"Hmmm. Hmm, yes I see." Twilight Sparkle says, pulling an otoscope from an agitated filly's ear. "Well, Silver Spoon, I didn't see any signs of ear mites when I looked in there. Are you certain a bug crawled down into there?"
The two of them were in Twilight's castle study after Silver came running up to her complaining of an earache. Frankly, she didn't think she'd be the first pony to run to when there was a minor medical problem but she was flattered nonetheless.
Silver hoofs at her ear a bit as if trying to get water out.
"I definitely felt something go in there. Can you look again?"
Twilight smiles brightly. "Of course! I'll just need to find a way to be able to really get in there without risking damaging your hearing."
She walks over and disappears behind a bookshelf, and soon returns dragging a huge bean bag chair in her teeth.
"Lie on this a while and get comfortable. I'm going to go find some books dealing with ear ailments and remedies. We'll get you fixed up in no time!".
"Silly filly, we're going to spending quite a bit of time together today."
Twilight taps her chin pensively. "You know what? I think I just might have a good idea of where that book is. You just sit tight and don't worry about getting up to read a book while you're waiting."
"I'll be right back," she says walking out the study door, leaving Silver alone.
Sometime later:
Silver Spoon constantly fidgeted in the bean bag as she waited for Twilight to come back. Every toss and roll upon her beany seat was punctuated by an irritated, impatient sigh, with the occasional cuff to her ear to attempt to dislodge the tiny creature. Where is Twilight? She said she'd only be gone for a little while. Doesn't she know that a "little while" means an eternity to a filly? Looking for ANY source of entertainment to alleviate her boredom Silver's eyes roved across the room, but could find none but a few dusty old bookcases.
Getting fed up, Silver jumps to her hooves and trots over to get a closer look. Scanning the shelf she finds nothing but a series of science encyclopedias and law books, which she wouldn't be caught dead reading in public lest she be swiftly labeled an egghead. Wedged in a little nook on the shelf is a box. Pulling the box out reveals several coloring books for foals and a fancy cardboard box with the words Dragon Pit printed on it.
You turn the box over in your hooves, reading the blurb printed on the back.
It reads "Dragon Pit! Fun for all ages! Make your way across the board to escape the volcanic island. Make sure to watch out for the boulders coming from the volcano or you may find yourself falling to you doom1" There are no instructions so you guess there might be some inside.
She's so engrossed in examining the old board game that you do not hear Twilight's approach.
"Hey." Silver jumps, nearly dropping the game to the floor. "Oh, whoops! I'm sorry, I should've said something upon entering. That's that game that Starlight, Sunburst, and I played recently. Dragon Pit, I think it was called? Starlight doesn't play it much I don't think she'd mind terribly if I lent it out to library goers. Did you want to take this home with you?"
Silver nods her assent. "Yes, please."
"Perfect!," she exclaims, "I'll just carry it out with you when you go."
Setting the board game on a table she then says, "Now, on to business. I've adapted a spell that allows me to both extract with surgical precision what's in your ear that's bothering you and, also let me see it firsthoof, kind of like sticking a tiny camera in your ear that can also grasp things. Now, this may feel a little funny, but trust me when I say as long as you stay perfectly still, it won't hurt you.
Silver Spoon idly bats at her ear, briefly considering before replying, "Okay, but this is so embarrassing. Promise you won't tell anyone about this?"
Twilight smiles warmly. "I promise. Now hold still..."
Twilight closes her eyes and concentrates. A soft hum begins to emanate from her horn, slowly building in volume until it reaches a crescendo. When next she opens her eyes they glow a clear white, a sign that she's putting a lot of effort into maintaining the spell. A single white tendril worms its way out of the tip of her horn, twisting this way and that as if observing the state of the room. It seemed to notice Silver Spoon, who had her own eyes screwed up tight in anticipation of an inevitable invasion. Sensing the tension in Silver's body, the magical tentacle reassuringly caresses the nervous filly's cheek. If it could speak it might say something like "there is no need to fear, I will not hurt you." This puts Silver's mind more at ease and she visibly relaxes. Satisfied, the tendril turns its attention to the affected ear. Silver Spoon couldn't help but giggle as the magical tentacle tickles the entrance of the pinna. Wasting no more time it pours into Silver's ear canal, providing a soft and soothing sensation as it digs ever farther down to find the offensive bug trapped down inside her.
Sleeping has somewhat restored your energy, allowing you to concentrate on tackling the main issue that has lately befallen you. Literally. You fell inside a giant horse's ear and now can't get out. Yeah...
All of your attempts to scrabble your way up the waxy tunnel have failed, as have attempts to reason and communicate with the beast that has entrapped you. You sit down on your tush, considering your options. You could always just wait until the great beast goes to sleep, possibly providing an exit if she lays down just the right way. There's no guarantee that will happen though, making waiting a risky move.
Having already slept you feel no particular need to rest right now. Rubbing your temples, you close your eyes and concentrate on the ambient noise, trying hard to clear your head. It's not until you open your eyes again that you realize that you are not alone. A wispy... thing pokes out across from you, illuminating the small you space you are both in. You stare at in shock, hardly daring to breathe. Similarly, it's "looking" at you intently, seemingly waiting for you to make a move.
You back away from the wisp into the wall behind you, cautiously keeping an eye on it, which wasn't hard, since both you and it filled the cramped space. You don't know why, but you have a feeling that the wisp is benevolent
The shock soon wears off and is replaced by a hefty curiosity. Was this some kind of natural biological phenomenon like what happened with the hair? Were the creatures trying to communicate with you in some way? You wave your hand up and down, then from side to side. The wisp seems to follow your every movement, stretching and undulating to keep up.
Hello!", you say, waving with a big smile on your face. "can you maybe help me get out of here?" You point up out of the ear canal. The wisp follows the movement of your finger and then returns back to you. It begins undulating wildly, making you think you got through to it. "Yes! Yes! That's it! Take me out of here!" Still wiggling about, the tentacle of light swiftly retreats back the way it came. "Hey! No! Wait!". you cry. "Come back!" There was no reply.
After kicking the wall in frustration, not caring for the suffering of the creature you were in, you kneel down to the ground, hands over your eyes. Your moment of emotion is short lived however as you feel a mysterious strong force grip your entire body, restricting your movement. The force rapidly lifts you up out of the shaft and into blinding light.
You shut your eyes tight and fight back with all your strength, which doesn't accomplish much except exhaust you and leaves your body in a fine sheen of sweat, You can hear two voices, both female, speaking rapidly in an unknown language. Actually, it's just one dominating the conversation while the other occasionally interjects. Soon, the vice-like grip on you dissipates and you feel yourself being gently set down a cool, smooth surface.
You slowly open your eyes, acclimating yourself to the outside world from your dark, oppressive former prison. As your blurry vision comes into focus you realize that you're in a glass jar, with a screw top lid with breathing holes poked in adorning the roof. Through the transparent glass walls, you can see a full 360 view of the world around you. The voices seem to have gone but will likely return, giving a small chance to survey the room you're in. The glass jar sits close to the center of a wooden table, with small reliefs and symbols carved into it. Against the walls are several large bookcases stretching all the way across the room in a semi-circular pattern, with a rolling ladder resting against one of them. You must be in a library or a fancy study.
You're really going to have to think outside of the box if you're going to get out of this one. You rub your chin pensively as you take stock of your current situation. Since you're at the center of the table charging the glass would probably do no good. It might be possible to spin the glass if the jar is uneven at the center, but that might take even more energy than charging the thing since you'd have to be in motion a lot. It might even fog up the glass a bit. Wait... That's it! Fog! You'll write something in the fog!
With that you start jogging around the perimeter of the glass, exhaling heavy in an attempt to build up moisture. You also shed your shirt so that your sweat won't wick into your clothing and instead go into the air. The jar also rotates slightly on every pass, moving you bit by bit closer to the edge of the table. After a couple minutes of strenuous exercise, you can see your work beginning to pay off. A Steam is starting to condense on the glass...
