//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Sinister Dexter // Story: Ends of the Spectrum // by SpinelStride //------------------------------// A pink-haired pegasus was the center of attention in the throne room when Celestia returned with her new guests. The nobility and the guards alike had wisely opted to let the fuming pony stomp back and forth in front of the throne. The lightning bolt on her flank had never looked like more of an overt threat to anypony foolish enough to catch her attention. “WELL? WHERE IS SHE?” Fluttershy screamed into the face of one of the guards flanking the literal seat of power, whose dedication to duty had forced him to stand his ground. His pupils were the size of pinpricks, but he stayed at his post. Fluttershy angrily slapped him and spat out, “If I’m going to get a Royal Summons, I expect there to be a ROYAL there to be SUMMONED to!” Celestia cleared her throat. “My apologies for being somewhat delayed,” she said. The Six could see her deflating visibly, after all the energy she’d regained during the walk among her ponies. “You know what I’ve told you about hitting ponies, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy whirled - and then jumped back and into the air, holding up her forehooves. “Princess! What the hay! Changelings?” “Oh, come on, even twice wasn’t funny!” protested Rares. Rarity laughed at her side. “Don’t worry, Princess, if they’ve got you mind-controlled, I’ll take them out! I’ll take them ALL out! YOU’LL PAY FOR MESSING WITH MY…” She dropped to the ground, curled up, and began snoring noisily. The sound rang unpleasantly throughout the large space. Celestia cleared her throat again. “Thank you as always, Rarity,” she said with resignation. “You have once again saved Canterlot from your herdmate’s temper.” Rarity blushed. “We’ve been trying to work on it, really we have. But, well. When Lyra decided to stay in Ponyville instead of coming with us, Fluttershy lost her best stabilizing influence. And, well, you know how busy our stallion is. He can’t stay home with her all day. His massages are so terribly in demand.” “I know, my faithful student,” Princess Celestia said quietly. “With luck, we soon will have restored harmony to Equestria - without having to face a world-threatening monster, this time.” “‘The harmony of prosperity is many times harder than the harmony of want, but yields the richest rewards,’” quoted Rainbow Dash. “Sun Shine, The Art of Peace.” “A lesson I fear I have poorly practiced, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said, and stepped forward to brush a hoof along Fluttershy’s back. “Tensions in Equestria have been high. There have been some ugly inter-tribal voices raised for the first time in centuries.” “‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,’” said Rarity, and Rainbow Dash turned to her with a smile. “Let’s Go, The Way To Go,” Rarity added. “It’s gonna take a while to get used to egghead Rarity,” muttered Twilight Sparkle. “Look, Fluttershy here has my mark, so how about I deal with this one? She’s not gonna listen to reason. You heard her.” Their Fluttershy shook her head and stepped forward. “Ain’t how it worked back in Ponyville, Twilight,” she said firmly. “This here Fluttershy might act different, but she’s still me. Ah aim to get her to listen to some honest reason.” “I’ve tried reason,” Rarity said, and a note of tiredness crept back into her voice. Rares promptly shoved her onto her back and raspberried her, to the immense surprise of the local bearer of the Element of Magic. But after a moment she laughed and cried out, “All right! All right! It’s going to be all right, if you’ll just stop doing that!” Rares laughed, and let her back up. Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Rares, not in the throne room. How many times do we haveta tell you this stuff?” Rares tapped her chin. “At least one more, I’m pretty sure!” Her incipient pounce was cut short by a purple glow, and she pouted. “Not in the throne room,” repeated Twilight. “Fiiiiiiine,” sighed Rares. Meanwhile, the be-hatted Fluttershy had produced a rope from somewhere and deftly wrapped up the local version of herself, wings tied to her sides and legs firmly hogtied. “That knot’d hold a minotaur, me, and Big Mac all together,” she said. “This oughtta have our buckin’ bronco in place until she can listen ta some hard truths. Wake ‘er up.” “It’s usually best to let her wake on her own,” Rarity said delicately. “She’s… not a morning mare.” Fluttershy adjusted her hat. “This ain’t gonna get easier if it waits,” she said. “Wake ‘er up.” Rarity sighed. “Oh dear.” But her horn glowed - and the bound Fluttershy jerked awake. “HNNNNNRRRAGH! RARITY! DON’T YOU BUCKING DO THAT TO ME!” she screamed - and then the apple-marked pegasus brought the back of her hoof across Fluttershy’s face. “That ain’t no way to talk to your herdsister,” she said firmly. “Ain’t nothin’ more important than family. Now you pipe down and let’s have a nice civilized discussion.” “What. Are. You?” hissed the unemployed weatherpony, straining at the ropes. “You’re a Changeling! Or something! You look like me, but you’re talking like that drunk loser and her bunch of hicks!” The rest of the Six grew very quiet. Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Well. If’n that’s the way y’all want t’ be. We can take this outside, Ah’ll take those ropes off, an’ then Ah’ll honestly pound th’ ever-loving crap out of you until y’all’re ready to sit real quiet an’ then be civilized. Sound fair?” “I’m gonna rip that stupid hat off your head and make you choke on it!” snarled the local pony. “Ah’ll take that as a yes,” Fluttershy said. “Erm… That is my herdsister,” said Rarity hesitantly. Fluttershy fixed her with a stare. “Ah tried bein’ nice. Sometimes, that don’t work. Y’all tried bein’ reasonable, an’ she’s still ornerier’n a manticore with a thorn in its paw. Ah think this gal needs ta straight up get her head pounded straight ‘fore she’s gonna listen to a darn thing. An’ Ah’m just the mare to do it.” “Don’t you bucking dare get in the way, Rarity!” snapped the bolt-flanked Fluttershy. “I don’t know what these imposters are or how they got you and the Princess, but I’m gonna pound this one into itty bitty pieces and get you free and the Princess free and THEN EVERYONE’S GONNA KNOW I’M THE HERO!” “... Of course, dear,” said Rarity quietly, backing away a step. “Y’all sure know how to treat somepony you’re supposed ta love,” commented Fluttershy, picking up the struggling copy of herself and heading for the door. “If Ah ever saw Cheerilee backin’ away from me like that an’ afraid ta speak up, Ah’d sure as shakes start rethinkin’ mah life choices real darn hard.” “You don’t get to tell me what to do!” hissed the bound Fluttershy. “You don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know what I’ve DONE! And is anypony grateful? NO! And I keep hanging around anyway!” “Sugarcube, Ah think Ah’m gonna enjoy makin’ you eat your teeth,” Fluttershy drawled. Princess Celestia and the others followed, with a dozen guards falling in behind Celestia. Edging together behind Celestia, in fact. Outside, Fluttershy dropped her counterpart on the castle steps, gripped one bit of rope in her teeth, and yanked. The other Fluttershy spun, bouncing down the steps, then let out a primal scream and launched herself into the air. The Six’s Fluttershy pulled off her hand and slapped it down over Applejack’s, the two hats perfect matches for each other. “Hold that for me,” she said, and took off. Fluttershy the weatherpony was brave, a skilled flier, expert-rated in Falling Leaf-style, and boiling with a rage that made her all but invincible, as Canterlot had long since discovered, save for the sleeping spells her herdsister Rarity had mastered. Fluttershy the farmer, on the other hoof, had spent her entire life kicking trees hard enough to make the fruit fall off, and was thinking clearly. The local Fluttershy launched a literally flying kick. The farmer swung her right forehoof in to meet it with a powerful punch. The sound of the following CRACK made everypony watching wince. The local screamed, grabbing at her leg - and her eyes were red with rage. “YOU MOTHERBUCKING IMPOSTER MONSTER” she led off, and rapidly devolved into a torrent of cursewords that even Celestia had never heard before in a very long lifespan. Some of them she made up on the spot. But she could fly just fine with a busted leg. And fight. “That there was Demon,” Fluttershy drawled, holding up her right forehoof. “Ain’t a lot of ponies who’re real fond of Demon after gettin’ introduced.” The screaming pegasus charged in. Two seconds later she was facedown on the ground with several teeth landing beside her. “But nopony likes Angel,” Fluttershy finished, holding up her left forehoof. “Real ornery varmint, this one is.” And she kissed her hoof. Then she dropped to the ground next to the groaning yellow pegasus she’d just powerhoused out of the air. Applejack wordlessly held out Fluttershy’s hat, and the pegasus set it back on. Applejack’s face was as green as her brother’s mark at the display of violence, but she didn’t say a thing. Then Fluttershy gathered up the four teeth that had landed and casually kicked her downed duplicate over onto her back. “Ah said Ah was gonna enjoy makin’ you eat your teeth,” she said - and held them up on the surface of Angel. Then smashed Demon down on them, reducing all four to a powder… and shoved Angel into the local’s mouth. “Bone apple-teat.” Applejack had to run for a nearby piece of topiary at that. Even Rainbow Dash was showing more green than usual. Twilight Sparkle muttered, “Hard core, filly.” The downed pegasus groaned around the hoof in her mouth, reflexively swallowed when something hit the back of her throat, then groaned again and looked up at the yellow blob looming over her. “Y’all want another round?” asked Fluttershy. “‘Cause y’all still got a lot of teeth left. Fer now.” She pulled her hoof back. The local slowly shook her head. “Good,” said Fluttershy firmly. “Now. We’re gonna start with a lesson in honesty the hard way.” She set her hoof very lightly against the other Fluttershy’s cracked hoof. “Are you sorry you weren’t nicer ta yer herdsister just then?” The weatherpony’s eyes widened. “Yes!” she blurted out as the pain ran up her leg from just that light touch. “Yes, what?” asked Fluttershy. “Yes, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Rarity! I’m sorry! You know how I get!” “And are y’all sorry you said them despicable things about some good honest apple farmers?” “Hnnnnnngh! Yes! Yes, I’m sorry, all right? I’m sorry!” Fluttershy clucked her tongue. “Y’all gonna listen to us now without me havin’ to do all this again?” “All right! All right! AAAAAGH! Stop it!” Fluttershy lifted her hoof away. “That’s better. Princess, y’all mind callin’ a doctor an’ a dentist? Seems our gal Fluttershy here’s had a bit of trouble. No hurry, though. She’s busy.” “Busy?” gasped the downed pegasus. “With what?” Fluttershy smiled at her. “Fixin’ this mess y’all call yer life.” Then her voice turned sharp. “What kinda mare you think you are? Ah’m you, in another dimension, where Ah did different things, an’ Ah’m downright ashamed to know Ah coulda turned out like you. You! Do! Not! Scare! Your! Mare! Do you understand me? Ah don’t care what y’all have been through, that mare has been there through all of it with you, an’ you do not take one dang-blasted thing out on her!” Fluttershy on the ground flinched back, and trembled at the anger in the farmer’s eyes. “... I just… get so mad…” she mumbled. “Good,” said Fluttershy from above. “Admittin’ that’s a start. And what’re y’all doin’ about it?” Fluttershy tried to look away. It was like looking into a mirror, now that she thought about it… but a mirror where all that rage was aimed, given purpose, given focus. Where… it belonged squarely on her. She wilted. “... Nothing,” she admitted. “That’s right,” Fluttershy said. “But that ain’t what y’all are gonna do about it from now on, is it? Y’all ain’t gonna lie to yerself, pretend any of it ain’t your fault, right?” The pegasus on the ground closed her eyes and began to cry. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m a bad pony, I’m sorry, Rarity, please, I’m sorry, I need help…” Fluttershy backed away, and Rarity galloped forward to pull her sobbing beloved weatherpony against her. Fluttershy tipped her hat back and looked up at Princess Celestia’s troubled face. “Truth hurts sometimes, Princess. But there’s some ponies who ain’t gonna learn any other way.” *** In Luna’s bedchamber, a series of circular wounds formed on the sleeping Princess’s side, and she writhed. But after a moment her body calmed again. It took a few minutes before the blood stopped flowing.