Lightening Fluttershy's Dark Sky

Chapters

Fluttershy Becomes a Knight
Master Sister
Ghosts at the Giggle
Fluttershy Strikes Back
Maud God
The Princess Police
The Light of Two Shadows
The Bat and the Rat
Banana Sandwich, Apple Bomb
The Truth of the Orbs
The Murderer Revealed
Fluttershy's Ending (Part One of Two)
Fluttershy's Ending (Part Two of Two)
The Dark Sky's Ending (Part One of Two)
The Dark Sky's Ending (Part Two of Two)

Fluttershy Becomes a Knight

The sky of the night is darkness. The sky of the day is light. The prologue of the beginning and the ending is the story of darkness and light.

The third day after the second trial of Rarity’s celestial transcendence to become an immortal...

It was a beautiful, harmonious, brightly sunny, impossibly perfect day in the magical land of Equestria, and one can only know what that means. Fluttershy, the kindest, most loving, pure-hearted killer in all of the land, was in her upstairs bedroom sleeping in bed in preparation for a special night. Two days had passed since she had successfully kidnapped Rarity and held her captive in her basement, and as a reward, Celestia had offered her a reward for her to claim at a special dinner at her castle this special night.

“I don’t understand...what does that mean?” Fluttershy wondered as she slept. “Why would Celestia offer me a reward just for doing my work? Why do I deserve honor? Who am I?”

Meanwhile, downstairs in the basement, the captured Rarity was having a similar thought...

“I don’t understand...what does she mean?” Rarity wondered as she slept. “Why is she offering me a punishment as a reward?! Why do I deserve death?! WHAT AM I?!”

The two awoke themselves from their slumber with their unconscious interrogations and thoughts and temporarily lost their conscious trains of thought.

“Why did I ask that?” Fluttershy said as she regained her train of thought. “I know who I am at heart. I’m a killer...a monster who chose to walk the kind-hearted path of the eponymous entity called Fluttershy.”
“Why did I ask that?” Rarity said as she regained her train of thought. “I don’t answer for myself...sleeping beauties like me do not answer questions...sleeps like these in times like these are a rarity...”

“I think it was because I remember Rarity asking me so many questions in her episode...” said Fluttershy, not knowing the context of what she just said as Rarity fell back asleep downstairs. “It reminded me so much of...his episode...”

Fluttershy peered down and looked over up at the black glass jar she had taped under her bed. She tore off the tape, and brought the jar into the light in a prepositioned manner. It was a souvenir she had purchased for eight bits at the Crystal Empire gift shop...a puzzle she bought for Rarity to play with while she was at work, the smithereened shatterings of the Crystal Empire’s former dark emperor, King Sombra. Fluttershy was hesitant to give it to Rarity however, for this was no ordinary puzzle...The remnants of King Sombra were enshrouded with a dark cloud that spelled a gloomy prophecy of light on the mind of any whopony touched it. In words on Fluttershy’s mind, it was engraved in the following words...

Sombra Proudly Presents

Some days, I wish I am arisen. Some days I wish to sleep.
Some nights, I do not wish to live. Some nights, I wish to die.
Some lives, I wish I am imaginary. Some lives, I wish I am fantasy.
Some deaths, I wish I understood. Some deaths, I wish I knew why.

What do I want? One is not made beautiful from one thing.
That does not make one rise to be a game king.
That is balls! Seven arias on priest’s tiaras do not sing!
They must be sung! Blades at bay and scepters from the fray shall protect my ring!

That is all that shall concern my being.

What is the answer to my riddle? Did you like my poem? That is the answer. NOCTE!

P.S. If you get the right answer and solve me, I shall be your best friend for all eternity.

Love,

Sombra

“I don’t know if she’s even going to like this silly thing...” Fluttershy sighed. “I personally don’t mind the fact that it’s in my mind, but there’s one thing in it that doesn’t make sense to me...Did you like my poem? It’s so weird...I just don’t know...”

“THAT IS THE ANSWER!” Fluttershy heard a voice in her head that frightened her so much, she almost went crazy. She got even closer to insanity as she started to have serious hallucinations that threw her so out of whack, she overlooked the fact that a literal incarnation of her mind taking the form of her brain was crawling out of her ears and onto her bed.

“Fluttershy, when are you going to stop sleeping and feed me?!” Fluttershy’s body started to shout at Fluttershy. “Don’t you love your meat, you young bag?!”

“What is going on?!” Fluttershy yelled with great spirit as her aura went everywhere. “I can’t move my body or think my mind!”

“WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO THINK ME?” Sombra asked as Fluttershy’s mind turned into Sombra’s shadow form, which began to engulf the room. “YOU SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT THANKING ME!”

Fluttershy tried to scream, but she didn’t have the spirit to do so, so she just curled up and felt weird as the darkness completely consumed her...

One question later...

“WHERE AM I?!” was the question Fluttershy tried to ask when she woke up in a giant glass jar, but the words didn’t have any sound. Fluttershy could see their aura, but they just bounced off a glass jar and hit her right back in what represented her face. She used that face to look over to her left and was horrified by what she saw...her headless body in another glass jar staring at Fluttershy’s phoenix feather on the glass floor with what was left of her sight.

“???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Fluttershy was filled with confused and frightened emotions as she staggered back against the jar and accidentally possessed it like Nightmare Moon would.

“I feel so empty...” Fluttershy no longer even contained her former self. “I thought I was immortal...but now...I’M DEAD!”

“YOU’RE NOT DEAD...” an evil voice laughed. “YOU’VE JUST BEEN CUT IN THREE...BUT THE ONE WHO DID THAT...WAS ME!”

“AAAAAHHHHH!” Fluttershy fell over and exploded into a million pieces of glass smithereens as the voice’s speaker was revealed. “You’re.....SOMBRA! What do you want with me?!”

“WHAT DO I WANT? NOTHING FROM YOU!” Sombra explained. “ALL I WANT IS TO MAKE YOU BE WHAT YOU WANT THROUGH WISHES THREE, NOT TWO!”

“Wishes?” Fluttershy asked as her spirit came out of the broken glass. “I thought the reward for solving the puzzle was getting to be your friend, not getting wishes! That is so shallow, a selfish desire won’t get me out of this mess!”

“AND A FRIEND WHO IS ME YOU SHALL HAVE, FLUTTERSHY!” Sombra said with residential amicability. “BUT FRIENDS ARE WISHES TOO, AND SO ARE YOU, OH MARE WHO IS NOT PINKIE PIE!”

“Sombra, I don’t need half an eye to see that I’m not Pinkie Pie,” replied Fluttershy, “but a whole half of the brain that crawled out of me is baffled and unable to know why you just said that I am a wish. How can an abstract concept...be I?!”

“FOOLISH MARE, ALL ABSTRACT CONCEPTS ARE WE!” Sombra boasted to Fluttershy, whose head he thought was like concrete. “IT IS THE FORM THAT EVERYONE SHALL BECOME, JUST LIKE ONE WHO WANTS TO BE ME!...DID YOU LIKE MY SIMILE?”

“This doesn’t make anything like sense at all, it’s like as if I’ve been sucked into an alternate, metaphorical universe!” Fluttershy made a proem out of the problem. “Yes, that would at least explain why you’re always rhyming!”

“THE IMPACT OF THIS UNIVERSE IS NOT WHAT CAUSED MY RHYMING!” Sombra blushed. “I JUST LIKE TO DO IT ALL THE TIMING! LIKE RIGHT THERE, NO NEED TO CARE!”

“Sombra, I can forgive you and accept the fact that you’re causing me to suffer by sucking me into this very strange world, killing me, and cutting me in three...” Fluttershy remembered that she had somewhere to be. “But if you don’t put me back together and give my spirit back my phoenix feather, others are going to suffer besides me...and you! So show some empathy...NO! Now I’m doing it too!”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU SOUND LIKE WATER OUT OF A FISH!” Sombra was hurt, for he never wanted Fluttershy to be hurt. “I NEVER KILLED YOU, I JUST CUT YOU IN THREE SO I COULD REASSEMBLE YOU AND YOUR THREE DESIRES AS ONE WISH!”

“What are my desires?!” said Fluttershy like light being revealed on a box that a butterfly grew up in. “I’m an immortal tool meant to be used as a cog in Celestia’s plan, I have no desires!”

“AGAIN, YOU ARE WRONG!” Sombra bellowed. “IN A SECOND, YOUR MISCONCEPTION WILL BE FANTASY! A SECOND WON’T TAKE LONG!”

Faster than instantaneously, Sombra turned on the lights, and what Fluttershy saw was something so real that it threw her into a phase of arbitrary belief. To the left of her jarred headless body was an empty jar where her mind was supposed to be. Underneath Sombra was a small glass jar that his shadow form was coming out of. To the right of him was a big, strange urn-like jar that had three question marks on its top, middle, and bottom. They looked like they marked the symbols for doorways, as they looked like they could be opened and left ajar for a while, just like a door...

“This mystic jar is what I used to cut you and your desires in three, carefully conserved,” Sombra lowered his voice in lieu of the emotional tension. “Your desires are...”

“Love!” the top door opened. “Spirit!” the middle door opened. “Death!” the last door opened.

“The top door opening reveals your severed head, and the bottom two doors reveal the rest of your new shadow body, as you have just observed...” Sombra chuckled. “That’s my present that I shall send, I hope you like it my friend...”

“...How can you do all this?” Fluttershy was still puzzled. “You use all this dark magic to grant my wishes for my disbenefit...and you want to be my friend? You must be a mage...or a genie...or...”

“A MAGENIEUS...” Sombra grinned evilly. “I am a mage and a genie in one, and now...ONE WILL BE US!”

As the last jar began to fill with shadow, Fluttershy woke up in bed and looked all around her.

“Phew,” she said as she rubbed sweat from her forehead in relief. “It was all a fantasy...Wait...”

She looked at her right arm and noticed that it was completely made of shadow.

“Or was it really...” she pulled off her pink bed sheet and saw that aside from her head, her body was completely made of shadow. “A real dream...”

“DON’T BE SURPRISED...” Sombra’s voice spoke from Fluttershy’s head as Fluttershy grabbed her head in pain. “AS A MAGENIEUS, IT’S MY JOB TO FUSE OUR DESIRES INTO ONE AND MAKE THEM COME TRUE...YOU’VE ALWAYS DESIRED TO BE RID OF YOUR IMMORTALITY TO BECOME A TRUE SPIRIT...AND TO SHARE TRUE DEATH WITH OTHERS...WATCH HOW FAST I CAN MAKE THAT WISH ARISE! AND I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND, BUT I HAVE TO REMIND YOU, I’LL NEED TO BECOME YOUR MIND!”

“...The empty jar...I understand...” Fluttershy fell unconscious just as she came to a realization, and Sombra took full control of the mind that he was. Lightning struck outside in some sort of strange hope that the wishes of the dark sky would come true.

Some time later... *THUMP* *GUK* *GASH*

In a dark, friendly office, green goo dripped all over the floor as a stygian figure holding a splattered urn boasted a malevolent grin.

“This is my logic...” the figure smiled. “This is Fluttershy’s science...desiring your eternal silence...The dark sky shall return...HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AHA AHA AHA HA HA HA HA!”

The Ending of Prologue.

Master Sister

Later that night, night had become day...

Fluttershy arose from her bed to find the house clean just like it always was in her real life, but she knew from last night that this wasn’t a dream. Many demons had come to the dream house that was herself and messed up the place. She had been turned into a shadow just like King Sombra, who was now her mind. Whenever she wanted to remember or say something from her mind, she would have to think of Sombra with her spirit. Like so...

“It’s morning...” Fluttershy’s spirit felt the poetic nature of a warm summer morning as light from the sun filled the bedroom. “Sombra, I feel weird like I’ve forgotten something. Can you please research my memories and tell me what I should be remembering?”

“You forgot to eat dinner last night...” Sombra recapped sleepily, as being Fluttershy’s mind was hard work. “And you made a friend...what a delight...”

“Friend...oh no...” Fluttershy remembered that there was something she had to do yesterday. “I forgot to meet Celestia for dinner...and I missed work with my friend Rarity! I need to complete the rituals and turn her into an immortal! If I don’t, she could die!”

Fluttershy got out of bed and tried to run, but she couldn’t. She looked down and remembered that she had no physical arms and legs and was floating instead.

“Oh, that’s right...” Fluttershy looked at herself. “As a shadow, I’m no longer a physical being...I’m now the reflection of a being performing physics. But Sombra was able to get around as a shadow just fine...oh, I get it! Because he used to do physics when he was a pony! So if he’s my mind now, that means...”

Fluttershy thought of Sombra finding a scientific way to grow a pony form, and sure enough, the brainpower gave her the ability to mold her midsection into a pony-like one with two leg-like arms and two arm-like legs.

“I guess this will have to do,” Fluttershy was aware that she was still a shadow, “but thank goodness that Sombra was a genius as well as a magenieus. Now to make sure that Rarity’s not dead and safe!”

Fluttershy ran down the stairs and to her basement in her pony-form shadow body to find that Rarity wasn’t dead, alive, or even asleep...

“What the...Rarity?!” Fluttershy couldn’t believe what had happened to her friend. “Wh-where did you go?!”

Rarity was nowhere to be seen in the basement, not even in the bathrooms. The rope that Fluttershy had used to bind Rarity’s front hooves and tie her to the ceiling was still there, with the binding knot unsevered and unperturbed. Nothing in the room had been tampered with either, the only interchangeable element being Rarity, as something had replaced her...a white mist of rain that had taken the form of Rarity and her position of when she last fell unconscious.

“Who are you?” Fluttershy asked as she walked closer. “Why is my friend gone?”

The mist smiled and vanished, only leaving a notably small paper-sized drop of rain that materialized into a paper note. When Fluttershy picked it up and read it, it read the following reading:

The Mist’s Missed One

The mist has missed your dark sky
Who would have known, Fluttershy
From time to time, the form of you and me
Appears to have lost your dear Rarity

In search of Sombra’s ring, she left with some one
For two pursuits of power are far more for some fun
Than the aforementioned, number me three
From clouds to dragons, the ending is me

In other words, you’re going to love me. DEATH IS PEACE.

Death is Love,

Mist

“How could he say that?” Fluttershy was hurt. “Death is not peace and love, it is merely the passage to those things through immortality. There’s no way that could be the mist that summons my Dark Sky band members... They understand death, and they’d never convince Rarity to leave. There’s not a large number of ponies who could’ve known about my mission and broken into my house, so who is this mysterious one? And finally...Sombra’s ring?! Didn’t Sombra mention something like that in his poem?”

“You can call me I...for I am you now...” Sombra said as Fluttershy’s mind, still tired. “How they know about I’s ring, we do not know how...”

Just then, there was a very loud knock at the door that banged up and penetrated the sound barrier of Fluttershy’s shadow ears in her basement.

“Oh no, we got company!” Fluttershy unintentionally caught on to Sombra’s “you and me” perspective. “I can’t let any visitors see me like this, they’ll think I’m a monster! I need to disguise myself as something that won’t threaten them!”

So Fluttershy floated back upstairs, and found her shark suit in her closet.

“Perfect!” she said as she put it on. “Nopony is scared of a shark out of water, running out of air on the air!”

Just as Fluttershy was about to go back downstairs, the voice behind the door began to grow impatient.

“This is the police!” the voice shouted, banging on the barrier louder at the door. “We have a warrant for your arrest! Come out of there now and put your hooves up or we will be forced to surround you!”

“That voice...” Fluttershy remembered Sombra and then remembered it. “It couldn’t be...”

After Fluttershy completed her shark disguise and had gotten her important documents together, she went back downstairs and opened the door, revealing the voice to be that of...Prince-ipal Police Officer Luna! Luna was not one to talk when she saw that Fluttershy was dressed like a shark that had been eaten by Phoenix Wright, as the spiky pink hair on the shark’s head looked very dangerous from consumption. Fluttershy was not one to talk either when she saw that behind the police officer uniform-dressed Luna was a large blue police officer car that resembled a sleigh with wheels and a IDPD symbol on the doors. It also had two ropes attached to spears on the front headlights that were connected to eight humans dressed in white robes crawling on all fours with a body-like figure on top of each one of them covered by a ghostly sheet.

“It looks like we both have explaining to do...” they both agreed. “Behind both our steads, why is there darkness being created by both me and you?!”

Fluttershy’s darkness was that Luna could see the dark aura that Fluttershy was exuding from her true essence. Luna’s darkness was that even though it was daytime and the sun was shining brilliantly in the sky, the sky around it was completely dark, even though the ground and everything else the sun reflected upon was perfectly bright.

“My mind was replaced with the evil unicorn King Sombra after I inadvertently solved a puzzle of his, and now he’s taken over my body!” Fluttershy gave her explanation to her darkness.

“My soul was replaced with the evil forces of darkness when the entire sky remained dark yesterday, even though the moon had been lowered!” Luna gave her explanation to her darkness. “Sister was so angry at me even though it wasn’t my fault! She fired me from raising the moon for working overtime, and assigned me a new job more suiting to my lowly level, fighting crime!”

“Well I hope you didn’t come here to fight me,” Fluttershy got powered and puffed up like a serial killer’s labrador retriever. “I may be a killer, but I’m within my rights. I transcended the law, and I have proof of it too with a documentary of my documentation.”

Fluttershy showed Luna all of her documents along with a tape of her signing the documents, but Luna just laughed in response.

“Fluttershy, I may have no right to punish you for your own personal hobbies,” Luna said with a smile, “but I am not just a police officer. As a ruler of Equestria and the goddess of death, I am also within my rights to arrest you for what you have done.”

“But...what did I do?” Fluttershy grew nervous, wondering what kind of evidence could’ve told the police about her true identity.

“Queen Chrysalis, the CEO of Human Resources, was found dead in her office two days ago...” Luna said with a frown, “...and everyone knows that you were the one who killed her.”

“What?!” Fluttershy shouted. “But I’d never kill anypony who I didn’t have to kill! There must be some mistake! Two days ago, I was still at home taking care of my friend Rarity!”

“Impossible,” Luna replied, “because Rarity and her friended one were the ones who told the police all about this two days ago! But nobody believed them, especially when Rarity started going on about some nonsense about you being in a shark suit...yeah. It wasn’t until they sent me to Human Resources to investigate just yesterday, where I found incriminating evidence that incarcerates everypony else in a safe zone except for you! The fact that you have no alibi other than that you were asleep all day yesterday while everypony else had been called to work!”

“Wait a second...” Fluttershy stood still as she passed out her memories to the sleeping Sombra that was her mind. “I’ve been asleep for longer than that afternoon nap and that night...I slept for a day?!”

“Princess Celestia had no idea where you were until she looked through your bedroom window yesterday wondering what you had been doing the night prior on your free time.” Luna laughed like a cat that had been caught off-guard as it drew on a bull herder’s doormat. “When she saw you napping on the job, she pieced everything together...you were actually napping on the free time because you had been doing your work the night prior, eliminating a threat to Celestia’s plans for Equestria! That’s right, you don’t just have no alibi, you had the perfect motive! Killing that scum in Celestia’s name for the sake of the world!”

“Wait...how could me killing Chrysalis be a good thing?” Fluttershy asked curiously. “She may have been evil, but she didn’t deserve to die...and even if so, I would’ve brought her back to life with my phoenix feather! Even if I somehow did kill her in a state of delusion, I would have definitely resurrected her! I’ve...I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Heh heh...” Luna chuckled as she pointed to the phoenix feather in Fluttershy’s hair with her right hoof. “That phoenix feather...was found at the scene of the crime. I have no idea what this “resurrection” you’re associating it with it is all about, but we now have everything we need to convict you. No alibi, perfect motive, and hardcore evidence. Three strikes, and you’re out. Fluttershy, you’re not just going to be arrested now...you’re also going to get...A DETENTION NOTICE!”

“A debt...a ten...a sheng...A DETENTION NOTICE?!” Fluttershy shrieked as Luna wrote her a red ticket and handed it to her with her hooves. “But that means I have to go to the...”

“Detention center.” Luna deterred the tension. “Now come with me quietly...let’s learn something on our way to the princess’ magic castle. Ha ha ha ha ha. I am so glad I turned down that vacation Twilight offered me. My Master Sister will be so pleased...HA HA HA HA HA!”

The Ending of Part Two.

Ghosts at the Giggle

The time will come for the separation...the separation for time has already come...

Some Nights, The Revolution Has a Nightmare

The theme of this poem and what it is about is that it is what it is being that it’s part of the song Luna is playing on the radio in her police officer sleigh car right now to test Fluttershy.

SOME NIGHTS...

Everyone as time went by got a little bit older and a little bit slower...

BECAUSE THIS IS NIGHTMARE NIGHT!

SOME NIGHTS I WISH...

We went to see a dentist...

TO COME AND TAKE AWAY YOUR SOUL AND EAT YOU UP FOR A SNACK!

I found a martyr in my bed tonight...

Naked...You can come naked...

WITHOUT THE PROPER CARE!

I WISH THAT THIS WORLD WOULD END!

RRRRRIIIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHTTTTT!

IN THE PAST SO YOU WON’T LAST!

The most amazing things that can come from...

The watusi! The twist! Take this brother, may it serve you well...

WITH A ROYAL FAREWELL!!

An Animate Spell,

Dark Sky

“That song,” Fluttershy had an epilogue, “how did it just end...without me?”

“That was “An Animate Spell” by Princess Celestia’s own personal band the “Dark Sky”!” the radio announcer spoke radiantly. “Even with the departure of their lead member, Fluttershy, they managed to create us an awesome remix of autotune voices, old-school dubstep, and new-school dubstep! It’s amazing how we could tell what they were saying with such awesome music reflecting the meaning...”

“Now do you understand the consequences of what you have done?” Luna gave a pressingly sympathetic statement to Fluttershy as she turned off the radio. “You were so busy that your friends forgot about you, and so your Dark Sky is no more.”

Fluttershy didn’t answer, all she did was look around at everything around her. She saw that she was in the front seat of the sleigh car, looking outside the window to see that Luna was levitating the car in the sky as the eight humans with body figures covered in sheets on top of their backs crawled on air. Outside, the sky was still dark, with many ponies dressed in white robes walking under it on the ground. They appeared to be gathering to a giant tombstone in the middle of town square that they appeared to be frowning and laughing at as they used hammers and nails to impress expressions of Chrysalis’ face on it.

“Weird stuff happens,” Fluttershy’s reply finally occurred, “because of our perception of what weird is. Time changes that perception...and I fear that as time goes on, time is falling apart...But the Dark Sky would never forget me...”

“Correct,” said Luna, “you passed the test.”

A mist rolled into the backseat of the car and materialized into the familiar eponymously named members of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky band, Ghost Rainbow Dash, Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, and Derpy Hooves!

“Oh my great Caeser’s ghost’s ruler!” Fluttershy was so surprised she jumped out of the skin that was her shark suit. “Even though Sombra made my mind forget all about you...you guys still remembered me!”

“Looks like you are WWWWWRRRRRIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHTTTTT on the answer!” the pegasi trio commented on her lawyer-only appearance now.

“Wow, I guess our memories are serving you well!” Derpy shared mentally advanced commentary.

“And now we’ll remember you best from a memory in the back of a car...” Ghost Rainbow Dash chuckled in her personal comment, having now found another reason to linger.

“So my hunch was right...” Luna said with relief, as if a tray had just been lifted off her back against the wall of the damed. “You have not been completely consumed by Sombra...your mind may be gone, but your soul is still relatively sane. At least you’ll be safe from charges of second-degree murder.”

“Why is Fluttershy being charged for crime in the first place?” the pegasi trio asked. “She’s an assassin, killing is what she does! All killing is killing, so why is a penalty being assigned to her for this specific kind of killing?”

“Because this kind of killing has been deemed wrong by Celestia for a special occasion...” Luna replied. “Even though she did Celestia a favor, she acted outside of her orders...that kind of killing you did yesterday, the killing of your client’s trust as their assassin...is wrong.”

“But-” Fluttershy started shaking. “But I didn’t kill Chrysalis yesterday-”

Fluttershy paused abruptly as an image of Rarity grinning evilly while holding a hypnotist’s watch flashed through the Sombra of her mind.

“The oddness of the clock is ticking in my favor...” Rarity swung the watch back and forth. “You have so much time...but none left to kill.”

As the image faded, Fluttershy stood still in fear. She couldn’t shake the feeling that times had changed for her friend...friends? She looked over at the Dark Sky members and suddenly realized what Rarity’s words meant...something was VERY wrong concerning the time...

“It seems that you’ve noticed...” said Ghost Rainbow Dash as she and the other members turned to mist and enshrouded Fluttershy, moving her to the back seat of the car.

“It wasn’t because of Sombra that you couldn’t remember us with your mind...” the pegasi trio smiled. “The reason you didn’t remember us is because the Dark Sky band DOESN’T EXIST YET. Dash won’t become a ghost and we won’t lose our jobs until the day before Rarity’s last day of immortality preparation.”

“The time continuum is starting to fall apart in the future, and so we ended up in the past! Now we’re really living in the moment!” Derpy said excitedly at part of the universe’s destruction.

“You’re from the future...” Fluttershy shuddered in horror. “First my mind, then my friend, and now the time continuum?! What next?! Why is all this happening?!”

“Hey!” Luna couldn’t overhear the conversation concealed by the mist, but she got wind of the noise. “Shut up back there, won’t all of ya?! I may have no idea what you’re saying, but be warned if you’re talking bad about me. I can read lip!”

After a brief moment of silence, the conversation resumed.

“Don’t get your fabric in the universe’s knots, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash, “we’re not really from the future. In fact, all we know about the future following the death of all the Equestrians is that on a day after tonight’s twilight’s passing, TIME ITSELF WILL FALL APART, AND HISTORY WILL BE DIVIDED INTO SIX DIFFERENT PERIODS OF TIME DIVIDED BETWEEN TWO WORLDS. Our only hope is foretold to be a prophecy that will be foretold in the future...”

“Six different periods...between two worlds?” Fluttershy was so confused that she felt like a teacher who didn’t even deserve the drop of two golden apples from Artimus. “I don’t get it...I never would’ve guessed that time falling apart so conveniently would lead to stuff this complicated...”

“OW, MY FLUTTERSHY HURTS...” Sombra felt her pain inside of her. “SCREW ALL THIS DRIVELING NONSENSE...IT JUST FLIRTS...”

“Now it’s our turn to be confused, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash loved to share the stories of her nights in the back of a car, but now was never a good time for that. “Why are you possessed by King Sombra? You weren’t a shadow when we last saw you in the future, not to mention that according to real-life lore, Sombra was still just a thought evolving into an animated state in a parallel cartoon universe around the time...THAT STORY was written.”

“So was the Crystal Empire...” Fluttershy remembered that even the story of how she acquired the puzzle that released Sombra didn’t make any sense. “Just like you guys, he’s not supposed to be here in this place of time yet...”

“So just like us, he’s an anachronism...” the pegasi trio remembered the revolution a second instantly. “This is not good...each time an anachronism is created, a DIFFERENT PERIOD OF TIME that could have possibly existed is created.”

“Time keeps on slipping into the PAST for you Fluttershy...” Derpy began last second ago with appropriate care in her words. “Time becoming the FUTURE is such a rarity...”

“But all of that makes no sense either...is it a result of time falling apart?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m afraid we don’t have much time left...” the Dark Sky members answered as they began to fade into the mist of the sands of time. “The fact that we even got a chance to speak to you is a Rarity...”

“I still don’t get it...” Fluttershy continued her misunderstanding before and after they completely vanished. “What does this all mean...”

Just then, the car had now come to a stop at the contemporary form of Celestia’s castle...Catholic kindergarten.

“It’s time...” Luna said a few seconds after it was time. “...to meet my master sister, Master Celestia. Upon entering her domain, she shall see you for detention for the murder of Chrysalis...it would be wise to hide the fact that your mind has become King Sombra. It will only make you look more...worthy of being incriminated, let’s leave it at that.”

“But how can I hide what’s become the biggest part of me?” Fluttershy said feeling as fragile as a Muppet rocking out to the Rolling Stones’ electric bill.

“HMMMM...” Luna thought in frustration of the fact that she had to think carefully. Her negative feelings abated when she remembered her days as Nightmare Moon.

“AH HA!” she exclaimed with triumph as she got out of the car and went to the trunk. In there, sure enough, she found a full suit of armor she had put together from the shattered metal plaster remaining from her battle with the Mane 6 as Nightmare Moon and had now handed over to Fluttershy. “PUT ON THIS PLASTER FOR THE MASTER!”

“Um...thanks.” Fluttershy said, feeling somewhat puzzled as her shadow body filled out the armor nicely, covering everything but her face.

“No need, it’s good to be a friend in need of offering services indeed!” Luna humbly bowed. “I know you’re pleased, but I aim to appease!”

Fluttershy gulped, walking up to the kindergarten with the red ticket Luna gave her in her ambiguously shaped hand now covered by a metal hoof plate. Luna had uncomfortably reminded her of you-know-who, and she knew who you-know-who was quite well because you knew who he was quite well in her mind, mind him. Regardless, Sombra saw all the images Fluttershy’s brain was processing as she walked down the walkway to the Catholic kindergarten. It resembled Celestia’s castle, only much different than that...

The castle was comprised of four castle walls covered in arrows with their pointers pertruding out and the blood of Celestia’s mortal friends. The roof was comprised of a castle roof adjacent to a gutter with six orbs, three filled with darkness and three filled with light, hanging by nooses. The front yard was comprised of what resembled a backyard containing creatures that looked a lot like the creatures who drove Luna’s sleighcar happily playing with ectoplasm under their ghost sheets. The door of the castle was all but a door, comprised of disembodied pony heads sucking on gumballs, disembodied human heads with lollipops for eyes, and disembodied candy wrappers scrunched up and imploded into gum.

“THIS LOOKS LIKE MY KIND OF PLACE!” Fluttershy’s/Sombra’s twisted mind was showing. “WITH SOME SLAVES AROUND HERE, I COULD REALLY SAVE SOME FACE!”

“My face is nothing but a contortion of fear right now...” Fluttershy knew something was wrong with this school. Before she had the chance to know even more, the door abruptly opened, revealing the name of the castle ruler’s eponymous friend...Celestia.

“Good day Fluttershy,” Celestia politely greeted. “How do you how do. How you been avoiding your fate to recently die?”

“It’s been...awesome...lately...” Fluttershy rubbed the back of her armored neck and gave a nervous smile, unsure of how to reply.

“You don’t have to be hesitant to respond...” Celestia then paused and looked at her attire. “Oh, it must be because I’m not properly dressed. Just hold on a second, no need to despond!”

With a clicking clap of her hooves, everything went out like a light for a tick of a second and Celestia was back in black like that. Did that make Fluttershy feel calmer?

“There.” Celestia brandished her new groove. “That’s better, no?”

Thanks to Celestia, the question had already been answered. She was wearing only the shirt part of a white robe marked with a red clip-on tie under a black jacket with two horizontal red lines marked at the zipper areas. They formed together with the shape of the tie to make a T. Hmm...

“Um...what does the T stand for?” asked Fluttershy.

“Title!” Celestia put her hooves together as she smiled evilly. “My title of the famed “Prope-Hane” of Equestria! What that means is that I’m the president and pope of this world, and I have taken many ponies and humans from different worlds under my wing, as you can plainly see!”

“I’m sorry, but I...don’t...” replied Fluttershy.

“Oh, don’t worry...” Celestia’s grin grew more evil. “You’ll be able to see the error of your sight, so long as you don’t get in my way during detention...”

“Your...Prope-Haneness, please listen to me.” Fluttershy pleaded. “I’ll take my punishment like a mare’s freeman, even though I didn’t kill Chrysalis. But once this is over, we need to...”

“Find Rarity and immortalize her?” Celestia replied. “Sorry Fluttershy...I’m afraid such a meaningless matter is trivial, fruitless, and outdated. It is lost to the sands of time...”

“W-what?” Fluttershy was startled. “How come?”

“Rarity came by here earlier...” Celestia explained. “She...has already become an immortal being.”

“W-WHAT?” Fluttershy was aghast. “HOW SO?”

“Come inside...” Celestia walked back to the castle gateway and opened the door. “We have...too much to discuss. We’re going to need...music.”

As Fluttershy followed Celestia into the castle, she could hear music playing that sounded like something out of a factory. When the two of them finished walking, they were in a factory...A MAGICAL SCIENCE FACTORY!

“I think this is where I should begin, seeing as how this is where it all began...” Celestia glared at Fluttershy as her evil smile went insane. “Take a good long look at how you were created...”

Nothing but quietude came out of Fluttershy’s mouth as the noise of the factory produced a tune so foul, she simply could not swallow. It was non-lyrical music that described what was happening in the factory without words. These words, to be precise...

At the end of the factory room were two mystical boxes marked with three question mark-marked doors. The roofs of them were connected to two large metallic test tubes, each one stretching out of the factory and connecting to a different world. The one on the left was connected to the pony world, and the one on the right was connected to the human world. Every around the clock of the world(s), the left test tube would capture a pony from the pony world, and every second, the right test tube would capture a human from the human world. The mystical boxes would then extract both the pony and human’s body, mind, and soul, and send them to a giant machine that looked like a combination of a cloning machine and a time machine. In there, everything would be fused and synchronized together, and out would come the creature known only as...a Centauroth.

“They call it...BMS summoning.” Celestia had termed the process. “Isn’t that cool?”

“Celestia...” Fluttershy was in disbelief. “That box...that’s the same box that...”

“Turned your mind into King Sombra?” Celestia already knew. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry that you had to be my...first test subject.”

Fluttershy was frozen that day like a foreigner playing his cards wrong and getting into jeopardy at a theater when he couldn’t get his rhymes right.

“How do you...how do you...how do you how do...” Fluttershy felt like her head was spinning and Celestia was enjoying the ride (with Sombra).

“I know everything Fluttershy...” Celestia laughed as she clapped her hooves. “I thought I implied that a long time ago...but that was a long time ago. I no longer work for you as your mentor...I switched sides with Rarity. She is far more immortal and powerful than you’ll ever be. She came to me yesterday offering a gift far more valuable than you’ll ever be...the magic that created this universe. She has far more capabilities and accomplishments than you’ll ever be able to achieve...she is a time wizard, a reality-bender, and as of the beginning of the universe...A GOD.”

With those words, the ground began to shake as Celestia lifted her arms up to the sun. She chanted something as her eyes turned black in her right, and white in her left. The Centauroth that had just emerged from the machine was converted into magic energy, which Celestia balanced in her hooves.

“The Centauroth is already an immortal demigod formed by the combination of ponies and humans being transformed into magic...” Celestia bounced the ball. “And they in turn can always be restored to their original forms...”

“Original forms?” Fluttershy felt Celestia’s pitch of tone, as she remembered her mentioning Rarity getting the magic from the beginning of the universe. “It can’t be...”

“Rarity has turned you into an outdated relic, Fluttershy...” Celestia threw the ball of energy up to space, where it was transformed into a shining star. “THIS IS TRUE IMMORTALITY!”

The star grew even brighter with those words, and shot laser beams down to earth that powered up all of the Centauroths in Celestia’s castle. They stormed into the factory room and surrounded Fluttershy as the air grew colder and they and Celestia...

HAD A MUSIC NUMBER! Celestia began to sing the following poem’s lyrics, as the Centauroths joined in by singing the music with both their pony mouths and human mouths.

Ghosts at the Giggle

When I was feeling like a mean monster, killing followers of the rrrrrrrrruuuuuuuunnnnnneeeee!
The screaming and their pain-filled cries would always make me swwwwwoooooonnnnn!
I’d put a pillow to my hide! I’d mock them as they died!
But the pie my grandma made said that wasn’t the way to take them for a ride!

She said “Celestia! You’re doing it all wrong! You gotta make them fear your face!
They’’ll see that you’re their master! So laugh and make their fun erase!”

AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH!

SSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Make ghosts as you giggle!
Bake toast as you wiggle!
Give them an evil tickle!
Show them a friendly sickle!
Shake them as they jiggle!
Just don’t teach them how to griggle!

So you just tell Luna! To go pop a RockStar! And if she thinks she can stop this, she better be able to top this! And the idea that she may one day be able to do such a thing just makes you want to.....

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Even though Celestia pointed less information in that explanatory song than in her explanatory explanations, it was enough to leave Fluttershy on the floor stunned. Even King Sombra was dizzy.

“CELESTIA IS WEIRD.” he thought. “A FEARFUL FOE TO BE FEARED, SHE DOESN’T ENDEAR.”

“We’re not done yet Fluttershy...” Celestia prepared to transit to something that wasn’t good. “BUT...that doesn’t mean we’re not almost done. The next part of your detention is the last.”

With a clap of her hooves, Celestia and Fluttershy were teleported to Celestia’s bedroom.

“This is where the educational part of Catholic kindergarten kicks in...” Celestia tossed her Prope-Hane clothing to the side of her bed. “They don’t call me “King of the Hill” for nothing...”

“I take it back...” Fluttershy said in spite of being the receiving end. “I won’t accept this punishment...I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

“We all do things Fluttershy...” Celestia snickered. “Some things we want to do, some things we don’t want. You are not a thing I want to do...but a pony I want to do...”

“Oh no...” Fluttershy murmured.

“OH YES!” Sombra proclaimed. “OH YEAH! OH YAY! OH NO SECOND GUESS!”

“Rarity set everything up for this moment...” Celestia licked her lips as she tore off Fluttershy’s virile freeman plate with her magic horn and levitated her into the bed. “I will give you love and bear a child for Rarity...a demigod more powerful than the Centauroths made in your image...as a trophy of her victory over you...”

“A victory won by hurting the innocent is no victory at all!” Fluttershy shouted as she struggled in futility.
“You are so smart Fluttershy, even in your current state of mind...” Celestia hugged Fluttershy and put her mouth against her left ear as she prepared. “But you lack one thing...and that is...”

“...Light.”

Fluttershy’s eyes went dark as she fell unconscious. When she woke up...

“CELESTIA IS DEAD.” Sombra said. “SHE IS ON THE BED, AND THAT IS WHAT I SAID.”

“??!!!” Fluttershy saw blood splattered all over her armor. There was also blood dripping out of Celestia’s chest onto her Prope-Hane outfit. She was lying on the bed with a gaping cut across her chest. It looked like the weapon responsible for the fatal wound was a blade... of a shuriken.

“This got far worse than I ever could’ve expected...” Fluttershy couldn’t keep her cool in this school anymore. “I’ve got to get out of here!”

Fluttershy ran as fast as she could to the door, only to be stopped by the searing pain of a magic spinning ninja blade being thrown from the ceiling stabbing her in the shadow heart.

“GUK!” Fluttershy gakked black, shadowy blood as the ninja blade kept her stuck on the floor.

“DO NOT MOVE!” a familiar figure dressed in a black ninja outfit dropped from the ceiling. “YOU ARE MINE NOW!”

The ninja was none other than Rarity!

“You do not want to know how long I would have to wait for this day Fluttershy...” Rarity flashed two magic hooftip-watches at the immobilized hero. “Had I not found the power to change time...”

“Ugh...uh...” Fluttershy whimpered in pain.

“That fool Celestia...” Rarity scoffed. “She couldn’t have died at a better time...I have a better way of getting an heir...and that can wait till another time. As for you...in this state of time...”

“Please...stop...” Fluttershy said with tears dropping from her eyes as she looked up at Rarity. “I’m sorry for everything I ever did to you...”

“The dark knight begging the ninja master for mercy.” Rarity smiled with conceit. “What a strange sight. I’m afraid it’s too early to apologize Fluttershy...you’re going to do far worse things than what you’ve done to me in an alternate future...”

“You mean...” Fluttershy remembered the Dark Sky members’ words.

“That’s right...” Rarity smirked. “I also have the power to bend reality to my will. I am the ruler of only an infinite amount of alternate realities, and I chose this one as the setting of the worst worst-case scenario you could ever imagine. Everything’s been set up to ensure that you will be the victim of my ultimate revenge scheme. For it to continue...”

“AAAAAHHHHH!” Fluttershy shouted in spiritual pain as Rarity pulled the blade halfway out of her back. She felt like her soul was dying...

“Your spirit must die.” Rarity gazed at Fluttershy’s suffering with great interest. “This blade has the power to wound spirits. You lost your body and your mind became Sombra. The only thing keeping you attached to this realm is your soul. If it dies, you can never live in this world again...the real world of Equestria.”

“!!!!!” An image flashed through Sombra...an image of Fluttershy disappearing from the picture of the Mane Six forever...doomed to live only as a shadow in a fictional realm...

Rarity had completely pulled the blade out that time.

The miracle that could have changed that fate of time is lost to the sands of time...because time is time is...time is...time is...time is...what....time is....is time.....

OVER GAME. DIME TO TIE.

DIE TO EMIT.

DIE TO EMIT...

WHY?

“Who am I?” said Fluttershy. “How do I how die?”

The sky sheds its darkness and light through a choice...

Fluttershy Strikes Back

If you get the right answer and solve me, I shall be your best friend for all eternity…

Why should something like that be a mystery…

Fluttershy began to think these things as she came to the realization that she was no longer real. As her soul was torn apart from her body by Rarity’s sword...she felt like nothing but a mere illustration of her former self...a mere illustration whose fate was determined by an illusion...an illusion cast by the One Who Knew All the Frames of Her Life.

“Oh yeah, him.” Rarity said with a smirk. “He has served his purpose…”

Fluttershy did not hear her. What Rarity was saying wasn’t real to her anymore. She had slipped away from the real world and had fallen into darkness. A new darkness whose nature would be revealed...with a glimmer of light.

DIE TO EMIT.

The true beginning of…

Lightening Fluttershy’s Dark Sky

The story truly began with Fluttershy lying in bed. This time though, she was thinking differently in a different place surrounded by darkness.

“What happened?” she thought. “Where did it all go wrong? Every time I think about this madness...it just seems to go on and on...Why?”

Fluttershy got out of bed and looked around at her surroundings. The only thing she could see was the bed. Everything else was just all the same...darkness.

“Even though there are no bars…” Fluttershy slumped back in bed as she acknowledged her slump. “I’m in jail…forever...”

Fluttershy began to cry…

…

“Don’t cry…” said someone from behind. “It’s not time for that just yet.”

Fluttershy didn’t listen. She continued to let the faucet run free.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy replied, “but it really is over this time. I’ve lost my life, my soul, and now my freedom. I didn’t even have anything to fight for from the start, and now it’s all gone…”

“Exactly.” the someone said, slightly grinning a small smile.

Fluttershy wasn’t even surprised by the sudden and minor change of attitude from the unknown figure. She just sighed.

“If you’re one of Rarity’s henchmen, just come out and say it.” she stated with melancholy. “I’ve experienced more insane twists.”

“Oh, this isn’t an insane twist…” the someone suddenly lit up the place with a mysterious orb with a rotating glow of eeriness swirling on the inside. “...It’s a twisted twist.”

Startled by the lightening, Fluttershy turned her head and saw somebody with a face.

“What…” she said as she recognized the face. “You..”

“That s right.” said someone as Fluttershy’s vision shook, blurred, and got somewhat fuzzy “SO iM Being youR Answer“

Everything went light, and soon, Fluttershy was no longer unconscious. It was time to bring light for a new day.

It was a new day in Fluttershy’s bed. The sun was up, and Fluttershy had gotten out of bed.

“Uh…” Fluttershy groaned while putting her hoof on her face. “What could something that frightening have been?”

Fluttershy looked around and gulped as she found herself in another familiar setting...her bedroom. In fear, she immediately pulled back her covers and gasped. Between her legs, she found...that she had wet the bed...inside a beer bottle.

“How did…” Fluttershy firmly grasped the bottle uncomfortably. “How did this get here? Is there a burglar in the house?”

Just then, there was a knock at the front door, and someone downstairs opened it. Fluttershy looked out the window and froze in fear when she saw a mysterious ghostly white unicorn outside handing an unfamiliar draconequus a huge jar with fifty thousand bits in it. For reality’s sake, that’s five million yen (not USD), fifty thousand dollars in United States currency. After the unicorn had to hand it to the draconequus, she left, and the draconequus entered the house again.

“Ha ha ha, looks like I’ve made the big catch!” the unidentified draconequus said as he pulled out his wallet. An ID card with a name obscured by a blur could be seen in the wallet, as he stuffed the money inside of it like Discord would. He then made a surfboard appear with magic, and caught some waves up to Fluttershy’s room to wake her up. Fluttershy screamed as the door burst open and water flooded the room.

“GAH!” she squirmed like a wet noodle in a hollow banana. “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?! And are you trying to kill me or something?”

“Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooo,” Discord wasted time by stretching that word out and stabbing a clock for fun. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean to not be rude,” Fluttershy rued her shouting from earlier, “but you need to tell me who you are. If you’re a burglar who broke into my house, then I need to know so that I can politely ask you to leave.”

There was a long pause of silence before a cricket began chirping. It stopped chirping when Discord picked it up and patted its head.

“Thank you my little friend, I needed that,” Discord said as he then made the cricket he had summoned disappear. “Now then, Fluttershy, let me ask you a question. Do you...remember anything before this morning?”

“Well of course,” Fluttershy put her head down and gave a positive response, “everyone has remembered something before this morning. All I remember though was this dream where I solved a puzzle and got possessed by a weird shadow. Then I was a murderer and Luna took me away on a sleigh. I was torn from my body by a sword and Rarity...thought it was funny.”

Fluttershy looked up and noticed a look of shock on Discord’s face.

“Uh...you’re going to leave me alone now, right?”

“I’m afraid I can not do that,” Discord said as he donned a business suit and showed Fluttershy a contract, “for you need medical attention. It would be negligence on my part if whatever is ailing your mind kills you.”

“Insanity is lethal?” Fluttershy asked as Discord took her hoof and teleported both of them to a strange town with a gas cloud of nontoxic poison. As the poison cloud dissipated, Fluttershy could see the corpses of ponies in the streets.

“D-did you kill these poor ponies?!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“*sigh* Pay attention, Fluttershy,” Discord pulled a quarter from behind Fluttershy’s ears and showed her the back of a nontoxic poison canister. “It’s not real poison.”

“Why are they just lying in the streets then?” Fluttershy looked over the dead bodies sadly. “Isn’t someone going to bury them?”
“Beats me,” Discord knocked his head with his clenched claw. “Those corpses have been lying there for a year and a half. It’s a mystery if anyone will ever get around to taking care of them.”

“A year and a half?!” Fluttershy replied. “But these ponies look like they’ve only been dead for moments! Wait a minute...could they be…”

Fluttershy had realized that the ponies were wearing white robes, and that each robe had a symbol engraved in it reading “ChrysCo. Department of Human Resources”.

“Chrys...humans…” things began to flash through Fluttershy’s head. She could remember a shadow, she could remember talking about Chrysalis’ murder, she could remember creatures in a factory, she could remember...rhyming and singing in a sleigh.

“That was it, Chrysalis...and there…” Fluttershy investigated further and found piles of rocks close to the bodies with strange carvings in them. “...used to be a tombstone here…”

“Just as I suspected,” Discord thought to himself. “I guess that’s what I’ll have to do then…”

“Is this why you brought me here?” Fluttershy asked as Discord approached her. “Are you trying to help me regain my memories? I think they might have something to do with that dream I had...”

“Maybe…” Discord gave his reply to both the question and the statement. “And on the subject, do you think maybe we could go and see Princess Celestia?”

“Princess Celestia?” a memory of Princess Celestia’s corpse was triggered in Fluttershy’s mind. “Um, okay...”

“Tremendous…” Discord grinned as he teleported himself and Fluttershy to a familiar castle-like fortress. Fluttershy gulped when she recognized the place.

“I knew it.” she thought to herself. “This is the factory with the creatures. It looks a bit different now though...”

Just like in the dream, the castle had four walls, but there were no orbs on the roof, no body parts, and no candy. The only decorations from the dream that were there were the arrows and blood, both of which looked they were shoved in the walls as if somepony was trying to hide them. Also, there was a small hole in the front door now.

“Something ailing you Fluttershy?” Discord took a swig from a bottle of ginger ale he pulled out of nowhere.

“No, it’s...nothing,” Fluttershy suppressed her thoughts as she and Discord went up to the castle gate.

“Knock knock,” said Discord as he smashed the bottle of ginger ale against the door where the hole was. “You know who it is…”

A tongue made its way through the hole and licked the ginger ale.

“Oh, I know…” said a familiar voice as the door opened and a figure who looked exactly like Celestia appeared, levitating a glass of what looked exactly like wine. “Welcome to my castle, Discord and soon-to-be-former stranger.”

“Her name’s Fluttershy,” Discord made Celestia’s description correct. “She wants to talk to you about a dream she had.”

“Hmm, is that all she came here for?” Celestia chuckled. “I was expecting a frail-looking object like her to be more interested in conversing about reality. After all, she has far more reason to fear it than somepony as powerful as I. No matter though...”

Celestia teleported Discord and Fluttershy to her throne room, where she lounged on her chair in spite of it not being a couch.

“Hit me with your best shot…” she said with a smirk.

Fluttershy let everything shoot, unloading the dream on her in full detail. After she was done talking, Celestia’s smirk was wider than ever.

“I know it’s ridiculous, but…” Fluttershy sighed. “...It’s the only thing I can remember.”

“So…” Celestia’s chuckles turned to snickers. “You’re on a quest to find your memories?”

“I guess I may as well be.” Fluttershy replied. “I’m not exactly sure why I exist.”

“We’re in the same boat on that issue.” Celestia mocked Fluttershy again, trying to make her feel like a wet gun clip being docked by a tailor. “And I’m always willing to help those who have the same issues I have, such as wanting to know more about Chrysalis’ murder. That’s right, it’s a real mystery that has never been solved. It has puzzled me and certain investigators for ages...who could be so powerful as to defeat one of my greatest foes?”

“So what are we going to do?” Discord asked his superior like a boss. “Are we going to have to investigate Chrysalis’ murder in order to help Fluttershy, or are we going to have to...go there?”

“Yes, and yes.” Celestia agreed to both of her subordinate’s proposals like a greedy executive. “I believe that it’s time we help Fluttershy and that it’s time to explore...the other worlds.”

“The World of Creation and the World of Evolution…” Discord snickered at the mere uttering of the sentence as he put his lion paw on his face. “Oh boy…”

“Yeah, I know.” Celestia knew what he felt. “I remember what a massive disappointment both of those projects were...It’s too bad that you can’t bury your mistakes, but you can run from them until the day you finally learn from them. And that day is today.”

“Hold on a second…” Fluttershy intruded in on the conversation like a rat trying to climb on an alarm clock inside a library. “Does that mean you two are…”

“Yes…” Discord donned a pair of glasses, a white shirt and tie, and a cup of coffee, all made from his own fur he transformed into said creations. “I am the co-creator of the WoC and WoE, the one who helped Celestia here create them. Impressed?”

“You see,” Celestia prepared to upstage Discord with a more detailed response, “.....you know, I think this will speak for me…”

Celestia clopped her hooves, and all of a sudden, everything faded to black. When some light came back on, the trio was sitting in a movie theater.

“Oh great, this movie…” Discord sulked. “I’ll get the popcorn and soda.”

A projected screen came on a projected screen, projecting the numbers “3, 2, 1, 0, -1” before the movie started. Words appeared on the screen and Celestia began talking in the movie theater, her voice from the movie filling the theater as the words were narrated.

“When the world first began long ago, there was only one known living force in the universe, magic. It was from that magic that this world, The World of Origin was created by a mysterious deity only known as “CrE”. CrE is the one who created us gods as his minions, immortal beings who have mastered both arts of creation, upgrade fusion and downgrade fusion. Everything and everyone in this world was created by Celestia, Discord, all the other gods whose names I don’t remember, and yours truly.

However, there came a time when Celestia and Discord became bored of only creating life, and sought to create something more ambitious, a new world in another dimension. Celestia and Discord wanted this world to be a test to see if their creations could discover the secret of immortality and go on to master the arts of creation. Because this world and its inhabitants were created with the art of upgrade fusion (where two objects are fused to create something), it was called The World of Creation. Unfortunately, the result of the project was a tragic failure. None of the world’s inhabitants achieved true eternal life, and none came close to mastering our creation arts.

You wouldn’t believe it, but Discord and Celestia tried to give the project another chance with The World of Evolution, a world created by the art of downgrade fusion (where two objects are fused to transform something). Despite our attempts to improve the flaws of the first world, the result of the project was a comedy of tragic failures. Discord and Celestia ended up abandoning world creation after this, and now here we all are. Thank you for watching.”

fin

“That was a weird movie…” Fluttershy reviewed it once it was over. “There were no scenes in the movie, it was all dialogue on a screen. And someone kept talking throughout the whole thing…”

“Heh heh, you don’t say…” Celestia hid a megaphone behind her back sheepishly.

“So now what?” Fluttershy didn’t see where all this was going.

“...We go to my secret underground factory and unlock the portals to the other worlds.” Celestia said like Cookie Monster getting constipated while trying to read Sherlock Holmes. “You’re going to travel to them and collect what we need to incriminate Chrysalis’ murderer. That’s right, as of today, you are an official detective working for the IDPD, my most elite police department...”

“Factory...police…” Fluttershy thought. Memories of Luna showing up to her house dressed as a police officer and being in a factory flashed through her mind.

“So, great movie, huh?” Discord said sarcastically as he came back eating popcorn he made from corn he blew up with a stick of dynamite. “Want some soda, anyone?”

“Um, sure.” Fluttershy responded.

Discord made a huge needle appear with magic and used it to extract the soda pop from the popcorn. He then squeezed some of it into a soda cup.

“Do you want to take it through an injection or orally?” Discord asked like a sweetheart.

“.....Orally?” Fluttershy replied with a nervous grin.

“Certainly!” Discord squeezed out what was left in the needle directly onto Fluttershy’s tongue. Startled, Fluttershy ran out of the theater coughing as Discord and Celestia laughed. She collapsed in the middle of Celestia’s throne room and coughed up some of the soda on the floor.

“Talk about sickly sweet…” Fluttershy felt lightheaded as her head fell into the small soda puddle on the carpet gently. “I feel woozy…”

Fluttershy fell asleep yet again, as a shadowy figure walked up behind her. It picked her up and carried her, as Fluttershy began to have a vision in her sleep…

“So...how does it feel to be trapped with nowhere to run?” the voice of a manifestation of Rarity tossing a hypnotist’s watch in the air and catching it could be heard in Fluttershy’s mind. “The roles have been reversed...this time I’ll-”

All of a sudden, Rarity’s words were cut off as Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. She was in a room that looked like a laboratory of some kind, lying on the seat you sat on during your last check-up at the doctor’s office that wasn’t a chair. Looking ahead of her, she could make out five figures surrounding a giant metallic device wired to two metal doors talking.

“Are you sure we can trust her?” a figure that resembled Rarity wearing a blue uniform with an IDPD symbol on it said. “It seems too good to be true that she’s alive.”

“I’ve proven to you that only the Fluttershys from the other worlds are dead.” a figure that resembled a teenaged Luna dressed in the same uniform as Rarity flashed what looked like a black notebook. “What more do you want?”

“From what we know, “Fluttershy” should be no more!” replied the Rarity figure. “Did everyone just forget about Sombra altogether?”

“”Everyone” didn’t “just” forget.” a figure that looked like Discord made a fourth wall joke. “He didn’t really say or do much besides set traps. It’s been seventeen months, he could be dead perhaps.”

All the other figures appeared to turn to Discord in confusion. One of them appeared so confused that he walked away trying to grasp the situation.

“Wait…” a figure that looked like Celestia with a glass of wine said. “Are you talking about Sombra or Sombra?”

“Neither,” the Discord figure chuckled as he read a comic book while looking at himself in a mirror. “I meant Sombra.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right…” the Celestia figure replied bemusedly. “Thanks to our worlds, there’s three of him too…”

“Hey, are you sleeping with your eyes open or looking at the real world in a dream?” a figure who was clearly a human named Sky dressed in the same uniform as Rarity and Luna stared into Fluttershy’s eyes. “Can you answer my questions while you’re doing things like that?”

“Sky!” Celestia shouted as everyone came over to where Fluttershy laid. “What have I told you about talking to ponies who aren’t strangers to me? It’s funnier when you confuse those I don’t know!”

“Boss…” Discord grinned as he donned his co-creator outfit from before. “I think our little friend is awake.”

“How do you know that?” Fluttershy asked a...peculiar question. “Are you a psychic, because that’s really weird.”

“Beautiful…” Celestia smiled as she knew the reason for this kind of ...peculiar. “I’m terribly sorry Detective Fluttershy, but thanks to you passing out, I wasn’t able to introduce you to the ones who will join you on this mission. Say hello to your fellow officers from the Inter-Dimensional Police Department, Rarity, Sky, and Luna.”

“Hello to Rarity, Sky, and Luna.” Fluttershy said, facing Discord. Discord tried to contain his laughter and turned her around to face the eponymous trio.

“Why is she acting really weird?” Sky asked Rarity and Luna. “That’s really weird.”

“Look at the pot calling the black kettle black…” Rarity said what she said. “Do you mind, Luna?”

“It appears I have no choice but not to mind…” Luna prepared to do what she learned in school. “I’ll tell you the reason why we’re here Fluttershy. You can’t solve this case without our help. That’s why we need to help you. We’re here because we need to come with you to the World of Creation and the World of Evolution and collect six orbs. They will show us the way to bring Chrysalis’ killer to justice.”

“You explained that to me so fast I hardly understand,” Fluttershy replied. “That’s an interesting skill, who taught it to you?”

“HIS NAME MUST NOT BE SPOKEN.” Luna proclaimed demonically with fire in her eyes that died after she finished her sentence. “...Anyways, I think a visual demonstration will provide a better in-depth explanation than spoken dialogue…”

Luna walked over to the metallic device connected to the doors with magic glowing in her horn and fired a blast at it. As a result, a portal materialized in each of the two doorways. The portal on the left doorway appeared in the form of a portrait of Fluttershy kneeling down at a grave, and the portal on the right doorway appeared in the form of a portrait of Fluttershy in a fetal position, surrounded by pure darkness and transforming into a human boy with blue, white-streaked hair.

“What could it possibly mean?” Celestia winked to the audience as she spilled some wine on the floor.

“Like, I don’t know.” the audience, which turned out to be a bunch of Discords seated in a stadium said. “A sign of the Illuminati?”

“Ha ha ha…” Celestia gave the laugh we all know now as Discord made the Discords and stadium disappear together by encasing them in a pyramid of paper that vanished. “What would I do without you Discord?”

“Try to carry out your plans and fail?” Discord playfully taunted.

“Keep pushing your luck you schmuck... “ Celestia continued chuckling. “It amuses me.”

“I could wrap that comment in a blanket and hand it right back to you…” Discord replied as he wrapped something in a black cloth and tied it around a wooden stick. “But unfortunately, I have to get going…”

Discord walked up to the middle of the doorways and made a portal that was in the form of a portrait of Fluttershy sitting on a cloud above a land, staring at the sky with glowing white eyes as pitch-black darkness enshrouded the land below her and radiant light brightened the sky above her.

“See you around Rarity…” Discord said his farewell to the group. As he entered the portal, something fell out of the cloth he was carrying...a ring with a stygian-colored gemstone encased in it. Rarity noticed this, quickly went over to the ring and picked it up.

“Wait, you forgot…” Rarity stopped in mid-sentence, seeing that Discord was too far gone to get his jewelry back. Upon examining the ring, she got a smirk as she slipped it into a pocket in her fur.

“So was that the visual demonstration?” Fluttershy pondered. “All I saw was a bunch of talking.”

“Oh, sorry for being so rude and not interrupting a conversation my superiors were having…” Luna replied in a frustrated tone. “Now then…”

“She’s got you there kid.” Celestia commented as her wine glass magically refilled itself. “I’m the only one who gets to interrupt the conversations of others, and I’m gladly going to interrupt yours by explaining what Luna was going to tell you myself.”

“This never ends…” Luna sighed.

“I think you can already see,” said Celestia as she turned around to face the portals, “where you need to go. I think you can already figure out what you’re going to do. But do you know what to do with the orbs after you’ve done what you’ve done?”

“Oh, I didn’t think about needing to think about that.” Sky responded.

“The orbs,” continued Celestia as she ignored Sky, “need to be brought back here and given to me so I can gather them together. When all of them are together, they’ll combine and form a light that will guide us to our hearts’ desires. When Discord and I created the worlds, we had hopes that one would find the orbs, but of course, that never happened…”

“Uh huh,” Luna could barely hide her feelings on what a drag this was. “Anyways, I have a map of both worlds that will help us find…”

“Just one more question, Celestia.” Fluttershy interrupted a now fuming Luna. “Why am I dressed like this?”

Fluttershy pointed out that she was wearing a frumpy white shirt, black pants and socks, and had her hair groomed back to look like Phoenix Wright’s, only with some of the hair in her eyes.

“It’s a special detective’s outfit I felt would suit you…” Celestia smirked as she spilled some more wine on the floor. “Now then, which world do you all want to venture to first? The World of Creation, or the World of Evolution?”

“The World of Evolution, please.” Fluttershy decided unusually quickly. “The portrait on its portal is a little weirder, and that interests me.”

“Go on ahead then…” Celestia bowed, strangely ignoring what input the other strangely silent police officers may have had to offer. Fluttershy approached the portal, but when she tried to go through it, she only ended up butting against it.

“Huh?” Fluttershy responded in confusion at being denied entrance. “Is this portrait portal a fake? If it is, it’s not a very transparent one since I can’t pass through it and see what’s beyond it…”

“How odd…” Celestia stuck her front left leg arm holding a now full wine glass through the portal just fine. “It isn’t broken, but I’ll try to fix whatever’s wrong with it. Is the World of Creation portal okay?”

Fluttershy went over to the other portal and was able to put her front right hoof through it just alright.

“I guess I know where we’re going first then…” Fluttershy turned and faced the others. “Do you guys want me to go first?”

“Do we care?!” Luna retorted a rhetorical question. “I just want to do something other than standing around and listening to all this!”

“Wait, do you want to know if I care?” Fluttershy mistook herself as part of Luna’s “we”.

“YYYYYAAAAAHHHHH!” Luna yelled as she charged at Fluttershy, causing both of them to go through the portal. Rarity smiled as she and Sky walked over to the portal.

“Looks like we’re going to have some intriguing comic relief on our journey this time, my dear friend.” Rarity remarked as she gave Sky a pat on the back.

“Comic relief? Do comics get tired of people grabbing them and looking at them?” Sky wondered. “If so, that’s really queer.”

Rarity just sighed and kept smiling, having already said what she wanted. As she and Sky entered the portal, Celestia finished all of the wine in her glass with her typical smile and sealed off the portal behind them with her magic.

“This is just too easy…” Celestia proceeded to teleport herself to outside her bedroom door with a simple spell, where familiar singing voices and music could be heard. “Even if they don’t trust me, I can still make them do whatever I want them too…”

When Celestia entered the bedroom, the voices were clear to be those of the Dark Sky band. Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, Ghost Rainbow Dash, and Derpy were finishing up their rehearsal of their latest song, Boring Stuff You Don’t Understand, with Derpy singing in place of Fluttershy’s absence. It had gone something like this…

Boring Stuff You Don’t Understand

Boring stuff...you don’t understand
Things you truly...can’t stand
Makes you truly...want to get up and stand…
Sitting with a droning lampstand…

The dullest things…you don’t understand
Duller than knowing squat in a...headstand!
Headbands won’t save us...FROM THE BLOW…
...OF A HOT DOG STAND!

So let’s stand...hand and hand and comprehand…
...How to make a stand…

“Greetings, my bodacious bards,” Celestia tried to be cool with the kids and the times.

“Oh, hi Celestia.” Dumb-bell remarked.

“Did you like the song?” Hoops asked. “I wrote the lyrics.”

“I came up with the awesome tune!” Rainbow strummed her air guitar.

“...” Score elaborated on all the things he did silently.

“I yelled in the microphone and made a lot of noise!” Derpy exclaimed.

“It was good…” Celestia twirled a strand of her hair with her magic. “But I doubt it will be as good as the next song you’re going to compose. I have something really interesting to tell all of you. And I think it will inspire you to make a song that will blow everypony’s mind…”

Celestia proceeded to tell the Dark Sky everything that happened the way she liked best. When she had finished talking, the Dark Sky members all had looks of horror engraved on their faces.

“No way…” Dumb-bell said with a gulp.

“She didn’t…” Hoops said as he broke out in a cold sweat.

“She did…” Celestia replied as she teleported them to the laboratory-like room and pointed to the portal. “Now might be your only chance…”

“....!” Score swore silently.

“You better believe shit!” Derpy swore with a proclamation. “We have to follow her!”

“Sorry, but we won’t let this happen Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash declared. “We’re coming for you!”

The Dark Sky members passed through the portal to the World of Evolution. As Celestia sealed the portal behind them, she said one more thing…

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

A Few Enigmatic Words From The Cloud Dragon of the Mist

Now both Fluttershy and her Dark Sky are in another world...which world will you choose to explore when the time comes, hero?

Maud God

You will tell the orb.

Upon passing through the portal, Fluttershy, Luna, Rarity, and Sky arrived in a strange small town resembling Ponyville. It was deserted, with wind blowing through the air inside deserted buildings. No one was around…

“Wow, this place is a ghost town.” Fluttershy commented as she examined the area. “It’s so desolate I doubt even ghosts would live here…”

“Heh.” Luna gave a small hint that she knew something. “This is only what Ponyville used to be like some time in the past. ...Rarity?”

“Already on it…” Rarity said as she changed into a familiar black ninja outfit and pulled out a scroll and pocket watch from her fur. “Downgrade Fusion Hidden Art No. 12: Future Bend!”

With incomprehensible movements, the scroll and pocket watch inexplicably contorted into vibrant, pulsating waves that transformed the beautifully depraved hovel-like town of Ponyville into an extraordinary metropolis that looked cool and nice.

“THIS is the Ponyville we want to explore,” said Luna as she was viewing the beautiful statues of a certain earth pony’s head being built by people who didn’t like their jobs. “We must seek the ruler of this town, they should know where the orb is. Once we have one of the orbs, it will guide us to the others by pinpointing their exact locations on our map.”

“Wait, how do we know that the ruler of this town is going to help us?” Fluttershy asked quietly, making herself sound smart. “Should we ask his or her subordinates to tell us whether he slash she is bad with or without good?”

“Who said we couldn’t use force if necessary?” Rarity donned a cocky grin with that line, leading the way into town as a slightly annoyed Luna followed.

“I wonder if that’s not a good idea,” replied a hapless Sky as he walked with them. “You can actually break a ruler if you put too much force on it.”

“That kid…” Fluttershy thought, getting a strange feeling as she followed the group as well. “Why is it that what he says reminds me so much of what I think? Does he just really admire my brain, or…”

After the group walked for five minutes, Rarity suddenly stopped and pulled a beeping wristwatch out of her fur pocket.

“Time out guys,” said Rarity as she pulled out the watch and turned the alarm off. “It’s time I realized that I have no idea where we’re going.”

“Celestia damn it to God, Rarity!” Luna shouted. “This is why I was the one leading the way! Thanks to you, we’re now in...THAT part of town.”

“But the map says you’re in THIS part of town…” Fluttershy said as she pointed to a pony stick figure on Luna’s map that had the words “YOU’RE THIS GUY” inscribed below it.

“What does it matter?” Luna retorted. “I don’t wanna be the guy!”

“Hey, you unknown folk.” two figures dressed in gray robes with hoods that covered their faces said in a less-than-dull tone, approaching the group. “What is your purpose for being in the parking lot of our church?”

“Um...none.” Sky tried to talk everyone’s way out of this. “But we mean you no harm in having no meaning to be here, trust everyone here.”

“I’m afraid we can not do that…” the figure replied as they pulled off their hoods. “We haven’t reached that level yet, for we can not even trust ourselves.”

“Hey, you guys are…” Rarity responded upon seeing their faces. “Maud Pie!”

“You are about 80% correct…” they tried to give their statement some color with statistics. “We weren’t born Maud Pie. We are but two of the many humans brought to the pony world by Chrysalis to be experimented on for BMS summoning tests.”

“...!” Fluttershy had an exclamatory thought. “Why does this feel...like it should be familiar?”

“Chrysalis took the bodies and minds of two hundred humans and transformed them into the bodies and minds of Maud Pie.” they continued. “Before she completed the experiment by transforming our souls too, Chrysalis died, and we were only left with about three places to go. And out of those three places, Celestia forced us and all of the other incomplete Mauds to come here, the World of Creation.”

“You guys sure are talkative for ponies who don’t trust us.” Rarity snickered as she flashed her IDPD badge. “You do realize we’re cops, right? We came to this world to investigate the case of Chrysalis’ murder, and anything you say here regarding Chrysalis can be considered testimony for said case. We could have you brought to court as witnesses on a day where you really don’t want to come if we wanted, so I hope you don’t have any ideas that you have power over us...”

“Rarity, please…” Luna pleaded. “That went on for even longer than what they just said...To put it bluntly, “Maud Pies”, we’re not here for trouble. We’re here to look for something vital to our investigation, this town’s orb.”

“So you want to find the one who did it…” the Maud Pies replied with smiles on their faces. “That interests us. Whoever killed Chrysalis was clearly more powerful than her. If they knew, and if it were to benefit them, they would show us how to complete our transformation. ...Alright, we’ll take you to a pony who knows where the orb is. Ironically*, that pony is our leader.”

*They don’t know what the word means, they’re just trying to be colorful.

“Wait, where are we going?” Fluttershy asked as everyone followed the Maud Pies to the front of a church building.

“To church.” they answered as they opened the doors of the church. The inside of it was filled with benches made of stone, a gray and purple carpet leading to a stone stage and a stone statue of Maud Pie at the end of the room, and a jewel chandelier above the stage that housed candles made of wax mixed with a few materials found in rocks. The stone benches also contained 197 Maud Pies who were in the middle of a church service singing a song…

Thy Pie, God Maud

God Maud, you are our god
Pie, you are the word after her name
At the end of our trod, our bodies are sod
But forever and ever, our souls will proclaim

The praises we give you, they never will cease
Only with you, shall we find our peace
THY PIE! …..The name that we know.
GOD MAUD! …..The one who will show.

“Our leader makes a fabulous appearance at the end of every service,” explained the robed Maud Pies, “following Pastor Pinkie Pie’s sermon. Until then, you’ll have to wait.”

While the Maud Pies were singing, the group found themselves a seat on one of the benches. The Maud Pies sitting adjacent to them noticed that Rarity, Sky, Luna, and Fluttershy looked nothing like them. They gave them a quick glance and then turned their heads straight back out of apparent embarrassment for their concern...

“It’s as if they find our appearance strange,” said Sky with a weird expression on his face, “but they don’t want to look strange themselves by doing something that’s considered strange in their world. Isn’t that uncanny?”

“We already figured that out, shit-for-brains Sherlock.” Rarity demeaned like an illegible dictionary that didn’t know what was on the shelf next to it.

“Why do I feel like…I just got insulted too?” Fluttershy asked herself in her mind as Sky slumped in the bench and gave himself a head knock with his fist in confusion.

Once the singing part of the service ended with a mildly resounding “Amen.”, Pastor Pinkie Pie finally appeared from behind the Maud Pie statue and walked up on stage dressed in a red devil costume.

“Great job on the singing everyone!” she complimented them as she clapped her hooves together. “A bit dynamic on some keys, but pretty flat for the most part, so it’s all good! And moving on, what do you all have to say about me today?”

“That you are evil incarnate and the sight of your face makes us want to puke.” the Maud Pies answered in unison.

“Ooh, your remarks of disdain for me are getting less colorful and less imaginative.” Pinkie continued her laud. “I can still remember the first time I had you guys insult me. Oh boy, that was so bad you had me crying for days!”

“Am I the only one who finds this out of place?” Luna whispered to Rarity. “Why is she trying to get them to hate her when the real Maud Pie is supposed to love Pinkie Pie?”

“Excuse me!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pointed to the police officers, creating a scene before Sky or Fluttershy could. “What are you whispering about? And what are you doing here in the first place?! We’re in the middle of a Pies-only church service! Visitors are prohibited! Come back when we’re in the middle of a bake sale!”

“Hold on for a quick minute!” the robed Mauds from earlier called out. “These officers are with us! They’re investigating the case our leader has been trying to solve since the founding of this cult, the case of Queen Chrysalis’ murder!”

“Gasp.” responded all the Maud Pies in the service as they tried to create dull silence.

“Our god’s prayers have been answered…” the devil Pinkie said with her eyes lighting up. “Come now everypony! It’s time to take communion! That goes for you guys too!”

With those words, the group and all the Maud Pies in the church lined up facing the stage. The two robed Mauds came to the stage holding a silver platter of a myriad of tiny rocks and one single purple goblet containing rainbow juice. Each Maud Pie in line came forward to the platter, took one of the rocks and swallowed it, took a sip of the juice, and walked to the back of the line. When it was the group’s turn, Luna picked up the rock and goblet and glanced over at her teammates with a look of discomfort.

“Remember…” she told them. “It’s for the good of everyone.”
“Huh, that’s what my mom said when she drank.” Sky said, thinking of Celestia.

After the communion was over, the group’s suffering was not yet over, as all the Maud Pies in the church began to chant something incomprehensible. During the chanting, Pinkie Pie pulled out a scroll, a small rock, and a vial of rainbow juice. She ingested the rock and juice and sort of squished the scroll between her hooves.

“Upgrade Fusion: Hidden Art No. 21: BMS Summoning!” she shouted as a gray aura surrounded the scroll and a purple aura illuminated from inside her belly. “Body: Maud Pie, Mind: Maud Pie, Soul: Maud Pie, ASSEMBLE!”

With a blinding flash of light...a wooden door appeared on the Maud Pie statue and an odd looking figure walked out of it. Dressed in a bright pink leather jacket, dark pink boots, white sunglasses with yellow shades, a black choker around her neck that looked like a guitar strap, and with three tattoos on her body of Maud Pie’s face (one was on each of her arms with words below it saying “FREE RIDES” and one was on her crotch with words below it saying “Heavy Lifter”), God Maud Pie had entered the holy house.

“What is up.” God Maud stated. “Why have I been summoned. Pinkie Pie, isn’t it time for your stories.”

“Those...aren’t important right now.” Pinkie replied with a bit of sweat trickling down from her face, having once had plans to make up stories for the sermon about laughing at funerals, having parties that literally burned down the house, and showing concern for roadkill insects. “What’s important is that we have some very important visitors who can help us with a crucial case! They’re police officers trying to figure out who murdered the one we have to thank for everything we’ve been through, including the good stuff! Queen Chrysalis!”

“So they’re finally here.” God Maud thought as an apathetically evil grin formed on her face. “I’m finally going to get to prove to Celestia that I’m more than just a puppet with no personality.”

“That news is very good, Pinkie Pie.” God Maud exclaimed. “Send them up here so I can talk to them.”

“Loki in an oak tree with Doki!” Pinkie Pie agreed to get them as God Maud grabbed a joint and lighter from inside her jacket. As Pinkie Pie guided the group onto the stage, she and the others stopped in surprise as they saw God Maud smoking weed.

“Leader, are you...getting high?” Pinkie Pie asked in confusion.

“Pinkie, I’M DRUNK.” Maud Pie replied, raising her voice dully. “I’m stoned one-hundred percent of the time in that statue anyways, so like, I don’t care about nothing, man.”

“But...these cops just showed up to help us.” Pinkie Pie said with concern. “How can you provide them with accurate information if you’re like this?”

“Like this.” God Maud responded, and took off her jacket. She threw it across the stage to where the group was as vials spilled out of it. When the police officers investigated the inside of the coat, they couldn’t believe their eyes. The coat had contained a collection of every single illegal drug known to Equestrians, including LSD.

“This can’t be real…” Luna remarked with a horrified look on her face. “At least in the World of Origin, the possession of this many drugs would get you something worse than the death penalty! ...Which in retrospect, isn’t very difficult to get, but never have I seen a criminal get it for illegal drug possession!”

“Sorry God Maud,” said Sky as he got out his handcuffs and walked over to God Maud, “you may be God here, but we have to arrest you.”

“NO!!!” Rarity yelled out, but it was too late. God Maud grabbed the back of Sky’s police shirt, and shoved her joint up his right nostril, putting it out and burning a hole through the nostril. The pain was so bad that even the typically detached Sky was hollering in agony.

“Aw yeah, you like that.” Maud mocked in a monotone. “Oh yeah, and in your words, not mine, get down on the ground.”

God Maud then thrust Sky into the stone floor, sending him flying across it to where the drugs were, scattering the vials everywhere and causing many of them to break, forming a weird substance on the floor.

“SKY!” Luna and Fluttershy cried as they went over to the wounded officer.

“Wait, NO!” Rarity yelled, being too late again as she noticed a pink gas cloud forming from the substance.

“What is our leader doing?” the other Maud Pies in the church asked. “This is not like her!”

“Oh please,” said God Maud with dull sarcastic wit, “I’ve always been like this. The only reason I started this cult is because I wanted to see Pinkie Pie embarrass herself in front of a bunch of me. I was also just pretending to care about the Queen Chrysalis case and created all those drugs with my powers just so I could make a scene like this. I hate Pinkie. I hate the police. I hate everything. I’ll kill you all. BURN EVERYTHING TO THE GROUND..”

“No...you’re not Maud!” Pinkie shouted. “You’re no god, you’re...a fraud!”

Pinkie and the Maud Pies in the church succumbed to the fumes, as the gas cloud enveloped the entire church, getting everypony high.

“This ought to be good.” God Maud gave a drab chuckle, getting ready to watch the fruit of her evil. However, before as soon as she sat down…

*SHINK* A shuriken was thrust through God Maud’s right cheek. As she turned to her right to face her attacker…

“You mean it WILL be good…” the attacker, revealed to be Rarity said. “...after you’re DEAD.”

God Maud quickly got her head off of Rarity’s sword and jumped back. Looking around, she saw that everypony except her and Rarity was in a perfectly still position.

“You froze time…” God Maud looked back to the past. “And you weren’t affected by the gas cloud either. So you’re a god too. If you weren’t trying to kill me, I’d ask you to join me.”

“Shove it.” Rarity was having none of it. “You lied to everyone, hurt my friend, and got everyone stoned. There’s no way I’ll ever be allies with a horrible god like you, let alone let you live.”

“And if you weren’t so dense…” God Maud gave another reason.

“I SAID NO!” Rarity screamed, swinging her shuriken sharply as God Maud dodged dully. Rarity tried to pierce her shuriken through God Maud’s head again, but God Maud spat a small boulder out of her mouth. It hit Rarity’s shuriken and knocked it away from her. Rarity then tried to throw her ninja blade at God Maud, but God Maud responded by spitting out a larger-than-Rarity sized pebble to shield her.

“Enough fooling around,” said God Maud as she picked up the rock that the sword had hardly penetrated and lifted it over her head, “it’s time to give up. You of all ponies should know.”

As God Maud walked over with the rock in her hooves, the time god Rarity could only put a hoof in her fur and catch her breath…

“Hyah.” God Maud had never given a more energetic cry in her life as she crushed Rarity with the rock. “GAME OVER.”

God Maud smiled victoriously as she saw time starting to flow again. Everypony was tripping as they slipped back into the present.

“I just don’t get how our leader saw us as tools…” a Maud Pie remarked. “I mean, we’re so dull. Like, aren’t tools better when they’re sharp, man?”

“Hey, can I be the cake at your party next week?” Pinkie asked as she laid on the floor crying about what Maud said. “I think that’s how ponies would like me...just saying nothing as I’m fading away, fading away as the party goes on…”

“I’m not five years old anymore Celestia!” Luna shouted. “Why do you keep forgetting when you’re the one who made me that way!”

“Wah ha ha ha ha.” God Maud had a mundane laugh of triumph. “I guess…”

All of a sudden, an explosion blew up the pebble and sent God Maud flying back against the wall behind her. And from the explosion emerged none other than...Robot Alicorn Rarity! When she reached in her fur earlier, she was grabbing a scroll that allowed her to cast a reality-bending spell (Upgrade Fusion: Hidden Art No. 14: Reality Swap) on herself, turning her into her robot alicorn self from the World of Evolution! If you recall, that self of hers can transform into weapons, so she became a bomb just in time!

“You guessed wrong…” Rarity replied as she transformed her robotic right arm into a shuriken edge. “But you can have this as a prize!”

Rarity thrust the edge into God Maud’s head, finally destroying her target, a familiar chip in God Maud’s brain. As the chip shattered, God Maud imploded into a white orb that rolled across the floor to Rarity’s robot hooves that acted as her feet. From the white orb, the soul of the real Maud Pie emerged.

“Thank you for saving me.” the soul of the real Maud Pie said with apathetic gratitude. “You even knew that the source of my evil was the immorality chip Chrysalis had implanted into my brain back when I was one of her test subjects. How.”

“This version of me once had an immorality chip implanted in her as well.” Rarity recalled. “It was the only explanation I could think of for a pony like you being so irrationally evil.”

“Aw, you believed in me.” Real Maud replied in a tone as sweet as stale candy. “But I’m afraid you won’t win the fight against your next great foe with the power of trust. That foe is truly evil and will try to kill you and your friends in the form of a foe you’ve already killed.”

“Thanks for the hint, but it was more like a dead giveaway…” Rarity remarked, already knowing who it was.

“Don’t worry, there’s another clue that this orb should tell you.” Real Maud explained. “Now that you’ve found this one, there’s only two left. One in the Crystal Empire region, and one in the Canterlot region. And something tells me you’re going to end up going to the Crystal Empire first…”

“I figured…” Rarity said, giving a grin and a glance over to Fluttershy and Sky, who were staring in space with the stoned Luna.

“I guess there’s only one thing left for me to do now.” Real Maud gave a content and unenthusiastic sigh of relief. “I’ll uphold my promise to these humans the best I can by giving them each a piece of my soul. That should help them become as close to me as they can get. Also, tell Pinkie Pie that she was right. That Maud she saw was just a fake. The real Maud Pie will always be at her side…”

And with that, the real Maud’s soul divided itself into 199 small spirits that swam through the air in the church.

“Wow, this book has good graphics.” a Maud Pie had one more drug-deluded line before one of the spirits entered her (him?) and the rest of the Mauds.

“Beautiful…” a miraculously healed Sky commented on the sight.

“So appealing to the eyes…” Fluttershy followed up.

“Stop acting like you’re in kindergarten!” Luna hollered, still high. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be there, damn it!”

“Peculiar…” Rarity gave her opinion as she walked over to the group with the orb in hooves. “How come the wound in your nostril is gone Sky? And how are you and Fluttershy not stoned anymore while Luna is?”

“We were stoned…” said Fluttershy truthfully as Rarity did a reality-bending spell on Luna (Upgrade Fusion: Hidden Art No. 1: Reality Restoration) to cure her highness. “But...this shadow suddenly appeared to us and told us he would...cleanse our bodies and minds.”

“Interesting how you say we…” Rarity gave them a suspicious look before looking at the orb and realizing that it was glowing and making a message appear in the air…

Search the numbers, the pattern reveals the truth.

Oh yeah, and…

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The Princess Police

Klaus bartz aho!

“Well, I guess now that that’s accomplished,” said Rarity, picking up from where we last left off, “we can continue with our mission!”

“Wait, what will the Mauds do now that their leader is gone?” Fluttershy reminded Rarity, pointing to the Maud Pies in the church who were now grinning bored and weird smiles in light of their new identities. “Don’t they need help?”

“We all need help.” the Mauds replied as philosophically as a stone mason who grew a huge beard after an accident with pottery. “But I think it’s time we said goodbye. We only cared about solving Chrysalis’ murder because we thought our leader did. But now, we’ll each find our own purpose by ourselves. Thanks for giving us all the therapy we need for now, we’ll remember you.”

“Then without further ado…” Rarity said as she walked over to Pinkie Pie, did the same spell she did on Luna earlier, and left a strange scrap of paper in her suit. “Yeah, we’ve waited long enough. Farewell.”

The group left the church and prepared to continue their quest.

“AH!” Luna interrupted the gang’s continuation. “Before we go anywhere, let me establish that I am the highest-ranking member of the IDPD and your leader as such!”

The group stopped and turned to Luna.

“Good,” continued Luna, “now that I have your attention, I would like to inform that I am your superior and I will lead this mission! Everyone, get behind me!”

The group shrugged their shoulders, deciding to let Luna get her way as they walked behind her and prepared to follow the way she would lead. As Luna began to walk north and yonder, so did the group. They started walking and walking and trodding and toiling and leaving footprints in the ground, and walking and occasionally flying over stuff Rarity didn’t want to dirty her hooves on, and walking into a car Rarity turned herself into with her robot alicorn god powers because she was bored, and driving in said car, and Sky going…

“Hey!” Sky went as he looked at the map Luna was holding (he and Fluttershy were in the backseat, Luna was in the passenger’s seat, and a mini minivan-version of Rarity was driving in the driver’s seat). “Something’s not right with that map…”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked. “How is it not right? Is X not marking the spot or something?”

“I’m afraid there’s a much bigger problem than that…” Sky replied, not picking up on Luna’s sarcasm. “That map shows us where the orb is in the Crystal Empire region, but not where the orb is in the Canterlot region! Is there a reason for that, or am I just being me again?”

Luna played with her hair upon noticing that Sky was right. A dark blue dot on the map indicated where the orb was in the Crystal Empire region, but no dot showed up in the Canterlot region. It seemed that some unknown force wanted the group to venture to the Crystal Empire before Canterlot...but for what reason?

“Like you would say…” Luna said in a mysterious-like tone. “Why is not doing the same on both? That’s really queer.”

“Uh...I’m feeling so bored…” Rarity groaned robotically, being her own kind of Maud. “Sorry guys, but I think this car is just about to crash.”

“Crash?” Fluttershy intervened. “But if you fall asleep at the wheel, doesn’t that mean the car will…”

“Arrive uninvited?” a mysterious new voice chimed in as the car window to Rarity’s left shattered, letting in a bunch of wind. Everyone in the car’s attention immediately turned to the culprit, two back hooves belonging to...Shining Armor! “As princess of this town, I humbly request you to stop this vehic…”

With that, the car swerved and smashed into a metal pole as it let itself into the big city area of the Crystal Empire. The group wasn’t in a parking lot this time though, despite having a car now. They were in a meter zone where cars parked on slopes. Since the car had abruptly docked itself on the slope, it rolled down and smashed into the front of the car that was now behind it. On the plus side however, Shining Armor fell off the left side of the car in the midst of the chaos and was now rolling down the slope in the street like a top that had a baller performance in an arena of rocks.

“Uh...I’m feeling so dizzy…” Rarity said as she transformed back into her robot alicorn pony self, causing everyone in the car to fall in the street on their butts hard.

“Never mind me and the others…” Luna selflessly ignored her pain before she ignored everyone else’s. “Anyways, we have to pursue that ne’er-do-well. He called himself a princess, the highest authority in any Equestrian reality! If he doesn’t have the orb, who else could possibly have it?”

“His mother, I’d bet.” Rarity joked, cocking her right arm into a sword while Luna began readying two enigmatic dark-blue guns.

“So we’re going to follow him?” Sky said, thinking he couldn’t go wrong by stating what had already been made clear.

“Ha ha, no.” Rarity proved him wrong. “WE’RE as in LUNA AND I’RE going to follow him. We may like you kids, but you only deserve points for heart, not experience. After what happened last time, I’d rather have you two shy guys sit this one out. Trust me, I’m the god of time, and if there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s a repeat of something I can’t stand.”

“Please stay put until we return,” pleaded Luna. “If you see anything suspicious though, notify us and we’ll report back to you straight away.”

“Alright…” Sky replied in disappointment. “I guess we’ll be alright with that…”

Luna and Rarity went down the slope as Sky went over to Fluttershy and sat down, feeling down.

“That was worse than the sound of a well-functioning vacuum…” Fluttershy gave a critical analysis. “Does being around them make you feel like you suck too?”

“Celestia told me I did that at the bank she robbed for the training exercise I had to pass to be an officer…” Sky responded gracefully. “But I stayed away from the lollipops she was taking, so I don’t know what she was talking about. It was really weird.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand it either.” Fluttershy continued reviewing their situation. “Why do we think and act so...differently from others? Is it because we try too hard to be like them? Is it a paradox? Or is it because...we’re a paradox?”

Suddenly, Fluttershy and Sky’s eyes lit up as something dawned on them…

“I think I know what you’re onto…” Sky said as he felt a familiar presence from before. “And I also think what you’re onto...is onto us.”

Sky’s suspicions were confirmed when a shadow exuded from his body and came onto both him and Fluttershy…

Meanwhile, with Rarity and Luna…

“Ugh...where in the world of Discord’s hell is he?” Rarity complained. “We’ve been searching for ten minutes now and I’m getting tired.”

“Oh shut up Rarity,” whined Luna, “this should be nothing compared to the kind of waiting you had to do during your test to become a police officer.”

“Oh, you mean the one where I had to sit in a waiting room in a children’s hospital while Celestia robbed the place of its free suckers?” Rarity recalled. “Yeah, I cheated on that test. I stopped time for everyone but her and I and then went out there and beat her up before she came by the room to taunt me for being such a sweet little tool.”

“Wait a minute, you beat up Celestia?!” a surprised Luna exclaimed. “You were just supposed to get her at gunpoint and “arrest her”! Not only should you have immediately failed for that, Celestia can’t be that weak…”

“At least you didn’t say I can’t be that strong,” replied Rarity. “But yeah, she begged me for mercy as soon as she saw my shuriken and blade. Then after spouting some crap about how she would have beaten me if she had her wine with her, she let me pass the test.”

“That...doesn’t make any sense, yet…” Luna began to ponder. “I think it might tie in with something that does make sense.”

Once those words were said, Luna was promptly hit in the face with a pair of blue, white-laced panties. Luna gave a bemused look as they fell to the ground.

“And would that thing happen to be…” a voice belonging to Shining Armor cackled. “A beautiful prince?”

A figure stepped out from behind one of the cars on the slope, revealing himself to look almost exactly like Prince Cadance. The only real difference in appearance was that she was wearing a police officer uniform and a badge with the initials “D.M.C.P.D.” (Dimensions May Collapse Police Department) engraved on it.

“Wait, weren’t you a princess and Shining Armor just a bit earlier?” Rarity asked in confusion. “Be consistent with the times, man!”

“Man?” Prince Cadance replied with a laugh. “What man? I’m a woman, a cross between a woman and a man. And yeah, I don’t care that it’s confusing. Womaman and manwo just don’t sound that good.”

“Enough surfer slang!” Rarity bellowed. “I don’t care who you are or what you did to make yourself who you are, so long as I make you what you should be!”

“Ooh, a control freak.” Cadance said, knowing this was the god of time. “Your kind are always fun to watch getting out of control. Especially if it’s HIS control you’re trying to get out of…”

“You know the One Who Knew All the Frames of Life?” Rarity replied obliviously as the panties that had been thrown away had magically (hint hint) crawled over to her and found their way onto her robotic virile freeman. “Oh…”

Rarity looked down at the panties constricting her and had a bad feeling of what was to come.

“Let’s see how you like being just a few forms of a man…” Cadance giggled to herself. “TRANSFORM!”

Rarity tried to reach into her fur for a scroll with a reality-bending or time-bending spell on it, but it was too late. Bound against her will, she morphed into a variety of manly robot things, including a train, a plane, a submarine torpedo, a rocket, and a pretty pink pony princess...with a moustache. Rarity whimpered in embarrassment. Watching with interest, Luna snickered to herself, feeling Rarity did deserve this a little.

“Alright, enough cocking around,” said Cadance, tired of the many roles she had given Rarity, “it’s time to see how you bang!”

Cadance promptly turned Rarity into a pair of white-blue handguns and grabbed them. She then aimed them at a smiling Luna’s head and fired. Luna immediately ducked and jumped in the air like she was on the moon.

“Now I can finally take these babies out for a spin…” Luna made a catty remark as she rotated her dark-blue guns from earlier in circles like they were the moon. She began firing them while spinning them relentlessly as the recoil sent her spinning and landing a short distance behind Cadance, who had tried to shoot her again while she was in the air. Turning to face Luna, the two princes pointed their guns at each other.

“So it all comes down to a stand-off…” Cadance surmised.

“Yes…” Luna replied. “A stand-off you’ve already lost.”

Suddenly, Cadance lost her stance and began to wobble all around as holes formed all over her body. She collapsed on the ground, becoming nothing more than a pile of bullet caps. In the middle of the pile, all that remained were the Rarity handguns, the panties, and another orb. No longer under Cadance’s magic, the Rarity handguns turned back into Rarity and the panties became a Maud Pie-gray color. From the orb, Shining Armor’s spirit appeared, with Cadance’s spirit right beside him, giving the appearance that they had almost been fused together.

“You saved me,” said Shining Armor and Cadance at the same time, “thank you. Allow me to introduce myself properly this time. I’m ShiCadinganceArmor. I was with the DMCPD before I was used in one of Chrysalis’ BMS experiments and implanted with an immorality chip. While I’m glad to be free, there’s a few things I don’t understand. First of all, how did that work?”

“I think you already know it’s obvious that these aren’t ordinary handguns.” Luna looked up to her audience. “They’re my special Magic Eater guns, enhanced by dark magic that allows me to convert whomever they target into ammunition. So when I’m going trigger happy and wasting ammo, I’m not hurting myself, but my adversary.”

“What a terrifying weapon…” Shining Armor and Cadance replied simultaneously. “You’re definitely from the IDPD...but what I don’t understand is why members from the IDPD are here. You two weren’t even surprised when you saw me, a fellow officer, trying to kill you.”

“It’s simple really,” said Luna with a sneer. “Rarity here and I already know everything from the immorality chips to what Celestia’s really trying to do…”

“What Celestia’s...really trying to do?” Shining Armor and Cadance individually asked in confusion, as they never knew what Celestia was really trying to do…

“We’re well aware that Celestia doesn’t give petrified crap about finding out who the murderer is…” Rarity explained. “Her real reason for wanting us to collect the orbs is so the power that they’ve lost can be restored...and once that happens, she’ll...”

Just then, Rarity was interrupted by a strange voice...uttering poetry!

King Sombra Proudly Returns

Hello everypony, I am back
I’m not here for revenge
I’m not here to attack
Why am I here? It’s a mystery, like Stonehenge

No I lied, I’m going to strike back
Because I know Rarity stole my ring
Get ready for some flack
Why are you gone now? I’ve taken you under my wing…

And with a flash of shadow, Rarity and the orb were gone.

“What the…” Luna said as she looked all around. “Where did they go?”

When she ran back up the slope to investigate further, she was treated to a peculiar sight in the distance. Rarity was in the form of a robot truck with a shadowy aura exuding from her, and King Sombra was inside her truck form starting her engine. As he drove away in the Rarity car, Luna could also see Fluttershy in the rear windshield, tied up and trying to say something that was muffled by a piece of duck tape on her mouth.

“Ssshhhiiiiittt.” Luna uttered. “I never thought he would go this far…”

Meanwhile, inside the car, the orb was rolling around the floor trying to spell out a message…

Kill...er...s have ….a cod…..e

MISSION…..ACCOM….PLISHE…..D…..?

The Light of Two Shadows

So...You are reading this.

From where we last left off, the second orb was taken, Rarity was stolen and possessed by King Sombra as a car, Fluttershy was kidnapped, and Luna was pottymouthed. Damn, what a mess.

“Crud, what a shitty mess.” Luna watched a bit of her language. “I’m so ticked off that I want to take a piss in King Sombra’s apple juice! I have to find some way to stop him or Rarity and Fluttershy are damned to be doomed! But how?”

Luna looked around the meter zone and was hit with an idea by all the cars…

Meanwhile, King Sombra was driving the Rarity truck too fast, speeding at 225 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone, running every red light and stop sign, destroying public property, causing accidents, causing the police cars and helicopters that tried to chase him down to have accidents, and occasionally picking up hitchhikers (who were all either Cadance or Shining Armor clones made from human beings)...whom he made regret getting in the car with him…

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” said a Shining Armor hitchhiker, getting off the truck with all the other hitchhikers at a pit stop. “This isn’t our kind of ride. It’s bumpy, noisy, disturbing the peace, and that childmolester* you have tied up in the back creeps us out.”
*Author’s Note= Yeah...Fluttershy is still in her “detective outfit”

“You mean Fluttershy?” Sombra gave a wink to her. “Don’t worry, I know what to do with her. I’m going to Princess Shining Armor’s castle to turn her in, good sir.”

“Well golly almighty,” said one of the oblivious Cadance hitchhikers, “that is completely stupid. Shining Armor’s not a cop, Cadance is! ...Or the other way ‘round, I can’t really tell.”

“Whatever, I do what I want!” Sombra sassed. “I hope I never again see your front!”

As Sombra sped away in the truck, he hit a pothole in the road, causing the truck to swerve out of control. After that quirky anecdote, he regained control of the vehicle and kept driving until he saw a strangely upright and intact Monster energy drink can in the middle of the road. He cautiously tried to turn more to the right to avoid it, but in his recklessness, accidentally flipped the truck over and sent it spinning upside-down into a nearby ditch. Fluttershy was banged all over the place as she was flung all around, and the orb shattered the rear windshield, flying out into the field unscathed. Sombra, being slightly scourged by a piece of glass that flew from the broken windshield and cut his right cheek, was infuriated.

“That stupid Monster destroyed my truck!” Sombra shouted demonically as he got out of the damaged vehicle and slammed the door behind him. “I’ll dig that can a grave filled with muck!”

Sombra used his magic to grab the can and dig a small hole in the dirt below him at the same time. He unzipped his shadow body pants, held the can up to his freeman, and promptly filled it with lemonade that he drank yesterday. He also took off his shadow footwear and squeezed a shadow sock like a lemon to get fresh water into the can. Last of all, he poured his blood and tears into his attempt to get the can a glass of his special somepony’s favorite brand of warm milk. He shook the can up, getting a bit of the contents inside on his face in the process, and looked like he was about to drink from it before he abruptly dropped it in the hole he dug.

“Oops, I dropped it in nature’s toilet.” Sombra humored. “It’s a good thing that the soil will COIL IT!”

With that, Sombra put his hoof down into the hole and crushed the can. He buried it along with the muck, and cleaned up the mess on his face by licking it with triumph.

“Ha ha,” he laughed. “That was just too eas-”

“FREEZE!” someone shouted from behind, putting a gun to Sombra’s head. “DON’T MOVE!”

“How did you…?” Sombra asked, knowing it was the end of the line.

“Heh heh…” Luna began her line with a chuckle. “You fell right into my trap. I made myself a Monster motorcycle from downgrade fusing car parts and Monster energy drinks (my favorite!) I got from a convenience store. I got here long before you did and decided to set a trap by making one of the cans I didn’t use a force field that would react to Rarity’s essence. And for the coup de grace, I waited for you to get distracted so I could grab the orb and rescue Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy was standing next to Luna with the duck tape still on her mouth (Luna left it on for everyone’s sake). She appeared to be trying to tell Luna something that was muffled as she desperately tried taking the duck tape off…

“So you put one of your friends in jeopardy to save the other.” Sombra said gleefully. “Ha ha, that is…”

“Oh brother,” Luna replied, “shut up. To tell you the truth, Rarity specifically told me that if I ever had to decide to either save her or save Fluttershy to save Fluttershy. I’m just doing what I’ve been told to do.”

“Your voice and rebellious attitude remind me of someone…” Sombra’s memory was slightly triggered by the tone of the one who had him at gunpoint. “That’s it, you’re...Lu...lu...you...uh…”

“Luna…” Luna told him in frustration. “I’m the one who got you into that jar and helped you fully become Fluttershy’s body, mind, and soul, remember? Why did you betray me? Why are you taking over Sky and kidnapping the fake Fluttershy?”

“Betrayal? Kidnapping?” Sombra sneered. “Quit your yapping. I’m just here to accomplish my mission and get back the ring. Also, I didn’t even fully become any of those things.”

“What...are you...talking about?” Luna asked as her confidence began turning into confusion.

“Before Fluttershy completed her transformation...” Sombra replied. “She and I were attacked by a mysterious ninja who didn’t approve of our reformation...”

“Ninja…no, it can’t be...” Luna gulped. “How could she…”

“Now you’re speaking my language.” Sombra felt the rhythm, enjoying this conversation more now. “I’m also going to tell you that this is far from the end of your anguish. Though Fluttershy’s body and mind are now mine as well, she has yet to become my soul. Where her soul has gone, I don’t know the story in full.”

“So the soul in your body is your own…” Luna immediately went to the conclusion. “And you kidnapped the fake Fluttershy in hopes that she had Fluttershy’s spirit…”

“Right and wrong,” responded Sombra, “you understand the lyrics, but not the beat of the song. I am myself, mostly acting on my own accord. However, I am to kidnap Fluttershy and Sky under the order of my lord, Discord. They are to be brought to Canterlot castle for a duel.

“And what’s the point of this duel?” Luna questioned further. “To see who would win in a fight, a humanized Fluttershy, or a Fluttershyzed human?”

“I believe YOU’VE told me enough…” Sombra worded some of that correctly. “Or to be more specific, you’ve told HER enough…”

And with that, Sombra changed back into Fluttershy! Also, since Sombra and Fluttershy are one in the same, Fluttershy overheard the entire conversation Sombra and Luna had!

“Luna…” Fluttershy said with her eyes watering. “Is all that...TRUE? My dream was...REAL? You tried to turn me into....SOMBRA?!”

“Well yeah, sorry about that,” apologized Luna sincerely. “What’s concerning me right now though is that if you’re the real Fluttershy, and this is the fake Fluttershy, then where’s...”

The fake Fluttershy finally tore the duck tape off the other Fluttershy’s mouth, and he said some dialogue revealing him to be...Sky!

“Yeah, I was trying to tell you that he turned me back into part of my true form, Fluttershy*.” Sky explained the reveal.
*See the ending of Transcending Fluttershy’s Dark Sky for details
“...Okay, now even I’m having a hard time understanding-GAK!” Luna tried to express her opinion, but was punched in the stomach by the crying real Fluttershy. After a dramatic pause, Luna clutched her stomach in pain as Fluttershy turned back into Sombra.

“Understanding pain?” Sombra laughed as he seized the dark-blue orb that Luna hid in her uniform. “I don’t care if I gain some flack from your fans for that, it’s all in vain!”

“This self-aware dialogue is confusing…” Sky commented as he put his hoof-thumb up to his lips. “Why is it not becoming less confusing even though I’m aware?”

Sky was given plenty of time to think that one over as Sombra engulfed him in shadow and disappeared.

“Shoot...” Luna gave the appropriate curse in reaction to her shortcomings. “He must have teleported to that castle he was talking about. I had a feeling he was only playing Big Rigs with Rarity to get back at her for stealing the ring…which means...”

Just as Luna suspected, the shadow that once surrounded Rarity disappeared, and she turned back into a normal robot alicorn.

“Having god powers, she’s probably already recovered from that crash she had as a truck and should regain consciousness soon.” Luna thought to herself. “Should I stay here and interrogate her about what the heck she’s been doing behind my back with Fluttershy, or should I go to Discord’s castle and ask him what the hell this duel is about?”

Meanwhile, at Canterlot castle…

Two guards who were identical in appearance to Discord were standing watch outside a door to the throne room. Inside the throne room, there was Fluttershy-esque decor galore. Pink and yellow-painted walls, windows depicting Fluttershy’s deeds, a pink, yellow, and of course red carpet, and a butterfly-shaped throne decorated with pink topaz and an insignia of a wingless butterfly piercing a heart sown onto the throne’s seat with Fluttershy-brand string. We couldn’t see that last part though because Discord’s butt was in the way.

“Gah, I can’t get this taste of soda off my tongue…” Discord bemoaned, sitting on his throne and gagging on a lollipop he wasn’t enjoying very much. “I hope Sombra gets back here soon…”

Soon, Sombra, with the Fluttershy form of Sky on his shoulders, materialized before him on the carpet.

“I have returned, Lord Master,” Sombra greeted as he bowed his head. “I have brought what you have requested of me to bring, and only wish I could’ve made it back here faster.”

“That’s fine, but would you please stop speaking in rhyme?” Discord requested as his head slanted to the right a bit. “You don’t have to treat everything you say like a rime. Also, you know you need to be Fluttershy for the upcoming fight, you can not be Sombra at this time.”

“Alright then,” said Sombra as he transformed into Fluttershy. “I know when-”

Sombra was interrupted when he allowed Fluttershy’s mind to take control.

“So what’s going on here?” Fluttershy asked. “Am I going to have to...fight Sky?”

“Yes,” replied Discord, “in a battle of wits...in a gamble.”

“We’re going to gamble...with our intelligence?” Fluttershy said in puzzlement. “Are we going to become stupid if we lose?”

“What a terrible fate that would be.” Sky lamented. “I hope we’re not going to be forced to play the lottery. All those losing tickets…”

“Not that kind of gambling…” Discord put his claw and paw on his face. “I mean a gamble that would require you to make a smart, educated guess in an exchange of sake cups.”

Discord did his magic and made a tray with two Fluttershy-sized sake cups on it appear on the floor. Both of them looked like Fluttershy in sake cup form and were filled with apple juice.

“Now time to explain the rules…” Discord prepared to elaborate. “One of these sake cups is filled with ordinary apple juice. The other is filled with apple juice mixed with a large amount of cough syrup and taurine. If you take it, I think you already know what will happen... Choose wisely, for only the winner shall take over my place as the ruler of Canterlot castle. Now then, who wants to be the one to choose?”

“I don’t,” said Sky, “terrible things tend to happen when I make decisions on what I should drink.”

“Then I guess I’ll make the call…” Fluttershy announced as she walked up to the Fluttershy cup on the left. “I choose this one…”

“Thanks,” said Sky, feeling very relieved as he went up to the right Fluttershy cup. “I have nothing to fear now…”

“Of course you have nothing to fear…” Discord thought. “You’re too stupid to realize that the outcome of this game is predetermined. I already told Fluttershy which one would be the correct one in my own way while she was still Sombra. There’s no way I can lose…”

The two dipped their jaws inside the oversized cups and drank from them. When they were done drinking, Sky was fine, but Fluttershy clutched her throat and began to gag.

“Woah Fluttershy,” said Sky with concern as he walked over to Fluttershy. “Are you okay?”

“Bleh!” Fluttershy yelled. “It tastes like urine!”

“Ha ha ha ha!” Discord laughed. “Fluttershy guessed right! Congrats Fluttershy, you’re the win-”

But in mid-sentence, he was paused by Sky beginning to gag as well. His entire body got all shadow-like as he started transforming into King Sombra. And wouldn’t you know, the same thing started happening to Fluttershy as well!

“Wait...HUH?!” Discord let his ham out like a spearman shaking his treasure carelessly. “Why are you becoming Sombra? I put a drug in the right drink that would vitalize your body and mind, keeping Sombra suppressed! And that kid didn’t even consume the drug! I can not have Sombra lead this castle! If he can not be likened to my image, he must DIE!”

Just then, a smoke bomb was thrown in front of Discord’s throne, surrounding him with gas that was bad for his eyes. He couldn’t even see Rarity teleport in front of him, dressed as a ninja again. She took a scroll for reality bending spells out of her black ninja suit.

“Sorry, my fair fake Fluttershy,” said Rarity as she prepared her spell, “but I can’t have you going and making either of my two favorite idiots smart. I need the real Fluttershy to be Sombra for a large while longer. Reality Swap!”

With that, the fake Discord turned back into the fake Fluttershy from the real beginning of this story!

“Rarity, you fool…” the fraudulent Fluttershy haughtily derided the purple-haired ninja and her prose as she vanished along with the smoke. “I’m sure you know that I’m not just any fake Fluttershy...I AM…”

Robot Alicorn Fluttershy. That’s how her sentence was finished as she transformed into her robot alicorn self, fully equipped with warm and toasty robot armor, lasers, and living Fluttershy plushies on the robot armor.

“Brace yourselves…” Robot Alicorn Fluttershy said as she flew up to the air, embracing her chest. “The Tale of Two Sombras is OVER!!!”

R.A. Fluttershy opened her chest, and all the Fluttershy plushies went down to the two Sombras like guided missiles and exploded. The two Sombras avoided the explosion by teleporting behind R.A.F., and began chanting a poem…

The Tale of Two Sombras

The Tale of Two Sombras, we like that name
The Tale of Two Fluttershys, we’re no longer the same
The Tale of Two Mauds, she’s a bit too bland
The Tale of Two Discords, his room is Fluttershy-brand
The identity of Sombra, we shall not give up
The identity of Fluttershy, we shall surrender
The identity of Discord, you failed to live up
The identity of Maud, we will no longer offend her

While the poem was going on, R.A.F. was trying to shoot the Sombras with her Fluttershy Thompson gun and her alicorn lasers, but the Sombras had turned themselves into shadow and were not affected. And after their poem was finished, they merged together to form...a shadow paladin in shining armor mounting a celestial horse and holding a shadow spear and shield from the heavens.

“BY THE WAY, THE REASON WE ALWAYS RHYME AS SOMBRA...” the Sombra knight announced as he leaped in the air and began spinning. “...HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ZECORA!”

With that, the Sombra knight came down onto R.A.F., destroying her completely by causing her to explode into Fluttershy shaped crystals. The crystals fell onto the ground and broke into shards as the shadow paladin descended to the floor and turned back into Sky and Fluttershy.

“We did it…” Fluttershy said as she glanced at the scene. “We do have great power within us after all, just like Rarity and Luna…”

“I guess I suppose so…” Sky added as he glanced at Fluttershy. “Hey, you’re no longer in Sombra form.”

“Hey, you’re right.” Fluttershy replied as she looked at herself and Sky. “And you’re not in Sombra or Fluttershy form anymore. Did those drinks only have a temporary effect? Speaking of which, I’m not really sure how that worked…again.”

“Speaking of another which,” Sky changed the subject, “where did Rarity go? We couldn’t have gotten out of that mess if she hadn’t done whatever she did. We need to thank her.”

Before Fluttershy could agree to that, the Discord guards from earlier came in.

“Congratulations on your victory…” they sickly said sweetly.

“Hold on, who are you guys?” Fluttershy politely set the guards up for a proper greeting.

"We're magic clones of the Lord of Masters, Discord," they introduced, "sent to this world to spy on the fake Fluttershy Discord snuffed out. Discord learned that he wasn't the real Fluttershy after she didn't remember him, yet remembered Chrysalis and what Fluttershy had seen after her murder. BMS clones either remember all of the experiences of the original, or none of them."

"But if Discord knew that that Fluttershy was a fraud, why did he give him control of this castle?" Fluttershy asked.

"He pretended to give the fake Fluttershy control of this castle and authority over his most trusted subordinate,” they replied, “Sombra, under the guise of making him the guardian of this region's orb. The fake Fluttershy became suspicious that he was just being used though, and devised a plan to escape being hunted down by the IDPD and remove Discord's best lackey at the same time. We figured out his scheme to suppress Fluttershy's Sombra powers ahead of time however, and took immediate countermeasures."

“We’re magic clones of the Lord of Masters, Discord,” they introduced, “sent to this world to spy on the fake Fluttershy Discord snuffed out. You see, Discord pretended to give the fake Fluttershy control of this castle and authority over his most trusted subordinate, Sombra, under the guise of making him the guardian of this region’s orb. The fake Fluttershy became suspicious that he was just being used though, and devised a plan to escape being hunted down by the IDPD and remove Discord’s best lackey at the same time. We figured out his scheme to suppress Fluttershy’s Sombra powers ahead of time however, and took immediate countermeasures.”

“So Sombra was being deceived the entire time by that stupid offer…” Fluttershy realized, knowing Sombra’s thoughts and feeling foolish. “And I actually drank that Rockstar knock-off thinking it would make me powerful like Rarity and Luna…”

“So you switched the apple juices out for Sombra energy drinks,” Sky assumed correctly. “Thank you, that was really nice. But why did Discord send the impersonator here? If he realized he was a spy, why didn’t he just take care of him right then and there? Why go through all this trouble of making him an orb-carrier?”

“Heh heh…” the Discord guards replied. “We’re not going to tell you everything. What would be the fun in that? Besides, don’t you have other matters to attend to? Don’t you feel something is missing? Don’t you feel that as heroes, you deserve...a reward for your efforts?”

“Oh, that’s right, the orb.” Sky recalled. “Where is it? It wasn’t showing up on Luna’s map earlier either, did that fake Fluttershy do something to it?”

“Close…” the Discord guards said with a chuckle. “Master Discord did something to it. Why don’t you see for yourselves?”

The Discord guards levitated the only Fluttershy crystal shard that didn’t break and returned it to its original form...a glowing blue and yellow sphere encased in a tightly sealed jar.

“That’s right,” said the Discord guards as they held the jar, “I’m afraid you’re not going to get a clue from this orb just yet. Our Master Discord put a lock on this orb just in case it fell into the wrong hands or hooves. Specifically, Celestia’s. You’ll have to ask him to unlock it.”

“Wait…Celestia’s?” Sky asked. “Aren’t we gathering the orbs for Celestia so that we find out who murdered Chrysalis?”

“You truly are as oblivious as they come…” the Discord guards delivered. “Did it ever once cross your mind that Celestia has an ulterior motive? Or is even who she claims to be? Surely Fluttershy can help you see the truth...”

Sky turned to Fluttershy and noticed that she had a grim look on her face.

“Sky…” Fluttershy said as she lowered her head. “Now that I know that that dream I had was real...I’m starting to put two and two together. I think I know now the real reason we were sent here. And I also think I know now...who killed Chrysalis…”

Sky gulped in response, and hoped she didn’t…

“Well, here you go,” said the Discord guards casually as they handed over the jarred orb to Fluttershy and Sky. “As clones of the Master, our knowledge is linked. He should arrive here shortly...farewell.”

The Discord guards then vanished with a puff of smoke, and sure enough, Discord showed up in the castle walking tall.

“Oh my,” Discord swore by himself in such excitement, “you actually did it. You guys actually collected all of the orbs from this world!”

“All of them?” Fluttershy pondered. “But even counting the one I swiped from Luna, we should only have two.”

“Oh, don’t be so self-centered,” Discord gawked as he circled around Fluttershy. “I met Rarity and Luna in the portal room on my way here. They teleported back to return the orb they got from Maud Pie. There’s no more need for us to linger here. HI-HO!”

With a flick of his fingers, Discord teleported himself and the duo back to the portal room, where Rarity and a peculiar-looking Luna were waiting.

“Now then…” Discord said as Sky and Fluttershy gave him the jar-encased orb. “Since I don’t need this lock anymore, why don’t we end this part of our journey on a mysterious note?”

Discord held the jar with his paw, and shaping his claw into something that resembled a key, shattered the jar with a magic locksmith technique that almost looked like a punch. After that, Robot Alicorn Fluttershy’s spirit emerged from the orb.

“Thank you, Sky and Fluttershy,” said R.A.F. in a tranquil tone. “You saved-”

“I said a mysterious note!” Discord yelled as he pushed R.A.F.’s spirit back into the orb. “Not a satisfying note!”

Sorry…here’s the clue…

Yearning to reverse your fortune, you find a false hint.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Enigmatic Words From the Cloud Dragon of the Mist

Congrats reader, you know now what happened to Fluttershy on her adventure in the World of Creation. But what fate befell the Dark Sky members on their journey to the World of Evolution? Do you already know? If not, you may wish to know, for who knows what lies beyond those stygian clouds…

The Bat and the Rat

The tale of Fluttershy shall end with One, the tale of the Dark Sky shall end with CrE…

Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, Ghost Rainbow Dash, and Derpy Hooves arrived in the World of Evolution. The first thing they noticed in this strange old world as they looked around was that everything was dark.

“Damn it, why is it so dark in here now?” Dumb-bell swore at being surrounded by black. “We need a light.”

“But I thought we didn’t smoke.” Derpy responded obliviously.

“Derpy…” Ghost Rainbow Dash said with a sigh. “I smoke. I know cigarettes make me look stupid, but the feel of puffing something toxic is just too cool to resist!”

“Wha-what?!” Dumb-bell exclaimed. “What made you guys think I was talking about cigarettes? Can’t you see that we have a problem here?”

“No,” replied Hoops, “it’s too dark.”

“...” Score said sarcastically with silence.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” said Dumb-bell. “Yeah Hoops, very funny, ha ha.”

Just then, the sound of one throwing a flash grenade could be heard as footsteps and clinging became audible in tandem.

“LIGHTS IN!” a voice called out as an explosion went off and everything suddenly became bright. Now when the Dark Sky members looked around, they could see everything.

“Dang,” they said as they analyzed everything and came to a result of what they thought. “This is...strange. This place looks so different from when we visited it with Rarity.”

What surrounded them was a damp, dirty road under their hooves, muddiness, and several buildings in the distance that were dark and not part of what became bright. Most importantly, on the road, there were hoofsteps on a path that led off the road and to a mysterious metal and purple building with a metal door on the front and flashy letters above the door enigmatically titling the building “B.A...T. Tiffany’s”.

“B.A...T……..Tiffany’s?” Dumb-bell asked with a dumbstruck look on his face.

“No Dumb, it’s B.A...T. Tiffany’s.” Derpy corrected him intellectually. “You know, like that song we used to cover all the time about a guy spiraling into insanity.”

“Wasn’t that American Pie?” Hoops interjected.

“Tiffany, Pie, who cares?” G.R.D. said. “We have no idea where the heck or hell else to go, why don’t we see if that guy who threw that grenade at us is still here? We couldn’t have gotten this far without his help, maybe he knows why this old world is even weirder now and can give us directions.”

“It might be just you, but eh, you just might be right.” Dumb-bell made a case for both sides. “Up ahead looks too dark and I don’t want to get lost.”

“Neither do I,” said Hoops, “getting lost makes me feel soul-searchy and weird.”

“I’m always lost in my train of thought…” Derpy revealed a personal secret. “It’s really big and gives me motion sickness.”

“...” Score told them to just go in the building already silently.

“Now that’s the kind of attitude I like,” complimented G. Rainbow Dash, “you guys could learn a few things from Score. Now then, we’re going in!”

G.R.D. opened the metal door and the group stepped inside...to find themselves outside of a restaurant with the exact same appearance and decor as the building they had just entered, except this restaurant was a pink metal building, had windows and glass doors and a sign on the window that said “Opening Day!”.

“So B.A...T. Tiffany’s is a restaurant...in a building?” Dumb-bell said, confused once more.

“It could be like one of those hotels that have places that serve meals inside of them.” Hoops educated us. “Let’s look inside.”

The group went up to the glass doors and examined the interior of this hotel-like place. Judging from the brown tile floors and booth-like seats, it appeared to be a normal fast food restaurant. However, there were also bat ponies inside dressed in white, wing-holed uniforms. One was walking under fluorescent lights as he or she delivered food in a cardboard box on a tray to a bat pony customer sitting at a table.

“Bat ponies…” Ghost R.D. grumbled to herself under her ghoulish breath. “It had to be bat ponies...This world just can’t accept the fact that I’m more of a snake guy. Maybe I should just use my ghost powers to slip through the walls undetected and find the dude we’re looking for-”

“Oh no, vampires!” Derpy shouted, alerting every employee in the restaurant to where every member of the Dark Sky was.

Like regular bats, the bat ponies knew where the Dark Sky members were because of the sound, and began staring at them through the glass doors.

“What do we do now guys?” Derpy whispered softly, learning from her mistake as her team members glared at her in frustration.

The bat ponies just sighed with screeches…

“Can we help you ponies from another planet with something?” one of the bat ponies asked.

“Uh, yes.” Dumb-bell said, deciding to be the spokesman. “We’re here to see somepony who threw a grenade at us. We think he or she might-DO’H!”

Dumb-bell was interrupted by Hoops giving him a hard knock on the head.

“Sorry, sorry,” apologized Hoops, “what he meant to say was that we’re lost and we want to ask for directions…”

“We are sorry too, sir,” retorted a bat pony employee, “but we only give directions to paying customers.”

“Oh, okay.” Derpy interjected. “Do we have to put quarters in your toilet?”

The bat ponies just had blank expressions on their faces.

“Do you live in a cave?” one of them asked. “We have no toilets here! We’re bat ponies, we go to the bathroom on the ceiling! Just look above you!”

Curiously, the group glanced up and saw two doors on the ceiling that apparently led to bathrooms. The one on the left had one symbol of a purple alicorn standing while holding a squirt gun, and the one on the right had three symbols, being from left to right, a pink alicorn crouching while holding a butter knife, an arrow pointing to the right, and a pink building.

“You have bathrooms, but no toilets?” Hoops said as he scratched his head. “Are they just...dirt floors on the inside, or…?”

“How do you tell which one is the men or women’s?” Derpy asked. “The bro on the left looks like a woman and the broski on the right looks like a crossdresser.”

“Isn’t that...inconvenient for ponies who can’t fly?” G. Rainbow Dash pointed out. “What do you expect the earth ponies and unicorns to do, float up there? Not all of them have the kind of skill to do something that cool, just saying.”

“Are you just going to stand there asking stupid questions and getting no answers,” said one of the bat ponies, “or are you going to order something? Because you can order something to eat when we come to the table you’re sitting at.”

“Oh, so that’s how you do it.” Derpy figured out from the tutorial. “So in a nutshell, all we need to do to go to the bathroom is sit down and order food.”

“...Exactly.” the bat pony said, wearying of this conversation. “There should be an open table right over there…”

The bat pony pointed to the table that the bat pony customer the Dark Sky members saw from the glass door was sitting at. But he or she was gone, leaving only an opened cardboard box filled with untouched apple slices on the table. Upon listening closely, the laugh of a pink machine could be heard…

“Just like in that story…” a slightly unnerved Dumb-bell muttered.

“That is funny…” one of the bat ponies giggled at the weirdness. “If he didn’t want to try the food, he should’ve just not ordered it. I hope you five will be more...courteous.”

“You mean four,” Ghost R.D. corrected. “I’m incapable of eating food that I don’t want to try, obviously. The only thing I can do to be courteous is pay for the meal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” a bat pony replied impatiently, “just take a seat, take a seat right over there.”

The group obeyed with caution as they got into the booth with the apple slices. As the bat ponies put five menus on the table and walked away, the group began to converse and conspire about what was really going on here, with the exception of Derpy, who was too focused on her menu.

“I’m telling you, it’s just like that story.” Dumb-bell told G. Rainbow Dash. “And not the one with you in it.”

“I was in a story?!” Ghost. R.D. exclaimed excitedly. “Oh wait, it wasn’t an awful parody story that made fun of me was it?”

“What, n-no. I meant the Rainbow Dash from that stor-” Dumb-bell paused as he thought this over. “What the…”

“What’s wrong, Dumb-bell?” Hoops asked.

“N-nothing, never mind.” Dumb-bell replied. “It’s just...fudge, this multi-alternate reality verse stuff Rarity told us about warped my mind. I feel so confused...”

“I can relate,” Derpy chimed in. “I’m really confused right now about this menu. I don’t know how to read all these illegible scribbles. Also, I never knew that “BLAH BLAH BLAH” was a food.”

“...What.” the others responded collectively.

Everyone picked up their menus and skimmed through them. In doing so, all they found was the same thing, scribbles and “BLAH BLAH BLAH”. Even the prices for the food were listed as “??? (depends on how much we get from them)”.

“What kind of cram is this?!” G.R.D. exclaimed. “These menus are bullshit!”

“How can I play the game on the back if I can’t read the menu?” Derpy complained as she showed the group her menu’s back, which depicted a drawing of a purple robot alicorn talking a speech bubble that said “Let the game begin…”

“Hey, she was on the bathroom door.” Hoops recalled. “What does she mean by that? What game?”

“HEY EVERYONE!” declared a loud voice from the table as it turned pink and robot-like. “DO YOU WANT TO HEAR A JOKE?!”

“Who are you?!” the Dark Sky members shouted.

“Ha ha, “who”.” the table guffawed. “Don’t worry, it’s not a knock-knock joke. It goes like this. Why did 5 and 3 get into a fight at the restaurant?”

“Why…” G.R.D. replied, not wanting to play along. “...are you doing this?”

“Because 5 didn’t order a 2-for-1!” the table shouted.

The group was silent until Score began to chuckle.

“...” he explained the joke silently.

“Yeah, math is hilarious!” the table said like a calculus student handing in his homework late. “They say laughter is the best medicine to knock someone out with, but I prefer chloroform!”

And with that, part of the table became a spray nozzle that filled the restaurant with sleeping gas. Ghost R.D. was unaffected because of her ghost powers, but the rest inhaled the gas and fell asleep. Noticing the bat ponies coming back to the table with gasmasks on and a purple robot alicorn with them, she hid in a wall. She knew that for now, there was nothing she could do as her fellow band members were dragged away…

Two hours later, the sleeping Dark Sky members slowly regained consciousness, and found themselves in a dimly lit underground basement. All four of them were strapped to purple metal beds strapped to the wall. As they looked around and realized that fact, Dumb-bell sighed.

“I should’ve known…” he groaned. “It’s going to be THAT story. It’s times like this where I’m glad we have mist powers...”

The Dark Sky members turned to mist and slipped out of the straps. They were about to teleport out of the basement, but stopped when the cries of the bat pony customer from earlier could be heard from a supply room on the other side of the basement…

“ANSWER ME!” screamed a familiar robotic voice from a purple cyborg. “WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE FOR COMING TO MY RESTAURANT?!”

“I told you, I just wanted to eat-GLORK!” the customer was interrupted by a kick to the face from the cyborg.

The Dark Sky members quietly went up to the barely visible purple door of the room and peered into the purple keyhole. Inside they saw that the purple cyborg was...Robot Alicorn Twilight.

“YES, LIE TO ME!” Robot Alicorn Twilight cried joyfully. “I WANT TO PROLONG THIS TORTURE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! I KNOW DISCORD SENT YOU! HE WANTS YOU TO SHUT DOWN MY RESTAURANT! HE KNOWS IT’S PART OF MY PLAN TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD OF ORIGIN!”

“I don’t know what you’re-” the customer paused. “Wait, you went through my-AGH!”

“KEEP TELLING ME THAT…” R.A.T. said upon stomping on the customer’s legs. “I ALREADY KNOW WHY DISCORD AND RARITY RE-CREATED THE WORLD OF EVOLUTION WHEN THEY MADE THE WORLD OF ORIGIN. IT’S ALL PART OF THE L.O.W., THE LIGHTLY ORDERED WORLD PROJECT. THEY’RE GOING TO MAKE FLUTTERSHY GOD OF THE UNIVERSE NOW THAT CrE IS DEAD! BUT I WILL HAVE NONE OF THAT! I’M GOING TO USE THIS RESTAURANT TO RAISE ENOUGH MONEY FOR MY OWN PROJECT TO MAKE MYSELF GOD!”

“...Reall-UNH!” the customer was interrupted by being stomped on the arms.

“Yes…” R.A.T. replied. “I think I’m going to calm down now and take this a little slower since there’s no need to rush...Discord and Rarity wrote me into this world as the guardian of the first orb. Though they stripped me of my ability to perform fusion arts, I eventually learned a magic spell to turn living beings into money. But with spies like you always watching, there’s no way I could do that to the new citizens of this world in broad daylight. So I established this restaurant to do it in secret and got some bat ponies to work for me by bribing them with access to Robot Alicorn Applejack’s orchard. I’m going to turn every customer that comes to my restaurant into money until I reach my $700 billion goal, and no one will ever find out!”

“You just told me…” the customer pointed out as he coughed up blood. “I’m not even one of Discord’s spies, I’m a health inspector who used to be a guy from the human world named Freddy…”

“Exactly…” R.A.T. gave an evil grin with that line. “I knew all along. I was just doing this for fun. And now that you know what you do, you can not be allowed to live…”

“But weren’t you going to kill me anyways-NGH!” the customer said his final words as the cyborg transformed him into nonliving money.

“Who said evil had to make sense?” R.A.T. made a point as she put the money in her wallet. “Now then, I have other matters to attend to…”

Upon overhearing the entire conversation, the Dark Sky members were horrified.

“That poor guy…” Hoops whispered. “There’s nothing we could have done...those robot alicorns are far more powerful than we could hope to be…”

“I know…” Dumb-bell acknowledged. “Our only hope is to get out of here now!”

The Dark Sky members turned to mist to teleport outside of the restaurant.

“Come on,” said Dumb-bell, “let’s find G.R.D. and get out of…”

Dumb-bell paused as the group, including G.R.D., who came out of one of the building’s walls, looked towards them and saw a shadow paladin in shining armor on a celestial horse in front of the door. Before the group could even ask who he or she was, the paladin began to utter poetry…

One Born of the Sky

One born of the sky
Infused with the shy
Brings a promise to a ruined land
A promise that all will comprehand

In the chaos of time and reality
I shall create a new mentality
One that all shall comprehend
In the land that I will mend

In response, the Dark Sky members stood still and blinked. They looked behind through the glass doors of the restaurant and saw bat pony employees standing around motionless as if time had stopped. Curious, they walked up to the paladin.

“Nice poem,” Derpy complimented. “By the way, who the hell are you?”

“An envoy of the future…” the shadow paladin replied from under the radiant helm covering their face. “A servant of the god known as Fluttershy.”

“!” the group was slightly surprised as they remembered what R.A.T. said. “So it’s true...Fluttershy is going to be the god of the universe...if you’re from the future, the L.O.W. project is destined to succeed. That must’ve been what Rarity tried to explain to us before…”

“Precisely…” the shadow paladin confirmed. “Even if you do find Fluttershy and stop her from collecting the orbs, you can not change that outcome.”

“...” all of the Dark Sky members said silently and despondently.

“Please Dark Sky members,” the shadow paladin pleaded. “I beg you...stop fighting against Fluttershy and instead fight for her. Just as Fluttershy is destined to become CrE, you were also destined to come to this world and prove yourselves worthy of being her most faithful servants. And for that to happen, you must defeat all of the robot alicorns in this world! Fight against these heathens who dare to oppose her!”

“But how?” the group asked. “We’d love to help Fluttershy, but we don’t have that kind of strength…”

“True…” the shadow paladin replied as shadow exuded from his body. “But I can create that kind of strength within you…”

The shadow exuding from the paladin began to spread and divide itself, entering into each of the Dark Sky members. As a result, each of them felt overwhelmingly more powerful than before.

“Wow!” G. Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “With this power, I can make my plan to take down those machines work even better! Thanks for the...”

Before the Dark Sky members could thank the shadow paladin, he turned to flashing light and disappeared, leaving the Dark Sky members somewhat mystified.

“I guess that leaves us with just one mystery…” Derpy said in puzzlement of a certain someone’s identity. “Who did throw that flash grenade?”

As the Dark Sky members sighed, they looked back through the glass doors of the restaurant and saw the bat ponies slowly starting to move again.

“Shoot, time’s resuming!” G.R.D. alerted her comrades. “Everyone, hide! I’ve got an idea!”

Soon after the Dark Sky members had hidden, Robot Alicorn Twilight and the bat ponies stormed out of the restaurant.

“Where the heavenly Tartarus did those bastards go?!” R.A.T. yelled. “Scout this area right now and find them!”

The bat ponies obeyed the order and began searching. However, the pink restaurant remained stationary.

“That goes for you too, Pinkie!” R.A.T. exclaimed as she transformed the responseless R.A.P. as a building into R.A.P. as a squirt gun...revealing that the Dark Sky members, save G.R.D., were hiding behind the restaurant.

“!” R.A.T. made something that appeared to be an exclamation point appear over her head with magic to express her surprise. “THERE YOU ARE! PREPARE FOR YOUR DEATHS!”

Just as R.A.T. pulled the trigger on the R.A.P. squirt gun though, it turned to face her, causing herself to get blasted with a tidal wave. Hearing the wave coming, the bat ponies flew up to evade it, but R.A.T. took the wave strong enough to penetrate her waterproof armor full blast.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” R.A.T. screamed as she began to short circuit with electricity emanating from all around her body. “MY EYES!!! HOW DID-WHY-”

“NOW!” the Dark Sky members called their attack as they rushed toward R.A.T. with the shadow aura exuding from them. Protected from the electricity, they all leaped in the air and came down on R.A.T. with a drop punch, decimating her and her immorality chip to pieces. The bat ponies noticed the Dark Sky members’ destructive behavior and were so terrified that they ran and flew away at the same time.

“Victory!” the Dark Sky members, including G.R.D. who came out of the R.A.P. squirt gun, cheered. “Your plan was brilliant, G. Rainbow Dash!”

“Heh heh,” replied G.R.D., who had been part of that group cheer. “It was nothing really. I figured out that I could take possession of the pink robot alicorn when I went inside her wall while she was a restaurant. Since I couldn’t possess R.A.T. (tried it, didn’t work), I decided that the best strategy would be waiting until the pink one was needed. If I had turned her into a weapon while everyone was still in the restaurant...”

With those words, the R.A.P. squished herself into a smaller form and expanded into the pony form of herself.

“Woo-hoo, I’m free!” she shouted happily. “Thanks guys! You saved my master Twilight from a life of evil!”

“Wh-what?!” the Dark Sky members replied, almost having heart attacks as they put their defenses up. “What are you talking about?”

“Come on sillies,” R.A.P. playfully taunted, “did you really think the robot alicorns were purely evil? The only reason Twilight was evil was because she was programmed that way with an immorality chip!”

“Immorality chips?” they responded. “Rarity told us a mouthful about you guys and how you’re from a different reality or some shit, but never explained to us what that was…”

“Then allow me to elaborate...” R.A.P. prepared to explain. “Even after Celestia turned us into robot alicorns, our strong sense of justice lingered. None of us would have gone along with Celestia’s evilly insane plans, so she had to use a bit of force. She either programmed us to be evil by implanting immorality chips into our brains, in the case of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and eventually Fluttershy...or she turned us into tools under the control of her two favorite robot alicorns Twilight and Rainbow Dash, in the case of me and Rarity. I guess the ghost dude being able to possess me and not Twilight is proof of the latter.”

“About the former then...” the Dark Sky members said. “Rarity told us that a robot alicorn can not be reasoned with and must be destroyed. How can that be true if they’re not really evil? Can’t we just take out their chips?”

“No,” R.A.P. replied, “the chips are rooted deeply into the vital areas of their robot brains. If those chips are removed, they’ll eventually cease to function and die. Just look at R.A.T.’s body…”

Upon investigating the spot of R.A.T.’s demise, not only did the Dark Sky members discover a squashed robot brain near sizable pieces of a chip that looked like it didn’t play by any rules whatsoever, they also found a ghostly blue orb with a strange lock on it...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Banana Sandwich, Apple Bomb

The shadow paladin has tread the paths of good, evil, and neutrality…

Once the mission was accomplished last time, the Dark Sky members decided to examine the ghostly blue orb.

“So these are the orbs Celestia was talking about…” Hoops reminisced. “If what the shadow paladin said was true, collecting these and keeping these from Fluttershy should be a pointless pursuit. Yet I can’t help but feel it’s worth a try…”

“There’s something about this orb that seems really familiar,” said Ghost Rainbow Dash, “yet I can’t put my invisible fingers on it.”

“Do you think it’s the fact that it’s the same color as you?” Dumb-bell hinted.

“No, can’t be.” G.R.D. replied. “I put my fingers on myself all the time, regardless of color.”

Everyone gave G.R.D. a weird look...

“I...didn’t hear that.” Dumb-bell sternly refused the proposal his ears gave to his brain.

“Oh you guys and your idealogically sensitive humor,” Robot Alicorn Pinkie raced ahead to give a response like a chicken crying over sleeping through the sunrise the day he had to run a marathon. “The reason the orb is the same color as the ghost is because she was the main reason you were able to defeat Robot Alicorn Twilight with her diversion, simple as that. In exchange for saving her from hurting any more innocents, I’m sure R.A.T. will be more than happy to provide Ghostie here with vital information about what we need to do if we can get that lock removed.”

Now R.A.P. was the one getting weird looks…

“You’re...pretty informed for someone who’s not the wittiest tool in the lightbulb closet.” Hoops remarked. “How do you know all this?”

“I was given my resources…” R.A.P. explained with a smile. “Discord was more than happy to tell me the whole story after he and Rarity gave both the World of Creation and the World of Evolution new life...or should I call them by their original names, the World of Dark Sky and the World of the Transcending Dark Sky?”

“Oh?” said the Dark Sky members, slightly stunned by this revelation they already kind of knew about.

“I can feel your shock…” R.A.P. replied. “Even as a machine, the truth was hard for me to accept. The truth that we’re all just pawns to be used in Discord and Rarity’s project.”

“Pawns?” Dumb-bell asked. “But we came here of our own accord…”

“Exactly…” R.A.P said. “You came here of your own accord...because that’s what Discord and Rarity wanted to happen in this reality. They re-created this world and revived the Robot Alicorns as orb-carriers to test you guys and see...”

“...” Score interjected silently.

“Yeah, didn’t Rarity already tell us something like this?” Dumb-bell pointed out. “Do we really need to hear the same explanation again only with Discord?”

“N-no,” R.A.P. replied, “this is a different explanation. You guys may have been told some things, but you don’t the whole truth about…”

“I don’t know much about this Discord guy other than that he came over to Fluttershy’s house and Celestia’s castle a few times to get his tax forms filled out or something like that.” Derpy interrupted as she informed. “But what else do you want us to know about Rarity? She’s our trusted boss, a ninja, a bender of time and reality, and a friend of the Spirit of Chaos. I think that’s all we need to know.”

“You...wouldn’t make a very good cyborg.” R.A.P. demeaned. “You don’t understand that…”

“Hey!” Derpy took offense. “That’s not really nice, I’d make a great machine! I’ll have you know that I run really well! It’s a skill that helps my fellow agents with all of their operations!”

“We’re not those kind of agents Derpy, we’re deliverers of music…” Hoops intervened. “Just because we’re employed by royalty doesn’t mean that we’re spies on a secret mission for the government or something.”

“So am I still explaining something important to you guys, or…?” R.A.P. opened up possibilities like a soup chef camping out under a bell tower.

“I think it’s the latter.” G.R.D. decided.

R.A.P. just stood there in silence thinking to herself.

“Now I know why I chose these guys for the plan…” she said in her mind. “They make better tools than machines!”

“Well thanks for telling us what we wanted to hear,” said Hoops with gratitude as he put the orb in his fur pouch, “but we have a mission to accomplish. Celestia told us to get her the orbs if we could find them, but that’s only a side quest.”

“Yeah.” Derpy followed up as the gang started walking away. “We still need to find Fluttershy! Even if we can’t stop one outcome, we’ll find another way to stop another outcome!”

“Wait!” R.A.P. yelled out to the group as she ran and flew up ahead of them.

“What is it?” the Dark Sky members asked calmly as they stopped and put their hooves down in the dirt trail.

“Can I please...join you guys?” R.A.P. pleaded. “Now that I’m good, I really want to stop the other evil robot alicorns of this world! They’re in the city right now harassing and killing innocent civilians!”

“Wh-what?!” they shouted in surprise. “Are all of them there?”

“Robot Alicorn Fluttershy was sent to the World of Creation,” explained R.A.P., “and I don’t know where Robot Alicorn Rarity is. But I know for certain that Twilight and I arrived to this world with Robot Alicorns Applejack and Rainbow Dash. If you let me come along, I can brighten the dark path on the way to the city and even guide you to their hideouts...what do you say?”

Dumb-bell, Hoops, Score, and Derpy slightly knocked their heads in thought before turning to G.R.D.

“What do you say, Rainbow?” they asked. “You are the leader now that Fluttershy isn’t here…”

“I guess,” G.R.D. assumed like she assumed her position. “Just make sure to stay out of my way. I’m not afraid to go through you if I have to…”

“I guess that would...feel somewhat uncomfortable…” R.A.P. gave the ghost’s remark some weight. “Anyways, time to lighten things up!”

R.A.P. pulled a grenade launcher out from her metal innerworkings and fired a flash grenade into the dark city. As the grenade exploded and lightened up the place, the sound of screaming, cars crashing, and bat ponies complaining about eye pain could be heard in the distance.

“HEY! HEY!” some bat ponies started yelling. “DO YOU MORONS HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?! IT’S NINE O’ CLOCK IN THE MORNING! WE’RE TRYING TO SLEEP IN HERE! WHO THE HELL DID THAT?!”

“Oh crap…” R.A.P. muttered as bat ponies started flying out of the city and heading towards to where they were to investigate. “Everyone, stay low, and keep qui-”

“Hey wait a minute,” said Derpy, “I remember now! You must have been the one who threw the grenade when we first came here!”

“What was that?!” one of the scouting bat ponies responded as he faintly heard some of the conversation from the distance. “Is there somebody there?”

“Freaking damnation!” R.A.P. cursed. “We have to go banana-sandwich!”

“What does that mean?” the Dark Sky members asked.

“!” the scout bat pony who overheard them reacted when he came closer and saw them. “IT’S THOSE GUYS! The ones Applejack wanted! Everyo-!”

The scout was interrupted by a laser blast from R.A.P.’s horn that sent him flying.

“It means we force our way through by any and all means, duh!” R.A.P. sassed as she put her grenade launcher back inside of her. “What do you think I meant, to go banana-split?!”

The group ran down the now visible and well-lit trail and into the city, with bat ponies following right behind.

“For as long (actually not too long) as we can remember, we’ve kept this world nice and dark…” the bat ponies hissed as R.A.P. tried to fire lasers of light back at them with little avail. “You shall not make our work more difficult!”

“Guys, forward and ahead!” G.R.D. announced to the group as she pointed straight to a bar with a sign up on it that read “Applejack’s Open Time”. “I think that’s R.A. Applejack’s hideout!”

“Ha ha mwa!” the pursuing bat ponies guffawed. “What are you going to do, ask our leader to help you hide from us?!”

“Wait, wasn’t R.A. Twilight your leader?” Derpy asked an intelligent question.

“Not by a long shot!” they continued their gloating. “We’ve always been working for R.A. Applejack! The waiters from the restaurant were just spies! Gwa ha ma!”

“So you were just using her from the start!” Dumb-bell scolded.

“Why so austere?” the bat ponies kept laughing. “Don’t tell me you’ve never betrayed the trust of an evil creature.”

“The betrayal of evil does not create justice!” Hoops shouted.

“Heh heh, I think we’re about done here.” the bat ponies said as they stopped chasing the group. “We’ve gotten our entertainment out of you. We’ll let our leader handle the rest…”

R.A.P. and the Dark Sky members soon arrived at the front door of Applejack’s Open Time as the chase concluded.

“And for the record,” R.A.P. established as she panted from the running, “I did not throw that grenade! Twilight did! I was the restaurant in the building the entire time, R.A.T. just stole my weapon!”

“Wow, what a turn!” Derpy remarked at the sudden twist of old events. “We solved the mystery! ACCOMPLISHED MISSION, gang!”

“Hold the celebration Derpy,” said Hoops, “we’re still only on part two of this thing.”

“So part two of our current mission is defeating Robot Alicorn Applejack?” Derpy surmised.

“You could...say it like that.” Hoops replied with a smirk.

“What are we just doing standing here?” Dumb-bell interjected. “Shouldn’t we be in the bar?”

“Technically no.” Derpy said. “The drinking age is 21, and everyone in our group except Rainbow and R.A.P. is 22. We’re overage.”

“Derpy…” R.A.P. responded as she facehoofed. “What you said was wrong, and no one cares about it. Besides, I have a strategy to deal with this mechanical monstrosity that involves just me going in the bar.”

“Oh?” the Dark Sky members said. “Do tell.”

“You guys will wait out here,” elaborated R.A.P.., “while I go inside the bar and engage R.A.A. alone. Once I’ve weakened her, I’ll lure her out here. Those bat ponies who saw us together haven’t made it over here, so they shouldn’t be expecting you guys if it’s just me. And even without a surprise attack, I’m sure you can handle her when she’s weak with your power. Are you okay with that plan?”

“Rainbow…” the Dark Sky members said to their leader, awaiting her say.

“I suppose.” Rainbow Dash decided. “If it saves me the trouble of coming up with a plan, I’m all for it.”

“Good.” R.A.P. replied. “Now get back…”

The Dark Sky members went over to the right side of the building as R.A.P. began to open the door. It was a wooden door with a knob, and the knob’s other side was a bar that was styled to look like something straight out of a Western science fiction movie. Everywhere, there were metal tables, metal chairs, metal ropes hanging from metal support beams on the ceiling, a huge stack of metal barrels of apple whiskey and beer mixed together behind the bartender’s counter, and wooden windows. The employees in this place were businessmen wearing white shirts with ties, black pants, and cowboy hats, who delivered drinks in strange wooden mugs and bottles to the normal pony customers.

The manager of this place was right out in the open doing her managing work at a desk next to a uniformed bartender with her backside facing the front door. She was Robot Alicorn Applejack, and she wore white panties around her rear, as well as a white bra around her robot breasts.

“Well howdy Pinkie.” R.A.A. greeted with her rear facing R.A.P. as she walked in and shut the door behind her. “How’s Twilight been?”

“Your sense of humor’s worse than mine…” R.A.P. responded, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. “I know the spies from the restaurant already told you what happened.”

“Your smart mouth is worse than mine…” R.A.A. complimented the intellect of R.A.P.’s piehole. “I know all about this little “project” of Rarity and Discord’s...do you see me trying to brag about it to outsiders?”

“!” R.A.P. had that emotion. “So R.A.T.’s not the only robot alicorn who knows…”

“Yes…” R.A.A. replied as she put her managing work where R.A.P. could clearly see it. “And I’m not going to die by the hooves of those fatheaded numbskulls outside on purpose just because it’s my destiny. I’m going to go out with a blaze of glory…”

“Blaze of...glory?” R.A.P. reiterated as she read what R.A.A. had put in front of her…

Opening Time

..W-day is approaching, today is our last chance.
We can’t call for help, just alcohol.
Troubles are a-poaching, like a bad romance.
Don’t even yelp, just fall…

Fall, fall out winter boy.
Finish, I don’t care about the type of booze.
Fly, just know that the eagles are not coy.
Fail, a loss we didn’t choose

Goodbye

R.A.P. then looked up at R.A.A. as she realized what this poem meant…

“Yeah, the tools outside have a destiny, but not you…” R.A.A. said as her horn began to light up. “I know who I want to take home...TO HELL!”

With those words, R.A.A. turned to the stack of metal barrels of apple alcohol and charged up her laser beam. R.A.P. ran as fast as she could to a wooden window on the right and jumped out of it. Before the Dark Sky members could ask what was going on, she transformed into a giant pink train coated in heatproof armor.

“GET INSIDE!” the Pinkie train as she opened her door. “THE BAR’S GOING TO BLOW UP!”

All of the Dark Sky members rushed inside the train except for Derpy, who was confused.

“Wait, don’t we need tickets?” she asked.

But it was too late to ask questions. The bar exploded and blew away both the Pinkie train and Derpy into the air. Though shielded from the explosion from being behind the Pinkie train, Derpy was crushed by the train when both of them landed. The train rolled over her before it stopped motionless in the dirt, leaving Derpy flat on the ground. Applejack’s Open Time was nothing more than a pile of debris and a logo. On top of the debris pile was a poster of a businessman smiling and lying down with an open briefcase and the words “Got the Files?” written on it, and below the poster, a burnt and mortally wounded R.A.A. crawled out with the poster on her face. Taking the poster off her face with a blank expression, she walked languidly over to the flattened Derpy.

“I knew it…” R.A.A. said as she looked down at Derpy and coughed. “Even if it defies everything logical…”

Derpy had been flattened classic cartoon character style. R.A.A. just breathed a sigh of depression as she pulled an uzi-like shotgun out of herself.

“I know you can’t die, but I’ll fight to the end…” R.A.A. said, knowing those would be her final words.

Before R.A.A. could pull the trigger, she was run over by the Pinkie train, being operated by the Dark Sky members. She got dragged under the wheels and died being crushed to pieces as she realized that she had even failed to kill the only one she thought she could kill. After the train had finished going over her, all that remained of her was the pieces of her and her immorality chip, and a dullish gray orb with another strange lock on it…

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The Truth of the Orbs

There is only one true dark sky, but the one true Fluttershy is three in one…

The Dark Sky members immediately got out of the train and ran over to Derpy.

“DERPY!” they collectively yelled with concern as they looked down at her. “Are you okay?!”

“I feel funny…” Derpy replied. “And by that, I mean I have a strange feeling this is someone’s unusual idea of a joke…”

“That’s the smartest thing I’ve ever heard you say.” Robot Alicorn Pinkie complimented as she turned back into a pony. “Discord is laughing his ass off as we speak…”

R.A.P. went over to Derpy, picked her up, and began breathing into her mouth, inflating her back to normal. Afterwards, the group began to mingle.

“So we can’t even die unless they want us too…” Ghost Rainbow Dash said with a groan. “Now I don’t feel so special…”

“There was something off about the way all of that happened…” Dumb-bell theorized.

“...Huh?” a confused R.A.P. said.

“No kidding,” Hoops added to the theory, “we didn’t even get to actually fight that robot alicorn. It’s almost like she gave up before the battle even began...”

“Well to be fair,” Derpy chimed in, “we did kill the machine alicorn from the restaurant pretty quickly.”

“That was different though.” G.R.D. countered. “I helped out majorly in that fight. Fights should always be going pretty quickly if I’m helping out!”

“Wait a second…” R.A.P. interjected. “Why are you guys squabbling about what just happened like you don’t the reason why it happened? I thought you already knew the reason!”

“Hmm, what?” Dumb-bell asked.

“You already know that Rarity and Discord control everything in this reality!” R.A.P. exclaimed. “That’s why all these abnormal things that can’t happen very often are happening for the sake of your progress! They want you to succeed in collecting all of the orbs so that they can get the L.O.W. project going!”

“Yeah, we know that…” Hoops responded. “We’re just wondering why Rarity set it all up that way.”

“Yeah, Rarity could’ve made that last part more interesting!” G.R.D. asserted like a fourteen-year old boy forgetting to spell his name right for a joke on an internet forum for kids. “Like, instead of making Derpy that stretch guy from the Fantastic Four and having Robot Alicorn Applejack being all EMO (frickin’ poetry, seriously?), why not have me possess R.A.P. and fuse with everyone to form a huge Vulcan bot? Then when Applejack sees me, she starts begging for mercy (but she’s really not, because she’s a totally evil dickdouche!), and I’m like “HA HA, DIE! BOOM!” I fire my laser cannon at her and she’s dead! And then all the guys she had tied up naked in the basement will be all like “Oh, Ghost Rainbow Dash, you saved us! We love you and we wish you had a hot body so we could touch it! Oh God, please come inside of us and jerk us off!””

There was a long moment of silence as everyone looked at G.R.D. with a blank expression on their face.

“I...guess at the very least that could’ve been more intriguing…” Hoops remarked.

“...” Score silently analyzed and gave his review of what G. Rainbow Dash said.

“Excellent critique!” Derpy lauded. “I wish that I had those opinions!”

“A Vulcan bot is a bit trite though,” Dumb-bell threw in his two cents. “I’d prefer us to merge together to form a Vegito bot from Dragon Ball Z!”

“Ew...I don’t like Dragon Ball Z because it’s anime...>.>” G.R.D. gave a sincere opinion with a smiley. “And I don’t like anime because it’s so cheesy, stupid, and unkawaii.”

As Dumb-bell lashed back at her angrily and immaturely with a respectful counterargument, R.A.P. began to fume as she walked away from the group quietly.

“Hey, where is she going?” Derpy asked. “She’s going to miss Brony Fighting Time!”

“You mean Otaku Fighting Time,” Hoops corrected, “Brony Fighting Time comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“I’ll go talk to her and see what’s up.” Derpy said as she walked a few steps over to R.A.P. and touched her right shoulder with her hoof. “Hey Rap, is something the mat-”

“STEP OFF!” R.A.P. shouted as she shoved Derpy’s hoof away angrily. This moment of drama was enough to disrupt the epic battle of the animeniacs, as all the Dark Sky members glared at R.A.P. in surprise.

“IF YOU GUYS DON’T LIKE ME AND DON’T APPRECIATE WHAT I DO FOR YOU, THEN DON’T HANG OUT WITH ME!” she declared with rage in her voice.

With that, she took flight and began to fly away towards a mysterious metal blue castle.

“DAYUMAMN, what is her problem?” G.R.D. asked.

“We were hanging out?” Dumb-bell said as he gave himself a head knock in his puzzlement. “I thought we were providing filler while we waited for R.A.P. to take us to the next part of the story.”

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO REMIND ME!” R.A.P. yelled, her voice becoming audible to the group from a distance.

R.A.P. pulled out a mysterious scroll from where she kept her garoting string and began to chant something inaudible as she held the scroll up to her. Once she had finished chanting, a part of the sky turned dark and a hole opened up in it over the Dark Sky members. One by one, it sucked each of them inside. When it finished sucking, another dark sky hole opened up in the sky above the entrance to the mysterious metal blue castle and blew them out. They fell fifty feet from the sky and landed on the ground huddled together. A bat pony guard, who had been scouting the area for intruders from atop a perch, spotted them and ran inside the castle frantically.

“Sir!” the bat pony guard exclaimed as he went over to a blue cyborg pony who was sitting on a throne and sipping grape alcohol from a glass that covered their mouth. “A dark hole just opened up in the sky, and those guys came out of it! They’re right outside the front gates! What should we do sir?”

The blue cyborg pony grinned as she pulled the glass away from her mouth, revealing it to be the mouth of...Robot Alicorn Rainbow Dash.

“We do what I wish I was programmed to do...” Robot Alicorn Rainbow Dash replied with a tone of excitement. “Show them a good time, sergeant…”

“Do you want me to initiate the castle’s Cannon Party mode?” the bat pony sergeant asked.

“Nah, let’s go for something more subtle.” R.A.R.D. replied. “How about the Mystery Machine Mansion mode?”

“...Sure thing, sir!” the bat pony sergeant gave an obedient response as he pulled a blue button switch out of his wing pockets and pressed it.

With the press of that button, the metal castle began to transform into a mechanically spooky mansion straight out of a science fiction/horror flick, right when the Dark Sky members, each exuding an aura of shadow, were recovering from the case of lazyitis they were afflicted with after the fall from the portal.

“Man, those shadow powers really allow you to take this kind of thing lying down…” Dumb-bell referred to both the lazyitis and the severe injuries they didn’t have from the fifty-foot drop as he got up.

“Aw, you guys didn’t even need classic cartoon character powers to survive…” G.R.D. moaned as she rose to her feet in the air. “Ghost powers don’t allow me to take poor self-esteem issues lying down…”

“What are you moping about?” Derpy asked as she just laid there on her back. “I always have poor self-esteem issues, and I can take them lying face up.”

Ghost R.D. gave a bemused look as she flew over to Derpy and whispered something softly in her ear…

“...Boo.”

“...” Score imitated the sound of a laugh track silently.

“Okaaayyy…” Hoops said as he pulled Derpy off the ground to her feet. “That’s enough joking around. I think we’ve provided this story with enough comic relief. We should be getting back to our mission now, I don’t want us to completely forget about the plot like last time.”

“You’re no fun…” G.R.D. grunted with her front leg arms crossed. “I hate being the leader sometimes…”

“Oh,” replied Derpy, “you mean the time when we were in “Fluttershy’s” “dream”?”

“No,” said Hoops, “I mean last time.”

“Oh…” Derpy replied. “Man, why are these terms such a mystery to me?”

“Speaking of mysteries…” Dumb-bell intervened. “I think we have another one besides the shadow paladin now…”

“Yeah, I smell a rat about that R.A.P….” Hoops threw in his cents. “I thought at first that she was just put here by Rarity as a guide to aid us on our quest, but now…”

“I can excuse her behavior being anything but normal,” said G.R.D., “but she acts nothing like Pinkie Pie would if she got turned into a robot alicorn in a different reality created by Rarity!”

“And let’s not forget that she yelled a lot and had a scroll!” Derpy added.

There was a pause...and then Hoops thought over that bit of information.

“Wait…” he said as he came to a conclusion. “I think I’ve got it now! Derpy, you’re as incredible as they say!”

“Aw, thank-wait.” Derpy responded. “Who’s they?! They better not be someone who thinks I’m stupid!”

“I give up…” a voice came from behind the mansion’s new front door as somebody from inside opened it up. “Are you guys ever going to come inside?”

Surprised and curious, the Dark Sky members looked inside the castle and saw the shadow paladin on his horse, but not armed with his spear.

“Woah…” they said. “What are you doing here?”

“Who knows?” the shadow paladin replied as a familiar gray ball formed in his empty right hand. “Like you implied, I’m a mystery. The bigger mystery than me though is why you left this behind…”

“Oh yeah…” the Dark Sky members felt silly as they recognized the gray ball as the orb they got from R.A.A.. “We keep forgetting that those things exist. After all, the main reason we came here was to stop Fluttershy from collecting the orbs and learning the horrible truth…”

“And what is your main reason for being in this world now?” the shadow paladin asked as he began smiling, tossing the gray ball in the air and catching it for fun. “You’ve already rid this realm of two of its heathens, so I’m assuming that you’ve resolved to become warriors of Fluttershy…”

“Not quite…” the group replied. “Before we make a decision like that, we want to know more about you. Who exactly are you? You trusted us enough to give us your power and even told us your backstory, but you’ve still never shown us your face…”

“Precisely,” the paladin replied. “But I assure you, it has nothing to do with distrust. My face is known to none who live, not even to my lord, Fluttershy.”

“?!” the group went as the shadow paladin began to utter another...poem?

???!

There was a friendly, but naive king
Who wed a very nasty queen
The king was loved, but…
The queen was feared.

Then one day, while he was strolling through his court
An arrow pierced the poor king’s heart
He lost his life, and…
His lady love.

“Did you…” Derpy said. “Did you just speak a song as a poem?”

“Yes.” the shadow paladin replied.

“You can’t do that!” Derpy exclaimed. “Not only is it not even your song, you can’t speak a song, that’s like trying to sing a poem!”

“Ha ha, I love you guys.” the shadow paladin said as he handed the orb over to Hoops. “Take good care of the orb. I know that with your strength and the clue I’ve given to you, you’ll have no trouble defeating Robot Alicorn Rainbow Dash. Till we meet once again…”

“Wait, what are these orbs really for?” Hoops asked, just as the shadow paladin turned to flashing light and disappeared. “And...of course, he’s gone.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” G.R.D. taunted. “He disappeared.”

“Rarity (for now) help me…” Hoops said as he put his front hooves on his face. “Alright, how do you think we should traverse this castle to get to R.A.R.D., Leader?”

“It’s simple,” G.R.D. replied respectfully to her subordinate. “This is a mystery mansion, right? All we have to do to is stay together as a gang and look for clues that will help us solve this mansion’s mystery!”

“But what is the mystery?” Dumb-bell asked.

“It’s right over there.” G.R.D. explained as she pointed to a puzzle. “There’s two button switches over there on that wall below an emblem painting. The emblem painting depicts a shadow dressed in the armor of a king on the left side, striking a familiar changeling queen named Chrysalis over the head with a strange jar on the right. Both the switches and the emblem painting are above a staircase decorated with a green and brown carpet-”

“Uh, Rainbow Dash…” Hoops interjected. “You do realize we can see all that with our own eyes, right? You don’t have to do our jobs for us…”

“Hey, don’t look at me.” G.R.D. replied defensively. “It’s not my fault that SOMEONE got lazy…”

...

The group went up the staircase GHOST RAINBOW DASH was talking about. Upon closer examination of the wall, they found a note that SHE forgot to mention below the painting and taped to the wall. Score tore the note off the wall and read it out loud with silence…

The Right Switch

Welcome, strangers. You’ve done well to make it this far, to the painting of Chrysalis
The way to the robot alicorn will open if you press the right switch
The right switch will bring you fortune, but…
The wrong switch will bring you doom.

The clue to find the right switch is in the song, find what you must sing
Turn it into a poem, find what doesn’t ring
Don’t lose your hope, and…
Don’t lose your lives

Out of curiosity, Score looked at the back of the note and found the song the shadow paladin uttered earlier written on it…

“What kind of poem was that?” Derpy complained. “The only words in it that truly rhymed were “sing” and “ring”!”

“Derpy!” Hoops exclaimed. “Not everything has to be a po- Wait...it mentioned a poem...what doesn’t ring...and that song from earlier...could it mean what didn’t rhyme?”

“But that can’t be, nothing in that song actually rhymed!” Dumb-bell reminded them. “What, are they trying to tell us that king rhymes with queen, or something?”

“Wait, king...queen…” Hoops muttered as he came to a realization. “The painting! It’s the left switch!”

“Oh yeah!” G.R.D. exclaimed as she came to a similar realization. “Because Queen Chrysalis is dead, all that’s left is the king! And the king’s on the left side of the painting! Good job, Hoops! Your guess helped me figure out the solution! Score, pull the left switch!”

“Actually, the way we were supposed to know was…” Hoops was cut off by Score pushing the left switch, which activated a resounding mechanism in the castle.

Meanwhile, on the top floor…

The bat pony sergeant was standing guard while R.A.R.D. was sitting on her throne, wondering what was taking the Dark Sky members so long.

“Man, what is taking those guys so long?” she pondered. “Either they came down with slacker disease, or that puzzle that new light dark knight recruit came up with was too hard for them…”

But the floor revealed that R.A.R.D. was wrong, for in it, a large hole was created right beneath her throne!

“Woah!” R.A.R.D. yelled as she jumped and flew up, watching her throne fall to the bottom floor through the hole. “I guess I got a third of that wrong...But hey, I finally get to fight-”

R.A.R.D. was interrupted as a spear shot up from out of a small hole in the bottom floor at lightning speed, piercing her through her left robot lung and impaling the wall behind her.

“GWAH!” she cried as she fell to the floor in pain.

“SIR!” the bat pony sergeant shouted as he immediately went over to the wounded cyborg.

“How did…” R.A.R.D. muttered, clutching her wound. “How did that hurt me? No ordinary spear can pierce my robot armor! Wait a minute, that light dark knight always carried a spear...could he have...”

Back on the bottom floor, the Dark Sky members saw what had happened there, and had overheard the commotion on the top floor, so they flew up there to see what had happened.

“Woah, so that’s what happened here…” they said after a quick investigation of the scene.

“YOU!” the bat pony sergeant yelled. “You injured my master before her fight with you even began! How callous and cheap can you get?!”

“Wait, she actually wanted to fight us?” they asked. “Is she like Robot Alicorn Twilight, where she tried to rebel against Rarity and Disc Horde’s plan?

“Fools…” R.A.R.D. said. “That was just an act...We all know everything about what Rarity and Discord are trying to do...they’re just using us as a way to use you to revive the power of the orbs…”

“Fine by us, whatever that means.” the Dark Sky replied nonchalantly. “Reviving the power of the orbs sounds like a good cause.”

“Oh, you guys…” R.A.R.D. laughed as she tried to get up and stand. “I’m going to enjoy seeing how Rarity and Discord have planned for you to kill me…”

“S-sir!” the bat pony sergeant grabbed R.A.R.D. as she stumbled while trying to stand. “Right now, you’re in no condition to fight!”

“Then you’re going to get me in condition to fight…” R.A.R.D. said with a sneer as her horn began to glow. “It’s time for us to merge…”

“But I’m not a cyborg like you!” the bat pony sergeant cried. “If we do that, I’ll become lifeless metal! Please...NNNOOOO!”

R.A.R.D. cast a spell on the bat pony sergeant that caused him and her to fuse together, forming...a Scott Pilgrim bot from Scott Pilgrim.

“MWA HA HA!” the Robot Alicorn Rainbow Dash Scott Pilgrim bot cackled. “WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ME NOW?!”

“I think you’re a disappointment, to be honest.” Dumb-bell gave his honest opinion. “I wanted something out of an anime! Or at least a manga! Hell, even something from a video game would’ve been fine…”

“SHUT UP!” R.A.R.D. Scott Pilgrim bot bellowed. “I feel so powerful right now, I could take on the whole world! But I think I’m going to start small with you guys! Take this!”

The Scott Pilgrim bot retracted his right hand to open up a hole in his arm, releasing a sleeping gas cloud wearing boxing gloves. The sleeping gas cloud flew over to Dumb-bell and tried to knock him out like Mr. Dream from Punch-Out!! would, but a shadowy aura exuding from Dumb-bell’s body repelled him, causing him to dissipate. There were a few moments of silence as R.A.R.D. held a look of embarrassment on her face…

“Maybe I should have read Scott Pilgrim…” R.A.R.D. muttered in regret.

“You think?!” Hoops replied as he and Score had taken R.A.R.D.’s Scott Pilgrim bot back in her moments of silence, and both of them grabbed her arms. “Let’s show them how it’s done guys!”

Dumb-bell, Ghost Rainbow Dash, and Derpy then turned to shadow aura-exuding mist, and fused together to form...a shadow mist dragon from...Yu-Gi-Oh!, I guess (G.R.D. doesn’t know that there’s an anime of it)!

“For killing your own soldier, butchering the source material of a comic, and everything else…” the shadow mist dragon spoke as it charged up a fiery breath attack. “YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED WITH OUR WRATH!”

In desperation, R.A.R.D. tried to counterattack by pulling a pistol-like magnum out of herself and firing at the condensed burning shadow water, but it proved futile.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” R.A.R.D. Scott Pilgrim bot screamed as she was hit by the shadow mist breath and reduced to watery, dark pieces forming a pile of ash with an orb sitting on top of it. The orb, like the other two, had a strange lock on it, and also had black, orange, and gray colors in it.

“We did it!” shouted Hoops and Score as the other three Dark Sky members turned back to normal. “Now all that’s left to accomplish our mission is to find Fluttershy!”

“Not so fast…” a voice from the shadows that just appeared in the throne room said. “Your mission is already complete…”

“Huh?” the Dark Sky members responded. “Wait a minute, that voice...Robot Alicorn Pinkie?”

“No…” the voice laughed as its bearer stepped out of the shadows. It was R.A.P…..holding a scroll and doing a reality bending spell to transform into Rarity in her ninja outfit!

“I knew it since before we stepped into this mansion…” Hoops said. “You were Rarity all along…”

“Partially correct…” Rarity replied. “I am actually an exact clone of Rarity made from a human being with Body Mind Soul summoning. Transformed into Rarity’s body, mind, and soul, I share all of her physical features, thoughts, and inner feelings. When the real Rarity revived R.A.P., she fused her into my being with Body Mind Soul summoning, so that I can transform into her with a reality bending spell any time I want with this scroll.”

“But why did she do that?” Derpy asked.

“Rarity became R.A.P. partly to help you, and partly to become closer to you guys…” Rarity explained. “But we all know how WELL that turned out...grr…”

“What about Fluttershy?” G.R.D. asked. “Celestia told us she came here with the Interdimensional Police Department…”

“That was a lie,” said Rarity with a chuckle. “Fluttershy and the IDPD went to the World of Creation. The Rarity that is with them is also an exact copy of Rarity that was created from a human being with BMS summoning, but fused with Robot Alicorn Rarity. She’s gotten herself in trouble with a crazy shadow bard though, so I was just on my way to give her some help. I’m not going to leave everything to that energy drink addict...”

“But why did Celestia lie?” Dumb-bell kept up the questioning.

“She found out what Discord and I were up to…” Rarity explained. “So she tried to use you three to steal three of the orbs for herself behind our backs. Unfortunately, Discord found out what she was up to in turn, and put locks on all of this world’s orbs behind her back. Ha! Oh, if only she knew how powerful him and I really are…Speaking of Discord and I, we wish to ask you five of another favor concerning Celestia…”

“...” Score asked curiously.

“Huh?” Rarity responded. “Sorry, I couldn’t quite make that out.”

“I think what he meant was this…” Hoops intervened. “We’d be glad to do this favor of yours, but first, can you please tell us more about the orbs? Celestia told us that if Fluttershy and the IDPD got all six of them, they would be shown the way to their heart’s desire, finding Chrysalis’ killer. She promised us that if she got them, she would use the magic inside of them for her own personal reasons, preventing Fluttershy from ever learning who murdered Chrysalis and learning the horrible truth.”

“Oh yeah, about the “way to the heart’s desire”...” replied Rarity, “I made all that up. Everyone was in on that lie except for you guys, Fluttershy, and of course, Sky. It was exactly like the time I made up that stuff I told you guys to tell Sky back in the REAL World of Creation. But that’s not important for now...what’s important is that you guys know what those orbs are for. They are by far the most crucial part of the L.O.W. project’s success, for they open the gateway...to the last remaining copy of...Fluttershy’s soul.”

“...Woah.” the Dark Sky members said.

“I believe it’s time we got out of this place…” Rarity said as she pulled a scroll out of her outfit. “When we come back, I’ll tell you exactly what needs to be done...members of the Dark Sky.”

After Rarity chanted a spell, the mission finally ended.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Enigmatic Words from the Cloud Dragon of the Mist

Congrats reader, you know what happened to The Dark Sky at the start of their path towards being the world’s hope in the World of Evolution. But what have Fluttershy and her friends been doing in the World of Creation? Do you know? If not, you may wish to know for who knows the secrets of a brightly lit sky at night…

The Murderer Revealed

The two paths shall finally come together, but only one, you must decide to be the light…

Everyone in the portal room except for the odd-looking Luna gathered around to ponder the meaning of all the hints in the orbs Fluttershy and the Interdimensional Police Department found in the World of Creation.

“Search the pattern, the numbers reveal the truth, Killers have a code, Yearning to reverse your fortune, you find a false hint…What does it mean?” Rarity asked with a grin as bright and vivid as a tangerine dropping into a pot of gold.

“I’m afraid I think I know what it means…” Fluttershy replied. “The murderer is…”

“...Sky.”

Sky froze in both fear and shock as everyone except Luna turned their attention to him.

“No…” Sky said. “How can it be me?”

“I’m afraid it’s true Sky…” Fluttershy responded. “I figured it out when we became King Sombra together...you and I are supposed to be identical in body, mind, and soul...but when I fused with you, I noticed something very off...only most of you became King Sombra, while I became all of him.”

“R-really?” Sky asked.

“Yeah, and I think I know why…” Fluttershy continued. “Didn’t Sombra mention that Fluttershy’s transformation into him was halted by Rarity? That’s what happened at the end of the dream...Rarity killed Celestia and tore my soul out. Because of that, I thought it was impossible for the dream to be real. But now, I’m putting two and two together and realizing something…”

“And that is…?” Discord asked with a smile, knowing the response.

“The Celestia in this castle is an impostor…” Fluttershy explained. “And the Fluttershy who found the jar in the bedroom...was not me. It was you. You are not Sky. You are the real Fluttershy...and I am a clone made from a human being.”

“R-Really?!” Sky shouted.

“Yes...” Fluttershy said. “Though what I don’t understand is...the point.”

“I believe this is where I come in.” Rarity interjected. “You see, Discord and I wanted to turn you Sky, or should I say, the real Fluttershy, into King Sombra as part of a project that we, the creators of the universe are working on, the Lightly Ordered World project. Discord lied when he told you that he and Princess Celestia created this world...it was actually Discord and I. We wanted to turn Fluttershy into Sombra, but when Chrysalis was murdered, our plans were impeded and we had to revise the entire project. That’s why I pulled the plug on the whole “lost in time dream” thing, under the “ultimate revenge scheme” guise, and switched to a new “collecting orbs to solve a murder mystery” thing...”

“But why was he turned into Sky?” Fluttershy asked. “What was the point of that whole setup with him being in the middle of turning Rarity into an immortal or something?”

“Oh, that was just to tie in a few things and mess with him.” Discord said with a snicker. “Rarity asked me to do it for a “simple revenge scheme” because she’s secretly a bit sore about that whole thing with Fluttershy “getting her killed in the Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world” ordeal. The Rarity in the basement was actually just a clone created from a human with Body Mind Soul Summoning, and the Dark Sky members were the ones who “rescued” her. Everything about Rarity and Sky being together was just a massive, obese lie, and the whole thing about the Dark Sky members being time travelers delivering a prophecy was just a joke to reference what we had originally wanted to do.”

“I guess that makes sense in a weird way,” said Sky, “but what does not make sense in any way is how this all adds up to me being Chrysalis’ killer!”

“Oh, that’s actually really simple.” Rarity replied. “Not only were you the prime suspect when you were Fluttershy, the three orbs we have now have given us a clue that basically says you’re the culprit. ...Fluttershy?”

“Right.” Fluttershy responded to her untold command, and rearranged the clues to form this…

Search the pattern, the numbers reveal the truth

Killers have a code

Yearning to reverse your fortune, you find a false hint

“Oh, they spell my name…” Sky realized as he lowered his head and accepted defeat. “I can’t argue with evidence like that…”

“It pains us to do this, Sky…” Discord said as he did a dramatic pose. “But for killing Chrysalis, we have no choice but to…”

But before the hammer of justice could be swung, cries of agony were heard from upstairs.

“YYYAAAHHH!” an unfamiliar voice cried. “HELP MMMEEEEE!”

“That voice…” Discord said, recognizing it, being an expert of the unfamiliar. “It’s him!”

Discord teleported himself and the group upstairs to where the crying was coming from...the Dark Sky’s practice room. Opening the door, he and the others found...the Dark Sky members playing their instruments as Celestia whined into a microphone death metal style.

You Can’t Comprehand

So here I am again!
Trying so hard, but I just can’t win!
Everyone tells me to just refuse!
But they don’t know what it’s like to lose!

You can’t comprehand my body!
You can’t comprehand my mind!
You don’t know what makes me whole!
Cause you don’t have my soul!

And they’ll scream “YYYAAAHHH! HELP ME!” .
Because they just can’t see!
The only one that can help me…
IS ME!

After the song was over, Derpy began to clap.

“Bravado, everyone!” Derpy complimented. “And bravo to your singing voice Joe, it’s as good as mine!”

“...Joe?” Fluttershy and Sky expressed confusion about the name while Discord expressed confusion about the sight.

“Hey, Fluttershy and that guy we barely know!” Dumb-bell exclaimed upon seeing the two. “Long time, no see!”

“What are you guys doing?” Discord asked. “How do you know that Celestia’s real name is Joe?”

“Actually, it’s Jason.” Celestia chimed in, now talking like a surfer. “And don’t worry Uncle Cord, the dudes from the sky are cool.”

“What he said, you don’t have to keep up the act around us, Discord.” Ghost Rainbow Dash welcomed informalities. “That Rarity clone told us everything, and I just want you to know that we fully support what you and Rarity are doing with the Lightly Ordered World (L.O.W.) project!”

“What’s she talking about…?” Fluttershy asked as she turned to Discord and Rarity, who both turned their heads away and whistled. Discord leaned in close to Rarity and whispered something in her right ear…

“They have all the orbs from the World of Evolution, correct?”

“Yes.” Rarity replied in a soft voice.

“Good boy,” said Discord as he gave Rarity a head-neck stroke as if she were a cat. “Now we no longer have to keep up this ridiculous act...It matters not if Fluttershy finds out now...we just have to make sure that her friends don’t outlive their usefulness…”

“Hey!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Why aren’t you answering me? What am I, a hunk of meat?”

“I thought you would have learned by now…” Discord replied, giving a sigh as he snapped the fingers on his claw. Fluttershy instantly became a giant, manly sausage with eyes, but not a mouth.

“Woah Discord,” said Hoops, “don’t you think that’s a little mean? Rarity told us that kind of thing was your sense of humor, but… you were ignoring Fluttershy when she was just asking you a question.”

“If you were to call me out on everything I’ve done in the past that was a “little mean”,” Discord responded, “we would be standing here talking until the cows came home. And trust me, their work schedule on the farm is severe…”

“This just keeps getting weirder…” Sky remarked as he curiously poked the squirming Fluttershy sausage. “And I think a lot of things are weird…”

“Oh, you just wait for the coup de grace, my dear friend…” Rarity said as she pulled out a reality-bending scroll, and proceeded to cast a spell on Sky that turned him into...a giant, ladylike marshmallow without a mouth. Everyone in the music room gave Rarity and Discord a disturbed glare.

“...” Score responded to what just happened silently.

“You said it best buddy,” G.R.D. spoke the truth. “No comment. All we can do is see where this is going...”

“Don’t worry,” said Discord to ease the tension, “we’re not going to leave them like that forever. And we’re not going to do something like that to you so long as you give us the orbs you’ve found.”

“You-you mean it?” Dumb-bell asked.

“Of course.” Rarity replied. “After all, you guys did help revive the orbs, and even helped keep Celestia’s human clone replacement calm after the Robot Alicorn Pinkie Rarity clone turned his mind back to normal. Just give us the orbs and we’ll let you be on your way…”

“Okay…” Hoops said nervously as he walked over to Rarity and gave her the two he had. “The Rarity clone we were with has the third…”

“So I know…” Rarity told Hoops what she was already aware of. “You guys may be on your way…”

But as the Dark Sky members got ready to pack up their instruments and leave the room, they noticed the R.A.P. Rarity clone standing behind them, chanting a reality-bending spell with a scroll in her hooves.

“...TO ANOTHER WORLD!” the R.A.P. Rarity clone finished Rarity’s sentence. “Reality Bending Spell No. ?! Reality Portal!”

With that, a dark sky hole opened up in the ceiling above the Dark Sky members and began to suck them in.

“Th-that’s the spell from earlier!” Dumb-bell shouted, recognizing something you may or may not know about. “NOT AGGAAIIINNN!!”

The rest of the group shared his unenthusiasm as all of them were sucked into the portal, which closed behind them. The only ones close to the group left behind were a star-struck Jason Celestia and the R.A.P. Rarity clone.

“Dude...I can’t do this kind of thing anymore…” Jason Celestia said as he began to feel woozy from all the insanity he had witnessed. “This is starting to feel like an LSD trip, and I’m still trying to get back into pot, man…”

Jason Celestia finally fainted, collapsing on the floor. The R.A.P. Rarity clone then walked over to Rarity and gave her the orb she had, along with a familiar wine glass that was empty. Rarity got an evil sneer on her face as she put both away in her inner pockets.

“At last, we finally have all the orbs at their full power…” Rarity said as she and Discord turned to the polymorphed Fluttershy/Sombra duo.

“You two have done such a splendid job…” Discord complimented them. “I think you deserve a reward for all of your hard efforts...how would you like to meet our true selves...and our master?”

“!!” Fluttershy and Sky went with equal surprise.

Discord walked over to the Sky marshmallow and grabbed him while Rarity grabbed the Fluttershy sausage. Both of them teleported both of them to the portal room, and set them right by where the middle of the left portal and the right portal were. Discord made a portal appear in the middle just like he had done way back, only this time, the One in the frame of the portrait on the portal didn’t appear to be Fluttershy, but a familiar knight…

“Something really weird is going on here…” Sky thought as his attention was caught. “Why is that odd-looking Luna just standing there in that strange position?”

With that question, the odd-looking Luna revealed the reason why it looked so peculiar...it fell over, revealing that it was just a cardboard cutout of Luna.

“No…” Fluttershy said in her mind as she saw the sight as well. “They turned Luna into cardboard!”

“Ha ha ha…” Rarity laughed as she kicked the Luna cutout to the side. “Stupid girl got too smart for her own good...she’ll never learn that I know how to handle her all too well…”

“How can they do this...” Fluttershy said in her thoughts with disbelief. “This is awful...this is just...BAD!”

Fluttershy began to struggle in her sausage form, trying to break Discord’s spell on her. But even as she tried to turn into Sombra with shadow aura coming from all over her body, it was no use. Discord’s magic was too powerful.

“Face it, Fluttershy…” Discord told Fluttershy as he went over to her and grabbed what would’ve been her face with his lion’s paw. “You may be strong, but your power is nothing compared to mine, much less compared to the One’s or even CrE’s. So why don’t you just be a good boy for daddy, and let the adults take care of what needs to be done…”

“Gggrrrrr…..!” Fluttershy grunted angrily in her mind until she realized something. “Wait a minute...what did he just say? The...One? Daddy?”

“Enough stalling, Discord!” Rarity exclaimed impatiently. “We’re throwing them in! Our real selves will restore them to normal once they’ve explained everything! For the real Rarity’s sake, the Dark Sky members will have CrE defeated by the time we’re done at the pace we’re going!”

“Wait, the Dark Sky members are still in this thing, even though they left?” Sky wondered in his mind. “That’s really weird, how is this whole thing going to end?”

Rarity and Discord picked the two of them up and tossed them into the portal. Fluttershy and Sky landed on a white cumulonimbus cloud as the portal behind them was sealed.

“And now, it’s time for us to fulfill our final purpose before we return to our true selves…” Rarity gave a grin of satisfaction as she took a look at the three orbs the Dark Sky members got for her.

“Going back from being Discord to being a part of Discord…” Discord thought about his fate. “Doesn’t sound like too bad of a downgrade…”

“I’ve gone from being a human to being Rarity to being Rarity mixed with a robot alicorn Rarity.” Rarity shared her experience. “And after all that, I get to be a part of Rarity.”

“It’s hard to believe now I was once the only chimera creature in Equestria…” the draconequus creature lost track of all the parts.

The two finally left Celestia’s castle and went to the front gate. Discord removed the locks on Rarity’s orbs (a few interesting conversations with the spirits of the orb-carriers later…), and with magic, the two of them levitated the six orbs into the six open slots on the castle wall. Once the orbs were all placed, the castle began to shake and rumble and the sky turned dark. It wasn’t dark for long though when the orbs turned brighter than ever, each one firing a laser beam into the sky that turned it bright white. Two dark portals opened in the sky, one on the left of it, one on the right of it in respect of the castle’s front clockwise position. While the sky was expressing itself, the denizens of the two worlds behind the portals were expressing their personal feelings as well…

“Wow, China looks weird!” Spike (from the original Fluttershy’s Dark Sky universe) shouted as he poked his head out of the left portal, thinking it led underground. “Nothing like in the cartoons!”

“Are you two the ones responsible for this hole?!” Luna (from the Transcending Fluttershy’s Dark Sky universe) shouted as she poked her head out from the right portal and looked at Rarity and Discord. “You do realize where my world takes place in, don’t you?”

Just then, Rarity and Discord began to contort and shrink into glowing white balls as the portal of the familiar knight appeared behind them. Two gauntlet-clad hands reached out of the portal, grabbed them both, and pulled them inside, the portal sealing behind them. In response to this sight, Luna and Spike had aghast looks on their faces.

“...Maybe I have been living a secluded life too long…” TFDS Luna said as she pulled her head back in and began to reflect on her life in the world of her own womb.

“It’s at times like this where I’m glad I only have short cameos in these sequels…” Spike remarked as he pulled his head back in.

A Few Enigmatic Words from the Cloud Dragon of the Mist

The end is drawing near, hero...The time has come for you to make a decision. One that will change Fluttershy’s world forever…Chapters 12-13 will unveil the fate of Fluttershy, Chapter 14-15 will unveil the fate of the Dark Sky. Fluttershy will unmask the One, the Dark Sky will unmask CrE. Good luck…and enjoy the new world. You chose it, after all...

Fluttershy's Ending (Part One of Two)

Fluttershy’s Ending (Part One of Two): The One

One who lit the way will help Fluttershy and Sky defeat the One…

The sound of a door to a cell could be heard opening now that all the orbs had been gathered as one.

“!” a familiar soul went in surprise.

“Come Fluttershy, or Sky, whatever…” said a voice that sounded like Rarity’s. “It’s time for you to meet SOMBRA…”

From where we left off a bit before the end of last time...

Fluttershy and Sky were still a sausage and a marshmallow respectively after they had crossed through the portal and landed face-down on a white cumulonimbus cloud. As the two grunted in discomfort, two figures of familiarity approached them, grinning with pleasure.

“Hello Fluttershy and Sky,” said Rarity and Discord, their voices revealing them as Fluttershy and Sky looked up at their faces. “Our master is expecting you…but not this...”

Rarity and Discord used their magic to transform Fluttershy and Sky back to normal. Fluttershy and Sky not only noticed Rarity and Discord’s familiar faces when they got up off the cloud ground, but also their peculiar attire. Discord was dressed in a white robe decorated with emblems of shields and had a tiara embedded with a shield-shaped jewel with the shape of a cross carved into it upon his head. Rarity was dressed in her black ninja costume from before, only this time, the black garb she wore on her chest was decorated with two emblems of open gold stopwatches, and her ninja headband had her sheathed sword through it so that Rarity could see it in front of her face.

“So these are the true selves you guys were talking about…” Sky addressed the two.

“That means that the Rarity and Discord from before were clones made from magic…” Fluttershy deduced.

“Not exactly…” Rarity said with a chuckle. “ While the clones of me were indeed magic, they were also once human beings.”

“!” Fluttershy went.

“Yeah…” Rarity continued. “As you already know, while she was still the CEO of the Department of Human Resources, Chrysalis used her magic to summon humans to this world to be used as test subjects for Body Mind Soul summoning. But what you don’t know and what Sky has probably forgotten is that humans can also be converted into magical energy. Magical energy created from humans is what our clones were made from…”

“Now before you two swear at us in your minds,” Discord followed up, “I’ll fill you in on the fact that Rarity and I had no choice but to have our clones created that way. Normal, nonliving magical energy can’t be used to create a living being, and Celestia specifically requested that only human subjects be used for the experiments.”

“Wait, Celestia had a hoof in this too?” Sky asked, having forgotten a ton of things.

“Of course not Sky, she just had a hand in it!” Rarity jeered him with sarcasm. “Seriously, do you remember nothing from when you first got turned into Sombra?!”

“Well to be fair,” Sky replied, “my soul right now is-”

“Ugh!” Rarity grunted. “I guess it’s time for a recap…”

“A recap?” Fluttershy asked. “I...guess that would be nice considering the circumstances…”

“Indeed, everything has gotten a tad...disjointed,” said Discord, twisting his muscles as he stretched in relaxation, “one might say. I guess the only way you two will be able to comprehend everything is if I tell you the entire story in summary form, starting from...before the beginning…”

“Before the beginning…?” the Fluttershy duo pondered.

“With time, anything is possible…” Rarity remarked as the stopwatch emblems on her garb came to life and the hands on their clocks began to turn backwards. The Fluttershy duo ended up in a trance as Discord’s narration began...

The Story so Far
Narrated by Discord

Long ago, in a time unknown to history, the world of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky was a mess...Fluttershy and her allies learned that what they had gone through was not a dream...every pony in Equestria except Spike really was dead. Although Fluttershy and her friends overcame the terrible loss, they realized that this meant the pony race...was extinct. Being partly responsible for the tragedy, Fluttershy and her friends vowed to devote the rest of their dead lives to repopulating Equestria. Thusly, they went to the only pony they knew who might be able to do aid her in her cause for creating new life...the goddess of dea...I mean darkness, CrE.

Unamused by the recent drastic decline in the death...I mean life toll, CrE, bored and desperate for something to do with her job, agreed to help. She started helping by reminding Fluttershy that ever since she had filled out my tax forms with her free man pen, he had become pregnant. She also reminded her that with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony dead, the stoning spell had become undone, and he was free to bear Fluttershy’s child, a boy named Sky.

Now free, I also expressed boredom with the town’s desolate state, having no one to show his chaotic tricks to. So he too agreed to help, offering to use his chaotic power to its full potential, the power to bend time and reality, for the purpose of recreating life in Equestria. With my power, I showed CrE not only the portal to the human world, but also the power to create new worlds between the dimensions of the pony world and the human world…

Amazed by this, CrE requested that I give some of my chaotic, time-and-reality bending power to Rarity, promising that she had a plan to turn her into a god. She began abducting humans from their world and turning some of them into ponies, and all of the others into magical energy to give Rarity a new body and enough power to become a deity of time and reality. The only ones who objected to this part of the plan were you two and the members of the Dark Sky.

...

Shocked by what CrE was doing, you two and the Dark Sky members questioned her motives for sacrificing human lives to make Rarity and I deities. In response, she simply laughed and you that she had a destiny planned for each of you... It was then that she asked of Rarity and I to use the magical energy she got from the humans to create two alternate worlds designed to mentor you guys into the perfect servants for her. One was made for Sky, the other, Fluttershy and both you two and the Dark Sky’s abilities.

The first world, the world of Transcending Fluttershy’s Dark Sky, was designed for Sky, now fourteen years old thanks to Rarity’s time powers. Since Sky had not been around to witness the extinction of the Equestrian population, CrE asked Rarity and I to give it the illusion that it was part of the world of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky, and basically give Sky a simulation of the death, decay, and chaos Fluttershy had to witness. Other than that, Rarity and I had complete creative control...ha ha ha.

The second world, this world, the world of Light-I mean the World of Origin, was designed for Fluttershy and the Dark Sky members. Because CrE saw too much good in them, she asked me to create a world in which you would have to accept evil into yourselves in order to survive. Again, I was asked to give it the illusion that it was part of the world of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky, thus why we came up with the whole thing about Fluttershy finding the jar and turning into Sombra. Chrysalis’ murder, however, was unrelated to us, and the whole traveling to the other Dark Sky worlds (actually just worlds we created) thing was something we came up with later when we had to revise the L.O.W. project. And so here we all are.

…

I think that’s about it…

Rarity ended the trance, causing Fluttershy and Sky to snap back to this reality, with everything that Discord had said embedded into their minds.

“So just to clarify…” Sky said. “This world is just an alternate reality created by you and Rarity, as well as the Transcending world. Everything we were told about CrE and the World of Origin prior to this was a flat-out lie, you turned me into Fluttershy, Sombra, and a murderer and came up with the portal traveling mission to get the orbs all for the sake of having a way for us to become accustomed to having Sombra’s power in us, and I’m actually you and Fluttershy’s son.”

“...Pretty much.” Discord replied with a smirk on his face.

“So...you’re satisfied with that?” Rarity asked with a smirk on her face too.

“I guess.” Sky answered.

“So that means you’ve figured out all the things we didn’t explain?” Rarity said with a chuckle. “You don’t find it odd that we made YOU into Fluttershy and Sombra in a world meant to test Fluttershy and the Dark Sky? Or the fact that you’re human even though you came from a pony and a draconequus? Or why Luna put Robot Alicorn Fluttershy in Fluttershy’s bed? Or why we sent the Dark Sky members through that portal? Or why my R.A.R. clone left a scrap of paper by Pinkie Pie back at the Maud Pie church? Or what all the orb messages meant? Or why it was only at the Maud Pie church that my R.A.R. clone’s bending spells were numbered? And most importantly, or why we’re disclosing all this information to you two?”

“Hmm, I’m really not sure…” Sky replied. “I guess now that you said it, there are some unanswered questions. What do you say Fluttershy?”

“Huh?” Fluttershy said as she felt something of hers had gone missing. “I think something fell out of my fur pocket while I was in that trance…”

“Well Fluttershy doesn’t seem to be confused…” Sky remarked on Fluttershy’s daze like a filmmaker’s memoir about living the dream. “I think we can figure out everything else along the way…”

“Nope,” replied Discord with a grin. “HALF of everything else. The other half is going to be figured out by your dear friends…”

“You mean…” Fluttershy and Sky said with astonishment. “The Dark Sky members?”

“Exactly,” Rarity confirmed. “But don’t worry, you’re at least going to get to learn your destinies and why we went through all this trouble the way we did. That is, if you can defeat our master, the One…”

With that said, Rarity pulled a scroll out of her ninja outfit, and she and Discord grabbed it together with their magic. Once they both had a mystical grip on it, they began to chant these words as the hands on the two stopwatches on Rarity’s garb began to turn, and the shields on Discord’s robe began to gleam brightly…

“Body: ??? Mind: ??? Soul: ??? The One, ASSEMBLE!”

Once those words were finished being spoken, a familiar figure appeared in the middle of Rarity and Discord...the shadow paladin Fluttershy and Sky had transformed into in order to defeat R.A.F. at the end of Fluttershy’s Path. And he began to utter something lyrical that didn’t rhyme…

???!?

What a thrill
With darkness and silence through the night
What a thrill
I’m searching and I’ll melt into you
What a fear in my heart
But you’re so supreme!

I give my life
Not for honor, but for you!
In my time, there’ll be no one else
Crime, it’s the way I fly to you
I’m still in a dream, Snake Eater!

“You...you were the one on the portrait of the portal to this place!” Fluttershy and Sky shouted, not even needing to remember their experience on Fluttershy’s path to recognize him.

“Correct…” the shadow paladin replied. “And I am also the one who helped your Dark Sky member friends discover the power of Sombra, the one who helped them discover the importance of the L.O.W. project, and the one you two became at one point. I am...The One.”

“Wait, did you say the Dark Sky members?” Fluttershy asked. “Hold on...if you’re Discord and Rarity’s master...does that mean that YOU’RE the one behind all this, and not...CrE? Now I’m confused...unless...”

“Unless Discord and Rarity have betrayed CrE…” the One spoke what was on Fluttershy’s mind. “That’s right, the Dark Sky members were sent to the realm of CrE to fight her, just like you were sent here to fight me!”

“Huh?” Fluttershy responded.

“You were brought here because I wanted to challenge you to a duel…” the One explained. “And the winner of the duel will become the god of this universe.”

“How does that work?” Sky asked. “And besides, isn’t this just an alternate reality?”

“Like always, you know nothing…” the One responded as he tossed his shadow spear at...Fluttershy?!

Fluttershy's Ending (Part Two of Two)

Fluttershy’s Ending (Part Two of Two): Fluttershy of Light and Darkness

“Oh no, Fluttershy!” Sky yelled as he realized the shadow spear was going to hit her. He jumped in front of Fluttershy to shield her, and the spear pierced his heart, while stabbing a bit of a nonvital area of Fluttershy. In response to his mortal wound, Sky fell down on his back and started dying.

“SKY!” Fluttershy shouted as she overcame the pain from her mild wound to kneel down and clutch her dying comrade with her leg arms. “You have to use your Sombra powers to heal yourself!”

“I...I can’t…” Sky replied. “This spear is...making me feel less and less like Sombra...it’s really weird…”

“Hold still then!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she grabbed the spear and pulled it out as Sky grunted loudly in agony. “Now try!”

“I...I…” Sky said as he tried summoning his powers, but to no avail. “I still can’t do it…”

“HA HA HA!” the One laughed. “That spear is designed to suppress the dark powers of those it wounds! Even if you pull it out, its powers remain within you! Now that you two will not be able to transform, this duel is as good as mine!”

Fluttershy and Sky did not hear him, for his words were not real to them. Fluttershy just looked at Sky’s face with tears welling in her eyes.

“Sky…” Fluttershy spoke softly to the boy. “I know you would never kill even someone as bad as Chrysalis out of malice...and even so, I used the power of darkness to kill my robot alicorn self...I’m no better than you. I don’t blame you for me getting dragged into this...I just wish I could’ve learned more about you.”

“Thanks Fluttershy…” Sky replied as he began to shut his eyes. “I feel really good now, even though I’m about to die...isn’t that...really...weird…”

“..........”

Sky has died.

“SSSKKKYYYYY!!!” Fluttershy yelled at the top of her lungs as she looked up at the sky.

Fluttershy cried over Sky’s lifeless body as the look on Rarity’s face became somber, and even Discord looked down at the cumulonimbus cloud floor unhappily, feeling guilty. The only one filled with jollity at the sight of this scene was, you guessed it, the One.

“BWA HA HA HA GHA!” the One guffawed. “How glorious the sight of death and sorrow is! Thank you for reminding me that I need watch an opera again some time! On a serious note however, I’d like to start our duel now that we’ve had a little warm-up!”

“SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!” Fluttershy bellowed. “There’s no way I’m going to fight you!”

“W-what do you mean?!” the One yelled angrily. “We must have a duel, it is your destiny!”

“You don’t deserve to have your duel,” replied Fluttershy, “not after you dragged everyone into this shit and killed my friend! Just get away from me!”

“But...you...you can’t..duh…” the One began to stammer. “Rarity! Discord! Say something to her!”

“You did cheat by attacking before the duel even started…” Discord pointed out. “And you killed her comrade in the process...that’s pretty low, even in my eyes…”

“Not to mention her comrade happened to be my friend…” a frustrated Rarity added.

“Oh, whatever!” the One replied. “It doesn’t matter! If she doesn’t want to fight me, then I’ll make her fight me!”

The One then used magic to teleport his shadow spear back to his right hand, and charged at Fluttershy on his galloping horse. All of a sudden, part of the cloud floor turned to shadow and stopped the galloping horse in its tracks. Part of the shadow then crept up to the shadow paladin’s spear, and after getting a grip on it, turned it into shadow and absorbed it. It was then that another part of the shadow crept up to face the One as it grew eyes and a face...the face of Sombra’s!

“Fools…” Sombra hissed. “You are all foolish...You never even realized that I took the place of the real Fluttershy, or has you call him, Sky’s soul in her absence...I’ve just been lying in wait for the perfect moment to find the one being more powerful than CrE...so that I can transform you into myself and become the One! GWA HA HA!”

“Die trying…” the One said with a chuckle.

Sombra entered the One’s body and attempted to possess him, but to no avail. The One simply laughed as Sombra swum around in his body.

“W-what?!” Sombra shouted. “Why are you not becoming me?”

“Why are you not rhyming?” the One replied. “I like to do it all the timing…”

“?!” Fluttershy went in surprise. “Those words...that was one of Sombra’s rhymes from the “dream”...could it be…”
“GHA HA HA!” the One began laughing like King Sombra. “You guessed it...I am…”

The One began to take off his helmet. He revealed himself to be…

……….

FLUTTERSHY! DUN DUN DUMN!

……………..

That is what Fluttershy (the human clone, apparently) said.

“.....................You?” she asked. “I...thought it would be revealed that you were the original King Sombra, and that the one Sky and I turned into was just a clone made from a human.”

“Ha ha, no silly.” Fluttershy the One replied. “I’m the original, real Fluttershy from the Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world. Who else would Rarity and Discord choose to become the One stronger than CrE? That’s the whole point of the L.O.W. project, to turn me into the god of the universe, the next CrE! The only reason I didn’t become Sombra when he possessed me is because of my strong will, and the only reason Sombra isn’t rhyming right now is because this isn’t the time and place for poetry. I learned how to resist evil by becoming evil.”

“But...that means I was wrong about Sky being the real Fluttershy…” the other Fluttershy realized. “Could that also mean I was wrong about him being the murderer? And about me being a clone made from a human?”

“I’m afraid so,” said the One. “The murderer is CrE herself, and you are my son...Soshy.”

“Wait…” the other Fluttershy said. “If I’m Fluttershy...and Sombra...no way…”

“I-” Sombra interjected as he realized the truth. “I AM YOUR FATHER?!”

“Again, ha ha, no silly.” the One said. “You’re Soshy’s mother. When your soul was brought back into a body restored from magical energy, I requested that Discord and Rarity make some...minor adjustments to the body for the pleasure of my freeman.”

“For the record,” Rarity chimed in, “I’m the one who used my time powers to speed up the pregnancy and make Soshy an adult.”

“And I did everything else…” Discord followed up as he got a huge grin on his face and put his hands together.

“YOU…” a now enraged Sombra said. “ALL OF YOU! YOU HAVE ALL HUMILIATED ME!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!”

Unable to possess the One, Sombra decided to try and possess Soshy next.

“IT MATTERS NOT HOW STRONG YOUR WILL IS…” he declared. “SO LONG AS YOU HAVE THAT RING I HAD YOU COLLECT, YOU’RE MINE!”

But again, Sombra was expelled from Soshy’s body as soon as he tried to possess her.

“WHAT THE…” he bellowed. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY RING?!”

Just then, Rarity whistled to Sombra. He looked over at her and saw something in her hooves...a glass jar sealed with a lid. The jar had the last remaining copy of Fluttershy’s soul in it...and a ring! Sombra gasped.

“SO THE JAR HAS IT…” he assessed. “GIVE IT BACK!”

Sombra flew straight over to the jar, and ended up possessing it. His soul appeared in the jar alongside Fluttershy’s, hovering just over the ring. Rarity and Discord pressed their right hoof and right hand down on the lid and used their magic to prevent Sombra from escaping the jar.

“DAMMIT!” he swore. “I NEED A BODY TO GRAB THE RING! LET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“Not a chance…” Discord taunted Sombra’s soul and stuck his tongue out at him.

“Now that we have all our magical energy from those clones being released, it’s time for the ultimate magic…” Rarity said as she got out a scroll that she had been saving for this occasion from her outfit. “The fusion of two souls that shall combine Yin and Yang, and tear both darkness and the light of deception apart…”

“WAIT, YOU’RE GOING TO COMBINE MY VERY ESSENCE WITH FLUTTERSHY’S?!” Sombra shouted as Rarity and Discord ignored his cry and began a chant. “BUT THAT MEANS I CAN NO LONGER BE MY OWN SELF! COME ON YOU GUYS!”

“It’s alright, Sombra.” Fluttershy’s soul said warmly, giving Sombra a hug. “I secretly kind of enjoyed becoming you way back, weird as it felt. And besides, we’re going to get to save the universe! Like a hero!”

“True, but this means I can no longer be a villain…” Sombra’s soul replied, a tear dripping down from him as Rarity and Discord finished their chant. “I always found that kind of life to be really thrill-AAAAAHHHHH!”

The spell started and Fluttershy and Sombra’s souls began to fuse together. The jar shattered and a giant flash of light spread all across the realm. Rarity and Discord teleported somewhere else as the light blinded the One and Soshy. When they regained their sight, they saw the result of the fusion...floating in front of them, was a soul containing both darkness and light.

“...That’s all?” the One asked.

“No…” the soul answered. “Now that we are the spiritual form of the combination of Fluttershy and Sombra, we also require the physical form of the combination of Fluttershy and Sombra.”

“Wait…” Soshy said. “Do you mean...me?”

“Yes Soshy…” the soul replied. “Please...allow us into your body. The only way a being more powerful than CrE can arise is if Yin and Yang’s physical form and spiritual form unite as one. Sky lives on as the Fluttershy within us...please join us...it’s the only way to stop the One and CrE from ruling over the universe with evil!”

“...Sure, come in me.” Soshy agreed. “I’d love to see Sky again, and anything is better than letting either of those two have the universe.”

“Thanks Soshy…” the soul said as it entered Soshy’s body. “It feels really good...knowing that you want to stop them...that you want to combine darkness and light to stand up against evil...there shall be no more Soshy...there is only one three-in-one…

Fluttershy. After the soul and Soshy fused together, they became Fluttershy dressed in a shadow black sock hat, black pants that said “New” on the left leg, and “Sky” on the right leg, a bright white shirt that said “Shy Darkness” on the back and had an emblem of dark clouds in a misty sky on the front, and last of all, a dark red robe with white lace and an insignia of a shadow dragon shooting a beam of light from it’s mouth on it.

“I...can feel your power…” the One said as he saw and sensed an aura of darkness and light exuding from Fluttershy. “And it’s beyond anything I could ever achieve, even after I sold my soul to evil for a chance to stop CrE…”

“Sorry, my old self…” Fluttershy apologized as she put her hooves together, darkness and light aura charging up in them and brimming radiantly. “You must die to me…”

And so, the darkness and light aura finished charging, and Fluttershy shot a concentrated beam of dark energy mixed with light aurora, dark skies mixed with light stars, and dark sunlight mixed with light solar-eclipsed moonlight at the One. He disintegrated, he died. However, that was not before he said this…

“I finally get it now. The One is not me or you…our destiny is...”
…

It was over. Fluttershy looked at the scene and saw that all that remained of the One was ash that fell through the cloud floor, and the ghost of his horse. The horse tread over to Fluttershy and showed her a slip of paper in his mouth. Fluttershy took it out of there and read it. It said this…

I gave my destiny to Rarity...she must have left it where Maud lives…go there if you wish to find it…

“...” Fluttershy went as the note and the horse vanished. Soon after, Rarity and Discord teleported back from where they had gone to, along with five familiar figures, the Dark Sky members, and one that might be unfamiliar, an unidentifiable shadow.

“The One’s dead, isn’t he?” Rarity said, knowing so because the hands on the right stopwatch on her garb had stopped moving.

“It’s sad it had to be this way…” Discord remarked. “And funny, too! Seriously, out of all the ways Rarity and I thought about going about the L.O.W. project, this was my all-time favorite!”

“Great job, Fluttershy!” Ghost Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You are almost as awesome as me now!”

“...” Score described how glorious Fluttershy’s victory was silently.

“You won!” Derpy tried giving an even more detailed description.

“Even CrE’s impressed by your victory!” Dumb-bell added.

“Speaking of CrE…” Hoops said as he looked over at the shadow. “I think she has something she wants to say to you...don’t you CrE?”

The shadow lowered its head in despair and remorse.

“Yes, I am CrE, and I am deeply sorry for everything I have done…” CrE apologized sadly to Fluttershy. “The Dark Sky members showed me the error of my ways in my fight with them. I completely abused my powers and forced all of you to do terrible things. I’m even to blame for Chrysalis’ murder and your true self becoming evil. I can understand why Rarity and Discord betrayed the One and I. I promise to stop what I am doing with the humans, but I feel that isn’t enough to show them or you that I’m truly sorry. I feel that you’re the one who deserves to be the god of the universe. Even if you don’t forgive me, I would like to resign and leave my position to you.”

“I do forgive you…” Fluttershy replied. “But you can still have your position…”

CrE immediately shook her head.

“No…” she said. “You still do not know the level of my wrongdoing. Maybe one day, I, or even the Dark Sky members will be able to tell you...for now, farewell.”

After that...

CrE vanished, never to be seen again. Soon after, everyone went back to the Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world.

Rarity and Discord returned all the humans who wanted to go back to the human world back to normal and sent them home. Soon after, the portal to the human world was closed. Rarity and Discord then promised to devote a decent amount of time of their lives to making the lives of the pony humans who stayed happy as penance for their deeds.

Sky and Sombra are still one with Fluttershy, and Sombra is slowly growing to enjoy it.

Jason Celestia is now in possession of the cardboard cutout Luna. With every day, he grows more doubtful that it really is Luna transformed into cardboard…

Spike is still glad he only had a minor role in this story.

The Cadence and Shining Armor clones were brought to the Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world to helping increase the birth rate in Equestria. They are enjoying their task almost too much…

The Maud Pie clones became Fluttershy’s messengers, and are now preaching the word of how Fluttershy evolved to where she is today. How they manage to make the story both dull and enjoyable to so many is a mystery…

The Pinkie Pie clone stopped by Fluttershy’s house one day to give her what was now a slip of paper...

The Dark Sky members became Fluttershy’s right and left-hand men. They have recently asked her to sing a song with them again for old time’s sake.

Fluttershy accepted their request, asking for them to sing the song that was on the slip of paper…

Destiny of Darkness and Light

I think it all started when Rarity died
To my killer’s code, I couldn’t abide
Soon everyone left...and I couldn’t see
Was it all my fault...or just destiny?

I needed more ponies, to be here with me
So a ruler of death, I asked to be CrE
I devised a plot to become the One
And deceived everyone, even my son

I made Sky a human (and a fake me), so that he’d never know
That he had a father (referring to me), who would have to go
CrE wanted me to become a god
A path towards evil, I would have to trod

As the ruler of death, CrE called Sombra’s soul back
And we bore a child, with a soul white and black
I would be the villain, he would be the hero
Even at my grave, he would not shed a tear, no…

…

Now I am a god living on in my son
Everything is at peace...now that the deed is done
Discord, Rarity, Dark Sky, me...we were all the One
I sincerely hope...that our journey was fun…

Fluttershy’s Ending: The End

EPILOGUE

Everyone in Fluttershy’s house was at a loss for words.

“I remember...everything now…” Fluttershy said as she got a huge grin. “My plan worked perfectly! I am now completely pure...I AM NOW GOD!”

“Fluttershy…” the Dark Sky members replied. “We don’t believe it…”

“I CAN FINALLY CREATE MY WORLD OF IMMORTALITY!” she exclaimed, happier than she had ever been in her life. “AND I OWE IT ALL TO THEM AND YOU! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA GEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH GHA FWA BWA MWA LWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!”

Sitting on the moon together in the bright-night sky, Rarity, Discord, and the Goddess of Death, Prince Luna could hear the laughing, and they in turn, smiled.

“I love how jolly we’ve made Fluttershy…” Rarity said.

“I just love happy endings.” Discord gave his intake.

“And so it finally begins…” Prince Luna looked down at the citizens of Equestria and gave an evil smile. “The new chronicles of the lightly ordered world…”

The Final Enigmatic Words of the Cloud Dragon of the Mist

Thank you so much reader for what you have done...you saw Fluttershy’s story out to the end. This may be the ending of Fluttershy’s story, but an ending is only the start of a new beginning.

The new beginning of Fluttershy’s story is now guaranteed to be filled with magic, happiness, and many other beautiful things. For that, you are a true hero.

Now that you have brightened Fluttershy’s dark sky, will you choose to learn the ending of the story of the Dark Sky? If you already do know the ending, then I hope that that knowledge made this more fun for you to read. May your night be bright…

The Dark Sky's Ending (Part One of Two)

The Dark Sky’s Ending (Part One of Two): The True Murderer

The murderer is disguised in the form of a shadow, bearing darkness and light…

The Dark Sky members fell from the dark portal in the sky, and ended up in the realm of CrE. When they had finished falling, they landed on a dark cumulonimbus cloud. The sky above them, on the cloud’s contrary, was bright white from the beam that was erected into the air after the orbs were set. And as opposed to last time, where the Dark Sky members got huddled when they fell and got lazyitis, this time, they got muddled together and got the drive to get up straight away.

“Wow guys, we’re making progress!” Derpy complimented them, feeling as impressed as a journalist getting his hand stuck in a fax machine and interrupting the printing of a resume.

“Correction,” Ghost Rainbow Dash responded, “you guys are making progress. I have nothing to make progress on. I’m dead and I achieved my goal in life...becoming as awesome as myself!”

“Oh I get the joke,” Derpy assumed G.R.D. was trying to humor her. “The original Rainbow Dash from the TV show’s goal in life was to become a Wonderbolt!”

“TV show?” G.R.D. asked. “I was on TV? Was this in another reality, or something?”

“Speaking of realities,” Dumb-bell chimed in, “we never really touched upon this whole alternate reality stuff. I wonder if CrE will tell us all about it in-depth.”

“...” Score confirmed Dumb-bell’s suspicions silently as he pointed at a shadowy figure walking towards the group and transforming into a familiar pony.

“Oh,” said Hoops, “hi…”

LUNA.

Just like that, Luna was in front of the Dark Sky members, clad in shining, bright-white, holy armor that had been blessed by a god (Rarity). It turns out that she was CrE the whole time, wouldn’t you know.

“Greetings,” Luna greeted with a malicious grin on her face, “my subordinates of the night. I almost expected you to not be here.”

“We entirely expected to not be here…” Dumb-bell told her the situation. “Rarity and Discord threw us in here at the last minute without even telling us. I almost feel like we don’t belong here…”

“Ha ha.” Luna laughed. “And why is that? Do you not feel it is your place as the heros of the dark to cast divine judgment on the villain of the light?”

“Wait…” Derpy said. “You’re the bad guy now?”

“I’m not THE bad guy…” Luna replied. “Just like how you are not THE good guys. Strange, isn’t it? How both of us have done things vital to the progress of both THE bad guy and THE good guy, and yet...we are in their shadow. That is our true form, shadows. We may as well be the very darkness that mimics our every move…”

“Blah, blah, blah, yawn.” G.R.D. tried summing the whole thing up. “Can you just please get to the point?”

“Do you want me to touch upon stuff in-depth or not?” Luna asked. “Besides, I was just about to get to the good part...the telling of how I carried out my most devious deed…”

“Fine…” G.R.D. said with a sigh. “Just please tell us the explanation of how and why you’re the one who murdered Chrysalis, and make sure to give me legitimate reasons to call “bullshit” on it! I get a lot of enjoyment out of pointing out the flaws in people’s facts!”

“If you insist…” Luna replied as she prepared to tell the entire true story…

The Murderer is…Luna

That’s right...I’m the murderer. Sky wasn’t the one who killed Chrysalis like Fluttershy (as you may know her) thought. Fluttershy was in too much of a hurry to come to the conclusion that Sky was the killer, for a part of her was worried that the killer was actually her. If only she had looked deeper and had seen the false clues I had left behind alongside the real ones…

The first clue, “Search the numbers, the pattern reveals the truth.” , meant to go back to the only place where numbers were used, at the Maud Pie church. The numbers used there, in order, were… 12 21 14 1. All of those numbers have a pattern, in that they all contain the number “1”, all contain the digits “1-4”, and can all be formed by adding up four ones in a variety of ways. Four ones...four who were involved in an illicit plan to change the Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world (new name for the World of Creation to avoid confusion) forever. Discord, Rarity, me, and another...the One.

The second clue, “Killers have a code”, meant that the numbers have a code to them. And what better code could they have than the alphabet? L is the 12th letter of the alphabet, U is the 21st letter of the alphabet, N is the 14th letter of the alphabet, and A is the 1st letter of the alphabet. You read the numbers like a word, and they spell my name!

The third clue, “Yearning to reverse your fortune, you find a false hint.”, was just a safeguard to give a clue to Fluttershy that Sky was not the killer just because his name was in the clues. If you read the nonsense that was being spoken at the beginning of each chapter backwards, you would get this…

So...You are reading this.

Klaus bartz aho!

You will tell the orb.

That spells “SYKY”, not “SKY”. And why would I reuse the same pattern for a bogus hint for a real hint?

I think you may be wondering now...why did I do all of it? My motive was simple...Chrysalis betrayed me. In this reality, I made her and Celestia the villains behind the plot to bring humans to this world to be turned into Centauroths, to represent what was going on in Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world. In the end, it was supposed to her who Fluttershy fought. But Chrysalis became greedy, and started using humans as magical energy to take into herself so she could become powerful enough to take over not just the World of Origin, but the world of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky! I tried to reason with her, but in the end, there was nothing I could do to stop her…so I killed her.

After I used my CrE powers to dispose of Chrysalis, I entrusted her subordinate Celestia with the role of being the World of Origin’s villain. Unfortunately, she followed in Chrysalis’ footsteps by trying to create progeny with Fluttershy to create a being more powerful than I. This time, I was not fortunate enough to learn of her treachery ahead of time, so Rarity had to step in and use her time and reality bending powers to eliminate her. She also stole Fluttershy’s soul and removed Sombra from it, worrying that a Fluttershy contaminated with evil would be too powerful to contain after all. While our plan for the L.O.W. project underwent great revisions, we sealed Fluttershy’s soul away in a hidden cell in Celestia’s castle with a lock that would only break once the orbs at the front of the castle regained their power…and so ends my tale.

“Any questions?” Luna asked, following her tales denouement.

“Yes,” G.R.D. replied. “There’s a lot of stuff in of your story that I don’t get...like why were only the orbs in the world Fluttershy went to filled with hints? What if she had ended up in the World of Evolution, where all the orbs were locked?”

“She couldn’t have gone to the WoE,” Luna explained, “thanks to the help of the human clone we made to be Celestia’s replacement. The wine that she always carried around in that glass was actually a liquid that could temporarily stop the time of whatever it was spilled around. The portals Discord and Rarity created are bound by the laws of time, so Celestia just spilled some around the portal to the WoE. And there are clues in the other orbs...ones meant for YOU guys that Discord and Rarity didn’t want you to see. I’m sure you’ll find them soon, heh heh.”

“Why were you a police officer though?” G.R.D. continued her questioning. “Also, on our way back home from the WoE, Rarity’s Robot Alicorn Pinkie clone said something about you putting Robot Alicorn Fluttershy in a bed.”

“Oh yes…” Luna replied. “Keep in mind, we were trying to put on an act, for Fluttershy and that Jason Celestia clone. She was suspicious of us plotting to make Fluttershy a god, so we gained her trust by becoming her subordinates and getting her to believe that the only Fluttershy who was still alive was the one she transformed into R.A.F., the one from the World of Origin. Why Rarity switched R.A.F. out for Fluttershy on me and made her an orb-carrier without telling me though, I don’t know. There would’ve been no point...R.A.F. is also a clone of Fluttershy made from a human, so she shares all her thoughts and memories. When I tried to ask her about it, she threw a smoke bomb on the ground, confiscated my Magic Eater guns and banished me here. And now that you guys are here, my suspicions are confirmed…”

“What suspicions?” Dumb-bell asked, breaking G.R.D.’s line of questioning. “Do you think we’re spies?”

Luna shook her head.

“No,” she said, “I just believe that Rarity and Discord have betrayed me and have sent you here to kill me.”

“Oh, phew.” Derpy said, wiping a bit of sweat from her face. “That’s not as bad as US being the bad guys.”

“Do your math, Derpy…” Hoops requested of her. “If we were sent here by Rarity and Discord, that means we WORK for the bad guys.”

“So I am evil after all…” Derpy concluded. “I knew I couldn’t trust myself!”

“Not that it really matters anymore…” Luna remarked. “Fighting for good or fighting for evil...it no longer matters so long as we get to fight.”

“Fight?!” the Dark Sky members exclaimed. “But Luna, we can’t fight you!”

“But thou must.” Luna said, not quoting the Luna from the TV show as she summoned a Centauroth and a bat pony to her left and right side respectively. “I am CrE...and the Dark Sky’s final mission as described in the Lightly Ordered World project is to kill CrE...that is if she does not fall before the One.”

“?!” the Dark Sky members went. “Wait, he was the one you mentioned in your story...is he the one who’s really behind all this…?”

“Forgive me for withholding my patience…” Luna replied, mixing up the words she spoke from the TV show as she began to polymerize herself with the Centauroth and bat pony using her magic. “But I grow weary of conversation...IT IS TIME FOR US TO DO BATTLE!”

With that, Luna completed her transformation into a bright white dragon with bat wings, the body of a horse, and some facial features of a handsome woman. She opened her mouth and began to charge up a beam of dark, shadowy, holy aurora.

“...” Score communicated battle tactics with the group silently. In response, the group transformed into mist together, so that when the beam hit them, it would be...reflected back at Luna?!

The Dark Sky's Ending (Part Two of Two)

The Dark Sky’s Ending (Part Two of Two): Soul of the Dark Sky

The One has chosen the paths he has tread…

From where the beginning of this ending last left off, the holy beam was reflected back at Luna.

“NNNNNOOOOO!!!” Luna bellowed as the holy beam came back at her, destroying her entirely. All that remained of her was her armor and a familiar sword that fell to the side.

“LUNNNNAAAAA!!!” the Dark Sky members cried as they changed back to normal and ran over to where her armor laid with tears welling in their eyes. Dumb-bell picked up her white helm and began to cry over it.

“Why did it have to be this way?!” he shouted. “You were like a teacher to us, you didn’t have to leave us like that!”

Ghost Rainbow Dash floated over to comfort Dumb-bell as something caught Derpy’s eyes. Quickly, she directed Score and Hoops’ attention to the sword that fell to the side. It was no ordinary familiar sword...it was a familiar blade. And where the blade was, a shadow began to rise from the dark cloud floor in a familiar way…

“Uh, guys…” the three tried to alert Dumb-bell and G.R.D.. “I don’t think Luna left-GAK!”

Derpy, Score, and Hoops fell to the ground as the shadow swooped towards them and sliced them with the blade in a circular motion. Hearing the cries of their comrades as they hollered in pain, G.R.D. and Dumb-bell turned around to see the shadow turn back into Luna. She was no longer a dragon, but she still had bat wings and a handsome human face.

“Ha ha ha!” she laughed as she twirled her blade around for fun. “Did you really think you had me? I may be CrE now, but I’m still the Goddess of Death! I wanted to be felled in battle, for it is in death that I become more powerful!”

“But I kind of already knew that…” Dumb-bell replied. “I didn’t think that we had really killed you, I thought that you had just given up and left.”

“Yeah, this was stupid what Rarity and Discord did.” G.R.D. remarked. “How are we supposed to kill an immortal goddess?”

“Their idea of killing is obviously different than yours…” Luna said with her right hoof on her face. “JUST LIKE MINE!”

Luna then charged towards the other two and stabbed them both. Yes, even G.R.D. felt the blade enter her chest.
“That’s right…” Luna said as she pointed to the other three with her blade, pointing out that they had no cuts on their bodies. “This is the spirit blade Rarity used to pull out Fluttershy’s soul. She gave it to me specifically for this fight because she didn’t like it very much compared to another sword she found. I think you know what’s going to happen next...HAH!”

Luna thrust the blade out of both of them, causing G.R.D. to fall to the cloud floor from her injury, and Dumb-bell’s soul to become detached from his body. Wounded as well, his soul fell beside G.R.D..
Luna laughed as she went back over to Derpy, Score, and Hoops, and stabbed each of them individually.

“DETACH! DETACH! DETACH!” she declared as she removed their souls from their bodies and left them lingering on the floor wounded. She then gathered up all their bodies in a pile as their souls passed out. It seemed that the murderer had triumphed…

However, hope remained somewhere far, far, away…at a church filled with Maud Pie clones made from humans. Their services had still been going on since their original god turned out to be evil and died when Fluttershy and the police officers came, and all the church members became real Maud Pies. They had decided since then that they would now worship new gods, the ones who created the world they lived in, Rarity and Discord. They were in the middle of communion (done by consuming a gem and chocolate milk now), when all of a sudden, there was a disturbance…

“I feel that something is not right.” the new leader Maud Pie said. “Whatever it is, it feels wrong.”

“Oh dear, I think it might be my fault…” Pinkie Pie said as she looked in her fur pocket and noticed that the scrap of paper Rarity had left her was beginning to shake and glow. A flash of intense light blinded her and the Maud Pies as two figures they knew came out of the paper, transforming it from a scrap to a slip. The figures were Rarity and Discord, and they were dressed in a different attire than normal. But that’s only important depending on how you’re reading the story…

“Hi guys.” the leader Maud Pie responded to the abrupt appearance of the gods. “Why did you come here?”

“The Dark Sky members need your help.” Rarity explained. “They’ve been badly wounded in a fight against CrE, a contemporary enemy of ours.”

“Any enemy of you guys is an enemy of ours.” the leader Maud Pie replied. “Please tell us what we need to do.”

“We’re going to send you to CrE’s world alone right now.” Discord said. “Use the powers we gave you to heal the Dark Sky members, while we and your subordinates stay here and pray for reinforcements! Oh yeah, and feel free to use THOSE if you wish...”

“Understood.” the leader Maud Pie said as Discord and Rarity prepared the dark portal reality-bending spell and teleported her to CrE’s realm.

“Now that it is just you, your gods, and Pinkie Pie…” Discord spoke to the crowd of Maud Pies. “It is time for us to pray.”

“It’s because of our powers over time and reality that we found the time to mentor all of you…” Rarity said. “DO NOT LET IT GO TO WASTE! COME! Let us call for the help of the orb-carriers!”

The Maud Pies in the church nodded their heads in agreement as they bowed them and began praying for the six spirits inside the orbs on the front of Celestia’s castle to help the Dark Sky members. Knowing that Rarity and Discord were there with them, they obeyed and went to CrE’s realm. When the spirits arrived there, they saw the leader Maud Pie healing the Dark Sky member’s souls by praying to them. Once the Dark Sky members were fully healed, they got up off the cloud floor.

“Uh…” the Dark Sky members’ souls groaned. “What happened?”

“You got stabbed and sliced in the soul.” the leader Maud Pie elaborated. “You should be fine now though.”

“Thanks.” they said politely. “Where are our bodies though?”

“The bat-human-horse chick has them.” the leader Maud Pie replied as she pointed to Luna meditating by the pile of the Dark Sky members’ bodies in the distance. A holy white aura began entering Luna’s body, causing her to regain her dragon features…

“The end is coming…” Luna said with a whisper.

“Damn it!” Hoops swore. “She’s going to destroy our bodies! What can we do?”

“Get back into them.” Maud Pie suggested. “I’ll help you get over there in time.”

“But how-w-WOAH!” Dumb-bell exclaimed as Maud Pie grabbed and rolled him into a ball shape. She then used her strength to throw him back into his body without alerting Luna. She did the same for Derpy, Score, and Hoops, until she was finally down to Ghost Rainbow Dash.

“I...don’t see your body.” Maud Pie told G.R.D. “You must really be dead then, huh? I’m sorry for your loss...”

“Don’t worry about it, I…” G.R.D. paused as she saw Maud Pie gathering magic in her hands. “W-what are you doing?”

“My power has finally returned!” Luna exclaimed as she fully regained her shadow dragon chimera form. “And now, Dark Sky members, your bodies are FINISHED!”

Luna prepared and fired a holy beam breath attack more powerful than the last one, but not before Maud Pie was able to throw herself over to the group in time. With the group together, they were able to transform into mist and reflect the beam back at Luna. This time however, she moved to the left and dodged it.

“WHA-? HOW-SON OF A BITCH!” Luna shouted angrily as she tried to kick the mist, but it floated up into the sky out of her reach. Frustrated, she tried to calm down by meditating as the Dark Sky members talked to each other in the mist.

“So wait, how did that work?” Derpy asked. “I thought we could only transform into mist if we were all together.”

“DON’T ASK.” Maud Pie replied in G.R.D.’s voice.

“It’s funny how Luna’s getting so frustrated when actually, we’re the ones at a disadvantage…” Hoops pointed out. “As ordinary mist, we have no offensive power, and even if we turned into a shadow mist dragon, she’s stronger than us by a long shot! We’d be annihilated by that holy beam! The only way we could possibly win is by being a mist that can’t be hurt by that beam and being stronger than her!”

“What do you think we’re here for?” six voices in the sky asked.

“Huh?” the Dark Sky members went as they saw six spirits enter their mist body. Immediately, they found themselves feeling bigger, harder, better, faster, stronger, and smarter!

“So algebra is math?” Derpy responded to gaining new knowledge. “I always thought that it was advanced english!”

“Three of those voices...” Dumb-bell said. “Are you guys…?”

“Yeah,” replied the spirits, “we’re the spirits of all the orb-carriers. You may not recognize God Maud Pie, Princess Shining Armor, and Robot Alicorn Fluttershy, but that’s beside the point. We’ve given you everything you need to defeat CrE!”

“We kind of already knew about R.A.F.,” said the Dark Sky members, “but thanks!”

It was then that the Dark Sky members began to transform from mist into...a white mist dragon!
Descending from the sky, they roared at Luna, disrupting her meditation and grabbing her attention.

“FOOLS!” Luna bellowed. “I meditated long enough for one more blast! Now that you’re no longer mist, you’re doomed!”

Luna used the same holy breath attack again, and again, it didn’t work. This time though, it didn’t work because the Dark Sky members’ dragon form ABSORBED it.

“You…” Luna stammered. “You have the element of holiness within you?! Have you become...gods?”

“NO LUNA…” the Dark Sky members replied. “WE ARE WHO WE ARE. FAREWELL…”

Now having even more power than ever from having absorbed Luna’s breath attack, the Dark Sky members breathed a blast so powerful that it almost entirely destroyed Luna, reducing her to a dazed ghost lying on top of a pile of ashes. The Dark Sky members transformed back to normal and gathered around her.

“Now are you going to give up?” Dumb-bell asked. “You’re not going to revive yourself again in some desperate attempt are you?”

“She can do that?” Maud Pie said in her own voice. “Then I don’t think so…”

Maud Pie pulled out two familiar dark-blue guns from her robe and pointed them at Luna.

“So that’s what Rarity did with my Magic Eaters…” Luna realized as she sighed. “Not that it matters...I give up. You guys win.”

Just then, with yet another flash of light, Rarity and Discord teleported behind the group.

“So, my garb speaks the truth…” Rarity said, looking at the right hourglass on her black, hourglass-emblem decorated garb, which was not moving unlike the left hourglass. “You guys actually beat CrE…your story has concluded…Fluttershy is back to normal and ready to defeat the One...soon you will all be back home again together...”

“Fantastic work you guys, that shot was one in a million!” Discord complimented them as he mixed soda with yogurt.

“...I don’t get it.” Derpy said as everyone just stared at Discord.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that.” Discord said with a smile. “We all have our own, distinct sense of humor!”

“Why did you guys betray me?” Luna asked. “I never knew you were already so much stronger than me…”

“Not really,” Rarity humbly responded to both things. “We’re just a lot better at bending time and reality. The only reason we deceived you is because we wanted to see how powerful the Dark Sky members really were...and heh heh...you know.”

“Hmm?” Hoops thought. “Could she mean…”

"I understand..." Luna replied with comprehension before turning to the Dark Sky members. "Dark Sky members, I am sorry for the trouble I caused all of you. The real reason I wanted to kill you is because I wanted to have your souls with me for as long as I could. I just wanted us to hang out like we used too...but that's in the past now. I am no longer your leader...you have all surpassed me, and you each have your own destiny to fulfill now...just please never forget that we were once the Dark Sky..."

The Dark Sky members paused for a moment and smiled. They walked over to Luna and gave her a group hug.

"Thanks Luna..." they said to their former master warmly. "We're glad now that Rarity and Discord brought us here. We have so many to thank for the strength we have now...but if it wasn't for you, who brought us together in the first place...we would have never learned the greatest strength of all...the power of unity. You are the soul of Dark Sky, Luna. That's why we're going to keep our team name...in remembrance of you."

With that, Luna became teary-eyed.

"I love you guys..." she told them. "You have done so well..."

“We’ve all done very well…” Discord said, wanting to be included in the group. “I think it’s time we sent us all home, a job well done. Does anyone have something to say before we go?”

“...” Score reminded Maud Pie about something silently.

“Oh yeah, I have one more question.” G.R.D. interjected as she came out of Maud Pie’s body. “Something that we never covered...what were you and that ghostly white unicorn doing way back in front of Fluttershy’s house?”

“Oh wow, I almost forgot…” Discord replied as he reached into the white, shield-emblem decorated robe he was wearing. “She was paying me to give you this…”

Discord gave G.R.D. a photograph that showed Fluttershy crying at a tombstone, with a familiar ghostly figure beside her…

“Woah, that is something else!” G.R.D. exclaimed in surprise.

“But wait…” Dumb-bell said. “What about all the alternate reality stuff?”

“Oh shoot, I wanted to know more about that to-” G.R.D. was too late as she got cut off by Rarity and Discord teleporting them back to the Fluttershy’s Dark Sky world.

“This is weird.” Maud Pie made a remark.

“I could not think of a better way to sum everything up myself…” Hoops said.

After that…

Luna resigned as CrE. She gave her position over to Fluttershy, who accepted, after she defeated the One, of course.

Rarity and Discord used their powers to create a new body for Luna as an apology for deceiving her. She looks just like her old self now, despite a few minor changes, particularly ones made to her freeman.

The clones made from humans who wanted to go back home to their world as their ordinary selves were allowed to return. The ones who didn’t return are still working for Rarity and Discord as ponies…

Jason Celestia found the cardboard cutout of Luna. He also found that it really was just cardboard, nothing else.

Transcending Fluttershy’s Dark Sky Luna is trying to figure out where to go if she ever gives up her life of seclusion in her womb.

Some of the bat ponies came to live in the world of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky. They were quite happy to learn that the position for a pony to raise the sun is open…

The leader Maud Pie honestly does not know how to feel about her experience with Ghost Rainbow Dash coming inside her body.

Fluttershy came home to her own world, so happy to see her friends again, that it was almost...unnerving.

The Dark Sky members found something interesting about the photograph Discord gave them after they returned home to the world of Fluttershy’s Dark Sky...there was a poem inscribed on the back of it…written in ectoplasm...

The Story of the Spirit

Fluttershy, my friend…
It will be okay…
Though this may seem like the end…
There is always another day.

I know there are things…
That we must do…
Our situation has gotten kooky…
But haven’t we too?

Just calm yourself…
It’ll be over soon…
I’ll make you a sun…
And I shall be your moon.

Born of the sky!
Rising over the still land!
Your friends will be your evening stars!
And they’ll understand!

YOU ARE THE LORD!
DARK AND HOLY WILL BE YOUR NAME! FLUTTERSHY!
DISCORD WILL BE YOUR SHIELD! AND I WILL BE YOUR SWORD!
THEY’LL SEE THEM WHEN THEY LOOK TO PROCLAIM! THE DARK SKY!

Dark Sky’s Ending: The End

EPILOGUE

“No way…” the Dark Sky members said. “Could it be...that even back then...Rarity had this planned out...WITH FLUTTERSHY TOO?!”

Over the dark sky on that night, Rarity, Discord, and Fluttershy were talking…

“My plan worked perfectly…” Rarity complimented herself. “Fluttershy is a completely pure and all-powerful god now...and none of her subjects will ever learn of the failed experiment known as the One…”

“Ha ha ha!” Discord laughed. “A god who is both good and evil, light and dark! Oh, this is delicious! I love messing with reality!”

“So do I…” Fluttershy joined in, grinning sinisterly. “Now that I have authority over the Goddess of Death, I can finally start my quest to bring true immortality to this world. And now that my band members have the power of the revived orbs inside them, they’ll be such a wonderful help to me...HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA GEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HA HA!!!”

“This has gotten so weird…” the Dark Sky members thought.

The Final Enigmatic Words of the Cloud Dragon of the Mist

Thank you very much reader for seeing out the story of the Dark Sky to the end. This may be the ending of their tale for now, but don’t forget that there is always a new chapter to be told…