It was a great weekend at BronyCon as fans of all kinds went to and fro exploring all the various booths and events. Steven was one such Brony weaving through the crowd to find something that would pique his interest passing by all sorts of artwork and cosplayers. He looked down at his purple t-shirt with Twilight’s cutie mark upon it and smiled feeling pretty good about the purchase but given how much other merchandise he had, he really wanted something special this time around.
Taking a moment to enter one of the side halls, he saw one of his friends coming over with glee. She was dressed up as Daring Do carrying a large bag with her no doubt for all her treasure. “Hey Steven, there sure is a lot of neat stuff available this year, isn’t there?”
Steven nodded taking a second glance around the room “haven’t looked that far just yet, but there is a lot of new booths around. What did you get so far, Susan?”
Susan eagerly reached into her bag and pulled out three pony comics spreading them out like playing cards. “Check these out!”
Steven whistled looking at the loot impressed. “Nice, I’m still looking for something to get. I want just the right thing, you know.”
“Will it be a book?” Susan teased poking at Steven’s shirt playfully. “Or maybe a Spike plush?” She teased, figuring she’d have a little fun knowing full well who Steven’s favorite mane six was. He was also a bit of a bookworm too with how he always liked to read lots of fanfictions and other real-life books.
“Oh, har har,” Steven rolled his eyes. “Besides I already have one of those.” He gave his friend a light push laughing. “Seen anything else worth checking out?”
Susan turned her head peering toward the back of the room. “Well, there is this really big booth. They even have an entire small room for their stuff. It’s amazing. You should see what they have just out front too.”
Steven stared into the bustling crowd his interest now peaked. “Really? Cool, I'll check out. Never know what I'll find”
“Maybe you’ll find some Twilight merch while you’re there,” she put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m getting hungry, I'll meet you at the food court later," Susan said before heading away and into the flowing crowd of bronies.
Giving a quick wave as his friend disappeared, Steven weaved his way across the room soon reaching the side hallway that leads into an adjacent room. He paused taking in the sight of the front entrance seeing five life-sized plush ponies of the mane six. The only one missing was a Twilight Sparkle one. It was a shame too because they were well made and very adorable.
A tall well-toned woman cosplaying as Sunset Shimmer waved to him as he approached her hair dyed in the vibrant red and yellow stripes. With the leather jacket and matching shirt, she was almost a spitting image of the character. “Hey there, good to see you,” She greeted, chipper as ever.
Steven waved back being able to see the many shelves full of all sorts of knickknacks even from the doorway. “Hey, those plushies look amazing.” He leaned close staring at Applejack’s muzzle taking in all the details. The plushies themselves came up to his belly button when fully stood up.
“Thanks, they are custom built.” She patted the Rarity plush. “Still working on one though,” she smirked going unnoticed by Steven.
“Yeah that’s a shame, Twilight is my favorite.” He peered at the price tags placed upon the ears of the large toys letting out a whistle. “Ooh pricey, but I guess quality comes with a price.” He couldn’t help himself as he pets the mane on Applejack before turning and moving to the entryway. “Oh, I’ll just look around. Seems you got a lot to offer.”
The woman smiled moving over to the desk with the cash box. “Feel free, I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like.”
Giving the same warm smile back to the woman, he proceeded into the room heading down the far left aisle impressed by all there was to offer. It seemed to be more than just the fan-made stuff, but small figurines, notebooks, various pens, and numerous other items of merchandise. It was unlike any stall he’d ever seen. Giving his arm a scratch, he began to skim his eyes along the shelf humming one of the show’s songs. It wasn’t long until something metallic caught his eye. “Hello, what’s this?” Plucking it off the shelf, he turned it around in his hands watching the yellow metal shine. After facing it the right way he realized it was Twilight’s old crown recognizing the shape of the Element of Magic impeded in the front. Taking a quick look around he reached the crown up and placed it upon his head feeling rather silly. Yet at the same time, it felt like it belonged somehow. A tingle like when a leg falls asleep ran down his spine causing him to shiver. He reached up and touch the crown blinking. “Huh, that was odd.”
Keeping the tiara on, Steven moved further down the aisle a few posters hanging on the wall soon catching his eye. One, in particular, had the Wonderbolts with Rainbow Dash presented upfront. Continuing to stare, a smile made its way across his face feeling a tinge of pride wash over him for his friend. Barely questioning the passing thought and shrugged moving along a little further until reaching a mirror that was about the size of his head surrounded by a purple frame with bits of glitter. “Oh, interesting,” he said, peering at his reflection and moving his hand through his rough brown hair. Thinking that it needed a brush, he picked up a purple hairbrush nearby which just happened to have Twilight’s cutie mark on it too. He, of course, planned to buy it since he was going to use it.
With no one else in view, Steven closed his eyes and began to stroke his hair. Static flowed through his short crop of hair as it began to lengthen with strands of lavender replacing his dark brown locks. The hairs on his arms and legs stood on end getting steadily thicker with each brush.
Several moments went by before he opened his eyes staring into his reflection having the strangest feeling that something was amiss. Were his eyes always purple? An itchy sensation made him pause however as he reached down and gave his legs a scratch finding that his feet felt a bit tight. Leaning on the shelf for support, he undid the laces of his shoes and slipped them off to let them breathe. “Ugh, I’ve been walking too much today,” he muttered, rubbing his feet to try and relieve the discomfort. The ache was persistent however as his toes began curling. He nearly fell over as his feet began to straighten on their own propping him up into his tippy toes and no matter how he tried, he remained upright.
As his feet began to swell, he knew he should’ve been panicking. However, some voice in the back of his head was telling him to stay calm which mostly kept him from screaming out in terror. Unable to fully grasp what was going on, he watched as his toes started to morph together into a solid mass. “What is this?” The mass quickly began to round out in shape followed by purple splotches that appeared and spread out to cover more of his skin. An odd numbness followed with the colour, but he remained standing. He let out of breath upon realizing that what was once his feet had transformed into bubbled out hooves. And from the look of it, they appear to be made of fabric with seams crawling up his legs.
His pants felt baggy as more of his legs changed his skin feeling softer. Wanting to see what was going on, he undid the buckle of his belt and pulled his pants down nearly losing his balance as he stumbled forward inadvertently kicking his jeans away. Taking a quick look around, he noticed that things around him appeared to be growing. Was he losing height? The purple fabric was quick to rush up to his hips expanding them as if being stuffed.
“Nnng!” A sudden squeeze around his nether regions startled him as his hands moved to feel what was going on as the wave of numbness consumed the area. His jaw dropped upon finding...nothing, the area where something should be was as smooth as one would find on a doll or...plush. Due to the fact, his underwear had mysteriously vanished, he was fully able to take in the sight of his newly forming pony rump with seams and all. His shock didn’t end there, however, as he saw the familiar six-pointed star of Twilight’s cutie mark forming on either side of his hips. “No way! It can’t be!” His revelation was momentarily interrupted Has he felt a hard yank from the base of his backbone as Twilight’s striped tail formed expanding out like some bizarre growth before fully taking shape.
To his surprise and horror, he realized the impossible was happening. Somehow, he was turning into a plush Twilight Sparkle and his lower half now resembling her adorable bubble flanks. It was in that very moment he figured out that the squeezing sensation he’d been feeling this entire time was his new limbs being stuffed. The effect only seemed to double as the transformation began to consume his chest and up towards his front. He felt an expansion on his sides as the two iconic wings bloated out and were stitched to his sides. Despite the magic trying to keep him calm, he tried desperately to call out for help only to find himself short of breath as his insights became nothing more than stuffing.
“At least I’ll get to see my friends,” he thought, feeling that calming wave again. It was only a moment later that he realized what he had thought. “Friends, which one was he thinking of? Maybe Pinkie Pie, or Fluttershy? A sudden burst from the air conditioning caused him to focus once more as he noticed his shirt was gone too leaving him naked. Most ponies didn’t wear clothes, so did it matter? His arms began to twitch as the cloth consumed them is movement slowing with each passing second. His hands we’re next to change his fingers being squeezed into each other as if he was having cramps before merging into a single blob on the end of each arm before finally being consumed by the purple plush material leaving nothing but finely stitched rounded hooves.
Trying one last desperate attempt to call out for help he began to take a breath only to suddenly choke as stuffing worked its way up to his throat. He stopped breathing altogether as his tongue and teeth vanished. His face was next as if stretched out shaping into a mares muzzle the purple colouring running up between his eyes. As it consumed his forehead, a bump started to form lengthening out into a horn. While it took shape, his mind began to ache. “Oh good I got my horn back.” His thoughts became a bit fuzzy as his hair soon changed into Twilight‘s wonderful mane. “Good to see everything so organized,” he thought as everything below his neck became still and perfectly posed.
The last things to change or his eyes as the cloth closed in from every direction. He felt a slight Polk as his right eye was the first to change morphing into a large plastic eye unmoving yet inviting. His left eye darted about momentary catching the sight of her new form before his gaze was locked forward.
Despite being nothing but a big plush pony, Steven felt relaxed humming the theme song as memories of adventures with her friends came to mind. She couldn’t quite recall who she used to be, but she did know that she was Twilight Sparkle Princess of Friendship. All the plush thought of its life, the Sunset lady from the front came into the aisle approaching toy with suppose. “Oh, here it is, let’s get you back out front,” she said easily picking it up and had forgotten about the man who had just come in minutes before.
Twilight’s vision spun as she was carried along to the front of the store getting a good look at the merchandise including a Spike action figure. Upon reaching the front her joy grew at seeing her other friends all standing and waiting to make someone happy. She was soon set down facing out towards the open hallway and was quick to notice a new human walking towards her dressed up like Daring Do. This woman looked strangely familiar, but she wasn’t sure why. An even smaller part of her mind was panicking saying this wasn’t right. But what could be wrong she was always a pony.
Susan leaned down stared right onto Twilight’s eyes. “Hehe, my friend would love you. He is a big fan.”
“I like making friends,” the plush thought as it heard Susan and the shop women talk for a bit before she was picked up by Susan. As Twilight was taken into the busy convention hall she smiled internally.
She was going home.