"My name is Fluttershy, and I am not a monster."
Children of Everfree
is a Tumblr webcomic and Ask Blog by CouchCrusader, based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
Children of Everfree takes place in an alternate Equestria and follows the day-to-day life of Fluttershy, who in this universe is a giant spider. Like most Ask Blogs, the comic has a gap in the Fourth Wall; Fluttershy (and later, Rainbow Dash) are both aware of the reading audience and some events in the comic are driven by audience interaction. The 'audience' (or at least, an avatar thereof) appears to have some kind of presence in their world, as Fluttershy treats them as if they were physically there; for example, becoming startled by the audience's approach, or moving out of view when frightened.
The comic is notable for making heavy use of animation, something usually employed only sparingly in Tumblr comics. Characters frequently blink or move limbs to emphasize that they are living creatures.
Tropes
- Alertness Blink: Being an easily startled spider, Fluttershy frequently gets these.
- Art Shift: Fluttershy's retelling of the story of King Sombra and the Sisters of Everfree is illustrated in storybook-like pictures (although much like the rest of the comic, they're still animated).
- Blatant Lies: Either Dash is being extremely inept in an attempt to spare Fluttershy's feelings, or she's having a Cloud Cuckoo Lander moment, but either way, her description of Fluttershy's ineffectual punch is completely untrue.
- Cobweb Trampoline: Fluttershy makes her home in a horizontal web stretched between some trees, and it visibly undulates much of the time.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Angel saves Fluttershy with one.
- Cross-Popping Veins: Angel has them in this strip.
- Cute Little Fangs: Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have them.
- Cute Monster: Angel the baby manticore-bunny.
- Cute Monster Girl: Fluttershy. Despite the massive arachnid abdomen and extra legs and eyes, she still retains many of her pony features; her front legs, face, ears and mane are still very equine. It's possibly she may even be a pony-spider hybrid, although the comic doesn't make this clear - Fluttershy doesn't seem to object to being called either a 'spider pony' or just simply a spider. She also retains her pastel coloration and even her cutie mark, which is represented as a large butterfly-shaped marking on her back.
- Death Glare: Rainbow Dash gives one when her aquatic heritage is insulted.
- The Ditz: Rainbow Dash seems somewhat lacking in the intelligence department, at one point getting herself stuck in Fluttershy's web, which is only intended to catch insects.
- Dreadful Musician: Rainbow Dash is a bad singer.
- Dynamic Entry: Rainbow Dash, of course.
- Emerging from the Shadows:
- Rainbow Dash is at first seen in shadows underwater, making it unclear as to her motives. Turns out she just wants to prank Fluttershy.
- The Captain of the Royal Guard is also first seen in shadow, only emerging into light in the last panel.
- Extra Eyes: Fluttershy has the full spider's complement of eight. Four are regular pony eyes, and four are arachnid eyes.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Fluttershy decides to call a manticore-bunny 'Angel'. Admittedly he's a baby and rather cute, but he's still a monster with bat wings and a stinger tail.
- Arguably Fluttershy herself, although she insists she isn't a monster.
- For the Funnyz: Rainbow Dash pretends that she's suffocating and dying outside of the water just to scare the audience, who don't know anything about her biology yet.
- Furry Reminder: Fluttershy is seen sucking out the insides of a live parasprite at one point (with a straw, no less), emphasizing the point that despite her intelligence and gentle nature, she is still a wild spider.
- Giant Spider: Fluttershy is one.
- Giftedly Bad: Rainbow Dash doesn't seem to realize how bad her singing is. She does recognise Fluttershy's vocal talent, however.
- Idiot Hero: Rainbow Dash is... not very bright, but there's no denying that her heart is in the right place.
- Imagine Spot: Rainbow Dash is seen bungee-jumping down a waterfall (presumably, the same waterfall that Fluttershy lives above, and with her assistance to make the bungee cord). However, this turns out to be just Rainbow Dash's daydream, as Fluttershy quite firmly rejects the idea.
- Living Shadow: Twilight is revealed to be some kind of shadow-spider.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash appear to be pony/monster hybrids, and retain equine features in their faces, manes, and front legs.
- Monster Mash
- Mysterious Watcher: This dialogue-less strip introduces one.
- Mythology Gag:
- Fluttershy gets startled easily by Rainbow Dash, in much the same way as Pinkie startled her in the show episode "The Last Roundup"
- Rainbow Dash is still a daredevil, speedster, and prankster, even though she's waterbound.
- No Indoor Voice: Rainbow Dash. (Admittedly, they are always outside, but Dash doesn't seem to have an understanding of what constitutes a conversational volume).
- Pet Monstrosity: Angel.
- Pictorial Speech-Bubble: Rainbow Dash uses a musical one in this strip.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: With her fiery, energetic temperament, Rainbow Dash is the red to Fluttershy's calmer, demure blue.
- Speech-Bubbles Interruption: With an extremely excitable siren and an extremely soft-spoken spider, this is to be expected.
- Spider People: Fluttershy could be considered a spider pony, and some followers of the Tumblr have addressed her as such. She hasn't yet confirmed whether this is true or not.
- Spider-Sense: Fluttershy appears to have enhanced senses, as she demonstrates by predicting Rainbow Dash's imminent pounce.
- Stealth Pun: Angel comes out of nowhere to protect Fluttershy in her moment of need. He's her guardian angel.
