Knights of Old Equestria

Chapters

Prologue: Darkess Falling
Chapter 1: Aboard The Endar Spire
Chapter 2: The Surface of Taris
Chapter 3: Welcome to The Lower City

Prologue: Darkess Falling

Knights of Old Equestria:

Prologue - Darkness Falling

“Twilight? Twilight! Is it done?”

“Yes,” she said panting, recovering from using her battle meditation, “But the fight is only getting started.” Turning to the captain of the ship, “Tell the fleet to engage Revan’s flagship, set us on a collision course. We need to get close.”

“Yes ma’am,” the captain said and Twilight noticed a hint of fear in his voice. He had a right to be afraid, for all intents and purposes, this was a suicide mission. The Republic could not risk losing another one of its fleets to Revan’s unstoppable war machine, so a plan was devised to initiate the construction of a smaller fleet that would be sizable enough to attract the Dark Lord’s attention. This fleet was disposable, if the ships made it out of the battle in one piece they would be deemed as heroes. If not, then their deaths would be mourned but given little attention. Twilight hated this plan, hated to see lives wasted so cavalierly, but it was necessity. Taking a deep breath, Twilight prepared for the task at hand.

“Set engines to 100% burn, sound collision alarm. Brace for impact.”

_________________________________________________________________

The fleets moved closer together, like pawns in a game of Dejarik. Orders were initiated, and the Republic ships formed into a spear, with Twilight’s ship at the head. The Sith took advantage of this vulnerable position, sending frigates and fighters to surround the Republic ships on all sides and begin their assault. The Republic mostly disregarded these threats, focusing only a few turbolasers on the incoming swarm of fighters and destroyers. Once the Republic ships were in range, all power diverted from engines and port or starboard deflector shields directly to all front facing battery placements. The Republic ships began firing salvo after salvo at the flagship in hopes of damaging the shields enough to allow Twilight’s strike team to board the ship.

Guided with the help of Twilight’s battle meditation, the ships led a valiant approach to the flagship.

Impacts on the outer hull were visible, telling Twilight the time for action was at hand. With a nod to her fellow Jedi, they ran to the hanger to their carefully constructed, well-armored, transport.

The Jedi strike force of two Republic troopers and six Jedi, including Twilight, rushed to their carefully planned positions in the smaller ship. Activating the sub-light engines, the ship gained height. It sat there, poised like a snake ready to strike, waiting for Twilight to give the command.

“Starlight, get us on that ship,” Twilight told the Jedi pilot.

“Yes ma’am,” Starlight said a moment before the crew was pushed backwards in their seats by the rapid acceleration.

_________________________________________________________________

Moving and ducking through the fight, Republic fighters attempted to escort the transport, aptly named The Final Hope. The transport had limited offensive capabilities, it was designed for speed and agility, traits that it flaunted in its maiden voyage.

“Sith Interceptors approaching from the forward vector,” one of the Jedi in charge of navigation told Twilight.

“Get Captain Iron Shield on fleetcom and tell him to destroy those ships!” Twilight responded.

“Aye-aye.”

Breathing heavily, Twilight watched on screen as the Interceptors moved closer and closer to their target. Grinding her teeth, Twilight began muttering to herself and to an invisible Captain Iron Shield, Captain, you better get your flank down here before we’re dust. First salvo from the fighters, classic Sith strategy, before Sith got into lethal range they usually opened fire with a preliminary salvo in the hopes that one of the shots would meet with its target, wounding it.

“Evade that attack, keep as much distance as you can from those fighters until the captain and his ships can take care of them.”

Starlight gave an affirmative grunt as she took the ship into a nosedive. Descending fast through the conflict, Twilight saw the true chaos and destruction of the battle. Two Republic ships were gutted from bow to stern and smoldering remains were adrift in the vacuum. Twenty thousand souls, lost in the blink of an eye. Clearing the tears from her eyes one thought crossed her mind, Revan must be stopped.

“Did somepony call for some back-up?” a voice like a guardian angel sounded through the intercom. One by one, the blips on the radar representing the Sith Interceptors disappeared.

“Thank you Captain, will you please escort us to the flagship?” Twilight sighed.

“It’d be my pleasure ma’am,” he paused and added, “Twi could you do me a favor?”

Wondering Twilight asked, “What is it?”

“Kick Revan’s ass up there, for all of us.”

________________________________________________________________

The transport breached through the Sith hangar doors, crashing and sliding into everything. The Sith in the hangar were still recoiling when the Jedi were already upon them. Not even at a complete stop, the Jedi opened the ship’s airlock and leaped high out of the crashing ship. Most of the Sith had no idea what was happening until it was too late. Joining the fight, Twilight rushed into a group of three Sith troopers. She cut two of them down with the first swing of her purple colored lightsaber, then using the momentum from the first attack, wheeled around and drove the blade of the lightsaber through the trooper, killing him instantly.

Sliding the lightsaber from the dead Sith, she turned her attention to the squad of elite Sith troopers most likely sent by Revan herself to dispatch Twilight and the rest of her team. Making good use of the Shien technique, Twilight fended off the blaster fire from the troopers while moving closer into range. As Twilight got closer to the squad, she evaded the first five blaster bolts, batting away the sixth, she spun around, channelled the force into a tidal wave of energy, and swept them away like dust from a broom. At this point the rest of the strike team finished disposing of the remaining Sith guards, who were no match for Jedi.

Running back to the ship, Twilight went to help the two Republic troopers still stunned inside the transport. These soldiers were hand picked especially for the mission, and Twilight would be hard pressed if she lost them.

“Thanks ma’am,” the troopers responded.

“Thank me by completing the mission,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am.”

__________________________________________________________

Making her way through the ship, Twilight approached the bridge. But as she plainly saw it would be no easy task. Hoof picked guards were waiting for the strike force at the entrance to the bridge, there was only one way through. Twilight held her lightsaber close to her, in a state of meditation, she cleared her mind and ignited her lightsaber. The dark Jedi charged at their assigned targets, while the troopers in back took cheap shots at the team. The strike force was organized in the same way, swords up front, blasters in back. The sith charged at her, taking leaps and bounds toward her, but Twilight stood calm and let them come.

Twilight was not defenseless as her opponents perceived, all the while she was focusing on the panels that lined the room looking for structural weaknesses and exploiting them. By the time the enemies got close, Twilight sprung the trap, crushing her opponents. Satisfied that her foes were dispatched, she turned to assist her allies only to see Night Wing, a dear close friend of hers, being run through with a crimson lightsaber. His body fell, lifeless, Twilight’s blood ran cold. The Sith warrior turned and gave Twilight the most twisted, evil smile possible. Trying to control her emotions, Twilight ran at the Dark Jedi, focusing all her concentration on one single force power. Twilight leaped, but instead of attacking with the lightsaber as the warrior thought, Twilight slammed her hoof onto the floor with all her might creating a shockwave of force energy that forced the warrior airborne. A look of shock appeared in the warrior’s eyes as Twilight then directed a blast of force into his chest, throwing him into a wall and killing him.

Twilight looked around to see the battle, most of her companions had disposed of their opponents. Only Starlight was still in the midst of combat with one of the Republic Troopers. As the rest of the Jedi and Twilight were about to join in the conflict, Dark Jedi assassins uncloaked their stealth field generators and surrounded Starlight. Poised and ready to strike, Twilight was stopped by Starlight’s voice, “Twilight, you can’t fight them all. Get to the bridge, I’ll hold them off!”

Twilight wanted to stay and fight, but her life and the lives of her allies would be wasted and the Republic would fall. Grudgingly, Twilight told the rest of her companions to make their way into the bulkhead to the bridge.

“We can’t leave her out there!” the remaining Republic trooper told Twilight.

“I don’t want to, but we have no choice,” Twilight sighed.

“We always have a choice! I’m staying out here and fighting!” said the trooper.

“Oh no you’re not, that is a direct order soldier!” retorted Twilight. To stop further resistance, Twilight picked the trooper up with the force and threw him as gently as she could into the bulkhead. Running inside as well, Twilight turned one last time to look at her friend. In her last moments, Starlight looked at Twilight and called out, “GO! I won’t let them get through! Get Revan! Save the Republic!” Twilight turned and closed the door, taking the time to lock it from the inside. Sounds of battle could still be heard from behind the door, followed by a large explosion that shook the ship. Twilight then heard only silence coming from the other side of the door.

_____________________________________________________________

“Beyond that door is Revan,” Twilight said to the rest of her companions. “I don’t know if we will make it out of here alive, but we are the Republic’s last hope for survival. May the force be with us.”

The other Jedi nodded in a salute, mourning the recently departed and the soon to be departed. One of the Jedi broke the silence, “Let us go, the sooner this is over the better.”

The door opened and the companions spilled out onto the bridge. Five enemies, five of us. The three remaining Jedi faced their particular targets while Twilight rushed to face Darth Revan. If Darth Revan noticed her, she did not show it. Before she could get all the way into attacking range, she was interrupted by a Dark Jedi. The Sith put himself directly between Twilight and her target, she would need to kill him to get to Revan. The Sith attacked first, causing Twilight to reel back in defence. They exchanged blows, neither gaining the upper hand. The Sith was a wall of defence, not allowing Twilight to gain any sort of ground. Twilight may have been cut down if it were not for the Republic trooper that charged past.

“Get over here you bastard!” the Trooper called to Revan. This distracted the Sith enough for Twilight to gain the upperhand. The trooper had no chance against Revan, gurgling was heard soon after as Revan took the life from the poor trooper’s body. Still using the distraction to her advantage, Twilight attacked and with three quick blows, she killed the Sith.

The Jedi, each having defeated their target, came to meet up with Twilight and stood ready to fight Revan. “You can’t win, Revan!” Twilight said to Revan, mainly for her own sake and not for Revan’s. In response, Revan only laughed. Her armored black horn was visible, sticking up from her mask. She shifted her lightsaber into a defensive stance and prepared for the Jedi to attack.

The Jedi stiffened and prepared to strike, but before they could a large explosion shook the ship throwing Twilight to the ground violently. She looked around at the extent of the damage, her allies were all dead or mortally wounded. Revan was still alive but barely, Twilight felt a sense of empathy come over her and she made a split second decision, she saved Revan’s life.

______________________________________________________________

“Who are you?” said the Jedi Master standing on the podium.

Revan laughed mockingly, even though she was bound and momentarily blocked from the force. “I am Darth Revan. Dark Lord of the Sith, the conqueror of the Republic. I am the greatest force user in history. I am what you fear,” she concluded, sneering through her mask.

“No, you are not. Not anymore.”

Revan felt something similar to nails being driven into her skull. She screamed a blood curdling scream as she felt herself slowly drifting away, her mind slowly becoming separate from her body. And then there was darkness...

Chapter 1: Aboard The Endar Spire

Knights of Old Equestria:

Chapter One - Aboard The Endar Spire

Ditzy’s eyes flashed open when the blaring sound of the Endar Spire’s sirens pulsed through her ears. She swiftly sat up and turned to see her bunk mate Pip, a fellow Republic soldier, already awake and prepared for a fight. Pip was a brown and white spotted stallion, he could hardly be called a stallion as he looked no older than a colt. Pip was a loyal soldier to the Republic and an ensign on the Endar Spire, wearing the standard Republic orange and yellow plasteel plated body armor.

“What the hell is going on?!” Ditzy shouted, struggling to overcome the sirens.

“It’s the Sith!” Pip yelled as he prepared his blaster, expecting the worst, “They’ve attacked the ship! Boarding parties have already breached the airlocks. They must be after Twilight!”

The sirens continued as Ditzy struggled to gather her thoughts. The ship felt like it was on the verge of destruction, the walls and floors were shaking from the bombardment of the Sith ships, and the lights flickered every few seconds in response to the barrage of missiles. Reverberations from the impact of the turbolasers on the outside hull was noticeable as Ditzy rolled off her bed.

It was during a lull in the barrage that Ditzy gained her bearings, she ran over to her locker on the other side of her room as fast as her hooves would take her. From her locker Ditzy clothed herself in a simple white shirt and brown pants as swiftly as her hooves could manage. Ditzy struggled to adjust the fittings of her holster onto her side, after a considerable amount of effort she finally had it in its correct position. She then armed herself with her blaster, and sheathed her vibroblade over her left flank, covering her cutie mark. Last but not least, she grabbed her lucky leather jacket from the bottom of the foot locker. She looked to Pip and gave him a nod, indicating that she was ready to face the Sith head on to defend the Republic. This was interrupted as a change in the gravity generator told her that the Endar Spire had breached the upper atmosphere of the planet, the ship was falling out of the sky.

As the two ran out through the room’s door a familiar voice rang out over the blasts hitting the hull of the ship, “This is Rainbow Dash. The Sith have overrun the ship, we can’t hold on much longer. All hands to the bridge immediately!” Ditzy and Pip looked to each other, and exchanged a look of both fear, and determination. They continued running down the now dimly lit hallway, until they approached a tightly sealed security door. Ditzy looked on in despair at the looming dark metal barricade, this one obstruction would prevent them from reaching their goal, and prevent them from saving the ship. Ditzy turned to look at Pip, a look of desperation and sadness coated over her bright gold eyes. Pip returned her expression with a small grin, he walked up to the door and began working his hooves through the series of security panels and coloured wires. After only a few seconds of working the buttons and switches, the door slowly slid open just enough for a pony to slide through.

“Ladies first,” Pip declared, with a large smile.

Ditzy slowly worked her way through the gap in the doorway, being cautious not to hurt herself on the pile of metal shrapnel that was laying on the other side of the door. As soon as she got through she saw a young Republic soldier laying across the hall behind a small pile of rubble that had fallen from the ceiling. The soldier was holding his left wing, wincing every time the Endar Spire shook from the missile barrage. Ditzy looked at the blue Pegasus with a concerned look on her face, she started toward the young stallion with the intention of helping a fellow pegasi any way she could, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the way the stallion looked at her. The pegasus lifted a hoof to his lips, motioning for her to stay quiet and to remain where she was. Ditzy cautiously poked her head around the corner of the metal shrapnel she was behind and noticed three Sith combat droids standing about twenty feet down the hallway. She waited for Pip to make his way through the door before telling him about the current situation.

“Pssst, Pip!” she whispered through her teeth.

Pip looked at her with a worried look on his face, “How many are there?” he asked, knowing there must be trouble waiting for them down the hall.

“Three,” Ditzy muttered, trying to keep a low profile to avoid detection, “they look like Sith combat droids, heavily armed and ready to kill.”

Pip’s smile returned to his lips, “Only three?” he joked, raising his blaster, “I’ve dealt with worse.”

Ditzy found assurance in Pip’s confidence, it made her feel much better about the current situation they were in. She turned her head back to the wounded pegasus lying across the hall, and motioned toward her blaster, then the Sith droids. The Pegasus raised his head and peeked at the droids, he nodded and grabbed the blaster pistol from his belt. Feeling more ready than ever, Ditzy gave the signal with her hoof to engage.

Ditzy jumped out from her hiding place, and tossed a grenade as hard as she could at the nearest droid. Pip stayed behind the metal, firing his blaster at the droid to the far left, while the one next to it was distracted by the active grenade at its metal hooves. The pegasus across the hallway could only manage to just lift his blaster over the rubble, and fired erratically in the general direction of the droids. The droid fumbling with the grenade blew up into a thousand metal pieces, stunning the other two, giving Pip and Ditzy enough time to put blaster rounds through the remaining droids’ metal skulls.

Ditzy turned toward Pip, offering a smile in celebration, but Pip had an empty look on his face. He was staring over Ditzy’s shoulder, toward the Pegasus soldier that was still lying behind the rubble. Only when Ditzy turned toward the stallion, did she share Pip’s expression. Before the firefight had ended, one of the Sith droids had managed to toss a frag grenade right over the rubble into the lap of the pegasus, who now laid limp in a puddle of his own blood with his blaster resting at his side. The young stallion almost looked at peace, his eyes were closed and he had what looked like a small smile on his face. The sight itself was laced with a gruesome form of irony. The frag grenade ripped through the soldier’s thin layered plasteel armor as the shrapnel disfigured most of his body and blackened his face. The horrible sight caused Ditzy to turn her head in disgust but the colt would be remembered in Ditzy’s memory, he had served the Republic with a strong heart, fighting until the last breath, something Ditzy admired in ponies.

Ditzy’s mourning for the fall of her fellow pegasus was short lived however, she and Pip had a job to do. They still had to get to the bridge to assist Twilight and any other surviving members aboard the Endar Spire.

Ditzy and Pip ran full speed down the hallway toward the now scrapped Sith droids, grabbing any supplies they could salvage from the left over metal parts. Curiously, Ditzy found that one had a medical package hidden in a compartment in the small of its back. This only made Ditzy look back toward the now dead Republic soldier that helped her and Pip fight off the droids, but Ditzy knew there was no hope in bringing the colt back to life.

Pip rested a hoof on Ditzy’s shoulder, trying to get her attention. “We really should get going.” Pip stated, offering Ditzy a sympathetic smile. After all, Pip new first hoof what it was like to lose a comrade in battle.

Ditzy returned Pip’s sympathy with a smile of her own. Nodding, she took the lead, following the signs that read ‘Bridge’, until coming across another large metal door. This one however, wasn’t locked, and as the two bunk mates approached it, the door opened as quickly as the wind. Behind the door wasn’t a group of Republic soldiers, or even Sith troopers. What was happening behind the door shocked Ditzy, and even Pip. A Jedi and a Sith Lord were standing face-to-face, preparing to duel.

Pip immediately recognized the jedi and exclaimed, “I know her! She’s one of the Jedi assigned to help defend Twilight!”

“Then why don’t we go and help her?!” Ditzy shouted, preparing to run blade first into the fight.

Pip had to grab her by the vest with his hooves to hold her back, “NO!” he ordered, “This fight is too much for us, we need to stay back! We would just get in the way.”

Ditzy, disgruntled by Pip’s unwanted interjection, stayed back to wait until the fight was over. The two light saber wielding ponies suddenly rushed toward each other, sabers clashing in a brilliant display of blues and reds. The Jedi and Sith seemed to almost be dancing a predetermined routine, only with glowing swords that could kill with the slightest twitch. The Jedi seemed to have the upper hoof from the very start, keeping the Sith on the defensive. After what felt like hours of the most beautiful fight Ditzy had ever witnessed, the Jedi delivered a blow to the Sith pony’s left flank, causing him to cry out in pain, giving the Jedi pony a chance to finish the Sith permanently with a slice through his chest. With that, the Sith pony fell to his side, limp as a doll. The Jedi pony, which Ditzy realized was a pegasus, noticed Ditzy and Pip looking toward her in awe, their jaws wide open. The Jedi pegasus flashed them a smile, then suddenly turned to her right, only to see a large force of Sith troopers making their way down the hallway. Before Ditzy or Pip had time to react, the Jedi used her force abilities to push Ditzy and Pip back through the door from which they entered, then slammed it shut so hard that the metal from the two sides of the door molded together, making reentry impossible.

“NO!” Ditzy shouted, rushing towards the door. She pressed her ear to the cool metal, trying to hear the battle inside. Ditzy could hear muffled running and shouting, then the sound of blaster fire and a lightsaber striking flesh and metal. Suddenly, a loud explosion reverberated through the room and hit the metal door, causing Ditzy to flinch and back away from the noise. After regaining her wits, Ditzy returned her ear to the very spot she had it only moments before, praying to hear any sound that the Jedi pegasus had survived. There was only silence.

The next thing Ditzy knew, she was being pulled down some other hallway in a part of the ship she didn’t recognize, primarily due to the mass destruction that laid waste to the walls and floor. Bodies of Republic ponies and Sith droids and soldiers littered the ground, but the only noise that could be heard was the constant trembling of missiles hitting the hull of the Endar Spire. Ditzy sharply craned her neck to see who it was who was dragging her, she caught a glimpse of the back of Pip’s head and calmed down a bit, being comforted knowing that he was there with her.

Ditzy gave Pip a low grumble, indicating that she could walk, and Pip happily obliged, clearly a bit exhausted after having to haul her through the ship’s maze of hallways.

Ditzy stood up on her hooves, a bit light headed, “Ugh, what happened to me?” she asked Pip.

“Well,” Pip answered, “After you put your head against the side of that door, a massive explosion happened on the other side. The shock wave must have hit you pretty hard because you fell right over, your ear even started to bleed.”

Ditzy carefully raised a hoof to her right ear. When she brought her hoof away, she noticed a small amount of dark red blood soaked her once grey leg hair. She also began to notice that she had a bit of trouble hearing out of the ear, which wasn’t very convenient considering her and Pip were still in the middle of a battle.

“DAMMIT!” she exclaimed loudly, “WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO NOW?” she yelled.

“Shh!” Pip squeaked, “Keep your voice down, your wound is making it hard for you to hear yourself!”

“WHAT?!” Ditzy exclaimed.

Pip raised his hoof to his lips, giving Ditzy a visual aid to shut her up. Ditzy nodded and made a zipping motion over her lips. Pip gave her a small smile, then turned and continued forward following the signs on the wall that read ‘Bridge’.

After a few minutes of running at a brisk pace down the dead, empty halls of the Endar Spire, Ditzy and Pip finally made it to the bridge of the ship. To the relief of Ditzy and Pip, they hadn’t encountered any Sith resistance the whole way up to the bridge, but that relief was short lived. As soon as Pip finished entering the code to enter through the doorway to the bridge, the two ponies were suddenly face-to-face with at least a dozen Sith troopers and battle droids. Pip and Ditzy both threw their blasters to the side and grabbed their vibroblades within the blink of an eye, and were upon the Sith troops within an instant.

Ditzy used the help of her wings to fly into the bridge a quickly as she could, using a sort of blind flurry technique with her vibroblade to do as much damage to the Sith troops in the room. She flew all the way to the opposite wall, and crashed into a small pile of metal ammo crates. As she emerged she noticed that she had managed to kill two Sith soldiers, and now one of the battle droids was on the fritz, firing randomly in the room. The droid shot one of the other Sith droids through its metal skull, and shot another soldier in the arm. Most of the other Sith soldiers jumped behind cover to avoid catching a blaster round from the droid’s erratic blaster rounds.

Meanwhile Pip had run blade first straight toward the nearest Sith trooper he could see. The soldier was quick to notice Pip’s rapid approach and raised his blade to block the oncoming attack. The soldier raised his vibroblade just in time to catch Pip mid strike, causing both of the ponies to stumble backwards in reaction to the sudden clash of metal on metal. The two ponies held strong, and soon were staring face-to-face, glaring into each others eyes, trying to read each other's next move. The Sith pony was the first to react, with the flick of his wrist he managed to fling Pip’s vibroblade across the room into the chest of the Sith battle droid firing randomly in the room. Pip fell to his flank, raising his front leg in an inevitable effort to block the oncoming sweep of the cold metal that was the Sith pony’s dark vibroblade.

The Sith pony raised his vibroblade, preparing to end the life of this crazy foal that had dared challenge him. Just as he was about to clash his blade into the flesh of the earth pony, a sudden clank rang through his ears. The Sith pony was infuriated to see that the grey pegasus had interfered with his kill. The grey pegasus returned his look of anger with a face that expressed pure focus, fueled by a high concentration of adrenaline.

Ditzy felt like she was about to explode in energy. Her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings. She held her arm strong, protecting Pip from his death. Ditzy positioned herself in a more forward position in front of the Sith pony, motioning for Pip to run and grab his vibroblade from the fallen Sith battle droid and continue the fight for the bridge. This was her duel now, and she was more than ready to fight it for herself, for Pip, and for the Republic. Her body was fluttering from the adrenaline coursing through her veins, and she took advantage of her current super pony strength to begin swinging her vibroblade at the Sith pony who dared to try and strike down her friend. Her arms were moving at ludicrous speeds, and the Sith pony could only hold off the attack for a few seconds before letting his defenses fall, allowing Ditzy to strike across his chest, then through his heart. The Sith pony went limp, and fell to the floor, sliding off of Ditzy’s blade as the artificial gravity of the Endar Spire took him to the floor. Ditzy took no time to regain her awareness for the world outside of the just ended duel. She looked to Pip to see that he had disposed of two other Sith battle droids, and was now finishing off a Sith trooper. Ditzy leapt toward Pip, joining him in the attack on the remaining Sith ponies and droids. The two ponies were back to back at this point, slicing effortlessly through the cloth, flesh, and metal of the Sith troops.

After no more than two minutes the two Republic ponies had finished clearing the bridge of the Endar Spire of any remaining sith troops. Ditzy and Pip noticed that there weren’t any Republic soldiers, dead or alive, on the bridge. This fact gave the two ponies comfort, the knowledge that most of the crew had escaped allowed the two ponies to relax, letting their adrenaline die down to more normal levels, but not fading away completely.

“It looks like most of the bridge has already escaped!” Pip exclaimed, still tightly gripping his vibroblade in his hoof, “We should hurry to the escape pods, they aren’t far from here.”

Ditzy nodded in agreement, despite not being able to hear most of what Pip had just said, but Pip looked confident in his statement, and Ditzy knew better at this point than to question Pip’s logic. If he had gotten the two ponies this far, then he could get them both out of the Endar Spire safely.

Pip turned toward a door in the bridge that had a sign next to it reading ‘Escape Pods’. Pip moved forward to the door and entered a code in the number pad that would allow the two ponies to get through. The door opened to a T-shaped hallway, with another door straight ahead and a door to the left of the two ponies. Ditzy began walking toward the door to the left, labeled ‘Escape Pods’, but hesitated when she noticed that Pip was standing still, staring at the other door.

“There’s something behind that door.” Pip stated, tightening his grip on the vibroblade he had clasped in his hooves.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Ditzy questioned in her loud tone. Pip turned his head and gave Ditzy a grim expression. Whatever Pip had said couldn’t be a good thing.

Pip moved toward the unmarked door, but before he could go to enter a code into the doors security panel the door flew open much faster than they should. On the other side of the now open doorway stood a dark clothed Sith, their face masked behind a hood from the robes they wore on their body. The Sith had a bright light emanating from its forehead, indicating that it was a unicorn, but the rest of the Sith’s body was covered by a dark robe. The Sith looked up from the floor, their eyes glowing a nauseating purple. Suddenly, a flash of magic emanating from the pony’s horn caused the robe to fall to the floor, revealing the Sith’s identity.

“BEHOLD!” The Sith shouted so loudly that even Ditzy winced. “FOR IT IS I, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL DARTH TRIXIE!”

Ditzy and Pip gasped, filling their lungs with the smoky air from the interior of the Endar Spire. Darth Trixie had caught them just outside of their escape, to their freedom. But now the two Republic ponies would have to face the Dark Lord’s apprentice head on, no-pony in the Republic would stand a chance against Darth Trixie unless they’re a Jedi; and neither Pip nor Ditzy knew the first thing about Jedi fighting techniques.

Ditzy walked forward to join Pip and fight Trixie, at this Trixie let out a loud high pitched laugh, “HAHAHA, what is this?! Do you really think you have what it takes to stand a chance against the Dark Lord’s apprentice?! You crazy foals, prepare to meet your doom!” Trixie lifted her lightsaber from the holster resting over her cutie mark with her magic. When the hilt was in front of her face, the bright red blade shot outward, giving Trixie’s face the illusion of being coated in a blood red light. Trixie’s face stretched as a smile formed on her lips, and she began walking towards the two Republic ponies.

Ditzy moved her hoof towards the sheath that housed her vibroblade, but was stopped before the blade was fully out of its sheath. It was Pip’s own hoof that had stopped her.

Pip looked deep into Ditzy’s eyes, “No,” He said, a calm but assertive tone in his voice, “Let me fight her, I’ll hold her off until you get to the escape pods.”

Ditzy struggled to hear every word that Pip was saying to her at this intense moment, but she picked up enough of what Pip said to understand what he was about to do. Ditzy was prepared to protest, when suddenly Pip put his hoof over her mouth, “Please don’t argue,” he said flatly, “It’s better for one of us to make it rather than none, besides, you wouldn’t stand a chance with your ear this way.” at this Pip handed Ditzy a small, hoof sized tablet with a list of the Endar Spire’s door codes.

Even with the damaged ear, Ditzy understood every single word that Pip had said, and took the tablet from Pip without protest. A tear fell from her eye, and streaked down her dirt covered face, exposing a single stream of clean grey hair. Pip smiled and turned away to face Trixie. He ran forward through the door, which slammed closed behind him, leaving Ditzy all alone in the T-shaped hallway.

Ditzy didn’t want to listen to the fight, so she turned to her left and entered a code into the door. The door flew open, revealing a small room with a wall covered in jettisoned escape pod docks, with only one pod remaining. A single blue pegasus pony with a rainbow colored mane stood in front of a computer monitor, furiously typing various commands and checking on the status of the ship. As soon as Ditzy entered the room the blue mare turned toward her, “Thank goodness you made it here alive!” the pegasus exclaimed, “We need to get out of here now!”

“Wait a minute.” Ditzy stated questioningly reaching for her blaster, “Who exactly are you?”

“It’s all right,” the pegasus assured, “I’m Rainbow Dash, the pony you heard over the intercom earlier. I’m one of the pilots on the ship, well, the only pilot on the ship now; you and I are the last two ponies on this ship who are still breathing, but none of that matters anymore, we just need to get out of here before we both get fried by the Sith!”

Ditzy struggled to hear Rainbow Dash through her wounded ear but still managed to hear enough to understand the status of the crew “The only two breathi-” Ditzy gasped, “...Pip...no...”

“There’s no time for mourning now!” Rainbow ordered, “We need to get out of here, we’ll fix you up when we land!” with that Rainbow grabbed the now sobbing Ditzy Doo into the only empty escape pod and hit a large red flashing button that was labeled ‘EJECT’.

Ditzy had never been in an escape pod before, but she hated it the instant she was dragged inside. It was incredibly cramped, and there was only one small window at the front to see out of. Through the window Ditzy could see what remained of the Endar Spire as they descended, which was basically just a large chunk of metal floating around, surrounded by other bits of random shrapnel. Just inside the corner of the window Ditzy could see the Sith ships bombarding the Spire continuously despite the fact that it was only a huge piece of scrap metal at this point. Ditzy and Rainbow both flinched when the escape pod suddenly hit the outer atmosphere of the planet below them, Taris.

The escape pod continued barreling through the atmosphere of the planet, gaining more and more speed. The friction from the air of the atmosphere gave the outer hull of the pod a red glow, and a noticeable streak of hot air flew by the tiny window. Eventually, the pod hit speeds too fast, and the sensation of falling at such a fast rate caused Ditzy to begin to fade out of consciousness.

The speed of the pod had little effect on Rainbow Dash, but she noticed that her new companion was blacking out, “HEY!” she shouted at Ditzy, “Get ahold of yourself! Stay with me here!” but it was already too late, Ditzy was fully knocked out, and the nearest hospital was over 100,000 feet below them.

Chapter 2: The Surface of Taris

Knights of Old Equestria:

Chapter Two - The Surface of Taris

Ditzy felt paralyzed, she was very warm and felt a bright light that she could see through her closed eyelids. She waited for her pupils to dilate properly before daring to open her eyes to see where she was. She opened her eyes, and was staring at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room. Looking around, she could see that the room had very plain, light blue walls. And that one wall had a large window that overlooked a bustling city with speeders flying about in every direction. The sun was just rising over the horizon, and Ditzy still had trouble looking directly through the window to observe the bright, outside world. Ditzy sat up straight on the warm bed she was on, moving the white blanket to the side. She waited there for a few moments, staring at the floor, waiting for her head to stop fluttering from the sudden blood flow to her lower legs. Ditzy still felt as stiff as a board when she finally got out of her bed, her legs and wings struggling to obey commands her brain sent their way.

After a few minutes of warming up her tense muscles, Ditzy began thinking about where she was and how she got here. She could remember getting in an escape pod with another pony, Rainbow Dash, and escaping the Endar Spire. The pod must have landed on this planet, Taris. Ditzy remembered this planet being mentioned a few times when she was still aboard the Endar Spire. Taris was basically one massive city that towered above the planet's surface. Other than that though, Ditzy hadn’t made it a priority to learn too much about the planet she was now on.

Walking around the room, Ditzy figured she must be in some kind of hotel or apartment, something cheap. There was one big light in the center of the square ceiling, and the walls were very plain. There were two doors in the room, one leading into a small restroom and the the other leading outside of the apartment room into the main part of the building. There were two beds, two footlockers, and a workbench in the room. One of the beds was neatly made but empty, the other was still a mess from Ditzy’s use, but she was too confused to bother making her bed. Somehow Ditzy had gone from falling out of the sky toward this planet, to sleeping comfortably in some cheap apartment building high above the planet’s surface. Ditzy was inclined to discover how she had gotten into this room, so she jumped in the shower, grabbed some clothes from the footlocker, holstered her blaster over her left cutie mark, and prepared to start exploring this new unfamiliar planet. However, just as Ditzy went to open the door, it began to slide open. Preparing for the worst, Ditzy rested a hoof over her blaster, and unbuckled the leather strap, ready to strike.

The pony on the other side was a bit shocked to open the door and see a grey pegasus glaring into her eyes, a hoof on her blaster. The two ponies stood still for a few moments before the blue pegasus decided to speak up.

“Hey there sleepyhead!” Rainbow Dash shouted enthusiastically, “You remember me right?” Ditzy stared blankly into Rainbow Dash’s eyes, “Right?”

Ditzy remained silent for a few more seconds before speaking up, “Yes,” she replied, “but might I ask where we are exactly?” Ditzy rebuckled her holster and turned to walk back into the room.

Rainbow Dash followed Ditzy enthusiastically “Well!” she exclaimed, “We’re on Taris! After you passed out during our fall, and I had to sit in that tiny metal tube all alone, I figured that you wouldn't make it too long with all those wounds. So as soon as we landed, I had to put you on my back and carry you all the way up here and find a doctor. It’s a good thing I’m fast on my hooves too! I heard that as soon as all of the drop pods started landing Sith troops began taking republic soldiers prisoner, they even put a quarantine on the planet to prevent any of us from escaping. I think we got out just before the Sith would have captured us. By the way,” she continued, “How’s your ear doing?”

Ditzy suddenly noticed that she could hear much clearer than she had after the blast on the Endar Spire. “Good. How did it heal so fast?” she questioned.

“Well to be honest,” Rainbow admitted, “It wasn’t that fast. We’ve actually been on Taris for five days now, you’ve been unconscious pretty much the whole time. I brought you up to the local doctor and he fixed you up nicely! Meanwhile I snagged this little apartment and...”

Ditzy’s concentration trailed off as Rainbow Dash continued boasting about how she saved Ditzy’s life and got her to safety. She was grateful of course, but her mind was focused on another pony, a pony who wasn’t in the room currently. Twilight Sparkle. Ditzy knew that Twilight had made it off of the Endar Spire safely, but what about after she landed? Where was Twilight, and was she even in safe hooves?

“...but I haven’t seen anypony else from the Endar Spire yet.” Rainbow Dash continued, “Hopefully they’re all safe somewhere else on th-”

“What about Twilight?!” Ditzy interrupted, “Have you seen her? Is she alright? The Sith didn’t get her did they?”

“Well...” Rainbow began, “Here’s the thing with Twilight...”

“WHAT’S THE THING WITH TWILIGHT?” Ditzy questioned, her face growing bright red in frustration mixed with fear.

“Well,” Rainbow continued, a frown growing on her face, “She kind of, got captured by one of the gangs in the lower part of the city. But I’m sure she’s fine. I mean, she is a jedi after all, right?”

Ditzy could barely hold herself from attacking Rainbow Dash right there in their apartment room. At this point, Ditzy’s face was as fiery red as an erupting volcano, her hair standing on end, and her wings spread straight upward in fury. Rainbow Dash cowered lower as Ditzy began towering over her, her golden eyes glaring deep into Rainbow’s soul. “TWILIGHT WAS CAPTURED BY A GANG? AND YOU LET ME SLEEP FOR FIVE DAYS?” Ditzy couldn’t hold her anger in any longer. She turned to a wall in the room and punched it as hard as she could, leaving a large dimple in the once smooth surface. Bits of the wall stuck to her hoof, and crumbs of the plaster fell to the floor. Ditzy remained still, staring at her hoof, blood beginning to seep through the fresh cuts made from the wall. Ditzy looked toward the ceiling, knowing that the past was the past, and that it was only her current actions that could affect the fate of Twilight Sparkle. Ditzy had sworn to protect Twilight with her life, and as long as Twilight was still alive, Ditzy would do everything in her power to save her.

Ditzy calmed herself down enough to talk calmly, “Do you know where she is?” she asked , a slight twinge of anger still in her voice.

“Not exactly.” Rainbow responded, a nervous look on her face, “I just know that one of the gangs in the lower city has her. She’s probably just locked up in a room down there somewhere.”

“Lower city?” Ditzy asked. “What in the hay is the lower city?”

Rainbow gave Ditzy a look like she was joking, but Ditzy seemed absolutely clueless. “Taris is built into three levels.” She said. “We’re in the upper city now, where all of the wealthy ponies live and most of the businesses are. The lower city is more ratty. A lot of gangs hang out down there, and a lot of other illegal stuff like that. And the last is the under city, where our escape pod landed, that’s basically where the poorest of the poor have to live. They aren’t even allowed up to the lower city without strict authorization. It was a tough task getting from down there up here without alerting any Sith troops! Your lucky I’m so awesome.”

Ditzy ignored Rainbow’s last statement, trying to remain calm. Twilight was alive somewhere down in the lower city, but obviously getting her out of the hooves of that gang would be a true test. Not to mention that her and Rainbow would have to somehow sneak past the guards to even get down there.

There was a long silence before Rainbow decided to speak, “So...” she began, “Got any brilliant plans on rescuing Twilight? Or should I offer my own idea?”

Ditzy snapped back into focus, “You have an idea on how to save Twilight?” she asked sarcastically. “Well let’s hear it, I guess.”

Rainbow Dash got an excited look in her eyes at the chance to suggest her own plan. “Okay!” she stated enthusiastically, not sensing the sarcastic tone in Dity’s voice. “So while you’ve been up here snoozing I’ve been walking around exploring the city. There are Sith soldiers everywhere, but they’re the only ones allowed to move from level-to-level in the city. I’ve been watching the soldiers’ guard schedules closely, and I think I may have found a perfect opportunity to sneak down to the lower city. I overheard some smugglers talking about some Sith uniforms they had hidden somewhere. Maybe we can convince this smuggler to sell us a couple of Sith uniforms. Then we can get rid of one of the Sith patrols and take their place to get into the lower city.”

Ditzy listened intently to Rainbow’s plan, and Rainbow Dash spoke with the confidence that gave Ditzy hope in Rainbow’s plan. After all, Rainbow said she had been exploring the city for the past five days, so she easily knew more about the planet than Ditzy did. “Do you know where this smuggler is Rainbow?” Ditzy asked.

“Yeah actually,” Rainbow responded, “he’s staying in an apartment building like this one on the East side of the city. If we leave soon we might even be able to get to the lower city before noon, if you feel like you’ve recovered enough from your injuries.”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Ditzy answered, standing up a bit straighter than she was before. “We should leave before anything bad happens to Twilight!”

“Agreed.” Rainbow confirmed. “Let’s go.”

Rainbow Dash turned her back toward Ditzy, the two ponies now facing the room’s front door. Rainbow moved her left forehoof over a panel on the wall, and the door slid open, displaying the hallway of the apartment building.

Little did the two pegasi know, a Sith patrol had heard word of republic soldiers staying in the building, and were now on the hunt to find and kill the two ponies. By the time Rainbow Dash and Ditzy had left their room, they could hear shouting coming from down the curved hallway. Within moments, a patrol of five sith troopers made its way down the corridor and closed in on Ditzy and Rainbow Dash.

“Stop right there!” one of the troopers ordered. “We were searching for the Republic escape pods in the area, and we need to know if you have any infor-” he paused, his eyes widened, “Republic spies!” he spat, “That’s them! Kill them! Kill them now!”

Before Ditzy had time to react, Rainbow Dash had unholstered her blaster and aimed straight for the Sith giving orders. What occurred next seemed almost to be in slow motion. Ditzy’s heart skipped a beat as adrenaline shot through her veins, increasing her sight and hearing abilities tenfold. She looked at Rainbow Dash just as the blue colored pegasus released a bright red plasma charge into the face of the head Sith. The plasma round burned through flesh and bone as it slid its way into and through the head of the Sith trooper, scorching the wall behind him with red-hot heat, then fading to a black, chalky burn mark. Before the plasma charge had even hit the wall though, Rainbow Dash already had her blaster trained on the next Sith pony, releasing round after round in his direction. The first shot only grazed his upper-left shoulder, making him cringe, but the second and third burned through his chest, leaving him gasping for air through his burned chest cavity. It finally dawned on Ditzy that she needed to join Rainbow Dash in disposing of the three remaining Sith ponies before they could outmatch Rainbow’s ludacris targeting speed. Ditzy grasped the hilt of her vibroblade as Rainbow aimed her blaster at yet another Sith trooper. Ditzy charged toward the nearest Sith trooper, who had his blaster targeted on Rainbow, and Ditzy used her wings to increase her thrust toward the enemy. With the combination of adrenaline, and the urge to protect the pegasus who had saved her life, Ditzy’s blade glided through the front of the Sith’s armour, and sliced into his stomach, lifting the sword as she went up his chest and into his face. Ditzy only realised how fast she had been after she crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, next to the burn mark Dash’s blaster had made after the first kill. Ditzy re-oriented herself just in time to see the final Sith trooper fall, exposing Rainbow Dash on the opposite side with blaster still raised. The two stood still for a moment before running as fast as they could to the front door and leaving the building.

The two pegasi stepped out onto the raised platform that was Taris’ upper city, and began walking silently toward the East. The two were walking side-by-side, with Rainbow leading the way just by a step. The two remained silent for a few minutes before Rainbow Dash couldn’t take the tension any longer and decided to speak up. “Well then!” she exclaimed, causing Ditzy to jump a bit at the sudden outburst. “That was a little bit unexpected, eh?” at this Rainbow Dash gave a friendly hard nudge at Ditzy’s arm with her elbow.

Ditzy couldn’t help but let a smirk crawl across her face, “Yeah a little bit.” she stated. “Seemed pretty easy though, where did a pilot learn to shoot like that?”

Rainbow Dash turned her head toward Ditzy with a large smile on her face, “Oh that? Psh, that was nothin’.” she boasted. “You should have seen me up on the Endar Spire before it went down, I faced at least a dozen Sith troopers all alone. Now that was something!”

Ditzy couldn’t help but doubt the validity of Dash’s story, but she didn’t bother to question it and risk getting on Dash’s bad side. Ditzy felt like this blue pegasus could become a real asset in rescuing Twilight, as well as becoming a possible friend for future Republic missions. Perhaps even for after the war, the two could remain friends. No. Ditzy had to keep her mind on the mission, she had to save Twilight before she could think of any sort of future. Without Twilight, the Republic could easily fail to obtain a victory over the Sith in this war.

“But truthfully,” Dash said, interrupting Ditzy’s thoughts, “I fought in the Terra Warmarch as a ground soldier, not a pilot.”

“I see,” Ditzy began. She didn’t really want to pursue the question further. Truthfully, she didn't know a lot about the Terra Warmarch. Only that it had something to do with earth ponies rebelling somewhere for some reason unknown to her. “So how did you become a pilot after that then?”

“Well, before the war even started I was already familiar with ship controls. In my home on Telos IV, I was pretty well known for being an expert speeder pilot. I was in a whole bunch of races, and I never lost a single one!”

“Wow, that’s impressive.” Ditzy admitted, “But that doesn’t explain how you became a pilot for the Republic.”

“Right,” Dash responded, “Well, during one of the last battles in the war, our ship went under siege and nearly all of our commanding officers and pilots were gone or captured. I was the next best option we had.” Dash’s face became serious at this point as the two continued East through a gate toward their destination. “I gathered about a dozen other ponies and we started for the bridge. Nearly half of us fell, and by the time we reached the bridge, only me and one other pony were left unscathed. As soon as we got control of our ship, though, I grabbed the main controls and we blasted our way out of there.”

Ditzy wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Dash wipe a tear away from her cheek.

“I’ll never forget that day. We lost so many good colts and mares in that fight. We retreated from the fight, but all of us received all of the medals and awards in the book for saving the ship and preventing total annihilation of our fleet. To this day I hate myself for running away though. We should have stayed and fought!” Dash asserted. Her face was fiery red at this point. “I know we wouldn’t have made it, but I would have rather died fighting than ran away like a coward.”

Ditzy simply nodded, not able to find the correct words in response to Dash’s story. The two ponies continued toward their destination, increasing their speed to a trot as the sun began to drop down over the horizon. The last thing the two ponies wanted was to get caught after dark with no identification and a whole army of Sith troopers roaming around the city.

The two ponies continued silently toward their destination. Dash’s pace noticeably began to increase as they neared their objective. Dash turned a corner and stopped dead in her tracks, causing Ditzy to stumble into her from behind.

“Hey! Watch it clumsy.” Dash hissed. “We don’t need to draw any attention to ourselves here, there are guards all over the place.”

Ditzy moved wordlessly around the side of Dash to get a view of what it was exactly that lie before them, and her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the massing of Sith droids that were in the plaza ahead. Ditzy counted just over a dozen battle droids, and more were funneling in and out through four large gates spread about either side of the plaza, two on the left and two on the right from where Ditzy and Dash stood. Adorning the center of the plaza was a large ornate fountain that was lying dormant at that moment, its water reflecting the light of Tais’ four moons onto the surrounding buildings. One building in particular stood out to Ditzy, and Dash had her eyes trained on the very same building.

The building was a tall cylindrical shape similar to the apartment building Ditzy had woke up in earlier that day, only this one was noticeably shorter by at least a dozen floors, and the walls of the building didn’t reflect the luminescent glow from the fountain as well as some of the other buildings surrounding the plaza. Most of the windows were also dark in this building, making it look like a shadow compared to the rest of the city.

The very sight of the structure gave Ditzy a tingle down the back of her neck and spine, but she felt confident that she and Dash would have little trouble gaining access to the front door, which was guarded by only two Sith soldiers, whom were resting their hooves upon the hilt of their vibroblades. The only real issue was getting across the plaza.

Ditzy began thinking of a way to sneak by the droids without them noticing, but there were simply too many of them to sneak by quietly. Fighting their way through wasn’t an option at all, starting a firefight in the middle of Taris was as good as signing a suicide note.

To Ditzy’s surprise, Dash removed herself from her hiding place next to the wall and calmly started approaching the apartment building.

“Follow my lead.” Dash stated under her breath.

Before Ditzy had time to think, she found herself right behind Dash, trying to figure what the blue pegasus had in mind. “What are we doing?” Ditzy whispered hesitantly, her fear clearly heard in the tone of her voice.

“Relax Ditzy,” Dash said bluntly, “Just act natural, like you belong here. Pretend like we’re going home for the night.”

Ditzy chose not to question Dash’s plan at this point. The two ponies were already halfway across the plaza, and none of the Sith battle droids seemed to take any notice of their presence. Ditzy’s fear began to dissolve away as the two pegasi made their way all the way across the plaza and in front of the apartment building.

“Now for the tricky part.” Dash whispered.

The two ponies continued to the front door, hoping to make this encounter as simple as possible. One of the guards turned to Ditzy, and just before Ditzy reached for the door’s controls the guard spoke.

“Here, let me get that for you miss.” The guard raised his hoof and typed a number code into the lock and the door slid open.

Ditzy took a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you sir.”

“Not a problem miss.”

The two ponies walked through the doorway, and finally entered the apartment building. Ditzy couldn't help but smile at the ease of entering the structure, which Dash caught in the corner of her eye.

“What’d I tell you?” Dash teased. “Everything worked out nicely in the end. Now to just find the room where that smuggler is.”

The two ponies began their search for the correct room. Most of the rooms were locked, but Dash had enough skills to deal with the simple lock systems to hack into any apartment door with ease. The ponies went from room to room until they got about halfway around the building’s inner hallway and reached a door guarded by a Sith battle droid.

Dash and Ditzy glanced at each other, knowing that the smuggler must lie just beyond the door. Dash raised her blaster toward the battle droid and made a clean shot through the metal pony’s temple, leaving nothing but a pile of smoking scrap metal.

“Get your blaster ready,” Dash said as she approached the door’s lock, “ We’ll probably have company on the other side of this door.”

The metal door slid open, revealing a room filled with a squad of four Sith soldiers in the middle of an interrogation. At the center of the room sat the pony that Ditzy assumed must be the smuggler. Two of the guards had their backs faced toward Dash and Ditzy, one was standing over a pile of Sith military uniforms, and the other stood by the door with wide eyes. He obviously wasn’t expecting a visit from two Republic ponies.

Very quickly, one of the soldiers grabbed the smuggler by the neck, and raised him up to his hooves. The Sith pressed his vibroblade firmly against the colt’s neck, preventing Dash and Ditzy from taking any immediate action against the Sith.

Dash and Ditzy stood side by side, hooves resting intently over their blaster holsters. The Sith soldier stood firm, his vibroblade pressed tightly against the smuggler’s neck. A small drip of blood made its way through the smuggler’s coat and dripped down to the floor. The world as Ditzy knew it began to slow down as her adrenaline started to kick in.

The blood hit the floor with a light splat, smaller drops spreading across the ground in a microscopic explosion. Ditzy’s eyes focussed hard on the soldier and his captor, her eyes straightened. She glanced at Dash, who already looked ready to strike at a moments notice.

Ditzy’s hoof moved like lightning, she grabbed her blaster, raised it, and fired in the blink of an eye. The soldier holding the smuggler went stiff, dropping his vibroblade to the ground as the blaster shot melted through his eye and brain tissue, leaving a small burnt hole in his eye socket. The smuggler dropped down immediately and grabbed the vibroblade, charging at the soldier to his left. Dash at this point had grabbed her blaster and was making quick work of the pony standing by the door. Ditzy turned to her right to see another soldier with his blaster raised, prepared to the pull the trigger. Ditzy’s first reaction was to throw her blaster at the soldier, causing a distraction. The soldier easily dodged the weapon, but by the time he had his blaster trained on Ditzy again she was already slicing through his armour, and his flesh. The pony let out a short scream before falling to the ground.

The three ponies remained in their fixed positions, awaiting any sort of danger, but none came. The three began to calm down and eventually Ditzy managed to speak.

“We should get out of here before more guards show up.”

“Good idea. Hey You!” Dash shouted.

“Eh? What?” The smuggler asked, still shocked from the attack.

“We’re gonna need two of those uniforms, consider them payment for your rescue.”

“Uhh, sure. Take whatever you need. Thanks for the help.” The smuggler responded incredulously. “Hey, uhh, what are your names?”

“That’s unimportant, just know that you’re lucky to still be alive.” With that, Dash grabbed two Sith uniforms and tossed one towards Ditzy. The two ponies threw the uniforms on over their clothes, and fitted the helmets around their heads as snugly as they could. The uniforms fit loosely over their bodies, and covered up their wings, making movement slow and awkward. The two ponies were forced to ignore the uncomfortable metal armour and ran past the smuggler towards the exit.

Casually leaving the apartment, Ditzy and Dash began to march their way through Taris toward the elevator that would take them down to the lower city. Both ponies moved in silence, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible just in case anypony suspected something was amiss.

Ditzy and Dash made their way slowly back across the city toward the elevator Dash had scouted days earlier. Walking around a corner, the two ponies’ eyes locked onto a single heavily armed Sith soldier protecting a large square metal door with a combination lock that looked impenetrable. Dash once again took the lead as the two pegasi approached the guard, and Ditzy decided to stay back and let Dash do all the talking. Surely the blue pegasus had a plan to get past the guard.

The two ponies approached the Sith guard as casually as their clanky armour would allow. Ditzy could feel a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her cheek, and was thankful to have a visor covering her nervous expression.

“Evening.” Dash said in a low manly voice. “We’re here for our shift.”

A long awkward pause ensued for what felt like hours for Ditzy before the guard spoke up. “About time!” He exclaimed. “That smuggler must’ve caused you guys some problems, you’re ten minutes late!”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle.” Dash responded. “Just get us down quick before we miss any action.”

“Roger that. Good luck down there boys.”

And with that, the Sith soldier opened the elevator for Ditzy and Dash to descend into the lower city. As soon as the doors closed behind the them, both ponies let out a large sigh of relief.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Dash asked sarcastically.

“Whatever it takes to save Twilight.” Ditzy responded, her tone growing more serious.

“Right, whatever it takes.”

Dash raised a hoof and directed the elevator’s control panel to send them down into the lower level. The steel of the elevator began to creak, and the elevator jolted downwards before catching itself on the cables, leading the ponies down at a steady pace into the lower city.

Chapter 3: Welcome to The Lower City

Knights of Old Equestria:

Chapter Three - Welcome to The Lower City

The steel from the elevator shaft and the elevator itself ground together loudly as Ditzy and Dash made their way slowly down into the lower city. The two ponies stood silently side-by-side, waiting for the elevator to stop and open into the new world.

The cool steel elevator slowly came to a stop, the muffled sound of yelling could be heard coming from the other side of the steel doors. As the metal doors slid open, a barrage of blaster crossfire and yelling impaired the senses of the two ponies. Ditzy and Dash pressed their bodies against the wall on either side of the elevator in an attempt to find a spot to analyze the current situation without putting their bodies at risk of being fried. Lying before them was a squad of about ten Sith troopers firing from behind cover, but they weren’t firing toward Ditzy or Dash. They had their sides facing the elevator, and were focusing on an enemy somewhere to the left side of the elevator, down a wide corridor.

While the two ponies were busy trying to remain unnoticed, Ditzy caught the eye of what appeared to be the leader of the Sith squad. Ditzy shrunk back, fearing the worst.

“Get your flanks out here and open fire!” ordered the soldier.

Ditzy then realized that her and Dash were still suited up in Sith uniforms, and motioned for Dash to follow her out into the corridor and behind some cover next to the the Sith that called them out.

Blaster fire whizzed by Ditzy as she crouched behind a small pile of rubble next to Dash, the sound intense enough to deafen any other noise around her. The world became a blur as Ditzy laid still behind the pile of stone and metal scraps, and had to fight her strongest instinct to brave a peek to see who it was the Sith were fighting. Perhaps it could be other Republic soldiers, or even Twilight. If it was, Ditzy knew she had the advantage of sitting within the ranks of the Sith, and she could easily terminate any of them within the blink of an eye if she had too.

Ditzy slowly raised her head above the rubble, just enough for her eyes to peek out. She had to lift her visor slightly to see more clearly, as condensation had started to collect on the glass from her ever quickening breath. Ditzy had never been in this sort of combat, usually she took her enemy by surprise, but this time the battle was already waging around her.

Thankfully, the Sith weren’t firing toward familiar faces. But that itself was a dual edged sword, if she knew the Sith’s particular foes she could overpower the sith at her position and gain a few more companions for their quest. Instead, the Sith’s opponent appeared to be a random collection of ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike wearing basic armour over civilian clothes.

Ditzy didn’t think twice before opening fire on the ponies shooting at her, Dash, and the Sith. The last thing Ditzy needed was to be questioned by the Sith for not firing. She did make a point to fire above the heads of the Sith’s opponent. Dash joined Ditzy in the firefight, and after a few minutes of combat the blaster fire began to die down. Soon the fire had ceased completely and Ditzy raised her head from cover to absorb her surroundings.

The hall was littered with more than a dozen of the ponies the Sith were fighting, and on Ditzy’s side there were only a few Sith casualties. The structure they were standing in was more a platform just below the surface of the upper city. The sounds from the upper city could be heard faintly through the thick ceiling, but this area was nothing like the bright, shiny surface of Taris. The lighting was dim, and the walls were dark concrete slabs covered in a thin layer of moisture that floated up from the undercity. Ditzy walked over to the edge of the platform and looked down through a blast hole in the wall. What she saw appeared to be a bottomless descent, with fog covering the actual ground below. Ditzy picked up a piece of rubble and tossed it over the edge, it took several seconds for the chunk of concrete to hit the ground and reverberate the noise back into Ditzy’s ears.

Ditzy was so focused on hearing the noise of the rubble and trying to calculate its descent distance that she didn’t notice the Sith leader approach her from behind.

“I need you to grab some medical supplies from the base, soldier.”

“Huh?” Ditzy forgot where she was for a moment before remembering that she was supposed to be impersonating a Sith soldier. Taking on a much lower voice she said, “Oh, right! Yes sir, right away!” with that Ditzy rushed past the leader, motioning for Dash to follow.

Ditzy had no idea where the Sith base was, but she knew that this would be the perfect time for her and Dash to vanish. Ditzy led Dash down the hall away from the Sith, and over the corpses of what remained of the skirmish. As soon as the two ponies turned the corner and were out of sight of the Sith, they moved into a full on sprint in any direction away from the troops. Dash and Ditzy continued until they were certain that they were far away from the troops, and found a concealed corner to remove their armour.

“Whew, that was crazy!” Dash exclaimed. “I never expected I would be standing with Sith troops in a fight.”

“Yeah.” Ditzy said, removing her Sith helmet. “But I wonder who those ponies were who the Sith were fighting. Do you think there’s some kind of resistance going on down here?”

“I don’t know about that, Ditzy, I feel like we would have heard about it already. I mean I’ve been out and about for days and I never heard about any sort of resistance.”

“Maybe that’s because the Sith want to keep it concealed from the populace, to prevent any escalation of a rebellion.”

Ditzy and Dash continued removing the heavy metal armour from themselves, contemplating the idea of a resistance against the Sith.

“You know,” Ditzy began, adjusting her blaster in its holster, “If there is a resistance, we could meet up with their leader and convince him to help us find Twilight.”

“Well we’ll need to find this resistance leader first. I think we should head over to that cantina up ahead and ask around.” Dash motioned with her head, bringing Ditzy’s attention to a cantina she hadn’t noticed before.

“Alright Dash, let’s do it.”

Activating the mechanism to the door, they winced slightly at the increase in noise in the cantina as it opened. Giving each other a slight nod, they entered the establishment. Pazaak tables lined the walls of the entrance, odd shifty types gave them sneers as they went deeper into the bar. A distinct odor wafted through the air that made Ditzy gag, yet Dash seemed relatively unaffected by the smell. They got to the center area of the cantina, a circular room with wings branching off into separate sections.

“Hey, I’ll stay here and see if I can get any info from the bartender. Ask around, and see what you can find,” Dash told Ditzy.

“On it,” Ditzy replied.

Not to mention, I need a drink, Dash thought to herself as she approached the bar. “Hey, what’s up?” Dash asked the bartender.

“Hmmph,” he grunted. “Whatcha’ gonna have?”

“Surprise me,” Dash sighed, rubbing her temples. The bartender poured her a drink and she went on to say, “So, how about that rebellion eh?” She looked at the bartender with a mock air of knowledge. The bartender just stared at her. “Come on, what do ya’ think about it?”

“You aren’t from around here are you?” the bartender asked.

“Oh come on, a good looking stallion such as yourself must hear something about it, right?”

“I’m a mare,” the bartender responded in a deadpan voice.

“Oh,” Dash replied, as she re-adjusted herself on the seat uncomfortably. She motioned for a few more drinks before propping her head up on her left hoof, trying to avoid making eye contact.

After a drink-or-two Dash began to notice two ponies sitting in a table on the wall shooting glances at her. Dash kept her eyes focused on the glass in front of her, using her periphery to examine her observers. From what she could see there was one orange earth pony. She couldn’t tell details but it looked like a mare. The second pony at the table was a sight, even with Dash’s limited vision. This pony was obviously a stallion, no mare could ever grow to be that huge. He was red, and seemed to be covered in bandoliers and weapons. These two were obviously no average Lower City scum, these two meant business wherever they went. Dash took a note in her head to keep an eye out for these two later on.

Ditzy walked through the cantina listening for any interesting conversations, it wasn’t long before she was stopped by a larger looking pony who blocked her way. “Pardon me, I need to get through,” Ditzy stated.

“No ya’ don’t. Come on, sit down, have a drink with me and the guys. I’m sure we can give you anything you need.”

Ditzy rolled her eyes. “No thank you, I’m quite alright.”

“Oh really? Has anyone told you that it’s rude to talk like that to somepony that offers you a drink? Hey, how ‘bout you keep both eyes on me when I’m talkin’ to ya’?”

“I guess one eye just couldn’t stand the sight of you,” she replied, cocking an eyebrow.

“I guess you can get away with it ‘cause of how cute you are,” he reached up to try to stroke her cheek. It was quickly slapped away by Ditzy.

“Don’t touch me,” she said in a warning tone.

“Oh, what are you going to do about it?” he asked mildly amused. He picked up his hoof to try to shove her back slightly. Ditzy had enough at this point. Grabbing the other pony’s hoof, she pulled him in to stretch out his leg. Picking up her own hoof, she brought it down hard on the joint, popping it. He screamed with pain and threw a blind hook, hoping to catch her unaware. She saw it coming and raised her own leg to block it. At the same time she brought her other hoof into the fleshy part of her opponent’s neck. At this point the other thugs were realizing what was happening. Working on adrenaline she saw one of them try to bring out a blaster pistol from their holster. Before he could even get it level with the horizon, Ditzy had attacked. She slid over and threw a directed kick at the gun, bucking it in the middle of the pistol and crumpling the metal beneath it. He screamed in agony as she broke the bones beneath the gun. Seeing the other, she whipped her leg around into the face of her third and final attacker, hitting him in the jaw and stunning him before she backhoofed him across the face.

With all her attackers neutralized, Ditzy turned to the gaping bartender and said, “Sorry about the mess.”

At that, Ditzy motioned for Dash to follow her out of the cantina, the last thing both of them needed was more attention.

Leaving the cantina, Dash turned to see if her watchers were still looking at her and Ditzy, but the table the two ponies had been sitting at was now vacant, save for a small piece of paper. Dash made a point to quickly run back inside and grab the note before Ditzy would notice she had left her side.

As the two exited the cantina Ditzy spoke up, “Well that was a waste of time. The only ponies in there were complete scum. Now what are we gonna do? We’ve obviously been noticed by a majority of the Lower City citizens, and we don’t even have any new information.” Ditzy paused a moment, then sighed in defeat. “Finding Twilight is going to be a tricky task after everypony down here knows about that fight.”

Dash had kept her mind focused on the two ponies she had seen in the corner of her eye earlier. Who were they? Can they help us in some way? Dash kept her thoughts open to any possibilities, knowing that they could easily be Sith spies, or just random drunks who liked the look of her. Either way, she thought Ditzy could use some good news at a time like this, “Hey Ditzy.” She started, “I don’t think it was all in vain.”

“Hmm? Wait, did that bartender tell you something?”

“Well, yeah. The bartender did tell me something, but it wasn’t relevant to anything we’re after.”

“Well what was it then?” Ditzy asked, getting slightly more irritated.

“This.” at that, Dash presented Ditzy with the note.

“Oh cool.” Ditzy said, “You found a napkin, woopty doo.”

“No you foal, it’s what’s on the napkin that’s important. Check this out.”

Dash began reading the note aloud.

Meet us at the elevator to the Under City in 15 minutes.

We have the information you’re looking for.

AJ & M

“AH HA!” Dash exclaimed, “I knew those two were eyeing me from their table. This is fantastic, hopefully they can help us find Twilight and get us off this planet.”

Ditzy remained silent for a moment before responding, “Yes, but we should proceed cautiously. For all we know, these two could be part of one of the gangs down here that could have captured Twilight. Or worse, Sith spies.”

“I’m sure that if they give us trouble we won’t have a problem holding our own. I mean look at us, you’re like a freak of nature with that vibroblade, and I’m the best shooter in the system!”

Ditzy couldn’t help but crack a smile at Dash’s overconfidence, it was good to have somepony with her that could help her relax and assist her on her mission. Doing this job alone would be near impossible if it were just her working, not to mention it was Dash who saved her life once already. Ditzy owed a lot to Dash, she was a good companion to have in these dire times.

“Okay Dash, let’s head over to that elevator now before they show up. That way we can stay hidden just in case some funny business happens.”

“Good idea,” Dash responded, “I prefer stealth confrontations anyway, it’s easier to get the upper hoof.”

“Right, let’s go.”

The two pegasi began the short trek to the elevator, following the main walkway until they turned a corner and saw the doors of the elevator about forty meters ahead. The elevator was guarded by one Sith pony, but it wasn’t the pony that would be the problem. Surrounding the one Sith soldier were five robotic auto-turrets, programmed to fire at anything that moved within a range that was unknown to Dash and Ditzy.

“Damn, what are we going to do now?” Ditzy asked. “ We can’t overtake the guard with those turrets watching for anything that moves.”

“Hmm,” Dash mumbled, “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the turrets.”

“Huh? Whaddya mean? They’ll shoot anything that get’s near them! We can’t just run though-”

Ditzy went quiet as she saw what Dash meant. Two ponies were only now revealing themselves from a ventilation shaft above the Sith guard. The first was an orange mare, who sprang into action and jumped on top of the Sith from the vent before firing a single blaster round through the back of his head. The turrets resumed their duty and continued scanning in the forward area toward Dash and Ditzy, who were still hiding behind the corner, and so the turrets didn’t see the hulking stallion jump out of the vent shaft. The red stallion hit the floor with a loud ‘THUD’ that caused the turrets to shake from the floor’s vibrations. The stallion towered high above the machines, and used his vibroblade to simply crush each one from behind until it was nothing more than scrap metal.

As soon as the stallion finished the last turret he walked over to the orange mare and stood close behind her.

The two unfamiliar ponies stood by each other in front of the elevator and stared directly at Dash and Ditzy, who were both still looking around the corner awestruck at how easily the two ponies before them had cleared the turrets so quickly.

The orange mare whispered something that neither Ditzy nor Dash could pick up. The red stallion responded to the mare with a loud “Eeyup.”

“Come on out y’all, we otta be gettin’ down this here elevator before anymore Sith show up.”

It was the orange mare who spoke, she had such a strange accent that Ditzy couldn’t quite put her hoof on. It almost seemed lazy, but educated at the same time. While Ditzy was trying to identify where the mare could be from Dash stepped out from behind the corner and started toward the two strange ponies who had just cleared the elevator.

“Dash!” Ditzy hissed, “What are you doing?! They look dangerous.”

“Relax Ditzy, these are the two ponies I saw in the cantina, I think they’re on our side. Besides, they did just clear the area of Sith, so they obviously aren’t Sith spies.”

“I...” Ditzy wasn’t sure how to respond, so she simply followed Dash toward the two standing by the doors to the elevator. Ditzy kept her vibroblade slightly unsheathed, just in case something happened.

The orange mare smiled when she saw the two approaching and turned to activate the elevator. As soon as Dash and Ditzy got next to them, the orange mare turned and grabbed Dash’s hoof.

“Hey there! Ma name’s Applejack, but y’all can just call me AJ. And this big feller here, well this is Big Macintosh. We all just call him Mac fer short downstairs though. Anywho, what’s yer names?”

“I’m Rainbow Dash, the best shot in the system. And not too bad of a pilot either if I do say so myself.”

“I’m Ditzy Doo. I guess I’m pretty good with a blade. But, sorry, what’s downstairs? And exactly what information do you have that could help us?”

“All in time friends,” AJ stated, “Fer now, just follow Mac and I into the lift and we’ll be safe to talk about anything you want once we leave this level.”

“Alright sounds good, because I have some questions.” Ditzy said with caution in her voice. She kept a grip on her blade inside the elevator as the doors shut.

“Alrighty then,” AJ began, “Let’s talk business, shall we?” At that, the orange mare pressed the ‘Down’ button and the elevator began the slow descent to the undercity that lay below the four ponies.