On the outskirts of Ponyville, near the edge of the Everfree Forest was a tree cottage. The sun shone brightly as a butter-yellow with a pink mane and tial Pegasus woke up with a cute yawn. Several birds came in through an opened window tweeting a lovely song, coming to rest at the posts of the Pegasus’s bed.

She giggled as their song finished, flying over to a nearby vanity. There, the birds picked up several items, flying back to the Pegasus. They went to work with a comb, brushing her mane to free it of the bed knots. Other animals walked in, arms, antlers, and other appendages laden down with clothes. The butter-yellow pegasi closed her eyes, sighing in delight at being waited on by her furry friends.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.

“The gala! THE OVERLORD! What happened?!” Fluttershy asked, tone musical and tight with worry.

A white bunny raced over to a desk and hopped up on top. They picked up a picture, hopping over to the bed and presenting it to the Pegasus. She took it and looked it over.

The picture showed her surrounded by her other friends; Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie who was making a silly face. They stood in front of a statue of the Overlord. She smiled as the memories came back, not noticing the flashing eyes of the Overlord statue in the picture.

They had turned the Overlord to stone and she was now head of her own Veterinary clinic after she finished out her courses. She now trained others to care for the animals in their respective lands.

A chiming clock made Fluttershy to look up and she gasped as she saw the time.

“Oh dear! I'm so very late!” She squeaked as she hastily got dressed.

The mare kissed the larger animals on the head or cheek, petting the others. Opening the front door to her home, she stepped out into a bright light.

MLPOV

Fluttershy blinked several times to get rid of the light that had invaded her eyes. Looking around, she realized something.

“This...this is my old home. How did I get here?” Fluttershy asked in confusion.

Before she could find the answers, she was bumped to the side, crashing onto the ground. She looked up and saw her older brother, Zephyr Breeze walking by.

“EXCUSE ME...” Fluttershy said, but the voice did not carry the usual timid shy tone that she used.

The tone was cold, bitterly cold and harsh as a sword's edge. It made Zephyr stop, his fur standing on end. He slowly turned around, a nervous grin on his face.

“H-h-h-h-hey there, Sis! I didn't see you there!” Zephyr said, nervous laughter escaping his lips.

“I BET YOU DID, AND YOU IGNORED IT LIKE USUAL. LAZY BUM. NOW, YOU KNOW OUR AGREEMENT, RIGHT?”

Zephyr whimpered as he watched his little sister saunter up to him, like he was prey and she was the hungry predator. Faster than he could see, her leg snapped out and knocked his own out from under him. He fell to the ground to a crash, biting his tongue by mistake. Fluttershy looked at him with a smirk.

“DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT THEY DO UNTO YOU, BRO.” Fluttershy spoke in a low tone as she stepped over his downed and moaning form. “I'LL TAKE YOUR MID-DAY SNACK, YOU DON'T MIND DO YOU? AFTER ALL, I LIKE TO THINK MY BROTHER IS A KIND AND GIVING SOUL.”

Zephyr cringed at hearing the last bit and nodded rapidly. Fluttershy smiled as she walked through the kitchen door.

MLPOV

Fluttershy blinked in surprise as she stared at the garden that dotted the outside of her home. What was-?

Her train of thought was interrupted by a loud shaking noise. She followed the path to the back of her home just as another flash occurred.

MLPOV

Fluttershy found herself in a playground full of playing colts and fillies playing on clouds. She walked with grace and poise, looking at everything with a disinterested look. A sudden wet feeling cascaded down on her, pausing her stride. She heard loud, mocking laughter above her.

Looking up, she saw a single colt on a cloud, clutching his sides in laughter. Keeping her face blank, she flew up to the still laughing colt. She stared at him intently, the colt noticing and his laughter slowly, but surely petering out.

“Uh...hi?” The colt asked, a bit creeped out by the dead stare of this Pegasus.

“HELLO.”

The colt's fur stood on end. Whatever he just did, it woke something and right now, it was making him feel very, very, very small. The filly flew up over the colt to a nearby storm cloud that had formed. The colt got a sense of foreboding as the filly pushed the cloud just over him.

A sudden downpour struck him and made him fall off the cloud. With a wet splat, he landed in a puddle, splashing several students. The colt shook his head, looking up as the filly descended with her arms crossed. She stared again making the colt shiver and shake in fear.

“P-p-p-p-p-please stop staring at me!” The colt wailed, running away and into a nearby wall much to the amusement of the other children.

The bell rang and the group all headed in, still laughing and mimicking the colt. Fluttershy walked in just as another flash came.

MLPOV

Fluttershy leaned against a tree, shaking her head of the spots. Another sound of something rustling made her look up to see her garden shed, rattling like something was trapped inside.

Wanting out.

Fluttershy gasped as the shed glowed brightly, consuming her.

MLPOV

Fluttershy found herself strapped down to a table, her parents, brother and a stallion in white talking. She strained her eyes to listen to the muted sounds.

“Well, the procedure was a success. Her dominant personalty is completely surpressed in her mind.” The stallion said to the parents who looked relived.

“Thank you so much, doctor! Our little girl was getting to be unbearable to be around!” The mare said with tears in her eyes.

“Yes, thanks Doc! Maybe now I can do what I want to do without repercussions from her!” Zephyr said in a snark tone.

“I cannot thank you enough, doc. Her cruel means were getting to everyone!” Her father said, smiling. “Still, to think that she'd toss that poor animal to that feral after helping it!”

Fluttershy's eyes drooped and she fell into darkness, a feeling of timidness coming over her. She had been so cruel to that animal now that she thought of it...she'd make sure to never do such a thing again.

It was what sweet, kind mares did after all!

MLPOV

Fluttershy panted as she fell to her knees, at the base of the shed which had gone deathly still. She looked up to see the locked door open some, held back by a chain, a single cold blue eye staring at her.

“SO...YOU FINALLY REMEMBER ME...OR RATHER YOUR TRUE SELF.”

“I'm not you! I'm kind, not cruel!” Fluttershy protested. “I will never be you!”

The eye rolled itself with a glare.

“I'LL ALWAYS BE HERE, 'KINDNESS'. I'M THE REAL YOU AFTER ALL.”

Fluttershy broke down, curling up, sobbing as the door closed and the shed resumed its rattling. All she could was cover her ears, sobbing loudly.

MLPOV

In the white void, the Overlord clicked his tongue as the orb returned to the side, Twilight staring at it in shock.

“I am Evil made flesh, but I would never stoop that low to suppress a true personality,” He said leaning back.

He looked at the slack-jawed Twilight, his eyes gleaming with a grin.

“Well, there you have it, Magic or Friendship, whatever you call yourself. The true sides of your supposed 'friends'. Deceit, Dishonesty, Greed, Cruelty, and Depression. Your side is not needed to be shown as you have demonstrated it enough or does this 'Lesson Zero' not show you refusing help from your friends? Enmity.”

He raised a gauntlet, absorbing the magic blast from Twilight who glared at him angerily.

“I do not care about my friends state of mind!” Twilight snarled, her mind in such a rage that she wasn't aware of what she was speaking. “We can and will defeat you! I will defeat you! I will make Celestia proud of me! I will make her care for me again!”

The Overlord chuckled, Celestia's voice echoing all around the two.

“I will do what I must to protect the land Luna.”

The Overlord chuckled as that memory played in the void making Twilight's jaw drop once more.

“Even Celestia knows what I know...she knows that I am a bigger threat than ever because of the past she and I have. She will do anything to protect the lands she reigns over, including giving you up. Do you still feel confident, Magic Friendship?”

Twilight got her wits back and nodded with ferocity. The Overlord smirked.

“Then I hope you have a plan. For in about two seconds, you're going to be struck down.”

Twilight wisely summed up the comment in one word.

“What?”

The void shattered.

MLPOV

Twilight found herself back in the real world, their rainbow beam closer to her and her friends with the black fire right on its heels. She tried to think of something, anything, looking at her friends in desperation.

They were of no help; tears streamed down each of their eyes, some twitching involuntarily as they relived their past. Twilight watched as the beam gave out and the black fire rushed onto them, all six screaming out.

They twisted and writhed in the fires, pain exploding over their bodies, screaming silent screams. The fires did not burn, but it felt like a million volts of power were plugged directly into their nervous system.

The six fell to the ground, landing in different parts of the room, the wind knocked out of them as their struck walls, pillars, or tables. The six elements fell to the ground, clattering, the gems black and cracked in some places.

When the malestrom faded away, the Overlord looked at the six figures twitching as sparks of his power flowed over them. Panting, he stood up from his kneeling position, his arms twisting with several pops and cracks. He looked around the room.

It was in disarray.

The walls and floor were all cracked, the windows shattered, and several ponies now peeking out from the rooms, their faces awash in horror and amazement. Why wouldn't they? Here, stood a being...nay, a GOD...who stood his ground against the Elements, THE ELEMENTS, of Harmony and came away without so much as a injury. He turned to a running Celestia, Luna and Gilda, his face morphing into a look of rage that stopped Celestia and Luna cold, but Gilda came up and embraced him.

He put an arm around her, stroking his back, his murderous look of anger not diminished in the slightest.

“So...that is how it is, Celestia?” He coldly snapped making Celestia's eyes go wide. “You lured me here by having your own ponies have Lucky have a 'accident' and then, when my guard was down, you had your WEAPONS strike at me, ME! Can't let go of the past could you?! I come here to repair broken bridges and you stab me in the back!”

Celestia's eyes went even wider, catching onto the Overlord's plan. He was turning her allies, the same allies that had taken over a thousand years to build up against her!

The worst thing?

It was working.

Germane, Saddle Arabia, Afrika, Neighpan, and the land of the Griffons. Each of their ambassador's were now looking at her coldly, Luna trying and failing to convince them otherwise while she stayed staring at her former love.

“Overlord...”

“SILENCE!”

The booming tone made her mouth snap shut and stand at attention, an old habit from her days with him. She felt tears cascading down her face, Gilda and the Overlord marching by, scowling at him.

“Know that Prance will hear about this attack, Princess. Gilda, let us retire...I feel we have overstayed our welcome.”

The two left, Celestia slumping to the ground, her face in her hands and sobbing.

Author's Note

Well, that took a while. Sorry folks, but my muse will NOT focus. I recently found an old childhood love of mine on Netflix and binge watched it. That...led to me watching the other incarnations of it and finding the comic series. So yeah...i took to wrting to that in my spare time.

Ideas. They're the best and worst thing for an Author.

Funny enough, I didn't listen to the song 'Cruel to be kind' at all while making this.