A Tomb of Cotton.

Both the hospital staff and Fluttershy's friends roamed the streets of the town in a desperate search for who they believed to be Fluttershy, going door to door asking the neighboring ponies for help, little by little until suddenly it was an angry mob of hysterics looking everywhere for the pegasus.

They checked every corner, every nook and cranny, but there was no trace, not even any clue as to where Fluttershy might have headed.

“Oh my Celestia, what shall we do now?” asked Rarity in anguish as she shone her horn to illuminate an alleyway.

“I have no idea...” began Twilight who with her magic was lifting carts, barrels and anything else where she thought her friend might be hiding ”All I know is that we must help Fluttershy...”

“But how!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash who was returning from flying over the surroundings ”We don't even know where she went!”

“She couldn't have gone far, you heard the doctor, her injuries were severe...I don't even understand how she could have gotten out of bed....” said Applejack.

“There's something about this hide and seek game that I don't like...” began Pinkie Pie ”Fluttershy doesn't even like hide and seek...”

“And she doesn't like absolute solitude either....” said Rarity.

“Nor eating carrots like cookies...” Spoke Rainbow.

“Nor destroying her house, or hurting herself...since Angel died it's almost as if...” said Applejack.

“That's right...!” suddenly exclaimed Twilight drawing everyone's attention ”Fluttershy isn't trying to hide, she just wants to go home...”

At that moment it dawned on them all, immediately starting to run in the direction of the pegasus hut on the outskirts of the city.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Angel was sitting in front of Fluttershy's grave, with his eyes fixed on the ground, his bandages little by little were stained red by his newly opened wounds, noticing how the little cotton buds had already started to show through the soil, at that moment the doubt invaded him, wondering if he was really going to do this, why, because a dream told him so, what was the logic of it? It was stupid to think that Fluttershy could come back as if it was nothing, maybe he should just go away, forget about this or maybe, just maybe, he should consider letting it all end.
After all, the pain he felt inside was unbearable, he didn't want to keep enduring the rejection of his friend's body towards his soul, he was so tired, he just wanted to rest.

Just as that last thought was about to consume him there was a high pitched rumble, there was a flash of white behind him and then a voice was heard, irritating and shrill, with a touch of haughtiness, if Angel was paying attention, it wouldn't have taken him a second to guess who it was.

Discord was at the main entrance of the hut, knocking on the door with exaggerated enthusiasm, the draconequus was dressed in an elf costume and carried on his back an impossible number of bags from which fantasy figures and posters protruded.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! I'm back from my trip to the ogres and dungeons convention, and I know it's late but I couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell you all about it...!”

Discord waited for a moment for his friend to respond, noticing the visible deterioration on the outside of the cabin, though instead of worrying he thought it was due to Fluttershy remodeling, making an hourglass appear on his wrist and getting impatient before exclaiming again and knocking on the door with even more impetus.

“Hellowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Fluttershy, are you in there?”

Angel didn't even deign to pay attention to him, deciding to stay perfectly still as his own mind turned over on itself, fracturing with every thought.

It wasn't until Discord began to fly over the house, finding himself with every window blocked that he finally noticed that, the yellow pegasus, was sitting in the middle of his garden, her back to him and hunched over.

“Oh! Fluttershy, there you are!”

The draconequus flew in Angel's direction, who made no gesture to acknowledge Discord's presence, just remained silent.

“What are you doing? Oh no, don't tell me tell me, you're meditating aren't you...?”

Discord's buffoonish tone faltered for a second as he noticed the state of the pegasus, bruised, bald and covered in bandages that, at this point, were beginning to peel off due to the amount of blood saturating them, he also noticed how Fluttershy kept her gaze fixed on the small mound of earth from where the small sprouts were visible.

“Oh...are you keeping your gaze fixed so that the flowers in your garden will grow faster...?” again, there was no answer ‘Fluttershy...are you all right?’ Discord shrank down, to a tiny size, standing on the mound of earth and looking directly into Fluttershy's eyes, to his strangeness the pegasus' gaze remained lost, as if looking beyond what was in front of her, or as if she was blind.

Suddenly Discord's carefree attitude disappeared completely, his expression twisted into a worried grimace, as he saw how, in his friend's eyes, there was no trace of her.
Discord didn't know what to do, he didn't understand what was going on, why Fluttershy's current state, his unhinged head was literally and figuratively spinning over itself trying to find some reason, he didn't know why, but something didn't feel right.

“Fluttershy...” Discord, still small, waved his claw in front of the pegasus' face, he even dared to nip her nose lightly, nothing, not a single change.

The draconequus then began to panic, it was like talking to a potato, and even a potato was more talkative, even more was the bewilderment when the first bandages began to fall from the pegasus' body, completely soaked with blood, then, in a moment of genius, Discord thought that, the reason why his friend was sad was because her plants don't grow fast enough, so, snapping his fingers as he stepped back, he suddenly made all the cotton buds grow into a lush layer of foliage on the mound of dirt.

That finally made Angel react and he let out a horrible scream as he suddenly saw his vision completely saturated with white, falling backwards and feeling pain when his back hit the ground.

“Jojojojojo there you are!” exclaimed Discord with relief ”I thought you went on a trip and didn't tell me...”

Angel then was again overcome with a familiar emotion, seeing Discord's now normal sized” smiling and sneering face ignited his anger like never before, all the people who had been annoying so far, yes maybe Angel had misunderstood them, he may have even been wrong to yell at them but Discord, Discord the most despicable and ridiculous being, to whom for some reason Fluttershy opened the doors, not only of his home, if not more recently of his heart, was the ultimate exponent of what was wrong with everyone.

Everyone was to blame, Discord, Fluttershy's stupid friends, the asshole at the carrot stand, the animals and the sanctuary staff, Zecora's bitch, they were all fucking to blame. Why couldn't everything have stayed the way it was before, just him and Fluttershy, the two of them, alone, against the world, so it was perfect, why couldn't everything just stay...perfect?
He wasn't to blame, he wasn't to blame, how could he have been to blame, he who was always so kind and considerate to Fluttershy, yes, he demanded her to take care of him, but that was what he deserved, a perfect life where his every whim was instantly fulfilled, Fluttershy should take care of him only, she should only be with him, she belonged to him, and he gets her back, no matter what the cost.

“You...” began Angel as a whisper.

“Yes! Me!” exclaimed Discord with an explosion of confetti ”I've already arranged your flowers, now I suggest we go inside and make some tea so I can tell you about my journey, see it all started when...”

“YOU!” Angel vociferated as he violently got up from the floor.

“Emmm...yeah, me, you said that already...” replied Discord quizzically, thinking about what was bothering her friend now, again coming to a strange conclusion ”Oh I get it...you're upset because you got careless while staring at your flowers, don't worry I can fix that too...”

A snap of the fingers and suddenly all of Angel's wounds closed, healing instantly, his fur regained its usual yellow glow and his mane and tail grew back instantly, Angel could barely process what had happened when Discord exclaimed again, making a huge mirror appear in front of him.

“See? Fixed...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Angel let out a nightmarish shriek at the sight of the reflection that, for so many days, he had avoided facing again, more so now that before him stood the living image of Fluttershy, as neat and radiant as he remembered her, he quickly jumped back, covering his face with his hooves, through the gaps left by the bandages that had fallen off he could see how her scars had become mere faint marks, hidden almost completely by new fur.

“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! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!”

He began tearing off huge chunks of mane and tail, pulling with all his might as he tore at the rest of his bandages, looking for some clear mark of his passage through that stolen body.
Now Discord if he was scared, he thought for an instant that he had made a mistake with his transformation, accidentally turning Fluttershy into Anti Fluttershy, but no, it wasn't possible since not even Anti Fluttershy would act in such an erratic and visceral way, now he was convinced that something was terribly wrong.

Without hardly thinking about it Discord did the only thing he could think of, he threw himself forward and tried to hug Fluttershy, but his attempt was stopped because, as soon as Angel realized the draconequus' intentions, he launched a powerful blow, one that hit Discord's face, who didn't expect something like that, and even though the blow didn't hurt the chaos lord in any way, it left him cold and without knowing what to think.

Finally Angel stood up, focusing his thoughts again on Discord, his face full of tears and his new hair a half-ripped mess.

“You're just a pathetic asshole...!!!” he began to say to Discord's incredulous gaze ”That's why no one else wanted you!!! And who else would if you're just a fucking asshole!!! Look at you you're just a ridiculously immature and fucking arrogant prick, I've never met anyone more miserable, inattentive and stupidly unbearable, ever in my entire fucking life!!!!! And I'll tell you what, I can't believe I ever even considered spreading my fucking legs for you because you would have never even aspired to be worthy!!!!! YOU COULDN'T EVEN REALIZE WHAT A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP I WANTED WITH YOU AND MOTHERFUCKER I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU'LL DIE ALONE, BUT THAT'S THE BIGGEST JOKE BECAUSE YOU CAN'T DIE AND ALL OF FUCKING EXISTENCE WILL FOREVER HAVE TO PUT UP WITH YOU!!!” He could feel the screams tearing at his throat, damaging it permanently, yet he didn't care, neither did he care to spit spit spit like a rabid dog or open his eyes so wide that they seemed to pop out of their sockets.

Discord just remained silent, this wasn't funny anymore, he couldn't understand the joke behind this, and he really hoped it was a joke, just a cruel joke from a pony that, so far, had proved to be the kindest, calmest and most beautiful pony he had ever, in his thousands of years of life, met, and, without knowing very well why, Discord started to cry, his tears were multicolored and seemed to be made of water, gas and ice at the same time.
And at this gesture of vulnerability never seen before, Angel could do nothing but let out a mocking laugh, accompanied by a new raspy voice.

“What's the matter, don't you have anything to say...lord of chaos?”

Discord, for the first time in his life, didn't move, didn't say anything and didn't react, he could only watch as Angel walked circuitously to the cotton mound, plunged his hooves into the earth violently and plucked a small half unraveled box from the earth, putting it under his wing and slowly walking away in the direction of the forest.
The draconequus watched it slowly move away, until it was lost in the tree line, still devastated, finally the chaos lord snapped his fingers again and disappeared into thin air.

Just in the next second, lights were seen approaching in the distance, the five friends approached the hut with Twilight in the lead.

“Fluttershy!” called the alicorn as she knocked on the door ”We know you're in there, please come out, let us help you!”

This time, receiving no answer, Twilight didn't stay expectant, flashing her horn, and with a powerful magical lightning bolt, knocked down the door of the hut in the blink of an eye.
They quickly made their way into the hut, making their way through the mess and searching everywhere, it only took them a couple of minutes, even Rainbow Dash when they finished went outside looking for clues.

Twilight was standing in front of what was once Fluttershy's perfectly tidy and clean room, now turned into a half-destroyed and smelly dump, the violet mare was really starting to ask herself serious questions in her thoughts about her pegasus friend's mental state, the level of degeneration her life had taken since the loss of her rabbit had her perplexed, it couldn't be due solely to Angel's death, there had to be something else, some other trigger, before she could come to a feasible conclusion Applejack's voice called to her from downstairs.

“Twilight come quick, Rainbow found something!”

Once outside Twilight could see what it was, there was a prominent pool of dried blood in the dirt next to where Angel had been buried, the mound of dirt and the previously intact cotton balls were now a shapeless empty hole, of the small box there was no trace.

“But what the hell?” The alicorn asked incredulously.

“Why would Fluttershy do something so ...horrible?” asked Rarity feeling sick to her stomach.

“I don't know, this doesn't make sense anymore, maybe...maybe that doctor was right...” began Applejack ”Maybe, she doesn't know what she's doing anymore...”

“Look!” suddenly exclaimed Pinkie.

Turning in the direction the pink mare was pointing, noticing how the dirt from the destroyed grave swirled in one direction, as if someone had walked over it, creating a faint path adorned with tufts of light pink hair, a path that led into the Everfree Forest.

“Rainbow, look for her...” commanded Twilight to the pegasus who didn't take a second to rise into the air and start flying over the treetops ”All the others, follow me.”

Twilight was frightened, her logical and pragmatic mind would not allow her to see beyond the blunt facts in front of her, unfortunately these facts pointed to a terrible conclusion, her friend was losing herself, this thought slowly took hold of her as she flew deeper into the tree line.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault, Not my fault...”

Angel repeated over and over again under his breath as he made his way through the undergrowth, he still remembered the occasion when Fluttershy took him to the two sisters' castle so he had a slight idea where to head, stumbling awkwardly from time to time his vision was partially blocked by a lock of her newly grown mane, making him irritated and causing him to tear that lock out with an angry yank, dropping it on the ground, creating a trail behind him without realizing it.

He could feel the small box slowly crumbling under his wing, he tried to ignore the sensation of something cold and stiff brushing against his feathers, keeping his eyes straight ahead and his goal clear, finally, and after walking for what seemed like hours Angel reached his destination.
Before him stood the imposing ruins of the once abandoned palace, he could see its silhouette illuminated by the glow of the moon, pausing only for a moment to appreciate the panorama before him, quickly, he set out down the dirt path that descended into the ravine at the side of the castle, vividly recalling the stories Fluttershy had told him, of the mythical cavern where the tree of harmony had sprouted.

He walked torturously, he could feel the pressure in his chest as if an anvil was crushing him, if his stomach still had something inside Angel he was sure he would be vomiting at that moment, the headache had reached such an extent that his vision had been reduced until he could only see what was in front of him, the rest was darkness, the ringing in his ears did not allow him to hear even his own thoughts and every step felt as if his hooves were going to break under their own weight.

For a moment he felt disoriented, the only thing he could see around him was rock and earth, he began to walk in circles in desperation, he could not find the cave, his breathing, already irregular, began to be shallow and frantic, a tide of thoughts was coming at him, invading him in all directions, memories of his former life, memories of Fluttershy, all the anger he had felt since her death and all those he had hurt, he remembered the faces of Fluttershy's parents, devastated and tearful, the faces of old friends bewildered and disappointed, why should he go through all that? He just wanted a little more attention, he just wanted, to show Fluttershy how much he needed her, he, he wanted Fluttershy to feel what he felt, he wanted her to experience that helplessness, that dependence, maybe so, she finally understood that nothing in this world mattered more than him.

Angel stumbled on a rock, losing his balance and falling face to the ground, in an abrupt attempt to avoid the fall he shook his wings violently, causing the tender package he was carrying to fall and scatter all over the ground, despite this the attempt was useless and Angel crashed against the dry earth, so hard that he could feel his nose breaking from the impact.
For an instant he thought about just staying there, it would be so simple, turning on his belly to see that, somehow, he was already in front of the entrance of the cave, but the sudden surprise was soon overshadowed by a terror that filled Angel with agony, as he noticed how, a few meters away from him, covered with earth, was his old body half decomposed, he could see how the bones already protruded from the dry flesh and how what used to be his face was deformed into a stretched grimace of skin and empty sockets.

Angel couldn't help but let out a scream, pulling away as far as he could from the little corpse, which, due to Discord's magic, was sprouting roots with little cotton buds.

“NO! NO! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!!!”

He covered his face, he could feel as if his ribs were compressing in on themselves, as if every fiber of skin, muscle and every bone in his body was being squeezed in an attempt to get rid of him, he wasn't welcome, Fluttershy's body didn't want him, it knew who he was, and what he had done, Angel could only writhe on the floor in agony as the pressure only increased, until he finally managed to muster enough strength to speak.

“Please...I'm here to fix it, .I...I came here because I want to fix it....”

The pain didn't go away, but suddenly he could notice something beyond his vision, it was a sensation like no other, so powerful that it almost overcame the torment, Angel removed his hooves from his face, noticing that, although he couldn't see anything, that sensation was like a kind of tugging, like the one he had been experiencing in his nightmares,only this time's was gentle, like a caress, and at that moment ANgel knew, this was what he had come for, a chance to fix everything.
Slowly, very slowly, she began to walk towards the cave, barely lifting the small corpse from the ground, little by little she went inside and advanced among the rocks and moss, deeper and deeper letting herself be surrounded by the shadows, and for the first time since Fluttershy's death, Angel felt absolutely nothing.

There was no pain, no thoughts, not even the feeling of discomfort to which he had already got used to, it was like ceasing to exist, Angel took a big breath of air, only to corroborate that, indeed, he was still breathing, he simply let himself be carried away by the pull, he followed it until it stopped, in the deepest part of the cave.
For an instant nothing happened, but the next moment, a light manifested itself, it was faint, barely perceptible, but Angel could see it, feel it and hear it, it was as if the light was crawling under his hooves, this hypothesis was proven the next moment when the earth opened, right in front of him, revealing something that, at first, he could not understand.

It was as if a flower bud sprouted from the ground, but it was made of pure crystal, glowing in a pinkish hue that gradually illuminated everything around it, the bud stretched upwards slowly, Angel could only stand still watching the impossible spectacle before his eyes, seeing how the bud grew into a bud and how the bud gave way to a pink cotton flower.
He opened his eyes, beyond what he ever thought possible, for an instant, the beauty of the plant made him forget everything, all the discomfort, all the helplessness, all the sadness, it was as if, before him, all the discord in the world had vanished in the blink of an eye.

What happened next, however, would break something forever, inside Angel's soul, something in him would change, never to be seen again.

Before his incredulous gaze, the light given off by the plant intensified and, impossibly, right in front of him, a transparent image of Fluttershy was projected in the air, exactly like the last memory Angel had of her, her fur a little dirty from the arduous morning she had in the sanctuary, her mane slightly disheveled due to how he himself had hung on it in an attempt to get her attention and her soft dark circles under her eyes, product of a bad night's sleep.
On her face was reflected a sweet smile accompanied by the characteristic glow in the eyes of the pegasus, at this Angel could feel tears begin to run down his cheeks, she was as beautiful as he remembered her, but his appreciation and all his nostalgic thoughts, came crashing down when the ghostly projection before him opened her mouth to speak, triggering an event, which will determine the rise or fall from grace of the tortured soul of the rabbit.

“Hello Angel, I'm so glad, to see you again.”