Trapped in a good book

Chapters

most interesting book
an alternate universe
where are we?
a sleepless night
unknown relatives
big surprise
foxpaw
Secret dream
home sick
could it be?

most interesting book

A young teenage unicorn named Peach-heart waited pacing at her own front door waiting to hear the chime of her door-bell. She was the normal height for a unicorn, though at the same time seemed very small. She was a light delicate peachy pink, partly the reasoning for her name. Her mane was a slightly darker pink only while at the same time slightly lighter than Pinkie Pie's mane. Her cutie mark was for what others said was for her amazing creativity, but in response she'd only insist she was being flattered. Her cutie mark actually did resemble what her other friends would say to her. It was a panel of various paint colors and a paintbrush peeking from behind it, with red paint at the tip.

Ding dong!!!! DING DONG DING DINNNNNG DOOOONG!!!!

"Coming!!!" Peachie shouted in a rather irritated way. The repetition of ringing the door bell every time Peachie had a meeting with her good friend Lightning Chaser annoyed her a little too much. As the pink mare swung open the door of her rather large home, her anger melted away while being replaced by exitement.

"Hey! Ready to read?!" Lightning Chaser seemed more exited than usual, she usually loved to read these books, but at this point the last time they were reading together their meeting was cut short and held in suspense.

"You bet!!!" Peachie was just as excited as her friend. The friends galloped together toward the living room. Lightning Chaser sat down to unload her saddle bag. She pulled out some things such as a reading light, for which the sleep over they would have that night, a plush toy of a cat for kicks and giggles, a pencil and notebook I case of any notes, and of course her book.

Of course Peachie already had everything set up! She always did.

"Ok, I' ll read first!" Peachie. vigorously flipped through pages looking for the right one forgetting to leave a book mark.
~*~

After a few hours of exausting reading, the two mares went to brush their teeth brush their coats and manes, an settles into bed. They were flabbergasted, amazed, and shocked at all of the new things they learned. They had finally finished the first book. This book was called Warriors. It was about a cat named rusty, who lived as a kitty pet, or in other words, a house cat. Every night he slept he would dream something very vivid. It was intriguing to the cat, every time this would happen, he'd find himself in the forest beyond the fence of his home, he'd smell the warm scent of mouse but every time never caught it, but one day he went beyond his homes fence. He went into the wilderness.This book was very intriguing to these young mares.

"Hey Peachie? Are you awake?" asked Lightning Chaser. As Peach Heart awoke from her dream she realized Lightning Chaser had asked her a question. Very exhaustedly, Peachie responded,

"M-hmm."

"What do you think it would be like if we were in that book? Or even better, in our own version of that book...?" asked Lightning Chaser, her ice blue eyes filled with wonder and curiousity.

"Well I'm not sure, to be honest." replied Peachie. The other pony shot up in excitement shaking Peach Heart.

"WHAT WHAT what do you want?!" Peachheart was slightly startled at her actions.

" I have an idea,"

~*~

an alternate universe

the next morning~

A yawn came from the two mares as they woke from their slumber. Lightning Chaser looked expectantly at her friend. "You awake?" she didn't wait for a response for she already knew the answer.

" I'm gonna go eat now..." again she looked hopefully at her closest friend. Nothing came from her.

"hmmm... huh wha', oh yeah uhhh," Lightning Chaser looked up hopefully at Peachie as she began to speak.

"I need to tell you something. Uh well actually... never mind." Again, Lightning Chaser went back to her state of depression, she had hope peachie would tell her something... anything. Peach Heart wanted to tell her friend of all the exiting things she had seen but then realizing she had to be patient and wait for the right time.

Peach Heart came down to the kitchen to see a large variety of food such as french toast, orange juice carrots, strawberries and other pony food.

"Wow, when you say you're hungry you really are hungry."

"It's not all for me you big knuckle head! I made some for you too. Here." the kind mare slid a plate with a flash of affection for the pink mare.

“Thanks, so uh, I was meaning to tell you something,” the pink mare was really in no mood to eat at the moment.

“Yeah, shoot.” Lightning Chaser tried to seem as if she didn’t care but truly, she wanted to hear what Peachie wanted to say more than it looked.

“Well...” suddenly she found herself completely spilling it as if there were no tomorrow.

"I went into your dream! I saw the whole thing! I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have done it! I was just so desperate! I-” she was interrupted.

“Dude settle down! I don't care just get to the point!” Lightning shouted. Peach Heart was taken aback by her friends sudden outburst, then several heartbeats later obeyed and did as she was told.

“Well, uh okay. I’ve been thinking about what you wanted, and I’ve agreed to do it, I found a spell that’ll make it work out. Unless you don't want to anymore?” Peachie explained.

“Really?! You'll really do that for me?!” the pegasus was more excited then Peach Heart had seen her for days.

“Yes. I will." she said.

“But how will you do it?” asked Lightning Chaser, so excited she felt she might burst.

“Okay, first, I'm going to cast a spell I've found using one of Twilight's books. What it does is take us to a, well, I guess you can call it an ‘alternate universe’, we will be cats just as you wanted, we’ll look like the cats from the warriors book, but as how we want, like an avatar.”

“Awesome!!” there was a glare of happiness in the mare's eyes, just as a filly would have.

“Fluttershy is letting me borrow one of her pets to write down what we’re doing,” said Peachie.

“Okay, wait. Now I'm confused. How is her pet gonna see what we’re doing? Won't she, or he, what ever it really is, be staying here? If not they’ll get eaten alive!” shouted Lightning, trying desperately to unravel the paradox.

“Yes, I know that, which is why I'm borrowing Pinkie Pie's crystal ball so SHE won’t get exactly that!” Peach Heart explained.

“Wait, you mean your sister? Yeah, she would have that, she's such a.....GYPSY!" Lightning said jokingly.

“Dude, you're not supposed to mention she's my sister! THAT'S a whole nother story! Do you WANT to confuse the audience?!” she said breaking the fourth wall and pointing her hoof vigorously at the screen.

“Yeah, yeah!” by now Lightning Chaser didn't care for lectures, she only wanted to find out how her day was suddenly about to change.

“So ANYWAY, do you have any more questions?” said Peachie who was now becoming highly impatient with her friend.

"Lol nope." said Lightning Chaser, eager to start.

“Alright...” said Peach Heart, her horn glowing with an aqua aura. Lightning Chaser's eyes lit up, for she loved to see the colorful dust (reminding her of Lightning's idol Rainbow Dash) float around as the unicorn worked her magic. Suddenly, a silhouette of a sphere appeared, then turning into a sphere with an odd, eerie like dust swarming like a swirling storm inside. Then the same thing happened with an animal. Except this time it was a chimp.

“Ello govna’!!” said the chimp.

“What the?!” Lightning Chaser was frightened at the sight of the talking chimp.

“Pleased to meet you!” the strange animal looked as if there wasn't one thing wrong in Equestria. It had a British accent which Lightning soon realized she had already been warming up to it.

“Peachie, WHAT in the world is this?!” the blue pegasus was quite flabbergasted by the chimps way of speech, in fact, she was surprised to see it talking at all!

“Well... this is George, Fluttershy found him wandering out of the Everfree forest, and couldn't resist taking him in.”

“Well...he IS pretty cute. And who can resist that accent?" said Lightning Chaser, trying to resist squeezing the poor thing to death.

“EXACTLY what I said!! So anyway, ready to go?” Peach Heart didn't even give the two time to talk thinking that Lightning wouldn't care if they left even without having a small conversation.

“Heck yeah!" said Lightning Chaser.

“Oi!! Ello? Forgettin’ somethin’?” said George, clearly a bit irritated.

“Gah!! Really?! Okay, fine. We'll stay for FIVE more minutes!!” shouted Peach Heart.

“No no, not that! Where do you keep your bananas? Dutch ponies these days...” said the chimp, clearly trying to insult the mares.

“Okay, first of all... I'M AMERICAN...second of all, HERE!” said Lightning Chaser, trying to joke around a bit. Peach Heart was clearly amused, but she merely grunted and tried to kick her friend in the shins for the comment.
Lightning Chaser winced at the pain, then just smiled using too much effort while handing a list to the amused chimp.

“Wats’ this?”
The animal took the paper, read it then sat down at the kitchen table, “Well, alright then... off you go kitties!” at that the ponies turned to a shiny gold dust and reapeared in an alternate universe.
~*~

where are we?

“What in the..." Peach Heart woke up in a large clearing big enough for a whole clan. "It worked! It really worked!" the pinkish mare said to herself aloud in astonishment.
“WAIT. You... you mean you didn't think it would work? What if we DIED? Or something WORSE?!" the pegasus was about to go on but she became distracted by the fact that her friend was now a beautiful cat with white silky fur and black stripes black as night pouring down her back.
“Woah." now the black and white cat was astonished at her friends appearance, it was just as her friend had imagined. A bright red orange with a darker color of multiple stripes lining her pelt, similar to a tiger, but at the top of her head was excess fur the color of her stripes, slightly messy and tangled, yet in a fashionable way. The same with her tail, at the tip was excess fur the color of her stripes. Both cats looked just the way they had wanted.
They both immediately had the idea of coming up with a name for themselves to be called. “I’ll be TANGLE CLAW!!” Lightning Chaser announced proudly. Peach Heart couldn’t help but notice herself in a puddle.
"I’ll be... Silver Claw.” Silver Claw loved her new name, as well as her friend Tangle Claw.
By now it was late at night and the two cats were trying to satisfy their hunger with some berries and grass. They were not yet liking the idea of eating live animals seeing as they were ponies just a few hours ago. After eating what they could find, they had realized that the mansions made from clouds in the sky were no longer there. Where were their homes? Then, with sudden realization, they had seen two trees fairly close, yet keeping their distance, towards the edge of the clearing they were in. Beside each tree, were large boulders, one had been hollowed out by what looked like thousands if not millions of years of erosion. Yet at the same time looked highly unnatural. The other boulder, wasn't really a boulder at all, it was three rock slabs angled at each other to look like a pyramid, but with a hole at the bottom to be led into a tent big enough for about two cats. In one tree were many branches, each at the perfect distance from each other to be able to jump from one to another. At the top was a strangely warm dome created by branches, twigs, and leaves. The same went with the other tree but instead of the many branches, were mushroom like shelves, and they lead to the top as if to be a staircase strong enough to hold a cat. Both realizing that these were their new homes, they were astonished.
“This is amazing!” said Silver Claw, still sounding a bit tired.
“I could definitely get used to this!” Tangle Claw was already exploring her new den, and she had already come to like it. “Hey, uh, what's that?” Tangle Claw stopped what she was doing to look across the clearing to find a very large rock with a cliff hanging off the front and there was a hole carved in it. inside the hole the walls were lined with moss.
“I'm not very sure, but to be honest with you, I'm not in the mood to go check it out. Goodnight.” Silver Claw fell into a deep sleep, and Tangle Claw didn't care much for the rock either, and ended up falling into a light slumber in her new treehouse.

~*~

a sleepless night

Silver Claw tossed and turned on her mossy bed. She found that she had different pressure points as a cat and she needed to find a new position to allow her to sleep comfortably. She finally settled on laying flat on her belly and she let the soft moss rub against her silky fur.

"...that's nice..." Silver Claw murmured, pleased with the softness of her bedding. She couldn't help but fall straight into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, a certain orange striped she-cat was having more difficulty falling asleep than her companion. She could hardly sustain a very light slumber, and the slightest rustle would set her eyelids a flutter. Tangle Claw soon found herself thinking.

'Well that's that. My wish is granted. I never thought her magic was so powerful...yet I have so many questions. One is how this is physically possible, but I'm such a sci-fi egghead who am I to even care? Was this a good idea? Is it...okay to mess around with parallel universes? What if this reality collapses and we fall into...a void?' Tangle Claw reached over to preen her wings and her face fell when she realized there were none to be preened.

'Right. My wings...I lost them. It feels strange, the emptiness on my back. Those wings were always comforting to me. Gee, I wonder if unicorns feel the same way about their horns! And what about Peach- I mean Silver. Does she miss her horn? Was this even morally correct to just hop into a completely different universe like this and nearly shatter it like glass? Oh well, I'm sure we'll be ponies again in just a few days.' Tangle Claw thought. She fell into a deep sleep, and she stayed that way for a while, the gears in her mind still turning. At approximately three in the morning, the gears jolted to a complete stop. Tangle Claw's eye's flew open and she dashed down the mushroom staircase to her friend's den.

"GET UP GET UP GET UP!!!" Tangle Claw shouted, shaking her friend awake. Silver's eyes flew open and she barely suppressed a scream. Silver growled at Tangle Claw, ticked off.

"This better be important. You KNOW what happens when I don't get my kitten sleeps!" Silver Claw hissed. Normally Tangle would have laughed and poked fun at her friend for saying something like that, but her mind was moving too fast.

"Actually, no, I don't but I need to ask you something." said Tangle Claw. Silver stood up with an annoyed expression on her face. Tangle Claw kept eye contact and looked very serious.

"Do you think you could still do magic?" asked the striped she-cat. Silver Claw pondered this. Tangle Claw couldn't see it, but Silver Claw was trying to form a psychic connection with the elements that she usually did through her horn.

"I don't think so..." Silver Claw mumbled, mentally exhausted. That did it for Tangle Claw.

"NO NO NO THIS IS SUPER BAD!!!!" Tangle shouted. Silver Claw was astonished by her friend's sudden panic attack.

"What's wrong?" asked Silver Claw, concerned. Tangle Claw grabbed her friend by the shoulders, struggling to keep a grip with her newly formed paws. Wasn't it obvious?

"How are we gonna get back home?!"

~*~

unknown relatives

Silver Claw looked down at her friend. There was fury and terror in her eyes. Her claws were unsheathed and her fur was prickling. Suddenly, a large cat came prowling out of the entrance, and it didn't seem threatening.
“Why, hello. My name is Black Nose, I'm a loner. And who might you be?” asked the new cat. Silver Claw was astonished at how calm he was. Wasn't he supposed to be threatening them?
“Oh, uh...uh...hello, my...my name is T-Tangle Claw. It's, nice to meet you.” Silver claw was again astonished at how her friend was acting. What was that emotion in her eyes? Black Nose smiled warmly.

"Pleased to meet you, Tangle Claw. Oh...who is that?" Black Nose gestured to Silver Claw. She looked surprised.

"That's Silver Claw!" said Tangle Claw. Silver Claw winced. Why? Why would she announce their names to this strange cat? She glared at Tangle Claw, who didn't even pay attention. She sighed.

"Yeah...what she said." said Silver Claw, who twitched her wiskers as Black Nose drew his face closer to her's. Tangle Claw couldn't pass up the opportunity to bust her friend's chops.

"Ooh! Looks like somepo- uh, I mean someone LIKES you!" said Tangle Claw immaturely. Black Nose twitched his wisers with amusement and Silver Claw growled.

"Shut UP!" Silver Claw hissed under her breath. Tangle Claw merely laughed.

"You seem so familiar..." said Black Nose. Silver Claw shuddered as Black Nose sniffed the air around her and got even closer to her.

"I'll leave you alone...in case you need some...PRIVACY." Tangle Claw cackled in laughter and walked in a couple of bushes.

"Privacy...ha!" Tangle Claw chuckled to herself and made a patch of emptiness for her to look through.

"gah I can't... grrr!" Tangle Claw squinted, unable to hear or see anything clearly.

"Come on, come on, why aren't my super accurate cat senses kicking in?!" Tangle hissed to herself. She slumped down in disappointment. Suddenly her ears pricked up. There was a slight twinge in her heart. What was it? She could feel a fluttery sensation but the pleasure was soon replaced with a sudden heaviness. Could it be? No chance, no way, it wasn't possible. She couldn't be jealous of Silver Claw. What did she have that Tangle Claw didn't? Silver's voice snapped Tangle Claw out of her daze.

"Tangle Claw, you can come out now!" shouted Silver Claw from afar. She was waiting for Tangle Claw while Black Nose seemed busy pawing at the ground. Silver Claw had a big goofy grin on her face. Tangle Claw cocked her head.

"What is it?" asked Tangle Claw. Silver's smile grew wider and the orange she-cat smirked.

"Did you two make out?" asked the oblivious she cat. Silver Claw giggled in reply.

"Nope!"

"Well, what is it?" asked Tangle Claw ancious to find out.

"Black Nose is my brother!"

~*~

big surprise

“What!?” Tangle Claw couldn’t figure the situation out. “He’s... you’re... brother?!”
“Yep...and he’s all yours!” Silver Claw trotted off back towards her brother to sit down. She sat up straight in triumph, knowing that her friend's insults had backfired.
“Wait, how is he your brother? I’m so confused.” said Tangle Claw
Black Nose stepped forward to explain. “Well...at least thats what we think... she smells just like our mother...and...I feel some sort of connection between us.” Black Nose looked down at Silver Claw. He was proud to have a sister.
“I...can't believe it...how is it possible?!" said Tangle Claw, still unable to process any of this.
“Uh...well..." Silver Claw was unsure how to explain this to her friend without freaking her brother out. “Um...Black Nose, may I talk to her alone?” asked Silver Claw.
“Uh...yeah sure.” Black Noss was confused. He couldn't figure out what could be so important that she couldn't share it with her own brother.
The two she-cats walked away to the other side of the clearing. “There’s something I left out...there’s possible side effects of the spell...” Silver Claw waited for her friend to react, although she already knew what she would do.
“What KIND of side effects?" asked Tangle Claw with dangerous calmness in her voice.
“Well...” Silver Claw tried to lower her voice, gesturing with her tail that Tangle Claw do the same. “When I read about it in Twilight's book, it said there would be side effects to the spell. Either we totally forget about where we come from...or-” Silver Claw was interrupted by her friend's burst of anger while some how still keeping her voice down.
“Then WHY would you do the spell?! besides, what does that have to do with him?" Tangle Claw flicked her ear in Black Nose's direction while she struggled to keep her tone down to a low pitched hiss.
“I didn't finish, mouse brain!” Silver Claw cuffed her friend’s ear playfully. “Now it's either that, or we might possibly have siblings or relatives in this universe we never knew about!” Silver Claw lowered her head and raised her eyebrows.
“So, like Black Nose?” asked Tangle Claw, starting to feel relieved.
"Yes. Now, can we just pretend to act as if nothing is wrong? Here, you know what? You go hunting with Black Nose, and I'll go find some herbs. I asked Nurse RedHeart what herbs to use for certain things on survival trips, and I got some tips on how to get them from Daring Do.” Silver Claw knew enough about her friend that she would ask how she knew what herbs to get. “And don't worry, I'll build a fort for the stuff. By the way, stay away from the red berries...what are they called? Oh you know what, we’ll just call them...killer fruit. Is that a good name? Yes, okay. Off you go!” Silver Claw waited for no response. She trotted back to the entrance of the clearing and grabbed the vole. She took it next to where the healer’s fort would be and dug a large hole for it to be kept safe in. She remembered what the warriors in her book did, so they did the same thing. She looked over her shoulder to see her friend walking calmly next to her brother.

~*~

foxpaw

There was a rustling in the bushes that interrupted the two cats.
“Oh, I'm sorry! Did I interrupt you two love birds?” the voice was high pitched and squeaky. It belonged to a small cat, barely a trainee. He was orange, with a bushy tail, and a white tip. His tail reminded the two cats of a fox's tail. In his muzzle was a very large rabbit, making it hard to understand him. He chuckled at his own joke. “The name’s Fox Paw! You?” Tangle Claw was startled at the cat's sudden approach. "Well? Don't just stand there like a couple of deaf mice!” fox paw didn't seem bothered by the situation at all.
“My name’s Black Nose, and this is Tangle Claw.” he sounded stern.
“Do you think you know any place I can stay?” said Fox Paw, who seemed uncomfortable being at someone else's mercy.
“Yeah, sure you can stay-” Silver Claw was interrupted by her friend Black Nose.
“No, we should take him back to camp and we can all decide what to do from there.” Black Nose sounded stern but Tangle Claw could see a flash of sympathy and kindness for her in his eyes.
“Okay, let's go!" said Tangle Claw, not bothered by the strict tone in Black Nose’s voice.
Black Nose lead the way back to camp with the other two right behind him. There was a rustling in the bushes nearby. Black Nose's fur bristled. He smelled danger. Fox Paw growled.
"I'll check it out!" said the little cat. He leapt into the bushes.
"Fox Paw, no!" shouted Tangle Claw. Her fur stood on edge.
"I'm going after him!" Tangle Claw started to charge towards the bushes, only to be stopped by Black Nose.
"He'll be fine." said Black Nose, cooly.
"AAAAAGH!" Fox Paw's terrified scream of anguish could be heard from miles away. Tangle Claw's pupils dilated.
"FOX PAW!" she screamed. Fox Paw scrambled out of the bushes, blood running down his hind leg. There was a large Doberman Pinchser right on his tail. The small cat hid behind Black Nose, trembling. Tangle Claw snarled.

How dare you hurt a helpless little KIT Tangle Claw unsheathed her claws and sliced the dog's nose open. The dog shook his head, splattering scarlet drops everywhere. It seemed unaffected by the blow. Tangle Claw gulped.
"Okay, plan B, RUN!" Tangle Claw screamed. The three cats barreled through the forest at top speed, the angry dog hot on their trail.

Meanwhile, at camp, Silver Claw heard the familiar screams of her friends while she had just finished building the healer’s fort. Tangle Claw practically crashed right into her, panting.

"Tangle Claw, what's wrong?!" asked Silver Claw. Tangle's eyes darted around before she yelled frantically,
"I may or may not have lead a giant dog to camp!!" her voice was terrified.
hurry in the healer’s fort,” her voice was cool, and soothing, she didn't seem bothered at all.
with one glance at the fort, she yelled, “and how is that supposed to help?” she was desperate.
Silver Claw gave her a cold hard stare telling tangle claw she needed to be trusted. Tangle Claw looked at her once more, then walked in. Silver Claw followed, but then walked back out to hear more screams, she held some sort of herb in her muzzle, it had a horrible stench.
she walked toward the entrance, then her brother came running through with a stranger on his tail. she didn't have any time to ask questions she had to stop that dog. steadily she stalked out side, making sure the dog wasn't close enough yet, then ran outside to an empty clearing a good length away from home. then put the first herb down, then further away the next then the next, eventually creating a trail leading toward a river. she had hoped she’d been in time for she was going as fast as she possibly could. As soon as she saw she was done, she ran back for home.

she went through the dark tunnel in a bush, to find her friends, along with the small stranger, peeking through the entrance to the healer’s fort. They didn’t seem hurt, and he didn't smell what she thought was dog, so she began to ask questions.
“Allright, what happened?” She glanced at foxpaw wondering what to do with him.
“Well, we were hunting, then this trainee popped out of the bushes looking for a place to stay. then, on our way back, he had the bright idea,” blacknose glanced angrily at foxpaw as he shrank back. “to jump into the bushes because he smelled something. And of course, it was a dog, but for some reason it hasn't tried to break in yet.” black nose seemed confuse.
“well thats because I used dog nip, to lure him away. Now, who is this?” silver claw flicked her tail in foxpaw’s direction.
“My name is foxpaw, and thanks for saving us!” said foxpaw.
“you’re very welcome fox paw, but may i ask why you have come here?” silver claw seemed very calm, and ready for anything.
“Oh... uh, well, I ran away, I don’t like the way my pack lives, its cruel, i’ve been abused many times for mistakes i have not made. so, i came here.” all of a sudden silverclaw could hear the sadness and exhaust in his voice.
“Hold on foxpaw,” she signaled with her tail to have the other two follow, “ so what do you suggest? shall we keep him? or leave him?”
“keep him,” said Tangleclaw, sounding determined.
“keep him,” blacknose responded with the same tone of determination.
“all right, but the first night he stays here, no hunting, I couldn’t help but notice the cut on his leg, plus we must learn to trust him, he’s only a trainee.”
the three cats walked back in and told him the news, and silverclaw helped him to heal his leg. She seemed to be doing this naturally, was she destined to be a medicine cat?

~*~

Secret dream

"Well, what's you're idea?" asked PeachHeart.

"You know what...never mind, you wouldn't like it...." Lightning Chaser said doubting that her closest friend would like where this is going.

"Dude, you woke me up, what do you want....?" said PeachHeart, trying not to let her frustration show.

"Nothing, nothing......." Lightning Chaser said quickly. Before Peachie could respond, she began to doze off. Peach heart didn't like to use her abilities against her own friend, but she had to know what was so important to her pegasus friend. Peachie cast a spell on herself of which she rarely used. This spell enabled her to enter someone's dreams, but with her creativity she imagined it with every thing in away made of colorful dust.
Peach heart appeared in what seamed to be an empty area of a forest. Only at the same time, she could see everything being written down in a very large book. She then saw Lightning Chaser prancing around turning from a cat to a pony over and over again. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Her wings melted away and when she opened her eyes they were cat eyes. She grew a single fang and claws erupted from her paws and her tail grew longer and thinner. She became a striped orange she cat.

Peach Heart cocked her head. Lightning Chaser wasn't returning to her original form. Instead, she nodded her head, as if telling Peach Heart to come over. As Peachie stepped towards her friend her coat turned into a dappled grey color. With every step she took she turned more cat like. Her eyes became gleaming gems in her skull. Her ears grew more accute to the noises of the forest around her. Organs slightly shifted inside her body and she became aware of her snout turning into a nose like a button. She joined Lightning Chaser on the other side, fully transformed. Before she could open her mouth to say a word she became aware of a large shadow looking over her. Her mouth opened wide and her new cat pupils shrank as she became aware of the cover of the giant book crashing down on them.

Lightning Chaser was not afraid. Her eyes grew wide with anticipation as the cover fell further. Golden dust flew everywhere like a sandstorm as the book closed and the dream shattered like glass. Peachie escaped the grasp of her friend's subconscious mind and gasped softly. Peach Heart immediately knew what her idea was.

~*~

home sick

Silver Claw sighed. “Tangle Claw... don’t be so mouse brained... I'm not that stupid! Before we came here, I made sure that we’d be able to get back!" Silver Claw rolled her eyes, “Remember? We can check on Ponyville once in a while.”
“But when?! Silver Claw, I miss home.” said Tangle Claw, trying not to cry in front of her friend. At this point Silver Claw was able to see the desperation in her eyes, but she knew she had no other way to help her friend. She had to tell her.
“Tangle Claw, I'm sorry, I don't know when we’ll go back...I-” before the she-cat could finish, she was interrupted by a yowl of desperation.
“WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me before?!" Tangle Claw didn't wait for a response, she turned her head away and struggled to get to her paws.
“Wait... I wasn’t done. Do you think...you can do me a favor and go hunting?” Silver Claw wasn't sure if she just irritated her friend more, or if she helped in any way.
“Well...okay...I guess it couldn’t hurt to eat a little bit.” the fiery orange she-cat sat and licked her chest a couple of times, then heard her stomach growl. She didn't think it was that loud, but when she looked up at her friend she couldn’t help but let out a purr of amusement. The orange she-cat turned and bounded through the bushes with one leap.
At that Silver Claw trotted to where she saw her friend leap away and called after her, “Don't go too far! You haven't gotten used to your sense of smell yet!” she could only hope her friend heard her. After her friend disappeared, she began collecting twigs, sticks, branches, and logs. There was a hole where her friend left so she weaved the twigs inside of it to leave a neat tunnel so her friend could get back home without trouble. After that, she did the same with the bushes and ferns surrounding the border, being careful to keep the branches with thorns on the outer side of the wall. As soon as she finished, she heard a yowl coming from the entrance. She quickly ran to her den. When she knew she was safe she peeked out to see what had startled her. It was her friend... but why? She should still be hunting. She stepped out cautiously.
“Tangle Claw, what’s wrong?”
Tangle Claw was gasping for air, standing over a small vole. “I...I heard something. I heard something running... and sniffing.” there was pure terror in her friends eyes.
What was the big deal? It was only a few sounds...perhaps it was partly her thoughts from last night? What ever it was it didn't seem very dangerous.
All of a sudden... there was a rustling noise from the entrance...what could possibly be intruding in on the two cats?!

~*~

could it be?

Tangle Claw and Black Nose made their way through the woods. Usually Tangle Claw was an unstoppable chatterbox but she felt like she was at a loss for words around Black Nose. Honestly, if the conversation was a living thing it would have lynched itself without bothering to write a metaphorical suicide note to it's metaphorical parents. Tangle Claw coughed.

"Um...so...um...heh...nice...uh...weather?" Tangle Claw stuttered while wishing the spell would somehow take effect and erase the memory of her ever saying that. Oh Faust. She had hit rock bottom. And it hurt. Black Nose chuckled.

"Yes, I'd say so." said Black Nose. Tangle Claw felt her heart melt. She quickly shook it off, not wanting to let this...cat gain any emotional leverage against her. Tangle Claw shuddered as she felt Black Nose's body press against hers. Black Nose blushed under his dark striped pelt.

"Uh...you looked cold." the dark gray tom murmured. Tangle Claw let a purr of pleasure escape her throat. Oh Faust. What was this...emotion?

'Hmph. If this were a musical I'm sure a quire of magically unnoticeable cats would appear behind me. ‘You're in love!’ they would sing. They would stick a flower in my fur and gradually have me falling for Black Nose...thank Faust this isn't a musical.' thought Tangle Claw. The increasing warmth against her body became unignorable.

"You're fur is very warm." Tangle Claw purred. Black Nose blushed again under his fur.

"Oh! Um...I must have inherited it from my mother." said Black Nose. Tangle Claw's purrs grew more intense.

"She must have been a beautiful she-cat." said Tangle Claw. The two cats blushed. This outting didn't seem to be about catching prey anymore. Black Nose sat down, and gestured to Tangle Claw to do the same.

"You're the one who's beautiful. Those eyes...so bright and kind...it's easy to get lost in them." said Black Nose, looking down at Tangle Claw with his own beautiful glimmering eyes, filled with luster. Tangle claw blushed.

"Is there a part of you that isn’t so attractive?" Tangle Claw murmured. She clamped her mouth shut when she realized she had said that out loud. Black Nose laughed while Tangle Claw was mortified at her slip of the tounge.

"You tell me." said Black Nose. He leaned down and delivered a gentle, sweet lick on the nose. They were both blushing under their pelts, fur prickling like little school fillies who had just heard a dirty joke. Black Nose gently licked Tangle Claw up her forehead before withdrawing his head. His eyes shone down at her with affection. Tangle Claw looked back into the dark brown shining eyes, then tucked her head under his chin. The orange she-cat gulped, she had only met him at sunrise, and she hated to admit it but those fantasy quire cats in her head were right.

She was in love.

~*~