All around, there were the tell-tale signs of this being a good day in the town of Canterlot. The skies above were without a single cloud, allowing all to see the brilliant bright blue from horizon to horizon. Birds were chirping in many of the trees that lined the sidewalk, and all about the place there were people looking happy or content. Into this mix came Fluttershy, who smiled sweetly to nobody in particular as she crossed the road. Her destination? A building on the corner of the road on the other side from where she had been, with the words "Canterlot Orphanage" in bright letters above the front door. Once there, she sighed, looking around herself for a time, but seeing nobody. Briefly, she seemed disappointed, but then her expression lightened up considerably after she started to hear somebody calling out to her.

"Fluttershy!"

Turning, the animal lover smiled as she saw the one who had called; Sonata. The youngest Siren sister was just jogging up the street to greet her, and once there, she placed her hands upon her hips, bearing a wide smile as she did so.

"Sorry I'm late."

But Fluttershy shook her head.

"Don't worry, you're not. And I'm glad you could make it."

Nodding, Sonata looked up to the nearby building.

"So, this is it?"

Fluttershy nodded right back, turning to face it before finally starting to head on inside. Sonata followed, and as the two girls started walking up the steps, the former looked over her shoulder to her colleague.

"I first started coming to this place a while ago. It was when Twilight...erm...Princess Twilight that is. She was doing some...research about Flash, and found out that he came here quite regularly."

Looking ahead, she continued.

"Turns out he spent a lot of time here, helping to look after the kids and reading them stories."

Sonata regained her smile.

"Awww! That's sweet!"

Fluttershy returned the smile.

"It was. And I've been volunteering here myself ever since."

Now inside, both girls started to look around a bit, seeing the relatively formal-looking interior of the building. But, Fluttershy soon walked ahead once more, heading straight for the front desk, wherein a spectacled woman was doing some paper work. She hadn't noticed the two entering, and so it took Fluttershy clearing her throat to gain her attention. When the woman at last saw who it was, she broke out into a soft smile of her own.

"Fluttershy! How wonderful it is to see you again!"

Fluttershy blushed slightly as she responded.

"You too, Mrs Johnson."

The older woman then turned her attention to Sonata, prompting Fluttershy to look at her as well.

"Oh! This is my friend, Sonata. She's going to be helping out with me today."

Mrs Johnson nodded to the newcomer, maintaining her pleased look.

"That's wonderful news! We're always looking for more volunteers here."

Turning, she pointed to a nearby door.

"The kids will be happy to see you, Fluttershy. It's all the normal activities today."

Fluttershy nodded, before then turning to her friend and giving a brief gesture. Sonata followed as the former began to move off, heading straight for the door that had been pointed out to them. It was not long afterwards when they were both within, and here, Sonata looked upon many of the young children here. Boys and girls together, they were playing with one another happily, and the whole place just had a joyful feel to it. But, through it all, there was nevertheless a sense of nervousness on the part of the Siren.

"I...I don't know what to do."

Her friend looked to her with uncertainty.

"I thought you said you had experience?"

Sonata nodded.

"I do! But...that was a long time ago. Besides, I'm not sure what to do with..."

She hesitated, moving closer to Fluttershy and keeping her voice to a whisper, lest the nearby children hear her.

"...you know...orphans."

To that, Fluttershy, to Sonata's surprise, simply giggled.

"Don't worry, Nata. Just...do what comes naturally. Sit with them. Talk with them. Maybe tell them a story."

Sonata nodded, walking further within the room as she muttered to herself.

"A story...right."

When she got to the other side of the room, where there was a large chair waiting for her, several of the closest children looked up to her.

"Hiya!" a young girl said to her.

"Um...hi?" Sonata responded.

"Are you one of Miss Fluttershy's friends?" one of the boys asked.

Sonata nodded.

"Yes, I'm...I'm Sonata. Or, you know, Nata for short."

There was hesitancy for a time, and silence, as the children continued to stare up at her. Sonata gulped, looking over her shoulder to Fluttershy, who gave her a look of encouragement, before then looking back to the young faces gazing up at her.

"So...um...would you like to hear a story?"

The children smiled even wider, nodding enthusiastically as they started to move into a circle around her. Though taken aback, Sonata quickly composed herself, moving over to the chair and sitting down. Before she had time to react, one of the girls handed her a large book.

"Read us this one! It's our favourite!"

Sonata took the book, giving it a quick look-over before opening it. After glancing at a few of the pages, she put on a small, if nervous, smile.

"Okay then...are you ready for this?"

Again, the children looked to her with excitement and enthusiasm, to which Sonata could not help but feel warm at. She opened her mouth to speak, ready to start telling the story, only to stop when she felt a tugging at her skirt. Looking down, she saw that it was another of the girls, who looked to her with wide innocent eyes.

"Thank for being here, Miss Nata."

Sonata smiled right back.

"No problem."

The girl smiled even wider, before then continuing.

"I hope I get a Mommy who tells me stories like you and Miss Fluttershy one day."

Here, Sonata paused. She saw the girl, and indeed all the others, looking to her with sweetness and earnestness in their faces, and for a time, she found that she could not speak. Fluttershy, who had been noticing this, took on a concerned look, walking over and placing a hand upon her shoulder.

"Sonata? Are you okay?"

The youngest Siren shook herself out of her state, looking up with a somewhat awkward smile.

"Oh! Yeah! Don't mind me!"

Fluttershy seemed relieved at that, but said nothing as, for a moment, Sonata appeared deep in thought over something. When at last she looked back to her, the Siren spoke in a manner that was, for lack of a better word, embarrassed.

"Um...Flutters? Who did you say it was that you saw coming here before?"