In the basement of the pizzeria, Rainbow Dash, still holding on to the remains of Pinkie Pie, wailed, “Why did it have to be Fluttershy? Of all ponies, why did it have to be Fluttershy that betrayed us, that murdered Pinkie Pie?”

From the bottom of the staircase, Applejack said, “Ah know how ya feel, Rainbow Dash. Ah didn’t expect it to be Fluttershy neither. And now, all three of us are stuck down here until we’re rescued, released, or until we die. But, more than that, Fluttershy didn’t just murder Pinkie Pie. She also murdered an alicorn, a princess.”

Rainbow Dash growled back, “And, why didn't they see it coming, huh?" Looking down at the body of her friend, she again cried, "Pinkie Pie, why didn’t you see this coming?”

In the mean time, Rarity, in a corner of the basement, could do nothing but tremble. Since finding out that she’d been locked in the basement with a pony corpse, no, make the two pony corpses, she’d been overcome by terror. She was going to need therapy for a long time to get past this, if she ever was going to, that is.

At any rate, Applejack said, “None of us saw it comin', Sugar Cube.”

Rainbow Dash growled, “Well, Pinkie Pie should’ve. And, she should’ve warned us about it.”

Applejack asked, “Well, what if Pinkie Pie did see it comin’, and just didn’t have time to warn us?”

For a few seconds Rainbow Dash growled as loudly as she could in the direction she last heard Applejack’s voice. Then, she said, “You’re lucky, Applejack, that I can’t see you right now. Because if I could, I’d kick your teeth out for even suggesting that Pinkie Pie wanted to—”

Before Rainbow Dash could finish her statement, the door to the basement opened, and Fluttershy descended the stairs, carrying a butcher’s knife in her mouth. As she approached Applejack, she glared at her and dropped the knife as she said, “Move out of the way. I need more meat for the pizzas, and since Rainbow Dash isn’t finished with Pinkie Pie’s body yet, I’m left with Twilight’s meat.”

Backing away from the glaring pegasa, Applejack said, “Fluttershy, I think it’s time fer us tuh have a talk.”

The yellow pegasa asked, “And, since when are you so big on talking, huh? Doesn’t the Apple family always shoot first and ask questions later?”

After a momentary pause, Applejack said, “Fluttershy, you represent kindness. How could you betray your element like this?”

From behind the yellow pegasa came a sound like a wheezing exhale, then she heard Discord ask, “Yes, Fluttershy, how could you do this sort of thing?” As she turned to face the draconequus, he continued, “I didn’t want to believe that you, of all creatures, were capable of doing this, but ... now I have no choice.”

Fluttershy seemed almost fearful as she said, “Discord, what’re you doing here?”

As the sound of activity beyond the basement door suddenly ceased, Discord answered, “I came here to find out if what I’d read about you was true.” He then picked up the butcher knife with his tail and, studying it, added, “And, it looks like it was true, is true.”

Just then, Princess Luna appeared in the basement, next to Applejack. Turning to each of the ponies held prisoner, she asked, “Are you ready to leave now?”

Applejack nodded, then said, “You’ll also have to remove the bodies of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. And, Ah’m sure Rarity’s gonna need some takin’ care of when she’s outta here.”

The last thing the nighttime princess said before she, along with three other living ponies and two pony corpses, disappeared, was, “Yes.”

Then, from behind Discord, the yellow pegasa heard Princess Celestia say, “Fluttershy, you have been accused of grave crimes. And, from what I’ve seen, they are all true.” As Discord backed away and allowed the daytime alicorn to approach, she continued, “You are guilty of introducing omnivory and cannibalism to my little ponies, and reinforcing it by murdering and imprisoning your fellow element bearers. Fluttershy, what happened to you?”

Fluttershy, after looking around and seeing that her captives were suddenly gone, along with the bodies of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, turned and glared at the daytime princess and asked, “Who do you think you are, coming here and ruining my business like this?”

Both figuratively and literally, fire flared up in Princess Celestia’s eyes as she approached the yellow pegasa and touched her head with her glowing, sparking, white horn, and she said, “Your business. Your business was to take care of the creatures of the Everfree forest. Your business was to represent kindness, to bear its element; and instead you betrayed it. Your business was to defend Equestria from those who would destroy it. And, instead, you are setting the foundation for the destruction of Equestria! If you continue on this course, you will most certainly destroy Equestria, and I cannot allow that to happen!”

At this point, Discord sighed, then said, “Ugh, I’m no good at this, but if it means I can have Fluttershy back, I guess I have no choice.” He then snapped his fingers, and Princess Celestia disappeared, only to reappear back in her castle, glaring at one of the guard ponies. But, as the daytime princess disappeared, Discord said, “Let me take care of this.”

If a female voice could sound like thunder, Princess Celestia’s did, as she could be heard even in the basement of the pizzeria when she roared out, “Discord!”

Ignoring the call, the draconequus grabbed up the yellow pegasa and asked, “How could you do this, Fluttershy? Don’t you remember you were the only one I had to touch in order to turn?” Stroking her mane was one would stroke a cat’s fur, he continued, “You were the one that reformed me. You threatened to withhold your friendship from me if I wasn’t kind to your friends.” He then held her up to his face in his mismatched forelimbs as he concluded, “Only a creature as humble as you could’ve tamed me, made me see the error of my ways. Only a creature of such humility could’ve done that. What happened to you, Fluttershy? What happened to the pony I’ve come to love and respect?”

Fluttershy reached out a front hoof and gently stroked the draconequus’ nose as she said, “Oh, I love you too, Discord.” She then used that hoof to point around the basement as she added, “And, don’t you just love what I did to the place?”

At this point, Discord tucked Fluttershy under one arm and, waving with the other arm, growled, “Yes, I can see what you did to the place.” He then marched down into the basement and approached the skeletal remains of a bear, then poked at the head and said, “Look at this friend of yours. He’s dead! Is this what you think I would’ve done to him? You, more than any pony, should know me better than that! I don’t kill creatures, I turn them into monsters for my amusement! And, if any were to die, I would most certainly not feed them to other creatures, herbivorous or otherwise!” At this point, Discord found himself choking up. He held the yellow pegasa up to his face again and asked, “Fluttershy, is there any chance that I could get you back? Is there any chance that I could have back the Fluttershy I love?”

Now, Fluttershy glared at Discord and said, “Oh, I know what you want. You want the kind, timid Fluttershy back, is that right?”

Discord’s eyes came out of their sockets and developed arms and legs, then walked down the end of his snout and knelt down in front of the yellow pegasa, hands clasping as if to plead.

In the mean time, Discord answered, “That’s right. Can I please have her back?”

Fluttershy continued, “You want the pushover Fluttershy, isn’t that right?”

Presently, Discord said, “Yes.” Then, realizing what he was agreeing to, he shook his head vigorously, and his eyes snapped back into their sockets, as he corrected himself by saying, “No, no, that’s not what I meant.”

Fluttershy then started flapping her wings as she continued, “You want the Fluttershy you can control, is that it?” As the draconequus continued to negate her questions, she concluded, “Well, Mister Discord, you can’t have her back. She’s gone now. I’m Fluttershy the business pony. I run a successful pizzeria, and everypony loves my pizzas. So, if you can’t accept me as I am now, then you can go ahead and leave.”

A stunned Discord released Fluttershy, who hovered there in front of him. After a few seconds, he sniffled loudly, enough to shake the foundations of the pizzeria, or so it seemed to Fluttershy. He then turned away from her, once again ascending the stairs, and waved his reptilian forelimb as he said, “Alright then. But, you have some friends who want to have a few words with you first.”

As the distraught draconequus made his way out of the basement, he remained in the doorway to hear a deep, rumbling voice say, “Fluttershy, I know you didn’t mean to kill me. It wasn’t your fault. I should’ve relaxed when you twisted my neck that last time, but instead I tensed up. You aren’t responsible for my death, I am.”

Fluttershy turned to the sound and, to her surprise, saw the skeleton of her bear friend dressed in the skin she’d removed and stuffed with, for the most part, dirt. She said, “Oh, Mr. Bear, I’m happy to see you up and about again.”

A screechy voice then spoke and said, “Are you then? And what about me, huh?”

Fluttershy looked to the source of the voice and, recognizing it, said, “Why Mr. Cockatrice. You know you can’t turn anypony to stone anymore.”

Just then, the body of the fox, also dressed in his own skin, jumped up on the banister of the staircase behind Fluttershy and barked in a high-pitched voice, “You had an excuse for the death of the bear, but that was all. You killed me because I knew that and why you killed the cockatrice.”

Then, next to the fox, the rabbit skeleton, also dressed in his own skin, jumped up on the banister and asked, no, squeaked, “And, what about me? I was you closest friend, your pet, your angel bunny. You had no reason to kill me.” He then looked down at his fur, then back up at Fluttershy, and asked, “And, look what you did to my fur. How could you do this to me?”

At this point, surrounded by the revived corpses of former animal friends, Fluttershy desperately grasped at anything she could think of, any concept at all, that she could use to excuse herself. But, as she flew over the two mammals perched on top of the banister, all she could do was stammer.

Then, Mr. Bear said, “And, worst of all, you killed two of your best friends, first Twilight Sparkle, and then Pinkie Pie. And, you used our flesh to feed your fellow ponies.”

Now, Fluttershy’s fears got the best of her; and her wings instantly folded, causing her to fall painfully on the step directly under her. After rubbing a hip with a front hoof, she turned to the four undead creatures and said, “Oh, w-well, that I c-can explain. You see, …”

But, before she could even begin her explanation, Mr. Bear walked around the staircase, then ascended them up to the yellow pegasa, then removed the skin from his face, as he said, “Well, if you want to know what it’s like to eat meat as well as plants, then you can have a look at life through my eyes.” And, he flipped the dehydrated face around and proceeded toward Fluttershy with it.

At this point, Discord could handle no more. He quickly exited the basement, then closed the door behind him, and leaned his back against it, keeping it closed.

In the mean time, Fluttershy backpedaled up the stairs until her back hit the closed door, as she said, “Now, now, there’s no need for this. Remember, I used to feed you and take care of you. We were friends, remember?”

Mr. Bear continued up the stairs after Fluttershy, saying, “And, we can become closer friends now. You can have this piece of me to wear for the rest of your life.”

Finally realizing she was unable to escape this nightmare come to life, Fluttershy started screaming. And, that was all she could do. With her back against the door, her limbs were suddenly frozen in their place. All she could do was sit there, human-style, screaming, waiting for the inevitable. And, when the mask was finally applied, for a reason no one that heard it could explain, the dehydrated skin vibrated with her final scream, simulating the trumpet of an elephant.

On the opposite side of the door, when he could no longer hear Fluttershy’s screams, Discord slid down, hid his face in his forelimbs, and started sobbing.

When Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and the two sister alicorns finally arrived, none of them would, none of them could, know how long Discord had been like that.

After a minute of silence, Princess Celestia, the first to speak, said, “Discord, the two of us need to have a talk.”

The draconequus struggled to stand up. When he was finally on his feet, he covered his face with one hand and gestured to the basement door with the other as he said, “It doesn’t matter now. It’s all over. Fluttershy is … Fluttershy …” But, Discord couldn’t bring himself to say that Fluttershy was dead. All he could do was stumble his way out of the restaurant, bawling.

When the spirits of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie returned to the pizzeria a couple days later, they saw the spirit of Fluttershy sitting canine-style in front of the basement door, trembling and whimpering.

The spirit of the purple alicorn approached her and offered to touch her with a forelimb as she said, “Fluttershy, it’s me, Twilight Sparkle.”

But, other than her fearful vibrations, the yellow pegasa wouldn’t move from her spot. And, she’d only stare ahead.

Pinkie Pie stared straight into her yellow friend’s eyes for a few seconds, then turned to Twilight Sparkle and asked, “Do you think Fluttershy’s gonna be alright?”

Twilight, flatly, said, “I don’t think so. She died terrified, and I’m afraid she’ll be stuck like that forever.”

If Pinkie Pie had wanted anything for her yellow pegasa friend, it most certainly was not this. She tried to give Fluttershy a hug; but, since both were without their bodies, she only fell through her. Unable to help her friend, Pinkie Pie started whimpering.

Twilight couldn’t keep the grief out of her own voice as she said, “I know how you feel, but it’s too late for her. We need to head to the afterlife now.”

Pinkie Pie rose to a canine-style sitting position and turned to her purple alicorn friend. Seeing the spirit of the purple alicorn proceeding toward a white, glowing circle, the pink party pony spirit rose up to all fours and followed her, only looking once behind her for a split second to see the yellow pegasa, perpetually frozen in fear.

Author's Notes:

The inspiration for the story itself should be evident by now. But, for those who want to know the Book of Mormon villain that was the model for Fluttershy, here are the clues brought together:

This villain is credited with introducing priestcraft to the Nephites, then enforcing it by murdering a war hero. In the Book of Mormon, his death is described as "an ignominious death."

I'll reveal the name of the villain in the notes at the end of the last chapter, which will be published round about the ides of November.