"I don't understand. Did I do something wrong? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
Gilda faceclawed, as she heaved an annoyed sigh at the sight of the crestfallen Fluttershy, who happened to have a beautiful bouquet of flowers resting on her back.
You see, today was a special day for our precious, yellow pegasi, hence the flowers and her styled mane, which was now hanging down her shoulders in a well done ponytail. After hours upon hours spent giving herself a needed pep-talk in the mirror, she had finally mustered up the courage to go and ask her feathery crush out on a date. Sadly, it was all for naught, as her shoulders sagged and her eyes brimmed with tears, as her crush glared at her with disapproval and annoyance.
Gilda truly didn't know how to put it gently for the sad excuse of a mare that was standing just outside of her doorway. Should she call her ugly? No, that's just plain rude. Make up another excuse? No, that'll just have the yellow nuisance show up a few days later. Hmmmm. "You're just not bird enough for me." Hehehe. Gilda, you are a genius!
"Not bird enough? W-What does that mean?" Fluttershy whimpered, diverting her eyes fro Gilda's fierce gaze.
"You're not bird enough for me! It's just that simple!" Gilda exclaimed, a confident smile gracing her face as she crossed her claws nonchalantly and leaned against the doorway of her small house. "When a griffon like me goes out looking for a date, we look for the strongest, the fastest and the toughest fliers that we can find. Not only are you a pony, but your a shy pony. Would you say that you're confident, Fluttershy?"
"Well I could be, but-"
"Could you put your hoof down and raise a couple of rowdy, meat eating little griffons all by yourself?"
"That does sound hard, but-"
"Could you teach them how to hunt and fly?"
"Well I don't think that I could hurt another animal, but-"
"Well there you have it, Fluttershy." Gilda stated, interrupting the unhappy pegasus, as she slowly began to close the front door to her humble abode. "A Pony-griffon relationship would never work out!"
"But-"
"Maybe I'll see you around, kid."
And with a resounding slam of the wooden door, Fluttershy was once again left alone to wallow in her self pity on a beautiful Friday afternoon.......Until an idea sprang into her head. She had the wings and the flying know-how so all she really needed was the feathers and the claws to go along with a long, bushy tail.
Surely Ponyvilles' very own Element of Magic would have a solution!
All I have to do is talk to Twilight and Gilda is as good as mine! Oh I just can't wait! Fluttershy thought with a gentle squee, as she leapt into the air enthusiastically and took off towards the treehouse in the middle of the peaceful little town.
Yes today was going to be absolutely perfect! No problems whatsoever.....Not one......
One short flight, a broken window and one long awkward silence later....
"I don't think that this is going to work."
"Oh Twilight I know that might be a tough little spell to get done, but you have to try!" Fluttershy squealed, her frail, yellow body wrapped around Twilight's leg in hopes that her purple friend would just give up and give her what she wanted. "Please?"
"No, Fluttershy. This spell is beyond dangerous! And what am I going to tell the Princess, if I can't reverse it? She could have me thrown in the royal dungeon for years!" Twilight hissed, trying to shake off the yellow pony that was wrapped around her leg with little success.
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"
"Fluttershy I just want to read my book." The purple pony muttered, groaning as Fluttershy tightened her death grip on leg.
"............Please?"
"Fine, I'll do the stupid spell! Just let go of my leg, for Celestias' sake!"
".....Yay......"
Once the yellow pegasi had finally pulled herself away from the unamused magician, the two set to work on finding a proper incantation on transformation. In a nutshell, Twilight spent the next half hour digging through books and scrolls, while Fluttershy sat on her red couch just day dreaming about all of the things her and Gilda would do together. Needless to say, most of her little daydreams were on the mature side of the spectrum.
"Found it!"
With another ecstatic "yay", Fluttershy hopped off of the couch. After a short time spent navigating a large pile of books, she finally came upon her purple friend flipping through a small gray book. "Is that it?"
"Of course this is it." Twilight replied, flipping through page after page of the tiny book, each filled with pictures of different animals and spells. "Gazelle, Gerbil, Giraffe.........Ah! Here it is! This seems simple enough. Feathers replace fur, replace hooves with paws and claws and a slight rearrangement of your internal organs."
"Wait, what? What was the part about organs?"
"Oh don't worry about that. There's only a twenty percent chance of any actual damage. At worst you'll wake up with a little internal hemorrhaging." Twilight stated, her eyes still glued firmly on the contents of the book.
"Twilight, I think I changed my-"
Alas, Fluttershy's vision slowly became filled with a sharp shade of violet, her sentence cut off by the sound of sparks. Her body slowly became numb as it crumpled to the floor, her legs and the majority of her yellow coat slowly, yet painlessly, shifting under the force of Twilight's spell.
"Don't worry Flutters. In a few hours, you'll wake up feeling as good as new."
With that sentence left hanging in the air, Flutters finally drifted off, the numbness filling her with a strange feeling of warmth.
