Awakening Fluttershy's Dark Sky

by Misty Shadow

The Risen One's Ending

Fluttershy had revealed the truth…

The entire court had no idea what to say. Even Rarity and Discord were at a loss for words. Eventually though, they had to overcome their surprise, and Judge Discord had to hand down a verdict. He banged his gavel and said...

"For the crime of the murder of Fluttershy, this court finds Defense Attorney Fluttershy…"

GUILTY

Lots of ponies who were watching the trial cheered and confetti was thrown. Soon, Discord banged his gavel again.

"Court is adjourned!" he exclaimed.

The trial was truly over. The real killer had been found. Bailiffs Myra Michaels/Maud Pie and Edward Miles arrested Defense Attorney Fluttershy, but before she was taken away, Fluttershy had requested that she get a chance to speak with her friends. Wanting to be nice, as well as knowing that this request was coming straight from The Risen One, Myra and Edward granted her wish. Having cuffed her front legs, they took her outside of the courtroom, where Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were all waiting. The latter three had been in the audience watching the trial, and all of them were smiling at Fluttershy with tears swelling in their eyes. Fluttershy smiled back at them.

"Judging just by your tears of joy," said Fluttershy, "I believe that you realize this is a good thing. For this is the will of I, The Risen One."

In response to that, Twilight and her friends just laughed before saying…

"WRONG. Even in this twisted realm of reality, we absolutely refuse to believe that is a good thing. Though we may hardly understand what the fuck is going on, we completely understand that this story or whatever ending with our friend being taken away in cuffs after being proved guilty as a murderer is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING. If you think it's going to end like this, you couldn't possibly be more wrong…"

"Ha ha ha ha ha…" Fluttershy laughed too. "I was just testing you. I don't believe it's going to end like this at all, because I directed Rarity and Discord to write this ending so that it won't end here. The me you are seeing right before your eyes, as you may have already guessed, is merely a mortal incarnation of me. My real self, as hinted by the solution to the riddle...is in Hawaii. If you wish for this story to end the proper way, you know where you will have to go."

"We would go to hell and back to the dimension between hell and heaven if it meant getting the chance to meet the real you…" Twilight's friends told Fluttershy in the most sincere tone they could tell her in. "If boredom's been killing you on your vacation, you're in luck. You're completely out of your mind Fluttershy. You've been in space for too long, and we're going to bring you back down to earth!"

"Then we're ready for launch…" Fluttershy replied. "This conversation is over. Take me away please, bailiffs…"

Twilight and her friends stared at Fluttershy angrily as Bailiffs Myra and Edward dragged her off and left the courtroom lobby. They had no idea how to feel right now. Happy to finally know the truth, sad to know that their friend was in a darkness so deep, or furious that their friend had played them for suckers without shame. They had talked a big game, but they really didn't know what they wanted to do deep down besides save their friend…

...but how?

We can take you to Hawaii for starters.

Twilight and her friends could hear Discord speak those words in all their minds.

"What the…?" Twilight and her friends said in surprise.

Tickets are on me. No need to say thanks. I run the airline of the interdimensional plane, it's really no trouble.

Twilight and her friends heard Rarity speak that in their minds. They turned around to the entrance of the trial room and saw Ninja Time God Rarity and Fantasy God Discord open up the entrance's double doors and step out, dressed in their normal attires of a black sword-emblem decorated robe and a white shield-emblem decorated robe respectively.

"Glad to be out of that frumpy and frilly outfit," said a pleased Rarity as she admired her black robe, "although I won't deny that I do enjoy how it made me feel like a handsome gentleman."

"You say that like you aren't already a handsome gentleman." Discord complimented her as he scratched her chin slightly with his claw.

"Why…" Twilight and her friends began to ask. "Why would you guys help us go to Hawaii?"

"So you can face off against Fluttershy for the final battle, of course." Rarity replied, grinning as usual.

"But…" Twilight and her friends said. "Fluttershy is The Risen One! Your director, your leader! Have you...meant to betray her this whole time?"

"Betray?!" Discord bellowed. "You mean to call Rarity and I TRAITORS?! I am appalled! We wouldn't betray Fluttershy if it meant an entire existence without chocolate milk! We're not going to help you because we're against Fluttershy, we're going to help you because we're FOR Fluttershy. Come on, don't you even remember what Fluttershy just said?"

The gears began to turn in the heads of Twilight and her friends.

"So that's why you didn't want Fluttershy to be arrested…" Twilight said. "It wasn't because she wanted to go to jail in one of the endings and pay for her crime in the slammer...it was because she wanted us to go to Hawaii and be the ones to punish her!"

"Bingo," responded Rarity, "you are a winner. For the record, we've not written the exact way you punish Fluttershy in our storybook...Fluttershy wants you to do to her what you feel is an appropriate punishment."

Twilight's friends were now in that state of utter disbelief. Their eyes were starting to water as they got down on the floor and began to cry.

"We don't get this…" they said. "She killed herself...so we could PUNISH HER?!"

"We know it sounds completely stupid to you all right now in your mortal minds…" Discord told them. "But when you become gods, you all shall understand perfectly."

With that, Discord winked at Twilight...

"...!" Twilight went.

This is my cue…

It wasn't Rarity or Discord who spoke those words...it was Twilight Sparkle in her mind.

Twilight Sparkle, the only pony of the four who was not shocked or weeping, stepped closer to Rarity and Discord.

"Oh really?" she said. "Because I'm actually two gods. And even I don't understand this entirely."

Twilight friends, intrigued, looked up at her.

"What does that mean, Twilight…?" they asked with suspicious glares.

Twilight glanced back at them…

"It means that I am the God of both Darkness and Light," replied Twilight, "I am what I am. And I am not what you see before you...this me is merely what you would call a hologram."

Twilight's friends didn't even shout or act surprised. They just said…

"...Really?"

"...Yeah." Twilight replied. "I've become one with Starcatch. I literally am a supercomputer. This me is just a physical manifestation of digital data I made of myself, akin to the mortal incarnations Fluttershy makes of herself. Hey, don't look at me, Fluttershy directed it and wanted Rarity and Discord to write it."

"..." Twilight's friends went.

"Oh yeah," said Twilight, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you all that I've been working for Fluttershy this whole time and that what she said in court was true, I was the one she hired to kill her. Throughout this entire story, I was written to act and feel as a mortal who knew nothing about the scheme with the exception of certain scenes."

"..." Twilight's friends went again.

"Gah," grunted Twilight, "that's right, plotholes. I need to fill you guys in by filling those in. The book you caught me with was a fake copy that I made and the stuff I wrote it in only happened because it was written to happen in the real book ahead of time, the temp writer thing was just an act to hide my godly identity, digital data copies are entirely solid and can do anything the real version can, and this version of me legitimately is insane."

"..." Twilight's friends could do this all day.

Twilight Sparkle eventually just sighed.

"I'm sorry my friends…" she apologized. "But I must take my leave now. It is time for me to play my part in The Risen One's plan…and become a perfect being without error..."

With that, Twilight's body became a glowing, green mass of zeroes and ones, and she disappeared without a trace. Twilight's friends...couldn't even be shocked. They were at a point now where they could hardly be surprised anymore. They still continued to shed tears, however, and Rarity and Discord looked upon them not with smiles, but with looks of genuine sympathy…

"We know that it's tough…" Rarity said. "We expect no mortal to always believe that everything appearing to be bad, illogical, or both to them is part of a greater scheme for good."

"..." Twilight's friends were still silent, but they felt Rarity's words ring true to them.

"We honestly have always liked you guys…" Discord told them. "That's why we were glad when The Risen One told us to write for you to have a hard life. We were glad to be able to prune you and raise you like masters raise their students. This life is not everything. It's just one adventure. A warm-up adventure to prepare you for the real journey. And you've handled this warm-up adventure exceptionally well. We feel that you're finally ready for that real journey...don't you think so too?"

"..." Twilight's friends went again...only this time…

Applejack got up.

"Of course." she said. "I've always known that confusion and doubt weren't nothing more than training weights, an exercise before the real match..."

Rainbow Dash got up too.

"So do I!" she exclaimed. "This is only the beginning of the real show!"

Finally, Pinkie Pie stood up.

"We may be friends with Fluttershy and Twilight…" she said. "...but that's not all we are! We each have our own story too! It just so happens though...that each of us want Fluttershy and Twilight to be the focus of our story right now. They need us, and we need them. We live for our friends!"

After all that was said, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, were each surrounded by a ball of white light. Each ball swam around them before entering their bodies, and the three ponies each felt a strange new power surge within them. A blinding flash of light filled the room, and when it faded, the three ponies looked at themselves, noticing that they had all changed in appearance. Applejack was now dressed in gold armor and carried a shield that was shaped like a star and had the emblem of an eye on it. Rainbow Dash was now dressed like a merchant, wearing a green vest that said "PEACE COMES" on it, had many weapons under the vest that were wrapped in the kind of paper treaties were written on, and bore the scent of many expensive scented candles. Pinkie Pie was now dressed like a magician, wearing a red hat and blue cape, and carried a green cauldron filled with bottles and beakers in her hooves.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie have become gods!

Applejack had become the God of Magic, Rainbow Dash had become the God of Peace, and Pinkie Pie had become the God of Science. Still looking at themselves, they knew that they had not just changed in appearance, they had also changed mentally and spiritually. Each of them had been imbued with new knowledge of their newfound abilities and better understanding of battle, as well as new strength that they felt welling inside.

"Woah…" Applejack said, gazing at her shining armor. "I'm a mage soldier! I guess I'll be givin' a new meaning to them words, "magic duel"."

"I gotta say…" Rainbow Dash remarked as she smelled herself, noticing the new scent around her. "I never thought I'd be smelling like big business and a hippy at the same time…"

"I'll cook up a solution with the knowledge I've accrued!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she admired her cauldron, thinking of all the solutions she could make. "And I mean that literally!"

"But wait…" the trio of gods went as they all wondered about something that didn't seem to fit and turned to Rarity and Discord, who were both smiling happily once again.

"We thought that we had to solve the mystery of Fluttershy's death to become gods."

"And you did…" Discord replied.

"Huh?" the god trio went.

"Don't you get it?" Rarity said. "We didn't mean solving the mystery of Fluttershy's death in the context of finding out who killed her. We meant in the context of solving the mystery of what Fluttershy's death had done to you guys."

"We...we still don't get it…" the three replied. "Wait...wait, oh…"

"Yes," said Discord, "your confusion...your doubt...this entire story that started with the death of your friend implanted those dreaded feelings into your hearts. It fueled your inner conflict with identity struggle and made you believe that the only escape from the confusion and doubt you were being put through was solving the mystery of what was going on."

"Yeah…" the three responded. "We didn't solve the mystery...but we don't feel confused anymore at all…"

"That's because you realize that there was no mystery…" Rarity explained. "Life is simply this way. It's a puzzle with no answer...but your own..."

"The reason The Risen One died isn't the answer…" Discord followed up.

"It's how we react to the reason that's the answer…" the three finished it. "The Risen One's tale is a really dark and fucked up one once you really know about it, but if knowing it inspires us to be a light unto others, then what a great tale of our own we can make…"

Rarity and Discord actually cried a few tears of joy.

"You couldn't have said it better…" Rarity said. "Discord and I did not write that…we're too dark and fucked up for that."

"Those words came from you…" Discord said. "Your hearts spoke them true..."

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie cried a few tears of joy too.

"It's time now…" Rarity said as she pulled a scroll out of her black robe.

"Let us go…" Discord said he pulled a pen out of his white robe.

Rarity and Discord put the pen and scroll together and began to make a chant. Once their chant had finished, they and the three new gods were in a lodge in Hawaii.

…

An unusually familiar lodge in Hawaii…

"Don't tell me…" Applejack said as she, Dash, and Pinkie looked around. They saw that they were in the same living room with the same couch, carpet, and TV as before. This time, however, there was no Sombra lounging on the couch. Or Luna carrying pancakes for that matter. There was a Luna dressed in a blue Hawaiian shirt though, and she opened a glass door behind a table in the dining room. Stepping into the dining room while carrying a tray of toy umbrella decorated cocktails, she saw the five gods in the living room and said…

"Aloha, my friends. Glad to see you've all arrived. Fluttershy wants you. She's outside on the porch, waiting."

Luna then walked back outside as the five conversed. On the porch, she sighed and said…

"What am I doing with my life? The Mortal World wants me no longer...I've served up my part in this story...why am I still here?"

"Huh." Rainbow huffed. "So she doesn't want the house to get messed up. I should've figured."

"Well yeah," replied Pinkie, "it's a duel, not a party. Now if it's a party duel, then I'd understand Fluttershy wanting us to get REAL crazy."

"Pinkie," said Applejack, "this whole thing has gotten REAL crazy."

Pinkie sighed in response to that.

"I need to take you to see a party duel some time…" she told Applejack. "Compared to that, this is just some REAL dope."

Applejack and Rainbow just stared at Pinkie confusedly for a bit. Pinkie eventually began to laugh, and Applejack and Rainbow soon couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Ha ha ha…" Rarity chuckled, seeing the others laugh. "I'm impressed that you three are in the mood for comic relief at a time like this. It really shows how much you've changed."

"Hmm?" the trio of Twilight's friends responded. "How so? We know we've changed, but that time, we were just laughing together like always."

"True, but there was once a time where you would be in a constant state of despair and unrest knowing that you would have to fight and hurt one of your friends." Discord explained. "But now…"

"You've learned that getting upset, even over something serious like that, won't change anything." Rarity concluded. "You know now that being happy and laidback at a time like this doesn't mean you think the issue is funny...it just means you're trying to be strong."

"And we need strength if we're going to bring Fluttershy back to us…" Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie replied. "Thanks guys...now we're even more motivated…"

The three knew that it was time to duel...so they walked up to the glass door leading outside to the porch where Fluttershy awaited them and opened it…

Stepping outside, they found themselves on a beach. Predictably, when they looked around, they saw no beachcomers. The place was deserted, with no pony in sight save one...Fluttershy. She was lounging on a beach chair close to the ocean, wearing black sunglasses and a red Hawaiian shirt and swirling around a glass filled with ice and red cocktail juice. Noticing the arrival of her friends, she greeted them…

"Hello. It was very nice of you guys to come. Would any of you like a drink?"

Applejack and Dash both shot her a serious stare. Pinkie, on the other hand, smiled and shut her eyes while saying…

"Oh certainly! Thank you! I'd like a Pina Papaya Colada with a Mountain Dew Baja Blast twist please!"

After saying that, her look of glee turned to a serious one…

"AFTER we've brought you back to your SENSES…"

Fluttershy began to laugh sinisterly.

"So you've decided to punish me as well…" she said. "How lovely…"

Fluttershy began to drink from her glass.

"We don't care about punishing you…" the trio of friends said. "We only care about doing what we have to do to bring you back…"

Fluttershy finished drinking and looked at her friends with a smirk on her face.

"I expected nothing less…" she said. "You guys are so good to me…"

"You got that right…" the trio replied, playing along as each of them readied for battle.

Fluttershy then tossed her glass of red cocktail juice into the air as she opened her wings. The glass of juice spun around, showering her wings with red liquid, and soon they grew bright red with magical energy emanating from them. While the glass was still spinning in the air, Fluttershy shot a spark of magical fire at it from out of her right hooftip. The spark grew when it hit the glass, enveloping it and transforming it into a red gun with white stripes and the words, "He Lives Forever", engraved on it. The gun spun down towards Fluttershy, and grabbing it in her right hoof, she pointed it at her friends and exclaimed…

"Let's rock! Woo-hoo."

THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all rushed towards Fluttershy and threw a punch at her, but Fluttershy leaped into the air and began to fire her gun at them. A rain of bullets made of magic fire began to shower the three. They all got hit and burned by the bullets with them even piercing Applejack's armor. Even though they all had far more endurance now as gods, they still felt pain from the bullet rain. Landing a good distance from the three after her dramatic jump, Fluttershy looked back at them and taunted them as they groaned and clutched the areas of their wounds…

"I don't mean to be rude, but what were you thinking? Trying to fight a man with a gun with your fists is very dangerous! You need to be careful!"

The trio looked at Fluttershy with looks showing great frustration. They obviously didn't want to fight her at full force, but if she herself wouldn't think twice about hurting them…

"Don't worry," said Fluttershy in a sickly sweet tone, "I understand your pain, so I'll make it very easy for you…"

Fluttershy then turned her gun to face the horizon of the ocean and fired three shots. Each of the three bullets only traveled above the sea for a few moments before changing direction and zooming towards Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie like homing missiles. Each bullet struck each one of them in the forehead, and each one of them felt a small explosion of fire spread throughout their heads. Yet they didn't die. Even with getting over their constant feelings of shock, they were surprised at the extent of Fluttershy's power...and the extent of their endurance…

"My gun is the last of the three legendary weapons…" Fluttershy explained. "Oh, you've never heard of them? Well you've seen at least one of them, two if you were lucky. Myra Michaels' saber is the Victor from the Dark Domain, and Loki, the priest who mentored her, has the staff called the Saints to Reign. This gun, called He Lives Forever, once belonged to a man named Nick Ron, CEO of the Phoenext Corporation, before it was brought to me. Every shot it fires never misses, making its wielder virtually undefeatable in a gunfight. They say he who wields it, lives forever...figuratively, of course. But you guys and I can live forever literally with our godly powers…eternally lingering in this realm of Hawaii..."

The three stared at Fluttershy blankly, lowering their heads as they realized what they had to do…

"You guys are smart." Fluttershy complimented them in her sickly sweet tone. "You've caught my drift already. Fight like you mean it, or this will go on for eternity."

The three readied their weapons. Rainbow Dash pulled a weapon of paper out from her vest and it turned into a pair of glowing, green, three-pronged nunchaks. The beakers in Pinkie's cauldron magically filled themselves with bubbling liquids of assorted colors, and a ball of energy began to glow on the eye on Applejack's shield. This time, the three didn't all rush at Fluttershy at once. Instead, only Rainbow charged forth at her, and spinning her nunchaku, raised it to strike Fluttershy in the chest. Fluttershy leaped back to dodge it, but a magic force from the nunchaku grazed her chest...like a paper cut. Fluttershy looked down at her wound, apparently astonished that she hadn't been able to completely evade. Suddenly, she noticed a beaker filled with bubbling red liquid beneath her hooves beginning to grow brighter...and brighter...until…

*BOOM*

Fluttershy jumped in the air just in time to avoid the explosion from the solution bomb that Pinkie had created and thrown near her. While she was in the air, Applejack aimed the eye of her shield at her and fired a magic ball of energy that turned into a magic missile as it traveled towards Fluttershy and hit her in the stomach, exploding upon impact. Fluttershy fell to the ground, landing on the sand on her back. Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie all cringed when they saw a huge mass of blood on her chest coming from a huge, serious wound in her chest. Walking towards her, they became nervous, hoping that she was alright. They got their answer when they saw magic fire begin to rise out of Fluttershy's chest wound. When the fire died, Fluttershy's wound was completely healed. She got up, and looking at the others, she began to snicker.

"You've all done well so far…" she told them. "You're evenly matched with this form of me in terms of power. Now all you have to do is prove that you're on equal standing with my other two forms, who shall see if you're on par with me in terms of endurance and wisdom. And only after you do that will I return to you…"

With those words, magic fire surrounded Fluttershy completely, and she vanished. In the near distance, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie saw a new area appear...a mechanical building that resembled a church began to rise out of the sand. They all went straight to the building where a new form of Fluttershy awaited them…

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie entered the building to find that it resembled a church. Benches of wood painted white with red cushions in them lined the place, but no one was sitting in them. Again, this place was desolate. It seemed that this was a recurring theme. But what did the theme mean…?

There was also an organ-like instrument playing in the church-like place...by itself. Hardly an organ in essence, it was more like an electric piano that played classical tunes automatically like a jukebox. Unlike a jukebox though, this piano didn't play pre-recorded tunes. Right now, the keys on this piano were playing a dubstep rendition of "Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by themselves. Hearing the tune while looking at the unorthodox instrument, the trio of gods became unnerved…

"Didn't…" they said in discomforted tones. "Didn't Tree Hugger play a dubstep version of a classical song at Fluttershy's funeral too? And aren't both songs played at wedding ceremonies? And wedding ceremonies take place in a church typically…"

"Such redundant words," said someone with the voice of a fourteen-year old boy, "good to know I'm not alone. Because I was alone before you guys showed up."

"!" the trio went as they turned their heads to see a boy with blue hair that had white streaks in it dressed in a white robe standing beside them.

"Who are you?" they asked him. "Are you with Fluttershy?"

"Not right now," he replied, "though I was with her just a short while ago. After all, I am one with her."

"Wait a second…" the three said as they remembered what they had been told in the lounge about Fluttershy having to fuse with a boy to become complete. "Are you…?"

"I am Fluttershy…" he responded. "But I am also another...it was through death that I was able to awaken the power of my mother...Discord. This church we are in is where Fluttershy and him wed...and it is also the church where she and King Sombra wed..."

The trio of gods sighed.

"Where are you going with this?" they asked.

"Fluttershy also married Twilight here…" the boy continued. "You are their children, just as I am the child of Fluttershy and Discord."

"...Well," replied the trio, "we got over Luna being our father. But seriously, how many parents do we need?"

"We all have many parents," said the boy, "but right now, Twilight and I need to be the ones to bring you upright…and show you power that you've long neglected..."

The boy snapped his fingers like Discord would snap his claws, and instantaneously, the three ponies found themselves in a space of darkness. Nothing but the essence of pitch-black night surrounded them...yet they could hear a familiar voice in their heads…

You can run, you can hide, but you can't escape my love and understanding…especially now that you're inside of me...and the Dark Sky members are on break. I'm going to recreate you all in here once more...soon we will live together in perfect harmony...

Twilight Sparkle spoke those words...and Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie pulled out their weapons in response.

Oh my...you ready weapons upon hearing the voice of your mother? At least I attacked you before you busted those out to use against me, your friend and father.

Fluttershy spoke those words...and Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie growled.

"We're not falling for these stupid fucking "scare and shock" tactics!" they shouted angrily. "So just come out! We've been through too much to be weirded out now! Let's just fight like men...mares...men who are mares or whatever and get this over with!"

"I see you can not be shaken…" the voice of the boy could be heard saying. "Then you have passed the trial of endurance, and shall receive a reward…"

With those words and the sound of another fingersnap, Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie became wrapped by three shadows that came around them. Struggling to get free of the shadows proved to be of no avail, and soon the three were unable to move. Completely consumed by the shadows, the three began to feel something inside...another new power awakening inside each of them...a dark power. The shadows that had consumed them then began to assume a metallic form of transparent liquid, and coated the three in liquid metal armor. Covered in the metal, the three felt yet another new power come awake inside of them...a robotic power. Having become metal armor on the three, the shadows no longer bound the three, and they were able to move freely again. Looking at themselves, they felt strange once again. This power should've been new to them, but they were having deja vu. All three of them felt like they had been in this form for quite some time. Even as demonic aurora and metallic circuits surged throughout their bodies strongly, this power really only felt new because they had never felt it on this level before. Yet it was familiar…

"Hey…" Applejack said. "Do any of y'all remember what Rarity and Discord were sayin' bout us having...essential upgrades so that we could be gods?"

"And that we also had to be evil and neutral to…" Rainbow Dash said in tandem as she realized. "Oh...but wait a minute, wasn't Pinkie already…"

"I already had demon powers," responded Pinkie, "and I learned to control them with Maud's help, but I never had them on this level. Right now, I literally feel like I'm one with a force of pure evil...yet I don't feel an urge to do evil…I only feel a drive to use this dark power for good..."

"And I feel completely neutral…" Dash said. "Unphased by all this chaos, yet feeling passionate about doing everything I can to restore order…"

"I think I get what it all means now…" Applejack said. "Our strive to be good is boundless, even while we're being bound by evil and neutrality...if those can't move us, even while they're close to our hearts at all times...then our hearts are invincible!"

"Wonderful…" the boy could be heard talking again. "You figured yet another important puzzle out."

Another fingersnap was heard, and the darkness surrounding the three ponies was gone. They were back in the church, and in front of them, they saw the boy standing in front of them clapping.

"Congratulations," he told them, "you have proven yourselves equal to Fluttershy in endurance. All that is left now is to prove you are on equal standing with her in wisdom when you face her final form, and with that, you shall receive the greatest of rewards… Farewell. My name is Sky Wanderer, remember it..."

Sky snapped his fingers one last time, and disappeared without a trace. Once he vanished, the electric piano in the room stopped playing and a shadowy circle formed on the space of the floor below it. The piano was sucked below into the circle, and in its place, an insignia of King Sombra's face formed on the circle as dark energy rose up from it to a spot on the ceiling of the church. The said spot of the ceiling disappeared and a hole was opened up. Even as the sun could be seen shining through the hole, the darkness emanating from the circle was not lightened. Applejack, Dash, and Pinkie examined this sight curiously…

"Sombra…" Applejack said as she reminisced over what the boy had told them. "Do you all think…?"

"This circle is a portal to a battle with her and Sombra's son…" Rainbow Dash said.

"When a swirling, dark portal appears in the middle of the floor, common sense usually tells you NOT to go near it!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "But here, we have no choice. No other way out, no other way to proceed…"

The three of them gulped, feeling tension before they gathered their courage and stood headstrong together. They all stepped onto the dark circle, and a light from above beamed them up to a new realm...a realm filled with light…

Looking around, the three ponies, again, saw no bystanders. All they saw was light shining all around them. It was like a counterpart to the place of darkness Fluttershy's second form sent them to…

Good job on reaching the final stage…

This time, when the three heard Fluttershy's voice, they could see right in front of them who was talking. Just ahead of them was Fluttershy's third form, the son of her and Sombra. Unlike Fluttershy's second form, she bore a strong resemblance to Fluttershy. The only striking difference she had in appearance from her was shadowy, magically flowing hair like Sombra's, armor like Sombra's, and a red horn.

"Greetings, I am Soshy..." she told them. "I know what happened in the previous stage, Sky put you in darkness...take that as a hint…"

With those words, Fluttershy's third form began to change shape, transforming into shadow. Applejack began to charge up an energy ball with her shield and fired it at the shadow. Like she guessed, it passed through her and did her no harm. Then the beakers in Pinkie Pie's cauldron began to fill themselves with bubbling liquid, and she threw a red beaker at the shadow, which exploded upon impact. Again, no harm was done to the shadow, but a familiar voice could be heard crying...

Eek! Goodness…

The three knew for sure what the trick was after hearing Fluttershy's voice.

"Like we hadn't already figured it out…" Rainbow Dash remarked as she got out her nunchaku.

Spinning her nunchaks, Rainbow rushed towards the shadow and thrust her nunchaks inside of her, and they wrapped themselves around a familiar pony who was inside the shadow...Fluttershy. Rainbow pulled Fluttershy out of the shadow, and it disappeared, leaving only Fluttershy in her normal form on the ground. Applejack and Pinkie came up to her, and Fluttershy looked up at them all, smiling.

"Incredible…" she said. "Even after being wrapped in the darkness yourselves, you did not succumb to it. You used wisdom rather than violence to save me from the darkness. Thank you guys. You are now equal to me in wisdom as well. You've passed the final test and are as great as I. As a reward, I not only will return home with you as promised, but also, I shall give you the greatest gift I can bestow upon all of you…"

Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie all felt a strange sensation in their chest, and out of each of them, an orange, blue, and pink storybook came out, and floated in the air before dropping beneath each of their hooves. A pen appeared on top of each book as well.

"Now each of you will be able to have a part in this story…" Fluttershy explained. "But the control you'll have over it shall be far beyond the control of any gods, even Rarity and Discord. For I shall give you my blood…"

"...?" the trio went.

Fluttershy turned into a small ball of light and thusly, got out of the hold of the nunchaks. Transforming back to normal, she now had a knife in her right hoof that she held over her left front leg.

"I'm serious…" Fluttershy said. "My blood is what brings out the true power of my story. Spill it on the pages of your books, and it will not ruin them...instead, it will imbue them with unfathomable power. Anything you've written will come true, even if it goes against what Rarity and Discord have written. You may like Rarity and Discord now, but they want Twilight Sparkle to remain in the darkness. They want her to make the final step to becoming a perfect being without error by merging with the Mortal World, converting all to digital data and taking it inside herself. Only through the shedding of my blood can you save Twilight Sparkle."

"..." the trio was genuinely unable to decide what to do.

"We're finally together as friends again…" Fluttershy told them in her sweet tone. "So please, let's retrieve the final missing piece together. Write in a page of your books for Twilight to come out of the darkness, then I'll cut one of my front legs, let the blood drip on the page, and Twilight will be saved. And that's not all. You can also write for Rarity to go back to being who she used to be and for all of Equestria to unite together in friendship and peace remembering none of this so that we can all live happily ever after. Having us all stand together in the light is the best ending we could possibly write, don't you agree?"

Final Decision: Is Fluttershy right?

A. Yes

B. No