Dust

D U S T

speck

spek

noun

1. A tiny spot. Barely visible.

Dust Mite scrambled against the wall of blue, hands and hoof searching for something to latch onto, his one good wing beating furiously to keep him from falling while the broken one flapped uselessly, sending a mild shudder of pain through his body every couple of seconds. Eventually he managed to find some kind of small crevice in the surface to grip his fingers into, pressing his body as tightly as possible to it, cringing at the strain put on his body, feeling tiredness slowly creep through him and drain away at his already battered stamina, from the bottom of his hooves to the tips of his fur. "Eugh . . . I just can't catch a break . . ." He lamented aloud to himself, breathing raspy and quick, trying to settle down to a more normal rate in an attempt to calm his body.

'Try to breathe along with your heartbeat, with the wisp of the wind. It sounds all like zebra-shaman-guru stuff, but it's true, it works.' The advice from his father, one of the many tips that had been given to him during his younger days when trying to learn how to fly, spread through his mind, letting it echo along with his respiration, the wave of fatigue being combatted against by the relaxing sensation, not fully making him feel better, but at least kept him at a deadlocked state where he wasn't feeling as bad as before.

Now not feeling as if he was about to pass out (more along the lines of being close to it), Dust opened his eyes in an attempt to examine his new surroundings. He seemed to be . . . moving. And was /very/ high up. Given the scale of everything to him that was menial, but he felt as if he was atop the summit of something, of some great monument. The wall felt odd, a mix of flesh, fur, and something more hardened, akin to . . . stone, but more alive. His mind went to a memory of sitting atop of a pebble like its own landmass, but that wasn't it. Going through the experiences in his head, the puny pegasus finally found something that reminded him of this almost exact experience.

His eyes lit up with realization upon finding the fact that he was clinging to a . . .

What was on her horn? Trixie looked up, raising her brow and tilting her head in an attempt to get a better view of the protrusion from her forehead. Unicorn horns were naturally sensitive conduits, the nerves in the area nearly doubled to allow for better passage of magical energies, but she wasn't feeling something magical. She pursed her lips curiously, 'Hmming' as she tried to describe the sensation. It was tiny, but like . . . scrambling. As if the most minute of insects had slapped against her while she was walking and had gotten stuck in the one of the horn's crevice rings. Uuugh. She wasn't one for insects, but given how small the poor thing was, she might show mercy to it.

With but a mental flick, her horn lit up, the telekinetic blue magic searching for and eventually wrapping around something pitifully small . . .

The vast surface on which he clung seemed to hum to life, thrumming with sheer power. Visible bright blue light shone underneath him, the most miniature of details upon the skin coming to life with magical energy. He was reminded of his mother gently lifting him up with her own telekinesis, but this one felt fumbling, probably since it was unaccustomed to grasping at such a tiny thing. Dust could feel the invisible force stir, missing him a couple times before finally meeting him, a sparkling pink aura wrapping around his body and effortlessly pulling him away into empty air.

Momentarily panicking, seeing as how he was being touched by unfamiliar magic and feared it would crush him unknowingly, he flailed against it, weakly beating against a force that eventually drained him, deciding to give in and let it take him wherever it was taking him. Around him, the usual enormity of scale and blurs passed until finally settling him before a great black pupil, spreading onwards and outwards for many miles, far away the outer edges melded into a sort of pinkish-magenta tint that surrounded the rim, most likely the iris, but that was too much distance to see it properly. A loud rumble filled the air before a sonic-boom like force ruptured in front of him, nearly knocking him away but he held fast due to the magic holding him in place. A mere blink, an eyelash protruding passed by as some great black monolith, nearly slamming into him twice, once on the way down then on the way back up.

The sky-eye squinted, the pupil shifting slightly to try and focus in on him. It took several seconds before it even saw anything. "What . . . are you? No insect, that's for sure. Too small . . . who are you to touch the horn of the great and powerful Trixie? Speak, mite!"

"That's uhh, that's actually right." He chuckled nervously in reply, shouting to the point of strain. "Dust Mite's the name."

". . ."

"It's not a joke actually."

"Wow, you are actually serious. How could you even be this small?" Trixie asked, racking her brain for an answer before even asking him. "A shrinking spell? It's possible, but it must've been casted by a very powerful unicorn . . . usually the smallest it can go is a couple inches. Or are you some kind of freak of nature breezie? No, no no, that can't be it-"

"Actually, um,"

"Don't interrupt me." Her much, much, much louder voice broke through his squeaky words, shattering the air with every syllable. After coming up and going through various theories on her own, eventually the eye went from wandering to looking right back at him again. "Well, go on then. Tell Trixie why you are so small." She almost sounded like she was commanding it.

"Well, my mom was a unicorn, and my dad was a pegasus,"

"Trixie did not ask for your life story."

". . . I'm getting there. And my mom specialized in shrinking magic. Well, apparently I inherited that, but was born a pegasus like my dad. So, it had to manifest itself some way. Poof, tiny me. My talent is literally being small."

"How . . . cute. How . . . pathetic really. How pathetically cute." Trixie snickered, bobbing him up and down in the air with her magic. She had been out shopping for groceries, on her way to the market, but had found a much better distraction. She knew one certain purple mare had reformed her, but the chance of being so superior over something again had shown itself, and she wasn't going to let it go so easily. Not since those two (Snaps and Snills was it?) groveled at her hooves or when she had all of Ponyville under her control did she feel like this. She would have just a little fun, and that would be it. The sense of power of holding his tiny self before her really just made her feel like a . . . a goddess. No, bigger than that.

"Umm . . . yeahhhh . . . " Dust grunted, trying to keep from getting dizzy as she playfully jerked him up and down. "If-if y-you could be so kind . . . I need to get home. I can give directions, I-I think."

"Hmm, not so fast little one. The GREAT and COLOSSAL Trixie wishes to . . . have some fun."

"What."