//------------------------------// // The Spirit of a Filly // Story: A Moment of Happiness // by Rakoom //------------------------------// The Spirit of a Filly Shoelace trotted back to his bed and laid his weary legs to rest. His felt like led and it took mere moments for sleep to embrace the old unicorn. But that sleep was short-lived when somepony pulled his pillow. He opened his sleepy eyes and yawned. He searched for his glasses on his nightstand and put them on so he could see who it was. Before him sat a small filly that looked at him begging eyes. “I- it’s scary downstairs. C- could I please sleep with you?” Shoelace's brain wasn't working properly since it was supposed to be asleep by now, so he didn't really understand the question at first. But a moment repeating the question over and over in his head made it stick. "Yes, yes of course you can," he said. Shoelace moved over to the other side of the big comfortable bed, and the little filly snuck under the duvet. Shoelace turned off the light and heard a muffled yawn under the other pillow. "Good night Shoelace," Lily said. "Good night," he replied. Shoelace woke up with sunlight shining straight at his face. The curtains had been pulled aside, and the sun was really bright. Shoelace grumbled at the unexpected sunlight, he couldn't understand who could have pulled the curtains aside. But it took him only a moment to recollect it all. He grabbed his glasses on the nightstand and trotted downstairs to search for the little filly. The livingroom was a mess, everywhere laid pillows and blankets and boxes and... Decorations... You can only imagine the surprise Shoelace felt when he saw his tree was already halfway decorated, the bottom half that is. The kitchen tools was still untouched - thank Celestia - but the main door to the house was wide open. Shoelace trotted outside. The snow was full of tracks and marks from the little filly. So Lily had went outside at some point, maybe she went home? Maybe she too left him and would never visit him again? Just like... String... Tears started to form. But the sound of hooves on the floor behind him caught his attention. He turned around to see Lily dragging a long line of light-bulbs. Shoelace silently observed as the little filly trotted to the tree and hung the light-bulbs over a chair. Then she turned to him and smiled. "I thought I could help you with the tree!" she said with a cheerfull voice. "I did what I could, but I can't reach up! It's too tall," she said. Shoelace looked at the tree and then at her. Of course she couldn't reach up! Without help she was just a little filly who could only reach halfway at best, even if she stood on the tip of her hooves! And she didn't even use anything to stand on either! Shoelace looked around for something to help with. He had a lot of chairs, but the thin sticks that held them together wouldn't be safe enough for this. His eyes fell on his largest and most comfortable chair. "What if you stand on that?" he said. Lily looked at the big chair. It was pretty big, too big for her to move alone. "We can move it if we push it together," Shoelace said. Lily's face lit up like a little candle; it suddenly started to shine. She trotted over and waited for Shoelace. "On second thought it IS pretty heavy," he thought. But Lily expectantly waited for him, and he wouldn't dissapoint her by refusing to help! He sighed and gathered up, it wasn't impossible with the two of them working together right? He leaned his head to the side of the chair and pushed. It was a physical challenge for them to push the chair, but succeeding together made it all worth the effort! Shoelace massaged his neck while little Lily skipped back and forth between decor and the tree, decorating the rest of it. Shoelace sat down on his couch and watched Lily fly around. The little filly had more energy than a hamster on coffee, it was like she was a completely different little filly than yesterday. Again Shoelace wondered how she ended up here, but he pushed that bad thought aside. Shoelace recognized some of the older decorations, "How did you find my box!?" he asked Lily. She hung up a small sparkling ball on the tree before she gave her work a pause. "I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find anything to decorate with. But ponies always have some in their attic, and I found this box there!" Shoelace was astounded of her initiative and spirit. Never before had he met anypony like her. The little filly was soon busy again with more decor on the tree, the ceiling and even on the front-door. This year would prove to be interesting indeed! Shoelace watched Lily go on with the decor, it was like she transformed the house as she went on. She even made some decor of her own with paper she cut into stars! But Shoelace's eyes felt weary again, he just needed a quick nap now. He yawned and laid down on the couch with a blanket over him. The constant sound of trotting didn't bother him, it actually felt comfortable to hear Lily do what he wouldn't do anymore. Shoelace snored loudly - not that anypony ever complained - while Lily put on the last pieces of decor on the tree. She jumped down from the chair to find the most important thing: the star! She brabbed into the box and searched, but she couldn't feel it with her hoof. There wasn't anything pointy at all in there! She emptied the box and looked at what all the things. Shiny balls, sparkling stuff and wooden figurines. But not a single star! The tree wouldn't be complete without one to top it all of! The contents of several boxes soon littered the floor in her search, it had to be there somewhere! Lily had spent another hour trying to find a star, but it seemed impossible. She sighed in dissapointment, but maybe she didn't really need one. She looked around the room, and it looked pretty good - aside from the mess that is. She decided to quickly stuff the junk on the floor into the boxes again so that she could wake Shoelace. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to empty all the boxes after all. Lily poked Shoelace with her hoof to wake him up. She was proud of her decorations and wanted him to see. The old red unicorn scratched his nose and steadied himself up on his hooves. He adjusted his glasses and let his eyes adjust to the light. The sight that met him was just... stunning. The decor - no matter it's childish touch - was one of the most beautiful works he had ever seen. He had to just sit and look around him for a while, admiring the work of the little filly that sat beside him. Lily smiled, full of expectations, he looked baffled so he probably liked it a lot! But she wasn't so sure anymore when a tear dropped from Shoelace's cheek. Then Shoelace started to sob, before he started to cry. Suddenly Lily was afraid she had done something wrong, was it her fault? "Shoelace?" she asked, moving a little closer. Shoelace dried his eyes with a piece of cloth and looked at her with a weak smile. "Thank you," he said to her. "For what?" Lily asked him. Shoelace was way too confusing right now. First he looked stunned, then he started to cry and now he thanked her? "For reminding me," he said. "For reminding me about String."