//------------------------------// // Bug ponies and people. (Guest) // Story: Tales from Tinies. // by MrAquino //------------------------------// “How could this happen to me?” Shanna was your every typical teenage girl, with your everyday normal teenage problems. This however was a problem a normal teenager like her did not expect or anticipate. Not in a million years. What started as a normal routine trip to the mall, changed to an unexpected hike through the woods as a strange portal suddenly dropped her into a huge forest in the middle of nowhere. Of course, 'huge' was more of an understatement, as everything around was literally HUGE. She had a keen eye when it came to trees and she had seen a Sequia before. But these trees were not Sequias. These were the kind of trees you'd find in almost any forest. And yet they were far bigger than her. This led to only one possible conclusion: Not only was she in a totally different location, but she had been shrunk! The reason she believed herself to be shrunk? Not only where the trees huge, but every bush, flower and fauna were bigger than her as well. After passing out just shortly after her arrival, she woke up to find a rabbit as large as a truck standing over her and curiously sniffing at her before running off. Lucky for Shanna, that rabbit was closest thing to a wild animal she came across so far. Being as tiny as she was, the thought and dread of crossing paths with a wild predator was an ever growing possibility. It was even getting close to sunset and Shanna knew that she would not last a night all alone in a forest filled with wild animals. Just then, she heard it. She didn't know what it was, but it sounded like a cheerful humming. The kind of humming you hear when someone is working. If there was someone humming, then that could mean that there was a person nearby. A person that could help her! Shanna quickly followed the sound of the humming, wrestling through the thick grass before finally reaching a bed of wild flowers in a small clearing. Hearing the humming more clearly now, she noticed that it was coming from one of the big flowers. She didn't see anyone, except for two large wings that seemed to belong to a big bug, along with two large feelers sticking out. What made things even more bizarre was that the humming seemed to be coming from the bug. Just then, the bug emerged from the flower. Shanna gaped in surprise: It was a pony, or rather, a 'bug pony' by the looks of it. With large butterfly wings and two large antennae on its head. It had a mane and tail like any pony, except it was thick and seemed to be defying gravity. It carried around a basket latched to a saddle and seemed to be collecting pollen from the flower. It was too preoccupied with its work to even notice Shanna as is flew off the flower and settled on the ground to inspect her harvest. Shanna was only a few steps away and could see the strange pony was nearly her size, if not a tad smaller. “Da min hända. Sä da same du knut.” Shanna couldn't understand what the strange butterfly pony was saying, but judging from the sound of its voice, it was clearly female. If this bug pony can speak, then maybe she can help me. It's worth a shot. If I'm lucky she can get me back home... She took a deep breath and carefully approached the pony as she was busy still sorting through the pollen she had just gathered. “Mei ta oppa. Ka ka have detta-” “Ahem!” The sound of Shanna clearing her throat caught the little butterfly pony's attention and she froze, dropped her pollen and turned her towards her. “Um... Hi.?” Shanna saw the frightened look in the pony's eyes. ”It's okay...” She calmly reached out her hand. “...I'm not dangerous-” “WA DE BLEE DET?! WA KA DE!!” The butterfly pony panicked and quickly reached for something in her basket. She threw it at Shanna and it exploded into a cloud of yellow powder. Shanna coughed and quickly pulled back as the powder got in her eyes and lungs. It seemed to be some kind of pollen. Almost immediatley as the pollen hit her, Shanna began to feel tired and unable to keep her eyes open. “What the-” she yawned confused. “What did you... Wha..?” Unable to stay awake, Shanna collapsed on the ground and dozed off. “Du vea...” With the 'threat' pacified, the pony took a moment to breathe and calm her nerves. Feeling a bit braver now, she carefully approached the sleeping form of Shanna. From this moment onward, she and every other Breezie will now speak Equestrian english to make it more easier for the Readers to better understand them. “That was close...” Glow Leaf breathed with relief. “Lucky I had Sleep Pollen with me. What is this creature?” Looking over the new creature before her more closely, Glow Leaf soon realized that this was a creature she had never seen before. It was bipedal, clothed, with no coat or fur. Judging by the sound of its voice earlier, Glow Leaf quickly deduced it to be female. “She doesn't look that dangerous...” She began to feel a hint of regret. “I guess I must've overreacted when she startled me. We aren't supposed to use the Sleep Pollen unless it's really nessecary. She'll be out cold for hours...” “Glow Leaf!” Glow Leaf turned and saw two other Breezies approaching her. “Sea Breeze! Chanterell!” “Glow Leaf!” Sea Breeze yelled as he and Chanterell landed. “We came to find you and remind you that we were about resume our migration when we heard screaming! What happened?” “And what's THAT!??” Chanterell yelled in surprise and pointed at Shanna. “I don't know what she is!” replied Glow Leaf. “She... She surprised me. I thought she was going to attack me. I-” “Wait a minute.” Sea Breeze interupted and suddenly rushed towards Shanna, pushing the others aside. “It can't be...” “What is it?” asked Glow Leaf. “Do you know what she is?” “This creature... I think she's a human!” “A 'what'?” “A human! They seem to have been appearing all over Equestria quite recently. On our journey few days ago I noticed ponies with a bunch of them in a jars and baskets. Some even had some in their mane.” “What for? And what are humans-?” Sea Breeze suddenly leaned down and licked Shanna's face. The human only murred in her sleep. “SEA BREEZE!?!” both breezies exclaimed, completely taken by surprise by that action. Sea Breeze licked her lips and seemed to be quite pleased with the taste. “So it's true...” “What's true!?” asked Glow Leaf, more confused than ever. “Why did you lick her?!” “Girls... These humans are delicious.” Both Glow Leaf and Chanterell just blinked. “What..?” “On our journey, I managed to see that some of them actually grabbed these humans and ate them!” “WHAT?! THAT'S TERRIBLE!” exclaimed Glow Leaf in horror. “I didn't know ponies did something so cruel!” “Why would the ponies do that?” asked Chanterell, more curious than horrified. “I don't know, but the ponies seemed to really enjoy them, saying they were really delicious. They even said it was better than anything in Equestria. When I saw her, I just had to find out it was true.” She then gestured them towards Shanna. “Don't believe me? Go on... Try.” Hesitant at first, Glow Leaf and Chanterell's curiosity soon won them over and they both licked her. And as with Sea Breeze, they both became overwhelmed by the taste. “You're right! She really is delicious!” Glow Leaf drooled. “It makes me just want to eat her up right now!” “Me too!” said Chanterell. “Too bad she's too big...” Sea Breeze said comparing both of them to Shanna. “Just how would you go about doing that?” Glow Leaf's ears dropped as Sea Breeze had a very good point. She was too big for any of them to eat and the only other way was deemed too grizzly for any of them to suggest out loud. Just then, all three heard the sound of flutter and noticed all the other Breezies were now resuming their journey. “We've gotten what came for. It's time to head home.” said Sea Breeze. “Come.” Suddenly, Glow Leaf's ears twitched as she was startled by a noise in the woods. Though she didn't see anything, it didn't leave much to the imagination. It was already getting dark and she knew the forest wasn't going to be safe place for long. “We have to go Glow Leaf.” said Chanterell, having heard the noise as well. “It's getting close to night.” “But... What about the human?” Glow Leaf pleaded. “We can't just leave her here.” “I'm afraid we have to.” said Seas Breeze. “We don't have far to go but we are running short on time before the gateway closes. I'm not going to be stranded here.” “But what about her?” asked Glow Leaf concerned. “We can't just leave her like this. Some forest creature could come by and eat her. We have to take her with us.” “Not a chance!” said Sea Breeze. “I can't just allow you to bring a creature like that into our lands. She could be trouble.” “Please! It's my fault she's like this. We have to help her!” “I agree with Glow Leaf.” said Chanterell. “Like you said, we're not far from home. And the closest pony town is miles away. We'll take her with us and let her stay until the gateway reopens again.” “Please?! I'll take good care of her. Promise!” Finding himself outnumbered and outvoted, Sea Breeze sighed and conceeded. “Fine... Just don't let me regret this.” He gestured them to do as he did and instructed them stand around Shanna in a triangle. “You girls ready?” “Ready.” “Ready.” All three Breezies kneeled down before Shanna and touched her body with their antennae. Each antennae began to glow, and within seconds silk began to form from their tips and spread all over Shanna's body. The silk enveloped her like a soft warm blanket, covering her completely from head to toe. Once it was done, Shanna was all wrapped up inside a silk cocoon like a butterfly larva. “There! That should keep her safe for the trip.” said Sea Breeze. “We better hurry!” said Glow Leaf looking at the sunset. “It's almost night and we're running out of time!” “Then let's hurry! We have to catch up with the others!” With Sea Breeze leading the way, the other two grabbed each end of the cocoon with their hooves and gently lifted Shanna off the ground, following close behind Sea Breeze. “She's heavy...” Chanterell groaned. “...But we can do this.” said Glow Leaf. “Now let's get her home.” TO BE CONTINUED...