Amethyst Star Isn't Prepared For This

by MagicS

Nothing Can Stop Us Now

Back in the wonderful land of Equestria there was a small town slightly south of Vanhoover that went by the name of Bayhoof. Currently five mares were running full speed away from it into the foothills and small forest around it while an angry mob chased them. The two pegasi of the group didn’t want to ditch the others so they kept on the ground and hoped the ponies of Bayhoof would get tired of chasing them soon or that they could lose them in the forest.

Amethyst ran as hard as she could, fear gripping her heart at the retribution the villagers wanted to mete out against her and the others. Diamond, Emerald, Opal, and Topaz all followed close behind her, the five mares in more danger than normal thanks to their most recent failed scheme. They didn’t want to look behind them to see the pitchforks and torches, the shouting was good enough to motivate them to keep on moving. It didn’t take long for them to make it to the trees but they had to keep on running until they were absolutely sure no one was following them. Being caught would mean being thrown in jail, or worse, and Amethyst really wanted to avoid any of them getting lynched.

This little misadventure in Bayhoof may have been a failure but it was only a minor setback to them. She—they’d have what they wanted soon enough.

Only later that night, when all of them were panting in exhaustion and hiding in the middle of the forest, did they finally allow themselves to relax, hoping that the ponies of Bayhoof had indeed given up on them and returned to their homes. Now the five mares could regroup and rest and never return to that town again.

“This… this is not how things were supposed to go,” Diamond said between bated breaths as she shook her head, Emerald nodding along in agreement.

“I knew this was a bad idea, what were we thinking?” Topaz sat down and held her head.

Amethyst wasn’t having any of that though. “It was an excellent idea. It was just the execution that was a little faulty.”

“I still don’t see how any of this was supposed to lead to us eventually taking over Equestria one day,” Opal said.

Amethyst did not fight the urge to roll her eyes. “That’s because you’re an idiot and that’s why I’m the leader.”

“Whatever. Can we not talk about this right now?” Opal yawned. “I’m tired, let’s just find some soft grass and sleep.”

“No! We need to go over what just happened immediately, while it’s still fresh in all our minds! We have to reflect on things now, not put them off!” Amethyst angrily stamped a hoof on the ground.

“Okay, okay, geez...” Opal backed off, pouting.

“We have to go over every single little step and figure out why the plan failed so badly,” Amethyst told the other four, getting them to all stand in front of her. “Everything should have been very simple for us, Bayhoof is just a small town! So why did things go so wrong? Hmm?” She looked them each in the eyes. “Well? I’m waiting.”

“Well don’t look at me! I did what I was supposed to do just fine!” Diamond sat down and crossed her hooves over her chest, defiantly looking away. “If Topaz didn’t mess up her job we wouldn’t be in this mess at all.”

“Hey!” Topaz shouted at the earth pony. “I had a way harder job to do than any of you! Opal and Emerald screwed up too you know? And should you really talk when you didn’t even really have to do anything other than act nice to a bunch of dumb farmers?”

“They made me work! It was awful!” Diamond shouted back at her.

“Enough!” Amethyst yelled and clamped their mouths shut with her magic. “This is not what I meant by going over things.” She groaned and dragged a hoof down her face. “Alright… let’s start from the beginning. I gave us all specific jobs to do. Things should’ve gone just fine. So Diamond, you ingratiating yourself with the carrot farmers went fine?”

“Yep!” Diamond smugly grinned.

“And how well did turning them against the potato farmers go?” Amethyst asked.

Her grin faltered and she rubbed the back of her head. “That… was a work in progress.”

“It should’ve been something done days ago,” Topaz sniped at her.

“The ponies in Bayhoof got along well!” Diamond argued.

“Stop!” Amethyst interrupted. “No more of that again. We’ll end on the point that Diamond failed at her task too.” Amethyst ignored the pout from Diamond and continued. “Alright, so Topaz, we all know how unsuccessful you were with seducing the sheriff.”

“He was married! How is that my fault?! It’s totally unfair to blame this on me when I had the hardest thing to do!” The pegasus floated up and angrily argued.

Amethyst tried to keep her cool and held up a hoof to pause the pegasus. “No one is solely blaming you. But it’s still a fact that you failed at your part of my plan.”

“Your plan was impossible!” Topaz yelled at her.

“It was not impossible! It was a great plan!” Amethyst yelled back at her, her patience straining.

“Oh boy...” Opal shook her head. “Now it’s all falling apart.”

“It is not,” Amethyst glared at her too. “And since you feel like adding in your two bits, how about we talk about you arriving in town a day earlier than you were supposed to, peddling a phony miracle cure for a sickness that nobody had caught yet!”

“Well, like, even if I had arrived on the right day it wouldn’t have mattered since Emerald got caught poisoning the town’s well in the first place,” Opal pointed at the green-maned earth pony while she defended herself.

Emerald puffed out her cheeks and stuck her nose in the air, not deigning to respond to that.

“Don’t just pass the buck around, you all need to take responsibility for this,” Amethyst stamped her hoof again.

“Well why don’t you take responsibility for coming up with a dumb, convoluted, impossible plan that nobody could follow and doesn’t even make any sense!” Topaz finally just outright blew her stack at their unicorn leader. “You didn’t even do any real work, you just sat around in city hall for the past week signing papers for the mayor!”

Amethyst growled in annoyance and dragged a hoof down her tired face. “Do I seriously need to explain this all to the four of you again?”

From the looks on their faces it seems she did. The unicorn was getting kind of tired of this. The five of them had known each other for a long time now, they were friends, and yet no matter how many times Amethyst told them to trust in her and her plans nothing seemed to go right for them. Whether it was bad luck, incompetency, or sheer stupidity, all of their schemes unraveled soon after they began. Amethyst’s plans for Bayhoof merely being the latest in a long line of failures when it came to her grand desire of one day controlling all of Equestria. But if there was one thing she was, it was determined. She wouldn’t let this discourage her and right after they finished talking over how things had gone wrong in Bayhoof she’d have another scheme cooked up lickety-split.

“My job was equally, if not more so, important than any of yours,” Amethyst slowly explained. “Everything we were doing was supposed to lead to us eventually taking over the town of Bayhoof, the first step in my master plan.” She looked up into the sky and smirked while clenching a hoof in front of her chest.

“You ever think we might be reaching too far?” Diamond asked her.

Amethyst scowled and looked down at the earth pony, narrowing her eyes at her. “No. The five of us came together because we’re-”

“Losers that can’t fit into society?” Opal guessed.

“No, because we’re destined for greatness and have a shared goal of accomplishing something amazing,” Amethyst finished. “I wasn’t just signing documents with the mayor, I was fabricating documents. Documents that would implicate him in a money-laundering scheme and other criminal activity that I would then find out about and tell the rest of the town, completely turning them on him. At that point I would become mayor as the next logical choice, the ponies would love and trust me after all. Meanwhile Diamond would have been gaining the trust and respect of the carrot farmers while at the same time stoking flames of resentment between them and the potato farmers on the other side of the village, sabotaging some crops and making it seem like the potato farmers did it, things like that. And then Emerald was supposed to drop our poison into the well used by the carrot farmers, making them sick and ruining their crops. At that point the potato farmers would be run out of town by an angry mob and their farms taken over. While Topaz at the same time would have the sheriff completely twisted around her hoof. Giving us, and the patsies close to us, total control of Bayhoof.”

Amethyst paused and sighed, taking a deep breath. “Unfortunately, some ponies just can’t help but be screw-ups it seems.” She looked at Emerald. “Emerald, you were working at the diner for days making friends with the ponies of Bayhoof, trying to become a trusted and well-liked figure in the town. But then you don’t pay attention when you’re at the well in the middle of the night and you’re seen by several ponies pouring something suspicious into the water.” Her eyes flickered to Topaz. “And because Topaz failed to get the sheriff on her side we couldn’t just sweep everything under the rug.” To Opal. “And then someone comes into town bringing our own cure for the poison a day early, making ponies even more suspicious that something is going on. Which ends with the carrot farmers realizing that all their problems started when Diamond first came to Bayhoof.”

She turned her back to the four of them and glared in the direction of Bayhoof. “And that ended with four morons being chased through the village, four morons who didn’t use their heads at all as they ran right. To. Me. Thereby letting the villagers know that I was also in on whatever was going on. And so we were run out of town while almost being tarred and feathered.” She glanced over her shoulder at her companions. “Is that not what happened?”

“Uhh...” Opal shuffled about and refused to meet her gaze. “Maybe?”

“You know even if things did go perfectly I’m with Opal on not seeing how this gets us to ruling Equestria one day,” Diamond rubbed her chin.

“It’s called starting small,” Amethyst snapped at her. “You know what small is right? It’s the same thing as your brain. Now the four of you sit down and pay attention.” She said as she fully turned back around and had the four other mares line up for her. “Bayhoof would’ve eventually led to our takeover of Vanhoover. It was the first step, then we would take a bigger step, and a bigger one, until our true goal. You see, you morons, because we would’ve had such high standing in Bayhoof we’d be trusted and admired by the ponies of Vanhoover when they learned about us. And it would be even easier to take it over using the same methods even with it being a larger city thanks to all the resources and accomplices we would’ve had.”

Amethyst sighed and sat down. “I’m sorry for being a little snippy right now. I’m just a little upset and disappointed. Once we had Vanhoover we would’ve had some real connections and power. The four of you would’ve gone to step three, traveling to Las Pegasus, Manehattan, Baltimare, and Fillydelphia, doing the same with them. Eventually the five of us would be the mayors of all the biggest cities around Equestria, gaining more resources, political clout, influence, acumen, and followers. All the ponies on our side would give us more than enough power and respect to lobby for even greater power and influence in Canterlot itself!” The unicorn spread her arms to the sky. “Yes, it might take a while, but we’d situate ourselves in Canterlot and work our way higher and higher, ousting those in the way, corrupting the system, taking what we can, until eventually even the Princesses would be forced to hand over rulership of Equestria to us! Hahahaha!”

She laughed and laughed as she thought about her dream until she finally ran out of breath. Calming down, Amethyst stood up and coughed into her hoof to regain a measure of composure. Her friends had varying looks of apprehension on their faces but that was nothing new for Amethyst to deal with. She’d just have to reassure them again, after all, they wanted the same things.

“Can we really do all that?” Opal asked.

“Yes, we can. We just need to believe in ourselves. With some confidence and determination the five of us can accomplish anything,” Amethyst told her, told all of them.

I can accomplish anything. She thought to herself.

---

A few days later the five mares walked into a town a little south of Bayhoof but still on the western border of Equestria. Things were going to go differently this time. First of all they weren’t just going to do the same thing (even though Amethyst would forever fight that her plan for Bayhoof was perfect) and they would stick together too. Amethyst would be able to watch over all of them and make sure everything went swimmingly and the others would be reassured knowing that she was always right behind them.

In this new town they were going to act like beggars who were down on their luck, preying on the pity and sympathy of the ponies to work their way inside the town’s various social circles and functions. And who would suspect some innocent destitutes when things started to go wrong around here?

“Just stick together girls and everything will be fine,” Amethyst told them. “The five of us will have control of this place in no time. Just have faith in me, that’s all you need to do.”

Diamond, Emerald, Opal, and Topaz nodded, even if on the inside they may have been a little unsure. They all didn’t even know the name of this new town yet as they walked inside for the first time down the main street. It was the same kind of place as Bayhoof, small and close-knit with mostly family owned stores and businesses. The large farms that Bayhoof had were completely absent though. Amethyst was leading them to the center of town where they could find the most ponies and start their act, there was probably a good cafe or something full of ponies right now too, Amethyst wanted them to make a good impression on as many as possible at once.

She made sure the five of them were looking as downtrodden and miserable as possible as they walked through town in case any saw them.

There were a couple who did notice the new mares in town but for now they kept their distance, only just acknowledging their existence instead of coming up to see who they are or why they were here. Although there were a few ponies in town that seemed to regard them with more puzzled expressions, as if they recognized them from somewhere but couldn’t place just where…

Amethyst wasn’t really paying attention to that though, she was just making sure they were seen and that her girls weren’t doing anything stupid. So far that was working out alright.

Opal however did notice some of the strange looks they were getting. “Does anyone else think that some of the ponies in this town are looking at us weirdly?”

“Maybe they don’t get many visitors?” Diamond shrugged.

“Forget it, just keep the act up and look sad,” Amethyst told them.

And then a great bit of happenstance occurred.

A flyer being blown about by the wind just so happened to smack right into Emerald’s face. The earth pony scowled and fidgeted as she removed the piece of paper and held it up to see just what had decided to make a landing strip of her face. As her eyes quickly roamed around the flyer and she read what it was, Emerald blanched.

The green-maned earth pony grimaced and started poking Diamond in the side to get her attention.

“What is it?” Diamond batted her hoof away but was forced to read the flyer as Emerald shoved it into her face. The scowl on Diamond’s face quickly morphed to fear and she went white just as Emerald had. “A-A-Amethyst! You really need to see this!”

Amethyst rolled her eyes at the interruption and Diamond’s surely exaggerated worries. “What?” She looked back and quickly had the flyer forced into her hooves, the bored expression on her face soon turning to match Diamond and Emerald as she read it. “Oh...”

“What is it?” Topaz asked.

Amethyst turned the flyer around so the two pegasi could see what was written on it too, and now all five of them knew they were in a bit of trouble. The flyer had five crude drawings of their faces and Cutie Marks underneath them with a short description of their looks written underneath that. The rest of the flyer was taken up with a summary of their misdeeds in Bayhoof and how they had been ran out of town just recently. And of course, at the very top of the flyer above everything else was one simple boldly-typed word: WANTED.

“Uhh, how many of these flyers do you think there are around here?” Opal wondered as she looked around again, noticing with an increasing frequency the ponies staring back at them.

“Enough that we should leave. Now,” Amethyst said, biting her lip in anger.

---

“So Bayhoof spread the word about us? We’re ponies wanted by the law? We’re criminals?!” Diamond sputtered in panic.

“We were always criminals,” Opal plainly told her.

“Yeah but no one was chasing after us or wanted to arrest us!” Diamond sat on the ground and rocked back and forth, holding her head in her hooves as her freak out continued.

“I’m with Diamond here, this is really bad,” Topaz shuffled about uncomfortably, her wings constantly opening and closing. “And we haven’t even accomplished anything. Now we’re wanted mares with nowhere to go...”

Emerald couldn’t deal with that thought and all the anxiety oozing from the others and started nervously chewing on her mane while trying to ignore everything else.

And meanwhile Amethyst stood between them all, thinking. She was doing her best to keep her composure and not get discouraged. The last thing the others needed was seeing her freak out too. There was still a lot of internal worry in her, and a little bit of sweat coalescing at her brow. This was a problem. A potentially big problem. They might have to go far away or wait a long time for this to blow over. Ponies recognizing them was not a good thing just yet. Not until they’ve built up their reputation and power base. The chance of actually getting arrested was slim in Equestria but if the word was out about them the chances of them getting what they wanted was even slimmer.

“This is fine, there’s no reason to panic,” she finally told the other four.

Opal raised an eyebrow and looked at her in disbelief. “No reason to panic?”

“This will blow over. Nothing serious happened in Bayhoof, ponies will forget about us soon enough. But we should probably hide out for a bit. Or maybe take a little vacation outside of Equestria,” Amethyst said as she looked deeper into the forest they were currently hiding in, looking west. “As long as we aren’t found or seen for a while it will be okay. Let’s go.”

Despite the trepidation the four others shared they followed her like always.

“So where are we going then? Just hiding out in the hills to the west?” Topaz asked.

“Actually I was thinking we might as well go the distance. If we really don’t want anyone to find us we should go to the Undiscovered West. And who knows, perhaps there will be something special for us to find out there,” Amethyst grinned.

“That seems kind of dangerous...” Diamond put forth, a bit hesitant about that idea.

“Oh grow a spine. The five of us can handle anything. I’ve always said that,” Amethyst frowned at her. “Our plans for Equestria have to be put on hold for now but who’s to say we can’t find something else that may give us what we want.”

The five mares walked through the heavy forest that was devoid of civilization, already past the point where any towns belonging to Equestria would stand. They were tired, worried, and disappointed at the recent turns their lives had taken but still they continued on. None of them knew what was coming next and all but one were unsure if they would ever find success. Diamond thought they were destined for failure, Opal that they had no place in Equestria, Emerald that she’d never be truly happy, and Topaz just afraid of being punished. Amethyst was ignoring reality.

It actually wasn’t long though that they had been traveling west that they heard something. A sound of heavy wheels turning over the ground coming from up ahead.

“What’s that? Is there someone out here?” Opal wondered.

“Must be,” Amethyst called for them to stop and rubbed her chin. “Hmm, perhaps we’ve come across some good luck already? Everyone be quiet, we’re going to see what’s going on.”

They snuck through the brush until they came across a wide dirt road that lanced through the forest, heading from north to south. On that road the five of them saw a large covered wagon, huge actually, being pulled by a single pony. It was actually strange to see just one pony being able to pull that thing, and he didn’t look particularly strong either, a little tall but actually fairly thin and lanky. He had a murky white coat with a red mane and tail and continued pulling his wagon as the heavy wheels thundered over the dirt, seemingly not knowing that five mares were watching him.

“This is perfect,” Amethyst grinned.

“What do you mean?” Diamond asked.

“Look at that wagon, it must be full of all sorts of things. We’ll rob this schmuck and use what he’s lugging around to get back on our hooves. Now stay quiet and let’s sneak up on him,” Amethyst motioned them to all leave the bushes and quietly sneak up behind the wagon, getting ready to ambush the stallion pulling it.

That plan, like so many others of hers, went down in flames when the stallion stopped and spoke.

“I say, I say, you do not need to sneak around in the shadows. See you, I see you, ponies in need.”

Amethyst scowled and clicked her tongue, nodding to the others to come walking around the front of the wagon where they could face the traveling stallion. “Alright, so you noticed us. Well it’s still too bad for you, you can now either peacefully give us everything in that wagon or we can take it by force.” She threatened him.

“My oh my, everything? Everything indeed? No, no, that it is not what you need. Not what you need indeed,” the white stallion shook his head as he looked at the five mares with a pitying expression.

“Shut up weirdo! Now what’s in the wagon?” Amethyst’s patience was wearing thin.

“Oh my, misses Amethyst, Diamond, Emerald, Opal, and Topaz, to be so despondent and so in need as to do this, tsk, tsk. My wagon? In it is what ponies need. And only one thing in particular for thee,” he shrugged.

“Talk like a normal pony!” Amethyst stomped a hoof on the ground while the other four regarded the stallion with confused expressions.

“Do not worry, do not worry, I shall help thee. Ignore my speech, ignore it if you like, I still have what you need as I help all ponies I see,” the stallion unhooked himself from the wagon while the five mares watched him, a little wary and suspicious of what he might do but none of them moving to stop him. He reached into the front flap on his wagon and in a second pulled out a pristine and shiny black box. “Here, here, what Amethyst needs is here. What all of you need for help with your dreams.”

The five walked up to him and looked as he opened up the box, revealing five gleaming red crystals inside.

“What are those?” Amethyst asked, totally enraptured by their beauty. Her earlier aggressiveness towards the strange stallion evaporating.

“Helpful things. After all that is what I am. One who helps, yes indeed,” he took the largest crystal from the center of the box and hoofed it to Amethyst. “Your siren song will begin with these and all you want will come to you, yes indeed.”

Amethyst stared into the red depths of the crystal, she could feel the magic, feel the power emanating from it. Yes. This was it. These crystals were the key, she knew it.

“I shall be on my way, on my way, to find others in need. The five of you can now find your dreams, indeed,” the red and white stallion gave out the other crystals and went to hook himself back up to the wagon. “Enjoy your travels, enjoy where you go, Harlequin Red bids you farewell.”

Amethyst perked up and turned to look at him, confusion written on her face. “But how do we use these crystals, what do they do?”

“Sing, sing, just sing all you want, put your mind into your mouth and you shall get whatever you want,” Harlequin Red shrugged and started to walk away, the large wagon effortlessly being pulled along while the five Songstresses moved to the side of the road.

“Amethyst, now what? These things are… are...” Opal couldn’t find the words as she herself was hypnotized by the beauty and power of the crystal she held.

“Ours. That’s what they are,” Amethyst rubbed her crystal, so polished she was able to see her reflection in it. “I can see… these crystals are our future, they’re what we’ve always needed. Yes, finally no one will be able to challenge our greatness. Girls, we’ve got it. You may have doubted me or yourselves before, but can’t you feel it? The power from these crystals will let us achieve anything! We have it! We finally have it!” Amethyst held the crystal in her hooves high above her head, grinning maniacally. “Everything will be ours, hahahaha!”

The other four watched her and felt their worries starting to slip away, looking into their crystals they felt true confidence start to leak in and empower them as well. Amethyst was right, this was the start of something amazing for them all.

---

At the concert in the Major Auditorium the Songstresses looked on in glee as Periwinkle was wrestled to the ground. It was over. They had won. Amethyst gave a sidelong glance to her four comrades and they prepared for the grand finale of their song. When it was over Diminuendo would no longer exist, it would be whatever they wanted it to be. And after that? The sublime music would conquer whatever they saw fit.

Amethyst had them all stand together, the unicorn Songstress who had everything in her grasp took a deep breath and loudly sang once more over the entire crowd with a triumphant smile on her face.

Who said Equestria was all?
Soon the whole world will fall
So for now we’ll take our bow
Because nothing can stop us now!

Comments

[Dashie04]

This is quite an impressive backstory, I like it.

[RoboRed]

I had an inkling from the wagon that it was Harlequin Red.

I don't know what his game is in this world, but considering his previous appearance I'm going to lean towards "cosmic giver of plot devices/props".