I | Friends Trapped Inside the Stomach Together
Twilight and Twilight; Tiny Vs. Giant
B_25 & Knarfdarf
And out of the nothingness was how it blazed—blue bolts of electricity sizzling into existence against whipping winds. Air swept over the bending spades of the fields of grass. Many of them, stacked together, sprawling outside of town.
It was here four ponies travelling across the winding dirt path—two stallions and two mares enjoying a double date—slowed to a stop, craning their heads back to the sight in the sky. Electricity spread in a thick, sloped pillar surging downard from each end, crashing together just above the grass.
The ponies shivered at the construction of the electrical circle, unable to behold its size and height as it beamed with power. Its height and width no doubt rose above fifty-feet. The space within the great circle pouring into existence a substance akin to a liquid mirror.
Breaths held, limbs stilled, fear intensifying.
Twilight Sparkle stepped through the portal not expecting it to work, the strange readings of energy from the other side too high to ignore. Even her mind whispered to hold back as her foot phased through the liquid glass—having answers, rather than assumptions, was not worth the risk.
But when she came into the new world, she did so with a boom, a colossal foot crashing into the ground. It sunk deeper into the earth than usual. The sensation so odd it drew her mind from hesitation. Twilight gazed down and across the clinging clothing of her school-uniform, past the hem of her skirt, seeing her dress shoes sunk into the field of green.
That isn't right, Twilight thought while applying more pressure to her foot, feeling it sink inches more. It felt like standing on sand than grass—seeing how superficially plush and weak the grounding had been. That portal really was an entrance to another world then! B-But, for a place exuding PEAKS of energy... this world itself is rather... malleable.
Something reflected in the corner of her glasses. Things looming below and quite small. Her eyes blinked twice at the difference of distance and height between them. They were so far below. Tiny ponies not even reaching the top at the front of her shoe.
Twilight hadn't been standing on mere grass. Oh no. Her foot ceased to be reasonable and instead now colossal. An entire field required to house a single foot, and even then, it sunk to the dirt beneath the grass to bear her weight.
The levels of energy here are astronomical, and yet, the life forms here… are smaller than my fingers. She squatted over the ground, aware those four stood beneath her skirt, able to see the tight white panties clinging to her bottom. The stallions gazed into the world lurking within her skit with amazed expressions plastered on their faces. What's this? The males here are still attracted to me despite our differences in species and sexual orientation?
Could such simple creatures bear the intelligence to understand what they were looking at? Her panties may have been snug, but they still covered her privates well—the doughy underside of purple tush and a revealing camel toe not counting. They know what they’re seeing without hint of anything explicit. They must bear an intelligence above the average for an animal.
And yet, despite this, she blushed.
Humans or animals. It was disrespectful to look up a lady's skirt. With a sweep of her arm toward the group, Twilight swept the four into her palm, curling her fingers into a fist, the heads of all caught above the grip of her hand. Returning to her towering height, she hovered the tinies before her face, peering at them with a narrowed brow.
Parting her lips, she went to speak—only for the growl of her stomach to interrupt.
Oh... that's right. Twilight weakly laughed with flushing cheeks. She'd gotten so caught in opening the portal without celestial means, excited at the first spark of life beyond her own that she didn't break for food. Or to bring any. This may be a problem if getting back home isn't as easy.
Her gaze swept across the fields rolling into the distance, each one a mere step to her foot—a minute of galloping to the tiny ponies—seeing, afar, a glimmering stream curved into the earth, set through a winding path. If the giant lowered her mouth into the trench like she did with a water fountain… then maybe she would get as much water out of it.
The flowing current of a ravine, wide enough to fit five, deep enough for ten to sink, becoming nothing more than a bottle of water for the titan girl. That would take care of the water situation for now. But food. Protein. That’s harder to come by.
Would it? Twilight turned her head slowly back to the ponies wiggly against her palm, their tiny muzzles gazing up at her massive face. Some squaked. That was interesting. Even more so was how unquiely tasty each one looked. I've never eaten a whole animal before.
Twilight yanked the hand underneath her nose, sniffing the bunched snacks. Whispers of shrieks and squeals erupted below. An odd mixture of scents. A tickle of hazelnut, a whiff of strawberry, a dash of cinnamon. Then the freshness of mint flushing a pleasant chill into her lungs.
Another interesting recording. These animals seem to be capable of sounds beyond their usual neighing. Their coats are immaculately clean, and their bodies smell of sweets and other such things. Their scent tends to match their appearance. Is this a natural occurrence?
Those were questions to be filed on a report, but different ones bubbled up, ones more... personal. Their bodies struggled within her hand, forehooves lined across the curving top of her closed fist, pressing tightly on the skin while the bodies within the grip twisted against the purple walls.
It tickled. Their soft furs spinning against her smooth skin, knowing that things soft, tasty and cute, were tiny and caught in her hand. Without quite meaning to Twilight tightened her fist, delighting in the raise of screams; an absolute power that cost her zero effort.
Living things unable to escape the grip of my hand... struggling against it with every effort in their body... held so high in the air... I could walk around with them swinging at my sides. Such cute and helpless things. If their odour is natural... then would that mean...
Even though she was a towering giant, powerful with a miniature world beneath her, Twilight still gazed over her shoulder—as if someone else her height would be standing there, arms crossed over their chest, obviously disappointed in her act.
But what Twilight saw instead was a castle looming in the distance, on the side of some mountains which, to her, was more a hill than anything else. So there were structures here after all? These creatures didn't happen to be the small thing about this world. Everything had been tiny—at least to her.
Now I... I wouldn't normally do this... but it's for the sake of research, right? Twilight hovered her other hand over the group of panicking ponies, letting them pinch over the hazelnut stallion. Plucking him from her hold, she dangled him below her chin. Besides. He was a naughty colt anyway. Staring up at my panties like that.
Twilight drew him close to her lips, seeing his minuscule limbs wave as if batting away the invisible force pulling him close. She giggled. The unfortunate thing was barely the size of her mouth. Deciding to permit mercy—and garner a quick taste—she pressed the stallion into a kiss.
Delicious.
Every strand thick hazelnut teased wonderfully against her lips. Daring to only peek the tip of her tongue in-between them, Twilight licked the stallion's underbelly, the texture of his body spilling a thin substance onto the bed of her tongue. It wasn't much—but the taste was unmistakable.
The taste of creamy chocolate, lightly spread but dense in texture, mouthwatering in deliciousness. Twilight couldn't be blamed when her mouth opened straight away, tilting her head back and letting go of the stallion—letting him drop into her maw.. She closed her eyes in anticipation of milky chocolate goodness melting on her tongue.
Within a few seconds, however, nothing like that happened. Twilight blinked, opening her eyes with confusion—only for it to clear upon settling on the sight. She saw him above, the minuscule thing, forehooves resting on her top lip with hindlegs slipping on her bottom. His body spread out to hold the reach—though his belly arched inward due to awkward positioning.
Self-aware, aren't they? Reacting so quickly.
Had this been a dumb cow tossed into her mouth, well, it wouldn't have been much of a game. But to have a pony knowing the true fear for the power of her maw and the size of her being.
Twilight giggled. Her warm breathes flushed over the tiny stallion poised over her mouth, shifting in place, hooves lifting and setting back on her lips every few.seconds. He was slipping. His footing harder to keep.
How did all of this look from his perspective? Pressing against either lip to keep out of the confines of her mouth, where the bed of her tongue loomed, vines of drool leaking from the ceiling of her mouth—teeth, white, glinting in delight. To be tucked away in such a place that stored food, cutting off access to the outside world with only a closing of a mouth, waiting in moist darkness to be sent away to eternal blackness within a taut purple belly.
Twilight moaned. Unbecoming of her. But even with that thought, her tongue still slithered up, a snake crafted out of a part of her body, teasing its tip across the poor stallion’s face. Her eyes kept on him, letting him know he was being watched, a humiliation as something like her tongue teased while she admired the show.
And then she stuck her tongue out. There was more struggling in her other hand, something her eyes flicked down to catch, seeing the ponies there holding out a hooves toward the stallion. Unready to see their friend eaten alive by a giant girl.
Twilight settled her gaze on the stallion a final time, his pathetic struggling against her lips… adorable. Winking, Twilight swept her tongue over his body, curling around his frame, plucking him inside. He slipped inside with ease, despite fighting, rolling around while his tiny hooves beat on her curve of her tongue.
Oooh! A fighter! Interesting for my research!
The stallion, with her tongue rolled around him, slipped through the tight opening in front of him, landing on with a splash on the squishy grounding. He staggered to the right, then shifted to the left—grazing dangerously close to the bottom row of her teeth.
And he did this, all the while, holding out a hoof to the narrow opening of the cave, where the outside world, safe and free, loomed just beyond. Close. So close to freedom. Only the closer he drew, the harder each step became, the ground tilting up, inch by inch, the slickness of the floor sliding his hooves back.
“No! No! Please! Don't do this!” The cries of the stallion echoed in a whisper from her mouth. So these creatures could speak! With that detail happily in mind, Twilight waited for the creature to hook his forehooves over her raised bottom teeth. “I don't want to go down there! Or be Here! Please! S-Spit me out! Anything!”
The stallion pushed his head past her lips, his outstretched hoof reaching inches further. Freedom so close. Fresh breezes instead of humid breaths making him sweat. His lower half struggled to climb her bottom lip, that was, just as both shut together, sucking his head, with a pop, back into her maw, leaving his hoof, tightly tucked between the cushions of her lips.
It lingered an inch in the free world.
Making sure to gaze over at the little ponies within her hand, Twilight slurped the tiny hoof past her lips, ensuring all had seen her do so. They screamed and cried and fought against her grip. More delightful sensations for her to drink.
Twilight closed her eyes and moaned from the taste on her tongue. Sweet chocolate spreading across her taste buds while minuscule hooves wailed against the interior of her maw.
She giggled. It must have been echoing thunder for the one caught inside her mouth. It became especially cute when the little one slammed into the walls of her cheek, causing them to blow out out the side... only to whip back into his tiny frame.
Alright. That's enough teasing for now.
Twilight pressed her tongue against that same cheek, sliding in low and beneath the hooves of the stallion, pushing on his heels while it shot forward, causing him to collapse backward on her blanket of red. Curling her tongue, so the sides came up like walls, Twilight pulled it, and the stallion, to the back of her mouth, delighting his rolling and rocking in place.
Down you go, my little morsel.
Twilight shut her eyes and tilted her head back, being sure to draw her other hand close to her throat for the little ones to see her great swallow. The tiny stallion flew against the back of her throat. Pulled at once by the tight muscles of her esophagus.
She moaned at his impact, that hazelnut taste, feeling wiggles fighting at the base of her throat. How it struggled against her muscles, ones she hadn't felt before suddenly able to squeeze that little stallion to the limit.
His plump little body swallowed into her throat, his soft coat rubbing against her velvet walls, a bugle so round against her skin that her pussy itched with flames in response to how he felt.
Without thinking, Twilight brought her hand to her exposed throat, pressing the trio of ponies against her smooth skin. She awaited the sensation. Of that fat bulge coursing down, stretching her skin delightfully, sensing the roadblock down ahead.
The poor ponies cried at the rising skin,, the bulge pushing them away to ensure its route downward. A mass of softness, tightly held and quickly pushed, an unstoppable bodily function.
Twilight opened her eyes to the ponies. Their friend tossed in a mouth, played with then swallowed? To feel his form passing down the massive throat, which a giant hand held them against, feeling him go to her belly. A place he could not return from.
Then Twilight felt it. His form slightly too big for her tight passage—which only enriched the experience. His body squeezed beneath her chest, underneath her breasts, reaching the end of her winding tunnel. With a final squeeze, the heft of his body dropped into the sac of her belly, colliding against the ground, sagging her personal pouch—a hiccup of a burp following his impact.
“Mmmhmm!” Twilight’s eyes rolled back from the filling taste, a soft series of struggles pounding from inside her belly. She imagined it. His tiny form running around, every step a tickle against her lining, the way her stomach housed an entire other being feeling beyond delightful. “Not quite a meal—but, without a doubt, a perfect snack.”
Her free hand patted her belly, smacking back the one inside, knocking the stallion onto his rump. Now that was a tingle coursing through her pussy. Here she was, knocking another creature down by simply patting her belly... with him already trapped inside of her. The power—and his humiliation—rubbed her thighs together.
“Now then! It would appear the rest of you are intelligent after all.” Her feet arched over the fields, each step thunderous, leaving a court-wide footprint. “it’s unlikely you're unique from the rest of your kind in that regard. Unfortunately, you three were the first to make contact with me—on an empty stomach.”
Twilight walking through the lands with her eyes set on miniature houses blurred in the distance, the start of some town where the fields of grass began to cease. More of their nature would be there—including the source of the abundant power. If the beeping from the scantron in her outfit pocket were to be believed.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, but since my friends know me for my love of science, they tend to call me Sci-Twi instead.” Twilight raised her other hand behind the held friends. Each seemed stunned by the reveal of her name—that the mint unicorn didn't realize she'd been plucked by those snuck fingers until it was too late. “So they shortened it down to Sci, and I will be the one eating you today.”
She giggled upon leaning back her head, hovering the tiny unicorn over her gaping maw, lolling her tongue out. “I need to be well-fed to ensure I make the best impression on the rest of your kind—and I doubt they'll be able to hear your voices from deep inside my belly.”
The little mare swam through the air with her hooves while being slowly lowered onto the waiting tongue, the tip of her horn charging faintly—but unable to hold any kind of glow. Twilight noted this before offering her final words. “Don't worry! My tummy is pretty tight. You'll be joining your friend pretty soon and, not only that, but all of this is for science too!”
And with that, she dropped the unicorn onto her tongue. An explosion of mint spread across her tastebuds upon slurping the little one inside. Twilight didn't close her mouth right away, allowing the small one to see, from upon laying on her front upon the tongue, the curving rows of teeth, both up and down, and the outside world from within the giant maw. Slowly, the lips closed, the light dying, until all was moist, dim and doomed, low hums of a predator surrounding the prey.
So the friends of four found their picnic, reorganized, into the belly of a giant.
Twilight Sparkle, one of the few ponies with wings and a horn, wasn’t sure what to expect upon hearing the distant booms, the crashing thuds, the creaking of wood and the shouting of townsfolk. Gazing out the balcony of her castle revealed currents of ponies streaming across the street below, one direction, with screams never coalescing.
It was when she had made it down to the streets, fighting through crowds of rushing ponies and ensuring their safety, that she continued in the direction from which they all fled. If none had been willing to slow or stop, then danger was immediate. Not a second could be wasted on sorting her confusion.
Twilight soon found herself nearing the edge of the city. Distant booms grew louder despite the absence of harsh winds. Something big was coming. Maybe some new villain or threat? Shaking her head, she hoped for neither. Even if a great fight was coming, at least it would be with the town cleared, no innocents at risk of being harmed.
“Oh... d-dear Celestia.” Twilight's hooves slowed against the dirt while her head tilted back at the approaching sight, the racing of her heart burning through the veins of her body. Sweating, she stepped back, unable to make sense of anything. “It couldn't be... could it?”
The polished shoe smashed into the ground a few feet away, launching her body, met with a yelp, into the air. Her hooves touched back onto the grass again, trembling. With her head tilted all the way back, she gazed up at her giant, towering human counterpart.
“U-Um hello! Greetings! W-Welcome to Ponyville, uh, m-me!” Twilight pawed a hoof into the ground, keeping her eyes high but lowering her head as much as she could. At least, it helped drain some of the dread from her mind. “I-I don't quite know why you're here. But that's okay! Do you, um, think you could stop stomping your foot around?”
From all the way in the clouds, a glint of those massively wide lenses burned as vastly as the sun, the eyes behind them bigger than moons. With an arched eyebrow, the giant paused in place, bending down into a squat, her colossal frame consuming the entire width of the street.
“Interesting.”
Was that meant to be a good or bad thing? Twilight went to think on the matter—but found her eyes caught with something else. Panties. Vast and long and sprawling. White smoothness looking flexible to the slightest curve. They accentuated what laid beneath. A miniature world manifested inside some cute looking underwear.
It was in this daze that a hand swept to the side of her, clutching her entire frame from the ground and into her palm while the giant rose back up. With a racing heart, Twilight shifted against the soft fingers. She'd been gripped tighter than she liked—but didn't want to call foul yet.
This is another me we're talking about! Maybe she's just here to make contact in this world! She just doesn't know the strength of her size. Noooooo need to freak out. Keep calm, Twilight. DON'T freak out.
Twilight felt her stomach lurch upon flying into the air. The giant held her close, a little too close, the lavender face double the size of a boulder—but far cuter than one. Not entirely comfortable, the giant whipped her head back, seeing a house behind her... which she then sat upon.
The creaking and struggling of wood made Twilight wince within the warm hold of the hand. As much as she hated to admit it, having those long and soft and slender fingers wrapped around her body, holding her weight as she laid straight... felt rather lovely. Especially the fingers wrapped tightly around her rump, squeezing her plump flanks with a delicious amount of pressure.
D-Don't go... t-thinking about that. It's just a byproduct of being held... by a giant hand... by a towering and cute and human version of yourself. Twilight blinked as her counterpart sat down on the house, the structure collapsing under a story underneath the weight of her massive tush. Despite the enormous size of her cheeks, they still appeared rather tight—to be contained in such taut underwear, that was.
Damn it. Trying to stop those thoughts was too much. The towering figure of her other self using something like a house for a chair, the weight of her bottom and the rest of her body causing the building to buckle into itself, struggling to support the giant as it creaked. Those sprawling legs crossing over the other while black socks clung to the pillar of purple skin.
And if they had been any ponies down by that black shoe, they would have looked up, into that wonderful space encased within the dome of the short skirt, the underside of the panties riding up in the area between her crotch and rump.
A view up skirt of massive proportions.
“S-So! Do you mind—I don't know—explaining how you got here in the first place?” Twilight's tail dangled from underneath the hand, its strands brushing against the long wrist. “Coming here before a proper moon shouldn't have been possible! And, not only that, but your size should have snapped your legs like a—“
“Quiet horse!” Suddenly the hand tightened into a vice grip as it clenched the air from her pudgy belly. Twilight wiggled against the increasing pressure while the hand drew her closer to the immense face. “I'm a scientist and you're the subject! That long horn and wings of yours make you the most prestige of your kind, correct?”
The pressure lightened. Twilight drank every breath. Laughing when her lungs were full “W-Well, not that I think so. I may so happen to be one of the princesses of this world. Equestria, that is.” Another series of half-formed giggled spilled out from her lips. “I don't think I'm better than anypony else. But I do possess more magic than most. Same kinda goes with intelligence—n-not that I'm boasting! Hehe… hehehe… heh...”
“Good.” There was something different about the giant Twilight, something cold, yet passionate. A fire burning within ice; pony Twilight knew that part of herself best of all. The times when she lost her soul too deeply in a study or when a part of her cracked from the pressure of being... well, herself. “Since you are an encapsulation of your own kind, then you should be the only specimen I need to take back home.”
Twilight twisted a bit more in her hand—a helpless effort ended when she blinked. “Er, what now?”
“Your kind possess unique properties in a field of power unlike electricity. Despite being tiny creatures, ponies manifest that power with mere generation of your willpower.” The giant rubbed her rump into creaking house, crunching further upon itself, carving the shape of her shapely derriere. “And I must add, you ponies smell and taste to your appearance. This makes the components of your body interesting for testing.”
“T-Testing!?”
“Don't fear! No great harm will become you, smaller me.” The massive girl licked her tongue across her lips, the tiny pony kicking for life against her hand. “Having another pet about my body will prove to be a pleasant experience. There are... many opportunities for us to explore with you at that size. Surely a pinch of narcissism won't hurt us.”
“Hahaha. That's... where we're going to have to disagree.” Twilight charged her horn to a blinding light, momentarily causing the giant to reel away, the screen of her other hand floating in the way. With only one shot strong enough to stun the giant—chancing it on her hand seemed foolish. “Sorry house!”
Twilight tilted her head down as her horn blasted with magic, a brilliant lavender beam shooting into the house crunched underneath the giant’s heavy ass—the foundation of wood exploding upon contact. The structure crumbled at once, the panty-clad butt bursting through the ceiling as the rest of her staggering body breaking into a tilting fall.
Twilight felt the long fingers slip from around her frame, casting her back into the air. Recovering from a heavy spell wasn't easy, especially when opening her wings felt like lifting the world. She managed one flap as air whipped around her, the side of her body crashing into the ground—her wing softening the fall at the cost of spraining itself.
“Curses!”
Twilight climbed to her hooves, weakly glancing over her shoulder as the titan of purple came crashing into the ground as well. Her monolithic frame corrected itself in place, the thin dome of her massive skirt strewn over her stomach, revealing the field of panties pulled in between her towering legs.
Had the situation been different, the two gentle and getting to know each other, then maybe the pony wouldn't have minded swimming around on the other side of those undies. But while her other self was still somewhat hostile—there would be no risking giving her any more power.
“Hey!” The giant shook her disortanted head, the gaze beneath the frames of glass settling upon Twilight’s meagre form. “Is that how it's going to be? Maybe you deserve to spend some time inside my stomach after all!”
W-What kind of escalation is that!?
Twilight turned and started to sprint, not in the same direction the ponies of the town fled to—like it or not, her giant was her responsibility. No more lives could be risked. Instead, she dashed left, the constant vibration beneath her hooves teasing at what quaked behind her.
“Quit running!” Thud after thud. Hooves floating inches above the ground with every impact. Twilight yelped every time black shoes stomped into the ground around her, jolting her hooves into a stumble in the opposite direction—just as the other foot came crashing down. She straightened herself forward just in time, keeping, directly underneath the giant girl. “Keep this up and I won’t mind having you under my foot instead!”
Twilight kept running zig-zag, avoiding the crashing of the foot by seconds and inches, the towering titan trying to stomp her like a pesky bug. Even when she slipped into a tight alley nestled between two houses, the side of a foot swung into their sides, through them, clearing the structure clear from their foundations with their contents spilling onto the streets.
Twilight tripped out onto the road, rolling onto her front and lying dazed for a moment, drained. Distant thuds ceased for a second. That was until the thick shadow passed over her frontal lying body. Lifting her head, Twilight gazed up, up to the underside of the foot raised over her. Its long side allowing a view inside the skirt looming overhead.
"Take this!" The foot crashed down into Twilight, who gasped while she rolled out of the way, right onto her hooves.
Think, Twilight, Think! Dashing into the street again and cutting through another alley would only trap her for good. Gazing upward, the interior of the large skirt loomed overhead, the thighs shifting with the movements of the long legs—contained cheeks pressing harder against the fabric whenever a foot was lifted. Don't think about THAT! What is wrong with you? If you can't find a way to beat her—then Ponyville is as good as finished!
But it was through thinking about the giant that the tiny came to her answer. Something so large suddenly here? She must have come through a portal, one different from the one in the Crystal Empire. That one must have accommodated for the difference in sizes when one went through.
But if this one preserved that size, or perhaps enhanced it, then that meant...
Twilight quickly slid to a stop, falling on her plush rump while the shapely shadow passed overhead, the massive black shoe crushing into a bridge over the river. The giant then passed over head, standing on the opposite side of the ravine—a hand on her hip. “It appears your days of running are over. You're a magical type, aren't you? Since I'm taking us back to my world, you may want to cast a spell to keep yourself safe while being inside of here.”
The giant patted her belly, the last pat keeping hand against the taut tummy, rubbing circles in delight. Strangely enough, Twilight felt her privates burn at the idea. Being that size with others inside of her.
We're... really alike, aren't we?
Twilight may have enjoyed the idea. However, she didn't want to be the one trapped inside another. Charging her depleted horn a final time, its tip searched and sense for a presence of magic, power overwhelming, catching the trace of something great.
And just as the giant swooped her hand for her again, the flash of Twilight's horn captured her body, blinking it out of existence, leaving nothing for the hand to claim again.
Twilight Sparkle landed with a weak thud onto the grass, its spades tickling her soft belly. Her limbs ached and her mind flaked. Her tail had flicked over her back, leaving her behind exposed, the breeze on her burning folds cooling them.
Hazily, she rose to all fours, stumbling in place, feeling the sizzle of something great manifest before her. Gazing up, she stared into the sprawling height of the magical portal, held together by blue electricity—a kind she'd never quite seen before.
Something not quite like magic, but without a doubt, rather close to it.
Phew! This was a worthwhile gamble after all. Giant me must have come through this. Shaking her head, Twilight held a hoof to the vertical, liquid lake of a mirror, keeping it hovered mere inches from.
If this plays right... Twilight charged her horn a final time, not to cast magic, but rather, to receive the essence spewing off the portal. ...then when I make my return, my battle with myself will be a fair one.
Taking the chance and risking the hit, the little alicorn stepped through the giant portal, swallowed by it. Light ripples flowed across the liquid surface as he sunk into it—settling moments later.
All the same with nothing having been changed.