Updating the Bestiary

Fluttershy had volunteered to do this one alone. Twilight didn’t allow it. Celestia sent a guard. He was silent, but he’d get her out of danger if any came. Fluttershy and the guard walked in silence as they approached the more bog like part of the swamps. Froggy Bottom Bog had multiple different “levels” of bog. There was the dry swamp. Mostly a lot of mist and broken twigs. Then came the swamp itself. Wet mud that you could sink into up to your knees, lots of fog and bugs.

Then came the Bog. Mud that, if you weren’t careful, would swallow you whole and you’d never be seen again. Fog and mist so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. More bugs than any sane pony would ever want to see. And a multitude of creatures, anywhere between kindhearted and ferocious. The Bufogren balanced the scale between kind and ferocious quite well. Its stink alone kept would be predators out of its part of the swamp. Normally it only fed on bugs, as many as it could get. It was not, however, above the occasional pony snack.

The guard watched every angle while Fluttershy simply walked ahead. She knew where one lived. A large Bufogren that enjoyed a good conversation as much as the next pony. As the stink grew, the guard faltered in his step. He didn’t want to go any farther, such was the stench. He, however, was carrying the camera and equipment and he would be the one taking notes. He had to go with her.

Fluttershy was, somewhat, used to smells like this at the Sanctuary. It was a safe place. No eating other guests, no fighting. It’s meant to be a place to relax. As they came to a deeper part of the bog, the guard heaved a couple of times and they stopped. There was a Bufogren nearby. Setting the suitcase down, the guard put on the respirator mask while Fluttershy took out the anti-digestive cream. Just one in the number of anti-digestives Twilight had developed for use in updating the bestiary.

The cream was flavored. Bufogren liked the mint leaves that grew around their Bog, but they didn’t have the teeth necessary to chew them. In order to eat the mint, Bufogren would instead eat the insects that also ate the leaves, thus getting the flavor of the leaves through the bugs. The cream was mint flavored. One tube was enough to cover a pony. Now the task was simply to get his attention. A squeeze and a pop and the Bufogren looked up as Fluttershy smeared the cream over her entire body.

She made sure it was in her tail and mane, on every strand, before walking towards the giant frog. One sniff and he’d snap her up with his giant tongue. The newly updated camera equipment would track her descent into the creature, recording everything. A pre-recorded audio log would be filled in at a later date by Twilight, during editing. Fluttershy didn’t even move far before the giant frog leapt out of his pond, spraying rancid smelling pond scum and rank smelling water everywhere. His landing knocked the little pony off of her hooves and into a patch of mint leaves nearby.

“Hello sir. I’m sorry we intruded on your nap. I was wondering… would you help us with a medical documentary? You don’t have to do much, just let us record you. We already know everything we can about the creatures of Equestria, at least their outsides. This will help us know the inner you.” Fluttershy was wonder with words when it came to critters. A Bufogren was no different. He was just a giant frog with multiple eyes after all.

A belch, followed by foul smelling air left his mouth. “Why would I agree? Why would ponies want to help me?” he asked, every word followed by a wave of stench. It took Fluttershy’s guide all of his restraint to not cover his nose in disgust.

“Because I want to help all creatures. No creature is inherently evil. You just want ponies to leave your swamp in peace. We just want to be able to keep you healthy enough to do that.”

“Covering yourself in minty slime?” The question was… expected. If they needed to have him cooperate, why not just share some mint leaves with him and talk to him.

“That’s the thing. You need to eat me. The slime will keep me protected in your belly and it will give you something you like to suck on.”

“If I suck it off of you… you wouldn’t be safe in my belly.” Another valid point, but Fluttershy knew better.

“While we’ve been talking it’s soaked into my fur. Even if you suck off what’s still on me, I’ll…” she was cut off as the Bufogren’s tongue shot out and slapped into her face, wrapping around her head. He was convinced. The guard jumped to work, lighting his horn and activating the camera drone as Fluttershy was pulled in and swallowed. A single movement and the entire yellow and pink mare was in the frog’s throat and on her way to its stomach.

Correction, stomachs. The camera’s x-ray function allowed the guard to see what was happening. Fluttershy traveled through the large frog’s throat and into a tight pouch where her body was massaged and squeezed. The potion in the slime would keep her unharmed, for the most part. Princess Twilight had done extensive testing on the slime with the aid of Trixie Lulamoon’s Manticore, Manny. It would take several hours, well into the night, before the slime was ineffective.

Even if it happened, Fluttershy would merely wake up in her bed the next morning, extremely hungry and feeling like she just went through an entire bar’s worth of booze. A poor effect of the potion should digestion occur, but the results were worth it in the end. The documentary gets made, nopony gets hurt, a creature gets a meal. Mostly guilt free.

The camera followed Fluttershy’s progress into the second stomach. A larger chamber with some acids. From the slight sizzle, the potion was effective, but they hadn’t gotten all of her fur. The guard watched as small patches burned off of her forehoof. She wasn’t concerned. It may have soaked through her fur, but her skin was safe. She’d just grow the fur back later. It moved and squeezed just like the first stomach before she was pushed through and into the third and final stomach.

This stomach was filled nearly to the top with a pool of caustic acids. Most of the time, without the aid of potions or spells or other means, this would be the final stop for any creature. The acid would melt away the creatures remaining fur and skin and potentially eat through bones. For Fluttershy, much like the acid in the seconds stomach, it was more like a warm bath.

Sucking in a breath, Fluttershy ducked her head under and was immediately sucked into the final tube. The intestines were wound tight and Fluttershy expressed some discomfort, silently, as her body was squeezed and twisted on its way through the tract. The Bufogren tried to hop away but a quick spell from Fluttershy’s guard stopped him moving much further than to lift his haunches and squeeze the small pony out.

Once she was clear, save for the very tip of her tail, the spell was released and the Bufogren launched deep into the bog. The momentum of his hop had built up while he was stuck. The guard walked over to Fluttershy, doused her off with a quick gout of magically summoned water that cleared her fur and skin of acids, and covered her in a blanket that would wear away the remainder of the potion.

Hours later, the two were back in Ponyville helping edit the footage. Fluttershy dubbed over the parts while she was in the stomach so it could be useful for classes and veterinarians. Twilight dictated her speech onto parchment that was taken by the guard back to Canterlot to be edited into the Bestiarum Primary, which would automatically add the pages into every other bestiary in Equestria. A genius idea by Twilight and Celestia with some assistance by Starswirl.

A filly raised her hoof in class. “Miss Fluttershy. Did you really get eaten by a big frog for the book?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, holding up her copy of the Bestiary. It had only been a week, but she’d managed to get the smell of Bufogren out of her fur. “I did. It wasn’t as bad as you would think. They do stink, but it’s not a bad smell. It’s a defense mechanism. Turn to the chapter on Bufogren,” she smiled as everyone did as she told them and read aloud to the class.

“The Bufogren stomach is powerful enough to digest a pony whole. However, like many a creature that inhabit the swamps of our homeland, they are insectivores. Meaning they eat insects and the like. They are capable of devouring and digesting ponies though it would take them far longer than they’d like. They are not a species known for their patients. Though large and lumbering, they tend to move around quite quickly.

“Bugofren are also rather conversationalist. Passive by nature, they would rather hold a conversation with a pony instead of eating them. They have three stomachs in which food is processed. The first stomach contains a liquid meant to soften the prey’s chitinous shells, making it much easier to digest. The second stomach is where further digestion takes place. Meat and muscle are dissolved in a pool of acids that would reach a full-grown pony’s neck in no time.

“After processing in the second stomach is finished, the meal is deposited into the third and final stomach which is full of digestive enzymes. Breathing in the fumes in the third stomach, should the prey have survived the first two stomachs, would be fatal, under normal conditions. The toxic gasses would render the prey unconscious, allowing the powerful acids to go to work on digesting the prey.

“The final stages of the journey are the long, winding intestines. At the end of which is a powerful sphincter muscle that is normally clenched closed while under the swampy waters the Bufogren calls home.”

The students were rapt during Fluttershy’s narration of the pages in the book. Each paragraph was accompanied by a detailed sketch of the inner workings of a Bufogren. One student raised her hoof and Fluttershy looked at her.

“Is there going to be a practical exam on Bufogren digestion, miss Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy had to pause for a moment. A practical exam would involve going to the swamp where the students themselves would become meals for hungry Bufogren, potentially without the safety net of the potion or a revival chamber. “No, I don’t think that will be necessary.” The shy mare said with a demure smile. She wouldn’t make her students get eaten just for a test.