Mom..?
Growing up as a teenager during ‘The Vanish’. Not fun. This was exactly what was happening to Vincent, a 15 year old who lived in rural northeast Wisconsin with the only running car for miles. His parents were taken months earlier when ‘The Vanish’ first started. He had been surviving on his own for months, growing his own food, breeding the cattle all by himself. He had stopped going to school as nearly all the teachers were taken. Secretly, he knew that his time would come soon and he woke up the next morning, realizing that he shouldn’t make all the cattle feel imprisoned in the farm. Who’s going to take care of them when he is taken? Getting dressed and heading out, he headed out to the cattle pens and releases all the cows, horses and such. After doing that, he felt good that they were free. That’s when his form began to glow. He made sure he had everything on him that he wanted to take with him. His iPad, family photos, and a diamond ring that his girlfriend gave to him.
“Well… my time has come…” He sighed as he held the photo of his family. He let a tear leak from his left eye as he held the photo close, his vision going blurry and bright. With a blinding light, he was gone, giving the animals the push they need to run away into the snowy wilderness.
Inside of Ponyville, Hearth's Warming was practically here, with the houses decorated in elaborate lights and decorations. Snow covered practically everything, but with how bright everything was, nopony seemed to mind… emphasis on the nopony. It was the Tinies’ first Hearth's Warming here, and despite the cheerful feeling, they weren’t so cheerful. Being revealed to now be indigestible snacks to gigantic ponies was the main reason, and being caged in to their villages with no idea where their friends and family are was another for them to be considered grouchy. Of course, not all were so angry, and some tried to make the best with what little they had.
Walking out of Ponyville’s hospital, wearing a large red coat & hat, with a fake, white beard was a large, brown stallion. He made a visit to the tiny children in there, who wished to get a surprise visit from some character called “Santa Claus”. Some research was made, but essentially, it was a large man that was jolly that gave toys to all the good boys and girls on a night they called “Christmas”. While there's no way he could become a human, dressing up as Santa and being jolly was the best he could offer, and the kids loved it. It was just part of spreading joy on Hearth's Warming, or any Holiday at this time. Though… he was curious if they'd like to be eaten? … probably another time, when they're healthy. For now, he had to head home and check on his casserole.
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All Vincent could see was brightness and he could feel that he was falling. After what felt like decades, he fell onto something. Vincent’s landing didn’t hurt at all as he got up grunting.
“Aghhh… my head.”
When he finally got up, he looked at his surroundings. He was inside someone’s house. Everything in the house looked pretty nice, say except for some small messes here and there… but that's not what caught his attention. Everything was GIGANTIC!!! Either he had shrunk to the size of an ant, or he was in a world inhabited by giants. Either way, this wasn't anyone's house he had seen, or if he was even allowed to be in here. The sounds of a door was opening, followed by something entering. Fear took over Vincent, causing him to hide behind what appeared to be salt and pepper shakers.
“Where in the hell did I land!? The set of, ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’?”
His eyes went wide as he saw a figure enter, wearing a bright red suit with hat, that had white fur on it, and had a long, white beard on his face. The figure… was it Santa? But… why was he the size of Godzilla? He watched the giant figure walk over to a slow cooker and opening the lid, opening the lid, letting out both hot steam, and the sweet aroma of food. While he was hungry, Vincent saw that this Santa figure had the back legs of a horse… was this a giant horse? So many questions ran through his head.
“Ahh… so delicious smelling.” BraveHeart spoke, letting the casserole cool down. His stomach growled, prompting him to pat it. “There, there, you'll be filled soon enough.” His horn glowed, and with a blue aura, he picked up a small bowl, a fork, and a serving spoon, scooping the casserole and putting it in the bowl. He trotted to the table, taking off the hat and beard, sitting down, and with a cooling blow, took his first forkfull in his mouth. Elysium was in his mouth, and he loved it.
Vincent watched as the giant took off the beard and hat, revealing it to be a giant pony! Said giant began to eat the great smelling casserole, not having a care, too happy in his own world. The smell… it reminded Vincent of his mother's casserole…
“M-Mom…” He whispered to himself as a tear leaked from his right eye. His left eye could leak tears too but, his left eye was black after a fist fight a couple days before he was taken.
BraveHeart's right ear twitched as he heard a small voice. He looked around, trying to find the source.
“Hello!? Who's there!?” He demanded, getting up and looking around. “I have nothing here of interest!”
Vincent took a deep breath in and hid behind the salt and pepper shakers. Kind of like Owen Grady when he was hiding behind the Jeep from the Indominus. His heart was racing as he tried hiding from him. The stallion looked around, searching for who was talking… until he had a scent on his nose. It wasn't normal, but something else. He followed his nose, tracing it to his table, sniffing hard, stopping at the salt and pepper shakers. His head tilted, but he lifted both shakers up. But to his surprise, there was nothing there. Meanwhile, Vincent was gripping onto the salt and pepper shakers with his life as he was now in the air, out of the stallion’s field of view.
“... Huh… must've been my imagination.” He shrugged, sitting back down. However, he began to shake the shakers simultaneously, allowing both salt and pepper to land on his casserole. Vincent’s mind rattled as he was shaken up from the salt and pepper shakers. He held on for dear life but, it was no use as he lost his grip, falling into the bowl of casserole. The casserole was soft upon landing on it, very squishy in fact… but he froze in fear, seeing the fork scoop him, and some casserole up. It felt like a nightmare, especially when he saw himself about to enter the maw of the stallion, which drooled intensely, unknowing who was on it's fork.
“N-No! Don't eat me!” Vincent screamed, closing his eyes and cowering. The fork stopped.
“Who said that!?” The stallion asked. He looked down, seeing, on his fork, a lone tiny, cowering. “Oh! What the heck are doing there!?” His horn glowed, picking the tiny up, gently setting him on his smooth, white workhorse hooves. A rag was brought in, drying the tiny up. “You can't be doing that, man. If you're hungry, then ask for a plate.” Vincent shivered as he had been noticed by the massive stallion. He was quite scared as he had no clue where he was or who this stallion is. The stallion noticed his dilemma. “Oh… you're new here, aren't you? Um, alright, here, let me just…” He gently set Vincent onto the table. “Hi, I'm BraveHeart. What's your name?”
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“.. I-Uhh…” BraveHeart noticed there was a shake in his voice as he sat on the table. “.. V-Vincent…”
“Huh… weird name, but I can't judge. Hold up for just a second.” His horn glowed, bringing a thimble to the casserole in the slow cooker, taking a small scoop and delivering it to the human. “You must be lost and hungry. Don't worry, eat up, I've got plenty of casserole for tonight.” Even though, Vincent was shaking in his boots, he was grateful for the stallion’s kindness and he ate the casserole. “Like it? It's my mom's recipe. But, anyway, sorry for that intro. It would be a bad way to introduce you to Equestria.” Vincent stopped eating for a second as he thought of his mother’s casserole.
“.. M-My mom made casserole just like this… when I was hiding, it made me think of her…” All his life Vincent was always attached to his mother. She was always there for him when he was sad or felt hurt. Her being gone made him feel broken. Incomplete.
“Oh… she was taken away by the vanishing? I'm sorry.” BraveHeart's ears fell to his side as he looked ashamed by it.
“Yeah… very early when the vanishing first started is when I lost her… I cried for days after that…”
“... Sorry for bringing it up.”
“No, no… It’s fine… you didn’t mean to…” Vincent began to eat more of the casserole again. “So, this is where everyone ends up at?”
“Yep. Your kind has been appearing here for the last moon. Boy, it was frightening for both of our kinds for the first time, then it got better for your kind, and it then got better for us.” He licked his lips. “The way you all taste and go down our throats and-” He stopped at that, realising who he was talking to. “Uh… shoot.”
Vincent was too busy digging into the casserole to notice what he was saying. “Huh? Did you say something?”
“Nothing.” BraveHeart sat right up. “Just… you may need to stay with me for a bit. Do you have anything that allows me to see what your mom may look like? I think I can look for her tomorrow.”
“Uhhh, yeah, actually.” He took off his backpack and pulled out the photo of all three of them together by a Christmas tree. They looked similar to the Hearth’s Warming trees that they decorated. BraveHeart looked at them.
“Hmm… I think I've seen her, actually… but I could be wrong.”
“Y-You think you could find her…?” Vincent looked up at the stallion with starry eyes.
“... Probably. I don't want to get your hopes up. But, it's getting late, and you're gonna need a place to sleep in.”
“... Of course… but, under one circumstance.”
“So, there’s a catch, I’m guessing… Alright… I’m all ears.” BraveHeart took the jacket off, revealing he had wings. The wings picked Vincent up, similar to being plucked up by some fingers. His face looked a bit mixed.
“Um… y-you need to know this; your kind is very delicious to us, and since it's freezing outside, and you have injuries, I need to eat you to both keep you warm and heal you. So… I'm sorry for this, but it's for your own good.” He lifted Vincent up, dangling him over his open mouth. That’s when Vincent’s eyes went wide as he began to struggle vigorously.
“W-Wait! Stop! I don’t wanna be eaten! Please!” He was shaking in his boots again as he tried to get free of the wing that grasped him.
“Hey, relax, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'll catch ya.” BraveHeart adjusted his wings to be vertical, and gently shook his wings to allow Vincent to fall into his mouth. But, Vincent held on tight to his wing as he desperately tried to not get eaten.
“Not gonna hurt me!? You’re about to EAT me!”
“Yes, I'm gonna eat you, but you're gonna be fine. I promise you.” BraveHeart lowered his wing closer to his mouth, opening wide, showing Vincent where he was going.
“N-No! Please!” Vincent lost his grip as he fell from BraveHeart’s wing and into the gaping maw that awaited him. BraveHeart closed his mouth on Vincent as soon as he landed in his mouth. To Vincent, everything was dark, warm, and wet. He could hear and feel the stallion's warm breath hitting him, with the sounds of saliva dripping around him. Then everything began to move as BraveHeart's tongue bounced him around, making him covered in spit, with the stallion's mouth opening and closing, taunting him of freedom.
“Mmm… You're so good…” He murred. The tongue pushed Vincent back into his throat, attempting to swallow him. Meanwhile, Vincent was scared shitless as he could feel himself drifting towards the back of BraveHeart’s mouth. He desperately climbs forward and tries to grab onto his teeth as he slips on the tongue, making him more delicious the more he struggles. As he held on for dear life, he began to cry a little at the thought of dying. He knew what happened when something ate food and he didn’t want that to happen to him. BraveHeart opened his mouth, looking in a mirror, seeing his reflection and the tiny human in his mouth, seeing him cry.
‘... Oh great, I went too far again. Stupid BraveHeart!!!* His horn glowed, taking Vincent out, setting him on the floor. “G-go! Get out! My stupidity got in the way AGAIN.”
Vincent looked at him as he sat on the table. He felt sorry for the pony but, he was scared of him at the same time. He wanted to run but he also wanted to help him. He couldn’t decide as he climbed down off the table and hid in his closet, crying. Not only did he make this pony feel bad, he lost someone who was going to help him find his mother. But, BraveHeart tried eating Vincent and was scared. He hid in the closet crying of guilt.
BraveHeart quickly ran and escaped into his room, swearing to himself how he was an idiot. On his way to his room, BraveHeart saw that Vincent had left all his stuff behind in his house. He picked the stuff up with his magic, namely the photo.
“I gotta make it up him!” He quickly ran outside, into the freezing outside, looking for Vincent's mom. From the photo, she looked to be pretty small for a woman with black hair and brown eyes, brown skin, and liked to wear Columbia jackets a lot. If he had to guess, he remembered seeing her at the hospital… but it may have been someone else. Meanwhile, Vincent decided to come out of the closet hearing he had gone and hid underneath the couch nearby. The house was empty, with only the casserole still being around. His stomach grumbled still hungry but, he felt like he didn’t deserve a meal and didn’t touch the casserole. He managed to get all of his stuff but, couldn’t find his photos. He went into panic as his photos were lost.
‘He must've taken my photos!’ Vincent thought, looking to see the slightly ajar door. “F***!” He slammed his backpack onto the floor and held his arms to his legs. “Not even a f***ing day and I already made someone feel like s*** and I lost the thing that mattered most to me…” He looked out, nervous. “Crap… gotta go out and find him… and apologize myself.” Vincent went out to try and find him but, he hesitated and thought before running out the front door. “If there are, will other ponies be just like how he was…?” With a scared breath, Vincent traveled outside.
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BraveHeart traveled back into the Hospital, using Vincent's photo as a guide on who he's looking for. There were a lot of Tinies around, young and old, working or needing help with their illnesses. He wanted to just eat them, but kept his composure, looking for Vincent's mom. His eyes turned to one that looked like Vincent's mom. Was this her? Only one way to find out.
When he went up to her, she wasn’t who he was looking for. This lady had green eyes and had lighter skin. He groaned, but leaned towards her.
“Excuse me? Miss? Have you seen the woman in this photo?” He offered the photo to her.
The woman was startled by his sudden appearance as she dropped a pencil. “Oh, jeez! You startled me.” As she picked her pencil up, she examined the photo. “No, I haven’t seen her before, I’m sorry.”
“Darn it! … Know where I may find her? I ask because her son, Vincent, misses her badly, and would like to be reunited with her this Hearth's Warming Eve.”
“I haven’t seen her before so, I don’t know where she would be. I’m sorry…”
“Dang it!... Look, can you please help me out on this?” He handed her one of the photos. “I gotta check around town, see if I can find her, or someone who knows where she may be at.”
“I-I’ll see what I can do…” She sped walk down a random hall as if she was afraid of him. Though, she was just going back to work as she went off with a clipboard, her pencil, and the photo.
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Vincent traveled down the path from BraveHeart’s home to try and find him. He eventually came across a town full of buildings that he had never seen before.
“This must be the Ponyville that BraveHeart was talking about…” All around, ponies moved across the floor, getting their Hearths Warming decorations and presents around, too busy to stop. Vincent snuck around, trying to not be seen by anypony as hid behind trees and down alleyways. Most ponies didn’t see him but some that did, licked their lips at him, wanting to eat him, but were pushed by ponies to keep moving. He thought that BraveHeart would’ve gone back to the hospital so he thought he would take a shortcut down an alleyway. Vincent's luck changed as he heard something land behind him. He slowly looked behind him, seeing a turquoise pegasus mare with an amber mane & tail that had gold stripes in it. She had a cocky grin on her face. He was trapped.
“Aww… looky here. A bit late for shopping now, aren't we?” She teased.
“Uhmmm… I-I’m confused. Who are you and what do you want?” He was a bit bold with his words as he stood up to the mare who he believed was gonna bully him. She seemed to be the bully type with the way she first spoke to him.
“Name's lightning dust. And I see a lost Tiny that needs a nice, warm place to stay in from the cold.” She licked her lips as she said that. “And lucky you, cookies and hot chocolate will follow afterwards.”
“I-Uhhh…” Vincent began to sweat nervously as he began to slowly back up. “I-I am actually looking for someone right now, or I should say, somepony, and I’m s-supposed to meet them soon so, I must be going.” He turned around and began speed walking down the alleyway, away from the hungry mare, not looking back at her. Unfortunately, he bumped into a hoof and saw the same pony in front of him. He felt himself picked up by her wings.
“Nice try, but a gal like me needs to eat. Don't worry, you can tell me what you're allergic to so I won't eat it. But down you go. Ahh~” She opened her maw and slowly lowered Vincent into her maw. Vincent began to get scared as he wriggled vigorously, trying to get out of her grip.
“No! Please! Don’t eat me!” He decided to see if it would work as he put a firm grip on two of her feathers and plucked them to see if she’d lose grip on him. It came off, but she chuckled.
“You really think that hurts? You really are new here, aren't you? All the more to enjoy your most lovable, succulent-”
“Hey! What are you doing!?” A raspy voice was heard. Vincent and the mare turned to see a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow mane & tail. She flared her wings, flying and landing near Lightning Dust.
“Back off, Rainbow Dash! This Tiny's mine!”
“This is MY town, Dust! I'M the one to meet and eat new Tinies, not you!”
“Finder’s keepers, loser’s weepers.”
“Ughhhh… are we resorting to first grade sayings now, and for your information, Dust, plucking your wings wasn’t supposed to hurt.” That was when he fell out of her grip and ran down the alley away from the two mares.
“Hey! Get back here!” Lightning Dust flew after him.
“He's mine!” Rainbow flew after her.
This was when Vincent was able to show off. As the alley narrowed, he began to scale up the building’s wall, climbing up to the roof. Unfortunately, his plan backfired as both mares landed on the rooftop, both surrounding him.
“Best 2 out of 3?” Lightning asked.
“You betcha!” Rainbow replied. Their wings clenched like a fist.
“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” Both spoke, their wings still clenched up. It dawned on Vincent that they were playing Rock, paper, scissors for him. He rolled his eyes as they played their game.
“I’d like a best 2 out of 3, in your attempt to catch me!” That was when he turned around and bolted, jumping into a nearby chimney. The two went wide eyed as they both ran to the chimney to catch him. But, they were too late and butted heads instead and fell back onto the roof. He disappeared below, going into the house that was, hopefully, not occupied by a man eating pony. Chances were, very little, but it was a risk he had to take.
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Once he landed at the bottom, Vincent was completely covered from head to toe in soot and ash that had settled inside the walls of the chimney over the years. Though, he’d rather be dirty than eaten. With the house he landed in being very quiet, he could hear the two bickering on the roof. Vincent couldn’t help but snicker once he heard them. After wiping down what loose dirt was on him, he got up, grunting after the landing and walked into the home that he landed in.
The first room he was greeted with was a cozy looking living room. In front of him was a tall coffee table and behind that was a 2 person couch. To his left, was a soft looking chair made of plush leather. To his right, the opening into a kitchen. Vincent decided that his best bet was to find the front door and get out of here.
He heard the door open, seeing another pony walk into the room, most likely coming back from their bedroom. It was another pony, as he figured, but he looked different. His coat was white, with an orange mane and tail. This stallion had the wings and horn of BraveHeart, but he was smaller, and not as stocky looking. As soon as Vincent saw the pony, he quickly ran and dove underneath the couch, careful so that the pony didn’t see him and would take him as a midday snack.
“There we go, Cherry, nice and clean.” The stallion spoke in a very gentle coo. It seemed he had a person with him, named Cherry.
“Thank you, Autumn. You really are a gentle… stallion.” A woman replied to him… but her voice sounded awfully familiar. Vincent tried getting a good enough idea of who the woman was. Her voice was so familiar, so… sweet and kind. It reminded him of his mother as a tear leaked, still looking at the pony. He tried getting a better look at who the pony was talking to.
“Hearth's Warming is almost here. It's a shame your family isn't here.” The stallion, named Autumn, spoke.
“Oh, Autumn, you don't have to be sorry for anything.” Cherry replied. “I'm sure they're out there somewhere, hopefully looking for me as I am with them.”
Vincent’s eyes went wide as he heard her voice. It sounded just like his mother, who said she was looking for her family too. But, he was too scared to take that risk. But, any risk is worth it to find your mother. He swallowed his fear as he crawled out from under the couch and approached the stallion slowly.
“M-Mom…?”
The stallion jumped and looked around, hiding Cherry in his mane. “Hello!? Who's there!?” He looked down, seeing Vincent. “Oh… hello there, little one? You lost?” a chuckle escaped from him as he picked up Vincent. “Oh dear, you're dirty. You need to be cleaned, ASAP.” Vincent squealed as the stallion picked him up, scared, as he wriggled in his grip.
“W-Wait! Let me go! Please, don’t eat me! I already escaped the wrath of two hungry mares!” He covered his face as he cowered in fear of the massive pony, lifting him high into the air.
“Oh, don’t be scared little one…! I’m not going to hurt you…” The white stallion nuzzled the boy softly and comforting as Vincent began to calm down but was still scared out of his mind. With the nuzzles, it made him feel a bit better, though, he was unsure if the stallion really was friendly, or if it was a ruse.
He eventually calmed down to the point where he wasn’t shaking anymore and he pushed out of his fur a little and looked up at him. The stallion saw that he had a black eye in his left eye and his face was all dirty, like the rest of his clothes after the chimney.
“We really should clean you up, deary… you looked filthy…” The stallion brushed some loose dirt off of his face and nuzzled him as he carried him into the kitchen. The stallion’s kitchen looked really clean as his hooves clopped on the black and white tiled floor. Vincent looked down at the floor from his hoof and could see his own reflection on the shiny floor.
“Wow… you sure do like to keep your house clean.”
“It's important to keep everything clean.” The stallion smiled as he walked up to the kitchen sink, plugging the drain and turning on the warm water. He put in some bath soap as the sink filled, placing Vincent in the sink, washing him off along with his clothes. As soap rubbed onto him, it made a squeaking noise as if it was spotless. The more that Vincent thought about this pony, the more he thought about who the pony was talking to earlier.