Guilt

"Here you go, Angel." Fluttershy placed a giant carrot in front of him, "It's your reward for a job well done."

Angel went up to the carrot, sniffing to check if it was good. After making sure there was nothing wrong, he grabbed it and tentatively took a bite.

Fluttershy smiled at the sight, marveling at how fast he had grown. The bunny never used to eat anything given to him unless it followed an exact recipe. Of course, Angel was still inherently picky about his food choices, but had gotten better at accepting foods he didn't like.

She turned away from her pet, going around the room to tend to her other animal friends. They all sat in a circle, eagerly waiting for their meals. Squirrels, bunnies and beavers alike were perched in front of their bowls, chatting with each other as they waited for their caretaker to come and serve them.

Harry the bear sat to the left, just outside the circle to provide the other animals with more space. He had a very large bowl, which he was using as a hat before Fluttershy came by with his bag of nuts.

"Now now Harry, what did I say about playing with the bowls?"

Harry removed the dish from his head, gazing at her with an apologetic look.

"Oh, it's okay. Just remember to try not to break things, alright?" She poured some of the nuts into his bowl, adding a sizeable amount of fruits and berries to the side.

After she was done giving them all their lunches, she decided to check on Angel. He was done eating the carrot, laying on the floor and letting out an audible belch as he patted his round stomach. Fluttershy leaned over him, "Thank you for looking after our friends while I was gone. I know I was only out for a short while, but I still appreciate it."

He gave her a thumbs up.

Fluttershy turned to the rest of the animals, raising her voice so they could hear what she had to say. "I'll be going out again, so behave yourselves! And please make sure to put your dishes in the kitchen when you're done." They all nodded their heads, waving goodbye to her.

She hovered over to her scarf, wrapping it around her neck to protect herself from the cold. She slipped on her winter boots, and rested her saddlebags on her back. Just as she was about to open the door, she looked at Angel. "If anypony comes by, tell them I'm just dropping off some books at Twilight's."

Angel got off the floor, standing on his feet as he gave her a salute.

She smiled once more, before closing the door.

Rainbow Dash flew through the sky, not letting the chilly winds hinder her journey. She was just at Twilight's castle, requesting for the new Daring Do issue that had come out the week before. Apparently somepony had already taken it, because she directed her to Fluttershy's place to pick it up.

Rainbow hadn't known Fluttershy to be the biggest fan of the series, but shrugged as she took off toward the cottage. Wonderbolt duties had prevented her from spending too much time with reading, but now nothing was going to get in the way of her favourite pastime.

She attempted to go faster despite the frigid temperatures. She didn't have anything like a scarf or hat on. She relied on the warmth she got from flying to protect her, which wasn't working much at all.

As she was nearing her friend's cottage, she slowed down to land in front of the tiny bridge. She ran up to the entrance, knocking on the door as she shivered in her hooves.

"C'mon, c'mon..." She impatiently muttered, fidgeting from the cold. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long.

Angel opened the door, which went unnoticed by Rainbow Dash as she darted into the cottage, immediately relaxing due to the house's heat. She sat on the floor, relishing in the comfort of being away from the outside chill.

After she had warmed up, she looked up to be greeted by the sight of all the animals staring at her.

"Oh, uh... Hi guys." Rainbow sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, realizing that she had just burst into the home uninvited. Her ears detected the repetitive tapping of Angel's foot. Looking down, she saw the bunny glaring up at her, arms crossed with a frown.

"Hello to you too, Angel Bunny." She snarled. She found the rabbit's name to be quite ironic, considering his rather unangelic-like behaviour.

Ignoring Angel's incessant thumping, she turned toward the rest of the animals. "Do any of you know where Fluttershy is?"

Some of them answered with a simple shrug.

Rainbow turned back around, "Hm... Maybe I'll just chill here 'till she gets back." Just as she was about to sit back down, she felt something yank down on her mane.

"Ow! What the hay was that for?!" She pulled Angel off from her, glaring at the bunny. He just rolled his eyes, hopping back down and proceeding to try and tell her where Fluttershy was at.

Putting on his 'Fluttershy' face, he attempted to demonstrate the act of leaving, pretending to put on an imaginary scarf and boots. He opened an invisible door, walking out into the cold which he showed by shivering and wrapping his arms around his body.

Rainbow watched this all with a confused face, "Uh, yeah. I already know she left. That's why I'm waiting for her to get back!"

Angel facepalmed, before trying again. This time, he made sure to draw an outline of a book, putting it in his sack and walking out the door with it.

"A sack? You mean she brought the book with her?!"

Angel grinned, satisfied with his little game of charades. He nodded his head.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Rainbow groaned. If she had just came a little bit earlier, Fluttershy would've still been here.

She considered her options. Glancing towards the door, she wondered if she could dash her way around town and try to locate where Fluttershy was, but she trembled violently at the thought of going outside again with no protective gear.

"Okay, I'll leave soon. I just gotta borrow some stuff from Fluttershy, like a scarf or hat. I'll give it back to her real soon." She said out loud, making her way up the stairs to look for some clothing. Angel followed her, just to make sure she wasn't up to no good.

Rainbow opened one of the closets, shuffling through it to look for a scarf. So far, she wasn't finding anything.

As she was looking, she noticed a rather heavy looking box sitting at the very top compartment. Figuring she might find a scarf or two in there, she hovered over and began wiggling the box out of its place.

"It's in here pretty good..." She grumbled as she struggled to move it. The box was almost at the very edge of the compartment, so she yanked it out, successfully retrieving it.

Unfortunately for Dash, she had musjudged the box's initial weight. Not being prepared for the sudden burden, she ended up dropping the box straight down on the floor, trapping her hooves underneath the mass.

"OUCH!"

The pain shot through her entire body as panic surged through her. She tried to pull her hooves away from the box, but was unable to. She started growing more panicked as she saw a red liquid seeping into the bottom of the cardboard box, and a pair of white bunny ears sticking out beside her hooves...

"ANGEL?!" Realizing what had just happened, she tried harder to pull the box off, this time with the pure incentive to save Fluttershy's pet. She had no idea what was in the box, but it was enough to weigh her down for several seconds. Finally, she managed to lift the box high enough to be able to see the damage done to him.

The resulting scene was terrible. Angel lay face down, his arms and legs strewn about. His limbs were bent unnaturally in several places, and blood leaked out of the broken joints. But most horrifying of all, was the injury inflicted upon his head. His skull was visibly crushed at the back, cuts and gashes displayed all over the dent. It would be a miracle if he didn't have brain damage, speaking from the viewpoint of survival, that is.

Rainbow gathered all of her strength to fling the box off of him, sending it crashing into the wall behind her. It was at this moment that she heard the door open from downstairs.

"I'm home, my friends!" The voice of Fluttershy rang throughout the home. "Angel, where are you?"

It took all she had not to let out a squeak, lest she be heard. She nervously looked around for an escape route, momentarily forgetting about the searing pain coming from her hooves. Purposely directing her gaze away from Angel's mangled body, she ran into many of the rooms, not finding any windows.

"Angel?" All her rummaging around had caught Fluttershy's attention, and she grew more agitated as she heard hoofsteps approaching the stairs. She flew into Fluttershy's room, mentally smacking herself for not going there sooner. A window was right in the center of the wall, and all she would have to do was lift it open.

She opened the window just as Fluttershy reached the top of the stairs. Rainbow quickly flew away from the cottage, pretending not to hear her friend's anguished screams from behind her.