Angel Bunny and the Knights of the Round Stump

by Silver Letter

To the End of Bottleneck Road

On the night before his departure, Angel was by his father’s side. There was no light in his chambers. Angel hadn’t known about his eyesight yet but they only needed their sense of smell. They hadn’t said much for an hour. Angel just got him his water and touched his head with a towel. The room was rather cool but his father certainly didn’t know it. His eyes were likely squeezed shut. This fever was particularly bad. Worse than the others. The rabbit doctor said that it might last until morning. Angel could only sit there, listening to him wheeze. No matter how dedicated he was to the Lord of Rabbits, there was nothing he could do. When his father did speak, it was never about himself. He asked about whether the warren had enough food to last the winter. He asked if Angel was still alone in the forest. He could never stop talking about others. He mumbled about it until he fell asleep.

His paws snapped a long twig on the path. The sound cut through the fog on that early morning. He looked around and let his breath catch up. This was a completely new land to him. It was a land of shade and vastness. Rabbits are smaller animals. Very little in this world is considered small from their perspective. So what is already great in scope becomes even greater. To his left, the hillside plummeted down with exposed faces of granite to the distant rapids. The opposite is a forest packed with reddish trees three meters wide, towers that obscured the sun. The mountains all around were infinite, and extended into the sky forever. Angel swallowed his fear. He was just a speck of white in a wild land.

The layers of decaying matter that formed an animal path on the mountain felt springy. He had gone for days without meeting anyone and felt accustomed to the silence by now. There were no towns around here. Animals without claim to family, home or anything else rabbits and pony take for granted rule this land. This was a place of obscurity. He didn’t think he would meet another soul. At least one worth talking to. When he got up, the first thing he heard was the screech of some hawk above, flying to the nearby silver lake. It was a distant black sea from the mountain. It was fine to him. Less talking meant more walking.

The trail curved around the mountain. It was only getting steeper and the trees thinned on the left, giving way to fields of boulders. Angel dared not get too close to the edge. One of the few things that frightened him was falling and that was a spectacular drop. He would end up a red stain on the rocks if he made a silly mistake like that. So he strayed closer to the trees and pressed on.

He kept an eye on the depths of the forest like it was his own. He always felt like he was being watched but he never managed to spy any animals in the bushes or hiding in the trees. He didn’t trust this place and they likely didn’t trust him either. He was so distracted that he was caught off guard when he saw a cart of all things resting at the side of the trail. It was twenty meters off still. If he had been paying attention, he could have seen it much earlier. It could just be abandoned, something a traveler left behind long ago. Angel kept watching for a while then walked towards it, his lance readied for anything.

The grass behind it was still smashed. The wood still light brown with a glaze that shined in the tiny spots of light. It must have stopped there recently, but why? Angel crept around the wagon. The wind billowed the light sheet that covered the thing. Summoning his courage, Angel extended the lance and lifted part of the sheet so he could try and peek inside. He readied his legs to jump at a moment’s notice. As soon as it was high enough, there was a movement inside like something was disturbed by the light. Angel heard a groan so he withdrew, taking no chances.

There was actually something living in there. As much as he wanted to bolt, he was a knight and had to check to see if it wasn’t someone in need of help. Chances are, if it’s a pony, they would not even understand him if he spoke. But that never deterred him before.

“Hello there!” he shouted, cupping his paws around his mouth. “Are you stranded”?

A couple hooves with ruffled fur the color of dark saffron stepped out. They were stained, the bottoms covered in mud. Was it a pony? It pushed aside the sheet with its head and he saw that it was indeed one, albeit one weird in appearance. When he stepped out, he reached back in and took out a baggy hat and hit it against the wagon to force its shape back then set it on a head of grey hair.

“Hello there, yourself” he replied. He had a homely grin which wiggled his hanging beard that looked like a trail of smoke. As he spoke, a single shaft of wheat swayed against his rubbery gums. His teeth looked the same color. On his flank, an image of a strand of wheat was partially hidden by a piece of cloth of some sort. Angel couldn’t tell what it was or why he wore it.

“I hope I’m not intruding on what you are doing” Angel said. “I didn’t expect to see a pony around these parts”.

He nodded. “It’s no intrusion. I’m glad to see a fellow like yourself. You sound like somebody good to have around”.

Angel relaxed. This pony sounded very simplistic like some of his own kind back at the warren. He likes ponies and rabbits that live close to the earth. To understand the beauty of it.

“My name is Sir Angel”.

“I’m known by the name Mr. Greenhooves but everypony calls me Greenhooves. I’m mighty grateful to have met you, friend”.

Angel smiled. That was quick. To meet someone one minute then become a friend the next? A strange thing to be sure but a good thing.

“I would offer you a snack but I ran out some ways back” he said.

“And I unfortunately don’t have any food that would satisfy anything much bigger than a rabbit”.

Greenhooves gestured to his cart. “You can at least spend the night here. Better than out in the wilderness”.

Angel wanted to consider it but he still wanted to reach this land of the Green Rabbit by tomorrow. But he would love to accept such generosity and take some time off his feet. He looked at the cart and noticed that one of the rear wheels was missing. When he first saw the cart, he thought the whole thing had sank into the mud.

“Is your cart alright?” he asked.

“I’m afraid not” Greenhooves replied. “These varmints came while I was napping and took off with it. When I got up to head on over the hills, I was stuck. Never seen anything like it before”.

Angel stared at him and the cart, bewildered at what he said, the idea of animals taking a wheel from an unsuspecting pony. “But…that…that is unheard of” he stammered.

Greenhooves shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Well, you’re telling me. Doesn’t matter. I’m going to nap some more. Nice talking to ya”. He went back into the cart and once again put the sheet back down. The whole thing shifted as he stretched and likely went back to sleep.

Angel took a close look at the surrounding hill. He could see a disturbance in the brush where something big was dragged through it recently. Grass and flowers were crushed haphazardly. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look around to see if he can figure out where it went and who had taken it. Knight’s honor demanded it anyway. If there was somebody out there on the road that needed help, he would not hesitate to offer it.

---

Angel crawled up the hill, wary of the brambles and the thorns that stuck out of the earth. Flies were coming out of every niche in the forest and the heat was rising as noon approached. He whipped at them with his lance. He hopped along a log past a trickle of water that flowed down. From there, he spied something odd in a depression of soil. It was near some hedges that were ripe with red berries. And on the edge of it, he saw the wheel, its spokes scratched up and brass plating dull and pockmarked.

He reached it and looked inside. It was a den and sure enough, three auburn colored heads poked from around the wheel. They belonged to fox cubs. The sight of a predator, even a baby, chilled Angel’s blood. The fact that the animals didn’t know better but to stare at him with inexperienced eyes didn’t diminish his fear of them. The mother had to be near. He hurried and seized the wheel, knocking them aside to roll around and yawn. As soon as he did, he knew he was being watched.

He turned to see her staring at him from the shadows. She was crouched down and licking her lips. And yet, it was she that seemed reluctant to attack. Angel was flummoxed. A healthy vixen have torn more than one of his companions apart before. Even he would be ill pressed to fight one in its own territory. It seemed to be waiting to him to move. All he could do was to point the lance towards her as he backed up. As soon as he was beyond the den, she scrambled to the cubs. Angel didn’t hear her chase him as he dashed back to the animal path.

Mr. Greenhooves was woken up and he gladly fixed his wagon without much effort. After that, Angel decided to rest and gather his thoughts in the back while the pony pulled the cart at a swift trot. He must have talked but Angel’s mind was still in a daze after that near death experience. But it wasn’t all bad. He surely saved himself some time by stopping to help.

---

His father told him all he knew about where the Green Rabbit was said to have lived. It was before he fell asleep as the gasping finally started to stabilize. Angel’s eyes were heavy weights at this point. But he spoke about Bottleneck Road so clearly. Angel could only imagine that he had been there before when he was just half the size he was that night. He said that at the end of this long trail of stone, one could see a castle like none other in the wide world. He said that it was a place where anyone could find their destiny.

Angel thought that finding destiny was a bunch of rubbish. He never knew anyone or pony that ever did. Their supposed destinies were just too grandiose to ever be achieved. They might even grasp something nearly as great but when they never met their true desires, he could see the disappointment in their eyes. He never bothered with such things. His destiny was just to see the sun rise and nothing more. Well, it was a bit more than that. He seemed to daydream a lot. Especially about a certain Pegasus. What sort of destiny would that be though? Wouldn’t anyone dream about her every second of every day if they could? If they knew her as much as he did?

The wagon stopped and Angel was lurched awake. It was sunny and he was in a small clearing, a break in the forest.

“Angel, come out. This must be your stop” Greenhooves called out. He waited until Angel got his things and jumped from the wagon. He sniffed and a rush of pollen entered his nostrils. Instead of icky dead matter, there was a carpet of flowers in bloom even upon the trail itself. He didn’t even recognize them all. He walked towards the pony.

“Are you certain that we’ve reached that place we spoke of earlier?” Angel asked.

He gave him another one of his wise nods. “Yup. This here is Bottleneck Road. I’ve never had a reason to go there myself as I just go straight on past the mountains. Today’s a fine day. I bet there is a great view from up there”.

Angel didn’t understand him. Was he talking about the castle? Regardless, he gathered some gold and offered some to him.

“No need for that. After all, I help out my friends”.

“Well, thanks. By the way, how are you able to talk to me?” Angel asked.

He grinned. “I learned to listen to everything little critters like yourself says. That’s all”.

With a nod from him and a bow from Angel, they parted. A minute later, the pony and his cart were gone.

Angel started up the road, his feet pattering up thick cobblestones. It was steep. The castle could be on top of a hill. Would it be guarded? He knew that they had to be expecting him but he was still worried. Rabbits were notoriously territorial when it came to their own kind. Seeing one in armor might frighten them.

The trail narrowed as he climbed. He ended up high enough that he was higher than the trees. Only bare grass covered this side of the hills and a lower plain leading to a huge ravine some distance off. The cobblestones were crumbled by then and eventually only a few bricks remained when the road reached a sudden end. The hill fell sharply into these huge steps going down a hundred meters or more. Angel suddenly felt like vomiting. Dizziness pulled at his limbs and especially his stomach. He turned away and walked back until he could start breathing normally. He turned and looked around. He was as high as he could go and yet there was no castle. His cheeks flushed. Was all of this some kind of trick? He started to walk off but then he noticed something strange. His lance had painted stripes from one end to the other. He turned back and carefully looked over the edge. Each of the layers of his huge hill were ringed with white stones. It kept going for six layers. Then it dawned on him that this was the Green Rabbit’s castle.