//------------------------------// // Can a zealot be made to laugh? // Story: Twilight the clown // by TechnoPagan9 //------------------------------// In the shining land of the Crystal Empire, the crystal ponies were talking about the strange rumors that had been spreading around. Rumors like Blueblood taking over the throne because the princesses had gone mad as well as Ponyville becoming circus. Shining armor was talking to his parents about the rumors hoping to get the truth. "Is it true, did Blueblood really takeover Canterlot?" Shining asked. His parents nodded leading to Shining to feel uneasy at what will happen with greedy noble in control. "I decided to visit Ponyville a couple of days ago in order to visit Twilight as well as to see if the rumor about Celestia's and Luna's state of minds." Nightlight said as he took out a photo he had in his bag and showed it to his son. "This is the only photo from the trip. Its Twilight according to Discord but she looks and and acts so differently then what my little filly would normally act. She even refuses to use her name and calls herself 'Twinkle Sprinkle' as well as getting me to take the picture to show you" He said with concern on his face. Shining looked at the photo to see Discord in front of the friendship castle with a white hoof around his throat and his expression implied that said hoof was strangled him as his bear arm appeared to be trying to loose the hoofs grip while his bird claw was holding a sign saying 'Help Me'. Shining saw the white alicorn that the hoof belonged to but noticed she was far too small to be Celestia and was put off by the wide pink eyes and huge grin she was pulling to the camera. She appeared to flapping her wings as her back hoofs didn't touch the ground and was holding a sign in her front left hoof that said 'Hi B.B.B.F.F and Candy Cadence, you like the new look?'. "Um.....she looks ok I guess" Shining said before he looked at the picture again and saw Sprinkles eyes move and wink at him causing him to scream and throw the photo to the ground. Night Light and Twilight Velvet couldn't help but laugh at their son's girly screaming. "That was not funny, her eyes moved and winked at me" Shining said while blushing an pointing at the photo. Velvet picked it up and examined it for any signs of movement. When she didn't see any, she chuckled. "Darling, I think you are overreacting. She looks too happy to move though her eyes properly played tricks on you" She said leaving Shining feeling a little embarrassed over the idea of overreacting in front of his parents. "Regardless on the question of if the princesses have gone insane well they just being silly and having fun like a clown. I don't think Blueblood needed to takeover the throne." Night Light said while Shining felt the pink eyes indicated that something was wrong on wondered if he should go visit his sister soon. Meanwhile within a bush somewhere in Ponyville, disgraced former leader of 'Our Town' Starlight Glimmer was writing in a notebook. "Well well it looks like little Twilight's idea of friendship just brings chaos to Equestria. At least when I was leading Our Town, everypony was equal and the place was orderly." she said with a smug grin as she stuck her head out the bush where she saw through her binoculars Sprinkle and Tricky teaching some sleight of hoof tricks to the CMC. "And for the final trick of the day, how to make a lit firework disappear and reappear before your very eyes little ones" Tricky said leading to Sprinkle to roll her eyes at the pyromaniac while Tricky lit a held a firework in her left. "This should be good" Roller whispered to the other two as Tricky flipped it before slipping it under her sleeve, her face forming a disturbing smile as the sparkle from the fuse touched her body. The fire slipped out of her right sleeve and into her hoof and held it upwards. "Ta da" She said as the CMC gave her some applause before the firework launched into the air taking Tricky with it. "Um should we help her Twinkle?" Singer asked. Sprinkle shook her head at the idea. "Knowing Tricky, she will be having the time of her life up there. Fire and anything hot has no effect on her so she would probably be fine living in a volcano." Sprinkle said smiling as she watched her friend being dragged by the firework. "I am free like a bird" Tricky said with an insane expression as she flapped her hoofs before the fire went into the direction of Starlight's bush. "O sh..." Starlight said before the firework (and Tricky) hit the bush. Sprinkle told the CMC to leave her and Tricky while they sort the problem out before checking to see if Tricky wasn't injured from the fall. Tricky jumped up with joy while her back was on fire though Sprinkle was not too bothered by it. "That was the best explosion so far....also this bush talked just before it was hit" Tricky said as she got rid of the flames. Sprinkle raised an eyebrow at this an checked to find Starlight unconscious on the ground where the bush was. Tricky's body had absorbed most of the impact from explosion leaving Starlight with a few tiny burns as well as protecting her notebook. A devious smile slowly formed on Sprinkle's face as Tricky finished putting the fire out (by eating it). "Tricky my dear could you please take Starlight to my lab at the Friendship Castle while I take the time to read this notebook. I believe I have unfinished with her." Sprinkle said as Tricky nodded and teleported herself and Starlight to the lab while Sprinkle herself teleported to the castle library to look over the notes. Later that day, Sprinkle entered the lab to find Tricky performing fire eating tricks in front of a restrained Starlight who appeared frightened at the blue unicorn's antics. "Make her stop, please make her stop" Starlight said in fear as Tricky carelessly blew fire near combustible chemicals on the tables. "TRICKY" Sprinkle shouted in anger as Tricky quickly turned to her and smile sheepishly. "Hello Twinkle" She said as Sprinkle approached her. "Tricky I have told you more than once to NEVER DO YOUR TRICKS IN HERE. Sasha is still a little annoyed by the 'stunt' you did almost reduced the tent to ash but you do it here YOU WILL BLOW THE CASTLE TO BITS AND TAKE HALF OF PONYVILLE WITH YOU. So please no tricks here ok?." Sprinkle said with stern expression while Tricky sighed. "Okay Okay Tricky won't do it again. Tricky had fun anyway so off to bed now" Tricky said as she was about to leave. "Just don't wander into Pyro Blue's room and stroke her mane while she sleeps....again" Sprinkle said as she rolled her eyes at the thought. Tricky nodded and left for her room. Sprinkle turned to smile at Starlight who shot a glare at the clowny alicorn. "Hello Starlight, long time no see" Sprinkle said "From regal princess to prancing fool. How is it being a stupid clown instead of the 'Princess of Friendship' nonsense" Starlight said to mock her captor. "O don't tell me you are still sour over that incident. I mean are you surprised the ponies in 'Our Town' found out that you didn't remove your own mark or that you were just a deluded power hungry maniac who couldn't even tell those smiles were fake. Heck maybe I am not the one who is insane, you are and can't admit to it." Sprinkle said as she started to giggle due to hitting a weak spot in Starlight's psyche. "O yeah, how has what you are doing made anything better huh?" Starlight demanded to know, "Every smile here is legit, everyone still gets to have fun and your 'equality' simply sucks. Any argument you use is invalid." Sprinkle answered "But you turn them into clowns against their will and even transformed the princesses, that makes it hardly any different from what I did.....unless Discord did all this. He turned and brainwashed you into a clown to obey him, that is the truth." Starlight said with a smile thinking she had got it right. Sprinkle laughed hard at the unicorn's theory leaving Starlight to feel uneasy at the crazy mare. "Wh..why are you laughing at my flawless logic?" Starlight asked as Sprinkle stopped laughing and grinned at her. "Discord hardly had any role in any of this, he is just going with the flow. I gave your notes a read and found that you only saw me enter the circus tent as my 'normal' self and come out sometime later as clown before I gained my white coat. You thought Discord was in the tent without looking inside when he wasn't even aware what was going on at the time. You saw me transforming Spike and Trixie but again Discord played no real role in those. Here is a little secret, it wasn't Discord it was the TF circus that did this to me." Sprinkle explained leaving Starlight speechless at what she just heard. "Now that you heard everything little Starlight, I have decided to turn and then use you to spread to joy of the circus all over Equestria" Sprinkle said with an evil grin. "WHAT NO DON'T DO THIS" Starlight shouted as she struggled against her binding. "But before you are turned I wish to perform an experiment that is properly inhumane and illegal." Sprinkle said before she press her nose to Starlight's stout and said "I am observant enough to have watched you tear the marks off with your magic. Now I am going to tear yours off and replace it so consider it retribution for your cutie mark theft." Starlight's heart started racing as the thought of her own mark being robbed from her feared her mind with fear. Sprinkle's horn lit up as her magic grabbed Starlight's mark and slowly removed it leading to the unicorn feeling drained as it came off leaving an equals mark in its place. "Why do I feel so weak" Starlight said as she turned pale while Sprinkle reached for a container in a chest. Inside the container was what looked a cutie mark which looked like a typical equal mark but rainbow coloured. "I finally have the perfect subject for this" Sprinkle said as she opened the container and grabbed the mark with magic before approaching her guinea pig. "No get away from me" Starlight said but it was no use. Sprinkle fused the manufactured mark to the unicorn's flank causing Starlight's mind to flash different colours as she became confused and distorted. "Now to see if this mark impacts the transformation" Sprinkle said as she attached a clown nose to Starlight's snout. The colours within her mind cleared and Starlight found herself in a room. The room was devoid of colour with the floor and walls being made of concrete while at the back of the room there a large barrel of water and a food area full of leafs. it was mostly dark due to what little light came in through the four windows and a few banners hanging on the walls had the rainbow coloured equal mark on them. "Wait this is the isolation hut from 'Our Town'. How did I get here?" Starlight asked herself as see felt a strange sensation on her jaw. She rubbed it before her lips stretched to form a wide smile identical to the false ones that the villagers of 'Our Town' pulled while under her rule. She tried as hard as she could but no matter what her mouth refused to form any other express other than smiling. "How does it feel, Starlight?" a mocking voice asked which was coming from the speaker. Starlight realized that it was Sprinkle's voice who she could hear silently laughing over the speaker. "I don't feel any different, this mark isn't the same as the marks I bring." Starlight said, growling at the speaker. The mark on her flank started to glow brighter as Starlight started to feel dizzy. "Why is.....this glowing and what di.....you do to....my...head" Starlight asked as she held her head as Sprinkle chuckled. "Well well it seems it is taking effect." Sprinkle said causing Starlight to become fearful at what she meant. She moved back and slipped into the water barrel but while attempting to get out, she felt many invisible hoofs holding her in. Sometime later she was pushed out where she saw Sweetie Smiles with multiple hoofs smiling at her. While her own mouth continued to smile, Starlight's eyes expressed anger at the animal loving mare. "O did I just exposed another one of your secrets?" Sweetie Smiles asked before giggling and disappearing back under the water. Starlight was confused until she noticed the puddles formed from her body were coloured pale pink, pale green, light and dark purple. She took at look at her reflection on the barrel's water. "Eek what happened to me" Starlight said as she freaked out at her new colours. Her fur was pale cyan while her mane and tail were yellow with blue and dark pink highlights. "Turns out you were a clown underneath all that 'cult leader' phase all along" Sprinkle said. "I am no....willing to....no stop messing with my words!" Starlight said trying to keep a stable mind as the room suddenly turned into what looked like a padded mental asylum cell but each pad either had a pleasant or a disturbing depiction of Sprinkle ,making her look like some sort of god. She also noticed a sign above the door saying 'Our Asylum' but before Starlight could react, A rainbow coloured straight jacket formed on her body, restraining her front legs while her tail formed curls and her mane form two pigtails held up by rainbow coloured bows. "Stop this game, you have no control over me" Starlight said as she tried to loosen the restraints. "O silly Starlight, I have all kinds of methods to control can convert you. How about instead of the boring isolation you did to me how about two of my friends screw a few bolts loose in your head" Sprinkle suggested cause Starlight to quiver in fear as the pad in the center of the room opened up and a chair came out. Starlight's body moved on its accounted and walked towards the chair. "No please I don't want your treatment" She said but it was not use as she sat in the chair and straps appeared and restrained her to the chair. The cell door opened and two figures in black leather coats and hoods appeared where Starlight freaked out at the birdlike masks they wore and strange knifes they where carrying. "Please don't hu.....I am ready for my exama....I won't turn" Starlight said. "Wrong form of doctor" Sprinkle said before a magic aura grabbed the two figures and removed them from the room. A minute later, the aura appeared again and brought Skittle and Tricky into the room wearing nurse outfits. "O but Tricky likes the scary bird doctors" Tricky protested. "Don't care, script for this hallucination said literally said 'No scary bird doctors entering the cell' silly mare" Sprinkle said leaving Starlight confused at the sentence. Regardless Tricky teleported behind Starlight and began cutting open the top of her head with a circular saw but much to Starlight's surprise she felt nothing as the mark on her flank started filling her mind with converting others. A green skirt with smiely faces formed on her body along with purple shoes with red bows on them forming on her hoofs. "I don't want to be forced to join this" She thought but because Skittle had a screwdriver and unscrewed the unicorn's brain (and is wearing starlight's forehead and mane on her own head), the two clown nurses could hear and see Starlight's thoughts through the tiny preaching Starlight's in her brain. They seems to be fighting off some clowned versions of her which came as a result of the mark who were also preaching. "Lets bring joy through force" One of clowned Starlights preached while waving her hoofs like a lunatic. "Equaltity is the onl...." one of the Starlights said before Skittle decided to crush it with her hoof and smile while Tricky grabbed another one and ate it. "Delightful, who knew a cult leader was a great meal" she said of the taste as Starlight herself started feeling the effects of the nurse's mind meddling. "Why am I losing faith in Equality, it is......totally boring...wait no" Starlight said as Skittle and Tricky smiled. Skittle started crushing more of them but at one point decided to eat one but found them revolting while Tricky kept lighting firecrackers in the unicorn's head. Starlight had possibly the worst headache she had ever experienced in her life as her mind empty of both preaching clowns and Starlights. "She doesn't look well" Tricky said staring into Starlight's grayed out pupils. Suddenly Sprinkle came into the room personally as the preaching clowns and Starlights started to reform. "Good this will make turning her easier." Sprinkle said with a smug smirk. Tricky continued to eat the mini Starlights while while Skittle looked away in disgust at the pyromaniac's eating habits. "Now first things first, your name is Joyful Zealot" Sprinkle said, looking directly at the broken Starlight's eyes "My name is Joyful Zealot" Starlight responded as pink blush formed on the cheeks of her smiling face. "Good now I am your leader" Sprinkle said with a demanding expression "You are my leader" Starlight responded as yellow eye shadow formed on her eyelids. "Good mare, you wish to insert joy into the hearts of pony" Sprinkle said as she slowly smiled. "I wish to insert joy into the hearts of everypony" Starlight said as her eyelashes curled "And finally, you will forget about the 'Equality' nonsense and instead convert and spread the word of the TF-Circus" Sprinkle said. "I will forget about the 'Equality' nonsense and instead convert and spread the word of the TF-Circle" Starlight now Joyful Zealot said as she closed her eyes and opened them showing they had turned pink. Her mind now devoid of preaching Starlights and now full of what would be described as chaos "Well close enough" Sprinkle said the a giggle as she signaled Skittle to seal the brain and screw Zealot's head back on while Tricky jammed some mini Starlights into her suit pockets to be eaten later. Zealot's vision returned back to the lab where Sprinkle was released the transformed unicorn from her binds. "Thank you leader for enlightening my simple mind. I shall spread the word and convert Equestria as you command". Zealot said as Sprinkle smiled. "Good, I have a cart waiting for you. I want to begin your preaching in Manhattan as well as to see how Sasha and Magic are getting on as they on holiday there." Sprinkle told her to which Zealot ran outside the castle and after attaching the cart to her, made a run for Manehatten. Under the large sheet on the cart however are three stowaways. "Are you sure this is the best idea" Singer asked the other two CMC. "We could have sent a note to her but I think it is better we give her a personal visit" Hammer said with a smile. "Plus Skittle asked me to do her shopping there. Her explosive powder keeps going missing for some reason" Roller said right before part of the Friendship Castle suddenly exploded. The CMC were shocked as they heard in the castle's direction an angry echo. "TRICKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKY" is what the CMC heard before the chuckled. "Well the mystery of the vanishing explosive powder solved, the Pyromaniac nicked it" Roller said with silent laugh.