Rise of the Dark Queen

by Black Kyurem

Chapter 5: Mares in Black

Something felt amiss to Applejack and Rarity when they woke up one morning in Ponyville. For Applejack, she felt a sudden pain in her gut and rushed to Apple Bloom's room. Her little sister was not in her bed. She wasn't anywhere at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack then remembered that she had been exiled from Ponyville along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo thanks to her and the rest of the town. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle's parents had wept, for the town had foolishly taken their precious Sweetie Belle away from them over an accident that she and her friends might not have committed at all. But Rainbow Dash felt nothing in particular, probably because Scootaloo wasn't her real sister at all.

It was a day like any other for Twilight Sparkle, as she was out doing her daily errands. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the rich fillies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon immensely enjoying themselves.

"A sleepover at your place!" said Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. "I'll be there! We'll have a blast!" Twilight just shook her head. She remembered how much the rich fillies always bothered the Cutie Mark Crusaders and had even gotten them into loads of trouble before, but being somewhat of a skeptic, she believed it best not to even suspect the rich fillies of being behind anything.

"Twilight! Twilight!!" Just then, her friend Pinkie Pie came happily bouncing to her. "We should totally go to the movies tonight! I hear they got a brand new blockbuster hit!"

"Oh, really?" said Twilight. "What's it called?"

"It's called Mares in Black! It's about three young fillies who join a secret service to fight intergalactic crime and save Equestria! Come on, Twilight! It's gonna be great!" Twilight, however, got suspicious of this, so that evening, she decided to accompany Pinkie to the movies. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash also decided to attend, possibly as a means to take some stuff off their mind and relax.

"Ah don't know why," said Applejack to her fashionista friend Rarity. "But some part of me might be feelin' a little guilty. Rarity, how does it feel to wake up one mornin' and realize your sister ain't with ya?"

"Oh, darling, I wouldn't know," answered Rarity. "Sweetie Belle doesn't even live with me anyway. But I must say my parents totally lashed out at me for exiling my sister like that."

"Yeh," said Applejack. "Granny Smith is furious at me as well as Big Mac. Ya think... maybe we were too hard on them?"

"That's what we like to think," said Rarity. "But unfortunately, not being hard enough had its consequences in this case and those fillies apparently took advantage of that. We had to teach them a lesson."

"Ah know that," said Applejack. "But now that ah think about it... is exile really the answer?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down. "The movie's about to start!" And as the projector started showing images from the opening of the film Mares In Black, a voice-over was heard, but it sounded awfully familiar.

"We are the best kept secret in Equestria. We monitor, license, and police all alien activity across the land. We're your last, and only line of defense. We live in secret, we exist in shadow..."

"Wait a second," said Applejack suspiciously. "That southern accent. That's..." Suddenly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders themselves appeared on the projector screen, wearing black suits and shades.

"And we wear black!" declared Scootaloo. "Aw yeah!" The jaws of Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow dropped open. They could not believe what they were seeing on the big screen!

"Isn't this exciting?!" squealed Pinkie Pie with delight, obviously oblivious as to who was starring in the film. Then again, she wasn't among the group of ponies who threw stuff at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, thus having no part to play for their exile. She tossed some popcorn into her mouth and chewed happily, as the opening fanfare of the film played, sung by none other than Sweetie Belle.

Here come the mares in black
Equestrian defenders
Here come the mares in black
They won't you let you remember

We were once on a Cutie Mark Crusader's list
Now we straight don't exist, no names and no hoof prints
Saw something strange, watch your back
Cause you never quite know where the M.I.B. is at

Here come the mares in black
Equestrian defenders
Here come the mares in black
They won't you let you remember

"This red eye isolates..." said Sweetie Belle, holding a neuralyzer from the filming in her hoof. "...the electronic impulses in your brains, specifically memory." And as the movie went on, while Pinkie watched with excitement, the other four friends looked at each other. It didn't take them long to figure out that this had happened to the Cutie Mark Crusaders after they had been exiled.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders... are in Applewood?!" said Twilight.

"Wha..." murmured Applejack. "What have we done?"

"Oh... why do we keep doing stupid things like this?!" shouted Rarity.

"Ah'll say," agreed Applejack. "Granny Smith's gonna kill me."

"What are we gonna do, girls?" asked Rainbow Dash. Twilight stood up, looking determined.

"We're going to get those fillies back," she declared. "Something's very fishy. No Applewood film director would allow them to partake in box office smash hits just like that. I'll bet they're being lured into another trap. Let's go!"

---

Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to walk to Las Pegasus to meet up with Fluttershy and check up on her. But they soon found out that Fluttershy was nowhere to be found. They decided to ask another pony.

"Sorry, fillies," said the pony. "I haven't seen Fluttershy since she escorted you three to Applewood. I'm guessing she never even came back to Las Pegasus." This made the Cutie Mark Crusaders doubly worried. What could have possibly have happened to poor Fluttershy? But their worries were interrupted when they saw a train arrive and saw their sisters, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight get off. The fillies didn't know whether to be scared or angry. Maybe they were both.

"Apple Bloom!" said Applejack. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

"Sweetie Belle!" said Rarity. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

"Hey, Scoots!" said Rainbow Dash. "How you all doing?"

"We've been better," mumbled Scootaloo.

"We're so sorry," said Applejack. "We got... angry and... reacted without even thinkin'."

"Ah'll say y'all did," replied Apple Bloom, clearly sounding hurt.

"We should have defended you when the town went too far," said Rarity. "Oh, can't you ever forgive us?"

"Even if we did, we can't go back to Ponyville!" cried Sweetie Belle. "You saw what the town did to us!"

"Fillies," said Twilight. "We'll be there for you. We'll make sure that nopony hurts you like that ever again. It doesn't matter what you did to us."

"See, that's the problem!" shouted Scootaloo, starting to get angry. "We didn't do anything and you just thought, 'Oh, let's blame the Cutie Mark Crusaders because they're always getting into mischief for the sake of getting their cutie marks!'" The four ponies looked guilty.

"We got us a new life here in Applewood," said Apple Bloom. "And soon we'll be the envy of all other ponies with cutie marks... once we earn our legendary marks!"

"Legendary marks?" said a perplexed Twilight. "Uh... girls? There's no such thing. There are only cutie marks."

"But that sign says there are," Sweetie Belle insisted, pointing to a sign that stated information on legendary marks to be earned at Applewood. Twilight had a look.

"I'm not really buying it," she said. "It might just be a gimmick to suck you in. Sad to say, not having your cutie marks has made you three pretty gullible."

"Well, we've been bullied and tormented because we didn't have ours!!" Scootaloo suddenly bellowed. "Do you have any idea what we've been feeling?! Huh?!" The four ponies reacted in shock. "Time and time again, we're picked on especially by those rich, mean bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! They've hurt us! They've never left us alone! Diamond Tiara even blackmailed us for pony's sake!!" Scootaloo's lip suddenly trembled. She didn't want to cry, but she was having trouble fighting back tears. "Because of them... we've been miserable... and nopony did anything about it... and everypony told us that to earn our cutie marks... we had to be patient... We tried... It wasn't working..." Tears then ran down Scootaloo's face as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle huddled close to her in an attempt to comfort her. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash cast each other glances, trying to figure out how they could make life easier for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had a point. But before they could come up with anything, Apple Bloom spoke up again.

"We're not comin' back to Ponyville," she declared. "We're stayin' at Applewood."

"What?" said Applejack. "You... Y'all can't be serious."

"We don't really have a choice," insisted Sweetie Belle. "Ponyville doesn't want us anymore."

"But we want you!" begged Rarity. "We want you back! Not to mention Applejack and I are in enough hot water as it is. My parents are furious!"

"So is Granny Smith," said Applejack.

"That's too bad," Scootaloo croaked. "You wasted your time coming for us. As long as Ponyville thinks we're bad to the bone, there's no point in going back."

"We will protect you!" answered Twilight. "We'll even find out who the real culprit is!"

"Oh, that's easy," said Scootaloo. "Who else is out to get us? I'll bet my bits that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon did this to us." Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash laughed at this.

"Those two?" she snickered. "I don't think they would have nearly enough courage to drive a Timberwolf insane! They're all up about their appearances and tricking a Timberwolf means getting your hooves dirty!"

"But who else would do this to us?" whined Apple Bloom.

"We'll find out who," answered Twilight. "And we'll make sure Ponyville is safe for you to live in. Now would you please come back with us?"

"Just forget it!" snarled Sweetie Belle. "We're staying at Applewood and that's final!"

"Fine!" snapped Rainbow Dash. "You girls wanna do this the hard way?! We'll do this the hard way!" She made a rush to grab the three fillies, but Applejack pulled on her tail with her mouth. "Ugh! Applejack, really?"

"We can't force them to leave," said Twilight. "Why don't we just give them time to think about it?"

"Yeh... maybe," agreed Applejack glumly.

"All right, girls," said Twilight. "You win. You get to stay in Applewood. But I still don't think this is a good idea."

"Tell that to our soon-to-be legendary flanks," said Scootaloo. Twilight sighed.

"Well, well!" came the voice of Director Q. "Spoken like true movie stars!"

"Director Q!" said Apple Bloom. "Sorry to keep ya waitin'. We just came to check on our friend Fluttershy, but she doesn't... seem to be here."

"Hm?" A puzzled Director Q rubbed his chin. "Oh, that's too bad."

"Oh, wait!" said Sweetie Belle. "Have you girls seen Fluttershy?"

"We thought she was with you," answered Applejack.

"We thought maybe she might have gone back to Ponyville," said Apple Bloom. There was no telling what became of Fluttershy since she seemingly vanished after she left the fillies at Applewood.

"Well, in any case," said Director Q. "Why don't you fillies come back to Applewood and resume your new lives. We're starting a new film called Iron Mare 3! And you ladies won't want to miss it!" He gestured to the four ponies. "Especially seeing these three adorable little movie stars in it!" He then proceeded to escort the Cutie Mark Crusaders back to Applewood. There was no more use arguing with the little fillies, even if it seemed questionable as to how quickly they became actors. Disappointed and stricken with guilt, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash took the next train back to Ponyville without the fillies. But believing they would still be safe even in Applewood nevertheless, their worries soon dwelled on the whereabouts of Fluttershy.

---

Upon returning to Ponyville, the four ponies were horrified at what as an apparent change in scenery. Dark clouds loomed everywhere and the town itself looked dilapidated.

"Wha... what happened?" murmured Applejack. "We weren't gone that long... were we?" And in the streets, they saw ponies looking pale and cowering before something. That something was a taller pony clad in dark green-blue armor, covering her body and face.

"W-w-w-w-we worship the Dark Queen!" said a terrified Daisy, as if pleading for her life.

"The horror, the horror!" cried Lily Valley, which earned her a glare from hidden eyes behind the armor. "I-I-I mean... Praise the Dark Queen!"

"No one is more w-w-worthy than the Dark Queen!" stammered Roseluck.

"This is bad," said Applejack. "While we were gone, this... Dark Queen took over Ponyville!"

"We gotta stop her!" declared Rainbow Dash. "Twilight, let's get the Elements of Harmony and blast that Dark Queen to pieces!" But unfortunately, the Dark Queen heard them.

"You would dare?" she hissed with an all-too-familiar voice. It was that sweet voice they knew, but now tainted by darkness. The four ponies reacted in horror and shock as they now recognized the sigils on her armor and her cutie mark. The helmet and most of the armor cracked and then fell off, and before their eyes, the body and face of their now fallen friend were revealed.

"Fluttershy?!?!"

Comments

[jszellmer]

I'd worship you, Dark Queen. (If, um, that's ok with you, that is.)

I'd also be perfectly willing to watch any movie in which the CMCs starred. They'd probably be a lot more talented than most actors out there.

[Pokemon Pioneer]

In spite of the dark tone of the story, I still have trouble keeping a straight face when seeing the CMC dressed as the Men in Black. I'm guessing it's because I do not find them very imposing and am thus unable to take them that seriously (Much like how I would respond to a puppies or kittens that are attempting to act like a vicious predators by attacking their toys).

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

crap oh crap!