It had been roughly three or four weeks since Fluttershy's arrival in...this place she arrived in, she still didn't know where it was. Anyway, since she couldn't read the calendar she couldn't tell exactly how long it had been. Three or four weeks seemed about right despite the fact that time seemed strange here. Individual days would crawl by, seeming to last an eternity in themselves, yet somehow the last few weeks had flown by like they had barely happened at all. It was all rather confusing so it’s a good job the time and date wasn't something Fluttershy spent too much time dwelling on.

In the time that she had been here, however long that may be; things had gotten better for Fluttershy. True, her situation was no different; she was still being held against her will by two people who continued to think that she was a dog, but through some effort on her part she had made leaps and bounds in making life more bearable.

The first step in that was finding a method to open doors, a method that had been provided to her through the use of an umbrella with a curved handle that she had found in the hallway, and had quickly sneaked to the bedroom and hidden under their bed. Normally she would have been aghast at the idea of taking something without permission but after almost a week of sharing a room with those two it was a small principal she was willing to sacrifice if it meant not putting up with their...shenanigans.

She had found that if she held the shaft of the umbrella in her mouth she could use the umbrellas handle to manipulate the doors handle. Not that it was easy, and it had taken a few trial runs before she got it right. The first time she tried it in the bedroom she learned that the umbrella was one of those that opens when you press the button. When she was trying to hook the door handle she had hit the button causing the umbrella to spring open while it was in her mouth. Although it had hurt a bit it was the shock more than anything, and between her squeaking and the umbrella springing open she managed to wake up Janet and Paul who had been very confused about the umbrella that had suddenly appeared in their bedroom. It was still being talked about days later.

A couple nights later, after reclaiming the umbrella and sneaking it back upstairs; she had tried again after finding a pillow case under the bed and tying it around the shaft preventing it from opening. This time though, she had knocked the handle on the door a bit loudly since trying to hook a door handle with an umbrella that's held in your mouth while your head's cocked sideways isn't easy. She ended up waking Janet and Paul again, but this time had managed to hide the umbrella and jump back into bed before they could catch her. She had tried using her hooves but for some reason she had been struggling to pick things up and hold them with any sort of finesse since she had got here. A human analogy would be trying to do things without the use of your thumbs. It was possible, but hard.

On the third attempt the night after, she had taken a pair of socks out of a draw and pulled both of them over the handle, so that if she did knock something the noise was a lot less than it otherwise would have been. The most important part is that it worked.

Since then she had practically given herself the run of the house at night, as long as a door wasn't locked, she could open it. She had soon availed herself of the bathroom facilities and quickly picked up a fondness for late night baths as they helped her to not smell so much. Her 'owners' didn't seem inclined to wash her unless she was filthy and washing like a dog would wasn't exactly Fluttershy's idea of good hygiene. Thankfully they had bought her a toothbrush; although she had to brush her teeth twice with their toothpaste just to get the taste of the nasty canine toothpaste they insisted on using out of her mouth. Having her own toothbrush also meant not having to use one of theirs which was one personal boundary she really didn't want to cross.

She had also gained access to the kitchen in her new found freedom and had quickly found a way onto the worktops via the use of two chairs and a stool as steps. Once she was up there she had access to actual food, including the fruit bowl which she had practically emptied on the first night in an orgy of non-dog food flavoured delight.

As she was careful to put everything back where she found them, so far neither Janet nor Paul had cottoned onto her late night schemes even if they suspected something was up as there was food missing and they kept finding her passed out asleep on the sofa in the mornings. Fluttershy felt bad for doing it, especially for Paul, who had so far made five or six different attempts to fix a bedroom door that wasn't broken; but she wasn't about to give up her ponyanity just so they could live the illusion that she was the perfect little pet.

Anyway the point behind all this past tense story telling is to basically say that while things weren't great, they weren't terrible either. Except for one small thing.

One small, grey, furry and be-clawed thing called Fritz.

Ever since she had met Fritz, the cat had been hostile to her. At best all he tried to do was scare or intimidate her; at worst he was downright cruel. If she walked by him he would swat at her, or if he was on a ledge higher than her he would try and knock things over onto her. Fluttershy's least favourite thing though was when he hid somewhere, waiting for her pass, before jumping out onto her back, riding her like...well, like a pony.

He was vicious, spiteful and cruel; and Fluttershy needed to do something about it. Soon.

It was morning on the first day of Pauls two days off which possibly meant it was a Saturday, not that Fluttershy could be sure. Right now Fluttershy was trying to stare her breakfast into submission, Fritz was sat on the kitchen top above her and in the face of all good hygiene sense Janet was letting him stay there while she mixed up batter for pancakes. Paul was still in bed.

Janet was humming a flat, toneless ditty that was making Fluttershy cringe as it tended to make her ears buzz weirdly. She might even have been put off her breakfast if she had ever wanted it in the first place. There was no way someone should be that bad at humming but it still wasn't as bad as that one time she had heard her singing which Fluttershy had compared to filling a bag with cats and kicking it around a room with a really bad echo; not that she would ever be that cruel but it was the closest description she could find for the warbling screeches and complete tone deafness Janet had displayed.

After a few minutes of this terrible aural torture Janet set the bowl of mix down and wandered off upstairs muttering something about 'lazy, good for nothing men', leaving Fluttershy alone with Fritz. She was about to use this opportunity to tip her breakfast into the bin when SPLAT!

Fritz had knocked the bowl off the edge of the worktop and onto Fluttershy, covering her from head to tail in pancake mix.

Fluttershy stood frozen with shock for a few moments before slowly turning to look up at Fritz, who was sat there maintaining a look of feline nonchalance; a look cats had mastered centuries ago after they had learned how gullible humans are.

"You!" Fluttershy spluttered. "How...how could you!? How dare you! You think your so clever being such a meany, but you’re not! You come down here and say you’re sorry right now!"

All Fritz did was move back from the edge so she could no longer see him. Still infuriated, Fluttershy stood on her hind legs, resting her fore hooves against the cupboard, allowing her to see more of the worktop.

"Well mister? I'm waiting! Apologise right now!"

Fritz didn't apologise. What he did do was knock the still open milk bottle over towards Fluttershy, absolutely drenching her. He then lapped up some of the milk before he jumped down and ran off at the sound of footsteps coming downstairs; leaving her leaning against the cupboard, unmoving except for her mouth which was opening and closing slightly while she tried to comprehend just what had happened.

"Flossy!"

Fluttershy flinched and slowly lowered herself back onto all fours. Uh oh...

"What did you do Flossy?! There's pancake stuff everywhere! And look at the mess you’re in!"

"But...but it wasn't...it wasn't me..."

"And you spilt milk everywhere!"

"I didn't...I wouldn't..."

"What have you got to say for yourself young lady?"

"It wasn't me! It was Fritz! I wouldn't...I wouldn't do this!"

"Get yourself outside right now. You can wait 'til I've cleaned this up and made breakfast again before I even think about washing you."

Fluttershy sighed and with her head down and tail tucked between her legs, trotted past Janet and out into the garden.

"It wasn't me."

Fluttershy was sat on the edge of the patio poking at some dirt with a hoof. She had been out here for well over an hour with no mention of being let back in or bathed. In the sun the pancake mix was starting to bake onto her and was getting itchy as well as just feeling gross. It was also starting to smell a bit rancid.

"Ooh that Fritz! When I get my hooves on him I'm going to...to...um..."

And that was just it, what could she do? He was a cat and like all cats he did as he pleased. She couldn't talk to him like she could the cats back in Equestria, she couldn't physically discipline him since even if she knew what would work she couldn't actually bring herself to do such a thing to him. Her stare was utterly ineffective against him since the stare she got back was ten times worse, meaning she was left with nothing.

All she really could do was hope that eventually she could find some way to befriend him or at least make him stop being quite so vile to her. But to do that would take time and she wasn't sure she could put up with this for much longer; Angel bunny had been...difficult, at times, but Fritz was a whole new level of maniacal compared to him. She sighed; she missed Angel and the rest of her animal friends, and her pony friends too. Putting up with that furry, grey monster wasn't helping.

Luckily her spiral into despair was interrupted by the welcome sound of the patio doors opening. Getting up she trotted to the door before stopping when she noticed the stern gaze upon Janet’s face. When the gaze continued she took a few nervous steps back before dropping to the floor as if the gaze was physically weighting her down.

"You. Bathroom. Now." Janet said before stepping aside.

Fluttershy practically crawled on her belly past Janet before galloping the rest of the way to the bathroom and jumping into the already filled bath. Itchiness and rancid smells first, cat problems later.

Fluttershy was lounging on the sofa idly picking bits of pancake mix out of her mane, tail and feathers. Janet had done a pretty poor job of washing her which is odd considering she had practically attacked Fluttershy with a scrubbing brush. She'd go for another bath as soon as those two were asleep tonight but until then she would just have to put up with it. She would have gone now since Janet and Paul had left to go to town like they did at least once a week but she had a feeling that if they came home early and caught her, she'd somehow get into more trouble just for trying to get clean, which would be far too ironic for her to effectively deal with.

Normally she would have gone with them, which was nice, albeit embarrassing as she was stuck on a lead, as it allowed her to learn her way around in the unlikely event of an escape; although seeing the alleyway she had arrived in and approached those two from made her facehoof every time. After this morning’s mishap though she had been left here as some poorly thought out form of punishment. Being left here almost makes this morning seem worthwhile but she would have to be careful to not allow that sort of thing to happen too often in case she found herself being restricted around the house as further punishment, although ideally such things would never happen again but that would be wishful thinking with Fritz around.

Laying there on the sofa would have been quite relaxing if it wasn't for the fact that she had no idea where Fritz was. Over the last few weeks she had become increasingly paranoid about Fritz's antics and with good reason as he tended to ambush her whenever possible.

It's quiet. Too quiet.

Sliding down from the sofa she resolved to find him just so she could ease her nerves. He may be a Tartarus spawned demon cat who should be avoided like the plague, but it was still better to keep at least one eye on him. Preferably from a long distance.

She quietly sneaked from the living room to the kitchen, taking care to not miss any detail along the way; nothing there. She moved onto the hallway to the front door, still nothing. She snuck back to the kitchen and on to the utility room that lead to the garage, where Fritz had a cat flap. She stuck her head through and found yet more nothing. She was starting to worry, expecting the feel of claws on her back at any moment. Her heart was thumping in her chest and each hoof fall echoed in her ears as a small, strange voice in her head told her to avoid ambushes out of air vents; which was daft seeing as how the house didn't even have air vents.

She crawled back to the living room, towards the stairs; her eyes darting around examining every shadowy nook and well dusted cranny. She peeked around the corner and there he was, sat in the middle of the floor, staring at her while purring pleasantly. She watched him and he watched her. She blinked and he was still there afterwards. He licked a paw and rubbed an ear making Fluttershy flinch.

This is ridiculous. She edged towards the stairs while keeping an eye on him before turning to gallop up to the safety of the bedroom and shutting the door behind her. She let out a sigh of relief before her nose crinkled up in disgust.

"What is that smell?" She soon found out when she trotted over to her bed. The bed was, to her shame, one of the guilty pleasures of her dog’s life. It was supremely comfortable and if she could have it in a different room away from her 'owners' she might have done her best to live in it. But now that comfort was ruined because Fritz had left a small, odorous gift in it.

"FRITZ!"

"What am I going to do?" Fluttershy said aloud, as a lot of private thought often is. She had shut herself in the bathroom, as the bedroom absolutely reeked, and was seriously considering staying there until Paul and Janet came home. That demented moggy was clearly out to get her today and she was still at a total loss for what to do about it.

Even now she could hear him doing something down there. The occasion muted thump could reach her in the bathroom and she was thinking that she should probably go find out what he was up to but that would expose her to whatever scheme he was currently cooking up.

After a while the noises stopped just for them to be replaced with the sounds of the front door unlocking and people walking in.

At last. She rushed out of the bathroom and almost fell down the stairs in her haste just to be confronted with a disaster zone. Papers were scattered around, the potted plants were not as potted as they used to be and there was mess everywhere!

"FLOSSY!"

And she just so happened to be standing in the middle of it, with the actual culprit nowhere in sight.

"Why would you do this?! Get outside right now and stay there!"

"It wasn't me!"

"Now!"

Isolation. Fluttershy had spent years of her life cultivating it before truly discovering the magic of friendship. Since then she had tried so hard to get out and meet new ponies, struggling to overcome her innate shyness and be more assertive in everything she did.

Right now though she would have greeted isolation like the old friend it was, if it meant she got to avoid her current company. While she was stuck in the garden Fritz was sat on the roof of the shed radiating smugness as he watched her pace around, fuming and muttering to herself.

This was hopeless. After all the events of the last few weeks the thing that was finally getting to her was a cat! There was nothing she could think of to do and...and... She sighed.

Eventually she collapsed in a heap in her dirt poking spot. She would just have to accept that there was nothing she could do, even if it meant spending the rest of her time being relentlessly tormented by a cat. For the mean time she could just poke the dirt with her hoof some more, after all at least the dirt couldn’t do anything to hurt her.

I could split a hoof on a stone... She quickly stopped poking at the dirt.

After some time a bowl of water was provided for her, which was the highlight of the second hour. The third hour was spent on various attempts at singing but her heart just wasn't in it. She then made an attempt at flying again but still couldn’t achieve more than a breeze; even chickens could fly better than her right now. In the fourth hour, at her own risk, she went back to the old staple activity of dirt poking, and she was still doing that when she became aware of a presence.

Fritz was sat next to her, purring.

"What do you want?" she asked sullenly. He obviously said nothing but did keep purring. Right then it was possibly the most infuriating sound she had ever heard.

"What? What is it? Here to bully me some more? Make me feel even more helpless than I already do? It’s bad enough that I'm stuck here in a place I don't know where everyone thinks I'm a dog." she was starting to tear up and her voice was beginning to crack. "I've been stuck here for weeks, with no one to talk to and I haven't seen my friends for ages and I'm so lonely here on my own!"

Fritz had stopped purring by now and appeared to be frowning in concentration.

"And," Fluttershy continued with a little hoofstomp "the one thing here that I thought could bring me comfort, that's always been there for me, is my animal friends! But instead I get a horrible, mean bully like you! So just go away! Go away and...leave me...alone." she collapsed, burying her head in her forelegs as she trailed off into broken sobs.

*****************************

Fritz was confused. Not a normal state of mind for a creature that was one hundred percent sure of himself at all times. He was several years old now and had spent his years loving, fighting, tormenting small helpless creatures and becoming father of half the cats in the neighbourhood. Yet here he was completely stumped at the sight of the strange not-a-dog crying her eyes out.

"Meow?"

No reaction. He batted at the end of her mane but there was still no reaction. He moved a little closer and prodded at a bit of nose he could see poking from beneath her legs.

"Go 'way."

Aha! Success! He rubbed up against her, purring.

"Go away!" she shouted, still in tears, before turning away from him.

Fritz was at a complete loss. Not even the two-leg-food-givers had ever done this. This was...wrong. A new emotion was sinking its way into his psyche like a lead weight. He felt...bad, he felt...sorry. He was discovering something called remorse and he had no idea how to express it.

Maybe...maybe the not-a-dog would feel better if he brought her a gift.

It’d been roughly 6 hours since Fluttershy’s banishment from the interior of the house and although she had calmed down somewhat, she was still rather fragile. At the forefront of her mind though was the fact that she was seriously bored, especially as she had stopped poking the dirt thinking she might get into more trouble for ‘digging up the garden.’ The sun was starting to set and it was getting chilly which was making the day even more unpleasant than it already had been. Thankfully though, she hadn’t seen Fritz since earlier.

“Who does he think he is? Doing all this to me then thinking he can win me over with being all cute and friendly.” She was convinced that Fritz would never actually try and be friendly with her without some hidden agenda. Trusting him would be a mistake.

“Meow.”

“EEK!” Fluttershy leaped in air and somehow turned around mid-flight so that she was facing Fritz when she landed. She slowly took a few steps back and narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

He picked something up off the floor and carried it to her before dropping it at her hooves. It was a mouse; or, rather more disgustingly, it was a dead mouse.

“Meow *purr*.”

“Oh…uh, um, is that meant to be a present for me?” She was taking care to try and sound even voiced when what she really wanted to do was chide him for murdering some poor innocent creature. “Well I um, like it very much. It’s very…nice. Yes, nice.”

He rubbed up against her and purred. This was all very strange for both of them, Fritz wanting to befriend something four legged, rather than disembowel it; and Fluttershy was concerned this was just some trick, although that would be crediting a little too much intelligence to a creature that washed itself in its own spit.

“So does this mean you’re sorry?” Fritz purred and rubbed the top of his head on her chin. She couldn’t help but smile, this was surprising in the best kind of way and her resistance to his charms was quickly dissolving. The fact was that she had missed this kind of relationship with animals and craved this kind of attention from them. Most of the animals around here just stared at her weirdly. She didn’t want to appear so soft hearted but she needed this and the more he rubbed up against her the more she gave in.

“Ok, ok,” she giggled lightly “I get it, you’re sorry.” She smiled; something she hadn’t done freely for some time. “Does this mean no more being mean to me?” He looked at her dumbly before meowing. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She nuzzled the top of his head and in return he rubbed against her neck.

It might be a mistake to trust this so fast, but hopefully she had made a friend today, and with friends at her side she could endure anything.

Author's Note

Proof that Fluttershy will never lose a fight. Even if you win and she never throws a punch, you've still lost.

Endings a bit weak but meh. Next chapter won't really be that much of a chapter but rather a short collection of randomness that would never have made it into chapters themselves. I call it 'Pony meets horse and other randomness'. It will have no bearing on the plot (yes this does have one) apart from one small part right at the end.