Hours after hours passed by, and Keychain still hadn't returned from his job. Lemon Zest took one glance at the time and saw that it was 1:00 PM. She and Fluttershy were just finishing up a lunch of sandwiches, squash, and fruit. Lemon Zest thought that it wasn't something special, but Fluttershy loved the food very much, possibly because she was still very young and couldn't assess the food properly, but she still loved how the fruit squished into her mouth and sprayed juices, the chewy texture of the sandwiches and the ingredients inside them—she was a big fan of the cheese most of all—and the squash that washed it all down afterwards was a treat for the tastebuds.
As soon as both girls were finished with their food, Lemon Zest took both plates and the cups and put them in the sink to wash, while Fluttershy casually hopped off of the chair that she was sitting on and toddled her way back over to the coffee table. Some scraps of paper and some crayons laid there in waiting. Ones that Fluttershy picked up and started drawing with while humming a rhythmless, wordless tune to herself.
To Fluttershy, doodling had become one of her favourite pastimes, as well as a good coping mechanism until she found her mommy and daddy. To let her imagination run free, to play with what she saw and put it all down on paper was truly liberating for someone so young as her. And with the colours she had been provided, there was nothing that Fluttershy would be unable to sketch, from the prettiest of animals, the wildest of imaginary creatures, or even the figures of the big boys and big girls who were looking after her. Even if they were crude and jagged, she didn't care, because she was enjoying it and the pictures made her feel good about herself, which was all that she could ask for. Besides, they knew what she was drawing and they would appreciate the work that she had put into what she had made.
As Lemon Zest watched Fluttershy scribbling away at her next masterpiece, she couldn't help but feel like they were both lonely. It was nothing but her, Fluttershy, and the toys in the house. And while for Fluttershy, it was something that kept her occupied, for Lemon Zest, it wasn't exactly right. She felt like she was a slave to the house. However much she wanted to leave, however, Key had given her an important job and she couldn't let him down; not like this.
"Lemon?" Fluttershy spoke up at last, "When will Key be back?"
Lemon Zest walked over to Fluttershy, sat down on the couch, and watched as the girl turned her whole body to face her. "Well, Fluttershy. Key's got a very special job. And because that very special job is so big, he can't exactly come back until it gets pretty late," she explained as best as she could. "That's why I'm here, to make sure that you're nice and safe while he's out there doing his job."
"Special job?" Fluttershy parroted. "He has a special job?"
"Mmhmm." Lemon Zest nodded. "He's part of this logging company, so when these trees grow too big, he and his crew chop them down and use them to make things." Lemon had resorted to making gestures with her hands to show the tree and logging equipment used to cut those trees down. "His company make chairs, doors, even those crayons you're using right now," she pointed to the set of crayons. "So, in other words, Key made this for you, Fluttershy."
"Key did that?" Fluttershy's eyes went wide with wonder as she laid her hands on the crayons. She could feel the wooden textures straight away. As she rubbed a crayon between two fingertips, she thought about Key making the crayon through whatever wacky, wonderful, and imaginary way that she knew. "Whoa..."
"Yeah. Whoa." Lemon smirked and folded her arms.
"I wanna make some, I wanna make some!" Fluttershy was bounding up and down, giddy with the thought of wanting to make some pencils from scratch. She had never done anything like it before.
"Well, first. We need to get some sticks," Lemon replied. And immediately, she got up from the couch. "C'mon, Fluttershy. Let's head out to the garden and see if there are any on the ground."
"Mmm! Okay." Fluttershy nodded and shuffled her way towards the door with Lemon Zest by her side. The two girls went through to the kitchen and came to the backdoor. It had a mesh on the bottom but the top was a clear glass that anyone could look through.
Lemon Zest looked for a key that was left on the side and slotted it into the door, twisting it. A clicking noise was heard, and Lemon pulled down the handle, opening the door wide. Fluttershy scampered out, making excited noises with each step that she took. Lemon Zest just strolled out casually, as the cold air met her body.
Fluttershy was already looking at the ground for some sticks. And to her luck, some had indeed fallen to the ground. She waddled over and clutched one in her hands, then scampered off to find some more, giggling to herself. She would have her hand-made crayons in no time. Fluttershy didn't even bother to check the size of each stick, and because of that, she got some that were big enough for her hands, and some that were tiny enough so she could pinch them in between two fingers.
"Slow down, Fluttershy." Lemon Zest called from afar, pushing a hand out as she watched the little girl carelessly collecting the sticks that she thought would make her some pencils. "You're gonna run out of hand to put those sticks in, ya know."
Fluttershy didn't even notice, but she was collecting a lot of sticks, some that were so huge that they crushed the smaller ones. Tilting her head at the dilemma, she stood in place, rapped the ground with her feet, thinking to herself. Then, an idea came to her and she rushed over to Lemon with the sticks she had.
"Here! Hold these sticks!" Fluttershy said, dumping all of them into Lemon Zest's hands. Now that her hands were clear again, she ran away from Lemon and went back to her stick scavenging.
Lemon Zest just took the sticks that Fluttershy had and laid them down on the step leading back into the house. Her hands freed up, Lemon just cracked a grin and joined Fluttershy in the great hunt for sticks. Their search was long and hard, even though they were in one place.
Eventually, both Lemon Zest and Fluttershy picked up so many sticks that it constituted for them cleaning up Keychain's backyard. Nothing but leaves and grass remained after they were done. Both of the girls put their final sticks on the pile—which was now a rather large pile given the number of sticks they had collected. It was a sight that made Fluttershy's heart swell with glee. Now, she could make her crayons, just like Key did.
The only question now, on both of their minds was: how? How would they turn these sticks into crayons for Fluttershy to doodle with?
Fluttershy hummed to herself, putting her fingers against her chin as she stared at the tips of the twigs. Something was missing. Something that would give these sticks the finishing touches. And then, the thought struck her. She let out a gasp and blurted out, "Paint! We need some paint!"
"Paint?" Lemon wasn't following Fluttershy's beat until she saw the ends of the tips. Then, it came to her. "Oh, you wanna paint the ends of the sticks?"
"Mmhmm." Fluttershy grinned and bobbed her head up and down in understanding. "Where's the paint, Lemon?"
"I could look around, but I doubt that Key has any paint on hand. And if he does, it's probably for if his house's walls start to peel..." Lemon Zest remarked, looking back inside the house. "And the nearest DIY place is a bit of a drive away."
Fluttershy let out a moan and stared into Fluttershy's soul with her large, bulbous eyes that looked straight out of a cartoon. Lemon Zest was trying to skirt around the issue and justify why it would be hard to find paint, but Fluttershy wanted those new hand-made crayons.
Lemon Zest looked into Fluttershy's staring eyes and felt guilty about trying to fight back against Fluttershy's want for paint. It didn't take long for her to concede and she let out a sigh. She tousled Fluttershy's hair and gave her a pat on the back. "Alright then. DIY shop, here we come."
"YAY!" Fluttershy threw her arms into the air and scurried around the back of the house to the front door. Lemon chased after her, to make sure that she wasn't taking the whole trip on foot.
The two girls wound up at Lemon Zest's car, which was much sleeker than what Keychain was used to. It didn't look like much now, but there were some grey, tubes around the edges of the car, which could only mean that it lit up at night. The interior of the car looked like it was made for the person who enjoyed the city life, with ergonomically plush leather, lots of space to put things whether you were in the front or back, and fans planted into the walls. Lemon Zest opened the back door up, lifted Lemon Zest onto the seat, and strapped her in with the seatbelt. Once she was tightly belted up, Lemon slid across the hood of her car and swung the door to the driver's seat open.
"Okay, Fluttershy. Now, riding with me's gonna be a little bit different than riding with Key," Lemon said as she slotted the car key into the slot and twisted it. Immediately, the car roared to life as Lemon planted her foot on the pedals. "Prepare yourself. Because it's about to get wild!"
As soon as the car started moving, music blasted out from the speakers. It was a sound that made Lemon Zest excited, but Fluttershy wasn't so sure. The noise was painful, and it made her curl up in fright. Was Lemon Zest always a fan of this kind of scary stuff? Or was there something else behind it? Either way, it was too surprising for Fluttershy to feel comfortable, so she started to sniffle and shed some tears.
Lemon Zest was about to drive on when she saw Fluttershy looking uncomfortable. Immediately, Lemon Zest turned the radio off and plunged the car into silence. "Oh... Fluttershy, I'm sorry. I forgot about that. Yeah... Little kids and loud car music don't mix."
"Scary..." Fluttershy remarked simply. "No scary, please."
"Right, right. Sorry." Lemon felt more guilty for having the music scream out at Fluttershy like that. It just wasn't her time for this kind of stuff, if at all. Music-less, Lemon Zest drove down the road and made her way to the shop.
Even though the nasty noise had stopped, that still didn't mean that Fluttershy was entirely comfortable. It took her a while to feel comfortable again as the trees, sky, and clouds went past out the windows. At least that was a soothing sight. The clear, unstopped view of nature. Fluttershy was pacified instantly by the sight of it all. It was one of the prettier sights for a girl her age. To make her trip even better, she saw a flock of birds flapping by, like a majestic group of gliding arrows. The sight made her giggle delightedly, and she tried to scramble from her chair to try and get closer to the birds, only for the seatbelt to keep her restrained. At least she could still see the birds going by. But someday, she wanted to join the birds in their many airborne adventures. Just another one of her many childhood fantasies.
"I just hope Key isn't mad for the fact that he's about to have some new paint." Lemon Zest muttered to herself. For all that she knew, Key didn't even need this paint. It was all for Fluttershy's benefit. But that wouldn't stop her from living up to what Key had put upon her: Being a good babysitter and friend to Fluttershy.
In the shopping district of Cedar Grove, there was a large building akin to a warehouse. It was a special store that sold DIY tools, furnishings, plants, room fittings, and most importantly for the situation on hand; paint. Despite the immense size of the structure, around half of the spaces in the parking lot had cars in them.
Lemon Zest's car was parked in one of the spots close to the shop itself. Once Lemon was inside the lines, she got out of the car, opened Fluttershy's door, unbuckled her, and put her down on the ground. With both her feet and Fluttershy's feet back on terra firma, both girls crossed the lot and made it to the door of the building.
But their entrance hadn't gone unnoticed. For someone in a police car nearby had noticed Fluttershy and had their suspicious raised. It was a female officer with lavender skin and golden hair. She did have sunglasses on, but she had to take them off quickly to examine Fluttershy.
"Hey, chief? I think I've got something," she said, pushing a button on the walkie-talkie on her chest.
"What is it?" the man on the other end of the call asked.
"Small girl, around 3-4 years old. Pink hair tied up in two ponytails. Pink coat and shoes. She's entering the Cedar Grove Make It Great store. Travelling with a woman, by the looks of it." the policewoman replied. "What's your call?"
"The details match Fluttershy; the girl who recently went missing. Keep an eye on her. And don't let her escape," said the police chief. "As for the woman, you can question her once the report's confirmed. For now, tail both of those girls."
"On it, chief." The woman cut the communication and left the car, walking towards the shop. She had her targets in her sights, and if this was indeed the same Fluttershy who had gone missing, then it would make the search for her all the easier.
The inside of the building looked as much of a warehouse as the outside did. People could still see the pipes and building materials that had been used to erect the shop in the first place. The aisles were packed high and wide like warehouse shelves, with some items too high up for anyone to reach without any kind of machine to give them a helping hand. But that wasn't what Lemon or Fluttershy had come for. Instead, their gaze was turned to the walls at the other end of the room, where there were pots and cans of paint stacked against it.
"C'mon, girl." Lemon Zest lead Fluttershy to a large trolley and pulled it out from the rack. It was then that she noticed something. "Hmm... No seats for Fluttershy. Well, let's hope she likes walking." She watched Fluttershy waddle up to her legs, out of the way of the massive trolley. "Let's go."
Fluttershy and Lemon Zest went through the aisles, their eyes trying hard not to pay attention to the items on the shelves. But for both of them, they were both stacked like titanic monoliths from some kind of fantasy adventure novel. Some of them were so high that there was no telling what they were, save for the directories on the frames of each shelving unit. But while their eyes were focused on the paint, they were unaware that the policewoman had been tailing them from afar.
To everyone else, it looked like she was just shopping normally, but even police officers knew how to be discreet; to blend in with the crowd even when they were fully kitted out in their uniforms. She couldn't get a close enough view of the girl to confirm whether or not it was Fluttershy, but she didn't need to. Her best play was to wait until the girl mentioned Fluttershy's name to confirm the report. Then, she could move in.
"Ooh! I want this one! This one!" Fluttershy rushed over to the first paint pot that caught her eye. Though it looked like an ordinary paint pot, the colour that it was displaying said otherwise. There was a single shade of pink on the label of the paint pot to show what colour was inside. Fluttershy bashed her tiny palms against the paint pot. "Lemon! Lemon!"
"Okay, okay. I heard ya the first time." Lemon chuckled lightly as she procured the paint pot and stuffed it into the trolley. "Any other colours you want?"
"Hmm..." Fluttershy examined the colours. It didn't take her long to figure out the other colours that she needed for her hand-made pencils. "Red and yellow and pink and green... orange and purple and blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too." Fluttershy sang to herself as she tapped each of the colours in the song in the order that she called out, often zipping from one to the other.
"Well, it doesn't take her long, does it?" Lemon stuck every colour save for the pink into the trolley. And now, the two girls had all of the colours of the rainbow in their trolley, ready to check out.
Fluttershy only chose a couple more colours; brown, white, and black. "All done!" She called once the last colour was planted into the trolley. "Let's go!"
Fluttershy and Lemon Zest wandered back through the same aisle that the policewoman was standing in. They didn't pay her any mind, but it gave the woman a closer look at Fluttershy. She could more clearly see Fluttershy's teal eyes as well as how small she was. All that she was waiting for was the name drop, so she walked after the girls without drawing any attention from them.
Fluttershy and Lemon Zest went to the nearest cashier that didn't have a line and placed their items on the conveyor belt. Fluttershy watched as the items were seamlessly carried along without any resistance or issue. It looked like a lot of fun and she wanted in on it. "Can I play on it, Lemon? Please?" She tugged Lemon's hand as gently as she could.
"Afraid not, Fluttershy. I can't exactly buy a human being. Especially not a little girl." Lemon Zest joked. She gave Fluttershy's hair another tousle.
"Fluttershy?!" The policewoman gasped and went for her walkie-talkie again. "Chief. We have an update. The woman travelling with the girl I'm tracking just named her Fluttershy. The same Fluttershy who went missing recently. What're your orders?"
"Move in and question the woman. Don't be too forceful and overbearing," said the chief. "See what other information you can extract from this woman and if she's the only one who knows about the missing girl. Report back to me with confirmation, then we can notify her parents."
"Copy that." The woman ended the call once again and took her place behind Fluttershy and Lemon as if she were waiting in line to pay for her non-existent goods as well.
"Please?" Fluttershy asked again as the next paint pots went along the belt.
"No, Fluttershy. I don't want to pay for you, plus, you aren't exactly a pot of paint, are you?" Lemon Zest tried her best to explain to Fluttershy why she couldn't play on the conveyor belt. "Plus, you gotta have one of these things," Lemon Zest plucked one of the remaining pots and showed off the barcode to Fluttershy. "See all those black and white lines? Unless you've got one of those, you can't be scanned by the machine," she said.
"Aww..." Fluttershy rubbed the ground with the tip of her foot, dejected that she couldn't have a fun ride on the moving belt with all of the other paint pots that got to have all of the fun. As she watched Lemon putting the last of the paint pots onto the conveyor belt, she saw the policewoman standing behind her. "Will you let me play on the belt?" Fluttershy asked her.
"Huh? M-me?" The policewoman tried to make it seem like she had just been involved in the exchange and lurched backwards slightly.
"Fluttershy! No!" Lemon Zest dragged her back, then lifted her from the floor. "I am SO SORRY, miss. I don't know what's gotten into her. We were just buying some paint and then she decided that she wanted to play on the conveyor belt."
"That's alright," said the policewoman, who watched as Lemon set Fluttershy back on the ground again. "But, uh, if you don't mind, did you just call that girl Fluttershy?"
"Y-yeah?" Lemon Zest seemed a bit apprehensive towards the fact that this woman was asking about Fluttershy.
"Ma'am, I'm not going to arrest you or anything. I'm just going to ask whether or not this girl is indeed the Fluttershy that went missing recently," the policewoman remarked. "That's all that I'll ask. Poor girl's parents have been worried sick. If there's anything you can say that can confirm that this is Fluttershy, then that would be wonderful."
"W-well..." Lemon Zest felt the whole world stop for a few minutes. Was this the moment where Fluttershy was finally going to find her parents again? And where would that leave Keychain? Coming home to know that Fluttershy wasn't there, and without even getting the chance to say goodbye. Still, this was what Fluttershy wanted; to be with her mommy and daddy again. Summoning up courage, Lemon swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "Y-yes. This is the Fluttershy you're looking for."
"Wonderful," the policewoman said. "Is there anything else you can add? Like, how long she was in your care? What condition was she in when you found her, and if there are any other individuals in the area that know about the existence of Fluttershy and the fact that she's under your care?"
"Well, actually, I'm just looking after her for a friend. My buddy Keychain's the one who found her." Lemon Zest started to lay out everything before the policewoman's eyes. She knew that this was going to come as a shock to Keychain, but at least now they had something to work with when it came to getting Fluttershy back to where she belonged. "Keychain said that he just found her wandering around in the cold like she is now and that she just knocked on his door. She's been with us for about three days now."
"Mmhmm." Fluttershy nodded. "Lemon's being a big-girl best-friend while Key's out at his super-special job!" she blurted out.
"Right, right." Lemon patted Fluttershy on the head. "Keychain's working at a logging business in the area and he can't exactly take time off to look after a little kid like Fluttershy here, so he called me up and told me to take care of her while he's out. And that's about where we are now, officer."
"And where does Keychain live? Just so we can guide Fluttershy's parents back to Fluttershy?" The policewoman proposed the final question.
"He lives on 634 Peregrine Road. I should know, since I just came from there," Lemon remarked.
"Alright, alright." The woman was writing everything down onto a notebook. "Well, alright then. I won't take up much more of your time, ma'am. I'll just inform my chief, and then we'll make the arrangements to notify Fluttershy's parents. Tell your friend that Fluttershy needs to stay by your side as much as possible once he gets home."
"Sounds good to me." Lemon Zest grinned. "Nice to meet you." She watched as the policewoman left the building just as Lemon and Fluttershy's paint pots finished scanning. "Didja year that, Fluttershy? Mommy and daddy are gonna know where you are. You won't have long to wait before you go back home now."
"Mommy and daddy?" Fluttershy's eyes went wide and her smile grew much larger than it had been in a while. The thought of going back home with her parents was the surprise that she needed to feel happy again. Bouncing up and down on the spot, she threw her arms out and giddily chanted "Mommy and Daddy! Mommy and Daddy! Mommy and Daddy!"
Fluttershy thought that the sight looked adorable. One of the cuter sights she had ever seen come out of Fluttershy. She was so mesmerised by Fluttershy's elation that she completely forgot about the paint pots. That was until the woman at the checkout desk gave her a verbal reminder: "Uh, miss? Are you gonna pay for those?"
"O-oh yeah!" Lemon snapped out of her trance straight away and fished in her pocket for her wallet. It didn't take her long before she found her credit card and stuck it into the reader. She then punched in her 4-digit PIN and watched the transaction complete itself. "Thanks for that."
"Anytime," the checkout lady said. "Have a wonderful day, miss. You and your little friend over there." She pointed to Fluttershy, who was still giggling like a maniac with how happy she was.
"Yeah..." Lemon sighed again as she watched Fluttershyfinally calm down and come back to her feet, brushing tenderly like an animal would its' mother. She still couldn't believe that their time together had been so short like this. Now that it was coming to an end, Lemon felt more upset for how this was about to end. If only she could have introduced Fluttershy to some more fun things for a kid her age. "Anyways, we got what we came for. Let's bounce." Lemon Zest motioned to the door.
Fluttershy chuckled to herself and bounced to the door. Lemon Zest flashed a smile at Fluttershy's fun and games. At least she'd still be able to enjoy whatever time she and the others had left with her before her parents came back.
The policewoman returned to the car, sat back down in the driver's seat, then made another call with the walkie-talkie. "Chief. I've got confirmation. That IS the Fluttershy that went missing. We found her."
"That's good to hear. I'll inform Fluttershy's parents right away. Give me the rest of the details about Fluttershy, who's caring for her, as well as any other important details," the chief replied.
"Will do." The policewoman drove away from the scene slowly, telling her chief everything that Lemon Zest and Fluttershy had told her. Now that the gears were spinning, it was only a matter of time before Fluttershy's parents would be reunited with their child.