"The heck!? How did a bug get in my food!?"
Sweetie Belle winced at the thunderous words that the giant-sized Spike spoke as his green, reptilian eyes gazed down at her. Kept in a firm hold between two purple, scaly fingers, Sweetie Belle felt like what Spike called her, a bug before a gargantuan baby dragon, glaring down at her insignificant form like a god for sneaking into his food, which happened to be the same sort of gems that Rarity longed for to use in her fashion lines. Now with Spike holding the tiny unicorn down with his fingers, squeezing her lightly for added firmness, he was about to show the tiny "bug" what it meant to be big.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're the same bug that was bothering me earlier," Spike said at a whisper in his size. "I don't get it. First you irritate my foot, then you almost end up being my meal. Look, I may have eaten those baked goods out of the trashcan before, but eating a little bug like you is just gross!"
Sweetie Belle immediately slapped a hoof to her muzzle. Her stomach churned not from Spike's firm hold, but from the memories of getting food poisoning by those awful muffins Applejack baked that one time. Spike's glowering eye suddenly transitioned into a mischievous glint, and Sweetie Belle was a tad too late to notice it. "Well, you did have a distinct taste of marshmallows, so I think I'll go a little easy on you. I won't stomp you or squish you again..."
Sweetie Belle gasped as a ray of hope shone down like Celestia's sun. Her big eyes expanded with all the hope she could muster.
"...or chew you into itty bitty bits..."
Thank Elysium, Luna had finally answered the tiny filly's prayers for mercy!
"...so instead, I'm just gonna swallow you whole."
Then, all of Sweetie Belle's hopes and expectations cracked and shattered like a world of glass being broken all around her. She watched with horror as Spike opened his mouth and lifted her above his maw below her. Sweetie Belle began to wriggle frantically in her grip, but that never did her any good, for the baby dragon was going to end her in every way possible. The fingers loosened, and the tiny filly was sent screaming into Spike's mouth.
Suddenly, Sweetie Belle felt something lift her up in mid-air, like a warm, tingly sensation. Before Sweetie Belle could process what happened, she was quickly and carefully yanked out of Spike's hot mouth before his rock-like teeth clamped shut, leaving the baby dragon one "bug" short of his meal.
"Spike, what did I say about playing with bugs and eating them?" a familiar voice boomed in Sweetie Belle's ears.
The tiny young unicorn turned around and saw the gigantic muzzle of Princess Twilight Sparkle staring down at the giant dragon scornfully, her horn igniting her magenta aura. That meant Twilight spotted Spike playing with Sweetie Belle's tiny form and used her magic to levitate her out of Spike's mouth before his stomach acids would quickly do her in.
"Aw, come on, Twilight. That bug's been bothering me ever since I arrived at the train station," Spike whined.
"Spike, there's only one rule that you should've known by now and that's never to eat any kind of bug," Twilight scorned. "Do you know why nopony should ever eat a bug?"
Spike sighed in frustration. "Because they might have germs on them or secrete poison."
"That's exactly right," Twilight said before she turned her eye down to the little "bug" in her magical grasp. "Therefore, you should never eat any kind of bug, even if they happen to bothe--"
Twilight narrowed her eyes to get a closer look at the "bug", another ray of hope that Sweetie Belle was hoping for. While she looked at the tiny filly, Twilight gasped lightly as she finally realized what, or who, the little bug was. Using her magic, Twilight lifted Sweetie Belle up to her head, the tiny filly going wide-eyed as she recalled a similar situation involving getting lost in a forest full of purple hair. Turning her horn off, Sweetie Belle was dropped into the young alicorn's mane, gently landing on the soft, purple ground on her belly. The tiny filly grumbled as she recovered from the fall just as she felt herself and her ground lifted up, indicating that Twilight was standing up from her seat.
"Excuse me, everypony, but I need to use the bathroom really quick," Twilight said before she went at a pace that was half trot and half gallop. Holding onto the tree-sized hair strands, Sweetie Belle tried to keep her from flying off with the sudden rise and fall of Twilight's body pacing as she exited the dining hall and into a more secluded area of Canterlot Castle. Fortunately, there was a hallway that was only accessible by royalty, so this was an opportune place to quietly chat with her shrunken student in private.
Once there, Twilight levitated Sweetie belle out of her mane with her magic and gently dropped her on her gigantic muzzle. "Sweetie Belle? It is you, isn't it, Sweetie Belle?"
The tiny unicorn filly gulped nervously as she stared into the big violet pools looming down at her. "Yeah... Yeah, it's me, Twilight."
Twilight gently did a double-take around her, glancing at both ends of the hall to see if anyone was present in the hallway. There was nopony in sight, so that was good enough for the alicorn to have a private discussion with her passenger lying on her muzzle. "Sweetie Belle, what in the wide world of Equestria happened to you? How did you get this way? More importantly, what are you thinking sneaking into the royal convention like this?"
Sweetie Belle looked up to the giant princess, her eyes widening and lips quivering as she was being scolded by her mentor. "I'm sorry, Princess Twilight, but I had nopony else to go to," she sobbed, which surprised the lavender giantess. "I was trying to perform that teleportation spell you assigned me to, but Rarity barged in on me while I was performing that spell! But then my spell hit me and then I became the size of a bug! I've been eaten, nearly eaten and sat on by everypony bigger than me, but I had to endure all that so I could get to you!
"I tried to get my friends to help me, but they couldn't do anything! You're the only pony I know who's got magic powerful enough to bring me back to size! That's why I had to go through all the trouble to finding you, Twilight! You've got better control over all kinds of magic and to me..." Sweetie Belle drooped her head down, her ears folded back with sadness. "...I'm just a little, good-for-nothing unicorn who can't even get one spell right."
Curling up in her hooves, Sweetie Belle buried her face in her forelegs and began to cry silently. Twilight looked down at tiny, bite-sized Sweetie Belle with empathy as she felt the filly's tears on the fur of her muzzle, like a single, hot droplet of water soaking on her nose. Then, with a gentle smile, Twilight scooped Sweetie Belle off of her muzzle with her hoof and held it flat so it acted as a soft platform for Sweetie Belle's tiny form to rest her haunches on.
"Hey, it's alright. I'm not mad at you," Twilight cooed, gently using the tip of her hoof to caress Sweetie Belle's head and mane. "In fact, I think I'm very proud of how brave enough you were to survive at your size."
Sweetie Belle sobbed a little and wiped her eyes, sniffling. "Y-You are?"
Twilight nodded. "Of course. You may not have performed your teleportation spell accurately, but you've managed to make it all the way to Canterlot on your own and live. To me, that's the biggest thing that could happen to somepony so small."
"Really? You mean it?" Sweetie Belle asked as her spirits began to lift.
"Would I be lying to somepony your size who could fit their entire bedroom on my hoof?" Twilight quipped, making the tiny unicorn in her frog giggle.
"No, of course not."
Twilight giggled lightly. "I thought so," she said, lowering her muzzle to Sweetie Belle and gently nuzzling her diminutive form. Sweetie Belle felt the ticklish sensation of Twilight's fur rub her chest, giggling as a reaction. Once Twilight finished rubbing the tiny filly, she brought her face back and gave her another gentle smile once more.
"So, you want me to change you back to your normal size, do you?" Twilight asked, earning a nod from Sweetie Belle. Then, lighting her horn, Twilight enveloped Sweetie Belle with her magic and levitated her onto her horn just near the base of her mane, the tiny filly immediately clutching the hard bone for support and grip. "Well, you came to the right pony. All I gotta do is find somewhere private with a secret exit to help you get out of Canterlot quicker. Then I'll simply flick my horn and you'll be back to the way you are."
"Really? Is it really that simple?" Sweetie Belle asked as she held onto Twilight's horn.
Twilight snickered. "Sweetie Belle, I've had some experiences altering the size of objects and some ponies as well. Changing you back to the size of a filly is going to be cake."
"I hope so. Rarity is probably turning all of Equestria upside-down looking for me," the unicorn groaned dejectedly.
Twilight reached a titanic hoof and gently tapped the tiny unicorn on her horn, a friendly pat at her size. "Don't worry about it, Sweetie Belle. I'm sure you're gonna run into Rarity soon."
As Twilight approached the end of the hall, she was met with a couple of armored stallions, one being a unicorn, the other an Earth pony, both sporting their required, stoic visage. Twilight looked at the guards with an expression as blank as a piece of paper before one of the stallions spoke up, a deep thunder in Sweetie Belle's ears. "Princess Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes?" the latter responded.
"There is a group of mares and a couple of fillies that mysteriously appeared in the dungeons. They seem to want an audience with you." Sweetie Belle's ears seemed to perk up with interest, and her face spoke of surprise. A group of mares and two fillies? That could only mean that Rarity had somehow made it to the dungeons with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo being dragged along for the ride!
"Alright, I'll be right down," the lavender alicorn replied before she began to trot towards the dungeons' location.
Having much interest in where this was leading her and Twilight, Sweetie Belle shimmied down the giant alicorn's horn and under her violet bangs, her hair almost like the canopy of a major Equestrian sports stadium and just as dark with streams of light shining in. Once Sweetie Belle made it to the base of her horn, she began to trudge past the thick thrush of hair strands and into the direction of her left ear, only getting tangled in her back hooves a couple of times before she pulled them free of those knots.
Once she made it to Twilight's left ear, Sweetie Belle climbed up the back of the ear and swung around to the front, her tiny hooves somehow keeping a good grip as she began to swing herself into the furry cavern of the Princess of Magic's ear. Aside from the mild adhesion of nearly-washed earwax, Twilight's inner ear seemed very clean and fuzzy to the touch, whereas it was done using magic and an entire 156-page rulebook on how to clean ears.
"Hey, Twilight, you heard what that guard said, right? About the mares and two fillies?" Sweetie Belle whispered into the ear canal, a brief echo for every word spoken.
"I have," Twilight's voice boomed in response, making Sweetie Belle instinctively cover her ears from the thundering echo. "What about it?"
"Well, what are the off chances that those mares and fillies are Rarity, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and the rest of your friends?" she piped, nearly cracking her voice with growing excitement. "Think about it. Apple Bloom, Scoots and Fluttershy must've told Rarity and the girls about my situation, so they should've found a way into Canterlot so they would come find me or find you."
"Hmm... that would make sense, actually," Twilight concurred after a moment's thought. "Although, there's no physical evidence that would support your theory. That's why I intend to see this for myself before we can assume that the girls have made it here."
"Oh... alright," Sweetie Belle said with little dejection before she curled up in her hooves and laid down.
All of a sudden, the tiny unicorn's ground suddenly tipped over to the left and she tumbled down towards the ear's opening, holding on to the fuzz for a firm grasp before her ground leveled itself out. Once it did, Sweetie Belle found herself lying on her tummy before she got up on her hooves and marched over to the innermost part of her savior's ear, particularly near the ear drum.
"Hey, is everything alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine, Sweetie Belle," Twilight answered. "I just felt a little dizzy is all."
"Okay, but please be careful," Sweetie Belle advised. "I'm still in your ear, you know."
"I can hear that," the alicorn joked. "Don't worry, though, I'll be careful."
What Sweetie Belle had failed to notice in connection to the sudden dizziness Twilight suffered was the first stage of the fruit she devoured with the seeds inside. The next step she was currently experience was a slight fever, following with beads of cold sweat pouring out of her pores. She didn't know if she was catching Hay Fever or if she was nervous about meeting other royalty from different countries. Twilight waved it off as she trotted down to the hallways where the door to the underground dungeons was built.
====
Rarity had been anxiously pacing back and forth, squeaking out worried whimpers as she awaited a reply to her request.
Pinkie blew a tune with her harmonica while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo played a few rounds of "Appleloosa Hold 'Em", the cyan pegasus shifting her tail constantly to mask her shaved, bare flank.
It had been about ten, twenty whole minutes since the guard was requested to send for Princess Twilight and so far, the mares were already bored of the growing suspense to inform their alicorn friend of Sweetie Belle's predicament. Everypony but Rarity relaxed while they waited for any signs that the guards would visit their cell to bring them the news of their progress.
And what better timing was there when the doors to the dungeons clicked and squeaked open, grabbing the perked ears of the ponies as metallic clip-clops reverberated down the cavernous bowels. The mares and fillies threw everything they had down and stood up as they saw two of the Canterlot Royal Guards enter their sights, along with a certain alicorn escorted by the armored stallions.
"TWILIGHT!!!" they all shouted as they rushed up to the bars, prompting the stallions to unsheathe their spears.
Twilight laid a hoof on one of the guards' forelegs. "It's alright, sirs, they're my friends."
The guards held their spears in an upright position as Twilight approached her friends locked away behind the bars with Rarity the frantic mare in the front.
"Oh, Twilight, thank Celestia you're here!" the fashionista cried. "It's terrible! Horrible! Tragic, even! And I was the one to bring it on upon myself!"
"Calm down, Rarity," Twilight commanded. "Just tell me what happened and why you had to go through all the trouble to take the red tunnel by the rock just so you could get yourselves locked up."
"Because this was the only way to get an audience with you, Twilight!" Rarity blubbered. "I need your help! Sweetie Belle was at home practicing her magic and I just got home from after making my errands! But then I barged into Sweetie Belle's room without knocking and the magic she used shrunk her down to size! I was trying to find her all over Equestria and beyond, but I couldn't find one trace of my little sister and it turns out, she was shrunken down to si-i-izzze!"
Rarity's face fell into the bars and she began to wail woefully while Twilight looked at her with a feigned shock expression. "M-M-My little sister wanted to go to Canterlot so you could change her back, but I worry what might happen to her at her size! I can't bear to see the sight or hear the news of somepony eating her, stepping on her or even keeping her as a pet! I can't even live with myself if she becomes a little foal's pe-he-he-het!"
Twilight trotted over to the jail cell bars and grasped Rarity's hooves into hers and looked at her with a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Rarity, everything is going to be fine," the alicorn said, looking at her ear. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that Sweetie Belle is closer than you think."
"Thank you for those kind words, Twilight," the alabaster unicorn sniffed, "but I highly doubt those kind words will help me get through my time of need."
"No, Rarity, I mean it. Sweetie Belle is closer than you think," Twilight restated, making Rarity perk up.
"Wait, you're saying that my sister is here!?" she yelped. "Oh, where is she!? I need to see her, Twilight! Please show me where she is."
With a smile, Twilight's horn lit up, and a tiny white grain of rice floated out of her left ear. She held out her right hoof under the rice and canceled out her magic, making the speck of white fall in the soft center of the frog. Rarity looked closer at her friend's hoof, her eyes widening as she saw the "grain" move and move its head up to meet her sapphire eyes. She gasped with surprise as she realized that the "grain" Twilight held gently was actually Sweetie Belle and her eyes began to moisten up.
"Suh... Suh... Sweetie Belle?"
The tiny unicorn looked up with big, puppy-dog eyes that moistened with tears as well.
"Hi, Rarity."
A delightful squeal rang out and Rarity whisked her very "little" sister out of Twilight's hoof and brought her near chest in a loving, joyful embrace. Then Rarity couldn't help but bring herself to bawl with a warm heart while Sweetie Belle's life was being squeezed out by the bear hug, buried in the soft, delicate coat. Yet, despite this vise grip, she couldn't hold her tears as they trickled down her cheeks.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle! Thank goodness you're alright!" Rarity cried. "I... I... I thought I would never find you-hoo-hoo-hoooo!"
Sweetie Belle sniffled. "I thought I'd never see you too, Rarity!" she sobbed.
Rarity brought Sweetie Belle up to her delicate face in cupped hooves and snuggled her cheek against the unicorn's tiny form. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, I am so sorry for ruining your spell! I should've better than to disturb you like that and I almost paid the price of losing you! Will you forgive me!?"
Sweetie Belle pulled back from Rarity's cheek with a big, wriggling smile and joyful, tearful eyes. "Don't be silly, Rarity! I've already forgiven you!"
Rarity returned the big smile and resumed nuzzling her sister, feeling her tiny hooves hug her cheek while hot tears flowed over her little body. "That's all I wanted to hear, little sister. That's all I wanted to hear."
Rarity brought her cupped hooves out in front of her where she could see Sweetie Belle stand in the very center of the frog. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and the other two Crusaders all surrounded Rarity and looked down at the micro-sized unicorn filly, all feeling their hearts melt at the sight, though Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were too cool to admit they were touched by the scene.
"Boy howdy. Ah guess Apple Bloom was tellin' the truth after all," Applejack said, chuckling. "Heck, you're even tinier than Ah was when Ah ran into that Poison Joke patch."
"I guess bigger things do come in small packages after all," Rainbow Dash joked, earning a deadpan from everypony but Scootaloo. "What? I mean it."
Pinkie Pie shot her muzzle near Sweetie Belle, though in the unicorn's eyes, it was like her nose was a spaceship hovering dangerously close to her. "Oh, wow, Sweetie Belle! You're even tinier than a tiny little sprinkle! Hey, when we get back, we're gonna throw a 'Sweetie-Belle's-Been-Found-But-Only-As-A-Shrunken-Filly' party and I'm gonna serve you the biggest cupcakes there is! Do you want a cupcake!? I'm gonna add it with super-duper-HUGE rainbow sprinkles on top so we all know what it feels like to be as small as you!"
"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity snapped, bringing her hooves and Sweetie Belle away from the hyperactive pony. "Honestly, darling, you're scaring my sister out of her wits!"
"Don't worry, Rarity, I've been scared worse at my size!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "Like recently, when I was almost eaten by Spike!"
"What!? My little Spikey-Wikey almost ate you!?" Rarity yelled. "Oh, you poor, poor dear! I shall have to keep Spike out of my boutique for a whole week!"
"Hey, that rhymed!" Pinkie piped before she giggled. "Also, you said 'a whole!'"
Everypony ignored that last joke as Sweetie Belle waved her arms up at her gigantic sister. "Don't worry, Rarity, I'm alright. Spike wouldn't have known that he almost ate me in the first place!" she reassured. "In fact, neither Big Mac, Winona or Spike knew I was tiny in the first place, but I survived! Look at me, Rarity, I'm still here and alive now, aren't I!?"
"Well, I suppose that's true," Rarity reluctantly agreed. "Fine, then Spike will have to be banned for half a week."
"Rarity..." Sweetie Belle whined as Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Fluttershy approached the tiny filly.
"Wow, Sweetie Belle, you made it to Canterlot all by yourself!" Scootaloo said, exhilarated. "I honestly didn't think you would make it here after Apple Bloom flushed you down the toilet!"
"Yeah, after y'all forced me ta drink down Sweetie Belle and made me drink some of Granny Smith's laxatives," Apple Bloom grumbled.
"Well, you shouldn't have had your big mouth open in the first place!" Scootaloo argued.
"And I thought a dodo like you had Sweetie Belle safe and secure in your mane," Apple Bloom remarked, making the orange pegasus gasp.
"Don't call me names that I still don't know the meaning of, you dictionary!"
"Don't call me a dictionary, you dodo!"
"Dictionary!"
"Chicken!"
"That's it!"
The two fillies began to roll around in the dungeon floors, jabbing and biting each other as the dust clouds began to rise up. Applejack and Rainbow Dash attempted to restrain their little sisters back in their tight grip while Fluttershy turned to Sweetie Belle, a dam of tears flowing in her eyes ready to pour out. "Sweetie Belle... did you... did you make it up here all by yourself? Did you get stepped on and eaten on the way here? Were you hurt at all?"
"Well, I was sat on by Zecora on the train, stepped on by Spike and was nearly eaten by him, but I'm not hurt too badly," Sweetie Belle answered.
"My Spikey-Wikey stepped on you as well!?" Rarity gasped. "That's half a week more that he shan't be allowed in my boutique!"
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle snapped.
"Oh dear," Fluttershy whimpered before she hid her face behind her curtain-like mane and sobbed silently.
"Oh now, Fluttershy. What's gotten you to shed tears again?" Rarity asked concernedly.
Fluttershy sobbed before she brought her timid, yellow face out of her mane. "It's nothing, Rarity, it's just that..." Fluttershy broke down in tears for a moment before she gently took Sweetie Belle away from Rarity's hooves and hugged her to her cheek, nuzzling her. "I'm sorry, Rarity! I tried to keep Sweetie Belle from putting herself in danger so I could show her to you, but I failed at that! She was nearly crushed and swallowed on the way here and I feel like I've been an awful caretaker!"
Sweetie Belle pulled herself away from Fluttershy's cheek and looked up at the gentle giantess. "Don't be absurd, Fluttershy! If it weren't for you, Owlowiscious would've turned me into his dinner! You've done enough for me and I was too determined to even thank you for what you've done for me in my condition!"
Fluttershy whimpered again and nuzzled the tiny unicorn gently, which tickled Sweetie Belle's tummy. "Thank you, Sweetie Belle. That means a lot to me."
Sweetie Belle returned the smile before Rarity's magic draped over her body and lifted her up, gently placing her on the rocky ground before Rarity cleared her throat. "Ahem. Now that we have that out of the way," Rarity began, turning to the alicorn. "Twilight, would you mind doing the honor of turning my sister back."
"I'll be happy to," Twilight smiled. "Stand back, everypony, this spell might affect you all if you stand to close."
Opening the jail cell door, Twilight cautiously stepped up to Sweetie Belle sitting on the ground, careful not to step on the tiny filly. The other ponies backed away from her as Twilight prepared to perform her spell. Sweetie Belle looked up to the titanic, lavender pillars of Twilight's forelegs and hooves as her horn began to light a magenta light. As the horn began to glow, it also began to fizzle, making Twilight sweat profusely, raising a questionable eyebrow from the ponies.
"Twilight? Is there something wrong?" Rarity asked.
Twilight turned her horn off and breathed heavily, trying to catch her escaping breath. "It's nothing. I haven't had much to eat lately." The alicorn lit her horn up again, only for the magic to sizzle up in little sparks, also causing its caster to feel out of breath, hot and sweaty.
"Twilight?" Rarity attempted to ask.
"It's alright, Rarity. I guess I kinda feel nervous of this whole 'Princess' thing. I just need to... need to..." Twilight was cut off by a sharp pain in her stomach, like the acid began to burn away at its walls through the many layers of mucus. She began to feel dizzy and the joints in her knees trembled before she lost her balance and fell forward. Sweetie Belle screamed as the titanic alicorn fell towards her like a tower and cantered out of the way before Rarity scooped her up in her hooves.
"TWILIGHT!!!" the mares screamed.
The guards surrounded their princess and looked on with horror as Twilight wriggled with pain, the unknown affliction taking its effect on her body.
"The princess has fallen ill!" one of the guards yelled.
"Quickly, take her to the infirmary! Contact Princess Celestia immediately!" the other guard yelled.
Both of the guards levitated Twilight on their backs and raced towards the medical wing of Canterlot Castle with the eight other ponies looking on in shock as they saw her friend collapse on the floor in front of them. Rarity quickly placed her little sister onto her horn and raced after her, Sweetie Belle beginning to cry on the magical conduit. She buried her face in the horn and began to weep on as the only pony who could help her in her time of need fell ill.
"Twilight..." was all that she could whimper out.