My Little Diseases

Fluttershy was sitting on the sofa of her cottage. Her ears folded back and her head buried in her front hooves. Ever since the funeral, she hasn't been taking things well. Much to her animals and Discord’s concern.

Fluttershy would still try to tend to her daily duties of feeding her animals, cleaning any animals that needed a bath that day, or tending to any injuries her animals had. Once her duties were completed to the best of her current ability, she would spend most of the day either in her room, on the sofa, or in her butterfly garden.
But one day, things were off.

“Discord?”
Fluttershy called out, causing the hybrid to teleport into the living room with her, tilting his head and folding his arms. He was carrying a large amount of bird feed with his tail, and had a basket of fruit in each hand. Which he set down to the side, smiling wide to his pegasus friend.

“Yes, fluttershy? Are we finally going on that tea party you mentioned?”
Discord asked, his little wings flapping excitedly.

“Uh, no not yet, we will a bit later. But have you seen Angel? He hasn't been home all day and I'm worried he may have gotten lost somewhere.”
Fluttershy asked, looking around.
She was rather concerned, but not to the point of panic. Angel knew his way around town with how much he travelled around with Fluttershy.

“Unfortunately not, I haven't seen that little hairball anywhere today. He may have gone to find another rabbit to hang out with or something. I don't know, I don't speak rabbit.”
Discord responded back, rather coldly, but Fluttershy knew it wasn't intentional..

Discord hadn't been in the best of moods recently either. Because Fluttershy has become rather inconsolable after Rarity’s funeral.
This had caused Discord to try and go above and beyond to cheer Fluttershy up, and it didn't always work.
This left Discord feeling like he wasn't doing his job right, at being a good friend.

Fluttershy smiled softly and put a gentle hoof on Discord’s shoulder.
“It's ok. I’ll go and look for him. And when I get back, we can have that tea party like I promised.”

Discord couldn't help but smile back at his pegasus friend and hugged her gently, before opening the door for her. As Fluttershy left, Discord turned to the animals in the cottage, who had gathered around in the living room.
“Alright you lot. Let's get this tea party all set up for Fluttershy’s return!”
Fluttershy began making her way toward town from her cottage, all the while calling out for Angel. Checking in bushes and beside nearby lakes and rivers. When she makes it to town, she checks every little nook and cranny she can find. Alleyways and even open windows of pony’s homes.

She would occasionally, and very awkwardly, stop ponies on her way through town, asking if they had seen Angel come through the area, showing them a photo of him. But all her efforts were fruitless.

This search went on for 3 whole days. All efforts were for naught. She had stayed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s houses during her search.
She had searched most of Sweet Apple Acres, with the help of Big Mac, Applejack, and Applebloom. As well as Granny Smith looking through the barn, to see if Angel was hiding in there. But again, their efforts were for nothing.

The very last place for her to check was Twilight’s castle. By this point, Fluttershy had lost all hope of Angel being found unharmed, or even alive. But she still pressed on. She was determined to find her beloved bunny pet

She slowly walked up the steps toward the door and knocked gently.
The knocking resonated on the inside of the castle’s lobby, which could be heard from the outside since Crystals were not one for being soundproof.

After a bit of waiting, Pinkie Pie answered the door, with a confused look on her face.
“Fluttershy?” Pinkie spoke curiously, tilting her head, her dark ringed eyes locking with the yellow pegasus.

“Is everything alright? We weren't expecting you here. Did the map summon you?”
Pinkie asked, quickly looking at Fluttershy’s flank to see if her cutie mark was flashing, but the yellow pegasus simply shook her head.

“No no, I'm here looking for Angel Bunny, I can't seem to find him, I've looked all over town and asked other ponies, but he hasn't been around recently. You know who he likes to run off. Discord hasn't seen him either, and i'm worried the worst may have happened”
Fluttershy quickly explains. “Have you seen him around?”

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin in thought, before shaking her head slowly.
“Hmm… I dont think ive seen him around here, but you’re welcome to come in and see if he’s run in here without us seeing. He is a slippery little guy after all.”
Pinkie responded with a chuckle, she then moved aside, allowing Fluttershy into the castle she then closed the door behind her.

As Fluttershy made her way through the castle, she went through each room, checking every small area the white bunny could have got into. But to no avail. Her ears folded back, her eyes going glossy as her mind began racing with ideas of where her beloved pet may have gone.

As Pinkie watched Fluttershy frantically search for Angel, she put her hoof to her chin in thought once more… Before a sinister grin began to spread across her face.
“Hey Fluttershy, why don't you come to the basement? We have left it open these last few days, maybe he’s down there.”
Pinkie Pie suggested, slowly walking away, waiting for the yellow Pegasus to follow her. And she did.

The pair slowly walked down the stairs that were in the middle of the hallway, walking toward the entrance of the basement. The bright lab lights almost blinded the pegasus as they came into view, causing her to squint.

Soon, Fluttershy’s eyes adjusted to the sudden change of light, and she saw the current state of the lab. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the different animals kept in cages, some of them in glass boxes. Medical supplies were everywhere, and some small bloodstains on the table from previous tests.
It made her blood boil, and she looked at Pinkie with an angry look in her eye.

“Care to explain why all these little creatures are being kept in such small, cramped cages?”
She asked, her tone low, suddenly going cold as she looked at her pink friend.
But Pinkie Pie simply shrugged.

“We haven't had the space for any bigger cages recently, and if we kept them in the cells the basement has down here, they would all escape, because the gaps in the bars are too wide.”
Pinkie kept her explanation blunt and quick, wanting to give Fluttershy a simple answer that would hopefully calm her down, but it didn't work.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Slowly turning her head, she looked at an experimentation table that sat in the middle of the room, a single lamp shining on what was on top, which was the corpse of Angel Bunny. The snow-white bunny had recently died, with ripped skin, his organs spilled out on the table, his blood darker than normal, and his body covered in dark spots.

Fluttershy let in a sharp gasp, her eyes filling with tears, before suddenly whipping her head around to look at Pinkie, now even more angry.
“You KILLED ANGEL!”
Before Pinkie could respond, Fluttershy tackled Pinkie to the ground. Using her back hooves to keep Pinkie somewhat grounded, before using her front hooves to throw punch after punch. Hitting pinkie in any area that Fluttershy’s eyes laid upon. The room was filled with the sounds of Pinkie grunting, and the impact of Fluttershy’s punches. As Pinkie tried to defend herself, she managed to catch Fluttershy’s front hooves, preventing her from throwing any more punches.

“GET OFF OF ME!”
Pinkie shouted, before shoving Fluttershy off for her, clambering to her hooves, before lunging at her.

The fight continued at the back side of the basement. With Fluttershy gaining the upper hand once more. Managing to get a heavy buck to Pinkie’s side, sending the pink pony flying back.
Pinkie was slammed against one of the doors of the cells, hitting her head, a loud clang echoed throughout the room, causing the animals in the cages to squeak loudly, and start shaking.

Fluttershy looked at Pinkie with an enraged expression, before slowly turning away to free the animals. Only to be greeted with Twilight’s face being inches away from hers.

“Surprise!”
Twilight shouted, before suddenly throwing a punch directly to the side of Fluttershy’s head, sending her flying into the wall of the basement, knocking her out cold.
Twilight then dragged Pinkie’s unconscious body into one of the cells. Once the door was closed shut and locked with a spell, Twilight went to check on Pinkie.

Her head was bleeding from the impact, and some bruises were forming on her body from taking the brunt of Fluttershy’s hits. Twilight gave a soft sigh, and picked up Pinkie with her magic, as well as a first aid kit, and made her way to her quarters.

Laying Pinkie down on her bed, she began cleaning up Pinkie’s injuries and looking for the source of the bleeding. Thankfully the injury wasn't massive, and looked like it didn't need stitches. So she cleaned up the injury as best as she could and wrapped it tightly in a bandage to keep pressure on the injury until the bleeding stopped.

Once Twilight was done, she left Pinkie to get some rest, taking the first aid kit back to the basement. She then saw Fluttershy beginning to stir in the cell, and she couldn't help but feel angry at her. Twilight slowly made her way to the cell, using her magic to pick up a chain, with a large metal cuff on the end. She cuffed the chain around Fluttershy’s back leg, preventing her from getting within arms reach of the door.

Once Fluttershy was fully awake, she looked around in a panic, her ears folded back as her breathing began to quicken. She saw Twilight standing there on the other side of the door, and she took flight, trying to fly at Twilight and hopefully open the door. But the chain was suddenly pulled taut, and yanked the pegasus back, causing her to land in a heap on the ground. With a groan, she sat up, looking at the princess.

“Twilight, what’s going on? Why am i in here?!”
Fluttershy asked, her eyes going glossy as they filled with tears. Fluttershy spread her wings in an attempt to take flight again, only for the cell to suddenly be filled with the sound of 2 loud snaps back to back. Immediately followed by Fluttershy’s screams of agony.

Her ears folding back and her eyes wide as she felt blood trickle down her back. Looking at her wings, she saw that Twilight had snapped the bone cleanly in half, causing the sharp edge to break through the thin layer of skin and muscle.
Blood flowed steadily down her wings and back, as well as down her front legs, staining her bright yellow fur.

Fluttershy’s breathing was rapid, her sobs loud and pained. Her ears folded flat against her head, as she desperately tried to keep her wings still to prevent the pain from getting any worse.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the yellow pegasus, before using her magic to hold Fluttershy’s wings open, causing her to cry out in agony once more. Twilight racked her brain for an idea, before smirking slowly, and walking toward the pile of leftover supplies they had used to make the lab section of the basement, picking up 2 large planks of wood, and some metal cuffs.

She then holds Fluttershy’s wings as wide open as she can, once again, causing a melody of screams and shrieks to ring out throughout the basement.
Twilight worked slowly, keeping Fluttershy’s wings pinned open with the wooden boards, roughly putting the metal cuffs around her wings, and inadvertently cutting some of her feathers.

Once she was done, Fluttershy couldn't move her wings at all, as they were weighed down by the wood, her face now soaked in tears, her sore eyes looking at Twilight.
Before Fluttershy could talk, she let out a yelp as a new spot of pain shot through her, as Twilight injected Fluttershy with one of her hoof-made infections, which she has named ‘Flightless Bird Syndrome’

Twilight made a few quick notes, noting down Fluttershy’s current condition.
“Fluttershy: Subject I.

• Healthy
• Infection rate: 0%
• Symptoms: None

‘Fluttershy has decided to generously volunteer herself for the infection ‘flightless bird syndrome’ while she’s here. I will monitor her condition, its progress, and the progression on making a cure in time before the infection becomes fatal.”

Twilight then put her notes on a clipboard, hanging it up by the cell door with a small hook, before beginning to walk away.

“Now... Was that necessary? She was only trying to find her pet. I feel like she has a right to be angry here.”
Rarity’s voice echoed out into Twilight’s ear, causing it to twitch. As the alicorn walked away, she looked over her shoulder at Fluttershy, who was now cowering in the corner of her cell.

“I did what was needed. Word can't get out about how these vaccinations are being made. And now we have a bigger subject that will give us more time to work on a cure before it kills her.”
Twilight responds coldly, and Rarity's voice responds with a confused tone.
“A cure to an infection YOU made. And what about the last 2? You barely know what they do, let alone if they’ll be able to be cured!”

Twilight then snapped back, her ears folding back.
“I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!”
Her voice echoes out into the lab before she storms out, going to keep an eye on Pinkie’s condition.

About a week later, newspapers were being passed around Ponyville. The top story: “Fluttershy, Elements of Kindness, mauled by her animals.”
The story explains that Fluttershy was working like usual in her sanctuary, and had neglected to feed her bears, which resulted in them turning on the yellow pegasus, and mauling her to death. The photo accompanied by the story, was a shot of a patch of grass, with some discarded feathers, explaining that they matched Fluttershy’s.

Discord slammed the newspaper down, letting out a loud wail of despair, before opening a portal to his pocket dimension and slipping inside. Leaving nothing but the newspaper behind.

The town held a funeral for Fluttershy a few days later, the remaining elements of harmony attending. Including Pinkie and Twilight. Pinkie wearing a hat to hide her head injury.
They stood there in silence. As they looked at the photo of the element of kindness, lit by a single candle.