As she approached the small, unlit shack she called home, Cteno nearly collapsed. She had worked hard that night; the other workers made quite a mess. When she arrived in Ponyville several months earlier with no memory, janitorial service was the only employment she could secure. Given her unique qualities, it was probably the best choice. She didn't need any chemicals, rags, or other materials. Instead of flesh and blood, her body was made of a caustic jelly-like substance formed around a pony-like bone structure.

Her "abnormality" made her opt to stay out of sight of other ponies whenever possible, especially while working; burning away debris, organic matter, and leftover food with just her skin, leaving the work area spotless and completely sterile. This also influenced her choice of abode, a shack not many others knew even existed, far outside Ponyville. Those who did know about it assumed it was abandoned and had no idea somepony took residence inside.

She opened the door of the dark shack and was greeted by a surprisingly empty home. There was a small table in the center of the dirt floor, and a large chest in the corner full of ice and boxes of apple and orange juice. The headache she's had for hours started pounding, and she made her way to the cooler. Upon opening it, she frowned, noticing there were only two boxes of juice remaining. "I'll save one for the morning," she thought as she pulled one from the ice with her mouth.

Cteno simply stood still for a moment. The cardboard box containing the juice began to smoke in her mouth, splitting open and releasing its sweet liquid. None of it was lost, however, as it was all absorbed through her "skin" without a drop of it being wasted on the ground. Her headache instantly subsided.

The juice was Cteno's "fuel." If she didn't drink often, she would be plagued with headaches and an inability to finely control her body. She didn't know why citrus juice had that effect, but she didn't complain. At least something makes the headaches go away. The box that once held the juice, now smoking profusely, simply disappeared in her mouth. She had digested the cardboard.

She paused, peered forward, and let out a small burp. "I really need to stop eating that cardboard..." She noticed her saddlebags were still slung over her back. Her ear grew into a long tendril, lifted the bags off, and set them near the door, several meters away.

Cteno decided that it would be best to get as much sleep as she could before heading into town to buy more juice. She had no need for a bed, given her gelatinous nature, not to mention her body would probably burn through any kind of bedding. She laid down on the ground, curled into a ball, and closed her eyes just as the first warm rays of Celestia's sun crept over the horizon.

------

It was that dream again.

Screaming. The screaming wouldn't stop. No matter what she tried to do, it wouldn't stop. It felt like it was going to split her head in two. An entity with no distinct form stood before her, shouting, "Why are you taking her?!" There was no answer. An unknown presence whisked her away from the entity, depositing her on a beach.

She stood up and shook off, then noticed a pair of ponies further down the coast. One was on the ground. The pony standing above the fallen one yelled at the top of its lungs, and appeared to shrink. As Cteno made an attempt to move toward the pair, they seemingly moved farther away. She took another step, but the ground split open beneath her hoof.

The last thing she felt was herself falling.... falling.

Falling.

------

Cteno's eyes snapped open as her head shot up, panting and glancing around her shack. "Again with that dream," she said between breaths, "it's gonna drive me insane!" The sunlight blasting into her eyes told her it was still morning. She hadn't slept long at all.

During her stressful sleep, her body had lost form and spread out on the ground half a meter in all directions. She took a moment to literally pull herself together, and stood up, shaking the dirt off her skin. "What hair style should I wear today?" she thought as she closed her eyes. The gel on her head grew slightly and formed a long, hot pink mane. The mane then gathered together and made a ponytail. Her tail, which was currently bulbous and several meters long, shrank and sculpted itself into something similar in shape to a certain chromatic-colored pegasus' tail she had observed soaring in the sky a few days before, except Cteno's was only pink.

As she slowly opened her eyes, the gel above her nose crept up and formed a pair of black-rimmed glasses. She looked at the floor, and noticed the light from the window was being tinted blue. Her skin slowly shifted from somewhat transparent to a completely opaque light blue. Spots of violet dotted around her eyes, chest and hooves. Her pink cutie mark, a five-point star, shifted position for a few moments until it settled in its proper spot.

The lower parts of Cteno's hind legs were a gray color. The gray grew out from her legs slightly, forming something closely resembling socks. This gray gel was also the only part of her body that didn't burn what it came in contact with, so she moved a small amount of it around, where it formed "socks" on her forelegs as well.

"I should really talk to that fashionista again," she said as she slung a light gray vest around her body and lifted her bags to her back. She thought about the purple-maned unicorn and how generous she was to give a complete stranger a set of well-made saddlebags. She couldn't help but wonder what material she made both the bags and vest from, as it didn't react with Cteno's skin at all. She shrugged and stepped toward the entrance of the shack.

"I hope that cute blue stallion is at the shop again. He's one of the few ponies in this town that don't make fun of me." She consumed her last box of juice, releasing the cardboard back into the cooler this time, and opened the door.

Cteno stepped outside. She thought back to the nightmare, then let out a nervous chuckle. "Its a beautiful day," she thought, "I'm not gonna let some dream screw it up."