By Darkryt Orbinautz
With Honeyed Claws
Chapter 4
Celestia Forbid We Just TALK To Her ...
Cheerilee, the teacher at Sweetie Belle's school was on her way home for well-deserved rest after dealing with rambunctious children all day. She had no intention of getting caught by a snake-thing and getting hypnotized and eaten.
Too bad for her, then, that Fluttershy had other ideas.
At the sight of a huge tail hurling out from underground, Cheerilee was too startled to think about running away until it was too late. The tail lassoed around her waist and held her up in the air.
Cheerliee fruitlessly banged on the tail. "Let me go! This is not appropriate behavior for- for tails!"
"I disagree." Fluttershy said as she rose from the earth, covered in specks of dirt and with dust trappings all over her hair.
"Flutterhy?" Cheerliee asked, confused. Fluttershy held Cheerliee's head still with her hands, making Cheerliee grimace and panic. "Fluttershy, I don't know what's going on, but I would appreciate if you would let … me … down."
"I'm sorry, were you saying something?" Fluttershy politely asked as her hypnosis worked its magic on Cheerliee.
"Was I? I don't … remember. Oh, it's so pretty ..." Cheerliee mumbled and muttered, her expression like that of someone under the heavy influence of serious painkillers as her eyes mimicked Fluttershy's own.
"Normally, I would try to make this nice for you ..." Fluttershy said, rubbing Cheerliee's cheeks. "A little massage, maybe something with my milk … but my tummy is feeling empty right now, so I'll have to skip all of that. I'm sorry I couldn't make this nicer." Having practiced the difficult motion, Fluttershy popped open her jaw with ease and began fitting Cheerilee inside. Fluttershy moaned as the delicious taste of wonderful flesh made its way down. It was so nice to have someone in her tummy. It was a bit like eating sweets or power drinks. It made Fluttershy feel full even though she wasn't. Fluttershy valued the artificial fullness. Fluttershy appreciated her system didn't actually digest the people she ate. She couldn't enjoy it as much as she did if she knew it had hurt someone.
Taking her in slowly to appreciate every fantastic bit of skin, Fluttershy briefly felt Cheerilee brush against the inside of her chest before she swallowed the rest of the woman.
Then, it was like a pop. Cheerliee was in her human half one minute and in the snake part the next. It was like she had been dropped through a portal that teleported Cheerilee from one half to the other, with no physical contact ever being made between human and snake digestive systems.
Exhaling in relief from her meal, Fluttershy decided to put off investigating this interesting phenomena in favor of finding more people to eat. She had only ever had one person inside her at a time, but she had three pods on her tail. She decided it was time to test the other pods out and see what they could do.
"Does everybody understand the plan?" Twilight asked, turning to everyone in the room so they had a chance to ask any questions. Shining's me and her friends had a unanimous salute and nod.
"Rarity and Ah will go into the forest ..." Applejack started.
"Where we'll lure Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash out, presenting ourselves as defenseless and alone." Rarity continued.
"Then when they start to hypnotize you, Cadence and I will teleport mirrors in front of their eyes. Which, as we know from Pinkie Pie's encounter, will give them crippling headaches." Twilight added.
"When they try to tunnel away, Shining Armor and I will cast a forcefield that will go underground and kept them in the perimeter." Cadence said.
"And then my guys will hammer them with spells until they topple over!" Shining Armor pounded his fist. "Okay, everyone. Move out!"
"Mmm ..." Fluttershy moaned, her scales tingling as they brushed with Rainbow Dash's. They had found a sturdy tree and linked their tails along the branches. If they put their combined weight on one branch, it would have snapped, but by spreading their tails along the tree limbs like spider webs, the tree could put up with the distributed weight.
They were enjoying themselves in the tree, trying to run off their last meal. They had been running quite the buffet, swallowing every person they came across until both all of their pods were occupied by hypnotized victims.
"This is nice ..." Rainbow Dash said, briefly looking away to admire the serene nature of the forest. "Up in the trees … just the two of us and nature." Like a bored cat, Dash batted her hand against Fluttershy's cheek.
"I'm glad you like it." Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash. She looked over at other trees. "I wonder if we could find some birds to sing with ..."
"Eh." Dash shrugged. She could do with singing with birds, but she would join Fluttershy if she found any.
"Now remember, Apple Bloom!" They heard Applejack's voice shout from the distance. "We need to be really careful with these Zap Bananas or they won't be any good for Granny's pies!"
"Mmm, Zap Banana Pie sounds good ..." Fluttershy mumbled. She looked to the distance. "Actually, Applejack sounds good." Fluttershy licked her lips.
"Yeah." Dash raised her torso off Fluttershy. "Yeah ..." Something didn't sit quite right with her. Something felt off.
"Goodness, Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed. "You're working up a terrible sweat!"
"Hmm." Fluttershy pushed herself off the branches and swung her torso down like a vine. "I haven't had someone drenched in sweat to eat before ..." She scratched at her chin, thinking about how that would taste.
"Fluttershy, I don't think ..."
"Applejack, have you been working out?" Rarity said with a high pitch. "I don't remember you being quite this toned!"
"Why, yes, Ah have been hittin' the gym. Gotta beat Big Macintosh in the next Apple Family tug-of-war, y'know!"
"Oooh, did you hear that, Rainbow Dash? She's been working out!" Fluttershy exclaimed, salivating at the thought of swallowing Applejack's body. Applejack's firm, muscular, toned body … overwhelmed with a perverse desire that was like hunger and lust mixed together, Fluttershy took off and tunneled in the direction of the voices.
"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow Dash shouted, hopping off the tree and tunneling after her. "There's no such thing as Zap Bananas!"
Rainbow Dash caught up with Fluttershy in a groove just a short walk away form the one they had been in. Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy's shoulder. "Plus, there isn't an Apple Family tug-of-war! If there was, I would have been all over it!"
"But Rainbow Dash … look!" Fluttershy pointed. Only a few feet in front of them were Rarity and Applejack, who were smiling and gossiping.
"Howdy, y'all." Applejack waved at them. Fluttershy stared, still drooling over the thought of getting her teeth all over Applejack's body.
Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, remaining suspicious. "Where's Apple Bloom?"
"Oh, we sent her and everyone else up ahead so Applejack and I could catch up with each other." Rarity said smoothly.
Dash leered. "Really?"
"C'mon, R.D!" Applejack shrugged. "Y'all know Ah can't tell a lie to save my life. Would Ah really let Rarity git away with lyin' to ya?"
"I guess not ..." Dash muttered.
"It's just us!" Rarity assured her. "We're all alone. You can do … whatever you want." She punctuated this by pulling on the strap of her dress.
Rainbow Dash kept looking around the area, scanning for ambushers or other kinds of trap. Fluttershy went ahead and moved towards Applejack, wrapping her up and hypnotizing her.
"You're sure there's nobody around?" Dash asked again, glaring at the tree-tops.
"Absolutely." Rarity said. Rainbow Dash cautiously slithered towards her. Dash stopped in front of Rarity, expecting that whatever trap they had would be sprung when Dash got too close to Rarity. But nothing happened. No nets or darts or anything. Dash went ahead and slowly started wrapping her coils around Rarity. Dash started her hypnosis, but as Dash kept looking over her shoulder, the hypnosis was going nowhere fast.
"She's onto us." Pinkie whispered, hiding the bushes.
"Shh!" Twilight moved to cover Pinkie's mouth with her hand. Twilight moving her arm made the bushes rustle.
"What was that?" Rainbow Dash snapped, turning away from Rarity.
"Darling, please!" Rarity said sweetly, but a bead of sweat was forming on her brow. "Let me look into those FAAAB-ulous eyes of yours!"
"I think not." Rainbow Dash said, hooking the tip of her tail around Rarity's neck and pulling it taut. "Who else is here? Huh? Shining Armor, maybe? What about Princess Celestia? Is she here too? Huh?"
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy scolded while making Applejack sway back and forth like a charmed snake. (Oh, the irony.) "Be gentle! Hypnotize her, don't choke her. Then she'll tell anything you want."
"Hmm." Dash loosened her grip on Rarity's neck and began hypnotizing her, properly this time, maintaining an unfaltering eye contact.
"Oh, they're gorgeous ..." Rarity muttered.
"Now, I'm going to ask you a question, Rarity, and I want to be honest with me." Dash purred, stroking Rarity's hair.
"Of course, darling."
"Is anyone else here?" Dash growled.
Silently and unseen, Shining Armor gave the hand signal to his men to move. Twilight and Cadence jumped out of the bushes. Using their magic, they teleported mirrors in front of Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's faces, directing their own hypnosis back at them.
"AAAGH!" Rainbow Dash screamed, throwing Rarity against the ground as she clutched her head. "THIS AGAIN?" She burrowed into the dirt.
"Oh my!" Fluttershy squealed, gently dropping Applejack from her coils. "This is extremely unpleasant!" She followed Rainbow Dash's example and dove into the dirt.
Twilight and Cadence were one step ahead of them, conjuring a forcefield around the area that penetrated underground. They were loud thunks like glass bottles being thrown as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy bumped their heads against the subterranean barrier. There was another sound like a car engine inside a blender as the two snakes fruitlessly attempted to drill through the spell. Trails of up-heaved dirt were carved as they caught wise and attempted to tunnel their way out from a different direction. They only ended up smashing into the all-encompassing forcefield again. They shifted directions once more, but the same thing happened. Tuckered out, they emerged from the earth, rubbing their heads.
"Owww ..." Dash groaned.
"NOW!" Shining bellowed. His men appeared from the trees, having been inside the range of the forcefield when it was cast. They launched a serious of spells at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, hitting them both with extreme force until they collapsed and keeled over.
"Oh my head ..." Fluttershy mumbled before falling against the ground like she had a bad hangover.
"We got them!" Shining Armor exclaimed. "Did you see it, Twiley? We got them!"
"Yes!" Twilight cheered and ran up to hug her brother. "Now let's hope we can fix them ..."
Fluttershy grunted when she regained consciousness. She felt very constricted. Something was binding her wrists together and she was blindfolded. She moved and struggled to escape, but she was realized she was stuck inside a cage that was one size too small for her. She felt her tail make creases and wrinkles against the iron bars.
"Hey." Twilight's voice called out to her.
"Hello." Fluttershy responded, still attempting to break the handcuffs that were on her wrists. "Twilight, where am I?"
"You're in a warehouse in Ponyville." Twilight answered. "We got permission from the owner to use it while we worked on you and Rainbow Dash."
"Why am I in a cage?"
"So you can't use your tail to massage somebody and seduce them into letting you out. Before you ask, the handcuffs are so you can't use this drug-spike things on your wrists and the blindfold is so you can't hypnotize anybody."
"Could I at least get a bigger cage?" Fluttershy asked. "It's so tight and cramped ..."
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but that's the way it has to be." Twilight said apologetically. "You know, we wouldn't have to do this if you'd had just cooperated when we found you in the street."
"I know, Twilight. I'm sorry. I'll behave." Fluttershy pleaded.
Twilight bent down to unlock the cage, but she stopped herself. "Oh-ho! You nearly fooled me, Fluttershy, but I'm not falling for it! Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me! … Even though you didn't really fool me, personally, until now." Twilight rubbed her chin, in doubt whether or not she had used that saying correctly.
"Rats." Fluttershy cursed. "Where's Rainbow Dash?"
"In a cage right next to you. She's still unconscious." Twilight looked over the cage where Rainbow Dash was stuffed in. Shining's men had pulled a segment of her tail through the bars so Cadence could stick a needle in and draw blood. Hopefully, the blood sample would reveal enough about their biology to create an antidote.
"OW!" Dash yelped, the needle prodding against her flesh stirring her senses. "HEY! What's the big idea, stabbing my tail?" Dash thrashed about. "I don't come into your house and stab YOUR tail, do I?"
"We don't have tails." A guard muttered.
"Yeah! What is this, some cartoon show for little kids?" Another guard said indignantly.
"Okay, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "Can you tell us who did this to you?"
"No. I'm sorry, Twilight … I don't know her name. She's … she's another snake-creature."
Twilight nodded. She made a beckoning gesture with her hand. "Come on guys. Pull it over the cages."
"Pull what over the cages?" Fluttershy asked.
"Lead sheet. We're gonna take an x-ray of you so we can make a cure. Hopefully." Twilight muttered as she walked away.
"I don't need a cure! I'm fine." Fluttershy angrily insisted. "I mean, you know … except for that awful, hunger-like feeling that I just absolutely to swallow somebody for … but other than that, I'm fine!"
"Uh-huh." Twilight's distant voice acknowledged her while not believing her. She climbed up the stairs where a computer that would display the readout of the x-rays was set up. Shining Armor and Cadence were already waiting by it, eager for the results. Shining's men draped the lead sheets over the cages and pushed the machines that did the actual x-ray into place. The room was filled with the sound of mechanical whirring from the machines.
Twilight and Cadence became engrossed with the display, waiting for the results. When the results finally appeared on-screen, they both leaned in for closer looks.
Twilight let out a sharp gasp. "Goodness! They've eaten people recently!" Twilight' traced her finger along the screen across their pods. "I say there's a person in each of those pods!"
"Yes." Cadence narrowed her eyes. "Look at this." She swiped her finger along the intersection between the snake and human parts. "That looks like magic inside their stomachs. Almost like a ..."
"Portal. Huh." Twilight scanned the image up and down. "It looks they have … some kind of pocket alternate dimension inside their snake tails. Look." Twilight drew a line through the image. "They swallow the person, the person goes into the portal into the stomach, and then they go inside the pods, which are bigger on the inside."
"That would explain why it felt like they were just dropping straight into the snake half of my body while skipping my stomach!" Fluttershy shouted, overhearing them.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight shouted back. "Would you mind spitting out the people you have in you right now so there are no adverse effects on them when we cure you?"
Fluttershy whimpered. "But ...I don't want to! It feels good to have them inside me, Twilight!"
"I'll go check on the blood test and see if I make a cure using that. You keep trying to convince her to spit out her …" Cadence looked at the cages, not sure what word to use. "Um, hostages."
Twilight nodded and walked down the stairs. Shining Armor gave a hand signal to remove the lead sheets and x-ray machines.
Twilight walked up to Fluttershy's cage and knelt down to sit by her. "Hey again, Fluttershy."
"Hello again, Twilight." Fluttershy said. "I know you really want to cure me, but I'm fine. Except for the hunger-feeling I get sometimes."
"Okay. I believe you." Twilight said.
Fluttershy gasped, overwhelmed Twilight would put that much trust into her words after everything Twilight had been trying to do. "Do you really!?"
"Yeah, sure!" Twilight assured her. "But … do you remember when you were normal? Do you remember not having to deal with that hunger at all, ever? Wasn't that nice? Nicer than what you're having to deal with now?"
"I … guess." Fluttershy admitted. "No, no, it really was much nicer. But I can't just give them up! I'll feel empty again ..."
"Fluttershy, spit them out. Let us fix you. You won't have to deal with that empty feeling ever again!"
Twilight, in an amazing show of trust, slightly lifted the blindfold off Fluttershy's eye so Fluttershy could see her.
"I promise."
"I … still haven't gotten to pleasure you and our other friends with my gift yet." Fluttershy muttered. "You were all together and with Shining Armor, so I couldn't get to you and the others. I … I want to make you feel good, Twilight."
Twilight could hear the sincerity in Fluttershy's words. Fluttershy always wanted what she thought was best for everyone. It was just her recent mutations had altered her thoughts to think that hypnotized sex was "best." Twilight was confident she could still reach the real Fluttershy deep down if she just pressed her hard.
Fluttershy started on her hypnosis with her single exposed eye. Twilight immediately saw how it worked so well, with the endlessly repeating beautiful colors like a deep pool of water. But she held her ground.
"The old Fluttershy didn't need to use hypnosis or sex or- uuggh-" Twilight shuddered, briefly glancing at Rainbow Dash. "Breast milk to make the rest of us feel good. She did that just by being herself and being kind."
"O-okay." Fluttershy nodded, stopping her hypnosis. "I guess you're right."
Behind them, one of the guards rolled his eyes at the overly-sappy display.
"Great!" Twilight clapped in joy. "If I let you out of the cage, will you cooperate?"
Fluttershy hesitated, but she nodded. "I-I will."
Twilight turned to the other cage. "And you, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, looking surly. "Yeah, I guess..." she groaned.
"Come on, Rainbow Dash! I know how much you love flying. How well can you fly with that huge tail weighing you down?"
Rainbow Dash practically jumped in surprise, as much as she could, inside a cage that was deliberately too small. "Oh man! I haven't thought about that! Twilight, get me out of here and get me back to normal! I couldn't live without flying!"
Twilight giggled. She turned to the guards. "Okay, guys. Let them out."
The guards looked at each other. "Eer, … are you sure, Twilight Sparkle? What if it's some kind of trick?"
"Trust me. They're my friends. I know my friends." Twilight placed her hand across her chest proudly.
The guards still weren't certain, but they weren't about to argue with their captain's sister. They unlocked the cages, pulled the girls out, undid their handcuffs, and pulled off their blindfolds. Rainbow Dash did the typical hand rub against the wrists that people just let out of handcuffs typically did.
"Okay … let's see if I can make this work ..." Fluttershy mumbled to herself. She hooked her tail around the door of the cage for balance and went to task of trying to force her victims back up through her throat. "Hmm … HMMM … HRK!" Fluttershy felt her stomach rumble. "I think it's working! Stand back everyone! This is going to be a little nasty ..." Fluttershy leaned forward, stretching her jaw open and spitting out Cheerilee, whose body oozed out of Fluttershy's mouth like the swallowing done earlier presented in reverse.
"Okay." A guard said. "That … is disgusting."
"Oh, you should have seen when she converted Rainbow Dash." Twilight told him. "Not a pretty sight."
Although it took awhile, and it was uncomfortable and disgusting for all involved, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash eventually spat back out their as-yet-unconverted victims, who the guards guided to go get baths for the snake saliva covering them.
"There." Twilight said to Fluttershy. "Isn't that much nicer than before? Cadence should be back with a cure anytime now and then you go back to taking care of your animals while Rainbow Dash can get back to flying."
Rainbow Dash nodded enthusiastically, like a pet just given a biscuit treat. Fluttershy was not as happy.
"Yeah, I guess." Fluttershy rested her chin against her palm.
Twilight got worried. Fluttershy was fine with cooperating earlier, so why was she sullen now? "What's wrong, Fluttershy?"
"Oh, it's nothing, I just … I'M HUNGRY!" Fluttershy hissed, quickly wrapping her tail around Twilight. "And you – you are going inside me!"
"Whoa there, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash tried to calm Fluttershy down, putting her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "I get it, Twilight convinced to spit back out everyone we swallowed, so now you're feeling empty. But that's no reason to swallow her up! I mean, yeah, sure, what if we miss the feeling of having someone …" Rainbow Dash gazed at Twilight dreamily. "Sliding … and slipping around inside our bellies? Think about the flying!" Dash shook, coming back to her senses. "The flying! The wind in your face!"
"You know I don't like flying ..." Fluttershy muttered.
"Okay, but still! Is it worth it to give that up just so we can go around, swallowing some poor saps we hypnotized? Hypnotized into loving us and going so deep inside our tummies ..." Rainbow Dash's voice went dreamy again, her head wobbling and her gaze focusing on Twilight. "Mmmm, the way that swallowing pleased our mouths? That's … good stuff." Rainbow Dash laid her chin across Fluttershy's shoulder, expecting to enjoy the show of Fluttershy hypnotizing, seducing, and eating Twilight. "Do it to her, Fluttershy ..."
"Wait!" Twilight chuckled nervously. "Are you sure you girls don't want to think about this? Maybe some second thoughts?"
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at each other.
"No." Fluttershy leaned to start the induction. An aura of blue magic gripped her body while pink grabbed Twilight and yanked her out of Fluttershy's coils.
"Keep your filthy coils off my sister!" Shining Armor shouted, levitating Twilight next to him while Cadence lifted Fluttershy into the air. After making sure Twiley was safe, Shining Armor turned his magic on the snakes and lifted Rainbow Dash up into the air with Fluttershy.
"It's a good thing I manged to finish my antidote and get back here in time." Cadence said, levitating Fluttershy into the air and carrying her off. Shining Armor followed with Rainbow Dash in tow.
Twilight followed both of them to another part of the building, where there was a tub set up full of bubbling green liquid.
"That's your antidote?" Twilight asked, a little incredulous that Cadence's antidote ended up as a poisonous-looking shade of green.
Cadence shrugged. "I'm sorry, Twilight, that's just the way it came out."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked down at the vat of green liquid. They inhaled sharply and held their breaths. Cadence and Shining Armor levitated them over the tub, then dispelled their magic, dropping them with a splash. The fluid hissed and bubbled, rising up and spilling over the edges of the tub while it boiled.
Twilight got worried.
The liquid continued to bubble. Eventually, the bubbling subsided. Rainbow's and Fluttershy's snake tails rose up from the water and floated there like tiny bath toys.
Twilight got really worried. But Fluttershy and Rainbow popped out of the green water like fish, gasping for air.
"Air!" Fluttershy complained, back to normal. No scales, no barbs on her wrists. "I need air! And some clean water! This stuff is really dehydrating! And a warm towel!" Fluttershy pushed herself up to get out of the tub, but stopped. She wrapped her arms around her chest. "And some fresh clothes would be nice."
"Yes!" Shining Armor gave Cadence and Twilight a high-five.
"Uugh." Rainbow Dash groaned, shivering. Per Fluttershy's request, she and Fluttershy were given a t-shirt, some pants, chairs to sit on, and a tub of warm water to put their feet with towels wrapped around them. Twilight went to round up the rest of the girls so they could see Rainbow and Fluttershy for themselves.
"Whew!" Applejack exhaled in relief. "Well, Ah'm glad that little misadventure is over."
"Yes." Fluttershy nodded. "I am, too. I'm so sorry for the all trouble I caused."
"It's okay, sugarcube." Applejack sat next to Fluttershy and patted her on the shoulder. "We know y'all weren't yourself."
"Although ..." Rainbow Dash said. "Some of it was kinda fun."
"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded.
"What? I'm kidding!" Dash said quickly, shirking away before Twilight slapped her or something.
"All right." Shining Armor said, motioning for everybody to get away from Fluttershy. "We're all happy Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are back to normal, but now we should turn our attention to making sure this doesn't happen again." Shining Armor grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders in a comforting way. "Now, Fluttershy, can you tell us anything about what happened before you got turned into a snake?"
Flutterhsy looked up in thought. "I had just walked out of the bar we were meeting at. I saw something flicker in the forest. I went to go investigate it by myself. I just wanted to see what it was, because it didn't look like any animal I had seen before. I didn't think it would some awful snake-woman monster! And I really didn't know she would turn ME into one!"
"A bar." Shining Armor said. He looked at Twilight disapprovingly.
"I'm a grown woman." Twilight huffed. "I can make my own decisions."
"Fine, whatever." Shining waved. "But please tell me none of you have hangovers and can lead me back to this bar so we find and stop this thing."
"Yes." Applejack answered.
"Yes sirree!" Pinkie added.
"I do." Twilight said. "Because I know how to limit myself." Twilight said sharply, glaring at her brother.
"No." Rainbow Dash said.
"Yeah, well, that's because y'all got plumb hammered." Applejack teased her.
Rainbow Dash blushed. "Did I? I don't remember."
Shining Armor held his hand up. "Enough! We're going to go the bar, then into the forest, and we're going to find this creature and make it can't cause a mess like this again. Sure, we got Fluttershy before she caused too much trouble this time, but who's to say we won't be too late next time?"
"B.B.B.F.F is right." Twilight nodded. "We should find the creature and cure it too, if possible. Failing that, we should imprison it somewhere it can't hurt anybody."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh no! She won't hurt anyone."
"How did you know?"
"She didn't hurt me." Fluttershy said softly. "Well, aside from turning me into a sexual, gluttonous snake-creature like her, but other than that, she was as gentle as could be."
"Uh-huh." Shining Armor nodded. "Come on everyone. After Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy warm up a some, we'll have Fluttershy lead us to the forest where we can trap this snake-woman."
"Y'all get some rest, ya hear?" Applejack told them as she and everyone else left the room.
As soon as they had left the room, Fluttershy jumped out of her chair and grabbed Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, we can't let them trap her!"
Dash stared, bewildered. "You still having some side-effects from being turned into a snake, Fluttershy?"
"No!"
"Fluttershy, she turned you into a snake."
"Yes! But she was nice about it!" Fluttershy wailed. "She was really gentle!"
"Fluttershy, I think you're suffering from, uh, from, uh, what's it called … Stockhome Syndrome? Something like that. Putting that thing away for good is best for everybody."
"But … but ..." Fluttershy stammered.
Dash groaned, shivering again. She wrapped the towel tighter around herself. "I'm too dang cold to get into a moral debate with you right now."
Fluttershy took in a deep breath to calm herself. "Okay. Okay. Maybe I'm being overly-protective of her on a faulty basis. But Shining Armor still can't just throw her in a cage for being dangerous! I mean, we don't go on raids in the Everfree Forest and imprison manticores, dragons, and whatever else we can find, do we?"
"I guess not ..." Rainbow Dash muttered.
"I have to go find her." Fluttershy said. "We should at least give her a chance to speak for herself."
"Okay." Rainbow Dash shrugged as Fluttershy marched down the stairs. Eying Fluttershy's towel, Rainbow Dash went ahead and took it for herself.
Downstairs, the grouped turned to meet Fluttershy as she pattered into the room.
"Ready, girl?" Applejack asked her.
"No." Fluttershy insisted.
"What? Why not?"
"I don't think she's as malicious as you're all making her out to be." Fluttershy said. "She was nothing but gentle and nice to me when I met her."
"Fluttershy, darling, are we talking about the same snake-creature?" Rarity asked.
"She did her best to make feel good and relaxed." Fluttershy said.
"So? That doesn't prove she's not evil, just that she's good at being a wicked temptress!" Twilight said.
"Maybe." Fluttershy admitted. "You may be right. But I believe every creature deserves a second chance. Or at the very least, a chance to explain themselves." Fluttershy turned and marched out the room.
"Shouldn't we stop her?" Twilight asked her brother.
"No." Shining Armor said. "She's the only who knows where the monster is. And she won't tell us. We should give her a a head start, then follow her. Then we can deal with the creature appropriately."
Fluttershy gently walked into the forest where she had first met the snake-woman. It was late in the day, so there was a chance she wouldn't be out if she was nocturnal, but Fluttershy felt she had to get there before her friends. She would introduce herself, say hello, and ask "Why did you do that?" and then either go on her way or let her friends do what they wanted and trap her.
"Hello?" Fluttershy called, her voice reverberating through the forest. "Missus snake-woman? Are you here? Can I talk to you?"
Fluttershy delicately walked forward, startled slightly when she stepped on a crunchy leaf. She froze and held still, looking around to see if there was anything else to be concerned about, but there was no one there but her.
Well, her and the white-skinned, black-tailed snake woman gently sliding down the edge of the palisade.
"Oh, hello." Fluttershy said to her, waving. "Do you know where I could find a snake-woman who kind of looks exactly like you do?" Fluttershy paused. "Oh! Hello! It's nice to see you again." Fluttershy fiddled with her fingers nervously.
The snake-lady nodded, as if agreeing with Fluttershy that it was nice to see each other. She got off the palisade and started slithering her tail towards Fluttershy.
"I'm, um, I'm here to talk ..." Fluttershy's words lost focus as she distracted by the approaching tail. It curled around her ankle and began to spiral up her leg.
"Um." Fluttershy lifted her leg and attempted to shake the tail. "If we could, actually, not do that this time, I would appreciate it." She smiled nervously. Perhaps she should have listened to the others and let them take care of the snake-lady.
But, to Fluttershy's surprise and relief, the snake-lady withdrew her tail and set it aside. She then propped her hand against her chin and leaned forward, as if interested in what Fluttershy had to say.
"I don't think we introduced each other properly the first time we met." Fluttershy attempted to curtsy, but wearing pants instead of her usual dress, it didn't work so well. "My name is Fluttershy. I live in Ponyville. I take care of animals, and, oh yes, my friends are coming to put you away because they think you're dangerous, but you're not." Fluttershy looked at her. "Are you?"
The snake-lady shrugged.
Then she did something Fluttershy was not expecting.
Elsewhere in the forest, Shining Armor and company were marching through, pushing aside branches and stomping over leaves to get to Fluttershy before the snake-creature had a chance to convert her. Then they would have to do this whole thing all over again.
Shining Armor narrowed his eyes, detecting a tiny trace of pink hair through the bushes. "Come on! This way!"
He, Cadence, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Shining's troops stepped out of the bushes (Rainbow Dash had opted to stay behind and get warm). They flanked the snake-woman, who had Fluttershy sitting on her coils like a couch.
"Attention, snake-creature!" Shining shouted, enveloping his fists with magic. "Put the pink-haired woman down and we won't have to hurt you!"
The snake-woman leered at them like they were intruding on a polite, private conservation. She wrapped Fluttershy in her tail, then shot her tail up over the rocky ledges like a grappling hook. And like a grappling hook, she pulled herself and Fluttershy up the palisade.
Shining Armor watched them go up. "I hope everyone's up to date on their climbing skills ..." Shining Armor fearlessly hopped onto the cliffside and started to climb.
Twilight put her hands on her hip. Using her magic, she lifted herself and her friends into the air and over the cliffside.
"Hey!" Shining Armor shouted. "No fair! I didn't think of that."
"Well, that's why she's the Princess' student and not you." Rarity quipped before she and the others ran off in pursuit.
"Er, sir?" Shining's troop asked. "Do you want us to get off the wall to use your magic or …?"
Shining sighed. "No. Just keep going. Lifting one heavy snake is fine, but I don't have the magical skill to lift multiple people ..."
Atop the cliffside, Twilight's friends ran after the quickly escaping snake-creature. The snake-creature's slithering far outpaced their ability to run. It didn't take long before she had made her escape into a nearby cave.
"In there!" Twilight pointed. "Come on, girls, Fluttershy needs us!" They made their way into the cave, where the snake-woman had apparently made her lair. Fluttershy was sitting on a chair, but she got up for her friends, holding her hands in the air.
"Girls, please stop -"
"We're not gonna let y'all turn Fluttershy into a snake again, ya hear?" Applejack shouted. She charged at the snake-lady with fists ready. The snake-lady calmly lassoed her tail around Applejack and threw her into the side of the wall.
"If you would -" Fluttershy said.
"Eat magic, you cretin!" Rarity shot off spells with her magic which didn't do much more than annoy the snake-lady.
"I'm going to use my magic to turn you into a -"
"STOOOOP!" Fluttershy shouted. She ran in between the girls and the snake-lady with her hands out. "Would you all please just stop for one second and take the time to talk?"
Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity all halted, while Applejack climbed out of the wall.
"Okay." Twilight said cautiously. "But I can't guarantee I'm not going to start flinging spells when she makes a move."
"Oi." The snake-woman said. "You weren't kiddin', were ya? Shoot first, think later, the lot of them."
Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity's jaws all dropped. Pinkie was more confused than shocked.
"She can talk?"
"Course I can talk." The snake-lady replied, speaking with something of a Bronx accent. "I got two lips, don't I?"
Twilight fiddled with her fingers. "Uh, not necessarily … pigs have lips and they don't talk."
"Her name is Tsukiko." Fluttershy said. "She's actually quite nice when you get to know her." Fluttershy glared at them on the last part. "We were just having a polite conversation when you barged in on us."
"But … but the turning you into a snake!" Twilight stammered.
"Och, big misunderstanding." Tsukiko dismissed them.
"Tsukiko is a type of creature she refers to as a Lamia Siliqua." Fluttershy explained. "Swallowing someone and turning them into another snake is their way of reproducing."
"And she did that to you … and you're still okay with her?"
"Like I said, misunderstanding." Tsukiko shrugged. "I thought she knew what she walking into when she went after my tail and was consenting."
"How do you misunderstand whether or not someone's given consent!?" Twilight shrieked.
"According to Tsukiko, Lamia Siliquia are very territorial." Fluttershy said. "In a way, me coming onto her territory made me a valid mate for reproduction."
Twilight glared at Tsukiko, prompting Tsukiko to throw her hands into the air. "I thought she knew what I was and what she was getting into!"
"So, if I understand this right ..." Twilight muttered. She pointed at Tsukiko. "You thought Fluttershy knew what kind of creature you were, what you were like, your behavior, and thinking that she knew all this, you figured it would be okay to hypnotize and swallow her?"
"Sounds about right."
"But you didn't know any of these things until Tsukiko explained to them just ten minutes ago." Twilight added, pointing at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes."
Twilight stared blankly at Fluttershy. "And you've making friends with each other for the last … however long it took us to get here?"
"Yes."
"Uh-huh." Twilight crossed her arms.
"Fluttershy, darling … you realize this is grounds for a sexual harassment lawsuit, if not worse?" Rarity asked.
Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck. "I know." She reached up and gave Tsukiko a big ol' hug. "But she didn't mean it, right, Tsukiko?"
"Nah." Tsukiko said. "I'm sorry 'bout all the trouble I caused you guys. Hey, you want to lay on my tail?" She stretched her tail across the room. "It's nice and comfy!"
"I'll pass." Twilight said with a forced grin, but she could see Tsukiko was trying to be hospitable and make up for the trouble that came from her actions. It was only now that the girls took the time to look around the cave, where was a table, some chairs, and some appliances set up, (how did Tsukiko get power in a cave?) along with some photographs on the wall.
"What's this?" Rarity asked, noticing a picture on the wall. It had a lot of snake-creatures similar to, but differing from Tsukiko. Some of them had stingers instead of barbs, one of them had a single large pod instead of three pods.
"Well, you remember Fluttershy saying I'm a Lamia Siliqua." Tsukiko said. "To be a Lamia Siliqua, there has to be regular lamia. So ya take a normal lamia, add in a few witch's curses, some hexes, and a few hundred years of crossbreeding and evolution … voila! Youse get me!" Tsukiko said proudly. "Normal lamia don't have these little pod things or these barbs, y'know?"
"Huh." Twilight tilted her head. She raised her hand towards Tsukiko, then stopped. Tsukiko scooted closer, as if to give Twilight permission. Twilight petted Tsukiko on the cheek.
"You're not such a bad sort, are you, Tsukiko?" Twilight asked, Tsukiko responding positively to her pets. "You just made a bad assumption, that's all."
Cannonfire ripped through the air and the cave shook, clouds of dust being knocked loose from the ceiling.
"What was that?"
"Oh my goodness, Shining Armor!" Twilight realized. "He must have his men firing on the cave! We have to stop him!" Everyone but Tsukiko ran out of the cave. Outside, Shining Armor and his men were firing spells at the cave.
"Twiley!" Shining Armor cheered. "Come on, get out of the way! Men, FIRE!"
"No!" Twilight and Fluttershy waved their arms around. "Stop! STOP!"
But Shining Armor's troops didn't hear them. They fired off their spells, which smashed into the roof of the cave and caused it to collapse and cave in on itself … and on Tsukiko.
"No!"
Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie looked at the cave, devastation showing on their faces.
"So, tell your B.B.B.F.F he did good." Shining Armor said, confidently strutting up to his sister. "Twiley? Twiley, what's wrong? … Why is Fluttershy on her knees and crying?"
Much later in the day, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow were gathered at Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy had made tea for them, but they could all sense her heart wasn't in it.
"We're sorry, Fluttershy." Twilight said. "If we had just realized a little sooner … maybe we could have stopped Shining Armor in time."
"Uh-huh." Fluttershy nodded. She didn't want to hear about "if's" and "could have's." Those didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was that they were too slow to see Tsukiko wasn't a bad guy, and now Shining Armor had killed her for it.
"If it helps ..." Applejack said. "She seemed like a good girl. Sure, she made a mistake, but don't we all? Granted, most of the time, our mistakes don't git our best friends turned into seductive snake monsters." Applejack innocently took a sip of tea.
"Uh-huh." Fluttershy nodded again, so disinterested she could be in outer space and not care.
"Shining Armor's agreed to hold a service for her." Twilight said. "Took some convincing, but he agreed."
The response didn't change. "Uh-huh."
"Well, if you ask me, Fluttershy should count herself lucky that her hunch proved correct and she didn't get turned into a snake a second time!" Rarity huffed, turning her head.
That was too much for Fluttershy to take. She scooted her chair back from the table. "I'm going to go outside." She got up and walked out the door.
Twilight smacked Rarity up-side the back of her head. "Ow! What was that for?"
Outside her cottage, Fluttershy stood in the grass, holding her teacup high. Silently, she mourned for the loss of Tsukiko … and the loss of her friend. She supposed Rarity had a point, and that taking Tsukiko to not be a malicious monster was something of a risky gamble. But still, that hardly give Shining Armor the right to be her executioner without a fair trial.
She heard something rustle in the bushes. Reluctantly, Fluttershy turned around to see what was it. She gasped.
It was Tsukiko in the bushes, shadowed by the trees. Tsukiko flicked out her tongue suggestively and gave Fluttershy a wink.
The door squeaked open behind her, causing Fluttershy to turn around. Twilight had come out to check on her after Rarity had offended her with the insensitive comment.
"Hey." Twilight said. "Are you all right? Relatively speaking? I know Rarity upset you ..."
Fluttershy was going to gesture to Twilight to come see Tsukiko, but when she turned back around, Tsukiko was gone.
"Is there something wrong, Fluttershy? Aside from … what Shining Armor did?"
Fluttershy smiled, thinking about Tsukiko. "Actually, Twilight, I feel much better now." Fluttershy put her hands on Twilight's shoulder. "You can tell Shining Armor to cancel the funeral." She went back inside, leaving Twilight thoroughly confused.
"Huh?" Twilight questioned. She looked towards the bushes and had a good idea about why Fluttershy had perked up. Fluttershy, as a snake, had demonstrated an exceptional tunneling ability.
"Hmm. well, I guess we'll be seeing you again, huh?"
With a mischievous, knowing glare at the bushes, Twilight went back inside.
Author's Notes for "Celestia Forbid We Just TALK To Her ..."
The End!
Just in case what the chapter title is referencing isn't obvious, it's referring to how no one takes Fluttershy seriously about the idea of just talking to Tsukiko. Because Celestia forbid they just TALK OUT their problems.
I didn't include anything overly kinky scenes due to having an ... overabundance in the last chapter. So for balancing purposes, this chapter throttles back from the last one.
Fluttershy deciding to cooperate when she wasn't before may seem a bit ... rushed or forced. So, after three chapters of hypnotizing and swallowing people, she decides to cooperate with Twilight ... because friendship, I guess.
Last chapter, I said I had originally planned for this story to share a universe with A Poison Most Intimate. Well, I had actually also intended to be a lot more like A Poison Most Intimate in pacing and dark tone. In this version, the ending would have consisted of Twilight talking down Fluttershy from murdering Tsukiko with a pipe. Obviously, I veered from this as I started writing. Because Fluttershy is not a Slasher Girl. But I think changing directions like that so soon into the writing process may have negatively affected the story.
Now, I want to talk about something. This story ... I decided how many chapters it would have before writing it. I wrote as four chapters. I kept it as four chapters. While I was doing that, it was an empowering feeling, knowing that I knew how many chapters there would be.
All my stories prior to this one ... I wrote naturally. I started writing on them, and just went through them, chapter by chapter, knowing what the ending was, but not what the chapter the ending was going to be in. I had no idea A Poison Most Intimate would be nine chapters when I started. I had no idea Her Void Pink would be eleven chapters when I started. (Although I did know Where's the Punchline, Celestia? and Shying Up To Sunsets would be one-shots.)
So I want to ask, comparing this story to my other ones ... is it better off, at least in pacing and structure, for having a pre-set amount of chapters? Or would it have been better to let snowball and evolve the way A Poison Most Intimate did?
(Though at the very least, as I write this note, I think perhaps five chapters may have helped the pacing some.)