"Big Mac, are you okay?"
Fluttershy's voice snapped him out of the flashback, and back into reality.
He found himself in the 'play area' of the animal shelter, a room that was painted to look like a field, with a grass-green base and a sky-blue coat. This was an attractive area for both employees and potential adopter alike, and that is where Big Mac found himself with Fluttershy. They were playing with the new litter of German Shepherd puppies that came in with their mother, who was found by the owner of the gas station tending to her pups behind his dumpster. They looked healthy, had their shots, and had so much demand for them that the shelter was in the process of organizing a lottery to choose the homes for the litter when they became old enough.
They were done for the day, after a few hours of cage cleaning, feeding, and giving the many different species and breeds of animals the attention they craved. Once the hard work was done, the last thing to do for the shift was to play with the new litter of dogs, which needed to run around and be energetic to maintain their health. The shelter's many cats were in the same room, hiding amongst themselves in the various cat scratchers that lined the walls. The cats were looking down at the two, and the dogs, as though they were judging them. Fluttershy was sitting cross-legged, had three of the puppies all around her, vying for attention and the chance to lick her face, which was futile. But, she did pick each one up individually and gave them scratches on their bellies, their legs moving forward with a spring-like action. She would then set them down and take the next one for their turn while the other continued to try for the attention they wanted.
Meanwhile, Big Macintosh was locked in a tug of war with the rest of the litter with a white rope. For the puppies, it was a losing battle. Big Mac did not do much, just hold the line while the rest of the litter pulled on it at the other end until the puppies, one even tried to be sneaky and lick Mac's hand to get him to let go, but to no avail, Big Mac was fixated on Fluttershy and her smile.
Throughout the entire time, the mother was getting her desperately needed sleep in the corner of the room, but even that didn't matter, what mattered was that smile. In Big Macintosh eyes Fluttershy's smile was a dead ringer to...
***
Big Macintosh tried to get up, but his chest was pressed back into the floor by a yellow, petite, soft hand.
"Keep laying down, you need to rest for a while," The feminine voice commanded him.
As he looked up, he saw the hole in the balcony that he caused. It was large enough that it would make the balcony unusable now, especially for its purpose of storing hay.
"I can fix that," he said in remorse, knowing that he shouldn't of went in the barn in the first place.
"You don't need to, this barn has not been used in years," The voice replied.
The hand reappeared again, this time with Big Mac's canteen in hand.
He sat up, using his elbows as a rest. The hand brought the container close to his mouth, and he took it with one of his hands, using the other elbow as a prop. A thirsty Big Macintosh took a few giant gulps of water from the canteen and set it next to him. In the process of setting it down, he looked to his right and he saw the source of the voice and the hand. She looked around his age, with pink flowing hair, and was wearing a tank top and a plant green long skirt that was fit for the time of year. Next to her was a sleeping Winona.
"Your dog is beautiful," she commented, stroking the puppy behind her ears.
"Yea, she is getting older now, so I thought it was time to take her out for an adventure, not exactly the best way to get her paws wet."
"How about you, where are you from? And why are you out this far from town?" the girl asked.
"I wanted to look around, how about you?" Big Macintosh asked.
"I... I don't want to say," the girl replied, looking a bit nervous.
"Are you from town?" He asked.
She shook her head in anxiety.
He got up and tried to walk over to her, but she only scooted away in the dirty concrete, kicking up a bit of dust. Winona following her and laid down next to where the girl rested. Big Mac got the message and whistled for Winona to come to his side, which she did faithfully.
"You don't want me to come near you?" he asked.
She shook her head, trying to stay in the shadow of the barn.
Big Macintosh grabbed his bag, opened it up, and pulled out the baking sheet sized Krispie square wrapped in plastic and placed it on an old workbench.
"I was going to give you this as thank you. I need to get back home. Nice meeting you."
Mac walked out of the barn with Winona, through the tall grass, and back into the trail. Big Mac never talked about what happened that day, he told his family "it was nice" when they asked about it.
By the time Big Mac had nearly all but forgotten the incident, Fluttershy arrived in ponyville elementary, claiming that her parents moved into the woods from parts unknown to be more "independent".
It seemed convincing enough, and it was back in a time when people usually didn't question it, so it was assumed that her parents were shut-ins.
Big Macintosh decided enough was enough: He had to solve that eight-year mystery of who the girl in the barn was, and whether the one girl he knew growing up was it.