It was a warm and sunny morning in Ponyville. Birds were singing, squirrels frolicked playfully among the trees, and a gentle breeze danced through the daisies. Fluttershy was humming to herself as she flew all around her little homestead, feeding each of her animal friends a nutritious breakfast. Most received generous helpings of seeds and berries from her saddlebags, while some were given fresh fish. She tried her best not to scold the more ornery critters too much as they jostled for the tastiest morsels from their respective bowls. All in all, it was a calm, ordinary day for her, which were exactly the type that Fluttershy liked the most.
That is, until a bright, blue light flashed behind her out of nowhere. She screamed, though you couldn't tell from the volume. If you blinked, you would have missed her dash back to her house in order to hide behind the door.
Cautiously, she raised her head high enough to peek through the small window. She could see that all the bird and the bees, plus the bear, were gazing curiously at a new arrival, who was standing at the edge of the garden. Much to her continued surprise, Fluttershy did not recognize the two-toned animal that was now beginning to paw at her flowers. Curiosity overcame fear, and she slowly opened the door, trotting slowly towards the new creature. Still, she kept her head down at an angle, her mane partially obscuring her vision.
The other animals didn't seem to worried about the situation as she approached her new guest; they had already returned to eating. Soon, she was standing next to it. Slowly, she lifted her head.
What she beheld was perhaps the most adorable thing she had seen in her entire life. The animal had the body of a cat, but with bright, sky blue fur, a pudgy physique, stumpy little legs, and a bright red ladybug shell.
Unable to contain herself, she squee'd in delight as she dove for the thing, nuzzling its belly with her cheek. "Oh, Princess Celestia! You. Are. So. CUTE!"
The strange beetle-cat turned to look at her, displaying a quizzical expression with it's beady, white eyes. "A talking horsey?"
Fluttershy gasped. Not only could he talk, but he had the most indescribably adorable voice! It was like a young colt's, high pitched. She found the way he slurred his 'R's and 'L's such that they almost sounded like 'W's to be especially endearing.
She put him down and stepped back a bit. "You can talk?" she asked, double-checking that her way with animals hadn't just spontaneously evolved in functionality somehow.
He giggled, standing up on his hind legs. "Yeah! But, how can you talk? Only Beth's horse does that, and he has, like, mind powers now, or something." He glanced towards the cottage, blinking a few times. "Also, where am I? This place seems way different than the See-Through Zone."
"Well, I don't know about any of that, but this is Ponyville. It's a great place, with many wonderful ponies."
"That sounds nice! You seem nice too! I'm Catbug! What's your name?"
She smiled ear-to-ear. "My name is Fluttershy." She was now officially smitten by Catbug's charms at this point. "I take care of the woodland animals here. Why don't you come inside so I can get you something to eat."
He jumped and raised his arms. "O-kay!"
After the pegasus led Catbug inside, he started scampering around, smiling and giggling as he looked over every nook and cranny of the room. The small birds chirped at him from their perches, and mice peeked out from their little homes along the walls to see what all the fuss was about. Catbug had settled next to a scratching post, and began clawing at its surface with mock ferocity.
"I can see you're having fun. What would you like to eat, Catbug?"
He stopped playing and turned to answer. "I like soft tacos!"
Oh no, Fluttershy thought. She had never heard of 'soft tacos' before. She really didn't want to disappoint him. "Umm... I'm sorry, but I don't have soft tacos right now..."
"It's ok, I can get my own food!" He then proceeded to turn to the nearest mouse. Hissing aggressively, he arched his back and pounced at the critter, who's eyes could be seen widening with shock as Catbug sailed through the air.
She just barely managed to intercept him in time, blocking the strike with her hooves. "What are you thinking, Catbug?! These animals are our friends, and we do not eat our friends!" The rodent nodded frantically and rushed back into it's mouse-hole.
Catbug's face sank. "But why not?"
When pouting, he somehow looked even cuter. Fluttershy had to maintain an utmost level of focus just to stay mad at him. "Why not? Because eating your friends is not a nice thing to do!"
Now he looked confused. "But I saw some otters eating fish outside just now. How come that's ok?"
Fluttershy had not expected this. Most ponies didn't ever seem to question that aspect of her caretaking, let alone notice. "Oh... umm... well," she stammered, shrinking in on herself with each word. Catbug eyed her expectantly. She took a deep breath. "So, the thing is... fish are pretty stupid. And not very sociable either, I've tried conversing with them many times. I don't really mind if any get eaten. It's still not very kind to them, but that's just the way life is for carnivores."
"I get it!" he replied, gleefully. "Let's go catch some!" With that, he was already running outside towards the creek.
Appreciating his accepting, youthful nature, Fluttershy smiled to herself as she cantered over to the closet to obtain her fishing supplies. But just as she was about to pass through the threshold, she was stopped by a familiar white face.
Angel Bunny was standing in the door, with a scowl on his face. He gestured to Catbug, who was already splashing around in the river, and stamped his foot angrily.
"Oh, Angel, there's no need to be jealous of Catbug," she said, stroking his chin, "I love all my friends, and no one could ever replace you, sweetie." His expression softened a bit as Fluttershy moved past him.
Outside, Catbug was laughing to himself as he tried to snag a swimming morsel, only to miss repeatedly. He waded up her as she approached, dripping clear water onto the grass.
He started bobbing up and down as he watched her pull a decently sized wooden net out of her saddlebag. "What's that?"
"It's a net, for catching fish."
"How does it work?" He shuffled forward, and poked at the webbing. "Looks kinda flimsy."
"It's supposed to be flexible, so the fish get trapped inside. Then, you can scoop them out of the water."
"And they fall for that?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"Wow, fish really are dumb! I should let Danny know, then he won't have to use that big zapping thingie to catch them anymore!"
She declined to press for further details, afraid to hear a more accurate working description of the 'thingie' in question. So, she simply smiled and set out to nab something for Catbug to eat. A few practiced scoops later, she had obtained a flopping grey morsel.
She passed him the fish, and he gulped it down after chewing thoroughly. "Yum!" he exclaimed, rubbing his tummy. "Thanks, Fluttershy!"
"You're very welcome, Catbug," she replied, giggling with a hoof to her mouth.
Suddenly, Angel rocketed through the air, dropkicking him in the face. "Hey!" Catbug exclaimed, looking around at the other animals as Angel landed, just minding their own business. "Who throws bunnies at people?"
Fluttershy flew over and pointed at the offending mammal. "Angel! What was I just telling you earlier? Catbug is simply one more friend among many! You'll always be my number one pet, but that doesn't mean you can bully the others!" Out of patience, she shot him a look of disapproval and shooed him back into the cottage.
She sighed, turning to Catbug, who was rubbing his nose. "I'm so sorry about that, Catbug. Angel can be a bit needy at times. Are you alright?"
"Everything is O-Kay!" he confirmed cheerfully.
Still, she felt bad for the both of them, perhaps she could keep the two apart for a while. "I know! How about we go into town? You can see all of my pony friends! I'm sure they'd love to meet you."
"Sure!"