//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Harmony, Insanity and Freaks // by Sputnikmann //------------------------------// “THE ELEMENTS OF WHAT?” exclaimed the mainstream Elements. “Insanity.” Confirmed Shadow Rush. “Like I said, I am from the same universe as them; a special dimension called a modiverse, meaning anything could happen at any given time.” He gestured to the Elements of Insanity; who were patiently awaiting his speech’s finish. “They were not lying when they said they were alternate versions of you, but they became possessed by spirits of unnatural beings from the modiverse.” Twilight thought about this for a moment. “Do you know how they came to your world?” she asked. She looked over to the Elements, who were all calm except for Fluttershout, whose right eye was twitching. “They didn’t appear in a vortex, did they?” Shadow paused for a bit. “Actually, now that you mention it… yes, I believe so!” All eyes went to Fluttershout; who was starting to breathe heavily. “That would explain the dream!” exclaimed Twilight. “It said in my book that it is possible for alternate versions of one’s self to share dreams. Brutalight must have been remembering what brought them to the modiverse!” “For the love of Luna…” said Fluttershout in a quiet tone, but loud enough for all eyes to be glued to her. “I have had it with this fucking…” Her eyes snapped open and all red on her body seemed to glow. “SHIT!” The ears of the Elements of Harmony and Shadow Rush suddenly started ringing with that last word. “Good.” said Fluttershout. “Now that your little egghead discussion is over, maybe we can get on with something important.” “Indeed.” agreed Brutalight. “We’re going to take our leave now. Don’t worry though, Twily; you’ll be seeing us again soon enough.” With that, she and the Elements of Insanity disappeared in a flash of magenta light. All eyes, whether they be angered or scarred; turned to Shadow Rush. “I have some explaining to do,” said Shadow Rush. “Don’t I?” All of the Elements nodded their heads. Shadow sighed. “Ok, meet me at Canterlot Castle. The Princesses will want to hear about this as well.” Meanwhile; elsewhere… There was a flash of Magenta light, and the Elements of Insanity appeared inside a cave. All of them were somewhat pissed, except for Pinkis; who seemed to have gained her sense of humor back from Pinkie Pie. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when that Stallion called us for what we were!” she exclaimed, “PRICELESS!” She looked to her colleagues; who were glaring at her. “What?” “Nice going Rarifruit!” yelled Rainbine. “If you hadn’t tried to steal that guy’s hat, we could’ve still been on their good side!” Rarifruit scowled. “My fault?” she said. “Their suspicions were already starting to grow with Applepills’ addiction to Painkillers!” “Leave me out of your little catfight!” said Applepills. “Whoever’s fault it is, it will be decided by our leader.” She turned to Brutalight. “What’s your take on this?” No answer. “Brutalight?” asked Pinkis. She walked over to her superior, and waved a hoof in front of her eyes. “Is anypony home?” “He’s here.” She said. “I can feel him in this world.” “Who’s here darling?” asked Rarifruit. Her eyes widened with horror. “Oh no… You don’t mean…” “Yes.” confirmed Brutalight. “AssSpike followed us here; he’s currently roaming the Everfree Forest.” Breaking herself out of her trance, she looked around. “Is this the cave we stopped that dragon before we came to that modiverse?” The other Elements looked around. They all nodded. “Well, looks like we have our base of operations.” “So Brutalight,” said Rainbine. “What’s first?” Brutalight gave a little laugh, one that still gave the Elements Goosebumps. “If we’re going to take over, we need to get rid of the Princesses. To do that, we need somepony with their amount of power, and have a reason to hate them.” Fluttershout smirked, catching Brutalight’s hints. “Oh that is genius!” she exclaimed. “I think I would want to go get him.” It was noon at Canterlot Castle. The Elements of Harmony had just arrived and were waiting on Shadow Rush. Rainbow Dash groaned. “What is taking him so long?” she asked to nopony in particular. “Who?” asked a voice beside her. She looked to her left and saw Shadow Rush beside her. “How did you…? What did you…?” stuttered Rainbow. “Where did you come from?” Shadow Rush chuckled a bit. “I was here the whole time.” He said. “I just made myself invisible to ensure I didn’t draw any attention to myself. I thought a powerful princess like Twilight would be able to detect me.” Twilight was awe-struck. She didn’t know that many unicorns that could put on an invisibility spell; let alone a Pegasus. “But how did you turn yourself invisible?” asked Twilight, “Pegasai can’t use magic.” “I’ll explain everything as soon as we can see the princesses” Shadow said. “Shall we be going?” Leading the way, Shadow and the Elements of Harmony walked through the Castle, navigating the maze of hallways until they found the throne room. And sitting on the twin thrones, were Princesses Celestia and Luna; the Rulers of Day and Night. Noticing their visitors, Celestia and Luna smiled softly. “Hello Princess Twilight, what brings you to Canterlot today?” asked Princess Celestia. Her smile faded when she noticed the distressed look on Twilight’s face. “Is something wrong?” “Unfortunately, yes.” Said Shadow Rush. Luna shot him a glare. “Forgive me, your majesties. But this is a matter of great importance.” “What is the matter?” asked Luna. “Neither I nor my sister have sensed any change in the balance.” The looks on Shadow and the Elements grew dimmer. “Your majesty,” said Shadow, “I come to you in a time of danger. You see, Twilight Sparkle accidentally summoned me, Faust knows how many others, and a dangerous group of alternate-Elements known as the Elements of Insanity.” Celestia and Luna exchanged each other looks. “My name here is Shadow Rush, but in my world; I am known as The Inverted Shadow.” He bowed after fully introducing himself. “The Elements of Insanity are alternate versions of the Elements of Harmony that came to my world, the G-modiverse. Shortly after arriving, I witnessed them become possessed by Spirits of the dead of the world. They went from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle to Fluttershout, Rainbine, Pinkis Cupcake, Applepills, Rarifruit and Brutalight Sparcake; also known as the Demented Six.” “I also witnessed the transformation of Twilight’s assistant; Spike, a Pegasus named Derpy and two of Twilights ‘Rivals’; Trixie and Sunset Shimmer” Celestia’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of that name. “I don’t know much else, except that the Elements of Insanity and the three extra ‘Pony Freaks’ must be sent back to their world as soon as possible.” “Assuming we believe your story,” said Celestia, “What would they be doing right now?” Shadow scratched his chin. “I suppose they would want to take over Equestria, but they wouldn’t want to challenge you themselves. I think they would want someone with a reason to want you two gone, and has enough power to make it happen.” “There is only two ponies in Equestria with that description,” said Luna, “Queen Chrysalis and…” she was interrupted by a guard bursting into the throne room. “Your highnesses!” he said. “Discord is missing!” About 20 minutes earlier… Canterlot Castle Discord was causing some miniature Chaos in his room. He had it exactly like how he had Ponyville that one time. The floor was checkered pink and purple, and it was raining chocolate milk from the cotton candy clouds floating in the air. He had promised (albeit reluctantly) to keep his chaos in his massive room, but he was getting board. “What to do, what to do” he said to himself. “Maybe I should go and turn the Elements into stallions and Spike into a dragoness.” “I don’t think that will be necessary.” said a voice in the shadows. Recognizing the voice, Discord’s mood brightened. “Ah, Fluttershy!” he exclaimed. “How are you? It has been quite some time since your last letter.” ‘Fluttershy’ giggled a little. “Not Fluttershy…” she stepped out of the shadows, revealing a crimson mane and one blue and one red eye, “Fluttershout.” “That’s a good look for you!” he said. “FESTIVE! Either way, what would the Elements of Harmony need of me this time? Are there some rogue plants invading Ponyville? Or am I coming down with something, blue flu maybe?” Fluttershout giggled again. “No, no. It’s nothing like that.” She said. “We were wondering if you were still looking for revenge on Celestia and Luna.” Discord’s smile faded slightly. “I couldn’t want that!” he said, holding up his claw and placing his paw on his chest. “You and the Elements of Harmony reformed me, remember?” Fluttershout smirked. “You didn’t hear me did you?” she said. “I never said anything about Harmony.” “Then who is ‘we’?” asked Discord, stroking his beard. “I am Fluttershout, Element of Ear-Rape…” Fluttershout said, formerly introducing herself, “member of the Elements of Insanity.” Discord’s eyes widened at the last word. “And we were just wondering if you were interested in causing Chaos again.” Discord scratched his chin. “Well, I suppose I could…” he said, “but I could always report you to the princesses.” Fluttershout turned away. “We trust you’ll make the right decision,” she said. “When you decide to join, meet us in the mountain near Ponyville. We’ll be waiting.” Fluttershout nodded to nopony in particular and disappeared in a flash of magenta light. Discord stroked his beard. He was starting to miss causing chaos in Equestria, but he didn’t want to lose Fluttershy as a friend. However, Fluttershout did seem a lot like Fluttershy, except she was obviously more confident in herself. After some careful consideration, Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared. It was that moment that one of the royal guards decided to deliver his mail.