//-------------------------------------------------------// Lin the alp-luachra. -by bronydog- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// prologue It all began almost fifteen years ago, ten humans came to our the world in a freak accident. Celestia, in an attempt not to create panic, decided to send them to a place known for having strange ponies, and creatures alike, this was the Continent of Uflana. On Uflana were the original eleven kingdoms, but the kingdoms were at war and The first ten were stuck in the middle of the conflict. It was only after a month that, it, happened. The rise of the Enlightened, a group of ponies led by Zevav Zazo, who believed himself to be the rightful ruler of the hole of Uflana. The Original ten had an idea, so they went to etch king and queen in the kingdoms and told them that all eleven armies must fight as one. The kings of Uflana didn’t like it, but they knew the humans were right. So all ten kingdoms called a seise fire to deal with this new threat and with their new, overwhelming, numbers, they crashed down on Zevav’s army. After this new war was over, the humans came to the kingdoms with a new proposal, to unite all the kingdoms as one nation, rain on the democratic republic, to ensure the kingdoms would never fight again. It took 98 days to convince all the kings and queens. The ten kingdoms agreed to become part of this new, United States of Uflana. As time went on more states would be added, such as the island of Maros, the newly formed falling nation of Northspring, New Virginia, and the dul owned British Columbia. Lollipop just rolled her eyes, really she knew the job of a brochure was to get people to do something, but would it of hurt them to get even a slightly better writer? None of that mattered right now anyway, new nation, new home, new start. Lollipop just sat in the, relatively new, Canterlot airport waiting for her flight to start boarding. Lollipop smiled a little, it was only a couple years ago that the idea of an earth pony or unicorn traveling great distances by flight was both novel and crazy, as well as the idea of plane ponies letting other ponies inside them on a regular basis. Of course plane ponies weren't the only type of aircraft in Equestria, in fact with only three airports in the nation that would've been impossible, they also had the non pony variants, but given than Equestria and no plane production plants, and how expensive they were to import, the airports used ponies whenever possible. Lollipop wasn't leveling because she disliked Equestria, in fact, a large part of her was sad to say goodbye, but she was a sweets maker. In Equestria, being a sweets maker doesn't give you a lot of opportunities, lollipop's business wasn't failing by any means, in fact, she had made a fair prophet, but there wasn't a lot of room for growth due to the competition. It was hard to find even a small town with less than three shops specializing in surgery delicacies. In Uflana, however, the market was not nearly as big, and with the number of ponies moving and turning there, the demand was high. Even though Lollipop was sad to leave Equestria, there was something she was happy about, she had not gotten to see her parents, Cake Pop and Ice Pop, ever since she opened her store, but not today as they had come to see her off. “Sweetie, are you OK?” Ask Ice Pop, lollipops mother, seeing her darters less than enthusiastic expression. “Ya, I'm fine.” Lollipop sighed, “It’s just- gonna be a big change is all. Ice pop just gave Lollipop the smile that every mother knows, the one that says, everything's is going to be OK, it was a smile that Lollipop knew all too well as it was the same she was given when she opened her shop. Her mother was always there for her if she really needed it. Lollipop had planned to start off in an apartment and move on to a house, imagine her surprise when her mother came to her with the deed to a small, brick, house in the rural countryside. Unknown to Lollipop at the time, Uflana had so many ponies, and humans, moving to the cities that prices on countryside homes had begun to drop in an attempt to sell more. As Lollipop was beginning to calm down, the intercom, which had been quiet for several minutes, decided to come to life, if only to shatter the came lollipop had obtained. “Now boarding flight 110 Canterlot civilian airport to Tefes City airport.” “Well that sounds like your flight,” said her father. “Better hurry, don’t wanna miss it.” “Right,” Lollipop said, but before she ran off the needed to take care of something, this was accomplished by giving them both a big hug, accompanied with a, “love you!” “Love you too sweetie!” As then lollipop rain to her flight, she heard her mother yell, “Don’t forget to write!” “I won’t!” And with that, she was gone. Outside the big glass window, Lollipop could see a large plane pony, the one she was about to get in, and a member of the staff talking. Lollipop couldn’t hear them, but it was probably some advanced plane-y stuff she couldn't understand anyway. As she came to her gate she saw, surprisingly, a human working as the ticket collector, as well as the shockingly short line. After that thing progressed as normal, she gave the collector her ticket and walked thru the tunnel leading to the metallic pony’s door. Lollipop took a deep breath and entered the plane. The flight was uneventful only lasting an hour. When Lollipop landed in the City, the first thing she did saw was how different everything was. Automatic carriages, cars, drove by on the street, hundreds a time, the building was all tall and in basic colors like gray, giant screens displayed ads for things Lollipop had never even heard off, and- “Hi, are you Lollipop?” The previously stated mare jumped and span around towards the voice. Behind her, she saw a human female. The pale woman and hazelnut eyes, blonde hair in a bun, and a suit with the emblem of the Uflanian government and- OK Lollipop didn’t know what those letters were but they definitely weren't part of the equestrian alphabet. “How do you know my name?” Lollipop asked, rather abruptly. “Oh, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, um, my names Jen, and I’m an immigration officer for this city, I’m here to take you to the department of immigration. With that explanation, she followed Jen to a rather large car with the same emblem and more of those strange letters. She got in and within about ten minutes, made it to a rather large office building with the same logo and letters, but with the addition of Equestrian letters under the strange ones that proudly read, “United States of Uflana: Department of Immigration.” Upon entering the large building, Lollipop was greeted by a large marble lobby with beautiful and entrance lighting decors all leading into a large, breathtaking chandelier. Lollipop was entranced by the magnificent room until it was abruptly interrupted by Jen. “OK Ms.Pop, if you would please follow me we can get started.” Lollipop was in a small white office with Jen sitting across from her, it had been a long hour, but she was almost done. “OK, Ms.Pop we’re almost done we just need to take care of one more thing.” Jen said, “Now let's make you an ID.” Jen brought down a large- HOLY MACARONI, that was the biggest camera Lollipop had ever seen! “Ya, big isn't it?” Jen commented seeing Lollipop’s jaw drop. “OK, smile.” *FLASH* Lollipop finally arrived at her new home with 1219 proudly displayed on the door. She was now officially a citizen of Uflanal, she even had an ID displaying her cream coat, and pink and blue striped main to prove it. Her bits were turned into notes, the currency in Uflana, and even had a house. Lollipop unlocked the door with the key that was left for her and entered her private palace with a smile of joy, it wasn't perfect, it was small, and the nearest neighbor was at least a mile away, but it was her own house. To Lollipop, that was all that mattered. //-------------------------------------------------------// A friend IN you //-------------------------------------------------------// A friend IN you At first, the challenge seemed simple, go one month in the Gidma Forest without backing out, and win 5,000 Notes for your business! It had been three months since Lollipop moved to Uflana, and to her, it seemed like a great way to get some extra Notes. Lollipop had not yet opened her sweet shop, mostly due to needing to get a vendor's license, but now she was glad she waited. With the additional revenue, she could afford a larger shot than she normally could have and still buy all the necessary equipment. Now, however, she realized why it was such a challenge. Lollipop already knew, before moving to Uflana, that nature was not controlled by magic on the continent; clouds moved on their own, trees lived and died, and the seasons came and went without help. Still, Lollipop never imagined the elements would be this harsh. This was made even more difficult by her limited amount of items, a filtering canteen, some matches, a tint, watch, book on the wilderness, and a pocket knife. Lollipop pulled the canteen out of the water and letting the magical filter do its job after waiting about a minute she took a swig of the water letting the cold liquid flow past her parched lips. She considered herself lucky to of had the fortune to find this clearing that, at the time, seemed like the perfect camping spot, the stream gave her easy access to water, and the area around it, that happened to be void of trees, was an ideal stop for the tint, as well as a small fire. Today had been a long day, most of it was spent collecting berries and firewood, and at the end of it, all Lollipop found no greater pleasure than her tint. The tint wasn't magnificent, in fact, it was rather ordinary, but to lollipop’s aching hooves there was no greater pleasure than laying down in the fabric encasement. “Only two more weeks. Then I’ll be home.” Lollipop said as her vision blurred, and her tiredness got the better of her. Lollipop never expected to be woken up in the middle of the night, let alone by something that felt like it was trying to enter her mouth. It was then she realized something was trying to enter her mouth. Lollipop jumped up with a small shout echoed by the thing that was on her as it flew across the tent with a small *squeak*! Lollipop scrambled to the back of the tenet and tried to catch her breath. After hyperventilating for a good amount of time, she looked down at the small thing that was once at her lips. Lollipop expected to see some kind of monster with fangs to devour her from the inside. What Lollipop saw, however, was nothing of the sort. Cowering in the corner was what looked like an incredibly small black pony with a green stripe going down the underside of its belly and down its long furless tail, the mane fit the theme with a pattern of dark and light green hair. At this point, a rational pony may run, or even ask the small pony what it was, but Lollipop at the moment was not a rational pony. All lollipop could do was mutter a phrase she had heard other ponies say in Uflana but had never said herself. “What the fuck…” the creature then looked up at her. At this point, Lollipop remembered what the thing was doing and promptly finished her statement. “WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING!?! WHY WERE YOU TRYING TO GET INTO MY MOUTH!?! I COULD HAVE KILLED YOU… YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!” The thing fletched back and started to shake more, Lollipop could even see a tear begin to run down the things face. Lollipop sighed, yes she was upset but if she wanted to get any answers she had to control herself. Heck, she didn't even know if it could talk. Lollipop adopted a softer tone and slowly walked towards the thing. She slowly reached down and touched her hoof to the thing's fur-less skin, in response it flinched back. “P- Please don’t hurt me, I wasn't trying to hurt you I swear.” The voice was definitely female and confirmed the things ability to speak. “Its OK I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to ask you a few questions.” The thing seemed to calm down a little but was still noticeably shaken. “OK”, it started, “just, please don't hurt me.” “Like I said I'm not going to, first off do you have a name?” It may have been a strange question to start with but Lollipop wasn't jested going to keep calling it “the thing”. “Lin” the th- Lin said still in a slightly timid voice. It was a strange name but now was not the time to question it. “ OK, Lin what are you?” “They call me an… alp-luachra? Ya, an alp-luachra.” “OK…” Lollipop trailed off as she got her book from her saddlebag and began to flip through, without luck, until she found it, and the gears finally clicked when she saw it in the section on parasites. She laid the book down and asked. “Is this it?” Lin looked at the page (https://derpibooru.org/725155?q=alp-luachra) and after some time spoke up. “yes” she replied now less fearful. Lollipop began to read. Every so often she would ask Lin about something. It had been about an hour since Lollipop and Lin had first met, and most of the tension was lost I the bombardment of questions and conversation. Even so, Lollipop couldn't help but feel bad for Lin, and guilty for scaring her as bad as she did. But what could she do to make it up to Lin… except- NO! “Lollipop, are you… OK?” Lin asked upon seeing the mix of emotions on the said mare. “Ya, ya. It's just…” Lollipop could help but think about the predators and dangers Lin had talked about in their inquiry. As much as Lollipop disliked the idea, it would help her. Many of the poisonous plants and now, looked almost identical and even though she hadn't had the misfortune of eating something deadly yet, it was still a possibility. Even then it wasn't like Lin would harm her, right? Lollipop sighed, she had made her decision, and even though it broke one of the top rules of outdoor survival, don’t come back with a parasite, she was going to back down. Lollipop sighed and began. “Hay, Lin?” She began at the alp-luachra’s slightly concerned attention. “I still have two weeks in this forest, your ability to detect poison could really help me, and I- If you still want, I can be your host. I just feel horrible for-” Lollipop didn't get a chance to finish as the lizard-esk pony jumped on her, attempting the closest thing to a hug she could give. “OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!” Lollipop chuckled at Lin’s enthusiasm. “OK, OK. I need to go back to sleep, and I'm guessing you’re tired too, so we should probably get this over with now.” Lollipop laid down in front of Lin and hesitantly opened her mouth. With surprising speed, Lin entered her mouth as Lollipop began to have second thoughts, what if she gets stuck, what if I choke to death. Before Lollipop could go back on her offer Lin hit the back of her throat and Lollipop was forced to swallow. It felt strange and Lin crawled her way down and fell into her stomach. But after Lin shifted to a comfortable position, much to Lollipop’s surprise, she couldn't even feel her. “You OK in there?” Lollipop asked, in response, Lin wiggled a little causing her to give off a slight chuckle. //-------------------------------------------------------// In a new world //-------------------------------------------------------// In a new world Lollipop had never been so happy to see the wooden door bearing the numbers 1219 in her life. She had done it, twenty-eight days in the wilderness without backing out, and now she was 5,000 notes, richer. Lollipop opened the door to her small house and stepped inside, then locking it when she entered. She already knew what she was going to do, TV and a cake, but first there was a different she had to take care of something else. In the two weeks, Lollipop and Lin met they haven't really talked ever cense there first meeting. A large amount of that could be contributed to the fact that, even though Lin could hear Lollipop, Lollipop couldn’t hear Lin. Every now and then Lollipop would, by some miracle, here a small unintelligible muffled fragment of a word. That's not to say no conversation was had, they were just more one-sided using the tried and true method of: tap once for yes and twice for no, along with the added thrice for mabby and four times for-- I don’t know. If lollipop was going to have a roommate, she wanted to talk to her first. Lollipop patted her stomach to get Lin’s attention, earning her a small wiggle as Lin shifted to a better position. Lollipop then started to speak. “Hey, can you come out for a second?” Nothing, except a few hesitant shifts, responded to her. “Don’t worry.” Lollipop started, “I’ll let you back in, I just want to talk for a bit.” There was another period of hesitation, but after a little bit, Lollipop, felt something making its way up here throat. It was a strange sensation somewhat akin to that feeling you get before puking, but in this case, Lollipop could feel the small hooves grabbing pushing into the sides of her esophagus allowing the creature to crawl up. After about five seconds, Lin pushed a hoove out the top of Lollipops throat. Lin tried to come up to fast and ended up triggering Lollipop’s gag reflex, after a little bit, and a lot of coughing, Lin was ejected, quite forcefully, out of Lollipop and onto the hardwood floor. Lin made a small *SQUEAK!* before hitting the floor with an audible smack, and one simple word. “Ow…” Lollipop, after recovering from her fit, looked down at the alp-luachra as she began to feel a small sense of worry for Lin’s well being. “Are you ok?” Lollipop asked, her voice embedded with the hint of worry mentioned before. “Ya,” Lin groaned as she began to pull herself back to her Hooves. “It just-” Lin was cut off by her surroundings, she new ponies liked to decorate their houses, but she didn't even begin to understand what half of this stuff was, or why a pony would find it appealing to have in their house. Probably the most strange was the large black picture that was over the fireplace. “-Hurts a little…” Lin finished trailing off at the end as the looked at her new surrounding, “Lollipop,” She continued. “What part of Equestria is this?” Lollipop was a little shocked here Lin ask that. What she not from here? how did she get here? “Umm, were not in Equestria. This is Uflana.” Lin stared back with back with a mix of surprise and confusion. “What- where is that?” “It's- um…” Lollipop thought for a few seconds thinking about how to best explain to the poor creature before getting an idea. Lollipop pulled out the aptly named “Book of Nature” from her saddlebag, which she had neglected to take off, and turned to the last page. On the last two pages was a map of the world, Equis, and provided her with what she needed. Lollipop set the book down in front of Lin, with the bottom facing the alp-luachra, and began. “OK,” Lollipop said placing a hoof on her motherland. “This is Equestria.” Lollipop then slid her hoof across the page. “And over here is Uflana.” Lin stared at the page in shock, she may not be able to read, however, she did know how to look at pictures, and from this one, she wasn't in a different part of Equestria, she was on a different continent entirely. Before Lin could get out anything, Lollipop began speaking again. “Now the only question I have is, how the heck did you get to hear.” Lin’s lips moved silently for a little bit bill she blurted out. “I- I don’t know! I was in a pond when I saw this giant, shiny, white pony with huge wings on its sides. I- I walked up to it to get a closer look, but I got my hoof stuck in these holes in its leg. I tried to pull my hoof out, but then its wings made this loud sound and I was flying, then I passed out. When I woke up, I was in that forest.” Now it was Lollipop who wore the shocked face, this thing tried to climb onto, what Lollipop could only assume was, a plane pony, got stuck, passed out, fell into the forest, survived, and was now living in her stomach. Lollipop stared at Lin with shock returning to her senses. “Are you… OK?” Lin asked, concerned by Lollipops silents. “I'm- I'm fine, that was just… a lot to take in is all.” The two remained silent for a little longer before Lin broke the ice. “You said you wanted to talk?” “Ya,” replied Lollipop. “I just thought if we're going to be living together, we should probably have a little bit of communication.” “OK,” Lin said. “Can I start?” She asked. “Um, sure.” Lollipop stated, giving Lin the clerics to start, so she did. “What's that?” Lin asked, pointing a small, black, hoof at the object in question. “Oh that, It's called a TV” answered Lollipop, “it's like a radio, but it shows you stuff too.” Lin just looked back in confusion. “Watch.” Lollipop picked up Lin and went to the couch across from the TV. She got up on the sofa and sat Lin down next to her. Lollipop, afterward, picked up the oversized hoof held remote from the stand beside the couch, and pressed “on.” After a couple seconds the black was replaced with a constantly moving picture, while at the same time sounds filled the air as a world, seemingly, came to life over the black rectangle that was once within the frames black borders. Lin leaned in closer, witch help very little given her size, as she stared in amazement and awe at the site before her. The show was one Lollipop had seen before, even considering herself a small fan, about one of those human things, going to failing hotels and attempting to, for lack of a better term, save them. It was still at the opening, and Lollipop had to stop herself from humming the “Hotel hell, hotel hell” as it played. Lin just stared at the new artifact of technology as showed her yet another place she had never seen before, was that also Uflana? She would have to ask Lollipop about it later. Lin, after some time, turned her attention to a small pad on the table. The object had a strange, shiny, circle on the top right. Even more, cures were that the object looked as if it could be opened like a book, for what purpose, however, she was unsure. “Hay,” Lin began stealing Lollipop’s attention from the grasp of the TV, “What is that? It looks like a book but, why is it so small?” Lin extended a hoof to the book like, object. Lollipop followed imaginary line made by the small, black, hoof, only for it to end at her Chromebook. Lollipop remembered the day she got the laptop, soon after moving to Uflana, she was recommended by ponies and people alike then she should get a computer. Lollipop, being new to Uflana, was hesitant to so quickly buy such a, to her, powerful and complicated piece of advanced tech. When Lollipop expressed these concerns to one of the semesters, they recommended the simple PC to her. After some time she gave in and got a hoof compatible, Samsung Chromebook 4. Lucky she already had an internet set up, due to an earlier persuasion and a smart TV stick she got as a going away gift, so she had everything she needed. The Hoof model was nearly identical to the normal Chromebook 4, say for the “hoof pad” that replaced the keyboard allowing ponies to use it. Lollipop picked up the strange book an opened it revealing… another TV? “Um- why do you have two TVs,” asked Lin. Lollipop just smiled and began to explain. “This isn’t a TV, it's called a computer, watch.” Lollipop passed a small circle just above the upper right side of the pad. Suddenly the screen lit in a bright white as the same circle that was on outer shell rolled by revealing large letters that Lin still couldn’t read. This then went to an image of, what appeared to be, black frosted glass over various blues and yellows, over the black glass was a box with yet more words, and a pitcher of Lollipop winking and holding her tongue out in some sort of goofy smile. Lin took nodes of a small arrow that moved from the top of the screen to the box as it followed a path a path made by Lollipop’s hoof moving across a smaller pad below the bigger one. After about a second the aro stopped at a small box, inside the larger box, turning in to a narrow pillar. Lollipop taped on the small pad making a flashing line come up on the small box. Lollipop then, satisfied, moved her hooves to the larger pad, and began to make gestures as several dots appeared on the screen only for the glass to go away and several pitchers appear at the bottom of the screen. Lollipop looked over at Lin and chuckled seeing her expressions bin incredibly simmer to the ones she made the first time she saw a computer. “Don’t be so amazed yet.” Lollipop requested. “We haven't gotten to the best part.” Lollipop moved the cursor over the google chrome icon in the dock given the mouse pad a tap. At that moment the window opened revealing the Google home screen. Lollipop looked down at Lin. “OK,” she started, “Tell me something you like.” Lin was confused but decided to play along, the alp-luachra thought for a couple seconds before coming to a conclusion. “Water.” She replied with a satisfied grin. Lollipop smiled back and begin to make gestures on the large pad again, however this time, inside of making dots, she was making more letters before taping the pad letting the image change once again however only in the box. The image was white, but only for a second, before showing... more words, she should of gest. Lin was annoyed by the constant bombardment of, to her, meaningless letters, but she quickly took note of the pictures of water on the right side of the screen with more words under it. “What does that say?” Lin asked pointing to said words, witch at her size was difficult. Lollipop released Lin probably couldn’t see the words witch, from her perspective, had to be a decent distance away. Lollipop sat the computer down expectantly, only to receive another confused glance from Lin. That was when it clicked, English and Equestrian may be the same spoken language, but they had two different alphabets. Lin couldn't read it. Then again, could she even read at all? From some of the things she read later in the book, most of her kind tended to be lacking in the logic department, what if her even knowing how to speak was the exception. “Can you... read it now?” asked Lollipop in a poor attempt to hide the fact, she was only seeing if Lin could read. “I don’t know how.” And there was the million note answer, in a box of sadness and annoyance. “Oh-” Lollipop stayed silent for a couple of seconds, before smiling down at the green and black parasite. “That's OK, I’ll teach you!-- If you want” Lin looked back at Lollipop, slightly surprised, but still delighted by the offer, as she performed a repeat of her performance when Lollipop agreed to host her. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” Lollipop chuckled at the micro mare’s infectious enthusiasm as Lin once again attempted a hug, Lollipop didn’t know if it was a success or failure. Either way, it was cute. “Hey, don’t mention it.” Lollipop began, “I’m a pony, and ponies help friends.” Lin halted at that comment, then preceded to look up at Lollipop. “Friends?” “Oh come on,” Lollipop chuckled, “please don’t tell me you don’t know what a friend is?” “No, no it’s not that,” said Lin calming Lollipop's worries. “It’s just- my kind are more… isolated, most of us don’t even learn how to talk, it’s just-” she stopped her micro rant for a second unable to find the words, before giving up and resigning herself to snuggle into Lollipop’s soft, cream-colored, fur with a smile. “-Friend.” Lollipop couldn’t help but smile, the site was just too cute. Then she realized something with Lin being too close to her nose, while Lin may be incredibly cute, the smell of two weeks relaxing in gastric juices, was not. “Um, LIn, can you get off me. Not that I don't enjoy this but… you’ve been in my gut for two weeks, and you kinda smell like it.” Lollipop learned something then, red is fairly visible on black. So Lin, in all of her smelliness, accepted just to sit next to her friend and watch the black pic...TV. Lollipop had eaten nothing but wild berries for the past two weeks, and her stomach finally decided it wanted something more substantial. From the depths of the fleshy cavern came to a feral growl, of course, this got Lollipops attention. “Gosh,” Said Lollipop. “I’m famished.” She then looked over at Lin, who was rather impressed by the growl, and asked, “How about you?” As if on cue Lin gave off a growl of her own, albeit one significantly cuter. “I’ll take that as a yes!” Lollipop stated. “So, do you like sweets?” Lin just smiled and quickly nodded. “Perfect! Cuz you’re looking at the best sweets maker in all of Uflana.” Of course, best in the world went to Pinkie Pie, but she could live with number one in Uflana. “How about we make some cake!” It wasn't big, or grammarians, but the nice cake in front of them was enough to feed a pony and a third, which was who it needed to feed. Alp-luachras love sugar, and this thing practically bled it, from the chocolate icing in between both layers of ultra sweet red velvet, to the caramelized cream cheese icing, and even the sugar frost on top. This thing was a sweet tooth’s wet dream and neither mare could wait to dig in, however, something had to be taken care of first. Lin looked at Lollipop expectantly, but Lollipop just stared back confused. Then, she remembered. Lin was a fun mare to be around, so fun that for a moment, Lollipop had forgotten that Lin was, in fact, a parasite, and if she wanted to eat, there was only one place she could do it. “Well,” said lollipop with an artificial smile, “I guess it’s time for you to go back in.” Lin noticed a hint of sadness in Lollipop’s voice, Lin, being, obviously concerned, couldn’t help but inquire as to its existing. “Lollipop, what's wrong?” Lollipop just sighed knowing she couldn't hide it. “I- I just wished we could have talked longer, is all.” Lin gave Lollipop a small, sympathetic, smile. “Come on, don’t be so down. I can still hear you, it's just... difficult to respond.” Lollipop let out a single chuckle in the form of a snort. “I know, I just, really enjoy talking with you.” “Hay,” Lin started putting a hoof on Lollipop. “Don’t worry, we’ll make this work. You’re a pony, and ponies help their friends. Right?” Lollipop gave Lin a week, but genuine smile. “RIght.” And with that, Lollipop opened her mouth and lowered down stuff for Lin to hop in. Just like before, having Lin crawl down her throat was a was a strange experience, but once she was settled in, Lollipop couldn't even tell she was there. Now the only thing that was left, was to see how good their friendship tasted. Lollipop was right, it was a good cake. “Good night, Lin.” Lollipop wished as she tucked herself into bed. The response Lollipop got was a small hoof rubbing her stomach from the inside making her, for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, chuckle. As Lollipop turned she thought, how would she teach Lin to read, how would they communicate? Lollipop knew she had to go looking for a spot to put her sweetshop tomorrow, and thus wouldn’t have time to let Lin out. Lollipop eventually decided it was just best to sleep on it. So she closed her eyes and, slowly, Lollipop fell into a deep slumber. Lin was not asleep, however, at least not yet. Instead, she listened to the functions of her friend's body as her friend's rest slowly centralized them into a familiar melody only amplified by the sweet smell of red velvet that permeated all around her. In a host, an alp-luachra looks for a couple of things, but in Lollipop, Lin found something else, yes she had all the makings of an ideal host, but she also had something extra. Inside Lollipop, she felt like no madder what happened, Lollipop would be there for her, she didn’t need to worry about getting caught, or what her host would do to her if they got her. Lin was in a new world of which she was only beginning to understand, a new world of advanced technology and wonders, not even a filly could dream up, but as long as she was with Lollipop, Lin was OK. Lin just smiled and nuzzled her self into the soft stomach wall, lulled to sleep by the soft, gentle beating of her friend's hart. //-------------------------------------------------------// The dream(mini chapter) //-------------------------------------------------------// Author's Note I know this is short, just haven't posted in a while. The dream(mini chapter) For the first time in a while, Lollipop woke up from a good night’s rest, no aching back from the tint and no dread for what the wilderness would make her put up with this time. It was funny how much she now appreciated this simple pleasure, alas she could not live I her bed, and there was one more pleasure she would like to indulge, one she hadn't had in quite some time; a nice morning coffee. Lollipop rolled out of bed with a yuan and a stretch, she didn’t bother making her bed for she was much too focused on her prize. As lollipop entered her kitchen, she could immediately smell the sweet residue from the night prior which only served to further her “empty” gut’s demand to be filled. She was more than happy to oblige. Quickly, Lollipop walked over to her coffee maker with a small tub of coffee grounds and a small stake of filters beside it. Lollipop was quick to fill the maker to the top with water, and action she had done many times before, and place the filter in. Now for the good part. Lollipop grabbed the nice tub of grounds and quickly removed the lid allowing the scent, of which she was robbed off for a month, to enter her nose. She placed three spoonfuls of her precious into the filter and properly closed the lid of the device. With a sense of satisfaction and surgery anticipation, she passed the ‘brew’ button with a tired smile. Lin was in heaven as she swam through the lake, she danced through stocks of Lille pads and other various types of aquatic plant life, her body twisting and turning like a ballerina made of rubber and a very happy one at that. The lake was men as if it stretched the length of an ocean, without the salt of course. For a moment Lin thought she had died and somehow entered heaven, after all, what else could she want, a host mabby? Ya if this place was heaven this lake would be inside a gun, but beggars can't be choosers. As she spans and did loop in the great blue water, she saw something out of the corner of her eye, it was only for a second, but she could swear she saw a large shadow swim past. Her swimming ceased, she looks over at where the shadow had been. Nothing but the fading blue. *Whoosh!* She turned around only in time to see a trail of bubbles leading away from her. OK this as starting to get- *Woosh.* She turned again only to find much of the same. OK, she had to get out of here no... it was behind her, she could feel it, how it made the water hot and rank with its breath. Lin closed her eyes. ‘Don’t look behind you, don’t look behind you.’ she thought to herself but no matter how hard she tried nothing could keep her from taking a glance behind her. Lowly, Lin, turned around to face her stalker. She wished it had killed her before she could. Behind her was a twisted mockery of an alp-luachra, it was almost the size of a pony says for its bloated gut, it had several tails, some of which were bursting through the skin, attached to the muscle underneath instead. All around its body she would see hundreds of mouths with bloody razor sharp teeth, all over its face were eyes, some were just empty eye sockets that reveal a dark abyss witch blood flowed out of like serge. The great beast opened its maw revealing it to stretch halfway down its throat, it that gapping Cassim, Lin could see hundreds of jagged saw-like teeth, she could stare down its throat only to see it covered in more of the teeth all the way down into the dark. Lin screamed and turned around swimming away faster than she had ever swum before. As she swam the lake began to rapidly get narrower and more cluttered as the poetics became harder to avoid, the ting, however, had no problem getting thru it all, and every time she looked behind her, no matter how fast she swam, it was always closer than before. The walls became steep flat mountains as she ran into a dead end. ‘Oh… oh no.’ Lin span around only in time to see the thing rushing at her with ungodly speed. She was bitten in two. Lin awoke with agast of fear, at first she was in fear looking at her fleshy room. Oh no, she was inside it! She was trapped, no way out left to suffer from the knowledge she was inside that thing. Soon, however, Lin’s brain started working again. She shivered as the adrenaline begin to wear off, she felt her eyes began to water and a familiar choking sensation began to take its place in the back of her throat. With nothing else to do, she hugged a large section of Lollipop’s stomach wall and put her face into it, it was comforting doing what she could to hug her friend in a way that said, thank Celestia you're hearing. Lin, after only a couple seconds, stopped holding back and allowed her tears to flow out. Lollipop finished pouring the coffee in to her mug, it's familiar scent filling her with a calm and warm feeling, she placed the pot back into the maker, she was about to take her first sip when she felt two, tiny hooves inside her, it was obvious Lin was awake and attempting another sort of hug, she was about to give her gut a pat and ask Lin how she slept when she felt another sensation, a small but disable shaking. Lin wasn't just hugging her, she was crying. Lollipop put down her mug. She decided it would be best to let Lin have a little time to release before she was “confronted”. After about a minute of waiting, Lollipop gave her gut a small part to get Lin’s attention. “Lin, are you OK in there?” For a while, there was no response, but soon enough she felt a Lin let go of her stomach wall, and give it a small, week tap. It was a lie, they both knew it, but Lollipop wasn't going to press her Lin, at least not yet. “OK.” Lollipop replied, “if you decide you want to talk about it, just rub, OK?” One tap. “Good.” Lollipop grabbed her coffee and headed to the living room, she had a lot of Hotel Hell to catch up on, and she was probably going to hold off looking for a spot to set up her sweet shop sill tomorrow, so she could be there if Lin decided to talk. Lollipop took the first sip of coffee as the show started feeling its warmth going down almost as clearly as would feel Lin. After a couple more sips, she smiled feeling Lin nestle up in the warmth of the brew.