Fluttershy and the Library Cat

“Wait a minute… What exactly are you trying to do again?” The purple dragon known as Spike asked in a rather confused tone, watching Twilight as she wandered around the library. Her face was buried in a large spell tome, one that contained various types of transformation spells. She used her magic to quickly flip through the pages, glancing over each spell as she did so. Closing the book, she let out a groan and brought the book back to its correct position in a bookshelf.

“Spike! Bring me volume twenty-three! I’m sure it’ll be in there.” Without waiting for him to retrieve the book, she levitated him up to the bookcase and where the correct volume was. He quickly grabbed onto it, and she moved him over to her, setting him down in front of her. She levitated the book out of his grasp, and quickly flipped through it, stopping on one of the pages. “Aha! There it is!” She walked over to a desk, setting the book down and reading the instructions for the spell two, three, four times, just to make sure she had everything memorized. She closed her eyes and concentrated, but was interrupted by her assistant before she could cast the spell.

“What are you trying to accomplish with… Whatever it is you’re doing, anyway?” The dragon walked over to the desk, jumping on top of it and looking at the book. Not sure of which spell she was looking at, he glanced over to her eyes and followed her line of sight to one of the spells. “Turn into a cat? What good would that do?” He hopped off of the desk, looking around the library and spotting Twilight’s pet owl, Owlowiscious.

“It’s the only way she’ll love me!” Taking a deep breath, Twilight attempted to concentrate on the spell again. She wasn’t very familiar with transformation spells, and with this obviously genius plan, she would not only earn the love of her life, but she’d also learn how to cast new types of spells! Twilight, you're a genius. Her own thoughts broke her concentration, and she couldn’t help but giggle a little before replying to herself, I know, I know.

Owlowiscious flew over to the desk to see what Twilight was doing, and glanced over the book. He had no clue what any of the symbols on the paper meant, and knew that he would never find out what they were, unless Twilight told him of course. He looked over at Spike, tilting his head a little and letting out his regular sound, “Who?”

Spike simply shrugged, walking away from the desk. “I don’t know. Ask Twilight.” He went over to his small, personal bed and crawled into it, curling up and closing his eyes. ‘Twilight’s crazy.’ He fell asleep shortly after he brought the blankets on top of him, allowing the purple unicorn a little more silence, now that he wouldn’t be saying any more.

Owlowiscious turned his head to look at Twilight, again making the same sound, “Who?” Normally, Twilight wouldn’t think of it as a question like Spike always seemed to, but she figured she might as well tell somepony.

“Fluttershy, of course! She loves animals, so if I become an animal… Then she’ll love me too!” She turned to the owl, grabbing him and hugging him tightly, “Isn’t it just the greatest plan ever?” She let go of him, and he quickly flew away before he could be squeezed another time. She made an attempt to block out all sound in the library, which worked for the most part, largely due to the fact that there was almost no noise in the library at all.

She made one last attempt to cast the spell, her horn shining bright with a magical aura, and a slightly painful feeling built up in her head. It was largely negligible though, and it didn’t break her concentration. Soon enough, she could feel her body shrinking down to a much smaller size, and her hooves and legs began to change shape. She found she now had control of something much more flexible than her hoof, and that she could even extend her claws if she wished. Her horn had disappeared, although she could still sense it as if it was still there, though it had moved towards her tail.

She concentrated her thoughts for a little while in order to cast a basic illumination spell to identify just where the magical power that allowed her to cast spells had gone. As she had believed, it had moved to the base of her tail, effectively turning it into a much more flexible horn. She knew she would have to do her best to keep from casting anything while she was around Fluttershy, to avoid raising any suspicions.

Based on her observations, she was pretty sure she was a cat. She had to make sure however, and she quickly ran upstairs and into her bedroom. She always kept a mirror in her closet, and she went to it so that she could observe herself. Her fur was the same lavender as her coat had been when she was still a unicorn, and a dark purple strip of color trailed from her forehead to the tip of her tail. “Yep, I’m definitely a cat.” She smiled and stretched out her legs, and went to lick her paw. She felt the urge to groom herself, and she did just that. After all, she did have to look nice for Fluttershy when she went to visit.

“But how am I supposed to get there?” She held her paw up to her chin, trying to devise a plan to make her way to Fluttershy’s cottage. She had to make sure she wasn’t seen, and so there was only one possible solution. She had to leave at night, and stealthily make her way across Ponyville all the way to the cottage.

After several long hours of lying around, playing with a ball of yarn, and even taking a few naps, night had arrived. Twilight was purring happily and lying on her back, with Spike rubbing her belly. He had actually grown to like Twilight’s new form; she was much more playful than she usually was. He was also just a little larger than she was, with her size being comparable to that of a kitten’s, giving him a little more confidence in himself.

Twilight looked out her window and saw that a full moon was shining in the night sky, and she quickly jumped up from where she was. She began to panic, not fully prepared to leave the library just yet. She ran up to her room, directing herself to her saddlebags. She tried to pick them up, but soon realized that she was way too small for them, and she could probably fit inside them if she tried. She opened one of the bags, crawling inside it and just as she made it all the way in, it closed on her. She pushed the bag over on to the ground, crawling back outside and wondering what she could do with them. Hmm… I can fit inside, but I can’t carry them…

Her eyes widened as soon as she got an idea, “That’s perfect! I can take one of them with me and act as if somepony left me outside her cottage! Twilight, you never cease to impress me!” She wore the best smile she could make as a cat, and searched around the bag for any sort of insignia or writing that could possibly point to her if Fluttershy found it. Not finding any, she flicked her tail and levitated the saddlebag above her, running back downstairs. “Bye Spike!” She meowed at her assistant as she ran outside, though he couldn’t understand her. In fact, he hadn’t been able to the entire time since she turned into a cat.

Twilight searched around her immediate vicinity to make sure that nopony was outside. If she was caught, things could be very strange for her, and she might even be made fun of. Although she was sure that if she at least made it a good distance away from the library, nobody would be able to make the connection between her cat body and Twilight herself.

She continued to run through Ponyville, jumping into trees or bushes whenever she thought she heard somepony near her. Passing by Sugarcube Corner, she was nearly spotted by Pinkie Pie, though the earth pony was simply doing a late night delivery and paid no attention to her. She didn’t magically appear next to Twilight either, so that was a good sign. She crawled away from the box she had been hiding behind, and continued to make her way towards Fluttershy’s cottage.

Soon enough, she found herself getting close to the edge of Ponyville and to the path that led to the Everfree and Fluttershy’s cottage. She hadn’t made it very far down the path before she came to a sudden realization: Fluttershy can understand animals when they talk, and Twilight still sounds a lot like her usual self. She dug her claws into the dirt path, slowing down her movement and quickly coming to a stop. She dropped the saddlebag, which landed next to her, so that she could cast another spell. She delved into the library of her mind, searching through the bookshelves for a spell that could mask her voice. Finding one, she rubbed her paws together and with a flick of her tail, she cast the spell.

“Testing… Perfect!” Twilight meowed happily, continuing along the path towards the cottage. She was getting exhausted from all the running, but she knew she couldn’t rest until she was inside Fluttershy’s home. Just as she was about to fall over, she arrived in front of the cottage, and she was now faced with the problem of getting Fluttershy’s attention. She set the bag in front of the door, hopping into it. Now, all she had to do was make some noise, something that was by no means difficult for a cat to do.

“Help! Hungry... Can’t get out…” She meowed as loudly as she could, and although she was just trying to use the words she had chosen as a method to draw the pegasus’s attention to her, she soon found that they described her situation perfectly. She hadn’t had anything to eat since lunchtime, back when she was still a unicorn. She was also having difficulties moving around in the bag, and couldn’t get out on her own.

Her plan seemed to have worked however, as she could faintly hear the sounds of a door unlocking. The bag she was resting in was picked up shortly afterwards, and she could hear hoof steps along with the door closing. Now that phase one of her plan to win Fluttershy over had been completed, she had to make sure the yellow pegasus wouldn’t find out who she was. She closed her eyes as soon as a hoof reached into the bag, picking her up and bringing her out of her temporary confinement.

“Oh, you poor little thing…” Fluttershy held the kitten she had found close to her, stroking the feline’s back. Twilight enjoyed this greatly, not only was she close to Fluttershy, but she was being petted! She closed her eyes and nuzzled Fluttershy’s chest, purring happily. “Aww… You’re a cute little kitty, aren’t you?” Something about her new kitten was definitely strange, however. Its fur was purple, a color she had never seen on a cat before. She stopped petting the feline, taking a moment to observe it.

Twilight thought something was wrong as soon as the petting stopped, and looked up curiously at the pegasus. She knew she had to be very careful with her word choice, so she wouldn’t give herself away in case Fluttershy really could understand animals. She also hoped that the spell she cast to hide her voice hadn’t worn off. She tilted her head, meowing at the pegasus, “What’s wrong?” She celebrated a small victory within her mind as she noticed the spell hadn’t worn off yet, and it likely wouldn’t until approximately exactly twenty-four hours passed since she cast it.

Fluttershy rubbed the kitten’s head with her hoof, smiling a little, “Oh, nothing… Just your fur color is a little strange. It’s purple, which I haven’t seen before…” She couldn’t help but giggle, finding something a little familiar about the color. “It reminds me of my friend, Twilight.”

Oh no. Hopefully she doesn’t make the connection that I’m…

“She’s a really nice friend. Maybe you could meet her sometime, if you want to. Does that sound fun?” Fluttershy lifted up Twilight above her for a moment, and brought her down to the floor shortly afterwards. Twilight took the opportunity to stretch out her legs and yawn, to which Fluttershy responded with a yawn of her own. “Are you getting sleepy, miss… Um...” Fluttershy tried to think of a fitting name for her new friend, several ideas passing through her mind. Purrlin? No, that doesn’t sound that good… Oh, maybe… No, that isn’t very good either…

“How does Nightlight sound?” Fluttershy suggested to Twilight, who quickly returned a nod. Even if it was similar to her own name, whatever Fluttershy wanted to call her was perfectly fine with her. “Alright… Are you getting sleepy, miss Nightlight?” Twilight had already curled herself up on the floor, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle. “You probably shouldn’t sleep on the floor… Here, let me get you a bed.” Fluttershy trotted over to the closet where she kept beds for smaller animals, but before she could she stopped herself, feeling that it would be best to make the newcomer feel as welcome as possible. She walked back to her new friend with a small smile on her face, something Twilight was glad to see.

“Nightlight? You wouldn’t mind sleeping with me tonight, would you? I don’t want you to feel lonely or anything…” Twilight certainly did not mind, if anything she was eager, and stretched out her legs. Shaking her head quickly, she was picked up by Fluttershy, who carried her upstairs and to the bedroom. The pegasus set down her friend just as she reached the door, and once it was opened, Twilight darted inside and jumped onto the bed. Crawling up to the pillow and kneading it with her paws, Twilight rested her entire body on top of the pillow, though it still left plenty of space for Fluttershy to lay her head down as well. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to join, laying herself on the bed and making herself comfortable under the blankets, and she took up the last bit of space left on the pillow. Sleep arrived quickly to her, as she was exhausted from feeding all of the woodland creatures and making sure they were comfortable at all times.

Both pegasus and kitten fell asleep at nearly the same time, each just as oblivious as the other to what was going to happen in the following days.