"Martinet! Over here!" A young Martinet bounded his way over to his friends, three other male ponies, happy to see them.
"Hey, guys!" he said. "Ready for today?"
"Oh yeah!" said one of his friends, a unicorn.
"Can't wait to get started!" said another, a chubby Pegasus.
"So, what'cha got?" said the third, a small but slightly buff Earth pony. Martinet put down a sack he was carrying and showed his friends what was in it.
"Watermelon seeds!" exclaimed Martinet. "And I'm gonna plant them here at our hideout!"
"We're gonna have our own little garden!" said the unicorn.
"Of course we are, Marshall," said Martinet. "And someday, they're gonna grow into big, plump, juicy watermelons all ready to eat!"
"And how's your shop coming along?" asked the Pegasus.
"It's almost finished, Briar," answered Martinet. "Once it's all built, I can sell all kinds of foods that I've planted so other ponies won't have to travel all the way to Fillydelphia to go shopping. We can get our own food here!"
"I hope it's worth the wait!" said the Earth pony.
"Oh, it will be, Black Belt," assured Martinet. "Someday, the Hollow Shades will be much better than it is now. It may take a very long time, but I'm willing to see it through till the end."
"I will, too," said Marshall. "Martinet, we're your friends, and we're sticking together no matter what."
"Yeah."
"I wanna be there when the Hollow Shades are better," declared Briar. "And I hope that maybe we can be remembered for this."
"I can see it already, Briar," said Martinet. "Just think. 'Four young ponies stand through trials and tribulations to improve the lives of ponies living in the Hollow Shades'. It'll be great."
"Come on!" shouted Black Belt. "What are we waiting for? Let's plant these seeds! The sooner the better!"
"Yeah, let's," agreed Martinet. Black Belt used his strength to dig a hole in ground as Martinet and Marshall used their magic to place the seeds in the hole.
"We're best friends, right?" asked Marshall.
"Of course we are," said Martinet. "The years may go by, and destiny may see us leaving in separate directions and we may not see each other as much as we used to, but nothing changes the magic of friendship. Not even time itself."
"That's forever," said Marshall.
"Maybe someday, we can go and visit the Neighagra Falls," suggested Briar. "I've always wanted to go there and fly to the top of the mountains for the majestic view."
"We'll go one of these days, I'm sure," said Black Belt. "Right, Martinet?"
"Yeah," answered Martinet. "I promise." And before burying the seeds, the four friends shared a small group hug.
"You!" They suddenly heard the shout of somepony they hoped would not find them. "Halt!" It was two Pegasus guards who normally served Princess Celestia back at Canterlot, but were on duty in the Hollow Shades.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked the second guard angrily.
"Nothing," said Marshall, trying to keep an innocent grin on, which obviously didn't fool the guards.
"Nothing?" said the first guard. "I don't think that hole in the ground is nothing." Martinet decided to be truthful in hopes of taking a stand to the guards.
"All right," he said. "I'll tell you what we're doing. We're planting melon seeds! And when they grow, we'll have our food for ponies living here!"
"No you won't," said the second guard. "This is property you've dug up here. You've caused some damage to property that doesn't belong to you."
"Whose property?!" argued Martinet. "No one comes round here anyway!"
"This is town property!" said the second guard. "And you've vandalized it!"
"By what?! By just digging up the ground?!"
"Yeah!" said the first guard. "You kids aren't supposed to be doing this!"
"By whose authority?!" snarled Martinet.
"By our authority!" shouted the first guard. "And by decree of Princess Celestia herself!"
"The princess?!" gasped Briar.
"But why?" asked Martinet. "I don't understand. She swore that she treats us all fairly! We're all supposed to be equal! But not around these parts! You guys are always making life difficult for all of us!"
"That's enough!" ordered the second guard.
"I've seen the things you do!" retorted Martinet. "You push us around and treat us poorly. We're living in poverty! We have very little money! And you show no signs of caring for us! Princess Celestia would help us!"
"We have orders!" claimed the first guard. "And those orders are to keep you ponies in line!"
"We just want to help!" protested Martinet. "We want to make our lives better!"
"So you can do what?" asked the second guard. "Put a shop or two in Fillydelphia out of business?"
"No! It's not like that! Please!"
"We're not taking our chances with you kids," said the first guard. "By tearing up the ground, you've vandalized town property and as long as we run the town, you're gonna face the consequences!" Martinet realized there was no way out nor reasoning with Celestia's guards. At this point, he only had one idea left.
"Run, you guys!" Martinet shouted suddenly. "Get out of here!" Marshall, Briar, and Black Belt took off without question.
"Get them!" shouted the first guard to the second.
"Wait!" said Martinet. "Please! Let me take the responsibility for this! It was all my idea! Just don't hurt my friends!"
"Hah! Nice try, kid!" said the second guard. "But if you want punishment so badly, we'll be glad to dish it out!" Martinet gasped and activated his magic, covering himself in a puff of smoke, using the distraction to run past the guards and into the woods before they could seize him. He ran, feeling like it was for his life, even though we had no idea where he was going. He fled the Hollow Shades, not caring which direction he was going. He just wanted to be safe and not spend the rest of his life taking chances with the princess's guards.
Soon, Martinet ended up at the beautiful Neighagra Falls and stared in awe at its splendorous waterfall. He then discovered a hidden passage that took him to a cave beneath the waterfall. I hate those guards, thought Martinet, sniffling from homesickness. And I hate Princess Celestia. Someday, I'm going to get even with those guards. I'll be stronger! And when I am, I will be the one to set the Hollow Shades free!
Martinet cornered Twilight, Celestia, and Spike right where he wanted them. Twilight and Celestia struggled to get to their feet, but Martinet kept knocking them back down with his crimson red magic.
"Stay down!" he ordered. "It's over for you!" Celestia winced in pain, but also glowered up at Martinet.
"You've turned into a beast!" she snarled.
"Oh, I'm the beast?" retorted Martinet. "For your information, ex-princess, I never hired those guards to suppress my innocent home. You're not a princess! You're a witch!" If anything stung Celestia, it was that. As tears rolled down her face, she tried to activate her magic again only to take another full blast of Martinet's magic ray, which sent her skidding across the ground and crashing into the castle wall. "At last..." Martinet went on. "All four princesses of Equestria have fallen to my might! Now that Equestria is mine, I shall have my revenge at long last! And the first of you to go... will be you, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight's eyes widened and she gasped in horror. "To ensure that my reign will never be overthrown, I will make sure that you will never have your own way! Begone!" Martinet then shot lightning bolts from his horn, which tortured and electrocuted Twilight with excruciating pain. She writhed and shrieked as her body cycled between flesh and skeleton. Tears fell from Spike's face and he covered his eyes, unable to look at such a horrifying sight. Celestia felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her and she rose to her feet. She then blasted Martinet with the most powerful magic ray she could muster, causing him to release Twilight before he was sent flying from Canterlot. Afterwards, she quickly used her best healing magic and Twilight was miraculously fully recovered from her injuries. Spike threw his arms around her and sobbed loudly.
"Oh, Twilight," cried Celestia, hugging Twilight tenderly. "I'm so sorry for putting you through this."
"It... it wasn't your fault," panted Twilight. "At least... it's over now..." But Celestia didn't look so sure. Twilight rose to her feet. "I've got to heal my friends," she gasped in between breaths.
"No, Twilight," said Celestia. "I'll do it. Don't weaken yourself any further." But just before Celestia went to tend to Twilight's friends, Martinet reappeared in front of her with his teleportation spell, looking extremely livid.
"You've crossed me for the last time, you monster!!" Martinet cast a shield around himself and then used more magic to levitate Celestia into the air. And then suddenly, wrinkles began to appear on her white coat. Martinet was casting his deadly age spell on Princess Celestia!
"N... no!" gasped Twilight. "Martinet! Please!"
"SILENCE!!!!" Martinet roared in fury. Twilight and Spike stared in horror as Celestia grew older and older by the second. Princess Luna appeared from behind Martinet and tried to penetrate Martinet's shield, but to no avail. Martinet's eyes glanced evilly behind him and he snagged Luna in the same magic he was using on Celestia, but in a flash, Luna grew younger, soon having transformed into her weaker self.
"What are you doing?" cried Luna. "Leave us alone!"
"NEVER!!!!" bellowed Martinet.
"Please!" begged Luna, still growing younger rapidly.
"I'VE HAD IT WITH EQUESTRIAN ROYALTY!!!! I'M BRINGING FORTH A NEW RULE!!!! THE GOLDEN AGE OF GENERAL MARTINET!!!!"
"No!" cried Twilight. Celestia's body soon turned old and gray while Luna was transformed into a crying foal. "Martinet, stop! No more!" Twilight succumbed to tears, feeling helplessly defeated. "You win. You can have Equestria. It's yours. We... surrender. Just don't harm the princesses." Hearing this, Martinet released both princesses and transformed them back. He then grinned evilly.
Meanwhile in Ponyville, Diamond Tiara was preparing to have her group make their first move towards separating the ponies. But to her surprise, when she led her group to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse, she found a group of young ponies without cutie marks, looking like they were ready to take a stand. But Diamond Tiara wasn't really intimidated.
"Well, well," she sneered. "Look what we have here. A bunch of blank flanks!"
"Humph," snorted one of them. "We've had it with you, Diamond Tiara!"
"We're tired of being bullied!" said another.
"And letting you just walk all over us!" said a third.
"Today, we're taking a stand!" said a fourth.
"You won't take us away from anypony!" said a fifth. Diamond Tiara just smirked.
"So, you know what I'm gonna do to you, huh?" she said. "Big deal!"
"Oh, it's a very big deal alright!" said the voice of Apple Bloom. She stepped out of the clubhouse along with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Thick.
"So, you've finally decided to show yourselves, Cutie Mark Losers! You'll be the first!"
"Actually," said Snails. "I've had it with you as well." Snails went over to the ponies without cutie marks and stood with them.
"Yeah, same here," agreed Snips, doing the same.
"Me too," said Twist, joining the others.
"Hey, don't overlook my little gal!" said a familiar wacky voice. Muffins stepped in along with a little unicorn filly named Fire Chief. "I heard you pushed this little one," said Muffins. "I'd say my little Fire Chief has had enough." She then pulled out a muffin. "Muffin, anyone?" Soon, only Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were left standing. That's when Cheerilee, Filthy Rich, and Shadowstealth arrived from behind, cornering the rich bullies.
"It's over, Diamond Tiara," declared Shadowstealth. "I knew what you planned to do to my daughter and I swore that no harm would come to her. To keep my word, I lured you into a trap and now everypony in Ponyville knows your plan. So we'll see how Filthy deals with you now."
"Uh," said Filthy Rich. "I prefer Rich."
"Oh, my bad."
"Grrrrrrrr..." Diamond Tiara was furious. "I won't let this happen! Blank flanks! All of you! I won't let anypony stop me!" Suddenly, Diamond Tiara's body was engulfed in a purple-colored flame, surprising the crowd. "Nopony will stop me! Nopony!!" Diamond Tiara's body then turned into a shadow and grew to the size of Princess Celestia, surrounded by an aura of dark pink, purple, and blue colors. The sky above Ponyville turned dark and looked as though the world was hurling through the cosmos.
"What's... going on?!" cried Scootaloo.
"I don't believe this!" gasped Cheerilee. "Diamond Tiara really is evil!"
"No..." stammered Filthy Rich. "Not my daughter..."
"That's not Diamond Tiara," said Shadowstealth. "A fragment of the evil nightmare formed from Princess Luna's negative emotions has somehow taken control of her body and will. She's being controlled by a nightmare!"
"What?! Then... where's my daughter? Where's the real Diamond Tiara?" Shadowstealth activated his horn's magic.
"I sense that she's trapped inside that thing," said Shadowstealth. "The real Diamond Tiara is locked in sleep, suffering from a horrible nightmare. We must set her free!"
"And how do think we're gonna do that?!" said Snails.
"Yeah," said Snips. "Twilight and the others are in Canterlot and they haven't come back yet!" Diamond Tiara's eyes then reopened, glowing white with light blue irises in their centers. She laughed maniacally.
"You little foals!" said Diamond Tiara. "You thought you could defeat me?! I am a nightmare! I will feast on your harmony! Ponyville belongs to me!!"
"Leave this to me!" said Shadowstealth. "I'll take Diamond Tiara! Everypony, take shelter immediately until this blows over!"