• Published 26th Jan 2015
  • 2,143 Views, 58 Comments

Chasing a Dream [Cancelled] - KillerRobotQuote



Night Chase is an ordinary kid in high school who loves to run. But when a chance encounter leads to befriending someone new, Night finds himself with a lot more to focus on than just running.

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Angel the Devil

Nothing looks familiar to him at all. Twisting, turning paths branch and fork in seemingly every direction. The sun is low in the sky, making everything shady and unrecognizable.

He darts around frantically, calling for help. None comes to him. The once beautiful area is now cold and uninviting. Staying here is dangerous, but so is venturing any further. What is he to do?

He turns around to find that the path he was walking has disappeared. He’s never been the kind to admit he’s in over his head, but even he can’t deny what he’s feeling right now.

He’s terrified.

The snapping of twigs nearby makes him jump. He’s alert, but can’t make anything out in the foliage. What if this place has bears? Or wolves? Or other creatures that will swoop in and eat him when he’s defenseless?

Not knowing what else to do, he curls up on the ground and starts to cry.


Ruby DeJure hummed to herself softly as the sound of sizzling pancake batter hit the skillet. It had been some time since she’d tried her hand at pancakes. She blamed that on someone else in the household. Though she was never very good in the kitchen, she still loved the excitement of making things.

“Well, I’d better go now,” said Sales Pitch, a tall man with deep purple skin in a uniform shirt. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

“Bye, honey,” Ruby said, placing a kiss on his lips. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’m sure you’ll have fun. Oh, I won’t see him until tonight, so tell him I said ‘good luck,’ okay?”

“Will do,” Ruby said, smiling. “Take care.”

With that, Sales left the house, leaving Ruby alone in the kitchen. She flipped the pancake and inspected her work. A little overdone, but not bad for the first one of the batch. She stacked it on a serving plate and started preparing a second one.

Within a few minutes, Ruby could hear thumping on the stairs. She turned to see her son standing at the kitchen’s entrance, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Wassup, mom?” Night mumbled. “Those pancakes? What’s the occasion?”

“Well, today’s my day off, so I figured you’d like a special breakfast for the day.”

“Awesome-sauceome. I’d never turn down pancakes.”

“But first,” Ruby said with a stern look. “You need to get dressed.”

“Aww, come on, I’m decent.” Night gestured to his body, which was being covered by nothing more than a single pair of boxer shorts.

“No you’re not. Now get dressed.”

With a huff, Night rolled his eyes and turned. “Not like you’ve never seen me naked before.”

“That was back when you were still peeing the bed!”

As Night got dressed in his room, Ruby finished making the stack of pancakes for the two of them. She’d just finished setting the table when Night came back, clad in jeans, a tee shirt, and a lightweight jacket.

“Much better,” Ruby noted. “Now please, have a seat.”

“Thanks,” Night said as he sat down. He started digging into the food laid before him. “Fo whaf’s vrilly vee occavion?” Night asked with his mouth full.

“Pardon?”

Night swallowed. “Breakfast. Even on your days off, you rarely make me breakfast. Usually you ask me to cook you pancakes.”

“But you’re so good at it!” Ruby whined.

“Beside the point. I figure you’ve got something awesome going on. So what’s up?”

Ruby sat down at the table and poured herself some coffee. “Well, actually, my girlfriends and I are going out this weekend. I’ll be leaving myself in just a couple hours.

Night nodded. “Ah. One of those wine-tasting tours you enjoy going on?”

“You know it.”

“Alright, well, have fun. You already know my weekend plans.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “That’s right. Your father wanted to wish you good luck.”

Night raised an eyebrow. “‘Good luck?’ For what?”

“For tonight, of course,” Ruby said slyly, a smile creeping onto her face. “You’re finally going on a date with someone!”

“Ugh,” Night groaned. “I knew it was a mistake telling you. It’s not a date. We’re just going as friends. Hell, I don’t think you can even call us that, seeing as we’ve only talked-”

“What did you just say?”

A chill ran down Night’s spine. Trembling, he slowly looked up at his mother across the table. Ruby’s face had noticeably darkened, and her eyes glowed dangerously bright. Night gulped when he saw the ominous aura radiating from her body, making her look like a villain out of a shonen anime.

“I-I mean…”

“Did I just hear you cuss?”

“I’m sorry, mom!” Night pleaded, squeezing his eyes shut and bowing his head so that his face was almost in his breakfast. “That was careless of me, and it won’t happen again. I am above using vulgar slang, and I will not repeat the offending word in this household again!”

“Hmm…” Ruby mused, her eyes half-lid in contemplation. “Alright, I’ll let this one slide, since the word was rather tame.”

“Thanks mom,” Night whispered.

“Now then,” Ruby said with a smile, having cheered up immensely. “Will you be wearing something different tonight? You’re never going to impress a girl with that. Except maybe for-”

“No, mom, I’m not, because I’m not trying to impress anyone. Besides, we’re going to an animal shelter. Why would I wear something nice only for it to get scratched or pi- peed on?”

“Well, okay, do what you want,” Ruby pouted. “I’m only speaking from experience and what I’d like to see if I were in her shoes.”

“So you’ve thought about how I’d look if I were to go out with you.”

Ruby gave her idiot son a deadpan stare. “Your attempt to make things awkward failed,” she responded.

Night grinned. “Darn. I’m getting rusty.”

The rest of the morning went by as normal. Once Night had finished brushing his teeth and packing his lunch, he went up to his mom and gave her a hug.

“Bye mom. Have fun this weekend. I’ll see you when you get back,” he said.

“Thanks sweetie. I will. You have fun on your non-date, as well as your actual date tomorrow,” she joked.

Night rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Sure thing,” he responded.

Ruby then placed a kiss on the center of Night’s forehead. He wasn’t sure why, but it was the one gesture of hers that didn’t embarrass him, even in public. There was just something about it that filled him with calm.

“I love you,” said Ruby.

“Love you too,” Night replied. With that, he made his way to the front door.

Just as he was about to leave, Ruby called, “Wait, Night?”

Night looked back at his mom. “Yeah?”

Ruby stared at Night for a moment before finally saying something.

“Good luck.”

Night gave her a funny look. “That again? Uh… yeah, sure. Okay, bye.” Night then stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him.

Ruby was left standing alone in the house, staring at the door where her son had been only a moment ago. After a full minute of silence, she spoke.

“Good luck with Minuette.”


As Miss Cheerilee droned on about about the literary significance of some dead author or another, Night’s mind wandered elsewhere. Minuette hadn’t met him on the sidewalk that morning. Considering her studious nature, it seemed unlikely that she’d decided to cut class, so chances were pretty good that she was here. She either left early or was dropped off by her mom, despite the dentist’s office being in the opposite direction from the school. It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened, for various reasons, but it was still unusual.

So she was still mad at him for rescheduling. Night hated making Minuette upset, but what choice did he have? Still, they’d endured worse, so it would surely only be another few days before the tension between them disappeared. Everything would be back to normal by Monday.

Shifting in his seat, Night reached down and rubbed the bandage on his leg through his jeans. Though he hadn’t taken the bandage off, the scrape was healing quite nicely. With a little luck, Fluttershy would be able to take it off for good by the end of the day. Too bad the damage had already been done: Night had texted Coach Soarin last night about his minor injury. Coupled with the days of practice he’d missed, Night was ineligible to compete at the meet in Appleloosa tomorrow.

Sighing, he laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes. At least the next two days would be interesting. He had never been to an animal shelter before. Maybe tonight would be pretty cool. And seeing Fluttershy in her comfort zone was sure to be a sight.

“Am I keeping you up, Mr. Chase?”

Night groaned, lifting his head to face his teacher. Half of the class laughed. “Sorry, Miss Cheerilee. Won’t happen again.”


It was lunchtime and the girls were sitting at their usual table. Rainbow Dash was the last to arrive, smacking her tray of food down hard enough to get her friends’ attention.

“Guys, I need you to listen to the greatest idea in the history of ever.”

“Please tell me this isn’t another one of your extreme sports ideas,” Rarity moaned. “We don’t want you getting hurt again over something so foolish.”

“For the record, baseball would be cooler on skateboards while wearing football equipment, but that’s not the point. I think we should start a band!”

“A band?” The four girls looked at Rainbow with confusion.

“An’ why’s that?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I got the idea last night when Rivet played some guitar for me,” Rainbow explained. “He let me try it out a little, and I totally got how to play it! It was super-easy, and he said I was a natural at it. I think he might have even been a little jealous…”

“Well, that’s great, but why does that mean we have to form a band?” Applejack questioned.

“Um, duh? You need a group to have a band. I mean, I could obviously carry the band myself, but it would be really neat if we could all play together.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy whispered. “I’m not particularly good at any instrument.”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow reassured her. “You can play something simple if you want. I was actually thinking that we would be the lead songwriters.”

“That sounds fun!” Pinkie cheered. “I call drums! I can totally hit those drums with those sticks!”

“Hang on a sec, sugarcube. I don’t think this is a great idea. I mean, instruments are pricey, and is there really any reason to form a band in the first place?”

“Come on, AJ, it’s just for fun. Stop making it such a big deal.”

“Well, why don’t we bring it up with the boys tomorrow?” Rarity suggested. “Maybe they’ll have some ideas.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Rainbow realized. “We still need to invite Night or this whole thing will be pointless.”

“Um, actually Rainbow-”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I won’t ask you to invite him. I know you don’t feel comfortable doing something like that. I’ll take care of it.”

“But Rainbow-”

Before Fluttershy could finish, Rainbow Dash was already gone. Fluttershy sighed and returned her attention to the rest of her table. Everyone else watched as their friend went to the table across the cafeteria and chatted to the dark-skinned boy. They tried to stifle their giggles when they saw Rainbow Dash physically recoil in response to something Night said to her. They immediately pretended to make small talk amongst themselves when Rainbow started making her way back. Rainbow stood next to Fluttershy’s seat, her eyes wide, jaw dropped, and totally silent. Fluttershy slowly looked up at her best friend.

“No way…”

Fluttershy gave a sheepish grin.

“You talked to him on your own?!” Rainbow cried in disbelief.

“Good fer you, sugarcube!”

“And she’s even taking him to the animal shelter after school today!” Rainbow added. “How is that even possible?!”

“Ooh!” Rarity noted. “Could it possibly be a daaaaaaate? Are the two of you going oooooout?”

“N-NO!” Fluttershy squealed, completely flustered and hiding behind her hair.

“Oh, relax darling, I’m only teasing you. But now I simply must know how you met with him yesterday.”

Fluttershy sighed. “O-okay, here’s what happened…”


“Yo! Sorry for the wait,” Night said as he jogged up to the courtyard statue where Fluttershy was waiting. “I had to tell Coach Soarin something, but we’re good now.”

“Okay, so you’re ready to go, then?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yep. Lead the way.”

The two began their walk toward the shelter in the same direction as the neighborhood where Fluttershy lived. That must have been convenient for her, not having to go out of her way to get to work from either her house or her school.

“So, how is your knee?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, it’s doing a lot better. Halfway through, I actually forgot that I had it on. I haven’t taken it off yet though, so I don’t know how it looks.”

Fluttershy nodded with a smile. “Good. I’m glad you’ve kept it on this whole time. Rainbow Dash always tries to take her bandages off too early.”

“Yeah, I can see that. She does seem a bit stubborn. And of course they won’t heal right if they’re not bandaged.”

“Right! That’s what I keep telling her, but she doesn’t want to listen.”

Night laughed. “Sounds like she’s being childish. But I’m sure she just doesn’t want you to worry.”

“Probably,” Fluttershy admitted with a chuckle. “Anyway, I’ll clean it and replace the bandage if necessary when we get to the shelter.”

“Alright, thanks,” Night said with a nod. The two then continued to walk in silence, the only sound being their shoes on the sidewalk and the occasional stray car.

After a full minute of this, Night started to feel awkward. Why the hell could he never seem to hold a conversation with people? He mentally berated himself after he momentarily considered cracking a joke about tackling her. He was sick of bringing that topic up, and she was probably not interested in hearing about it again. Why was he so bad at talking about new things? Night hated feeling like this as he typically did, but this time was even worse because this was Fluttershy.

...Huh? Why did that make it worse? What was so unique about Fluttershy? What made her any different from the dozens of people he didn’t talk to on a daily basis? Sure, he’d gotten unintentionally physical with her—goddammit, he thought of that again—but she was just another face in the crowd.

...Right?

Night cleared his throat awkwardly to get Fluttershy’s attention. “Hey, um, this is… gonna sound a little weird, but… by any chance…” Night looked away, blushing slightly. “Have… have we met before?”

Fluttershy looked at Night quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean before this past Wednesday. I feel like I’ve seen you before, but I can’t place it. Do you remember me from somewhere or know anything about this? Maybe why you look familiar to me?”

Fluttershy scrunched her face in deep thought. She looked really cute when she was thinking hard.

Wait, what?

“Well, maybe you’re thinking of when my friends and I took down Sunset Shimmer at the Fall Formal. The whole school saw us.”

Night stopped in his tracks and said nothing. He just stood there, staring into space, unmoving and unresponsive. Fluttershy started to skitter about as his odd behavior was making her anxious.

“N-Night?”

Finally Night blinked. He turned to look at Fluttershy with a blank, straight face. “Yeah. I, uh… Yeah. I guess you were there. That must be it.”

“Night?”

“Well, okay, whatever. That’s cool. Guess that explains that.”

Fluttershy took a step back. “Night? Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine. So, you mind telling me a little about what I’ll be doing at the shelter? This’ll be my first time there.”

Fluttershy hesitated at first, but finally she shook her head and continued walking alongside Night. “Well, since this is your first day, you’ll most likely be helping with stocking shelves and feeding the animals. The more advanced things are done by the employees.”

“Makes sense,” Night shrugged. “Now, you’re an employee, right? So what will you be doing?”

“Mostly the same things as you, but a little bit of working with the animals too. I’m not yet certified to actually treat the animals, but the staff like having me in the room. I suppose it’s good for me to see how it works for myself, and they also say the animals are calmer when I’m with them.”

Night laughed. “See? I was right!”

This made Fluttershy giggle, plastering a sweet smile across her face. For an instant, Night thought that he’d like to capture that moment when he made her laugh, and maybe, just maybe, make her laugh more times to come.


When Night and Fluttershy entered the animal shelter, they were greeted by a young receptionist at the front desk.

“Oh, hi there Fluttershy!” the woman greeted with a smile. “Who’s this you brought in?”

“Hello, Felicia. This is my classmate, Night Chase. He’ll be volunteering for the afternoon.”

“Wonderful!” Felicia beamed. “It’s been too long since we’ve had any extra help here.” She turned her attention to Fluttershy’s guest. “I’ll just need you to sign some forms here, and then we can get you started.”

“A'ight, cool. Can’t wait.”

As Night finished signing the paperwork while Fluttershy went to the back to get into her uniform, he noticed a little fuzzball sitting on the desk. He jumped when it opened its eyes and stared daggers at him.

“Gah! Ugh, jeez. What’s that, a rabbit?”

“Oh, that’s Angel,” Felicia explained. “He’s Fluttershy’s pet.”

“Really? Huh. Weird name for a guy. Well then.” Night lowered his head so that he was at eye level with Angel. The rabbit’s glare did not waver. “Hey there, guy. I’m Fluttershy’s friend. I'm-”

*SLAP*

Night was suddenly staring at the wall to the side, his eyes wide with shock and his left cheek stinging from the paw-shaped mark imprinted on his face. He waited a full three counts before he slowly creaked his neck back so he was facing the rodent. His glare was met with one just as intense.

“I know you didn’t just do that,” Night growled. “Behave like that, and we’re gonna have a problem, you and I. So here’s what I suggest: You never do that again, and I’ll be willing to overlook this little incident. So how about it? Do we have a-”

*SLAP*

“ALRIGHT, GET OVER HERE!!!”

Angel tore off into the room behind the desk, and Night gave chase while Felicia started howling with laughter. Angel darted into the women’s changing room and Night skidded to a halt. Sure, he may have been overcome with the desire to throttle the little bastard, but there was no way he was running in there. There were 43,000 possible different outcomes, and he was not liking his odds of getting a good one.

“Ah!” A soft voice let out a yelp from behind the door. “Angel! You startled me! You’re not supposed to come in when I’m changing.”

Night’s face went red and he gently smacked his forehead against the stone wall, simultaneously happy and pissed at the image that was suddenly put in his head. He walked out of the employee room and back into the lobby. Felicia was still trying to stifle her giggles at the situation.

“I should have mentioned that he doesn’t take very kindly to new people,” she stated.

“Yes, you should have.”

A few minutes later, Fluttershy stepped out into the lobby wearing her white uniform. Night would have commented on the outfit or mentioned how good she looked if that long-eared rat hadn’t been sitting on her shoulder at that moment.

“Night, I’d like you to meet Angel, my pet bunny and longtime friend. Angel, this is Night, my classmate.”

Night and Angel stared each other down for a few seconds, neither’s gaze wavering. “Charmed,” Night said through a forced smile and clenched teeth. Angel responded by jumping into the breast pocket of Fluttershy’s uniform and snuggled up.

“Oh! Angel, you know you’re not supposed to go there,” Fluttershy giggled.

Oh my god, Night thought. He’s actually taunting me.

“Thanks for waiting, Night,” Fluttershy said, oblivious to the silent duel that had just occurred. “I’ll take a look at your knee in the back, and then we’ll get started.”

Night shrugged. “Right. Thanks again.” He was ready to move on from that unpleasant encounter. Still, from the sound of things, Angel was here to stay. Night had a nagging feeling that he hadn’t seen the last of him, but that could wait. For now, Night was ready to do what he could to help out.


The next four hours went by relatively smoothly. After cleaning his wound and replacing his bandage, Fluttershy showed him around the shelter. He spent most of his time running about, performing simple tasks like changing blankets and filling food bowls for the animals. There was one Labrador that had been brought in to get some shots. He was a feisty one, so Fluttershy was asked to assist with the process. Night couldn’t enter, but the barking he’d been hearing for the past ten minutes had completely ceased, so he guessed that the girl had worked her magic.

To Night’s relief, Angel hadn’t bothered him the whole time he was working. He supposed that even Angel knew that messing with people while they were caring for animals could lead to some bad results. Regardless of whoever benefited the most from it, Night was happy. He’d worked jobs in the past with irritable coworkers before. Before he knew it, 7:30 was rolling around.

“Looks like we’ll be saying goodbye soon,” the head veterinarian commented. Night was resting in the break room when the doctor had walked in. His name tag read “Dr. Stable.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Night replied. “Kind of a shame. I actually really enjoyed it here.”

“Glad to hear that. Looks like Fluttershy found us a great helper.”

“Well, I never half-ass anything I do.”

“And we’re greatly appreciative of your efforts. That’s actually why I stopped by.”

“Well, you’re very welcome,” Night said with a smile. “I’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“We’d love to have you again,” the doctor replied. “So as thanks for your help today, we’d like to offer you a one-on-one session with any one of the animals.”

“Huh?”

“This is normally a thing we do with people interested in adopting a pet, usually a cat or a dog,” Dr. Stable explained. “It gives the soon-to-be owners a chance to play with the pet and decide if they'd like to take it home. There’s a room here we use specifically for that session.”

Night looked at him with curiosity. “When you say ‘play,’ what do you mean?”

“We take the pet in its cage into the room, and then let it out after the door is closed. It would just be you, one of the doctors, and whichever animal you selected. There’s an assortment of toys the two of you can use.”

Night paused for a moment before a grin started spreading across his face. “You know, I think I’m liking this place more and more by the second.”

“So is that a yes?”

“Definitely. In fact, I already know which one I’d like.”

“Fantastic. I’ll let the staff know, and I’ll come and get you once everything is ready.”

“Uh, wait, just a second,” Night interjected. “I was- I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you.”

“Certainly,” the doctor replied with a smile. “What is it?”

“Do you think… maybe… I could have…” Night blushed a little as he formed the next words. “...Fluttershy in the room instead?”

The doctor frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

Night started stumbling over his words. “I just- see, it’s like- um… ah… not- not like…” He cleared his throat and caught his breath. “It’s just that… I’d like Fluttershy to be there. She brought me here, and I just think it’d be nice if we shared that together.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Fluttershy told me that you volunteered of your own volition.”

“Well… yes. But I wouldn’t have if not for her.”

Dr. Stable thought for a minute. “Well… technically it’s a safety violation to not have an official, licensed, full-time staff member present… but we all know Fluttershy is qualified, and if not for those reasons, nobody here would object to that.” He thought some more. “Alright, fine. We will bend the rules this one time. But know that I will be supervising through the window.”

Night smiled and nodded. “I understand. Thank you very much.”

The doctor left the room and Night slouched back into his seat. As exciting as the session sounded, he was oddly distracted by something else pervading his thoughts.

Why was I insistent on being with Fluttershy? Yeah, I’m grateful to her, but what am I trying to accomplish? Am I thanking her? That doesn’t make sense. ‘Hey, watch me have fun playing with a puppy. Oh, BTW, thanks.’ What the hell? And the puppy I saw wasn’t really aggressive, so it's not like I'm afraid to be in the room with him without her there to calm him down.

What am I doing?

Why do I keep thinking of her?

Just then, the door opened, and Fluttershy stepped through. Her uniform was a little dirty and her hair slightly frazzled from a day’s work, but despite everything, she still looked great. She greeted Night with a smile.

“Dr. Stable told me what you asked. I’d be happy to go in with you.”

You know what? Forget it. Who cares? All I know is I’ve been enjoying the time we’ve spent together, and I’d like to keep it that way.

“Great. Thanks,” Night returned. The two left the room and browsed the room filled with kennels, each containing a puppy less than three months old. The selection was vast, and several were very tempting, but Night was already dead-set on the chocolate brown lab he’d seen earlier. Sitting right next to a purple and green dog of some sort was an adorable little brown ball of fluff. When it saw him, it immediately got up and started pawing at the cage door of the kennel, panting with joy.

Fluttershy, who was carrying the puppy’s kennel, and Night entered the private room in the back with the glass windows. Dr. Stable waved from behind the glass with a clipboard in hand. When the door shut behind them, Night sat on the tile floor on his knees. Fluttershy undid the lock and opened the cage door. The puppy bolted out and ran up to Night, standing on its hind legs while its front legs pawed at his torso.

Night played with the puppy for some time. It was particularly fond of the chew toy, which Night enjoyed waggling above the puppy’s head just beyond its reach. This unfortunately meant that the puppy gnawed at his hand on occasion, but he knew it was just playing.

To nobody’s surprise, the puppy took well to Fluttershy too. Night encouraged her to play as well, and it discovered that her fingernails were perfect for scratching those hard-to-reach places. Both of them laughed when it flopped onto its back in a state of delirious ecstasy after being scratched right above the tail.

Night looked at Fluttershy, who was currently demonstrating for him how to hold the puppy in his arms, similar to holding a baby. “Hey, Fluttershy?” She looked up at him. He sighed. “I just wanted to say… thanks. I’m glad you brought me here.”

She smiled at him. “No, thank you for deciding to come. The staff was really happy with you.”

“I was made aware of that, yes,” Night laughed. “But really, I mean it. Thank you for bringing me here. I really… had a great time.”

Fluttershy’s cheeks were tinged with pink. “You’re welcome. So, did you know that this little guy doesn’t have a name yet?”

“Really?”

“That’s right. So far, he’s just been called by his number assigned when he came here, Number 121.”

“Maybe I’ll call him '11 Squared.'”

“What?”

“Terrible, terrible math joke. I don’t know why I said that out loud. Please pretend I never said that out loud.”

Fluttershy giggled and held the puppy out for Night to take. He was apprehensive at first, but then found that holding it in his arms was actually pretty easy. The little guy burrowed into Night’s chest and closed his eyes.

“Aww, hey l'il guy,” Night cooed. “Are you getting sleepy? It’s almost 8:00. That’s past your bedtime, isn’t it? We can’t have that………… Brando.” Night looked at Fluttershy. “Brando,” he repeated.

“Aww, that’s an interesting name.”

“Well, it just seemed right.”

“Why’s that?”

Night blushed. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, deeply curious.

Night sighed. “I thought… he looked like a bowl of bran flakes.”

Air squeaked out from Fluttershy’s mouth as she tried to cover her laughter with her hand. Night’s face flushed red and he turned away.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy managed to say between breaths. “It’s just that that’s a first hearing something like that.”

“Hang out with me long enough, and I guarantee I’ll top it with something worse.”

“I like it though. You’re right. He really does look kind of like bran flakes.”

Time was up for the one-on-one session, so Night gently placed Brando into his kennel, and the two returned him. After Fluttershy changed back into her regular clothes and both of them wished the staff good night, the staff reciprocating, Night and Fluttershy exited the animal shelter and stood for a moment in the crisp night air.

“Do you think you’ll come again?” Fluttershy asked.

Night laughed. “After all that, good luck keeping me away! So… do you need me to walk you home?” he offered.

“That’s alright. I live very close by. I’m more worried about you getting back. Don’t you live further away?”

“Please. I’ll be fine. If I get jumped, I’ll just run! Nobody can catch me!”

Fluttershy didn’t laugh. Stealing a glance at her, Night saw that there wasn’t any humor on her face. Night sighed to calm himself down, then continued in a much more serious voice. “We both know this is a safe neighborhood, and you know I can handle a little hike home.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “How about this: I’ll text you when I get home so you’ll know that I got back safe, okay?”

“But we don’t have each other’s numbers.”

“Oh… well… do you want to exchange numbers?”

“Um… o-okay,” Fluttershy murmured.

After the two put the other’s number in their phone, they stood and faced each other awkwardly.

“Um… alright then. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“W-wait!” Fluttershy called. “Are you still coming to Applebuzz tomorrow?”

Night smacked his forehead. “Oh, right! Definitely. Now… wait, what was the plan? Are we all just meeting up at the restaurant on our own?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Ah… okay. Great. I’ll see you at six. Be safe.”

“You too,” Fluttershy wished. With that, the two went their separate ways to their homes, prepared to face what would surely be an eventful tomorrow.


[30 minutes later]

Night: Told you I’d be fine. :3

Fluttershy: Thank goodness. I’ll see you tomorrow! :)