You woke up, blinking at the morning light refracting through the crystal structure high above you on the ceiling. Sighing, you rolled over in your matchbox bed on the nightstand and turned to see your parents still fast asleep on their enormous round bed. Glancing at the clock on the wall, you gasped and shot up. Your mom, Cadance, had a meeting to go to at nine o'clock. It was currently eight-fifty.
 
"Mom!" you yelled, calling across the chasm as you hopped out of bed. "Mom, wake up, we're late!" The only reason you were so eager for her to get up was that she promised to bring you with her. You rarely ever left the bedroom, and you were excited for an opportunity to go on a little adventure through the castle. "Mom, come on, get up!"
 
Finally she stirred, letting out a small sigh before sitting up, stretching, and finally opening her eyes. Still heavy-lidded, they found the clock on the wall and they flew open. "Shoot!" she yelled, leaping out of bed. "I'm late! Get dressed Skyler." She ran to her dresser and ran her hands through the neatly folded dresses while you went to your little closet, made of cardboard and small strips of wood panels for privacy. Inside the closet were several sets of clothes your parents had made for you, and you tried to find something that looked nice, despite the fact that no one but your mother would see you. You settled on a gray tunic and black pants, with the same cork shoes that have lasted you for the past four years.
 
When you emerged, fully dressed, you saw that your dad, Shining Armor, was awake, watching Cadance tiredly as she was tying up the back of a purple dress and brushing her hair simultaneously. Finally, she hurried over to the nightstand and laid her hand down. You didn't dare hesitate when you climbed onto it. You could tell she was trying to keep her hand steady, but she was in a hurry, and you were bumped up and down with her footsteps. When she stopped by the door, she lowered you to her side, then froze.
 
"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" she groaned. "No pockets!" She looked down at you, her face fraught with impatience and guilt. "Sorry Skyler, can't bring you today, but I promise, next time!" She laid her hand down on the boudoir, and you leaped off, sighing. You were so looking forward to this too. Cadance ran grab her make up while Shining Armor went into the bathroom. "Take Skyler off the table after I go!" she called after him. "Make sure you don't forget to set him up for food before you leave." Your dad seemed to grunt an affirmative before the door shut behind him.
 
You stared down at the wood grain at your feet, still despondent over having your plans cancelled. You supposed you couldn't blame your mom. She stayed up late last night with you and Shining Armor anyway. They loved playing games with you. All the stress they exuded when they were doing their jobs seemed to melt away when they came home to you. But this morning, Cadance's stress was overwhelming, and she didn't even notice when her hand swung past you, and the sleeve of her dress pushed you to the edge of the boudoir. You couldn't manage a yell before you were sent tumbling down to the floor.
 
Surprisingly, this wasn't the first time this happened. You found that curling and rolling before impact greatly softed the blow, and such falls rarely injured you. As you tucked and rolled, you could already picture your mom leaning over and apologizing profusely. "I'm fine Mom," you'll say. "I'm okay, I promise."
 
But you didn't land on the floor. In fact, when you hit the surface, you found it was sloped, and you rolled further down into a dark crevice. Standing up, you suddenly realized where you were. The cavern was the toe of her high-heeled shoes. And as you went up to try to wave up to her, you found a dark shadow passing over you.
 
Your mom's foot, enormous yet soft and clean, was descending onto you, her toes already finding the crevice. You staggered back toward the tip, cowering against the wall as her toes enveloped you. You could hear her heel sliding in, and then everything shifted drastically. You were sailing upward through the air, and then her foot collided with the floor with an echoing clack. Pinned against the tip by her big toe, you held on for dear life as she walked out to her meeting, completely unaware that you were joining her after all.
 
The ride there was tense, but not entirely unpleasant. After a while, you found a comfortable position. By sliding down and letting her toe press down on your lower half, you were secured from being knocked around. Up and down the foot went, carrying you down the hall at a brisk pace to the conference room. You had only seen it once before, but the sudden left turn told you that's where she was going. You briefly considered poking at the toe and getting her attention, but you were in no danger, and she was late as it is. Staying as still as you could, you tried to enjoy the ride there, wondering when she'd find you.
 
When she finally stopped, you could hear the muffled voices of guards above you. You sighed and slid down, just as her toes squirmed, pushing you deeper until you were under the balls of her foot. The pressure was strong, but not painful. Suddenly her foot kicked and banged against the floor. It took you a moment to realize what was happening. She had felt you, of course, but assumed you were a pebble, and she was trying to dislodge you. Never before had you been beneath your mother's feet like this. You were surprised that you weren't hurt at all. Granted, it was her bare foot bearing down on you, and you were willing to bet that if she stepped on you wearing her shoes, you'd be a gonner. You let yourself be pushed around under her foot, where she resolved to leave you under her arch, where the pressure was minimal. You risked moving slightly to find a more comfortable position, and you waited, wondering when she'd find you, and what her reaction would be. You hated to see her freak out.
 
An hour must have passed, and the only inconvenience of being trapped in her shoe was that you were starting to get hungry. You hadn't eaten breakfast, after all. Just as you were about to find a better position to lay in, you heard the door open, and an urgent voice whispered across the room. Your father's. Immediately, Cadance stood up and walked out of the room, and you rolled back towards her toes again, pinned beneath them.
 
"What do you mean you can't find him?" your mom snapped, the panic in her voice all too apparent.
 
"He wasn't on the table. I looked everywhere...he must have fallen off, but he wasn't on the floor."
 
Above you, your mom let out a frightened gasp. "Oh no, what if we stepped on him? What if he's trapped somewhere?"
 
Shining Armor's boots shifted; you could feel their tremors in your mom's shoe. "I would have felt something if I stepped on him, and I called for him for almost an hour, scanning every inch of the floor."
 
There was a brief pause before everything shifted very quickly. Her toes left you, and the shoe was filled with light as it was lifted high in the air. You squinted as you looked up, and saw Cadance's horrified face.
 
"Skyler!" she cracked, barely remembering to keep her voice down. "Skyler, are you alright? Oh, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I thought you were just a pebble!"
 
"I'm fine Mom, I promise," you said, having rehearsed this when you were waiting in her shoe. "I'm totally unhurt. In all honesty, it wasn't too bad in there."
 
You could tell your mom was trying hard not to cry. "B-But you were under my foot. I was pressing on you. Are you sure you're not hurt at all?"
 
Surprisingly, your dad was smiling. "You know Cadance, I think Skyler's a lot tougher than we give him credit for. Remember that time he fell off the bed? He was perfectly fine. I don't think you could squish him in your shoe if you tried." He glanced down at you. "I wonder...Skyler, do you want to go back in?"
 
Cadancd shot him a deathly look. "Put him in back in there? But I could hurt him! What if my toes crush him, or he gets knocked around too much?"
 
"I spent most of the time pinned under your toes Mom," you added, liking your dad's idea. "You're not going to crush me, I promise."
 
Shining Armor gave her a reassuring look as she frowned at you, biting her lip. "I...If you say so Skyler, but if you don't like it in there, just let me know." Gradually, she lowered you back into the shoe, giving you time to get to the toe before she slid her foot back in, gently pressing against you.
 
The meeting continued with few incidents. You were still hungry, but Cadance was going to be a while. so you stayed put, slowly letting her toe envelop you, just to let her know that you didn't mind it. After a while, she seemed to ease up, at least, in terms of her anxiety. Eventually she put more pressure on you, even playfully wriggling her toes from time to time. When the meeting finally ended, she stood up slowly, waiting for you to get out from under her toe. To her surprise, you only moved further down under her foot, beneath her warm sole. She hesitated, then she lifted her foot, and slowly applied pressure.
 
You couldn't move, but you weren't hurt either. The pressure of her foot seemed to flow around you rather than directly on top of you. She kept walking, her foot peeling away momentarily before pushing back onto you again. Honestly, you found it to be kind of fun.
 
Later that day, you were back in the room, and your mom had given you a big lunch since you missed out on breakfast. Going over her list again, she kept glancing up at you before finally putting the paper down and moved over, sitting down next to you on the bed.
 
"Hey Mom," you said, trying to regain balance from the drastic shift in the blanket caused by her sitting down. "Is something wrong?"
 
"No, no," she said, offering a small smile. "But I am curious as to why you didn't let me know it was you in my shoe. I hardly felt you move at all, so I guessed it must have been a pebble."
 
You shrugged. "I didn't want to interrupt your meeting. I knew it was important."
 
Cadance sighed. "Honey, you're way more important than some silly meeting. If I had hurt you--"
 
"But you didn't," you interjected. "I was totally fine, remember?"
 
Cadance nodded. "I suppose. Did you...did you like being in my shoe?"
 
You paused only briefly. "Well, yeah, it was kind of fun." Your heart began to beat rapidly. Was she really going to suggest it?
 
"Hmm, then would you be interested in being in my shoes more often? I'd love to have company when I'm working, and if you like it, then I guess it's win-win."
 
You nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love that, thanks!" Cadance beamed and laid her hand down for you to climb onto. You stepped onto her palm and held onto her thumb as she lowered you to the floor. "...Mom?"
 
"Do you mind if I try something real quick?" She stood up, taking her feet out of her shoes. Then, lifting her bare foot over you, she slowly lowered it.
 
You were pushed down into the floor, and the pressure intensified, stopping before it became too hard. You guessed she was standing on you fully now, and yet you were fine. Her foot lifted away, and she crouched down. "Say, would you be worried if Dad and I were walking around barefoot? Would you have a problem if we accidentally stepped on you?"
 
You shook your head. "I wouldn't have a problem if you stepped on me on purpose!" Your mom laughed as she flexed her toes over you, nudging you with her big toe. "You know..." she said thoughtfully, "I just came with a new game we can play when your father gets home."
 
Your smile spread out wide across your face. Today was definitely a good day.