why Fluttershy allowed this stupid rodent into our home! If Fluttershy was not so kind; AngelBunny would— A strange thought interrupted Angel’s mental rant, and he turned to the rat. “Being the BraveNoble rodent of good breeding he is, why doesn’t Rat do it?”
“What? Rat do it?” the rat asked, looking perturbed at the shiny red eyes which peered in through the window’s corner.
Angel recrossed his little arms and smirked.“Is Rat afraid?”
“Rat is not afraid!” he shouted, jumping up in protest.
“Maybe Rat should prove it then,” Angel said, turning his head and giving the rodent a smug smile.
“Fine!” Rat exclaimed. “Rat will! And Rat will do better job than AngelBunny!” Quickly scurrying down from his nest to the bottom of the support beam, he looked at the crimson little eyes of the cottage’s newest visitor and swallowed past the lump in his throat. He turned and looked at the others, squeaking, “Though, if any other animals want to, Rat would not stop them...”
The little squeaks from the rat were only met with noncommittal hums from one half of the group, accompanied by one or two seething glares of expectancy from the other half.
Rat pulled up his little belly and took a deep breath before grumbling, “Fine, Rat will do what Rat’s got to do.” With that he stomped his tiny feet over to the window. When Rat finally came up to the darkened window, though, it looked strangely empty.
“Hello?” he asked, pressing his face against the glass and peering into the darkness. “Huh, maybe big spider—”
Suddenly, the window was attacked with a flurry of fangs, legs, and bright red eyes!
Rat found himself jumping back few feet into the air before falling unceremoniously back to the floor. He glared up at the spider who seemed to be laughing at the little rodent’s antics as her fangs moved up and down. Quickly, he picked himself up before attempting to give the spider an intimidating look.
“W-what does ugly fang-face want!?” he shrieked as he scurried up to the window, huffing and puffing all the way. There is no way Rat will do what Angel did!
The spider cowered back, looking a little confused and hurt by the insult before she began to speak in a hissing slithery sort of manner.
“Yeah, uhuh...” Rat affirmed, nodding his head and scratching his chin; listening closely to the bizarre collection of sounds. “Alright, got it,” he said, rolling his eyes and tilting his head.
“Well? What does Spider want?” The black and white tux cat asked, his tail twitching back and forth as he intently watched the fat little rat at the window.
“Rat doesn’t have a clue ‘cause Rat doesn’t speak strange spider hisses!” A collective groan came from the other animals. “Buuut, Rat thinks there is something familiar about this spider.” He tapped his fuzzy little chin.
“Rat knows this spider?” Angel asked.
“No, not knows. Has seen,” Rat corrected irritatedly as he continued to rub his chin and scratch his whisker pads. “But where did Rat see—” Suddenly, he stopped and snapped his little fingers. “Oh! Rat remembers! It was at that one big house on the other side of the forest out that way!”
“Out which way?” Angel asked, hopping over to the window and looking in the pointed direction.
“Where little funny break in trees is,” Rat replied. “Rat was exploring the house when he got chased out by a purple-maned screaming pony, but before that, he ran into a smaller one of these!”
“Of course!” Angel smacked his head before thumping his foot to the ground, nearly stomping on Rat’s long, wormy tail.
Rat grabbed his tail and clutched it close to him. “Hey big foot! Watch where you slam those!”
“‘Of course’ what?” Nigel asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Of course Fluttershy would send message by spider,” Angel groaned, dragging his little furry white paw over his face. “Raccoon, get Rose Spider,” he commanded, pointing towards the back of the cottage that was laced with foreboding silky white strands.
The banded-tailed critter shuddered when he looked back to where Rose Spider had made her nest. “Does Raccoon have to get spider?” Raccoon protested. “Raccoon doesn't want to go back there: Rose Spider is... creepy.” Just then, his stomach growled at him.
“If Raccoon wants to get fed tonight, then Raccoon is going to do his part and get Rose Spider!” Angel shouted in irritation while thumping his foot and poking a little claw into the furry belly of the raccoon.
“Fiiiine...” Raccoon surrendered. He cautiously walked back to the small funnel before calling out, “Rose Spider? ...Rose Spider?” He quietly waited for a moment before turning around. “Whelp! Raccoon tried! Rose Spider must be—ee!”
The raccoon jumped in surprise as a large clawed leg snagged his tail. Quickly, he lept back around and pulled his fluffy appendage close to him in a terrified embrace.
From the darkness of the funnel webbing, a fluttering butterfly shape came. The peaceful, almost serene shape was quickly offset by three more long, thorny legs jutting out of the darkness.
“What is it with spiders scaring us tonight?!” the raccoon shrieked, as he glared at the rose tarantulas face.
“Iz fun watching mammalz jump,” she replied, pulling the rest of her body out. “And Roze doez not like to be moved when moltz. Iz hard to move.”
Raccoon looked at the tarantula in her current state of molt and shuddered. The camouflage which the spider used to hide herself amongst rose bushes and tangled vines of the Everfree forest was looking rather pitiful. Her legs were browned and the thorns looked blackened. The pink of her eyes seemed to have been glazed over. Even the butterfly shape that adorned her face looked like it had been attacked by birds on several occasions.
“Does Raccoon have to pick Rose Spider up?” he asked, whimpering at how sharp the thorns looked.
“Just do it!” Angel shouted, before pointing at the window. “Fluttershy is not here and I, Angel, want to know what the blue spider has to say!”
“Ew! Ew! Ew!” Raccoon looked away as he cautiously wrapped his arms around the tarantula.
“Rozze Sspider doezz not enjoy Raccoon’zz touch either,” she said, curling her legs under her body.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Raccoon waddled his way over to the window, carrying the large, thorny spider to the window. After setting the arachnid down, he began to furiously nibble and lick his poor little hands. “Bleh! Bleh! Tiny hairs are in Raccoon’s tongue now!”
The two spiders looked at each other in a small, quiet stand-off before the rose tarantula began to slowly tap at the window and speak with several hissing sounds. After a few moments of processing, the sad-faced spider replied with a few tappings and hissings of its own.
“Well?” Angel asked, his little white foot rapping rapidly against the ground. The rose tarantula slowly turned and glared at him. “What?!”
“Bunny foot makez it hard to hear,” she replied. Angel frowned, before huffing and stomping away. The two spiders returned to their attempts at communication now that it was free of loud mammal interference. After a few more hisses and window tappings, the tarantula raised a leg and spoke.
“Ssad Sspider ssayz ‘Kindnezz Pony’ iz sstaying at sstrange...” The spider paused and took several deep breaths. “Creature’z nesst for night. They are ssick.”
“Pretty Fluttershy pony is sick?” Foxiekins worriedly asked, popping out from his pillow fort.
“No, sstrange creature iz ssick,” she replied, slowly turning around and attempting to make her way back to the safety of her funnel home. “Tired now.”
“Fluttershy is in the creature's’ house?!” Nigel yelped dramatically. “Now who will feed us?!”
“Where will we get our food?!” the raccoon chittered frantically.
“This cat knows where he can get his next meal,” the cat said, his tail twitching back and forth, eyes now locked suggestively on Rat.
“Cat wouldn’t dare—” Rat’s words were cut off as he watched the feline lower his body into a crouching position, his eyes widening and his hips wiggling ever so slightly. “Gah!”
The Cat quickly attempted to pounce on the rat, only to crash into a wooden beam as his intended prey squeaked and quickly scampered back up to his high nest.
Sensing that chaos was about to erupt from the motley crew of animals, Angel put his little claws between his teeth and let out a high pitched whistle, then sighed. While Fluttershy’s intent was not explicit in the spider’s message, he knew his pony well enough to know what she wanted him to do. “All of you be quiet. Angel will feed you.”
“Why didn’t Angel say that he could do that in the first place?” Rat huffed angrily.
“Yeah!” the Raccoon protested. “Raccoon has been starving for a really long time!”
“Because it will take me longer to get your foods, and,” Angel’s little paw hit his face. “Because... I wanted to know that Fluttershy was okay and not dying somewhere near or in big scary forest! Okay?!” he shouted, exasperatedly pointing out towards the Everfree forest.
“AngelBunny could have sent one of us out to—” Nigel began.
“Do you all want to be fed or not!?” Angel asked, venom dripping from his voice. He was met with the sounds of stomachs rumbling and remorseful glances from the animals as they nodded their heads.
“Good,” the bunny rabbit said, hopping over to the high cupboards.
Ducking behind the cupboard, he went down a small tunnel specially made for such emergencies. Moments later the cupboard doors opened with the little rabbit holding sacks of food.
After the last of the other animals had been fed and they were all asleep in their beds, Angel went back to staring out the window. In the far distance, moonlight just barely illuminated the decrepit horror-house where his Fluttershy was spending the night.
Angel really hopes that Fluttershy comes back. Even as he pawed through his bag of vegetables in search of a clean, delicious carrot, Angel’s little bunny eyes were transfixed by the sight. Fluttershy has no idea what nightmarish horror she is tending to!
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Fluttershy's home is literally a madhouse when she is away. Cool take on how the animals react with one another. Even more amazing is that Angel is not instantly unlikable. Nice chapter.
6731559 Stick around another chapter to come.
I liked how it seemed Angel was trying to keep the First Person(Pony?) way of thinking while Fluttershy was gone, but kept slipping while talking with the other animals. I think this chapter came out nicely, JB
I don't know if you've noticed this, but the page title is mispelled as 'Menagrie' instead of 'Menagerie'. That said, interesting break from the pace, little glimpse into Fluttershy's talent.
I love the interactions between the animals. This is exactly how I picture they would speak if they could.
A version of Angel thats actually not a jerk? Thumbs up to you man.
NIGHTMARE FUEL WARNING:
GIANT SCARY SPIDER MOLTING
The leg holes after they free their legs are just too freaking creepy... I kind of want to touch one, even if I know it'd make me scream.
Eeeyup... pretty much what I thought was going on behind the scenes. It sounds like "Lil' devil" was keeping Flutters away from H.B., unable to tell the difference between the fey curse and the unfortunate forced to carry it...