A small creature will have great power
He will find love in a dark hour
His weakness, his greatest strength
To save his kind, shall go any length
From royalty, he must be protected
He will be saved by those he affected
It seemed all of Equestria was in Canterlot that day. Princess Celestia was making an announcement, and requested everypony to attend. Mocha Sprinkles was one of many in attendance. Very rarely, did the princess request all of Equestria to attend a simple announcement. Every single pony stood at the base of the castle, waiting for the princess to appear.
Out of boredom, Mocha reached into her satchel, and pulled out a chocolate bar. It was her go to snack whenever she was bored or hungry. She quietly ate her chocolate as many ponies reached into their own bags, and pulled out humans to eat. Ever since a spell to open portals to the human world was found, many ponies have tried to establish contact. The only prevailing issue was what was discovered when humans came through. They were much smaller than anticipated. Through a series of accidents, the first few brought through were eaten. Being as small as a breezie did not help. After realizing how delicious they tasted, a food craze for humans was born. Like jawbreakers, the taste was enjoyed by sucking on them before swallowing them. Chewing on humans did nothing but damage to one’s teeth and stomach.
A number of tiny screams, quickly became muffled. It was uncomfortable for some at first, but after a month of seeing humans sold at the market to snack on, almost everypony snacked on the little creatures. Mocha still preferred her chocolate though.
Finally, the princess appeared at her balcony, and flew down to the front of the massive crowd. Mocha put her chocolate away, and the others around her quickly spit their humans back into their bags to save for later. A silence fell over as Princess Celestia looked at the citizens before her.
“Thank you all for coming. I know my request was inconvenient, but the announcement I must make is important for all of Equestria. In the past month, we have not only found the ability to open portals to the human world, but bring them to our ours. They were quickly reduced to the status of food without hesitation. After new information came forward, I can no longer support this.”
A few gasps and whispers went throughout the crowd. Most weren’t happy. Mocha stayed quiet, eager to hear more of this sudden change of mind. Princess Celestia gestured to someone out of sight. Two castle guards carried out what looked like a much weaker and more frail version of a castle guard. This frail guard was so skinny his ribcage was visible from as far back as Mocha was standing.
“This was once one of my best castle guardsmen. When the practice of eating humans began, he was one of the first to partake. He became addicted to the taste of humans, and it became the only thing he would eat. I was told he became agitated whenever he wasn’t eating a human, that he was different then the equine I used to know after eating humans. The act of eating so many humans made his body reject any other food. Another side effect is that his body is starving itself if it doesn’t have any humans to digest. We don’t even know if he’ll ever recover.”
This was followed by a number of ponies being brought forward. All looking the same as the guard. It was a disturbing sight to see. Some ponies looked into their bags at their humans, then back to the princess.
“Due to this arising health issue, I am declaring the spell to open a portal to the human world illegal. Anyone selling humans will cease their actions, or receive punishment for endangering the health of other ponies. Anyone that wishes to turn over any humans they have, may give them to the castle guards. Thank you for your time.”
A glow appeared from Princess Celestia’s horn, and she levitated the sickened ponies to follow her into the castle. With a mix of sheepishness and fear, a number of ponies stepped forward with their humans. Mocha watched a few ponies adjust their satchels that contained humans simply turn around, and walk away. She never would’ve guessed that eating humans could be so bad for your health, and that other ponies were still willing to eat them. While she walked home, she hoped that this new food craze turned health problem would be fixed soon.
Life was unbearably boring for some people. Cody was one of those people. All he ever did was wake up, go to work, go home, and sleep. His job was a very simple one. He works at a convenience store that was just off the highway. It was a full-time job, so he had a decent amount of money coming in. However, his life was very boring. He did not have many hobbies, or many friends. Most of his family was too busy to stay in contact with him, so he was alone.
Cody returned to his small trailer of a home. The rickety trailer was the only place close to his work. It was only a short walk, so he never had use for a car. Not many places worth going to around here anyways.
It was a long day at work. Cody's dinner consisted of a peanut butter sandwich and day-old soup. As he sat in his rickety chair, he decided to watch the news. Once again, the discussion tonight was about hundreds of people going missing all across the world. No one had any leads on why, or how so many people disappeared so fast. Living in the middle of nowhere, Cody hoped that he would not become one of those people.
He would be lying to himself if he ever said he wasn’t depressed. The day in and day out of the same thing, all alone, was wearing him down. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. Couldn’t afford to leave, and couldn’t mentally afford to stay for much longer. As the news droned on, he just stared blankly at his tv.
Mocha had just gotten home. The announcement from Princess Celestia had sent waves across the kingdom. Her bakery was closed since she was at the announcement. She walked inside, and up the stairs. Living at your job had the perk of a short walk home.
She sat down on her couch, pondering what to do next. In the corner of her living room, sat a small mirror. Despite her predilections against eating humans, she still observed them from time to time. The spell to open a portal to the human world required at least two unicorns, but Mocha found a magical shortcut using an enchanted mirror. She had her favorite humans to watch from time to time. Today, she was checking up on a young male that lived in the middle of seemingly nowhere. She had nicknamed him Straw, because he was drinking out of a straw when she first saw him. Mocha was not the most creative pony when it came to names.
With her horn glowing, Mocha levitated the mirror to float in front of her. She took a deep breath, and focused. Focused on every detail of Straw that she could think of. Unlike the normal spell, the mirror made the portal invisible to him.
“Straw, by the power of sight, let me see you.”
The reflection in the mirror turned to a white light, then slowly became a small window into the human world. The spell quickly began searching for Straw. She managed to get two bites of her half-eaten chocolate bar before he appeared in the mirror. He was only ever in one of two places. Today he was at home. Though he didn’t have much of a life to watch, Mocha checked in on Straw the most. Unlike the other humans she watched, he was rarely seen with anyone. He was almost always alone. Only working, eating, sitting, or sleeping. She thought that if she checked in on him frequently, he wouldn’t feel completely alone. As creepy as that sounded.
Sometimes she thought about increasing the strength of the spell to bring Straw to Equestria. He always looked sad when she checked in on him.
“Straw I wish we could meet. You always look so sad. If you were here, I would do whatever I could to make you smile. I wish...”
A knock at the door caught Mocha’s attention. Keeping the spell of levitating the mirror in focus, she walked over to the door and opened it. It was a gray pegasus, and he carried a large box on his back. He had a clipboard hanging from his neck.
“Hello, I got a delivery for Mocha?”
Mocha let the mirror rest on the couch while she received her latest shipment of chocolate from Manehattan. Straw could still be seen in the mirror. Her lack of focus would reveal the portal to him, but she was already back controlling the mirror before that could be a problem.
Or so she thought.
Cody found himself a bit parched. He stood up and walked to his kitchen sink to get some water. As he drank from his cheap plastic cup, he turned around, and saw it. A glowing white orb, with streaks of rainbows swirling around it. It was roughly about the size of a beach ball. It seemed to have a pupil of some kind. A rippling reflection of which he could see a distortion of the room he was in. When the pupil focused on him, he averted his eyes. He remembered that the news reports had witnesses of the disappearances describing the exact same orb. He didn’t want to stare at it, but he found himself wanting to get closer. It was giving off an intense warmth, heating up his already hot room. He peeled off his shirt, which got the sphere to move a bit closer.
His curiosity finally got the better of him. He approached the glowing sphere, which moved sideways, as if avoiding him. He tried approaching it again, and it avoided him again. He tried walking to his room, and he saw the light of the sphere illuminate his hallway as he walked down. He darted into his closet sideways, and shut the door. The sphere floated outside, waiting. He needed a plan.
“Option A, I stay in here forever. Option B, I jump it and see if I can hit it.”
Cody tossed his wallet and phone on the floor in case they broke in the struggle. He kicked the door open and threw his fist at the sphere. He managed to hit the reflective pupil. As it effortlessly pulled him inside itself, he realized Option A was sounding much better at the moment.
He tried to resist the sphere’s pull, but it was in vain. His view went from his hallway, to every color imaginable swirling all around him. He saw his hallway disappear as the light became brighter and brighter. He felt as if he was floating on thin air. He tried to shield his eyes with both arms, but the light was so intense.
Suddenly, he felt as though he was falling. He didn’t know what to think. What felt like a stroke of luck, Cody landed on the softest ground he had ever felt. He slowly opened his eyes. He was dazed from the ordeal. He tried to stand up, but fell back down. Whatever the sphere did, it exhausted him. He only heard one thing before he passed out.
“Straw?”
He was here. He was actually here. After observing him for so long, Straw was here in Mocha’s house. The small human was in front of her, passed out on a couch pillow she was resting her forelegs on. She slowly moved off the couch, and placed the mirror back on its shelf.
“He’s here. He's actually here.”
Quietly walking back to the couch, she looked at the small human still unconscious on the pillow he landed on. She kept her nose under the pillow, as not to breathe on him. Mocha was trying her best not to panic. Just today Princess Celestia declared the very spell she just used, illegal. She just wanted to see Straw one last time, in case the princess nullified the spell. Yet here he was.
She never got this close to him before. She had never been this physically close to any human before. His skin was chocolate brown, short black hair, and was a bit chubbier than he looked through the portal. Humans were always small, but now she could see how small and frail he was compared to her.
He was also shirtless, which got Mocha to blush a bit. Part of her wanted to send him right back home. This was not the time or place to bring in humans. A small part of her wanted to keep him here, though she dismissed the thought. Straw needed to be on his own world, with his own kind. Despite how alone he was, it was the right thing to do.
“Oh my achin’ head.”
Cody woke up to what felt like the softest bed to ever exist. Whatever this soft surface was, it took him a couple tries to stand up straight. He rubbed his eyes, and unblurred the world around him. Wherever he was, it was massive. He was staring at a couch big enough to fit two trailers across. The wall seemed to go as high as a skyscraper. The ground he stood on, was actually a massive pillow.
“Straw?”
Cody slowly turned around to the source of the voice. He saw a pair of eyes, as tall as he was. It was a horse, but this horse was unbelievably massive. The giant equine was a dark pink all over, though all he could see was the giant head. He took a step back, and the gargantuan horse moved closer, which revealed a sizable mouth.
The giant inched closer, and Cody could only think of one thing to do. He turned, and ran. He clambered down from the pillow, and bolted for the back of the couch. He had no plan, he just wanted to distance himself from this giant horse infested nightmare. He looked back to see the horse stare at him with curiosity. He stood with his back to the wall of couch.
“W-What do you want with me?”
“Relax Straw, I promise I won’t hurt you.”
It was clear he was terrified. Mocha knew this required a delicate approach.
“My name is Mocha. Mocha Sprinkles. I’ve been calling you Straw because I don’t know your real name. What is it?”
The look of absolute fear diminished from his eyes. He took a few steps closer to Mocha.
“My name is Cody.”
Good. She had a name. Now she needed to gain his trust so he could relax and and feel safe while she figured this all out. She had an idea. She raised her hoof, and gently placed it next to him.
“You seem hungry Cody. How does some chocolate sound? Climb on and I can get you some.”
He was hesitant at first, but her gentle approach seemed to help. He held tight onto her hoof as she took a few steps towards the coffee table. He was gently placed on the table next to her half eaten chocolate bar. He pulled off a piece the size of a crumb, and ate it.
“I hope this helps Cody.”
“It does.”
As he ate his chocolate, Mocha looked over to the mirror, and levitated it to the table. Cody was too invested in his chocolate to notice. She looked over the mirror. She didn’t make a portal, only a window. He shouldn’t have been able to go through. She needed more information. She sat down on all fours so she didn’t tower over Cody as much. He was just finishing his chocolate.
“Cody, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course Mocha.”
“How did you get here?”
“It was this weird glowing sphere with a circular mirror. It was kinda like an eyeball the way it stared at me. When it started following me, I punched it.”
“You...punched it?”
“I panicked.”
“That’s fine. At least you’re safe here. I’ve asked you questions, you can ask me some too if you would like.”
At this point, Cody had sat down to look over to Mocha. He seemed a lot calmer at a level where he didn’t have to crane his neck.
“Where is here Mocha?”
“The land of Equestria. We’re in the town of Ponyville right now. We’ve been studying you humans for awhile now.”
“Is that why so many humans have disappeared?”
Mocha bit her tongue hard. This was something she wanted to avoid. How does she tell someone that their species was reduced to the status of food?
“Yes. We’ve been...bringing them here.”
“Where are they now?”
Mocha looked away. She wanted to lie to him. She wanted to change the subject. Once he knew the truth, he would want to run away again. She took a deep breath. It was either now, or he found out himself later.
“Cody. We’ve been...eating humans.”
He couldn’t run anywhere. Even if he could get down from the table, this Mocha could take a few steps and catch him no problem. Why would she be nice if she was going to eat him? Was she feeding him for a chocolate filling? Was he going to end up on a plate? She looked at him like she just kicked a puppy on accident. Cody fell back when she tried to move closer.
“Cody. I know this is a lot to take in, but please let me explain.”
Cody sat back up. He didn’t have much else of a choice.
“The first humans we brought over were eaten by accident. After that, humans became a snack you could get in any store. To us, your kind were delicious. Almost every pony snacks on humans.”
“Are...Are you gonna eat me?”
“I won’t Cody. I promise. In fact, the princess declared the portal spell to bring humans to Equestra illegal just this morning. It turns out eating humans can be extremely dangerous to our health.”
Cody stood back up as Mocha stood up as well. She towered over him, and he was still scared of her a little. He saw her horn glow a bright pink, and the same glow surrounded him. He felt his body levitate high off the ground.
“Cody, the land of Equestria is too dangerous for you, and I wish I could send you home. I’ve been trying to open another portal this whole time, but I can’t do it. Our leader Princess Celestia must have nullified the spell that opens the portal shortly after you came through.”
Though his body was surrounded by the glow of her magic, Cody could see in her eyes that she was genuine.
“Mocha, if the Princess Celestia can nullify a spell, can she un-nullify it?”
Mocha looked at the small human she was levitating in front of her. She admittedly didn’t think about that. For a species that was nowhere near discovering magic, Cody had a more sensible thought than Mocha just feeling sorry for herself. She placed him on her back, then walked around the house.
“I wish it was that easy. Once the princess nullifies a spell, it can’t be undone.”
She walked back to the couch, where Cody climbed off, and Mocha sat with her head next to him.
“Maybe I can ask Ivory. She’s a pretty smart unicorn. She’s also my best friend. ”
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Mocha’s eyes went wide. In the ruckus of bringing Cody over, she completely forgot her friend was coming over for chocolate and to hangout. She looked all around, and saw her pillow. She levitated Cody, and quickly hid him behind the pillow in the corner of the couch. She whispered quietly.
“Just stay out of sight. I just can’t let her see you yet.”
Mocha took a deep breath while trotting downstairs and to the door. She opened it with a big smile for her friend. Ivory Swirl was Mocha’s best friend. They hung out almost all the time. She worked as a researcher on small creatures of any kind, with her latest focus on humans.
“Mocha, you weren’t hogging all that chocolate to yourself were you now?”
“Of course not Ivory, I was just preoccupied and lost track of time.”
As the two walked inside and upstairs, Mocha moved the chocolate bowl to the kitchen table. Ivory loved her chocolate. Ivory was a slow eater, not wanting to get a single piece of chocolate on her pristine turquoise fur. The two sat at the table, enjoying the chocolate and their own company. The royal decree came up right after the usual comments of how yummy the chocolate was.
“It’s a shame the spell was nullified. My research on humans was going great! My study on the average human diet was a success, but now I can’t even start my study on pony-human social interactions because all my humans were taken by celestia’s guards.”
“That’s a shame Ivory. It really is.”
“How about you Mocha? Have you had any human problems today?”
“Nope! None! Not at all! Totally normal day!”
Ivory gave her friend a quizzical look before resuming their conversation.
“Anyways, I believe these humans represent an amazing scientific opportunity, and we should explore that. I am very disappointed that we didn't have as much time as we could have had with the humans. So much potential lost.”
Mocha, was not relaxed. Her best friend was mere feet away from a tiny human, that she had summoned against the princess’ wishes. She was even less relaxed, when Ivory trotted over to the couch that she was trying to avoid.
Despite being behind a pillow much larger than him, Cody could still peek out a little bit. He saw the two giant equines sitting at a table, enjoying the same chocolate he had been eating only a moment ago. It was hard to make out the conversation. The pillow and the couch were fairly good at dampening the sound around him. He could still hear bits and pieces of their conversation. The turquoise one called Ivory, seemed to be a researcher of sorts on humans. He saw Mocha staring at him every once in awhile. She was clearly very nervous about him being found.
He wasn't sure how long this would take, but he found himself slowly trusting Mocha more and more. She said to stay out of sight, so he would do that for now. Despite his entire life changing within the past hour, he was still relatively relaxed about the whole situation.
Suddenly, he felt the world around him shake a little bit. Looking around a little bit, he saw the one thing that he was hoping he would not see. Ivory was approaching the couch where he was hiding. He also saw that Mocha was just as terrified as he was. He didn't know what to do, other than to do what she originally said, and stay out of sight. He was in a world where his species was nothing but mere food. He did not know if Mocha’s friend was as trustworthy as she said she was.
The pillow he was hiding behind, pushed him into back of the couch. Ivory was sitting against the pillow, putting him between a pillow and a soft place. He heard the voice of a panicked Mocha. He didn't know what was going on, other than he was stuck and was being sat on by Mocha’s friend.The weight shifted, and the pressure on his body increased. He couldn't stay quiet anymore.
“Mocha!”
The room went quiet. Ivory quickly moved from the pillow that made the sound. Mocha moved the pillow, and had her head mere inches from Cody.
“Are you okay Cody?”
He stood up, moving his arms around. He seemed a bit shaken by the ordeal, but was visibly unharmed. She levitated him onto her back. Mocha looked back to her friend. She wanted to tell her in a more relaxed manner, but she had no choice now. She levitated Cody off her back, and onto the coffee table. The both of them stood at the coffee table, looking down at the small human before them. Mocha took a deep breath.
“This is Cody. He’s from the human world.”
“You gave him a name?”
“No no no! That’s his actual name!”
“Mocha dear, if you have a problem, you know I’m here for you.”
“Um, excuse me?”
Mocha and Ivory looked down at Cody. He was clearly nervous.
“I haven’t been here very long. Mocha doesn’t even know how I got here. She was going to ask you for help.”
Ivory walked up to Mocha, and looked her in the eyes with an intense stare.
“Then I just have one question for you Mocha dear.”
“Yes?”
Ivory flopped down to the floor and placed her head right in front of Cody. She had the look of a filly that saw their first rainbow.
“Where did you find him? He’s so cute! He’s so adorable! He’s so...shirtless.”
She was right, he was shirtless. Cody was also blushing extremely hard since this Ivory was so close that her muzzle was within arms reach. He covered his chest with his arms. He never had anyone stare at him shirtless with interest before. His face couldn’t get any more red.
“What’s going on with his face?”
“He’s blushing Mocha. Humans sometimes do it whenever they are nervous about something, or someone they find attractive.”
The giant turquoise equine looked back to Cody. She bumped him a little bit with her muzzle, knocking him onto his backside. If she moved any closer, he would be pinned under her muzzle.
“Is that why you’re blushing Cody?”
Was Ivory seriously flirting with someone as small as him? Cody looked over to Mocha, who seemed to be too surprised to react. He looked back to Ivory, who eagerly awaited an answer. He slowly stood up.
“I-.”
“Yes?”
“I...was wondering if any of you had a shirt my size.”
Now it was Ivory’s turn to blush as Mocha got a chuckle.
“I apologize Cody. My research indicated blushing was a sign of attraction.”
Cody approached Ivory and gave her nose a rub, causing her to blush a bit more.
“Well, it’s also a sign of embarrassment. I am shirtless in front of two giants I just met moments ago.”
Ivory smiled, and the red of her blushing faded a bit. She stood up and walked over to her bag she left at the door. Going through it, she levitated out a small box, and placed it on the table as she walked back. The box was slightly taller than Cody, and was about as long as two cars. Looking around the side, it was just as wide. Mocha finally spoke up again.
“What is it Ivory?”
“Almost everything you need.”
Mocha opened the side of the box. It was an assortment of clothes, furniture, and numerous household objects, all at Cody’s size. It was as if someone had taken an entire house, and shrank it down to his size. Ivory nudged Cody closer so he could look around as the ponies talked more.
“I commissioned a boutique two weeks ago to make human-sized clothes for my research. The rest of the items I got with the portal spell. The only items I couldn’t gain possession of are bathroom amenities, but I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
Mocha took a step closer to Ivory to whisper in her ear, hopefully quiet enough for Cody to not hear.
“Are you going to explain what happened just now? You would’ve been all over him if he didn’t stop you.”
Ivory took a deep breath before whispering back.
“I do apologize for that Mocha. I’ve never been this close to a human without having to restrain them. This is the first human I’ve met that’s relatively relaxed around us, and this is an amazing opportunity. Perhaps if he came home with me...”
“No. For now, I need you to try and find a way to get him home. It’s not safe for him here. Not now.”
Ivory looked down to Cody, who was trying on clothes, then back to Mocha.
“I’ll get right on it Mocha. One more thing I need to know my dear. How did you summon him? Princess Celestia nullified the portal spell right after her announcement. Even she isn’t able to open a portal that we know of. Even with your enchanted mirror, the portal should not have opened at all.”
“I wish I knew. I really do Ivory.”
“I will do research at the castle library, but it will take time. The situation is delicate right now. It’s too dangerous for you to take Cody anywhere, so keep watch over him for now.”
Ivory lowered her head so she was just above the coffee table, staring down at Cody with a smile.
“It was an honor to meet you Cody. I simply cannot wait to see you again.”
“It was nice to meet you too Ivory. Take care!”
“You too little one.”
Ivory levitated her bag behind her as she walked downstairs. The door was shut, and the two were now alone. Mocha looked down to see Cody had just pulled on a dark blue shirt. He looked up to her with a soft smile.
“This was an unexpected gift.”
“Especially since we weren’t expecting you. Ivory probably would’ve shown it off anyways. She loves you humans. Thinks you present an amazing opportunity for all of Equestria.”
“You think so?”
Cody felt his body levitate into the air, and saw the box follow him up. He was placed on Mocha’s back, while the box continued to stay in the air. He sat down and took in the world around him as Mocha walked around.
“Well this the upstairs where I live. The bathroom is that red door, and my bedroom is next to that. My main kitchen is downstairs in my bakery, but I have the small kitchenette over there by the kitchen table. You’ll have to stay upstairs for now. My windowsill has plenty of room for this box, so we can put your room there.”
The tall brown door opened, and revealed a room large enough to fit the entire trailer park Cody used to live in. In the corner was a large circular mattress. It sat by the window, most likely the perfect spot for staring at the moon. The window sat offset from the corner, so the sunlight would shine perfectly onto the bed. The windowsill was fairly spacious. It had enough room for two of these boxes. She lowered the box onto the windowsill, with the open end facing her bed.
“I have to do some prep work for the bakery tomorrow, then we can get some dinner. After that, it’s a bath, then bed. I can leave some food for you if you want while I go work.”
“I can help you. I may be small, but I’m sure I can help.”
“You just don’t wanna be alone do you?”
“No I do not.”
Cody swore he saw her smile to herself as she walked out of the room and downstairs. She walked past a massive counter with a house-sized register, and into a backroom.
“I just have to make some dough for a couple orders tomorrow. I only need enough for three orders of cakes and two dozen cupcakes to sell at the market tomorrow.”
“Mocha?”
“Yes Cody?”
“What about me? I heard Ivory say you shouldn’t take me outside tomorrow.”
At this point, Cody was levitated onto the table to look Mocha in the eyes. He was at level with her eyes without her having to lay down.
“I know Cody, but this is my livelihood. I can’t exactly stop at a moment’s notice.”
He wanted to argue, but he knew it would be in vain. Mocha had her mind set on working tomorrow.
“Well, anything I can do to help?”
“I’m already done actually.”
Cody turned around to see massive bowls the size of swimming pools, filled with dough. They were levitated to a small table by a window.
“How?”
“I can talk and use magic. It’s called multitasking. I told you it wouldn’t take long.”
Cody was raised into the air again, but was kept there as Mocha walked up the stairs. Most likely didn’t want him falling off. The levitation was weird at first, like that floating feeling in your stomach on a roller coaster. He knew he was going to have to get used to it. They approached the kitchen table, and he was set down. Her horn was still glowing, moving some ingredients around.
“I’ll get dinner ready. I am making some spaghetti tonight. Are you okay with that?”
“I love spaghetti!”
“It’s safe to assume you won’t be needing an entire bowl.”
“A bowl? Mocha, I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat one noodle.”
The two had a laugh as Mocha made dinner. Mocha had made enough for her bowl of spaghetti, plus one noodle for Cody. He was right, he managed to eat one noodle all by himself. They had chocolate for desert, and he felt stuffed afterwards.
“That was amazing Mocha. You sure know how to make a good dinner.”
“Thanks! Now all that’s left to do is get a bath, and then off to bed.”
After a few minutes to let their dinner settle, Mocha levitated Cody, and they walked to the bathroom. She didn’t even know how to bathe a human. Does he bathe himself? Did she need to help him? When they entered the bathroom, she placed Cody on the side of the tub. The tub was a massive lake in comparison to him.
“It’s a bit big for you. You might have to take a bath in the sink so you don’t drown.”
“I mean, I could just leave my shorts on and swim with that.”
In the corner of the tub sat a small rowboat. It was a present from Ivory a week after the portal first opened. The outside was a dark green, and the inside was a pale silver. It still had both of its darkwood oars.
Mocha smiled as she filled the tub with hot, soapy water. Cody was surprisingly nice and funny, despite his whole life changing in one day. The two of them seemed to get along almost perfectly. A small part of her thought that it would be nice for him to stay, but she had to remind herself that this was not permanent. Her desire was not the priority, his safety was. As the tub was filled, Mocha dipped her hoof in the water to check if it was safe for him. She levitated the boat in, then looked over to Cody as he was taking his shirt off.
Cody didn’t even hesitate. He jumped off the side of the bathtub, and landed with a splash. Mocha couldn’t help herself, and peeked over the side. He was so small, swimming in something she could touch the bottom of with no effort. It was just getting to her how small he was. She smiled as she reached into the water with her left hoof, and swirled the water around. He saw her massive arm in the water, and swam towards it. He placed his hand against it, and looked up at her with a smile.
“This is the best bath I’ve ever had, as well as the biggest!”
“I’m glad you enjoy. I’ll be right back with a towel for you.”
Mocha removed her arm from the water, and shook it a bit. She walked over to her room, and to the windowsill that held Cody’s pseudo-room. One of the tiny shelves had a pink body towel. She levitated the tiny towel with her back to the bathroom. Looking inside the tub, Cody was rinsed off and was rowing around the tub in the tiny boat. Seeing him paddle through piles of soap and bubbles was just too cute. She levitated him and the boat out of the tub and in the corner of the tub’s edge where it originally sat. Cody climbed out of the boat.
“Alright Cody, I got a towel for you.”
“Awesome. Did you get the pajamas?”
Mocha face-hoofed as he grabbed the levitating towel. She forgot that humans wear clothes for a moment. She backed out of the bathroom, and returned with clothes. She levitated Cody into the air, and let him float back towards his room on the windowsill.
“I’ll take my bath, you get some sleep.”
“Night Mocha!”
“Goodnight Cody.”
Mocha went into the bathroom, stepped into the tub, and laid on her back. She slowly sank into the hot, soapy water. She summoned a human she was basically spying on, and her best friend pretty much has a crush on him. On top of that, she has to watch him and work the bakery tomorrow somehow. As she let the water relax her, she knew it was going to be busy tomorrow.
It was an expansive flat plane of white. Nothing but white as Cody walked on a flat ground. The white around him melted away to a grassy plain. The white pooled into one spot in front of him, and a mass emerged out of the ground. It shaped into an equine. It was Mocha. She smiled down at him, but it wasn’t a kind smile. There was something different, something sinister. She raised her right hoof high, and slammed it down right next to Cody. The ground shook hard enough to knock him down. He looked up, and saw she raised her right hoof again. Above him.
He crawled back as fast as he could as it slammed down, shaking the world around him. He got up to run, but Mocha continued to chase. She let out a cackle that chilled Cody to the bone.
“Run all you want bug! It’s entertaining!”
A red brick wall shot out of the ground, trapping Cody. He turned to see Mocha, hoof raised and a twisted smile on her face. Cody dropped to his knees.
“Mocha please!”
She didn’t respond. Mocha pinned Cody under her hoof. He felt her press down.
“Mocha! No!”
“Begone nightmare!”
From the sky, a dark blue light shot down and struck Mocha. She screeched loudly, then turned back into a pile of white goop. Her head was turning to goop as it rolled towards him. It was enough to wake up. It was the first time in a long time he woke up screaming.
It was dawn, the sun was peeking over the horizon. He wasn’t in his cardboard box. This was an expanse of softness. He was still in Mocha’s room. He was on Mocha’s bed, and a terrified Mocha was inches from him. She was shaking as much as he was.
“Are you okay? You started to shake and make noises. Then you started screaming. I felt so helpless, and I thought moving you to the bed would help.”
As her massive faced loomed closer, Cody shifted backwards. The look on her face wasn’t dissimilar from people who accidentally step on their pets’ tails. She looked down, then away. He got up, walked over to her cheek, and placed his hand against it.
“I’m sorry Mocha. I had a nightmare. I just need a few minutes.”
Mocha stood up, and got off the bed. She walked towards the door, and stopped to turn around.
“I’m sorry you got scared. I’ll make a small bowl of fruit for your breakfast. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan Mocha.”
Mocha left for a few minutes, then came back with a floating spoon. On it was a collection of tiny pieces of fruit. She levitated it to the windowsill, and levitated Cody to it. She smiled, and walked out of the room. Cody was left to his breakfast and his thoughts.
It had been a half hour since she came downstairs. She had her orders already made, as well as some chocolate cupcakes for walk-ins. Any that she didn’t sell, Mocha would take down to the market.
Her three orders of cakes were picked up, as well as a few ponies wanting cupcakes. The time at the shop was quite boring since the human eating fad started. Mocha looked down at her register. It had keys like a typewriter, but just numbers. She chuckled at the thought of Cody jumping around on the register, taking people's orders. Most of her business is at the market, so he could sit on her back as she sold product. She allowed her mind to wonder about a life with Cody. He was timid, but slowly opening up. He was so nice, and a little cute. She had watched him for so long, she knew so much about him. Yet, she didn't know how he felt about all this.
Time had passed. Mocha looked up to the clock, and saw it was time to leave for the market. She levitated the remaining cupcakes into her large basket. With the human craze over, she hoped to sell lots today.
As she walked towards the door with the basket on her back, she levitated her satchel onto her back. She had to hold the money somewhere. Looking back to the stairs, Mocha thought checking up on Cody would be a good idea before leaving.
She trotted up the stairs, across the living room, and to the bedroom door. She opened the door enough to peek in, and saw Cody's box on the floor next to the bed. She ran over to the box, looking around it for him. She failed to notice the contents of the box were neatly arranged across the windowsill, and Cody was looking down at her from the windowsill.
“Whatcha lookin’ for Mocha?”
“Oh sweet Celestia Cody! I thought you fell.”
“I was moving all the stuff out of the box. I tried to move it out of the way, but I accidentally pushed it over. That box is really light for its size.”
“Well, I'm heading out to the market. Ivory will be here in a bit to keep you company.”
“Company?”
“Yeah. Well I gotta go. These cupcakes aren't gonna sell themselves!”
Mocha quickly left, her mind set on selling cupcakes, leaving Cody to himself.
Cody just stood there, dumbfounded. She just left him there. All that talk about keeping him safe, and yet here he was. She could’ve stayed home, but instead, she was having Ivory come over to keep an eye on him. To keep him company she said. He walked over to his desk, and sat in his office chair. He looked at Mocha’s bedroom in its massive expanse.
“Cody? Wait, Mocha said he was in the bedroom.”
The echo of hooves on stairs echoed to Cody’s ears. He looked up to the door, and saw a familiar turquoise equine head poke into the room. Ivory had a soft smile as she approached the side of the bed. She looked at the bed, then got up on it, so she could lay in front of the windowsill. She rested her head in the middle of it, right where Cody didn’t put any of his stuff.
“Looks like you pulled everything out of the box Cody.”
“Yeah, I wanted more space. It felt a bit cramped in there.”
“So, what would you like to do to pass the time?”
Cody stood up from the desk, walked over to Ivory, and sat in front of her. He looked up to her.
“I need to ask you a serious question Ivory.”
“Ok. Ask away.”
“Does...Does Mocha think I’m a pet?”
Ivory’s eyes went wide with surprise. Going from a carefree moment to a discussion on how he felt less than human was something she wasn’t prepared for.
“Wh-What kind of question is that Cody? Mocha cares about your safety, and only wants you home safe.”
“She makes my food for me, carries me around everywhere, and had to help me with something as simple as a bath. How am I supposed to feel about that?”
Ivory shuffled off of the bed, and held out her hoof to Cody. He climbed on, and was lifted onto her back.
“Since this bothers you so much Cody, I will talk to Mocha about this. Would that help?”
“Y-Yes. I suppose it would.”
The two walked into the main room. Ivory climbed onto the couch and laid down, being careful not to let Cody fall off. He slid down from her back to lay against her stomach. He felt his body move back and forth as she breathed. He marveled at the light push from her heartbeat. He looked up to Ivory, who was blushing.
“Thanks for helping me Ivory. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be shirtless and have nothing my size. You really made me feel comfortable here.”
The two spent some time on the couch, talking. Cody talked about his old job, and Ivory would talk about her research. He even explained things about humans she couldn’t figure out.
“Wait. So what is the point of this meal called brunch?”
“It’s a meal in between breakfast and lunch, but most people just consider it an excuse to drink alcohol in the morning.”
“Alcohol in the morning? That sounds very depressing.”
“It is. Also, what is that picture of a magnifying glass on your...um...”
“My cutie mark? It just means I love to observe small creatures.”
“Like me?”
“Adorable humans just like you.”
The two would hang out for another hour, talking about everything from life to favorite things. Eventually, the door downstairs opened, and their time was up. Ivory levitated Cody to the table, then stood up. She looked down to him with a smile.
“This was most certainly fun today Cody. We will have to do this again.”
Mocha walked inside with a grin on her face. Her basket was empty. She sold every cupcake today. Her satchel was densely packed with bits from various ponies.
“Cody! Ivory! I'm home!”
She made her way up the stairs. Ivory was standing between the couch and coffee table. Cody was standing on the coffee table. Both has a solemn, serious look on their face.
“What's going on you two?”
“Mocha dearest, Cody brought something up and we have to talk about it.”
Having a windowsill for a sleeping area had one major downside for Cody. Sleeping in was near impossible when the sun was shining on you because your roommate didn’t close the curtain...again. He looked over to the massive expanse of Mocha’s circular bed. In the center, the gargantuan mare was still fast asleep. She nearly blended in with the dark pink of her bed, except for the small black pillow she rested her head on.
Cody pulled off his blanket, and stood up. He walked where the edge of the windowsill met the edge of Mocha’s bed. The drop down was roughly five feet, and landing on the bed of a giant made it even easier. After a few minutes of walking, he stood before his sleeping friend. He could hear the deep breathing of a fast asleep pony. He could feel her warm breath as she exhaled. With a bit of effort, he climbed onto the pillow and pushed against her cheek.
“Mocha, it’s time to wake up.”
A heavy groan rumbled from the sleeping equine. Cody pushed his hands against her soft cheek again, hoping to get a response out of her. Instead, Mocha shifted her massive head, and managed to pin his legs under it. A bit aggravated, he pounded his fist on her lower jaw.
“Mocha! Wake up!”
“Ugh. What?”
Mocha slowly opened her eyes and raised her head. She raised her head just enough for Cody to tumble onto the bed. She looked towards the windowsill, then down to him.
“Cody, you aren’t an alarm clock.”
“You forgot to close the curtain again.”
“Sorry. Five orders of cakes...same day. Passed out as soon as I hit the pillow.”
“Well let’s get some breakfast, I’m starving.”
Mocha tiredly nodded in agreement. Cody stood up, and grabbed onto her hoof. She placed him in his usual spot on her back. He felt his whole world shift as she got out of bed. No matter how many times he experienced it, moving over such a great distance felt strange.
As they approached the table, Cody was lifted into the air, and onto the table. As Mocha sluggishly poured herself a cup of cider, he walked across the table to his human-sized table. Next to it was a small bookshelf he had converted into storage for his kitchen utensils. He reached for a coffee mug, but a familiar pink glow took the cup, and it floated towards Mocha. She poured in a few drops to fill the mug, then levitated it back to him. He took the cup, and sat down at his chair. She sat down in her chair, and the two sipped their morning cider.
“More orders coming in today?”
“Yeah. Lots of ponies are celebrating being a month clean of their...umm.”
“Human addiction?”
“Well...yes.”
“Mocha, it’s ok to say it to me. We’ve been over this.”
Despite living with Mocha for a month now, she still isn’t comfortable talking about the practice of ponies eating humans in front of him. Did the idea scare him? Of course it did. However, Cody knew as long as he stayed upstairs, he was safe. He genuinely trusted her.
“Well, you better get started on those orders after breakfast.”
“I should. You’ll be busy as well. Ivory’s coming over to observe your workout.”
Mocha reached for a bright red apple that already sat on the table. She magically sliced off a very small piece, and let it float down to Cody’s small table. He looked at his breakfast, which was about the size of a cantaloupe. She was still practicing making food human-sized.
Soon the two finished their breakfast. Mocha placed her left hoof right next to Cody’s table, and he held on as she lowered him to the floor. Her non-magic handling of him was getting better. Cody watched as she walked towards the stairs, then looked back.
“Ivory will be here soon. Need anything before I go?”
“Nope. You have a good day at work!”
Orders of three chocolate cakes, three vanilla cakes, and two dozen chocolate cupcakes. Business was booming for Mocha. The door swung open, and a jubilant yellow pegasus with red hair walked inside with a bounce in her step. Around her neck was a string tied to a bag. She pulled it off and set it on the counter.
“One vanilla cake pickup for Twister Winds please! I have the 20 bits right here.”
While counting the bits, Mocha levitated the box from the kitchen, to the counter. She remembered it was on top of the stack. The box was placed on Twister’s back, and she used her wings to support it.
“That is one vanilla cake ready to go! May I ask what the occasion is?”
“You are looking at somepony who is one month clean of humans my dear.”
“Ah. I’ve had a number of orders from ponies celebrating going clean. I’m glad you beat the addiction.”
“Well, I must be off. You have a wonderful day.”
“You as well.”
As soon as Twister left, the door opened again. A green unicorn stallion entered, followed by another green stallion. They were twins. The first one carried a bag, and the other had straps on him.
“Twoooo vanilla cakes, twoooo chocolate cakes, and a doooozen chocolate cupcakes for the Leaf brothers.”
“My biggest order today. Your total is 100 bits.”
Mocha took the large sack of bits, and placed it behind the counter. She looked into the back, levitated the remaining boxes, and followed the two outside. The one brother hooked himself to a cart while the other watched Mocha load the food.
“We’re soooo glad you took this big order. This is soooo much cheaper than eating humans. Charging sixty bits for the little mooorsels. The audaaacity of those vendors.”
“Huh. I heard Princess Celestia ordered them to turn in their humans yesterday.”
“Not aaaall of them listen my dear.”
Mocha finished loading the baked goods, then turned to the chatterbox of the brothers. A smile and a quick goodbye later, she was back inside. She had just loaded the cupcakes into her basket when the door opened again.
“Mocha my dear, your best friend is here.”
“Hey Ivory. He’s upstairs. He should be close to finishing his jog.”
“Alright then. Have fun at the market.”
Lap five, done. His arms swung up and down in tandem with his legs. The length around Mocha’s table felt like a jogging track. His pulse was pounding, and his breathing was heavy. As he was halfway through lap six, he could hear Ivory’s muffled voice downstairs. By the time he finished his sixth lap, she was already sitting on the floor. Taking notes with her floating pen and paper.
Lap seven, the last lap, done. His workout however, was not. He grabbed his water bottle, and gave it a squeeze. A few quick gulps of cold water and he was already onto his next exercise. He started his thirty pushups.
“This workout regimen I wrote out seems to be doing wonders for you.”
Fifteen pushups in. He didn’t have massive muscles, but they were showing a little bit. Doing it every other day for the past few weeks also kept him from going stir crazy. She was right, this workout was doing wonders for him. After that long talk with Mocha a month ago, Cody felt more and more independent the more in shape he got.
His workout didn’t end there. He did laps in the bathtub. He managed to do a full lap. After being levitated out, Cody dried off with his small towel. Ivory turned around so he could change, but he swore she peeked a bit. He shrugged it off, and they moved on to his second to last exercise.
As they walked into Mocha’s bedroom, Cody was levitated down to the floor. He looked up to the top of her bed. The white bedsheet hung all the way to the ground. From his perspective, the climb was roughly thirty feet. The height didn’t bother him. Ivory always rested a pillow below him, and she sat right behind the pillow. In the beginning, she would sit on the floor, and rest her head on the bed. She doesn’t anymore, since it made climbing much more difficult.
He grabbed a piece of the sheet in each hand. This workout would only use his upper arms, and would be very intense. He slowly worked his way up the bed. As he got a few feet off the ground, Ivory pushed a pillow under him. Last time, he made it halfway before his arms gave out, and he had to fall onto the pillow. As he pulled himself higher and higher up, his felt that familiar strain on his arms. He was determined. He wanted to make it all the way to the top.
“Your workouts have been doing wonders for your health Cody. My calculations show that your overall health has improved significantly in the past month.”
“I have you to thank for that.”
After a loud yawn was heard, Cody stopped, then turned around to see Ivory was resting her head on the pillow she placed on the floor.
“Tired?”
“Princess Celestia’s guards questioned me almost all night. Humans are being sold on the black market, despite the efforts of the princess. Being the top researcher on humans, I was considered a suspect.”
“Take a nap then. I'll climb down. I could use a break.”
“Thanks.”
Cody began to climb down as Ivory nodded off. She and Mocha were working so hard to make a life here comfortable for him. Rumors of the princess being unable to open a new portal had been going around. The two didn’t know that he overheard them numerous times.
As Cody was lost in thought, he failed to notice his right hand was barely holding onto the bedsheet as he moved his left hand. As soon as his left hand let go, he couldn’t hold himself with what little of the bedsheet he was holding onto.
With what had to be the worst timing in Cody’s life, Ivory began yawning just as he lost his grip. He was falling, and his only landing spot was the open mouth of his turquoise equine friend. The one thing he was told would never happen to him. The one thing they were protecting him from, was happening. He landed on her tongue, and the momentum of the fall made him slide to the back of her mouth. He saw the small hole that led to her stomach. He was going too fast. Her slimy and soft mouth compressed around him.
She swallowed.
Ivory sat up, then stared down at her stomach in horror. Her mouth was hung open, and she could hear the muffled screaming. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Observe only is what she was told. Mocha would be upset, but not even close to how furious her highness would be. She ate Cody, and without permission from her. She needed a plan, and fast.
“I’ll get you out Cody! Just don’t panic!”
She needed a plan before her highness found out this happened. She raised her front right hoof, and slammed it into her stomach. She felt her stomach lurch, but Cody was still trapped inside. She was panicking too much to focus her magic to pull him out. Cody was going to digest, and she would face a punishment she couldn’t even fathom.
As she was slamming her hoof tirelessly, a burning sensation filled her stomach. Whatever was happening to Cody, it was strong enough to make her fall over. She continued to slam her hoof into her stomach over and over, despite Cody’s screams slowly fading. If she didn’t get him out, she would fail both Mocha and her highness.
The burning in her stomach began to intensify. With her open mouth, she saw a bright white glow emanate from inside her. She felt as if she would burst into flames from the inside. She was shaking. She was scared. Was Cody gone, and was this her punishment? Ivory tried to stand back up, but couldn’t. The burning inside her stomach was too much to do anything.
It was subtle. A sound akin to somepony using a teleportation spell, but much quieter. The light that came from inside her, was gone. The burning feeling was fading quickly. She stood up, and almost fell down again.
There he was. Cody was in the center of Mocha’s bed, unconscious and seemingly unharmed. Save for her saliva covering him, it was as if he was never in her stomach. She ran out of the bedroom and to the couch. She looked around in her bag, and pulled out a small human-sized towel. She went back to the bedroom, and carefully tried her best to wipe off as much of her saliva as possible. How would she explain that she accidentally ate him? She couldn't. She had to think of something.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this early. He wasn’t supposed to be able to do this for at least another few months. This put things far ahead of schedule. She needed to make sure Cody was okay, then immediately report in.
Nothing would prepare her for what would happen next.
Cody opened his eyes. He sat up and saw that he was in the center of Mocha’s bed. At the edge of the bed stood Ivory, who was telekinetically moving a small towel all around him. She stopped, then immediately climbed onto the bed. She sat herself inches from Cody, her face taking up his entire view. Tears were streaming down her face.
“Sweet Celestia Cody are you okay?”
“I’m fine. What happened?”
“You lost your grip climbing down, and fell into my mouth.”
“Your mouth!?”
“Yes, but you’re safe now. You hit your head on my teeth, and passed out for a few minutes. I spit you out onto the bed and tried to clean you up the best I could.”
Cody jumped up and hugged her nose. She was always looking out for him. While Mocha was his best friend, Ivory was so much more. In his life on Earth, he never met anyone like her. No one cared about him the way she did. A giant like her, caring so much about someone as small as him. So powerful, yet so gentle. Up until now, he never had the courage to admit his feelings for her. They’re so different. Why would a giant mare as perfect as her, want someone that’s considered food to every other pony in this world?
He couldn’t just tell her, he needed to show her how he felt. He let go from her nose. He took a deep breath. It was now, or never. He looked up to her. She seemed to have stopped crying.
“I need to say something. Something I haven’t had the courage to tell you until now.”
“W-What Cody?”
With shaky hands, he ran his fingers through her perfect, dark turquoise fur right above her lips. He looked up to her beautiful bright turquoise eyes, then looked at her perfect brown hair. He closed his eyes, pursed his lips, and pressed them against her upper lip. He then pulled away, opened his eyes, and looked up to a very shocked Ivory. He stood up.
“I love you Ivory Swirl. I’ve felt this way for awhile, but I’ve always been too scared to tell you. I don’t know if a mare as perfect as you could have feelings for me. You’re perfect in every way. You’ve done so much-.”
He found himself cut off as Ivory pressed her lips against him. Her top lip covered his head, her bottom lip pressed against his chest and stomach. Her kiss pushed him into the soft bed. He felt his body peel off of her lips as she pulled away. She rested her head within arms reach of him.
“I...I love you too. You’re different than all the stallions in Equestria. You don’t boast about your strength. You don’t brag about your skills. You’re content with being yourself. Mocha and I worry so much about your safety, but you’ve been so strong the whole month you’ve been here.”
Cody scooched forward, and rested his forehead against her upper lip. He was beyond elated she loved him too.
“Some days you make me forget I’m so small. I can never repay you for that.”
Ivory shifted her lower lip, and surrounded Cody’s face with her lips. She moved his head back and forth as she kissed him. He felt the weight shift as she pinned him under her. She moved her legs to hold herself up enough so she wouldn’t press down too hard. He began moving his hands back and forth across the part of her lips that wasn’t covering his whole face.
According to Mocha’s clock, the kissing continued for another twenty minutes. That left them about forty minutes before Mocha would return. They laid there in her bed. Cody was snuggled up against Ivory’s chest, using her hair as a blanket. One question burned in their minds.
“Would you like to tell Mocha? You’re her best friend after all Ivory.”
“Well my lovely Cody, you’re her roommate.”
They agreed on telling her together. Keeping her in the dark would be a waste of time. Mocha was an open minded pony after all. Deciding on who told her was easy. The conversation that came next, proved to be a bit more difficult.
“Where do we go from here? I’ve never dated a human before.”
“I don’t think there’s a single pony in Equestria that has.”
“Well, what do dating humans do?”
“Spend time together mostly. Enjoy each other's company, have meals together, and going out on dates.”
Ivory lowered her head, and nuzzled her nose against Cody. He wrapped his arms around her nose in an attempt to hug her.
“Once it’s safe for you out there, taking you out on a date sounds like a wonderful idea.”
The two would simply enjoy their company and let the time pass. It was when they saw the sun set, that they got out of the bed. Ivory levitated Cody onto her back, then walked out to the living room couch. Mocha would be on her way home.
Mocha had already set her basket down on the counter. Her massive amount of bits were levitated into the kitchen, being left to deal with later. She trotted her way upstairs. She sold so many cupcakes, she had to conjure up more while at the market. She had so many customers, and just as many placing cake orders. She was magically, physically, and mentally exhausted. She was looking forward to Cody’s last exercise. Her hooves being used as punching bags made for a great massage.
However, she was not expecting to see Ivory and Cody on the living room couch, kissing. Ivory had Cody’s face between her lips while he laid on the couch pillow. It wasn’t a kiss between friends. This was the kissing of lovers. Her mouth hung open as she watched her two best friends make out on her couch.
“Sweet Celestia, what are you two doing!?”
Ivory pulled back from kissing Mocha’s tiny roommate, who was dazed and smiling. Both Cody and her looked over to a very confused mare. She got off the couch, and levitated him down to the coffee table.
“Mocha dear, we have to tell you something. Something most wonderful.”
“You two were kissing!”
“Yes my dear. Couples tend to do that when they’re in love.”
“Or to pass time.”
“Indeed my love. Lots of time to pass.”
“Ok. Ok. Back up a second. Couple? You two are dating!?”
“Yes Mocha. I’m dating Ivory.”
Ivory sat down, and got Mocha to sit down on the couch as well. Cody sat on the coffee table, looking up. Mocha was still trying to process what she first saw and heard. She had a million questions in her head, and could barely focus on any of them. She got her first question out somehow.
"So you two...like each other? Like, love love? I...wow. I mean, she's huge compared to you! And you're so small!"
Ivory gently wrapped a hoof around Mocha’s shoulder. Mocha’s confusion was very much visible.
“Mocha. I know this is a lot to take in. Cody and I had these feelings for each other for some time now, but neither of us had the courage to approach the other. At least until today.”
“So...you two are a couple? The kissing, going out to eat, sleep in the same bed kinda couple?”
Ivory held up her other hoof that wasn’t wrapped around her friend’s shoulder, then levitated Cody up so he could stand on it. He seemed nervous, but stood confident.
“I love her Mocha. I’ve never felt this way about another person, or in this case pony.”
“We’re the only ponies you know Cody.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I love Ivory.”
Mocha was still struggling a bit to believe it. Her small human friend Cody, was head over hooves for her lifelong best friend Ivory Swirl. What was she supposed to actually say? She looked to the two of them. Ivory had the look a mare gets when they meet the stallion of their dreams. Cody’s smile was the biggest she had ever seen, even when he was back on Earth. She took a deep breath.
“Cody, if this makes you happy, I’m glad for you both.”
She hugged Ivory, and the three got off the couch. She was still a bit confused on the concept of them dating. As strange as it was, she wouldn’t let any of her own bias get in the way. They were her friends. The fact that they’re dating is just something that she’ll have to get used to.
While she didn’t fully understand the interspecies dating, watching the two of them eat salad while staring at each other was super adorable. She would hold a piece out with her teeth, and he would pull off a piece for himself to eat. Even during dessert they were cute together. They shared a piece of apple pie, and the sight was beautiful. The way they stared into each other’s eyes. You could almost feel the love. With the right spell, you could probably see it too, though she didn’t want to flood the house tonight.
Mocha went downstairs to prep for tomorrow, and the happy couple went back to where they were first discovered by her. While she was moving her bits into the safe, she could faintly hear them kissing. Since they kiss with her sticking his face between her lips, one couldn’t help but wonder if she’ll accidentally kiss too hard and swallow him. After a lot of counting, she moved onto prepping all the dough for tomorrow. They were still kissing. She thought for a guy of his size, Ivory would wear him out quick, but no. After fifteen minutes of work, she returned upstairs. They were still kissing.
“Um. Ivory? Don’t you think it’s getting a little late?”
Ivory pulled out of her kiss for a moment to look at the window above the couch. She got off the couch, then levitated her bag from off the floor, onto her back. She walked towards the top of the stairs beside Mocha. She turned, and levitated Cody towards her.
“Until tomorrow my sweet Cody.”
“I’ll miss you Ivory.”
The two began to kiss again. Not wanting to lose another ten minutes of her life, Mocha interrupted them by slightly shifting Cody back from Ivory’s lips.
“Alright Juliet, how about we let Romeo here breathe? He’ll be here tomorrow I promise.”
Ivory gave a wink before leaving. Mocha looked at Cody, who had the goofiest smile on his face.
He never knew what walking on sunshine meant before today. Cody never understood all the lovey dovey couples back on Earth. He couldn’t fathom why people would enjoy sucking each other’s faces for a seemingly endless amount of time. Ivory changed all of that.
They reached the bedroom, and the two sat down in front of the bed. Mocha sat on her backside, leaning against the bed, and her hind legs sat before Cody. He stood before her left hoof. Pressing his hand into it, he could feel a day’s worth of stress. He squared up his shoulders, balled up his fists, and began to throw punches at the bottom of her hoof. It had very little give when his fist connected. Despite his strong hits, Mocha always said it didn’t hurt her. In fact, she said it felt like a small massage. His exercise was her relaxation. This was also when they had good talks.
“Cody I need to ask something.”
“Ask away Mocha.”
“Why Ivory? Just a week ago, you said we were the big sisters you never had.”
“Well, I meant more you than her.”
“I just want to know if you have a plan for this relationship with her.”
Cody stopped his boxing, and stepped out from behind her hoof to look up at Mocha. Despite how open she was initially, a shred of doubt could be seen in her eyes.
“I love her Mocha. She makes me more than happy. I'm glad you're concerned about my safety though.”
Mocha crossed her upper legs across her torso, and looked down at Cody with a smirk.
“As your unofficial big sister, I have to keep you safe.”
Cody chuckled, and went back to boxing Mocha's hooves. A small part of him did wonder where the relationship would go. That's what made it so exciting.
The boxing continued for another half hour. Cody punched all the stress out of Mocha’s hooves. The two went to the bathroom. He took his bath, then Mocha took hers. It was a long day, and both were ready to get some sleep. Mocha flopped onto her bed after Cody was gently levitated to his. Heads on pillows, and bodies covered by blankets. Sleep was taking over.
“Night Mocha.”
“Night lil’ bro.”
“Wait, forgetting something?”
“Oh, right.”
Mocha’s horn glowed, and the curtain was pulled shut. Cody slowly closed his eyes, letting his body float off to dreamland. Thoughts of Ivory danced in his head. His body lain against her perfect turquoise coat. His body blanketed by her beautiful brown hair. His face pressed against her soft lips.
It was an endless expanse of white. Cody sat in the center of a round, black table meant for a pony. He had a feeling he was waiting for someone, but he didn’t know who. He knew it was someone very important. He looked over to a giant floating clock, whose actual hands were rotating in different directions. He walked over to the edge of the table, ready to jump off and move on from this.
“Wait!”
Cody turned around to see a pony at the other end of the table. This pony was larger than any pony he had seen. She was dark blue, the darkest blue he had ever seen. Behind her horn was a small, black crown. Her hair was a lighter blue, with white dots similar to stars all over it. It also had a light purple outline around all of it. On her chest, rested some type of moon emblem. The same mark was also her cutie mark. She stared at Cody with her deep blue eyes. A look of confusion could be seen.
“All this time, and you’re the first human whose dreams I’ve been able to enter.”
The table faded from existence, and Cody began floating towards the giant mare.
“It is an honor to finally meet one of your kind in the dream realm.”
“Finally? You mean I’m the first.”
“Yes. The entrance to each dream is a door, and the doors for humans are far too small. Yours was the first I was able to enter. I am Princess Luna.”
“I’m Cody.”
To his left, Cody could see a white blob emerging from the floor, and quickly solidified into the shape of a pony. The fur changed to turquoise, then the hair changed to brown. It became Ivory. She winked at him, chuckled, and walked around. Princess Luna looked to her right, saw Ivory, then looked back to see Cody smiling.
“You love her don't you?”
“Very much. I've never felt the way I do about anyone else.”
“Two vastly different creatures, so enthralled by each other. Fascinating.”
Cody looked away, remembering how ponies were being punished for harboring humans. He didn't want that punishment to befall his friends. He hoped this Princess Luna was understanding.
“Your highness. I do have a humble request.”
“Yes Cody?”
“I have lived with Mocha Sprinkles since coming to Equestria. I ask that her, as well as Ivory Swirl not be charged with harboring a human. They've done nothing but keep me safe.”
Cody floated down to the ground, and stood at the hooves of the gargantuan princess. He looked up and saw her looking down at him.
“I will discuss this request with my sister. A human living safely in Equestria was...unheard of before you.”
“Thank you, your highness.”
“Now wake up.”
Mocha just finished her breakfast. She was sipping her morning hot cider when she saw Cody out of the corner of her eye. He was walking out of the bedroom, very groggy. He waved towards her. He was levitated up, and onto the table. He sat down at his human-sized table, and drank the cup of cider she already poured for him.
“Mornin’ Cody. Seems you slept well.”
“I did. Had a dream about meetin’ someone called Princess Luna.”
Mocha froze. If the actual Princess Luna met with Cody in his dreams, was she in trouble?
“Princess Luna huh? W-What did you two talk about?”
“Not much. Asked her if she could pardon you for harboring me. Told her about Ivory and me as well.”
Mocha nervously drank her morning cider. She nearly dropped it when someone knocked on the door downstairs. Not wanting Cody to see her nervous, she went downstairs quickly to answer it. Slowly, she opened the door. It was two of Celestia’s castle guard. Donning their shiny armor, and grim demeanor. The pegasus looked down at Mocha. The unicorn levitated a scroll in front of him.
“Mocha Sprinkles, Ivory Swirl, and Cody have been summoned to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. More information will be given on your arrival.”
“Y-Yes sir. I-Is Ivory already there?”
“She is not at her residence.”
“She visits me everyday. We can wait for her if-.”
“No. You must meet the princesses as soon as possible. Where is Cody? His presence is required.”
“He’s...unavailable. I can leave your message upstairs for when both Cody and Ivory get back.”
Both mares grumbled a bit, but gave the message to Mocha, who hurried upstairs. She placed the note on the coffee table, then went over to a confused Cody at the kitchen table.
“Who was that?”
“Castle guard. You, Ivory, and I have been summoned to the castle. Wait here for Ivory, then get there as soon as possible.”
Mocha left before Cody could respond. Can’t let the guards be more suspicious than they already are. She walked outside, and followed them after she closed the door. The pegasus took a couple steps ahead of them and spread his wings. The unicorn stood by Mocha.
“I will fly ahead to Canterlot. The train is waiting.”
Cody had already slammed down his breakfast and clambered down from the giant table. He put his jogging exercise to work, and got to the bedroom in a couple minutes of running. Climbing the bed and getting to his room took another five minutes. He looked all through his dresser drawers. He was going to a castle. That meant meeting royalty. The last time he met a princess, was in a dream. He needed to look his best.
He tried on outfit after outfit. Unfortunately, all Ivory had procured for him was shorts and short sleeve shirts. He chose a pair of denim jean shorts that went to his mid-shin. He grabbed a smooth gray shirt. He hoped his outfit would present well in front of royalty.
“My my my, you do look handsome today.”
A startled Cody turned around to see a smirking Ivory, who managed to get into the house, up the stairs, and onto the bed without him noticing. She gently pressed her lips against his face.
“Mornin’ beautiful. You look amazing today.”
“You as well Cody. You are prepared as can be to meet royalty.”
Cody was levitated onto Ivory’s back after she got off the bed. They made their way down the stairs, and almost got to the door when Ivory stopped. He looked up, and saw that her head was shaking a bit. Whatever made her stop, it was standing in the doorway, and was out of his view.
“Hello Ivory.”
“Wh-Wh-What are you doing here Force?”
Ivory was backing up to the counter. When she got to the counter, Cody took the opportunity and hopped off from her back. He was in a sparse section of the counter, nothing around him. Whoever this Force was, he was scaring Ivory. That was enough to stay out of sight for now.
“We both know the answer to that. You’ve been avoiding me.”
“N-No I haven-.”
“Shut up! You cut off all contact since yesterday. I demand to know why.”
Cody’s fists were shaking. His face was burning with rage. No one talked to Ivory like that. Not even if they were a hundred times his size. Running out from behind Ivory, he looked at the one called Force. A dark gray coat of fur with short, red hair. His mark was a pair of wings. He was a pegasus. He stood a little taller than Ivory.
“Hey!”
Ivory gasped. Force stepped around Ivory to stand at the counter and down at Cody.
“Leave her alone!”
“And who do you think you are human?”
“Cody! I’m her boyfriend you jerk!”
Force’s eyes widened, then his head snapped to the right. He gave Ivory a cold stare. She took a tender step back and lowered her head.
“Boyfriend? You’re dating this thing?”
“Well...um...”
“Yes! She is! You need to just back off!”
Force looked back to Cody. He sniffed a bit, giving the small human a smell. His eyes widened again, and he flexed his wings. His right wing struck Ivory, who was pushed to the wall, and fell limp. She wasn’t moving.
“Ivory!”
“She won’t be saving you, bug.”
Cody looked up at Force, who was licking his lips. He ran left, and was blocked by his right hoof. He ran right, and was blocked by his left hoof. He heard the smacking of lips. Cody tried to think of a plan, but Force was too fast. His world went dark, except for a triangle of light on either side of him. He was in the stallion’s mouth.
Suddenly, Force’s tongue pinned Cody against the roof of his mouth. The mouth slowly closed. He was trapped in darkness. He tried to push against it, but the tongue had more muscle than he had. He was turned around, and was pressed against teeth the size of cinder blocks. The tongue pushed him down, then it rested on top of him.
He could hear the thuds of hooves turn from hitting wood, to pressing into grass. Force was taking him outside. He could hear the flapping of wings. The vibrato of his voice vibrated Cody a little bit.
“Count yourself lucky bug. I was ordered to not harm you. Resist however, and I won’t hesitate to drop you from the sky.”
The tongue began to move around. It kept rubbing Cody’s face. He was being tasted.
“You’re...palatable. I might as well buy some more humans. You wouldn’t last the trip anyways. You’ll at least last the flight to Canterlot.”
Ivory woke in a daze. She slowly stood up. She shook her head a few times, trying to gain focus. She didn’t see Cody or Force Wind. She ran outside. Looking up, she saw that Force was just flying off the ground. She was about to pull him down with all her magic, but she couldn’t. He was moving something around in his mouth. Something about Cody’s size. She couldn’t touch him, not without hurting her dear love.
The fact that Cody escaped from being inside her before was nothing short of luck. His power reacted on its own. Ivory had to save him. If her highness got her hooves on him, things would get much worse for all humans. Ivory sprinted like mad towards the train station. She needed help, and getting Mocha was the only pony she could think of.
One quick, exhausted sprint later, and she saw Mocha. She was walking with a castle guard. She needed to tell her what happened, but she couldn’t compromise herself. Withholding her connection with Force Wind was her planned approach. Mocha turned towards Ivory as she was approaching.
“Hey Ivory. Where’s-.”
“Cody’s been kidnapped!”
The guard stopped in his tracks and turned to Ivory. The grim facade of the usual castle guard was gone, and he held a face of concern.
“Who took him?”
“A pegasus. He was dark gray with short red hair. He...overpowered me, stuck Cody in his mouth, and flew away before I could came to.”
“This Cody is a human?”
“Y-Yes.”
The guard looked at Ivory, then to Mocha. He took a deep breath. He raised his hoof, and pointed towards the train station. His grim facade returned.
“Head to Canterlot immediately. Your meeting with Princess Celestia cannot wait. I will organize any available guards to search the skies.”
Cody laid inside Force’s mouth. He was pinned under a massive tongue in a dark, slimy place. All this stallion did was rub Cody with his tongue. He needed to think of something.
“Let me go! My friends will find me and you’ll be sorry!”
Force pressed his tongue against Cody’s face, likely an attempt to shut him up. He managed to push it off his face a small amount.
“Her highness never mentioned how annoying you were.”
“Princess Celestia and Luna are waiting for me! They’ll-.”
“Somepony more important than either princess has been waiting for you. Our highness has plans for you, little human. You should be grateful my orders are to take you alive.”
Suddenly, Cody heard the loud flapping of wings. His whole world shook a bit. He heard hooves. More than just Force’s. Multiple voices.
“Hmmm. Let’s see who’s selling some snacks today. I need enough humans to last our long trip.”
Mocha and Ivory were escorted into the main hall, both scared for Cody’s safety. They stood before Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. They looked at the terrified mares with confusion. Princess Celestia looked to Ivory, then Mocha.
“I am glad the both of you are here. Where is Cody?”
“Your highness. Cody was kidnapped! Ivory came to me right after it happened.”
Princess Luna took a step forward, standing by her sister.
“Kidnapped? What do you mean? By who?”
Ivory retold what had happened. She had carried Cody downstairs, and a pegasus by the name of Force Wind, was there. He managed to knock her out before she could react. When she came to, he was already flying away, with Cody in his mouth. Ivory hung her head low.
“I could have saved him. I hesitated.”
“You hesitated because you care about him very much.”
Ivory looked up to see Princess Celestia looking at her with a soft smile. Mocha could swear she saw a slight smile from Princess Luna.
“My sister had told me of your relationship with Cody. It is why I asked to speak to the both of you. Now however, finding Cody is the priority.”
“Celestia. Perhaps if we knew where this Force Wind has gone, we could find Cody as well.”
“Yes Luna. Lieutenant!”
One of the guards stepped forward from where he stood next to Mocha.
“Yes your highness?”
“I want every available guard searching for this Force Wind.”
“As you command!”
He was starting to lose hope. Cody was inside a mouth. He could be swallowed at any moment. This Force, he was toying with him.
“Ten bits? A fair price.”
Force’s massive tongue ceased its tasting of Cody. It pulled back, pushed under him, and pressed him into the roof of his captor’s mouth. He saw the stallion’s teeth separate. His body was pushed against the inside of the massive lips. Suddenly, Cody found himself blinded by light. Force was releasing him! He pushed him out of his mouth, and onto a cold surface.
It was all glass. Some type of glass tube. It reminded Cody of a test tube, but wide enough for him to move around a bit. The top was open, but was twice his height. A gray glow placed a cap on top. Luckily it had holes in it. Looking behind him, he saw Force’s chest. He had gone from human, to snack, to necklace accessory.
“This won’t only preserve ya human’s taste, but keep ‘em from runnin’ too.”
“Great. Know anyone that sells decent humans? I’m taking a long trip and I need a lot.”
“Hmmm. I can get my friend to sell you half a dozen at a cheap price. He’s out for lunch, but he’ll be back soon. Trust me, he’s worth the wait.”
Cody sat down in his glass prison. He had no way out, and his friends didn’t know where he was.
“Mocha, Ivory. Please find me.”
The main doors of the hall opened again. Mocha and Ivory turned to see the lieutenant walk in, followed by a dark gray blue stallion. His silver white mane went down to his legs. It was Hoity Toity! Though his mane wasn’t as poofy as it once seemed. His fur coat as a whole seemed not as well cared for. He was reminiscent of the sick ponies Princess Celestia had shown a month ago to scare others into quitting their human addiction.
“Your highness! We found him trying to break into the human quarters. He mentioned something about a black market.”
“They kicked me out! I ate too many! My own home! I need more! I need!”
“What shall we do with him your highness?”
“Take him to the treatment center. His home however, requires investigation. Send a squadron to Hoity Toity’s home.”
“Your highness!”
Another guard had come into the hall. He was exasperated. He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing.
“A pegasus matching Force Wind’s description was seen entering the home of Hoity Toity.”
Ivory’s head shot up. She bolted towards the door. Mocha soon ran after her.
“I’m coming for you my love!”
“Slow down Ivory!”
Cody was being displayed as a mere trinket. His entrapment was too large to escape. He could do nothing but sit, and watch as Force chose humans to devour. Picking and analyzing them, as if they were produce at the market. He had already chosen three males, and two females. He was looking over a third female. A brunette in her thirties by Cody’s guess.
“They look to be in perfect health.”
“I keep ‘em well fed.”
“How is their taste?”
“Try it and see.”
Cody watched in horror as Force opened his mouth. The brunette tried to struggle, but the vendor’s magical hold was too great. She slowly floated towards the open mouth that awaited her. The begging and pleading from her fell on deaf ears as she entered the stallion’s mouth. Cody could barely hear her as the mouth closed. Force began to move the brunette around in his mouth. He was tasting her!
“Delicious! I’ll take these six.”
“Three hundred bits.”
“Seriously?”
“Humans ain’t as easy to come by these days ya know?”
Force grumbled as he fished around for the bits. Cody still looked up, watching the woman making a small bulge in the equine’s cheek. He was powerless to help. He kicked the glass wall in frustration. Everything was jostled as his perspective changed. Force was walking.
“I have my little snacks, and a way to keep you contained Cody. This day couldn’t get much better.”
Everything shook too much to get a clear idea of where he was going. A bright blue sky was a solid indicator he was outside. An open area, where numerous ponies were walking around. Cody wanted to yell, to scream. He didn’t want to leave. He couldn’t bear to leave Mocha and all the kind things she did for him. He couldn’t leave Ivory, the love of his life.
Outside had a few buildings in a semicircle. Large windows into various shops. In the center was a grand water fountain. A few ponies were milling around. Force spread his wings. Cody was all out of ideas. He curled up into a ball. He lost.
The feeling didn’t start slow like last time. The burning sensation started in his chest. Like a pulse, it spread to his arms, legs, and his face. A powerful white light came from his mouth, then white light became all he could see. The burning and near blinding became so intense he thought he would scream.
Then just like that, the feelings were gone. The surface felt different. Cody’s eyes slowly adjusted as the light faded. The surface was red, and very soft. It was almost hairlike. He stood up, and saw a plane of dark gray that came to a blunt point. He could feel a decent breeze.
Cody was on top of Force’s head! He didn’t know how he got out. He needed to get down before takeoff. He waded through the red hair, and slid down the back while having a loose grip on the hair. He landed on the stallion’s back, and started to climb down the front right leg.
“What?! How!?”
Force gave his leg a light shake, which sent Cody to the ground. He immediately got back up, and scrambled towards the first thing he saw. The outside wall of the fountain. It was the height of a two story house. He went to the wall at a full sprint. It took Force a few steps.
“After this, you won’t run ever again.”
“Cody? Sweetheart where are you?”
Cody tried to run towards the voice, but one strong step from Force was enough to make him fall again. He rolled over to see his kidnapper. He held a hoof high above. Its shadow covered him entirely. As the giant hoof rushed towards Cody, he put his hands in front of himself instinctively.
The burning sensation returned. This time it felt as if he held white hot coals in his hands. A white light enveloped his hands. It felt as if Cody’s hands were being stretched apart as the light expanded. The light slowly grew into a disk. It grew, and grew, and grew. It was wide enough for Force’s hoof. Though when it touched the disk of light, it didn’t come through.
"What!? No, you shouldn't be able to do this! Impossible!"
The light began to rise. As more of Force passed through the disk of light, more of him disappeared. It rapidly expanded, eventually being large enough to envelop all of him. The pegasus opened his mouth, but his head was gone before he could speak. The disk quickly took up all of Cody’s captor.
The glowing and pain were gone. Cody’s moved his hands from his face. Force was nowhere to be seen. He stood up against the wall. Numerous ponies were staring down at Cody.
“He’s gone!”
“What did the human do?”
“It can’t be. Humans can’t do magic.”
“Cody!”
“Sweetheart!”
Bursting through the crowd was Mocha and Ivory. Cody didn’t know what happened and he didn’t care. Force was gone, and he was safe again. Ivory had lowered her head to nuzzle him. He took a step forward, but fell to his knees. It felt as if all the stress of the day had piled on all at once. He could barely lift his arms. He fell the ground, and everything went black.
Impatience and fear. A dangerous mix to have in a waiting room at the Ponyville hospital. Princess Celestia arrived right after Cody passed out, and gave two orders. Her guards were to take Cody to the nearest hospital, and Ivory was to collect every note she had on humans that would help the doctors treat him. Mocha sat in a chair. The double doors that led to the rooms of patients swung open, and Ivory stepped out with her notes floating behind her. Mocha hopped out of her seat and ran to her.
“Ivory! Is he okay? Is Cody alright?”
“I can answer that.”
Behind Ivory, Nurse Redheart stepped out. She lifted a clipboard that she had hanging from her neck.
"Our small patient seems to have an extreme case of magical exhaustion. He's showing the same symptoms an average unicorn would show after pushing their magic far beyond its normal limits. The only issue is that we're talking about a human here, and none of Ivory's notes talk about magic in the slightest. It seems that these creatures weren't made to use magic at all! His body couldn't take it and he collapsed, but he's stable for now. He should be fine after some rest, but I'll keep an eye on him. You can see him tomorrow when he’s rested."
“Come on Mocha, let’s get Cody’s room spruced up. I got some furniture he might like.”
The portal opened, and Force fell out. Five of the humans he bought tried to run away, but were snatched up by the others before he even stood up. He had that little freak in a necklace, and he still got away! He angrily swallowed the human he had in his mouth, and enjoyed the brief moment of the creature that struggled down his throat. If it wasn’t for learning how to manipulate the portals, who knows where he would’ve ended up. He stood up and walked. He saw numerous changelings fighting each other over his dropped humans.
“Outplayed by that speck! That bug!”
“You failed me?”
Force looked up to see the queen had approached. He quickly bowed his head. A sickly green energy washed over him, changing his body from a gray pegasus, to his true changeling form.
“I apologize my queen.”
“I see you are without the human.”
“Our spy has fallen in love with him my queen! He can use his powers earlier than we anticipated!”
The queen walked over to a ball of energy that was observing the resting human. She smiled a twisted smile.
“The prophecy is true then. He does fall in love. This makes things...different.”
The queen’s horn glowed, and she plucked a human from the fighting changelings. It floated towards her, and into her open mouth. She held the creature under her tongue.
“Fear...despair...and a hint of hopelessness. Such delicious emotions.”
She felt the squirms and screams as the human was drained of emotions. She slowly swallowed the human before facing her legion. She raised the ball of energy high above them all. It shifted from observing Cody, to a small version of the human’s home world.
"This new world will be enough to feed us all, my children. We will no longer live in the darkness. Soon, we shall make their world ours!"
Celestia’s mind was in two places that day. Her first focus was on her students. Equestria’s most magically gifted were nearing the end of their lesson. The rest of her mind was focused on her private lesson coming up next. She looked to her students.
“...and that will be all class. You’re free to go.”
She had finished her explanation on how magic works for unicorns, and why their horns are so important for channeling the magic. She looked at her class before letting out a small sigh. None of them were leaving. Of course not. Why would they? They wanted to see the human! She made a huge mistake in telling one of her students that she'd personally train him. The training had only started a week ago, and they only learned a few days ago. Word spread quickly through the kingdom.
“Alright. You may only stay if Cody is comfortable with it. This is his private lesson after all.”
As soon as Cody recovered from his kidnapping, Princess Celestia had decided to train him. The first human to have magical abilities. He needed to master his power. He was able to open a portal large enough to engulf Force Wind, who was still missing. He had so much potential for so much power. She wondered if he would eventually be able to open a portal to his home world.
“Your highness?”
“Yes Twilight?”
“May I ask what Cody’s training is about today?”
“Simple practice Twilight.”
There was a knock at the door. She magically turned the handle, and opened it. It was her lieutenant.
“Yes Lieutenant?”
“Cody is here ma’am.”
“Wonderful. Send him in.”
As the lieutenant left to retrieve Cody, Princess Celestia turned her focus to her class.
“As you may all know by now, I will be helping a human train his powers. Yes, the very same you saw in the newspaper some days ago. I need to ask all of you to treat him with respect. Humans are no longer food. They're to be treated like any other Unicorn, Pegasi, or Earth pony. I will not tolerate any of you doing or saying anything harmful to him. Do you understand?”
Cody had started out fairly relaxed. Then the lieutenant told him that he heard Celestia’s students were going to watch his lesson. He had never used his newfound talents in front of an audience. Only in front of her highness, Mocha, and Ivory. He sat there on the lieutenant’s back, nervous as he approached the door. The guard levitated him to the ground, saluted, and walked away.
“Good morning Cody.”
“Good morning your highness.”
“As you can see, my students wished to observe your lesson. I can dismiss them if you feel uncomfortable.”
“It's fine. They can watch.”
Cody took a step forward, but was levitated back to the doorway. Princess Celestia shook her head. She pointed her hoof at her desk.
“Why don't we start out with trying to teleport to my desk?”
Numerous ponies looked from above. They all sat at their desks, waiting to see his abilities in action. Cody took a deep breath, and another. He stared intensely at Princess Celestia's desk. He tensed his torso. He felt the burning in his stomach. The glowing white light swirled in front of his stomach. It slowly spread across his body like sunshine on all sides of him. He felt the warmth spread to his shoulders, neck, then face.
Like jumping from the hot tub to the pool, a sudden chill covered Cody. He felt like he was floating. Everything went dark, and he was on his back. He could hear voices, but they were muffled.
“Woah.”
“He did it.”
“Where is he?”
The darkness around Cody shifted a bit, revealing some light. He saw a shade of purple fur. He tenderly pressed his hand against the soft surface, and it shifted again. Then, he heard a muffled squeak. The mass suddenly moved, and light flooded Cody’s face. He looked around, seeing he was in a giant chair. Looking to his left, he saw a purple alicorn. Said alicorn had a very red face. It took Cody a moment, but he realized what had happened. His face became just as red.
“I’m so sorry! I swear I didn’t mean...I would never...”
Snickering was heard throughout the room from the the students. Cody saw a purple glow surround him. He was levitated up, and onto the desk. The purple alicorn sat down, glaring at Cody. Cody turned around, seeing a slightly shocked Princess Celestia.
Pointing at the desk with his right forefinger, a white sphere of light shot out of it. The sphere ended up in the middle of Princess Celestia’s desk. It expanded into a vertical disk that matched his height. Another white sphere shot out of his finger, and another vertical disk appeared in front of him. He stepped through it. He looked up to Princess Celestia, who had glared the class into silence.
"Well...um...it seems we still need to practice your teleportation. Your portaling skills are still superb."
Next Cody was pointed towards a small glass of water only a little taller than him. Princess Celestia wanted him to try and teleport the object. Any direction he wanted. He pointed at the glass, letting the energy build into a sphere the size of a grapefruit. It shot forward and struck the glass, making the whole thing glow. When the light was gone, the glass was still there. It seemed he didn’t teleport anything.
A splash. A few drops fell on Cody. He looked up, and realized that he managed to teleport the water inside the glass. Teleported it above Princess Celestia. As she glared down at him, he could hear the clattering of many hooves. Students rushed out of the room. The princess lowered her head to be at eye level with him. Her face melted into concern.
“Cody, I can not help you if you are not honest with me. The first few days of your training were going so well, but now it is like your mind has no focus here.”
Cody sat down. It was such a stupid thing to be thinking about. It was throwing his focus off worse than he thought. He needed to tell her. He needed to tell someone.
“Your highness, I’ve been bothered because-.”
“Your highness! Numerous ponies have broken into the human quarters!”
The lieutenant had burst into the room with his message. Princess Celestia gave her head a quick shake to get some water off, and quickly followed her lieutenant out. He vaguely heard her tell someone to come in and watch him for his own safety. He laid down on his back. It was probably a guard.
“Cody?”
Looking to his left, Cody saw her approaching. The purple alicorn from earlier. She wasn’t as upset as she seemed earlier. He saw a bit of a smile. He waved her down, then she approached the desk. The desk was high, so only her head and neck were visible. She was so close to him. It reminded him of his first encounter with Ivory.
“I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, but call me Twilight.”
“Well Twilight, I wish our first encounter was as professional as this.”
Twilight thought for a moment before blushing extremely hard. It seemed the princess was not used to these types of encounters. She had the same mix of curiosity and joy almost every single pony Cody had met. He sat up.
“I do apologize for what happened earlier. I’ve been a bit distracted.”
“Distracted?”
“Yeah. My birthday is coming up in two days and I don’t want it to be a big deal.”
Cody was half lying to Twilight and himself. His birthday was coming up in two days, but he didn’t want to celebrate it. His first birthday not on his home planet. The idea of it bothered him a lot.
“If my girlfriend ever finds out, she’ll make a huge deal out of it.”
“You mean Ivory Swirl the human expert right?”
Cody sighed. Despite efforts of Princess Celestia, many newspapers still found out about his relationship with Ivory. Ivory faced some ridicule from Canterlot’s elite, who still held the belief that humans were lesser beings. After the Force Wind incident, humans were declared equal members of society. This Princess Twilight seemed to mean well, despite a rough first meeting.
“I’m sorry, was that too forward?”
“No. It's fine.”
“I can't imagine how tough an interspecies relationship must be. You must really love her.”
“With all my heart.”
"That...that is very nice. I can see you're being honest with me, and she is a lucky mare. She has someone that really cares about her. This is so interesting. There's so much about the humans that I still don’t know. I’ll have to see if I can get my hooves on Ivory's infamous notes. She's fairly secretive about them."
“I'll ask her for ya.”
“Really?”
“Well I can try.”
Even with his new powers, Ivory still worried about her sweet Cody. She used an observation spell to listen in on the castle guards from time to time. As soon as she heard about the human addicts breaking into the castle, she was on the next train to Canterlot. Princess Celestia never had a guard away from Cody, but she needed to be sure. Since he sent Force Wind into that portal, she’s heard nothing from her highness. That’s what worried her the most.
She sat in her seat on the train in silence. She felt the glares of numerous ponies on her when she boarded. For some, her relationship with Cody was taboo. Most of the ponies went back to their conversations, which Ivory couldn’t help but listen to. Two unicorn mares in particular.
“Small and pathetic creatures, they're nothing but snacks! Why should we even treat them with respect? They're useless!”
“I heard Prince Blueblood hired a dozen humans to massage him every day. A dozen!”
“What will happen to the rest that don’t get jobs? I don't want them free around town! They'll steal our food!”
“Did you hear about the human village construction Princess Twilight is overseeing in Ponyville? Houses smaller than a foal!”
“A village? Well I do love my snacks free range.”
The two mares began to laugh. As the train stopped, Ivory exited with a face of disgust. These humans were intelligent creatures capable of amazing feats. Yet these ponies were speaking of them as if they were mindless insects. It seemed most Canterlot ponies didn’t want to let go of the notion that humans were lesser beings.
She was barely halfway to the castle. The two mares from earlier had seemed to get ahead of her. They had sneering looks. She knew what was going to happen. Somepony always does it whenever she's in Canterlot.
“Hey Ivory! Where's your insect of a boyfriend?”
“I'm hungry, think I can have your lover for a snack?”
“Maybe she already has.”
She quickly trotted to the castle. The insults bothered Ivory a lot at first, but she began to ignore most of them. The only thing that bothered her more than what Cody called ‘uppity snobs’ was what laid ahead at the castle entrance.
Camera after camera, flashing. Numerous journalists from all over. When they weren't trying to get pictures of Cody, they were trying to get to the human quarters.
She kept her head down as she pushed her way through the crowd. She gave the guard a glance, and he let her through. She was quickly past the doors. She trotted through the main hall, and went over to the lieutenant. He was stood outside the human quarters.
“Lieutenant! I heard about the break-in. Is Cody alright? Were any humans harmed?”
“Cody’s safe ma’am. He's in the classroom. Princess Twilight is watching over him. As for the other humans, we’re still counting to see how many are missing.”
“Those poor humans. I better check on Cody. Thank you Lieutenant.”
Ivory quickly made her way down the hallway to her right. She saw a couple of young unicorns milling around in the hallway. If her memory was correct, they were Princess Celestia’s students. A mare and stallion were having a good laugh about something.
“Did you see Twilight’s face? I’ve never seen it that red before!”
“I know right? I can’t believe she actually sat on that little human.”
“I’m surprised he wasn’t flattened.”
She walked into the classroom, prepared for the worst. Instead, she saw Princess Twilight. Her head was on the desk, mere inches from Cody. She was laughing with him. Ivory approached the desk to a slightly surprised boyfriend.
“Ivory! Um...you're here.”
“Yes dear. I heard about the break-in. I came to check on you.”
Ivory turned her head towards Princess Twilight. She seemed a mix of happy and nervous.
“Your highness. I am thankful you watched over my dear Cody.”
“It was wonderful meeting him.”
“I do have one small question for you Princess Twilight.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you sit on him?”
Awkward situations wasn’t Cody’s area of expertise. Neither was dealing with a giant upset girlfriend. Princess Twilight acting guilty didn’t help much.
“He just teleported there! I didn't mean to do it! He got himself there! And I couldn't move much so I just got up and-!”
“Sweetheart. It was an accident.”
Ivory rested her head right in front of Cody. Her subtle anger subsided. He rested his left hand on her right cheek.
“It was?”
“Yes. Teleporting under Princess Twilight's butt was an accident. Would you feel better if I teleported under yours?”
Now it was Ivory's turn to feel awkward. She pouted and stuck out her lower lip.
“No...maybe.”
Cody planted a quick kiss on Ivory's cheek. He took a few steps back, and tensed his lower torso. He focused on where he wanted to go. His vision went blurry. The light swirled around him. The warmth spread, and a chill came just as quick. His vision came back into focus. He sat down on the plush fur of his girlfriend's back. Twilight took a few steps towards him.
“Amazing.”
“Yeah, he is.”
The three made their way through the castle, and into the main hall. Cody noticed Ivory and Twilight completely avoided talking to the Lieutenant. He was still guarding the human quarters. Ivory stopped, as if she knew he was staring.
“You haven't even tried talking to them, have you?”
“You know I can't do that.”
“Can't, or won't?”
Cody didn't answer. As the three walked, he thought about what Ivory said. He hasn't spoken to a single human in all the time he's been here. A part of him just wanted to avoid humans overall. Another part longed for human contact. One of those desires would have to win out.
Soon.
Twilight was taking careful notes with every question she asked. The three were waiting while the guards were trying to disperse the journalists. Her and Ivory sat on a small couch by the door. Cody sat between the two.
“How do you focus your magic without a horn? I’ve never seen a creature without a horn do magic.”
“I focus with my hands.”
“But when you teleported before, you weren't using your hands.”
“If I see where I'm going, I can teleport there.”
“Fascinating.”
Twilight took down more notes. It was near impossible to talk to Cody this in depth. Princess Celestia practically kept the human away from everyone. He was a magical marvel, but she was actively hiding him from the world. This alicorn was still kicking herself for not shifting her research to humans when she had the chance. Every other pony was playing catch up to Ivory. Her desire to research these interesting creatures was at an all time high.
“Hey Cody.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think you could ask Ivory about what we discussed earlier?”
“Ask me what?”
“Oh yes. I almost forgot. Dear, Princess Twilight was hoping to get a look at your notes.”
Ivory raised a hoof in protest, but Cody’s practice paid off. He teleported to the top of her hoof as it passed in front of her face. Twilight was impressed.
“It's Princess Twilight asking. Who else is more trustworthy than a princess?
Before Ivory could respond, a guard came by to lead the couple out. They had managed to distract the journalists by having the Lieutenant talk about the break-in. Twilight followed, as she wanted to catch the next train to Ponyville as well.
“May I ask why the guards go through so much effort to keep the journalists away?”
“Celestia insisted. Said that Ivory and I deserve privacy.”
The three had walked outside. The train station wasn’t too far away. All the journalists were talking to the Lieutenant, looking away from them. It was strange. Princess Celestia was doing all these things for this small, small creature. When these humans were first discovered, Twilight distinctly remembered she had little interest in the humans. Even when they were a health issue for ponies, her concern was only getting the humans away from everypony. It was a complete turnaround when this Cody showed up.
As they walked past the journalists, one of them stopped taking pictures. He let his camera hang from his neck as he sniffed the air around him. His head snapped in their direction.Twilight shook her head, hoping he would ignore them. One after another, the journalists circled Ivory and Cody. Twilight was cut off by numerous journalists trying to get a picture of the human. She was outside the circle as many cameras flashed. They spouted off numerous questions
“Ivory! How does Cody use his magic? Does it hurt? Does he feel tired? Can he use other spells? How powerful is he?”
“Uh...”
“What about his relationship? Did he have someone back home? How does it feel dating another creature? Is this relationship based on politics?”
“Um...”
“Cody! Why did you pick Ivory? What about the size difference? Are you still scared that somepony could eat you or crush you? What about other animals?”
“I...”
“Have you interacted with other humans? Are all humans able to use powers?”
“No I-.”
“No? Why you? Does magic exist in your world?”
Twilight watched in silent shock as Cody was bombarded with questions. The flashing of cameras was a lot for the little one. As more and more questions piled on, he answered less. He pressed his hands on both sides of his head. He closed his eyes, and fell to his knees.
It was obvious he was being overwhelmed. They continued to take pictures. The familiar white glow began to emanate from his hands. Cody looked down at his hands. He was scared. He had the fear of a caged animal.
"Ivory! I-It's happening again! Get them away from me!"
Twilight heard the rumors. Both hands glowing was a lead up to how Force Wind disappeared. Ivory’s horn glowed bright as she tried to levitate Cody away. As he rose above the group, his hands glowed brighter and brighter. The journalists stopped taking pictures. Everypony took a step back. The area went quiet.
It was like an explosion. The glow from the tiny human’s hands expanded rapidly. A glowing sphere enveloped him. Ivory was enveloped by the light second. As Twilight backed up, the journalists were enveloped as well. Before Twilight could react, the warmth of the sphere took her as well. All she could see was white. She saw the others floating in the sea of white. The sight of Canterlot quickly disappeared.
A week. Mocha managed to go a week without something happening to Cody. She was just leaving for the market when a pile of ponies fell out of a fairly large portal that appeared in front of her house. Most of them were journalists, and they all ran away screaming. The infamous Princess Twilight who looked genuinely terrified, ran off in silence. Then there was Ivory, who was levitating an unconscious Cody.
So now they sat in the waiting room of the Ponyville hospital. Mocha and Ivory were hoping for good news. One of the doors opened. It was Princess Celestia, followed by Nurse Redheart.
"Princess Twilight sent an urgent message, but she wasn't very clear. I came here as soon as I could. It seems that he's stable, but he's still unconscious. What exactly happened?"
"It was the journalists! They didn't stop asking him questions and taking pictures. They treated him like some kind of object, they wouldn't leave him alone! Cody couldn't take anymore and his powers kicked in...but it was too much for him."
Ivory hung her head low, tears streamed down her face. Mocha wrapped her forelegs around her friend and brought her close. As she cried, she kept mumbling how she failed Cody. Nurse Redheart took a look at her clipboard before stepping forward.
“His current situation is worse than his previous. His magical exhaustion is the worst I’ve seen in a long time, ponies included. According to Ivory’s notes on patterns of human unconsciousness, he should be awake by tonight at the latest. He should be able to go home tomorrow if he recovers. However, I have one thing I must ask you Mocha.”
“What is that?”
“You are the closest he has to a primary caretaker. I would like your permission to place an inhibitor ring on him. Temporarily shutting down his magic would be best for his-.”
“No!”
Ivory shot up from Mocha’s embrace. She marched over to Nurse Redheart, and gave an intense stare.
“My love is not a criminal and he does not need to wear the ring of one!”
“I only mean to protect him.”
“Next you’ll say he needs to be caged up for his own protection!”
Mocha stood up and walked over in front of Ivory. Her love for Cody was clearly clouding her judgement. He had a power none of them completely understood. He was in a hospital bed, unconscious from using it.
"Ivory, listen. You just saw what happened. He can't control it yet. He needs this to keep himself safe for now. What if he accidentally teleports somewhere else and we can't help him? Anything could happen to him if we don't keep an eye on him! This is for his own safety!"
Her anger seemed to lessen. Ivory was not happy by any stretch, but she took a few steps back from Nurse Redheart. Mocha looked over to the nurse.
"Go ahead Nurse. Just do anything you must to keep him safe."
The nurse nodded, and gestured for them all to follow. Ivory followed, then Mocha. She turned to see that Princess Celestia stood still.
“You’re not coming your highness?”
“I am afraid I must go. I will have a guard sent to watch over him during his stay. I will be speaking with the newspapers, and make sure their journalists do not make a repeat of this incident.”
Mocha nodded as the princess left, then trotted to catch up to her friend and the nurse. The nurse walked behind a counter, and reached below. She brought up a small gray box that she held between her hooves. She gingerly opened it, revealing a few inhibitor rings. Both Mocha and Ivory took an instinctive step back. It didn’t matter if you were a unicorn or an alicorn. If that ring landed on your horn, your magic was completely shut down until it was removed. It was reserved for criminals, under normal circumstances.
“We rarely use these on patients. Usually, my unicorn assistant applies these. Unfortunately, she’s out for the day. Seeing how important Cody is to you, would either of you help me apply it to him?”
Ivory immediately levitated a ring out of the box. It floated next to her as she walked ahead of them, into the room where Cody slept.
“I need to do this. For him.”
It was dark. She stood outside the hospital. He was inside. Thanks to one of her children disguised as a journalist, they learned from the nurse he was wearing an inhibitor ring. She could sense one of her children approaching, and turned to them. It was the failure that couldn’t capture her destiny before.
“Why do you bother me?”
“My queen, I wish to retrieve the human for you.”
“Retrieve? He is useless in his weakened state. I have no need for him yet.”
Queen Chrysalis took a deep breath, as she let the familiar green energy wash over her. She had not used her shapeshifting abilities in quite some time, but she knew she still had it. The nurse had already gone to bed. She looked up to Force, who was now a bit taller than her. It was difficult becoming a smaller pony, but she managed.
“However, I would like to have some fun.”
Queen Chrysalis walked towards the hospital. It was late. Residents of Ponyville were all asleep. As she walked through the halls, she sniffed for his scent. His room was the only one with a guard at the door. Most likely had the orders to let no one inside. Said guard however, was fast asleep on the floor. She chuckled softly as she slipped into the room.
It was a little adorable. Such a small creature in a massive bed. Most of his tiny frame laid against the pillow. As she approached the side of his bed, she saw it. His inhibitor ring was still on him. The dark gray metal sat around his waist.
The future. Her path to ultimate power. The salvation of her children. All of it, sleeping in a hospital bed. She didn't want him in her possession. Not until he was at his full power again.
For now, it was time for some fun.
Odd feeling, waking up at night. The last thing Cody remembered was floating above a bunch of journalists. He only hoped no one was hurt this time.
“You are awake.”
To his right, it was Nurse Redheart. She had a soft smile. The moonlight gave the room decent light.
“Did I hurt anyone?”
“Bumps and bruises, nothing else. However, we inhibited your magic for the time being.”
Cody looked down at his waist. A large band of metal wrapped around. It felt admittedly odd, being stripped of his powers. Nurse Redheart seemed to notice his confusion.
“It will feel odd. No magic will feel like losing a part of you.”
“I feel, weaker.”
“The all powerful Cody feeling weak? How ironic.”
To Cody’s surprise, Nurse Redheart climbed onto the bed, and rested her head right next to his feet. He tried to back up, but her weight on the bed caused him to slide down. She would inhale deeply through her nose, and he would feel his clothes lightly pull towards her. Her exhales washed him in hot breath. If the inhibitor ring wasn’t stuck, he would’ve made his way as far away as possible. He couldn’t. He was helpless. He was trapped with a nurse gone crazy.
Nurse Redheart shifted her mouth forward, and pinned Cody’s legs under her powerful lower jaw. He desperately tried to push her, despite knowing it wouldn’t work. She chuckled.
“Nurse Redheart, stop! You’re scaring me!”
“Small. So pathetically small and weak.”
Her mouth opened wide. Cody could see every detail of her mouth. The dripping saliva. Her teeth were almost as big as Force Wind’s. He heard a deep gurgling erupt from her mouth. He was frozen in fear. Her breath continued to wash over him.
“What can do to stop me, little bug? You’re nothing without your power.”
When Nurse Redheart lifted her jaw, Cody immediately stood up. She pursed her lips, and blew a strong breath. He was knocked back down. She brought her left foreleg forward, hoof side up. She pressed it into the pillow, and scooped him up. She brought up her right hoof. Cody found himself pressed between hooves as big as he.
Cody was up to his shoulders in giant hooves. The crazy nurse wasn't pressing hard. It seemed she was getting a feel for how comparatively soft he was.
“Oh, it'd be so easy to crush you right now. You humans are so weak. I could squeeze the life out of you with no effort. But alas, we have plans for you and your fellow humans.”
The nurse’s eyes began to glow a dark green. She pressed Cody between her hooves with more pressure. He felt all the air leave his lungs.
He blacked out.
As Mocha walked with Ivory down the hallway to the front desk, she remembered the time Cody told her about a liquid his kind invented for stress relief. With word of another incident, that liquid sounded like a great idea. The two approached the desk where Nurse Redheart was going over paperwork. She seemed a bit stressed. She glanced up.
“I apologize for being blunt, but please get Cody out of here.”
“What’s happened with my sweetheart?”
“Well...”
“Nurse he’s runnin’ again!”
“Get back here!”
Two other nurses ran into the room. A small ball of white light kept darting around the room. It appeared on Ivory’s back. The light faded, and they saw Cody. He crawled under her long brown hair. He looked absolutely terrified. Mocha turned to Nurse Redheart. Ivory glared at her as well.
“What in Celestia’s name have you done to him?”
“Yes. What have you done to my poor little Cody?”
“He claims I attacked him last night. He managed to get his ring off, and was teleporting around since this morning.”
“He would never lie! You must have done something to upset him!”
“Ivory, please calm down.”
“You need to do a better job!”
“Ivory!”
One of the few times Mocha ever raised her voice. Ivory looked over to her. Cody was so wrapped up in her friend’s hair, it was almost impossible to see him. The last thing she wanted was to scare him. She took a deep breath.
“Please take Cody outside. I need to talk to the nurse.”
Ivory was cooing at Cody as she walked out, hoping to calm the both of them down. She looked over to an exasperated Nurse. The other two nurses left the room to resume their duties.
“Nurse, what happened?”
“The guard assigned to him had left for the castle when I arrived. I checked on Cody right after my morning cider. His bed had been disturbed by something larger than him. My unicorn assistant lifted his shirt, and we did see some bruising. We removed his ring to check his neck, but he woke up and was teleporting around for the past two hours.”
“Is he hurt at all?”
“Besides a bad reaction to grumpy nurses, he’s fine. You can take him home.”
“Thank you Nurse.”
Mocha turned around, and made her way outside the hospital. She walked up to her friends, who were under a tree. She looked over to Cody, who was still cuddled up in Ivory’s hair. He seemed to be a lot more calm.
Before she could open her mouth, Mocha could see a familiar mare approaching out of the corner of her eye. It was Princess Twilight. With what just happened, the last thing she wanted was to have Cody be berated by more questions. She looked over to Ivory.
“Ivory, why don’t you take Cody back to the house? I’ll catch up in a bit.”
“Alright. See you soon.”
As Ivory walked away, Mocha saw Twilight begin to follow them. She couldn’t exactly tell a princess no, but she needed to do something. She trotted over to the princess and stood in front of her path to Cody. Both seemed nervous about something.
“Princess Twilight.”
“Mocha. I was hoping we could talk.”
“About what?”
“About Cody. I’m concerned about him.”
Mocha calmed herself a bit. Twilight seemed genuine about her concern. The least she could do was listen to the princess. She just hoped it wouldn’t be another request to talk to Cody.
“Concerned?”
“He was able to teleport eight ponies from Canterlot, to Ponyville in a matter of seconds. Last night, I read every book I have on teleportation. I couldn’t find a single record of a pony being able to do that, not even Princess Celestia or Princess Luna.”
“I see.”
“Cody is able to do something no pony ever had the power to do. What he learned in a week will take me a lifetime to even begin to understand.”
“Thank you for the information princess.”
“There is one more thing I wanted to speak to you about Cody. It is minor in comparison, but so very important.”
Now Mocha was confused. What could be more important than Princess Twilight of all ponies being concerned, and albeit a bit scared of Cody? Did she learn something about his powers? Was there some sort of weird prophecy about him?
“He confided in me. His birthday is tomorrow. I thought you should know.”
Cody often wondered if he was just a magnet for trouble. He wondered if the stress of Equestria was getting to him. He sat on the counter in Mocha’s shop, sitting against the register. Her and Ivory went upstairs to talk about something. Since they left the hospital, he was a lot more relaxed. The counter wasn’t as sparse as usual. The counter had a stack of white boxes that took up most of the space. On top of the stack was a corner of a piece of paper.
After ending up on the floo, Cody managed to get on top of the box via teleportation. It was Mocha’s writing on the paper. It listed two chocolate cakes, and a dozen chocolate cupcakes. It was totaled at sixty bits for the Leaf brothers. He figured it was a pickup order. There was also a box labeled for two dozen chocolate chip cookies, and another for a dozen chocolate muffins.
As if on cue, the front door swung open. Cody looked up from the paper to see two ponies enter. Two unicorn stallions, both light green with a dark shade of green for hair. They were twins. As they approached the counter, he couldn’t help but notice something. Both ponies were a bit chubby. Not by much, but noticeable nonetheless with slightly swaying bellies. Mocha was still busy with Ivory. He figured it was time to put his old job experience to work.
“Greetings gentlemen! How can I help you today?”
The stallions looked around before Cody waved them down. The twins looked over to him, and became floored with excitement. Standing on top of the boxes roughly put him at eye level with the two. The one on the right was the most excited.
“Oh my gooooooodness brother! Isn’t he simply adoooooooooooorable? Seems Mocha hired a little helper!”
“I’m Cody. Are you here for your order?”
“Why yes we are. My highly excited brother and I are picking up our order. I believe it's under the Leaf brothers.”
Cody glanced over the list again. The stack of three boxes were tied together with twine. As he climbed down using the rope, he would check each box’s contents. All was accounted for. As he looked up at the brothers, he felt fairly relaxed. Working in Mocha’s shop felt familiar. It was nice.
“A dozen cupcakes, and two chocolate cakes. Your total is sixty bits.”
The quiet brother removed a bag from his satchel, and let it float next to Cody. It was about as big as a large garbage bag. It was filled with a lot of small gold coins. He smiled up to the customers.
“Alright. Everything seems set. Anything else today?”
“Wellllllll, I was hoping to try one of those deliiiiiiiicious cupcakes before leaving.”
“Brother, must you be so impatient?”
“It’s ok. I’ll get it for him.”
Pointing to the bottom box, Cody took a deep breath. A white light shot out of his finger, and penetrated the cardboard. Another light appeared in front of him. It expanded into a disk. It was darkness for a split second before the natural light flooded the portal inside of the box. The talkative brother was shocked.
“My gooooooodness brother! He’s that maaaagical human we’ve read about in the papers!”
Cody smiled to himself as he walked through the portal into the cupcake box. These Leaf brothers seemed to mean well, if albeit a little excited to see a human. He carefully moved past a cupcake, then braced himself against it as he pushed. He pointed at the portal with his finger, then spread his hand. The portals expanded enough to fit the cupcake. When the cupcake went through, pushing on the smooth wood surface was a lot easier. He looked over the side as he pushed, and stopped at the edge. A green glow immediately surrounded the dessert, and levitated towards a very excited stallion.
“Ohhhhhhhhhh this is going to be deliiiiiiicious!”
The brother opened his mouth, and bit into the cupcake. His bite was enough to take out a large chunk of the dessert. The icing on the cupcake slid a bit with each bite. As the last bite was taken, some icing hung on the lower lip. Cody looked up. The icing fell off the stallion's lip. Before he could move, everything went chocolate brown. Cody wiped some icing from his eyes.
“Ewwww. Not again!”
“O-Oh my.”
Cody looked up to the loud brother, who was now relatively quieter. As a bit of drool dripped from his mouth, a familiar look of hunger was in his eyes. As he licked his lips, the quieter brother shoved his way between Cody and the hungry stallion.
"Brother no! Remember what the doctor said!"
"B-B-But he looks soooooooo deliiiicious!"
"No humans! They're friends, not food! We're doing fine brother, we'll just eat more sweets!"
The brother levitated their stack of boxes, and took the other three boxes as well. A bag twice as tall as Cody landed next to him.
"Here, don't say anything!"
He kept pushing his brother that kept licking his lips at a very confused chocolate-covered Cody.
“Why my darling told Twilight before us still eludes me.”
“I’m sure he had his reasons.”
Ivory knew Cody had something bothering him lately. She pestered herself for not remembering how important it was to celebrate human birthdays. She was going over birthday details with Mocha. She needed to keep her sweetheart out of the house while her friend prepared tomorrow. Since it was the early afternoon still, she would go to Princess Celestia and see if she would permit him to miss his lessons tomorrow.
“Cody! What happened to you?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Ivory turned to see Cody at the top of the stairs. A white light shot towards the bathroom door, and another appeared in front of Cody. The two made their way over to the bathroom door in a couple steps as he stepped through his portal. He stood at the entrance to the bathroom, and looked up to his roommate.
“Mocha, could you please open the door? As you can see, I need to clean up. The sink should do for this.”
Mocha opened the door, and Cody immediately teleported up to the sink edge. Ivory’s icing-covered boyfriend stood out amongst the white porcelain. She turned on the sink, then left to get clothes and a towel for him. The drain was covered, so there was no concern when he slid in. He stood under the water, and began to rinse off the icing.
“Are you sure you’re ok honey?”
“I’m relatively fine.”
“Cody? Did you serve a customer?”
Mocha had come back with clothes, a human-sized towel, and two small bags, both filled to the brim with bits. Ivory knew she had an order, but not one big enough for that many bits.
“Yeah. The Leaf brothers came by for their order. You two were busy, so I handled it.”
"Why did they give you this much? This is well over two hundred bits"
"They...really liked me?"
Mocha left the towel and clothes on the sink’s edge. She gave her little human brother a lecture on not serving customers while she’s not around, and left to put the bits in the safe. Ivory turned off the water when Cody stepped out from under it. A quick flash of white, and he was on the sink edge. He pulled off his wet shirt, and Ivory took a step towards the door.
“I will leave you to change.”
“You don’t have to.”
Ivory turned around, and smiled. She walked up to the sink, and leaned down to kiss Cody. She could still taste a hint of chocolate.
“Remember the last time your sister caught us?”
“Didn’t stop us before.”
“Very true.”
Mocha was angry with herself. With her desperation to organize a birthday party, she left Cody alone! She was still impressed however. Whatever happened, he managed to get two hundred bits from the Leaf brothers. The thought of him working the register seemed nice. His job back on his homeworld was most of the training covered. His teleportation made things even easier.
No. He needed to be safe. The little brother she never had, has been in so much danger. Almost eaten, nearly stepped on, kidnapped, and a girlfriend a hundred times his size. There was also the time he accidentally teleported into Mocha’s morning cider and was almost drank by her. She still kicked herself for that, despite him apologizing.
After counting the bits, she placed them into the safe. She walked out to see Ivory coming downstairs, Cody in tow. Mocha walked over as the two kissed. Dating over a week, and they still don't kiss outside her house. It was understandable, given all the recent incidents. She really needed to stop treating him like a glass doll. He wasn’t exactly helpless.
“I must go my dear, but I still have a surprise for you tomorrow. Be dressed before noon.”
“Yes dear.”
Cody teleported to Mocha’s back, then Ivory left. The two went to the counter. After accidentally teleporting onto the floor, he managed to get onto the counter. She walked behind the counter as he sat against the register.
Before she could say anything, a customer walked in. Mocha exhaled through her nose sharply. It was Perra Putan. A yellow unicorn with unbelievably pink hair. She was a semi-frequent customer, always wanting a fresh baked batch of cupcakes every other week. Back when most of the customers wanted humans added to their desserts, she didn’t. In fact, she hated humans. One of the more hateful of humans among Cantherlot’s elite. Now here she was, while Cody was in the same room. She looked down at him with her grim guise, which turned to a look of disgust.
"Ugh. You let vermin work here now I see."
“Will that be a problem?”
"No, but he better be clean. I don't want any diseases on my cupcakes."
“He may not have hooves and a horn, but Cody is just as good at this job as anypony else would be.”
“Well, I need my dozen cupcakes.”
“Twenty bits please.”
“Twenty? I should get a discount!”
“Why is that?”
“I should never pay full price for a pony that lets disgusting creatures walk freely around their establishment.”
Now Mocha had enough. She put up with Perra before because she was a repeat customer when things were slow. With her business booming, she didn’t have to put up with this treatment. She pointed her hoof towards the door.
“Perra Putan. I will not allow myself or Cody to be spoken to in such a way. Please leave now.”
“How dare you! I happen to know Princess Celestia, and she would not appreciate me being treated this way!”
“And?”
Despite Mocha’s handle on the situation, Cody piped in. He had already teleported on top of the register. He was staring down Perra intensely.
“I know Princess Celestia and Princess Luna personally. You’re not special. Now leave, or I’ll open a portal and make you leave!”
“The prophecy comes to fruition, and you simply stare at the sunset?”
Princess Celestia turned to see her sister. She took one more look at the kingdom before coming back inside from the balcony. A certain human to cause her a fair amount of stress lately.
“He gained his powers and fell in love. That is all that has happened Luna.”
“I can sense her coming for him. I know you can too.”
“I can. I only wish we reacted faster when we first found Cody.”
“We need to send these humans home like we-.”
“No! Portals to Earth take so much power, even for us. We can not use Cody to open a portal. I will not risk him being harmed.”
“Then we need to protect Cody ourselves. Not let him live in the house of a common baker.”
Before Princess Celestia could respond, there was a knock at the door. Her horn glowed, and the door opened. It was her lieutenant. He walked in, followed by Ivory Swirl.
“Thank you Lieutenant. How can I help you Ivory?”
“Your highness. I apologize for being here so late in the day. I have a humble request.”
“What is your request?”
“I ask that Cody be excused from his training tomorrow. It is his birthday tomorrow, and Mocha wants to surprise him with a party. Mocha and I are all he has. We want tomorrow to be special for him.”
Princess Celestia thought for a moment. This seemed very important to Ivory. Her concern for Cody’s well being was one of the many reasons she was the expert on humans. Her desire to learn so much about humans was respectable. She smiled to her sister before looking back to the unicorn.
“He is excused. There is one condition however.”
“May I ask what that condition is your highness?”
“My sister and I get to attend the party.”
Ivory’s eyes lit up akin to a sunrise. She rambled on her thanks, said when the party was, then ran off. She looked over to her sister, who chuckled.
“She came all the way here just to ask you that. She really cares about him.”
“She really does. Which is why we shall tell them of the prophecy tomorrow. No more secrets. Lieutenant!”
“Yes your highness?”
“I require the best clothing designer in the kingdom immediately.”
“I will need the best craftspony available.”
“Yes your highnesses! It will be done!”
It was a grueling week of hard work, but it paid off. Every single human not under Princess Celestia’s personal protection, was here. There were also a couple dozen or so from the castle break-in she organized. A little over a hundred of the little things. Deep in the cavern was a mostly dried up lake bed. It wasn’t very deep. For the humans however, it was enough to keep them from escaping. They would occasionally throw them some oats they stole from Ponyville.
Queen Chrysalis stood before the gathering of humans. They were huddled in groups. They truly feared her. She could make them do anything she wanted. If they weren’t such delicious balls of emotion, these humans here would make fantastic subjects to rule over. However, they wouldn’t be lasting for very long. Soon she would have a world of these creatures to rule over. Their emotions gave her a surge of power. It made the love of ponies feel like nothing. Just a few humans made her feel like a one pony army.
“Don’t be scared little humans. Your lives will serve a great purpose. You may not understand, but you will give us the power to make your world ours.”
Some of the humans argued, but she didn't bother to listen. She turned to her children. They stood at the edge of the lake bed. They were hungry. She stomped her hoof, and they all stepped back. Not yet. One more night. One more night of waiting.
“Tomorrow is the day of our destiny. Tomorrow, we will tear Ponyville apart to find the human that will bring us to their world. Tomorrow you shall feed upon these humans, and have power you have never felt before. So sleep my children. For tomorrow, will lead us to a never ending feast!”
“Oh goodness I hope my hair is perfect. I should check the food again.”
Ivory was nervous as she stood outside Mocha’s house. She was taking Cody on a date. Their first lunch date outside the house, as a couple. The two had eaten together plenty of times, but never in public. She had rebrushed her hair at least half a dozen times on the way here. She took one last deep breath before raising her hoof and knocking on the door. After a moment, Mocha opened the door.
“Hey Ivory! Ready for a lunch date with my little brother?”
“About as ready as one can be.”
The two walked upstairs. Cody was sitting at his dining table on top of the regular table. He was sipping some cider when he turned to see the two of them approaching. Ivory leaned over to kiss him, and got butterflies in her stomach when he kissed her back. He wore his usual attire of shorts and a shirt.
“You’re here early.”
“Well darling, I wanted to surprise you.”
“A surprise?”
“You and I are going on a date. A picnic at Ponyville Park.”
Cody had managed to stand up from his chair right before he was levitated onto Ivory’s back. She was nervous, and he wasn’t ready. All three of them walked downstairs. Mocha gleefully waved from the door as the two walked out.
“You two have fun!”
Ivory had Cody sitting on her back, so she levitated the picnic basket in front of her. Ponyville Park wasn’t too far. Seeing Princess Twilight was a possibility. Since the construction of the newly announced human village was overseen by her. The area had gotten busier with excited ponies wanting an early look.
“Any particular reason we’re going on our first date in public?”
“Cody dear. You’ve been cooped up inside so long. Things are a lot safer for humans since you first came here. Despite how nervous I am, I want to try and be more public with our relationship.”
The walk wasn’t too long. The park was in view. There was a small crowd of ponies by a spot just off the usual walking path. About a head taller than the crowd was the top of a wooden wall. It wasn’t very large and could’ve been easily looked over by a pony as tall as Princess Celestia. From first glance, it was about the size of a small bedroom. Two guards stood at the front to keep most of the crowd back. Ivory had heard Princess Twilight had requested the humans’ village be built near her old home. Ivory had no qualms about it. She was glad the humans had a place to call their own, rather than a big room in a castle. Humans did prefer to live in open spaces after all.
“Sweetie. I have to stop at the humans’ village for a moment.”
“Oh?”
“Dropping off my notes for Princess Twilight. I just want to be quick and hope the crowd doesn’t see you.”
Ivory glanced at the guards, who let her pass through. A few ponies got excited at the sight of Cody, but the guards held them back. Twilight was looking over a few notes. When the princess turned around, she had a massive grin on her face.
“Ivory! Cody! So glad to see you!”
“You as well your highness. I brought something for you.”
Ivory levitated a stack of papers out of her picnic basket, and let Princess Twilight grab them with her magic. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth hung agape.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The notes of Ivory Swirl. The greatest source of information on humans in the whole world! This will help me make sure the village is perfect for the humans!”
“Now if only my dear Ivory would publish her notes.”
“In due time sweetie. We must be going your highness. A lunch date awaits. Feel free to hold onto the notes until you are done reading them. Just drop them off at Mocha’s house when you finish.”
“I’ill take care of them well. I hope you have a pleasant picnic together.”
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were very excited. The two had heard rumors of a village just for humans being built right by the park. They had squeezed their way past the older ponies to watch the construction. It was exciting to see the tiny buildings they would bring in, and funny to see the adults try to put down the houses without breaking them. The two were hoping to see some of the cute humans. After a bit of waiting, they left the crowd into the open area.
“I don’t think they’ll bring out any humans today Sweetie.”
“It seems so. We should-.”
Sweetie Belle! Applebloom!”
Scootaloo came running from the park. She was giddy with excitement. She was eagerly pointing towards the park.
“I saw him! I saw Cody!”
“Scootaloo, are you absolutely sure it was Cody?”
“Yeah! He’s on a picnic with Ivory Swirl!”
“What are we waitin’ for?”
The three ran off towards the park. Seeing a human village was an exciting thing. Seeing the magic human however, was a rare event indeed. He was almost never seen outside his house. The three fillies saw Ivory under a tree, and they darted into a bush. She was having a picnic. With a bit of squinting, they roughly saw where Cody was. He was sitting close to her, eating something.
"He's so tiny next to her! The humans are really cute!"
“Well, I wanna say hi to ‘im.”
“Me too.”
“That would be rude. He’s busy with his lunch.”
“But I really wanna see ‘im!“
“Yeah! We may not get another chance like this!”
Scootaloo and Applebloom argued with Sweetie Belle. The two really wanted to see the magical human. Sweetie wanted to respect his privacy.
“Remember girls. He’s not an object to be paraded around for our enjoyment.”
“But Applebloom and I want to meet him. He’s so cool.”
The three continued to argue. They didn’t notice that Ivory began to chuckle. A small ball of white light hovered right above them. They looked up in silence. The ball expanded into a disk. It dropped down before any of them could react. The three fillies floated through a seemingly endless expanse of white. Then just as quickly as it happened, they were back the park. However, they were now standing in front of Ivory. She was looking over at Cody, who was laughing.
“Cody, why would you do that to these young fillies? They must be terrified.”
“It was your idea since they were staring at us.”
Ivory stood up while Cody continued to eat a human-sized sandwich. All three fillies were fascinated at the sight of him. This was the first time they had been this close to a human that didn’t run away.
“I apologize for my dear Cody. He does not like being stared at by those he does not know.”
All three hung their heads. They were so excited to see Cody, they didn’t bother to think about his privacy. They looked at each other and realized how they could fix this.
“I’m Sweetie Belle!”
“I’m Scootaloo!”
“I’m Applebloom!”
Cody had just polished off his sandwich, and stood up. In a small flash of white, he was suddenly standing on Ivory’s back. All three stared in awe. Sweetie Belle was the first to talk again.
“Cody, sir. I was wondering if you were excited about the new village?”
“I am indeed. I think it’s great my fellow humans are being treated with such equality.”
“Will you ever move there?”
“Me? Well...Um...”
“Cody has considered it, but he’s quite happy living with Mocha Sprinkles.”
“Yes. She’s like the big sister I never had.”
“Cool! I may have Applejack and Big Mac, but I wish I could have a little human brother.”
“When I learn how to fly, I wanna take humans flying! Too bad they’re all at the castle.”
Cody teleported from Ivory’s back, to the ground in front of the three fillies. They lowered their heads to the ground so they could look at and hear him.
“Well, not all humans are at the castle. Some of them are hidden around Equestria, brought here before the portal closed, and now abandoned. Many right here in Ponyville. Lost and scared.”
“Humans?”
“Lost?”
“Scared?”
“Yes. Somepony needs to find them before they get eaten, or worse!”
Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom looked at each other. This was a serious problem. None of the adults would notice a small human running around. Those that do would want to eat the poor things! They knew what they had to do. They looked back to Cody.
“No job is too big, and no human is too small! The Cutie Mark Crusaders will find these humans and get them to safety!”
An actual date out in public with his girlfriend. It was nice. It was a short picnic, but it was still enjoyable. They were already heading home.
“Those fillies really seemed to like you.”
“I’m a magical human Ivory. It might have something to do with the that.”
“Nonetheless, I think you inspired them.”
“I just wanted to finish our date. Figured catching humans would keep ‘em busy.”
The house was just in sight. There were a few ponies around the area. There was a journalist, snapping away with his camera. Since the accidental teleportation a few days ago, just about every journalist kept their distance. Still, they were annoying.
“Ivory sweetie?”
“Yes Cody?”
“What do you think it’ll take for those journalists to leave us alone?”
“A picture to put on their front pages most likely.”
“Well then, let’s give ‘em one.”
Ivory stopped in place, and levitated Cody in front of her. She had a look of concern. If they were to do what he was thinking, it would the first time they did it in public.
“A-Are you sure?”
“Trust me. I love you Ivory. So much.”
As Cody’s face was pressed against Ivory’s lips, the area went silent. The only sound being the snapping of the camera and a few ponies saying ‘awww’. After a moment, he was pulled away. He saw his girlfriend in a slight daze as he was placed on her back again. She resumed walking. He could hear a few ponies make comments.
“That was so cute!”
“They’re so adorable together!”
“Now I want a little human!”
The adorable responses were expected. The middle class ponies of Ponyville seemed to like the social aspect of humans when they stopped eating them. Most of the hatred for humans came from the upper class after all. Cody hoped this trend of liking humans stayed strong.
Ivory approached the house, and levitated Cody next to her head. Through the window of the door, it seemed all the lights were off. He wondered if Mocha went out to the market early. As they entered, he wondered why there was no sign on the door. Suddenly, the lights flashed on. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Mocha were standing in front of the counter, shouting in unison.
“Surprise! Happy birthday Cody!”
It was pure shock. Streamers hung around, and his name hung from a homemade sign. It was a sight to behold. Cody was quickly levitated to the counter, where four ponies stared down gleefully. He was genuinely taken aback. Mocha lowered her head to lay on the counter in front of her shocked little brother.
“H-How?”
“Princess Twilight told me. As your big sister, it was my duty to make this happen.”
Cody teared up. He hugged Mocha’s muzzle. She did so much. She made all this for him. He was nudged into a chair by her. His table and chair from upstairs was already brought down.
“Don’t get all sappy on me yet. I have my next surprise for you. It wasn’t easy to pull off. Took me a couple tries.”
From behind the counter, Mocha produced a cake. This wasn’t a cake meant for the ponies. It was a cake for his size! It carefully floated down to his table. It was a small, round cake. Single layer, chocolate all over. Rather than a candle, there was a sliver of a wood in the center lit at the top. All four ponies looked down with excitement. Mocha’s grin was massive.
“Go ahead bro! Make a wish!”
Some days she envied the other ponies. Whenever they hungered, they ate food. When they thirst, they drank water. Queen Chrysalis had no such luxury. Her children as well as her, could only live off of emotions. The love of ponies could only sustain them for so long. When humans were first discovered, one of her undercover children had eaten a human. He later told of how his stomach was filled with so many delicious emotions. How he felt more power than the love of a pony could ever provide.
As she towered above the crowd of small humans, she looked back to her children. She could hear the groans from hunger. Her horn glowed, and a ball of light appeared high above. It flashed to view Cody eating cake, then to the house he was inside.
“This is who we must find my children! This is our savior! He who will lead us to salvation! He who will take us to a world where we shall rule all!”
The queen looked towards the humans, who all huddled in a small crowd. She stepped down into the open area in front of them. Whimpers were heard. Their fear was delectably intoxicating. The glow of her magic surrounded a few humans, and she brought them through the air to her awaiting lips. Two males, and a young female. All three were scared.
“Shhh. Be calm little ones. You will become part of something great.”
Before the humans spoke, Queen Chrysalis magically tossed the three humans in her mouth. She chuckled as they feebly pushed at her cheeks and lips in hope to escape. She could almost taste their emotions as they screamed in terror. She simply tilted her head back, and let the humans rest at the back of her throat for a moment before swallowing. After they ended in her stomach, she could feel the energy of their emotions surge through her body. Her horn glowed even brighter.
She turned to her children. She smiled, and pointed her hoof to the humans. They descended upon the screaming humans. One after another, the little creatures were eaten. Her children had not had any emotions to truly feast upon in so long. The muffled screams of terror were music to her ears.
“Feed my children! Feed so you may have the power to tear Ponyville apart! Feed so you can find Cody, our hero! Feed!”
It was a sight to see. Cody had already eaten his cake. Ivory and the other ponies brought their presents forward. Mocha said the cake she made for his size took an enormous amount of effort. Princess Luna produced her present out of the box. She got him a new bed, and it was the same circular shape as Mocha’s.
“A good night’s rest is a requirement for good dreams.”
The present from Princess Celestia was a much smaller box for Cody. He laid it out on his table, and it took up all of the space. He opened it, and lifted out a very nice suit. It was all black. The black tie went down to the waist. Ivory imagined him wearing it while they went out to a fancy dinner. It made her realize she did not own a dress herself.
“The clothing designer had never made a suit for a human before, so I hope it fits you.”
Ivory was up now. From behind the counter, she levitated her present next to Cody. It was a long, wooden box. It was painted a metallic gray, and it had a human-sized door on the side. It took him a moment to realize what it was.
“Is...Is this what I think it is?”
“A replica of your house? Yes.”
“How did you do this? I thought the portals to Earth were permanently closed.”
“A lot of details came from Mocha. I have been working on it since we first met.”
Cody opened the door, and walked inside. Mocha and Ivory walked up to the counter. They lifted the roof, and it turned on its hinge. As it rested upright, they watched him traverse the replica. It was not easy getting all of the details of his old trailer. It was all from Mocha’s memory, and careful questioning of Cody.
“Seems empty, but you got almost everything right.”
“The plan was to move your current living space into this. That way, you can feel more independent. I am still working on the running water situation.”
“Ivory, this is amazing.”
Cody milled around his new house. While he was doing that, Ivory could hear the two princesses whispering to each other. They seemed concerned about something.
“Sister! You must tell them!”
“But Luna, look how happy they are. I could not bring myself to ruin this moment.”
“The prophecy!”
How did they know of the prophecy? Her highness said no one would know of the prophecy. She said she removed the prophecy from the old scroll before allowing it to be discovered. Ivory turned around, but couldn’t even get a word out. The door had burst open. It was Princess Celestia’s lieutenant.
“The changelings are tearing Ponyville apart! They’re coming here! We need to-!”
The lieutenant was cut off as a blast of sickly dark green energy hit him, and he was knocked out of the doorway. A changeling swooped into the bakery, but was quickly blasted out by all four ponies. Ivory quickly shut the roof to Cody’s house. She was finally coming for him.
All their horns glowed bright, ready to defend themselves. A dark green energy surrounded them all, and forced them the the ground. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were overpowered by this energy. All four of them were stuck flat to the floor.
She walked in. If the lights were still off, she could have lit up the whole room herself with how bright her horn was glowing. She did not show any struggle to restrain two unicorns and two alicorns. How did Queen Chrysalis have so much power?
“Greetings. I am here with a simple request. Give me Cody, and I will leave.”
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were struggling to stand up, hoping to break free of the hold the queen had on them. It was futile, her new power was too great.
“We will never hand him over! Luna and I will not allow it.”
“Right dear sister! He is not yours to have Chrysalis!”
“I believe otherwise.”
Queen Chrysalis had made it clear that she had no intention of leaving without Cody. Ivory only hoped he was still hiding inside his new house. If he stayed out of sight, maybe they all had a chance.
“Oh Cody darling? You might as well come out. I would hate to harm anypony here out of anger.”
Silence. Ivory wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. Cody was still hiding. When it was apparent the queen was frustrated, Queen Chrysalis stood before her.
“Perhaps hearing somepony you care about in pain might change your mind.”
Ivory felt the queen’s energy wrap around tighter than before. Tighter and tighter. An immense force compressing around her. She tried to keep quiet. She tried to bite her tongue. Any sound of pain, and Cody would beg her to stop. He did not know why he had to hide from her. He had no clue what was at stake. She felt a sharp pain in her midsection. A yelp of pain slipped out before she could stop herself.
“Stop!”
“Cody no!”
The one thing Ivory wanted to avoid. Cody must have ran out of his house. Queen Chrysalis almost completely loosened her grip on her. She looked up to see her staring down at him.
“If I come with you, will you leave them unharmed?”
“Yes of course. Just one small thing to do.”
Ivory saw her produce an inhibitor ring. A very small one that was cut in half. She heard the two halves clack together, and saw a levitating Cody with it around his neck. Queen Chrysalis had gone through the trouble of creating a special inhibitor ring just for him.
“Thank you for cooperating. Now, my new kingdom awaits!”
A blast of green energy was the last thing Ivory saw before being knocked out.
“Wake up my little Cody.”
He shook his head, still a bit groggy from the energy blast. It was a cold, yet well lit cavern. The cave had a few crystals in the walls, lighting up the cave with a sky blue glow. Cody found himself still levitating next to Chrysalis. To the right, it was a mostly dried up lake bed. To his left was a mostly flat area. As far as caves go, it wasn’t very impressive. He was finally placed on solid ground. A few bumps, but mostly flat.
“A pleasure to finally meet you Cody. I am Queen Chrysalis, the true ruler of Equestria.”
This was the first queen Cody had met in person. She was mostly black. Her hair was a kind of dark sky blue. It had holes throughout. Her eyes were a bright green that felt familiar. Her horn was akin to a twisted burnt stick. She had wings, and he had no idea how she could fly with them. They were like bug wings. She even had holes in her legs. He saw fangs when her mouth opened. This Queen Chrysalis was strange.
“Do you know why I brought you here?”
“You tried to harm the love of my life.”
“Ah yes. Ivory Swirl. The supposed love of yours.”
“I do love her!”
She gave a hearty chuckle. It was as if Cody had told a joke. Either the notion of a human and pony dating was hilarious to her, or she thought he was pathetic.
“That is adorable.”
“What do you mean?”
“I find it entertaining that you think your relationship with her will last.”
Before he could respond, the rustling of a dozen ponies echoed into the cave. They both turned to see a flurry of ponies fly into the cave. Light blue eyes with no pupils, holes throughout their bodies, white fangs, all black bodies.
“Wonderful, all my children are here! They can keep you company while I get prepared. I must look my best for my new kingdom!”
Without a second thought, Cody found himself levitated in the air. He was placed down in front of Queen Chrysalis’ ‘children’. They stared down at him, twisted smiles all around. He looked back to the queen, who had walked out of sight. Looking back to the ponies, one of them licked their lips.
“I wonder what it tastes like.”
“Let’s squash it like the bug it is.”
“I wanna hear it scream!”
Cody felt the same fear from when Force Wind tried to kidnap him. What sent a shiver down his spine wasn’t the thought of what was going to happen to him.
It was that he was on his own this time.
It had been awhile since the home was silent. Mocha was so used to coming home to Cody. Whether he was going around the house, talking to a customer, or being with Ivory. The house was rarely quiet. She didn’t realize how much of a difference it made until now.
Princess Luna had left to interrogate captured changelings. Princess Celestia left to check on the human village. Mocha stood at the front door, hoping someone would come back with good news. She looked back towards Ivory. After they all woke up from the blast an hour ago, she had been silently staring at Cody’s tiny table on the counter. Mocha walked over, and gently pressed her head against Ivory’s.
“I was going to ask him to move in with me Mocha.”
Mocha wrapped her foreleg around her friend. While she would jokingly refer to Cody as her little brother, Ivory’s relationship with him was much deeper. Her friend was much more distraught then her.
“They’ll find him Ivory. I know it.”
“It is all my fault this happened.”
"It isn't! We simply couldn't do anything to stop her. We'll find him, and we'll get him home!"
Ivory pushed Mocha away and stared at her, tears streaming down her face. It was the most upset she had ever seen her.
“Cody is in danger! The queen only knew of him because of me!”
“W-What?”
“I can not keep this secret anymore. It was a week after the portal first opened. I was experimenting human durability, when she came into my house. Queen Chrysalis said unless I wanted to become a changeling, I had to do as she ordered. I was to inform her on every human I met and studied. I was told if I ever met a shirtless human named Cody, I had to take him to her.”
“W-Wha?”
“Falling in love with him was not part of the plan and-.”
“Plan? He loved you!”
“I know. I wish I said no to her.”
“You betrayed him! Betrayed me!”
Furious didn’t describe how she felt. The mare she had known since she was a foal. Cody was scared and alone. Mocha felt an anger she had never felt before. There was a knock at the door. Both took a few deep breaths. Things were very tense. She magically opened the door. It was Princess Celestia.
“Your highness. How is the human village?”
“The village is partially destroyed, but the humans were still at the castle during the attack. It seems most of the attack was focused here. Many of my guards are injured. Queen Chrysalis used all of her resources, just to capture Cody.”
“Why would she do that? What does she have to gain from Cody?”
“She wants to invade the human world.”
Princess Celestia and Mocha turned to Ivory. The princess stepped forward. The tears were gone, and her face showed little expression.
“I am a traitor your highness. I betrayed Equestria and-.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“Yes. Your endangerment of humans and your fellow ponies is a discussion we will have later. For now, tell me what you know.”
“Cody can open portals. With a location and observation spell, you can use Cody’s powers to open a portal to anywhere. That includes the humans’ world. What makes this a problem, is what humans do to the queen and her children. All those emotions in a body small enough to be swallowed whole. The power a changeling gets. The power the queen gets from eating humans. Unlimited power. If we do not find Cody, things will get very bad very fast.”
A massive hoof had him pinned to the cold stone floor. Cody could feel the weight pressed down on him. He attempted to sneak away when the changelings started to fight amongst
themselves over him. A changeling had caught him just as he had made his way past the crowd.
“Who said you could leave?”
The hoof was removed, and Cody rolled over. He was looking up to the changeling that stopped his escape. He seemed familiar somehow, despite how he looked like all the others.
"You made me a failure in the eyes of the queen. I'm going to enjoy hurting you."
The hoof raised over him again. Everything below his neck was under the hoof. The two locked eyes. Cody could see the hoof shift, and then he felt the pressure. He knew what was about to happen. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of him crying or begging. He took one last deep breath. He closed his eyes.
He didn’t feel crushed, nor did he feel harmed. Instead he felt like he was floating. Cody opened his eyes, and saw he was floating high above the changelings. Looking behind him, he saw Queen Chrysalis. He was levitated towards her, and she looked at him with an endearing look.
"It's okay dear. I will not allow my children to hurt you. I will keep you close, and safe."
The queen then stared at her children with a furious stare. She bared her fangs. They all backed up a few steps. Seeing this anger from her sent a chill down Cody’s spine.
"How dare you! Fatal harm of Cody was forbidden. You failed me again. As punishment, you will stay behind."
The changeling had no response. He hung his head as the queen walked away, taking Cody with her.
They went farther into the cave, out of sight from the others. There sat a few stalactites with flattened tops, and Cody was placed on top of one. The towering queen sat down on the stone floor. They were now at eye level.
“Just because you got me away from them, doesn’t mean I trust you.”
“Why would you not trust me? I saved you.”
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were willing to fight to keep me away from you. I trust them in their judgement.”
“You think Celestia and Luna were protecting you? They do not care about you, or any human. They only care about their own kind. I care about you Cody. I need you.”
Now Cody was confused. Why would this all-powerful queen need him? Did she want a magical pet? Did she want his powers to herself? She could most likely see his confusion, and showed a soft smile.
“I need more humans dear. You all are so small, so...full of emotion. The power you creatures give me...it's unlike anything I have ever known in all my life. I never want that feeling to end my sweet Cody. That is why I need you. That is why I want your world, to be mine.”
The silence was deafening. Ivory was glad the door opened, and Princess Twilight walked in. Princess Celestia was not happy to see her however.
“Twilight! You are supposed to be at the hospital for your wounds!”
“It’s only a few bruises your highness. I heard of Cody’s kidnapping from the guards. I wanted to see how Mocha and Ivory were holding up.”
“Mocha and I are fine. I just wish we could find Cody.”
Princess Twilight rubbed her hoof against her head, as if trying to think of a solution. If anypony could figure out how to help, it would be her.
“Have you tried a location and observation spell?”
Ivory had never smacked herself with her hoof as hard as that moment. All the self-loathing from not protecting Cody had blinded her to the simplest solution.
“I am such a fool. I should have thought of that ages ago.”
“You’re stressed Ivory. If Queen Chrysalis abducted somepony as close to me as Cody is to you, I would feel just as distracted.”
“You are right. Thank you Princess Twilight. We should get started on the spell.”
“But Princess Twilight will be heading to the hospital. Now.”
It was clear Princess Twilight wanted to help, but Princess Celestia was firm on her statement. With a nod and a mention of good luck, Princess Twilight was off to the hospital. Mocha immediately spoke up.
“I can do the location spell. I’m well practiced with it.”
“Very well. I will check on the injured soldiers at the hospital.”
Princess Celestia left, leaving the two alone. Mocha walked up the stairs. She was gone for a moment, but came back down with her enchanted mirror. She sat against the counter with the mirror in front of her.
Ivory couldn’t think of much to say. Just a few moments ago, she told her best friend and the princess that she was a traitor. Her boyfriend Cody was the captive of the evil queen.
“Mocha, I-.”
“I need silence to focus.”
“Why won’t you help me Cody? I will give you anything!”
“I won’t do it!”
"Everything you could ever ask for can be yours!"
“No!”
Cody had repeatedly denied a request from Queen Chrysalis. She wanted him to open a portal. She said it was all she needed, and she could use her magic to make it a portal to Earth. After what she said about human emotions giving her power, he couldn’t do it. Enough people had to endure what these giants did to them. No more.
“What do you owe to the other humans? You do not need to deny my simple request.”
“For the two months I’ve been here, Mocha and Ivory kept me pretty sheltered from this world. However, I knew what was happening to my fellow humans. I remember the day I watched a human be devoured, and I couldn’t do anything to help her. On Earth, I was so apathetic to my own kind. That followed me to Equestria. Two giants took care of me at a time I was barely taking care of myself. They reminded me how to care about others. Now that I have the power to make the world a better place for humans, I have a choice. A choice no one else in this world can make.”
There was a brief silence. Cody had never given a speech before. A small part of him regretted the speech. He was on top of a rock high off the ground. Staring at him was a smiling queen. Why was Queen Chrysalis smiling?
“You want choice? I can give you choice.”
She stomped her hoof three times. After it echoed, the clatter of a dozen hooves could be heard. Three changelings quickly walked in. Cody looked over to the queen.
“What is this?”
Queen Chrysalis said nothing. She stomped her hoof three more times. The three changelings were suddenly enveloped by a green energy. After a brief moment, the energy dissipated. The changelings were gone. In their place was Mocha, Ivory, and Princess Twilight. All three had mischievous grins. Every part of him wished it was them, but he knew it was a lie.
“Look at them Cody. I can have my children be whomever you desire.”
“But Ivory…”
“You don't need her anymore. You have me. If I rule your world with you by my side, I could give you anything you wanted. No need for friends, or family. Just desire.”
Anything he wanted. All he had to do was open a portal. Did he truly mean anything he said? Cody’s mind swirled with thoughts of having these shapeshifters at his beck and call. Did he really owe anything to his home planet? All he had was a trailer, family that never talked to him, and a dead end job.
He thought of Ivory. He thought back to when they first met, and how weirdly obsessive she was about helping him. He remembered the times he would visit her, and how she would stay up late working on her research. The lunches they would share. He thought of their first kiss. He almost shedded a tear.
“I can’t do it. I love Ivory, not an imitation of her.”
Queen Chrysalis stomped her hoof, and the changelings left. Before he could say anything, a ball of light appeared in front of him. It expanded into a disk. On the disk, a picture appeared. It was Mocha, Ivory, and himself sitting on the couch. The three of them looked happy. The picture blurred for a moment, but came back into focus. The spot where he was in the picture was now taken by a pony. This stallion had fur that matched his skin tone. Hair that shared the same color as his. On his hind was two white ovals. The back half of a pony was sticking out one end, and the front half was sticking out the other.
“Is...Is that…?”
“With one spell, I could make you a stallion. You wouldn't be so small or weak. You wouldn't need anypony to take care of you! How much safer would you feel if you weren't so different?”
Cody didn’t respond. He had no idea how to answer that. All he could think of, was how easier life would be in Equestria if he was the same as them. The image faded away, and the queen sat down.
“This is not an opportunity to take lightly. I will give you a moment to think.”
“The answer is no Lieutenant.”
“But your highness, I-.”
“You can barely stand. You will stay at the hospital.”
The lieutenant nodded, then he was walked away with the help of a nurse. Princess Celestia sighed deeply. Many soldiers came to the bakery when the attack began. Most of the soldiers were injured from the attack. The rest were too busy helping around. The attack made a rescue effort very difficult. Cody wouldn’t last very long if the queen got her way.
After a short walk, Princess Celestia was back at the bakery. She was hoping Mocha was successful with the spell to find Cody. She slowly opened the door. Both ponies turned to her.
“Did you find him?”
“It took some time, but we found him. The queen is holding him in a cavern east of here. The cavern is based in a small mountain range.”
“I thank you for finding him Mocha. As soon as the soldiers recover, I will mobilize them.”
“Based on what I saw, she wants to open the portal today.”
“Hmm. Ivory, is it possible for Queen Chrysalis to force Cody to open a portal?”
“With the difference in size, yes. Her magic could easily overpower him.”
“Time is of the essence then.”
The door opened again. Princess turned around to see her sister. She was hoping for some more good news. From behind her sister, Princess Twilight. That mare can be so stubborn sometimes. Her heart is in the right place, but she really needed to prioritize her health.
“Twilight. I told you to go to the hospital.”
“I tried to go your highness, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that Cody needed my help.”
“I had the same feeling as well sister.”
Princess Celestia was quiet for a moment. Everything was coming to fruition. She needed a plan. She needed something. The prophecy said he would be saved by those he affected. Would the five of them have to take on the queen alone? Before she could say what was on her mind, a sudden chill came over the room. A white disk rapidly expanded under all their hooves. Before any of them with wings could fly up to safety, they fell in. She had never went through one of Cody’s portals before. It was dissimilar to flying. She felt nothing pulling her in any direction. Just floating in a white space that was the same shade as her fur.
The scenery changed in an instant. The five ponies dropped onto a cold, hard surface. The white portal above dissipated. In front of them, Princess Celestia saw Cody. Something was off however. He was surrounded by green energy. He was floating, and he was unconscious.
“How silly of me. I made the portal too big.”
A portal enveloped the three princesses before they could react.
It was a dingy cave, lit up with a few crystals dotted about. Mocha stood up and saw the white energy come off the floor. It floated back towards Cody, and dissipated with the green glow surrounding him. He was completely unconscious, only being held in the air by the magic of Queen Chrysalis. He was inside a glass vial with a metal cap. The inhibitor ring around his neck was by his feet in the vial. The green glow disappeared, and the vial hung from the queen’s neck. It was an unsettling sight.
“What did you do to him?”
“I decided I no longer needed to ask for his help.”
“You...You monster!”
Mocha looked over to see Ivory had stood up. She had a few tears going down her face. She was clearly distraught seeing Cody like this. Changelings came into where they were. They stood in front of the queen.
“You can not just use Cody as a living conduit to open a portal! The effects on him could be devastating, even lethal!”
“The only one to blame here is yourself Ivory. I offered him the world, but all he wanted was you. Love, such a useless and distracting emotion, now that I have his kind.”
“Why did you bring Ivory and I here?”
“Oh Mocha. I wanted the two of you to be the last thing he saw before he went home.”
“His home is with me!”
“Some tiny furniture on a windowsill for two and half months? He was on his home world for well over twenty years. I will be doing him a service.”
“By conquering his world?”
“You see a world of innocent creatures. I see a world where my children will never starve again. Now if you do not mind, I have a portal to open.”
Kevin’s tiny, rickety, rusty gray car sputtered on the highway. He was on his way to his new job in New York City. On the highway, he could see the city in the distance. Skyscrapers that lived up to the name. Millions of people in that one city, and he was gonna join them. Today was the start of the rest of his life.
Ahead, all the cars weren’t moving. Kevin grumbled at the sight, and stopped his car. Ahead of the cars, was a bright light. People were getting out of their cars. He got out and followed the crowd. A few car lengths ahead the light got brighter. There were no cars where the light was. People kept their distance. It was a white sphere with rainbow swirls, and a reflective silver circle moving around the surface. They all recognized it as the sphere from a couple months ago that made people disappear.
A deep crackling sound was heard from the sphere, and everyone backed up. It crackled more, and stretched into the air. The sphere expanded into a disk. It almost took up the width of the four lane highway. There was a strange low pitch sound coming from the other side of the white disk. A few people inched around the disk to see what was going on. Kevin stayed behind it, not knowing what could be coming out on the other side.
Before he could run and go to the safety of his tiny car, Kevin felt the ground shake. The people on the other side gasped, and he heard a few run. His curiosity got the better of him. He carefully peeked around the disk to see what happened.
It was a sight no one would ever believe. It was a horse, and an unfathomably large one at that. It was all black, and fifty feet tall at the least. Kevin almost missed the horn and wings because he was still mentally registering the size of the horse. Her voice was soft, but sent a chill down his spine.
“Greetings humans! I am Queen Chrysalis. I come from a far away land. I am here to inform you that your world is now part of our kingdom. Do not fear, for I am a peaceful ruler. I only ask for two things. The first is your loyalty.”
After she spoke, a massive dark blur shot out of the white disk. Suddenly, there were more black horses. They were a bit shorter. Thirty feet tall give or take. There were a few dozen of them at the least. It was a brief uneasy moment when they all licked their lips while looking at the people.
“The second is a difficult, but necessary request. Offering yourselves to feed my children.”
When Cody gained consciousness, he wished he didn’t. It was a horrifying sight. He was back on Earth. He was in the glass prison Force Wind once held him in. Looking around he saw he was now hanging from Queen Chrysalis’ neck. Through the air holes of the metal lid, he could hear screaming. Her children were running about a highway, trying to get people out of their cars. The few people who were outside the vehicles, were all herded together in front of the queen. He could see absolute fear in their eyes.
“I want to thank my dearest Cody. If not for this human, I would not be in your world. I have him to thank for all of this.”
Cody shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear to look at all the people. They knew it was his fault. The fall of Earth was his fault. Humans being reduced to sentient food, was his fault. His inhibitor collar was off, so he could teleport away. It didn’t matter anymore. She won. Queen Chrysalis won. He couldn’t stop her. He curled into a ball. Tears streamed down his face. He failed.
“I can’t do it!”
Cody opened his eyes. He was floating in a strange fog. A small hole in the fog was showing himself. He saw himself standing on Princess Celestia’s desk. It was a memory! He remembered it was the day after he got out of the hospital. It was his first training session with the princess. They had tried for a half hour to get his powers to do something, anything. His past self threw up his hands in defeat. The princess gave a soft smile.
“Cody, I can show you why it is not working if you are willing to listen.”
Without another word, the princess raised her left hoof, and tried to stomp on Cody. His past self was gone in a flash of white, and reappeared on the other side of the desk, unharmed. Princess Celestia smiled, and lowered her left hoof.
“Your powers are just like that of any other pony. Your instincts will control them until you are ready. If you truly want to control your powers, you must do more than just thinking and focusing. Now try again.”
After a brief silence, Cody watched his past self stand back up. Clenched his fists, and took a deep breath. He glowed white, and was gone. He then reappeared on the other side of the desk. His past self jumped and cheered. Princess Celestia lowered her head to his level.
“Believe in yourself Cody. You have more power than you think. When you are ready, your abilities will have no limits.”
The fog lifted, and Cody was back in the glass tube. Princess Celestia was right. He needed to stop the pity party. He had to believe in himself. He had to believe he could stop the queen. He took a deep breath.
His vision went white.
Ivory sat in silence alongside Mocha in the cave. The portal had closed, and they were alone. One changeling that was there for reasons unknown had left. The two friends simply sat in the cave, and stared at where the portal once was. Ivory turned to her friend.
“Mocha. I wish saying I am sorry could make up for what I did. Cody is gone, his world is doomed, and it is all my fault.”
“Ivory, I-.”
A flash of light, and Mocha disappeared into thin air. Ivory stood up and looked around. Did Cody do it somehow? As her vision turned white and she felt a floating sensation, the question was answered. When she felt like she was back on solid ground, she saw she was no longer in the cave. The land around her was unfamiliar. It did not look like anywhere in Equestria she was familiar with.
The grass under her hooves was unbelievably short. Was that Manehattan in the distance? There were strange objects lining an elevated road of some kind. The road came up to her neck. There were humans inside them. Everything felt so, small. The objects the humans were inside looked like the ‘cars’ she had heard about from other humans in her research.
Ivory was on Earth! Her mind was aflutter with a dozen ideas, but her thoughts were cut short. The road was swarmed with changelings, all trying to get into the cars. To her right, two of them were trying to get to one dark green car in particular. An adult male, an adult female, and a young boy. One changeling was laying down in front of the car, and the other stood above it. The one laying down was licking its lips.
“I want the small fry in the back. Bet he tastes better.”
“You might as well eat ‘em all. The last family wouldn’t give up their kids either.”
“Then let’s scare ‘em a bit before I eat.”
Ivory watched in horror as the standing changeling raised his hoof, and pressed it down on the car. They were gonna crush those little humans! The glass windows of the car shattered under the weight of the hoof pressing down. She could hear them screaming!
“Leave those humans alone!”
Almost instinctively, the unicorn blasted the changeling that had his hoof pressed on the car. He fell off the road, and hit the ground with a light thud. The other changeling stood up to defend himself, but he was blasted as well. Both changelings ran off. Ivory walked up to see if the humans were okay, but they ran past her towards the city before she could.
Looking around, she saw numerous changelings chasing around humans. Farther down the road, Ivory saw a wandering Mocha. She ran over to her.
“Ivory! Where are we? There’s humans everywhere!”
“Can you not recognize it? We are on Earth! The human world Mocha!”
The human world looked much larger through the enchanted mirror. It felt strange almost everything being smaller than her. Mocha looked over to Ivory, who was a bit excited. While the presence of changelings made for a tense situation, she couldn’t deny the excitement. Both of them had an interest in the human world, and being here was a dream come true.
Their mesmerizing was cut short when they heard a loud boom. They both looked up, and saw a portal open in the air above them. They took a step back, and watched as three ponies came through. It was Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight! They managed to land on top of each other. They quickly stood up, and looked over to Mocha and Ivory.
“Are you harmed Luna?”
“I am not dear sister.”
“I trust you are not harmed Twilight?”
“No your highness. You and your sister made for a soft landing.”
“Very well then. Now to figure out where we are. Mocha?”
“We are on Earth, the human world. Ivory told me shortly after she found me.”
Princess Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but all five ponies were blinded by a flash of white light. They found themselves still on the ground. They were a bit separated now by the elevated road. Queen Chrysalis stood in the middle of them. The road had collapsed, not being able to hold her weight. The vial that held Cody was on the ground, and the inhibitor collar was as well. Her horn was glowing bright, but not as bright as earlier in the day. The humans she ate were wearing off. She was shaking, struggling to hold onto something with her magic. Above them was Cody, but something was much different.
His eyes were glowing! The spheres of light in his hands were normal for Cody, but the glowing eyes were new. Mocha could swear she heard screaming. It was like his voice was mixed with electricity. It sounded painful, and it was hard to watch. Ivory stepped towards Queen Chrysalis.
“Your highness, you must release Cody. He is trying to use his full power, and that is something no pony can contain. He-.”
“I control Cody now. I do! His power is nothing compared to mine.”
”You do not know what he is truly capable of. Nopony knows.”
“I..vory.”
Mocha looked up to see that Cody had his eyes locked onto Ivory. Queen Chrysalis tried to tighten the magical energy that contained him, but it was in vain. He vanished in a flash of white, and reappeared in front of Ivory on the ground. The glow in his eyes lessened. It was a brief moment of calm. Then Queen Chrysalis walked up behind him.
“Just because your friends are here, does not mean you may leave.”
Cody didn’t speak. He slowly turned around and looked up. The glow in his eyes had brightened again. He bared his teeth, and held a blank expression on his face. This was something Mocha had not seen before. Something in her little brother had broke. He wasn’t himself.
“You belong to me human!”
Queen Chrysalis shot a beam of energy from her horn at Cody. In the blink of an eye, he opened a portal, and another one opened behind her head. She was struck by her own energy, and fell to the ground in front of him. All five ponies were frozen in shock. He just took down the queen by himself in one move. A feat no pony in history could ever claim. A small white disk lowered onto her horn, which made it disappear.
“Move an inch and no one will see you ever again.”
Twilight was in shock. Cody. This sweet male human. Always smiling the few times they would see each other. Despite everything happening back home, he would always take things in stride. As he held a portal enveloping Queen Chrysalis’ horn, it was clear something was different. Maybe being on his home planet changed the situation. Even Ivory, the one he was closest to, was at a loss for words. Twilight stepped closer to him.
“Cody. You removed her horn. She’s not a threat to anypony now.”
“She is a threat Twilight. A threat to every human here on Earth. A threat to every human on Equestria.”
“If we imprison her-.”
“Every pony is a threat Twilight!”
“What? No!”
Cody stared at her, fury in his glowing eyes. It was clear to Twilight. His full power had awakened before he was ready. He was not in control. He was running on instinct and subconscious thoughts. He needed to calm down before he did something drastic. Even with the knowledge of Ivory’s notes, human anger of this level was still somewhat unpredictable. She let him continue, hoping that all this talking would help him calm down.
“With one step, a pony could crush any human! Even a foal could swallow a human with no effort! You really mean to tell me that my kind are safe in your world of giants?”
“We treat humans as equals now Cody.”
“Because of me! Celestia wouldn’t have lifted a hoof to help us if I never got my powers. If I never became a threat! Now I’ll get rid of this threat, and all the others like her.”
Cody raised his hand towards Queen Chrysalis, and a white sphere emanated from his hand. The queen’s look of defiance was gone. All ponies knew Cody was serious. Right before the sphere left his hand, a metal clack was heard. Everypony looked towards Ivory, who had placed the inhibitor collar on Cody. The queen’s horn came back, and the glow in his eyes was gone.
Ivory dropped to the ground as Cody turned around. He looked at his hands, shaking. He dropped to his knees, and she pushed her snout forward as he grabbed onto it. Twilight heard a faint sobbing.
“I’m sorry Ivory. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Your power tried to control you dear. I am sorry I had to use the collar.”
“This is far from over!”
A furious Queen Chrysalis stood up. Before they could react, a strong blast of energy from the queen knocked all five ponies to the ground. They watched as Cody was rapidly levitated towards the queen’s face.
“If I cannot have you, nopony can!”
Her jaw opened. The ponies stood up as Cody was forced inside the queen’s mouth. Twilight saw her teeth slam shut with such force. She could hear his muffled screams through the queen’s mouth.
“Ivory! Help me-.”
Princess Celestia had seen humans devoured dozens of times by her subjects. It was disheartening, but it was something that happened. Even after her declaration of equality, she knew deep down it still happened. However, she had never felt so affected by it as she had right now. Queen Celestia was flying off to the city, with a powerless Cody in her stomach. The changelings were still loose on the innocent humans. If Cody wasn’t saved from her stomach, they would all be trapped in the human world forever. She looked over to Ivory. She was inconsolable, despite Mocha’s best efforts.
“I lost him! I lost him again! My fault! All my fault!”
“Ivory!”
It had been awhile since the princess had to raise her voice at somepony. It seemed to do the trick, since Ivory calmed down relatively. All the other ponies were looking at her. The humans on the road were still being attacked by changelings. They needed to save Cody. They needed a plan. She took a deep breath.
“Mocha, Ivory, and Twilight. I need you three to get the humans on this road away from the changelings. Get them to safety. Luna and I will go to the city and retrieve Cody from Queen Chrysalis. Time is of the essence!”
With a few strong flaps of their wings, Celestia and Luna were in the air. They looked ahead to see Queen Celestia had made it quite a fair distance into the city. She seemed to have made it to a large grassy clearing. Surrounded by trees and buildings, it made her stand out quite easily.
“Sister, what is our plan? We cannot simply attack her without risking harm to Cody.”
“I know Luna.”
“If we do not act however, we could lose him to digestion with her next spell.”
“I know. Once we restrain her, we will have to figure out a solution as fast as we can.”
It was warm, wet, and dark. This was the second stomach Cody had been inside. It was the first time he was calm inside one. He assumed it was the shock that was keeping him calm. He sat close to the hole he came in from, his back against the fleshy wall. A slight burning sensation filled his nostrils. There was no light, but it could be heard. The sloshing of stomach juices. A little bit of it splashed onto his legs, but it didn’t burn horribly. It was more of a strong tingling sensation. It seemed giant pony stomachs couldn’t immediately handle a human body. He knew it didn’t mean he was safe. It only meant he had more time than a chewed up carrot would.
The metal collar wasn’t a help either. Despite feeling it all over, Cody couldn’t find a single part. It was smooth all over, despite being in two parts originally. He figured it was sealed with magic. That meant he needed help to get out.
“Two princesses chasing me down for one little human?”
Queen Chrysalis’ voice echoed into the stomach. Cody could vaguely hear more voices. The others came to help!
“If he is gone, we will all be trapped here!”
“I fail to see the problem with that Celestia.”
“This is their world Chrysalis, not ours!”
It was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! They found him! Before he could shout for help, the floor of the stomach rose below him. The roof of the stomach quickly approached. It was within arm’s reach for him.
“I think I can still feel him in there. If I do not use any spells, you might have a chance to save him.”
Most people expect to be late to work from something like heavy traffic. Some are late to work from medical problems. A few are late from family emergencies. Kevin wasn’t sure if being trapped in a dome by a thirty foot purple unicorn with wings while two other equally giant unicorns fought off other giant black horses counted as a reason to be late.
Within the dome was almost everyone off the highway. Every few minutes they would bring a few more people. It was nearly enough people to fill a lecture hall. Everyone huddled away from the giant purple unicorn. Everyone else in the dome didn’t know which giant ponies to trust. Kevin was the only person in the dome that was close to the giant black pony queen. These colorful ponies wanted to help. The guy the queen had in her necklace was probably important to them. If all this was for one guy, he must’ve been real important. He took a few steps forward, away from the crowd, and towards the purple unicorn. There were some murmurs from the crowd. He was visibly nervous.
“H-Hello?”
The giant purple unicorn turned around, and looked straight at him. The crowd behind him backed up even more. A hole opened in the dome. The unicorn lowered her head, and it still hovered above them. Kevin’s nervousness was turning to fear. She opened her mouth, and spoke in a soft, caring tone.
"I know you're all scared and confused. I promise, my friends and I are not here to hurt you. We're trying to stop these other ponies from conquering this world. Please trust-."
“Twilight look out!”
A blast of green energy struck the purple unicorn, and she fell to the ground with a shaking thud. She was knocked out. The dome disappeared. A black horse was fast approaching. With nowhere to run, everyone hid behind the purple unicorn. Kevin ran to the front of her head, hoping to wake her up. He looked at her flow of purple hair. He grabbed a tuft in his hands, and gave a strong yank. It seemed to have worked. The purple unicorn giantess lightly shook her head. As she quickly raised herself off the ground, Kevin was swept off his feet. As he was raised into the air, everything went purple. His foot was caught in her hair!
Kevin tried to call out, but her hair kept getting caught in his mouth before he could make a sound. He saw the large black horse that was approaching, run away. No one in the crowd of people looking up could see him. He saw the two other unicorns approach. One was a brownish pink, while the other was a dark turquoise.
“This is the last of the humans.”
“Great Mocha. Now we need to get to the city. Hopefully Cody is safe by now. I’ll fly ahead. You two take the humans.”
As he felt the giant unicorn lift herself off the ground with her wings, Kevin hoped holding on to the hair would be safe. He gasped when he looked down. He wasn’t a fan of heights.
“Hm?”
It was hard to describe the shock Kevin had when he started floating in the air. It was even weirder when he found himself in front of the purple unicorn’s face.
“How did you get in my hair?”
“My um...foot got stuck.”
“Terribly sorry. I’ll let you down in the city when we get there.”
At least his problem had a peaceful resolution. He just hoped his boss would understand why he was late.
Stressed wouldn’t describe it. Ivory’s feelings at the moment were much more than that. Mocha was back at the edge of the city, making sure the humans got to safety. This mare was trying to walk in the city without stepping on anything. The road was wide enough for her, but it was littered with cars. Most abandoned after she appeared. She would occasionally levitate a car or two for room to walk. She wanted to run to get to where the queen landed. Unfortunately, this human city was not built to handle a running pony. So she had to walk.
The princesses were in sight. There was a grassy clearing just ahead. She maneuvered her way there. Princesses Twilight, Luna, and Celestia were standing together across from Queen Chrysalis. The queen noticed her approaching, and gave a light chuckle. She rubbed her stomach with her right forehoof as Ivory stood by the princesses.
“Ivory. Here to see your boyfriend disappear?”
“Cody! If you can hear me, everything will be okay!”
“Oh my dear Ivory. You really need to stop keeping promises you cannot keep.”
Princess Celestia stepped towards Queen Chrysalis, but stopped when her horn glowed. She stepped back with the others, and the glow subsided.
“Do not test me Celestia!”
“This is not our world. We never should have opened portals here.”
“Well I...ugh.”
Ivory watched in shock as the queen that held back four ponies by herself, was now struggling to stand up. Her legs were shaking. She took a few steps forward, but stumbled and fell with a hard thud. Queen Chrysalis was slumped on her side. A sickly green energy covered her body. The energy dissipated to reveal a very pale gray queen. Her tattered hair looked even worse. It took a moment to realize what was going on. Ivory called out to Princess Celestia.
“Your highness! Her human addiction! It’s weakened her!”
“Then now may be our only chance!”
A beam of energy shot from Princess Celestia’s horn. It slid into Queen Chrysalis’ mouth. She didn’t fight back or struggle. It seemed she was too weak. Ivory watched in quiet fear. Even Mocha was silent as she walked up beside her. A sound akin to suction was heard. A saliva drenched Cody appeared, levitated by the princess. Ivory and Mocha sprinted forward, a few trees shaking as they did.
“Cody!”
“Sweetheart!”
The split second after Princess Celestia removed the collar, Cody found himself mashed between the cheeks of two ecstatic ponies. Ivory and Mocha would not stop rubbing their faces all over him. Joyful couldn’t describe it.
“My love you are never leaving our side again!”
“You’re never leaving the house!”
Cody found himself being levitated and kissed all over his face by Ivory. He went from being coated in saliva, to having lip marks all over his upper torso and face. He was sure it looked weird to the few people around. As he was placed on her back, the reunion was cut short.
“I...can...still...”
A worse for wear Queen Chrysalis desperately tried to stand. She was now a pale gray, and looked like some of the addicted ponies he saw once in the castle. A green glow emanated from her horn, but it dissipated when a clack of metal was heard. The very collar that restrained his powers, now restricted that of the evil queen. Princess Celestia steeped between the queen and the others.
“It is over Queen Chrysalis. We will make a portal to our home, and you will face charges for your crimes against humans.”
“Never...Never!”
To all their shock, Queen Chrysalis reared back, and slammed her front hooves to the ground with a loud boom. There was a strange silence. Then it could be heard faintly. The flapping from dozens of wings. They all looked up to see an army of changelings coming down from the sky. The queen cackled with an exasperated breath.
“Destroy him!”
Cody saw Mocha move closer to Ivory’s side. He looked around. Five ponies, three of which were princesses, came to another world. They did it to save him. He felt it was time to return the favor. He looked up at his girlfriend’s horn. He had a plan. It was a long shot though.
”Ivory. When I tell you, location spell on the cave we were in earlier.“
“What?”
“Trust me!”
A deep breath. Another. Focus. He couldn’t let his emotions cloud his judgement anymore. Cody felt the warmth of his power come to his hands. He could see the white energy come to the edges of his sight. As the changelings came closer by the second, he knew he had one shot. The open palms of his hands were pointed to Ivory’s horn. Two sphere of white, one target.
“Now!”
The two white spheres left his hands as a turquoise energy appeared around Ivory’s horn. When they struck her horn, it turned into a glowing white. The energy blasted upward, and expanded. Before they could stop themselves, the changelings all funneled into the portal. The few who tried to fly away were shot into the portal by the princesses. It was over in seconds Cody’s arms dropped to his sides.
“Well, that’s the hard part done.”
Mocha still felt a little bad, leaving the human world so abruptly yesterday. Princess Celestia did say she and her sister would come back on more diplomatic terms after they took care of the queen. Though it would be nice to go back soon. Ivory mentioned wanting to go back to the city they were at. One couldn’t deny how fun it was to be in the human world. Maybe one day.
The shop was closed for the day. There were no pickups today either. Ivory and Mocha were laid on the bed. They were watching Cody move his stuff around his new trailer. Yesterday was nothing but the trial for Queen Chrysalis, so he was doing it today. They both insisted on helping, but he refused.
“I can handle moving this stuff. You two have helped me plenty.”
Mocha was about to protest, when there was a knock at the door downstairs. There was a muffled shout of it being the castle guard. Mocha and Ivory got off the bed, with Cody teleporting onto his girlfriend. They went downstairs, and opened the door. It was two stallion unicorns, donning the usual armor of the castle guard. The one on the right opened a scroll.
“Cody, you have been summoned to castle. We have numerous humans requesting to return to Earth. You have also been asked to help bring the remaining humans to the new human village.”
Mocha looked over to see Ivory giving Cody a kiss. It never got old to see.
“I will see you at the village dear.”
“Can’t wait.”
Cody teleported onto the back of one of the guards. He held out his hand, and a ball of energy shot out behind them. Mocha blasted it with a location spell, setting the portal for the castle. The three were quickly gone, and the portal dissipated.
“Ivory, could I join you at the human village?”
“Of course!”
It was nice. The humans that wanted to go home were gone. There were still a decent amount that wanted to stay. They all had a consensus of wanting to start new lives. The others didn’t know much about Cody and his powers, except for what little they heard in passing from guards. So it was a bit weird for them when he opened a portal. Princess Celestia had the portal set for the village.
After the last human walked through to the village, Cody closed the portal. His arms fell to his sides. He was exhausted. Princess Celestia smiled as she looked down at him.
“Thank you for your assistance. This was much faster than our original plan.”
“Always glad to help.”
“Since you are much too exhausted to make another portal, would you like to fly with me to the commencement celebration of the new human village?”
“I would love to, but I would like to take another look at the scroll if you have it.”
“Cody. You have looked over that scroll two times. My experts have gone over it almost a hundred times. We do not know if the scroll will ever tell you about your powers. Since you insist however...”
In a flash of light, Princess Celestia produced a torn, frayed sheet of extremely yellowed paper. She held it in front of him, letting it levitate just off the ground. Cody stared at it for a moment.
“We have done everything short of striking it with your magic.”
“If this doesn’t work, I’m out of ideas.”
Though being a bit exhausted, Cody struck the scroll with a small sphere of his power. The text lit up.
A small creature will have great power
He will find love in a dark hour
His weakness, his greatest strength
To save his kind, shall go any length
From royalty, he must be protected
He will be saved by those he affected
Cody.
You’re not alone.
Find us.
