BREAKING: SANTA HOOVES ILL, HEARTH'S WARMING CANCELLED

Starfall Shine sputtered as the stray newspaper smacked her in the face. Only stopping the speed of her flight the slightest amount, she scrunched her snout and snatched it off, squinting at the headline article.

The Manehattan Express. Of course—leave it to the city tabloid to print sensationalist nonsense. It was an incredible annoyance that they’d kept in business after doing this year after year, probably piggybacking off the poor ponies who didn’t think too hard about distinguishing it from its more reputable counterpart, the Manehattan Tribune.

Sure, Santa Hooves was sick…

(Or so he’d claimed—could a magical force of nature even get sick? Had he been faking like a truant schoolfilly? He’d refused to get up from under the covers, or so the other helpers had said. Awfully convenient, given the time of year.)

And sure, Hearth's Warming wouldn’t be the same without him…

But that didn’t mean it was cancelled, for Celestia’s sake! Thousands of colts and fillies deserved their presents for being good all year, as did all the grown-up ponies who’d made Equestria shine with their snowpities. Without presents under the tree, ponies would wake up sad, or even worse—Starfall almost didn’t dare think about it—very sad.

Well, it was a good thing Santa Hooves was only one piece in the machine known as Hearth’s Warming Cheer! Beneath him in the hierarchy lay a countless army of helpers that manufactured and transported gifts. Without him, other ponies could step up to take charge, or deliver presents in his stead.

And so Starfall, the ever-reliant pegasus, had been given her objective: go forth and be merry!

She beamed, stuffing the newspaper into her sled of endless gifts—it was trash, but that didn’t mean it had to be litter. Silently, she thanked Faust that even if Santa couldn’t make it, she could still be enchanted such that carrying such a load was a breeze. Heck, there was even a little invisible dotted line she could follow house to house to drop off each set of gifts exactly! Who even needed Santa Hooves, anyway? Maybe after this Hearth’s Warming, they’d need to form some kind of worker’s union…

And, speaking of dropping off gifts…

A big red ‘X’ dominated Starfall’s vision. She angled her wings and began her descent—house number one, here she came!

At this location in Equestria, homes were few and far between. Starfall had been tasked with covering the outskirts of the nation first before centering in on the more populated areas. Still, she was determined to start her night off right. Even if the house seemed a little more dilapidated than usual from the ominous weather—nay, because of it—its residents deserved to receive the highest quality holiday service they could get!

Her resolve bolstered, she quietly touched down onto the roof, making sure not to wake a single pony.

That was step one on the instruction manual done. Now… how to come inside?

Carefully, she grabbed onto the edge of the roof and peered down. The door was locked. Though the windows were mostly shut, a few had holes or patches in them from the rough wind—nothing she could squeeze through. Dust mostly obscured her view of what was inside, but she could tell it was dark and decrepit as well.

She swallowed nervously. Was the map really sure ponies lived here?

Well, it was true ponies would spread to just about anywhere. Starfall shrugged. Maybe Santa had gifted them a nice repair kit, or a broom, or some magical totem to sanitize the floors and ceilings!

As curious as she was, she picked up the corresponding gift from her sled without even shaking it. If she couldn’t enter the house in any standard way, it was up to her to prove her foalhood tales had a point—she would enter down the chimney!

Before she did, she made a silent prayer that the cleaning enchantment she bore would work as well. It would really suck if she had to deliver the rest of her gifts progressively covered in more and more soot. Yuck!

With that said and done, she held her breath and dove in.

Scrunching her snout once more, and furrowing her brow in concentration, she entered back hooves first. There was just enough space to fit her pretty pony body, and she squished herself inch by inch, pulling herself down with her back legs and pushing the rest of her weight through with her front hooves.

This was tough work! How in Equestria did Santa Hooves do this so easily? And he was like, way bigger than her, and had to do this for all of Equestria too. Probably from another enchantment that she hadn’t received. Hmph.

Nevertheless, she kept at it. At this point, her entire body was fully inside the chimney, squeezing against its edges. It wasn’t very easy to move her head around, so there was no telling how far down she was, or how much left she had to go. All she had to do was trust that it would end in a fireplace or whatnot eventually.

A sudden rustling beneath her broke her concentration.

Her breath hitched, and she bit her lip. Had somepony caught her?

“H-hello? Anypony there?”

She waited a few seconds for a response that didn’t come. Slightly more relieved, she let go of her breath. She had to loosen up; it wasn’t good to be nervous already. No doubt, it was from the wind blowing through the windows again or something. She continued her journey down.

Another shuffling, this time even closer.

“Eek!” Her eyes widened. “I-if somepony is there, I’m just here on behalf of Santa Hooves! Ho ho ho, Happy Hearth's Warming and all that, haha…”

Still, no response. Yet, a pit was forming in Starfall’s stomach. It was the telltale pegasus instinct that something was wrong, and if she knew what her body was telling her, it was that she had to skedaddle, and fast!

Gift be damned, she was getting out of this chimney! There was always time to knock on the front door and apologize later.

Another sound—directly beneath her. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem equine at all—there was sort of a weird glorping as something undoubtedly alive slithered to meet her.

Starfall was a foal to have agreed to deliver gifts here! Of course she’d have to confront all the weird creatures that patrolled Equestria’s outskirts as well! Hooves thrashing, she began to pull her way up and out, squinting as the moonlight above drew closer and closer.

But the space was so tight and confining. Try as she might, she could only advance at a snail’s pace. It was more than agonizing. No longer caring about avoiding making noise, she whined and shrieked, kicking dust and soot below her to cover her tracks.

But on one swing, she flinched. Her hoof had made contact with something… not hard and crumbly, more… soft and squishy.

She spluttered at the unexpected touch, letting off a series of very uncivil curses. “Ahh, let go, let go!” Whatever… creature there was, it had definitely found her now.

Her eyes widened as instead of letting go, the material clung to her. She felt her heart skip a beat as it grabbed onto her, like an octopus’s tendril suckers, and moved.

Quickly, it slithered up her leg, and Starfall was left with an indescribable cold wetness surrounding her. Though she kicked and writhed harder, it seemed to only make it even more determined to hold on.

She whimpered as it made its way to the top of her leg. Was it going to start pulling her down? Was this the end?

Then, her body jolted as she felt it touch against her rear. Though her muscles clenched, it crawled up her fur even more… until it poked directly against her ass and quivering marehood.

All she could whisper was, “Oh, no…”

The creature only seemed to press into her even more firmly, as if feeling her out. Its touch was sticky and gooey, like some kind of swamp monster. For her part, Starfall decided that there was no more point in struggling. All she had to do was hold still, very still. Maybe if she remained calm, it would decide she wasn’t a threat and slither away and wait for some other victim.

Alas, it was too late.

Without warning, the goo began to shoot up all the way. Starfall heard it squidge the rest of its body into and up the chimney, onto her legs, toward her rear. She almost had no time to react before, quite unceremoniously, it stretched her holes open and began to slide in.

The sensation was like nothing she had experienced before. She mewled and moaned as it entered her in waves, kneading her most sensitive bits with a relentless, almost teasing motion.

The more she shook, the faster it seemed to enter. She felt it slide up into her belly, making her feel plump and stuffed, squeezing even tighter against the chimney walls. Mind reeling with a mix of fear and unwanted pleasure, she could only wait and see what it was planning to do with her.

Was it like a changeling, who would deposit eggs inside of her and leave? Did it intend to live and multiply in her belly? Was it a precursor to dragging her down and out the chimney, or something else? No option sounded good, however she made it out.

If Santa Hooves, or anypony else, was listening, she needed her Hearth’s Warming miracle!

And for a moment, the goo stopped. It sloshed around in her belly, pulsing with a powerful rhythm that rivaled her own thundering heartbeat. She could feel it poking and prodding, searching for something. Hopefully, a way out.

Was she going to be saved?

Unfortunately, it was quite the opposite.

She yelped as the goo pulled at her rear entries and stretched into them even more, slurping itself up toward her body with a visceral schlorp. Now, it moved past her stomach, spreading out all throughout her body. Starfall felt her legs, hooves, throat, even wings get penetrated with the goop, filling up like balloons.

As each limb was taken over, it became harder and harder to move around. There was a persistent tingling that felt like being massaged from the inside, and it was utterly overwhelming. Each nerve seemed to be covered in the goo, each inch of herself gaining its gooey consistency. Her movements became weaker as a new living organism squirmed inside her, invading her whole being.

Celestia help me, she screamed internally. It was so humiliating, and invasive, and yet so pleasurable. Her marehood and ass ached at the sensation of being penetrated by something so thick and viscous. It couldn’t get any worse than this!

And yet, it did. The goo began to spread from her throat into her mouth, and for the first time, she was able to taste it—salty yet with an oddly sweet aftertaste, almost like a peculiar mixture of seaweed and honey. The texture was thick, clinging to her tongue in globs. It made it almost impossible to breathe.

She didn’t know if it was from the lack of oxygen, the adrenaline spiking within her body, the horniness from being violated, or the stimulation its taste gave her, but her mind reeled in a full blown state of confusion, panic, and arousal. No longer able to speak, all she could concentrate on were her own thoughts, and the sensations of the goo burrowing deep inside her.

So, it was more than noticeable when she began noticing the tugging on her mind as the goo pushed into her cute little head.

It started out as just a light pressure that quickly grew into a significant buzz that magnified every sensation and tickled at her thoughts. She could feel the goo spill out her ears, now almost completely inside her. With every frantic thought, she could sense the goo almost mentally coating it, dulling it, pushing it out. Her mouth sputtered and coughed, sending more goo out and splashing over her face, where it wriggled back into her mouth to join the rest of itself.

Thoughts of discomfort were replaced with thoughts of pleasure. Thoughts of fear were substituted with thoughts of desire. Starfall experienced in real time being rewritten to welcome the slime as it pushed away the core of her mind into some deep recess, invading her entire psyche. She could only experience as her consciousness was seized and repurposed toward serving her slime possessor.

Electric signals imbued with the goo’s essence raced back and forth through her. It made her limbs instinctively twitch and jitter, and exposed whatever was left of Starfall’s mind to the slime’s purpose.

The last of her free will fading away, she knew, and eagerly accepted, her role as its host, and its desire to spread and grow.

Just as quickly as it had started, it was over.

For a moment, Starfall’s limbs ceased to struggle, falling into a limp heap. Her eyes shut as her mouth lolled open, and slime shot out in strands to observe the world around her. Her labored breathing quickly calmed down into an even rhythm. If not for the visible slime and her engorged body, it would almost look as if she were sound asleep.

Seemingly satisfied, the stalks of slime from her mouth retracted inward, and her mouth dropped shut.

Then, incredulously, Starfall opened her eyes.

Her pupils were tinted just the slightest bit green, and she calmly looked left and right, up and down. Each limb came to life one by one, twitching a bit first, as if being tested, before aligning itself back into its previous position. Slowly, Starfall’s entire body was brought back to life, just as it had been before she’d heard the goo, crawling down the chimney.

What had been a challenge for Starfall was easy for the goo. Beneath her skin, it pulsed and rippled, even as her face betrayed no emotion at all. She was made to wriggle like a worm all the way down, until she emerged out the other end and hopped onto the ground. Dusting herself off, she rose to her hooves and examined her surroundings, swiveling her head in an oddly smooth fashion.

Without a word, she began to walk toward the small Hearth’s Warming tree in the corner, ignoring the dust and debris around her. Though her gait was wobbly at first, she seemed to gain her footing with each step, appearing more and more like a regular pony. Now, the goo inside her, seeing through her vision, indeed knew there were still ponies in this household, waiting to open up their presents the next morning.

Perhaps, it would leave them a little present of its own.

The goo slowly opened her jaw, and pressed it against the neatly wrapped gift boxes she held.

Slime began to exit her mouth and into the folds within the packaging, all as she calmly looked on. Gradually, the swelling of her belly and around her limbs began to decrease as some of the goo was pumped to fill every inch of the gift.

When it was finished, no traces of goo were left on the outside of the packaging. She placed the present down. It would be a little wetter to the touch, and a little heavier to hold, but whoever opened it wouldn’t suspect a thing until it came time for their Hearth’s Warming surprise—and what a surprise it would be, indeed.

It was time for Starfall Shine to make her departure, then.

She marched over back to the chimney, spread her wings, and leapt up. Methodically, mechanically, she wriggled through, all the way out to the other side where her sled awaited her.

Then, another set of flaps, and she was off into the night.

Twas the night before Hearth’s Warming, as Starfall was steered,
Knowing at least one lucky creature would make it out cheered.
Though normally goo stockings would fill one with dread,
They’d happily become such festive hosts instead~

Author's Note

If you read and enjoyed, a like would be sincerely appreciated <3