Fluttershy Saves The World in 7 Days

by Miller Minus

Day 1

The sun cast shadows of moving leaves into Fluttershy’s room, and Angel awoke to the sound of tearing paper. His eyes ripped open and found Fluttershy immediately. She was sitting at the edge of her bed, staring at her dresser, where one item had survived the night. It was a page-a-day calendar she’d bought on a whim around last year’s Hearth’s Warming. Mental Health Word-a-Day Calendar! was written on the top of each page.

Fluttershy crumpled the previous day’s page in her hooves, eyes locked on the new word. Angel strained to read it.

October 16

Strength (n.): The capacity to be strong.

Try and think of those that you find strong, and those
who make you feel strong. Maybe send one of them a letter!

Exercise: What is strength? Try and come up with as many definitions as you can.

Angel had read through all the words in that calendar when he was bored one day. Each word, like this one, he found useless, trite, a waste of a few seconds of Fluttershy’s morning. She never seemed to think about them past breakfast. But something in her empty stare made Angel wonder if this one was sticking with her a little harder.

In a moment, she was on her hooves, wings folded neatly. She walked decisively towards the door. Angel shrieked and rushed back inside, ready in the living room for when she came out.

“Oh…” Fluttershy started at the sight of him—mouth open, eyes watering, studying her face for answers. “I’m sorry, Angel Bunny,” she soothed. There was a limp in her voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before.”

Angel’s shoulders slumped and his mouth fell further open. He could only agree.

Fluttershy broke eye contact and sauntered towards the kitchen, and Angel bounded after her. He leapt onto the counter and fixed the same look on her. She turned to open a cupboard, where he jumped inside and stared at her again. And she could turn away as much as she wanted, but Angel always found another ledge in the kitchen from which to stare at her.

“Angel…” Fluttershy said, her eyes moving to the floor, just before he did. “I’m… sorry. It won’t happen again,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I…”

She sat down on the floor and sniffed. She rubbed her eyes, but no tears were there, so she put her hoof back down. “I can’t do this anymore,” she said quietly.

Angel rubbed circles into her fur.

Her wings unfolded and drooped, but then they rose back up again, along with her neck, her chin, her head. “I’m not going to do this anymore.”

Angel stopped rubbing and pulled back.

“I’m—” Fluttershy paused to swallow. “I’m going to get better.”

With a light gasp, Angel covered his mouth.

In his secret compartment inside the couch, he kept a small stack of very thin books and even thinner pamphlets that Fluttershy knew nothing about. The books he’d picked up from the self-help section of the library, the pamphlets from a therapist’s office. In his head was a recipe containing all the best ingredients from those books and pamphlets, a strategy for his dear owner to grab hold of her life and become the champion in yellow he always knew she could be. He had always wanted to test his recipe, but was always missing the most important ingredient: A Fluttershy who wanted to get better.

Angel finally closed his mouth. He nodded assuredly. He realized he was still wet, so he shook like a dog, spraying water everywhere.

Fluttershy laughed weakly and did the same.

***

That night, between Fluttershy’s evening nap and her first restful sleep since the attack, Angel sat on the kitchen counter counter and laid out his plan.

Fluttershy was in her pink nightgown, huddled up inside her freshly made bed, the cup of peppermint tea in her hooves making the room smell sweet. Angel brought in the calendar from the kitchen. With one paw on his hip, he pointed to Fluttershy, pointed downward, and dragged his paw across the calendar from Sunday to Saturday.

“A whole week?” Fluttershy gasped. “I can’t stay here for a whole week! I have plans, and-and-and I have to do groceries, and… and see my friends! Oh, they must be so worried, I—”

Angel had a scowl that could silence his owner whenever he wished. Again, he dragged his paw across the calendar.

“…Okay,” Fluttershy agreed, watching the ripples in her tea. “If you think that’s what I need… I’ll do my best.”

Angel tucked her in shortly after, planting a kiss on her cheek. Her words from earlier in the day bounced around in his head.

I’m going to get better.

Angel realized that he had no idea if she really, really meant that. But he certainly had ways of finding out.