Missing Ponies
Scarlet Flame, a unicorn mare bundled up tight in a thick coat, boots, and a warm facial cover with snow goggles, waded through the snow. Three ponies missing, all from the same town, Winter's Vale. All gone within a few days of each other. The most recent one had gone missing just last night. Scarlet was determined to find them. She had been searching for some ancient ruins rumored to be in the area when she had stumbled upon Winter's Vale late into the evening. Staying at the town Inn, she woke that morning to a cry proclaiming another pony had gone missing. Scarlet knew this was her chance, so she vowed to the worried townsfolk she would find the missing ponies and their abductor.
Scarlet had consulted nearly the entire town for a lead, only to find that most of them were as clueless as she was. Winter's Vale had no weather team, so snow and especially fog were common at night, which limited visibility. Although, Scarlet noted that many ponies reported feeling watched, some even claiming to have seen eyes looking at them through the fog, but nopoby reported such sightings in clear weather.
Tracing the steps of last night's victim, Scarlet found that his hoofprints became more erratic, indicating some kind of struggle, before disappearing entirely. Noticing a patch of cloth visible through a nearby bulge, Scarlet wiped away a thin layer of snow to find the victim's saddle bags. They must have fallen off when he was taken. An idea struck her suddenly, if she could find a big enough sample of the Victim's DNA, she could try casting a location spell. Scarlet wasn't powerful enough to locate a pony without a sample of their essence, so she rummaged through his bags hoping to find one, and hoping he wouldn't mind. Water, a beanie, some trail mix, a flashlight, aha! A comb! And it still had some of his mane hairs in it!
She gathered them together before hastily shoving everything else back into the pack. She would return the pack later, the sooner she followed this lead the better. Concentrating on her horn, Scarlet cast her spell. The clump of hairs were consumed in the process. Although she couldn't sense an exact location, she did get a strong sense of his direction and distance. West, nearly three miles. Directly into a thick forrest that bordered the town. Of course, if she were kidnapping ponies Scarlet supposed she would take them into a spooky forest too. With no time to lose, Scarlet set off at a brisk trot.
After miles of traveling, Scarlet Flame emerged on the other side of the forest. The weather became less favorable, a thick fog was rolling over the land, obscuring the treeline behind her. Scarlet pushed onward, determined to keep going. She could sense she was close to her target, though the spell was quickly fading. But as she kept walking she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched...
Scarlet stopped as she felt the ground rumbling softly beneath her hooves. She craned her ears to locate the source. It almost sounded like... steps, and they were getting closer. The sensation of being watched intensified. Scarlet briefly considered making a run for the treeline, but there was no time. The fog cleared enough for her to glimpse the approaching creature.
It was massive, easily three or four stories tall. It walked on four legs ending in hooves, overall it strongly resembled a giant pony. Only it couldn't be. Last time Scarlet checked, ponies, especially giant ones, left hoofprints behind them. But behind the behemoth was not so much as a divet in the snow. It's as if it was light enough not to leave prints, but the soft rumble with each step said otherwise. Its legs and barrel were covered with thick fur that thinned around Its head and muzzle. Now up close, Scarlet could also tell by the shape of its body that it was likely female. The giant regarded Scarlet almost inquisitively as it came to a stop in front of her, bending her neck to place her head just in front of Scarlet.
Scarlet sat in awe, temporarily forgetting any potential danger as her brain tried to catch up to her eyes. This must be a Frost Pony! Which, despite their name, weren't actually Ponies but did resemble them strongly. Scarlet had heard tales of them, they were exceedingly rare magical creatures rumored to leave no hoofprints despite their size, live in very cold environments, and have a diet consisting mainly of live animals! ...Wait what was that last one again? Scarlet's spell finally wore off at that moment, snapping her out of her trance as she realized that, just before it had failed, the spell was pointing directly to the Frost Pony before her. Scarlet swallowed nervously, ears folding back as she realized the situation she was in. The Frost Pony seeing this, gave a small, sly smile. She must know what Scarlet just realized.
Scarlet turned to gallop back to the cover of the forest behind her, but was stopped by a pair of teeth closing just in front of her. In one quick motion, the giant had lunged forward and scooped Scarlet along with the snow beneath, into her mouth. Scarlet barely had time to register her new predicament when the floor beneath her suddenly came alive. "Hey!" Scarlet protested as the tongue eagerly rolled her around, separating Scarlet from the snow she was taken with. Gulp the excess snow was swallowed and the tongue temporarily became still, leaving Scarlet still in the humid maw, on her side with her head facing the large teeth at the front. As Scarlet tentatively got to her hooves in the sudden stillness, she made some observations. The flesh inside this giant's maw was not red, instead it was a shade of blue. Furthermore, there was a very faint but still visible bioluminescent glow, emmenating from the back of the throat. Lastly, though it was hard to tell for sure since she was wearing her winter gear, it still felt rather cold, not as cold as outside, but still not at all as hot as one would expect from a living creature of this size. Scarlet's thoughts were interrupted by a noise coming from behind her, which might have been interpreted as a mildly annoyed hum.
The tongue came alive once more, causing Scarlet to slip and fall down again. She scrambled for purchase but was ultimately helpless as she was maneuvered partway under the looming teeth. Scarlet screamed as she could only watch the massive molars come down on her hooves, but instead of smashing down they simply held her booted legs gently but firmly in place. Scarlet had only a moment of confusion before the tongue writhed and pulled at her pinned form, until her front two hooves popped out of their boots. A soft phtoo signaled the offending footwear being spit out, while the process was repeated with her rear hooves. Now without her boots, Scarlet had next to no traction on the slippery tongue.
Seemingly satisfied with her meal's lack of hoofwear, the Frost Pony made to swallow her food, jacket and all. Scarlet's heart skipped a beat as she felt the tongue pushing her back towards the gaping throat. "W-Wait!" She shrieked, feeling her rear legs sliding over the back of the tongue. The uvula dangled tauntingly above her as the tongue undulated, pressing Scarlet into the open esophagus. She barely had time to scream before- Gluck! -she was pulled down by powerful muscles.
As Scarlet was squeezed down the wet velvety tube, she could feel through her exposed hooves that it was actually getting colder as she descended. Eventually, she felt her rear legs hit a ring of tight muscle, which resisted her for a moment before loosening to let her through. She was deposited into a small pouch that was, in all likelihood, the stomach. The fleshy stomach walls were a deep blue color, like the mouth but a little darker of a hue. The walls were moist with and a few small clumps of discolored slush adorned the floor, but otherwise there wasn't really any stomach acid. Oh also, it was cold. Not dangerously cold, especially with Scarlet's jacket, but still a shock regardless. The space was only big enough to comfortably fit two or three ponies, and if Scarlet stood on her back legs she was sure she could touch the roof of the stomach with her forelegs, if only barely
Like the throat, the stomach posessed a blue bioluminescent glow, dimmer at the bottom and brighter at the top. Although still not all that bright, it gave enough light for Scarlet to see her prison in unwanted detail, as well as its other occupant. Said occupant was a cobalt blue stallion currently in the process of being pulled headfirst through another ring of muscle, near the floor opposite from the side Scarlet entered. Scarlet's mind went totally blank after noticing her roommate, long enough for the stomach contractions to pull the hapless stallion another few inches into the sphincter with a wet slurch. He was in up to his shoulders, only his barrel, rear legs, and short tail still occupying the chamber. Scarlet froze. Her mind screamed for her to grab onto the stallion, but her hooves were rooted to the floor. Meanwhile the stallion was up to his midsection and vanishing fast. His legs bucked weakly but he had no purchase.
Finally, Scarlet snapped out of her stupor and lunged forward, attempting to grab onto the flailing legs, but his fur was soaked with slick predigestive fluids, combined with his squirming she couldn't get a good grip. He was in up to his flanks now, the muscles pulling him in further with ease. Scarlet lost her hold and fell onto her back, unable to do anything but watch in abstract horror and morbid curiosity as the stallion disappeared before her, his legs finally vanishing behind the ring of muscle with a sickening Slurk followed by an ominous Growl~ and then silence, save for the Frost Pony's beating heart.
Scarlet had found last nights missing pony.
She stared at the now tightly closed passage that had swallowed up the poor stallion, coming to the realization that the chamber she was in was not, in fact, the stomach proper. She was in some kind of forestomach, and while she wasn't an expert on Frost Pony biology, judging by the soft churning coming from beneath her, she was certain she did not want to experience whatever chamber lay beyond that passage. A drop of moisture fell from the ceiling, landing on Scarlet's jacket. The soft splat caused her to look at the spot it had landed, her eyes passing one of the lumps of discolored slush as she did. Looking for a distraction, she idolly poked at it with a hoof. The slush shifted, revealing what looked like a scrap of yellow fabric. With a start she examined the other lumps of slush, finding more digested fragments of what must once have been a jacket. "It digests your clothes... and then you..." she thought out loud with a wince.
She took several deep breaths to calm herself. She had a way out, after all. Her "get out of jail free card." Her escape jewel. Scarlet Flame was far from the most powerful unicorn out there. She wasn't skilled enough to teleport and she doubted she had any kind of spell that would get her out of this, but fortunately she had the foresight to purchase a pre-enchanted item. She pulled it from her jacket pocket, a tiny crimson red jewel in the shape of a hexagonal prism. All she had to do was crush it, and she would be instantly teleported a short distance, easily far enough to get out of any life-and-death situation. But it was a one time use only. And expensive. Right now, it was worth every bit. If she could escape, she could warn the town to either move or get backup.
She resisted the urge to use it right then and there. As much as she wanted to get out, she realized that if she were to use it now, she risked appearing within sight of the Frost Pony, which she had little chance of outrunning. No, she would have to wait until her "host" fell asleep. Then she would make her move. Taking deep, even breaths, Scarlet tried to distract herself from her current predicament. On the bright side, this would make one heck of a story to tell. All she could do now was wait, and position herself as far as possible from the deadly passage.
Hours passed, her host's beating heart and the soft groans from the stomach the only ambience. Scarlet's jacket had suffered the effects of the predigestive fluids around her. It clung to her loosely, the sleeves having tattered and frayed. Despite its condition it still provided some warmth, so she kept it on. Her stomach growled, clearly unsatisfied with the meager trail mix and fruit slices Scarlet had on her. She cursed herself for not coming more prepared. She couldn't sleep, even if she wanted to, as the swaying of the stomach as her host walked continously disturbed any kind of stillness. But she waited patiently despite this. Nearly twenty minutes ago, her host had layed down, if the sudden ninety-degree rotation of her prison had been any indication. Scarlet listened intently as her host's breaths slowed, her heart following suit. Scarlet had to be certain the Frost Pony was asleep before using her escape jewel. Finally, the muffled sound of a snore reached her. "Alright" she said softly, "here goes nothing..."
She placed the small jewel in her mouth and bit down hard. There was a flash of light, and then the stomach was empty.