• Published 11th Sep 2012
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Filly Fluttershy: Uprising - Phazon



Fluttershy, at the behest of Princess Celestia, is tasked with defeating Nightmare Moon, only to get caught in a chaotic, deadly war between several belligerent gods.

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Luna, Goddess of Nature

Chapter 11: Luna, Goddess of Nature

Fluttershy leapt out of the portal to her next mission without saying a word. Gray, cloudy skies hung above her as the power of flight took hold of her wings, and she felt the cold air rushing against her face and seeping through her tunic. Several days had passed since her and Celestia’s failed mission in the volcano, the Phoenix’s demise and the setting of Discord’s plan into motion.

“The earth ponies have fallen for Discord’s hoax,” Celestia said mournfully. “They’re killing themselves over that fantasy.

Fluttershy flew over and gazed down at the earth. Far below her, the terrain was mountainous, with several ridges and mountains surrounding a large, flat depression in the ground. A walled city stood at one end of the depression. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of earth ponies charged at each other outside those walls. Weapons and fortifications were built around the soldiers, some of which hurled large, fiery stones at the opposing side. “It looks like entire nations are fighting each other,” she said.

“The Underworld Army is here to gather souls,” Celestia said, pointing out a few hundred monsters floating above the battlefield. “Clearly they expect many casualties. We can’t stop a war this big right now. Focus on the Underworld Army.”

“I’m on it.” Equipped to Fluttershy’s foreleg was a cannon barrel made of rushing water. Gold trim lined the length of the barrel, as well as the cannon’s muzzle. Fluttershy aimed her weapon, the Poseidon Cannon, at five Monoeyes and fired a charge shot. The charge shot, consisting of water kept under extremely high pressure, exploded on contact with one of the Monoeyes, killing all five of them. She turned to another five Monoeyes and fired jets of water at them. A group of Syrens and two Miks flew down toward the warring ponies, and Fluttershy shot them down as well. “So everything’s going exactly as Discord planned.”

“He spread the rumor about the Wish Seed, and the earth ponies were gullible enough to believe it,” Celestia said. She noticed a few enemies descending toward the earth ponies and guided Fluttershy down toward them. “I asked a few gods and goddesses to urge the ponies not to chase after it, perhaps even threaten to rescind their divine protection if necessary. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough.”

“If only we’d had a chance to tell them that the Wish Seed was a fake,” Fluttershy said. She took out four Monoeyes as she descended and flew over the ensuing battle. Ponies clashed with each other as she flew over. Several fiery rocks hit the ground around her, exploding near the earth ponies as Fluttershy flew by. She flew under a hail of arrows launched above her toward the other army before ascending again. “Now look at them. It’s like they’ve lost all compassion and sanity, and all that’s left is brutality.”

Fluttershy reached the walls of the city and soared back up into the air, firing at two Miks along the way. Behind the city walls, plumes of smoke rose up from a number of houses and buildings. Whether the damage to the city was due to the attack of the opposing army or violence amongst its citizens was unclear. Four Syrens noticed Fluttershy and tried to attack her. Fluttershy struck one of them with the cannon and fired a charge shot to kill the other three.

Suddenly, a bright light shone through the cloud cover, just above Fluttershy. Celestia gasped upon seeing the object above the clouds, and started to pull Fluttershy away from the battlefield.

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy said.

“I have to pull you back, now!” Celestia said. Channeling her magic through the power of flight, she turned Fluttershy away from the battle and led her away as quickly as she could. Where the light had illuminated the dark, gray sky, a burning object pierced through the cloud cover and hurtled toward the ground. The meteoric object struck the earth, just outside the city and at the very center of the battle. A blinding white flash illuminated the entire landscape, and when it faded, a tremendous explosion emanated from the impact site, spreading across the land. Fluttershy flapped her wings, trying as hard as possible to escape the blast as it consumed the battlefield and everypony on it, as well as the city behind it, and even a second walled city that she flew over.

Fluttershy stopped and turned around when the explosion finally subsided. The clouds above had been pushed away and formed rings over the impact site, either due to the meteor as it penetrated the clouds or by the explosion it made upon impact. Where there should have been an enormous crater from the meteorite, or at the very least a cloud of dust and debris, there was instead a massive dome. The dome gave off a rose colored glow, which illuminated the clouds, the landscape, and even the sky above.

Wh-What was that?!” Fluttershy stammered.

Before anyone could answer her, laughter echoed throughout the land. Off to the side of the glowing dome, the image of a dark blue alicorn with a starry blue mane appeared. “Excellent shot, if I do say so myself,” she said. “GOOD RIDDANCE, EARTH PONY SCUM! THE WORLD IS BETTER OFF WITHOUT YE!” Her image faded away shortly after.

“That was the goddess of nature, Luna,” Celestia said. “Fluttershy, go investigate.”

“I-I’m on it.” Led by Celestia’s magic, Fluttershy flew toward the impact site and the dome that covered it. Small dots spread out from the site, and when Fluttershy got close enough to see what they were, she saw a group of large, flying chestnuts. The Underworld troops, virtually decimated by the explosion, started to engage the chestnut monsters, known as Nutskis.

“So, thou art the famous Celestia,” Luna said. “Thou hast been busy, or so I’ve heard.”

“And you’re Luna,” Celestia said. “Ruler of the earth and all living things.”

“Hmm, so I have fans,” Luna replied.

“Why have you done this?!” Fluttershy said. She flew past the Monoeyes and Nutskis as they fought each other. Along the way, she noticed a few blue pods floating in the air. The blue coat on one of these Trynamites broke off, revealing a pink core that split into three pieces and hurled itself at three Monoeyes.

“Earth ponies are driven by selfish desires,” Luna said. “They think not of anything but themselves. What was it that they were killing each other for?! A wish?! A FAKE WISH?! THEY’VE STRAYED TOO FAR FROM THEIR INTENDED PATH! THAT’S WHERE OUR RESET BOMBS COME IN, TO HELP RETURN EARTH TO ITS NATURAL STATE!”

Celestia continued to guide Fluttershy toward the dome created by the Reset Bomb. Another group of flying troops, Bladers, circled around the bomb and fought the remaining Syrens in the area. “But aren’t earth ponies living beings too?” Celestia said. “Yet you think nothing of exterminating them.”

“Ironic, coming from thee,” Luna said. “Thou seem to have no problem slaughtering Underworld forces.”

“Th-That’s not the same thing,” Fluttershy murmured as she flew into the luminescent, rose colored shroud over the Reset Bomb.

“We’re defending the earth and heavens from those who seek their destruction,” Celestia said. She flew Fluttershy inside the shroud and around the remaining shell of the bomb. The surface of the shell appeared to be covered in tangled tree branches and offered little way in, but she eventually found a hole leading inside. “Let’s take a closer look, Fluttershy,” she said as she led her inside the bomb’s shell.

Once inside, Fluttershy began to examine the interior of the Reset Bomb casing. Branches extended throughout the area, forming a network within the casing along with numerous vines. The rose colored glow was more intense on the inside, illuminating the interior of the bomb’s shell. There were no animals or green plants of any kind inside the bomb. Instead there were more monsters, including Dibble Dops, which looked like hovering pitcher plants, and creatures that resembled uprooted tree stumps, known as Pew Pews. Fluttershy tried to sneak by the monsters as she flew by. “This is a pretty twisted version of nature,” Fluttershy said.

“EARTH PONIES DECIMATE THE TREES AND EXPLOIT BOTH THE LAND AND ITS CREATURES!” Luna bellowed. “THEY’RE THE TWISTED ONES! THEY’RE ENEMIES OF LIFE ITSELF!” She then addressed Celestia instead of Fluttershy, adopting a normal tone to speak to her. “Tell me, Celestia. Why do they deserve special treatment?!”

“Because, of all creatures, ponies are closest to the gods,” Celestia said. “And unlike the unicorns and pegasi that serve us, earth ponies are bound to the land by a special connection. Despite their faults, they work to maintain the earth that they live on. Gods cannot intervene in their affairs as you have, Luna. You have no right.”

“No right?!” Luna said. “Earth ponies trample over the rights of every other living thing! Should I do nothing and allow them to continue destroying the earth?! No, I must exterminate them all before it’s too late!”

“There’s just no reasoning with her,” Celestia said quietly.

“I have to admit, she has a valid point,” Fluttershy said. “But wiping out the earth ponies? That can’t be the answer. It’s just not right.”

“I agree completely, which is why I’m authorizing you to engage her troops,” Celestia said. “Luna, you’ve given us no choice but to oppose you.”

“How brave of thee,” Luna said. “But the Forces of Nature… we’re nothing like the Underworld troops thou art used to.”

While flying around the inside of the Reset Bomb casing, Fluttershy was spotted by a group of Nutskis. Fluttershy flinched at them, accidentally firing a charge shot from her cannon. The charge shot missed the Nutskis entirely, but landed amid several Pew Pews on tree branches, killing all of them in the explosion. Fluttershy continued to fire her cannon, sending out rapid-fire jets of water at Luna’s troops. She was too busy wincing at the nearby monsters to actually aim at them, but her misguided fire managed to shoot down three Nutskis, five Bladers, three Dibble Dops, and six Zerts, enemies made of tree bark and thunderclouds. She only stopped firing after being hit by a shot from one of the Nutskis. Other Nutskis pelted her with their attacks as well, hitting her in the chest, sides, barrel, and once grazing her left wing. The barrage finally ended when Fluttershy managed to evade one of their attacks and fire a charge shot at them, killing the entire group. She moved to dodge a beam shot at her by a Blader and shot it down, as well as several enemies with bladed arms that parachuted down using large leaves, known as Parashooters. After a while, the nearby enemy forces started to thin out, and Fluttershy started to fly up toward the ceiling of the bomb casing.

“WE’RE AMAZED THAT THOU HAST LASTED THIS LONG, FLUTTERSHY!” Luna bellowed. “PERHAPS THOU SHOULD MEET THE WARRIOR WE HOOFPICKED TO SEND WITH OUR RESET BOMB. COME FORTH, BIG MACINTOSH!”

The ceiling of the Reset Bomb casing had another hole in it, looking up into the sky above. Through that hole and beyond the rose colored shroud, a glowing yellow object became visible as it shot down from the sky. Before Fluttershy or Celestia could react, the object rushed right by Fluttershy on its way to the ground, sending her spinning out of control and falling toward the ground.

“Fluttershy!” Celestia called out, but she couldn’t regain control of the power of flight. Fluttershy could only scream as she hurtled down into the depths of the Reset Bomb’s interior.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fluttershy slammed into a tree branch as she plummeted to the ground. Her body hit several more branches one by one on the way down. The branches partially, though painfully broke her fall, each one adding a new bruise to her body until she finally hit the hard ground inside the Reset Bomb shell. She lay on the ground for a while, her wings, body, and legs aching from the crash-landing. Thankfully, nothing was broken, and she groaned as she started to stand back up.

Are you okay, Fluttershy?” Celestia asked.

“FLUTTERSHY, THOU ART THE CAPTAIN OF CELESTIA’S GUARD, CORRECT?” Luna’s voice boomed. “WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HOW THOU FARE AGAINST BIG MACINTOSH.”

“Be careful, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “I need you in good shape. Besides you, all I have are the Centurion guards. Perhaps I should start a more rigorous training regimen for them.”

Fluttershy looked around at her surroundings. Since she was still deep within the Reset Bomb, the sky above her retained a rose colored glow. Branches extended throughout the sky above her, and a number of leafless trees and vines grew on the hard earth around her. She started walking through the area, exploring the impact site of the Reset Bomb. “That’s fine, Princess Celestia, but why does Luna keep talking like that?” she asked.

“Well, that depends on what you’re referring to,” Celestia said. “You see, languages typically evolve throughout the centuries, so what was once conventional speech in the past can sound alien to the present day. Of course, we gods have a very lengthy lifespan, and since Luna doesn’t get out very often, at least compared to other gods, she remains a faithful practitioner of ye olde butchered English.”

“Hey!” Luna said. “What right dost thou have mocking my speech?!”

“Quod erat demonstrandum,” Fluttershy muttered. As she explored the site, she noticed an earth pony’s body trapped against a large rock by some vines. The earth pony wore some light armor, had a light brown coat with a brown mane and an hourglass cutie mark, and was very much alive. “Look, there are survivors!”

“They’re a stubborn bunch, hanging on like that,” Celestia said. “Set as many free as you can find, and I’ll use my magic to send them somewhere safe.”

Fluttershy aimed her cannon at the vines, making sure not to aim too close to the struggling pony, and fired a jet of water to break the vines apart. “Wait… stubborn?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Maybe what thou meant to say was ‘insignificant,’” Luna interjected.

As soon as the earth pony stood back up, he looked at Fluttershy and reached into a pouch underneath his armor. Before Celestia could extract him, he took out a chocolate bar and left it for Fluttershy. “Call them whatever you want, but at least they’re grateful,” Fluttershy said. She finished the chocolate bar in a few bites and moved on.

“Anyway,” Celestia said, “Luna’s other speech mannerisms are generally archaic as well, such as her use of the majestic plural.”

“And the shouting?”

“Many gods did that in the distant past, either to talk down to mortals or, in Luna’s case, because of some trouble mastering telepathic speech.”

“What did I say to thee about mocking me?” Luna seethed.

“I’ll consider it if you can speak normally to Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “She is the captain of my troops, so you should try to speak to her as if you were speaking to me.”

Fluttershy reached a large stone wall with a passage through its base. Tree branches tore through the wall on either side of the passage. Another earth pony was trapped against the wall by vines. Fluttershy freed the pony, whose cutie mark depicted three horseshoes, and dropped into the passage and continued exploring. “I can still make out buildings in this forest,” she said.

“This must have been one of the cities caught within the blast,” Celestia said.

“Reset Bombs won’t harm wildlife or natural habitats,” Luna said. “Their only purpose is the obliteration of earth ponies.”

“I suppose that accounts for all the life in here,” Celestia said.

“In a few years, this land will be completely covered in green,” Luna said. “Flowers will bloom, trees will grow, and the natural food chain will take over. It will be the earth ponies’ winter and the beginning of my spring!”

“So your goal in all of this is conquest, Luna?” Celestia asked. “Detonating a terraforming device with the force of a nuclear weapon, just to remake the earth in your own image? Yet you call the earth ponies selfish!”

“I’m the selfish one?!” Luna said. “Thou seem to be forgetting thy plea to the gods. Five of them threatened to rescind their protection and gifts to the earth ponies at thine request. It seems that the earth ponies prefer their wish over their gods.”

Fluttershy moved past the walls and started walking around the inside of a massive, hollow tree. The Poseidon Cannon around her foreleg slowed her down as she walked, and she periodically held it up to aim at any enemies that she might find. “Princess Celestia?” she asked. “Where did you find this cannon?”

“It was a gift from Poseidon,” Celestia said. “Partly to thank us for eliminating the Underworld presence in his sea, and partly to wish us luck. What do you think of it?”

“I’m not really sure,” Fluttershy said. “It’s a nice weapon, but cannons are always so slow and unwieldy.”

“You know, it won’t be long before earth ponies devise this sort of weaponry,” Celestia said.

“They can’t be trusted with this technology!” Luna said. “They would shoot at and destroy everything in sight!”

“Does anypony else see the irony in that?” Celestia said. Though Fluttershy replied with a muted yes, she was drowned out by a simultaneous no from Luna.

Fluttershy found a series of jump pads inside the hollow tree. Stepping on the first one, she was led to the rest of the jump pads, the last one sending her through exit from the tree. Once outside, she saw two Nutskis and a Blader flying around, as well as a large flower monster with an eye in its stamen standing with them. The flower monster, a Lethinium, spotted her and started firing a laser at her. Fluttershy took cover behind a wall while the other three enemies started to approach. From behind the wall, she fired a charge shot at the ground. The shot rebounded off of a nearby wall and bounced toward the Lethinium, exploding on contact. Fluttershy then fired jets of water at the remaining monsters and continued on after eliminating them. She freed a third earth pony, a gray mare with a treble clef cutie mark, and went on to shoot down a Dibble Dop and a Zert.

“Thou enjoy eating, right, Fluttershy?” Luna asked, sounding somewhat irked.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and frowned at Luna’s question. “What are you implying?” she asked.

“Well, everything you eat comes from nature,” Luna replied. “So if nature nourishes thine body, WHY ART THOU USING IT TO FIGHT OUR FORCES?!”

“Eep! L-Look, it’s not like I’m eating your army or anything,” Fluttershy stammered.

“Actually, I’ve heard that the Forces of Nature are quite tasty,” Celestia said.

“WHAT?!” both Luna and Fluttershy shouted.

“Apparently, they’re especially delicious when paired with a hard cheese,” Celestia added.

“That is entirely untrue!” Luna said. “Don’t believe her lies!”

Large, leafless trees grew in the area Fluttershy had reached. Aside from several raised ledges overlooking the terrain, she had reached a dead end. She approached one of the ledges and, with a running start, jumped toward it with forelegs outstretched. She caught onto the ledge and lifted herself up with her legs. After climbing up, she started walking again, only to stop when a Trynamite floated in front of her. She started backing away from the enemy, but soon its shell cracked, allowing its core to split into three pieces. The pieces hurled themselves at Fluttershy, who barely jumped away when they converged on her.

The pieces slammed into the ground, but instead of hearing them shatter, Fluttershy heard a crackling sound behind her. She flipped around and backed away while a Zert generated an electrical field around itself. Aiming her cannon, Fluttershy fired a charge shot at the Zert, killing it and dispersing its attack. At the end of it, Fluttershy was taking shallow breaths and could feel her heart beating through her chest. Taking a moment to calm down, she turned around to continue on, only to realize that she was standing at the edge of a cliff. Massive tree trunks rose up from the chasm in front of her, appearing to be thousands of years old despite a notable lack of trees in the area before the Reset Bomb was detonated.

“You can’t go any farther, so I’m setting up a grind rail,” Celestia said. Starting right in front of Fluttershy’s hooves, a rose colored pair of rails extended out toward the tree branches. “It’s tangled in there, so I had to wind it around the trees.”

“Calling thee a snake would be an insult to snakes!” Luna said. “But thou art crafty.”

Fluttershy hopped on and slid along the pair of rails. The rails spun around several branches, tree trunks, and rock formations as they carried Fluttershy across. Several Nutskis noticed the pair of rails and started to surround her. Fluttershy tried backing away, but she was still riding on the grind rails, which kept moving her forward anyway. A number of Pew Pews were also around, apparently using their roots to hold onto and climb the trees. Once Fluttershy saw them, she shut her eyes and held her cannon in front of her. She blindly fired the weapon, apparently managing to shoot down both Nutskis and Pew Pews along the way.

“Fluttershy,” Celestia said while smacking her hoof against her forehead. “I was actually glad when you were no longer frightened by the Underworld forces, and it’s a bit disconcerting to see you startled by Luna’s army.”

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Just press onward for now,” Celestia said. “I simply find it more comforting when you’re not flinching at cannon fodder.”

Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow at the last remark and looked down at her right foreleg. “What are the odds you would actually say that when I’m using a cannon?” she asked.

“The author seems to like terrible puns,” Celestia said. “It was virtually guaranteed.”

“My forces are not cannon fodder, Celestia,” Luna seethed.

“Well of course not,” Celestia said. “They’re food.”

“I will only say this once, goddess of light,” Luna said. “Do not eat my troops!”

The grind rails dropped off Fluttershy on a cobblestone road at the other end of the chasm. The road led Fluttershy to a giant tree branch hollowed out into a half-pipe structure. The half-pipe was more than wide enough for Fluttershy to walk through, and there was also a large gold ring sitting on the cobblestone road right in front of the half-pipe. The golden ring had a gyroscopic control module inserted into the front of it and a gold band attached perpendicularly to it.

“An Aether Ring,” Fluttershy said.

“Go on and jump into it Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “The handling is a little soft, but it can temporarily generate a force field to protect you from enemies.”

Fluttershy walked into the Aether Ring and touched the control module. The Poseidon Cannon was already pulled back on her right foreleg, allowing her to touch the module with both hooves. Her body started floating inside the Aether Ring once it activated, and the ring hovered a few inches above the ground. Fluttershy manipulated the control module, causing the ring to move forward onto the half pipe. “Actually, this drives pretty smooth,” she said.

The half-pipe made several twists and turns, and Fluttershy occasionally found herself driving the ring into the walls of the structure. The Aether Ring rebounded harmlessly off of each wall, even negating any inertial effects that would have caused Fluttershy to lurch forward, and she kept driving. A few Monoeyes followed her, and some Pew Pews were standing inside the half-pipe, all in her way. Manipulating the controls with her hooves, Fluttershy activated the vehicle’s force field. A blue spherical barrier appeared over the ring for two seconds, during with its directional controls were frozen, but the Aether Ring still carried enough speed to ram the Pew Pews in its way. Once the force field shut off, Fluttershy turned the vehicle to face the Nutskis and fire its short-range gun at them.

Fluttershy drove the Aether Ring through the remainder of the half-pipe, which lead out into a flat area with a single tree growing off to the side. A group of Nutskis and Bladers were flying in the area, and Fluttershy started firing at them. “What’s an Aether Ring doing in here anyway?” she asked.

“Ask Luna,” Celestia said.

“WE… I deployed it for my army to use,” Luna said. “But none of them passed driver’s ed.”

“I’m not surprised,” Celestia said.

“You didn’t think of that before?” Fluttershy asked while shooting at a Lethinium.

“THOU WERE ATTACKING! WE WERE BUSY!” Luna shouted. She paused for a moment to try to compose herself. “Leave me be.”

Once Fluttershy had defeated the small number of troops in the area, she jumped out of the Aether Ring. The path forward for her continued over a raised ledge, one that the Aether Ring’s hovering ability could not climb over. She jumped onto the ledge, lifting herself up with her legs, and continued on. Before long, she came across a large pond with steam billowing from it, partially surrounded by a wall.

“Look at the size of this hot spring,” Fluttershy said. She stepped into the hot spring and decided to relax in it. Celestia said nothing, choosing instead to survey the immediate area to pass the time. Luna, however, grew slightly irritated that Fluttershy chose to stop and soak in a hot spring along the way.

“Pray tell, little pony, why dost thou find these hot springs so appealing?” Luna asked.

“You mean you’ve never been in one before?” Fluttershy asked.

“That depends on who you’re asking, Luna,” Celestia said. “If you’re asking Pit, your answer is best found doing some light research on Japanese culture. In Fluttershy’s case, trying visiting a spa.”

A few minutes later, Fluttershy finally stepped out of the hot spring. Her path through the inside of the Reset Bomb’s shell was taking her to the center of the massive crater left behind by the bomb’s impact. Though the bomb had left behind such a crater, some of the original landscape and city structures had apparently remained at their original elevation. During her trek through the impact site, Fluttershy traversed some of this terrain, even as it still hung directly above the crater.

“You’re getting close to Big Macintosh,” Celestia said.

“That’s the hoofpicked soldier Luna sent in, right?” Fluttershy asked. “Do you know anything about him?”

“I don’t know very much about Luna’s army to begin with,” Celestia said. “What I do know is that they are called the Forces of Nature. As you can see, many of her troops are made of natural resources, like wood, dirt, and rocks. As far as I know, Big Macintosh could be a sentient rock, or a tree, or maybe even another pony.”

Directly overlooking the center of the crater, Fluttershy walked through a stone archway and onto a section of cobblestone road. Once part of a city street, it had been pulled out of the ground when a tree sprouted underneath it and now rested on one of its branches. Fluttershy peered over the edge of the platform and down at the crater. It was a very long way down from where she stood, and even if she wasn’t nervous about jumping down from this height, she knew there was no way she could survive such a fall. “I think now would be a good time for another pair of grind rails,” she said.

“Unfortunately, I can’t set any rails in that particular location,” Celestia said. “Do you have any powers equipped that could help you down?”

“You mean the ones I have equipped to my weapon?” Fluttershy examined a particular spot on her cannon. After studying it for a few seconds, she looked back down into the crater. “Jump Glide,” she said quietly, right before hopping off of the edge. Tiny white sparks drifted from her body, especially from her hooves and wings, and floated from her like stardust. She spread her wings out, and instead of plummeting, Fluttershy gently floated down toward the bottom of the crater.

“Every weapon that you go into battle with has a six-by-six puzzle board carved into it,” Celestia said. “Certain powers can be equipped and unequipped to this board to provide additional abilities when you’re battling on land.”

“Yeah, but each of those powers varies in shape and size, so I can’t fit too many powers onto any of my weapons,” Fluttershy said. “Not that it matters, because the author’s just going to make it up as he goes along with each chapter.”

“Of course,” Celestia said.

* * * * * * * * * *

After nearly a minute of gliding down, Fluttershy touched down at the bottom of the crater. The center of the crater was smooth and flattened out, though large pieces of debris, mostly consisting of city street and stone wall encircled it. Fluttershy walked into the circle of debris and approached a single boulder lying in the middle of it. The boulder shook for a moment, and then crumbled into pieces. Standing in the middle of the crumbled boulder was a stallion. Rocks still covered parts of the stallion’s body, though they seemed to act as barding. He was above average size for a stallion, and his red coat and orange mane were still visible, though parts of his coat had a pale, sickly color to them. However, what caught Fluttershy’s attention in particular was his lack of a horn or wings.

“Big Macintosh is an earth pony?!” Fluttershy said.

“He used to be,” Luna said. She started chuckling to herself, but in seconds, her chuckling turned to a disturbing laughter.

With Luna’s laughter ringing in her ears, Fluttershy took a closer look at Big Macintosh. His eyes had an empty, glassy appearance to them, one that matched the cold, expressionless look on his face. The discolored patches of his coat looked decayed, almost moldy, and on closer inspection, Fluttershy realized that his fur had fallen out of those patches. As the realization started to crystallize in her mind, her blood ran cold. She froze in place, barely able to feel anything in her body, and she couldn’t decide whether to feel sick or horrified about she was seeing. What she did know was that she wasn’t staring at an earth pony. She was staring at what was left of one. “Y-You… monster,” she finally forced out.

“We’re dealing with someone who more-or-less ‘nuked’ hundreds of thousands of ponies,” Celestia said bitterly. “I don’t think ‘monster’ is a strong enough word.”

Fluttershy’s legs started shaking underneath her body. Her eyebrows furrowed, she gritted her teeth, and the blood in her veins started to boil. She finally realized what emotion she was feeling, and she opened her mouth again to speak. “You… MONSTER!”

A rock formed in Big Macintosh’s front hoof as he lifted it up, and he tossed it at Fluttershy. Fluttershy rolled to the side to dodge it and fired a charge shot back at him. The charge shot exploded on contact with his chest, but did little to faze him. A group of rocks gathered around Big Macintosh, clustering into an almost spherical boulder. Inside the boulder, he tried roll into Fluttershy, but she avoided it by running to the side. The rocks around him crumbled away, and he turned to face Fluttershy again, but was struck with another charge shot in the shoulder of his left foreleg. Unfazed, he stomped his hoof on the ground, generating three shockwaves. Fluttershy sidestepped the shockwaves and fired several jets of water at him, all with little effect. Neither one said anything during the course of the battle.

“Big Macintosh doesn’t talk very much, does he?” Celestia said.

“Nnnope,” Luna said. “He’s more the strong, silent type. Much like he was when he was still alive.”

“How can you joke about this, Luna?” Celestia scolded. “What sort of abomination have you created now?”

“Big Macintosh is the prototype for an experimental weapon of mine,” Luna said. “Dost thou see the molds growing over his body? They are of a fungus that I have been devising, one that can infect the remains of earth ponies, especially their muscle and nerve tissues. It then takes control of the earth pony’s remains through its nervous system until the host becomes too badly decomposed. After that, it will release spores into the environment, and the remains of every earth pony within a mile will become a new soldier in my army.”

“Considering the force of the Reset Bomb’s explosion, I don’t think you’ll find any viable remains here,” Celestia said.

“Maybe, but I have not had a chance to assess Big Macintosh’s combat prowess until now,” Luna said. “Thy little pegasus can barely harm him, and I’ve even placed those magically enchanted rocks on him as weapons.”

Throughout the course of the battle, Fluttershy had dodged many of Big Macintosh’s attacks, but her cannon was doing very little damage to him. Rocks clustered together on the front of Big Macintosh’s body. He rose above the ground and launched himself at Fluttershy like a missile. Fluttershy dodged to her left, and Big Macintosh crashed into the ground behind where she had stood before. She turned to aim at him again and saw a hole in the back of his head. The hole was three inches in diameter and deep enough to at least penetrate the skull.

“Fluttershy, the back of his head!” Celestia said. “That should be a weak point!”

“What?! Where?!” Luna said. She looked just in time to see Fluttershy fire a charge shot at the hole. Big Machintosh’s head jerked forward, and he stumbled for a second, but turned around to face Fluttershy before she could fire at him again. “That shouldn’t be there! Ugh, dost thou realize how difficult it is to engineer a saprophytic fungus that can reanimate the dead?!”

“Do you realize how absurd that sounds when there’s more than enough magic in this world to rationalize necromancy?” Celestia shot back.

“I am the goddess of nature and ruler of all life!” Luna said. “I would never taint my hooves in something as vile as necromancy.”

“Yet you have no problem tainting your hooves with a thinly veiled stand-in for a nuclear device,” Celestia said.

“Say what thou want,” Luna said. “But at least this is not as ridiculous as triggering a mutant zombie apocalypse with a lysogenic viral outbreak.”

During the bitter exchange between Luna and Celestia, Fluttershy landed a few more attacks on Big Macintosh, including two in the hole on the back of his head. Large rocks appeared in a circle around Big Macintosh. The circle of rocks exploded outward, but Fluttershy ducked underneath the two that were launched in her direction. Big Macintosh’s body lifted off of the ground, and he slowly floated toward Fluttershy. He tried to levitate over her and crash down on her with his hooves, but Fluttershy ran from under him before he fell. Turning around, Fluttershy aimed her Poseidon Cannon at the back of his head and fired one more charge shot. The charge shot went into the hole behind Big Macintosh’s head and detonated, causing his entire head to explode. The explosion threw water, bloods, and bits of bone, brain matter, and fungal tissue around his body.

The headless body of Big Macintosh stumbled around for a few seconds. Finally, its legs gave way, and it collapsed on the ground. Fluttershy continued to aim her cannon at the body. She took deep, audible breaths through her still gritted teeth, and her brows were still furrowed in anger. Meanwhile, Luna’s image appeared in the rose colored sky. Despite the failure of her experimental soldier, she only seemed slightly irked by the outcome of the battle.

“Thou put on quite a show,” Luna said. “But thou should know that the next Reset Bomb is very nearly complete. Now where dost thou think I should drop it this time?”

“I can think of a good place,” Fluttershy seethed, pointing her cannon to aim up at Luna’s projection. However, the projection vanished before Fluttershy could do anything. Meanwhile a shaft of yellow light shone down on Fluttershy.

“First Discord, and now Luna?” Celestia said. “We need to figure out a plan.” She quickly extracted Fluttershy from the impact site and brought her back to Skyworld.

A few minutes later, Celestia was still standing quietly inside her temple. Fluttershy, no longer wearing the Poseidon Cannon, galloped into the temple and toward Celestia. “Send me back out,” Fluttershy said.

“No,” Celestia said.

“What?”

“Fluttershy, I understand your anger,” Celestia said. “But I’m afraid that there’s nothing we can do at this time. All we can do is bide our time and wait for Luna to act.”

“So we’re just going to do nothing?!” Fluttershy said. “Didn’t you see what she did?”

“Yes, I did, Fluttershy,” Celestia said sternly.

“Then send me out!”

“It’s not yet safe for you to use the power of flight.”

“Then I’ll use the Three Sacred Treasures.”

“The Three Sacred Treasures could crumble in the middle of any battle in the condition they’re in,” Celestia said. “Discord is the more formidable threat, so we have to save them for him.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?!”

“Fluttershy!” Fluttershy flinched slightly and looked back up at Celestia. “Calm down,” Celestia said. Over the next minute, she waited for Fluttershy to get her temper under control. During that time, Fluttershy’s mouth closed and she stopped gritting her teeth. Her eyebrows became less furrowed, though she still retained a scowl on her face. Nevertheless, she was still breathing heavily when she came in, and despite calming down somewhat, she was still breathing audibly through her nose.

“I saw everything that Luna did in that valley today,” Celestia said. “Her Reset Bomb killed hundreds of thousands of earth ponies. Mares, stallions, foals, entire families wiped out in the name of her genocidal campaign. And I saw what she did to Big Macintosh. I realize that he must have had a life of his own before Luna killed him, friends and family, loved ones who don’t know where he is or what happened to him.”

“Then why aren’t we attacking her right now?” Fluttershy asked bitterly.

“Because a direct attack on the Forces of Nature won’t accomplish anything at a time like this,” Celestia said. “Luna is preparing another attack within the next few days, and we cannot afford to be caught off guard when she drops the next Reset Bomb. Our best option is to wait for her to make her next move. Then we can launch a counterstrike.”

Fluttershy looked down at the ground for a moment. She was still bitter, but she eventually nodded to Celestia and left the temple.