//------------------------------//
// The Three Trials 
// Story: Filly Fluttershy: Uprising 
// by Phazon 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 24: The Three Trials


One day had passed since their failed attack on the Lord of the Underworld, and Fluttershy was in her room, adjusting the last of the straps on her tunic. It had barely been half an hour since Princess Celestia told her she had a mission for her, and she was still surprised. The Three Sacred Treasures were the strongest weapon they’d had against Discord, and he had destroyed them with barely any effort. Now Celestia said that she had another plan for defeating him.

What was even stranger was that the Goddess of Light was sending Fluttershy on her own. She couldn’t help but think over the remaining weapons at their disposal. The Lightning Chariot was powerful, or at least the two unicorns who pulled it were powerful, but even a direct hit from them didn’t bring him down. Her own weapons were too weak to hurt him at all, and even their Special Attacks—fueled by Celestia’s alicorn magic—only left a few surface-level injuries. Alicorn magic. They had two alicorn goddesses behind them, and not much else.

With her tunic on, she turned to the rest of the room, where her little animals stood looking on at her. She took a few steps toward them, kneeled down, and gave them the most reassuring smile she could muster. “Don’t worry, little ones,” she told them. “I’ll be right back.”

She then turned and headed out the door. On her left, just outside the doorway, was a stand where a staff weapon lay waiting for her. With the exception of its metal handle and tip, the body of the staff was made from wood and woven in thick, thorny vines, with the largest, pointiest thorn sticking out of the butt of the staff. Three red roses were in full bloom at the base of the weapon, just above the handle.

Fluttershy took the weapon, the Rose Staff, into her hoof and placed it against her side, where its magic affixed itself just above her wing. With just how close the thorns were to her body, she was grateful they didn’t prick her side. She started down the hallway, but stopped when she noticed Rainbow Dash leaning against the wall and looking at her.

“You sure about this?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but furrow her eyebrows. There was something off about the way Rainbow had asked that question, as if there was something she wasn’t telling her. “Yeah, I am,” she said.

“Just be careful, okay?” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy nodded and continued down the hallway. She could hear Rainbow’s hoofbeats going down the other direction. After a minute, the hallway brought her before the set of double doors, which swung open on her approach. The power of flight rushed through her, and with a beat from her wings, she was flung through the doors and out into the afternoon sky. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting orange and purple hues across the cloud cover below while the sky above still retained some of its blue.

“I’m glad that you accepted this mission,” Celestia said. “When you asked that the last mission be your final one, I feared that I would have to look elsewhere.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Discord is still alive,” she said. “It’s not over yet. Do we have a plan?”

“Given the current circumstances, I don’t see how we can defeat Discord,” Celestia said.

“Then what do we do?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m working on it,” Celestia said. “That’s why we’re going to meet Granny Smith.”

There was that name again. “Granny Smith?” Fluttershy asked. “Discord mentioned that name yesterday. Who is she?”

There was an uncomfortable pause. “Granny Smith is the Goddess of the Forge,” Celestia said. “She made the Three Sacred Treasures. She created nearly every divine weapon in the pantheon, including the one you’re using now.”

“Wow,” Fluttershy said. “And I thought she might be Discord’s grandmother. Or with a name like that, one of Luna’s low-level fertility gods. So you think she can make us a weapon strong enough to stop Discord?”

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Celestia said. “W-What did Discord say about Granny Smith?”

“Well…” Fluttershy said. “He seemed upset that I found a Zodiac Chamber inside his body. He said he was going to give her a piece of his mind.”

“Oh,” Celestia said, with what Fluttershy thought sounded like a sigh of relief. “Regardless, we should probably see her as soon as possible.”

A Monoeye emerged from the cloud cover below and floated in front of Fluttershy’s path. Fluttershy drew the Rose Staff from her side, but when she moved to aim the weapon at the Monoeye, the creature split apart into five Parasprite Monoeyes. Fluttershy paused and raised an eyebrow, and one of the Parasprite enemies fired a blast at her. She swerved to dodge and returned fire, launching a thorny chunk of bramble at each of the enemies from the tip of the Rose Staff. A Nutski flew up from the clouds below, only to split into five Paramushes. Fluttershy turned her aim toward the Paramushes and opened fire.

“Underworld troops, the Forces of Nature, and Parasprite enemies?” Fluttershy said. “I’m getting Chaos Vortex flashbacks.”

“Yes, this is very strange,” Celestia said.

A group of Parasprite Rezdas floated through the air ahead of Fluttershy, with two froglike Underworld Kerons standing on them. “You said Granny Smith would help us, right?” Fluttershy asked as she fired at the Kerons.

“That’s just it,” Celestia said anxiously. “I never said she would.”

The sun seemed to vanish from view, and the skies began to darken around Fluttershy. Even the cloud cover below disappeared, leaving her in total darkness, except for a pale white sphere off in the distance. Fluttershy’s flight path turned toward the lone object, while her eyes looked for any other enemies nearby.

“Why, hello there, Princess Celestia,” an elderly voice called out. “And hello to your little helper as well!”

“Um, hello?” Fluttershy said. “Granny Smith?” A Parasprite space vessel coasted by several feet to Fluttershy’s left, and she recoiled at the sight of it. A swarm of Parasprite Monoeyes spilled from the ship, and Fluttershy aimed at them with her staff.

“Oh, aren’t you just adorable?” the elderly voice said. “Yep, that’s me. Granny Smith! And who might you be, little filly?”

“This is Fluttershy, the captain of my army,” Celestia said. “She’s my strongest and most trusted soldier.” Another uncomfortable pause. “Do you… know why we’ve come to you?”

“Why, of course!” Granny Smith said. “You want to stop Discord and protect that celestial balance o’ yours.”

“Y-Yes,” Celestia said. The Parasprite ship had banked left, and Fluttershy was shooting down the last of the Parasprite Monoeyes. All the while, she couldn’t help but get the sense that they were walking on eggshells. First Luna with the Chaos Kin, and now Celestia with Granny Smith. Granny Smith seemed pleasant enough, but it was hard not to notice that Celestia was afraid of her.

“Oh, to be young again,” Granny Smith said. “To be so wide-eyed, energetic, and have a head stuffed with wool! Nah, I’m just pulling you. I like the cut of your jib. Tell you what, if you can make it to me and pass my three tests, I’ll lend you a hoof.”

Fluttershy drew closer to the pale white sphere, which came into view as an ornate, silvery structure floating in the sky. Glass panes covered much of the exterior, and she thought she could make out a stone building on the inside. A round platform extended out from the side, and she could see a tall, arched doorway into the sphere.

“Up ahead is Granny Smith’s workshop,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy began her approach toward the workshop, but as she flew closer to the entrance, the structure spun around, putting the doorway on the opposite side. Eight Parasprite Monoeyes lay waiting on the other side of the workshop, and a few opened fire on her. Fluttershy banked left to dodge and returned with a few shots from her Rose Staff. Celestia guided her flight path around the structure, away from the Parasprite enemies and back toward the entrance. With the doorway in view again, Fluttershy steered right and flew inside.

A long hallway stretched out before Fluttershy, with stone columns on either side supporting the blue-gray marble walls and an arched ceiling. A group of Reapettes floated toward her, and she could make out one of Skyworld’s Juggernauts further down. Fluttershy furrowed her eyebrows as she aimed her Rose Staff at the enemies. The hallway stretched out as far as her eyes could see, and continued to do so even as the power of flight carried her at a brisk pace. By the time her weapon’s shots tore apart the Juggernaut, the hallway had already gone longer than the size of the workshop outside, and it was still going. And still just as strange was the variety of enemies she encountered.

“Where did these creatures come from?” Fluttershy asked.

“I made them myself,” Granny Smith said. “They might be forgeries, but they’re better than the real deal. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg! If you don’t have the gumption to handle them, you ain’t got a shot against Discord.”

Two Ornes sailed past Fluttershy from behind, earning a squeak and a flinch from her as they roared and positioned themselves on either side ahead of her. Fluttershy ducked and sailed under the one on her left, then stole a nervous glance back at the two of them as her flight path climbed back up.

“But you’ll make me a new weapon if I pass your tests, right?” Fluttershy asked. “That’s all I have to do?”

All you have to do, huh?” Granny Smith said. “Awful sure of yourself, ain’t ya?”

“Um…” Fluttershy stammered.

“I heard about what you and Princess Celestia did,” Granny Smith said. “Fightin’ the Underworld, the Forces o’ Nature, aliens, and that no good Sombra. Not bad. But I want to see what you’re made of for myself. Don’t be expectin’ this to be easy.”

“O-Okay…” Fluttershy said.

The wall on Fluttershy’s left had broken and crumbled away, showing her a view of a field of stars and bluish purple nebulae. A Monomiknose hovered outside just beyond the collapsed wall, and she fired at it with her Rose Staff. The creature broke apart, and the two Monoeyes and Mik flew into the hallway and into Fluttershy’s path. Fluttershy fired a stream of bramble chunks at the creatures, shooting them down, and flew onward.

Further on, the hallway had fallen into greater disrepair. The ceiling had collapsed in multiple places. Sections of both walls were gone, and support columns were strewn about on the few pieces of floor that hadn’t fallen away into the interstellar void that surrounded this space. Underworld Shrips and Shulms lurked behind the remaining fragments of the hallway, with the Shrips spinning their bladed heads inside the hallway like circular saw blades. Fluttershy fired on the creatures, shooting down the Shrips and clearing her flight path. Her shots also struck the Shulms, releasing clouds of toxic gas upon their destruction, but they dissipated before she could fly into them.

The remnants of the hallway finally disappeared behind Fluttershy, and the stars along with them as she found herself in another black void. A gigantic version of the First Blade rose from the darkness and hovered ahead of her. The weapon split into three identical copies, all of them raised up and poised to swing down at her.

“Uh-oh,” Fluttershy said.

The blades swung down, each sending a blade of energy at her. Fluttershy swerved left, dodging all three as they rushed past. The set of First Blades disappeared, only to be replaced by a pair of giant claw weapons. A set of three golden talons, each one mottled with black stripes, extended from each of the red gauntlets that comprised the claws. She recognized this set as the Tiger Claws, the standard variety of claw weapons.

“Yeehaw!” Granny Smith said. “Now this is a hootenanny!”

The Tiger Claws swung down next, sending a crisscrossing set of projectile slashes toward her. Fluttershy went into a steady dive, finding a gap in the oncoming claw swipes and flying through it. “At least one of us is having a good time,” she murmured.

The Tiger Claws disappeared too, and in their place emerged a giant bow resembling the Silver Bow that Rainbow Dash used. Only the limbs of this bow had golden blades instead of the silver ones on Rainbow’s version. Fluttershy could swear that she’d seen this weapon somewhere else before, but had little time to think about it as the bow separated into its limbs and swung toward her in a sawlike pattern. She banked right, dodging as the bladed limbs sliced past and eventually disappeared behind her.

Fluttershy's flight path came to a stop, seemingly in the middle of the empty black void around her. She looked around, but couldn’t find anything for as far as she could see, not even the hallway from before. Slowly, she began to ascend, and when she gazed up, she could see a large hemispherical platform floating high above. A ring of red, green, and blue crystal formations surrounded the platform, jutting up from the surrounding void like a group of stalagmites in a cave.

As she rose above the platform, she could see a great petrified tree looming over the other side. Crystal formations hung from its stony branches in all shapes and sizes, like colorful leaves and fruit. An alcove had been carved into the trunk of the tree a few feet above the platform, where a lone figure was waiting for Fluttershy.

“Come right this way, little filly,” Granny Smith said,

Fluttershy went into a dive, and descended toward the platform below.


	* * * * * * * * * *


Fluttershy’s hooves touched down on the platform, and the aura of alicorn magic faded from her wings. She gazed up at the alcove in the tree, where the figure that she’d seen before looked back down at her. What she saw was an elderly green mare with a slightly frazzled white mane and tail both tied in buns sitting in a rocking chair. She didn’t look much larger than a normal pony. In fact, she actually looked smaller due to her age. Fluttershy could barely make out a cutie mark in the shape of a pie on her flanks. It was strange to see what looked like an ordinary pony sitting at the seat of power of a god, but as Fluttershy glanced away from Granny Smith’s cutie mark, she noticed something else. No wings, and when she looked up at the old mare’s head, she found no trace of a horn.

“You’re an Earth pony?!” Fluttershy said.

Granny Smith chuckled. “Now if that ain’t the first thing anyone ever notices,” she said. “It’s a long story, sugarcube. And as much as I’d like to talk your ear off about it, I reckon we’ve got more important things to worry about. Now hurry up and stand in the middle there. That’ll take you to your first test.”

A dozen questions swarmed through Fluttershy’s mind. She wasn’t sure she had the nerve to ask any of them. Here was this Earth pony, an ancient mare, and seemingly one of the most powerful gods she had ever met. Strong enough to help them against Discord, maybe. Strong enough to give Princess Celestia herself pause. Which meant she was strong enough for Fluttershy not to test her patience. Anxiously, Fluttershy approached the center of the platform.

The center of the platform shuddered underneath her and rose up, breaking off from the rest of the floor. Granny Smith, the petrified tree, and the ring of crystals disappeared beneath her, and before long the platform reached the center of a pathway before coming to a stop. Marble columns stood along either side of the salmon-colored stone pathway, and Fluttershy could make out a set of stairs leading up from the end of the path.

“Your first test is up those stairs,” Granny Smith’s voice echoed. “You must overcome all three.”

Fluttershy looked up to the top of the stairs, and then glanced back at the rest of the pathway behind her. She saw another set of stairs leading down in the other direction, to what appeared to be a simple little shrine. Six pillars surrounded the shrine, and a large ring of stone rested on top of the pillars.

“What’s down there?” Fluttershy asked.

“Are you snooping around another goddess’ home?” Granny Smith said, a note of irritability in her voice.

“Um…”

“Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “Just this once, maybe you shouldn’t go off exploring the area.”

“Well it’s just that…” Fluttershy stammered. “All of this looks, well…”

“Looks what?” Granny Smith asked, a hint of accusation in her tone.

“Brand new,” Fluttershy said. “Like you just made all this not too long ago. And I don’t know why you would put this path here with the three tests if you didn’t want me going down there.”

“Hm,” Granny Smith said. “Well, you make a good point there. Alright, go down there if you like. Just don’t blame me if what you find ain’t to your liking.”

Fluttershy furrowed her eyebrows, and then started down the stairs. A blue circle came into view on the ground in the center of the shrine as she approached, with a faint shaft of light shining up from it. A sigil hovered in place within the shaft of light. Another Zodiac Chamber. With a quickened pace, Fluttershy made her way to the bottom of the stairs and stepped into the circle.

The stairs, the shrine, and the space around her disappeared in a flash of light, and Fluttershy stood in the Zodiac Chamber space once more. She stepped toward the altar at the end of the platform, where a thin, light blue box materialized. A symbol was drawn on the lid of the box in the form of two arcs bending toward each other with a horizontal line cutting through the center of them. Fluttershy took the box, which contained the Pisces Heal power, into her hoof, and Celestia’s magic surrounded it for a second before the box vanished. With the Pisces Heal in Celestia’s possession, Fluttershy turned around and headed for the Zodiac Chamber’s exit.

Fluttershy found herself back in the shrine at the bottom of the stairs. She began to make her way back up the stairs. “What’s with these Zodiac Chambers anyway?” she asked. “Discord made it sound like you had something to do with them.”

“Well of course I had something to do with them,” Granny Smith said. “Those are my weapons in there, and some of my most special ones too. I’ve been putting them here and there for ponies to find. I reckon you’ve found a few of them yourself?”

“That was the twelvth chamber I’ve been in,” Fluttershy said.

“Is that right?” Granny Smith said. “I suppose that means you found them all.”

“So what happens now?” Fluttershy asked. “You said the Zodiac weapons were special. Do they do anything when they’re all together?”

“What happens now is you keep going up those stairs and you pass my three tests,” Granny Smith said. “Those Zodiac weapons are special, but they won’t help you none against Discord.”

Fluttershy reached the top of the first set of stairs and returned to where the platform had first brought her to the pathway. Another flight of stairs led up from where she stood, and she walked past the platform and began to climb these steps as well. Further along, three enemies flew out from underneath the stairs and floated over them a fair distance away: a Monoeye, a Cellular Monoeye, and a Parasprite Monoeye. Fluttershy reached for her Rose Staff, aimed, and fired a chunk of bramble. As luck would have it, the three creatures all lined up one behind the other, and the Rose Staff’s projectile punched through each one.

Another set of the same Monoeyes hovered down above the stairway, this time on either side of each other. Fluttershy aimed at the Cellular Monoeye in the center and fired a stream of bramble shots, shooting it down. The Monoeye on its right fired a dark purple blast of energy at her. She hopped left to dodge, returning fire at the Parasprite Monoeye at the other side. With the Parasprite Monoeye taken out, she fired a few shots at the remaining Monoeye before making her way up the rest of the stairs.

A terrace made from the same salmon-colored stone awaited Fluttershy at the top of the stairs. To her left, a massive set of double doors overlooked the terrace, with two stone columns on either side. Above the doors, a set of stone gray statues depicted several ponies kneeling before an Earth pony in the center. Fluttershy stepped toward the pair of doors, but a Flage from the Forces of Nature appeared in front of her out of thin air. Fluttershy jumped back, landing out of range of the Flage’s scythed arms as it tried to swing them down on her, and reached for her Rose Staff. She fired the weapon, shooting a hole through the creature before it disappeared.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fluttershy noticed two more Flages hovering around the terrace before they vanished. Gripping her weapon, she moved along the terrace on three hooves, her eyes darting back and forth as she scanned the area for the two enemies. The first Flage reappeared directly in front of her, scythed arms raised, and she fired a chunk of bramble through its body. The second Flage appeared on her right, and she hopped away from it while firing back with a few more shots.

A heavy click echoed from the pair of doors as the last Flage was slain, and the two doors swung open. Gripping her Rose Staff in her hoof, she made her way toward the doorway.

As Flutershy passed through the doorway, the terrace and even the doors themselves vanished behind her. The ground under her hooves was hot, and she looked down to find the earth beneath her was cracked and dry. Smoke and volcanic ash blanketed the skies over her head. She heard a loud cry behind her, and when she turned around, her heart sank at the sight of a giant red and green bird circling overhead.

“The Phoenix?” Fluttershy said. “I have to fight him again?”

“It was just tragic seeing the majestic immortal bird felled by a little pegasus,” Granny Smith said.

“Tell me about it,” Fluttershy murmured. “I was so close to calming him down before Discord sent him into a frenzy.”

Three fiery rocks formed within the Phoenix’s talons, which he flung at her. Fluttershy ran, avoiding the rocks as they hit the ground and exploded behind her, and turned back to face the creature.

“After three years, the Phoenix you defeated has surely revived itself by now,” Celestia said. “But this is not that same creature. It is one of Granny Smith’s creations, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Sharp as always, princess,” Granny Smith said. “I didn’t see the point of putting the real Phoenix through the same thing twice if I could just make one from scratch.”

The Phoenix turned to face Fluttershy, and with a hard flap of his wings, launched a pair of glowing feathers at her. Fluttershy sidestepped, aimed her Rose Staff, and returned fired with a large chunk of bramble that struck the creature in the chest. The Phoenix let out a cry, and his body erupted in bright orange flames right before he dove at Fluttershy. Fluttershy ran to the side and dove as well, ducking under the creature’s fiery wing as it rushed past.

Fluttershy rose back to her hooves and turned to face the Phoenix again. The flames subsided from the immortal bird’s body, and the creature spun around to face her as well. At once, the Phoenix’s wings stopped flapping, and its talons landed with a heavy crash, sending three vertical shockwaves along the ground. Fluttershy sidestepped in between two of the waves and fired back with her Rose Staff. The bramble shot struck the creature’s wing, but it still took flight again, seemingly unharmed by the hit. The Phoenix spat three fireballs at her. Fluttershy hopped to the side, dodging in between the fireballs, and raised her staff again to fire back.

Fluttershy’s third shot hit the Phoenix square in the beak. For a second, the Phoenix recoiled back, only to freeze in place as a bright white glow began to spread across his body. Fluttershy noticed the same white glow spread across the ground beneath her in patches, and then across the ashen gray sky, until everything around her was consumed in white light.

The white glow subsided almost as quickly as it came, and Fluttershy was standing before the same salmon-colored terrace she had been in before she fought the Phoenix. The Phoenix itself was gone, and the massive doors she had entered before loomed behind her, now locked shut.

“Not bad, little filly,” Granny Smith said. “Your next challenge is up those stairs.”

Fluttershy blinked. “Wait, that was it?” she asked. She turned to look back up at the two enormous doors. “But he was so much stronger last time.”

“You can thank that weapon you’re using,” Celestia said. “It’s the author’s weapon of choice. It’s quite potent, especially from a distance, and I couldn’t be sure what Granny Smith had in store for you.”

Fluttershy turned the Rose Staff in her hoof as she looked it over. “Whoa,” she said.

“Yep, that one’s a real beauty,” Granny Smith said. “But I don’t think you’ll be wanting to take that to fight Discord. Now go on. You’ve got two more challenges up those stairs.”

Fluttershy turned to her left, where a new set of stairs led up from the other end of the terrace. With her weapon in hoof, she walked toward the end of the terrace and up the flight of stairs. She reached another terrace at the top, with another set of massive doors on her right. Three tiny treasure chests each no bigger than Fluttershy’s head lay scattered across the terrace.

“The Zodiac Chamber was one thing, but I don’t think Granny Smith would leave real treasure chests lying around,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy eyed each of the three chests. “Mimicuties?” she asked.

“Figuring it out is one thing,” Granny Smith said, a hint of annoyance in her tone. “But that door ain’t gonna open ‘til you beat every one of them.”

Fluttershy’s gaze turned to the closest treasure chest, and she began to step toward it. When she drew close, the chest rose above her, standing on a pair of long legs. Fluttershy hopped back on three hooves while using her weapon hoof to aim and fire at the Mimicutie. The creature took the hit, but ambled around the terrace seemingly oblivious to Fluttershy. Fluttershy fired another shot at the Mimicutie, and this time the monster stumbled back for a second before fading away into purple mist.

Fluttershy paused. Mimicuties were supposed to be hardier than that. But just like with the Phoenix, her new weapon had made short work of an enemy that normally took a lot of punishment. Lowering her weapon hoof, she began to approach the next chest.

The second Mimicutie rose up on two legs as Fluttershy approached. Fluttershy leapt back, hitting the monster with another blast from her Rose Staff as she went. This time, the Mimicutie slid toward her on one leg, while the other leg was raised up and bent, ready to deliver a brutal kick.

“Bumblebee,” Fluttershy said. Her weapon flickered, and a blue glow washed over her body. The Mimicutie extended its leg into not just one, but a series of fast, powerful kicks. But before even one could land, Fluttershy swerved around the Mimicutie, now standing behind the monster as it delivered a flurry of attacks at the air in front of it. Fluttershy leapt back again, firing another bramble chunk at the Mimicutie and finishing it off.

Fluttershy made her way to the last Mimicutie. The creature rose on its two legs, and Fluttershy jumped back and fired at it with her Rose Staff. The same as before, the third Mimicutie slid toward Fluttershy on one leg, with the other leg ready to deliver a barrage of kicks. But as it tried to make the first kick, Fluttershy’s Bumblebee power activated, and she swerved behind her creature. Fluttershy leapt back, fired one more shot from her Rose Staff, and slayed the last Mimicutie.

A deep click echoed from the pair of giant doors overlooking the terrace, and a moment later the doors swung open. Fluttershy walked toward the open doorway, her staff still in hoof. The terrace behind her vanished once again as she stepped through, just as it had when she fought the Phoenix. A hot pink glow permeated the sky for as far as she could see, and bits of white light in the shape of petals swirled up from the earth as if caught in an updraft. Broken cobblestones littered the ground around her, which formed a smooth crater that she stood in the center of. Further away, more bits of gray stonework—from broken walls to archways—surrounded the crater.

And across from her in the middle of the crater, there stood a glassy-eyed Earth pony stallion. Rocklike barding covered much of his body, while patches of rotting, moldy flesh were exposed where his otherwise red coat and orange mane had fallen out.

“Big Macintosh?” Fluttershy said, her voice faltering.

The stallion said nothing as a chunk of rock formed in his hoof and he hurled it at Fluttershy. Fluttershy stepped to the side, avoiding the thrown rock, and fired a shot from her Rose Staff.

“Why are you doing this?” Fluttershy said. “First the Phoenix, and now him?”

“Believe you me, I ain’t happy about recreating one of Luna’s abominations,” Granny Smith said. “Especially not this one. But I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think you needed it. I can’t just give you a weapon to fight Discord with and expect things’ll turn out right. A weapon is just like any other tool. It could be the best thing ever made, but that won’t mean a thing if the pony holding it ain’t up to the job.”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth. The body of Big Macintosh flung itself through the air like a missile, with another layer of rock forming over him. Fluttershy ducked and rolled underneath, and then aimed her weapon as she rose back to her hooves. She spotted a hole in the back of his neck, just like the original one had, and fired a chunk of bramble at it. Big Macintosh stumbled, and the second layer of rock fell from his body, but he turned to face her again.

“He still has that weak point in the back of his head,” Fluttershy said.

Big Macintosh stomped his hoof on the ground, sending a trio of shockwaves at Fluttershy. Fluttershy sidestepped between them and fired back with a shot from her staff. The shot chipped off a chunk of rock barding from Big Machintosh’s body, but he was unfazed as he tossed another chunk of rock at her.

“I will give her credit,” Celestia said. “The detail in her craft is second to none. I couldn’t imagine the force she could create if she wanted to upend the divine order.”

“Pray that you never have to, princess,” Granny Smith said.

Big Macintosh’s body hovered in the air, and Fluttershy jumped out of the way as he crashed into the ground. She turned around, aimed, and fired another chunk of bramble at the hole in the back of his head. His head jerked forward, but he twisted around and faced Fluttershy again. He flung another rock at her, but she dodged and fired back with her Rose Staff. Her shot broke another piece of rock from the stallion’s body, but he barely reacted as he lunged toward her.

Stones began to fly toward Big Macintosh’s body, sticking to him and forming a round boulder as he tried to roll into her. Fluttershy rolled to the side to dodge and aimed her weapon behind her as she rose back on her hooves. The stones crumbled away from his body, exposing the weak point in the back of his head, and Fluttershy fired. Big Macintosh stumbled and fell to his knees, his head swaying back and forth. With her Rose Staff still trained on him, Fluttershy fired again.

Big Macintosh froze in place, and a white glow spread across his body in patches. From his body, the glow spread to the ground, and then the skies all around Fluttershy. As soon as it touched all of her surroundings, the glow dissipated, and she stood at the foot of the doors in front of the salmon-colored terrace. Toward her right, at the end of the terrace, a new set of stairs rose up from the abyss below one step at a time. Fluttershy approached the end of the terrace and looked up the staircase to see one more terrace at the end, with one more doorway. One more challenge.

Fluttershy began to make her way up the stairs, her Rose Staff in hoof as she watched for any more enemies. Further up, she saw a white vase twice her size resting on one of the steps. The vase teetered for a moment, and an Urgle climbed up from inside. Fluttershy aimed her Rose Staff and fired, shooting down the Urgle before it could land on the steps, and continued up. The vase shook again, and a Porcuspine shot out of it and landed on the stairs. Fluttershy fired again, taking out the Porcuspine as she continued her way up.

When she reached the vase, Fluttershy swung her staff, slamming the butt of her weapon against the vessel. She swung again, striking the vase with the Rose Staff’s thorny shaft and leaving cracks in it. Her third swing shattered the vase, and she made her way up the rest of the staircase.

As Fluttershy stepped onto the terrace at the top of the stairs, a Fort Oink appeared as if from thin air on her left, blocking her path to the final doorway. A Juggernaut hovered opposite the Fort Oink on Fluttershy’s right, the two enemies facing each other. Fluttershy aimed her Rose Staff at the Juggernaut and fired a chunk of bramble at the machine’s face.

A pair of burning rocks rolled down the tubes on either side of the Juggernaut and into its waiting catapults. The catapults launched the two stones, hurling them in Fluttershy’s direction. Fluttershy ran, avoiding the rocks as they hit the ground and exploded on impact, and fired again with her staff. The second chunk of bramble struck one of the Juggernaut’s arms, caving in one of the tubes that led to its catapults.

A soft crack sounded from the other side of the terrace, and Fluttershy leapt back as three projectiles hurtled toward her. She fired a few small pieces of bramble from her staff as her hooves landed, pelting the Juggernaut. The Juggernaut’s damaged arm snapped, and the machine twisted in the air before collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Fluttershy turned to face the Fort Oink, and saw a Trynamite hovering in front of the transport’s front gates. The Trynamite broke apart into three pieces, which then hurtled at her. Fluttershy sidestepped the trio of projectiles and fired back, hitting the pig’s face at the top of the Fort Oink’s central keep. The Fort Oink’s front gates flung open, and another Trynamite was spat out. Fluttershy fired a shot at the Trynamite, shooting the enemy down, and then turned her weapon back on the Fort Oink. She fired a steady stream of small bramble chunks at the pig’s face, and before long the Fort Oink faltered in its flight. Bits of stone and wood crumbled away from the facade before the Underworld transport landed on the ground and vanished into purple mist.

A click echoed from the set of massive doors that overlooked the terrace, which then swung open. Fluttershy approached the doorway, preparing herself for the third trial. At once, the terrace behind her vanished when she passed through, and she found herself standing on a round, dark gray metal platform. A small number of stars twinkled in the sky above her. Except it wasn’t just stars. Clouds of space dust blew and swirled around the platform, and despite how few stars there were, she could still make out a constellation or two.

The platform beneath Fluttershy’s hooves bobbed up and down with an almost steady rhythm, and when she looked out past the platform, she could see the ocean all around her. She was in space, she realized. Except no, not just space. She was in the Galactic Sea. But that meant…

The platform shook beneath her again, and two salmon-red tentacles rose up from the side.

“The Kraken?” Fluttershy said. She raised her weapon hoof and fired a shot at one of the tentacles. Her shot not only punched through, but severed the tentacle at the point of impact, earning a stunned reaction from Fluttershy as the cut limb fell into the ocean and the remaining stub writhed and slid back into the sea.

“Then this must be the Space Pirate ship,” Celestia said. “But why this creature?”

“Well, first I was thinking about recreating Sombra for her to fight,” Granny Smith said, “But I figure that’d be a bit much in more ways than one.”

Fluttershy fired another chunk of bramble at the next tentacle. The shot only grazed its target, but it was enough to send the appendage back into the ocean as two more tentacles rose above the pirate ship’s deck.

“I also thought about recreating that Fancypants feller,” Granny Smith continued. “But I ain’t that keen on making more of Luna’s soldiers.”

“I’m beginning to see the pattern here,” Celestia said, even as Fluttershy shot down the third tentacle, “But for once, I have to say I don’t approve, Granny Smith.”

“Oh, hush up, princess,” Granny Smith chided. “You may not like it, but she needs this. And besides, I settled on this thing because I reckoned you both had some unfinished business here.”

Fluttershy fired another chunk of bramble from her Rose Staff, knocking the last tentacle back into the sea. A huge wave of water splashed against the ship, and the Kraken’s head rose above the ocean’s surface. The creature regarded Fluttershy with its shimmering neon-green eyes, while Fluttershy aimed her weapon back at it. “You mean how we never actually fought this monster?” she said. “We got the Three Sacred Treasures, so there wasn’t really any need to.”

“Not quite what I meant,” Granny Smith said. “But I suppose you were due to face this monster.”

Fluttershy fired a chunk of bramble at the Kraken. The creature seemed to lurch back, only to fire a massive beam of energy from its mouth at the ship’s deck. Fluttershy ran from the beam as it traced its way up the deck, and then fired another shot from her Rose Staff. This time, the hit threw the Kraken’s head back, and the seemingly dazed monster leaned back from the ship and back into the water. The Kraken’s body made another huge splash as it fell back into the ocean, and then slowly receded into the water’s depths.

Fluttershy lowered her weapon hoof, but raised an eyebrow. “That was… anticlimactic,” she said. “But that was the last one, right? We can have that new weapon now?”

“Counting your chickens a bit too soon there, ain’t yah?” Granny Smith said. “Don’t you remember how many tests there were?”

“Um, three,” Fluttershy said. “And that was three, wasn’t it?”

“Not quite,” Granny Smith said. The deck underneath Fluttershy’s hooves began to glow white, and that glow spread from the ship to the Galactic Sea itself, and even the space above. “That was all the first one. You’ve still got two more ahead of you, dearie.”

“I think one of us isn’t counting right,” Fluttershy muttered.

“I heard that!” Granny Smith groused.


	* * * * * * * * * *


Soft carpet touched the bottom of Fluttershy’s hooves as the white glow surrounding her began to recede, leaving behind a palatial hall that stretched both behind and ahead of her. A long red carpet lay beneath her and covered the cold, stone gray floor between her and a small set of stairs at the other end of the hall. A high throne sat at the top of the stairs, and in front of the throne stood two ponies, one clad from head to hoof in purple armor and the other wearing a Stetson hat and a faded black leather outfit. The two ponies turned to look at Fluttershy, and the one in the Stetson hat held a massive greatsword in her hoof, propping the hefty weapon behind her shoulder and against her back.

“Howdy,” the pony said in an accent Fluttershy knew all too well.

“Applejack!” Fluttershy said in a tone that lost its enthusiasm as she recognized the other pony. “And… Dark Lord Pinkamena?”

The second pony placed her front hooves against the sides of her helmet and pushed, forcing it off her head with a rubbery plop. A pair of cheery blue eyes looked back at Fluttershy from a vibrant, hot pink face sporting a messy darker pink mane. “Oh please,” the mare said, “my friends just call me Pinkie Pie.”

“Pinkie, put that back on!” Applejack scolded. “You know how dangerous she is.”

Pinkie Pie shoved the helmet back over her head, while Applejack galloped toward Fluttershy on three hooves. Fluttershy, perplexed at first, grimaced as Applejack closed the distance and swung her greatsword down at her. She sidestepped Applejack’s swing, and her eyes widened as a blade of energy issued from the weapon for several feet. She ducked as Applejack went for a horizontal swing, and then hopped a few steps back to put distance between them, only to notice a fiery aura around Pinkie Pie as the armored mare flew at her.

“Wheeeeeeee!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Fluttershy jumped back before Pinkie Pie could crash into her. Pinkie Pie skidded to a halt on her hooves, the metal of her greaves scraping against the stone floor, and produced a weapon in her hoof as if from thin air. The weapon was a sword with a bent hilt similar to the Blade weapons Fluttershy had used before, built from the same metal as Pinkie Pie’s armor, with toothlike projections and a red-orange coloration at the tip of the blade. Pinkie Pie swung the weapon, the Gaol Blade, at Fluttershy. Fluttershy parried the attack with her Rose Staff, then moved to block again with her staff as Pinkie Pie swung a second time. Applejack swung her own weapon down, and Fluttershy leapt back before she could take the hit.

“Applejack, is it really you?” Fluttershy asked. “You’re not just one of Granny Smith’s creations?”

“Yep,” Applejack said as she moved for another swing. “It’s me, all right!”

Fluttershy leapt back, dodging another swing from Applejack’s greatsword. “But what are you doing here?” she asked. “Is everything alright back on the ground? And why are you fighting with Dark Lor– er, Pinkie Pie? And didn’t we destroy her arm– eep!”

Fluttershy flinched and stumbled backward as Pinkie Pie hopped in front of her, getting in between her and Applejack. “Ooh, are we playing twenty questions?” Pinkie Pie asked, her bubbly voice reverberating through the metal of her dark helmet. “Let me try! Is it true you can’t really fly? What’s the Goddess of Light like? Do you have a bakery up in Skyworld? How do you get so much volume in your mane? Everything I try just makes mine come out poofy.”

“Um…” Fluttershy said.

A pair of back hooves caught Fluttershy in her side, catapulting her across the throne room. Applejack’s hind legs met the ground again, and she flipped around to face the direction she had kicked Fluttershy. “Pinkie, don’t get in the way like that,” she said. “Ah’m trying not to cut you in half with this sword.”

“Oops,” Pinkie Pie said.

Fluttershy grunted as she rose to her hooves again. She could still feel where Applejack had bucked her, and she was probably looking at a pair of bruises later, but thankfully nothing felt broken. “Okay, I guess they are real,” Fluttershy said.

“Of course these two are real,” Granny Smith said. “I just invited them here to test you. Not a bad challenge for that weapon, don’t you think?”

“Hold on, Granny!” Applejack objected. “That ain’t what Ah agreed to.”

“Settle down there, youngin,” Granny Smith said. “I know what I promised ya. And I’ll make good on it if you hold up your end of the bargain. After all, I haven’t let you down yet, have I?”

“That depends,” Applejack said as she lifted her greatsword, the Magnus Club. “Do we get to keep these weapons you made us?”

“I’d be mighty disappointed if you didn’t,” Granny Smith said.

“Well in that case,” Applejack said. Holding out the Magnus Club with both hooves, she spun around on her hind legs. The weight of her weapon and her sheer strength created a wind column around her, pulling Fluttershy in. Keeping her footing as best as she could, Fluttershy turned and ran against the pull of the twister.

An energy ball struck Fluttershy’s side, shot by Pinkie Pie’s Gaol Blade, and she fell to the ground. She grunted from the pain of the hit, even as her body was dragged toward the column of wind. A surge of panic set in, and Fluttershy rolled on her side. Applejack came out of her spin, her greatsword raised high, and swung the weapon down with all her might. Her attack missed Fluttershy, but left a deep gouge in the floor.

“She seems to be having trouble,” Celestia said. “Are you sure this isn’t too much?”

“I thought you two were supposed to protect Earth ponies from the gods,” Granny Smith said. “How do you expect to beat Discord if you can’t even fight two Earth ponies?”

Fluttershy raised her weapon, blocking a strike from Pinkie Pie’s Gaol Blade, and rolled on her side. “I was hoping to use that weapon you were making me,” she said as she climbed back on her hooves. “I thought that was the whole point.”

Granny Smith sighed. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

All three ponies stopped and looked as a shaft of magenta light shone on the floor just a few feet away. Seconds passed, and just before the light faded away, Rainbow Dash leapt out. With Silver Bow in hoof, she bounded toward Applejack and swung her weapon.

Applejack stepped back, avoiding Rainbow’s swing. “Another one?” she said. She sidestepped right as Rainbow went for another swing. Rainbow swung her bow a third time, only this time Applejack swung back with her Magnus Club. The two weapons met, but Applejack was the stronger one by far, and her parry deflected Rainbow’s weapon with ease, sending the pegasus stumbling back several feet.

As Rainbow Dash regained her footing, Applejack went in for another attack. Rainbow ducked under a horizontal slash from the greatsword, then rolled to the side as Applejack went for a downward swing. Applejack moved forward and swung again. Rainbow leapt over the attack, aimed her Silver Bow, and fired a shot into Applejack’s withers. As her hooves hit the ground again, she quickly spun around and bucked, her back hooves landing on Applejack’s shoulder and barrel. But as she spun back to face Applejack again, she saw the Earth pony staring at the site of her kicks, having not even budged an inch. Applejack glanced back up at Rainbow and raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, heh heh,” Rainbow chuckled anxiously.

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. She flipped around and delivered a buck of her own.

A couple of feet away, Fluttershy dodged as Pinkie Pie bounded in the air and brought her Gaol Blade down. She parried with her Rose Staff as Pinkie went for another swing, then used her weapon to block a third strike. The blade of Pinkie’s weapon was caught between the thorns of Fluttershy’s staff, and with a hard yank, Fluttershy sent Pinkie stumbling.

A yell from Rainbow Dash carried throughout the throne room, and Fluttershy looked up just in time to see her sail across the hall and crash into the throne in a heap, knocking the chair down.

“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy called out.

“Worry about her later!” Applejack said. She raised her Magnus Club and swung it down at Fluttershy. Fluttershy sidestepped out of the way, glancing at the blade of energy that issued from the weapon for several feet, and jumped back as Applejack slashed again with the greatsword. Pinkie Pie started toward the two, but then paused and turned toward the throne. She cocked her head, and then bounced away.

Over by the toppled throne, Rainbow groaned as she sat up and then rose to her hooves. “Okay, so she’s stronger than me,” she said, massaging her head. “I can work with that.” She made her way down the stairs and started to gallop toward Applejack.

“Hi there!”

“Whoa!” Rainbow skidded to a halt on her hooves, stopping just short of a Pinkie Pie who suddenly appeared in her path. She raised her Silver Bow to swipe at Pinkie, who blocked with her Gaol Blade. She swung again, but was blocked by Pinkie’s weapon a second time.

With a quick motion, Rainbow separated the Silver Bow into its two bladed limbs, caught the second limb in her other hoof, and tried to swipe at Pinkie. Pinkie moved her blade to parry the attack, but Rainbow pushed back, throwing her off balance. Recombining her bow, Rainbow aimed and fired point blank at Pinkie, only for the latter to dodge at the last second. Pinkie aimed her blade and returned fire, but Rainbow quickly dodged.

“Ooh, what’s your name?” Pinkie asked.

Rainbow smirked. “Rainbow Dash,” she said, separating her bow into its two bladed limbs again.

For a split second, the pair of glowing blue lights in Pinkie’s helmet seemed to brighten. “Wow, you sure are!” Pinkie said.

Rainbow swung with both bladed limbs, only to be blocked by Pinkie’s blade. Pushing back with one limb, she spun around Pinkie, recombined her bow, and fired into the armored pony’s side.

“Look, as much as I like to meet a fan, even if they’re a Dark Lord, Fluttershy needs my help,” Rainbow said. “So why don’t we cut this short?”

Pinkie cocked her head. “Dark Lord?” she said. “Nah, you can just call me Pinkie Pie.”

For a moment, Rainbow looked over Pinkie and her dark, purple armor. “You sure about that?” she asked.

Elsewhere in the throne room, Applejack swung her weapon at Fluttershy. Fluttershy parried with her Rose Staff, but the force of Applejack’s swing threw her onto her back hooves. Applejack flipped around and bucked Fluttershy square in the chest. Fluttershy flew across the throne room, landing on her back twice before sliding along the stone floor. She grunted as she began to rise to her haunches, only to hear the sound of hoofbeats galloping toward her. She raised her staff, blocking a downward swing from Applejack’s Magnus Club. But the force of Applejack’s attack threw her on her back again, and she found herself pinned down under the Earth pony.

“Ah’ve got to give ya credit, Fluttershy,” Applejack said, bearing down on Fluttershy and her Rose Staff with her greatsword. “I help ya get back to yourself, and the next day ya’ve got that whole Celestia mess sorted out. Ah don’t know how ya did it, but Ah’m mighty grateful. But that don’t mean Ah’m gonna take it easy on ya. Granny Smith promised me a weapon to fight Discord with if Ah beat ya, and there’s no way Ah’m lettin’ that opportunity slip by.”

“Wait, but Granny Smith promised me a weapon if I passed her tests,” Fluttershy said.

“She promised me, Twilight, and Shining Armor the same thing,” Rainbow said, deflecting a hit from Pinkie Pie’s Gaol Blade with her bow. “Even told us that whoever won out of the three of us could help you with these two. I knocked ‘em to the ground in 9.8 seconds. I think that’s a new record.”

“That’s the general gist,” Granny Smith said. “It was one thing to give Fluttershy a few trials and have her earn the weapon. But when I realized there were a bunch of ponies itching to take down the Lord of the Underworld, I reckoned I should figure out which one was best for the job.”

“That’s great and all,” Rainbow said, “but how do we know we can actually trust you? We don’t exactly have a great track record with gods. Especially not the Earth ponies.”

Putting leverage on her Rose Staff, Fluttershy pushed Applejack's Magnus Club to the side and knocked the Earth pony off balance. Now free, she rolled out from under Applejack and rose to her hooves. “Princess Celestia seems to trust her,” she said.

“Not exactly helpin’ your case there,” Applejack said. “And she’s got a point. Ah don’t like the idea of some goddess pittin’ us against each other like this. But at least Pinkie and Ah got some new weapons out of it. She even fixed up Pinkie’s armor. And besides, call it intuition, but Ah’ve got a good feelin’ about Granny Smith. Even sounds like an Apple name.”

“Well…” Fluttershy murmured.

“Say another word, Fluttershy,” Granny Smith’s voice whispered in Fluttershy’s ear, “and you’ll be fighting Discord with nothing but your hooves.”

“Um…”

“You say something, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“N-Nothing important,” Fluttershy said.

“Hmm,” Applejack narrowed her eyes.

Rainbow Dash deflected a blow from Pinkie’s blade with her Silver Bow. She jumped over Pinkie, her free forehoof bounding off of Pinkie’s back, and fired an arrow toward Applejack. The arrow struck the body of the Magnus Club as Applejack was winding up for a swing, throwing Applejack off course as Rainbow ran between her and Fluttershy.

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “You should’ve taken these two down, no problem.”

“Excuse me?” Applejack said.

“Well, um…” Fluttershy said, idly waving the Rose Staff in her hoof.

Rainbow sighed. “You’re worried about what that thing will do to them, aren’t you?” she said. Fluttershy’s lack of an answer was all she needed. “Look, Pinkie Pie’s got that armor on. She can probably take a shot or two. Want to trade partners?”

“Oh no ya don’t!” Applejack said. She swung her Magnus Club at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow deflected the attack to the side, separated her bow as she spun around Applejack, and slashed the Earth pony’s side with one of its bladed limbs. Recombining her bow, Rainbow leapt back while firing another arrow at Applejack. “Oh, you no-good…” Applejack gritted her teeth and charged after Rainbow.

Fluttershy looked on at the two of them. A clatter of armor sounded behind her as Pinkie bounced over and stopped right next to her.

“Aw, but we were having fun…” Pinkie’s voice echoed from her helmet.

“Um…” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie glanced over at Fluttershy. “Oh, hello!” she chirped. “Dashie’s your friend, right? Do you know how she dyes her mane like that?”

“I…” Fluttershy started. She couldn’t help but notice that Pinkie Pie wasn’t actually attacking her. “… think that’s her natural color.”

Pinkie gasped. “It is?!” she said. “And she’s a pegasus just like you! Can she fly?”

“I wouldn’t bring it up with her,” Fluttershy said.

Across the throne room, Applejack swung her Magnus Club at Rainbow, who ducked underneath the weapon’s blade. “Stand still!” she said. “You are not stoppin’ me from gettin’ that weapon!”

“Hey, I get you,” Rainbow said. “I know what he’s done to Earth ponies like you, and I respect you for taking the fight back to him. To be honest, part of me’s actually rooting for you to win this.”

Applejack furrowed her eyebrows. “What, that mean you’re goin’ easy on me?” she asked.

Rainbow smirked. “Not a chance!” she said.

Applejack took another swing at Rainbow, but Rainbow deflected the blow with her own weapon. She swung her Magnus Club again, but Rainbow sidestepped the attack and fired an arrow. Her shot struck the body of the Magnus Club in midswing, causing Applejack to stumble.

“Cut that out!” Applejack said. She swung her weapon again, but Rainbow leapt over the greatsword, bounded off of Applejack’s back, and fired again at her. Applejack winced and grunted from the hit and turned to glare at Rainbow, only to see that she had landed directly behind her, within range of her hind legs. “Big mistake.”

Planting her free forehoof, Applejack raised her hind legs and bucked at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow ducked underneath Applejack’s back hooves, aimed her Silver Bow at Applejack’s belly, and fired. The shot threw Applejack off of her last hoof, and she hit the floor with a thud.

“Applejack!” Pinkie gasped. She galloped after Applejack. Behind her, Fluttershy raised her Rose Staff and aimed. After a deliberate pause, she fired. The chunk of bramble struck Pinkie in the rear, shattering her armor and sending her tumbling along the floor in a pink ball of fur and mane. She landed on her haunches after coming to a stop, but still swayed back and forth from her seated position.

“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack shouted. She quickly rose to her hooves and started to rush toward Pinkie, only to be shot from behind again by Rainbow and her Silver Bow. She collapsed on her stomach again, her Magnus Club clattering away from her.

Pinkie Pie placed her front hooves on the ground to keep herself steady, but still wobbled from one direction to the other. “Come on, Maud,” she said dizzily. “Let’s ride the waterfall again!” Her front hooves gave out, and she landed on her belly with a plop.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Rainbow said. “A little loopy, but I’m pretty sure that’s normal for her.”

Two shafts of magenta light shone on Pinkie Pie and Applejack, and the two of them vanished.

“Good job, fillies,” Granny Smith said. “But that’s not the end of the trial just yet. I did say only one of you would get that weapon, didn’t I?”

“Hold on, you want us to fight each other?” Rainbow asked.

“That’s right,” Granny Smith said.

“Nope, not happening, Granny,” Rainbow said. “We’re not playing your stupid game anymore. So why don’t you cut the horseapples and give us what you prom–”

Rainbow stopped as she felt the tip of a weapon’s muzzle against her temple.

“Put down your bow,” Fluttershy said.

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow said. “What are you–”

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy insisted.

Rainbow glanced to her side. She could make out Fluttershy in the corner of her eye, holding the Rose Staff to her head. Slowly, she held out her weapon hoof and began to lower her bow. Then she ducked, and with one quick motion, she grasped the barrel of the Rose Staff and yanked it away. The thorns along the staff’s body poked into her foreleg, and she gasped in pain as she pulled the weapon out of Fluttershy’s hoof and tossed it away. “Augh, you had to pick the one staff that move doesn’t work o– Hey!”

Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow’s weapon hoof with one of her hooves. She placed her other hoof against Rainbow’s foreleg, and leveraging her body, pulled the Silver Bow out of Rainbow’s grasp and tossed it to the ground. Rainbow glanced at her weapon, and then turned her eyes to Fluttershy, who returned a glare back at her.

Fluttereshy rushed forward and threw a punch at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow blocked with one hoof, then raised the other foreleg to block a second punch. Grabbing Fluttershy’s foreleg, she pulled her forward, trying to throw her. Fluttershy kept her footing, and with forehooves planted, she kicked back with both hind legs. Rainbow unfurled one of her wings and raised it to block, wincing at the pain from Fluttershy’s buck.

Annoyed, Rainbow threw a punch with one of her own hooves. Fluttershy ducked and rushed to tackle Rainbow to the ground. Rainbow landed on her back, but managed to plant her back hooves on Fluttershy and kick her off. Rainbow rolled back onto her hooves and watched as Fluttershy landed on her back. She then stole a glance at her Silver Bow lying on the ground just feet away.

Fluttershy rolled over and got her hooves under her. She looked up at Rainbow, who was running toward her weapon. Her eyes darted toward her own Rose Staff, which was close by. Scrambling to her hooves, she jumped toward her weapon. Both ponies grabbed their weapons at the same time and pointed them at each other. They glared at each other, each weapon trained on the other pony, but neither of them fired.

“Fluttershy, what the hay?!” Rainbow said.

“Rainbow, please,” Fluttershy said. “Stand down. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow said. “Aren’t we past all this?”

“You tell me,” Fluttershy said.

“I’m not the one picking a fight this time!”

“You would’ve,” Fluttershy said. “I know you, Rainbow. You would’ve found some excuse to fight me over that weapon. Over the right to fight Discord. Whether it’s for your own ego or something else. But I can’t let you do that. Not this time.”

“What, you want to fight him that bad?”

“I have to,” Fluttershy said. “He and I talked to each other when I was down there yesterday. He doesn’t care, Rainbow!”

“Yeah, no kidding!” Rainbow shot back. “I could’ve told you that!”

“No, it’s more than that,” Fluttershy said. “We’re all just toys to him, for him to play with and throw away whenever he likes. And when he breaks one of us, there are always a million more where that came from. Somepony has to show him that he can’t just treat ponies however he wants, that we matter.”

“That doesn’t have to be you!” Rainbow said. “What if you screw up? What if you don’t make it back?”

“I won’t fail, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said.

“You don’t know that,” Rainbow said. “You know how powerful he is, and we don’t know what kind of weapon Granny Smith is giving us. How do you know it’s not just going to fall apart on you halfway through the battle?”

“And you think you’ll do better?” Fluttershy asked.

“If I go down, at least it’ll just be me!” Rainbow blurted out.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. She kept her Rose Staff trained on Rainbow, but there was a little more slack in her grip. Rainbow’s grip on her Silver Bow was less steady.

“We’re still connected by the Mirror of Truth, remember?” Rainbow said. “If something happens to you, it affects me. It’s one thing if I take that weapon to fight Discord and lose. At least then, I’ll go down swinging. But if you die fighting him… I don’t want to go out like that.”

Fluttershy took a moment to regard Rainbow Dash. By then, Rainbow had averted her eyes. “I understand, Rainbow,” she said. “But look at me.”

Rainbow looked up. She could see a hint of compassion in Fluttershy’s gaze, but more than that, an unshakeable resolve.

“If I die to Discord, then he gets away with everything,” Fluttershy said. “All the damage he’s done. All the lives he’s destroyed. And I will not let that happen. I promise, Rainbow. I will not fail.”

Rainbow stared at Fluttershy. Then she closed her eyes, smiled, and lowered her weapon. “Alright, Fluttershy,” she said. “You win.” And with that, she threw her weapon away.

Fluttershy lowered her own weapon and smiled. “Thank you, Rainbow,” she said.

“You hear that, Granny?” Rainbow shouted upward. “It’s over.”

“That ain’t good enough,” Granny Smith said. “I need one of you to beat the other to pass this test.”

“Are you deaf?” Rainbow said. “I am not fighting Fluttershy. So either pony up or think of something else. I already told you I’m not playing your game.”

“You ought to learn some manners,” Granny Smith said. “At least Fluttershy and the princess know to respect their elders. But alright. I think I can whip up something.”

A magenta light shone at the foot of the stairs where the throne once stood. Before the light subsided, Celestia stepped forward from it.

“Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy said. “What is she doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Fluttershy?” Celestia said. “I’m here to end you.” She raised her horn, and a sigil appeared above the ground next to her. Then she lowered her horn and fired three bolts of magic at Fluttershy. Fluttershy jumped out on the way, and then looked on at the Goddess of Light.

“No…” Fluttershy murmured. “Not again.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Rainbow said. “You made a copy of Celestia?”

“Were you expecting something else?” Granny Smith said. “I needed something good to test the two of you. Besides, are you sure that Celestia’s just a copy? When’s the last time either of you heard from her?”

“Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy said.

Celestia’s horn glowed, and she fired three more bolts of magic at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The sigil next to her fired a shot as well. The two pegasi dodged, but Fluttershy stood still afterward. She then shook her head.

“No, I can’t do this,” Fluttershy said. “I can’t fight her again.”

“Alright, then I will,” Rainbow said. She ran over and picked up her Silver Bow from the floor.

“Rainbow, no!” Fluttershy said. “What if it’s really her?”

“I’m cool either way,” Rainbow said. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.”

Two fireballs issued from Celestia’s horn, one aimed at each pegasus. Fluttershy sidestepped hers, while Rainbow broke into a gallop, running around hers and charging at Celestia. Celestia summoned another three bolts of magic and fired them at Rainbow in quick succession, while the sigil next to her fired a fourth. Rainbow leapt, twirling the Silver Bow in her hoof and deflecting all four projectiles with its limbs, then fired an arrow at the sigil. The sigil broke, and Rainbow went back into her gallop when she hit the ground.

Rainbow swung her Silver Bow at Celestia when she got close. Celestia blocked the strike with one of her golden shoes. Rainbow swung again, but Celestia blocked again with the same shoe. Rainbow separated her bow, catching the second limb in her other hoof. With the first bow limb still clashing against Celestia's shoe, she spun around and sliced at Celestia’s foreleg. Recombining her bow, she slashed at Celestia’s side up to her shoulder and fired an arrow at the side of Celestia’s head.

Celestia snarled. The glow around her horn flared, and the air around her burst into a column of fire and alicorn magic, throwing Rainbow back. Rainbow landed on three hooves, sliding back a few feet. Ignoring the fresh singe marks and probable burns, she glared back at the fiery column. When it subsided, the golden shoe on one of Celestia’s hooves had turned orange and grew almost enough to cover the cut Rainbow had made. An orange peytral adorned with Celestia's cutie mark also covered Celestia’s chest, and the tiara that once sat on her head was replaced with an orange helmet with a ruby just beneath the horn. The sclera of Celestia’s eyes had turned black, and her irises had turned a bright, fiery yellow.

“What the?!” Rainbow shouted. “Hey, Fluttershy! Still think that’s the Goddess of Light? She’s got kind of a Nightmare Moon thing going on!”

“You’ll pay for that!” the alicorn said. She launched three fireballs from her horn one after the other. Rainbow jumped back to dodge the first, then ran around the alicorn to evade the other two.

“Hope you like the surprise,” Granny Smith said. “Rainbow’s been mouthing off about the gods so much, I thought I’d give her a little taste of what the princess would be like if she was everything you hated about them. Haven’t settled on a name just yet, but I was thinking ‘Daybreaker.’”

Rainbow leapt and rolled in midair, dodging a blast from Daybreaker’s horn, and fired another arrow back. Daybreaker dissipated the arrow with a flick of her horn.

“Die already!” Daybreaker said. Two sigils appeared in front of her, one on either side, and she fired a flurry of magical bolts at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow jumped back and spun her Silver Bow in front of her like a pair of propeller blades. Most of the bolts hit her bow and deflected off in various directions, but a few slipped by, pelting her across her body. She landed on her hooves, but bristled at the fresh burns on her chest and legs 

“Alright, fine,” Rainbow grunted. “You want to play rough? Let’s play rough. Libra Sponge!”

A red glow began to flicker around Rainbow Dash and her weapon. A white aura radiated off of her as well, trailing from her body movements almost like an afterimage, and she charged at Daybreaker. The two sigils each fired a blast at her. Rainbow leapt, deflected the first blast with her bow, and fired an arrow back at the sigil, but was struck by the second blast. Seemingly unfazed, she hit the ground and kept running, but the white aura that trailed off of her seemed to magnify slightly.

Across the throne room, Fluttershy tiptoed toward the wall. Looking on at the fight between Rainbow and Daybreaker, she aimed her Rose Staff. “Energy Charge,” she said. Her weapon flashed white for a second, and a faint light began to gather around it.

Rainbow swung her weapon at Daybreaker, but the alicorn blocked with her transformed hoof guard. She swung again, this time at the other leg, and put a dent in the golden shoe. Daybreaker’s hoof recoiled, but she rose to her hind legs and attempted to stomp Rainbow. Rainbow rolled around her to dodge. She moved to slash at Daybreaker’s side, but was hit by a shot from the remaining sigil and stumbled. She recovered just as Daybreaker was turning to face her, jumped back, and fired an arrow into Daybreaker’s wing. Daybreaker winced, but fired back with three bolts of magic, each one throwing Rainbow back.

Rainbow hit the ground sliding on her stomach and grimaced. Rising to her hooves again, she noticed that both of Daybreaker’s front hooves now had orange hoof guards on them, and orange armor plates were forming over the wing she had shot with her bow. Gritting her teeth, she broke into another gallop.

The aura around Rainbow and the movements she made swelled with each hit she took, making her and her Silver Bow more fierce. Another sigil had appeared next to Daybreaker, but Rainbow ran around their two shots and kept going. She swung her weapon at Daybreaker, putting a gouge in one of the hoof guards. She swung again, damaging the other hoof guard, then aimed her bow and fired point blank at Daybreaker’s chest. Her shot threw Daybreaker back and left a dent in her peytral.

Enraged, Daybreaker fired a beam of magic at Rainbow. Rainbow rolled to the side and then charged again. She ran to Daybreaker’s other side, skidded on three hooves, and spun her Silver Bow over her head. Her bow’s limbs sliced into Daybreaker’s side and unarmored wing.

Rainbow then separated her weapon into its bladed limbs, but as she moved to plunge them into Daybreaker’s side, an explosion of fire and magic surrounded the alicorn’s body, catapulting Rainbow back. Daybreaker turned her head and fired a beam of magic at Rainbow. The beam struck Rainbow, slamming her into the ground and sending her tumbling as it followed her.

When the beam finally dissipated, Rainbow Dash collapsed in a heap on the floor. The bladed limbs of her weapon had scattered away from her, and the Libra Sponge’s white aura vanished from her body.

Daybreaker turned her attention away from the defeated Rainbow Dash. Armor plating formed over her second wing. Orange hoof guards now covered both of her hind legs, and her mane and tail, previously flowing in Celestia’s pastel colors, now roared in bright flames. She started to turn toward the one other pony in the room when she felt something punch through her body and out the other side. She looked down at her chest, where a hole had been torn into her peytral and the flesh underneath.

Fluttershy stared back at Daybreaker without saying a word. Her Rose Staff was still trained on Daybreaker from across the throne room, a soft glow emanating from the weapon for a moment before finally ceasing.

Daybreaker didn’t move or say another word before a white glow began to spread across her form and through the interior of the throne room. A shaft of magenta light shone on Rainbow Dash, along with two smaller ones on the limbs of her weapon, and all three vanished before the white glow could reach them. Fluttershy lowered her own weapon and watched as the glow spread across the room around her.


	* * * * * * * * * *


A dark blue void surrounded Fluttershy as the white glow receded from around her. A square platform made of cold blue marble stretched out before her. She took a wary step forward and looked around, but nothing else stood on the platform or floated beyond it.

“Not bad,” Granny Smith said. “But you’ve still got one trial left.”

“Wait, but that was two, wasn’t it?” Fluttershy asked. “Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and then Daybreaker?”

“Not how it works, dearie,” Granny Smith said. “And even if it did, how’s it fair if Rainbow Dash put in all the hard work and you take all the credit?”

“Um…”

“But sure,” Granny Smith said. “Since you’ve come this far, why don’t I show you what I’ve whipped up?”

The hum of an engine sounded from Fluttershy’s left, and she turned to watch a huge machine covered in gleaming white armor flying above the edge of the island. A pair of what looked like giant, flared shoulderpads jutted out from either side of the machine, with a long, heavy rifle connected to its right arm and a pair of heavy cannons attached to its left. Its lower body and two legs, while still large in their own right, seemed stubby by comparison, or at least folded in. A large golden emblem hovered behind the machine, consisting of an ornate circle with eight star points. Six hollow gaps were spread out across the emblem, with five of them at the star points and one in the center.

“Here it is,” Granny Smith said. “The Great Sacred Treasure.”

“But you said I had one trial left,” Fluttershy said. “Why are you showing this to me… oh no.”

The Great Sacred Treasure turned in Fluttershy’s direction, and the hum of its engine turned into a loud roar. Fluttershy jumped out of the way as the giant mech rocketed across the platform, barely missing her. Fluttershy turned around to see the mech already facing her again. Fluttershy fired at it with her Rose Staff, but the Great Sacred Treasure rolled out of the way of her shot. It then fired a volley of shots from the center of its chest, but Fluttershy rolled to dodge them.

A familiar voice groaned inside Fluttershy’s ear, and Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Princess Celestia?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “But I’m not sure what happened. I must have been put into some kind of sleep.”

Fluttershy maneuvered around one of four twisters that the Great Sacred Treasure launched from its main body. She fired a charge shot back, putting a small crack in the giant mech’s armor. “Could Granny Smith have done that?” she asked.

“I’m all but certain it was,” Celestia said.

“Sorry about that, princess,” Granny Smith said. “I needed her and Rainbow Dash to fight a version of you for the second test, and I couldn’t have you whispering to her for that.”

“I see,” Celestia said.

“Rainbow got hurt during that last trial,” Fluttershy said. “Is she okay? Is she there with you?” 

A pair of green shots fired from the dual cannons on the Great Sacred Treasure’s left arm. The shots hit the ground and traced their own paths toward Fluttershy. She leapt over them and fired another large chunk of bramble at the mech from her staff.

“Nothing a Drink of the Gods won’t heal,” Celestia said. “And yes, she’s back in Skyworld.”

“Thank goodness,” Fluttershy said. The Great Sacred Treasure aimed its long rifle at Fluttershy and fired two flaming shots at her. Fluttershy rolled to the side to dodge and fired back with a blast from her staff. “But Granny Smith can make you fall asleep? From all the way over here?”

“Granny Smith has power beyond imagining,” Celestia said. “There are very few gods and goddesses who aren’t indebted to her just for the weapons she has given them. But she is also very reclusive, and she has a reputation for being capricious. That’s why I was reluctant to ask for her help. It’s also why I’m glad she has taken a liking to you. You are the only one I could trust for this mission.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes,” Celestia answered. “Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor are both promising, and quite willing, but untested… or at least they were until Rainbow Dash made short work of them. And speaking of Rainbow Dash, I shudder to think of the impression she would have made if I had sent her instead of you.”

“Oh, I know all about that little troublemaker,” Granny Smith said. “It would’ve been a hoot seeing the look on your face if she won the Great Sacred Treasure. Nevertheless, I do hope you know what you’re doing with that one.”

Fluttershy fired another chunk of bramble at the Great Sacred Treasure, putting a few more cracks in its armor. In the blink of an eye, the Great Sacred Treasure vanished. Fluttershy looked on in confusion, but a light hit the corner of her eye a second later. She turned to see the giant mech again, as well as a harsh glow from the barrel of its body’s main cannon.

“Uh-oh,” Fluttershy said.

“Fluttershy, run!” Celestia called out.

Fluttershy affixed the Rose Staff to her side and bolted for the other end of the platform. Just as she heard the cannon fire, she jumped, hitting the ground as an intense light consumed half of the platform behind her. When the light faded away, she stood back up. Smoke rose from the edge of what was left of her platform. Beyond it, the other half of the platform had been completely annihilated. If she had been standing there when the cannon fired, she would have been too.

“That was close,” Fluttershy said.

“I do hope none of y’all still have doubts about the weapon I promised,” Granny Smith said.

“But Granny Smith,” Celestia said. “Aren’t you worried about what might happen if this fell into the wrong hooves?”

“Why, of course I am!” Granny Smith said. “That’s why I’m testing this filly. I need to make sure she can handle a weapon like that.”

The Great Sacred Treasure fired a laser from its body’s main cannon. Fluttershy did a side flip to dodge and shot a chunk of bramble back at it. The giant mech rolled out of the way and aimed its long rifle at her. The rifle charged and shot a large fireball back at her. Fluttershy rolled out of the way, but was caught by the explosion on impact and thrown along the ground.

Fluttershy managed to rise back to her knees, but the giant mech’s dual cannons fired another pair of shots along the ground. She rolled out of the way, rose back on her hooves, and fired back with a charge shot. The shot hit the mech’s body, but its main cannon fired back with a flurry of energy projectiles. Fluttershy did another side hop, dodging in between the barrage of shots, and fired back with another chunk of bramble.

The Great Sacred Treasure’s dual cannons charged, and a black orb launched toward the platform. An energy field expanded from the orb when it hit the ground. Dust and smoke from the destruction of the other half of the platform began to swirl toward the field, and Fluttershy’s hooves slid across the platform as she too was being pulled toward the gravity well. Gritting her teeth, she kept three of her hooves planted, aimed her weapon hoof at the Great Sacred Treasure, and fired.

At once, the gravity well vanished. The Great Sacred Treasure seemed to lurch back from the last piece of bramble fired from Fluttershy’s weapon. The cracks in its armor had spread to one another, and fragments of it looked like they would fall off.

“Alright, alright,” Granny Smith said. “I reckon that’s enough. Congratulations, Fluttershy. You passed.”

Fluttershy lowered her weapon hoof. “Wait, that’s it?” she said. “The Great Sacred Treasure’s ours now?” She then noticed the damage to the mech’s body. “But wait, I don’t think I can use it like that.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that one,” Granny Smith said. In an instant, the Great Sacred Treasure vanished. “I can throw together a new one in a jiffy. Even give it some better armor. That staff of yours is a mite stronger than what I expected you to bring, but that first one’s armor was never going to hold up against Discord.”

Fluttershy’s body lifted off of the platform. She reached and pawed at the ground for a moment, trying to get back down, but stopped as she floated up higher. In a flash of light, Fluttershy found herself seated and surrounded by metal and machinery. She leaned over her seat and saw the gleaming white metal of the Great Sacred Treasure below her, its armor without a single dent, crack, or blemish. To her right, the mech’s long rifle lay idle and pointed at the ground, and on its left arm, the dual cannons sat at the ready. She was in the pilot seat of the Great Sacred Treasure.

Fluttershy sat back in the Great Sacred Treasure’s seat and looked over at the myriad controls surrounding her. “Um…” she said. “How do I drive a stick shift again?”

The Great Sacred Treasure zoomed across the platform and into the surrounding void, leaving behind only a trail of light. It returned a moment later, for only a split second, leaving another trail of light going in the opposite direction. A third light trail shot over the platform before doing a ninety degree turn straight up, followed by yet another trail aimed at the ground before pulling up at the last second.

“Granny Smith?” Celestia said.

“Yes, princess?” Granny Smith replied.

“That was quite a bit for just “three” trials, wouldn’t you say?” Celestia asked.

“I suppose it was,” Granny Smith said. “But you know what she’s up against. I needed to make sure I had the right pony with the right mind for the job. And I think I did just that. She’s even having a little joyride with the Great Sacred Treasure.”

“She’s doesn’t normally enjoy…” Celestia started. The Great Sacred Treasure appeared once again, crashing head on into the center of the platform before Celestia could finish.

“Oh dear,” both Celestia and Granny Smith said at once.

A ray of yellow light shone down on the Great Sacred Treasure. “I should probably take that,” Celestia said. “Thank you for your aid, Granny Smith.” The Great Sacred Treasure vanished, along with Fluttershy inside, leaving nothing behind but a crater in the platform.