Eyes Through Angel
A small bunny no bigger than a hoof heard the commotion. In a matter of seconds, it had already come face to face with a pony.
A glint of light appeared on the pony’s flank. It sparkled and revealed an odd shape of three butterflies.
“Oh! My cutie mark!”
The creature saw it materialize with its own eyes. Looking up, the bunny noticed this pony was smaller than most of the others.
“Why hello there!” The pony said lowering its head.
The little bunny had wondered a little too close.
“You’re so cute! I’m going to name you-"
The bunny's hearing ceased. Soon after all five senses immediately vanished.
“Angel, Angel!” a yellow coated, pink maned pegasus had appeared in the room. Inching open his tiny black eyes, he recognized it as his caretaker. Climbing out of his bed-basket with a yawn, He sleepily trotted towards Fluttershy.
“Angel! There you are. I am going to be heading out, so umm I left some carrots over there.” the pegasus pointed underneath her dining table.
Folding his arms, Angel produced a deep frown.
“Oh, you don’t like it?
He turned his back.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. But I’m in such a hurry. I’ll get you something better when I get back?”
The bunny refused to budge.
Watching her caretaker Fluttershy disappear from sight over his shoulder, Angel eventually proceeded to the dining table and consumed his meal. As he ate, the same frown grew knowing that he was going to be home alone again.
Angel had many other friends out in Fluttershy’s backyard, specifically the other bunnies. But he didn’t get along with them as well as he did with Fluttershy.
Pausing in between bites, flashbacks of the countless times of laughter, triumphs, sorrows and many more emotions he shared with this special pony spawned into his mind.
If only he found a way to express them in words.
Finishing his breakfast, he trotted out of the cottage to try and socialize. Birds, squirrels, bunnies, all creatures small and cute were vastly spread out across the backyard going about their daily business. Angel however did not have the courage to approach any of them.
Frozen, he shut the cottage backdoor. Letting out a sigh, he slowly walked back into the living room, crawled into his basket and shut his eyes.
Tapping had emerged. Surprised, Angel got up and casually trotted towards it. He opened the cottage front door with no difficulty. Tilting his head, he saw a lavender unicorn towering over him.
“Hey Angel is Fluttershy around?” Twilight was a little surprised.
Angel shook his head.
“Well that’s okay then. Sorry to bother.” Twilight produced a letter from her bag. Using her magic, she levitated it and positioned it down onto Fluttershy’s dining table. Twilight gave a quick nod to Angel and disappeared, literally.
Stunned, Angel slammed the front door.Shortly after his eyes ran towards the letter as curiosity soon got the best of him. Hastily climbing the dining table knocking over a flower pot, he carefully opened the concealed envelope.
Before he could make sense of the writing, out of nowhere a pair of huge, cyan coloured eyes were staring at him inches from his face.
“What are you doing Angel?”
Angel quickly hid the letter behind him but it showed on the other side of his body. Tracking Fluttershy’s eyes, he saw them glance over to the knocked flower pot. Soil had been spilt all over the floor.
The tone of Fluttershy’s voice became stern. “Did you do that Angel?”
Angel quickly shook his head.
“Oh, okay then.” Fluttershy returned to her normal tone.
With a huge sigh of relief and a puzzled look on his face, Angel carefully placed the letter back into the envelope and sealed it while Fluttershy was scanning the floor. He never realized Fluttershy was so gullible.
“I’ll clean this up later.”
Angel became ecstatic. He ran towards Fluttershy and jumped around her endlessly. Fluttershy, carrying two plastic bags in her month only just saw Angel and accidently dropped them onto her hooves. Whingeing in pain, she hopped around to try and shake it off.
“Sorry Angel…” Fluttershy broke off to silently scream. “I have to go out again.”
Angel immediately stopped jumping. Head drooped and arms folded, he turned his back once more.
Picking up her dropped plastic bags, Fluttershy placed them atop the dining table and moved closer to Angel.
“It’s okay Angel. I’ll only be gone a little-”
Tightening his grip, Angel kicked a handful of soil into Fluttershy’s face.
Fluttershy backed off spiting out dirt.
Back still turned, Angel waited for the close of a door. It took an incredibly long time. Once it did happen, he crawled into his basket and painstakingly played the game, how much fur is on your body with himself.
~*~
He lost count at 89. Grumbling each time, Angel tried again aimlessly to count a little higher each time he got lost.
He lifted his head from his comfy sheets and glanced outside. The sun was slowly sinking in between the clouds disappearing over the horizon, creating an orange, pink striped sky.
Angel blankly eyed the cottage front door hoping for anything to happen. He fixed his eyes on that door for almost twenty minutes. Nothing happened.
He quickly gave up hope. Lowering his head, Angel could only go back into his mind to endlessly ramble on about things he didn’t even care about.
A calm Fluttershy had quickly turned into a panicked and rushed Fluttershy the moment Angel had told her the news.
“-Maybe I shouldn’t even go.”
The distant sound of trumpets had emerged. Laying flat on the floor, Angel patiently waited for the pegasus to depart.
“Agh! It’s starting!” the pony got on all fours. “I’m missing it!”
Wiping his forehead, the bunny happily hopped away with the thought of Fluttershy being gone.
Suddenly he felt a great force softly pushing him forward.
“Thanks Angel.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Angel proceeded with his destination, hoping Fluttershy would be gone for good. She shortly came back.
Fluttershy began to ramble on words he didn’t even understand. Fed up, Angel gave a quick tap to Fluttershy’s hoof.
“Oh right!” The pony said taking off. “I’m late.”
Zipping into the distance, Angel promptly shut the cottage door locking it. Paws on hips, he displayed a proud look on his face.
Another slam emerged from the door.
“Oh, okay then. See you later.”
He twitched at the thought of this. Angel suddenly felt uneasy.
slam, slam, SLAM.
Angel shook his head a little. This noise wasn’t coming from his head.
“Angel. Angel! I’m back!”
The voice was very familiar. Flinging open his eyes, he rushed towards the sound of the voice almost slipping on the spiled dirt.
“Angel! I’m so glad to see you!” Fluttershy beamed.
Once again Angel grew ecstatic. This time he was jumping on the spot. Fluttershy quickly walked past him and placed the remainder of her load which consisted of two paper bags on top of the dining table.
“This table’s getting a little full isn’t it?” Fluttershy looked towards Angel. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
Lively as ever, the bunny energetically nodded his head. Angel had waited all day for this, a moment to spend some quality time with his caretaker. He felt there was a whole new side of Fluttershy he had not known about and this was the perfect opportunity.
Fluttershy reached into one of her paper bags. “I’ve got a surprise for you!”
A huge smile appeared on the white bunny’s face. Anxious, he saw Fluttershy pull out a shape. It looked incredibly soft. Laying it onto the ground, Angel hopped closer. Pulling a face, he went on to sniff it. Shortly after, he began to chew furiously.
Fluttershy remained optimistic. “Well? Do you like it?”
Angel frowned sharply and kicked away his new toy.
Fluttershy depressingly looked towards the ground. “Oh, I’m so sorry…-”
Angel was unable to trace what Fluttershy was saying as he was struck by guilt. He loved his new toy. Why did he just shove it away in front of Fluttershy? He sadly sank onto the floor trying to answer the many unanswered questions swirling around in his head. Eventually he summarized it as a “reflex action”.
After what seemed like an hour of awkward silence with himself, he finally looked up towards Fluttershy who was still patiently awaiting his answer.
“So um, do you wanna go for a walk?”
Angel slowly nodded.
~*~
Distant leaves rustled softly as gentle winds blew. Low hanging clouds partially blocked out moonlight, casting playful shadows all over the central plaza. Crisp, fresh air could easily be tasted that night. A structure ideally situated at the plaza centre shot small streams of powerful water up into the cool night. The streams could have reached the sky but were only brought back down to earth spreading out rapidly as they hit the concrete.
Dripping came from the fountain. It grew to splashes as a small figure was happily enjoying the cooling sensation.
“D-don’t be too long Angel. It’s getting chilly.”
Ignoring her, the head-to-toe drenched bunny began to playfully splash water onto the pony.
“A-a-angel....! P-please s-stop…it..!”
As hard as she pleaded, Angel would not stop. A mischievous grin grew on his face as he felt himself overpowering Fluttershy. It felt good and he felt powerful. He continued despite Fluttershy’s pleas.
The playful splashes soon turned into powerful and violent waves of water. Using all four movable limbs, Angel sprayed the waves in a messy but synchronised pattern all hitting Fluttershy.
A dark shadow cast over him. Looking up he saw the mass of a yellow body tumble face first into the fountain. Jumping out of the way just in time, Angel’s mischievous grin disappeared and was replaced by a shocked expression.
Hesitantly, Angel slowly turned over the body seeing the face of Fluttershy.
Drooping his ears and hiding behind his paws, Angel expected an ear splitting yell. Instead the sound of laughter was heard.
Fluttershy forced a smile. “That was a good one Angel!”
Slowly revealing his face, Angel sputtered a silent nervous laugh.
The shivering pony sat upright and spread her wings out in an effort to dry them.
“It’s getting late.” The voice of Fluttershy was a bit off. “Should we head home?”
~*~
The moon was already at its peak. The Nightmare Night festival had begun. Overloading with energy, Angel could not stop moving. He clumsily ran across the living room and back glancing out the window. Ponies of all types had dressed up in all sorts of crazy costumes exciting him even further.
Everypony seemed to be excited except for his caretaker.
Angel struggled to find Fluttershy anywhere. He had searched the cottage top to bottom without success.
Everywhere except for her bedroom.
Running upstairs, he found the lights of Fluttershy’s bedroom switched off. Sneaking a peak, he was able to make out Fluttershy pathetically cowering underneath a mess of sheets.
“Ah! Oh Angel it’s only you…”
He jumped a little at the high-pitch of Fluttershy’s shaky voice.
“A-angel…I’m s-scared! Can you…p-please…stay-”
The slam of her bedroom door was the last thing she heard before being engulfed by darkness.
Water and violent hacking suddenly arose, but it wasn’t in the head of Fluttershy but Angel. He awoke with a start.
The hacking became louder and deeper.
Concerned, Angel rushed downstairs only to be met by the most disgusting sight he could imagine. All over the floor, patches of oddly coloured liquid lay splattered in all directions. Some of them were clear, only having one or two colours, but some had chunks of undigested solids forming a skin with the liquid creating a whole variety of colours.
Angel tracked the trail of the foreign liquid to a pony clutching at the kitchen sink, the source of all the hacking.
He watched as the pony slowly turned its head revealing a sickly green colour on its face. With eyes slightly red and mouth quivering, the pony barely managed to speak.
“I….I’m….f-fine.”
Angel couldn't wait to flee the scene without even lending a hand to Fluttershy. He cowardly dashed back towards his basket and pulled all his sheets over him. The violent hacking continued, echoing through the structure of the cottage.
Uncontrollably shaking, Angel had never witnessed anything like it before. He dug into his mind to imagine the possibilities of whatever caused Fluttershy to violently throw up like that coming up with nothing.
A huge debate was going on in his mind. Angel knew that the right thing to do would be to go and see if she was okay, but simultaneously he noted the smart thing to would be to stay exactly where he was. Fluttershy was going to be fine and he did not want to interfere with whatever charade she was acting out.
At least that’s what he thought.
The hacking seemed to go on for hours with each passing minute sounding worse. Angel could hear every detail of it from it materializing deep in the throat, to it slowly and loudly making its way up finally being ejected in a loud spit. The liquid that came out however was much larger than a spit.
Out of nowhere Angel felt a powerful jolt as the cottage door quickly slammed open. Lifting his sheets, he made out the figures of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. They looked at each other with grave expressions and raced to Fluttershy who was still clutching onto the kitchen sink.
Angel quickly tailed the two ponies.
“Pinkie Pie made me do it.”
“Dashie!!”
“Well it’s true!” Rainbow Dash protested. “You told me that the pony we were pranking wasn’t Fluttershy!”
“Pranking isn’t even a word!”
Rainbow Dash looked lost. “Yes it is! And who cares?!”
Pinkie Pie fired back. “Um not to state the obvious, but how can you not know its Fluttershy when we are at her house!?”
“Well then you should have done a different prank!”
“You were the one who came up with it!”
“But I didn’t know it was going to be on Fluttershy!”
Pinkie Pie shook her head. “Again how can you not know-”
“Um, excuse me but I’m throwing up here-” Fluttershy desperately tried to make herself noticed.
“NOT NOW FLUTTERSHY!” yelled the two ponies.
Fluttershy continued to empty her stomach contents fearing she may overflow the sink. Slowly losing sanity, she saw a new colour in the mixture.
Oh no not blood.
“You specifically told me we were playing a prank on a pony made of tougher stuff.” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered above Pinkie Pie. “No offense Fluttershy.”
“None t-taken.” Stuttered Fluttershy. “Now g-girls can you h-help…-”
“Either way,” Pinkie Pie interrupted, “You don’t spray pepper spray on somepony as a prank!”
Fluttershy turned her head barely. “You pepper sprayed me…!”
“Well,” Rainbow Dash blushed with embarrassment.
“It’s okay it will go away!” Pinkie Pie happily said.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie continued to yell, accusing each other of what they had just done completely forgetting Fluttershy existence. Angel however was not focused on the argument. Instead he glanced over to Fluttershy’s face which was now in a much more terrible state. No longer was her face green but now it had turned into a ghost-like colour. Her eyes looked like they had been showered in salt and set on fire.
Barely standing and mane in a tangled mess, Fluttershy collapsed.
Angel swooped in just in time to cushion the fall of the pony. She was a huge mess, covered in substances that weren't meant to be named. Crawling out from underneath, Angel shook Fluttershy furiously to try and wake her up, but no matter how hard he tried Fluttershy’s eyes would just not open.
For the first time since he met her, Angel broke into tears, completely out of his usual character. All the times he enjoyed with Fluttershy, good and bad, flashed right before him. Angel had never been so emotional in his life.
Beside his most loved pony, Angel sat there, still hearing the yells of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, tears racing down his face. No more thoughts would spawn into his mind as there was nothing more to think about.
“T-thank you Angel…”
Quickly turning his head, he saw Fluttershy’s eyes slowly opening.
“You really are the best pet Angel.”
A huge smile broke onto his face. He couldn’t believe a small thing like cushioning her fall could earn him the title of best pet. Abandoning his emotions, he quickly ran towards Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and each tapped them furiously on their hooves.
“What now Angel?” They both paused as they finally saw Fluttershy on the ground in her own stomach juices.
“Oh my goodness! Fluttershy!”
It took Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash thirty two minutes to realise their friend was unconscious on the floor. Horrified at their ignorance, Rainbow Dash quickly picked up Fluttershy and Angel while Pinkie Pie opened the door as they both urgently rushed to the nearest hospital.
Amongst the chaos, Fluttershy was able to glance at Angel.
“I saw what you did there.” Fluttershy could barely speak. “And I love you.”
Angel felt tears at the back of his eyes.
And I love you too. You are the world to me. I don’t think I can live without you. You were there for every one of my triumphs and failures. You have always supported me along the way and built me to become who I am.
I however have never shown you that kind of love. I push you around and I am mostly never there for you. On your times of need, I simply desert you and leave you to solve your own problems, but the thing is you always solve my problems and it just kills me that I give nothing in return.
I find it amazing as to how you are able to cope with no one around to pick you up when you have fallen especially at home. I feel that I have to fill that gap to help and support you when you fall.
I admire your progress that you are able to be yourself around others and still are able to make everyone feel good even if they don’t deserve it.
Your kindness is your strongest quality. Don’t ever change Fluttershy.
That is what Angel would have said if only he could speak English. But for now, a smile and a big hug would be enough.
