Wrath of the Shadow General

by Black Kyurem

Chapter 4: Martinet's Machinations

Martinet had Twilight, her friends, Celestia, and Luna backed against the castle gates. He then started to advance towards the drawbridge.

"Move aside," he hissed. "The throne is mine. One move... one hoof out of line... and I will make you croak!!"

"I will allow you to speak first," said Celestia. "What are you going to do to Equestria? And why?"

"Ha!" snorted a brony. "You think General Martinet is gonna tell you that?"

"Yeah!" sneered another brony. "What good is it gonna do ya when you're all dead?" Martinet raised a hoof and pointed it sideways, gesturing for the two bronies to stand down.

"Very well..." he said to Celestia. "Since you put it that way, I will tell you my ambitions. For my whole life, I lived in the Hollow Shades with my people. Then one day, my family and I paid a visit to Canterlot to witness the Summer Sun Celebration. It was thirty years ago today. And I remember quite clearly the speech that Princess Celestia gave to us that day."

"Equestria is a land of peace and harmony," said Celestia during Martinet's past memory. "Let us help to keep it that way. All ponies should be equal, regardless of who we are and what our special talents turn out to be. The way we are different makes us all unique."

"All ponies are equal," repeated Martinet. "Is that not what you said, Princess Celestia?"

"Yes, that is what I believe," sighed Celestia.

"Well, I beg to differ," said Martinet. "Your guards, princess... Do you know what they have done to me?"

"What?"

"As a young colt, I was creative. My imagination ran wild and I dreamed of ways to make the Hollow Shades a better place to live. I wanted to improve the lives of my people. But then along came your guards to stop me and spoil my fun! They threatened me. They pointed their spears at me. They demanded me to stop what I was doing or face... the penalty! Nopony living in the Hollow Shades liked that, so I had no choice but to allow myself to be suppressed by the rules laid out... by your guards, Celestia.

"You swore that all ponies were equal and free! But my people were not! I wanted to improve the Hollow Shades, but your guards would not let me make things better! They suppressed us! I had to run away from home! So I swore I would be stronger than the guards so I could resist them. I learned magic and after years of hard, grueling, and torturous practice, I finally was better than the guards and so I set the Hollow Shades free!

"So at last, I was able to freely improve the lives of my people in the Hollow Shades, but it wasn't good enough for me. I knew that there would be ponies who would resist me and my creativity and good intent. And when other ponies rallied to me and my fruitions, I began to spread my town's establishments. I wanted all of Equestria to bask in the glory of the Hollow Shades. But then you, princess, you came along and suppressed me and my people! You never even knew my plans, nor did you give me a chance!"

"You're right," agreed Celestia. "I didn't know, but I had my reasons for stopping you. I sensed that you were becoming corrupted with power and I hoped to stop that from happening. I was trying to save you from yourself!"

"And you think that sacrificing my dreams was the answer?!"

"No. But what I did was considered doing the right thing for all of us, not just for me, and sometimes it does mean giving up our dreams. I hoped that you would learn something and move on to something more peaceful. But I couldn't have been more wrong. You weren't willing to learn from your mistakes. And now, you insist on taking over Equestria just so that you can satisfy yourself, your beliefs, and your dreams!"

"You hypocrite!" bellowed Martinet. "As long as you breathe, you insist on running Equestria the way you want! Why else were you allowing your guards to push me and my people around?"

"I would never...!"

"But you did! I looked up to you! I thought you were the kind of pony who would treat us all fairly! But in the Hollow Shades, we were treated as if we were living in slums! I tried everything to improve our lives! I built shops to avoid traveling to marketplaces. I grew plants for food. But everything I ever did, I was forced to destroy. Your guards made me destroy my own creations! All because your guards owned the town! And their rules were surely your rules as well!

"So, princess, now that I've made my point and explained everything, you will give me what's rightfully mine! It is now my turn to suppress you and put an end to your farcical regime! Do you have any last words you wish to say before I cut you down to size?" Celestia remained silent, her eyes hidden behind her flowing colorful mane.

---

Meanwhile, back at Sweet Apple Acres, Diamond Tiara led her Diamond Cutters group to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse.

"You're not gonna hurt Apple Bloom, are you?" Twist asked Diamond Tiara nervously.

"Oh, don't be silly, Twist," answered Diamond Tiara. "You heard of sticks and stones? The body can heal, but the spirit is more vulnerable. In order to suppress the Cutie Mark Crusaders and all ponies without cutie marks, the trick is to break their precious spirit. By destroying their confidence in themselves, they'll never be able to figure out their special talents and never get their cutie marks."

"So what's your plan?" asked Silver Spoon.

"We are going to destroy their clubhouse!" grinned Diamond Tiara evilly. Twist gasped.

"No!" she cried. "You can't! Apple Bloom worked so hard to fix it!"

"Twist!" Diamond Tiara snarled. "You agreed to join the Diamond Cutters, remember? You're one of us! That means no backing down for you! So you are gonna take part in our little sabotage! Got it?!"

"I never wanted to..." Twist started to say, but she was cut off by Diamond Tiara glaring at her and scowling. "Yeah... Got it..."

"Good." But when Diamond Tiara and the others arrived at the clubhouse, they found it completely surrounded by a pink-colored shield. Diamond Tiara frowned at first, but did not believe that Sweetie Belle's magic was strong enough to create a whole force field. "Oh, come on! A little shield isn't gonna stop us!" She walked right into the shield, but couldn't advance any further. It really was a shield and it really was keeping her and her group out. She growled. "Cutie Mark Crusaders!" she then shouted at the clubhouse. "I know you're in there, so listen up! This is your worst nightmare! You can't keep this shield up forever, so you might as well accept your destinies... as failures! You'll never get your cutie marks no matter what you do! Your only special talents are being the most useless fillies in all of Equestria! Everypony hates you! Blank flanks! You hear me?! Blank flanks! This isn't over yet! I'll see to it that you and the rest of your kind are thrown away with the garbage where you belong! You're nothing! And that's all you'll ever be!!" And with that, Diamond Tiara started to leave. "Diamond Cutters, dismissed! For now..." All the young ponies left, but Twist stayed behind. She placed her hoof on the shield and saw that even she couldn't walk through it.

"Apple Bloom?" she said quietly. "I'm so sorry. I tried to stand up for you. I really did. But Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both threatened me and said I didn't deserve to because I have my cutie mark. I was too scared to tell anypony. Diamond Tiara is just being more horrible than she's ever been. I don't know if she can even be stopped. ...Please forgive me." There was no response. Twist started to cry, so she turned around and walked home in tears. Inside the clubhouse, Scootaloo was watching from the window to make sure Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were gone.

"All clear!" she said, and the shield came down. "Thanks for putting up that shield, Shadowstealth."

"No problem," said Shadowstealth, revealing that he too was in the clubhouse along with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and his daughter Thick. "Now I know what those rich bullies are up to. I never imagined a little filly would want to go so far as to discriminate against ponies without cutie marks so much that she wants to cut Ponyville in two."

"Actually, ah don't understand that at all," said Apple Bloom. "Even for Diamond Tiara, this is going too far. Ah think there's somethin' we don't know about all this."

"Are you thinking that there's possibly a darker power at work here?" asked Shadowstealth.

"Ah've been bullied by those two time and time again, enough so that ah know somethin' about them. And ah think somethin' unusual has gotten into Diamond Tiara."

"What about Silver Spoon?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"She just seems to go along with Diamond Tiara," said Apple Bloom. "Although, with Diamond Tiara in her current state, ah wouldn't be surprised if she's doin' this just 'cause she's scared of her."

"Whatever the case, Cheerilee and Filthy Rich must know about this," said Shadowstealth decisively. "Diamond Tiara is dangerous and she's becoming a threat to Ponyville. It doesn't matter what she thinks of anypony who tells an adult. She has to be stopped no matter what it takes. And I promise all of you, I will help see to that. Ponyville is meant to be a safe place for young ponies to grow up, not for them to live in fear of being an outcast for not having a cutie mark. Apparently, Diamond Tiara does not understand at all that things like these take time."

---

Back at the Canterlot castle gates, Martinet clearly had the upper hand before a possible all-out war could even begin. He had everyone right where he wanted him, but Celestia still had something to say.

"I strive only to help keep peace throughout Equestria," she said, her eyes hiding behind her mane. "I sent my guards to watch over the Hollow Shades because pony criminals used to run the town and make its denizens live in fear. I admit that those guards might have believed that the Hollow Shades would continue to harbor a bad reputation, so they didn't want any ponies to create things or such, believing they would rise against them one day if they were allowed this chance. Alas, they did not stop you, Martinet, from your magic training. My guards stationed at the Hollow Shades were defeated, all because you wished to cast away this bad reputation of your home. But you were becoming corrupted by your own power, so I had to save you from yourself! It didn't work. I would apologize for all that happened to you in your past, but I can sense that you are far beyond reasoning with. So as princess of Equestria, I will do what I must."

"You fool!" bellowed Martinet. "You have no hope at all whatsoever! I have an army! And my magic is far superior than any unicorn and alicorn that ever existed! I am the highest level unicorn in the world!" Celestia growled.

"Princess," murmured Twilight. "What do we do now?" But Celestia hung her head and said nothing. Martinet roared in fury and triumph.

"I AM INVINCIBLE!!!! AND I WILL NOT LET ANYPONY STOP ME NO MATTER WHO DOES WHAT!!!!"