Life at Canterlot High

To anyone who knew her, there was undoubtedly one place in all of Canterlot where Fluttershy was at her happiest, and that was the local animal shelter. The amount of time, effort and love the girl had put into this place couldn't be counted, and her smile was always at its biggest whenever she was down here. For now, however, this did not appear to be the case today, as she was currently sitting on a chair to one side of the main room of the shelter, carefully holding a small cat with a recently-bandaged leg. "Now then, Mr Floofington, what have we learned?" After waiting for a moment, she heard the cat give an unhappy meow, to which she gave a firm nod. "That's right, no more trying to pick fights with Miss Puppington." Slowly, she placed the animal down upon the ground, making sure she could see the animal walking okay on the injured leg, before again smiling her usual loving smile towards him. "There you go. No off you go and have fun." Getting herself off her chair, she brushed down her skirt, then glanced to the clock. " Now then, I think she said she'd be here about..."

Before Fluttershy could even finish that sentence, the door of the shelter suddenly burst open, causing many a nearby animal to recoil instinctively. Fluttershy, for her part, simply put on a knowing smile and turned. Just as she suspected, her friend was here. Rainbow Dash, having just come off one of her bouts of super-speed, and currently panting heavily. "Hey...there...Fluttershy. I'm...not...late...am I?"

Clasping her hands together, Fluttershy shook her head. "Not at all. You're just in time."

Having recovered her breath, Rainbow gave out a cackle, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, I said I'd be here, right? Rainbow Dash keeps her promises." Then she paused, looking down just in time to see a small dog suddenly jump up to her with a happy wag in its tail. Smiling, she knelt down and picked it up. "So, what do we have planned for these critters today? Taking them all out for a walk?"

As before, Fluttershy shook her head. "No, that's later. Right now we have to help out some of them who've been injured. There was a bit of a scuffle here earlier."

Raising an eyebrow, Rainbow turned her attention to the rest of the room, and saw that her friend had the right of it. Several of the animals seemed to indeed be licking various scratches and sore spots over their bodies, prompting some concern from the athlete. "Nothing too bad, right?"

Walking over to her, Fluttershy took the dog from Rainbow's hands. "Thankfully no. But some of the new volunteers here at the shelter don't...well..."

Reading her immediately, Rainbow sighed. "Let me guess...they suck at getting the animals to play nice?"

Fluttershy considered that, giving a quick shrug of her shoulders. "I wouldn't have put it that bluntly...but yes, that's more or less what happened."

Rainbow frowned. "Honestly, I don't know why they bother. You're the only one who comes here who ever has any success with these little guys."

Fluttershy suddenly seemed worried by the prospect. "Oh, they do their best, I'm sure."

Rainbow rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Fluttershy, I love ya, I really do, but you gotta know when to cut your losses. If these guys are as much of a bother as you say they are..."

Thinking hard on that, Fluttershy exhaled deeply. "Maybe you're right. I've tried coaching them on what to do, but...the lessons don't seem to stick."

Pausing for a moment, Rainbow glanced around the room, her smile returning. "Well, if nothing else, at least there aren't as many animals in need of you these days."

Fluttershy perked up immediately after that. "You're right. Ever since Twilight and Applejack helped me with the video we've been getting a lot more people coming in to adopt them."

Turning, Fluttershy's smile widened as she got to one knee and stroked the head of a particularly attention-hungry cat, which purred in response, much to her delight. "There's never been a time when I've had so few here. It's been a real help for my work. Not so much chaos if I don't have as many to worry about."

Rainbow gave a firm nod, pleased that her friend's workload was being lightened. "Glad to hear they're getting good homes." Then she hesitated. "Er...they are getting good homes, right?"

Standing tall again, Fluttershy nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, definitely! I interviewed each person who wanted to adopt. Trust me, they're all good carers."

Rainbow wiped her brow. "Phew. Good to hear. I know how worried you can get when it comes to animals."

Fluttershy giggled. "I know. Still..." She sighed, looking around the room, specifically to the now-empty cages and enclosures that dotted the place. "It will take some getting used to. Being so quiet. And I'll miss so many of them."

Rainbow looked to her, clearly sympathising with her. "I know what you mean. I get the same way whenever Tank has to hibernate." She grimaced. "He'll have to do that pretty soon actually. It's been getting pretty cold out these days." Then she regained her smile, placing her hand upon Fluttershy's shoulder. "But, hey, you'll be able to go and visit them at their new homes, right?"

Fluttershy too began to smile again. "I certainly intend to. Their new owners all offered to let me come and see them. And I told them that if there's anything they're unsure of with the animals, they know who to call."

Rainbow chuckled. "There we go! You know, those animals couldn't have asked for a better volunteer here than you, Flutters!"

A blush came to the other girl. "Well, I try my best."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Trust me, you are the best. I mean, hey, the power to talk to animals wouldn't be given to just anybody after all." Then she considered her own words, scratching the side of her head. "Say...did you ever just stop and have a conversation with them with that power of yours?"

Slowly, Fluttershy looked to her with a knowing smile. "Maaaaaaaaybe."

Rainbow matched her look, reaching to the side and pulling over a small chair to sit on. When she was comfortable, she gestured to her friend. "Alright then, lay it on me. What kinds of stuff do these guys talk about?"

Clapping her hands briefly, Fluttershy started pointing to this or that animal as she spoke. "Well, Mr Barksy is very happy that he finally managed to jump through that plastic hoop over there. He's been trying so hard ever since he came here and now he's finally done it! Mrs Whiskers usually likes to talk while she sleeps, and she takes some long naps so that's a lot of talking. Mostly she likes talking about how she enjoys chasing mice." Fluttershy looked somewhat concerned there. "But that has had the effect of causing some of the hamsters to back away from her while she's awake." Then she perked up again. "Oh, and I mustn't forget the wonderful conversations that Tweety McTweeterson likes to have with himself."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Er...with himself?"

Fluttershy nodded. "He discovered that new mirror over on the wall the other day and when he flew up to it and saw his reflection he thought it was another bird. He was really excited to see another like him here so he started talking to it. He thinks the new bird is 'a really good listener' since he only ever lets him talk, you know?"

Rainbow stifled a laugh. "Oh dear. You ever gonna tell him?"

Fluttershy thought on that, then shrugged. "You know, I think I'll keep it a secret. I don't want to spoil how happy he's been."

Rainbow looked around at the other animals, then started to develop a look of curiosity. She glanced down to her own magical pendent, holding it carefully before looking back up to the one owned by Fluttershy. "After what Twilight told us a while back, we know our pendants let out more magic the more one of them is used, like what I did with my speed." She pointed to Fluttershy, I'm guessing you haven't been using yours too much then?"

Fluttershy, holding onto her own item of power, shook her head. "No, I didn't want to cause problems for the other girls. We all remember how difficult things got last time."

Rainbow blushed, nervously scratching the back of her head. "Hehe, yeah, sorry about that."

But Fluttershy smiled sweetly to her. "It's alright. It's all in the past now."

Standing up from her chair, Rainbow took a few steps closer to her childhood friend, placing her hand upon her shoulder once more. "It really is amazing, Fluttershy."

The other girl tilted her head slightly, showing her confusion. "Oh? What?"

A quick chortle from Rainbow. "You. How you can always be so nice and thinking of others like you do."

Fluttershy, in her usual Fluttershy way, blushed slightly, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. "Oh, I'm really not..."

But before she could give her predictable remark of modesty, Rainbow halted her, shaking her head before speaking up again. "You really are. When I first met you, back when we were barely out of diapers, all I saw was a girl who was afraid of her own shadow. Who'd hide behind her hair rather than look people in the eye." Her smile grew, and she took a step closer to her. "But as we spent more time together, I knew who you really were. You cared, Fluttershy. People, animals, it didn't matter. You wanted nothing but the best for others. In this world, where people can be real jerks and just give those in need the cold shoulder, you were always there to lend a hand." She paused, then looked to her oldest friend with softness. "Really...you're one of the most amazing people I've ever known."

Fluttershy stared at her for the longest time, showing obvious uncertainty, both about what was said and also how to respond to it. Then, after leaving her athletic friend in silence for who knows how long, her smile too began to return to her. She clasped her hands together in front of her skirt, took a single step forward, leaned closer to Rainbow and, in a move utterly unexpected for the latter, gave her a kiss on the cheek. Rainbow, as predicted of her during a moment like this, stared blankly at her, a blush creeping onto her cheeks that overshadowed anything Fluttershy had given so far. As for Fluttershy herself, she just carried on looking to her with adoration. "And thank you, Rainbow...for always being with me. My closest friend throughout my whole life. A girl I...I couldn't imagine my life without."

Rainbow, having recovered at least a little bit of self-control back from her more stunned state, cleared her throat, even as her earlier blush remained. "Er...yeah, I...you're welcome."

Fluttershy giggled, reaching out and taking Rainbow's hand into her own. "I hope...you don't object to what I did a moment ago?"

Immediately, Rainbow shook her head frantically. "No! Not at all! It was fine! Good even! Maybe a little awesome too!" Again, Fluttershy giggled, and as she did so Rainbow looked a bit more thoughtful. "So...is this maybe the start of something? With you and me, maybe?"

Fluttershy tapped her own chin with her index finger, considering the question. "Hmmm...it could be, if you wanted."

Rainbow looked over her shoulder, to the main door of the shelter. "And maybe...we tell the others?"

Here, Fluttershy gave a wholly unexpected smirk to her friend. "Oh, certainly...or we could keep it as a fun little secret for the moment and then tell them."

Rainbow's face made it clear that she was wrestling with two very prominent thoughts. On the one hand there was the desire to be open and honest with her friends, and on the other there was the prospect of having a private special time with Fluttershy before anybody was even vaguely aware of there being anything between them. In the end, and judging from the look on her face, the latter won out. "Alrighty then...let's see where this goes."