Well, this was gonna be fun. Not.
On the head of Princess Cadance, which felt so wrong -- she's not Twilight or Starlight -- I was preparing to head to one of her ears.
Even though I was on her head, being flea-sized, she still wouldn't hear me if I didn't call to her from one of her ears. And I hoped I wouldn't have to go in! It's bad enough that Alicorn's sweat was covering me all over! At this point, I was a bit used to its...smell. But still, this wasn't fun!
But I had a few more important things to worry about, besides the "gross" factor. Cadance still wasn't moving much and was keeping her head still, but she could move her head at any time, possibly sending me flying off, unless it's a slight movement. And it wasn't like I could ask her to stay still for me...well, I could have done it, but she just wouldn't hear me. I was under her mane too so it, as well as the hair/trees on her head that's not part of her mane, blocked my view of her ears, so I couldn't even see them. I had to find some way to figure out where they were.
Stopping to hold on to a strand of hair/tree on her head every few seconds, in case Cadance started moving, I went forward. About a half-minute later, a "pink wall" came into view in front of me, and it went high up through her mane, so I couldn't see the top of it. After a few seconds of looking at it carefully, and knowing I'm on Cadance's head, I figured the "wall" in front of me was her horn. Thinking of where the horns on the heads of Unicorns and Alicorns are, and I came from her neck, it gave me an idea of where exactly her ears were, and I went to the left.
Step by step, still holding on to a "tree" every few seconds as a safeguard, I crept towards Cadance's left ear, eventually reaching another pink "wall". It was her ear. Jackpot! Unfortunately, the inside pointed the other way, so I walked along it, till I reached the edge, then I got to the other side. I walked out of Cadance's mane in the process, so I could see the room she stood in: the guest bedroom she let me take a nap in. As I thought, she was by a window of the room, with her head turned away from it. Lucky for me, I did all that walking without the Princess of Patience trying to move her head at all.
Finally, in front of the entrance of her left ear, I yelled, "Princess Cadance! Can you hear me?!"
But she didn't say a thing back.
I tried again, but yelled as loud as I could, "Princess Cadance!! Can you hear me?!"
Still got nothing from the Princess of Love!
Oh no. I had only one option left: Go in the pony's ear! Since I knew I had to go in, I took a closer look inside. It looked not just soft, but clean (figures a Princess would keep her ears so clean) so I had an easier time committing to go in. One bit of good news was I didn't have to "climb in" the ear: I could simply "walk in" it.
But as I crept deeper into her ear and about to try to call Cadance's name I saw, in the corner of my eye, something huge and pink speed towards me.
Yep, it's Cadance's hoof. Uh-oh.
I gasped, gave a short scream, and it painlessly ran into me -- since the sole of her hoof was somewhat soft -- and forced me further into the ear. The hoof moved me closer and closer to a pink wall (AKA the inside of Cadance's ear) and unless I did something fast, she was going to pin and crush me! But at the last second, I gritted my teeth, rolled off the hoof and deeper in the ear, as the hoof rubbed against the "wall" a few times, then went back out the ear.
Maybe my scream was too short for Cadance to really hear it. Or she did hear me scream, but it didn't last long enough to make her think much of it.
I guess getting nearly crushed to death a few times not long after finding myself in Equestria made me braver, because I wasn't shaken up over it almost happening again. It also helped that Princess Cadance didn't mean to do it. Still, I thought I better not move a muscle, and call out to her, now!
But before I could yell Cadance's name, a voice came from outside the door to the room we were in, screaming, "Cadance, are you in there?!"
It was Twilight. Even though it was much louder (to me) than it actually was, but bareable since she was still outside the room, I could tell that Twilight's voice tone was one she only uses when panicking or otherwise freaking out. That suggested to me that she somehow already figured out something was wrong.
"Yes, I'm here!" Cadance responded, and her voice killed my ears! She surprised me so much, that I fell backward, forcing me to roll even deeper into her ear, now near her eardrum, and I found that I couldn't get out! It was also dark, so I couldn't see much. And, so deep inside, it did not smell good, and I even had to hold my nose!
However, I still was able to hear the door open, and both Twilight and Starlight asked at the same time, "Is Eric in here?"
"No, I can't find him, and I don't know where he is, but I have the guards searching for him."
I guess Starlight heard from Twilight about how she laid me in the bed when I felt sick, because her voice broke, asking, "Cadance, before you moved that blanket, did you look for anything really small on it?"
"Well, I moved the covers to see if Eric was under them, but I didn't see him, and I didn't look for anything like that on the blanket. Should I have done that?"
A second later, despite their voices coming close to literally making my ears bleed, I heard two gasps. And then, even though I was in Cadance's ear, I still felt the vibrations of two thuds hitting the floor, with each thud separated by about a half a second. If I were to put my bits on it, I'd say Twi fainted on the floor first.
"Twilight? Starlight? Are you two okay?!" Cadance ran to my sisters...I think. I couldn't see if she actually did: I only felt her ear suddenly move forward, and I got thrown and bounced off a "wall" in her ear when she did. But I was still stuck.
After a few seconds, I shook things off enough to try to call out to Cadance, before she said something again. "Princess Cadance! Can you hear me?!"
"What? Eric?! Is that you?!" Cadance turned her head a couple of times, trying to see where I was, I guess, so I got bounced around in her ear again. Not only that, I couldn't even take her normal voice, so a yell from that mare was way too much!
I screamed, covered my ears for a second, and begged, "Please, Princess Cadance, please talk quieter! I am really small right now, so your voice is too loud to me unless you talk quieter!"
In a way more quiet voice that, for her, was probably a whisper, she asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. Is my voice too loud now? And where are you?"
"Nope, it's perfect! Now, this may sound weird, but I'm in your left ear, and I'm stuck!"
"Stuck? Okay, I'll get you out, but why are you in my ear?"
"Trust me, it's not because I want to be in here! I can explain after I'm back to my normal size, but you gotta get me out!" I suddenly became aware that I wasn't talking to "Cadance" but to Princess Cadance, and I'm nowhere near as close to her like I am with Princess Twilight, so I added, "Uh, please, Princess Cadance?"
"All right. I think I can get you out with my magic, but I will have to know exactly where you are in my ear. Can you rub where you are or something, so I can feel it?"
"Okay. It might tickle, so please don't scratch!" I put my left hand -- so I could keep my nose covered with the right one -- on the part of Cadance's ear my back was against, and rubbed and pushed against it as hard as I could.
Three seconds in of giving the weirdest massage ever, I felt myself become weightless and surrounded by light-blue magic, lighting up the ear, and I saw a bit of brown-colored earwax on part of the "walls" that, lucky for me, I missed when I got bounced around in the deepest part of the ear. Then, I was very slowly lifted through and out the ear, placed onto the middle of Cadance's head, between the "trees" of her hair, and she already had moved her mane out the way with her magic. After she gently sat me down, she let her mane go back to how she usually keeps it, so it completely covered the "sky" that wasn't covered already by the hair on her head.
After being in Cadance's ear, I wasn't gonna whine to myself about being on her head because it wasn't Twilight's or Starlight's head this time. I just sat down, with my back against one of her pink trees and uncovered my nose too since, compared to that ear, things didn't smell as bad.
"I don't know how to do that counterspell to grow you, so we will have to wait for Twilight or Starlight to wake up, okay, Eric?"
"Okay, Princess Cadance." Of course, she nothing. Heh, we both forgot she can't hear me, in my current size, unless she put me back in her ear again.
Yeah, I would be fine with not being able to talk to the Princess of Love for a while, because I did not want to go in there again!
Around five minutes later, Twilight came to, muttering, "What happened?" Twilight's voice was low, so it didn't hurt my ears.
But Cadance tried to warn, "Twilight, Eric's on my head and he is very--"
"Wait, Eric's all right?!" Twilight screamed, making me scream and cover my ears from her ear-piercing voice!
"Shh, Twilight, please talk quietly. The poor thing is on my head and is very small, so he can't take us talking above a whisper."
I heard hoofsteps run closer to Cadance, then her trees of both her mane and hair on her head (that's not part of her mane) were moved back by pink magic, revealing the very(!) big head of Twilight, who saw me, gasped, and smiled. Even though she was smiling, I still gulped, because it was unnerving seeing that pony's face look so huge! She was like a goddess! From how "tall" they looked, Twilight's eyes each looked as big as ten-story tall buildings -- if they could be in the shape of an eye -- and her face was the only thing I could see that was in front of Cadance, that wasn't blocked by a "tree". Despite how much I trust Princess Twilight Sparkle, when her eyes got close to me, I couldn't help leaning away from her. Though it was kinda cool seeing my reflection in her eyes at this size.
Twilight saw me flinch back, frowned, quickly moved her head back, and took some steps backward. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, and don't worry, Eric. I'll fix your size right now. I'm gonna lift you on the bed, then recast the counterspell to grow you back to normal-size, okay?"
This time, I remembered saying "okay" would be pointless, so I didn't say anything. Two seconds later, I felt myself get lifted off Cadance's head, and through the air by pink magic. I didn't notice this too much when Cadance got me out of her ear, because I stayed over her head when she moved me: unlike human ears, her ears are on the top of her head. But, as Twilight picked me up from Cadance's head and through the air, it looked like I was much higher up than I actually was: it felt like I was over five-hundred feet in the air, and my mouth dropped. I closed my eyes, and really had to remind myself of who's holding me in her magic, and that she would not drop me.
But unlike Princess Cadance, Twilight didn't adjust how fast she moved me to my new size, so she did it a little too fast! It felt like being moved four times faster than the fastest roller coaster, because of the air resistance on my body, making the looser parts of my clothes flap from it (though my hat stayed still: Twilight was probably also using her magic to keep it on my head) and a sinking feeling filled my stomach. Trying to tell Twilight to slow down wouldn't do anything, since she wouldn't hear me, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and take it. Finally, she laid me on the bed I was lying on earlier. I guess Twi entered "Big sister" mode, since she laid me down on my back, which she didn't have to do.
There, with Twilight now standing right beside the bed, much closer to how close Cadance was to it when she threw me on her back, I opened my eyes, tilted my head to my right, and gasped at the sight of my big sister. Despite knowing she's Twilight Sparkle, I still froze at the sheer size of her! Twi really did look as big as a mountain -- just a purple one in the shape of a pony that's facing and looking down at me -- and as my mouth was busy dropping again, her horn glowed. From my point of view, a bright pink light was shone on me next.
The next thing I knew, I was at my real height: the height of most full-grown ponies, but was still lying on my back. I sat up, looked down at myself, gave a big 'ol sigh, and got off the bed to stand. While I still had "it" on me, I was so happy to be my normal height again!
"Okay, that's not something I want to do again!" I said and even laughed a bit.
Twilight, though, wasn't laughing, and instead had a frown on her face. Her mouth quivered, formed big sad eyes, and tears seemed seconds away from flowing.
"Twi? What's wrong?"
Twilight "answered" my question by wrapping her forelegs around me, and her grip was stronger than what she usually uses, so it made me give a grunt at the pressure. She didn't even care that I was still...wet all over just yet, and said, "I am so happy you're all right, Buggie! Starlight told me she tried something new with the counterspell--" Twilight sniffed and now smelled "it". She quickly took her forelegs off me, stepped back, with her eyes big. "And why are you wet? And what is that smell?"
I wasn't paying much attention to Twilight's last two questions. All I thought about was the part she said about Starlight doing something new with the counterspell! Turning my head to Starlight's direction, who was still out cold on the floor, lying on her right side, I seethed, "Wait, I became flea-sized because Starlight did something new with the counterspell?! She didn't tell me that when she did it!"
"She did. But before you get too mad, first tell me how you kept from being thrown off the bed. Cadance said she moved the covers off the bed, and I thought you got thrown off and got hurt. Or worse!"
I looked past my anger at Starlight for a moment, and answered, "Well, I didn't keep from being thrown off. Princess Cadance did do it."
"Huh? But if she did, how are you not hurt?" Twilight's eyes got even larger than before, she leaned closer to me, and then asked, "Wait, you're not hurt, are you?!"
I shook my head. "Nope, I'm fine."
Cadance laughed, then (kinda) answered one of Twilight's questions by saying, "Let's just say Eric and I spent some...quality time together."
"Huh?"
I told Twilight and Cadance about Cadance accidentally throwing me on her back, and what I went through. Afterward, Twilight stared at me and shuddered, understandably grossed out now, especially since she just hugged me! Heh, I bet that Alicorn was thinking that the first chance she got, she was taking a bath! It wasn't a bad idea for me to take one too. A long one. And get something to drink because I was so thirsty!
Cadance then also told me sorry for throwing me on her back, and for almost crushing me in her ear. But I did forget to tell her about the fly guts still in her hair. Oops.
About two minutes later, Starlight, still "sleeping" on the floor, finally opened her eyes, shook her head, and stood up. "What...what happened?" Starie turned her head to where I was, and yelled, "Eric?! You're your real size! Are you all right?!"
I was about to just tell Starlight I was fine, but it sunk in again that she's the reason I shrunk so tiny. I glared at and walked up to her. Now, I could finally let this mare have it!
"Oh, I'm all right, but Twi told me you did something new with the counterspell! You shrunk me down to the size of a flea! What the buck, Starlight?!"
"I'm so sorry, Buggie! You told me you wanted to go on a trip, and I was just trying to make the counterspell last longer, so one casting would last the entire trip."
"Okay, but why didn't you tell Twilight about that first?! If it worked, she'd need to know anyway!"
"But I thought the improved counterspell would work! But I was going to tell her later, and I wanted to try it out and see how it went."
"Wait, 'see how it went'? You mean you cast a spell on me that you didn't even know for sure would work, and without asking me first?! You know I trust you with my life, but I'm not your guinea pig, Starlight Glimmer!"
"Wait, what's a 'guinea pig'?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn't know what I meant by that. But let's just say I'm mad!"
"I know you're mad, Eric, and you should be mad at me. I know I messed up bad. But, you know I would never do anything to put you in danger on purpose, right? I...I'm sorry..." Tears started pouring from Starlight's eyes, and she went to the floor and cried.
For a couple of seconds, I stayed as mad as ever. But, seeing Starie crying, knowing she felt bad, made me feel bad. I stopped gritting my teeth and took a deep breath. My mind went from being furious, to wanting to calm my sister down. Plus, I had a...better idea than yelling at her.
Both Twilight and Cadance seemed like they were about to walk up and ask me to calm down. But when they saw I did it myself, they stayed still and said nothing.
With Starlight still crying, I got on my knees, gently wrapped my arms around her, and she did the same to me, with her forelegs, and she was too upset to really notice the smell on me and my...wetness. I said, in a calm voice, "It's okay, Starie. I know you only wanted to help me, and I'm sorry I yelled at you. You know how much I love you, big sis."
"And I...*sniff*...love you too, little bro. I am so, so sorry, and I won't do anything like that to you again, I promise! I was even worried you might've gotten hurt, or even worse, because of me!"
"Well, I'm all right, so how about we just enjoy our visit, okay, Starie?"
"Sure, Buggie."
"Uhh...Buggie? What are you--"
I turned my head to Twilight and cut her off to ask, "Twilight, can't you see I'm trying to comfort Starie?"
Twilight got the message and backed off. Princess Cadance got it too, and even giggled.
What was that last part about? As I was hugging Starlight, trying to get her to stop crying, I was rubbing her back, then one of her cheeks, and then her back again, as a bigger and bigger smirk formed on my face.
Why?
Payback. You guys remember what was still all over me, right...?
I told you I would get Starlight Glimmer for this!