How to be Cruel

by Erisn


Chapter 12: How it Ended

“I liked your bear,” Chrysalis said. “He was quite nice.”

Fluttershy lunged, but Chrysalis drew one leg back and kicked Fluttershy into the far wall of her cottage. Fluttershy heard something crack as she met the wall, but she was one her hooves in an instant. She took one step forwards. And stopped.

Chrysalis had one hoof pressing down on Angel’s head, and was holding the rabbit to the floor as he struggled wildly. She wasn’t pressing hard enough to do more than hold Angel there, but he couldn’t move. And Chrysalis was just standing there, grinning at Fluttershy.

Slowly, Fluttershy took one step back. Then she opened her mouth to speak. Chrysalis’s smile didn’t even waver, but she must have pressed harder on Angel’s head, because the rabbit stopped struggling and cried out in pain. Fluttershy closed her mouth, and very slowly sat down on the smooth floorboards of her house. Only then did Chrysalis take her foot off Angel’s head.

“Good,” she said. “Thinking. I like that in a pony. It’s so much easier when you can talk to equals in intelligence, don’t you think? It cuts down with all the meaningless questions and empty threats. I hate those, don’t you? So here’s a real threat for you.”

Chrysalis set her hoof next to Angel’s head. They were roughly the same size. “Move, and I’ll rip your little rabbit here apart. Talk and I’ll just break one of his arms. I’ve had enough of your voice today.”

Fluttershy said nothing. Chrysalis’s smile widened even further. She moved slowly backwards until she stood at the far wall, beside the fireplace. Angel lay where she had left him, eyes unfocused from the pain.

Never taking her eyes off of Fluttershy, Chrysalis sat down. There was a fire in the fireplace, but Chrysalis paid the heat no mind, sitting inches away from it. The shifting of her body also revealed something else. Chrysalis’s face had been partially obscured by the darkness, but the firelight threw her features into sharp relief, and what Fluttershy saw was one staring eye and one empty socket.

Now that Fluttershy wasn’t simply reacting, she had a chance to truly look at Chrysalis. And what she saw wasn’t a whole changeling, but pieces of one.

Part of Chrysalis’s face was shredded. Her chitin had been torn away on the half of her face missing her eye, and it exposed not a gaping skull like a pony, but just a mass of soft internal organs, covered over by dried green blood. Parts of her face still hung there though, and they dangled damp and glistening in the fireplace’s light.

Chrysalis’s injuries didn’t stop there, though. Not an inch of her body had escaped the flames, and her normally gleaming carapace was dirty with soot and ashes. Heat had cracked her chitin open, but on one side she had an wound not caused by flame. A series of long, vertical gashes had been torn along her side. It had torn open Chrysalis’s armor, but the attacker – Harry – hadn’t managed to do more than that before she had stopped him.

It wasn’t just one series of gashes though; Fluttershy looked closer and saw claw marks all over Chrysalis’s body, and between her broken carapace the soft green-yellow of her inner body as well. She was marked head to toe in marks of her battle, but nowhere did Fluttershy see evidence of a deeper wound. She felt something open up inside of her as she realized that even Harry’s claws and strength had been enough to kill Chrysalis.

But perhaps the most shocking injury Chrysalis had besides her face were her hooves. One of them was missing. Chrysalis’s back left leg ended abruptly, and Fluttershy could see how her hoof had simply been ripped from her body. The stump of her leg still oozed darkly, but for all that, Chrysalis still stood on her remaining three legs.

Chrysalis must have noticed Fluttershy’s glance, because she turned slightly and held up the leg missing its hoof for her inspection.

“Like it?” Chrysalis grinned. “That was the one your friend grabbed me by when he dragged me into the fire. He wouldn’t let go no matter what I did, and when he and I were too deep in the forest for me to escape, he tore it off.” Chrysalis made a biting motion with her teeth. “Snap. Just like that. You have no idea what pain is until that happens, let me tell you.”

Chrysalis looked at her stump of a leg and her smile vanished as another expression flickered across her face. But then she was looking back at Fluttershy again, and the smile was back. “But don’t worry about it! I forgave him in the end, and I’ll forgive you as well. Before you die, I’ll bite off all four of your hooves and make you walk around Ponyville, and we’ll call it even, okay?”

Once again, Fluttershy said nothing. Chrysalis laughed softly.

“You took my army away from me,” she said brightly. “My people. All gone, thanks to you. No matter if I survive this day; the changeling race is ended.”

She gestured towards one of the windows, where the smoke rising from the Everfree could still be seen in the dark sky.

“A few survived.” Chrysalis’ face jerked again. “I can feel them, trapped below the bodies of the dead. Screaming.” She beamed at Fluttershy again. “It was a wonderful plan. It was nearly flawless too, except for the part about killing me.”

Fluttershy stirred slightly and Chrysalis continued, “Oh yes. Your friend did his best. He bit off my hoof, and tried to claw me to death, bite through my armor. But it didn’t work, as you can see.”

She gestured towards her scarred carapace. “And then of course he tried to break my neck, toss me into trees, all kinds of delightful things. But he was just a bit too slow to catch me, just a bit too weak to kill me. The fire burned him faster than it did me. All that fur…”

Chrysalis trailed off. Behind her, the fire spat out a few sparks which fizzled on the floor. Fluttershy waited, feeling her torn muscles and bones screaming, but waiting, watching the orange glow play off Chrysalis as the queen sat there.

At last, Chrysalis roused herself and looked at Fluttershy again. She spoke directly to her now, without a trace of laughter or even anger.

“My army is dead, and with it, my people. I am dead, or will be soon. But you know what? I’m not bitter, I’m really not. We played a game, and I lost. You were the better changeling, in the end. You would have made a far greater queen than I.”

Chrysalis nodded once. “A far better queen,” she repeated. “I would have loved to see you ripping Equestria apart piece by piece. But alas, you were born a pony. It’s too bad, really.”

Chrysalis stood up, and walked slowly over to Fluttershy. She sat back, slowly, but Chrysalis didn’t make any sudden moves to attack.

“A good game, a brilliant strategy,” she said once more. “You played well, but in the end, it’s not who kills the most pawns that wins.” Chrysalis tapped Fluttershy softly on the forehead. “It’s who takes the queen. So now it’s time for the consequences of losing.”

Chrysalis smiled then, and it was as wide and happy as Pinkie Pie’s best grin. But her eyes stared at Fluttershy, one empty pit, and one emerald orb, and there was only hatred in their depths.

“Here’s what will happen. You will stay here with me, until one of your friends comes to check on you. The fire was very near your house after all, and they will surely be concerned for their poor, fragile Fluttershy. And then, I will kill them. One by one, in front of your eyes. If you try to call out or run, I will kill your rabbit friend first, and then you.”

Chrysalis beamed at Fluttershy. A part of her face dropped to the floor. “Today I will make your life the same hell I have gone through. I will make you suffer, and beg for death. You will regret ever daring to oppose me, and weep as I slaughter your entire beloved Ponyville pony by pony. And I will enjoy every minute of your suffering.”

Chrysalis leaned forward, until Fluttershy could see into the gaping socket in her face. “This day is going to be perfect.

----

Time passed. Fluttershy lay on the cold wood floor of her house and stared at the queen of changelings. She was sitting next to the fire, her damaged side away from the flames. One empty eye socket stared at Fluttershy across the room. It was dripping slightly, and a black green liquid occasionally touched the floor.

Chrysalis wasn’t moving much, just sitting. She wasn’t dead though; every ten minutes or so, she would twist to look at Fluttershy or Angel, or the door. Then she would smile at Fluttershy and press one hoof to her lips. She was like an excited filly, filled with nervous energy at times, and then she would go back to staring into the flames, looking for all the world like a corpse given life.

Fluttershy could hear her humming something. It was faint, and stopped and started as the changeling queen seemed to lose track of the tune or forget she was singing. It wasn’t loud, just a small, haunting melody, a song Fluttershy thought she had heard once. The queen sung softly as she stared into the fire, and the part of her face that could still move jerked and twitched in a smile.

Fluttershy’s side was on fire, but this was only one of her injuries. Her hooves and fur were scorched from tossing lighting, and she felt broken ribs and cracked bones. When she breathed out, there was a rattling in her chest. But she could ignore the pain. She had been hurt before. What she couldn’t ignore were the eyes.

Angel was staring at Fluttershy, unblinking. He didn’t make any move that might have drawn Chrysalis’s attention, but he didn’t need to. Fluttershy knew what he was thinking. She shook her head, silently begging him with her eyes, but Angel’s gaze remained resolute. Slowly, he sat up.

Chrysalis paused in her humming and glanced back over her shoulder. “That had better not be movement I hear. Otherwise, I might have to remove an ear or a few toes from your rabbit, Fluttershy dear.”

Angel had stopped moving, but he was still looking at Fluttershy. His gaze didn’t waver. She shook her head frantically, but as he had always done, Angel ignored her. He beckoned with one paw. Fluttershy refused to move. Angel’s glare intensified. He slowly pointed to Chrysalis, who had begun sing again.

She knew. She knew what he was saying without him telling her. She knew, but she couldn’t accept it. She would have risked anything, made any sacrifice, but not this. She begged Angel silently with her eyes, but he didn’t listen to her. He never did.

Angel glared at Fluttershy again and then he stood up. At once, Chrysalis stopped humming and jerked upright. She focused on Angel, and a snarl appeared on her lips.

“Sit back down,” she growled. Angel ignored her.

“I said, sit.” Chrysalis’s horn began to glow a menacing green. “I may need you to ensure Fluttershy’s cooperation, but I won’t hesitate to blow off a limb.”

Angel still ignored her. He looked at Fluttershy, and there was sadness in his eyes as well as something else. Not resignation, but something far brighter, that reached into Fluttershy’s soul and pulled something there. He beckoned.

Fluttershy shook her head, but she was trembling, her entire body shaking with that unknowable emotion. Chrysalis laughed scornfully.

“Trying to get your mistress to help you? It’s a lost cause, rabbit. She’s a coward. For all her cunning and ruthlessness, she’s still ruled by fear in the end. She thinks cruelty is all she needs to win battles. But she forgets that cruelty is nothing without the will to succeed, and the power to accomplish it. But Fluttershy here isn’t brave enough to do anything on her own. It takes no courage to be cruel, after all. Now, sit down before I tear off your arms.”

Angel looked at Fluttershy, and there was a moment where time had no meaning. And then he bowed. Slowly, the rabbit bowed to Fluttershy until his ears touched the floor.

Fluttershy heard someone sigh softly, and realized it was herself. Something in her broke, or maybe something woke up and then she was standing, tall and proud, facing Chrysalis and Angel both from across the room.

“What are you doing?” Chrysalis demanded, her voice raising in pitch and anger. “Sit down now! You know you have no chance against me. Either sit, or I kill you both now!”

Fluttershy said nothing, but looked at Angel, He looked back, and now the same light was in both their eyes. They nodded once, and smiled. Then they turned to Chrysalis, a small rabbit standing right in front of her, and a pegasus standing across the room.

Here’s how it ended. Angel leapt at Chrysalis as Fluttershy charged at her from across the room. The changeling queen laughed as Angel charged at her, and grabbed him out of the air and threw him to the ground with a thump. Fluttershy tried to scream, to move her hooves faster, but Chrysalis’s hoof came down fastest of all.

There was a crack as her hoof struck Angel’s body, and he went still, that was all. He didn’t look back at Fluttershy, didn’t stir, didn’t even have the chance to make once last sound. He just went still, and lay there.

The light in his eyes went out at the same time Fluttershy’s heart shattered.

She didn’t remember crossing the distance to his body or picking him up. Fluttershy held Angel to her, and felt how cold he was already. A warm body perhaps, warmed by the fireplace, and the mild night air, but without the heat of life. Empty. The beautiful light in his eyes was gone, and it was gone in Fluttershy as well. Never to return.

And something was standing over her, laughing, mocking.

Fluttershy reached up and grabbed it by what remained of its green hair. It snarled and struck her with one hoof, but she kept rising. She threw it off balance and the thing stumbled, flailing wildly on only three hooves. She shoved it, and it fell to the floor.

It couldn’t get up. It was on its bad side, and could only scrabble for purchase with one leg. Fluttershy ignored the flailing hooves and stepped around to the head. Teeth snapped, but her hoof came down and grabbed the hair again. She dragged it along the floor as it screamed curses, but she heard nothing. Magic struck her back and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air but she felt nothing. But she saw the fire.

It roared and spat and crackled in her fireplace. It had been fed many logs of wood, and given room to grow. The flames left dancing afterimages in her vision. She could feel the burning heat from here.

The thing Fluttershy held had gone still, but when she pulled it towards the fire, it started to scream fight with more ferocity than ever. Again and again it struck Fluttershy and bit at her hooves, but she felt nothing, and her grip was unbreakable.

She lifted the thing’s head, and thrust it into the fireplace. Its scream this time shook the cottage, and it fought to remove its head from the flames. But two hooves gripped its head and held it there among the searing embers.

Something beneath her hooves writhed and screamed and twisted with all its strength. It struck her wildly, hooves flailing, and Fluttershy felt bones break. The fire raced along her hair, and she felt herself begin to burn. It didn’t matter.

Pain came for her, telling her of broken bones, torn flesh, burning skin, but it didn’t matter. Pain was a weak thing compared to the agony in Fluttershy now. Gradually, the thing Fluttershy held began to weaken, and the barrage of blows striking her body began to slow, and then stop. She held it there, even so.

Something was saying something. Fluttershy listened. It was faint, above the roaring in her ears. It came from the thing she held in the fire. It sounded like ‘please’. She ignored it.

Fluttershy’s cottage was filled with darkness and light. The darkest part of the night had begun, right before dawn, yet the deep shadows in her home were wrought by twisting shapes, struggling, fighting. A faint orange glow emanated from a fireplace, but it was obscured by a dark silhouette that writhed and screamed in the night.

But words, if any were spoken, fell upon deaf ears. All Fluttershy heard was the wind. It was not the gentle breeze that played across her mane, drifting in through a broken window and making the fire beneath her hooves dance she heard, though. No, it was a roaring, a howling gale that filled her mind, something that sucked in sound and left only a ringing, and a raging storm of silence.

And in that silence, a voice.

Was it song or poetry? Was it a dirge or epitaph? And was it for Angel, or for Fluttershy? She didn’t know. It came from not from her heart, which was broken and gone, but from another place. It was a different voice as well; it wasn’t full of hatred or anger, and it didn’t scream or shout. It was quiet and sad. It spoke, in words that filled Fluttershy’s mind and echoed throughout her being.

And her heart whispered it, in that voice she thought she had forgotten.

Where has the kindness gone?
Far away, far away.
Cruelty remains.
Once, I thought it could save the day.
But all I see are ashes,
And the faces of the dead.
I wanted to stop it here,
To let myself carry all the blame.
But cruelty is like a circle,
And it just keeps coming back.
I wanted to be kind again,
To let my better side out to forgive and mend;
So long as I could do that maybe I could be saved.
But now my Angel is gone to a world away.
My hope, my friend,
In another place he’ll play.
And now only darkness is in my heart today.

And then the voice stopped, and Fluttershy heard nothing more.

----

Dawn came at last. The light of the sun crept through the Evergreen Forest, reaching over the tops of the dark trees and past them, into Ponyville. The light touched first a cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, and shone through a window. Most unusually however, this was a window without glass, and the light instead was reflected across a thousand tiny shards which glittered and sparkled.

And then the sun’s radiance swept into the cottage and illuminated the lone figure that stood at one wall. It might have been called a pony by some, but in truth it was a pegasus. It was a she, in fact, and this pegasus was covered in bruises, cuts, open wounds that crossed her body and blood. She was not moving, but her breath came in short gasps, and she stared at something lying in a fireplace full of dying embers.

When at last Fluttershy moved, it was like a dreamer slowly waking up. Slowly, she held up her hooves before her, and saw how the fire had left her only blackened skin. Gently, she touched the burned places on her legs and shuddered in pain. But she did not cry out.

Fluttershy looked up at the sun, and then down at what had once been called Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. She bent down and pushed at the body until what had been its face came into view. Fluttershy studied it intently for a minute, and then let the body fall back to the floor. She walked away from it, and bent down to another, smaller shape lying off to the side.

Angel’s body was still warm when Fluttershy picked it up, but it was the last vestiges of heat that remained. None of the burning fire that had filled the rabbit’s was there anymore. Angel lay still in Fluttershy’s arms, and didn’t move.

His eyes were still open. Fluttershy closed them gently. Then she took him outside, behind her cottage where she had a small garden of flowers. She might have wanted to say something, but she had no words left in her soul, and time was slipping away.
So she buried him there, making a small hole in the back of her garden where the flowers bloomed. She dug deeply, but left no marker, nor said any words. She covered his body with dirt, and then dragged Chrysalis’s body out into her garden.

It took Fluttershy longer to dig that grave, and she was aware all the time of the sun rising higher in the sky. But eventually she had a hole deep enough to fit the changeling’s entire body in, and she covered it with dirt. Then she replanted her vegetables in the ground, and walked back into the house. She made sure to wipe her hooves carefully on the mat to erase all traces of dirt. And then she sat.

And waited.

It didn’t seem like a long time had passed before Fluttershy heard raised voices, but the sun had moved quite a ways up in the sky. It was five voices, actually. They were arguing, running over one another, laughing, telling jokes. Fluttershy felt as though she hadn’t heard them in forever.

The voices stopped when they grew closer to the cottage. There was a moment of silence, and then they burst into cries of alarm, fear, and Fluttershy heard hooves pounding up the path to her home.

A door was flung open, and light spilled into the cabin. Fluttershy saw Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie burst into the room, staring first in shock at the destroyed room, and then crying out in horror as they saw her. She stood, slowly, ignoring the pain and smiled at them. Then she toppled forward.

Before she hit the ground five pairs of hooves caught her and carried her away. They brought her body to rest, to heal and mend and to be watched over and worried for. But they left her heart behind. Buried behind her house where the flowers grew.

----

When Fluttershy woke, it was morning. Not the same morning as she had slept however, or how else would she explain the five dozing ponies lying in the room around her? She was also not lying in her own bed, but rather, one of the spotless beds of the Ponyville Hospital. She noted that, unlike Rainbow Dash, she had been awarded a room all to herself. Then again, given the sleeping ponies strewn about the floor, Fluttershy guessed that it had been the only way to make everyone fit.

Gingerly, Fluttershy tried to remove her covers and found her forelegs were heavily bandaged. That state of affairs continued throughout the rest of her body, she found, as both wings and legs were covered by the same constricting bandages, although not around her chest. She could still feel twinges when she tried to move, so her ribs were still probably cracked or broken.

She had made no noises of discomfort, but her rustling must have made enough noise, because what nearly gave Fluttershy a heart attack was Pinkie Pie screaming.

“You’re ALIVE!” Pinkie Pie yelled and launched herself at Fluttershy.


Fluttershy was saved from breaking more ribs and possibly being suffocated by the violet glow of Twilight’s magic as Pinkie Pie was caught mid-leap and gently lowered to the ground. Within moments, the tranquility of the hospital room was broken as ponies shouted and leapt to their feet, nurses dashes in, shouted, were shouted at, and eventually some sense of order returned.

“Well, I think I speak for all of us when we say we’re so happy you’re okay, Fluttershy.” Twilight said at last, once the last nurse had been tossed out of the room and the door locked.

“And not dead or horribly crippled for life!” Pinkie Pie put in. Applejack nudged Pinkie in the ribs, but Pinkie Pie just giggled.

“Yes, well,” Twilight cleared her throat. “You were hurt pretty bad, Fluttershy. Now, I don’t want to pry—”

“—But everypony else really, really wants to know what happened.” Rarity said, practically shoving Twilight aside as she came to peer into Fluttershy’s face. “Fluttershy dear, what happened? Twilight, and Rainbow Dash said you were acting so odd the day of your accident, and of course you couldn’t make it to the spa visit and there was that dreadful fire in the Everfree. Can you—can you tell us what happened? Please?”

Fluttershy looked into her friend’s concerned eyes. The same expression was mirrored across five faces, and they all were looking at her, caring for her, wanting to understand, to know. She took a deep breath. This was it. No more evasions, no more dodging. The finale.

Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling, and then at her friends. She began to speak. Quietly, she told them everything from the beginning. How it had all started, with a changeling in a forest, and how it had led to this day, and the forest fire.

They were all silent for a long time after she had finished. She had watched their expressions change as she told her tale, from pity and shock to revulsion, horror. When she finished, she saw equal parts sympathy and grief on her friend’s faces, and confusion and anger on others.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. She paced back and forth angrily in the wreckage of Fluttershy’s cottage, struggling with unnamed emotions. At last, she burst out,

“I can’t believe you did that, Fluttershy! How could you? How could you? And keeping it a secret from us the entire time!?”

“Now hold on there sugarcube,” Applejack said, raising one hoof. “Ah’m not sure we should be blamin’ Fluttershy for all this.”

“What!?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You heard what she said! How can you excuse that?”

“What I heard,” Rarity said icily, “was a pony doing the best she could to help others in need. I don’t know what you believe Fluttershy said, Rainbow Dash, but I believe she acted with the best of intentions. She made some mistakes, it is true, but she did the right thing.”

“Are you out of your mind!?” Dash was practically frothing at the mouth. “She nursed a changeling back to life and kept it hidden from us until it nearly burned down the entire Everfree Forest! It nearly killed Fluttershy twice, and she still didn’t tell anypony about it!”

“But she was afraid you’d get mad Dashie,” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “Sorta like now, actually.”

“Yeah, but—” Rainbow Dash spluttered as she searched for words, “—but that’s, I dunno, kinda fair when you think about having a changeling right at our doorstep, right!? I mean, that’s gotta be the dumbest, most egg-headed idea any pony’s come up with in the history of stupid ideas!”

“I’ll admit it wasn’t well thought out, but can you blame Fluttershy?” Twilight argued back. “She’s the Element of Kindness, and she cares about all animals. She tried to give that changeling a chance to mend its ways, and while it didn’t work, I think it was worth the effort.”

“Ah agree,” Applejack put in before Rainbow Dash could explode again. “As much as ah hate to say it, peacefulness would be better’n fighting Chrysalis and her lot again. Fluttershy was right to try.”

“But,” and here Applejack fixed Fluttershy with a stern eye, “you shouldn’t have kept us in the dark. I know you thought we’d overreact when hearin’ about this changeling fellow—”

“For good reason,” Dash muttered.

“—But that would have saved us a lot of worrying, and not left you lookin’ like a five-week old apple at the bottom of the pig trough,” Applejack concluded. She laid a gentle hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“It also explains a lot of things,” Twilight remarked thoughtfully. “When I heard your story all the pieces fell into place. I’m just sorry we didn’t pick up on what was happening sooner.”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry I didn’t spot that the changeling had disguised itself as you,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I’d’ve clocked it a good one instead of letting it get the jump on me.”

Rarity touched one of Fluttershy’s hooves. “Did you really feel you couldn’t tell any of us?” She asked Fluttershy quietly. “I’m sure we would have tried to understand.”

Fluttershy looked down at her bandaged hooves. “I didn’t want to worry anypony,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I just—” She choked, and tried to continue. “I was afraid that it might panic if other ponies saw it. And then it ran away, and there was the fire…I just wanted to save it…”

Tears began to fall from her eyes. At once, her friends stopped their debate and gathered around her in a warm hug. They were careful not to brush her bandages, but Fluttershy still felt enveloped by their care and kindness. Eventually, her tears stopped, and her five friends left the room, promising to check back on her tomorrow.

Fluttershy waited until the door was firmly closed and she heard her friend’s low voices from outside. Carefully, she picked up a cup from her nightstand and, making sure it was empty first, placed it against the wall and put her ear to the other side. She could hear the muffled voices now, as they quietly conferred.

“I dunno what she’s so upset about. It’s only a stupid changeling.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight’s shocked voice raised loud enough for Fluttershy to hear even without the cup before she hurriedly lowered her voice. “How can you say something like that!?”

“You saw what it did!” Dash snapped before she was shushed. “I hope it roasted in the fire.”

“Y’know, it might have survived,” Applejack remarked. “Them pegasi didn’t see anything like a changeling in the ashes, did they?”

“The fire was way too hot – anything caught in there was reduced to ash,” Rainbow Dash said. “No telling if it escaped.”

“Well, I’ll send another letter to Princess Celestia just to be sure,” Twilight said firmly. “She’ll put everypony on alert. If Chrysalis and her changelings try to sneak into Equestria again, we’ll be ready.”

“Oh I do hope not,” Rarity said as Fluttershy heard them moving away. “One run-in with that horrid creature was bad enough.”

“We’ll see,” Twilight said. “We just need to be constantly vigilant. And don’t talk to Fluttershy about the changeling, okay? Keep her distracted.”

“Like with a party! How about a ‘you didn’t die or get eaten by a changeling’ party?”

Honestly Pinkie Pie…”

The voices faded as they got further away and accordingly, Fluttershy felt her eyelids begin to droop. Carefully, she lowered the cup back to her nightstand and closed her eyes. At last, she gave into the exhaustion still fraying her consciousness and let oblivion take her.

She slept.

----

Eventually, they forgot about it. Time played a role, as it mended both the scars of Fluttershy’s ordeal and faded memory. Other events such as the battle for the Crystal Empire and Discord’s inevitable return also took precedence and kept everyone’s mind occupied. Fluttershy’s injuries healed, and if sometimes she saw her friends glancing at where her burns had been, she never made any comment.

Before long, the changeling incident as it had come to be known faded away completely from the minds of every pony, to be referred to only in the past tense when discussing the many adventures that had taken place for the Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy returned to being the quiet, kind, and shy pony in the background.

But she never forgot. She never let a day pass without remembering what had happened. And she vowed that as long as she lived, she would never lose one of her friends again. So she watched, and waited, and made plans so that when something threatened Equestria, it would never do so twice. For she would kill to save lives, because there was no one else who could do so.

And that was the story of how Fluttershy learned to be cruel.

----

When the story ended, Tirek said nothing. He just stared at Fluttershy.

And slowly backed away.

She stood there, in his small prison cell. Darkness was all around, the stifling blackness that obscured vision, but shafts of light still fell from above, from Equestria high above. They illuminated her face, her mane, and in that soft sunlight she appeared as beautiful as a flower, as fragile as a summer’s breeze. And she was more terrifying to Tirek than any being he had ever met.

Sometimes, Tirek dreamed of seeing the sun and moon again. Instead of plots of bloody vengeance or the destruction he would wreak or the lives he would take…sometimes he just dreamed of the stars. But such thoughts were foolish, weak. Tirek had always banished them from his mind. But now he wished with all his heart that he could have seen the stars once more.

Before he died.

“What’s wrong Tirek?” Fluttershy said. “Didn’t you like my story?” Slowly, she advanced towards him, and Tirek found himself stepping back. She held no weapons, nothing on her body, and her wings were folded demurely at her sides rather than raised aggressively. But still he retreated.

“It was a fine story,” Tirek said, watching Fluttershy. “I only wish for it not to be repeated here.”

He stepped back and Flutteshy followed. Step. Advance. Step. Advance. She moved when he did, in a slow dance that took them around the edge of Tirek’s cell.

“Come now Tirek,” Fluttershy chided. “I told you from the beginning why I came here. Do you really think I would have risked a trip here if I were not certain of my victory? You know that your death is certain.”

Tirek did know, but to prolong the inevitable, he still stepped back, trying to keep distance between him and Fluttershy. Suddenly he stumbled and nearly fell as his back hoof tripped over something. He cautiously glanced down and saw the small pile of rocks. The same rocks he had so hastily piled to camouflage his skin and hair.

Slowly, Tirek bent down and picked the largest one up. It wasn’t much larger than his hand, but it had a jagged edge to it. It would do.

Tirek looked up. Fluttershy had stopped advancing, and stood in the center of his cell, watching him.

“Now, what are you going to do with that, Tirek?” She asked him, a touch of disappointment in her voice. “It makes my job much harder, and it will do you no good in the end.”

“Better to die fighting than at your mercy,” Tirek spat.

“I suppose so.” Fluttershy didn’t seem worried by Tirek’s weapon. “But the end shall be the same. Tirek, it’s time.”

Fluttershy stepped forward and Tirek froze in fear. But she paused, and sighed and stepped back. “Because you listened to my story, I suppose I owe you this. Have you any last words?”

Tirek hesitated in surprise. But this did not seem to be a trick. Fluttershy waited, with that infuriating and terrifying patience for him to say something. Tirek was unsure. He cast around inside himself.

And he found he did have something to say. Tirek straightened, and looking Fluttershy in the eye said,

“Despicable.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said. Disgusting, despicable, these are the words I choose to describe you with.”

Fluttershy was surprised, but only for a second. Then she merely looked disappointed. “Hm. I see. I’d hoped for more than petty insults after I shared my story, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”

She raised her hoof for another step, but stopped as Tirek laughed, a true laugh that echoed mockingly in Tartarus’s dark cavern. “Petty? Insults? You really are ignorant as well as brilliant, aren’t you? No wonder Chrysalis hated and loved you at the same time.”

Fluttershy paused, uncertain. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s quite simple.” Tirek started to pace around Fluttershy, and she turned slowly with him, never taking her eyes off the rock in his hands. “You see, I’m a villain. That at least, is the term Equestria has awarded me. I agree that by all standards of your pathetic society I can be called a criminal, murderer, and the lowest form of evil imaginable. I believe otherwise of course; that I refuse to bow to the rules of an immortal tyrant like Celestia means that I am only of the few truly free beings in Equestria. And I will do whatever I wish to attain that freedom, even if it means that I must climb over mountains of those I kill.”

“Those are hollow words used by murderers to justify their actions,” Fluttershy said.

“Very true,” Tirek nodded. “You and I are alike in that regard.”

“What?” Tirek had the brief pleasure of seeing Fluttershy’s face go white for a moment with fury. “You and I are nothing alike,” she said, and now there was a dark undertone to her voice, a chip in her calm façade.

Tirek smiled. “We are both murderers,” he said. “The only difference is that I acknowledge my actions, and you hide your guilt behind lies.” He spread his arms wide. “When I kill, it is because it suits my purposes, or because I desire to. But you,” he shook his head. “You kill and then you excuse your actions. ‘I was defending my friends.’ ‘There was no other choice.’ Hah!”

Tirek pointed an accusing finger at Fluttershy. “Chrysalis told you herself: you never needed to stop her army by yourself. You always could have asked Twilight Sparkle for help, informed Celestia. But you killed the changeling army and Chrysalis, killed each and every one not for some noble goal of protection, but because you wanted to. An entire species, dead because of your thirst for vengeance.”

Tirek clapped his hands slowly, mockingly. “Well done. I have no accomplishments nearly so grand. You’ve done far more than I ever did even with all the magic in Equestria flowing through my veins. But you know what? I still think you’re disgusting. Completely, utterly disgusting, and you know why?”

Fluttershy’s face was shadowed. Her mane obscured her features. “Tell me.”

“It’s because you still seem to think you’re the ‘good pony’ in this picture. That, despite everything, you’re still doing the right thing by killing the enemies of Equestria. You put on a mask and pretend to be as innocent as your friends, when your hooves have bathed in more blood than any pony besides Celestia herself. You come here and tell me I must die because I’m a murdering monster? I am no monster.”

Tirek pointed to Fluttershy. “You are.”

He expected an explosion, but Fluttershy didn’t move. The shadows concealed her expression as she stood completely still, but Tirek felt the anger emanating from her like a physical thing.

He heard her breathing heavily, and a faint grinding of teeth in the silence. At last, she spoke.

“Well. I wasn’t expecting that,” Fluttershy said. “Well done, Tirek. You have…a way with words.”

Fluttershy smiled, but her eyes didn’t change. They were fixed on Tirek. “But I told Chrysalis the same thing I shall tell you: it matters not in the end. We are here.”

“So we are,” Tirek said grimly, gripping the rock tightly and bracing himself. “But that changes nothing of what you and I are. Murderers, both. Even if you kill me, you cannot escape the truth.”

Fluttershy’s head bowed. She was completely still, and silent, but Tirek waited in the certainty of what would come next. When her head rose, he had just enough time to see the look of pure hatred in her eyes. Then she leapt at him.

Reflexively, Tirek raised the rock he was holding, shielding his upper body and face. But Fluttershy’s lunge had been a faint, and even as his hands came up, she hit the ground again and ran at him. Tirek was too slow, and she was inside his guard in an instant.

Her wing drew back, and Tirek saw a flash of silver in the faint light. The knife Fluttershy had carried the entire time under her wing as she stabbed towards his unguarded midsection.

A hand came down and stopped the knife cold in its tracks. Tirek grinned at Fluttershy and tore the knife out of her hoof. He contemptuously tossed it to one side. Blood ran down from his hand where he had grabbed the knife by the blade, but Tirek ignored the pain.

Fluttershy backed away from Tirek. Her eyes were wide. “How—” she began.

“It was the only place you could have hidden a weapon,” Tirek said. “And you wouldn’t have come here unarmed. Too bad your plan didn’t work.”

Fluttershy said nothing. Her back hoof touched the stairwell to Tirek’s cell.

“I quite enjoyed your story, you know,” Tirek said conversationally. “I shall remember it for as long as I live. Sadly, I won’t ever get to know how you managed to kill Sombra.” He hefted the rock. “Goodbye, Fluttershy.”

She turned, and galloped down the stairs. Tirek roared and charged after her. The stairs were hewn out of stone and firm underfoot, but hard to move quickly down. Fluttershy ducked and dodged as Tirek swung the stone like a club, keeping hot on her hooves as she fled. His arms meant that he could easily run after Fluttershy and strike as her, and he did.

Tirek struck Fluttershy a glancing blow on the side of the head and she stumbled, but kept running downwards. He struck her side and back, but the speed they were moving at meant he couldn’t do any serious damage. Nevertheless, he drew blood with every strike, and already Fluttershy’s coat was stained red in places.

Fluttershy reached the bottom of the stairs and leapt away. But it was too late. The rock Tirek was carrying smashed into her side and smashed her into the ground. She fell limply, and struggled to rise.

Tirek walked over to her slowly. He must have damaged one of her lungs, because Fluttershy wasn’t able to find her hooves as they slipped out from under her.

“This is the end.” Tirek said as she approached. She struggled and managed to get two hooves under her, but he heard a rattling rasp in her breathing. “As one monster to another, I’ll make it quick.”

Tirek raised the rock as Fluttershy struggled to drag herself away but stopped.

“However, I suppose I should do you the same courtesy you gave me,” he mused. “Very well. Any last words?” He raised the rock high, ready to smash her skull in.

“Just a thought,” Fluttershy wheezed weakly. “I think…you’re making a…mistake.”

“Oh?” Every muscle in Tirek’s body was tensed for her last, desperate attack. Whatever she did though, he knew she wouldn’t be able to stop him. She was no match for him even now, weaponless and alone as she was. “Please enlighten me, Fluttershy.”

“Well,” and Fluttershy’s voice lost its wheezing rasp for air, “did you ever wonder why I didn’t just fly away?

“What?” Tirek’s mind raced, trying to understand what Fluttershy had said, but his subconscious took over. Kill her now, it screamed at him.

A gust of air struck of the back of his neck and Tirek shivered. He raised the rock high and prepared to bring it down on Fluttershy’s head. And stopped. Because he had heard a growl. Every fiber in Tirek’s body froze in sudden terror. Slowly, he turned around and looked up.

Behind him was Cerberus.

The rock fell from Tirek’s numb fingers. He knew he should run, should hide, escape back to his cell or into the labyrinth of Tartarus, but he knew it would be useless. All Tirek could do was stare up at the giant three-headed dog, and all he could feel was fear. Fear, and despair.

“I couldn’t just have Cerberus eat you, Tirek.” Fluttershy said calmly. “That would make him a murderer. But if you were trying to escape and he caught you, well…it’s an unfortunate accident.”

She motioned, and Cerberus sprang forwards at Tirek. He cried out and tried to shield himself, but the enormous jaws opened and he felt crunching, tearing pain. One head took his left hand, the other his entire arm. Blood rushed out of Tirek as he screamed in agony.

Somehow, he managed to get up and run even through the pain of losing his arm. Tirek ran back for the safety of his cell, but something struck him with so much force that he felt one of his legs break, and he slid across the ground. Tirek looked up, and saw three pairs of eyes staring at him.

Teeth snapped, and Tirek felt a gaping emptiness at his side, followed by warm wetness as something trickled down his side. He felt there should have been pain, but there was none. He tried to stand, but his body jerked and twitched and would not obey him. The world was fading, spinning before his eyes.

Silence.

Tirek couldn’t hear anymore. Cerberus wasn’t biting him. It was just watching him. For some reason, he couldn’t hear much as well, as if a bubble of silence surrounded him, reducing noise to faint echoes. But then the pain came, in one sudden attack, stabbing into him, making him feel the pain of his ravaged side and realize that the wetness he felt pooling on the ground around him was his own blood.

It was getting dark. Tirek knew the darkness. He’d lived in it all his life in Tartarus. But this was darker still, and all-consuming. It pulled at him, beckoning. He knew it. It knew him. His world was pain, and the darkness was growing. Dimly, he saw and heard hoofs meeting the stone floor and saw Fluttershy come into view and stand beside Cerberus.

“Help me,” he whispered into the silence. “Please.”

“There’s no one to help you here, Tirek,” Fluttershy said quietly. “There’s no one here but us monsters.”

As the darkness closed in, Tirek looked up, and gazed into Fluttershy’s eyes. They were a deep blue color, the color of the sky and of the open sea. They were the last things he ever saw.

Tirek closed his eyes. And everything was darkness.