Star Wars, Episode Pony: Friendship is Magic

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 4

Prologue

From the darkness leapt two white-hot blades, snapping and crackling as they spun about in wild curves trying to outdo one another. Two ponies were poised on either side of the melee, one of which almost glowed in the limited light, the other of which greedily absorbed all luminescence that hit her, leaving only an inky blackness and the cold gleam of her steely armor.

Around the combatants was the silhouette of a desolate, cratered landscape that might once have been a town, but now nothing was left but the blackened skeletons of dead houses, many still glowing with flames and embers; the only other living thing in sight. Not even a single blade of grass could be seen in the area, such had been the fierceness of the battle that continued to wage through its center.

Both ponies spread their wings and took to the sky, twisting and diving beneath and between each other's sabers, which continued to twist and whirl in their respective horns’ grip. The two blades met in the center, followed closely by their bearers, who locked hooves and eyes momentarily before the brighter one was able to leverage her opponent into the ground. As the dust cleared, The brighter one hovered in the air, lightly flapping her wings to keep herself afloat. She spoke to her shadowy twin;

“It’s over, Luna! I have the high ground!”

“Thou dost underestimate my power;” replied the snarling face of her opponent, revealing gleaming, pointed fangs and a gaze that could freeze carbon.

“Don’t try it;” The white mare said, half distressed and half resolved.

The dark mare spread its wings, then launched itself upward, directly toward her target. Her amethyst gleaming blade was pointed directly towards her opponent’s heart. Her speed was somewhat dampened by the downward force from her foe’s radiant glowing horn, but she continued on her upward trajectory, heedless of the hindrance. At the last second, however, the white mare dipped to the side, out of the way of the incoming blow, while simultaneously launching her own saber into the fray. The emerald blade was launched on a direct intercept course with the black mare’s horn, severing it from the nightmarish mare’s head and leaving only a cauterized, bony stump.

The black alicorn shrieked, momentarily blinded by pain. The white alicorn then took the opportunity to plant a buck into her opponent’s right wing, and was rewarded with a sickening crunch. The black alicorn was only able to wobble in the air a moment before a telekinetic blow to her barrel sent her careening back into the stony ground.

For a moment, all was silent, save the wing beats of the descending white alicorn. As the dust cleared, however, the form of the black mare stirred, only to collapse after attempting to put weight on her broken right foreleg. The white mare approached slowly, but confidently, only stopping once she towered over the crumpled black form of her opponent. A moment later she turned to hide her grief-stricken expression as a tear streaked down her muzzle.

“Thou wast destined to destroy the sith, not join them;” she said quietly. Then she began to speak much louder as she turned a newly resolute glare to her sister. “You were to bring balance to the force; not leave it in eternal night!”

The only reply from the dark form was a glare in kind, which bulged like the face of a volcano struggling to contain vast reserves of unending loathing.

“Thou wast my sister, Luna; I loved you.” the white mare continued.

This time the black mare did respond; albeit briefly.

“I… hate you.” she said. The cool evenness of her voice when she said it, despite the twisted expression she wore, confirmed the truth of her words.

“So be it.” the white mare said, her expression equal parts pain, pity, and resolve. A small glow appeared behind her, growing quickly in size and power until it blinded the both of them.

It was then that Twilight woke from her vision, drenched in a cold sweat and breathing heavily.

Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle Sat bolt upright, her breathing heavy. In the early morning gloom that filtered through the metallic blinds on her window, she could only barely make out the shapes that made up the edge of her bed, the bookshelves lining the left side of her room, and the countertop under the window to her right. Confirming that she was still in her familiar room, Twilight then closed her eyes and began to recite the Jedi code to bring herself calm;

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” asked a young male voice from near the door; It came from a small purple-and-green reptilian that only barely stood tall enough to reach the light switch while standing on his clawed toes, which he was currently doing.

“Oh. Yes, Spike. Just another dream.” Twilight said as she straightened her mane with her forehooves. “Sorry to wake you.”

Spike dismissed the apology and plodded on his two legs to the opposite side of the room, where he fiddled with more controls he could barely reach. The metallic blinds on Twilight’s windows opened, which revealed the magnificent spires and busy airspace lanes of Canterscaunt, gleaming brazen, gold, and ivory in the early-morning sun.

“Was it the same one?” Spike asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

“Yes.” Twilight responded while idly bunching her gray blankets into a wad in front of herself. “most of it, anyway.”

“That’s not good.” Spike said, almost musically, as he set up and climbed a small step ladder next to a countertop. He retrieved a cup from a nearby cupboard and filled it with a hot, steaming liquid from a small dispenser. He offered it to Twilight from across the room, who grabbed it with her magic and levitated it to her forehooves before taking a tentative sip.

“Maybe you should start taking sedatives before you go to sleep.” the small reptilian suggested as he filled another, smaller cup for himself.

“I can’t just block the dreams out, Spike. They’re trying to tell me something important; I just know it.”

Spike tightened his jaw and adopted a small frown, but said nothing more. Twilight took another sip of her tea before setting her cup onto her nightstand with her telekinesis and donning her tan Padawan’s robes.

“Spike, get me that library data on Predictions and Prophecies.”

Spike hurriedly climbed down his stepladder and moved across the room to a set of bookshelves that were stacked up against the wall, laden with luminescent stripes of glass. After perusing it’s contents for a moment, he pulled out one particular pane and offered it to Twilight, who forcefully yanked it out of his grip and brought it to a stop on the bed in front of herself. The surface of the tablet glowed with words and runes, which shifted rapidly as Twilight flipped through its pages.

“No… no… no…” Twilight muttered to herself as she passed page after page of irrelevant information.Then came an “Ahah” once she spotted a name she recognized. She began reading aloud.

“Luna; jedi knight. See Darth Nightmare?”

“Darth nightmare?” Spike repeated. “Isn’t that a Sith name?”

Twilight quickly flipped to the indicated page and continued reading; “Darth Nightmare; a powerful alicorn turned sith; banished by the Elements of Harmony. prophecy states that on the longest day of the thousandth year, she will return to bring about eternal night.”

Spike wrinkled his nose before taking another sip from his cup. “That sounds… unlikely,” he said.

Twilight gave him a similar, wrinkled-nose look. “Why would you say that?”

“Well for one thing, bringing about eternal night is impossible.” He replied. “Even if you somehow manage to stop the rotation of a planet, it’d still be day on one side, right?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “That’s hardly the point, Spike. It could very easily be metaphorical. The important bit is that Darth Nightmare is going to return! We need to inform Master Celestia right away!” She stood from her bed and cantered toward the door.

“Uh, I think she’s kinda busy… and didn’t you promise to help Moondancer with the younglings this morning?” Spike said just before he finished the last drops from his cup.

“This can’t wait!” Twilight said resolutely, pausing beside Spike’s stepladder in order to hoist him onto her back. He was soon forced to cling to her mane as she galloped out into the hall, where several other Padawans were just beginning to emerge from their dormitories and go about their various morning rituals. Twilight galloped hastily down the crimson captet-clad corridors and briefly through the vaulted common area, running into the hall opposite the Padawan’s wing. As Twilight neared her master’s favorite meditation room, she slowed, let Spike jump off of her back, gave herself a quick once-over to make sure that she was presentable, and quietly entered.

The room was small and unadorned, save for two round, cushioned seats near the center. On one of them sat Master Celestia, two hooves crossed beneath her, and two pointed into the air, her elbows resting on her knees. Her white coat almost glowed in the early morning light that filtered it’s way to her through a set of partially closed blinds. Her multicolored mane that reminded Twilight of a beautiful sunset waved to and fro slowly in an astral wind that only it could feel. Not for the first time, it struck Twilight how much her master looked like the white alicorn from her visions, and simultaneously how different. The Jedi Master’s eyes were closed in a serene expression, and did not open even as she began to speak.

“It’s quite early for you to be up today, isn’t it Twilight? Are you prepared for today’s lessons already, then?”

Twilight climbed onto the seat across from her mentor, taking a deep breath and letting it out before speaking.

“Not exactly, Master Celestia. I mean, I am ready, but I need to tell you something first.”

Celestia’s right eye opened at that last statement to peer at her student’s expression, but soon afterward she closed it again.

“Indeed? What is it that I ought to know?” she asked evenly.

“I- I think- I believe I’ve been having visions.” Twilight said.

“Oh?” Celestia said. “Of the past, or of the future?”

“Both, I think.” Twilight said. “First, I see you, much younger, fighting and defeating a sith lord; another alicorn. Then, sometimes I see something dark… it’s difficult to describe; like a shadow over a lamp. The rest is just… feelings. I just know something bad is going to happen.”

“Mmm... I see.” Celestia said. “And, how would you interpret these visions?”

Twilight was slightly surprised by Celestia’s question, but endeavored to recover quickly.

“I- well, I’ve been doing some research in the temple library, and I found some entries about an old Jedi prophecy… You are familiar with an ancient sith called Darth Nightmare?”

Celestia nodded.

“Well, according to my research, she was prophesied to return on the longest day of the thousandth year of her banishment. Looking at the calendars of the time, I can only assume that-”

“Ah, I see.” Celestia interrupted, nodding calmly. “So this is what has had you so worried lately.”

“Yes!” Twilight almost shrieked her affirmative before getting her voice back under control. “So we’ll have to…” Twilight trailed off once she realized that her mentor had not stirred from her meditation position. “You seem remarkably calm about this;” Twilight eventually said.

“Mmhmm,” Celestia intoned, which was accompanied with another nod. “...And that is because there is nothing to be concerned about.”

“Oh. good.” Twilight said, though her expression was anything but relieved. “Um… why?”

“Simply put, Twilight, sometimes dreams are just dreams.” Celestia said serenely.

Twilight stammered briefly. “B- but… but…”

“Let me put it this way;” Master Celestia said; “If you have felt a disturbance in the force, would not others have felt it as well?”

“I… maybe?” Twilight said, shifting in her seat.

“Yes, they would,” Celestia said. “Trust me when I say that none of the masters within this temple would ever allow Darth Nightmare to do anything that cannot be repaired, whenever she does return.”

“So.. you don’t believe me?” Twilight said. At the moment she wasn’t sure which would be worse; The Sith lord returning to destroy her mentor, or her mentor not believing in her.

Master Celestia gave a deep sigh. “Oh, Twilight. You are a very fine padawan, and I foresee you one day becoming a great jedi knight, but you simply must get your nose out of those books from time to time.”

“but, I-” Twilight began to protest, but caught herself when she realised who she was speaking to. She eventually relented. “Y- yes, Master Celestia.”

“Good.” Celestia said; “Because that is why I am sending you on a small mission.”

Chapter 2

Twilight stared glumly out of the shuttle’s side window, not particularly enjoying her view of hyperspace. Next to her, Spike was silently reviewing the day’s itinerary from a data pad, but Twilight didn’t need to hear to know what it said; she’d memorized the words reading it over and over to see if Celestia had made some sort of mistake.

My dearest Twilight Sparkle; there is more to a Jedi’s life than meditation, which is why I am sending you to check on preparations for a small festival being held in Mos Poni on the third planet of the EverFree system tomorrow. Please talk to the following ponies to make sure their arrangements have all been made and everything is ready for tomorrow;

Catering: Applejack

Decor: Rarity Belle

Musical accompaniment: Fluttershy

If any of these ponies need help with their respective duties, I expect you to make it your mission to assist them in any way possible. Also, in addition to your more official duties, I would like to add one more directive of a more personal nature; Make some friends. I shall be in attendance the day of the festival, and look forward to hearing of your progress.

Twilight was furious, not that she would ever allow it to show; she was a Jedi after all. Not only had Master Celestia ignored her warnings, but she then had the gall to give her a mission to check on catering arrangements. She couldn’t help but think that it was beneath her dignity as a Jedi Knight to be given such busywork. Granted, she technically wasn’t a Jedi Knight yet, but Twilight had always believed that her mentor had more faith in her than that.

Oh, yes; and there was also the part about making friends, which was almost as insulting and many times more confusing than the first part of her mission. Jedi didn’t just make friends. There was a good reason one of their cardinal rules was that attachment was forbidden. Then again, Celestia had always been a bit odd about following the jedi code; it always seemed like her interpretation of the code was far too loose for a full-fledged jedi knight, let alone a Master of the council.

The shuttle jolted as Twilight’s ship exited hyperspace, which allowed Twilight her first view of the place they would be visiting. The Everfree system had four planets; only two of which were remotely habitable. The first Habitable planet only just barely qualified for the title; it was a sulfuric ball of rock and hot gas that was far too dangerous to justify living on; The other, the planet Twilight’s shuttle was currently approaching, was a dusty desert world with only a few small settlements dotting the landscape. As the shuttle grew closer to the planet, sand filled Twilight’s view; she could practically feel the heat already from the sunlight reflecting off of it’s surface. As the shuttle descended further, Twilight could begin to make out the individual buildings of Mos Poni; though not easily, since the rounded and weathered sandstone they were constructed from blended in nicely with the surrounding dunes.

The spaceport consisted of only six separate landing pads hollowed out of a single structure, and from the looks of the stacks of dusty cargo crates in a few of them, only three saw regular use. Twilight’s shuttle dipped into one of them and landed, kicking up a small curtain of dust as it touched ground.

Twilight, followed closely by spike, exited into the street; which, while certainly not crowded by the metric of anypony from Canterscaunt, had a fair number of ponies, droids, and a scattering of other alien creatures milling about. Among them was a sturdy-looking orange mare who wore a wide-brimmed hat topped with a pair of protective goggles. A sign was draped across her back so that when her side faced the crowd exiting the spaceport, they could read the words ‘Twilight Sparkle’ in large, easy-to-read lettering. Twilight figured that the mare was her welcoming committee.

Twilight waved cordially as she approached.

“Howdy!” the mare said in a thick, but understandable local accent as she returned the wave; “You’re Twilight?”

“Yes I am.” Twilight said. Then she pointed to the miniature reptile following behind her. “And this is my assistant, Spike.”

Before Twilight could say any more, her hoof had been seized from her and was being shaken like the orange mare was trying to test how many G’s she could endure.

“Well I’m mighty pleased t’ make new friends!” the orange mare said casually, almost causing Twilight to choke; “The name’s Applejack!”

It took Twilight a second or two to realise that Applejack was no longer shaking her hoof, since it was still throbbing noticeably from the mare’s strong grip.

“New… friends?” Twilight asked, almost under her breath. “I- uh… well I’m here to supervise the preparations for the festival-”

“Mmm-hmm!” Applejack said, nodding. “And let me just tell you, we here in Mos Pony are just as pleased as punch that yer master Celestia is gonna be able to make the trip.”

“Uh- yes! Thank you! I’m sure Celestia will be pleased to be here as well. But down to business; according to my list, you’re in charge of the food?”

“Me and the entire Apple family.” Applejack replied proudly. “In fact, we can head on down to the apple homestead just as soon as you’re ready.”

“Oh, good.” Twilight said, looking around. “Is your speeder parked nearby, or…”

“Naw, we don’t have much use for the things ‘round here.” Applejack said, leading the way out of the crowd on hoof. ”Just a brisk morning walk over to the homestead anyway.”

Twilight reluctantly followed the farm pony, the dusty streets becoming marginally less crowded but more festive as they continued. Colorful yellow and light-blue banners were being hung between buildings, and foals were playing with streamers trailing from their mouths. Soon, however, the buildings shrank and then abandoned them entirely, leaving only a wide open, dusty expanse with a small, sunken compound at its center. All around were the tall, white moisture vaporators that were common in desert communities and, much to Twilight’s surprise, a few scattered fruit trees that were monitored closely by various droids and a few earth ponies. Twilight suspected a good portion of the moisture the farm collected went straight back into its own crops.

Applejack waved enthusiastically to anypony that met her gaze, and usually the ponies in the moisture fields waved back. As they did, Applejack told Twilight their names like she was just arriving at a family reunion.

“That’s Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, That tall un’ over there’s Red Delicious, Goldie Delicious, the lil’ filly o’er there’s mah sister Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Caramel Apple. How ya doin’ Apple Strudel?”

After what seemed like a hundred names, Twilight began to realize that some of the apple family were waving at her as well as Applejack. She lowered her head, Hoping beyond hope that she could escape everypony’s notice.

After a few more introductions, Applejack looked back toward Twilight with a smile that soon melted into confusion. Applejack slowed a bit so she could walk beside Twilight instead of leading.

“You alright?” Applejack asked. “Forgive me but you seem… not altogether comfy.”

Twilight bit her lip. She was, in fact, extremely uncomfortable. After another moment, she spoke, trying to sound as professional as possible.

“Could we please, just... get to the part where you let me know if the food is going to be ready for the festival tomorrow?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow, and Twilight immediately knew that the request had come out sharper than she had intended. Spike frowned at her grumpily.

“Ah suppose,” Applejack said uncertainly.

A silence passed between them, only broken by the sounds of their hooves in the dust, before Twilight felt the need to break it.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure your family are very nice ponies, but I’m very, very busy today on… important… Jedi business.”

Applejack hesitantly nodded. “I see;” she said slowly; “I s’pose I wanted to make y’all feel at home is all. You’ll want to talk to Granny Smith down at the house, she’ll know more than me ‘bout these things.”

After another long, thought-filled moment of walking, Applejack spoke again:

“Don’t you Jedi types ever find time to relax and, y’know, make friends?”

At first Twilight was offended, but soon after she detected the sincerity and concern in Applejack’s question and thought better of it.

“No.” Twilight said resolutely; “It’s… not part of the life we choose. When you’re a keeper of the peace, you have to be serene, vigilant, and most importantly, impartial.”

Applejack nodded slowly, but still wore a frown.

“I s’pose… but still, it seems a shame.”

For half an instant, Twilight found herself agreeing with Applejack’s sentiment, Then she hurriedly pushed such thoughts out of her mind like trash into a chute. Real Jedi were beyond such things; saving the galaxy was far more important than making friends.

Applejack led Twilight down a small set of sandstone stairs embedded into the ground and into the bunker-like house’s front door. Twilight was soon hit with the smells of baking pastry and ripe fruit, as well as a current of warm air that didn’t quite match the heat of the desert sun. Immediately inside was a room with a low, domed ceiling that overlooked a rectangular table. There was a couch embedded in the adjacent wall, whereupon sat an ancient, lime-green mare who was presently slumped over and issuing forth slow, snorting breaths.

“Up and at ‘em Granny Smith! We got guests!” Applejack barked, causing the elderly pony to stutter briefly in her snoring before prying open her eyes.

A sound issued forth from her muzzle that sounded something like “Oh! Uh- whuh?”

Applejack put a hoof on her elders’ shoulder and pointed the other to Twilight. “Granny, I’d like you to meet Twilight Sparkle, Jedi apprentice to Master Celestia, and her assistant Spike. They’re here to check up on our preparations for the festival.”

Twilight waved feebly from across the table, giving a forced smile. Spike’s wave was more enthusiastic, and his smile more genuine.

“Oh!” Granny smith said, slowly breaking out in a smile. “well How’dy’do Youngun?”

“Just fine, thank you.” Twilight said formally. “This shouldn’t take long; I’m just here to make sure everything is going smoothly.”

“Aww, that’s nice of you to check.” Granny Smith mused as she relaxed back into her seat; “‘Course we got most everything under control here.”

The dismissive way Granny Smith had said it reminded Twilight far too much of her last conversation with Celestia, which irked her a bit before she forced the feeling back down into the depths of her mind.

“You said ‘most everything’...” Twilight said with as much patience as she could muster. “Is there anything you’re having trouble with that I ought to know about?”

Granny Smith’s pupils went to the corners of her eyes and squinted. “Well, there is this tiny thing of waiting on a shipment from Miss Dash, but I’m sure we’ll get that by the end of the day.”

Applejack Massaged the bridge of her snout with a hoof; apparently she had just gotten a headache. “Really? You still haven’t got them spices from Rainbow yet?”

“Well, no, but-”

Applejack plowed forward, heedless of anything else her Granny was going to say.

“I swear that pony has got to be the laziest freighter in the outer rim.”

“Sorry, who are we talking about?” Spike asked.

“Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said. “She’s a freighter pilot based ‘round here and she was supposed to have come back with some Neighbian spices for some of our fritters sometime today. Don’t get me wrong; she’s a real nice pony; but she spends a bit too much time nappin’ for my taste.”

“Well, we could go get the spices!” Spike volunteered.

“Well, that’s mighty nice o’ ya t’ offer!” Applejack said, a smile appearing on her face.

Twilight suddenly felt a headache of her own coming on. “Spike…” she pleaded.

“Well, Celestia did say it was our mission to help out in any way we could.” Spike said matter-of-factly.

Twilight knew that Spike was right, of course, even if she didn’t like it. Figuring out how to save the galaxy would have to wait for a shipment of cooking ingredients, it seemed.

Rainbow Dash’s freighter was parked on the edge of town, practically on the opposite side of Mos Poni from the apple homestead. It was a chunky, yet angular vessel that was shaped roughly like a falcon’s head. It’s exterior was mostly gray, But Twilight could see the remains of some faded attempt at rainbow flames across the bottom half. The back of the ship was open, with a small ramp leading into the shaded interior.

“Ugh. I just hope these spices are easy to find;” Twilight said as she approached.

“Oh, don’t worry, Twilight. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to meditate once the Festival is over.” Spike said just before he ran ahead of her up the boarding ramp. Twilight Grumbled something unintelligible as she followed.

The inside of the ship was a mess; Standard shipping crates of various sizes were scattered everywhere, and a table in the corner held several jars of seemingly random condiments and a half-eaten sandwich that contained a blue, starchy material that Twilight couldn’t identify. From behind a closed door towards the bow came a rhythmic sound that seemed like a mix between a turbolift engine and a rancor growl. When Twilight took a peek inside, she found herself looking into the cockpit, where a light-blue pegasus with a multicolored mane was straddled over the pilot and co-pilot’s seats in a bent-backwards pose that Twilight couldn’t imagine could be comfortable. Nevertheless, The pegasus was snoring loudly with a dark-blue blanket haphazardly draped over her barrel.

Spike, still looking around at the crates, asked “There’s no labels. Which one do you think has the spices?”

“I suppose we’d better ask.” Twilight said. She gently rocked the pilot’s chair on its hinges, and gave out a stern “Ahem,” but the pegasus kept snoring. Twilight tried rocking the chair again, harder, but to no effect.

Twilight was rolling her eyes when she caught sight of the thruster controls on the panel to her left. She thought for only a second before briefly tapping one particular button with her hoof.

The entire ship jumped a few inches and fell back to the ground. Spike was thrown off of his feet, but Twilight managed to remain standing. The pegasus was thrown from her precarious resting place, landing in a heap on the floor between the seats.

“What the-'' came the pegasi’s voice; It sounded like she had spent a lot of time shouting into the wind in her youth.

“Hello.” Twilight said with mock formality. “Rainbow Dash, I presume?”

“Wha- oh.” The pegasus said before rising to rub her head. “You guys do know it’s a holiday, right? Not taking any jobs today.”

“Well first of all, it’s not a holiday yet.” Twilight said; “And second of all, I’m here about a job that should’ve been done earlier today.”

Rainbow scrunched her muzzle in confusion. “Earlier today? What’cha talking about?”

“I’m talking about a certain shipment of spices you were supposed to get to the Apple family Homestead.” Twilight said.

“Oh, that.” Rainbow Dash seemed immediately less concerned. “I was gonna get around to that soon enough.”

“Oh, really?” Twilight said, disbelieving. “Seemed to me like you were gonna nap until nightfall. What would you do if you woke up fifteen minutes before the festival was about to start?”

“Then I would have delivered it as soon as I woke up.” Rainbow said as she began to wrap herself in her blanket again.. “Besides, If I wanted to, I could fly those crates over there in ten seconds flat.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. The pre-flight checks alone would take a few minutes at least.”

Rainbow’s eyes emerged from under the blanket, this time with a deadly glint to them that caused Twilight to take a step back.

“Ten. seconds. Flat.” Came the promise out of Rainbow’s mouth.

Twilight went through the math in her head again just to make sure, then narrowed her gaze.

“Prove it;” She said.

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed into deadly, knifelike slits. Her Hooves shot out from under her blanket and onto the controls,causing the ship to lurch suddenly off the ground and throwing Twilight back into the common area of the ship. The ship’s back ramp closed just in time to keep her and Spike from falling out, and Twilight could hear the mechanical sounds of the landing gear retracting into the hull. In another instant, they were thrown back to the bow by a burst of backward acceleration. Rainbow then spun the wheel in front of her, causing the ship to whip around so that it’s tip was facing it’s current direction of travel. Through the doors of the cockpit, Twilight could see the buildings of Mos Poni whipping by at a disturbingly close distance. Rainbow’s ship passed between several taller buildings before she pulled it into the airborne equivalent of a drift and skidded sideways across the sky. Twilight was once again thrown against the wall, this time feeling her mane cushioned from the metal by a mushy, starchy substance. As the ship slowed, it descended in a gradual arc until Rainbow hit the upward thrusters just in time to catch them before they hit the ground. In another instant, Rainbow extended the landing gear, allowing her ship to skid across the sand to a gentle stop. At the last second the boarding ramp opened again, allowing a few metallic crates to slide out of the ship and onto the sand.

“Ten. Seconds Flat.” Rainbow declared victoriously. “See? I’d never leave the town hanging!”

Soon afterward Twilight managed to wobble herself back into the cockpit to confirm that they were now, in fact, on the Apple family homestead. They were about fifty feet away from the house, in fact, and the promised crates were even now being retrieved from the sand by a few members of the Apple family.

Rainbow then spotted the leftover half of her sandwich that had found its way into Twilight’s mane.

“Oh, uh… sorry about that;” Rainbow said as she picked the bread out from the tangled pink and purple mess. She had been about to start picking out bits of the unknown white, sticky substance when Twilight held up a hoof to stop her.

“You know what, It’s fine.” Twilight said, still staring out of the cockpit window with a bit of a twitch in her eye. “Everything is just great. You delivered the crates, and that’s what matters.”

Rainbow let a brief moment of silence pass before she let out a laugh and slapped Twilight on the back.

“What’s your name, huh?” Rainbow asked jovially.

“Twilight Sparkle;” Twilight said flatly.

“Well you’re a riot, Twilight Sparkle;” Rainbow said; “I can’t wait to hang out some more!”

Twilight trudged through the streets of Mos poni, her head held low with it’s mushy adornment. Spike looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. Twilight was glad; in her current mood she wasn’t sure she could contain her sheer frustration. As it was, she was consciously taking each step using as little energy as possible for fear that she would start stomping audibly across the town with an attitude very unfitting of a Jedi’s apprentice.

Instead of focusing on what a rotten day she’d had so far, Twilight decided to focus on the next item on her to-do-list; the pony in charge of setting up the decorations for the festival, Rarity. Applejack’s family had been gracious enough to point her towards town hall, where she was reportedly doing her job of putting the finishing touches on the decor.

From the outside, the town hall tried to look impressive; and indeed, it was the tallest structure in Mos Poni, but looking at the worn sandstone tower only made Twilight think of how it paled in comparison to even the smallest of structures on Canterscaunt. Still, the various streamers and banners hanging from it’s sides did give it a splash of color that Twilight could bring herself to enjoy.

Twilight had been expecting much the same thing when she entered, but she was instead met with a grand banquet table in the midst of a show of elegance that Twilight would be hard-pressed to replicate even back on her homeworld. The edges of the room were draped with satin curtains and the columns were wrapped in neatly spiralling streamers interspersed with boughs of white flowers, almost like there were long, white flowering trees growing up to the top of the room. And all that was without even mentioning the gems.

Tiny, sparkling crystals seemed to fill every nook and cranny of the room; They were interspersed amongst the pillars of flowers where they glinted like buried treasure; they lined the walls in elegant lines that swooped and curled, implying sparkling seas of water, and of sand. As much as Twilight had grown to detest sand during her short time on this planet, she had to admit the sparkling way the jeweled murals depicted it somehow made it appealing.

“So… beautiful.” Spike said, Jaw agape.

Twilight surveyed the hall appreciably. “The decorations do seem very nice.”

“Not them… Her.” Spike said, pointing towards the far end of the hall where a unicorn stood, facing the wall with a critical eye.

The unicorn mare’s coat was white, which contrasted beautifully with her darker purple mane. The mane itself was styled into elaborate curls that Twilight thought would be impossible to maintain throughout the day. Across her back was draped a shimmering blue cape that complimented her own natural colors perfectly.

Twilight peered at the stranger from across the massive room, then took another look at Spike’s expression; It seemed like he’d dropped a few IQ points just from seeing the white-coated mare. Twilight rolled her eyes and approached the other unicorn, leaving Spike to his stupor.

“Hello.” Twilight said as she got within proper speaking range; “I’m-”

But whatever she had been about to say was interrupted by a strikingly fast upward hoof from the stranger, who still seemed to be glaring at the decorated wall before her for some reason.

Twilight shut her mouth, expecting an explanation, but was instead met with intense silence as the unicorn removed two gems from the wall and carefully swapped their places. When the replacement was complete, Twilight did think that the mural’s lighting effect had been improved, albeit in a way that she herself may have never noticed nor cared to.

“Terribly sorry;” The unicorn finally said in an accent that reminded Twilight of Canterscaunt high life; “I’m in the zone, as it were. You were saying?” She still hadn’t taken her eyes off of the mural.

Twilight took a second to regain her momentum; “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m here to check on the festival preparations for my master, Celestia.”

The white-coated unicorn seemed to twitch at that last statement; her concentration was broken, and she swung her gaze around to meet Twilight’s eyes.

“Oh my goodness!” She practically shouted, Squeezing her own face between her hooves. “You’re here from.. I mean, you must be here from… Canterscaunt?”

The sudden eagerness in the white Unicorn’s voice caught Twilight off-guard. “Uhh… yes...” she said hesitantly. “And you’re… Rarity?”

“Oh, yes!” Rarity said. Putting a hoof on her heart in a show of humility. “It’s such a pleasure to meet…” The unicorn’s voice trailed off as her eyes locked onto a point just above Twilight’s eyes.

“Oh dear…” The well-dressed mare said as she regained her voice. “What happened to your coiffure?”

“Uh- my mane?” Twilight said. She almost stuck a hoof through her mane, but then she remembered that she still had the unidentified sandwich substance stuck in it.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Twilight said. “Just an incident with… a pilot.” Twilight decided not to name Rainbow Dash specifically, since from her expression Twilight could see that Rarity might consider this minor inconvenience a crime to all ponykind.

“Well, I must help you fix it at once.” Rarity said resolutely. “I’ll just take you back to my place and we can have this sorted in a jiffy.”

“Whoa! That’s… not really necessary.” Twilight said, forcing a smile. “I’ll just wash it out later.”

“Nonsense!” Rarity said, undeterred. “We can’t have a Jedi Knight walking around looking like a homeless pony!”

“Uh… I’m just a Padawan, actually…” Twilight said.

“Well nevertheless!” Ratiy said as she practically began shoving Twilight towards the exit door.

“Uh… we’re really very busy.” Twilight tried. She looked to Spike for support, but he was still staring dumbly at Rarity, who was undeterred with Twilight’s excuses.

“Well, I suppose, as long as it doesn’t take too long.” Twilight said; mostly to herself, as Rarity needed no further encouragement.

Twilight had spent the next few hours in Rarity’s bedroom, where it seemed her mane had been subjected to every conceivable technique in order to pull the foreign substance out. Then Rarity had insisted that she brush her mane and apply a significant amount of product in order to keep everything neat. Somehow that had also turned into Rarity diving into her closet of many, many capes and insisting Twilight try on a few to see what suited her. In the end, Twilight had gotten directions to the last pony on her list and slipped quietly away while Rarity had been grabbing another batch of accessories from her closet.

The last pony on Twilight’s list was named Fluttershy; she was supposed to be in charge of the music for the festival. It thus surprised Twilight that her house was so far from Mos Poni proper. It wasn’t a long walk, by any means, but the small sandstone cottage in the middle of the desert practically screamed to Twilight that it’s occupant craved isolation.

Twilight approached the door quietly and gave a polite knock on the door. No answer came. After a half-minute of waiting, Spike squirmed on her back.

“Maybe nopony’s home?” Spike suggested.

“Maybe.” Twilight said. “But Rarity seemed to think she’d be here…”

As Twilight drifted off, she began to hear a faint sound from behind the cottage; she wasn’t sure, but it did sound faintly of music. As she began to circumnavigate the structure, the sound became clearer, and Twilight could confirm that it was, in fact, music; but not of any sort Twilight was used to hearing. She recognized the tune as one of the many anthems of the Republic, but Twilight couldn’t recognize any of the instruments. As she passed around to the backyard, she began to see why.

Assembled into a strange sort of choir was a group of small rat-like creatures with long back legs. Their noses were elongated into tiny trunks, and a chorus of reedy whistles emanated forth from them. As she looked, Twilight could see that there were other creatures in the choir as well; a large, flat, stony creature served as the group’s bass with a series of low growls, and the higher notes were picked up by varying sizes of birds, ranging from cute to predatory-looking. In front of them all, acting as a conductor to this odd choir, was a cream-yellow pegasus, who would almost, but not quite, blend in with the pale sands of the desert if it weren’t for her pink mane. Perhaps the mane was its own sort of camouflage, though, since it seemed to Twilight like it was designed to partially hide the pegasus’s face.

Twilight watched in awe and confusion as the assembly of creatures finished their song, whereupon the Pegasus approached one of the small rodents.

“Um.. excuse me, but… I think you were singing just a little bit flat there.”

To Twilight’s surprise, The rodent nodded in understanding before the pegasus flew gently back to her conducting position, ready to start the song again.

“Hello!” Twilight said by way of introduction. She hadn’t spoken particularly loudly; but nonetheless the Butter-colored pegasus flinched as though she had heard an explosion. The choir of creatures scattered into the desert around the house, quickly finding hiding places among the scant rocks and burrows in the area. The large rock-like creature, in contrast, lazily regarded Twilight for a few moments before using a large pincer to spread a meager portion of dust across the top of his shell and settling down for a nap.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Twilight said. She waited briefly for a response, but upon hearing nothing, she continued. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m here to check on the preparations for the upcoming festival in Mos Poni.”

The pegasus might have mumbled something then, but Twilight wasn’t sure; It seemed like she couldn’t hear anything over the silence.

“I- um… I heard some of your music. It sounded wonderful.” Twilight said hopefully. The pegasus simply hoofed the dusty ground nervously. Twilight began to notice several of the rodents begin to peek out from their hiding places and give her curious looks.

“I- um… Well, Everything seems to be in order here;” Twilight said, beginning to feel awkward just from proximity to the pegasus. “I’ll let you get back to your practice.”

As Twilight turned to go the way she came around the cottage, she couldn’t help but think that as eccentric as the ponies of this town were, at least this visit had been quick. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when she heard a small gasp from the pegasus, followed by the first words she had heard from the pony’s mouth since Twilight had said “hello”;

“Is that… a dragon?”

Twilight stopped to turn towards the voice, only now remembering that Spike had been riding silently on her back this whole time.

“Um, yes! I am!” Spike said. “I’m Spike!”

The Pegasus didn’t reach a hoof to shake Spike’s outstretched claw, but she did step forward a bit to speak.

“Oh, wow. You talk! That’s… great!” The pegasus said. Twilight thought that her tone must have been what usually passed as excitement for the abnormally closed-off pegasus. “I’m Fluttershy.” She finally said.

Twilight might have sent a cordial greeting back, but at this point she was afraid any sort of sound from her would send the pegasus back into her shell, not to mention scare away the choir of creatures that was slowly reconvening back to their places with wary expressions. Luckily, Spike had that part covered too.

“Well hi, Fluttershy!” Spike said; “It’s nice to meet you!”

“So… are you a Padawan?” Fluttershy asked Spike softly.

Twilight inwardly did a double-take. Most ponies outside the Jedi temple used the word ‘Apprentice’ when referring to students of the order. ‘Padawan’, while not unheard-of, was an unusual word to hear when talking to a pony with no apparent connection to the Jedi.

“Uh, no.” Spike said. “This is Twilight Sparkle; she’s the Padawan. I’m her assistant!” Twilight waved a hoof cordially.

Fluttershy wrinkled her snout. “I didn’t think Padawans usually got assistants of their own.” She said curiously.

“They don’t.” Spike confirmed. “It’s a bit of a long story… Do you wanna hear it?”

“Spike!” Twilight said in a scolding tone. “I’m sure she has other things she has to do right now.”

“Oh, no; I’d love to hear everything.” Fluttershy said eagerly

“Well, um… but I have some things I need to get to in town…” Twilight said, trying to find some excuse not to have to spend any more time than needed away from her meditations.

“Oh, that’s okay.” Fluttershy said amicably. “I can come with you! You can tell me all about it on the way.”

“Perfect!” Spike said, even as Twilight heaved a long sigh.

Twilight began the long walk, just as Spike began his epic tale;

“I started out as a little purple and green-spotted egg. The doctors on my world didn’t think I was gonna make it out, but then Twilight and Celestia showed up…”

Spike kept Fluttershy rapt with tales of his life the entire way back into town, by which time the twin suns were just about reaching the horizon. It seemed like he was just about winding down once they approached the building they were to be staying in; a nearly cubic, two-story structure with a hemispheric roof.

“...And that is the story of my whole life up until today.” Spike finished. Then he pondered for a second before eagerly asking; “Do you want to hear about today?”

Twilight involuntarily jerked to a stop, causing Spike to fall off her back.

“Ow” Spike said, glaring at Twilight out of the corner of his eye.

Twilight jerked around to face Fluttershy with a smile composed entirely of plasteel. “Oh, look. I’m so sorry; how did we get here so fast? Thank you for accompanying us but I think Spike needs his sleep now.”

Spike screwed up his scaly snout at that last. “What? No I don-”

Before he could say any more, Twilight jabbed Spike in the ribs with a light tap of her back hoof, causing him to cough . He took the hint, but his scowl told Twilight he wasn’t happy about it.

Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice or care about the small exchange, instead flying around Twilight and scooping Spike up into her hooves.

“Oh, yes.” She said as she gently carried him towards the door. “A growing baby dragon does need his naptime. You simply must get into bed.”

Before Fluttershy could enter the house, however, Twilight interposed herself between the pegasus and the portal.

“Yes, yes, I’ll make sure he gets there.” Twilight said hurriedly as she telekinetically took Spike from Fluttershy’s grip. “I’m sure you’re far too busy a mare right now to do it yourself. We’ll get right on that. Well, g’night!”

With a speed born of desperation, Twilight punched the door controls with a hoof and slipped inside with Spike, maintaining her fragile grin until the door closed again and broke Fluttershy’s line of sight.

It was dark inside the room; so much so that Twilight could hardly see her hoof in front of her face. She could, however, briefly hear spike grumbling from the blackness.

“Rude, much?” He said quietly.

Twilight took a deep breath to steady herself. “I’m sorry, Spike,” Twilight whispered, “but I need to continue my meditation. I have this terrible feeling that Darth nightmare will be returning soon; and I need more specific answers to get Celestia to take this seriously!”

“Or, you know, she could be right like she usually is.” Spike said. Twilight could practically feel his eyes rolling.

A part of Twilight agreed with spike sentiment; when she and her mentor had disagreements in the past, Celestia had always turned out to be right, but another, equally large part of Twilight knew that her visions had not simply been dreams.

“Even if that’s true, making sure won’t hurt anything.” Twilight resolved out loud. “Now… Where’s the light?”

As if on cue, the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling lit up to reveal the room; only it hadn’t been Spike who flipped the switch. Instead, there was an extremely pink earth pony standing uncomfortably close to Twilight with a hoof on the lighting controls.

“SURPRISE!” the earth pony shouted. Twilight regained her wits just fast enough to resist recoiling in terror at her personal space being so suddenly invaded. Her first, instantaneous thought was that an assassin had come to kill her, and Twilight grabbed her lightsaber from underneath her robes. Before she could ignite it, however, she noticed that not only was her would-be assassin entirely unarmed, but there were many other ponies scattered about the room as well, and none of them were carrying weapons either. In fact, everypony in the room except for Twilight was wearing a huge smile.

“What the-” Twilight said; “who are you ponies?”

“It’s your ‘Welcome to Mos poni’ Party, silly!” The pink mare said as she bounced around Twilight to get into the optimal position to simultaneously hug her and Spike. “ Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie and I planned this party just for you! Are you surprised? Huh? Huh?”

“Y-yes. Extremely so;” Twilight said; “I’m confused… Do I know you?”

“Nope!” The pink blur said certainly. “I saw you today when you came out of the spaceport and I didn’t recognize you and I thought that must mean that you were new to town cuz I know everypony in Mos Poni and I mean everypony in Mos Poni and so I thought that if you were new that meant you hadn’t met anyone yet and if you hadn’t met anyone yet then you must not have any friends and if you didn’t have any friends you must be lonely and that made me so sad and then I had an idea and so I went gasp only a real gasp not just saying gasp and my idea was to throw a super, super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in town!”

Halfway through the spectacular run-on sentence Twilight had stopped listening, instead turning her attention to the other guests in the room. She recognized a few smiling faces, like Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow dash. She even vaguely recognized a few other ponies from the Apple family homestead.

There was a knock on the door, and Pinkie answered. Twilight didn’t look, but heard Pinkie say “Oh, Fluttershy! So glad you could make it!”

Twilight’s forehead began to ache spontaneously.

“I’m sorry… will you excuse me for a minute?” Twilight said before hastily cantering up the closest set of stairs she could see. Luckily none of the partygoers had overflowed into the upper levels of the house and Twilight could seal the door behind herself to be alone.

Twilight slumped up against the sealed door and let out a long, ragged breath. She sat in the hall trying to wind down her strung-up emotions for a few minutes before she began to hear the muted sound of jazzy music from downstairs. Twilight felt her frustration spiking again, so she re-recited the Jedi code in her mind over and over.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.

Twilight eventually explored the upstairs enough to find her room, where she flopped down onto her bed, trying to block out the sounds of the party downstairs with a pillow wrapped tightly around her head. Try as she might, she couldn’t get her emotions under control enough to enter any sort of meaningful meditation, so she wallowed in misery until Spike came up to check on her a few hours later.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” He asked as he entered.

“No, I am not alright.” Twilight said in an altogether harsher tone than she had initially intended. “All the ponies in this town are ca-razy! Do you know what time it is?”

“Yeah… It’s the night before the festival.” Spike said; “Everyone is supposed to stay up all night to see the sunrise!”

Twilight let out another ragged breath before hiding her face under her pillow once more. Of course it was that kind of party. Twilight couldn’t get any time to herself even when she was supposed to be sleeping.

“Pinkie was just about to start some pin the tail on the ton-ton; you wanna join us?” Spike asked.

“No thank you.” Twilight said from underneath her pillow. The way she said it made it clear she did not appreciate the offer, despite her words.

Spike backed out of the room, taking a long look at Twilight before closing the door behind him. This left Twilight in darkness, save the moonlight filtering through a small horizontal window slit near the ceiling.

Between the music still emanating from below, the sour aftertaste in her mouth from her day, and the pit in her stomach that hadn’t left since she had started having her visions of Darth nightmare’s return, Twilight couldn’t get to sleep. The prophecy she had read back in the jedi temple echoed through her mind over and over; “On the longest day of the thousandth year, she will return to bring about eternal night.”

I hope I’m wrong… Twilight thought to herself as she tried to block out her worries. I hope Celestia was right to tell me not to worry… but I can’t believe it.

Chapter 3

Apparently sometime during the night Twilight had fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew Spike was shaking her awake.

“Twilight! Twilight!” He said. “Get up!”

“Ugh. Is it time for the festival already?” Twilight said groggily.

“Umm… not exactly…” Spike said. “I think you really need to see this for yourself.”

As he said it, Spike pointed out of the small window near the top of the room. Twilight ponderously stretched her legs before bracing her forelegs up against the wall in order to get a better look.

The first thing Twilight noticed was that it was still dark outside. For a second she wondered why Spike had woken her so early, but that thought soon fled once she took a look at the sky; coming up on the eastern horizon was the sun, but it was blocked by a massive, round shadow.

“Did the planet sprout a moon overnight, or what?” Spike said.

Twilight stared at the sight through squinted eyes before she realized she needed better equipment.

“Could you get my macrobinoculars, Spike?” she asked. He dutifully began rummaging through her bags. In the meantime, Twilight began observing the citizens on Mos Poni, who had begun to emerge from their homes and respective parties in order to stare at the phenomenon. From their reactions, Twilight surmised that this was not a regular occurrence.

“Here they are!” Spike said triumphantly as he pulled the macrobinoculars from the mess that was Twilight’s bags. Twilight hurriedly yoinked them out of his grip, set them to filter out some sunlight, and took a closer look at the shadow. As she did, A powerful feeling of dread overcame her, issuing forth from the black shape like putrid water from a poisoned spring.

The shape’s edges were perfectly round from what she could see, other than a small, extremely slight indentation across the equator. What little light was bouncing off of it’s surface around the edges revealed a strikingly regular pattern. Twilight rubbed the eyepieces clean, even though they already looked spotless. Then she voiced aloud her one, insane conclusion.

“That’s no moon… That’s a space station.”

Twilight felt a pit in her stomach; Like it had been drenched in battery acid. The prophecy she had read a few days earlier came, unbidden, from the depths of her mind.

On the longest day of the thousandth year, she shall return to bring about eternal night.

No… that couldn’t be right now… could it?

A few smaller black blobs emerged from the larger shadow, steadily growing larger in her vision as they approached. Soon they filled her narrow field of vision, forcing her to take off the macrobinoculars.

They were shuttles; roughly a dozen of them. They had rough, angular shapes, like they had been cut and chiselled directly from a stone quarry. Searchlights from their tips bathed the streets of mos poni in pale, harsh white tones; Several ponies who had been observing the sunrise from the street flinched from their attention. Twilight herself was forced to cover her eyes as they passed overhead. Shortly thereafter, Twilight could hear the sounds of engines running down and repulsorlifts activating to ease the bricklike pods into place on the dusty ground.

They were landing somewhere nearby.

“We need to get out of here.” Twilight said.

Spike was about to say something when Twilight grabbed him with her telekinesis and shoved him onto his customary position on her back. She didn’t bother gathering any of her things except her lightsaber; she wasn’t particularly attached to anything in that room anyway. Twilight quickly rushed down the hall and jumped practically the entire staircase on her way down to the first floor. She had planned to make a break for the front door shortly thereafter, but she was blocked by an amber-colored earth pony in a brown hat.

“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack said, recoiling just a bit from Twilight’s speedy entrance. “I suppose you know somethin’ about what’s going on here?”

Twilight hadn’t been expecting any of the party guests to still be sticking around, so she quickly surveyed the living room. Rarity was there, looking at Twilight with no small amount of concern showing on her face. Pinkie was there too, still somehow keeping her characteristic smile despite the unknown circumstances. Fluttershy was hiding in the corner, looking nervous but somehow simultaneously like she was hoping to help. It seemed like any other ponies who had attended last night’s party had vacated the premises shortly after dawn. Twilight wasn’t sure why these four ponies had stayed put, in fact.

“Look, we need to get out!” Twilight said. “I don’t know who exactly is coming, but-”

The front door hastily opened, letting in a somewhat tense Rainbow Dash.

“No good.” The blue pegasus said to the room of ponies. “They’re already on the street. If we make a break for it, they’ll catch us.”

Twilight inhaled sharply, equally at the news Rainbow Dash brought and the presence of yet another civilian pony.

“Why are you all here?” Twilight finally asked. “They could be after me! It’s not safe around here!”

Applejack looked at Twilight like she had just asked if the sun was hot.

“Well o’ course we’re here! We couldn’t let no friend of ours face this kind o’ problem alone!”

Twilight almost flinched at the mention of the word friend. They were hardly friends; in fact,they were barely acquaintances! Twilight had barely even tolerated their company the previous day, and now they were possibly risking their lives for her? To Twilight at least, it made zero sense!

A hard knock on the door interrupted Twilight’s thoughts. Rarity took a peek through the front window through the blinds and relayed what she saw.

“There’s five armored ponies at the door. They don’t look friendly; or fashionable, for that matter.”

Applejac began pushing Twilight to the back of the room, where a small, empty droid closet stood open. “You’d better hide. No tellin’ what these folks‘ll do if they find a Jedi on the premises. We’ll cover fer ya.”

Twilight was somewhat hesitant to enter the closet, partially because she was wary of stuffing herself into a cramped, dark space, partially because she wasn’t sure how far she could trust these small-town ponies, and partially because she didn’t want to put them in danger. However, the armored ponies at the front door were already knocking again, louder, and Twilight couldn’t think of a better plan on such short notice, so she complied. Applejack hit the door controls and sealed them in.

Rarity straightened her cape a bit before opening the front door.

“Yes, gentlemen; how can I help you?”

Rarity refrained from mentioning their drab, chrome-colored plasteel uniforms that were covered in hostile angles and black patches that did absolutely nothing to improve their look. She also noted the crescent emblazoned on each of their flanks in place of their cutie mark.

The chrome-helmeted mystery soldiers took an unreadable glance at each other before one of them spoke; their deep voice slightly distorted by their helmet.

“We are looking for one Jedi apprentice, Twilight Sparkle. We have been informed she was staying here.”

A faint gasp could almost be heard emanating from the closed closet at the far end of the room.

Rarity did her best to make a mildly thoughtful face. “Twilight Sparkle… no, I don’t think I recall anypony of that name around here.”

One of the chrome-plated troopers shoved his way past Rarity, entering the room. “We’ve been ordered to search the premises.” He said flatly.

Rarity bit her lip as the other four armored ponies entered the building, silently surveying the room. Fluttershy backed a little further into her corner, and Pinkie’s smile took on a more strained look. Rainbow dash hovered a few feet above the ground, looking like she was ready to start bucking heads in; Rarity silently pleaded for her to stand down. Applejack was casually leaning against the closet door where Twilight and Spike were hidden.

The Chrome-plated troopers immediately spread out, two of them remaining on the bottom floor and the other three going to explore upstairs. The troopers began to overturn tables and couches in search of their prey, carelessly spilling various pans of snacks and party implements onto the floor. Rarity could hear a similar scene unfolding upstairs.

After thoroughly trashing his side of the room, one of the troopers caught sight of Applejack and, more importantly, the door behind her. They approached stoically and planted themselves in front of the orange pony.

“Stand aside.” the chrome-plated creature said.

Applejack wavered, unsure of what to do. The three troopers from upstairs had evidently finished their search, and plodded down the stairs. Pinkie’s smile looked more strained than ever. Luckily, they were all interrupted by a shout from the other side of the room.

“Alright, fine! She said she was going for the spaceport!” Rainbow Dash said. “Wanted to get back to Canterscaunt as soon as possible! left a few minutes ago!”

Rarity raised her brow. From what little she knew of the Jedi apprentice, the story seemed remarkably plausible.

After a moment of silent contemplation, the Trooper on Rainbow’s side of the room lifted a hoof to speak on their leg-mounted communicator.

“Subject has reportedly already evacuated the premises. Recommend securing the spaceport and executing a search pattern outward from there. We’ll finish our search and join you.” Then the pony who had spoken looked to his compatriots and said “If you’re finished with your search, then let’s go.”

All of the chrome-plated ponies exited the premises, except for the one who had been searching Applejack’s side of the room; he lingered in the doorway.

“Something I don’t quite understand…” He said thoughtfully; “The Jedi was assigned a post here. Why would she abandon it?”

“Uh-” Applejack stammered a bit, looking for an answer. “She- uh.. Got a message from Master Celestia. Told her the mission was canceled.”

The chrome-plated trooper tilted his head slightly to the side, then turned to face the Moisture farmer.

“That’s impossible. We have Celestia in custody.”

Oh, horseapples.

Before he could call for his comrades, a shockwave sounded and the trooper was struck from the side by a blast of a batter-like substance that knocked him to the floor. Afterward Pinkie immediately began to plumb and reload her smoking party cannon. She wasn’t even remotely done when the Trooper’s comrades burst into the room, having heard the ruckus.

The first of the troopers inside was immediately struck across the face by Rainbow Dash’s hooves as she tackled him across the room. The other three entered and drew blasters from their shoulders.Applejack went into a full gallop towards the formation. The trooper she decided to target got one wayward shot off before she pivoted on her forehooves and slammed him across the room with a powerful kick. Meanwhile, Rarity swung several neat jabs at her own opponent from under her cape, knocking the blaster from his hoof. The third Trooper took aim at Rarity, only to have his shot foiled when a butter-colored pegasus flew between them, hiding behind a previously discarded metallic cookie sheet as a shield. Soon afterward a buck from behind sent him flying across the room, slamming into the wall near the droid closet. This trooper Stumbled to his hooves, and he took aim at the five ponies before him only for his blaster to be cut in two by a glowing emerald-green blade that had spontaneously sprouted from the closed closet door. Soon the blade retracted and the door opened, revealing a lavender-colored unicorn dressed in the robes of a Jedi knight, lightsaber at the ready. The Trooper made to flee, but was immediately smacked across the head by a flying hoof from Rainbow Dash.

Five armored ponies lay crumpled on the ground in various states ranging from unconsciousness to groaning agony. Twilight chose the pony whose blaster she had chopped in two and pulled his helmet off, revealing a dark-blue-coated Stallion who seemed to be just now recovering from Rainbow’s blow to his head.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” Twilight demanded.

The trooper remained silent, his face equal parts fear and determination. Twilight briefly thought of threatening him before categorically discarding the idea. That, however, didn’t stop Rainbow Dash from seizing him and slamming him up against the nearest wall.

“Talk, Slime!” Rainbow shouted into his face.

The pony paused a bit to breathe before speaking defiantly past Rainbow Dash’s shoulder to Twilight.

“You’re the last loose end that needs tying up, Jedi. The Nightmare will have your head.”

Twilight’s blood ran cold as she heard the title; It was now confirmed; Darth Nightmare had returned to bring about eternal night; and she had Celestia.

Then Twilight noticed the indicator light blinking on the trooper’s wrist communicator.

Twilight cursed under her breath. “The rest of them know I’m here. I need to go. Now.”

Twilight didn’t wait for a response; instead, she burst out of the building at full gallop. Spike hanging from her mane,Twilight ducked into an alley on the far side of the street. Searchlights from above were already sweeping over the area, looking for her. She took several turns through the streets, attempting a zigzag pattern that her pursuers wouldn't be able to follow. It wasn’t until almost a full minute of running had passed that she heard shouting from behind.

“Wait! Twilight! Where are you going?” It was Applejack’s voice.

Twilight skidded to a stop in a darkened alley between a few small houses. When she looked back, she saw the same five mares from her apartment running and flying after her.

“Where are you going?” Twilight demanded, aghast. “Didn’t you hear him? They’re after me, not you! It’s too dangerous for you all to come along, wherever I’m going!”

“Well that ain’t gonna fly, sugarcube.” Applejack said as she cantered to a stop in front of the padawan. “We ain’t lettin’ no friend of ours do this alone.”

There was that word again; friend.

“I’m not sure you understand.” Twilight said. “The pony who’s after me is a sith lord. Darth Nightmare. A thousand years ago, she-”

“Laid waste to Mos poni? We know.” Applejack said.

Twilight clamped her mouth shut. Oh. that had actually been more than she knew herself. She’d have to unpack the full ramifications later.

It was all Twilight could do to keep her jaw from hanging open stupidly. As it was, She looked at each of the Mares before her with the same confused expression. Pinkie was smiling, as always. Rarity had a look of serene confidence mixed with unflappable style. Applejack was keeping eye contact, as if daring Twilight to contradict her. Fluttershy was the only pony among them who even showed even a hint of hesitation, which was tempered by a look of surprisingly fierce determination.

Rainbow flashed a cocky smile and said, “Well, fearless leader, what’s the plan?”

Spike piped up from Twilight’s back. “Yeah, I was wondering that a bit myself.”

Twilight ripped her thoughts away from the ponies who had stuck themselves to her and forced herself to think.

“The records I read said something about an artifact or collection of artifacts; The Elements of- something.”

“The Elements of Harmony?” Applejack suggested.

“Yes! That’s it!” Twilight said. “Celestia used them to Banish the Nightmare the first time; maybe we could use them now.”

Applejack squinted her eyes and looked up at the brim of her hat. “Mmkay… Can’t rightly remember where those went...”

A soft voice spoke from the back.

“Umm… I know…” Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash flew up into Fluttershy’s face. “Really?” she said excitedly; “Where?”

“Uh- It’s in the old Jedi temple on the second planet.” Fluttershy said timidly.

Twilight pushed an eyebrow upward. How did Fluttershy know that?

“Great!” Pinkie shouted. “That’s just the next planet over!”

“Not great.” Rarity tempered. “Those goons have probably already taken the Spaceport, along with all the transports.”

Rainbow Dash’s muzzle sprouted a grin. “Not all of the transports.”

Chapter 5

Rainbow’s ship drifted lazily through the asteroid field, dancing neatly between floating chunks of rock like a princess on the ballroom floor. Rainbow was, however, still going a little fast for Twilight’s liking; She wanted to defeat Darth Nightmare more than anyone, but getting to Everfree II sooner was moot if they didn’t get there at all.

Nevertheless, Twilight did feel confident enough to let Rainbow and Applejack handle it for now, and knew that strangling the back of Rainbow’s seat at the sight of any close calls wasn’t really going to be helping anypony, so she eventually walked back into the cargo area to check on the others.

Twilight immediately heard Spike’s characteristic beast-like snoring, and found that he had fallen asleep in the port-side booth. Fluttershy, of course, had migrated next to him to make sure he didn’t fall over, and she might also have been humming a quiet lullaby that barely registered in Twilight’s ears. Rarity was in the back of the room among the cargo crates, fiddling with the lids of a few. Strangely, Twilight didn’t see Pinkie around.

“What’s… uh- What’s going on here?” Twilight said hesitantly as she approached Rarity.

“Oh! Hello! Pinkie and I were just poking through here to see if we could find anything useful.”

Pinkie spontaneously emerged from a sealed crate amidst an explosion of confetti and a chorus of noisemakers.

“So this is where Rainbow Dash was keeping my ammunition shipment!” the pink pony squealed.

Twilight squinted her eyes at Pinkie. “How did she…”

Rarity shrugged. “She does that sometimes.”

It wasn’t really an answer, but Twilight got the sense that nopony ever got answers from Pinkie; or not ones that made sense, at least.

“Uh… right.” Twilight said. “Have you found anything useful?”

“Eh, not particularly.” Rarity said. “We’ve found some rebreathers, just in case a few of us want to take a short trot outside. I was hoping for blasters, but I suppose Rainbow isn’t really a smuggler, is she?”

“Coulda fooled me;” Twilight said; “she’s certainly crazy enough.”

Rarity gave a polite chuckle at that last statement. Twilight began opening crates alongside Rarity, but the white unicorn was soon a bit distracted.

“I do wish you’d let me try to improve on that ensemble.” Rarity said, gesturing towards Twilight’s jedi robes.

Twilight took a deep breath before asking “What’s wrong with it?” She did her best to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

“Oh, nothing wrong with it, necessarily, but… well let’s just say that beige and brown is a rather limiting color palette.”

Twilight shook her head as she resealed a crate of exotic fruits. “Jedi aren’t concerned with how we look so much as we are concerned about getting things done.”

Rarity frowned. “Well… that’s one way to look at it, I suppose.”

Twilight scrunched up her nose. “What other way is there to look at it?” she asked.

Rarity cracked another crate open before planting her chin on her hoof. “Well… let me ask you something first. Do you often get a lot of free time, as a Padawan?”

“No, I don’t” Twilight said, almost reflexively.

“So… you master Celestia, she has a lot of important missions for you all the time?”

“Uh- no.” Twilight said. “But I’m always studying for my exams, meditating, researching…”

“But… those are all just personal projects; right?” Rarity questioned.

“I… guess so.” Twilight said. “But as a Jedi I need to be doing everything I can to help everypony.”

Rarity hesitated a moment before continuing. “... including yourself?”

Twilight squinted in confusion. “Well… no, I don’t think so. That’d be kinda selfish, right? How I feel isn’t important. Jedi are the ponies who make sure everypony else can be happy.”

“Well that just seems… rather unfair, if you’ll forgive my candidness.” Rarity said.

Twilight shrugged. “That’s just the way it is.” she said; “The Jedi continually look outward. looking inward leads to selfishness… pride… the Dark Side.”

Rarity took a long look at Twilight before saying “I suppose.”

A brief moment later, Fluttershy appeared out from behind the crates, startling Twilight a bit.

“Oh! Fluttershy! I wasn’t expecting…”

Twilight’s voice faded when she saw Fluttershy’s expression; the best word that Twilight could think of was haunted. Fluttershy was keeping an abnormal amount of eye contact, but when she wasn’t, her gaze seemed to extend out for miles into the nonexistent distance. In addition, Twilight began to notice that Fluttershy’s legs were beginning to quiver like she had been bathing in a snowdrift.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity said as she noticed the creamy yellow pegasus. “Are you alright?”

Instead of responding to her friend, Fluttershy flew up to Twilight and grabbed her shoulders. She spoke in a shuddering, yet certain whisper that chilled Twilight’s blood.

“Twilight… something is very wrong.” she said.

“Is… something wrong with Spike?” Twilight inquired. Fluttershy had been looking after him while he was napping, after all.

Fluttershy shook her head.

“No. No! Something is very wrong out there.” she reiterated, pointing towards the cargo bay door. “It’s- It’s- well don’t you feel it, too?”

Twilight almost reflexively said “no,” but just as she was about to, she began to sense what Fluttershy was talking about. Through her connection to the Force, Twilight began to sense a presence, or perhaps a group of presences; she wasn’t sure. What she was becoming more and more sure of with each passing moment was, one, it was getting closer, and two, it was angry.

Twilight bolted for the cockpit, but before she could reach it, the ship shook, causing her to stumble. Twilight practically leapt the rest of the way to the cockpit, where she found Rainbow Dash and Applejack struggling with their controls.

“What happened?” Twilight demanded.

“I dunno!” Rainbow said. “I think Something might have hit us! Controls aren’t responding!”

“I think we’re slowing down!” Applejack said as she Took a look at her side of the control panel.

Then everypony’s eyes were drawn back to the window as a large shadow passed over them. Said shadow was cast by a single, large tentacle that was wrapping itself around the nose of the ship. Soon afterward, the ship began to tilt to the side, allowing the ponies within to see what had imprisoned them.

It began with a multitude of yellow, glowing eyes, all of which were looking directly into the cockpit and filling it with baleful light. The eyes were affixed all around the circumference of a huge, gray bulbous mass that could have contained a score of ponies. Four long arms Sprouted from the tip of the creature’s head, offset by what must have been a dozen tentacles sprouting from the opposite end, one of which was currently coiled around the ship’s nose.

After a few milliseconds of staring back at the abomination, Rainbow began pounding the accelerator, simultaneously wrenching the pilot’s controls in seemingly random directions. The only apparent effect of her actions was to bob the ship back and forth within the creature’s grip. Soon afterward, the creature began extending more tentacles forward, and began entangling the ship further. A single arm from above began to worm it’s way toward the cockpit, and after a moment, it pushed towards the glass, hitting it with a resounding clash.

“No, no, no!” Came Rainbow Dash’s exasperated exclamations. “Shields are going; fast! We’re dead in the water! I got nothing in here!”

Twilight frantically searched for a solution. “Are the thrusters damaged?” she asked.

Rainbow too a quick moment to check a diagnostic screen to her right. “Uh... no, but if this ship gets squeezed much tighter they might be.”

“So if we can get it to let go, you can fly?” Twilight continued.

“Well, yeah.” Rainbow said. “But how-”

“Leave that to me.” Twilight said. “Just be ready to get out of here once it happens.”

Twilight swiftly trotted back into the cargo area, followed, to her mild surprise, by Applejack.

“What’s the plan?” Applejack asked, businesslike.

“It’ll be dangerous.” Twilight said; “But I don’t know what else we can do.”

As Twilight spoke, Fluttershy and Rarity approached, followed closely by Pinkie, who had somehow gotten herself covered in stray bits of confetti.

“Some creature has taken hold of the ship.” Twilight said for those who didn’t know. “Rarity, you said you found some rebreathers?”

“Well, yes, darling.” Rarity said.

“Good.” Twilight responded; “Then I’m going to be going out.”

“Oh, my…” Fluttershy said quietly.

“I’m going to be attacking this thing’s arms.” Twilight said. “Hopefully we can convince it to let go so we can get away.”

“I’ll go wit’ cha!” Applejack said. “Two’s better’n one, right?”

“We’ll have to get back inside before Rainbow hits the accelerator.” Twilight stipulated. “Think you can do that?”

Applejack nodded confirmation. Twilight then turned to Fluttershy.

“You should get Spike into the cockpit. Once everypony is inside, tell Rainbow to depressurize the cargo bay; Applejack and I will get this done as quickly as possible.”

Fluttershy looked like she was going to argue for the briefest of moments, then galloped over to the booth where Spike was still sleeping and scooped him up.

“Rarity, where are those rebreathers?”

Rarity quickly led Twilight back among the crates piled on either side of the exit ramp, checking a few before finally rediscovering the devices; Each one consisted of a solid, black section designed to fit over a pony’s muzzle attached to a large transparent pane that acted as a visor to protect the pony’s eyes from the vacuum of space. Twilight was also grateful for the inclusion of a short-range comm system so they could communicate with each other and the ship through the vacuum of space.

To Twilight’s mild surprise, Rarity immediately began strapping one of the masks onto her own muzzle. After a brief moment of thought, Twilight decided not to comment; She’d need all the help she could get outside.

Once Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity each had their masks on, Twilight nodded to Fluttershy in the cockpit. The cockpit door sealed itself soon afterward, and the cargo ramp gave out a hiss as air began to escape. The ramp only rotated 45 degrees, however, before grinding to a screeching halt. Through the gaps Twilight could see a massive gray tentacle wrapped around the other side of the door, keeping it closed.

Well, I guess now’s the time to see if the principle of the plan is sound;Twilight thought. She charged the door at full gallop, simultaneously drawing her lightsaber with her glowing horn. As she hit the barrier, she simultaneously slipped her saber through the gap in-between the door and the hull of the ship, giving the tentacle a nasty, meter-long scar. The ship shook, but Twilight was able to force the ramp open as the tentacle recoiled.

For a terrifying moment, Twilight began drifting away from the ship now that she was outside the effect of the ship’s artificial gravity. Luckily, Applejack was quick to reach out a hoof and pull twilight back towards the hull, enabling her to get a grip on the safety handles. After nodding a quick thanks to Applejack, Twilight pulled herself up and over the ship to inspect the situation.

Twilight perhaps hadn’t fully appreciated the size of their opponent until she saw it outside the ship, with nothing between her and it. She had very little doubt that it could swallow her whole, given the opportunity. Tentacles wider than her barrel were slowly snaking around the nose and midsection of the ship, and a few were snaking around to attempt recapture of the back end. After a second of calculation, Twilight decided to give the comms a test.

“Rarity, keep the thrusters and the boarding ramp free; make sure we’re ready to leave. Applejack, you concentrate on the wings. I’ll take the nose.”

“And hurry up, you guys!” Dash’s voice said into Twilight’s ears afterward; “Shields can’t take much more of this!”

Twilight took a bit of a risk and propelled herself forward, leaping toward a relatively stationary asteroid nearby. Mid-flight, she spun herself so her back hooves hit the rock first. Once they did, she bucked, redirecting her momentum so she landed on top of the cockpit window. Once she was there, a quick slash from her lightsaber loosened the creature’s grip. Soon afterward, though, several new appendages shot at her from multiple directions. Twilight leapt forward, in-between the assaulting bulbous arms and landing on the creature’s body, just above its eyes. Before she could reorient herself, however, an arm from above smacked Twilight across the face, sending her reeling uncontrollably into the void. After a moment of panic, Twilight reached out with the Force, pulling on a nearby rock that was about her size. As a result, the two objects drifted gradually together and finally her hooves were able to find purchase on its surface.

Twilight took a quick moment to survey the battlefield from her new viewpoint; Rarity and Applejack were proceeding as she had directed, each of them bucking at any tentacles that came too close. However the creature’s attention was soon being directed back toward them, and the number of appendages directed towards them multiplied.

“Whoa! I think this might be gettin’ a bit much!” Applejack said over comms.

Twilight’s mind moved at lightspeed. “I’ll try to distract it.” she said; “Once the ship is clear, you go in; I’ll be behind you.”

Twilight then launched herself towards the nose of the ship again. This time, however, she didn’t linger. She bounced off of the glass, propelling herself towards the writhing mass of tentacles between her and the creature. The first two tentacles that came near were hit by her lightsaber, and they recoiled away. The third was hit with her back hooves, which was more to redirect her momentum than anything else. She flung herself past the thing’s body, taking a slash at a large, yellow eye as she passed. That oughta get his attention.

Twilight could faintly hear Fluttershy’s distressed gasp over the radio as ochre fluid began to seep from the tentacled creature’s new wound. she landed on another passing asteroid as the gigantic creature convulsed in pain. Nearly all of his tentacles detached from the ship’s hull, leaving only one, massive arm around it’s center.

“That’s it!” Rainbow shouted over comms. “We’re almost free!”

Applejack bucked at the final arm, but it remained resolute in it’s grip, even as the creature’s eyes all focused on Twilight.

“Consarn it!” Applejack’s voice said. “Still won’t let go!”

“Then we’ll just have to make it.” Twilight said. “Rarity, get to the midsection and help her!” In the meantime, Twilight launched herself towards the creature again. It had learned from it’s previous encounters, however, and kept it’s appendages well out of her flight path. Twilight didn’t want the pass to be a total loss, hoverver, so as she flew by, she threw her lightsaber towards the creature’s eyes, missing one and causing the blade to sink into the gray flesh up to it’s hilt. Twilight half expected a wound that deep to kill the beast, but the only effect she seemed to have was to anger the beast further, not to mention a faint whimper from Fluttershy.

Before Twilight could land on another asteroid, another tentacle grabbed her from behind. It snagged one of her back hooves, arresting her forward momentum, then pulling her back towards the creature’s eyes. Twilight began to kick at the appendage with her other hoof, but another tentacle soon came to imprison that one as well. Soon afterward came arms that wrapped around her forehooves, leaving only her horn free.

No.. no, not now! Not when we were so close!

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight could see the final arm loosening its grip on the ship. Applejack and rarity then stared helplessly as Twilight was brought closer to the creature.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted over comms. “Hang on!”

Applejack pushed off of the ship, followed closely by Rarity. Without Twilight’s Jedi agility, they were somewhat slower and less accurate than her, but they each managed to grapple one of the appendages that had her bound. Soon afterward, The creature began to lower them beneath itself, where Twilight saw, for the first time, it’s mouth.

In-between where the thing’s tentacles sprouted was a gaping, round hole, like a fleshy funnel. Only this funnel was lined with numberless, jagged teeth. They pulsed in and out, reaching outward to claim their prize.

Twilight struggled to get herself free; Her horn glowed, wrapping the tentacles that bound her in lavender light. Applejack and Rarity simultaneously bucked at each of their handholds, But to no apparent effect. It was then that Twilight remembered her lightsaber; it was still stuck above the creature’s eyes. She called upon her horn, and then upon the Force, reaching out to touch her discarded weapon. It struggled in it’s new sheath as The creature’s arms pulled her toward the pulsating pool of teeth before her. After a few seconds fo struggle, Twilight could feel the saber come free; with another telekinetic jerk the saber came flying back to her in a round arc. Twilight struggled to hasten its journey, but just before it could hit, a jagged tooth caressed Twilight’s mane…

“STOP!”

Twilight heard the voice, but she had been far too preoccupied with reobtaining her lightsaber to pay any attention at the time. However, after another moment Twilight realized that the appendages wrapped around her had slackened their grip; they still held her in place, but she thought that maybe she could free herself now if only…

“Just, stop.” came Fluttershy’s voice again, cutting off Twilight’s thoughts. “Twilight, stop struggling.”

Twilight froze. It was then that she noticed that she was no longer being pulled towards the tentacled beast’s nightmarish maw. She was taxing her rebreather, as her lungs were still hyperventilating.

Fluttershy spoke again. “Applejack, Rarity, stop hitting her.”

Applejack shot a strange look towards the cockpit, where Fluttershy was located. “Consarn it, Fluttershy, now isn’t the time to-”

“Applejack!” Fluttershy shouted, louder than Twilight had ever heard her speak. Applejack’s eyes widened immensely and, though she couldn’t turn around to see, Twilight somehow knew that Applejack and Fluttershy were maintaining eye contact. Applejack froze, just like Twilight had a moment ago.

“Everypony, just remain calm.” Fluttershy said again. “Rainbow, I’m going outside. Cycle the airlock.”

“What?!” Rainbow said. If Fluttershy gave a response, Twilight couldn’t hear it.

Over the next eternity of silent seconds, Twilight did her best to steady her quivering limbs, just in case it might violate Fluttershy’s directive not to struggle. She failed spectacularly, but it didn’t seem like anyone noticed or cared, including the massive creature that was keeping her captive.

Fluttershy finally floated slowly into view, her face covered in a rebreather and her wings flapping uselessly in the void. Applejack managed to catch her and pull her in.

Applejack spoke up, her voice shuddering slightly before she could get it under control.

“Sugarcube… what’s going on?”

“Just… Trust me,” Fluttershy said. She kicked off the tentacle, propelling herself upward. She caught another tentacle and wrapped herself around it, eventually shimmying herself onto the creature’s body. Once there, she gently placed a hoof below one of the creature’s eyes and closed her own.

The world stayed that way for a while; a yellow pegasus resting her hoof and her brow upon the colossal creature’s skin. Twilight was slowly gaining enough control of her limbs to keep them still, if a bit stiff.

Fluttershy eventually broke the silence;

“I’m so sorry.” She said, “May I see them?”

After a moment, the creature’s maw began pulsating more vigorously. Twilight began to worry that it had decided to eat her after all until she felt the tentacles around her hooves begin to loosen and slide away. Once that last, slimy touch faded, Twilight was able to massage her forehooves to get the feeling back into them. Simultaneously she began to hyperventilate, now that she could breathe properly. Her breathing began to slow once Fluttershy’s calming presence settled in beside her.

“Fluttershy… what was that?” Twilight asked breathlessly.

Fluttershy looked Twilight over briefly before casting her gaze back to the creature.

“She was protecting her babies.” Fluttershy said.

A moment later, a small cluster of yellow-green emerged from the creature’s maw. Fluttershy soon afterward pushed off of Twilight and Applejack, simultaneously propelling herself towards the mysterious, glowing mass and pushing her friends back toward Rainbow’s ship.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted, worried the creature might eat her if she got too close; but Fluttershy arrived at the glowing mass uneventfully, save for a single tentacle appearing to steady her.

Twilight looked closer at the yellow-green mass, and briefly discerned movement within it. After another second of watching, she could make out several small, squid-like shapes swimming around in tight circles.

Eggs; the thought came into Twilight’s mind. It’s a cluster of eggs. It’s… a mother.

Fluttershy caressed one of the glowing spheres in the cluster, which was nearly as large as herself. She looked up at the massive creature above her, still holding the egg. Fluttershy spoke quietly, almost nonexistently, but Twilight could just about make out the words “They'rebeautiful” over comms.

Twilight squinted at the cluster of eggs. She supposed, perhaps, they were beautiful, from a certain point of view. She thought back to cutting out one of the creature’s eyes and bit her lip.

Twilight wanted to tell Fluttershy to hurry it up; there was no telling how long this creature would remain pacified, and they were on a quest after all, but another part of her told her that this was something that couldn’t be rushed; they way fluttershy touched the eggs made them almost sacred.

After an eternity and no time at all, A tentacle gently pushed the cluster of eggs back into the creature’s gaping maw, which enveloped and concealed the precious cargo. Another appendage wrapped around Fluttershy’s barrel, pulling her back to the ship. After another moment, it let go, letting her drift the rest of the way back to her friends.

“Let’s go.” Fluttershy whispered. “It’s about time for their nap.”

Twilight wanted to say something; an apology, perhaps, or a rebuke that Fluttershy would ever do anything so dangerous. A thousand remarks passed through Twilight's mind, but none of them were uttered. Apparently, everypony else felt the same. Fluttershy led the way back to the boarding ramp, with Applejack and Rarity following closely behind. Twilight remained a second longer, realizing Fluttershy wasn’t the one she ought to be speaking to.

I’m sorry. Twilight thought; and she projected her thoughts toward the creature in front of her through the Force. The creature responded a second later by kicking it’s tentacles and floating away, leaving behind a tiny, silvery object that Twilight soon identified as her lightsaber.

Twilight felt an odd apprehension at seeing her weapon; perhaps she should have waited a bit longer before deciding to use it in this case. Nevertheless, it was nigh irreplaceable, and Twilight knew that she may have need of it again very soon. She pulled it to herself with the Force and strapped it back to her belt under her robes. Then she pulled herself back towards the boarding ramp.

As soon as Twilight reentered the ship, the ramp closed behind her and the cabin began to repressurize from storage.

“How did you know?” Twilight asked Fluttershy while they waited.

Fluttershy’s gaze had returned to flitting back and forth nervously between Twilight and the deck.

“I didn’t.” She said simply. Twilight decided not to press further.

“Hang on!” Rainbow’s voice said from the cockpit. “We’re almost out of here!”

Chapter 6

Everfree II was a barren, unforgiving place; even more so than the deserts around Mos Poni. It’s atmosphere glowed an incandescent red when it caught the light from the nearby binary stars, and the surface, when it was visible under the perpetual roiling clouds at least, was spiderwebbed with glowing orange cracks that continually oozed lava onto the planet’s blackened surface.

Twilight decided she had never felt less welcome anywhere else in the galaxy.

“Soo… where’s this old temple supposed to be?” Rainbow asked as she steered the ship closer.

Twilight looked to Fluttershy.

“Well?”

Fluttershy fidgeted with her forehooves.

“I, um… I dunno. I read that book a long time ago… and I’m not sure if it was that specific. Can’t you just… find it from orbit?”

“Normally, maybe.” Rainbow said. “But the atmosphere is so thick I can’t see anything from up here!”

“We might just have to get beneath the cloud layer.” Twilight pondered aloud. “It’ll take longer, but we should be able to find the temple before any more Sith troops can track us here.”

Applejack eyed the planet’s roiling atmosphere warily.

“I’m not sure we should try it.” she said. “Them clouds don’t look too safe.”

Rainbow dash let out a raspberry. “Clouds? You gotta do better than that to scare me.” Then she pushed the ship into a dive

“It might be dangerous…” Twilight said, “But we have to go down to the surface sometime, right?”

Applejack didn’t have a rebuttal, so Rainbow Dash continued their descent, pushing into the center of a crimson-painted cloud, the inside of which was almost entirely opaque. Dash quickly flipped a switch to turn on the forward lights, which revealed little other than a seemingly endless maroon fog.

“Oh dear…” came Rarity’s voice.

“Mmmm…. Looks like red velvet!” Pinkie said as she smacked her lips.

After that, the cockpit became eerily silent as Rainbow concentrated on the abyss before her. After a few uneventful moments, everypony was shocked awake by Rainbow’s voice.

“Oh yeah. This is cake.”

In the next moment, a flash of lightning coursed across the window, lighting the entirety of the cloud’s interior with blood-red light.

Pinkie gasped, seemingly taking in more air than any pair of pony lungs could contain. “What have you done, Dashie?!”.

“What? What did I-” Rainbow began to say before feeling a pink hoof deliver a glancing blow across her head.

“You JINXED IT!” Pinkie shouted. “What have I told you about saying things like that?”

Rainbow scowled. “Pinkie, how many times have I told you-”

Rainbow was interrupted by a dark shape emerging suddenly from the fog. First came a huge jaw that was filled with needle-like teeth. Above those were two beady eyes surrounded by ridges of spiked scales. Then, extending out behind the head was a long, snake-like body sporting seemingly hundreds of pairs of insect-like wings that undulated in waves across its length.

Everypony screamed in unison, and Rainbow pushed her controls forward, sending the ship into a dive. In an instant, they dropped out of the cloud and into the planet’s much clearer troposphere; the downside was that as soon as they could see the barren, gray ground, they were approaching one of it’s peaks at an alarming rate.

Twilight heard a resounding grind of metal as the nightmare creature caught up with them, biting into their hull like it was a block of cheese.

“Get OFF!” Rainbow shouted. As she did, she kicked the accelerator, sending jets of flame into the creature’s jaws. A wail of pain and an increase in velocity a moment later signaled that the thing had let go, allowing Rainbow to maneuver freely again. As she pulled up, however, the ship continued to approach the ground at a rate that made Twilight all too uncomfortable.

“We’re not gonna make it!” Rainbow shouted. “I’m pulling out the landing gear! Brace for impact!”

The gray, glassy surface beneath them began to slow it’s ascent as Rainbow pulled into a glide that was roughly parallel to the planet’s gravity. Just as Twilight was beginning to think that they might pull out of their dive after all, the ship lurched beneath them as it glazed off of a stray boulder. After that Rainbow dash could only do her best to keep the ship upright as it skipped across a barren valley like a rock across a glossy black pond. After the third skip, the ship skidded across the rocky surface, finally coming to a rest up against a wall of rough shale.

In the cockpit, everypony had grabbed onto the nearest stable object; for Twilight, that meant the back of the pilot’s seat. For Pinkie, that meant Twilight’s barrel, and for Spike, that meant Pinkie’s mane. Applejack was in the copilot’s seat, holding to the edge of the control board. Fluttershy was hiding underneath Applejack, and Rarity was hanging onto the back of Applejack’s chair. Only Rainbow Dash had her eyes open, and she was still gripping the controls before her with iron hooves, breathing heavily and staring through the cockpit window at the sheer rock wall that had finally stopped them.

Twilight opened a single eye, still gritting her teeth. The lack of movement through the cockpit window encouraged her to open the other.

“Are we dead yet?” Came Fluttershy’s timid voice from below.

“Don’ think so.” Applejack answered, giving a peek of her own.

“Oh, phew!” Rarity said. “Another happy landing.”

Rainbow Dash gripped the controls tighter until Twilight thought they might snap off. When her voice came, it was low and deadly.

“What… did that STINKING WORM do to my ship!?” she said, raising her voice into a shout halfway through the sentence. Before anypony could process the sentence, she had activated the boarding ramp and flown out of the cockpit at the speed of sound. After a moment Twilight followed, who was in turn followed by everyone else.

Outside the ship, Twilight found Rainbow analysing the damage, which was extensive judging from her expression. She zipped around the exterior of her vessel, her face growing more and more distressed with every movement. Eventually, she settled down next to Twilight, her eyes staring at the gravel beneath their hooves.

“I… I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said as she sat down next to the pegasus; “Do you think we’d be able to fix it?”

Rainbow gave a Sniffle and shook her head. After that, Twilight wasn’t sure what else she could say.

After a few moments of silence, Twilight began to hear a low, rumbling sound in the distance. At first Twilight guessed that it might have been some huge creature from the planet come to eat them, but the noise was far too steady to be footfalls; it sounded more like an avalanche; except that it wasn’t coming from the cliff above them, but the valley behind.

Twilight squinted here eyes, taking a hard look into the valley; it was mostly barren, but interspersed with large boulders and dead trees. Worming it’s way between these landmarks was a large, almost anvil-shaped vehicle that was easily twice the size of Rainbow’s ship. It traveled on two separate sets of heavy-duty treads, which made the heavy gravel-crunching sounds Twilight had been hearing.

“Um. Rainbow…” Twilight said. She didn’t need to say any more to get her to turn around and look. Her gaze was soon followed by that of four other ponies as they emerged from the boarding ramp one by one.

The large metallic structure continued to approach at it’s own ponderous pace until it was roughly fifty meters from the small group of ponies, at which point the treads ground to a halt and a ramp extended out of the front, allowing a cluster of short, bipedal figures to emerge. Twilight couldn’t see their faces under their cloaks, other than each one sporting an angular pair of yellow, glowing eyes. A few of the figures sported weaponry that looked vaguely like blasters, which gave Twilight pause, but none of them moved to fire. Instead, one of the group who was unarmed stepped forward and spoke.

“ikees Huist Juwir Reve?”

Twilight understood from the tone that it must have been a question, but understood nothing else. Luckily Rarity apparently understood, as she stepped forward and said;

“Ibana, Nyeta M'tuske.”

“Mob un loo?”

Twilight approached Rarity and caught her attention.

“What are they saying?” Twilight asked.

“They want to buy the ship.” Rarity said. “Probably to scrap it.”

Twilight looked over to Rainbow, who was now nervously stirring the gravel beneath her hooves. Somehow, it didn’t seem right to sell the ship so soon after they had crashed; maybe it was better to leave Rainbow some time to mourn.

“Let me talk to them.” Rarity said, sensing Rainbow’s hesitance. “We may be able to get some help if we offer something else.”

Rarity approached the tiny figures further, speaking a string of foreign words Twilight couldn’t quite follow. The small creatures seemed to welcome her, however, and soon she was in a small ring with them around a small campfire built before their crawler. They were talking like that for some time, leaving Twilight and the others in silence for a while.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight said to Rainbow after a few minutes.

“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow said; “You said that already.”

“I know that, but… I guess this is part of why I didn’t want to get anypony else involved in the first place. This is a Jedi’s problem.”

Rainbow gave a cocky grin, only somewhat tempered by her grief.

“And how far do you think you’d have gotten without us, huh?”

Twilight gave a small excuse for a chuckle. “Not far, I’ll admit. I just wish it didn't cost you all so much.”

Applejack spoke up, laying a hoof across Twilight’s shoulders. “Now, don’t you worry yourself about that none. That’s just what friends do.”

Twilight fought the urge to squirm out of Applejack’s grasp. She still wasn’t sure if she could call herself a friend to any of these ponies, especially if she wanted to retain her standing as a Jedi. It was all too confusing to think about. Luckily, in the very next moment everypony was distracted by a cheer erupting from the creatures Rarity had been negotiating with. Rarity gave a brief bow before returning to her companions.

“So… did you get anything?” Twilight asked warily.

Rarity nodded. “I asked them about a jedi temple; they said that it’s nearby and they’d be willing to take us there..”

“For what price?” Twilight asked. She hadn’t known these creatures for long, but they didn’t seem to be the sort to do much for free.

“Oh, nothing you’ll need to worry about.” Rarity said dismissively; “I’ve already taken care of it.”

Twilight chewed her lip a bit before saying. “How much did you give them?”

“Oh, not much,” Rarity said; “Just a fifty-percent cut of one of the many mining operations I’ve invested in.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped.

“A fifty-percent cut? For how long?”

Rarity gave Twilight a deadpan look. “Oh really, Twilight, it’s not that big of a deal; it’s just one cycle, anyway.”

A cycle; one entire Canterscaunt year of profits. As a Jedi, Twilight didn’t have much use for republic credits, but even she felt keenly the gaping hole this would put in Rarity’s pocketbook.

“I- I’ll pay you back. Somehow…” Twilight said, racking her brain for if the Jedi had some sort of budget she could commission credits from.

“Oh, nonsense!” Rarity said. “It’s my money and I’ll do with it what I wish, thank you very much!”

Twilight stammered for a reply. “Yeah, but- but-”

“But nothing.” Rarity said. “We’ve come too far just to stop now. Now come on! They’re waiting for us!”

Chapter 7

The interior of the crawler was dimly lit, and stuffed with random chunks of scrap that Twilight could only guess at their respective origins. She postulated that maybe not all of them had been obtained through perfectly legal means, but Rarity had insisted that that was only a vicious stereotype.

In the end, the ride had only lasted an hour or two. Soon the deep rumbling of the engines beneath them ground to a halt, which was followed by the front hatch opening and letting in a shaft of early-morning light. Twilight’s eyes strained against the sunlight until she could make out a few tall, stone towers that were altogether too uniform to be natural like the surrounding peaks. After her eyes had more time to adjust, Twilight could see that the structure was still at least a mile away.

“Why have we stopped?” Twilight asked, mostly to herself.

Rarity was able to catch one of the hooded creatures coming down from one of the upper levels. After a bit of back and forth, Rarity turned to Twilight.

“He says that this is as far as they’re willing to go. According to them the temple is on top of an impassable plateau, and the only way in is through a system of caves with an entrance near the base.”

Another few sentences spilled from beneath the small, foreign creature’s hood.

Rarity hesitated before saying “Um, apparently they believe that the caves are cursed. That’s why they won’t get any closer.”

Twilight scrunched her muzzle. Cursed? What did that mean, exactly?

If there were further details, however, Rarity wasn’t able to get any. The small creature instead simply gestured out the door. it was time for them to part ways.

Twilight reluctantly gave a small bow before exiting the crawler, followed by the rest of the ponies and Spike. Soon afterward the ramp retracted back into the crawler, and the huge vehicle’s engines roared back to life, taking it back in the direction from whence it had come.

“Bye, friends!” Pinkie’s voice called out as the crawler retreated. One of her hooves was wagging in the air like the tail of a hyperactive puppy. Twilight had her doubts that the strangers they had met were looking back at the display.

“We’d better get going.” Twilight said after a few moments. She pointed herself towards the pony-made spires in the distance and began walking. As she did, she began to see more clearly the angular structures that held up said spires, and the gray plateau that held up said structures. Finally, Twilight was able to spot a small, black hole near the plateau’s base.

As the group approached the hole, Twilight began to feel that something wasn’t right. She began to feel cold, despite the strength of the sun at her back. From a brief look at Fluttershy, Twilight could see that something was bothering her, too. Or was she just scared of the dark?

Twilight stopped just before she crossed the threshold into the darkness before her. Her hooves wobbled slightly before she could steady herself. Twilight told herself that she had nothing to be scared about; it was just a hole, after all. The cavern before her replied with menace and foreboding; which, when accompanied with a general feeling of wrongness as it was, made for a compelling counterargument.

After a taking moment longer to steel herself, Twilight led the way into the darkness, drawing her lightsaber with her telekenisis to light the way with it’s acidic green aura. In her hoofsteps followed Rarity, who was in turn, shadowed a bit too closely by Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, dear; are you alright?” Rarity asked as the Pegasus’s body trembled against Rarity’s flank.

Fluttershy gingerly shook her head from side to side, keeping her eyes on the shadowed walls of the cave as they passed.

“Aw, come on, Fluttershy!” Rainbow said as she paraded herself into pole position. “It’s just dark!”

Fluttershy shook her head again, a dread certainty apparent in her features.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and pressed forward, out of Twilight’s sight. Twilight did her best to emulate Rainbow’s courage, but a similar certainty had gripped Twilight’s heart, and it was grasping tighter with every step she took. The most Twilight could manage at the moment was a slow, steady pace.

It didn’t help when they began to see the bodies.

It started with the occasional bone littering the ground; then pony skulls began to emerge from the darkness before them. The cave’s walls gradually became more refined and angular, and soon featured alcoves in which rested complete pony skeletons. That was wen they caught up to Rainbow Dash, who had been staring warily at one of the pony skulls like it might be about to wake and try to bite her own head off.

“We… ah, must be entering a crypt of some kind.” Twilight observed, somewhat shakily.

“Yeah.” Rainbow said. “I- uh.. Thought it might be best if I waited for you guys to catch up. I should be there, you know, for Fluttershy.”

Twilight didn't voice her doubts that this was the reason Dash had delayed going in further. She simply nodded and continued forward, letting the protective light of her saber chase back the darkness. The shadows of skeletons twitched and shifted behind their physical counterparts, writhing in anger at the intrusion of the green light.

Twilight heard a voice on the edge of her hearing. It was low, like a whisper, but extremely close, causing her to come to an abrupt halt.

“Twilight…”

“Uh, Fluttershy; did you just say something?” Twilight asked hopefully as she looked back at the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy shook her head, trying very hard to hide behind Rarity.

Twilight chewed on the interior of her muzzle a bit before resuming her former pace. After a few more moments, Twilight heard the voice again, slightly louder.

“Twilight… what have you to say for yourself?”

“Who’s there?” Twilight said into the tunnel before her, coming to a halt once more. Nothing answered.

Rarity approached Twilight cautiously, here eyes flicking back and forth between the jedi padawan and the tunnel ahead.

“Is everything alright, darling?” Rarity asked, worry in her voice.

“Uh… yes.” Twilight said. “I just thought I heard… something.”

Soon after speaking, Twilight resumed walking, perhaps a bit slower than before.

The whispering voice came again, and Twilight began to realise that it was beginning to sound familiar.

“Twilight, what have you done?” Celestia’s voice said distantly. It sounded like she was being accused. This time, Twilight only missed a step before continuing.

“What- what have I done?” Twilight said to the darkness.

An instant later Celestia’s face appeared in front of Twilight, causing her to jump backward. Celestia was not quite as Twilight remembered her; Celestia’s fur, which was normally so white it seemed to glow, was now fading into gray. Her face was gaunt, like she hadn’t eaten in decades. Her breathing was labored, but an intense red fire glowed in her eyes, which were glaring in hatred; no, disappointment, at Twilight. That, most of all, was what made Twilight freeze in horror.

“Why, Twilight? Why have you forsaken the jedi?” Celestia heaved the words forth like her throat was full of tar.

“W-w-what? No! What did I do?” Twilight stammered.

Celestia’s almost zombified face shook back and forth, the rest of her shrunken body emerging slowly from the darkness as she coughed up black globs of phlegm. Twilight backed away from the creature before her as it approached.

“A Jedi is without emotion.” The spectre said; her voice sounding like rocks sliding across each other; “A Jedi is without passion. You have abandoned neither.”

“N-no!” Twilight said. “I- I’m doing my best! I-”

The spectre of Celestia charged forward to glare angrily into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight flinched away on instinct, but maintained eye contact.

“Your best is not enough!” Celestia roared, spitting out the words much like she had the black ichor moments before. “You are tainted, and therefore no longer worthy of the Jedi order.”

Twilight trembled in place, not daring to back up any further. “No… no… I-”

A touch from behind caught Twilight off-guard, and she sprang up against the cave wall, ready to attack whatever was sneaking up on her. Instead of some hideous creature, however, she saw Rarity’s concerned face.

“Darling, are you alright?” she asked.

Twilight was hyperventilating; she looked back into the tunnel where Celestia’s form had been, but saw only darkness. Her body was still coursing with adrenaline, causing the telekinetic grip on her lightsaber to flicker. For safety’s sake, Twilight gingerly placed to glowing blade onto the ground before resting against the cave wall and closing her eyes. She tried to take in a series of slow, deep breaths, which came out more as shudders.

No, I don’t think I am alright. Twilight thought. I’m not a jedi. I don’t know how to do this.. How am I supposed to figure out what we need to do? How do I fix any of this? I can’t, that’s how. There’s no telling if these so-called Elements of Harmony even really exist, let alone if they’ll help us.

Twilight felt tears begin to swell behind her eyelids, so she clenched them tighter to dam up the flow.

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.

The code recited in her head didn’t help as much as Twilight had hoped; mostly because the whole thing felt like a gigantic lie. Twilight did have emotion, and she felt ignorant of so many things right now. Everything seemed ready to fall into chaos and when it did she and everypony with her were going to die.

Pinkie pie was suddenly there, wrapping her hooves around Twilight and gradually squeezing harder.

Twilight almost recoiled from Pinkie’s touch, as warm as it felt, it didn’t feel like she deserved it.

“Pinkie! W-what are you doing?” Twilight managed to croak out, still struggling to keep in her tears.

Another, smaller hug hit Twilight from the other side, and Twilight could feel Spike’s scales brushing up against her fur.

“I’m giving you a hug, silly.” Pinkie said, never releasing her grip.

Twilight stammered for a response. “B-but…”

“Because you look like you need it.” Pinkie said, anticipating Twilight’s question.

Twilight couldn’t keep in her tears after that. The dam broke, and she sobbed an ugly cry, simultaneously pulling Pinkie and Spike closer.

For a long time, Twilight let her understanding of the world retract, enclosing only her, Spike, and Pinkie. Over time, she sensed rather than felt another four ponies come in closer, forming a protective ring. A part of her cringed and wanted to pull away, but another part argued that this was exactly what she needed.

The time that passed in that way might have been hours or moments; Twilight could never be sure afterward. What she was aware of was her tear ducts gushing waterfalls until they ran dry, and an exhausted period afterward where Twilight thought she might faint. When she finally opened her eyes, Twilight was looking into the faces of five different mares.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight said softly, the words coming almost unbidden.

Applejack gave a genuine grin. “Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry about, sugarcube. I uh- can’t rightly say I understand what just happened here, but I think I can tell when a Mare needs a good cryin’.”

Twilight gave a short laugh, which was more to release tension than anything else.

“I must be the worst Jedi ever.” Twilight said. “We’re supposed to be the ones who keep everypony else calm.”

Applejack swished a hoof through the air dismissively. “Aw, come off of it. Nopony can be expected to be perfect all the time.”

Twilight gave a small smile before lunging forward to pull Applejack into a hug of her own. After a millisecond of initial shock, Applejack smiled back and allowed herself to be pulled in as well.

“Aww, yeah. Lemme get in on that action!” Rainbow said before ramming the group with her own ballistic hug. Soon afterward came Rarity, and then Fluttershy.

Twilight wasn’t sure why, but she felt a giggle escape her muzzle. Soon afterward Pinkie’s voice joined in, and then the rest of them erupted into a chorus of laughs that lasted for another perfect eternity. Twilight felt a few more tears somehow escape from her eyelids, which she thought must have been dry after her outburst earlier. These tears felt different, though; better; clearer, perhaps. When everypony had laughed themselves out, Twilight felt a glow in her belly, like she had just eaten a warm meal.

“Thank you, girls.” Twilight said softly. “Let’s go. Together.”

Twilight led the way deeper into the caves, this time flanked by a tight cluster of ponies that formed an impenetrable wall of defense against the darkness. The shadows of the walls no longer looked threatening as they had before, and even the skeletons of long-dead Jedi were made less threatening by the group’s newfound good mood. No more spectres leaped from the darkness to accost Twilight, or any of the others for that matter.

Chapter 8

Twilight felt a profound sense of relief when she saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel. She and the others had been walking for what felt like hours. Once they emerged onto the top of the plateau, Twilight took a long, deep breath. The air out here was hot and dry, but somehow it felt infinitely better than the stale, cramped air below. Twilight took a moment to admire the twin sunset before returning her attention to the ancient Jedi temple in the opposite direction.

“Look! We’re almost there!” She said jovially to her companions. It was true; the large stone bricks that composed the base of the temple were now within sight, and only a short walk away. Twilight picked up her pace and fell into a gallop in her eagerness to finally find what they were here for. So eager she was, in fact, that she almost didn’t see or hear the rumble of the impending meteorite until it was almost on top of her.

WHOOM!

A streak of movement flashed by, followed closely by an explosion of dust and pebbles that temporarily blinded Twilight. She squinted in the dirty mists, coughing once or twice to clear her lungs, until she could make out a vague shape rising from the crater before her.

It was roughly round, and floating in the air with the telltale hum of repulsorlift technology. Several arms dangled beneath it, sporting various sizes of metallic claws. As the dust cleared, Twilight began to make out several varying sizes of black orbs protruding from the thing’s surface, giving the appearance of insect-like eyes.

Just a moment before Twilight could positively identify the creature in front of her, it let out a blaring siren, locking it’s largest eye directly onto her face. An instant later, a blaster bolt shot from somewhere among its many arms, forcing Twilight and the others to scatter before it. As they did, the thing kept its lock on Twilight, turning to keep pace with her galloping stride. It unleashed four more blaster bolts, Twilight dodging each only by virtue of her Jedi reflexes. Before a fifth bolt was fired, the thing received a hefty buck from behind by Rainbow Dash, which crumpled it’s dark-colored chassis and sent it into a drunken death spiral before it crashed onto the ground, dormant.

“What in the hay was that?” Applejack said after a moment of silence.

“I… think it was some sort of scouting droid.” Twilight said hesitantly. “Darth Nightmare must know we’re here.”

A millisecond after she had said it, the devilish machine before them flickered with a pale blue light before projecting the holographic image of a Dark alicorn before it. Twilight froze, and the image turned slightly in order to eye her.

The image was slightly different from the one Twilight had seen in her dreams; mostly due to a single forehoof that was encased in a metallic sheath that whirred and twisted as she shifted her weight. Similarly, one of her wings was hanging from a prosthetic that reminded Twilight of the shape of a skeletal bat’s wing. The base of her horn was the same color as her coat, as expected, but soon the blackness was cut off in favor of a gleaming, razor-sharp metallic point.

“Ah! There you are.” A melodic yet terrifying voice said. “I was wondering where I might find you hiding.”

“Leave her alone, you jerk!” came Rainbow’s voice. She and the rest of the group surrounded Twilight and faced the image of their adversary, as if to protect her.

“Ah, just the ponies I wanted to talk to.” The Sith alicorn said without missing a beat. “I was hoping to have a short conversation with you all about… mutual interests.”

“We ain’t got nothin’ to say to you, Nightmare.” Applejack snapped back quickly.

“Oh ,but I have so much to say to all of you.” Nightmare said as she pouted mockingly. “So much to offer.”

“Pfft! I bet she doesn’t even have any cookies.” Pinkie pie said.

The Nightmare ignored Pinkie’s comment and continued, undeterred.

“For instance… I could offer you all the entirety of Mos pony… unharmed.”

That last word was spat out like a threat, which very quickly caught Applejack’s attention again. When the farm pony spoke, her voice was low and dangerous.

“What do you mean… unharmed?”

“Oh, it’s quite simple really.” The alicorn’s deep, melodic voice said nonchalantly. “All I require is that the Jedi Padawan is returned to me, and I’ll spare the ponies of your home town. I have no quarrel with them, after all.”

“And if we don’t?” Rarity asked, nopony, including her, really wanting to hear the answer.

“Then I will begin destroying houses, one by one, until your town is nothing but slag.”

Deafening silence fell over the group; all except for Spike, who charged toward the hologram with eyes full of fire and snout streaming black smoke.

“You no-good, evil little slug-infested-”

“SILENCE, whelp!” The image of Darth Nightmare spread her wings, and a small burst of force traveled through the air, forcing Spike onto his haunches. Twilight was immediately simultaneously terrified and impressed that the Nightmare could exert control over the Force, even at this great of a distance. After a small pause, the Nightmare continued speaking.

“In any case, it is not your decision to make, young saurian.” She then eyed the ponies behind him, giving only the slightest hint of a sadistic smile. “It is theirs whose homes are currently at risk.”

Twilight felt a chill, despite the heat of the day. Nightmare’s gaze flicked to each of the ponies faces, noting with satisfaction their horror, until the Sith’s expression changed suddenly as it fell onto one last pony.

Twilight, confused at the Sith’s confusion, followed her gaze to the face of Rainbow dash, who, rather than a look of defeat, sported an angry look of defiance.

“Rainbow…?” Twilight said softly. “It’s okay… you can-”

“No.” Rainbow said. “It’s not okay. No, Nightmare; It’s no deal.”

Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity snapped their eyes over to Rainbow.

“WHAT!?” Applejack shouted. “You can’t just... speak for all of us!”

Rainbow rounded on Applejack angrily. “Oh yeah? Well maybe I can’t; but I can tell you one thing; anyone who wants to give Twilight to this jerk is gonna have to go through me first.”

“B-” Rarity began to speak, but Rainbow’s glare shut her down.

“But what?” Rainbow said. “Are you saying I have less to lose than you? I’ve got friends in Mos poni, too, but I, for one, am not going to give in to a big bully just because she can blow stuff up!”

“Rainbow Dash! It ain’t that simple. We can’t just-”

“Then let me simplify things for you!” Rainbow interrupted. She flew closer to the remains of the droid, blocking out the Sith’s view of anypony else. She stood resolute and said; “Maybe you’re telling the truth, and maybe you’re not. As much as I hate to think it, Maybe you’ve already done what you’re threatening to do; but one thing is for sure; If you want Twilight, you can come and get her!”

Nightmare was able to give off a disapproving scowl before Rainbow smashed her back hooves into the droid’s eyes. The first buck caused the alicorn’s enraged image to flicker out, but Rainbow wasn’t done. She proceeded to fly a short distance into the air and then pound what remained of the metallic object repeatedly, reducing it into tiny, unrecognizable pieces.

Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie were perhaps even more horrified now than they had been a second before; Fluttershy was looking down at the ground with some variety of shame, and Twilight was just incredulous.

“Rainbow! You just- what did you just do?” Twilight said “Now she’s gonna-” The words caught in Twilight’s throat before she could force them out.

“And maybe we can find the Elements of Harmony and fix everything before she gets a chance.” Rainbow said. “Come on; we’ve got no time to waste.” And with that, she took off towards the temple doors at blazing speeds.

Twilight and the others lingered for a few more moments.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight said, the gesture feeling wholly inadequate for what her quest might have just cost these ponies.

Applejack took a deep breath. “S’alright, Twilight. It’s just buildings. Our families can get away and then… we’ll figure something out.”

Applejack quickly fell into a gallop, chasing Rainbow Dash into the temple, followed closely by Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity.

For the first time in her life, Twilight realized that, for the first time, she wanted one thing more than becoming a true Jedi: wanting to make sure that these ponies’ homes and families were safe. If she had known how, she might have flown back to Everfree III then and there, but they were currently stranded, and Rainbow Dash had just destroyed what was potentially their only way of contacting the Sith before she enacted her threat. Everypony’s best bet, therefore, was to find the Elements and hope that they were powerful enough to solve all of their problems.

Twilight entered the ancient Jedi Temple behind everypony else; marvelling at the vast, darkened ceilings above and the walls and pillars that stretched seemingly into infinity. After a few moments, she lit her saber, lighting up a large circle around herself, but her blade’s green aura still felt small in the sea of blackness.

“Whoa.” Pinkie said, her voice echoing between the pillars in endless reverberations. Hearing this effect, she quickly shouted into the empty halls;

“Echo! Echo!”

It almost seemed like the ghosts of long-dead Jedi were repeating Pinkies’ words to their fellows, just beyond sight.

“So… where do we find these Elements of Harmony?” Applejack asked quietly, as if she didn’t want to disturb the ghosts any more than they had already been.

Twilight gave a look to Fluttershy, who shook her head in anticipation of Twilight’s question.

“No, sorry. I don’t know.”

Twilight took another look into the darkness before saying “Well, assuming this place isn’t much bigger than it looks, we should be able to search most of it quickly if we split up to cover more ground. Sound good?”

The others nodded, Fluttershy being a bit more hesitant than the others, eventually agreeing just the same.

“We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes, then.” Twilight said. “Shout if you find anything!”

Each pony disappeared into the darkness, their locations revealed only by the beams of their respective lights, which grew dimmer as they became farther away and more obstructed. Twilight herself chose to move straight forward into the massive hall, using her lightsaber to search the surrounding area slowly and methodically.

Rainbow flicked her flashlight from stone to stone, rapidly skimming each room she found before passing into the next. She figured that any set of Artifacts as important as The Elements were supposed to be would be someplace big and important; therefore any rooms as ordinary as these couldn’t possibly contain what they were looking for. Plus, digging through rubble was time consuming-work, not to mention boring; and it would save everypony time if they just found the elements out in the open. So far, though, she wasn’t having much luck.

“Come on, how many bedrooms does one Temple even need?” She asked nopony in particular. She skipped a whole row of similar-looking doors in favor of what might at one time have been an elevator shaft; at the moment though, it was empty, and Rainbow was able to ascend through it into a large gymnasium-type room, which was open to the elements from one side. Parked off to one side was a small, curved ship that was covered in inches of dust, pointing vaguely towards the open air.

“Oooooh…” Rainbow allowed herself to exclaim. “This… might be useful.”

The blue pegasus approached the ship from behind, finding a small panel on the underside that was probably supposed to open the boarding ramp. Rainbow soon confirmed it’s function and the fact that it still worked by activating it, causing a formerly flush section of the ship’s belly to slide downward, forming a sleek path into the interior.

Rainbow couldn’t help but whistle at the smooth white walls of the ship’s insides; which were in fairly pristine condition despite the apparent age of the dusty outward hull. When she finally reached the cockpit, she gave the controls a quick tap to see if they still worked; amazingly, they flickered on, showing a few warning messages Rainbow quickly diagnosed and began to work through in her head.

“Oh, yeah. I think I could work with this.”

Twilight inspected the ornate walls of temple as she passed, seeing depictions of long ago battles and vistas of far-off planets. Lit only by her lightsaber, Twilight climbed into the uper levels of the temple on spiral staircases, looking into each room as she passed it on her way up. She recognized meditation areas, training grounds, and libraries, each strikingly similar to that of the temple back on Canterscaunt. It was odd to see something so familiar, yet so decrepit and unused; Twilight felt like she may have somehow jumped forward through time and found some sort of post-apocalypse version of her own home.

As Twilight continued her trek upward, she found that she needed her saber’s light less and less, as sunlight could be seen pouring in through a doorway at the top of the stairs. As Twilight approached, she chose to stow her saber back among her robes before continuing forward.

The well-lit room was round, and contained a set of carven stone thrones that were spread about it’s circumference. The aforementioned sunlight was pouring in through a domed skylight that comprised the entirety of the ceiling above. Most of the glass was tinted dark by ages of dust, but cracks in the structure let starburst-shaped shafts of sunlight onto the marbled floor, almost perfectly framing a peculiar pedestal, which held aloft five stone spheres at varied heights, almost like it was a map of a star system. As Twilight took a closer look, though, a label inscribed upon the base soon quashed that theory.

The Elements of Harmony; it read; and under each of the five spheres was another inscription: Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Loyalty respectively.

These are the Elements? Twilight thought to herself. They don’t seem all that… powerful-looking; and their names don’t sound much like weapons to me.

Nevertheless, Twilight could say for absolute certain that she had found what she was looking for.

“Hey! Spike! Girls! I found it!” Twilight shouted back in the direction she had come. For a few seconds the only answer was silence which Twilight had partially suspected; the odds of one of her travelling companions being within earshot decreased with every passing second; she’d just have to let them know once she could find them. What Twilight didn’t expect, however, was a deep, Melodic voice piping up a few seconds later.

“Oh, excellent work, young padawan. Well done, indeed.”

Twilight felt an instant chill down her spine as she turned her attention to the source of the voice. A shadow covered that corner of the room, but soon Twilight was able to see dim light glinting off of a metallic, pointed horn at over twice the height of Twilight’s own. Beneath that, she soon spotted another gleam of silver that curved, suggesting the rough shape of an equine head. Soon, the pitch-black figure emerged from the shade, revealing a mechanical hoof, a drooping, skeletal wing, and a pair of lightning-blue. sadistically gleaming eyes.

“N-Nightmare!” Twilight stammered. She took a step back before she was able to rexert control over herself and draw her lightsaber. It’s blad sprung to life, and Twilight pointed it directly at the Sith Empress.

Nightmare seemed momentarily taken aback by the gesture of hostility, but soon let out a long, cackling peal of laughter.

“Oh, that’s adorable.” Nightmare said, circling Twilight slowly in order to block off the door. “You think you can beat me. You’re kidding, right?”

Nightmare’s assumption was, in fact, only half true. Twilight had no illusions about her strength relative that that of a Sith alicorn, but she didn’t see that she had any other choice at the moment; Maybe she could attempt to escape, but that would only leave the Sith alone with ample opportunity to destroy the Artifacts that she and her companions had spent so so much time and effort trying to find. The best she could hope for at the moment was for the others to come looking for her; but even then, the odds didn’t look good.

“How- how did you get here?” Twilight asked, hoping that stalling for time would be a valid tactic.

“Oh, please. I was already on my way here the moment you left Mos Poni. I couldn’t leave such important relics unguarded, now, could I? But enough chat...”

Nightmare pulled a saber from her belt, both her metallic horn and the blade itself glowing a brilliant crimson.

“Stand down, little pony. We both know that you’re not stupid enough to actually try to fight me.”

Twilight gritted her teeth. She lunged forward, giving her horn the range to strike at Nightmare’s healthy wing. The dark alicorn didn’t even look, however, as her own saber intercepted the blow and instantly followed up with a swipe at Twilight’s hooves, forcing her to jump and roll sideways out of the way. As soon as Twilight was right-side up again, she was forced to retract her saber back to herself in order to parry a blow directed towards her horn. As the sabers locked, Twilight could hear a sadist’s cackle over the hiss and pop of interlocking plasma.

“Well, my my. Color me surprised. Celestia led me to believe you were intelligent.”

Nightmare's saber spun suddenly, attempting to cut under Twilight’s guard. The green saber similarly flipped to intercept while Twilight backed away from the two blades fighting of their own accord. Nightmare was quick, however, and for every step Twilight took, the Sith was able to slip her crimson blade further towards Twilight’s chest. As a last-ditch effort, Twilight locked the blades together again, this time calling upon all of her strength, both magical and through the Force, in order to push the offending blade back towards its owner. The resulting forces sent a shockwave through the air and a pain shooting through Twilight’s horn that made it feel like it was about to burst into a million tiny pieces, but the red saber stood its ground as though built into a steel-plated wall.

Nightmare shook her head in disapproval and sighed.

“Ah, well. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected much more from a youngling with no true knowledge of the force.”

In a flash, the red saber whipped backward; but boefre Twilight could take advantage of the short reprieve, The red saber flicked through the air with deadly precision, chopping Twilight’s saber cleanly in two, fizzling it’s emerald blade and rendering the tool useless. Twilight had barely processed the action when an invisible force similar in power to a starship’s thrusters slammed her body against the wall, keeping her pinned several feet above the floor.

Twilight continued to struggle against her intangible bonds, causing Nightmare to comment;

“And yet, you still struggle. Why is that, little pony? Could it be that you still have hope?”

Nightmare gave Twilight a thoughtful look before sending a glance back toward the multifaceted pedestal where the Elements stood. When her muzzle pointed back towards Twilight, a wicked grin had sprouted across her face.

“No. NO!” Came Twilight’s voice, unbidden.

Nightmare raised her good hoof briefly before pounding it back into the ground. Shortly thereafter, the spheres upon the pedestals began to rise, trembling into the air of their own accord.

Twilight accessed a reserve of strength she didn’t know she had, desperately trying to free herself, but to no avail. Another stomp from the dark alicorn and the ancient artifacts cracked, then crumbled, then compressed themselves into dust.

A scream of despair tore itself from Twilight’s throat, clawing up her esophagus like reams of ballistic sandpaper. It didn’t stop until Twilight’s lungs ran dry, and soon afterward it was resurrected as a long, drawn-out wail. Only then was she released, allowing her limp form to collapse onto the floor below.

Tears streamed from Twilight’s eyes, but she couldn’t grieve for long before the Sith’s shadow fell over her, tinted red with the glow of the saber. Twilight gritted her teeth, summoning power into her horn in one last attempt to defend herself and blinking to clear her eyes so she could aim straight. Twilight stood to brace herself for impact.

“So you really intend on opposing me to the bitter end.” Nightmare observed. “Disappointing. I had hoped you’d be more pliable.”

A thousand thoughts ran through Twilight’s mind as she began to process the hopelessness of the entire situation. The Elements were gone, and her friends…

...yeah, they were her friends. As much as she had tried to keep them at a distance, it didn’t matter now; their names and faces had forever been engraved within her heart, and now they were all going to be killed, their homes destroyed.

Twilight didn’t know what Nightmare may have intended to do with her; but Twilight knew that as long as a part of her wanted Twilight alive, she had some sort of leverage; not enough to save herself, surely, but her friends…

“I… I’ll go with you. Willingly. On one condition.”

Nightmare circled Twilight slightly, an expression of confused interest on her face.

“Oh? What condition is that, pray tell?”

Twilight took a deep breath to steady herself. Everything about the mare before her felt wrong, but she’d endure anything to know her friends were safe.

“Spare the others who are with me; leave their homes and families intact, please. Do that, and… I’ll do whatever you want.”

Nightmare seemed to think on this for a few seconds before sprouting another wicked grin.

“Very well; I agree to these terms… my new apprentice.”

Chapter 9

Applejack walked slowly through the halls of the ancient temple, inspecting rooms casually as she passed them. Eventually, she found Rarity sitting in a large room with one wall comprised entirely of a window that looked out upon the gray landscape of Everfree II. She didn’t stir from her viewing position even as Applejack entered.

“Rarity?” Appplejack said cautiously.

Rarity seemed to suddenly snap out of a trancelike state.

“Oh! Applejack! Oh, I’m sorry; I know I ought to be searching, but this view is oddly captivating.”

Applejack tilted her head to look past rarity and through the window on the far side of the room. The suns were currently setting behind a set of jagged peaks in the distance, casting a light that painted the ordinarily gray landscape in hues of orange and pink. In the shadows, mist was beginning to condense and pool in depressions and valleys, creating an effect that Applejack just knew would feel soft and cool after a long day of hard work.

“I s’pose.” Applejack said. “Ah reckon we could have a bit of time to spare anyways.”

The two mares stared at the sunset for only a few more seconds when the sound of rushed hoofsteps behind them wrenched their attention back towards the door.

In the doorway, panting heavily, was Fluttershy, Spike riding on her back, clenching her mane with a death grip.

“Fluttershy? What’s the matter?” Applejack immediately asked. It wasn’t often that Fluttershy was this… active.

“I don’t know, but something is very, very wrong.” Fluttershy said. “Have either of you seen Twilight around?”

“Nope!” Pinkie said as she appeared suddenly from behind the door frame. “And I’ve got a shudder coming up my mane that’s a doozy!”

“Calm down, girls.” Rarity said. “Wherever Twilight is, I’m sure she’s-”

Rarity was interrupted by the sound of thrusters blasting through the room, saturating the air momentarily until it began to fade.

“Look!” Applejack said, pointing a hoof toward the window, Where an angular, black-winged shuttle had come into view, flying up and away from the temple.

“That has to be one of the bad guys, right?” Pinkie said.

“But then why would they be flying away?” Rarity postulated.

Applejack’s eyes widened in realization. “Cuz… they must’ve already got what they came here for.”

Fluttershy put a hoof to her muzzle. “Oh, no… Twilight…”

Spike, meanwhile, had adopted a look of utter disbelief.

Pinkie immediately bolted back down the hall in the direction of the temple entrance.

“Pinkie’s got the right idea, everypony!” Applejack said as she followed. “We gotta find Rainbow and figure something out!”

Pinkie’s speed was like that of a landspeeder; soon taking her out of sight of the others, so Applejack led the rest of the way back to the temple entrance, where pinkie soon arrived from the other direction.

“Dashie’s not in the East wing!” Pinkie said.

“What? But where-”

Before Applejack could properly ask the question, she was interrupted by another, much closer roar of thrusters from outside. The ponies all ran out to see the source of the noise in time to see a polished, sleekly curved ship drift around the corner of the building and land, somewhat roughly, on the gravel outside. Soon afterward a boarding ramp extended from it’s belly, revealing a rainbow-maned blue pegasus at the top.

“Rainbow!” Applejack shouted. “What in the hay-”

“I found her in an old hangar in the upper floors.” Dash said quickly. “Figured she’d be our ticket off of this rock, so I made a few minor repairs.”

Pinkie spontaneously erupted next to Rainbow and gave her a squeeze. “Aww, Dashie! I knew you’d come through for us!”

Rainbow managed to pry Pikies hooves from her barrel just before surveying the group and asking; “Wait… where’s Twilight?”

Twilight stared glumly down at the ancient temple as it grew smaller and smaller in the distance. The pit in her stomach was alleviated only by her knowledge that the ponies inside were safe, for now.

Soon enough Twilight could no longer see the temple, and soon afterward the entirety of that planet’s surface was clouded over with the maroon mist of the stratosphere.

A door opened behind Twilight, so she turned her head to see who had come to her small cell. To only mild surprise, she saw that it was a pair of ponies clad within the now familiar chrome armor of Nightmare’s shock troopers.

“Come with us.” the first ordered while pushing a pair of hoofcuffs toward Twilight. “The lady Nightmare wishes you to witness something.”

Twilight hesitated slightly before donning the restraints and following the guards slowly out, taking special care not to trip over the chains that now bound her forelegs. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long walk, and soon they emerged onto the ship’s bridge.

The bridge was a room with a wide view of the ship’s current destination; a large, dark-gray sphere composed entirely of dull durasteel. Two more ponies in dark uniforms were seated directly behind the glass, managing their approach with cold precision. Darth nightmare was standing behind them, apparently just enjoying the view until Twilight had entered.

Darth Nightmare greeted Twilight with a smile that caused her massive discomfort.

“Ah, there you are, my new apprentice. I’m so glad you could join us. What do you think of my life’s work?”

Twilight squinted at the massive, moon-sized sphere before them. Seeing nothing impressive about it other than it’s size, she said;

“Seems… wasteful.”

Rather than becoming frustrated, Nightmare seemed to gain amusement from Twilight’s response as a short cackle escaped her muzzle.

“Oh, of course you’d say that.” Nightmare said. “You Jedi have always been about the understatement, haven’t you? Well… that and you have yet to see it in action.”

Twilight scrunched her muzzle. There was something vaguely foreboding about the way the dark alicon had said that last sentence, but she pressed forward anyway.

“In… action?” Twilight asked. “What’s there to see? It’s just a giant space station.”

Nightmare gave off another cackle. “Oh, my dear apprentice; my nightmare moon is so much more than that. This fully operational battle station is now the most powerful weapon in the universe; and just to show it off, I figured I could arrange a bit of a demonstration.”

Then, Nightmare spoke to one of the troopers piloting the shuttle.

“Hold here, captain, and give me a view of the planet.”

The armored creature nodded and pulled back a few controls, bringing the ship to a complete stop. Then he used maneuvering thrusters to point the cockpit so that everyone within could see the Maroon clouds of Everfree II, now a small sphere far in the distance.

“What… no…” Twilight slowly began to piece together what the station must have been targeting. “We had a deal! You said they’d be safe!”

Nightmare peeled her eyes from the window long enough to give Twilight a small glare.

“I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.”

Then, to the captain, she said; “Inform the commander that he may fire when ready.”

“No!” Twilight lunged for the dark alicorn only to be restrained by her guards. In the ensuing struggle, Twilight almost missed the moment that a massive laser blasted it’s way past the window, landing squarely in the middle of Everfree II. A millisecond later, there was a white flash and the entirety of the planet disappeared in a shower of rubble and sparks.

Twilight froze, her jaw hanging open, her mind a swirl of grief, horror, and amazement. She had been expecting a large explosion on the planet’s surface; maybe a global ecological disaster; but this was overkill. There was now nothing left of the planet Twilight’s friends had been standing on a moment ago; only a slowly expanding cluster of superheated rocks.

“Wha… why?” Was the only thing Twilight could think to say.

“Here is my new deal;” Nightmare said calmly. “You become my apprentice, do whatever I say, and I will not unleash my New Weapon upon Mos Poni.”

Twilight felt anger rising within her chest, of the kind that the Jedi of Canterscaunt had always warned her against. Mixed among it was a grief that was bringing hot tears to her eyes.

“Why?!” Twilight said again, shouting this time.

“Hmm.. it seems you’re rather emotional.” Nightmare said clinically. “Unexpected from Celestia’s prized pupil, but that will prove itself useful soon enough. For now, I think I’ll give you some time to think over my new proposal.”

Twilight ripped herself free of her guards and lunged for Nightmare’s smug grin, wanting to scrape it off with her bare hooves. The next thing she knew a hefty weight smacked into the side of her head, and her vision went dark.

Chapter 10

Twilight slowly began to regain an awareness of her surroundings over the course of a few minutes. Reality was cold, dark, and univiting, and after a few moments of it Twilight wished to go back to sleep; maybe there she might dream of something other than the terrible reality that had just occurred.

Spike, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow… all of them were gone.

For a millisecond Twilight thought she might have heard their voices shouting to her from just beyond the walls of her tiny cell, but she soon realized that the voice calling her name was older, and perhaps more familiar.

“Twilight? Twilight can you hear me? Are you all right?”

“Celestia?” Twilight said feebly. “Is that you?”

“Yes! Yes it’s me!” Celestia’s voice came again, shot through with relief. It was heavily muffled, but Twilight could hear it as well as a soft, metallic thumping past the right wall of her cell. Twilight pushed her ear up against that wall so she could discern Celestia’s speech better.

“Twilight, are you all right?” Celestia said.

Before she could answer, Twilight was overcome by a burst of tears, both of relief that her master was alive and well, and of sorrow at the reality of the current situation.

“Wait… Twilight… are those… tears?” Celestia’s voice said through the bulkhead.

Twilight leaned her back up against the wall, continuing to sob.

“Yes. Yes they are.” Twilight was eventually able to choke out.

There was a long pause where Celestia was apparently unable to think of anything else to say.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Celestia asked, concern leaking through the bulkhead. “Listen; we could still figure something out-”

“Why? Why did you ask me to make some friends?” Twilight asked, accusing her master through her own sobs.

“Oh.” came Celestia’s voice, much more muted. “Did you… did you try, at least?”

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, wringing more tears from her sockets. “No. No I didn’t; but I guess in the end it doesn’t even matter. They made friends with me, and now.. They’re all dead because of it.”

A long silence passed between the two before Twilight heard a soft “I’m sorry.”

Twilight let out a long sigh. “No, you’re not.” she said plainly.

Celestia’s voice returned shortly, bringing with it an unwavering resolve.

“You are partially right, Twilight. I’m not sorry that I asked you to make friends with these ponies, I’m only sorry that it ended so badly.”

Twilight, in a sudden burst of anger, slammed the wall, hoping in the moment that it rang in Celestia’s ears and gave her tinnitus.

“How can you say that?!” Twilight shouted. “It doesn’t even matter when they died! maybe I could have died first; or maybe I would have had to watch each of them die one by one, for some reason or another. Maybe I would just have to leave and never see any of them ever again! Why did you ask me to make friends when it was all doomed from the start?!”

One last ear fell from Twilight’s eyes, marking the moment that her eyes ran completely dry.

Another long silence followed, leading Twilight to believe that her master had retreated back, leaving them both in solitude. After a few minutes, however, Twilight heard Celestia’s voice again.

“Twilight, are you still there?”

Twilight couldn’t bring herself to speak any more.

“Twilight, please let me know that you’re listening.” Celestia eventually said.

Twilight bumped her hoof against the wall twice in a row.

“Okay, that’s good.” Celestia said. “There are many reasons I wanted you to have friends, Twilight. Foremost among them is that I love you, and I want you to be happy.”

Twilight felt a frog in her throat. What is this nonsense? Jedi aren’t supposed to feel love!

Celestia continued her speech; “Twilight, I meant what I said when I sent you to Mos poni; there is more to a Jedi’s life than looking inward. I made the same mistake, many, many years ago. It is a Jedi’s duty to help those in need, but more importantly, it is a Jedi’s duty to love those that she helps. I was hoping to show you that.”

After a moment to see if Celestia had any more to say, Twilight slumped further onto the ground.

“Well, I guess I was right the whole time; Why couldn’t you just believe me when I told you about my dreams?”

Celestia gave a muffled sigh. “Twilight… I always believed in you.”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. She placed an ear firmly against the wall so she could hear better.

“You what?”

“I’ve always known that Darth Nightmare was returning; I’ve been having visions of my own for years now.”

“W… What?” Twilight’s mind raced to fit this into her view of reality. “Then… then why didn’t you do something?”

“I did.” Celestia said. “I sent you to Mos Poni.”

“But- but why?” Twilight stammered, struggling to see the logic behind Celestia’s actions.

“I sent you to find friends, Twilight. I sent you to bolster them, and hopefully for them, in return, to bolster you. And eventually, you all would be strong enough to wield the Elements of Harmony in a way that I could not.”

“Wh-what?” Twilight said.

“Understand, Twilight; The Elements of Harmony are not fully understood by anyone, even I. They select their own wielders, and they cannot be used by those who have been deemed unworthy. Even I, with all my years of experience, could only manage it once. No one pony can wield them all indefinitely; but potentially six close friends...”

When Twilight finally understood what Celestia was saying, she drooped slightly.

“Oh. well. I guess that’s out the window now, too. The elements have been destroyed, and the only ponies who might have wielded them are all gone.”

“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia’s voice said. “There is always hope. Please, promise me now that no matter what, you won’t give that up.”

Hope? Hope for what? For a life of servitude or imprisonment to a Sith Empress? What was there left to hope for?

Despite these doubts, Twilight spoke back.

“I’ll try.”

A few moments later, the door to Twilight’s cell opened, revealing a trio of armed guards.

“We’re to bring you to the Empress.” the one in front said.

Twilight took a long, deep breath, then stood. It was best not to keep a Sith waiting.

Earlier…

Ponies rapidly piled into Rainbow’s new ship, Spike still riding Fluttershy’s back. Applejack accompanied Rainbow to the cockpit, which contained two seats and more open maintenance hatches than closed ones. Wires were splayed out everywhere; some had been twisted back together, some had been torn out entirely, and some were flinging sparks dangerously around the interior of the control panel.

“Whoa- how’d you manage to fly this thing?” Applejack asked.

“Very carefully.” Rainbow responded. “Do me a favor and crawl into that third hatch from the right.”

Applejack crouched and shunted her head into the sparking hole Rainbow had indicated.

“Okay, now what?” Applejack said.

“When I say, I want you to grab the orange wire and touch it to the purple one.”

Applejack moved a hoof towards the orange wire, but flinched when it let off a small firework display into the surrounding frame.

“Applejack!”

“Er, right.”

Applejack generally liked to work with machines while they were turned off for this exact reason, but she swallowed her fear and grabbed the wire, shoving it into its counterpart. Immediately the ship lurched upward pressing everypony into the floor, Rainbow snatched the controls and hit the accelerator.

“Whoa, whoa whoa!” Rainbow said. “You can stop now!”

It was another second before Applejack registered Rainbow’s meaning and detached the cables again. Gravity switched back to a somewhat normal rate, then reversed for a split-second while Rainbow wrestled to regain control. As she strangled the wheel in front of her, she pulled a hoof from beneath herself and pounded the controls on the co-pilot’s side, stabilizing their altitude and allowing her to point the front end of the ship in a generally upward direction again.

“Okay.; which way did they take her?” Rainbow asked.

“I dunno; I don’t even know which direction we’re facing anymore!” Applejack replied.

“Go right!” Fluttershy said as she burst into the cockpit. Rainbow promptly banked the ship, throwing everypony else into the port-side bulkheads. A few seconds later, Pinkie pie burst into the cockpit again.

“Pull up!” Pinkie shouted.

“What? Why?” Rainbow said.

“I dunno but it’s a doozy of a twitch! Pull up!”

Rainbow Dash yanked her controls and pointed the ship almost straight upward.

“Punch it!” Pinkie said. “I’m still twitching!”

“These engines can’t take much more!” Rainbow shouted.

Pinkie dove past the pilot’s seats and slammed the accelerator, which pushed Rainbow back into her seat and flattened everypony else against the back wall.

The cockpit window was momentarily obscured by dark maroon fog, but soon enough it passed, leaving only an endless expanse of stars. Yet, Pinkie still didn’t let go of the accelerator.

“Pinkie! We’re out! Pleeease! Stoooop!” Rainbow struggled to form words with the craft Applying G-forces that threatened to peel her lips from her skull.

In that instant, a massive green laser streaked past the viewport, threatening to blind anypony who looked at it for too long. Rainbow had to pull to the side to avoid hitting the briefly sustained beam. The maneuver Threw Pinkie off of the accelerator and Rainbow was finally able to reduce their speed as the ship flipped around to face the planet they had just come from.

Only there was no planet; just a massive, expanding cloud of red-hot debris.

Rainbow’s hooves were shaking, so she momentarily took them off of the controls.

“Good news, everypony! I’m not twitching anymore!” Pinke announced cheerfully.

“Well that’s good; ‘cuz I don’t think I could take another minute like that.” Applejack said.

“Hear, hear.” Spike said, still slumped against the wall.

“What was that?” Rainbow finally managed to say.

‘I don’t suppose it would have anything to do with the massive, moon-sized space station outside our port-side windows, hmm?” Rarity ventured from down the hall.

Applejack crawled over the control panel to get a good look out of the side of the cockpit window. “Might.” she said resolutely.

“That’s where they’re taking Twilight.” Fluttershy said. “I just… I just know it.”

“Then that’s where we’re going!” Rainbow announced as she renewed her grip on the controls and spun the ship around. “Hang on! And Pinkie… keep those two wires connected!”

Later…

Twilight arrived at Darth Nightmare’s personal chamber accompanied by four guards and with her hooves cuffed together. When the door opened Twilight could see the Sith Alicorn’s silhouette against a massive window that looked out upon the quickly deteriorating remains of Everfree II. Other than the window and several decorative pillars flanking the walls, the room was strikingly empty; the only control panel in the entire space was next to the door; presumably in order to close and lock it.

“Ah, it’s about time you got here.” the black alicorn said. “Guards… leave us. I do not wish to be disturbed for any reason.”

The chrome-clad troopers seemed to hesitate, but soon ducked out of the room, locking the door behind themselves.

“You will no longer need those.” Nightmare said, her horn momentarily glowing before Twilight’s restraints fell off of their own accord.

Twilight flexed her hooves experimentally before eyeing Nightmare with a suspicious glare.

“You seem quite confident that I won’t try to kill you while your back is turned.” Twilight said.

Nightmare gave off a short cackle. “On the contrary, little pony. I am quite certain that you’ll try.”

Twilight understood what the Sith was implying, and while she didn’t like it, her analysis had come to the same conclusion; Twilight hadn’t been able to beat Nightmare with her lightsaber. Without it, unprovoked attacks would do more harm than good; so Twilight stood her ground.

After a few seconds of Nightmare staring out of the window she turned to speak again.

“Really? Nothing? I’d have expected the death of your friends to cut you deeper than that. Don’t you want your revenge?”

“It’s not the Jedi way.” Twilight said resolutely. “That, and I’m unarmed.”

“Oh, is that all?” Nightmare said. She pulled a small object from her armor and threw it at Twilight’s head. Almost reflexively, Twilight grabbed it with her telekinesis and found that it was a lightsaber. When she turned it on, it’s blade glowed a deep red; the color for a sith.

Twilight looked back at Nightmare, noticing that that dark alicorn’s own lightsaber was still clipped to it’s spot on her belt. She made no move to retrieve it.

“Consider it a gift from master to apprentice.” Nightmare said with a fiendish grin.

“Thanks, but it’s not my color.” Twilight said dryly as she sheathed the blade and tossed it aside.

Nightmare gave another short cackle.

“You are most unwise to lower your DEFENSES!”

At the last word, Nightmare ripped her lightsaber from her belt, activating it and throwing it, spinning, across the room. Twilight ducked beneath it, and looked back just in time to see it returning. Twilight rolled to the side, allowing the saber to come back to its master like an obedient dog.

“What is this?” Twilight shouted.

“This is your training, apprentice.” Nightmare said coldly.

“You ‘train’ me by trying to kill me?” Twilight asked, aghast.

“I have no use for a spineless incompetent, apprentice. Defend yourself.”

Another blow arced across the room, Forcing Twilight to dive for cover.

Chapter 11

A pair of Sith troopers walked down the hallway on patrol; one, designation KE-829, was struggling to keep a yawn in check. The other, FN-825, walked down the hall stoically, showing no signs of being anything other than a pony-shaped droid.

After a few seconds, KE ventured to start a conversation.

“Hey, you seen that new BT-16?”

“What are you talking about?” FN said after a moment.

“Droids. I’m talking about Droids.” KE said.

“Why?” The second trooper intoned.

“Why? I dunno. Just trying to keep myself awake.”

“Well, maybe you should be focusing on keeping an eye out for any intruders.”

KE rolled his eyes under his helmet. “Oh, yes. We’re likely to get one any day now. Why are we down here, anyway? If anything, shouldn’t we be guarding the hangars?”

Trooper two scoffed. “Oh, come on. Anypony wanting to get aboard this station would have to be a lot more subtle than that. I mean, it’s not like they’re gonna knock-”

At that very moment, a nearby hatch let out a series of metallic sounds, almost like sompony was knocking at the door.

KE and FN stopped dead in their tracks.

“You heard that, right?” KE said.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t think that could be…”

“Nah; that’s a garbage chute; somepony probably just forgot to empty the chamber; bunch of trash bouncing around in there.”

Another series of knocks emerged from the small hatch.

FN cleared his throat. “Ah, still, it is protocol; we gotta look and make sure.”

Then he hoofed his communicator. “Uh, command, be advised we’re going to be investigating a small disturbance. Probably nothing.”

A curt acknowledgement came from the other end, prompting FN to put his attention back on the garbage hatch. After a few moments, he said;

“Well, go ahead, K. Open it.”

“Wha- me? I-it was your idea.”

“Wha- no! It was protocol’s idea. And I’m the senior officer here, so you gotta do what I say.”

“Only by a day!”

“Well, nevertheless, I’m in charge.”

KE grumbled something offensive to himself before walking over to the far side of the hall. It’s probably just junk, anyway; he thought to himself. But we’ll just see who gets promoted to first-class first.

KE’s thoughts of revenge were interrupted when he pressed the release on the hatch; it’s aperture opening to reveal the hind end of an orange earth pony. Any confusion he had at the sight was quickly quashed by a pair of sturdy hooves smashing him in the face.

As KE crumpled, FN panicked and ran further down the hall at full gallop. He didn’t get far, however, before being tackled by a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and being finished off with a concussive spray of confetti.

“Well that was easy.” Pinkie said cheerfully as she plumbed and reloaded her party cannon.

“We ain’t done yet.” Applejack said. “Won’t be long ‘till somepony notices these two are missing. Fluttershy, can you tell?”

Fluttershy was just emerging from the garbage chute when the question was posed.

“Oh, umm… not exactly. I think I feel someone a few floors above us, but-”

“That’s all we need to start.” Applejack said. “Let’s see if we can find some stairs or something.”

Twilight hid behind a dark, metallic pillar, breathing heavily. She could hear Darth Nightmare’s hoofsteps coming closer, but she couldn’t pinpoint quite where the Sith alicorn was by hearing alone. Twilight took a few deep breaths before she gained the courage to peek around the edge of the pillar. As soon as she did, she heard the familiar sound of a lightsaber slicing through metal and felt an uncomfortable heat on the back of her neck. Twilight quickly dove out from behind the pillar, just in time to avoid Nightmare’s red saber, which had stabbed through the column entirely. Nightmare herself appeared around the other side momentarily, stalking towards her prey with no apparent hurry.

“You cannot hide forever, Padawan.” Nightmare said with a sadist’s grin.

“Only until this lesson, as you call it, is over.” Twilight spat back.

“Oh, I imagine you will tire of this far more quickly than I.” Nightmare said. Soon afterward her saber dove forward like a missile, straight for Twilight’s heart. Twilight stepped to the side at the last second, but the saber soon altered its course and took a horizontal swing at her hooves. Twilight jumped over the swipe only to have the blade come back almost instantly towards her head. In an instant, Twilight conjured power into her horn and blocked the blow with a buckler-sized dome of magenta light.

As the red saber continued to press into Twilight’s forcefield, eating away simultaneously at its integrity and her will, Nightmare gave another laugh.

“Good, Twilight! Good! You have controlled your fear. Now, unleash your anger; only your hatred can stop me now.”

Desperate as she was, Twilight almost took the Sith alicorn’s advice; She was becoming increasingly frustrated with Nightmare’s attacks, and she could almost taste the power at her hooves, waiting just beyond her reach if she would just give in. She might even be able to defeat her opponent...

...But at what cost?

Twilight’s shield shattered into a thousand rapidly-dissolving pieces, sending a shooting pain through her horn. There was no time for Twilight to dodge; the red lightsaber was already centimeters from her neck; But she did have time to call upon the forcel; Twilight manisfested a burst of raw kinetic energy that flung the lightsaber back for a moment, and also threw Twilight across the room to relative safety. This however, had the unfortunate side effect of slamming her into one of the pillars across the room, sending a shooting pain down her back and soon afterward depositing her on the floor with a hefty thump.

Twilight got to her hooves while breathing through clenched teeth. her horn felt like it would have instantly evaporated any sweat that might have touched it and she was certain multiple spots along her back had started to bruise. Nevertheless, she hit Nightmare with a determined glare.

Twilight determined then that she would get out of this somehow; and she’d do it her way, not Nightmare’s.

“And your uniforms are the WORST!” Rarity shouted as another trooper fell to her hooves. Nearby, Rainbow and Applejack were in the process of finishing off another pair of lackeys by playing hoof-tennis with their bodies. Once the remaining ponies crumpled to the floor, Applejack spoke up.

“This is getting harder as we go; Fluttershy, tell me we don’t have much further to go!”

“We don’t.” Fluttershy confirmed. “I- I think. I might be sensing... two Jedi here?”

“What!?” Rainbow said. “That’s-”

Before Rainbow could say anything else, Applejack slapped a hoof to her mouth. “Which one’s closer?”

“Uh… this way.” Fluttershy said hurriedly. She led the group down the halls for a few long seconds before stopping before a small turbolift.

“This it?” Applejack asked, indicating the small, cylindrical doors. Fluttershy nodded.

“Right, then. Rainbow, you and me should go first. Everypony else, follow behind as quick as y’ can.”

It was a short wait as Applejack and Rainbow took the lift upward; the instant the doors opened, Rainbow bolted out, tackling the first chrome-clad pony she saw, which happened to be the one behind the control counter. Applejack proceeded to enter as well, bucking a nearby guard with a blow that sent him flipping onto his back. Across the room, another trooper raised a blaster at Applejack only to be bowled over by a multicolored blur.

By the time Rarity and Fluttershy arrived on the next turbolift, all five Chrome-clad ponies in the immediate area were unconscious.

“Allright, Fluttershy, where’s Twilight?” Rainbow demanded.

Fluttershy thoughtfully trotted to the back of the room, at the entrance to a hexagonal, tunnel-like hallway. Down it’s relatively short length were upwards of twenty doors on either side, lit only by an orange-red glow from the floor. As Pinkie emerged from the the turbolift with Spike, Fluttershy slowly clopped down the hall, finally stopping before a seemingly random door on her right.

“This one.” Fluttershy said, indicating the door with her hoof. “Umm… can you open it?”

Applejack took a quick glance over the control desk before finding an array of buttons for unlocking the various cells. She toggled the one she thought matched the door Fluttershy had pointed out, and then everypony crammed into the hallway to see the door open.

When the door did open, however, they didn’t see Twilight. Instead, they saw a much older, white alicorn laying on the floor of her tiny cell, apparently only just stirred awake by the commotion outside.

“Wait… who are you?” Rainbow asked incredulously.

“Rainbow!” Applejack hoofed Rainbow lightly in the side by way of rebuke.

Spike was finally able to squirm his way through the small crowd of ponies around the cell and sighted the alicorn. Once he did, his eyes widened and he said “Master Celestia!”

“Spike!” Celestia said as the two closed the short distance between them and embraced. Soon afterward, Celestia noticed the ponies behind him.

“And.. who are these ponies?” She asked curiously.

“Uh... that’s kind of a long story-” Spike began to say.

“We’re friends of Twilight’s!” Applejack said, cutting to the chase. “We’re looking for her; I guess we found you instead.”

Celestia’s eyes widened, and Applejack could almost swear she saw some sort of sparkle light them up before her expression resolved into something far more dire.

“Darth Nightmare had Twilight taken to her almost an hour ago. I don’t know exactly what she could be planning to do with her, but it can’t be good.”

“Then let’s go! Time’s a’ wasting!” Rainbow said as she dashed back toward the turbolifts. She hesitated, however, when a pair of Troopers appeared in the doorway, holding blasters aloft.

Celestia’s horn glowed briefly, surrounding the troopers in a brilliant golden aura. In an instant they were both slammed into the walls of the lift, instantly unconscious.

“Yes, we should hurry.” Celestia said. “I’ll lead the way.”

Twilight’s horn ached as she continued to weave increasingly complex spell patterns in order to confound Darth Nightmare’s attacks. She was currently conjuring strings of magenta light and tangling them across the room in a spiderweb in an attempt to slow the Sith’s advance. It was moderately effective, considering Nightmare was currently hacking through the threads like an explorer through a dense jungle. Soon enough, however, the Sith grew tired of trudging through Twilight’s tripwires and let out a blast of pure, Force-driven fury, ripping the tangle to shreds.

Twilight attempted to compensate by erecting a barrier between her and her opponent, but Nightmare simply charged and pounced through it, simultaneously swinging her saber in a vicious downward arc. Twilight was able to sidestep the saber, but was soon afterward subjected to a powerful blow from the dark alicorn’s hooves, sending her flying end over end across the floor. When Twilight finally hit the ground, she was again painfully reminded of how many bruises she was quickly accumulating.

When Twilight opened her eyes again, her gaze fell onto a small silver object; The lightsaber she had cast aside earlier. It was still waiting there, unused, but ready for her to take it. Twilight considered it briefly, then stood, shaking her head and returning her attention to Darth Nightmare, who was patiently striding towards Twilight, her own lightsaber at the ready.

“I will not fight you, Nightmare.” She said resolutely.

The dark alicorn scowled deeply. “It is useless to resist;” She said, “You will be turned, or you will die.”

Twilight’s only reply was to spread her hooves in a ready stance.

Nightmare narrowed her eyes at Twilight. Soon afterward Twilight was blasted backward once more, only this time Nightmare didn’t even move a hoof or horn to do it.

Twilight glanced off of the back wall, sending sharp pains ringing through her shoulders and spine. She had scarcely touched the ground again afterward when she felt another invisible force lift her into the air by her neck. Twilight struggled to breathe as Nightmare inspected her prey’s demeanor.

“How.. disappointing.” Nightmare said. “Perhaps you’re simply not as powerful as I suspected.”

With that thought, Nightmare Hurled Twilight’s body back towards the observation window, causing her to glance off of an interposing pillar on the way. Twilight simultaneously gasped in relief at the throat suddenly becoming unobstructed and in further pain at what she was sure was a cracked bone somewhere in her foreleg. Twilight almost immediately tried to stand, but soon found that she could no longer support her own weight.

Nightmare approached Twilight’s prone form with the same slow stride, but now a look of savage anger scarred her face. Her saber was out again, now dragging dangerously close to the dull, metallic decking.

“So, you do not wish to be my apprentice? That’s fine, then. I’ll simply do what I should have done from the beginning.”

As Darth Nightmare strode towards her victim, Twilight couldn’t even muster the energy to look her attacker in the eye. Instead, she stared blankly across the room, in-between the alicorn’s hooves, at the far door, still locked. At least I’ll die a Jedi, Twilight thought fuzzily. She could draw comfort from that fact, at least. It wasn’t until Twilight’s eyes had almost flickered shut that she noticed a faint orange glow growing from the center of the door she was staring at.

Twilight struggled to refocus her attention at the glow; which she saw now was growing at a steady rate. After another half-second, the orange, glowing patch began to let out a steady stream of smoke.

Darth Nightmare had been about to raise her saber to strike when she noticed Twilight’s confused squinting. Nightmare’s gaze followed Twilight’s for a moment, but her eyes scarcely had time to widen before the sealed doors exploded inward in spectacular fashion, flinging enough shrapnel through the air that Nightmare was forced to teleport to the middle of the room in order to dodge past it.

Whatever explosion had caused the doors to fly out of their sockets had left a thick smokescreen, which Nightmare faced with wings spread and horn at the ready. The first figure to emerge from the mist was tall and whilte-coated, with wings and a horn held in similar posture. Behind her marched Two earth ponies, Two pegasi, a unicorn, and a small purple dragon.

“Twilight!” Spike shouted in despair as soon as he saw the crumpled magenta form on the floor behind Nightmare’s hooves. Twilight was finally able to latch on to his voice and gradually focused in on his face from across the room.

“Spike?” She uttered shakily, her throat still sore from being choked earlier. “You’re…”

“Sister!” Nightmare spat, evidently meaning Master Celestia from the direction of her venomous glare.

Pinkie looked confusedly between the two alicorns. “Wait… sisters!?”

Twilight caught a hold of the sound of Pinkie’s voice and began to focus in on the ponies who were behind Celestia.

“My friends… they’re all alive...” Twilight whispered to herself. Before she knew it, tears had begun to form in her eyes.

“Luna” Celestia said, staring back at Nightmare with a mixture of sorrow and determination. “You must stop this; now.”

“Why should I?” Nightmare said. “Why should I heed anything you say, after you betrayed me?”

“Because… I forgive you, Luna.” Celestia said, almost reverently. “And I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” the Sith said incredulously. “You’re sorry for what?”

“For setting you aside!” Celestia said. “For being so focused on being the perfect Jedi that I abandoned being a good sister. Please, Luna; allow me to take you back!”

Darth Nightmare snarled before responding.

“It is far, far too late for that, big sister.”

At that moment the sound of distant footfalls could be heard down the hall; steadily gaining volume as several mobs of troopers could be heard coming from all directions.

“So be it.” Celestia said quietly. Then, to the ponies around her, she said; “Get to Twilight. I’ll hold the Troopers off.”

Celestia turned back toward the hallway and stepped back out of the room, Horn already aglow. A stray blaster bolt or two flew past her neck before she lowered her horn and erected a shimmering golden forcefield across the hall, which deflected several more incoming blaster bolts and stopped the foremost troopers in their tracks.

Nightmare scoffed. “Really? You think these little ponies are even remotely a match for me?”

Applejack stepped forward, a grim determination in her eyes. Spike followed quickly afterward, the beginnings of flames licking his mouth. Rarity marched proudly to their side, followed by Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow flying overhead.

Nightmare grinned. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

“No.” Twilight said from behind; “You’re not.”

Nightmare almost jumped at the sound of Twilight’s voice, which had altogether too much determination for her taste. When the dark alicorn looked back, Twilight had risen from her prone position, now trembling on unsteady hooves. Her form was cut and bruised, but there was suddenly a sharp energy to her eyes that caused Nightmare to shrink momentarily, despite her confidence.

Nightmare gritted her teeth in barely controlled fury.

“I’ll finish you off first.” She said in Twilight’s direction. “Then the others… and I’ll make my sister watch. Then, it’s her turn.”

Nightmare’s horn lit up a night blue, which was quickly followed by arcs of electric energy that flew towards Twilight. Twilight blocked the incoming volts with a wide forcefield, but the newfound resolve that had enabled her to stand was quickly crumbling once more under the assault. Luckily she didn’t have to maintain concentration for long, as Nightmare was shortly distracted by a powerful buck to the side from Applejack. Nightmare’s rage was let out in a primal scream as she spun to strike her attacker with a hoof. Applejack managed to duck the blow, and Before Nightmare could make another, she was again interrupted by a hypersonic smack to the back of the head by a certain Rainbow-maned pegasus. Nightmare charged her horn and let loose a blue ray of energy, sweeping it around the room in an attempt to catch the irksome flying pony, who was forced to take cover behind the pillars in the side of the room. Shortly thereafter Nightmare was blinded by a cloth that had been telekinetically wrapped over her face. It was only after she struggled with it briefly and tore it to shreds that she recognized it as the White unicorn’s Navy-blue cape.

Being able to look around once more, Nightmare found her muzzle practically shoved up the nose of a miniature cannon, which shortly thereafter proceeded to go off and spread confetti like grapeshot all over her face, blinding her once more.

When Nightmare was finally able to see again, she saw that the five ponies and the dragon who had come with her sister were all in tight formation around Twilight, forming a sort of protective circle.

Darth Nightmare scoffed. “Really? All that just to come to her aid? Well, at least now a single well-placed blast will take care of all of you at once.”

Nightmare proceeded to throw a dense, unstable mote of energy from her horn directly at Twilight. Twilight wasn’t sure where she got the strength, but she quickly erected a magenta Forcefield to block it, though the construct strained under the force of the resulting explosion.

Twilight expected to collapse after that effort of the forcefield, but remarkably, she was beginning to feel better. Maybe it was something about the way that Applejack and Fluttershy were sidled up to her, keeping her from drooping to the floor. Maybe it was Pinkie’s omnipresent, encouraging smile, or the way Rainbow looked forward at Darth Nightmare with an invincible glare.

Or Perhaps it was something about the gleam of six tiny sparks Twilight could see out the window out of the corner of her eye.

Twilight had suddenly found the strength to fight back; repurposing her forcefield into a projectile of pure kinetic energy that caused Darth Nightmare to slide backward a few paces.

“You- you cannot win!” Nightmare said as soon as she regained her footing. “I destroyed your precious Elements! You have nothing! You should be dead already!”

Once Nightmare mentioned the Elements, Twilight began to understand. Her mind began to work in a way it never had before, and truths came to her beyond the scope of logic.

“You can’t destroy the Elements.” Twilight said, gaining confidence as she went. “They’re symbols; symbols of an idea that isn’t so easy to break.”

At that Very moment, if Twilight had been able to see from Nightmare’s point of view, she might have spotted six growing sparks of light outside the observation window, giving off the illusion of Orbiting Twilight’s head like a halo. As it was, Twilight had no clue what Nightmare was seeing when she recoiled slightly and said “No… It’s not possible!”

Twilight looked to the orange earth pony on her right. “Applejack, in the short time I’ve known you you have become the pony I trust the most. You reassured me when I was in doubt and have been a firm foundation for us all to lean on. That is why you represent the Element of Honesty!”

One of the Sparks of light from behind Twilight’s head streaked forward, passing through the window and swirling to a space before Applejack’s chest. There it grew and began to kick up the air around her, slightly lifting her mane and tail.

“Twilight?” Applejack said, equal parts wonder and concern. Twilight however, paid little attention, instead turning to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, your tender heart saw what none of the rest of us could. Not only that, but you’ve been a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen. That is why you represent the Element of Kindness!”

Another streak of White light passed through the window, this time stopping before Fluttershy. She recoiled slightly, apparently unsure of what was happening and afraid to ask. Twilight couldn’t stop now, however; she had to keep her momentum going.

“Rarity! Without the gifts of your time, your livelihood, and your wardrobe I would never have been able to get this far. You represent the Element of Generosity!”

Another light swirled into view, Causing Rarity to stare in wonder. Pinkie took a deep gasp, and then proceeded to hold her hoof aloft like a school filly.

“Ooh! Ooh! Do me!” she said

Twilight could hardly hold in a chuckle before saying “Pinkie, your optimism and the joy you share was a light to me in my darkest moments. You helped to convince me to keep going, even when I was afraid. You represent the Element of Laughter!”

When the spark alighted on Pinkie’s chest, she jumped up and down like she had just been given a ten-layer cake all to herself.

Twilight looked up at Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash, you defended me even when your own life and your own town was in danger. Not only that, but your bravery carried us through the day. You represent the Element of Loyalty!”

Twilight then locked her gaze onto Darth Nightmare, who was momentarily frozen in fear. She quickly overcame it, however, and threw her lightsaber forward, directly at Twilight. By now, however, Twilight was overflowing with magical energy and casually deflected the blow with another forcefield. A swarm of swerving magic missiles came next, Which Twilight rapidly plucked from the air and dispelled. Nightmare staggered backward, dumbfounded at Twilight’s display of power.

“And Finally,” Twilight continued; “with these Elements combined, they form the sixth and Final Element, Magic!”

The final spark of light flew forth, alighting above Twilight’s head.

“No… No! NO!!” Nightmare’s voice sounded desperate now, but equally angry. A lance of destructive energy poured from her horn, threatening to plow through the close-knit group of ponies, but this time Twilight didn’t even need to erect a barrier; a shimmering, multicolored sphere of light spontaneously manifested around the group, shielding them completely.

The white sparks before each of the ponies gave off a white flash, forming into necklaces on the pony’s necks. Twilight’s spark manifested as a crown on her head, displaying a bright purple star. If the power coming from the Elements was invigorating before, it was Overwhelming now; Twilight’s eyes shone with bright white light she could hardly contain along with knowledge she would never be able to comprehend afterward. One set of words, however, always remained clear, even years later. It was the Jedi code, but slightly different; a version she may have heard once or twice as a youngling;

emotion, yet peace.

ignorance, yet knowledge.

passion, yet serenity.

chaos, yet harmony.

death, yet The Force.

Twilight merely had to glance at Darth Nightmare, and the result was an explosion of energy unlike anything she had ever summoned before. Everyone was momentarily blinded; first by light and then by smoke. Twilight felt the energy and light leave her, and she nearly collapsed from the withdrawal. An instant later, she heard the clatter of various metallic objects on the floor.

As the smoke cleared, Twilight first saw a discarded metallic horn on the floor; Then a lone steel hoof, then a skeletal, batlike wing splayed out, unattached, and finally, the greatly diminished form of a dark-blue alicorn, unconscious on the floor.

After a few moments of waiting for the Tinnitus to wear off, Twilight realised that the troopers in the hall were no longer making any noise. Some troopers were taking off their helmets and gaping openly. Some were shaking in fear. Some had already fled. Master Celestia turned to the prone alicorn on the floor and approached slowly, but steadily.

“Luna.” Celestia said. Her voice could cut like a lightsaber.

The dark-blue alicorn’s eyes flew open in an instant upon hearing her own name. Within them pulsed an almost animalistic fear, but that soon melted away to reveal confusion, pain, and guilt. The alicorn’s eyes squeezed shut again, tighter this time, sealing themselves tightly against both tears and the sight of Celestia’s face, which had morphed into a serene, yet iron expression that Twilight knew all too well from when she had been caught staying up too late studying in the library.

Luna’s attempt to keep tears from exiting her eyes was, evidently, unsuccessful, as a few tiny drops began to pour down the sides of her muzzle.

“Sister, It has been over a thousand years since I have seen you like this.” Celestia began again. She walked next to the younger Alicorn and lay down on the floor next to her in order to look her in the face. “I believe that, in all that time, I have found it in my heart to forgive you. Now, I ask, can you find it in yours to forgive me?”

Luna’s eyes clenched tighter, her entire body seemingly recoiling from the question.

“You knew that I would be healed, didn’t you?” Luna asked quietly.

“I hoped so, yes.” Celestia said. “What I took from you has been restored.”

Luna looked the larger alicorn in the eye. She kept that contact for a while, seemingly expecting Celestia to say something else.

“Why is that what you hoped?” Luna said after an eternity of waiting.

“Because you’re my sister, and I love you.” Celestia said.

Luna clamped her eyes shut again. “No. You hate me. You must.”

Celestia put forth her head and hooves, wrapping the smaller alicorn in a loving embrace.

“No.” Celestia said. “I never stopped loving you; I was simply foolish enough to put that aside for a time.”

Luna cringed again, and Twilight may have spotted a tear following from her cheek.

“You can never take me back.” she said mournfully. “Everything I’ve done…”

“It’s never too late to begin setting it right, sister.” Celestia said. “I cannot promise that the path laid out before you will be an easy one, but I can help to guide you, if you wish. I can be with you every step of the way.”

Luna gritted her teeth.

“You think a pony can change that quickly? They don’t.” she said.

Celestia hugged tighter.

“I know they don’t. It took me hundreds of years to realize my own mistakes. I’m only asking you to begin.”

Luna seemed shocked for a few agonizing moments. Twilight was almost sure she was going to draw her lightsaber and kill her sister, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Luna stood still for a few seconds before returning her sister’s hug.

“Then… I will begin.”

Twilight was nudged gently by Pinkie, who was wearing a comically oversized grin.

“You mean what this means, Twi?” she said in a barely-contained whisper.

“Uh…” Twilight’s brain had several possibilities in mind; Victory, Taking Luna to be judged of the council, maybe a tense negotiation with the Troopers in the hall in order to sort out any remaining grievances; but none of them seemed to be the sort of thing Pinkie would be excited for.

“No… what?” Twilight finally said.

“It’s time for a WELCOME TO MOS PONI PARTY!” Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs.

Chapter 12

Negotiation was surprisingly simple when you had a Jedi master ready to dispense righteous fury on one hoof, and a smiling pink pony offering cupcakes on the other. Having subdued the Ponies’ Sith leader helped too, Twilight supposed. Still, there was surprisingly little resistance given that these same ponies had been attacking her and her friends not that long ago.

Pinkie, of course, took every opportunity she could to learn each trooper’s designation and birthday, while also giving every single one of them, including Luna, a complimentary cupcake for all of their “welcome to Mos Poni” parties. When a few of them pointed out that they had not, in fact, been to the village, Pinkie winked and said “Then you all better come and make it official!”

That had all somehow merged into the festival that had already been in the works in Mos Poni and eventually turned into a massive celebration of Master Celestia and her long-lost sister. Twilight was finally able to sample the Apple family’s catering, which may have been the finest food she had ever tasted, or it may have just been a relief to be able to stop and enjoy anything at all after the long day they had had. Afterward twilight promised to try on some souvenir hats and accessories with Rarity, after which Rarity insisted on buying Twilight a sash to add a splash of purple to her robes. Later, when many of the younger ponies had gone to bed, Twilight had the joy of Hearing Fluttershy’s animal choir again; the singing may have sounded even sweeter than when Twilight had first heard it.

Afterward, Twilight began to feel a pit in her stomach. It abated a bit when Rainbow challenged her to an apple-bobbing contest, then again when Pinkie blasted by on legs fuelled by sugar and enthusiasm, but it always came back. Soon enough Twilight excused herself and evacuated back to the building where she had slept the previous night.

Twilight flopped onto a semi-comfortable chair and stared at the ceiling, wondering.

After only a minute or two, the front door hissed, signalling the entry of another pony. When Twilight ventured a look, she saw Master Celestia’s warm smile.

“What troubles you, my student?” the white alicorn asked.

Twilight sighed, using the time to collect her thoughts into something more coherent.

“I… don’t know, exactly. Well, maybe I do. It’s just…” Twilight trailed off, unsure how to breach the subject. Celestia simply took a seat of her own, remaining completely silent while Twilight worked through her thoughts.

“Well…” Twilight said slowly. “I- I’m still a Jedi, right?”

“Correct.” Master Celestia said, encouraging her forward.

“But now… I have friends.” Twilight said

Celestia nodded.

“So… what do I do now?” Twilight asked. “I mean… when this festival is over, we’re both just going back to Canterscaunt, and I might never see any of them… ever again.”

Celestia nodded again, slower.

“That is one of the paths laid before you.” Celestia said vaguely. Twilight scrunched her muzzle.

“Is there another one?” Twilight asked.

“There are many, yes.” Celestia said. “Another path is not to become a Jedi; to leave your training and allow yourself to remain close to those you love.”

Twilight felt an altogether different pit in her stomach. She wanted to keep her new friends, but quitting the order? She had been raised within the temple since she was a filly; it had been her home since before she could remember, and yet Mos Poni was quickly becoming a sort of home for her, too.

Twilight let out a frustrated breath, placing her face in her hooves.

“Ugh… it’s an impossible choice.” Twilight said. “Do I really have to give one of them up?”

Celestia gave a sad sort of smile.

“There are often choices in our lives that require us to choose between two equally important parts of ourselves.” Celestia said. “But perhaps… not this time. Not yet, anyway.”

Twilight took a peek at her master out from behind her left hoof. Her one visible eye was confused, and perhaps skeptical.

Celestia gave a larger smile.

“I was only thinking that perhaps I might prolong our stay in Mos Poni for a time;” Celestia said; “we are, after all, nearly out on the frontier; who knows what trouble these ponies could get into without us around?”

Twilight stifled a bark of laughter. “Without us?” Twilight asked; “Look at all the trouble they got into with us!”

“Exactly.” Celestia winked. “I think it's best if we; you in particular; remained nearby, so we’d be ready to assist if something really urgent happened.”

Twilight stifled a giggle, then closed her eyes, sitting back into her chair, able to relax more than she had in a very, very long time.

“Thank you, Master Celestia.” Twilight said after a few moments.

THE END

Chapter 4

Loathe as Twilight was to step aboard Rainbow’s ship again, it was now the only plausible way off-planet. According to the multicolored pilot, it was still parked out next to the Apple homestead, where, hopefully, the enemy hadn’t discovered it yet.

In such hopes Twilight had only been partially justified, but close enough. There had been a few Sith troopers guarding the beak-shaped vessel’s boarding ramp, but nothing a few silent, swift kicks to the back of the head couldn’t fix. Upon finding her vessel empty, Rainbow jumped into the cockpit and immediately started barking orders.

“You girls get everything tied down back there.” Rainbow said. “And strap yourselves down, while you’re at it.” Her front hooves were already flying over the controls at the speed of light, closing the boarding ramp and spinning up the engines.

Twilight worked as quickly as she could to secure the cargo, knowing from personal experience how rapidly Rainbow could lift this hunk of metal into the air if she wanted to. Luckily, Rainbow seemed to be going easy on them today, and the mares had just enough time to secure everything, including themselves, before the force of takeoff pressed them into their various seats. Rainbow eyed Pinkie, who had taken the co-pilot’s seat.

“Do you even know how to co-pilot?” Dash asked.

“Eh, how hard could it be?” Pinkie said, shrugging.

Dash shrugged. “Alright, then, Pinkie. Punch it!”

Pinkie went ahead and punched a hoof towards a random lever on the control panel before her. Luckily, it was more or less the one Rainbow had wished to indicate, and the ship surged forward, and upward, into the sky.

Twilight was strapped into the side booth next to the table, along with Applejack and Rarity, whose hooves were wrapped around a very contented baby dragon. Twilight’s attention, however, was focused on Fluttershy, who had improvised a harness from among the cargo straps on the other side of the hold. She had very purposely chosen a seat that was away from everyone else, and whimpered slightly with every bump of the ascent, and Twilight wondered if this was the same pony who had given her that fierce look of determination earlier in the alley.

That was far from the only strange thing Twilight had observed about the pegasus, but she couldn’t quite figure out the puzzle piece that could complete Twilight’s picture of her.

Soon the atmospheric pressure on the hull waned to zero, and the shaking of the ship ceased. A second later Rainbow dash’s face emerged from the cockpit with a cocky grin plastered on it.

“We’ll be ready to land on the second planet of the system in just a few minutes.” She said; then she recited “In the meantime, you are free to move about the cabin.”

Fluttershy relaxed her grip on the cargo straps, taking a deep breath to center herself. Twilight unstrapped herself as well, and after a moment of thought, walked towards the yellow pegasus, leaving Spike to enjoy Rarity’s fond attention.

Fluttershy was still breathing slowly and heavily with eyes closed while Twilight approached her. When Twilight was within a private speaking distance, she cleared her throat to get the pegasus’s attention.

Fluttershy’s eyes shot open and looked at Twilight. Pretty soon, though, her one visible eye began flitting back and forth between every conceivable spot in the cargo hold before pointing back to Twilight and beginning the cycle anew.

“Um… hello. Sorry.” Fluttershy said. Twilight wasn’t sure why she had apologized, but after a moment of thought she wasn’t sure Fluttershy entirely knew, either.

“Hello.” Twilight said. “I was wondering… could I talk to you for a bit?”

A sort of long, barely audible whimper issued forth from Fluttershy’s vocal chords, and the slow nodding of her head caused Twilight to believe it was meant to be an affirmative.

Twilight sat down next to Fluttershy against the wall. Fluttershy was staring at nothing in particular across the room, occasionally gaining the courage to briefly meet Twilight’s eyes.

“I was just wondering how you knew so much about the elements.” Twilight said. “You seemed to remember it rather quickly.”

“I- um… Well I… I used to um… read a lot, when I was training in Canterscaunt.” Fluttershy muttered.

Twilight’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “You lived on Canterscaunt? What were you training for?”

“I- um… I was just a youngling.” Fluttershy said. “At the Jedi temple.” she quickly added.

Twilight’s mind suddenly began putting the pieces together. “You’re a padawan too?” Twilight asked, almost excitedly.

“Umm… no.” Fluttershy said, her head lowering a bit so she could hide behind her mane a bit more.”I, um.. I failed the test.”

“er… oh.” Twilight said, more than a bit disappointed. For a moment, she copied Fluttershy’s stare at the ground. After a few seconds of silence, Twilight looked back towards the pegasus.

“What happened?” Twilight asked. “I mean, that is, if you don’t mind talking about it.” She added hastily.

Fluttershy’s head rose a bit, her gaze lingering a bit longer than usual on Twilight. When she looked back to the floor, she said “They… the Masters, I mean, they said I had too much… attachment.”

The picture in Twilight’s head was nearing completion. “Oh.” she said, unsure if she wanted to press further. It turned out that Fluttershy needed no further encouragement.

“There were other, smaller things, of course. I was scared a lot; I used to keep little creatures who snuck into my room at night and feed them crumbs from my breakfast. I wasn’t very good at lightsabers either, but… I don’t think I wanted to be.”

That last bit felt like it made Twilight’s brain do a backflip inside her skull. “You.. didn’t want to be a Jedi?” Twilight asked, bewildered.

“No.” Fluttershy said. “I mean… maybe a part of me did, at the time, but now… I don’t think it’d be worth what I’d have to lose.”

Twilight scrunched her muzzle in further confusion. She spent a few seconds tempering her response into something that she hoped wouldn’t sound incredulous.

“What would you have to lose to become a Jedi?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy was silent for a bit. For a few moments Twilight was sure that she had been too forceful with her question and scared the pegasus back into her shell. However, Fluttershy didn’t look back at the ground. Instead she planted a hoof under her chin and looked at the ceiling, as if in deep thought.

“I don’t know, exactly.” Fluttershy finally said. “Life. Things to need, or things that need me.”

“But.. everypony needs the Jedi.” Twilight said. “They’re mediators, they’re peace-keepers…”

“I know.” Fluttershy said. “Everypony needs Jedi, but if I was one of them, nopony would need me… y’know?”

Twilight scrunched her muzzle again, trying to puzzle out what exactly Fluttershy meant by that. Before she could make any meaningful progress, however, her train of thought was interrupted by a loud rumbling, accompanied by the ship underneath them briefly rocking like it had been picked up by a gigantic foal.

As soon as she regained her balance, Twilight darted towards the cockpit, getting there just before Rarity and Applejack. There they found Rainbow Dash, who was currently in the process of waking up from her nap and frantically checking her instruments, and Pinkie, who had been experimenting with the vibrato effect the shaking of the ship had on her voice.

“What was that?” Twilight demanded. A moment later, the ship shook again, followed by four sleek, vaguely crescent-shaped ships flying into view of the cockpit. Twilight’s stomach sank.

“They must have followed us!” Dash said as she seized the controls and began evasive maneuvers.

“Does this ship have any weapons?” Twilight asked Frantically.

“Don’t exactly need ‘em for deliveries!” Dash said. “Besides, I know a few maneuvers; we’ll lose ‘em. Pinkie! Do literally anything you want to that control panel!”

Pinkie limbered up her forehooves a second before slamming her face down on the controls and wiping it around like she was trying to suck the last crumbs from a cookie platter. Swathes of buttons and switches triggered back and forth in waves, causing the ship to shake and spin erratically. Dash, to her credit, did a remarkable job of keeping the ship generally on course, but after a few moments of nausea-inducing g-forces, she said “Okay, Pinkie, nevermind. Urp.. Bad idea.”

Another blast shook the hull. “Horseapples!” Dash said as she took a quick glance at her instruments. “Shields can’t take much more of this.”

Twilight spotted a vague cloud of debris some distance off to the starboard side and pointed a hoof towards it.

“Do you think we could lose them in there?” she asked. Rainbow took a look at the direction Twilight was pointing and gained a worrying gleam in her eye.

“You’re not actually thinking of flying into an asteroid field?” Rarity demanded from behind Twilight.

“They’d be crazy to follow us, wouldn’t they?” Rainbow said as she accelerated toward the vast cluster of flying rocks.

The closer they got to the asteroid field, The more Twilight could see, and the less sure she was about this strategy. chunks of stone were flying everywhere, orbiting around each other and colliding in erratic patterns she couldn’t hope to parse. Rainbow, however, was still accelerating, which was keeping a good distance between them and their pursuers, but Twilight couldn’t help but think that at these speeds, the only thing waiting in that asteroid field would be a very, very hard landing.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight said warily.

“I got it.” Rainbow said, steely-eyed. She was still pushing the ship forward. “Pinkie, when I say, flip the bottom switch on the right.”

“Flip the what?” Pinkie asked.

“I’ll do it!” Twilight said, using her telekinesis to trade spots with Pinkie. Her hoof hovered over the appropriate switch, and sweat began to develop on her brow. Flecks of debris from the outer edge of the asteroid field began to pound the cockpit like hailstones. Simultaneously, Rainbow Dash began adding seemingly random bits of sideways thrust into her maneuver, but didn’t let up on the forward propulsion. Blaster fire flashed past the cockpit from behind, signaling that the pursuing fighters were getting closer.

Twilight began to be able to make up details on some of the larger asteroids; mountains were formed and destroyed in moments thanks to the massive objects that brushed past each other. Craters from high-speed impacts formed constantly, spraying out hundreds of smaller asteroids in turn.

“N-now?” Twilight asked.

“Not ‘till I say!” Rainbow said, still pushing forward.

After another second of acceleration, Twilight could begin to conceive of the scale of the objects she saw; many of the asteroids were moon-like in scale, which meant that any one of the tiny fragments left over from an impact could easily squash their tiny ship with momentum to spare.

“Now?!” Twilight demanded.

“Shut it and wait for the signal!” Rainbow said.

“Rainbow knows what she’s doin’, Twilight.” Applejack said from behind them.

Rainbow somersaulted the ship beneath a roughly house-sized chunk of stone before continuing her forward acceleration. They were beginning to come up on one of the bigger ones.

“Are you crazy?!” Twilight shouted “There’s no way we pull up if we keep going!”

“Rainbow knows what she’s doing.” Applejack repeated. Rarity apparently didn’t share her optimism, as she soon retreated into the cargo bay to see what sort of crash-proof shielding she could find before their inevitable splatter on the side of a small moon.

“We gotta slow down!” Twilight said frantically.

“If we slow down, we’ll be shot to pieces!” Rainbow yelled as she narrowly avoided another speeder-sized boulder.

“We need to pull out, now!” Twilight said. “I’m gonna press it!” She had been about to, too, but a microsecond before she could, her shoulders were seized by Applejack, who spun her around to look her in the face.

“Don’t you dare!” Applejack said sternly. “Rainbow Dash says to wait, we wait!”

“I can’t!” Twilight shouted. “She’s gonna get us all killed!”

“No she won’t!” Applejack said sternly. “You gotta trust her; and if you can’t, then trust me! Either wait for her signal or let me into that copilot seat!”

Another precious second of acceleration passed as Applejack’s eyes bored into Twilight’s. Twilight was shaking uncontrollably, desperately wanting to break free, but Applejack’s steady gaze provided an unwavering foundation, and that alone caused her to think. Time seemed to slow down as Twilight’s thoughts reached lightspeed.

Could Twilight trust these ponies? They were just backwater folks from a small town in the outer rim. Pinkie was undeniably crazy, Rainbow was some kind of adrenaline junkie, Rarity wanted to play dress-up with her, Fluttershy could hardly get a word out without whimpering, and Applejack… had wanted to share her family with her. Applejack had also, on multiple occasions, declared Twilight a friend, despite how rude Twilight may have been during her visit. Twilight found, to her surprise, that she did trust Applejack; in fact she trusted the moisture farmer more than she did herself, at this very moment. It was illogical, she knew, but… maybe the Force didn’t always have to rely on logic.

“Take the chair.” Twilight said shakily, stepping to the side.

Applejack nodded and leaped into position, her hoof soon hovering over the switch. Rainbow dash began counting down to the supposedly correct moment.

“ten...nine...eight…”

It seemed to Twilight that Rainbow was counting down to the precise moment that their ship would impact the surface of the upcoming moon-sized object. Rainbow’s volume was rising, like she wanted to make absolutely certain that Applejack could hear her.

“Seven...six...five…four...”

Twilight hid her eyes. If they were about to hit that surface at several-hundred kilometers-per-hour, she didn’t want to see it. Rainbow finally let off the accelerator, allowing their already considerable momentum to do the rest of the work.

“Three.. Two… NOW!”

Applejack flipped the switch, which, coupled with a jerk on the controls from Rainbow’s side, spontaneously spun the ship nearly one-hundred-eighty degrees, which afforded a good look at their pursuers. Rainbow was too busy strangling the controls to notice, however, as she throttled the accelerator and pulled sideways with two hooves. Near simultaneously, she brought a third hoof up from under her chair and bucked a control to her side. Twilight’s expression quickly turned from fear to horror as she recognized the control; it was for extending the boarding ramp.

“Hold on!” Dash shouted back into the cargo bay. A moment later a cacophonous noise flooded the ship as air began escaping through the back hatch. As the escaping gasses exited the ship, they acted like an extra thruster, giving Rainbow Dash just enough momentum to pull into a rapid skim across the asteroid’s desolate surface. Just before Rainbow closed the back door again, Twilight could see the shapes of several fighters struggling to make the same maneuver. The luckiest of them escaped with a nasty scrape on one flank that caused them to wobble and spin uncontrollably; The other three made spectacular craters.

As the cabin repressurized, Twilight took a deep breath. “Everypony okay back there?” she eventually asked.

Fluttershy nodded from her position, still clinging shakily to the cargo straps.

“I’m good, too. Thanks for asking.” Spike added sarcastically from the spot next to her. Confirmations from Rarity and Pinkie soon followed.

Satisfied by what she heard, Twilight put her back against the doorframe and allowed herself to slide down its side until she was sitting down on the metallic deck.

“You’re crazy; you know that, right?” Twilight said breathlessly in Rainbow Dash’s general direction.

Rainbow gave Twilight a quick smirk before bringing her attention back to the asteroids.

“Crazy awesome, maybe.” Dash said.