Author's Note
This story will sometimes have switches between the first-person narration of the OC human character Eric Reed, and a more regular 3rd-person narration. The switch will only happen after full-scene breaks, but not every full-scene break in this story will have the switch.
Full-scene breaks with the switch will have two horizontal rules, and a full-scene break without a switch will have just one.
Chapter 1: The Buck-Up
Hey, Eric "Buggie" Reed here.
Usually, when one or both of my two Equestrian big sisters, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, cast a special "counterspell" on me to temporarily return me from being four inches tall (thanks to the effect of the magic from the "Nightmare Prevention Spell" that's stuck in me) to my normal height, about theirs, they do it right. They're also great at making sure the counterspell wouldn't wear off too soon or somehow go wrong.
But, this would be a day where one of them bucks up. Big time. And this would be one of the weirdest days of my eighteen-year-old-life!
With me at my normal height, Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie Pie, and had gotten off a train, the Friendship Express, and just reached the Crystal Empire. But the four of us each went for our own reasons.
Pinkie went because she was in charge of a birthday party there and (literally) hopped off on her own to get to work on it once we entered the Crystal Empire. Starlight came because she wanted to visit Sunburst, but she hadn't split off from us yet. Twilight wanted to visit Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Flurry Heart. As for me, I was simply bored in Twilight's castle, so before she left, Twi asked if I wanted to come along. Obviously, I did, and I planned to stick with her. She also asked Spike if he wanted to come, but Rarity had already asked him to do something for her...so yeah, he was not with us.
A few minutes after Pinkie left us, a smiling Princess Cadance, with Flurry Heart on her head, came into view in front of us and called out, "Twilight, you're here!"
"Cadance!"
Twilight and Cadance ran to each other and did their world-famous "Sunshine, Sunshine!" dance. Ha, it's even funnier in person than watching it in the show, and I had to cover my mouth to hide my laughing!
While we were watching them go, Starlight, not amused by that dance like I was, leaned her head to me and joked, "You know, I will never get used to seeing this, Buggie."
Holding back my laughing for the moment I answered back, "I don't know if I will get used to this either, Starie."
Once the "Sunshine" sisters got done, Twilight picked up Flurry Heart with her magic, and made silly faces to get her to laugh...and it worked on me too.
As the Princess of Silly Faces was busy making herself look...well, silly to Flurry Heart, Cadance walked to Starlight and me to tell us hello. For some reason, I felt really shy. It made me stop giggling and I instinctively slid closer to big sis Starlight.
"Hi, Princess Cadance!"
"H-Hi, Princess Cadance."
Twilight stopped with the faces and asked, "Where's Shining Armor, Cadance? I thought he was going to be with you."
"Sorry, Twilight, but Shining had to train some of the new guards, and he forgot that he needed to do it today."
"Oh, well, I guess it can't be helped. He is the Captain of the Royal Guards, after all." Twilight saw me blushing beside Starlight, and walked over to me. "Hmm? Is something wrong, Buggie?"
"No, no, nothing wrong, Twi!"
Ha, I wasn't very convincing, and Twilight and Cadance could tell what was up. Twi did it because she knows me so well, and Cadance did because she's apparently seen ponies act nervous or shy to her before. I'm a human, but it didn't affect the pony's ability to see it in me.
Twilight, still holding Flurry in her magic, smirked, leaned closer to me, while entering a type of "big sister" mode that she doesn't enter often, but have in her: the mode where that Alicorn picks on me. She wasn't gonna pass up this chance to have some fun with her "little bro."
"Wow, Buggie, I've never seen you so shy before. You don't have a crush on Cadance or something, do you?"
My face turned red big-time, and I stuttered, "N-No! That's not it, Twi! I'm just--"
"In love?" Twilight's smirk as at its all-time biggest.
"Twilight, I'm not! Cut it out!"
Laughing, Cadance cut in and said, "Okay, Twilight, leave the poor thing alone. I've seen others be nervous around me before, but I didn't think Eric would get in the act too."
Now feeling a little guilty, I turned to Cadance and tilted my head down a bit. "I'm sorry, Princess Cadance. It's not that I'm scared of you or anything, and I don't know why I feel shy."
"Well, It could be because you don't see me that much, so maybe after we talk for a while and you get more used to me, you'll feel calmer. In fact, let's all head to the Crystal Castle, everypony."
But Starlight came to the Crystal Empire to see Sunburst, so she asked, "Can I meet you guys there later? I want to go ahead and see Sunburst."
Twilight answered, "Sure, Starlight. You can come later when you're done."
"And Sunburst was going to come get Flurry Heart to watch her at his house, so since you're going to him now, could you take Flurry with you, Starlight?"
Starlight said okay, picked up Flurry from Twilight's magic with her own magic, split off to Sunburst's place, and Twilight, Cadance, and I made our way over to Cadance's Castle.
As we walked through the streets of the Crystal Empire, trying to help me get over my shyness, Cadance asked, "So, Eric, how do you like the Crystal Empire? I noticed that you hardly ever come out here."
"Oh, I-I like it very much, Princess Cadance, and I should c-come out here more. The ponies out here are really nice."
"I'm happy to hear it. If you want, when we get to my castle, I can show you the Crystal Heart, since I don't think you have seen it yet."
Twilight cut in and mentioned, "Oh, yeah, that's right. You haven't seen the Crystal Heart yet, Buggie."
"Well, I have seen it when I watched your "cartoon", Twi. But I have been wanting to see it in person." Since I said that to big sis Twilight, there was no shyness in me, so I didn't stutter.
"Oh, yes. Twilight told me about how Equestria is part of a "cartoon" in your world. And I have always wanted to ask you, am I well-liked in your world?"
"F-From what I know, you're pretty well-liked."
As we kept on walking, despite Cadance continuing to talk to me, and even joked a little to further try to ease me, my odd shyness didn't fade, and something about it didn't seem right. I shouldn't have felt so shy around her. But I thought I'd get over soon.
But once we reached the front doors to Cadance's castle, I had another problem. Not only did I still have that shyness, but I also became light-headed with a headache, and my body started to slightly wobble.
"Hey, Twi? I don't feel so good, and my head's hurting." I put a hand on the left side of my head, which sagged down a bit.
"Really, Buggie?" Twilight walked in front of me to look at my face, then her eyes widened and she frowned. Twi turned to Cadance and asked, "Is there someplace Eric can rest for a while, Cadance? He doesn't look good."
"Sure he can, Twilight." Cadance led Twilight and me down the long hallways of her castle, with some guards spread throughout, and it eventually led to one of her guest bedrooms. As we followed the Princess of Love, Twilight wrapped a wing around me to help me keep my balance.
Once we got through doors to the bedroom, Twilight, now in the extra-caring side of her "Big sister" mode, didn't wait for me to try to walk to the bed, which was about as big as a Queen-sized bed (figures) that looked really soft, and sunlight from an open window shone near it. Using her magic, Twilight lifted me, moved me through the air by about five feet to the bed, laid me on my back, took my shoes off for me, and covered a white blanket on me. Sweet, isn't she?
"I will tell the royal guards to not bother Eric, so he can rest," Cadance reassured us.
"And I'll come back and check on you later, all right?"
I told Twilight okay, thanked Cadance, and they left the room. Minutes later, I was out cold.
An hour after leaving the human Eric Reed to rest in Princess Cadance's guest bedroom, Twilight and Cadance were still trotting through the streets of the Crystal Empire, with many ponies around walking or standing around, talking about one thing or another. Twilight continued to be puzzled by Eric's sudden illness and had her head tilted down.
Cadance, with a concerned frown, asked, "Is something wrong, Twilight?'
Twilight moved her hoof from her cheek, and lifted her head to Cadance. "I'm just thinking about how Eric suddenly got sick."
"Yes, it does seem strange how he just got sick. But I am sure he will be all right after some rest."
"I hope so, but still I have a bad feeling,"
Cadance chucked, seeing herself in her sister-in-law. "Oh, Twilight, you sound like I did with Flurry Heart, soon after she was born."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Whenever Flurry felt or even looked a bit sick, I would worry that it might be more serious than it really was."
"You're making me sound like a paranoid overprotective parent," Twilight huffed, with a slightly offended expression. "I'm not that protective of Eric!"
"Maybe. But, if it would put your mind at ease, we can return to the palace, so you can check on him."
Seemingly out of thin air, Pinkie Pie hopped up to them. "Hey, Twilight! Setting up for that party is a lot tougher than I thought. Can you come help, because I know how you loooove to do checklists and stuff?"
Normally, that would have Twilight interested. However, this time, the Princess's thoughts were still on Eric. "Well, Pinkie, we were about to head back to the castle to see if Eric's okay, so can I come help you after I do?"
"And now you sound like a paranoid overprotective parent, Twilight, so just go help with Pinkie's party, but I'll check on him. After I do, I'll come to you and let you know how he is feeling."
Twilight looked down with a bashful smile. "Well...I guess I am being paranoid. Okay, I'll go help Pinkie with her party.'
"Good, and I will let you know how Eric is as soon as I can."
Cadance made her way back to her castle, while Twilight trotted in the opposite direction with Pinkie to aid in setting up her party.
When I woke up, I felt much better. I wasn't light-headed anymore, and my headache was gone. Unfortunately, I found I had another...much bigger problem.
Everything looked huge!
Somehow, the counterspell to the Nightmare Prevention Spell ended too early! Starlight did the spell on me by herself this time before we left Twilight's castle, so I figured she messed up. She's done it on me solo several times, but this was the first time it wore off like this.
I didn't panic, since it wasn't like somepony would come in and think I'm a bug, plus they all knew about me and how I can be four-inches tall. So there wasn't a real danger of a crushing experience from a giant hoof.
But, it got a lot harder to resist the urge to panic, when I noticed just how huge everything was. Even at four inches tall, the room looked too big to me. The ceiling looked nearly unreachable, and the bed I was on looked like it could've gone on for miles. I gasped, when it sunk in how tiny I became. Somehow, not only did Starlight's counterspell wear off too soon, but something happened to make me the size of a flea!
Yep, that Unicorn really bucked up this time.
It wasn't the time to think about how I would let Starlight have it later, though. I needed to think of the best way to be noticed. My best bet was to get on the blanket Twilight covered over me before she left with Cadance, which I was by the edge of. Since the blanket was white, it would let me be as visible as possible.
Shortly after I had gotten on it, I heard approaching hoofsteps from outside the closed door of the room, and a voice called from outside the door.
"Eric? It's me, Princess Cadance. Are you okay in there?"
I yelled, "I'm okay, Princess Cadance, but I have shrunk back down!"
But she didn't answer back. She knocked on the door a few more times, and again asked if I was all right.
I repeated what I said, yelling at my limit. Again, Cadance didn't seem to hear me.
Cadance stopped knocking, opened the door, and gasped.
"Eric?! Where did you go?!"
Because of my tiny size, while Cadance's yelling wasn't "killing" my ears, her voice was still hurting them, and I covered them both with my hands.
Cadance turned her head to the floor and walked in the room slowly, just in case, so she wouldn't step on me by mistake. Princess Cadance, or for that matter all ponies that know me and how I can shrink, are aware to do this if there's a chance I might be on the floor. A certain purple Alicorn and purplish pink Unicorn already made sure they know.
I waved my arms, yelling as loud as I could, "I'm right here!! Can you hear me?!"
She didn't say anything back, so I pieced together that I was too small for Cadance to hear me...not good. Even worse, because she focused more on the floor than the bed, she wasn't paying enough attention to where I actually was. Being so tiny, unless she focused on the exact spot I was, she'd seen what looked like a crumb, and might not even notice me. Especially since the Alicorn didn't have a reason to think I might be flea-sized.
"Oh no, no, no! He's gone! What happened to him?!" Cadance finally, but carefully, walked to the bed I was on, failing to notice my yells and arm waving. She then threw the blanket off the bed to the floor with her magic, perhaps thinking I shrunk and was under them. She would've been half right. I did shrink, just a lot more than she thought.
However, I was on the blanket, and Cadance wasn't looking at where I stood, so that pony threw me off the bed!!
Screaming, with terror filling my heart, I spun through the air, then found myself falling through what looked like pink trees that bent down as I hit them. It didn't hurt, but this still slowed me down. Finally, I fell on an oddly soft floor on my stomach, and the fall was slowed down enough for it to not hurt.
It took a few seconds to regain my bearings -- and to start calming down by breathing because I was pulling a Twilight -- then turned my head around to see where I was. It looked like a huge, pink forest. How did I go from a bedroom to this pink forest? I got a hint when I heard the Princess of Love, in a really loud voice.
"Please, Eric! Say something if you can hear me!"
After recovering from Cadance's now ear-piercing voice, I stood up, did what she said by yelling her name. But what a surprise, she didn't hear me. And when the "floor" started moving, forcing me to grab one of the "trees", I figured out where I was, and how I got there.
Yep, when Cadance threw the covers off the bed I was on, I got thrown on her back without her knowing she did it. I was flea-sized, so she didn't feel a thing when I landed. Or the pony did, but it felt too weak for her to notice. It's possible that she spotted me as I was flying through the air, but being so tiny, she thought nothing of it. Cadance was panicking too, so that wouldn't help her spot an airborne flea-sized human.
And not only that, because I was on Cadance's back, l was much closer to her than I was on the bed, so her voice seemed louder now.
Too small for Cadance to hear me, and buried in her soft pink coat of hair, or pink trees from my new point-of-view, I was all but undetectable. Somehow, I had to think of a way to get her to hear me.
Of all the things I thought might happen when Twilight asked if I wanted to go with her to the Crystal Empire, being thrown onto a "giant" pony's back was not one of them!
But, I guess this was one way for me to spend some one-on-one time with Princess Cadance, which we had never done before. Till now...kinda.
Chapter 3: In The Ear of Cadance
Well, this was gonna be fun. Not.
On the head of Princess Cadance, which felt so wrong -- she's not Twilight or Starlight -- I was preparing to head to one of her ears.
Even though I was on her head, being flea-sized, she still wouldn't hear me if I didn't call to her from one of her ears. And I hoped I wouldn't have to go in! It's bad enough that Alicorn's sweat was covering me all over! At this point, I was a bit used to its...smell. But still, this wasn't fun!
But I had a few more important things to worry about, besides the "gross" factor. Cadance still wasn't moving much and was keeping her head still, but she could move her head at any time, possibly sending me flying off, unless it's a slight movement. And it wasn't like I could ask her to stay still for me...well, I could have done it, but she just wouldn't hear me. I was under her mane too so it, as well as the hair/trees on her head that's not part of her mane, blocked my view of her ears, so I couldn't even see them. I had to find some way to figure out where they were.
Stopping to hold on to a strand of hair/tree on her head every few seconds, in case Cadance started moving, I went forward. About a half-minute later, a "pink wall" came into view in front of me, and it went high up through her mane, so I couldn't see the top of it. After a few seconds of looking at it carefully, and knowing I'm on Cadance's head, I figured the "wall" in front of me was her horn. Thinking of where the horns on the heads of Unicorns and Alicorns are, and I came from her neck, it gave me an idea of where exactly her ears were, and I went to the left.
Step by step, still holding on to a "tree" every few seconds as a safeguard, I crept towards Cadance's left ear, eventually reaching another pink "wall". It was her ear. Jackpot! Unfortunately, the inside pointed the other way, so I walked along it, till I reached the edge, then I got to the other side. I walked out of Cadance's mane in the process, so I could see the room she stood in: the guest bedroom she let me take a nap in. As I thought, she was by a window of the room, with her head turned away from it. Lucky for me, I did all that walking without the Princess of Patience trying to move her head at all.
Finally, in front of the entrance of her left ear, I yelled, "Princess Cadance! Can you hear me?!"
But she didn't say a thing back.
I tried again, but yelled as loud as I could, "Princess Cadance!! Can you hear me?!"
Still got nothing from the Princess of Love!
Oh no. I had only one option left: Go in the pony's ear! Since I knew I had to go in, I took a closer look inside. It looked not just soft, but clean (figures a Princess would keep her ears so clean) so I had an easier time committing to go in. One bit of good news was I didn't have to "climb in" the ear: I could simply "walk in" it.
But as I crept deeper into her ear and about to try to call Cadance's name I saw, in the corner of my eye, something huge and pink speed towards me.
Yep, it's Cadance's hoof. Uh-oh.
I gasped, gave a short scream, and it painlessly ran into me -- since the sole of her hoof was somewhat soft -- and forced me further into the ear. The hoof moved me closer and closer to a pink wall (AKA the inside of Cadance's ear) and unless I did something fast, she was going to pin and crush me! But at the last second, I gritted my teeth, rolled off the hoof and deeper in the ear, as the hoof rubbed against the "wall" a few times, then went back out the ear.
Maybe my scream was too short for Cadance to really hear it. Or she did hear me scream, but it didn't last long enough to make her think much of it.
I guess getting nearly crushed to death a few times not long after finding myself in Equestria made me braver, because I wasn't shaken up over it almost happening again. It also helped that Princess Cadance didn't mean to do it. Still, I thought I better not move a muscle, and call out to her, now!
But before I could yell Cadance's name, a voice came from outside the door to the room we were in, screaming, "Cadance, are you in there?!"
It was Twilight. Even though it was much louder (to me) than it actually was, but bareable since she was still outside the room, I could tell that Twilight's voice tone was one she only uses when panicking or otherwise freaking out. That suggested to me that she somehow already figured out something was wrong.
"Yes, I'm here!" Cadance responded, and her voice killed my ears! She surprised me so much, that I fell backward, forcing me to roll even deeper into her ear, now near her eardrum, and I found that I couldn't get out! It was also dark, so I couldn't see much. And, so deep inside, it did not smell good, and I even had to hold my nose!
However, I still was able to hear the door open, and both Twilight and Starlight asked at the same time, "Is Eric in here?"
"No, I can't find him, and I don't know where he is, but I have the guards searching for him."
I guess Starlight heard from Twilight about how she laid me in the bed when I felt sick, because her voice broke, asking, "Cadance, before you moved that blanket, did you look for anything really small on it?"
"Well, I moved the covers to see if Eric was under them, but I didn't see him, and I didn't look for anything like that on the blanket. Should I have done that?"
A second later, despite their voices coming close to literally making my ears bleed, I heard two gasps. And then, even though I was in Cadance's ear, I still felt the vibrations of two thuds hitting the floor, with each thud separated by about a half a second. If I were to put my bits on it, I'd say Twi fainted on the floor first.
"Twilight? Starlight? Are you two okay?!" Cadance ran to my sisters...I think. I couldn't see if she actually did: I only felt her ear suddenly move forward, and I got thrown and bounced off a "wall" in her ear when she did. But I was still stuck.
After a few seconds, I shook things off enough to try to call out to Cadance, before she said something again. "Princess Cadance! Can you hear me?!"
"What? Eric?! Is that you?!" Cadance turned her head a couple of times, trying to see where I was, I guess, so I got bounced around in her ear again. Not only that, I couldn't even take her normal voice, so a yell from that mare was way too much!
I screamed, covered my ears for a second, and begged, "Please, Princess Cadance, please talk quieter! I am really small right now, so your voice is too loud to me unless you talk quieter!"
In a way more quiet voice that, for her, was probably a whisper, she asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. Is my voice too loud now? And where are you?"
"Nope, it's perfect! Now, this may sound weird, but I'm in your left ear, and I'm stuck!"
"Stuck? Okay, I'll get you out, but why are you in my ear?"
"Trust me, it's not because I want to be in here! I can explain after I'm back to my normal size, but you gotta get me out!" I suddenly became aware that I wasn't talking to "Cadance" but to Princess Cadance, and I'm nowhere near as close to her like I am with Princess Twilight, so I added, "Uh, please, Princess Cadance?"
"All right. I think I can get you out with my magic, but I will have to know exactly where you are in my ear. Can you rub where you are or something, so I can feel it?"
"Okay. It might tickle, so please don't scratch!" I put my left hand -- so I could keep my nose covered with the right one -- on the part of Cadance's ear my back was against, and rubbed and pushed against it as hard as I could.
Three seconds in of giving the weirdest massage ever, I felt myself become weightless and surrounded by light-blue magic, lighting up the ear, and I saw a bit of brown-colored earwax on part of the "walls" that, lucky for me, I missed when I got bounced around in the deepest part of the ear. Then, I was very slowly lifted through and out the ear, placed onto the middle of Cadance's head, between the "trees" of her hair, and she already had moved her mane out the way with her magic. After she gently sat me down, she let her mane go back to how she usually keeps it, so it completely covered the "sky" that wasn't covered already by the hair on her head.
After being in Cadance's ear, I wasn't gonna whine to myself about being on her head because it wasn't Twilight's or Starlight's head this time. I just sat down, with my back against one of her pink trees and uncovered my nose too since, compared to that ear, things didn't smell as bad.
"I don't know how to do that counterspell to grow you, so we will have to wait for Twilight or Starlight to wake up, okay, Eric?"
"Okay, Princess Cadance." Of course, she nothing. Heh, we both forgot she can't hear me, in my current size, unless she put me back in her ear again.
Yeah, I would be fine with not being able to talk to the Princess of Love for a while, because I did not want to go in there again!
Around five minutes later, Twilight came to, muttering, "What happened?" Twilight's voice was low, so it didn't hurt my ears.
But Cadance tried to warn, "Twilight, Eric's on my head and he is very--"
"Wait, Eric's all right?!" Twilight screamed, making me scream and cover my ears from her ear-piercing voice!
"Shh, Twilight, please talk quietly. The poor thing is on my head and is very small, so he can't take us talking above a whisper."
I heard hoofsteps run closer to Cadance, then her trees of both her mane and hair on her head (that's not part of her mane) were moved back by pink magic, revealing the very(!) big head of Twilight, who saw me, gasped, and smiled. Even though she was smiling, I still gulped, because it was unnerving seeing that pony's face look so huge! She was like a goddess! From how "tall" they looked, Twilight's eyes each looked as big as ten-story tall buildings -- if they could be in the shape of an eye -- and her face was the only thing I could see that was in front of Cadance, that wasn't blocked by a "tree". Despite how much I trust Princess Twilight Sparkle, when her eyes got close to me, I couldn't help leaning away from her. Though it was kinda cool seeing my reflection in her eyes at this size.
Twilight saw me flinch back, frowned, quickly moved her head back, and took some steps backward. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, and don't worry, Eric. I'll fix your size right now. I'm gonna lift you on the bed, then recast the counterspell to grow you back to normal-size, okay?"
This time, I remembered saying "okay" would be pointless, so I didn't say anything. Two seconds later, I felt myself get lifted off Cadance's head, and through the air by pink magic. I didn't notice this too much when Cadance got me out of her ear, because I stayed over her head when she moved me: unlike human ears, her ears are on the top of her head. But, as Twilight picked me up from Cadance's head and through the air, it looked like I was much higher up than I actually was: it felt like I was over five-hundred feet in the air, and my mouth dropped. I closed my eyes, and really had to remind myself of who's holding me in her magic, and that she would not drop me.
But unlike Princess Cadance, Twilight didn't adjust how fast she moved me to my new size, so she did it a little too fast! It felt like being moved four times faster than the fastest roller coaster, because of the air resistance on my body, making the looser parts of my clothes flap from it (though my hat stayed still: Twilight was probably also using her magic to keep it on my head) and a sinking feeling filled my stomach. Trying to tell Twilight to slow down wouldn't do anything, since she wouldn't hear me, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and take it. Finally, she laid me on the bed I was lying on earlier. I guess Twi entered "Big sister" mode, since she laid me down on my back, which she didn't have to do.
There, with Twilight now standing right beside the bed, much closer to how close Cadance was to it when she threw me on her back, I opened my eyes, tilted my head to my right, and gasped at the sight of my big sister. Despite knowing she's Twilight Sparkle, I still froze at the sheer size of her! Twi really did look as big as a mountain -- just a purple one in the shape of a pony that's facing and looking down at me -- and as my mouth was busy dropping again, her horn glowed. From my point of view, a bright pink light was shone on me next.
The next thing I knew, I was at my real height: the height of most full-grown ponies, but was still lying on my back. I sat up, looked down at myself, gave a big 'ol sigh, and got off the bed to stand. While I still had "it" on me, I was so happy to be my normal height again!
"Okay, that's not something I want to do again!" I said and even laughed a bit.
Twilight, though, wasn't laughing, and instead had a frown on her face. Her mouth quivered, formed big sad eyes, and tears seemed seconds away from flowing.
"Twi? What's wrong?"
Twilight "answered" my question by wrapping her forelegs around me, and her grip was stronger than what she usually uses, so it made me give a grunt at the pressure. She didn't even care that I was still...wet all over just yet, and said, "I am so happy you're all right, Buggie! Starlight told me she tried something new with the counterspell--" Twilight sniffed and now smelled "it". She quickly took her forelegs off me, stepped back, with her eyes big. "And why are you wet? And what is that smell?"
I wasn't paying much attention to Twilight's last two questions. All I thought about was the part she said about Starlight doing something new with the counterspell! Turning my head to Starlight's direction, who was still out cold on the floor, lying on her right side, I seethed, "Wait, I became flea-sized because Starlight did something new with the counterspell?! She didn't tell me that when she did it!"
"She did. But before you get too mad, first tell me how you kept from being thrown off the bed. Cadance said she moved the covers off the bed, and I thought you got thrown off and got hurt. Or worse!"
I looked past my anger at Starlight for a moment, and answered, "Well, I didn't keep from being thrown off. Princess Cadance did do it."
"Huh? But if she did, how are you not hurt?" Twilight's eyes got even larger than before, she leaned closer to me, and then asked, "Wait, you're not hurt, are you?!"
I shook my head. "Nope, I'm fine."
Cadance laughed, then (kinda) answered one of Twilight's questions by saying, "Let's just say Eric and I spent some...quality time together."
"Huh?"
I told Twilight and Cadance about Cadance accidentally throwing me on her back, and what I went through. Afterward, Twilight stared at me and shuddered, understandably grossed out now, especially since she just hugged me! Heh, I bet that Alicorn was thinking that the first chance she got, she was taking a bath! It wasn't a bad idea for me to take one too. A long one. And get something to drink because I was so thirsty!
Cadance then also told me sorry for throwing me on her back, and for almost crushing me in her ear. But I did forget to tell her about the fly guts still in her hair. Oops.
About two minutes later, Starlight, still "sleeping" on the floor, finally opened her eyes, shook her head, and stood up. "What...what happened?" Starie turned her head to where I was, and yelled, "Eric?! You're your real size! Are you all right?!"
I was about to just tell Starlight I was fine, but it sunk in again that she's the reason I shrunk so tiny. I glared at and walked up to her. Now, I could finally let this mare have it!
"Oh, I'm all right, but Twi told me you did something new with the counterspell! You shrunk me down to the size of a flea! What the buck, Starlight?!"
"I'm so sorry, Buggie! You told me you wanted to go on a trip, and I was just trying to make the counterspell last longer, so one casting would last the entire trip."
"Okay, but why didn't you tell Twilight about that first?! If it worked, she'd need to know anyway!"
"But I thought the improved counterspell would work! But I was going to tell her later, and I wanted to try it out and see how it went."
"Wait, 'see how it went'? You mean you cast a spell on me that you didn't even know for sure would work, and without asking me first?! You know I trust you with my life, but I'm not your guinea pig, Starlight Glimmer!"
"Wait, what's a 'guinea pig'?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn't know what I meant by that. But let's just say I'm mad!"
"I know you're mad, Eric, and you should be mad at me. I know I messed up bad. But, you know I would never do anything to put you in danger on purpose, right? I...I'm sorry..." Tears started pouring from Starlight's eyes, and she went to the floor and cried.
For a couple of seconds, I stayed as mad as ever. But, seeing Starie crying, knowing she felt bad, made me feel bad. I stopped gritting my teeth and took a deep breath. My mind went from being furious, to wanting to calm my sister down. Plus, I had a...better idea than yelling at her.
Both Twilight and Cadance seemed like they were about to walk up and ask me to calm down. But when they saw I did it myself, they stayed still and said nothing.
With Starlight still crying, I got on my knees, gently wrapped my arms around her, and she did the same to me, with her forelegs, and she was too upset to really notice the smell on me and my...wetness. I said, in a calm voice, "It's okay, Starie. I know you only wanted to help me, and I'm sorry I yelled at you. You know how much I love you, big sis."
"And I...*sniff*...love you too, little bro. I am so, so sorry, and I won't do anything like that to you again, I promise! I was even worried you might've gotten hurt, or even worse, because of me!"
"Well, I'm all right, so how about we just enjoy our visit, okay, Starie?"
"Sure, Buggie."
"Uhh...Buggie? What are you--"
I turned my head to Twilight and cut her off to ask, "Twilight, can't you see I'm trying to comfort Starie?"
Twilight got the message and backed off. Princess Cadance got it too, and even giggled.
What was that last part about? As I was hugging Starlight, trying to get her to stop crying, I was rubbing her back, then one of her cheeks, and then her back again, as a bigger and bigger smirk formed on my face.
Why?
Payback. You guys remember what was still all over me, right...?
I told you I would get Starlight Glimmer for this!
Author's Note
I wouldn't want to be Eric when he finally tells Starlight that's on her!
Hopefully, he has the "puppy dog eyes" face down.
