The clip-o-hoof range of cooking utensils really made any ponies life easier, but Jenny still managed to drop the knife. It now stood a third embedded in the delicate kitchen floor. "Pony Nuts" she said under her breath as made to retrieve it.
"Shall I get that for you?" asked the handsome sales pony standing by the door.
"It's fine," she said, easily removing the serrated blade from the cork like surface. "I love this floor, it's warm and soft under hoof, but so resilient. It always comes up clean no matter what I spill on it".
The sales pony shifted uneasily. This wasn't going to be an easy sell at all. There were all sorts of enchanted floors in Equestria, but he hadn't felt one like this before. He pawed it slightly for a better idea of how it felt. "Have you been living here long miss?"
Jenny smiled and stopped cutting up bread for the garden birds. "Only a few months and I'm absolutely loving having my own place. It's a brand new build and I can still smell fresh paint in the cupboards.
The little bungalow was the very essence of modern living with a shallow pitched roof and big windows for maximum natural light. The outside was a delicate pink and the front garden still had the odd pile of rubble, giving it a 'nearly there' ambiance.
It really was the perfect place to escape from the parental home. It's location on the south side of town was ideal, with a railway station near by and only a short canter to the really good shops. It suited her ecological ideals as well, being built on the remains of the old research labs.
The 'Equestrian Research Institute Laboratories' had been known as Eril locally and had been a common land mark for many a year. Recently odd things had happened there, with frequent sirens and mass evacuations. The town council had demanded explanations! But instead of getting answers a small army of large unicorn stallions arrived one day and simply levelled the place. A row of neat reasonably priced housing now stood in its place.
Jenny finished cutting up her bread and slid it off the cutting board into a small basket.
"Back in a minute," she said, before picking up the basket in her teeth and opening the back door with a hoof.
He could see her through the window with her back turned toward him and he could also see her purse on the table. He didn't consider himself a thief by any measure, but her purse was bound to have a few bits in it. At the rate he was going the mop sales weren't going to cover lunch and breakfast had been nothing more than a hope. At least with magic he could be subtle about the deed.
He kept an eye thought the window and felt for loose change as his horn glowed softly. Carefully he levitated the contents from the bright blue purse and looked to see if there were any 20 bit pieces. As he checked the embossed figures of Celestia and 'Star Swirl The Bearded' stamped into their surface he felt the strangest sensation in his hooves. Dropping the cash he looked down to puzzle at his now longer fetlocks, which now touched the floor.
All too soon he realised it wasn't his hair that had grown longer, but his hooves that had grown considerably shorter. They were also stuck! He tried to free one and then the other. Leaning and weaving they stayed rooted to the spot. Not even an attempt at bucking did any good. "A Little help here please," he called out. "I seem to be in a spot of bother".
Making up some story about why he had angered a floor that was also a security system was going to be tough. But if he could play it straight he ought to be fine. This kind of fast thinking was a normal day in the life of this unicorn. It did seem odd that a sweet little mare needed a burglar proof floor?
"I'll be there in a minute," called Jenny, oblivious to her kitchens antics. "I'll just grab these berries before the birds do. Have you time to stay for Lunch?"
He was now fairly sure the ground was going to give way under him until he disappeared. It was now up to his knees and the kitchen cupboards looked ever imposing around him. A cold seeping sensation was creeping into his legs as a strange sort of cramp set in. This was truly ridiculous situation and surely the spell was only there to trap somepony until the police arrived?
It was all happening way to fast. He struggled violently as electric shocks started to penetrate his skin. He tried to tense his body muscles to keep his belly out of harms way, but it wasn't doing any good. Taking a deep breath he made a last ditch attempt at freedom by using his head to push down.
He regretted his last move as soon as it failed to achieve anything. With his muzzle firmly locked to the surface he tried to shout out. But you can't shout for help if your mouth is half morphed into a solid surface. His eyes darted left to right as his brain screamed for assistance and for air. The cold was now entering into his body as gravity relentlessly pulled his hooves down and down into the solid earth.
It had only been a couple of minutes since he first realised he was stuck, yet his eyes now looked out horizontally across the cursed floor. The smart white cupboards now looked like tower blocks looming over a city street. The look of horror they displayed was in complete contrast to the gentle shafts of sunlight dancing on particles of dust as they floated lazily past his ears.
His lungs were now screaming for nourishment. His back twitched as his body made its last efforts to hang onto the living world before it blinked from existence. The last of his mane and tail were now being sucked in as Jenny returned with the basket full of ripe berries.
"Are you still here?" she asked, placing the basket on the table. She was sure she had seen a few strands of black tail hair on the floor when she came in, but both her visiter and the hair now seemed to have vanished.
"That really is a swizz," she announced with frustrated tone and a sigh. "I guess it's lunch on my own again."
Team Idris
Author's Note
Described by my wife and chief editor as "Brilliant, but horrible" I am really pleased with this one. It brings the funny and the eek in a relatable and grim demise. My aim was to start off slice-of-life and keep it all the way through, while adding in the 'dark' steadily. For me building up to a crescendo is a vital part of any story.
As is often the case I like the audio book even more. Then I can lay in the feel that I had in mind when I wrote it, such as the suffocating noises he makes as it all goes horribly wrong !
Having ObabScribbler do the main narration makes it extra special for me as she is a huge inspiration.
