Filly Fluttershy: Uprising

by Phazon

Nightmare Moon's Final Battle

Chapter 9: Nightmare Moon’s Final Battle

Fluttershy reached the end of the dark hallway, where a set of double doors and a large box waited for her. Turning her back to the box, she lifted one of her hind legs and gently kicked the box. Her kick was too gentle however, and the box didn’t budge at all. She frowned and kicked the box again, causing it to rock back and forth for a second, but the box did not open. A stray gust of wind blew through the hallway, knocking the box onto its side and breaking open its lock. Three beams of light shot out of the opened box and rained down on Fluttershy. The first light surrounded her entire body, and pieces of bronze armor materialized around her: a crested helmet over her head, greaves around each of her legs, a peytral to protect her chest, a croupiere to protect her flanks, and a mirrored shield attached to her left foreleg. The second beam of light fell over her wings and condensed into a magenta glow over her wing shoulders and coverts. The third beam of light shone down on Fluttershy’s right foreleg. A large, bronze-colored longbow formed over the cannon of her foreleg, with shafts of magenta light resembling feathers extending from the bow’s limbs.

“Okay, um…” Fluttershy murmured. She looked over her new equipment, then at the two halves of the opened box lying on the floor. “Equipped!” The portal opened next to her, and she jumped outside, spreading her wings. A yellow aura formed around them as she begun to fly out into a tempestuous sky.

“Are you ready for the final battle, Fluttershy?” Celestia said.

“A-As ready as I’ll ever be…” Fluttershy murmured.

“For this final battle, you’re equipped with the Three Sacred Treasures,” Celestia said.

“And you activated the power of flight too?” Fluttershy asked, noting the color of the magical aura around her wings. “Isn’t that a little bit redundant?”

“We can’t be certain that the Alicorn Wings will be reliable after a thousand years,” Celestia said. “For now, they’ve been deactivated.”

Dozens of monsters, Monoeyes, Paramushes, and Syrens all attacked Fluttershy as she dove toward the ground. “There sure are a lot of Underworld enemies around here,” she said, dodging multiple attacks along the way. She fired her bow at the oncoming horde, letting the arrows’ homing ability seek out their targets.

“Yes, so even though the Arrows of Light are very powerful, keep your guard up,” Celestia said. Fluttershy continued in her descent. Before long, a ravine came into view, stretching across the barren gray wasteland below. Miks, Gyrazors, Monoeyes, and Shrips emerged from the ravine, and Fluttershy did her best to either shoot them down or outmaneuver them. “This ravine leads to the Underworld. I’m taking you in.”

Fluttershy fired at the Monoeyes and Gyrazors in her path. She flew past the spinning blades of several Shrips and dodged a tongue lash from each Mik before finally flying into the ravine. The walls of the ravine loomed over her as she made her way down, and the chasm beneath her was pitch-black, except for a few lights twinkling at the bottom. Despite the horde of enemies that met her up above, there weren’t any Underworld monsters ahead of her, at least not until the source of the lights came into view.

Ten blue demon skulls, each wreathed in purple flames, floated within the ravine. Their eye sockets were pointed directly at Fluttershy, and one by one they let out a roar. Each one had a batch of colored pony skulls in their mouths, and as they roared, the skulls clattered around inside. “Watch out for Ornes ahead,” Celestia warned.

“Are you talking about the floating skulls?” Fluttershy asked, aiming the Bow of Light at them.

“Yes,” Celestia said. “The slightest touch from one of those will annihilate you.”

“That sounds painful…” Fluttershy fired a charge shot at the Ornes. The arrow pierced through two of the Ornes and destroyed a third one behind them.

“Fortunately, they’re no match for the Arrows of Light,” Celestia said. “Ornes are typically invulnerable to any weaponry.”

Fluttershy shot down the last remaining Ornes and descended into a deep pit within the chasm. Crystal formations lined the sides of the pit, giving off no light of their own, but reflecting the light that shone from Fluttershy’s wings. More Ornes emerged from within the darkness and cried out, waiting for her to reach them. “There’s more of them?” Fluttershy said, firing at the deadly monsters.

“If you can’t eliminate all of them, then do your best to fly around them,” Celestia said. Fluttershy continued to shoot down in Ornes in her path. The last three moved out from behind the crystal formations and grouped together, blocking the path down through the ravine. Fluttershy held her bow steady, waited for a moment, and fired a charge shot at the three. The arrow struck all three of them and cleared the way for her. “The entrance to the Underworld should be up ahead.”

The rock walls surrounding Fluttershy disappeared after a certain depth, leaving behind only the crystal formations forming a tunnel through the abyss. A rose colored gem embedded in Fluttershy’s peytral started glowing, and a white light shone from within the abyss. “Thanatos’ gem is glowing!”

“That means you’re about to enter the Underworld,” Celestia said. “Get ready.”

The crystals surrounding Fluttershy disappeared. The light at the end of the abyss shone brighter, and time seemed to slow down as she approached. Fluttershy closed her eyes and covered her face with her hooves, but Celestia guided her down and into the portal to the Underworld.

When Fluttershy opened her eyes again, she was flying above another wasteland. Barren, leafless trees dotted the landscape beneath her. A dozen monsters, Miks, Monoeyes and Gyrazors, were already nearby to meet her, and in the distance, hundreds of monsters appeared throughout the orange sky. “The Underworld,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy shot down three Monoeyes, five Gyrazors, and two Miks, but more monsters, Syrens, Gyrazors, and a Vakloom quickly arrived. “There are a lot of enemies here,” she said.

“We’re on their home field now,” Celestia said. “Brace yourself for the worst.” Fluttershy continued to fly above the landscape, shooting as many enemies as she could. Octos, Syrens, and Paramushes joined the battle, and hundreds of dots in the sky, each one an Underworld soldier, began to converge on her. Fluttershy fired at them, but was struck in the chest by a beam from a Gyrazor. A whirlwind attack from a Syren struck her right side, followed by a shot from a Paramush. She started to fall out of the sky, and two Monoeyes fired at her during her descent. Fluttershy swerved away from the first shot and held up her left foreleg against the second. The Monoeye’s attack collided with Fluttershy’s shield and bounced off, almost hitting a nearby Syren.

Celestia focused her magic on Fluttershy’s wings. After reorienting herself and flapping her wings a few times, Fluttershy was flying again. She aimed her bow and fired at the Underworld Army, shooting down five Monoeyes, four Paramushes, two Syrens and four Gyrazors. The horde of monsters retaliated with their own attacks. Fluttershy raised up the Mirror Shield in front of her to block their attacks. Each shot struck the surface of the shield and rebounded off, killing several dozen enemy troops. Now that their numbers were thinned, Fluttershy fired a charge shot at a group of monsters, followed by a stream of arrows at the rest of the swarm.

Three more Underworld monsters arrived, each one hiding behind a thick metal plate with red markings on them. Fluttershy fired at one of the monsters, but her arrows collided with the metal surfaces without causing any harm. The three monsters floated in a circle ahead of her, and several more reinforcements arrived, a Gloomerang and three Gyrazors.

“The metal backs on Boogities resist everything,” Celestia said. “Even the Arrows of Light.” A multicolored streak briefly traced across the sky to Fluttershy’s left, but she barely noticed it as she turned her attention away from the Boogities and fired at the three Gyrazors. The Gloomerang spun its head, throwing its crescent-shaped mask at her. Fluttershy swerved to the side to dodge the sharp metal mask and noticed one of the Boogities turning around, exposing its head and large hands. She aimed at the Boogity, but the Gloomerang’s weapon had changed course behind her, and Celestia had to pull her away before it hit her from behind. This gave the Boogity time to launch a missile at Fluttershy, who was forced to shoot the missile while the Boogity turned around again.

Another Boogity turned around, and Fluttershy shot it down with her bow before it could launch a missile, but when she looked behind the other two Boogities, she saw dozens more enemy reinforcements descending toward her. She held up her bow, but her foreleg was shaking, and her breaths became quick and shallow. She started asking herself questions, why she was here fighting a whole army by herself, and why Celestia hadn’t sent anypony to fight this battle instead of her, or at least with her. Meanwhile, the third Boogity turned around to face her, and the Gloomerang spun its head, ready to throw its bladed mask again.

Suddenly, a rainbow shockwave erupted in the sky, in between the Boogities and the arriving Underworld troops. The force of the shockwave tossed enemy troops about, including the Gloomerang and Boogities, while the shockwave itself expanded above them in a multicolored thundercloud. Lightning struck down from the clouds, incinerating every single monster nearby. When the cloud disappeared, a certain pegasus, no longer wearing her black tunic, flew up alongside Fluttershy.

“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy said.

“What did you just call me?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, um…” Fluttershy said nervously. “What are you doing here?”

“The same thing you’re doing here,” Rainbow Dash said, switching her black First Blade to her left hoof. “Pummeling Underworld troops.” Without taking her eyes from Fluttershy, she took out three Syrens and two Monoeyes. “I’m just way better at it than you.” Rainbow flew off to slash two Komaytos with her blade while Fluttershy fired at a group of Miks.

“Maybe you also sensed that Fluttershy could use your help,” Celestia said.

“Don’t make me laugh,” Rainbow said. “Now enough talk. Let’s get back to fighting.” She saw another group of enemies moving toward them and flew off to intercept them.

“It was nice of you to show up, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said. “But I can handle this on my own. I think.”

“You’re not on your own, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “You have me.”

“Oh, of course,” Fluttershy said, a tinge of rose forming on her cheeks. “What would I do without you?” Fluttershy dipped downward toward nine Monoeyes floating over a river. She took out six of them with her arrows and then used her bow to melee the other three.

Fluttershy reached the side of a cliff at the edge of the river and ascended up the wall. She was getting close to Nightmare Moon and expected to reach her soon. As she soared up the cliffside, the sounds of the battle around her died down. The flapping of her wings became more audible to her, and the rock wall in front of her began to disappear as well. She was expecting to reach the top of the wall and see more of the Underworld landscape, maybe even Nightmare Moon’s castle, but instead she soon found herself in total darkness. A gigantic pair of eyes opened in the darkness and stared at Fluttershy. “So, you’ve made it this far,” Nightmare Moon said. She stepped back from Fluttershy, allowing her entire body to come into view.

“You’d better watch your back,” Fluttershy said. She knew that Nightmare Moon, like many other gods, could project titanic holograms of themselves to the rest of the world. She’d seen Celestia do it before, and she saw Celestia at her real height, so the image of Nightmare Moon that loomed over her didn’t scare her. Even if it did, she was here to hunt her down and wouldn’t back away.

“Isn’t that just… precious,” Nightmare Moon said. “It must be all that hot air that keeps you flying, just like that evil twin of yours. You are darling, but you’ll need more than bluster to defeat me!”

“This isn’t bluster, Nightmare Moon,” Fluttershy said. “In the name of the goddess of light and all the ponies she protects, I will defeat you.” Nightmare Moon’s form faded away, as did the darkness that surrounded them. Fluttershy was in the Underworld again, floating on the outside of a barrier protecting Nightmare Moon’s castle. A white mechanical figure rose up, imposing itself in between Fluttershy and the barrier. “What is that?” The figure’s sides opened, revealing two pairs of wings, one white and one black. Three golden triangles, arranged to form a larger triangle, were on each wing, and the white wings were equipped with cannons.

“That’s the last line of defense keeping us out of the Underworld Castle,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy dodged a barrage of fireballs shot from the cannons. “Can’t we just flying past it and enter the castle?” she asked.

“Not with that barrier in place,” Celestia said. She pulled Fluttershy out of the way of two missiles also fired from the cannons. “And I don’t think we can outmaneuver this machine so easily.”

Fluttershy aimed at the cannon on her right first. The triangles on the Underworld Gatekeeper’s wings fired blue shots at her in pairs, but she easily evaded them and fired her arrows at the cannon, quickly damaging it. Fluttershy then turned her attention to the other cannon when the machine launched two magic screens at her. The screens were circular and large enough to block her arrows. At the same time, the machine’s head began storing energy Fluttershy fired at the screen on her left, quickly shattering it, and moved away from the other screen to focus on the second cannon.

Before Fluttershy could disable the second cannon, the Gatekeeper fired a powerful laser from its head, barely missing her. She swerved away from the laser as it swept across and fired another arrow at the second cannon. With the second cannon damaged, Fluttershy turned her attention to the triangles on the machine’s wings.

The Gatekeeper launched a ring of white light at her. Fluttershy destroyed the triangles on the white wings before turning her attention to the ring of light. The ring was large enough to her to fit through, so she hovered in place so that she would pass through its center. She then turned her attention back to the other triangles, but before she could aim for either wing, the wings folded together and the Gatekeeper flew up. The Gatekeeper rocketed through the skies in front of the castle and aimed itself at Fluttershy. Fluttershy ascended to dodge the machine’s ramming attack and watched as it returned to the front of the barrier. The machine opened its wings again, exposed the triangles on its black wings.

The undamaged triangles on the Gatekeeper’s wings fired at Fluttershy. Fluttershy evaded the shots and returned fire with her bow. “Why aren’t my attacks doing more damage?” she said.

“Well, it is a boss,” Celestia said.

“No it’s not, it’s a miniboss,” Fluttershy said. “I should’ve beaten it by now.” The machine fired two screens at her. Fluttershy shattered the two screens with her arrows and turned her attention to the Gatekeeper’s head. However, before she could shoot anymore arrows at it…

“Hi-yah!” Rainbow Dash dove at the Gatekeeper from its left side, turned around, at kicked the side of its head with both hind legs.

“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy watched as Rainbow’s kick threw the stunned Gatekeeper into its own barrier. The machine exploded on contact with the barrier, followed by a second explosion in its head, a delayed result of Rainbow’s attack. Its destroyed remains fell to the ground in front of Nightmare Moon’s castle, and the barrier surrounding it faded away.

“And that’s how you take out a boss!” Rainbow Dash said triumphantly, closing her eyes and puffing out her chest.

"Miniboss," Fluttershy corrected.

“For future reference, face-kicking isn’t usually this effective,” Celestia said.

“Get a move on before more defenses show up!” Rainbow ordered.

“Rainbow Dash is right,” Celestia said. “We should go, even if it means taking orders from her.”

Fluttershy looked up at the red-orange sky, now clear of Underworld soldiers, then toward Rainbow Dash. “Thanks, Rainbow,” she said.

“Please stop calling me that,” Rainbow Dash said before flying off.

“Fluttershy, get ready to go in,” Celestia said. With the power of flight, she guided Fluttershy toward the entrance of Nightmare Moon’s castle.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fluttershy flew into the main hall of Nightmare Moon’s through the front doors, which closed behind her as soon as she touched down. Three statues stood around the center of the room, and behind each statue was a large door. The statue on the right was of a three-headed dog, while the one on the left depicted a one headed hydra. Fluttershy walked past these two statues and up to the third one. She examined the statue, one of an equine figure, but with a gnarled horn, insect wings, and holes in its hooves.

“Chrysalis,” Fluttershy said. “And the other two are Cerberus and Hewdraw.”

“Each of those statues has a corresponding door,” Celestia said. Fluttershy looked past the statue of Chrysalis to the door behind it, then at each of the other two doors. She walked past the Chrysalis statue, and as soon as the door behind it opened, she walked through.

* * * * * * * * * *

On the other side of the door, Fluttershy walked into a large, empty, octagonal room. The walls and floors around her were lilac in color, though three of the walls had sharp orange spikes on them. “The Labyrinth of Deceit,” Celestia said.

“Now this is one place I wish I could forget,” Fluttershy said. She looked around the room, but there didn’t seem to anywhere she could go. The only door in the room was the one she had entered through, and it had sealed shut behind her. However, when she looked at the spiked walls, she noticed that the spikes on only two of the walls were orange, while the third wall had yellow spikes. She stepped closer to the third wall and fired an arrow at the spikes. The arrow passed through the spiked wall and disappeared behind the wall. Realizing that the spikes and wall were both fake, she walked through them and into the second half of the room. The second half of the room was just as empty as the first, and Fluttershy headed toward the door at the end of the room.

Several platforms were suspended over a chasm in the next room. Fluttershy peered over the ledge of the platform, and while it was too bright to see anything below the platform, there didn’t appear to be a bottom to the chasm. She looked up and saw something similar on the ceiling, or rather, what little ceiling there was. A large, misshapen, and elongated block hung above her, but it was too bright to see how high up the room went. Fluttershy walked toward the other end of the platform, where a small circle of light shone on the floor. She stepped onto the circle, and a bright flash illuminated the entire room.

“Whoa!” Fluttershy said. The light faded away, and when Fluttershy looked again, she was no longer standing on the same floor as the ray of light “Uh… what just happened?”

“I think you just used a warp of some sort,” Celestia said. Fluttershy was standing on a large, misshapen platform, similar to the block she had seen in the ceiling earlier. She looked up at the ceiling, only to several blocks hanging above her.

Fluttershy continued along the platform she was standing on. Another circle of light shone on the floor at the end of this platform. She stepped onto the shaft of light, and after another bright flash, she was standing on another platform. “Where am I now,” Fluttershy asked.

“You’re on another platform in the same room,” Celestia said. “You seem to be alternating between the floor and the ceiling.”

Fluttershy left the room through a door at the end of this platform. The next room was much smaller, octagonal in shape, with another door on the opposite side. Fluttershy found a Cherubot sitting off to the side and jumped into it. The armored mech came to life and stood up off of the ground, and Fluttershy moved it into the next room. Gyrazors, Shrips, and Nettlers, pink one-eyed slugs, descended into the room when Fluttershy went in. She shot down the Shrips with the Cherubot’s gun and used the other arm to punch out the Gyrazors. She tried to shoot the Nettlers too, but they flattened their bodies against the ground to avoid her shots. Fluttershy aimed at each one on the ground and took them out one by one.

Once the room was clear of enemies, Fluttershy piloted the Cherubot toward the next door. However, the door to the next room was only large enough for a pony, and the Cherubot was too big to fit through it. Fluttershy jumped out of the Cherubot, allowing it to deactivate, and continued on.

Two things stood at the end of the next room that Fluttershy walked into. The first was a large mirror floating on top of a pedestal. The second was a faded black alicorn with a gnarled horn and an exoskeleton over its body. “Chrysalis!” Fluttershy shouted.

“It looks like Nightmare Moon couldn’t make her talk,” Celestia said.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked. She dodged a series of green fireballs and returned fire with a few arrows.

“I mean that’s not Chrysalis,” Celestia said. “That’s just a soul dressed up to resemble Chrysalis.”

“How clever of you, oh goddess of light,” Nightmare Moon said telepathically.

“I can’t believe you’d stoop to recycling souls,” Celestia said. “Is nothing sacred to you?”

Chrysalis scattered three bombs throughout the room. Fluttershy galloped toward one of the bombs and used her bow to toss it back toward her. The bomb collided with Chrysalis’ chest, exploding on impact and spreading cracks throughout her body. A second bomb struck Chrysalis from the side, spreading even more cracks and adding to the damage from the first explosion.

Fluttershy fired a charge shot to finish off Chrysalis. The arrow shattered Chrysalis’ body, causing an explosion of bright white light that filled the entire room. As the explosion engulfed the entire room and everything inside it, Fluttershy lifted the Mirror Shield in front of her and shut her eyes to the blinding white light.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fluttershy opened her eyes again and found herself standing in a large, familiar room. Three pedestals stood in the center of the room, two of which had statues on them while the third had a pile of rubble. A door stood behind each pedestal, including the one with the pile of rubble on it. “Oh, I’m back at the castle entrance,” Fluttershy said.

“Not only that, but one of the statues has crumbled,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy looked at the two remaining statues, one of Hewdraw and one of Cerberus. She turned toward the former and headed for the door behind it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fluttershy stepped out onto a raised stone pathway. Stone, rectangular houses stood below the pathway on either side. Stone walls stretched around the area, surrounding the houses and contributing to the town’s dull, gray appearance. “Wait, I remember this place,” Fluttershy said. She spotted three Miks hovering over the platform and shot them down with an arrow.

“This looks like where you fought the Hewdraw,” Celestia said.

“So this whole town is just an illusion?” Fluttershy said as she walked along the path.

“It’s as real as I am,” Nightmare Moon said. “I built it myself using your and the Hewdraw’s memories.”

“That’s because you don’t know what the original town looked like,” Celestia said.

“No matter,” Nightmare Moon said. “You’re in my domain now, and you’ll play by my rules!”

“Well some rules are meant to be broken,” Fluttershy said. She stopped at a fork in the road and examined the environment. To her right was a street with four small houses. Each house had a jump pad on it, and looking at how they were aligned, Fluttershy expected them to lead to a circular plaza above the rest of the town. She recalled being ambushed by monsters at that location in the original town, and was expecting another ambush. However, the path on her left led directly to one of the gates in the town walls. “That gate for example. It leads to the lake outside the original town. That means I can skip this town and cut straight to the Hewdraw fight. I mean, you’re okay with that, right?”

“No, I’m not okay with that!” Nightmare Moon said.

“I’ll encourage it,” Celestia said. “And if the last chapter’s boss fight is any indication, the author will take any excuse to cut corners.”

Fluttershy took the path on her left and headed for the gate, despite the protest of an irate Nightmare Moon. Beyond the town walls, a dirt road wound through a group of trees and ended at the lake. Fluttershy followed the road until she reached the shore. The Hewdraw, with only a single head, rose out of the water to meet her.

Fluttershy dodged several fireballs and returned fire with a charge shot. The arrow struck the Hewdraw’s jaw, throwing it back, but the Hewdraw recovered and dove into the lake. Fluttershy watched as it swam just below the surface of the lake while two orange spheres of light formed over the lake. She fired an arrow at one of the spheres, causing it to fall into the water and explode on contact. The explosion launched the Hewdraw out of the water and onto the shore, and Fluttershy took the opportunity to strike with her bow and arrows. A few arrows and strikes later, the beached Hewdraw slithered back into the lake. Fluttershy fired one more charge shot at the monster when it surfaced again, striking its head and tossing it back.

Before the Hewdraw could fall back into the water, the skies and lake were suddenly enveloped in a harsh white light. The Hewdraw’s body vanished, and Fluttershy held her Mirror Shield over her eyes as the white light intensified and spread throughout the area, consuming her, the lakeshore, and even the walled town behind her.

* * * * * * * * * *

When the light faded, Fluttershy was standing at the castle entrance again. The Hewdraw statue had crumbled into a pile, leaving only one statue left in the room. “Two down,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Just one more to go before Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy made her way to the right side of the castle’s entrance hall. She passed by the statue of Cerberus and walked through the door standing behind it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Fluttershy found herself standing in the middle of a street in another town. This town differed from the one attacked by the Hewdraw. Several trees grew around some of the houses, which were more distinct than the houses in the previous town. Up above, the sky had turned a deep red, and dark clouds drift over the town. “This looks like where I had my first battle,” Fluttershy said.

“You’ve really come a long way since then, haven’t you?” Celestia said.

Fluttershy started to explore the town. Certain streets were blocked by the debris of demolished buildings and structural columns. A fountain stood in the center of one street, but no water flowed through it. A large, gaping hole lay in the street several feet away from the fountain. The remnants of several houses stood near the chasm, some half destroyed, some teetering over the edge of it. Eventually, Fluttershy reached two massive sets of stairs leading up to a coliseum, the same one that she had once ‘fought’ the Cerberus in. She made her way up the stairs, taking out four Skuttlers and fifteen Shemums along the way.

Cerberus was waiting for Fluttershy when she entered the center of the coliseum. All three of Cerberus’ heads growled at her as she approached. Fluttershy whistled at him and reached into her tunic to pull out three dog treats. “Here, boy!” she called out, throwing the treats out in front of her. “Ready to learn some new tricks? If you’re good, I’ll take you for a walk!” Cerberus growled at Fluttershy again and stepped menacingly toward her, crushing the dog treats beneath his paws. “Um, and I’ll give you a bath,” Fluttershy said while backing away. “… And a treat.” Cerberus lunged at Fluttershy, extending his left claw at her.”Ahh!” Fluttershy screamed while jumping out of the way.

“I don’t think you and Cerberus will be racking up any Nintendogs trainer points together,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy turned around and fired a charge shot, piercing one of Cerberus’ heads. The right head recoiled from the arrow, but Cerberus recovered and faced Fluttershy. “I don’t play Nintendogs anyway,” she said.

“Really?” Celestia said. “That’s surprising.”

Fluttershy used the Mirror Shield to block several fireballs spewed by Cerberus’ left and center heads. She fired another charge shot, this time piercing Cerberus’ left head. “I have dozens of real animals under my care back in Skyworld,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t really see the point in a sim.” Cerberus’ center head blew a stream of fire at her, and she ran around the coliseum to avoid it. Fluttershy fired a third charge shot at Cerberus’ middle head, throwing him onto his side and stopping his fire breath.

Fluttershy aimed her bow at Cerberus’ chest, waited for her bow to charge, and fired one last arrow. As soon as the arrow struck Cerberus, an explosion of white light filled the entire stadium and spread to the rest of the town.

* * * * * * * * * *

Once again, Fluttershy found herself standing in the entrance hall of the Underworld castle. All three statues, including the one of Cerberus, had been reduced to rubble on top of their pedestals. “And that’s the last of them,” she said.

“Now it’s time to destroy Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said. “The path to her is back the way you first came in.”

“How’s that even possible?” Fluttershy said. She turned back to the castle’s entrance and opened the door, but instead of seeing the castle’s grounds and the orange sky, she saw another room in the castle. Skuttlers and Shemums occupied the room, along with a Skuttler-shaped suit of armor with a red eye visible through the visor. Fluttershy took out the other monsters with her bow and approached the armor. Suddenly, the armor hopped once toward Fluttershy, startling her.

“It looks like one of the Skuttlers crawled into a suit of armor,” Celestia said. “It’s back is still exposed, so move around it and attack from behind.” The Suit of Skuttler hopped toward Fluttershy again. Fluttershy ran around it and fired an arrow at its back.

After she left that room, Fluttershy entered an underground tunnel beneath the castle. Torches lined the walls of the cave, providing the only illumination as she explored the underground passage.

“I find it ironic that you would call yourself the goddess of light,” Nightmare Moon said bitterly. “After all, it was you who turned me into a monster. It was you who hunted me down.”

“You shouldn’t blame me for that,” Celestia said. “I only reflected in your appearance what I saw in your heart.” Fluttershy listened in on their conversation as she explored the castle’s underground caverns. The two goddesses had once worked together in the distant past. That ended with their falling out roughly a thousand years ago, and though Fluttershy wasn’t quite sure about the other one, one of them was clearly still resentful of the other.

“And what about your heart?” Nightmare Moon retorted. “I can only imagine what resides there.”

“Why just imagine it?” Celestia taunted. “Don’t you have the power to make it a reality?”

“There’s no point,” Nightmare Moon said. “We all know it would be some sort of hideous creature.”

“You shut your mouth, Nightmare Moon!” Fluttershy snapped. “Princess Celestia is nothing LIKE YOU! Who poisons the rivers and reduces cities to rubble? Who condemns earth ponies to total darkness? And who’s leading the Underworld destruction of the land and heavens? Not Celestia. You’re the one responsible for all this, Nightmare Moon, but what I don’t get is how you managed to resurrect yourself in the first place!”

“I suppose…” Nightmare Moon trailed off. “I don’t really understand how that happened either.”

“Don’t play dumb with me!”

“I-I don’t remember what happened,” Nightmare Moon stammered. “My memories aren’t what they were.”

“You’re slipping, Nightmare Moon,” Celestia said. “You’re mind isn’t all there anymore, and I can sense that you’re life force is weaker than it used to be. Cerberus, Hewdraw, Chrysalis, and Thanatos have all been defeated, but if you withdraw your army and promise to stay in this castle, I will spare you.”

Nightmare Moon laughed at Celestia. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed. “It hardly matters how I returned. What matters is why: to exact revenge on you! I think I’ll start by turning your little pegasus to stone. Then I’ll set my sights on you.”

“Threaten all you want. You don’t scare me,” Fluttershy seethed. “I will defeat you. I’ll return to Skyworld victorious!” Fluttershy continued through the castle’s caverns, even as Nightmare Moon’s laughter echoed through the telepathic link, and through the underground tunnels. She took out three Skuttlers along the way, as well as another Suit of Skuttler behind them, before reaching the edge of a cliff. There was no way to go down, and the path to Nightmare Moon continued beyond the cliff she stood on. She started wondering how to get across when a pair of rails formed in front of the cliff and across the abyss.

“I set up a grind rail, but I had to get creative,” Celestia said.

Fluttershy jumped onto the rails and allowed them to carry her along. The grind rails wound around a rock pillar several times and made a few loop the loops around a collapsed section of a bridge, but Celestia’s magic held her onto the rail. Along the way, Fluttershy shot down several Monoeyes, Shrips, Octos and Handoras that pursued her.

“I can sense you getting closer, Fluttershy,” Nightmare Moon said. “I’m very much looking forward to your arrival. I almost feel like a damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armor.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you’re not exactly getting a happily ever after,” Fluttershy retorted.

“And you’re not exactly a brave hero,” Nightmare Moon countered. “Yet somehow, the thought of our confrontation fills me with anticipation. So hurry to me, Fluttershy. I’ll strip you of your wings and sever you from the heavens forever! Or maybe I’ll let you live long enough for you and Celestia to see each other one last time before killing you in front of her?”

“Are you done?” Fluttershy said. “I already told you. You don’t scare me.”

Fluttershy jumped off the grind rails and onto a platform with three Monoeyes floating over it. As soon as she took out the three monsters, a rose-colored path in the image of a carpet formed over the chasm and extended to another platform. At the next platform, two Miks and a Gyrazor surrounded her. Fluttershy fired a charge shot at one Miks, hopped over a tongue lash from the other, and took out the last two monsters with a spread of arrows. She moved on to the next platform, defeating three more Shrips before a final path led her to a set of stairs and a large door which bore the image of the moon with a unicorn’s head. Fluttershy made her way up the stairs and, once the door opened, walked continued on toward Nightmare Moon.

* * * * * * * * * *

Laughter echoed throughout a dark, enormous chamber deep beneath the Underworld castle. The source of the laughter, a gargantuan dark alicorn with a light blue helmet and a starry blue mane, loomed over a small balcony in the chamber and the yellow pegasus standing on it. “We finally meet face to face, Fluttershy!” Nightmare Moon said.

Thunder flashed within the chamber, revealing Nightmare Moon’s form in the darkness. “S-She’s huge!” Fluttershy stammered, backing away from the balcony.

“What’s wrong, my little pony?” Nightmare Moon said. “I thought I didn’t scare you.”

Fluttershy stopped backing away. She began to remember why she was here and who she was dealing with. She looked back all of Nightmare Moon’s atrocities, the two towns she had attacked and the ponies she had terrorized, including Applejack and Pinkamena, and the war she had started against Celestia. Fluttershy wasn’t scared; she was angry, and she glared up at Nightmare Moon.

“No, you don’t scare me, Nightmare Moon,” Fluttershy said. “In the name of Celestia, the goddess of light, and everypony she defends, those who hide in the darkness will be made to face the light!”

“Activating the Alicorn Wings,” Celestia said. Fluttershy spread her wings to their full extent. Magenta light spread from the shoulders of her wings, emitting a sound like howling wind as the light spread above her, expanding many times the size of her body. The light almost formed into the shape of wings themselves, but then receded and concentrated around Fluttershy’s own wings. “Go now, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy soared into the air and flew toward Nightmare Moon, her bow ready. Nightmare Moon eyed her as she approached. Using her magic, she tossed her far across the chamber. Fluttershy hurtled through the chamber, almost falling into a body of water before she righted herself and kept herself in flight. After getting her bearings, she flew off toward an island in the middle of the body of water. Several rifts appeared ahead of her, each with an eye in the center of them, and fired at her.

“I’m going to try to get you closer,” Celestia said, using her magic to control the Alicorn Wings. “But Nightmare Moon is using her power to hold you back.” Fluttershy groaned as she swerved around the attacks on her way to the island. “I know it’s tough, but don’t give up.” Fluttershy fired her arrows at the eyes, eliminating them and decreasing the number of attacks aimed at her. Eventually, she reached the island and ascended above it. Nightmare Moon, standing in the center of the island, eyed Fluttershy as she briefly circled around. “You’re still too far away,” Celestia said, guiding her even closer to Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon spread her wings, and two of her feathers popped out and launched themselves at Fluttershy. Fluttershy maneuvered away from the feathers, but the feathers turned in midair and chased after her. She fired a charge shot, only for Nightmare Moon to vanish before the arrow could get close to her. Nightmare Moon reappeared on another section of the island, and Celestia guided Fluttershy toward her again.

“Wow,” Fluttershy said. “Warping that huge body must be a real pain.”

“Who are you calling huge, you insignificant little thing?!” Nightmare Moon bellowed.

“Eep!”

Nightmare Moon launched two more feathers at Fluttershy, the other two having incinerated earlier, followed by a blast of magic from her horn.

“Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “Once you get close enough, aim for Nightmare Moon’s helmet. Destroy that first.”

Fluttershy dodged the blast of magic and maneuvered away from the two homing feathers. She fired another arrow at Nightmare Moon, striking the left side of her helmet and putting a crack in it. Nightmare Moon warped another three times, each time firing a blast of magic. Fluttershy dodged each blast one by one, but veered into one of Nightmare Moon’s feathers, causing it to explode against her side.

Celestia guided Fluttershy around Nightmare Moon, giving her a chance to fire at the back of the helmet. However, Nightmare Moon’s starry mane moved in response. Several clumps of it transformed into serpent heads and lunged at Fluttershy. Fluttershy swerved above and below, dodging each lunge. She aimed for the back of her target’s head and fired a charge shot as well as several smaller arrows, creating small cracks throughout the back of Nightmare Moon’s helmet.

“Enough!” Nightmare Moon caught Fluttershy using her magic and moved her in front of her. Fluttershy squirmed against Nightmare Moon’s telekinetic grasp, trying to move any part of her body. Her neck still had some range of motion, but her legs were held in place by the magical aura surrounding them, preventing her from using her bow. Not even the Alicorn Wings could break loose, as her wings were frozen in place as well. “Are you still watching, goddess of light?” Nightmare Moon said. “Because everything I do to her, I will soon do to you!” Suddenly, Fluttershy’s armor glowed with a radiant yellow light. “What?!”

Almost immediately, Nightmare Moon’s magical grip dissolved. With her body now free, Fluttershy slowly flapped her wings and hovered in place. “The Three Sacred Treasures are protected against direct magic,” Celestia said. “As small and insignificant as you think Fluttershy is, you can’t harm her so easily. But I’m not so restricted.” Chains burst forth from the ground around Nighmare Moon. One chain wrapped around Nightmare Moon’s left hind leg, securing it in place. Another chain wrapped around her left foreleg and pulled back. A third pierced through the cannon on her right hind leg, bursting out the other side and wrapping around. The last chain wrapped around her right foreleg and yanked it to her right, causing her to collapse on the ground. “Fluttershy, I’ve chained Nightmare Moon’s legs in place for you. Now you can get close to her and attack.”

“You’ll pay for that!” Nightmare Moon shouted.

Fluttershy fired a charge shot at the right side of Nightmare Moon’s helmet, putting another crack in it. She dodged Nightmare Moon’s magical attacks while firing a stream of smaller arrows at the top of her helmet. Nightmare Moon stopped firing from her horn for a moment. Her mane whipped around in front of her and took the form of a large serpent, opened its maw and sprayed venom at Fluttershy.

“Gross!” Fluttershy said, flying around to avoid the spray of venom. She fired a charge shot at the mane, breaking it apart and canceling the attack.

“Is there any part of her that isn’t a weapon?” Celestia remarked. “I guess it’s to be expected.”

Fluttershy flew over Nightmare Moon’s head and fired another stream of arrows. Her attack spread more cracks throughout the helmet, and before long, every single crack made in the helmet connected to the others. Nightmare Moon swung her head around in agony and shut her eyes. Her helmet shattered, the pieces falling from around her head, and a dark aura emanated from her face. Her blue mane formed into snakes again, but this time they neither attacked Fluttershy nor changed back. When the dark aura finally disappeared, Nightmare Moon held her head up in the air. Her two cyan eyes were replaced by a single large eye with red sclera.

“Now this is the Nightmare Moon I remember,” Celestia said.

“Sh-She hideous!” Fluttershy said.

Nightmare Moon’s head twisted off of the rest of her neck. Leaving the rest of her body chained to the island, she chased after Fluttershy in the air. “This whole time, she’s been using part of her magic to hide her true self with that helmet,” Celestia said, guiding Fluttershy away as Nightmare Moon’s head pursued her around the chamber. “Now that she’s fighting at full strength, this is a battle we cannot lose.”

Fluttershy turned around and faced Nightmare Moon, allowing her wings to carry her backward, and fired her arrows. She swerved to avoid several snakes as they leapt out of Nightmare Moon’s head at her one by one. Magical energy gathered around Nightmare Moon’s horn, and Fluttershy turned back around to focus on her flying. She swerved to avoid the beam of magic from Nightmare Moon’s horn and maneuvered around as the beam followed her in the air. Once the beam stopped, Fluttershy turned around and fired a charge shot at the head. She followed the charge shot with another stream of smaller arrows while avoiding Nightmare Moon’s attacks.

Finally, Nightmare Moon’s head stopped chasing Fluttershy through the chamber. It flew back to its body and reattached itself to the neck. The chains around Nightmare Moon’s legs broke, and she lifted a hoof to her head and spread her wings. “Now, Fluttershy, the eye!” Celestia said. “Before she escapes!”

Fluttershy flew back toward Nightmare Moon’s body. She aimed her bow at the eye and fired a charge shot. The arrow pierced its target and Nightmare Moon’ head flung back. Fluttershy hovered in the air, still aiming her bow, and watched as Nightmare Moon stood frozen in place. After a while, the ground beneath them started to shake, as well as the entire chamber around them. A ray of yellow light shone down on Fluttershy from above, and after a moment, Fluttershy was extracted from the Underworld. At the same time, Nightmare Moon’s body began to disintegrate into dust. First her head and wings went, followed by her body, and finally her legs.

Back outside, an earthquake shook throughout the Underworld, the epicenter being Nightmare Moon’s castle. Not a single Underworld soldier remained outside the castle, and even Rainbow Dash was gone, most likely having returned to the surface world. Piece by piece, the Underworld castle began to crumble. Walls, gates, and towers fell apart during the earthquake, and before long, the entire castle was reduced to rubble.

“We did it!” Fluttershy said. “We really did it!” No longer equipped with the Three Sacred Treasures, Fluttershy was now standing outside Celestia’s temple back in Skyworld.

“Well done, Fluttershy,” Celestia said, placing a hoof on Fluttershy’s withers. “I know it wasn’t always easy.”

“But it was so worth it,” Fluttershy said. She closed her eyes and spread out her wings. “With the world at peace again, even the sun feels warmer.”

Celestia chuckled warmly and stooped down to give Fluttershy a brief nuzzle.

“Now wait just a second.”

Fluttershy opened her eyes again. Her smile quickly faded, and she looked around. “Did you hear something?” she asked.

“I said wait just a second,” the voice repeated.

Celestia looked up at the sky as well. “No,” she said. “That can’t be…” Suddenly, a giant lion’s paw appeared in the sky out of thin air. Its claws literally dug into the air and slashed through it, tearing the sky asunder. What remained was a fiery backdrop, and a massive figure appeared over them. The figure, a draconequus, bore the body parts of several different animals: the head and mane of a horse, but with a goat horn and a deer antler, one wing each from a bat and a pegasus, a lion’s paw and an eagle’s talon as forelimbs, and hind legs of a lizard and a goat. “Discord?!”

“Who’s Discord?” Fluttershy asked.

“The true master of the Underworld,” Celestia said. Fluttershy backed away and moved close to her side while Celestia protectively draped a wing over her.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Discord said. “But now that I’m here, let’s get this party started. Welcome to my Underworld, Flutterbutt. You too, silly Celestia.”

“I’m… honored you know who I am,” Celestia said.

“So this little pegasus took down big, bad Nightmare Moon all by herself,” Discord said. “What an accomplishment! Goodness, you should put this on your résumé! But before you do, you should also know that I whipped up that Nightmare Moon especially for you.”

“Wh-What?!” Fluttershy stammered. “B-But how?”

“Add a pinch of memories to a ton of souls.” he said. “Put them in a blender and hit frappé!”

“Explain yourself!” Celestia said.

“Her thirst for revenge was so great, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste,” Discord said. “Oh, silly Celestia. You must have done a real number on her.”

“I won’t deny that,” Celestia said smugly.

“But she’s old news, and old news bores me,” Discord said. “We must look to the future, and that future is me, the true leader of the Underworld! Next to me, little Miss Nightmare Moon is going to look like a sweet, cuddly bunny.”

“No, this can’t be happening!” Celestia said.

“I must bid you adieu.” Discord snapped his talons and vanished. The flames slowly disappeared as well, allowing the sky to return to normal. But even as all traces of Discord’s appearance faded away, neither Fluttershy nor Celestia moved from their positions. Fluttershy looked up at Celestia with frightened, pleading eyes. Celestia looked down at her to give an assuring look, but her eyes betrayed the feeling of worry she had, and she gazed back up at the sky.

Author's Note:

Well, this isn't the first time Fluttershy has had to deal with a sweet, cuddly bunny. There, I said it.

Also, the boss rush actually does make you go in a circle before fighting Hewdraw. I’m not kidding. Play the chapter and see for yourself. Something else, if Thanatos’ gem is the only key to the Underworld, then how did Dark Pit get in? And how does he leave? Did Pit leave the door open on his way in or something?

Comments

[Ulti Shadow Lord]

Discord is good, though I would've expected Nightmare. But, that seems off, since Nightmare Moon is Luna and Nightmare. So, in hindsight, I should've been expecting this.

[firebirdabirdoffire]

I liked Hades more than Discord honestly. But now we have the best of both worlds.

[peace corps general]

I think that discord is a good fit for Hades I mean both are sarcastic,funny,and were evil rulers at one point