• Published 20th Jun 2021
  • 465 Views, 57 Comments

Fluttershy Digs Deep - MagicS



Angel Bunny disappears down a rabbit hole one morning and Fluttershy follows in search of him.

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Mollusk Matters

Even deeper underground in a cavern nearly forgotten by time, an ages old war was raging still. Thousands of soldiers from both sides of the conflict were just beginning to clash in the latest battle. Veterans and greenhorns alike were thrust into combat for the sake of their kingdom. It didn’t matter if one had fought a hundred battles before or if this was their very first, all able-bodied soldiers were called upon and expected to do their part. The battlegrounds were long torn asunder from decades and centuries of previous battles. Craters, trenches, dilapidated pillars and fences, razor wire, pylons, discarded equipment, all littered the field in vast numbers. The combatants were in their regiments, battle formations ready, with all their weapons and armor together. The front lines were close enough to begin fighting while behind them reserves were waiting to replenish their numbers and fill in any gaps. No break in the lines would be tolerated. No breach would be allowed. The soldiers on each side were willing to throw down their lives for the cause, all had friends fighting alongside them and family to think about. Phalanxes and lines would smash into each other for dominance and to decide the victor of this battle. This battle that was just one of countless others.

Beyond the battlefield to the east lied a dense metropolis of stone buildings, dozens of stories high with grand spires at the top reaching even higher. The ground was paved and even to make sure everything was level and structurally sound. To the west a grand city of huge domes, less dense but far more widespread, stood. The domes were squat and made of mud and wood and while none were more than a few stories high there were hundreds of them and they lied amongst hills and large crops of rocks.

These were the two kingdoms that had been fighting an endless war against each other. But this was not a war for anything material. They did not seek to take control of the lands in-between their nations. They did not fight over food, water, or any other such resource. It was not for money or gold. No, this was a war of annihilation. This was a war where both sides sought to destroy the other, where neither could rest until the other was eradicated from the world. A sad and sorry affair. A terrible conflict where both sides were so filled with rage and hate towards the other that peace was a word whose meaning was forgotten.

How many thousands were fighting in the battle raging right now? How many tens of thousands lived in the cities now? How many hundreds of thousands had had their lives consumed by this war? This tragic, good for nothing war. It had no end in sight either. The ones waging it couldn’t even consider it ending without the other side being wiped out.

The war had a name too. One decided at near the very start of it by both sides: The Mollusk War.

For the ones fighting this grand war were snails and slugs.

The snails resided in the big metropolis of “skyscrapers” and the slugs in the city of large domes. All of it of course only big by the standards of such small creatures. But it was their ancestral home that both species of mollusk had lived in for generations. They were happy with their snail and slug kingdoms but could not abide the existence of the other. High above the buildings the roof of the cave these dual kingdoms were in hung, bioluminescent moss criss-crossing all over it and bringing light to the mollusk world. Small caves led off elsewhere underground and rivers no larger than a tiny stream to ponies ran like veins throughout the grounds, the water that filled them came dripping down from various holes in the cavern walls. Besides the moss only leafy vines grew in the mollusk cavern. Their numbers were great though and they covered practically every rock outside of the cities as they were primarily what both snails and slugs used for food. It would’ve been a very nice and moist place for all the snails and slugs to live in if they weren’t fighting this war.

Unlike other parts of these caves there were no bats or bugs. The only living denizens were the snails and slugs, no one else came into their personal domain. Or if they did they didn’t stay very long.

The charge of the front lines from both sides (that had started two hours ago) was finally about to result in fighting as the snail and slug soldiers were at last almost close enough to meet. Naturally it took quite a long time for any pieces of the armies to get into place or perform any sort of tactics. Even just the distance of five feet took quite a long time to cover. The front lines had been “running” at each other for those two hours and still the fighting had not actually begun thanks to how slow they were.

This was the scene Fluttershy saw when she emerged from a tunnel to the south of the battlefield and both cities.

At first she was caught up in looking at the two cities, wondering if she had arrived in Moleville. After all these were the first real structures and buildings she had seen down here. But then she realized the scale was far too small and when she stepped closer she saw the very slow moving armies about to fight each other in the center of this massive cavern. Fluttershy was still immensely confused over just what she had stumbled across. What were all these snails and slugs doing? Did they live in these cities?

“They seem very busy right now… I wonder if they can talk like the mushrooms and flowers?” Fluttershy mused. They must be intelligent after all, what with how they were clearly doing something with purpose and how their cities took planning and intelligence to make. Fluttershy blinked and looked at some of the buildings again. “Well, beavers and termites are the same way...”

She looked back at the armies (still oblivious to the fact that they were two clashing armies about to fight) and wondered if she should just go up and talk to them.

Meanwhile, the generals of both the snails and slugs were leading their forces from the front lines…

“Go, you maggots! Leave none of them crawling!” The snail general yelled to his troops. His shell was decorated with medals and a spear was “glued” to its side with slime.

“Bash their shells in, you cowards!” The slug general yelled. A harness was strapped onto his back that carried a spear atop it.

Their forces yelled back in unison with both sides full of rage and fervor, all of the mollusks only moments from smashing into each other. The pegasus lightly flapping her wings above them went completely unnoticed for now. Each snail and slug soldier had their own weapon, mostly spears but some flails, maces, or even slings that could fire rocks. Somehow. Trails of slime were left on the ground, covering up older trails that were themselves on top of older ones, showing how many times armies like these had clashed. Inch by inch the battle lines drew closer across the dirt and pebbles. What would’ve been nothing more than an irrelevant patch of land to a pony army was the entire glorious battlefield to these snails and slugs.

A yelling slug and snail were the first ones who met in the middle of the battlefield, both had their spears ready and were slowly trying to angle their weapons correctly so they could impale the other. Everything about this battle was slow-motion. Their eyes saw what the other was trying to do but with their reflexes and bodies moving like a pony stepping through molasses it took a long time for them to react and try to dodge or parry the other. This was happening all down the front lines with the other snails and slugs that were getting close to each other. It might as well have been an army charging through pudding.

Which gave Fluttershy plenty of time to just hover over them and figure out what was going on. It looked very strange to her at first and she wasn’t entirely sure what was happening until she heard the high-pitched battlecries and saw the tiny weapons the mollusks wielded.

“Oh my!” She brought her hooves to her mouth in shock. “They’re fighting! But why?”

The first snails and slugs were now upon each other, trying to stab and pummel their enemies while basically crawling over atop each other at the same time too. It was quite a strange sight. Fluttershy was sadly no stranger to battle but this was quite a bit odder than any of the fights she had unfortunately found herself in. And now she was just an ignored spectator, unsure of what exactly to do or why the snails and slugs were fighting in the first place. But she knew for certain that she wanted them to stop. Whatever their reasons were, violence was never the answer.

“Take this, you scum!” A slug yelled as he flung his flail at the shell of a snail.

“For our fathers and sons!” A snail yelled as he jabbed his spear towards a slug.

“Don’t let up for a second! Attack!” The slug general commanded as he inched his way towards the snail general, the two of them preparing to fight each other directly.

“You foul slugs won’t be winning today! This is your end!” The snail general shouted back as he crawled along the ground.

“To battle!”

“For the kingdom!”

“Have at you!”

“You’ll get no mercy from me!”

“By my shell, you shall fall!”

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped in horror at how hateful the mollusks were to each other. Things were so heated and they were yelling so violently. How dreadful! She was so frozen in shock that she didn’t even think to go down there and stop them immediately, instead her eyes were glued open as the fighting truly began in earnest. Snails and slugs alike “trampled” over each other, weapons clashed, the battle lines smashed into each other and already the cavalry and reinforcements for both sides were on their way. It would take a very long time for them to arrive but they were indeed going as fast as possible. The front lines had become total chaos with mollusks all fighting like they were filled with rage. In fact, the lines pretty much didn’t exist anymore. It was nothing more than a melee, a few one on one fights alongside brawls between groups of soldiers. Some didn’t even have weapons anymore but were just bodyslamming their enemy instead and trying to overpower and knock them down like that.

“I think I’m going to be sick...” Fluttershy said to herself, and indeed she started to get green in the face. It was awful to see such poor creatures fighting like this. She knew all about the realities of the food chain and how predators needed to eat their prey but this wasn’t like that at all! This was two groups of intelligent creatures fighting a war! It was just too horrible.

And it had gotten to the point where her mind finally snapped back to reality and she realized that she could not let this continue one second longer.

Right as the two generals were getting ready to strike down the other (so Fluttershy still had about ten minutes to spare if she wanted) Fluttershy flew down from above and landed in the middle of the battlefield. Very carefully so as not to accidentally crush anyone. Her legs and wings were spread so she was exactly on half of each side of the battle and with her big green eyes she stared down at the two generals.

“STOP!” She yelled, truly yelled, with her voice echoing across the entire warzone and even reaching the two cities.

Seeing a gigantic creature that had never been seen before suddenly land in front of you and scream like that resulted in just the reaction Fluttershy wanted: everyone staring at her in stunned silence. Well, maybe not exactly. Being the center of attention of all these strangers quickly made her blush and get a little shy. She nervously brought her right wing up to partially block her face and cleared her throat.

“Ehem, thank you for listening to me...” Fluttershy said, much more quietly.

“W-What are you, strange giant?” The snail general asked her, the little eyes on the ends of his stalks blinking.

“A flying giant has graced the battlefield,” the slug general said in wonder.

During the pause in combat, the soldiers all murmured amongst themselves, joining back up with their comrades and watching Fluttershy to see what would happen next. This was a truly unprecedented event, none of them could recall ever hearing about a creature like this visiting their kingdoms. Sure everyone knew about the moles that came through every now and then but this creature was certainly no mole. A beautiful and sublime winged being was what Fluttershy appeared as to them. She was more colorful than any other creature, or pretty much thing in general, they were used to seeing. And her feathers, and her big, expressive eyes that seemed to swallow them up.

Now Fluttershy was truly embarrassed but considering the situation she couldn’t just leave and let them start to fight again. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and tucked her wings back in, trying to look as casual and nonthreatening as possible. If they knew her they would’ve already known she was the most nonthreatening of creatures they could’ve encountered but at this point they were still strangers.

Time to change that.

“Um… okay… my name is Fluttershy a-and it’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” she said, an awkward forced smile on her face.

“Pray tell, flying Fluttershy creature, why have you seen fit to enter our battle and stop us?” The snail general asked.

“Fool!” The slug general sneered at him. “Do not so rudely question such an angelic creature! She deserves far greater respect!” The slug then reverently looked up at her. “Is there anything you require, oh great Fluttershy?”

“Oh dear...” Fluttershy gulped. “Look, you really don’t need to treat me that way, I’m just a normal pony.”

“A pony? Is that what such magnificent creatures like yourself are to be called?” The slug general asked. “Truly you belong to a grand species, oh great Fluttershy.”

“Yes, you ponies must be spectacular if you would call yourself normal. No—I refuse to believe anyone so sweetly beautiful and kind could be normal, you must only be as humble as you are fetching!” The snail general said.

Fluttershy blushed harder and harder.

In the meantime, both armies had started coalescing around her. Hundreds of snails and slugs were now gathering in a wide circle around Fluttershy and the two generals. This was making her very nervous and stressed. She was better at dealing with the attention from animals than ponies but these snails and slugs were a little different and there were just so many of them, she couldn’t help but start to sweat a little. Not to mention she didn’t exactly like being revered or talked up so much. It was a tad embarrassing, especially for one with her self-esteem.

“L-Look, I’m really just a normal creature like you all are, just a little bigger,” Fluttershy tried to tell them.

“What do you require from us, big pony angel?” A random slug soldier asked, his voice soon joined by many others all asking the same thing.

Fluttershy grimaced, awkwardly looking all around her. “This is really unnecessary… you don’t need to treat me like this, in fact I’d prefer if you didn’t, and I don’t need anything from you. Well, I may have something to ask you later...”

“But if you don’t want or need anything from us, fair Fluttershy,” the snail general said. “Then may I ask again why you came to our battlefield and commanded us to stop?”

“Well I just wanted you to stop fighting,” Fluttershy simply said.

“Why?” The slug general asked, genuinely perplexed.

To Fluttershy it was so obvious and simple though that she was almost at a loss for words, instead her mouth merely fell agape before she shook her head and answered. “Because fighting is wrong! I couldn’t stand seeing all you poor snails and slugs fighting each other like that, it was horrible.”

“But this war has been going on for generations! We cannot simply stop fighting our hated enemy!” The snail general said.

“Exactly!” The slug general concurred. “This is not some silly conflict, this is the latest in a long line of battles stretching back years. The fighting must go on until one side is victorious! This world is not big enough for two mollusks!”

“But that’s just not right, you can’t tell me that this is the best way to go about solving your problems. Even if you do hate each other you should find a way to live peacefully together! Violence is not the answer,” Fluttershy told them. She somewhat unsurprisingly found herself sniffling a little. “It makes me so sad to think that you’ve been fighting for that long, all you poor snails and slugs, how many of you have had to fight in this war? And you’re just doing it because you don’t like each other?” She closed her eyes and looked down in sorrow, a few tears threatening to drip out. “That just sounds so awful, even worse than other reasons to fight...”

“Please! Do not cry, sweet angel!” The snail general said.

“Yes, do not worry yourself over us! It is simply the way of life here! We must fight!” The slug general said.

“But that’s just awful too...” Fluttershy shook her head.

“But it’s all for a good reason!” The slug general said. “Things will be so much better when there are only slugs around!”

“Hah! You’ve got that backwards! Things will be better when it is just us snails living here!” The snail general interjected.

“Chur! Your ugly buildings are a blight upon this land!”

“Oaf! Your pathetic domes are a mockery of a city!”

“I am not surprised such a pitiful opinion comes from a creature with an ugly shell upon their back!”

“Nor am I surprised that a vile non-shell like yourself cannot appreciate our metropolis!”

As the insults were volleyed back and forth by the two generals, Fluttershy could only stand there and bite her hooves in worry. The other soldiers were getting caught up in the conflagration too and started yelling across the lines at their foes. It looked like it was about to break out into violence again even with the “angelic” Fluttershy being right there and begging them to stop. Fluttershy had seen (and resolved) many feuds but the scale of this one was a little bigger than your average friendship problem despite the creatures involved being so small. However, this was essentially the same type of problem as far as she knew. Just another conflict between two groups that didn’t like each other at the moment. If she treated it like a friendship problem then just maybe she could solve it and get these snails and slugs to stop fighting.

“Stop, stop, please stop again!” Fluttershy said to all the mollusks, lifting her wings high to try and make herself appear as big as possible. “No fighting, I-I forbid it in my presence!”

If they were going to revere her so badly she might as well use it, right?

The mollusks stopped and the slug general gulped as he looked up at her. “Y-Yes, very well. There will be no fighting as long as you are here, great one.”

“I promise you as well,” the snail general said.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy let out a deep breath. She felt bad about using their misplaced worship of her like this but at least it was for a good cause. If she had to do it to keep them from savagely fighting right in front of her then she would make that trade.

“But um, what now?” The snail general asked while the slug general nodded along.

“Well...” Fluttershy fidgeted. “I’d really like to figure out how to get you all to stop fighting forever, even after I leave.” She saw both of the generals about to open their mouths so she raised a hoof to stop them. “I know you may think that’s impossible, and you may not even want peace, but that’s just how I am. I want to find a real solution to this problem, and first that means getting to the bottom of it. How did this war start in the first place? Why do you hate each other so much?”

“This war started ages and ages ago when-” the slug general started.

“Hey! I’m the one who’s going to tell her how the war started!” The snail general interrupted.

“My eyestalks you are!”

“By my shell I swear you-”

“Stop!” Fluttershy again commanded. “Please, just tell me how this happened?”

The two generals sneered at each other but begrudgingly decided to not displease the wondrous Fluttershy. There would be no more arguing or insults thrown for now. Seeing that things were calming down, Fluttershy took a seat. After checking to make sure she wasn’t going to sit on anyone.

“You see, long ago we mollusks first came upon this grand cavern together,” the slug general started.

“There was indeed a time when we were not at war,” the snail general nodded.

“But even back then we were not exactly friends. Snails stuck with snails and slugs stuck with slugs,” the slug general continued.

“Oh, I’m sorry it doesn’t sound like you ever got along that well...” Fluttershy sadly frowned.

“You’re not seeing me complaining,” the slug general groused.

“Anyways—that’s not particularly important,” the snail general cut in. “Our ancestors still shared this great place back when our populations were lower and it was easier to ignore each other.”

“That was before the cities were built,” the slug general said.

“Yes, our magnificent Snail City and their—ugh—Slugville.” The snail general said, grimacing.

“We separated entirely by east and west sides at that point,” the slug general explained. “For years our people had almost no contact with each other. We were no longer even begrudgingly part of one nation, we had become our own kingdoms. Mollusks we may be, but snails and slugs were we first.”

“Our cities and separate kingdoms grew and grew but the reason for our war was not over something as insignificant as resources,” the snail general said. “No, there was always plenty of food, water, and space for both snails and slugs.”

“Our reason for war, why this all started, is far more personal and cuts to the heart of all snails and slugs,” the slug general darkly agreed.

Fluttershy found herself leaning in, not excited but warily interested to hear what caused all this. Once she learned that she could work on fixing things between these mollusks. Both generals sucked in a deep breath and announced together:

“They refuse to see the beauty of our shells!”

“They refuse to see that we’re better without shells!”

Fluttershy blinked and tilted her head. “Um… what?”

“Snails act like they’re better than us because of their big ugly shells!”

“Slugs are always going on about how they’re better than us because they don’t have shells!”

“Eventually it got so bad that war broke out,” the slug general said. “Our ancestors vowed not to stop until we slugs had totally eradicated the shell-loving menace.”

“And our ancestors vowed that we wouldn’t let the slugs get their horrible way. Shells are the only way to go!” The snail general shouted.

The slug general snorted in annoyance. “Fool, can you slide into narrow spaces with those unwieldy things?”

“Hah! Can you curl up into your warm shell and defend yourself?” The snail general shot right back.

“W-Wait, hold on!” Fluttershy waved her hooves back and forth in front of herself. “This whole war started because snails have shells and slugs don’t?”

“Shells are pretty and wonderful!” The snail general said up to her.

“We are just as pretty and wonderful without them!” The slug general said.

Fluttershy felt a dizzy spell coming on as she held a hoof up to her forehead. “Hold on… I need a moment.”

“I can understand how you would feel sick after hearing about the slugs’ reason for going to war,” the snail general nodded.

“She’s obviously disgusted hearing about you!” The slug general shot right back.

“Wait, please, calm down again,” Fluttershy said as she rubbed her hoof in circles around her forehead. “So this is really why you’ve been fighting and warring for generations? Because you snails think shells are better and you slugs think you’re better without them?” She looked down at them with a frown. “That’s what this is all about?”

“Yes!” Both generals enthusiastically replied at once.

Fluttershy vacantly stared down at them.

“Now, oh sublime great one, now that you are here you can also lend your voice to us slugs. Please, tell us that slugs are better than snails! Let all hear the truth and then help us get rid of them!” The slug general asked of her.

“No!” The snail general shouted. “She obviously knows that we snails are the better mollusk! Clearly she will join us in eradicating you scourge!”

“I’ve always liked both.”

Both mollusk generals looked up at her with tiny mouths agape.

Fluttershy smiled gently at their surprise. “It’s true, I love snails and slugs equally. Always have. You’re both such wonderful little creatures, chugging along and living your lives in peace. At least that’s how I think you should be living. And I really appreciate both of your differences. The spiral shells of snails are so pretty and stylish looking, while the sleek backs of slugs are so smooth and soft. If you’re asking me to choose just one I really can’t! I’ve got enough room in my heart to love both of your species though, if you can accept that.”

All the snails and slugs on the battlefield were silent. Slowly the generals and some of the others looked over at each other.


And in short, peace was declared.

Fluttershy flew off to Snail City to get their President and then flew off to Slugville to get their King and both parties were brought together in the middle of the battlefield with the two armies. A celebration was had as the leaders were more than happy to listen to Fluttershy and stop the fighting. After all, such an angelic creature couldn’t be wrong, could she? Snails and slugs really were equally great. That was the prevailing sentiment now. All their silly conflict was thrown aside and good vibrations were to replace it.

“Oh, I’m so happy about all this!” Fluttershy said as she watched the snails and slugs merrily get along, the President and King sharing a drink together.

“It’s all thanks to you, wonderful Fluttershy!” The slug general said from right at her hooves.

“Yes, you have truly shown us the way,” the snail general said from right next to the slug general.

“You’re welcome, I’m just glad I could help,” Fluttershy smiled down at them. “Oh! But before I forget, have you seen any creatures called moles come through here lately? Or a white rabbit?”

“Moles?” The snail general said. “They come through here every now and then and I believe there were some here not too long ago. I’m not certain of any rabbit though.”

Fluttershy squeed in delight. “That’s still great news! Where can I go to find them?”

“There’s a small cave on the northeast side of the battlefield that the moles come in and out of. If you just head in that direction you can’t miss it,” the slug general told her.

“Oh thank you! Thank you both! I hope you snails and slugs have a wonderful time now, and please, don’t start fighting again!” Fluttershy flapped her wings to carry herself above the ground that was crawling with snails and slugs, waving one last time she headed off in the direction of the mentioned cave. The snails and slugs said their goodbyes to her as she went, thanking her for everything and promising that war would not come to this great cavern again.