Thank you all for positive reviews, I appreciate it. Well then, let us go further.
With the help of one of her friends, Fluttershy managed to at least do this single honor to the rabbit and bury him along with the others.
It was her personal idea: Small, polished tombstones made of simple rocks, with the name, date of death and short epitaph. Most of them were sublime, simple and very meaningful. Fluttershy never really was a poetic pony, so she was usually asking her friends to write something. She never told them why she asked for such an unusual request and never was asked about it as well.
„Ah'm sorry, sugarcube. It's gotta be tough." Orange pony with cowboy hat said, looking at the small coffin done for the rabbit.
„It's the natural twist of fate, Applejack." Fluttershy responded weakly, smiling. „Sometimes we cannot help our friends in need, no matter how much we're trying. Sometimes... It's simply impossible."
„Correct me if ah'm mistaken, but is it this little fella you brought from Everfree Forest a few weeks ago?" Applejack asked.
„The very same... I'm not sure why... But he ran back on his own. I don't know why did he do it... Perhaps I did something wrong or..."
„Don't blame yourself, Fluttershy. You're sayin' he was a goner the moment you saw him."
„Yes. Yes, that's true." Pink-maned pony lied with some hesitation. It wasn't truth. Her little friend was murdered by one of those strange creatures, humans. Then, in a strange turn of fate, the second one killed the one who threatened her and almost kill her in return. Why?
„Never liked him anyway". Those words were echoing in Fluttershy's mind for weeks since this incident. Pegasus wasn't sure, but why didn't the strange human simply disarm his companion instead of killing him so easily?
She was eating less than usually. Both her animals and her friends noticed it pretty quickly.
„Fluttershy, you look pretty beat." Twilight Sparkle, purple unicorn said with concern. „It's so not like you. Are you sure everything's okay?"
„Yes, of course." Fluttershy summoned a smile on her face.
„I don't know, darling. You really do seem sad." Rarity said. „That poor thing you brought with you from Everfree Forest, are you still thinking about it?"
„Well, um..."
„Rarity's right." Rainbow Dash, rainbow-maned pegasus, said firmly. „It's an awful thing to lost a friend, but everypony around here did lost at least one..." The silence filled the main room of the library.
Twilight Sparkle has lost her pet owl, Owlowiscious. He was sick and died because of some unknown disease. Purple unicorn was then hiding from the world for at least two weeks. It was Fluttershy who helped her to cope with it.
Applejack's dog, Winona, got mauled during one of the stampedes. Everyone knew it was an accident, but orange pony couldn't accept it and even tried to declare an open war against the accidental killers. Again, Fluttershy was the one to help her overcome her thirst for revenge.
Rainbow Dash has only heard of it, but according to one of the traders from Manehattan, there was a terrible accident there. A griffon crashed into one of the buildings and, unconscious, fell off the height of the third floor, dying in process. It was an old time friend from Dash's past, Gilda. At first, she didn't wanted to believe and ignored is as a lame joke, possibly invented by Gilda herself... But, as the time passed, she started growing more and more bitter and again, only Fluttershy's intervention could help her get on with it.
Rarity had it the worst, however. Her own sister, Sweetie Belle... At first it didn't looked dangerous. She simply fell off the tree during one of her Cutie Mark Crusaders's activities. Then, with each day, she started to feel worse and worse, her colors slowly, but relentlessly vanishing... And one day, she was found dead with the small piece of paper next to her.
„I'm sorry, big sis."
The very next thing ponies around heard was the scream where pain and fear mixed with disbelief. It took Fluttershy's best abilities of diplomatic speech to convince Rarity to leave her botique and the body of Sweetie Belle, so they could give her the last honor. At first, white unicorn refused to even go a little bit of her sister, but eventually she did come up to terms with this terrible accident. Still, she couldn't think about the fact she didn't notice her sister getting sicker and sicker... It was striking her like a plague that couldn't be cured. If she didn't receive the support from her friends, perhaps she'd never be able to cope with it.
Now, it was Fluttershy's turn to come to terms with things that happened, her friends thought. They couldn't know how much they were mistaken.
„Hey..." Rainbow Dash's voice finally pierced the silence in the room. „Where's Pinkie Pie anyway?" Ponies looked around, but they couldn't find the hyperactive pink pony anywhere.
„Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her today yet." Twilight said in response. „Well, maybe we can go to the Sugarcube Corner? She should be here."
„Oh, I haven't eaten strawberry pies like in a while." Fluttershy became slightly more cheerful, thinking about delicious sweets Pinkie was making.
Maybe it can help her forget.
Forget about that human.
Never liked him anyway, he said.
At the Sugarcube Corner...
„I said, SHUT IT, Pinkie!"
„But you're the important character in the plot! Readers need to know about you!"
„They do not!"
„Of course they need to! I mean, when you're an agent disguised as the human in human city in The Everfree Forest, you're pretty much the center of the story!"
„What did I tell you about lying to the readers, Pinkie?" The other pony, cream-colored with short blond mane, simple tail in the same color and blue eyes turned in the direction of an audience. „Just ignore her, people. Sure, I'm an OC, but I'm not one of those Pony-Sues jumping around with all of their awesomeness, okay?"
„She is." Pinkie smiled sheepishly, looking at the computer's screen.
„I'm not."
„You are."
„I'm not!"
„You're even more of Pony-Sue than Bella Swan from Twilight!" Blond-maned pony's left eye twitched rapidly.
„ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" She roared, tackling Pinkie on the floor with apparently murderous intents. That's when Fluttershy and the others entered the bakery.
„Hey, Pinkie, are you...?" Rainbow Dash started asking when she saw two Earth ponies wrestling fiercely. Pink pony suddenly emerged from the cloud of dust with her front hooves wrapped around other pony's neck. With loud BANG, blond-maned mare's muzzle collided with floor as she stopped moving, effectively knocked out cold.
„RKO, yay!" Pinkie exclaimed enthusiastically and noticed her friends. „Oh, hi there!"
„Did you just...?" Twilight stuttered, looking terrified at the unconscious cream pony.
„Yeah! Pretty sweet wrestling moves, aren't they?" Pink pony asked, delighted as always.
„Pinkie Pie... Why are you so random?" Dash asked, somewhat confused.
„Random? Oh no, we were just wrestling."
„We could see that." Twilight snarked, somewhat not amused. „But who is that pony?"
„She? Oh, old friend of mine." Pinkie smiled. „I've just told her that she's Pony-Sue... And she didn't take it well, so we had a little tiny fight."
„You knocked her out!" Dash got thrown off a little bit. „And what in the hay does „Pony-Sue" mean?
„Oh, long story..." Pink pony giggled just in time as cream pony slowly got up on her hooves.
„Ow ow ow..." She muttered, holding her smashed muzzle. She noticed other ponies, probably the friends of Pinkie Pie. „Oh... H-hi everypony."
„Why, hello there, darling." Rarity greeted her gently. „You seem pretty... Well, not in your best condition."
„You mean our wrestling, Miss?" Cream pony asked. „Nothing to worry about, I tend to lose with her on regular basis, so I'm pretty resistant to all kinds of pinke-ish damage. Oh, name's Copper Hoof, pleased to meet you."
„My, that's truly a riveting name." White unicorn said, carefully observing blond-maned pony. Such wonderful proportions... She could work for a perfect model. „Fitting its truly magnifiecent owner." Copper blushed a bit.
„Uh, thank you, Miss."
„Rarity will suffice, darling."
„If not the fact you and Spike have quite a relationship, one pony would think you're hitting on her." Rainbow Dash remarked not-so-subtly, giggling.
„Said pot to kettle." Twilight snarked in response, looking meaningfully at Applejack. Orange pony took a step back, surprised then finally laughed a little bit.
„Oh, come on, Twilight. Don't need to bring that up..." She said, somewhat embarassed. Everypony in the room bursted out laughing. Fluttershy laughed as well. Everything was now okay.
She managed to forget.
At least for now.
Pink-maned pegasus learned a couple of interesting things about Pinkie Pie's friend: She was Equestria's undisputed champion in „mare hoof-boxing" - and even had champion's belt with her to prove it when Dash started mocking her – and now was taking a short vacation before returning on the world tour. She was also very fond of pies, so she decided to take said break in Pinkie's place. She turned out to be a very nice pony, despite her awkwardness and clumsiness. Though Fluttershy was no expert, she was wondering how such a slouch can be a master in martial arts. Well, she wasn't an expert, so she couldn't possibly know.
Her return to cottage was very blissful and lighthearted... So normal.
Of course, everything must come to an end.
She noticed Angel when she was at the doorstep. Her closest little friend seemed pretty anxious.
„What's the matter, Mr. Bunny?" She asked, becoming concerned. She was known for her almost instantaneous mood swings. In response, white rabbit showed her something at the edge of The Everfree Forest. Fluttershy trotted to this unknown object, intrigued... And gasped, shocked.
It was him. This man who saved her life yesterday... But, he was awfully beaten up: Unconscious, with his right leg wounded with deep, long cut so much that it were on the verge of being separated, numerous wounds from probably the same thing on his chest and one on his left arm. He was bleeding from all of those cuts, leaving a long, zig-zagging path made of his own blood.
Everything that Fluttershy thought that she has forgotten, recoiled at her with doubled power.
Everything started again.
There you go. Pinkie's being Pinkie, so it may seem like a big mood change for most of the readers. Well, hope you liked it.