Unlike the last time she soared through the galaxy in an energy bubble, Fluttershy's vision wasn't blinded by green energy. This time, she actually got to witness the beauty of it. Countless stars flying past her, nebulas swirling around and the suns of several star systems shining brightly. If it wasn't so urgent for her to get back to her home planet, she would have stopped to marvel at the sights.
But she had no time to waste. If her theory was correct - and with each passing moment, she became more and more sure it was - then she had to get back home and begin her investigation as soon as possible. The greatest evil Equestria has ever seen was about awaken and she was the only one who could stop it. Not only Equestria's fate, but the fate of her entire planet was on the line. And if the Sinestro Corps really managed to get their hands on Nightmare Moon powered by one of their rings, then the entire Sector 1996 could be jeopardised as well. She didn't even dare to think what would happen if one of those rings really fell into the possession of that monster.
Before she knew it, she saw the glowing blue shape of her home planet appearing in front of her. Even though her training didn't take as long as she feared, Fluttershy still felt like she hasn't seen it in years. Before she entered the atmosphere, she actually took some time admiring it despite her earlier determination to ignore the beauties of the galaxy. She never even imagined seeing it from this view. She wondered if this was what those ponies who dream of discovering space travel always imagined it as. It was so gorgeous words couldn't do it justice.
Suddenly, another object caught her eye. In the distance between the stars, she saw the moon of her planet. The silhouette of the black pony trapped inside was all too clear and even though it was expressionless, Fluttershy could feel the malevolence radiating from the celestial body. It made her shudder before she quickly remembered Tomar's advice. She had to take control of her fear. Especially in the face of her foe. She had no idea if the Mare in the Moon would actually see it, but she narrowed her eyes at it, trying to put on a brave face before continuing her way towards the surface of the planet. What she failed to notice however, were the small sparks of yellow light flickering around the black mare's outline.
Fluttershy had to be very careful to land somewhere where she wouldn't attract any attention but she would be close enough to make it home without her Lantern uniform. She never would have thought that she would be grateful she lived next to the Everfree Forest. She knew that no pony in their right mind would ever go anywhere near that place. She just had to make sure she wouldn't land too deep inside the actual forest.
As she descended and came closer and closer to the ground, she quickly recognised the familiar town of Ponyville. She had to resist the urge to quote that old cliché of how she can see her house from up here. She flew past the cottage and headed a few meters into the Everfree before finally setting her hooves down on the familiar soil. She took in a deep breath and let out a content sigh. It was good to be home.
She looked around, happily acknowledging that she wasn't too deep. She visited this place several times before with her animal friends. She quickly dematerialized her Lantern uniform and changed back into her everyday cloth less form before starting to make her way back towards her cottage.
She only took a few trots before she heard the desperate cry of a familiar little creature. She ran into the direction where it came from and noticed a family of chipmunks cornered against a tree by a pair of timberwolves. The predators snarled viciously as they closed in on the defenseless creatures who could do nothing but embrace each other and close their eyes waiting for their end.
Fluttershy gasped. If she witnessed such an event in the past, she would have just attempted to snatch the critters and fly away as fast as she could. But she was now a Green Lantern. She didn't only have the courage to stand up against these monsters, but also the power. Her eyes narrowed with fiery determination, her wings spread out and the ring on the tip of the right one lit up with green light as her mind recited the familiar words.
'In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power - Green Lantern's light!'
The timberwolves were about to leap forward and devour the poor creatures, but they were interrupted when a blinding green light eminating from behind one of the trees. When the light died down, the predators backed away as a pegasus in a green and black uniform levitated out and landed protectively in front of the chipmunk family.
"If you want them, you will have to go through me." She announced as she glared at them. The timberwolves shared a glance before leaning back and launching themselves at Fluttershy. The pegasus knew exactly what to do. She summoned two boxing gloves out of her ring which sprang forward and knocked the creatures several meters away.
Having never witnessed such an attack before, the Timberwolves were obviously very surprised but they quickly got over their shock. They managed to land on their feet and immediately leaped to attack. Fluttershy managed to rescue the critters by surrounding them with an energy bubble and levitation them on top of a tree before continuing the fight.
She flew back just before the Timberwolves closed their jaws around her body. She created a giant hammer construct and smashed one of them to pieces before turning to do the same to the other one, but it saw what happened to it's packmate and jumped back in time to avoid it, giving just enough time for the smashed wolf to reassemble itself.
The two wolves then split up. One jumped to Fluttershy's left side and the other to her right. Fluttershy cursed under her breath. They tried to get her to divide her attention so if she focused it on one of them, the other could catch her off guard. She needed to tie this up quickly.
An idea suddenly hit her. It was a long shot at best but it could at least even the odds. She summoned a green silhouette version of herself and sent it to confront the wolf on her left. Two against two were much fairer. However, this still presented a problem. She would have to face the other wolf without her ring. No matter. At least those physical exercises for Oa won't be for nothing.
The green construct Fluttershy was handling her own Timberwolf just fine, but the real Fluttershy still had to find a way to take out her own opponent. No matter how strong she became, handling a full grown Timberwolf with her bare hooves was just not going to happen.
But it didn't need to. A plan was already formulating in Fluttershy's mind and all she needed to do was keep her distance from the Timberwolf until she eas ready to put into motion. That was easier said than done though. She couldn't use her ring to fly because she needed to keep up her construct clone to keep the other wolf occupied. She was back on Equus so she could use her wings but even with her extra training, they were still less effective than her willpower.
Still, she was able to keep herself away from the beast and she could see from the corner of her eyes that her construct clone was quite efficiently beating the other wolf into submission. The wolf was becoming tired and disoriented which let Fluttershy knew the time was near.
The construct clone delivered one last mighty punch into the wolf's maw, making the beast stumble back. Fluttershy quickly made it grab the wolf around it's neck and threw it hard towards her. She then quickly flew up just as her Timberwolf leaped forward and the two crashed into each other in the air, breaking apart into several wooden pieces, leaving Fluttershy free to check on the chipmunk family on the tree. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even notice the wooden pieces of the Timberwolves beginning to twitch again.
"Are you alright, my little friends?" The chipmunks looked relieved at first, but in a moment, they all cowered back as their expression changed to horror. Fluttershy slowly turned around and her eyes widened in fright when she saw one huge Timberwolf assembled from the parts of both of her vanquished foes.
She flew back, clearly intimidated, but the fearful cry of the chipmunks was the only thing her determination needed to return. As the Timberwolves leaped to attack again, Fluttershy summoned a green bull that charged straight at the monstrosity. Tbe two beings clashed but neither could push back the other. Fluttershy was starting to wear herself out so she was forced to retreat and find a new strategy.
She created a line of buzzsaws on the ground near the giant wolf's paws, but the creature easily jumped over it and leaped at Fluttershy. As the pegasus Lantern saw the oncoming jaws of the predator, she finally deduced a way to end this fight once and for all. She pushed her ring forward and created a woodchipper directly at the bottom of the monster's trajectory. The wolf didn't even have time to whimper in defeat as it realised what was about to happen. It landed right in the chute of the green woodchipper, leaving only sawdust as a proof that it ever existed coming out on the other side.
As Fluttershy the fact of her victory slowly dawned on Fluttershy, her shocked expression turned into a huge grin as she did a quick loop in the air in triumph. This was her first time saving a creature as a Green Lantern. It may not have been a galactic threat, but to her, saving her animal friends was just as much of an accomplished for her. If not more so. She heard cheering and clapping from the tree where the chipmunks were hiding on and turned to see them applauding her performance, making her blush a little.
"Oh... you don't have to applaud me. The fact that you are safe is all the reward I need." She spoke before flying up to them and scooping them up to take them back on the ground.
"Thank you so much, Fluttershy." One of the chipmunks squeaked. The Lantern's eyes widened in both surprise and nervousness. Back on Oa, they taught her that maintaining a secret identity might be preferable to some Lanterns. If these critters could tell it was her so easily, then surely the ponies who knew her would be able to as well. She wasn't sure how she should react and her shyness once again took over.
"I... Uh... I don't know... Uh... I mean... I'm not..." She stuttered, trying to find the right words and convince the critters that it wasn't her, but apparently it didn't really work because they didn't even wait for her to finish. If anything, she ended up giving herself away even more because this nervous, timid behaviour was exactly what the animals were used to from her.
"Oh, before we forget, Paw Tamer has been looking for you. She says you have been missing for over a week so we became very worried. But we're happy to see you are alright."
The mention of her roommate caused Fluttershy to completely give up on trying to cover up her identity from the chipmunks. A new worry took priority in her mind. If Paw Tamer was alone to care for all her animals including Angel Bunny, then she was probably very upset with her. And if it was possible, an angry Paw Tamer scared her even more than a Yellow Lantern Nightmare Moon. She wasted no time and bolted off towards Ponyville, not even bothering to make her Lantern suit disappear. The chipmunks watched her go with curious looks.
"Where do you think she got that ring?" One of them asked.
"I don't know, but I think it's cool. She sure showed those wolves what's what!" Another replied enthusiastically.
"I don't know." The third one said. "Personally, I think green isn't her colour." The chipmunks shared a glance and all shrugged before hopping away.
Fluttershy reached her cottage in record time with the help of her ring. She raised her hoof to open the door but then she noticed that she was still wearing her Lantern uniform. She quickly looked around and sighed in relief when she saw that nopony was seeing her. She quickly changed back to normal and knocked on the door. After a few moments, it opened and she was Paw Tamer whose eyes widened in shock when she saw her.
"Shy! Finally!" She cried before pulling the pegasus into an embrace. When they seperated, Fluttershy noticed several of her animal friends standing in the corner of the room and they all ran to greet her with Angel Bunny leading the charge.
"Oh, my pretties! I missed you so much!" She cried with joy as she embraced them all. It was a blessing to see them again after so long, but it didn't draw her attention away from the fact that she still had to calm her friend down.
"Where in Celestia's name have you been this whole time?!" Paw Tamer demanded once the animals scattered. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? What do you think ponies thought after I told them you disappeared from our cottage after a green explosion from a lantern that fell out of the sky?!"
Fluttershy was completely lost on how she should explain her absence to her friend. She had a feeling that telling her the truth would not exactly work in her favor. 'Well, Paw Tamer, it turns out that the dying alien who fell out of the sky last week was the member of an intergalactic police organisation and his ring which can summon anything that it's wielder imagines chose me as his successor. Oh, and also we believe that Nightmare Moon is about to make a return, armed with a similar ring powered by how much ponies fear her. But otherwise, everything is fine.'
Yeah, that probably would be a lot for her to take in at once.
"Umm... What exactly?" She asked with a nervous smile, trying to sound innocent. But she still knew that Paw Tamer would give her a piece of her mind. And the fact that her friend backed away from the embrace with a dark scowl made that all the more obvious.
"What exactly?!" She roared in anger, making the pegasus shrink back. "At best they thought I was nuts and at worst they assumed I actually had something to do with your disappearance! When I also mentioned that I was knocked out by the explosion, they all just assumed I hit my head and hallucinated everything! You just left me here for over a whole week to take care of everything! Including..." Her eyes then widened as she remembered something and Fluttershy knew the worst was about to come.
"...Including caring for that blasted rabbit of yours! Oh, you owe me big time! Do you have any idea how troublesome it was feeding the little pest without you?! I was very tempted to just give up and leave him to fend for himself!" Surprisingly, this last sentence actually calmed Fluttershy down and she gave her friend a knowing smile.
"You would never do that." She said with one hundred percent conviction, making Paw Tamer raise an eyebrow.
"Oh, wouldn't I? And what makes you think so?"
"Two things. One, when we entered the veterinary school together, you took an oath that you would always help every creature in need." Fluttershy reminded her. Paw Tamer groaned. This was something both Fluttershy and Angel loved taking advantage of.
"Doesn't mean you have to rub it in my face all the time."
"And two, you know that I would never forgive you if you did that. And that's something you couldn't live with."
"You presume a little too much." Paw Tamer replied leaning up muzzle to muzzle with Fluttershy. "In this situation, I think I'm the one who should do the forgiving after all the horseapples you made me go through last week by pissing off. And if you want me to do that, you have some explaining to do! You can start by telling me where you were!"
Fluttershy's mind turned into every possible direction in an attempt to find a good explanation for her friend. She backed away as her nervous smile returned and she lost all of her suddenly gained composure, but she still managed to piece together a cover story.
"Well... You see... After you were knocked out... I ran off to get help and I came across some animals in need of help. And you know how I can be. When I start helping my little friends I get a little carried away. When I was about to get back, I ran into some Timberwolves and I spent the last week hiding from them. I only just finally managed to evade them." Fluttershy finished, praying to the Princess that Paw Tamer would buy it. But judging from her unamused expression, that wasn't the case.
"You know, maybe I would have even bought that if it wasn't for the fact that I asked around in the forest among your animals and they all shook their heads when I asked them if they saw you." She replied angrily. Fluttershy gulped and looked down nervously. Paw Tamer saw how intimidated her friend was and realised she may have gone too far. She softened her expression and tried again.
"Look, Shy! This is not something you can just sweep under the rug! You disappeared for a week after the whole place exploded with green light! I... I was even beginning to think that maybe you were abducted by aliens!"
'Well... that's not completely inaccurate.' Fluttershy thought.
"And it all happened when you put on that ring!" Paw Tamer screamed as she jumped back when she noticed that Fluttershy still had the ring on her wing. "What are you still doing with it, Shy?! That thing is dangerous!"
"No! It's not!" Fluttershy yelled, flying forward and putting her hooves on her friend's shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. She realised she won't be able to talk her way out of this one. She'll have to tell Paw Tamer the truth. The earth pony rarely saw her friend so confident, so when she became like this, that meant things were serious.
"Shy, I'm scared! Please tell me what's going on here!" She pleaded. Fluttershy sighed. So much for a secret identity.
"Fine. I'll tell you. But you'll have to promise me you won't tell anypony else!" She demanded.
"Shy, after all the things I've told everypony around town they all thought me kooky. I don't think they'd believe me even if I did." Fluttershy nodded.
"Fair enough." Fluttershy admitted before she turned to walk away towards the door.
"Uh, aren't you gonna tell me?" Paw Tamer asked with a raised eyebrow. Fluttershy turned back with a smile.
"I think it's better if I show you. Wait here, I just need to grab something real quick."
In a few minutes, Fluttershy returned, carrying the same lantern that triggered the green explosion before she disappeared. Obviously, this spooked Paw Tamer as she didn't want a repeat of that incident.
"Shy, what are you doing?!" Fluttershy quickly raised a hoof to silence her friend.
"Please, trust me. You will understand everything in a few minutes." While Paw Tamer still had reservations about it, she did trust Fluttershy so she put her worries aside. Fluttershy quickly charged her ring, Paw Tamer covered her eyes when it touched the lantern, expecting a green explosion again. When it didn't happen, she finally dared herself to open her eyes and saw Fluttershy standing in the middle of the room in her Green Lantern uniform.
"What the... How did you change so quickly?" She asked dumbfounded. Fluttershy just smiled sheepishly.
"Allow me to explain..."
"So let me get this straight." Paw Tamer said once the explanation was done. "That dead alien who fell out of the sky last week was a space cop with a ring that can create anything he imagined. He chose you as his successor and now your new bosses tasked you with stopping Nightmare Moon from awakening with a similar ring just in yellow. Is that everything or is there something I missed?" Fluttershy thought for a moment.
"No. I think that's pretty much it." She waited for Paw Tamer to let everything she just learned sink in.
"Well, I'll be danged. And here I thought our biggest problem this week will be getting the birds ready for the Summer Sun Celebration concert." Her causal reply caught Fluttershy off guard.
"That's it? You believe me?" She asked in surprise. "I thought I might have to at least give you a presentation of how the ring works." Paw Tamer held up a hoof in protest.
"No, thank you. I already saw more than I need to from what that thing can do. Though if you want to maintain an incognito, you might warn to upgrade your costume. That domino mask doesn't do much to hide your identity."
Fluttershy flew in front of a mirror. Paw Tamer was right. The only way ponies won't recognise her is if they didn't know her. Even her manestyle was the same
She's gonna have to come up with something for that.
Right the moment as she thought that, her mask shifted and changed into a helmet with the Green Lantern symbol on it and black lens that completely covered Fluttershy's eyes. Both her and Paw Tamer have been rather surprised by this occurrence.
"Wow!" Was all the earth pony could say in reaction. "That thing really does anything you will." Fluttershy then turned to her friend.
"Well?" She asked, waiting for her judgement, which came in the form of an approving nod.
"That'll do. And as for me believing you, honestly that's a more believable explanation for what happened than the one you first gave. And we have seen far more outlandish magical things here in Equestria. A ring like that is actually mundane in comparison."
"Point taken." Fluttershy admitted matter-of-factly before changing back to normal.
"So what's gonna happen now?" Paw Tamer asked.
"I'm gonna have to dig up everything there is to know about Nightmare Moon if I want to find any way to stop her." She replied. She looked surprisingly determined for her usual self which surprised her friend. She looked happy to see this more confident Fluttershy, but at the same time, she was also concerned.
"Are you sure about this, Shy? I mean, I'm sure that ring packs one hack of a punch, but you're... Well, you're just a veterinarian. No offense, but I have a hard time seeing you suddenly become a space cop. I'm just... Worried about you. That's all." Fluttershy showed no offense at her statement.
"I asked myself that same question several times throughout my training." She replied. "But I learned a lot. I improved myself. I unlocked my full potential as a Lantern and I realise now that the ring makes no mistake in it's choice. And I know why it chose me. It saw that I have the ability to overcome great fear. Yes, it is true. I had great fear in me my whole life. And I may not have been able to overcome it for myself but I've always been able to do it for the sake of others. Especially my friends and family. Now a great danger is threatening both. I have the power to prevent it and that means I can't back down." Paw Tamer saw the passion in Fluttershy's eyes and knew that she won't be able to hold her back. And if she wanted to be honest, she didn't want to.
"Well, I never thought it would take you something of this grand scale to grow a spine, but I'll take it. And I think I can help you with finding out more info on Nightmare Moon." This instantly peaked Fluttershy's interest.
"How?"
"One of my friends in Canterlot told me that there is an increasing interest in the Nightmare Moon story since apparently it's gonna be the 1000th anniversary of the incident this year. But the Royal Library is trying to hide and ban everyt book they have on the subject. The buried them deep in the Palace. They're really trying to cover this thing up. Ironically, they're only making things more suspicious, if you ask me." Fluttershy grew worried when she heard that.
"So then how am I going to find out more about it?" She asked.
"Before the ban took effect, there was on library that bought out a lot of books about the myths and legends of Equestria. Including Nightmare Moon." Fluttershy's eyes lit up with hope.
"What library? Where?"
"The Atheneigh Library in Manehettan."
If it was possible, Fluttershy was even more nervous when she stepped off the train at the Manehattan train station then she was when she first arrived on Oa. The things she heard about this city were not exactly pleasant to say the least. Everypony she talked to described this city as a crime infested cesspool and things only got worse recently.
Organised crime may not have been as prominent as it used to be, but a new class of criminal showed up in it's wake. Just a few weeks ago, a homicidal clown went on a killing spree and attempted to gas the entire city. Not to mention the fearmongering Scarecrow that used to rob jewellery shops and the pony eating sewer dragon.
Of course, she didn't forget that she had an energy ring that can summon into existence literally anything she can imagine, but somehow that still wasn't able to put her nerves at ease. If she were to encounter one of these villains, there were still so many things that could go wrong. Civilians could get hurt, her identity could accidentally get revealed to everypony around, or she could just lose.
She shook her head. No. She shouldn't be thinking like this. Tomar told her she had to take control of her fears if she wants to take on Nightmare Moon and that's exactly what she's gonna do. And if the reputation of this city was anything to go by, it's gonna be a perfect place to star preparing for that.
She took out the map Paw Tamer gave her. It was already marked for her to find the shortest way from the station to the library. She warned him not to take a taxi but go by hoof because, in her words, "even the cab drivers are scum in this city". She didn't like such prejudices but in this city, she was willing to make an exception.
From the station, she would have to find the movie theater. That was hard to miss. The giant board on the top of the building that advertised the premiere of a new movie called "Dread Castle" was visible form a mile away. Especially with the huge "delayed" sign over it.
The next stop would be an old casino called "The Molehill". Fluttershy wanted to get past this building as quickly as possible. It was owned by an infamous crime boss named Verko. From what she heard, he mostly ran his operations from outside of Equestria in a faraway town called Klugetown. So the chances of running into him were slim, but still, she didn't want to spend time around criminals.
When Fluttershy reached the casino, she wanted to just dash past it and get away from it as soon as possible, but something stopped her. Instead of "The Molehill", she saw another sign on the building that said "Closed due to change in management - Grand reopening soon!". This caught her by surprise. She was no business pony, but even she knew that this was probably a very profitable place. She doubted that a big shot crime boss would just sell it.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice two workers heading her way carrying a large crate. They were struggling with it so much that they also didn't notice her and ended up bumping into her and knocking her on the ground, causing her map to fly out of her hooves.
"Oh! Excuse me, ma'am!" One of the workers apologised. Fluttershy got back up and dusted herself off before looking around for the map, but she couldn't find it anywhere. She frowned. How was she supposed to find the library now?
"I should be the one apologising. I wasn't watching where I was going.." She muttered, but the workers just waved it off.
"No harm done." They were about to move on, but suddenly the crate they were carrying started to shake. The worker in the front quickly bucked the crate and Fluttershy could swear she could hear him mutter the phrase "Shut it!". The two earth ponies quickly carried the crate off and loaded it onto a carriage before they got into it and it rode away. Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion.
'Now, what was that about?' She thought. She knew one thing for sure. Crates are not supposed to move on their own. But something, or possibly somepony inside them can make them move. Given the reputation of this place, Fluttershy quickly theorised that those ponies were up to no good. The best case scenario was they were snuggling some animals inside them. And the worst case scenario made the hair on her back stand up.
With her map lost anyway, Fluttershy decided to briefly abandon her research. As the Green Lantern of Sector 1996, it was her responsibility to enforce the law in her sector including her planet. And if she stumbled upon something that could possibly endanger lives, she had to step in. As quickly as she could, she ran after the carriage before it got out of sight.
Fluttershy managed to track it until it rode into the docks where she also saw a few more of the worker ponies wearing the exact same uniform as the ones she was tailing. The dock the carriage rode into appeared to be abandoned safe for a few earth pony workers. She counted four of them. There was only a ruined warehouse building in the background that the carriage stopped in front of.
Fluttershy snuck between the ruins of the warehouse and there, observing the events from behind the remains of a crushed brick wall. The two ponies she saw back at the casino got out of the vehicle and picked up the crate once again before carrying it towards the pier.
"Let's get this over with." One of the workers complained impatiently. "Before anypony shows up."
"Relax!" His partner reassured. "Ever since the clown tore down this place nopony comes here. We'll be fine. Which is more that can be said for this guy." Fluttershy's eyes widened. Her worst fears were confirmed. There was a pony inside that crate.
"So who's this unlucky bastard?" Asked one of the other workers.
"Just another idiot who didn't know when to jump the sinking ship. He refused to ditch Verko. Gotta admire his loyalty but that won't get you far in this business."
The two thugs - as they turned out to be - put the crate down at the end of the pier and broke it open to reveal another earth pony stallion, badly beaten and bruised. They rolled the poor pony out on the pier and stood him up. He gave them a defiant glare.
"Do you... Ugh!" He tried to speak but he had trouble due to the pain. "Do you know what Verko is going to do to you? All of Klugetown will be coming down on you and your boss." He threatened, but to no avail. One of the thugs just slapped him in the face and he ended up falling on the ground.
"Your old boss won't be doing much of anything anymore. Nor will anyone in Klugetown. That shithole belongs to Penguin now." The downed stallion spat into his face.
"Go to Tartarus!"
"I'm afraid you're gonna beat me to that." The thug said as he pulled out a gun and aimed it at the hostage. "The boss tried to be generous with you. He gave you more chances than you deserve. But his patience has run out. You're the last remnant of an old system, buddy. And now we're putting out the old and bringing in the new." This was the moment Fluttershy knew she had to step in.
'Not on my watch, you won't.'
She quickly recited the Green Lantern oath and ignited her ring, changing into her uniform and flew forward as quickly as her willpower allowed her to. The gangsters fired their weapons, but they ended up colliding a green energy shield that this suddenly arrived mare in green put up between them and their would be victim. The beaten pony opened his eyes when he felt none of the shots penetrating his skin and got the surprise of his life when he saw his superpony protector.
"What the hay?!" One of the gangsters asked in shock.
"Did the bat change her costume and her gimmick or something?" Another one wondered, earning an eyeroll from the others.
"This is obviously isn't the bat, you moron!"
"I don't care who she is!" The first one snapped. "Let's show her what happens to those who stick their nose in Penguin's business!" The gangsters all pulled out their guns and emptied their clips on Fluttershy's energy shield until their weapons were only making empty clicks. Fluttershy finally felt it safe to lower her shield and glared at the criminals from behind her helmet.
"You have one chance to walk away." She told them on the most menacing voice she could muster. The gangsters - obviously not knowing who they were facing - did not look intimated.
"I don't think so, lady." One of them responded, stepping forward. "Penguin wants this guy dead. And what Penguin wants, Penguin gets." The gangster then threw a punch at the pegasus, but she easily blocked it. She didn't carry weights around on Oa to be taken out so easily.
"Then you leave me no choice."
Fluttershy summoned a boxing glove construct and punched the gangster away from herself, effectively knocking him out. The others jumped apart in time to avoid it and wasted no time in attacking back. Two more gangsters came rushing at her, attempting the same tactic as the timberwolves did the day before, but this time, she wouldn't allow that to happen. She simply constructed a bat and swiped both of her attackers out of the way, knocking them out.
This fight was going pretty well for her. Half of the enemies were already down, but the other half made a tactical retreat. Fluttershy tried to follow them, but was forced to a halt when she noticed one of them opening another crate and pulling out a rocket launcher.
"Let's see how your little light show measures up against this!" He challenged before pulling the trigger and unleashing a missile. But Fluttershy had just the thing.
"Ask and you shall receive!" She countered as she formed a U shaped pipe in front of herself which sent it straight back at the gangster. The unfortunate earth pony could barely jump out of the way in time but the explosion still knocked him pretty far away.
Once the smoke died down, Fluttershy could see one of the gangsters setting up a gatling gun on the ground. Before she could do anything about it, he started firing at her. Fluttershy managed to create another shield in time but she knew she won't be able to keep it up for long. She flew away to find cover and catch her breath.
When she heard the gunfire die down, she already had a plan to take the weapon out. She flew out and before the gangster could fire again, she constructed plugs which she then sent flying towards the holes of the gun and the plugged all of them. The gun kept rotating but since it was now unable to fire, this could only end one way. The weapon exploded with a small blast that ended up sending the gangster back against some rubble.
There was now only one enemy left in the area but as Fluttershy rotated around to find him, she could see no sign of him. For a moment, she started believing that maybe he gave up and ran off, but she ended up being wrong when she felt somepony grabbing her from behind. One of the gansters apparently figured out that the source of her powers was her ring and was now attempted pull it off her wing. Fluttershy tried to knock him out by bashing the back of her head against his muzzle, but no matter how strong she became on Oa, a pegasus knocking out an earth pony was just not going to happen.
But then she got a better idea. She remembered the weight carrying exercises Kilowog made her do and she thought maybe she wouldn't need her ring to take this guy out. She merely spread out her wings and took off into the air, carrying the gangster with her. It was even easier than she thought. The physical training on Oa was finally paying off. She flew over the water and once the struggling gangster could no longer hold on, he fell plummeting into it.
Fluttershy looked back down at the dock. All the knocked out gangsters were still lying there and the pony they were trying to murder was still sitting at the end of the pier. Apparently, his injuries were too severe for him to run. Fluttershy then looked up and he could see police officers and fireponies rushing towards the scene. Looks like the explosion from the ganster's rocket was enough to get their attention.
She flew a little lower to see if the arrests would be carried out without any issue, but not before surrounding herself with an orb made of green mirrors that reflected the light away from her so that they wouldn't spot her. When she saw that everything was going well, she flew off. This little distraction had brought her one minor gain. She was able to see the library from the air. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she floated towards the park where it was standing in and landed between a few trees where she was sure nopony can see her change back. She peaked out from behind the trees and when she made sure nopony was near, she came out and made her way towards the building.
The inside of Atheneigh Library was really stunning. Fluttershy had never seen a library so vast and well organised. Nor one with so many ponies occupying it at the same time. Almost every table for reading was taken. Fluttershy didn't even know where to start looking for the books she needed. It was ironic. She had witnessed the vastness of the galaxy just a week ago and yet this library made her feel completely lost.
"Excuse me?" Fluttershy turned to see a young purple dragon standing next to her with inquisitive eyes. "Can I help you?" Fluttershy was quite surprised to see a dragon working in a library, but that was unimportant right now.
"Um... Yes, please. I'm looking for books on the legends and myths of Equestria." The dragon nodded.
"Anything in particular?" Fluttershy was reluctant to clarify. She didn't want to seem like a superstitious nutjob, but eventually realised she had no choice.
"Nightmare Moon." The dragon did not seem to judge her and merely nodded again before motioning for her to follow him.
"This way please." As the two were making their way between the bookshelves, Fluttershy couldn't help but wonder how a creature this young was already working in a library.
"Pardon me, but you seem a little young to be running this library by yourself." The dragon just gave her a soft smile in return.
"I don't. I'm just a librarian. The place is owned by my caretaker actually, Twilight Sparkle. But she is... occupied right now." He then stopped and stared ahead of himself as if he just realised something. "Hmph. At times like this, I guess I do actually run the place. But it's not that bad. I have been Ms. Sparkle's assistant since I could walk and she was always a very studious mare. I lost count on how many times we reshelved the library in Canterlot with her. Oh, look, here we are!" The dragon stopped and pointed at a bookshelf to their right. He quickly climbed the ladder and quickly returned with a thick, dark purple book. "Here. This book contains everything there is to know about the legend of Nightmare Moon. That seems to be a very popular topic these days so I placed markers on those pages."
"Thank you." Fluttershy replied kindly before taking off to find an empty table.
"If you need anything else just come find me." The dragon told her. "My name is Spike." Fluttershy just nodded with a smile and sat down at the table. She opened the book right at the marked pages, pulled out a quill and a parchment from her saddlebag and began to copy the parts of the book that she found the most important.
While she never personally indulged much in the story of Nightmare Moon, she didn't really find anything she didn't already know. She was the former princess of the night who got corrupted by an evil spirit who took advantage by her jealousy and bitterness towards Princess Celestia, she was worshipped by a group of enigmatic night dwelling creatures called Thestrals and she had her own elite task force called the Shadowbolts.
Fluttershy groaned in frustration. None of this was getting her closer to her goal. Nightmare Moon was about to make a comeback and she had to find a way to prevent it. And she still had no idea how. She extended her research to everything related to Nightmare Moon. Aliconrs, Thestrals, the Shadowbolts, but none of them provided anything useful either.
By the time Fluttershy reread the story of Nightmare Moon and her uprising against Celestia for like the hundredth time, it was already beginning to get dark. She was afraid the library would close soon. Not to mention she was getting tired. Of course, her job was far too important to just fall asleep but if she was completely exhausted, she wouldn't be able to perform her duty properly.
She looked over the books still spread wide open in front of her across the table. She already went through all of them. She doubted she would find anything she missed if she did it again. She then took a look at her notes. Maybe if she went through those instead, it would be easier for her to find something useful. Though the notes didn't exactly contain anything new either.
Princess of the Night, Nightmare spirit, uprising, eternal night, Shadowbolts, Elements of Harmony, banishment to the moon, vow to return on the one thousandth anniversary of her defeat. The exhaustion suddenly jumped out of Fluttershy's eyes as she reread that last line. She remembered something Paw Tamer told her earlier that day.
'There is an increasing interest in the Nightmare Moon story since apparently it's gonna be the one thousandth anniversary of the incident this year.'
Panic spread throughout Fluttershy's entire being. It all made sense now. Nightmare Moon swore that she would return on the one thousandth anniversary of her defeat which was marked by the Summer Sun celebration next week. The Princess knew. And if anypony would fear that creature it would be her. The one who faced her before.
And of course, the fear of the mightiest creature in the land would be more than enough to attract a yellow power ring. Time was running out, but Fluttershy finally managed to figure out what she had to do. Princess Celestia. She is the only one who can help her. She had to talk to her as quickly as possible! She was about to get up and bolt out of the library when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Excuse me, miss? The library is closing." Fluttershy looked up to see a purple pony with matching purple mane looking down at her. She quickly gathered her noted and placed them inside her saddlebag.
"That's okay. I was just done anyway." She replied. As the two ponies made their way towards the exit, Fluttershy noticed a folded newspaper under the mare's belt. She narrowed her eyes to make out the headline which read: "Dread Castle killing spree continues! Third actor of remake found murdered! Police suspects actress of the original film!"
Fluttershy frowned. Dread Castle? Wasn't that the movie that was delayed according to that sign on the movie theater? Was this the reason it was delayed? Because the actors were getting murdered? That was horrible! She could only hope the killer would be caught soon. But she had more important things to worry about right now.
When the two reached the door, Spike the librarian dragon approached them.
"Twilight! Has your..." He then noticed Fluttershy still standing next to the library owner ans suddenly his tone became more cautious. "...research today been productive?"
"Fairly." Twilight replied before opening the door for Fluttershy. "Goodbye! Thank you for visiting the Atheneigh Library! Come back soon!" Her tone was nothing but warm and friendly, but for some reason, it still made Fluttershy feel like she had overstayed her welcome. No matter. She had a train to catch back to Canterlot anyway.
"Thank you. Goodnight!" She replied with the same smile before walking out into the night. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even hear the door being closed and locked behind her.
A few minutes earlier in Canterlot, Princess Celestia sighed for the umpteenth time that day. She had just finished her work for the day by signing the last document from the mountain of paperwork she was forced to deal with. Though after all the meetings with the petty and short-sighted nobels, the paperwork in the quiet solitude of her private chambers was almost a blessing.
Solitude. That was a word she knew all too well. For she had been experiencing it for almost a millenia. It will be the thousandth anniversary of the day since she defeated her sister and was forced to banish her to the moon. A thousand years since she had no companion as the immortal ruler of Equestria. For ponies, the anniversary of that event was a joyous festival they knew as the Summer Sun Celebration. But to her, there couldn't have been a more miserable day in the year.
No day passed without that event haunting her. Or without her missing her sister and trying to come up with a way to get her back. But that would be impossible without the Elements of Harmony. When she first met that talented little unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, she thought... no, she knew that she would be the one to be worthy to wield one of the elements and unite the other five to save her sister. And maybe that would have been the case, if Celestia didn't end up being an ignorant fool once more and throw her beloved student over to her enemies, forcing her to save her and losing her horn in the process.
That was perhaps the second most regretted day of her existence. When Twilight looked up at her with that scornful look and pretty much cut Celestia completely out of her life, blaming her for losing everything she had worked in her life - and rightfully so - Celestia felt like she wanted to join her sister in her exile on the moon. Once again she had lost the pony most important to her.
And even though Twilight completely cut ties with her, she couldn't bring herself to do the same. She has always known what was going on with her student. Mostly from Spike. How she moved to Manehattan and became a librarian, how she got engaged to a very sophisticated unicorn and how she lost him, and how she's been leading the Atheneigh Library by herself ever since. Well, not completely alone. Celestia would still support her once faithful student. She had sent several donations for that library. Anonimously of course. If Twilight knew who they came from, she never would have accepted them. At least this way, Celestia could still feel herself part of Twilight's life.
The princess placed her quill down on her desk and leaned back in her chair. There was nothing she wanted more than to give in to the tempting calls of her bed, but the work of a Princess was never done. Just when she put down her quill, there was a knock on her door and when she gave the knocker permission to enter, one of her guards came in and Celestia already knew what he wanted.
"Your highness, it is time to raise the moon." Celestia sighed again before nodding and following the guard to the balcony. Raising the moon was another painful reminder of her sister's absence as that was originally her task. And every time Celestia did it in her place, she was forced to endure the glare of her silhouette in the celestial body.
Only one thing kept Celestia going. The knowledge that it was soon time to reunite with her sister. Not under the most ideal circumstances, but still she would take it. With Twilight no longer being an option, only she would be capable enough to Wield the Elements of Harmony in an attempt to purify her sister. She knew it was unlikely to work, but if there was any chance that she could save her from the grasp of the spirit that corrupted her mind, even the slightest, she would take it.
'Soon, Luna.' She thought to herself. 'Soon we will meet again.'
Unbeknownst to Celestia, that soon was going to be even sooner than she expected.
On the surface of the moon, the silence of space was interrupted by loud crackling noises that echoed all throughout it's mountains and craters. An entity has finally awakened. An entity fueled by the fear of others and it's own ambitions. It finally had the strength to escape. Even sooner than it had expected. How? It had no idea, but it wasn't about to complain.
But she wasn't free just yet. It needed one final push to achieve the strength it needed to break free of it's shackles. And it already knew how to do it. Words were flowing in it's mind. Words it had never heard before but now made perfect sense to it. All it needed to do was recite them.
'In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light!
Let those who try and stop what's right
Burn like my power - NIGHTMARE MOON'S MIGHT!'
Fluttershy looked up at the moon that was already high in the sky. The silhouette of the Mare in the Moon glared down at her just as menacingly as it had always done. She sighed and was about to turn away but then she noticed something. She looked back at the moon and her eyes widened when she noticed the dark shape of a pony's head completely glowing up with yellow light. Terror completely overtook Fluttershy's face as the light began to sparkle all around the moon and suddenly shot out of it in a yellow lightning, striking exactly at where Canterlot was supposed to be.
Scratch the train, she needed to get back to Canterlot as quickly as possible. And there was only one way for her to do that. Not even bothering to check if there was anypony around, Fluttershy ran forward and quickly transformed into her Lantern uniform and took off towards the capital at lightning speed.
Princess Celestia and her guards have all jumped in shock as lightning hit the balcony they were standing on. The princess was the first one who dared to open her eyes and when she caught a glimpse of what was standing in front of her, she couldn't believe them.
'No. No! It's not possible! It's too early! This cannot be!'
But it was true. In front of her was standing none other than Nightmare Moon herself, but she somehow looked different. Her jet black fur was exactly the same as it was a thousand years ago, but the purple armor she was wearing back then was now yellow and instead of the crescent moon on her chest, she was wearing a new symbol. A symbol bearing the same insignia as the ring that was now glowing around her horn.
The eyes of the princess of the night snapped open and they immediately met with the shocked, unbelieving gaze of her older sister. She flashed a wicked grin, displaying her razor sharp teeth and the mad bloodlust in her eyes.
"Hello, sister. Did you miss me?"