• Published 4th Jul 2013
  • 9,389 Views, 601 Comments

Inverted Harmony - AmazingBluie



The Mane 6 meet some of their horror-based doubles when Discord gets irritated. Too bad he didn't tell the monsters that they would be working together.

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Ponies Plot Proper Peril

Second Twilight had a target.

She watched the mare closely, measuring every movement and determining when to strike. She had the only weapon she needed in her hoof. Not a normal weapon, of course. It seemed rather harmless to the casual observer. But on the face of her paper-thin tool lay the instrument of her target's demise.

It had taken some work to narrow it down to First Rainbow Dash and Second Fluttershy, but then Dash made a mistake. After her slip-up, there was no question that, friend or not, it would be her that Twilight would have to take down.

That's what it would take to win.

"First Rainbow Dash," Twilight began, still saying the added portion of the name somewhat clunkily, unused to the need for it. Waiting for a dramatic moment, with Dash watching warily, the unicorn struck without warning. "Do you have any queens?"

"Agh!" The pegasus threw her card down, face up. It was a queen. "Dang it, I was so close!"

It was nighttime of the same day that Discord had brought the group together, and they were playing a variation of Go Fish which was of a more tournament style and popular among competitive ponies. It was basically the same as the standard game, but used multiple decks — dependant on how many were playing — and encouraged eliminating ponies from the game by capturing their cards quickly. If a pony lost all their cards before the deck in the center was empty, they lost the game regardless of how many matches they made. Once the deck was finished, ponies played out their hands. Of those ponies, the one ending with the most matches won the game.

First Twilight smiled, having watched her counterpart win the last few matches. "Sorry, Rainbow, you're just too easy to read."

Second Twilight grinned at her. "Look who's talking. I beat you, too, you know."

First put her nose up in mock haughtiness. "I have been distracted with some geographical calculations for the trip both Rainbow Dashes will be taking tomorrow. It doesn't count since I wasn't really trying."

"She's got you there, Sugarcube," one of the Applejacks spoke up. It was Second, judging by the hat. The Rarities had stitched some red string into a design under the front flap, which was the easiest place to see it. It portrayed a plump apple with a stem and leaf on top.

Nopony else had been able to go as simple as just a stitching, considering they didn't often wear anything to begin with. Second Rarity had settled for a small necklace that, surprisingly, was not flamboyant or overdone. It was just the lightest touch to separate her from her double. Another light touch had been Rainbow Dash, the Second of whom now wore goggles on her head. It was one of the few accessories either of them had found acceptable.

Fluttershy wore a scarf, a small one that she still somehow managed to hide her face behind when she felt noticeably shy. Pinkie Pie had been given some large, gaudy clip-on earrings in the shape of balloons. It was her choice; Rarity had been moving stuff aside in a search for a party hat when Pinkie had spotted and claimed them. It had gone well at first, until everypony realized the two were switching which one wore them. Eventually, they settled on one apiece. First Pinkie wore it on her right ear, Second on her left.

Sometimes.

Lastly, Second Twilight had decided on a saddle. It was simple, effective, and would serve well when they left Ponyville in a two days. The other Twilight would probably wear one then, as well, but it could easily be styled differently to avoid confusion.

Responding to Applejack's agreement with First Twilight, Second shrugged. "I suppose she does. The question is," Twilight smirked, "does she want to put away the homework and prove I wouldn't beat her so easily?"

First Twilight glanced up from a map in surprise at the challenge, but smirked back. "I think I could take a few minutes off, if you really want to lose that badly. Deal 'em out, AJ."

First Applejack grinned as she stopped lightly shuffling and started tossing cards out. "My pleasure!"

During the game that transpired, both Twilights studiously avoided each other. Even knowing when First Twilight had a two she needed, Second went after a jack that she wasn't as sure Fluttershy had. It wasn't until most of the others had been eliminated from the game that the two turned against each other.

They watched their mirror selves carefully, like poker champions that both suspected the other as bluffing. Picking at each other's hand, they slowly increased their own piles of captures. Neither paid attention to their friends still in the game, just concentrated on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to face off against someone who was in almost every way their equal.

Though, for one Twilight, it went a little beyond simple competition.

Second smiled on the inside. The unicorn was getting into her opponent's head, she could feel it. This other Twilight had not been through what she had, had not accomplished the deeds she had. That lavender face was giving away so much more than she herself was, she knew. With all of her own Equestria hunting the killer she had become, Second Twilight had learned a poker face far better than that of her twin.

She felt proud of the fact that they had the same amount of captured piles because she had held back, lulling the other into a false sense of security. She didn't want to dominate her opponent; it might cause her to ask questions, again. However, the moves were figured out in her head. Three more, and she knew exactly who would choose which cards, and then she'd strike and win with that one extra pile over her double. It was inevitable.

She would always be the better pony.

Second smirked as the time came. Looking her sweating opponent right in the eyes, she said, "Do you have any threes?"

Eyes wide, First Twilight gave a frustrated grunt and threw the cards harshly onto the table.

"Ha! I win!" A grinning Second Twilight stood up and threw her hooves into the air in victory.

It was short-lived.

"Um… actually, I win."

Both Twilights, and everypony else in the room, looked at First Fluttershy. Then they looked down at Fluttershy's winning piles. Second Twilight felt her cheeks grow hot as she fell to the ground in disbelief.

One of the Dashes laughed, followed by the other. "Way to go, Fluttershy! Show those brainiacs what a real fisherpony can do!"

Second Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled. She was about to, in good sport, acknowledge the defeat to her friend, when the party was brought down by a loud interruption.

A loud banging sound, followed by a few other crashing noises and a yelp, had the girls all gathering at a window to see what was causing the ruckus outside. They saw an overturned garbage bin with its contents strewn about, a broken bottle of reddish liquid which was now spreading and staining the grass, a scooter, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and a familiar purple earth pony with grapes and a strawberry on her flank.

It quickly became apparent she had crashed into the garbage bin and scooter while the CMC were a few feet away. The crusaders were now inspecting the damage to their transportation and fussing at the bewildered pony, who didn't take kindly to being berated by fillies. Waving her hoof, she started shouting loudly at the girls to not leave their stuff lying around, despite the fact that it probably had little to do with her crash. She had obviously stumbled into the garbage can herself and smashed it on top of the scooter, judging by where it lay.

The possibly drunk pony turned around and left the scene, still shouting as if to wake the whole area. The young ponies began to grumpily push the garbage back inside the container in an effort to clean up. Both Rarities and Applejacks suddenly showed up to help out and tend to their sisters.

Their sisters did not know to be expecting doubles.

Second Twilight and the others watched the scene unfold as if it were a drama, munching on popcorn provided by the Pinkie Pies. There was a lot of shouting, accusations, hysterics, hugging, and bouncing as the situation was dealt with and the fillies went their way, heartily waving goodbye.

With no more show to watch, the mares inside trickled away from the window. However, Second Rainbow was oddly focused on continuing to stare through it. Twilight thought she may have been looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but wasn't sure. It was with wide eyes that she stared, though, so the unicorn decided to file it away and leave her alone.

Turning to rejoin the others, she heard a voice identical to her own directing the group.

"All right, everypony. It's time we called it a night, anyway."

Several of the group groaned before starting to head out. It was late, though, and they’d had a very long day. Many of them had a busy day the next morning.

A very busy day.

___________

"The vagrant!"

Second Applejack paced like a caged lion. Her thoughts were consumed by the purple pony who had loudly interrupted their evening.

She remembered that drunkard from her world. That pony was trouble, always going where she wasn't wanted and causing a ruckus. She rubbed Applejack the wrong way by nature of her very existence. The farmer hated her so much, one would have to wonder why she could not resist the smile spreading on her face at the thought of that troublesome pony.

It was probably because she knew how to deal with bad apples.

___________

*crunch*

Rainbow Dash snarled.

*thump*

She backed away from the wall, before jerking forward and kicking out with a back hoof. It was hardly the ideal position for a kick, but the pegasus didn't care.

It was her!

The traitorous whelp! The ungrateful brat Rainbow Dash had worked so hard to help pass the exam, only to see her in the Factory on that awful day. Her failure was an unwashable stain on Rainbow Dash's reputation.

The look in her eyes at the end never left her memory, either.

Dash shook her head of the stray thought. She had let emotion get the better of her for a moment, something she'd thought had been dealt with long ago. It was no use dwelling on the past.

Except she's here! Dash seethed to herself.

Taking several long, deep breaths, the pegasus brought her anxiety back down. This wasn't her world. It was the other Dash's place to deal the filly when the time came.

But what if I could save her the pain? What if I could save her the betrayal of watching that filly fail her despite all the hard work? The question rumbled around in Rainbow's head. The more she thought about it, the more perfect it fit. She had already wondered about what she could do for her other self; this would be the gift she'd never know she needed.

With… that filly out of the way, this world's Rainbow Dash would be spared having to do it herself.

She let a sickening grin slide across her face at the thought of taking that failure, crushing her to the point of death, and dropping her off in front of the back door to the Rainbow Factory. It would be so easy; so perfect.

It was just a shame the machine didn't work with a corpse.

Putting a hoof to her chin, the pegasus considered how she should take down the filly. It would have to be after she and her other self scouted out Smite's place. Perhaps on the return from there, before rejoining the others, she could come up with some excuse to separate for an hour or so.

She had once learned how to take a pony down in only a few hits, but that was a long time ago. She could mostly remember how, and it should only take a few simple jabs to knock that weakling unconscious. Then, anything she wanted to do would be open to her.

Dash huffed. A maneuver like that, with how long ago she had been taught, would have to be practiced. She needed to know she could still strike fast and sure. The last thing she wanted was the filly getting away and telling others what had happened.

Having a pony to practice on would be perfect. She needed somepony who wouldn't be believed; preferably wouldn't even remember. Dead drunk would be even more helpful.

The speedster pegasus smiled. She knew just the mare to try it on.

___________

Rarity twiddled her hooves.

She glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. Its near-imperceptible ticking may as well have been chimes. It persistently smacked into the next position.

Rarity looked down at her twiddling hooves. A moment passed. She looked back up at the clock; then down again.

It was doing no good.

She could feel it creeping up on her; the need. It was going to overtake her if she didn't do something about it. She'd be no good to anyone, distracted like that. It would be best to satisfy it, just once, and be done with it. Just one little scratch on a troublesome itch.

She could almost believe it, too.

There was a prime candidate. That nuisance that interrupted their night earlier, as well as the rest of Ponyville, so far as she knew. Rarity was sure no one would miss her. They could walk to her special place, or this world's version of it, carrying a picnic basket. She could claim a… business proposal. Yes. She could claim to want to discuss wine-tasting for a coming event. Surely there was something acceptable scheduled soon. Then, upon reaching her special creek, the unicorn would distract her unsuspecting companion before stabbing with a syringe.

Then she would reveal the true contents of her picnic basket.

Rarity shook her head. No! I cannot! I must not!

Taking deep breath in and slowly letting it out, Rarity forced herself to stand up and stare herself down in the mirror across the room.

I can control the urges!

While looking into the mirror, she suddenly noticed that, at some point, she'd pulled something from her luggage. It was twitching in her grip. She didn't remember grabbing it.

It was her favorite chef's knife.

___________

She had to do it.

It wasn't her choice. She needed to save Rainbow Dash.

In a few days, they would be headed into trouble. It was bad enough she herself would be going, but the innocent Dashie would be in danger. She was ashamed for not thinking about that before; for suggesting something even more dangerous.

Fluttershy sat at the desk in her room, working on something she’d happened to bring ingredients for, but hadn't thought she'd be using: the foalmula. It was a serum that would regress the mind of its afflicted into that of a toddler. It would help her save Rainbow Dash. Then, she could take care of her. Both of her.

Just like she was supposed to do.

Fluttershy finished the formula, mixing it in with flavored drink that she knew was a favorite of her rainbow-maned friend. She had made plenty of extra; there were two of those pegasi now, and she needed to get at least one of them. As soon as one was alone, she could strike in love with her mind-warping serum.

The only problem was that she wasn't one hundred percent sure it would work. She needed a test subject of this world to be sure the foalmula would affect ponies of other worlds the same way. That, and the drink Dashie likes was purchased from this world and smelled a little different than normal. It might change the effect, which would be very bad.

Fluttershy just needed someone to try it on; someone no one would miss for the few days before the formula would start to wear off.

She needed someone like that rude pony out on the street earlier that night.

___________


Byuk was a few yards outside the room, hovering in the air. Twilight wasn't particularly worried he would get them noticed somehow — he was invisible and had promised not to touch anything — but she kept an occasional eye on him, anyway. He made for a strange pony, that one; or whatever he was.

Second Twilight went over her notes once more. It looked like they had accounted for anything obvious. The only question was how protected they would be if something unexpected happened during their quest. Were they prepared enough for something to go wrong? Could a misjudgment throw them off enough to allow Smite to escape?

If worse came to worst, Twilight did have a hidden ace. More than that, it was a weapon of such magnitude, she could almost fix this whole situation from right here. If only she knew his face!

Twilight glanced around out of paranoia, despite having thoroughly cleared the room of any way to spy on her. She then pulled out the saddlebag she had brought with her to this world. Opening the flap, she undid a camouflaged pocket and pulled aside the innards designed to look like it belonged as part of the pack. There were ways a unicorn could conceal items more easily, with magic, but she hadn't trusted the ponies of this other world to not detect such an attempt. The last thing she wanted was to draw undue attention.

Reaching back into the pocket, Twilight withdrew a notebook. It looked fairly ordinary, except for the dramatic title on the front: Death Note.

She quietly, reverently set it upon the desk she was using, opening it up and flipping through all the names of the deceased she had written inside. They had each been alive when she wrote their name.

Twilight reached the last name she had written and stared at the mostly blank page for awhile. It would be so simple, and she could plan it to be so. It wouldn't be difficult to confront Smite, then sneak away to quietly set up his death. All she needed was to write the name while keeping his face in her mind, and she would be able to kill him in any way she pleased, from a standard heart attack, to a complex force of action for him to accomplish before committing suicide, masking that anypony had been involved at all. That was assuming, of course, that the deadly notebook even worked.

Any and all her calculations could be at fault if the Death Note didn't work in this universe, or on these ponies, or even with two of the same pony in the same place. Not that she would be testing for that last question; she was not anxious to kill any of her friends again. She did need a test for those other factors, though.

Twilight quickly set about outlining the details of the experiment she needed to perform, and what exact information was to be obtained from it. She slowed to a stop as she realized that in order to perform the test, there would have to be a subject.

Somepony would have to die. It was not ideal circumstances. This wasn't her world, these weren't her ponies, and she had no clue who to go after. It was a much nicer place than her home, which had too many killers for a pony to care about some silly cider sprayer.

There was one pony, though. One pony she knew of on this world that may make an acceptable subject for her test.

The pony that had thrown their night off balance earlier had committed no serious crimes, to Twilight's knowledge. Under the circumstances, though, with the need for information looming and so few options, she was more than willing to make a public nuisance disappear.

Twilight nodded to herself in satisfaction. She had the experiment's outlines, the tools, and now the subject. If everything worked as expected, all she would need is Smite's face. It's a shame nopony had snagged a picture of it so far; though, even then, they would still need to find his body for confirmation. Causing him to just run up to them and admit everything before suffering a heart attack could bring about suspicion.

The unicorn shrugged off the thought. It was no use pondering over the possibilities of if she knew his face. Right now, she merely had to make sure the Death Note worked. Twilight pictured her target in her mind, name and physical features coming to mind. She let a little smile curl the side of her lip; it was so easy.

Of course, it would do little good to put her name in right now, during the night. The test results would be skewed if the death wasn't immediately noticed. This was not an experiment the scholar wanted to feel the need to run again.

She realized it was bad enough, already.

Twilight sighed. I know your crimes are hardly as atrocious as those of my usual targets. However, this is for the betterment of society. You're going to have to die tomorrow, to make way for justice.

___________

Pinkie was so excited she bounced off the walls of her small room, having graduated from simply jumping on the bed. Twisting in the air, she landed on her tail and used it as a spring to shoot her across to the strange machine covering one side of the room. The object was more like a large conglomerate of arts and craft, junkyard parts, and children's building blocks.

It was ready!

Her system was complete, and she could pull the next number and get to work making the greatest cupcakes ever! All of Ponyville would show up to try her very special "otherworldly" pastries, and they would love it! Almost all of Ponyville, anyways. One would be missing.

Now she just needed to find out which one it would be.

She pranced up to the operations panel of the cobbled-together machine. It was rickety and didn't look too stable, but that was what bubble gum was for, right? That, and chewing, of course, because that stuff tasted really good, especially the watermelon-flavored.

Reaching toward the console, Pinkie flipped the starting domino. It then knocked the next domino down, which did the same to the next, and the process repeated itself down the line. They split and one side started a marble rolling along a track and the other disappeared into a cardboard box which stored more of the machine's components hidden from view.

As Pinkie waited, watching her machine work on producing the next number, she hummed a little jingle. With a screech, a plop, a whine, and a gurgle, a piece of paper slid out of a slot in the box. The digital screen above the slot flashed "Thank you!" then "Have a nice day!"

Pinkie yanked out the number in excitement, then matched it with the correlating name. She grinned, then giggled at the coincidence of having watched this pony pass by earlier that night.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Berry Punch."

Author's Note:

I had hoped to have this out yesterday, but things didn't work out that way. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to update next weekend from the looks of it. I'll do what I can, though!

Keep in mind that inspiration gives me energy, so give me some comments to power my writing!