Cadenza's Inside Story

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Beginning Of The Journey
Chapter 2: Journey To The Center Of Cadance
Chapter 3: Voyage of The Vagus Nerve
Chapter 4: The Belly Of The Beast
Prologue: Start Of The Sickness

Chapter 1: The Beginning Of The Journey

After a few hours, Cadance was soon surrounded by who she cared for the most and vice versa. These being Twilight, Spike, Celestia, and Luna coming to show support for her. She was grateful to have good friends and family who could come and visit her in such a critical time, it felt as if she had a completely new family by her side.

Nurse Redheart soon returned from elsewhere to speak to Cadance.

"Your highness, him and his companion are here." She announced.

"Good, please send him in." Cadance directed. Nurse Redheart obliged and stepped to the side, revealing the doctor. He was a tall, brown earth pony with a spiky mane. He had a white collar and green bow tie around his neck and wielded a giant brown bag with golden latches.

"Hello everyone, I am Dr. Whooves. I am here to investigate Cadance's illness." He said, a heavy accent in his voice. “And I’ve brought with me my assistant for this procedure, Night Fury” He stepped aside to show a black pony-like jaguar.

"Uh, hello there?"

"He’s quite good at this biological reconfiguration business, perhaps even more than me!" Dr. Whooves said excitedly.

Fury blushed at the acknowledgment. "Well thanks, Doctor, but this isn't about me, we have a sick friend in need here." Fury said, redirecting the attention to Cadance.

"Ahh, yes of course. So, anything that I should know before my examination?" Dr. Whooves asked, reaching into his brown sack.

"Before you got here, Cadance was showing signs of a basic flu. Achy bones and muscles, high temperature, sneezing, and an upset stomach. But over the past few hours, she has been showing more…”

At that moment, Cadance sneezed, and Nurse Redheart’s mane changed to a multi-colored clown-like afro.

“...strange symptoms, with anything out of her body wreaking magical havoc." Nurse Redheart explained. "Her insides are basically a fun house at this point and I have no clue what's causing it."

"Hmm, very strange indeed. Allow me to get a second opinion. Alright your highness, lay on your back and hold still, this may be a little weird." Dr. Whooves said, placing a device on the ground and pressing a button. The device began to whirr and quickly put up a long privacy curtain in the direction of the onlookers, blocking view of everything below Cadance’s neck, causing Cadance to gulp at what was about to happen.

"This won't hurt…will it?" She asked.

"No, but it will feel a little funny." Dr. Whooves warned.

Cadance gritted her teeth in preparation. "Okay…" Within seconds, a cacophony of noises including whirring and vibrating ones flooded the room, with bright flashes from various gadgets and devices lighting up the other side of the privacy curtain.

Cadance for her part made a bunch of odd expressions, ranging from pain to possibly pleasure. "Nghh… that's a bit touchy! Wait where's tha-eek!" The group of supporters winced as they heard what ensued, rapidly changing facial expressions as they listened to her being examined.

After a bit, Cadance, who had her tongue out and eyes derped, was turned around by the machine. Her legs and tail flailed a bit as muffled sounds came from her head. It then turned her around again and she breathed heavily, eyes wide, then burped on the wall, making the paint turn tie-dye in a large splotch. The device then did another, much shorter pass on her rear end, making her squirm, grit her teeth, and wince before it finished up with some final odd popping noises. “Ungh…could’ve at least bought me dinner first, Mr. Whooves…”

Spike giggled a bit. “Good one, Cadance!”

Dr. Whooves rolled his eyes. "Call me The Doctor…and well, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what it is, but I’ll need to feed this data into a machine for analysis, so hold on just one moment." He spoke. He then retrieved another gadget from his sack and deployed it onto a nearby wall. The small device expanded and became a large screen, steel accents adorning the edges.

"This is my Biological Subject Scanner. This device is used for scanning organisms and identifying their biological makeup. Observe." The Doctor pushed a button on the corner of the screen, a radar dish popping up from the top and a robotic voice spoke up.

Checking primary systems… Primary systems online. Activating Bagley Program…

The computer soon gained a symbol, an omega sign. The computer booted up with a ping and soon began speaking.

B: Ah, hello Doctor. You seem healthy as always!

"Yes I am! Everyone, this is Bagley. He's an A.I program that I created not too long ago to assist me with my inventions and adventures."

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Wow, really?”

B: That I am! It took The Doctor a few years to create me, and it was all worth the wait from megabyte to megapixel. So, what's the deal today, Doctor?

"Our dear friend Cadance has come down with a strange illness and needs our help to cure it. I’ve already done a basic probing." The Doctor said.

B: Ah, I see. Well, let me do a quick scan of her highness and I'll get started combining the data.

Bagley used the radar dish on top of the screen to scan Cadance. She watched as the blue wave of light moved down her body and dissipated.

B: Biological subject scanned, retrieving data and comparing with probe results…

The screen then went black as a digital copy of Cadance's body, outside and inside, appeared on the screen with some information about her.

Subject: Princess Cadance
Blood Type: B+
Species: Alicorn
Current ailment: Cellular Silliness Syndrome

"Cellular Silliness Syndrome!" The Doctor announced. The other creatures in the room wore confused looks as they processed the words.

"Cellular Silliness Syndrome?" They all repeated, The Doctor nodded in affirmation.

"Yes, though it sounds completely preposterous, it is a real illness. Well, so to speak. This rare but very real illness happens when a magical creature's body is stressed and mistakenly sends out magical pulses to try to keep everything in order, eventually causing it to go into a state of chaos as everything goes haywire. The swirling stomach, random spells from sneezing, magical surges, it's all a part of it getting worse." The Doctor explained.

The others in the room looked at each other as the very confusing description ran through their minds. The doctor continued.

"The illness can usually be self-cured by getting some rest and just letting the various parts of the body get themselves in order, but this normally only happens in lower magical beings. Since Cadance is an alicorn, her body’s magic is much more intense than the average pony, constantly filling her systems with powerful mana and energy flow. Which is why this must be faced deep inside!" He declared.

"But how? It's not like there's some medicine that we can give her to fix this." Twilight spoke. The doctor chuckled and began looking through his bag.

"Of course there isn't, the illness is too rare and too fast in progression to have a solid cure or treatment for it, which is why I have my own solution." The doctor said, then walked over to an open part of the room and placed a small metal dish on the ground.

"I suggest you all take a few steps back." The others in the room did so. He pressed a button on the side of the dish and with a bright flash, a large silver pod-like submarine with a glass dome in the front and a large door in the back, alongside a futuristic-looking ray, appeared in the room. The group of friends gawked at the machine, it was like nothing they'd ever seen.

"Holy mackerel, what is it?" Shining Armor asked, Walking up to it.

"This, my friends, is my Pony Exploration and Analysis Submersible for Probing Organic Depths. Or P.E.A.S.P.O.D. for short." The Doctor explained. "This brilliant creation, once shrunken down, can control its rate of unshrinking, enabling it to reach the necessary sizes to explore even the most otherworldly nooks and crannies of this world."

"That sounds like truly a brilliant machine, I am most impressed." Luna spoke, inspecting the makeup of the craft.

"Wait, why does it have 'Probing' in the name?" Spike inquired.

The doctor rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. "Well, uh, you see, it really will have to go quite deep inside, we can’t just cut her open and do surgery for this..." The doctor said.

“Is this legal?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh…hehe…no law against it?” The Doctor said with a shrug while looking away.

"I will have to rework those laws after this, certainly some safeguards will be needed when this isn’t being done with direct royal approval, and I’d rather not deal with what hooligans could get up to if they got inside ponies." Celestia remarked.

Night Fury then spoke up as he walked up to the rest of the group. "Legal issues aside, I know how to steer this baby… And you said we’re going to have to face this illness deep inside…" He listed off, gasping as he realized what was happening, and gulped.

"Of course! This stuff isn’t for some fancy show to make Cadance feel better, I’m suggesting we help Cadance out by going inside her body! That is, you, me, and…Twilight…"

Twilight nervously laughed as she started to sweat.

"Hehe, nice joke. That was pretty funny…" She said, but she was soon turned paralyzed as she saw The Doctor and Night Fury shaking their heads at her.

"You weren't joking, were you?"

"This is outrageous! I refuse to have some random pony prod and pry at my innocent niece's insides!" Luna yelled, clearly distressed by the idea.

Cadance cleared her throat, and suddenly sneezed, making the ceiling shake. “Hey, it’s not up to you! Look, this sounds serious, and it’s only a matter of time until the magic coming out of me stops being so harmless… I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if it hurt somepony, so… let’s do this.”

B: I'm glad you see this as a good idea, Cadance. As our feline friend was previously speaking on, I also believe Twilight would be a good addition on this mission.

"Bagley, why would I be of any use?" She asked.

B: Well, you seem to be fairly adept in the knowledge of many concepts. It would be very helpful to have someone as smart as you on this trip to act as a biological guide for The Doctor and Night Fury.

Twilight sighed. “Right…so…let’s go.”

“Allons-y!” said The Doctor, entering the pod via the airlock in the back.

Night Fury followed soon after, and then behind him was a reluctant Twilight, giving curious looks around as they came into the cabin.

B: To your left, you can see specially made ‘Bio-suits’ that will allow you to remain safe outside the vehicle. An observation bubble is available through the ladder between the airlock door and back seats, giving a full 360 degree range of view. And finally, the pilot seat in front is where the external claws, rays, blasters, scanners, and other functions can be performed. The seats also come with cup holders and heating options as standard.

"Heated seats, really?" Twilight spoke, unamused by the mundane feature as she squeezed into one of the two small back seats.

"Hey, when you go on crazy adventures like this, the least you can do is be comfortable while doing it. Although we’ll be less comfortable than normal with three of us in here…I’m afraid those back seats are a little tight so I can fit all the other features." The Doctor said, taking the pilot seat.

Night Fury got into the seat next to Twilight, right up against her, rather squishing her against the side wall. “Well…I guess it just means we won’t need to run the seat heater much with her butt so close!” He put his foreleg around her shoulders, squishing her a bit less with it no longer between them, and smiled nervously.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right…uh…well, it’s definitely cozy! Um, I’ll take a bit of water to put in my cup holder, please.”

"Just be nice, you two." The Doctor warned, turning to the controls as a closed cup with a straw was dispensed with water in it for Twilight.

"Alright, Bagley, let's get this show on the road. Initiate tracking system."

B: Right-o Doctor, beginning the linking process… Tracking system engaged.

"Connect Communication systems…"

B: Initializing Comm link… Communication systems online, connection at 100%.

"Run hull and module diagnostics and display the HUD interface."

B: Roger, displaying… diagnostics report all ready. Activating shrink ray. IMPORTANT: Do not use teleportation while shrunk, as it may confuse your body about its correct size and cause differential unshrinking, a potentially-fatal medical condition!

“...right, teleport while I’m shrunk and my butt might explode, got it…” Twilight said with a gulp, before sipping her water.

“Alert the princesses outside to act fast now that we’re shrinking, we don’t want to get swept under a rug!” The Doctor added.

B: Engaging seatbelts, and alerting…

In moments, the outside view of a very intrigued Luna and Celestia grew larger, and the view slowly came down to their hoof level, before the giant petri dish, now small, was lifted up by Celestia’s magic, and a pipette came down to suck them up inside!

They began tumbling like crazy, with Twilight especially looking freaked as she held onto her cup. She yelled a bit and began breathing heavily.

Night Fury as well seemed freaked, holding Twilight close, and she started to hold him back as the two screamed a bit.

“Sorry for the bumpy ride, but this thing can’t exactly fly… yet!” The Doctor said as suddenly they got hit by a force and shot out into darkness. Soon, all motion stopped, as they heard a wet plop from outside.

“We must be in Cadance’s nostrils now…” remarked Night Fury as he put a paw to his mouth, resisting vomiting.

"Well, now that we're inside, we should do a comms check. Activate headsets." The Doctor instructed. The three of them all turned on the headsets on their ears and began speaking to the outside world.

"Bagley, This is the PeasPod, do you read us?"

B: Loud and Clear, Doctor. You have successfully been put into Cadance's nose.

"Yuck, that sounds like something Shining would do on a dare!" Cadance said. Although her voice sounded normal from the outside, her voice was a booming force that shook the pod on the inside, causing Twilight to fall over onto Night Fury with an “Aah!” while he flailed a bit.

“Um, Cadance, could you please refrain from talking loudly or moving quickly?” The Doctor asked.

Twilight sat back up and gave a nervous chuckle. “It’s not exactly a fun ride in here when you do…” she added.

“...right.” came back a whispered response, accompanied by only a very slight vibration of the pod.

B: Alright everyone, here's the plan. You are going to have to take on the smallest misbehaving system to the largest, and the smallest is Cadance's immune system. There is no simple way to say this, but you will have to get into her bloodstream to calm her cells and reduce her mucus buildup. I’ve detected a blood vessel nearby to the pod’s current position.

“Right…navigating. It’ll take a little bit to get us there in this mucus.” The Doctor said.

The pod shuddered and jerked about a bit as the propellers began pushing it through the extremely-viscous mucus.

“So…the whole ride won’t be this bad, right?” Twilight asked.

“Shouldn’t be!” The Doctor replied. “But…well, do try to not fall over as much. It takes a little bit of getting used to…aha, we’re here!” He pressed a button to activate a drill on one of the robotic arms.

"The Doc is right, this isn't an easy job. I've been an assistant of his for a while, so I'm used to taking a few hits. And I would suggest you try and get used to it too." Night Fury suggested. Twilight nodded as the drill deployed and The Doctor began speaking.

"Okay, Cadance, we're going to enter your bloodstream through your nose. You may feel a little something…" He spoke, aiming the drill towards the blood vessel and beginning the drilling process. Cadance felt a slight twinge in her nose as they did their work, but it was a little too much for her to hold back on.

B: Oncoming sneeze detected, activating emergency external clamps!

"Uh oh…” Night Fury said.

Chapter 2: Journey To The Center Of Cadance

“Everyone hang onto something!" The Doctor said as they braced for Cadance’s sneeze.

Twilight grabbed the cupholder with her right foreleg, and wrapped her left around Night Fury. He did much the same, but with opposite sides…and then came a huge wave.

“Achoo!” was all that could be heard from the outside, but inside, mucus tumbled over the craft and gale-force winds rattled the frame as the sneeze blasted them. The winds and flying mucus soon settled and Cadance sat back in her bed slowly.

"Oops, sorry. About the pod, and Spike’s sandwich." She whispered.

"Phew, no worries. A little battering is nothing that this craft can't handle. Fury, Twilight, are you two okay?" The Doctor asked.

"Stable." Twilight spoke, before sipping some of her water.

"Still going strong." Fury added on. "Maybe we should turn down the drill speed so that we don't get one of those again."

“Right…we’re almost through the blood vessel’s walls anyways. This will cause a slight nosebleed…” The Doctor said as he resumed drilling, and sure enough, the red wall sticking out above the muck tore open dramatically, with a wash of fluid and platelets across the canopy.

“I’ll get a tissue.” said Spike from the outside.

“Are those…blood platelets?” Twilight asked.

B: Affirmative! These brilliant things are the source of life itself. But it’s no time to dawdle, you three have a disease to stop! Get in that bloodstream and do your stuff.

“Right away!” The Doctor said as he turned off the external clamps and engaged the engines, plowing into the spray, and soon putting them in the tube, surrounded by platelets flowing past, with the occasional white cell instead.

"Woah, so this is the bloodstream, huh?" asked Night Fury.

B: Yes it is. This vast highway stretching throughout the body is what keeps your muscles moving and your heart pumping. Did you know that the bloodstream is nearly 100,000 kilometers long? That's long enough to wrap around the planet more than twice over end to end if you laid it out in a straight line!

“Focus, Bagley…” The Doctor said.

B: Affirmative…your first target is Cadance’s tonsils below you. I’ve uploaded navigation information into the pod, so it should autopilot you there in just a minute. Once there, you will need to zap the white blood cells to drain the magic out of them to calm them down and stop the inflammation.

“Wait, who’s doing the zapping?” Twilight asked.

B: You are the only crew member capable of doing so…

“But I can’t do it from in here… oh no, I’m going outside, aren’t I?” Twilight said with a groan.

B: That’s correct. Those Bio-suits wouldn't be there if they weren't meant to be used.

“We’re here…” The Doctor said. “Ready?”

Twilight sipped a bunch from her water cup and gulped. “Ready as I’ll ever be…”

“Good luck!” shouted Spike.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Twilight.” said Celestia.

Night Fury moved out of the way and got out a bio-suit, quickly putting it on Twilight, with a little help from her magic.

"Okay Twilight, this suit is well-tested, so I’m positive it’ll keep you safe out there as you use your magic to stop the inflammation, it’ll just feel a little weird on your horn. Now do us proud out there." Night Fury said as he made sure the bubble helmet was clamped tight at the opening for her horn that left most of it exposed, then opened the inner airlock door. Twilight was still nervous about venturing into such an unknown place, but she knew she had someone counting on her to get it done.

"Okay, here I go…" She said meekly, stepping inside the airlock and closing the door behind her.

B: Depressurizing Airlock…

The outer door soon opened, and fluid sloshed in slowly as Twilight stepped forward into it. Around her, it was fairly dark, but the pod’s lights lit up the pink flesh where the blood vessel contacted the tonsils below her. Twilight could see a ton of odd mostly-transparent, whitish ball cells lining the surfaces, with occasional strange multi-colored arcing of magical energy. “So…are those things white blood cells?”

B: Correct. Please perform the requested magic draining and make it quick, those white blood cells aren't exactly fond of unknown entities trespassing in there.

Twilight nodded and swam upwards a bit, finding it quite easy in the bio-suit, which adhered directly to her fur everywhere but the helmet. She then closed her eyes and lit her horn, performing a magic drain spell that saw the multi-colored energy rapidly flow out of the cells. Her eyes opened as she smiled, then panicked, as energy was accumulating in her horn…and it was starting to spark. “Oh no, what do I do with all the energy?” She asked frantically.

“Redirect it into something harmless, any spell you can think of that won’t hurt us or Cadance!” replied The Doctor.

Twilight looked around for a way to dispose of the charge before coming to an idea. She calmly breathed and let the charge disperse throughout the blood as a very bright light spell. On the outside, a small purple glow emitted from Cadance's mouth and throat as the magic shined through her fur.

“Well-done, Twilight, but you may need something stronger if other areas of her have more magic built up in them…” Celestia said.

B: Analyzing…yes, there is more magic in the larger systems affected. This spell should be sufficient to handle the immune system problems, if also repeated in the bone marrow.

"Okay, that's great…but I think we need to get out of here please, I think those white blood cells didn't exactly like the light show." Twilight spoke. The white, round blobs slowly got closer to her, trying to identify this new entity. Soon, one grabbed her tail, and dragged her inside…then started trying to melt her bio-suit! Twilight screamed a bit as her exposed horn sparked and fizzled.

"Dangit, hold on!" Fury called. "Doc, give me the controls. This may get ugly."

The Doctor nodded as they changed places, and Fury maneuvered the pod to ram into the white blood cell, tearing it open to let Twilight out. He then activated the right robotic arm to pull her and sling her to the back of the pod.

"Bagley, any other unusual things coming up on radar?" Fury asked as the airlock closed with Twilight safely inside.

B: Scanning for entities… Oh dear. There's a large amount of white blood cells approaching your location, they must have been alerted by that flash. Quickly now, move onto the bones and muscles so we can continue our mission!

"Alright then, let's get a move on. Night Fury, get us out of here!" The Doctor instructed. The black feline nodded and put the throttle to full, making careful moves around the white blood cells and continuing the mission. Night Fury did a myriad of maneuvers and evasive actions to dodge the ensuing wave of white blood cells.

On the outside, Spike, Celestia, and Luna stood, while Cadance & Shining Armor in an embrace sat on the hospital bed, and watched as a white dot on the screen quickly moved, in a diagram of Cadance’s bloodstream and skeletal structure, from her head towards her shoulder.

The inner airlock door opened, and Twilight rushed to get off her bio-suit as the craft flung her around. She flopped onto the far seat, going over the Doctor, with just a few light strands of the fluid from outside spread across them, and shivered as The Doctor held her gently with his hooves while she finished her cup of water. “Ugh…that was close, but I think my horn’s okay, so what are we doing?”

“Finding a place to hide…” Fury responded. "But before we do that, we gotta do a recap on our progress. Cadance, how are you feeling out there? Your throat feeling better?"

“Yeah…” came a whisper.

“Excellent… hmm, I think this is a good place to hide for now while the white blood cells pass.” Fury said as he set the craft down in a bone region.

"Bagley, status report." The Doctor ordered.

B: You have arrived at a leg bone. The left foreleg’s humerus, to be exact.

"Ahh, that's good. Speaking of bones, that gives me a chance to test out one of my long running theories…" The Doctor explained.

"What's that, Doctor?" Twilight inquired.

"Does the 'funny bone' actually exist?" The Doctor asked.

Twilight facehoofed and flopped over on The Doctor, looking up at him with a very unamused expression. “Really?”

“Well we had to go here anyways to deal with the bone marrow and ease Cadance's muscles by telling the immune system to stop at its sources…” The Doctor replied.

“Well, let's get moving then." Fury said, powering the pod up again and taking off deeper into the bone structure, past the white stuff, and into the yellow and red spongy tissue. The team searched inside the humerus and spotted an unusual sight, magical energy arcing along the inside of the tissue.

"Hey doc, I think we found the achy bones…and where all the white blood cells are made." Fury pointed out.

“Alright… I’ll go out with Twilight this time to make sure nothing tries to have her for lunch… after I verify the bio-suit’s integrity.” The Doctor said.

The two quickly suited up, with Twilight seeming to have gotten the hang of it, doing most of the work. The Doctor put on the suit she had worn before, after giving it a once-over. “Hmm, the horn seal is compromised, good thing I’ll just have it plugged as an earth pony. We’ll definitely need to be careful, the suits may conform to the wearer’s body, but there’s only three of them.”

The two then left the pod to rectify the aches and pains in Cadance's bones. There was a noticeable abnormality that immediately caught their eyes.

"Hmm… it seems whatever that red tissue is has been damaged. Twilight, do you have any idea what this is?" The Doctor asked. Twilight took a closer look and nodded at the damage, where the tissue appeared to have cuts all over it.

"Hmm, that’s bone marrow, and it seems like it’s had chunks gouged out of it by the disease. Cadance's cells must think her bones are in some sort of imaginary danger of being attacked and are trying to rectify it. The problem is, those cells have been so scrambled that they can't tell the difference between a real threat and a false alarm.” She informed.

B: That conforms to my analysis. If you fix this area, where it’s the worst, it should be sufficient to where the other bones get back to normal on their own, and that should address Cadance’s immune system problems. Please act quickly, however, as this is where white blood cells are born…you’ll need to drain magic from where the stem cells are turned into them, and then not stick around to be identified as a threat.

“Right…” Twilight said as she charged her horn, and pointed it at some nearby sites where it appeared cells were being changed.

"Of course. Night Fury, keep those engines warm, we may need an escape plan if things go south." The Doctor said.

“On it…I’ll put us on a low cruise…you two tethered close?” Night Fury replied as he turned on the throttle just barely.

“Right, and ready.” The Doctor replied after a tug, and as Twilight again casted the light spell, harmlessly discharging the magical energy as she was pulled along gently.

B: White blood cells detected converging on your location slowly. No imminent danger, but you should move along.

“Hitting it…” Night Fury said as he slowly raised the throttle. Throughout the bone structure, the three of them drained the magic from the bones, slowly but surely relieving their friend on the outside of her aches and pains. He smoothly piloted the ship as they moved along until they bumped a certain bone by accident.

A slight giggle could be heard from outside, followed by a burp.

“Well, seems you did hit Cadance’s funny bone…and took out a painting from the wall doing so.” Spike said.

“Hmm, that wasn’t much…but we still have more to do here, I think. How are her nerves looking, Bagley?” The Doctor asked.

B: They’re still containing a lot of magical energy…you should proceed quickly to the nerves in the nearby elbow joint to relieve the pressure…you may need to be at a larger size for this.

"Right away, Bagley." The Doctor said. “Let’s get into the airlock.” In very little time, the two were secure, as the pod unshrunk slightly, to where it would take up half a blood vessel’s diameter.

"You know, this is a bit of a bummer. Having to just sit back and take all this weirdness as you three work your magic. It kind of isn't doing well for my self esteem." Cadance said somberly.

Twilight frowned, feeling sorry for the pink alicorn. “I didn't know that this was so draining for you…I kind of forgot we were in a living pony for a moment.”

"Hey, cheer up, will ya? We'll get you back on your hooves in no time at all. Just wait until we’re out of you first!" Fury chuckled.

"Yeah right, like it's that easy. And besides, how do you think this could cheer me up? Shining’s hugging me like I’m dying and it’s barely helping." Cadance said, prompting a “Hey!” from Shining.

“I’ve…got an idea. Doctor, wanna trade places?” Fury said with a grin. He slowly moved the pod towards the joint, then parked it, and donned his Bio-suit.

“Sure…” The Doctor said as the inner airlock door opened, and the two swapped. The door quickly closed, and then the airlock began depressurizing.

"And what exactly do you propose you can do from in there?" Cadance asked somewhat quietly, not knowing the plan.

“Twilight, do your thing while I do mine…” Fury said as he opened the outer airlock door, grinning cheekily as he floated out to the bone and extended his paws. He soon latched onto her funny bone’s very end and began articulating his paws in and out quickly. "Coochie coochie coo…"

Twilight meanwhile began scooping up energy with her horn, but more was flowing in as it seemed to pulse out as Fury touched the nerves. She began casting the light spell, but it was building up.

Meanwhile, raucous laughter erupted from outside, and even started to shake the leg that they were in, though it could only be felt as a low hum in the fluid.

B: Magical energy overload imminent in Twilight’s horn. Light spell insufficient! Recommend using a redirection spell that consumes a large amount of energy. Transformation too risky… perhaps movement.

“Right…on it…canceling gravity!” Twilight said as she changed the light spell out for a spell that made Cadance float above her bed.

“Whoa…hahhah…this is so fun!” Cadance said, now quite loudly. "Hahahahaha, hey! What are you doing in there?"

"Cheering you up while coaxing out the magic, is it working?" Fury asked, as he more aggressively tickled the nerves, using all four of his paws.

“I guess! Haha…oh wow…” Cadance said, while Luna added on. “I’ll try to catch her when she comes down…”

Fury stopped, seeing the magic flow to Twilight end. “Well, mission accomplished…at least for this portion. How are we doing?”

B: Head and limbs are mostly magic-free in the bones and nervous system. The vagus nerve is now the highest concentration of magic in her nervous system, concentrated near the far end where it interacts with her genitals and rectum. …and I suppose we can now officially say that the humerus is indeed the…’funny bone’.

"Eww! Major party foul!" Fury exclaimed, re-entering the pod with Twilight in tow.

“Yeah, yuck…” added Spike.

"I, for one, am glad that I didn't come along on this little 'body adventure'. While I’ve seen…a lot, even I have my limits as to what images my mind can dwell on." Luna said, shivering at the thought.

“And I thought a thousand year old woman would be unfazed by these things… Anyways, quite an excellent discovery!” said The Doctor. “Let’s move on to that vagus nerve, we’ll need to get to her digestive system later anyways and tackle her swirling stomach… Twilight, will fixing its problems help with her digestive issues?”

“Hmm…it could, if even just partially. The vagus nerve is a direct line from the brain to many areas, including the stomach and colon, bypassing the spine.” She explained. "But, it’s rather sensitive, too sensitive for magic or I might make her have um…accidents. This could use a 'softer touch' to fix the problem."

"Oh great, I'm gonna be the cat rummaging through Ms. Lovebutt's… Well, butt?" Fury asked as he opened the inner airlock door.

“It’s what you signed up for!” Replied The Doctor. “Allons-y!” He engaged full throttle, sending them on the shortest route towards Cadance’s rear.

"Great…" Fury moaned. "Cadance, just so you know, I really don't want to violate you like this from in here. I really don't."

“I appreciate that a lot but…I’m the princess of love, so this isn’t my first rodeo except of the ‘shrunken creatures in submersible’ variety, and every moment you spend talking is another where I’m left thinking about what this magic might do that’d make my problems when I was pregnant with Flurry look like nothing so…” Cadance started. “Less talking, more getting to fixing me!” She shouted, causing a rumble.

“Understood!” Fury said, readying himself for the next mission objective.

Chapter 3: Voyage of The Vagus Nerve

On the outside in the hospital room, Celestia, Luna, and Spike watched the screen next to Cadance and Shining Armor, who was holding her hoof, as it showed a blip moving rapidly in the diagram of her bloodstream, towards her rear. As it reached it, a second diagram appeared, showing her digestive system.

B: Nearing the vagus nerve rectal terminus, high levels of magical energy detected.

“Fury, keep us steady, we don’t want to bump that or we could cause serious problems…remember everyone, this nerve is connected all over the body, so it’s a bit critical to her wellbeing.“ The Doctor said. “Now, are we in position?”

B: Affirmative.

“Fury, Twilight, I want you both out there.” The Doctor said.

The two nodded and got in their bio-suits, then headed into the airlock.

“So…” Twilight began. “You've been next to a pony’s rectum often?”

"Okay, that’s a very personal question. To be honest, the closest I've ever been to a pony's backside is because of The Royal Sisters. Mostly Celestia with how tall she is compared to me."

“Right, hehe…just a little nervous, you know? And I figured you might’ve tested on some willing subject and…sorry.”

“Twilight, your mic’s on, and so is his. You two never turned them off...” said Spike.

Twilight went wide-eyed. “Whoops…anyways, once more into the breach.” She headed out as the outer airlock door opened.

"Heh, yeah. Let's go." Fury chuckled nervously. "Sweet mother of Equestria, I'm gonna be in so much trouble with her for that…" He whispered

“Oh there’s no trouble…” Luna started. “Don’t think I haven’t seen all of the dreams about me and my sister and Cadance and… many more things that are far more on the disturbing side. Just stay on task.”

Fury grumbled as he stepped out with Twilight. “So…how are we taking the magic out of this thing, exactly?”

B: You will have to act as a conduit to stabilize the energy for Twilight to collect and redirect…and it appears in this case that the previous spell will again be insufficient to dissipate the energy in time. In fact, there is so much more that if a spell is not readied…the magic may fry you in mere seconds. Twilight will have to prepare and cast the spell immediately.

Twilight gulped. “Right um…Cadance, any ideas on spells I could use?”

Cadance sneezed lightly, making Spike seem to panic outside and stomp on something, then sighed. “In my butt? Well…there’s that one spell for an emergency involving a certain situation with a Prench dignitary…”

Twilight blinked. “You’re sure?”

“Yes…just in case.” Cadance replied.

“Alright, Fury… grab my horn, and when I count down to 0, also grab the nerve. It’ll probably feel horrible, but the spell will definitely use a lot of the energy, so as long as your suit doesn’t melt, we should be fine.“

Fury gulped. “Right…as long as it doesn’t melt…sure…” He hesitantly grabbed onto her horn.

"Okay, here we go… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!" Twilight charged her horn just as Fury grabbed onto the nerve. Within a fraction of a second, tons of multi-colored arcs streamed across his biosuit and into Twilight’s horn.

Fury screamed and shook slightly, while Twilight casted a spell in a narrow, continuous beam towards the wall of the rectum, a bit away from where the nerve connected.

“O-ooh! …that definitely…feels mmm…weird.” Cadance said as she breathed heavily. “A good weird, but…like I just used the bathroom and also like...well, like you owe me dinner… First The Doctor and now you, Twilight? Bad date manners must be spreading!” Cadance began chuckling quietly but hard, clearly unable to contain laughter at her own joke in her pleasured state.

“That’s…honestly about what I expected, so…you’re welcome, I guess. Ew, though.” Twilight said. “I’ll have to keep casting the spell for a bit, so hopefully things stay the same for her.” She kept the beam steady.

“Yeah…you do not wanna see her face right now. Some things belong in the bedroom, some in the bathroom, and this…this is both.” Spike replied as Cadance moaned.

"Oh great, more mental images that'll stick with me for the rest of my life." Fury remarked as the magic continued to flow across him.

Suddenly, a loud sputter was heard from outside, accompanied by a heavy rumble inside.

“Ew, Cadance! Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse!” shouted Spike.

“Sorry, but I’m not exactly in control while they’re kind of uh, messing with my nerve down there…” Cadance replied with a nervous chuckle. “I had Twilight cast the spell that should make everything smell like roses. Takes a surprising amount of energy, so…” She stopped as more gas let out, for nearly half a minute, making even Shining groan. “Excuse me…uh…Fury, you’re not dead in there, right?”

"I… think my body just got rearranged." He remarked dizzily as the magic flow finally stopped. "My stomach feels as if it just bounced out of me."

“Kind of the same here…” Cadance said. “And my hospital bed is now made of cheese. I guess there was some magic left in that gas…”

“We are throwing out that cheese before anypony gets any ideas…” Shining said.

"Yeah, I’d say…I guess you uncut it! But uh, burn the cheese too, just to be safe… Bagley, how we doin’?"

B: The only remaining magical buildup is in her intestines, duodenum, and stomach. A trip up from your current position through the intestines should allow you to collect residual magical energy safely until you enter the stomach.

“...I’m not touching her entire intestinal tract.” Fury stated bluntly.

B: That will not be required, the intestines are very stable. Twilight should be able to simply hug the inner lining while continuously casting a light spell. The vibrations from the magical energy may push her away slightly, but her wings should allow her to shimmy back into place through the bio-suit.

Fury giggled. “Looks like you’ll be doin’ it instead.”

Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. “Oh great… I’m only doing this for you, Cadance…”

“Thanks… I guess this’ll bring a new meaning to doing a little shake in our dance.” Cadance replied while sounding like she was stifling a chuckle.

Fury burst out cackling.

“Just… Get. In. The Pod.” Twilight demanded, pointing.

"Alright alright, I'm going, Madame Fussy Britches." Fury said as he rushed into the airlock.

“You two are really stretching the boundaries of ‘being nice’... now Bagley, how do we get into the colon?” The Doctor added.

B: Forceful entry could cause serious damage, and the pod cannot shrink on its own to slip in via narrow paths such as from the bloodstream. Twilight may be able to do a phasing spell on the pod, as the lining of the rectum is not particularly thick. In addition, the pod will need to unshrink again once inside to provide the proper scale for Twilight’s magic collection.

“Right. Twilight, get in the airlock as soon as you can.” The Doctor said.

“So…is Twilight gonna need a bath after all this?” asked Spike.

“Yes. Absolutely yes…” Twilight replied. “Well, I’ve got a suit protecting me, but I just…I’ll need a bath to feel clean, you know?”

"I think all of us can agree, whether on the inside or out, that we're all gonna need a good few days to work this weirdness off." Fury said as he entered the cabin of the pod.

“Not me.” The Doctor said. “I’ve got a very important meeting after this, actually! Night Fury can take a day or two off, but this is just my 1 o’ clock, typical day.”

Twilight opened the outer airlock door and got in. “Okay, phasing spell time. Tell me when to cast it.”

The Doctor maneuvered the craft into position, ramming at the rectal wall. “And…now!”

Twilight casted the spell, and the whole pod phased through in an instant.

"Woo, I felt that! Felt kinda fuzzy." Fury said.

“Unshrinking us a bit…about as much as I can do without us getting stuck.” The Doctor said.

“Eugh…I can feel the pod…can you guys hurry? It’s kind of uncomfortable feeling like I need to…you know…” Cadance said.

“Okay, I hope this is the last time I have to think about this stuff…” Fury said with an audible shudder.

“Sorry, but we are uh, just moving along!” The Doctor called back.

Twilight popped out of the airlock, then ignited her horn with a light spell as the pod navigated up through the inner sphincter into Cadance's colon, with Twilight being dragged through behind.

"Yuck, just seeing all of this is nightmare fuel enough, but of course I have to be blessed and cursed with this hearing of mine." Fury complained.

"Wait, what's so bad about what you're hearing?" Spike asked.

“I’m a big cat pony…we hear pretty well. I can hear everything that's going on in here.” Fury replied.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care how good your hearing is, you don’t get to complain about hearing it when you aren’t the one who just popped through a sphincter and have to ride a wall that nopony should ever touch!” Twilight shouted as the process began, light pulsing out her horn as it collected from the lining of the colon.

B: Magical interference levels decreasing. Warning! Activity in the colon detected!

"Oh please, for the love of Luna's mane, don’t tell me something's incoming the other way!?" Fury pleaded.

B: Analyzing… Negative, seems to be a descending column of the disturbance from Cadance's stomach.

"Oh thank the nights above!" Fury said with a sigh.

“Yeah but…what is it exactly? Should I get back inside?” Twilight asked, worried.

B: Colon fluids, including some gas, in a very turbulent motion with high magical energy. You will need to pulse out a spell when it hits, similar to before. Recommend the previous spell, attuned to a different fragrance.

"Moon Lilies maybe? Oh who am I kidding, whatever is coming is gonna wreck me!" Fury said as he trudged back into the airlock, still having the bio-suit from last time on.

"Hey! Don't go soft on me, Fury, I need you to help me out here. This is my sister-in-law's health and wellness we're dealing with here!" Twilight shouted.

“Yeah yeah…I’m nearly out there with ya…” Fury said as the airlock finished depressurizing and he reluctantly swam out. “So..is the horn really an erogenous zone…I mean, is this kinda…?”

“I really don’t wanna talk about it that way considering it’s been sticking out this whole time, and If you say one more word about that, it’s going to become an impalement zone for one of your erogenous zones…now just hold on!” Twilight barked.

Fury nodded rapidly and hugged her, putting a paw on her horn as the wave hit them, magic coursing all around them and gathering to the horn. Twilight casted the spell in a sweeping beam upwards.

“Ugh…it’s passed, but…Cadance, I wasn’t able to send it where that spell’s supposed to go.” Twilight said.

A loud burp followed by firework noises came in response.

“Well her burps are still doing weird magic, but now they smell like lavender…so I’d say you did alright.” Shining said.

“Well, that's a plus. Bagley, where are we now? Somewhere I can let go of her to get back in, maybe?" Fury asked.

B: You should notice that the tunnel has narrowed significantly… signaling that you are no longer in the large intestine, A.K.A. colon, but now the small intestine…and at your current speed, you’re a minute away from the duodenum, the gateway between the stomach and intestines…I recommend that you stay outside the craft with her, in case there are complications on reaching the stomach. The airlock system’s air replenishment is nearing its limits, as well, as it loses a small amount of air each time it is used.

"Uh… Why didn't you tell us we had a limited oxygen supply?!" Twilight yelled.

B: I figured it wasn't relevant to the mission until now. The Doctor was well aware of this limitation, and it was not necessary to further stress you.

"Right…well what's coming next, and…does it require me?" The black feline inquired.

B: The stomach is the most dangerous, and most active, location we are to visit. Up until this point, survival was virtually guaranteed. Stomach acid appears to be enhanced by the magic, however…it is uncertain without data from inside the stomach if the suits will withstand it, or for how long. You may be needed to help protect Twilight.

Spike and Shining Armor gulped.

“Wait, you mean…all of that was a cakewalk?” Fury asked as he tightened his grip on Twilight.

B: Affirmative.

"Oh sweet Celestia, save me now…" He whimpered, while Twilight patted him.

“Sorry, I’m outside and you’re just a ‘big cat’ pony…suppository up my niece…not much I can do at this point.” Celestia said with a slight chuckle.

"Not. Exactly. Helping. Sunbutt." He said through clenched teeth.

“Focus… we’ve just hit the duodenum, I’m slowing us down…” The Doctor said. “Now…the magical energy here will clearly turn you two into fried chicken if we try what we did before so…”

"So, what do we do, then?" Fury pressed.

“Perhaps we can coax the stomach acid to release the energy on its own…into a colossal burp of magic.” The Doctor pondered.

B: Calculating… that will indeed work, if Twilight can simply stir things up with the tip of her horn. Night Fury will need to help by gathering bubbles towards her. The resulting ‘colossal burp’ will make the room and much of the hospital smell of lavender for approximately 3 days.

"I've already got an idea. Twilight, you do your horn stirring thing… I think it's time to show you my transformations…and at full force."

“Transformations?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’ll see.” Fury replied.

"Alright you two, this is it, the final stretch. You get this done, and we'll all be home free." Cadance said, her voice more booming with the proximity to her vocal cords.

“Ready to enter the stomach?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah!” They both shouted as they held onto each other tightly, ready to finally put this adventure to rest.

Chapter 4: The Belly Of The Beast

On the outside, Spike watched with his claws in his mouth on the screen, as a blip flashed on the diagram of Cadance’s digestive system, right at the bottom of her stomach.

"Okay you two, hang on!" The Doctor said as he maneuvered the pod to ram through the sphincter separating the stomach and duodenum.

Night Fury held on tightly to Twilight, then looked upward. “Wait, I have to go through one of tho-” he asked as the sphincter enveloped the two of them, leaving them momentarily stopped, then pulled through with a popping noise. “Ugh…this is the worst time to have cat hearing…”

“Now you can complain…” Twilight remarked.

“And I must say…it’s awful…hmm…woah, Twilight, do you see this? This place is huge." Fury said, looking around Cadance's stomach. The large area was filled with acid and bubbles, the pink walls moving slowly as the muscles contracted and expanded. There was then a loud gurgle that caught them off guard.

"And it’s pretty loud in here too…Bagley, the suits are gonna hold up for a while, right?" Fury asked with a whine.

B: Analyzing sensor data… no. The acid is at worst-case predictions. You have about 1.5 to 2 minutes until your bio-suits are compromised, then up to 20 seconds where you will probably be able to survive if you escape. Make haste. Beginning 2 minute doom countdown timer.

"Oh come on!" Fury complained.

"Not now, Fury, we need to get this done quick! Now would be a good time to show off that little trick you were talking about!" Twilight said as she began stirring the acid with the tip of her horn.

Fury nodded and pushed a bit away from her, keeping only one paw gripping her suit, finally ending their minutes-long embrace. He then began to change shape, the suit stretching around him as he became longer, while his legs shrunk inwards. His muzzle changed to a longer shape, teeth protruding from his mouth.

Twilight looked on in horror. “An eel? Yikes!”

“Glad I’m not in there…” said Spike.

“Focus on the mission, you’ve got a minute and some change until we’ll need an emergency teleport!” shouted The Doctor.

Night Fury got to work quickly in his eel form, swimming out away from Twilight and gathering up clusters of bubbles. The magical energy slowly started to crackle as it all coalesced around her stirring, becoming ever more unstable.

B: One minute remaining…

"C'mon, Twilight we've gotta pick up the slack!"

“I’m doing my best…the acid’s starting to eat away at my horn!” Twilight replied.

They kept working with the acid, the magical energy beginning to sink in and swirl.

B: Forty seconds…

"C'mon acid, do something!" Twilight urged, her horn starting to burn.

"This isn't working fast enough, we need to speed this up!" Fury said, gathering more bubbles

"But we're going as fast as we can! What else could we do!?"

“Wait, what about…a base? Couldn’t it make all the acid bubble even harder?” Asked Spike.

B: Thirty seconds. A base could work, and neutralizing the acid would buy you time.

"Yeah, it could, but what bases do we have?" Twilight asked.

“...I never thought to bring any!” The Doctor replied.

"Now what you have, but what we have!" Said Spike. “I can grab some antacids!” He quickly began running out into the hallway.

“Well hurry!” Twilight shouted as she kept stirring, noticing her suit fraying.

Spike continued to run into the halls and near a cabinet. He looked around while no one was looking and took some antacids before running back.

B: Twenty seconds. Princesses, I recommend preparing to emergency teleport despite the risk of severely complicating the unshrinking process…

"Just give us a little time, we can do this! We just have to wait for…" Twilight started as her helmet’s seal started to fail.

"I'm here!" Spike called out as he tossed a few pills to Cadance, who opened her mouth to catch them.

"By the gods, you're a fast kid! Cadance, you know what to do!” Fury remarked.

Cadance eagerly swallowed the antacid pills. "They’re down the hatch…hope it’s in time!"

"We've got incoming!” Fury called out, his tail beginning to expose itself as the pills landed.

B: Ten seconds until risk of death…analyzing reaction results…seven seconds…reaction much lower than expected, estimate ten seconds bought.

"One of the tables is stuck above the acid! I need to get it!" Fury said, swimming over to it and striking at it with his tail.

"No, it's too risky!" The Doctor screamed, clutching at the controls of the pod and pushing the throttle. “If you can’t get it now, just let yourself get pulled out while I make a break for that shore so you can at least be teleported out!”

"I know, and I'm stupid enough to take that risk!" Fury yelled, making one final effort to push the pill in.

Meanwhile, Twilight screamed in agony, no longer stirring as her suit came apart.

B: BEGIN EMERGENCY TELEPORT. SENSORS DETECT TWILIGHT IN SEVERE DISTRESS, LOSING FUR AND CONTROL OF HERSELF, INCLUDING BODILY FUNCTIONS.

“TWILY!” Shining shouted while Spike hyperventilated.

"Rrrrragh!" The pill landed in the acid and sunk in. "Hold your fire!" Fury yelled as he watched the bubbles change into a massive fizz, and heard Twilight’s screaming stop.

"Did it work?" The Doctor asked.

A rumbling immediately started as the magic violently sloshed the acid, and expanded Cadance’s stomach rapidly.

"Woah… I think we're about to find out! Doc, ready the pod! I'll grab Twilight!" Fury shouted as he got her and grabbed onto the edge of the pod.

Twilight groaned as she hung on as well, keeping her mouth and eyes shut. A smart move since, even if most of the acid was gone, she was now completely suitless.

“Beginning final unshrinking, just hang on to the back of the pod and protect as much of her as you can!” The Doctor replied as a massive blast pushed everything upward towards Cadance’s throat.

The three of them were propelled upwards through her throat and into her mouth, her teeth, gums, and a blinding light coming into view as the slowly enlarged.

"Out we come!" Fury said.

Cadance winced hard as she felt her bloated belly, leaned forward, and opened her mouth, a massive “BRRRRRUP” expelling the Pod and Night Fury, along with an utter torrent of air and bubbles, while her backside unleashed a short “PRRRRT''. As she kept burping, the force slowed a ton, and Twilight slid mostly out at the end, just dangling by her rear. The bed-turned-cheese’s pillow, which had been right under her tail, then suddenly burst into flames.

“Well…I guess the intestinal disturbance from earlier wanted to burn the cheese for us…” Shining remarked as he doused the fire with a spell. “Twilight, are you okay?”

“Yeah, alicorn, remember…” Twilight said as she tried to pull her rear out of Cadance’s mouth to no avail. "But what about Night Fury? He was in the acid just like me, and swimming through it a lot more!"

Everyone in the room looked to the now unconscious eel who lied burned and battered. His form slowly returning turned back to his feline shape, his paws and smaller muzzle returning.

The Doctor quickly exited the pod and checked on his comrade. “He’s been through worse…but I’ll need to take him to another room for a proper examination and healing. Can you all take things with Cadance… and Twilight, since they seem to be stuck together, from here?”

B: I doubt that'll be necessary, Doctor. According to my sensors, he has only some minor burns from the acid and the bruises coming from the rough landing.

Princess Celestia stepped up and began casting a healing spell on Night Fury. “This should deal with the burns."

B: As to him being unconscious, is there a way to wake him up? Maybe a certain smell or a light sensation that can instantly get a reaction from him?

Cadance tried to say something, but was muffled, only succeeding in making Twilight make very odd faces and noises, then give her a stern look backward.

Twilight then tried again to get out, not being gentle at all, and managed to pull herself all the way out from Cadance with a popping sound, revealing her tail to be entirely missing except the dock, as she flopped forward. “Guess your body just had to digest some part of me to make up for the white blood cell’s failure, huh?”

"Heh, sorry…as I was saying…for Night Fury, I think I have an idea…" Cadance said with a cheeky smile. She walked up to the unconscious feline and plucked a feather from her wing.

"This oughta wake him up." She said, taking his suit off and placing the feather on his belly. "This is payback for my funny bone." She began running the feather’s edges up and down along his belly.

He started to jerk a bit, before suddenly giggling, then sitting up and opening his eyes, making the feather tickle his nose as Cadance was slow to withdraw it. He took a moment, sniffing, then sneezing. "Achoo! Uh…did we get out in one piece?"

Cadance smirked back. “Mostly. Twilight shed a few pounds, and not just because my stomach scared the crap out of her!” she said, chuckling, and pointing to a worried-looking Twilight, who was looking back at her own rear, with a wiggling naked tail dock.

“Hey!” Twilight angrily replied as Fury chuckled.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist, and after all that, I kinda need someone to laugh at to feel less embarrassed myself with what happened today. Oh, and I guess your tail counts as dinner!” Cadance said with another playful giggle, making Twilight groan.

"Well it is pretty funny!" Fury said as he chuckled some more.

“Well then, my work here is done…” The Doctor said as he reshrunk the pod with a remote and began putting it away for storage.

"But why were you tickling me though?" Fury asked.

“Well you tickled me from the inside, and I just didn’t have the time to take a ride on a shrinking submersible to return all of the favor.” Cadance replied with a cheeky grin. "Oh and by the way, I'm still not done."

She then decided to continue her assault with both of her wings placed on Fury's underside.

“Ah! Stop it! Hey!” he said, giggling. “I came here for a…a serious medical task, not playtime!”

“Well I don’t think we’re needed here anymore…and we should probably leave before the hospital staff realize we’re why the whole place smells like lavender.” Luna said, turning to Celestia, who nodded, and they teleported away in unison.

“Heh, get him Cadance!“ Shining said as he joined in the fun, even lightly touching Night Fury’s chest with a hoof, making him giggle more.

Twilight gave Shining a quizzical look.

“What? He kinda… went places in my wife that normally only I should. I’ve gotta support a little revenge on him…husbandly duty.”

B: Cadance’s engagement in tickling Night Fury will help her recovery process by alleviating stress. Please continue to encourage this behavior.

“Well I think I want to get home early and just forget this whole escapade…” said Spike as he hopped up on Twilight’s rump. “Um, maybe if I was a little faster…you’d have your tail…”

Twilight sighed and nuzzled him. “You did fine, Spike…but try to cover it up a little with your own until we’re back home.”

"Can you two stop? I'm losing it here!" Night Fury begged. "My stomach is gonna be swirling too if this keeps up!" He giggled.

“Well then…I can leave Bagley here, but I’ve got to go to a very important meeting!” The Doctor said. “And…he’s most ticklish between the thighs and his crotch.”

B: Affirmative.

“Why did you tell the-em!” cried Night Fury.

B: It will help Cadance’s recovery process if she has a more efficient manner to delight in your condition.

"Curse you, Bagley! I'll get you back for this!" Fury said as he was left behind by The Doctor, nothing but a small memory as he heaved his bag away while Fury endured his tickly revenge.

Author's Note

The End! I want to thank everyone who came out to read this story! It took me a bit of courage to write this story, considering the fact that I hadn't seen a lot of "Fantastic Voyage" type fanfiction on this site. But with your likes and comments, I think I did it pretty well! Bonus: I might turn this into a series! Leave me a comment on this story on whether you think I should. Anyway, thanks for reading and see you in the next one!

Prologue: Start Of The Sickness

The Crystal Empire has stood proud for years, recently returning to existence with the assistance of Twilight, her friends, and newly-declared Spike The Brave And Glorious going to battle with the dark lord of the empire's past, King Sombra. Ever since the defeat of the troublesome king and the restoration of the Crystal Heart's power, the Crystal Empire has remained peaceful ever since. The crowning princess of the empire, Princess Cadance, has ruled over and restored the ancient city with the utmost grace.

Handling legal and financial disputes, restoration of the city's architecture, reminding her subjects of their own love and strength for their home. She has done everything she can to release the fear of the past and work on making the most out of the future. All of this hard work may be a bit overkill for most ponies, but for an alicorn, there was nothing that could slow her down. Except for one thing she had never accounted for… getting sick.

Cadance lied in her lavish bed, head covered with the sheets and moaning as her quivering and aching body drove her mad. Cadance was nopony to let a little inconvenience stop her from ruling her empire with her husband, but with this sickness she came down with recently, it had basically become impossible for her to even move. A quiet knock came from the door and Shining Armor came in to check on her.

"Hey honey, you still hanging in there?" He asked, only to get a groan in response. Shining Armor felt bad for his wife, she was usually unmovable when it came to her duties. But this random sickness had completely shut her down. He walked up to the side of the bed and sighed.

"Cadance, I know you aren't feeling well. You have to keep resting so you can get better."

"But I'm fine, Shining. I can get back to my duties like I was before if you'd stop babying me." She whined, her voice shrill and croaking from her sore throat.

"That is not true. The nurse is going to be here soon, and I have a strong feeling that she won't have the same opinion." Shining sighed. Cadance stayed silent before letting out another moan and uncovering herself. Her face was a bright red and her eyes dropped as if she hadn't slept in days. Mounds of used tissues covered the bed like homemade snotty snowballs, remnants of her very stuffy nose that she desperately tried to keep from leaking. She looked at her husband with bloodshot eyes and smiled, trying to play off her sickness.

"Cadance, please. You know you're sick and you can't go back to work. You have to stay here and rest." Shining Armor said sternly. Cadance was looking for an excuse to get her out of her predicament, but she had to admit that he was right. She was riding a very thin line and she needed to stay on it for now.

"Okay, fine. I'll stay here and rest. It's just… I've been ruling this empire for a few months now and during a critical time of rebuilding, I get sick? I just can't seem to let go of what I'm expected to do as a princess." Cadance admitted.

"And I understand, but there's a difference between what you're expected to do and what you have to do. You may be expected to hold the empire up on your own and rule over it in any condition, but what you have to do is get some rest and not exacerbate your illness. I know you think that because you're an alicorn that you can't get sick, but it's just a fact of life that our bodies have weaknesses." Shining said.

"But, Auntie Tia and Luna never got sick, and I’ve yet to since I became an alicorn."

"That's because you never saw them get sick. I for one can say, first hoof, that they have gotten sick. You've heard of what happened a few years ago with that Feather Flu epidemic, right?" Shining Armor asked. Cadance nodded as she grabbed another tissue and blow her nose.

"And you know how strangely, Luna had to take over for Celestia because of a 'Personal issue'?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, what do you think was the real reason she had to take a few days off and have me help her?" Cadance stared at her husband for a moment before gasping at the realization.

"Wait, so you mean…"

"Yep, she caught the Feather Flu. I was tasked to be her main guard for protection and service as she recuperated. And that is why you should be resting too. Because you can be the most powerful being in Equestria with all the power you could ever desire, but you can't stop yourself from succumbing to the facts of life." Shining explained, smiling at his wife. Cadance gave a weak smile in return as she saw his sympathy for her. She was happy to see that she had someone to be with her in her condition.

A knock at the door got both of their attention.

"Who is it?"

"It's Nurse Redheart, I'm here for Cadance's examination." Shining Armor opened the door with his magic and welcomed the nurse.

"Oh I'm glad you could be here, Cadance is not in the best of conditions." He said, gesturing to the sick alicorn.

"I can see that." Nurse Redheart said. "Okay your highness, I'm going to check you over and hopefully diagnose you so we can speed up your recovery." She then placed her medical bag down and began extracting her instruments.

"Okay, but please let it be quick. I don't exactly like being in the hospital." Cadance said.

"Don't worry, I can assure you that I'm not a witch doctor or mad scientist of any kind." Redheart chuckled, bringing out a tongue depressor.

"Okay princess, say 'Ahh' for me."

"Ahhh…" Cadance slowly opened her mouth and the tongue depressor was placed where it should as she was examined.

"Hmm… Tonsils are inflamed and the walls are red. Definitely signs of a sore throat." Nurse Redheart said, replacing the tongue depressor with a thermometer.

"Hold this under your tongue for a few seconds." Cadance obliged and did as she was told as she was examined further.

"Achy bones, stiff and strained muscles…" Nurse Redheart then pulled the thermometer from Cadance's mouth.

"102.3 degrees, you're burning up. Have you been feeling any nausea, feeling as if you're about to throw up?" She asked.

"No, not really. But I do feel a bit weird in there though." Cadance explained. Nurse Redheart nodded and pulled out a stethoscope, putting it on Cadence's stomach. She listened in on her insides and was shocked at what she heard.

"Oh my…"

"What? What is it?!" Shining exclaimed, looking worried.

"Your stomach’s gurgling more than I've ever heard. It sounds like a bubbling cauldron full of sludge, very unusual. Have you been drinking anything out of the ordinary, especially something alkaline or fizzy? Fruit smoothies, perhaps?" Redheart asked.

"No, I barely even touch soda or smoothies. The only liquids that I've had are orange juice and warm honey tea."

"Even so, your highness, certain foods can cause what you're feeling. It's not far-fetched to have your everyday diet cause this to happen." Redheart said.

Urp! went Cadance with a bit of a surprised look, and suddenly a vase of flowers next to her began to float.

"As I thought, you're burping. That means that an over abundance of gas is inside of your stomach, and it would explain why you feel as if your stomach is swirling." Nurse Redheart then moved her stethoscope over to Cadance's chest to listen to her breathing.

"Raspy breathing, muscles all tight and strained, sounds of mucus in the airways…" Nurse Redheart pulled away and finally gave her opinion.

"I have to say, I can't come up with the least bit of a conclusion as to what's wrong with her. Much of it looks like a flu virus, but such an intense stomach effect, and with magical outbursts? It's like she has some sort of bizarre magical mismatched sickness running through her." Shining Armor and Cadance both looked concerned. Equestria's medical capabilities weren’t perfect, but every illness that could affect an alicorn to come up throughout the years had been either cured or proven to be treatable. But something totally new? That scared them both.

"Well, you've done all you could, and we both thank you for it." Shining Armor said somberly, but something else was about to come into view.

"Now hold on, there is one thing I haven't done. There is one doctor that I've known for a while that has dealt with the unusual, weird, and strange. Though he may not be the typical doctor, he does have his way of fixing things that aren't right. Would you like me to call him in?" Nurse Redheart asked. Cadance and Shining Armor whispered to each other for a moment, discussing the possibility of a cure for this strange magical illness before coming to a conclusion.

"Send him in." They said in unison. The nurse nodded and retrieved a quill and paper, writing the letter before using a strange glass tube to send it off with a bright flash.

"He will be here soon. Now, is there anything else that I can do?" She asked.

"Send a few scrolls to these names on this list," Cadance instructed, levitating a list of names to the nurse. "I could really use the emotional support right now."

Nurse Redheart smiled at the gesture and nodded.

"I'll have them sent in right away." She said, walking away to send the letters.