Tragedy of an Angel

Warmth? Yes, it was warm to Angel as his eyes fluttered open. Once they were open, he scanned the dimly lit living room, confirming that he had not died. It was a miracle that he hadn’t, but Fluttershy was always good at taking care of animals. In fact, this wasn’t the first time that she had saved him from a fatality.

        The room was littered with candles, giving the room an earthy scent and atmosphere. he tried sitting up in the fruit-basket-turned-hospital-cot that he had been placed in, but quickly screamed in pain as his wound throbbed severely. It felt as if someone had held a branding iron against his side, while stuffing little wedges of lemon inside his wound. Flopping back down, he panted as he saw Fluttershy run into the room with a worried look on her face.

        The poor girl. She looked like she hadn’t got a wink of sleep for...however long he had been knocked out. Her mane was a frizzy mess, highlighting the black bags underneath her eyes. Not only that; but her steps seemed shaky and uncoordinated, as if she had learn to walk only yesterday.

        He watched with lidded eyes as Fluttershy drew near, carrying in her mouth a first aid kit and some capped off syringes. Angel cringed at this; for he knew that she would stick him with one if not two of those needles before she left his side again, possibly returning to take care of the other 549 animals she had under her care.

Placing the medical supplies next to his cot on the ground, Fluttershy laid down herself and smiled warmly and tiredly at him. Angel frowned, knowing that under that forced smile was an angry mare. He knew, based on the years as her favorite pet, what she was thinking on the inside. She was, however, too shy and too good-natured to say how she felt without fear of rebuttal.

That’s not necessarily bad, but it becomes a problem when ponies start calling you a living doormat. But that’s not important right now. What is important, is how Angel is going to convey how he feels to Fluttershy.

Seeing Her in the Everfree was in no way normal, for She had never manifested Herself before him. Angel didn’t know how to feel, and he was thinking about it intently as Fluttershy looked him over. Seeing that he was deep in thought, Fluttershy cleared her throat cutely.

Angel glanced at her from the side of his eye, waiting for her to say something. Fluttershy gave another forced smile before removing the lime-green sheet that was around his body. He allowed this, cooperating with her in order to move the rather comfortable sheet. Once exposed to the rather cold temperature of the room, Angel let out an involuntary shiver.

“I’ll be done in a minute Angel. I just have to change your bandages and apply some ointment.” Said Fluttershy as she set about opening the white box with a red cross on it, rummaging through different sized tubes of ointment and bandages. Finding a roll of gauze, Fluttershy grabbed a pair of scissors with her mouth and indicated for Angel to turn his body to the right. He did so reluctantly, still wary for any sign of those syringes he saw earlier.

He felt her teeth two minutes later, pulling on the surgical tape that held the used gauze to his body. The tearing sound ended at long last, alerting Angel that she was now undressing his bandages for real. Curiosity getting the best of him, he turned his head in order to look at the damage the timberwolf had caused him back at the sealed cave.

His mouth nearly shattered on the floor when he saw three claw marks that went up his whole side, covering pieces of his leg and arm on the left side of his body. The wounds were stitched closed, almost making him queasy. He was reminded of a patchwork doll, like the one of a certain purple dragon she kept under her bed. That and other things that he doesn’t want to think about right now.

“Alright Angel; Momma’s gonna apply some ointment then wrap you back up, okay?” Fluttershy asked timidly, making Angel want to turn around and slap her. Why wasn’t she being honest with her feelings? He knows that any sensible pony would be upset at their pet for risking his/her life in such a drastic fashion, so why wasn’t she angry?

He then noticed the burning sensation along the length of his cut as Fluttershy touched it, causing him to hiss in agony. That feeling of pain dissipated when she applied the cooling and healing salve to the wound, making him give a sigh of relief. The gauze was applied only seconds later, covering his whole body save his feet, paws and head. Looking over his new mummified body, Angel gave a snort of disappointment at his covered tail.

“That should do it! Now, you should get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids. You gave me a heart attack back there, but I’m glad I got to you in time,” There was that forced smile again, causing Angel to narrow his eyes angrily. Fluttershy noticed his glare and gulped, thinking she harmed him during his redressing session, “I didn’t hurt you, did I? Are you feeling alright, Angel?” Genuine concern graced her voice.

Angel snapped a white paw to a box of crayons next to a couple pieces of scrap parchment. Catching on quickly, Fluttershy went and grabbed his desired materials sheepishly, almost as if she would anger Celestia with retrieving them. But she grabbed them anyway, the paper in her mouth while the crayons rested on her back. She returned to his bedside, offering him the materials. Angel snatched them without a second thought, beginning a crude sentence with purple crayon.

He held it up to her and smacked the paper for emphasis. Fluttershy shook her head with that same forced smile from earlier, “Oh Angel Bunny, I’m not angry at you! That’s not even remotely the truth.” She laughed nervously as Angel growled and slapped the paper harder thrice more.

Fluttershy flinched at each slap, as if she was the one getting slapped and not the paper. After that, Angel whistled to bring her attention to another sentence.

Her eyes went wide at what it said as she stuttered in disbelief, “Why Angel, of course I love you! There’s not a doubt in my heart about that, not one!” Fluttershy exclaimed, reaching out a hoof to rub his head. He slapped it away with another angry glare, causing Fluttershy to grin sheepishly. He was getting real tired of her act and it was beginning to show through his actions.

An image of Her flashed into his mind; Her hazel eyes brimming with tears as She was pulled into that cave in the Everfree, a black wooden paw wrapping over Her mouth to stop a scream of protest. The blue eyes of that timberwolf now haunted him constantly, and Angel swore he could see them in every shadow around the room. How...hungry and malicious, those eyes were!

Angel winced as if he had been shot, clutching at his head in pain as he tried to eject that gruesome image from his head. After seeing that, he couldn’t force himself to be angry if he tried. Instead, he settled for depression and sadness. His whole face became downcast, making Fluttershy grimace in worry.

“Angel? When you were on my back, you reached out for somepony...W-will you tell me who it was?” Fluttershy asked, suddenly remembering that he had done that. Angel went wide-eyed for a couple of seconds, before going back to his face of defeat. Taking some crayons, he began painting a picture of a burrow on a hill. The sun was bright, little splotched of blue alerting Fluttershy to a beautiful and crystal clear day.

She nodded in understanding, sitting down as Angel set to work on another picture.

This time, he had illustrated the inside of the burrow quite nicely. A single rug adorned the floor, as well as a doe and another rabbit. She knew it was a doe, based on the pink bow wrapped around her right ear present-style. She had white fur like her mate, but her eyes were hazel and she seemed just a little bit smaller. These two took up the middle of the burrow, next to some candles against the wall.

He slapped at the bunny without a bow, then pointed at himself with the same paw. Fluttershy’s eyes went wide in comprehension, looking at Angel with a flabbergasted expression.

“That’s you!?” She asked incredulously, Angel nodding with a neutral expression on his face. Fluttershy then looked back at the picture and pointed a hoof quizzically at the other bunny, making Angel grimace as he knew the inevitability of the following question.

“Who’s this,” Fluttershy asked with her other hoof on her chin, “She doesn’t look like one of the bunnies that live here. Is she somepo-...bunny special to you?” Angel sighed, knowing that he wouldn't make it through this explanation without breaking down. As much as he didn’t want to explain, he knew that keeping it from her will only serve to cause tension in their relationship.

Picking up another piece of paper, Angel began drawing out a more detailed picture of them both.  He looked the same as he did now, but the doe seemed much more timid. He even drew her cowering behind one of her ears. He then put names to the illustrations, Fluttershy sounding out the name of the doe slowly.

“Se-ra-phim? Seraphim,” She asked Angel hopefully, to which he nodded at the correct pronunciation, “It’s a pretty name! Was she your sister?” Angel shook his head quickly, making Fluttershy scrounge her face up in thought.

“Was she....” She trailed off, Angel watching her with undivided attention, “Your mother,” She asked as if this was some sort of game, her growing smile being the opposite of Angel’s growing frown, “Your aunt!? Oo, oo, Your niece!?” With every wrong answer, Angel became more and more agitated.

Giving a squeal of rage, Angel quickly drew a large circle around her stomach. But as he did this, he felt a stray tear roll down his right cheek. Then one down his left as he blinked...

...Then another...

...And another...

“Angel,” Fluttershy tried weakly as he held the picture up, fighting off his tears as best as he could, “Angel are you alright!?” She tried coaxing him back down and taking the paper away from him, earning her a slap from the paper as he practically shoved it in her face. She was about to reprimand him for hitting her, but became silent and wide-eyed as the implication of her round belly finally sank in.

“She’s...Seraphim’s pregnant!? Oh, where is she!? Do you need to go see her!?” Fluttershy asked frantically, packing up her first aid materials. Angel couldn’t feel the tears streaming down his face anymore, his eyes becoming numb from the wet onslaught already.

He grabbed yet another piece of paper, taking the longest with this one than any of his previous ones.

“Where is she!? A doe giving birth without support is-” Fluttershy interrupted herself as she noticed the paper quivering. Looking behind it, her heart fell in her chest as she noticed Angel’s sorrowful expression towards the picture he just drew.

It doesn’t take a genius to know what a cave-in plus a pregnant doe equaled...

Fluttershy felt tears of her own beginning to surface, her inward thoughts of being cross with Angel earlier eroding away to make room for sadness. He balled up the paper and threw it behind him. Fluttershy felt herself crying freely now, her eyes becoming red as she sniffed every now and then. But amidst her tears, her brain was trying to piece together how a pregnant doe would have gotten into a cave right before a cave-in. How could that have happened? Wasn’t Angel with her?

“H-,” She choked on a sob, “How did she end up there?” She sniffed hard as Angel gave a few sobs before trying to rub the tears out of his eyes.

Why couldn’t he stop the tears!? Why does it hurt so bad!?

A couple of roaming tears found their way onto his next illustration, showing both him and Seraphim hopping along the top of their hill on a windy day. The picture was broken up like a comic book, and the last two panels pictured a strong gust of wind blowing Seraphim’s bow into the Everfree Forest.

Angel flipped it over and drew quickly, trying to avoid getting tears on the paper. Once this side was also done, he showcased it to Fluttershy. The first panel had them holding paws as they hopped into the forest together, cautious for predators and her bow. Seraphim looked at Angel in the second panel and placed a paw over her bulbous stomach, “I’m scared,” Fluttershy read.

( But Angel heard Seraphim’s voice instead. The flashback came to him like a movie; the pair hopping through the dark forest in the hopes of finding the misplaced pink bow that separated her from other does. They had traversed deeply into the foliage, looking for any sign of pink against the monotonous grey, brown and green of the Everfree Forest.

He tightened his grip around his doe’s paw, letting her know that she would be protected no matter what happened. He looked back at Seraphim and gave her an assuring smile, making her smile in return as the two came to a small mountain-face cave. It was fairly tall, maybe ten feet tall. That’s still massive compared to the bunnie's heights.

A bright flash caught Angel’s attention as he spotted the bow around a stick inside the cave. Smiling, he let go of Seraphim’s paw and bounced quickly to the black branch in the cave.

Seraphim let out a whine of protest, but quickly felt a smile surge at him finding her bow on a stick. She gave him a thumbs up; to which he bowed at like a maestro, before turning back around and grabbing the bow. He had turned around to walk back to his lover, hoping the bow would untie itself as he did so. Unfortunately, he had no such luck as he was quickly jerked by the arms and landed on his rear roughly.

Seraphim brought a paw to her mouth to suppress a chuckle, but let it out after seeing Angel begin to grow angry at her bow and began tugging on the branch itself.

Angel was pissed off. He was known for his short temper, and this little twig was slowly making its way up his, “GONNA FRICKIN DESTROY” list. The stubborn earthen limb began snapping, letting Angel know that victory would soon be his. After much turmoil, the limb finally snapped off loudly, releasing the pink treasure bound to its form.

Seraphim clapped as Angel held the ribbon over his head Braveheart style, standing on top of the twig that had caused him so much grief. he then beckoned her over, to which she complied instantly, bouncing her way into his arms. Angel wasted no time in tying the bow around her right ear. She nuzzled him in thanks, earning herself a kiss from her mate.

They shared it for a while, standing right in the middle of the cave.

They didn’t even notice the large timberwolf slowly rise from his shadowed position right behind them. It growled with all the venom and anger it could muster, causing the kissing couple to stop what they were doing and look at it in fear. This timberwolf was different, as far as timberwolves were concerned.

Instead of the normal brown and green, this timberwolf had blue eyes; leaves and black bark for a body. It also stood taller than your average timberwolf by at least a foot, and also having a bigger body build. It took some time remembering its name, but Angel silently mouthed them both in the real world and in his flashback.

“Basketville...” He breathed out as the wolf opened its mouth, the blue cloud of paralyzing agents seeping into the air. Angel wasted no time in grabbing his lover’s paw and hightailing it out of there, only increasing their speed when he heard the paws of the infamous timberwolf giving chase. They departed back towards their burrow, bobbing into the bushes and confusing the hunter with their acute turns and bounds. After a while of this, they finally reached their burrow and leaped into the hole.

Angel wrapped his body around her’s, but kept enough room between his stomach and her’s in order to safeguard the unborn warren she was carrying. He felt the wind leave his body as his back smacked upon the unforgiving earth, making him wheeze as Seraphim quickly got off of his body and checked him over for serious injury. He sat up s;pw;y, brushing his white coat off as he gave Seraphim an O.K sign with a paw, letting her know that he felt fine.

She wrapped him up in bone-crushing hug, smacking his mouth with her lips as tears rolled down her face. Seraphim was happy that he had kept his promise of keeping her safe, no matter what danger there was. But during their joyous celebration, the mates couldn't notice the soft tendrils of blue smog drifting in from the entrance to their burrow...)

“ANGEL!!!” Fluttershy uncharacteristically yelled, making him do a double take and stop crying. her face was the definition of worry and sadness, as she was practically in his bed with how close she was to his face.

He gave a deep sigh as he noticed the many drawings on his lap. detailing his flashback in superb detail. he wasn’t an artist, but to him the detail was enough to be understood. His heart felt misplaced, or like it had been stabbed multiple times by icicles.

He had no idea where that flashback came from, but he wished that it didn’t come at all. He couldn’t focus on reality, his mind wrapped around the scene he had skipped by waking up. It was heartbreaking, how she begged for him to run as Seraphim was...was...

The pain was too much, he just wanted it to end. Seraphim had never haunted him, had never swore to remain with him even in death. So why? Why was she appearing now? Nothing made sense, and as his face scrounged up in confusion, Fluttershy could tell that something was still eating at him.

She didn’t want to push, however, since too much emotional strain could probably open his wounds again. Wiping her face with a napkin she had acquired during Angel’s brainfreeze drawing frenzy, she quickly wiped her eyes then blew her nose as she turned to leave. Angel noticed this and thanked Celestia that she was finally leaving.

Soon, it was nothing but him, his drawings and his thoughts in the dimly lit room. Although slumber gripped at his eyes, his brain was running a mile a minute, trying to figure out how he could get in contact with his dead mate. He formulated times that Fluttershy would be away, so that he could sneak out of the house and do some research on how to contact the dead.

He could always ask the zebra in the Everfree, but he quickly shook that idea away. Zecora and Angel couldn’t stand each other. When they met for the first time, Zecora had shoved a carrot into his mouth against his will, to which he promptly removed and shoved it into one of her mouths. Angel allowed himself an evil snicker at the surprised face she made when her backdoor suddenly had an overdose of beta carotene. Ever since then, they absolutely wanted nothing to do with each other. He prefered to stay in Fluttershy’s mane when she visited Zecora, opting to stay out of their conversation altogether.

Angel then thought about the many books in Twilight’s Library. A well-learned mare like herself would no doubt have a book about spiritual clairvoyance, since she has pretty much everything ‘cept for Star Swirl the Bearded’s scrolls.

And so, it was decided that during feeding time tomorrow; he would sneak off into the bustling town of Ponyville in order to find some way of communication with Seraphim. A foolproof plan with little to no room for miscalculated errors...

...Right?