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 Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:46 pm
 Dainty Delta shouldn't have sighed. There was no call for sighing -- not here, not at the Phonyland Pet Shop Adoption Day, when all the kittens and puppies and birdies were mewing and barking and tweeting their best to potential adopters. The whole place was done up in pretty colors, so warm and bright, trying to lure outsiders in to collect a pet as a Thanksgiving or holiday present for their families. In this wonderful time, when the air was getting colder and the thought of cozying up at home with family was getting ever-more attractive, what could be better than welcoming a furry (or feathered) pet into the house?
It was altogether warm and wonderful, the entire place. It should have brightened sweet Delta up from the inside, buoyed her mood. That's what she'd hoped for when she signed up to volunteer her time today, to take care of the smaller animals and keeping them all comfortable and safe throughout the day.
Instead, she kept thinking about Due North. It had been four days since she spied him talking with a lovely mare in the marketplace. Four days since she saw her very own prince show interest in -- gulp -- finding his own very special somepony. Somepony that wasn't her.
So Delta sighed, dropping her eyes down to the kitten rolling playfully at her hooves.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:04 pm
Knots had much simpler time putting bows on the puppies and dogs than it was with the cats and the kittens. Even the lizards were more cooperative than the kittens. "C'mon, hold still, pleeeeee- Ack!" she cried, as a kitten began chewing on the string of bright ribbon she held aloft with her unicorn's magic. "That is not for eating!" Amongst all the clamor, she was somehow able to make out a sigh from a distance. Knots wasn't sure the recognized the filly, but she was green like she was and had a horn like she did. Surely that was enough to get a conversation started! "Ahoy!" she waved to Dainty Delta.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:29 pm
Dainty Delta blinked suddenly at hearing a voice aimed at her, and she started, surprised at how deep into her own thoughts she was. She looked around for the voice until she spied another filly, her coloring both similar and inverted from her own. Light hair, orange eyes, but a green body! It was a bit uncanny.
"Oh -- oh-- hello there," Delta said, her voice pinched from surprise but still sweet. She managed a smile, trying not to blush at having been caught moping. "Oh, gosh, do you, ah, need help with that?" She gestured with her head toward the kitten who was now flat on its back, gnawing happily on the glowing string the other unicorn was floating.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:49 pm
"I wouldn't mind the help," Knots said, pulling the ribbon from the kitten in vain. "I think perhaps I should have clipped their claws a little first. Then again, they'd probably just end up using teeth." Knots let the ribbon go, resigned to the fact that it'd be permanently punctured by kitten claws and she looked in the ribbon tin for a fresh one. Knots adjusted her sailor's cap and got a good look at Dainty Delta. "Hi, I'm Knots! Are you volunteering here, too, or are you picking up a new friend? You seem a little glum."
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:19 pm
"Oh, no... they tug plenty whether their claws are clipped or not, I think," said Delta with a faint smile, lowering herself to the frisky kitten and nudging her softly with one gentle hoof. The kitten flipped toward her, pawing at her leg and releasing the ribbon to Knots. "It took me forever to get the ribbon on -- oh gosh, where did she go?"
Delta looked up, seeing the kitten previously in her care now being cooed over by a colt and his mother. She smiled. "... oh, well, on that one."
She turned back to Knots just in time for the filly's question, and the flush she had been fighting now rushed up to her cheeks. Her thoughts about North -- she had gotten too lost in them and let them ruin her mood! She was supposed to be spending this day in service of other creatures, like the animals, not... not... moping!
"I'm a volunteer -- I, uhm, well. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a day than with cute little animals. And, oh gosh! I didn't mean to seem glum, but, uhm, thank you for noticing. That's very sweet of you, Knots! I'm Dainty Delta. I promise I'm not usually glum!" Delta backed up her words with a sweet little smile, delicately inclining her head toward Knots. "Are, uhm, you usually a volunteer here?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:05 am
Knots laughed. "You don't have to tell me anything, I was just bein' nosy. Dad says I'm good with animals since I take care of Duster, my bird. He said it'd also get me out of the house for some fresh air. That part confused me, usually he's outside calling after us for ten minutes before we go in for supper." Knots gave up on the ribbons for a moment to pour some puppy chow into a bowl for the crate full of mixed puppies nearby. They all apparently knew the sound of a food bowl being filled and they all scrambled to one side of the crate. "Hold on, hold on!"
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Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 6:58 pm
Delta smiled at the other phony, shaking her head a little.
"Well, uhm... it's a very nice kind of nosy, especially for the person feeling, uhm... glum. It's easy to feel all alone when you're down," she said softly, lifting herself from the kitten at her feet and nudging it gently toward a group of potential adopters not far off. She then trotted toward Knots, listening with interest as the other explained her reasons for volunteering. No need to bring anyone else down with her silly thoughts! She was here to feel better, after all, not to drag someone else into her pity-party.
"You have a bird? Oh, that sounds lovely -- what color is he? Does he sing?" Delta asked, using her horn to float-separate two puppies who had tangled themselves up together in their dash for food. "I always wanted a pet, I just, uhm... I'm worried I won't be able to take care of them well enough! Is it difficult to take care of a bird?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 9:46 am
"Duster is purple!" Knots went on, feeding the puppies and gathering up their water dish for refilling. "He sings, just not anything recognizable," she laughed. "Birds aren't as cuddly as cats or dogs, but they love to play, too. Duster eats seeds and bugs, so he's good for my dad's garden." Knots filled the water dish and put it back in the puppy crate before checking in on the other pets that needed adopting. Some were adults and needed to look extra nice for potential owners. She gave a passive hound dog pats on the head. "It's sad that sometimes you gotta try so hard for a little bit of affection," Knots said, though she was talking about the older animals who weren't cute and tiny like the babies. "But we all grow up, we don't stay small and not all of us are pretty. We got other qualities, though, and that's what counts."
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 6:46 pm
"Oh, Duster sounds like a lot of fun! And purple is such a lovely color... " Delta trotted after Knots, watching her as she worked so efficiently with the animals. It inspired Delta to try and do the same, and her horn glowed softly as she floated a brush over to one of the long-haired cats, softly stroking its fur to make the cat look its best for the potential adopters. The thought that some of them wouldn't get adopted, though, renewed a feeling of sadness in Delta, although this one wasn't aimed inwardly.
We don't stay small and not all of us are pretty, Knots said. Looking from the drooly old basset hound to the crotchety old bird huddled up in his cage, Delta could see she was right. "I... yeah, I see what you mean. It's too bad they can't all have good homes where someone takes good care of them. But I guess, uhm, it's our job to make people notice them as much as possible!"
She straightened, tossing her mane, and grinned brightly at Knots.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:28 pm
"Orrrrr, take one home ourselves..." Knots mused, pushing a hoof under her own chin and giving a not-so-subtle suggestion. "I wouldn't mind another bird... or perhaps..." Knots pulled something that looked like a pitch black mop an old grandmother knitted herself. "THIS!" Somewhere in all the hair, a tail wagged. A thin ribbon of pink tongue poked out. ((Sorry I took so long, my parents are visiting for Thanksgiving. XDD I couldn't even get to my computer until now.))
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:28 pm
"Take one home ourselves! -- oh, gosh, that would be so fun, but, uhm, I don't know if I know how to take care of a bird by myself, and make sure it's always happy and..." Delta began to ramble as Knots' hoof went a-tappin' on her chin, watching the expression on the other phony's face. All of her nervousness turned to laughs, however, as Knots unveiled the stringy black moppuppy. It was just so -- so preposterous! So silly! So fantastic. Delta couldn't help but feel happy looking at it.
"Knots, you're right," she said, leaning down and smiling at the dog, which put its front paws against her legs and stood, the pink tongue bobbing in a pant. "I think our job today should be to make sure this -- this -- oh, this cutie gets a forever home. And -- uhm -- maybe -- if he doesn't -- I'll see if my parents will let me have him." Delta flushed, unsure about the likelihood of her promise. But then she pulled in a breath and looked at all the potential adopters. One of them would like the puppy! He was so -- oh! Just like a ball of yarn with a tongue...
"Y-yes!" She breathed. "Let's do it!" (No problem! I'll be slow during the Thanksgiving break, too. No computer time, pretty much. 8D )
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 8:34 am
"If you really want him yourself, why try to give him to someone else?" Knots shrugged, laughing. "You should ask as soon as possible, I think." Knots adjusted her captain's sailing cap and inspected the birds. "I'll not be getting a cat, though. I don't think Duster would appreciate me getting something that keeps viewing him as its next meal." Her dad had a dog from when he was a colt, but it must have grown and gone because she and her siblings had never seen it and only heard of it in stories. Maybe she could get a dog and claim it was for her old man. "If I get a dog, I gotta make sure it's something my dad would like," Knots said. "If it's in green and likes cucumbers, he'd be sold. Maybe could dress a dachshund as a pickle."
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:55 am
Delta's cheeks pinked as she looked down at the wriggling puppy, and she shook her head quickly. "Oh -- no -- it's not that I, uhm, want him, it's that I want him to find a nice home! I don't think I'm quite ready for a puppy... but I, uhm, I really want him to find someone who is! And, oh! I'll try my hardest to make that happen today."
With a glow of her unicorn horn, Delta began to groom the pink-tongued mop-puppy, a floating ribbon waiting in the wings to be tied loosely around its neck. She took a quick glance around her for people she could introduce the loveable little scrap to. There were a few candidates, mares and foals, that seemed appropriate... she shook her mane and nodded confidently to herself.
Then she stole a look back at Knots, blinking. A smile ghosted over her lips. "... a dachshund pickle? Why would your dad only like it if it were a ... a pickle?"
She spoke as she began to walk toward the customers, the puppy clumsily bounding after her.
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:25 am
"Oh, yeah," Knots nodded sagely. "Dad goes crazy over cucumbers, don't ask me why. I can't talk, though. If it floats in water, the chances of me trying to attach a sail to it are pretty high." Knots went over to attend to an interested family, cooing over a ginger kitten. "Oh, yes, she's got all her shots," Knots informed them. "If you've got room for more than one, we've got her sister that could also use some love."
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:15 pm
"Wow, that's amazing!" Delta said with a laugh. "Cucumbers -- that's better than my father, I suppose... he only really likes kisses. And, uhm, mistletoe." She shook her head, still smiling. "But, what do you mean, attach a sail to it? Do you, uhm, build model sailboats?"
Here the conversation paused as Knots went to attend one family, and Delta held her head high and guided the sweet mop-puppy to another nearby couple.
"Oh, uhm, hello!" she greeted. "Are you two looking for a companion, maybe?"
The mop-puppy took his cue, leaping from behind Delta to the mare, yipping happily and shaking his dreadlocks. It made both the mare and Delta giggle, and the filly gathered all her courage and continued.
"He is -- uhm, he's very friendly, and he seems to like you, and..." She faltered for a moment, darting a look behind her to see if Knots might come to her aid.
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