Chapter Five: What Lies Behind Your Kindness

(Time: 7:00 am Saturday)

The pinkhead walked up to the doors of the local animal shelter, bag on her back and smile on her face as she opened the door to silence. She smiled as she saw all the cute little animals sleeping fast, and she sat down at the counter with her books out. Though she had volunteered for the animal shelter, she still had school work to do. It was hard to fit one in without the other clashing with it.

After she had finished off a half done geometry assignment she went to go check out the stock, making sure there was enough food, water and other supplies for the animals. She then saw that one of the retriever puppies had escaped. Again. The little brown puppy was playing with a chew-toy, but before she could catch the little animal he zoomed off and began to play with something else. Her school-bag.

She almost fainted when the puppy pulled out her history books and began to chew on them. She shot over towards the animal, but it dropped the books and shot off towards the open door. She had forgotten to shut the door.

"Oh no little puppy! Please don't run away! Please? I'll uh… I'll feed you some nice, crunchy kibble!" she bargained, the puppy ignoring her and keeping eyes set on the door. "NO!" she cried, making a leap for the animal but falling flat on her face as the animal ran out of the shelter and turned the corner.

She stood up and tried to run after it, but collided with someone entering the shelter. That time, she fell flat on her behind. She opened her eyes and saw the puppy in the arms of a young man, about her age. He had pale white skin, soft green eyes like freshly mown grass, long brown hair brushed into a ponytail with a few locks hanging down either side of his face. He wore a brown sweater that complimented his green eyes, greyish blue jeans and blue knee high converse shoes.

"Goodness, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there miss, um… I do believe this young pup belongs to you," the young man said, holding the brown puppy. She smiled and felt her pastel yellow cheeks flush "Oh um… thankyou… hope he wasn't any trouble…" she said quietly, playing with a lock of her cotton-candy pink hair.

He shook his head and laughed lightly "He wasn't. I was actually on my way here anyway, and I saw a little puppy running out of the shelter so I caught him. Then I… bumped… into you. Oh, my name's Kyte by the way. What's yours? Is it as pretty as you are?" he asked, standing and helping her up as well.

She giggled nervously "Fluttershy…"

"It suits you. Heh, anyway… I'm new at Canterlot High and Principal Celestia said, since I'm a huge animal lover that I could work with you here. For free of course, I love animals. I have three cats and a parrot named Cracker Jack" he said, looking around the shelter and walking over to the storage room "Wow, that's a lot of bird feed".

She shrugged "I ordered more just in case. I know parrots can be really fussy, no offence" she said, turning to the red parrot in the cage "Squaaawwk! None taken, none taken" it cawed back. He laughed and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She had to be dreaming with this guy, he was the guy of her dreams just showing up at her doorstep.

He brushed his hair back and shut the door, letting the brown puppy wander for a bit "So what can I do to help? What normally goes on around here? Is there some kind of schedule that you follow?" he asked, pulling a chair up and sitting at the front desk. She shrugged "Not really, I just tend to the animals and finish of my homework when I've got a spare minute".

He had an idea "How about I help you with your homework and it gets done quicker, then we get to pet puppies and kittens! Also, I'll do any job you don't want to. I wanna help" he explained. She smiled "Thankyou Kyte, you're so nice". He smiled back.

"Alright then, here's my first assignment on Algebra. I never really got the subject down," she said, putting the worksheet in front of Kyte as she sat down beside him. She felt her shoulder touch his and blushed. He grabbed a pencil from her pencil case on the desk and sharpened it "Alright then. See this letter here?" he said, pointing the pencil tip to a bold N on the sheet.

She nodded "Well it says, If N = 5, what is 6 x N?" he asked, reading out the first question. She put her finger to her chin in thought "Is it… thirty?" she asked. He nodded "Well done Fluttershy, it is. It's just like saying six times five! Just pretend the letter is a number, that's how I do it". She smiled "You can call me Shy if you like, all my friends do".

"Cool, well onto the next problem Shy" he said, making her grin nervously, the butterflies in her stomach having a rave party. He writ down the answer in the little box "Now this one is a little trickier. If 8 = D, 2 = C and 10 = F, what do the following problems equal?" he asked "D x F, C divided into D and F x C".

She thought for a few moments then answered "The first one is eighty, the second one is four and the last one is twenty. Was I right?" she asked. He nodded and brushed a lock of brown hair from behind his ear "Yes! See, it's not that hard? Do you think you can do the rest? Only three more super easy questions to go. I'll go see if the animals need food or water ok?"

"Ok," she said, watching him walk to each cage and grab food and water if necessary. She finished her assignment while Kyte played with the little brown puppy, throwing a small green tennis ball and playing hide and seek. Watching him act so friendly and playful with the puppy, volunteering at the animal shelter, looking at his sensible dress sense. He was a dream come true.

He stopped and picked the puppy up, walking to the customer side of the counter "Hello madam, might I be able to adopt this puppy? I'll pay in cash right now if need be" he said. She felt her heart skip. He was seriously adopting an animal? She looked up into his soft green eyes and smiled.

"Sure, that'll be twenty dollars and you'll need to sign a few forms. Is that ok?" she asked, grabbing the forms from in a desk draw and putting them on the desk. He nodded "Yup, I'll just put him down for a moment while I sign them" he said, putting the brown puppy down and signing the forms where necessary.

"He's officially yours now. What should I put for a name?" she asked, pen at paper. He thought "How about Buster? He sure busted out of here earlier" he said. She giggled and wrote the name down in the little box. He sat down beside her and grinned "So now what? It's only thirty past seven, how long until we leave? I'd love to grab a smoothie with you at the café some time, would you like that? Any flavour you like I'll pay for, and I'll buy you a slice of cake or pie as well".

She felt as if she might melt into a lovey-dovey puddle if he spoke another word of kindness.

"Really? You don't have to do that for me," she said, playing with a lock of her hair and flushing. He chuckled and put an arm around her, intensifying her blush "Of course I do, I mean… I really like you Shy, and I've only known you for thirty… thirty one minutes" he said, noting the minute change on his watch "it has to mean something more than friendship".

She felt the same way. She never usually felt so comfortable being so close to a male before, yet with Kyte, it felt as if they had known each other for years rather than thirty-one minutes. She shyly smiled and noticed his pale cheeks were almost glowing with blush "I feel the same way Kyte… but what about Big Macintosh, he's my old boyfriend and he gets really jealous if he sees me with another boy, even if said boy has no interest in dating me".

Kyte noted that and played with a lock of her pink hair "He won't bother us, but that's only if you wanted to date me… you probably don't…" he said sadly, beginning to retract his arm from around her. She stopped him and grabbed his hand "No… I do want to date you, but I'm just worried about what he'll think of me… I promised him when we were dating that I'd never date another boy…"

"But that was when you were dating, I can respect his wishes but still… I kinda really like you. You're the kind of girl I'd love to spend my money on, the kind I could trust with my deepest darkest secrets. I think… I think I'm in love with you" he said with sparkling green eyes like soft grass.

She felt her heart leap "I… I think I love you too…" she practically whispered. He never broke eye contact. "Fluttershy…" he said, leaning into her. Her cheeks flamed red and eyes shot open as their lips tangled. She slowly slid her arms around him and he ran his fingers through her soft clean hair. A loud bark broke the kiss.

Buster sat by their feet with a wagging tongue and tail "Arp! Arp!"

They laughed it off and Kyte petted the brown puppy "How's about I get you a collar?" he asked the dog, earning a bark He stood and saw a black and red collar, running over to it and grabbed it off the shelf, dropping a few dollars on the counter to pay. He put the collar around Buster's neck and the dog looked proud.

"There we go, super swag Buster" he said to the dog, who licked his face. "Eww Buster, gross."

Fluttershy giggled "He really likes you". Kyte smiled and petted the puppy "I know, I'm gonna love him and pet him and stuff". She smiled and looked up at the clock "I mean, if you want to, we can go for a smoothie now… if you like, we've got some spare time" she said. He smiled and put the dog down, grabbing a leash and tossing a few dollars onto the counter "I'll have to take Buster. If I leave him, he'll tear up the place by the time we step out the door".

"Alright, but we'd better hurry. We only have twenty minutes before we have to check the stock…" she said.

"Already taken care of. I checked while you were busy with your homework" he added proudly, adjusting his sweater and smiling. She nodded "That means we get at least forty minutes break then". She was glad she at least had some time to spend with this dreamy stranger. "Cool, let's get going then" Kyte said as he held the end of Buster's leash in his hand.

Fluttershy nodded and they were off.

/

The café bustled with after-school-goers ready for their afternoon snack or drink, and two students stepped in and ordered a few treats, all coming out of the well-lined pocket of Kyte Winds. She noticed an old friend sitting with her boyfriend at a stall, waved over and they sat beside them.

The girl had long sporty purple and gold hair to her waist, bright magenta eyes and pale tan skin. She wore average sporting attire, a singlet and a black jacket over it with three fire-flies smiling printed on the side, purple leggings and sports-shoes. She seemed laid back yet still smiling widely.

The male beside her had pale brown skin, neatly groomed ash-blonde hair and green eyes. He wore a tan coat with a white shirt underneath, a red bowtie looking very formal around his neck, dark brown pants and dress shoes. He had an air of sophistication about him, looking very serious.

"Oh hello Firefly, how are you? I haven't seen you in ages," Fluttershy commented as her and Kyte's smoothies arrived. Firefly shrugged "Ok I guess, I mean Freddy and I went on a really romantic date the other day. He gave me this" she said, showing the group a shiny Firefly necklace made from shiny glass and silver.

"Ooh, that's gorgeous" the pale girl said. Firefly smiled "I know. It's breathtaking, but not as breathtaking as Freddy" she said, pecking the male on the cheek. His cheeks flamed and he seemed more awkward than serious now "Er… Firefly, sweetheart… I only had it handmade by a friend. It's just a gift to say I love you".

She snuggled up to Frederic "I love you too". Kyte saw this and, whilst his date was looking at birds out the window, focused on the happy duo across from him and his eyes shimmered brightly. They stilled and their eyes went blank for a few moments before they returned to normal, feeling a little… drained.

"Mmm young love is sweet…" Kyte muttered in a reverberating voice, licking his lips. Fluttershy turned to face him and he cleared his throat, sipping his smoothie. She looked to the cup and smiled "Oh I know, they make really good smoothies here. I'd come here every day… if it weren't for…"

He put an arm around her shoulder "If it weren't for what? Fluttershy, you can tell me anything" he assured her. She gained some courage "If it weren't for my friends fighting… they just don't seem normal, they're not acting like themselves… it scares me" she explained, shuddering.

He cuddled up to her and hugged her tight "Hey, it's probably just a milestone. They'll get over it and they'll be back to normal soon. Trust me, it happened with my old friends back home". She felt a little safer beside Kyte. Firefly shook her head to clear it "Wow… what do they put in these smoothies?" she joked, looking at her watch "OH NO! Freddy, your recital is in five minutes! I gotta get there too, I'm the lead vocalist!"

Frederic immediately began to panic, but withheld it and cleared his throat "Well, we'd better hurry then. Farewell Miss Fluttershy, Mr Kyte. We must be going and-"

Firefly grabbed her boyfriend's arm and they rushed from the café faster than greased lightning. Kyte shrugged "Well, do you wanna get back? We've got about five minutes before we go back". She thought and agreed, walking with him out but not after paying.

They arrived back at the shelter, it clean and unharmed, much to their surprise. The pinkhead settled down in the front desk chair and watched Kyte inspect the animals, check the food and the register and smiled "Well everything's still here". He looked at her with a strange look… some strange intention…

She couldn't look away. "K-Kyte… I don't feel so good…" she said as her eyes blanked and his glowed brightly "Shush my dearest Fluttershy, you know with me by your side… nothing can harm you my darling" he hissed, his voice losing the kind and normal quality and gaining a strange echoing voice.

She almost fainted, but he caught her and left her passed out on the table with a note titled this.

'Studied too hard'.

He left with a smile playing on his sinister lips. This was far from over.