Size Doesn't Matter

by Pixel Berry

Chapter 5

John had all the flying ants around him. As it's turned out, while a few flying ants were around the weather factory in Cloudsdale, there was no ant colony. Partly because, besides it being a pun on Clydesdale, a breed of horse, Cloudsdale was literally in the clouds. From what the two could think, it was probably for Pegasi only.

“So we enter the weather factory,” John spoke as the ants turned into small, but still large models of the factory. “Sneak past all the security, cut the power, go to the science room, find the schematics, and get out of here. You following me, Liz?”

“Wait, I still don’t understand why we have to go there, didn’t they mentioned something called the Twittermites? Shouldn’t we gather information on what that is and how we can even get it?” She asked, not recalling why they had to go to Cloudsdale in the first place.

“Because of our leads...” John gestured to a group of flying ants that waved back “Have seen the Pegasi up there making new experiments that involve using high amounts of electricity into something that's small, like, say, a piece of crystal.”

“Oh, okay. Got it.” Liz nodded, even making an ‘OK’ sign with one of her hands. “So we’re just going there to see if there’s a quick shortcut then wherever that crystal empire is that pegacorn talked about?” An ant clicked to her.

“Ah. Thank you, Sir Antsworth. The Crystal Empire is north. But for now, Cloudsdale and those blueprints.” John hopped onto an ant. “We ride!”

Liz only flared her wings out, choosing to see how far she could go before she needed a flying ant’s help. John leads the way, all the flying ants following behind John, going straight up to the clouds. It was very fortunate that their helmets made oxygen for them easily, as the way up got thinner for them. They could only guess that Pegasi were used to being high in the sky with a lack of air, along with these ants. That, or it's more likely a classic case of cartoon logic vs realistic logic.

Within a few minutes of flying, they popped out of the clouds and saw an entire city built on and with various clouds. Various buildings stood on the clouds, with Pegasi flying freely all over, with some walking along the clouds like it's a floor. In the distance, they could see what looked like a colosseum made out of clouds, and a factory of sorts with clouds popping out.

“If I have to guess, that's the weather factory, right?” John asked his ant. It made an affirmative click. “Gotcha. And can you believe ponies can walk on clouds, Liz!?”

“In a weird way, I guess pegasi would make sense since they have wings and seem to be in charge of the weather.” She shrugged, seeing it as natural.

“Hmm… I wonder…” John jumped off and fell through the cloud floor.

“John! You stupid-!” John's head popped up as another flying ant flew up.

“Hey, it's an experiment. I was testing if we could walk on clouds here or not.”

“Well, are you a magical talking pegasus? I don’t think so.” Liz said, rolling her eyes as she didn’t bother trying herself even though she was the one with wings.

“If it's possible, I might reincarnate as one.” John lead the squad into the Weather Factory.

~-~-~

“Oh no! What am I going to do!?” Twilight asked as she pranced in circles.

“You!? I think you mean ‘What are we going to do?’.” Lyra replied, sitting in the said circle.

“Lyra! Your obsession with humans has singlhoofedly ruined Equestria! They're on the loose, about to plan some world domination scheme!”

“And you jumped to conclusions! Haven’t you or your friends ever argued before?” Lyra shot back, figuring that friends tended to fight, and even that could be seen as tough love.

“We have fought, but never tried to physically hurt each other, or controlled our students! That man controlled Ocellus with his mind! That isn't natural!”

“Neither is a tiny human. We’ve never seen humans before, so how do you think they feel about getting somepony’s attention, only to be accused of being villainous cause of one event!?” She shot back. “And were changings not evil before? Last I recalled, it was your student that gave them a chance.” She said, jabbing a good at the alicorn’s chest. “And speaking of mind control, do you recall making my best friend get obsessed with that rag doll of yours when you first got here, I don’t recall Celestia sending you to Tartarus.”

“Oh, I love it when somepony uses Twilight's morals back at her!” The all too familiar cheery voice spoke. Popping out of Twilight's ear was the draconequus himself, Discord. “Indeed, she is right. If I remembered, you had a reformation spell that you wanted to use on me before I became friends with Fluttershy. I did some brainwashing, so I'm the villain, but if you did brainwashing, it's justified, is it not?”

“Discord!” Twilight growled, her horn glowing and pulling the Lord of chaos out. “What are you doing here!?” Discord snapped his talon, going back to his normal size, standing over the two.

“Is it wrong for me to simply order some cupcakes? Or add my 2 bits to your midget squared situation?”

“And what do you know about this?”

“Oh, just the usual stuff. Hilarious carnage with Ocellus, ruined meals, a shocking revelation you'll need to know. Rather unimportant stuff, not like who they are, what their plans are, when and where arrived, and why.”

“... So you're just going to bother me?”

“And Lyra!” He leaned over to Lyra’s side, wearing a tuxedo. “And between the two of us, you may want to change Bon-Bon’s briefcase code. You don't want another outbreak.”

“You wouldn't!” Lyra replied in shock.

“Maybe… maybe I won't… want to flip a bit?” Lyra backed off a bit before going into a full sprint. Twilight gave an unamused look.

“You want me to thank you for that, I presume?” She asked.

“Nope!” He simply answered. “Just for you to use that lightbulb in your head.” He reached over and pulled a rope, making a light bulb glow over the Alicorn’s head. Twilight groaned, walking away. Pinkie appeared behind the counter.

“Do you still want those cupcakes you ordered?” She asked.

“Oh yes, indeed.” Discord answered. “Fluttershy will love these!”

~-~-~

John and Liz made their way to the Weather Factory. They watched as various Pegasi entered and exited through the building’s front doors wearing white lab coats. Entering through the front door was a no go for any of the two and their ant companions. Lucky for them all, an open window was nearby, prompting them all to enter it. They found themselves in a janitor’s closet, with a spare suit hanging on a hook. The floor looked like it was made of tiles, making him jump off his ant, landing on the floor with no problem.

“Huh… we can't walk on clouds, but entire structures are no problem.” John simply commented.

“Maybe for inspectors or guests who aren’t pegasus I guess.” Liz shrugged, figuring that most factories would accommodate for those who are just visitors.

“Or this is some classic cartoon logic shenanigans… like my next idea!” He jumped to the hook and pushed the janitor’s suit, with a spare hat, and a broom. “You're the eyes, and I'll make sure we look normal.”

“John, your ridiculous. We could just slip by or even use the vents.” She suggested.

“Maybe… but what's not from saying that Twilight sent a message out to turn on the vents and squish any ant they see, including us?”

“Do you really think Twilight knows where we were going? I don’t recall telling her, do you?” She asked. “Also, seeing how pegasi only come up here, it’s clear that we wouldn’t come here unless we want to be a tiny blood splat on the cobblestone.” She said, all of that making sense.

“But she may also realize we were there to see how they gain power. She's going to be right that we're going to take some blueprints with us, but we'll prove her wrong that it's not for anything evil.”

“Look, can we just do things the ‘not stupid’ way? Every time we do, that only creates more problems and makes us look worse.” Liz said, now starting to get fed up with John acting as if none of this is important.

“We're in a world filled with Technicolor talking ponies. What is smart or stupid anymore? Besides, superheroes are always on the run from the law; Superman is still technically an illegal immigrant, Batman has killed plenty of people but says it's not HIM that did it, the Hulk is a literal ticking time bomb of rage, and Captain America renounced his citizenship to the US becoming The Nomad.”

“But that is them and this is us!” She shouted, but soon recalled just who she was even talking to. “Just forget it, you're just as thick-headed as that princess, so why waste my breath?” She huffed, flaring her wings out before she flew over to the vent, blasting a small hole through it before she flew through it, it was clear that she would rather go alone then do the silly idea he had planned.

“Hey! Come back! We're together in this!” One of the ants clicked to him. “... Yeah. Some of you follow her. The rest, we're gonna go undercover.”

Liz didn’t even look back as she heard the small sounds of ants following her, she would tell them to buzz off, to leave her alone. Mostly cause she wasn’t sure if she could talk to ants as much as John. But after some time flying, she realized that she also didn’t know where to even go. ‘Great, way to go Liz.’ She thought with an eye roll but soon came up with the plan to figure out where she was, and find a place that would most likely have blueprints or whatever John said.

As for John, all his ant allies got into place, forming a body of a pony, using the clothes around to cover the body and the broom with mops to a mustache with a mane and tail. With these ants being pretty smart, he entrusted them to lead the way as he did the voice for their ‘janitor’. If he was right, then by the laws of all cartoon logic, this should work. A push to the door and the ‘janitor’ stepped right out, everything wobbling with each step, almost as if the janitor had one too much to drink. Some steps were made, and it was off, heading to the research department, with no one batting an eye.

Liz didn’t notice as she was still in the vents until she saw what seemed to be a tourist map of the factory on one of the walls. Seeing where she was, and where the back storage was, she figured one part could be for important files and documents. Keeping a mental pattern on where she needed to go, she started heading off to find the storage department.

John continued walking in his ‘disguise’, the ants never letting go. He stopped in front of a door that looked like it had a keyboard password system needed.

“Oh great! Anyone know what the password is?” Various clicks erupted. “No one!? Not even those with Liz?” More clicks. “Just great. Alright, we'll find someone that looks important and say we need to clean in there.” The Ant-Pony turned and shuffled it's way back to the closet, putting the mop into the wheeled bucket, and strolled across the floor.

“Hey! You!” A gruff sounding voice spoke.

“Uh oh. Stay calm, guys.” The Ant-Pony turned around to see that a security guard stallion approached it. He looked similar to any security guard back on earth, wearing a uniform of sorts, had a flashlight, and was a bit large.

“What are you doing here so early!?”

‘Think John, Think!’ John cleared his throats, the ants following suit to look like the pony they formed was talking “Oh, sorry, good sir, but uh… Professor Genius asked me to come in early today to clean his lab in the… energy… room.” There was a small stare down as the guard gave a somewhat skeptical look.

“... Well, why didn't you say so!? That Professor Genius can be quite the screwball.”

“Ah! Indeed he can be.”

“Did he forgot to tell you the password?”

“Yeah. He did.”

“His mind. Very great at making inventions, not so great at telling everyone instructions.”

“Tell me about it.”

Liz stopped and looked outside, seeing John's pony-ant suit walking next to a security guard stallion.

“You have got to be kidding me!” She shouted before turning to one of the ants. “How can they fall for this!?” The ant clicked. She blinked blankly in response. “... Great, I'm trying to talk to ants…” Strangely cute ones at that, now noticing how much cuter they looked compared to ones in reality.

“8...2...9...6.” The security guard spoke to himself, typing in the password. A click came from the door. “And it's unlocked. Voila! Feel free to clean Mr…”

“Uh… Clean!” John replied. “Folks call me Mr. Clean.”

“... Wait… Mr. Clean retired a month ago.”

“Oh? Did he? Well… I think it's just a major coincidence. Like how some uh… ponies are named… Red Steed.”

“Red steed!? That's my father's name! Who are you!?”

“... Fire me!” The Ant-Pony’s ‘face’ sucked in, and like a bullet, John was fired out. He clenched his fist and, with a mix of speed and the element of surprise, delivered a right hook to the guard, knocking him out with a tooth flying out. The Ant-Pony dispersed into individual ants, a good half running into the lab while the rest stayed with John. Liz and the other ants flew down, seeing the sight.

“What did you just do!?” Liz yelled.

“I panicked, ok! I simply knocked him out!”

“No! You killed him!”

“I did not kill him! He's alive!” The stallion remained still.

“... You killed him.”

“I did not! He's just… sleeping... like a baby! That's it!”

“Yeah, no. You killed a security guard stallion. If you had joined me, then-” The stallion got up with a low moan.

“What just happened?” He asked aloud.

“AHHH!!! It's a zombie!” John yelled.

“Zombie!? Where!?” He looked down at the two. “WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE!?!?!?”

“Oh crap! Abandon mission!” Liz yelled. “John, let's-!”

“Ants! Hammer time!” John yelled. The ants jumped onto each other and formed a giant hammer. He picked up the ant-hammer, jumped in the air, and smacked it on the guard's head, knocking him out again. “...See! Not dead. Now let's hide the body before anyone sees.”

“John, your such an idiot...” She said through clenched teeth.

“Hey! It was working well.”

“Before you now make it seem like we just murdered someone!” She said, thinking of knocking him out so he could stop his dumb and impulsive actions.

“We knocked him out! Now let's get him inside, and either bind him up with something to cover his mouth, or put him in a bathroom so he can think he ate something like Taco Bell or Chipotle.”

“Well, you and your ant friends can do that since I played no part in your plan that was obviously going to fail sooner or later.” She said, moving her hand dismissively.

“At least we're in. Now let's see here.” John grabbed the neck collar of the security guard and dragged him inside.

The laboratory was something that looked very modern, but also retro at the same time, sort of like it came from a movie. Various test tubes and machinery were around, but the thing that stuck out, standing in the near middle, was what looked like a glass cyclo that had storm clouds inside that was connected to what was essentially a battery. Liz approached the machine as John opened a nearby closet and place the security guard in there. He jumped onto the counter, seeing the machine besides Liz.

“Oh yeah… that’s what we’re going to make.” He spoke. “Just shrink it down and connect it to our suits.”

“Like it’ll be as easy as you saying that.” She lightly rolled her eyes. “I’m guessing these are what the called Twittermites.” She said, hearing a distinct buzzing sound before she took a closer look and saw blue flying bugs that had stingers in the jagged shape of a lightning.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” An ant approached to them and clicked. “No way! We’re not going to carry that tube. Pretty sure we’re only going to need a small jar, like the ones you say are in Manehatten, right?” More clicks. “Well, there’s your answer, Liz. Let’s find those blueprints first.”

‘I wonder...’ She thought staring at the Twittermites before she asked the question on her mind. “Do you think you can talk to these things? Maybe we don’t need a jar and they could just follow us. I mean, you did control that changeling creature, so maybe the same can happen here.”

“I mean… let’s see.” John approached the jar. “Yo! Wassup?” The creatures inside turned and snarled at him in unison. “Hey! No need for that language! Look, my friend and I need some help with something. If you can help us with one little thing, we can free you guys. Sound good?” More snarling. John backed up and walked to Liz. “Nope. Not at all. No way, Jose.”

“Well, it was worth a try at least.” She commented, looking away before she unfurled her wings and took off, trying to get a good viewpoint to see if she could spot anything else, perhaps the blueprints as well. John and his ants explored the lab, going into a nearby room that looked like a personal office. They began to look around, opening the various drawers, until some of the ants pulled out the blueprints.

“We found it, Liz!”

“Now hold on, let’s make sure it’s the real thing and not just blueprints to something else.” She flew down, landing beside the ants that held the rolled up parchment.

“Let’s see… tubes, cyclo, wires, a bunch of thingamajigs that look like that machine… I think that’s it. This was easier than expected.” As he said that, loud bellows came as the security alarm went off. “... I spoke too soon.”

“Quick, some of the ants should leave with the blueprint and head to the anthill. The others should hide the guard’s body, and the rest should escape and head to the anthill in any way possible.” Liz said, seeming to forget that she wasn’t the one that could talk or understand ants, but secretly hoped that they at least heard her instructions. The ants saluted, a quarter taking the blueprints with them.

“You know I hid the guard already? I think we just need to escape.” The sounds of hoofsteps came as officers arrived at the door, the ants carrying the blueprints stopping, unsure what they’re going to do. “I’m sure you’re gonna hate this, but we’re gonna either have to fight our way out or cause a distraction.”

Liz was trying to think of a quick way to somehow distract the ponies without any knowledge of their doing. ‘If this went out to that purple winged unicorn, it would all the more make it seem like we were bad guys.’ She looked around some more before her eyes landed on the jar with the Twittermites, and something clicked in her head. “We have to release those Twittermites, but the blueprints have to leave the room or else the kind of lightning energy they make might hit it and make it catch fire.” She said, not waiting for a response as she grabbed John and flew back to where the jar was, this time landing on the top of it where it seemed the lid was placed, the bottom part being connected to the machine and most likely being harder to unscrew.

“No! Wait! Don’t do it!”

“Why not!?” Liz began to unscrew the top.

“Because the Twittermites-” The top fell off. All the twittermites flew up and surrounded the two. Some of them just shoved John away, but landed, giving sultry eyes to Liz.

“Uh… what are they-?”

“They said they’ll mate with you before.”

“... What?”

“Yeah. They went into detail on how they’re gonna mate with you… you better run and lead them to the officers outside.”

“You couldn’t tell me this sooner!?” She shouted, her wings opening before she took off to try and get away from them. ‘Never mind, at least there’s one way to bring the Twittermites to distract the guards.’ She thought, soon coming up with an idea to get them away and let them do what they were released for. “Hey, Twittermites! Only the strongest bug can mate with me, so whoever pummels the most guards that come through that door will be the one.” She said, even acting a little flirtatious to convince the bugs. Her answer came as the Twittermites crashed through the wall, revealing it to be made out of clouds, making the guards outside scream.

“TWITTERMITES!!!”

“Somepony, catch the guards!”

“Where’s Mr. Clean!?”

“... Hold up.” John spoke. “If that wall is made out of clouds… should we just escape by jumping through a cloud?”

“I guess we could. But what if the blueprints get soggy cause of the bits of water in clouds?” She asked.

“... You can yell at me if that happens.” He grabbed the blueprints and ran out through one of the walls, leaving his silhouette as he fell down. The ants quickly ran out and jumped after him, flapping their wings.

Liz didn’t bother speaking as she followed suit, wings opening as she took off and even tried to hide within the crowd of ants, not wanting to take any chances of a stray Twittermite saw her leaving and figured out where she was currently staying. ‘And I am not one of those who is into bestiality.’ She thought, shaking her head.

~-~-~

Twilight thought hard about what she needed to do to stop these two figures. But with Discord’s wording, it was obvious he knew about something, but wasn’t going to tell her bluntly. Her mind came to a halt as Rainbow Dash zoomed past her, flying into Cloudsdale, and about every other pegasus flying to said city in the clouds. Lightning strikes came from inside the weather factory, prompting Twilight to fly after Dash.

“Rainbow Dash! What’s going on!?” She asked.

“There’s an outbreak of Twittermites in the Weather factory research wing!” Rainbow answered.

“Twittermite outbreak!?”

“Yeah! We’ve got to round all these bugs up, and fast!” She zoomed into the city, but Twilight though on this.

“Wait… they were in my class yesterday, as I was teaching about…” Her mind snapped. “THEY’RE GOING TO BUILD A WEAPON!!!” She flew down into her castle, flying and running through everything before taking a letter. “Shining Armor, Cadence, I hope you’re reading this, I fear if you don’t stop them, Equestria is doomed!”

~-~-~

John, Liz, and the ants landed on the floor safely. He held the blueprints, shaking the bits of cloud still on it, but opened it up, seeing nothing was ruined.

“Holy crap! We did it!” He shouted. “And nobody expects us!”

“At least that what we think,” Liz mumbled, still keeping her guard up just in case their plan had a few flaws.

“This calls for a celebration! Let's get ourselves a cake and-” before he could finish, smoke began to enter the tunnel. The ants began to cough, prompting them all to run. “Hey! Who's doing this!?”

~-~-~

“Can't risk it!” Twilight spoke, spraying a nearby with some ant killer fog machine. “If you're in there, Ant-Man and Wasp-Woman, consider this as mercy!”

Fluttershy walked past, but stopped, seeing the sight. A gasp escaped from her mouth, with her tackling Twilight to the floor.

“Twilight! What are you doing to that poor, defenseless ant colony!?” She asked as if she was betrayed.

“Fluttershy! You need to understand. I-”

~-~-~

“Everyone! Get the queen and get out of here!” John yelled. “Head to Manehatten. We'll meet you there.”

“We?” Liz asked.

“Qui.”

“Not that French word! Us!”

“Right. We’re gonna need some batteries before we get the charger.”