The Subversive Scrolls

by Ponyess

A Rare Scroll: 6

Author's Note:

Rarity's POV

Apparently I had received a scroll with the mail, Ditzy herself delivered it. That in and of itself wasn't strange, she is after all the mail mare of Ponyville. She use to come with some mail every now and then. Just that this one in particular wasn't expected.

The one thing I am not used to, is to get scrolls. Not that I get too much unexpected in the mail. I usually do get letters, or on occasion, a postcard in my mail, though.

The only one I know, who would even consider using a scroll is Twilight Sparkle, she lives right here in Ponyville, but she would not send it to me by mail, she would walk right up to me and deliver it in person, if and when ever she would have something for me.

As much as I may love mail, I still do prefer the personal delivery, when every it is possible and not entirely inconvenient. I never blamed Twilight for sending her messages to Princess Celestia by Dragon Mail, just as I wouldn't go to Mainehattan, just to deliver a simple message in person. These are the situations where mail simply is convenient.

Once I had picked up the mail of the day, I moved right back into my home, up the stairs and into my private kitchen, before I finally did look at the mail. A few cards, a letter and the scroll.

I guess I should have read the cards and letter first, though I chose the scroll first, mainly because it looks more important than the rest, due to the form of a scroll.

The address clearly directed the scroll to me. Once I had checked the address, I opened it in order to read the message, or whatever content it may be. It could have been a pattern for a new dress someone would be asking for, I guess it wasn't exactly unheard of, after all.

Once I had opened this scroll, I found a message or text, as strange as it looked in my eyes. There certainly was no pattern for a dress, or a suit of any kind. Maybe I should have stopped right there, but I still did read the text. Apparently it is a spell of some kind, even if I had no idea as to what the effect of it would be, until I had fully read the incantation.

I didn't notice Sweetie Bell walking in on me, she doesn't make all that much noise since she is a little fillie.

“Hi, Rarity. Interesting suit you put on. Are you going for a swim?” she responded at the sight of my new looks.

“No, why? I was just reading my daily mail!” I responded, pointing at the small pile still on the table.

“You are not? But, you clearly are wearing a swim suit. Why would you possibly wear a swim suit, if you were not about to take a swim?” she pointed out.

“I just finished reading this scroll as you came in, before I intended to read the letters. Since you say I am wearing a suit, how do I look?” I enquired, a bit curious while worrying a bit as to how and why I am apparently wearing a suit, if she was telling the truth.

Although I guess I couldn't deny feeling a slight pressure over my body, now as she had mentioned it.

“It is the tightest suit I ever have seen you wearing. It is metallic electric blue, as are your hooves. What sticks out as odd is the black rubber collar you are wearing around your neck though, with an image in the middle. You even have hooves in place of your fingernails!” she responded, in a somewhat amused tone of voice, blushing slightly as she tried to express what she saw.

“Would you please take the scroll to Twilight Sparkle in the library. Then warn her about the scroll and ask if she has seen any other scrolls lately. This may be an isolated incident, or it is just the first of many scrolls just like it. I'll just have to check what I look like, before I could read the rest of my mail now!” I instructed Sweetie Belle.

“Certainly, since you asked me!” she responded as she pulled the scroll out of my hand and ran of, leaving with merely an imaginary cloud of dust behind.

“Thanks, Sweetie Belle!” I pronounced in the nick of time, just before the door closed behind her.

“Maybe I should have that swim she mentioned. This is a strange colour, somewhere in between the purple of my mane and the cyan of my eye shadow, slightly closer to the blue in my cutie mark. These strange hooves in place of my nails I could live with, it wasn't as if they really did change anything to me. The suit is another matter and the collar did stand out more than my comfort could reconcile with, but for now I just had to endure it for Sweetie Belle's sake!” I thought, walking off to the nearest mirror to get an image of what I did look like.

Maybe it would wear of in a few hours, or not. If not for the collar, I could make due fairly well. This was the one item to stick out like a very sore thumb, which wasn't sitting too well with me.

My usually white hooves are blue, just like the diminutive hooves in place of my nails. The same went for the suit and the shadow. Strangely, it did not cover my mark, but, rather avoided it as if on purpose. As much as it changed me, it stayed away from the core of who I am, my leaving the mark fully visible.

Then I noticed how my mane remains in its original colour and style, as if stubbornly staying true to whom I am and who I was. My eyelashes are still black, though glistering luxuriously and curls up slightly. Maybe they had grown slightly longer, unless I am imagining it all.

If only the collar of all things could be said to be an imagination. I placed my hands on it, only to find confirmation for the collar actually being there. I incidentally placed the tip of one of my diminutive hooves on it. What happened did certainly shock me. The image isn't just there, it acts almost as if it had been a part of a combination lock.

The next moment, I felt the icon slide to the side, leaving the next in its place.

“Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching!” it echoed in my head, as if it had been a loud noise, rather than a barely on the level of hearing.

My finger slipped off of the collar, just as I noticed an odd shadow behind me in the mirror before me. For a moment I wanted to scream, then I just did not believe what I saw. Apparently I now have a pair of bat wings on my back. Looking closer, the icon did show just that, a Bat.

“If only this thrice damned Collar had not been quite so obvious, it would have been convenient. I could choose to have the wings I had been dreaming of at any time, when it suited me or when it was convenient. If I could actually use them in order to fly. If I couldn't, they would just me pointless decorations on my back!” I thought.

“Of cause, there is but the one way to know, I have to try them out. I need to go out, in order to actually fly!” I continued.

With that, I walked down the flight of stairs to ground level, before I walked up to the door and opened. Strange, not a single Pony in sight.

Just strange how natural it feels to flap these wings, even if I had been flying in Cloudsdale at that one event.

In a way the experience encroached on the memory of that day, as I tried to steal the attention from Raibow Dash, but gave it back, several times over as she saved not just me, but the entire troup of Wonderbolts, as I tumbled towards the ground in what would seem a certain death.

Only then, it brought back other memories, like the incident when Twilight Sparkle turned Flutter Shy not the Bat, or Flutter Bat.

I made an effort to stop the flow of unbidden memories and images, focusing on the hear nd now as I was about to make the leap into the air. I wanted to see if I could fly, if these wings would carry me.

Since it did feel natural and I knew how to fly, it would not be my fault if I wasn't capable of flight now.

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