Animal Lover

"Oh... my..."

Fluttershy sat speechless as she saw a video of one of her oldest friends. “Mmph, yeesss, so close.” the recording of Rainbow Dash murmured as she touched herself in the shower. From what Fluttershy remembered of her visits to the Wonderbolt's training facilities Dash was in the locker room's showers, and no doubt Thunderlane had placed some sort of hidden camera system inside.

"Enough, give that back." Thunderlane said, reaching out to take back his phone. However, his attempt was foiled as Angel bit down on one of his fingers, causing him to withdraw his hand with a scowl. Luckily for him, Fluttershy had seen enough and stopped the video but kept hold of his phone.

"You really shouldn't have that, you know." she said flatly.

Thunderlane could only nod as he silently thanked Celestia that she hadn't seen the part where he enters the shower to have his way with Rainbow Dash. "So, can I have my phone back?" he asked her, reaching out again but not far enough for Angel to nip him again.

Fluttershy stood firm and shook her head. "Not until you delete that video and apologize to Rainbow Dash." she said, her urge to help her friend beating out any timidness.

"I can't do that, she'd kill me as soon as she saw me!" he said, truly scared. "I'll just delete it and you can tell her I did."

Fluttershy shook her head. "It's no good if you don't apologize. Besides, you did betray your own teammate's trust and invade her privacy. I'll even come with you to make sure she do anything harsh to you."

Thunderlane thought of one last way out. "Come on, please just do this one thing for me. I'll pay you 500 bits if you forget you ever found me."

Fluttershy's heart stopped at the mention of the large amount of money. 500 bits would cover all of her remaining expenses for her Winter Wrap Up duties, and even allow her to make some additional upgrades to some of the animal's homes that she wanted to do but couldn't due to the tight budget. But the though lasted for only a few mere seconds before being dismissed; this was her friend Rainbow Dash he was talking about. No amount of bits was worth losing her as a friend.

"No deal." she said, Angel nodding in agreement.

Thunderlane hung his head down in defeat. "Okay, okay... you win." he finally conceded. "But you won't tell anypony else about this, right? Once I apologize to Rainbow Dash I can go, right? Promise?"

Fluttershy nodded and stood up. "I promise. Now come on, the sooner we go the sooner we can put this all behind us."

Thunderlane nodded and followed Fluttershy out the door, leaving Angel Bunny behind at home. Both pegasi took to the air and flew above Ponyville to seek out Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane clearly trailing behind Fluttershy in fear of immediately being attacked once they found her. It didn't take too long for them to find Rainbow; they spotted her multicolored hair easily among the white snowy environment. She was at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack, the cowgirl trying her best to calm Rainbow as the angry pegasus mercilessly took her anger out on a nearby tree.

Thunderlane made sure to land out of sight of Rainbow Dash and tried pleading once more with Fluttershy. "I can't do this, you see how angry she is!" he panicked.

Fluttershy stood firm on her decision as she landed beside him. "No, you have to. I'll talk to her first and calm her down, then you can come out and say your sorry. Then you'll get your phone back."

Knowing that Fluttershy could easily take his phone and the incriminating evidence to the local guards, he had no choice but to nod and watch as she made her way through the apple trees towards her two other friends. His mind was consumed with thoughts of fleeing right there and then, but Fluttershy had promised he would be fine...

He waited nervously as he heard Fluttershy call out to her friends and they returned the greeting. After a few moments of casual conversation he winced as he heard Dash's voice explode in anger; no doubt Fluttershy had just informed her that he was nearby. Minute by excruciating minute went by as he heard Applejack and Fluttershy trying to calm their enraged friend, and after what seemed like years they finally succeeded. Her voice lowered considerably in volume, not to mention he no longer heard the constant 'WHUMP' of her hitting some poor tree.

"Thunderlane, you can come out now." he heard Fluttershy call out.

"YEAH, COME ON OUT YOU COWARDLY LITTLE SHI-" Rainbow started yelling out before she was interrupted by her friends reminding her to stay calm.

He waited a few more minutes before Fluttershy called out again. "Thunderlane, she's calm now. Please, come talk to her."

This time, there was no angry outburst from Dash. Thunderlane took a deep breath and slowly made his way towards the three mares. As he emerged into the clearing he saw Applejack leaning up against a tree, looking at him none too pleased. Fluttershy stood a little further back, once of her hands resting gently on the shoulder of the other pegasus mare present. That mare, however, appeared absolutely furious; her hands were clenched tightly closed and her teeth ground violently against each other, all while her eyes were locked solely on him. However, Fluttershy calmly nodded to him before speaking softly to her.

"Remember, Rainbow Dash, he's here to apologize."

Thunderlane gulped again before stepping forward, making sure to leave a considerable space between him and Dash. "L-look, I... I'm sorry that, well, you know... that I, er, recorded you... you know..." he stammered, not wanting to divulge to the other two mares present what exactly happened.

"And will it happen ever again?" Fluttershy asked him, seemingly unaware that Dash's face appeared more red than it's normal blue.

"No, I swear, it won't ever happen again!" he quickly said, fearing for his life as he saw Dash's anger rising. "Can I go now? Please?"

"Not until you shake hands." Fluttershy said. "It's the least you can do."

"O-okay." he finally answered. He slowly stepped forward and felt a wave of relief wash over him as he saw Dash's face suddenly calm down considerably. Once within arms reach of her he extended his hand and attempted a grin. "So, what'ya say? Forgive and forget, right?"

Rainbow Dash didn't move for a few seconds, then started to turn away from him. Thunderlane was genuinely surprised that she would be the one to walk away from their meeting, but before he could speak up she suddenly turned back towards him and-

*POW!*

"Again, real sorry 'bout this whole mess." Applejack said to Rumble.

Fluttershy could only nod as she stood next to AJ, her mind playing the events that occurred barely an hour ago over and over; Rainbow Dash launching a susprise attack on Thunderlane and beating him mercilessly, Applejack trying to pull Dash off of Thunderlane to no avail, and finally rushing off to find Big Mac who was finally able to pry Rainbow Dash's iron grip from around Thunderlane's neck. They managed to rush Thunderlane to the hospital in near record time, and it was a miracle that he refused to press charges against Rainbow for her attack, though Rainbow definitely showed no remorse for her actions. However, the doctor at the hospital did say that Thunderlane would be in the hospital for a week or two, thus leaving AJ and Fluttershy to inform Thunderlane's younger brother of the bad news.

Rumble simply nodded once Applejack had finished informing him of a modified version of Thunderlane's 'accident'. The older stallion had requested his brother be informed that he had suffered an accident while training for an upcoming race, which everypony involved was happy to go along with. "If'n ya need anything at all, just holler." Applejack finished.

Rumble pointed behind him into the house. "Actually, would you mind watching Thunderlane's dog for me while he's in the hospital? He can be a bit too rough sometimes and I won't be home enough anyways."

"Sorry, partner, whole barn is full up righ' now, but ah think Fluttershy here can watch yer brother's dog for ya." Applejack said.

"O-of course!" Fluttershy immediately said. Though she would have taken in the animal anyways, her decision was more guilt-driven than her natural love for all animals. 'It's the least I can do to make up for Thunderlane ending up in the hospital.'

"Are... are you sure?" Rumble asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, no offense, but she doesn't look like she'd be strong enough to control him. Boomer can be a bit hyper."

"Ya kidding? Fluttershy here calmed a wild manticore with nothin' but her two bare hands. She can take care of your brother's dog, no sweat." Applejack said confidently. "Ah'd bet the farm on it."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, her heart swelling slightly with pride at her friend's praise. She had taken care of plenty of dogs before, and all of them had been so much fun to play with and were great company. How bad could this one dog really be?

"Phew, finally home. You're definitely... energetic." Fluttershy said wearily as she closed her front door. The dog in question obediently sat on the floor while panting excitedly, looking up at Fluttershy as she took off her winter coat and looked down at herself. Though her coat had taken the majority of the mess, there was no way anypony could go through being dragged through dirty slush puddles and large snowbanks without accruing some more dirt on their other clothes. However, just as she finished taking off her boots and was embracing the warmth of her house she found herself suddenly tackled to the floor by the large canine, the dog eagerly licking her face.

"Oh my... okay... down, down boy... down, Boomer... yes, I'm happy you're so happy... okay, come on now..." she said as she tried to shield herself from his slobbery doggy kisses. It took a few minutes for Thunderlane's dog to finally calm down but Fluttershy eventually managed to stand back up and calm Boomer slightly by scratching him behind his ears. Once she saw his wagging tail slow down to a much slower pace she retrieved a bowl of water and a bowl of food for him and set them down on the floor. He happily dove into the offering, bringing a content smile to her face.

"Good boy. Now don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I just need to go change clothes." she said but paused as a large glob of slobber fell from her cheek to the floor. "And a bath."

Still concentrating on his food, Boomer didn't make a sound as Fluttershy retreated to her room. She sighed in exhaustion as she removed her soaked sweater, sweater, and pants before making her way to the bathroom in only her underwear. Once the tub was filled with steaming hot water she finally unclasped her bra and slid her panties down so she could slowly climb into the much-needed bath.

"Aaahhhhhhh." she moaned as she slid her body into the water. All the coldness left in her body disappeared almost immediately as she felt her muscles relax, and after a few moments of enjoying the sensation in her body she let her head slip under the surface for a few seconds before coming back up for air.

'Much better.' she thought to herself as she felt her face finally free of Boomer's slobber. She let her head rest on the side of her bathtub as she closed her eyes and thought on the series of events that had occurred today. The letter and its consequences still loomed over her head like a dark rain cloud but she told herself that worrying about it wouldn't help at all. She was thankful that some ponies had donated what they had, not to mention Rumble was paying her for watching Thunderlane's dog, but the estimated 140 bits she had left to get seemed impossible. Her thoughts wandered back to the time where she had teamed up with Rarity and became a model for Photo Finish; though not her ideal job of choice, she wouldn't of had any trouble funding her duties for Winter Wrap Up had she stuck with that job...

"Arf!"

Fluttershy let out a shriek of surprise and fell under the water from the sudden noise. Barely peeking over the edge of the tub she felt her heart return to a somewhat normal rhythm as she saw that the noise had been caused by her most recent pet to watch.

"Oh Boomer, you frightened me." she said relieved. She made a mental note to make sure her bathroom door was closed all the way next time, but her thoughts were quickly interrupted as she saw that Boomer had something in his mouth.

"What is... oh, my..." she said as her face turned beet red.

Boomer had scooped up her discarded panties from the floor and now happily held them in his mouth, the crotch of her underwear directly in his mouth and against his tongue. Even though nopony else was present to witness it, nor would anypony ever find out unless she told them, Fluttershy found herself completely humiliated and more than likely unable to face anypony for the rest of the day.

"Um, drop those, Boomer. Good boy, good- no!"

Almost as if he was teasing her, Boomer began lowering his head as if to put down her panties before suddenly running off somewhere else in the house. "H-hey, wait!" Fluttershy called out before climbing out of the water to give chase. Two steps into her chase she suddenly stopped and grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body; though she was alone in her own home, being outside the bathroom or bedroom naked was still unacceptable to her. Running around in only a towel was almost on the 'Absolutely Not' list, but if Boomer were to somehow break free and run through town with her panties, she would truly die of embarrassment.

"Boomer? Please, put those down. Be a good boy and bring them back." she called out. Another bark by the back of her house led her to her laundry room where she found Boomer sitting beside her washer and dryer, her panties still held tightly in his mouth.

"Oh, did you just want to help me with my laundry?" she asked him as she cautiously approached him. Boomer finally put down her underwear and barked twice, but before she could react he once again rushed her and tackled her to the ground so he could begin licking her face.

"O-oh my, down Boomer... down." she gasped as she managed to push him off of her.

Boomer once again sat and looked at her while heavily panting. "Good boy, now stay." she commanded as she readjusted her towel and turned around. Spotting her drool-covered panties still on the floor, she bent down and daintily picked up her soiled undergarments by one of the few dry spots that was left. 'These definitely need to be washed now.' she thought before she let out another shriek and froze.

While she was bent over Boomer had gotten up and stuck his snout right against her unguarded crotch. His hot breath against her most intimate place was a new, very strange sensation for her, and due to the shock of it she fell forward and almost passed out. She managed to remain conscious and quickly turned over to face Boomer, who was once again now sitting obediently and panting as he looked over at her. "O-okay, no more of that Boomer."

Boomer replied with a loud bark before simply panting heavily once again. Fluttershy slowly stood up and made her way back to her room, depositing her dirty underwear in her laundry hamper after she had made sure her bedroom door was shut tightly. She quickly shook the memory of what Boomer had just done from her mind as she put on a clean set of panties along with her pajamas, but when she opened her door when she was done she was once again tackled to the floor by the large dog and assaulted by his slobbery kisses.

"Oh no, Boomer, I just had a bath. Yes, yes, I like you too, but you can't keep licking me." she tried saying as she tried to defend herself, but it was no use. 'This is going to be... a very long two weeks.'