How Lovely! (Commission)

It was a cool, mild and overcast day in a urbanized city of New York. The city was packed full of taxi cabs trying to cut through the traffic. Overlooking this sight was a sixteen year old girl named Lindsey White. She wore nice modern clothing, including some furry boots with dangling furballs on the ends of her shoelaces. She had vast amount of creativity and imagination in making characters, which she drew on a huge sketchbook.

She concentrated on the character that she loved the most: Lovigou, one of the creatures she used to draw a lot when she was young. The being was large and furry, with rabbit-like ears that flopped down over the back of her head. Its body was speckled with heart-shaped marks, and was plump, but with fur, not fat. A long, thick tail lay curled over the beast's hindpaws. Two strong teeth protruded from a smiling, fuzzy muzzle. Despite the monster's arguably fearsome appearance, Lindsey had designed it to be kind and caring soul.

She looked at the drawing for a couple of minutes with a sad sigh. She wanted to become this thing, but there would be no possibility in doing so unless something magical happened...

She took a cookie out of a flowery jar, taking no notice of the cookie's strange appearance. She nibbled at it delicately. It was then that she was about to say something...magical.

"Life here...it's doable, but so...uninteresting. I wish I could have another life, in another place..."

Plip. An odd, almost watery sound came from behind her. "Hm?"

She turned, and saw probably the strangest thing she'd ever seen.
Her painting...it was melting. Splotches of color were sliding off the canvas and dripping to the floor. The Lovigou's face was distorting, twisting as it was pulled downward.

"No!" Lindsey ran forward. "Lovigou!" She stopped at the edge of the puddle, a puddle that had once been her most precious drawing. "No... How did..."

Lindsey fell to her knees, holding her head. "This...it isn't possible!" Little did she know, things were about to get a lot more impossible.

Her knees were just barely touching the paint. Slowly, it began to creep onto her skin, tickling her very faintly.

She glanced down, confused by the prickling feeling now emanating from her legs. It almost felt like...

Slowly but surely, long hairs began to poke their way through her skin. They were thin and soft, colored a bright, rosy pink.

Lindsey gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. That looked like Lovigou's fur!

Said fur traveled down, going into her shoes, which quickly began to rip. Her feet twisted, contorting somehow painlessly into paws, and her nails sharpened.

Meanwhile, the fur was also traveling up as her legs thickened and tore through her jeans. Fur now served to shield her, and it kept traveling up, up...

Her shirt exploded as her body gained strength and luxurious purple fur.  A single red heart marking in the center provided a lovely artistic contrast.

"Just as I designed her!" Lindsey purred, filling up with pride.

The last of her clothes tore, music to Lindsey's growing ears. A mane began to extend from her neck, glorious, puffy fur, the same color as her chest. The fur sprouted on her arms, too, speckled with red hearts. It grew pink on her hands and her face, the latter pushing out into a stubby snout.

Lindsey glanced to her kitchen mirror, watching her face twist and morph. It would have been hideous if it were painful. Her nose shrank and hardened into a little pink shape, a whole new range of scents revealing themselves to her. Whiskers sprouted and her teeth faded away, providing more matter for two strong ones at the front. Her blonde hair was rapidly shortening and turning purple, spreading onto her now fully-formed ears.

There was only one change left, and Lindsey knew what to expect. Excited, she looked over her shoulder to watch as a long tail snaked its way out from her spine. Her back became just barely hunched as her new limb coated itself in pink-purple striped fur. She waved it experimentally as the last of the paint puddle disappeared.

Giggling, she pulled off the rest of her shredded sweater. Now, she had to see herself! She ran into her restroom, closing the door.

Purring deeply, she looked herself over in the mirror. Everything about her portrayed lovely, huggable, artistic perfection.

But as she looked herself over, she felt something was missing. Was it her tail? No, she had that... Teeth? She had those too... Oh!

She looked again at the mirror. I know what's missing! She tried viewing the mirror as a painting. The background isn't right at all! A creature like this should be in a forest, or burrowing some--

BURROWING!

It was like flipping the on switch for Lindsey's new instincts. She wanted nothing more than to sink her paws into loose, rich earth, flinging it up as she dug her way into the soil.

Lindsey whimpered a little. It was only natural for a being like herself to burrow! She had to get going if she wanted a new home by winter! But there was an issue...

"Hm..." Lindsey wondered thoughtfully. "Now, where could I dig in New York City without being spotted..?"