Filly Fluttershy: Uprising

by Phazon

The Ring of Chaos

Chapter 18: The Ring of Chaos

‘Uh… where am I,’ Fluttershy said. ‘Princess Celestia? Can you hear me?’ Total darkness surrounded Fluttershy. She couldn’t feel anything against her body, almost as if she was suspended in an empty, weightless void. She tried to move and look around, only to realize that she couldn’t move, feel, or even see her body either. All she could hear was the sound of her own voice in her mind as she wondered where she was and how she had gotten here. ‘The last thing I remember is defeating the Parasprites. But then… Ugh, my head feels so foggy right now. And why is the name Chaos Kin stuck in my head?’

Suddenly, a giant face appeared directly in front of Fluttershy’s vision. The face startled her, but because she couldn’t move her hooves to step back or her head to flinch, she had little way of reacting to it. The face, yellow in color, belonged to a female earth pony. A big pink bow decorated the earth pony’s red mane, and her orange eyes stared at Fluttershy with curiosity, fascination, and a little bit of joy.

‘Is that a filly?’ Fluttershy said, staring up at the little earth pony’s head. ‘But why is she so… big?’

The filly opened her mouth and moved her head toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy grew anxious again, though she still couldn’t move or flinch. She could only watch as the filly used her teeth to seemingly grasp her, place her on her hoof, and push her up her right foreleg. A moment later, everything in Fluttershy’s vision changed. She was now staring down at a pair of forelegs, the same ones that belonged to the yellow filly. Only now, there was a gold bracelet hanging loosely around the right leg.

‘Does this mean… that I’m the bracelet?’ Fluttershy said.

Fluttershy wanted to see more of the bracelet, to examine it for herself. The filly’s foreleg moved in front of her vision, revealing several crimson symbols that were engraved in the bracelet. The foreleg rotated, showing Fluttershy more of the engraved symbols. As she looked at the strange symbols, she silently noted how convenient it was that the filly was moving to show her the bracelet. Then another thought occurred to her, that the filly was doing exactly what she wanted it to do, and nothing else. The filly’s body abruptly froze. Fluttershy stared at her foreleg, and after a few seconds, she tried to take a step forward. The foreleg moved forward and set itself on the ground, a step ahead of the filly’s left leg.

‘She’s moving… I’m moving her!’ Fluttershy said. ‘So I can control anyone who wears this bracelet?’ Fluttershy took a more few small steps with the little filly’s legs. ‘I hope she doesn’t mind if I borrow her hooves for just a little bit.’ She was standing in the middle of a field of clover. Behind her was a lake, and on the other side of it stood a stretch of forest. The skies above were overcast, with the sun barely peeking out through the clouds, and a mountainous path lay ahead of her. ‘I have to find out what happened.’

Fluttershy took another step, but had to stop when the bracelet began to slide down the filly’s leg. The bracelet, which was a little oversized for the filly, was worn loosely around her leg. Fluttershy pushed it back up and carefully ambled onto the path, making sure that the bracelet didn’t fall too far down with each step she took. She wasn’t used to the filly’s short legs or stature, which made walking that much slower and difficult for her.

Two figures hovered in the sky further along. Squinting at them, Fluttershy recognized that they were both ponies. One was a unicorn and one was a pegasus, but they were each holding a bow, and both were equipped with gold barding. ‘Are those centurions?’ Fluttershy said. She saw the centurions descend into a town underneath them. Smoke rose from several places inside the town and many of its buildings were either charred or damaged. ‘That town looks like it’s in trouble. Princess Celestia must have sent troops in to help. I’d better head there and find out what’s going on.’ Fluttershy took another step forward, but soon noticed the little earth pony’s legs underneath her. ‘I hate to put this little filly in danger, but other ponies in the town might need help, and I still need to know why I’m stuck inside this bracelet.’

Halfway toward the town’s front gate, Fluttershy reached an open area in the path. A damaged stone outpost stood by the side of the path. Nopony was stationed inside it, and there were no other signs of ponies nearby.

‘Hello?’

‘Hm?’ Fluttershy stopped in the center of the open area. For a moment, she could’ve sworn she’d heard someone speak.

‘What do ya want with me?’ the voice spoke again. It was a young voice, one with a southern twang.

‘Are you the filly that this body belongs to?’ Fluttershy asked. She didn’t get a response. ‘What’s your name?’

‘... Apple Bloom.’

‘Okay, Apple Bloom. I’m sorry for taking control of your body, but I’m here to help, and I need your help to go to that town over there.’

‘No, we cain’t go there!’ Apple Bloom said. ‘Celestia’s soldiers are there. It’s not safe!’

‘I know it’s dangerous, but I need you to be brave,’ Fluttershy said. She realized that Apple Bloom was scared. With the town in ruins and the centurions on patrol, she couldn’t blame her. At this point, all she could do was try to gain Apple Bloom’s trust. ‘You told me your name. Mine is Fluttershy. I’m the captain of Celestia’s army, and if I can get to that town, I can—’

‘You’re one of them?!’ Apple Bloom gasped. Her voice filled with a mixture of fear and anger, much to Fluttershy’s confusion. ‘Let go of me! Ah won’t let ya hurt anypony, and Ah won’t ya use me neither!’

Before Fluttershy could try to calm her down, and before she could keep going, two of Apple Bloom’s leg jerked from underneath her. The rest of her body didn’t budge, causing her to stumble forward. Fluttershy hit the ground, falling on the filly’s chest and muzzle. But the last thing Fluttershy felt, after the awkward landing and the ground against her muzzle, was the gold bracelet sliding from Apple Bloom’s leg. ‘No!’ Fluttershy said as the world around her quickly disappeared. Almost instantly, the path, the overcast skies, the town, and the filly’s body all vanished. ‘No, no, no, no!’ Fluttershy could no longer feel, move or see anything, not even the bracelet as it rolled away from Apple Bloom. Once again, she was stuck with nothing but her own thoughts. She hoped that Apple Bloom would pick up the bracelet again, but after a while, she realized that wasn’t going to happen. It disappointed her, but at the same time, it didn’t make any sense. Celestia would have sent her forces to defend the town and its ponies, yet Apple Bloom was horrified when she learned who Fluttershy was.

Suddenly, a set of jaws appeared in Fluttershy’s vision, surrounding her and closing down around her. The next thing she knew, she was standing in the middle of the path again. She tasted something metallic in her mouth, and looking down, realized that she was holding the bracelet between her teeth. But something felt different about her mouth. Her jaws were different, definitely not belonging to a pony, and she could even feel a few canine teeth. Her coat, or rather the coat of the animal she was in now, was brown with a few white patches, and its legs were more wiry.

‘I… guess I’m a dog now,’ Fluttershy said. A few more observations told her that she was in the body of a female dog; a border collie if she knew her breeds right. ‘But where did Apple Bloom go?’ Looking around, she saw that she was the only pony around. The sun, which was still barely visible through the clouds, had moved across the sky a little. To Fluttershy, it felt like Apple Bloom had dropped her only a minute ago, but from the sun’s position, at least half an hour had passed. ‘She must have run off. I’m sure she’s okay somewhere. And I still need to go to the town.’

Getting a feel for the dog’s legs, she started running down the path. The bracelet was still in her mouth, and after what happened before, she decided to be careful not to drop the ring. That meant she couldn’t breathe through her mouth, nor could she try to bark. And she definitely couldn’t eat any delicious garbage off the ground. She wasn’t sure where that last thought came from, but she kept it in mind anyway.

Fluttershy quickly reached the town’s walls. The front gate was up, allowing her to easily enter the town and explore. From up close, the town was just as heavily damaged as it appeared to be from a distance. Several streets were blocked by rubble from the surrounding buildings, many of which had been damaged, leveled, or burned down.

Fluttershy made her way down one of the streets when a pegasus mare flew overhead. The mare’s colors were all gray, but Fluttershy recognized several of her other features. She had a flowing mane that draped down the side of her face, long enough that she could actually hide her face behind it if she wanted to. Not only that, but she also wore a white tunic and a gold laurel crown, the same one’s that Fluttershy wore on at least a dozen missions.

‘Hey, that looks like… like me!’ Fluttershy said.

Despite the gray colors in place of her usual yellow coat and pink mane, the pegasus was nearly identical to Fluttershy. Attached to her hoof was the Darkness Bow, a stringless black bow with two gems embedded in its arms, one glowing pale purple and the other glowing orange. Aiming her bow, she fired several arrows in quick succession along a different street. Fluttershy stared up in horror, but she eventually hid in an alley to her left, hoping that she wouldn’t be found. After a while, her body stopped shooting and flew off.

‘Who was she… who was I attacking?!’ Fluttershy said. ‘And who’s controlling me?!’ It was possible that her body was attacking Underworld troops, but she hadn’t seen any since she’d arrived. ‘I hope I’m not attacking the town or any earth ponies. But if I am… What am I supposed to do? Take myself down?’

Fluttershy continued through the alley, making a right turn and reaching one of the town’s main streets. The street was a few feet wider than most of the others, and a small fountain stood at the center of it. Smoldering debris covered most of the intersecting streets, blocking them off, but three centurions, all unicorn stallions, still patrolled the main road. Two of them eyed Fluttershy as she walked by the fountain. There was something in their stares that made Fluttershy uncomfortable, a cold, merciless look in their eyes, and the way they raised their bows upon seeing her. They turned away disinterestedly and returned to their patrol.

‘Good thing the centurions are on patrol,’ Fluttershy said, mentally breathing a sigh of relief. Smoke rose from the damaged and demolished buildings throughout the town, mixing with the air. The smell of smoke and soot reached the nose of the dog Fluttershy was controlling, as did another unpleasant odor, one that she thought might’ve been the smell of blood.

Another smell reached the dog’s nose as she passed the fountain. It was a bit old, but more pleasant than the others, and something that she could only describe as savory. Fluttershy sniffed at the air a few times, paying little attention as the dog’s legs moved closer to the source of the smell, which emanated from behind a wall.

‘Is that garbage?’ Fluttershy said. ‘Beef garbage?’ Sniffing a few more times, she became more aware of the hunger pangs coming from the dog’s stomach. ‘Whatever it is, it smells really good. And I am really hungry.’ A second later, Fluttershy came to a stop in front of a wall. The wall stood in her way, or rather the dog’s way of getting to the source of the aroma. But more importantly, she began to wonder just what exactly she was doing. ‘Why am I craving beef garbage? I mean, I know why I’m craving beef… but why garbage?’ It was at that moment when Fluttershy noticed moisture oozing around the dog’s jaws and dripping from her muzzle. ‘Oh no, please stop drooling. Please stop drooling! Oh, I hope this doesn’t make the bracelet slip.’

Fluttershy tore herself away from the smell, regaining control of herself and continued down the road as quickly as possible. Because of all the wreckage in her path, the road quickly came to a dead end. Looking around, she found a hole in the base of a wall to her left. The hole was just big enough for her to crawl through, and after making her way inside, she found herself standing inside a building. The building appeared to be a hall, but from the looks of it, it too had seen better days. A few of its pillars had collapsed, as had sections of its roof. Daylight shone down from the holes in the ceiling, revealing how filthy the hall had become. The floor was covered in grime; all but obscuring the checkered tile pattern underneath, as well as a few maroon-black patches of what Fluttershy could only assume was dried blood. A set of stone doors stood at the far end of the room. The doors had been tightly shut, but cracks spread throughout both of them, indicating an attempted forced entry.

‘What happened here?’ Fluttershy said. She walked up a set of stairs to the balcony above. Sections of the balcony had also crumbled, but she navigated across and reached a wall at the end. There was another hole at the base of this wall, the only other way out of the building, and she crawled through. When she saw what was on the other side, she couldn’t believe it.

An earth pony stood in the middle of a town square, surrounded by three centurion unicorns. The earth pony, a mare, had a blonde mane and an orange coat, though most of the latter was covered by a faded black leather outfit. Fluttershy couldn’t see a cutie mark on her, not with the leather obscuring it, but she knew she had seen her before.

‘Applejack?’ Fluttershy said.

Unlike the Applejack that she remembered, the orange earth pony didn’t have a Stetson hat, and she wore her mane and tail loosely instead of tying their ends with hair bands. The leather outfit that covered her body was certainly the most notable difference in her appearance, as Applejack hadn’t worn anything but those few accessories. But from her blonde mane, her orange coat, and the massive greatsword she held in her hoof, Fluttershy still recognized her.

Suddenly, Applejack swung her greatsword into the shoulder of one of the centurions. Fluttershy gasped as she saw the blade slash through the unicorn’s neck, quickly decapitating him. ‘But why is she killing the centurions?’ Fluttershy said. She watched in horror as Applejack turned her greatsword toward the other two centurions, bisecting the second one with a downward swing and slashing through the neck of the third one.

Applejack lifted her weapon onto her shoulder and back, keeping it balanced with her hoof on the grip. The bodies of the three centurions lay around her, blood pooling from them and surrounding her. A few drops of blood had stained her face and neck, though more of it had found its way onto the front of her leather attire, and even more covered the blade of her weapon.

Off to her right, Applejack noticed a dog looking on at her. Her face, which had retained a serious expression both during and after the fight, softened, and she allowed a soft smile to form. The dog wasn’t as happy to see her, and backed away timidly from Applejack.

“Relax, girl,” Applejack said. “Nopony’s gonna hurt ya. Not while Ah’m here.” Slowly, so as not to scare her off, she walked over to the dog and began petting her.

Fluttershy flinched at the contact at first, but stood still and allowed Applejack to touch her. On one hoof, she remembered Applejack from their previous mission. She had been gruff, and focused more on their target than anything else, but she also spoke honestly. She seemed scary at the time, but Fluttershy still felt she could trust her. On the other hoof, Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice the fresh blood both figuratively and literally on Applejack’s hooves.

While stroking Fluttershy, Applejack noticed something in between the dog’s jaws. “What d'ya got there, girl?” she asked. Moving her hooves toward the dog’s muzzle, she gently coaxed her jaws open and removed a gold bracelet from between them. Suddenly, the dog’s demeanor changed, and she cheerfully licked at Applejack’s face. Applejack winced at the abrupt display of affection, and watched as the dog scampered away. “Strange dog,” she said. “Ah hope she doesn’t get hurt out here.” She then turned her attention back to the gold bracelet in her hoof.

Meanwhile, as soon as the bracelet was released from the dog’s jaws, the world around Fluttershy faded away for a second time. The dog’s body vanished, and Fluttershy could neither feel nor move her muscles anymore. The square disappeared as well, and the only thing she could see was Applejack as she scrutinized the bracelet.

‘Wait, Applejack!’ Fluttershy said, suddenly getting an idea. ‘Put the bracelet on! You have to tell me what’s happening.’ She watched Applejack as she scrutinize the bracelet, turning it in her hoof and staring at it. ‘Come on. Please put it on.’

Applejack shrugged. Lifting her hoof, she tossed the bracelet behind her back. Fluttershy could feel herself getting flung over Applejack’s shoulder as she discarded the bracelet, and seconds later, Applejack faded from her vision entirely. She didn’t even feel the bracelet as it landed on the ground, nor would she have seen Applejack begin to walk away.

‘No! Pick it back up!’ Seconds passed, but Applejack did not seem to return, leaving Fluttershy alone. ‘Don’t go. Applejack, don’t go! Put the bracelet on! You could always sell it later. It’s a little slobbery, but I’m sure it’s… worth a lot… Please Applejack, I’m begging you. Take the bracelet.’

Fluttershy couldn’t be sure how much time passed while the bracelet lay on the ground. To her, in the empty black void she seemed to be in, it only felt like a few seconds. In reality, she may have been there for minutes or even an hour. Then again, it may have been only a few seconds before Applejack reappeared in front of her and placed the bracelet around her leg.

A second later, Fluttershy was standing in the middle of the square again. Though she couldn’t feel a pair of wings at her sides, she could feel four equine legs underneath her, and she could even see two of them in front of her, both with orange fur, and one with the gold bracelet around it. ‘Yes!’ Fluttershy said. ‘Thank you!’

‘Did Ah just hear a voice in my head?’ Applejack said, her thoughts echoing in Fluttershy’s mind as well as her own.

‘… Applejack?’

‘Wait,’ Applejack said, raising her voice. ‘Are you that pegasus?!’

‘Yeah! It’s me, Fluttershy! And we can talk to each other too.’

‘Alright, just what’re you doin’ inside my head?,’ Applejack said harshly, her voice still raised. ‘And why can’t Ah move my legs?!’

‘I’m sorry, but I had to take over your body with this bracelet,’ Fluttershy said. She lifted Applejack’s leg to demonstrate. ‘But don’t worry. I’ll be extra careful with your body.’

‘Right, and why exactly are ya in my body instead of your own?’

‘I don’t know,’ Fluttershy said. ‘I just woke up today as this bracelet, and before that, I was getting ready to fight the Underworld. It seems like only yesterday when you and I were fighting together.’

‘Yesterday?’ Applejack snorted. ‘Try three years, partner.’

‘What?! Three years?’ Fluttershy said. ‘That’s impossible! Please, you have to tell me what’s going on!’

‘How’s this fer starters?’ Applejack said, just as harshly as before. ‘You’ve become the enemy of all ponykind!’

‘Wh-What?’ Fluttershy murmured. ‘No… no, that can’t be right.’

‘So this is news to ya?’ Applejack said, her tone softening a bit. ‘Do ya remember the war between the Forces of Nature, Underworld, and Celestia’s army? Just when it seemed like the war was over, everypony in Celestia’s army vanished.’

‘Vanished? Where did we go?’

‘How should Ah know?’ Applejack said. ‘But without you to protect us, the Underworld kept attackin’ us earth ponies. Then y’all reappeared.’ Applejack’s tone shifted again, becoming angrier, more direct. ‘But instead of helpin’ us, y’all started goin’ after us too!’

‘So then…’ Fluttershy said. She craned Applejack’s neck, taking another look at the charred, damaged buildings around. ‘This town? The destruction?’

‘That’s right,’ Applejack snarled. ‘Now we earth ponies have the Underworld and Celestia’s army tryin’ to wipe us out! No one knows what happened. Did your goddess suddenly lose her mind?!’

‘I don’t know,’ Fluttershy said. ‘I can’t even talk to Princess Celestia right now. There must be some way we can reason with her.’

‘Well maybe you can,’ Applejack said. ‘Ah’m not even sure if she’s controlling her own army anymore. And now you’re in two places at once?’

‘You’re talking about that pegasus attacking the town, right?’ Fluttershy said. ‘That’s not me.’

‘So let me get this straight,’ Applejack said. ‘Your mind is here, but your body is over there destroyin’ everythin’? Isn’t that convenient? Tell that to everypony your body just killed.’

‘Killed?’ Fluttershy whimpered. ‘I-I didn’t mean to…’

‘Look, that doesn’t matter right now,’ Applejack said. She was growing impatient, and if she could roll her eyes, or move any part of her body for that matter, she would have. ‘You’ve got my body. So you have to take care of the other Fluttershy. Funny, that’s why Ah was here in the first place.’

‘Wait, you were going to…’ Fluttershy started to say. Her attention turned to the blood-stained blade of Applejack’s greatsword, which had been struck into the ground to hold it in place. She then recalled seeing herself flying over the town, raining arrows down on the buildings. ‘I guess you didn’t really have a choice.’

‘One other thing,’ Applejack said. ‘Be careful with my body. Ah’m gonna need it after you’ve sorted this all out.’

Fluttershy moved toward the greatsword to pull it from the ground. She glanced at the blood-soaked ground at the other side of square and stopped. Her eyes moved up the pool of blood and focused on three motionless figures.

‘If you’re gonna use my body, you’ll have to fight any centurions in our way,’ Applejack said.

‘I’m not sure I’m up to that,’ Fluttershy murmured. ‘I mean, Underworld monsters and the Forces of Nature are one thing, but… other ponies? Centurions?’

‘Fluttershy, there are tons of ‘em,’ Applejack said. ‘Nopony’s gonna notice if a few centurions go missin’. And don’t you forget that it’s my hide on the line here.’

‘I know, but…’ Fluttershy trailed off. ‘Maybe we could just avoid them? Or maybe if we try to reason with them, we might reach—’

‘Fluttershy!’ Applejack snapped. ‘Ya see what they’ve done to this town?! Ya think none of us earth ponies tried reasonin’ with them, or prayin’ to Celestia?! There’s no other choice here, Fluttershy; it’s either them or us!’

Neither one spoke for several moments. Applejack’s body remained still, and in the tense silence that followed, she wondered what Fluttershy could've been thinking. Eventually, Applejack began to hear a few sniffles, along with sharp, shallow gasps for air. She soon realized that the sounds were coming from Fluttershy, and that Fluttershy was crying.

‘I’m sorry,’ Fluttershy sobbed. ‘I just… I can’t do it.’

Applejack let out a deep, heavy sigh as she listened to Fluttershy’s sobs. She knew that Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to do what needed to be done. At best, Applejack could have gone after Fluttershy’s body herself, like she had planned to from the beginning. But to do that, she first needed to remove the bracelet from around her hoof. Applejack considered asking her to take the bracelet off for a second, but then another idea came to her. She turned her attention toward her body and tried to move. Her forelegs felt stiff and rigid, like they were held in place, but despite the resistance, she managed to lift her right hoof off the ground. Her other legs encountered much less resistance as she took a few steps, and before long, she was able to effortlessly move her body.

Applejack smiled. She walked toward her greatsword and, grasping the handle with her mouth, pulled the weapon out of the ground. ‘Ya don’t have to worry ‘bout that. Ah’ll take over everythin’ from here.’ Fluttershy looked back toward Applejack. She sniffled and took a few more sharp breaths, but Applejack’s assurance started to calm her down. ‘Ah’ll even try to get ya back to your body,’ Applejack added. ‘Pinkie Promise.’

‘Th-Thank you,’ Fluttershy sniffled.

‘Sure thing, sugarcube,’ Applejack said. Holding the grip of her weapon with her mouth, she made her way toward an alley at the side of the square. ‘Jus’ try to look the other way or somethin’ while Ah’m fightin’ the centurions. Last thing Ah need is fer ya to move any part of me at the wrong time.’

‘Okay,’ Fluttershy said. She stayed quiet as Applejack walked through the alley, initially resigning herself to letting her do her work. ‘Applejack? What’s a Pinkie Promise?’

‘… Never mind.’

Applejack entered a small, circular courtyard. An arched wooden door stood at the other end of the courtyard, where three centurion unicorns were on patrol. Fluttershy began tuning out the rest of the world, distracting herself while Applejack charged at the soldiers. Applejack reached the three unicorns and spit her weapon out, bringing it to her front hooves. By the time any of them had their bows ready, Applejack swung diagonally, her greatsword carving through flesh, bone, and armor alike as it cut through the neck and shoulder of one of the centurions. She wasted no time in attacking the next centurion, decapitating him with a horizontal swing. The third centurion had an arrow nocked on his bow and fired, but Applejack sidestepped his attack. She then dropped her weapon and turned around, making sure her front hooves were planted before extending her hind legs back. Her back hooves made contact with the centurion’s muzzle, forcefully slamming his head against the wall behind him.

Once she was done, Applejack picked up her greatsword again and made her way toward the door. She gave one last glance to the two centurions on her right before leaving the courtyard, as well as the third one to her left, whose body lay slumped against the wall. Past the courtyard, Applejack reached a small side street with a bridge intersecting above it. Two centurion pegasi patrolled under the bridge, hovering back and forth beneath the support columns.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was still diverting her attention from what Applejack was doing. She no longer heard the sounds of battle around her, and after a few seconds of only hearing Applejack’s hoofbeats against the ground, she wondered if it was okay to look. When she did look, she noticed Applejack moving slowly toward the patrolling centurions. Unlike the previous centurions they had seen, these two each held a halberd in one hoof and a shield in the other. ‘Those are centurion knights,’ Fluttershy said. ‘You know, you could just try to slip past them without getting noticed.’

‘Good thinkin’,’ Applejack said. ‘No need to go in with guns blazin’.’ She tiptoed toward the centurion knights, moving along the wall of a small house to avoid being seen. The knights passed by each other along their patrol routes before disappearing behind the bridge’s columns, and Applejack sprung forward. She quickly trotted down the road, her hooves quietly hitting the ground to avoid making too much noise. Neither pegasus noticed her, and Applejack turned a corner and entered a narrow alleyway.

Without any centurions around, Fluttershy had a chance to observe Applejack’s surroundings and see where she was going. The alley itself was fairly uninteresting: narrow, empty, and dull in its colors. Up above them, the sky remained a dark ominous gray, the clouds all but blotting out the sun. However, Fluttershy did not see anypony flying overhead. In a way, that filled her with a sense of relief. but at the same time, it also left her feeling confused. She would have expected at least some of the centurions to patrol from above. More concerning, she hadn’t seen her body fly overhead lately, and wasn’t sure where it had gone. Turning her attention back to Applejack, she wondered if the latter knew where to find her body, or if she even knew where she was going in the town.

“YEAH!”

The alleyway led to another small circular courtyard, where Applejack had heard a shout coming from. In the middle of the courtyard, a centurion pegasus was pacing back and forth. Or at least Applejack assumed he was a centurion. This pegasus, white with a dull yellow mane, was huge compared to most ponies. Bulging muscles covered virtually every part of the stallion’s body, including his legs, his shoulders, his barrel, and his barbell-adorned flanks. In addition, this centurion was unarmed, and instead of wearing the usual golden barding, he only wore a helmet on his similarly enormous head. Ironically, the only two parts of this muscle-bound stallion’s body that weren’t huge were his wings. Compared to the rest of his body, they actually seemed imperceptibly tiny, and they may have even been smaller than a normal pegasus’ wings.

“YEAH!”

‘I liked it better when the centurion strongarms were on my side,’ Fluttershy said. ‘Some of them are practically all muscle.’

“YEAH!”

‘Even their brains are muscle.’

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the centurion strongarm’s two wings as he paced about the courtyard. ‘Looks to me like the one place he doesn’t have any muscle is where it oughta be in the first place,’ she said. ‘Are we even sure he can fly with those things?’

“YEAH!”

‘I don’t know,’ Fluttershy said.

‘Either way, his shoutin’ is startin’ to get on my nerves,’ Applejack muttered.

Fluttershy took this as her cue to look away, and by the time Applejack had begun cantering toward the stongarm, she had already shut herself off from the world around Applejack. There was one last “YEAH!” from the strongarm, which abruptly became an agonized yell when it cut off by a powerful slash. After that, the only thing Fluttershy heard was Applejack’s hoofbeats as she walked through the courtyard.

Applejack continued making her way through the town, climbing up a set of stairs and reaching a plaza right by the town walls. A small, dry fountain stood at the center of the plaza, and off to the side, two Skuttlers were fighting against a unicorn centurion knight. One of the Skuttlers charged at the knight and struck his shield with its bone club. The impact warped the metal face of the shield, leaving a large dent and fracturing its wooden frame, though the Skuttler stumbled on its stubby tentacle limbs and fell in the process.

Applejack silently remarked to herself on the Underworld presence in the town. At the same time, she also noticed a raised path that led from the plaza and continued along the side of the wall. Applejack ascended the last few stairs and trotted through the plaza, avoiding the nearby enemies as she headed toward the raised path. The centurion knight had slain one of the Skuttlers, and the bone club of the second Skuttler managed to destroy the knight’s shield by splintering its wooden frame, but by then, Applejack had already left them and the plaza behind her.

Suddenly, two explosions boomed directly above the path. The explosions were soon followed by the sound of stone fracturing. Applejack looked up, where she saw numerous cracks within a stone arch that rose ahead of her. Several sections of the arch collapsed, falling from the damaged edifice and crumbling even more upon hitting the ground. Further ahead of the collapsed arch, at the far end of the raised path, was an automated siege weapon. The weapon hovered a few inches off the ground and consisted of a large stone bucket with a bearded face depicted on the front. Two long, gold limbs led from the sides of the bucket, each leading to a small, adjustable catapult.

‘Last I knew, Juggernauts were still in the design phase,’ Fluttershy said.

‘Well, they look real enough now,’ Applejack said.

‘We started developing them as a defensive measure after the Hewdraw attack,’ Fluttershy added. ‘I never thought they’d be used for evil.’

Two glowing orange stones rolled from the center bucket and loaded themselves into the Juggernaut’s catapults. The catapults flung both stones one after the other, hurling them directly at Applejack. Applejack jumped to the side as they reached their peak and fell toward her. Unfortunately, the stones exploded on impact with the ground, catching her within their blasts and throwing her off the ground. Her body slammed into a nearby wall, and she grunted as she hit the ground again.

‘Applejack!’ Fluttershy said. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, just fine,’ Applejack groaned as she started to get back on her hooves. She tilted her head down to pick up her greatsword, which had come loose from her grip. Two more stones rolled down the Juggernaut’s limbs, and were hurled at her as soon as they were loaded into the catapult. The stones flew over her head however, as Applejack galloped toward the Juggernaut. She didn’t notice, or even care, when they exploded far behind her, since she was already in front of the machine. She brought her weapon from her mouth to her hooves, raised its blade in the air, and brought it down on the Juggernaut’s left limb, slashing right through it. She delivered another slash horizontally to the bucket, throwing the machine back and knocking it to the ground.

Once the Juggernaut was destroyed, Applejack reached the end of the raised path. A set of stairs led down from the path, bringing her to two parallel tunnels lying adjacent to the town walls. She approached the two tunnels, but before she could look down or enter either one, she heard a series of loud, sharp, banging sounds coming from them, like rapid gunfire. At the same time, two streams of bullets pelted the wall on her side of the tunnel. After a few seconds, the gunfire came to an end, and Applejack peered down in the direction they had come from.

At the other end of the two parallel tunnels, a second Juggernaut hovered a few inches above the ground. This one was a slightly different version from the first, equipped with machine guns on its limbs instead of catapults. Two simultaneous clicks echoed through the tunnels, and Applejack stepped back just before another round of gunfire started.

‘Horseapples,’ Applejack said. ‘Ah don’t think Ah’ll be able to get by here, not without gettin’ torn up by those guns.’

‘Um, actually…’

‘There must be some way around that thing,’ Applejack continued.

‘You could use that…’

During another lull in the Juggernaut’s fire, Applejack looked back in the direction of the two tunnels. A golden shield with a purple gem embedded in its center floated in place just before the entrance to the tunnels. ‘What’s that thing?’ Applejack asked.

‘That’s a Back Shield,’ Fluttershy said. ‘Its magic makes it float behind you when you pick it up. I’ve used one of them before, and they protect you from getting attacked from behind.’

‘That might just get us past that contraption,’ Applejack said. ‘Ah just wish ya told me ‘bout it sooner.’

‘I tried,’ Fluttershy murmured. ‘It showed up about a minute ago.’

Applejack barely heard Fluttershy. At the moment, she was eyeing the Back Shield while waiting out another round of gunfire from the Juggernaut. After a while, the loud continuous banging stopped echoing through the tunnel, and bullets were no longer whizzing past her. Applejack hastily cantered out and made her way toward the item. A small metallic click sounded as soon as she touched the Back Shield, which immediately spun around her. She turned her head to see the Back Shield positioned directly behind her haunches.

Another metallic click echoed from the two parallel tunnels. Applejack looked up, and the Juggernaut opened fire again. Two streams of bullets shot by on either side of her, and she found herself boxed in between them. The distance between the two tunnels was wide enough for her to stand in between the two streams, and though it was a bit cramped, she waited again for the gunfire to pause. Once the Juggernaut stopped, Applejack darted forward, going down the left tunnel. Her legs kept only a cantering pace, prepared to stop and turn as quickly as possible. At the other end, she could see the Juggernaut’s right limb, as well as the right half of its head.

Applejack reached the halfway point of the tunnel when she heard another metallic click. She came to a stop and turned around, facing the Back Shield toward the Juggernaut just as it opened fire again. Gunfire pelted the shield behind her, but the shield held strong, neither sustaining any damage nor being pushed up against her backside by the barrage. The Juggernaut soon stopped again, and Applejack whipped around. She galloped toward the machine and attacked it with her greatsword, slashing through its limb with one swing and smashing into the side of the Juggernaut’s head with a second.

Applejack stepped over the wreckage of the Juggernaut and stepped away from the two tunnels. Ahead of her stood a fort built into the town’s walls. The fort also served as a gate in and out of the town. Applejack intended to confront Fluttershy’s body in the immediate outskirts of the town, past this side entrance. Once she stepped inside the fort, Applejack found herself at the top of a walkway that spiraled around the interior walls. Six centurions hovered at the bottom of the walkway, surrounding an Underworld tank. The tank drove on massive caterpillar treads and was covered with thick off-white armor, with the exception of its top and the sides of its treads, which were covered with a pleated yellow armor.

‘Those centurions are fighting an Underworld Crawler,’ Fluttershy said. ‘I guess this means Princess Celestia is still battling the Underworld.’

‘So at the very least, Discord hasn’t taken over Celestia’s army,’ Applejack said. She kept her eyes on the skirmish below as she made her way down the walkway. The Crawler had already shot down two centurions with its side turrets. The remaining centurions fired back with their bows, but their arrows couldn’t penetrate the Crawler’s armor.

‘Then who does that leave?’ Fluttershy asked. “And where is Princess Celestia anyway?’

‘Ah think we should wait to answer that until after we figure out how to take down a tank,’ Applejack said.

‘There should be a big red weak spot on the back of it,’ Fluttershy said.

‘A big red weak spot?’ Applejack said skeptically. ‘If Ah didn’t know ya, Ah’d say you were jokin’.’ As she neared the bottom of the walkway, the Crawler rotated on its treads until it faced the remaining centurions, who were now down to three. It then charged forward, slamming into the centurion and smashing its body against the wall. In the process, Applejack caught a glimpse of a soft, red, almost fleshy object on the back of its body. ‘Would ya look at that? Anythin’ else Ah oughta know ‘bout those Crawlers?’

‘Well, normally you want to stay as far from them as possible,’ Fluttershy said. ‘When you destroy one, it explodes. Violently.’

‘Huh,’ Applejack said, a little taken aback. ‘Well that’s good to know before ya fight somethin’ like that.’

Just as Applejack reached the bottom of the walkway, the Crawler fired its side turrets, shooting down the last three centurions one by one. With its weak spot still in her sight, she charged forward. The Crawler stood still, and orange light began to shine from beneath its pleated armored top. Applejack veered left, avoiding its cannon fire. She then ran straight for the Crawler’s back and attacked, tearing into the Crawler’s weak spot with her weapon. Her next slash came down vertically, causing the tank to collapse from its treads. Several explosions went off one by one, fracturing sections of its armor, but Applejack had already pulled her weapon from its backside and started toward the fort’s exit.

Applejack passed through the town’s side gate and continued down a dirt road. This side of the town stood at the edge of a steep hill, overlooking a grassy flatland at the bottom of the cliff. To Applejack’s right, the dirt road continued up a raised path that extended from the cliff and lead to a mesa high above the flatland. Several stone columns formed a circle around the mesa. It wasn’t clear what the mesa was used for before the town was besieged, but to Applejack, that didn’t matter. She was expecting Fluttershy’s body to be there, and that’s where she was going too.

‘Hey, there’s a hot spring over there,’ Fluttershy said.

While the raised path and mesa were to the right of the dirt road, directly ahead of the gate was a small hot spring. Applejack had been too focused on her goal to see it earlier, but now that Fluttershy pointed it out, she could see the steam rising up from the spot. ‘Ah guess we have some time before findin’ you’re body,’ she said. ‘And Ah could use a little break.’

Applejack placed her greatsword by the edge of the water and sat down in the hot spring. She didn’t normally wade into hot springs, or see what was so relaxing about them. If anything, she found the water to be too hot for her liking. Her leather attire didn’t seem to help either; rather it only made her feel hotter. Still, after having fought her way through much of the town, she shrugged off those inconveniences.

‘Maybe you should have taken those off before going into this spring?’ Fluttershy said. ‘This hot water can’t be good for your leather.’

‘If Ah remember correctly, you didn’t want to take your clothes off in a hot spring,’ Applejack chuckled. ‘Now you’re tellin’ me Ah should undress.’

‘Oh, um…’

‘I get it,’ Applejack cut her off. ‘And besides, this outfit’s gotta be as old as Celestia herself. Ah’m not that worried about it gettin’ ruined. But Ah do want to find some place to towel off before headin’ out.’

‘We’re by the town, so there should be one nearby,’ Fluttershy said.

After another minute, Applejack stepped out of the water and picked up her weapon. She walked toward a small abandoned building to the left of the dirt road, where the two of them expected to find towels. Instead, they found a single empty room with only a blue circle light on the floor.

‘A Zodiac Chamber,’ Fluttershy said.

‘A what now?’ Applejack asked.

‘If you go in there, you can get a weapon of the gods, like the ones Celestia always has for me,’ Fluttershy said. ‘It might be stronger than the weapon you’re using.’

‘And these… Zodiac Chambers,’ Applejack said, stepping toward the entrance to the chamber. ‘They’re just lyin’ around waitin’ to be found by anypony?’

‘I don’t know,’ Fluttershy said. ‘I’ve found a lot of them, but I don’t know where they appear or why.’

Applejack stepped into the circle of light, and the room vanished around her. In its place, a long platform appeared underneath her hooves, just like it did for Fluttershy whenever she entered a Zodiac Chamber. A shaft of yellow light shone down on the other side of the platform. Within that light, a thin orange box materialized and hovered above a small altar. As she approached the box, Applejack noticed a symbol of a ram’s head on its face.

‘This is s’posed to be a weapon?’ Applejack said.

‘No, that’s a power,’ Fluttershy said. ‘It’s supposed to fit on your weapon like a puzzle piece and give you some special magic. But I don’t think it’ll work on your sword.’

‘Ah might as well take it anyway,’ Applejack said. ‘Ah’m sure you’ll know what to do with it when ya get your body back.’

Applejack took the Aries Armor power into her hoof and stashed it in her clothing. She exited the Zodiac Chamber, returning to the small building outside the town gates, and walked back toward the raised path outside. A few of Celestia’s troops were visible at the far end of the path, just before the mesa. Applejack did a brief headcount of the enemies—one centurion unicorn, two pegasus strongarms, and one Juggernaut—before starting down the path.

‘We should be gettin’ close,’ Applejack said, trying to assure Fluttershy.

Applejack galloped across the raised path, quickly closing in on the enemy troops and the mesa behind them. She reached the centurion unicorn first, cutting through his barrel with a diagonal sword swing. Then she turned toward the two strongarms, both of which had already noticed her. Neither one was as muscle bound as the one she had killed earlier, and both of them actually had reasonably sized wings. However, both of them were clearly strong, as one of them demonstrated by producing a massive barbell, lifting it with his forelegs, and hurling it at Applejack. Applejack ducked underneath it and charged at them, while the second pegasus galloped toward her.

Suddenly, a pair of explosions went off in between Applejack and the strongarm. Both ponies were thrown back, and Applejack lost her grip on her weapon as she landed backward. While both of them were knocked down by the explosions, the other centurion charged at Applejack. Lifting her off the ground with his forelegs, he flew up for a moment before slamming her into the ground.

Applejack slowly began to stand back up, managing to get to her knees. She looked up to see one of the two pegasi, the one that had been hit by the explosions, coming toward her. He tried to grab her as well, but Applejack rolled out of the way, turned away from him, and bucked him in the side of the head. The stunned pegasus fell off the edge of the path and went plummeting to the ground below while Applejack turned her attention back to the first strongarm. This one had already begun to lunge at her a second time, but Applejack sidestepped and ran past him.

Two more explosions went off several feet away from the remaining strongarm. Applejack realized they were coming from the Juggernaut, but she ignored it as she picked up her weapon again. She went after the strongarm first, slashed into his chest with a horizontal swing, and shoved him off the path with her hoof. Finally, Applejack turned her attention toward the Juggernaut. She maneuvered around two more rocks hurled at her by the machine’s catapults, and once she reached the Juggernaut, tore through its left limb with her sword. She then cleaved the other limb with a second slash and swung at the Juggernaut’s head, causing the machine to collapse and fall to the ground.

With the last few enemies gone, Applejack started up the rest of the path. However, before she reached the mesa at the top, pain shot up through several parts of her body, and she stumbled.

‘Applejack!’ Fluttershy gasped. ‘What’s wrong?’

Pain throbbed in Applejack’s forelegs and chest, both of which were at edge of the blasts from the last centurion’s attacks. The adrenaline in her body was also beginning to wear off, making her injuries even more apparent to her. ‘Ah’m fine,’ Applejack grunted. She took a few more steps forward, but more pain flared in her back and sides; a result of the centurion strongarm’s attack. ‘Those centurions just did more of a number on me than Ah thought.’

‘This shouldn’t have happened to you,’ Fluttershy murmured, pity and remorse building up inside her. ‘This shouldn’t have happened to any of you. I should’ve been here to fight for you, and so should’ve Celestia.’

‘Don’t worry ‘bout it,’ Applejack grunted, finally reaching the edge of the mesa. ‘We earth ponies gotta fend off the Underworld all the time, with or without Celestia. Besides, Ah’ll live, and Ah can still get ya back to your body.’

Fluttershy started to protest, but before she could say a word, a small orb of light descended toward them from above. The two of them watched as the orb reached the ground next to Applejack and began to take shape. The light formed into a bottle made of crystal, with two outstretched crystal wings on its sides and a doughnut-like hole through its center. The bottle was filled with a red liquid, which Applejack stared curiously at.

‘That’s a Drink of the Gods,’ Fluttershy said. ‘Celestia says it’s like a well-aged wine, but for us mortal ponies, it can heal almost anything: open wounds, illness, burns, broken bones, and occasionally dismemberment.’

Applejack put her sword down and picked up the bottle with her hoof. ‘Occasionally?’ she said.

‘Well, it’s not always perfect, and some injuries are worse than others.’

Applejack shrugged and brought the bottle to her lips. As soon as half of its contents were gone, she felt the effects of the drink spread throughout her body. The pain from her injuries dulled, and the more she drank, the more the pain faded away from her body. When she finished the last drop, she was completely healed. ‘This stuff actually worked!’ Applejack said. ‘But where’d it even come from?’

It came down from the heavens, just like the Back Shield did a while ago,’ Fluttershy said. ‘One of the gods must be watching over us. Maybe it’s Celestia.’

‘At least there is a god still watchin’ over us, whoever it is,’ Applejack said as she stepped onto the mesa. ‘And if it is Celestia, she’s got a lot to answer for.’

* * * * * * * * * *

After less than a minute of waiting, the sound of wingbeats above the mesa signaled to Applejack that something or somepony had come. On the other side of what was about to be an improvised battlefield, she watched as a pegasus lowered herself and touched down. To Fluttershy, this pegasus had the same grayed mane and coat that she’d seen almost half an hour ago. Applejack, however, saw Fluttershy’s normal colors on the pony’s body, as well as the Darkness Bow equipped to her foreleg. Nevertheless, both of them saw the same dull stare in the pegasus’ eyes as she stood up and gazed at them.

‘Hey, that’s my body!’ Fluttershy said.

Fluttershy’s foreleg lifted up, her bow being readied by whatever or whoever was controlling her body, while Applejack brought her sword to her hoof. ‘We’ve gotta take her down,’ Applejack said. She readied her sword for the fight, only to do a double take when she noticed how she was holding it. She flipped the sword’s grip between her hoof and fetlock, ensuring that she would only swing with the blade’s blunt edge. ‘… without killin’ her.’

Fluttershy’s body immediately opened with a charge shot from her bow. Applejack sidestepped the arrow and moved toward her opponent. She swung, but Fluttershy’s body dodged and countered by slashing with her bow. Applejack stepped back from the attack, but the Darkness Bow’s bladed arm still managed to connect and leave a long, shallow scratch on her foreleg. Both mares swung again and clashed their weapons, but because of Applejack’s strength and the size of her weapon, she managed to throw her opponent back. Fluttershy’s body made a rough landing when she hit the ground again, but not before firing three small arrows in midair back at Applejack.

‘Ah don’t remember ya being this tough when we last met each other,’ Applejack said.

‘I’m sorry,’ Fluttershy said.

‘Nah, it figure’s you’re the only member of Celestia’s army who can carry her own weight,’ Applejack said, swinging at Fluttershy’s body again. ‘Don’t even get me started on the centurions.’ A charge shot from the Darkness Bow hit her at point-blank range, striking her left shoulder and tossing her back several feet.

‘They’re grunts. What do you expect?’ Fluttershy muttered. ‘There’s no incentive for them to toughen up. Celestia rarely sends them into battle, so even the competent ones don’t bother to make an effort.’

Applejack swung the blunt edge of her sword at Fluttershy’s body, but Fluttershy’s body parried the attack with her bow. Trying another tactic, Applejack reoriented her sword and swung at the Darkness Bow, this time with her blade’s sharp edge. ‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘If Celestia’s army is just a bunch of slackers, then what made ya decide to be the odd one out?’

‘Well…’

‘Never mind,’ Applejack said, dodging a charge shot. ‘You can tell me later.’

Applejack’s blade connected with the Darkness Bow a second time. Putting more of her strength into her forelegs, Applejack pushed the bow back and caused Fluttershy’s body to stumble. She swung her weapon again, this time with the blunt edge, and this time slamming it into Fluttershy’s side. Fluttershy’s body tumbled across the ground for several feet before coming to a stop on her side. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her shoulder moved more stiffly, but she still quickly stood up and gazed at Applejack with a blank yet menacing expression.

Immediately after striking Fluttershy’s body, Applejack felt a sudden twitch in her head and forelegs. She struggled for a moment against the apparent spasm. ‘Fluttershy,’ Applejack said. ‘Ah’d appreciate it if ya’d look the other way fer this one too.’

‘Sorry,’ Fluttershy murmured. ‘Be careful, though.’

Applejack sidestepped another charge shot and lunged at Fluttershy’s body. Her weapon’s edge clashed against the Darkness Bow. She pulled back her blade and swung at the bow again. The last blow broke the bow’s upper arm in two and tore the bow loose from Fluttershy’s foreleg. Fluttershy’s body stumbled back while the two pieces of the broken bow landed behind her. Applejack tossed her own weapon aside, flipped around to face away from her opponent, and kicked with both of her hind legs. Fluttershy’s body was thrown across the improvised arena, and she was out cold by the time she landed on the ground.

‘Okay, let’s get this bracelet on ya,’ Applejack said as she started walking over to Fluttershy’s body. She sat down on her haunches beside Fluttershy and lifted her up into her forelegs. A number of fresh cuts covered Fluttershy’s body, and two hoof-shaped bruises were beginning to form, one on her left cheek and another on her chest. Applejack briefly hoped that she hadn’t broken anything as she removed the golden bracelet from her own leg. She then slid the bracelet up Fluttershy’s right foreleg.

Light spread across Fluttershy’s body from the bracelet. The bruises on her face and chest lightened, and the cuts along her body closed and disappeared as the bracelet’s magic washed over them. The bracelet contracted and faded away, as if it was being absorbed into Fluttershy’s leg. The last of her wounds finished healing, and once the bracelet disappeared entirely, the light around her body subsided as well.

Applejack gently shook Fluttershy’s body with her forelegs. “Fluttershy,” she said. “Come on, wake up.” Fluttershy’s eyes opened, and she looked up at Applejack. Suddenly, Fluttershy stretched her forelegs up and lunged at Applejack. “Whoa, nelly!” Applejack said, stunned as Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around her neck and grabbed her tightly.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said.

Applejack felt Fluttershy’s grip tighten around her. As she let Fluttershy rest her head against her shoulder, she began to notice some wetness on her neck. She moved her own forelegs around Fluttershy’s back and returned the hug. “Easy there, sugarcube,” she said, patting Fluttershy’s back with her hoof. “It’s been rough on all of us. But now that you’re back, we’re countin’ on ya to find Celestia and fix this mess.”

Fluttershy lifted her head from Applejack’s shoulder. She used her foreleg to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes and gave her a smile. Applejack let go of Fluttershy, allowing her to stand up and walk around on her own legs again. However, when Fluttershy looked up at the skies, her smile disappeared.

“There’s only one thing,” Fluttershy said. “How am I supposed to get back to Skyworld?”

“You're a pegasus,” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow. “Ya could just fly.”

Fluttershy’s wings fidgeted and her eyes shifted toward the ground. “That’s just it,” she said. “I can’t fly that well on my own. Princess Celestia always lent me her magic for that.”

At that moment, Fluttershy felt a sensation in her body. She shut her eyes and opened her wings as the sensation traveled to her barrel and concentrated in the feathers and muscles of her wings. A ray of blue light shone down on her from the skies, and leaves began to appear at her hooves and swirl around her body. Fluttershy extended her wings as much as could, and the light gathered around her wings while fading from the rest of her. All the while, Applejack stared in awe as the magic concentrated itself within Fluttershy’s wings.

Suddenly, an object struck the ground near the two of them. A cloud of dust formed from the impact, and Fluttershy and Applejack shielded their eyes with their forelegs. Once the dust cleared, they turned and approached the fallen object. Embedded in a small crater was a large club in the shape of a tall, spiraling stone tower. Fluttershy grasped the club’s thin, rod-like handle with her mouth and pulled back on it, removing it from the earth. A ring of clouds appeared around the other end of the club, circling the top of the tower.

Fluttershy’s wings started to flap, lifting her off of the ground. She transferred the handle of her new weapon, the Babel Club, from her mouth to her left hoof and looked at Applejack.

“Looks like Celestia found ya,” Applejack said. She reached into her outfit and pulled out the Aries Armor power, holding it out to Fluttershy. “If this is goodbye fer now, ya’d better take this. Ah think it’s better off in your hooves then mine.”

Fluttershy extended her left foreleg and took the orange box into her own hoof. She slipped the box into her tunic and tapped it with her hoof, making sure it was secure. Her wingbeats lifted her up a few feet higher as the power of flight began to carry her away from the mesa. “Good luck, Applejack!” she called out. “I hope we meet again after all this!”

“Good luck to ya too, Fluttershy!” Applejack called after her. She kept her eyes on Fluttershy as she rose above the mesa and finally flew out over the town. Her gaze drifted down to the plumes of rising smoke as Fluttershy flew past the town and continued on. “Whatever’s happenin’ out there, Ah hope ya fix this soon,” she said.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fluttershy gave one last look at the smoldering, desolate buildings below as she soared past the town. She flew past a small skirmish between Underworld troops and centurions, not bothering to attack either one as she flew into a rainstorm. The centurions were shooting down the Monoeyes and Shrips easily enough that she didn’t feel the need to help them, and she couldn’t bring herself to attack the centurions themselves. “I missed you, Princess Celestia,” Fluttershy said. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“… Right, about that…”

“Huh? Luna?!”

“That’s right,” Luna said. “I’m the one controlling your flight path.”

“But how is that possible?” Fluttershy asked. “And where is Princess Celestia?”

“Celestia’s power of flight spell is not very difficult to replicate,” Luna said. “I assure you that I am just as capable of casting it as she is.”

“Does that mean I still only get five minutes of flight time?”

“Yes.”

“But what about Celestia?” Fluttershy asked. “Will you at least tell me what happened to her?”

“Even better. I’ll take you to Skyworld and show you,” Luna said.

A storm raged on above the mountain range up ahead. Fluttershy’s flight path began its ascent, even as her face and coat were buffeted by rain and increasingly high-speed winds. Off to her right, another group of centurions had shot down four Monoeyes and were now aiming at a Belunka. However, what she was more concerned with were the two twisters in the middle of the storm, one right next to the other.

“I don’t really have a choice here, do I?” Fluttershy said.

“I’m afraid not.”

Fluttershy flew over several mountaintops, passing by a group of centurion unicorns as she continued toward the twisters. She weaved through a volley of arrows fired at her by the centurions, as well as a few charges by some unicorn knights, but she kept her own weapon lowered. The centurions moved to pursue her, but when they saw Fluttershy approaching the twisters, they ultimately stayed back.

The tornados’ fierce winds pulled on Fluttershy’s body, threatening to suck her into either one. Fortunately, the power of flight kept her from getting sucked in as she flew in between the twisters and began a sharp ascent. The winds did however pull in a small temple, as well as a number of Monoeyes, Miks, Gyrazors, and a Wave Angler. The Underworld monsters hurtled up the spiraling columns, none of them able to escape, though all surprisingly unscathed. The temple however was torn apart by the powerful winds, some of its columns torn out of the floor and ceiling, and even the columns themselves snapped in pieces.

By the time Fluttershy rose more than halfway up the height of the tornados, many of the Underworld monsters and temple debris had reached the tops of spiral columns. They were soon released by the gale force winds and sent flying in every direction, even directly down at Fluttershy. Fluttershy twisted to evade a Gyrazor and Monoeye and drifted to her right as a particularly large section of temple wall plummeted toward her. Many more monsters and chunks of stone columns hurtled at her, and she swerved to avoid several of them. Tightly gripping the Babel Club, Fluttershy swung at an oncoming Wave Angler. She swatted away a few more enemies, mostly Miks and Monoeyes, as she continued in her ascent.

The last of the temple, with its floor and ceiling still attached by its few intact columns, fell from one of the twisters and plummeted toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy brought her hooves and club in front of her, doing more to flinch at the oncoming building than to try to evade it. Her wings took a different approach. Controlled by Luna’s flight spell, her wings carried her in between the pillars of the temple and safely maneuvered her through its interior.

Fluttershy emerged on the other side of the building through two broken pillars, and now that she was near the highest sections of the two twisters, Luna’s magic began carrying her away from them and toward the blanket of clouds above. She could see a few scattered groups of centurions at this altitude, as well as a few Juggernauts hovering around them.

“We’re approaching Skyworld,” Luna said.

“I’m praying that Princess Celestia is alright,” Fluttershy said.

“You’re praying?” Luna asked. “To who?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t seem to understand the purpose of praying to the gods.”

Fluttershy wanted to ask Luna what she meant, but she dropped the subject when she breached the cloud layer. The air felt frigid as she passed through the clouds, and cold droplets of water began to accumulate on her legs. The clouds themselves were thick, making it difficult for Fluttershy to see more than a few feet ahead of her, but the power of flight continued to carry her onward. Eventually, the clouds grew thinner, and Fluttershy could make out the bottoms of a few floating islands in the distance. She emerged a few seconds later and continued to fly upward, finally rising high enough to see the top surfaces of the islands. What she saw of the islands of Skyworld made her heart feel weak.

“What?” Fluttershy said.

Before her eyes lay a Skyworld in ruins. Houses, public squares, and many other buildings were in disrepair throughout each and every one of the islands. Even the buildings that remained standing had turned a dull, ashy gray, and the land on each island had become barren. Fluttershy stared in utter shock at the ruins of Skyworld. She didn’t even notice when her right hoof loosened and the Babel Club fell from her grip.

“What happened here?” Fluttershy said weakly. “It used to be so beautiful.”

“Look what’s become of it,” Luna said somberly. Her magic carried Fluttershy over the islands of Skyworld one by one, showing both of them the extent of the destruction. Gone were the gardens and trees that once added color to Skyworld’s scenery, as well as the ponies, both undressed and armored, that once flew and ran about. Even the skies above were dark, barely letting the sun’s light through, and it made the scene all the more dreary as Fluttershy gazed at her home, or what was left of it. “Celestia has gone berserk and destroyed Skyworld in the process. She’s still fighting the Underworld Army, but she’s ponykind’s enemy now too.”

“And to think, I was so worried about her,” Fluttershy murmured.

“Fluttershy…” Luna said. “There’s something else you should see…” She turned Fluttershy toward the far end of Skyworld, showing her its largest island. A sprawling temple complex covered the entirety of the island, featuring Skyworld largest and most grandiose temple structures. At the center of the complex, perched on top of the largest temple building, stood a massive statue of Celestia, the goddess of light. The statue stood with its head held up and its horn prominently raised. Its wings were outstretched, spreading out with a wingspan wide enough to cover the entire island. Sadly, much like the rest of Skyworld, the statue and temple complex had also been become a dull, gray, damaged shadow of its former self. “Celestia’s temple.”

“It’s all beat up,” Fluttershy whimpered.

Light shimmered and fluctuated in the air behind Celestia’s temple, quickly forming into a titanic image of Celestia herself. The image looked down at Fluttershy, not with the calm, serene expression that the latter was so used to, but one of contempt and disinterest. “It’s been a while, Fluttershy,” Celestia said harshly.

“It’s like the entire world’s been turned upside-down,” Fluttershy said. “What’s going on?”

“Everything changes, Fluttershy, even gods,” Celestia said. “And to be frank, I’m tired of fighting for those ungrateful earth ponies.” Her hologram turned its gaze slightly toward an island floating off to Fluttershy’s right. The entire island spun on its axis and began to rise dozens of feet higher. “And I’m especially tired of dealing with you!” With a powerful thrust from Celestia’s magic, the island flew directly at Fluttershy.

“No!” Fluttershy said.

Controlled by Luna’s magic, Fluttershy’s wings pulled her upward from the island’s trajectory. As the island passed underneath her, flipping over as it went, centurion troops began to respond and flew toward Fluttershy.

“You heard her,” Luna said, pulling her away from the attacking centurions. “This is real.”

“She’s being manipulated,” Fluttershy said. She jerked left to dodge two of the centurions’ arrows, but kept her eyes on Celestia’s image. “Somepony else is pulling the strings.”

“No,” Celestia laughed, “you’re the only puppet here.” She had a second island, off toward Fluttershy’s left, held in her magical grip. She then hurled the island, which quickly flipped during its trajectory as it flew toward Fluttershy. Luna was forced to quickly pull Fluttershy back to prevent her from colliding with the overturned island’s surface. Meanwhile, several centurion knights flew after Fluttershy, as well as a few strongarms.

“I have to help her,” Fluttershy said. “Luna, send me in!”

“That would be ill-advised,” Luna said.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked. “What else can we do about her? Panic?”

Celestia began to prepare a third island to throw at Fluttershy, this time one that was particularly close to her temple. As the island spun along its axis, a few of its more damaged buildings crumbled from the rotational force. Pieces of debris ricocheted and rolled off the surface of the spinning island, some falling in the direction of Celestia’s temple. But before the rubble could land anywhere near the temple buildings, an iridescent bubble suddenly formed around the temple complex, stopping the debris in midair.

“As I was about to say, her temple is protected by a force field,” Luna said. Blue light shone down on Fluttershy from above, and a flurry of leaves materialized and swirled around her body. “You can’t penetrate the barrier at this time, so there is nothing more we can do here.” A second later, Fluttershy disappeared from Skyworld’s airspace, having been extracted by Luna’s magic.

Fluttershy soon reappeared in a different place, and was gently set down on her hooves. Luna’s magic ebbed away from her wings until the blue aura surrounding them was gone. Fluttershy folded her wings at her sides and looked around at her surroundings. She stood in the middle of a dimly lit corridor. Roots and vines grew along its walls, and orange light shone through several openings in the walls and ceiling, bathing the corridor in the light of the now setting sun. Fluttershy turned to look ahead, where Luna was standing a few feet away.

“Where am I?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ve brought you to my own domain,” Luna said. “After Celestia began terrorizing the earth ponies, I took over some of her duties as the goddess of light. Likewise, until we return her to her senses, you’ll be accepting missions from me.”

Luna turned around and began walking down the corridor, motioning with her wing for Fluttershy to follow. Fluttershy followed along, but only at a slow pace as she shuffled her hooves along the ground. She let her head hang low as she went, letting the foreign surroundings drift by her as her mind reflected on everything she had seen that day, and for the first time since she could remember, she had never felt so alone, so far from home.

“When you begin your next mission, you’ll go through the portal at the end of this corridor,” Luna said. “There is also a small weapons cache next to the portal for you.” She stopped by a doorway on the left side of the corridor and waited for Fluttershy to catch up. “This is where you will be staying. I’m sure the accommodations will be to your liking.”

As soon as Fluttershy entered the doorway she stopped in her tracks. Over two dozen sets of eyes met her own, and her mouth fell open a bit as several small, furry heads turned and looked in her direction. “Are those…” Fluttershy started to say.

Throughout the room, dozens of small animals all stared back at Fluttershy, including squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and birds. The youngest animals remarked her with curiosity, but most of the older ones immediately recognized her and wasted no time excitedly gathering around her.

“When Celestia left Skyworld in ruins, she displaced all of the woodland animals in your care,” Luna said. “I sheltered them here as a favor to you.” Fluttershy was barely listening to Luna as she tended to her animals. As she listened to a few chipmunks in front of her, and allowed a small white bunny to take its place on top of her head, a small, warm smile found its way on her face. “It will be hours before you can safely use the power of flight,” Luna continued. “Until then, you may stay with your animals and prepare for your next mission.”

“Luna, before you go,” Fluttershy said, looking up from her animals. “You sound… different.”

“You mean my speech no longer sounds so archaic?” Luna said. Fluttershy nodded back at her. “It’s been a long three years, Fluttershy.” She stepped back into the corridor and left the room, leaving Fluttershy with her animals.

Author's Note:

I hated this chapter on 9.0 Intensity. Why the hell did they have to restrict us to just Magnus’ melee attacks? Would it have killed them to let us use Powers for this one? Or at the very least a ranged weapon with an ammo count?

Comments

[firestorm blade]

i have an explanation to how pits body was able to fly twice, the first time it was flying it was granted the power of flight by palutena, but when pit gets his body back, it was able to fly again because viridi didnt cast it twice, only once. as such pits wings were not burned up by the use of the power of flight twice.

[Rixx_Klori]

Whenever I read this, I hear the voices of the characters from the game itself, except for Fluttershy. I actually hear her own voice.

[Phazon]

2577546
Alright, since the story only has about seven chapters left (I'm assuming you've read the most recent one?). Now like I said earlier, the nature of this crossover forced me to make character roles out of two things that didn't count as characters in the game. Think about it. Why would crossing over with a universe of talking magical equines force me to add two new roles to this story?

That's the last hint I can give you. I cannot make it any less cryptic than that.

[firebirdabirdoffire]

3200580 I don't why. It's fine as it is. I read up to Dark Shy so far, and your (and by extension Uprisings) writing style kinda reminds me of my metaness at times. I guess Uprising had a bigger effect on me then I thought. That and the Muppet Show.

[firebirdabirdoffire]

3200580Can I make a suggestion if you are gonna rewrite? When Dark Shy's born make her mane and tail length the same as Fluttershy's, then the next chapter you write a throwaway line about she cut her mane because it gets in the way of battle.

[Phazon]

3203364
I don't know. It still wouldn't explain the drastically different coat, mane color, and voice on "Dark Shy." After all, both Pit and Dark Pit share the same VA, but Fluttershy is definitely not voiced by Ashleigh Ball. Besides, if I were ever to bring up manestyle in a fanfic I'm writing, it would involve Rainbow Dash suggesting that Fluttershy cut her mane shorter to make flying easier (reduce drag and whatnot).

Also, after having finished rewriting The Return of Celestia (which has gone from 2100 words to about 3100 words in the process), I'll say that the changes have mostly involved adding more to the narration and reworking the dialogue so that the ponies sound a little more in character. However, I did end up rewriting an entire half of the Cerberus "fight" so that Fluttershy doesn't just go apeshit on Cerberus. Depending on reader reaction to the new version, it'll be the one thing I'm most likely to change back, but other than that, the humor and plot progression have remained largely intact.

[Dunsparce]

Making the Parasprites the Aurum was a really cool idea. Keep up the good work!

[Phazon]

3427441
Thanks. That's actually one of the casting decisions I'm most fond of, and while I might have had one or two other candidates for them (none of which I can remember right now), the Parasprites just seemed so appropriate. While we're at it, what do you think of some of my other casting choices, most notably Trixie as Pyrrhon, Discord as Hades, and Luna as Viridi?

To be honest though, I haven't been able to get much work done on this story. I assume you've read the more recent blogs, and I will say that the Chapter 1/2 rewrite is up to about 7000 words out of an expected 9000-10000. Unfortunately, progress has ground to a complete halt, due partially to the likes of Pokemon X, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and Sonic Lost World 3DS.

Actually, I've been meaning to do this for some time now, and since story tagging is still unavailable on blog posts:

3205451>>2780274>>2778784>>2723952>>2577546>>2535785>>2351372>>2325945
Good evening, fans. While you're still waiting for me to update this story, I want to call attention to a new Kid Icarus group that was founded by Dunsparce a couple weeks back. Go check it out, join, mingle, do whatever.

... If you're wondering why I'm notifying all of you via reply comment instead of putting this to a blog post, it's because story tagging doesn't work on blog posts anymore. It's been disabled. Or it's malfunctioning. Technically a little bit of both.

[Dunsparce]

3427643 Trixie as Pyrrhon is the only fitting option, though I dislike Trixie and Pyrrhon is my favorite character. I hate Viridi and Luna, so your matched that perfectly. Discord as Hades is perfect, and I was going to write a fanfic about them.

[Twifight Sparkill]

We seem to update at the same speed, you and I.

Worth the wait, undoubtedly.

[Phazon]

3543153
Is it worth asking what you like about this story? Or if you've read it yet?

Also, I noticed the Season 4 comment on your page. The Seattle's Angels group that featured Misinterpreted also has a Recent Episode Discussion thread, if you're ever interested and have the time.

[Twifight Sparkill]

3543455

I suppose first and foremost would be the inclusion of links to music, which enhances the progression of mood and tempo in a very modern way - admittedly, I've never read a story that suggests and introduces media in such a provocative and unobtrusive manner before.

Mind, I'm not a forward thinker in that aspect. Unlike you, my tendency is towards maneuvers in a controlled and subsequently banal textual method when it comes to setting a written situation. I quietly applaud your forward thinking, and wonder if I could ever manage the modern leap towards multiple sensory interjections. I say quietly only because the very idea is so dramatically removed from my comfortably furnished expectations.

I have a lot to read still, but I really like the inclusion of media. Bravo!

I'm so old. Why do you torture and delight me so?

[Phazon]

3549830
You like the inclusion of links to the game's stage and character music? Actually, that's one of the first things I intended to get rid of in my effort to rewrite the previous chapters, and I decided that for a number of reasons.

To start with, I've had this story on Fimfiction for the past fifteen months, and you're the first and only person to show any praise or appreciation for the added links. It's actually made me wonder whether it makes a difference to the story's fans if the links are there or not. In fact, part of the reason I'm doing this is to gauge whether the fan reaction is backlash or indifference, and then act accordingly (you see, I'm bluffing but I'm not bluffing).

As for the addition of music to the fanfic-reading experience, opinion about it varies widely. While there are those who insist that the right musical piece can complement the tone and narrative of a story, others may consider it an unfair advantage over those who don't add music. Many out there condemn the practice as a lazy substitute for good writing, stating that it's the writer's responsibility to set the tone and atmosphere of their story through their own writing.

To the latter group, I point out that the musical tracks I've included are embedded as links in the chapters' text, not only making them completely optional, but also making them potentially easy to miss. And since the game's music is optional to this story, I would insist to that group that they pass over the links and judge the story for its execution, not for some "stylistic" gimmick. But even so, I've been wary about including the video game tracks partly because they were composed as background music for the game's levels; they were never meant to supplement a written narrative.

But I suppose the most convincing reason I've had to do away with the Youtube links is that a lot of them don't even work anymore. Most of the links go to a specific channel called BrawlBRSTMS. I generally favor them because of the high quality of their uploads and because they upload 30-minute long loops of the video game tracks that loop seamlessly. Unfortunately, their channel often gets terminated due to complaints of copyright infringement complaints, and even though the people running the channel work to negotiate with copyright owners, I really don't want to have to constantly go into the chapters and change the links every time the channel gets terminated and a new one opens up.

With that said, I find it odd that you would like the addition of links to music when a good 60% of the links don't work anymore. Actually, I'm curious: How far in are you so far?

[Twifight Sparkill]

3550753

"I've had this story on Fimfiction for the past fifteen months, and you're the first and only person to show any praise or appreciation for the added links."

I thought the inclusion of music was a novel idea. The first link I tried worked, anyway. If you think it's a gimmick, I guess it is.

As far as how deep I've gone, I've only skimmed the surface. Psh, I work 65 hours a week - I have to schedule a break just to change my opinion.

However, I'm in enough to keep reading. I don't get the time to read much at all anymore, so I only stick to work done by folks I like, hm?

You have my attention, so let's see what happens. I'm intrigued and excited!

[Phazon]

3552285
In hindsight, I'm beginning to think that I've discouraged clicking on the chapters' music links almost as much as I've encouraged it. And it's worth pointing out that you've been using those music links for precisely what they were intended: as an supplementary and completely optional addition to the story-reading experience (or something like that).

Anyway, you're probably wondering why I posted this reply a month later. Well, I actually spent part of this afternoon replacing all of the broken music links for all the chapters (except for Chapter 1/2). So if you're still reading through this story, you at least have that to look forward to.

[Von-Dragonblade]

I like how well you portray each of the characters like Pit and the others from the game. And the usage of the music was...well, spot on. Although, as much as i've read, i'm a bit surprised at who you have for each character. In my opinion, this would probably be my setup:

Pit - Twilight or Spike
Now, i would choose either of them due their individual growths as characters over the course of time. The only difference is that with Twilight as Pit, it wouldn't fit entirely because while she devotes herself as a whole to Celestia, she's far too logical to be Pit in the slightest. Plus, Pit doesn't know how to read and he doesn't exactly think things through. Twilight would always take the logical routes.
Spike, on the other hand, would probably be decent as Pit. The two of them are rather corny but highly cheerful in their own way. If Spike had his wings grown in, he wouldn't exactly know how to use them like Twilight has now. He also shares a bond with Celestia as it's possible she took care of him until Twilight got older. Pit and Palutena almost share a mother/son bond. That fits well here with Spike and Celestia. Spike can be hot-headed, stubborn and outright simple but he's also confident, cheerful and looks for anyway to make the situation better.

Palutena - Celestia
Magnus - Applejack (that explains itself)
Lord Gaol: Rarity
Medusa: Nightmare Moon
Hades: Sombra (while he may not exactly be as nonchalant and fun as Hades, he himself came closer to victory than any of the other villains. Even Discord himself, sad to say. He has plenty of room to be developed as a villain, he's quite cunning to set up plenty of traps in advance.)
Thanatos: Discord (What more can be said
Chaos Kin: Chrysalis
Viridi: Fluttershy (Nature. 'nuff said)
Arlon: Fancypants
Dark Pit: Trixie (Opposite of Twilight) or Garble (He's practically the opposite of Spike and he would fit the role of the 'angsty teen' that Dark Pit fits into)
Pandora: Chrysalis (which you did well)
Pyrrhon: Sunset Shimmer
Phosphora: Pinkie Pie (both are rather cheerful in their own methods and can, without doing it purposefully, be pretty flirty in her own...odd methods)
Chariot Keeper: Spitfire
Dyntos: Iron Will

But this is all my opinion. Cuz other than that, you're doing a very good job. Can't wait for the next one

[Phazon]

4103759
Well if you think you can come up with better character choices than me, then maybe you should write your own Kid Icarus story... Ha, I'm just kidding. I'm always happy to talk about casting choices in this story.

With Pit, there are quite a few characters I could've chosen for his role. Twilight is an obvious choice because of her relationship with Celestia, (and one that has already been made by someone who has since dropped off the face of Fimfic, never to be seen again) but it's one I've never been very enthusiastic about. Then there's Pinkie Pie (who would fit well in a game as self-aware as this one) and her fanonical dark side, or Rainbow Dash (who fits the personality well, but is too good a flyer) and Lightning Dust, or even Scootaloo (who nails the role of Pit, but doesn't have an established dark side or foil character ready to use).

Spike is... actually an interesting candidate for the role, and one I've never considered before. Though I'd have to disagree with the idea that Palutena and Pit have a mother/son relationship. I always saw Palutena as more of a responsible older sister to Pit, with Viridi acting as a sort of bratty middle child, somewhat older and wiser than Pit but still prone to sticking her tongue out and blowing raspberries at him (hence part of the reason I chose Luna, and why I really wanted Diamond Tiara instead).

Also, I think I've said in an earlier comment that I chose Fluttershy partly because there's more I can do/have to do with her in the role. But even then, I would never place Fluttershy in the role of Viridi. I mean sure, there's nature goddess, but then there's nature goddess who fights wars and drops plant nukes.

As for casting Sombra as Hades', I'm not so sure. One of the failings of the season three opener is that it did far too little with Sombra, both in terms of fleshing him out and making him look like a threat (mostly because the episodes focused on Twilight and her friends more and dealing with Sombra meant holding him at bay until they could find Crystal Heart). But even then, Sombra always struck me as a more feral, vicious villain, and I don't think he could ever be a good fit for the affably evil Hades.

Chaos Kin: Chrysalis

Pandora: Chrysalis (which you did well)

Yes! Agreed!

Finally, even if I did pick Twilight as Pit, I'd have to reverse your picks for Dark Pit and Pyrrhon. For starters, while I do think Trixie would make a decent Dark Pit for Twilight, Sunset Shimmer seems to have the right sort of resentment toward Celestia and Twilight to better fit the role. Plus, no one could ever replace Trixie as Pyrrhon.

[Von-Dragonblade]

4106007 If it's Feral you want, Sombra could've always fit the role of Twinbelos But I do agree, he does seem too feral to fit Hades role. But Discord acts more like Thanatos than anyone and yet, he fits Hades role too well. It's kinda confusing. As for the Chaos Kin and Pandora...it's still a debate. Chrysalis fits Pandora's role of deceit and whatnot, and yet the changelings or herself would also fit the role of the Chaos Kin. Again, confusing