Fluttershy yawned and smiled happily as she woke up. Stretching, she nudged Devil Bastard off the bed to almost land on Angel Bunny. Were she more awake, she would have been more concerned that her pet didn't complain about nearly being crushed by a giant stuffed effigy of himself. In her barely wakeful state, however, she was happy he stayed quiet and ducked under her bed while she reached for her minigun, Angel. Taking her time, she cleaned the gun and oiled its gears before climbing out of bed. "Thanks for being so cooperative this morning, Angel," she whispered to the minigun. "Oh, and you too Angel Bunny," she added to the shivering ball of fluff under her bed. "I'll just go down and make breakfast for everyone, alright?"
Smiling, she opened her door to pandemonium. All of her animal friends who normally slept outside were crowded into every available inch of space in her small cottage. The only exception was Chompy, who was bigger than the cottage and sleeping easily outside the window as though nothing were wrong. Then again, there was very little in Equestria that was of concern to a Chain Chomp large enough to eat an elephant whole.
"Oh, what's gotten into you all?" Fluttershy scolded gently. "This is Ponyville! What could possibly have you all this scared?" Shaking her head, she sighed as she walked calmly to the front door. "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll be able to take care of it easily. Just let me take a look, alright?" Smiling, still completely calm, she opened the front door of the cottage.
Outside, she saw black, thorn covered vines swarming out of the Everfree Forest and erupting from the ground, spreading all over Ponyville. She also noticed that half the sky was day time and the other half was night time, but the vines caught most of her attention.
She slowly, calmly closed the door. "Alright," she said sweetly. "I can understand why this would have you all quite concerned." Carefully, she strapped on her flamethrower and grabbed her machete. "But I want you all to trust me when I say everything is going to be perfectly fine. I'm just going to go into town, gather my friends and family, and we'll all fix this, alright?" As the animals nodded, she pushed the door open and stepped outside. "Just stay here in the meantime," she instructed, keeping her back to the wall. "Chompy will keep you all safe." Given that the chain chomp in question was currently snacking on any vines that got near enough to wrap his disturbing tongue around - which ranged anywhere from between his present location, the border of Everfree, and the Ponyville main road - this was quite believable.
Fluttershy closed the door calmly. As soon as it was shut, she screamed bloody murder as she fled to Ponyville, sweeping her flamethrower and machete around blindly as she went.
In Ponyville near the library, Rainbow Dash was doing her best to fight off the vines as Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie approached. The members of Team RED MOON had already mobilized from their still under-construction fortress, acting to secure the safety of civilians and cut down the attacking vines. Heavy was focusing on evacuating civilians to the safety zone Engineer had set up in Town Hall, surrounding it with acid spitting turrets that were programmed to target plant matter that exceeded a certain amount of movement. Demoman was blowing up vines that went after Heavy and the others as they worked. Soldier directed efforts from a nearby rooftop. Scout raced back and forth, tracking down any ponies still in need of rescue. Sniper stayed at his post at the top of the town water tower, calling out to everyone any new concentrations of vines. Pyro stayed near the water tower, as his new magic fire in small amounts scorched individual vines to the roots, making him an ideal defender for the lookout post. Spy stayed inside Town Hall alongside Medic, who treated any injuries sustained during evacuation.
Just as the last corner of Ponyville was proclaimed clear, Fluttershy came flying up, screaming as she swept the air around her with her flamethrower.
"Whoa, Shy!" Applejack called out. "What's eating you?"
"Yeah," Rainbow complained. "With all we've seen of your training with these guys-" she gestured to Heavy and Scout who were nearby "-I'd think this sort of thing would be right up your new alley."
"That's exactly where I don't want it to be!" Fluttershy wailed, ducking behind Rainbow.
"What ever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked in confusion.
"Vines ripping out of the ground grabbing ponies up!" Fluttershy replied. "And I'm the shy, quiet mare who lives alone, and is a former fashion model?" She took in a deep breath before shouting her next line as loud as she ever got. "I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going!"
By this time, the entire RED MOON team had gathered. "Who let Fluttershy watch Hentai?" Heavy demanded in an angry voice.
Sheepishly, Scout raised his hand.
"You are grounded, Scout," Spy scolded.
"For the last time, Frenchie, you ain't my old man!" Scout complained.
"You're still confined to base until further notice!" Soldier bellowed. "Get moving maggot!"
Grumbling, Scout stormed off to the incomplete fortress.
At that moment, Twilight returned from Canterlot. "Girls! Thank goodness you're all here-"
"I mean, it wouldn't be so bad without the thorns," Fluttershy continued to say, "but those things are as big as my-" She paused as she saw Twilight staring at her. "Oh, hi Twilight. Back from Canterlot already?"
Twilight stared with a rather stupefied look on her face. "Do I want to know what she was talking about?"
"Definitely not," Sniper asserted.
"So what's the word, Princess?" Soldier asked. "Luna got any orders for us?"
Twilight glanced around as Spike got off her back, seeing that only her friends and the mercenaries were present. "Well, the thing is...Princess Celestia and Princess Luna...they're, well..." She looked like she would continue to hew and haw for a while.
"They're missing!" Spike shouted out.
As Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity gasped in shock, Soldier reached into a pocket and pulled out a sheet of orders, scanning it. "Right!" he proclaimed. "I have orders from Princess Luna regarding what to do in the case she went missing."
"You do?" Twilight gasped in relief, rushing over to read the order sheet.
In the event of my mysterious disappearance, these are your orders, Team RED MOON...
1. Keep Ponyville safe.
2. Do what you do best.Your boss,
Princess Luna Harmonia
Twilight's ears went back. "That's...very helpful," she said blandly.
"Fluttershy, Sniper, Demoman, Spy, you four stay here with Scout!" Soldier barked. "Keep the town safe, and keep an eye on Twilight. If Luna's gone for a long time, we'll need someone to give us orders!" Those he named immediately saluted. "The rest of you maggots are with me! We're going to find the source of these vines if we have to burn the entire Everfree Forest to cinders!"
"Oh please don't," Fluttershy whimpered. "Those poor homeless animals, not to mention Zecora..."
Soldier frowned. "Note, burning the forest to the ground is an option of last resort only!" He glowered firmly at Pyro, who held up one hand in an OK sign. "Let's go maggots!"
Twilight relaxed, relieved that someone seemed to know what to do in this situation. "So where's everyone else?"
"They're in the Town Hall," Fluttershy explained. "Poof Daddy, can you bring Scout there? It will make a much better base of operations."
"Of course," Spy replied, turning to stride towards the fortress as Soldier, Heavy, Medic, Pyro, and Engineer strode into the Forest.
"How come he's taking orders from you?" Twilight asked.
Smiling, Fluttershy accepted her uniform from Sniper, pulling it on and gesturing to the rank insignia at the lapel. "Princess Luna's orders. I'm second in command under General Daddy Sir of Team RED MOON."
Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Way to go, Shy!" she said happily, giving Fluttershy a hoof bump.