The fire burned brightly, devouring the wood with crisp, crunching pops and crackles. It flooded the room with an invisible warmth that reached every corner of the log cabin and cast with it a sense of cozy security Fluttershy found was nearly impossible to re-create in any other atmosphere. Even after the sort of night she had, the relaxation of her cozy cabin was a nigh-impenetrable force field around her. Still...
Fluttershy slumped at the tiny table within the tiny cottage and stared into the distance. Her friends had repeated the phrase that now tumbled endlessly in her head. Immortal. She'd be immortal. The word had a certain ring to it that she didn't know if she liked. True, she never gave her own death much thought, but now that it wasn't going to happen it gave her pause.
She shook her head, letting the strawberry curls of her mane dance this way and that, but the word still remained lodged in her thoughts like a splinter. Immortal. She pursed her lips and balanced the word on the tip of her tongue. Immortal. She shook her head once more, but the word remained ever present. Immortal. What did that even mean? Would she become unto a god, like Celestia, or Luna? Some all-powerful deity? Or did it mean she'd simply never die? And if she was going to be in charge of something what would it be? The sun? The moon? Time itself? The power of kindness? Was that a thing? Was that supposed to be a thing she knew how to control? Was there such a power and if so, what did that mean for her? Was she somehow supposed to control the world's kindness? To spread it to ponies far and wide? Was that expected of her now? Would it be in the future? Could she be up to the task? Would she? What if-
"Chill."
Fluttershy blinked, sitting up straight and proper suddenly; and automatic response when she was in the company of someone else. A habit learned from Rarity, if she had to guess. In a daze, Fluttershy warily glanced around the room. To be honest, it felt like she were in a weird sort of waking dream, ever since Twilight and her friends had barged into her cottage scream-singing about being immortal. This was followed by Rainbow and Applejack yammering nonstop about flying lessons, and Rarity trying to take down the sizes of every animal in the cottage. Pinkie was endlessly babbling about action figures and Spike immediately went searching for tranquilizers. To put it mildly, it had been a strange evening, and now even stranger, after sending her guests home, there was someone still in the cabin to talk with her. She let her bewildered gaze glance around the cabin once more before it slowly came to rest on the little white bunny reclining in the living room.
He too, was soaking up the warmth of the fire, and lay languidly on the couch, a carrot dangling from his little paws. Angel, rarely talked to Fluttershy, not directly at least. Not like this. He was usually very bold about his desires, and rarely felt the need to take advantage of Fluttershy's ability to communicate with animals. When he had noticed the girl shaking her head back and forth in silence, he rolled his eyes and nibbled gingerly on his carrot.
"I have been sitting here for nearly ten minutes and my tummy is not being rubbed," the bunny squeaked, his voice riddled with irritation. As usual. He rolled his eyes yet again, and glared until the yellow pegasus shambled over to the couch where he had flopped onto his back. Good help was hard to find, and while Fluttershy at least managed average levels of pandering, something seemed to be on her mind. Something it didn't take rabbit senses to pick up. Was she upset about her friends randomly bursting in? He'd not paid much attention to the cacophony they raised and had expected things to go back to normal when they had left. And yet, Fluttershy seemed distraught. Clearly she needed something to take her mind off of things, and rubbing a bunny belly was the best thing for her.
"So whats up, Doc?" he murmured softly, nibbling at the end of his carrot while Fluttershy got to work attending to his unattended tummy.
"I...I'm not...I haven't...I can't be immortal. I can't. They want me to...I'm supposed to become some sort of...I don't know. I just don't know!" Fluttershy sputtered, much to Angel's frustration. What on earth was this yellow filly on about. Immortal? That's what she was upset about? Angel sighed. Fluttershy was always flustered about something.
"So?" Angel replied, flatly. For a moment, Fluttershy's hooves stopped rubbing as she'd lifted them to wipe the freshly formed tears from her eyes. Angel sighed again. So hard to find.
"I don't know how to be immortal, Angel. I don't know that I want to be. Am I supposed to be the element of kindness forever? Nothing lasts forever. W-what if it fades away? What if, over the years, I forget how to be kind and it turns into something else? What if all my kindness gets used up and I become an element of being a meanie?" Fluttershy sobbed.
"What if you kept rubbing my tummy?" Angel growled quietly. Fluttershy sniffled softly, and gently set herself back to her task, stroking her hooves tenderly across Angel's belly. The bunny gave a murmured groan and closed his eyes.
"Being kind is sort of your thing. You've got that down, so that's not a major concern. What you should be worried about, is angry rabbits and running out of treats for them," He grumbled. Fluttershy frowned, but before she could protest his simple answer, he continued on as if she weren't attempting to interject.
"But aside from that, what if you could build animal sanctuaries all over the planet? What if you could amass so much wealth you could open dozens of veterinary hospitals and orphanages? What if you did all those things and then some? What if you learned how to worry less and focused on what you'd do with all this extra time you've been given? Like rub my tummy? What then?" Angel snapped and watched in satisfaction as Fluttershy's bewildered expression took on one of slow understanding.
"I could...I could make a sanctuary just for birds. I could...I would be a princess of Kindness and I could spend my days taking care of every animal...All of the animals, Angel!" Fluttershy gasps quietly. Angel sighed.
"Yes, yes, that's what I was getting at. And that's great. Hey, you've got two hooves, right? Is that other one rubbing my ears? Cause I don't think it is. Worry about all the stuff you wanna do first, then start worrying about turning into a monster. As if that could ever happen with me around. Listen, being immortal isn't going to chan-" Angel began and squealed when Fluttershy suddenly hopped up from the couch, flipping him unceremoniously to the floor.
"There's a patch of forest just outside that would make for the perfect place to start!! I could line it with fencing and a flower garden! Oh, Rarity is good at arrangements, she'd be perfect to help! And I could get Rainbow Dash to find all the strays and round up the homeless animals in Everfree forest in a flash! I could get Applejack to help me build warrens and nests and Twilight could put together an algorithm for the amount of space each animal will need! I have so much to do! ANGEL! I can't sit around here! What am I doing?! " Fluttershy screamed, excitement dancing in her eyes. She immediately dashed up the stairs into her room, presumably to start to work on the first of many sanctuaries while Angel slowly climbed back onto the couch.
"OK. That's great and all, but what about my ears? Fluttershy? Hello?!" he barked. When the only response he received was care-free, joy-riddled laughter, and vibrant shouts of "forever" from her bedroom, he got the feeling it was going to take quite a while for him to get his ears rubbed. That would not do at all. Fluttershy's friends had all barraged in earlier that evening, and while it was irritating, it only lasted for an hour or so. That was something he could deal with, but now that the insanity was eating into his pampering time?
The bunny glared maliciously into the raging fire and gave a huff. He'd inadvertently created a monster while seeking out a simple tummy rub. And now he was wondering how long would it take before his next tummy rub. Forever? He laughed. Not if he had anything to say about it...