I'm Sorry, What's Your Name? {Fluttershy}

[Twilight Sparkle]

There was no logical reason for Twilight to be here. None. Whatsoever. There wasn't anything weird going on in the mall, at least, not that Twilight was aware of. There certainly wasn't anything that would start at the pet center like some kind of strange disaster that was nearly cartoonish in its inception and practice. Nope, not now, at least. Maybe later. Instead, Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of a perfectly normal, perfectly serene, pet shop, staring at pets.

Twilight had a pet. Back home. Owlicious, owliciuos the owl. But he hadn't Shifted with Twilight, instead remaining back in Ponyville like so many other aspects of Twilight's life. At least Owlicious was one part of Twilight's life back home that she didn't have to worry about: Spike would take care of him. Failing that, Spike could get Owlicious back to Fluttershy. If anyone could take care of a pet, especially one whose master was currently in another dimension, it was Fluttershy.

"Thank Celestia she's not here,' muttered Twilight. She let her eyes roam the displays. Twilight could handle this; Rainbow could definitely handle being here. But Fluttershy? She'd likely go into a catatonic state, all blank eyed and trembling. Not a pretty picture. Unlike these animals, which Twilight swore were getting cuter the longer she stared at him. The temptation finally proved too much, and Twilight entered the shop. A cute little bell went off, and the unicorn girl could feel dozens of eyes turn to her. Most would likely turn away in boredom, though Twilight could hardly blame them. wasn't like she was a magical unicorn or something.

Remembering Owlicious again, Twilight made her way over to the birds. She stared at the offered selection, only a little disappointed to see a decided lack of owls. sighing, Twilight leaned over, looking around a birdcage to try and look someone who worked there. out of the corner of her eye, Twilight thought she caught someone in a uniform. Worth a shot, at any rate.

"Excuse me!" she called, waving a hand. "I was wondering if you could tell me if there are any owls here? I, uh, wanted to look and---" Twilight trailed off as she drew closer to the employee. Weird, but she looked... familiar?

[Deleted]

Fluttershy was leaning over an open corral display that was filled with a variety of chirping, colorful baby parakeets. In her arms she held a large, heavy bag of mixed birdseed and was struggling to scoop out enough with a small cup to fill the plastic food bowls. It should have been a relatively easy task, but she still wasn’t used to using these awkward claw-hooves that had replaced her old front hooves. As if walking wasn’t difficult enough; everything about this new body just seemed odd and uncomfortable to the former Pegasi mare. She really hoped the scary suit monster’s magic would wear off soon so that she could return to being her normal self again. Maybe then she could find her way back to Ponyville and return to her friends, who she feared might be greatly missing her. Or, what if they thought she left and were mad at her now? What if she had hurt their feelings by disappearing and made them feel bad? Just the thought made her greatly upset, and she tried weakly to push it out of her mind. 

Fluttershy finished the feeding and dropped the heavy bag down on the floor beside the display. She then rested her arms on top of the glass walls of the corral and watched the baby parakeets hop this way and that as they perched on their small little play-structures made of wood. If there was only one thing that was a comfort to her in this strange and terrifying place, it was the animals. They reminded her of her own home and shelter. She worried about her own animals and pets constantly, but at least in this shop she felt like she was doing something helpful for now. No matter where she was and how lost she was, she couldn’t just leave the poor, defenseless animals hungry and uncared for! Oh no, that just wouldn’t do…
Perhaps she would take them all back home with her once she found it again.

“Ok, now let’s settle down, cuties. Why don’t you eat your yummy birdseed? It will help you grow big and strong and-” Fluttershy’s soft tone was cut off when she heard someone call out from beside her. She looked startled and glanced up slowly, her blue eyes widened slightly with nervousness. She never did like being the center of attention around ponies, and humans weren't any different.

“Oh, Umm, no… I haven’t seen any owls here.” She whispered in a very quiet, muffled voice as she diverted her gaze back down to the chirping birds and hoped to avoid a conversation. 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Demure, pretty, pink haired, and looking startled just by a question? Boy, was Twilight really having flashbacks. The unicorn girl blinked again, her mind barely processing the actual answer to the question. There hadn't been any instant recognition on the other girl's part. Sure, Rainbow had been able to notice Twilight immediately, but that was Rainbow. Plus, this wouldn't be the first time that Twilight had suffered through a case of mistaken identity, though Elizabeta had forgiven her for the misidentification. Being identified as a princess probably helped.

"No owls?" repeated Twilight. She nodded, then looked about the shop for a few seconds. "Well, that's probably a good thing. Owls would just make me homesick," she stared at the bird cages, unknowingly looking at the very same batch that Fluttershy had been feeding moments before. The birds here were perhaps the closest match to anything from Equestria, though they did seem less colorful and, well, attitude-filled. Twilight looked over at the pink-haired girl again, raking her eyes over her.

"Sorry," she said, offering a smile, "it's just that you look, well, look and act like a friend of mine. You know how it is: you get here and you start seeing your friends all over the place. I thought my assistant was a punk kid. Of course, my roommate turned out to be somepon--somebody? She was a pony, so I guess calling her somepony is okay," Twilight shrugged, then looked at the cages. "Is there anything particular neat to look at?" she asked, turning back to Fluttershy. Might as well see if there was something else to see here. Plus Twilight couldn't quite shake the feeling that this girl knew a lot about the animals here.

[Deleted]

Fluttershy cast an uncertain glance up at the strange purple-haired girl. The part of her light pink curtain of a mane had fallen a bit over the corner of her eyes again, but as usual she didn’t brush it away. It was just another thing to hide her from the strangers around her and partially cover up the self-consciousness written on her expression. She had willed that the stranger would have lost attention and walked away to speak to someone else, but at least she didn’t sound mean and was interested in the critters here. “No-no, no owls… I’m sorry,” the girl replied slowly. So there were owls where she lived too? Fluttershy wondered if it was far from Ponyville, but couldn’t be sure. Fluttershy thought that there might be different kinds of owls all over Equestria, and who knew where they were at right now? She had never even heard of this place mentioned before.

“Oh no, I’m afraid that I don’t know how it is! I-I don’t even know where my friends are…” Fluttershy breathed at first in reply and then stared down at her shoes miserably. If she thought about it too much, she might just run away and start crying. Why couldn’t she have just stayed home to avoid getting herself lost and in this mess? She certainly wouldn’t have run into the monster if she had stayed inside in her nice, cozy tree house. Oh, what was she going to do?!

Her blue eyes flashed attentively back onto the girl’s face after she heard the mention of a pony. “Another pony? Really? Do- do you know who it is? If you know, could you please tell me? I mean, if that's ok…” She had never thought that there might be more ponies here that were also turned into strange monsters like her. That monster must’ve attacked them too! How many more ponies had he come across and used his curse on? She bit her lip fearfully as she tried to imagine. If he had caught her, then maybe he had attacked all of Ponyville as well!

[Twilight Sparkle]

"I'm sorry," admitted Twilight, smiling slightly sadly and slightly apologetically. Strange, but she felt like she'd just kicked this girl's puppy or something. In fact, the more she talked, the more this conversation seemed somewhat familiar, what with the girl lowering her head and letting her pink hair curtain her face, nearly mumbling the words and such. Twilight frowned, craning her neck to try and see if there was a name tag to check out. Just when she'd started to, Fluttershy's head snapped up, causing Twilight to take a step back.

"Of course I know who it is: she's my roommate after all. Well, actually, we used to be friends back when we were in Ponyville. PFFs, actually, and actually there were about six of us that all lived together in Ponyville. Oh, right, her name is Rainbow Dash," said Twilight, turning to smile at Fluttershy, nodding. "And I'm Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you. Uh, I don't think I caught your name?"

But with the shy act, with working at a pet store, with pink hair, with knowing another pony, could it really be anyone but who Twilight suspected? She just didn't want to get her hopes up; that just hadn't worked out too well. Evidence, she needed more evidence. Surely her and Rainbow's name would be enough to jog something, that is, if this actually was Fluttershy...

[Deleted]

Fluttershy listened with widened eyes and she sort of gasped in excitement at the mention of PFFs, Ponyville, and Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash is here?” She repeated, no longer looking as nervous and upset as she had before. So she wasn’t alone here after all! Rainbow Dash was here as well, and so maybe her other friends weren’t far away. Oh, she would feel so much better if she could find them all-

“…Twilight? Twilight! It's me, Fluttershy!” Fluttershy exclaimed in her still quiet tone and then softly threw her arms around her friend. “Oh Twilight! I left to get Angel some food and the sky started spinning and then I thought you were all gone… and… and I was lost! And then this scary black suit monster turned me into another monster and-and… and there are so many strange monsters here!” She quietly rushed, “I’m glad you both are safe. I thought the monster might have attacked Ponyville! …Oh, I was so worried about you all.” She nodded and then stepped back to generously give her friend some space. She never really hugged anyone aside from her friends, but that was different. She didn’t feel as shy and uncertain around them as she did strangers.

“Are you here looking for Owlicious?” Fluttershy asked with a slight tilt of her head, now understanding the mention of owls. It would make sense now that her friend was looking for their pets, or maybe a pet that reminded her of one. Fluttershy understood that very well, as her longing for the many critters she had left in her tree home had led her to become a worker at this store. It was a routine that was at least somewhat like her one in Ponyville.

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight had already started nodding at the mention of Rainbow Dash, which confirmed her suspicions. Though Fluttershy did that herself moments later, what with the exclamations and the hugs. Twilight couldn't help but hug back, feeling her own joy soaring. First Rainbow, now Fluttershy! That was half of them here already, and it was quite likely that Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack would be on their way soon enough, maybe even Spike or, better yet, Princess Celestia herself.

Twilight tried to talk during the hug, only to find that Fluttershy had let her excitement get the better of her. Knowing better than to interrupt her shy friend, Twilight patiently waited out the storm, nodding and smiling. It sounded very similar to, well, nearly every Victim of Reality Displacement, though very definitely akin to the two ponies' previous experiences. It was also quite nice to know that her friends had been worrying about her back in Ponyville, though Twilight hadn't expected anything less from them.

"They're not actually monsters, Fluttershy," the unicorn girl couldn't help but say, her voice already sliding straight into lecture, "they're called humans, and we're them now. In fact, everyone here is a human, even if you used to be something else. Even Spike would become a human if he were pulled here. Probably. I mean, he could be turned into a dog or something, but that would just be silly, wouldn't it?'

Speaking of dogs. Twilight blushed and looked around the shop for a bit. Now that Fluttershy knew who she was, Twilight's motives had become a lot more apparent. She was very tempted to just go straight back to lecturing, which would be a lot more comfortable, but Twilight had long since learned that telling her friends was the best way to go: "Well, yes, sort of. If Owlicious had come here, he's probably a person now. I was hoping to, you know, see an owl or something, maybe talk to him a bit," Twilight couldn't help but lower her eyes for a moment, a glimmer of sadness entering them. "I have been here a few months now..."

[Deleted]

“Humans?” Fluttershy repeated the odd word with a slight tilt of her head. Well, whatever they were called, she had never seen anything like them before; upright creatures with dull pelts and monkey-like faces, who were seemingly hairless aside from their manes. Maybe she could believe Twilight about them not being monsters though. If anyone knew about these things, there was no doubt in her mind that Twilight would. That of course didn’t stop Fluttershy from feeling particularly nervous here. Maybe even more so considering that the humans were all strangers to her and not the somewhat familiar faces of the ponies in Ponyville. At least Twilight hadn’t seemed to change at all in personality, despite her new appearance.

“Oh, I hope Spike doesn’t get turned into a dog. He is so much better and cuter as a baby dragon.” Fluttershy commented quietly with a slight shake of her head. Thinking about the humans being other creatures made her head hurt a little. So not all the monsters- uh, humans… were humans? That meant they were all ponies then, right? Or animals maybe. Ponies and animals under some sort of magic spell or curse.
It made her wonder if Angel was a human now. No, that would very silly, and it was also silly to her to think that Owlicious might be one as well. How would Fluttershy be able to take care of all of the critters from Ponyville if they were now all humans? She blinked and tried to shake the confusing thoughts out of her mind. She couldn’t imagine any of the cute furry critters she loved walking around as humans like themselves. Everything was so upside down now from what it should be.

“What? Oh, but Twilight, that is an awfully long time!” Fluttershy blinked in surprise and shock. It would have been a bit confusing to her as well if she had been keeping track of the time, since Fluttershy herself hadn’t been here for a half of a month let alone a full month yet. It felt a lot longer to her than reality though, with her being lost and alone, and so the detail seemingly passed right over her for the moment.

“Oh Twilight, I wish I had known you were a human sooner! Maybe I could have found you before this.” She looked sadly down at the pet corrals and cages beside them. “But- I’m sure we’ll find Owlicious soon. I can help look for him. I’ll do my best to look everywhere and keep my eye out for owls… or owl humans.” She nodded slowly.

[Twilight Sparkle]

"Human, homo sapiens, they seem to be the dominate species on this planet, for some reason. I think it has to do with their being more intelligent than pretty well everything else here. They seem to be closest to trolls, only smaller, less hairy, and smarter, well, for the most part," again, Twilight had found herself sliding into lecture/scholar mode. In this case though, Twilight figured that Fluttershy would probably appreciate it. She was usually the one to get excited about new animals and the like, though it was rather hard to say whether or not humans really counted.

It was hard to say if Spike really counted, for that matter. Twilight definitely agreed with Fluttershy, so she simply nodded, not wanting to think about her assistant and friend any longer. He was safe back in Ponyville, likely taking care of Owlicious (or vice versa) and worrying about Twilight. That last was not something the unicorn girl wanted to consider.

Nor did she really want to focus on how long she'd been here. She offered Fluttershy an encouraging smile anyway, shrugging. "It's not that bad. I've gotten used to a lot of it, and it seems like some of my magic is starting to come back. See?" she held out her hand, and a bit of purple energy surrounded a chew toy, lifting it from its location and bringing it to Twilight's hand, she held it, smiling. She'd gotten quite a bit of practice at this lately, and she was definitely improving. Pretty sure she wouldn't even have to gesture much. "So don't worry about it, Fluttershy. I'm pretty sure I was the first one here. Rainbow got here about a month or so ago, and now you. Wow, that's three of us already. I wonder if Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity are here somewhere too? we should try to keep our eyes peeled for them. Who knows where they are?"

Plus, if they showed up, that meant that Twilight might be able to activate the Elements of Harmony. if they could draw on the powers of the mystical artifact, it might be just what Twilight needed to get them all home. Not just her friends, but everyone here. The Elements were, after all, Equestria's trump card. Twilight was so wrapped up in the idea that she nearly missed Fluttershy's comment about Owlicious. Nearly: she still caught it enough to shake her head.

"Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. It seems that pets and such don't have quite as high a Displacement Tendency as the rest of it. It may have something to do with their slightly lower intelligence or their less than direct contact with various---" Twilight trailed off, blushed, and lowered her hand, which had risen to use the chewtoy as a pointer. 'They don't Shift as often," she finished, looking down at her feet.

[Deleted]

“A less hairy troll?” Fluttershy repeated. She curiously glanced over at the entrance to the store, where she could see people passing by the window. She guessed that they all did look a little bit like trolls when you thought about it and looked closely enough. She had known about trolls in Ponyville, and so the familiarity comforted her and allowed her to relax a bit. Maybe they weren’t monsters like she had thought at all. In fact, they could be just like the Manticore she had faced and other large beats; frightening to most, but rather misunderstood. They could be different and kind once a pony listened and got to know them. She guessed that it would be ok then that they were all turned into humans. It was still strange and not something she thought she could get used to, but it didn’t scare her as much as when she discovered her new form. She was outwardly glad that Twilight knew so much about the humans; though she knew that Twilight was knowledgeable about a great many things that she herself did not know.

The pink-haired girl watched with round eyes as her friend levitated an object. She couldn’t help but smile a little as she watched it move successfully. At least Twilight’s magic hadn’t been stopped, and if that could come back, then maybe that meant that all of this wasn’t so permanent as it seemed? “Oh, I’m glad! I’m sure it will be back to normal in no time. If anyone knows about magic, it’s you Twilight.” Fluttershy commented quietly and nodded.

“I hope they are here as well; I’ve missed everyone so very much.” She scrunched up her face a little as she thought back to some of the people she had already briefly seen, though she always tried to avoid making eye contact with strangers. She didn’t think she had seen anyone else who she thought she even remotely recognized. “I don’t think I’ve seen any of them here in the pet store… but, I didn’t know everypony was a human until now,” She glanced apologetically up at Twilight and hung her head slightly. She hoped they hadn’t walked right in and she had missed them entirely!

A frown appeared on her face as she thought about Owlicious and the missing pets. She hoped that they would find them soon, but she didn’t know where they would be or if they had been affected by the curse. “Twilight, if you ever need someone to talk to, I have lots of animals here. I’m sure we’ll find Owlicious soon, but if you want to, you can always stop by here and see the pets if you feel lonely. Sometimes I talk to the parakeets and birds here, and they seem pretty nice. They are a lot like the critters at home.” The girl reached down to pick up one of the baby parakeets and very softly stroked its feathers on its head before lightly setting it back down again to let it play with the others. She thought that Twilight must miss Owlicious, much like how Fluttershy really missed Angel and all of her pets at home. Though it didn’t replace the loss, talking to the animals had helped Fluttershy feel a bit better about being in a strange place, so maybe it could also help her friend?

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight offered a smile that was a good bit more confident than she usually gave at moments like this. Fluttershy believed in her, which made sense; Fluttershy always believed in her. If nothing else, Twilight would have the support of her Ponyville friends. Actually, she had more support than that, seeing as Henry and the rest of the CAUS were just as eager and anxious to get out of here as she was. Twilight couldn't wait to get them together and hash over what was happening to them; there was almost too much to consider.

"I know Rainbow's here," confirmed Twilight, nodding confidently, "but there could be others too. We just need to keep an eye out. If all of us get here, we might be able to use the Elements of Harmony, and if we can get to those we might be able to open a portal, or possibly get my magic back to full." Either of which should get them very close to getting home. Twilight was quite confident that with enough juice within her, she'd be able to do something. At the very least, she wanted to try the spell at the end of her book. Maybe she'd be able to help people regain a bit of their old selves. There were so many with memory loss, or those like Rainbow who had lost a piece of themselves in the Displacement. What if Twilight could help them?

Speaking of help, Fluttershy certainly had several good suggestions. Twilight felt herself blushing, "I, uh, actually don't have that much time. Yes, I'm here now, but I technically work as a greeter and helper at the Estate proper, and that keeps me busy. Plus I started a group, CAUS, characters against unwanted shifting, and we've been working together to try and get us home..." Twilight chewed her lip as Fluttershy picked up a baby bird. As expected, Fluttershy hadn't lost her knack with animals. Just as Rainbow hadn't lost her competitive nature and athleticism nor Twilight her intelligence or leadership, so had Fluttershy kept her kindness and tenderness. "Uh, maybe if there's some animals that could use some attention? I do sort of feel like hugging something about now..."

[Deleted]

Fluttershy listened quietly as she leaned against the corral and nodded slightly. “I’m glad Rainbow Dash is here! If she is here, and you are here, well then I think you are right, Twilight; Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie must be close by.” She wished that meant her home was as well. Oh, how she would love to get back to it!

Her eyes brightened a little with hope when Twilight had mentioned her plan. “Oh, I had nearly forgotten about the Elements of Harmony! Do you think they will really turn everything back to normal again?” She didn’t see why not. They had defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord with them before, while also setting Ponyville back to reality. Wouldn’t this be kind of a similar situation?

“Oh, it does sound like you are very busy… I understand. I didn’t mean to be a bother, I’ll try not to distract you,” Fluttershy nodded in her usual apologetic manner. Of course her friend would be busy taking care of things; Twilight was often busy on her studies. It only made sense that she was very busy now while also trying to help them with her magic. The pink haired girl did, however, perk up at the mention of animals needing attention. “Oh yes! There are many animals here that could use some attention- I’ll go get some!” She headed over to the back corner of the shop and opened some cages, letting out several different creatures and scooping a few in her arms. One was a fluffy brown and white rabbit, who may have reminded her of Angel if he wasn’t just so lazy and thick-furred. There was also a black puppy with floppy ears and bright almond eyes, which bounced along the girl’s side with his tongue lolling out when she set him on the floor of the shop. Last but not least was a large green Macaw parrot. She thought that he had looked a little lonely in his cage and hadn’t seemed very cheerful as of late, and with Twilight loving birds, it was worth getting him out as well.

“Here we are. This is Mr. Rabbirto. He is very nice and likes to take naps a lot. Sometimes I think he sleeps so much that he misses out on all of the attention, but he is a real friend and he is very good at listening at keeping secrets. And this puppy is Lil’ Bow Wow; he is very friendly and really likes to play games, and he knows a lot of them. He is also really good at cheering me up when I feel down. This parrot here is Sir Squawks II. He’s seemed kind of lonely lately, but I think he just likes having somepony to talk to.” Fluttershy smiled softly as she held the rabbit and the parrot closer to Twilight, while Lil’ Bow Wow bounded over to her feet.

[Twilight Sparkle]

Three of the six of them, and Fluttershy seemed to think that the others might be right around the corner as well. It made sense, it made all kinds of sense. Twilight just needed to gather all her friends together, find some way of pulling the elements from their essences again, and then use those same elements to send everyone home. She was already nodding vigorously, agreeing with Fluttershy's assessment and smiling at the thought of it. A solution! They actually had a solution! Okay, it might take some work, but it was something. Progress, it was progress.

Speaking of progress, there seemed to be some on the whole finding and dealing with animals front. It wasn't surprising to Twilight to hear that Fluttershy had some on hand to let her work with. Figuring that this was precisely what she needed, Twilight followed. Just a few minutes with an animal, focusing on something easy, was just what Twilight needed. At any rate, it couldn't be any worse than the last time that she'd tried to relax herself. She'd at least gotten a stuffed toy out of it.

Soon Twilight found herself meeting several animals, and soon she found a familiar, forced friendly smile crossing her face. Rabbirto? Lil Bow Wow? Sir Squawks? Wait a moment: "Why Sir Squawks the second?" asked Twilight. She eyed the parrot with some trepidation. Twilight was pretty sure that Fluttershy thought she liked birds, what with their first meeting essentially being about birds and Twilight often asking Fluttershy for advice regarding Owlicious. But those were rather specific instances, and Owlicious was an exception, really. The parrot made Twilight nervous, especially because she knew full well that they repeated things. Something about an animal that talked felt... odd.

"You don't suppose all the parrots are Shifted too?" wondered Twilight. She didn't move closer to the bird, but at least her gaze had altered from "wary" to "speculative." "I mean, they talk and such, which is definitely not normal here," of course, it wasn't that normal back home. Though cows talked, and buffalo, and lots of other things...

[Deleted]

Fluttershy had looked hopeful as she had held up the animals. Being the critter lover that she was, she was almost contemplating running back to get a few more (as in probably half of the shop) to greet Twilight, but paused when she noticed Twilight’s expression change slightly. Whatever could it be? Sir Squawks II was very harmless. Oh dear… had she scared her friend? Oh- she knew that she shouldn’t have brought out so many animals! She sometimes forgot that not everyone enjoyed seeing so many fuzzy and feathery faces at one time. How thoughtless! Yes, she was about to take the parrot back and repeatedly apologize to her friend for something she just nervously jumped to assume, when the question startled her.

Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to stare at the parrot, her blue gaze having widened slightly in alarm. “A Shifted…?” Was that really true? Were all her animals Shifteds…?! No, no, what was she thinking; she knew they were all just cute little critters. If they weren’t, she surely would know, wouldn’t she? Some of them were strange and they did behave a bit different than the critters at home, but they weren’t so strange that Fluttershy questioned whether or not they were a critter.
Still, the idea of Sir Squawks II being somepony was enough to freak her out a little.

“But- as far as I know, Sir Squawks has only said “Hello” and “Pretty bird” in words.” Fluttershy stroked the parrot’s feathers slowly, eyeing him closely. “He acts like other birds I know, kind of. He’s not so good at singing though.” That was one ear-shattering music lesson, she recalled. The squawks were enough to drive anypony away, though Fluttershy thought that maybe he just needed some more singing lessons to help.

[Twilight Sparkle]

"Right, Shifted, or VRD's, victims of reality displacement. That's us," said Twilight, nodding. She already looked just a little more cheerful at being able to explain and define something. Clearly that was something she was altogether too comfortable in doing. And she knew she needed to try and show at least some comfort now, extending her arm toward the bird and gesturing to try and get him to perch there. The bird obviously was as big a fan of Twilight as she was of him: there was no movement at Twilight's urging. She kept the arm up as she continued though, just in case.

"Well, I guess he doesn't necessarily have to be a Shifted," admitted Twilight. She eyed the bird skeptically, clearly half expecting him to begin talking at any moment. She really wanted to test his vocabulary to its fullest extent. It wasn't that Twilight doubted Fluttershy... she just wanted to test pretty well everything she encountered. "Actually, there are some people here that used to be animals. It seems that when you're displaced, you take on this form," she gestured toward her body. "And it doesn't matter what you were before. I've met people who used to be humans, some that were pets of some kind, and one kid that I think used to be some kind of monster or demon or something."

Twilight didn't want to think much about that last one. The last thing they needed was to find out that a Shifted was secretly some kind of being bent on pure evil. She waved her arm again, but the bird seemed to be purposefully ignoring her now. Probably thought it was funny tormenting Twilight. Stupid bird.