//------------------------------//
// Winds of Change 
// Story: Winds of Change 
// by hunterz263 
//------------------------------//

	Angel Bunny panicked at the scene he had just witnessed.  He was hyper ventilating, sweating, anxious and looked like an insane mental patient.  Every animal around him cried, wept, screamed, and begged for an answer on what had just happened.  Immediately, Angel hopped out the door and went towards Ponyville in a rush.


. . . . .


It was another beautiful day outside for the citizens of Ponyville.  The skies were clear and there was no rain shower scheduled for the day, so everypony was out enjoying the sun while they could.  Twilight Sparkle had taken this opportunity to do some grocery shopping while Spike was out of the house helping Rarity.  The duo recently resorted the library again in a flash leaving them with this free day.

“That’ll be two bits, Princess Twilight.”  A merchant with a light-brown coat said while he bowed politely towards his ruler.

Twilight Sparkle still was not quite use to the Princess title and insisted that everpony just call her by her real name.  “You don’t need to call me that!  I’m just like everypony else here.”  She said with a giggle.  She placed the items she purchased inside her bag and smiled towards the merchant.  “Thank you.  Spike and I are going to try and make some new food together tonight.”

The vendor smiled back and nodded.  Twilight walked away from the stall when she saw something unusual.  Angel Bunny, Fluttershy’s personal pet, was out on his own running towards her.  She got down and sat on her legs to listen to Angel.  In the back of her head, she was worried why Angel was out in town alone.  “What’s wrong, Angel?”  Twilight said.

The white bunny made some funny gestures that only confused Twilight.  All she could understand is that someone fell to the floor.  She raised an eyebrow towards Angel which only caused the bunny to slap her across the cheek.

“Ow!”  Twilight said, wincing back and rubbing the faint red mark that shined on her cheek.  “Okay!  I’ll get my friends and be at the cottage right away, Angel!”  Getting onto all fours, Twilight Sparkle raced towards each of her friends’ houses, knocking on them and alerting them that their shyest, most vulnerable friend, was in trouble at her own home.  Each of them grew anxious and eagerly joined Twilight until they were all together walking towards Fluttershy’s cottage.

“So you’re sayin’ someone fell and won’t get back up in Fluttershy’s house?  Who would even be in there?”  Applejack said while thoroughly confused by Twilight’s message.  “Fluttershy would be takin’ care of ‘em right now.  It don’t make sense while she would send Angel to tell us.”

“I don’t get it either, Applejack.  All I know is that Fluttershy and this pony need our help right now.”  The group hastily hurried towards Fluttershy’s home.  Rainbow Dash in particular was in a hurry to get inside her closet friend’s home.  Recently Fluttershy has been getting into Rainbow’s favorite genre of music: Heavy metal.  A week from now they were going to attend Lamenting Prince’s latest concert.  She was also starting to develop a taste for playing the guitar, something none of her friends ever thought would happen.  They were proud of her developing hobby and encouraged her to pursue it.

Minutes passed before they finally reached their friend’s home and knocked on the door.  There was a strange scent originating from inside her cottage.  None of the ponies knew exactly what it was, but it smelt foul, raw, and horrid.  Pinkie’s and Rarity’s eyes were producing tears from the horrible stench.  “What is that horrible, smell?”  Rarity said while she rubbed her eyes trying to remove the salty tears.

“It smells like someone forgot to take a bath for three years!”  Pinkie added blinking constantly.  “Maybe the pony inside didn’t bath for three years!”

“Pinkie Pie, this is no time for that!  Fluttershy’s in trouble!”  Rainbow Dash said angrily.  She pushed Twilight away from the door and knocked again, this time more forcefully.  Twilight glared at Rainbow, but inside she knew Rainbow was eager to save Fluttershy.  They all waited for the door to open.  When it did, they wish they never would have come.

Angel Bunny opened the door, crying his eyes out.  It was a strange sight for the girls considering Angel was always a toughie like Rainbow Dash.  When they gazed towards the center of Fluttershy’s cottage, the sight horrified them.  Fluttershy laid in a pool of dark blood that soaked and spread across her floor.  Part of her jaw had gone missing, and her coat had patches of blood.  They all screamed and hurried over to their friend.  Their hooves were soaked in their friend’s blood and their hearts were screaming to save her somehow.  Twilight tried to use forbidden magic to bring her friend back to consciousness, Pinkie attempted to wake Fluttershy up by yelling in her ear, Rainbow Dash beat at her, but nothing moved the lifeless body.

Fluttershy was dead by a knife to the mouth.  They soon found the weapon inside Fluttershy’s left hoof, covered in sticky wet blood.  From what Twilight could deduce, it was self inflicted and there were no signs of fighting with another pony.  All of the meek pegasus’ friends broke into tears.  Their best friend committed suicide, something they could not believe.  For minutes, they spewed out half constructed ideas on what might have caused this, but none of them changed the fact: Fluttershy had committed suicide willingly.

Rarity saw a yellow note on Fluttershy’s chest.  She picked it up and began to read it aloud to her friends, stuttering every few words.  “D-dear friends, a-as you can p-probably tell I am lying dead i-inside my own cottage.  I…” Rarity sniffed, wiping her blurring eyes.  “I-I have changed too m-much.  I might not have shown i-it, but ever since I-I found heavy metal, I have been abusing m-my animals and neglecting them.  I never showed i-it out in public, but that is the t-truth.  I felt they would no longer need m-me and deserved s-somepony better.  I first thought about selling them all, b-but then I started to think about you girls.  I looked in a-a mirror and saw I-I was becoming someone e-else.  I didn’t want anypony t-to see me differently.  K-know I have chosen this because I care f-for you all.  Y-you will find another Fluttershy.  I-I promise.  G-goodbye my f…”  The note suddenly had watermarks on it, telling Rarity Fluttershy could not finish a formal goodbye.  Her hoofwriting progressively got worse throughout the letter to a point it was just lines at the end.

Rarity put the letter down and wept into Applejack.  The group had no idea what to do now.  Twilight got onto her hooves, wiped her eyes and looked at Fluttershy.  “C-come on girls. We c-can’t leave her here like t-this.  She needs t-to be buried and g-given a proper funeral.  I’ll contact Princess C-celestia and inform her o-on what happened.”


. . . . .


Everpony left without question… except Rainbow Dash.  She stayed and looked down at her friend, talking to her as if she were still alive for hours.  She discussed how her day was, her dreams, but never about Fluttershy’s changes or saying goodbye.  Finally, when it was getting late, she decided she owed her friend one last goodbye.

Rainbow took the body into her hooves and held it close, hugging her deceased friend.  “Fluttershy… I’m s-sorry if I caused y-you to do this to yourself. I didn’t realize you were changing. You should have told me s-something! I could have helped you! Anything! B-but… n-now you’re gone-” tears poured rapidly from the polychromatic pegasus,  “-a-and nothing I do can bring y-you back. E-even while y-you’re gone, I’ll a-always remember you as an awesome friend, Fluttershy.”  Rainbow Dash leaned in close to Fluttershy’s ear and whispered quietly.  “Y-you were the first f-friend I ever had, Fluttershy… I-I will always keep y-you close, e-even now… I-I love you, Fluttershy… P-please… P-please sleep w-well.”

Rainbow Dash looked into Fluttershy’s dim blue eyes one final – she remembered how bright and full of life they use to be -- time before she closed them and let go of her friend.  She released all of Fluttershy’s animals, letting them go free.  The future looked bleak for everypony, but they had to move on.  Death was a part of life and this was just another lesson to learn.

Inside her home, Rainbow Dash opened her journal and looked at a picture of her and Fluttershy meeting in Flight School, smiling towards the camera.  The mare’s eyes filled with tears but none of them fell; she could not longer leak tears.  Rainbow Dash opened her journal and began to write:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that no one is immune to suicide, even if you think your friends could never do it.  Everypony is capable of falling into its temptation.  That is why it is important to always make sure your friends are okay and to ensure they are not lying about how they truly feel.  Sometimes ponies hide their emotions because they are afraid of what others might think of them, but that is why you need to show them that they can trust you; that you are a true friend that only wants to make them happy every single day.

Fluttershy’s departure taught me that, and even though I will miss her everyday, I will make sure none of my friends meet the same fate she did.

Your loyal student,

Rainbow Dash