A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

Star Wars
Empress Fluttershy

The planet Equus has suffered terribly after the Separatist Crisis, during which two major world leaders were killed: Princesses Celestia and Luna. Without these major powers, government has all but broken down and has relied increasingly on the aid of the Galactic Republic. Now, with the rise of the Galactic Empire, Equus has become but one of the many oppressed by the Imperials.

Its main nation, once a superpower, Equestria, has suffered the most. Imperial government has deposed of the unstable oligarchy of Equestria that followed the deaths of the Princesses and are currently utilizing the planet's abundant resources for their own goals. The peaceful residents of the nation have refrained from resisting against the Imperial forces and have, time and time again, received the short end of the stick.

Poverty and crime run rampant, and the beautiful scenery around the planet is now dominated by the towering monstrosities of the Empire's industrial establishments. Forests have been cut down for their rare wood, and many exotic animals have been captured and hauled off for the pleasure of the rich and fortunate around the galaxy.

One pegasus mare, a mare by the name of Fluttershy Flutters, decides to take this matter of ecoterrorism to the regional courts of the Empire. Upon failing to overturn the Imperial policies, Fluttershy does not stop, instead petitioning every court available to her.

She is denied again and again. Desperate to establish sanctuary for her homeworld's environment, she finds the only other place to petition is the Imperial Throne. Fluttershy begins to apply and reapply for an appointment with the Galactic Emperor himself. After much wearing patience, Imperial officials begin to tire of the pony's nagging and decide to give Fluttershy her chance in front of Emperor Palpatine...

Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine sat upon his throne in the Imperial Palace, grinning slightly to himself as cracked his knuckles. He viewed the hologram in front of him, a small pinpoint arrow made its way across the galactic map, heading right for Hoth.

It wouldn't be long before the Rebel base would be destroyed, the Force had told him that much. After that, morale for the Alliance would begin to fail and the Rebel fleets would scatter. By then, it would only be a matter of finding and crushing the splinter cells before the entirety of the Rebellion would be destroyed. Then the Empire would rule for ten thousand years, just like he wanted it to.

That Jedi though, Skywalker, did pose a problem, a minor one however. Luke Skywalker had already started to lean towards the Dark Side. Eventually, the he would be dealt with, either by Vader or by perhaps an unfortunate blast from a stormtrooper.

No, the Imperial military knocking out a Jedi like Luke was pretty much a non-possibility. Those soldiers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a barrage of blaster charges from one foot away. No, either Vader would decapitate the boy, or Luke would turn to the Dark Side and become his new apprentice. The Force had suggested to him as much, it was never wrong.

It did trouble him slightly, though. The Dark Side had recently revealed to him the future, but it had said it with a giggle. It was as if the universe itself was ready to pull a royal prank on him.

A royal guard walked into the throne room.
"A petitioner has arrived at her appointed time, my lord," the guard rumbled, bowing deeply before his emperor.

It was below him to answer to the pleas of the various low-lives of the galaxy, this petitioner would be no different. The alien wanted to try and stop the "Empire's oppression against animals" apparently. These aliens needed to review their contracts under the Empire. Protection in trade for resources. If you got in the way of that, you got imprisoned, or worse.

At least this female had done it the legal way. For that, she got to last a little bit longer.

The doors were opened and a frightened little... equine... practically crawled into the room. She was yellow, and her pink mane was currently covering her eyes completely. The little whelp's palette contrasted terribly with the greys and blacks of the throne room and the cowardly quiver in this little thing's step was the antithesis of the grim atmosphere that resided within those walls. Palpatine smirked a little, reaching up and lifting his hood to reveal his face.

"Are you afraid, little one?" he asked, crouching over a bit in his seat to look at the tiny horse.

While he would've liked to crush the little thing's hopes and dreams, the alien was taking much too long to speak up and seemed to be a little bit too insignificant to be worth manipulating. He rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat.
"I can see why the regional courts rejected your petitions, fool," he spat, the alien looked up at him a little, "if you cannot speak up, then I guess I'll just have to remove you."

He gestured to his guards, who started to march the yellow winged alien out the doors.

"W-wait!" the thing cried, "You're not even going to give me a chance to sp-sp... to speak? The guards stopped and looked to their emperor, just in case he decided to give the filly another chance.

The guards began to "escort" the equine back outside of the palace using the ancient practiced method of dragging. The thing's face turned red and she began to struggle against the guards. Palpatine grinned at her, and waved a little goodbye as she was dragged out the door. He turned back to his hologram excited to see the recent progress of his scheme. His smile turned sour as he heard a commotion back outside of the room as that yellow little equine charged back into the room.

The Emperor turned to the snivelling female, his hands itching to zap the living daylights right out of the alien.
"I SAID, LEAVE!" he roared. He pointed straight at the door and lightning zapped across the room, striking the opposite wall. However, the pony just stood there, undisturbed. Palpatine just looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

The pony began to approach his throne in what he could only assume she thought to be in a menacing manner. He clenched his fist, ready to blow the fool to the ground. He ground his teeth as the alien started to speak with confidence.

"I came here to petition my case before the Galactic Empire!" she shouted. "You decide to throw me out, on my rump, just because I hesitated a bit at the beginning?" she said, practically right in front of him. Palpatine only smirked and charged up another blast of lightning.

With that final shout, a phenomenon that would be remembered for centuries took place. The pony narrowed her eyes, and centred her Stare on the Emperor. The blast of The Stare smacked Palpatine like a charged lightsaber. He gasped and his lungs hitched as his lightning dissipated from the fingertips. A element that had been buried deep within the human psyche throbbed with pain as the Third Force impacted it with all its might.

Palpatine looked at the abomination in front of him, or at least he tried to. Looking into that thing's eyes was like stabbing his heart with fiery coals. He desperately attempted to blast the alien with the Force, but the attacks seemingly went right through her as if she was nothing but vapour. He clutched at his head and brushed frantically at his body, attempting to shake off the burning feeling of despair and guilt that was building within him. It had been a long time since he had felt those emotions, and he desperately wanted them off.

He screamed to his guards to annihilate the yellow pegasus, but to no avail. The royal guards, even though they weren't the target of the pony's attacks, were paralyzed in place with fear. Voices began whispering in his head, and he continued to scream. He needed to her to stop, and he needed her to stop NOW.

"Please! I'm begging you, I'll sign it all over to you, ALL of it! Just stop! Make it stop!" he begged, starting to feel a crushing pain in his chest.

"I want you to SIGN IT!" the pony screamed, grabbing her petition and shoving it into Palpatine's hands. He fumbled, and the paper dropped to the floor, outside of the butter-yellow monster's vision. He was not thinking straight, he grabbed another paper and pen and began to write furiously, the sensation in his chest worsening. He could see dots in his eyes by the time he put his signature on the bottom of the paper. He reached for every green stamp he could find and nailed the paper with every approval he could think of. He managed to hit the "Scan and Archive" button just as he lost control of the muscles in his chest and slumped over, falling from his throne.

He started to wheeze, and he clutched his heart. The monstrosity blinked, and then stared at him, shock forming on her face. At least the pony had stopped her Stare, that was all he could ask for. Sheev Palpatine closed his eyes and waited for the warm embrace of Death. The heart attack did its job, and the late Galactic Emperor's soul shot right out of the known universe.

Fluttershy looked on in horror as Palpatine stopped breathing, snapping out of her trance as the Emperor lay still on the floor. She ran over to check his pulse, only to find it non-existent.

She looked over to his royal guards.
"Get help! Quickly! We need a doctor!" she cried, starting to give the Emperor rescue breaths. The guards looked at one another, their natural side arguing against taking orders from an alien. Their more logical side quickly took over their nature, arguing that if this pony could topple Palpatine, she could most definitely behead them!

They ran from the throne room, shaking in their boots, looking for the nearest medical droid to their proximity.

Fluttershy watched on in disbelief as the late Sheev Palpatine (or Darth Sidious as he was known to some) was wheeled off towards the morgue for preservation. She had never known that her Stare could kill, she only ever used it on her animals... and on that one cockatrice that time. Tears formed in her eyes as the reality settled in.

She had just killed a human for a stupid petition, just for the preservation of the Everfree forest. It was the entire reason she went through the entire court system, it was because she had never wanted to hurt anyone in the first place! Some other humans had started to gather around the throne room, most of them keeping a sizable distance away from her. For good reason too, she was a monster. Sure Palpatine wasn't a nice guy, but that didn't give her any reason to kill him! She wished to be arrested and tried for her crimes then locked in the prison-mines that held so many a terrible rumour around the galaxy. It would only be a matter of time too, Palpatine's guards had to eventually arrest her, right?

Fluttershy hid behind her mane and rocked slowly back and forth on the steps of the now vacant throne, staring at the petition paper like as if it were a deadly snake. She then noticed another paper beside her, a crinkled yellow document. She stopped rocking for a moment, recognizing the paper as the petition that she had brought in with her. She gingerly picked it up, her ears drooping even more as she saw the absence of any signature at the bottom of the petition. She had killed him and not even managed to get his approval signature?

She questioned her moral state as she realized that the signature actually seemed to be more important than the Emperor's death. She walked over to the other document, the one that the Emperor had actually signed, and picked it up. The humans slowly backed away as she did so, a bunch of frightened whispers murmuring from the crowd. She read over the document and her eyes widened as she did so.

The Equus Sapien, Fluttershy Flutters is to be given the title and privileges of Galactic Empress immediately and all assets under my name are to be transferred to her possession. Signed, Emperor Sheev Palpatine. 03ABY

She looked up at the crowd before her, the guards looked on in fear, the others were actually, on second glance, looking on her with shock and apprehension. She stared at the paper one more time before looking back up at the gathered crowd. She started to hyperventilate as she kept looking down at the document. Had Palpatine really just signed everything over to her? No, it didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense! She hadn't asked for him to do... that! She just wanted the Empire to stop bullying Equestria! It... it didn't...

Royal Adviser Tom Harklin looked on as the equine fainted away. He ran over and picked up the paper as it fluttered to the ground. His eyes almost popped out of his head at what he saw.

Imperial Decree No: 3290012-78

The Equus Sapien, Fluttershy Flutters is to be given the title and privileges of Galactic Empress immediately and all assets under my name are to be transferred to her possession.

That was ridiculous. If what the guards had told him was true, that creature had probably used the Force to kill the Emperor (which was a an impressive feat, admittedly). That means she just as well could have mind-tricked into making up this document. It would be easy to have the pony arrested and leave the throne free. He looked at the paper again, confirming that the Emperor's signature was a match to his usual signature. Tom Harklin would know, after all, the position of Royal Adviser was nothing more than a glorified secretary, meaning that he handled all of the paperwork.

He chewed his lip. This vacuum provided many opportunities for him to ascend to the throne, or at least to get higher up the ladder, he couldn't let it pass by. He couldn't let the throne be taken by some Supreme Commander or by Vader, yet he couldn't just let the alien take the throne either. That pony wouldn't know anything about running even a business, let alone an entire galaxy.

It was perfect, the pony had come here petitioning the emperor for relief of the Empire's resource policies. She obviously would decree the Empire back into a Republic if given the chance! All he needed to do was keep her in power. He would let her make her aid programs and relieve the outer rims of "suffering". She was soft, it would be easy to convince her that he was her friend and that what she was doing was "good".

Maybe he could even convince her to use her... Force powers or whatever she had used to kill the Emperor, to destroy Darth Vader and take him out of the picture. Then, he would reveal Grand Moff Tarkin's war crimes, get the Empress to have him executed. That would leave the position open, meaning that the Empress would need to choose a new commander or take on the position as the practical head of the Imperial Military herself.

The alien was a pacifist, she wouldn't know how to run the Imperial Military. He was sure the Empress would love to give her new best friend the position. He would build himself up as a great guy with good morals and a vision for a prosperous future while by the side of the Empress. Then, he just needed to give her the push to reform the Empire back into a Republic. This... Fluttershy was shy, as her name suggested. There was no way she would be able to win a republican election, maybe she would even resign at the beginning of her campaign!

It would be easy then, to win the election to Grand Vizier. The Empress would be out of the picture and Harklin would be able to take the galaxy to new heights! All he needed to do for now was keep the Emperor's death on the hush-hush and preserve Palpatine's decree...

He then ran over to the captain of the royal guard, who was currently speaking to the frightened soldiers who were in the throne room when... whatever happened to the Emperor took place. He motioned them away as he noted a squad of stormtroopers approaching, likely for crowd control over the other officials and staff that had gathered.

"Listen closely," he said to the head guard, "Emperor Palpatine has decreed that the pony," he gestured towards Fluttershy, "become the next Empress after his death."

For proof, he showed the paper to the guard. He could probably guess at the look of incredulity behind the guard's mask.

The guard captain looked at him.
"Adviser Harklin, are you meaning to tell me that the assassin that just killed Darth Sidious is the Galactic Emperor?" he muttered, disbelief prevalent in his voice.

Harklin grabbed the guard's shirt.
"Yes! It is his dying testament! Right here in writing!" he then looked in well-forged fear at the furry yellow pony, "Besides, do you really think that this thing, which killed the Emperor himself I might add, won't kill us when she receives the premonition of our betrayal?" he whispered, his voice rising into a rasp by the end of his thought.

The captain looked unreadably at the Adviser, then at the pony, before gesturing to his subordinates and walking towards her. One burly guard lifted Fluttershy into his arms, while the rest took their weapons and escorted the Empress to what used to be Palpatine's quarters.

Tom looked over at the stormtrooper sergeant and walked over to him.
"Lock down the palace, no word of the Emperor's death leaves the building."

"Yes, Sir. If you say so, Sir," the stormtrooper saluted, before turning and speaking to his compatriots.

Harklin turned and watched as the royal guards carried Fluttershy to her new quarters. That pony would be of great use to him, he knew that much right off the bat. He just needed to play his cards right...

He looked over at the throne. He laughed to himself at the thought of an alien sitting upon it. A female alien no less. It would be humiliating, being under the absolute command of a feminine miniature horse, but it would be worth it. he would be able to leave his position of Pee-On Glorified Secretary and take the position of Beloved Grand Vizier. It was only a matter of time...

Empress Fluttershy

by The Original Gaston

Chapter 1: Coup de'etat