Chapter 28: Fluttershy in Charge

It was a nice spring afternoon, and Fluttershy was at the local animal shelter. She was a volunteer there, and loved being with all the animals. At the moment, she was getting ready to feed the dogs.

"All right, everyone, I have your lunch." she announced.

The dogs heard that and quickly hurried to her.

"(Giggles), okay, okay calm down. There's enough for everyone."

She filled up their bowls, and they all happily ate. Fluttershy smiled at them, and then she heard footsteps. She looked up, and saw Fauna, the head of the animal shelter.

"Everything going okay in here, Fluttershy?" she asked.

"Oh yes, Miss Fauna." Fluttershy replied.

"I'm glad you were able to come in. I really appreciate the extra help."

While the shelter had regular workers, Fauna appreciated that Fluttershy sacrificed her time to help out.

"It's no problem, I love being around all these cute little guys."

"Well when you're finished, the cats could use some more milk."

"No problem."

And off she went to do her next task.

Later on, Fluttershy came home.

"I'm home." she announced, as she walked through the door.

"Hello, Fluttershy." greeted Mrs. Shy.

"How was the animal shelter?"

"Oh it was great. I love being with all the animals."

Then she went upstairs to take a shower. As she grabbed her clothes, Angel hopped over to her, and nuzzled her leg.

"Hey, Angel I missed you too."

She then pat his head.

"I'll be right back."

And she went to get cleaned up. After her shower, she then spent some quality time with her pet.

At dinner, the family talked about their day.

"You know Fluttershy, have you ever considered working at the animal shelter?" Mr. Shy brought up.

"I have thought about it. But the shelter isn't hiring at the moment."

"Sounds like a good deal, Flutter Butter." Zephyr Breeze told her.

Fluttershy just playfully rolled her eyes, and continued to eat her food. That night, as Fluttershy was doing her homework, her cell phone rang. To her surprise, the caller ID said, Miss Fauna.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Fluttershy, glad you answered."

"What's going on?"

"Listen, something's come up and I have to leave town for a while."

"Oh my, is everything okay?"

"It's nothing too serious."

Fauna explained that her cousin broke her leg, and she had to go and help her out.

"I just need someone to keep an eye on things for about a week." "

And you want me to do it?"

"Well you're one of the people I'm calling."

"I'm not sure. This is really sudden."

"Just think about it. I have some other people to call."

"Okay."

And they both hung up.

The following day at school, Fluttershy told her friends about Fauna's request.

"Wow, are you gonna take it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know. It's a pretty big responsibility." Fluttershy said.

"That's true." piped up Pinkie.

"I think you'd do a great job, Fluttershy." Twilight encouraged.

"Indeed, you love volunteering at the animal shelter." agreed Rarity.

"That's true, but I'm not really manager material."

Just then, she got an alert from her phone. She checked it, and saw that it was a text from Fauna. She opened it, and read the message.

"Fluttershy, I asked around, and everyone else is too busy to fill in for me. Please consider the offer." she read.

Fluttershy told her friends what the text said.

"So no one else can cover for her?" asked Twilight.

"No, looks like I'll have to do it." Fluttershy replied.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'm sure you'll do great." Applejack encouraged.

"Besides, Miss Fauna wouldn't have asked you to fill in for her if she didn't trust you." Twilight mentioned.

"That's true." said Fluttershy quietly.

That evening, she told her parents everything.

"Oh my, Fluttershy. This is wonderful." said Mr. Shy.

"I know, but I'm a little nervous." Fluttershy confessed.

"Don't worry, sweetie." Mrs. Shy started.

"We believe in you."

Fluttershy smiled a little. So she called Miss Fauna, and told her that she'd do it.

"Oh Fluttershy, thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

"Come by tomorrow after school, and I'll give you further instructions."

The next day, Fluttershy went to the animal shelter along with her friends and her mother.

"Thanks for coming with me, everyone." Fluttershy said.

"No problem, sweetheart." replied Mrs. Shy.

"Anything for a friend." told Twilight.

When they got to the animal shelter, they went inside where Miss Fauna was waiting for them. She explained to Fluttershy what needed to be done while she was gone.

"Okay, Fluttershy your responsibilities as acting manager will be to supervise the other workers, answer the phone, and help out with the adoptions." Fauna explained.

"Oh my, it seems like a lot." Fluttershy replied nervously.

"Try to not get overwhelmed. It may seem like a lot, but it really isn't."

After getting the rest of the instructions Fluttershy was told to report to the animal shelter Saturday morning at 7:00. And with that, she gave Fluttershy the keys.

"Okay, Miss Fauna. I won't let you down." Fluttershy replied.

"I know you'll do a good job." Fauna said.

And with that, they all left.

On Friday, Fluttershy was a complete nervous wreck. At school, she could barely pay attention in class. In math class, while Mr. Cranky Doodle was teaching, she was tapping her pencil on her desk rather loudly.

"Fluttershy." Mr. Cranky Doodle told her.

"Yes!?" she gasped.

Everyone looked at her curiously.

"Please keep the noise down."

"Yes sir."

Then he went back to teaching. In the cafeteria, she could barely eat her lunch.

"Fluttershy, darling, please try and eat something." Rarity urged.

"Yeah, it's gonna get cold." added Pinkie.

"Sorry, girls. I'm just really nervous about tomorrow." Fluttershy admitted.

"Calm down, Fluttershy. You can do this." Twilight encouraged.

"Just try to relax and eat you lunch." Applejack told her.

Fluttershy took a few deep breaths, and then began eating her food.

That night at her home, Fluttershy tried to calm herself down.

"Oh Angel, what if I can't do this?"

Angel hopped over to her, and cuddled and nuzzled her. Fluttershy smiled and hugged him back. The warmth of her pet, made her feel as ease. She then turned off the lights, and fell asleep with Angel in her arms.

The next morning, Fluttershy woke up feeling slightly calmer, and went to the bathroom. She waited for it to be free, she thought about what was in store for her today. When Zephyr opened the door, Fluttershy gasped.

"You okay there, sis?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." she told him.

"Nervous about your new job?"

"Maybe."

"Hey, relax Flutter Butter. You got this."

"Thanks."

Then she went into the bathroom. After she was cleaned up and dressed, Fluttershy went downstairs for breakfast. To her surprise, her mom had made pancakes.

"You made pancakes, my favorite."

"Yep, you're gonna need a good breakfast if you're going to work." Mrs. Shy explained.

"And I packed you a lunch." Mr. Shy informed.

"Thanks, Mom and Dad."

And she sat down and started eating. When she was finished, it was time for her to go.

"I'm gonna go now. Wish me luck." Fluttershy informed.

Her parents gave her a hug, while Zephyr gave her pat on the back. With that, Fluttershy got in her car and drove off.

When she arrived at the animal shelter, a few of the other workers were already there waiting for her.

"Morning everyone." she greeted shyly.

Everyone greeted her happily. Fluttershy smiled, and then unlocked the door. Everyone went inside, and went to their stations. In Fauna's office, Fluttershy sat in her chair and waited.

"Okay, so far so good." she told herself.

Then the phone rang, and she answered.

"Canterlot City Animal Shelter. You want to know if we have any young dogs? Yes we do. No problem, goodbye."

And she hung up.

"Well that was pretty simple."

As the day went on, things seemed to be going smoothly. Fluttershy signed adoption papers for the animals, took phone calls, and supervised the other workers.

"Being in charge isn't so bad." Fluttershy thought, as she walked down the hall.

Then she heard a commotion.

"What the?"

She hurried to the scene, and saw that in the room where they kept the smaller animals and saw that some rabbits had gotten out.

"What happened here?" she wanted to know.

"I was just trying to feed one of the rabbits, but then the others smelled the food and they started going crazy." a worker explained.

"Okay, okay." Fluttershy said trying to stay calm.

"Let's just try and get them back in their cages."

She helped the worker round out the rabbits, they didn't notice that a couple of them hopped out of the room.

The rabbits hopped down the hallway, and into another room. This happened to be the room where they kept the cats. The cats eyed the rabbits, and some of them managed to get out of their cages.

Just as the cats were about to pounce on the poor rabbits, some of the other workers saw the scene and quickly stopped nature.

"Whew, that was close."

"How did these rabbits get in here?"

"Beats me, but we better get them back to where they belong."

One took the rabbits back to their cages, and the other put the cats back.

After that little fiasco, things seemed to go back to normal. And they even managed to get a few creatures some new homes.

"All right, everyone. Lunch break." Fluttershy announced.

The other workers were glad to hear that, and went to get their lunches from the locker room. They all sat together in the break room, and talked.

"You're doing a good job, Fluttershy." complimented another worker.

"Thanks, even though we've had a couple hiccups today, I'm glad things are going better now." she told.

As they all ate, they didn't know that a storm was brewing outside.

When lunch break was over, everyone got back to work. Fluttershy walked back into Fauna's office, and noticed the weather outside. The sky was filled with dark clouds, and thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Uh oh, this isn't good." she said to herself.

Some animals didn't do well in thunderstorms. Soon enough, the storm was upon them. Rain fell, thunder roared, and lightning flashed. Some of the dogs began barking and howling. Fluttershy instructed some workers to try and calm them down, and she went to see how the other animals were doing.

"Everything okay in here?" she asked.

It was the room where they kept the rabbits and other smaller creatures.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. Everything's fine in here." assured a female worker.

"Try and keep them calm."

And she went to another room.

"How are the cats doing?"

"They seem to be doing fine."

"But some of them are starting to get a little edgy."

"Try and keep them calm."

And she hurried to the dogs' room to check on things. Inside the dogs kept barking and howling. When another rumble of thunder boomed, the dogs started going crazier. Fluttershy immediately stepped in.

She went to the barking dogs, petted them, and spoke to them softly.

"It's okay, my little friends. It's just a thunderstorm, and I'm sure it'll be over soon."

Her words seemed to soothe them, and they calmed down.

Once the storm was over, all the animals were now as calm as can be.

"Whew, glad that's over." said Fluttershy.

"You did a good job, calming down the dogs." complimented a female worker.

"Yeah, you're good." added a male one.

Fluttershy smiled and blushed.

As the days went on, things went well at the animal shelter. Then eventually, Fauna came back. She was pleasantly surprised, when she got the report from Fluttershy that everything went well.

"We found lots of animals new homes."

"I'm glad to hear that. I also heard from the others that you did a good job as acting manager." Fluttershy blushed and smiled.

"I just did my best."

"In fact, I was wondering would you be interesting in working here?" Fauna offered.

"Really?"

"Yes, it'd be a pleasure to have you on the team."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Fluttershy squealed.

That's chapter 28