[A girl and her dog swap species on Christmas thanks to a magical necklace. Done as a Secret Santa story for MagicalTF! Had a ton of fun writing this :D]

Petra brushed her dark hair out of her eyes as she rang the doorbell to her babushka’s house, shivering slightly as she looked down at her pet husky, Nikhil. He gave her a curious look in response, completely unbothered by the cold and snow— making Petra enviously sigh, her breath fogging up the air as she stuffed her hands into her coat. She really should’ve waited a few more hours– her babushka was probably still asleep this early in the morning.

“You lucky furball…”

Nikhil panted as Petra muttered to herself, leaning against her calves as his tail wagged excitedly in the snow. It’d been a while since either of them had been here– work and college had swallowed up most of Petra’s time over the last couple of years.

“Petra! Come in, come in!”

The sound of her babushka’s voice jolted Petra out of her thoughts– but before she could say hello, Nikhil leapt up, shook himself off, and bolted inside, leaving a faint trail of powdery snow behind him as he rushed into the kitchen. Petra gasped, momentarily stunned, a sheepish smile crossing her face as she stepped inside a few seconds later.

“Sorry, baba. Nikhil’s a little excited, I guess.” Petra shook her head as she heard Nikhil’s claws clacking against the kitchen tiles, shrugging off her coat as her babushka shut the door behind her.

“Ahaha, don’t worry about it, zajka. It’s Christmas, let him have some fun!” Petra’s babushka grinned as Petra peeled off her gloves, bringing her into a tight hug. “How have things been?”

Petra hugged her babushka as she responded, humming softly as the warm, spiced aroma of the house comforted her. “Just the usual stuff, college, work, all that. You?”

“I can’t complain. I just finished restoring a batch of trinkets, so- Oh, that’s right! One moment…”

Petra took the opportunity to hang up her coat, shaking some feeling back into her fingers as her babushka hastily walked up the stairs, leaving her on her own. Petra stretched as she wandered into the kitchen, nudging Nikhil away from the cupboards as she filled her babushka’s tea kettle and put it on the stove to boil. She hummed as she grabbed some bread and jam– along with a few pieces of chocolate, shaking her head as Nikhil looked up and softly whined.

“Sorry, buddy. Not for you.”

Petra gave her dog a sympathetic look as she popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth, and was just about to spread some jam on the bread before being interrupted by the sound of her babushka coming back downstairs. Petra turned around as her babushka walked into the kitchen, gasping as she saw the delicate silver necklace in her hands.

“Oh my gosh, that’s beautiful! Who’s it for?” Petra exclaimed, her eyes widening as her babushka held it out to her. “Wait…”

“It’s for you! Merry Christmas!” Petra’s babushka grinned as Petra took the necklace from her, walking over and sprinkling some tea leaves into the boiling kettle as Petra carefully put on the necklace.

“Oh, wow… I don’t know what to say…” Petra said as she lightly fingered the cord of the necklace, raising an eyebrow as she felt a bizarre tingling sensation run through her chest. “Woah, wait, it’s magic? Seriously?”

“It is! I thought you might like the enchantment on it.” Petra’s babushka replied as she turned off the stove. “Go on, try it. Just imagine Nikhil in your mind.”

Petra nervously giggled as she closed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she did as she was told. “Shouldn’t you tell me what it does first?”

“And ruin the surprise?”

“Ok, ok, fair enough. Mmm…”

The tingling feeling in Petra’s chest grew stronger, spreading across her body as she thought about Nikhil. She flinched as Nikhil suddenly barked, shuddering as goosebumps raised all across her skin.

“You can open your eyes now.” Petra’s babushka nudged Petra as she sat down with her tea and bread, taking a sip as Petra opened her eyes and let out a sharp squeal of shock.

“Ah! I-I have fur!”

Petra panted as she looked down, watching the faint little hairs on her arms and hands thicken as the prickling sensation grew stronger. The pores all across her body were kicking into action, covering her in a layer of black fur that kept growing thicker and fluffier by the second. She winced as her ears started to slide up her head, her scalp tingling as her hair shortened– it merged with the rest of the fur on her body as her ears took on a triangular shape.

“Nngh, this feels weird… Woah, Nikhil! What the heck?”

Nikhil was changing as well– only instead of growing fur, he was losing it. Petra stared at Nikhil’s increasingly smooth looking body in shock– his body was starting to shift as well, his tail retreating into his backside as he grew in size. His legs were stretching, starting to differentiate into both arms and legs, while his chest widened and his shoulders drifted apart.

Petra wheezed as her neck elongated, hunching over as the fur running along her underside started to turn a creamy white, barely noticing that her clothes were fading away– she was much more concerned with how numb her face was getting.

Petra and Nikhil’s changes continued to mirror each other’s as the transformation continued, Petra’s hands and feet shifting into paws as her arms and legs adjusted themselves to fit a four-legged body. She watched Nikhil’s legs take on a humanoid look as her tailbone pushed out into a furry tail, realizing with a jolt that she couldn’t see over the countertop anymore.

Nikhil, meanwhile, was shaking his head in confusion, pawing at his snout as fingers replaced his paws, his doggy thoughts slowly being replaced by human ones. He pushed himself off the ground as the collar around his neck disappeared, holding onto the table for support as clothes began to appear on his body. The small patch of fur still on his head morphed into short, tousled hair as his snout receded, his face looking younger and more boyish as his snout melded into his face.

On the other hand, simple canine thoughts were flooding Petra’s head. She slumped onto all fours as her clothes disappeared, her face pushing outwards– nose and mouth stretching into a snout as her tongue widened. Her tongue flopped out of her mouth as she panted, her nose growing wetter and darker as it was pushed to the front of her growing snout. She shook her head as whiskers sprouted out of the side of her face, wrinkling her nose– which had taken on the characteristic scaly, bumpy look of a dog’s nose –as two slits appeared in her nostrils. She panted as her lips stretched to fit her elongated mouth, her jaw aching as it extended outwards. Her snout poked into her field of view as it kept growing, her face becoming sleeker as her head narrowed into a more ovoid shape.

As Petra’s nose melded into her new snout, she sniffed the air curiously, panting as her teeth sharpened. Her tail wagged as paw pads swelled from her palms and the balls of her feet, and she looked up at Nikhil as her nails turned to claws. The necklace around her neck had morphed into a pretty silver collar in the meantime– it even had a little dog tag on it with her name. She felt strangely good despite the change– her new instincts were telling her to just go along with everything for now. So instead of freaking out, she sat at Nikhil’s feet, looking up at him as his transformation completed.

Nikhil experimentally tugged at his newly formed clothes with his human hands as the last traces of husky faded from his body, his ears rounding out as his nails shortened and turned pale. He cleared his throat as his former owner nudged his leg, a grin spreading across his face as he leaned down and gave her a light pat on the head.

“Good girl, good girl~” Nikhil’s grin widened as Petra panted in delight, her tail wagging around wildly as his fingers ran through her fur. He crouched down as Petra rolled over and bared her stomach, ruffling the creamy white fur on her belly as her tongue lolled out of her mouth. He glanced up as Petra’s babushka got up from the table, awkwardly curling his hand into a thumbs-up as she passed them on her way to the sink.

“This is awesome, old lady! Ooohhhhh, wait, I can have chocolate now! Hahaha! I’m gonna eat all your chocolate, Petra! And you can’t do anything about it~!” Nikhil giggled to himself as he stuck his tongue out at Petra, ignoring her annoyed growl as he skipped over to the countertop and popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

“Mmmmm~ Sooo goodddd…” Nikhil blissfully sighed as he bit down on the chocolate, quickly swallowing it, greedily reaching for another piece– only to be stopped by Petra’s babushka. He pouted as she dragged his hand away, doing his best to give her puppy dog eyes as she led him out of the kitchen. Petra trotted behind them as they walked into the hallway, listening in as her babushka gently lectured Nikhil.

“Don’t be greedy, Nikhil. And call me baba, not old lady. I know I’m old– don’t remind me.” Petra’s babushka shook her head playfully,  laughing softly as Nikhil sulked.

“Sorry, baba…”

“It’s alright, I’m not mad at you. You can have plenty of chocolate later, after dinner.”

Nikhil perked up as Petra’s babushka mentioned dinner, his grin returning as he straightened up. “Ooh! Ok! How long until dinner?”

“Not for a while. In the meantime, why don’t you and Petra go have some fun together? You can show her how fun being a dog is and she can show you how fun being a human is. Sound good?”

“Yeah! Ok, Petra, let’s– Aw, what now?” Nikhil sighed as Petra’s babushka held him back.

“You’re not a dog anymore. Go upstairs and get some winter clothes, or you’ll freeze to death out there.”

“Okayyyyy… Wait, Petra.” Nikhil smirked as Petra obediently sat on the floor. “Heheh, looks like I’m in charge now! This is gonna be so much fun!”

Petra’s babushka glanced over at Petra– who was idly thumping her tail against the floor –as Nikhil rushed up the stairs, leaning forward slightly as she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Feeling alright, zajka?”

Petra turned her head, staying firmly in place as she nodded and gave her babushka a muted bark in response.

“Good, good. He looks like he could be your little brother, doesn’t he? Haha~ Oh, yes, I should mention that you can change back to normal if you think about being human. Want to do that?”

Petra’s tail went still as she vigorously shook her head no, her ears drooping as she whined in disapproval. Nikhil looked like he was really enjoying himself, and she didn’t want to take away his newfound humanity just yet.

“Ha, that’s what I thought.” Petra’s babushka snickered as Petra wagged her tail again, rubbing her ears as Nikhil came running down the stairs, wearing an oversized winter coat, along with a scarf, a tuque, and a pair of sturdy boots in his hands.

“What are you two talking about?” Nikhil glanced between Petra and her babushka as he put on the boots, surprisingly adept at wearing human clothes despite being a dog just a few minutes ago.

“Oh, nothing important. Petra, make sure to watch over your little brother, bring him back if he looks like he’s getting too cold.”

Nikhil scoffed as he opened the door, shaking his head as he whistled for Petra to follow. “I’m not gonna get cold! Especially not with this stupid thing on me. And I’m not her little brother! I’m bigger than her!”

Petra’s babushka shook her head in mock exasperation as Nikhil stepped outside. “Ok, ok. Just make sure you come back in if Petra wants to.”

“Mhm, sure. Let’s go, Petra!”

Petra sprinted after Nikhil as he excitedly ran out of the house, shaking her head as a wave of cold air blasted her body. Her senses were kicking into overdrive– the feeling of snow around her paws, the sound of Nikhil’s footsteps, the way her fur was moving in the wind, the heat of her breath in the air, all the new smells floating through the air that were making her mind light up with new information– it was a lot to take in. She stood in stunned silence for a moment as she tried to sort through everything, especially the new smells. She could practically taste them, they were so strong. The woodsmoke in the air, the smell of Nikhil, the smell of herself, the snow…

“Petra!”

Petra’s ears perked up as Nikhil called her name, and she spun in his direction– only to get pelted in the face with a snowball. She sneezed as Nikhil guffawed, shaking the snow off her snout.

“Gotcha! Hahahaha! Fingers are awesome!”

Petra instinctively lowered herself into a play stance as Nikhil started making another snowball– the snow felt nice, weirdly enough, not at all cold and wet like she was used to it being. Even though her paws were buried in the snow, they still felt warm– and so did the rest of her body. She had only really chosen to stay as a husky earlier because she didn’t want to ruin the experience for Nikhil, but now… she was starting to warm up to the idea of being a dog.

All of the extra sounds and smells weren’t bothering her as much anymore. In fact, she was starting to enjoy how sharp her senses were, it made everything seem so much more vivid and alive. And she was starting to appreciate how clear her head felt, sure, it was a bit empty, but she’d never felt this relaxed before. And… she did look sort of cute like this…

“Hey, Petra~”

Petra instinctively dodged as Nikhil tossed another snowball at her, letting her instincts take over as she rolled out of the way. Her tail wildly wagged as she got back on her paws, and she barked as Nikhil bent over to grab another handful of snow.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Nikhil pouted as he bent down to make another snowball, his eyes widened as Petra bolted towards him. “W-Wait– Petraaaaa!” Nikhil panted breathlessly as he dodged last second, grinning as he watched Petra miss and dive headfirst into the snow.

“Hahaha, dummy, you missed~” Nikhil stuck out his tongue as Petra dug her head out of the snow. She shook her head as Nikhil smirked, flicking her ears clean as she turned and bolted after him again.

Petra happily panted as she chased Nikhil– barking and snarling playfully as Nikhil giggled and hopped out of the way of her charge. He shrieked in excitement as she shook herself off, quickly making a snowball and tossing it at her while she was distracted.

“So slowwwww.” Nikhil smugly grinned as Petra licked away the snow on her snout, dashing away from her, a huge grin on his face as he crunched through the snow, taunting her each time she leapt and missed. But eventually, after a few minutes of trying and failing to catch him, she tackled Nikhil, sending both of them tumbling into the snow, laughing and panting together. She licked Nikhil’s cheek as he petted her flank, growling in satisfaction as he scratched her belly. This was great… Of course, she’d have to eventually get herself and Nikhil back to normal– someone had to drive them home, after all. But for now…

“Alright, that’s it! I’m coming for you, you furball!”

Petra barked excitedly as Nikhil pushed her away from his stomach, darting away from him as he lunged towards her– missing completely and stumbling to a stop a few meters away. She barked again as he pushed himself off the ground, her tail wagging like crazy as he started to chase her through the snow, the wind rushing past her ears as her tongue loosely flopped around.

…she was going to enjoy herself. This was the best Christmas she’d had, ever.