Princess, I Shrunk the Ponies!

by NintendoGal55


As The Rain Falls

"A w-w-what?" Fluttershy finally followed her friend's gaze.

Toward the back of the bucket, a ways off from them, was a spider. A Daddy Long-leg spider, which appeared to be struggling a bit.

"Oh!" Fluttershy smiled. "Rainbow, it's just a spider! A Daddy Long Leg! Look at him, he's so cute!"

"Cute? CUTE?!" Rainbow sounded incredulous. "Fluttershy, how can you THINK that...that...thing...is cute?!"

"Well, just look at those beady eyes of his! And those feelers along his body, and those legs! It's almost exotic!" Fluttershy said. "And really, there's nothing to be afraid of! Daddy Long Legs are pefectly harmless, they eat mosquitos and flies. I mean, we have nothing to-" It dawned on her. "...Rainbow...you're not...afraid of Daddy, are you?"

"What?! Afraid?!" Rainbow shook her head frantically. "Nooo, don't be silly! You know I'm not afraid of anything, Fluttershy! Especially not a...b-big...h-huge...g-giant...s-sp-spid-der..."

"Well, I could understand, since he is bigger than we are..." Fluttershy reasoned. "It's okay. But there's nothing to worry about, he won't hurt us. See?" She trotted over toward the spider. "Hello, Daddy!"

"F-fluttershy, g-get away f-from it!!!" Rainbow Dash cried, flying after her and grabbing her tail in her teeth. "You said it yourself, it's BIGGER than us! That means it probably sees us as FOOD!!!"

"Ooh!" Fluttershy fell to the floor of the pail, her flank partway in the air with the way Rainbow Dash held her tail in her teeth. "Don't worry, he won't."

"How can you be sure?!" Rainbow protested, still clenching her tail firmly in her mouth. "You can't talk to him, he's a spider!!!"

"But Mr. Wasp is a wasp...and I have some butterfly friends. I've also once had a tarantula, before I gave him away," Fluttershy assured. "I can also communicate with bugs, so don't you worry, Rainbow!"

"Th-that's all w-well a-and g-good, F-fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash whimpered, cowering uncharacteristically behind the normally timid Pegasus. "B-but n-none of th-those...a-are s-sp-spiders...!!!"

Fluttershy blinked, having a moment of major deja-vu with the last bit her friend said. "Because they're not spiders...?"

"Because they're not dragons."

Eyes wide, Fluttershy turned around, "Rainbow...are you....afraid of spiders?"

"S-so w-what if I am?!" Rainbow snapped, her whole body trembling. "Y-you're af-fraid of dragons!"

"Well...yes..." Fluttershy chuckled nervously. "No, I just...didn't know...I never pegged you to be afraid of spiders. ...Oh...it's okay...I understand." she smiled in assurance, "They are scary-looking...especially up close sometimes. ...So that's why you were covering your eyes during the spider scene of Harry Trotter and the Chamber of Secrets, then?"

"Yeah, what of it...?" Rainbow admitted, her snout reddening in embarrassment. "Those spiders...those were HUGE. And lemme tell you something, Fluttershy...right now, that Daddy Long Legs reminds me WAY too much of Aragog!"

"Um...but Aragog is a completely different species of spider than Daddy over here," Fluttershy pointed out.

"I don't care!" Rainbow argued. "A spider's a spider! And I'm a lot like Ron, I hate spiders!!!"

"Okay," Fluttershy said softly in understanding. "I understand you're not fond of them... Don't worry, I'll take care of this. He won't bother us, anyway." She trotted over to the spider, smiling. "Hello, Daddy! What are you doing in there? Oh, trying to get out of the storm? I...." She noticed then that two of the spider's legs were caught in its own web along the back of the pail, which it was struggling to get out of. "Oh...you poor thing! You're stuck!"

Daddy blinked his beady eyes at Fluttershy, struggling to pull his stuck legs free from his web. He made a trilling/chirping noise that sounded not at all threatening, but rather cute.

Enthralled, Fluttershy approached the spider a bit closer, holding out her hoof toward its sensory pinsers. "Aww...you're very cute, Daddy. As I said, I'm Fluttershy...this is Rainbow Dash...you'll have to forgive her, she's not very fond of spiders..and....well, since we're not our normal size, she's a bit spooked. But she won't hurt you."

Blinking his beady black eyes again, Daddy extended his sensory pincers to the creamy yellow Pegasus, making another chirping/trilling sound.

Giggling, Fluttershy touched her hoof to the pincers gently, to show she was not a threat. "Do you need help? I'm sure being stuck in your web isn't very fun, is it?"

Daddy trilled sadly in response, once again trying to pull his legs free from the sticky web.

"Aww...." Fluttershy pouted sympathetically. She looked to the web his legs were stuck in, then back at him, pondering. She bit her lip, then trotted back over to her friend.

"I need your help...Daddy is stuck, and I don't think I'll be able to free him alone. I'll talk to him to distract him and make him feel better, and you can clear away the web from his legs!"

"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash shrieked. "NO!!! NO WAY!!! I am NOT touching a spider, let alone a spider WEB!!!"

"Please, Rainbow? I really need your help with this...and I promise, he will not hurt you. He's actually quite sweet and not at all threatening," Fluttershy assured. She paused a moment. "....I'll do anything you want me to! Anything at all! No question! Just please help me..."

"Anything at all, huh..." Rainbow thought about this for a moment. Then, sighing, she reluctantly agreed. "All right. Just...t-tell me what to d-do..."

"Yes, I will!" Fluttershy nodded. "Okay, I'm going to start talking to him. I will need you to approach the web very slowly, try not to make any noise or draw attention to yourself. Then, when you reach the web, you'll have to bite it away, enough so that he can extract his legs from it and won't be stuck anymore. ...Wait!" She hurried to the mouth of the pail, reaching for something outside, and bringing it back in. It was a small twig. "You can use this."

"What do I do with this...?" Rainbow blinked, staring at the small twig.

"You can use it to extract the web," Fluttershy explained. "Just do it carefully and so you won't jolt him."

"Okay..." Rainbow gulped, taking the twig into her mouth. "I-I'll t-try..."
Fluttershy smiled, and kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you, Rainbow. You're the best!" She trotted back over to Daddy. "Sorry about that... Well, you're going to be just fine, I promise."

Daddy chirped/trilled, blinking his beady black eyes at Fluttershy.

Slowly and carefully, Rainbow Dash crept towards the web, trying her hardest to keep her knees from shaking, or her teeth from chattering. She knew she'd have to muster up her bravery for the task-at-hoof...

"You know, I may just have to take you home with me!" Fluttershy giggled. "...No, maybe I shouldn't. Then I won't get Rainbow to come over for weeks!" She pouted. "Oh well...I'm sure you'll be all right once you're free, right? Of course you will!"

Daddy trilled/chirped, bringing one of his legs forward and touching Fluttershy with it.

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, had managed to get close enough without being detected by Daddy, and was now setting to work on tearing away the strands of web with the twig.

"Ooh!" Fluttershy jumped a bit at having one of Daddy's legs brush over her. "This is fascinating, to be able to observe you up close this way, Daddy! I don't think I'll ever look at spiders of your kind the same way again..."

Daddy brushed his leg over Fluttershy again, before pulling it back and shifting in place a little bit.

Rainbow worked at pulling away the web, trying hard to contain her fear and resist the urge to run screaming from the giant, but supposedly-harmless spider.

"Yes, I know it's not easy being a spider, is it...do you have a family?" Fluttershy queried.

Daddy trilled lowly in reply, sounding sad.

"Oh, you do? ...And they're far away from where you are? How did you get here?" Fluttershy extended her hoof again toward him.

Daddy touched his sensory pincers to Fluttershy's hoof, trilling/chirping again.

"Oh, a lot of things, I see? Where is your family?" Fluttershy cast a sideways glance toward her friend to see her progress for a moment, then looking back into Daddy's beady eyes.

Daddy trilled lowly once again, and his beady eyes even looked downcast.

"Oh my...all the way in Whitetail woods? You poor thing! It will take you ages to get back home! That wind storm alone was enough to knock you miles away!" Fluttershy said sadly. "Hmmm....do you think maybe....you could wait around here until tomorrow? ...Yes...it kind of has to be tomorrow...hee hee...personal reasons...but you'll be all right if you stay hidden."

"Almost done..." Rainbow Dash murmured, muffled due to the twig in her mouth.

Daddy chirped a bit, shifting in place.

"Oh...so you did see that...true...sorry...we didn't even know you were in here..." Fluttershy giggled, blushing considerably. "Oh, but you see, I have a lot of compensation to do...but that's okay...I don't mind that at all. ...No, she's not...she's wonderful in so many ways. ...I know, that's what anypony would say! ...But it just works. How about you and your mate? What is she like? ...Oooh! That sounds just like her!" Fluttershy laughed heartily, beaming.

Daddy continued to trill/chirp cheerily, feeling at ease around the animal-loving Pegasus.

"And..." Rainbow pulled away one last string of web, freeing Daddy's legs. "...done."

"Oh, good!" Fluttershy smiled more. "You're free, Daddy! Now you don't have to worry about a thing. Be careful!" She trotted over to Rainbow Dash and threw her forelegs around her. "Oh, Rainbow, thank you so much! You were such a great help! Thank you!" She smothered her snout with kisses.

"Heh...guess it was worth it..." Rainbow blushed, her snout reddening even more, and her wings flaring out a bit.

"I'm sorry I had to make you do that...but I knew that you wouldn't be able to talk to him that close..." Fluttershy murmured, and nuzzled her. "But I'll still gladly compensate for it...you deserve a little reward for helping and overcoming your displeasure for spiders."

"W-well...m-maybe not completely, on that l-last one..." Rainbow muttered. She nearly jumped out of her wings when she felt Daddy's leg brush over her.

"I suppose...but you managed to do so enough to help," the creamy yellow Pegasus smiled. "And for that you deserve a reward for helping."

"Heh...I'll take a reward..." The cyan Pegasus smirked a bit. "Anything...for dealing with a s-sp-spider..."

Giggling, Fluttershy nuzzled her a little, her smile growing. "All right...what do you want? I did say anything...."

Grinning, Rainbow nuzzled her back. "When we're big again. It won't be the same if we do it as pipsqueak Pegasi."

"And what would that be...?"

"I'll tell you then..."

"Okay, if you say so," Fluttershy winked, and nuzzled her again, looking outside. "Ooh...the rain is slowing down..."

"The storm's probably passing..." Rainbow Dash observed, nuzzling back again. "So maybe we can get going, soon..."

"That's good, at least we could hopefully make it to the Everfree Forest before nightfall," Fluttershy said, sounding a little anxious. "...I just hope the others managed to shelter themselves from the storm...wherever they are."

"I'm sure they managed..." Rainbow Dash assured her. "Especially Twilight. Egghead that she is, she sure knows some good survival skills!"

"That's true!" Fluttershy agreed, laughing a bit. "If anypony could manage, she certainly would...and Applejack is certainly resourceful, she'll find a way."

"And Rarity!" Rainbow laughed. "I know she hates getting her coat dirty, or mussing up her mane, but when it really counts, she can take care of herself!"

"Oh, absolutely! I've known Rarity for some time since I came to Ponyville, and she really is amazingly independent!" Fluttershy lay back down, curling her legs under her as she made herself comfortable.

"Heh. Is that so..." Rainbow Dash chuckled, gently laying down atop her best friend, folding her wings open over her body.

"Mm-hmm..." Fluttershy sighed softly in bliss, savouring their contact as she felt warmth wash over her. "And Pinkie...well...she's Pinkie...You're right...they'll be just fine.."

"Yep...they'll be fine..." Rainbow Dash nodded, yawning as their combined warmth was making her drowsy.
"We'll all be fine...I can feel it..." Hearing her yawn, Fluttershy yawned a bit herself. The warmth of their bodies together was enough to really relax her, and the slow rain made for soothing noise as opposed to opposing loudness. "....Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash didn't respond. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was soft, but even. She snored softly, her head resting against Fluttershy's neck.

Fluttershy blinked. "Oh dear...you must've had very serious sleep deprivation if you fell asleep that fast! ...Oh, Dashie..." She smiled, and nuzzled against her, closing her eyes. "...I love you," she whispered softly, before going to sleep as well.

"Mmmm..." Whether or not Rainbow Dash had actually heard Fluttershy was unknown. But in her sleep, she murmured back in response. "...Love you, Fluttershy..."


Over out in the cornfield, the rain still continued, despite that it was slowing down by this point. Twilight, Rarity and the bird continued to nestle under the umbrella, still awaiting for when it would let up completely. It had been quiet between them for the past while, neither having much to say (or chirp), but were feeling relaxed, somewhat.

"Gosh...I wish a couple of my books shrank along with us," Twilight sighed.

"As I wish I'd brought some pencils and paper. I could be designing my new training wear line." Rarity pouted, laying her head on her forelegs.

Twilight looked down at the ground, then at her friend. "...You could draw it in the dirt with a rock or a twig."

Rarity pondered, and then smiled. "Why, you're absolutely right, Twilight dear! Why didn't I think of that?" Using her magic, she picked up a small piece of a twig and began to draw out a design in the dry dirt.

Smiling a little bit, Twilight lay her head on her crossed forelegs with a sigh, glancing over at Rarity as she worked. 'Maybe I can watch her draw...least that's better than nothing, I guess. ...I'm so bored...'

Smiling and humming, Rarity continued to draw out a design for a training warm-up suit, keeping in mind that she was to be designing it for the Wonderbolts and other Pegasi. She glanced sideways at Twilight for a moment, smiling at the lavender Unicorn, and then returned her focus to her drawing.

Bored still, Twilight rolled onto her back. "This isn't fair....I'm bored out of my skull!"

"I'm sorry, Twilight." Rarity frowned a bit, looking to her friend again. "Perhaps you can try your hoof at helping me design some of these lovely training suits?"

"Um...okay....I can try..." Twilight rolled over her again, looking down at the dirt sketches. They were drawn on blank pony forms, much like a mannequin, varying in different styles, with the colours marked alongside, as well as what fabrics they would consist of. "So..,I guess you're going for a couple of varieties...some that are form-fitting, others looser and breathing?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing." Rarity smiled, working on a pony form that seemed to be that of a stallion. "The form-fitting designs are more for the mares, while the looser, baggier fit are more for the stallions."

"Hmm..." the lavender Unicorn thought for a moment. "Maybe you can try some different themes for each set?"

"Oooh, splendid idea!" The pure-white Unicorn smiled, making some notes on the ground by the design sketches.
Feeling proud of having helped her friend, Twilight thought further about ideas for the suits. "Why not different colours and patterns that pertain to racing? And maybe on the side you can put fun patterns?"

Rarity smiled at Twilight's suggestions. "Lovely! For the Wonderbolts' training suits specifically, I was going to design them like their performance uniforms. I think I shall do so, and use a variety of colors!"

Observing the mud sketches, Twilight broke off a piece of a twig with her magic and began to take notes as well. She felt glad to have something that was occupying her mind, even if designing wasn't exactly her strong point. It did feel good to do something useful and something that required thinking, regardless. Having something to do was all she could ask for now.

"Is that your Wonderbolts design?" She pointed to one of the sketches.

"Yes it is!" Rarity nodded, adding a few more details to the sketch. "This is actually for Spitfire, herself! I shall use a color theme that matches her fiery mane, and the pattern will be that of red-hot flames! Don't you think it'll look wonderful on her?"

"Yeah! I think it'd work perfectly for her! It would even go nicely with her coat, too."

"Oh yes, absolutely! Oh, I do hope she'll be pleased with the results!"

"I think Rainbow will be a helpful judge of that?"

"Yes, indeed! In fact, I'm actually designing a training suit for Rainbow, as well! I think she shall be pleasantly surprised, don't you agree, Twilight?"

Twilight giggled behind her hoof. "Ooh, you're making one for her, too? Are you kidding, she'd love it!"

Rarity nodded, giggling. "I certainly should hope so!" She pointed to one of the outfit design sketches, which was marked to include rainbow colors in its pattern. "This is the design for Rainbow. What do you think, so far?"

"Oooh, she'd love that! It looks awesome!"

"Why, thank you! I think I shall color it in rainbow streaks, won't that look lovely?"

"For Rainbow Dash, I think it will," Twilight agreed, taking notes of her own. "It'll even probably make the rainbow streak she leaves behind in her wake look longer."

"That is exactly what I'm attempting to create!" Rarity beamed, adding a few details to the sketch. "Why, if I design this right, it will even look like Rainbow Dash herself has become that rainbow streak she leaves in her wake!"

"Ooh, that would make quite a spectacle! Oh...her birthday is coming up, I see now!" Twilight grinned.

"Yes, this is going to be an extra-special surprise birthday gift for Rainbow!" Rarity giggled, winking at the other Unicorn. "So don't speak a word of it to her, all right darling?"

"I promise I won't! My lips are sealed!" The lavender Unicorn promised, winking and making a motion of zipping her lips. "I'm still looking for a gift to give her, actually."

"Well..." The pure-white Unicorn giggled, smiling. "Rainbow has hinted that she wants to go to that concert that's to be in town on her birthday..."

"Oh, that rock band she likes..." Twilight realized. "Hmmm...I think I can pull some strings and get tickets for her..."
"Yes, that's the one!" Rarity nodded. "Oh, what is their name? I know the name of a song she likes..."

"Oh, I think it's Learn To Fly?"

"Yes! That's the song!"

Twilight kept that in mind. She then noticed that the rain had stopped falling, so she stepped out to make sure. As it turned out, the rain had stopped. The clouds were currently being cleared away by some of the Pegasi on the weather patrol team.
"Look Rarity, it stopped raining!"

Rarity peered up at the sky, smiling when she saw the clouds being cleared away by weather patrol Pegasi. "Oh, wonderful! Shall we try to find our friends, Twilight?"

The bird nudged Twilight, then gently spread its wings.

"We should! Let's see if our bird here can help us!"

"Do you feel up to flying, darling?"

"I hope so! Who knows how far we are from Ponyville, let alone the Everfree Forest," Twilight frowned thoughtfully. "Flying would be faster."

The bird chirped, lowering itself on the ground so they could get onto his back.

"Oh, why thank you!" Rarity smiled, gently climbing onto the bird's back and settling herself comfortably. "Come along, Twilight! Our flight awaits!"

"Let's go!!" Twilight got onto the bird's back as well.

The bird carefully flapped his wings, testing them. Carefully, he then lifted into the air, gently flapping his wings to gain altitude. So far so good, it seemed, since he seemed to be flying in a fairly slow but still manageable speed.

"It worked! He's okay! We're flying!"

"Oh, wonderful! You're doing magnificent, darling!"

Seeing the horizon slowly coming into view as the bird lifted above the corn field, Twilight could now see that Ponyville was some ways toward the west. She felt relieved, that even though they were fairly far, at least it was within sight. Now all they had to do was track down their friends. Which of course was easier said than done, but at least they had a way of getting around.

"Let's go! We're not far from it! To Ponyville!" Twilight declared.

"Take us to Ponyville, please!" Rarity told the bird kindly.

Chirping in response, the bird then flew off as well as it could toward the town.


"Um, Pinkie...did y'all even know there was a mouse hole here?" Applejack pointed to the mouse hole in the wall.

"Nope!" Pinkie Pie shook her head. "But it's a good thing there is one, because we couldn't get into Sugarcube Corner, if there wasn't!"

"Ah guess so..." Applejack shrugged a little. "Once ya get big again, yer gonna have ta do somethin' about this whole, though."

"Oh, I know!" Pinkie nodded. "Now that I know it's here, I can fix it right up before the Cakes get back from their vacation!"
Anty came crawling back, holding a couple of crumbs in its pincers, which it lay on the floor near them. It then went to go retrieve some more.

"Cleanin' tha floor might also be a good idea..." Applejack remarked, gesturing to the ant. "Least we ain't gotta worry about a Health Inspection."

"Awww, good boy, Anty!" Pinkie praised, smiling at the ant. "C'mon, Applejack! Let's put these in our neato saddlebags that Twilight made us!"

"Good idea, we'll need the rations," Applejack agreed, taking a couple of pieces of the crumbs to place into her makeshift saddlebags.

"Yupperroonie!" Pinkie nodded, placing some pieces of crumbs into her own makeshift saddlebags.
Peering out the hole for a moment, Applejack sighed dejectedly before sitting down. "Still rainin' out there... Least we're indoors where there's food."

"And at least we're all nice and warm and dry, too!" Pinkie pointed out.
Smiling a bit, the orange Earth pony nodded. "Yeah, Ah guess so. Ah'm just hopin' we get outta this...it ain't fun bein' this small... Least last time, y'all were ta see me."

Giggling at the memory, the pink Earth pony nodded also. "I remember that! At least this time, I can talk without being all pbbbt pbbbt pbbbbbt pbbbt pbbbbbbbbbbt!!!"

Applejack grimaced, ducking out of the way of the spitting. "Right...yeah."

Pinkie giggled and stopped spitting. "At least I'm not doing that! And you're right that it's not very fun to be this small, but it is like a super-duper-ultra exciting adventure!"

"Ah guess it can be no worse than goin' up against Nightmare Moon, Discord or the Changelins," the farm pony shrugged a bit.

"Oooooh, they were all such meanies!" The party pony pouted. "Especially Nightmare Moon, since she wanted to make everything all night all the time, and then gobble us up!"

"...Um, Nightmare Moon didn't wanna gobble us up. She jus' wanted ta make perpetual nighttime."

"But that's not what Zecora said! Remember on Nightmare Night?! Nightmare Moon came back to gobble us all up!"

Applejack shook her head. "That was Princess Luna. An' fer that matter, the gobblin' up thing was made up ta make Nightmare Night scary."

Pinkie frowned at the orange mare. "Are you sure? She sure seemed like she wanted to gobble up somepony!"

"She was just bitter 'bout bein' ridiculed. But never mind, everythin's been resolved since then," Applejack waved it off. She peered through the mouse hole again, groaning. "Fer Pete's sake! When's this rain gonna let up?!"

"I dunno!" Pinkie shrugged. She then turned in the direction the ant had scurried off to. "Oh, Anty~ Where are you~?"

"Aw no, ya gotta be kiddin' me!" Applejack groaned, facehoofing. "Now we gotta find our ant!"

"He's probably in the kitchen!" Pinkie chirped, bouncing in that direction. "Anty-wanty~ Pinkie Pie wants to find you~"

"Pinkie, don't wander off," Applejack pulled her back by her tail. "Ah don't wanna hafta look fer you, too. Please just stay with me here."

"But we gotta find Anty, though!" Pinkie frowned. "Something could've happened to him! And he's our ticket to the Everfree Forest!"

"Then we'll go find him," Applejack reasoned, "TAGETHER. We ain't splittin' up."

"Okey-dokey lokie!" Pinkie nodded, grinning. "Let's go, AJ!"

"Awright," the orange Earth pony stood up, adjusting her hat. "Let's go find him, then. Ah hope he didn't wander off too far."
"We'll try the kitchen, first!" The pink Earth pony started to bounce away again. "Then we'll look behind the counter, and then we'll check upstairs!"

"...Pinkie, how're we gonna get upstairs? The stairs are bigger than us, the steps are too high fer us ta reach, an' it'll take ferever ta reach up there!" Applejack looked toward the stairs at the back of the shop, paling a bit.

"...Good point." Pinkie frowned a bit. "Okay, we won't check upstairs! But we'll check AROUND the stairs! There's plenty of places Anty could've gone!"

"Awright, fair enough," Applejack agreed. "Like ya said, we'll start with tha kitchen. Considerin' there'll be crumbs an' other smells, he mighta been attracted ta that."

"Right! To the kitchen!" Pinkie declared, pointing her hoof forward. "Move out, troops!"

"...Um..." Applejack looked around her, blinking. "Ah'm the only one here."

"I know that, silly! I meant both of us!" Pinkie giggled, gesturing to herself and the orange mare.

"...Cain't argue with that."

"Let's go! Forward, MARCH!!!"

Applejack smiled a bit before she followed after the pink bouncing pony. Even with having to find their creepy crawly friend, at least they had each other for help.