If one were to describe Fluttershy, there are many words that would naturally come to mind. Quiet. Calm. Meek. Demure. Shy. Unsure. These words, and many more besides, spoke of a girl who was rather reserved in nature, and in many respects, they were correct. As such, anyone who thought of her would usually associate her with quiet or calm places, the kinds of areas where one could hear themselves think without much difficulty. However, this was not where Fluttershy now found herself. Instead, she was where she usually was after school; the town’s local animal shelter. Although the young teenager had frequented this place many times, the animals nevertheless remained as loud and as frantic as ever, barking, squawking and generally making as much noise as possible. In a place such as this, it was little wonder that Fluttershy often found herself as one of the few to come here.

And yet come she did, as she went from enclosure to enclosure, tenderly feeding and caring for every animal, big or small, that she came across. And with every bird or beast, it was as if she had some magic way with them, getting them to calm themselves with her mere presence, even before she’d actually fed any of them. A clearing throat caused her to turn, seeing the shelter’s normal carer, an older woman, who gestured to her to let her now she was leaving for the moment, to which Fluttershy simply nodded. After watching the carer leave, she got back to business, albeit for a fairly short time, as the front doors of the place now opened, catching her attention. There, standing in the door, stood a girl clad in the uniform of Crystal Prep, wearing her mostly-pink hair back into a ponytail. Seeing her, Fluttershy put on a smile before giving a small wave to her.

“Oh! Welcome to the shelter, Sour!”

The girl, Sour Sweet, turned to look at Fluttershy, giving a nod before entering the place in earnest. Once in, she paused for a moment, looking around at all of the enclosed animals, many of which had started to get riled up again with the arrival of this newcomer. Seeing the animals look at her this way, Sour put on a smile and had an overall bubbly attitude.

“Oh, these cutie pies are so adorable!”

But, almost immediately, her expression turned, instead becoming somewhat dour and gruff.

“You know, if you like loud an annoying that is!”

Having finished off one of her animal’s meals, Fluttershy stood tall, looking over to her visitor and walking up to her.

“But there’s so much to be had from caring for these little guys! You’ll see, Sour, helping out in a place like this truly is worth the effort!”

To that, Sour regained her smile from before.

“I’m sure, you’re right, Fluttershy!”

And again, it disappeared just as quickly.

“If I wanted to spend my afternoon in a place that smells as bad as this one does!”

Taken aback by the sudden and harsh turn the girl had taken, Fluttershy took a step backwards.

“Um…well…I’m sure we can find you something fun to do.”

Looking around, the girl began to look deep in thought, trying to think of something Sour could help out with that didn’t involve animals.

“Well…oh! How about you help me organize the fliers!”

Raising a hand, Fluttershy gestured to the desk, prompting Sour to turn towards it. Sure enough, there was a pile of fliers upon it, each bearing the name and address of the shelter. Looking back to Fluttershy, Sour raised an eyebrow, prompting the former to explain.

“You see, every few weeks, we send out fliers to get the people of town to come and visit.”

Hearing that, Sour folded her arms, raising an eyebrow.

“Does it work? Besides when you first came here of course?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, ready to reply, only to shut it again when she considered what was being asked.

“Um…no. But that’s no reason to stop trying, right?”

Sour Sweet clasped her hands together upon hearing that, walking over to the fliers.

“Oh sure! It’s really a good thing to be doing this kinda stuff!”

But, as before, her expression instantly became an aggressive one, as she took a hand and slammed it down onto the papers.

“Assuming you actually think people are gonna care about these kinda places!”

As before, Fluttershy was taken aback by the harshness of her words. It wasn’t really the kind of thing she was used to hearing from anyone while she was working here. Granted, she was usually the only one working here, but even so, the words still stung. After looking to her guest in silence for a few moments, Fluttershy considered something.

“Well…why did you agree to come if you don’t like this kind of work?”

Sour rolled her eyes and leaned against the front desk before answering that.

“Meh. My parents both said I should try out some volunteer work. And since this was the only place for miles that was under-staffed, I guess they figured this should be the place.”

Fluttershy nodded at that, having now fully understood that the Crystal Prep girl was very much unenthused with working here. Thinking the matter over, she meekly took a few steps closer to her.

“Um…you know…I’m sure you can come to like this kind of work, if you give it a chance.”

But Sour simply let out a scoff at that.

“Yeah, right! Working with animals has never really been all that good for me.”

And those words piqued Fluttershy’s interest immediately.

“You…you’ve worked with animals before?”

Sour shrugged her shoulders in response.

“Well…just my dog really.”

At that, Sour’s massive smile from earlier returned.

“He’s the sweetest little guy you could ever meet!”

And, as was frequent at this point, the aggression returned with a vengeance afterwards.

“You know, if you don’t mind having some savage beast tear your face off and stuff!”

But, rather than be cowed by such words, Fluttershy, to Sour’s confusion, simply put on a small and sweet smile.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s not all that bad! All any animal needs is a little love and kindness!”

Yet again, Sour rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say…until they meet him. Then they run for the hills!”

But Fluttershy shook her head.

“Well, I’m sure I can give him some help. I don’t suppose he’s here, is he?”

Sour nodded, turning to the front door.

“Yep. He’s out front. Didn’t wanna bring him in in case he…you know…ate some of these critters here.”

Hearing that, Fluttershy let out a brief giggle.

“That’s silly! Go on, bring him in!”

Sour shrugged her shoulders, letting out a sigh before heading for the door. Fluttershy watched her go, and then counted the moments as she stayed there. A minute, then two, then three, until finally, there was activity. The door opened, and immediately, Fluttershy saw why Sour had been so concerned. The dog she now brought in, having difficulty keeping him held back on his leash, was indeed a fearsome sight. A massive Rottweiler, glaring angrily and growling loudly at everything he saw in the shelter. As soon as he came in, all of the animals, even while in their enclosures, tried to hide from his sight, and as soon as he saw Fluttershy, he began to immediately start barking loudly. Sour, trying her hardest to hold him back, looked to the meek girl ahead.

“See? I told you! He’s great if you want a guard dog and all, but there’s no getting him to calm down!”

But Fluttershy was not unnerved in the slightest, instead keeping that smile of hers as she took a step forward. The dog, still barking, never let up in it’s efforts to break free of Sour’s hold, all while Fluttershy drew closer and closer. Once she was within a foot of him, the young animal carer dropped down to one knee, reaching out with a single hand.

“There there. There’s no need to be angry. You’re with friends here.”

Sour looked away, perhaps anticipating some kind of horrific savagery to take place soon. But, instead, she turned back with a surprised expression as her dog, in a very uncharacteristic manner, actually started to pull less on his leash, though still kept growling. As for Fluttershy, her smile widened at this.

“There we go! You’re alright here, Mr Growly.”

Sour raised an eyebrow at that.

“Um, his name is…er…actually, sure Mr growly is fine.”

Ignoring her, Fluttershy reached further, coming within a few inches of the dog’s head. Though hesitant, the dog somehow found himself calming in the presence of this girl, much like all the other animals of the shelter so often were. A moment or two passed until, finally, her hand was on him, giving him a gentle scratch behind the ear. Now ceasing all resistance, the dog opened his mouth and started hanging his tongue tout, sitting down politely as he did so. As Fluttershy continued to smile at her efforts, Sour just stared at her with disbelief.

“How…how did you do that?! Every time we’ve tried to be nice to him before, he’s nearly bitten our hands off!”

But Fluttershy just shrugged her shoulders.

“Oh, I’ve always had a knack for animals. I’m sure that, with enough time, I can help you to live with Mr Growly like he was the sweetest little guy in the world.”

Sour considered that, looking to her previously-aggressive pet for some time, before letting out a sigh.

“Well…I guess that can work.”

But, she soon folded her arms and looked away.

“Assuming you can actually do what you say.”

Looking to her, Fluttershy nodded.

“I guarantee it!”

Looking to her, Sour paused for a moment, her expression going from happy to suspicious and back again several times over, before eventually settling on a smile then.

“Well then…guess I’ll be coming here more often than I thought.”