Chapter 5: Chrysalis’ Labyrinth of Deceit
Fluttershy galloped through a darkened hallway until she reached a familiar set of doors. The doors opened before her, and the yellow aura of Celestia’s magic surrounded her wings as she jumped out and took flight. “You’re destination is Chrysalis’ Labyrinth of Deceit,” Celestia said “The Reapers certainly hid it well.”
Fluttershy looked around, but couldn’t see anything around her except for the clear, open sky. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “I don’t see anything.” A second later, she found what appeared to be a crack in the sky. The anomaly started to expand when she approached it. A second later, it suddenly opened up, revealing a spatial rift in the middle of the sky. “Whoa!”
“And here we have a space pocket,” Celestia said. “In you go!”
“O-Okay…” Fluttershy murmured as Celestia guided her into the rift. The blue sky was replaced with green as she flew through the rift and into what appeared to be a tunnel. In a flash, the green was replaced with a netlike pattern of black and white. The patterns undulated above and below her like waves on the ocean’s surface. “This is getting weird.”
“The goddess of calamity has always been weird, bizarre even,” Celestia said. “She even looks bizarre. It’s no surprise that the path to her would be as twisted as she is.”
Fluttershy watched three Komaytos floating ahead of her as they flew into the undulations above. Almost immediately, three Monoeyes appeared from the very spot that the Komaytos had flown toward. “I’d say unhinged is more like it,” she said. Attached to her foreleg was an orange cannon with a dog's head acting as the muzzle. Several bones and two flames decorated the body of the cannon, and a curved tusk was equipped to the right side of the mouth. Fluttershy aimed her weapon, the Twinbellows Cannon, and shot down the three Monoeyes. After another bright flash, the scenery changed again, and Fluttershy appeared to be flying in the middle of an aurora. Two Monoliths hurtled toward her, and six more Monoeyes flew out from behind one of them to attack her. Fluttershy dodged two shots from the Monoeyes and shot down all six of them with continuous fire. Once the last one died, an octagonal tunnel formed at the center of the aurora. “What’s that?”
“Chrysalis’ Labyrinth of Deceit,” Celestia said. Fluttershy flew toward the tunnel, and when she reached the end of it, the labyrinth stretched out ahead of her. Three dimensional shapes and objects extended from the walls and floors around her: Pyramidal objects jutted out of the floor, boxlike polyhedrons emerged from the left walls, and tubes extended from the right and led into the ceiling. “This is not what I expected.” Celestia sent Fluttershy into the labyrinth. None of the objects extended too far out of the walls, so she didn’t have to worry about Fluttershy running into anything.
Fluttershy kept flying through, taking out several Monoeyes along the way. However, some of the objects ahead appeared to move toward her in a peculiar way. Suddenly, she stopped in midair just as the path ahead seemed to pop up right in front of her. Fluttershy extended her left foreleg and felt out in front of her. Her hoof touched against something flat and solid as she moved her foreleg up and down. “Whoa,” she said, realizing that there was a wall in front of her painted to look like the path that she was on.
“Tricky tricky,” Celestia mused out loud. “A false path. Chrysalis is trying to psyche you out.” She noticed that there was a real path on the right and turned Fluttershy in that direction.
Meanwhile, the labyrinth’s geometric design was starting to confuse Fluttershy. Everything around her seemed to blend in, almost as if she was getting lost in a hall of mirrors. She passed by several corridors along the way and hoped that Celestia knew where she was going. Each of those branching pathways could have been a dead end, or even a convoluted mess of a route that just went around in circles. Then again, those pathways could have simply been painted onto the walls. Because of the simple geometric shapes and shading effects, Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could tell the difference. “How does Chrysalis come up with this stuff?” she asked.
“Messing with ponies is what she does best,” Celestia said. She led Fluttershy down the corridor, but was forced to stop when the path popped up in front of Fluttershy again.
“Not again.”
“Yes, another psyche out,” Celestia said, turning Fluttershy left this time. Along the way, Fluttershy fired at groups of Handoras, Monoeyes and Miks that hovered along the walls. She eventually reached the end of this hallway, but instead of a false path, she saw a hole in the floor. Celestia guided Fluttershy down, wondering what would come next. From the moment they entered the Labyrinth of Deceit, there were arrows pointing down each pathway. It seemed like Chrysalis could trap her victims in an infinitely convoluted construct of a reality, but instead she seemed to be leading them to her. She couldn’t help but wonder if Chrysalis was doing this for entertainment or if she had something sinister planned.
Fluttershy flew down the shaft, shooting down several monsters along the way. Three trapdoors appeared at the bottom of the shaft, and one of them opened as she approached them, leading further down. Even though the other two seemed to lead in the same direction, she wondered if they would have sent her deeper into some other part of the labyrinth. Three more trapdoors appeared further down, and Fluttershy flew into the one that opened up.
“The path branches up ahead,” Celestia said. “I’ll let you decide which way to go this time.”
“Wait, does that mean you don’t know the way?” Fluttershy asked. The only response she received was silence as she approached another set of trap doors, but this time, two of them were open. The possibility that Celestia was having trouble navigating the labyrinth made Fluttershy even more worried. “Um… let’s go right.”
Celestia directed her toward the right trapdoor, only to find that the path ended only two seconds later. “Hmm, a dead end,” she said. “And it looks like you’re trapped.” Fluttershy turned around and saw four Syrens behind her. Two of them fired at her, but she dodged them and defeated all four with a charge shot. Now that the way out was clear, Celestia guided her back to where the path branched and into the trapdoor on the left. “Oh my!” she gasped. As soon as they reached the end, they saw that this path had taken them somewhere else. Instead of the geometric patterns and false paths from before, Fluttershy was now flying inside an enormous tube. The walls of the tube were transparent, and she could see the outside of the labyrinth through those walls.
“We can’t let her get to us!” Fluttershy urged while maneuvering past five Monoliths. “I have to hurry to Chrysalis before the power of flight runs out.”
“That would be… problematic,” Celestia said. “I can’t extract you if Chrysalis’ powers are still active.”
“But if that happens,” Fluttershy said anxiously, “does that mean I’ll be… trapped here forever?” She fired at a group of twelve Monoeyes ahead of her while waiting for a response.
“Not forever, but indefinitely.”
“That doesn’t sound any better.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Celestia directed Fluttershy toward the end of the end of the tube and into a massive room. “It’s a Handora ambush!” she said as dozens of Handoras scurried along the walls and shot at Fluttershy.
“What?” Fluttershy said. “It’s Pando—no wait, we’re calling her Chrysalis in this.” She fired back at as many of the Handoras as she could.
“Besides, I said Handora. You know, the… hand… monster.”
“Hmm… I have to agree with Pit,” Fluttershy said. “For a master of deceit, that’s not a very good play on words.” She continued firing at the Handoras. Eventually, another trapdoor opened at the bottom of the room. “A way out!”
“Now’s your chance,” Celestia said, guiding her toward the hole and out of the room. Fluttershy flew down the passageway, shooting down any Handoras that went in after her. At the end of the passageway, she was enveloped in a bright light. When the light subsided, she found herself looking up at a cloudy sky.
“Wait a second…” Fluttershy said. "I’m outside now?” She looked down and saw a grassy plain and below her. In addition to the grassland, there were several lakes nearby and a mountain range off in the distance. She seemed to recognize the area, almost as if she had flown through here recently.
“This could be another trick.”
“But it all seems so real…” She spotted a huge Belunka flying ahead of her and decided to shoot at it. The Belunka didn’t turned back when it was pelted by Fluttershy’s attacks. Instead, it regurgitated several smaller Belunkas. Fluttershy turned her attention to the smaller ones, but didn’t have time to finish off the bigger one before everything suddenly went black around her. Seconds later, she found herself flying through the labyrinth again; through the same kinds of geometric patterns from before. “This is so confusing.” A Monolith flew in front of her, and when it passed by, five Monoeyes appeared from behind it.
“It isn’t called the Labyrinth of Deceit for nothing, Fluttershy,” Celestia pointed out.
“The name is the only straightforward thing about this place.”
“The path branches again,” Celestia said abruptly.
“Huh?” Fluttershy looked ahead and saw two paths at the end of the corridor. “And I have to pick one again? Uh… left!” She flew into the left pathway, only to reach the end of it three seconds later. “Don’t tell me this is a dead end.”
“Let’s go back before the power of flight runs out,” Celestia said. She turned Fluttershy around and guided her out. A few Monoeyes and a Ganewmede appeared, but Fluttershy defeated them all before flying into the other pathway. However, this path also ended abruptly.
“Is this a dead end?”
The uncertainty in Celestia’s voice was evident as she pulled Fluttershy out of that passage. “Yes…? No…? Uh…”
“We’re losing our grip here!”
“No, I just need to think…”
“Could you think a little faster please?” Fluttershy pleaded after shooting down several Gyrazors and an Octos. When she emerged from the passage, she found herself in the middle of an enormous chamber. Within the chamber, she saw several crystal columns ahead of her.
“I’m-I’m getting a handle on things now,” Celestia said. “Okay, watch out for the columns around you. They’ll reflect your fire.”
Fluttershy flew around the columns as she passed through. Several Reapettes and Shulms appeared, but she decided to fly around them instead of risking shooting at the columns. Moments later, she went into a tunnel at the end of the chamber, but when she emerged from the other side, she appeared to be floating in outer space. She saw thousands of stars and a few nebulae off in the distance, along with a hoofful of asteroids nearby.
“This is hurting my head,” Fluttershy moaned.
“I believe we’re close to our target,” Celestia said. Looking around, she noticed a group of Monoeyes moving into an arrow-shaped formation. The arrow pointed down at two jump pads on the surface of an asteroid. ‘She’s definitely leading us to her,’ she thought.
Fluttershy flew toward the asteroid and stepped onto the jump pad on the left. The jump pad launched her into another asteroid, but instead of colliding with it, she noticed the environment around her change again. She was now flying in between two walls with grid patterns drawn on them. After fighting through a group of Monoeyes and Splins, she flew into a tunnel in between both walls.
“We’re nearing the landing spot,” Celestia said.
“You’re sure it’s not another illusion, right?” Fluttershy said as she flew down toward the ground.
* * * * * * * * * *
Fluttershy landed on the ground and scanned her surroundings, only to realize that there weren’t any doors around her. She wondered where she was supposed to go when the world around her seemed to invert. Suddenly, her hooves lifted off of the ground and she fell upward, landing on the ceiling above her. She got back on her hooves and stood back up again. As she stood, the mouth of her Twinbellows Cannon opened up and slid back, exposing her front right hoof and allowing her to stand on it.
“Quite the thrill seekers, aren’t you?”
“Chrysalis?” Fluttershy said, responding to the second telepathic voice she was hearing. She entered through a door in front of her and found a Bluster and two Skuttler Cannoneers in the next room. Her weapon slid back into place as she lifted her hoof and aimed at the monsters.
“The goddess of calamity,” Celestia said. “We let ourselves in. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh please. Make yourselves at home,” Chrysalis said. “Doesn’t bother me. But you should know that the whole ‘goddess of calamity’ was really the old me. The new me leads a more grounded life. Yoga, macrobiotics, reflexology.”
“Macrobiotics?” Celestia said. “Last time I checked, you fed on the emotions of other ponies.”
“How dare you take that tone with me?” Chyrsalis said coldly. “Especially since calamity is really more your domain these days. It’s really quite insulting.”
Fluttershy moved toward the next door after taking out the monsters in the room. Her legs were shaking from the lingering effects of one of the Bluster’s attacks, but it would wear off after a while. As soon as she entered the next room, she found herself in front of five nearly identical doors. “There are so many doors,” she quietly remarked.
“And I’m sure there are just as many tricks,” Celestia said.
“What else would you expect?” Chrysalis said snidely.
Fluttershy studied each door carefully, but from a distance. While they all looked the same, each door had a number of bars drawn onto the wall next to it. “I’m not sure which one to pick,” she said. “Isn’t the author going to tell us which way to go?”
“Actually, I think I remember him leaving us a cheat sheet,” Celestia said. Fluttershy flexed her wings and scuffed her hoof on the floor as she stood by, idly waiting for Celestia to get back to her. It wasn't until a few seconds that Celestia spoke again. “My mistake, it’s not a cheat sheet. It just says to defeat Chrysalis as quickly as possible, preferably before she starts singing Disneigh… What an odd request.”
“I'm guessing he doesn't like The Little Mermare,” Fluttershy said. Eventually she turned right and decided to try the door marker with one bar. This door seemed to lead into a hallway, but when Fluttershy looked closer, she noticed that the walls and floors seemed to take on a lighter hue halfway down. After a while, she realized that it was actually a wall and that this was another false path. She took a step forward to examine it more closely, but when she placed her hoof on the ground, a trapdoor opened up in front of her. Deciding that there was nothing in this direction, she turned back and went through the door marked with two bars.
The next room looked much like the one she had been in earlier, with five doors around her to choose from. However, this room had a Merenguy in the center and two Monoeyes moving along the walls. She killed the Merenguy with a charge shot and a melee dash, then took out the Monoeyes with continuous fire. Now that the room was clear, she turned her attention back to this set of doors. Just like in the previous room, these doors were all numbered one through five going right to left. She decided to try the first door again, but when she stepped in front of it, he heard a buzzer sounding. Suddenly, the door flung open, knocking her back and tossing her onto the ground.
“That’s one of the oldest tricks in the book,” Celestia said. “Why not try door number two again? It worked before, didn’t it?”
Fluttershy stood back up, feeling annoyed at the situation she was in. Celestia’s suggestion was hardly reliable, but since she was trying each door in numerical order, she decided to try the second door anyway. “Where are we?” she asked as she stepped into another hallway.
“The Hall of Marvelous Moving Walls,” Celestia deadpanned, noting that the walls on either side were closing in on Fluttershy.
“You’re delivery stinks,” Chrysalis said. “Say it with feeling. This isn’t public radio, you know.”
Fluttershy trotted to the other end of the hallway. The walls never completely closed in on Fluttershy, but instead left her plenty of room to walk between them before moving away from each other. The next room was a dead end, or it appeared to be until the wall at the end of it moved back, revealing a longer hallway. It continued moving back as Fluttershy stepped in front of it.
“Be careful with that moving wall,” Celestia said, noticing a U-turn in the hallway.
“We’ve got a delicious pony panini on the menu today,” Chrysalis said.
Fluttershy moved around the U-turn and reached the end of the hall. She entered a massive chamber filled with various ramps, barriers and tracks. “Look, an Exo Tank,” Celestia said, pointing out a bronze vehicle with three hornlike blades on the front. “It’s a vehicle of the gods. Why don’t you take it for a spin?”
Fluttershy jumped into the Exo Tank and started driving it. Since the exit was on the other side of the room, she only drove it for a few seconds before climbing back out. “What am I doing here again?” she asked. “You know, aside from taking out one of Nightmare Moon’s commanders?”
“Chrysalis has the Mirror of Truth, making her Nightmare Moon’s most valuable commander,” Celestia said.
“What’s the Mirror of Truth?”
“The Mirror of Truth has the power to replicate anything that stands before it,” Celestia said. “It copies what’s in your heart and creates beings identical in nature. So what Chrysalis possesses is a way to create monsters on a catastrophic scale.”
“That’s one way of looking at things,” Chysalis said, almost tauntingly.
“Then it has the potential to create entire armies for Nightmare Moon,” Fluttershy said. “We have to destroy it! But wait, does the mirror copy the soul too? Or just the body?”
“That’s a good question,” Celestia said. “Maybe Chrysalis will tell us.”
“Do I look like a strategy guide? In case you haven’t noticed,” Chrysalis started before breaking into a yell, “this isn’t the Ask Auntie Chrysalis hour!”
“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked, wincing at Chrysalis’ outburst.
“She makes a good point,” Celestia said, “especially when she yells.”
When Fluttershy reached the next room, she saw several platforms floating above a massive pit. In between each platform was a solid ring oriented so that Fluttershy could stand on its interior edge. However, the rings were rotating about an axis parallel to the direction that the platforms were leading. “Whoa, how do I deal with this?” Fluttershy asked.
“Get a sense for the timing and jump from platform to platform,” Celestia said.
“O-Okay,” Fluttershy said anxiously. She watched the platforms and rings carefully, whispering something about a hop, skip and jump before each bound. At the end of the room was an Octos firing at her, and she had to wait for its smoke rings to pass around her before moving to each of the other platforms.
“Having fun there?” Chrysalis mocked.
“Chrysalis certainly has…” Celestia started before switching to a whisper, “interesting ideas about interior design.”
“Rude, rude, rude!” Chrysalis said. “You don’t see me breaking into your home and criticizing your style.”
When Fluttershy reached the last ring in the chamber, they saw that it was actually broken up into multiple platforms. “Those platforms seem to spell something.”
“Is it a secret message?” Fluttershy asked.
“It says C-H-R-Y… S-A-L-I-S… There’s not much to decode here.”
“You’re just jealous of my knack for interior design and my flair for spelling,” Chrsyalis shot back.
“Yes, I’ll never have powers like yours,” Celestia said while rolling her eyes.
Fluttershy finally jumped to the last platform and made her way to the door at the end of the room. Behind that door, she found yet another hallway. Seeing nothing of interest in this hallway, Fluttershy decided to gallop across it and move on. However, despite her running, she didn’t seem to be getting much closer to the next door. “The exit’s moving away!” she said.
“Maybe you should stop running in place then,” Chrysalis taunted.
Fluttershy continued galloping toward the exit despite what little progress she was making. After running about three quarters of the way to it, she was forced to stop to catch her breath. She panted for a few seconds before looking back up at the door, which was still right there in front of her. Relieved that the room only moved when she did, she trotted the rest of the way and left the room. The next room she entered had an enormous track winding through it, and when Fluttershy walked in, she noticed an Exo Tank to the side.
“This must be some sort of Exo Tank racetrack,” Celestia said. “You might as well try it out since you’re here.”
Fluttershy jumped into the vehicle and drove onto the track. She made a turn on the track, and after seeing three Skuttler Cannoneers ahead of her, she tried to swerve around to avoid hitting them. She managed to drive around the first two, but wound up running over the third one, killing it with the blades on the Exo Tank’s front. Fluttershy looked back at the creature, slightly remorseful for having run it down, before shrugging it off and continuing her driving.
“A ramp has appeared next to the starting point,” Celestia said when Fluttershy was halfway through the first lap of the track. “Take it up to move forward.”
“You know I appreciate your help,” Fluttershy said. “But you don’t need to hold my hoof so much. I mean, if that’s okay.”
“That’s right. Hoofholding is strictly prohibited here,” Chrysalis said. “Not to be rude, but I have to project a certain aura of toughness.”
“We understand,” Celestia said. “Rules of being a boss.”
Using the ramp, Fluttershy reached the second floor above the racetrack. She jumped out of the Exo Tank and left through the nearby door. However, when she reached the next chamber, she saw that there wasn’t any floor to stand on. She looked down at the drop, but it was too far down to see if there was even a floor at the bottom. “Is this a dead end?”
“Hmm, I guess you’d better turn back,” Chrysalis said.
“No, it’s a trick,” Celestia said. “There’s an invisible path you can walk on.”
“Do you have to ruin everything?!” Chrysalis shouted. “Honestly now, I just said no hoofholding.”
Fluttershy looked down, wondering how she was going to find an invisible path. She placed her right hoof forward, and realized that she had her cannon with her. The cannon’s mouth slipped back into place over her hoof, and she fired at the abyss below her. The shots that hit the path bounded off of it, much like they did whenever they hit a wall or a floor, and the path in front of her momentarily became visible. This meant that she wouldn’t be able to stand on her front right hoof until she reached the end of the chamber, so she stepped forward on three hoofs while firing at the invisible path.
“How are you liking that cannon, Fluttershy?” Celestia asked.
“It’s very hard to move around with,” Fluttershy said. “But it’s nice taking out lot’s of enemies with a single blast.”
“That does seem convenient,” Celestia said. “Besides being extremely powerful, cannons also have a large blast radius, and their shots tend to detonate when an enemy gets close. Still, I’m surprised that you chose that particular cannon.”
“It was either this or the Fairy Orbitars again,” Fluttershy said with a shudder. “Although this one looks a bit familiar…”
“Some weapons are modeled after certain bosses that you’ve defeated,” Celestia said. “Sometimes they’re even crafted from the remains of that boss.”
Fluttershy stopped and stared at her weapon in horror. “So this cannon is…”
“No, no, no. That cannon is only modeled after Twinbellows, although you might remember him as Cerberus. I assure you that no monsters were harvested in the creation of that weapon.”
“Oh, well that’s… still a bit disturbing.”
“Nevertheless, Chrysalis is just up ahead,” Celestia said, noting that Fluttershy was approaching a door at the end of the invisible path. “It’s time for you to destroy the Mirror of Truth.”
* * * * * * * * * *
In the deepest corner of the Labyrinth of Deceit, Chrysalis heard hoof beats behind her and turned around to see Fluttershy run in. “You made it,” she said. “Yay.”
“Chrysalis!” Fluttershy said. One second later, she did a double take and stared at Chrysalis curiously.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Huh? Oh!” Fluttershy said while coming out of her confused state. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I just didn’t expect you to be so… badly decomposed.”
“Badly decomposed?!” Chrysalis shouted. “What is that supposed to mean?!”
“Well, um…” Fluttershy trailed off. “You have holes all over your legs, your wings look horribly tattered, your body is so thin and frail, and your color looks an awful lot like gangrene.” Chrysalis’ jaw dropped as she stared back at Fluttershy, utterly flabbergasted. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“How dare you?!” Chrysalis bellowed, causing Fluttershy to flinch. “Maybe you should look at your own appearance before judging anypony else’s.” Chrysalis flew over to the side, revealing a large mirror behind her. A bright light shone from the mirror’s surface and enveloped the room. Fluttershy held a foreleg over her eyes to avoid being blinded by the light.
“That’s the Mirror of Truth!” Celestia said. “Fluttershy, you have to destroy that mirror! Fluttershy, now!”
After hearing Celestia’s orders, Fluttershy ran toward the mirror and jumped, preparing to shatter it with her hooves. As she approached the mirror, she noticed her reflection in its polished surface. At first, the mirror reflected her appearance perfectly, but within seconds, a black aura formed over the reflection and she saw its eyes flash. A second later, her back hooves slammed into the mirror, shattering it as she flew through its frame. However, another figure emerged from the mirror’s frame as well, flying in the opposite direction.
As soon as Fluttershy landed back on the ground, she turned around and looked at the figure that emerged from the Mirror of Truth. “What the…” What she saw was another pegasus, but with a cyan body. Her mane, cut much shorter than Fluttershy’s, displayed all the colors of the rainbow, and her clothing, while similar to Fluttershy’s tunic, was colored black instead of white.
“Hey,” said the cyan pegasus, expressing the same aloofness in her voice, her rose colored eyes, and her body language in general.
“Let’s get right to introductions,” Chrysalis said as she landed next to the cyan pegasus. “This here is Dark Shy. She’ll be your escort out of this life.”
Suddenly, Dark Shy turned to face away from Chrysalis and kicked her with both hind legs. Chrysalis yelped as the kick hit her in the chest, tossing her back several feet. “Speak for yourself,” Dark Shy said smugly.
Chrysalis stood back up and glared at Dark Shy. “You fool!” she shouted. “You were created to serve me! Your opponent is over there!”
“You’re a boss, Chrysalis,” Dark Shy said. “But you’re not my boss.” Just like Fluttershy, she was equipped with a Twinbellows Cannon over her right foreleg. She aimed her weapon, which slid into place over her hoof, and fired at Chrysalis.
“Wait, so was creating Dark Shy part of Chrysalis’ plan all along?” Fluttershy asked.
“Having a pegasus can be helpful,” Celestia said. “And she’s quite the little scrapper, isn’t she? Use that to your advantage and take down Chrysalis together.”
Chrysalis shot several green fireballs at Dark Shy with her horn, but Dark Shy maneuvered past them and used a melee dash attack. The attack threw Chrysalis across the room, but she recovered and lifted off the ground using her wings. “The Mirror of Truth is just that,” she said. “It reflects the truth. It seems that under that cute veneer of yours, Fluttershy, you’re actually quite ferocious.”
“You don’t know anything about me!” Fluttershy said, firing a charge shot at Chrysalis. The shot ricocheted off the ground and exploded when it hit its target, but it had little effect. Using her magic, Chrysalis burst into flames and sunk into the ground, leaving behind only a few green flames to give away her location. The green flames traveled along the ground toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy tried to avoid them, but she couldn’t get away quickly enough. Once she was close enough, Chrysalis emerged explosively from the ground. The blast threw Fluttershy several feet back, tossed her onto the ground and singed parts of her coat.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re doing much damage to Chrysalis,” Celestia said as Fluttershy tried to stand up again. She watched as Chrysalis created three bombs with her magic and scattered them around the room. “Throwing her bombs back at her will be more effective. Try that.”
While Fluttershy had just gotten back on her hooves, Dark Shy thought of the same idea and used a melee dash attack to toss one bomb at Chrysalis. The bomb’s explosion threw Chrysalis back and left cracks in her body, but she quickly recovered and turned angrily toward Dark Shy. The green magical aura around her horn suddenly turned red, and she conjured up a whirlwind to pull Dark Shy toward her. Dark Shy tried to run away, but Chrysalis was following her movements. Her magic was about to pull Dark Shy in when another bomb suddenly collided with Chrysalis. The explosion interrupted her spell, knocked her down, and spread even more cracks throughout her body.
Fluttershy ran over to the last bomb and sent it toward Chrysalis with a melee dash attack. Chrysalis’ plating shattered as the last bomb detonated, and parts of her now lifeless body caught fire. Her remaining magical energy leaked out of the stub that remained of her horn, hovering just above her remains in a green cloud. Fluttershy stared at Chrysalis’ remains, her cannon aimed at what was left of the goddess of calamity. “And that’s that,” she said, allowing the weapon to slide back before lowering her hoof.
“Took you long enough,” Dark Shy muttered quietly. Her eyes looked from Chrysalis’ remains to Fluttershy, and she started galloping toward the latter. By the time Fluttershy noticed, she was too late to stop Dark Shy from charging at her and kicking her in the side. The kick threw her across the room, making her tumble when she landed on the ground.
“Fluttershy!” Celestia called out. Her attention turned from one pegasus to the other as she angrily addressed Dark Shy. “What did you do that for?!” Dark Shy responded with a defiant ‘hmph’ before turning and galloping toward Chrysalis’ remains. Chrysalis’ magic still hovered over what was left of her, and when Dark Shy was close enough, she leapt into the cloud of green magical energy. “What are you doing?!” Celestia said as Dark Shy landed on the ground.
A green magical aura swirled around Dark Shy’s body for a few seconds before concentrating around her wings. “Just making sure Chrysalis’ power doesn’t go to waste,” she said as she spread her wings. With a few wing beats, she lifted off of the ground and hovered in the air.
“She can fly?” Fluttershy said. She watched as Dark Shy turned and flew off, leaving the labyrinth.
“If she has Chrysalis’ powers, she could be allied with Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said as she began to extract Fluttershy. “We need to follow her.”