Francis’ stay at the clubhouse was… not exactly the best visit.
But then again, it was mostly because most of his visit was spent being tackled and nuzzled on by three small ponies while they rub their hooves all over his fur.
“I really like the orange on his fur!” The yellow pony, Apple Bloom, said.
“And his hat looks really neat!” The orange Pegasus, Scootaloo, said.
“He’s also very warm when you hug him!” Sweetie Belle then proceeded to squeeze the life out of Francis, causing him to grunt. Francis took this time to notice something. All the ponies he met had symbols on their butts, all of them being different. These girls, however, had a similar mark. A tri-colored shield with a star in the middle. Only the shape that was in the star was unique to each of the girls.
Apple Bloom then got up and went over to a podium.
“Alright, cuddling aside, we gotta figure out this Cutie Mark problem.” Apple Bloom then unveiled a picture of a series of bubbles. “Muffins is a very important pony to this community, being the mailmare and all, but she doesn’t know what her Cutie Mark means!” Apple Bloom said. The two other ponies looked at it and tilted their heads.
Francis, meanwhile, just looked out the window. He had no idea what the girls were talking about and quite frankly, he didn’t care that much. He just sighed and wondered about two things: how he can turn back to himself and how he can go home.
“Go on! Get!” That’s when he heard a rough, southern accented voice in the distance. Francis turned his head to see a large, orange pony with blonde hair and freckles throwing some rope at…
A black-feathered bird.
Francis’ heart beat as he looked at the bird.
“Big Mac, can I get some help here? This crow managed to get past the scarecrow!” As the pony said that, the bird cocked its head towards the treehouse.
Its blood red eyes darting towards Francis.
It immediately flew towards Francis. Francis drew his rapier as the bird flew right into the house, pushing Francis down.
“Oof!” Francis shouted. The ponies stopped their meeting to look at Francis and the bird. The bird merely cawed as it flew around the clubhouse.
“What the heck!?” Apple Bloom shouted.
“What’s a bird doing at our house?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s after me! It wants to kill me!” Francis shouted as he trembled.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Sweetie Belle tried to run at the crow, but she tripped over her own hooves, skidding across the ground. The bird chuckled and flew right to Francis. Francis got knocked out of the clubhouse via the window, though thankfully due to his cat-like features, he managed to land on his feet.
Rapier drawn, Francis glared as the crow flew out of the clubhouse. He glared. No more running. He was gonna fight this crow here and now. He’s a cat. Why should he be afraid of a bird? If anything, the bird should fear him.
Francis licked his lips. His heart beat, but not in fear. As if it was on instinct that he was ready to pounce at the bird. As the crow closed in, Francis could already taste it in his mouth. He took out the rapier and slashed across.
CLANG!
Only for the rapier to meet a large metal sword. Francis could only look in shock as crow feathers fell down. What was once a crow was now a man who wore a light gray jacket with a dark grey dress shirt. He had long black pants and a tattered red cloak. The man had short but spiky black hair and a stubble on his jaw. The stench of alcohol, a smell that Francis has not had before, emanated from the man as he smirked.
“Surprise…” He growled. He pushed his large sword right into Francis as he knocked him away. Francis’ animalistic instinct left him and was replaced with fear. He trembled as the man rested his sword on his back. “It’s funny. The cat fearing the bird? Well, I have a theory.” Francis could see gears at the hilt of his sword beginning to turn as the blade began to split into five then curve upwards. The entire blade then shifted to the side as his handle became a long staff.
Before Francis’ eyes, his sword became a scythe.
“They say crows are a sign of bad luck. Old superstition. It’s how I got my name.” He pulled back some bangs, spiking up the hair.
“C-Crow?” Francis asked.
“Bingo, kiddo!” Crow then ran towards Francis. Francis tried to block, but the scythe reached over to Francis and tripped him by the leg. As Francis fell, he could see the fillies run to him.
“Get away from Ajax!” Sweetie Belle shouted.
“Tch… Interference.” His scythe then transformed back into a sword, but the blade still was at a ninety degree angle. He pointed it to Sweetie Belle and pulled a trigger placed at the hilt. Francis immediately ran to Sweetie Belle and deflected the bullet away. Francis could see a gleam in Crow’s eye. That’s when he noticed the bullet hit a branch on the treehouse, causing it to fall down towards Apple Bloom. Francis leaped right into her path and pushed her out of the way as the branch fell down.
With a thud, Francis was on top of Apple Bloom.
“You… you saved me!” Apple Bloom said. Francis just looked into Apple Bloom’s orange eyes.
“H-hey! Let go!” That’s when he and Apple Bloom looked up to see the large orange pony being grabbed by Crow and being held at scythepoint.
“Hey! Take down a message for that old windbag Celestia! If she ever wants to see the Element of Honesty again, she’d best unseal the three statues in the Everfree Forest! Otherwise, this apple’s gonna rot… if you catch my drift.” He smirked.
“N-no! Don’t hurt my sister!” Apple Bloom said. This caused Crow to blink.
“Your sister, huh? Well, this makes the deal all the sweeter, right? A sister for a sister! How’s that for a deal?” He said. Apple Bloom just looked at him.
“A sister for a sister?” She asked. Francis got off of Apple Bloom and pointed his rapier to Crow.
“L-let her go… O-or I’ll…” Francis trembled as he stepped forward, only to fall flat on his face. Crow laughed.
“You’re hardly on my level, kid. I appreciate your attempt at a fight, but this is a kill-or-be-killed world. You best just give up and cherish what you have… lest someone takes them away from you.” Crow frowned, if only for a moment. He then looked to Francis. “If, however, you have a death wish…” He then took off his necklace, a cross that, due to how it’s connected to the necklace, was tilted at an angle. He then tossed it to Francis who grabbed it. “Just hold onto that and say ‘I bring misfortune’. Say that, and I’ll be there, whether you like it or not.” Crow then tightened his grasp over the pony and snapped his finger. From the bottom up, he and the pony were covered with gray smoke. As the smoke faded, the two were gone.
“Applejack!” Apple Bloom shouted as she got up to run after the smoke cloud, only for it to disappear.
“That jerk! Who does he think he is?” Scootaloo asked.
“Are you alright, Ajax?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah… But…” Francis then looked to Apple Bloom, who began to weep. The two fillies noticed this and began to comfort her. Francis, however, knew what must be done. He then ran off towards Fluttershy’s house.
“Applejack’s been what!?” It took a while for the purple alicorn to come with her pink unicorn friend, the two people Francis wanted to talk to when he ran to Fluttershy’s house. Thankfully they weren’t far away when he came over to Fluttershy’s house to give her the news.
“Kidnapped! By a bird! But he’s a man!” Francis began to go out of breath before Fluttershy patted him on the back.
“This is bad… Applejack holds a seat at your castle, Twilight. If the Map calls for her and she’s not there, we might have to face a Friendship Problem that might not be solved.” Starlight said. Twilight turned to the hyperventilating cat.
“Francis, is there any reason why this guy took Applejack?” Twilight asked.
“… He… He’s holding her ransom.” Francis said.
“For what?” Twilight asked.
“Some… I don’t know. Statues in the… Erm… Nevergreen Forest?” Francis said.
“Statues? Why would he want statu-” Twilight then blinked and realized what he meant. “He wants those statues unsealed.” Twilight said. Francis nodded. Twilight then looked to the ground. “If they’re anything like the last unsealed statue we faced, they could be bad news…” Twilight said.
“But we managed to befriend him. Surely we can befriend these people.” Fluttershy said.
“That’s out of the question.” Francis turned his head towards the new voice and immediately jumped to the couch to hide in its pillows. The pony that appeared before him was practically a horse. Like Twilight, she too had wings and a horn, but her coat was a pure, snow white with her colorful hair flowing. The horse walked towards the group.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight began to bow. “I’m surprised you decided to show up.” She said.
“I felt something off yesterday and figured to come here to see what was going on. Seemed I came at a bad time.” Celestia said.
“Yes… Applejack got taken hostage and her assailant is demanding we unseal some statues.” Twilight said.
“Well, I should point out that befriending Discord was a hard feat on its own, and even afterwards, he wasn’t fully good until he learned how important friendship really was. I fear it won’t be easy for these three.” She said.
“So then we just mount a rescue.” Starlight said.
“But how? Applejack and that guy could be anywhere…” Twilight said. That’s when Francis coughed up and poked his head out of the pillows.
“Erm… not quite.” Francis took out the necklace.
“And… you are?” Celestia cocked her head.
“This is Francis. He’s staying with me for a while.” Fluttershy said.
“… I see.” Celestia said. Francis continued to show the necklace.
“I can bring the guy to me… but… he might not bring Applejack with…” Francis sighed.
“Wait, you can summon him?!” Twilight looked at the necklace, with Celestia merely drawing her eyes to it.
“W-well, he said so…” Francis said. He then looked at the necklace himself and thought of something, memories of an old video game of men riding yellow birds around filling his head. “… Maybe I can challenge him to a fight…” Francis said.
“No!” Fluttershy gasped and flew straight to Francis, holding him.
“I must agree with Fluttershy here. He was able to kidnap one of the Elements of Harmony with ease. I doubt you’d be able to beat him.” Starlight said. As she said this, the recent memories of Francis’ easy defeat by Crow’s hands played out.
“You’re right… I… I can’t win… He’s just too good…” That’s when Francis remembered something…
“They say crows are a sign of bad luck.”
All those times he tripped… The time he was hit with a falling piece of wood… The mere coincidence of him being able to grab Applejack. And perhaps the clincher of it was one line…
“I bring misfortune…”
“… He wasn’t good… He was lucky… Or rather…” Francis then sighed. “I’m unlucky.” His body trembled a bit as he suddenly remembered something new.
He remembered himself, but not as a kid, but rather as the cat, though with black fur. He remembered blurs of events, such as a pig choking on an apple, a cow-lady being run down by a horse, to several people getting injured in comical ways, all of them saying one thing:
“Bad luck! Bad luck!”
Afterwards, Francis began smirk.
“… Perhaps I might need to be…” Francis said.
“Um… What are you talking about?” Twilight asked. That’s when Francis turned to her.
“You talked about magic, right? Is there a spell that can make my fur black?” Francis asked. Twilight just looked to him.
“Are we really going for that old superstition?” Twilight asked.
“Crows are a sign of bad luck and one managed to use it to beat me! So I need to fight fire with fire! I need bad luck!” Francis said. Soon, Fluttershy’s front door opened.
“If you need bad luck…” Francis saw Apple Bloom walk into the house. “I… I know a pony in Appleloosa. He’s got bad luck written all over him!” Apple Bloom then looked and realized who was in the room, then quickly spoke up. “B-but he’s good and he’s a rodeo clown! Me and my friends helped him with that!” Apple Bloom said. Francis just looked to Apple Bloom and smiled.
“So… We can double the bad luck, beat him, and get your sister back.” Francis said. He then turned to Twilight. “Assuming we have such a spell…” Francis asked.
“Well…” Francis then turned his head to Starlight. “There’s a cosmetic spell that can change the color of your fur. I could make it so that you could look like a black cat, but I doubt you’d be able to have the luck of one.” Starlight said.
“Thank you for doing this…” Twilight then sighed and got herself ready. “I’ll plan out what to do in case this fails.” Twilight then took a moment before putting her hoof on Francis’ hat. “But I have faith in you.” Twilight said. She then noticed Francis shaking.
“Francis… Are you sure you’d want to do this?” Fluttershy noticed as well.
“… Yes. It’s my fault she’s taken in the first place. If anyone needs to fix this, it’ll be me.” Francis said. That’s when he saw Starlight step forward.
“I’ll come with you, then. If anything goes wrong, I can help.” She gave a smile to Francis.
“I’m coming too! I want to save my sister!” Apple Bloom said. Twilight, however, patted Apple Bloom on the back.
“Apple Bloom, this might be too risky for you.” Twilight said. She then smiled. “But… you’re now old enough to make your own decisions… So I won’t stop you.” She said. Apple Bloom grinned and went to Francis.
“… Alright! Next stop: Appleloosa!” Francis said.