"So, uh, Fluttershy was it?" Grif asked.
Fluttershy turned her head slightly and nodded.
"So what do you do around here?" Grif asked.
Fluttershy looked at Grif, "Well, if you get bored you can always go to the town and-"
"No." Grif said, shaking his head slightly. "I mean, like, what do you do specifically?"
"Well." Fluttershy said. "I'm really good with animals so other ponies sometimes leave their pets with me while they're away."
"That's pretty cool." Grif said with a smile.
"I think you are the first one to ever say that." Fluttershy said, letting out a small smile of her own.
"I wonder why?" Grif asked. "I think animals are awesome. Take cats for example, all they do all day is sleep, and at night they grab a bite to eat and go right back to sleep. Who wouldn't want to live that life?"
"I actually think being a tree would be nice. You get to bask in the sunlight. And with enough care you can grow into something beautiful."
"You know what? I change my answer. I think I want to be a tree now," Grif said, sighing happily. "I think I'm going to like this place." At that moment, Sarge suddenly grinned for reasons unknown to him.
Fluttershy’s cottage entered their view as they rounded a corner. "So this is your place..." Grif trailed off.
"Yes. Why? Is it bad?" Fluttershy asked meekly.
"Not at all." Grif said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Seems like a nice place."
"Oh good. I was afraid you wouldn't like it..." Fluttershy said, letting out a small.
"Why worry about what other people think?" Grif said. "I mean, look at me. I don't give a fuck about anything and my life is great."
"My life is good too..." Fluttershy said.
"Sure it's good." Grif said. "But is it great? Have you ever sat down one day and decided to just not do anything at all?"
"Oh no, I could never do that!" Fluttershy gasped. "I have so many animals to look after every day, I can't just not do anything."
"Animals live in the wild with no help from anybody." Grif said. "I think they could handle a day of being left alone. You should try it sometime."
"Let's go inside." Fluttershy said, shaking her head.
"Okay, yeah."
Fluttershy opened the door and walked in, Grif following right behind. Grif took a quick look around and saw that there was a bird cage, a bed for a dog and a small structure for a cat to lay about in. He then looked around and saw a couch on the other side of the room and smiled.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have any spare beds here..." Fluttershy said, hunching down.
"That's okay, I'm perfectly fine with sleeping on a couch." Grif said, walking to the opposite side of the room.
"Are you sure?" Fluttershy said. "I could try and fin-"
"Nah, don't worry about it. It'll just be like my days in college... before I dropped out." Grif assured her. "And you got to stick to your guns. If you don't have a bed, make due. Don't go out of your way for everybody. Nobody likes a doormat. Just look at Simmons! He works his ass off and nobody pays him any attention."
"Isn't Simmons your friend?" Fluttershy asked, frowning slightly at Grif’s remark.
"Yeah, I guess." Grif said. "But we aren't exactly what you would call a band of brothers. Sure we've been through hell and back, not to mention Sarge. We were together, but other than that..."
Fluttershy stared blankly at him then shook her head. "I hope you sleep well." Fluttershy said, quietly cutting him off.
"Yeah, you too." Grif said, closing his eyes.
What a weird pony, Fluttershy thought to herself. How can you be happy if you have nothing to care about?
Grif was awoken by what he thought to be something dropping on his chest, but when he opened his eyes he found himself face to face with a bunny.
"Hey little guy, mind getting off so I can go back to sleep?" Grif said, pushing the bunny off of him.
The bunny promptly jumped back on his chest and thumped his feet.
"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" Grif said, now sitting up. "I'm trying to sleep here."
The bunny shook his head, jumped up and kicked Grif in the jaw. Grif grunted and rolled off the couch. The bunny stood smirking on the couch and it then curled up and went to sleep. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Oh I'm sorry." Fluttershy said, walking in holding many bags of animal feed. "That's Angel. He's my pet bunny. I forgot to mention that he likes to sleep on that couch for his afternoon nap."
"Yeah well I was having my afternoon nap too." Grif said, turning angrily at the bunny who had replaced him on the couch. He then let his shoulders sag. "Ah what the hell, I'm up now anyways. What are you doing?"
"I'm giving everyone their lunch." Fluttershy said. "I could make you something if you want."
"Really? That would be awesome." Grif said happily. "I haven't eaten in nine years!"
"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped, "a whole nine years?"
"Figure of speech." Grif said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh okay." Fluttershy said. "Follow me to the kitchen and I will make you a sandwich after I feed the animals."
"Alright." Grif said excitedly, following her into the kitchen. When she opened the door, he was surprised to see that the room was packed with animals.
"Wow, it's like you have your own petting zoo." Grif said sarcastically.
"Thank you."
Grif rolled his eyes.
"It will just take a minute for me to feed them all." Fluttershy said, opening a package of food, pouring it into a bowl.
"Here let me help." Grif said, grabbing another bag.
"Thank you." Fluttershy said. "What do you plan on doing after?"
"After what?" Grif asked.
"After you've eaten." Fluttershy replied.
"Once you get to know me, you'll feel pretty stupid asking me that." Grif laughed.