Chapter 10: The Wish Seed
“I can’t believe Discord was behind the entire Underworld invasion,” Fluttershy said. Several days had passed since the defeat of Nightmare Moon, and the lord of the Underworld was finally making his move. Fluttershy jumped out into a gray, cloudy sky, a yellow aura of magic flaring around her wings and the Optical Blade, a sword with a green hard light blade that also functioned as a gun barrel, in her hoof.
“And he created Nightmare Moon to distract everyone,” Celestia said.
“What do you think Discord’s really after?”
Using her magic, Celestia led Fluttershy down through the cloud cover. “Something big,” she said. “He hasn’t just overstepped his realm; he’s kicked down the door. What I do know is that Underworld forces have assembled at a volcano nearby.”
Beneath the dark gray clouds, the ground was covered by a layer of solidified volcanic rock. Though much of the rock was black in color, several glowing fissures were visible in the ground, indicating that much of the rock hadn’t yet solidified, much less cooled. “What could there be in a volcano that the Underworld would want?” Fluttershy asked. “Magma?”
“No, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “Discord wants the Wish Seed.”
“Oh… what’s that?”
“From what I’ve heard, it grants any single wish,” Celestia said. “Rumors started circulating about it shortly before Nightmare Moon attacked. As you can imagine, it’s quite sought after.”
“Could you imagine if we had the Wish Seed instead?” Fluttershy said. She leveled out roughly one hundred feet above the terrain and continued flying, taking out a few Monoeyes, Petribombers, and Syrens with her Optical Blade. Lava burst forth from several spots in the ground, and Celestia guided her away from them along the way. “My wish would be to fly by myself.”
“That’s a surprising choice for you,” Celestia said. “Do you enjoy flying?”
“Maybe a little, but also because I don’t want to worry about my wings burning up during a mission…” Several Magmoos jumped out of the ground ahead of Fluttershy. She aimed her blade and fired at the amorphous, superheated blobs while dodging a few of their fireballs. “Or falling from Skyworld.”
“Unfortunately, the Underworld forces seem to be very interested in the Wish Seed as well,” Celestia said. “Your mission today is to make sure Discord doesn’t obtain it for himself.”
Fluttershy flew above the volcanic terrain, avoiding the lava that gushed forth intermittently. A cave came into view in the side of a nearby hill, and Celestia guided her into it. A path made of solidified rock extended through the underground cavern, starting from the cave’s entrance. To Fluttershy’s right, a fiery, skeletal, serpentine creature flew through a nearby alcove. She fired a charge shot at the Fire Wyrm, destroying the hindmost segment of its skeleton, followed by a series of small green shots. One by one, the segments of the creature’s body were destroyed until she finally defeated the monster.
Fluttershy continued to follow the path as it extended through the cavern. The path led her to a tunnel at the top of the cavern, which finally took her outside the cave and into the heart of the volcano. An immense sea of lava met Fluttershy as she emerged from the mountain. The thick clouds of smoke above her shone with a bright orange light, which reflected from the glow given off by the molten rock below. Pillars of lava rose out of the sea at angles, each forming an arch as they peaked and fell back down. “This is incredible!” Fluttersay said, staring in amazement at the sea of molten rock before her.
“Yes, the volcano’s guardian puts on quite a show,” Celestia said. She led Fluttershy across the sea of lava, careful to avoid a few of the arches that rose up. A few Monoeyes and Syrens spotted Fluttershy and tried to swarm her, but were unfortunate enough to get caught by a pillar of lava.
“Who’s the volcano’s guardian?”
“The immortal bird who lives there, the Phoenix,” Celestia said. “Which reminds me… Phoenix eggs make the most divine omelets… or so I’ve heard.”
As Celestia veered off topic, Fluttershy noticed a dip in her altitude. She pulled her legs closer to her body to avoid contact with the lava and even swerved away as a nearby pillar rose up. “What does that have to do with anything?! And could you please pull me up?”
“It means that I could benefit from a snack right now,” Celestia said, complying with Fluttershy’s request. “Guards, report to the kitchens and tell the chefs to bake a cake. Tell them I’m in the mood for marzipan… and mascarpone… and meringue.”
Fluttershy’s altitude rose again, and she reached several rock formations within the sea of lava. Some of the formations were in the shape of arches, indicating that the molten rock had solidified while rising out of the sea. “Um, Celestia?” Fluttershy said. “I’m not sure how I feel about you indulging your sweet tooth while I’m on a dangerous mission.”
“Not to worry,” I’ll leave you a slice for when you return,” Celestia said. “Unless you want a smaller cake for yourself.”
“I-I don’t want to trouble anypony.”
“Nonsense. Double chocolate chip, right?” After guiding Fluttershy through many of the volcanic rock formations, she found an enormous fissure within the sea. She sent her into the fissure, in between the walls of partially solid rock and rushing lava. “How are you holding up there?”
Fluttershy breathed heavily as she flew through the intense heat within the fissure. Several Magmoos leapt out of the lava around her, and she fired at them with her blade. “I’m… very sweaty,” she panted.
“There’s an alternate tunnel route that might be cooler, but it will take us a little out of our way,” Celestia said. She lifted Fluttershy out of the fissure and directed her toward a large island made of volcanic rock. “I’ll let you decide which way to go. We can either take the direct route on the right or detour through that tunnel on the left.”
Fluttershy looked to the right, where she noticed a substantial amount of volcanic activity. She then looked to her left, at the entrance of another cave. “If I take the longer route, I’ll still have time to land before the power of flight runs out, right?” she asked.
“Probably, but we’ll take the shorter route instead just in case.” Celestia turned her toward the right and lead Fluttershy on the direct route.
“H-How hot can it be?” Fluttershy said nervously. Dozens of mountains lay around her, as well as a few rivers of lava that flowed in between them. A Fire Wyrm flew by on Fluttershy’s right, and she fired at it with her blade to get rid of it. Meanwhile, one of the nearby mountains erupted, spewing molten lava into the sky. “Whoa.” Fluttershy finished off the Fire Wyrm and spotted four Petribombers ahead of her. Two of the Petribombers produced explosive rocks with their hands and tossed them at her. She dodged them, took out three of the creatures with her weapon, and finished off the fourth before it could hurl a rock at her.
Several more mountains erupted in the area. More Petribombers flew toward her, and a few Magmoos emerged from the rushing lava. Fluttershy killed the Magmoos first, but was almost blindsided by an explosive rock from one of the Petribombers. She then started shooting down the Petribombers, focusing on the ones that were about to attack her. Meanwhile, lava continued to erupt from many of the mountains, some of them close to Fluttershy.
“This is some heat,” Fluttershy said. Sweat was pouring down her face, and she was still panting.
“If it weren’t for my power of cooling, you’d be burned to a crisp by now,” Celestia said. “I sometimes forget just how flammable mortal ponies are.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Fluttershy interjected. “You have a power of cooling? Then why am I worried about my wings burning up?”
“Are you suggesting that I use my power of cooling to ward off the effects of overusing the power of flight?”
Fluttershy swerved to avoid a torrent of lava from a nearby eruption. “I certainly wouldn’t mind if you did!” she said frantically.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do that,” Celestia said. “But I assure you there’s a perfectly good explanation.”
Fluttershy swerved away from another column of erupting lava. A few Syrens and Monoeyes, and even a Komayto, attacked her, but while she took them out, Celestia stayed quiet. “Maybe you’d like to give me this explanation?” Fluttershy asked.
“No,” Celestia said simply.
Fluttershy continued to fly through the area despite the increasing volcanic activity. Soon, most of the mountains in the area were erupting, including a few near her. Magmoos leapt at her as they emerged from the rushing lava. Fluttershy shot down six of them, and then evaded several spouts of lava as they surged around her, or on rare occasions, at her. She swerved away from two Magmoos before they could hit her and ascended when lava rushed diagonally at her out of a spot in the ground. The eruptions grew more frequent, and Fluttershy found herself maneuvering through numerous torrents in her way. She swerved around three eruptions, flew over several that spewed lava at an angle, and continued through the volcanic activity around her.
Eventually, she made it past all of the erupting volcanoes in her path and started to fly over a large hole in the ground. However, before she could pass over it, Celestia pulled her back from the hole and away from its edge. Suddenly, a massive column of lava erupted from the hole, almost catching Fluttershy before Celestia moved her even further back.
“That was a close one,” Celestia said. “Good thing you didn’t go through that tunnel.”
“Wait, that’s what was in that alternate route?” Fluttershy said. She paused to stare at the column of molten rock, still startled by its eruption. “Yeah, that would’ve been bad.” Celestia moved her around the column and guided her further through the volcano. Three Petribombers flew ahead of Fluttershy to intercept her. Fluttershy fired a charge shot to take out two of them, then a few more shots at the third one while it prepared a rock to throw at her.
“Get ready to land soon, Fluttershy,” Celestia said.
“Y-You’re sure my hooves won’t melt or anything, right?”
“You’ll be fine,” Celestia said. “Power of cooling, remember?” She guided Fluttershy further through the volcano. After finding a suitable landing spot, she lowered her down toward the ground.
* * * * * * * * * *
Fluttershy made her landing in the volcano near several pools of lava. Still carrying a lot of momentum from her flight, she slid along the ground when her hooves touched down and kept going toward a ledge. However, she wasn’t decelerating quickly enough, and by the time she was about to stop, her front hooves went over the edge. Losing her balance, she stood up on her hind legs and turned around, hoping to place her front hooves back on the ground again. Unfortunately, she leaned back too far when standing on her hind legs and, after flailing her forelegs for a moment, she fell backward off of the ledge.
Fortunately, instead of falling into a pool of lava, Fluttershy landed on the ground just seven feet below the ledge. She flipped off of her back and got back to her hooves. “Take it easy,” she groaned.
“The Underworld Army has already reached the Phoenix,” Celestia said. “Fortunately, they’re facing severe resistance.”
“So that gives us time to reach the Wish Seed before they do?” Fluttershy said. She walked on the solidified rock beneath her, watching out for pools of lava around her. Two Magmoos and two Petribombers met her along the way, and were defeated with her blade’s ranged attacks.
“Yes, but to obtain it, you’ll have to defeat the Phoenix.”
“Oh…”
“Don’t worry. He’s the Phoenix,” Celestia said. “He’ll come back to life.”
“That’s not exactly what I’m worried about…” Fluttershy murmured. She moved past the pools of lava, but barely went much further through the volcano before another voice spoke out telepathically.
“Well, hello there. Glad to see you made it!”
“Discord!” Fluttershy said.
“Settle down there, Flutters,” Discord said. “No one likes a high-strung mare.” Discord turned his attention to Celestia while Fluttershy was attacking two Porcuspines, spiny one-eyed monsters that were crawling on the ground. “So the good guys covet the Wish Seed too. Tell me, goddess, what do you wish for? Is it all friendship and rainbows, or is it something more… interesting.”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” Celestia replied.
“Thanks so much for asking!” Discord said. “I just have this one humble, little wish. You see, there’s this one little filly, red curly mane, boring white coat. Unfortunately, both her parents are dead. Awww… There was an unfortunate accident, if you know what I mean.”
“Y-You murdered them?!” Fluttershy said. After defeating the Porcuspines, as well as a pair of Petribombers, she continued walking through the volcano, but was still listening in on the gods’ conversation.
“It was a simple case of distracted chariot driving,” Discord said. “I shouldn’t have been doing my mane. Anyway, I was hoping to use the Wish Seed to bring back her parents. Can you think of anything more joyous than a family reunion?”
“Won’t their bodies be badly decomposed?” Fluttershy asked while firing at a group of Miks. “How long have they been dead?”
“Minor detail, she’ll get used to it,” Discord said. “Then after that, they’d strike it rich, like rolling-in-dough rich! And then we’d slap crowns on them and make them royalty! That’s the general gist of my wish. Pretty noble, and not at all evil, right?”
“Am I the only one that finds this hard to believe?” Fluttershy asked.
“If I understand correctly, you, the lord of the Underworld, want to revive the dead,” Celestia said. “That somewhat conflicts with your mission statement, wouldn’t you say?”
“Don’t tell me the goddess of light hasn’t heard of altruism before,” Discord said. “My intentions are pure. As lord of the Underworld, you have my word.”
“That just makes me even more suspicious,” Celestia said.
“How cold of you,” Discord moaned. “Your words pierce my heart like an icicle.”
The conversation came to an end after that. Soon Fluttershy reached a valley with two Shulms, a Petribomber, and a purple, slime-covered enemy up ahead. The creature hopped toward one of the Shulms and, after opening its mouth wide, swallowed it whole.
“Fluttershy, do you see that Underworld Guttler?” Celestia said.
“Yeah, what about it?”
“It devours both friends and foes alike, growing stronger in the process,” Celestia said as the Guttler consumed the Petribomber, becoming larger as a result. “If you see one, defeat it quickly.”
“It eats its friends to get stronger?” Fluttershy said as she lifted her blade and fired at the Guttler. “Talk about a monster.” She continued to fire her shots at the Guttler, even as it ate the other Shulm and grew even larger. The Guttler turned and started hopping toward Fluttershy, but it was too slow and she managed to kill it before it reached her. Fluttershy started to move on, but stopped when she noticed a blue light coming from her left. She turned to her left to find another path leading down to a blue circle of light in the ground. “Look, there’s a Zodiac Chamber over there.”
“Hmm, I suppose we could spare a minute to retrieve its treasure,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy walked down the path and entered the Zodiac Chamber. A blue and silver cannon made in the likeness of a lion’s head materialized at the end of the chamber. Fluttershy picked up the weapon, the Leo Cannon, and once Celestia took the weapon, she left the chamber. “Princess Celestia?” she said. “Why didn’t you give me the Three Sacred Treasures for this mission? I mean, this weapon is okay and everything, but…”
“Remember that the Three Sacred Treasures are very old weapons,” Celestia said. “Though they’re very powerful, they’re not as durable as they used to be. For now, we should save them for when they’re really needed. In the meantime, I noticed that you’ve tried nearly all of the available weapon types.”
“Yeah, I’m still trying to find the weapon that’s right for me,” Fluttershy said. “I liked a few of them, but I’m not really sold on anything just yet.”
“That can take a while,” Celestia said. “Weapons vary widely among their attributes, even among those of the same type. Blades, for example, tend to be well rounded, making them very user-friendly.”
“What sort of weapons does the author prefer?”
“Staffs, claws, bows, and the occasional blade,” Celestia said. “Though he seems to loathe arms.”
“Which means he’ll probably use the last few chapters to feature his most preferred weapons,” Fluttershy said.
After backtracking toward the valley, Fluttershy continued exploring, eventually reaching the bottom of several ledges. Lava trickled down each of the ledges and formed pools on each of the platforms above and below them. Each ledge had a path leading through the pools of lava, and jump pads were placed to allow movement from one platform to the next. Fluttershy fired a charge shot at a Magmoo and several shots at a Petribomber before reaching the first jump pad and jumping to the next platform.
“Oh, Celestia! Silly Celestia!” Discord said in a singsong tone. “Can you hear me?”
“What is it, Discord?” Celestia said disinterestedly.
“You never told me your wish,” Discord said. “Even after I bared my very soul to you.”
“Right, your wish?” Celestia said. “I don’t buy it. In fact, it makes me doubt this entire story. Answer me this: does the Wish Seed even have the power to grant wishes?”
“You’re a sharp one,” Discord said. “How’d you guess?”
“Wait, the Wish Seed is a fake?” Fluttershy said.
“It’s so obvious to me now,” Celestia said. “The idea of a Wish Seed is pretty absurd. An item like that could make anypony more powerful than the gods.”
“But if the Wish Seed doesn’t work, why’s the Underworld Army going after it?” Fluttershy said as she took out a Magmoo and a Porcuspine near the top ledge.
“To make everyone, us included, believe that it’s real,” Celestia said.
“Can’t get anything past Princess Celestia, now can I?” Discord said. “If there’s one thing you can predict about earth ponies, it’s their greed. It’s impossible for earth ponies to resist the allure of a wish-granting item.”
“And since they can’t get the Wish Seed from the Phoenix to see it’s a fake…” Celestia thought out loud. “You need them to think someone has made off with it.”
“At which point, they’ll drive themselves to extinction battling for it,” Discord said. “And that’s good for my business. An ingenious plan, if I do say so myself.”
“But what if nopony gets the Wish Seed?” Fluttershy asked. “If we just defeat the Underworld Army here and leave the Wish Seed alone, nopony’s going to go after it.”
“I wish it were that simple,” Celestia said. “Unfortunately, the Underworld Army has likely been attacking the Phoenix under the pretext of obtaining the Wish Seed. If the Phoenix is set loose now…”
“Then he could attack the earth ponies himself,” Fluttershy said, maneuvering around a Suit of Skuttler to attack its backside.
“Exactly,” Celestia said. “We have no choice but to defeat him. We’ve fallen right into Discord’s trap.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, my dear,” Discord said. “Actually, scratch that. It will get you a hot date with the Phoenix.”
“He makes a good point,” Celestia said. "Even though Discord was behind this plan, the Phoenix won't be happy to see you. Be careful.”
Fluttershy arrived at a mountain trail overlooking much of the volcanic landscape. Ahead of her, the trail moved along the mountainside and into a cave. Two Syrens appeared flying several feet from the ledge Fluttershy stood on, and she fired at them with her blade. “What’s the Phoenix like?” she asked. “Is he anything like Philomena?”
“Actually, I’d say he looks more like Ho-oh,” Celestia said.
“What’s a Ho-oh?”
“Fluttershy, haven’t you ever played a Pokémon game before?” Celestia asked.
Fluttershy was in the middle of attacking four Shulms with her blade. She stopped after slashing through the third one’s body. “You mean those awful games where you enslave creatures and force them to fight each other?!” she asked.
“Slow down, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “What do you mean?”
“In those games, you raise those creatures to fight and hurt each other for sport,” Fluttershy said. “It’s like what would happen if dog fighting was legal.”
“You’re right that they’re fighting for sport, but I wouldn’t equate it to dog fighting,” Celestia said. “Those Pokémon battles are never to the death, so they’re more analogous to boxing or wrestling matches.”
“Have you ever seen a boxing match where the two opponents try to burn, poison, electrocute, slash, freeze, crush or paralyze each other?” Fluttershy asked as she fired at four Monoeyes.
“Admittedly, no,” Celestia said. “But you have to keep in mind that those games operate on cartoon physics. None of the injuries sustained in those battles are permanent, so it’s not really a fair comparison.”
“Well, I guess that’s a good point,” Fluttershy said. She reached the end of the trail and entered the cave, where several Skuttlers, including a Skuttler Mage, and two Shulms were waiting for her. “But that doesn’t excuse capturing them in the wild to make them fight these battles. Not only that, but those creatures attacked you before they were captured, and once they’re caught, they instantly obey you. They’re not just being enslaved, they’re being brainwashed.”
“Not necessarily,” Celestia said. “Within the games, recently caught Pokémon generally dislike their trainers. It takes some time before the two of them actually form a bond. I’ll agree that the method of capturing them is questionable, but in truth, none of the other games’ elements are quite as dubious.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Fluttershy said. “But I still wouldn’t want to play any of those games.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised,” Celestia said. “I thought you did play them.”
Fluttershy found the cave’s exit soon after defeating the Skuttlers and Shulms. Once outside the cave, she saw a path leading up to a large circular platform. Two Wave Anglers floated on either side of the path. One of them fired a bladed beam horizontally at Fluttershy, who jumped over it and fired a charge shot at the monster. She fired several smaller shots in quick succession to finish it off and dodged an attack from the second Wave Angler. She fired at it as well, eventually killing it before moving on.
“The Phoenix is up ahead,” Celestia said.
“Go die now,” Discord added.
* * * * * * * * * *
Fluttershy reached the circular platform and found a large seed floating in the center of it. No other creatures were on the platform with her, and she took a moment to examine the seed. “The Wish Seed looks real enough,” she said. Before she could pick up or even touch the Wish Seed, she heard a bird calling out loudly. “The Phoenix!”
A massive ball of fire struck the other end of the platform. When the flames dispersed, a massive red and green bird stood in its place. A Skuttler fell from his wing when he landed and was promptly incinerated by fire, while another Skuttler was crushed between his talon and the ground. The Phoenix looked down and screeched at Fluttershy.
“He’s not going to let you go without a fight,” Celestia said. Fluttershy gazed up at the Phoenix as he screeched at her. Holding her Optical Blade in her hoof, she brought it to her left side and secured it. She placed her hoof back on the ground and slowly walked toward the Phoenix. “Fluttershy, what are you doing?”
The Phoenix flapped his wings, sending two sharpened feathers on a straight trajectory toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy ducked, letting the feathers shoot over her head, and continued to walk toward the Phoenix. She stopped directly in front of the Phoenix and looked directly up at him. The Phoenix breathed in deeply, causing small flames to spurt out of its nostrils. Fluttershy lifted her foreleg up to his body.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” she said as she stroked his chest with her hoof. The Phoenix did a double-take, standing still, but still holding its breath. “You poor thing,” Fluttershy cooed. “Did those awful monsters come here and attack you?” The Phoenix stood still, and Fluttershy continued to gently stroke his chest. After a while, he slowly exhaled, taking care not to ignite his breath as he did so. At the same time, a Syren flew up from below the platform. Fluttershy noticed the Syren and, taking her blade, fired a charge shot at it. Her shot struck the Syren’s wing, and it plummeted back down below the platform. “It’s okay now,” she said, securing the blade to her side. “They’re all gone. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Fluttershy nuzzled the Phoenix’s chest. The Phoenix folded his wings at his sides and adopted a less aggressive stance. Meanwhile, Celestia watched, slightly awed as Fluttershy pacified the Phoenix.
“Mr. Phoenix, I was wondering if you would let me take that seed over there,” Fluttershy said. “Those monsters that attacked you, they were trying to take it from here. I’m sure that if you give it to me instead, they’ll leave you alone.” The Phoenix uttered a soft cry, but did little else in response. Fluttershy took it as a yes and walked back toward the Wish Seed. “Now that we have the Wish Seed, we can show it to all the earth ponies and tell them that it doesn’t work. We can stop Discord’s plan.”
“Excellent job, Fluttershy,” Celestia said.
“I think not!” Discord said. Before Fluttershy could reach the Wish Seed, bright lights flashed behind her, coupled with the crackling of thunder and a pained screech. She turned around and watched in horror as Discord’s magic attacked the Phoenix. “So this is what happens when the author doesn’t think his casting choices all the way through. No matter. Only a minor setback for me.”
When Discord finally cut off his powers, the Phoenix momentarily stumbled. As soon as he saw Fluttershy again, he let out an angry screech, almost hurting Fluttershy’s ears. “M-Mr. Phoenix, please calm down!” Fluttershy stammered in a muted tone. The Phoenix didn’t listen to her, instead beating its powerful wings to take flight. The force of his wing beat and take off blew Fluttershy back, throwing her onto her back near the edge of the platform.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to reason with him anymore,” Celestia said. “That was a good effort, but unfortunately you have no choice but to fight him now.”
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, a look of sorrow on her face as the Phoenix circled around her. The Phoenix spat out three fireballs, which all turned to aim themselves at her. Fluttershy sidestepped the fireballs, causing them all to hit the ground instead. She shook her head, and then picked up her blade to aim at him. The Phoenix produced three explosive rocks within his talons and tossed them at her. She ran to avoid the rocks and fired a charge shot at him. However, before her attack could hit its target, the Phoenix’s body erupted in flames. Her shot had no effect on the Phoenix, who then cried out and dove at her. Fluttershy ran to the side, avoiding his fiery talons and dive attack.
The Phoenix stopped at another edge of the platform. The flames around his body died down, and as soon as they disappeared completely, he was struck in the back. He turned back around to face Fluttershy, who pelted him with a stream of shots from the Optical Blade. He launched two more burning feathers at Fluttershy. Fluttershy sidestepped the feathers and hit him with another charge shot. The Phoenix, undeterred by Fluttershy’s attacks, flapped his wings to launch several whirlwinds at her. Fluttershy ran to avoid each whirlwind that was sent after her, and after they had passed, fired another charge shot at the Phoenix’s chest.
The Phoenix started to circle around the platform again and tossed three more explosive rocks at Fluttershy. Fluttershy avoided the rocks’ explosions and fired a charge shot at him, taking care to lead her target with her blade before firing. The Phoenix retaliated by spitting three fireballs at her, which she dodged, and engulfed his body in flames again. He dove at Fluttershy, but she evaded him again and fired a charge shot. He then turned around and landed on the ground, generating three waves with his talons.
Fluttershy stepped around one of the waves, while the other two traveled in different directions. She turned her attention back to the Phoenix, who was now breathing in deeply. Flames rose from his beak and nostrils as he prepared his attack. Fluttershy fired a charge shot at him. Her attack connected with his chest, causing him to fall back and collapse on the ground. Taking the opportunity, Fluttershy galloped toward the Phoenix and slashed his chest with her blade. She followed her attack with three more slashes before he stood back up and used its wings to hover above the ground. The Phoenix launched two more feathers at Fluttershy, but she dodged them and fired one more charge shot at his chest. He stumbled back after the last shot and leaned forward. After a while, he finally fell backward onto the platform without getting back up.
Upon falling to the ground, the Phoenix’s entire body burst into flames. The flames rose up, forming an enormous bird-shaped beacon with outstretched wings that towered over the platform and rose up to the clouds. The flames quickly consumed the Phoenix’s body, leaving nothing but a large pile of ashes, but the beacon remained above them.
“Now, Fluttershy!” Celestia said. “The Wish Seed!” Fluttershy didn’t respond. Instead, she stared at the Phoenix’s remains, not thinking of anything else as she lamented his demise. “Fluttershy, the Phoenix will revive itself eventually. Right now, you have to secure the Wish Seed.”
“Oh… right,” Fluttershy said. However, by the time she turned her attention back to the Wish Seed, a Skuttler Mage and a Magmoo had already reached it. The Magmoo held it in its mouth while the Skuttler Mage whacked the seed with its staff. “Wait, get away!” Neither monster listened to her. After a few more strikes from the Skuttler Mage’s staff, the Wish Seed suddenly exploded, killing both the Magmoo and the Skuttler Mage while leaving only a few small pieces of the seed remaining. “It just blew up. That proves it’s a fake.”
“Oh, please,” Discord said. “The beacon tells the earth ponies of the Phoenix’s defeat, and that will make them think that someone has taken the Wish Seed. Now I’ll just give them a little nudge.” Afterward, Discord’s voice echoed throughout the sky, loud enough to be heard throughout the world. “EVERYPONY, THE WISH SEED HAS BEEN LIBERATED! NOW’S YOUR CHANCE TO FULFILL YOUR WILDEST DREAMS! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CONQUER ANYONE IN YOUR WAY!”
“The earth ponies will not be so easily deceived,” Fluttershy said. “Um, that is true, right, Celestia?”
“I wish it was, but I foresee major bloodshed,” Celestia said as she began to extract Fluttershy. “This is all my fault.” After a few seconds, her magic lifted Fluttershy from the volcano, leaving behind the broken fragments of the Wish Seed and the still burning beacon.