Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, and Sour Sweet all walked down the crosswalk and into the local park in Canterlot. On any other day, none of them would've even bothered to walk in that direction unless something important was going on. And as it would turn out, it was. All four of them had received a message from Sunny Flare telling them to meet here there. Not much else could've been explained from it.
All around the Shadowbolts, a verdant expanse of green grass surrounded the pathway. Flowers sprung up from the blades and swayed delicately in the gentle breeze. Birds flapped overhead and circled. Some of them alone, while others flew in massive flocks as if to give the illusion that there was some dark cloud or smoke in the sky. Other people also filled the park, but they just stayed to themselves, spoke to their friends and dates, or played with their children and dogs.
"Alright. Now where is she?" Sugarcoat began looking around, trying to find any sign of Sunny Flare. "This had better not be a waste of time."
"Tell me about it, Sugar." Indigo put her hands on her hips. "I was just in the middle of some soccer practice. If I don't keep my game up, those CHS girls are gonna thrash us at our next game. And the last thing I want is to get soft."
"Aw, c'mon, Indy," said Lemon Zest. "Sunny's gotta have something important to say if she got all of us. I mean, I even had to turn my beats all the way up to eleven and I still heard her phone going off."
"Well, whatever she's got has to be worth our time. Provided that she had to ruin my make-up practice just to get her little hands on me..." Sour grumbled. "Honestly, the mascara I get is one of a kind and I'll be damned if she makes me waste it!"
"Sour, the only thing you're wasting is your own money buying that shoddy stuff." Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses. "Take my advice: Go to the mall and get some new clothes like a normal teenage girl would."
"Sugarcoat, the day I start shelling out money on clothes would be the day I learn to get my anger under control." Sour Sweet pouted and folded her arms across her chest.
"Would you two just calm down?" Indigo slunk in front of both Sour and Sugarcoat and pushed them apart. "Geez! All this arguing's not gonna help us find Sunny, y'know..."
"Speaking of which, where is she?" Lemon took Sugarcoat's glasses and put them on her own face. But much to her dismay, all she could see was a blurred mess. "I don't get why people need to wear these things. I can't see anything now."
"That's because you don't need glasses, Lemon Zest." Sugarcoat scoffed and swiped them back into her hands.
"Sunny? Where are you?" Indigo sing-called. "C'mon, girl. I wanna get back to practice! I don't wanna seem weak in front of those CHS girls!"
All of a sudden, a large purple ball of fluff burst out of the grass and tackled Indigo Zap. Both it and she tumbled across the ground for a few seconds before rapidly coming to a stop by a flowerbed. Upon closer inspection, the fuzzball turned out to be Sunny Flare. Only, instead of her golden hairclip, she was now wearing a pair of cat's ears, a cat's tail, and four large paw gloves on her hands and legs.
"Meow!" Sunny Flare chirped and wiggled her body as she gazed into Indigo's eyes. She curled herself down and pressed her chest into Indigo's while wiggling her rump, and by extension, her tail.
"Sunny?" Indigo's jaw hung wide open at the sight. Of all the things she had expecting, she never in a million years would've guessed that Sunny would be dressed up as or acting like a cat. "What the heck, girl?"
"If this is some weird kind of prank, I'm not very impressed." Sugarcoat glared down at her.
"Oh, learn to lighten up a little bit, Sugarcoat." Sunny chuckled and idly batted a paw at her. "Haven't you ever heard of having fun before?"
"Sunny, there's fun, and then there's acting like a complete fool." Sour had a smile at first, but it very rapidly burned away. "If you couldn't tell, the second one refers to you."
"Why are you even dressed like that anyway?" Lemon squatted down and stroked Sunny's furry appendages. "Did you get a job working at the animal shelter or something?"
"Nope. I just decided that it'd be fun to play kitty-cat for the day." Sunny crawled off of Indigo's body and watched as she dusted herself down. "So, I went out to the costume store and got myself these sweet gloves. Sure, the costume said they were for werewolf costumes but I figured that a cat's close enough. I also got myself the tail and cat ears from this little store in the mall. Only seven bucks, if you could believe it." She looked up at the girls with a bright gleam in her eyes. "So. Do you love it?"
All the Shadowbolts had was stunned silence. Sour and Sugarcoat just cocked their eyebrows while Indigo was still cleaning herself up. If there were any words to replace confused in the dictionary, then none of the girls had found it yet. For all the time that they had been related, not one of them had ever seen Sunny Flare do this. Now, the best thing they could do was hamstring something to say to her about it.
"Y'know what? Never mind, I totally get it." Sunny nodded. "You're lost for words, I can tell. And whenever someone's not got anything to say, that usually means they love it," she chuckled. "Ooh! Is that a ball of yarn?" Sunny pointed out towards an old lady with a handcart full of them. One such ball dropped out and rolled across the ground, over towards one of the benches. "I'll be right back, girls!" And she dashed off like a cat would.
"I think all those hours at CPA have finally got to her..." Indigo Zap could only watch as Sunny bounced over to the ball of yarn, poked it, and flopped on to her back as she bounced it with her claws. "Aaand... she's playing with it."
"I kinda like the new Sunny Flare." Lemon Zest smiled at Sunny and her little playtime. "She's much less stuffy than she was before and she's playing dress-up in public. Plus, she looks good like a cat."
"Lemon, she's completely lost it." Sour Sweet patted Lemon Zest's shoulders. "We should just do the right thing and walk as far away from this as possible and call her back once this silly thing blows over."
"I agree with you on that, Sour Sweet." Sugarcoat already turned her back and started to walk away. "This was just a waste of time..."
"Hey, wait up, girls!" Sunny Flare noticed Sour and Sugarcoat walking away and started chasing after them both. Instead of running on two legs, though, she went on all fours and hurried after them like a cat would. "I wanna play with you two for a bit!"
"No! Get away from us!" Sour Sweet started to run away. "You're too loco!”
"Well... that happened," said Indigo Zap.
"You wanna follow 'em, Indy?" Lemon Zest asked. "I kinda wanna see where this goes..."
"I told you, I had some super-important soccer practice that I was in the middle of until Sunny called me." Indigo kicked the ground with her feet, knocking up some dust.
"I know, I know. But I'm sure this shouldn't take long." Lemon smiled and took Indigo's hand. "Now c'mon! Let's go chase down Sunny!"
"Wait, hold on a second, Lemon. You didn't even let me sa" —Before Indigo could finish, Lemon was dragging her away from the park as fast as her legs could carry her— "AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!" Indigo tried her hardest to stop, but when she tried putting her feet on the ground, she flopped forward and nearly landed on her face.
"C'mon, girls. You're taking this way too seriously." Sunny Flare chuckled as she jumped over the mailboxes and fire hydrants as she kept up with Sugarcoat and Sunny. "You should learn to be a bit more fun like me."
"How is she doing this?" Sugarcoat dripped with sweat from her forehead right down to her legs. "She's on all fours! It should be physically impossible for her to match our speed with that posture!"
"Maybe she's got, oh I don't know, a secret super-gene in her body or something?!" Sour Sweet screamed, running as fast as she possibly could. "Just keep on running! You have no idea what she would want to do with us!"
"Meow!" Sunny giggled and began to close the gap between her and the two teenagers. "Y'know, it's pretty awesome to say that when I'm dressed like this. I feel as giddy as a kindergartner!"
While Sunny pursued after Sour and Sugarcoat, Lemon and Indigo followed closely behind her. All five of them turned corners, ran over roads, and slingshot themselves around lampposts and trees in an attempt to either lose their pursuers or keep up with whoever they were chasing down.
As Sour and Sugarcoat disappeared down an alley, Sunny Flare just leapt on to the ladders and scaffolding poking out of some of the buildings. She made some agile leaps over the edges and up onto the rooftops. From there, she just did a casual crawl across the edges, wagging her tail as she watched Sour and Sugarcoat look back and grind to a halt.
Lemon Zest grinded to a halt and looked up at the roof. As she stopped, Indigo finally face-planted into the ground and groaned as she tried to stand herself back up.
"Man. She's really getting into this, isn't she?" Lemon blinked rapidly as she walked around the corner and looked up at Sunny. "Next thing you know, she's gonna start eating whole fish and scratching those weird wooden poles..."
"Lemon? What the heck, girl?!" Indigo finally got back up to her feet and threw her arms out towards her. "You could've gotten me killed!"
"Ah, c'mon, Zappie. You've been through much worse..." Lemon just patted Indigo on the head. "Like back at the Friendship Games where you almost got eaten alive by that... thing?"
"Lemon, that was all under control. This isn't!" She thrust her finger towards Sunny, who came to the end of the building and turned inwards. "What could've happened to Sunny? Why in the heck does she think she's a real cat now?"
"I dunno, Indy. But we've gotta find out." Lemon Zest walked forward gently and turned the next corner.
"Hey, Sunny!" Indigo yelled. "Can you come down here for a second? We wanna talk to you!"
Sunny's ears pricked up and she turned back towards Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap. "Yes, you two? What is it?"
"We wanna know why you're so obsessed with this... cat act you've got going." Indigo twisted her wrists and fidgeted her hands. "It's kinda unnatural for someone like you. Aren't you supposed to be a little bit more normal?"
"Oh, lighten up, Indigo." Sunny tipped a paw. "It's like I said. This is all just for fun. And I know how much you two like your pranks..."
"Prank? What kind of prank is this?" Indigo tilted her head and stared at her with wide eyes. "It's like you think you're really a cat now!"
"Well, if you must know, Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat kept passing notes around CPA saying that I was a teacher's pet and that I was too much of a kiss-up nowadays." Sunny flexed her arms in the sunlight, watching the strands of hair on her gloves turn brighter as she did so. "I wanna dress up as a cat and weird them out so that they don't call me that ever again. And right now, I think it's working pretty well..." She smirked.
"How does... that give you super-secret ninja powers like that?" Lemon Zest asked next. "And can I get them too if I dress up like a kitty-cat?"
"Lemon Zest, dearie, I didn't do those tricks just because I have the suit. It's just the benefit of all those parkour lessons after school." Sunny put her hands to her chest and somersaulted off of the building. She landed on an awning and bounced down to the girls, landing on her feet. "And, y'know what they say: Cats always land on their feet." She laughed again.
"So... let me get this straight." Indigo Zap hung her head and pushed her arms out in front of her head. "This whole thing, the dressing up, the acting, that amazing parkour... was all just a prank on Sour and Sugarcoat?"
"Yes?" Sunny blinked.
"That... is... AWESOME!" Indigo beamed. "Talk about effort, Sunny. Here I thought we were good pranksters, but you really blew us out of the water there."
"Aww. I'm glad you like it." Sunny blew her a kiss.
"Yeah. It's not harmful to anyone, it's not cruel, and it's still a good little joke to play on 'em." Lemon Zest nodded. "I tell ya what, if we ever need advice on pranking people, I think we know who we're going to."
"Well, thank you, dears. I'm glad that you think that," said Sunny. "Actually, speaking of which, I have something great planned that'll really make this prank stand out. Come closer..." And she pulled both Indigo and Lemon Zest into a tight huddle and started whispering in their ears.
"Well, at least this day wasn't a total waste." Sugarcoat came out of the mall with Sour Sweet next to her. Both of them had bags of shopping in their hands. "My parents shouldn't have to worry about running out of paper for the printer now. And I'm sure that Fudge is going to love what I got for her at the toy store."
"I'm just glad that we lost Sunny back there in the alley." Sour Sweet nodded as she hoisted the bags up to her armpits and hung her arms around the bottoms. "Maybe she found some fish back there and decided to eat it. Or maybe it was that time of the day when cats take naps of lick themselves or something like that..."
"Whatever went through her head, I'm pretty sure that she's gonna forget all about this and go back to normal tomorrow." Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. "Either way, we should avoid her for the rest of the day just to be safe. Who knows what kind of weird stuff she would want to do with us?"
"Just to be on the safe side, I got myself some anti-cat spray from the pet store." Sour looked at the canister at the top of one of her bags. "If she tries anything crazy, I've come prepared."
"Sour Sweet, I don't think that cat-spray works on humans." Sugarcoat deadpanned. "Also, isn't that supposed to be used on dogs only? You don't even have one, so what was the point in purchasing it?"
"Hey! Sunny just made me run for my life, Sugar!" Sour snapped back. "I'm not taking any chances!"
"Fine, fine. It's not my money being wasted." Sugarcoat just flicked her hand and walked towards the nearest crossing.
Just as Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet were about to make it to the crossing, Sunny Flare pounced on them and made them spill their goods all over the floor. As she jumped off them, Indigo and Lemon sprang over to her, only now, both were dressed in fur, cat ears, tails, and more of the paw gloves from the costume shop.
"Found you!" Sunny sing-songed and booped Sugarcoat on the nose playfully.
"Oh, great..." Sugarcoat slapped her face and rubbed it. "Sunny's found us."
"Stay back, Sunny!" Sour Sweet scrambled to try and grab the cat spray and ultimately ended up grabbing a roll of salmon sushi instead. "Have at thee!" She thrust it towards her and tried pushing down on the top, but nothing came out. "Wait, what?!"
"Ooh! Dinner!" Sunny swiped the sushi off of Sour and prowled over to Indigo and Lemon. "Don't mind if I do."
As Sugarcoat got back to her feet, she watched Sunny rip the packaging open and begin sharing the pieces out with her fellow cat-humans. "Wait... why are Indigo and Lemon dressed up like cats too?" She asked.
"Meow!" Both Indigo and Lemon chimed and hid laughter of their own before sliding some salmon sushi into their mouths and started chewing.
"C'mon, c'mon! Where the heck did I leave it?!" Sour Sweet got to her feet and tried looking for the anti cat spray that had fallen out of her bag. Once she found it, she picked it up and pointed it at the Sunny, Indigo, and Lemon. "Get outta here, you mangy mongrels!" And she sprayed a stream of gas all over them.
"Ooh! What is this?" As the spray hit Sunny's body, she took a small whiff of it. "Smells like deodorant. You're such a doll getting this for me, Sour Sweet."
"Wait, what? I—no! It's supposed to be anti cat spray!" Sour Sweet hollered and tossed her hand around the label. "You should be hissing at me right now and running away!"
"What, for that? No way, girl." Indigo flopped on her belly and began licking her arms. "Just a head's up, though, you shouldn't really use it on humans. It's an anti cat spray, not an anti girl spray."
"Hey, is that shopping?" Lemon Zest crawled over to the bags and began rummaging through it. "Did you get us some yarn? We really love playing with yarn, girls."
"Lemon! Get out of my bags!" Sugarcoat tried to take the bag off of her, but Lemon just hissed and make a quick swipe at Sugarcoat, gliding her squishy claws over her arm. "You're not a cat and she's just being weird! Snap out of it!"
"You wanna stroke us?" Indigo came up to Sugarcoat and brushed her body against her legs. "We cats sure do love a good petting..."
"Indigo! Stop that right now!" Sugarcoat backed up. "I am not your owner. I am Sugarcoat!"
"Yeah, but you're also pretty good with handling pets, aren't you?" Sunny Flare leapt over to Sugar's feet and brushed her head on her stomach, making a purring noise as she did. "C'mon. Just one stroke."
"Get away from us!" Sour Sweet took out a newspaper, rolled it up, and started to beat the cat-girls away from her. "We don't want to play, feed, or love you, girls! We just wanted to get some shopping and get home."
"What's wrong, Sour? Aren't you just a little sourpuss?" Sunny's devilish smirk reappeared as she knocked her onto her back and spread her arms and legs across her torso. "Like I said. It's all just for fun. So c'mon. Give your little kitty cat a good petting."
"We must really catch your eyes, girls." Indigo smiled and wiggled her tail as she grabbed Sugarcoat's legs and pulled her over. "Now c'mon. Just bend down and stroke us gently. Even you can do that."
"Pet us! Pet us! Pet us!" Chanted Lemon Zest. And it wasn't long until Indigo and Sunny started saying the same thing as they overran Sugarcoat and Sour's bodies.
"No! We don't wanna pet you!" Sour Sweet wailed at the top of her voice and burst out of the approaching cats. "Sugarcoat! Let's just get outta here!"
"That's gonna be a bit hard for me, Sour!" Sugarcoat was pinned down by all three of the cat-dressed teens and couldn't move an inch. "Just go and save yourself!"
"Nuh uh! I don't wanna see you get the Teenage Cat Disease like these three!" Sour Sweet dug through Indigo, Lemon, and Sunny, grabbed Sugarcoat by the arms, and pulled her onto her feet.
"Teenage Cat Disease?" Sugarcoat blinked. "Really?"
"Just shut up and run!" cried Sour.
Both Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet took what remained of their shopping and stuffed it back into their bags before they darted down the roads screaming at the top of their voices. Only this time, neither Sunny, Indigo, or Lemon gave chase after them. Instead, the three of them just shared a huge laugh between each other.
"Oh man, that was awesome!" Indigo got back onto her feet and patted Sunny on the back. "Great idea, Sunny!"
"Yeah! It was totes amazing, dude!" Lemon nodded. "We even got 'em to make up a silly fake disease too!
"I know! We should share this!" Sunny Flare pulled out her phone and held it up to the sky, pointing the camera lens towards her and her two partners in crime. Once she uploaded it, she began to type. "We should get everyone else on board with this too. Hashtag Teenage Cat Disease!"
"Yeah! Hashtag Teenage Cat Disease!" Indigo and Lemon Zest watched as Sunny began sharing the picture to all of her social media websites.
"Thank you so much for helping me out with this, girls." Sunny Flare smiled and patted both Indigo and Lemon on their backs. "I don't think this would've nearly been as much fun if you two hadn't joined in."
"Well, how could we say no, Sunny? You totally looked like you were having fun with it," said Indigo. "And Lemon's kinda right. You do look good dressed like that."
"Thank you both." Sunny gave them a small hug. "Now, let's get ready for school tomorrow. I'm sure Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet are gonna have a lot to look forward to as well..."
The next day, Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, and Lemon Zest were back in their Crystal Prep uniforms. All of them were putting stuff into or taking them out of their lockers as they prepared for their next lessons. Once they got what they needed, they closed the lockers up and made sure that they were properly locked before heading down the corridors.
Just as Sunny Flare was about to pass a corner, her phone vibrated. She opened it up and saw that she had a new message from Sugarcoat. She tapped the app and opened the message up.
"Not. Funny." Was all that the text said.
"Hey, it's just a prank, girl." Sunny Flare typed back and sent the message. Then, to add insult to injury, she opened up the emoji listing on her phone and punched in a cat face, followed by a kissing face, and a big grin at the end of it.
Sugarcoat didn't even respond, giving Sunny Flare just enough time to turn her phone off and head to the next class just as the bell rang.
Author's Note
Hey, everyone. Thank you so much for reading Sunny Flare is a Cat Now. I found this picture on DeviantArt and I fought that I could make such a great story based off of it. Now, I wanted it to be comedy-based because of not just the picture, but because it's the only thing that could feasibly make the most sense.
If there were any parts of the story that you thought weren't your cup of tea, then just let me know all about it. And at the same time, if you happened to like it, make sure that you leave a good little comment down in the comments section below. It shows me that you all really liked it and that you wanna see more from me as a whole. And also, it makes me think that my stories were full of life instead of just being cranked out for the ratings.
Actually, let's have a fun little game in the comments section. If you're feeling up to it, go ahead and post me a little cat picture. It can be a real-life cat, it could be a cat-transformed character from the show, or it could even be pictures of Opalescence or any other cartoon cats you could think of. But anyway, just go ahead and fill this place up with cats.
And as always, have a good time and I'll see you all again soon!
