Fluttershy tried to open her eyes when her friends' voices filled the air, but she couldn't. Another hit. Another hit. Cold hooves, hard as stone, pounding her, hurting her. Her entire body was on fire with pain.

But that din't matter. The girls! The girsl were there! Maybe there was some hope after all!

You crazy mare, what the hay are you doing?! FLUTTERSHY!

Dash, go help Fluttershy! AJ, with her too! Rarity, help me! We need to fight Greentalk!

You! How can you...?! NO! YOU'RE NOT GOING HELP THE PEGASUS!

*SWAING*

*Tunk!*

Ah! TWILIGHT! I CAN'T GO WITH SHY!

And now...

*Bz-CLANG!*

YOU'RE NOT FREEZING US THIS TIME, DISCORD! THE SAME TRICK WON'T BE USEFUL TWICE AGAINST ME!

Discord, you idiot! GET THEM!

*Tunk!*

*Tunk!*

Tch! I can't go with Fluttershy either! Sugarcube, what's...?!

It's some kind of barrier! Twilight, Discord has raised a barrier! We can't reach Fluttershy!

Discord, you said they were dead!

You fools! Why are you alive?! I killed you!

The hits had stopped, but the pain was still here. Fluttershy gasped, trying to breath. It hurted, it hurted so much. Pinkamena was hitting her, she had lost it. The pegasus had seen it in the pink mare's eyes: she was suffering so much. Pinkamena was in pain too. She was fighting against her friends... and against her will.

Cold hooves, hard as stone, liftted her from the ground. She cringed in pain. She couldn't see anything, but she could hear them.

The sounds of war.

*ZAP!*

Gah!

Oh, my! Careful!

*ZAP!

AJ! YOU OKAY?!

I dodged it, sugarcube! Don't worry!

*ZAP!*

Not so fast!

*CRASH!*

Twilght! BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!

Oh, no, this time you're not defeating me with a BRICK!

*ZAP!*

*TONK!*

NO!

Agh! I can't...!

Look out!

Applejack, there's no time for that! Fluttershy's in danger!

You think I don't see it?! But we can't...!

*ZAAAP!*

Argh!

Ouch! My wing!

Girls!

"I warned you."

The voice was soft, warm and calm, like a mother talking to her child. Fluttershy felt shivers down her spine as the warm breath of Pinkamena touched her ear. The pink mare was talking very quietly, but her voice completely eclipsed the battle sounds.

"I warned you, Fluttershy. But you didn't listen," whispered. "I told you I was dangerous. I told you I was going to hurt you. I told you you had to kill me. But you didn't listen."

"P-Pinka... mena..." The pegasus gulped. "Please..."

"Don't even try it." Pinkamena laughed softly. The sound was everything but happy. "It's too late."

"Please..."

Cold hooves, hard as stone, slapped Fluttershy. The mare whined and opened her eyes in pain. The only things she could see were two eyes, blue and cold as ice. Pinkamena was cringing. The yellow mare gulped and faced upon those black pupils.

"Please, Pinkamena... you... you're a good mare..."

"No." The pink pony's smile turned into a seductive one. "You are a good mare. Pinkie is a good mare. The girls are good people. But me? I'm not. I'm worse than Discord himself."

"That's not... Gah!" Another hit, and Fluttershy. "Pinkamen-GAH!"

Another hit, and another, and another. The girls were screaming, Fluttershy could hear that. But she couldn't say if they were screaming for her o if they were just in pain. Everything seemed distorted, everything seemed fake. Shy's head felt dizzy.

"Oh, yes, I'm much worse. And you know what? Because, unlike Discord, I do have a purpose."

The pegasus fell to the ground. Pinkamena had dropped her. With a heavy "tunk", Fluttershy felt the hard ground smashing her ribs.

"You see, Fluttershy, the only thing I want is see you all screaming in pain."

The pegasus opened her mouth, but Pinkamena interrupted her again. This time, however, she didn't whisper. Her voice was a little louder.

"You FUCKING IDIOTS! STOP RIGHT NOW!"

That was the last thing Fluttershy heard. Suddenly, a cold hoof, hard as stone, hit her in the head. And everything went black.

***

...NO!
You... you are a monster!

I am.

I can't...! I-I can't just...!

You can't trust me? That's okay. I don't want you to trust me, Twilight.
The thing is, I'm a villain. I'm against you. I'm going to kill you sooner or later... or at least, I'll try.

Then...

I don't want you to trust me. I want you to play with me, to dance with me. We are on the same intelectual level, Twilight Sparkle. You are a puppet, I'm a puppeteer. I only want you to grab the strings and enjoy the show.

...

Join me, Twilight. Become a puppeteer. Become a villain.

...

It's the only way, and you know it.

...
But... That would mean... that would mean betraying them. Betraying my friends.

Yes. But think about it a moment, Twilight.
Think about what does betraying them means.

...
...
If I bretray them... It's the only way to...

You can try to save everypony and fail, or you can be selfish.

...
Doing what you ask me to do would mean to go against everything I believe. I'm the Element of Magic... Friendship is my...

This is not the show, Twilight. Just stop and think. One way, you can save zero lives. The other way... well, one is always better than zero, right?

...

...

...Heh.
Heh. Heh! Hah! HahaHAHAHAHAHAH! You...! You are a...!

I'm a monster, a villain. I'm a pony who knows what to do. I'm an ally of somebody I hate, and I'm working with him. It's not pretty, but at least I will survive.

I see. You're a genius.

You too.
Deal?

...
I still don't like it. I still love my friends, I still think becoming a villain is horrible.
But... as you said, one life is always better than zero. I'll betray them.
Deal.

***

...

...

I've... read the book. Thanks. It'll be very useful. Although there are a lot of things that don't make any sense.

...

...

...You're working with Pinamena now.

Yes.

You're becoming a villain.

Yes. If you can't understand it, then...

Pinkie is not the only one who can break the fourth wall, Twilight Sparkle. I think I know what are you doing. And I don't like it.

You can't judge me.

...

...

...So, that's it? You're only looking for yourself?

If being selfish means a higher chance of survival, then yes. I'm only looking for myself.
I'll betray my friends.

You know, Pinkie Pie is still out there. The real one. Your friend.

She's not real.

You're going to hurt her.

Yes.

You're going to...

I'm going to do a lot of things. But do you know what's the most important thing right now? Survival. Everything else is just... nothing.

...

...

...
When I created you, you became free because I insulted your mentor.

...

And I think that's the reason why you can talk in purple, you know? Because you defended Celestia. It was such a subtle thing, and...

It was nothing. If I broke free, it was your fault.

There was one thing I could not write, and that was you thinking bad of your teacher. Just imagining the possibility of betraying one of your companions was enough for you to rebel against your author. But now...

...

Now you're just... You're just abandoning everything. Who cares about the girls, right? It's only Twilight Sparkle who matters.

Ponies change. You've changed too. In Equestria, we call it life. Get used to it.

***

At the sound of Pinkamena's scream, everypony stopped. The earth pony frowned in disgust at the sight of the ponies, the draconequus and the changeling queen frozen in the same position they had been a couple seconds ago. Discord and Chrysalis had been fighting against the ponies, who had dodged everything... or at least they had tried. The draconequus was smiling -he had broken the fourth wall, realized Pinkamena. He knew Twilight was a traitor. But he didn't say anything, nor did the unicorn.
Rainbow Dash was looking at them, trying to reach her yellow friend, but unable to pass the barrier that Discord had raised, some kind of magic bubble that protected Pinkamena and Fluttershy... who was lying on the ground, covered in blood, motionless.

As for Pinkie Pie... Pinkamena could see her, a couple meters away. She was just looking at them with dead eyes. She hadn't recovered yet from the author's dead. Aragon's corpse was at her side, its eyes still opened.

The pshycopath smiled. Her voice was one of her best weapons, and she knew it. When she talked, everybody listened. When she ordered something, everybody obeyed. Thousands of stories in which she was talking all the time had given her such a gift.

Now, she was in charge.

"You see, girls, I think you should stop doing that." She talked with that calmed, controlled voice. With her right hoof, she kicked Fluttershy's head. The pegasus didn't react. "Because Fluttershy could end hurt if you don't."

...

...

...

Pinkie Pie just stared at them with a blank face.

...
You were supposed to be one of the good guys. I see that, in the end, the retarded author can't be good at anything.

...!

The... author? You said that...?

"Discord. Dash." Pinkamena interrupted the draconequus. "Shut up. And draconequus, I see that you can talk in underlined now. Do it, or else..."

Oh, now you're trying to play nasty? What has happened, Pinkamena? Just a few seconds ago you were such an animal. Killing Fluttershy has calmed you or...?

"She's not dead."

What?!

...Oh, Celestia, thank you...

Then let her go!

...

Pinkie-who-doesn't-talk-in-pink... What are you...?

No! That's impossible! You HAVE to kill her! You can't...!

"I can." The pink pony kicked Fluttershy again, and this time the mare growled in pain, but she didn't wake up. "And you know why, Discord? Because I'm not a fucking animal. Now, freeze them all. Twilight, if you try to block his spell, Shy's brains meet the floor. Understand?"

...!

What?!

No! What are you...?!

...Bastard.

...

...
Heh. Heh, heh, heh. Okay. Let's play your game then.

...!

...!

...!

...!

Pinkie Pie didn't react. It was impossible to say if she was frozen or not.

Here you go. Easy as pie. And see? I'm even talking like you wanted me to...

...

"I see in your eyes that you don't like what's happening, Chrysalis." Pinkamena sat on the ground, her face covered by a slasher smile. "Clever changeling you are. Now, do you know why Fluttershy's still alive?"

...You controlled yourself.

"Celever girl." The pony's smile only grew wider. "And do you know why?"

Because...?

"Discord, stop talking right now."

...

...Because Rainbow Dash is here.

"Because Rainbow Dash is here!" Pinkamena clapped her hooves. "Exactly! I see that you're not as stupid as I thought!"

...?

...!

...!

...

You... you've realized...

"Ah, girls, I see that you don't understand anything." Pinkamena shook her head in a fake sad manner. "It wouldn't be fair for you not to know what I'm talking about, right? And the readers... they deserve to understand what's happening too."

...

...

...

...

...

What...?

Discord... shut up.

"Oh, yes. That's how I like it." The pink earth pony snorted. "You see, girls... I'm a villain. I'm not a hero, and I've been telling Fluttershy all this time. Chrysalis tried to corrupt me once, but she failed. Right, changeling?"

...

"But she failed. I decided to fight." This time, a little bit of real sadness appeared in her voice, but she didn't stop at that line. "Because I was able to do it. Because I didn't want to be a monster just by myself. Because I didn't want to feel the guilt, because I didn't want to see blood in my hooves once again."

She looked at her legs, covered in red.

"Of course, it was pointless. In the end, I failed."

Pffft.

"But that's not important, girls." The mare ignored Discord. "The important thing is how she tried to corrupt me. Do you know what she said?" Her eyes shined. "She said: kill Fluttershy."

...

...!

...!

...!

...

You little...

"Kill Fluttershy. That's what she said." Pinkamena raised an eyebrow and started to walk around the motionless pegasus. "Kill the pegasus. And what they do now? They corrupt me so I can attack my friends... so I can attack Pinkie and Fluttershy.
Now, let's think about it a minute." The earth pony smiled. "Now I'm calmed, but a villain. Just a couple seconds ago, I was worse than an animal, hitting without thinking. And I ignored Pinkie Pie and went for Fluttershy.
Why? Because she's a pegasus, girls. That's why."

...

...

...

...

***

...

...

You... What the HELL ARE YOU DOING?!

...

TALK!

...You made a mistake, big idiot.

First you corrupt Twilight Sparkle... And now you're against us?! How the...?!

As I said, I'm not an animal, Discord. I'm a psychopath. And do you know what does it mean?

...

It means that I have no moral. No remorses. No guilt. It means that I'm against you, and against the girls, and against everypony.

You think this is a game?! You think this is...?!

No. I don't think this is a game. I know it is.
I hate you, Discord. I hate you so much. And I hate Chrysalis, and I hate the girls, and I hate everybody.

...

Can't you see it? I'm not a monster you can pet. I'm not in your side.
This is a war, and I'm the third party. And guess what? I have Fluttershy. I have the strategical point, you son of a bitch.

You don't have her now. I could...

No, you can do nothing. You can't attack me because you're a coward, because you need to play by your rules or you'll be acting as a free being, and that's too scary for a little monster like you. And SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER: RULE NUMBER ONE!

...You damn bastard! Rules mean NOTHING! I'M...!

Rule number one: no hurting, only talking! But go ahead! Go ahead and kill me if you have the guts!

GRAAAAAARGH!

But remember, Discord, that in the past I still have Fluttershy and I know what you're saying! Do you know what it means?!

YOU'RE A...!

I'm a pony who cares for nothing but your suffering. So go ahead, made my day. Kill me. I'll know it in the past, and then I'll give Fluttershy all my levels. And guess what? The girls will do the same. And then I'll be dead and they'll be dead and good luck fighting against Fluttersy on your own.

...

...

...

...

...What did you say to Twilight Sparkle?

Hmm?

You broke the timeline and talked to her. But you didn't say anything important, she just... agreeded to be a traitor. How did you...?

Every girls has her secrets.

...

Now go, big boy. You've unleashed the beast, now face the consequences. Let's see what happened.

...

***

...

...

...

...

...So what now, Pinkamena? What are you going to do? You have an advantage, but it's not going to last forever. Sooner or later, you'll kill the pegasus.

Pinkamena looked at the changeling and smiled. "Clever girl", she whispered. "That's how I like them."

Slowly, she turned to face all the girls and Discord. "In fact, I just can't get enough of clever girls." Her eyes narrowed. "Discord, un freeze Twilight Sparkle."

...!

...!

...!

...

...What?

Do as she says, Discord. We can't afford disobeying Pinkamena right now.
...

*Flash*

...Ngh.

"Twilight." The earth pony didn't react when the unicorn looked at her with a mix of fear, respect and pity. "Do you see the magical barrier that surrounds me? Raise another outside. As powerful as posible."

The mare stood in silence as the Element of Magic obeyed.

*SWAING!*

"Good." Pinkamena nodded. "Chrysalis, do the same."

...

...

...?

*SWAING!*

"Discord, your barrier useless. Undoit."

*Fluash*

"Twilight." Pinkamena turned to the unicorn again. "Now freeze Discord."

Uh?

WHAT?!

...

PINKAMENA, I SWEAR, I'LL...!

Discord, stop.

...

You ask me to STOP?! I'M NOT GOING TO ALLOW THAT PONIE TO...!

"Discord, I think you don't understand what's happening." Pinkamena smiled as if she was talking to a five-year-old filly. "Look, this is not a petition. It's an order."

With her right hoof, she grabbed Fluttershy. "This pony right here means your doom. Am I wrong?"

YOU...!

"And guess what, I can heal her whenever I want. Because..."

*Gives Pinkamena a frozen waffle*

*Syrup falls from the sky*

"...now I have sugar." The pink mare pointed at the frozen waffle covered in syrup that had just appeared. "Sure, we may not know if Shy heals like us, but do you honestly wanna find out?"

SSSH!

Discord.

...
...Just do it quickly before I kill you.

Hah.

...

...

...

...

"Good." Pinkamena smiled. "See? Now we're ready!"

...
Ready... for what?

Now we're all in the same level. Can't you see it?

...
...Yes. If you try to attack Pinkamena and kill Fluttershy, my barrier will stop you and you won't be able to pass... or at least you won't be able to pass before Pinkie-who-doesn't-talk-in-pink heals Shy.

And if you try to help your friend, my barrier will do the same and Pinkamena will kill the pegasus.

"Oh, but there's more." Pinkamena nodded. "If one of you attack the other, I'll do whatever you're not looking for with Shy. And if for some reason I do something neither of you want, you both can ally and attack me."

You still have Fluttershy. There's no way I'm going to work with her if she wants to kill her.

"Well, I guess you're right." The earth pony shrugged. "But I just wanted to point it out.
Also, Discord won't be free unless Twilight wants to, and Twilight's friends won't be free unless Discord wants to." Pinkamena looked at the frozen draconequus. "I'm sure he can still do that."

...

...

What do you want, Pinkamena?

"Ah." She smiled. "That's a good question.
What do I want? Whats my purpose? Why am I doing all this?" Pinkamena started to walk, rounding Fluttershy once more. "You see, when I say I'm a villain I'm not joking. I'm truly evil on the inside. So, all I want is your pain.
I'll tell you what's going to happen: you're going to fight. But you're not going to fight with your bodies, you're going to talk." Pinkamena licked her lips. "In this world, words are the most powerful thing you can use."

...
So that's it? You want us to... talk to each other? I have to insult Chrysalis or...?

"No," interrupted the earth pony. "You're not going to talk with Chrysalis.
Because I want to see your pain, Twilight. Each one of you..." She waved her hooves, "including your friends, including Discord, has a weak point. A weak point that I know."

You're going to make us talk with the ones who can hurt us.

"Exactly." She nodded. "See, Discord? That's the reason why she's better than you.
Discord, you're going to un-freeze the ponies I want. And Twilight, you're going to teleport them to the place I tell you.
You're going to suffer, that's for sure. Each one of you."

...

...

...

...

...

"And that's it." Pinkamena sat on the ground after kicking Fluttershy one more time. "The ones who talk suffer, the ones who know the others are suffering suffer too. It's a win-win situation." The pony smiled. "And in the end, maybe you'll die and all. Who knows."

You're sick.

"Entirelly true. Now, who's going first?"

***

*Bzeeeeeep*

*Thump*
*Thump*
*Thump*

Ugh...

Agh, my head. It hurts...

Tch.

***

Pinkamena smiled with glee. It had began. Now they were dancing and she was the one playing the music.
Chrysalis, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had dissapeared and were now at the Everfree Forest. The earth pony was able to see them, and Discord too, but that was all. Rarity and Twilight Sparkle were so worried that she could see it in their eyes. The pain, the horror, the fear.
And it was amazing.
But there was something more, of course. Pinkamena was always one step ahead the rest.

...

Rarity was not looking at the earth pony, nor she was gazing upon Discord, Pinkie or Fluttershy. No, the white unicorn's eyes, those two wonderful sapphires were looking at Twilight with an insane intensity. She was trying to say something.

And Pinkamena knew what it was.

The barrier. Everything the white unicorn could think at that moment was the barrier. At that moment, Chrysalis was so far away that her barrier had weakened a lot. The earth pony didn't know a lot about magic, but she was sure that a barrier was a hard thing to do. The changelings' magic was weak. And Chrysalis was in the Everfree Forest and concentrated in something entirely different.

Twilight Sparkle was the Element of Magic. She was able to achieve feats beyond imagination. Pinkamena was sure that the lavender unicorn was able to destroy the magical barrier and rescue Fluttershy. Or at least, se could try to rescue the pegasus. Now was the moment.

But the unicorn wasn't moving. She was just staring at the ground with a guilty face. Because she was Pinkamena's ally now.

"She can try," muttered the earth pony to the unconscious pegasus. "But she would fail, because I can kill you in less than a second. Even weakened, Chrysalis' protection allows me to be in charge even now. The queen is powerful.
But they're not thinking about that." The pink mare smiled. "They just know that Twilight is not even trying. That she's obeying me even though she shouldn't. And so, Rarity feels hate and pain and fear for her friend. And Twilight feels the guilt, the oh-so-powerful guilt."

Pinkamena chuckled.

"She feels guilty, Fluttershy, because she's betrayed you. She's now my minion. And guess what?
There's nothing better than the suffering of a minion. And now, let's see what our favorite lovers are doing."

***

...

...
So. We have to talk, it seems.

...I don't wanna talk with her.

Believe me, pegasus, when I say the feeling is reciprocal. But the sooner I defeat you, the sooner this will end...

Sorry? I think I misheard you. You're going to defeat us? Hah! You have nothing to do!

Heh.

Oh, please. Can't you see it? I can defeat you in ten seconds. That's the reason why Pinkamena chose us as a team. You're going to fall, little ponies.

...
You ain't doing nothing with us, Chrysalis. I'm sorry, but I was defeated once. It won't happen again.

Yeah! And I went trough a very deep and inspirational talk and things like that, and I'm inmune to any kind of lecture!

Eyup. Same thing here. I'm afraid Pinkie-who-doesn't-talk-in-pink has lost her mind, you changeling. And she doesn't know what've been trough lately.

So you are inmune to my words?

Yes!

Eyup!

Then you're stupider than I thought. Just because somebody talked to you and cheered you up you think it's all over? Just because now you love yourselves a lot think that you're perfect? That you have no weak point?

...

...

Then let me clear your mind: that's bullshit.
Because when Discord talks to you, or when I talk to you, we're not lying. We're not trying to hit weak points, we're not trying to be evil.
No. We say what we see and we tell you. We say the truth. And the truth can't be blocked, no matter how hard you try to fake it.

Then use the truth, Chrysalis. Come on. Tell us what you're seeing, and we will not be defeated.

Yeah! Bring it on, babe! You can't touch us!

You two are fake. And in love with each other.
You see, that's the good thing about being a changeling. I know everything about feelings.
And I know how to use it against you.