"There you go, little guys," Fluttershy said. She sprinkled seeds upon the ground. The small pigeons, jays, and robins pecked at the ground, chirping happily.
She had just led these birds in a bit of choir practice, and Fluttershy felt her throat a bit parched. She went to drink a bit of water from a nearby fountain.
At the fountain, she paused momentarily. She looked around, noticing no pony out at a time so early in the morning. She came here every morning, tending to the birds, the squirrels, and even the small butterflies and beetles.
She looked on at the landscape of the park, the fresh spring green of the grass harmonizing well with the various flowers that decorated the land. In particular, she took notice of the roses, sprinkled carefully about the scene to compliment the verdant fields, bushes, and trees.
Fluttershy turned back after refreshing herself, and passed by the birds.
Fluttershy smiled as she looked upon the birds, their sounds familiar to her. "Be nice to each other, now." She sighed and took a moment to rest on a bench. Fluttershy looked at her hooves briefly, before crossing them and laying her head down.
Fluttershy awoke in the midday, the birds she was tending to absent.She let out a quiet yawn, and stretched out her limbs. She looked around her, then decided to simply hover down off the bench and trotted along the path that would lead her out of the park.
She kept her head down as she walked at a brisk pace through the park. The other ponies were all going about their own business: a few were having a picnic, some of the more athletic ponies were playing various casual sports, and there were those who were simply enjoying the day with their pets.
But Fluttershy kept walking, her head tilted at an angle just low enough that she could not see what, or who, was along her path.
"Oomph!" Fluttershy and the pony she had walked into bounced off each other.
Fluttershy looked up and said, "Oh, I am so sorry, I wasn't looking at were I was going, are you alright?" She stood there, looking at the mare she had just bumped into, who now had flower petals stuck in her mane. She had dropped a watering can she had been using, and it contents were leaking out onto a carefully arranged bed of roses. "Oh, I do apologize, please, allow me to pick that up and help fix those flowers."
Roseluck stood herself upright, and then promptly gasped, "Ah! My rose garden! It's ruined!"
"Sorry, I really didn't mean to–"
"Huh? Oh, hey! Hey, don't worry about it. It's fine, it's fine. No big deal. Come on, let's pick this up." Roseluck brushed her forelegs through her mane quickly to get the petals out of it. "See, no harm done!"
Fluttershy glanced over Roseluck, and said "But you just– "
"No harm, no harm. See," – Roseluck shook her head – "nothing in my mane."
Fluttershy raised one eyebrow. "But, your rose bed, it's still a mess."
Roseluck tilted her head at Fluttershy. "Oh, right, that," she said, momentarily glancing back behind her. "Are you going to help or not?"
"Yes, of course, of course, " Fluttershy said, nodding fervently, as she then picked up the watering can in her mouth.
Roseluck started to rearrange the flowers, carefully but quickly straightening their stems. "So, what's your name?"
"Frhnersherh, " Fluttershy said through her teeth, firmly holding the watering can.
"Nice to meet you Photoshot!"
Fluttershy placed the can back on the ground, upright. "Actually, it's Fluttershy."
"Oh,–" she brought her hoof up to her face "– right then." She removed her hoof from her face and carried on. "Well, I am Roseluck, but you can call me Rose, nice to meet you Fluttershy!" Roseluck exclaimed, as she finished fixing up the small garden.
Fluttershy looked at the refurbished rose garden, and said, "My, you did that rather quickly, Miss Rose. I mean, it seemed like such a mess..." Fluttershy let her eyes drift towards ground. "Sorry about that again."
"What, why that's no problem at all! You don't have to apologize again." Roseluck patted Fluttershy on the back. "Now that that's done, where are you off to?"
Fluttershy was taken aback a bit. "Me? Why, I was just heading home..."
Again, Roseluck tilted her head. "But, why? I mean, there's still so many hours of daylight left after all. Come on then, let's get something to eat."
"Oh, I don't know if I should, I mean, I don't really have much on me," Fluttershy said to the ground, rubbing one foreleg in front of the other.
"Don't worry, I'll pay. And, come on, look up, smile!" Roseluck lifted Fluttershy's chin, and the two looked each other directly in the eyes for the first time. They both immediately glanced away, blushing, and Roseluck brought her hoof off Fluttershy and brushed it through her mane.
Fluttershy hoofed at the ground a bit, but then slowly looked back up at Roseluck."Well, –" she started meekly "– I wouldn't want to impose, but if it's really alright with you, then that sounds quite lovely, Miss Rose."
Roseluck popped her head back up with a grin. "That's the spirit, Flutters! I know of a little place that serves great sandwiches." Roseluck re-positioned herself to Fluttershy's side."So– what do you do around here?" Together, they trotted along the path, not to Fluttershy's house, but onto an unexpected lunch in town.
**********
"So, Fluttershy, tell me about your friends, like, what do you guys do?" asked Roseluck, having just finished her sandwich.
Fluttershy stopped sipping from her juice carton and looked at Roseluck. She raised one eyebrow and said, "My friends and I? Why, I suppose we do a lot together."
"Yeah, but, I just mean, how often do you guys hang out together?"
"Well, every so often, but I don't have anything planned tomorrow –"
"Oh, you don't, huh?" Roseluck interjected.
"So, if you wanted to come by my place tomorrow, " – Fluttershy began to blush – "your welcome to do so."
Roseluck said in a higher pitched tone, "Really? I mean –" Roseluck cleared her throat " – I mean since you asked, it would be rude of me to decline. So what time would be fine?"
"Anytime would be fine with me, Rose"
