"Does every-creature see the spider on my desk?" Fluttershy asked her class. When the students all nodded, she continued, "Good. Now, on a scrap of paper, I want you all to write down the first word that comes to mind when you see it, then pass them all forward."

The students took a moment to write down their thoughts. Once they were done, they passed the papers to the front row, where Fluttershy collected them.

"Let's see here," Fluttershy began to leaf through the papers. "We've got 'hairy', 'small', 'arthropod' (I'll bet that's Ocellus's), 'web', a–"

Her eyes widened when she saw the next one. "Umm, who wrote 'trauma'?"

One of the students, a white pegasus with light blue hair, raised a shaky hoof. "I did, Professor Fluttershy."

Fluttershy stepped forward, a concerned look on her face. "Sky Daze, why did you choose the word 'trauma'?"

"Well," the pegasus began twiddling her hooves, "when I was a filly, I got lost in the Everfree Forest, and stumbled upon a whole cluster of Star Spiders. I was so scared that I didn't stop running until I tripped over a root. Thankfully, Zecora found me, but I'll never forget that day..."

Fluttershy wrapped a comforting wing around the mare. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Sky."

The Professor then turned to address the class. "I was hoping to use this exercise to show how unique everyone is, but the lesson that's presented itself here seems much more important."

Yona nodded. "Yona used to be scared of spiders, but Tree of Harmony helped show Yona that spiders can be friends, too."

Sky glanced at the spider on Fluttershy's desk, and shuddered. "I know, I know, but... I just don't think I can get past it. I'm sorry, Professor Fluttershy; I just can't forget it."

"And that's perfectly fine," Fluttershy cooed. "I know first-hoof how something can be so scary that it stops you from doing new things. Sometimes, these things can't be helped."

It was at that moment that the bell rang, and the class began to pack up their things. "We'll continue this discussion on Monday! Have a good weekend!" Fluttershy whisper-shouted as the students left.

She turned to head back to her desk, but the sound of clapping grabbed her attention. She turned around, and gasped when she saw me standing in the doorway, applauding her.

"Outstanding work, Professor Fluttershy," I complimented. "I can certainly see why you were chosen for the job."

"Graff!?" She squeaked, rushing over to grab me in a hug. "Oh my goodness! What're you doing here?"

"Twilight wanted to meet me," I half-lied, then admitted, "and I thought I'd drop by while I was in the area."

"Well, it's good to see you," she smiled, before breaking off the hug and returning to her desk. "I wish I could stay and chat, but I really need to get to Sweet Feathers Sanctuary and make sure the volunteers are all set."

I piped up, "Hey, could I possibly help?"

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to spend your visit doing work?"

I shrugged. "Well, it wasn't what I'd pictured, but I wouldn't refuse an opportunity to help. Besides, that 'Sweet Feathers Sanctuary' place sounds interesting."

She chuckled, "Well, aren't you quite the gentlegriff– er, gentleman? Alright, I'll see if I can find you something to do."

I nodded. "Thank you, Fluttershy; you won't regret this."

One look at the scope of Sweet Feathers Sanctuary, with its large variety of animals, made me realize that it wasn't HER that'd be at risk of regretting this.

Fluttershy noticed my slack-jawed expression as I stared at the establishment. "Impressive, huh? Yeah, I can still barely believe that the place turned out even better than I'd envisioned it."

I shook myself out of the shocked state and asked, "Wait, you envisioned the place? I thought you were just the manager or something."

She nodded. "It'd always been a dream of mine to make a place where animals could come and go as they please, and get the care they deserve while staying there. Sweet Feathers Sanctuary is the end result."

"Well, I'll be..." I muttered, absolutely floored.

Fluttershy smiled as she began walking towards the main area, where four volunteers were waiting. I quickly picked myself up and followed.

"Hey, Fluttershy," they all greeted chipperly.

"Hi, every-creature. I'm glad you all could make it today. I'd like you all to meet our newest volunteer: Graff."

I waved a claw. "Hey, everyone."

One of them, a pale purple part-pony part-eagle with light blue hair, rushed forward. "Hey, I saw you around the School! I'm Silverstream, and I make sure the animals are physically healthy."

I offered a claw, then yelped as she vigorously shook it. "Nice to meet you, too."

The second, a light green Earth Pony with mauve dreadlocks, stepped forward. "My name is Tree Hugger, and I work with animals on an emotional level. It's nice to meet someone with, like, such an interesting aura."

'Aura'? I didn't like the sound of that. But I kept up face and replied, "Nice to meet you, too..."

The third, a reddish-black bug-pony, nodded. "Hey, I'm Mandy. I mostly just document what animals come and go."

I gawked at the strangely vibrant creature. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?"

He chuckled. "Don't get out much, huh?"

I blushed, "I'm not really from around here..."

He nodded. "Well, to answer your question, I'm a re-formed Changeling. We use magic to transform our appearance, and we feed on love. Although, now that we share love through Friendship, we hardly need to actively feed anymore."

I blinked, processing all of this. He's a shape-shifter that feeds on love? A small part of my mind was upset that I was a Griffon instead of a Changeling.

But all I could say was, "Huh, whaddya know? I guess that's just more proof of Friendship's power."

"That's why there's a school for it," the last volunteer, a light green Earth Pony with wavy green hair, pointed out from the back of the group. "Hi, I'm Wallflower Blush. I'm in charge of maintaining the flora, as well as general cleaning."

I blinked, vaguely recognizing the name from an intercom announcement that happened during one of my visits to Canterlot High. But she didn't need to know that. "Nice to meet you."

She nodded, then continued to do whatever she was doing before she spoke up.

Fluttershy looked over the list of tasks, eventually finding something suitable for me. "Alright, let's get started on our tasks. Graff, Mandy, follow me if you'd please?"

We moved to follow her down a path until we reached a door in a rock face. She took out the keys and opened the door, revealing a room filled with supplies. "Your task," she began, "will be to help Mandy take inventory of the supplies."

I looked around the room, trembling at the sheer number of supplies. "That's a lot of stuff..."

Mandy slugged me on the shoulder, "But with two of us, it should be a cinch."

I swallowed a lump in my throat and nodded. "I'll do the best I can."

She smiled and nodded. "I know you will."

She handed me a pencil and paper, and left us to do our work.

As we got started, Mandy smirked at me. "You like her, don't you?"

I stumbled, caught off-guard. "What the— how did you—?!"

He chuckled. "Changeling senses. Since we feed on love, we can also sense emotions."

I blushed. That made sense... I think.

"So," Mandy continued, "you like Professor Fluttershy?"

I shrugged, "Well, sort of. See, there's, like, this other place, where—"

"You're from the other dimension, and you like her alternate version?"

What. I gaped, unable to comprehend how he knew.

He sensed my confusion, and clarified, "After your first visit, Gallus got to talking, some of us got curious, so they told us about the human dimension in class."

I nodded, "Ah."

He made a lip-zipping motion with his hoof. "Don't worry, I won't tell her."

I sighed in relief, but still felt worried. Hopefully, I wasn't so transparent around Fluttershy; otherwise, she'd think I was a weirdo.

...right?

Author's Note

No, this story doesn't take place in the "It Takes a Village" timeline; it simply features a cameo by an alternate version of Mandy. If it helps, just think of him as "Mandy if he hadn't crashed into Ponyville, and was instead reformed along with the other Changelings in the Season 6 Finale".