Fluttershy hummed a happy little song to herself as she floated around her cottage. One by one, she carefully sorted out the rations of food for each of her animal friends and signaled for them to come out and enjoy their meals. The little critters around her home came out and began to nibble on the specially made pellets that she had provided for them. The happy chatters of satisfied animals filled her home up to its rafters. Eventually each went on their own way and went back to their friends and family as Fluttershy smiled happily.
“Thank you all for being so cooperative today!” Fluttershy waved and smiled in content as her animal friends settled back in to what they had been doing before. All of them, that is, except for a particular little bunny rabbit who still rested on the couch. His arms were folded together and his lips twisted to the left in a foul scowl. He eyed Fluttershy as if he were annoyed with her, which caused Fluttershy to frown and sigh.
“Angel Bunny, why aren’t you eating your food?” Fluttershy pointed to an untouched bowl on the floor which was still filled to the brim with Angel’s specially made food pellets. “You know how long I spend making those, Angel Bunny…” Fluttershy’s frown deepened, and her head sunk an inch lower. “I spent all morning making sure that those had the proper vitamins and minerals for you! I don’t want you to get all sick and weak like last time…” Fluttershy lowered her gaze to the floor and kicked it in shame. She remembered his weak hops, his random bouts of hoarse coughing, and his constant sniffles. “Come on, Angel. Please eat. It’ll make you big and strong! You need your vitamins!”
Angel Bunny refused to comply to her orders. Instead, he remained on the couch and kept his arms crossed, the scowl still trying to burn its way into Fluttershy’s conscience. Fluttershy moved closer to him and picked him up in her forehooves. He remained adamant in his stance on the meal before him. Fluttershy simply sighed and stared him directly in his eyes. She put as much force behind her words as possible.
“Angel, you will eat your food right now and stop pouting. And uncross those little arms of yours, or I’ll uncross them for you. Please. You know that it’s best to just listen to mama. You don’t want the tickle treatment, do you? And I might even have to give you a bath later if you keep this up. You don’t want that to happen, do you Angel Bunny?” Fluttershy’s words were filled with confidence, but her stern visage wavered and her stern face quivered. Oh… I don’t want to force him to do something that he doesn’t want to… Why do you always have to be so stubborn, Angel Bunny?
Still, the rabbit refused to budge, his scowl increasing in intensity as she tilted him to the side to get a better look at his face. Fluttershy began to prod and poke at Angel’s exposed rib cage with extreme prejudice as she tried to tickle him into submission. Angel’s stance stayed strong, but Fluttershy could tell that his arms were get looser, and beginning to fall apart. She turned the corners of his mouth in an attempt to make him smile. This only succeeded in causing his smile to droop back down into an unamused frown. Angel Bunny dropped from her hooves and onto the floor. He bounced up once before knocking over the bowl of unused pellets.
The contents of the bowl spilled all over the floor and coated it like a thin blanket. Fluttershy simply sighed and gave a look of deep disappointment towards the rabbit. “Oh… Angel, look what you did! Now mommy’s going to have to clean up this mess… You’re going to bed early tonight, mister. As soon as I go out to meet the others, you’re going straight to your room. And I’m going to make sure that you go to sleep before I leave.” Fluttershy sighed and began to scoop the pellets up into a pile in the middle of the floor.
“Well, you still have to eat, Angel Bunny. What do you want me to make you? It needs to be something quick to make, too. I have to leave in about thirty minutes.” Fluttershy leaned in closer to Angel Bunny and waited to hear his answer. His stiff whiskers tickled her ears as his mouth moved up and down and he gave his response to her. “Oh, you want mama to make you a carrot salad? That should be fine, but I can only make you a small one, okay?” Fluttershy picked Angel up and put him on the couch; she patted him on the head as she left towards the kitchen.
On her way to the kitchen, Fluttershy passed a door made of metal. The contrast to the rest of her home was almost as unsettling to her as its purpose was. The salty smell of cured goods made its way up through the depths where she kept all of the… meat that her more ‘predatory’ friends required. I always hate walking by here… Still, it’s a necessary evil, I suppose. I’ll never really get used to it… She shuddered as a cold chill swept over her spine and caused the hairs of her coat to stand on end. Oh… I’ve really got to fix that leak in the bottom of the door. I’ll just have to turn the heat up later. Fluttershy averted her gaze from the metal door and continued on her way to the kitchen.
Fluttershy stepped into her rather grandiose room and admired it for a moment. Its homeliness and familiar feel made a wave of warmth wash over her, setting her hairs back into their standard positions. Alright. Now, you’ve got to make this salad great for Angel Bunny, Fluttershy. He deserves nothing less than the best. Fluttershy floated about the room and grabbed the necessary ingredients. She tossed some lettuce, beets, almonds, carrots, and raisins into a large grey bowl that she’d retrieved from one of her kitchen covers. As she began to toss the salad, she swore that should could almost hear Angel’s stomach growling from the other room.
“Oh, don’t worry, Angel! Mommy’s almost done tossing the salad. It’ll be done in just a moment, don’t you worry.” He salad tossing sped up as she used to spoons to mix all of the ingredients together. When she had finished, she looked at the completed product and smiled. Somehow, she’d managed to distribute all of the ingredients evenly, and no inch of salad was without almonds, raisins, or carrots. “Oh, I think you’re going to love this one, Angel! I mixed it up all evenly, just like you like it!” She scooped some of the salad out and poured it into a bowl and made her way into the next room, humming a happy song.
When she made her way back into the main room, she could see Angel Bunny on his side on the floor. Next to him, a hungry badger eyed him with a look of greed and prepared to strike at him. “No! No, Mr. Flufferkins! You do not attack my other animal friends! Especially not Angel Bunny!” Fluttershy dropped the salad bowl onto the floor and rushed over to the badger, shooing him away from his potential meal. She picked up Angel from the floor and gently stroked his floppy ears. “I’m so sorry, Angel! I don’t know what got into him. Mr Flufferkins usually isn’t like that…” She put him down on the floor and moved the salad bowl over to him, then closed to the door to the outside and left the other animals to play in peace. “I closed the door so that the other animals won’t bother you. Go ahead and eat up while I go get ready.”
She trotted up the stairs and into the bathroom, where she checked herself in the mirror. Her pink mane curled around her perfectly, and her brilliant blue eyes shined in its reflection. This is getting to be a real problem now… I’m going to have to do something about the predatory animals attacking Angel. It’s not like I can really be mad at them… It’s just instinct. She sighed as she began to wipe down her coat and apply her eyeliner. Within a few minutes, she was prepared and ready to go meet her friends. “I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about all that makeup like Rarity does. That would just take forever…” Fluttershy tapped a hoof against her chin in thought before making her way down the stairs.
“Angel Bunny, I’m ready to leave now! Did you eat your food?” Fluttershy looked at Angel as he sat in the exact same place that she’d just left him. The bowl was untouched, and Angel hadn’t moved an inch. “Oh… You didn’t eat again today, Angel? We’re going to have to work on this. You can’t just keep not eating. Not only is it a waste of food, but it’s not helping you get any better…” Fluttershy frowned and moved the full salad bowl away before picking Angel up. “Well, it’s time to go to bed. I’m just going to tuck you in now.”
Fluttershy moved past where all of the other animal cages were and stopped at the freezer door. The familiar chill swept through her spine as she gripped the handle, and her hoof felt as if it had just been blasted with ice on the cold metal. As she opened the door, the smell of rot and decay filled her nostrils, and a blast of cold air hit her in the face. The hairs of her coat stood on edge once again. Fluttershy paid this no mind; she continued into the room. As she pushed her way past rows and rows of hanging hunks of flesh, her gentle smile quivered. Still, she pushed on.
She came to the corner of the room. Huddled there in the little corner was a little freezer box filled with salt and ice. Fluttershy took Angel Bunny off of her back and placed him into the freezer box. The place where Angel had just been was matted down, and felt strangely sticky and dirty. She shook her coat to get the natural juices off of her body before they froze on her coat in the extreme cold. “Ssh… It’s okay, Angel. It’s time to go to sleep.” Fluttershy poured an extra layer of salt over Angel’s still body in the box. He looked peaceful and carefree. Almost… “Just like an Angel.” Fluttershy smiled down at her little bunny.
His ear flopped over his face as she stroked his head with as gentle a touch as she could muster. She tried her best to ignore the rotting stench that emanated from this corner of the room, and from her little angel. His cold, dead eyes gazed up at the ceiling, fixed permanently into the sky. Patches of his skin were missing, and his body leaked viscous fluid which coated the entire bottom of the container. She ignored the red, shiny muscle that showed through the missing bits of skin and fur that had decomposed long ago.
“Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head… Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to go to… bed.” Fluttershy sniffled as tears began to make their way down her face. She closed the lid to the freezer box and began to cry harder. Her face was now a torrent of pained emotions that spilled down her cheeks and on to the floor. “I’m so sorry, Angel. I didn’t mean for you to get sick, I just…” Fluttershy turned around and began to make her way back down the stairs. “Goodnight, my little Angel. Sweet dreams.”
Fluttershy made her way up the stairs and closed the freezer door. She wiped away the tears as best she could, and matted down her coat. After she had done that, she sprayed herself down with air freshener to mask the smell. Nopony would ever know what had happened. Nopony would ever know her dark little secret. She gave her best smile as she left her home and walked the path towards Carousel Boutique. I’ll always have my little angel.
