Flutterfright

by Jmaster49

Part 3

The party at Sugarcube Corner went on relatively calmly without a hitch. Applejack explained her new fondness for novels such as The Invisible Mare and how they assisted her when she needed to rest. Rainbow Dash introduced Fluttershy to some of her old friends which included Spitfire--in a devil costume, and Soarin’--in an angel costume to match (the holy being, not the rabbit). Both now retired, the former Wonderbolts had aged just about as well as any other hard-working stunt pony. That being, just barely behind everyone else with a heavy amount of baggage in their eyes along with some wrinkles. But Spitfire claimed something about it making them look more experienced.

Fluttershy wasn’t convinced, but kept that little anecdote to herself.

Everything was going well until she felt furry fingers that poked the back of her neck.

“Hm? What is it, Junior?” Fluttershy turned her head around to get a better look.

Angel Jr. tapped a part of her costume that started to glow. It was the Orb of Insectivus that she was given by that strange pony from before. The little rabbit chittered and squeaked with concern.

“Oh my...this could be bad. But I wonder…” the pegasus opened up her costume and saw the orb that rested upon her flank. “Oh. It must be activating. Guess it’s time to activate my biggest scare yet, Junior. Heh...heh...heh…” she stated with her best attempt at an evil laugh.

It was not well-received by the rabbit who covered his eyes with his paws out of pure shame mixed with a hint of anxiety.

---

Outside…

“Oh, this’ll be the best prank ever. When I reveal just how smart I was to trick Fluttershy, I’ll certainly win Best Scare of the Year. Now...go forth, my creations. Cause mayhem and scare everypony’s flanks off!”

The rumbling of an imminent stampede was near. Thousands of legs clattered and crawled along the ground as they exited the bushes and approached the sweet shop. Would anypony survive? Only time will tell…

---

Applejack’s ear flicked. Years of working on a farm and defending it from hostile creatures gave her the ability to detect the oncoming sign of danger first. “Anypony else hear that?”

“Hear what?” Rainbow asked, a mug of cider in hoof, “don’t tell me you’re hearing ghoooosts or something are you?” She responded teasingly.

“Naw. No ghosts,” the orange earth pony replied as she looked out of one of the nearby windows. “And this ain’t no prank either. Ah think there’s somethin’ comin’. Somethin’...gross and creepy.”

The pegasus with the rainbow mane was not amused, and simply sipped her cider. “Wow. And I thought I was the one that was easily fooled. It’s probably some prank or something. Relaaaax. Enjoy yourself.”

Applejack sighed. Rainbow’s words always did calm her down when she needed it most. As a result, she was always grateful to have her support in moments like these. “Yeah. Ya right, Dash. Maybe it’s just some strange little Nightmare Night thing Zecora likes to pull.”

Meanwhile, across the room…

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy mumbled as she peered out of the window. “They’re coming...in waves...very fast. This is going to be perfect.”

The rabbit on her back almost screeched out of terror, but he made no noise. At that moment, he was entirely on edge with his foot thumping against her costume. But the pegasus didn’t feel it. She was too focused on the orb she held in front of her.

She sniffed the air, and flicked her tongue. “...I see...yes, silky substances, lots of legs. Ah! I got it! Okay Junior. Get ready for a shock,” she said with a devious grin flashed outside, towards the darkness.

They came.

Dozens upon dozens of hair spiders that appeared from the trees, the bushes, and the grass. A swarm of them were all racing to infest, and overtake Sugarcube Corner, and everypony within.

It didn’t take long for somepony to notice.

“Hey...why are a bunch of spiders outside?” a mare in a jack-o-lantern costume pointed outside. Everyone else gathered around the window, and saw them. However, they weren’t too concerned at first glance.

“It’s probably just a prank,” a stallion in a royal Canterlot guard costume commented.

“Yeah, like, no way those are real,” a mare in a vampire costume remarked.

“Yeah. Not unless they start spinning webs or anything, heh,” said another stallion, this one in a timberwolf costume.

Unfortunately for them, these were real spiders. Tarantulas to be exact. Enhanced by magic, the eight-legged monstrosities crawled up to the windows and shot their web-like silk out in order to lift them up.

Needless to say, everypony’s reactions were instantaneous.

“AHHHHH!” Everypony in the room screamed at once, and quickly dove under nearby tables and chairs for safety.

“What the hay is goin--” Applejack looked around, only to see the front door of the sweet shop forced open by powerful magical web shots from a group of the hair arachnids. “GYAAAH! THEY’RE REAL YA’LL! HIDE!” she stormed, and dove behind one of the display cases.

“EEEE!” Pumpkin Cake had already taken shelter there, and squealed with pure terror next to Applejack.

Rainbow Dash had flown up to the ceiling, and started to shiver in place. “C-c-c-c-c-creepy...c-c-c-crawlies...g-get ‘em away…! If this is a p-prank it’s not...f-f-f-f…”

CLANK!

The vent cover in the ceiling hit the middle of the empty floor. Everypony in the room watched with shrunken, fearful pupils that slowly traveled upwards to the source of what made the vent cover fall off.

More tarantulas. All gathered around the opening to the vent, and threatening to travel inside. In total, there looked to be at least a hundred that had blocked off all windows, doors, and vents!

“AAAAIEE! GETAWAYGETAWAYGETAWAYGETAWAY!” Rainbow Dash screamed with unbridled terror, and flew to a different corner of the ceiling. Her chest rose and fell at a rapid pace as she hyperventilated. “Who...who did...this...this isn’t funny!”

All the while, Fluttershy giggled as she stepped into the middle of the empty room with a low, devious chuckle. Nopony noticed, but the spiders didn’t actually enter the sweet shop...yet. They were seemingly under her command.

Angel Junior had passed out from fear, and lied limp upon the mare’s back.

“What’s the matter, Dashie? AJ?” Fluttershy looked up at her terrified pegasus friend, and the display case that hid her equally petrified earth pony friend, “afraid of a few cute, adorable tarantulas?”

“FLUTTERSHY?! What the heck’s wrong with you?! Spiders are mean, nasty, and they shoot webs that tie you up!” she yelled while she hovered against the corner of the ceiling for safety. This way, she had a view of every angel in the room.

Applejack’s head rose up from behind the case of baked sweets. “And t-t-they’re also...p-p-pests that eat...everythin’! A-Ah wouldn’t touch ‘em with a ten-hoofed pole!” she cried out. Pumpkin Cake still latched onto her out of fear.

“F-Fluttershy please,” the unicorn twin pleaded, “d-don’t let them in here...mom, dad, Pinkie, and Pound Cake would lose it if I managed to mess up store management solo. Please...I’m begging you here…” she begged with wide, watery eyes.

“Oh? You’re realizing that I hold all the power, now. Don’t you?” The yellow pegasus snickered, and held the orb up. She flew into the air, and leaned against the nearby wall where a window full of tarantulas was located. “Awww, so you mean to tell me that you’re all scared of me?”

“YES!” shouted everypony in the room.

“Hmhmhm...that’s all I needed to hear.” She leaned down to the windowsill, and spoke to the arachnids. “Okay, Terrance. You and your family can return home now. And thank you for helping me.”

One of the spiders saluted with its leg, and whistled. They cleaned up the skill they created, and all of the hairy tarantulas retreated away from the windows, doors, and vents. Safely away from the bakery.

Everypony slowly came out of hiding. Rainbow Dash gave a relaxed sigh as she approached her friend. “Thank goodness. But...did you really find a bunch of spiders to help you scare us all?”

“Not exactly….” she turned around and looked at her rabbit friend. “Okay Junior. Go get her.”

The rabbit sat up, and nodded. It would appear that he had faked being passed out for the entire time. He hopped out of the open window...and returned a few moments later through the front door as he forcefully pushed a hooded pony inside.

“Hey! What’re you--ooff!” the hood came off, and revealed the face of a pink unicorn. “...Hi, everypony. Hehe.”

“LUSTER DAWN?!” the entire crowd shouted at once.

“Now how in the hay does that work?” Applejack commented with a raise of her eyebrow.

Fluttershy let out a satisfied laugh. “Heh-heh! It was simple. She gave me this little thing,” she held up the green orb, “called the Orb of Insectivus. But on my way here, I noticed loads of spiders in hiding, ready to react to a spell she had cast on them. That’s when I realized I was being pranked because spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs and spiders have eight, therefore making them arachnids,” she said with a stomp of her hoof. Fluttershy had always been passionate about animals. So to see someone try to deceive her while also misnaming a species was enough to tick her off. “So I sung them a little song which broke the spell. But had them act as if they were still under her control.” She turned to face the pink unicorn, “You really should have thought that out better, Luster.”

“Argh…” The unicorn sighed with a hoof against her cheek. “Darn it. There goes my chances of earning Scare of the Year…”

“So hold on,” Rainbow jumped in, “Luster was trying to prank us the whole time, but Fluttershy reversed the prank onto us and her as well?!” The pegasus glanced at her friend with fearful, yet pleased eyes, “...Wow, Fluttershy. I never knew you could be so devious.”

The yellow pegasus flicked her tail. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Dashie. You’d better be on guard for next year,” she added with a wink.

“Nonononono! I-I’m good...I think I’ll stay home next year, in fact! Hehehehe....” she shivered, and drank from her mug of cider until it was finished.

Applejack, meanwhile, chose to reprimand Luster. “Ya’ll best be careful handlin’ other creatures in yer pranks. Ya don’t know what could happen!”

“Yeah...I get that now,” Luster Dawn got off the floor, and tilted her head down from shame, “I’m sorry, everypony.”

“It’s alright, Luster,” Fluttershy cupped her hoof beneath the pink unicorn’s chin, “But I think I have an idea on how you could improve.”

Her eyes turned from ashamed to hopeful when she heard the pegasus’ words. “...Really?”

---

The next morning…Luster Dawn was at Fluttershy’s cottage to have tea with her in her backyard. Angel Junior had also prepared a nice salad for all of them to enjoy.

“‘Dear Princess Twilight…’” Luster Dawn mumbled to herself while she used her magic to scribble onto parchment with a quill pen. “‘Today, er, last night I learned that using animals in pranks is a bad idea. Making them work against their will isn’t very nice and I should’ve thought about how they felt as well as everypony else. Next Nightmare Night, I’ll stick to the fake spiders. Your student, Luster Dawn.’” She finished it, and rolled it up. “Now if only I had a dragon that could blow on this letter so I could send it to her immediately.”

Fluttershy trotted over and poured some tea in their cups. “Oh, I can help with that.”

Luster used her magic to levitate the cup to take a sip. “Mmm. Wait, you can? How?”

“I don’t have a dragon. But I have a draconequus, hehe,” she explained with a light giggle. “Oh, Diiiscoooord!”

The embodiment of chaos arrived at her call. “Ah! At last! Fluttershy has invited me over for tea! Oh what a wonderful--” he stopped mid-sentence when he laid eyes on the pink unicorn. “Oh? And just who are you?”

“...Luster Dawn,” she replied with a shy tone. “I’m...one of Twilight’s students. Here to learn friendship and whatnot.”

“Oooh! A new friend! How exciting!” Discord cheered, and brought out loads of board games and decks of playing cards, “Now what should we do first, new friend? Checkers? Chess? Pachisi?”

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Ahem...she is the guest. Allow her to pick first.”

“Right, right of course,” the stack of board games disappeared as he rolled his eyes.

“Well, first I wanna send this letter to Twilight,” she held it up with her magic, “Can you do that for me, Mr. Discord?”

“Hmm...well,” he shrugged, and grabbed the letter with his paw, “for one of Fluttershy’s friends, I suppose it’s only fair, isn’t it?” With a snap of his claw-fingers, the letter was on its way. “And please, drop the ‘Mr.’ We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

Luster Dawn couldn’t help but chuckle as she turned her gaze back to the pegasus. “Hehe...I guess we are. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

“No problem at all. And hey, I can help you get started on next Nightmare Night’s prank, and how to make it harmless,” she said with an eyebrow raise akin to Applejack’s as she sipped her tea.

“Oh! That’d be helpful!” Luster replied, “And Discord, I’d like your help too!”

“Uh--wh--” he stuttered, genuinely not expecting the idea to be included in something such as this. “Really??” he asked with starry eyes.

Luster nodded. “Mm-hmm!”

“Oh wonderful! We're going to be great friends for eternity!” Discord yelled aloud as he put his paw-arm around Luster’s neck for a hug.

“T-thanks…” the pink unicorn replied, a bit less nervous now. “Maybe this friendship thing won’t be so bad?”

Fluttershy and Angel Junior giggled as they watched their friends interact with each other. The yellow pegasus thought to herself while it all happened before her. “Ah...just how I planned it. And nopony was the wiser.”

Comments

[Omegaweapon1000]

Never underestimate Fluttershy.

[Jmaster49]

10511304
Nope! They learned that the hard way!

[new55]

That was a good story.

[Jmaster49]

11664900
Thanks! What was your favorite part?

[new55]

11664985
My favorite part was when Fluttershy revealed she had been controling all of the Tarantula's without Luster Dawn's magic orb. Proving she can be extremely terrifying if she really wanted to be.