Joseph found himself laying in a field of grass with a new body and gender. Aware of his new capabilities, how will his Fear trait help him through his new life?
well...this is new. I think to myself as I stare at the pink sphere floating in front of me. It's kinda cute. I go to pet it but my hands are different. I jump a bit when the sphere touches my hand. It's odd. I seem to know it's name and a few new powers. Akumu...Kumu! A nice little nickname. Kumu is definitely cute. They lean into my hand as I scratch their head. "Akumu, think you can turn into something reflective?" Akumu growls approvingly and turns into a scythe. Not what I was hoping but it works. Staring into the blade, my eyes seem to be a single line of bright pink. The lower half of my hair is pink and the upper half brown.
My appearance frightens me a bit and more of my hair turns pink. I hear growling behind me and akumu turns into a pink wall and blocks a wooden wolf from attacking me. I yelp as I see them slide into view. They jump at my and I duck under and kick the underbelly. Didn't think I could fight like this. But it didn't seem to do anything. They jump at me again, but they seem so much slower. Akumu enhances my arm and I use it to punch the wood into splinters. that was easier than I thought. As I turn around akumu makes a noise and then the wolf sinks it's teeth into my shoulder, but before they can bite farther, I force their jaws off, toss them into the air, and use akumu as a spear to steal their soul. The wood falls to pieces as I pull back the spear. "Store it akumu. Let's save it for later." Akumu chomps on the soul and we leave. I didn't really think the shoulder would be a problem, but it was. It hurt a lot more than I thought. I manage to get into a clearing, it's full of critters and it's night time. Akumu nuzzles out of concern, "I'm alright Kumu. Just need to find somewhere to rest. Let's go." After a few minutes of walking, a cabin of sorts comes into view. I continue walking and find a village. The streets are empty so they're all sleeping inside probably. I find a tree with a door on it and with nothing else to do, I open it. "Hello? Anyone home?" ...
No one's home. I go up the stairs and find a bedroom. Hopefully they won't mind me using it. I sit down and begin picking the splinters out of my shoulder wound which takes a few minutes. After that I lay down with a sigh you make after hours of non-stop walking. Now I can get some rest. "Watch me while I sleep, kay Akumu? Don't let anyone touch or hurt me." Akumu nods and settles on my shirt. I close my eyes and doze off.
--Twilight Pov-- Morning
I swing open the door to my Library, "Spike, can you grab the supernatural book I left upstairs?"
"Sure thing twilight." He starts up the stairs but stops and turns to twilight.
"It's on the nightstand near the bed." Spike turns back and continues up the stairs. Shortly after spike comes back down with his hand over his mouth like he's trying to be silent. "What's the matter spike? Couldn-"
"SHH!" I'm completely dumbfounded at his reaction as he gets closer and whispers "There's something sleeping in your bed twi!" He says in a hushed voice.
"Don't be redic-" he shushes me again. I decide to play along and whisper "Ok then spike, let's go and see." As we make our way up, I start seeing something under the covers. Spike wasn't lying at all. I had spike write a to the princess "Dear Princess Celestia, A brand new creature of unknown origin has appeared in my home and I thought it necessary to inform you. They don't seem dangerous but I still thought I should inform you. I will gather details about it but from what I can tell it walks on two hoofs. I eagerly await your response, Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle." It didn't take long for a reply to come back. "Dear twilight, Please be careful when investigating this new creature. I shall come and judge them myself in a little bit. Sincerely, Princess Celestia." Now to freak out about this. I clear my throat. A brand new creature that we know nothing about! I have to document this! I grab some paper, a quill, and begin documenting while I go to look them over but before I can lay a hoof on them, a strange blob bites at me. I manage to pull away and it just growls at me before resting on the thing in the bed while watching me. It's guarding them while they sleep. Perhaps I should wait and tell Celestia about this. It started nudging the thing in bed and I began to panic. -Ferris Pov-
"What's the matter ak-" my sentence is cut short when I look at a pony whose initial reaction is shock, followed by excitement.
"Tell me, what are you? Where'd you come from? Are there others like you? What's that pink blob?" She asked rapidly.
"Woah, slow down! You're talking way too fast... You talk?" A talking pony. I shouldn't be surprised but I am. "What's this place called?" After a few minutes the pony calms down.
"You're in ponyville. My name is twilight sparkle and this is spike." She says pointing to the dragon.
"I'm...Betty. This is Akumu. Have you heard of humans?"
"No, is that what you are?"
"No. I don't classify as a living thing. I'm a spell construct."
"You're a spell construct? So then, what is your purpose and how are you this sentient?" Twilight asked me.
"Well... I don't want to talk about my purpose and I'm not sure." I take another look at the two. "So is everyone here like you two? Talking ponies and dragons?"
"Yes, though we have pegasi and unicorns. Also, our rulers are Alicorns. The sun Princess, Princess Celestia raises and lowers the sun while the moon Princess, Princess Luna raises and lowers the moon."
"That's cool. Are they strong?"
"Very."
I manage to stop myself from smiling. For some reason, the thought of a fight against them thrilled me to no end.
"So when did you get here and what do you eat? I'm sure you must be hungry by now." Twilight asked.
"I got here yesterday I think. As for what I eat... I̴̫̱̦̠̒̿͌ ̪͕̙̘̤͍ͫ̏̕E̬̗̺̝̮̽͆͊ͭ͝Ả͓͓̟̺̖̮͔͙͢T̼̠̭̟̖̹̐̆̅̾̀ ͕̝͎̥̣ͫͭ́S̘͇̈́̀O͇͍̯̖͊̓̏͞Ū̶͓̙̻͍͓͒L͖̭̟̖̫͈̬̓̒ͪͣ́S̙͖̳̱̣͕̭͇̅͘!̶͕͍̼̐̆ " a creepy smile accompanied my face with those words.
"So then are you here to harm us?" She asked, her horn glowing.
I raise and wave my hands as non threatening as possible, "I'm seriously sorry about that! I don't know why I responded like that. No, I don't mean you harm and I don't really eat souls per say.Sigh. I take the souls of my targets and Akumu stores them and drains their magic for my use." Akumu opened it's mouth and showed a white upsidedown heart.
"So which pony did that belong to?" She asked darkly.
"None. It came from a big wooden wolf. Looked like a bunch of sticks packed together. I smashed it to pieces but came back together each time."
"Wow! You beat a timber wolf alone? You must be strong. I'd really like to know where you are from."
I checked my shoulder and it was healed, the cloths weren't damaged at all either so they must be a part of me. "Well I'm from a planet called earth, but I'm not sure about this body though and the magic as well as Akumu go with this body." I'm not sure how I would of healed to fast but the word Hate came into mind. Then memories of Akumu eating a black vial came into mind. "Crap."
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"Not at the moment but there might be an issue in the future."
"Twilight?"
I look in the direction of the door and there's a large alicorn about 8 feet tall. How cool! I can feel the strength radiating off her. Her soul must be... I manage to shake that thought out of my head and fully stand to bow. "Greetings your majesty. You must be princess Celestia. It's an honor to meet you."
"Very polite. Might I ask what you are?"
"A spell construct... Though my name is supposed to be Ferris, but this body is Betty."
"If that's so, what's your purpose, and I will know if you're lying. I also won't accept a 'i don't want to share'." Celestia said.
"Fine... Betty's purpose... Was to destroy the peace and prevent humans and monsters from living together. I can take souls of anything that has one. Like this" I show the timber wolf's white soul. "This is the soul of a timber wolf I beat and this is my soul." I nervously hold out my hand and my pink soul floats above. I watch her closely.
"Does every creature have a soul like this?" She asks as she reaches for mine. I quickly move my hand away. "Why so nervous?"
"I think everyone has one like this but a different color. Also, this soul is a living part of me. Should it be destroyed, I die. So sorry about that, your power is rather frightening." I said with a smile. It seems my excitement comes from feelings of fear. "My soul represents Fear and as such I feed off fear which makes me stronger. I also absorb souls to gain power. Some can be born naturally with this trait but I doubt this Betty is."
"We don't have humans here. So I doubt there will be a problem, but as for the soul stealing, I must ask, so you need it to survive?"
"No. It only serves to increase my power but it also helps to repair my body I think." I say looking at my shoulder. It might be the hate vial, but it was just a memory and it hasn't happened here, so perhaps it is the soul that's healing me. "I hate to ask but... Your power is immense. I must see your soul and don't worry about my soul stealing. To do so, Akumu must turn into a pink javelin so then you'd have plenty of warning.
"No. I must exercise caution." I hunger to see her soul and it's trait. But I'll have to restrain myself.
"If it's true that there's no humans, then I don't think we'll have a problem. But where will I live? I don't have anywhere to go."
"Then I shall secure a home for you. Do you have any requests?"
"Just a normal house."
"Then I shall get one for you. But know this, I won't hesitate to banish you to the moon or sun shall you hurt any of my subjects. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" I said with a salute. Now I got somewhere to live but I'll have to wait to find out where. Well I've found out both of their worst nightmares. I could use that but I don't really see why I need to unless we're fighting.
"I must return to my duties. Goodbye for now Twilight." She says as she gives her a nuzzle and leaves.
"Well Twilight, can you give me a tour of the town?"
"So many ponies." I comment as I look around the town. A lot of them shot weird glances at me. Some either out of fear and others curiosity.
"Well that's ponyville. Filled with every kind of pony. You're the first of your kind to come here so don't mind their reactions. They will warm up to you as time passes on." She takes me around town showing me the markets, restaurants, her friends house's, and teaches me about their currency.
"So you call them bits? Why not gold? Kinda looks like gold."
"I'm not sure." Twilight responded.
"So I've got a few questions."
"Ask away."
"What's with the weather? The clouds don't move at all and there's no wind either."
"We have pegasi to control the weather. The schedule for the weather is given out to tell others in advance."
"Wow! Where I come from the weather isn't controlled by anyone or pony. Same thing with night and day."
"Then how do you prepare or get night and day cycle?"
"We have a weather man or weather pony as you would call them, who use machines to predict the weather and the planet rotates which is what causes day and night."
"Could you tell me anything about those things?" Twilight's eyes were sparkling.
"Not really. I don't know anything about the machines they use and the science behind the earth rotation is just too much for me to explain." I can't tell what it is but something feels odd. "Oh any idea where I'll be staying?"
"No but the Princess will send me a message once she has got a place." We walked back to Applejack's farm.
"Howdy Twilight. What are ya doing now?"
"I finished showing..."
"You can call me Ferris. I think I prefer that name over 'Betty'.".
"I finished showing Ferris around town and thought we can help you out with some apple picking."
"Ah, that would be nice Twi. Ferris, can ya kick a tree?"
"Or punch."
"Perfect. Then let's get to it." Applejack said.
I had a bit of trouble figuring out how much strength to use for the tree so I decided to try and copy Applejack. I worked but I could only get a few out of the tree. I shouted,"Ack" when an apple bonked me on the head. I heard them giggling a little bit before they asked me if I was ok. "Yeah I'm fine. Stupid tree..." I muttered the last part, rubbing the spot the apple hit. Akumu guarded me from any further attacks from apples. More of twilight's friends joined us in picking apples and we had it done within a few hours. Then, the worst thing happened. They began...to sing. The sang and danced like they were in a musical. So long music short, friendship conquers everything. I would of joined them but the whole town got involved. I thought it was a flash mob type of thing but when I asked, they said it's never planned. What the hell. How do they come up with words that go along with the song and where does the music even come from? I'm getting fried just trying to think about it so I pretend it never happened. Ignorance is bliss as they say. We stayed at Applejack's house for a bit.
"You should try our pie. It's really good."
"I'm not sure if I even can eat. Or if I even have taste buds. So I think I'll pass." I don't have internal organs or blood veins. Not even a brain. It seems most of my being is my soul so how would I even digest food I've eaten? Then a big pony comes in. He might as well be pure muscle because if he'd kick me, I think my body would snap in half. You feel your sins crawling down your back...even though you've done nothing wrong.
"C'mon sugar cube, just try it. I guarantee you will love it."
"Alright. I'll give it a shot." I take a bite...and my taste buds explode. "It tastes amazing!" I say as I eat more.
"Glad ya like it. We pried ourselves in making the best pie around." She says with a tip of her hat. "Would ya like some more?"
I finish eating the pie and sigh satisfied. "No thank you. But I can't tell you how good it tasted." Now I'm worried about it. Maybe it'll just be absorbing into my magic? We stayed there chatting for a few more hours before spike comes in and hands Twilight a scroll.
"Hey Ferris, the Princess has gotten you a house. Would you like to see it?"
"Yeah. It's getting dark and I'd like to see where I'm staying. Lead the way." The trip takes us to the outskirts of town which is a bit much but the house looks really nice. I open the door and I hear a hissing sound and get struck by a sudden wave of sleepiness.
"Are you alright? You seem a bit unsteady."
"Yeah I'm just tired. I think all the earlier work is catching up to me. I'll see ya tomorrow twilight."
"Night then."
I enter the house and close the door behind me. The drowsiness is only getting worse. I stumble around the house knocking a few things over before I finally find the bed. I flop onto the bed and lay facing up. Akumu was already fast asleep. I looked up at the ceiling and I thought I saw a figure holding a sharp object as I slowly feel asleep. Woosh...Crack
