A dozen young teenagers sat side by side next to each other in a field not too far from the main high school in their town, talking with each other or checking their phones as they waited for the first class of their summer lessons to begin. None of them were there because of bad grades, though some were in the red, nor were they there because of a punishment. Each of them was there of their own free will. Except for a girl with pink hair, who hadn't really had any other options.
Fluttershy sat by herself with her chin resting on her hands, watching the birds as they flew by overhead. She sighed longingly as she watched them soar, wishing to herself that she could be in a summer class that was working with small animals. In the previous couple of years, Fluttershy had spent every summer taking classes that her school offered that revolved around taking care of animals. But this years the fates had been cruel to her and landed her in the situation she was currently in.
'It could be worse, though. At least this class is small in number and doesn't have me needing to talk that much,' Fluttershy thought to herself as she glanced at the other teens. 'I just wish that some of my friends would have joined up with me. It's lonely being all by myself.'
'Twilight's off at a book camp, Rainbow Dash is having fun at the beach and Pinkie is taking a road trip with her family. Applejack's working and Rarity hates dealing with blood. And who knows what Sunset is up to,' Fluttershy thought to herself with a dejected sigh.
But all thoughts of her friends were banished from her mind as a siren chirped. The sound of the siren ceased all talks amongst the teens and even managed to pry their eyes from their portable screens. All teens turned their heads towards the road, where a group of three ambulances were driving towards their location. The teens rose to their feet and ran over to where the ambulance were parking, while Fluttershy continued to sit and watch from a distance.
Three adults stepped out of the now parked ambulances and greeted the teens, who were all trying to get a closer look at the red and white vehicles. Fluttershy gave the ambulances a quick glance over, but aside from knowing how important they were to saving lives, she only saw them as bigger cars that made loud noises. The instructors for their class began to talk to the students gathered around the vehicles, pointing to the vehicles and telling the group numerous facts about the red and white transports. Fluttershy chose instead to focus on a small squirrel that was running across the field.
"Still off by yourself?" Fluttershy tore her eyes away from the small mammal, glancing up to see her instructor, a nurse named Carol, looking down at the girl. Fluttershy moved her hair over her face and chose to look anywhere that wasn't where the teacher was. "Fluttershy, this is your third class with us and yet you choose not to interact with the group. It's almost like you don't want to be here."
"No, that's not true...it's just..." Fluttershy weakly stammered out, before choosing to look away once more. The instructor let out a sigh before she sat down next to the girl, pulling out her phone and opening Fluttershy's information.
"Let's see here. You go to Canterlot High, have pretty decent grades and have spent the past couple of summers in any summer course that would allow you to work with animals," Carol said, glancing at Fluttershy to see if she would add any facts. "Well from the sound of your information it seems that you would rather be in one of the veterinary classes than here with us. Why did you sign up for this class?"
"Because my teachers told me that I had already done all of the summer classes that I wanted to sign up for," Fluttershy admitted bitterly. "I was perfectly willing to take the classes again, but they said that couldn't happen. I was also just as fine staying at home and reading. But the summer credits have been helping my resume and my teachers believed that it would be best for me to expand my horizons this summer. So here I am."
"Ah, so you want to work with animals when you grow up, huh?" Carol asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy nodded in reply, before drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them.
"Yeah, I love working with the little guys. I've always had a connection with them and can't stand to see them get hurt. So I've done my best to become a vet, so that I can save them," Fluttershy revealed. "That's why this course was suggested to me. Since I cared so much about saving animals lives, my teachers and parents thought that maybe I'd like to learn a little bit about how to save human life."
"I see. Sorry that you got stuck with us."
"Oh I don't mean to say that what you guys do isn't important. It's a brave and noble job. It's just not...me," Fluttershy quickly stammered out. Carol gave Fluttershy a smile before she rose back up to her feet, glancing over to see that the crowd around the ambulances had cleared out and now the students were off to the side talking with the other two teachers.
"Well I can't do anything about you getting stuck with us, but I can promise that if you give this a try, maybe I can help you learn a thing or two. Never know when the information you learn here might come in handy," Carol offered to Fluttershy. Fluttershy thought it over for a moment before she sighed and rose up to her feet. She dusted off her skirt before she followed Carol over to the ambulances.
The moment the pair of them got close to the vehicles Fluttershy could tell that there was something different about the vehicles. One of the ambulances looked like a car, while another one looked like a van. But it was the final ambulance that gained Fluttershy's eyes, as this one was far bigger than the other two and seemed to have far more features, though what those features were she couldn't tell.
"I see that you've already picked out some differences. Most people think of this guy here when they think of an ambulance, but there are actually several different models," Nurse Carol said to Fluttershy as she patted the side of the truck style of ambulance. "We have everything from cars to ATVs and even a couple of boats. But this guy here is the tried and true ambulance that most are familiar with."
"And what about this one?" Fluttershy asked as she gazed at the third rescue vehicle. Upon a closer inspection Fluttershy could see that not only was this ambulance bigger than the other two, but it also seemed to be coated in layers of armor that made it look like a vehicle meant for war.
"This is a newer model, something that the government has been working on," Carol told Fluttershy. "War zones and natural disasters have people that need saving, but a lot of the times the risk is high to the first responders as well. These new models are designed to be able to go into these hot zones while providing protection for those inside."
"That sounds dangerous," Fluttershy thought to herself, running her fingers along the side of the ambulance.
"Well, this can be a very dangerous job. But someone has to do it. And there's no greater reward than helping to save someone's life," Carol told Fluttershy. Fluttershy took a moment to respond, for while Carol was talking her hand had ran over a small symbol that she didn't recognize. It looked like a small face, but of what she couldn't make out. "Well?"
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Fluttershy asked Carol, snapping out of her thoughts.
"I asked if you would want to rid along with me at our next class?" Carol asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy lowered her head and thought about it for a moment. Carol must not have liked the look of Fluttershy's face, for a moment later she sighed. "How about this. You give this a chance, an honest chance, and if you still don't like this class I will have you transferred to one of the animal care classes that you love so much. Sound like a deal?"
"I...suppose that wouldn't hurt," Fluttershy replied meekly. Carol seemed to seemed to be happy with the answer and her smile reflected that.
"Perfect. Just wait for me here after the next class on Saturday and you can ride along with me," Carol said, before she turned her head back to the rest of the class. "Now that we have that sorted out, how about we go back over and join the group. They're talking about how to resuscitate a person."
Fluttershy hid behind her hair once more and Carol took the hint, smiling to Fluttershy kindly before she turned and walked away to join the rest of the class. Fluttershy watched her go, sighing in relief when Carol was out of earshot.
"I don't know about this," Fluttershy said aloud as she leaned against the ambulance, gazing up at the sky once more where the birds were flying around. "They seem nice and all, but this isn't what I want to do. I want to help the small creatures of the world that can't help themselves. I should be out there helping animals, not standing next to a bunch of trucks with people I don't know."
Fluttershy then sighed once more as she lowered her head, only to catch something out of the corner of her eye that didn't belong. She lifted her head to the top of a nearby building, which had nothing atop it. 'But for a moment I thought I saw something. Like a bird, but it was...metal?'
Carol called over Fluttershy and Fluttershy returned her thoughts to where she was. She pushed herself off of the ambulance and walked over to the rest of the group, never noticing that the ambulance seemed to be watching her the entire time. Once she was out of sight, the ambulance adjusted one of its mirrors to look at the spot where Fluttershy had been staring. For a long moment it waited to see if there was anything above the buildings, but when nothing happened the vehicle centered its mirror once more, convinced that it was just its imagination.