The Grand Tour
You followed the girl through the animal sanctuary as she began to point out the different animals in their various pens. The fact that she sort of looked like and definitely acted like Fluttershy from My Little Pony still hadn’t left your thoughts. This feeling was heightened by seeing the way she introduced the animals to you, like a person would introduce a lifelong friend.
“And here we have the deer family,” she said joyfully, “Aren’t they so nice! They just had a fawn as you can see.”
“They are neat,” you said as she went to the next pen where she introduced a pair of happy looking ground hogs who seemed to stop what they were doing instantly when she approached them.
“Oh and this is Mr. Teddy,” Fluttershy said as she pointed to the massive cage that could be seen from the parking area. Mr. Teddy and you noticed was a large black bear that upon seeing you scampered over to the fencing and standing on his hind legs towered over you and let out a growl.
“Now Mr. Teddy,” Fluttershy said in an unexpected stern tone, putting herself between you and the bear, “That’s not a way that we treat guests. Now apologize.” The bear suddenly went down on all fours and hung his head low like a human being embarrassed.
“Aww how can I ever resist such a cute face,” Fluttershy said to the bear before moving on to the next pen. You marveled at the fact that she appeared to easily connect with the animals while appearing shy towards you. You thought that maybe if you could break the ice a little she would be less shy to you.
“So, you said your name is Fluttershy, right,” you said as friendly as possible. The girl turned suddenly with a look of surprise, like she forgot that you were there.
“Well… um… yes, that’s my name,” she said as she seemed to look in every direction but directly at your face, “If that’s ok with you.”
You wondered why Fluttershy would even think about asking you if her name was ok. It wasn’t like something she could change like one would change their clothes or hair style. You wondered what she would do if you did say you didn’t like her name. Of course you would never do that, no matter how curious.
“Of course I like your mane… I mean name. Why wouldn’t anyone like your name?”
She didn’t answer your question, but you could tell that there was something underneath that shy exterior, a reason for why she acted the way she did. For now you were content with just getting to know here but deep down you had a feeling that if you were going to get to know her beyond being coworkers that hidden secret might have to be explored.
Not watching where you were going as you looked about the area; you didn’t realize that Fluttershy stopped to show you another of her animal friends. You suddenly bumped into the girl causing her to let out a little squeak of surprise and fright as she seemed to jump ten feet into the air.
“Oh sorry Fluttershy,” you said, “I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going and didn’t see you there.”
“That’s ok,” she said looking downtrodden at you, “Most people don’t see me, like I’m invisible. I guess I just have to accept it.”
For a moment you were shocked at the fact that this girl who seemed like was nice enough that it would be hard to not be friends with her could give up so easily and resign herself to being alone. You felt sad for the girl standing before you and hoped that maybe in helping her care for the animals of the sanctuary you could help her. Deep down you knew that under that layer of fear was a girl who would be wonderful for many to meet.
“So I guess your favorite animal are butterflies,” you asked her, hoping to redirect her self-doubt back into some kind of conversation with you.
“Well, I like all kinds of animals, but yes butterflies are my favorite. How did you know?”
You pointed at the butterfly necklace that oddly looked like the blue and pink butterfly that was Fluttershy’s cutie mark from the show. To your surprise, Fluttershy let out a little squeak and jump back a foot. For a moment you wondered why, but you then realized that it looked like you were pointing a finger at her rather than the necklace. Even worse your finger hovered dangerously close to touching her, especially at her chest. You made several mental notes in your mind: no touching of any kind even accidentally and no pointing. This wasn’t going to be the end all be all list as you had a funny feeling that there would be many other personality quirks to this girl before you knew it.
“Oh, sorry, you don’t like pointing, do you?”
She gave a little shake of her head, her pink cascading hair waving like a curtain.
“I was actually pointing at your butterfly necklace. That’s what made me think that you liked them.”
“Oh I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said, “It’s just that I really don’t like people pointing at me, or surprises, or loud noises except from animals, or people touching me, or thunderstorms…”
By the time she was finished, your mental list seemed to triple. It became apparent that working with the animals was going to be easier that working with her and all her issues which seemed to stem from two things: fear and shyness. Your task at trying to connect with her just got more difficult, so you decide to shelve the project until later when you were more prepared to tackle trying to get through the seemingly impenetrable wall between you and Fluttershy.
“Well Fluttershy, you showed me a lot of your animals,” you said trying to change the conversation, “Is there something else you wish to show me?”
“Well, you saw all the animals” she said, “and the maintenance and feed buildings aren’t really interesting. Would you like to see the cottage?”
“Yes,” you said to her, “lead the way!”
You followed Fluttershy through a break in the trees, appearing in yet another, albeit smaller, clearing. There standing before you was a cottage that looked very similar to Fluttershy’s in the TV series. Everything from the charming design and the coloring to the myriad of bird feeders and houses outside on the trees mimicked the house the yellow Pegasus owned.
“Your house is very nice, Fluttershy,” you said.
“Oh, well thank you,” she said as if surprised by your or even any compliment, “Actually I know I said I have a place for you to stay, but I don’t have a separate place for you to live in. You can live here, that is if you want to.”
It felt a little awkward that instead of having your own place to stay you would be living with a person who you barely knew. But you really didn’t have any other choices. It would be silly for you to find someplace in the city and have to drive to and from the sanctuary. You also didn’t really see anything while traveling where you could stay either. Most importantly you felt that despite her attempts avoid contact with others, Fluttershy actually needed a friend. To leave would most likely upset her, making it be like her fault.
“I would love to stay in the cottage,” you said with a smile.
“Oh good,” the girl said with a little smile as she opened the door to let you in. The interior was just like the exterior, very much like the scenes from My Little Pony with the addition of modern conveniences like a TV, microwave, and a computer. You were glad that things weren’t totally like where the yellow Pegasus lived as you didn’t want to feel that rustic. As you looked around the room suddenly a white rabbit bounded out from behind a couch next to the door and ran to Fluttershy. She picked the bunny up and began to pet it.
“Oh, this is Angel,” she said to you, “Angel is actually my own pet. Say hello to our new houseguest Angel.” Upon seeing me the bunny suddenly started freaking out, hopping out of the girl’s arms and darting under the nearest piece of furniture.
“Now Angel, that’s not how we introduce ourselves. I’m sorry; s=he acts like this all the time when someone new is here. He’ll get used to you hopefully. Anyway, let me give you a tour.”
Fluttershy shows you the cozy yet comfortable place. It was at least big enough for both of you to live in without bumping into each other. When you went up to the second floor, you entered the first door you saw, hoping it was your room. Instead you found yourself in her room. It was a simple place with only a few pieces of furniture and a very little in the way of pictures or other things except for a few animal related items. Panicking that you just stepped into a very private place, you turned around to see Fluttershy standing there, her eyes wide as saucers.
“Um…” she said struggling to talk, “That’s my room…”
“Sorry,” you said, “Er… guess I went into the wrong door. I’ll just close this and you can show me my actual room, ok?”
“Um… sure,” Fluttershy said as she pointed to the next door over, “I’ll let you alone to get used to your place and if you need help moving in, I can do that.”
As Flutershy left you alone in your new home, you realized that this was going to be the start of a very interesting relationship.