Chapter 6

     The door creaked as Fluttershy opened it. Inside were several shelfs containing random objects from wooden spoons to violins to old saddles.

In the back corner sat a bed. Underneath the covers was an old green mare with her white mane in a bun.

     "Whossat!" She shouted, squinting at the light Fluttershy let in.

"Oh I'm sorry," Fluttershy stuttered. "I thought the open sign meant you were open, but I must have been mistaken. I'll just go-"

"No," the old mare said. "You came to the right place."

Her old bones creaked as she pulled herself out of bed. 

     "So," she said as she walked towards the front counter. "Fluttershy is it? It seems only yesterday that you're mother and father were in here finding their talents!"

"How exactly are you going to help me find my talent?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well," said the old mare. "Your talent will have something to do with your Cutie Mark."

"My what?"

     "That's the mark on your flank," Granny Smith explained.  "It always has something to do with your talent. So, we have to figure out what that talent is."

     She stared intently at the butterflies on Fluttershy's flank. 

"Butterflies are graceful creatures," Granny Smith said. "Perhaps you're a skilled dancer!"

Granny Smith turned on an old phonograph and it played a slow classical tune.

"Dance!" Granny Smith shouted hoarsely.

     Fluttershy did not want to dance. Granny Smith tapped her foot impatiently, and Fluttershy decided it was best to get it over with. She stepped forward and began swaying with the music. As she tried putting her right hoof in front of her left, she tripped and fell, knocking a pair of ice skates and a potted plant off one of the many dusty shelves.

"I... I'm so sorry," Flutterhy apologized. She looked at the ground sadly.

"No, it's alright. Perhaps flying is your talent. Just like a butterfly!"

     She instructed Fluttershy to fly back and forth between the shelfs. This time, Fluttershy didn't feel so awkward. She flew gracefully between the shelfs. Back and forth across the room she went. Maybe this really was her special talent.

Thud!

     Fluttershy crashed full speed into one of the shelves. A bag of flour slipped off and exploded when it hit the ground. 

"Apparently that isn't it either," Granny Smith said. She put her hoof to her chin in thought. "I wonder..."

She lead Fluttershy into the back room. This one was much neater, and in the corner was a cage. Granny Smith unlatched the cage door, and out hopped a rabbit.

     "What a nice little bunny you have," Fluttershy cooed, and without hesitation, she scooped the small creature into her hooves. "There, there. I won't hurt you."

Granny Smith looked surprised.

     "Curious," She muttered. "Very curious."

"What's curious?" Fluttershy asked, stroking the bunny's head.

"It appears your special talent it the ability to care for animals. I remember every talent I've ever helped find, and that very gift to communicate with animals on a deeper level is shared with another. Just one other. The pony who shares that talent with you is the very same one who killed your parents."

Fluttershy winced.

     "You may go now Fluttershy," Granny Smith said. "And you can keep the rabbit. I have no further use for him."

Fluttershy walked out the front door and out to the street.

"Your such a little angel," Fluttershy whispered to the bunny. "In fact, I think I'll call you just that. Angel."

     "Happy birthday!" Rarity exclaimed, holding out a set of dark green robes. "I was just going to buy the standard school robes, but they looked dreadful. So, I made you a new set!"

"Why thank you Rarity!" Fluttershy cried.

"Oh, it was nothing."

     Fluttershy hesitated for a moment.

"Er," Fluttershy said. "Rarity? Could you tell me what really happened to my parents?"

Rarity bit her lip. "Well, alright. I'll explain it to you over lunch. Come along now. We best buy a cage for that rabbit first."