There were only 27 minutes to go. Crispin Clefnote and his mare Louise watched the front door eagerly - as the day was drawing to a close, their eyes stayed fixed on both the lane outside and the clock. "She's going to make us late, hun". The stallion stared out the window nervously, adjusting his tie whilst his mare fiddled with her dress zip. Behind them, the foals were restless but the opera wasn't going to wait for them much longer.
"I told you we should've hired a proper sitter, Crispin," Louise chided her husband.
"Don't be silly, Mihay ensured us his daughter was capable of the responsibility now, hun. We need to show our encouragement. She's been lazing around too much recently."
Louise nodded, "Yes I remember last month's picnic. Cuteamena didn't raise a hoof to help." As she spoke, a loud ZAP erupted behind them, and they turned in shock: the twins were simply firing harmless playful zaps at each other, and they both sighed. "I hope she won't need to raise a hoof with these two..."
The opera was starting in 30 minutes on the other side of town, and the couple were fearing the worst when, mercifully, over the horizon and walking towards the house appeared a young blue mare. Her pink bow bounced in her mane as she trotted happily to the door and spoke, "Sorry I'm a bit late, I had trouble locking the door." The young mare blushed with a guilty expression as she held a set of keys in her mouth.
The parents looked serious but Crispin offered a smile. "It's okay, Cuteamena. Better late than never. Now, pay attention because we really have to set off in a minute." As Crispin talked Cuteamena through the twins' evening routine, Louise tried to control the foals as they were eager to follow the pair. Ever since their first meeting with Cuteamena at a family dinner, the twins had really seemed to like her - Louise felt reassured by this, but even still, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous about leaving her babies in the hands of a young mare. What if that pesky coltfriend of hers showed up?, she thought. Does Cuteamena know where our fire extinguisher is? I bet she remembers where the fridge is.... As Crispin returned with the mare, the parents proceeded to put their coats on. Crispin finally handed Cuteamena a list of things to do, phone numbers etc., and opened the door. "Remember: if there's anything you're unsure about, drop us a message. I'll be more than happy to step outside the thea-" Louise bumped him disapprovingly. "Erm...yeah, just stay in touch. Don't give them too much sugar; they've been baking cookies already today. And make sure they're in bed by 8pm!" At this moment, the phone decided to ring, much to Crispin's frustration; he answered it aggressively. "Yes?"
"Hi Crispin, it's me. Just wanted to make sure everything's all set." Mihay spoke calmly in such a way that Crispin felt at ease himself.
"Ah, Mihay. Yes all is well, we're just setting off. I've told Cuteamena what to do but she remembers where everything is."
"Perfect. I'll give her a call to check up as well. Enjoy your evening." As their call ended, Cuteamena rolled her eyes in annoyance. Crispin, however, was comforted. Mihay and Crispin had been friends for a couple of years now and their families had stayed close; they were both family stallions who valued loyalty and affection. Crispin and Louise's impressionable twins - Christian and Lulu - were themselves a few years old and were growing increasingly curious about everything they were exposed to, whilst Cuteamena, on the other hand, was somewhat irresponsible. It always confused him why Mihay's daughter could get so clumsy sometimes, but as family friends he knew it was important to support one another.
"Awww my wittle babykins - be good tonight, okay?" Louise's babytalk received a groan from Crispin and a snigger from Cuteamena.
Cuteamena waved the couple off from the porch, with the twins at her feet. "Don't worry Mr and Mrs C, I got this! They'll stay right under my nose - enjoy the opera!"
-----
"Okay, when the cat's away...the mice will play" Cuteamena smirked at the twins, and they gleefully jumped up and down.
"Yay! Playtime!" Christian cheered, as Lulu rolled around on the floor.
Cuteamena turned on the TV and looked into the kitchen. "Now, who wants some ice-cream?!"
"Meeeeee!" the twins cheered, and Christian flapped his little wings towards the fridge eagerly.
"Woah there lil' Chris" Cuteamena said, putting him down and opening the fridge herself. "I'll be doing the serving... in bucketloads!" She got out a scooper and gave the twins big bowls of the frozen treat.
"Cuteamena is the best!" Lulu said, getting chocolate ice-cream all around her mouth.
"Awww, call me 'Cutea' little sweetipie" the mare said, licking her hoof and wiping Lulu's face, much to the filly's scrunched displeasure.
"Haha you got Cutea spit on your face" Chris chuckled, so Cutea smirked and did the same to his messy face.
Lulu noticed some trays of food with a note on them. "Shouldn't we be having mummy's dinner, Cutea?"
Cutea shrugged: "well we could do that...or we could have a BAKING CONTEST!" She noticed Chris holding a rolling-pin and the twins jumped excitedly. She gave them some little chef hats to wear and gave them some fun ingredients like cookie dough, icing sugar, ice cream, sweets, chocolate - as well as butter, flour, eggs etc. "Make something yummy - GO!" She yelled, and the twins started making a mess and playing around. Eventually, the kids had assembled some concoctions on their plates, covered in flour and dough. Chris kept trying to prod Lulu with his rolling-pin, so she ruffled his mane with her whisk. "Okay, let's try Lulu's first..." Cutea picked up the plate of pastry, which seemed to be a sweet-coated cookie but with all sorts of random ingredients like dry pasta and raisins. With a slight look of hesitation, the mare bit into it and chewed in discomfort. "Mmmm, very good Lulu! This will be hard to beat."
Lulu smiled broadly but then looked worried: "mummy says it's bad to eat too much sweets though..."
Cutea shook her head and wiped her mouth of powdered sugar, "mummy's right in general, but this is just one night, right?" And with that, she eagerly picked up Chris' plate, which was a pile of whipped cream and icing sugar with chocolates in it. Cutea chewed happily but then her eyes widened. "Ow! Christian, what did you put in here?!" She stuck her tongue out wide and examined the mush. Chris blushed and looked rather guilty as Cutea fished out a pebble. "Christian, that was silly- I could've broken or chipped a tooth! So could you!"
The green colt stared downwards: "I wanted to win by being cweative..."
Cutea sighed and gave him a hug. "Aw, you know what? They're both really good. You both win the prize."
"What's the pwize, Cutea?" Lulu asked with big eyes.
Cutea handed them their plates. "The prize is the rest of your dishes!" She laughed as the kids shrugged and picked at their sweet treats. Once the three of them had eaten, Chris surprised Lulu by jumping from behind the sofa, which gave Cutea an idea. "Say kiddies, who wants to play hide-and-seek?! I bet you're good at this game." The twins immediately blasted off to various parts of the house, shouting to Cutea to count to 10. She giggled and then headed off to find them.
Chris had been waiting for more than 10 minutes in the cupboard, and was now convinced he had won. Lulu must've been found by now, he thought. Braving a look outside, the bedroom was quiet. He emerged and knocked the chest on the side, causing a picture-frame to fall down. He picked it up and funnily-enough noticed that the picture showed his parents with Mihay, and Cutea was even there with her dark-blue coltfriend. He carefully put it back and then headed out the room, and saw Lulu on the landing. She gestured to him to be quiet, and ushered him over. "Cwis, look..." she whispered, and peering down the steps Chris saw that Cutea was sitting with her back to the stairs, on the sofa in-front of the TV and with her face glued to her phone. "Do you fink she has a cheater game to find us?" Lulu asked. Chris shook his head, but gave a nod for them to go ask what happened.
Cutea was sitting, texting on her phone while the TV glared its lights on her in the gradually-darkening room. She let out a big sigh and nearly jumped up when the twins appeared beside her. "Cutea? Did you give up on the game?" they asked with puppy-dog eyes.
Cutea composed herself and ran a hoof through her mane. "Erm...yes. You both hid yourselves too well, I couldn't find you."
The foals looked at each other and with a gulp Chris touched Cutea's leg. "Cutea, are you okay?"
Cutea looked up, before nodding to the twins to join her up on the sofa. They rested their heads on her tummy and the only sound was the muffled TV commercials. "Everything is okay, Cutea's just a liiiittle annoyed with her coltfriend, kids. That's all."
"Why?" Lulu asked with a tremble.
"Because he's drinking naughty things again. Electric is a silly stallion, right kids?" She put her arms around the two little foals. They nodded, and looked at each other as Cutea's tummy let out a faint gurgle below their heads. She continued in a patronising tone, "he and his silly friends play in dangerous places". The thought of her coltfriend at the pub again was irritating her more and more.
"...What siwwy places, Cutea?" Lulu asked shyly.
Cutea stroked Lulu's mane softly and sighed, "ooooh, all sorts of places - big and small, high or low."
"Oh, I know a small one! Electric Bwoo have a wittle house in here, yes?" Chris pointed to Cutea's stomach.
Lulu looked confused, "don't be siwwy Cwis. How can a stawion have a house in there?!" Cutea rolled her eyes.
"Because daddy told me about- " Chris began, but Cutea interrupted.
She said: "...Because little Lulu, Electric likes to explore places most ponies shouldn't go. So, he makes himself super tiny so he can do that. And with me, he feels closer to me when he's inside my body. My body is his playground..." she explained, a tear in her eye as she felt bad now.
Lulu was curious as ever: "Can we go and pway inside?!"
Chris looked equally excited at this thought, "ooooh yeah, I wanna go see what's so fun!"
Cuteamena wiped her tear and chuckled, stroking the foals gently. "Nooooo no no, it's far too dangerous for little foals like you. I'm afraid that's a playground you can't go in." The foals looked disappointed, but Cutea put a children's show on TV and they watched it intently, laughing and playing along with its colourful characters. At one point, a donut-shaped character was talking to an eclaire and Cutea began to drool out of hunger, much to the twins' amusement.
Cutea tickled Lulu a bit and then the twins snuggled up to her calmly. Eventually they began to doze off, so Cutea checked the time: 10:07. She gave them a nudge: "Right little ones, time for beddy-byes!" With a unanimous tired groan the two foals dragged themselves up the stairs behind Cutea, and she prepared them for bed by getting them changed into pyjamas.
"Psst, don't we have to bwush our teeth first?" Lulu prodded Chris, gesturing at her smile.
Cutea overheard and yawned loudly, "ah, it's too late for that - you're already in bed!" She gave a wink and pulled the blanket over the twins, as they snuggled up in their bed. "Go to sleep now, no meddling around. Goodnight little ones, sweet dreams." Satisfied with her job for the night at looking after the kids whilst still not being bossy, she checked her phone notification and frowned, heading back down to the sofa.
"I don't feel sweepy" Lulu let out a little yawn as she turned in her bed to face Chris.
"Yeah...and I think mummy and daddy won't be happy....I hope Cutea tidies up..." Chris thought aloud.
Lulu looked down. "I hope they are not mean to Cutea, she is alweady sad."
"Me too...hey, let's go bwush our teeth...at least they will be happy with us then," the green colt suggested. Lulu nodded and the two foals slowly made their way to the bathroom. They felt better as they brushed, with their teeth's hygiene intact, but were now fully awake. Having a moment of spontaneous creativity, the twins started blasting their horns' magic at their toothbrushes, making them double in size. "Haha, now we can't miss any of our teeth!" Chris laughed, as Lulu scrubbed her giant brush all over her muzzle and left Chris hysterical with her 'beard' of bubbly toothpaste. Lulu then mischievously zapped the soap to teleport it into Chris' mouth. "Ew!" he spurted it out, and tickled her back. There was no sound of movement from downstairs for now, so they opened the bathroom door. Keeping as quiet as they could, they had a playful race down the corridor, nearly getting their wings tangled as they soared through the hall. Laughing together, Lulu lost her balance and Chris went to help her up - they were at the doorway to the parents' bedroom, and Lulu picked up some scattered laundry and hurled it at Chris for a playfight.
"I'm gonna get you!" she cheered, and Chris picked up a plushie on the floor to protect himself.
"Not if I get you first, wuwu!" Chris smirked as he then fired the plushie at her. "Mummy and daddy's room is the best pwayground!" Chris zapped the filly and she suddenly turned green like him, causing them to burst out laughing. She zapped him back after they reversed it, and he in turn lost his wings. "Hey!" They continued to pillow-fight and explore their improving magic until they knocked some of their mother's beauty-products from the chest above. Chris noticed that framed photograph from earlier of the families together. As Lulu came to help pick things up, she looked as well. "...But what if...there's a better pwayground out there?"
"Where?" Lulu looked puzzled.
Chris pointed to Cutea in the photograph, "What if we actuawy went to Ewectric's pwayground?"
"Inside Cutea? How do we do that, we aren't cwever wike him."
Chris shook his head, "We don't need to be cwever, we have our magic!" He demonstrated by zapping the wardrobe into a totally different design momentarily.
Lulu shrugged, "yeah alwight, we can try it. It's pwobabwy the most awesome pwayground ever!" And so the twins faced each other and counted down from 10. As they zapped each other, they disappeared from normal sight, reducing their size to that of a crumb. Left behind were two marks on the carpet where the two had been standing. "It worked!" Lulu cried, and looking around from their view on the carpet they saw giant objects like the plushie and their father's bow-tie, towering over them. They wondered how big those toothbrushes would've seemed to them now... Chris hugged her and they flapped their tiny wings, heading along the corridor and down the stairs to the living room.
-----
Cutea was half-asleep in front of the television, the darkness broken by the blinking light of the screen on her and the sofa. Her phone kept buzzing and with a frown she ignored the calls of her coltfriend, no doubt drunk. Feeling hungry, she had made a big bowl of popcorn and was waiting for a commercial break to finish so she could watch a new Rom-Com she'd heard about from her friend Pastry. She turned her head when she heard what sounded like a loud ZAP from upstairs, but when silence came after, she grunted and turned back to the TV, munching on the popcorn. Glancing at the time - 11:13 - she yawned and thought of how she only had another hour or so before the parents were supposed to come back. She was looking forward to her brunch tomorrow with both Pastry and Sunshine, but was beginning to worry she wouldn't get enough sleep before it. I don't wanna be falling asleep at the table in front of my friends, she thought, and allowed her eyelids to close slightly.
What she didn't know was that the two tiny foals had reached the sofa, staring in awe up at the giant mare as they landed on her arm. She was utterly massive, her furs blowing slightly in the air and the sound of her breathing above almost deafening. Her blonde mane waved in their faces, and they twitched their noses as it made them sneeze. Chris began, "Okay, let's try and- "
The television suddenly blasted out music as the film's scene appeared to be in a nightclub, showing two enamoured ponies dancing. Cutea jolted awake. "Huh?" she said, looking around slightly before fixing her eyes on the screen. Seeing the two characters kiss among the dancers, she frowned with a small snarl. "Wish you'd take me out like that again..." she said aloud, glancing down at her phone's screensaver of her and Electric Blue, before shovelling some popcorn up.
Down below, the twins looked at each other feeling bad for their babysitter. "I hope he - aaaaah!" Lulu stopped and screamed; an immense piece of popcorn suddenly hurled downwards and crashed onto the arm next to them, rolling along like a giant ball before it tumbled down onto the ground at Cutea's feet. The enormous mare proceeded to pick it up and, assessing it with a raised eyebrow, she tossed it into her mouth with more. "She eats like you, Cwis" Lulu sniggered, and Chris huffed unamused.
"Okay, let's go" he said, taking Lulu's arm and flying up into the bowl of popcorn. Above them, Cutea's face remained fixed on the TV, with the steady movement of her chewing jaw almost hypnotic from this view. The salty smell of the giant surrounding popcorn kernels entered the foals' tiny nostrils, and they started nibbling at one themselves until the whole thing rumbled: Cutea had picked them up. Completely unaware of the tiny blue and green foals amongst the popcorn, the young mare tilted her head back and opened her mouth. "Oh wow, here we goooooo!" Chris shouted, as Cutea dropped the popcorn.
Tumbling down with the massive handful of popcorn, the foals' gazes were fixed on the view of Cutea's open mouth below: a huge cave that looked menacing, her tongue protruding with strands of buttery saliva dripping from the roof; the poor predecessor pieces of popcorn lying in mush on the surface of the tongue and in her teeth; the blackness at the back guarded by a long uvula dangling in the way. "Hold onto me!" Lulu yelled to her tiny companion, as the two locked arms. Cutea's jaws crashed shut behind them and everything got incredibly dark - fortunately for them, Cutea wasn't the most polite eater: she chewed with her mouth open and allowed the foals glimpses of light inside their moving locale. Spared a moment of panic, Chris sighed, "at weast we can see where we're going now...I think we have to go - aaaaah!" He was interrupted - as was their flight - as the mouth sprung into action. Cutea's tongue below them lurched up and smacked them, sending them hurtling towards the side of the mouth where the molars waited to grind together at the popcorn around them. The front teeth opened up wider to nibble at the soft bit of a newly-arrived kernel; the molar the foals had landed on was wet and slippery with saliva. "Look out!" The enormous tooth above came bearing down, and with a THUD it crashed onto their one, proceeding to grind as pieces of mush splashed down into the forming pool of saliva on the gumline below. Luckily, the foals were small enough to fit through the various dents and dips of the teeth's surfaces and avoided an unpleasantly early end to their adventure. As the mush seemed to be collecting on the tongue now, the foals watched as the enormous muscle tilted upwards and the bolus slid down under the uvula and into the expanding throat muscles. GULP! And with that, the mouth went quiet. The foals let each other go from the other's grip and they surveyed their humid surroundings.
"Cwis?"
"Yeah?"
"That was scawy"
"Yeah it was...but now take a wook awound you!" He gestured to the expanse of Cutea's mouth, and they did survey: the tongue rose up and down gently with the mare's breathing, her long lines of jagged teeth occasionally moving slightly or grinding, pieces of chewed popcorn scattered everywhere, and the throat opening and closing sometimes with the uvula above it swaying quietly. The foals braved a moment to sit on the edge of a molar. "I thought this would be a pwayground..." Chris sighed, "not a whirlpool machine!"
"Well it is somepony's mouth, Cwis...I think it was kinda fun" Lulu offered encouragingly, and at that exact moment the enormous front jaws opened slightly, the light pouring in and blinding them. "YAAAH!" They cried, caught off-guard by the sudden luminosity. A long, narrow and menacing spear came into the mouth, heading directly towards them. Its pointy tip came closer to their tooth, and Lulu looked below them. "Oh Cewestia, Cwis jump!" A giant fragment of popcorn had got wedged in their tooth and the next, and Cutea was using a toothpick. The two foals landed with a splash in the pool of saliva at the base of Cutea's tongue, watching as the fragment was dislodged and immediately swallowed. Trying to stay afloat in the waters of saliva, they were grossed out. "Now who's got Cutea spit all over their face?" Lulu taunted, and Chris splashed her as the huge tongue shifted above them slightly. The twins climbed up onto the side of the gumline and shook themselves dry, but again the mouth's quietness was disappointing. At least they could vaguely see where they were, owing to Cutea's lips being partially open. As the twins were beginning to despair of the idea of finding a giant playground, they heard the unnerving sound of other voices.
"Stupid mare, that's the third time this week."
"Haha, and nothing's gonna change!"
The foals, both terrified and strangely curious, found themselves shifting closer to the voices, which sounded gravelly and demonic. "Wuwu I'm scared..." Chris admitted, holding the filly's arm tight, but they persisted until they had reached the base of one of Cutea's molars, the giant off-white monuments that dominated the view upwards. Looking from the top downwards, they noticed the tooth was smooth except for one or two cracks here-and-there, but towards the bottom the tooth took a rather unpleasant turn into a yellowish-grey colour, before reaching the gumline where they stood. Chris, staring at the strange wall in-front of him, ventured to touch it, and it almost seemed alive in its reaction, slinking along the surface slightly to his touch. "Ew..." Chris retreated, asking Lulu what it was.
"I don't know, but - " Lulu started, but stopped when they heard the voices again. They turned and saw two grotesque figures: they were small white-and-grey mushroom-shaped goblin-like creatures, with deep yellow eyes and a menacing smile of hideous teeth. With the aid of headlamps they were licking and stroking this stained surface of Cutea's tooth and turned to face the foals.
"Invaders! ...Or should I say, fellow invaders" the first one spoke up.
"Yes mwahaha, what brings you troublemakers into this careless mare's maw?" the other asked teasingly. When Chris and Lulu remained quiet but asked who they were, it replied: "We're Plaque! We live off badly-kept teeth." They both sniggered and laughed, and as Lulu protested Cutea's obedience they retorted, "Ha! Barely ever brushes her teeth these days - and yet all this sugar today...mmmm...it regenerates us..." They were seemingly distracted by the very sight of the stains again, turning and licking them as suddenly a third one appeared. "See? The more bad the hygiene, the more of us! Come, brother" the three continued their foul play, and the two little foals not only felt glad for brushing their own teeth but also bad for Cuteamena. They were slightly bigger than these demons, and so Chris was about to break them up when suddenly the mouth opened up wide, light pouring in and making them all shield their eyes. "Yaaaaah!" Wondering what was happening, they watched as another piece of popcorn came flying in and landed with a splash on the moist tongue's surface. From their vantage point, they could see the saliva already secrete around it as Cutea closed her mouth. The demons then pushed the two foals over the edge. "Bye bye!" They taunted and waved, as another shouted "Enjoy the ride!" The foals held each other tight as they were sent hurdling right back into the action. Cutea's tongue tossed the popcorn around, the teeth grinding it into mush quickly. Holding each other and navigating, they managed to dodge the crashing chomping teeth as they were hurled around. Eventually, the poor twins got covered in heavy, saliva-drenched mush and found it impossible to move. They lay fixed on the tongue, atop an enormous taste-bud, until the mush all around them heaved and the tongue tilted upwards.
"This is it, Cwis! She's gonna swawwow us!" Lulu muffled through her coating, and Chris muffled something inaudible back. The immense muscle thrust upwards, groaning as it moved, and the twins started sliding down the tongue surface. They turned around and saw their view: Cutea's throat, opening up, with her breathing audible as she gulped loudly. The twins' coatings were removed and they began bumpily sliding down, twisting in and out of the taste-buds. "Hehe, this is kinda fun!" Lulu cheered.
Chris nodded as some pieces of food next to him tried to overtake, "Yeah it's wike a big race - way better than the swide in Ponyville pwayground!" The twins laughed as the larger-than-life slide that was Cutea's tongue jolted and sent all the mush down the throat. The gullet opened, and the twins looked down into its vast blackness, loosing ground on the mush which moved a lot faster along the smooth sides of the throat. All of a sudden, there was a loud *HACK* and some of the particles of food - along with the foals - were sent flying back up the chute: Cutea had something stuck in her throat. "Weeeee!" Chris cried out happily, the gust of air propelling them upwards until they landed with a THWACK into something soft. Chris opened his eyes from the shock and looked down to see Lulu calling for help. She was sliding down the surface of whatever this strange feature was, apparently with a bottom which hung because Lulu was about to plunge hundreds of feet down into darkness. "Grab my tail!" Chris shouted instinctively, offering it as he held the soft squelchy surface with both hooves firmly. As they both hung there on the uvula, the mouth opened once again. A semi-circular object appeared, as if being held to the mouth, and a deafening sound of rushing liquid. "Uh-oh..." They realised quickly that Cutea was having a drink. The liquid was reddish-brown, a pungent cola no doubt - and the foals could even have sworn they heard some tiny cheers coming from one of the molars. "Pesky pwaque germs" Chris muttered, but the soda came in too fast; the uvula swayed back and forth uncontrollably as the river of pop roared its way down underneath them.
"Weeehee!" Lulu cheered, enjoying the feeling of having them both swing around: indeed, it was way more intense than any swings they'd been pushed on. As the uvula swung rapidly and the last of the soda passed over her tongue, Cutea took the can from her lips and wiped them with a "Aaaah..." The sound of her voice was like infinity decibels to the tiny foals inside her throat, and coupled with the uvula vibrating they lost their grip and tumbled down the vast space into the throat once more.
"Wuwuuuu!" Chris shouted, as the two were separated in free-fall. Lulu tried to hover, but her tiny wings were not strong enough to resist the force sending them down. As they took a moment to survey the throat muscles expanding and contracting, they heard a loud gurgle coming from below. Chris turned to face his companion, and with an eyebrow raised he muttered, "You reawize what's waiting for us down there?" Lulu gave a knowing nod as they smelt the soda before them, reaching an opening sphincter below.
Cuteamena had been watching the end of her Rom-com movie, dusting off some popcorn crumbs on her lap. Her phone lit up in the darkened room, buzzing with an incoming call from Electric Blue. Sighing heavily, she sat up on the sofa and answered. "What."
"Oh er...h-hey honey!" He sounded irritatingly drunk, and she could hear his friends in the background.
"What is it, Electric..."
"I'm gonna...c-come see ya, wait there." He hiccuped.
"Hun, I'm not going anywhere...I'm looking after the kids. You shouldn't come here, you'll wake them up."
"Aaah come onnn sweetie it'll be fun."
"No, Electric. I don't know if I even want to see you at the moment. I can't stomach you right now..."
"Ah stop being so g-grumpy" he retorted, before blowing a kiss and hanging up.
Cutea put her phone down and sulked. "Clumsy fool..." she muttered under her breath, before rubbing her belly slightly and letting out a loud BUURRRP! She blushed and hoped she hadn't woken up the kids upstairs, but mercifully no noise came from their room. Content, she slumped back on the sofa and flicked through channels.
-----
Deep inside her stomach, a different scene was taking place. The foals had landed with an enormous SPLASH into the juices and acids that sloshed around, and in a matter of seconds they had resurfaced gasping for breath. The freshly-arrived soda sizzled on the surface, bubbling and rising up in vapour around the stomach walls that squelched and moved slowly. The waters had an eerie luminescence to them which lit up the surroundings. "We're...in her tummy!" Lulu exclaimed, in a mix of both excitement and fear. The first sign of relief was that the mare's digestive juices appeared not to affect them, mercifully. "Eeew it's stinky in here" they said, looking around: various enormous morsels of partially-chewn food floated and bobbed around in the waters. They saw immense pieces of candy shell, popcorn kernels, pizza crust and molten chocolate dripping down the wall nearby...the combination of smells was certainly intense. Chris looked longingly up at the throat sphincter they'd come through, as it opened and closed occasionally as if in tandem with Cutea's breathing.
"Ewectric gets to have fun like that every time he comes in here!" Chris observed, as they swam and managed to climb onto a piece of liquorice that rocked in the juices like a pontoon. The foals again heard some voices, this time from a piece of mushy popcorn nearby, and turned in horror to see two more figures there. This time, it looked like Donny Donut!
"Hey, you! You don't have a permit to be here, you're under arrest!" Donny was all red with a big dimple in his round centre, addressing a rectangular brown person that bore an irritated expression.
Chris whispered to Lulu as they watched on, "wook, he's talking to the eclaire! I knew they were real!"
"And I knew Cutea would eat Donny Donut somehow..." Lulu whispered back.
The red character continued to detain the brown one, but it protested: "That's unfair, I'm only here because she ate this filthy piece."
The red blood-cell (for that's what it really was) was having none of it: "You have come here to cause havoc and unrest, what else comes from the floor?! Common bacteria scum..." And with that he led the other off into a small hole in the side of the stomach wall, which made an oozing sound as they disappeared through it.
Lulu turned to Chris as she pieced it together: "the eclaire must have come from that piece of popcorn Cutea dropped and ate."
Chris scratched his head, "I didn't know eclaires came from popcorn..." The two foals sat down on their float when unexpectedly the stomach shifted entirely; the walls pushed inward from one side and the acids started to churn up. "Woah!" Chris screamed, slipping off the liquorice. Lulu tried to help him back on, but the acids were turning into a whirlpool and bubbling around. Chris' shouts swiftly turned into laughter as he swam around. "It's wike a hot-tub!" Lulu nervously decided to join him, dropping off the huge candy and allowing the rapids to give her a ride. Dodging massive obstacles as they came towards them, the twins chased each other around playfully until Lulu saw something to one side.
"Cwis, wook over there!" She pointed to a dark object in a crevice, and the two foals used all their strength to resist the currents and head over to the side and inspect the bulky object. As the acids sloshed and illuminated it, the twins gasped in excitement: it was Electric's tiny house. It was small but cosy-looking, with an ornate entrance porch and a Union Jack flying in the winds on a pole alongside, albeit slightly torn from presumable corrosion. Surprisingly, there was even a chimney. More curious than ever, they flew to the window and peered inside. Lulu went and gave the door a push, and to their delight it opened up.
The door creaked and Chris flicked on the light beside it inside. The front hall was deceivingly spacious and had a mounted photograph of Electric and Cutea adorning the mantelpiece. "Awww" Lulu said, as the twins moved through the rooms: there was a tiny kitchen to one side, a small bedroom at the back with a large bed in it, and a settee in the front room which had a comfy sofa and a big TV. All over the house there were framed photos of Cutea, pub glasses scattered, and a few Renaissance sculptures as well. The twins went to the sofa.
"No way does he get signal in here" Chris said, putting on the TV - sure enough, various channels appeared. The house was very charming, and definitely sufficiently cosy for spending the night - they even found a clothes-peg on the floor for particularly pungent nights in here. That was one thing they found bizarre: it was so quiet and calm, and then looking outside the windows reminded you that you were inside an active churning stomach. Indeed, sometimes the juices splashed up against the sides of the house and loud gurgles shook the floorboards, but it was a sturdy build and resisted big shifts from the belly when Cutea must have been moving. With their curiosity at an all-time-high, the foals continued exploring the house and its decor happily.
-----
Cuteamena sat up on the sofa as she heard the front door open. Terrified that it could be the foals' parents returning early, she bolted up and tried to hide some of the mess on the floor. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened and she saw her coltfriend stumble in.
"Hey babe, the door was open" he laughed goofily. He turned back to his mates who had accompanied him, "alright Angel, Dusk..Ban-boi - c-catch you later chaps! Top night lads, cheers...now where was I..." he turned and gave Cutea a cheesy grin.
Cutea rolled her eyes, "you shouldn't be here you goof..." She sat back down on the sofa as Electric took his coat off. "I'm actually working right now."
Electric scoffed, "oh yeah right, you really are earning those bucks hun." He climbed up alongside her and rested his head on her lap.
She folded her arms angrily, "you're one to talk...going off and wasting our money on stupid alcohol like that. I've actually been very responsible and looked after two fillies tonight."
Electric gave her a sarcastic pat on the back, "well done...it's really hard to put two kids to bed isn't it?"
Cutea shot him a glance from above where he lay, and retorted: "Electric, you don't have the guts to be a responsible stallion, look at you all drunk like this" she then moaned slightly, "...ugh speaking of guts, I think I ate too fast..."
Electric's ear twitched as her belly made a strange gurgle right under his head, and he sat upright. That was an abnormal sound, he thought. "Have some cola hun, t-that's the best for tummy-aches" he hiccuped, before adding "I'm gonna go check up on the children you so famously looked after tonight."
"Fine, see if I care...they'll be fast asleep, I tell you now" Cutea said confidently, raising a new soda can to her mouth.
Electric Blue stumbled up the stairs because his wings wouldn't serve him properly. "Ah crap I have to sober up...come on Electric, pull it together mate..." he said to himself, as he walked past the bathroom. "What the-" he stopped and looked inside, seeing two enormous toothbrushes propped up against the wall. I must be seriously drunk. He shook his head and reached the bedroom, slowly and carefully managing to shift the door open. His eyes widened as he saw not only the empty foals' bed with blanket pulled back, but also a mess of products on the floor, an irregularly-sized plushie, and two large stains on the carpet. "Oh Celestia..." he walked in, looking at the black stains on the floor and seeing a familiar photograph on the floor. He burped and blushed, then picking up the photo and trying to piece things together. These foals must have been playing with size spells... but why this picture of us? Concerned, he went to seek a spellbook on the family's bookshelf, and found one which he opened to explain what spells left stains on the floor. Horrified to discover they had indeed altered their size, he dropped the book and hovered with his wings, in case he might crush them underhoof. A picture with Cutea and me in it...playful foals...Cutea's tummy making a weird noise...oh God... Electric's eyes widened further as he fathomed an improbable reality. "Hold on you silly foals, I'm coming..." he said to himself, whipping out his special potion reserve and minimising his size in a millisecond.
At his newly reduced size, the drunk stallion zipped down the stairs. His now-giantess marefriend sat slouched on the sofa, snoring loudly with the TV stil blaring. He rolled his eyes and flew over to her dangling hooves; up her legs and over her skirt he reached her navel. He stood on the fuzzy blue surface and gently pattered his hooves near the belly-button, hoping for a confirmatory response: it took a while but one came back! Dumb adventurous kids, he muttered, before flying up towards the mouth which deafened his ears with its snores. "Aw hun, even from here you're still the pick of the bunch." He blew a kiss up to her, but for now he had to rescue the foals. Hovering over the tongue which drooped out her lips with a stream of drool slowly seeping out, he waited for the next inhale. As he waited, he turned and noticed the mess in the room. He looked up, momentarily considering flying up the nostrils to access Cutea's brain and perhaps wire it to make her tidy up her confounded mess... No. No, get them out first...then you have two more sets of hooves to help tidy up! Cutea's massive throat opened and with an almighty snort he was whisked inside, shooting straight through the open jaws and towards the back of the throat. He couldn't resist giving the uvula a little tug, allowing the gust of air to pass downwards before he did. Eventually he waited for the exhale to pass out the open mouth behind him, before flying down the opening gullet and into the stomach.
Chris and Lulu were still surveying the house inside the belly when an unnaturally-fast movement outside made Lulu freeze. "What is it, Wuwu?" Chris asked, seeing her eyes bulging as she stared out the window.
"I think I saw a ghosty! D...do you think Cutea's tummy is haunted?"
Chris laughed, "don't be siwwy, how can a pony's body be haunted?!"
Lulu was beginning to smile as she re-thought this, but then they both screamed in fear as the front door suddenly swung open dramatically. "YAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" They held each other tight as a dark silhouette stood before them. Moving into the light, they breathed a sigh of relief as the blue stallion stood over them intimidatingly. The faintest of smells of alcohol lingered.
"What are you doing here?" Electric asked, one eyebrow raised sharply on an unamused expression.
The twins huddled together and looked apologetic. "We were wooking for...a pwayground, Mr Electric."
Electric sighed. "And did you find one?"
Lulu sounded more jubilant: "actually yeah! Cutea's mouth was wike a giant fun park and the tummy gave us a water rapids ride."
Electric made an amused huff, and thought to himself how much fun they'd have in the rest of the body in that case... "I think that's enough f-fun for now, we need to get you out or your babysitter will be in big trouble...we don't want Cutea to be in big trouble, do we?" He hiccuped as he spoke. The twins shook their heads. "Alright. Let's go," he gestured to the door, and turning a fond glance back to his humble abode, he shut the door. The twins glanced across the vast expanse of acids: the walls were moving a lot and all sorts of gurgles, bubbles and oozing noises were squelching around them. "We better get out fast, it looks like she's having some indigestion" he commented, offering them a ride on his back as he stretched out his wings.
"Yes there was some more sodiepop that came spwashing down" Lulu offered, as they flew over the fizzing waters. Electric nodded, heading up the sphincter which opened up as some bubbles floated their way upwards. Electric's drunkenness soon began to kick in, as he lazily swerved from side to side of Cutea's throat passage. "I read that you shouldn't drink and fwy," Lulu piped up, and Chris snickered as Electric made a horsey huff and shook his head to concentrate. It was short-lived, however, as they ended up crashing into the sides again, causing the fleshy surfaces to inflame and turn red.
-- Cutea woke up suddenly with a jolt, opening her eyes and feeling a sharp pain in her chest. She coughed continuously, and inbetween coughs she checked her phone - 11:57 - and spoke to herself outloud, "Midnight! Where the *cough* hell are those tardy parents? ...Where is Electric, for that matter? *cough* Typical deserter, he is on such thin ice... *cough*" She spluttered, and as her eyes started watering she pulled herself up from the sofa and went to the sink, pouring a glass of water. --
Back inside her throat, the trio were being rocked around with every cough, hurled around with each massive cough that surged up the passage. Electric had managed to grab the two foals with his arms, and was doing his best to hold them tight as his marefriend coughed more and more. The inflamed sides were just beginning to go down and restore peace when suddenly they heard a rushing sound. "Uh-oh..." Chris said, hoisting his eyes upward and the threesome's eyes bulged as a torrent of water came splashing in from the mouth. With a loud GULP it poured down towards them.
"No, dammit!" Electric cursed, taking the twins and hiding them under his wings, shooting into a crevice in the throat as it all roared passed them down into the stomach. As it cleared - and Cutea sighed happily - the coast was clear. Electric zoomed up the throat with the foals and into the mouth. Landing on Cutea's soft and moist tongue once more, the three of them stared at the jagged lines of enormous teeth clenched shut. "Let's make her sneeze..." Electric said, laughing with a drunken goofiness as he led them towards the roof of the mouth. As he did this, the jaw opened slightly, pouring light in and affording them a chance out. The trio instinctively burst out, darting through the jagged obstacles of the teeth and out of the lips. Electric assembled them and guided them back upstairs. "Before I tuck you into bed little ones, you have to realise that nopony must find out about your little adventure" the twins looked sad, so he continued: "I know you like to share your stories and exciting journeys, but this one must stay quiet for a while - not forever, but for a while."
"We don't wike to wie to our parents" Chris objected.
Electric thought as they reached the bedroom and he pulled out his anti-shrink potion. "If your parents find out about this story, tell them that Cutea showed them a fun playground which Electric went to when he was younger. That way you're not telling a lie, and you're sort-of telling the truth. Okay?" The foals looked somewhat-convinced, so Electric tucked them in and resized the objects in there and the bathroom.
-----
"Electric Blue, where the hell did you go?" Cutea was sitting in the kitchen with her arms folded, a glass of water beside her. "We need to talk about your behaviour..."
Electric looked guilty and sat beside her, hiding a smirk from seeing the water but keeping his eyes fixed with hers. "I'm sorry honey. Next time I'll try and be more reasonable. You mean everything to me and I'd never put booze befo-"
He was cut off as the front-door opened, and Crispin and Louise came in quietly, looking shattered. Thinking of their children, they whispered to the young couple: "So sorry we're late, the performance got delayed. Oh, hello Electric Blue - have you come to pick up Cuteamena? That's sweet of you. How are the foals, did they behave? No meddling I hope." Cutea simply nodded blindly, but Electric replied that he'd just been to see them and they were all tucked in. "Perfect, thank you so much" Louise said, forking out a hooffull of banknotes for Cutea whose eyes widened and she grinned widely.
After they said their goodbyes, the young couple walked out onto the road as the sun was just beginning to rise in the distance. As Cutea gloated about her 'honest day's work', Electric pinched half of the money from her grasp, much to her anger: "Hey, give that back - that's my earnings! And why do I taste alcohol in my throat?!"
The stallion put his arm around her, "I'll explain on the way home, hun."