Rift in Harmony

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Spark of Resistance
Chapter 4: The Fires of Trottingham

Prologue

Rift in Harmony
By: Bronynexgen and KayRed

Prologue

"Haar'chak!" screamed Jakar Grenn. Jakar was an up-and-comer, all confidence and no subtlety. "Why are we getting involved in another aruetti conflict.";

"You're getting soft there, eh Jak'ika" Gatel replied, leaning back on his chair. "Mand'alor had it right when he sent Mando's to besiege the Jedi Temple. The Jetii betrayed us, I say we side with Daala and kill'em all. You'd rather let them think they can push us around than fight like a true Mando. You're a coward Jakar, and you'll die a cowards death."

Not to take an insult lightly, Jakar pulled out his Beskad and lunged. Taken off guard, and more than a little drunk, Gatel toppled over in his chair. Jakar plunged his blade into Gatel's chest, only to have it glance off the famously strong Mandolorian armor. Gatel used his reprieve to quickly regain his footing. He was about to draw his own blade when the much honored Goran Beviin stepped in, much to the disappointment to the assembly. The crowed groaned, one man yelled "Oya, let the shebs kill each other Beviin".

If I knew I was coming back to this, I would've followed Daala on her suicidal crusade, thought Boba Fett as he sat in full armor (including his famous helmet) listening to the current speaker. Civilized people would call it a drunken bar brawl, Mandolorians called it congress. Instead of a grand hall in the cities seat of government, Mandolorians held "congress" where ever Mand'alor happened to be, which at the moment was the cantina on the Mandal motors main shipyard in orbit above Mandalore. Still, they get more done than those kriffing senators on Coruscant. In this case Mand'alor would be Boba Fett, the self centered, cold blooded bounty, somehow the leader of a nation.

"You two can kill each other later" said Beviin, he turned to Boba, of course he does. "What do you think Mand'alor".

"We are going to do as we've been doing, stay neutral. If you want sell your services to the GA then by all means go and get yourself killed. As for the siege Gatel, that was simply business, Daala knows that, that's why she knew better than to ask me to join her after I busted her out." While Boba wanted to stay neutral, he knew he couldn't bar his people from fighting, for one thing it was the Mandolorian way, but it was also to avoid being deemed a hypocrite. Just a few weeks ago Boba took on a daring assignment, bust the incarcerated former Galactic Alliance Chief of State Admiral Daala out of a GA maximum security prison. Went off without a hitch, paid well too. Now Daala was on a campaign to regain her seat of power. While Boba didn't money bloody the Jedi's nose every once and a while, especially if it pays well (hence the siege), Boba knew that Daala and her cause would mostly likely be blown to atoms in orbit over Coruscant, and he did not want Mandalore to go down with her. "Now, if there isn't anything else, drinks are on me" this brought a chorus of "Oya's". Boba used the distraction to exit, followed by Beviin.

"You know we may be passing up a huge opportunity here Mand'alor" said Beviin.

"We're also passing up a huge headache, Daala and the G.A. are nothing but trouble"

"We are Mando's, we thrive in trouble"

Boba shook his head "I know, I know, but we are still feeling the effects of the Vong war, we need to focus on rebuilding. Again, I won't stop anyone from selling their services, but until an opportunity comes up that won't end up with a GA or Imperial fleet in orbit above Madalore, we focus on rebuilding."

They arrived at the hangar where Slave I was currently docked. Slave I, the closest thing Boba has ever had to a home. Waiting at the bottom of the boarding ramp was Boba Fetts granddaughter Mirta Gev, just returned from a job on Adumar. Mirta had the dark curly hair and light brown skin characteristic of the Fett clan, with her qukuuf tattoos on a face that could be called attractive, but not beautiful. Mirta was somewhat small of stature, but looks are deceiving. She got involved with the family business at a young age, trained by her mother, who also instilled a mortal hatred of Boba that has only recently receded, when they rescued Boba's wife from a carbonite nap. While she isn't in the same class as Boba, she was definitely had the potential. Of course, with her husband away on a long mission, she invited herself to tag along with Boba. It annoyed him, but he decided that he would give this grandfather thing a try.

"Ba'buir! We have a contract offer" said Mirta.

"We?" snorted Boba

Mirta rolled her eyes "Mando's Ba'buir. Someone is interested in hiring 2 brigades of Mando infantry, an armor regiment, and a flight of Bes'uliik's. The perspective buyer has no affiliations with the GA. She wants to meet"

"There is your opportunity Boba" exclaimed Beviin.

"What are the details?" asked Boba

"Princess Celestia, leader of Equestria, a planet on the fringes of the Katorrs sector, I'll give you more info on the way" said Mirta

Boba gave her a puzzled look, or at least as close to a puzzled look as one wearing a mass can manage. "Who said you're coming?"

Mirta gave him her best puppy dog face, at least the best a cold blooded Mandolorian could do. I'm the most ruthless killer in the galaxy, does she really think that move will work on me. "Because Ba'buir, I've spent the entire trip from Adumar studying this woman, planet, and culture, making me the Mandolorians foremost expert on Equestria, you need me Boba"

Boba gave her a stare that has the world's toughest criminals bowls to loosen. Mirta merely smiled. "Alright, you can come" said Boba in submission, "just don't talk too much, are we clear?"

"Crystal" answered Mirta.

With the course laid for the Kortiss sector, Slave I safely in hyperspace, and a few days to kill, Boba turned to his granddaughter. "Alright, tell me everything."

Sitting at the console behind the Co-pilots seat, Mirta took a deep breath and began. "Equestria is the fourth planet in a 7 planet system of the same name. The main sentient inhabitants are called Ponies. Their body, facial structure, and physiology is very similar to that of humans so they are classified as near humans. There are three main subspecies, earth ponies, the winged pegusi, and unicorns who are thought to be force sensitive. Their average height is about five to eight centimeters shorter than humans. Their skin and hair colors can be anything from brown to multicolored and they each have something like a tattoo on their cheeks that showcases their special talent called a 'cutie mark'"

"Sounds like you'd fit in just fine".

"Real funny" replied Mirta. "As I was saying. They made first contact with GA surveyors shortly after the second galactic civil war. They found vast amounts of untouched natural resources including high quality metals used in the construction of capital ships. Don't worry, it is nowhere near the quality of our beskar."

Boba shrugged "wasn't too worried"

Mirta continued "Both Seinar and Tendranado arms tried getting contracts. Lando himself even met with their leader Princess, but amazingly Calrissian's charm didn't help. Ultimately the Seinar contract was much more lucrative for Celestia. Seinar set up operations there over a year ago. Some ponies claim that Celestia are exploiting the ponies for her own personal gain."

"I think I'm starting to see how we fit in here."

"Right. Celestia's sister and former co-ruler Luna was outraged at how Celestia was exploiting their people for her own gain, so she started a coup which failed. She is currently at large and believed to be the leader of a very large terrorist organization. Seinar has provided its own mercenaries to keep the peace, but Celestia doesn't feel that they are effective. Now that she is insanely rich she wants the best."

Boba took a minute to take it all in. Putting down a terrorist organization wasn't exactly simple. They rely on hit and fade strikes and are almost impossible to track, well, at least the good ones are There was also gray areas that come when a force of that is technologically and numerically superior takes on an inferior one. Boba had no problem gunning down primitives, so long as the pay was good. "Do we have a number." asked Boba.

"Nothing on flimsi, but considering how delicate the situation and the wealth of our potential client, you could bet on getting fifteen to twenty percent more than our usual rate." Mirta turned from her console and faced Boba. "So...are we going to do it"

"We'll see."

"Ezio!" The great Italian artist and inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci exclaimed, at the sight of seeing his old friend, after almost a decade. "I'm so glad to see you! Claudia kept me well informed on your journey, I would like to hear all about those keys"

"Not now Leonardo, it's a long story and I would like to wait until we get somewhere quiet. Have you met Sofia Sartor?" Ezio inquired.
The day was typical, warm, sunny day for Italy. The air was heavy with the smell of fresh meats and produce, and the marketplace was alive with stories of the New World, where Cristoforo Columbus sailed to less than 20 years ago.

"Yes, you mentioned her in your letters, but I have never met her in person. Who is she, now that you have brought her up?" Leonardo asked. His bottomless curiosity piqued.

"She was a bookmaker in Istanbul who helped me find the Masyaf Keys. She is also my wife, and mother to my children."

"Your wife! I never expected you to be the one to get married, never mind settle down and have children!"

"Neither did I, but here I am. Come, let us walk to your shop, so I can see what else these keys do."

"Right, we must hurry if we expect to be back to hear your entire story," Leonardo finished and started to lead the way, with a small spring in his step now that he was able to examine the keys and their properties more thoroughly.

Whoosh! Clink!

A pickpocket, a thief, untied the knot to Ezio's coin purse and tried to run straight ahead, into the busy marketplace, the evening sun beating into their eyes. Yet, Ezio was too experienced to let this happen again, like in the past. And he's starting to become achy and tired with age, he would tire himself out from the short chase. But, he knew exactly what to do.
Shink! Whoosh! Smack!

With the hookblade acquired from Istanbul, he grabbed at the thief's forward ankle, and pulled back in such a way that his head would not directly impact the tough dirt that makes up the ground of the marketplace, but that his arms would take most of the damage. Before the crowd could even gasp, Ezio was crouching over the pickpocket's sticklike frame, his head blocking the sun.

"Please signore! Spare me! I have a family to feed!," the ragged pickpocket pleaded, cowering away, and sneaking glances to the sharpened weapons on Ezio's hip.

"First, my money," the Assassin said in a calm, yet commanding voice, gently pulling the man, who was just barely, up off of the ground .

The pickpocket handed over the money immediately and tried to run away, that which made the crowd jeer him for his cowardice.

"Wait!," commanded Ezio. The pickpocket stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. The crowd murmured in anticipation of the blood that was expected to be shed.

"Please signore, I'll never do this again, please spare me!" the young man falling to his knees, clasping his hands, and pleading for his life while tears fell down his dirty face.

The crowd shouted at the thief in disgust.

"Coward!"

"Scoundrel!"

"Just kill the Godless thief already!"

"Ezio, what are you going to do?" Leonardo turned to his friend and asked.

"Take it and go," the Assassin commanded, and threw a small bag of coins at the blubbering thief. "Also meet me here at noon tomorrow, I want to have a few words with you."

"Thank you signore," the thief ran away with his small bag of money, and the crowd jeered and booed him all the way.

The inventor and Assassin continued to walk through the streets of Florence talking about nothing in particular. Simply things old friends would talk about, the economy, new discoveries and inventions, the latest war and family.

"And here we are my friend. After you," Leonardo and Ezio arrived at Leonardo's workshop and house. The inventor opened the door and allowed Ezio to walk into a messy room with scrolls and blueprints sprawled all over. "It's a mess, I know. Let me clean up a little bit."

"So what have you done here while I was in Istanbul and Russia?" Ezio asked, as he sat in a chair that Leonardo just cleaned.

"I have been working on a new design for my land vehicle. This one with a rotatable turret instead of many fixed cannons. Also, a flying machine with a vertical takeoff. And..."As Leonardo continued to talk about his machines, barely taking time to breathe, he stuffed his scrolls and blueprints into even messier drawers and cabinets. Ezio looked on and listened.

"When are you going to find the time and money to build these machines?" Ezio inquired.

"By selling my paintings. I hope to get enou-"

A blinding flash of color is followed by gale force winds that tore through the room, sending almost every single piece of paper flying.

"It worked, the portal's open. Told you Leonhardt you drunken bastard!" A voice echoed through the portal, and a second voice, which both men assumed must be Leonhardt, replied.

"Shouldn't we try to communicate with them, yes just by shouting into the portal. And I'm not drunk now..."

As the hurricane and blinding light caused by the portal continued, the first voice introduced himself and explained the situation.

"That's a first. Hello, Ezio Auditore, and Leonardo da Vinci. My name is Clockwork Wise. My friend here is Leonhardt. We are from, and I'm sorry if this sounds so cliché, we are from another world."

"And the portal won't stay open long so can you try to hurry it up. The energy required to do this is almost unfathomable," the voice that's supposed to be Leonhardt told the blinded and bewildered men.

"What are you?" Leonardo yelled through the wind.

"We will explain everything as soon as you step through. When you do, I'll be right ahead.," Leonhardt's voice said.

"We better do as they say. Find a weapon if you have one," Ezio said. Ezio jumped through the portal, not bothering to look back.

"But this- Gaaahh! Never mind!" the inventor exasperated. He grabbed a fire poker and jumped through. "You're going to kill yourself one day!" he called out to Ezio.

The inventor and Assassin emerged to a room filled with the loud hum of machines struggling to exert the energy required to keep the portal open. The room had metal grating on the floor with wires and pipes snaking under it in all directions. It had the portal in the center and the walls where gray and industrial looking.

"Hello Gentle-colts. We are Princess Luna, and we need your help."

Chapter 1

The image in the dream was foggy, distorted, but the memory was still Clear and fresh.

"How could you support 'er Twilight" screamed AJ. "You saw what happened to Big Mac, but you're still on 'er side? I thought you were mah friend Twi. Just go I never want to see you again." With that she said good bye to Apple Jack.

"Be careful Twilight" warned Pinkie "Canterlot is not safe, and she is not who she seems. I have a bad feeling about this, twilight. Be careful." With that she said good bye to Pinkie Pie.

"Um...Twilight, I'm going to miss you" squeaked Fluttershy. "I..uh...hope you have fun at the capital. It would be ever so nice if you came and visit once in a while." With that she said good bye to Fluttershy.

"Don't forget who you are Twi." advised Rarity. "Don't let those bigoted unicorns at court change you darling. If you ever need anything, go to Fancy Pants, he will help" With that she said good bye to Rarity.

Rainbow Dash didn't speak, she didn't make contact. With her head down, she simple turned around and flew away. With that she said good bye to Rainbow Dash.

Then she was all alone, in darkness, with the heavy realization that she will most likely never see them again.

A sudden knock at the door woke Twilight from her slumber. Though the dream was fading, the reality of her situation remained. She laid there for a moment hugging her pillow, wondering if she made the right decision, if loyalty to her teacher, her princess, was really more important than loyalty to her friends. Of course it is Twilight reminded herself [She is the leader of the Solar Empire, salvation of all ponies, and I am her student. My duty is to her and not my disloyal friends.] She thought of Spike. [Oh spike, where are you now.] Princess Celestia had told her that the terrorists had kidnap Spike, she didn't want to think what they would do to him.

Another series of knocks came. Twilight dried her tears, discarded her pillow and went to answer the door. On the other side was a stern looking palace guard, garbed in the traditional gilded palace amour, with one of those alien weapons called blasters slung across his shoulder. "Mistress Sparkle. The Princess requires your presence in the throne room." With that the guard left.

Dressed in a skirt and a light sweater that matches her purple tinted skin, Twilight entered the throne room. She looked at the various stained glass paintings depicting the triumphs of Equestria and the Solar Empire. All were beautiful and pristine...except for one. The one behind the throne, that depicted Celestia and her younger sister Luna's giving the land of Equestria harmony was gone. Destroyed by Celestia shortly after Luna's attempted coup. As amazing as all of them were, there were still two that she couldn't bear looking at.

Princess Celestia was seated on her throne, looking as magnificent as ever. She wore a long white dress that complemented her pink white skin, her soft rainbow colored hair somehow billowing and sparkling despite the lack of wind or adequate light in the throne room. She wore a stern expression, her usual expression since after the coup. She sat on her throne, conversing with two men, a pony and an alien. The pony was Field Marshall Scorch, famed soldier and former member of Celestia's elite guard. An angry man who always looks as if he is smelling something fowl. [I wonder if he ever smiled in his life. Some should put him in a room with Pinkie-] Twilight quickly shook away the thought. The alien was the Celestia's personal liaison from Seinar Technologies, a human from some world called Kuat, was Fost Savar, a man of charm. Typical of the human species, he was a few centimeters taller than most ponies, he had light tan skin, black hair slicked back, and an oiled goatee. He is a very popular man at Canterlot court. His usually handsome face was twisted in anger. "Your highness, you cannot be serious?" asked Savar.

"I am quite serious master Savar." replied the Princess.

"My princess, I can assure that Mandolorians are not the answer."

"Then what is. As I recall Savar, your mercenaries botched the suppressions of the uprisings in Fillydelphia."

Savar snorted "There wouldn't have been an uprising if the Field Marshalls conscripts to foul up and kill all of the earth ponies."

Twilight couldn't imagine that Scorch's skin could get any redder, but somehow it did. "Careful Fost," warned Scorch. "I've fought in many wars, if you insult me again-"

"Silence!" commanded Celestia. "Master Savar, if you disrespect one of my most trusted advisers again, then Seinar is going to have to send me a new liaison."

Savar bowed his head in submission, "Yes your highness."

"And Scorch," Celestia continued, "You failed, accept that. Any news on our nuisance"

"He is, again, speaking out against you your highness." said Scorch, nervous about an repercussion his bad news might bring. "The problem is that is all we can prove. There is no evidence that he has officially allied himself with Princess Lu-" Scorch stopped himself "The terrorist's leader."

"He is only an annoyance," interjected Savar, "he can do no harm to your rule."

"It is only a matter of before an annoyance becomes a threat" sneered Celestia, "I want him silenced" The princess then turned her gaze towards Twilight, her expression softened a little. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"It is my honor, Princess," replied Twilight as she bowed, "What has your majesty requested of me."

Twilights obedience made Celestia smile. "A very important man is coming to court, Boba Fett, chief of state of the planet Mandalore. You will greet him and escort him. He will be landing at the southern space port, docking bay B7. Be courteous and do not offended him."

Twilight bowed her head. "Yes, my teacher."

Savar couldn't keep his opinion in any longer, he stepped forward. "Forgive me your majesty, but I don't think you realize what you are doing. One of many natural resources on Equestria is your iron, it is not just any iron though, it is high quality iron. Iron that makes great durasteel, perfect for Star Cruisers. The only iron in the Galaxy that rivals Equestrian iron is beskar, Mandolorian iron. If the Mandolorians find out about the competition that the Equestria would create, they will mobilize there forces and destroy your people."

Scorch snorted "Ha, like you care about ponies, you are more concerned about profits".

Celestia starred death at him, silencing him immediately, then she turned to Savar. "You are wrong master Savar. I do know what I am getting into. I will make it very lucrative for them to be on our side. Though I do appreciate your cantor. I will not commit to an arrangement right now, I will keep him here and take advantage of his services until I decide."

Savar nodded. "Very good your majesty. Thank you."

"If there is nothing else, I will retire. Twilight, go await the Mandolorian chief of state and bring him to me once he arrives."

With that, Celestia left, with her guards entail. Twilight was leaving when Savar approached her, "Mistress Twilight." [Oh my gosh!] thought twilight, [he is actually talking to me.] Twilight straightened her posture and tried to hide the excitement in her voice. "Yes master Savar?"

"Be careful around chief of state Fett. He is a ruthless man."

"Yes sir."

"Though, I'm sure that pretty face of yours could even melt the heart of Boba Fett."

Twilight blushed and let out a girly giggle. "Thank you sir." Twilight bowed and immediately slumped in embarrassment. [Why did I have to giggle like that, he probably thinks I'm a child.]

Ezio looked up at the midnight blue woman with the wings and horn. he nodded "Princess, I am Ezio Auditore, and this my ally and good friend Leonardo."

Princess Luna looked a bit confused, "Our Pleasure. We thought you would be shocked by our appearance?"

"Let's just say you are not the first alien I have come across." Leonardo was a different story, his mouth was agape and for the first time in his life, he was speechless.

"Alien?" came of the voice of Leonhardt. Ezio turned to him. Probably in his mid thirties, he had gray and shaggy dirty blonde hair parted by a horn, reasonably thick build, he was unshaven and reeked of wine. He wore a black vest over top a white long sleeved shirt, black pants, and a tinted monocle on his left eye. On his cheek was what appeared to be a fork shoved inside a curious metallic device with two long slots on the top. He took out a flask and took a swig of wine "You're the alien chump"

"Leonhardt you fool" said Clockwork Wise, in a meek voice. He was dressed similarly to Leonhardt, but looked much less dashing. He was shorter, had poor posture and what appeared to be damaged wings, and his pale skin and thinning blue yellow hair made him look even more sickly. His one redeeming feature was his mustache, a glorious brunette handlebar mustache. He also a strange tattoo on his right cheek, this one of a pocket watch "He's come from a primitive planet, we are aliens to him...And I thought you said you were not drunk."

"And I am not." said Leonhardt, "but we just successfully brought two men from a different time and planet using a portal made out of scraps and garbage, so I am going to get as drunk as I want. You should too, maybe it'd make you less dull."

"Well it just so happens..."

Luna started ushering Leonardo and Ezio away. "Forgive us. Those two tend to bicker with each other. Follow us please, we will explain everything on the way."

They followed Luna out of the room into a rocky hallway. A cave, realized Ezio, he did not like caves much, [Too enclosed, no room to run away if things go wrong.] He turned to his old companion, "Leonardo, my friend," he whispered, "close your mouth, you are beginning to drool." Without speaking he complied. He took a moment profile Luna. She did not dress like a princess, while she had a tiara she did not wear flowing gowns characteristic of princess, instead she wore tight black pants and boots with a light blue long sleeved shirt with a star and crescent emblem on it. Ezio couldn't help but notice what appeared to be a futuristic pistol.

They exited the cave into what appeared to be canyon, with very large, mystical looking trees, and a murky aura, partly due to the dark clouds overhead. All around were tents, sheds, and many of the aliens going about their task with varying degrees of urgency. They came in many varieties, some had wings like Clockwise, others had a horn like Leonhardt, but the majority had neither. Most were dressed similarly to Luna.

Finally, Leonardo found his voice, "What is this place filled with so many wonders."

"This is the New Lunar Army's everfree forest base..." Luna trailed off when she noticed the expression on both men's face. "Oh...we are sorry, you speak of our world yes? This is Equestria, home to the once peaceful pony people. A world of beauty and magic."

"You said you needed our help," stated Ezio.

"Yes. Two years ago, aliens discovered our planet. They told us we have rescources they would like to attain. Our ruler Celestia, fearing a conquest from the technologically advanced aliens, she decided to negotiate with the aliens. Something happened though, and she became corrupt, allying herself with an equally corrupt organization. She has mistreated her people, and continues to become more tyrannical, going so far as to deem a race inferior. We-I tried to remove her from power, but we failed."

Ezio nodded, "so you need her assassinated."

"Well...it is not that simple," said Luna hesitantly, "She is our...my sister."

While Ezio could sympathize with her, he knew what she needed to do. "Princess, I understand your reluctance, but you cannot let your relationship get in the way while your people suffer."

"But it's not just her," Luna said in defense, "She is a good person, something happened to her. We could save her."

"Do you truly believe that my child?" Asked Leonardo.

"We know it. Besides, removing her will do nothing, it is her allies, Seinar Technologies they call themselves, that are the problem. We must stop them, but we fear the only way to do defeat them is war."

"Princess!" screamed a high pitched voice. The three of them turned to see, a young woman with curly dark pink hair and pink skin, with 3 balloons on her right cheek. She was clearly distraught.

"Pinkie Pie" exclaimed Luna, "Dr. Whooves said you were in Ponyville."
"princessthereareimperialsinponyvillethereintownhallDerpyisnthereandwecan'tgetherout-"

"Calm down child" said Luna in a soothing voice, "tell us what happened."

Pinkie took a moment to catch her breath, then started speaking again. "Solar Empire troops are in Equestria, they set up a base in town hall. Derpy went undercover in there, but they found out about a leak and now I can't get her out without blowing her cover."

The princess was speech less, she seemed to be in a state of shock. Ezio stepped forward. "I will help you retrieve this agent of yours."

The proximity alarms brought Mirta out of her sleep. She looked over towards her grandfather, fully armored but helmetless for a change. She looked at his scarred face and ran throw all of the horrible events that happened to him throughout life. Events as tragic as losing his father to Mace Windu, to as outrageous as his own daughter trying to kill him. In the last two years, Boba Fett has finally caught a lucky break. He survived a terminal genetic disease, found his long lost wife, set Mandalore on the path of prosperity, and helped rid the galaxy of a tyrant. He has even lightened up a bit, at least around Mirta. [He almost seems content,] thought Mirta, [but he's Boba Fett, he is never content.]

"Good, you're awake" said Boba.

"I'm guessing we've arrived"

"Making the final approach now." Boba stared at his panels for a second. "Go suit up and prep for landing."

"Show of force?"

"Something like that"

[Always so cryptic.] She went to the aft cargo hold where she stored her armor. I proper set of beskar 'gram, yellow/orange with gray trimming. Her grandfather had always given her a hard time for the brash color. [It lacks subtlety] he would say, [but he says that about everything I do,] thought Mirta. ]Just three years ago I was trying to kill him with mother, now look at us.] Boba Fett is not a family man by nature, but he is trying, and when he sets a task he completes it efficiently and perfectly.

Mirta peered out the window at the blue green ball of Equestria. It was unremarkable as far as planets go. What struck her was how pristine it looked, considering Seinar had two years to rape the planet. [ Looks are always deceiving.] Slave I approached the city of Canterlot. A large city nestled in the side of a mountain, with a magnificent gold, gray, and white castle at the cliffs edge. It reminded Mirta of holo's she has seen of the city Aldera before it was destroyed by the Death Star.

The spaceport was a stark contrast to the rest of the city, clearly put there by Seinar. She felt the jolt of Slave I making landfall, followed by the jingling footsteps of Fett. He was clad in full armor including his helmet. Odd for this kind of situation, but Mirta knew he liked to use his iconic image to his advantage during negotiations. They made their way down the boarding ramp, a light breezing making Boba's cape and Mirta's half kilt billow as they walked.

Waiting outside their berth was a young pony, a girl around nineteen-twenty years old with purple tinted skin and purple hair with a pink streak in it with a purple horn splitting her bangs. On her cheek she had a tattoo (or at least she thought it was a tattoo) of a pinkish-purple six pointed star encircled by five smaller white stars. Dressed real bookishly, she was currently laying back on a bench, so engrossed in her paper novel that she was completely oblivious to the arrival of Slave I.

She gave Mirta and Boba a quick glance, then went back to her book. Then the realization of who they were set in. She quickly put her book away in her bag and scampered over to them. She approached them with a nervous smile as she tried to look Boba in the eye. "Welcome to Canterlot Chief of State Fett-"

"That's Mand'alor" Mirta corrected sternly.

"M-Mand'alor Fett" the unicorns nervous smile wavered a bit. "I am Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia. Her Majesty has asked me to escort you to the castle."

Boba simply nodded. Twilight hesitated for a moment then started moving. She started rambling about the history of Canterlot, but then she trailed off once she realized neither Mandolorian was listening. Mirta put on her helmet so she could privately speak with her grandfather. "She seems anxious."

"Probably just nervous about disappointing her teacher" said Boba.

"Looks pristine" commented Mirta

"Just a facade, underneath it's as much of a shit hole as Nar Shadaa."

"Princess, I present to you chie...Mand'alor Boba Fett" said the purple woman.

"Ah, Mand'alor Fett, it is a pleasure to meet you." said the princess. Even Boba couldn't help but admire her. She was much taller than most humans, with following, shining multicolored hair and pale pink skin. She had both a horn and a pair of wings. [Probably some subspecies Mirta failed to mention.] She smiled "Please, feel free to remove your helmet."

Boba looked at the princess's entourage with his 360 helmet view. There was two unicorns, a red on the princess's right and the nervous girl who greeted them behind him. The other individual there was a nervous looking human. [Savar!] Boba gave him a cold stare through his helmet, Savar met his gaze and did not falter. He turned back to Celestia. "I'll pass" he said, "how 'bout we get down to business."

Celestia gave him a seductive smile. "I'd love to Mand'alor Fett, but you see, there is this man causing me proble-"

Boba cut her off. "Don't beat around the bush Princess, you want someone killed just say it." Boba didn't usually kill for free, but considering the contract at stake here, he was willing to make an exception.

Celestia's smile grew, "I like your style Fett."

Ezio and Pinkie sat at a table in an outdoor cafe across the street from town hall. Pinkie had changed out of her LRA uniform and into street clothes, Ezio looked somewhat out of place in his dark gray hooded robe, but to the people of Ponyville, oddly dressed aliens had become the norm.

"Why don't we move in?"

"Patience my child" said the Assassin in his musical accent, "running into a situation with no plan will get you killed. We must survey the building before we do anything"

Pinkie couldn't help it, that was her friend in there. [It's my fault, I shouldn't have let her go in there,] thought Pinkie. Ezio seemed to notice her anxiety, so he struck up casual conversation. "Tell me about what you do in the army"

One thing people have always said about Pinkie Pie is that she had the unique ability to go from sad , anxious, and worried to happy and peppy in ten seconds flat. "Well... I love to party. I love everything about partying, balloons, steamers, singing. Oh especially singing. I've become a local celebrity because of my singing. Dr. Whooves recruited me for republic intelligence because I'm so good with people. I use my parties to get information. That and my sex appeal." Pinkie only realized what she had said after the fact, she had tendency to do that. [Oh...I don't want to give him the wrong impression.] "It's not what it sounds like, I don't actually...you know..."

Ezio simply laughed. "Don't worry child, before I was this old man with a scarred face, I was quite the charmer. There is nothing wrong with it, especially considering what your using it for."

Pinkie smiled, this man understands what has to be done. She grabbed her rather large breast and said "It's these, they're a curse." This brought an even louder guffaw from Ezio, who nearly fell out of his chair. Walking down the street she spotted a familiar face. She ran over to her "Fluttershy!" she called.

"Oh, hi Pinkie," answered Fluttershy softly, her nervous smile coming to her face. Looking elegant like in her sundress like only Fluttershy could do. "It is ever so nice to see you."

"How are you?"

"Good...um Pinkie? I have to tell you something about Rainbow Dash"

"Oh Dashie! I haven't seen her in awhile."

Fluttershy stared at her feet for awhile, "I'm worried about her Pinkie" she said, "She has been really reclusive, she doesn't talk to anypony. When she comes out, she seems so sad. I think it has to do with Twilights leaving, and Applejacks feud with her.

"Oh..." It almost seemed like Pinkies poofy curly hair deflated a little. She was well aware of the feud between AJ and Twilight. Twilight was called back to her teacher, which is unfortunate considering what Celestia was doing, but Pinkie understood why Twilight had to join her, Celestia is her teacher, she practically raised her, it is hard to turn away from that. Applejack wasn't as understanding. Ever since Big Mac was dishonorably discharged from the Solar Army, she has been very outspoken against Celestia. She was actually the main reason Pinkie Joined the LRA, but that doesn't mean Pinkie supports the way she has been treating Twilight. She had no idea that it has affected Dashie so much. [I should be there for her, I have to cheer her up somehow.]

Pinkie noticed Ezio approaching by the way Fluttershy shied away from her. "Oh Fluttershy, let me introduce you to my new friend Ezio. Ezio, Fluttershy. Fluttershy, Ezio."

Fluttershy looked up at him nervously. "Um...hi" she squeaked.

Ezio nodded, "Pleasure. If you'll excuse us." He started corralling pinkie away, but not before she said her farewell to Fluttershy. "I have an idea, but for it to work I need you to create a diversion, something that will get the soldiers away from the building."

"Gotcha. Derpy is a pegasus with blonde hair and grey skin. Oh, and she's crossed eyes."

Ezio went into the ally and used a vacant cart to propel himself onto a small ledge. Using agility that only an Assassin can muster, he quickly climbed the town hall building. He found a sky light which was currently open. He crawled through the gap an swung himself onto a rafter. He perched himself their and used his eagle vision to survey the situation. Town hall must have doubled as a post office, because it consisted mostly of imperial soldiers and postal workers, who were currently under lock down while the imperials tried to find the spy. He searched for his target.

He spotted Derpy casually talking to a lanky green earth pony. With her cute face and her crossed eyes she looked absolutely harmless. That thought made Ezio smile, [the perfect spy.] Now all he had to do was wait for Pinkies distraction.

A buff imperial soldier in silver armor barged in, "Fire!" he screamed, "the cafe is on fire!" Ezio smiled. [Who says subtlety is always the best option]. A soldier in gold armor started issuing orders, and the soldiers filed out of the building. Only two soldiers remained as guards. To Ezio, the two guards might as well have been corpses already. He pulled two throwing knives out of his bandolier. The first took the guard closest guard in the jugular, and just as the surviving soldier realized what was happening, Ezio's second knife stuck him in the thigh. [Not likely a kill, but should keep him incapacitated, especially if it hit the femoral artery.] The mysterious deaths caused a panic in the room. Everyone ran to the front entrance to try and escape, that is everyone except Derpy, she used the chaos to make her way to the back entrance.

Ezio went back through the skylight and went to the edge of the roof. [Damnit.] Standing in the back alley was Derpy, who was being ordered to freeze by two soldiers. Ezio deployed and retracted his hidden blade to make sure it was working properly. He launched himself off the roof and onto the closest soldier, shoving his hidden blade into the man's face as he landed. The second guard was quick to react, throwing down his blaster and drawing his sword. He swiped his sword down on Ezio, but the agile Assassin rolled out of the way, causing the guard to miss and instead imbedded his sword into his fallen comrades body. Ezio used that to his advantage, drawing his own sword and impaling. He whispered his requiescat en pace before removing his sword.

Pinkie Pie then turned into the ally, momentarily shocked by the bloodshed. "Derpy!" she exclaimed as she went over to her comrade. "are you alright".

Derpy nodded. "I just don't know what went wrong." she sighed.

"Must have been a leak somewhere in intelligence, we'll have to tell the Doctor." she turned to Ezio. "There were no witnesses on my end."

"All of mine are dead. Let's get out of here before the guards notice"

The Italian picked up both bodies at the same time, and flung them into a nearby dumpster. With that they left.

"Fancy, the less I know the better" said the fat pony sitting across from him.

"Highlife, you know what kind of tyrant she is becoming" said Fancy Pants, the most prestigious individual in Canterlot besides Celestia herself, and her vocal opponent. [Probably only unicorn opponent, definitely the only one in Canterlot.] They currently sat in his study. He turned to his friend, "You own one of the most prominent news organizations in Equestria, you can show the people Celestia's wrath."

"And face it myself? I think not." The corpulent, light blue skinned unicorn took a sip of his whiskey. "Really Fancy, you are not giving Celestia any reason to tolerate you. You might as well be working with Luna herself."

Fancy ran his fingers throw his blue hair. [I might have to tell him eventually.] Fancy shook away the thought, that would be a last resort. He took a look at his guards. Two were stationed at the door, one two Fancy's right, the final one was stationed next to the large window overlooking the city, men he trusted with his life, armed with magically reinforced cutlass's capable of cutting through merc armor if enough force is applied. If Highlife threatened to rat him out, he would not leave the room alive. [I do not want it to come to that.] "Just publish my letter, I'll deal with the consequences, you can play dumb. You've seen how she has been exploiting the earth ponies in the mines, and conscripting young men into her army."

"Better earth ponies than unicorns." said Highlife, as he took another sip

Fancy Pants frowned. [To hell with it.] "Highlife, my friend, this request comes from Princess Luna herself."

Whiskey came out of Highlife's mouth in a rough mist. "By Celestia," coughed Highlife. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

Fancy ignored the remark "One article, that's all we need. One article can give Luna the recruits and support she needs, it could convince even the unicorns of Celestia's crimes."

Highlife turned pale. "You shouldn't have told me that my friend, I am sorry for what I am going to have to-"

He was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Fancy looked to his window to see a figure flying on a jetpack. Fancy hit the floor. His first thought was that he was a merc, but he wasn't like any merc he has seen, he wore green armor and had a t shaped visor on his helmet. The merc fired two shots with his blaster, killing the two guards at the door, even before his feet touched the ground. The guard next to fancy drew his sword and charged, but was immediately brought down by a blaster bolt to the head. That just left the guard at the window, who was currently positioned behind the merc. He drew his sword and approached the merc. He lunged at the merc, a vertical slice that should have gone throw the shoulder of the merc, but somehow the merc saw it coming. He dropped his blaster and raised an armored wrist and blocked the blade. They stood there in a stalemate for a moment. A blade came out of the wrist of the mercs free arm, with a smooth motioned he cut the guards throat. The guard collapsed in a spray of blood. The merc picked up his blaster and walked towards fancy, the jingling of spurs marking each step.

Highlife lost it. "I was going to turn him in," he blabbered, "I'm not a traitor, I swear!" Without breaking gaze with fancy, the mercenary fired his blaster at Highlife, ending him.

Fancy got to his feet and faced the being. "You can torture me all you want, but I won't give you her location."

The mercenary spoke to him in a strange accent, his voice ice, "That's not why I'm here."

The realization of the situation hit fancy like a train, but he wouldn't give his assassin the pleasure of seeing his fear. He stood tall, "You will not hear me beg for my life." The merc said nothing. "Do me a favor, tell that cunt Celestia that she just made the worst mistake of her life. My death will amplify the message. All people of Equestria will hear it, and when their outrage comes back to here, not even her precious mercs can protect her."

The assassin nodded. "Fair enough" he said. "Nothing personal." The merc raised his blaster to Fancy's head. And with that pull of the trigger, the war begun.

Chapter 2

Boba Fett walked into the castle, not bothering, to take his armor off, not bothering to even take his helmet off, and certainly not bothering to look at the many amazing sights and colors of Canterlot.

[He is a defiant one], the princess thought to herself.

The bounty hunter returned to Celestia's castle by evening, just as the sun was beginning to set, and Luna's moon began to rise. He entered the castle's throne room, where the princess will most likely be. Of the many grand rooms in the castle, the throne room has to be the grandest, with stained glass depicting various events from Equestrian history covering the walls, and giant pillars and columns standing tall to support the ceiling. The centerpiece of the room was, of course, the throne. It was made of solid gold and inset with only the most perfect gemstones, and in it sat Princess Celestia, looking on at a male unicorn pony in boredom as he talks of building a new railway.

"So, this railway will not only, in the long run, cut costs for the kingdom. It will also make the trip between Las Haygas and Fillydelphia much shorter and quicker. This would allow the military to also send soldiers quicker to Fillydelphia to stop the upris-"

"Mand'alor Fett! I expect from you returning that there was no problem with your...," the princess paused for a moment, while cutting off the unicorn from his ramblings, to find the right word, "...errand?"

"None at all," Fett replied, quick and to the point.

"I'm sorry sir, but Her Majesty and I were in the middle of a very important conversation. Would you kindly leave and wait your tu-," a loud crack filled the room and the unicorn was cut off a second time, but not by words. His body was facing Boba, but his head was facing Princess Celestia.

"I'm sorry sir, but you bore me," she retorted, with a sinister smile and allowed him to drop on the floor. "Take him away before he starts to stink!" she commanded of the guards.

"Right away Your Majesty," replied the pegasi guards in unison as they dragged the body for disposal.

"So tell me the details. I'd love to know how my political adversaries died," Celestia said with a seductive and evil voice, the kind that inspires the deepest fear in the most fearless of hearts.

"He was true to his cause until death. And he called you a cunt," Boba replied, sparing the details of the four guards and Fancy Pants' friend.

Celestia’s smile faded, "I expected as much. Resilient to the very end, but he didn't have to say rude things about me! I'm sorry for keeping you, Mand'alor Fett. You may leave."

At the end of the sentence, the bounty hunter turned and left the court, with the murder of the unicorn still fresh in his mind.

[He doesn't talk much. I like that,] thought Princess Celestia as he was leaving.

The two renegades and the Assassin walked off towards a predetermined area, where they would be teleported back. Pinkie did most of the talking.

"We should throw a party for our new friend here! I mean, it would just be right, right? We brought you from halfway across the universe and centuries in the past to help us! At least that's what old Clockwork said. He's always talking about impossible things like time travel and..." Pinkie continued talking all the way, through Ponyville, across the meadow, and to the outskirts of the Everfree forest, where the "transport" was waiting.

"Where is our... transportation?" asked Ezio, pausing to take time to look around.

"Right here in 3, 2, 1!" Pinkie counted down, and a bright flash of light, akin to the portal that opened for Ezio, but not nearly as loud or as destructive, blinded the Assassin.

Derpy flapped her wings happily and smiled at Ezio before going though the portal. Pinkie skipped in close behind, an even bigger smile on her face. [Even in this chaos and war, these people still have it in then to smile and be happy. My people at home could learn from them. If on-] Pinkie interrupted his thoughts as she popped her head through the still open portal.

"What are you waiting for slowpoke? Everpony is waiting!" with those words, she retracted her head like some sort of jack-in-the-box.

Ezio started foward with his right foot, and shielded his eyes with his hand as he stepped through the portal. He went through, but on the other side, he didn't see what he was expecting. No Pinkie Pie, jumping around and celebrating his arrival. No Leonhardt and Clockwork Wise bickering over scientific matters in a corner. No Princess Luna waiting for information on the rescue. What he saw instead was the forest.

"Mister?" Came Derpy's voice through the portal, just as it closed shut, and trapping Ezio in Ponyville.

"The light came from over here sir. It was just there a minute ago," came a voice in the darkness.

"Well, you better hope that there's something there Private, or so help me Celestia I will kick you straight to the moon!" came a gruffer, and more menacing second voice, followed by a few others agreeing with what Ezio reasoned to be the leader.

[There are at least four of them, I certainly can take four, but not without attracting attention from the other guards. I better hide] Ezio thought, and found a hiding place behind a towering oak tree.

"Sir, I swear there was a bright fla-"

"You're lucky you weren't here 15 years ago! If you were, I would have beaten you to a bloody pulp! Do you understand me!" the leader shouted at the lesser guard, spittle flew out of his mouth, and his face turned red with fury. "You wasted my time and energy for- wait. Are these footprints?"

A flash of silver and one of the guards has his throat cut open. Blood spurts on the other two, and Ezio jumps on them, revealing his hidden blade and the hook blade and drove them both through the two guards' skulls. As Ezio struggles to remove the hook blade from one of the dead bodies, the leader takes out his alien pistol, and fires three beams of pure energy, but each shot goes wild.

Fearful that he might be struck by one of them, Ezio takes a chance. He outstretches his right hand, cocks his wrist back, letting his vambraces shine in the light of Luna's moon, and fires. A loud bang from the explosion that takes place within the gun, that pushes a musket ball out of the barrel of Ezio's hidden gun and slams into the head of the guards, emenates through the outskirts of the forest.

"Over there! Terrorist!" shouted a pegasus, who flew up and pointed a gloved hand towards the hooded figure of Ezio.

All hell broke loose. With a curse sung in Italian, Ezio turned tail, and fled into the Everfree forest.
_______

"What happened? Where's Ezio?" asked Clockwork with a confused look dominating his usually serene face. "What did you do Leonhardt?"

"I... really have no idea what happened there. I opened the portal, everyone else got in just fine. Did Ezio decide not to go through?" Leonhardt asked Pinkie Pie.

The four ponies had just returned from the portal exit and now sat in a metal warehouse with a smooth stone floor, built into the canyon the base was located in, hidden in the shadow of a cliff at the far reaches of the Everfree forest. The lights 20 feet above buzzed with life and the walls were lined with all sorts of tools, both alien and from Equestria. On the far side of the warehouse, stood a giant unfinished metal skeleton of what looked to be a bird with its beak pointing toward the door, which was just as tall as the ceiling itself.

"I saw him follow us, but I think he was left behind. Oh no, Celestia's guards might have seen it and that means Ezio is in trouble! We have to help him, we have to go back. Please can you take us back," Pinkie looked on at the two scientists with begging eyes, and grabbed Leonhardt's shoulders.

"It's impossible, the por-" Leonhardt tried expect explain, but was cut off.

"Plllleee!" the pink earth pony continued eyes incredibly huge.

"The portal's only-"

"eeeeeaaaaaasssssseee!"

"One way! Theportal'sonlyoneway!" Leonhardt quickly blurted out the reason before the pink earth pony could continue.

"I could get him," a certain cross-eyed pegasus suggested.

"No. Sorry, but we almost lost you once today, and you're too valuable to us for this. For all we know, he could already be dead or worse," said the aged inventor in his soft voice that he still managed to keep firm and commanding. “Besides, your husband would kill us if we sent you out again.”

"We're sorry, but there's nothing we can do," replied the younger inventor with moist eyes. "But, the Apples probably can help!”

Pinkies eyes widened, “oh, oh, oh, I’ll give her a call right now…where’s the phone?”
________

Beams of light lit up the forest and slammed into the undergrowth, bursting into flames. Ezio sprinted through the forest, lit only by fire and the brief flashes of light coming from the guards' blasters.

"Don't let the bucker get away!" a pegasus clad in modified Storm Trooper armor tried to continue the chase, but the rest of his entourage stayed behind. "What in Celestia's name are you all doing? After him!"

"That there is Apple Family propuhty. We don' go no furthah suh," said a unicorn in the gold stroken stark white uniform of Celestia's army. “He is thar…”

The Assassin noticed their hesitation, and came to a sudden halt to listen.

"Fine. Leave the Apple Family to deal with him."

The six or so uniformed guards, and the other one in the armor that belonged in a museum, left the area, leaving Ezio to wonder who this Apple Family was, and why they would cause seven trained killers to turn back.

"Don' turn aroun', an' put your 'ands up," came a voice from behind Ezio. It had a strange dialect, but he had seen so many strange things in one day alone, he barely took notice of it. "Tha's better. Turn around real slow like, an' if Ah see you reaching fo' anythin', Ah shoot. Understand?" the strange voice talked was very shaky, and sounded high pitched, as if it was coming from just a child.

"What is your name little girl and what brings you into this war?" sung Ezio in a soft voice as he turned around to face the source of the voice.

"Ah was sent tah look for you by-" the little redheaded, pony girl with yellow tinted skin, in overalls, holding an alien blaster, was cut off by a frantic voice yelling through the apple trees.

"Applebloom! We were worried sick abou' you! Thank the stars you're okay!" another pony girl, this time with orange skin and coarse, blond hair, that reminded Ezio of the color of wheat, ready to be picked, rushed out of the brambles, and embraced the little girl against her, forcing the little girl to drop the alien weapon. The older girl looked up and asked about Ezio. "Who's this fella?"

"He's the guy the guards were chasin' after, an' someone from the Resistance called an' asked fo' us tah help. An' you don' need to treat me like Ah'm only a li'l filly anymore! Ah'm almost' twelve!" the little girl, Applebloom, pouted to her big sister.

"Applebloom, please. Le's jus' get you an' this man home," the older one replied and turned to Ezio. "Who are you anyway?"

Not sure if he should trust these two, Ezio replied, "Alonso Alvisio da Venezia. You have a very nice orchard," the Italian replied in the musical accent that can win over the most mistrusting of hearts. "What is your name?"

"Applejack, an' Ah thank ya fo' the nice words," the older one, Applejack, forced a smile.

"And you must be Applebloom, what a nice name," the Assassin lowered himself to look into Applebloom's eyes.

"Thank ya Mister Venezia!"

"No, Venezia is the city where I come from. Call me Alonso," Ezio corrected, still musically accented

"Come on Alonso, le's get ya back," Applejack started off down torwards the barn.
__________

The two farmers and Ezio returned to their house, Applejack scolding Applebloom the entire way. They walked into a big, red painted home, and sat down in the living room. The living room had a green circular carpet in front of the television, and a big beige couch with a smaller one to it's right and turned 90 degrees.

"So what can Ah do for ya, Ezio?" said Applejack, turning to face the man.

Ezio furrowed his brow, "How did you know my name?"

"The Resistance called tah tell me abou' you. An' that my sister here picked up the phone an' tried tah talk like me!" Applejack turned to face Applebloom, who was looking down.

"Ah was jus'-"

"-Tryin' tah get yerself killed!" Applejack's face grew red for a moment, and her body tensed, but she breathed in, relaxed her muscles and regained her composure. The orange earth pony turned to Ezio to speak, "Yah gonna have tah stay here tonight. Then we set out in the mornin'. Ah'll go call Luna, she'd want tah know her newest soldier is alright. Applebloom, go show Ezio his room," Applejack walked off towards the phone and dialed a number.

"What's wrong mister, never seen a phone befo'e?" asked Applebloom.

"What is a phone?" asked Ezio.

"Wow! I though' yah looked ol' timey, but I never though' ya were actually from the past!" Applebloom answered in surprise while leading the Assassin up the stairs to one of the many guest rooms.

"We are actually in the future too?"

"Well, tha's what tha' ol' Clockwork fella said. Well, he's ain't really old, he had an accident a few months back."

"What happened?"

"He was tryin' tah make a magical battery, but it exploded in his face, and aged him 45 years or so."

"Leonardo must be in paradise conversing with those two."

"Here's your room Ezio," Applebloom replied and opened a door to a small cozy room with a small bed against one wall, a full length mirror on a closet door, and a writing desk against another wall.

"Thank you Applebloom.” Ezio looked at the older pony “Please, allow me to repay you somehow"
“T’aint nothing required of ya’ll sugarcube,” Said Applejack. “We’re gonna have’ta wait ‘while t’go back. Patrols are gonna be crawl’n all over forest.”

Chapter 3: Spark of Resistance

Chapter 3

Spark of Resistance

Mirta was in the middle of cleaning her armor when her grandfather barged into their shared suite in the castle

“So how did it go?” asked Mirta. About a week ago, open revolt had broken out since the assassination of Fancy Pants. Though in most areas it was demonstrations in the street that were quickly broken up by Solar troops, the city of Trottingham was a different story. A group who call themselves the “Lunar Republic” used the chaos of the demonstrations to gain control of the city. Local troops tried regaining control but resistance was surprisingly strong. [Celestia is near sighted], thought Mirta, [She saw the advantages of taking out Fancy, but not the consequences.] Rumor had it that Celestia was getting ready to send in the Sienar mercs. It got her scared, which means a potentially better deal for the mandalorians.

“Our organized forces will be arriving in about two months, free lancers will start trickling in before then. We’re not bringing as many tanks, Sienar has plenty of walkers. Canderous assault tanks would be over doing it in this style of warfare. A flight of besuiliks and pilots will be included, Celestia purchased more for herself, I have no idea who’s gonna fly them. And our fleet was deemed unnecessary, which was expected seeing that Sienar shits Star Destroyers.”

Now for the most important question. “How much?”

Boba flashed Mirta one of his extremely rare smiles. “A lot.” Was all he said.

Mirta was a little apprehensive. “So that’s it. We are committed?”

“Yeah…what’s wrong?”

“It’s just…I have a bad feeling about Celestia, the way she casually killed that man for boring her. It seemed very…sith like.”

“And that’s a bad thing? I worked for Vader all the time, he was always fair and paid very well.”

“She’s not like Vader. Vader would kill his troops if they failed them, but he would always look out for them. Celestia seems too indifferent about the lives of her subjects, unless they are entirely committed to her, like Cadeus.” Of course she would look for any opportunity to vilify Darth Cadeus. He through the galaxy into a Civil War, caused the death of the billions, and killed thousands personally, including Boba’s daughter. Add to that the fact that he is one of the dreaded Solo’s. Except for Jaina thought Mirta, wondering how her friend was holding up two years after she was forced to kill her twin. “And the Princess Luna would be like Jaina,” Mirta pointed out. “It’s just like the war, except we are on the other side for some reason.”

“It was personal with Cadeus.”

“How many people have to die before it becomes personal with-“

Boba quickly cut her off. “Keep your voice down,” he ordered.

“I just have a bad feeling about it all.” After everything Mirta has been through two years ago, she really did not want to go through it again, especially on the wrong side.

Boba sighed, “Whether you believe it or not, I do understand.” He sat next to his granddaughter, Mirta knew it was the closest thing to grandfatherly affection Boba could physically show. “Mandalore needs the work though, so until she actually betrays us, we’re committed. Now, I am going on assignment, a place called Trottingham.”

Mirta knew about Trottingham. Shortly after Boba’s now infamous assassination of Fancy Pants, LRE forces in Trottingham rallied the angry citizens and took the city. Celestia’s response was to send in the mercenaries to take back the city by force, [A little too aggressive if you ask me]. “While you’re gone, would you mind if I did a little sno-…research into Celestia’s reign.

Boba nodded. “Just don’t get caught.”

The best part about the aliens coming to Equestria was all of the new reading material. They brought many novels about the outside galaxy that were converted from aurebresh to the equestrian alphabet. Twilight spent much of her free time in the library learning about alien worlds and cultures. It was a great escape from the turmoil Equestria was going through. One stallion dies and ponies immediately assume it was Celestia’s doing. And now, tragically, those same ponies will probably die, [they shouldn’t have betrayed their loving princess like that].

She currently sat in a nice comfy chair in the library, reading a book about the recent history of something called the Jedi Order. Celestia did not exactly approve of Twilight learning about the Jedi, but it was one area where she was willing to ignore her teacher. [I wonder why], thought Twilight, [they seem so similar to us]. She had just finished reading about the return of Rahm Kota, and was now moving on to a mysterious figure known only as Ghost. Not much is known about him, only that he was a part of the deepest, darkest depths of rebel intelligences, and is rumored to be the son of a Jedi who survived the Clone Wars.

She was just getting to the part about Luke Skywalker’s emergence when she spotted the alien named Mirta out of the corner of her eye. [Ok Twilight, you didn’t exactly make a good impression, but now you have a second chance]. Admittedly, she was afraid of the mandalorians [from what I have read, that is pretty common], but at the same time she was extremely fascinated by them.

“Hi Mirta”

“Hello…Twilight is it?”

“Yep.” There was an awkward moment of silence, Twilight wasn’t exactly proficient at conversing. “So…What are you doing in the library. It’s the last place I’d expect a bounty hunter. N-n-not that bounty hunters don’t read. I am sure they are great readers.” [Come on Twilight, keep it together].

Mirta did the last thing Twilight expected, she smiled. “It varies from hunter to hunter. The good do. I am actually here to learn more about Equestria.”

[Score!] Twilight thought to herself. “Well, what do you want to know?”

“Everything”

Though they didn’t quite get through everything, Twilight and Mirta sat there for hours talking about Equestria’s history, Magic, the coup, and the outside Galaxy.

“You seem…skeptical, Mirta,” commented Twilight.

“I just have a bad feeling about this all. Ba’buir thinks I am over reacting.”

“Ba’buir?”

“It’s Mandalorian for grandfather.”

“Oh…you two don’t seem like the typical Grandfather/Granddaughter.”

Mirta nodded, “Mostly because two years ago I was trying to kill him.”

Twilight was taken aback by that. [By Celestia, these people are insane]. “But…why?”

“Long story, and a tragic one.”

“Oh…” another awkward moment of silence followed. They seemed to be common in Twilights conversations.

Finally Mirta broke the silence. “What were you reading?”

“Oh, it’s about Jedi. I know mandalorians don’t like Jedi.”

“Most Mandalorians,” corrected Mirta, “One of my best friends is a Jedi.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Jaina Solo. Han Solo’s daughter, ever heard of him?”

“Um…I don’t think so.”

Mirta laughed at that, “Boba would love you.”

“Oh non-sense,” said the severely aged pony, “ah’ll be fine.”

Apple Jack couldn’t help but worry as she watched her grandmother rocking back and forth in her chair on the porch, even though the patrols have moved away from the farm a week after Ezio arrived, she did not want to leave Granny Smith. She tried convincing her to let Applebloom stay, but she would hear, she figured the LRE base would be safer. [Yeah, until the imperials find our base]Apple Jack thought to herself.

“Yer uncle Fritter and yer cousins will be by any day now,” continued Granny Smith, “b’sides, ah’ll slow ya’ll down. Now Git!”

Apple Jack bowed her head in submission, [She’ll be fine], she tried to convince herself [uncle Fritter can take care of her, and Big Macs reputation will keep the imperials off the farm]. Though she would rather he be here to do it personally, she would rather to have never been in the situation in the first place. But the Lunar army needs Big Mac, and Big Mac needed her.

She didn’t hear the door open, or the footsteps, but all of a sudden Ezio was right beside her, facing Granny Smith. “Signora Smith, I wanted to thank you again for your hospitality.” Said the assassin, all charm.

“T’pleasure was all mine, you come back and visit some time, ya’hear.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Apple Jack gave her grandmother one last hug, then headed inside to retrieve her sister. “Applebloom!” she yelled up the steps, “Git on down ‘ere and say goodbye t’granny, we’re leaving.”

“Ah’m comin’, big sis, ya’ll don’t need to yell.” Applebloom came down the steps half sprinting and half falling. She was clearly excited about finally going to the LRE base. She was even happier that she would finally get to see Scootaloo again. Just like many other things, the war divided the Cutie Mark Crusaders, though there division was caused only by distance. It has been awhile, but she still couldn’t figure out why Twilight would betray her like that. [She is smart, she knows what Celestia is doing, but she went any way. She is just as bad as the rest of them].

They left the house and took a short cut throw the orchard to the Everfree forest.

“What is the plan” asked Ezio

“Plain’n simple, we hike through the forest until we reach the base. The goin' in the forest is kinda rough, a lot of animals who’d eat us in a heartbeat. It is a two day hike, so we’re gonna have to stop somewhere to sleep. Think you can handle it?”

Ezio gave her a smile and pretended to be offensive, “you wound me my friend. I may look old, but I can sprint the whole way if need be.”

Apple Jack laughed at that, “Ah’d like t’see that.”

They hiked through the forest all day. Ezio regaled Applebloom with stories of his youth, either unaware or apathetic to their current situation. [By the way he took out those troops last week, he has nothing to worry about]. He might have been right about sprinting through the forest, for a man of his age he was extremely light on his feet, [hell, he’s extremely light on his feet for a man of any age]

The passed by the poison joke fields without incident. Upon hearing about their effect, he went back and carefully picked a few. When asked by Applejack what they were for, she responded “I’ll think of something”. Past the poison joke field was the abandoned hut of Zecora.

“We’ll rest here tonight,” said Applejack, “At first light we’ll all make for the canyon.”

After camp was set up Applebloom fell right asleep. “Ah look at that,” said AJ, “The poor little thing must be exhausted.

Ezio seemed to be unaffected by the cuteness of the situation, he was busy studying the walls.

“What is this place?” he asked Applejack.

“This here is…was the hut of Zecora, have you met her yet?”

“Should I have?”

Applejack was slightly taken aback by his ignorance, then realized between his rescue of Derpy and now he hasn’t had enough time to become acquainted with the figures of the New Lunar Republic, [I shocked he so willingly helped us out]. “She’s a Zebra. Luna’s second in command, even Whooves and Clopton have to answer to her.”

“And she doesn’t mind us staying in her home?”

Apple Jack shrugged, “She ain’t usin’ it.”

Ezio nodded. “What do you do in the LRE?”

“Me? Ah’ma grunt. Sergeant Apple Jack of ‘Big Macs Marauders’, my brother’s platoon.”

“A good unit I assume”

“Good? Ha! We’re the best. We make Celestia’s Elite Guard look like lil’fillies.”

“Pride in your unit it is good, but do not become overconfident my friend,” advised Ezio, “Have you fought in any battles.”

Applejack was a little ashamed to admit it, but she has never seen combat, neither have most of the ponies in her platoon. “Well...ah…We have trained a lot…And my brother saw a lot of fighting before he was kicked out of the Solar Empire’s army...”

“The first time you kill a man is the hardest,” said Ezio solemnly, “but you get used to it after a while. My advice, never take it personally, when you do it leads to a dark place.” Ezio just stood there, staring at nothing. Finally, to Applejacks relief, he spoke, “Don’t let me worry you, I am sure you will do well.”

They awoke that morning, ate a quick breakfast, then followed a nearby river upstream. After following the stream for the better part of a day, Ezio halted, deploying his hidden blade. “We are being watched.”

The rustling in the bushes gave away a flash of color. Ezio retracted the hidden weapon, drew his sword, attaining a combat stance, legs spread wide sword arm bent to hold the familiar weapon in front of his body. Applejack turned to face away from Ezio, drew an alien weapon out of her holster, held it in both of her hands, and aimed down the sights of her gun. The assailants quickly surrounded the two, aiming their alien weapons and glowing swords at Ezio. They were wearing the blue uniforms of the LRE.

Apple jack relaxed and put a steady hand on Ezio’s shoulder, “It's okay sugar-cube,” she said soothingly, “It’s just procedure. A brown Earth pony with bulging muscles approached Ezio with a sack. Ezio gave him a look that could melt the coldest steel, and the pony backed off. Apple Jack looked over and saw what was happening, “It’s okay, we can trust him”. Only then did Ezio sheathe his sword.

A few hours later they arrived at the base with their escort. Ezio had only seen a small portion of the base when he first arrived, and he was amazed by the size and complexity of it all. The base was a semi-circle housed in a canyon, the outside consisted of temporary looking structures, no more than glorified tents, packed against a crumbling wall, inside the wall were a number of ancient looking buildings no more than two stories high, packed together, all surrounding a large, sturdy looking building built into the face of a canyon. with various ponies running around. It reminded him of Villa Auditore. Apple Jack noticed Ezio’s awe. “If ya’ll think that’s impressive, ya’ll should see the underground portion. That’s where all the fun stuff is”

A young Pegasus riding a scooter whizzed by, “SCOOTALOO!” yelled Applebloom with glee. Startled, the young Pegasus lost control of her scooter, and crashed right into Clockwork.

The two Pegasus went crashing down together. Scootaloo got up, seemingly unaware of the older pony she nearly killed. “APPLEBLOOM!” she screamed, with a huge smile on her face. The two girls ran to each other and embraced. Then they started jabbering to each other faster than Ezio comprehend.

“Gosh darn it,” Clockwork said mildly. His younger looking companion was helping him up.

“Curses Clock, damn you!” commanded Leonhardt, “A bucking kid runs you over, an old man, over and all you can manage is ‘gosh darn it’.”

“I am okay, thank you for asking, and don’t call me old. You remember the accident. Aged me thirty years. Besides, it is just foals being foals.” Clockwork turned to Ezio and Apple Jack. “Ah, you are back ahead of schedule, good work Apple Jack. Luna has requested our presence, I am sure she will be happy to see you. Care to join us?”

“Ya’ll don’t cause no trouble, ya’hear,” Apple Jack yelled after her sister as her and her friend ran off. “That’s Scootaloo,” clarified Apple Jack “one of mah sisters best
“Why is she in a uniform?” asked Ezio.
“’er father, Skater, is away commanding at Trottingham, and ‘er mother died in child birth. The princess asked her to become a messenger to help keep her mahnd offa her father.”
The four of them walked into the large building in the center of the base. To Ezio’s surprise, it was not a building at all, only a façade. It was simply a decorative entrance to an elaborate tunnel system that stretched far into the canyon wall. The tunnels had smooth walls and were well lit, with ornate looking pillars set at intervals. Obviously a lot of effort was put into constructing them.

“What is this place exactly,” asked Ezio

“The holdfast of Lord Everfree.” Answered Clockwork, “He was a sorcerer and banner man to Canterlot. He was an evil, evil man, he cursed the forest upon his death. He built this labyrinth so he could commit his unspeakable experiments without arousing the suspicion of the crown. About 3,000 years ago, I think, he rebelled against the crown, but was immediately defeated by Celestia-"

“Wait,” interrupted Ezio, “I am assuming there was another Celestia in your kingdoms history. She cannot possibly be that old.”

“Believe it my friend,”

“And Luna?”

“That is open to debate, she was born a few thousand years after Celestia, but then was sealed away in the moon. It’s a long story.”

“Celestia forbid you bore him even more,” quipped Leonhardt. “Really Clockwork, with all of your reading, you are such an egghead.”

“Maybe if you read more and drank less your portals wouldn’t have failed as miserably as they had.” Leonhardt opened his mouth to respond, but he kept silent, preferring not to risk further embarrassment at the hands of Clockwork. The frail looking scientist turned to Ezio, “We still haven’t exactly figured out what happened. Leonardo seems to be having trouble with some of our spells too.”

The four of them arrived at a large metal door. Waiting outside was Derpy and a male earth pony with his arm draped around her shoulder.

“Ah, Derpy,” greeted Ezio warmly, “I am glad to see you made it back without harm.”

Derpy smiled, “I just wanted to thank you again,”

“As do I,” chimed in the other pony. He had brown hair and yellowish brown skin. He clasped Ezio’s hands “The name is Whooves, Doctor Whooves, I am the head of intelligence here. Derpy is my wife.”

“Pleasure.”

“I am forever in your debt.”

“It was no problem my friend, now shall we proceed.”

“Of course,” Whooves turned to Apple Jack, “Your brother is inside with the Captain.”

“Thank you sir” responded Apple Jack.

They entered into a circular room, simple in design, with a round glass table with a glowing orb in the center. Apple Jack went over to a large pony, who Ezio assumed was her brother, and the gruff looking man standing next to him. Already seated at the table was Leonardo, an older, but still strong looking man in a military uniform with many decorations, and a black skinned woman with white stripes [or is it white skinned with black stripes] Ezio pondered to himself. “Zecora, I presume.”

The woman gave Ezio a half sinister smile, “Ezio, we finally meet. Now please, have a seat.”

There was one thing missing from the scene, Luna. “Where is the princess?” asked Ezio.

“Shortly after you left, she departed for Appleloosa on what we like to call an I and I mission, Inspect and Inspire. She returned about an hour ago and should be here soon.”
Whooves and Derpy sat next to each other, Leonhardt and Clockwork sat to the left of Leonardo. Ezio sat to the right of his friend.

“Having fun?” asked Ezio with a smile on his face.

“Ah, Ezio, welcome back. I have been very busy. Studying this fascinating place and its technology. Did you know they are really close to having a self-propelled flying machine? Imagine that, a flying machine that won’t require strategically placed updrafts. Now the aerodynamics of the contraption is off, but if we incorporate my original design, we might be able to get it to work.”

“As long as I don’t have to test it out, I remember what happened the last time I helped test one of your inventions.”

“Now, now, Ezio, you were fine, weren’t you?”

“I was, but the cat was a different story.”

Luna burst into the room, flanked by two of her guards. She was dressed more like a prince than a princess, wearing a navy blue tunic and trousers, with a darker color cape draped across her shoulders. “Ezio, we were worried about you, we are glad you returned safely.”

“Thanks to Apple Jack,” said Ezio, “She sheltered me until the patrols left.”

“Thank you for your service sergeant. Now, let’s get down to business.” She took a seat in the ornate looking chair between Zecora and the general. “General Cloptton, how are our air superiority issues fairing.”

The General cleared his throat. “As you all know, we have been having trouble accumulate the resources to create a sufficient air force to go up against the Solar Empires. We have managed get a hold of three more airships, bringing the total up to seventeen, but we lack trained individuals to crew them. We do not have enough Pegasi to harass SE airships, and those that we do have cannot match the skill of their SE counter parts. Just yesterday we lost an entire squadron to the Wonder Bolts, they did not even take a casualty, and if the mercenaries get involved with their starships we are…Excuse my language…bucked.”

“We may have a solution to our air problems,” Leonhardt interjected. “As you know princess, me and Clockwork-“

“Clockwork and I” corrected Clockwork.

“Shut up.” Leonhardt snapped at his partner. “ME and Clockwork have been working on a machine that will allow non-pegasi to fly. While we still haven’t successfully reversed engineered one of the aliens star fighter engines, Leonardo here has helped us create an aerodynamic fuselage that can be propelled using magic. It will consist of a two unicorn crew, a pilot who will use magic to move and steer it, and a gunner to use destruction magic. It won’t stand a chance against a star fighter, but is more than capable against an airship, and should be able to tear a Pegasus apart.”

Luna nodded, though it was quite obvious that she was still skeptical. “We mean no offense to you Leonardo, but can we trust your engineering skills.”

“I can vouch for him,” Ezio interjected. “I have flown many of his flying machine prototypes personally. While the earlier ones were…unsuccessful, later models flew perfectly. I put the birds to shame.”

“Well, there is one major aspect we are all overlooking,” said Whooves cynically, “That is manufacturing. Right now we have no factories and no natural resources. All we have right now is Clockwork and Leonhardts warehouse, and while I do not doubt either man’s skills, there is no way for them to produce that many on their own.”

“You forget doctor,” said Luna. “We have a manufacturing center now. We control Trottingham, their factories, resources, and recruits.”

The ponies were silent, each looking at the other, trying to figure out what to do.

“Um…Princess,” Derpy said timidly. Ezio noticed her nervousness, which made him worry. Luna was very informal, and none of the ponies seemed nervous about talking to her, least of all Derpy, [This can’t be good news]. “I…there is a problem, with Trottingham I mean…”

“Yes?” asked the princess in suspense.

“When I was in the SE base in Ponyville, I information on troop deployments, Celestia is massing for her air fleets for an attack on Trottingham....the mercenaries are in charge of the ground operation.”

Ezio could physically see when Luna lost hope. She slouched back into her chair, her hand rubbing the base of her horn. “When?”

“Two days from now,” answered the Doctor.

Cloptton’s white skin was now pink with rage. “Damnit! Why wasn’t I notified.”

“Because you would have rushed off with the army to attack, leaving the base defenseless and more than unlikely, revealed it to the enemy.” Said Whooves, somehow remaining calm.

“Don’t put that on me Whooves, I’m in command of the military, I have the right to know.”

“And I am in command of Intelligence; it is my right to give information to whomever I see fit. I told Zecora, Skater knows, and we got as many re-enforcements there was we can.” He turned to the princess, “it may not be enough…”

“Everypony, please leave.” Asked Luna.

“Does that include our alien friends, who are not ponies?” asked Leonhardt, as he got up. “Because if they’re stay-“

“Out!” commanded the princess sternly.

All of them, except Zecora, departed from the conference room. Once the door was closed and they were in the tunnel, Clockwork turned Leonhardt, “You know Leon, you can be so bucking stupid some times.”

Leonhardt snorted, “’bout time you cursed.”

[How could this happen. We were so close. Now all of those people, our people are going to die. It was our job to protect them, but we failed]. Luna sat there for a while, her face buried in her hands. No one else was in the room but Zecora and two of her body guards flanking the exit. “What do we do Zecora? There is no way our insurgents can hold off a merc ground assault and the air fleet above the city. If we send out the army, then the patrols will find our base within a day. If we do nothing, then thousands will die.”

Zecora sat there for a moment in thought. “Though send our army we do not dare, we must show our troops that we still care. In Leonhardts and Clockworks fighter we must trust, hold the mercs off until it’s finished we must.”

“That is the problem, how do we hold them off until it is finished. All of our insurgents don’t amount to half the fighting capabilities of the mercenaries.”

“Princess, you are thinking big when you should be thinking small. Once you do, you will know who to call.”

With that, a potential solution came. “Quality over quantity,” said Luna to herself. Zecora nodded. Luna turned to her guards. “See if Rompson is still out there, tell him we wish to speak to him.”

The guarded saluted and then left to fetch Rompson, returning less than a minute later with the gruff, olive skinned unicorn. His short, silver hair was dirty, and his usually short beard was longer, clearly he just came back from the field before the meeting. “Princess,” he greeted, without going to attention. Usually that would warrant some form of discipline, but Captain Rompson was valuable enough to get away with such insubordination.

“Captain Rompson, is your company assembled?”

“Two of my platoons are still out in the field, they are on their way back now, should be back in a day. Big Macs Marauders are here and ready to go.”

“Good enough. Send them to Trottingham, once you’re other platoons return, you will follow them. Then our Trottingham resistance cell is led by Colonel Skater, he would have likely set up defenses, but they cannot hold off the imperial air fleet and the mercenaries by themselves. Once you are in the city, expect it to be blockaded and expect to be cut off from aid. You must hold out until Leonhardt, Clockwork, and Leonardo can finish their fighters to break the blockade.”

“My soldiers are the best of the best princess,” said Rompson in a voice that could alone force an entire legion to surrender, “We won’t disappoint you.”

“Good luck Captain,” said Luna grimly. She knew she was more than likely sending Rompson and his ponies off to their deaths. It was one aspect of ruling she would never get used to. “And be Safe.”

Boba surveyed the city. [Nice place, I’d by real-estate here, if it wasn’t burning of course]. Trottingham was built on a delta, with bridges connecting. It was paved with cobblestone with quaint two to three story cottages packed together. It was the kind of place coruscanti tourist would go nuts over. Now it was burning. Sienar mercenaries, garb in their black armor, were everywhere, the First Solar air fleet was over head, and of course, there were the bodies.

Ignoring the curious stares of the mercenaries, Boba went in search of the section commander. He found him just outside the control center, enjoying a nice bottle of wine. [Kriffing mercenaries]. The commander noticed by Boba, and tried in vain to make himself presentable. “Fierfek, it’s really him,” he said to himself. The man extended a hand towards Boba, “Mandalore, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Name’s Gavin Brenner, I’m a huge fan.”

Boba ignore the hand. [I can already tell I’m going to hate him]. “What’s the situation?” asked Boba, all business.

“Oh..yeah. These ponies knew we were coming, they are heavily fortified, and we don’t have any armor to route them out with. Them magic ones keep on messing with our equipment too.”

[These ponies are out gunned with inferior tech. They should all be corpses by now…Kriffing mercs]. Boba took a moment to sum them up. They looked professional enough, Force knows they were well equipped. Most of them were human, which is typical for Sienar, though there were some non-humans sprinkled here and there, including a Trandoshan and a Wookiee staring death at each.

“Are you sure those two are okay together in the same squad?” asked Boba. Trandoshan’s and Wookiee’s are known for their viscous feuds.

“Oh, them? Yeah, no, they’ll be fine. That squad is actually going to be making an attack at one of the LRE emplacements now.”

“Let me see the battle plan.”

There wasn’t much to see. There were only two approaches, a frontal one with cover, and a side one where the enemy was exposed, but is a choke point for anyone trying to attack them from that direction. The plan was pretty straight forward; harass the emplacement from the front. The LRE ponies were using light weapons, nothing the mercs armor couldn’t handle. Respectable strategy, for people without jet packs. “You get that Trandoshan and his chaingun on their flank, I’ll keep the ponies distracted.”

Boba used his jet pack to get to the rooftops. [They never look up]. He hopped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to limit the use of his jet pack, taking advantage of his fibercord whip. He needed to conserve fuel for what he was about to do.

Ten minutes later he was in position, waiting for the signal from mission control. He took a minute to survey their defenses. They had metal emplacements set up on the main road leading to a large stone building. The building itself was a fortress and will be hard to storm, but what was important now was to get rid of those emplacements so Brenner can get the rest of his mercs up the main road. To the left of the emplacements was a narrow alley way, enough for a squad to move through, but of course they would be stuck in there and be easy shooting for the ponies. That’s where Boba came in. One jetpack equipped soldier can cause a lot of problems behind enemy lines, especially a mandalorian. Boba can keep their attention while the squad moves up the ally.

He heard two clicks over his comm. The signal for go. He dropped down from the roof top and activated his jetpack. He saw a group of five ponies clumped together, perfect target for a missile. He fired the missile and didn’t watch to see what happened, he knew it hit its mark when he heard the dismayed screams of his opponents. He continued to maneuver and fire.

Suddenly, his jet pack shut off, and Boba went crashing to the ground. A blaster shot glanced off his armor while he was getting his bearings. He quickly ran to cover. “Brenner! My jetpack shut off. What happened?” Boba screamed into his comm.

“Must be a unicorn nearby, look for a colored glow coming out of one of the ponies.”

It took Boba less than five seconds to find the unicorn. He popped out of cover and fired, hitting the unicorn right in the chest. Immediately his jetpacks systems came back online, and Boba was airborne again.

But something was right. All of the fire was direct towards Boba, and the squad in the alley was nowhere to be seen. “Brenner, what the hell is going on?”

Brenner’s frantic voice came across the comm, “Abort! Abort!”

[Kriffing mercs]. Boba shot skyward, over the rooftops, and came down three blocks away, behind enemy lines. He went parallel to enemy lines away from the emplacements, then headed back to the control center. When he got back, it was chaos. The Wookiee was going berserk, a group of his comrades were trying to calm him down. Boba knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway. “What happened?”

“He shot the Trandoshan. I am surprised, he waited this long, they’ve been together in the squad for a long time. I knew they didn’t like each other, but there were no fights or anything.”

Boba shook his head, raised his blaster one handed, and put a blaster bolt right between the Wookies eyes. “So unprofessional” was all Boba said. He took a look at his braided Wookiee scalps hanging from his shoulder. [At least I’ll have another scalp to add to the collection].

Chapter 4: The Fires of Trottingham

The darkness is rising again,

‘cause it’s Nightmare Night

“Turn that off mate, I don’t feel listening to propaganda right now,” Jan Wonderhooves asked of Giuetta, the comm operator in their squad.

With a small pop, the music disappears and the small squad once again walks along the wilderness in a dulling silence.

“Buck this, I’ll just say it. I’m so bucking scared,” Nigel broke the silence and all ten stop in their tracks. Even the trees, and birds hold still to listen. He cradles his rifle, a projectile shooting antique from before the war, fitted with a custom zoom scope, sits down on a mossy tree trunk, and staring out into the distance. “We’re gonna go into an enemy city, filled with Mercs and we’re supposed to fight’em. We’re just one bucking comp- we’re not even a company, not until Rompsons gets the rest of the platoons up here. Just about 40 idiots, about to march into an early grave.”

“You’re starting to sound scared Mossberg,” mocked Kapurass, the squads close-qaurter combat expert, “which is funny, because from what I understand, you and Cloudcatcher are gonna be in the back, picking off Mercs at your leisure, away from the shooting”

“Of course I’m scared, they’re gonna be gunning for us, using whatever weapons they got to take out a sniper. I can’t dodge 20 unicorns using explosive mag-”

“Hush now, ya’hear? Both of ya”, Commaded Applejack, she squated down by the nervous mass in a ghillie suit and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s ok sugarcube, we’re all scared,”’

“But- but if I die...I heard Celestia is gonna put out an order that any captured rebels family is to be rounded up too...” the usually stoic pegasus is the first to break down. “I’m-I’m just so fucking scared.”

“Ah feel they same way, 'bout my sister Applebloom. But we jus' gotta push on."

“Incoming,” whispered Jan ugerntly.

Applejacks sqaud was anything, but professional. They immediately went into cover, Nigel dissapeared into a bush, Roid quickly, and expertly set up his captured merc chaingun on a broken down wall on the left side of the road, with Dolan and Zlad aiding him. Guitta, Jan, and Applejack went to their bellies in a ditch on the right. Kapurass steathly sneaked up to the approaching shadow, ready to slit the figures throat on a moments notice. Applejack whispered the challenge phrase. “Describe pears in one word.”

“Shit,” came the reply.

The tension eased away from the squad, as Cloudcatcher, the squad's pegusus scout and sometimes spotter, ran up to Applejack, out of breath and distraught. “I-I need to talk to LT.”

“What is it?” asked Applejack, worried she wouldn’t like the answer.

“Trottingham sarge, they’re burning it.

The young, uniformed stallion gazed into an ornate mirror in an equally ornate bedroom, and weary blue eyes stared back. His uniform was the stark white, with trimmed gold and red dash on the shoulders indicating a soldier of rank. On his chest, blazed the golden sunrise of the solar empire.

"Big brother!" called a purple unicorn mare. She burst into the room with hope that she'll spend time with her older sibling. “Big brother? What’s this?”

“I... I transfered into the army. Canterlot’s safe for now, but... but out there is where I need to be. Out there fighting for my country,” the white unicorn looked into the eyes of his younger sister and curled the corners of his lips upwards, and put on what he hoped was a sincere face.

“No, you can’t. Big brother, what about-?”

“It’s in the hands of a good friend of mine, I would trust him with my life.”

“What if you die?”

“I won’t. I’ve got Equestria’s finest in Sun Company. I’m their leader, and this is what I’ve signed up for, and I can’t turn back now. I’m sorry I had to wait until the last minute to tell you, but you would do everything in your power to keep me from going if I hadn’t! I leave in an hour. Please don’t keep me from doing this,” the tall, uniformed stallion pleaded.

“Does Ca-?”

“Yes, she knows.”

“When will you be back home?”

“Soon.”

“Bye, big brother.”

“Bye.”

The city loomed ahead, outlined by the moon and the flashes from the frequent yellow flashes. The sounds of war can be heard even a mile away at the Lunar base. The nine soldiers pitched a tent next to a squad from the same company.

“Hey Romp, isn’t that Big Mac?” a skinny young, tan earth pony asked the muscular unicorn, polishing his Scatter Blaster, unicorn next to him.

“Damn right it is. Hey Lieutenant! What took you so long?” The burly pony named Romp set down his gun and walked towards the red earth pony. He slipped a little from the mud and Big Mac caught him.

“Heya Captain. We ‘ad a delay gettin’ ‘ere, tha’s all,” said the red pony in the navy blue uniform of the Lunar Army.

"Very well then, don't let it happen again. We're on a rush here. Another squad I sent out to deal with a few mercs, holed up in a building, and are stuck. If we don't deal with the mercs now, they'll give us trouble later when we push forward. Also, those ponies left in there are still needed. That's all you need to know. You have an hour and a half to get yourself and your squad ready soldier, then meet back here," Captain Rompson instructed Big Mac in a laid back, and still commanding voice.

"Yessir!" Big Mac saluted and walked off in the mud to prepare himself and his soldiers for battle.

Rainbow Dash laid on the roof of her home in the clouds, looking up towards the sky, whose light blue her skin was colored after. Her brow was furrowed in deep thought, something which she does not do very often. Just a few weeks ago, she and her friends were the tightest bunch of ponies Equestria has ever seen. They laughed, they cried, they feared for their lives, all together. Until a fateful Saturday afternoon. It was supposed to be a picnic.

To her, it still felt like it only happened yesterday. They were all gathered around for a picnic on the fringes of Whitetail Woods. It was shortly after the news of Luna’s coup broke. Pinkie Pie brought the food, Rarity the decorations, Fluttershy, a few of her animal friends, Applejack, more food, Rainbow Dash cleared the sky of any clouds, and Twilight Sparkle, of course, ensured that they all had everything that was needed. They all showed up, trying their best to keep off the topic of the coup d'etat, and go around any conversation regarding either princess. Despite the awkward air that surrounded them, it was still a beautiful, sunny and relaxing day outside of Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash smiled at the memory of it, and longed to be back there, when they were all just friends. It was a beautiful day afterall. The six friends set down their supplies, and went for a swim in a nearby pond. The water was warm and the mud beneath their toes was silky smooth. Rarity, known for trying to always look her best, splashed some of the mud on her face, for the ‘healing properties.’ After a lunch of rose petal sandwiches, apples from Sweet Apple Acres, and cupcakes from Sugar Cube Corner. Afterwards, the ponies romped in the field. Even Fluttershy joined in the fun, contrary to her usually timid demeanor.

As a prank thought up by Pinkie Pie, Applejack pushed Rarity into a puddle of mud. Rarity glared up at the orange pony in exasperation. She stared back, trying to apologize for doing such a thing, but Pinkie pie pushed her in to join Rarity, and jumped in as well, throwing mud all over the others. Rainbow Dash remembers making a remark about Pinkie being random, but can not remember the exact words. Fluttershy suggested to go down to the pond again, to watch the sunset. Everypony else agreed.
They sat there, watching the sunset, blissfully unaware that their friendship would be shattered. Twilight fleeted her eyes between her friends, and the scenery. , and would repeatedly take in a breath as to talk, but would quickly let it out again. Her friends, who understood the relationship between her and the two princesses, were worried for her. Finally she spoke. “Girls... I-I have something to tell you.”

“What is it sugar cube?” asked Applejack, in a soothing voice, fully aware that something was troubling Twilight.

“You can tell us Twilight”, beamed Pinkie, smile as large as ever.

“Princess Celestia, she... she has asked me to come back Canterlot... I’m leaving tomorrow.”

That sentence broke Rainbow’s heart. Her emotions become of a whirlwind of anxiety, worry, and loneliness. Applejack got real angry, yelling at Twilight, then storming off. Pinkie and Rarity tried to convince her to stay, but eventually accepted that she was leaving. Fluttershy was more accepting, but warned her to be careful. Rainbow Dash couldn’t face her. She sulked away quietly, back to her cloud home, completely cutting herself off from her friends, only seeing Fluttershy recently.

I’m the element of loyalty, I love my friends, but how can I be loyal to them if they’re enemies, Thought Rainbow Dash. She looked out to the window, up to the sky. Why can’t everything be as simple as flying. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, flying over Ponyville was currently restricted, due to it being the base of operations for the imperials, and it was driving her insane. She settled for the next best thing, flew down to her room, and retrieved her limited edition copy of Daring Doo 3: Island of Mystery signed by the author, G.R.R. Mustang from her nightstand, and laid down on her bed to read. Gosh, if Twilight saw me with this...

She was jolted out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. “Pinkie, darling, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Of course it is silly, how else are we supposed to get her attention.”

“Perhaps a doorbell would be more-”

Rarities voice was cut off by a loud crack. Suddenly, a tan substance broke through the cloud walls of her house, and covered Dash from head to toe, thoroughly soaking her. She did managed to shield the book with her arms at least. She through open the curtains, and stormed out onto the balcony to face her aggressor. She stood there, giving Pinkie Pie a stare that would put Fluttershy to shame.

Pinkie Pie, stationed behind her infamous, pink party cannon, was unphased, “Oopsies. I got the confetti and cake batter mixed up...again.”

The two held the stare for a while, but Rainbow Dash could not help but smile, then snicker, then just burst out laughing. Then Pinkie laughed along, and so did Rarity. This was a very badly needed laugh for the three friends. Once the laughter died down, Rainbow Dash jumped off her balcony and floated down to her friend. “I’m glad to see you guys.”
Rarity spoke. “Rainbow dear, Pinkie and I insist that you join us for lunch...”

“Um...I can’t...”

“We are not taking no for an answer darling.”

“But I’m all...cakey.”

“Nonsense.” huffed Rarity. She closed her eyes, and her horn started to glow. The cake batter dissolved off of Dash.

She smiled, “All of the spells you could learn, I still don’t understand why you focus solely on cleaning spells.”

“A lady has to stay proper,” was Rarity’s only answer. “Now lets go to lunch, my treat.”

Rainbow Dash stared at the burned out building. “What happened there?”

Pinkie tried her best to hide her smile, “I have no idea.” Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash gave her a look, “No really, I don’t know.”

“Oh man, are we glad to see you guys!” a short and skinny earth pony looked up at Big Mac and then to his squad with a relieved smile, from behind a crumbling wall. then she frowned while looking at one. “Who’s that guy?”

“Tha’s Dook Dulan, he don’t talk much, just stares at ya and says your name and ‘please’ when ‘e wants something. If he hadn't had this sixth sense fo' danger, we wouldn’t have brought him along,” Applejack replied to the purple earth pony. “Wha’s your name anyhow?”

“This isn’t the best time, but it's Sergeant Paint, of Team Alucard. It’s our squad’s name."

"Sarge, give us covering fire! We're being raped here!" an earth pony and a unicorn were taking cover from the red flashes of light coming from the mercenaries' blasters. Blood stained the pants of the unicorn, who was trying his best to apply pressure on his right leg.

"I got this. YEAH!" a white pegasus, a head taller than Big Mac, heaved a weapon that would be usually mounted on a tank on top of the wall, and opened fire with green plasma. The plasma slammed into the walls and caused the mercs to scatter, yet more than one of them were cut down.

"Go go go! Come on!" Sergeant Paint called to the two ponies, now running towards the crumbling wall. The unicorn was half running, half being dragged by the earth pony, who was uninjured. "That's it! Almost there! And... got ya! Bucking mercs, what the hell did they do to you?" Paint strained to yell above the din of Roid's monster of a gun.

"Just a new hole, now in my leg, and not in between 'em. No big deal sarge," the unicorn joked, as her earth pony savior gasped for air.

"Why *wheez* did he *cough* stop?" the earth pony, in between bouts of coughing and wheezing, looked over at the white pegasus slumped over his gun.

"What? Damnit Roid get up!" Applejack cut off her report to the captain with Giuetta, ran over, and threw the mass over her shoulder and onto his back. They all gathered round to take a look, including the last three of Team Alucard, half gasped at the sight, and half simply averted their eyes. Only the wounded pegasus bent down to close his eyes, or what's left of them.

"Big guy saved my life, this is the least I can do."

"Tha's mighty fine of you-"

"They're moving up!" Cloud Catcher had ascended to take a peek while everyone else was gathered round Roid Rage, and spotted the mercenaries taking new positions, and resuming the fire.

"Ah've 'ad enough! Jan! Use your rockets, an' be more careful than Rage! Zlad an' Kapurass, sneak around 'em an' start taking 'em out one by one. Mossberg an' Cloud, stay back an' keep pressure on those machine guns. Giuetta, Applejack, an' Dulan, on me. We're retaking this block one way or 'nother," the red pony, fed up from being shit at, shouted out orders to his squad.

"Hey, what about us Lieutenant?" Paint asked, like a teenager who hasn't been invited to a party.
Big Mac bent down to retrieve Roid's monster of a weapon, and replied, "You go home now, ya hear? You only have three ponies left, and one's wounded."

"But-"

"No buts. I order you to retreat back to base," the red pony strained not to let his voice falter, especially at the word 'order'.

"Yes sir," Paint said with downcast eyes.

"Let's go sarge, we have a few to mourn," the unicorn limped over to Paint, threw her arm over her shoulder, and turned to speak to Big Mac. "My name's Photo, and his name over there is Print. Good luck, I hope to see ya back at base sir."

"So do I cor-

"Come on Mac, we can't do your plan without you!" Giuetta called.
The red pony jogged to the waiting Giuetta, Applejack, and Dulan, the others have already started their part.

"What do we do brother?" Applejack asked.

"We give 'em a li'l somethin' to worry about," Big Mac replied as he brought Roid's gun to bear, set it onto a dip in the crumbling wall, and opened up with a torrent of green plasma. All the while, he was gritting his teeth.
*crackle* "Big Mac! Giuetta! Anypony!" The radio came to life with Kapurass's voice.

"I hear you Kap, what's going on?" Giuetta replied with no hesitation.

"They're calling a ceasefire and retreating. One of them also stopped by to talk, said something about an orbital laser, ready to destroy anything living in Trottingh-." Kapurass's voice was cut off by another burst of static, and the voice of Captain Rompson.

"Lieutenant Macintosh, this is Rompson. I've got orders from up top to get you, and the squad you are currently with, out of Trottingham in under an hour. So, I order you, I repeat, I order you, to leave Trottingham immediately. I don't give a buck about the current mission, it has been nullified. And if you're not back here within an hour, I'll personally march over there, and kick and drag your ass back here. This message repeats. Lieutenant Macintosh..."
"Shit's about to go down," said Cloud Catcher as he walked towards Big Mac.
"I reckon they're gonna use their satellites to burn this city," Mossberg added.
Kapurass, and Zlad briskly marched over as all the others were gathering around, waiting to hear what their leader was about to say.

Big Mac let out a big sigh, and uttered a single word that told everyone else of his decision. "Eeyup." Big Macintosh began the march home.