>>Violence.
Noun.
One. A brutal method of resolving conflict.
Two. A hurtful means to an end.
Deception.
Noun.
One. A brutal method of resolving conflict.
Two. A hurtful means to an end.
Almost every major conflict was resolved through one of the above methods. Either there was a fight or a lie. Peace talks are never honest, don't make me laugh. It's possible to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth and still be deceptive. Perhaps it is better known as manipulation.
The truth is just a tool to be used. Nothing more than something said expecting a specific result from someone.
The truth is extremely brutal when used correctly, more so than any form of lie or violence, because the truth can't be denied in a thoughtful mind, and it cannot be solidly argued against. Truth is a dangerous thing.
People hate truth with a burning passion, and ignore it whenever possible. <<
~~~
The meeting had disbanded many hours ago; most of the members had been teleported away, one by one. Rarity was sitting with Applejack, Fluttershy, the Inspector, and Rainbow Dash in the rapidly emptying hall. All five of them were smiling impressive smiles. Applejack's confident and powerful; Fluttershy's calm, warm, and authoritative; the Inspector's small, wise, and thoughtful; Rainbow Dash's... loud. That was probably the best word to describe it.
"So then I said 'can I have a lick?' and she was all 'No, sorry, it's already too small to see!'" A chorus of laughter rounded the table. Rainbow Dash cut her laugh short, looking far into the distance. "...She would love to be here."
"Perhaps next time?" Rarity, glancing towards Fluttershy.
"There's no real point in keeping her hidden from our society anymore..." Fluttershy noted. "As long as you remain stealthy and listen to Lily, I don't see why not."
"You sure that's a good idea?" the Inspector asked. "Her powers-"
"I'm aware," Fluttershy said, pausing to take a sip of her tea, "but Rainbow's right, she'd love it here, and I think she'd be great for us now that there's not as much of a secret to keep."
"Won't that make it easier for the Concretes to find her?"
Fluttershy smirked. "Nopony knows I'm the Founder, Rarity, if we've kept that secret, we can keep this one. It will be fine." The moment the words left her mouth, a troubled look crossed her face.
"Amplify?" Applejack asked.
"Amplify," Fluttershy confirmed. "He knows. He's a bitter zebra. Rarity, your existence is a personal affront to him."
Rarity didn't have time to comprehend the confusion of the Inspector and herself both being called 'Rarity' at the same table, for the conversation moved on quickly.
"Y'all don't think he would..."
"He might," Fluttershy said, "but I choose to believe he values his ponies, and won't jeopardize them just for petty revenge."
Rarity furrowed her brow. "What could he do?"
"Report you to the Concretes. He's rather intelligent, he could figure out they want you."
Rarity gulped. "So I've put us in danger..."
"And given them all hope," Fluttershy said. "Don't forget that. Never forget that."
Rarity couldn't help but feel that was an order. "Yes. I'll remember."
"To not forgetting!" Rainbow Dash yelled, raising her mug for a toast. Fluttershy met her with her teacup. Rainbow Dash downed her drink instantly after the soft clink. "Ah, that's the bucking spot..."
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "What did I tell you about that tongue?"
"Bucking pigger accas on a mud stick preening with a runter," she responded.
Fluttershy's feathers ruffled; Applejack just laughed. "You should stop tryin' to change her, Flutters, she ain't hurting anyone."
"Words have power, Applejack. Dangerous power," Fluttershy responded.
The Inspector smirked. "True. But say them enough and they lose all meaning."
"Heck yes!" Rainbow Dash chuckled.
"...I'm curious," Rarity butted into the conversation. "How did all of you meet?"
The ponies all fell silent. Everypony looked guilty about something, their gaze slowly shifting to Fluttershy. The pegasus took in a breath. "We were almost all enemies at the start. I had a newly formed Movement under my wing, Rarity and Twilight were Inspectors straight out of the Academy, Applejack was an aggressive territorial defender, and Rainbow Dash..."
"It was me against the whole freaking world," Rainbow Dash interjected. "If you weren't Rainbow Bucking Dash, you were apt to get the shit beaten out of you by a Rainbow sack of trash."
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. That. Both Applejack and I have memories of her doing that to us."
"I was theeeee worst!" Rainbow Dash blurted, slightly louder than normal.
"There were others worse than you," Applejack reminded her.
"Yeah. I ran into one of them, remember?"
Fluttershy shook her head slightly. "We all do, Rainbow. That's the day most of us met. Rainbow Dash picked a fight with a zebra who was passing through; Zecora if I remember correctly. Zecora tore Rainbow's wing clean off, pummeled her with dark magic, and left her for dead." Fluttershy sighed at the memory. "I saw it, and so did Applejack. We didn't know each other, but in that moment we both knew only one thing - we needed to help Rainbow. I didn't think about keeping up appearances, and Applejack never thinks anyway."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Really? Never?"
"Nope," Fluttershy said. "Zecora was long gone when Twilight arrived on the scene. She thought we had attacked Rainbow, and it took a lot of effort to calm the fresh Inspector down. I got her to put aside her prejudice and help Rainbow Dash - and she did what she could. She was still great at magic back then, remarkably managing to save Rainbow Dash's life. We took Rainbow into my house - where we all stayed, watching over her, many things going unsaid. AJ and Twilight quickly found out I was part of the Movement, seeing as a lot of ponies kept coming to my door every few hours, thinking it was safe to talk to me. I didn't scream at any of them, a dead giveaway. But Twilight decided not to report me. She later told me it was because she saw in me the kindest soul she had ever met, and she couldn't bring herself to order the purge. Back then, the mere existence of a mingler was grounds for a purge if they were prominent enough. I'm happy to say we've taken care of that in this day and age... ...Regardless, Twilight considered ordering the purge several times but never did. I cared for Rainbow Dash, and even though Applejack, Twilight, and I rarely talked to each other for a while after that, we had garnered a respect for each other and slowly became good friends."
"And I learned that I wasn't the top of the world!" Rainbow Dash blurted.
Rarity turned to the Inspector. "What about you?"
"I knew Twilight. That was it," the Inspector sighed. "I didn't come around for a couple years, just prior to Twilight's coronation. I was the holdout, the horrible one."
"Hey, we all did stupid things," Applejack said. "Ah'm probably the reason Amplify's such a pain in our arses."
"Fluttershy doesn't have any regrets," Rainbow Dash said. "She was on the right page from the start..."
Fluttershy blushed slightly. "I was just lucky." She stood up. "Well, I must go. Twilight and I are heading to the Crystal Empire."
"Are you sure she can go back there?" The Inspector asked.
"She understands. I have faith in her."
"Can you go back there?"
Fluttershy hesitated for a second. "...Yes, Yes I can." She spread her wings. "See you girls again soon." She flew off to a teleporter unicorn, gone a few seconds later with a flash of magic.
"So..." Rarity said, "what happens to me now?"
"We change your appearance again so Amplify's ponies won't recognize you," the Inspector said. "Twilight isn't here, so it needs to be something simple."
"Coat dye. Make her gray," Applejack suggested.
Rarity sighed. "I really would prefer not to continually changing my appearance. I already live under a pseudonym and this isn't my real mane! Plus, what do I tell my customers?"
The Inspector frowned. "I'm... Not sure..."
"Clothes dying accident," Rainbow Dash said. "Fell into the gray, couldn't get it out, decided to make it uniform. Easy."
The Inspector blinked. "...That's... Actually a passable idea Rainbow."
"I get them when I'm drunk sometimes," Rainbow Dash chuckled.
"Well then... Think you can do that Iris?"
Rarity nodded. "Yeah."
"Might want to hide your cutie mark as well."
"An excuse to wear a dress all the time? Such horror," Rarity deadpanned.
"Good. Let's do this again next week."
"As always!" Rainbow Dash blurted.
"Think you could have a planned speech next time?" Applejack asked.
Rarity smirked. "I think Pinkie and I both will have one."
"Nice! You two will be fantastic!" Rainbow Dash whooped.
Rarity smiled. "I sure do hope so."
~~~
The door to the apartment opened before Rarity even reached for it. A very sleep-deprived Pinkie was standing in the doorway, grinning. "You're back!"
"Did you... Stay up this whole time!? Pinkie, it's tomorrow already!"
"Couldn't sleep! I was worried! I would have hunted you down if I knew where you were - or bothered to find out. Nevermind. How'd it go?"
"Can we talk about this in the morning?"
"Rarity, it is technically morning."
Rarity groaned, tossing her cloak to the side of the room. "Well, it was amazing. It felt like home, Pinkie. This world Fluttershy's made here really has something special."
"Ooooh, so she's the big honcho?"
"Yes, and she's so gentle, but also strong. She just has a commanding demeanor about her. It's... odd, but inspiring. She's got a dream for the future. A dream to get rid of all this horrid racism, prejudice, and violence... And I got to help!"
"Oh? ...Rarity, what did you do?"
"That horrid Amplify was in the room and he started calling Fluttershy's speech of hope into question. So I... Revealed myself and gave him a stern talking to. It was rather... heated and unladylike, but it felt so liberating. So right. I backed him into a corner. He tried to kill me but the crowd surged to my ad. It was beautiful, Pinkie!"
"...You revealed yourself..."
"Oh, well, yes - the Inspector and Applejack had a fit about that, but Rainbow Dash was supportive, and Fluttershy thanked me at the end! She even said I could bring you next time! And we could talk to the entire society!"
"Ohmygosh I can go!?"
Yes! You'll love it there! There are games even! It could use somepony like you, Rainbow even said so!"
Pinke squee'd. "Ohmygosh this is so exciting! When's the next meeting!?"
"A week."
Pinkie sagged. "I won't last that long..."
"Oh yes you will, stop that. Anyway... a lot more stuff happened, but I am tired right now. We can talk about the depths of their versions of us and our friends later. I need some rest before work tomorrow. I need to dye my coat gray."
"Uh... What?"
"I'll explain tomorrow. For now, sleep!"
"You can't leave me hanging like this! What else happened? What was Fluttershy like? How were the other ponies!? Raaaaarity!"
"Goodnight Pinkie." Rarity flopped onto her bed.
Pinkie grumbled. "Like I'm going to get any sleep at all now..."
~~~
Minuette and Twilight were sitting on top of a tower of the castle. The chilly night air blew through their manes, chilling them to the bone. They were alone save for a single three-pony flying chariot without a single pegasus guard hooked up to it.
"...So are you going to tell me yet?"
Twilight kept a completely straight face. "Tell you what?"
"You can read my damn mind, I know that you know."
"All I'm getting right now is a 'you would know that I would know that you would know that I would know that you would know..."
"Luna's spirit, you're ruthless."
"What is ruth and where can I get it?" Twilight deadpanned.
Minuette facehooved. "Mares and gentecolts, the hope of our nation."
"There's no audience here - who are you talking to?"
"Would you quit it with the overly literal act already?"
"You aren't making any sense."
Minuette's eye twitched, but she said nothing. Let it go, she implored herself. There was silence for a beautiful three seconds.
"...Just as much nonsense as when you asked how we would get the chariot to fly."
"Buck you," Minuette grunted.
"My, that's such royal slander! I should either have you locked up or take you up on the offer!"
There was silence for a few seconds. Minuette froze in place, contemplating what had just come out of the princess's mouth.
Twilight couldn't take it anymore - she broke out into a wide smirk. "You're imagining it."
"N-no I'm not."
"I can see it aaaaaaaaaaall!" Twilight trilled.
"You're bucking ruthless!"
"Is that Ruth I see in there?"
"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!"
"You know you can say something and think something very different right?"
"But- you- ACK!"
Twilight giggled. "Ah, I haven't been able to do that in a while..."
"Don't you have clueless guards you can mess with instead?"
"Well, yes, but I have to wipe their minds afterward so they don't get any ideas. Not satisfying. And my other friends have become inoculated to it. You on the other hoof..."
"I feel like I'm a chunk of fresh meat in front of a particularly sadistic griffon."
"How do you know I'm not a sadistic griffon? I could just be replacing your memories with that of a purple alicorn."
Minuette smirked. "Because you suggested, just now, that you might be one. And since you're not a moron, had you been a real griffon, you would never have said that."
"Unless I said it to make you think I wasn't,"
Minuette blinked. "Damn. You're good."
"I can see into your mind, of course I'm good. Yes, I can still see that question you have. How are we going to get this chariot to fly? Well, think Minuette."
Minuette thought numerous thoughts. Twilight laughed. Minuette got angrier. Twilight's grin grew.
Out of the blue, Twilight suddenly rolled her eyes. "Yes, Fluttershy, I am." Fluttershy dropped from the sky, raising an eyebrow at Twilight. "Oh please, it's all in good fun!"
Fluttershy shrugged."Good to see you're awake, Minuette."
"Maybe you can tell me - how are we going to fly this bucking thing?"
"Wait and see," Fluttershy said.
"Damnit!" Minuette blurted. "You're in cahoots!"
"Oh, of course," Twilight smirked. "What else would we be in?"
Fluttershy must have thought something hilarious in that moment because Twilight took one look at her and burst into laughter.
Minuette twitched. "I feel like a third wheel."
"Where we're going, we don't need wheels!" Twilight shouted, landing on the front seat of the chariot. "All aboard!"
Fluttershy and Minuette climbed in behind her. Minuette cleared her throat. "So... How are we going to fly this thing?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Minuette saw Fluttershy smirk ominously.
Twilight lit her horn, teleporting them far into the sky. Instantly, they all started falling, plummeting to the ground below.
"You crazy bitches! We're going to crash!"
Fluttershy put a hoof on her. "Relax. Twilight's got this."
Minuette blinked, ready to retort, but she was distracted by Twilight spreading her wings wide. She moved her flying goggles over her eyes, a smirk crossing her face. Her mane and tail flashed with purple energy, sparkles flying off her hairs from the aether itself. Her wings glowed brightly, and three sparks of magic energy appeared around the chariot. The auras fashioned themselves into translucent cylinders, two placing themselves at the back of the chariot and one underneath. All of the magic constructs ignited, three trails of energy shooting out, pushing the chariot forwards and upwards with intense power. Minuette felt herself press into the back of her seat, her lips pulled back by the intense force. Beside her, Fluttershy seemed calm, as if nothing was happening.
Eventually, the acceleration forces wore off, allowing Minuette the chance to catch her breath. "...You crazy bitches!"
Twilight's mane and tail returned to their default state, the three thrust spells acting on their own. "Yes. We're crazy. Your point?"
"I... I'm not sure."
"Good," Fluttershy said, "You're learning."
"Hey look! The sun's rising!" Twilight shouted.
Everypony turned to the side, seeing the light of the suns slowly crest the horizon, banishing the stars and darkness, heralding a new day. Minuette saluted in its direction. For a brief moment, she felt peace.
Then she realized from this high up they could see the battlefields. Large swaths of scorched grass, felled forests... burnt towns. There was no way to tell if a town had been purged or razed by Concretes.
Twilight sighed. "We really are lucky they don't think Neighagra Falls is worth the effort to attack yet." She looked towards the northeast. "I hope Sunset is doing okay..."
Fluttershy put a hoof on Twilight, not needing to say anything. Twilight smiled slightly at the action.
"Yeah... That's true."
Minuette wasn't sure if the exchange was beautiful or creepy.