When the next day arrived, Tanya was woken up by the sunlight hitting her face. It caught her off guard since she didn’t recall Off Key being as transparent as a crystal pony, but when she got her bearings, she realized that she was just not in the mare’s stomach anymore, and back on the counter.
Off Key comes out of the attached bathroom. “Good morning Tanya.” She says blearily, smacking her lips as she’s still waking up herself. She sits on the pony stool in front of her dressing mirror and starts combing her mane.
She only gave a small wave as she wasn’t one to even speak before she brushed her teeth, not liking the morning breath that everyone gets.
“From what I heard there should be a tiny sized bathroom on your, uh, dressing counter. There’s also a closet, so I guess your counter is like a tiny version of this room, minus the bed.” Off Key informs Tanya, in case she needed to use the bathroom for anything.
She only nodded as she took a look around before she saw the small door and moved off the bed and to it, able to open the door and see the bathroom was just like a regular bathroom, bathtub with a shower, sink, and a toilet. She stayed inside the bathroom for a while, also taking a shower since she also took a shower as soon as she was able to get out of a pony’s stomach. Of course, those were rare occasions, but even with magic she could still feel the filth.
Off Key finishes combing her mane and carefully knocks on the wall to Tanya’s bathroom. “Let me know when you’re ready and we’ll go get some breakfast. There’s a room down the hall with all sorts of stuff. Kind of like at those hotels with the all you can eat breakfast bars.” She says, before cantering over to the couch in the room, which has a set of stairs leading to Tanya’s counter. She gets on it and curls up like a dog, starting to nap a bit.
After some time, Tanya came out with her hair wet and a new change of clothes, she saw the stairs leading up to the couch where Off Key was laying on, going up the stairs before she slid down the couch and onto Off Key’s back. She made a small ‘oof’ sound when she landed on Off Key stomach first.
Off Key flinches and awakens with a bit of a jolt. “Huh? What?” She asks blearily before noticing Tanya. “Oh, um, hey there.” She says, suppressing a giggle at the tiny girl laying face down on her back. “Comfy?” She asks with a little bit of a giggle.
Instead of a simple ‘hello’, Tanya only responded with a small cough, the fall almost making her lose her breath as she tried to get her bearings, all the while trying to get out of the small trap between the couch and Off Key’s body.
Off Key uses her magic to pick Tanya up and place the girl on her muzzle. “That better?” She asks the tiny girl, her eyes focused on the girl atop her muzzle.
“Y-yeah, thanks.” She nodded, feeling a little bit better now that she was free from the trap she cause herself to be in.
“Alright, ready for breakfast?” Off Key asks as she slowly gets up, making sure not to knock Tanya off balance.
She only nodded again as she held on tight and prepared herself in case something happens.
Key carefully heads off, out the door and down the hall to a dining area with a corner that holds all sorts of food, from pancakes and waffles to breakfast cereals even bacon and sausages. “Alright, let’s get some breakfast.” She says as she heads to the breakfast bar, picking up a plate and bowl. “Looks like I’ll have to give you crumbs and such, as they don’t seem to have one for you.” She comments a little sadly, surprised they wouldn’t have something for the star of the band.
“Oh, it’s fine. I don’t really eat much anyways.” She said, trying to not worry the mare about being looked down upon, feeling that she had enough to worry about since she couldn’t truly be a part of the only thing she loves.
The mare starts to load up her plate and the bowl, a couple pancakes, some bacon and sausage go on the plate, while she fills up the bowl with what must be a fruit salad made of different berries. “So, do you want me to grab anything else? Maybe a donut?” She asks, making sure that Tanya would get something she wants too, besides the crumbs of what she’d already picked up.
“No, it’s fine. What you already picked out is good enough for me.” She said, not wanting the mare to go overboard just for her.
“Oh, um, okay.” Off Key replies, heading to a table and sitting down, lowering her head to the table so that Tanya can get off her muzzle. “So, um, just let me know what you want a crumb of, and uh, well, you know, be careful not to end up on my fork or anything while I’m eating. If you need anything, please let me know rather than climbing up and getting it yourself. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to watch digestion first, um, hand.” She says, waiting for Tanya to get what she wants before she’ll begin eating.
Tanya climbed off, afterwards taking the smallest strip of bacon that was on the table for herself, even if it looked more like a stiff brown towel compared to her. But she only nodded to say she understood what she was warning before she started eating her ‘breakfast’.
“Is that all you want? Just a small strip of bacon?” Off Key asks, thinking that Tanya would’ve wanted more than just that. “Are you sure you don’t want a little bit of the waffles, maybe some fruit? Do you want some toast, or maybe some eggs?” She asks, offering to go make the last two if she wanted some.
“N-no, no. It’s fine. I can’t really eat a lot, so giving all of that would be just a waste, Please, you don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine.” She said with a small smile, it being clear that she wanted to put Off Key’s own wants and needs before her own.
“W-well, I grabbed all this extra food in the hopes you’d want at least some of the crumbs.” Off Key replies, she could probably finish it all, but she figured Tanya might’ve taken just enough that it wouldn’t be super filling. “I-I suppose I can finish it though, if you don’t want more than that.” She says before slowly starting to eat.
She didn’t say anything as she started eating her own food, enjoying it for the time being until she was actually able to eat the whole thing, yet still be hungry. She was a little curious on the matter, but she couldn’t really ask anyone who could help since no one was around, not telling Off Key or the other’s about her magic changing over time. Instead, she only reached over to grab a piece of the waffle instead, either them or pancakes being the one thing she could never finish on her own when she was back home.
Off key has stopped paying as close attention to her plate as she had been. She cuts a slice of a waffle off and unknowingly scoops Tanya and the waffle onto her fork, bringing it up to her muzzle and engulfing the fork full. After a moment of chewing, she swallows the both of them, unknowingly enjoying the extra taste that Tanya gave the piece of waffle. She continues on, slowly eating her breakfast, all while unknowingly having eaten her bandmate and new friend.
“W-wait, sto-!” She didn’t have time to warn Off Key that she mistakenly ate her along with the piece of waffle. But she could’ve sworn that she was taking pieces from the other side of the waffle. Once she face planted into the bottom of the stomach, she felt that all of her showering was wasted, sighing as she didn’t try to get her attention, figuring that she would have to get used to being eaten, whether accidentally or on purpose.
“S-so, Tanya, what made you want to become a singer?” Off Key asks, not knowing that Tanya is in her stomach. “Tanya?” She asks, looking to where the girl was. “Uh-oh…” She says, before looking down at her belly. “Um, Tanya, are you where I think you are?” She asks nervously.
“Yes.” She simply answered, not wanting to talk about it as she felt that perhaps a plate of her own would be a better idea than just trying to steal from Off Key.
“Um, hold on.” Off Key says, feeling quite embarrassed and sorry for Tanya. She levitates her plate and utensils and takes them to their room. She then levitates a thread, which would be a rope to Tanya, and ties a marble to the end of it. “Alright, I’m sending down a marble and a portion of thread to pull you out.” She says before swallowing the marble while holding the other end with her magic. She feels the marble land in her stomach. “Alright, just tell me when you’ve grabbed onto the thread.” She instructs, waiting for Tanya to grab onto the thread so she can pull her out.
Tanya didn’t say anything as she climbed onto the marble like a rope knot at the end, and then lightly tugged it, signalling that she was ready.
Off Key feels the tug and pulls up the thread, pulling Tanya up and out of her. “Sorry about that Tanya, I didn’t mean to swallow you, again.” She apologizes with a sigh.
“Well, I’m gonna have to take a shower and change clothes again. But it’s fine.” She said, but her tone of voice said otherwise.
“Tanya, I know it’s not fine, that you’re not fine with this. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have if I’d known.” Off Key apologizes again. “Even worse is that each time this happens, I feel like, no, I know I’ve violated you.” Tears start to appear in her eyes. “But the worst part is that I have to. In order to stay here in this job, I have to violate you with this fetish thing.” The tears flow even more. “I’m a terrible pony!” She cries before rushing to her own bathroom and locking the door, not that it really matters seeing as Tanya could easily walk underneath it.
Tanya mentally sighed as she didn’t mean to make Off Key feel bad. She made her way off the table and to the floor, going to the bathroom door and crawling under it before she spoke up. “Off Key, I think you are looking too much into this. Nobody made you do that. And I know you don’t want this… if you don’t want to continue this, then I won’t make you.”
The end of Off Key’s tail, sticks out from around the corner of the counter the sink must be on, and her sobs sound from behind there as well. “B-but, I need this job and Sven will fire me if I don’t do it his way.” She says while she continues to cry, a thump sounds out as she leans against the wall. “I read the news, found out about that whole thing, and you said so yourself. Some humans consider it sexual to be eaten, and since you know about it, I have no doubt that it makes you feel awkward or violated because of that.” She says, still sniffling.
“Listen, Key. I don’t care about that. Sure, some people may be like that, and even ponies might be like that in secret, but that isn’t either of us right now. I never thought about it that way, and neither should you.” Tanya went on, taking a seat next to the mare’s tail. “Honestly, if I thought of it that way and didn’t want anything to do with this, I would ask you to get me out of here than constantly telling you to stay here. And honestly, that’s starting to get more annoying than the eating me part.”
“Well, I’m sorry I’m annoying too.” Off Key replies between sniffles, pressing more against the wall as she tries to make herself disappear, essentially, though the results are that it’s obviously not working.
Tanya mentally sighed as she felt saying that last part wasn’t needed. “Off Key, please don’t blame yourself for anything. If I didn’t tell Twilight about vore, and let her spread that info, then you wouldn’t feel weird, or like your violating me. If you want someone to blame, then blame me.”
“Well, are you the one behind vore being a thing?” Off Key asks in reply. “Are you the first human that had the fetish, because it doesn’t look like it and you don’t act like it either. You may have let it slip that being eaten is a human fetish thing, but I’m not going to blame you for it.” She adds, still slumped against the wall. “Guess I’m going to have to deal with it.”
“Well, obviously I’m not into it, but I did share that information with the one mare that overreacts to anything negative.” Tanya said, figuring that was a bad call on her side, but she couldn’t really take it back now. “And you don’t have to deal with it. You could just ignore it. No one openly expresses this kind of interest, and if they do, it’s only towards those they trust the most, those who wouldn’t think any different of them and just accept it as part of them.” She said, imagining why this sudden revelation is like someone revealing their romantic sexuality if it was anything but straight. “It’s more or less as if someone is saying they like the same gender as their own instead of the normal girl likes guys and vice verses.”
“Now that’s one I have heard about with humans, but I heard that because the governments of your world would give them power that they often abused it.” Off Key replies. “So, what if that happens here? What if because of human first movements like the Wings of Freedom and such, that tinies are given political power to force ponies to do what they want or else?” She asks.
“Well, ponies kind of caused it since the law against eating tinies is rather small. Only safe zones and certain stores are safe, but everywhere else is like a walk into the Everfree Forest for us. Wherever we walk or turn, there’s a possibility that a pony would be wanting a tiny to snack on, and you are the unfortunate one to walk in their path.” She said, glancing away. “I’ve waited so long for Celestia to possibly add more power to the law of not eating tinies, but ponies could care less, and I bet tinies that did were probably eaten trying to get to the castle, or was even on the line waiting to talk to the alicorn.” She said, now feeling miserable as well. “I bet those wings of freedom people figured that actions speak louder than words, seeing how nothing has changed to make things better for ourselves.”
“Until now.” Off Key says. “The news this morning pretty much stopped any of that. In fact, after that you seemed worried that ponies wouldn’t eat tinies, or even have absolutely nothing to do with them. In the meantime, even with the news we ponies have to be worried about groups of vigilante tinies doing what they want and if you get in their way they kill you.” She sighs and lays down, still sniffling a bit.
“Well, maybe we should not think about what’s going on outside. It seems to be the main thing that’s troubling you in the first place.” Tanya suggested, having to do that with the Wings of Freedom news she got from her special somepony.
“Alright then, what should we think about? The only thing I can think of, besides the stuff going on in the rest of Equestria, is the fact that the second I got distracted I ended up… Voring you.” Off Key replies before letting her head drop to the floor with a loud smack, and letting out a groan of embarrassment about the whole situation they just had.
“Maybe we can try and see if we can fix your… singing problem.” She suggested, thinking that perhaps some simple instrument tunes might be easier to fix than her voice. “Come on, I bet if you can’t sing, perhaps you can re-learn how to play an instrument.”
“Trust me, I’ve tried.” Off Key replies in a depressed tone. “But, if you want to take a shot at it, let’s go ahead. Maybe you need to witness my cutie mark at work to understand.” She says before getting up and using her magic to place Tanya on her back.
Tanya didn’t say anything as she was thinking of an easy instrument to play, then it hit her. “I know, why don’t we try playing a ukulele. It’s the first instrument I learned, and it only has four strings to focus on.” She said, a smile on her lips as she seemed more interested in doing this than Key herself.
“Alright.” Off Key says in her still depressed tone as she heads towards the supply room to look for one. “If you need an instrument too, I could see about getting you one, or even making one for you.” She adds as she heads into the supply room and starts looking around. “You’ll have to tune it though, for, uh, obvious reasons.”
“Yeah, I understand.” She said, wishing she could’ve brought her own ukulele but figured she didn’t have enough time after being swept into the singing business.
Off Key goes looking through the instruments and finds a ukulele, grasping it with her magic. “Alright, can you help me make sure it’s in tune?” She asks as she sets it down gently on a counter and sets Tanya on it. “Bet you never thought you’d be on a giant ukulele.” Off Key says with a small giggle.
“Yeah, I guess not.” She shrugged with a pink blush on her cheeks, walking on the strings like a tightrope before she made it to the end and got herself ready to turn the tuning pegs. “Do you think you can pluck one of the strings to see how it sounds?” She asked.
“Alright, just remember that everything I do music wise ends up sounding, well, as my name suggests.” Off Key says before using her magic to pluck one of the strings.
As expected, the string just played off a single note, Tanya starting to tighten the string as she used most of her strength to turn the peg.
“Maybe we should switch. It’d be easier for you to pluck the string and for me to turn the pegs.” Off Key suggests as she notices Tanya’s struggle to turn the peg. “Maybe with you telling me when to stop, we can get it tuned.”
“You sure?” She asked, feeling that what they were doing now was right, but only shrugged it off as she got off of the tuning pegs and went back to where the strings usually get plucked around.
“Mmhmm. I saw that strain when you were turning the peg. Besides, you’re so small you could probably use one as a chair.” Off Key says, as she starts to turn the peg with her magic. “Just tell me when to stop.”
She didn’t say anything as she started plucking the string as Key moved the peg, the tune changing before Tanya asked her to stop, one string down and three more to go.
Off Key waits until Tanya is in position to begin plucking the next string before starting to turn the corresponding peg, and like before she continues turning the peg until Tanya says otherwise. They repeat this process until the ukulele is completely tuned. “Alright, so uh, I guess you’ll want me to start playing something, huh?” The mare asks as she lifts the girl off the instrument and onto her muzzle.
“Yeah, why don’t we try something simple for you to play, so simple that even a filly could learn.” She said, figuring that she should find a music sheet that might have that.
“Um, alright then.” Off Key replies, not too sure that this will go any better than her own attempts. She uses her magic to lower some easy song sheets so that Tanya could look them over. “Here you go, go ahead and look them over.” She says as she sits down, ears flattening. ‘Just don’t look too surprised when the perfectly tuned ukulele suddenly sounds like it’s out of tune again.’ She thinks to herself.
She looked at the music sheets, already envisioning the tunes that might come with the instructed notes, but none of them really grabbed her attention. ‘Perhaps I may need to use one of the earth’s tunes.’ She thought, looking back at Key. “I think we might need a ukulele of my own. I could use it to show you step by step.”
“Um, you know. It’s not that I can’t play instruments, in fact as I said before my cutie mark appeared, I was considered a musical prodigy. It’s just that, with my cutie mark, for some reason, everything goes wrong. Watch.” Off Key says, picking up the Ukulele in her magic and playing through one of the songs easily, only every note sounded like it was from an untuned Ukulele, thus, off key.
‘Geeze, this is going to be harder than I thought.’ She thought, once again feeling that she couldn’t make a single impact on the mare since she more or less gave up on the idea of being talented on her own, and also whatever curse she has on her.
Off Key sets the Ukulele down and sighs. “See, my stupid cutie mark makes this whole thing, well, yeah.” She makes sure not to drop her head so that Tanya doesn’t fall off her muzzle. “I could make you a small ukulele if you’d like though. I’ll just need to go get some material. I’m pretty good at making instruments, even for, well, before tinies arrived pony dolls. You just need to tune it, because well, as you heard.”
“Oh, well… alright then.” She mumbled, still a little upset that she couldn’t really help her, starting to feel as hopeless as Off Key.
“At least you’ll have an instrument. Who knows, maybe Sven will allow you to play it too.” Off Key replies as she starts to gather up what she needs to make the tiny ukulele. She then uses her magic to carefully put the tiny ukulele together, finishing it by using a portion of one of her tail hairs for the strings. “There, a ukulele made by your friend, Off Key. Let’s just hope that it being a portion of one of my tail strands, doesn’t mean that it’ll suffer from my, well, my curse.” Off Key says, somewhat happy that she at least made something that Tanya would like.
Tanya looked over at the small ukulele, taking it into her own hand before she plucked one of the strings to see what would happen.
The ukulele feels and sounds like a normal ukulele, it needs to be tuned properly but otherwise it’s a finely crafted instrument. “I left it, well blank, so that you could personalize it yourself.” Off Key says.
“Thanks.” She said with a small smile, looking up at one of Key’s eyes before she looked back down at the instrument and was rather glad that it wouldn’t carry the curse that Off Key had, but she wasn’t trying to be rude or anything. “Perhaps you could make instruments instead.” She suggested, figuring that making things that are part of music isn’t technically being music-related by the curse she most likely had.
“That’s true. I just wish I could tune and play them too. Not many ponies, or tinies want to buy an instrument that they have to tune themselves though.” Off Key replies a little sadly. “But I suppose it could still be worth a shot, well, if this job completely falls through for me. So, are you going to tune it and try it out?” Off Key asks, looking forward to seeing if the tiny instrument would truly be cursed cutie mark effect free.
She didn’t give an answer as she started to tune it out, it being quick to make the strings play without one being too high or too low, before she started to play a small tune. Once she started, she began to sing with the tune.
“Take a moment to think of just
Flexibility, love, and trust.
Take a moment to think of just
Flexibility, love, and trust.”
“Here comes a thought
That might alarm you.
What someone said
And how it harmed you.”
While Tanya was singing, a small white butterfly formed from her necklace, flying off and soon out of Off Key’s view, but when she turned back to watch Tanya continue to play and sing, it seemed as if when one came, another one followed, and the patterned kept on going until...
“Something you did
That failed to be charming.
Things that you said are
Suddenly swarming”
And soon there was a wave of white butterflies, it being enough to show the moment when Tanya accidentally showed her jealous feelings in front of Lindsey, in her imagination going for the worse and the giant girl leaving her, as if their friendship ended.
“And, oh. You’re losing sight. You’re losing touch.
All these little things seem to matter so much
That they confuse you.
That I might lose you.”
But after that, the butterflies scattered for a moment, only to come back and show the real outcome, the two being together once more in a sweet hug, of course, this didn’t happened for real, but the thought that she was forgiven for her attitude almost felt the same.
“Take a moment. Remind yourself to
Take a moment and find yourself.
Take a moment to ask yourself if
This is how we fall apart.”
“But it’s not. But it’s not. But it’s not. But it’s not. But it’s not.
It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.
You’ve got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear.
I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.”
“Wow Tanya. That was amazing!” Off Key exclaims cheerfully. “I remember when I used to be able to sing like that.” She says as if she’s going to be down on herself. “I’m just glad that I’ll be able to help you sing like that for everypony.” The mare says with a smile. “Hmm, maybe there’s a reason Sven is having me, well, you know, ‘hold you’ during the concerts. Can you think of any?” She asks the girl curious, perhaps thinking the reason she was to swallow the girl was for security.
“I’m not sure, really. To be honest, I was thinking of asking him personally why.” She said, figuring that if there wasn’t a legit reason, then maybe she could change his mind in letting this plan happen, more so she could use some free time to really help Off Key and possibly visit Princess Twilight for some legit magical help.
“Maybe it’s security, so no over excited fans abduct you.” Off Key suggests. “Or do you, um, perhaps get stage fright?” She asks, curious if that might be the reason.
“I… I get stage fright cause of the possibility that the first thing you mentioned might happen.” She admitted, looking away from the mare.
“So, I guess for both.” Off Key replies. “W-well, if it makes you feel any better, u-um, a-at least that means I’ll always be, well, by your side.” She says with a little bit of a giggle as she gathers up some more materials and starts heading back to their room.
Tanya didn’t share the same enjoyment at the joke, but she didn’t call out for it either.
“Um, sorry about the joke. I don’t like the situation any more than you do.” Off Key says, noticing Tanya’s dislike of the joke. She closes the door and sets Tanya on the counter that makes up Tanya’s area of the dressing room, with her closet, bathroom, and dressing room makeup mirror. “Here, let me make a case for your new ukulele.” She says, before assembling a case perfectly fitted for the Ukulele. “I left that as a blank slate as well so you could decorate it too.” She smiles down at the tiny girl. “It’s really easy to assemble tiny instruments and cases, maybe I should start that as a career like you suggested, or maybe just as an on the side job.” She says with a giggle.
“Perhaps.” She said, thinking a little before she nodded in agreement. “I mean, you won’t be making music, but you’d be creating the tools used to making music.” She said, smiling as she liked the sound of that.
“I suppose, I still wish my cutie mark wasn’t restricting me from using those tools though.” Off Key replies with a downbeat smile. She’s disappointed that she’ll never be able to play an instrument or sing a song, but at least she can help others she supposes.
“Don’t worry. I may not help now, but I’ll find someone who can.” Tanya said, seeming to realize she couldn’t help on her own, but she should at least keep Off key hopeful to stay here with her. “Perhaps in the meantime, you can make instruments for me, and as a means of payback, I’ll play some tunes for you.” She smiled.
“Yeah… that sounds nice.” Key smiled a little, feeling that even if she couldn’t play or sing for herself, she should be glad to help someone else pursue what she couldn’t.
~-~-~
Nightfall soon came, most of the session around recordings and editing the sound to make it better in certain ways. But now it was all over, and Tanya saw that as a good time to talk to Svengallop in private.
“Uhm, mister Svengallop?” She spoke up, the stallion halting his step, turning his head to see if it was Tanya that called her. “Uhm, m-may I ask something?”
“Is it important?” He only asked, lightly rubbing his forehead with a hoof. “Make it quick, I need to prepare for your first performance, and it’s hard finding a good opening.”
“R-right, well. Why can’t I just go on the stage myself? Why does it have to be Off Key who looks like she’s performing?” She asked, feeling that if she could convince him otherwise, Off Key could probably change her job to help craft her instruments.
Svengallop only took a deep breath, seeming to prepare himself for his answer. “I think you already know. Do you know what would happen if ponies knew it was a tiny with your talent? You would be a big target for snatchers, they could pay big money for you, moreso since you’re new, and nopony would really notice a rising star gone missing.” He explained, turning to face her. And without a warning, he slammed a hoof on Tanya, catching her off guard. “See, even a earth pony could easily pin you down. You have to face the facts, Tanya, if you go out there alone, you would get snatched, and how would your friends and family feel about that. Don’t worry, I’ll let them know what’s going on, and only those closest to you will know the truth.” He promised, moving his hoof to lift her chin up, a small frown on her face.
“O-oh… okay.” She mumbled, glancing down once Svengallop moved his hoof away.
“Now go get some rest, you need to save that voice for more recordings, and soon-to-be performances.” He smiled, seeming to end the conversation as he turned back around and headed to his office.
Closing the door behind him, he took a seat at his desk. Taking out a parchment and quill, he dipped the feather end in the ink jar and started writing.
To whoever this may concern,
It brings me great sadness, that I bear bad news. Before our first performance was scheduled, it seems a team member of my staff was a snatcher in hiding. And seeing how talented the great Tanya was, she was snatched and we have found no trace of where the pony may have gone. I have called all guards and police ponies to find and track this persicuter down. You have my sincerest apologies.
Signed,
Svengallop