A Tomb of Cotton.

The cut on his paw didn't help as Angel thought, this time he couldn't even fall asleep, every time he closed his eyes and his mind drifted away little by little Fluttershy's face appeared in front of him, staring at him, he could see her mouth moving non-stop, but he couldn't hear her voice.

Now resigned, Angel was curled up in one of the corners of the room, covered by a thick sheet, he was absentmindedly playing with his mane with one of his hooves, giving sudden tugs every now and then and pulling out whole locks, which he then just let fall to the floor, he had his gaze lost somewhere on the floor and one of his back hooves was hitting the floor over and over again, His headache was now unbearable, so was the pressure in his chest, no matter how many needles he stuck deep into the flesh or how many pieces of glass he used to tear his sides, at best he only managed to relieve himself for a minute before the agony hit him again like an avalanche.

Suddenly nostalgic memories came to his mind, longing added to his discomfort making him lose himself even more in his own mind.
He saw the first time he arrived at Fluttershy's hut, just a little bunny orphaned and left to his own devices, picked up by a beautiful person who only knew kindness. she brought him home in a little shoebox, he could remember how scared he was while inside the box, and he also remembered how all that fear vanished the moment he could appreciate for the first time this sanctuary, the kind look and the sweet smile of his best friend when she offered him the first carrot.

“Don't worry little angel, I'll take care of you.....”

Distant words blurred in the increasingly shaky gardens of Angel's memory, but well that young Fluttershy could have been right beside him, as he heard them loud and clear ringing in his ears.

Angel then stood up abruptly, he didn't want this, he wasn't going to be part of the sick games of his own mind.

“It's not my fucking fault!” he screamed as he staggered across the room, stepping on his lacerated hoof and causing blood to drain from him.

He was thankful for every twinge of pain that caused him to move as they pulled his thoughts away from anything else, he quickly slid out of the room, the door was now ripped off its hinges, pushed out and dangling from just a screw, Angel remembered how he had been ramming it the night before when the rage of not being able to sleep made him call for control.
The cabin was now in a worse state than before, dirt accumulated in small mounds in the corners while debris and cracks in the walls remained perpetually still, except for the ones Angel moved as he went.

He stumbled his way to the kitchen, a few strands of his tail and mane shed on the way while behind him a prominent trail of blood was marked on the wood, once he reached his destination he groped with his hoof for what was left of the first aid kit, grabbing a small roll of bandages which he proceeded to use to cover as many wounds as he could.

Unfortunately, the small amount of bandages only allowed him to partially cover his most prominent wounds, for the rest he could only awkwardly clean himself with one of the kitchen rags, barely stopping the bleeding and leaving almost his entire body stained a sole red color that gradually began to turn a dark brown.

Angel sighed in relief, feeling how the bandages tight to his injured body made everything hurt a little more, feeling the slight attenuation of his discomfort, he closed his eyes for a moment as he felt some weakness but in that instant Fluttershy's face appeared again, Angel couldn't be sure but, every time he saw her her face seemed a little sadder.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Five mares were walking down the path that led to Fluttershy's cabin, Twilight was walking in the lead followed by Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, their gait was determined, shrouded in an overwhelming silence, that is of course until Twilight broke it.

“I still can't believe Fluttershy said those things Rainbow, Are you sure you didn't misunderstand?”

“I swear, she...just snapped from one second to the next, I thought my company would help her feel better but ...then she was so cruel...”

“Well dear, it's not that we don't believe you, it's just that doesn't sound like Fluttershy at all, I don't think I've ever in life seen her as upset as you describe her...” Rarity said encouraging the pace enough to walk beside the blue pegasus.

“Maybe, she's still feeling devastated about Angel's death...” started Applejack saying

“That wasn't sadness, I assure you, that was pure rage, and what's worse, there was no sign of regret on her part for the things she said to me...” interrupted Rainbow.

“Sadness and mourning can trigger a lot of very extreme emotions, I'm sure Fluttershy didn't mean to hurt your feelings, she must be suffering a lot...” said Twilight.

“But don't worry Rainbow!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed “That's the reason why we're going to see her right this very moment, if what she needs is to feel better, nothing like her best friends in the whole world, not to mention the delicious carrot cake I brought for her!”

“Carrot, really?” asked Applejack raising an eyebrow.

“Well, Rainbow Dash said she found her buying carrots at the market and didn't take any in the end, it's accurate to assume she wanted to make a carrot cake to honor angel” said Pinkie as she pulled a small orange tinged cake out of her mane.

The conversation stopped when the friends noticed that Twilight had stood still, right at the top of the hill that overlooked the yellow pegasus's hut, and they were surprised when they advanced to stand next to her, only to freeze and realize why.
Fluttershy's cabin was destroyed, even more than the previous time, apart from the blown out windows and the furniture on the lawn, now they could see big holes in the walls and pieces of furniture inserted into the walls from the inside, all the windows were completely covered with wood and, in general, it looked as if a tornado had swept through the once sweet home.

The five friends stood in silence, stunned by the terrifying sight before them, none of them knew what to think, but in a moment they came to the same resolution, exchanging anxious glances and thinking that the worst might have happened.

The next second they were running at full speed the missing stretch between them and the hut, even before they reached the entrance door, which surprisingly remained intact, the worried friends were already shouting Fluttershy's name.

Twilight tried to open the door with her magic but it was perfectly locked.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Are you all right?! It's us, your friends!” she knocked on the door loudly and repeatedly without receiving any response.

They all waited with anxious anticipation, but soon realized that there was no point, if Fluttershy was inside, she couldn't open the door for them, or couldn't she hear them?

Rainbow Dash took off, flying around the outside of the whole house, checking up and down, it didn't take her more than a couple of seconds, when she returned to the ground found from the others, the pegasus exclaimed in a worried voice.

“There's no other entrance, it's completely sealed!”

“What do we do, what do we do!” asked Rarity in desperation.

“Applejack, break down the door...” exclaimed Twilight suddenly, looking at the cowgirl.

Applejack hesitated for a moment, looking Twilight in the eyes as if asking if she was serious, but the alicorn's own gaze answered before her words did.
At this the earth pony quickly got into position in front of the door, readying her hind legs to launch a mighty blow, she looked once more at Twilight for corroboration, to which the violet mare only nodded firmly.

Applejack threw a powerful kick, but was surprised not to feel the wood of the door at the distance she expected to feel it, in fact, there was no impact at all, she looked up only to see all her friends with their mouths open and pale, the farmer turned quickly finding that the door had opened, and there she was, Fluttershy was standing in the doorway, staring at them, luckily, far enough away so that the kick hadn't hit her.

Unfortunately being able to see her friend did nothing but make her worry turn to hysteria, Fluttershy looked as if she had been beaten up by a group of thugs, her body was completely bruised, injured beyond what should be possible.
Now her body was stained and lacerated, anyone who saw it would think it was a yellow zebra with red stripes, bits of skin hung from her sides and front hooves, the product of several deep cuts Angel made with the help of the broken glass, there were needles buried in her flesh, so deep that to remove them would require magic and her mane and tail now exhibited quite noticeable patches, leaving part of his head bald and reddened from the tugging, his mouth was also bleeding, as due to one of the blows that occurred while whipping himself against the walls one of his teeth comes loose, swelling his cheek, the bandages only cover a tiny percentage of the total open and still bleeding wounds, staining himself little by little red as well.

“Fluttershy!!!” they all shouted in unison, not knowing what else to do, they wanted to approach her but were stopped by the pegasus' expressionless gaze and the words she answered.

“What the fuck do you want?”

This puzzled them even more, abruptly breaking off their growing hysteria, Flluttershy had answered, so casually, coarse and raspy, but as if it was just another day, as if the presence of her friends and her own injured state, didn't matter to her one bit.
No one could say anything for a moment, Fluttershy's condition seemed to be serious, but she didn't seem upset in the slightest, she didn't even cry, it wasn't until Twilight noticed the fact that the yellow pegasus was bleeding heavily that she stepped forward sharply.

“Fluttershy by Celestia what happened to you!” Twilight tried to extend her hoof towards her friend but it was swiftly swatted away.

“Don't touch me!” librarian of the second....”

Twilight went cold at this, she thought Rainbow's words had been an exaggeration, but now that she had her in front of her she was beginning to question how serious the situation really was, even more so when, looking over Fluttershy's shoulder, she noticed the wreckage the house had become.

“If you're just here to annoy me, you'd better leave....” the pegasus began to say as she prepared to close the door.

But she was stopped dead in her tracks by Applejack, who put all her strength into reopening it to subsequently rush roughly into the enclosure.

“Fluttershy!” the farm girl said firmly as she faced the pegasus ”You did all this!”

Angel was tired, the shrill booming of the earth pony's voice only made his head hurt even more, this irritated him to no end, not lagging behind with his response.

“And what the fuck does that matter to you?!” he exclaimed warily, despite this Applejack not backing down ”This is my fucking house and I can do whatever I want with it!”

She could see the others come in behind the farm girl, making their way through the mess and broken glass, before Angel could say anything to object Applejack raised her voice again.

“What about you, did you do that to yourself too!” Applejack was worried about the possible answer.

“You know what peasant girl...” began Angel, inconvenienced by the irruption of her privacy ”Why don't you go back to your filthy farm and mind your own business?!”

“Fluttershy what's wrong with you?” spoke Twilight with latent concern in her voice.

“Darling this is terrible, if you are hurting yourself this is more serious than we thought...” continued Rarity.

“Yes I...” began Rainbow ”If this is the result of us leaving you alone, we are sorry, we thought you might want some time alone after the death of...”

“Shut the fuck up!!!” Angel grabbed a piece of one of the pieces of furniture and threw it through the air in the direction of the mares, who barely managed to dodge it.

“Fluttershy!” exclaimed Applejack angrily ‘This is the last straw! We understand that you're sad about Angel's death but that's no reason to act crazy, nor is it a reason to attack your friends...!’ the earth pony couldn't continue with her wake-up call since she received a full blow to the face that sent her reeling backwards.

Applejack looked up in surprise, she could feel the blood pooling inside her mouth, while Fluttershy remained standing in front of her, still with her hoof up, panting and sweating profusely, with every breath her wounds expelled a little more blood.

“You.....are not...my friends.....you are just....the stuck-up bitches...who hung out with Fluttershy...none of you ever did the slightest thing to really understand her, you only had her by your side because you considered her your fucking pet, you didn't deserve her, nobody deserved her.... she only needed me...she was only supposed to be with me....”

Angel staggered backwards, while the others exchanged glances, now of growing fear, the more time passed the more they realized that Fluttershy's physical and mental state was much worse than they had expected, what shocked them the most was the fact that the pegasus spoke in third person, she seemed completely disconnected from reality.
No one knew what to do, now they feared not only for Fluttershy's well-being, but for their own, suddenly, the shattered enclosure seemed to shrink around them, girding itself about them like a bear trap, with all the furniture splintered and blood staining everywhere, finally, Twilight plucked up her courage, stepped forward and spoke in a soft tone.

“Fluttershy...you're not well...”

At that moment the pegasus let out a shrill and frantic laugh, it echoed throughout the place for a long moment, chilling the blood of the five mares who could only take a couple of steps back in surprise.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahaha.....Noooo, really??? What gave you the absurd idea that I'm not feeling well?” the sarcastic and extremely exaggerated tone did nothing but worry the mares even more ”Could it be my new decoration? Is it my new haircut, or my new coat style? I'm sorry, I really thought red looked better on me… ¡¡OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND KIND CREATURE ON EARTH HAS DIED, AND NONE OF YOU DAMN PONY SEEM TO CARE!!””

All of them were now trembling slightly in fear at Fluttershy's outburst, Twilight swallowed saliva trying to find words of comfort or calm for the pegasus, but she found herself completely blank minded, the situation was out of any considered parameter, it almost seemed that, the pegasus in front of her, was someone completely different.
At that moment Twilight noticed that Fluttershy began to stagger, babbling unintelligibly as a large amount of blood, now, trickled down through the half-made bandages.

“It's all your fault....you're all to blame...it's not my fault....”

And at that moment, Angel collapsed, the exertion combined with the constant loss of blood and the lack of proper nourishment finally wiped him out, falling on the debris-strewn floor and losing consciousness, the last thing he could see and hear before his vision dimmed was the five mares approaching with frightened faces, as they screamed Fluttershy's name and tried to wake him up.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Angel was snuggled between Fluttershy's hooves, both were lying on the grass right in the garden of the cottage, the smell of dewy flowers flooded the air and the clear sky rose prominently above them.
The little rabbit was breathing with absolute peace and felt that he could stay there forever, suddenly Fluttershy's soft voice was heard over his head.

“You know Angel? I know it's mean of me to say so but, out of all the creatures, you are the one I enjoy being with the most...” the pegasus let out a soft giggle.

“I know...” replied Angel, who for the first time in a long time heard her old voice ‘I love spending time with you too....’ the rabbit snuggled even more, feeling the warmth of her friend's body.

“But you know what would make this moment absolutely perfect Angel?” the pegasus asked, you could even feel how on her face there was a prominent smile as she said it.

“What thing Fluttershy...?” asked Angel distractedly, about to fall asleep.

“That you give me back what's mine....” suddenly Fluttershy's voice changed, becoming serious and somber.

“Uh...what?” asked confused the rabbit, who tried to get up to see her friend's face but the firm grip of the pegasus' hooves on her small body didn't allow it.

“My body Angel, I want it back...”

The more she spoke the more distorted her voice became, Angel began to hyperventilate as she felt her friend slowly apply more and more force on him, threatening to crunch his fragile bones.

“Agh...I, I can't, I don't know how to do it, you died, I...this can't be reversed....”

“Then what!” asked Fluttershy in a furious tone ”Will you live the rest of your life pretending to be me, lying about my death until I am nothing but a vague absurd memory!!!!! Defiling my legacy by behaving like a selfish bitch?!!!”

“This...this isn't my fault, I didn't cause this, it was Zecora giving us that stupid potion....” Angel felt as, once again, the air in his lungs was denied, all as his little body began to give in to the strength of Fluttershy's grip.

“What about my parents, are they to blame too?!”

“Yes!...if they hadn't raised you so weak ...everything would have been different, you would have known that the only one you should pay attention to was me, and we wouldn't have had to switch bodies in the first place....”

“And so I'm supposed to assume that my friends are to blame too!”

“They ... never understood you like I did, they never really cared about you, they didn't deserve you, I was the only one who deserved you....”

Suddenly Fluttershy's grip loosened, her voice returned to normal and Angel could finally look up, finding the pegasus' tearful and devastated face.

“Angel...I never thought you were such a despicable being...willing to delegate blame to all of Equestria so long as you wouldn't accept what you did....”

“But I....” Angel hesitated “I didn't do anything!”

“Exactly, you did nothing, you decided to take advantage of the situation and left me to my fate, knowing that a rabbit's body is fragile, and that I was likely to suffer some accident if I went on my own..... you did nothing but think of yourself as always....that's why I died...”

“No, no, no, no NO! THIS IS NOT MY FAULT, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING!”

“Yes you did know, but you didn't care...this is your fault Angel...”

“NO!! NO NO SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!! SHUT UP!!”

Angel covered his ears but Fluttershy's sobs were still echoing inside his mind, he stood up suddenly and stumbled backwards, falling on the same sterile field full of sharp stones, when he looked up again he saw himself, his little rabbit body, hurt and full of dirt, like the last time he had seen him, this one was looking at him with eyes full of tears and an expression of disappointment and sadness.
Angel stepped back, his breathing was ragged, drenched in sweat, feeling how the headache and the pressure in his chest were worse than ever before, it was as if his whole body was struggling to expel something from inside him, out of desperation Angel threw himself to the ground and covered his face, squeezing his forehead with all his strength trying to relieve the pain, just at that moment, he understood.

The headache and the pressure in his chest, it wasn't an ordinary discomfort, no, after all, his soul was occupying a body that didn't belong to him, something that went against everything natural, and it was the body, Fluttershy's body that was rejecting him, fighting with all its might to expel him.
At that moment Angel uncovered his face, noticing how he now had the yellow hooves of Fluttershy's body again, he looked up to meet her rabbit body again, now farther away from him but still staring.

“I...I don't want this...” began Angel ”I don't want this torment...Please tell me there's a way to fix it!”

The little rabbit did not respond, so Angel insisted again.

“Please, there must be some way to bring you back, to change back!”

Still no answer, now Fluttershy in Angel's body, slowly turned around and began to hop little hops moving even further away, at this he chased after her, running forward, but no matter how fast he went he couldn't seem to catch up with her.

“Please don't go!!! I need you with me!!! I don't know what to do, please help me please!!!”

At that moment, in the distance, Angel managed to make out something, a strange huge silhouette towering over the little rabbit and above it, a twisted form of branches that seemed to be made of crystal, adorned with six symbols that glowed in a dim glow, Angel didn't know what it was at first, but eventually he understood.
Although he had never seen it in his life, he did remember what Fluttershy had told him, the tree that sprouted from the earth when Equestria needed it most, that gave birth to the palace of the princess of friendship, and, later, would become the home of the young six, the tree of harmony, at that moment, Angel woke up.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

He jumped up, out of breath and disoriented, he found himself on a hospital bed, in an empty room with a small fan hanging from the ceiling and slowly spinning, next to it was a small chest of drawers with a vase of flowers, which looked somewhat faded and through the wide window he could see how the sun was beginning to descend on the horizon.

Angel inspected himself closely noticing that he could barely feel pain now, noticing how almost his entire body had been covered with white cotton bandages, he couldn't help but feel strange noticing that it resembled the fur he used to have on his old body, being able to feel a cramp in his stomach, he also realized that all of his remaining mane and tail had been shaved off completely, leaving him completely bald except for his fur.
It took him a moment to finally process what had happened, recalling the very unpleasant sight, turning it over and over in his head. Had it really been real, had he really talked to Fluttershy, and more importantly, was there really a chance to fix this?

Before he could even give her an answer to any of these questions he heard footsteps approaching down the hallway, for a brief moment he panicked, what should he do, he needed time to think, just when he heard the footsteps stop right in front of the door of his room, Angel decided to lie back on the bed, closing his eyes and partially covering himself with the sheet.

A doctor opened the door to the room cautiously, inspecting the room for a moment, noticing the yellow pegasus still asleep on the bed, nodding slightly and closing the door again, starting to talk to the ponies in front of her in the hallway.

“She's still sedated, I'm sorry I don't think she's going to wake up for a few hours...”

“And she's going to be okay doctor..?” Twilight's worried voice was heard.

“As far as her wounds are concerned, she will be fine, luckily none of them got infected, we removed the needles that were stuck in her, along with the shards of glass and cleaned everything properly...”

“And, what about the other thing doctor, did you talk about his...mental health?” This time it was Rainbow who asked.

“Well, if what I'm told is true, and she did that to herself, I'm afraid we might be dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder...”

“And what in Celestia's name is that?” asked Applejack in confusion.

“It is a mental disorder provoked as a reaction to an extremely unpleasant or violent event or situation, such as accidents, loss of loved ones or sexual assaults, they are usually the trigger for a multitude of erratic behaviors, such as extreme irritability or self-harm in the most severe cases... I couldn't say for sure as I would have to evaluate her, but from what I am told about her behavior and the state of her house, it could very well be that...”

“And what can we do doctor... please tell us...” said Rarity trying to hold back her tears.

“Well, as I tell you I would have to do a psychological evaluation to know exactly what state she is in, depending on how that evaluation turns out we will determine the steps to follow for her recovery... if it can be achieved...”

“What do you mean?” asked Pinkie Pie who had a deflated mane and a devastated expression on her face.

“I'll be honest with you...” the doctor sighed for a long time before continuing ”I've never seen anything like that in my life, someone capable of hurting himself in such a... grotesque and horrible way, besides, you told me that he spoke in third person, as if he wasn't present...”

“Yes doctor, that's exactly how it was....” answered Twilight.

“I won't give you false hopes, at best he may have to undergo a very rigorous psychiatric treatment, with medication and constant monitoring...”

“And in the worst case scenario...?” the purple alicorn asked somewhat fearfully.

The doctor took a moment to respond.

“Well...in the worst case scenario she would have to be committed to a mental institution, where she will be kept sedated and under lock and key, until we can guarantee that she is stable enough not to represent a danger to others and to herself...”

The words hit like an uncontrolled race, the five friends felt dizzy and with a slight ringing in their ears, there was a long silence, at this the doctor cleared her throat and scratched her head slightly.

“Well...I, I, I'll leave you two to talk it over...” With that said she walked away down the hallway, getting lost as she rounded a corner.

They all had to sit on one of the benches in the hallway to think about this, keeping their eyes straight ahead until Applejack raised her voice in distress.

“I can't believe it...all this over the death of her rabbit?”

“It's obvious that we underestimated what Angel's death meant to Fluttershy, it's obvious that it affected her more than any of us could have imagined...” Twilight replied.

“We should have stayed with her...we shouldn't have left her alone in her cabin...” spoke Rainbow with a few tears streaming down her face.

“I don't know what we were thinking...because we thought Fluttershy could get through something like mourning alone?” Rarity said with shame and regret in her voice.

“If only I had thrown her a going away party for Angel, I'm sure she would have felt better....” Pinkie said dejectedly.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Applejack looking at Twilight, being mimicked by the others.

The alicorn was pensive, it had only been a few days since they buried the little rabbit, she didn't understand how Fluttershy had seen her sanity shaken in such a short time, she couldn't help but think that maybe there was something else at the bottom of this, but her thoughts were interrupted by the farm pony's questioning, turning to look at her and answering as best she could.

“We will do what we should have done from the beginning, we will support Fluttershy by staying by her side, we will accompany her throughout her healing process and we will not stop reminding her that we will always be there for her...that's what good friends do...”

They all nodded at the idea, it was true, they had to do what was best for Fluttershy, help her in everything she needed and ultimately take care of her now in her most vulnerable moment.

“You're right Twilight...” started to say Applejack ‘We have to show Fluttershy that she's not alone, I could, as soon as she gets out of the hospital, repair her cabin, remodel it a bit so that when she comes back she'll feel at home again’ she exclaimed enthusiastically.

“And me, I could make her a new outfit, one that will help her to...well, to cover her new scars, I'm sure it will help her to feel better, at least to not have to think about them...” said Rarity somewhat doubtful.

“Me, I think I should be the one to spend more time with her...” started Rainbow ”I'm the one who has known her the longest and I think, out of me she feels the most betrayed...” Dash was downcast still remembering the string of insults that Fluttershy had dedicated to her.

“I think I could take over some of the administrative duties at her sanctuary for a while, so there won't be any problems when she comes back to take care of the animals” Twilight said.

“And me, I'll make sure she enjoys a different dessert every day, so she'll remember how much she enjoys good food!” exclaimed Pinkie regaining her smile.

“Great girls, I'm sure that with our help Fluttershy will be able to pull through. and you know what would be an excellent first step?” Twilight paused waiting for all her friends to look at her curiously ”That the first thing Fluttershy would see when she wakes up would be the faces of her best friends...”

They all agreed, getting up and walking towards the door of Fluttershy's room, despite everything when they arrived they couldn't help feeling nervous, as much as they wanted to deny it, they really had been frightened by the pegasus' behavior, they feared for her safety for an instant, and they didn't know if they could face her sincerely enough.
Even so, and after a moment to take courage the five friends nodded and Twilight opened the door slowly, sighing and preparing a reassuring smile, but that intention was violently stopped, when noticing how the window of the room was open and the bed, completely empty.