I just couldn't believe my eyes! Princess Twilight Sparkle was in front of me, who from my point of view was a giant Alicorn that seemed to be over a hundred feet tall, but she still wasn't aware I was near her. I didn't want to do anything reckless, so I ducked back into the grass before she could spot me. With my back against one of the giant blades of grass, my head tilted down towards the light-brown dirt on the ground with a finger on my chin, I fought to decide what to do.
On one hand, I knew Twilight to be very friendly, and she wouldn't hurt anything if she didn't have to.
But on the other hand, if I ran up to and surprised her too badly, and she thought I was a bug, she could freak-out -- something I knew she's prone to doing -- and try to crush me if she couldn't hear or understand my voice. And the tremors from her footsteps, or hoofsteps I should say, that grew stronger with each step, didn't exactly help my paranoia. The thought of something so big trying to stomp on me was horrifying, and I shook from fear more than ever. I'm glad that I didn't really think about Twilight's ability to use magic.
As Twilight crept closer, at about four feet away, I made out what she was muttering about. "I know what I heard came from around here," she said. I thought that Twilight had heard my calls and was trying to find what made them, and I better just come out of the grass.
But as I thought more and more about her size, paranoia made me want to stay hidden. However, I remembered something that made staying put not an option.
When Twilight Sparkle looks for something, she can easily keep it up for hours. There was no place close enough that I could hide in and feel safe, so I didn't think I could try to wait her out. Not only that, if there's anyone -- er -- anypony, that could figure out how and why I ended up in Equestria, there were very few better options to ask for help than Twilight. If I didn't do it then and there, I might not have gotten another chance to ask her to help me.
With Twilight continuing to come closer and her hoofsteps still making the ground shake, I felt like I had no choice. Taking deep breaths, I gave my face a couple of slaps telling myself, "You gotta do this, you idiot!" I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists tighter than ever, and crept out of the huge blades of grass.
Twilight was only about two feet away at this point, so she saw me as soon as I stepped out of the grass. Her eyes widened, and she let out a loud scream and jumped backward before I even had a chance to call out to her. At my tiny size, Twilight's scream sounded as if a "normal" woman screamed right in your ears at the top of her lungs, but five times louder. As you could guess, it just killed my ears, and I put my hands over my ears as hard as I possibly could.
Then, what felt like an earthquake when she landed on the ground made me stumble back and forth a few times, with me waving my arms up and down very quickly, trying to keep my balance. I couldn't do it, and I just fell to the ground, face-down.
On my stomach, I lifted my head at Twilight again. Seeing her standing so close and now looking at me, with a facial expression showing disgust, a chill came down my spine. I froze, too scared to move or talk. She was almost like a living purple mountain that had me in her sight. Her hooves were big enough to crush a house with no problem. Let alone crush my bones into dust if she got any...ideas. Even thinking to myself that she was Princess Twilight Sparkle did nothing to calm me down.
Even so, staying quiet on my stomach wasn’t going to help. What to do now?
The obvious answer: try to talk to her, and hope that the words she and others said on TV are the same as what would be said here. Twilight’s shocked frown lessened, yet it felt like her attention on me sharpened, making me gulp.
I was willing myself to talk, but I didn’t get a single word out when Twilight started doing something. It was what I was afraid she might do. Towering over me, Twilight was lifting the hoof on her left foreleg off the ground. She was moving it in my direction, about to put it over me. A terror I had never felt before filled my veins. I didn't think this giant was trying to use that hoof to shake my hand.
My mouth opened wide to let out an almost inhuman scream. I pushed off the ground to stand and try to duck out of the way, but my left foot sank into a crack in the ground and got trapped, so it wouldn’t come out!!
There was no escaping the hoof that was still coming for me. I was a dead man, so I looked down and away from the inevitable. I clenched my teeth harder than ever out of pure terror and covered my head with my arms, even though I knew it wouldn't do anything to protect me from something so big stomping on me. I just cried, shook, and hoped that she'd stomp down hard and fast to kill me instantly, so at least I wouldn't have enough time to feel the pain of being crushed.
Of all the things I thought would happen if I ever went to Equestria, being crushed to death by a giant Twilight Sparkle WASN’T one of them!
But there was no bone-crushing stomp. Instead, something tapped most of my back, but my existence didn’t end. From how much of my back it touched, what touched me was huge, but its tap didn’t hurt, yet the shock of the touch made me shiver even harder from pure fear. Thought by heart might burst from it! A second later, Twilight asked, “Are you okay? I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”
Her voice was -- compared to her previous scream -- much quieter. It was about as loud as someone talking in a raised voice, but not one of yelling. Tears still flowed down my eyes, I stopped shaking, slowly moved my arms off my head, lifted my head up, and saw that her left hoof was back on the ground and away from me. She was also bending down, staring right at me with big eyes, and her head only about five feet (to me) over me.
Seeing her huge face so close, out of instinct I yelled, "Don't eat me!"
Twilight jerked her head away from me and to its normal height. She took some steps back, making the ground shake, and rubbed the top of her head with a foreleg. The steps she made made the ground shake enough to free my foot, so I was able to pull it out.
I kept looking at her; she kept her eyes on me. Guess we both weren't sure what to say next. It was even starting to become awkward. At least I was now able to piece together that Twilight wasn’t trying to stomp on me before: she was simply reaching for me. Maybe it was to pick me up or something, or just check on me.
After I took some semi-deep breaths, I chose to finally try to talk to her. But after the screaming I did, my throat felt like it was on fire.
"Hello! Can you understand me?" I yelled, at about half my limit, and hoped she'd still hear me. She tilted her head a bit more, but didn't say anything. I yelled it again and waved my hands up at her this time, but other than maybe making her even more confused, it did nothing.
Wonderful.
I put a hand on my chin and tilted my head down, trying to think of another idea, then grinned when I got one. I lifted my head upwards, looked back up at hers and used a "come here" motion by waving an arm toward me a few times. Twilight could tell I was trying to get her to do and asked, "Are you asking me to come closer to you?"
Twilight didn't seem too confused now, but instead just interested. I nodded my head a few times, used the motion again, and kept doing it, so she'd know for sure that's what I wanted her to do. I knew that unless she did, Twilight wouldn't be able to hear me loud enough to understand me.
Lucky for me, Twilight could tell what I wanted her to do, and she went down on her stomach, leaned her head closer, about to how she had it before I yelled to don't eat me. She stared at me with huge eyes, making me lean away. I yelled one more time, "Hello, Twilight! Can you understand me?!" My throat was at its limit with how much it was burning. I rubbed it and thought I had to try to tough it out a little longer.
"Yes, I do," she told me and even gave a gentle smile, which greatly eased my nerves, as I felt a wave of relief flow through my body. I gave a deep sigh of relief too, knowing for sure that Twilight really wasn't going to try to crush me or something. But I still felt a bit tense, though; she was still a giant.
"Now, can I ask you who you are?
"I'm a h--!"
I suddenly had a new problem to deal with: my energy suddenly seemed to just leave my body. My head sagged, I fell to one knee, gasping for breath, and I held my head with a hand in dizziness.
Twilight's eyes got (even) bigger, and she leaned even closer to me. "W-What's wrong? Are you all right?! Say something if you are!
I tried to answer her, but before I could, everything went dark.
Back in Ponyville, Starlight Glimmer and Rarity had finished gathering their remaining friends, as Twilight requested, and now were waiting in the princess's castle.
Rainbow Dash, a light-blue Pegasus.
Pinkie Pie, a pink Earth Pony. Earth Ponies don't have a horn or wings, but they have more physical strength than Pegasi and Unicorns.
Applejack, an orange Earth Pony.
And finally, Fluttershy, a yellow Pegasus.
They had searched all over Ponyville and questioned every pony they could find. Not one pony had seen the still-missing magic, nor did they notice anything different since the previous day. The six friends knew it would very soon be time for Twilight to return to the castle, so they decided to wait there for her, in a huge room around a big circular table, that has a mini-map of Equestria. Pillars of a mix of dark-blue and light-purple crystals spread along parts of the blue-colored walls of the room, with some surrounding closed windows made of green glass. Double doors of a similar green color, surrounded by its own crystal stalagmite, were closed.
Starlight, who didn't have a chair, remained standing, but the rest of the mares sat in chairs surrounding the table, that each has a design of their respective Cutie Mark. Except for Pinkie, who was hopping in her chair, instead of simply sitting in it.
Starlight wanted to explain in more detail about what happened when she and Twilight performed the nightmare prevention spell the previous night, and why she's so worried.
"So, you say this spell that you and Twilight tried to do would keep ponies from having nightmares, Starlight?" questioned Rainbow Dash, scratching her mane.
"Yes, Rainbow Dash," Starlight answered, turning in Rainbow's direction. "Twilight tracked down the spell six months ago and if ponies breathe in the magic this spell produces, it'll block their ability to have nightmares for three weeks. We were never about to do it successfully until last night."
"Okay, but I thought Princess Luna was doin' a great job at fightin' nightmares," Applejack said while biting into an apple.
Fluttershy turned her head in Starlight's direction. "Hold on, is Princess Luna sick?"
"Maybe Princess Luna just wants to go out and have some fun on some nights?" Pinkie considered, still bouncing in her chair. "After all, fighting nightmares all night doesn't sound like fun one bit!"
"Maybe, but most ponies are asleep at night, and Princess Luna isn't exactly a 'ponies-pony' anyway," Applejack reminded Pinkie.
"And I thought she loved helping ponies with nightmares!" Rainbow exclaimed.
Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash. "Well, think about it, Rainbow. Sure, she likes doin' it, but it's still gotta be hard on her to do it every night. I mean, would you want to fly around doin' Sonic Rainbooms all day, every day?"
"Oh yeah, I get your point, Applejack. I guess I never thought about it like that," Rainbow said in realization.
"Exactly," Starlight said, turning her body in Applejack's direction. "That was why Twilight wanted to help Luna be able to get some nights off from fighting nightmares."
Pinkie stopped bouncing in her chair. "But why are you so worked up about this magic, Starlight? Can't you and Twilight just do the spell again?"
"We could, Pinkie, but that's not the point"-- Starlight paced back and forth --"because it's about what it could mean if it's not still on the loose."
"What do you mean, Starlight?" Rarity asked.
"If it isn't still free-floating, it can mean that it went into something"-- Starlight paced even faster --"and if it did, it could cause a lot of trouble. Or even worse, it could've gone into somepony, and if all of that magic went into them, it could be dangerous! And if somepony got hurt because of me, I--" Starlight's eyes became watery, and her voice was close to breaking.
Applejack assured, "Now don't worry, Starlight. I mean, think about it, sugarcube: if it really did go into somepony, don't ya think we'd know it by now?"
Starlight smiled at Applejack as she stopped pacing. "Oh yeah, that's right! I guess I was just worrying over nothing!"
"You see, darling? Twilight was telling you that you didn't do anything wrong," Rarity comfortingly told Starlight.
"Yeah, I know she did, Rarity but --" Starlight tilted her head upward "-- it's just that, whenever I try to help somepony, and especially when I do it with spells, most of the time, I just make things worse. I was just worried it happened again."
Pinkie once again hopped up and down in her chair. "Yeah, Starlight, you have messed up pretty bad when you used magic. Like that time yo--"
Applejack sped over to pop Pinkie on the head, motioning with her hoof to stop talking.
"Well, Twilight should be here any second." Rainbow stood up from her chair, stretching her hooves, yawning. "Hopefully, she found something."
I came to, lying on my back on the ground. At first, I thought I was waking up from the "dream" about waking up in Equestria.
But as I was rubbing my eyes, I rolled over to my left and I heard a loud voice asking if I felt better coming from my other side. I sat up from surprise and to cover my ears with my hands again. After a second, I spun my head to my right, and Twilight was there, sitting beside me and covering her mouth with her hooves. And still a giant. Well, she was one to me anyway.
We were right in front of the yellow doors of Twilight's castle, and it seemed like she was waiting for me to wake up. I guess she carried me there after I passed out. I thought it was odd that Twilight didn't take me in her castle, but I didn't say anything about it.
"Oh, I am so sorry. I guess I should talk quietly around you, so I don't hurt your ears. Are you okay?" Twilight asked in a much more quiet voice. She was probably truly talking in a whisper, but to my tiny ears, she sounded like she was talking in her "normal" voice. She also lowered her head closer to me, to about ten feet (to me) over my head, and stared at me with widened eyes. I guess Twilight was still trying to recognize what I was.
"I...I don't know..." I said in a low voice, feeling nervous because of her staring...which of course she couldn't hear at all. I took notice of Twilight's horn, making me remember that she could probably do something about my voice with her magic. With my throat still burning from my earlier screaming, though not as bad, I yelled as loud as I could that if she could raise my voice or something.
Twilight nodded. "Yes, I can cast a spell to do that if you want, and it won't hurt."
I nodded back, instead of trying to yell again.
"All right, just stand still for a second."
I stood still, and her horn glowed pink and fired a pink beam at me. It was wide enough to completely cover my body, so from my point of view, it looked like she shone a bright pink light on me, more like how the light from a slightly dim pink sun would look if you looked at it than a "beam" of magic. As Twilight said, it didn't hurt, but it did feel oddly familiar.
Twilight explained that the spell did two things. First, it raised my voice, so I could talk normally and she would be able to hear my voice as if I were her size, or even the size of a foal, as well as easing the burning of my throat as a secondary effect. The spell also affected my ears, making it so my new, far louder voice wouldn't hurt my ears. This would also allow Twilight, as well as others, to talk to me in their normal voices, without it killing my ears. Of course, there were limits to it: if Twilight or somepony screamed very close to my ears, it'd still hurt them.
I thanked her, told her my name, and I tried my best to explain what I was, I wasn't from Equestria, that I didn't know how any of this happened, and asked if she could help me. However, I had no idea how I could explain the part about her, and Equestria, being part of a cartoon I watched, and that they shouldn't even exist. So I just left that out.
As I talked, shivers went through my body as I became more and more aware of the size of not just Twilight, but everything around me and how vulnerable I was. The doors to the castle looked like they were several hundreds of feet tall, if not over a thousand. Small rocks were as big as me, and larger ones were simply bigger. Even though Twilight didn’t try to crush me, a different pony could try to do it if they saw me and thought I was a “bug”. I was just lucky Twilight isn’t the type to do something like that. A human such as me would be no match against an Alicorn, let alone a GIANT Alicorn!
And even if a pony wouldn’t try to step on me, something else might, or even eat me!
With the thoughts of the ton of ways I could easily be killed at this size in my head, more shivers flowed through me and I tried to keep from freaking out. I even started shaking.
Luckily, Twilight saw me shivering, gave a friendly smile, and carefully placed a hoof to my left side (closest she could come to placing it on my shoulder) and gently assured, "Try not to be scared, Eric. I promise I won't let you get hurt and will keep you safe, and I think I know how this happened. I'm going to take you into my castle and try to figure this out, but you will need to hide in my mane and stay quiet in it, for now."
I had no idea why Twilight wanted me to do this, and I asked, "Why do you want me to hide? Am I in some kind of danger?"
But Twilight leaned her head closer to me and pointed at the top of her head with a hoof. "I'll explain later, but for now, please just do it and trust me, okay? But it's not that you're in danger, so don't be worried about that."
I told her okay, and that I'd hide in her mane. Ha, it's not that I had much of a choice, and I figured she had a good reason anyway.
Twilight's horn glowed again and I felt myself being lifted off the ground and floated up in the air, surrounded by a pink aura; at the same time, she stood up. Alarmed a bit, I tried to flap my arms around at first, but I could barely move them. But once I figured out it was just Twilight lifting me with her magic, I stopped trying to flap my arms. But my heart sank and I gulped once I got to the height of Twilight's face; both from the height and from the sheer size of Twilight's face itself, even though she was smiling. Her eyes were more than four times as big as me. Once she sat me on her head, I quickly ducked in her mane, lay down on her head on my stomach, and feeling the hair of the mane surrounding me felt pretty good. Kinda weird, but good.
When I was in her magic, I thought that the sensation of it felt very much like what that odd "breeze" I felt by the pond was, before I fell asleep, then woke up in Equestria. The difference was that the "breeze" I felt came from one side, like, well...a breeze. But what I felt in Twilight's magic wasn't like a breeze: it was surrounding me, and it also made me feel weightless, and yet I couldn't move much. But the sensation itself, feeling like slightly warm air, felt nearly the same. This helped me confirm what I felt back then was Equestrian magic. But whether it was Twilight's magic, I couldn't tell.
With me hiding in her mane, Twilight walked right to the door, about to open it when her magic. "Now remember, until I tell you that you can, please, don't come out of my mane. Oh, and I guess you already know, but my name is Twilight Sparkle."
I could only wonder what Twilight wanted to do next, and why she wanted me to hide like this. But what I did know: I was somehow in Equestria and I just met Princess Twilight Sparkle, something that should have been impossible! And as if that weren't crazy enough, I was so small, I was literally riding on Twilight's head, hiding in her mane.
Man, could things get any weirder than this?