>Blorp.
>A lime green jelly slowly bubbled and popped inside it’s silver bowl atop a tapestry draped plinth.
>Six ponies carefully approached, made wary by their time already spent in the ancient tomb.
>Now, for the third time, a massive stone door blocked their path.
>Twilight Sparkle, horn lit up for her to see by, stepped forward to the altar between them and the doorway.
>The cloth wrapping the plinth was untouched by time, just like everything else in this ancient place.
>Everything else except the bones.
>The remains of failed heroes and plunderers were scattered around the chamber, a warning to the unworthy who sought to pass.
>Flowing and swirling letters filled the gaps in the tapestry between woven images of long dead legendary Deer.
>It was Old Cervine, a language left to be forgotten when the Deer faded from the world.
>”Well come on Twilight, what’s it say?”
>”Hold yer horses Rainbow, judgin’ from the bones this isn’t somethin' to rush.”
>”Agr- huff, agreed, Applejack”
>Rarity waddled forward, finally catching her friends - if not her breath.
>She was huge after the last trial they had gone through, easily five times her old weight.
>Her belly scraped on the ground as she walked, and everywhere was covered in thick white folds.
>Still, it was a better result than if she hadn’t intervened; all her friends teats were still a little swollen from the trial.
>”Besides, Rainbow Dash, you remember what nearly happened to Pinkie Pie at the first gate. We- huff, we shouldn’t be rushing anything down here.”
>Pinkie’s only response was to smile wide back at Rainbow for a moment, the flow of frostberry wine starting back up the moment her lips parted.
>”Fine, fine, whatever”

>”Okay girls, I think I found the important part!”
>Everypony gathered closer.
>“This section says: ‘Given hope and given home, all the world rejoices. With gratitude or avarice, each spirit responds in kind. To understand is the key to kindness. Even the most vile deserve mercy and compassion, for kindness is a cocoon from within which even elemental evil may learn benevolence.’ 'key to kindness' sounds promising.”
>”Sounds like you’re up next, Fluttershy dear.”
>Blorp.
>”But what to I do?”
>Rainbow Dash was quick to respond.
>”Well, the bubbling bowl of jello is probably a good place to start.”
>Blorp.
>The pegasus mare slowly stepped forward to the edge of the altar, peering down into the silver bowl for the first time.
>A jagged, sharp-edged grin stared back at her from inside the slime.
>Blorp.
>”EEP!”
>Fluttershy ducked back and away, hiding under her own hooves.
>Slowly the green slime began to rise out of its vessel atop the plinth.
>Everypony but Fluttershy took a step back, cowering as she was the only thing she could see was her hair and her hooves.
>The face rose higher, wavering like a snake atop a column of slime.
>A pair of tendrils split away from the green shaft, reaching for the shaking yellow mare below.
>When the first reached the top of her head she cried out again, trying to blindly run and fly away at the same time.
>All Fluttershy succeeded in doing was jumping and collapsing in a tangled mess of limbs and feathers.
>But now she could see the slime towering above her.
>The two tendrils kept lengthening, one wrapping around her middle and the other pressing up against her lips.

>”Hang on, I got her!”
>Rainbow Dash launched forward, only to be stopped short by Applejack taking a hearty chomp on her tail.
>”Give it a minute RD, we’ve got no idea what’s goin’ on.”
>”Applejack is right. We have no idea what this door’s test is yet, you could make things worse.”
>”But look at her!”
>”Fluttershy is braver than she looks, darling. Give her more time.”
>Across the stone chamber, Fluttershy’s trial was starting in proper.
>She was pinned to the ground by one of the tendrils, and the other pressed hard against her muzzle and cheeks.
>The probing rope of slime broke through her lips, rapidly flooding her mouth.
>The taste was unpleasant, a stinging bitterness.
>But the worst part of it all was the face, looming above her.
>It was angry. Gluttonous. Cold. Cruel.
>The creature was everything she wasn’t.
>She tasted it in the flavor of the creature as much as she saw it in the jagged stare.
>And when her mouth was full-to-overflowing, she felt the same emotions shudder through her core when she was forced to swallow.
>The second swallow was just as unpleasant.
>With her throat opened, the baleful slime pressed harder, its wicked grin seeming to curve into a mockery of joy as the tendril leading to fluttershy’s mouth doubled, then tripled in thickness.
>Fluttershy’s jaw popped as it was forced open around the hoof-thick tentacle.
>Inside, she felt the torrent of slime taking it’s toll.
>Her stomach was full.
>But the slime didn’t care.
>In fact, it reveled in it.
>Pins and needles prickled across Fluttershy’s stomach as the river of slime began bulging her out like a pregnant mare.
>She protested, but only succeeded in making a gurgling choke around the thick tentacle forcing it’s way down her throat.

>It was starting to hurt.
>The mare was bloating rapidly, and she couldn’t help but think about the skeletons scattered around the room.
>It wasn’t just the swelling that was hurting.
>Inside her stomach she felt the creature swirl and twist, every thrash threatening to split her growing belly apart.
>Fluttershy let out another choked shriek as a pointed bulge of slime visibly traversed her growing belly, pressing out from the globe like a hoof from the inside.
>”Okay, that’s enough.”
>Dash took off like a lightning bolt, but this time it was the slime that stopped her.
>The tendril that held Fluttershy down squeezed hard, cutting into her bulbous body.
>She thrashed in its grip as her once spherical belly took on more and more of a bean-shape.
>The face of the slime turned to face Rainbow Dash, and she stopped in her tracks.
>Rainbow Dash knew it would pop her friend then and there if she went any further.
>”WAIT!”
>It stopped constricting tighter but didn’t let go.
>”I’ll back up, I’ll back up, just don’t hurt her!”
>The sharp eyes locked to Rainbow’s and it’s jagged smile deepened as the creature tightened itself a hair further around Fluttershy.
>The poor mare’s eyes bugged out wide open as it squeezed her to her limits.
>After several seconds the slime’s grip loosened, and it went back to pouring itself down the yellow mare’s gullet.

>Fluttershy’s swelling tummy began to gradually take on a sickly green hue, the same shade as the malicious creature feeding itself to her.
>She felt a sudden sharp jerk, followed by a constant whirlpool swirl in her belly.
>Even as she looked questioningly to the evil thing for answers about what just happened, she felt them come to her.
>Her thighs and flanks wobbled and sloshed as they began to fill with the slime.
>Then her forelegs followed.
>It wasn’t just filling her stomach, it was outright invading her whole body.
>She felt currents of the green monster coursing through her sides and back, flowing in and out of every nook her body had to offer.
>Fluttershy was certain that if the cruel face could laugh it would be doing so now.
>It had made her shaped more like a ball than a pony.
>She ineffectively wiggled her legs, trying in vain to scoot away from the bowl.
>”See, Rainbow? Look at that! The thing’s getting thinner. ’Shy’s nearly got the whole critter down.”
>Sure enough, the column rising from the bowl towards Fluttershy was nearly half as thick as it used to be and shrinking by the second.
>“Way to go Fluttershy! Keep it up!”
>Fluttershy had barely noticed her friends cheer, most of her attention was being spent shutting out the creeping cold and strangeness that seemed to permeate her every muscle.
>But barely was enough.
>A few rays of confidence returned to her
>She couldn’t see her progress over her bloated self, but she looked to her friends for support.
>”Just a bit more dear!”
>”You can do it!”

>Fluttershy had become so bloated that she had to fight to keep her head turned towards her friends.
>The heartless slime slid itself between her and the others, blotting out her view.
>But she’d seen enough to know the others believed in her, even if she didn’t quite believe in herself.
>Out of sight below her belly, the column supporting the face had shrunk to the same size as the one reaching down her throat.
>Still the fiendish being rolled itself remorselessly inside the mare, causing her to jiggle and quake.
>Unknown to her, but to her observer’s relief, the tendril feeding into the face rose out of the bowl entirely, drawing in to the core of the creature.
>Without more slime to replenish itself, each gulp it forced down Fluttershy’s throat drew the thing inches closer to her muzzle.
>By now the yellow mare’s entire body was tinted with green from within, a testament to how much the slime beast had forced into her.
>Everything about the mare was bloated to it’s limits.
>Five gulps later, and the tendril leading to her throat was gone.
>She was face to face with the thing in a morbid mockery of a kiss.
>Opening its jagged mouth to an exaggerated size, the last blob of slime engulfed her head completely. 
>Fluttershy saw the room, and her friends, through a murky lime-green filter.
>The face turned overtop Fluttershy’s, looking back at rainbow dash with it’s mocking grin as if daring her to do something.
>Slowly it shrank away, before finally vanishing between Fluttershy’s lips with the wet sound of suction.
>Fluttershy gasped for breath as soon as her head was free, then let out a discomforted sigh.
>”Oooooooooh…”

>”G-Girls, I th- think its ov-URK!”
>All at once fluttershy’s enormous body jerked forward and rocked back.
>”G-Girls!”
>It happened again, but this time the jerking went in two directions.
>She felt like she was being yanked apart and torn in half.
>Her jiggly body rippled like mad from the sudden movements.
>Another massive lurch sent her rocking backward off her haunches, leaving her distended green belly exposed to the ceiling.
>”OOPH!”
>”Just hold together, Fluttershy!”
>”Relax, dear. I know its scary but you need to be calm.”
>”Rarity’s right, this is still a test. Just do what ever you feel is right.”
>The creature inside her jutted upwards near Fluttershy’s belly button, raising a tall peak near the center of her belly for a few moments before snapping back into shape.
>As the jiggling subsided, a silhouette of the foul slimes’s face rose up her belly like a parody of a sunrise.
>It stopped halfway and visibly cackled.
>This time it didn’t jerk, it pushed.
>Pushed in what felt like every direction at once.
>In spite of it all, Fluttershy closed her eyes and let her head rest against the stone floor.
>Her friends were counting on her.
>Fluttershy took as deep of a breath as she could and let it out slowly
>She wasn’t going to let them down.

>Fluttershy took another calming breath even as she felt a small glob of slime slip from her bellybutton, and the slime abated it’s expansion.
>She took a third and it began to recede.
>The mare ignored her friends yells of encouragement, instead shutting out all the world beyond herself and the slime.
>Seen by her friends on the outside, the slime blinked for the first time.
>The jagged smirk slowly stated to lose its edges.
>Then, from a point between it’s eyes, a small patch of pink began to overtake the sickly green.
>The creature backed away from her friends, fading out of view as it receded deeper inside of Fluttershy.
>Soon enough, currents of the warm pink began to flow through the noxious green slime showing from below her thinned hide.
>It took several minutes, but the gentler hue eventually overcame it completely.
>She was still full-to-bursting, but now Fluttershy looked calm.
>Content, even.
>Slowly, Fluttershy opened her eyes.
>She rubbed a bloated foreleg against her swollen belly.
>”Feeling better now?”
>A bubbling gurgle rose from inside the mare as if to answer.
>”Good.”
>The face rose to the surface again, this time facing Fluttershy.
>Only now it wore a true smile.
>Gone were the jagged edges and harsh eyes, replaced with soft curves and a genial expression.
>Beyond the plinth and empty bowl, a large stone door slowly receded into the floor.

>Rainbow dash was the first to close the gap between them.
>“Hah! I knew you could do it! I’d hug you right now, but I think you’d probably pop.”
>”You may be right.”
>Twilight walked up to her next.
>”’For kindness is a cocoon from within which even elemental evil may learn benevolence.’ I think it’s safe to say none of us could have managed what you did. I know if I had tried that I’d be splattered all over the walls right now.
>”He was just so cold and angry. I realized that if I opened myself up to him I could give him a full-body cuddle. All he wanted was a friend, even if he didn’t know it.”
>The floating face bobbed up and down inside her belly.
>”Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy as the rest of y’all that ‘ya made it through, but we ain’t out of the woods yet. There’s still three more of this tests, and you aren’t really fit to be walkin’ anywhere with that new friend of yours.”
>”I hate to say it darling, but you’re worse off than me at the moment. At least I can move under my own power, if slowly. You’re almost three hooves short of reaching the ground.”
>”Well, we’re half-way done, right? It hasn’t been far between the rooms, maybe you could roll me?”
>Rainbow laughed.
>”Its better than bouncing you, I guess.”