Sunset Shimmer strolled down the street without a care in the world. Usually, her days were always very eventful. Whether it was helping Fluttershy out with the animals at the shelter, giving Applejack a hand on the farm, or playing one-on-one soccer with Rainbow Dash to help her endurance, there was always something going on in her life. Day in, day out, it was the kinda life where she barely had any time to herself, to relax, to enjoy the solace she had in-between each activity.
One day, though, she heard a commotion coming from the mall and decided to head over there to see what was going on. At first, she thought that there had been another surge of Equestrian magic and that someone else had become corrupted and twisted by its' power, but that thought quickly went out the window when she saw Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, and Lemon Zest all dressed up like cats and playing around with Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet.
Wait... Cats? This, she had to see.
"Lemon! Get out of my bags!" Sugarcoat tried to take the bag off of her, but Lemon just hissed and make a quick swipe at Sugarcoat, gliding her squishy claws over her arm. "You're not a cat and she's just being weird! Snap out of it!"
Sunset hid herself behind a light pole and watched the mischief unfurl as Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap, and Sunny Flare played with Sugarcoat and Sour's shopping, eating sushi off of the ground and playing around with balls of yarn, letting out their best cat impressions and walking on all fours, just like a cat would.
"Is this some kind of new trend?" Sunset asked herself as she watched the three cat-dressed teens pin Sugarcoat down and brush themselves against her body. "Like a prank or something?" Either way, she took her phone out and started recording the rest, watching as Sour Sweet scrambled and panicked to pull Sugarcoat out of the cat-girl pile and watch the two of them run away. "Well, whatever it is, those three seem to be having fun with it."
As Sunset watched the three cat-girls get back on their feet and laugh their butts off, she finally stopped recording, slipping the phone back into her pocket as she walked into the mall. Whatever was going on in Sunny, Lemon, and Indigo's minds, I may never know.
She went into the shops and played back the video, watching closely as the three cat-dressed CPA students were messing around with Sugar and Sour. Sunset played it on repeat, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from it and nearly ended up falling into the fountain in the mall because of it. She even debated showing it off to her friends, but wasn't quite sure on how they would react. Would they like it? Would they find it weird? Either way, she had found her interesting thing for the day; even if it wasn't what she was expecting.
"Sunset!" Twilight came over, giving Sunset a wave.
"Oh. Hey, Twilight." Sunset waved back and put a hand on her shoulder. "Do anything interesting today?"
"Well... not really, no." Twilight shook her head. "Unless you count university-level science as interesting, that is. All those equations, formulas, re-working, changing what we know about elements, it's all interesting to me. Maybe not so much for you and the others; especially not Rainbow Dash."
"You never know." Sunset shrugged and rubbed Twilight's cheek. "Science can be pretty fun at times, provided it's the right kind of experiment."
"So, what's new with you?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing much, really. Just saw a prank going on outside." Sunset shrugged, hiding the details. "Couple of teens messing around with people."
"Practical jokes or mean-spirited pranks?" Twilight's brows lowered slightly. "I've never liked the latter. But if it's one of those old, comical ones with cream pies, rake-stepping, and other stuff, then that's fine." All she got was silence and a quick stare from Sunset. "What? I'm allowed to like the old stuff. Don't look at me like that, Sunset."
"I never said you weren't allowed to not like them." Sunset lifted a brow. "I never really took you for a jokester, Twilight."
"Oh, it was just one of the things I used to do when me and Shining Armour were left home alone. Mom and Dad went on a lot of trips when I was a kid, y'see, so I tried to play some jokes on him to pass the time." She blushed slightly and twiddled her fingers. "Personally, you should've seen his face when I poured shaving gel on his hand while he was sleeping and tickled his nose. It was priceless!" A little chuckle slithered out of Twilight's lips and teeth.
"I bet." Sunset nodded, thinking back to her days as a kid. "Man. I wish I could have that kind of fun. Just going around, playing a joke on people. Nowadays, pranks are all about getting a high view count on the internet or playing a cruel trick on somebody..."
"Yeah..." Twilight sighed as she walked on ahead with Sunset. "Anyway. You wanna head to the frozen-yogurt stand? I hear they've got some great new flavors today."
"Y'know what? Sure." Sunset nodded and held Twilight's hand. "I could use a little more fun in my life." And without another word, the two of them went off towards the deeper parts of the mall, to where their creamy prize awaited them.
Later that very same evening, Sunset Shimmer was in her apartment, the only light visible being from that of the moon and the string of lights leading up to her bed on the mezzanine. All of her other electronics were off, save from the phone she clutched gently in the palm of her hand.
Since she had gotten back, she had been watching the video she had recorded of Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, and Indigo Zap non-stop, with Twilight's words also rattling around in her head. The more that she watched and re-watched the video, the more she began to think deeper about the whole thing. Maybe it was a prank done by the three girls to mess with Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet, but it wasn't entirely harmful or negative for any of them. The way that the cat-girl Crystal Preppers laughed their butts off as the clip ended was what was swaying her more.
"Hmm..." Sunset had never really been influenced by a video or activity in real-life before, but this might have been the first one that swayed her over. Everything seemed to be good, clean fun for everyone. "I don't really know the whole thing, but that... kinda looks like fun." She slumped back into her bed, went away from the video, and idly opened the messages app on her phone, tapping on Pinkie Pie's avatar.
Sighing to herself, Sunset Shimmer began to type.
Hey, Pinkie?
I saw this video today and... well, I'm not really all that sure about it. The joke is pretty random, but I figured that you might like it. Here. Have a look.
Sunset added the video to her message, putting it on the feed for both sides to see. She played it one more time, thinking that Pinkie was watching it together with her. She had even tried envisioning her laughing, smiling, or even slightly giggling at the nonsensical shenanigans, but only silence accompanied the video once it had ended.
Almost immediately after it had ended, Sunset began receiving a response, as evidenced by the ellipse in the box that appeared underneath the video. It stayed there for a while before a little message in a pink box appeared in its' place.
LOL, that video was super-funny, Sunny!
Oops! I mean Sunset! Well, both of you, really. Heck, I think that you should've joined in on it, Sunset. You'd have a super-cute cat-tail, those nice, bushy ears, and maybe even a little collar with a super-duper adorable tiny bell on it. I say go for it!
After all, you can never have too much fun in your life!
Those last words hit Sunset like a shipment of bricks detaching from the crane that had been carrying them. With Twilight's words added in to Pinkie's message, a huge idea began to surface in her head. She put the phone down on the bed and climbed out of it, went down the stairs and headed out of the room.
She went around the house, gathering whatever pieces of fabric, cotton, and elastic she could find. She was moving so quickly that whole night that it she could have been mistaken for a ghost, rushing around an abandoned building trying to find some innocent souls to reap. Once her quest was finished, Sunset went into the kitchen and laid everything out underneath a dim light.
"Y'know what? It is fun." Sunset thought back to the video once again, and the sheer, unbridled joy that was on Sunny, Lemon, and Indigo's faces. "And sure, it's weird, but I've been dealing with Equestrian magic for a pretty long time now, so this is pretty normal by our standards." She started to pick up some scissors and glue as she began to work on her creation. "What is weird, though, is how I'm talking to myself in the middle of the night. C'mon, Sunset! Snap out of it!"
As Sunset worked on her masterpiece, bolts of lightning began to crash outside, illuminating the room for brief instances as she cut, stuck, and amalgamated her resources into something truly strange. With the last, bolt, though, she stopped, went over to the windows, and closed the blinds.
"Geez. That's some pretty obnoxious weather..." She muttered to herself as she went back to work.
The next morning, the sun poured into Sunset's bedroom, lighting everything up without the slightest amount of effort. The blinding light hit her eyelids, prompting her to wake up, throw her hands into the air, and let out a big, drowsy yawn as she finally put an end to the sleep demon that had been plaguing her since last night.
She considered walking down the stairs as usual, but quickly decided against it. She got onto all fours and leapt from the mezzanine, landing perfectly on the soft, springy upholstery of her bedroom couch, almost breaking it from the amount of force she had when landing. With another spring, she jumped off the couch and towards the door, waltzing off with her tail swishing gently with each step.
Sunset came down into the living room and walked up to the glass box by corner of the room. She looked into said box, which was covered in shavings, had a few rocks and tree pieces in it, and was warmed by a powerful light on the roof. The small lizard inside was relaxed as anything, but one look up at Sunset made its' eyes bulge.
"Good morning, Ray." Sunset opened the box, reached inside, and lifted the tiny lizard out. She gave it a gentle pat, stroking it gently as she held it close. "Did you sleep well?"
Ray had no idea what to make of his mistress's new look, if he had a mouth, he would have given her an honest opinion. But, alas, that was one of the downsides of being a pet. No verbal communication whatsoever unless you were a parrot. Stupid parrots. Why did they always have to be the ones that could talk while everyone else was left behind? Ray hated parrots.
Sunset chuckled. "Don't worry, silly." She pulled the ears off of her head, her hair cleverly concealing the plastic that held both ears together. "It's just me. Sunset Shimmer. I'm not some crazy cat-girl who kidnapped the real Sunset for the day."
Ray breathed a mental sigh of relief as he saw Sunset's plain face once again.
"If you're wondering what the get-up's for, I'm gonna be having a little bit of fun today." Sunset put Ray back into the box and poured some chopped pieces of vegetable into it. "Let's just say that I saw this little game yesterday and I didn't wanna feel left out. Plus, I do kinda need a little bit more excitement in my life." Once Ray began to eat, she went off to the kitchen. "Some might say that I've lost my marbles, or that I've developed some kinda strange disease or something, but in reality, I'm just dressed as a cat." She poured herself some cereal and then slipped on some yellow-furred claw gloves as she sat at the table. "Catset Shimmer! Or is it Sunset Kittens? I dunno. Maybe Pinkie can come up with something later." She playfully shrugged and began to eat, using nothing more than her mouth to get at the food.
Ray didn't even want to think about what Sunset was planning with the outfit that she had made as he continued to eat his food. As his dopey, peaced-out smile returned, he lost himself in the food, the lettuce, tomato, and pieces of celery hitting his stomach with every single nibble.
"Y'know, Ray. What do you think cat-people like to do in their spare time?" Sunset asked, pulling her head from the cereal briefly. Bits and pieces stuck to her face as she waited for an answer, but got nothing. "You think they chase mice around all day? Or go fishing and then eat the fish? Or maybe they've got some kinda super-special scratching post playground for their kittens!" Again, nothing more than silence. "Yeah, you're right. Cat-people don't exist. Not yet, at least. Actually, maybe Equestria has some cat-people in it. I should head back there sometime and find out."
Eventually—and I do mean eventually, Sunset finished eating her breakfast; still with pieces of it stuck to her face from how she refused to use her hands for any of it. She brushed those off with a paw and guzzled them up as well, obeying the three-second rule as best as she could.
"Anyways, I've gotta go, Ray. I've gotta give my friends a visit." She went back to Ray, gave him a big, goofy grin, and blew him a kiss before walking towards the door. "I'll be sure to get you something nice too. See you soon!"
Sunset finally exited her house and went off down the road. She took a few steps, then got another thought in her head. Maybe this whole cat business would be more fun if she acted like one as well, instead of dressed like one. She might as well try it. When would she ever have the chance again?
Flopping back down onto all-fours, Sunset began to gallop off, her claws and feet providing all of the momentum as she barreled down the street, ready to start her first day in cat-hood...