Cricket's day had started out just like any other. he stood in front of the mirror as he adjusted his tie around the red jacket he wore. As much as he disliked wearing the silly thing having put up with it after the community center's manager had told him it made him more approachable. He never understood how a simple tie made him look more trusting; regardless the tie was the least of his worries he had to deal with today.
Bell's voice echoed from downstairs as he finished getting dressed. "Honey your eggs are done.”
His stomach rumbled as he licked his lips in eager anticipation of breakfast. As he reached the stairs he stopped looking up in thought. "Wait, wasn't it my turn to make breakfast?" Wanting to double check he descended the stairs and consulted the colander in the main room of their house. His hoof slid across the squares until he located today's date. A small smiley sticker was pinned in the top left corner indicating that indeed it was his turn to cook.
He smiled wide as the sweet smell of pancakes and freshly brewed coffee filled his nostrils. Bell glanced over from the stove as he entered the kitchen, ideally flipping another flapjack on the pan.
"I went ahead and made breakfast this morning. I hope you don't mind," She said, placin a pile of scrambled eggs upon a plate.
"No, but It was my turn to cook," Cricket took a sip of his coffee taking in the sight of his beautiful wife.
Bell faced Cricket smiling, "Oh I knew that, I was just in the mood this morning is all."
"Well nothing wrong with that I suppose," He took his coffee and sat at the table. Bell soon floated over his breakfast and he felt a nagging sense that something was off. Usually she asked first before changing the schedule at the last minute. Although to be fair, he had done it a few time himself, but Bell wasn't usually the breakfast type.
As he ate the well seasoned eggs he noticed something new about Bell's appearance. Her usual loose hanging mane was weaved into a pig tail held together by a red ribbon. A similar coloured bow was also tied to the base of her tail which swished about as she moved.
Bell turned to face him and giggled. "Now, now Cricket, you know it rude to stare at a mare’s flank," she teased, soon taking her seat across the table.
Cricket blushed realizing he had fallen for Bell's clever sexy trap. "I um...I was just noticing your um new hairstyle today that all."
Bell snickers and acts innocent. "Oh this, I just thought I would look nice for our party this evening."
"Party? We just went to one yesterday."
"This party dear is for us silly" She cuts into her flapjacks nibbling on the strawberries.
"What are you talking about? Did I forget about something important?" Cricket reached for his mug and stopped when he finally remembered yesterday’s prank. "Wait, does this have something to do with our deal."
"Maybe, but telling you would spoil the surprise."
Cricket felt both eager and nervous at the same time. Thoughts raced through his head of the possibilities of what this surprise would be, or for that matter when it would happen. "Maybe she plans on turning me into a pool toy like I did to her. No that would be repetitive." He remained silent as he finished his eggs "Hope she's not planning on turning me into a mannequin. Man that spell gave me nightmares just by reading it."
Glancing up at the clock his mind switched over to his work day. "I sure hope those Cutie Mark Crusaders don't show up today. Last time they came by the center's basketball court had to be repaired...again."
Bell walked over and kissed Cricket "Well whatever happens today just remembers you have something to look forward to when you get back."
Collecting his things Cricket opened the door "I'll remember that, see you later." He said as he left for work.
A soft afternoon breeze flew through the front door as Cricket walked inside. His hair was a mess as it stuck up like a mad porcupine. Walking further inside he placed a half painted clay sculpture down on the living room table.
--------------earlier that day--------------
His fears had come true as the Cutie Mark Crusaders entered through the main doors their usual crusader capes flapping about in the wind as the came in. Cricket walked up to them as they approached the stairs. "Scootaloo, how many times do I have to tell you not to bring your scooter in here?"
Scootaloo looked down, scraping her hoof along the floor. "Oh, sorry about that jiminy...I mean Cricket..darn it," she said as she parked her scooter at the door.
Applebloom grinned at Sweetie Belle nudging her side. "Ha, you owe me five bits."
Sweetie Belle nodded shaking her head. "Was hoping she would last longer than a day."
Cricket merely stared at them rolling his eyes. For the past month now, ever since DisNeigh released their latest film he been getting called Jiminy. It didn't take long for him to become the butt of the joke. Although it stopped annoying him after the first 12 times, it still made him roll his eyes regardless. He felt lucky it was just colts and fillies doing it and that his wife hadn't caught on.
"So, what mayhem are you causing today?" he said as he followed the fillies up the stairs.
Scootaloo tilted her head. "Mayhem what, no, not this time...we hope."
Applebloom quickly spoke up. "What she meant was we are here to become-" she paused as the fillies joined in unison "Cutie Mark Crusaders Craft Makers!"
Cricket shook his head his ears now ringing like a bell from their chant. He stopped in his tracks as he watched them run by and off into an adjacent corridor.
As he had predicted, it hadn't taken long for disaster to strike. In just the span of half an hour the crusaders had reduced the crafts room to a black creator of paint and spilled craft supplies. Cricket opened the door and just stared at the chaos no regretting now supervising them.
"hehe, extreme art making didn't turn out to be my special talent." Scootaloo grinned awkwardly
Sweetie Belle looked around annoyed letting out a groan. "All I wanted was to make crafts, can’t Scootaloo do anything I want to do without destroying it."
Cricket stopped Scootaloo before she can sneak off to the fillies room. "Hey hold up there one second. If you think you're slipping away and not helping me clean this up you're mistaken."
Scootaloo ears drooped as she replied. "Yes sir"
It didn't take long for the CMC and two other employees to clean up the mess. Cricket for the most part made it through the clean up without messing up his tie. As he leaned on nearby self a tube of glue that had on the edge of falling off toppled over filling most of it on his head. Cricket grumbled as he quickly wen othe bathroom to clean it off. Even after washing the glue off his mane stick up in odd places. His attempts at fix it with a comb failed and he eventually gave up with a sigh.
Walking into the new clean craft room he spotted an odd shaped artwork on the table. He picked it up and observers it "Who made this."
Sweetie spat out a broom as she replied "I did. Do you like it?"
"it's um...unique," Cricket said staring at the statue. It was nothing that special but he didn’t want to somehow discourage the filly. He grabbed a bag from the corner to take it home in. "Mind if I keep it"
"Sure, it was going to be tossed anyway." Sweetie Belle replied bore sweeping.
"Cricket is that you?" Bells voice rang from upstairs his mind pushed back to the present.
"Yeah Bell I'm home."
Bell came down the stairs her look unchanged for this morning. "You sound annoyed dear. Did something happen at work?"
"It nothing, just those cutie mark crusaders showed up and I ended up having to help clean up their mess, got a nice statue though." He said, as he adjusted it on the table..
Bell took a few moment to observe the chunk of claw. "Well..um with a little paint job it will be decent. where did you get it?"
Cricket got off the the couch. "Sweetie Belle was going to toss it anyway so I thought why not. She such a cute filly isn't she."
Bell chuckled and walked over to him giving him a short kiss. "Yes she is, I was that cute when i was her age too,” she paused for a moment. "I'm going upstairs to finish up the surprise. Why don't you just relax and read a book."
Cricket's heart started to beat in his chest in anticipation. This was the moment he had been waiting for all day. His excitement overcame his nervousness as he replied. "Okay dear, I'll just be down here when you're ready."
Bell smiled before she turned and ascended the stairs. "This will only take 15 minutes then I will really surprise you."
Cricket grinned as he walked toward the bookshelf moving his hooves along the tomes until he reach his target. Pulling out his adventure novel, he sat back down on the couch and began to read. Cricket was in full swing soon enough reading through his favorite chapter so far. His concentration was soon broken as he felt an itch on his right ear. He quickly reached up and scratched it paying it no mind as he went back to reading, however the itch persisted just as soon as he had stopped scratching. His irritation quickly grew unbearable and he looked around before seeing one of Bell's make up kits. Being the only mirror in site he pulled it close to get a better look at his ear.
He gasped surprised seeing a white piece of paper sticking out from the top of his ear. Thinking it was a simple moth he used his magic to pull at it only to be rewarded with a sharp pain as it tugged on his ear seemingly attached. As he pulled on it again he noticed something off about it. Using the mirror he magnified a section of the object. He nearly dropped the mirror as he saw text on the piece of paper. He squinted as he read it "Haysbro" He shrugged it off as he figure it got stuck to him during the glue incident. He pulls harder only to be met with more pain. Worried he examines the paper more closely; he blinked as he spotted stitching starting to appear,running along the part where his ear and the paper touch.
Cricket glanced upwards to the top of the stairwelll. "could this be Bell's doing? A tag, seems kind of simple." he says staring the stitching. His train derailed as the magic conitued as his fur started changing colour. patches of dark brown fur started spreading like weeds as it overtook Crickets silver fuzz. His mane receded vanishing into sparkles as the bald area underneath became brown. Stitching continued to crawl down his head as the spell sprung into full swing.
"Okay a tag, brown fur, and stitching...plushie maybe...but what kind," he thought, as the transformation continued. It almost felt like a game to him as he guessed what he was becoming before it finished. The conversion finished with his head and began moving downwards. His eyes soon lost all colour as they became simple black beads. His nose squeezed into his face making the sound of styrofoam as it did. As it stopped moving it expanded into black bump on his face.
Cricket grabbed the mirror and looked at his changed face. "Okay so black beads for eyes, and a wet nose. Bear, must be bear right?" He said, his mouth closing involuntarily as it changed to a simple smile of black thread. "Testing, testing, hu, I can still talk but I'm not moving my mouth, this is different." His head felt lighter than normal which was strange.
His coat continued to change as it run down his neck and front legs expanding down his barrel. As he lifted up one of his hooves to watch as it became wider, small black pads appearing on the bottoms. He meeped as both his forelegs suddenly became limp falling to his sides as a tingling ran up them. His attempts to move them failed as he lost all control. His barrel at the same time became filled with fluff his stallion physique became rounder and less pronounced, any gender details removed entirely because teddy bears are genderless . As his hind legs became stuffed he felt something tingly by his tail. Unable to turn, he wondered what was going on only able to feel his tail becoming shorter and shorter until it was just a tiny stump of cotton. As his transformation finished he found himself tipping over. His body limped over causing Cricket to stare at the living room sideways.
As if Bell had been watching the whole time, Cricket heard hoof steps descending the stairs and entering the room. "Surprise" she said, giggling at the spell. "We are going to have so much fun Tiptop."
Cricket looked at her confused "Why did you call me that, and wait if I'm a teddy bear how is it that i am able to talk, aren't teddy bears inanimate."
Bell picked him up and smiled staring into his black beads "Silly Tiptop if you couldn't talk this would be one boring party," She looked at him again as something came to her mind, "Oh you forgot your suit for the party, let me go get it."
Cricket was placed back down on the couch as Bell ran back up the stairs. Why is she calling me Tiptop? he thought stuck looking at that claw statue he brought home. Maybe this is some kind of role-play, in that case I should just play along. It only took a moment for her to return showing off the tux ment for a teddy bear.
As he looked at the black and white costume he spoke. ‘Hi, i’m Tiptop.” He would smile more if he could, the phrase somewhat making him feel happy inside.
“Hello Tiptop, let's get you dressed for the party,” Bell cooed as she lifts up each paw and slides the tux on him.
“I love parties,” he replied before he thought about it. Which was odd but that as part of the role right? Plus the smile on her face as adorable.
She buttoned up the front squeezing his chest some, not that he felt anything. “That’s great to hear cause it all ready upstairs. “ She picked him up carrying him on her back as she ascended up the stairs to their bedroom.
As he carried down the hall, Cricket wondered what this surprise would be. His curiosity was soon answered as she opened the door. the center of the room hosted a small plastic table with similar child chairs around it. Each chair had a stuffed animal some having bows tied on and two bunny plushies having top hats. Bell smiled showing him off to the other inanimate animals. They obviously didn’t reply of course so he went ahead and spoke.
“Hello guests i’m Tiptop,” he said, letting out a small giggle as Bell waves his paw. He soon set down on his chair and watched her get out a tall top hat with a white brim. She approached her teddy husband putting the elastic band under his chin and adjusting the hat upon his head.
“There now you look just daper,” she said, while patting his head.
Cricket chuckled at the contact feeling loved when played with. It was a nice feeling, comforting...almost right. He would have shaken his head if he could, snapping out of the light trance. Wow easy don’t get too into the role. He stared forward watching Bell swing her hips before sitting down seeming cheerful like a filly.
As she played out her little game, Cricket started to enjoy himself as well, even if he couldn't show it physically. “Oh why thank you, i’ve love another cup,” he said, as Bell offered another non full cup of tea to him. She took his paw picking up the cup for him and putting it up to hsi big grinning face. He feels joyful as she makes sipping noises while he is drinking the imaginary tea. Bell constantly grinned as she played with her teddy, Cricket enjoying it as well feeling oddly pleased at having no control of his own actions and just having to reply verbally. The situation was so uplifting.
After 15 minutes, Bell picked him out of his chair and danced him around. “Oh Tiptop you're quite the fancy dancer.” Cricket felt very giddy as his poofy paws were danced about in a little circle around the table. It was nice to be played with like the toy he was. He can’t help but giggle at the thought, wasn’t he always a toy?
He blinked for a second getting back to reality. Gah no focus Cricket. He is spun about listening to his wife hum and have fun like a filly once again. It was so nice to see her happy like this, so peaceful, so wonderful. As he watched her play and talk to him through is inanimate eyes, he eventually just let himself go slipping into the role simple being a teddy bear that can talk. At least an hour passed before Bell got a silly idea taking off Tiptops hat and pulling over a pink dress that would fit over his plush body. He would have blushed if he could as the girly attire was pulled over his head and tucked around him. she put pink booties on the paws and a matching pink ribbon around his neck. “Daww your so adorable,” Belle squeaked, while showing Tippy his reflection in the body mirror.
As much as Cricket wanted to whine about it, a thought crossed his mind again that he as just a toy and genderless so this was okay. He still found it strange though. “I-I guess.”
Bell nuzzled her teddy lovingly and chuckled. “Oh I wish I could see the blush on your face right now,” she pausing hugging for a solid minute in silence. ‘This means so much to me dear, you have no idea how free I feel.”
Cricket giggled joyfully. “That’s what i’m here for,” he said, before thinking. “Can I stay a teddy till morning.”
Bell smiled bigger happily tossing him up into the air. “Aww that was the plan silly Tiptop,” she hugs her toy tightly before climbing into bed with him still dressed all girly. Not that he could protest much about it but he tried anyway. “Uh, c-can’t you take this stuff off.”
“Nope,” Belle replied, before cuddling him close and dimming the lights.”Night night Tiptop.”
Cricket smiled internally as he felt her warm body pressing against him. It wasn’ till an hour later that he realized that teddy bears don’t get tired, or sleep for that matter. There was nothing he could do about it either stuck being hugged and unable to move a muscle. While the hours of silence passed, it gave him time to think and reflect. H had to admit that her choice of transformation was a lot more fun and private. Surrendering all control of one self to one you loved and to end the day with warm cuddles was rather loving experience. However he was so bored and wanted to be normal by the time the sun rose into the sky. After what felt like forever, Bell finally awoke. She smiled at her teddy.
“Morning”
Cricket remained silent.
“Cricket? hello” she shook the teddy some. “You in there.”
Just a little longer. He thought watching her panic.
“Cricket!” she shook it harder till bellowing laughter came out of the plush bear.
“Oh hahah, you should have seen the look on your face. Priceless!”
Belle groaned. “Not funny.” She got out of bed leaving the teddy face down into the pillow out of spite.
The sound of running water was heard as Belle took her shower. Cricket giggled eyesight blackened by the pillow. “So worth it.”
After the shower Belle sat Tiptop on the floor and set up a camera. She smirked her horn glowing . Soon Cricket body began to grow and change back into his normal self. He sighed as he felt muscl again and blinked a few times as his normal fuzz returned to his skin. It took him a few moment to adjust and get his vision back to normal. That time however, had been just long enough for Bell to snap a photo. He heard her giggle and looked at himself gasping at fact the dress had somehow grew too. As he pulled the dress off, Bell ran to the door with said photograph.
“Get back here,” Cricket gave chase after his wife.
“Hehe got to catch me firstk my litte toy,” she joked, running out the front door.
As Cricket gave chase he couldn't help but smile as another fun day awaited them both. “Bell!”