//------------------------------// // Scales, Paws, and Talons // Story: Can't I Pick Which One? // by Kyle_67 //------------------------------// Sunlight filters through the curtain onto my floor as I allow a few more seconds of rest to take over before lifting open my eyelids and looking at my room. Same as ever. I always get a kick out of my life when its normal; it soothes me. No tyrannical beast or cotton candy clouds--it's perfect. I close my eyes again to fall asleep and eventually fall back asleep. \ When I pry my eyes open again, I find much of the same scene. I remain stoic in my position until my brain reminds me of something to do. I then ponder whether to feed myself or Tank first as I rub my eye with my hoof. Ugh, for some reason the area around my eyes feel a bit rough, almost jagged. I figure I should just dismiss it, maybe ask the pharmacist for skin care products. I pull my hoof away only to make a realization. I have a claw. "The fuu~" I breathe in a stammer. Even though I've had 22 years of bearing nothing but my four hooves, a claw is now staring me in the face. My brain seems to take forever to process that I don't just have one claw, I have four. All on my new hand, mirrored on the other side of my body. It isn't even 11:00AM yet! I need to get help. What the hell am I? On any other day of my life the answer to that question is quite simple: I was a pony. Still am. Right? Because now... what the hell am I? In order to find an answer, I use 'my' claws to pull the sheets off my body in a hurried panic, gasping when I see my lower half. It's scaly, larger, a different color... I'm really getting scared. I notice I'm breathing quite heavily, which is a justifiable thing to do when you wake up on the wrong side of the animal kingdom. I squirm to move the sheets off of me and instead fall to the ground, not used to my size. It's here that I see my tail: its larger than before and comprised of scales instead of hair. I feel my face drain of blood; growing out of it are five black spikes, sharp as anything. I whimper slightly, only to feel the strangest thing deep in my throat. It's the worst burp I've ever felt rise, and, when I let the air leave my mouth, I give a cough and see the damnedest thing. Fire. It dissapears immediately, but... fire? Did I breathe fire? That's actually pretty sick. I mean, how many ponies get to breathe fire? Even alicorns can't do that, but I just did! I feel a grin creep on my face as the weak fireball dissipates. I get up off the ground and stand for the first time. Wow. I mean, wow! I'm a dragon! How cool is that? I look in my mirror and my suspicions are confirmed. All the signs of a dragon are there; reptilian eyes, razor-sharp teeth, scaly skin, awesome claws, and wings. Oh, boy--the wings! I can hardly describe them; they're that amazing. Feathers, say goodbye in the wake of these--these are way cooler! Think half bat, half raptor, half alligator. The last one is only for the texture. I'm pretty sure alligators don't have wings. Probably. I spin around a few times for fun as I get extremely giddy. My earlier worries of being non-pony are squashed, even if only for the time being. I've wanted to be a dragon longer than I've wanted to be an adult. I look at my teeth and notice how they are rather fit for a predator, not a pony like me. Are dragons carnivores? Should I switch to a griffon diet? Oh, who gives a shit anyways--I'm a dragon! I don't know why this has happened to me, but I can't care less as I let out another fireball for fun. I accidentally disintegrate a picture frame in the process, but I hardly notice. I then hear a knock at the door, snapping me back back to reality. A devious grin appears on my face as I wonder who I get to surprise. Who comes by at this time, again? The mail was delivered yesterday, my milk's in the fridge, I don't have any guests planned... right? Oh! I remember; I have an animal play date today with... Fluttershy. Fluttershy hates dragons. And I'm a dragon. Uh oh. A new wave of panic flushes over me as I look in a closet for something to cover my body with. Actually, as long I greet her with just my voice, it's okay, right? "Rainbow Dash?" I hear her say. "Uh, one second!" I reply, noticing how my voice is a touch deeper and a bit... I don't know, rougher? It doesn't sound like it should, that's for sure. Hopefully she won't notice! "Oh my, is there something wrong with your voice?" she asks. Shit. I struggle to think of an excuse as I rummage deeper through my closet. "Oh, um... yeah," I lamely say, "I have a cold." I try to be convincing and cough a few times, promptly shooting a fireball into my pile of clothes. Well, damn--there goes that idea. "Oh, dear," Fluttershy says sympathetically. "Let me come in and help--I have some cold medicine in my saddlebag!" "No! Uh, don't do that!" I back into a corner, not knowing where to go. "I'm getting dressed!" I hear Fluttershy twisting the padlock with the house code. "We're both girls, Dashie; It doesn't matter." "Yes it does!" I say back. The lock clicks and Fluttershy walks in. "Why would it matter? Did you--" She halts her sentence and her forward motion when she sees me. "R-Rainb-bow D-Dash?" "Um, hey Flutters!" She gives a high pitched yell and starts to back up, ramming into a wall. The yellow pegasus yells so loud that my hearing goes numb. My other senses seem to phase away too. Finally, the world goes pitch black. =-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-= I open my eyes again and jolt up. I'm back in bed? How? I was just over there! By the closet door! I turn my head to look where I was not 20 seconds ago, but... no, the closet was open, wasn't it? A strange feeling makes itself known in my mouth again, but this time it's not a burning sensation from my throat; I come to realize that I have no teeth. Like, at all. I swing my arm out in front of my face, expecting to be met with a hoof and if not, a claw, but I'm only met with a wing. A particularly small one, at that. Well, I'm pretty sure I lifted my arm up. I peer down to notice that something is odd with my arms. I don't have any. I flap my wings in a frenzy and land in front of the mirror to see that I've transformed again. Into a hawk. This is getting way past freaky; I'm not even something that could be counted as close to my usual pony form! I look at the mirror to see a very confused bird looking back. I slump over as best as a bird can as I take a second to comprehend what's happening. What is happening, for Celestia's sake? Has one of Twilight's spells gone wrong? That could be it; that happens. A lot. Twilight already turned me and the girls into breezies a while back, so a couple of animal transformations is not a stretch. But then, why was Fluttershy normal? Maybe there's a pattern; that's what Twi always told me to do when I can't think of a solution. Just find patterns and... what was that word she used? She told me to 'synthetisize' the information or something. I don't know how to do that part, but finding patterns shouldn't be too hard for a weather pony such as myself! A few moments pass when some dots connect in my head. This is a dream, right? It has to be! The insane scenarios, starting in a bed, it all adds up! Or else I'm stuck in a loop of some sort; Twilight tried to convince me to read a story she wrote a while back on the matter. But that's fiction... I shake my head and decide that, if I wake up again, I'll know for sure. I've only woken up twice, after all. Dreams don't tend to go that deep; I've got to just reach dream bedrock at some point. Well... that just leaves me, as a bird, in my house, all alone. As if on cue, I hear a knock at the door. That confirms for me that I am living the same morning that I just did, a pretty weird thought to be honest. With nothing to lose, I go to say 'come in' when a bird's cry escape my lips. Or beak--whatever. While my brain understood the words encased in the cry, there's no way in Tartarus that Fluttershy understood me. "Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's call reaches my ears. Do birds have ears? I suppose I'm hearing things right now, so I must do. She calls again, "Do you have a bird in there?" "Yes, I do!" I call back, amusing only myself with what I'd said. Fluttershy is silent for a moment. "I'm coming in," she announces at last. I stumble my way to the table in front of my door and wait for Fluttershy to see me. Even though she is literally the least intimidating creature in Equestria, being this small in stature makes her weirdly appear more threatening as her body looms over the table. Fluttershy sees me and smiles kindly. "Hello, birdie," she greets me. "are you Rainbow Dash's?" Seeing as how I'd be thrown out if I said 'no', I nod, only to critically think if I've ever seen a bird nod and stop immediately when I get a resounding no as my brain's answer. Thinking my cover is blown, I silently scold myself for being so dense. To my surprise, however, she gasps in delight. "Oh my," she says, "what a smart girl!" "Heh, yeah," I say, more confident now in my ruse. "Tell that to Twilight!" I say to no one in particular. Fluttershy sets down her cage and lifts the lid. A rabbit I'm all too aware is Angel Bunny rolls out, still asleep. Fluttershy looks at me. "Now you keep him good company, OK, birdie?" I nod again, earning an adorable clap from Fluttershy. I watch her go, probably on the search for pony-me. Yeah, good luck with that, Flutters. A snore sounds from behind me and I turn to Angel. Oh, shit--he's asleep! Potential for fun engulfs me as I wonder if he can understand me. Animals can talk to each other, right? At least that's what Fluttershy tells me. Oh, the possibilities! Angel is always such a jerk to the citizens of Ponyville, so the chance to talk to him in a dream feels like vigilantism. "Hey, jackass!" I yell. "Wake up!" "Hm... Wha?" The two short half-words out of Angel's mouth makes me as giddy as can be. I'm actually talking to an animal! I try to maintain my intimidating stance. "Yeah, you; wake up!" "Who... ugh, who are you?" He says while rubbing his head. "Oh, you know," I say nonchalantly. "No, I don't know," he replies. "Is my play date with you?" "You could say that," I chirp. At least one of us will have fun. "I've never seen you before," he says. "Are you that fat pony's new pet?" "Fat?" I echo. Does he mean me? "Yeah, what's her name again?" He ponders. "Rainbow Flux, or something? Help me out here." "I am not fat!" I say, forgetting for a moment that I'm trying to get a rise out of him. He gives me a quizzical look. "I didn't call you fat," he politely informs me, "I called your owner fat." "She's... buff, that's all!" I say, feeling my authority rip away. How did the balance shift so quickly? He dismissively lies back down. "Fluttershy's thinner." I lunge at Angel entirely by instinct and take him by surprise. He struggles as I once again feel my vision fade. Backing off of Angel, I fight to stay awake to no avail. I slip from consciousness once again. =-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-= My head bolts up from my pillow again. Greeting my awakening is my room, but at a very large scale. As in, my pillow alone outperforms me in size. Shit, am I a bird again? I lift my arm to be thankfully not greeted by a wing. Before I can feel relieved, my brain registers that not a hoof, claw, nor feather met my eyes, but a paw instead. Turning to look in my bedside mirror, I see a cat staring back. I'm not gonna lie, the sight of my adorable whiskers, tiny paws, and soft eyes made my heart melt. A purr rises in my throat, not by choice. "Gah! How do I turn it off?" I meow, creeped out by the rumbling of my vocal cords. Before I can fully process how I had meowed using words, I hear the ring of a doorbell. I think of what to do next, eventually settling on trying to communicate with Angel again. I'm not the best animal for a round of grilling him, but I just want some immediate payback. I take a few seconds to reassess my walk cycle, then drop off my bed to greet Fluttershy. When I reach my floor, I shriek as the clouds give way to an expanse of blue sky. Shit, cats can't walk on clouds? Why the hell not? No, wait... actually that makes sense. Cats have no wings, so they can't cloud walk. That's reasonable. Hm. No wings, huh? I can't fly back up, can I? I peer down and scream as the ground careens ever closer. I'm normally okay with this; I just flick my wings and fly away! That's not going to work, though--I don't have my damn wings! When did I even have my two most prized possessions last? It would've been this morning, I suppose. Well, today never really started. I just woke up several ti- This is just a dream! I'll wake up soon enough right? It seemed so real for a while that I nearly forgot this isn't reality, or a damn close imitation of it. I attempt to calm down by remembering that no one ever dies in their dreams. I'll wake up and make the most of the unique gift of immunity I was given today. Just breathe, Dash. There's no place like home, there's no place like home--did it work? I open my eyes and confirm that I am still hurtling through the air. Shiiit... Moments away from impact, I close my eyes and pray for survival. =-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-= I brace for death, but instead feel warmth. I open my eyes to find myself in my bed, wrapped in a comforter. This time, I glance in my mirror and see an owl. That's not the most interesting thing, however. Wherever I am, whatever state of being I am in, I have been shown to invulnerable; even falling to my death just resulted in a new cycle beginning. And I can be a new animal each time! What other animals will I get to be? Will they be awesome? I could be a bat, even; no, no, a lion! I'm clearly not limited to winged animals. A weird twinge of excitement comes into being. I shouldn't be excited by this--there are too many unknowns. I mean, what if it never ends? Will I ever return to being me? Rainbow Dash? Still, I have been given a power right out of a comic book. But, with all powers, I have a choice: will I use my powers for good, or become a full time pranker? Well, its not like a cycle will last long enough for me to reap the benefits of being a hero, like fame, adoration, and money, and what if I turn into something useless for heroism, like an ant? On the other hoof, I would get the reaction of ponies I screw with immediately. I mean, I love pranking ponies, and this gift is just ripe for exploitation! I can just imagine the priceless expressions of my countless victims! I'm not limited to resources or time anymore, no no no; I can do anything to anyone as any animal and never live the consequences. Exhilaration pumps through my veins as I feel myself give in to the urge of villainy. Oh, this'll be fun.