As the sun climbed higher into the sky, Mittens enjoyed the cool comfort of a dark alleyway. She watched ponies stand at wooden structures filled with food, produce, as other ponies walked up to them and traded a varying amount of plants for small, round pieces of gold.
Picking up on their thoughts revealed this was a Marketplace and the ponies were exchanging currency for food. Money, the ponies had money. Mittens could use this, she couldn't see the finer details of the coins but they were gold. Were they made of gold? Ponies had a lot of similar things humans had and humans liked gold, Mittens had made gold before. She didn't have enough experience or knowledge on ponies to try mimicking one again, but if she could hide herself and use words properly, she could trade gold for a costume? They had to have a- it took her a moment to remember the word- shop for costumes.
A disguise, that was the right word. She needed a disguise! Mittens chirped in joy, she knew the perfect disguise. Now, where was she going to find a box? She darted through alleyways and side streets, zipped around corners all in search of a cardboard box.
Box, box, box... Where to find a box? Box, box, box...
She chirped loudly as she rounded a corner and found an empty cardboard box leaning up against the wall.
Box!
She ran up to it, sprouting tentacles to grab it and turn it upside-down. She dropped it over herself. As Mittens sat within the confines of the bos, the outside world visible through a hole in the side, she felt a sense of calm wash over her. The box was cozy, the box was safe, the box was perfect.
Mittens walked forward, a pair of tendrils latched onto the inside of the box to keep it on. She felt like it was safer to just keep the box rather than try to get a costume. It was certainly less complicated. Even though she wasn't a cat, Mittens began to purr, she had overcome the first hurdle!
Mittens took comfort in her box as she shuffled down the street, in full view of the ponies milling about the marketplace. She couldn't see much from the hoofhold on the side of the box but ponies were looking at her, and they weren't running away! Oh, Mittens knew that expression, confusion, their thoughts were loud as ever, wondering why a pony- Mittens felt like squeaking in elation at being thought of as a pony!- was walking around inside a cardboard box.
In the box, she was confident. In the box, she could be more than just Mittens The Yldduc-Cat, she could be Mittens The Yldduc-Pony! All she had to do was talk, sound like a she and use words.
She could do this!
She shuffled over to one of the marketplace vendors, she already knew what to say, Hello, My name is Mittens. I am new in town.
The pony, an orange female wearing a hat, looked at her warily. "Can I help you?"
Mittens smiled in her box. "Hel-Lo-"
Someone shrieked. "It's the monster!"
The pony in front of Mittens was quick to act, tearing the box away with a- this close Mittens could actually see their legs in detail- hoof and the gathered ponies fell silent. The tentacles that held the box remained in the air. Mittens was only a bit shorter than the pony, who backed away quickly in what Mittens now knew as terror. No, that was bad, Mittens offered the pony a small smile- maybe less teeth would help- as her form morphed into the basic shape of a pony. Mittens looked around as she stabilized, still smiling and lifted a foreleg to copy the motion she'd seen ponies use as a greeting.
"Hello, My name is-"
Her words were drowned out by the noise of the locals as they fled the area, Mittens sensed not only their fear but also the quickly rising anger from the hat wearing pony in front of her. Nausea and a sense of unease rolled within the depths of her being while the sharp spike of protective fury grated painfully against Mittens' telepathic senses. She abandoned her pony form and scrambled away from the orange pony, scaled the nearest wall and used her tendrils to haul herself into a hidden corner between two buildings.
Mittens pulled her head and legs into herself, closing her eye and curling up into a ball as the sounds of panicked ponies was muffled by her dense fur and her senses were dulled as she retreated further into herself. Mittens waited for things, both herself and the outside world, to return to normal. Mittens wanted to go home, back to her human/friend/owner, back to being Mittens The Yldduc-Cat, but her home was here now.
She just had to find it, find a friend. Mittens wondered if she could find another box and hide in it until The Conglomerate sent another Yldduc to do her job. She squeaked quietly, she couldn't, her own survival was on the line, not just her people. With a warbling sigh, she unfurled from the safety of her plush fur and scuttled around the back of the building.
The ponies were clearly ready to defend their home from danger but initial scouting had noted them as nonviolent, so she had been selected to initiate first contact based on her own nonviolent temperament- Mittens chirped proudly, she was getting better with words!- so, what to do? Her information was insufficient, most First Contact Missions were simple, observe the locals, follow orders and make a good first impression.
Mittens needed to keep trying until she got it right. She needed to look for another box. She zipped down a nearby side street.
Box, Box, Box, Oooo blue thing! Box, Box, Box, Box...