//------------------------------//
// Scaling Errors 2 
// Story: Half-Baked Biscuits 
// by Admiral Biscuit 
//------------------------------//

Scaling Errors 2

“Theo!”  Will let the branches in front of him snap shut.  “I think your contraption worked!”
“It’s not a contraption, William,” Theo whispered, “It’s an extra-planer teleportation device.  Powered by two AA batteries, it will revolutionize the travel industry with its—“
“Quiet.  I think I hear someone coming.”
The two fell silent as the sound of hoofbeats got louder.  And louder.  Then they stopped.
“Now where did I put that measuring tape?  Oh, Rarity, how do you expect to get anything done if you can’t find—oh, there it is!”
“Your machine worked!”  Will grabbed Theo by the shoulders.  “We’re here, in Ponyville, just outside Rarity’s shop!  Oh, I can’t wait to meet her!  To meet all of them!”
“Well, I believe as the inventor of the machine, I should go first.”
“No way, Theo, I paid for it.  Let’s both go together.”
“All right.”  The two took a step forward, when suddenly Theo was snatched off the ground by a huge white paw.  Will shrieked, and began running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
As he went, his mind was racing through the various monsters he had seen on the show.  The arm was furry, not scaly, so it wasn’t a dragon; besides, he couldn’t remember there ever having been a dragon in Ponyville, besides Spike of course.  Not a manticore, not a minotaur, not a griffon, oh please not Discord….
He was so focused on his thoughts that he ran out into the street without even looking.  As a shadow loomed over him, he suddenly realized that the internet had been horribly, horribly wrong.

Rarity finished sewing lacy trim on the border of her latest creation.  She took a step back to admire her work, and smiled.  This would be the talk of the next Grand Galloping Gala, she was sure.  The thought brought a momentary frown to her face, as she remembered that she was henceforth banned from the Grand Galloping Gala, although Princess Celestia had promised to intervene on their behalf.  “Still,” she sighed, “I suppose somepony will look absolutely fabulous in it.”
She put her sewing tools and reading glasses away, then walked into the kitchen to make a glass of tea.  As the water was warming, she poured out a bowl of food for Opalescence, which brought the cat proudly strutting into the kitchen, holding a bloody something in her mouth.
“Oh Opal,” Rarity sighed, “what poor creature have you got now?  Let mama see it.”
Opal hissed.
“I really must insist, dear,” Rarity muttered, grabbing it with her telekinesis.  Opal resisted for a moment, but let go before her back paws were dragged off the ground.  She sulked over to her food bowl and began eating slowly, eying Rarity warily.
“It looks like some kind of diseased rat,” Rarity decided, not willing to levitate it close enough to her face to get a really good look.  “I suppose Twilight or Fluttershy would best be able to identify it.  I’ll just put it in a little box….”

Twilight looked up from her parchment in annoyance at the knocking on the library door.  Admittedly, she was still up, but the library had closed hours ago.  “I’m coming,” she muttered, wiping off the tip of the quill and closing the ink bottle.
“Rarity!”  She opened the door.  “What brings you at this hour?”
“Oh dear,” Rarity said, “Opal caught another poor creature.”
“Shouldn’t you take it to Fluttershy?”
“Oh, no, the poor thing is beyond Fluttershy’s help, and I just didn’t want to bother her.”
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“Well, darling, I was wondering if you could identify what…it was.”  She levitated up a small cardboard coffin, complete with a silk liner.
“Um, Rarity, why is it in a miniature coffin?  And why do you have a picnic basket?”
“Oh, yes, that.”  The unicorn blushed.  “Well, I was making tea, and of course one cannot have tea without biscuits or cheese, or something, and I thought that since I was going to come over here anyway, it wouldn’t be any trouble to make enough for two, since you are doing me a favor…”
“And the coffin?”
“Well, honestly darling, it just didn’t seem right to put the poor thing in a simple cardboard box.”  Rarity waved a hoof absently.  “But, a little laminated wood, a bit of satin, and voila!”
Twilight rolled her eyes, and took the coffin from Rarity.  She hovered it over to a small table and laid it down on the table, then opened the coffin, while Rarity laid out the tea on the kitchen table.

Presently, Rarity came out of the kitchen.  Twilight was deep in study, and jumped in surprise as Rarity tapped her on the shoulder.  “The tea is getting cold, darling.”
“Oh!  Rarity, I have never seen anything like this, ever.  Its body looks kind of like a minotaur, although its upper body is far less developed, and it doesn’t have bovine features.  It also appears to be wearing some kind of covering.  Can you leave it with me?  I need to study it more, and write to Princess Celestia!”
“Of course, dear, but why don’t we have a tea, first.  I should get back home.  Sweetie Belle is asleep, but one never knows if she will get up during the night, and what kind of trouble she might get into if she does.”
Twilight nodded absently, and began to walk into the kitchen, her mind still racing at the strange creature laid out on her table.  Already she was going through books in her mind, trying to imagine how it would be classified.  Her first book would be [why all the bad stuff comes from the Everfree].