Chapter 2: By Order of the Empress
The thundering sounds of lasers and gunnery turrets filled the air around the frozen base on Hoth.
Applejack gritted her teeth as she fired her blaster into the enemy recon forces. Lines of other brave rebel troopers stood alongside her, doing their very best to hold the line against the overwhelming Imperial forces.
They had only had a month to celebrate after Luke Skywalker had piloted his fighter to victory over the Death Star until a probe had landed by their... fairly new base on Hoth. Princess Leia had immediately ordered the base to high alert, bumping the shields to maximum power to resist orbital bombardment. They had begun to evacuate their nonessential personnel, not too long before an entire Imperial fleet arrived.
Fortunately, the shields held valiantly against Imperial orbital assault. However, their shield generator was still vulnerable from the ground. The Empire had deployed a massive ground force made up of AT-ATs and elite Blizzard Forces to advance on Echo Base Six.
Applejack and her troops were doing their best to hold the line in their hastily-dug trenches, but they were losing ground, fast. The AT-ATs were impervious to blaster shots, as not even their heavy turrets were able to punch through.
While AJ was plenty worried for her own survival and the survival of her fellow Rebels, she was also fairly concerned about the safety of her friends. Every single one of the ex-Element Bearers had joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic, all except for Fluttershy, the traitor. The pegasus was, admittedly, probably too terrified of the prospect of wielding either welder or blaster for the Rebellion, but it didn't stop Applejack from feeling betrayed when she refused to join.
Rainbow Dash was somewhere in the skies above, a fine pilot she was. The only other pilot to have survived the bombing run of the Death Star asides from Luke Skywalker, the current hero of the Rebellion.
Twilight Sparkle was currently somewhere in Command, trying to keep everyone alive with her technical skills.
Rarity had been evacuated already, her skills in resource allocation and uniform management not immediately useful in a battle situation.
Pinkie Pie was... somewhere doing whatever it was that Pinkie Pie did. She would appear at the most random of times in the most random of locations, reporting in that she had found the most randomly useful information. While she puzzled much of the Alliance's intelligence officers with her antics, she was undeniably a skilled spy, almost undetectable and able to fit through the strangest of holes. She also could schmooze with the right people very well, such as the big birthday party of '87. That noble never knew that Pinkie was secretly revealing all of his secrets as he ate his quadruple layer vanilla cake.
Back in the present, Applejack's blaster jammed again. The darned thing. The began to work away at the weapon, calling for her comrades to give her cover while she tried to repair the thing. While she was glad to have anything in the way of weapons, as that had been difficult to come by safely without a major base to manufacture them, the weapons made here seemed to jam constantly. Either that or it was the cold getting into their parts.
Boy was Hoth cold.
"...what?" was all that Fluttershy could say.
"You heard me correctly, your greatness, you are our new Emperor now." the well dressed human male informed her.
Fluttershy had woken up not too long ago in the most deep, plush bed she had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It was strange, she hadn't expected to wake up inside beautiful quarters after her assassination of the Galactic Emperor. She had expected to wake up inside of a Death Row cell in some supermaximum security Imperial prison after she inadvertently murdered the highest authority in known space, if not never waking up again as they executed her in her sleep.
She was even more surprised when a well-dressed man walked in along with two Royal Guards to inform her that she was their new Emperor.
"...but, I... I killed your emperor..." Fluttershy mumbled, adjusting her weight on the deep bed she was sitting on as not to fall into it again.
"Nonsense, as far as anyone knows he died of a heart attack!" the man said, walking up to her and crouching down to her level.
Fluttershy's eyes shot open, did they really not know?
"I confess! I killed him!" Fluttershy whimpered, hiding behind her mane.
The man sighed, and the two royal guards facepalmed.
"Yes, we know that you killed him using... whatever Force power you have," the man whispered, gesturing between the two of them, "...However, the outside world doesn't need to know that..."
Fluttershy quivered, "B-but..."
"Now, now. Come on. We both know that the Empire needed a... small change in government. Right?" the man smiled at her, "Now, you are that new power. You see, all we need to do is get the document detailing Palpatine's surrender of the throne to you and... make a few changes. We tell the world that he tragically died this morning of a heart attack. There'll be a power vacuum, and if someone doesn't take the throne, the command defaults to the Grand Moff. But, the Emperor's orders are law, and if we present the Palpatine's final will and testament, you," he placed his finger on Fluttershy's chest, "will be given legal control over the throne."
"B-but, th-that'll be l-lying!" Fluttershy stuttered out.
The man kept a friendly smile on his face, "Fluttershy, if my documents on you are correct, you came here to petition the Emperor to change the Imperial policies on mass-deforestation and animal entrapment on your homeworld, Equus, right?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"My information also tells me that your homeworld is suffering horribly underneath Imperial rule, right?" the man asked.
Fluttershy nodded again.
"And I'm sure you realize that other planets like your own, with their trillions of inhabitants, are suffering equally as badly, correct?"
Fluttershy nodded yet again.
"You could have the power to change that. You could have the power to bring the galaxy back under peaceful, fair, democratic rule. Back into a galaxy where no one must fear another. A galaxy where everyone is equal. A galaxy where the government is out to tend to your needs instead of just its own. Don't you want that?" the man asked enthusiastically.
Hope rose in Fluttershy's chest. The man had a good point. On the throne of the Emperor, she could do so much. However, Fluttershy wasn't stupid, she knew that only somepony who had the authority and the skill to command a nation could do so. Yet, the throne was only open to her. Why? Why had she been chosen?
"Fluttershy, I know your nervous." the man said sympathetically, seemingly reading her thoughts, "But the galaxy needs some... pony like you to restore it. I know you feel incapable, but that's why you need advisors, like me."
Fluttershy looked over at him, drying the tears she had begun to cry, "Y-you would be my advisor?"
The man nodded.
Again, Fluttershy was not completely stupid. She may have been more gullible than the normal pony, but she did realize that she had no reason to trust this random human. She needed...
"That's it!" Fluttershy cried, startling the man, "I need my friends!"
"Y-your friends?" the man said, standing up as Fluttershy got up from her position on the bed.
"Yes! They'll be able to help me!" Fluttershy said, looking up at the man.
"...with what?" the man asked back, a bit of dread in his voice.
"They can be my advisers!" Fluttershy stated.
The man furrowed his brow at her.
"Oh, no, don't worry! Y-you can still be my adviser, um, mister...?"
"Harklin, Tom Harklin. I was the Royal Adviser to Emperor Palpatine." Tom said, nodding at Fluttershy.
"There's... only one problem, Tom, can I call you Tom?" Fluttershy asked meekly.
"Er... yes?" Tom said.
"Thank you! The only problem is, I don't really know where my friends are..." Fluttershy trailed off for a moment, "B-but! You guys probably do! Right? The Empire knows a lot of things, right?"
"Uh... yes. Yes we do. What... exactly do you need to know, my Empress?" Tom grinned, bowing slightly at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy frowned, "Um... could you please not do that? The bowing thing."
"As you wish, your majesty." Tom said, trying not to bow on instinct.
"Um... could you please tell me where a... Twilight Sparkle is, please?" Fluttershy asked.
The fact that the pony was looking to instate her friends as co-advisers troubled Tom Harklin. It would be a fairly big wrench in the works if she began taking advice from them instead of listening to his guiding hand as she did his bidding. The problem could be solved, however. Everyone had a price, and if they didn't, then he could probably get in touch with a few skilled assassins...
Nevertheless, he couldn't deny that, while the pony looked cute, the pony was powerful enough to directly confront Palpatine and kill him on the spot. He couldn't just disobey her orders. Therefore, he had contacted the ISB and ordered any and all information on this... Twilight Sparkle.
In the meantime, however, he had to get the new Empress prepared for her duties on the throne. Which included dressing her in her new royal gown that had been sewn up, surprisingly quickly, by the palace tailors. It was a heavy black garment, fitted for the pony's frame using her documented measurements (they had made sure to take a basic physical scan while she was asleep to make sure she wasn't about to die of some horrible disease), with the Imperial logo on the back cape and on the front buttons.
While social nudity may have been acceptable on the pony's home planet, no one would take her seriously if she gave her opening address without clothes. The pony herself, however, was being quite problematic.
"...d-do I really need to wear that?" the new Empress asked in a small voice, poking her nose around the various creases and folds of the garment.
"I've explained this to you already, your majesty. Nobody is going to take you seriously if your naked." Harklin mumbled.
"But... why does it have to be so... scary looking? And black? It looks so dark!" the pony complained, hoofing around the cloak.
"It's in the imperial national colours." the royal clothier croaked, holding up the gown.
The pony hesitated once again.
"Fluttershy, please." Harklin said, kneeling down to her height again, "For the sake of everyone, please put the robe on. If you are going to take the throne, your going to need to wear the dress to go along with it."
The pony rubbed a... fetlock? Fetlock. The pony rubbed a fetlock as she looked fearfully at the, admittedly edgy-looking, robe. She then took a breath, before nodding.
"Alright, fine. Put it on me." Fluttershy practically whimpered, closing her eyes.
The clothier obliged, pulling the leggings over her hind legs, placing the cloak on her back, fastening the buttons, and tying the dress tight. Harklin smiled once the clothier stepped aside and the pony opened her eyes. The Empress looked much more like an Empress now. Small victories, small victories.
The pony peered around her clothes, "They're actually... not that bad?"
"Good! I aim to please," the old hag of a clothier said, looking the dress over one more time.
"Sir, uh, your majesty. The ISB have the report you asked for." a page said from the doorway, bowing.
"Oh! The one about my friends?" The Empress asked, eager.
"Yes, I believe that's the one." Harklin said, "If you will come with me, your majesty."
The pony obliged, following behind him as he headed to a room with a holographic projector. In all honesty, it looked quite ridiculous as they walked down the corridors.
The yellow winged pony waddled slightly under the royal gowns, and stood two full feet shorter than even the shortest of the Royal Guards escorting her from behind. Harklin honestly never thought he would see the day when an alien walked the halls in Imperial garb.
They arrived in a projector room, where an ISB agent stood beside a floating image of a purple... winged unicorn. Harklin frowned as he saw the vast amounts of floating "WANTED" signs next to her name.
The group stopped, and awkward silence reigned.
"Your majesty, you must order the agent to give his report." Harklin whispered into the pony's ear.
"Oh, sorry... um... can you please... uh... report, please?" the pony barely whispered.
The ISB agent looked nervously at Harklin before asking back in the most respectful tone he could conjure, "I'm sorry, your majesty, I could not hear that."
If Palpatine were the one in the pony's place, the ISB agent would have been tossed across the room and ripped to shreds. Luckily for the agent, the pony was no Darth Sidious.
"Ahem, really, really sorry. Um, can you please... uh... report to me?" the pony asked again, in an actually audible volume.
Ah, yes. You asked about a... Equus Sapien named Twilight Sparkle. As you can see here on the screen, we know a fair bit about her. She was a royal in the pre-Imperial government of Equus. Now, she is a terrorist with the Rebellion, has participated in many illegal operations, and is identified as an dangerous technician and a very intelligent, er, mare." the agent reported, highlighting certain areas of her identity.
Harklin facepalmed. The agent obviously did not realize how close the new Empress was with the Rebel.
"Oh, yes. Th-that's all very, um, interesting. But... uh, do you know where she is right now?" the pony asked, tilting her head.
"We believe she is with the rest of rebel scum on Hoth." the agent replied, still oblivious.
Harklin winced, looking over at the pony to attempt to gauge her reaction. She was surprisingly placid.
"Oh, that's nice. Um, could I go see her?" the Empress asked, looking between Harklin and the agent.
"Er... that's problematic..." the agent trailed off.
"W-why?"
"Palpatine had ordered the Rebel base on Hoth to be attacked and destroyed. I am not sure if you realize this, your majesty, but the Rebellion is a terrorist association. They will not listen to reason. If your friends are among them, then I am not sure if you can rely on them to be trustworthy officials of the state." Harklin interrupted the agent before he could explain himself.
"Terrorists!?" the pony cried, "Th-that doesn't sound like Twilight, or Rarity, or Applejack, or Pinkie Pie, or Rainbow Dash!"
The agent mouthed the word: "who?"
"There must be some... kind of, um, misunderstanding." the pony nodded her head in agreement to herself, "C-can we, um, can I order them to, um, stop attacking them?" the Empress asked, turning to Harklin.
"Like I said, I do not believe the Rebels will listen to your orders, they are insurgents!" Harklin chuckled.
"N-no! Um, can I order the, uh, the Imperial forces to... uh... what's the word again?" the pony asked.
"The Imperial forces? Stand down?" Harklin sputtered, incredulous.
"Well... at least to, um, stop shooting each other. Th-that would be, that would be nice... I-I think..." the pony asked, her voice painfully meek.
Harklin stared at her, before the agent spoke up, "I'm not sure you understand, your majesty, if we do not root out their base of operations. We may never be able to be rid of their criminal influence in our society!"
"Well... o-okay maybe your right. B-but, maybe we can just tell them to stop shooting each other for just a little bit, so I can at least talk to them?" the Empress looked up at Harklin pleadingly.
Harklin frowned, he couldn't have the Empress become a Rebel sympathiser, could he? He also couldn't just contradict the orders of the Emperor, right? He thought he might have a plan.
"Okay, Empress. Always remember, your wish is our command. But I will warn you, as your royal adviser, against the Rebel Alliance. They are simply anarchists who preach a self-righteous cause. They seek to disable the government that has, even though it has brought about oppression, has brought about relative stability to the galaxy." the pony nodded, agreeing reluctantly to Harklin's words, "If they succeed. What will happen? They will probably set up a weak government that will fracture quickly at the cost of many, many lives. The way we are doing it, will forge a new, strong basis for the future. But they will be against us, they will not stop until there is no trace of Imperial government. They are short sighted in the way that they are unable to see what you can do. You cannot let their influence sway your overseeing decisions."
"But I still want my friends back." the pony said firmly, showing a determination that Harklin had not yet seen.
"Of course, on your orders. Tell the communications officer to open a channel to the Imperial fleet around Hoth and order them to stand down..."
Leia Organa stared in disbelief as the snowtroopers froze, holding their fire. They began to back off, still holding their fire as they fell back towards the entrance where they had breached the base. Han Solo's eyes also bugged a bit as the snowtroopers approaching the Millennium Falcon ceased their fire and began to back off, lowering their weapons.
The ship's engines came back on, and everyone on board the Falcon hesitated what to do next as the sound of laser fire died down outside. Everything fell silent, only the sounds of the instruments beeping filling the cabin.
Before anyone could make a move, a voice came out over the ship's and the base's communication systems.
"...Alright, so if we could just all calm down, and, um, please if we could all just, uh, s-stop fighting, please. Th-that would be, um, nice. Please, uh... yes, ahem, cease your fire. Your... um... Empress orders it... please."
"...Alright, so if we could just all calm down, and, um, please if we could all just, uh, s-stop fighting, please. Th-that would be, um, nice. Please, uh... yes, ahem, cease your fire. Your... um... Empress orders it... please."
Twilight Sparkle sat in the control room, the only one left manning the consoles after the final evacuation of Base Echo. She listened, pressing her headset to her ears as she analysed the voice coming through.
"Fluttershy?" she muttered, looking away from her station and stretching a hoof out to plug her headset into the communications console.
She typed away, opening communications both ways.
"Fluttershy, is that you?" she spoke into her microphone.
The voice paused, "...Twilight?"
The holographic projector flickered, the image of the battle map being replaced by a smaller-than-normal blue, flickering pegasus pony. Twilight gaped at what she could only barely recognize as her old friend. The yellow pegasus wore a full, heavy Imperial gown that looked like an adjusted version of the Emperor's clothing. A man stood behind her, faded, almost out of range of the console Fluttershy was speaking into.
"...Fluttershy? What... what happened to you?" Twilight asked, her jaw still hanging open.
"I... um... I might've accidentally assassinated the Mr Palpatine..." the pegasus whimpered, hiding behind her own mane.
All around Hoth and in its orbit, every soldier, mechanic, pilot, commander, and droid from both sides of the suspended firefight echoed the same sentiment as they heard the new Galactic Empress's words.
"...What?"
"...What?" Twilight asked, her jaw now gaping much farther than before.
"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" Fluttershy practically screamed, curling up into a ball on the floor.
Behind her, the faded man facepalmed, hard, before stepping into the image.
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Emperor Palpatine died of a heart attack this morning from unknown," the man gave a hard look in Fluttershy's direction, "Reasons. His last will and testament detailed his orders for miss Fluttershy Flutters... to ascend to the throne in his wake."
"...What?" Twilight repeated.
"I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry!" Fluttershy whimpered, her hooves shaking above her head as she lay facedown on the floor.
Twilight was being bombarded by unbelievable chunks of information left and right, and her mind spun trying to process what she was seeing before her. It had to some kind of trick by the Empire, perhaps to try and catch them off guard.
Twilight glanced at her scanners, which still showed the majority of the Imperial forces having backed off to their walkers, some holding their ground and watching.
Why would they be tricking them, though? The Empire was winning! They had already practically run, with pretty much all the Alliance forces having abandoned the base.
Onscreen, the man turned to the quivering heap of a Fluttershy on the floor.
"Your majesty, you wished to speak with miss Twilight Sparkle?" the man said, stepping out of the image.
After a few moments, Fluttershy seemed to gain the courage to peek out behind her mane again.
"Um... hi. Uh, Twilight? H-how do I, um, talk to you, um, personally? I-" suddenly, the image flickered out, leaving Twilight alone in a room, speechless.
Darth Vader glared angrily as he intercepted the false emperor's transmission, routing it exclusively through his personal projector.
"Who do you think you are?" Vader spat, looking deep into the... pony's... eyes.
"Um... hi? I'm, um, my name is, um, Fluttershy." the pony whispered.
"You are the one who has assassinated my teacher??"
"I-I didn't really mean to, sir. Um, could please, um, let me talk to my friend please..." the image asked pathetically.
"I AM NOT DONE TALKING YET!" Vader screamed, clenching his fist, "You think you can rule with your petty hoof over what is rightfully the Dark Side's? You are wrong! There is nowhere for you to hide from me, fool!"
The pony scurried back slightly, before her face took a surprising turn.
"Wait a second... you're... Darth Vader, aren't you?" the pony asked, her voice strangely firm.
"Yes."
"The Darth Vader... who decapitated the Princess of Love?" the pony's face began to morph into the face of pure power.
"Yyyyyeeeeeeeeeee... mmmmmmaaaaybe?" Darth Vader hesitated, slowly backing away from the projector.
"DIE!" the pony screamed, Staring.
Sergeant Malcom of the 5th Blizzard Force's eyes popped open as he heard a bloodcurdling scream from within the Rebel Base. He and his troopers had been ordered to stand down by his commanders up in the fleet, much to his surprise. They were winning, right? Why would they stop firing now?
He thought he might've had a clue when he saw the Lord Vader, supreme commander of the Imperial Military, running at full tilt like he was being chased by the destroyer of worlds from the entrance of the Rebel Base.
"Make It stop! Make It stop!!!!!" he screamed, flailing wildly with his lightsaber as his boots crunched through the snow.
The snowtroopers looked at each other, their eyebrows raised behind their masks, seeing nothing really wrong with Vader asides from what seemed to be insanity.
"Uh... hey. You wanna try and calm him down?" one said to another.
"While he's swinging that laser-sword thingie around? No way!" the other responded.
The Sergeant personally thought it was good riddance, but he would never ever say it out loud. He liked his privilege to breathe too much.
From that day forward, Darth Vader was never seen again.
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- The Original Gaston · 1.6k words · 72 5 · 2.7k views
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I'll admit... I have no knowledge on Star Wars. But, I do find this interesting. Especially with how Flutters can apparently kill with her Stare.
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My thought exactly.
9383501
*looks around nervously*
*whispers* Neither do I...
… WHAT!?
Give me more plz!
Haha. This is great.
I love this story. When will the next chapter be published?
9582760
Don't get too excited. The only time I work on this story is when I'm sad and trying to work my self-esteem up from the depths of the Dead Zone... guess it matters how my next story goes...
9582766
Okay, cool.
Fluttershy invents a new type of dark magic and becomes an alicorn. Just kidding lol
Apparently, according to the Wikipedia article on the Penance Stare, Fluttershy's Stare is a low-tier version of the Penance Stare. So, her being able to kill with her stare makes sense. Also! Write more of this story!
Savage!Shy is Savage.
I don't care that it's been a year since this was updated, I'm followings anyways.
Out of every fic I've ever read this is the only one to make me laugh out loud.
Nah, you cant get rid of Vader! He is to iconic!
Normally, I can't stand 'Ponies are OP' fanfics.
However, this is exceptionally funny and I hope you continue it.
OK, from a star wars fan... PLEASE CONTINUE, THIS IS SO AMUSING!
This is exceedingly humorous and I love it, dearie. Keep up.
HA!!!!! Also
Aw I wanted to see him have to work for Fluttershy.....
This shouldn’t depend on your emotions . PS I want to see how this story plays out.
9883588
Where did you get that? I can't find any references to Fluttershy's stare anywhere...
OH MY SWEET CELESTIA! Not only did Fluttershy killed the Emperor with the Stare, but then proceeded to MIND-RAPE DARTH FREAKING VADER INTO RUNNING FOR THE HILLS! I'm dying laughing right now.
MOAR PLEASE! But please don't have Flutters turn evil. She's too good for that!
Just dropping another comment to let you know how much I still love this idea (and hope you return to it someday)
So you going to continue this story or is it abandoned
I love the story you wrote so far, it may have some chronological errors, but it's still great and funny sometimes and I can't wait to see what happens next. I read you have a hard time with staying on 1 project but I am confident you can push forward. Keep writing great stories and may the force be with you, always.
Both the Emperor and the chosen one succumbed to Fluttershy's stare, yet Discord in the show just laughed it off. Does this mean Discord is stronger than Palps and Vader?
update?
Please Continue.