Hard Times - Part 21
"Are you okay back there, Robert?" Rarity asked me.
"I'm fine, Rarity," I replied, "thanks for asking."
Riding on Rarity's back was soothing, believe it or not. However, I wish I knew who was the correct height - that was driving me nuts.
"Robert, darling, do you hear that?" asked Rarity.
I began listening a bit harder than I had been now. I began hearing faint hoofsteps coming from down the hallway. It couldn't have been Rarity's hoofsteps since she had stopped moving.
"Whoever's down there," started Rarity, "show yourself!"
"Relax, Rarity," a feminine voice said in reply, "it's only me, Twilight."
Twilight had lit up the surrounding area with her magic. It was revealed to me that she was the same height as Rarity, leading to my conclusion confirming that it was I who had shrunk in size and Rarity who had stayed the same height. Twilight approached Rarity and failed to notice me on her back.
"Are you by yourself, Rarity?" Twilight asked.
"No, not at all," answered Rarity, "I am with Robert right here."
Rarity motioned her head towards her back and showed her side to Twilight, who quickly noticed my change in size. Twilight's large eyes filled my line of view as she gazed into my soul, at least that's what it felt like.
"What happened?" Twilight asked, damaging my eardrums much like Rarity did earlier.
"I don't know, Twilight." I replied.
"Somehow," Rarity added, shifting herself back to the way she was before showing me to Twilight, "little Robert here has shrunk in size as a result of King Sombra's magic."
"Little?" I immediately questioned.
"Oh," replied Rarity, turning her head around to talk to me, "it sounds more cute that way."
I began blushing a bit as Rarity turned her head back around to continue conversing with Twilight.
"Perhaps Robert absorbed the majority of the magic King Sombra attacked us with." Twilight suggested.
"Can you help bring me back to my normal size, Twilight?" I asked.
"I'm not too sure, Robert." answered Twilight, a bit more quietly than before. "Can you perform any kind of magic?"
"Not at all, Twilight," I meekly replied, "I seemed to have lost my ability to perform any and all magic."
"Do you think it's due to his smaller size, Twilight?" A concerned Rarity asked.
"That is a strong possibility, Rarity," answered Twilight, "perhaps Princess Celestia can help him out."
"We'd need to find her first." I insisted.
"Right, tiny," Twilight playfully replied.
"So let's find her, Princess." I playfully answered back.
Twilight gave me an annoyed look as I called her Princess. Hey, I may be tiny now, but that still doesn't mean I can have some fun messing with Twilight. Twilight glanced down at me heavily, proceeding to tell me something that made me really change my attitude fairly quickly.
"It'd be a shame if something were to happen to you, Robert," Twilight told me, motioning a hoof towards her stomach, "wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, now would we?"
Quickly taking the hint, I answered back instantly. "Sorry if I offended you, Twilight."
"Apology accepted, Robert." Twilight told me.
That really got me to change my approach towards Twilight. Once again, I may be small, but that doesn't mean that I have to have my life ended a second time in the course of a week. Twilight smiled at me, as I did in return (it was a false smile), as Rarity and Twilight continued down the hall with me still riding Rarity's back.
"Where do you think we are?" Rarity asked Twilight.
"From the looks of it," Twilight started, "I'd say we're in the dungeons beneath Canterlot."
Suddenly, a few other sounds rang down the walls of the hallway we were in, coming from all different directions. Rarity and Twilight had decided to stay put and let the sounds confront us. Twilight still lit the junction with her magic, trying to help out the sounds if they were coming closer to our position.
"Aren't they all still trapped in dungeons, Twilight?" I curiously asked after we had waited for a long while.
"Right..." Agreed Twilight.
"We should split up, Twilight," I replied, "you go down that hallway and free whoever is in any dungeon and Rarity and I will do the same down this hallway."
"Sounds like a plan, Robert." Twilight responded.
"Well, I may be small," I continued, "but I'm still a smart cookie."
"And a mighty tasty looking one, too." Twilight warned.
"Just saying." I immediately responded.
Twilight smirked at me before heading down the hallway I told her to go down. Rarity and I did the same down the opposite hallway and proceeded to whatever was making the eerie sounds. Once we had met the dungeon door face-to-face, Rarity asked for whoever was inside.
"Is that you, Rarity?" A voice asked.
"Yes," answered Rarity, "are you alone in there?"
"No," the voice responded, "I'm here with Rainbow Dash."
This voice sounded like Fluttershy's voice but I wasn't too sure. Mainly, why would Fluttershy answer and not go crazy in this severely dark area and not Rainbow Dash. Either way, Rarity blasted the door with her magic and out came Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We had then started going back towards the junction from where we had parted ways with Twilight.
We had waited for Twilight for a few more moments. When she finally arrived back, she was accompanied by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance.
"Where is Princess Celestia?" I asked. I had drawn a few eyes from those who hadn't noticed me before.
"What happened to you, Robert?" Princess Cadance asked me.
"Well," I began, "I believe King Sombra's magic is behind this doing."
"Right," added Twilight, "Robert must have absorbed the majority of the magic King Sombra attacked us with and that might have something to do with his smaller stature."
"And let me tell you," I continued, "I don't want to stay like this any longer. So does anypony know any spell that can change me back to normal?"
"Princess Celestia is the only pony who knows such spells and is the only one who can help you." Princess Luna told me.
After explaining my condition, everyone snapped back on track to my question: Where was Princess Celestia?