//------------------------------// // The charge of the Fluttertroopers // Story: Reign of the shy-pony // by The_Swedish_Horror //------------------------------// A week had passed since Flutterhsy's sudden ascent to power. In the streets of Canterlot criminal ponies were galloping around, burglarizing the wealthy houses of the old unicorn nobility and stealing from the fruit carts of the market traders. Law and order had broken down since the Royal Guard's refusal to serve their new ruler in favour of the old regime. The bakeries were especially exposed for break-ins and theft as many of the delinquents had a sweet tooth. A pink earth pony with a mane like cotton candy was frequently spotted at the crime scenes, jumping around with a big smile on her face. In the old Canterlot Castle Fluttershy sat on her golden throne, resting her head in her hoof. She looked tired and worn. It was dark in the ancient hall and the floor was littered with cookie crumbs and dust. There were cobwebs in the roof and a bird had started to build its nest on top of the griffon shaped throne. This decay had an explanation: Fluttershy had fired all of Celestia's houseponies and somehow forgot to hire new ones. Also some of her animal friends had found their ways into the castle and the princess didn't mind their behaviour at all. She was preoccupied with far more important matters... The door at the end of the throne room opened slightly and a pegasus emerged. She trotted along the carpet, smiling and waving to her ruler. "Welcome, my trusted advisor... What news do you bring from my loyal subjects? It better be good news..." Fluttershy said. "I brought you a letter!" the advisor replied. "Oh no! A letter?! I hate letters! I'm scared of letters! Maybe somepony is mad at me and has written an angry letter..." "I could throw it away, if you want to?" "No... It might be important. Bring it to me." "Oh... I was kind of hoping that you would ask me to throw it away.... You see, I kind of lost it on my way here." "Oh. Then why did you tell me that you had brought it?" "I don't know..." "That's all right, advisor... It was probably nothing too important. Maybe just another complaint from somepony that want to make me cry by saying hurtful things about my evil reign of terror!" "But I like evil! And muffins." "You're such a good advisor. I wish all of my subjects shared your wise opinion... But no, they just have to dislike me!" * * * Twilight was laying in her bed. She pretended to be asleep, but as soon as the guard had checked her cell she would continue with her secret little project... The unicorn had hidden away a metal spoon that had came with one of Fluttershy's numerous gift baskets. Apparently the alicorn still cared for her, despite having thrown her in jail. Twilight felt a bit sad when she thought of her friend... Poor, poor Fluttershy. Although she was the tyrant of Equestria she still had a soft heart. Twilight almost felt ungrateful for doing this, but she had to escape from her cell... Suddenly she heard the keys rattle in the lock and the door opened up, just a little. The face of a yellow pegasus appeared. It was Spitfire, who had been demoted to private for some reason. She was now Twilight's jailer. "Twilight? Are you asleep?" she asked, removing her sunglasses and rubbing her deep orange, almost brown eyes with her hoof. It must be early in the morning or late in the night according to her eye rubbing. When Spitfire was tired it was most likely early or late, Twilight had figured out. Otherwise it would be impossible to see if it was day or night since her cell didn't have a window and the only light came from a single light bulb in the ceiling. Twilight lay still and didn't say anything. She had became an expert at pretending to be asleep, closing her eyes just as much as she needed to appear to be sleeping but still keeping them open enough to see what was going on in the room. It was an illusion she had perfected. After a few seconds her jailer shut the door, turned the keys and walked away. Now it was time to act! Quickly Twilight got up and crawled under her bed. With her spoon she hacked away tiny bits of mortar from the wall, digging a small tunnel trough the masonry. The progress was slow but steady. Soon she would be able to reach Spike on the other side... * * * A pair of dark pink eyes watched the city from above. The eyes belonged to Rainbow Dash, who had been put in charge with upholding law and order in Canterlot. It was a monumental task, even for Equestria's fastest flyer. The first couple of days she had swooped down whenever crimes were committed and fought alone against the culprits. This had resulted in numerous cuts and bruises. But now the tables had turned. Now she had her own squadron of fluttertroopers, ready to make their first strike en masse. She inspected her troops. They were all pegasi in different shapes, colours and sizes. Their uniforms were clearly not designed by Rarity: they looked like pink pajama with white, shoddily made plastic armour attached. On the chest that was a patch depicting a pony's skull that was supposed to make them look more "dangerous" in the same way as the Shadowbolts, but it was to no avail. It was hardly possible to be a disgrace to this uniform, Rainbow Dash thought. There were twenty-four of the fluttertroopers and their numbers were steadily growing. Most of them were raw recruits from the Wonderbolt academy that had been tricked into signing up for "Special Training". Rainbow Dash wasn't too proud about this fact, but Fluttershy was counting on her and she couldn't back out. "Listen up! This will be our first strike against the looters. Even though we are inferior in numbers, we will have the element of surprise on our side! They do not expect us. A swift and coordinated strike will scatter our adversaries like dry leaves in the wind. I want everypony to do your very best! Follow me! For eternal glory! Let's fight, so that others may live in peace!" And at the same moment the wave of pegasi spread out their wings and took off in a dense formation. They swooped down from the highest tower of the castle and flew closely over the rooftops at high speed. Soon they had spotted a large crowd in front of a bakery. The windows were broken and empty cupcake papers and pie forms lay scattered in the street. Rainbow Dash waved her hoof to command her squadron to disperse the pillaging horde. "Charge!" she cried. * * * Celestia, formerly princess, looked at the two crystal ponies below her window. They were princess Cadance's gardeners who were picking up trash and tending her park. They did the same boring work every single day. There wasn't much else to do, except plotting her revenge on Fluttershy. And she was out of ideas... What was the one weakness of that blasted pony? What did Celestia have that Fluttershy didn't? It wasn't magic for sure. Fluttershy possessed magic powers beyond her wildest dreams. It wasn't money either since she also controlled all of the Equestrian treasury's gathered wealth. If Celestia was to regain her throne she must also somehow regain her ability to raise the sun or her return to power would be both meaningless and short. Fluttershy had to be depowered in a way that channelled the power back to Celestia and Luna... Or perhaps only Celestia? She really didn't know... That great power in one pony's hooves was clearly too much to handle. There was a reason there were two princesses and not one single ruling queen. A reason that reminded Celestia of a forgotten time that she whished to forget even further. The first two or three hundred years that she ruled without Luna had been rather... interesting, from a historical point of view, had she not ordered all books mentioning the topic to be burned. There were things nopony must know. Shocking things. Things that she desperately hoped Twilight would never, ever come across in her studies... And where was her most faithful student right now? Celestia didn't have any clue, but she presumed that Twilight would probably be working on some clever plan to save the day. But since a week had passed without any sign of progress, she started to feel a little worried... And what about Luna? Celestia didn't even want to think about what disastrous actions her sister might be doing at this very moment... * * * Twilight stabbed the wall with her spoon and suddenly she felt how the handle broke trough to the other side! "Spike?" she whispered into the hole that she had made. "Are you there, Spike?" "Twilight?" "I'm in the cell next to yours! Please, help me send a message to princess Celestia!" She tried to ram a small, tightly rolled piece of paper trough the wall, using the handle of her spoon as a rod. But the hole was still too small. Twilight struggled in vain. She must make the hole bigger... Furiously she stabbed the wall. Suddenly she heard the sound of keys rattling in the lock! Somepony was coming! But before she had managed to crawl out from under her bed the cell door opened and Spitfire stormed into her room! Twilight stared at her with panic in her eyes. Her jailer stared back at her. She had been caught! "Twilight Sparkle! I knew it! I knew you were up to some mischief!" Spitfire yelled with fury in her eyes. "Now you're in big trouble! No more cookies for you!" With no time to lose, Twilight instantly head-butted Spitfire right on her snout, making the shocked pegasus tumble backwards with broken sunglasses. Quickly the desperate unicorn pushed herself past her jailer and slammed the door behind her shut with a forceful buck! The keys were still in the lock and by sheer reflex Twilight turned them around in a split second before Spitfire could react. The trapped pegasus thundered her hooves at the door. "OPEN UP! Twilight Sparkle! Open this door at once! I command you! Don't you DARE to lock me in! Open now or you will be sorry! LET ME OUT!" "No." Quickly Twilight freed both Spike and Shining Armour from their cells. The corridor was empty now, but another guard might show up at any moment. They had no time to lose! The three escaped prisoners ran towards a metal door and pulled it open, not knowing where it may lead. It might be a way out or it might be a room full of guards. However, behind this door was a laundry room full of pink fluttertrooper-uniforms! "Twilight! Put this on to disguise yourself!" Spike said and pulled out a pajama like suit from a basket. "Uh.. I.. I don't think it fits me," Twilight said, slowly backing away with her ears pinned. "Eh... how about you, Shiny? Maybe you could try it on?" "Don't be ridiculous! It's only a disguise, for Pony's sake! besides, it's too small for me." "But... It's just so... so... flutteristic." * * * Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was staggering trough the streets of Canterlot with a black eye and a sprained wing. The attack had been an utter failure and her entire squadron had fled after a few minutes of embarrassingly un-epic pony fighting. The once proud captain of the Fluttertroopers was defeated and now she sneaked away trough a back alley. Suddenly a tall shadow materialized in front of her. The shadow took the form of Fluttershy. "Rainbow Dash! Are you hurt?" she asked. "No, just a little ruffled... Did you see the battle?" "Um... yes, a little... I migh have covered my eyes with my hooves a bit." "It didn't turn out the way I wanted. I hate losing!" "Me too... I was thinking... This situation is already pretty bad. I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew. Perhaps we should try another strategy, if that's okay?" "Yeah, that's okay, Fluttershy..." "Oh, good, then! Follow me, please. I have such a wonderful plan!"