Reaction
Cheerilee had a spring in her step as she walked out of the sofa shop with a fresh supply of quills in her saddlebags. It was a bit unusual for there to be groups of guard ponies marching through Ponyville on patrol but Cheerilee assumed it was just one of the other princesses visiting and didn't give it much thought since there weren't any screams. Cheerilee had a good book to read, a good friend to discuss it with later, copious note-taking supplies and the weather was gorgeous. As far as she was concerned all was right in Ponyville.
As was so often the case, Diamond Tiara killed Cheerilee's good mood.
"There she is!" the little filly shouted across the market. She pointed at Cheerilee with one forehoof while adjusting her ornate and almost foal-sized helmet with the other.
"Diamond Tiara?" Cheerilee said in confusion as two stony-faced guard ponies started toward her. "What are you doing?"
Diamond Tiara smirked. "Daddy had me deputized as an officer! Now halt, criminal scum!"
Cheerilee could have sworn she saw one of the guards roll his eyes at that, but they both kept coming towards her. She tried giving them an embarrassed smile.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what Diamond Tiara is up to but I'm her teacher and whatever this is about I'm sure—Mmpf!"
Cheerilee was cut off by a cloth gag in her mouth. As she tried to speak through it she felt a rope snaking around her legs. The rope tightened and Cheerilee was suddenly yanked off of her hooves. She landed heavily on her side at just the right angle to see a unicorn in golden armor looking down at her. His horn was glowing gold. Cheerilee tried to struggle. She heard Diamond Tiara snickering and something inside Cheerilee snapped. She met the unicorn's gaze and her eyes widened, pupils dilating. The unicorn stood stockstill as the Stare hit him and the rope went slack.
Cheerilee spat out the gag as the unicorn magic holding it there vanished. "I don't know WHAT this is about—" she started to thunder before being cut off again by a hard hoof to the back of the head. She fell forward, unconscious.
"Sir, are you alright?" one of the other guards asked the unicorn.
The unicorn blinked and shook his head. "I, yes. Escort the prisoner back to Captain Frolicsome Meadowlark on the double."
The two guards saluted and hauled Cheerilee away. The unicorn looked down at the still smirking Diamond Tiara. "You actually turned out useful," he said, still dizzy from a mix of shock and bemusement.
Diamond Tiara grinned sweetly. "Was there ever any doubt?"
†
Big Macintosh gulped and looked the evil bunny general square in the eye.
"Now Angel," Big Macintosh said sternly. "Y'all know me. Ah'm friends with Miss Fluttershy and Ah ain't gonna do nothing to hurt her."
A flicker of uncertainty crossed the bunny's face. He glanced dubiously over at Trixie and then back to Big Macintosh. Big Macintosh pressed on.
"And you know mah little sister and her—".
Angel Bunny's eyes widened as he recognized Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The malicious grin returned and he chittered something that probably meant something like "Make their death a slow one" as he signaled his critter army to charge.
And that was when the explosions started.
Big Macintosh's first thought was that the army of woodland critters had somehow produced a piece of artillery. His second thought was that the royal guard was attacking again and he didn't have time for a third thought because he was too busy being bodily hurled through the air toward the one place Trixie has deemed relatively safe and currently free of rabid furry killing machines: Fluttershy's cottage. More precisely, the second story window of Fluttershy's cottage.
Trixie, Big Macintosh and two little fillies crashed into Fluttershy's bedroom with an unholy racket. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle bounced to a stop in Fluttershy's bed. Big Macintosh smashed clear through an interior wall and came to a stop somewhere out of sight. Trixie landed on her hooves in the exact center of the room. Trixie smirked and instinctively tried to rise up on her hind legs but instead lost her balance and feel flat on her face.
A frightened "Meep!" came from in front of Trixie as she tried to recover from her pratfall. Trixie looked up to see a pretty yellow pegasus backing away from her in fear.
Trixie bent all of her amazing talents to thinking of something diplomatic to say. Right before she opened her mouth a white mouse leapt between her and Fluttershy. The little critter was brandishing a fork like a spear and squeaking fiercely. Trixie smirked.
"Really?" Trixie said as she charged her horn and flung the mouse off to the side. "As if a mere mouse could threaten the Great—"
Something changed. Trixie lowered her nose to see Fluttershy giving her a death glare.
"How dare you?" Fluttershy said in a voice much too soft to be so terrifying.
"Trixie was—" began Trixie.
"HOW DARE YOU?!" Fluttershy roared. The Stare intensified. Trixie felt her knees go weak as paralyzing and entirely rational terror swept over her. Fluttershy advanced, a falcon swooping down on its prey.
"I know that you're a bully and everything and that you TOOK OVER MY HOME and made me DANCE for you in my friend Rarity's socks right out in front of EVERYPONY and that you took my friend Pinkie Pie's mouth and messed up my friend Rainbow Dash's wings, but hurting a harmless little mouse that was just trying to protect me? REALLY?!"
Trixie felt the world fading away until nothing was left but those terrible, accusing eyes.
"Fluttershy, wait!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. Fluttershy glanced over at the bed and Trixie felt the Stare abate slightly.
"Girls!" Fluttershy said firmly. "I'll check on you in just a minute. Stay right there!"
"But Miss Fluttershy!" Apple Bloom protested.
Fluttershy turned a tiny bit of the Stare's power on the fillies.
"Girls! Behind the bed, now!" Fluttershy commanded. She then turned her full attention back to Trixie.
"You think you can hurt my friends and break into my home and SCARE THESE SWEET LITTLE ANGELS?! Fluttershy shouted as she resumed her role as the physical incarnation of Fear. "Discord! Come here, NOW!"
The bedroom seemed to ripple. A pattern on the carpet began to move, undulating of its own accord. A pair of eyes popped open and suddenly the shape was three dimensional. Then four dimensional. Six dimensions, eight, sixteen and at that point everypony present decided it was best to stop thinking about it.
"Fluttershy!" the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony shouted. "I didn't do it! Shining Armor is a liar!"
That's not important right now," Fluttershy said.
"I had to give that other captain something for borrowing his ship," Discord continued. "And they still haven't gotten the hang of treating baldness in his century and I thought he would really like Shining Armor's mane—"
Discord stopped in mid sentence. "Wait, what?"
Part of Fluttershy recognized that she should probably warn somepony about that. The rest of her stayed focused on the task at hand.
"This is the bully who took over Ponyville last year," Fluttershy said sternly. "She's up to something again."
Discord cocked his head. "Oh yes, I see what you mean. Looks like the entire town is on lockdown."
Fluttershy flinched. "What?"
"Mhm," Discord said. "Most of your friends have already been detained by the guards. They have reinforcements about to arrive; would you like me to divert them?"
"Yes!" Fluttershy said. Her voice was aghast. Discord bowed and snapped his fingers while Fluttershy resumed her attempt to bore a physical hole through Trixie's skull by glaring at her.
"Trixie—" began Trixie. Trixie stopped as the renewed Stare made her jaw clamp shut.
"You hurt my friends?!" Fluttershy whisper boomed again. "WHY YOU'RE JUST A GREAT BIG—"
"It weren't her," Big Macintosh rumbled.
Fluttershy, Trixie and Discord all looked over to see Big Macintosh emerge from the hole he'd made crashing through Fluttershy's bedroom wall. Judging from how drenched he was it seemed he had crashed into Fluttershy's bathroom. The spectacle of Big Macintosh with a wet mane and coat accentuating his hard farm pony musculature was so incredibly hot that it broke Trixie free from the Stare.
"That's right!" Trixie blurted. "Trixie is not responsible for Ponyville being occupied this time! Trixie even helped protect Apple Bloom and her squeaky little friend!"
"Hey!" squeaked Sweetie Belle. Everypony ignored her.
"Big Macintosh, is that true?" Fluttershy assertive whispered.
Big Macintosh nodded. "Eyup. We came to make sure that you were alright."
Big Macintosh have Discord a fisheyed look and nodded toward the window. "Some ponies seem to want to make things worse."
A halo appeared over Discord's head as everypony looked at him. "What? I just told Fluttershy what I saw!"
"We'll talk about that later," Fluttershy said firmly. Was it just Trixie's imagination or did Discord actually shrink when he heard that?
"What about my other friends?" Fluttershy continued.
Discord furrowed his brow. His eyelashes flew off his face and out the window. They came flapping back in a few seconds later, barking and growling as they did.
"Applejack and Rarity have been taken prisoner," Discord interpreted. He pulled a carrot from somewhere and tossed it to them. The two eyebrows began to snap and fight over the treat. "Pinkie Pie and the dumb one—"
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy said sharply.
Discord rolled his eyes and continued. "And Rainbow Dash are playing hide and seek with the Royal Guard in the Everfree Forest and seem to be winning. Twilight Sparkle is...oh dear."
"What?" Trixie, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh all asked at once.
"Uhm..." Discord began. "Didn't A Dance With Drakes finally come out last week?"
"Eyup," Big Macintosh said.
Discord shifted uncomfortably. "And doesn't Twilight normally meet the teacher pony for their book club today at about..." a watch with a working sundial appeared on Discord's wrist. "Twenty minutes ago?"
"Yes," Fluttershy confirmed.
"Oh dear," Discord said. "This could be bad."
†
Being part of the Equestrian Night Guard tends to give a pony first-hand experience with how dangerous an angry pony princess can be. Which is why Sunshine Smiles didn't waste time asking stupid questions when he saw Princess Twilight Sparkle teleport into being in front of his post at the Ponyville jail with her mane and tail replaced by living flame and shout "WHERE IS MY SPECIAL SOMEPONY?!" in full Royal Canterlot voice. The bat pony stomped his hoof on a trigger installed by the door and dove down onto his belly to present a smaller target while the force field the Day Guard unicorns had prepared sprang to life in a huge dome over the hastily fortified stockade.
It was probably a good thing that Sunshine Smiles buried his face in the dirt as he did this. Twilight Sparkle's eyes turned into glowing pools of painfully bright white light as half a dozen orbs of the same light shot out from her horn and orbited the building. One by one the orbs came to a stop at precisely equidistant points and began to emit humming beams of magical energy that struck the force field in unison and unmade the best defensive magic over two dozen military unicorns could put together like cobwebs dropped into the mouth of an erupting volcano.
Sunshine Smiles was very intimidated.
"Aaaah!" the dark imposing bat pony elite screamed as he ran away in terror.
Other guards came running out of or from behind other positions in response to the commotion. The last few stumbled out of the jailhouse just in time to see the entire structure snap open straight down the middle as Twilight Sparkle's magic ripped it apart. The two halves fell to either side with a unholy racket to reveal a maroon earth pony sitting on a cot and surrounded by a protective purple sphere.
"Twilight?!" Cheerilee said? She sounded very surprised.
Twilight's eyes stopped glowing and her mane and tail returned to normal at the sight of her favorite reading buddy.
"Cheerilee!" Twilight shouted in her normal voice. Are you okay?"
Cheerilee looked through the now pointless bars of her cell at a bat pony wearing an officer's uniform. She arched an eyebrow.
Frolicsome Meadowlark took that as his cue to depart. He made a squeaking sound, flapped his wings and took off in the opposite direction. Twilight's magic caught him by the tail, yanked him back and held him suspended in midair.
Twilight pranced forward angrily through the rubble to glare into his face at close range.
"Why did you kidnap Cheerilee!" Twilight demanded.
"Orders!" Frolicsome Meadowlark squeaked.
"From who?!" Twilight shouted.
Frolicsome Meadowlark opened his mouth, closed it and shook his head. Twilight's eyes began to glow again. The bat pony whimpered.
"Royal orders!" Frolicsome Meadowlark screamed. "Insurrection! We were sent to capture the lesbian lover who was holding your leash!"
"What?!" Cheerilee shouted. She seemed unsure whether to be angry or to blush.
Twilight scowled. "Just because I'm in love with Cheerilee—" she began.
"You're in love with me?" Cheerilee interrupted. She was definitely blushing now.
Twilight blushed too. "I was going to tell you at dinner. I had it all planned out."
"Aww!" Cheerilee cooed.
The scowl returned, deeper and fiercer. "YOU MADE ME BREAK MY SCHEDULE!" Twilight boomed into Frolicsome Meadowlark's face.
And that was when she noticed the eclipse.
"By our halidom, Twilight Sparkle," the original Princess Shouty Pants said as she stepped out of the shadows that suddenly covered the better part of the street. "Your Royal Canterlot Voice is developing nicely. But why do you assail the Captain of our Guard?"
"Princess!" Frolicsome Meadowlark gasped. "Twilight Sparkle has rebelled against the crown! Our orders came from Prin—"
Frolicsome Meadowlark was cut off as Twilight's magic shook him like a rag doll. He fainted.
Luna frowned. "Nay Twilight Sparkle. We must insist that you do not harm our leal servant."
Twilight turned to Luna. Her eyes glowed brighter than ever in the midday dusk.
"You sent your guards to Ponyville?" Twilight asked in a deadly, Fluttershy soft voice
Luna shifted uneasily. "I did. But let us explain—"
Twilight picked up one of the halves of the shattered jailhouse with her magic and swung it at Luna like a giant club.
