One year before meteor…

Fluttershy screamed.

“Oh, calm DOWN, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash sighed. Light erupted suddenly and made everypony blink. “See? The candle just went out…”

Twilight Sparkle brought the floating candlestick to a rest in the center of the table. Fluttershy sighed in relief as the light revealed all her friends again. “Now then,” the unicorn said as she lifted the book up from the floor, “Back to the story.”

“Um…Twilight? This isn’t a scary story, is it?”

Smiling even though she had answered this question already, Twilight said, “No, Fluttershy, it isn’t.”

“We’re almost done, just let her finish!” Rainbow Dash said with a huff.

“But, but…what if it turns into a scary story?”

The blue pegasus let out a groan of annoyance. “Rarity, will you tell her that-” but she stopped when she saw her unicorn friend has fallen asleep on the couch. “Applejack?” she asked and turned, only to see Applejack nodding off in a seated position beside the couch.

Twilight laughed softly. Fluttershy figured her smart friend had already known her story would put the two overworking ponies to sleep. Maybe that was her plan all along. Always thinking about her friends, that was Twilight.

Seeing no pony else able to jump to her side, Rainbow Dash sat back down and pouted.

The unicorn cleared her throat and continued her story quietly, “But even after Discord had been turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony, his chaos still affected the world. The axis of the planet had been affected, causing it’s rotation around the sun to shift to a degree of-”

“Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash cut in, “Does it really get that technical?”

“Well…no…but after researching the event I-”

“Maybe you should read it how it was written then?”

“Oh, alright!” Twilight said with a sigh, “But even after Discord had been turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony, his chaos still effected the world. The axis of the planet had been affected, causing seasons to last for years and the sun and moon to rise and set at strange hours. Because of this, the two princesses, Celestia and Luna, took control of the planet’s rotation and set it back on track.”

Fluttershy said, amazed, “They used magic to affect the whole world?”

“That’s right,” Twilight replied, sounding proud of her teacher, “They tried to make everything go back to normal. But they found that the seasons would take years and years to go back to normal. So they gathered all the ponies far and wide and showed them how they could change the weather, thereby bringing back the seasons in their normal times.”

“But what if…” Fluttershy looked down as Rainbow Dash glared at her interruption of the story, again.

“It’s alright, Fluttershy, ask,” Twilight said.

“Um…what if all the ponies stopped changing the weather?”

“Well…I guess eventually things would return to normal…”

“Oh…”

Smiling at her friend’s curiosity, Twilight continued, “With order restored to the world, the two princesses took up their throne in Canterlot. As a symbolic gesture to show the world was returned to peace, each day Celestia would mime raising the sun, and Luna would mime raising the moon. That is, until the darkness in Luna’s heart, brought on by Discord’s darkness, surfaced.” Closing the book softly, “But that is a story for another sleepover.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“If Princess Celestia and Luna could affect the world, couldn’t they also raise the sun and moon?”

“Well, yes, I suppose.”

“Then…why don’t they?”

Twilight levitated the book into its proper place and yawned, “I think it’s because sometimes too much power is a bad thing, you know? They want everypony to be happy. If something were to happen to either of them…then the world could keep going on.” Twilight stared off into space a moment.

Fluttershy walked over and nuzzled her. “I’m sure nothing will ever happen.” Twilight smiled back at her.

“You’re right, nothing like that could ever happen…”

Four years, three months after meteor…

The snow around her surged up, scooping her into the air with it. Fluttershy screamed as she soared over the crowd of frightened ponies. Her eyes locked with Twilight’s.

That could never happen…

Skadi laughed as Fluttershy slammed into the double doors of the Town Hall, cracking them wide open. The pegasus, along with the pile of snow around her, crashed onto the muddy grass outside. A thin layer of snow barely helped cushion the blow.

Shoulder screaming from where she hit the wooden doors, Fluttershy stared wildly into the sky. Her breaths came in short gasps. She said softly and repeated, “Just…a dream…just a dream…just a dream…”

The ponies inside were all panicking. She needed to get up. She needed to help them.

A voice from the entrance sent a shiver through her. “I have no need for you, Fluttershy. I have everything I need to retake Equestria right here.” Skadi barked out a laugh. “Thank you so much for taking care of my little ponies!”

Fluttershy’s mind screamed at her to rise. She rolled from her side onto her knees and said little louder than a whisper, “Stop…”

Celestia…no, Skadi, stood tall in the open doorway. Her white hair flowed but there was no breeze. Snowflakes drifted down from It. Her diamond-faceted eyes stared down at Fluttershy, regarding her coldly.

“No,” she responded softly, “I will not stop.” She began to walk towards the pegasus lying in the snow, not quickly nor hurrying. The rise of her long legs brought trails of snow into the air. Her hooves seemed to meld into the snow when she stepped down into it as if it were water. When she stood a mere few hooves from Fluttershy she stopped.

Fluttershy had to crane her neck from her kneeling position to keep eye contact with the alicorn. Skadi frowned at her like she saw everything the pegasus was and found her…lacking.

“You know,” she said, “I could use a pony with…well, with a brain. You seemed to have scooped out all the ones in there,” Skadi jerked her head towards the Town Hall as she finished. “I could do a lot with the magical bones of the unicorns, the light bones of the pegasus, and the hard bones of the earth ponies, but none of them will have any thoughts. A shame really…”

“What are you…”

“I WAS NOT FINISHED!” Skadi screamed down at Fluttershy. Snow whipped from her direction at the pony on the ground, lifting her enough to send her tumbling backwards. Every bounce on the ground sent a sharp pain into her shoulder and through her body.

When the pegasus came to a rest, Skadi cleared her throat and continued in a calm voice, “As I was saying: having a pony around to have a ghost of an intelligent conversation with would be nice. What do you say, Fluttershy? Swear loyalty to me as your queen and I’ll let you stay in Equestria.”

This time when she rose, Fluttershy got all the way to her legs. Pain, true pain, was a long unspoken to friend. But it was similar to the pain of her muscles as she plowed the fields. The pain in her heart as she found more of her friends injured. The pain in her soul when her princess had failed her.

But she had overcome that pain, and she would overcome this one.

“Equestria…” Fluttershy grit her teeth and said, “Does not need a princess, or a queen, anymore.”

Skaid’s eyes widened. She stared at Fluttershy without moving an inch. But the pegasus didn’t stand down.

With a scream of rage, Skadi reared up, blue magic radiating from her horn. The snow around Fluttershy rose in spikes and hardened into ice. More snow crawled up the spikes and formed a roof over her head before also turning to hard ice. The entire event took less than a second.

Fluttershy tried to back away from the icy bars suddenly in her face and found them behind her as well. She was trapped.

Skadi turned and started back towards the Town Hall, saying, “Perhaps you’ll change your mind before you freeze to death.” As she walked through the doorway to the Hall, a wall of snow rose up and turned to ice behind her, sealing the entrance.

Fluttershy pressed against the bars but couldn’t break them. The voices of every pony trapped in the Hall came to her unbidden. They were inside, scared, alone, with no one to help them. They needed her!

“How are you doing this?!”

The pegasus turned her head from the bars but kept hitting them in a vain attempt at escape. Othershy stood outside the cage and stared at her. “Don’t just stand there!” Fluttershy screamed, “Help me! We have to-”

“How are you doing this!?” Othershy asked again. Fluttershy noticed that the shadow pony seemed much more agitated than usual. Given the circumstances, she didn’t blame her.

But her question…”What are you talking about? We don’t have time for-”

Othershy suddenly slammed into the cage, frightening Fluttershy enough for her to step as far away from the shadow pony as she could. In a voice too calm for the wild look in her red eyes, Othershy said slowly, “How…this ice, being pushed out here, the snow…how are you doing all of this?”

In a shaky voice, Fluttershy replied, “I’m not.”

Zero years, four months after meteor…

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Twilight jumped and almost fell over. She leaned against the door to the library, casts around her back legs and bandages all over her body. “Fluttershy! I ran out of ink and-”

“Now, now, Twilight,” Fluttershy said with a smile as she cantered over, “I told you before that I’ll get anything you need from the store. You need to rest!”

Twilight frowned as Fluttershy got ahold of her and started her back into the library, but she didn’t complain. The pegasus just smiled. The others had tried the same thing time and again, but Fluttershy always caught them. They didn’t want to rely on her, she knew, but there was no other choice.

“Angel didn’t come with you today?” Twilight asked when they were up the stairs and into her room. A hole in the ceiling let in bright sunshine. Fluttershy made a mental note to take care of that when she had the chance. The weather sometimes turned cold at night.

Twilight continued to stare her question, and Fluttershy finally sighed and said, “No. He’s still feeling under the weather.” Her smile only faded a moment before returning, “I’m sure he’ll be right as rain soon.”

Smiling now too, Twilight allowed Fluttershy to help her into bed. They were silent a moment as Fluttershy put a blanket over her friend. Quietly, Twilight asked, “Still nothing from Canterlot?”

Fluttershy winced. Not a day went by that Twilight didn’t ask about Canterlot or Celestia. Softly, Fluttershy said, “Still nothing. No pony has been able to make the trip yet, and I’ve been so busy…”

“Oh, Fluttershy, I know! I didn’t mean…we’ll know when we all can go…”

Smiling a little, “Alright, Twilight. Just rest now. I’m sure Celestia is fine.”

Twilight hugged a small stuffed animal and said softly, “Me too…”

Four years, three months after meteor…

TINK…TINK…TINK…

Fluttershy hit the ice bars again and again with her front hooves but to no avail. Othershy had gone completely silent. She wondered what had gotten into the shadow pony but didn’t have time to figure it out. The entire town needed her.

She felt movement to her side and looked. Othershy was walking around the cage, eyes darting back and forth as if she were the one trapped. In her strange voice, she said, “We have to get out of here.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

“No!” the shadow pony yelled, “Out of Ponyville! Maybe out of Equestria...if Celestia is back and insane then no distance would be too far.”

“Out of…” Fluttershy just stared at the other pony, confused. “And leave everypony behind? No!”

“They’re dead, Fluttershy!” Othershy said, coming around to the “front” of the cage, “Whatever Celestia has planned for them, it doesn’t involve us! We have to go!”

Shaking her head slowly from side to side, Fluttershy said, “I can’t believe you would abandon everypony like that…”

“Abandon..!” but Othershy cut herself off and locked eyes with Fluttershy. The other pegasus had a defiant gleam in her eyes. She would not budge from her stance: her friends came first. Growling, “Fine! We’ll find some way to save them…but not now! We’ll need time to think of a plan, so we should escape for now.”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and considered the idea. It was true that, right at that moment, Skadi held all the cards. Rainbow Dash always said the one who had the better hand would always win. “Alright, let’s do it,” she said.

Nodding, Othershy inspected the ice bars and said, “Good, they don’t look too thick at all. Celestia really doesn’t think much of you…a good buck should break them.” Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed again, but this time in confusion. Sighing, “A buck? Like how Applejack used to kick apples from trees before the meteor.”

“Apple…trees…” Fluttershy looked up and away at something only she could see. Far back into the past she saw shiny red apples hanging high in trees, ready for picking. Then, Applejack and her family kicking the trunks, making them fall. “I think I remember that…” she said softly. No trees had grown in Ponyville for many years now. She had planted some, long ago, but inpatients had led her to “easier to grow” vegetables over fruits.

Othershy stared at her expectedly. Aligning her body with the bars behind her, Fluttershy lifted her back legs and kicked out. Her hooves hit the bars behind her and propelled her face first into the front bars. She cried out and hit the ground, rubbing her forehead.

Shaking her head, Othershy sighed, “You have the strength, Fluttershy. Just use it.”

“If Applejack was here, she could do it…”

“Well she isn’t! She’s locked up by that crazy alicorn and you’re wasting time here moping!”

That sent a shock through Fluttershy. Her friends needed her more than ever. She had to be strong, stronger then Celestia ever was. The pegasus stood again and aligned her legs with the bars. Digging her front hooves in, she kicked out with her back legs. This time the ice cracked and gave slightly. A smile came to Fluttershy as she examined her work. “I did that…”

Othershy nodded and said, “Now just charge through like Rainbow Dash would and we can get out of here.”

“Right…like Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy backed up till her tail brushed the bars and lowered her head. Othershy cried out something but it went unheeded. Fluttershy charged forward head first. The ice gave and she was free a moment later, but pain exploded in her head.

“Not your head, you moron!” Othershy was screaming. Suddenly she stopped and cried out, “By the light! Get up and run!”

The sound of ice shattering continued behind Fluttershy as she stood and looked behind her. Ice flew through the air as the seal over the Town Hall doors exploded outwards. Othershy’s screams were drowned out as Skadi slowly stepped into the now clear doorway, wind and snow whirling around her.

“Wrong choice!” the alicorn yelled through the whipping wind. The snow around her hooves flowed forward toward Fluttershy, rising up from the ground as it moved. Half-way to her it became a giant claw.

Othershy tried to nudge her but Fluttershy wouldn’t budge. The sight of the gigantic dragon’s claw had her locked in place. Dragons. The most destructive, black hearted creatures on the planet, with claws that could shred a pony to pieces in an instant and a maw that could devourer an entire town. Fluttershy felt something warm trickle down her back leg. Dragons.

The claw sprang out and grabbed her, pinning her legs to her body. The feel of the cold snow against her skin shocked Fluttershy out of her stupor. She screamed as it continued along it’s forward path with her in its grip. Her thoughts turned to Othershy but the other pony couldn’t keep up with the claw.

A house halted their momentum. Glass shattered and wood creaked under the weight of pony and snow. Fluttershy fell into the house through the broken window along with much of the snow that carried her. The claw had lost its substance as it hit the building.

Gasping from the impact, Fluttershy shakily got to her feet and quickly took in her surroundings. The house belonged to, if the photos could be believed, Bon Bon and Lyra. They had lived together ever since Fluttershy could remember. It had seemed odd to her at first: two grown ponies living together. The house had the feel of a home, like one where a family could begin and grow-

“WILL YOU SNAP OUT OF IT!” Othershy screamed from beside her, “We don’t have time for your stupid backstories! We have to go!”

Shaking her head quickly to remove the remaining snow, Fluttershy assessed the house again. There: the door to the basement. She rushed forward towards the door just as the snow piled high around the window began to shake. Skadi was coming.

Othershy noted Fluttershy’s movements and got in her way, saying, “There’s no way out that way, it’s a dead end!”

Fluttershy grit her teeth and, ignoring the tiny voice in her head telling her not to, shoved Othershy out of the way. The shadow pony was so shocked from the move that she didn’t immediately follow Fluttershy. The pegasus turned and motioned for the other pony to go first down the stairs. Snow started to pour through the window at a quicker rate, so Othershy just yelled out a curse and jumped down the steps.

Fluttershy closed the door behind them.

In the pitch blackness of the basement both ponies lost their perspectives for a moment. It was as if they were walking down the steps with eight legs instead of four, and trying to think with two minds instead of one. As their hooves hit the ground floor, one of them hit the light switch.

Light bathed the basement. It wasn’t very large and was filled with lots of useless tools and machines. Strangely, it all appeared organized and had little dust.

Othershy turned from the scene and regarded Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was still breathing heavily, most likely from the tight grip of the claw of snow. Or was it because its shape reminded her of dragons? Bah, now she was the one thinking too much.

“Well,” she said, “You brought us down here, now what?”

Fluttershy looked at her like she was stupid, “Don’t you know what’s down here?”

She bit back a retort. It was easy to get mad at the clearly psychotic pony, but it wouldn’t solve anything. Othershy would have to treat her like the child she was. “No,” she said slowly, “I don’t.”

Still giving her those eyes that said “you must be stupid”, Fluttershy walked past her to what appeared to be a solid wall. Othershy gave her some “you better be going somewhere with this” eyes right back. Sighing, Fluttershy pressed in a brick laid along the wall. A section of wall just large enough for a pony to squeeze through slid inwards and to the side.

“By the night…when did you build this?” Othershy asked as she followed Fluttershy into the revealed passage. Through the hole was a tunnel that looked straight out of a mine shaft. A railway ran along the middle of it and stretched for miles. Everlasting candles lit the passage, revealing hallways further along intersecting the one they were in. The whole thing left Othershy in awe.

“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy replied as she pressed in another brick which slid the door back into place. “These tunnels always existed in Ponyville. They were used back when the town was founded to run illegal merchandise without guards finding out.” Fluttershy giggled, a noise so unfit for the situation that Othershy shivered, “But since no pony does anything bad like that anymore, I use it to move heavy supplies around the town. I’ve told you about them a million times…”

Did she? There were memories and thoughts that Fluttershy had that Othershy couldn’t see. Was this something the other pony had kept from her? And if so, why?

Fluttershy started to walk down the tunnel but Othershy stepped in her way. “Where do you plan to go?”

“To the Town Hall, of course,” the pegasus said with nothing but confidence. It made Othershy sick to think how simple minded she was.

“And what are you going to do against Celestia?” Othershy pressed, “As soon as you pop your head out she’s going to snap it off like a twig! We should leave and get help…”

Help was, of course, the last thing Othershy wanted to find beyond Ponyville’s borders. In fact, she felt confident that they would find little to no pony anywhere near the town. They would wonder far, far from the city of death and decay. The journey would give her time to slowly chip away at Fluttershy’s sick mind until she cracked and left her dead friends to rot.

But Fluttershy had to leave the town first, and the defiant look in her eyes was the last thing Othershy wanted to see. “My friends need me,” Fluttershy said and started to walk around Othershy.

The shadow pony growled, “You won’t help them by getting yourself killed!” That made Fluttershy stop, but she kept her face away. Slowly, Othershy said, “We don’t have any way to deal with Celestia. The snow is her ally and she-” a thought suddenly rushed into her mind and made her stop.

The heaters.

Her red eyes narrowed at Fluttershy. How convenient that the heaters, set up all around the town square and aimed at the Town Hall, were in place and adjusted just so…

Fluttershy turned around, “What? Did you think of something?”

Othershy grit her teeth, her fangs showing. Even if the heaters were set up perfectly to neutralize Celestia’s advantage, there was no way Fluttershy could have known the snow would start today. And even if she somehow knew and Celestia was just a figment of her imagination, that didn’t explain how she was able to manipulate the snow and fling herself around. Those things, as seen by the bruising on Fluttershy’s front leg, were real.

So Celestia was really up there…

Seemingly tired of waiting for her to speak, Fluttershy turned and started down the passageway again. Othershy kept pace behind her but kept quiet a moment.

The heaters. The snow. Celestia. All a coincidence?

Closing her eyes and collecting her thoughts, Othershy said, “We can stop her with the heaters.” She nearly ran into Fluttershy as the pegasus came to a halt.

“The heaters?” Fluttershy said and turned to regard the shadow pony.

Othershy locked eyes with the pegasus and made sure to explain her plan carefully, “Celestia is currently in the Town Hall with…everypony. The heaters are set up to heat up the town square. If we turn them all to max at the same time, all the snow will melt and she will be powerless.”

“What about her magic?” questioned Fluttershy, “She still has a horn.”

Othershy just shook her head, “If she had general magic still then she wouldn’t have used the snow for everything. Pushing you, the cage, blocking the door…all snow and ice. Whatever happened to her when the meteor hit took her powers away.”

Of course, Othershy had no way of knowing if this was true or not. Her reasoning seemed sound to her, however, and there was no other way out of their situation until they had tried something. Even if they failed, Fluttershy would be convinced they would need help and leave Ponyville. It was a win-win.

The pegasus muddled over the idea for a moment before shaking her head herself, “We can’t. The heaters have to be turned on individually. As soon as we turn one on she’ll know we’re up to something.”

“Then we’ll just have to turn them on remotely,” replied Othershy, gaining momentum, “We can run a wire between them all to one switch. These tunnels can connect them together, right?”

“Well of course, they lead to every house…”

“Then there you go!” a grin found its way to the shadow pony’s lips. Fluttershy looked like she wanted the idea to have a fault still, most likely because it was brought to her by Othershy, but didn’t say anything.

They both started down the passage, Fluttershy leading to the first heater’s location.

Eight months, one year after meteor…

Fluttershy watched the children from the front of the classroom. They laughed and joked and talked amongst themselves, but there was a slowness about it, an uncertainty. They acted the same way they had always acted because they knew it was expected of them. To act normal while their parents, uncles, aunts, all the older ponies, healed.

The children had healed much quicker than the adults for reasons Fluttershy didn’t know. Watching the older ponies suffering, ponies they had looked up to all their lives, must have traumatized them deeply.

But they were here and they still knew happiness enough to imitate it even if they didn’t feel it as acutely as before. And it was all because of her. Fluttershy gulped, feeling pressured. She had wanted to bring some sunshine to the class, to interact with the children who had taken so little of her time.

The bird on her wing chirped. It didn’t like being indoors but would tolerate it for her. Miss Cheerilee was also looking at her expectantly. The pegasus took a breath to steady herself and gave a quick nod to the teacher.

From the shadow of the doorway, two bloodshot eyes watched Fluttershy intently.

Three months, four years after meteor…

The trapdoor leading to the basement opened slowly a crack. Blue eyes looked left and right before easing the trapdoor up and over. It hit the wood floor with a thud, making the pony jump.

“Just go already!” Othershy said moodily down the steps behind her.

Fluttershy sighed and entered the house completely. It was exactly as she had remembered it when she and her friends had set up the heaters: the heater installed was halfway out the only unboarded up window. It was impossible to see outside but also impossible to see inside.

“It’s safe…” she said as she walked to the heater. Othershy mumbled something to the effect of “I’m not surprised”, which Fluttershy ignored. Working with the shadow pony was a trial, but necessary if she wanted to save her friends.

The house they were in belonged to Pony Joe and was furnished for one. A TV sat in the corner of the room beside a large, comfy-looking chair. Fluttershy imagined him sitting there watching TV late into the night, alone. It reminded her of herself, lying in bed every night with only Angel to keep her warm.

Othershy had walked to the other side of the heater and was examining it. “This it?” she asked, peering closer. The back of the heater had a hatch that would open, revealing the “guts” of the machine. Beside the heater were some leftover supplies Pony Joe had let them store there, including a large spool of wire.

“It was your idea,” Fluttershy found herself saying, “go ahead and wire it up.” Normally she would have done the task herself over letting a friend perform it, but something made her want to see Othershy do it instead.

The shadow pony regarded her with red, sleepless eyes. She looked tired as she said, “I would if I could, just so we could have done and be gone from here, but I can’t, so stop wasting time and do it already.”

“I know you’re as smart as I am when it comes to this stuff,” Fluttershy said quickly, “you’ve watched me work with more complex machines before.”

Othershy sighed and closed her eyes, she lifted her hoof to the heater as she began, “Fluttershy, I can’t touch-” She stopped as her hoof clanked against the heater. Othershy jumped away from the heater as if her hoof had been burned. Her red eyes stared at it intently before she lifted her hoof and again touched it.

Fluttershy was reminded of the first time a baby feels some new texture. It was the first time she had seen such wonder in Othershy’s normally anger-filled eyes. The sight made her smile. “So, you’ll do it then?” she said softly.

“I…how did…how can I touch this while you’re you?” the dark pony asked in wonder.

“You could always touch it, silly,” smiled Fluttershy, “You just never wanted to before.” She allowed the dark pony to touch the heater a little longer before saying, “We should hurry. I’ll meet you at the next heater.”

That shook Othershy out of her wonder, and she quickly turned and said, “I don’t know where the next one is!”

Smiling, Fluttershy started down the basement steps and said behind her, “You watched us install them! Just meet me at the crossroads down below!”

Othershy watched Fluttershy’s pink tail flick once and vanish down into the basement and tunnels below. She thought she should have yelled something after the pegasus but didn’t know what. Instead, she turned to the heater again.

Slowly, she lifted her hoof and touched the cool metal. It was the strangest feeling she could remember, being able to touch things. Like she was relearning how the world worked…

She shooked her head, dark mane flying back and forth. If she could touch things, could feel things, then that meant Fluttershy had given her control over her body. If that alone didn’t make enough sense, she had then walked away leaving Othershy to do as she pleased with it.

A thought jumped to the surface of her mind: escape. She could take that chance and run to…

The dark pony grit her teeth. Nowhere. As soon as she got out the door, Skadi would rip her to pieces. And she couldn’t go down the tunnels because she had a better chance of running into Fluttershy than finding a path out. The insane pony had most likely not even made a tunnel to out of the city…

She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the cool metal. Her eyes looked up and down herself. Though she had control of Fluttershy’s body, she had the coat and mane of herself. It was an odd feeling, one she didn’t wish to look into.

With a sigh of anger, she opened the heater’s hatch and began her task.

Fluttershy felt the wire in her mouth start to go taut and stopped. The tunnel ahead of her opened up into what she referred to as the “crossroads” because so many other tunnels met it. Also, it was directly below the Town Hall, giving it a symbolic meaning by default.

She had wired up the second heater without haste. Though it pained her to think about her friends in trouble, she felt something miraculous happening with Othershy. When the dark pony had touched the heater, Fluttershy had seen something spark in her eyes. Maybe she wasn’t a lost cause after all…

“Speaking of which…” she said softly as she heard the other pony coming up a tunnel ahead. The dark pony sounded like she was moving slowly, maybe carrying something. Hopefully, she thought, more wire. Fluttershy dropped the wire from her mouth and started forward.

A spool of wire rolled into view, one end of the spool trailing off. Othershy stepped into view and kicked it, sending it rolling again.

Smiling knowingly, Fluttershy called out, “I see you managed without me.”

Othershy turned to her without surprise in her eyes, as if she knew she would be there all along. “It wasn’t hard. You’re right, I have seen you do it plenty of times…” her voice trailed off as she looked beyond Fluttershy.

The pegasus turned but all she saw was the wire on the ground leading away. She looked back at Othershy about to ask what was wrong but the dark pony had come to her. They were nose to nose before Fluttershy could react.

Hot breath washing over her face, Othershy stared into her eyes and said slowly, “How did you wire that one?” Her tone, her wide, red eyes, made Fluttershy want to recoil.

But she stood her ground. She wouldn’t let so much progress with the other pony go to waste due to weakness. “I wired it up the same way you did, I’m sure…there won’t be any-”

Othershy slammed her hoof into the wall and screamed, “NO!”

This time Fluttershy couldn’t stop herself from taking a step back.

“No…” the dark pony said again, body shaking, “You couldn’t have done that because I had the body…ME!” Her dark hoof raised to point at Fluttershy, “You did it before…before all of this…you knew, you always know YOU ALWAYS KNOW! YOU’RE DOING THIS!”

“Othershy,” the pegasus said softly, slowly, “calm down, it’s going to be alright...I wired up this one while you wired the other one…”

But Othershy didn’t seem to be listening. Her eyes were jumping all over the place. She wobbled, unsteady, taking small steps back and forth. “You knew, you’re doing this, you knew, how, how, how...”

Fluttershy gulped, not wanting to do what she had to do next. With a step she closed the distance and wrapped her front legs around Othershy’s neck. The dark pony stiffened and tried to shake her off, but Fluttershy held tight. “It’s alright, it’s going to be alright,” she said over and over.

Eventually Othershy stopped struggling. Her breathing was still heavy and she wouldn’t respond to Fluttershy at all. Steadying herself again, Fluttershy released the other pony and took a step back.

Othershy looked more tired than ever. Softly, she said, “You’re insane…you conjured this all up just to get into my head…no…to get me out of yours…”

Sadly, Fluttershy said, “No…I just want to help you…I just want you to be happy, like everypony else…”

Red eyes narrowed, teeth gritted together, Othershy said, “You did all of this, I know you did. But you couldn’t have known about Celestia…” She stepped forward to stare deep into Fluttershy’s eyes before saying, “You are not leaving my sight again, not until we deal with her.”

Barely standing her ground under the other pony’s gaze, Fluttershy could only nod. It would make the task set out before them slower, but it was the only choice she had.

Othershy was nearly at her breaking point.

Wiring the last few heaters took hours. Fluttershy constantly glanced at any clock she could, and when there wasn’t one she would stare at the boarded up windows, and in the tunnels she would walk close behind her to speed her up.

But Othershy worked slowly, not because she had to but because she could. Every minute that went by was another minute Fluttershy got antsier. And Othershy loved it. The wire in the tunnel proved that Fluttershy had known about this event before it would happen, though most likely only on a subconscious level.

It meant Othershy now had leverage. This was all a part of Fluttershy’s plan, all a game she had concocted for one reason or another. But now Othershy knew it was a game. And that meant she could break it.

The last heater was set up on the second floor of the hospital. Night had long since fallen on Ponyville, and Othershy had taken to carrying an everylasting candle sideways in her mouth to see. Thought she could have simply stopped hooking up the heaters at any time, Fluttershy would have just taken back her body and finished her game. So she pretended to partake while she thought up a way to get into the other pony’s head.

As she finished wiring up the final heater, her plan came together. Othershy closed the hatch and turned to Fluttershy. The other pony was standing by the candle, watching her.

“The hatch needs to be open to start it…” Fluttershy said softly.

Grinning, Othershy sat down and said, “Let’s talk a moment, Fluttershy.”

“I really don’t think that-”

“Fluttershy,” the dark pony said, hinting at darker thoughts, “Let’s. Talk.”

“I just…I really think we should…” but the pegasus stopped trying. Good.

Grinning from ear to ear, Othershy stepped towards Fluttershy, “Don’t you think it’s strange? All these coincidences: the heaters, the gala, Celestia. They all happened at the same exact time, as if somepony planned it.”

Fluttershy kept stock still as she followed the dark pony with her eyes, “You think somepony wanted this to happen? They wanted all the ponies in town together so they could hurt them?” Othershy started to walk around the pegasus so Fluttershy had to turn her head to follow, “Do you think it was Skadi? Could she had-”

“It was you,” whispered Othershy. “You were tired of your boring life, so carefree and innocent. You wanted some action, so you subconsciously set all these events into motion.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, “That’s insane…why would I intentionally put my friends in harm’s way? And that doesn’t explain Skadi-”

Othershy’s laughter cut her off, “But you found a way, like you always find a way. So persistent…you must have machines and mechanisms running all over the place, unseen until you want them to be.” The dark pony stomped her hooves, “They’re here too, aren’t they? In the floor, in the walls, in the ceiling…if I step out of line you’ll just fling me out the window, won’t you?”

This time Fluttershy stayed quiet, though her eyes stayed glued to Othershy’s.

“Nothing to say now? It’s because I’m right!” the dark pony accented her final word by stepping close to the pegasus. “You and your constant talk about your friends and the town you love so much can’t even see the truth! They’re all dead!”

Fluttershy looked down and shook her head slightly, “No…they aren’t…”

“They are!” Othershy screamed just inches away from the other pony, “They died when the meteor hit and you couldn’t take it! You tricked yourself into thinking they were all alive!”

Fluttershy raised her head, tears streaming from her eyes as she said, “No, Zecora…you tricked yourself into thinking they had died.”

Four months, zero years after meteor…

Angel stirred restlessly on her back. Everfree at night was not his idea of a fun trip.

“I’m sorry, Angel, I didn’t know we would be out so late…” Fluttershy said quietly. Something about the silent forest made her want to speak softly. Twilight had assured her that the forest would be barren of creatures for many years, but that did little to calm her nerves. The place was creepy no matter what.

Angel wiggled on her back again, pulling at her mane. “Now, now, just relax, hunny,” Fluttershy said. The little bunny pulled her hair more, this time to the left. She turned her head and looked into the woods.

Two bloodshot eyes stared back.

Fear gripped Fluttershy. Everypony she knew was resting in town. In her mind she saw all of them, every last one, sleeping, not able to be there staring back. Every pony in town…

And then it clicked.

“Zecora…?”

The eyes turned and ran.

“Wait! Zecora, wait!”

Through the darkness Fluttershy ran. Angel held on tightly, pulling her mane, but she ignored that pain. What she couldn’t ignore was the pain that came with knowing she had forgotten somepony. The pain with knowing someone had been alone for months, hurt and scared. The pain with knowing the dark thoughts that could flirt with such a creature’s mind…

“Zecora!”

Three months, four years after meteor…

“…what did you just call me…?”

Fluttershy sniffled, “I know you don’t like me calling you that…but it’s the only way to make you calm down sometimes…”

Othershy shook her head and started to laugh, “This is ridiculous, even for you…”

“I’m sorry…are you feeling better?”

“Like hell I am!” the dark zebra…pony…I’m a pony…I’m not a…

What is going on…what’s wrong with my legs…why do they look like that? Those aren’t my legs…

“What are you doing to me?” Zecora said…I’m not Zecora! “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

“Nothing!” Fluttershy yelled back, “I haven’t done anything but try and help you ever since that night in the woods!” Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, “I just want you to be happy, like everypony! Why can’t you see that?”

That night in the woods? When we first met? It was so dark…I had followed her from Ponyville…she had entered my forest…I left my hut…

“No…no no no no no…” the dark…something dropped to her knees and held her head in her hooves. “That’s not true. That isn’t what happened. You created me subconsciously to stop your madness. I’m not some Zebra you forgot about and left to rot!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Fluttershy sobbed, “I had to help everypony in Ponyville!”

“And I’m not a pony, so it was so easy for you to forget?!” Othershy yelled back. Her eye’s grew wide in horror. “No no no…”

“Please, Zecora,” said the pegasus, dropping to her knees in front of her friend, “Please snap out of it…everyone wants you to get better…”

“I’m not crazy…” but the stripes on your legs say otherwise. “You’re crazy,” but everything is fine. “Everypony is dead,” but they’re all waiting for you.

Everything is fine.

Her mind was a cloud. Memories morphed and changed, warped by time and anger. The sonic rainboom going off without a hitch. Fluttershy getting food poisoning and her having to carry her to the hospital. The other ponies were jealous of her because her hut had protected her from the worst of the blast, allowing her to walk sooner than most of them. But they accepted her, even though she had all that bottled up anger. Anger at being left alone. Anger at thinking she would die for her stubbornness.

“No…” Zecora cried, pressing her forehead to the floor, tears pooling on the wood, “No…”

She felt a hoof gently stroke her unkempt hair. “It’s alright,” Fluttershy said soothingly, “It’ll be alright…”

Zecora saw memory after memory change and correct itself. All the horrible things she thought everypony had gone through: all lies. The houses were fixed by helping hooves. The gala put on by loving friends. Angel always being there when she and Fluttershy got back to the cottage…

…Angel’s house lying in a heap…

Her eye’s shot open.

“…Zecora? What’s the matter?”

“…why did you never fix Angel’s house…?”

“I’m sorry?” she sniffled as she wiped her nose, “Angel’s house? Well he started living inside with me…”

“But his house,” the dark one lifted her head off the floor, “Why did you never fix it? Or get rid of it? On your beautiful property it’s the only blemish…”

Fluttershy laughed lightly, “I just…haven’t gotten around to it is all…”

“…”

“…Zecora? Are you alright?”

Othershy lifted her head and stared hatefully into Fluttershy’s eyes, “You didn’t fix it because he killed himself there because he couldn’t stand the knowledge that he had tried to kill you!” Fluttershy recoiled and got to her hooves. Othershy rose quickly with her and continued, “You can’t forget that, can you? That one memory won’t ever change, won’t ever heal, and won’t ever get better! The one blemish on your mind!”

“Shut up!” Fluttershy screamed, eyes wide and wild, “You’re wrong! You’ve always been wrong! Why won’t you see that!?”

The hatred went out of Othershy’s eyes. Sadness replaced it. “You’re right, Fluttershy. I’ve been wrong this entire time…I’ve tried to make you see the truth, tried to force it on you, but you’re too lost.”

Some of the wildness left Fluttershy as she repeated, “You’re wrong…”

The shadow pony shook her head gently, “I failed you. You created me to help you and I couldn’t. You knew I failed long ago when you tried to lock me away in that cave, to hide your mistakes from me. But it’s too late for you, Fluttershy…there’s no saving you anymore…”

“What…are you saying?” the pegasus said softly.

Othershy closed her eyes. In a voice barely above a whisper, she said a single word:

“….Skadi…”

The window beside them exploded, pressed inwards to bursting by a press of snow. Fluttershy screamed as it fell over her and began to harden into the shape of a claw.

Othershy spoke the entire time, voice mechanical, eyes closed, “It was as I thought: all of this was just another one of your plans. You couldn’t get rid of me, you found that out when you pretended the Elements of Harmony machine had worked. So you would do the next best thing...” Othershy opened her eyes slowly as Fluttershy was dragged out the window by the claw, “You would convert me to your ways by convincing me I was Zecora.” Fluttershy kept screaming as she was lifted out the hospital window and into the sky.

Othershy stepped forward to watch her ascend. A snowstorm spun around the Town Hall with Skadi at its center, floating above the building. “But that’s not Skadi, or Celestia, or anypony at all,” Othershy continued, “It’s just an illusion you created, like me.” Snow lifted into the air and connected the claw to an arm, then a torso. Othershy lost sight of Skadi as snow covered her completely. A snowy head began to form. “Impressive…I’m almost sad I’ll never figure out how you did it…

“…oh well…at least it’ll be quick…”

The head of the giant snow creature finished forming, becoming half pony, half dragon. It roared at the tiny pony in its claws, drowning out Fluttershys screams.

And then the heater beside Othershy, knocked out the window by Skadi, turned on. The shadow pony’s eyes widened in shock as every heater connected turned on at once. “How…” and then she saw it: the one that was already wired up. “A timer…a timer?!” she screamed, “How many steps ahead are you!?” Othershy looked up at Fluttershy, still gripped in Skadi’s claw, and screamed, “How insane are you?!”

The heaters, stationed perfectly around the square, sent heat up directly at Skadi and the clouds above her diagonally. The clouds, less dense then the packed snow comprising Skadi’s form, dissipated first, revealing the orange morning sky.

But Othershy’s eyes were drawn to something else, something only visible from her perspective on the second floor of the hospital. “What…is that?”

Baltimare…

A door behind him burst open and the voice of his second-in-command, Jar, spoke, “Sir, something is happening in Canterlot.”

Blueblood continued to lean over the rail and stared at the scientists working below. “Don’t tell me,” he said sarcastically, “A building collapsed? That place has been rubble since we abandoned it.”

Jar waited until he was sure his commander was finished speaking before saying, “One of our cloud cams reported something glowing from the ruins.”

“Glowing?” Blueblood said, turning from the sight of his workers.

“Yes, sir,” the unicorn levitated a paper in front of him, something Blueblood hadn’t seen, and started to read off of it, “At 0534 hours a bright pink glow was reported as being seen from Canterlot. Specifically: Canterlot Castle.”

Blueblood’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Something glowing in the castle? Pink as well...” He mumbled to himself, “Her hair was pink before the…but of course she died…but her bones could still hold power…”

Jar waited patiently while his commander spoke, like a good solider.

Finally, Blueblood began walking towards the door Jar had entered from and said quickly, “We’ll need supplies for the trip, wagons, work horses, and we’ll have to wait for the damn weather to clear, and…”

He went on and on, and Jar wrote it all down as he kept pace. Like a good solider.

Crystal Mountains….

From the mountaintop, she could see the heavier clouds below coming their way. The rain would turn to snow soon. Another trial she and her people would have to endure.

One of her clanmates pointed suddenly, “Gilda, look!”

Gilda the griffon looked in the direction pointed. Far off in the distance, the mountain Canterlot was built on jutted into the sky. The thing pointed out was impossible to miss.

“What do you think that glow is?” another of her clanmates asked and recoiled when he realized he had spoken out of turn.

But Gilda was too fascinated by the glow to punish the overzealous male. Something about the glow brought back memories from long ago. She bit extra hard into the next bite of meat, before saying, “Once the snows pass, we’ll go find out.”

The male that had spoken out of turn smiled and reached for another piece of the pony they had caught. Gilda smacked him across the face without looking. She said in a quiet voice, “You’ll have what I allow you to have and nothing more.”

Canterlot Peak…

A pair of goggles was handed to him. He scrunched up his face at them. Goggles impaired vision too much, he hated them. But he took them and put them on without fuss. The rest of his team followed his lead. It was important to lead by example.

The scout led them up to the surface through tunnels long since abandoned. They were sometimes used for training, but not often.

“Here,” the scout said in his gravelly voice, “Is just a little further.”

“That’s what you said three tunnels ago,” Wrench complained from down the line.

“Dogs!” Steel barked. His Iron Dogs snapped to attention behind him. He turned to the scout, “Lead on.”

Soon they were staring out a hole in the side of the mountain. A bright pink glow radiated from the buildings close to the ruined castle. The falling snow and dirty goggles made it difficult to tell where it was coming from.

“So?” the scout asked quickly, “Is good?”

Steel stared at the glow a little longer before signaling his team to turn back down the tunnel. To the scout he said, “’Is good’, scout. Extra rations for you tonight.” The scout’s eyes lit up like Steel had just granted him another month to live.

Though, Steel thought, that wasn’t far from the truth.

Ponyville...

Skadi screamed as the snow that made up her monstrous body began to melt. The heaters did their job better than Othershy ever expected. In seconds the giant creature was falling to the ground in a sloshy heap.

Skadi tried one last time to kill Fluttershy by snapping down on her with her massive jaws, but by then the snow had already lost its density. The jaws snapped shut and cushioned Fluttershy’s fall, sending water in every direction.

The glow that had captured Othershy’s attention winked out. The heaters, for wiring or other technical reasons, all stopped at once. The clouds overhead slowly regained control of the airspace.

Snow quietly drifted down on the shivering pony below.

Othershy was down in the square in an instant. She wondered how long ago Fluttershy had taken their body back. She let the thoughts die early. Useless thinking.

Skadi, reduced back to her alicorn form, laid breathing heavily in the snow. Othershy turned her back on her and started to walk towards Fluttershy. She felt the alicorn start to rise and stopped walking. Dark chains rose from around Skadi and wrapped themselves around her.

Othershy spoke without turning, “Like me, you cannot be killed. But I won’t let you do whatever you want.”

“I can kill her!” Skadi yelled as the chains grew tighter, covering every inch of her, “I can end this!”

“What’s the point?” replied Othershy, “She has plans within plans within plans, and we’re just pawns in her game. We can’t beat her no matter how hard we try.”

A chain started to coil around her head but Skadi jerked away and screamed, “So you’re giving up?! You’ll just lock yourself inside her head and hope everything turns out fine?! You’re as insane as she is!” The chains finished their work and Skadi could speak no more.

Othershy thought about the alicorn’s words a moment before softly saying, “We’re all insane.”

Fluttershy jerked awake. Her whole body was freezing cold. She was laying in wet snow and her mane dripped water. Motion from the edge of her vision had her head jerking towards it.

“Fluttershy,” Othershy said. The shadow pony was standing over her.

Fluttershy tried to speak but her body ached all over. It felt like something had been squeezing her…Skadi, of course. They had done it! They beat her!

Othershy spoke softly, “I’m done, Fluttershy. I can’t make you see the truth, and you don’t even want me to anymore.”

She got her legs under her but they shook. Her friends! They were in the Town Hall waiting for her!

“I’m going to take Skadi and…we won’t ever bother you again,” Othershy continued, “So…leave us alone, alright?”

She took a step forward, then another, then another. The Town Hall’s open doors dominated her view.

“…goodbye, Fluttershy…”

She felt odd for a moment, like she had gotten lighter somehow. It made it easier to walk. She moved faster and faster until she reached the doors and-

Inside was everypony! They were safe and happy and-

Girls! You’re all alright! I don’t know what I would have done without you all…

I would give anything to be with you…

Othershy watched Fluttershy’s memories pass her by. They flowed around her, flat squares of light in the darkness. Most were from the past, changed and deformed. She didn’t bother trying to fix them as they passed.

For no reason in particular, she re-watched the memory of Fluttershy getting up and walking to the Town Hall. It was a powerful moment for her: the moment she gave up on the pony that created her. What was she now that she had no purpose? Were these thoughts really her own?

Lifting a dark hoof, she was about to let the memory flow away but stopped. In the corner of Fluttershy’s eye was something Othershy hadn’t noticed before. The shadow pony leaned forward. Something was in the snow leading away from the first house where Fluttershy had wired the heater herself, the heater Othershy had assumed she had rigged with a timer. But what were these…

“…hoofprints?”