Twilight vs Tirek

by RainbowSparkle3

Fluttershy's Mission

Author's Note:

I'm so, so sorry that I released a chapter late twice in a row, I seem to have been infected with a severe case of lazyitis (at least for writing). I hope you can forgive me for my lack of writing lately, and that you still continue to enjoy my work. I apologize again for being late, and I hope that the hiatus I'll be taking from this to write an unrelated story won't be one than a week or two. Enjoy! (oh, p.s. I've decided to try to improve the quality of my work, so it may always take more than a week to write a chapter, unless I'm really pounding that keyboard in a rush to get all my thoughts onto the screen, sorry again for that! )

"Pinkie!" We all exclaimed as we saw her walking into the room, being led by a couple of ponies. She was looking even duller than before, when her cutie mark had been taken by Tirek. Oh, she must have gone through so much, having her cutie mark (or at least the essence of it) stripped from her not one, not two, but three times. I wish I had my medical team with me right now. Angel might not be the sweetest bunny ever, but he sure was great when it came to helping to heal any injured animal friends I had.

Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt the story, I'll continue now. "Hi, guys," Pinkie muttered, her voice lacking the usual enthusiasm. We asked her about what happened to her and Twilight, and how the battle against Tirek was going. Unfortunately, the answers weren’t all that great. Tirek had the upper hand and Pinkie fell for Starlight’s trap, just like us. After telling her our own story, Pinkie opened up about her escape plan. “There are actually two ways to get out of here.” She explained. “We could just wait for Twilight to beat Tirek. Then afterwards she would definitely find us and get us out. We wouldn’t have to escape at all! However, Twilight might not be able to beat Tirek alone, and we should probably leave as soon as possible, because this place is certainly no fun. So I say we act like we accepted their way. Starlight will just let us out then!”

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but Starlight ain't gonna believe we converted in just one night," Applejack argued. "I think the better plan is to just wait it out. I don't very much like being some damsel in distress, bein' all useless and waitin' for help, but that seems like the more logical approach.”

“I thought about Starlight doubting such a sudden reform. Especially since we were obviously against her ideas. However, there is one pony in here she might believe…” Pinkie started staring at me expectantly after finishing her sentence, making the rest of the group realize what she was implying.

"What? Me?" I asked in disbelief.

"You've been saying how great this place was since we got here," Rainbow reminded me.

"Well, that's because everypony's so nice, and their village is so pretty and-, and...oh, you're right, they probably would believe me. I hate to lie to them. They've been so welcoming and friendly, aside from locking us in here and trying to brainwash us into abandoning the things that make us special." Saying it out loud made me realize just how horrible our situation really was. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Woohoo!" Pinkie shouted, jumping up into the air with the energy we all know and love her for, until her equal sign cutie mark vibrated a bit and she slowly came back onto the ground, replacing her exclamation with a quiet and calm, "I mean, cool."

"But, what do I do once I'm out?" I asked, walking towards Pinkie as I did so.

"You've gotta find a way to get our cutie marks out," Pinkie replied. I swallowed nervously. That wasn’t a lot of information, so I would have to figure out the details on my own.

Sleep took it’s time to come that night. When the speaker woke us up in the morning, it wasn’t a pre-recorded message like the propaganda it spew at us all the time, instead it was Starlight’s voice. "Ah, good morning," she said, then she opened the door and continued. "I trust you had a pleasant night. This way, please," she walked out the door as she spoke. "There are some friends who would like to see you." After she had her back fully turned, everyone else looked at me and smiled, to which I responded with a worried and nervous look. "Gather round friends, gather round!" Starlight commanded. "We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us. There are so many friends to be made once you realize you don't need your cutie marks. Or the talents that come with them," she said, coming closer to us with a grin plastered on her face.

The villagers pleaded for us to join them, but my friends refused. Starlight started to lead us back to our prison, reminding her subjects that this was, “A perfectly normal part of the equalization process.” As we were walking back in, I bumped into Pinkie Pie, reminding me that I was supposed to pretend to be brainwashed. I impulsively leapt forward and exclaimed, "I'd like to join!" covering my mouth with my hooves immediately afterwards. The village ponies chattered happily among each other, and Starlight smiled. However, Starlight was suspicious of my quick turn of heart.

In order to ensure that I wasn’t just faking, she demanded I show her who wanted to have their cutie marks back. I gulped in horror, what was I supposed to do? Blow my cover, or betray who seemed to be the only normal ponies here. Neither was an option, and so I stood still like a deer caught in the headlight. I would need to somehow talk myself out of this."I-I don't know who they were," I stammered. "Um, I'm sorry, I don't know your names and faces yet."

I hoped that that would be enough, but I was quickly proven wrong. Starlight wasn’t through with me yet. "Nonsense, obviously these ponies must have asked you directly. Kindly point them out," she demanded, pointing her hoof towards the crowd. I bit my lip, thinking of how I could handle this, until Party Favor made a confession.

"It was me!" he called out, Sugar Belle and the dark blue pegasus next to her stepping away from him as he did so. "It was only me," he continued. "I only wanted it back for a little while."

Starlight walked up to him and held his face up in her hoof, asking, "And you're quite certain it was only you?"

"I just wanted to remember what it was like," he replied, looking down to the ground.

"And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends," Starlight said, supposedly disappointed. "Such selfishness," a couple of ponies glared at him contemptuously after she had spoken. Starlight pointed at the brainwashing room, and Party Favor walked towards the cell.

"I'm sorry everypony," he said apologetically. "I never wanted to leave the village. I love all of-," he started to say, but he was cut off by the door slamming in front of him.

-

"Welcome!" ponies greeted me as I walked past.

"Gosh, you really are the nicest ponies I've ever met," I complimented.

"Come, all new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed," Starlight said while walking me to her house. I spent the rest of the day contemplating on how to go about my task. It would not be easy, and honestly, I was frightened. My secret mission back when Trixie took over Ponyville was bad enough, but this was something else entirely...

-

Late at night, when the only noise outside was of the white, fluffy, soundless clouds drifting about the cool, night sky, I flew up the chimney when it was safe. It was time to take action. Once I reached the top, I coughed for a bit, then shook off all the dust that had gathered on my fur from inside the chimney. "Get the cutie marks back, that's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy. Just sneak through the dark, to that spooky old cave, with the scary looking staff, and get the cutie marks back," I whispered to myself.

I slowly walked down, and after what felt like an eternity I said to myself, "Okay, you're doing great, the cave's gotta be close now," only to realize that I was barely a few meters away from the chimney.

I heard Starlight speaking from below me, and shuffled a bit closer to hear better. "Excellent work, Double Diamond," she congratulated.

"Of course. But I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here. Fluttershy is one of us now, surely she can be trusted," Double Diamond said, somewhat confused.

"These belong to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, it could be very important to our cause." Starlight replied.

"But if they become our friends, then what do we care about these old cutie marks?"

"I just want to keep them close until everything is settled. You may go, Double Diamond," she excused. Right before he opened the door, I rapidly flew behind the wall, and as he walked out, he wasn't wearing his usual smile.

"Oh dear, how am I ever gonna get the cutie marks back now?" I asked myself worriedly. There was a clatter coming from upstairs and Starlight briefly cried out in frustration. I went to see what had happened, and the sight greeting me was most surprising. I saw water baskets rolling around and splashing, and Starlight was angrily scolding herself., "Uh! Starlight, you clumsy fool!" She proceeded to grab a towel in her magical grasp and dried herself of the water that had splashed on her.

When she put down the towel, on her flank wasn't an equal sign, but an actual cutie mark! She used some sort of makeup to cover it up, then put an equal sign tattoo to replace the other cutie mark. I gasped in shock, which caused Starlight to turn around to see what had made the noise. She quickly searched outside her window, then gave one last look and walked back, thankfully not spotting me clinging onto the roof.

I let go, and as I flew to the ground, I whispered, "Oh no." When I got to the ground, I looked up, and seeing the pony that stood in front of me was almost as surprising as the revelation of Starlight's cutie mark.

"Fluttershy?" The pony asked quietly.

Comments

[RainbowSparkle3]

Oh, just in case you're wondering how Starlight and the villagers know about the element of harmony, you should take a good look at that big, shiny alternate universe tag.

[Starlight Nova]

Why is this on hiatus after a cliffhanger?

[RainbowSparkle3]

8226575 Because I'm writing other fics, sorry about such a long hiatus, but I should be able to finally start working on this again next week. You can look forward to that.

[Starlight Nova]

8226662
Shouldn't the hiatus be over now?

[RainbowSparkle3]

8277712
Uhhh, yeah, I'll have a new chapter up for sure relatively soon, to be more specific, in between several days and 2 weeks I'm thinking. Sorry for my complete and utter laziness.