“Everyone hang onto something!" The Doctor said as they braced for Cadance’s sneeze.
Twilight grabbed the cupholder with her right foreleg, and wrapped her left around Night Fury. He did much the same, but with opposite sides…and then came a huge wave.
“Achoo!” was all that could be heard from the outside, but inside, mucus tumbled over the craft and gale-force winds rattled the frame as the sneeze blasted them. The winds and flying mucus soon settled and Cadance sat back in her bed slowly.
"Oops, sorry. About the pod, and Spike’s sandwich." She whispered.
"Phew, no worries. A little battering is nothing that this craft can't handle. Fury, Twilight, are you two okay?" The Doctor asked.
"Stable." Twilight spoke, before sipping some of her water.
"Still going strong." Fury added on. "Maybe we should turn down the drill speed so that we don't get one of those again."
“Right…we’re almost through the blood vessel’s walls anyways. This will cause a slight nosebleed…” The Doctor said as he resumed drilling, and sure enough, the red wall sticking out above the muck tore open dramatically, with a wash of fluid and platelets across the canopy.
“I’ll get a tissue.” said Spike from the outside.
“Are those…blood platelets?” Twilight asked.
B: Affirmative! These brilliant things are the source of life itself. But it’s no time to dawdle, you three have a disease to stop! Get in that bloodstream and do your stuff.
“Right away!” The Doctor said as he turned off the external clamps and engaged the engines, plowing into the spray, and soon putting them in the tube, surrounded by platelets flowing past, with the occasional white cell instead.
"Woah, so this is the bloodstream, huh?" asked Night Fury.
B: Yes it is. This vast highway stretching throughout the body is what keeps your muscles moving and your heart pumping. Did you know that the bloodstream is nearly 100,000 kilometers long? That's long enough to wrap around the planet more than twice over end to end if you laid it out in a straight line!
“Focus, Bagley…” The Doctor said.
B: Affirmative…your first target is Cadance’s tonsils below you. I’ve uploaded navigation information into the pod, so it should autopilot you there in just a minute. Once there, you will need to zap the white blood cells to drain the magic out of them to calm them down and stop the inflammation.
“Wait, who’s doing the zapping?” Twilight asked.
B: You are the only crew member capable of doing so…
“But I can’t do it from in here… oh no, I’m going outside, aren’t I?” Twilight said with a groan.
B: That’s correct. Those Bio-suits wouldn't be there if they weren't meant to be used.
“We’re here…” The Doctor said. “Ready?”
Twilight sipped a bunch from her water cup and gulped. “Ready as I’ll ever be…”
“Good luck!” shouted Spike.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Twilight.” said Celestia.
Night Fury moved out of the way and got out a bio-suit, quickly putting it on Twilight, with a little help from her magic.
"Okay Twilight, this suit is well-tested, so I’m positive it’ll keep you safe out there as you use your magic to stop the inflammation, it’ll just feel a little weird on your horn. Now do us proud out there." Night Fury said as he made sure the bubble helmet was clamped tight at the opening for her horn that left most of it exposed, then opened the inner airlock door. Twilight was still nervous about venturing into such an unknown place, but she knew she had someone counting on her to get it done.
"Okay, here I go…" She said meekly, stepping inside the airlock and closing the door behind her.
B: Depressurizing Airlock…
The outer door soon opened, and fluid sloshed in slowly as Twilight stepped forward into it. Around her, it was fairly dark, but the pod’s lights lit up the pink flesh where the blood vessel contacted the tonsils below her. Twilight could see a ton of odd mostly-transparent, whitish ball cells lining the surfaces, with occasional strange multi-colored arcing of magical energy. “So…are those things white blood cells?”
B: Correct. Please perform the requested magic draining and make it quick, those white blood cells aren't exactly fond of unknown entities trespassing in there.
Twilight nodded and swam upwards a bit, finding it quite easy in the bio-suit, which adhered directly to her fur everywhere but the helmet. She then closed her eyes and lit her horn, performing a magic drain spell that saw the multi-colored energy rapidly flow out of the cells. Her eyes opened as she smiled, then panicked, as energy was accumulating in her horn…and it was starting to spark. “Oh no, what do I do with all the energy?” She asked frantically.
“Redirect it into something harmless, any spell you can think of that won’t hurt us or Cadance!” replied The Doctor.
Twilight looked around for a way to dispose of the charge before coming to an idea. She calmly breathed and let the charge disperse throughout the blood as a very bright light spell. On the outside, a small purple glow emitted from Cadance's mouth and throat as the magic shined through her fur.
“Well-done, Twilight, but you may need something stronger if other areas of her have more magic built up in them…” Celestia said.
B: Analyzing…yes, there is more magic in the larger systems affected. This spell should be sufficient to handle the immune system problems, if also repeated in the bone marrow.
"Okay, that's great…but I think we need to get out of here please, I think those white blood cells didn't exactly like the light show." Twilight spoke. The white, round blobs slowly got closer to her, trying to identify this new entity. Soon, one grabbed her tail, and dragged her inside…then started trying to melt her bio-suit! Twilight screamed a bit as her exposed horn sparked and fizzled.
"Dangit, hold on!" Fury called. "Doc, give me the controls. This may get ugly."
The Doctor nodded as they changed places, and Fury maneuvered the pod to ram into the white blood cell, tearing it open to let Twilight out. He then activated the right robotic arm to pull her and sling her to the back of the pod.
"Bagley, any other unusual things coming up on radar?" Fury asked as the airlock closed with Twilight safely inside.
B: Scanning for entities… Oh dear. There's a large amount of white blood cells approaching your location, they must have been alerted by that flash. Quickly now, move onto the bones and muscles so we can continue our mission!
"Alright then, let's get a move on. Night Fury, get us out of here!" The Doctor instructed. The black feline nodded and put the throttle to full, making careful moves around the white blood cells and continuing the mission. Night Fury did a myriad of maneuvers and evasive actions to dodge the ensuing wave of white blood cells.
On the outside, Spike, Celestia, and Luna stood, while Cadance & Shining Armor in an embrace sat on the hospital bed, and watched as a white dot on the screen quickly moved, in a diagram of Cadance’s bloodstream and skeletal structure, from her head towards her shoulder.
The inner airlock door opened, and Twilight rushed to get off her bio-suit as the craft flung her around. She flopped onto the far seat, going over the Doctor, with just a few light strands of the fluid from outside spread across them, and shivered as The Doctor held her gently with his hooves while she finished her cup of water. “Ugh…that was close, but I think my horn’s okay, so what are we doing?”
“Finding a place to hide…” Fury responded. "But before we do that, we gotta do a recap on our progress. Cadance, how are you feeling out there? Your throat feeling better?"
“Yeah…” came a whisper.
“Excellent… hmm, I think this is a good place to hide for now while the white blood cells pass.” Fury said as he set the craft down in a bone region.
"Bagley, status report." The Doctor ordered.
B: You have arrived at a leg bone. The left foreleg’s humerus, to be exact.
"Ahh, that's good. Speaking of bones, that gives me a chance to test out one of my long running theories…" The Doctor explained.
"What's that, Doctor?" Twilight inquired.
"Does the 'funny bone' actually exist?" The Doctor asked.
Twilight facehoofed and flopped over on The Doctor, looking up at him with a very unamused expression. “Really?”
“Well we had to go here anyways to deal with the bone marrow and ease Cadance's muscles by telling the immune system to stop at its sources…” The Doctor replied.
“Well, let's get moving then." Fury said, powering the pod up again and taking off deeper into the bone structure, past the white stuff, and into the yellow and red spongy tissue. The team searched inside the humerus and spotted an unusual sight, magical energy arcing along the inside of the tissue.
"Hey doc, I think we found the achy bones…and where all the white blood cells are made." Fury pointed out.
“Alright… I’ll go out with Twilight this time to make sure nothing tries to have her for lunch… after I verify the bio-suit’s integrity.” The Doctor said.
The two quickly suited up, with Twilight seeming to have gotten the hang of it, doing most of the work. The Doctor put on the suit she had worn before, after giving it a once-over. “Hmm, the horn seal is compromised, good thing I’ll just have it plugged as an earth pony. We’ll definitely need to be careful, the suits may conform to the wearer’s body, but there’s only three of them.”
The two then left the pod to rectify the aches and pains in Cadance's bones. There was a noticeable abnormality that immediately caught their eyes.
"Hmm… it seems whatever that red tissue is has been damaged. Twilight, do you have any idea what this is?" The Doctor asked. Twilight took a closer look and nodded at the damage, where the tissue appeared to have cuts all over it.
"Hmm, that’s bone marrow, and it seems like it’s had chunks gouged out of it by the disease. Cadance's cells must think her bones are in some sort of imaginary danger of being attacked and are trying to rectify it. The problem is, those cells have been so scrambled that they can't tell the difference between a real threat and a false alarm.” She informed.
B: That conforms to my analysis. If you fix this area, where it’s the worst, it should be sufficient to where the other bones get back to normal on their own, and that should address Cadance’s immune system problems. Please act quickly, however, as this is where white blood cells are born…you’ll need to drain magic from where the stem cells are turned into them, and then not stick around to be identified as a threat.
“Right…” Twilight said as she charged her horn, and pointed it at some nearby sites where it appeared cells were being changed.
"Of course. Night Fury, keep those engines warm, we may need an escape plan if things go south." The Doctor said.
“On it…I’ll put us on a low cruise…you two tethered close?” Night Fury replied as he turned on the throttle just barely.
“Right, and ready.” The Doctor replied after a tug, and as Twilight again casted the light spell, harmlessly discharging the magical energy as she was pulled along gently.
B: White blood cells detected converging on your location slowly. No imminent danger, but you should move along.
“Hitting it…” Night Fury said as he slowly raised the throttle. Throughout the bone structure, the three of them drained the magic from the bones, slowly but surely relieving their friend on the outside of her aches and pains. He smoothly piloted the ship as they moved along until they bumped a certain bone by accident.
A slight giggle could be heard from outside, followed by a burp.
“Well, seems you did hit Cadance’s funny bone…and took out a painting from the wall doing so.” Spike said.
“Hmm, that wasn’t much…but we still have more to do here, I think. How are her nerves looking, Bagley?” The Doctor asked.
B: They’re still containing a lot of magical energy…you should proceed quickly to the nerves in the nearby elbow joint to relieve the pressure…you may need to be at a larger size for this.
"Right away, Bagley." The Doctor said. “Let’s get into the airlock.” In very little time, the two were secure, as the pod unshrunk slightly, to where it would take up half a blood vessel’s diameter.
"You know, this is a bit of a bummer. Having to just sit back and take all this weirdness as you three work your magic. It kind of isn't doing well for my self esteem." Cadance said somberly.
Twilight frowned, feeling sorry for the pink alicorn. “I didn't know that this was so draining for you…I kind of forgot we were in a living pony for a moment.”
"Hey, cheer up, will ya? We'll get you back on your hooves in no time at all. Just wait until we’re out of you first!" Fury chuckled.
"Yeah right, like it's that easy. And besides, how do you think this could cheer me up? Shining’s hugging me like I’m dying and it’s barely helping." Cadance said, prompting a “Hey!” from Shining.
“I’ve…got an idea. Doctor, wanna trade places?” Fury said with a grin. He slowly moved the pod towards the joint, then parked it, and donned his Bio-suit.
“Sure…” The Doctor said as the inner airlock door opened, and the two swapped. The door quickly closed, and then the airlock began depressurizing.
"And what exactly do you propose you can do from in there?" Cadance asked somewhat quietly, not knowing the plan.
“Twilight, do your thing while I do mine…” Fury said as he opened the outer airlock door, grinning cheekily as he floated out to the bone and extended his paws. He soon latched onto her funny bone’s very end and began articulating his paws in and out quickly. "Coochie coochie coo…"
Twilight meanwhile began scooping up energy with her horn, but more was flowing in as it seemed to pulse out as Fury touched the nerves. She began casting the light spell, but it was building up.
Meanwhile, raucous laughter erupted from outside, and even started to shake the leg that they were in, though it could only be felt as a low hum in the fluid.
B: Magical energy overload imminent in Twilight’s horn. Light spell insufficient! Recommend using a redirection spell that consumes a large amount of energy. Transformation too risky… perhaps movement.
“Right…on it…canceling gravity!” Twilight said as she changed the light spell out for a spell that made Cadance float above her bed.
“Whoa…hahhah…this is so fun!” Cadance said, now quite loudly. "Hahahahaha, hey! What are you doing in there?"
"Cheering you up while coaxing out the magic, is it working?" Fury asked, as he more aggressively tickled the nerves, using all four of his paws.
“I guess! Haha…oh wow…” Cadance said, while Luna added on. “I’ll try to catch her when she comes down…”
Fury stopped, seeing the magic flow to Twilight end. “Well, mission accomplished…at least for this portion. How are we doing?”
B: Head and limbs are mostly magic-free in the bones and nervous system. The vagus nerve is now the highest concentration of magic in her nervous system, concentrated near the far end where it interacts with her genitals and rectum. …and I suppose we can now officially say that the humerus is indeed the…’funny bone’.
"Eww! Major party foul!" Fury exclaimed, re-entering the pod with Twilight in tow.
“Yeah, yuck…” added Spike.
"I, for one, am glad that I didn't come along on this little 'body adventure'. While I’ve seen…a lot, even I have my limits as to what images my mind can dwell on." Luna said, shivering at the thought.
“And I thought a thousand year old woman would be unfazed by these things… Anyways, quite an excellent discovery!” said The Doctor. “Let’s move on to that vagus nerve, we’ll need to get to her digestive system later anyways and tackle her swirling stomach… Twilight, will fixing its problems help with her digestive issues?”
“Hmm…it could, if even just partially. The vagus nerve is a direct line from the brain to many areas, including the stomach and colon, bypassing the spine.” She explained. "But, it’s rather sensitive, too sensitive for magic or I might make her have um…accidents. This could use a 'softer touch' to fix the problem."
"Oh great, I'm gonna be the cat rummaging through Ms. Lovebutt's… Well, butt?" Fury asked as he opened the inner airlock door.
“It’s what you signed up for!” Replied The Doctor. “Allons-y!” He engaged full throttle, sending them on the shortest route towards Cadance’s rear.
"Great…" Fury moaned. "Cadance, just so you know, I really don't want to violate you like this from in here. I really don't."
“I appreciate that a lot but…I’m the princess of love, so this isn’t my first rodeo except of the ‘shrunken creatures in submersible’ variety, and every moment you spend talking is another where I’m left thinking about what this magic might do that’d make my problems when I was pregnant with Flurry look like nothing so…” Cadance started. “Less talking, more getting to fixing me!” She shouted, causing a rumble.
“Understood!” Fury said, readying himself for the next mission objective.