Twilight furiously rummaged trough the Canterlot archives, throwing scrolls and documents on the floor.
"Ah, now I see why she isn't allowed here..." Shining Armour whispered to Spike.
In front of a giant hourglass the unicorn knew that the spell would be located. If she only could find it... Little pearls of sweat started to emerge on her forehead. How much time did she have? Sooner or later Fluttershy was bound to find out about her trespassing and Shining Armour's brave decision to help her. Twilight just whished that she would discover the spell before it was too late...
"She's coming! Lock the door!" Shining Armour yelled.
They barricaded themselves behind a heavy copper door and Spike used his dragon fire to weld the lock shut.
"This will hold her off for a moment... Not even an alicorn can pick a melted lock!"
"I just hope that you're right..." Shining Armour said, wiping the sweat off his brow. "Twilight! Have you found it yet?"
"No! I just need..."
She was interrupted by a soft knock coming from the other side of the door.
"Um..."
The soft knock was followed by a strong buck from the alicorn's hind legs that blew the door from its hinges and sent it flying across the room like a projectile before crashing into the wall with a thundering sound of metal and wood slamming against limestone and marble.
Before the dust had settled Fluttershy emerged in the opening. She was dressed in a black crown decorated with white gold and her mane was flowing in the wind that somehow had found its way into the dusty old archives, whirling around the old papers in the room. She smiled a joyless smile.
"I'm sorry but I can't allow you to stop my plans, Twilight. Now I have to put an end to this. I hope you'll understand..."
The room turned dark and a pink glow of magic started to build up around that alicorn's horn.
"NO! Don't! Don't hurt Twily! Are you out of your mind, Fluttershy?!" Shining Armour yelled and placed himself between the two mares.
"Ah, Shining Armour! My loyal captain of the guards, casually betraying my trust behind my back... Do you know how much that hurts? Do you?! No, you don't... Yet. But you'll know everything about pain in just a moment... Because this spell isn't just for Twilight. It's for you as well."
"You maniac! What will you do to my brother?!" Twilight screamed with tears forming in her eyes.
"Oh, I will just make him get down on his knees and apologize to me for his treason and then resign as a captain of my royal guards. Then I will snap his spine... No, I won't snap his spine, that's just too cruel. What was I thinking? I guess I just liked the sound of that... Never mind. I will fire him from his job and throw him in jail. That would teach him a valuable lesson. Then we'll call it even... Oh, and you too will go to jail. And Spike, of course. And I will disband the royal guards. And create an army that is loyal to me alone... But first I would like to knock you out with my tranquilizing spell, if you don't mind?"
"No! Please don't d..."
But before she could finish her sentence she was stunned by a flash of light from Fluttershy's horn. Twilight dropped to the floor like the sedated pony she was.
* * *
Meanwhile Celestia was sipping on a cup of tea aboard the Friendship Express, far away from the turmoil at Canterlot castle. At good speed the train rushed trough the sunlit landscape. She was traveling north, to the Crystal Empire.
This day was incredibly long, she thought. Why hadn't that stupid filly lowered the sun yet? Had she managed to forget a task that important? This was insane...
And where was her hot-headed foal of a sister? Luna had been gone for some hours now and Celestia didn't trust her judgement at all. She had missed her train, despite being told a couple of times NOT to miss it. But even that simple instruction was apparently too complicated for the princess of the night... Why couldn't more ponies be intelligent, like her? Probably she was falling into barrels and being easily defeated by mundane objects like doors and tables to the enjoyment of everypony who didn't understand the seriousness of the situation... Still she couldn't help feeling a little bad for her younger sister.
But now she had more important tasks ahead. Luna was somewhat capable of taking care of herself and Celestia needed to get to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible to speak with princess Cadance. An alicorn could only be defeated by another alicorn, she thought.
* * *
Rainbow Dash was sitting on a smaller throne right next to the big, golden one that Fluttershy had bought for herself. Rainbow didn't know where she got those things, but apparently Fluttershy had somehow obtained a golden throne. It was shaped like an enormous griffon. The motif baffled Dash. She didn't know that Fluttershy liked griffons that much... The throne reminded her of Gilda, and Rainbow felt a sting of bad conscience at the thought of her. Poor Gilda. Although she had been mean to her friends Rainbow missed her sometimes. What was she doing now? Maybe she was alone in some far away land?
"Do you like it?" the alicorn asked.
"Eh... it's very... very big?"
"Yes! The biggest one in the whole world! I specifically asked for the biggest, most awesome throne available. A griffonian artist had it made for a prince in some far away land, but the prince couldn't afford it. So I got it at a good price. Only seven million bits."
"Seven million?!" Dash gasped.
"Yes. Quite a bargain."
"But how in the name of Flushy could you afford that?"
"I just took the money from the treasury, of course. I expect to save a lot of money now when I've disbanded the royal guard."
"What?!"
"Yes, they betrayed me... So I'm planning to teach them a lesson. Every guard will be fired at the end of the month, just before their salaries are paid. And by that time my new army will be ready to put down any unrest in Canterlot. Ingenious, huh?"
"New army?"
"Oh, yes. I'm transforming the Wonderbolts into the Fluttertroopers, my new brigade of henchponies!"
"Fluttertroopers?!"
"Oh yes! I just love that word. It sounds so cool and awesome! It's sure to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy..."
"Well... to be honest... I think it sounds kind of... eh... adorable. But not in a good way since you want to strike fear into hearts and stuff?"
"Um... Now when you point it out, I do realize that it could be a bit of a problem... Well, I've already ordered seven thousand new uniforms with the name on them. I guess I didn't really think it through. I'll keep that in mind when I raise my next army."
* * *
When Twilight woke up she noticed that she was in a small cell somewhere. The floor and the walls and roof were painted white and there was a basket with cookies beside her bed. In the basket was also a note from Fluttershy.
Dear Twilight.
Sorry for locking you in this cell, but I had no other choice since you would try to stop my plans for world domination. I have provided some cookies as a sign of friendship. Shining Armour is safe too and I have told the guard to bring him some cookies too. They are chocolate chip and I hope that you will like them. I will release you as soon as possible.
Best wishes, Fluttershy.
P.S, Spike is in the cell right next to yours. I have given him some gems to eat, but I don't know what flavour he likes. Maybe he likes rubies? Or emeralds? It honestly don't know since I have only tried eating a gemstone once. It broke my tooth and I had to get to Zecora to have it fixed.
Twilight was very confused. She had a strange feeling and when she looked at her reflection in the mirror she saw that her horn had been covered in a metallic paint that blocked her ability to cast any spells. Oh no, his was bad... bad bad bad!
Slowly the unicorn walked across her cell and started to knock on the wall with her hoof. Maybe Spike would be able to hear her?
After a few knocks, her knocking was answered.
"Spike? Are you there Spike?" she cried.
She could hear some muffled sound, but the wall was too thick. If she only could send a letter to princess Celestia...
* * *
Princess Luna walked around in the streets of Canterlot, waiting for her train to Ponyville. This day was very warm and the sun was still up, even though it was way past night time. She was so tired... But she had to stay awake when the train arrived.
Suddenly she saw a masked pony with a crowbar as her cutie mark breaking into a bakery! The pony put some cookies in a bag before galloping away, disappearing into an alley!
"WHAT A DASTARDLY CRIME! CALL THE GUARDS!" she cried.
"Good initiative, your highness, but apparently there are no guards left," a white unicorn said, wearing a top hat and a monocle.
"No guards? Tis preposterous!"
"Preposterous it might be, perhaps even shockingly preposterous. But all the guards are gone. If I didn't know better, I would think that they had been banished to the moon..."
Luna gave him a stern look.
"Oh, right... sorry. Anyway, I haven't seen a guard here since dinner and when I..."
He was interrupted by a scream.
"My jewels! Somepony has stolen my jewels!"
It came from a purple unicorn holding an empty jewel box in her hooves. She looked as if she was about to faint.
"This situation is rapidly spiralling out of control..." a pegasus said.
"Yeah, I whish there was a pony like Daring Do or Mare Do Well around to stop this!"
"Mare Do Well? I have never heard of her," Luna said.
"She is a super hero, believed to live in Ponyville."
"OF COURSE! That makes sense!"
"Does it...?"
"YES! She must be the same pony that has acquired the Alicorn Amulet and now she is using it to fight crime! I thought the amulet was evil, but perhaps I was mistaken... Quickly! To the train!"
And Luna ran off towards the Canterlot Station.
"I don't follow her logic," the pegasus said.
"I think she has gone slightly insane," the top hat wearing unicorn suggested, pointing his hoof to the side of his head.
* * *
Suddenly everything turned pitch black. Fluttershy had finally remembered to lower the sun. After a few seconds the moon lit up the sky, casting its pale light over the sparkling rooftops of the Crystal Empire.
"Smooth, Fluttershy. Very smooth..." Celestia said.
Now the train had arrived at the newly built station near the palace. The former princess got off and looked around. The city seemed peaceful and there were no signs left of King Sombra's evil reign. Crystal ponies, still a bit confused about the strange progression of time, wandered around in the streets.
Celestia went straight to the palace where she was received by an even more confused princess Cadance. Together they sat down in the royal living quarters to discuss the events that had taken place.
"...and now Fluttershy, of all ponies, is ruling Equestria. And she's doing a pretty lousy job, as you might have noticed."
"But Fluttershy? I've heard from Twilight that she is kind and quite timid?"
"That was before she got drunk with power. Now she is just a terrible pony. She won't let Twilight perform her spell and she can't control the sun properly. And I think that this is only the beginning of her misdeeds... Is there anything you can do to help us resolve this situation? Perhaps talk some sense into that silly filly? Or maybe use your love spell to get her chasing after somepony?"
"That is a dangerous thing you're asking of me," Cadance said while refilling her cup of coffee. "A pony that deranged with power shouldn't be in love. Also, if what you say is true, she won't listen to me... If her magic is as great as yours and Luna's combined, my magic won't do any good. She might be too powerful to take down... Have you tried using the Elements of Harmony? The Power of Friendship?"
"Of course not! She's still the element of kindness, for Pony's sake! And exactly how should we use the power of friendship? By giving her a hug and telling her not to be a power-hungry alicorn? No, the power of power is far greater than the power of friendship I'm afraid..."
Cadance sipped her cup of coffee with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Have you ever heard of Pon Tzu? The author of the infamous book The Art of Pony?"
"Perhaps...?"
"He once wrote that you should always use the one weapon that your enemy doesn't possess. And what weapon does Fluttershy still lack? Find that out and you will know her weakness..."