How to be Cruel

by Erisn


Chapter 5: Again

Fluttershy stopped whispering to herself five minutes after Twilight had left. It took her a little less than one minute to get back to her feet and get herself in some semblance of order. And then she was running, charging through her house upstairs to where Angel was sleeping, screaming for everyone to wake up and get up now!

Birds chirped and flapped wildly around the dark room in alarm and rodents fell out of hammocks and scattered out of Fluttershy’s way as Angel appeared at the top of the stairs. Fluttershy leapt towards him and flew up the stairs without pausing to touch the ground. Her words were incoherent, but she got all the important ones out. “Cutie Mark Crusaders. Missing. Everfree Forest. Probably changelings.”

Angel took one look at Fluttershy’s face and then hopped out of her arms and screeched at the panicking animals below. In a flash, all noise ceased as every eye turned first to Angel, and then Fluttershy. It was perhaps exemplary of the power dynamics within Fluttershy’s home that Angel’s first reaction was to look to Fluttershy, while the other animals looked first to him for guidance. But now every eye was on Fluttershy, and she realized she had no idea what to do. Angel kicked her leg, either for support or to tell her to get a move on as her mind worked frantically.

“Twilight doesn’t know about the changelings,” was the first thing Fluttershy thought to say.

Angel tapped his foot, his customary scowl appearing like magic on his face.

“I meant to tell her!” Fluttershy said defensively, “I just couldn’t explain things properly! Besides, she’s got lots of magic and Applejack. They could fight off twenty changelings without a problem.”

Angel’s foot tapped again meaningfully.

“But they won’t know what to look for,” Fluttershy agreed. “They think the Crusaders are lost, or it’s some other monster from the Everfree. That could be true, but…”

Angel shook his head.

“You think so too, don’t you Angel? It’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be another changeling.” Fluttershy scooped up her rabbit but he wriggled out of her grasp and jumped to the ground. “Oh, I’m sorry Angel. You’re right; this is no time for hugs.” Fluttershy gnawed her lip frantically, and then a spark of inspiration struck. She turned to Angel. “I’ll stay here and board up the house with everyone. Angel, I need you to go into Ponyville and find some people for me, okay?”

Angel looked confused, but listened Attentively as Fluttershy gave him two names. Then he was out of the house like a shot, and Fluttershy turned to the frightened horde of animals. She tried to smile and half-succeeded. “Okay everyone, don’t worry, Angel’s just going out for a bit. In the meantime, why don’t we get to work?”

----

When Angel returned ten minutes later with two others in tow, her found Fluttershy’s house had transformed from a small, homely cottage into something resembling a military bunker. Every window was nailed shut and boarded over, and inside chairs and tables had been stacked to cover every entrance. He waited with impatience as the coffee table was dragged aside to let him in, and hopped in with his two guests.

“Okay, listen up please.” Fluttershy gave her two visitors a minor version of The Stare, which was really closer to The Look. “Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are all missing. Twilight and the others think they might have gotten lost in the Everfree, but I think it might be another changeling. We don’t know one way or the other, but we’re going to find out. I’ve called both of you here because you’re my A-team. I don’t have a B-team or a C-team, so you’re all I’ve got. But if anyone can find the Crusaders at this time of night in the forest, it’s you. Are you up for it?”

Owlowiscious saluted Fluttershy with one wing and Winona barked. Fluttershy nodded. “I want both of you to work as a pair. Winona can track the Crusaders and Owlowiscious, you can be her eyes. If you find the Crusaders and they’re lost, bring them back to Ponyville. But if you see a changeling, smell a changeling, or just think one’s nearby, get back here as fast as you can. Okay?”

Both nodded, and Fluttershy held their gazes a moment longer to make sure they understood. “Alright then. Go as fast as you can and report back in an hour if you find nothing. Hurry!” They leapt for the door, Winona in the lead as Owlowiscious flew overhead. “…If you don’t mind, that is.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but add.

The door slammed shut, but Angel stopped the other animals from barricading it once more. Fluttershy, finding herself with nothing to do, collapsed onto an empty patch of floor, suddenly exhausted. Angel, seeing this, hopped over and made her a cup of tea to drink. Or rather, he ordered the other animals to make the tea while he sat next to Fluttershy and stroked her mane comfortingly. Then he went and fetched the knife.

Fluttershy knew what he was doing as soon as she heard the clang again, followed by the sound of absolute silence in her home. She raised her head from her cup of tea and said flatly, “put it back Angel.”

Angel ignored her, and continued dragging the new knife Fluttershy had bought to replace the old one in front of Fluttershy and tossed it to the ground with a thump. He very pointedly looked to the knife and then at Fluttershy.

“No.” Fluttershy said.

Angel ignored her and kicked the knife on the hilt. It spun towards Fluttershy, who stopped it with one hoof before it could upset her tea. “No,” she said again firmly.

Angel hopped over and looked Fluttershy right in the eye and pointed to the knife.

Fluttershy met Angel’s gaze and gave him a look that made every other animal in the room run and hide. “No.

Angel opened his mouth, looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, and deflated. She was giving him what The Stare would be if it had the courage to be that scary. Silently, he picked up the knife and put it back on the top shelf with the help of a ladder.

“We’re not killing anyone tonight,” Fluttershy said. “This isn’t like last time, Angel. Once we find the Crusaders, if there’s a changeling, we’ll get other ponies to help. We’re not alone this time, as so there’s no need for knives or anything else.” So saying, Fluttershy took a sip of tea. “Be calm, Angel. Everything is going to be fine.” She took another sip of the tea. And another.

By the time twenty minutes had passed, Fluttershy had drunk two whole teapots-worth of tea and was halfway through the third kettle when something knocked on her door. At once every animal in her home went silent, and Fluttershy’s heartbeat spiked as icy fear froze every vein in her body.

“H-hello?” She quavered. “Who is it?”

The reply was faint, but audible. “Who?”

Fluttershy gulped. “That’s what I want to know. Who’s knocking on my door.”

“Who?”

“Look,” Fluttershy quavered, “I’m not letting you in until you tell me your name.”

“Who?”

Angel slapped his forehead. Then he slapped Fluttershy, and yanked open the door to allow Owlowiscious and Winona to enter.

“Oh, it’s just you Owlowiscious. Come on in.” Fluttershy took a large gulp of tea to calm her nerves. “Did you find anything?”

“Who.”

“Really? So quickly?”

“Who.”

“But you didn’t see them?”

“Who who.”

“Because there was a changeling, wasn’t there?”

Winona barked, and Fluttershy felt a cold chill run down her spine. “That’s okay though,” she said, trying to put a brave face on it. “If they still unharmed we can go get help and frighten the changeling off. No problem.”

“Who?”

Fluttershy froze, and her heart started to pound again at Owlowiscious’s words. “What do you mean, ‘more than one?’”

“Who? Who who. Who.”

“W-well that’s not too surprising.” Fluttershy said, heart now dancing in her chest. “No problem, in fact. We could get rid of two changelings easily. Even six is no problem if we get all the other elements. In fact, with all of Ponyville we shouldn’t have a problem at all. How many is it?”

Winona and Owlowiscious conferred with some quiet whooting and barks and then Owlowicious turned back to Fluttershy.

“Who.”

Twenty!?” Fluttershy screamed, dropping her teacup. It crashed to the ground, shattering in tiny fragments. At her words the silence born of fear broke as every animal started screaming, wailing, and running for the windows and doors.

They stopped when the knife slammed back down onto the ground with Angel holding its hilt. He shouted an order and the animals flowed back from the doors and stopped panicking, at least for the moment. At his command all the bats flew out of the cottage, making a large perimeter to spot any incoming changelings. The mice and rats set to work uprooting floorboards and digging a small escape tunnel while the birds did the same on the second floor, prying off tiles and pieces of the attic to squeeze through if need be.

The larger animals began to pile up more furniture over each window, and more went up to secure the second floor. Angel watched all this with one critical eye, and then directed Owlowicious and Winona back out to the Everfree to observe the Crusaders from a distance and let him know the instant the changelings looked like they were going to harm them. Angel then turned to find Fluttershy, but she was already gone, and only the slamming door marked her departure as she run full-tilt towards Ponyville.

----

Fluttershy was intercepted before she reached the heart of Ponyville. A streak of white lightning moved even faster than her, and Fluttershy found herself pinned to the wall of a house as Rarity grabbed her.

“Fluttershy! What’s wrong, have you found Sweetie Belle? Is she hurt? Did something dreadful from the forest eat them? Tell me!”

“Rarity, I can’t breathe.” Fluttershy gasped, and Rarity let her friend go at once.

“Do pardon me Fluttershy, what was I thinking? Please accept my apologies. Now, have you found the Crusaders yet? Is there something wrong? Oh no. Is somepony hurt? It’s a disaster! Please let it not be Sweetie Belle, but what if it is? This simply can’t be happen—”

“Rarity!” Fluttershy’s interruption made her friend pause in surprise. “Nothing’s wrong, or I mean, nothing is wrong that needs screaming. Yet. Where’s Twilight? I have to speak to her at once.

“Twilight dear? She’s out in the Everfree forest with Applejack! Why? Were they supposed to be back by now? Oh no, what if they’re lost too?

“No, I just wanted to talk to her.” Fluttershy tried to make her heart stop jumping out her her chest but she felt as though everything was happening too fast, and her stomach wouldn’t stop churning. “Is Rainbow Dash still out in the Misty Mountains? If she’s not here, I need every pony you can find. Big Mac, Bulk Biceps, Thunderlane, Cloud Chaser…” Fluttershy stopped when she saw the confusion in Rarity’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Well nothing, but why do you want those ponies Fluttershy? They’re not here.”

“What do you mean, not here?”

Rarity took a step back. “Uh, well they’re not in Ponyville right now,” she stammered. “Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser are with Rainbow Dash, and Big Mac’s out in White Tail Woods and Biceps is in Froggy Bottom Bog looking for the Crusaders.”

What? But I need them here now! What time would they be—no, Rarity, how many ponies are in Ponyville right now?”

“Um, about ten I think.”

“WHAT!?” This time Rarity took not just a one step back but three.

“Fluttershy dear, whatever’s the matter?”

“Where’s everyone gone?” Fluttershy demanded. Her brain felt like it was running too slow and yet racing far too quickly for any rational thought at the same time.

“Well, when everypony heard the Crusaders were missing, they all went out to help search. Since Zecora knows the Everfree so well and because the Crusaders know never to stay there after dark, lots of ponies went out in every direction in search parties. They should be back in a few hours if they don’t find anything.”

Rarity stopped speaking then because the look on Fluttershy’s face wasn’t simply horrified but horrific. Her naturally pale skin was dead white and her eyes were so huge that it was all Rarity could do not to turn tail and run. “Um, Fluttershy, are you quite well? Should I get a doctor? Or a bucket? Or both? If you need any help, be sure to let me know, alright?”

Fluttershy looked at Rarity and opened her mouth. And then she looked harder at Rarity, pearly-white Rarity with a coat made pristine by brushing it a thousand times each morning, Rarity, who fainted at the mere thought of getting her hooves dirty. “No Rarity, I just needed to…talk to those ponies about something important which doesn’t really matter right now. Ten ponies you said? Well, that’s just…fine. I guess I should be getting back now, you know, to my house. To watch for the Crusaders. Thank you, Rarity.”

“No problem Fluttershy, but do let me know if you see the Crusaders, alright? I’m dreadfully worried—” Rarity stopped, because her words were falling on empty air. Fluttershy was already racing back up towards her cottage, leaving a surprised Rarity behind.

----

“I don’t know what to do, Angel.”

Fluttershy said in her cottage. Not moving, not pacing back and forth, but just still. She sat there, her animal friends ringed around her, on the cold hardwood floor facing Angel. He didn’t say anything back. He didn’t move either, not so much as a twitch of a whisker. And yet Fluttershy still heard…something. A voice, perhaps, but not one that spoke with words. It echoed in her mind.

Was it just Fluttershy’s imagination, or could she really talk to animals? Was it just guesswork, or a form of magic? Some days Fluttershy wondered whether it was all in her head. But as she sat there and stared into Angel’s eyes, she heard something speaking back to her.

“I can’t find Twilight, or anyone else. There’s no one to help me.”

But you know where they are.

“Yes, but I can’t stop twenty changelings! I need an army!”

You have one right here.

“I can’t do that!” Fluttershy said, aghast. “They’re my friends!”

They will help you if you ask.

“They’ll die. They can’t fight changelings!”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders will die if they don’t.

“I can’t allow it. It would be suicide.”

But the Crusaders will die if you do nothing.

“I know, but isn’t there some other way? Couldn’t we find Twilight with Owlowicious?”

How would you find her in time? The Crusaders are still alive, but for how long? The changelings might decide to eat them at any moment.

“What should I do, then?”

Here’s a knife.

Fluttershy didn’t need to look. Angel had brought it down and put it next to him. It glittered in the moonlight.

“No. I can’t do that. It didn’t work last time and it won’t this time.”

But you know you can stop a changeling. You did it once.

“Yes. I did. But I’m not doing it again.”

Why?

“Because…”

Because?

“Because I don’t want to be a bad pony.” The sentence hung in the air, dark, heavy.

And what is a ‘bad’ pony?

Fluttershy’s head lowered and she stared at the floor. “A bad pony is someone who kills,” she whispered.

But what about a pony that lets other ponies die?

One of Fluttershy’s ears twitched. “That’s bad too.”

And if a pony kills to save a friend, is that worse than a pony who lets another pony die on purpose?

“I don’t know.”

Put another way, then, who is more important? Apple Bloom or a changeling?

“Neither. You can’t weigh lives like that.”

But if you had only one you could save, which would it be?

A quiet whisper. “Applebloom.”

Then, who is more important to you?

“Applebloom. Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo.”

Are they worth the lives of twenty changelings?

“I can’t…judge that. I can’t trade lives.”

But if they die it will be your fault.

“Mine? Why mine? There are others looking for them…!”

None who know of the true threat. None who know where they are.

“But I can’t kill—there are too many—”

A manticore lives within these woods. Timberwolves prowl the forest by night. The Ursula Major protects her child. You know bears and serpents and far worse. Tell me you cannot.

“There must be another way. There has to be.”

You are a killer.

“But I’m not a murderer.”

Then what will you do?

“I’ll…think of something.”

You don’t have any time left. What other option is there?

“There’s always another option. Always.”

But sometimes, there’s not enough time to find one. What will you do?

“I—”

And then she had it. Fluttershy looked up. And then she smiled.

Angel looked up at Fluttershy, confused. The spell had been broken. The moment had passed, and yet Fluttershy smiled for the first time that night.

Carefully, Fluttershy bent down and picked up the knife and slid it back onto the top shelf. Then she turned to Angel.

“Angel, get me Harry, and muster up every mouse, rat, mole, beaver and raccoon you can find.” The words left Fluttershy’s mouth before she could stop them. “And then
get me a map.”

Angel looked at Fluttershy, his head tilted to one side.

“We’re not going after Twilight,” Fluttershy explained. “We’re going to rescue the changelings ourselves. Don’t worry; I have a plan. A really, really mean plan.”

----

It might be important at this point to explain something about the nature of changelings.

Changelings are on the whole not hugely bright or individualistic, having evolved their society around the same principle most insects use. Chrysalis, as the queen changeling is a prime example of everything the average changeling is not. Individualistic, intelligent, possessing magical abilities superior to most unicorns or even alicorns, and physically dominating with a personality to match. The only thing she has in common with her subjects is their capacity for violence and love of slaughter. And their phenomenal talent in singing acapella of course, but that’s beside the point.

The average changeling is physically weaker than (most) ponies, and must rely on numbers in any engagement. The reason for this comes down to internal structure as indicated before; the skeletal structure of ponies makes them far superior at enduring and delivering crushing impact than changelings, who while possessing a touch carapace, are completely squishy underneath. They make up for this physical frailty with their ruthlessness and sharp teeth however, but the main thing that defines changelings has to be their ability to swarm over their enemies in one endless rush. This is their preferred and only tactic when it comes to fighting.

However, even the small group of changelings could see that attacking Ponyville when they were outnumbered nearly ten-to-one and where all the Elements of Harmony lived was a pretty bad idea. Thus, they had temporarily retreated and were attempting to employ their fallback strategy: transform into another pony, walk into Ponyville, and horribly murder every pony in their sleep. To this end they had captured Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle in order to steal their appearance.

Everything had worked out so well to begin with. The changelings had easily snuck up on the three ponies and knocked them out before dragging them to a secluded part of the Everfree Forest. There they had been tied to one tree and kept asleep (with the help of a rock to the back of the head at regular intervals) while the changelings tried to adopt their forms. They weren’t having much luck with it.

One problem was that the changelings were operating in a foreign land, having been separated from their queen and were hungry, isolated, and afraid. The psychological trauma of being kicked repeatedly in the head by Rainbow Dash, assaulted with confetti and magic by Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie and being tossed across half of Equestria by a giant magic force-field is not good for the changeling psyche. Transforming their appearance takes a clear mind aided by self-confidence and control. Few changelings could maintain a guise for more than a few hours – there too, Chrysalis remained far superior to her subjects.

Another issue was the lighting of the Everfree. The sun had already begun to set when the changelings had captured the Crusaders. This would normally not be a problem all things being equal, as the changelings would have simply lit a torch to see their victims. But they dared not light anything here, so close to Ponyville.

Against the odds however, a few of the changelings had made the transformation successfully. They had overcome their mental confusion, focused past the dim lighting and trials of the last few days and had successfully copied the Crusader’s appearance. That was when they had hit the final, most problematic snag.

The changelings were too big. The average chagneling is of a height with a young adult pony, which is ideal. For copying adult ponies. Stallions are harder, but two changelings can shift into a larger, single shape for a limited time. But fillies?

Nope.

Changelings can’t transform into a smaller form without cutting off a few appendages, and even then, they just look like the torso of a pony with no legs. They can successfully mimic the form of course, but the size will always be different. This fact the dispirited changelings had realized when a bunch of Apple Blooms, Sweetie Belles and Scootaloos were walking around the clearing.

It was as if someone had taken Scootaloo, stretched her legs out until they were twice as long, and force-fed her hayburgers until she was grotesquely fat and bloated. To say she was ugly would be a cruel insult to ugly ponies everywhere. To say that she was hideous would be a good start, but the truth of the matter was that the grotesque mockeries of the Crusaders walking around the clearing and talking in high-pitched voices would have scared Nightmare Moon into going back into exile for another thousand years.

Changeling 12433 looked at one of the Apple Bloom monsters prancing around the clearing and shook his head. This wasn’t good. No pony in the world would be taken in by that guise for a second; the changelings would probably be attacked on sight if they walked into Ponyville looking like that. But it was too late to capture any other ponies, and by now their disappearance had already caused an uproar in Ponyville.

Changeling 12433 looked back at the three slumbering fillies, still tied to the tree. Kidnapping them had been a mistake, but it had seemed so perfect at the time. Too late to do anything about it, though. They’d have to kill the fillies, dispose of the evidence, and try to regroup with Queen Chrysalis, wherever she was. He shuddered at the thought of her displeasure when she learned of this failed attempt. Maybe it was better to die fighting instead. It would be far less painful instead.

12433 was just thinking of how much it would hurt to be crushed underneath a hundred hooves and trampled to death when he saw the pegasus. It, she, rather was standing on the edge of the clearing and staring at him. All motion in the clearing stopped as changelings turned and saw the pegasus. She didn’t move, but kept staring at 12433, as if in a trance.

He recognized her. She was one of the Elements of Harmony, but, and here was the crucial bit: she wasn’t the Element of Loyalty. If he’d seen that blue pegasus, Changeling 12433 would’ve probably gone back to Chrysalis and told her to eat him right there and then. She was the yellow and pink one. The Element of Kindness. The weak one.

Changeling 12433 didn’t waste a moment. He was running after the pegasus almost before his brain told his legs to move, and every changeling in the clearing was right behind him. They had all had the same thought: Chrysalis might not forgive failing to destroy Ponyville, but she’d forgive any changeling or changelings who managed to capture an Element of Harmony.

The pegasus ran, the changelings in hot pursuit. Oddly, she didn’t fly, but that was fine with Changeling 12433. Flight would make it harder to catch her, and it might draw attention to the changelings. And the pegasus was slower on the ground. The changelings were catching up.

The pegasus bounded into a clearing in the forest, the changelings right behind her. 12433 could nearly taste her, he was so close. He snapped at her, but only got a mouthful of her tail. The pegasus away across the clearing, using her wings to get to the other side. Changeling 12433 rushed after her. And stopped.

The ground was missing. Ahead of him, in the center of the clearing as an enormous hole in the ground. Well, in truth it was a hole in the ground covered over with branches and sticks, but this attempt at camouflage was so badly done that it only served to make the pit trap more obvious. And hovering in the air on the other side of the pit was the pegasus, doing her best to look as innocent and helpless as possible.

Changeling 12433 was not old for a changeling, and certainly not old for a pony. He had lived only a few scant years in service to his queen. Nevertheless, he felt that if he lived to be as old as Chrysalis herself, he would never, ever find a trap as stupid and as obvious as this. It was embarrassingly bad, and the pegasus was blatantly waiting for him and the other changelings to fall in.

12433 sighed and signaled the other changelings to go round to pit. Time to grab the pegasus, eat one of her wings so she couldn’t fly away, and go back to Chrysalis. Too much time had been wasted pointlessly already, but at least they had the three fillies for a snack. He started to trot round the pit—

Something big and heavy hit Changeling 12433 hard enough to crack his carapace and send him crashing into the pit. As he lay there, stunned, 12433 looked up and saw a bear.

----

It was a big bear, and he swatted changelings like flies, sending them tumbling down into the hole next to Changeling 12433. Unlike the other, smaller woodland creatures changelings preyed on, a bear is not so easily defeated by changeling or pony. Bears have teeth, fur like armor, and enough muscle to make even Big Mac blink. Fluttershy watched Harry effortlessly toss changeling after changeling into the pit, and sighed in relief.

The changelings were caught off-guard, relaxed, and separated as they had tried to move around the pit. Some tried to fight Harry, but their teeth and hooves weren’t much good against someone that could knock down a tree if he felt like it. And Harry was angry. He'd been friends with all of the animals in Fluttershy’s cottage, and so he was exacting payback in no small measure as changeling after changeling was thrown bodily into the pit.

Some tried to flee of course, but they found a mob of rodents, birds, a toucan, rabbit, dog and owl waiting for them. The few changelings that escaped Harry’s wrath were pushed into the pit, where they struggled in vain to climb the steep dirt walls.

It was quite a large pit at that, and one Fluttershy was immensely proud of. It had taken only half an hour for the assembled team of moles, mice, raccoons, and other rodents to dig the massive trap, and the pit was nearly ten feet deep and equally wide, with steep walls that the changelings couldn’t climb.

Fluttershy flew a bit lower and looked down into the pit. Changelings hissed and writhed, their bodies in the darkness looking like a bunch of, well, insects milling together in the pit. They were trying to pile on each other’s backs or climb up, but they were disordered and leaderless. Fluttershy smiled.

Then one of the changelings spread it's wings and tried to fly out of the pit. Fluttershy’s smile vanished quicker than an Apple Brown Bettie in Rainbow Dash’s mouth as the changeling flew at her, hissing with rage.

The changeling cleared the pit, flew at Fluttershy, and was punched out the air by Harry as he came within a foot of Fluttershy’s face. It flew back into the pit and landed with a heavy crunch. Fluttershy remembered to breathe at last.

“Thank you, Harry.” Fluttershy managed. “I, uh, forgot they could do that.” Harry grinned at Fluttershy with a lot of teeth. “Well, we’ve got them here at least for the moment. If we grab the Crusaders, we can get back to my cottage and lock the doors, then send Owlowicious to warn the others.”

Fluttershy turned towards Angel, who was organizing the other animals as they beat back the changelings trying to climb the pit with branches, rocks, and bad language. “Angel, we’re going to run for it! Get everyone ready to run, and we’ll meet back at the cottage after I grab the Crusaders, okay?”

Angel looked up, startled, and then shook his head. He motioned to Winona, and the dog took his place. She lifted one leg and the other animals gave her some room as one of the changelings made it halfway up the pit. Horrible shrieks and changeling curses filled the air, and the changeling tumbled back down to the bottom as the now-muddy sides of the pit made his hooves slip.

Angel bounded over to a small group of beavers, and gestured to them. Fluttershy couldn’t ‘hear’ what he was saying at that distance, but she did see the beavers waddle over to the pile of dirt the animals had escavated. The beavers pushed at the dirt, and it began falling back into the hole, fragments of rock striking changelings and the dirt’s weight pushing them to the ground, covering them…

“Angel, what are you doing!?” Fluttershy screamed at her rabbit, but he ignored her. He had marshalled his troops, and the animals who weren’t keeping the changelings from climbing up were now pushing dirt into the hole, filling it up and covering the changelings as they fought now to avoid being buried alive.

“Angel!” Fluttershy didn’t know she had leapt into the air until she felt Harry’s big paws encircling her body. She tried to fly to Angel, but the gentle, strong arms held her still. She looked up at Harry, beseechingly, but he just shook his head. She struggled, but he was simply too strong and she could only watch as the last changeling was covered with dirt and rocks by her animal friends.

They didn’t stop there, though. The hole was deep, and the animals filled it back to the top, burying the changelings far, far below the ground. Then the rough earth was tamped down by a hundred small feet as the animals stamped the earth into place before Angel finally called them away. When it was done, the pit was no longer there, and a smooth circular patch of earth was all that hinted at once had been there. Of the changelings, nothing remained. They were gone.

In a trance, Fluttershy felt Harry release her and she walked, slowly, over to Angel. The other animals parted to let her through, many unable to meet her eyes, but Angel simply stood there, staring back at her with that familiar scowl.

“Angel…” Fluttershy said, “That wasn’t right.”

Angel just stared back at Fluttershy, not moving or blinking.

“You shouldn’t have done that, not even to changelings. It was wrong. You killed them. You shouldn’t—”

Fluttershy’s voice trailed off. Angel was just standing there, just standing and staring at her. But something was wrong. She couldn’t read his face. Fluttershy always ahd a sense of what her friends were thinking, but it wasn’t here right now. Angel’s face was a closed book to her, but Fluttershy felt that same voice seem to reach into her brain and ask the questions she couldn’t answer.

If Angel hadn’t done that, what would you have done? The changelings would have climbed out sooner or later. They could even fly. What would you have done? Run away and let them attack Ponyville?

And of course, Fluttershy had no answer. Her words dried up in her mouth as Angel held her gaze. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around.

Harry was there, holding three small bodies in his paws. Fluttershy hastened over to them. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders were all unconscious, with large bumps on their heads, but they were all alive and unharmed besides that. Something in Fluttershy’s chest eased at that. But when she looked back at the flattened earth and at Angel, a painful feeling grew and pulled at her heart.

Parts of it were grief and sadness, but another part was darker, more malevolent, and…happy. It was that same feeling of hatred, but inversed, the dark feeling of satisfaction perhaps, and that scared Fluttershy more than anything else. She wanted desperate to tell Angel he had done the wrong thing, to order the changelings dug up and saved, even. But one look at the faces of the animals around her and Fluttershy knew that for once, her suggestion would not be obeyed.

Angel stared at Fluttershy, but when it was clear that she had nothing she was able to say, he shrugged slightly and hopped away. The other animals followed him, Harry carefully carrying Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo while Winona and Owlowicious helped manage Applebloom. They left Fluttershy behind, still staring at where the changelings had been.

It had been a perfect plan. Well, not perfect, but certainly great. It was a way to stop the changelings without killing any of them. But it hadn’t been such a good plan after all, because Fluttershy had completely forgotten that changelings could fly, let alone climb out like that. But she’d come up with it on the spot as a way to avoid killing anyone. But her plan had ended up in them killing…everyone.

Twenty lives. Twenty beings, gone. Fluttershy knew she should be horrified, screaming, throwing up, but all she felt was numb. Worse, the parts of her that weren’t numb were almost happy instead, happy that the crisis had ended, that the threat was no more. What was happening to her? Fluttershy didn’t want to know, and she didn’t want to change any more. She couldn’t think. She had to go back. She’d bring back the Crusaders, make sure everypony was well and then…

Fluttershy took one last look at the mound of earth where the changelings had been. Then she turned away. Angel hopped in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, the other animals following him. They laughed and chattered, but Fluttershy’s heart lay torn and bleeding on the ground. Fluttershy looked at the three unconscious forms in Harry’s paws and then back at Angel. The words of admonishment, of condemnation died in her throat.

Slowly, Fluttershy walked away from the churned earth and back to her cottage. For once, she was silent not because she had nothing to say, but because she didn’t know how to say it. And the forest grew darker and the shadows deeper as night turned to midnight, which would eventually become dawn.

----

Tirek couldn’t hold it in any longer. The words burst out of his mouth. “And that’s it?”

Fluttershy blinked and looked at him. “Excuse me?”

“You’re telling me you killed a group of changelings with a trap like that?” Tirek paced back and forth, unable to contain his frustration. “Pathetic!” Was all he could muster. “How could any creature fall for that? It has to be a lie. It has to be!”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “I remind you Tirek that changelings are not very intelligent without a leader, and these were some desperate changelings at that. It was indeed a simple plan, but it worked.”

Tirek threw up his hands in disgust. “What a letdown,” he complained bitterly. “A terrible insect army? Hah. I’m surprised Chrysalis even managed to abduct Princess Cadence, let alone invade Canterlot.”

“Well, it is true that Canterlot doesn’t possess many ponies willing to defend themselves aside from the royal guard, but I take your point,” Fluttershy said, smiling. “But Tirek, you didn’t let me finish my story. The night didn’t end with just that.”

Tirek paused. “What do you mean?”

“You will recall that I was shocked over Angel’s actions, horrified, and yet…he did the one thing I could not. The changelings would have escaped from that pit eventually, and I knew it. But Angel had made the call I could not, and it bothered me.”

“Doubtless you were troubled by your rabbit being more intelligent than you were,” Tirek said, but only half mockingly. In truth, he was actually quite impressed by Fluttershy’s rabbit, but he took pains to hide that fact. Tirek folded his arms. “I take it that you returned the Crusaders to Ponyville without incident?”

“Oh yes, you should have heard Rarity screaming. I got them back in once piece, and managed to make up a story about finding them in a field of Snooze Blossoms.”

“Snooze Blossoms? I’ve never heard of them.”

“They don’t exist.”

“Ah. Continue.”

“Well, I got all the Crusaders back, was hailed as a hero and such, and went back to my cottage where I was preparing to go to bed. Naturally, I didn’t know what to say to Angel, but I thought that everything would be fine in the morning.”

“No doubt.”

“That’s when I heard somepony knocking on my door. I thought it was rather late, but I supposed it was Twilight or Applejack coming to say thank you again. I opened the door. And that’s when I learned something very important about changelings. It was something I should have considered, but in my panic and anxiety it completely slipped my mind.”

Despite himself, Tirek leaned forwards. “And what was that?”

Fluttershy smiled a ghost of a smile. The half-light caught her face oddly, and for an instant, Tirek could see a scar covered by her coat, stretching across her face. “Changelings are more like bugs, than ponies.”

Tirek frowned. “I fail to see why this is important.”

“Oh, for a few reasons,” Fluttershy replied, still smiling. “But one very important one. You see, changelings can dig.”