//------------------------------// // Every Little Bit Counts (Fluttershy's Poem) // Story: The Big Book Of Small Stories // by LordOfTape //------------------------------// Every Little Bit Counts (Fluttershy’s Poem) “Oh come now Angel, you really need to eat your food” Angel is such a stubborn, little bunny He always fights everything I say, whatever it is Lately it’s been harder to keep up with his demands and the other animals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I nudged the bowl further, but he wouldn’t have it “Please Angel, for me?” I begged He simply pouted and turned himself away I was beginning to lose my patience ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was surprising though, as I wasn’t one to get annoyed so easily It was only a small lunch after all, it shouldn’t have me this worked up He tapped his foot rapidly, the thumping beating repetitive noises into my head This only drove me further to anger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I took in a deep breath My lungs filled and my mind eased, if only for a moment Then the animals outside growled and chirped, buzzed and called My stress release failed due to their incessant calling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were so many animals, so many creatures to care for Each one with its own specific needs; a habitat, food, special care They all needed me to stay alive and well, I just couldn’t refuse I just couldn’t turn one animal away ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another thumping noise starts bouncing around the room What now? I can’t seem to find the source of the noise, but I feel myself shaking A short look at my hooves tells the story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I shook nervously, my hooves beat against the floor, tapping out my frustration I started to scare myself, unable to cease my fervent shaking Trotting statically to my kitchen, I searched for something to calm me nerves The mirror on the wall elaborated on my pains with hurtful detail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not only was I shaking like jello in an earthquake, but I was a mess My mane was disheveled and my coat dirty The bags under my eyes told easily of my inability to sleep, trying to help the nocturnal residents I was also incredibly skinny, skipping my own meals in favor of theirs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What in the world am I to do? There are so many creatures to help and I can’t just leave them now No, I’ve already taken them in, that would be awful and rude of me But did I have any other choice? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Knock, Knock, Knock The door was beating too, ah so much noise! “Fluttershy?” called out a distinctive male voice I had a visitor, but I couldn’t possibly let them see me like this ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I walked slowly to the door, hoping maybe they might think I wasn’t home But surely I wouldn’t just not open the door, I still couldn’t bring myself to be uncouth I opened the door slowly, and sure enough he was still there “Hey Fluttershy!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “How’r you today Spike, Peewee?” I ask the small purple dragon and his phoenix friend “We’re fine, how’ve you been?” the bubbly dragon returned “Oh, well I um, I’ve been, um, just fine.” My voice trembled, capturing the feeling of my shaking body As much as I tried to hide it, I couldn’t stop my body from shaking ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Fluttershy, are you, are you shaking?” he wondered worriedly “Well um, you see, it’s that, yes.” My voice fading off in shy admittance “What’s wrong?” his scaly arm reached out as he put his hand on my shoulder His hand was cold, as dragon’s usually are, but somehow it felt a little warming ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taking in the biggest breath that I could, I began a rant bigger than anything I’d ever said before “There are so many animals in the world and they all need a little help sometimes” “I am that help, so I find them wherever they may be and treat them well until they get better again” “But now there are just too many of them, and I can’t leave them to fend for themselves out there!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The look on Spike’s face showed that he wasn’t expecting me to go off like that He didn’t respond, and it made me afraid I had offended him I knew that I shouldn’t throw my problems onto other ponies Nopony needed to hear me complain about the things that I did, that wasn’t fair at all to them ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I’m sorry Spike, I didn’t mean to yell like that” Almost smiling, he replied “If you call that yelling then I wonder what your whisper is like” His remark caused me to blush I suppose I wasn’t that loud after all ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Should I have been louder?” I asked him “Fluttershy, I wouldn’t worry about that right now” “What you should worry is yourself, I mean your trembling for Celestia’s sake!” The worried expression on his face made me feel worse for having upset his good mood ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Oh I’m sorry Spike, you don’t need to stay here and listen to me” It looked as if he took offense to my apology as he shot back “Fluttershy, I’m not leaving” He was stern and stubborn with his words, not backing down for a moment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Why haven’t you asked anyone to help you with the animals?” “I don’t think anypony needs to waste their time helping me, I’ll do just fine myself” “Obviously that’s not true; you definitely need help” The thought of not being able to help all of the animals made me feel even worse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My condition wasn’t getting any better, but Spike continued speaking “You know, I used to think I didn’t need any help” My ears perked up as he began his story “When we first moved here, Twilight and I, we had a lot of organizing to do” “I mean, have you seen that library? It’s huge” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Anyways, Twilight was always busy doing something and never had time to fix the place up” “One day, she left and asked me to finish everything up by the time she got home” “At first I thought I could do it, but things went downhill from there” “There were so many books, and the shelves were so high, I was falling all over the place” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “But Spike, what does this –” he interrupted me to finish “By the end of the day I was shedding scales thinking Twilight would be awfully mad at me” “I was curled up in a corner, panicking when Twilight opened the door” “When she walked in, do you know what the first thing she did was?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Did she scold you for not finishing? I know Angel gets mad at me when I don’t finish things on time” “Haha, of course not,” he laughed “She calmed me down and made sure I was ok” “Then she told me that everything would be alright and helped me finish organizing the library” “Do you see where I’m going with this?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spike’s story did seem rather important, but I hadn’t exactly caught his point “No, I um, don’t think I do” The frazzled dragon slapped his forehead, “The point is, I’m going to help you out anyways” “But Spike, it’s really not necessary” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He laughed at this, I blushed again “I think it’s necessary, so I’m going to help anyways” he smiled I didn’t want to refuse such a generous offer of his time, but I didn’t want to be a bother Spike wouldn’t have any of it though and went straight to work ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spike sat me down, placing a blanket over me to stop my trembling I tried to get up and help, but he wouldn’t let me do anything I felt so helpless, unable to do what I had been doing for so long Oddly enough, it was a refreshing feeling, like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I decided to accept Spike’s help and just laid there in my chair, warming up After some amount of time he came back to check on me “Feeling better?” he asked, a caring smile surfacing his face “Much better; thank you Spike” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I fed all the animals and helped patch up the flamingo’s wing” “Oh, I also fixed up the chicken coop and cleaned the badger dens” “Spike, you know you didn’t have to do any of this” The small phoenix named Peewee that Spike had brought with him flew onto Spike’s shoulder ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It cooed as Spike proceeded to pet it Turning back to me he said “No, I didn’t, but I was glad that I could help you out, even just a bit” “I know you have a really tough job here with the animals, so just remember you can take a break” A light smile started to form on my face as well, relieving the once constant pressure of work ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Besides,” he continued “No matter how small it is, every little bit counts”