The Little Pony Legend: A New Generation

by MaggiesHeartLove


Emperor Sprout

James Griffin made his return to Canterlogic shortly after meeting with Commander Iverson over the subject of the ‘secret’ weapon. Iverson allowed him to leave only under the condition that he would not say another word about it until the time was right. Not that James had reason to argue over it, and not because Iverson intimidated him just by looking at him.

No… this was James’ moment to shine, and he was going to make the most of it the first chance he received.

The moment he stepped into the factory, however… he was caught off guard by the hustle and bustle before him.

Earth ponies and elves alike raced to-and-fro from all over the factory. Sparks flared from welding torches as several started assembling some pieces of machinery together at a rapid pace. Sounds of construction echoed all around him, as ponies and elves passed each other shouting. James eyed the activity around him with minimum reaction, the spectacle playing out before him like a wild, zany show.

James whistled, “Mrs. Cloverleaf’s been busy.” He muttered to himself.

All of a sudden, a random elf crashed toward the floor by James’ feet. He quickly picked himself up before the perplexed James.

“The Emperor is coming!” He declared. “The Emperor is coming!”

Now this shred of news made James’ brow raise.

Emperor?

For as long as he could remember, Equestria hadn’t had an Emperor in years. Much less a major ruling figure who’d even visit Maretime Bay. But then, before James eyes, a shaft loomed slowly down toward the first floor, shrouded in blinding white light that forced James to squint his eyes for a better look. Once the shaft reached the bottom the gates opened before its single passenger.

A shadowy silhouette loomed in the bright light; a raspy breathing was heard reminiscent of a Dark Lord figure. A pony standing before them, gazing upon their subjects, slowly coming into views as the doors closed behind him—and then there was Sprout. The temporary sheriff suddenly garbed in a cape, kept around him by the sheriff badge at the center. The earth pony was once more slurping a smoothie, sucking its contents down to the very last drop.

“Ahh!” Sprout sighed. “Well, hello James… didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sprout?” James asked, staring at his partner in confusion.

The Earth pony merely smirked egotistically, then shifted to a serious face as he slowly stepped down the line. Toots walked beside him, albeit slightly nervous.

“Why aren’t you finished yet?” Sprout asked, looking around.

“W-We’re working as fast as we can,” Toots reassured. “But we’ve run out of rivets.”

“Rivet-ting story,” Sprout chuckled, sighing. “Just make it work!!”

Toots nodded his head quickly as he made way to continue his work. While James was still processing over what was going on, Phyllis Cloverleaf had finally arrived and, like James, she too found herself caught off guard. It was one thing to see the entire factory up and running, with mounds of gadgetry and machinery at work. But it was what all of her employees were putting together that concerned her greatly. Still, for the sake of her son, she tried to keep it casual.

“Sugarcube, I know your little top-secret project is important and all,” Phyllis began. “But when do you think my workers can get back to making Canterlogic products?”

A scream draws everyone’s attention as Glitter Cupcake, a pony carried by a crane of sorts, finally plopped to the ground with a thud. The poor Earth pony groaned in pain while Sprout merely rolled his eyes.

“Back to work, Glitter Cupcake!” Sprout ordered.

“It is my factory, after all, dear,” Phyllis pointed out.

“But it’s my town, Mommy! Your son’s now emperor of Maretime Bay!”

“Emperor?!” James scoffed. “Dude, you can’t even remember to lock up the officer after work hours, and now you’re Mr. Big Shot?”

“What can I say Jimbo?” Sprout smirked. “I’m climbing the ranks! This defense factory is going on offense, and it’s all thanks to the love and encouragement of my number one fan… mommy! Break’s over, Bubblegum McGinty!”

Sprout stormed off, continuing to bark off orders while James and Phyllis looked on. The latter of which showed great concern, specially toward her own son and this shift in behavior all while all this chaos was happening all around the pair.

“James, could you please speak with my son?” Phyllis spoke, concerned.

“Why me?”

“Because…” Phyllis looked around to make sure nobody was watching… then grabbed Jame’s shirt with her hoof and spoke through her teeth.

“Let’s not forget who gave you permission to use the top secret “you know what”, and my son growing a big head was not part of the deal! So unless you want Iverson to relieve you of your duty, you will do as I say! Got it?”

“Got it.”

Phyllis released him and ruffled his hair. “That’s a good boy.”

James swallowed and took a deep breath before marching his way towards Sprout.

Sprout, specifically ‘Emperor’ Sprout, was overlooking the blueprints of his ‘secret’ project proudly. Once he was close enough, James cleared his throat drawing Sprout’s attention.




“Heeeeeey, buddy. So, I’ve been thinking about this whole Emperor deal and, don’t you think it’s a weeeee bit… overkill?”

“Oh, James. I don’t expect your puny elf mind to understand.”

James jerked back. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t you see Jimmy, that’s the beauty of it!” Sprout replied, contrary-wise. “These ponies are desperate for a leader and being a measly sheriff of this tiny town just won’t cut it. And the more I thought about it, to even run for Mayor means running against some rando of a pony and all that debating nonsense just leads to headaches. But this way, being Emperor is self-titled, no one can oppose me as leader.”

“Leader?” James raised a brow. “The only reason people are even looking up to you is because they’re desperate. Before any of this happened, nobody even knew you were on the force.”

“Ugh… can you ever go through one day… ONE day without always criticizing me over everything I do? You’re off doing Equestria knows what, and I’m actually making a name for myself. The least you can do is show me a little more respect.”

“First of all, don’t expect me to start calling you ‘sir’ or ‘your highness’. As far as I’m concerned, what I have to offer this town is ‘way’ more important than the likes of which you can ever comprehend. And nothing you have to say, or any pony or elf in this town, will convince me to believe that you’re the big hero that this town needs.”

James had just turned around and was about to walk away, while Sprout brushed one front hoof against the ground pouting. Then his expression changed as a thought occurred to him, and a slick smile formed on his face.

“It’s too bad you’re not interested,” Sprout spoke, feigning sadness. “And here I was hoping that you’d be my number one guy to serve as chief officer.”

James stopped in his tracks and turned back toward Sprout with one eyebrow raise.

“Come again?” James asked.

“Is that not the right word? Vizier… major-domo… a chamberlain… I don’t know, my concierge if you prefer something fancy.”

“The fact you even know ‘any’ of those words at all concerns me.”

“I may be an ‘idiot’ my friend… but I’m not ‘stupid’. I do need someone to convince everybody in this town that all my orders must be met without question. Somebody to speak my plans while I’m running official business, make all the arrangements that are a must to follow, and to take charge in the midst of my plans. Basically, anything I have to say regardless of whether if it’s right or wrong, I need that someone to act on my behalf and make it very clear that my word is law.”

James was about to retort over the ridiculousness of what Sprout’s asking of him, playing second fiddle to the comic relief of all ponies… then it occurred to him. The more he thought about it, speaking about ‘anything’ under Sprout’s name… a smile slowly formed on his face, his face drawn away from Sprout’s view. As if the idea in that of itself offered more merit than Sprout realized and could add to the relation of James’ own schemes. Nodding to himself, he slowly turned toward Sprout and gave off an impression that he’s ‘intrigued’.

“So… let me see if I’m getting this right?” James feigned curiosity. “You want me to go around telling every pony of whatever plans you come up with, and so long as I say it’s under ‘your’ name… they’ll follow the orders without question?”

“That’s the whole kit and kaboodle,” Sprout smiled.

“Hmm… you know what… I change my mind!” James declared. “Maybe I can get used to this. You just relay whatever you have to say, and I’ll be absolutely certain that every pony follows your orders promptly.”

“You see? I knew you’d come around eventually. Now if you’ll excuse me, I do have some Emperor matters to attend to. I shall call for you when I have some tasks in mind for you to carry out. Things are looking up my friend; soon everything will go our way.”

“Ooh… you can count on it…” James muttered.

James stood there watching Sprout turn away and continue spouting orders toward any unfortunate lackeys crossing his path. It wasn’t long before Phyllis slowly approached behind James’ back, her expression showing slight concern despite the effort to fake a smile.

“So… did you tell my baby boy to tone it down a bit?” Phyllis asked hopefully.

“Who said I was going to tell our Emperor anything, Mrs Cloverleaf?” James replied.

“What?! I told you—“

“I know what you said. But, I’ve decided to take a different offer. Besides, I’ve already got the “secret weapon”, he whispered, “And if this keeps up, Sprout just might be the most powerful pony in Maretime Bay. And, if we string him along, we can get him to do all of the heavy work for us. That way, we’ll never have to worry about those mages, unicorns, pegasi and fairies again.”

“Now see here James… I own this factory. This facility designs gadgets for ‘defense’ not for ‘offense’!” Phyllis argued.

“See now, that there is your problem.” James leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. “We’ve got the gadgets, and Sprout’s finally growing a backbone. Not to mention, I now have the weapon, and I would hate to use it for “defense” if someone tried to take it away from me.”

Phyllis gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Hey, don’t start pointing hooves. You’re the one who trusted me with this thing.” James gave her a salute. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. The “Emperor” has got work to do.” He rubbed his hands together. “And so do I.”

Once James was gone, Iverson approached Phyllis. “Uh… Boss, did we just screwed this up?”

Phyllis shook her head. “No, no. I’m sure we can turn this all around. After all, I am still the head of Canterlogic… and his mother.”