It was only a couple of evenings later that I was making my way to the local animal shelter with Fluttershy to volunteer. Of course, she wasn’t the one to invite me, at least not officially. She wanted to, of course, helping me and going along with her friends plan. I don’t think she had the nerve to ask something of someone whom she only knew as an acquaintance though. After plenty of encouragement from her friends, and then an eventual pseudo form of asking for her, I agreed. I always liked animals, probably not as much of her of course, but I needed to get out again after all. I had enough time so that I once again began to think of my many mistakes and unlucky situations once more. That wasn’t a good thing. Besides, I enjoyed spending time with Rainbow Dash and was eager to see what the others did to pass their time.
“So, uh, how often do you do this exactly?” I asked her as we walked down the sidewalk. The warm sun was beaming down on us and occasionally glaring off storefront windows, causing us to squint. I could barely hear her soft voice over the whir of a car passing by on the road. “What was that?” I asked.
“Oh, sorry… I try to as much as I can, but with so much homework, I only get down here about twice or three times a week. I really do wish I could help all of those poor little homeless critters more though.” I was sure that was the longest I had ever heard her talk to me specifically. I had not only found the perfect subject to get her talking, but it also seemed as if she was more comfortable with doing so when it was only the two of us. Well, at least it forced her to that is.
“I’d say two or three days is more than enough with school and everything,” I said with a shrug.
“Oh, yes, I guess you’re right... and, um, I do need the occasional day off too,” she said with a soft but nervous laugh. “I always make up for it in the summer though.”
“Do you volunteer fulltime in the summer or something?”
“Mhm, as close to fulltime as I can get that is. I really do need to get a job this summer though, but oh, all of those poor little pets,” she said with a defeated sigh.
“Yeah, that does seem like a tough choice,” I said to in an attempt to comfort her.
“You really think so? All of the other girls think money, money, money. It’s always so much more important than the wellbeing of animals.”
“Y-yeah, keeping animals happy is pretty important too.”
“But I don’t know, I can’t just volunteer forever. I guess I will have to cut down on my hours there and get a…” she paused, letting out an anxious gulp, “a job.”
“Eh, it’s not too bad, I guess… I need to start looking for a job too.”
“You could always help Applejack down on her family’s farm!” she gasped excitedly before her eyes shot down in embarrassment. “Except… I don’t know if they really take any outside help. “Oh, or you could work at Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie in the summer.”
“Hmm, I’ll think about it, I guess.” Although I knew I needed a job, I certainly wasn’t ready to start searching. I wanted to hold off until it absolutely needed to be done. After crossing a street, the name of which I didn’t catch, I looked up from the grungy sidewalk to see exactly where we were headed. A block ahead and on the corner of the next street was the sign for the animal shelter, displaying both a cartoon-esque cat and dog.
“Well, this is it,” Fluttershy said, pulling out a small ring of keys from her bag as we approached the entrance. I was rather surprised when she stuck a key into its lock.
“Wait, is it not open, or?”
“Well, they can’t run it all day. The people who volunteer here have to have jobs too. It opens and closes every few hours,” she said as she turned the key and opened up the door. The woofing of a few dogs poured out from inside.
"So, are you the only one coming in for now then? It seems this would be the time most people could make it.”
“Oh, yes, it is, but it’s also the time most people have to spend with their families or relaxing too. Normally when I come in, I do everything on my own to give them a break.” I was surprised not only by the fact that she could basically run the place on her own, but by how truly kind the girl was. She happened to notice my surprise as well. “It’s not too bad though, there’s never too many animals in here which is a really good thing.”
“Oh, alright.”
“… But I am grateful for the extra help.”
“I haven’t done anything yet, but you’re welcome,” I said with a laugh as we walked inside.
“Hello there,” Fluttershy said as she flicked on the light and went about opening a few cages. A couple of friendly dogs with wagging tails came over to see me. As I was petting them, I noticed a separate room walled off with glass along with a second much larger one. The first contained an assortment of cats and the second had a massive maze of transparent pipes. At closer inspection, I discovered the many pipes were filled with hamsters.
“Whoa… that’s a lot of hamsters,” I muttered, observing a few as they made their way through the little pathways.
“Oh yes, they’re our biggest population here.”
“Huh, I wonder why?”
“I really have no idea, I’m not sure who would ever want to get rid of one of these adorable little guys.”
“Yeah, they have a pretty impressive home here though.”
“Yes, but it’s very hard to clean. I did that the last time I was here,” she said, a look of what almost came off as horror upon her face. “Anyways, want to help me with the food and water? I’ll do the cat litter. Then we’ll take the puppies out for a short walk.”
“Sure, what do I need to do?” I was grateful that I wasn’t assigned the cat litter job.
After the simple task was explained to me, I went about cleaning out the food and water bowls before refilling them to the brim and placing them back in their rightful locations. Along with that, all of the residents got a special treat as well. A dish of canned meat and gravy which looked more like a slab of meat with water for the cats, an assortment of bones and rawhides for the dogs, and some kind of honey biscuit treats for the hamsters. Although the treat giving made the task a bit more enjoyable, it was still rather dull. I didn’t even have a chance to talk to Fluttershy much since we were both busy.
“It’ll be nice not to have to take multiple walks today,” Fluttershy said softly behind me. Busily filling a bowl inside one of the cat’s cages, I jumped slightly at the sudden, unexpected noise.
“Gah!” I groaned as the metallic sound of the cage resonated in my ears and pain slowly pulsed through my skull.
“Oh… oh my, I’m sorry,” she muttered in despair.
“It’s fine,” I muttered, cautiously pulling away from the small cage door as to not hit my head again. I turned around to see her eyes wide with fear and embarrassment, and a hand covering her mouth. “It really is. I just didn’t hear you come up behind me.”
“I should have announced myself. I’m so sorry.”
I smiled as a rubbed my head, the point of impact still stinging. “It’s fine, really. I promise.”
Suddenly her hand wrapped around my wrist as she pulled my fingers away from the bump. Parting my hair, she examined it thoroughly before deciding my response was truthful. She certainly was much less fearful of getting close and personal when someone or something was in danger, even if it was extremely minor danger. “Okay, I’m just glad I didn’t do too much damage.”
“Anyways, what were you saying?”
“Oh… um, I was just saying it’s nice that you’re here to help today. I normally have to take more than one walk for each dog to have his or her exercise, but with you here, I think we can do it all in one run. You don’t mind walking more than one dog at once, do you?”
“No, I guess not,” I said with a shrug. “Er… do they pull a lot?”
“Oh, nothing too bad, I can keep them in line if they do.”
I chuckled at the thought, how could such a quiet girl be good at keeping animals behaved. “Uh, alright.”
Pulling out the leashes from the closet, we were quickly surrounded by eager dogs, yipping and waging their tails. The variety of harnesses and clips for their collars got rather confusing, especially due to the fact that I had no clue how to put most of them on. Of course, with a little help from Fluttershy, everything went perfectly fine. With two dogs in each had, and two more in hers, we set off on our short trek up and down a few streets. The first half of our walk was completely silent. Although Fluttershy did seem nervous, the situation never grew too awkward. I was busy anyways, becoming familiar with having leashes in my hands along with much too excited dogs attempting to pull them away. After I did get comfortable though, the silence finally began to settle in.
“So, why do you like animals so much anyways?” I asked, speaking the first thing that came to mind. I could tell I caught her off guard by the soft, unintelligible mumbles that escaped her mouth before she spoke.
“… Well, I’ve always loved them since I was really young. Going outside into my yard or to the park always absolutely amazed me. It was like going on an adventure to a completely different world. There was so much to see and so many sweet adorable animals to talk to. I didn’t have many friends when I was that young. So animals and nature became my friends.”
“Ah, and I guess it just stuck?”
“Oh, yes, it’s sad to see how many of us ignore and neglect nature, especially when we keep those critters in our home like these guys and girls.”
“Hmm, yeah, it really is. Why do they even get pets if they end up abandoning them?”
“You’re right, but I guess we can’t fully blame them either. I’m sure there’s situations and circumstances we don’t hear about.”
“I guess so.” It was amazing to hear the girl talk so much, and even better, express her own opinions honestly. Normally those opinions would change slightly to appease the other girls. It was as if I was talking to a completely different person than the Fluttershy I originally knew. I was amazed, really. For whatever reason, at least for the time being, she was comfortable enough around me to let down her defenses and come out of her extremely tough shell. I don’t know how I managed to breach it, but I was incredibly glad that I did. “Gah!” I yelped. Not noticing that one of the dogs had spotted a squirrel, I was taken by surprise when it lunged forward. The other dogs did so as well in what could only be described as a chain reaction of one dog after the other. I easily regained my balance, but the sequence of sudden tugs had certainly gotten my heart pounding, along with Fluttershy’s as well.
“Are you okay?” she asked, giggling softly. I felt as though her question was slightly mocking, a surprise coming from her.
“Yeah, that got my adrenaline pumping a bit, but I’m good,” a said with a sigh, laughing at myself along with her odd attitude towards the situation.
“Heheh,” she giggled a bit louder with a smile, “same. I didn’t see that squirrel either.”
Although she was so close to being the polar opposite of Rainbow Dash, I was falling for Fluttershy’s own unique personality and charms just as I had with the other girl. Yet, I wasn’t quite sure if I was falling for friendship or something more. I was enjoying everything about her. The new amazement of how much she had to say, the way she giggled, and the sound of her soft, sweet, and comforting voice. She was so considerate and caring too. The fantasy of holding her hand as we continued to walk the dogs filled my mind. The idea of her surprise when my hand wrapped around hers, how she would fumble with her hand to escape at first but them calm down and hold mine. It would be silent, but the comfortable kind shared between two who are close. I knew I was only dreaming though. I was sure I’d have to be her friend for quite some time before I was trusted well enough to take our relationship further, and I was barely even her friend. Even then, I wasn’t sure if that’s what I wanted to pursue. It was confusing, really.
To get my mind off such thoughts, I decided to speak with her again. “So, what are these guys’… er… and girls’ names, anyways? What’s their story?”
Our conversation was basic, but it passed the time nicely, and I was still enjoying the simple fact that sentences, paragraphs even, were coming out of her mouth. Her main focus was on the dog’s personality and quirks rather than their story like I had asked. I soon figured out why. She apologized and explained that she knew, but she couldn’t say due to the fact that many of the stories were emotional. She didn’t want to sob in front of me. I told her I understood completely, and she thanked me for that.
After returning to the shelter, we finished up by giving the cages a quick cleaning and sweeping the floors. We talked little then, but I would comment on our activities or mention casual subjects on occasion to keep the conversation up. Before I knew it, I was heading out the door, and Fluttershy was locking it.
The breeze had picked up slightly and the sun had sunk considerably in the ageing evening. We both shuddered at the sudden change in temperature. The air was growing cool and the soft, but even colder breeze brushed against our exposed arms. Neither of had thought to bring a jacket since the day was so warm. I could see the goosebumps on her arms without even looking for them. With her arms crossed and her body shaking, she looked so innocent and helpless. All I wanted to do was hold her as we began to walk back to our homes, but I knew she wouldn’t appreciate it. In her mind, the physical contact was surely too much for someone she still did not know that well.
“S-so, did you like it?” she asked after a moment of silence.
“No, no I didn’t,” I said jokingly, for a moment forgetting how sensitive the girl was. I looked over to her with a chuckle and noticed the hurt, almost fearful look on her face.
“Oh… um…I’m sorry for making you come then… I…”
“Fluttershy,” I said with a smirk, a bit amused by how much a simple comment could affect her, “I was kidding. I really did like it.”
“Oh… heheh,” she said with a nervous giggle, “I’m sorry. So, um, would you do it again?”
“Yeah, I mean, I mainly enjoyed it because I had someone to talk to, but I’d do it again. The animals were all pretty cute and fun too, but, you know…” I muttered excitedly, not thinking too much about what I was saying before letting it out.
“Because of me?” she asked curiously, giving me a rather stunned look.
“Yeah, it’s nice to actually hear what you have to say.”
“Mhm, yeah, I guess I’m getting comfortable with it a bit easier than I normally do.”
“Huh, that’s good though.”
“Oh, yes. So would you like to help me next week then?”
“Yeah, sure, as long as it’s not on the same day as my training with Rainbow Dash.”
“Oh, yes, she was telling me about that. She’s pretty determined to get you in shape. I hope you’re ready,” she said with a teasing giggle. “Even if you want to quit, I don’t think she’ll let you.”
“Well, damn,” I said with a laugh. “It’ll be good for me though.” My heart began to pound lightly as a new statement came to my mind, one which caused blood to rush to my cheeks. “Actually, you know what, uh, it doesn’t just have to be the animal shelter again. We can do something else a different day.” My eyes darted away from her. Even if I was only asking as a friend and only wanted to be asking as a friend for the time being, I couldn’t help but feel anxious. Perhaps this was due to her own nervous attitude towards such things.
“Oh… um… I,” she struggled to get out, taken aback by how suddenly I had changed the subject. “O-okay, maybe if I’m not busy we can.”
“Yeah, homework, sorta forgot about that.”
“Mhm.”
I didn’t know how to respond, but for some reason, I felt the need to. Still unsure of what to say, we both grew silent and returned to shuddering in the cool breeze. We passed by the occasional person either heading in the opposite direction or literally passing them because of our fast pace. For the most part, all I could hear was our quick steps on the pavement beneath, and the shuddering breaths of air being sucked in and let out of our mouths. I was fairly entertained when I realized how well our conversation had distracted us from the elements. I hadn’t felt cold at all then, but as soon as we stopped, the cold had returned just as quickly as it left.
“Um, anyw-” I turned to the sound of her soft voice which had halted. I realized why as a group of loud men split and passed around us, Fluttershy now behind me. After a few moments she caught back up to my side. “I should, um, probably be going the other way now, I need to get back home.”
“You didn’t miss your turn, did you?” I asked, my heart jumping slightly at the thought.
“Oh, no, I’ll be fine taking a little detour. I missed it on purpose anyways.”
“Okay,” I muttered, wondering if it was for me or because of some other circumstance. I didn’t ask though.
“Um, goodbye?” she said, looking down at her feet and brushing her hair behind her ear as she awaited my response.
“See you tomorrow at school… uh, I had fun and… yeah, let’s do something soon, okay?”
“Mhm,” she mumbled softly as she turned to cross the road, the sign across the way flashing the glowing figure of a person, encouraging her to move faster.
As I awaited my own light to turn, I realized the reason why talking with Fluttershy had felt so urgent to me. What I had heard, what I had felt when hearing it, to me at least, was rare. I had never before seen the real Fluttershy until that day. It felt as though it was so rare, that it could easily be lost. Even though I hadn’t worked hard for it, it was simply luck that she felt comfortable around me. I assured myself that this was but one reason I had to get closer to her, to spend more time with her. It was so I could keep that connection alive, strengthen it into a real friendship so she would no longer have to worry about being open with me. It would become normal, and that was what I wanted. I appreciated her sweet and caring personality, and wanted to experience more of it. I wanted to be her friend. Perhaps there was a chance for more. I already felt as though I had a better chance with her than Rainbow, but at the same time, it could have been even slimmer. I had to get to know her better before I could decide that though. I would have to if I wanted a chance.