Ch 2: The Cutie Mark Demon
I yawned and stretched as I began to wake up. Twilight was nice enough to set me up in a guest bed last night, especially since she kept trying to figure out my different powers.
Though I can't say she didn't make progress, we managed to figure out quite a few of them. For example, I found out that I have claws now. If I flex my hand a certain way, claws pop out of my fingertips.
Another thing we figured out was my shape-shifting. I can do it now but... For some reason I have to spin a bit to change shape. It's a little odd, but still better than nothing. Oh! I also figured out how to-
"John!"
I guess I'd better go see what Twilight wants...
After getting re-dressed, I headed downstairs to find Twilight looking through her notes. "Did you need something?" I asked, startling her into dropping the paper she was reading.
"Oh! Uh... yes, perfect timing," Twilight responded, looking up at me. "Could you run an errand for me? Spike is currently a bit... Occupied, helping my friend Rarity." She explained, looking a bit annoyed that her assistant had already bolted for the boutique.
I shrugged, "Sure thing Twilight, what do you need?" I asked, figuring that helping out a bit was the least I could do after she let me stay over for the night and helped me with my new abilities.
"Could you take this to my friend Fluttershy?" Twilight levitated a medium-sized book over to me, dissipating the magical field as I grabbed hold of it. "She checked that out the last time she was here, but forgot it on the table. Her cottage is in that"- Twilight pointed in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage "-direction. It's the only house in the area, and it's on a hill. You should be able to find it pretty easily."
I nodded, already walking towards the door. "No problem Twilight, consider it done." I called over my shoulder. Unfortunately, I was stopped from walking further by the purple aura of her magic.
"Ahem..." Twilight coughed, "If you could maybe change into a pony or something before you go, that'd be great. I don't want anypony to panic thinking you came from the Everfree Forest or something." She 'suggested', though it was really more of a demand.
I shrugged and quickly turned on my heel, becoming a whirl of color. When the living twister slowed down, there was a blue Pegasus stallion with a blonde mane standing there. "Better?" I asked.
"Yes, much better." Twilight replied, sounding pleased.
I then turned and walked out of the library, heading towards Fluttershy's cottage. I decided not to fly though, feeling like it would be a good idea to actually learn how to use my wings before trying them out. I don't want to end up making a ditch with my face like season 4 Twilight did while practicing for the Sun Celebration ceremony after all.
Once I reached the cottage, I stopped at the door. Raising a hoof to knock, I hesitated. Fluttershy is always shy around new ponies, what if she's too scared to talk to me?
Then I grinned as an idea came to me. With a small spin and a little tornado, I became a small cat. A Cheshire cat to be exact. I slowly faded from view, my smile being the last thing to disappear.
After walking through the wall with my intangibility, I found Fluttershy in the kitchen. Grinning again, I walked up behind her. I managed to quickly compose my face into a neutral cat expression before becoming visible again. I put the book Twilight had given me earlier under my left paw, before gently tapping my right paw against her leg with a small meow.
Looking down, Fluttershy noticed me almost immediately. "Hmm? Who are you little one?" She asked softly, bending down to examine me.
I said nothing and simply patted the book under my paw. "Oh? Is that for me?" She asked, noticing the book. I gave a little nod, still staying in my character of a 'normal cat'. Fluttershy then pat me gently upon the head before picking up the book, setting it onto the counter-top nearest to us. "Equestria's top 15 salad recipes? Oh this is the library book I checked out, I've been looking everywhere for it!" Fluttershy said excitedly, which is to say that she was speaking in what would be a normal indoor voice for anypony else.
"Oh thank you, I thought I'd left this behind at the library and Angel was a bit upset by it... Did Twilight send you?" Fluttershy asked.
Here it is, the moment I've been hoping for... I allowed a grin to practically split my face before letting out a somewhat deep, "Eeyup!"
Fluttershy let out a little "eep!" and froze, staring at me with wide disbelieving eyes. I happily used this attention to pull my little disappearing trick again, allowing my grin to fade last.
Fluttershy blinked twice before falling over. To be honest, I kinda expected her to faint and used my literally cat-like reflexes and speed to catch her head with a pillow before it could hit the floor.
"Well now that the chore's are done, it's time to play!" I thought to myself, grinning widely as I walked out, or rather through, the door.
As I walked around the edges of Ponyville, I heard what sounded like laughter in the Apple orchard to my right. Apple Bloom maybe? I decided it couldn't hurt to drop in and check it out.
After a bit of a walk through the trees I came across the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' Club. "At least now I definitely know that the timeline is past the Show Stoppers episode." I mumbled, looking at the fixed up clubhouse. Apple Bloom would make a great carpenter...
"Hey!"
I looked around after hearing the agitated exclamation and saw the three crusading fillies standing in a clearing, staring down Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Joy... Wait! Maybe I could use this to my advantage? With that in mind, I allowed my 'Cheshire Grin' to stretch my face as I walked towards the three.
"Blank Flank, Blank Flank!" I could hear the two bullies chanting as I finally reached the group, standing right next to Apple Bloom. Perfect.
Diamond Tiara noticed me first, bumping an elbow into Silver Spoon to get her attention. "Hey, whose cat is that?" she asked, pointing at me. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, whom I shall begin to simply call the CMC for the sake of a smaller mouthful, looked at me as well.
"That's not my cat..." Sweetie Belle replied, confused "After all it's definitely not Opal, she's white. I don't think I've ever heard of a cat that has blue stripes and blonde fur..."
"And it's definitely not mine; I don't have a pet" Scootaloo added.
"And Applejack has Winona, so cats are a big 'no go'..." Apple Bloom finished.
"Well it's not like that mangy thing belongs to either of us, it definitely looks like something a Blank Flank would own though!" Diamond Tiara laughed.
"Mangy? Excuse you but I happen to be very well groomed, thank you very much!" I replied indignantly, speaking in a very fake and stereotypical British accent. "Now what's all this about Blanks and Flanks?" I asked, acting like I didn't know what they were talking about.
"Did that cat just...?" Sweetie Belle asked. The other two crusaders could only nod their heads, surprise written all over their muzzles.
"Er..." Diamond Tiara began intelligently, seeming at a loss of words. "T-they don't have any cutie marks..." She managed to explain, trailing off at the end.
I raised a brow, acting surprised. "Is that all?" I asked, padding over to stand next to Diamond Tiara. Thinking of the Absolute Thievery ability, I had an idea. I just hope I can reverse this later if need be... Reaching over with my paw, I touched the Tiara shaped picture on her rump before making a grabbing motion and pulling my paw away.
In front of their disbelieving eyes, the Cutie Mark came away with my paw as if it was a simple sticker. I allowed my Cheshire grin to stretch my face once more, looking at the two spoiled fillies.
"There, now your Flanks match..." I commented before pulling my disappearing trick once more. This caused both of them to run away from the clearing, screaming about 'Cutie Mark Demons'
Once the two spoiled fillies disappeared from sight I broke down laughing, letting myself fade back into visibility once more. "T-their faces, oh man the look on their faces!" I gasped out.
Managing to calm down a bit, I turned back to the CMC who back away quickly. Sensing the tension in the air, I raised a paw. "Hey Apple Bloom, how're you doing?" I asked, smiling slightly. I didn't allow this grin to split my face like the others though, since that probably would've seemed pretty creepy.
All three of them blinked before Apple Bloom looked a little closer at me, scrutinizing the blonde fur. "John?" She asked.
I allowed my grin to stretch just a tad bit wider, "The one and only!" I replied, standing on two legs and making an exaggerated bow. That statement is technically true. I doubt I'll ever run into another 'John' in Equestria after all.
"What happened to ya? Why do you look like that? And how'd you do that!?" Apple Bloom fired off rapidly, wanting to find out what she could.
"I can shape-shift, and it's a secret respectively." I replied, turning on my heel and ending up looking like a pegasus colt with a blonde mane and a blue coat.
"Wow, ah didn't know he-yoo-muns could do stuff like that!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
I smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with a fore-hoof "Well... Normally they can't. I'm sort of an oddball, I guess." I replied before pointing at the two fillies behind her. "Now then, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah! Girls, this here's John! I found him in the orchard yesterday, apparently he got lost." She told the two girls, jerking a hoof towards me. It took a conscious effort to keep the powers of the 'Hide-behind from activating as the young Earth Pony stepped in front of me. Turning to me, she continued the introductions. "John, this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo." Apple Bloom informed me, pointing at the Unicorn and Pegasus fillies respectively.
"What's a he-yoo-mun?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously.
"Well, we look a bit like tailless and mostly hairless monkeys. The only hair we have is on our head, and occasionally a bit of it will grow on our bodies."
"But you look like a pony to me..." Scootaloo piped up.
Looking at her, I smiled. "I also looked like a cat just a few minutes ago." I reminded her. She looked a bit sheepish after that. "Like I said just a bit ago, I can shape-shift." I demonstrated this power by spinning and first turning into Apple Bloom, then Sweetie Belle, followed by Scootaloo, after which I looked like Twilight, and I finally ended it by turning into a Blank-Flanked Diamond Tiara before changing back into my blue-and-yellow colt self.
"Wow!" Scootaloo exclaimed, "That's so awesome! Almost as awesome Rainbow Dash..." She finished, her little wings buzzing slightly with excitement.
I smirked slightly before spinning again, "I'm pretty sure I'm about 20% cooler, actually..." I stated in the likeness of Rainbow Dash, smug grin and all. Changing myself back I chuckled slightly, "It was nice to meet you, but I'm gonna head out now. I'm sure you've got some crusading to do anyways..." I said, walking back towards Ponyville.
I'm sure that there's plenty more fun to be had where that came from after all. Maybe I could try and find Lyra? If she really is obsessed with hands, I could probably use my Cheshire abilities to make floating hands appear in front of her now and then... I couldn't help it, I laughed at the mental image of Lyra chasing after floating hands. This is going to be fun.