"Fluttershy?" Twilight slowly pushed the door of Fluttershy's cottage open and quietly stepped inside. She glanced back at the rest of her friends, who were standing uneasily on the bridge next to Fluttershy's house. She took a deep breath and turned her head back to look into the house. Fluttershy was there, sitting on her haunches next to the table where the unmoving body of Angel Bunny lay. The table was stained with Angel's blood, and occasionally drops would drip onto the floor in front of Fluttershy. "Oh Fluttershy," Twilight whispered. She walked over to Fluttershy and sat next to her, putting a hoof over her shoulders. "I'm so sorry."
"He... he's gone, Twilight." Fluttershy let out a whimper and blinked once. "He... he didn't understand."
"You did what you had to do, Fluttershy." Twilight gently nuzzled Fluttershy's cheek. "I know it's hard, but... he didn't suffer too bad, right?"
Fluttershy slowly raised her head and looked up to the table where Angel's body lay and slowly shook her head. "No. He didn't take it. I... I tried to give it to him, but he just pushed it away." Fluttershy's ear twitched. "He was in a lot of pain when he died. He didn't take it. He didn't understand." Fluttershy looked over to where a broken teacup lay on the floor. The spilled tea was beginning to spread, and Twilight grimaced when she saw it begin to mix with the blood.
"All of the other animals have understood," Fluttershy muttered, ignoring the tea. "They knew that I was helping them. They knew that what I was doing was a good thing. Angel..." Fluttershy's ear twitched again, and she leaned her head on Twilight's shoulder. "He looked like... like I was betraying him. Why did he look like that, Twilight?"
"I..." Twilight's gaze flickered up to the table. "I don't know, Fluttershy. I don't know what Angel thought. I do know that he loved you very much and didn't want to hurt you, and knew that you didn't want to hurt him."
Fluttershy snapped her head up, and pushed herself to her hooves. "Then why didn't he let me help him?!" Fluttershy slammed her hoof on the ground, shattering one of the larger pieces of the teacup. "Why didn't he choose to die in so much pain?!"
Twilight flattened her ears and slowly got to her hooves. "Fluttershy, I don't--"
"I thought he trusted me!" Fluttershy let out a sob and scooped up Angel's body in one of her wings. "I thought you trusted that Momma knew what was best for you, Angel Bunny!" Fluttershy began quietly sobbing, and her ears slowly drooped. "Why didn't you trust me? I th-thought that you knew that I cared about you, and I that I would never hurt you."
"Fluttershy..." Twilight put a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "I think he did know that. I just think that he was scared. He loved you, Fluttershy. Yes, he was stubborn, but I don't think he ever wanted to intentionally hurt you."
Fluttershy sniffled and gently brushed Angel's ears. "But... I don't know why he wouldn't let me help him. H-he's let me help him lots of times before. He's never stopped me from helping him."
"I know," said Twilight softly. "I guess he was just scared."
"Of what?" Fluttershy mewled. "I was just trying to make him feel better!" Fluttershy gently nuzzled into Twilight's shoulder, allowing Twilight to gently wrap her forelegs around her friend.
The door to her cottage opened, and their other four friends filed in, their ears flattened against their heads. None of them said anything as they watched Fluttershy cry into Twilight's shoulder. There was nothing to be said.
* * * *
"Fluttershy, darling, I know you're in there! Please talk to me!"
Rarity stood in front of the door to Fluttershy's cottage, a grimace on her face and the look of sheer will that she usually had when she wanted something. When there was no response, Rarity banged on the cottage door once more.
"Fluttershy, if you don't come out then I'm coming in and dragging you out! The others are really worried about you!" Rarity raised her hoof again when there was no response. "You can't stay in there forever! Angel wouldn't want you to be like this!"
After a few more seconds of silence, Rarity swung her hoof down to knock again, but paused just before her hoof hit the door when she heard the faint sounds of hoofsteps on the other side. She allowed herself a small smile and put her hoof down as Fluttershy cracked the door open.
"Rarity, I'm s-sorry, but I still need some time alone." The door closed a half inch. "I'll come out soon, okay?"
"Fluttershy..." Rarity sighed and rubbed one of her temples. "You've been saying that for the past month, and I'm done believing you! You need to come out for more than just food and basic conversation with the five of us! You need to begin interacting again, darling. If nothing else I want to see you outside again!"
Fluttershy blinked once and cracked the door open again another inch until Rarity could see half of her face. "I... I don't know, Rarity. All of you girls were there when Angel..." Fluttershy began blinking rapidly, but she took a deep breath to center herself. "A-and I can't think of you girls without remembering that day!"
"Well that's because you haven't created any new memories of us, Fluttershy. If you get out and go to a Pinkie party or see Rainbow Dash performing, or join us all in a sleepover, then the last memory that you have of us won't be of that day!" Rarity pursed her lips and tapped her hoof on the ground. "And that is precisely why I am here. I know that you are grieving, and all of us respect that, but I for one believe that it is time for some tough love. I will not get off of this porch until you come out. I have an overnight trip to Canterlot tomorrow, and I would love it if you joined me for that."
"Canterlot?" Fluttershy squeaked. "Oh... I don't know if I could--"
"You would see the sights, you would eat fine meals at good restaurants! You would get out of your house for a few days and see the sun! You would feel the sun wash over you as you took strolls down the sidewalk!" Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's door. "Doesn't that interest you at all? Don't you want to go out and stretch your legs for more than just trips to the market?"
"Well..."
"Fluttershy, I will say this again: I am not leaving until you agree to come out. If you really don't want to go to Canterlot with me, though I would like you to join me, then you and I will find something else to do together. Maybe a spa trip or a show of some sort, but you will not be shacked up inside your house anymore." Rarity began pressing on the door, opening it a little further. "It has been a month, and we are all really worried about you! I was speaking with Rainbow Dash, and she expressed that she would like to do the same thing to you, so if you get rid of me, then you will have Rainbow Dash bucking your door down and dragging you out to spend some time with you."
Fluttershy squeaked and flattened her ears, but didn't shut the door. Rarity fixed her gaze on her friend, not looking away as the gears turned in Fluttershy's head. Rarity knew without a doubt that she was trying her best to figure out some way out of it, but Rarity would not budge. Finally Fluttershy took a deep, quiet breath.
"Okay, Rarity. I'll come to Canterlot with you if you really want me to."
Rarity smiled at Fluttershy and took her hoof off of the door. "I'm very glad to hear that, Fluttershy. I will pick you up at nine tomorrow for the ten 'o clock train to Canterlot. In the meantime, is there anything that you would like to do today?"
Fluttershy glanced down at the floor, and Rarity's smile fell with a groan. "Something outside and in the company of other ponies, Fluttershy."
"Oh... uh..." Fluttershy's gaze flicked up to Rarity. "The spa, maybe? I-if you want to."
Rarity's smile returned full force, and she nodded. "Yes, I think that sounds lovely. Come out of there and we'll go to the spa. My treat, of course."
* * * *
The day passed by as well as Rarity could have hoped, and she could tell that even the half day that Fluttershy spent outside of her cottage did her good. At first she was reserved, merely nodding along to whatever Rarity said while at the spa, but by the time they reached the mud baths, Fluttershy was starting to initiate conversation topics of her own, something that did not escape Rarity's notice. By the time she walked Fluttershy back to her home, her friend even managed a smile.
Rarity smiled as she trotted over to Fluttershy's cottage to take her to Canterlot. She carried two suitcases behind her, most of her other luggage already being loaded onto the train where she had dropped it off before coming to pick up Fluttershy. As she approached Fluttershy's house, she was delighted to see that Fluttershy was already up and standing outside of her door next to a small suitcase emblazoned with her cutie mark. Rarity reached her friend and the two exchanged a hug.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you're all ready, Fluttershy." Rarity ignited her horn and lifted Fluttershy's bag into the air, putting it next to hers. "Are you all ready, then?"
Fluttershy gave Rarity a small smile and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready to go. I packed last night after we said goodbye."
"I'm glad to hear it," Rarity said as they began walking towards the train station. "You're feeling better since yesterday morning, then?"
"Yes, I think that I am. The spa was really nice, and what I had for lunch and dinner is better than what I have been eating recently, so..." Fluttershy gave a wing shrug. "I had a better day than I've had in a long while."
"Well I am elated to hear that," Rarity said as the two approached the train station. "You will have an equally good time in Canterlot, Fluttershy, if not better. I will see to that."
"Well I'm sure it'll be fun then, Rarity." Fluttershy and Rarity began maneuvering through the small crowd that had appeared. "You always know the best things to do around Canterlot."
"Well, I'd wager that I am not as good at that as Twilight might be, what with her having grown up there and all." Rarity opened up her purse and flashed two tickets to the conductor, who nodded and motioned to the train door. "But still, I do know a few good spots around the city for us to go to once I've finished my work."
The two took their seats, and shot the wind for a little while until the train began moving towards Canterlot, at which point they began discussing what they wanted to do for the day. Rarity had an order of dresses to deliver, followed by a fashion conference the day after, so she had more free time for the first day than the second, though she still had work to do.
The ride was uneventful, and Rarity began to feel that maybe things would start to become better with Fluttershy. In the back of her mind she already began planning things for the six of them to do to re-integrate Fluttershy into their social circle a little more. She was already looking much better than the previous day. Much less gaunt and depressed. Yes, things would work out. They somehow always did.
* * * *
"Well, I'd say that went rather well, Fluttershy, don't you?"
Fluttershy smiled and nodded as she finished a bite of the salad she was eating. "Yes, I think she liked you, Rarity. You always make the best dresses."
"Yes, well, I'd say that getting four more orders does constitute her liking me." Rarity giggled as she took a sip of wine. "I hope that the fashion meet tomorrow goes just as well. If it does then I'm set on orders for quite a while, I think."
"I'm so happy for you, Rarity." Fluttershy gently patted her friend's hoof. "I'm glad everything is going so well."
"And I'm glad that you're improving, Fluttershy. You seem to be enjoying yourself too."
Fluttershy nodded and drained her cup of orange juice. "Yes, I think I am. You were right, Rarity, I did need to get out of my house." Fluttershy's small smile fell, and she flattened her ears. "I... I still wish Angel Bunny was here, but you were right about that too: he wouldn't want me to stop being me because of him."
"I think you're right, darling." Rarity finished her food and pushed her plate aside. "You really are looking a lot better than when I saw you yesterday."
Just as Fluttershy was about to respond, her words were cut off by the sound of loud, wheezing coughing coming from behind Rarity. Rarity frowned and looked behind her. "Goodness. Something went down the wrong pipe."
Fluttershy leaned to the left to look behind Rarity, and saw an elderly stallion on oxygen sitting next to a younger mare who was presumably family. She frowned and tilted her head just as the stallion gave a single groan and collapsed onto the floor. The mare shrieked and shot to her hooves, running over to him and shouting for help. Rarity got to her own hooves and rushed over to the mare, but Fluttershy stayed where she sat, her head still tilted.
The stallion did not look good. He looked quite sickly, and when that was combined with his age, that doubtlessly made for some miserable days. Fluttershy's mouth curved down in a subtle frown as Rarity rushed out of the restaurant to presumably call some paramedic ponies while a few more ponies gathered around the unconscious stallion.
"Hmm..." Fluttershy blinked once as the first traces of a thought began creeping into her head. The elderly stallion was obviously suffering, a blind pony could see that, and why should he have to suffer? Why should he have to go every day like that? Especially when it would be so easy to...
Fluttershy blinked again and looked down at her half-eaten food. "Ponies," she muttered. "Ponies? Could I..." Fluttershy picked up her fork and poked at the croutons as the ghost of the thought began taking more shape. It would be simple, she thought. What was in her box would certainly work on more than just animals. It was potent enough to painlessly kill anything. She, like most ponies, believed in some life after death, and doubtlessly this stallion would prefer whatever paradise supposedly awaited good ponies to what he was living now.
Fluttershy slowly blinked again as her train of thought went back to the box she had in her cupboard. She couldn't feasibly bring it here, but the ingredients that made it up were readily available at any corner drug store.
After a few minutes, two paramedics burst into the restaurant, levitating a stretcher between the two of them, followed closely by Rarity, who moved back over to their table. She glanced over at Fluttershy as the paramedics loaded the pony onto the stretcher. When they began moving out, Rarity took a deep breath and sat back down at the table, her ears flat.
"I'm sorry that you had to see all of that, Fluttershy. Given the circumstances, I doubt that it was the best thing to happen."
Fluttershy took a quiet breath and gave a wing shrug. "I-it's okay, Rarity. You didn't know that it would happen." Fluttershy's eyes flicked up to Rarity. "Is he going to be okay?"
Rarity gave a shrug of her own. "I can't say with any certainty, but I believe that he will recover. His daughter told me that he's been having heart issues lately, but if they can get him to the hospital fast enough he should make a recovery."
"Is the hospital close?"
Rarity nodded and took another sip of her wine to calm her nerves. "Yes, it's just two blocks away from here, actually. He's lucky that it was, or else they might not have gotten here in time to do much good." Rarity sighed and motioned to the waiter for another glass of wine. "Well, I hope his health improves, though given the state of him I unfortunately rather doubt it. He may survive this time, but his days are numbered. Pity, really."
"Yeah." Fluttershy looked out the nearby window in the direction of the hospital. "Pity."
* * * *
Fluttershy opened her eyes and popped her head off of the pillow. She shifted in bed until she could see behind her, where Rarity was sleeping peacefully on the bed next to her. She would be out for a while.
Nodding to herself, Fluttershy quietly slid out of her bed and took a small purse out of her nearby open suitcase. She did a quick count to make sure that there were enough bits to buy everything that she needed, and when she saw that there were, she put the purse around her neck and noiselessly walked out the door to the hotel room.
From the hotel it was a short walk to a nearby drugstore, which was thankfully open twenty four hours. The bell above the doorway chimed as Fluttershy walked into it, alerting the pegasus mare behind the counter. She smiled at Fluttershy and straightened up.
"Hello, miss. What can I get for you tonight?"
Fluttershy wordlessly opened up the purse and took a slip of paper out of it which she hoofed over to the mare. The mare took it and scanned it for a brief moment before nodding. "Yep, we have all of this here." Fluttershy gave the mare a small, brief smile before the mare went about collecting everything that Fluttershy needed. When everything was gathered, the mare put the ingredients in a paper bag and counted up the cost.
"Alright, that'll be thirty bits."
Fluttershy nodded and took two twenty bit coins out of her purse, which she gave to the mare. "Keep the change," she whispered as she took the bag off of the counter.
"Oh..." The mare blinked once. "Uh... thanks, miss. You have a good night, okay?"
Fluttershy nodded and walked out of the store before spreading her wings and flying to a nearby rooftop. She settled down and took everything out of the bag. Yes, there was more than enough to help the sick stallion feel better. She opened up the boxes and took out two of the pills from each. She took an envelope out of her purse and began gently breaking open the capsules and pouring the contents into the envelope. When she was finished, she closed the envelope and gently gave it a few shakes to make sure that it mixed properly.
It was crude, but it would do the job correctly. The stallion would find peace very soon.
Fluttershy put the envelope in her teeth and put all of the pills inside one box, which she put inside her purse. With that, she spread her wings and flew in the direction of the hospital.
As Fluttershy approached the hospital, she began to realize that she didn't know how she was going to get into the stallion's room. She wasn't family, visiting hours were over, and she didn't even know where he was. She didn't even know his name, so she couldn't figure out his room number that way. Fluttershy bit her lip as she reached the hospital. If she couldn't find him then she couldn't help him, and he would continue to suffer a slow, painful life until he died.
Just like Angel Bunny had.
Fluttershy shook her head and began flying around the hospital, looking through each window. No creature would ever suffer like Angel had. No creature deserved to have that happen to them. She resolved to find him to help him if it was the last thing that she did. She would make him feel better. She would help him. He deserved to feel better.
And then he was there.
Fluttershy peeked through one of the few windows not covered by curtains, and was almost to the next window over before she realized that she had spotted him. She flew backwards and looked through the window again. The stallion was sleeping in a bed, an IV in his foreleg and an oxygen mask over his muzzle. A small smile crossed her face, and she began examining the window to see if there was a way in from the outside short of breaking it.
Upon examination, Fluttershy saw that the window opened inwards from the inside, and it was closed by a small latch that connected the two halves of the window. She opened up her purse and took out an invitation to a Pinkie Pie party. It was thin enough to slip through the crack between the two halves of the window, but sturdy enough to lift the latch. Fluttershy gently slid the invitation through the crack, grateful that it was barely thin enough to slide through, and pulled up to undo the latch. At first the latch didn't budge, but Fluttershy merely pushed up harder. She would help this stallion. She had to help him. He was suffering.
With one final pull, the latch popped up, allowing Fluttershy to gently push the window open and fly inside the room. Landing, she saw a small plastic cup filled with water on a nightstand next to the bed.
Perfect.
Fluttershy took the envelope out of her mouth and opened it up before gently sliding the contents into the cup. The powder sank to the bottom of the cup, but after a few moments it completely dissolved, only leaving the water a touch murkier than it had been before. Fluttershy smiled and put the envelope back in her purse before walking over to the bed and gently poking the stallion.
"Sir? Sir, can you wake up, please? It's time to take your medicine."
The stallion lightly groaned, but his eyes fluttered open, landing on a smiling Fluttershy. He returned her smile and slowly pushed his oxygen mask off.
"Medicine, eh? Well, anything to help me, I suppose."
Fluttershy nodded and picked the cup up in the crook of her foreleg. "Yes, this will make you feel a lot better. I think it'll help cure you."
The stallion chuckled, the sound reminding Fluttershy of gravel being mixed. "Well, you must be new here, miss. The damned doctors around here don't know nothing, if you'll pardon me for saying so. Keep changing their guesses as to what's wrong with me."
Fluttershy gently chuckled and extended her foreleg. "Well, I think I do know what's wrong, and I think this will really help."
"If you say so," The stallion muttered. "If you do know what's wrong you'd be the first in a while." The stallion scoffed and took the cup from Fluttershy. "Been in too many of these."
Fluttershy subtly nodded and turned her head back to the window as the stallion took a small sip of water. "You kept your curtains open."
The stallion smiled and put the cup down. "Yes, I've always loved looking at the moon shining over all of Equestria. I opened the window a few times to feel the air but my darned nurses keep closing it. I've kept the curtains open in my room for the past fifty years, and I'll keep them open to see the moon until the day I die. It's odd not seeing the Mare in the Moon anymore obviously, but now she's... unblemished, if you will. She's beautiful."
"Yes," Fluttershy whispered. "Yes she is." She turned her head back and nudged the cup of water. "You go ahead and finish that. It'll do wonders for you, I promise."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get drinking." The stallion picked up the cup and took another sip. "Doctors here keep giving me new stuff, so I'll be surprised if whatever this is actually does it." The stallion shrugged and drained the cup completely. "There. I've drunk it. How long until I start feeling better, huh?"
Fluttershy closed her eyes and flattened her ears. "Seconds."
"Seconds?" The stallion scoffed. "This must... be a... good..." The stallion took a deep breath, and Fluttershy cracked one eye open to see that his eyes were drooping. "Tired all of a sudden," The stallion muttered. "Don't... know if I can..."
Then he was still.
Fluttershy fully opened her eyes as two tears streaked down her face. She allowed herself a small smile as she walked up to the stallion and kissed his forehead.
"You're welcome," she said softly. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
Her work done, Fluttershy took wing and flew out the way she came.