//------------------------------//
// Lord of the Underworld 
// Story: Filly Fluttershy: Uprising 
// by Phazon 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 23: Lord of the Underworld


The dull crack of Celestia’s hoofsteps echoed across stone and marble as she walked down one of the hallways of Skyworld. Three years ago, she might have passed by a number of ponies along this hallway: some Centurions on patrol, a few trainees making their way to and from their quarters, or maybe just some civilians running past. There was no one left now. The ponies of Skyworld were elsewhere, either tending to their wounded or trying to pick up the pieces after the last three years.

Celestia herself had spent the last few days helping where she could, rebuilding her crumbling, broken realm, directing those of her subjects who could help to do the same, and searching for those who had gone missing during the wars against the Earth ponies and the Underworld. In the three years she was possessed by the Chaos Kin, she was never inclined to keep track of her subjects, not even the ones she had sent to war. She did not know how long it would take to find them, or how many were still alive.

She stopped partway through the hallway and looked on at a deep fissure that extended from the stone floor, traveling up the wall on either side, up to the ceiling above her. The floor and ceiling on the other side of the crack were elevated several inches above where she stood. She had seen many of Skyworld’s islands and structures partially broken and gone, and her ponies had said that parts of Skyworld had crumbled and fallen below the clouds after months of damage and disrepair. This section of her temple, the very ground she stood on, was in danger of falling away too.

Celestia gave a deep, breathless sigh, and her horn lit with magic. Her aura traced along the crack on the ground. The ground beneath her hooves trembled, and the sound of stone and marble grinding together reverberated through the surrounding walls as one broken section of the hallway rose to meet the other. The warm yellow glow of her magic brightened as the two sections became level, melting and fusing together. When the aura around Celestia’s horn faded, the hallway was whole again, without even a thin crack in the floor to betray the previous damage.

Celestia continued down the rest of the corridor until she reached a door on her left. She entered and found Fluttershy lying on her bed. She was facing away from Celestia, and her mane draped over her head to conceal most of her face. She was wide awake, Celestia knew, but didn’t make an effort to budge, not even to look up when Celestia entered the room. Celestia paused, a look of pity on her face, before making her way around the bed.

“We will be ready to launch our attack on Discord soon,” Celestia said. “I thought you would like to know.”

Fluttershy didn’t move. Celestia tried to meet her gaze, but Fluttershy wouldn’t meet hers. Her eyes remained downcast, half staring at the floor, half staring at the bedside her head was buried in, yet not actually looking at either one.

“It has been four days, Fluttershy,” Celestia continued on. “You have to leave your room and face the world sooner or later.” Still, Fluttershy didn’t move. Celestia paused again, and then finally let out a quiet sigh. “How much do you remember?”

Flutetershy twitched. Not by much, but Celestia noticed it all the same, and she went on. “It’s been coming back to me over the past few days. In my dreams, when I close my eyes, and sometimes when I look upon what’s become of this realm. Not everything, I’m sure, not yet, but bits and pieces.”

Fluttershy shifted a little, but remained silent.

“I know what you were subjected to was different, but you’ve been awake longer than I have,” she continued, “By now, you must remember more.”

Fluttershy shook her head slightly. “I… didn’t have a chance to think about it before,” she said. “There was so much going on. The Earth pony town, the Chariot Master’s tower, everything with you and the Chaos Kin, and then after the Chaos Kin…”

Celestia allowed her a moment. After spending the last few days picking up the pieces from Sombra’s reign of terror, it was easy to forget that Fluttershy had been on the brink of death.

“But after that, when everything quieted down and I had time in my own body and my own head again…” Fluttershy trailed off again, but it gave Celestia a moment to really look at her like she hadn’t before. The fur under her eyes, matted down from past tears, and the look in her eyes, empty and despondent. “I remember everything.”

Celestia’s heart ached. It was worse than she’d imagined. “We were not ourselves. You know that as well as I do. You can't blame yourself for what happened.” Fluttershy lowered her gaze and said nothing in response. “But knowing that does not make it any easier, does it?” Celestia continued. “Luna said I should show you something. I had hoped to take you to see it, but I think it would make more sense to bring it to you.”

With that, Celestia’s horn lit, and an aura of yellow washed over the floor surrounding her and Fluttershy’s bed. What Fluttershy saw when the flash of magic disappeared made her rise from her position on the bed. Dozens of small animals—squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and birds—surrounded her. A few of them hopped onto the bed and gathered around her, each with a look of concern on their little faces, including a white bunny that took its place at her front hooves. A heavy feeling formed in Fluttershy’s chest as the first real smile she’d had in a while made its way onto her face. She bit back bittersweet tears that, after the last few days, she didn’t know she had left.

“Luna told me the trouble she went through to shelter your animals, and how much it meant to you to be reunited with them,” Celestia said. “I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready for your mission, but for now, take all the time you need. I hope this can at least bring you some solace after everything that’s happened.”

Fluttershy looked up as a squirrel was nuzzling her cheek. It was heartwarming to watch. Normally it was Fluttershy tending to her animals, not the other way around. Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to say something, but something changed in her expression.

“Yeah, I think so,” she said. “Maybe a little… no, not really.” The animals paused, each with varying looks of disappointment or pity. “When… if we defeat Discord, will it be over?”

“Once Discord is no more, the threat from the Underworld should be all but neutralized,” Celestia said. “But that doesn’t mean my work as the Goddess of Light will be done. I may even need to send you into battle one day.”

“I’m… not sure I can go through with that,” Fluttershy said. “It’s not just what happened when Sombra was controlling us. The things I’ve done, the thoughts I’ve had… I think I’m turning into a monster.”

Celestia was taken aback, but after a moment it started to make sense. By now, she remembered what happened during Fluttershy and Luna’s attack on Skyworld: Fluttershy’s decision to use the Underworld troops to distract her Centurions, Rarity’s grudge against her for her gruesome injuries at the Thunder Cloud Temple. And she’d learned what Fluttershy had to do to obtain the Lightning Chariot. For the second time in less than a week, Celestia was regretting turning Fluttershy into a soldier and sending her into war.

“Princess Celestia, if you don’t mind, I want this to be my last mission. I just… I can’t do this anymore.”

“If that is what you want, I can honor your request,” Celestia said. “Until then, take your time here.” Fluttershy smiled weakly, and turned back to her animals. Celestia turned to leave, but paused for a moment. “Oh, and Fluttershy? Thank you for everything you've done under my service, and I'm truly sorry for what you've had to endure.”

Fluttershy looked on, unsure how to respond as Celestia left the room, before her little white rabbit demanded her attention.


* * * * * * * * * *


Fluttershy marched down the once familiar dark hallway with a resolve in her hoofbeats. It had been a long time since he had come down this way to start a mission, and with any luck she would never have to again after today. She spied the set of double doors off to the right, and in front of them just in her path was the large rectangular case that held the Three Sacred Treasures. Approaching the case, she popped the lock open with her hoof and pushed the top back. Three rays of light shot out from the box and converged on Fluttershy’s body, forming a bronze set of barding, a large mirrored shield on the cannon of her right foreleg, a magenta glow over her wings, and a bronze longbow affixed to her left foreleg with shafts of magenta light coming from its limbs. A howling sound came from her wings as the magenta light flared in intensity over them, and she was already in flight as the double doors opened.

“Equipped again,” Fluttershy muttered, and the Alicorn Wings sent her through the doors. She was met with the same barren plateaus and overcast yet bright orange skies from her last trip to the Underworld. No sooner had she entered this realm than a swarm of Monoeyes attempted to intercept her, only for each of them to take an arrow from her Bow of Light.

“It’s finally time for us to confront Discord,” Celestia said. “I’m glad that you agreed to take this mission. I trust that you’re ready?”

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy responded, nodding. More Monoeyes emerged from the surrounding clouds, joined by a few Splins, Paramushes, and a Monomiknose. Fluttershy was daunted at first by the numbers, before remembering that this was their domain. More importantly, they were nothing her bow couldn’t handle, and she fired another volley.

“Discord has overstepped his boundaries by destroying and desecrating souls,” Celestia said. “He’s disrupted the balance between the earth, the heavens, and the Underworld. He must be stopped. You must stop him. It’s a tall order, but if anyone can do it, I have faith that you can.”

Fluttershy nodded again. She didn’t need to be told twice. A group of Shrips descended from the cloud cover, along with a Mega Mussel and two Ganewmedes. “I’ll do it,” she said as she opened fire again. “For the heavens and earth, for the Earth ponies, and for every soul that comes through here, I will defeat Discord!”

“Go now, Fluttershy,” Celestia said.

The magic of the Alicorn Wings flared as Fluttershy shot down the Shrips and Mega Mussel. She separated the Bow of Light into its bladed limbs, and as Celestia’s magic propelled her forward, she held the blades out, slashing through the Ganymedes on either side. Three Komaytos hurtled toward her, and she corkscrewed with limbs extended, slicing through them. She then recombined the bow and fired an arrow at each of three Gyrazors that emerged from the nearby clouds.

“What else do we have to fight with?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean, the Three Sacred Treasures are great, but… well, it’s Discord.”

“For now, it’s just you and the Three Sacred Treasures,” Celestia said. “I’m hoping it will be enough.”

“Wait, that’s it?” Fluttershy said. “We could’ve fought Discord like this three years ago. We could have fought him before he set that Wish Seed trap. All of this, Luna, the Parasprites, the Chaos Kin. We could have avoided all of it.”

“Ideally yes,” Celestia said. “But let’s not forget who we’re dealing with. Discord’s power is the stuff of nightmares, even among us gods, and the Three Sacred Treasures are not what they once were. Even if they are enough, this will be a long and difficult fight. And if they are not, if we had confronted Discord earlier, we would have been ill-prepared for what he was planning. More so than we already were…

“I’ll admit, the last three years have not gone well,” she continued. “Not for us, and certainly not for the Earth ponies. But for better or worse, those crises have come and gone. Discord has played out his entire hand, and there are no more crises left to distract us. We know his plan, and we even have a few key allies ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice if need be. We couldn’t ask for a better time to strike.”

“If you say so, Princess Celestia,” Fluttershy said, and left it at that. Celestia’s magic guided her down toward a vast canyon spanning the plateaus as far as she could see. More Monoeyes and Miks flew out from below, and she opened fire on them as she took her descent. “Does he have a castle down here? Some kind of fortress?”

“None whatsoever,” Celestia said.

“Wait,” Fluttershy said. “The Lord of the Underworld doesn’t even have a roof over his head?” Handoras crawled along the walls of the canyon as she moved deeper, and Syrens began to emerge from the crevices surrounding her. Soon enough, the light from the sky above faded, and she found herself in near total darkness.

“Not quite what I meant,” Celestia said. “This is his realm. Everything from the barren landscape above to the City of Souls beyond, and everything in the darkness beneath. He could be anywhere in this darkness. Or… everywhere.”

“O-kay…” Fluttershy said. “Then what do we do?”

“Just stay alert,” Celestia said. “I can sense Discord’s presence around us.”

Before Fluttershy knew it, the bottom of the canyon was behind her, and she had entered a deep, winding tunnel in the ground. The glow from the Alicorn Wings flickered off of the walls, and the shafts of light from her bow cast steady streams against her surroundings—her only two sources of light in the deepest depths of the Underworld. Three Komaytos rose up to meet her, and beneath them, she saw and heard the ethereal glow and unnatural howl of an Orne. She spun her bow, cutting through the Komaytos, and vanquished the Orne with an arrow.

A deep crimson glow began to radiate from the walls of the tunnel, and strange runes appeared all around her, casting a faint yet eerie glow in the darkness. No more Underworld monsters appeared to attack her, which should have been a relief, but Fluttershy readied her bow all the same as her eyes scanned the tunnel ahead with unease. Before long, the blood red glow around her reduced to little more to a hoofful of runes scattered along the walls, and then nothing but darkness. Moments later, the glow from her wings and weapon couldn’t find anything to cast their light on. She must have reached the end of the tunnel and entered a massive, pitch-black cavern, but to Fluttershy, there was nothing but darkness as she looked all around her.

“Hello there!” a voice boomed.

Something slammed into Fluttershy, sending her tumbling back through the air with a yelp. It took a moment for the Alicorn Wings to reorient her, and she groaned in pain as she took another moment to regain her bearings.

“I’ve been so looking forward to your arrival, Flutters,” the voice scoffed. “You kept me waiting so long, I thought you’d dropped dead again.”

Fluttershy glowered. Hovering in the middle of a spotlight, as if standing on thin air, was him. “Discord!” she growled.

“Oh, come now, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “Must you say my name like that, after everything we’ve been through together?”

“Discord!” Fluttershy scolded, her patience razor thin.

“Fluttershy!” Discord mocked back.

“Enough!” Celestia said. “You know why we’re here, Discord.”

“Fine, ruin my fun as always, silly Celestia,” Discord said. “If you insist. It’s ON!”

A group of Monoeyes and Shrips flanked Fluttershy from either side, and an Orne rose from the darkness below. Fluttershy wasted no time firing on them with the Bow of Light, while Discord produced a nail file and began to work on his lion’s paw. A few Reapettes hovered toward Fluttershy, along with a Syren, a Shrip, a Mik, and a second Orne, but Fluttershy made quick work of each of them. It was only when the second Orne was destroyed that Discord glanced up from his work with a glint in his eye.

“Ooh, do I spy with my little eye the Three Sacred Treasures?” Discord said.

With the last of the enemies gone, Fluttershy aimed her bow at Discord himself. “Even your darkness can’t hide from the light!” she shouted.

“Aw, someone’s been binging Kingdom Hearts,” Discord said. “Isn’t that just…” Discord leaned back as he sucked air in through his teeth. “PRECIOUS!”

Discord exhaled on the last word, blasting Fluttershy through the air with an intense gust of wind. Fluttershy yelped as she spun through the air. One by one, parts of her body felt lighter: first her right foreleg, then her left, then her head and her chest and barrel. Then she felt heavy as a stone, as if gravity was suddenly taking hold again, and then light once more as if the magic in her wings had something to say about that, and she felt herself being righted once more by her wings.

“No, not the Three Sacred Treasures!” Celestia said.

“What?!” Fluttershy shouted. She looked over her body, and to her horror, Celestia was right. The Mirror Shield and the Bow of Light were gone from her hooves. Each and every piece of barding she had worn, from the greaves on her legs and the peytral on her chest to the helmet on her head, had dissolved from her body. Her single best weapon against Discord was gone, in one move, without even firing a single arrow at the god. “NO!”

“Not quite so tough now, are you?” Discord sneered.

Frantically, Fluttershy rummaged through her tunic. Both times, when Celestia had sent her out with the Three Sacred Treasures, she advised her to bring a second weapon, just in case. She pulled out a crystalline purple orb with a yellow sphere in its center. Wisps of purple, starry dust circled around the little orb as she held it, before she pressed it into the sole of her right hoof. A dark purple tint spread up the length of her foreleg, and a number of crescent moon shapes conjured around her leg, with one large moon forming over her shoulder. When the purple tint had reached up to her shoulder, a white glow began to emanate from the sole of her hoof. She didn’t trust palm weapons, but the Midnight Palm was all she had left, and she had bigger problems.

Fluttershy aimed her hoof and fired, sending a crescent moon-shaped energy blade spinning toward Discord. The projectile took its time reaching Discord, and Fluttershy added a stream of smaller crescent moon shots to it. Discord smirked back at her, wound back his right arm, and sent a flurry of punches at her from afar, each punch launching a detached copy of his lion’s paw. The Midnight Palm’s shots struck the first few fists and dissipated into nothing, not even slowing the fists down. Fluttershy swerved and weaved as she tried to dodge the volley of disembodied fists. Most sailed past her, despite their size, but one caught her square in the chest and face, tossing her back and knocking the wind out of her.

Fluttershy coughed violently and massaged her chest with her free hoof. It hurt to cough, and even after she caught her breath it still hurt a little to breathe. Her jaw ached, and she was pretty sure she tasted blood. Despite the pain, she glared back at Discord, who merely grinned as he wound back his right arm again. Her Midnight Palm’s fire didn’t do a thing, but she had one last desperate move left. Focusing the magic from Celestia’s power of flight spell, she raised her weapon hoof. As Discord let loose another volley of disembodied punches, she unleashed that magic through the Midnight Palm, and a torrent of iridescent fireballs spiraled their way toward Discord.

Discord’s punches met Fluttershy’s Special Attack in the middle, only to be burned away by the latter. Discord pulled back his arm and inspected his paw. Fresh burn marks glowed in the same iridescent colors as Fluttershy’s Special Attack along the digits of his paw. “Alright, you want to play rough?” Discord sneered. “I can play rough.” He snapped his eagle talons and vanished in an instant.

“Huh?!” Fluttershy said. She searched all around her, but all she could see was the surrounding darkness.

“Fluttershy, behind you!” Celestia shouted.

Fluttershy turned to find Discord looming above her, eagle claw raised. Pumping her wings, she darted out of the way as Discord swung his talons down. He missed, but the force of his chop hit her with a wave of turbulence, and she yelped as she tried to keep herself aloft. By the time she stabilized herself, Discord had snapped his talons and vanished again.

“Having fun, Fluttershy?!” Discord asked, his voice echoing through the darkness. Fluttershy looked around again, but there was no sign of him.

“On your left!” Celestia said.

Fluttershy turned and saw Discord with his left arm bent. She broke into a dive, sailed under his claw as he swung at the air horizontally, and used her momentum to soar upward. Discord wound back his right arm and let loose another volley of punches, but Fluttershy banked left and continued her ascent, sailing over his assault. Now she loomed over his head, and she raised her weapon hoof and focused. With the power of flight feeding her Midnight Palm, she swung her hoof down and let loose another barrage of iridescent fireballs.

Discord let out a sound between a grunt and a howl and recoiled in pain as the Midnight Palm’s Special Attack hit his face. He raised his lion’s paw in reflex to shield himself and to massage the fresh wounds. Shallow burns, just like the ones on his paw, smarted all over his face and around his eyes, and he felt the constant pitter-patter of something jabbing at his arm and chest. He then realized that that wasn’t from the Special Attack, and he drew back his paw to see Fluttershy still firing on him. Whereas the Special Attack hurt, the Midnight Palm’s tiny stream of fire was more of a nuisance to him, and he scowled at the little pest taking her potshots at him. An idea came to him, and his scowl turned into a diabolical grin.

“You know what, Fluttershy?” Discord said. “You’re looking mighty tasty! Down the hatch!”

Discord opened his mouth wide and breathed in, creating a wind tunnel that began to pull in Fluttershy. Fluttershy twisted around and beat her wings, trying to escape the vortex to no avail. A column of heavenly yellow light shone down on her as Celestia tried to extract her, only to flicker away a second later when Discord’s inhalation overwhelmed the power of flight and yanked her in the direction of Discord’s waiting maw.

“Fluttershy, no!” Celestia called out.


* * * * * * * * * *


Fluttershy’s body ached. She doubted she had any new bruises or broken bones from her tumble downward, but she still groaned in pain as she tested her legs and neck and began to rise to her hooves. “Ow,” she grunted, massaging a few places that had taken the worst of the fall.

“Oh, goodness,” Discord’s voice echoed all above and around her. “Don’t tell me you’re still alive, Flutterbutt!”

“Discord,” Fluttershy groaned in annoyance, but as she glanced up to face the source of his voice, she began to take in her surroundings. The room was vast and somewhat domelike. The surrounding walls took on a few shades of gray, with support structures extending up the walls and across the ceiling that looked almost bony, or at least like the joints of a bat’s wing. The floor beneath her was pink and damp, yet firm under her hooves. “Oh no. Don’t tell me.”

“That’s right,” Discord said. “You’re in the belly of the beast, Flutters!”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Fluttershy said, raising a hoof toward her muzzle.

“Me, too,” Discord said. “Well, there’s more than one way to get rid of a bad chicken nugget.”

The floor shook violently underneath Fluttershy's hooves. She stumbled trying to keep her balance, and the queasy feeling in her stomach grew. “Ngh, stop,” she said. “You’re making it wor-” She tried to put a hoof to her mouth, but the pressure in her stomach rose up her throat. She lowered her head and vomited on the ground.
 
“Oh, why did you have to do that?!” Discord said.

“Ugh,” Fluttershy groaned. “It’s not like I wanted to. I even carbo-loaded for this mission.”

“Yes, well I’ve been on a juice cleanse, and now you’ve made a mess down there!”

“I hadn’t even eaten in days. I really could’ve used that food.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m trying really hard not to.”

“Fine, be like that,” Discord huffed. “I’ll just have to send in the cleaning crew.”

The floor bulged in four spots ahead of Fluttershy, each forming into a pink, fleshy growth that seemed to both bud from and crawl out the ground at the same time. Fluttershy noted several giant fingers on each one and a milky blue eye at the center of what looked like their palms. She aimed her hoof at one of them, which she began to recognize as cellular versions of Underworld Handoras, and fired her Midnight Palm. While the crescent moon-shaped projectile slowly oscillated toward its target, eventually hitting it, Fluttershy fired a series of smaller crescent moon shots at two of the others, shooting them down as well. The surviving one scuttled away, firing a blast back at her as it moved around the room. Fluttershy side-hopped out of the way and returned fire with three shots, taking out the last one.

Spotting a doorway at the far end of the chamber, Fluttershy began to make her way out of the room. Another dark purple energy blast hurtled toward her from behind the doorway, which she quickly stepped out of the way of. Peering through, she saw three more creatures behind the doorway. Each one was round, almost like Monoeyes, but with transparent, gelatinous pink bodies and clusters of veins and nerves visible under their flesh. Another Cellular Monoeye fired at her, but she rolled to the side and fired back. Back on her hooves, she aimed her weapon, waiting for the two remaining creatures to peek out from the side of the doorway before firing a stream of shots at each one.

With all three Cellular Monoeyes slain, Fluttershy left through the doorway and entered a winding hallway. The same bony structure that made up the previous chamber’s walls extended down the hall, but the floor had become more of a grayish-pink, with a pattern like roots or nerves extending down the path and to each side. Fluttershy didn't get far before coming across a gelatinous pink block in her path. She tried to find a way around, but the block took up the width of the hallway. Reluctantly, she lifted her weapon hoof and fired. The block ruptured and burst, deflating into an oozing heap on the floor. Fluttershy grimaced as the block’s innards seeped from the rupture and across the floor ahead of her, but with no other way to go, she tentatively stepped forward.

The floor squelched under her hooves, and the remains of the block reached past her knees as she stepped over it. She began to gag, the queasy feeling in her stomach returning. She would have put her hoof up to her mouth if it hadn’t been for what it was stepping in. At least she’d already thrown up.

Finally stepping back on drier ground, Fluttershy tried to wipe the slime from her hooves. She would definitely need a shower after this was over. She heard something behind her, and turned back to see the gelatinous block fully reformed. “Gross,” Fluttershy murmured. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to go back the same way. She turned forward again and found another cellular enemy hovering toward her. It looked like a Komayto in profile, but with a translucent, deeper blue membrane surrounding a large red core instead of three smaller nuclei. Fluttershy hesitated and stepped back. If this was anything like a real Komayto, it could only be hurt by melee attacks. She looked down at the Midnight Palm, little more than a magic tattoo over her hoof and foreleg, and grimaced at the thought. Unfortunately, the gelatinous block was still behind her.

With nowhere else to run, she steeled herself, raised her weapon hoof, and threw a punch at the Cellular Komayto. The creature burst, coating Fluttershy’s foreleg with a layer of pinkish slime that, thankfully, vanished into purple mist along with the slain monster. “Ew,” Fluttershy grimaced again before lowering her hoof and continuing on. The hallway soon widened, eventually leading into a cavernous room. The walls and ceiling on one end appeared transparent and membranous, showing Fluttershy what appeared to be a swirling red nebula in the middle of space on the other side.

While Fluttershy was awed at that site, the rest of the cavern disgusted her. A set of what looked like orifices lined the nearby wall, one of which oozed an orange liquid into a chasm that blocked her path. Four Cellular Monoeyes rose from the chasm, and one opened fire on her. Fluttershy sidestepped out of the way and returned fire with a large, slow-moving crescent moon projectile. She then fired a volley of smaller projectiles at two of them, shooting them down as the first projectile struck its target. The last one fired a blast at her, which she hopped out of the way of while taking it down with three crescent moon shots.

She made her way toward the chasm, looking for a way across while shooting down a fifth Cellular Monoeye that peered from below. The gap was too big to leap across, but she found a pillar composed of what looked like green, pulsating cells spanning it. The pillar was low enough to climb onto, and after a moment of hesitation, she reached her front hooves up and caught the top of the pillar. She pulled herself up, her back hooves scrabbling up as she climbed onto the pillar. Hopping off on the other side, she made her way across the cavern, where two more pillars led up to a ledge with a doorway. She climbed up the first pillar, the same as before, and used it to reach the second pillar.

The doorway led to another winding corridor, but as Fluttershy peeked her head to check, she saw three Cellular Handoras waiting. She pulled her head back, and a barrage of pellets flew out from the doorway where her head had just been. Leaping out from cover, she fired back with a crescent moon shot that mowed down the three enemies.

“You know, as long as you’re down there, it wouldn’t kill you to keep a conversation going,” Discord said. “Misery loves company, after all! You’re miserable, I’m the only company you have. It’s practically a match made in hell! Or heaven. Has to be one of those.”

Fluttershy scowled. She wordlessly made her way down the corridor, her eyes scanning for any cellular enemies that might sprout from the ground or appear from a corner.

“Nothing?” Discord continued. “No squeaking? No begging for your life? No righteous claptrap? My innards have so longed to hear your battle cry. Did you forget the words?”

Fluttershy stayed silent. The corridor began to twist and turn. A pair of turquoise cellular monsters, both bearing a resemblance to Skuttlers, stood guard at the end of one bend in the path.

“I’m starting to wish I swallowed Rainbow Dash,” Discord said. “I could at least get a rise out of her.”

“Why can’t I hear Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy asked as she opened fire on the Cellular Skuttlers.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Discord said. “You’d rather have your precious goddess. And here I thought we finally had something special. Or maybe it's something else. Maybe you're just lost without the Goddess of Light telling you what to do?”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. At the next turn, she spotted what appeared to be a cellular version of an Igniot. Strangely, the amulet it held was just as fleshy as the two conjoined hands that formed its purple, veiny, translucent body, and she could barely see the milky eyeball at the amulet’s center. The Cellular Igniot reacted to Fluttershy’s approach, and she had to take cover from its petrifying laser.

“Unfortunately for you, the Wi-Fi down there is abysmal,” Discord said. “But since it's just you and me, I’ve been wondering. Why exactly are you trying to defeat me?”

Fluttershy moved from her cover and fired at the Cellular Igniot. “Every one of you gods is responsible for maintaining a certain order in the world,” she said. “You’re the Lord of the Underworld. You know that better than anyone. But you’ve disrupted that balance between the earth, heavens, and Underworld. You’ve overstepped your bounds by exploiting and desecrating souls. You and your greed have taken things too far, Discord.” She fired again at the Cellular Igniot, finally destroying it, and continued down the corridor.

“That’s quite the mouthful,” Discord said. “But I didn’t ask for Celestia’s sermon. Don’t you have something to say about her war with me?”

Three more Cellular Monoeyes hovered at the end of the next turn. Fluttershy raised her weapon hoof and fired at them. “Discord, I raise little animals back in Skyworld when I’m not out here fighting,” she said through gritted teeth. “I have to take care of all of their dietary needs. Even the carnivores and insectivores. And I’ve had Luna breathing down my neck long enough to think about the plants that keep the rest of them fed. Just because I agree with Princess Celestia doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about this.”

“Fine, fine,” Discord said. “But if you ask me, balance and order are overrated. The chaos these last three years has been so much more interesting.”

Fluttershy could swear the sound of her Midnight Palm’s fire punched louder in her ears as she shot down two Cellular Skuttlers. She threw a punch at a Cellular Komayto as it approached—not even noticing this time as its remains splashed along her weapon leg before vanishing with the rest of the creature—and stormed down the rest of the corridor.

Once the corridor ended, she found herself on a ledge at the top of a large chamber. A red glow lit through the floor of the chamber below, and a series of veins could be seen underneath. At the center of the chamber was a pillar with a section cut out of it, allowing for a platform and a ceiling. To Fluttershy’s surprise, a pair of grind rails extended from the ledge she was on to the platform.

“What are grind rails doing here?” she asked. She hopped on, her hooves catching the rails as their magic carried her toward the pillar.

“What does it look like?” Discord said. “I put them there just for you.”

“Why would you be helping me along?” Fluttershy asked. She hopped off the rails and onto the platform before continuing along.

“You presume too much,” Discord said. “Who’s to say any of these grind rails go anywhere at all?”

Fluttershy stopped and looked around. Several sets of grind rails snaked their way throughout the air in odd directions over the platform and even around the pillar. Almost none of them were close enough to jump onto, but she saw one pair at the other end of the platform that led to a second pillar up ahead with its own platform cut into it. “Basic physics?” she snarked.

“Sure, but the one place they won’t take you is outside,” Discord said.

Fluttershy hopped onto the next set of rails. As they carried her, she noticed a second set of rails briefly run alongside hers before connecting to the second pillar, while the rails she was on led to a drop to the bottom of the chamber. She hopped to the second set of rails as they lined up and let them carry her to the next platform. Looking back as she jumped off, she realized that the second set of rails also led back to the first pillar, to a small alcove just below its platform. “Where does this lead?” she asked.

“Hmm,” Discord said. “I’m not sure.” Fluttershy took a step toward the rails again. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You don’t know where they goes anymore than I do.”

“If you’re telling me not to go there, that’s as good a reason as any,” Fluttershy muttered.

“The difference is that I don’t want you dead yet,” Discord replied. “If you go there and die now, my fun ends.”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. She shook her head and immediately jumped back onto the rails. As they led her to the alcove, she began to see a bright blue circle on the ground, a shaft of light shining in its center, and a sigil within the light shaft. Fluttershy’s eyes widened. A Zodiac Chamber. She jumped off the grind rails and quickly trotted toward the glowing circle.

In a flash, she was standing on one end of a familiar dumbbell-shaped platform in the Zodiac Chamber space. She trotted to the other end with an almost eagerness she hadn’t felt since being swallowed by Discord. It wasn’t an escape, but at least for now she wasn’t in his gut anymore. She found it strange that the Zodiac Chamber entrance was there at all. Almost as strange was that she had found so many of these. Twelve Zodiac signs, and this was her eleventh one.

As she approached the altar at the other end of the platform, a light shone, and a new weapon appeared. The weapon bore the silver handle of a Blade, but the “blade” itself took the form of rushing water with an apparent edge. Fluttershy took the new weapon, the Aquarius Blade, into her hoof. She still couldn’t reach Celestia, so Celestia wouldn’t be able to take it off of her hooves. She regarded the Aquarius Blade, this untested weapon she had only just found, and then the Midnight Palm—a class of weapon she didn’t trust after Celestia’s mention of draining the user’s life force—and began to think that this might be for the best. With both weapons in the same hoof, she made her way back to the entrance. The chamber in Discord’s belly appeared before her, and she hopped back onto the grind rails.

“Is that a Zodiac weapon?” Discord asked. “There was a Zodiac Chamber inside me? I swear, when this is over, Granny Smith is going to get an earful.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. Of all the callous, terrible things Discord had ever said, that was just odd. She hopped off of the grind rails and made her way across the platform to a spiral walkway at the other end. The walkway led down the side of the pillar to another pair of grind rails, which led down a tunnel in the chamber wall. Gripping the Aquarius Blade in her hoof, she used her other three hooves to jump onto the rails and let them take her.

Fluttershy eyed the length of the tunnel as the grind rails carried her. No monsters appeared ahead, or emerged from the surrounding walls, or tried to chase her from behind, and after a minute the rails dropped her in the middle of a different chamber. The floor beneath her was hard, with a purple glow emanating from the center, and a white light seemed to swirl behind the surrounding walls like the inside of a tornado, all giving the chamber an otherworldly feel very unlike the rest of what she’d traveled through.

“You know, Flutters,” Discord said. “I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”

Before Fluttershy could react, a massive lion’s paw punched through the side of the chamber wall, cutting off her path. “Eep!” she squeaked, freezing in place as the arm retracted from the wall, only to punch through a second, and then a third time. She eyed the lion’s paw after the third punch while it slowly pulled out of the chamber. “Did… Did you just punch yourself?”

“You know, now that you mention it, that kind of hurt,” Discord replied, “Let’s take a page from your book and have a nice healing snack.”

The chamber trembled. Fluttershy stumbled as she tried to keep balance on three hooves. She looked up, yelped, and jumped back as a stone column fell from above and nearly crushed her. Several more columns and broken sections of wall fell from above and crashed into the chamber floor, along with two real Skuttlers and a Boogity. “STOP EATING THINGS!” Fluttershy screamed. She aimed her Aquarius Blade, and a large ball of water catapulted from the tip of its blade into one of the Skuttlers. “It was already bad when you ate souls!”

“But souls are delicious,” Discord said. “They’re like chocolate—they go great with everything.”

Fluttershy swung her blade at the remaining Skuttler as it charged toward her, and was stunned when her weapon’s swing froze the creature solid in ice. “Okay, but not everything goes well with chocolate,” she said, only to shake her head. “Wait, what am I saying? SOULS ARE NOT CHOCOLATE! If you eat them, you completely wipe them from existence! They can’t move on or go to the afterlife!”

“Huh,” Discord said. “Never really gave it much thought. Tell me, Fluttershy. You came closer to the afterlife than any of us. What’s it like over there?”

“I…” Fluttershy paused. The Boogity turned its body, exposing its face and hands from behind its protective metal backplate, and Fluttershy launched a ball of water from the Aquarius Blade. “I wouldn’t know. I almost died, but…”

“So you don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side?” Discord asked.

“N-No,” Fluttershy said. “I guess not.” As the Boogity vanished, a Tortolunk, an Armin, and a Pluton dropped down from above.

“Of course not, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “None of us knows what awaits us when we die. For all you know, we could all be reincarnated. Different body, different memories, different experiences. Meanwhile, the old you just fades away, and the new you goes about their life without ever knowing. Isn’t that the same as being ‘wiped from existence?’”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Fluttershy said. She dodged the Tortolunk as it spun at her on its shell, and fired a few jets of water at the Pluton. “I’ve seen souls before. They have our cutie marks on them. There’s no way our souls would be reincarnated and our marks erased like that!”

“Oh please,” Discord said. “Do you have any idea how many cutie marked souls I’ve seen pass through here? You’d be amazed how many of them are similar to each other. I don’t think anyone would notice if they got recycled every few generations. Why, there’s even a whole family of Earth pony farmers whose cutie marks are nothing but apples! You can’t tell me their souls aren’t just being passed down from one pony to the next.”

Fluttershy’s eyes and weapon hoof were focused, undeterred against the onslaught of Underworld monsters she had to contend with. But she was at a loss for words.

“And that’s just ponies’ souls,” Discord added. “Just imagine how indistinct and interchangeable your soul must be when you don’t have your special gifts and life’s purpose tattooed on your butt! Take it from me, they look so ordinary, even I can’t tell them apart. Why, it’s moments like this when I think about making a breakfast cereal out of the souls I eat. All the other souls would be the cereal pieces, and your souls would be the colorful marshmallow shapes!”

Fluttershy was horrified. She’d heard that Celestia, Luna, and Rainbow Dash had been disturbed by what Discord said when Rainbow was in the City of Souls. But she wasn’t prepared for this. Three Skuttler Cannoneers dropped down, and a Crawler tank crashed into the floor in the center of the chamber. Fluttershy glanced at one of the Skuttler Cannoneers and fired at it. She then shook her head.

“Even if we did get reincarnated, that doesn’t change the fact that what you’re doing is wrong,” Fluttershy said. “The souls you eat could never come back and never be replaced. It doesn’t matter how you justify it. You’re still erasing life from the world.”

“That depends on your definition of right and wrong, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “All living things survive by eating other living things. You said it yourself, didn’t you? You have to look after the needs of the carnivores and insectivores in your care.”

Fluttershy frowned. She shot down the last Skuttler Cannoneer with a ball of water from her blade and began to run as the Crawler prepared to fire its cannon. “That doesn’t mean you have to eat souls!” Fluttershy said. “Besides, you’re a god. I thought maybe you’d be above that.”

“Oh, Fluttershy, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “Of course gods are above mortal beings. But that just means we don’t necessarily care about them.”

“I-I can’t can’t believe you just… Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you’d say that!”

“If it’s any consolation, though, I could never eat your soul,” Discord said. “Better to mold it into a nice little keepsake to remember all our time together. Come to think of it, I’ve always wanted a bobblehead Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth. She leapt to dodge as the Crawler’s treads spun madly and it charged at her.

“Only problem is there’s only one way out for your body,” Discord said.

“Discord, don’t you dare!” Fluttershy snapped.

“Oh, cheer up, Fluttershy,” Discord said. “You’ve been privy to a side of me that no one else has—my insides! And now you’ll be privy to the inside of a privy too. Tootleloo!”

“Discord, no!”

“What’s wrong?” Discord asked. “Obeying nature’s call is part of the cycle of life. Tell me, Fluttershy, why do you hate life?”

The Crawler’s treads fell from its fuselage as Fluttershy fired one last blast into its weak point. “Sometimes, it feels more like life hates me,” she murmured. Once the Crawler exploded and vanished, a clearing opened up in the light swirling around the chamber, and a tunnel stretched open behind it. Fluttershy stepped into the tunnel and followed it, her eyes scanning for signs of any more monsters.

The tunnel opened out into a gently twisting hallway. Grayish walls surrounded her on either side, with shallow cracks and ridges marring their otherwise glossy appearance, and an ominous red glow reflected off the walls from a distance. The floor under Fluttershy’s hooves began to shake, gently at first, then violently as the shaking filled the entire hallway. Fluttershy stopped and braced herself, keeping her balance against the tremors.

“What now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Luna can’t seem to mind her own business,” Discord said. “ Pardon me, if you will. I must go tend to my new, unwelcome guests.”

Fluttershy held still against the shaking around her. A flood of images raced across the walls on either side, and she noticed Nutskis, Parashooters, and a number of other creatures from the Forces of Nature in those images. She remembered Celestia saying something about calling in a few allies. Celestia must have called Luna after she got swallowed. Fluttershy felt a small bit of relief at the thought of Celestia sending help, even if they couldn’t reach each other. She hoped there was a plan to free her, and continued down the hallway.


* * * * * * * * * *


Fluttershy stepped out of the hallway and entered an enormous room, much larger than any of the ones she’d set hoof in earlier. Much to her surprise, the floor beneath her hooves looked and felt like actual stone, or at least closer to real earth than anything she’d seen in here. Even the surrounding walls were made of the same purple-gray stonelike material. She looked up, and was mesmerized by a swirling red nebula not unlike what she saw in a previous chamber, visible through what appeared to be a network of roots overhead. She looked back down to the surrounding walls and saw a number of turns and intersections ahead of her. The walls were too high for her to see over, but to her dismay, it looked like she had just entered a maze.

She reached the first intersection and glanced down each direction. Straight ahead and to her right were empty, but she let out a squeak and stumbled back when she looked to her left. Towering over her at the beginning of the turn was a deep blue creature standing on two thick legs. Tiny yellow dots swirled across its body like stars, and while the creature didn’t seem to have arms or a head or even much of a face, she could see two thick tendrils wrap around its body and three hollow appendages at the top of its body resembling tubes or pipes.

“Are you…” Fluttershy said. “Discord’s heart?”

The creature craned its body down, as if to scrutinize Fluttershy, and then jumped back, flipped around in midair, and hobbled down the path and around the next turn.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Ookay…” she said. It was strange to think that any of Discord’s organs could be bashful, or even animate for that matter. She shrugged it off and turned away, taking the forward path of the three. Whatever the deal was with Discord’s heart or any of his organs, it wasn’t going to help her get out of here.

As she made her way down the corridor, the heart appeared again at another intersection further down, only something was off. A yellow aura radiated from the top of the heart, and when it seemed to sense Fluttershy, it began to amble toward her. Quickly, in fact.

“Uh-oh,” Fluttershy said. She took a few steps back. The heart stepped forward, but stopped at the next intersection. Its aura swelled, and the heart began to pulsate rapidly. Fluttershy spun around and ran. Reaching the closest intersection, she leapt for the left turn, taking cover before an explosion consumed the pathway she had just been in. She peeked her head out, and found that the heart was gone… except that it waddled out from another intersection. The heart shuddered for a moment, and another identical heart peeled from its body. Identical, except that the new heart radiated a yellow aura.

“Okay, definitely not friendly,” Fluttershy said to herself. Then she gave a frustrated sigh. “Of course it’s not friendly,” she muttered. The real heart continued in its original direction, while the fake one headed in her direction. Fluttershy continued down the turn she’d leapt in, hoping to intercept the real one. Like it or not, she would have to fight the creature.

As she reached the next intersection, she thought she spotted the top of the real heart over the corner of one of the walls. For the most part, the walls were too high for her to see over, but the heart was just tall enough to peek out over them anyway, if her line of sight was just right. She trotted off toward it, grateful at first for the thing’s size, but then thought better of it. Sure, Discord’s heart was huge compared to her. But for a creature of Discord’s size, it was tiny. The metaphor wasn’t lost on her.

After another two turns, she spotted Discord’s heart walking down a corridor away from her. Aiming her Aquarius Blade, she launched a ball of water. The ball struck the creature, but it continued on its way and made the right turn. Fluttershy chased after it and fired several jets of water from her weapon at the heart. Suddenly the heart spasmed, and a red aura emanated from the creature. Fluttershy kept firing, but her shots seemed to splash off of the red aura as the heart bolted and turned the next corner. She began to chase after it, but she could hear a thumping sound from the other side of the wall it had fled behind. The thumping sound seemed to pass by her on the other side of the wall, and then started coming from behind her.

Fluttershy turned, and was stunned to find the heart had lapped the section of wall and was now running after her. With an “eep!”, she ran the other way, dodging behind another corner before the rampaging heart could run her down. The heart itself continued down the corridor before turning at another corner. Fluttershy was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but she spotted a fake heart further down her path. The fake heart stopped at an intersection, and its aura flared as it prepared to detonate. Fluttershy rushed back behind the wall, but as the fake heart was about to explode, the real one emerged from another corner and plowed into her.

Fluttershy landed on her side as the creature ran past and turned the next corner. The explosion from the fake heart rocked the chamber, but Fluttershy ignored it over her pain as she tried to stand back up, only for the real heart to come back around and trample her a second time. The heart then slowed down, and the red aura disappeared as it walked further down the hallway.

Fluttershy grunted in pain as she tried again to get her hooves under her. “Ow,” she said. Fighting through the throbbing pain of her new injuries, she managed to stand back up and look around. The heart had taken a left turn, and she began to follow it again. Another fake heart appeared further down the hall and prepared to explode, and Fluttershy was forced to take an early left, hoping to cut off the real one later on.

After another turn, she spotted the heart and lifted her weapon hoof to fire at it again. She struck the creature with another blast of water, followed by several high pressure jets before the heart flared with a red aura and began its rampage anew. Fluttershy began to back up and look around, hoping to see it coming and dodge past it before it barreled into her again. Her eyes glanced upward, toward the top of the walls nearby. There was no way any of the hearts could hit her up there, but the walls were too high to climb up either. She looked down at her weapon hoof, hoping to find something. The Aquarius Blade was new, and there was no way it had a power equipped to it. But then she noticed the dark purple around the leg of her weapon hoof. She still had her Midnight Palm, and it had something she could work with.

“Rocket Jump,” Fluttershy said.

An explosion propelled Fluttershy several feet off the floor, and she landed safely on top of the wall. She turned around to see the heart rushing around a corner and down the hallway she had been in. It ran past her, too low to reach her up on the walls, and turned down another hallway. Fluttershy watched the creature navigate the maze, paying attention to the surrounding walls she could jump to and from to make sure she had a good shot at it. Inwardly, she scoffed at the idea that there might be invisible barriers around the tops of these walls, preventing her from jumping onto them and cheating at the boss fight.

Before long, the red aura around Discord’s heart subsided, and it slowed down. Only this time, the heart continued to pulsate as it went along. Fluttershy eyed the creature with suspicion. It wasn’t strange for a heart to beat; they were supposed to do that. But this one wasn’t doing that before. Aiming her weapon hoof, she fired a ball of water toward the heart. The heart had traveled too far for a clear shot, but she had seen the Aquarius Blade’s charge shots bounce off of walls and floors, and she had angled the attack to rebound off a wall and strike the heart. The blade’s continuous fire didn’t have the same property, but her Midnight Palm’s fire had good homing ability. She jumped to the top of the next wall, hoping to get a closer shot. She passed over a fake heart below, which sensed her and prepared to detonate. Sure enough, the fake heart’s explosion couldn’t reach her atop the walls either, and the wind from the blast only blew her mane and tail.

Fluttershy aimed her Aquarius Blade again and fired, rebounding another ball of water into Discord’s heart. Tossing the blade into her other hoof, she reared onto her hind legs, aimed her Midnight Palm, and fired a stream of crescent moon shots at the creature. A red aura enveloped the creature, and it ran down the halls of the maze below. Only this time, the ground underneath her shook, and she lost her balance and landed on her stomach. The heart was beating harder and faster now, and it was enough to cause the entire chamber to shake. Fluttershy moved the Aquarius Blade back to her right hoof and stood back up. She kept her balance against the heart’s palpitations and watched as it ran around the maze again, unable to hurt it until its rampage ended.

Before long, the heart’s movement slowed down, but its beating still shook the walls around it. Fluttershy fired her Aquarius Blade, hitting the creature with another blast of water, followed by a stream of high pressure jets. The heart moved behind a corner, out of her weapon’s line of fire. The Midnight Palm’s homing ability would curve its fire around the wall and hit the creature, Fluttershy realized, but its poor range meant she had to get closer anyway. Seeing the next closest wall, she jumped toward it. Her front hooves caught the top of it, but she stumbled against the shaking of the walls, and her hind legs fell back.

Fluttershy tried to pull herself up onto the wall, even as the tremors threatened to make her front hooves lose their grip. A movement to the side caught her eye, and she turned her head to find a fake heart coming down the same hallway. Frantically, she scrambled up the wall with her hooves and climbed back on top of it. She took a second to catch her break, even as the fake heart’s explosion added to the tremors.

Standing back up, she aimed her Aquarius Blade and fired. The blast of water struck Discord’s heart head on, sending it into another rampage, and Fluttershy fell down again. The tremors had become more severe, and she thought she could hear the heart beating more erratically. She also heard the sound of stone grinding and breaking around her. Unable to stay balanced on her hooves, she rose up on her knees and looked around. Cracks were forming in the walls nearby and in the floor as Discord’s heart went. Fluttershy waited for its rampage to end, and then fired a ball of water at it. She followed that with another stream of high pressure water jets.

Before long, the creature stumbled. Its palpitations grew even stronger, and cracks formed in every one of the surrounding walls. The wall underneath Fluttershy crumbled, and she fell back onto the floor. Groaning, she began to get back up, only to get a look at Discord’s heart. The thing swelled in size, its beating now out of control as its form began to writhe.

“Uh-oh,” Fluttershy said.

For a single moment, the heart seemed to stop. Then it exploded, tearing through the surrounding walls and floor of the chamber. Fluttershy hurtled through the air, her body thrown by the force of the blast past the network of roots overhead and seemingly into the red nebula above. Then in the blink of an eye, something caught her in midair and began to pull her along. As she felt her body turn, she looked up and saw a sky blue hoof holding onto hers. Rainbow Dash was holding onto her, with her other hoof grasping the reins of the Lightning Chariot.

Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor galloped back around, steering the four of them in the direction of a hole in the space around them. They sped through the hole, punching through Discord’s chest on the other side and earning a pained grunt from the Lord of the Underworld.

“You alright, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “If it wasn’t for that explosion, we never would’ve found you.”

Fluttershy nodded back, holding onto Rainbow Dash’s hoof for dear life. Behind them, Discord was doubled over and clutching his chest with his eagle talon. He rose and glanced back up at the chariot and the four of them, a snarl on his face.

“That wasn’t very nice!” Discord shouted. He reached out to grab them with his lion’s paw just as a shaft of yellow light shone down on the Lightning Chariot and the four ponies. When he opened his fist, he saw that his paw was empty, except for a pair of blue and yellow feathers that floated away in the air. He then looked down at his chest, where the piercing wound from the chariot had all but vanished. “That really hurt.”

A grin crept across Discord’s face, and he held out his arms in an affable shrug.

“But hey, at least I’m not dead!”


* * * * * * * * * *


The late afternoon sun shone high over the islands of Skyworld, casting a bright yellow glow on the heavens and on the cloud cover below. The realm was still in ruins, with broken structures visible on just about every island, but after only a few days, the buildings and plazas had begun to show some of their former glory for the first time in years.

A shaft of bright yellow light shone out in the distance, and the Lightning Chariot appeared from it, with Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor galloping in a wide arc around the islands. Still holding onto Fluttershy’s hoof, Rainbow Dash pulled her toward the chariot, and Fluttershy’s back hooves gained their footing on the chariot floor. Fluttershy’s free hoof grabbed onto the front lip of the chariot, while the two unicorns slowed down and made their descent. The four of them came to a stop at the threshold of Celestia’s temple, where the Goddess of Light was waiting for them.

“You’ve got to admit, Twilight, that was awesome,” Rainbow said as she and Fluttershy stepped back onto solid ground.

“You’re lucky we even agreed to let you drive after what happened last time,” Twilight replied as she and Shining Armor took off their harnesses.

“I’m glad you all returned safely,” Celestia said.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh!” she said. “It’s you. You’re… You’re really her!”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Celestia,” Shining Armor said, giving a slight bow. “I’m glad we could meet under better circumstances than last time.”

“Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy said. “I’m sorry. I… We…”

“It’s alright, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. She placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and gave her a nuzzle, earning a stunned reaction from Twilight. “There are worse ways to fail a mission. The important thing is that you’re safe, and we can try again another time. That is, if you’re willing to try again.”

“Yeah, that’s great,” Rainbow interjected. She placed a foreleg on Fluttershy’s back and motioned for them to walk away. “Since we’re all fine, why don’t we get settled in? That was a rough mission for everypony, right?”

The smile on Celestia’s face lost some of its warmth as she regarded Rainbow Dash. “Yes, you do that,” she replied. “But I would like to have a word with our two new guests. I’ve heard some very impressive things about you. Especially you… Twilight Sparkle, is it?”

If it was possible for Twilight’s jaw to drop any more, it would have in that moment. “Yes!” she squealed. “Oh my gosh, yes! Me too! I mean, I’ve heard so much about you too, and it’s amazing to finally meet you in person…”

As Twilight gushed on, Rainbow Dash nudged Shining Armor with her hoof. “You should probably stick around anyway,” she said. “Just in case you have to hold her back.” Shining Armor gave her a mixed expression as she led Fluttershy away. “I should find a place to crash around here. And you… could probably use a shower after what you just went through.”

“Yes, I suppose…” Fluttershy said as she walked with Rainbow into the temple. “Um, Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I heard about what you did to save my life,” Fluttershy continued. “How much you gave up. And, well, I just wanted to-”

“Look,” Rainbow cut her off. “Don’t sweat it! You’d have done the same for me, right?” There was a pause. “Wait, don’t answer that.”

Fluttershy flexed her wings. “I think I already did,” she said. “Do the same for you, I mean. So… call it even?”

Rainbow thought for a moment. “More like, let’s agree to have each other’s backs,” she said. “Sound good?”

Fluttershy nodded, and the two of them continued into the temple.