Taboo

Chapter 4: Protect

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no... The timid pegasus had retreated into her mind. With eyes closed she desperately willed herself  to wake from the nightmare she found herself in. She refused to believe that this was reality,that her beloved Angel Bunny was gone. She wanted nothing more than to wake up and find Angel curled up next to her on the bed.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy please snap out of it!" Twilight had her hooves on her friend and was shaking her badly in an attempt to snap Fluttershy out of her daze. It was no use, the pony in front of her wouldn't move. Twilight might as well of been talking to a statue. "I know you're distraught beyond belief right now Fluttershy but we need to move! Its not safe here. I'm really sorry about Angel but we have to go! It's not safe here."

There was no other way, it seemed that Twilight was going to have to use her magic to move Fluttershy. Putting a soft purple glow around her horn Twilight began to concentrate on levitating her friend. She never got the chance to. Without any forewarning Twilight found herself shoved away by the friend she so desperately wanted to protect. "Fluttershy!? Why did you do that?"

"No."

"No?" Twilight mimicked. "What do you mean 'No'? No what?"

I left you before because I was scared Angel. I promised you that I wasn't going to leave you again...but I did. Now you're gone because of me.

"I'm not leaving without Angel."

"Fluttershy, I'm sorry, really I am, but Angel Bunny is gone! He got taken by that SkinWalker! We have to get to safety!" An attempt to put a comforting hoof on her friends's shoulder was slapped away. There was no going around it, the young Princess was going to have to be direct with her friend if anything was going to be accomplished. "Angel's gone Fluttershy, I'm sorry but it's true."

"No he's not gone! He's out there somewhere scared and with that...that...thing! I have to find him! I have to bring him back!"

"Fluttershy! Angel is..."Twilight found herself froze in place. She couldn't move any part of her body, not even managing to tilt her head in any direction. All she could do was stand in place and continue to receive the stare that she was being given from her friend. "Fluttershy..."

"No, don't say it! Don't you dare say it! Angel's not...gone."

Denial. Twilight really couldn't blame Fluttershy for refusing to come to terms with what had happened. The hard stare that she was being given eventually softened. "He's not gone. I know he isn't, I just know."

Free to move once again, Twilight walked up and gently placed a comforting hoof in her friend's shoulder. "Fluttershy what makes you think that Angel isn't gone? We both know that SkinWalker took him and we saw what that thing does to animals."

"Well there's no blood in my cottage. You saw how Mr. Ruffled Ear's was. The inside of his shack was covered in blood and fur. My cottage doesn't look anything like that so maybe Angel didn't get hurt?."

Twilight looked around the inside of Fluttershy's home and saw that this was true. Unlike the poor dogs shack the inside of the cottage was completely blood free. There seemed to be no signs of any struggle whatsoever. "Okay so there's no blood but that doesn't mean that Angel isn't...gone..."

"Dead." Twilight found herself taken back by how bluntly her usually timid friend had said that. "No blood means that he isn't dead. That thing probably just took Angel to do who knows what! We can still find Angel and save him."

"Look Fluttershy, I see what you mean with there being no blood but that doesn't mean that Angel isn't...dead. Angel was..."

"Is!" Fluttershy corrected her.

"...Is smaller than Mr. Ruffled Ears. Chances are there wouldn't of been a struggle to over power a rabbit. I want to believe that he's okay too, I really do, but right now there isn't any conclusive evidence that shows that he is." Holding out a hoof Twilight began motioning for Fluttershy to follow her. "Come on, lets get back to town and then we'll figure out what to do about Angel."

Fluttershy shook her head gravely. "I'm not leaving without Angel." With that being said Fluttershy let her gaze fall and pawed at the floor of her cottage for a little. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm going to go into the Everfree forest to look for Angel. I'm going to bring him back."

"WHAT!?" It was absolutely ludicrous. The fact that any pony would willingly go into the EverFree forest at night was crazy enough as it was. Chasing a deadly creature warranted a mental evaluation as well. What really pushed Twilight over the edge was the pegasus willing to go through with it. "Fluttershy you can't be serious. Going into that forest right now is suicide! If that SkinWalker doesn't get you then something else surely will! Let's just head back to the library and then we can look for Angel in the morning with our friends to help us. How does that sound?"

"It might be too late by then Twilight. I'm going into the forest to look for my Angel Bunny and there's nothing you can say to change my mind."

It seemed there was no other option. "Fluttershy, understand that I will do whatever it takes to keep you out of that forest." Twilight's horn began to glow a brilliant shade of purple. She figured that a show of force would be enough of a deterrent and maybe even get her friend to start thinking rationally.

Fluttershy stood in place for a moment wide eyed at how far Twilight was willing to go to keep her from going into the forest. I'm sorry Twilight but my mind is made up. Not you, that monster, or anything else is going to keep me from rescuing Angel. Without any hesitation that pegasus began moving towards her friend undeterred by the intensity of light coming from her horn that only glowed brighter as Fluttershy got closer.

Walking past the alicorn princess Fluttershy met no resistance, only a sigh that escaped her friend. "I know that you just want to protect me Twilight but right now all I want to do protect Angel. I'm going to find him and bring him back."

"We."

"Huh?"

"We are going to find him and bring him back." The light emanating from Twilight's horn reduced until it was just a soft glow again. "You're right, I do want to protect you and it seems that the only way I'm going to do that is by going with you into the EverFree forest."

Practically bursting into tears Fluttershy quickly rushed over and embraced Twilight in a hug that would of put Pinkie Pie to shame. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Twilight!"

"Don't mention it. Seriously though, don't mention it. You might cause me to change my mind about this whole thing. So come on, lets go save you're Angel Bunny."