"Hello, sister. Did you miss me?"
Celestia stared in wide eyed terror at the literal nightmare come true standing in front of her, her eyes alit with the same spite and malice they did a thousand years ago. And yet, there was something new in them as well. Something Celestia couldn't quite identify but could immediately tell that it was just as malevolent and dangerous as anything else this mare had to offer. If not more so. It was a sharp yellow light that emanated fear and danger from the dark alicorn's eyes. If Celestia wasn't an alicorn herself, she would have easily been intimidated into submission.
But she couldn't allow that to happen. She was Princess Celestia, ruler and defender of Equestria. She couldn't allow herself to show fear in the face of any danger threatening her little ponies. She faced this monster a thousand years ago, she will do it again if she had to. But she was at a disadvantage. She had prepared the Elements of Harmony and hidden them away, ready to use them once again against her fallen sister, but she didn't expect that occasion to take place prematurely. And now she had to get to them through her.
"How... How did you escape?" She stammered once she got over her shock. "It isn't time yet." Nightmare Moon's smirk only widened in response.
"Fear is an even more powerful weapon than I realised. It summoned me a little help from beyond the stars." She boasted as she lit up the ring around her horn. "Though I must admit, you have done well trying to cover up my story as a mere legend. It prevented ponies from fearing me as much as they should. But even legends are capable of sparking fear in the hearts of many. And with the help of this, I am more powerful than ever! Allow me to demonstrate!"
Nightmare Moon approached her sister with her ring shining bright, but before she could do anything, one of the guards jumped between the two alicorns with his spear aimed high, right into the Yellow Lantern's muzzle.
"Back off, beast! You will not hurt the princess!" Nightmare Moon actually backed away one step. She matched the guard's steely gaze with an unreasonable expression before it turned into an light smile.
"Impressive. To throw yourself between your princess and a legendary threat, a literal nightmare, ready to fight a hopeless fight. You truly are worthy of the Royal Guard. But let's see what happens when a big, strong stallion such as yourself is faced with his greatest fear!" Her horn then lit up as she narrowed her eyes at the stallion in concentration. When she was finished, her smile turned into an unimpressed look.
"Really? That is your greatest fear? Alright then. Let's see if you maintain your bravado in it's face as well as you do in mine!" The purple glow of her horn then ceased and it was followed by the yellow glow of the ring on it and everypony jumped back as a huge, yellow dragon suddenly materialised in front of them.
But none of them jumped higher than the bold guard who threatened Nightmare Moon. As the dragon glared down at him and let out a deafening roar, the poor stallion was forced to relive how one of these creatures torched his parents in front of his eyes when he was but a foal. That was a memory he never could let go of, however, he was done fearing it.
With courageous will worthy of a Green Lantern, the guard raised his spear and stabbed the construct dragon in the chest, making it explode into billions of yellow fragments before pointing his weapon back at Nightmare Moon, whose expression was surprised but once again impressed.
"I have clearly underestimated you, young stallion. A mistake I will not make twice." She was done playing games with this colt. She summoned a yellow dagger and aimed at the guard's heart. The stallion attempted to block, but the alicorn was too fast for him. He could only manage to scour the dagger construct, but it was enough to divert it and contact his armor instead. It didn't stab him but it was enough to knock him back on the floor. The other guards and Celestia could only stare in terror.
"What magic is this?" Celestia whispered in horrified disbelief, causing Nightmare Moon's smirk to return.
"This is the power of fear!" She bellowed before making a dash at Celestia, but once again, the princess' guards jumped between her and the attacker, making the dark alicorn stumble back.
"Go, your highness! We'll keep her occupied!" One of them cried out to her. At first, Celestia wanted to refuse. She didn't want to leave her guards fighting a battle they had no hope of winning. The very thought of throwing away their lives to save herself made her sick to her stomach, but then she remembered what was at stake. If she didn't get to the Elements of Harmony in time, Equestria will succumb to her fallen sister and to Eternal Night.
As much as she hated to admit it, these guards took an oath to protect her and Equestria even at the cost of their lives. As did she. And if her duty required her to leave them while they performed theirs, then with a heavy heart, she had to carry it out. She closed her eyes in painful resignation and turned to run. Nightmare Moon did not give chase. She knew exactly where she was going. To get the Elements of Harmony. She knew exactly where they were. She'll follow her after she was finished with these foals.
She lit up her horn again to scan the guards' minds for their greatest fears. Once she learned of them, it will be all too easy to make them submit to her. With a demonic smirk, she trapped one of the guards inside a yellow energy bubble that was quickly filling up with water. The guard quickly lost her composure as memories about nearly drowning as a colt came back, but he couldn't allow this to break him.
He reached for his spear to break out of the bubble but the water was already too high up. He couldn't summon enough force to do so. Fortunately for him, his comrades managed to break the construct together and free him, but he was now too exhausted to keep fighting. The three remaining guards had to carry on without him.
One of them became so enraged that he charged at Nightmare Moon without thinking, giving her the chance to focus all of her attention to him. A yellow tornado burst straight out of her ring heading towards the pegasus guard. Having already been caught in one of these before and getting almost crippled for life afterwards, he was intimidated enough to lose his focus and feed the alicorn enough fear to make her construct powerful enough to pick him up and throw him around the room.
The two remaining guards attacked the alicorn from both sides, forcing her to abandon her tornado construct and take off into the air. Only one of the remaining guards was a pegasus to follow her into the air so she could focus all of her attention on him. As he flew towards her, she summoned several yellow vines out of her ring that grabbed the guard around his limbs and his wings and the more he struggled, the tighter they became. The guard was suddenly reminded of the time he was caught up with the sentient vines of an evil sorcerer which almost tore off his wings. That memory fed enough fear to the alicorn to make her vines unbreakable and she slammed the struggling pegasus into the ground.
She then flew back onto the ground to face the last remaining guard. As the earth pony was about to charge at her with his spear, Nightmare Moon summoned a train construct, speeding towards the stallion. The memory of a train almost hitting his foals a few years ago was all it took to paralyse him with fear. When the train was only inches away from him, it dematerialise in front of him and reveal Nightmare Moon flying at him and knocking him out.
Victorious over the five guards, the dark alicorn made her way towards the corridor, leaving the defeated stallions moaning in pain on the floor. She had no intention to kill them. She had no intention to kill anypony. Why would she? Soon, they were all going to learn to worship her and her eternal night. Because they won't have a choice.
She flew as fast as her willpower allowed to. Even if she was Wonderbolts material, which she was not, she wouldn't have gotten there nearly as fast if she used her wings. But still, she felt like she wasn't fast enough. And by the time she reached Canterlot Castle, she saw that her feelings were correct.
The balcony that the Princess was standing on when she lowered the sun and raised the moon was in shambles and random bursts of yellow light were visible inside the castle. That erased the last shadow of doubt. Nightmare Moon had returned and she had become a Yellow Lantern. And if that was the case, Fluttershy was the only one who could stop her.
She felt the familiar taint of fear return. Nightmare Moon herself was the most terrifying creature she could imagine. If she had a power ring similar to hers... she shuddered to even think about it. But she couldn't let that slow her down. There were ponies inside that castle who needed her help. She couldn't let them down and that was all the encouragement she needed.
But before she was about to enter the castle, she looked down and saw something peculiar. Running down the stairs of the castle and into the city at top speed was Princess Celestia herself. She raised an eyebrow. Princess Celestia was the most powerful being in the land. She had faced Nightmare Moon before and triumphed. Why would she run away from her?
As much as she wanted to help the ponies inside, her mission was to seek out the princess and inform her of the imminent danger. Looks like tbat was no longer necessary. But still, if there was anypony who could help her against the Nightmare, it would be her. Making her choice, she flew down to follow the alicorn.
"Princess Celestia!" The Princess didn't want to stop or even slow down, but when she turned around and saw the pony who called out to her, she became completely dumbstruck and her entire body shut down.
The pony floating in front of her was emanating the same aura as her wicked sister had a few minutes before, only this was green instead of yellow and she was wearing a different symbol on her chest. She also immediately spotted the ring on her wing and having one of them used against her very recently, she understandably became alarmed.
"Back off, assassin!" Celestia shouted as she backed away, igniting her horn. Fluttershy flew back a little, raising her hoof in defense.
"No, wait! You misunderstand! I'm here to help!" The princess however wasn't convinced.
"I find that hard to believe! I was just attacked by a pony like you!" Fluttershy slowly floated down on the ground and deactivated her ring to demonstrate her lack of hostile intention.
"Please, your highness! I know all about Nightmare Moon's attack, but..." Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as it only served to increase Celestia's anger.
"How?! I didn't see you there! The only way you can know about it is directly from her!"
"No, Princess! Please, let me explain!" Fluttershy begged. Upon seeing the desperation on the face of the pegasus, Celestia's demeanor did soften somewhat, but she was still suspicious enough to keep her horn ignited and aimed at Fluttershy.
"Talk! But make it quick!" The princess demanded.
"I have been studying Nightmare Moon for a while. I had good reasons to believe that she was about to return. That ring she used against you is powered by the fear others have for her. Several of those have been sighted around the galaxy, searching for wielders and I knew it could only be her from this world!"
To Celestia, it sounded like this pegasus was completely mad. She was talking about rings powered by fear from over the galaxy? Ponies haven't even discovered space travel yet! How could this one little pony have seen what's out there? But then she remembered her sister mentioning how she got help from beyond the stars and the rest of her story seemed to be adding up with what she had seen. When the princess's horn stopped glowing, Fluttershy took it as a good sign to continue.
"I was on a mission to prevent Nightmare Moon's return. But I guess that ship has sailed. Now I will have to do everything within my power to stop her. You have done it once, Princess. I know you can do it again. But now that she is armed with a ring similar to mine, you're going to need my help!" Fluttershy insisted, praying that Celestia will listen to her. The Princess eyed here suspiciously. She still hasn't done anything to win her trust. But if what she said about those rings was true, than she was really going to need somepony who has experience with them. Reluctantly, she was forced to give in.
"I have no time to argue. Fine, you shall accompany me to retrieve what I need to put an end to this literal Nightmare. But I want to hear an explanation on these rings in the meantime." Fluttershy nodded.
"I will answer to the best of my knowledge, Princess."
"Then let us not delay. We have already wasted too much time with this conversation." She continued running and Fluttershy reignited her ring to join her.
"What about the ponies left in the castle?" She asked the princess in concern.
"I ordered all available guards to evacuate the castle and the city. There is nopony left there who needs help!" Fluttershy sighed in relief. That meant she could focus all of her attention on Nightmare Moon.
"Where exactly are we heading, Princess?" Fluttershy asked. Celestia just kept running and she was in such a hurry that she answered without even looking back.
"The Everfree Forest."
As she entered the castle, Nightmare Moon attempted to locate the place where her sister kept those accursed Elements that sealed her defeat a millenia ago. She eventually stumbled upon a pair of doors that looked majestic enough that they could have only concealed Celestia's bedchambers. As she stepped closer to it, she was surprised to see that the doors were still closed. She frowned in confusion. Her sister hasn't unlocked it already? Why wouldn't she? Unless...
Nightmare Moon blasted the doors open and marched inside. She spent the several minutes thrashing the room in search but was eventually forced to realise that the Elements were not there. An enraged scream burst out from her throat. That damnable sister of hers hid the Elements somewhere else, no doubt knowing she would turn the entire castle upside down to find them before her. No matter. She wouldn't be able to find them in time, but she had ponies who would.
She returned to the balcony and used her magic to summon a signal to the sky. A signal that looked exactly like her silhouette when she was still trapped inside the moon. This would serve two purpose. First, the ponies ignorant of her return would learn of it and start to panic, feeding her their sweet, delicious fear. Secondly, the ponies she wished to enlist would know it's meaning and rush to her side.
Nightmare Moon took flight and took off into the direction of the Everfree Forest. A place she knew what she was about to do would not be interrupted. A few minutes later when she landed between the trees, she was pleased to see that the ponies she summoned were already waiting for her. A group pegasi dressed in dark uniforms with yellow lightning bolts across them were lined up in front of her who all bowed upon the arrival of their mistress, much to her satisfaction.
"Greetings, my friends!" She called out to them as they stood up to heed her. "Ten generations ago, your ancestors aided me in removing my sister from her throne and bring about the glorious eternal night! I am pleased to see they kept their legacy going! Now you stand before me as they did a millenia ago. Ready to carry on where they left off. My Shadowbolts, fly out and bring me the Elements of Harmony! They were the key to my last time and if my sister recovers them, they could be once more. Find them! And if my sister has found them already, alert me immediately! Only I can stand against her. Now go!"
The Shadowbolts spread their wings in unison and took off into the night sky. Nightmare Moon watched them leave with a smirk. They were the fastest flyers of the night. If anypony can locate the Elements, it was them. After they departed, she turned around and headed deeper into the forest. She knew the perfect place to make preparations for her triumphant return.
"So if I understood you correctly, you are a member of an intergalactic police force whose members are equipped with a ring powered by their willpower that can create anything they can imagine. While Nightmare Moon has attracted a ring similar in nature that is powered by how much ponies fear her." Celestia summed up as she and Fluttershy made their way through the Everfree.
"In a nutshell." Fluttershy responded. The princess had taken that in far easier than she expected.
"You do realise how outlandish that sounds, don't you?" Celestia asked, still sounding rather sceptical.
"Does it sound anymore outlandish than a princess being selead inside the moon for a millenia by magical gemstones?" Fluttershy asked with uncharacteristic sass. Celestia had no retort to that comeback.
"Fair point, I suppose." The princess conceded to the argument.
"How much further?" Fluttershy asked. They have been traveling through the forest for quite some time and yet she still didn't see anyplace that would have made a suitable place to hide the Elements. Before Celestia could respond however, she abruptly stopped moving and signaled for Fluttershy to do the same.
"What's wrong?" Celestia didn't respond. She merely ran under one of the trees, pulling Fluttershy along with her. The two ponies then looked up at the sky and saw a huge group of pegasi flying past them. Celestia narrowed her eyes.
"Shadowbolts." She snarled, much to Fluttershy's surprise.
"Nightmare Moon's elite task force?! But how?! They operated a millenia ago with her!"
"They kept this bad tradition running in their families. Despite my best effort to eradicate them." Celestia explained. "No doubt they have been sent to look for the Elements. As I predicted, she never would have expected them to be hidden right here." They waited until the last of the Shadowbolts were out of sight before continuing their way.
Eventually, the pair found their path blocked by a heavy undergrowth. As they approached it, they were startled when the plants began to reach out for them, forcing them to jump back.
"Sentient overgrowth." Fluttershy sighed. "Only in the Everfree."
"We will have to get through this." Celestia stated. "It seems unlikely we will be able to do so without magic. But I need all of my magic to wield the Elements. They require great power to activate." Fluttershy smiled to herself. She finally had the perfect opportunity to show Princess the usefulness of her ring.
"Please, stand back, Princess!" She requested as she stepped forward. "You know what they say, where there's a will, there's a way." Fluttershy then created a chainsaw construct and began to mow down the undergrowth, creating a path where they could pass through safely.
"Remarkable." Celestia noted. Fluttershy merely smiled in response, happy that she finally managed to gain her approval. "Although I must say, it would have been unnecessary had I been able to use my magic." She quickly added, breaking down Fluttershy's enthusiasm.
The next obstacle in the duo's path was a chasm separating them from the other side, but for two ponies with wings, this was an easy obstacle to overcome. In the background, Fluttershy could make out the remains of a ruined castle. And when she saw Celestia making her way towards it with determined steps, she knew that was their destination.
"I suppose that is where we're going." She guessed, to which Celestia nodded.
"Correct. This is my old castle that I used to share with the Princess of the Night before her fall from grace." She spoke on a somber, painful tone as she looked at the ruins. "I supposed this would be the last place she would suspect I hid the Element. And judging from how the Shadowbolts all left this place, I was correct."
"But that probably also means that Nightmare Moon will be close by." Fluttershy figured. "Let's find the Elements and get out of here." Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"Is that fear I'm sensing, Green Lantern?" She asked sarcastically. "I was under the impression that your ring chose you because you had the ability to overcome it." Fluttershy actually felt herself getting offended by that remark.
"You have to have fear to overcome it." She retorted. "Besides, that doesn't mean I won't prefer to avoid it when I have the chance to. If all goes well, you'll be able to retrieve the Elements and put an end to Nightmare Moon's scheme without a fight."
"I wouldn't count on that." Celestia said as the two made their way towards the ruins. "Even a thousand years ago, I could only unleash them at her after a heavy battle. I don't expect her to make things easy for me either."
No more words were exchanged between the two ponies as they reached the gates of the castle. Or what was left of them anyway. Fluttershy was almost reluctant to enter. She half expected the place to come crumbling down on them anytime before remembering that her ring would be able to protect them.
Once inside, Celestia ignited her horn to give them enough light to see where they were going. Fluttershy followed close behind, but the deeper they headed into the castle, the more she started to feel like they were being watched. She tried to chase those thoughts away. She knew the Shadowbolts were long gone and the only alternative was that Nightmare Moon managed to find them and she didn't want to imagine that.
Eventually the pair reached what Fluttershy supposed was the former throne room of the castle. The state of the throne mirrored the current state of what was once a glorious place. Fluttershy had to give the princess credit. If she wanted to hide the Elements of Harmony, this truly was the best place to do so. Nopony would venture this deep into the Everfree, let alone into these ruins.
Celestia walked over to the throne and used her magic to move the throne out of the way. Fluttershy walked up next to her and gasped in awe as she witnessed the six magical gemstones glittering in the floor. Even from this distance, Fluttershy could feel the power within them. She was snapped out of her trance when she heard Celestia sigh next to her.
"Well, here we are again. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use these again myself. But now I have no choice." Before Fluttershy could ask what the Princess meant, she leaned down to retrieve the items, but before she could, a swift shadow flew by in front of the two mares making them step back in surprise. When they looked down again, the Elements were gone.
"What the..." Fluttershy looked around in an attempt to find the stones and when she looked up, she saw several Shadowbolts hovering over them. "But... But how? You all left the forest!" The dark pegasi chuckled.
"Most of us did. We assumed the best way to find the Elements was to find Celestia and follow her to them. And it looks like we had the right idea." One of them gloated. "Thank you very much for leading us to them. Our Mistress will be pleased. Farewell!" And with that, they bolted out of the castle.
"They're getting away!" Celestia panicked. "I'm nowhere near as fast as them! I won't be able to get the Elements back!"
"Don't worry, your highness!" Fluttershy said as she activated her ring and flew up into the air. "Greena Lantern's got this!" She cried out before giving chase.
With the speed her ring gave her, Fluttershy quickly managed to catch up with the Shadowbolts. They almost made it out of the castle, but she knew exactly how to slow them down. She waited until they were at the gates and just as they were about to get out, she pushed her ring forward and created a giant "STOP" sign that covered the entire exit.
The Shadowbolts had no time to react. They all ended up crashing into the sign construct and sliding down on it to the ground. Fluttershy flew up to them to retrieve the Elements, but the stallions recovered far more quickly than she thought.
"Nice trick, kid! But you won't get them back without a fight!" They challenged. Fluttershy just narrowed her eyes and cracked her neck in response.
"If you insist."
Fluttershy quickly created a hose construct with her ring and sprayed the Shadowbolts with water. The dark pegasi did not expect this to be her first attack and she managed to catch them off guard, spraying every last one of them. They weren't hurt but with their wings all wet, they won't be able to fly away for a while and that was exactly what Fluttershy wanted to accomplish.
Before the Shadowbolts could recover, Fluttershy grabbed one of them with a lasso construct and hung him in the air before starting to shake him up and down. This eventually forced one of the Elements to fall out of his uniform, which Fluttershy caught and placed it into her own. One down five more to go.
The other Shadowbolts didn't wait for her to make the first move, two of them immediately threw themselves at her. Fluttershy jumped forward as well, but quickly dived before she made contact with them in the air and flew past under them. She then summoned a pair of hoofcuffs that tied together one of the stallion's right leg with the other's left one. The chain that held them together wrapped around a pole and caused the two Shadowbolts to crash into each other, knocking themselves out.
Fluttershy flew over to them to retrieve the Elements they held, but she left herself vulnerable to the ones that were still standing. One of them took advantage of that and tackled Fluttershy to the ground. He then tried to punch her, but she pulled her head away just in time to avoid it. She then pulled her wing up so her ring was directly under him and launched him into the air with a giant spring construct. She then flew up after him and slammed him back into the ground.
The remaining two Shadowbolts flew up and tried to knock Fluttershy out of the air. They did manage to make her lose control of her flight and the three ponies ended up crashing into the ground right in front of the castle. Fluttershy jumped up and was ready to jump back into the fight, but then she noticed something that frightened her to the core, she lost her ring. She looked around frantically to find and saw it rolling towards the chasm they crossed on the way here. She flew as fast as she could to retrieve it but she was too late. The ring fell into the chasm. Fluttershy looked down but she couldn't saw her ring anywhere. When she looked back up, she saw the two Shadowbolts approaching her menacingly.
"Well, well, well..." One of them taunted. "What are you going to do without your precious ring, little filly?" Fluttershy looked back down at the bottom of the chasm. It was a good question. What was she going to do now? She tried her best to recall Kilowog's training. He taught her how a Green Lantern can handle themselves if they ever lost her ring. She managed to do that once, she'll do it again.
As she looked again, she noticed several branches growing out from the walls of the chasm. That gave her an idea. She looked back at the Shadowbolts with a smug smirk and sprung up and stood upright, spreading out her wings. The Shadowbolts stopped in surprise and jumped back defensively, expecting an attack, but Fluttershy simply allowed her body to fall back into the chasm.
The Shadowbolts jumped after her but they immediately regretted it when they saw what Fluttershy was about to do. As she fell into the chasm, she grabbed two of the branches and pulled them back as far as they could go before letting go of them. The branches sprung back and slammed the two pegasi into the rock wall hard enough to render them unconscious.
Their bodies fell down into the chasm but Fluttershy flew after them and caught them before they hit the ground. After putting them down, she quickly took away the Element gems they were guarding before heading off to look for her ring.
That wasn't going to be easy. She couldn't see the tip of her nose down here. But she suddenly got an idea as she realised that she fortunately won't have to look for them by herself. She flew out of the chasm and put her hooves in front of her mouth before calling out.
"Fireflies, please come out! I need your help!" She didn't even finish the sentence when a huge swarm of small yellow glows gathered around her. The insects all floated around Fluttershy, awaiting her request and eager to help.
"Thank you so much for coming. I need your light to find something at the bottom of this chasm. Please, follow me!" Fluttershy lead the fireflies into the chasm and instructed them to cover the bottom in light. In the illumination of the insects, she quickly found her ring and reinserted it on her wing and flew back at the top of the cliff followed by the fireflies.
"Thank you so much, my little friends! You have been a huge help not only to me but to all of Equestria!" She thanked the fireflies, who just buzzed back at her in delight before scattering. Not wanting to waste anymore time than she already had with the fight, she turned back towards the castle and ran inside.
"Princess! I've got the Elements! We can..." Fluttershy never got to finish that sentence. Before she could retrieve the rest of the Elements from the other Shadowbolts, she was greeted by a horrific sight as she entered the hall of the castle. In front of her, Princess Celestia was being bound by heavy, metallic yellow restraints created by the yellow power ring of Nightmare Moon who was grinning at Fluttershy maniacally.
"Correction, my little pony." She mused tauntingly. "You have half of the Elements." She boasted as she held up the other three Elements in her magic aura before putting them away inside her uniform. "And if you want your beloved Princess to live through this night, you will surrender them to me." Fluttershy quickly overcame her horror and looked into Celestia's eyes. While she couldn't move a muscle, the look she gave the Lantern clearly told her not to comply the villain's demand. But if she didn't, there was no telling what she will do to the Princess. Fluttershy had no idea what to do.
She cast a glance at her ring which glistened in the yellow light the dark alicorn was making and she realised that there was a third option. She could mop the floor with this deranged lunatic! But would she be a match for her? She wasn't sure if her power ring gave her an advantage over an alicorn, but she knew it was lost by the fact that this alicorn also had one.
Fluttershy took a few calming breaths. If there was a time she had to cast away her doubts and control her fear, it was now. The words of both her mentors, Tomar and Kilowog rang through her mind. The former instructed her to keep her fear at bay and the latter showed her how to deal with her ring's universal weakness, the color yellow that Nightmare Moon now wore.
Fortunately, only half of her body was covered in the yellow armor and that gave Fluttershy more than enough space to work with. Her first order of business was to save the princess. She surmised that a surprise attack might force the dark alicorn to lose focus and break her construct. She noticed that her stomach was unprotected by her armor and that gave her an idea.
Fluttershy gave Nightmare Moon her response in the form of a giant green excavator construct right beneath her. The alicorn was distracted by the sound of the drill coming to life and just as Fluttershy predicted, she had to create a shield construct to block it from penetratimg her. Since the shield was yellow, Fluttershy's construct was powerless against it, but it did have the desired effect. Celestia was free, but instead of flying off or joining the fight, she collapsed powerlessly on the ground. Fluttershy assumed that she must have received quite a torture from the dark alicorn. She could only hope she still had enough strength to use the Elements when the time came.
"So you have made your choice." Nightmare Moon snarled once the constructs have disappeared. The alicorn took off into the air and ignited her horn. The pegasus followed suit and she prayed that bet ring had enough power to last through the fight. "Now..." Nightmare Moon mused. "...let's see what you are truly afraid of!" Fluttershy was confused at what she meant and just floated in the air until the alicorn finished scanning her. When the process was done, Nightmare Moon widened her eyes and let out a maniacal laugh which really unnerved Fluttershy.
"I see!" Nightmare Moon bellowed. "You are afraid of many things, but your biggest fear is failure! Failing your country, your princess and most of all, your corps! It seem I won't even need my newfound power to invoke your fear. All I have to do is sweep you away like the insignificant worm that you are!" Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the the alicorn.
"You're right about one thing." She admitted, looking down shamefully. "I am afraid of a lot of things. Much more things than others. Some of them are small things that no other pony would find scary. Others, like yourself would reduce even the most hardened stallion into a nervous wreck. But you overlook one thing that will ensure your defeat. And that is my will is stronger than my fear. That is why this ring chose me." Nightmare Moon just laughed again.
"Silly little filly. You could have a hundred of those rings and you would never be able to match Nightmare Moon's might!" She yelled before sending out a manticore construct to pounce at Fluttershy, but the Green Lantern flew away just in time to avoid it.
'I don't have to match it. I just have to find a way to remove your ring. Celestia and the Elements will take care of the rest.' Fluttershy thought as she tried to avoid the vicious construct. She won't be able to keep this up for long. She looked around for anything she could use to get past Nightmare Moon's yellow armor and energy and saw a huge white sheet hanging over her on the wall.
Fluttershy summoned a crossbow with her ring and fired an arrow at the chains holding the sheet against the wall. It then fell on top of Nightmare Moon and she was forced to abandon her construct as she struggled to get the sheet off of herself. Reacting quickly, Fluttershy created a green rope and tied the ends of the sheet together and started looking for the alicorn's horn beneath. She eventually managed to find it and summoned a green dagger to cut it open and remove the yellow ring.
But she wasn't fast enough. As she reached for the ring, Nightmare Moon created a buzzsaw around her horn that not only made Fluttershy jump back but cut a big enough hole in the sheet for her to get out. The alicorn then launched a counterattack. She trapped Fluttershy in the exact same yellow restraints she used on Celestia earlier and slammed Fluttershy into the ground with it. The pegasus grunted in pain and when she opened her eyes again, she saw Nightmare Moon towering over her and reaching for her ring.
Fluttershy knew she won't be able to free herself with her ring but as she looked into the alicorn's deranged eyes, she got an idea. She used her ring to summon a lemon of all things right in front of Nightmare Moon's face. The alicorn was befuddled to say the least but when Fluttershy squeezed the lemon construct, it shot it's juice straight into her eyes. The fallen princess screamed in pain as she got off of Fluttershy, leaving the pegasus free to get up.
The alicorn was now infuriated and decided to stop playing around. She summoned a yellow sword and launched herself at Fluttershy with killing intent in her eyes. The Green Lantern could only retreat and she was so shocked by the sudden outburst that she could barely fly back in time to avoid the blade.
Fluttershy knew her ring would be useless against yellow so she had to find something else to fight back. But that wasn't going to be easy considering the blind fury Nightmare Moon was attacking her with. When she finally saw an opening, she used her ring to quickly snatch up the pole that held the sheet to the wall and held it up in front of herself to block the blade.
She managed to do it just in time, but the blade was so sharp that after a few seconds it started to cut through the pole as well. It was already beginning to give away but Fluttershy had to keep pushing back long enough to get the ring. She pushed the pole forward with her wings and reached forward with her hoof, but just before she could touch it, the pole finally snapped and she was forced to dodge sideways to avoid the blade.
Fluttershy flew back again and she found herself backed up against the remains of a brick wall which gave her another idea. She waited for Nightmare Moon to charge for another attack before flying up and allowing the alicorn to crash into the wall. She then created a wrecking ball and smashed it into the wall, bringing it down and covering her adversary in a pile of bricks.
"Let's see how you like this!" Fluttershy yelled as she wrapped the bricks with Nightmare Moon among them up in an energy bubble. The bricks completely covered the alicorn, preventing her from slipping through the bubble. As the bricks kept hitting her all around her body, she started feeling her injuries taking toll. She ached all over her body and she started feeling herself losing consciousness.
Once Fluttershy was certain she's had enough, she made the bubble disappear, allowing Nightmare Moon to fall on the ground and all the bricks falling on top of her, disorientating her further. The dark alicorn moaned in pain as she struggled to get up and that gave Fluttershy just enough time to fly over to her and remove the ring from her horn.
Nightmare Moon's Lantern uniform finally disappeared, causing her to lose the three Elements she had been holding. Fluttershy quickly scooped them up and added them to the others before turning to check on Celestia. The white alicorn finally regains consciousness and slowly got back on her hooves. She started walking into the direction of Fluttershy, but she only took a few steps before falling over with a grunt.
"Princess Celestia!" Fluttershy shouted in concern. She was about to fly next to the princess' side, but she suddenly felt something strike her in the side and push her hard against the wall. She groaned in pain before opening her eyes and seeing Nightmare Moon snarled towering and over her with blood leaking from many wounds all over her body and looking down at her with a look of absolute fury with no semblance of sanity.
"You..." She panted, seething with anger. "You think the fact that you managed to strip me of my ring makes any difference? I am Nightmare Moon! I am the terror of Equestria! I am fear incarnate!" She roared as she ignited her horn and surrounded Fluttershy with her dark purple magical aura. Fluttershy struggled to get three, but it was useless. There was no way she was gonna get out on her own strength.
But she didn't need to. Fluttershy closed her eyes and tried to completely empty her mind. She managed to bring herself to a state of complete serenity. Even as Nightmare Moon continued her evil tirade, she managed to completely block her words out. She didn't hear anything, she didn't see anything and for the first time perhaps in all her life, she was completely calm.
"I am everything you were ever afraid of! I am your worst nightmares come true! I am the ruler of the dreams! You are nothing compared to me! NOTHING!" She screamed as purple mist began to pour out of her horn and surround Fluttershy. But she didn't feel anything of it. She remained motionless in the dark alicorn's gaze as she began to softly speak.
"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight." She whispered to herself and her ring began to emit a green light that was slowly becoming brighter and brighter. Nightmare Moon either didn't notice it didn't care. All she cared about was completely breaking Fluttershy.
"I will drag you into a nightmare you will never awaken from! I will break your mind beyond your worst imaginations! Fear will consume you!" Fluttershy remained unresponsive and continued to recite the oath.
"Let those who worship evil's might..." The light of her ring kept increasing as the dark mist completely surrounded Fluttershy. Eventually, it became so bright that it managed to pierce through the mist. Nightmare Moon only noticed it when it was already too late for her.
The entire room was suddenly shaken by a huge explosion of green energy that completely obliterated Nightmare Moon's energy and sent her crashing back against the wall. When she looked up again, she saw Fluttershy floating in front of her covered in blinding green light that was so strong it illuminated the entire room. When Fluttershy's eyes snapped open, they were also glowing green, completely pupilless as she glared down at the alicorn.
"BEWARE MY POWER - GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!"
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Nightmare Moon cried in disbelief. She didn't even have time to get over her shock as Fluttershy summoned giant green claws from the ground that grabbed the alicorn and pinned her to the floor. She struggled to escape but even her magic wasn't strong enough to break through Fluttershy's constructs. "LET ME GO! I COMMAND YOU!" Fluttershy ignored her and turned back to Celestia who finally managed to get back up..
"Here, Princess!" She yelled as she threw the Elements over to her. Celestia caught them with her magic and flew up into the air. The Elements started glowing with her power as they slowly floated into a circular formation around her.
"It ends here." The princess spoke soberly. The Elements all shot out out different colored magical energy that collided in front of the princess and increased into a giant rainbow colored energy beam that targeted the dark alicorn on the ground. Nightmare Moon could only stare in horror as the beam started descending down on her, eventually striking her with enough power to eredicate Fluttershy's constructs that held her.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" She screamed as the magical energy exploded, forcing Fluttershy and Celestia to block their eyes. When the Green Lantern finally dared to open her eyes again, she looked back at the moon, expecting to see the silhouette of the Mare in the Moon that signaled Nightmare Moon had been returned to her place, but to her shock, it wasn't there. Worry began to overflow her. Did the Elements fail?
"Princess, look at the moon!" She cried in alarm. "Her silhouette isn't there. Does that mean the Elements didn't work?" Celestia didn't even look back at her. She just kept staring down at the ground where the dark alicorn laid just a few moments ago.
"Yes, they did." Celestia replied as her expression grew into a soft smile. Perhaps the first one Fluttershy saw on her that night. "For sending her back to the moon wasn't their purpose this time." Fluttershy didn't understand what she was talking about so she turned her head in the same direction the princess was looking at and saw something that stunned her.
In the place where Nightmare Moon was lying not even a minute ago was another alicorn with dark blue coat and starry, ethereal mane, but what caught Fluttershy's attention the most was her cutie mark. A crescent moon over a black cloud, the exact same as Nightmare Moon's. This mare was the same she just fought, but somehow Fluttershy could feel that she also wasn't. The dark and evil energy Nightmare Moon oozed out of every pore was gone. Fluttershy knew that this mare wasn't Nightmare Moon, but then who was she? Her question was answered when Celestia stepped forward and addressed her.
"Luna, can you hear me?" Fluttershy's jaw almost hit the ground. The dark blue mare slowly raised her head and opened her eyes with a sorrowful look but she refused to look up at Celestia.
"Yes, sister." She replied, on the brink of tears. Fluttershy's jaw almost hit the ground.
"SISTER?!" She screamed, but the alicorns paid her no mind. For Celestia, the only thing that existed right now was the pony in front of her.
"Not a single day has passed where I did not long to have you back, sister." She spoke. "The day where I had to send you away was the worst day of my whole existence. Luna, you are my sister, my only companion in immortality and most importantly, my best friend. Or at least, that was what you once were. Now I'm asking you, will you become my best friend again, sister? Will you accept my friendship?" Luna still refused to look up at Celestia.
"How?" She asked as she finally gave up on trying to hold back her tears. "How can thou forgive us so easily? We tried to murder thou, take over thy kingdom and destroy it just to appease our wounded ego! We wouldn't be surprised if thou hath just sent us back to the moon or thrown us into Tartarus to rot forever!" She sobbed. Celestia knelt down and hugged her with one of her wings.
"I have forgiven you the day after you left, sister. No matter what you did, I would never stop loving you. I would never be able to go through eternity without the possibility of ever having you by my side again. I know it is a weakness and I'm being selfish by not suppressing it, but after dedicating my entire existence to my kingdom and my little ponies, I think I have earned the right to be a little selfish for once." After a few moments of silence, Luna finally met Celestia's gaze.
"Maybe thou can forgive us. Maybe Equestria can as well, though we seriously doubt it, but we don't know if we ever will be able to forgive ourself." She sobbed. Celestia just kept embracing her sister and allowed her to let her sorrow out until she finally cried herself to sleep. Celestia moved her sister's body onto her back and stood up, slowly making her way towards the exit. As she passed Fluttershy, she briefly stopped and looked at her. Even though her eyes were covered by the lens of her helmet, Celestia could see the confusion in them.
"I suppose you have a lot of questions."
"Yes. About a few thousand." She admitted, making Celestia chuckle slightly.
"I will make a public announcement first thing tomorrow. I will clear up everything to all of Equestria. But for now, I just want to be with my sister. I've been missing her for a millennia. Please, understand that." Fluttershy only nodded in response.
"Of course, Princess." Celestia nodded back.
"Thank you, Green Lantern. You have made it possible for me to reunite with her and for that, you have my eternal gratitude. I wonder, is it too much of me to ask you to reveal just who am I owing it to?" She inquired.
"I'm sorry, Princess." Fluttershy shook her head. "I think it is best if I kept that hidden. A Green Lantern has many enemies and while I'm still a rookie, I will no doubt make many in the future."
"I understand." Celestia replied. "Still, if there is anything I can do for you in return, just ask and it will be granted to you as long as it is within my power to grant."
At first, Fluttershy wanted to decline the offer. After all, why should she expect a reward for doing her job? But then she remembered something. Back when she was young, Fluttershy made a huge mistake that cost not only her, but her friend, Paw Tamer her big dream about their own veterinary clinic. Paw Tamer never let her live it down. It was her chamc and to finally make it right. It was for her friend, after all. Well, maybe it was a little bit for herself as well. After all, she would be working there too and she could finally shut Paw Tamer up about it.
"Well, Princess, now that you mention it, there might be something...
The next day, Fluttershy and Paw Tamer entered the empty halls of a veterinary clinic on the outskirts of Trottingham that was now their very own. The doctor working there has retired a few weeks ago and he could never find anypony to take over his office. But when Princess Celestia introduced two fine young mares as aspiring veterinarians, that was all the reference they needed to get his approval.
"This is... perfect!" Paw Tamer exclaimed as she checked out their new workplace. "I still don't dare to believe this is now ours! How did you manage to get the Princess to help us get it?" She asked Fluttershy.
"A little thank you gift for Green Lantern's assistance." The pegasus replied causally. Paw Tamer raised an eyebrow.
"So you told her it was you?" Fluttershy shook her head.
"No. I just said I had some veterinarian friends that need help finding a job. I assured her that they were really good and when she saw our... I mean their academical records, she was more than convinced."
"Well, shucks!" Paw Tamer exclaimed. "I wish I could thank her without drawing suspicion to you. The place still needs a little renovation before we open though. So we better get to it!"
"Umm... Could you start without me?" Fluttershy asked on her usual nervous voice. "I have some things to take care of first." Paw Tamer looked at her in confusion before understanding dawned on her face.
"Oh, you gotta report to your superiors on... uh, what was it's name again?"
"Oa. And yes. They will want to hear about what happened during my first assignment. I promise I'll make it quick." Paw Tamer chuckled.
"Sure. It's just a few lightyears, right? Shouldn't take long." Fluttershy actually laughed as well.
"So... Can you?" She asked. Paw Tamer nodded.
"Sure thing, miss space cop. I mean, after you saved Equestria form eternal night, I think you deserve a day off."
"Thank you." Fluttershy said as she charged her ring and changed into her Lantern uniform. She was about to take off but she suddenly turned back.
"Oh, and Paw Tamer? Did I finally manage to make up for losing our veterinary clinic fund all those years ago?"
"Look around, Shy!" Paw Tamer said, gesturing around herself. "This clinic is better than the one we originally wanted! I think it more than makes up for it."
"Then could you finally stop bringing it up?" Fluttershy asked in exasperation. Paw Tamer feigned confusion.
"Bring what up?"
"What do you mean? The fact that I..." Fluttershy blurted out before realisation hit her. "Oh. Yeah, you're right. I don't remember either." She smiled before heading off.
As she floated towards the stratosphere, she briefly stopped to look back down at the city she was now apart of. A few days ago, she wouldn't have eben imagined that she would make it this far. Not only did she finally have her own clinic with her friend, but she became so much more than she ever dared to imagine. She was now the Green Lantern of Sector 1996. She earned it at last and nopony, no creature would take it away from her. She smiled before blasting off into the sky. Duty called her and she will never shy away from answering again.
Princess Luna was laying on a hospital bed in the infirmary of Canterlot Castle. Her sister had spent the entire night by her side, but eventually she was forced to leave her to attend to her duties for the day.
When Celestia first brought her in last night, everypony was confused to see another alicorn on her back. But when she told them she was her sister, they didn't even raise any questions and just dropped everything before running off to help her.
Luna scoffed. Many would probably feel special upon receiving such a treatment but she knew better. She was the sister of their beloved Celestia and the only reason they pampered her like that was to please her. Once again, the shadow of her sister consumed her.
But there were more important things to worry about. Luna had no idea what she was going to do once she's released from the infirmary. How was she going to regain the trust of her subjects? How was she going to earn their forgiveness? Their love? She was completely alone in a new age of Equestria where she hadn't known anypony. She felt completely lost.
"Excuse me?" Luna looked up to see a nurse standing at the door. "There is somepony who would like to see you, Luna... I mean, Princess Luna." She corrected herself nervously. Luna's ears fell. The nurse's demeanor only served as a reminded of what she would have to expect from the rest of Equestria.
"Who is it?" She asked. Not that it mattered. It was probably just somepony who wanted to yell at her and call her a monster.
"I don't know. He didn't introduce himself. All he said was he is a friend of yours and is concerned about your well-being." Now that caught Luna's attention. She had been banished to the moon for the past millennia. How could she have friends down here? That was not possible. Still, she was curious to see this pony.
"Send him in please." The nurse bowed and left. A few moments later, a brown earth pony stallion with red mane entered the room, gazing at Luna with a warm and affectionate smile that confused the alicorn. She had never seen this stallion before. Why was he claiming to be a friend of hers?
"Who art thou?" Luna asked.
'I'm your friend.' She heard inside her head. Luna jumped in surprise. The stallion just kept smiling at her and didn't even move his lips, but she knew the words came from him. As she kept staring at him in wonder, the stallion's eyes suddenly turned red for a brief second before they shifted back to a normal pony's. Luna was still confused but eventually she started putting things together in her head.
That voice. She knew it all too well. Back on the moon, that was the voice that kept her company. The voice that helped her hold onto whatever sanity she had left. The voice that tried to help her battle the Nightmare's influence. She started weeping tears of joy and let out a huge smile as she recognised her visitor. Maybe she won't be as alone as she thought after all.
"So that's how it happened." Fluttershy finished her report to the Guardians about her first Lantern assignment. The blue skinned aliens remained as stoic as they always were, but Fluttershy could tell that they were pleased.
"A fortunate outcome indeed." One of them said. "We are glad to hear that you have managed to restore stability to your sector, young one. You have done well." Fluttershy smiled at the praise.
"Thank you, Guardians." She bowed respectfully. "What about the other sectors? Did the surges of yellow energy cease?"
"We are afraid the Sinestro Corps' influence will keep lingering across the galaxy as long as there are beings that can instill fear in others." A Guardian replied. "Which is why we decided to reveal the truth about it to the members of our Corps. We have realised the truth behind Kilowog's and Tomar Re's words. Our agents are best suited to face this threat if they know the truth about it." Fluttershy was glad to hear that.
"While you managed to thwart one threat from rising in their name, we must ask you to stay vigilant. Another one can appear anytime." Another Guardian continued. "Did you manage to find and seize the ring that was used against you?" Fluttershy's face fell at that question.
"I looked for it but I was unable to locate it." She answered. "But I will keep my eyes open." This revelation worried the Guardians just as much as it did Fluttershy. As long as that ring was still out there, there was no telling what kind of sinister force may draw it to them. The question was not if it would happen. The question was when. And they could only hope the Green Lantern of Sector 1996 will be ready when that time came.
The tundra region north of Equestria, better known as the Frozen North was completely unremarkable to most ponies. The only ones who would seek it out were treasure hunters looking for ancient artifacts remaining from the legendary Crystal Empire.
There weren't many who believed in it's existence though and even fewer who believed that it was worth freezing to death in an attempt to find and recover any of those artifacts. Little did they know that soon, an artifact of more power than they could ever imagine was about to land there.
The shrieks of the wind and the endless snowfall was interrupted by a yellow light in the sky that burst through the stratosphere and crashed into the frozen wasteland at great speed. It's energy was so radiant that it managed to melt away the snow around, revealing a power battery of the exact same look as a Green Lantern used, only yellow.
The battery was followed by a yellow power ring slowly floating onto the top of it. The battery immediately started recharging the ring with yellow light, but that wasn't the only color that appeared as a result of the process. From beneath the battery, dark shadows started making their way towards the surface...