//------------------------------// // Other Plans // Story: Aspects of Chaos // by LordLycaon //------------------------------// The yellow pegasus nervously trotted through the empty streets, jumping at just about every sound. Fluttershy was nearing the point of complete desperation, her head darting from side to side as she searched for her friends, or anypony that looked trustworthy. But first, she needed to find out where exactly she was. She stepped as quietly as possible, hoping that she wouldn't be found by anything… unpleasant. There was a sudden noise from behind that made her shriek and duck for cover. She trembled on the ground with her hooves over her head, but after a few moments of silence, she looked around, but found nothing. She sighed in relief, stood again, and moved to continue down the road. Until she saw somepony who looked almost exactly like her, except her mane was a dark shade of red. The sight made her jump and cry out in surprise again. She managed to regain what little composure she had left and stared in shock and confusion at her doppelganger. Timidly, the pink-haired pegasus asked, "W-who are you?" The other Fluttershy smirked arrogantly and said, "I'm Malumavis, the Aspect of Cruelty. And you're just a sniveling little coward, aren't you?" Fluttershy cringed at her double's tone, which made it sound as though the evil Fluttershy enjoyed talking down to others. "I-" Fluttershy tried to speak, but Malumavis spoke up again. "You're pathetic!" the red-haired pegasus shouted at Fluttershy with a look of absolute hatred. "You clearly have no idea how to actually speak properly, do you, Stuttershy? It's a miracle when you manage to form a coherent sentence in front of somepony!" "B-but I…" Fluttershy wanted to say something to defend herself. She truly did. But Malumavis's harsh tone and cruel words bit deep. It was true. When it came to social situations and making friends with other ponies, she was pretty much a living train wreck. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she shied away from her double. "Oh, what a surprise!" Malumavis said with a contemptuous glare at her counterpart. "You can't think of anything to say, so you're just going to try and leave? Well, I don't think so, twerp. You're not going anywhere!" The Aspect of Cruelty grabbed Fluttershy's mane and pulled her closer. "You're complete trash! The only thing you can actually do right is take care of animals, and that's about the most pointless and unnecessary job ever!" "I…" "You're a pegasus, but you fly about as well as a ten-ton boulder! It's no wonder the ponies at Flight Camp always called you Clutzershy!" Fluttershy's eyes went wide in shock. "H-how did you-?" "You may not want to accept it," Malumavis explained, "but you and I were once the same pony. I've got all your memories, and I've got to say, you're really less than worthless!" Fluttershy stared at Malumavis with wide eyes for a few moments as her double continued her cruel rant. Same pony… she thought. But… then that would mean… "You're not a very strong flier either, are you?" she asked innocently. Malumavis stopped ranting and stared at Fluttershy with wide, confused eyes. "What?" The pink-haired mare shied away a little, but said, "Y-you said that you and I were the same pony at one time. If that's true, then it means that you have all of my same faults, which means you're only as good a flier as me. It also means that you have trouble making friends, probably like taking care of animals." Fluttershy's doppelganger's face slowly turned red with each word, her expression becoming a mix of dismay and horror. She shook her head. "N-no! I'm nothing like you! I'm better than you!" To this, Fluttershy actually smiled slightly. "No, you're not. Nopony's better than anypony. Everypony has insecurities that they struggle with, especially me. The only real differences between the two of us is that you haven't accepted your insecurities and that you hide those flaws by being a bully. The truth is that you're not truly comfortable with who you really are, and have always lied to yourself about it." "Th-that's not true!" Malumavis shouted in a feeble defense. She knew it wasn't true! It wasn't! It wasn't! … It… was. She knew she hated who she was. She knew Fluttershy was… right. Her eyes began to water. She crumpled to the ground and began bawling. "Stop it! I'm… I'm different. I'm not you." "You're right," Fluttershy admitted with an understanding smile. "But that just means that you can be anypony you want to be. You just have to accept your flaws. I've learned to do that thanks to my friends. Maybe I can help you face your flaws, too. Would you be okay with that?" Malumavis gave her a confused look, clearly surprised by her counterpart's sudden warmth. "Why would you want to help me? After I said all those things?" Fluttershy giggled a little, then said, "Of course. I don't just care for animals you know. I also enjoy helping other ponies, too. Besides, everypony deserves to be shown at least a little kindness. That's what I believe at least." The Aspect of Cruelty couldn't believe it. Somepony was actually being… nice to her? But that didn't make any sense at all! She was cruel and selfish and liked tormenting others! Why would anypony show her any kindness? "I don't get it," she muttered. "I… I…" She didn't say any more. She hid her face with her hooves and sobbed loudly. Fluttershy placed a hoof on her double's shoulder as she cried out. Cruelty didn't suit somepony so fragile. -o- A rainbow-colored blur darted across the sky, its source searching for anypony that she knew. The darkness and sheer size of Canterlot didn't help in Rainbow Dash's search. She stopped briefly every few seconds and scanned the area that she was hovering over, then zoomed off again. She only really knew that she needed to find the others as quickly as possible so that they could unite and use the Elements of Harmony to stop the Aspects of Chaos and defeat Nightmare Moon so that they could have Luna back. As she flew, she heard something zip by at speeds comparable to her own. A dull gray streak dashed by her, spinning her like a living top, and stopped to stand upon a nearby cloud. Before Rainbow was a pegasus who looked just like her, except her mane and tail were gray, as well as her cutie mark. Rainbow knew immediately who she was looking at. "Hey! You're one of the Aspects of Chaos, aren't you?" she shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at the other pony, who was now simply lounging on the cloud as if nothing was wrong at all with the world. "That's right," the gray-haired mare admitted in a lazy tone. "I'm Monochrome Blur, the Aspect of Treachery. Any other scholarly questions, O, wise and brilliant race horse?" Rainbow scowled at that comment and gave Monochrome a spiteful glare. "Why don't you come off that cloud and fight me one on one? Let's do this right here and now!" To that, Monochrome just laughed as if Rainbow had told great joke. "What's so funny?" Monochrome stopped laughing after a few seconds and said, "You really think I'm gonna waste my time with you? Please. You're not worth the effort. Besides, I've got bigger plans, and you'd only slow me down." "'Plans'?" Rainbow parroted with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" "You'll see," Monochrome replied with a sinister chuckle. She suddenly stomped on the cloud, creating a bolt of lightning that temporarily blinded Dash. When the rainbow haired pegasus could see again, Monochrome was gone. She briefly thought about what her double had said. What did she have planned? What was she going to do? Rainbow snorted in frustration. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way!" With that, she flew off in the direction of Canterlot Castle. She felt in her gut that that's where her doppelganger might've gone.