Equestria Girls: Secrets Beyond the Stars

by GoldenGoomba900

Two for One

Inapan saw Fluttershy's movement out of the corner of her eye, her glowing wings providing the necessary light. Approaching the girl, the alien put out her glove, not in a fist or carrying a weapon, but in an open palm.

"But, I suppose a willing servant is a better solution then a dying slave. I am not a cruel, heartless monster. I am a woman who wants only the best for herself. Perhaps if you join me, tell me about your energy, let me harness the secrets and the abilities your kind knows it has, then maybe all of this could go away."

"Wh-what?" Fluttershy asked, confused in her change of tone. "But you-"

"I did things because I had to. Your friends attacked me first, assuming I had come in favor of violence." She lied through her teeth and removed her gloves, holding the hand out again. "Everything here was done in self-defense," Inapan remembered how Lemon and Indigo had tried running the moment they saw her, and how easily a blast to the back of the head fell them. "Join me, I can bring back your friends, I can give your world cures and technologies they would never achieve on their own, and humanity can rule by my side."

Fluttershy was about to answer when a voice came from the top of the stairwell. It sounded like Lemon and Indigo saying something both at the same time. "She's lying! We saw EVERYTHING! She shot us in cold blood! If you give her your hand you will die!"

"Obviously!" Fluttershy said, unhappily smacking Inapan's hand away. "I'm not a fool, Princess!" She began getting closer to the alien, pushing her back. "I'm not going to be sweet-talked into helping a genocidal lunatic simply because she claims to be sorry." Inapan's hearing slowly came back to her as Fluttershy continued, content her mask would keep her safe.

"I saw what your sister did to Cinch, the one human who helped you. You kidnapped and forced the one human who cared about you into a loveless marriage. You've killed my best friends! I may be trusting, but I'm not stupid!"

Inapan's smile turned into a frown, then into a grimace, then finally, a scowl. "You do NOT speak of my husband like that!" She said, clenching her fist. "He loves me, and I love him! We are DESTINED to be together!" before Fluttershy could react the back of Inapan's hand made its way across her face, the blow knocking her mask aside and out of her reach. She swiftly followed with a blow to the girl's stomach, bending her over and into prime position for what is commonly known as a "kneeing in the mouth". Fluttershy hit the ground, moaning as Inapan climbed onto her and scratched at her face.

Fluttershy tried to reach for something to disarm her, or at least knock her off with. Grabbing a snowglobe and smashing it against her face was a prime choice, sending Inapan to the floor with shards of glass in her.

"Now's your chance!" Lemon and Indigo's voices shouted, spotting Inapan's glowing wings fall to the floor. "We need to get out of here!"

"No!" Fluttershy said. "You go, get yourself and the crusaders to safety! I'll keep her busy!"

"But she'll kill you!"

"Just go! I can handle myself!" Fluttershy turned back around, just in time to see Inapan had gotten up. Removing her gloves, Princess tossed them aside and lunged at Fluttershy who kept her ground.

The figure, unsure what to do, followed the orders. Running out of the kitchen, she ran through the house, looking for the remaining crusaders until she arrived in the restroom. "Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie's response was not as hoped. She shouted and backed away, pointing at the figure approaching her. "Wh-what's wrong? What's, is there something behind me?"

She turned to look behind her but instead caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She couldn't believe it, so she carefully turned back to it. In the mirror was a girl in the Crystal Prep school uniform, wearing both goggles and headphones. One of her eyes were gold while the other was orange, on one of her arms was a sweatband, her skin was a pale pink, and her hair was long and flowing in the back, but pointed upwards in a slicked-back manner in the front, colored in three shades of aquamarine. Opening her mouth, the voices of both Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest came out in unison.

"What on Earth?" She covered her mouth, Sweetie Belle standing her ground in absolute confusion, holding a toilet brush to defend herself from the strange new girl that had just wandered in to this tale. It was at that point that it stuck them what had happened: "The laser!"

---

Inapan stood over Fluttershy, both of them battered and bruised. Cracking her knuckles and panting, the alien began leaving towards the stairwell, content her opponent had been defeated.

"I've gotten more than enough genetic material from you. I don't believe this fight is necessary anymore..." Fluttershy moaned in response, turning onto her stomach to face the alien as she walked away. "I'll just clone you and use its energy. Don't worry about it, since pain will be the only thing it'll ever know, it won't think twice about serving me... unlike you."

As Inapan began leaving, a loud humming came from behind her, the christmas lights, the broken lightbulb, and the assorted other decorations began coming to life, shining brighter than they ever had before. Fluttershy's body slowly floated from its position to a t-stance, where butterflies seemed to miraculously burst forth from her. Her hair grew longer, and from the back of rarity's coat had come the wings of a pegasus. Opening her eyes showed nothing but pure light, the entire basement becoming exposed as all of Fluttershy's injuries healed themselves before Inapan's eyes. The basement's many boxes were revealed, as well as their contents; boxes of sports equipment, old plastic bags, old clothing, Nightmare Night costumes (including a box of old masks that had fallen over next to Fluttershy's), there were boxes marked fragile, boxes with canned food, and another two doors were exposed to them; one to the pantry and one to the power and appliances.

"So, this is the power my sister had told me about..." Inapan mused, returning in front of her opponent. "Yes, this should work well on m-" Fluttershy grabbed the alien by the collar and lifted her. Inapan pushed away and used her wings to take to a similar position.

"No more talking, Princess." Fluttershy announced. "We end this now." She opened her palm and a sphere of energy began forming.

"Well said." Inapan admitted.

The two stared one-another down, each waiting for the other make the first move. Fluttershy moved her hands slightly, hoping to fake Inapan out, to no such luck. Finally, after what felt like forever, the alien began charging at her enemy, the yellow girl ducking out of the way and firing the energy sphere at the alien's back. Shouting in pain, Inapan turned back around to return the favor, grabbing a hefty box of various fine chinas and throwing it at Fluttershy. Barely dodging the strike, Inapan dashed forward to close some ground between them. Having learned from a prior mistake, she grabs Fluttershy's fist that was planned to sucker-punch her, and follows up with a headbutt, sending the yellow girl reeling. Holding her forehead, Fluttershy spotted her mask on the floor, next to a variety of Nightmare Night masks. Realizing how quickly the fight would be over with that mask, she hardly notices Inapan coming in to scratch her face until it was too late.

The alien's degloved hands were more like a falcon's talons than human hands, now that Fluttershy saw it in proper light. Although it was in the same five finger layout one would expect, it had bands of flesh creating a ring-like pattern across her fingers. At the tips of her hands were curved, jagged nails that dug deep into her flesh, tearing as much as they could while she struggled to pull them off. The equestrian girl finally pushed Inapan away with a backhand and backed away to survey the damage done to her lower face. Before she could wipe blood off of her mouth, the alien emerged from her daze. She raised her hook-like claws for another swipe, but Fluttershy had turned her looking away from her opponent into a shoulder-charge, pushing her into a large box. The cardboard box made a loud metallic clang as Inapan fell to the floor, a hissing sound emerging as it fell apart, revealing it had held the home's water heater.

Turning her attention to the mask on the floor, Fluttershy began rushing to the it in hopes to grab it before Princess could recover. Inapan grasped the back of her head, pulling herself up with her wings, careful not to be burned by the hot metal and careful not to tear into herself with her claws. She was marginally confused before recalling what information the clone Flash had given her. Running forward and tackling Fluttershy to the ground, the two of them stopped within arm's length of the mask.

"Don't, you fool!" Inapan shouted, unhappily. "You don't know what powers you mess with! My technology and your energy could be disastrous in an uncontrolled environment!"

"It would be disastrous in your hands too!" Fluttershy's retort was as subtle as it was effective; she elbowed the alien in the mouth and crawled forward, putting on the mask.

Rather than erupting in a burst of light, or floating to the center of the room, Fluttershy's transformation was just as brief and uneventful as Twilight's putting on of the mask.

Or so it seemed. Inapan pounced onto Fluttershy once more, aiming to scratch out the back of her head. The moment her first crooked claw drew blood, Fluttershy vanished and her attacker fell to the floor.

What remained was a blast mark, like one that would result from an explosive. Inapan took a deep breath, the air feeling heavy and the situation having taken an odd turn. She looked around, to make sure what she was seeing was real.

Author's Note:

Removing gloves is seen as an insult in Venusian culture. As for why Tested doesn't have those eagle-like talons, it was something Inapan inherited from her mother.