“Now please just try to calm down. Nobody here is going to hurt y-“ Fluttershy’s soothing words had fallen on deaf ears, as a loud, hissing sound had continued to erupt from the dog crate before her, a sticky-note on top of it reading, ‘Extremely Aggressive. Keep separate from other animals’ in large, red letters.
The owner of the animal shelter had to leave the store to run a few personal errands, and had left Fluttershy in charge of the place while he was out. Seeing as Fluttershy usually has a pretty good head on her shoulders when it came to animals, she considered herself capable of the task.
What she HADN’T counted on, was the raccoon that had just been brought in being this uncooperative.
“Oooh. Why are you so angry? Can you at least attempt to act a little-“ The raccoon in the cage once again failed to give any sign that he had a soul and hissed again. Fluttershy flinched slightly as the cage shook in response to the creature’s angry thrashing. She was actually starting to get the impression that this raccoon was possessed by the Devil or something. Nothing else could be this pointlessly pissy.
Fluttershy was at the end of her rope. Her usually soft and caring expression had changed into a stern glare, and she had her mouth curved into an angry frown.
“Now listen here! I’ve done nothing but be nice to you, and you continue to be difficult, mean, and overall unpleasant! So I suggest you shape up or I’ll have to tell your owner how you’ve been behaving!” Fluttershy exclaimed, slightly raising her voice. The raccoon didn’t seem to care for Fluttershy’s warning and continued to hiss in rage.
Fluttershy had had enough.
She had to resort to “The Stare.”
Upon seeing the wide-eyed, unblinking, angry glare on the girl’s face, the raccoon’s ears folded back. He shuffled to the back of his cage, whimpering slightly as he stuck his tail between his legs.
It was at that moment that the door to the shelter opened, prompting Fluttershy to stop her stare-down with the raccoon and look toward it. Entering the building were two faces that were familiar to Fluttershy.
“Oh. Sunset, I didn’t know you were coming h…oh dear.” She took one look at Screwball, who stood about a foot behind Sunset, and knew something wasn’t right with her. In a sharp contrast to her usual sarcastic and smug know it all prankster air about her that she usually possessed, Screwball simply had a forlorn look on her face.
To say the least, everything about this scenario just looked…wrong.
“Umm…Screwball? Are you alright?” She asked.
Screwball looked mildly annoyed, something that was quite rare on the young girl.
“Just peachy Flutters…no.” she said, nearly mute at the end of her statement.
Fluttershy raised a curious eyebrow.
“I don’t think you’re telling me the truth Screwball. You can tell me anything, trust me.” Fluttershy said in her usual, comforting tone of voice.
Screwball was obviously not in the mood for Fluttershy’s prying, and her expression hardened.
“Look Flutters. You’re a nice girl and everything; but I am REALLY not in the talking mood right now. So just take your persistency, and stick it right up your-“ Sunset covered Screwball’s mouth with her hand before she said something she’d regret later.
“Fluttershy, did Donut Joe drop off a raccoon earlier?” She asked.
Fluttershy nodded and pointed to the dog crate in the middle of the room.
“Yes, he’s right over there. Is he yours?”
“Not quite. He’s Screwball’s. Apparently he’s been digging in Donut Joe’s trash.” Sunset said.
Fluttershy looked at Screwball, then at the cage, and back to Screwball. She could kind of see Screwball owning something that is normally considered a pest as a pet. Especially one that’s this…energetic.
“Alright, you can take him home. Just be careful. He’s in a bit of a foul mood.” Fluttershy warned.
“Hey, if I was stuck in a cage all day, I’d be pissed off too. It’s really a wonder he hasn’t clawed your eyes out yet Fluttershy.” Screwball said.
Both Fluttershy and Sunset turned their head toward her with equally disturbed looks on their faces.
“…Okay, even by your standards that was messed up.” Sunset said in a mix of a somewhat creeped out but at the same time amazed tone.
Screwball ignored her and walked over to the cage. She kneeled down to the raccoon inside’s eye level.
“Hey Strife? You alright?”
Strife took notice of his owner coming to his aid and made a few squeaking noises.
“I know. Just trying to have a decent meal and then BAM! Pest jail! Life sucks that way sometimes doesn’t it?”
Strife made a few more squeaking sounds and appeared to roll his eyes in a sarcastic manner.
“Well it’s alright, cause Joe’s a bitch. We’ll get back at em’ for this, I can guarantee you that.”
While Screwball and Strife were plotting their revenge for later, Sunset was having a conversation of her own with Fluttershy. Unsurprisingly, the subject was Screwball.
“So Sunset, how’s things going with Screwball?...If you don’t mind me asking.” Fluttershy asked shyly.
“It’s harder than I thought…by a lot. Screwball has had possibly one of the shittiest lives I’ve ever heard of, which explains her…behavior, quite a bit. The thing is…” Sunset stalled for a moment and looked at the girl across the room, conversing with her pet.
“…I can’t relate with her. She enjoys her persona WAY too much to stop her pranking, and I can’t figure out how to go about this.” Sunset said.
“Oh dear…Well, the way I see it, people like Screwball may just need a little kindness and understanding so others can get through to them. Try showing her that you can understand her way of thinking.” Fluttershy suggested.
“And that’ll get her to quit acting like a brat?”
“Well…It might get her to put an end to the damage she inflicts on Canterlot High if that’s what you’re asking.”
Screwball walked back to the two older girls, now with Strife sitting happily on her shoulder, sounding like he was purring. It appeared that with her pet raccoon now in-tow, Screwball looked to be a lot more like her usual, smartass self…
Although neither Sunset or Fluttershy could really decide if that was actually a good thing.
“Umm…Screwball, I’ve been meaning to ask…is it even legal to own those things?” Sunset asked, pointing at Strife.
“Uhhhh……..define ‘legal.’” Screwball said.
Sunset facepalmed.
“Sometimes I forget who I’m even talking to when I try to apply logic…Whatever. Just make sure that thing doesn’t piss on my seats.” Sunset grumbled.
“Relax Shimmer, Strife is perfectly trained to use a litter box.” Screwball assured her before she walked out the door of the shelter and to Sunset’s car. Sunset started to follow suit, but before she could leave Fluttershy stopped her.
“Remember what I said Sunset. Kindness and understanding.” She said…
Following Fluttershy’s advice was going to prove to be a LOT more difficult than Sunset imagined. Why? Because it seemed like Screwball was going out of her way to act as obnoxious as humanly possible on the car ride to her home.
Similar to last time, Screwball found it appropriate to listen to her music on her earbuds full blast and sing along to them…
Loudly.
And it was “What Does The Fox Say?”
It was at this point that Sunset was sort of hoping that something would kill her on the road. Anything to rid herself of the ear rape that was Screwball’s singing of that annoying-as-hell tune.
Sunset then started to smell something in the car. She couldn’t quite place the smell, but whatever it was, it smelled terrible. This hadn’t been in her car previously, and she began to wonder what it was, and how Screwball was dealing with this.
It wasn’t until then that she realized the thing that hadn’t been in the previous car ride before was here now.
Strife sat in the back seat of the car, a relaxed smile on the animal’s face. Sunset looked at the creature’s paws and noticed the wet spot sitting below him.
‘…She lied to me.’ Sunset thought to herself.
This was going to be tougher than she thought.