On a Saturday, most places in Canterlot were fairly active, filled with people going about their day or just generally having fun. One of the more notable exceptions to this was the town's local animal shelter. While most people about town would agree that it was a worthy cause to look after homeless animals, very few of them actually went out and contributed to it by volunteering. However, out of all of them, there was one who was undoubtedly the shelter's biggest supporter, Fluttershy, who went down there at every opportunity to help out. At present, she was busy feeding a number of small cats in their pens, all of which went to her with their typically large eyes, meowing expectantly as she fed each one in turn. While doing this, the whole place was abuzz with the sounds of other animals, from other cats, to dogs, even smaller creatures, like hamsters and even a few birds here and there.

Because of this loudness, Fluttershy did not hear the distinct sound of the shelter's front door creaking open. The new arrival was one that most would never think to find themselves in such a place, Aria, who, after taking one look at the shelter's interior, and all the continually-loud animals, let out a disapproving snort before looking around. Soon enough, she caught sight of Fluttershy, who still hadn't noticed her. The purple-haired Siren walked up to the distracted girl, clearing her throat deliberately to get her attention, but sadly, Fluttershy was still too focused on her animals to notice. Frowning at this, Aria just tapped her on the shoulder, which resulted in Fluttershy jumping up in shock.

"Eep!" she exclaimed.

Turning around, she finally saw Aria, who, at this point, was staring at her with a raised eyebrow, hands firmly on her hips. Realising who it was, Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief and put on a small smile.

"Goodness, Aria! You startled me!"

Aria rolled her eyes at that.

"I noticed."

Ignoring the dismissive tone in which she'd said that, Fluttershy gained a somewhat confused look.

"If it's okay to ask, why are you here?"

Before Aria had a chance to answer that, Fluttershy's face lit up with wide eyes and a massive smile.

"Oh my gosh! Have you come to volunteer too?"

Aria looked quite taken aback at that.

"What?! No!"

As one might expect, Fluttershy seemed a little disappointed at that, looking down at the ground slightly.

"Oh...my apologies. But...why are you here then?"

Aria looked over her shoulder, to the door behind her, before answering that.

"The others decided they were going to grab a cake and stuff over at Sugar Cube Corner. But they couldn't reach your phone or something, so they wanted me to come over and ask if you wanted to come."

A slight blush appeared on Fluttershy's cheeks.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to turn it back on. I didn't want to risk disturbing the animals with my ringtone. Sorry about that."

But Aria just shrugged her shoulders.

"No problems here. So, you going?"

Fluttershy nodded, walking over to the nearby front desk of the shelter, where her backpack was resting.

"Oh, certainly! I just want to pack up and..."

The girl stopped, and instead looked over to Aria with a look that could only be described as horror. Though confused at this, the Siren soon gained a look of realisation, as she looked down to where Fluttershy was looking; her arm. There, upon her pink skin, was a single dark patch. A bruise. Becoming somewhat self-conscious all of a sudden, Aria grabbed hold of her arm with her other hand, looking away from Fluttershy with a look of embarrassment while trying to hide the dark spot.

"Oh. That. Look, it's nothing."

But Fluttershy was having none of it and immediately rushed over to her, grabbing hold of the offending arm and taking a look at the bruise more closely. It wasn't a serious one, but noticeable enough for Fluttershy, who now looked to Aria with a great deal of concern.

"Oh, Aria! What happened?"

The Siren girl, still somewhat embarrassed about this, wrestled her arm out of Fluttershy's grip before answering.

"I told you, it's nothing! I just ran into a guy on the way here. Threw a few insults my way, so I threw some right back. There was a scuffle and...well...here I am."

At that, Fluttershy looked even more worried than before.

"Goodness! Are you alright?"

Aria chuckled at that.

"Trust me. He walked off far worse than I did."

Fluttershy frowned slightly.

"Applejack told me you keep getting into fights. You should really be more careful."

Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Believe me, I've got nothing to worry about. That guy bit of more than he could chew. I didn't want a fight, but I sure as Tartarus ended it."

Fluttershy clearly disapproved of that attitude, but, or the time being, she said nothing. Instead, to Aria's confusion, she walked over to her backpack, wherein she began rummaging around for a few moments, after which she put on a small smile. She pulled out what was clearly some kind of ointment tube, to which Aria merely raised an eyebrow. She watched as Fluttershy brought it over to her, held her arm again, and then carefully applied some of the ointment to the bruised area. Though she knew Fluttershy meant well, Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes at this display.

"You don't need to do that, Flutters. I'm fine."

Putting the tube aside for a moment, Fluttershy continued to rub the ointment into Aria's bruise before looking up to her with a slight frown.

"You're my friend now, Aria. And I'm not going to let you walk out of here until I've helped you."

The Siren looked away from her, knowing in her heart that there wasn't going to be any negotiation on this point. Instead, she turned her attention to the animals around them, many of which were still occupied with their evening meals. After a minute or two, Fluttershy was finished, and gave an approving nod at her handiwork before finally letting go of Aria's arm.

"There we are! That should help. Just try and avoid getting into any more fights, okay?"

Aria scoffed at that.

"I told you already! If other people start it, I'm gonna finish it!"

Hearing that response, Fluttershy frowned and put her hands on her hips, showing a more authoritative posture than Aria would have thought her capable of.

"Aria, I know you have your own way of doing things, but it really isn't good for you to be getting into trouble all the time! Have you ever tried...um...being nice?"

But Aria just let out a hearty laugh.

"Nice? Seriously? Like just turning the other cheek and all that stuff? Appreciate the sentiment, kid, but I'm not gonna just ignore jerks who give me a hard time."

Fluttershy let out a sigh.

"I know there are mean people out there, but it might be worth being nice to them anyway, even if they do bad things to you."

Yet again, Aria rolled her eyes.

"Oh please! Name me one time when being nice to bad or jerky people has actually paid off."

Fluttershy considered her options and, for a moment, actually seemed hesitant to give an answer. But, in the end, she just blurted it out.

"Well...my friends and I were nice to you, weren't we?"

At that, Aria snapped her head in Fluttershy's direction, giving her full attention. At first she was quite taken aback with the sheer forwardness of those words, and as such, opened her mouth, ready to give some sort of counter argument, or maybe to just deny that point. But, as she stood there with her mouth open, she thought those words over in her head, until finally, and after a great deal of reluctance on her part, she let out a sigh, slumping her shoulders in defeat. In time, however, she put on a small smirk, chuckling to herself while looking at Fluttershy as if she was actually impressed with her.

"No bad, Flutters. Not bad at all."

The Siren raised one hand, tussling the pink hair atop Fluttershy's head in a good-natured manner, though the latter seemed less than appreciative of the gesture, doing her best to straighten her hair out again soon afterwards. Even so, she smiled back, thankful that she'd managed to get her point across, at least in some small way. In this silence, Aria gestured to the door, silently asking if she wanted to leave. Nodding in response, Fluttershy turned around and grabbed hold of her backpack before joining Aria in leaving the shelter. As the two girls began to walk away, Fluttershy looked to Aria in a hopeful manner.

"So...do you think you might want to come volunteering here in future?"

At that, Aria just turned to her with a frown.

"Don't push your luck, kid."