Smiles.

Fluttershy looked around the room. The story about Discord’s prank on Twilight and Cadence had gone well. The animals had been cheery, laughing at the chaos god’s antics until she had mentioned the stakeout. Now they were silent again. Not smiling anymore.

She had to change the topic. Fluttershy cast around and cleared her throat.

“It wasn’t all war. There were moments of…leisure as well. I, that is to say, Fluttershy sang a few songs as part of a fundraising event. It was troublesome, but…”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“It was a pain to deal with. Especially since it all started when Big Mac lost his voice…”

----

“Singing?” Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Fake Fluttershy gulped. “U-uh, it’s for the Ponyville Pet Fundraiser.”

Fluttershy rearranged the papers on her table. They were supply reports, scouting details, and confidential scrolls sent from Twilight to Princess Celestia. She had a hundred things to do, but somehow she was stuck dealing with this.

“I thought you booked the Ponytones for that idiotic affair.”

“I-it’s for a good cause. And I did ask the Ponytones to sing, but, uh, Big Mac lost his voice.”

Fluttershy stopped reading a report on the Everfree and looked up. “Big Mac? He sings?”

“Yes. He’s part of the Ponytones, but he was in a turkey call competition yesterday and—”

“A what?”

“Um. The annual Ponyville Turkey Call Competition. It’s hosted at Sweet Apple Acres every year.”

Fluttershy stared at Fake Fluttershy until the other pegasus started to shift uneasily. “Alright. Fine. That makes…sense. But why are you singing now?”

“Well…Rarity and the other heard me uh, singing earlier, and she thought we could use Poison Joke to make my voice deeper.”

“What?”

“Poison Joke. We’re going to use it.”

“I’m familiar with that damnable plant. What about it?”

“Well, it makes m—Fluttershy’s voice deeper, right? And if uh, I used it, it would make me sound like Big Mac.”

Fluttershy stared at Fake Fluttershy again.

“Have you been drinking apple cider?”

“No.”

“Well then. One last question. Why were you singing so that the others could hear you?”

Fake Fluttershy flinched and took a step back. “C-changings are naturally talented at acapella. I was singing for fun, and—”

“I don’t sing. Fluttershy does not sing.”

“W-well, she has in the past.”

“And she doesn’t now. She especially doesn’t sing in front of a massive audience.”

“B-but what about the fundraiser? The Ponytones are the highlight of the event! Without them—”

“Cancel it.”

“But—”

“You persuaded me to go along with it since it wouldn’t cause much of a fuss and it would raise funds. It’s becoming a problem, so cancel it.”

Fake Fluttershy bowed her head. Around her the animals let out expressions of dismay. Fluttershy glanced down at a mouse that had tears in its eyes. Her animals cried too easily. Admittedly, the ones who had seen combat never cried anymore, but…

“You enjoy it?”

The mice nodded happily. Fluttershy hesitated and turned back to look at Fake Fluttershy.

“Fine. Sing. How many times will you do it?”

“I was only going to sing at the fundraiser to cover for Big Mac—”

“I can’t pull off all the animals from patrol duty. Are there any more times you could sing with the…ah…”

“Ponytones.”

“Ponytones. Right. Any other times?”

“I…could ask Rarity about that. She would probably love to have me sing more and—”

“Do it.”

Fake Fluttershy nodded in relief. “I’ll tell. Rarity. She’ll be so happy. And thank you—”

“Go.”

Fake Fluttershy left. Fluttershy turned to her animals who were smiling. She tried to smile herself, but her lips only twitched. “I’ll make sure anyone who wants to watch gets time off. You’ll all get to hear the music; don’t worry.”

The animals cheered and chattered in excitement. Fluttershy tried again and found she could smile. It didn’t feel that bad.

“Alright, pass on the message. Let all the units on and off duty know and have Longfoot report to me so we can work out time off.”

The animals nodded and scurried out the door. Fluttershy sighed and pulled a sheaf of papers and quill over to her. Figuring out how to balance the duty roster would be a chore, but at least it would make everyone happy. And that was important. Very important.

When she was sure no one was around Fluttershy quietly hummed a little.

“…find the music in you…”

----

“I’m sure we can have another rendition of the songs,” Fluttershy said as the animals murmured. “Or arrange another Ponytones performance. But yes, it was a fun week in Ponyville. And we maintained that effort into the next month. Minor threats like manticores, timberwolves, cockatrices, etc. we wrapped up with no problem. However.” Fluttershy’s voice faltered and stopped.

A pair of squirrels moved in the audience. They clutched at each other, two grown squirrels sitting side by side. They stood out to Fluttershy among the restless animals because she had looked for them.

Because she was aware of their presence. As she had been throughout her tale, when her eyes had fallen on certain animals as she recounted the battles. Now Fluttershy looked at the two squirrels and met their gaze for a moment before looking away.

Her throat was tight, and her heart hurt. But everyone was watching her, and the truth burned next to the lies. She had to go on.

“There were…incidents,” she whispered.

----

The air in battle is always hot. It burns the throat and sears the lungs with life-giving pain. So too then, was the air in Flame Geyser Swamp a fitting climate for the battlefield. The erupting fiery pits and painful black smoke were a fitting place as any to spill blood.

Not that there was any need for combat now. Fluttershy looked around. Battle had come and gone. She could sense that in the air – violence. She had walked many battlefields and could practically taste it.

The swamp was full of motion and silence. Animals assembled in front of Fluttershy, let by a sooty but otherwise intact Longfoot. They assembled themselves for her inspection, arraying their ranks in perfect military precision. That pleased Fluttershy, almost as much as the sight of the bound captive several meters away did.

The operation had been a success. Fluttershy walked down the ranks of animals and noted their injuries. Not bad. Only two animals had broken bones. Another had a deep gash and a few more needed stitches which they were receiving courtesy of the medical teams, but the rest were simply cut or bruised. Success, in short.

But Fluttershy’s heart skipped as she reached the end of the row of animals and came up with a number different than the one she desired. She looked down at her forces. So unscathed. A perfect operation, and yet…

Fluttershy turned to Longfoot.

“Casualties?”

Longfoot nodded. He held up a paw and tapped the ground.

Once.

A hole opened up in Fluttershy’s heart. One. But only one.?

Yet one.

“Show me.”

Longfoot hesitated, but then hopped over to a pile of leaves. Lacking cloth, the animals had covered their fallen rather than let the corpses lie out in plain view. All soldiers did that, given the chance.

Fluttershy didn’t want to, but she walked forwards anyways. Her face was still, expressionless, at odds with the emotions in her chest. She looked down, and saw it.

A squirrel. A young one, a soldier freshly made. Almost too inexperienced to be in this operation, but he had volunteered. The cause of his death was plain; the right side of his face was crushed, smashed away by an unimaginably heavy impact. When they had brought down the enemy? Or had he been killed during the opening moments?

It mattered not. Fluttershy knelt and remained still for a long moment, looking at the squirrel.

Failure.

Once again, failure. It echoed in Fluttershy’s mind. The operation was a failure. A success, yes, but failure. She should have coordinated it herself, she should have lead her troops personally. But she had needed to test her forces, trust in Longfoot’s leadership. And the cost of that test had been death.

But only one. Fluttershy felt a mad urge to grin and fought it down while the animals clustered around her. How terrible. How sinful. And yet, with only one casualty it was a brilliant operation, a masterfully executed plan. Any general worth their salt would have admired such a victory. Part of Fluttershy rejoiced in her tactics.

But the squirrel remained dead, and her happiness lay still in her chest. Failure. But she had more work to do before she could dwell on it.

Fluttershy stood and nodded at Longfoot.

“See to it he’s taken back and buried. I…will talk to his family. But for now, take me to them.”

Longfoot nodded. Several animals moved over to the body of the squirrel and carefully lifted it onto a stretcher made of twigs and leaves. Fluttershy avoided looking at the animals and followed Longfoot.

The prisoners were chained up against a tree. Well, to be more precise, they were chained up between several trees. Large iron links looped around their paws and torso, binding them in place. Even with their tremendous strength they could not break free. All three shrank back as one when Fluttershy approached.

“Hello there.” Fluttershy greeted the chimera calmly, quietly. Her heart was ice. “And goodbye.”

The chimera’s three heads looked up in confusion. Behind Fluttershy animals approached, holding long coils of rope. They began climbing up the trees and fastening knots.

“Wait. What?” It was the tiger’s head that spoke first. “Who are you and what do you want with us?”

“Me? I’m Fluttershy,” Fluttershy said. “I’m very pleased to meet you. And what do I want? I want you three. Dead.”

“What? Why!?” This time it was the goat head’s turn to speak. “We’ve done nothing to you! We were minding our own business when these animals attacked us!”

“Three days ago you met a filly named Applebloom. She was making a delivery of pies through the swamp, and you decided to try to eat her.”

“But we hadn’t eaten in dayssss!” The snake head protested. “We were so hungry! And she had pies!”

“True.” Fluttershy watched a pair of squirrels knot the rope into a long loop. “And I would have let you go for that. My animals were only here to restrain you so we could ‘chat’. However, it seems in the struggle you killed one of them.”

“What?” The goat head looked shaken. “No, we didn’t! We didn’t bite or claw any of them that badly!”

“One of my warriors was crushed by a falling tree you knocked over. It was an accident, I’m sure.”

“Yes, it was! We didn’t mean to kill anything. Well, we did, but we just wanted to eat!”

“Understandable.” Fluttershy nodded to the animals who scampered out of the trees. Three nooses hung from the trees, secured firmly by multiple knotting’s and looping around the thick branches. “But that changes nothing. I would have made use of you and let you live before this, but a death is on your paws. For that, you must die.”

“Wait!” The serpent head moved frantically in entreaty. “We didn’t mean to! Thisss is crazy! We’re just following our instinctsss!”

“So am I.” Fluttershy stretched herself and nodded to her animals. “I have rules. If anyone breaks them, they die. It doesn’t matter of it’s an accident to me. You kill one of my subjects, you die. It’s as simple as that.”

The animals advanced on the chimera and began dragging at the chains. The goat head and shake head began to scream and thrash, forcing the animals to struggle to loop the nooses around their heads. Fluttershy watched impassively, but just as the goat’s head had been fitted through the first noose the tiger head spoke.

“Please. Let my sisters go.”

Fluttershy held up one hoof. The animals stopped, hands around the lengths of rope.

“Why?”

The tiger’s head looked at Fluttershy. “You want a life, right? Because we killed one of your people by accident?”

“Yes.”

“Then take mine. My two sisters and I – we’re three lives. If you kill all of us, it won’t be fair. Just take me, and settle the debt. Okay?”

Fluttershy paused. The goat’s head and serpent’s head were staring at their sister in horror, but the tiger’s head just looked tired.

“Please,” was all she said.

Fluttershy came to a decision. She nodded at her animals.

“Just her.”

Swiftly, the animals unwound two of the nooses and began fitting the tiger’s head for the last noose. They had a hard time. The tiger’s head was still, head bowed but the goat’s head and serpent’s head fought fericously, snapping at any animal in reach.

“You monster!” The goat head screamed at Fluttershy. “Stop this! It was an accident. We’re not to blame! You can’t kill us for following our nature!”

Fluttershy looked up at the goat head calmly, and then went back to studying the noose. The chains were being used as a pulley to lift the chimera into the air. It required all of the animals hauling on the chain to pull the chimera upwards; when they let go the chimera would fall to earth instantly.

At last the chimera was at the right height. The tiger’s head stared blankly ahead, noose around its neck as the animals strained to hold the chimera in the air.

“Please!” The serpent head begged Fluttershy. “Please, don’t!”

Fluttershy ignored her. She walked over and looked up at the tiger’s head. She stared down at Fluttershy, eyes full of emptiness.

“I keep my word,” Fluttershy said. “Your sisters will live so long as they attack no other being.”

“Thank you,” the tiger’s head said. “For sparing them, thank you. And I hope you rot and have your flesh eaten by worms for the rest.”

“You may get your wish someday.” Fluttershy shrugged. She turned to give the signal. “But for now, I will live.”

“Please—”

Fluttershy raised on hoof.

“Do it.”

----

Screaming. Two voices rang out in the silence of Flame Geyser Swamp. The last was silent.

The shadowed clouds of billowing smoke were full of shadows that moved about in the night. The bright red glow of the geysers lit up the night, turning everything blood red and wet.

Something hung from the trees. Something choked and failed to breathe. The screaming continued, mixed with pleas and lamentation. But in the silence between the shrill voices crying out for aid a life gurgled and choked. Fading away. Dying.

The chimera’s tiger head was still. The rope cutting off its circulation dug deep into its neck. It hadn’t snapped from the fall, but it could no longer breathe. That its sisters could made little difference; the brain of the tiger’s head was still cut off by the choking rope as oxygen failed to reach it.

She struggled to breathe. The tiger head choked, eyes bulging, yet it never looked away from something on the ground beneath it. A small shape stood illuminated by the pits of fire, and it was at this the tiger’s head stared.

Fluttershy didn’t look up. The screams of the two sister fell upon deaf ears. She cradled the body of the mouse in her hooves. Carefully, she stood and looked at the other animals.

“Let’s go.”

Fluttershy turned and walked away. Her animals hesitated, but hurried after her. Behind them, a dark and bloated fruit hung from the branches. Three heads sprouted from it, two sobbing and crying out into the darkness. But the third hung and stared at the retreating pegasus, stared as it’s light faded and all that was left was darkness.

The wind picked up and blew the scent of brimstone and burning rock into the air. Fluttershy didn’t look back.

And though the ground around her was burning fire, her heart was ice.

Ice and pain.

----

Fluttershy’s voice rasped. “The chimera was dealt with. And we adopted similar policies with other…threats. The Flim Flam brothers—”

Fake Fluttershy was looking away. So too was Longfoot, and in the silence Fluttershy saw the changelings, always silent and immobile, shift slightly.

“—I did what I thought was best.”

----

Brimstone. The smell of burning rock. Fluttershy had to smell her hooves to reassure herself that it wasn’t coming from her. Of course, that would have been impossible in the first place. Several days had already passed since the chimera, and she had bathed herself upon returning to her cottage. Yet still, the smell remained.

Well, it was unimportant at that. Fluttershy shook her head impatiently. How could she be wasting time thinking about unimportant things? She carefully scooped up a bit of soil and pressed it down carefully. She had to be precise at this. There was no time for errant thoughts.

Her hooves were bad at delicate things. Fluttershy carefully adjusted the piece of wood and tried to pack in some more earth to hold it tightly. No good. The soil was too loose here, not wet enough. But still she tried, and managed to get the piece of wood mostly upright.

Better.

Fluttershy’s concentration was such that only when the other pegasus spoke did she realize someone else had arrived.

“Um.”

Fluttershy ignored her imposter. The grave was unmarked save for a small wooden figurine jutting from the earth. It was a crude carving of a squirrel, made of wood and stuck firmly into the ground. It was too crooked. Fluttershy adjusted it.

The squirrel’s face stared back at her, a block of wood chiseled crudely. Was it straight? Fluttershy moved it a tiny bit and sat back. Yes, it was. Close enough at least. She wouldn’t waste this effort and make anything worse. The squirrel’s face stared at her, expressionless.

The carvings were rough. Hooves and teeth weren’t enough to hold a carving knife; Fluttershy cut herself as much as the wood most of the time. She wondered if she should have gotten a beaver or other rodent to carve them. But that wouldn’t be right.

Fluttershy looked around. The beauty of having a weather system controlled by pegasi was that you could make spaces where water didn’t ever fall from the sky. Here in this small clearing just on the edge of the Everfree rain would never touch the earth. At least, not from a cloud.

Each grave was small and unmarked except for a tiny figurine. Small patches of dirt, with pieces of badly-carven wood sticking out of the soil. So many graves. She would have to expand the cemetery if more needed to be dug.

Fluttershy looked back at the newest grave and the squirrel’s figurine, staring at her from the ground. It was good enough.

“Um.”

This time Fluttershy looked up.

“I have told you never to come here. If your reason isn’t anything less than dire, you will suffer.”

Fake Fluttershy took a step back and cowered a bit, but spoke anyways.

“Uh, the Flim Flam brothers.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes for a moment. The work never ceased. She felt it shouldn’t be discussed in the cemetery, so she stood up and began to carefully walk around the mounds of dirt.

“Have you exposed their scam yet?”

“Yes. No. I didn’t have to do it in the end. Applejack actually revealed what they were doing.”

“Unexpected.” Fluttershy glanced up from pruning the graves of weeds to look at Fake Fluttershy for a moment. “Wasn’t she helping them?”

“She had a change of heart.”

“Interesting.” Fluttershy could care less. “Well, it saves us some work. What happened next?”

“The Flim Flam brothers ran away. Everypony is looking for them, but they’re not trying too hard. The Apple family is doing well, so we’re just looking for—”

Fake Fluttershy broke off. Fluttershy had heard it too and looked up as a black shape blotted out the sky for a moment.

A changeling warrior landed in the graveyard. He like Fake Fluttershy took care to land away from the actual burial site and only approached a few feet. He clicked at Fake Fluttershy in the harsh changeling chatter.

Fake Fluttershy listened intently and started in surprise. “Oh, um, the Flim Flam brothers have been—”

“Captured.” Fluttershy pulled a last weed and stood up. “I heard. You’re not the only one who speaks changeling.”

Fake Fluttershy hesitated. “Well, um, yes. They’ve been found. Uh, what do you want us to—”

“Kill them.”

Fake Fluttershy froze. “Excuse me?”

“Take all of your brethren.” Fluttershy addressed the changeling warrior. “Make sure there are not witnesses. Kill the Flim Flam brothers and dispose of their bodies. I don’t care how you do it.”

The changeling warrior hesitated, but then nodded and prepared to take off.

“Wait, wait!” Fake Fluttershy flew up desperately to block the changeling warrior from flying away. “You can’t do this! What about talking to the brothers first?”

The changeling warrior hesitated, but Fluttershy didn’t even bother looking at Fake Fluttershy.

“I do not. I’ve already made my decision. Stop getting in the way.”

“But they’re not that evil! The Flim Flam brothers are bad, yes, but their scam didn’t kill anypony. You don’t have to do this. If you’d just listen—!”

“I don’t need to hear them beg for their lives. Their tonics were useless and worse, a danger to ponies like Granny Smith. She could have killed herself performing water acrobatics, and the Flim Flam brothers would have stolen countless bits from innocent ponies. They should have never come back to Ponyville.”

Fluttershy looked at the changeling warrior. “Kill. Them.”

The changeling bowed and took off. Fake Fluttershy looked at Fluttershy in horror, and then took wing as well.

“Wait,” Fluttershy heard her calling after the changeling. “Wait, please, don’t—!”

The voices faded. Fluttershy turned back to her graveyard. Her garden. She disliked caring for plants and had no time for it anymore. That was Fake Fluttershy’s job, but this, this was hers. She tended the deathly mounds and maintained the small statuettes. A garden of death. A monument of failures.

Her sin.

The Flim Flam brothers. Fluttershy thought of them as she pulled a few weeds out of the ground. They had been to Ponyville before, right? Something about apple cider…? The details weren’t important. They were a nuisance, a threat. They would be dealt with. That was all.

But the chimera – Fluttershy’s hooves paused over the grave of the squirrel. She readjusted the figurine one more time. It was still alive. One head was dead, but the other two lived. Would they seek revenge? It might be prudent to eliminate it sooner rather than later.

Focus. Fluttershy paused in her task a moment and closed her eyes. If Longfoot remained in Ponyville and she commanded…she’d need two squads minimum. Indeed, a smaller group might be better. They’d lay down traps and attack the chimera once it was wounded or immobilized.

If they brought the changeling warriors they might escape the battle without casualty, but the chimera had fought them once. It would be twice as vicious now. Some deaths would occur no matter what.

Some deaths. Fluttershy looked down at the pile of dirt. The figurine was crooked. How had that happened? She adjusted it again.

The squirrel stared up at Fluttershy in the dirt. It was tilted at the wrong angle. She tilted it back, and found it was too far left. She moved it, and it was still off.

No more deaths. Fluttershy moved the figurine. No more failures. The squirrel’s face stared up at her. Her hoof trembled and knocked over the pieces of carved wood. She righted it hastily. Not again. It was still in the wrong position.

The squirrel stared up at her, a crude piece of wood. Fluttershy stared back. There was something wrong with it. She couldn’t place what it was, but then she understood.

It wasn’t smiling.

----

Silence. Fluttershy knew that the silence was stretching on too long. She couldn’t remember where she had left off in the story this time. The animals watched her. Longfoot gazed at her with concern, but Angel’s face was harder to read. Fluttershy hoped he couldn’t feel the trembling in her body.

The story. She had to continue with the story. But the memories continued, mixing with the lies, and she was powerless to stop them.

“After the brothers, there was…a rap? Rainbow Dash had a test, and then there was the Rainbow Falls trading convention…an Orthros, and then…Rarity. Yes, Rarity and the book. A cursed book, and I…I was going to…”

----

Fluttershy held the knife up in one hoof. It was balanced perfectly in the air, ready to be launched. There was no wind, and the sky was clear.

Owlowiscious sat on a tree branch across the open clearing, watching the target. The owl’s gaze was steady, yet its eyes flicked back to the bush Fluttershy was crouched behind from time to time. It hadn’t wanted to carry out the plan. But Spike had failed.

The knife was heavy in Fluttershy’s hoof. She watched Rarity’s horn glow. The unicorn was creating chariots made out of gold and gaudy jewels. Despite the loss of the cursed magical book her powers hadn’t waned.

“—Oh, the places we'll go, Spike!” Rarity was saying. “Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Canterlot! And there you'll be by my side, just as you've always been here in Ponyville, your constant praise and adoration driving me to even greater heights, until there isn't an inch of Equestria that hasn't been utterly transformed by my creative genius!”

Fluttershy’s hoof rose slowly. The knife was balanced perfectly in the air. She waited. The instant Owlowiscious swooped down she would throw.

Owlowiscious hesitated, perched on his branch. His eyes flicked down to Fluttershy. She stared at him, motionless. He knew her orders, but the owl still didn’t move. He wasn’t as loyal as her other animals. He spent too much time away from the training grounds, like the other pets in Ponyville. And she knew he didn’t approve of her plan.

Rarity’s horn glowed with the foul green magic. Fluttershy sighted on that, focusing her attention on that single point. She wouldn’t kill Rarity, not an Element of Harmony, but she could stop the magic at its source if she damaged the horn or destroyed it entirely.

Could unicorn horns grow back? Fluttershy had no idea, but Rarity’s power was growing too quickly. And if she missed…Rarity was her friend. One death for many. The instant Owlowiscious dived…

But he didn’t. Fluttershy glared up at him as Spike talked to Rarity. A burst of magic transformed the tree Owlowiscious roosted on to pure pink crystal. And still the owl didn’t move. He was watching Fluttershy. Why? Because he was hesitating, or…

The owl’s body was tensed for movement. Fluttershy saw his wings quivering. And she understood. He was watching her knife, just as she watched Rarity. If she threw, he was going to intercept.

Fluttershy’s teeth ground together. Disloyalty. Rebellion. But if she threw he would swoop down, and if the knife hit him—

She couldn’t move. But something was happening. Rarity’s eyes, already tinged with green light suddenly flashed and turned completely emerald. Fluttershy raised her knife and saw Owlowiscious tense on the branch above. He was going to—but she had to throw! Rarity rose up into the air and Fluttershy felt the magic surge around her. If she didn’t throw now—

A squirrel lay on the ground. Half its face was missing. A fox lay crushed to death on the ground.

Fluttershy looked at Owlowiscious and hesitated.

The green light faded from Rarity’s eyes. A haze of magical energy flowed out of her and away into the air. The knife lowered.

Silence.

Fluttershy watched Spike speak to Rarity as she looked disoriented. The two began to speak, but Fluttershy paid no attention. Her eyes travelled upwards to Owlowiscious. He watched her.

She watched him.

Eventually, Spike and Rarity walked down to Ponyville, side by side. But two figures remained on top of the hill.

Owlowiscious held Fluttershy’s gaze for a long time. Then at last he flapped his wings and soared away, down towards the library. Fluttershy remained where she was, holding the knife and watching the owl fly away.

The knife was heavy in Fluttershy’s hoof.

Very heavy.

----

Fluttershy looked up and sought out Owlowiscious in the cottage. He was sitting on top of the sofa with two other newly-revived owls. He returned her gaze, and there was no way to tell what lay beyond his dark eyes.

The story was falling apart. But there was one last part to tell, the most important part.

“Tirek.” Fluttershy no longer cared about the chronology or the lies. She only had to say it. “He was powerful. Dangerous. Thanks to his alliance with Discord, he was absorbing magic from ponies at an exponential rate.”

Longfoot was looking at her. All of her animals were. Fluttershy couldn’t meet their eyes. She knew. They knew. Angel and the old animals didn’t understand and looked from them to Fluttershy with confusion. But her sin remained, and it must be said.

Fluttershy took a deep breath. Time to tell it all.

“On that day…”

----

“Should we attack?” Fluttershy stared from her perch on the rooftops. Below her, the darkened alleyway held two strange creatures. Fiends, both.

Discord stood to one side, a dresser and photo hovering in the air next to him. The mismatched god of chaos looked uncertain, but the creature next to him was darkly composed. Though the night was dark and a hood covered most of his features, Fluttershy could still see his face. Two black eyes with a singular yellow pupil stared at a world he wished to destroy.

Tirek.

And for all the years Fluttershy had lived, for all the strange and terrible monsters she had witnessed, she had never seen a creature such as he. His lower torso was a cross between pony or horse, but his upper half was more like a minotaur or…something else.

He was a monster, in short both in appearance and deed. She had witnessed his attempt to siphon pony’s power and then his attack on Discord. Without hesitation he had used deadly magic. He was a threat. He must be killed.

But how to do it?

Beside Fluttershy, Longfoot shifted imperceptibly. He made no sound that would distract the two beings below them, but she knew he longed to speak. His was the only movement on the rooftops, though. The rest of the animals didn’t stir so much as an inch.

They filled the rooftops, over three hundred of her finest soldiers. Blue jays, owls, ravens, squirrels, beavers, mice, foxes, ravens, and more. All carried weapons. All were ready for battle.

But Fluttershy wasn’t. She could sense Longfoot’s impatience, hear his unspoken desire. This was the prime moment to strike. Locating Tirek had been extremely difficult, and only now were all of their forces in position for the ambush. It was now or never.

But.

Flutershy looked down at Tirek. Without telling her, she would have known on first glance that here walked evil. A far greater evil perhaps than any she had seen. Ancient, unknowable. He knew Discord, and his magic was deadly.

She calculated.

Discord couldn’t be killed, or at least, not by conventional means. He might not kill, but he’d be a distraction during the battle. And Tirek…

Fluttershy remembered a rain of magical death falling from the sky. How strong was Tirek compared to Sombra? Was he weaker? He could use some kind of beam that Discord had avoided – would it cut whatever it touched in two? If so, overwhelming numbers against him would result in a bloodbath.

Time to attack. Discord and Tirek were exchanging a few words, and Discord looked like he had made up his mind. Traitor. But he couldn’t be killed. Not yet.

She had to act.

Fluttershy began to raise her hoof. Around her the animals tensed. Fluttershy looked down to Longfoot and saw him crouched, ready.

Longfoot sat on the rooftops, his lower torso intact, while his upper body lay on the ground, severed. The gory insides of his body still smoked, sliced in two by Tirek’s magic. Around him the other animals lay dismembered, more casualties of the centaur’s magic.

Fluttershy hesitated. Her animals were poised to attack, but for one long second she wavered.

Then Discord snapped his fingers and a flash of light consumed both his form and Tirek’s. They were gone.

----

Coward. Fluttershy felt it gnawing at her. A word, nothing more, yet a weakness, a fault.

A sin.

It wasn’t said, not aloud at least. But it reverberated through her soul and surely through the minds of the animals following her. Her army. Changeling and animals, this time. There was no time for subterfuge; if they lost here, they lost everything.

Fluttershy stared down at the disaster below her. Discord capered in front of a cage holding the four of the Elements of Harmony and one dragon. Next to him Tirek stood, a frail creature hidden by shadows no longer. Instead, the monster within had shown its face at last. He towered in the sky, a monstrosity of black and red. Her failings made manifest.

The chase had been desperate. The danger had been dire. Yet for all Fluttershy and her forces had raced to set up another ambush, Tirek and Discord had moved too quickly, teleporting across Equestria and absorbing the magic of ponies with contemptuous ease. And Tirek’s power had grown until…

Fake Fluttershy burst into tears in the cage as her friends huddled next to her. They were helpless, and Twilight was nowhere to be seen. That was good. It meant one less factor to worry about, but—

Fluttershy looked at the caged Elements of Harmony. She had to strike. Tirek was already too powerful. And yet if they launched an assault—

Tirek loomed in the sky. She had witnessed his magic as he had effortlessly defeated pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns by absorbing their magic. Her animals had no magic to siphon, but how much more deadly would his spells be? Even Sombra had not radiated the aura of death she felt from Tirek.

Longfoot nudged Fluttershy on the rooftops, his face taut with tension. The animals were braced. Death was in their eyes, yet they were ready for battle.

This time Fluttershy would say it. Had to say it. She looked down at Tirek. It might mean all their deaths, but it had to be said. She opened her mouth.

“Fall back.”

The animals stared at her. Her changeling stared at her. Fluttershy stared ahead herself, shocked. She hadn’t meant to say that.

They had to strike. It was now or never. If Twilight’s power fell under Tirek’s control, if he took the strength of four alicorns—

“Retreat into the Everfree. Move towards the Tree of Harmony and await my signal. We’ll…make a stand there.”

No. This was all wrong. But Fluttershy’s mouth wasn’t listening to her, any more than her body was. She took off from the roof of the town hall and flew back, towards the Everfree. Her army moved with her, loyal to the core yet doubting. She felt their eyes on her back.

She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t give the order. The casualties would be—if Twilight could fight off Tirek by herself they could use that advantage to—

A squirrel lay on the ground. Half its face was missing.

Fluttershy’s heart was beating out of her chest. They had to attack. They had to. But the dead filled her vision, and so she fled into the Everfree. Only the voice of herself whispered in her mind.

Coward.

----

Coward. It was a word that Fluttershy had never considered in terms of herself. She was no coward. She was many things. A killer, a warrior, a leader, a general. More than that, she was…

A sinner. But cowardice wasn’t one of her failings.

Until now.

Fluttershy stared dully at Tirek was he rampaged towards them. His gargantuan body filled the sky, as large as a mountain.

Undefeatable.

An orb of fiery magic formed above Tirek’s head and he blasted the earth with it, leveling trees and ripping scars in the land. With one blast, he laid waste to miles of forest. And he was making his way towards the Tree of Harmony.

Fluttershy sensed Longfoot behind her. She looked over one shoulder and saw the rabbit staring up at Tirek’s form. The knife he held looked very small in his paws.

Failure. Betrayal. She saw it in the eyes of her army. They clustered in the woods around the tree of harmony, armed warriors, fierce fighters, yet animals still. Rodents and small mammals in the end, nothing more. They were insects compared to Tirek, yet they might have had a chance earlier. Despite his power they might have triumphed. But now…

Fluttershy looked up into the sky and saw only death. Not even the chance of victory. Tirek simply had too much strength. The power of four alicorns raged through him, along with all the pony magic in Equestria. How had it happened? How could Twilight have been so foolish to give him her power?

If she had hidden or retreated they might have been able to—

No. It was her fault, in the end. She should have attacked at the beginning, paid the price in blood. But now the price had become too high, and she could not pay it even she filled the sky with the corpses of her friends.

But duty was duty. Tirek was approaching. He stopped to use his powers, reveling perhaps in the destruction but he was drawn inexorably towards the Tree of Harmony. Did he even know it existed? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It might be only instinct that guided him towards the last bastion of magic.

The Elements of Harmony were there, along with Discord. They must be protected. Fluttershy looked up at Tirek and saw death. But there was no choice left. She turned to Longfoot. He stood, waiting for her orders, loyal as ever.

“I’ll lead the first wave in. Send all the fliers after me, and then break into squads and advance. Scatter. Don’t get caught in groups or you’ll be targets.”

Fluttershy raised one hoof and touched her it to her brow. Longfoot saluted back.

“It has been my greatest pleasure fighting with you all.”

That was all that needed to be said. Longfoot held his salute and hopped away to give the orders. Fluttershy turned back and concentrated on Tirek. He was nearing the tree. Any further and it would be within range of his spells. It was now or never.

Fluttershy braced herself and beat her wings. Time to pay the price. If—if she could hurt him enough, blind his eyes, maybe some of her soldiers would survive. It was all she could hope for. She leapt—

And there was light.

----

The six Elements of Harmony glowed with magical power as they appeared in the sky. Tirek growled and shot a blast of magic towards them, but the destructive spell simply warped around the magical energy the six emitted.

“How is this possible!?” He raged up at them. “You have no magic!”

“You’re wrong, Tirek,” Twilight called down at him. “I may have given you my alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!”

A beam of pure violet light shot down and struck Tirek, forcing him backwards. Another beam of light fell from the heavens, and then four more, engulfing him in a flash of light. Tirek’s massive shape faded, shrunk, and then in another rainbow burst of light he was gone.

Fluttershy watched the transformed elements of Harmony surge into the sky and then with a silent explosion of light, a sonic rainboom exploded outwards, and the six ponies shot across Equestria.

The light spread across Equestria, brilliant, radiant. Fluttershy shielded her eyes and turned away. It was too bright. And the light…

It returned the forests to life. The grass grew, the earth healed. The ponies stood as magic surged once again through their bodies. And behind Fluttershy, her animals threw their weapons down and cheered.

They laughed and danced for joy, for the simple gift of being alive. And Fluttershy sank to the earth, and bowed. A tear fell from her eyes. Salvation.

She had failed, but she had been saved. By a miracle. By magic. And the cost was paid, the dead were joined by no more faces. She had been saved.

And so she would never make the same mistake again.

----

Even now the light burned in her mind. Fluttershy stood straight, and looked at the other animals. “And that’s the end of the story. Tirek was defeated, peace restored to Equestria. And what’s more, it brought all of you back.”

Fluttershy felt a lump in her throat and burning in her eyes, but she suppressed both. Strong. She had to be strong. “And I learned from my mistakes. Tirek was…dealt with earlier today. And I realized something important during the battle against him. Something that will change how we do things.”

The animals leaned forwards, Angel intrigued, Longfoot frowning. Fake Fluttershy raised her head, an expression of hope on her face.

“I cannot make you all fight in my place. I can’t lose you again. Therefore…I will no longer be asking you to fight. Unless Chrysalis comes and we’re forced to defend ourselves, we’ll no longer take part in any battles. The war…is over.”

Fluttershy’s pronouncement created a wave of stunned silence in the room. The animals were shocked, but as the wave broke they burst into wild cheers and cries of excitement. They were happy, rejoicing. Only a few like Longfoot stared at Fluttershy in shock. But the changelings raised their heads and looked at Fluttershy as one.

They knew.

Yes. The war was over. Fluttershy realized it. Her animals had never been a powerful fighting force anyways. They could dig traps, scout, but they weren’t strong enough to fight monsters with. But she had fourteen changelings and her own hooves. That would be enough.

If a huge threat came at Equestria, Twilight and the Elements of Harmony could stop them. And if they needed a little help, Fluttershy would give it to them. And when the enemies of Equestria were locked away, when they ran and hid or lay defeated, Fluttershy would come.

And she would bathe in their blood and pile their corpses if it meant keeping her friends safe. That was her friendship. That was her mission. That was her purpose.

Fluttershy smiled at last. She raised her hooves, and noticed a speck of blood on her fur. Tirek’s. She scrubbed at it absently. And smiled.

“Everything will be just fine.”