“Look alive everypony!” the head of the Lunar Guard shouted. She was a strict bat mare with a dark blue mane and tail, her bat wings flapping as the four of the hoof picked guards chosen by Princess Luna herself flapped their wings landing on the ground below her and huffing out there chests. The captain landed with a loud thud, and huff of dust escaping from under her hooves.
“Alright, pups listen up! Princess Luna is here to deliver our briefing for our next assignment!” Captain Night Eyes roared stepping aside as Princess Luna appeared from the shadows in her black cloak. She uncovered her head revealing her dark blue star-like mane she stood towering over the captain and looked at her picked guards.
“I assume you all must wonder as to why I called only you four and Captain Night Eyes here. Well, my guards, we are living in a time of change. My dear sister’s pupil, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship has befriended many a creature of this world, including a Griffin, a Zebra, and the new king of the Changelings, as well as a former pupil of my sister’s. Now this may be a sign of peace between other species and enemies, but with Friendship comes naiveness; I’m not saying my sister and Twilight are too trusting, but I am concerned for the well being of my sister and Twilight.”
Luna paused she looked down at Night Eyes and then back at them. “Which is why I am arranging a mission for you four and Night Eyes. Each of you must spy on our new guests and record their very actions. How you will do this will be very challenging.”
Chitter, the rookie of the group, let out a loud sneeze, shaking his head and rustling up his light grey mane. Princess Luna looked down at him not with a look of anger thankfully but a very unsurprised and emotionless expression. “S-Sorry your highness.”
“U-um... excuse me, your highness, but may I ask as how this mission will be challenging for us?" the bat mare named Shadow Stealer asked.
“I’m glad you asked. Please step forward.” Shadow Stealer stepped away from the group and stepped forth. The Night Princess and waited patiently as well as very confused. She jumped a bit when Luna’s horn suddenly shone bright blue, Luna raised up her head aimed her horn down at Shadow Stealer a light aqua glow surrounded Shadow Stealer. It glowed around her entire body till within a matter of a few seconds, Shadow Stealer started shrinking. She shrank, and shrank, and shrank until she was a pony the size of an ant at their hooves.
All the bat guards looked in shock at what Princess Luna had done they looked at her then back at the now tiny Shadow Stealer, who now stared up at the GIGANTIC ponies standing all around her.
“This will be your mission spy on are guests at this tiny size so you are not seen. I will cast a spell around you all to protect you all, but there will be dangers. I will understand if you all refuse.” Princess Luna stopped and stood waiting for her guards replies.
The batponies looked from one another, down to the tiny blue dot that was their comrade in arms. They then looked to the Princess, and almost as one bowed on one hoof to her, Shadow Stealer having to fly out of the way of Leather Wing’s huge body as he came down almost right on top of her. Smiling, and grateful for their acquiescence, as there really wasn’t time to track down other guards, Luna began to cast her spells.
The first was the shrinking spell, the soft light filling her guards, causing their bodies to collapse in on them. Each was quickly reduced, their bodies falling down like deflating balloons until they were in scale with Shadow Stealer, who flew down next to them, her speed and agility seemingly increased by many times over due to her small size, landing with a grace that she almost never felt before, even deciding to copy Spitfire’s technique and just pounding into the ground.
Next, an amber light came from the Night Princess’ horn, the tip of it shimmering with a powerful glow that was the power of life itself. Each felt it as the amber light poured over them, filling them up in a way that was similar, but subtly different to the shrinking spell. This one instead made them feel like their bodies were growing less solid, and as if to test that face, Luna’s hoof suddenly filed their sky, as the light began to fade, and she brought it down on them with a powerful strike.
The hoof lifted off the ground, and on it were several tiny shapes, the small forms of the guards, who were squashed flat beneath their ruler’s mighty tread. Each one soon popped back to their right shape, and their hooves went to their bodies, checking themselves for damages, and finding that they had none. In fact, Night Eyes realized an old kink in her left wing joint was feeling miles better than ever before, as she flexed the thing.
“THESE ENCHANTMENTS ARE PERMANENT UNTIL REMOVED, SO NO HARM CAN BEFALL YOU. ONCE THIS SUMMIT OF OUR PEOPLE IS DONE, I WILL FIND YOU,” she said to them, her words washing over them like a wall of wind, threatening to blow them away. Her hoof held them fast however, and their ears didn’t even ring once it had passed. For a moment, they wondered why she hadn’t whispered to them, but then realized quickly that she had indeed said her words as softly as she might, their scale was just so out of proportion that she overpowered them with a single utterance.
“NOW, GO!” she said, and then flung her hoof wide, scattering them into the air, even as she cast a final spell. The light fills them, making them feel even smaller than they already are as their bodies start to change into light itself. Then like tiny comets, they are sent streaking off.
The tiny bat guards flutter through the air as Luna’s spell finishes its work, having teleported them into Twilight’s Castle. They were scattered around the great citadel, wavering left and right as they had to catch there air in flight. Luckily, their tiny bodies allowed them to fly even without effort, merely needing their strength to stabilize it as they look around to find out where they are.
Each had expected, given the lateness of the hour, to be in bedrooms spread around the castle, as most of the delegates from the various nations were not the kind to be out at night. They were shocked, therefore, to realize that they were almost all in the same room, ‘sensing’ each other through their joined spells, as each hovered over their own charge.
The room in which they hovered was not some grand chamber or glorious sitting room. No, it was the room with the Map of...well, the Map. Everyone knew it was called the Map, though as of right now, it looked like just a table, with a crystalline flat top, and a set of chairs ringed around it. At these chairs sat their targets, all kind of glancing around and none of them speaking, though it seemed like they had just been doing so.
At one seat, just below where Leather Wing had been dropped off was the largest of the five forms. A muscular thing that looked like a moving mountain to the ant sized pony, who’s wings probably could have caused a hurricane if she’d flapped them. Gilda, of Griffonstone, once and again the Capital of the Griffon State. She had been selected as their delegate at these meetings between the new rulers of the world.
Another seat held a brand new face, in more ways than one, as Star Gazer was King Thorax, whose ability to transform was still quite strong, though he’d agreed to limit that to just tricks and the like, and otherwise keep his changed form. In this case, his antler like horns were the tallest thing at the table, and his pupil less eyes seemed able to follow you wherever you went.
The Captain’s target looked the most nervous, and for a good reason, as she was here by the graces of the Princess. Supposedly, she was here to give her notes on magic from the world beyond one of the Mirror Portals, a world of strange beings called humans. Her red and gold mane, and her light yellow body was quite a mess, with her face very easy to read. Mind you, Sunset Shimmer thought she was being very serene and looked dignified, showing how long she’d been out of her own form.
Beside her was another person of note, who looked around the table and seemed even less at home in the surroundings. Her hands kept going to the scepter she held in her lap, and the Bloodstone at the tip of it glowing a little with the nerves of the young Dragonlord. Ember’s nostrils also flared more than once, as she breathed in and out, small plumes of smoke being emitted periodically from the holes in her face, constantly forcing Shadow Stealer to fight a warm updraft.
Only the final figure seemed at ease with the situation, which was odd as amongst all of them, as this one chose to live alone. Zecora, formerly of Zebrica, and now dwelling in the Everfree Forest had been chosen to represent her homeland at this meeting of the various leaders, and she seemed to enjoy how ill at ease the others were. She had, sadly, run out of tea to calm their nerves for the moment, as they sat around the table, Chitter circling her from above.
“Uhhh. How long are we gonna wait?” Gilda tapped her talons on the table making a clicking sound, as she propped her other taloned paw under her chin a gave a loud huff.
“Twilight said she’d be here as fast as she could, just give her some more time,” Thorax calmly said looking at the obviously bored out of her mind griffin. His eyes went back and forth amongst the assembled group nervously, hoping something in him would find the words to say to start a conversation. When that failed miserably, he just chuckled and moved the plate around in front of him.
“Hey guys, sorry about the wait!” came a new voice, as the clattering of dishes and various other things came out of the side door to the room.
“Oh, thank the hive,” Thorax said under his breath as the forms of Twilight and Spike soon came into the room, Spike having been the one who was speaking, and the one pushing a cart loaded with trays around.
“Alright, the kitchen wasn’t making this stuff right, so I took over the cooking duties from that fussy griffon chef. No offense, Gilda,” he said, and the griffon waved her talons.
“Eh, no skin off my beak. Besides, that guy is the fussiest of all fussies,” she said with a smirk, remembering punching him during a dinner a few weeks back when she’d been training for this trip. The memory made her feel warm inside.
“Yeah, well, he’s not going to be doing too much cooking for a while, after Spike knocked him out with his own ladle,” said Twilight, and Spike blushed in embarrassment, either at hearing her speak about him, or about the rather admonishing tone behind her amusement she was using against him.
“Anyway, I hope you guys like this stuff. I made it all special just for you,” he said, and Twilight levitated the covered dishes onto the table, in front of each of the diners.
“For Sunset, we tried to make something from her new world, and we studied that stuff she brought with her. It’s a burger and fries, or at least as close as we could get,” said Spike, revealing exactly what he said, a food tray that wouldn’t have looked out of place back in the human world. It would have seemed a rather paltry meal, had one not noticed Sunset’s eyes light up at it, and the slight bit of drool on her lips before she licked it away.
“For Ember, I made my best Rock Sirloin Ala Goron,” this time the dish held something that looked like a leg of meat or something out of a cartoon, but instead of being flesh, it was stone, inlaid with shimmering jewels. To the untrained eye, it sat there dully on the plate, but to a dragon, whose senses were tune for this sort of thing, it had an aroma one would be hard pressed to mistake.
“It’s lovely, Spike,” she said, and he smiled at the compliment, before moving onto the next.
“For my good friend, Throax, I decided to go low key, and had Rainbow make it,” as he spoke, he uncovered what appeared to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with rainbow-colored jelly. To the changeling’s eye though, it glowed with love in every drop and from every crumb of the soft bread, making him look at it in an odd fashion. The last time he’d seen something like that, it had come from that Pinkie Pie pony.
“Peanut Butter and Zap Apple Jam sandwich. Rainbow’s favorite meal, with Zap Apples harvested by Big Mac. Guy loves his farm, and Rainbow loves that snack, figured it would lock in the love,” he said, grinning headfin to headfin from his own cleverness.
“Oh, it locked in the love, alright,” said the Changeling king, and that only made the grin smugger as he moved on.
“Gilda’s meal is a simple salad, done with crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes, little bits of griffonnip roots, and some dressing to cover up the smell of that last bit,” he said, and the griffon looked down at her plate as it was uncovered, finding a bowl of just what he said. Despite the generous helping of ranch on top, she could still smell the nip bits mixed in, and the aroma sent a thrill up her spine.
“Alright, not bad little guy,” she said, about to pick up her fork and dig in, until a phantom pinch on her neck reminded her not to. She cursed the lessons, as they had worked, but left her feeling her punishment even after all these weeks, and instead sat back in her chair, waiting to devour her meal.
“And finally, Zecora gets... a hayburger and horseshoe fries from the Hayburger Princess down the road,” he said this with far less aplomb than the rest, as her meal was revealed to be just that. That actually got looks towards the zebra who just chuckled at the meal.
“Let me guess, let me ponder, you tried to make food from my homeland I wonder? Called the spirits of the unformed land, and made this a place haunted by ghostly hand?” she said, and Spike, after a bit of scratching his foot, nodded.
“Yeah, those herbs, they don’t tell you they’re used one way for cooking, and another way for rituals,” he admitted, and that got a hearty laugh from the table, just as a wail of some spirit echoed from the rafters.
“Oh man, they’re still here?!” demanded Spike, rubbing at his back, and revealing a spot that looked greener than it should, covered with caked on slime.
“Um, you five enjoy your meal in peace. Spike and I will be right back when we deal with this one little thing. Pinkie! Get those proton hose things!” shouted Twilight as he rushed out the door, and then sealed it shut with a spell behind her, to keep the ghosts out.
Shadow Stealer had to move out of the way of the incoming dish and avoided being flattened by the plate she looked over the massive dish and scratched her mane. “These dragons eat odd foods.”
She looked up the titanic reptile forgetting how small she felt at this size, she was already the smallest she didn’t need this spell to feel any different.
“THIS WAS AWFULLY NICE OF THEM TO MAKE ALL THESE FOR US!” Ember said making Shadow Stealer’s ears hurt from the Dragon Lord’s mere speech, Shadow Stealer saw the dragon’s hand lift up and cast a shadow over the tiny bat pony. The hand of the dragon came down softly but to her it was like the crash of building that sounded like an explosion sending the tiny bat pony flying in mid air.
Shadow Stealer flung through the air getting dizzy as the whole table spun in a blurry twirl when suddenly she stopped in the air finding herself hovering over the dish and cup, she was caught by Star Gazer.
“Phew! Thanks, big guy.” Shadow Stealer whipped away a worried sweat and gave him a friendly pat on his arm letting her flap her wings and releasing her.
“No problem, Shadow. C'mon, let’s try to avoid their claws.” Star Gazer looked over at Gilda. who was eyeing her meal and licking all the drool from her beak. “Let's see if she’s hiding anything?”
The two bat ponies flew over to Gilda, where they hovered over the feathery giant, before dashing down onto her head being surrounded by a feathery light brown jungle.
“Whoa! It's like we're inside one giant pillow.” Shadow Stealer blinked when a tiny fluff of feather landed on her nose. Her nostrils flinched and twinkled she suddenly twitched her head up and down and then.
“AAAAACHHHHOO!” Shadow Stealer sneezed so hard, she hit Star Gazer, knocking him into the fluffy jungle. Star Gazer flopped around in the feathers before finally stopping at the edge of Gilda’s head realizing how close he was to the edge he backed off back into the fluffy feathers.
“THAT DWEEB LITTLE DRAGON REALLY KNOWS HOW TO COOK.” Gilda purred licking her beak again.
“I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU DIDN’T REFER HIM AS A ‘DWEEB’ GILDA.” Thorax and Ember stared at the griffon with unhappy look., Star Gazer felt like he was watching three titans getting ready to battle and prepared himself.
“SORRY, I DIDN’T MEAN IT AS AN INSULT,” The griffon’s talons raised up to her head. The four pointed pillars hovered over Star Gazer and Shadow Stealer casting long thin shadows that grew fatter as they drew near and bent down smashing into the feathery fluff and began sweeping across her head. Shadow Stealer leaped between the talons trying her hardest to avoid the bird claws. “I CALL A LOT OF MY FRIENDS DWEEBS. IT'S KIND OF MY WAY LITTLE WAY OF NICK NAMING SOMEONE I LIKE.”
Soon the talons came down the griffon’s head brushing past the fluff of feathers and heading towards Star Gazer. He tried to avoid the scraping claws by leaping between them but was caught getting stuck between the first two talons only to be sent freefalling. Star Gazer yelled trying to grasp at anything but only fell into Gilda’s beak and then rolled off and landed right in the griffon’s salad with a tiny plop.
Shadow Stealer leapt into the air flying around the griffon’s head searching for her lost comrade. She watched as Gilda stopped itching her head and turned to talk with the Changeling King and Dragon Lord, as she did a circle around the griffon’s head she made the mistake of flying by her eagle eye. To Shadow Stealer’s shock, Gilda suddenly lifted her claws up and turned to the tiny bat pony grinding her teeth in an angered glare and swatted at her, missing her with just a mere inch.
“THEY NEED TO DO SOME BUG CONTROL AROUND HERE!” Gilda growled swatting at the tiny speak. The swift movement of the claw in the air grabbed at Shadow Stealer, sending her spinning out of control into the air. Luckily, her leathery wings were designed for this sort of air, and she flapped them hard against the gale, turning into the wall of wind, cutting through it like an arrow, only to be sent skyward again, as the Dragon Lord breathed out a small bit of flame, just barely missing her, but warming the air so much she couldn’t help but rise.
“WELL, WHY DON’T WE EAT REAL QUICK? IF SPIKE AND MISS PRINCESS NEEDS SOME HELP, WE CAN BE THERE FOR THEM,” she offered, and the others agreed. Gilda, already holding a fork in her claw. In her salad, Star Gazer was just beginning to recover, when the tines of metal pierced the green sky with a crack like thunder, and then shook the world as a sound like a bell rang out from below. Everything shook and shuddered, as the load of greenery was drawn skyward, revealing the world once more to the tiny batpony.
Above him, the titanic form of the griffon opened her beak, revealing rows of flat teeth that glistened with spit running over them, before her head shot forward, almost snakelike, crunching over the fork and its contents. She then closed her eyes as she chewed, the hums of pleasure coming from her quite loud, as she savored the meal before her, letting her tongue taste the flavors that had been packed into the center. Tilting her head, she swallowed it all down, a big lump moving down her throat, and vanishing into her chest.
Star Gazer then got to watch a repeat of this scene, as the fork dove downwards again. What should have looked like sharp points at the end, were dull looking to his tiny point of view, as small as he was, and he quickly realized his mistake of staying still as they came down almost right for him. Folding out his wings as far as they would go, he caught the wind of the fork’s passing, and tried to ride it out of the bowl of cold salad, the air having taken a chill from the meal as well.
His flight was cut short, however, as the fork continued to come down, and he felt cold, hard metal slam into his back. The impact was enough to drive the air from his lungs, keeping him from even crying out as he was driven downwards. His wheeze of pain was likewise cut off with a cough, as the fork hit something cold and wet to complement the metallic feel. The salad, he realized quickly, but found himself so tightly caught between the tines of the fork that he couldn’t move an inch.
The fork lifted, and he was forced to endure the sudden shift in gravity, so much worse than even his best maneuvers, making his stomach drop into his hooves as he soared upwards, and then jerked to a halt just as suddenly. The stops jerked him free of his prison, popping him out, but leaving him to slide up the leaf of lettuce he was on, coating his tiny form in the dressing, and leaving him stuck to it, as the fork surged forward, and he found the air growing muggy and hot around him.
With a chomp, the beak and teeth of the griffon closed around the batpony, sealing him up inside her maw, as her tongue rose up, and held itself against the fork, licking the taste of the meal from it briefly, before pulling it off. The fork began to withdraw from the mouth, and Star Gazer tried to go with it, but the tine was too far below him, and he was stuck too well to the leaf, leaving him instead to fall the other way, as the lettuce spilling out across the griffon’s tongue.
Luckily for him, spit and dressing began to mix immediately, and quickly he found his bounds loosening, leaving him free to pull himself off the vegetable matter. Unluckily for him, the griffoness chose that moment to begin chewing, and everything around him turned to madness, as teeth and beak dropped away, only to rise up and slam together a moment later, crushing the stuff the tongue deposited between them into nothing but mushy paste.
Star Gazer, of course, wove his way around the madness. He was a royal guard after all, and trained to fly in just about any condition. This was no different than the rock hurling exercises he’d had back in his advanced flight camp. The problem here, however, was that the winds didn’t randomly change directly as the world breathed around him, and as he dodged between a pair of flat topped molars, the abyss behind him suddenly opened up, and he was sucked down into it.
The griffoness, for her part, barely noticed the speck that fell into her throat, as it didn’t even make her swallow, as small as it was. She simply continued to enjoy her meal, and heedless of the batpony struggling in her neck, she lifted a glass of water to her beak, and with a few swallows, washed everything down, including the intruder, who suddenly found a wave of liquids washing down on top of him, and carrying him off towards her belly.
Shadow Stealer flapped above the dragoness looking around for his missing companion. Se looked over at the griffon enjoying her meal, licking her beak victoriously, her mind putting two and two together. Shadow Stealer felt a hit in her gut, and cringed. She just hoped he was still well. After all, Princess Luna’s spell protected them from being stepped on by her hoof, so it would definitely protect Star Gazer from the searing hotness of the griffon’s gut. She would have to come up with a plan to rescue him with the Captain later.
The batpony quickly looked down noticing the Dragon Lord was getting up at the speed of a meteor's descent on Equis in reverse. Quickly, she swiftly dashed aside just missing being grazed by her horns. He flapped around the giant dragoness as she stood out of her seat. “Hmm where is she heading?”
Shadow Stealer flew down to her open hands, flying beside them as she started walking back to the kitchen. ‘Maybe an assassination?’ she though to himself as he flew closer, flapping his wings harder and made his way up to her head. To the tiny batpony’s surprise Ember jumped, turning her head and raising her hand up. She swatted at the batpony. The hand just missed the batpony the first time and then a second, but then used her other hand to smack her down!
Shadow Stealer was shot back, flipping through the air as she started spiraling down to the platted floor. Shadow Stealer tried flapping, but she couldn’t catch the wind, the rushing air beating on her from the force of Ember’s swinging hand that shot him straight down. Shadow Stealer saw the floor coming in closer and closer until she was suddenly grabbed and stopped in mid air. He looked over to see Chitter had caught him and was struggling to pull the heavy guard up.
“Rookie?!” Shadow Stealer quickly flapped her wings getting her gusts back, and started to fly once again Chitter let go giving Shadow Stealer room to fly once again. “Thank you so much. Good job, rookie.”
“Yo... You’re welcome Shadow Stealer.” Chitter rubbed the back of his mane and shyly smiled.
“You did good, Chitter. Come on we better catch up to that dragon. Celestia knows what’s she planning?” Shadow Stealer flew back up into the air with Chitter behind her.
The two tiny batponies saw Ember walk into the kitchen, both of them had a worried look on their faces and rushed full speed or as much as they could at their tiny size. They flapped all the way to kitchen doors, but suddenly there was a loud ‘BANG!’, followed with a cacophony of crashes and the noise of dishes that shocked both the spies and all the guests in the same room. After a moment, Ember burst through the doors, with a purple slime on her arm, holding a bottle of ketchup.
“All this for some ketchup?” Ember gasped as a slimy purple face came seeping out of the kitchen doors ,hissing at the dragoness making her back away and the two tiny spies hide behind the dragoness’s horns.
“NO GET BACK!” Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere hitting the purple blob with a plunger, making it hiss and whimper in fear as it sunk back into the kitchen doors with green tears rolling down its eyes, it made a odd pig squealing sound.
“Carry on your Dragon Lordness.” Pinkie Pie smiled and waved goodbye to the dragon as she walked backwards into the kitchen slipping behind the doors. “YOU'RE SO GONNA GET IT!!! GET BACK HERE YOU BIG SLIMY MEANIE!”
The Dragon Lord watched the bizarre debacle with shock, and slowly turned away and walked back to her seat with a surprised face. She didn't know what happened, she didn't know what that purple slime beast was and why it was so terribly afraid of the pink Earth pony, but she didn't care. All she could do was keep walking as far away from the kitchen doors as possible.
Ember hurried to the table and walked around over to Zecora, looking over her shoulder at the kitchen door. “Don’t go in the kitchen um there’s an epidemic.” Ember gave Zecora the ketchup.
“Thank you, your Dragon Lordness.”
The two tiny spies looked at each other in a surprised manner both of them had their mouths open and eyes wide as Ember walked back to her seat shaking their world like an Earthquake.
“So what was that thing?” Chitter asked.
“I have no idea. I recognized the purple blob thing from a long time ago, but not the monster it was afraid of.”
The two tinies flapped their wings, gliding up into the air and following close behind. They watched as Ember made it to her seat and suddenly stopped still standing beside her seat her fists tightened, alarming the two tiny spies as the dragoness suddenly turned and swung her arm around, roaring, “WILL YOU BUGS JUST BUG OFF!”
The titanic dragoness swung her claws around frantically, swatting at the two tinies but just missing both of them as they slipped through her fingers and over her hands. It wasn't until then that Ember swung up, knocked Shadow Stealer in the air, and sent her flying over her head, right into her Rock Sirloin. She landed on it with a hard thud!, leaving her eyes swirling in a daze while tiny versions of Ember circled her head.
Chitter called on every solo flight formation that he learned in his aerial training for becoming the Lunar Guard, flying up, down, and around the gigantic swatting hands, just barely missing the dragon's claws a few times as she clawed at him and growled ferociously. Chitter whipped around as the oncoming claw shadowed over him, and quickly dashed once again and flew in between her claws, over her gigantic arms and over her shoulder.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Ember turned and her tail managed to whip Chitter, knocking the wind out of him. Chitter was sent flying to the pillow covered stool in little circles, and landed in the middle of the plush, pink cushion.
Chitter's vision became blurry and disoriented from the impact. He blinked a few times and squinted, trying to regain his sight, rubbed his head to the feeling of dizziness from Ember's swatting tail, and lied down on the cushion. "I just hope Shadow's okay," he sighed, sinking into the plushness of the soft cushion.
Suddenly, his reverie was interrupted when he heard a series of loud footsteps smacking across the ground, and the ground around him quaking violently, amplifying for each step taken. He grabbed ahold of the cushion as the entire world around him shook, until he realized the source of the shaking and the noise was coming from above. He looked up to see the giant Dragon Lord standing above him, not even noticing him. To Chitter’s terror, Ember’s huge sole lifted over the stool and her back was now facing him. The batpony's entire face went red, blushing as the Dragon Lord lifted up her tail Chitter went wide eyed as Ember bent down to sit.
Her large scaly butt came down casting double bumped shadow over Chitter. Ge could only stare in shock as her enormous rear end started getting closer and closer with every second, as fast as an entire meteor's descent onto Equestria. Chitter tried to run but the two titanic scaly cheeks came down, and the only place for him to go was in her cavernous crack. Chitter was slammed down by the two titanic cheeks, pinning him between them.
When Ember sat down she raised an eyebrow and looked down at her seat. “Odd. It feels weird. Hmm?” Ember shifted in her seat, grinding her rear into the cushion.
Chitter was squeezed up by the two scaly cheeks. He tried to push them away, but each struggled only squeezed him up further, pinning him into each cheek until he could scarcely move. He blushed a bright beet red, conflicted in a mixture of feelings both embarrassed and uncomfortable. Soft as they were pressurizing, Chitter had to accept the fact that he couldn't move, so all he did was let the cheeks hold him in place and leave him grumbling with defeat.
The weight above him shifted and moved as the dragoness tried to get her seat to feel like it had again, as the soft cushion only seemed to accentuate the feeling of the tiny batpony between her cheeks. She didn’t have to move long to get him worked at least a little out of her crack, his head freed to hang limply, while the rest of his body was contained within the hard softness. His struggles gained not a single inch of ground, and he was forced to sit there as the dragoness above returned to her meal.
A speck of said meal's seasonings was coming back to life as Shadow Stealer finally shook off the dizziness and lethargy the impact from landing on the Rock Sirloin caused. Unfortunately, she quickly realized that the dragon dish she was on was no ordinary stone. Rising into the air proved to be far more difficult than she expected. Her legs felt like they were lifting up a ton, and her wings hung limply behind her, their tips pointed straight down to the circular cut of stone meat.
The worst part was the only thing she could hear now was a constant humming noise when everything else had been quiet, except for the voices she heard from before. This was a clear sign that she was going deaf, and she doubted that Princess Luna's spell would've allowed something like this to happen. Actually, she could feel the hum vibrating in her chest, and she could somehow smell some sort of magic, now that she was close to the source. It was then Shadow Stealer realized that this rock, embedded with a multitude of jewels to add the flavor for the dragon's palate, was enchanted with some spell that made her entire body heavy.
All at once, Shadow Stealer found the world shifting in her view as she looked up to see the dragon's hands moving to the "boney" sides of the Rock Sirloin, gripping the ends together and lifting it all up from the plate. Ember's extraordinary dragon strength was powerful enough to overcome the weight of the stone in her grips like it didn't weigh anything at all. She licked her serpentine tongue across her lips, leaving them with a shining sapphire finish that shone brightly in the dining hall.
However, Shadow Stealer missed most of that, as she was forced to close her eyes, and grip at her stomach. Her sense of gravity and his eyes disagreed on which way down was, as Ember hefted the stone thing up, and that disagreement met somewhere in his chest, as her gorge began to rise within her. She swallowed heavily, trying her best to force it all back down, and only barely keeping it so as he closed his eyes and focused on just what he could feel.
That might not have been the best idea, of course, as it meant her first notice that something was wrong was a sound like a mountain being torn in half echoing over him. Her eyes shot open, and her gaze darted towards the source, her vision filling with the Dragon Lord’s teeth, huge pillars, tearing into the stone landscape, ripping deep ruts in the stuff, and carving jewels and stone into nothing with an ease that was almost breathtaking.
When her jaws shut fully over the thing, her lips meeting with a smacking sound, she hummed at the flavor, the sound lighter than she had expected, as Ember pulled the hunk of stone and jewels away. She leaned back in her chair, savored the flavors on her tongue for a few seconds and she began to chew, her teeth ripping and shredding the contents of her maw, before she swallowed it all down. Her scale covered neck showed great detail in the bulge that it carried down, before it vanished into her chest. Shadow Stealer was almost certain she heard a splash from inside her as it landed in her belly.
Then she attacked her meal again, and heavy as she was, the batpony could do nothing but stare in horror as her jaws came down on her, diving towards the landscape, and then spearing their way into it. Stone, hard gems, and even some flecks of metal, proved no obstacle to the dragoness’ mighty fangs, as she bit into the Rock Sirloin. The batpony was shaken, and sealed within a cavern of hot flesh, the smell of smoke and fire filling her nose.
The weight of magic vanished the moment the jaws were sealed, and Shadow Stealer took off instantly. Of course, where she could escape too was an issue, as Ember’s jaw fell away, the teeth glinting like spears in the light from her throat, and then coming together again with enough force that the stones were ground to gravel between them. Worse, fire leapt out of the abyss of her esophagus, tongues of flame lapping at the rock, and creating thermals that kept trying to drag the tiny batpony between her jaws.
The chewing itself lasted for only a moment, luckily, as Ember, while enjoying her meal, was conscious of others around her, and wanted to get through it quickly. So with her rocks turned to pebbles, she swallowed her mawful with a powerful gulp. Said gulp involved her throat sucking in everything above her tongue, which included Shadow Stealer, much to her dismay, as she was sucked down into the glowing abyss, just barely above the tumbler full of rocks that had been her mouthful.
Shadow Stealer saw the glowing abyss drawing near, she witnessed the chewed up pebbles falling down into the slimy,shimmering throat. She quickly leapt up, pushing herself with her wings into the air flapping despite the flying rocks hitting her as she flew. Flailing arms grasping hold of the fleshy uvula and holding onto it tight and swung back and forth as she watched the rockslide down into the glowing throat.
Then her grip failed. Her hooves refused to stay locked on as something felt like it was draining her magic. With a slip, and a pop, the soft skin of the uvula fell from her, and she plummeted down into the depths of the dragon. Below, the light got brighter, and worse, everything began to grow hotter, making the batpony start to sweat profusely, covering her coat in a slick sheen as she fell just above the rocks, before everything around her opened up into a pit out of Tartarus.
Around her, walls pulsed with the beating of a powerful heart, their slick sides looking like they were made of velvet, while thick drops of liquid seem to come from inside them with each shake. Those drops pooled down below into a sea of churning liquid, which glowed in cerulean flames, the rocks that had preceded her into the stomach of the dragon splashing down into the liquid, which consumed them as more fuel, sending ripples through the sea.
The ripples flowed outwards, the liquid boiling with them, and bubbles covering the surface of the ocean. When each popped, flames leapt upwards, dark blue gouts of fire that Shadow Stealer tried to dodge, only to find they grew wider and larger with each heartbeat, until they finally struck her full on, hitting her like a hammer, and sending her upwards. She slammed into the ceiling of the stomach with a grunt, all the air in her lungs leaving with a wheeze.
Despite the hit, and the burning sensation she knew she felt, the batpony was delighted to find she was unharmed, save a bit of soreness in her back from where she’d struck the stomach wall. Of course, her elation lasted only seconds, as a new rain of rocks came from above, the sound of the Dragon Lord swallowing covered by the gurgling of her stomach. The pebbles were like boulders to one her size, and she was carried down into the sea with a hoarse scream, landing with a splash amid the roiling ocean.
“~Belch~, er, excuse me,” said the dragoness as she felt a bubble of gas come up. The others just smiled at her, as she adjusted in her seat.
Chitter could hear her burp from below to where he was, he tried to push the cheeks apart only to be grinded into the cheeks once more when the dragoness moved in her seat. Chitter found himself being submerged into the scaly cheeks and squeezed his tiny form both his body and face were being squished up making Chitter’s face cheek ride up into his face.
“Uahh... Shuuut... Nut ma day.” He placed a hoof on each cheek and pushed with all his might and thrashed around finally getting loose from his cheeky prison. “Come on, come on.” Chitter pushed and thrashed till his head was finally out once more Chitter then used his back legs to spread the an impression apart and pushed and shoved until finally...
~POP!~
Chitter plopped out from the Dragon Lord’s cheeks and landed on her plush cushion. Chitter’s eyes spun around in his before he shook it off, spread his wings and took off into the air. He even made sure to fly low just incase Ember would catch him flying and mistaken him for a bug again. Chitter soared upwards, hovering above Ember and Gilda and scanned around the table for his two missing comrades,
“Where are they?” Chitter flew around the dragoness and the griffon, and he couldn't spot both of his missing comrades. When he noticed that both Ember and Gilda had eaten their meals, however, he started to put two and two together.
“Oh no. What are we gonna do about them...I should tell the Captain! He could come up with a rescue plan!” Chitter scanned around for the Captain, slowly flapping his wings and surveying the giants closely. To get a better view, Chitter made a head dive towards an area at the table near the zebra, Zecora. He pulled up from his dive, slowly flapped his wings, and landed close to the zebra. He kept his watchful eyes on the zebra while scanning the area until he found Captain Night Eyes hovering around Sunset Shimmer. Once he spotted her, he gasped sharply and smiled happily.
“There she is!” Chitter opened his wings up and took flight exactly when he flew above Zecora’s food, and just as he passed by her face, Zecora jumped and raised her hoof up, swung, and knocked it into Chitter.
Chitter was flung around in the air as he took a straight dive bomb until he crash landed into something that felt soft and pokey. Chitter's vision was blurry, so he blinked a few times until his vision recovered, and felt the air return with his lungs. He also reclaimed his sense of smell, for the first thing he smelt was a mixture of ketchup and mustard. He also felt a sticky substance all over his body, so he raised his hoof to find it covered in red goop. Chitter loudly gasped at the first impression that he was covered in blood, but when he saw yellow mixed in with the red, that's when it finally hit him. Chitter looked around and saw he was standing on a hay burger drenched in ketchup and mustard.
Chitter looked up and saw the gigantic zebra, watching as she reached for the top bun, grasped it, and hovered it over both him and the hay burger. The bun's round shadow took over his surroundings like an eclipse. Desperately trying to flap his wings, Chitter found out to his surprise that his wings were too matted down by the coating condiments.
“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” Chitter screamed when the bun started to crash down, covering the hay with a splash of ketchup and mustard. He tried to run away, but he saw the bun come closer and closer to him. The rest of the light seeped away, and in a fit of desperation, he tried to make a leap, only to be slammed down by the bun and squished into the hay.
“MMM, A MEAL OF SIMPLICITY, FOR ONE WHO STUDIES ALCHEMY,” said the zebra shaman’s voice, and then the world shook as the hayburger was lifted of the plate it had been on. With a forward motion, Chitter felt his stomach shift, and then heard the sound of teeth grinding into the food. Flat molars tore through the bun, and then squashed the hay and other things between them. Worse, they were so close that one of them slipped right by the tiny, trapped batpony, letting him see his reflection in the white rock for a moment, before it pulled away.
He got a front row seat as Zecora made sounds of delight at her meal, her jaw gently moving up and down, as the sound of crunching and crashing came from within her maw. Her lips stayed sealed, not allowing him to see what was going on inside, but he could imagine it, and it made him scared enough to start flapping his wings like a humming bird. Drops of condiments went flying in every direction, and after some very tense moments, he felt himself start to tear free of his prison, wrenching himself into the air with a cracking sound.
“YES!!!” he shouted as he came to a stop in the air, only to be reminded of exactly where he was, as a gulping sound echoed from in front of him. Zecora’s hot breath blew over his still hovering form, making the air too warm to hold him in place, and as he tried to adjusted, she came forward, her head shooting towards him, and then covering his world in hot, humid darkness.
Fortunately for the tiny batpony, this meant he didn’t get chewed up by the zebra’s gnashing teeth, which started their work again almost the moment he was sealed inside. Unfortunately, for him, his angle meant that he smacked hard against something in the darkness that bounced and jiggled against him. He felt is go up and down, side to side, and finally being pulled harshly as she swallowed her current mouthful, the sensation of nearly being torn apart by the force of her body simply swallowing one that made him feel even smaller.
Then she opened wide again, and light streamed into the darkened space of her maw, giving him a moment to realize where he was. Stuck to her uvula, the thick, sticky piece of flesh at the back of her maw, with the abyss of Zecora’s throat below him, the walls undulating and looking like a hungry worm. Still shocked by where he was, the batpony didn’t look forward until he heard the sound of rushing water, and looked up just in time to be smashed around by the tide of cider that came into her maw.
The sweet, sticky drink proved to be enough to dislodge the batpony, who felt the stuff force itself down his throat, even as he was washed down the zebra’s. Almost at once, his body began to grow loose and warm, as the alcohol in the cider worked its way into every pore on his body, getting him a heck of a buzz as he was cupped inside a fold of her flesh, the throat muscles pressing in on all sides and forcing him to drink down much of the stuff, even as he himself became part of the drink.
A minute, or perhaps an hour later, it was hard for Chitter to tell, he was dumped from the top of the stomach into the pit at the bottom. The juices already pooling inside glowed with an odd green tint. If he’d been thinking clearly, he might have wondered if she sampled her own brews, and it had caused the effect. As he was barely coherent at the time, his only thoughts were on some mares he enjoyed and on how to party with them later before Zecora swallowed another bite of her meal, some fries, and he was forced into the glowing pool.
Leather Wing flapped through the air hovering over the Changeling King, staring down at him. Leather Wing sadly saw the fate of his compatriots and knew that the mission was a failure. He knew the Captain would hate him for it, but he needed to put a stop to this. Taking a deep breath he shot down right for Thorax.
Leather Wing flapped his wings down onto Thorax’s Zap Apple Jam sandwich, standing on the top slice of bread and looking up at the titanic insect king. He tapped his hoof and gulped nervously. “Your highness! Your HIGHNESS! Down here! Look down here! Please you need to help me!” Leather Wing waved his hoof around and leaped in the air trying to get bug titan’s attention.
Thorax smiled and laughed at a joke Gilda and Ember told, not even paying attention to tiny pleas of the muscular batpony. Then Thorax grabbed ahold of the sandwich and caused a miniature quake, making Leather Wing fall down as he felt gravity push down on him. The batpony felt himself go dizzy and felt immense pressure in his head by the immense gravity shift before he looked up and saw the changeling's muzzle right in front of him. Thorax's nostrils flared when he sniffed the lovely scent of Zap Apples, making Leather Wing grab onto the soft tufts of the bread while the changeling licked his lips with lime green serpentine tongue, moistening the edges of his mouth.
Then Thorax's mouth opened, revealing slimy webs of green saliva as the front of the sandwich and Leather entered the open green, glowing maw. Leather Wing flapped his wings like a frightened trying to take flight, only to be blocked off by the slamming of the changeling's pointed fangs. The green tongue lifted up and moved the sandwich bite to his rows of fangs, crunching them together to turn the bread to mush and made it equal to the jam that seeped out from the bread. Luckily, Leather Wing leapt out from the clanging of the fangs, but one such bite caused the jam and bread coat Leather Wing in the slime.
The batpony's wings were matted down by the slimy jam that covered his entire body. He didn't really minded it much; the smell was quite delightful, but not at the moment. The tongue suddenly lifted up and flopped Leather Wing back and down the surface, the lumps on the back uplifted as well to block the colossal tunnel leading towards his next destination.
Leather Wing tried to flap his wings, but because his wings were too coated with the viscous slime, all of his efforts meant nothing. Light poured into the mouth as the lips parted, and that's when Leather Wing decided to make a run for it. He kicked up his legs and dashed across the green surface of the tongue, the path getting slimmer as he neared the parting jaws. He smiled as he saw the light shining through the pointed fangs.
Then a wave of cider flooded into the mouth, making him stop in his hooves before it all splashed him and swept him off of his hooves. Leather Wing screamed and flailed his arms, frantically trying to grab anything to keep him from being swept away, but the current was too strong. He found himself sinking down into the cider, and after accidentally consuming some of the beverage, he felt himself getting half-buzzed while he was washed around in the yellow liquid. Behind him was a whirlpool forming near Thorax's throat, sucking in all the cider and bits of sandwich, sending it down his esophagus.
Leather Wing tried to swim away, but the buzzed feeling in his head began to take effect, slowing his movement down to sluggishness. He turned and saw that whirlpool form into a waterfall that down to the dark abyss. In a final act of desperation, Leather Wing tried to grab ahold of the fleshy uvula hanging above him, but he had just missed it by an inch. Soon, he fell with the rest of the food and drink as he slipped down into a tight, fleshy tunnel.
Night Eyes flew about the scene, and sighed. She’d known this wouldn’t be easy, that this assignment would probably go wrong in some way, shape, or form. That was the risk one took when working with Princess Luna, who had all sorts of weird ideas of how things worked. Still, this was far and away the worst such screw up she’d seen since she’d insisted on weapon training with the new recruits, and they’d had to rebuild the whole training ground after she’d cratered it.
There wasn’t much to do, however, but to get her help, and she decided to just fly up and away from the mess that her squad had gotten into, staying safely away from the bodies of the various dignitaries and visitors, that's she might leave the room when it was unsealed and go find the Moon Princess. With that plan in hoof, she started to rise, circling upwards into the rafters of the dining hall, the crystal walls looking very lovely as she got higher and higher.
Right up until she made it to the ceiling, and felt a static shock on her wings, causing them to lock up. Luckily, they locked in an open position, so she was still gliding. Unfortunately, she was no longer rising up towards the ceiling, and in fact, began to fall towards the table below, where the various people had started to turn to small talk to fill their mouths as their meals were mostly done.
The only one not finished with her food was Sunset Shimmer, who’d been looking around the table nervously for some time, and looking at her food even moreso. Of course, she was curious who it was she was eating, as Twilight had assured her it was just like the burgers back home...er, back beyond the mirror anyway. If she’d asked, Twilight would have told her they’d gotten this particular food from her side of the portal, kept fresh by magic, but as she didn’t, the thing just sat there for a long time.
Finally, however, she decided to just eat up. She was hungry after all, and she didn’t want to look ungrateful. Using her hooves, a rather garish thing for a Canterlot unicorn to do, she brought the burger up towards her mouth, and opened wide. At that same moment, the gliding Night Eyes floated by, and as Sunset breathed in, preparing herself for the meal, the suction of her breath shot the tiny batpony into her maw, causing her to slam right into Sunset’s uvula.
The reaction of the larger horse was instantaneous. She swallowed. Her throat below the uvula opened up, and the air rushed down the abyss around the batpony, whose hooves scrambled against the soft, supple flesh of the uvula. She found no purchase on it, however, and instead was sucked down into the esophagus, the air pushing her downwards, as the walls couldn’t quite get tight enough to touch her, and with her wings still frozen, she was dragged into the depths.
Outside, Sunset didn’t cough, she didn’t even seem to react, just using her magic to levitate her cup and take a quick sip, before she tried again, this time biting into her food, and finding it tasted great. The flavors rushing over her tongue got her to mmm in delight, and soon enough, within a few bites, she had devoured the burger, and the fries, leaving her to talk with the others at the table.
About an hour later, Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight came in. On their backs were things that Sunset just smiled at, wondering where Pinkie had the nuclear accelerators, while the others just sort of stared. Sunset actually had to give them credit too, as the trap was a perfect replica, with the black and yellow stripes on top and everything. It even was smoking in the perfect way.
“We came, we saw, we kicked its patootie!” shouted Pinkie as she heft up the trap, slamming it down on the table, while Twilight and Spike, the former of which was covered in slime, just stared at her. Undoing the straps, they removed their proton packs, and began to ask Zecora how her people survived with things like that running around, getting chuckles for the zebra, which soon led into a long rambling talk about spirits, spooks, and the nature of life from the others at the table.
<><><><><>
Later that evening, Luna was in her suite, and sighed as she sensed rapid movement from her squad of batponies. She knew, vaguely, what must have happened, as she got up from her bed and stalked into the bathroom. With a few quick bursts of magic inside the plumbing of the castle, she directed each of them, and soon held a glass under the sink. Turning on the tap, a rush of water carried five very haggard looking dots into the container.
“I take the mission went...poorly?” she asked, as she set the glass down on the floor, sighing. This was going to be one heck of a report for her, and she wasn’t looking forward to hearing all the details at the end of each of their journeys.
