History Fanfic / Marionettes

** Minuette has time-based abilities similar to Tracer from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. She later says Tracer's CatchPhrase, "The cavalry's here!"

* {{Catchphrase}}: Masquerade tends to "We are all just cogs in the machine" or some variation on it. Another one she has is saying "I wonder if I'm (emotion). [[EmotionlessGirl Not that I would know if I was/did.]]"

* ChainsawGood: Masquerade can conjure gears that can spin like buzz saws and are just as sharp.

** Though they are not invincible, Gear Shift and Cover Story shrug off everything Trixie throws at them and all she can do is run. Lightning Dust also acts this way under their control. This seems to be a job requirement for Elite Agents (their rank), as other ones shown also take a large amount of punishment from multiple ponies to take down or extremely skilled fighters like [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Shining Armor]] [[spoiler:or [[RetiredBadass Spoiled Rich]]]] one on one.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking:
** S.M.I.L.E. seems to have this, as the Elite Agents are considerably stronger than the rank and file ones to the point it generally takes at least two ponies to defeat one. The department heads are even stronger.
** Shining Armor is one of only two ponies (the other being [[spoiler:[[RetiredBadass Spoiled Rich]]]]) so far that have been able to take down an Elite Agent one on one.
** Masquerade is so strong that the two ponies directly above fighting her together still can't just beat her by themselves, though part of that is essentially minimized PoweredArmor in the form of hydraulics under her suit linked to a mana engine. [[spoiler:It takes Spitfire, who herself is an example, joining the fight to actually make it ''even'' and for Masquerade to start taking any serious damage.]]

* IdenticalGrandson: It's mentioned that Masquerade, the Director of S.M.I.L.E., is identical in appearance to her mother, her predecessor. This is noted as being strange InUniverse, and caused the Stallions to develop rumors about ''why''.
** [[spoiler: It seems her mother used a foal-making mirror to essentially clone herself]].
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: [[spoiler: Bright Future and Trixie share this trait]].

* UncannyValley: InUniverse, Masquerade's constant state as TheStoic creeps more than one pony out. It goes beyond simply not showing emotions like Maud as well, as she genuinely demonstrates no emotion.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: [[spoiler:Teddy]] has this reaction to hearing the name of Iron Will's wife, Indomitable Will, maiden name Indomitable Warrior.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Gear Shift and Cover Story claim they work to ensure Equestria's future. [[spoiler:It turns out that their organization is dedicated to making sure that Equestria would still have strong heroes if anything were to happen to Celestia. But they've become more and more unethical and zealous in their mission after gaining access to the seer of the Tree of Harmony, Gypsy, from keeping her imprisoned in order to keep getting access to her visions (ignoring her protests that they are ''not'') doing what the Tree wants, to manipulating events and making sapient robots as tools in order to make sure the CMC and Mane Six face trials and learn lessons. They've also become so obsessed with their own secrecy that many monster attacks and/or villainous plots could have been alleviated, or even stopped altogether, if they had openly participated in the battles, or even warned the heroes or the Princesses and Guards. Their IgnoranceIsBliss attitude has also put more ponies in danger than it's helped]].

* VillainousValor: [[spoiler:Even when it becomes apparent they're going to lose, the Stallions fight until they're completely defeated. Taken UpToEleven with Masquerade, who continues to fight until her body simply can't continue and she has more broken bones than intact ones, even after the Puppeteer has been destroyed.]]

** [[spoiler: Film/TheMask and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]] are some of the artifacts confiscated from the Stallions]].

* RealityEnsues:
** As the TraintopBattle begins, Trixie comments that the movies never mention the extreme wind that makes even moving on top of a train difficult.
** An organization like the one Gear Shift and Cover Story belong to would have a hard time recruiting new members (especially in a place like Equestria). [[spoiler:To have enough members to be operational, it had to compensate by using some of its robots.]]
*** [[spoiler:Cover Story, after his failsafes are fried, even suggests later that they use their brainwashing spell on recruits in order to get as many real ponies as they do, as he points out that his and Gear Shift's memories of their initiation are almost certainly false, or at the very least heavily edited. A later scene in the same chapter, with a stallion being sent to "re-education", supports this theory. Gear Shift being unable to really argue against this possibility unnerves everyone, himself included]].
** Gear Shift constantly accelerating means he's gonna get tired a lot faster.
** [[spoiler:The Marionettes drink a lot of cold water and other drinks, like Trixie's smoothies and Cover Story's salt water, in order to maintain a cool temperature from their mana engines, though apparently the 5th generation has an upgrade meant to deal with that, and Twilight eventually manages to do something similar]].
** The Stallions in Black discover [[spoiler:the Flim Flam timeline via Gypsy's [[{{Seers}} abilities]]]]. They react naturally [[spoiler:one of their creations having taken over the world in an alternate future]] and [[spoiler:this nearly gets the two destroyed on the spot, with only Gypsy's quick thinking saving them]].
** [[spoiler:[[TheMasquerade Keeping the public ignorant of very real threats to their safety]] for the sake of IgnoranceIsBliss ultimately means they don't know there ''is'' a threat they should be cautious of to begin with. This can and ''has'' gotten ponies hurt or killed, Tootsie Flute's parents among them.]]
** [[spoiler:Mithril is expensive enough that at least some of the Agent Marionettes don't use it, meaning that there could be more than Cover Story initially thought. The steel ones are also more easily taken down through ShockAndAwe attacks]].
*** [[spoiler:The Gen 1 Marionettes focused on blending in, but this meant a lack of durability. The Gen 2 Marionettes were tougher, but they were so ''heavy'' that the Agents had to wipe minds every time one so much as stepped on a scale, hence why they started using the mithril]].
** The Stallions in Black are a very large organization and just defeating [[BigBad Masquerade]] won't destroy it. To truly stop them, the entire organization must be completely dismantled and the heroes have to plan accordingly. [[spoiler:Even after Masquerade's defeat, her remaining forces keep fighting until they're defeated outright.]]
** [[spoiler:After the fall of the Stallions, Bright Future has a ''lot'' more trouble getting parts to make new Marionettes, even with Celestia's help. Trixie ultimately refuses to be repaired just so Ace, Teddy, and Mecha Radiant Hope can get new bodies first.]]

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Trixie realizes during their final confrontation that Masquerade is no different than the Marionettes: having been created to fill a role S.M.I.L.E. needed, given no choice in the matter, and more or less ''forced'' to be how she is now with no say at all. Masquerade herself notes the similarity, and comments she wondered if speaking with somepony so like her would actually make her ''feel'' something.]]

[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/295408/marionettes Marionettes]] is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fic written by [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Godzillawolf Godzillawolf]] that is now complete. It is set during Season 5, and starts between "The Mane Attraction" and "The Cutie Re-Mark", as Rainbow Dash briefly mentions the Cutie Map and that Starlight Glimmer is still at large, and the group later mentions meeting Countess Coloratura.

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!!This fic contains the following tropes:

!This fic contains the following tropes: