The planet Equus has suffered terribly after the Separatist Crisis, during which two major world leaders were killed: Princesses Celestia and Luna. Without these major powers, government has all but broken down and has relied increasingly on the aid of the Galactic Republic. Now, with the rise of the Galactic Empire, Equus has become but one of the many oppressed by the Imperials.
Its main nation, once a superpower, Equestria, has suffered the most. Imperial government has deposed of the unstable oligarchy of Equestria that followed the deaths of the Princesses and are currently utilizing the planet's abundant resources for their own goals. The peaceful residents of the nation have refrained from resisting against the Imperial forces and have, time and time again, received the short end of the stick.
Poverty and crime run rampant, and the beautiful scenery around the planet is now dominated by the towering monstrosities of the Empire's industrial establishments. Forests have been cut down for their rare wood, and many exotic animals have been captured and hauled off for the pleasure of the rich and fortunate around the galaxy.
One pegasus mare, a mare by the name of Fluttershy Flutters, decides to take this matter of ecoterrorism to the regional courts of the Empire. Upon failing to overturn the Imperial policies, Fluttershy does not stop, instead petitioning every court available to her.
She is denied again and again. Desperate to establish sanctuary for her homeworld's environment, she finds the only other place to petition is the Imperial Throne. Fluttershy begins to apply and reapply for an appointment with the Galactic Emperor himself. After much wearing patience, Imperial officials begin to tire of the pony's nagging and decide to give Fluttershy her chance in front of Emperor Palpatine...
Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine sat upon his throne in the Imperial Palace, grinning slightly to himself as cracked his knuckles. He viewed the hologram in front of him, a small pinpoint arrow made its way across the galactic map, heading right for Hoth.
It wouldn't be long before the Rebel base would be destroyed, the Force had told him that much. After that, morale for the Alliance would begin to fail and the Rebel fleets would scatter. By then, it would only be a matter of finding and crushing the splinter cells before the entirety of the Rebellion would be destroyed. Then the Empire would rule for ten thousand years, just like he wanted it to.
That Jedi though, Skywalker, did pose a problem, a minor one however. Luke Skywalker had already started to lean towards the Dark Side. Eventually, the he would be dealt with, either by Vader or by perhaps an unfortunate blast from a stormtrooper.
The Emperor sniggered.
No, the Imperial military knocking out a Jedi like Luke was pretty much a non-possibility. Those soldiers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a barrage of blaster charges from one foot away. No, either Vader would decapitate the boy, or Luke would turn to the Dark Side and become his new apprentice. The Force had suggested to him as much, it was never wrong.
It did trouble him slightly, though. The Dark Side had recently revealed to him the future, but it had said it with a giggle. It was as if the universe itself was ready to pull a royal prank on him.
Suffice to say, he didn't like those vibes.
A royal guard walked into the throne room. "A petitioner has arrived at her appointed time, my lord," the guard rumbled, bowing deeply before his emperor.
"Send... her in," he said, waving his hand.
It was below him to answer to the pleas of the various low-lives of the galaxy, this petitioner would be no different. The alien wanted to try and stop the "Empire's oppression against animals" apparently. These aliens needed to review their contracts under the Empire. Protection in trade for resources. If you got in the way of that, you got imprisoned, or worse.
At least this female had done it the legal way. For that, she got to last a little bit longer.
The doors were opened and a frightened little... equine... practically crawled into the room. She was yellow, and her pink mane was currently covering her eyes completely. The little whelp's palette contrasted terribly with the greys and blacks of the throne room and the cowardly quiver in this little thing's step was the antithesis of the grim atmosphere that resided within those walls. Palpatine smirked a little, reaching up and lifting his hood to reveal his face.
"Are you afraid, little one?" he asked, crouching over a bit in his seat to look at the tiny horse.
"N-n-n..." the pathetic little fur ball whimpered, the Emperor frowned.
While he would've liked to crush the little thing's hopes and dreams, the alien was taking much too long to speak up and seemed to be a little bit too insignificant to be worth manipulating. He rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat. "I can see why the regional courts rejected your petitions, fool," he spat, the alien looked up at him a little, "if you cannot speak up, then I guess I'll just have to remove you."
He gestured to his guards, who started to march the yellow winged alien out the doors.
"W-wait!" the thing cried, "You're not even going to give me a chance to sp-sp... to speak? The guards stopped and looked to their emperor, just in case he decided to give the filly another chance.
"No. Leave."
The guards began to "escort" the equine back outside of the palace using the ancient practiced method of dragging. The thing's face turned red and she began to struggle against the guards. Palpatine grinned at her, and waved a little goodbye as she was dragged out the door. He turned back to his hologram excited to see the recent progress of his scheme. His smile turned sour as he heard a commotion back outside of the room as that yellow little equine charged back into the room.
The Emperor turned to the snivelling female, his hands itching to zap the living daylights right out of the alien. "I SAID, LEAVE!" he roared. He pointed straight at the door and lightning zapped across the room, striking the opposite wall. However, the pony just stood there, undisturbed. Palpatine just looked at her, his eyebrow raised.
The pony began to approach his throne in what he could only assume she thought to be in a menacing manner. He clenched his fist, ready to blow the fool to the ground. He ground his teeth as the alien started to speak with confidence.
"I came here to petition my case before the Galactic Empire!" she shouted. "You decide to throw me out, on my rump, just because I hesitated a bit at the beginning?" she said, practically right in front of him. Palpatine only smirked and charged up another blast of lightning.
"THAT'S." she began.
"NOT." she shouted.
FAIR!" she screamed.
With that final shout, a phenomenon that would be remembered for centuries took place. The pony narrowed her eyes, and centred her Stare on the Emperor. The blast of The Stare smacked Palpatine like a charged lightsaber. He gasped and his lungs hitched as his lightning dissipated from the fingertips. A element that had been buried deep within the human psyche throbbed with pain as the Third Force impacted it with all its might.
Palpatine looked at the abomination in front of him, or at least he tried to. Looking into that thing's eyes was like stabbing his heart with fiery coals. He desperately attempted to blast the alien with the Force, but the attacks seemingly went right through her as if she was nothing but vapour. He clutched at his head and brushed frantically at his body, attempting to shake off the burning feeling of despair and guilt that was building within him. It had been a long time since he had felt those emotions, and he desperately wanted them off.
He screamed to his guards to annihilate the yellow pegasus, but to no avail. The royal guards, even though they weren't the target of the pony's attacks, were paralyzed in place with fear. Voices began whispering in his head, and he continued to scream. He needed to her to stop, and he needed her to stop NOW.
"Please! I'm begging you, I'll sign it all over to you, ALL of it! Just stop! Make it stop!" he begged, starting to feel a crushing pain in his chest.
"I want you to SIGN IT!" the pony screamed, grabbing her petition and shoving it into Palpatine's hands. He fumbled, and the paper dropped to the floor, outside of the butter-yellow monster's vision. He was not thinking straight, he grabbed another paper and pen and began to write furiously, the sensation in his chest worsening. He could see dots in his eyes by the time he put his signature on the bottom of the paper. He reached for every green stamp he could find and nailed the paper with every approval he could think of. He managed to hit the "Scan and Archive" button just as he lost control of the muscles in his chest and slumped over, falling from his throne.
He started to wheeze, and he clutched his heart. The monstrosity blinked, and then stared at him, shock forming on her face. At least the pony had stopped her Stare, that was all he could ask for. Sheev Palpatine closed his eyes and waited for the warm embrace of Death. The heart attack did its job, and the late Galactic Emperor's soul shot right out of the known universe.
Fluttershy looked on in horror as Palpatine stopped breathing, snapping out of her trance as the Emperor lay still on the floor. She ran over to check his pulse, only to find it non-existent.
She looked over to his royal guards. "Get help! Quickly! We need a doctor!" she cried, starting to give the Emperor rescue breaths. The guards looked at one another, their natural side arguing against taking orders from an alien. Their more logical side quickly took over their nature, arguing that if this pony could topple Palpatine, she could most definitely behead them!
They ran from the throne room, shaking in their boots, looking for the nearest medical droid to their proximity.
Some time later...
Fluttershy watched on in disbelief as the late Sheev Palpatine (or Darth Sidious as he was known to some) was wheeled off towards the morgue for preservation. She had never known that her Stare could kill, she only ever used it on her animals... and on that one cockatrice that time. Tears formed in her eyes as the reality settled in.
She had just killed a human for a stupid petition, just for the preservation of the Everfree forest. It was the entire reason she went through the entire court system, it was because she had never wanted to hurt anyone in the first place! Some other humans had started to gather around the throne room, most of them keeping a sizable distance away from her. For good reason too, she was a monster. Sure Palpatine wasn't a nice guy, but that didn't give her any reason to kill him! She wished to be arrested and tried for her crimes then locked in the prison-mines that held so many a terrible rumour around the galaxy. It would only be a matter of time too, Palpatine's guards had to eventually arrest her, right?
Fluttershy hid behind her mane and rocked slowly back and forth on the steps of the now vacant throne, staring at the petition paper like as if it were a deadly snake. She then noticed another paper beside her, a crinkled yellow document. She stopped rocking for a moment, recognizing the paper as the petition that she had brought in with her. She gingerly picked it up, her ears drooping even more as she saw the absence of any signature at the bottom of the petition. She had killed him and not even managed to get his approval signature?
She questioned her moral state as she realized that the signature actually seemed to be more important than the Emperor's death. She walked over to the other document, the one that the Emperor had actually signed, and picked it up. The humans slowly backed away as she did so, a bunch of frightened whispers murmuring from the crowd. She read over the document and her eyes widened as she did so.
center]Imperial Decree No: 3290012-78
The Equus Sapien, Fluttershy Flutters is to be given the title and privileges of Galactic Empress immediately and all assets under my name are to be transferred to her possession. Signed, Emperor Sheev Palpatine. 03ABY
She looked up at the crowd before her, the guards looked on in fear, the others were actually, on second glance, looking on her with shock and apprehension. She stared at the paper one more time before looking back up at the gathered crowd. She started to hyperventilate as she kept looking down at the document. Had Palpatine really just signed everything over to her? No, it didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense! She hadn't asked for him to do... that! She just wanted the Empire to stop bullying Equestria! It... it didn't...
Fluttershy's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted dead away.
Royal Adviser Tom Harklin looked on as the equine fainted away. He ran over and picked up the paper as it fluttered to the ground. His eyes almost popped out of his head at what he saw.
Imperial Decree No: 3290012-78
The Equus Sapien, Fluttershy Flutters is to be given the title and privileges of Galactic Empress immediately and all assets under my name are to be transferred to her possession.
Signed, Emperor Sheev Palpatine. 03ABY
That was ridiculous. If what the guards had told him was true, that creature had probably used the Force to kill the Emperor (which was a an impressive feat, admittedly). That means she just as well could have mind-tricked into making up this document. It would be easy to have the pony arrested and leave the throne free. He looked at the paper again, confirming that the Emperor's signature was a match to his usual signature. Tom Harklin would know, after all, the position of Royal Adviser was nothing more than a glorified secretary, meaning that he handled all of the paperwork.
He chewed his lip. This vacuum provided many opportunities for him to ascend to the throne, or at least to get higher up the ladder, he couldn't let it pass by. He couldn't let the throne be taken by some Supreme Commander or by Vader, yet he couldn't just let the alien take the throne either. That pony wouldn't know anything about running even a business, let alone an entire galaxy.
That's when the thought hit him.
It was perfect, the pony had come here petitioning the emperor for relief of the Empire's resource policies. She obviously would decree the Empire back into a Republic if given the chance! All he needed to do was keep her in power. He would let her make her aid programs and relieve the outer rims of "suffering". She was soft, it would be easy to convince her that he was her friend and that what she was doing was "good".
Maybe he could even convince her to use her... Force powers or whatever she had used to kill the Emperor, to destroy Darth Vader and take him out of the picture. Then, he would reveal Grand Moff Tarkin's war crimes, get the Empress to have him executed. That would leave the position open, meaning that the Empress would need to choose a new commander or take on the position as the practical head of the Imperial Military herself.
The alien was a pacifist, she wouldn't know how to run the Imperial Military. He was sure the Empress would love to give her new best friend the position. He would build himself up as a great guy with good morals and a vision for a prosperous future while by the side of the Empress. Then, he just needed to give her the push to reform the Empire back into a Republic. This... Fluttershy was shy, as her name suggested. There was no way she would be able to win a republican election, maybe she would even resign at the beginning of her campaign!
It would be easy then, to win the election to Grand Vizier. The Empress would be out of the picture and Harklin would be able to take the galaxy to new heights! All he needed to do for now was keep the Emperor's death on the hush-hush and preserve Palpatine's decree...
He then ran over to the captain of the royal guard, who was currently speaking to the frightened soldiers who were in the throne room when... whatever happened to the Emperor took place. He motioned them away as he noted a squad of stormtroopers approaching, likely for crowd control over the other officials and staff that had gathered.
"Listen closely," he said to the head guard, "Emperor Palpatine has decreed that the pony," he gestured towards Fluttershy, "become the next Empress after his death."
For proof, he showed the paper to the guard. He could probably guess at the look of incredulity behind the guard's mask.
"I need you to transport... Empress Fluttershy... to her chambers," he said.
The guard captain looked at him. "Adviser Harklin, are you meaning to tell me that the assassin that just killed Darth Sidious is the Galactic Emperor?" he muttered, disbelief prevalent in his voice.
Harklin grabbed the guard's shirt. "Yes! It is his dying testament! Right here in writing!" he then looked in well-forged fear at the furry yellow pony, "Besides, do you really think that this thing, which killed the Emperor himself I might add, won't kill us when she receives the premonition of our betrayal?" he whispered, his voice rising into a rasp by the end of his thought.
The captain looked unreadably at the Adviser, then at the pony, before gesturing to his subordinates and walking towards her. One burly guard lifted Fluttershy into his arms, while the rest took their weapons and escorted the Empress to what used to be Palpatine's quarters.
Tom looked over at the stormtrooper sergeant and walked over to him. "Lock down the palace, no word of the Emperor's death leaves the building."
"Yes, Sir. If you say so, Sir," the stormtrooper saluted, before turning and speaking to his compatriots.
Harklin turned and watched as the royal guards carried Fluttershy to her new quarters. That pony would be of great use to him, he knew that much right off the bat. He just needed to play his cards right...
He looked over at the throne. He laughed to himself at the thought of an alien sitting upon it. A female alien no less. It would be humiliating, being under the absolute command of a feminine miniature horse, but it would be worth it. he would be able to leave his position of Pee-On Glorified Secretary and take the position of Beloved Grand Vizier. It was only a matter of time...
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.