Chapter 1: The Buck-Up

Hey, Eric "Buggie" Reed here.

Usually, when one or both of my two Equestrian big sisters, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, cast a special "counterspell" on me to temporarily return me from being four inches tall (thanks to the effect of the magic from the "Nightmare Prevention Spell" that's stuck in me) to my normal height, about theirs, they do it right. They're also great at making sure the counterspell wouldn't wear off too soon or somehow go wrong.

But, this would be a day where one of them bucks up. Big time. And this would be one of the weirdest days of my eighteen-year-old-life!

With me at my normal height, Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie Pie, and had gotten off a train, the Friendship Express, and just reached the Crystal Empire. But the four of us each went for our own reasons.

Pinkie went because she was in charge of a birthday party there and (literally) hopped off on her own to get to work on it once we entered the Crystal Empire. Starlight came because she wanted to visit Sunburst, but she hadn't split off from us yet. Twilight wanted to visit Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Flurry Heart. As for me, I was simply bored in Twilight's castle, so before she left, Twi asked if I wanted to come along. Obviously, I did, and I planned to stick with her. She also asked Spike if he wanted to come, but Rarity had already asked him to do something for her...so yeah, he was not with us.

A few minutes after Pinkie left us, a smiling Princess Cadance, with Flurry Heart on her head, came into view in front of us and called out, "Twilight, you're here!"

"Cadance!"

Twilight and Cadance ran to each other and did their world-famous "Sunshine, Sunshine!" dance. Ha, it's even funnier in person than watching it in the show, and I had to cover my mouth to hide my laughing!

While we were watching them go, Starlight, not amused by that dance like I was, leaned her head to me and joked, "You know, I will never get used to seeing this, Buggie."

Holding back my laughing for the moment I answered back, "I don't know if I will get used to this either, Starie."

Once the "Sunshine" sisters got done, Twilight picked up Flurry Heart with her magic, and made silly faces to get her to laugh...and it worked on me too.

As the Princess of Silly Faces was busy making herself look...well, silly to Flurry Heart, Cadance walked to Starlight and me to tell us hello. For some reason, I felt really shy. It made me stop giggling and I instinctively slid closer to big sis Starlight.

"Hi, Princess Cadance!"

"H-Hi, Princess Cadance."

Twilight stopped with the faces and asked, "Where's Shining Armor, Cadance? I thought he was going to be with you."

"Sorry, Twilight, but Shining had to train some of the new guards, and he forgot that he needed to do it today."

"Oh, well, I guess it can't be helped. He is the Captain of the Royal Guards, after all." Twilight saw me blushing beside Starlight, and walked over to me. "Hmm? Is something wrong, Buggie?"

"No, no, nothing wrong, Twi!"

Ha, I wasn't very convincing, and Twilight and Cadance could tell what was up. Twi did it because she knows me so well, and Cadance did because she's apparently seen ponies act nervous or shy to her before. I'm a human, but it didn't affect the pony's ability to see it in me.

Twilight, still holding Flurry in her magic, smirked, leaned closer to me, while entering a type of "big sister" mode that she doesn't enter often, but have in her: the mode where that Alicorn picks on me. She wasn't gonna pass up this chance to have some fun with her "little bro."

"Wow, Buggie, I've never seen you so shy before. You don't have a crush on Cadance or something, do you?"

My face turned red big-time, and I stuttered, "N-No! That's not it, Twi! I'm just--"

"In love?" Twilight's smirk as at its all-time biggest.

"Twilight, I'm not! Cut it out!"

Laughing, Cadance cut in and said, "Okay, Twilight, leave the poor thing alone. I've seen others be nervous around me before, but I didn't think Eric would get in the act too."

Now feeling a little guilty, I turned to Cadance and tilted my head down a bit. "I'm sorry, Princess Cadance. It's not that I'm scared of you or anything, and I don't know why I feel shy."

"Well, It could be because you don't see me that much, so maybe after we talk for a while and you get more used to me, you'll feel calmer. In fact, let's all head to the Crystal Castle, everypony."

But Starlight came to the Crystal Empire to see Sunburst, so she asked, "Can I meet you guys there later? I want to go ahead and see Sunburst."

Twilight answered, "Sure, Starlight. You can come later when you're done."

"And Sunburst was going to come get Flurry Heart to watch her at his house, so since you're going to him now, could you take Flurry with you, Starlight?"

Starlight said okay, picked up Flurry from Twilight's magic with her own magic, split off to Sunburst's place, and Twilight, Cadance, and I made our way over to Cadance's Castle.

As we walked through the streets of the Crystal Empire, trying to help me get over my shyness, Cadance asked, "So, Eric, how do you like the Crystal Empire? I noticed that you hardly ever come out here."

"Oh, I-I like it very much, Princess Cadance, and I should c-come out here more. The ponies out here are really nice."

"I'm happy to hear it. If you want, when we get to my castle, I can show you the Crystal Heart, since I don't think you have seen it yet."

Twilight cut in and mentioned, "Oh, yeah, that's right. You haven't seen the Crystal Heart yet, Buggie."

"Well, I have seen it when I watched your "cartoon", Twi. But I have been wanting to see it in person." Since I said that to big sis Twilight, there was no shyness in me, so I didn't stutter.

"Oh, yes. Twilight told me about how Equestria is part of a "cartoon" in your world. And I have always wanted to ask you, am I well-liked in your world?"

"F-From what I know, you're pretty well-liked."

As we kept on walking, despite Cadance continuing to talk to me, and even joked a little to further try to ease me, my odd shyness didn't fade, and something about it didn't seem right. I shouldn't have felt so shy around her. But I thought I'd get over soon.

But once we reached the front doors to Cadance's castle, I had another problem. Not only did I still have that shyness, but I also became light-headed with a headache, and my body started to slightly wobble.

"Hey, Twi? I don't feel so good, and my head's hurting." I put a hand on the left side of my head, which sagged down a bit.

"Really, Buggie?" Twilight walked in front of me to look at my face, then her eyes widened and she frowned. Twi turned to Cadance and asked, "Is there someplace Eric can rest for a while, Cadance? He doesn't look good."

"Sure he can, Twilight." Cadance led Twilight and me down the long hallways of her castle, with some guards spread throughout, and it eventually led to one of her guest bedrooms. As we followed the Princess of Love, Twilight wrapped a wing around me to help me keep my balance.

Once we got through doors to the bedroom, Twilight, now in the extra-caring side of her "Big sister" mode, didn't wait for me to try to walk to the bed, which was about as big as a Queen-sized bed (figures) that looked really soft, and sunlight from an open window shone near it. Using her magic, Twilight lifted me, moved me through the air by about five feet to the bed, laid me on my back, took my shoes off for me, and covered a white blanket on me. Sweet, isn't she?

"I will tell the royal guards to not bother Eric, so he can rest," Cadance reassured us.

"And I'll come back and check on you later, all right?"

I told Twilight okay, thanked Cadance, and they left the room. Minutes later, I was out cold.

An hour after leaving the human Eric Reed to rest in Princess Cadance's guest bedroom, Twilight and Cadance were still trotting through the streets of the Crystal Empire, with many ponies around walking or standing around, talking about one thing or another. Twilight continued to be puzzled by Eric's sudden illness and had her head tilted down.

Cadance, with a concerned frown, asked, "Is something wrong, Twilight?'

Twilight moved her hoof from her cheek, and lifted her head to Cadance. "I'm just thinking about how Eric suddenly got sick."

"Yes, it does seem strange how he just got sick. But I am sure he will be all right after some rest."

"I hope so, but still I have a bad feeling,"

Cadance chucked, seeing herself in her sister-in-law. "Oh, Twilight, you sound like I did with Flurry Heart, soon after she was born."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Whenever Flurry felt or even looked a bit sick, I would worry that it might be more serious than it really was."

"You're making me sound like a paranoid overprotective parent," Twilight huffed, with a slightly offended expression. "I'm not that protective of Eric!"

"Maybe. But, if it would put your mind at ease, we can return to the palace, so you can check on him."

Seemingly out of thin air, Pinkie Pie hopped up to them. "Hey, Twilight! Setting up for that party is a lot tougher than I thought. Can you come help, because I know how you loooove to do checklists and stuff?"

Normally, that would have Twilight interested. However, this time, the Princess's thoughts were still on Eric. "Well, Pinkie, we were about to head back to the castle to see if Eric's okay, so can I come help you after I do?"

"And now you sound like a paranoid overprotective parent, Twilight, so just go help with Pinkie's party, but I'll check on him. After I do, I'll come to you and let you know how he is feeling."

Twilight looked down with a bashful smile. "Well...I guess I am being paranoid. Okay, I'll go help Pinkie with her party.'

"Good, and I will let you know how Eric is as soon as I can."

Cadance made her way back to her castle, while Twilight trotted in the opposite direction with Pinkie to aid in setting up her party.

When I woke up, I felt much better. I wasn't light-headed anymore, and my headache was gone. Unfortunately, I found I had another...much bigger problem.

Everything looked huge!

Somehow, the counterspell to the Nightmare Prevention Spell ended too early! Starlight did the spell on me by herself this time before we left Twilight's castle, so I figured she messed up. She's done it on me solo several times, but this was the first time it wore off like this.

I didn't panic, since it wasn't like somepony would come in and think I'm a bug, plus they all knew about me and how I can be four-inches tall. So there wasn't a real danger of a crushing experience from a giant hoof.

But, it got a lot harder to resist the urge to panic, when I noticed just how huge everything was. Even at four inches tall, the room looked too big to me. The ceiling looked nearly unreachable, and the bed I was on looked like it could've gone on for miles. I gasped, when it sunk in how tiny I became. Somehow, not only did Starlight's counterspell wear off too soon, but something happened to make me the size of a flea!

Yep, that Unicorn really bucked up this time.

It wasn't the time to think about how I would let Starlight have it later, though. I needed to think of the best way to be noticed. My best bet was to get on the blanket Twilight covered over me before she left with Cadance, which I was by the edge of. Since the blanket was white, it would let me be as visible as possible.

Shortly after I had gotten on it, I heard approaching hoofsteps from outside the closed door of the room, and a voice called from outside the door.

"Eric? It's me, Princess Cadance. Are you okay in there?"

I yelled, "I'm okay, Princess Cadance, but I have shrunk back down!"

But she didn't answer back. She knocked on the door a few more times, and again asked if I was all right.

I repeated what I said, yelling at my limit. Again, Cadance didn't seem to hear me.

Cadance stopped knocking, opened the door, and gasped.

"Eric?! Where did you go?!"

Because of my tiny size, while Cadance's yelling wasn't "killing" my ears, her voice was still hurting them, and I covered them both with my hands.

Cadance turned her head to the floor and walked in the room slowly, just in case, so she wouldn't step on me by mistake. Princess Cadance, or for that matter all ponies that know me and how I can shrink, are aware to do this if there's a chance I might be on the floor. A certain purple Alicorn and purplish pink Unicorn already made sure they know.

I waved my arms, yelling as loud as I could, "I'm right here!! Can you hear me?!"

She didn't say anything back, so I pieced together that I was too small for Cadance to hear me...not good. Even worse, because she focused more on the floor than the bed, she wasn't paying enough attention to where I actually was. Being so tiny, unless she focused on the exact spot I was, she'd seen what looked like a crumb, and might not even notice me. Especially since the Alicorn didn't have a reason to think I might be flea-sized.

"Oh no, no, no! He's gone! What happened to him?!" Cadance finally, but carefully, walked to the bed I was on, failing to notice my yells and arm waving. She then threw the blanket off the bed to the floor with her magic, perhaps thinking I shrunk and was under them. She would've been half right. I did shrink, just a lot more than she thought.

However, I was on the blanket, and Cadance wasn't looking at where I stood, so that pony threw me off the bed!!

Screaming, with terror filling my heart, I spun through the air, then found myself falling through what looked like pink trees that bent down as I hit them. It didn't hurt, but this still slowed me down. Finally, I fell on an oddly soft floor on my stomach, and the fall was slowed down enough for it to not hurt.

It took a few seconds to regain my bearings -- and to start calming down by breathing because I was pulling a Twilight -- then turned my head around to see where I was. It looked like a huge, pink forest. How did I go from a bedroom to this pink forest? I got a hint when I heard the Princess of Love, in a really loud voice.

"Please, Eric! Say something if you can hear me!"

After recovering from Cadance's now ear-piercing voice, I stood up, did what she said by yelling her name. But what a surprise, she didn't hear me. And when the "floor" started moving, forcing me to grab one of the "trees", I figured out where I was, and how I got there.

Yep, when Cadance threw the covers off the bed I was on, I got thrown on her back without her knowing she did it. I was flea-sized, so she didn't feel a thing when I landed. Or the pony did, but it felt too weak for her to notice. It's possible that she spotted me as I was flying through the air, but being so tiny, she thought nothing of it. Cadance was panicking too, so that wouldn't help her spot an airborne flea-sized human.

And not only that, because I was on Cadance's back, l was much closer to her than I was on the bed, so her voice seemed louder now.

Too small for Cadance to hear me, and buried in her soft pink coat of hair, or pink trees from my new point-of-view, I was all but undetectable. Somehow, I had to think of a way to get her to hear me.

Of all the things I thought might happen when Twilight asked if I wanted to go with her to the Crystal Empire, being thrown onto a "giant" pony's back was not one of them!

But, I guess this was one way for me to spend some one-on-one time with Princess Cadance, which we had never done before. Till now...kinda.

Chapter 2: Traveling Through the "Pink Forest"

View Online

Man, talk about your strange days. First, not only did Starlight's counterspell wear off too soon, but it somehow made me flea-sized!

The good news: I wasn't all alone somewhere. I was with Princess Cadance.

The bad news: I was on her back and buried in her soft, pink fur. At my new size, her back looked like a huge thick pink forest, with the strands of her hair as the "trees" and, to me, looked to each be around a foot wide. They covered the "sky", so I couldn't see anything past the curly pink "trees."

And the worst news: I was too small for Cadance to hear me, even if I yelled as loud as I could. And for irony, the Alicorn was looking all over her castle, asking her guards if they've seen me, without knowing I was on her back.

I had to think of a way to get her attention. I only thought of one idea: get to her head, get as close to one of her ears as I could and, if I must, I'd...gulp...go in it, and yell her name from there.

But because she's running around, I couldn't keep my balance on her back, forcing me to hold on for my life to her hair/trees, desperately yelling, "Princess Cadance, slow down!" as I swayed in one direction after another. Cadance was also yelling my name and at my new size her -- to me -- ear-piercing voice killed my eardrums, and I couldn't even cover them, since I had to hold on to her hair.

After about two minutes, Cadance stopped running, told one of her guards to keep looking for me, and she'll stay where she was. After I heard the guard's fading hoofsteps, the Princess of Love became quiet and all but motionless.

With Cadance finally still, I checked my head to see if my white hat, with a design of my friends' and big sisters' Cutie Marks on it, was still on my head -- and it somehow was and it shrunk too, just like my clothes did -- then I took a minute to catch my breath. As I took some deep breaths, the ringing in my head from Cadance's voice gradually faded, till it was nearly completely gone. After that, it was time to try to find her head.

However, the curly "trees" of her "pink forest" overhead blocked my view of where her head was, or of anything outside of it, so I used the direction where her voice seemed to come from, when she was yelling, as the direction to go. It felt both weird and scary, knowing the soft "floor" under my feet was the skin of a living, "giant" pony. I guess I felt Cadance's body heat, because the air around me felt warmer than the room did, but not uncomfortable.

Looking up at the pink trees surrounding me, and I was able to only see about (to my new size) up to eight inches in any given direction, I thought to be at least glad that Cadance threw me on her back, not the floor. Or even worse: her mouth!!

Because of the running Cadance did, the "floor" was now...wet, and I had to force myself to not think about what I was standing on, and it smelt worse than you might think. My tiny size made it even worse, and I was close to gagging, even though I was covering my nose. Even gym socks didn't smell too bad, compared to this! Anyway, with one step after another, I made my way between the pink "trees" of the "forest" that was Cadance's back.

After about three minutes, I heard loud buzzing above me. I looked up and a black fly, that looked as big as a three-story building, landed on the "ground" right in front of me, bending the "trees" out of its way as it landed. It lowered its head, and I saw multiple images of myself in its green eyes, making a chill go down my spine. Then, it crawled closer, making me walk backward, keeping the space between us the same. But once that giant fly moved its feet faster to close the distance, and my back bumped onto a tree behind me, my heart sunk, and I was about to scream pointlessly for Twilight and Starlight, out of pure fear.

But just before I opened my mouth, a giant pink wall crashed in front of me, crushing that fly into a mush of green guts, and I let out a yelp. Then the "wall" vanished. The vibrations from the impact knocked me in the air by (to me) three inches, and then onto the...oh boy...sweat of Princess Cadance. It. Was. By. Far. The. Single. Grossest. Moment. Of. My. Life! But, it did beat getting crushed to death by her hoof. I stood up and stared at nothing in particular for a few seconds, as it sunk in the "pink wall" was Cadance's hoof. That pony saved me without even knowing she did! But, it also made me shiver, because that fly could've been me...gulp.

Trying to block out how Cadance could flatten me with her hoof by mistake at any time, I covered my nose, and of...other things, I got back to traveling through her pink forest.

About five minutes later, I heard loud buzzing again. I once again turned my head up, and another "three-story" tall fly landed in front of me, again bending the pink trees out of its way. I wasn't scared for long this time, though: a "pink wall" came down again after only a few seconds, and again made some fly mush. But, like the last time, the impact sent me in the air and onto...you know. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Not. Cadance must be by a window, because you would think her castle would be free of flies.

I stood up once again, and thought, If I don't get killed here, I am so going to get you for this, Starlight Glimmer!

Now around twenty minutes into walking on Princess Cadance's back/pink forest, I was panting and my throat felt so dry, because the air felt not "warm" but hot now: I'd say it felt like the air of a ninety-degree day, so it wasn't comfortable anymore. It was also getting really hard ignoring that's on me and its smell, even though I was still covering my nose.

However, the angle of the fur ahead of me pointed much more horizontally, but not fully horizontal, the "ground" the hair grew from tilted heavily upwards, and I couldn't tell where it ended. I guessed I reached the beginning of Cadance's neck, and it was time to get climbing.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be easy. Not only would it be tiring (and I was already tired) but I'd have to uncover my nose, and I shouldn't have to say why I didn't want to do that! This would have been the part where I said to myself "You gotta do it, you idiot!" to psych myself up, but I promised big sis Twilight I wouldn't call myself an idiot anymore. She didn't like me calling myself that, so when I asked her if I could start calling her "Twi", she said I can, but I had to promise her to not call myself an idiot anymore. So I skipped that part, uncovered my nose, grimaced and struggled to not gag at the smell, then just got to climbing the more horizontally growing soft pink "trees" that was Cadance's hair. While soft, it was still sturdy enough to hold my weight.

While the human Eric Reed struggled to navigate the back and neck of Princess Cadance, Starlight Glimmer was in her friend Sunburst's home, with Sunburst himself and Flurry Heart. Starlight and Sunburst each sat in chairs in front of a round wooden table, on opposite sides, while facing each other. Flurry Heart, making quiet cooing sounds with her voice, sat in a crib beside Sunburst on his left, slowly spinning a doll, in the form of a snail with a green shell, in the air with her magic.

Starlight was briefing Sunburst on how she thought she discovered a way to raise the current three-day time limit for the counterspell to the Nightmare Prevention Spell's magic that's still in Eric, since he can't be at his normal height without the counterspell active. Two days before, Eric told her that he wanted to leave on a five-day trip in two weeks, so Starlight worked to see if she could learn how to power-up its counterspell, so she or Twilight wouldn't have to go with him to recast it during the trip.

After taking a sip of hot cocoa in a pink teacup held with his magic, with a single marshmallow floating on top of the drink, Sunburst asked, "So, you said you found a way to raise the three-day limit of the counterspell?"

Taking a sip of cocoa from an identical-looking teacup of her own, which also had a marshmallow floating in it, Starlight answered, "Yep! Eric really wants to take a five-day trip. But right now, either Twilight or I would have to go with him, so we can recast the counterspell at least once during the trip. Twilight and I don't want to go, so I tried it out earlier this morning to see if it could last four days."

"And it worked?"

"I think it did. I was a little worried it might have another kind of effect on him, but he seems fine so far."

"Well, that's good. But won't it mean he could have nightmares, since he's immune to having them when the counterspell is not active?"

"The risk is there, but he said he'll take the risk. It's not like he's scared of having nightmares and we have Princess Luna to help him if he does."

"Oh yeah, that's true. He can't be afraid of something like that, but how did you improve the counterspell?"

"I added some Pensuadarie for a stronger and longer-lasting effect."

Sunburst's eyes widened when he heard the name of the spell Starlight said and asked. "Wait, Starlight, did you say 'Pensuadarie'?"

Puzzled, Starlight replied, "Yeah, I said 'Pensuadarie'. Should I have mixed in a different spell?"

Sunburst stood up from his chair. "No, no, no! You can't add Pensuadarie to a spell like that!"

Alarmed, but still staying in her chair, Starlight asked, "But why? I thought Pensuadarie would be safe?"

"Not for a growth-fixing spell like the counterspell to the Nightmare Prevention Spell! That will not only end the growth-fixing property for it too soon, but reverse the effect!"

Starlight's eyes and mouth opened to their limit. "What?! REVERSE the effect?! Are you sure, Sunburst?!"

"Yes! I read about it before you got here with Flurry Heart!"

Starlight sprung up from her chair. "Well, where's the book you read it from?!"

Sunburst pointed his hoof to a bookshelf to his right and Starlight's left. "It's the red book over there in the right corner of the top shelf! It's on page twenty-five!"

Starlight teleported herself in front of the bookshelf Sunburst pointed at, picked up the book with her magic, and scanned through the page about the spell in question. Afterward, the mare gasped deeply.

"Do you see what I meant now?"

"Yeah, and you're right, Sunburst! With the amount of Pensuadarie I put in, it is gonna shrink him to the size of a flea! No, no, no, what have I done to my brother?!"

As Starlight paced back and forth out of worry and fear, Sunburst said, "Wait, hold on, Starlight. The shrinking effect might not have happened yet. Did he seem to be any different?"

Starlight stopped pacing and answered, "Hmm. I don't...wait, hold on."

"Well? Did he act odd earlier?"

"Before I came here, he was acting oddly shy of Princess Cadance, and even he said that he didn't know why."

"Uh-oh. Something like that would be an early sign that the shrinking is imminent."

"But that was almost two hours ago, Sunburst! By now it's probably...Eric!" With thoughts that the human she cares for like her own little brother could be in danger, or even hurt, filling her head, Starlight paced back and forth faster and faster, breathing deeper and deeper, entering a panic attack.

Sunburst did his best to settle down his panicking friend by advising, "Okay, calm down, Starlight. Panicking won't help. We need to find out where Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance are and remember, Eric is with them, so even if he did shrink, they would see it happen. Do you know where they could be?"

Starlight calmed down her breathing, ending her panic attack. However, she was still filled with great guilt. "Yeah, I do! But you need to watch Flurry Heart, so I'll go find them by myself."

Sunburst complied, and Starlight trotted out Sunburst's front door, leaving Sunburst alone with Flurry Heart.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Crystal Empire, levitating a red quill and a six-foot-long checklist with her magic, Twilight Sparkle trotted around the first floor of a large blue room, checking off tasks to help Pinkie Pie prepare for her party. As she walked, she passed by a few quietly speaking ponies sitting by one of many tables, covered with white cloths, that's spread throughout the room or were walking about.

But after Twilight checked off the last task, she stopped in front of one of the tables, which ten more checklists sat, also six-feet long, turned her head down and sighed, still unable to shake the feeling that something wasn't right with Eric. She wanted to go back to Princess Cadance's palace to check on him.

However, Princess Cadance's words of her acting like an overprotective parent kept her from going. The concerned Alicorn didn't want to be overprotective of the human she thinks of as her little brother, making her torn on what to do.

Pinkie Pie spotted Twilight deep in thought, hopped over to her and asked, "Hey, Twilight, what's wrong? I thought you'd be so happy to do so many checklists!"

Twilight lifted her face to Pinkie's and rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ha ha, Pinkie, I know I have a bit too much of an interest in making lists. But right now I'm just worried."

Pinkie tilted her head to the right slightly. "Really? Why?"

"Well, Eric felt sick all of a sudden, and I have a feeling that something else is wrong."

"Well, if you're that worried, why don't you go and see how he's doing?"

"I want to, Pinkie, but..." Twilight turned her head back down and sighed.

"What's wrong, Twilight?"

"I want to be a good friend and big sister to him and do all I can for him. But...I also can't hover over Eric every time he's ill like an overprotective mother if it's not serious. Eric's not a little foal, er, baby, and I don't even do that to Spike, who I've known since I was a filly and was my very first friend. I even hatched him!"

"Yaaaah. You don't want to act like that, Twilight."

"See? That's why I don't want to go running to him, plus Cadance went to see how he's doing anyway. But still, I can't shake my bad feeling--"

A panicking Starlight Glimmer sped through the blue doors of the room, turning her head to the left and right, yelling Twilight's name, and after spotting Twilight to her right, Starlight trotted to the Princess, panting heavily. While on the way to Cadance's palace, she heard from some ponies walking on the streets that Twilight wasn't there, and pointed her to where she went.

"Starlight, is something wrong?"

"Twilight, is Eric here?!"

"No, he's at the Crystal Castle right now. He wasn't feeling good, so Cadance let him stay there. Why?"

"Is he alone? And how long did he feel sick?"

"Well, yes, we left him alone to rest, and he felt sick not long after you went to see Sunburst."

Starlight gasped and took a few steps backward. Shaking her head, she shouted, "Oh, no! No, no, no, no!"

"Why? What's going on?! You're starting to make me worried, Starlight!"

"When I used the counterspell on him earlier, I added some Pensuadarie to it so it'll last longer, a--"

Hearing the spell "Pensuadarie", Twilight immediately knew what Starlight was about to say, and interrupted, "You WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me about that before doing it, Starlight?! I could've told you not to add Pensuadarie, and it wouldn't make the counterspell last longer anyway, or I would have already tried it! Oh no! Eric!"

"I know, and I am so sorry, Twilight! And he's totally alone?"

"Yes, he was! Well, wait, Cadance went to check on him for me, and she should've been there for a while now."

Starlight, feeling relief, smiled and sighed, "Oh, that's a relief! If she would be the first that went into the room, it should be all right."

Twilight, though, wasn't relieved, and instead became more worried and reminded, "I don't think we should relax yet, Starlight. Even if Cadance is the one that goes in the room he's in, she'll have no idea he could be that small and could overlook him. Because Eric would be so small, she won't hear him if he tries to call out to her!"

Starlight's short-lived smile vanished, and a frown took its place. "So he might not be able to get her attention?"

Talking more and more rapidly and nearing a panic attack, Twilight warned while pacing, "Yeah! She could accidentally throw him off the bed or something by moving the blanket I put on him! And if she does, he's not as durable as ponies, so if he doesn't land on something soft, that kind of fall would likely kill him! And even if he survives the fall, he'd at least get badly hurt from it, and would be too small and hurt to try to avoid Cadance's hooves if she came too close!!"

Hearing Twilight's worries forced Starlight into hyperventilating, even worse than when she did it at Sunburst's, and tears flowed from the eyes of the guilt-stricken pony. With her voice breaking, Starlight whimpered, "What...what have I done to my little brother, Twilight? I...*sniff*...I'm supposed to be there for and protect him, not do something to put him in danger! And, Twilight, if he dies while wishing that...*sniff*...I...were there, and I never came..."

Realizing she had made Starlight feel worse than ever, Twilight stopped pacing and attempted to backpedal by much more calmly stating, "Wait, Starlight, let's not think like that. Since we know now, we can go to Cadance, tell her what happened, and hope she got there before he shrank, but even if she didn't, we'll at least know he's on the bed, and Cadance may not even move the blanket he's on. Plus, Eric's smart, Starlight, so he'll know to go to a spot on the bed that's the easiest for us to see him, and wait. He's gone through a lot since he came to Equestria, so I doubt this would scare him much, so he'll stay calm."

Starlight's worried frown formed into a relieved smile. "Yeah, you're right, Twilight."

Pinkie interrupted to assure, "Yeah! And don't worry about the party, Twilight, I can handle the rest by myself."

"Thanks, Pinkie," Twilight replied and, with Starlight right beside her, trotted out of the building they were in, and the mares sped as quickly as they could to the Crystal Castle, hoping they wouldn't be too late.

Barely able to stand, and thirsty as buck, I finally made it to the top of Princess Cadance's head. It took me around ten minutes to do it.

But I still had a problem. I was under her mane, and the "trees" of it blocked my view of her ears, so getting there wouldn't be easy. Because I was so tired from climbing her neck, I sat down with my back against a pink tree to rest for a bit, before trying to find Cadance's ears and hope she wouldn't move her head much.

Still covered in sweat, both mine and Cadance's, and knowing this mess was because Starlight bucked up the counterspell, I was not happy! And if it happened because she tried something new with it, I was really gonna let that Unicorn have it once I got back to normal size!

But, as I was sitting there, looking at the pink "trees" over me that was Cadance's mane, I stopped thinking about Starlight blowing it and sighed. I became fully aware that I was on the head of a pony that wasn't Twilight's or Starlight's. Don't get me wrong, because I really do like Princess Cadance. She's really friendly, kind, and I think she's a great pony and Princess. But, no matter how nice Cadance has been to me, she wasn't one of my two Equestrian big sisters, Twi and Starie, and those two were the only ponies I would want to be on the heads of. Even if I was still sore at one of them at the time. So being on Cadance's head didn't feel...right. I don't know how I could explain it in a way to give it justice.

Anyway, it was time to tap into my inner Twilight, and come up with plans on the best way to talk in one of Cadance's ears without having to go in the ear. Then, if she still couldn't hear me, and I must go in, then think of the best way to do it.

Oh, and did I say I was gonna get Starlight for this?

Chapter 3: In The Ear of Cadance

View Online

Well, this was gonna be fun. Not.

On the head of Princess Cadance, which felt so wrong -- she's not Twilight or Starlight -- I was preparing to head to one of her ears.

Even though I was on her head, being flea-sized, she still wouldn't hear me if I didn't call to her from one of her ears. And I hoped I wouldn't have to go in! It's bad enough that Alicorn's sweat was covering me all over! At this point, I was a bit used to its...smell. But still, this wasn't fun!

But I had a few more important things to worry about, besides the "gross" factor. Cadance still wasn't moving much and was keeping her head still, but she could move her head at any time, possibly sending me flying off, unless it's a slight movement. And it wasn't like I could ask her to stay still for me...well, I could have done it, but she just wouldn't hear me. I was under her mane too so it, as well as the hair/trees on her head that's not part of her mane, blocked my view of her ears, so I couldn't even see them. I had to find some way to figure out where they were.

Stopping to hold on to a strand of hair/tree on her head every few seconds, in case Cadance started moving, I went forward. About a half-minute later, a "pink wall" came into view in front of me, and it went high up through her mane, so I couldn't see the top of it. After a few seconds of looking at it carefully, and knowing I'm on Cadance's head, I figured the "wall" in front of me was her horn. Thinking of where the horns on the heads of Unicorns and Alicorns are, and I came from her neck, it gave me an idea of where exactly her ears were, and I went to the left.

Step by step, still holding on to a "tree" every few seconds as a safeguard, I crept towards Cadance's left ear, eventually reaching another pink "wall". It was her ear. Jackpot! Unfortunately, the inside pointed the other way, so I walked along it, till I reached the edge, then I got to the other side. I walked out of Cadance's mane in the process, so I could see the room she stood in: the guest bedroom she let me take a nap in. As I thought, she was by a window of the room, with her head turned away from it. Lucky for me, I did all that walking without the Princess of Patience trying to move her head at all.

Finally, in front of the entrance of her left ear, I yelled, "Princess Cadance! Can you hear me?!"

But she didn't say a thing back.

I tried again, but yelled as loud as I could, "Princess Cadance!! Can you hear me?!"

Still got nothing from the Princess of Love!

Oh no. I had only one option left: Go in the pony's ear! Since I knew I had to go in, I took a closer look inside. It looked not just soft, but clean (figures a Princess would keep her ears so clean) so I had an easier time committing to go in. One bit of good news was I didn't have to "climb in" the ear: I could simply "walk in" it.

But as I crept deeper into her ear and about to try to call Cadance's name I saw, in the corner of my eye, something huge and pink speed towards me.

Yep, it's Cadance's hoof. Uh-oh.

I gasped, gave a short scream, and it painlessly ran into me -- since the sole of her hoof was somewhat soft -- and forced me further into the ear. The hoof moved me closer and closer to a pink wall (AKA the inside of Cadance's ear) and unless I did something fast, she was going to pin and crush me! But at the last second, I gritted my teeth, rolled off the hoof and deeper in the ear, as the hoof rubbed against the "wall" a few times, then went back out the ear.

Maybe my scream was too short for Cadance to really hear it. Or she did hear me scream, but it didn't last long enough to make her think much of it.

I guess getting nearly crushed to death a few times not long after finding myself in Equestria made me braver, because I wasn't shaken up over it almost happening again. It also helped that Princess Cadance didn't mean to do it. Still, I thought I better not move a muscle, and call out to her, now!

But before I could yell Cadance's name, a voice came from outside the door to the room we were in, screaming, "Cadance, are you in there?!"

It was Twilight. Even though it was much louder (to me) than it actually was, but bareable since she was still outside the room, I could tell that Twilight's voice tone was one she only uses when panicking or otherwise freaking out. That suggested to me that she somehow already figured out something was wrong.

"Yes, I'm here!" Cadance responded, and her voice killed my ears! She surprised me so much, that I fell backward, forcing me to roll even deeper into her ear, now near her eardrum, and I found that I couldn't get out! It was also dark, so I couldn't see much. And, so deep inside, it did not smell good, and I even had to hold my nose!

However, I still was able to hear the door open, and both Twilight and Starlight asked at the same time, "Is Eric in here?"

"No, I can't find him, and I don't know where he is, but I have the guards searching for him."

I guess Starlight heard from Twilight about how she laid me in the bed when I felt sick, because her voice broke, asking, "Cadance, before you moved that blanket, did you look for anything really small on it?"

"Well, I moved the covers to see if Eric was under them, but I didn't see him, and I didn't look for anything like that on the blanket. Should I have done that?"

A second later, despite their voices coming close to literally making my ears bleed, I heard two gasps. And then, even though I was in Cadance's ear, I still felt the vibrations of two thuds hitting the floor, with each thud separated by about a half a second. If I were to put my bits on it, I'd say Twi fainted on the floor first.

"Twilight? Starlight? Are you two okay?!" Cadance ran to my sisters...I think. I couldn't see if she actually did: I only felt her ear suddenly move forward, and I got thrown and bounced off a "wall" in her ear when she did. But I was still stuck.

After a few seconds, I shook things off enough to try to call out to Cadance, before she said something again. "Princess Cadance! Can you hear me?!"

"What? Eric?! Is that you?!" Cadance turned her head a couple of times, trying to see where I was, I guess, so I got bounced around in her ear again. Not only that, I couldn't even take her normal voice, so a yell from that mare was way too much!

I screamed, covered my ears for a second, and begged, "Please, Princess Cadance, please talk quieter! I am really small right now, so your voice is too loud to me unless you talk quieter!"

In a way more quiet voice that, for her, was probably a whisper, she asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. Is my voice too loud now? And where are you?"

"Nope, it's perfect! Now, this may sound weird, but I'm in your left ear, and I'm stuck!"

"Stuck? Okay, I'll get you out, but why are you in my ear?"

"Trust me, it's not because I want to be in here! I can explain after I'm back to my normal size, but you gotta get me out!" I suddenly became aware that I wasn't talking to "Cadance" but to Princess Cadance, and I'm nowhere near as close to her like I am with Princess Twilight, so I added, "Uh, please, Princess Cadance?"

"All right. I think I can get you out with my magic, but I will have to know exactly where you are in my ear. Can you rub where you are or something, so I can feel it?"

"Okay. It might tickle, so please don't scratch!" I put my left hand -- so I could keep my nose covered with the right one -- on the part of Cadance's ear my back was against, and rubbed and pushed against it as hard as I could.

Three seconds in of giving the weirdest massage ever, I felt myself become weightless and surrounded by light-blue magic, lighting up the ear, and I saw a bit of brown-colored earwax on part of the "walls" that, lucky for me, I missed when I got bounced around in the deepest part of the ear. Then, I was very slowly lifted through and out the ear, placed onto the middle of Cadance's head, between the "trees" of her hair, and she already had moved her mane out the way with her magic. After she gently sat me down, she let her mane go back to how she usually keeps it, so it completely covered the "sky" that wasn't covered already by the hair on her head.

After being in Cadance's ear, I wasn't gonna whine to myself about being on her head because it wasn't Twilight's or Starlight's head this time. I just sat down, with my back against one of her pink trees and uncovered my nose too since, compared to that ear, things didn't smell as bad.

"I don't know how to do that counterspell to grow you, so we will have to wait for Twilight or Starlight to wake up, okay, Eric?"

"Okay, Princess Cadance." Of course, she nothing. Heh, we both forgot she can't hear me, in my current size, unless she put me back in her ear again.

Yeah, I would be fine with not being able to talk to the Princess of Love for a while, because I did not want to go in there again!

Around five minutes later, Twilight came to, muttering, "What happened?" Twilight's voice was low, so it didn't hurt my ears.

But Cadance tried to warn, "Twilight, Eric's on my head and he is very--"

"Wait, Eric's all right?!" Twilight screamed, making me scream and cover my ears from her ear-piercing voice!

"Shh, Twilight, please talk quietly. The poor thing is on my head and is very small, so he can't take us talking above a whisper."

I heard hoofsteps run closer to Cadance, then her trees of both her mane and hair on her head (that's not part of her mane) were moved back by pink magic, revealing the very(!) big head of Twilight, who saw me, gasped, and smiled. Even though she was smiling, I still gulped, because it was unnerving seeing that pony's face look so huge! She was like a goddess! From how "tall" they looked, Twilight's eyes each looked as big as ten-story tall buildings -- if they could be in the shape of an eye -- and her face was the only thing I could see that was in front of Cadance, that wasn't blocked by a "tree". Despite how much I trust Princess Twilight Sparkle, when her eyes got close to me, I couldn't help leaning away from her. Though it was kinda cool seeing my reflection in her eyes at this size.

Twilight saw me flinch back, frowned, quickly moved her head back, and took some steps backward. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, and don't worry, Eric. I'll fix your size right now. I'm gonna lift you on the bed, then recast the counterspell to grow you back to normal-size, okay?"

This time, I remembered saying "okay" would be pointless, so I didn't say anything. Two seconds later, I felt myself get lifted off Cadance's head, and through the air by pink magic. I didn't notice this too much when Cadance got me out of her ear, because I stayed over her head when she moved me: unlike human ears, her ears are on the top of her head. But, as Twilight picked me up from Cadance's head and through the air, it looked like I was much higher up than I actually was: it felt like I was over five-hundred feet in the air, and my mouth dropped. I closed my eyes, and really had to remind myself of who's holding me in her magic, and that she would not drop me.

But unlike Princess Cadance, Twilight didn't adjust how fast she moved me to my new size, so she did it a little too fast! It felt like being moved four times faster than the fastest roller coaster, because of the air resistance on my body, making the looser parts of my clothes flap from it (though my hat stayed still: Twilight was probably also using her magic to keep it on my head) and a sinking feeling filled my stomach. Trying to tell Twilight to slow down wouldn't do anything, since she wouldn't hear me, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and take it. Finally, she laid me on the bed I was lying on earlier. I guess Twi entered "Big sister" mode, since she laid me down on my back, which she didn't have to do.

There, with Twilight now standing right beside the bed, much closer to how close Cadance was to it when she threw me on her back, I opened my eyes, tilted my head to my right, and gasped at the sight of my big sister. Despite knowing she's Twilight Sparkle, I still froze at the sheer size of her! Twi really did look as big as a mountain -- just a purple one in the shape of a pony that's facing and looking down at me -- and as my mouth was busy dropping again, her horn glowed. From my point of view, a bright pink light was shone on me next.

The next thing I knew, I was at my real height: the height of most full-grown ponies, but was still lying on my back. I sat up, looked down at myself, gave a big 'ol sigh, and got off the bed to stand. While I still had "it" on me, I was so happy to be my normal height again!

"Okay, that's not something I want to do again!" I said and even laughed a bit.

Twilight, though, wasn't laughing, and instead had a frown on her face. Her mouth quivered, formed big sad eyes, and tears seemed seconds away from flowing.

"Twi? What's wrong?"

Twilight "answered" my question by wrapping her forelegs around me, and her grip was stronger than what she usually uses, so it made me give a grunt at the pressure. She didn't even care that I was still...wet all over just yet, and said, "I am so happy you're all right, Buggie! Starlight told me she tried something new with the counterspell--" Twilight sniffed and now smelled "it". She quickly took her forelegs off me, stepped back, with her eyes big. "And why are you wet? And what is that smell?"

I wasn't paying much attention to Twilight's last two questions. All I thought about was the part she said about Starlight doing something new with the counterspell! Turning my head to Starlight's direction, who was still out cold on the floor, lying on her right side, I seethed, "Wait, I became flea-sized because Starlight did something new with the counterspell?! She didn't tell me that when she did it!"

"She did. But before you get too mad, first tell me how you kept from being thrown off the bed. Cadance said she moved the covers off the bed, and I thought you got thrown off and got hurt. Or worse!"

I looked past my anger at Starlight for a moment, and answered, "Well, I didn't keep from being thrown off. Princess Cadance did do it."

"Huh? But if she did, how are you not hurt?" Twilight's eyes got even larger than before, she leaned closer to me, and then asked, "Wait, you're not hurt, are you?!"

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm fine."

Cadance laughed, then (kinda) answered one of Twilight's questions by saying, "Let's just say Eric and I spent some...quality time together."

"Huh?"

I told Twilight and Cadance about Cadance accidentally throwing me on her back, and what I went through. Afterward, Twilight stared at me and shuddered, understandably grossed out now, especially since she just hugged me! Heh, I bet that Alicorn was thinking that the first chance she got, she was taking a bath! It wasn't a bad idea for me to take one too. A long one. And get something to drink because I was so thirsty!

Cadance then also told me sorry for throwing me on her back, and for almost crushing me in her ear. But I did forget to tell her about the fly guts still in her hair. Oops.

About two minutes later, Starlight, still "sleeping" on the floor, finally opened her eyes, shook her head, and stood up. "What...what happened?" Starie turned her head to where I was, and yelled, "Eric?! You're your real size! Are you all right?!"

I was about to just tell Starlight I was fine, but it sunk in again that she's the reason I shrunk so tiny. I glared at and walked up to her. Now, I could finally let this mare have it!

"Oh, I'm all right, but Twi told me you did something new with the counterspell! You shrunk me down to the size of a flea! What the buck, Starlight?!"

"I'm so sorry, Buggie! You told me you wanted to go on a trip, and I was just trying to make the counterspell last longer, so one casting would last the entire trip."

"Okay, but why didn't you tell Twilight about that first?! If it worked, she'd need to know anyway!"

"But I thought the improved counterspell would work! But I was going to tell her later, and I wanted to try it out and see how it went."

"Wait, 'see how it went'? You mean you cast a spell on me that you didn't even know for sure would work, and without asking me first?! You know I trust you with my life, but I'm not your guinea pig, Starlight Glimmer!"

"Wait, what's a 'guinea pig'?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess you wouldn't know what I meant by that. But let's just say I'm mad!"

"I know you're mad, Eric, and you should be mad at me. I know I messed up bad. But, you know I would never do anything to put you in danger on purpose, right? I...I'm sorry..." Tears started pouring from Starlight's eyes, and she went to the floor and cried.

For a couple of seconds, I stayed as mad as ever. But, seeing Starie crying, knowing she felt bad, made me feel bad. I stopped gritting my teeth and took a deep breath. My mind went from being furious, to wanting to calm my sister down. Plus, I had a...better idea than yelling at her.

Both Twilight and Cadance seemed like they were about to walk up and ask me to calm down. But when they saw I did it myself, they stayed still and said nothing.

With Starlight still crying, I got on my knees, gently wrapped my arms around her, and she did the same to me, with her forelegs, and she was too upset to really notice the smell on me and my...wetness. I said, in a calm voice, "It's okay, Starie. I know you only wanted to help me, and I'm sorry I yelled at you. You know how much I love you, big sis."

"And I...*sniff*...love you too, little bro. I am so, so sorry, and I won't do anything like that to you again, I promise! I was even worried you might've gotten hurt, or even worse, because of me!"

"Well, I'm all right, so how about we just enjoy our visit, okay, Starie?"

"Sure, Buggie."

"Uhh...Buggie? What are you--"

I turned my head to Twilight and cut her off to ask, "Twilight, can't you see I'm trying to comfort Starie?"

Twilight got the message and backed off. Princess Cadance got it too, and even giggled.

What was that last part about? As I was hugging Starlight, trying to get her to stop crying, I was rubbing her back, then one of her cheeks, and then her back again, as a bigger and bigger smirk formed on my face.

Why?

Payback. You guys remember what was still all over me, right...?

I told you I would get Starlight Glimmer for this!

A BIG Day With Cadance

by ThePinkedWonder

Chapter 1: The Buck-Up

Chapter 2: Traveling Through the "Pink Forest"

Chapter 3: In The Ear of Cadance