It was a fine, sunny afternoon in Vanhoover as Verdant Range made his way to a building called the Vanhoover Institute for Science and Technology. It was a large, five story building that was a pristine white color with sparkling windows. The facility’s name was carved above the entrance that he slowly trotted towards.

What had drawn the shamrock colored stallion to this place was a flier he had seen a few days prior. Reaching into his saddlebags, he pulled out the slip of paper and re-read what was written upon it.

Test-subject wanted for experiment that may change long distance travel as we know it. For more information, inquire at lab number thirteen on the third floor of the Vanhoover Institute for Science and Technology, located at Forty-Six, Sunlight Street. Pays handsomely.

Those last two words had especially gotten Verdant interested in what this experiment could be, so he thought this would be a good way to spend his day off.

As he made his way into the building, he saw that walls were a pale blue that contrasted the dark gray tiled floors. Before him stood a dark pink unicorn stallion with a burgundy mane sitting in front of reception desk.

“Can I help you, sir?” the unicorn asked as Verdant trotted closer.

“Uh, yes. I’m here for-” Verdant started to speak as he held up the flier to the unicorn, only to be cut off.

“Ah, you’re here for High Gear’s thing. Excellent.” The secretary stallion said as he glanced over his shoulder to down the hall on his right. “There’s a elevator that’ll drop you off right in front of her lab. Have a nice day.”

“Thank you,” Verdant replied as he trotted down towards the midway point of the hallway that was lined with doors. From what he could see within, he saw ponies working on all sorts of strange devices that looked like they belonged in one of the Star Trot serials.

The stallion pressed the button beside the elevator to be instantly greeted with a loud ding and the doors opening wide for him. With a small swallow, the emerald earth pony quickly entered the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.

Man, I never thought I’d see an elevator in a place like Vanhoover before. They just seem like more of a Manehattan or Canterlot thing. Verdant thought to himself as he felt the elevator start to move. The fur on the back of his neck started to bristle until the elevator stopped and the doors opened up once more.

Verdant stepped out onto a floor that was nearly identical to the first floor, only with the walls a light red instead of blue. After a few moments, he came to a door with a large number thirteen on it.

“Hello?” Verdant cautiously asked as he stepped inside a room with all sorts of strange equipment, ranging from all sorts of tools, covered wires on the floor with a large pad in the center of the room and a console of some kind at the back. “Is anypony here?”

“One sec!” a scratchy, feminine voice called out from behind the console, a blue hoof raising and waving before a bespectacled mare emerged. The mare trotted out from behind the console, revealing a set of different colored gears upon her light blue flank. “How can I help you?”

“Hello. Are you Dr. High Gear?” Verdant trotted closer to the mare, careful to not trip over any of the wires and cables.

“The one and only.” High Gear smirked and ran a hoof through her violet mane. “Guessing you’re here for the ad I placed?”

“Yes, Doctor,” Verdant happily answered. “Could you tell me a bit about what this experiment’s about?”

“Sure thing,” High Gear said with a sparkle in her orange eyes. “What I’ve built is a long range teleportation device.” She giddily trotted up to the room’s pad, proudly standing atop it. “This baby will take whoever and whatever you want and instantly move it to another location!”

“Can’t unicorns already teleport stuff and themselves?” Verdant titled his head as he stepped closer to the teleporter.

“Yes, but this is much different.” Gear’s tone was dripping with pride as she stepped down from pad. “For one thing, very few unicorns have the skill to teleport while my machine will teleport anyone and anything. Secondly, for the few unicorns that can teleport, the usual maximum range is between thirty and forty-five feet whereas this is set up to teleport you to send whoever or whatever we’re gonna teleport to a sister lab we’ve set up in Baltimare. And last but certainly not least, this form of teleportation doesn’t involve magic. This uses electrical energy as its power source to deconstruct the subject, instantaneously transport and reassemble them. This way, should there be some sort of anti-magic field or someone is able to drain away all the magic in Equestria, this machine will still function.”

“Alright then,” Verdant said as he brought of hoof to his chin. “Have you tested this on a pony before?”

“Not yet,” the doctor answered as she moved back behind the console. "But we’ve tested it on inanimate objects, plants and even some test rats. Save for this one thing where a plant was lost, they all turned out perfectly fine.”

“In that case, why not test if it works yourself?” Verdant inquired.

High Gear gave a roll of her eyes as she grabbed a clipboard from the console. “One, because someone needs to be behind the console to operate the machine and two, no reputable scientist would use themselves as a guinea pig for their experiments.”

“Alright.” Verdant swallowed as he trotted over to the approaching mare. “Is there anything I need to do before we test this thing out?”

“Just got to sign a waiver and then we can get started.” Gear handed the clipboard over to Verdant, who quickly started going over contract.

“Hmm…” Verdant closely checked over every word of the paper, recalling his mother’s lessons on reading every last detail of a contract. “Alright, everything seems to check out.”

“Perfect!” High Gear said as she ducked behind the console once more before emerging with a pen in her mouth.

After a somewhat awkward passing of the pen between their mouths, Verdant had signed his name on the waiver.

“Fantastic,” Gear said with a grin, pulling the clipboard away and dashing behind the console once more. “Now, all you have to do is stand on the teleporter and you’ll be in Baltimare in no time.”

“You got it, Doctor.” Verdant gave the mare a salute before slowly stepping onto the teleporter pad.

“All systems are go. Teleport in three… two… one… go!” High Gear exclaimed as she flipped the switch. The pad below Verdant started to light up beneath him and he felt a slight tingle in his fur.

Gear was grinning like a madmare as the light grew brighter and brighter beneath the stallion’s hooves. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until a loud bang came from within the console, causing it to billow smoke.

“Shit! Abort!” High Gear screeched as she reached for the switch, but the room was engulfed in a bright light.

When the light died down and the whir of the machines faded to nothing, High Gear gazed over the console, seeing the teleport pad was now completely empty with no sign of the shamrock stallion.

“Oh… crap…” High Gear whispered as she rushed over to the pad, looking for any trace of the missing pony. “Please be okay… wherever you are…”

In a brief flash, Verdant found himself falling in a dark room. The stallion’s scream echoed about before he landed in some liquid.

Disoriented from the crash, Verdant eventually managed to breach the surface of the liquid, gasping for air.

“Doctor?” Verdant called out, trying to see if he could see anything in the darkness, only seeing some vague shapes in the distance. “Please tell me the teleport room’s just flooded and has the lights turned out…”

The only reply Verdant received was a faint echo.

After a moment of quiet, the emerald earth pony noticed a scent that seemed to come from whatever he was swimming in. It was a scent the was oddly familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite place where he’d smelt it before. In a moment of curiosity, he stuck his face into the brew and took a long sip.

Swishing the mystery fluid around, Verdant soon realized what the drink was.

“Hard cider? Why is there a giant lake of…” Verdant stopped as what had happened quickly dawned on him. “Oh Faust curse it, did I get shrunk again?”

Far in the distance, a loud creak reached Verdant’s ears as light began to pour into the room, revealing to the earth pony that he was trapped within one of countless bottles full of cider that lined the shelves of the cellar they were in.

Looking towards the source of the light, Verdant saw image of a earth pony filly that was slowly sneaking her way down the cellar’s stairs.

The colossal yellow filly moved as stealthily as she could, somewhat undermined by the fact she was humming a tune that Verdant recognized from a spy movie.

Seeing no sign of other ponies, the youngster stuck crept low to the ground as she moved closer to the bottle of cider Verdant was in.

“Uh… little girl,” Verdant swallowed and backed away in the brew as the bow-clad filly drew closer. “I know lots of kids want to try grown-up drinks, but don’t grab this b-”

The shrunken stallion was interrupted by when the girl lunged her face forward and grabbed the bottle with her teeth, slamming Verdant about and giving him a horrifying view of her inner mouth.

A wave of cider pulled Verdant under as the filly tossed the bottle into her saddlebags, engulfing him in darkness once more.

Verdant had only managed to reach the surface of the cider once more before he found himself tossed about by the giant foal running back up the stairs.

Apple Bloom reached the top of the cellar stair and gazed out towards the orchard, seeing no sign of her older siblings, her grandmother or any other ponies that could get her in trouble.

Moving quickly and quietly, she got out and closed the cellar door before bolting towards a tree in a more secluded part of Sweet Apple acres that held a clubhouse she had proudly rebuilt for her and her friends.

The young filly swiftly darted up the ramp to the clubhouse, where she found her her close friends, an orange pegasus and a marshmallow white unicorn waiting for her.

“Did you get it, Apple Bloom?” The pegasus, Scootaloo, whispered, just in case there was anypony nearby that could overhear and get them in trouble.

“Eeyup,” Apple Bloom gleefully said as she pulled the bottle from her bags and set it before them on a table. “You shoulda seen me. Ah was like a ninja getting this.”

“You’re sure this is the cider we’re not supposed to have?” The last of the trio, Sweetie Belle asked as she carefully eyed the bottle.

“Sure as shootin’. Watch this!” Apple Bloom grabbed the bottle by the neck, giving the brew (and the tiny pony within) a vigorous shaking. Setting the cider back on the table, the trio saw a bubbly foam rising up towards the top. “Y’see? Hard cider foams up like a soda, but regular cider just kinda sits there like juice.”

“This is gonna be great!” Scootaloo grinned as she bounced in place. “Grown-ups say this stuff is for them only, but I figure if we all drink it, we’ll be bound to get our cutie marks!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom cheered. “We could get a bottle, or a mug, or a stein, or a keg, or-”

“Or like one of the wine glasses my sister has!” Sweetie leaned closer to the bottle. “So… how do we decide who goes first?”

“How ‘bout Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Apple Bloom said as she pulled away from the table. Her compatriots nodded in agreement as they moved to different parts of the room, making them equally stand apart.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot!” The trio spoke in unison. Scootaloo and Sweetie deftly crossed their forelegs over while Apple Bloom kept hers firmly locked together.

“Ha! Rock smashes Scissors! Ah win!” The bow-clad filly grinned as she walked back to the table.

“I would have won if we were playing Rock, Donut, Thursday,” Scootaloo pouted and crossed her forelegs.

“Well we didn’t, so…” The earth pony punctuated her sentence with a raspberry as she twisted the cap off the drink and brought the bottle up to her face.

Within the bottle, Verdant found everything to be spinning from the intense shaking the little filly had given it.

“Urgh…” the emerald pony groaned as he tried to keep afloat. “This was supposed to be an easy day off. A quick little trip, I get a bunch of bits and I go home happy to enjoy a lazy Sunday. Fan-friggin-tastic.”

Just as the earth pony had managed to get his stomach to settle, he felt the bottle shaking once more as the little filly grabbed the bottle and twisted the cap off, making the brew bubble up closer to the top.

Verdant could only gaze on in terror as the bottle was being tilted up towards the filly’s mouth as it slowly opened.

“Uh… Miss… Apple Bloom, please don’t drink this stuff! Or me!” Verdant screeched, his voice unheard by any of the fillies. He tried to struggle against the current as the waves of cider start to flow into the giant girl’s gaping maw. “Stop! This stuff’s bad for you! I’ll tell!”

The shamrock stallion fought to swim against the flow, but it was as if a minnow was challenging a tsunami. The poor pony soon found himself pulled into Apple Bloom’s mouth. He could see the sight of the bottle pull away from her lips before her tongue swished through the flooded chamber, slamming Verdant from one cheek to the next and savouring the flavor before she gulped it all down.

The speck of a stallion was dragged downward with the cider fall until he landed in a pile of apple scented mush within her stomach. Whatever apple food she had eaten before had long since become an apple sauce.

“This is unbelievable,” Verdant groaned as he pulled himself up before a ear splitting boom echoed all about.

After her swig of the cider, Apple Bloom let out a loud belch that echoed throughout the orchard and briefly woke her grandmother from an afternoon nap.

“So, how’d it taste?” Sweetie Belle said as the earth pony set the bottle back on the table.

“Not too bad. Pretty good cider,” Apple Bloom replied before giving her throat a rub. “Just a heads up, it makes yer throat burn a bit after drinkin’ it.”

“Okay,” the unicorn filly nervously said as she picked up the bottle. “Here goes nothing!” Sweetie tilted the bottle back, taking a few large chugs of the bottle.

“My turn!” Scootaloo said, grabbing the bottle the second Sweetie Belle finished and chugging what remained of the cider down.

“Alright, now fer the big test!” Apple Bloom exclaimed before the three faced their flanks… only to groan in disappointment at the sight of them still being as blank as the they they were born. “Shoot. Another bust!”

“Well,look on the bright side,” Sweetie cheerfully said. “At least there’s a bunch of other stuff to try for our cutie marks we can do.”

“Alright, Sweetie. So, what’s next to try?” Scoot asked as she slipped the empty bottle into her saddlebags.

The unicorn filly darted over to a crate with a clipboard on top, listing the day’s plans. “Oh! There’s a big speed eating contest at the Hayburger! For just ten bits per entrant, you can enter a competition to win free Hayburgers for a year!”

“Awesome!” the pegasus beamed from ear to ear before bolting out of the clubhouse and landing by her scooter and wagon. “C’mon! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get champion speed eating cutie marks!”

“Hold on there!” Apple Bloom called out as she and Sweetie followed down the ramp. “Ah need a minute to head to the house an’ use the bathroom.”

“Just go behind a tree. They could probably use a watering,” Scootaloo as she strapped her helmet on, which made an angry blush cross Apple Bloom’s face.

“Ah don’t just have to pee, Ah have to go number two as well!” Apple Bloom grumbled as her hindlegs fidgeted.

“Then give the trees some fertilizer while you water them. No big deal. Now hop on!” Scootaloo stomped a hoof impatiently, making the bow-clad filly’s glare become more intense.

“Ah ain’t doing that!” Apple Bloom bellowed as she stomped out to the pegasus. “Not only could Ah get in trouble is someone finds it, but Winona might end up eatin’ that darn thing!”

“Girls, c’mon! T.M.I.!” Sweetie shouted as she hopped into the wagon. “Are you trying to make me sick before we can get to the competition?”

Scootaloo sighed as she laid her chin on the handlebars. “Fine, but try to be quick about it.” She looked towards Apple Bloom as she spoke but only spotted a trail of dust zoom as her friend bolted towards the barn house.

Verdant groaned as he laid against the stomach wall. From what he could tell, the energetic filly that ate him had done quite a bit of running before forcing her unwitting passenger to listen to the sounds of her relieving her bladder and bowels.

Now however, things had reached a relative calm as he assumed she was now just sitting in her friend’s wagon as it was pulled along. This provided the shrunken stallion with enough peace to let him think about his current predicament.

“Let’s see… what can I do to get out of here…” Verdant said aloud as his eyes wandered around the stomach, seeing acid pouring in from the walls and turning the filly’s previous meal into a liquid mush that was being pulled through a hole at the far end of her stomach.

“Nope! Nopenopenopenopnopenope!” the trapped stallion shook his head at the thought. “Going through someone’s butt is bad enough, but there’s no way in Tartarus that I’m going anywhere near a little filly’s butt! That’s just one step too far!”

With a sigh, Verdant’s gaze wandered the stomach once more, casting his eye towards the valve that dropped him into Apple Bloom’s stomach. “Guess my best bets are to either hope she eats too much at this contest thingie or try to crawl my way up there when she’s asleep or something…”

“ALRIGHT, GIRLS! WE’VE MADE IT JUST IN TIME!” the giant filly’s voice boomed all about before everything quaked, tossing Verdant around the stomach like a bug. “TIME TO GET OUR GRUB ON!

“Alright, girls! We’ve made it just in time!” Apple Bloom excitedly exclaimed as she hopped out of the wagon. “Time to get our grub on!”

“This is gonna be great!” Scootaloo shouted as she bolted from her scooter towards the door. “We’ve got this in the bag!”

“Yeah! This’ll be great!” Sweetie said as she caught up to her two friends.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, SPEED EATERS!” the three shouted in unison as they entered the fast food restaurant, not caring that their shout drew the eye of many an employee and customer.

The crusaders spotted a plump employee standing behind a cardboard stand with a bunch of forms before him.

“Hey there!” Apple Bloom smiled as she came up to the mare. “Mah friends and Ah would like to enter the contest.”

“Sure thing,” the cream colored pegasus gave the three a nod as she slipped them some papers. “Just sign your names and pay the entry fee and you’ll be all set to start.”

After the three tossed some small bags of bits at the mare and took care of their papers, the trio were sent over to a table that a few other foals were sitting, eagerly awaiting the contest to begin.

Only a few minutes passed until the mare that had registered them left the stand, trotting over to the contestants’ table.

“Mares, Stallions and people of all species, welcome to the Hayburger Speed Eating Contest, Junior division!” She called out, drawing the eyes and applause from what patrons were able to take their eyes off their meals. “My name’s Drumstick and we have quite the stiff looking competition. Soon, one of these lucky foals will trot away with a pass for free hayburgers for a year.” The plump pegasus covered her mouth and quickly spoke. “Limit of one per day. Some other restrictions may apply.”

“We’re gonna take these other foals down,” Apple Bloom grinned and gave Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle high hooves.

“Quick rundown of the rules,” Drumstick raised her voice once more. “If you leave the table or suffer a ‘Roan Incident’, you are disqualified. You’ll each be provided glasses of water that will be refilled as needed.”

“What’s a Roan Incident?” Sweetie whispered as she leaned over to Scootaloo.

“That’s when you barf during the contest,” Scootaloo replied, making the marshmallow filly’s white coat become somewhat green.

“Are you ready?” Drumstick asked as a bunch of platters full of burgers was levitated over to the table. “On your mark… get set… go!”

As soon as the plump pegasus said go, Apple Bloom grabbed a burger and quickly chewed it to bits, swallowing it down.

“Hope you’re having fun, kid.” Verdant swallowed as he heard the sound of Apple Bloom’s approaching meal. “I know I won’t.”

The upper valve opened up, dropping a large collection of mashed up burger into her stomach. Verdant was barely able to jump out of the way before he could be buried by the former sandwich splashing into the acid.

“Well, one down. So that should buy me some OH FAUST!” Verdant was stunned as a second chewed up burger came dropping down into the stomach before he could even catch his breath. The shamrock stallion tried to hop out of the path of the falling food, only for the ABC’d sandwich to bury him alive.

Verdant was relieved that the burger’s thick remains were light enough for him to push his way through, allowing him to breach the surface just as more bits of burger plopped down near him.

“Hopefully she gets full soon…” Verdant groaned as he continued to try and wade through the meal as even more dropped down. “After all, she’s just a little filly. How much can she eat?”

Apple Bloom quickly wiped her mouth with a foreleg before she started to scarf down her sixth burger.

On her left, Sweetie Belle groaned after finishing her fourth burger.

“I…” the marshmallow filly groaned as she tried to lift the next burger to her mouth, only to drop it back onto her tray. “Sorry… I can’t do it.” She said as she pulled away from the table.

“Must… keep… going…” Scootaloo muttered as she pushed herself forward, gobbling down her sixth burger, only to feel a terrible rumbling in her belly that made her pupils shrink and her cheeks bulge.

The little pegasus bolted away from the table and barely made it to the mare’s bathroom when a horrid retching came from within.

“Oh my, seems Scootaloo’s had a Roan Incident. Poor thing.” Drumstick called out before turning her attentions back to the tables. “Well, now we’ve only got Truffle Shuffle, Petite Treat, Apple Bloom and Pepper Belle remaining.”

The competition quickly escalated with the remaining foals digging into the burgers with blinding speeds.

One by one, the competitors would eventually call it quits until…

“We have a winner!” Drumstick exclaimed, holding the victor’s foreleg aloft. “With a total of twelve burgers, our Hayburger Speed Eating Junior Champion is… Apple Bloom!”

“Yay!” the bowed filly weakly shouted before glancing at her flank. “D’aww… dangit.”

“Well, at least you got a pass for free burgers, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle came to her friend’s side, patting her on the shoulder.

“Y’know, I’m kinda glad I didn’t get a cutie mark for barfing,” Scootaloo hoarsely said as she slowly walked up to them. “It'd probably be some gross bag or a toilet or something.”

“Ah’d say it’s a victory then.” Apple Bloom smiled as she hobbled away from the table, grabbing the pass Drumstick held out and stashing it in her bow. “So, what’s next on the list?”

“That would be,” Scootaloo stuck out her tongue as she pulled a sheet of paper from her saddlebags. “Movie critics! We watch movies and review them.”

“How do yah review a movie?” Apple Bloom’s eyebrow shot up as they trotted out of the restaurant.

“I think you just write down what you thought about the movie and get it printed.” Sweetie shrugged as she climbed into the back of the wagon.

“Plus it gives us an excuse to check out the new Da Pukas movie,” Scootaloo said as she plopped her helmet on.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Apple Bloom shouted as she pulled herself into the wagon next to Sweetie Belle, albeit with some difficulty.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, MOVIE CRITICS!” the trio shouted together as Scootaloo started flapping her wings, pulling them away from the hayburger.

Apple Bloom stretched out in the back of the wagon, surprised to see that Sweetie Belle was staring at her stretched out belly. “Uh, Sweetie? Wha’ are yah staring at mah gut?”

“Huh?” the earth pony’s words snapped the unicorn from her transfixed gaze. “Sorry. I was just wondering how you could fit twelve burgers in there.”

“Gotta admit, it’s kinda hard,” Apple Bloom replied. She tried to look strong, but the filly felt quite overstuffed and more than a little queasy from all the burgers she’d eaten.

“I’ll bet…” Sweetie’s gaze was transfixed on her belly as she once more and reached a hoof out, giving the stomach a rather hard poke.

“Whoa!” Apple Bloom winced, feeling her stomach rumbling like mad from her friend’s surprise jab. “Careful! I think I’m…”

The earth filly suddenly slammed her mouth shut, feeling something rushing up her throat.

Breaching the surface of the sandwich slurry, Verdant gasped for what air he could get. The Apple filly’s appetite was far greater than he had been expecting. Looking up, he saw the stomach’s upper sphincter was just barely out of the reach of his forelegs.

“So close yet so far,” the shamrock stallion muttered as the stomach shook about from Apple Bloom’s movements.

“UH, SWEETIE? WHA’ ARE YAH STARING AT MAH GUT?” The farm filly’s voice boomed like thunder all around, forcing Verdant to cover his ears with a wince.

“Could you please try not to be so damn loud!” Verdant exclaimed, shooting the valve a nasty glare.

“GOTTA ADMIT, IT’S KINDA HARD,” the thunderous filly’s voice answered back.

“Guess I’ll just have t-” the tiny stallion was silenced when the stomach was suddenly struck by a hard jab, making a wave of sandwichy sludge that pulled him back down and caused the stomach around him to pulsate and shake about.

Just as he reached the surface once more, the stomach gave a hard clench, forcing the shrunken stallion and a tsunami of slurry to rocket up Apple Bloom’s throat.

All Verdant could do was brace himself as he saw the uvula speeding towards him and he found himself crashing face first into the back of the filly’s lips.

The emerald pony shook his head to regain his bearings when he saw the divide of the lips.

“Yes!” he shouted, paddling through the slurry as fast as his minuscule legs could pull him. “This is it! Sweet freedom! I’m getting out of CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP!!!”

Just before he could reach the divide, the entire chamber of her mouth tilted back. Verdant found himself dragged by gravity and the slurry’s current to the back of her throat before he was swallowed back down.

Verdant muttered a colorful array of curses as he was pushed along with the former food through the farm filly’s esophagus, plopping back into the stomach even more drenched than when he’d left it.

“Dammit all!” the verdant pony growled, giving the disgusting goop a hard punch. “I just want to get out of here! Is that too much to ask?”

Apple Bloom gave a hard swallow, forcing her sick back down and making her stomach feel even more unsettled.

“Dangit, Sweetie!” she weakly grumbled, her yellow coat quickly becoming more green. “Ah jus’ threw up in mah mouth cuz’ o’ that!”

“Sorry, Apple Bloom,” the snowy-coated unicorn scooted away from her glaring friend. “I didn’t mean to make you sick.”

“Trust me, Sweetie, you do not want to taste a hayburger a second time.” Scootaloo bristled before looking over her shoulder at her crusading compatriots. “They taste a lot worse.”

“No kiddin’,” Apple Bloom groaned as she gave her belly a gentle rub, hoping it would settle down soon. “Ah’ll be glad when we get to the ROCK!”

“Rock?” Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion. “What are you talking abWHOA!!!” The pegasus’ eyes went wide at the sight of the large rock dead ahead of them. She tried turn away, but it was too late. The scooter hit an incline on the rock’s surface, launching the three into the air.

The trio tumbled about in the air when suddenly, they, the scooter and the wagon came to a halt in mid-air.

Slowly opening her eyes, Sweetie Bell saw that all of them were floating in a magenta glow as a violet unicorn ran up towards them.

“Are you girls okay?” the mare huffed as she came to a halt and set the three down on the ground.

“Yeah, we’ve been through worse, Twilight.” Scootaloo brushed some dust off her coat, trying to look cool.

“Thanks, Twilight.” Sweetie smiled as she wrapped her small foreleg’s around Twilight’s. “That was pretty scary.

“Ah’ll say…” Apple Bloom spoke up, drawing Twilight’s attention and showing her just how green the little filly was. Before she could take a step closer, the foal’s cheeks bulged out and her pupils dilated.

The stomach shook about far worse than any earthquake Verdant had ever felt before, making him dizzy as he was slammed back and forth through the mush.

Things seemed to start to settle, but the stomach was still wildly shaking and Verdant’s eyes were spinning about when he found himself being launched upward once more.

Verdant’s sight barely returned to him as he saw the Apple Bloom’s uvula quickly approaching as the geyser of sick pushed him forth.

Hope this works! Verdant crouched into a ball as the wave forced him from the filly’s mouth, crashing face-first into a rosy and translucent glowing wall before he was pelted by a tsunami of the former contents of the filly’s stomach.

The tiny earth pony winced as the sickening waves washed over him. Thankfully, the disgusting slop soon died down and he felt it slide down his back as he clung to the shining wall as tightly as he could.

“SORRY, TWILIGHT.” Verdant looked behind, seeing the sickly giantess holding a hoof to her mouth. “AH JUST COULDN’T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE.”

“IT’S OKAY, APPLE BLOOM,” a booming voice came from behind the wall. Turning back to face the source, Verdant saw that he was staring into the amethyst eyes of a unicorn that dwarfed the titanic filly. “THAT SORT OF THING HAPPENS AND… IS THAT A TINY PONY ON MY FORCE FIELD?”

After a quick spell to restore Verdant’s height and some ginger ale to settle Apple Bloom’s stomach, the three fillies, Twilight and the drenched earth pony went to Sweet Apple Acres, where Scootaloo was having a blast spraying Verdant down with the hose.

“Sorry ‘bout all this, Mr. Verdant.” Apple Bloom looked away sheepishly. “Ah had no idea Ah ate somepony.”

“Don’t sweat it, Apple Bloom,” Verdant replied as Scootaloo finally turned the hose off. “Not the first time that’s happened and I get the feeling it’s not going to be the last.”

“Well, at least nopony got hurt,” Sweetie Belle chipped in.

“Indeed.” Twilight’s horn lit up, causing the soaked stallion’s body to quickly dry. “And maybe this will provide some scientific research for your friend.”

“Here’s hoping,” Verdant gave a slight stretch as he saw a mare approaching the barn from the fields. She had a bright orange coat that covered her toned muscles and complimented her long blonde mane and tail.

“Hey girls,” she tilted her stetson up as she came up to the quintet. “Who’s this fella?”

“Applejack, this is Verdant Range.” Twilight gestured to the stallion as Apple Bloom ran up to her sister’s side.

“Y’all won’t believe this, Applejack,” Apple Bloom excitedly said. “This guy was inside’a me earlier.”

Applejack’s pupils shrank before she looked at the stallion with a look of pure and unfiltered hatred. “Beg pardon?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“Yeah,” Verdant nervously said as he started to back up into the barn’s wall. “It was… weird, to say the least.”

“Ah see…” Applejack’s eye twitched before she pulled away, her hooves stomping all the way as she turned the corner. “‘Scuse me fer a moment.”

“What’s eating her?” Scootaloo scratched her head in confusion.

“Hmm…” Verdant raised a hoof to his chin in thought. “Can’t say. Honestly, I’m drawing a blOH FAUST!” The shamrock stallion was barely able to duck as a pitchfork flew towards him, burying itself right where his head had been only moments prior.

Before he could get back up, Applejack tackled him into the wall, driving him into it face first.

“YOU SON OF A-!” Applejack screamed, launching a foreleg towards his face like a rocket, only for it to be caught in a magenta light a few centimeters from his snout. Looking to her side, she spotted Twilight with her horn shining brightly.

“Applejack, not like that!” She exclaimed as she used her magic to pull her friend away from the terrified stallion. “What they mean is he was shrunken down and Apple Bloom swallowed him.”

“Whut?” Applejack flatly said as Twilight let go of her magical hold on her.

“Well, yeah.” Apple Bloom tilted her head as she looked to her sister. “What else could Ah mean by sayin’ he was inside me?”

“Oh… well, um…” Applejack pushed her stetson down over her eyes, trying to cover her blush. “Sorry ‘bout this. Huge misunderstandin’ on mah part.”

“It’s… It’s okay…” Verdant nervously said as the implications dawned on him. “If someone did that to one of my sisters, I probably would have done the same thing. At any rate, I need to get back to Vanhoover. Bye!” With that, Verdant took off like a rocket, occasionally tripping as he ran off the farm.

“At any rate, we should probably get cleaned up for dinner an’ stuff.” Applejack scratched the back of her neck. “So you should probably wash up soon, Apple Bloom. You an’ yer friends can still play fer a bit, just as long as yer hooves are spotless.”

“You got it, Sis!” Apple Bloom cheered and headed for the clubhouse. “C’mon girls, last one to the clubhouse is a rotten egg!”

The two remaining crusaders quickly caught up to the earth filly as they dashed about the acres.

“You knew exactly what they were talking about, didn’t you?” Scootaloo said with a coy smirk on her face.

“Well, duh,” Apple Bloom replied before chuckling. “Ah grow up on a farm and my brother’s one of the most popular stallions in town. How could Ah not?”

“What are you two talking about?” Sweetie tilted her head, completely lost. Her two fellow companions shared a look and grinned before they spoke together.

“We’ll tell you when you get older.”

The following afternoon, Verdant had returned to the Vanhoover institute’s third floor. Peering into High Gear’s lab, things seemed rather peaceful, save for the mare nervously pacing about the room.

“Dr. High Gear?” Verdant said as he slowly pushed the door open, making the mare halt mid-step.

“Verdant!” High Gear gasped before charging across the room and wrapping her forelegs around him. “Oh thank Faust, you’re alright! I was worried sick about what happened!”

“Well, I’m in one piece, so that’s good.” Verdant slipped from the scientist’s grip. “Still, being shrunken down, stuck in a bottle in Ponyville, being drunk by a little filly and barfed up twice is not something I want to happen again. Ever.”

“I’m so sorry, Verdant.” Gear turned her gaze to the lab’s floor, where she nervously rubbed her hoof along the polished surface. “We had a defective part blow out. It’s what caused all of this. It’ll be a few days before it’s ready to be tested again.

“Well, I hope your next test goes well, doctor. I just want to get my money and try to put this thing behind me.”

“Of course. I’d probably want to as well.” Gear trotted over to a cabinet and pulled out a chequebook and a pen. She quickly scribbled down a signature on the slip and tore it from the book, placing it in Verdant’s hooves. “I hope this makes you feel better.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Verdant gave a nod as he looked at the cheque he held. Seeing what was written on the cheque, his pupils dilated and his jaw dropped.

“Is something wrong, Verdant?” High Gear asked, adjusting her glasses.

“Um... no doctor. Just one question.” Verdant smiled as he quickly stuffed the cheque into his vest’s pocket. “When’s the next test?”

Author's Notes:

Hey folks, it's been a while, but we've got a brand new chapter right here. I'm a bit surprised so many voted for Apple Bloom, but I can roll with it.

This chapter's character pick is none other than our resident scienentist, Dr. High Gear. There's more to her than meets the eye. What could that be? You'll have to wait until she reappears.

Now, time to vote for what will be the chapter after next.

Swift Snort (AP): Verdant is training with his fellow soldiers on Butterfly Island and we see one of the misadventures there.A Mid-Summer Night's Tasty Dream: Verdant volunteers for a long range teleportation experiment, only to end up tiny and in the cabin of Fluttershy, who thinks she's having a very nice/private dream.Oh, cud!: Verdant finds himself reduced to the size of a pea stuck on a piece of grass when his cow neighbor, Bea Wellington, stops by.Betty: The Last Cutesaur: Verdant is recruited by Daring Do to explore an island full of long lost flora and fauna, only to encounter a creature that supposedly went extinct eons ago.Verdant and the Beanstalk: Returning to the teleportation lab, Verdant prepares for another try, only for something to happen on the floor below.Bibinba's Inside Story: While playing Marinara Party with some friends of his, Verdant accidentally lands on the wrong space and finds himself staring down an imposing longma.Deep Into Darkness: Princess Luna has become a powerful being of darkness named Nightmare Moon, making her too fast for Celestia to blast with the elements. However, the princess has a plan involving the skills of a certain green stallion.Lovely Nights and New Beginnings: Princess Cadance and Shining Armor want to have a foal, but are having some troubles. However, things take a turn for the better when Cadance learns of a shrinking stallion.A First Time for Everything - Alternate Ending: What would have happened to poor Verdant if he didn't reach Kuni's cervix in time? There's only one way to find out.

Hope you had a good time and stick around for the next tale: Having Your Cake and Eating It Too.