A Tomb of Cotton.

Twilight and her friends ran at full speed through the forest, following Rainbow, there were no words, no questions, just the sound of hooves crashing against the earth at high speed, so for a long stretch until they finally reached their destination, down the ravine and planted themselves outside the dark cave.
They all stood for a long moment, not a sound came from inside the great entrance, so deafening was the silence, that all the other sounds of the forest were muffled.

“These....” began Twilight feeling short of breath ”Are you sure she went in there?”

“I checked...Fluttershy is in there...” replied Rainbow with the same distressed tone.

They all exchanged glances, glances that it was hard to know what they reflected, none of them wanted to be the first to take the step, they didn't feel prepared for whatever awaited them, Twilight on her part was conflicted, as princess of friendship her duty was to give help and understanding, especially to one of her oldest friends, but she couldn't help feeling, deep in her mind, a feeling of uncertainty, of doubt, a not knowing that hadn't overwhelmed her since the first day she had arrived in Ponyville.

“There's...” Twilight began to say, pushing that anguish out of her mind and focusing on what she considered the most important thing, helping Fluttershy ” We have to get inside...”

At that very moment a scream full of pain and agony shook the air, one that cracked what little courage the five mares had managed to muster and made them tremble as if they were foals.
This sent them into a state of panic and worry, far surpassing their initial fear, now in their hearts was the thought that, because of their hesitation and indecision, something horrible had happened to their friend.

Almost immediately and without thinking they all rushed into the cave, stumbling over the rocks at the entrance while Twilight was shining her horn, the run didn't last long, as they soon found themselves against the bottom of the cave, and what before them loomed before them made them lose all hope.

Fluttershy was shaking and crawling on the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs while crying and babbling nonsense words, she was staggering and stumbling over the rocks, hitting the ground again and again, she seemed to dig in the ground as if looking for something.

“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! WHERE IS IT! WHERE IS IT!”

Fluttershy didn't seem to notice her friends' presence, circling over herself again and again.
Twilight in horror took in the whole picture little by little, noticing Angel's scattered corpse all over the floor and that, with every step the pegasus took, it was getting more and more torn to pieces, as well as the peculiar appearance of the pegasus, which seemed to make no sense, considering how it looked the last time Twilight saw it, Fluttershy's outburst seemed endless, in a seemingly meaningless, desperate search.

“Flu...Fluttershy...” said Twilight, in an incredible display of resilience and mettle, yet it was futile, the pegasus did not react to her words and just continued in her erratic actions.

In an even more impressive show of courage, Rainbow Dash approached with trembling steps, until she was right in front of Fluttershy, then, she extended one of her hooves, very slowly, waiting for the pegasus to get close enough in one of her turns and finally, she placed it on her shoulder stopping her in her tracks.

What happened next took less than a second, Fluttershy's wide-open gaze was fixed on Rainbow's fearful eyes, and the blue pegasus could see how those same eyes, full of despair and fear, deformed into a grimace of recalcitrant anger, letting out a shriek and lunging at Rainbow.
Fluttershy knocked Rainbow to the ground and started punching her with all her might in the face, stomping her hooves so hard on one of her wings that a horrible cracking sound was audible, Rainbow Dash let out a scream that was quickly silenced when one of Fluttershy's blows fractured her jaw, at that moment a kick threw Fluttershy away from Rainbow, crashing her against one of the walls of the cave.

Applejack had broken the paralysis that the shock had caused her and jumped forward without hesitation to protect the pegasus that now lay on the ground writhing in pain, they all followed her example and stood in front of Fluttershy, who soon stood up and looked back at them, giving them the same look of hatred.
There were no words, none, no one had any more to say, they just got ready, and their wait wasn't long as Fluttershy, letting out another guttural scream rushed against all her friends at the same time, luckily, Applejack's strength combined with Twilight's magic was enough to subdue the pegasus against the ground, still Fluttershy didn't stop fighting with all her strength, flailing and letting out insults, tearing her throat even more.

“NO!!! NO!!! WHORES, PIGS, ALL OF YOU, FUCKING WHORES, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT” At that moment Angel realized that he had fallen right next to the head of the corpse of his former body, the empty eyes of the rabbit's skull seemed to look directly at him, that darkness stuck in his soul that made him react, all the discomfort poured over him again and the agony, like no other, scraped to the very depths of his being, at that moment his insults and misuses were replaced by something else, pleas “KILL ME, JUST LET ME DIE, I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE, I DON'T DESERVE THIS, I'M NOT TO BLAME, I'M NOT TO BE TO BLAME! !”

At this, the others had nothing more to do, more to do than think, they could only exchange looks of horror while Fluttershy kept screaming and screaming until her voice died out.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight walked heavily through the streets of Canterlot, the day was cloudy and a light drizzle had started, the alicorn cursed herself under her breath as she didn't want to have to return to Ponyville during a storm, but soon she felt stupid for worrying about something so insignificant, considering her reason for being there, she made her way through the crowded streets to a far part of the city center, to a huge white building in which she entered without looking at it.

In a huge reception room a mare with white fur and blonde mane, tied in a bun behind her head and dressed in nurse's clothes, was reading some papers, reviewing and writing down data, it wasn't until she saw movement in the corner of her eye that she looked up, realizing that someone had entered the room, and not just any pony, none other than the princess of friendship.

“Oh, Princess Twilight” exclaimed the mare with surprise ”I had forgotten you were coming to visit us today...”

“Good afternoon Sweet Lemon, yes, I did manage to catch the morning train...did I arrive at a good time?” asked Twilight dejectedly.

“Of course you did princess, we just provided you with your medicines, I will let the doctor know and he will be here in a moment, he will escort you to your room, in the meantime please have a seat.”

Twilight nodded slightly and sat down on one of the benches in the reception area, waiting in silence, it wasn't long before a stallion dressed in a robe, mint colored fur and brown mane approached.

“Princess Twilight...” he said bowing slightly ”If you would be so kind as to accompany me..”

The two made their way down long white hallways, endless corridors filled with solid metal doors, some open, revealing ponies dressed in greenish blue garments inside, most looking lethargic and distracted, being checked by nurses and doctors.
Twilight chose to ignore this, as well as the discomfort in her stomach, she tried to keep her eyes straight ahead and start a conversation with the doctor to take her mind off where she was.

“How is she doctor?” she asked almost as a whisper.

“Well, we've taken care of her as best we could princess, although it's still too early to decide if her condition is optimal or not...” the stallion paused as he turned a corner ”Maybe, if she had more positive encouragement, more visits from the rest of her loved ones...”

“No one else wants to see her doctor...” interrupted Twilight ”At least not yet,,, everyone is still processing all this...”

“I understand princess, it's something very difficult to assimilate, I've already seen cases like this, ponies that collapse, that lose themselves, that don't even know their own family...” the doctor paused as he noticed that his words might not be the right ones, changing his focus ”But don't worry, here we can guarantee a second chance to those ponies, a way to heal...”

They both continued to make their way through the place, down stairs and around corners until they reached a secluded hallway deep in the compound, this one,unlike the others, was guarded by large nurse stallions, which walked back and forth monitoring the rooms, Twilight felt the sickness in her stomach worsen as she witnessed the hallway, she knew it would be in a guarded place but she expected such a miserable aura, she followed the doctor until about halfway down the hallway where he finally stopped, in front of a door exactly like all the others.

“Did she say something?” asked Twilight suddenly, causing the doctor to look at her.

“Well, no, not really, when she was brought here from the hospital we were informed that the damage to her vocal cords was quite serious, if she can still speak, she hasn't made any attempt to do so...”

“Why did they put her down here, I thought you said they were striving to enact an optimal environment for recovery...”

“That, princess, is because she has turned out to be one of the most troublesome patients we have ever had, in her first week on the upper levels she attacked a nurse with bites, bit off part of her face, she has also attempted suicide on several occasions, with pencils, spoons, she even tried to suffocate herself by eating her own hair, we tried our best to keep her calm but she seemed reluctant to any kind of support, so we had no choice but to put her in isolation, in a safe room so she cannot harm herself or any other pony.... At least until she proves herself willing to cooperate....”

The doctor then stretched out his hoof, opening a small opening at the top of the door, allowing a view inside, Twilight, at the stallion's gesture for her to approach, swallowed saliva and took a big breath before stepping forward, peering inside, for a moment all she could see was the blinding white of the padded room illuminated by a light attached to the ceiling and protected by grids, but soon she noticed the grayish figure leaning against the wall of the room.

Fluttershy had lost her characteristic yellow color, now her fur was a greenish-grayish notch of half-plucked tufts, which allowed to clearly see the scars from the wounds she had made, now dull marks on her skin, her fur and tail were almost nothing left, shaved and only allowing to see a couple of loose strands, she was dressed in a rough and very prominent straitjacket, which held both her front hooves and her wings firmly against her.
Twilight couldn't help but let out a tear as she caught a glimpse of Fluttershy's face, dull and lackluster, she had her gaze lost somewhere in the room and her mouth half open.

“For Celestia...but what did they do to her?” is all she could say.

“I'm very sorry princess, but I assure you that all the measures taken are more than necessary, we tried to bury her without the straitjacket but she kept hitting herself over and over again, she knocked out almost all her teeth...”

“And her mane?”

“As I told you she tried to choke herself with her own hair, we thought that with the shirt would be enough but it was so long that she took it and pulled it straight out with her mouth...”

“And the medicine?”

“He wouldn't stop screaming either...”

“But you said you didn't know if he still had a voice...:”

“Well, rather than screams, actually a better way to call them would be screams, screeches that wake the other patients up at night and make them rowdy during the day, you will understand why we found it necessary to sedate her...”

Twilight kept her gaze fixed on Fluttershy, she fought the thoughts that told her again and again that her friend was gone, that the kind shy pegasus she had once known was no longer there, she reflected on how things had degenerated so much and on the things she could have done herself to prevent them, be that as it may, it was too late now.

“Princess Twilight...” began the doctor taking some papers out of his robe ”Princesses Celestia and Luna have already sent us the relevant documents, they asked me to tell you when I see you that they are willing to cover all the expenses for your friend's indefinite stay....”

“No...” interrupted Twilight ”I will take care of the expenses...”

“Are you sure princess? Some of the fees are somewhat high and the medications are quite particular...” The doctor asked, expectant for the answer.

It took Twilight a moment to respond, still staring at the spectacle that her friend had become, still turning over the origin of it all, asking over and over again if Angel's death was the trigger or would there be something else.

“It's the least I can do...” she finally said quietly.

“Well, in that case you'll have to come with me, there are some documents we need you to sign...”

“Yeah...sure...”

Twilight finally stepped back and the doctor closed the small opening, they both stepped back and began the walk back, again in silence as the nurses continued their checks.
Angel for his part was in despair, he tried to scream, to shout but his mind was lethargic and his body did not respond, although, he knew well, that even if his body was under his control, he could not speak, his voice had burned out and now he could not vocalize, he could see Twilight's face out of the corner of his eye, wishing with all his might he could tell her, she no longer cared what happened to her, what punishment they imposed on her, at that moment she would have given anything to be able to utter the words, the simple words that would end this torment, the simple words she would have wished to say from day one, the same words that now, would forever remain trapped in her useless throat “I am not Fluttershy”.