Angelswift

by Nevel

Chapter 12

Cherry was running around outside in a meadow with her friends Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The sun shined down on them as they laughed and played together, the birds were singing as they flew around the field, and the fillies laughing seemed to reach into the heavens, there wasn’t any way she could have been happier. Then it began to rain, clouds had formed in the sky seemingly out of nowhere and they poured heavy on Cherry and her friends. Cherry was the only one to seem to have noticed this as her friends seemed to get further away from her spreading apart. It then started to get darker and darker as she watched her friends disappear into the rapidly enclosing darkness. Cherry reached out for them, but they were already gone. She wanted to chase them, but didn’t know which one to run after or even which way they went. The rain stopped instantly and Cherry found herself alone in the darkness. Trees appeared behind her as she spun around and began reaching out for the little filly. Vines came out the ground and she screamed for help but no sound came out as they wrapped around her body and neck, then began pulling her into the ground. She looked upwards and saw her brother standing there. She smiled and reached a hoof out for him.

“No more friends! No more school! You’re never going outside again!” Lance’s voice echoed around in the dark bouncing off of invisible walls. Cherry wanted to ask why? She begged her brother to save her but he just stared at her with disappointment and turned his back on her. Cherry was neck deep in the darkness as she was pulled under. He brother turned back to her, but it wasn’t him anymore. Her father’s face looked down on her and laughed at her misery as she was finally pulled all the way under.

Cherry kicked and panicked as the weight of the darkness held her down. She threw it off of herself and saw daylight coming in through the window. She was in Fluttershy’s bedroom. Cherry looked around and saw that the thick duvet was lying in a heap on the floor. The birds Cherry heard in her dream were outside the bedroom window singing happily as the sun shined in, lighting up the entire room. The dream had felt so real to Cherry that she wanted to just wrap herself in the covers again and just let that darkness take her away. Instead she got out of bed and lifted the duvet back onto the bed and tried to tidy it up, but the bed was so big then she couldn’t manage to even get it all the way to the other side. She decided to leave it and went downstairs to see where Fluttershy was. Cherry’s emotions towards her brother hadn’t changed since last night and the dream hadn’t helped matters in any way. As Cherry Blossom reached the bottom of the stairs she saw a group of animals all gathered around a bowl, Fluttershy had already fed the animals which meant it must be later in the day then Cherry thought. The front door opened and Fluttershy walked in with a half empty bag of chicken feed on her back. She looked over and saw the pink filly standing at the foot of the stairs.

“Good morning Cherry.”
“Good morning. Have you fed all the animals already?” Cherry asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I did wait for you because I know you like to help me, but you slept in and I didn’t want to wake you, and I just couldn’t let my friends be hungry for too long. You’re not upset are you?

Cherry was disappointed that she missed out on helping to feed the animals but she knew that Fluttershy cared a lot about them and would never let her little friends miss feeding time. Fluttershy placed down the bag of chicken feed and walked over to Cherry.

“Are you okay? Did you not sleep well?” Cherry shook her head. She thought about telling Fluttershy about the dream but decided against it. “Maybe some breakfast will make you feel better. I know, I’ll fix you up some of my special soup. It’ll perk you right up.” Fluttershy walked into the kitchen while Cherry sat down on the sofa. All the animals were just finishing their meals and returning back to their little nests or running outside. Cherry sat there for a few minutes watching the last of the animals eaten then a pure white rabbit jumped up beside Cherry and looked at her with its large black eyes.

“Good morning Angel,” Said Cherry “Did you enjoy your breakfast?” The small rabbit put a paw onto Cherry’s leg, tapping it gently. “Oh, you wanna know if my hoof is feeling better?” Angel Bunny had tapped the leg which she had sprained before but the rabbit shook its head and then pointed to her directly. “You want to know if I’m alright?” Angel nodded at Cherry and just kept staring into her hazel eyes. “I’m sorry Angel, I don’t want to talk about it.” Cherry looked away from Angel but he moved around to face her. He sat down right where she was looking and he looked into her eyes again.

It was a look of understanding, like the rabbit knew what she was going through. Maybe he did. Cherry didn’t know anything about Angel’s history and rabbits often tend to have many brothers and sisters, but this one always seemed to be alone. Sure there were other rabbits but Angel was never with them. He would only ever make time for Fluttershy. Was he alone too?

“I just don’t know what to do. He was so horrible! If you had seen him yesterday…” Cherry broke off. She didn’t want to think about it again. Her brother just lashing out at her like that was completely unfair, she didn’t deserve it. Fluttershy then walked into the room holding a tray in her mouth that had a bowl of soup on it. Cherry should smell it from where she was on the sofa and it smelled delicious. She walked over to the table where Fluttershy had placed the soup and looked at the bowl. From the smell she had guessed it was tomato soup and when she got close, she saw she was right, Fluttershy smiled at Cherry before cautioning her.

“Now don’t be too quick with the soup, remember to blow on it first and make sure it’s cool, you don’t wanna spend the day with a burnt tongue, do you?” Cherry nodded at Fluttershy and then leaned in close to the soup. The steam was billowing off the top and Cherry blew on it to cool it down, she repeated this a few times till the steam was gone and then leaned down to take a sip. Too soon. She recoiled as the still hot soup touched her lips and she felt the heat of it. She could have burnt her tongue had she actually taken a sip but luckily she noticed how hot it was.

“Careful sweetie, just take it slow.” Fluttershy smiled at Cherry as she again leaned in close, blowing on the soup. This time she slowly waited after blowing to see if the steam would rise up again, this time it didn’t so she carefully took a sip. It was delicious, tomato soup was always a favourite of hers but this was the best she’d ever tasted. Slowly Cherry finished the rest of the soup and turned to Fluttershy.

“Thank you for the soup, it was really good.” Cherry smiled at Fluttershy as she smiled back.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“So what you wanna do now? Can we go see the chickens?”

“Umm… maybe later, but I first wanted to talk to you about something, come sit down.” Cherry walked over to the sofa and sat down where Fluttershy indicated right between herself and Angel. As Cherry sat down she suddenly had a feeling of dread like she wasn’t going to like what was to come next. “Cherry, I think you should go home and see your brother.”

“What?! But…” Fluttershy spoke over Cherry as she tried to complain.

“Now I know you both had a big fight yesterday and you both said things that neither of you meant but-“

“He said I could never see my friends again!”

“BUT you’ve both had time to calm down and really think about everything you’ve both said. Do you really think he meant what he said?”

“Yes!” Cherry said without hesitation. “You didn’t see him Fluttershy, he was a monster just like my father was when he would get angry at me and I did nothing wrong. I NEVER do anything wrong!”

“Cherry, the Everfree forest is not a place that you can just walk into and play in. It’s a dark scary dangerous place and unless you’re prepared for it, horrible things could happen. Can you blame your brother for being upset after fearing you were in danger?”

“I…” Cherry couldn’t argue that.

Maybe he was only upset because he was scared of the forest. Cherry thought. Her brother was going to punish her because he was scared of the forest?

“Why don’t you get ready and I’ll take you home.” Fluttershy stepped off the sofa and headed to the kitchen, taking the empty bowl with her. Cherry didn’t want to go yet, but she wasn’t going to say no to Fluttershy. Cherry didn’t want her to see her and her brother argue again. She hopped off the sofa and went to the kitchen.

“Umm, Fluttershy?” Cherry thought about how best to say it. “I… can I go alone? I’d rather talk to my brother on my own.” This was half true but Cherry really was just hoping that she could walk home slowly, since she really didn’t want to see her brother again so soon.

“Oh umm, if you really want that, I suppose that’s alright. You sure you’ll be okay?”

Cherry nodded.

“Thank you for everything Fluttershy. You’ve been great.” Cherry hesitated for a moment and then ran up to Fluttershy and gave her a quick hug and then ran out the door. Fluttershy was taken aback by the hug at first not really prepared for it, and before she could react Cherry had already let go and left the house. Angel sat on the sofa watching Cherry leave and then a moment later he followed her.

* * *

Lance slept in longer than he ever remembered doing so before. The sun was high in the sky, the birds were singing and all he wanted was the night to come back and to have silence. He awoke with a headache and the light shining through a gap in the curtains hurt his eyes. He rolled over away from the light and his body ached, it was like somepony had beaten him with a sack of horseshoes while he slept and bruised his entire body. The young stallion covered his head with a pillow to block out the noisy birds but that just made his head spin. He gingerly got out of bed and began walking to the bathroom, if he was going to throw up no way was he going to do it in bed.

Lance reached the bathroom across the hall and then turned on the cold tap. He splashed a few drops onto his face trying to wake himself up then looked into the mirror. Lance hardly recognised the pony there, last night he saw the reflection of his father, this time he saw himself as an old pony. He was tired with purple bags under his eyes, his mane completely scuffed up and going in all directions, all he needed was a few liver spots and wrinkles and he’d have the old pony look complete. He sure felt old, his body groaned and ached, his head felt heavy and made of glass, and he could barely move.

Lance brushed his light blue mane flat so it was back to normal then slowly headed into the living room, looking at the clock he saw it was coming up to lunch time. The house was completely empty without Cherry here and he thought about going right to Fluttershy’s to talk to her, but Fluttershy made it clear that she’d bring Cherry back next morning. Maybe they had been here and he hadn’t heard them come and they went back to her cottage? Lance shook his head and then raised a hoof to it. This headache was going to be with him all day, he thought. Lance looked out the window towards where Fluttershy’s home was. There was no one out there. He desperately wanted Cherry to come home soon so he could talk to her and tell her he was sorry.

* * *

Cherry had just left Fluttershy’s home and was slowly walking towards her own house, she wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation when she met her brother. She was sure he’d just yell at her and maybe lock her in her bedroom, barricading the windows so she couldn’t get out. Every worst case scenario that she could think of played out in her head. She heard him screaming at her.

“Cherry!”

The shouting sounded thousands of miles away, like he had trapped her in a well.

“Cherry Blossom!”

Cherry looked up realising that the shouting hadn’t been her imagination, looking to the right she saw Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom running over to her.

“Cherry! Hey!” Scootaloo was the first one to reach her. “Are you alright? We were so worried after what happened yesterday.” Cherry looked at Scootaloo and her friends and couldn’t think. Each of them were wearing cooking pots on their heads.

“Cherry? What’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked, wearing a pot that was much too big and she had to hold it up with a hoof to stop it covering her eyes.

“Umm… why do you have those on your heads?” Cherry asked, pointing at each of the cooking pots.

“Oh, these are for protecting ourselves?.” Said Scootaloo.

“Huh?”

Applebloom then stood in front of the others and banged the pot on her head and it gave a loud metallic clang.

“That noise keeps the Timberwolves away, Granny Smith taught me a while ago.” Applebloom smiled proudly. “See I thought that the Timberwolves only came during Zap Apple season but turns out that’s not true. We were all unprepared when we all went in there yesterday, and I reckon that this time we’ll have everything we should need.”

“Oh, can I still come with you?” Cherry Blossom asked. The other three fillies looked at each other.

“Umm, are you allowed?“ Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean your brother was very upset.” Cherry looked down at the ground and then over towards where her house was a tiny dot in the distance. Lance was never going to let her see her friends again. He’d already threatened her with the worst.

“I’m allowed to do what I want.” Cherry said with a tone of defiance and then turned to the forest. “Same place as last time?” Scootaloo walked around and stood in front of Cherry.

“Cherry? Is there something you-“

“It’s fine, really. Come on, don’t you wanna get your cutie marks?” The others knew something was wrong, Cherry had never been like this, it was like she was a completely different pony. Scootaloo walked along with Cherry towards the forest, leaving the other two fillies to hang back and whisper to each other.

“Y’all reckon she had a fight with her brother?” Said Applebloom.

“Yeah, I remember when I had a fight with my sister and I ran away and stayed with you and Applejack. Remember the Sisterhoof Social?”

“Ah yeah.”

“It’ll all work out in the end. Her brother just needs to do something special for her, that’s all.” Sweetie Belle then ran after Cherry and Scootaloo.

“Ah hope so.” Applebloom followed the other three fillies into the forest.

* * *

Lance stepped outside looking around, his head was pounding with each chirp of the birds and he thought that maybe a little fresh air would do him some good, but perhaps not. Lance looked around at all the work he and Cherry had both done, the litter was cleared away, the grass was cut flat, the weeds had been pulled and the flowers were growing.

Wait, flowers?

Lance looked down at the flower bed and he saw that a lot of the flowers Cherry had planted began to grow, they were only little and just poking through the dirt but they were growing, but that wasn’t the most surprising part, the Calla-Lilly had started growing again. It was no longer crushed into the dirt but instead had risen up, like it was guiding the other flowers, telling them which way to grow. The ponies of Ponyville said this place had a curse on it but this wasn’t a curse, it was a miracle. He had to tell Cherry, she had to see this. Lance turned and with a rush of adrenaline he headed towards Fluttershy’s cottage. His headache all but forgotten and his body feeling young again and rejuvenated, and all it took was for him to think of seeing his sister again and to see her smile. After a short while Lance was knocking on the door of Fluttershy’s home, a moment later it was opened by the yellow pegasus.

“Oh, Lance. I wasn’t expecting you. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s gonna be fine. Where’s Cherry? I wanna tell her some good news and it simply cannot wait.” Lance was practically beaming, but the sad confused face of Fluttershy’s threatened to bring it crashing down.

“You mean she never went home?”

And there it was. Lance felt the weight of the world crush down upon him, along with his headache slowly returning.

“What you mean?” Asked Lance. “Isn’t she here with you?” Fluttershy looked worried.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. She said she was going straight home. She couldn’t have gotten lost or-“

“Runaway,” Lance finished for her. “I’ve gotta go find her. Maybe she went to her friends.”

“Wait, I’ll come with you.” Fluttershy stepped outside shutting the door behind her. “She can’t have gone too far, she only left a short while ago.” Just then a white rabbit jumped between the two of them and began tapping at Fluttershy’s leg.

“Angel, it’s okay, I’m not going to be gone long.” The rabbit shook his head but Fluttershy didn’t notice.

“Do you know where Scootaloo lives?” asked Lance.

“The orange pegasus? No, I’m sorry.” Angel repeatedly bounced alongside Fluttershy trying to get her attention as she and Lance made their way down the path.

“Well let’s try Applebloom’s, she lives over on Sweet Apple Acers right?”

“Yes, and we can ask Applejack too.” Angel jumped on Fluttershy’s head and kept trying to make gestures with his paws. “Angel, I’m sorry but I’ve already fed you this morning and I’m really busy now. Please just wait until I get back.” The white rabbit jumped off Fluttershy’s back and then ran in front of Lance, he kept looking ahead of himself and just stepped over the rabbit, Angel sat there pulling his ears in frustration as the two walked away, Angel then turned and ran into the forest.

Comments

[Deathpony]

ugh Fluttershy your supposed to understand animals clearly your not getting Angels message. Cant wait for the next chapter when is it?

[Nevel]

871923 Well, she has always had trouble understanding Angel for some reason :P The next chapter will be VERY soon. I've beaten my writers block and I'm already working on the next chapter.