Pulp Crossover: Fluttershy Joins the Dark Side · 9:55pm Feb 28th, 2020
Good Morning from my Writing Lair! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I am exploring a crossover my sister suggested. I had a false start writing it as a first draft, but it didn’t feel like it could go anywhere. I’m iterating ideas faster than I can record them. Hopefully, I can come up with something worth someone editing into a story. Let’s get started!
The action starts with Emperor Palpetine’s hyperdrive computer misfiring and landing on Equestrian soil. Naturally, everypony is skeptical of the hooded newcomer, but Fluttershy is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Palpetine senses that while this planet is currently strong with the Light Side of The Force, it can just as easily be flipped to the Dark Side. He sabotages his ship's repairs so he can work this planet over.
Over the first act, he subtly nudges ponies who listen to him toward a darker path, namely Fluttershy. If he gains influence over enough ponies, a sort of cult might form around him. Any number of villains can be recruited as underlings, especially if canon for future seasons is not respected.
The main focus should be on Fluttershy, and if it is written well enough, observant readers will see these background events as Palpetine grooms her as an auxiliary apprentice, possibly with the intent of dumping Vader later on.
Some time later, Discord notices the changes in Fluttershy and sleuths out the Dark Side cult. He calls them out to Fluttershy during one of their weekly tea parties, but she dismisses him — be it anywhere from shrugging him off with comparisons to his past to cutting off their friendship on the spot.
The third act will see more of Futtershy’s friends calling out the evil magic surrounding Palpetine. Palpetine, in turn, accelerates her training and slightly outpaces her moral realignment.
Toward the climax of the book, Palpetine is planning to turn her into a princess of the Dark Side before training her with Force abilities. As his Equestrian forces crumble, Palpatine sends Fluttershy on a task to commit her to the Dark Side and turn her into an alicorn.
In a final standoff with her friends, Fluttershy realizes the implications of what she is supposed to do, and rejects her task.
Having failed at turning the planet’s Force alignment and at training a new apprentice, Palpatine flees the planet before the ponies can get their hooves on him. However, some mcguffin he picked up may prove useful in the near future.
Alternate climax:
Sensing the unavoidable loss of his domestic Equestrian support, Palpatine summons a star destroyer and accelerates Fluttershy’s conditioning. He turns her into a dark alicorn shortly before retreating from the planet, possibly with the Element of Kindness in hand and ready to corrupt for a lightsaber crystal.
Twilight and the other Mane 6 teleport aboard the star destroyer. During a final fight, Fluttershy is tasked with completing her journey to the Dark Side by killing the intruders. She can’t do it, and the emperor has to flee in a shuttle, but he has some Equestrian mcguffin that may prove useful in the near future.
Final Question: How would you write Fluttershy meets Palpatine?
I'm going to be honest, I would find it very hard to see Fluttershy actually do something like this. Then again, she tends to be very sympathetic towards others and Palpatine can play the victim card to get her on his side.
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Fluttershy has been known to lose a sense of scope every once and a while. Take for instance her training under Iron Will or the time she covered for Rarity's store. Also keep in mind that Palpatine would be using The Force to influence her.