Star Wars: The Old Republic- Conflicting Elements

Chapters

Fireworks
Dreamcatcher
Reception
Tolerance
Emotional Impact
Negotiations
Venomous
Magic and Force
The Treaty of Canterlot

Fireworks

Voss, six days ago

The grenade exploded, nearly knocking Sargent Brazon Exter off his feet. "Man down! Someone get me a medic!" Republic Commander Carvin shouted over the comms channel. "Someone tag that sniper!" He shouted again. Exter hunkered down behind a fallen log. He'd seen the sniper behind a tree in the distance. His entire squad was pinned on the side of the road with Imperial snipers firing at them from the treeline overlooking them. His squadmates exchanged fire with shadowy figures just out of reach, behind a boulder the Voss VIP they'd been sent to escort was propped up, orange blood pooling in the corner of his mouth. "Where is that damn Jedi?!" The Commander shouted again.

Exter knew where that sniper was but he couldn't hit him without exposing himself. Another explosion scattered dust into the air. He didn't breath, he rolled, bringing his rifle to bear and aiming out of cover right to where he'd seen the sniper. He pulled the trigger quickly and then continued to roll behind another log that was nearby. A bolt grazed the edge of the log just as he passed it. He flattened himself into the ground, trying to become almost one with the dirt. "Sniper's down!" one his squadmates shouted into the comms. Two other troopers tossed their own grenades into the trees, turning several of them and the soldiers behind them into a wall of flames. "I don't see any other movement. How's the VIP?" Commander Carvin asked. "He's hurt real bad. I'm not familiar with Voss anatomy, I don't know if he's even concious." the medic said, holding the VIP's head. "This is Republic Squad Donair 1138 to Voss HQ we require a medevac our current position is..." The Commander began calling into his holocomm. Just then an Imperial shocktrooper, who had somehow survived the explosion crawled his way over to the squad's position, got up, holding a primed thermal detonator.

Before the squad could react, a flash of coherent heat and light decapitated the trooper, his helmeted head spinnning through the air before colliding with a rock. The thermal detonator flew in the opposite direction and expoloded, showering the area with smoke. The headless body collapsed slowly on the ground as the form of a Jedi holding a saberstaff appeared almost from thin air. The troopers didn't lower their rifles but the commander did. Exter watched the display, still in shock. "What kept you?" Carvin asked the new arrival. "I apologize for the delay. How is the initiate?" the Jedi asks calmly despite the bloody display that had just occured. "He'll be dead if we don't get him some medical attention soon." Carvin says matter-of-factly. "I'm not trained in Voss anatomy, all I can do is spread some kolto on his wounds. He doesn't speak Basic but he's muttering something." the medic says as the Jedi walks over. The Voss's mouth was moving but Brazon wasn't close enough to hear anything. He kept his rifle ready.

The Jedi knelt down to him, placing a hand on his chest. "Don't wake me up." the Jedi says. "That's what he's saying?" Commander Carvin asks. "Yes, he's repeating it over and over." "What does it mean?" "I do not know. Regardless, we must secure him medical transport at once." Just as the Jedi had announced that, Sargent Brazon spied a dropship in the distance. He let out a sigh of relief that must've been heard by everyone in his squad over the comms channel. "Shuttle in bound!" He said. As the figure came close, he could make out that it was two shuttles. And they weren't Republic. His heart immediately sank. "Wait, Imp dropships inbound!"
he called to his squad. He turned to the rest of his squad who were already getting back into cover. The Jedi was no where to be seen.

The two dropships settled down just outside rifle range. Shocktroops poured out of the sides of them and took up position throughout the treeline. A Sith walked between two of the shuttles and clasped his hands behind his back. "Republic Squad Donair 1138, we've recieved your distress transmission and are here to render assistance. Please deliver the Voss initiate, step out into the field and prepare to die." The Sith announced in a plain tone. Brazon gripped his rifle but for some reason he didn't think he'd be needing it. He was right.

Outskirts of Ponyville, same time

Explosions were seen high in the sky above Ponyville. The night sky lit up and the smell of smoke filled the air. Every building was bathed in bright light in an instant before the blast faded. "Wow, there goes another one!" Pinkie Pie said, watching the fireworks. "How do they get them to change color like that?" she asked. "Hmm, I don't know if it's magic or something they put in the rockets Pinkie." Twilight says, pondering the fireworks. "All I know is it makes it hard to fly for a few hours after they do this." Rainbow Dash remarks, her hooves folded as she floated just off the ground. "I don't see what the big deal is about. I can light up the daytime sky. And who do you think's gonna have to clean up all that mess off the clouds?"

"Nopony lights up the sky like you Rainbow Dash but for now, let's let them have fun with their display?" Rarity said, calming her friend. As the next rocket exploded, Rainbow slowly allowed herself to enjoy the colorful bursts of light. "I tell ya, events like this sure bring out the customers. Guess all these lights and smoke makes ponies hungry." Applejack said trotting over, having just closed her sales stall. "We're not just setting off a bunch of fireworks AJ. This is Founder's Day, the day the original Equestrian settlements were founded." Twilight explained.

"Isn't that Hearth's Warming Eve?" Applejack asked. "Hearth's Warming Eve celebrates the day the three tribes made peace but Founder's day celebrates the day the Ponyville, Cloudsdale and Canterlot were founded themselves." "But wait, the tribes were practically at war durin that time! Who'd want to celebrate then?" Applejack asked, skeptical. "There's always some kind of conflict going on in somepony's life at the time. Sometimes you have to ignore those things and just celebrate. They moved the date of the holiday shortly after to coincide with some renovations that were made on Ponyville." Twilight said as she watched the fireworks. "I guess that makes sense. I bet they found out those fireworks work better when it ain't snowing too." Applejack said, lying down in the grass.

Twilight heard some leaves rustling and turned to see Fluttershy watching the fireworks cautiously from behind a bush. "What are you doing Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "Oh, I was making sure all the forest creatures weren't scared by the noise and lights. You don't think we could ask them to turn them down do you?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "They don't work like that Fluttershy." Twilight said with a smile. Twilight followed Fluttershy behind the bush as another explosion startled her. "It's all right Fluttershy, we're not in danger here." "Oh, I know, there's just plenty to see over here is all." Fluttershy said, leaning into the bush and looking up at the stars. "You think creatures on other planets can see our fireworks?" Fluttershy asked Twilight. "I don't think so. Other planets are so far away and even with my best telescope, I haven't seen any fireworks in their skies." Twilight said, joining Fluttershy in stargazing. "What do you think other planets are like Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "I don't know Fluttershy. I've never been to any."
"Do you think they have holidays and parties like we do?" "Well, if there are Star Ponies out there somewhere I'm sure they do." Twilight answered her friend. They both leaned back into the shrubbery and watched the sky as the sound of the fireworks finale filled the background.

Dreamcatcher

Voss, present day

"You're both aware why you've been called here?" The Voss councilor's terse voice echoed off the walls as they walked through the capital building. "No ma'am." was Sargent Brazon Exter's only reply. The Jedi from the incident six days prior walked next to him. He was a Miraluka, a naturally blind species that sees through the Force. He kept his head down and nodded silently. "This is a matter of grave importantance to all Voss. We understand your squadron gave their lives to defend the initiate. We are most grateful." The councilor said in the stoic voice and character typical of his species. His entire squadron had been killed in that ambush, that much he knew. If the Jedi hadn't hijacked a dropship and rammed the other one into submission, he'd never have gotten out of it alive. Much less with the Voss initiate strapped to his back. "We have invited you both here as representatives of the Republic because of the events six rotations ago." the Voss continued.

"The Mystics see, The Three decide." the Voss said, repeating the mantra that governed their entire society. Voss Mystics recieved visions through the Force that were then interpreted by The Three, the rulers of their society. "The Visions that Mystics see are absolute, dreams of a future yet to come that shape and guide the Voss." he continued. The visions that Mystics saw were very similar to the ones percieved by Jedi. To live one's entire life based on what they saw in their dreams was viewed as controversial by the Jedi and it made them wary to accept Voss into their ranks.

"The vision that the initiate saw that day was not of Voss." the councilor let the statement sink in. They walked for a few silent moments.

"It was not the future of any world seen in the Outer Rim. Perhaps not even this galaxy. We are not clear yet if what he saw was even the future." The Jedi looked up intently but still said nothing. Brazon was getting uncomfortable. He wasn't familiar with Voss culture, right now it was difficult to pretend to care. This had been just another assignment and as it had gone horribly wrong, he wanted to down Ruby Bliels until he forgot about it. He'd seen friends come and go before, that was nothing new. There was nothing left to really fight for, no real family or friends waiting for him back home on Telos. He liked having something to do though and the freedom to do that, which if nothing else the Republic promised. He figured he'd continue serving until he found a nice spot to crash, then jump ship at the first opportunity.

"He has since had several visions of what can only be seen as another world. We wish to keep this incident contained for now until we are better able to interpret the reason for these visions. As Jedi have experience in events such as these, we have invited both of you here to aid us." "I'm sorry but exactly what does this have to do with me?" Brazon stopped and asked. "You were present during the event, you should witness this. We may require you to fully understand the vision." Brazon didn't try to argue or understand. He simply continued walking.

The Voss lead them both to a chamber and opened the door. Beyond it were two Voss and the initiate from the event, looking no worse for having had shrapnel dug out of him only a few days ago. Across the chamber, another set of doors opened and Brazon instinctively pressed his frame to the door and drew his sidearm as he saw two individuals, one of them clearly Sith enter from the opposite side. He turned back to the Voss councilor and the Jedi was gone again. The Voss simply regarded him with a stoic expression.

"We understand your confusion but they were present at the event as well. We require both your parties to fully understand these visions. We will not accept any violence." The male Voss councilor explained to the Sith. Lord Lahk, hoping soon to be Darth Lahk, was rapidly losing his patience. Here in the room beyond him was the target he'd been sent to capture and directly across from him was a Republic soldier. A tingly coolness in the Force told him there was a Jedi nearby as well. The Imperial Intelligence operative that was next to him seemed to be the only calm one in the room but Lord Lahk could tell the Chiss had slipped a vibroknife into her right hand. The woman had only survived getting blasted by some lucky Republic trooper days ago. Despite his lack of Force, Lahk felt he could count on the operative to do what needed to be done and keep her mouth shut after.

Lord Lahk had done his best to smooth over the incident that had happened six days ago. He felt his own anger build as he reached for the hilt of his lightsaber. It was fortunate the Empire and the Republic were technically in a cease fire on Voss, though one would be able to see that was a lie if they stepped outside of Voss. The Sith believed peace was a lie itself but right now it was a lie that could work to Lahk's advantage. He'd explained to the Voss that they answered a Republic distress call when they began shooting. When he explained what happened to his superiors about the incident, he decided to leave out the part where a Jedi somehow snuck aboard a dropship, knocked over the other one and rescued one lowly trooper and the initiate while leaving them stranded. He thumbed his lightsaber on, pushed the Voss out of the way and strode into the room.

He was ready for the Jedi this time. The smaller Miraluka materialized almost next to him and the Sith tripped him with a low swipe to the legs. The Jedi was knocked immediately off his feet and fell to the ground on his back. The Sith brought his lightsaber to bare to impale his opponent quickly but the Jedi pushed him off his feet with an outstretched hand. Staggering back, the Jedi was still with his back on the ground but standing in the doorway was the Republic trooper aiming a pistol straight at his forehead. The operative behind him was holding the Voss councilor at knifepoint with his back to the wall, obviously preparing for another phantom strike from the Jedi. Lahk stared at the soldier across from him. He outstretched his hand and pulled the blaster from the trooper's grasp with the Force. The trooper only stared back.

This was not the first time Brazon had fought a Sith. He was ready for the 'classic' way they chose to disarm people. When the Sith pulled on the blaster in his hand, he actually pulled the trigger into his finger, causing him to fire a stun blast right at him. At this close range, the shot was unavoidable. The Sith was shocked in more ways than one, he doubled over and collapsed on top of the Jedi. Brazon turned his attention to the operative who had inched over to the door holding the other Voss councilor hostage. He recognized her uniform as one he'd seen six days ago. It was the same sniper who tried to tag him during the ambush. Her shoulder was bandaged where he'd blasted her. This was his chance to finish the schutta off. He stepped closer, when in her other hand she brought held up an active grenade.

Telk'ess'comovar, or Kess as people outside the Ascendancy called her was in a strange predicament. Her superior officer had just been stunned and had fallen on top of the Jedi she had shot in the leg only six days ago. Apparently, the kick to his legs had been a little more than he could stand and was pinned by the weight of the incapacitated Sith on top of him. She didn't know what the councilor who escorted them had meant about 'seeing through dreams' but wasn't about to stand around and find out. The Sith who ordered her to come here had just been taken out of comission, her goal now was to escape with what information she had. She primed the grenade she had hidden her pocket and tossed it into the room, hoping to be rid of all loose ends and on her way back to Dromund Kaas soon.

Master Zequill didn't feel any pain as the Sith pinned him to the floor. The leg injury that had delayed him to the rendevous with the initiate the other day had made him vulnerable regardless and despite the lack of pain, he couldn't move his leg. He inched his arms out from under the Sith's frame and did his best to push the Sith off of him when he saw the object in question. He looked over to the two Voss Mystics along with the initiate who were cowering in the corner. He could see the young initiate's aura pulsing through the Force; he had collapsed from panic.

Well, not saw entirely so much as felt. His species percieved everything through the Force and although the grenade gave off no visible Force aura he could see, he could very much feel the panic it caused and the difference in air current it made as it traveled. He outstretched his hand free hand and released a blast through the Force that pushed the grenade to the ceiling seconds before it exploded, creating a whole in the ceiling and raining debris on top of them. The ceiling hadn't been that thick and was now a gaping hole that let in sunlight. He moved the Sith off of him, stood up and looked at the hole in the ceiling and looked over to the Mystics and the initiate. They were frozen, staring at the hole in the ceiling. Master Zequill turned his attention to it and although he was blind, he could see why they were frozen.

The room was slowly covered in what looked like sunlight but wasn't. Soon everything, the occupants of the room, the floor, walls and what was left of the ceiling had turned a shimmering gold. Where a hole in the ceiling was there was another hole, like a storm of light and electricity hovering above them. The Voss councilor who had led the Republic trooper and the Jedi into the chamber shook her head and began to speak. She addressed all of them.

"This is the cause of your conflict. The war between the Sith and the Republic is literally tearing apart the fabric of time and space itself." she gestured to the 'other' hole in the ceiling above them. "We Voss can see through these rifts but we lack the affinity with the Force to open them. The friction between light and darkness itself is what rips them open." The hole in the ceiling abruptly closed, the room's colors returned to normal and then fell silent. "The initiate can interact with these openings, he can change their destination. But we require your cooperation for this to succeed."

"Tell me, why should we cooperate?" The Sith said, getting up off the ground. "The floor of this room is rigged with explosives." The Voss councilor said stoicly. The Chiss began inching her way to the door again but both had been closed when the fighting had started. The Sith sighed. "We intend to use these rifts to find another world, another galaxy in which to live in peace away from the Republic, away from the Empire, away from all non-Voss. You will help us to open the rift and keep it open until we are able to stabilize it."

"So, you're keeping US hostage?" Brazon said, leaning against the locked door behind him. "That is correct." The Voss responded without looking at him." He slumped to the floor. What he wouldn't give to be back on Telos right now with a Ruby Bliel in his hand.

Reception

Ponyville, present day

Wind whipped the side of Twilight Sparkle's library treehouse and buffetted it with rain. "I wasn't aware a storm was scheduled for today." Twilight said as she looked out the window. Lightning streaked across the sky and surged through the dark clouds above. Spike was hiding under her bed. "M-m-maybe it's a r-rogue storm? It c-could've gotten lose and now it's out of control!" Spike said shivering. "I'm sure it's nothing Spike. Maybe somepony needed some emergency rain." Twilight said, though as the lightning struck she found herself skeptical of her own reasoning. Outside, the storm continued to rage.

The door to her house burst open and in came a soaking wet Rainbow Dash. Quickly she closed the door behind her as the wind blew more rain inside. "Twilight! Twilight where are you?" Rainbow called her friend, shaking off the water. "I'm right here Rainbow." Twilight said as she and Spike descended the stairs. "What's going on out there? The pegasi having some sort of storm making competition?" Twilight asked. "The Storm-brewing Stormoff isn't for another month Twilight. The pegasi aren't doing this! And we can't stop it!" Rainbow exclaimed.

Voss-ka
, same time

"Again." the Voss councilor announced. The Sith and the Jedi meditated in the middle of the room, two conflicting elements side by side. The two Mystics and the initiate sat in the room with them. Brazon and Kess sat on opposite sides fo the circular room and watched the display. Again, the Sith and the Jedi visibly strained themselves while meditating and a spark appeared high above their heads. The two Voss councilors watched intently and talked quietly amongst themselves. The initiate looked to be in some sort of trance. The spark once again grew into a large ball of light and opened up, revealing images from the beyond. They changed quickly, each only staying visible for a few seconds before changing. Like a painting that altered based on the direction you viewed it, the image changed. Snow blew from it at one point and as it changed again, volcanic ash.

Slowly, the Mystics stood and began to stabilze the hole in time and space with their own Force talents. The two councilors approached it and spoke to the initiate. "Show me... rain. A place with good parcipitation." the female councilor spoke. The initiate's face twitched and the image changed again. Light rain began to pour through the opening. Brazon had had about enough. He was tired of fighting, tired of sitting here doing nothing, tired of being watched, tired of worrying about bombs beneath his feet. He got up and strode over to the initiate. The councilors tried to stop him but he pushed them aside and picked up the young man. The image twisted and changed into a thunderstorm. "Show me... show me peace. You know what peace is? Show it to me! Now! Show me a world with peace! I don't care where, just show me peace!" The young man mouthed something in his native language but appeared to be asleep.

"Peace... peace is a lie." The Sith said, still meditating with his head bowed. "There is no emotion, there is peace." The Jedi said back. A lightning bolt shot out of the hole and struck the wall hard, scorching it black. The hole began to grow larger, it bubbled like it was made of some sort of liquid as dark clouds and rain began to spill fourth. "Peace is a lie!" The Sith yelled angrily. "There is no emotion." The Jedi said again. "Peace is a lie!" "There is no emotion." "Peace is a lie!!" "There is no emotion." "PEACE IS A LIE!" The Sith screeched. "There is no emotion." The Jedi responded. As they continued this banter the rift continued to grow larger, the lightning around its edges chewed through and destroyed the edges of the ceiling. "Stop the ritual! Stop the ritual now!" the male Voss councilor shouted. The Mystics broke off but the rift did not disappear.The walls and floor began to shake, the building seemed to be crumbling around them. Parts of it were sucked into the vortex, others destroyed. The door leading out of the chamber fell and that was all Brazon really needed. He ran.

Ponyville, same time

The storm had gone mysteriously silent. The rain had stopped, no thunder could be heard and the wind had died down. Spike and Rainbow Dash were holding each other still. Twilight Sparkle looked out of her window. The sky was still dark but there seemed to be a light that was illuminating the other buildings. Curiosity got the better of Twilight and she opened her door to go investigate. "Wait, where are you going?" asked Spike. "I don't know but there's something out there Spike. Some kind of weird light, I'm going to go see what it is". "I'm coming too. It might be whatever caused this mess." Rainbow declared. "Hey, wait for me!" Spike called after them.

The glow seemd to come from the main road into Ponyville. They followed the light while keeping a cautious eye on the sky. A few other ponies opened their doors to join them, a few of the more cautious stayed behind. A crowd soon formed behind them as excited murmurs and shouts filled the air. Twilight did her best to ignore the squabbling as she turned a corner to look down the main road. What she saw, she couldn't believe her eyes. She approached what looked to be a ball of light with a black hole in the center and silver aroune the edges. The crowd approached with her.

Voss, same time

The rift continued to expand, Sargent Brazon ran down the halls, the Jedi, the Sith, the Chiss and the Voss councilors, Mystics and initiate were close behind him. He didn't even turn around to look at them but he knew they were close behind. He seemed to be leading the way out of the crumbling capital building. The group rounded a corner and into the entrance hall. Debris rained down all around them, there was nothing they could do but run. They scrambled through the door and into a crowd. Brazon turned around and watched the rest of the building collapse.

The portal through space and time that the Voss had forced the Jedi and Sith to open stabilized and then began to recede, leaving the four corners of the building and a pile of rubble where it used to be. The lightning storm that lined its edges had become calm, turning into a silvery band of an almost mirror-like quality. The group dusted themselves off. Brazon walked over the debris that used to be the doorway and up onto the hill. The others in the group followed him.

Curiosity got the better of Brazon and he walked right up to the portal in the middle of the ruined building. He turned to the Voss initiate behind him and asked, "Peace?". The Voss nodded. "We... will be the first to crossover." The male Voss councilor stated, panting. Brazon looked around. The building's gaurds were in position around them already and had weapons drawn. They were still captives. Slowly, the two Voss councilors and the initiate walked over to the portal. Holding hands, they stepped inside. Were they a family? Brazon thought. The two Mystics moved to either side and drew pistols themselves. As the Voss family was about to step through, Brazon decided he'd once again had enough. Here was a portal to another world, supposedly a peaceful world where he wouldn't spend every waking moment wondering if he was going to make it through the day. He ran towards the family and grabbed the initiate, picking him up over his shoulders just as he'd done when he'd saved his life the other day. Without even turning around, he ran into the portal.

Reconciled Spacial Anomaly "Ponyvoss", Equestria side, now

Brazon and the initiate tumbled through the portal and out onto solid ground. They got up, brushed themselves off and stood, staring at the large group of strange four-legged creatures before them. He noticed there were multiple colors, some flew and apparently there were houses which told Brazon they were intelligent. Brazon looked out across the crowd at the many eyes gazing at him. One of them, a purple one with a horn stepped forward. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Do you... do you speak English?" the creature asked. "No?" Brazon said, shaking his head. "My name is Brazon Exter. Do you speak Basic?" "I'm speaking English and so are you apparently." "No, we're both speaking Basic." Brazon said, confused. "Can you understand me?" the two asked simultaneously. "Yes." Twilight said nodding. "Answer me one question. Are you... is this planet at war?" Brazon asked. "Not that I know of..." Twilight said, looking around confused. "Listen to me, you have to close this opening behind me right now!!" Brazon yelled.

"I don't-" Twilight began but Brazon interrupted her, kneeling down and saying, "If this world has peace then you have to close that portal and you have to do it now." "Peace." the Sith spoke from behind them. The initiate's legs kicked at the Sith as he held him in mid air, crushing his throat with a bare red hand. A cracking noise was heard and the initiate's body went limp as the Sith continued, "...is a lie". "You...I recrognize you. You were the one who saved this worthless child the other day weren't you?" The Sith said, gesturing to the body. "Useless filth. We were planning on holding him hostage in order to force Voss to join the Empire but this..." the Sith said, looking around. "This changes everything." he declared. "My operative should already be taking care of the problems on the other side of the portal. That leaves you as the last loose end to tie." "You just think the Republic is going to let you get away with this? Or the Voss?" Brazon said to the fiend.

"Your Republic will think you perished alongside the rest of your pathetic squadron and the Voss, as cowards will want to keep things underwraps. Niether of you will be missed." The Sith said, reaching out a hand to grip Brazon's throat. Brazon felt nothing though. Behind them, the strange creatures were attending to the young Voss who had been hurt by the Sith's strike. The purple one and a few others though simply watched the exchange before them. The Sith reached out to choke Brazon again with the Force, to no avail. Brazon watched the Sith continue to try to conjure various Force moves without success. Brazon grinned.

He charged the Sith quickly and delivered a headbutt straight to his nose. The Sith staggared backward, Brazon didn't let up, wailing on the red villain with a blow to the stomach. The Sith was a bit larger though and recovered quickly, smashing Brazon's jaw with an elbow. He then snatched Brazon's throat with his free hand and began applying pressure. Dark edges appeared around Brazon's perspective as he grasped the massive hand at his throat.

Virko Sav had endured a lot in the last week. He'd been shot, nearly blown up, almost crushed by his parents' house collapsing and then the brutish Sith had tried to break his neck. He lay on his back and looked around carefully, rubbing his neck. The Sith seemed to be saying something to the Republic trooper who had saved him days ago but he couldn't make out a word. A few of the colorful creatures from his dreams had gathered around him. Suddenly, a light lit up around his neck, like some kind of glow from an energy field. The pain he'd felt melted away and he noticed one of the creatures had a horn on its head that was glowing. He mouthed the words 'thank you' in his native language and then looked back up to see the Republic soldier charge the Sith and the two of them began to fight.

The Sith started to get the uppper hand and then started choking the trooper just as he'd done with Virko. Virko got onto his feet and rushed the Sith, tackling him with his small frame. The three of them were knocked back into the portal. As his world spun, Virko was happy that he'd experienced a few moments of real peace, real friendship once in his life. If he never saw it again, he hoped that he would see it in his dreams. He closed his eyes as he tumbled into the portal.

Voss, two weeks ago

"It will be all right. All of this is for a great purpose, I assure you." Leuko and Virlan Sav comforted their son over the hololink. He was a Mystic-in-training but unlike other Mystics, he'd had visions of another world instead of another time. After a few experiments, it was discovered he could not only see other worlds but he could use the Force to open rifts in space that lead to them. But in order to do so, it required both light and dark side forces colliding, the presence of conflicting elements to create friction and literally rip open a hole that he could then control through his dreams. This presented the Voss with a great opportunity. An opportunity to escape the war tearing apart the galaxy.

Their son nodded, they exchanged one final goodbye and closed the hololink. Virko was away at a training temple now but he was scheduled to be back in a week. Since the discovery of his abilities, it was decided by the Mystics that he required escort. A Republic squadron had been ordered to make sure he arrived safely. Virko had been told that he was coming home so that the Mystics could better understand his unique abilities. They had left out a few key details.

Lesuko gave her husband a set of Republic comm codes on a datapad, the ones the Republic squad escorting their son would be using. She'd obtained them by telling Republic officials she only wanted to keep in contact with her son on the journey. She handed the datapad to her husband. "For peace, my love." "For peace." Virlan walked off to deliver the codes to the family's mercenary contact. From there, the codes would be delivered to Imperial Intelligence without leaving any trace back to them.

Tolerance

Reconciled Spacial Anamoly "Ponyvoss", Voss side

Brazon, Lahk and Virko tumbled out of the portal and onto the ground. Lahk threw Brazon and Virko off of him and stood up and wiped blood from his nose. He seethed with anger and felt the dark side return to him. He reached out both his hands and was rewarded when both Brazon and Virko started grasping for their necks. He smiled and lifted both of them off their feet when a something slammed him in the back and his body go numb. He immediately recognized this as a stun blast again. His smile faded and he fell to the ground.

Brazon was thankful to whoever had fired the shot that had saved both his and the initiate's life. He looked up and around the area. The Voss commandos had come closer to the portal and thankfully, it looked like Republic forces had show up as well. The Jedi and the Chiss operative were still here though the Chiss was bound in stun cuffs. The two Voss councilors and their Mystic assistants stood together, watching the portal from a safe distance. None of them had fired the shot though and Brazon was in shock when he finally saw who did.

Commander Carwin stood holding a smoking blaster at the stunned Sith. Although Brazon barely knew the man, he was happy to see him still alive. Joy was an unfamiliar feeling to Brazon and it made his chest and stomach hurt. The Commander looked just as stunned to see the young trooper. "Brazon? Is that you?" he asked. "Good to see you sir." Brazon said, grasping both his knees. "Good to see you too son. I'm happy to see you got out of that mess." The Commander didn't lower his weapon, instead turning it to the Voss. He blasted both the councilors and their Mystic escorts with four precise blue shots. "Commander! What in space?!" Brazon shouted. "They gave the Imps our comm codes Brazon. That's how they intercepted the distress call." Each Voss fell to the ground. The Commander holstered his weapon.

"Lock them up." Carwin announced to the Republic troopers surrounding the preimeter. "I'm sorry Brazon but that means you too. We're going to have to keep you quarrantined until we can find out exactly what this portal is, where it leads and what lies beyond it." The Republic troops carried the incapicitated Voss, Sith and Chiss into speeders. Commander Carwin got into one as well and beckoned to Brazon, hoping to make things as simple as possible. As the Commander waved him over, 3 of the strange creatures stepped through the portal. One a white armored unicorn, one a black armored alicorn and the purple unicorn Virko recognized as the one that had healed him earlier.

"Now!" Luna shouted. Shining Armor's horn lit up and unleashed a beam of energy to the sky. A rainbow cascaded across the area and unfolded to envelope the land in a giant pink shield. The shield stopped short of the Republic speeders, enclosing the area around the portal with Brazon and Virko still inside. Luna noticed the two were not outside the energy shield and walked over to them. "I will deal with these two." she said, her own horn glowing bright. "No!" Twilight moved to stop her. "These two didn't do anything wrong. That one even spoke to me!" Twilight explained. "Spoke? What did he say?" "He said 'peace'. He wants peace." "You there. Biped, you can speak?" Luna asked Brazon in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Brazon flinched at the sound of it. "Yes, yes I can speak." He said, nodding.

"Why have you invaded Equestria?!" Luna continued with a booming tone. Twilight motioned her to stop. "We didn't invade anything. I, we, we were-" Brazon stammered. "We were part of an experiment." Master Zequill said, walking over. "We were forced to take part in a ritual that opened a rift in time and space to different worlds, a rift this young man could control. We found your world when Brazon told him to show us a world of peace." he explained. "You brought war to Equestrian soil. You are fortunate that no citizens were injured." Luna said, her voice now softer.

"We didn't come to bring violence, the Sith did." "Sith?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow. "The red brute who attacked us earlier." Virko says. "So you do speak Basic." Brazon says. "Yes. I speak Basic. I prefer my own language." "Yeah, that really helps when someone's trying to save your life." "Enough. Who was the other biped that came to our world?" Luna demanded. "He was a Sith, a member of the Sith Empire." Zequill explained. "In our galaxy, two great civilizations are at war. I and the soldier represent the Galactic Republic, an alliance of worlds that accept common laws and believe freedom is the sovreign right of all sentient life." the Jedi explained.

"The Republic is a government of fools that tried to exterminate the Sith." Kess said, making her own presence known. "The Empire maintains order throughout the galaxy, we are ruled by the strongest of us." "The Empire also maintains slaves." Brazon said back. "We do not suffer in the chains of weak beauracrats and-" "Enough!" Luna boomed. "Clearly this galaxy is conflicted enough. Until further notice, any further intrusion made upon Equestrian soil will be considered an act of war." Luna declared. Twilight and Shining Armor even shuddered at her mentioning of war.

"Do not attempt to cross this barrier. Inform your people. Shining Armor?" "Yes my lady?" "Assemble the gaurd. Make sure no biped gets through until we are able to close this rift." "Yes ma'am." Shining said. Canterlot Royal Gaurds began pouring through the opening. Shining barked out orders and the guards formed a perimeter around the inside of the shield. Luna then levitated the four up and out through a temporary gap in the shield. The four landed on the ground next to the Republic speeders.

"We heard most of that. I guess there's nothing we can do but inform Command and see how to proceed from there." Commander Carwin said. "They seem to posess some kind of power outside of the Force." the Jedi pondered aloud. "Well whatever it is, it's potent." Brazon said. Virko looked back in through the shield, his expression somber with a hint of sadness. Republic troopers then slapped stun cuffs on him and the Imperial agent and escorted the group back to the speeders.

"Look out he's lose!" one of the drivers shouted. Lord Lahk was still recovering from the effects of the stun blast but they'd worn off enough that he was able to break through his bindings. He was lucky they hadn't used a nueral disrupter on him but right now his goal was escape, not combat. He picked up a trooper and tossed him into a group of others as he ran for the treeline. Meanwhile, Kess had used the distraction to run off. Shots peppered their feet but none found their mark though as they continued to run into the forests. The Dark Council had to hear of what had transpired. This could change the war.

Commander Carwin holstered his weapon. It was pointless to go after them and Voss authorities wanting to protect the neutrality wouldn't hand them over. They were gone for now. "Wonderful. I think we've had enough fun for today. Let's get out of here." Carwin sighed heavily. They got into the speeders and headed back to the Republic embassay. At least the creatures that had appeared through the portal didn't appear to be hostile, not like Asation. One thing was certain, there was a lot of paperwork in his near future.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the stars above her head. She didn't recognize any of the constellations. Understandable, considering she was in another dimension. She understood Luna's decision but she still wanted to learn more about these strange creatures that walked on two legs. She turned back to her brother. "It's okay Twilight. We'll make sure they don't get to Equestria." Twilight nodded with a concerned expression. "Be safe here. If you need me, just call and we'll be here with the Elements of Harmony." Shining smiled. "I don't think it's going to come to that but I won't hesitate to call on you." They hugged and Twilight followed Luna back through the portal.

Qaurrantined Spacial Anamoly "Ponyvoss", Equestria side

Gaurds were assembling on the other side of the portal too as Luna and Twilight stepped through to Ponyville. Twilight thought about what the first creature had said. A world of peace. Equestria had its share of conflict but somehow whatever problem was always solved. Maybe Equestria was simply the world with the least conflict? It seemed the first two creatures were concerned more with Equestria than their own galaxy. An entire galaxy at war. Peace would be very valuable in such a galaxy, however long it lasted. Maybe Equestria could help them reach peace? Was it too big a risk? As always, she would trust the wisdom of Princess Celestia, her mentor. She walked over to Rainbow Dash and Spike who were joined by Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

"So? What did you see?" Pinkie Pie asked in anticipation. "That portal's the link to another galaxy." Twilight said. "Amazing!" Pinkie Pie announced. "What's it like over there? Are there parties? Is there cake? There has to be cake for it to be another galaxy, I mean whover heard of a galaxy without cake?" "I don't think they're too interested in cake or parties in that galaxy Pinkie. The creatures that came out of the portal said there's a war." Pinkie Pie stopped, dumbfounded. "War? Why? Why have war when you can have cake?! *gasp That's the reason! There's no cake! Quickly, we have to get them cake now! We have to start a releif effort, the Party Corps.! We'll stop the war with a galactic party!!" "Pinkie, we're not allowed back through the portal. My brother and the gaurd are watching over it until we can close it." "Awwwwwww. So no galactic party? Hmph." Pinkie pouted. "I have to admit, I wish we could learn more about that world, maybe even open diplomatic relations with them." Twilight said, looking back to the portal.

"After all the ruckus they caused, it woulda been nice a them to just close the portal themselves!" Applejack said. "I must agree Applejack. And did you see those creatures? The walk on two legs! Who does their clothes?" Rarity went on. "They better not try to mess with Equestria or they'll have us to answer to." Rainbow Dash declared. Twilight let the others continue on. "There's really a war going on?" Fluttershy asked Twilight, drifting to the back of the group. Twilight nodded. "That's terrible! All those poor two-legged creatures getting hurt. Why can't they just live in peace like us?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "I don't know Fluttershy. But some of them do appear to want peace." "I wish we could give them peace. Maybe help them all be friends." Fluttershy said with a smile. "Maybe someday Fluttershy. But for now, let's get some sleep." Twilight said, heading back to her house in Ponyville. She looked up at the stars as she walked and remembered some of the other constellations she had seen beyond the portal. She had a feeling she'd be seeing them again soon.

Emotional Impact

Korriban Sith Academy, Office of Darth Karux

Darth Karux sat in his desk with a bored expression on his face as Lahk replayed the holorecording. He saw a crowd of strange, multicolored creatures on four legs, some of them appparently airborne. If the agent Karux had sent to keep an eye on Lahk hadn't slapped the recorder to his chest he wouldn't have any information regarding the events on Voss at all. Karux trusted his own kind more than he trusted the Sith, despite that Kess didn't have any affinity with the Force. It was clear now that he was right to put more faith in his agent.

He looked at the small four-legged creatures. He found them... disgusting. Were they naked? Savages, he thought. Multi-colored savages with strange powers. He didn't think they were threatening but yet another in a growing number of annoyances around him, though not related to the red one holding the recording. Karux was a Chiss and a proud one at that. His house was one of the ones leading the Chiss Ascendancy at the moment, a fact that made him feel a bit superior to even the average Sith. Other civilizations had been conquered by the Empire but the Emperor recognized the strength of the Chiss. His own strength had soon been recognized along with his affinity to the Force, which is how he quickly became a member of the Dark Council.

The galaxy didn't need any more weak nuisances. The Chiss would soon rule the Empire on their own and these inferior red skinned creatures would be extinct. Their race was almost exterminated by the Republic. If only they'd finished their job, he wouldn't have to deal with them now. He was sick of dealing with other inferior races like the Sith. The Sith may have been strong as a race but the Chiss were intelligent, refined. The Ascendancy was perfect and pure, the Sith would someday serve as the blunt instruments for Chiss masterminds. The galaxy needed purity and order if it was to survive and Karux would see to it that it did. "You claim these creatures are a threat?" he asked Lahk.

"Yes my lord. These creatures don't appear to have any affinity with the Force but they posess powers that rival that of some Force-users." Lahk said. "They don't appear to be hostile. It's been two rotations since the portal was opened and they've made no threats, shown no agression." Karux said. While the prospect of a new dimension to conquer was intriguing, he would prefer to crush the Republic first. He was disappointed Lahk had failed to apprehend the child of the two Voss councilors. Voss could've already been in Imperial hands and they would've been in a much better position to deal with the situation.

"My lord, it's the mere presence of that world that is the problem. Their power is outside that of the Force. We must find a way to control these creatures or find a way to neutralize them." Lahk said. He was correct but Karux hadn't sinced anything threatening from the holorecording. If these creatures were indeed a threat, they would be dealt with. Kess had informed him of his inability to kill the Jedi, the troopers or the Voss. In any other circumstance, Lahk would already be dead. But right now, the information he posessed outweighed his incompetence. He was sure he was exaggerating the capabilities of these creatures to save him from further disgrace.

"You are most correct Lord Lahk. Assemble my fleet. We depart for Voss." "My lord, what about the treaty?" "The treaty does not cover extra-galactic threats and from what you have told me the Voss are in disarray. We will deal with this new threat and gain a foothold on new territory for the Empire both in this galaxy and another one." Lord Lahk looked concerned but knew enough not to say anything further. He quickly turned around and headed off to assemble Karux's forces.

Coruscant, Senate Tower Audience chamber

"An entirely new galaxy?" General Tethra asked. "Yes. I told the Voss to show me a world of peave and that is the one we saw. One of the creatures confirmed it. They even healed the wounds of the initiate that the Sith attacked." Brazon explained to the Senate's investigation commity. He'd been examined, detoxified, scrubbed clean and even checked by the Jedi to make sure he wasn't a biohazard threat. After several hours, he'd been cleared to speak with a group of Senators, Jedi Masters, Republic officials and at the back of the crowd, his own superiors in the Republic military.

"These creatures seem to posess powers outside that of the Force." Zequill said. He held his head down again. "Outside the Force... how is that possible?" one of the Jedi asked. "It seems their dimension contains a power outside of the Force. They've constructed some sort of energy shield with it that now surrounds the portal to their world." Zequill continued. "We must investigate this at once, perhaps even open up diplomatic relations with them. This power could be the key to defeating the Sith!" General Tethra announced. Brazon bristled at the very idea. "With respect ma'am, I don't think involving these innocents is a good idea." The Jedi agreed with him. "He's right. Involving these beings goes against every moral we stand for." Zequill said, his head still bowed.

"We understand that getting them mixed up in our conflict isn't the right idea but we're forgetting one thing." Everyone in the room turned to General Tethra. "The Sith know about this new world. It's only a matter of time before they respond."
"Senator, we're already too late. Latest reports from SIS." Commander Carwin said, entering the room with a datapad. "A Sith fleet is en route to Voss." "Can they break through that shield?" someone in the room asked. "Wether they can or not, they're going to try. Commander, you're the most experienced with the Voss. I'm redeploying Donair Squadron back to Voss immediately. Master Zequill, gather as many Knights as you can and get them to Voss. Buy all the time you can. Your priority is to slow the Sith down so we can get the Republic fleet in position." "Yes sir." the Jedi said, lifting his head. "We may need to negotiate with these creatures after all but it is critical we stop the Sith from invading another world." Decades ago the Republic had been caught off guard when the Empire invaded the Outer Rim. This time, they were prepared and would do everything they could to stop them from conquering another defenseless world. Everyone in the room moved with purpose. The line was drawn and it was time to stand.

Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous, Voss low orbit

Darth Karux was disturbed by the readings on the display or rather the lack of readings. The visuals showed a pink bubble on the surface of Voss just outside the capital city but scans showed nothing but the remains of the building around it. No power readings were detected, no thermal or electrical. He sensed nothing in the Force. The only thing that showed it there was his own eyes. That was deeply concerning. It seemed Lahk had been correct; this world, its inhabitants and the powers they posessed were entirely outside of the Force. But not outside weapons range.

"Open fire." Karux ordered. The batteries on his flagship unleashed a flurry of lasers at the strange translucent dome. The sky lit up over Voss as energy cascaded down to its surface. The ground around the bubble was vaporized and a cloud of dust filled the air but cleared quickly. Karux clenched his jaw when he saw the bubble unscathed by the assault. "Again!" he announced. He was not going to be outdone by four legged savages. "Coordinate fire with the Razer and the Punisher!! Fire!" His cruiser's barrage was joined by fire from two of the four frigates in his formation. The air burned over the capital city as craters erupted around the small bubble. The dust settled again. Karux scowled as the shield remained, shimmering on the surface.

"Magnify.", he annoucned to his visual sensor operator. The viewscreen on the console before him showed the pink shield. He scanned it for any structural weakness. On one of the sides he noticed a small pin prick of white. A crack. "Target that fracture. Tactical, transmit our data to the fleet. All batteries target those coordinates and open fire!!" he shouted at the viewscreen. The fleet unleashed a third volley on small energy shield in the middle of the valley of craters that was created by the first blasts. This time, the beams focused on one spot. The skies exploded with fire and light washed over the area. The pink shield shattered like glass.

Reconciled Spacial Anamoly "Ponyvoss", Equestrian side

"Fallback! Fallback!" Shining Armor shouted through the portal. The Royal Gaurds came through in droves, thankfully his shield spell was strong enough to repel the first attack or they would've been vaporized. He'd exhausted a lot of his energy trying to keep the shield from breaking, he wasn't able to reform it on this side yet. His troops fled in terror when they saw the shield fracture. He had to marshall them and get word to Canterlot for reinforcements. It was up to him and his men to hold the line.

Reconciled Spacial Anamoly "Ponyvoss", Voss side

Imperial shocktroops marched on the portal. Lord Lahk walked beside Darth Karux in the formation. Darth Karux didn't even blink as they both approached the rift, followed by the platoon of Karux's best soldiers, mostly Chiss. Lord Lahk felt a cold trickle of fear run through the Force but he couldn't tell if it was coming from him or anyone else in the formation. They stepped through the portal.

Reconciled Spacial Anamoly "Ponyvoss, Equestrian side

Darth Karux stepped through first and drew both of his lightsabers, both of them pulsed purple. Lahk drew his own red lightsaber and stood at his side. Kess stepped through along with the rest of the formation and they began to fan out, taking flanking positions on either side of the portal. He surveyed this new world. Colorful, primitive, disorderly. This wasn't a conquest, this was a training excercise. He stepped toward the small town he saw before him.

The formation continued to march to the buildings only a few meters away. Darth Karux reached out and tried to feel the dark side of the Force. But he felt... nothing. It seemed Lahk had been correct; this entire world is absent of the Force. No matter. He didn't need the Force to tear these pathetic primitives apart. The plan was simple: make the official decree, if there was resistance(and there always was) eliminate it, if not, round up the locals and secure them for transport to the nearest reeducation center or prison as situation warranted. Both he and Lahk deactivated their lightsabers. No sense wasting energy.

They were near the entrance to town when Darth Karux started to feel something in the pit of his stomach. He ignored it and continued on. The sensation didn't abate, it was like a stone in his gut. It started spreading, his arms began to feel numb. Was this some sort of biological attack? Lahk had passed biohazard screening and the air was clean and breathable. He looked over to Lahk. Lahk seemed to be sweating and breathing heavily as he marched. Both their movements began to slow as the troopers continued to march past them.

Karux started to... feel. Unbeknownst to him and most other Sith, he had been using the dark side to supress and control his emotions, to channel them into power using the Force. But now that it was gone, all those bundled up feelings came rushing through him like a burst dam, flooding his entire body with the pain of guilt, sorrow, envy, shame, anger, fear. Without the Force, he couldn't control them and they began eating away at his strength.

The world around Karux became fuzzy. He became lightheaded and it got harder to breath. What was happening to him? Lahk got down on one knee and seemed to be in no better condition. Karux got down on both knees and placed his hands on the ground, trying to steady himself. Are you all right sir?" one of the troopers asked, a couple of them stopping to help. "No... I... I don't..." Lahk gasped, his breathing laboured. "Call... call for a medevac... I can't..." Karux was finally overwhelmed by his own emotions and collapsed into a heap on the ground just outside Ponyville. He stared up at the stars, still concious but unable to move his muscles. He didn't recognize any of the constellations. He missed home. For the first time since becoming a Sith, he thought of his family. How he'd been forced to murder them as part of his final trial in his own home. His parents... his baby brother. Tears ran down his cheeks as he remembered the last time he ever felt happy.

Kess didn't know what was happening to the two Sith behind her and she wasn't planning on staying to find out. She had her own mission to accomplish from Imperial Intelligence. The Emperor had been informed of this new world and wanted it as his own very quickly. Darth Karux's attack may have been a tad premature but it made no difference. It was another world and all worlds bowed to the Emperor. Kess's own failure to kill the Voss initiate was a black mark on her otherwise spotless record. She slipped away from the group and activated her stealth field generator. She was not going to fail again.

Negotiations

Voss surface

Virko and his family had been placed in the Republic embassay after the event with the portal. He fiddled with his stun cuffs. They would've been placed under house arrest if their home hadn't been destroyed. He couldn't believe what he had heard. His parents willingly put his life in danger because he could control the portal. Virko had just watched an Imperial fleet come out of nowhere and attack the shield the peaceful creatures had put over the portal and Imperial shocktroops march in. Finally, he picked the lock on his stun cuffs. Carefully, he snuck out of the embassay. He had to get to the portal, do something or else the Sith would make the world he saw in his dreams a living nightmare.

Voss high orbit

The Republic fleet didn't waste time trying to hail the Imperial ships, instead choosing to hail them with cannon fire. The huge vessels engaged each other over the capital city. Groups of star fighters chased each other throughout the clouds as smoke from the ground rose into the skies. Dropships carrying Republic troopers to the ground descended to engage Imperial ground forces. It was unlikely any prisoners would be taken this day.

Three of the Republic dropships broke off from the group and veered straight for the portal. They landed quickly and troopers, including the newly reformed Donair Squadron, filed out to secure a perimeter. The Imps had entrenched themselves around the portal. Sargent Brazon Exter gripped his rifle, took a deep breath and took aim. The Sith had been right about one thing; this new world had changed everything. Peace was real now, at least on one world. It was going to be a tough fight but for once in a long time, something was different. Sargent Brazon Exter had something to fight for.

Ponyville

"Move! Move now! This way!" Shining Armor shouted at the civilians. Reinforcements had not arrived in time and now the gaurds that hadn't fled were doing their best to evacuate Ponyville. The Imperial shocktroopers were using stun weapons, freazing ponies and then carting them off back to the portal. Exlposions ripped through houses and within the first few moments, half of Ponyville was in flames. He only hoped that his sister and the others were able to assemble the Elements of Harmony, it seemed like once again it was going to take a miracle to save them.

The explosions got closer, two of the red-armored bipeds rounded a corner with weapons drawn. Shining gritted his teeth and prepared to use the shield spell again, this time to protect the evacuation. His horn glowed and the Imperial's weapons burned hot. The spell shot into the sky just as the Imps discharged their weapons at him. The spell exploded high above Ponyville but no rainbow erupted from it, no shield, just another cloud of smoke among the others that filled the air. Shining Armor felt his body go completely numb and he collapsed.

Ponyville outskirts

Master Zequill was in trouble. His species percieved things through the Force but as their was no Force here, he could see nothing. His emotions built up inside of him, fear, guilt, sorrow began to flow through him. He remembered his early Jedi training about centering one's self. He took a deep breath and focused his mind. He repeated the first line of the Jedi Code over in his head. "There is no emotion, there is peace." he said out loud. The air smelled sweet here. The feeling in the pit of his stomach left. He felt at peace. Not be able to see, he decided to use his other senses. He walked in the direction of the smell of smoke.

Canterlot Castle

Twilight saw the fires in the distance and the spell that had exploded in midair. She knew her brother had failed. Tears formed in her eyes as she watched the town burn. Pinkie Pie put a foreleg around her shoulder and they continued following Princess Celestia to the place where the Elements of Harmony were kept. They hurried past the gaurds stationed through the halls of the castle. "This atrocity must end now. I have not seen such violence, such horror in my life." the Princess said, her voice converying dispair, disdain and disgust simultaneously. "We will use the Elements of Harmony to push them back and then seal the rift." she said.

As they rounded a corner, they say several gaurds had been lay motionless on the floor. The group gasped at the scene before them. Celestia walked over to one of her soldiers. Thankfully, they were both mostly unharmed. One of them looked up at her. Celestia leaned in to listen closely as the gaurd weakly whispered the word, "trap", before a flashbang grenade dropped from the ceiling followed by the Imperial Agent.

Imperail shocktroops swung in and crashed through the windows, they drew their weapons and fired. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Celestia, Luna and Spike fell to the ground, incapacitated. "Round them up. Get the hovercarts in here quickly. The gaurds identified this one as the leader." Kess said, moving Celestia's head with the butt of her rifle. She walked over to Luna and switched her rifle from non-lethal stun rounds to standard lethal ones. "If trespassing on your soil is considered an active war, what act would you consider this to be?" She pointed her rifle at the helpless Luna and squeezed the trigger.

Virko tackled Kess and they both fell to the ground, Kess's rifle discharged into one of the castle's walls. The shocktroopers were startled and fired stun rounds at Virko. One blast hit Virko square in the back but another tagged Kess's shoulder where she was wounded earlier. She cried in pan and her body went limp. Other shocktroops arrived on the scene. They were going to need a few extra hovercarts to get them all back to the portal. The creatures would be placed on Imperial transports and sent to a facility to be studied. If they were useful, they might even be allowed to live though that was doubtful.

Voss surface

The Sith were heavily entrenched and the Jedi were no where to be found. Brazon popped a fresh pack into his rifle. Commander Carwin had requested reinforcements but no help was coming. The Sith gaurding the portal weren't fairing any better but it seemed that they were moving in and out of it steadily. Brazon couldn't tell what they were moving in and out of the portal but he knew it wasn't supplies of any kind. Some kind of hoversleds were being moved into two transports. The Imps weren't planning on staying long, whatever they were doing.

Lord Lahk felt the dark side's presence return to him the moment the hoversled he was strapped to exited the portal. What had happened to him? He wasn't able to control his emotions. He... felt. The Force felt strange to him too but still familiar. The medevac had determined he was suffering from intense physchological stress. As his condition was stable, he had been transported along with the subjects captured from beyond the portal. His sled followed others out of the portal, dozens of the captured four legged creatures. The Empire needed to study them, to find out what kind of power they posessed and either control it or destroy it. He heard the sounds of battle nearby but he was still too weak to do anything about it. The medical technician pushed his sled into the shuttle and soon he was on his way to one of the Imperial ships in orbit. In the quiet of the shuttle's bay, he was alone with his emotions.

A small personal shuttle and two transports lifted off from the Imperial's defended position. Slowly, the Imps fell back into their dropships and one by one they took off. Brazon watched them as they flew towards one of the Imperial ships above the battlefield. What were in those sleds? They hadn't bothered defending the position. A raid, it must've been. "Just got word from Command. The Imps are bugging out. Fleet's staying to secure the portal, we're going after them. Whatever it was they took out of that portal, they're not getting away with it." Carwin said, half into his commlink and half to Brazon. "We have an idea what they took out?" "I'm willing to bet it wasn't uj cake." Carwin said.

Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous, Voss low orbit

Kess rubbed her shoulder but was still satisfied. Despite setbacks, another mission accomplished. She had captured the leaders of the savages and soon they would be brought to her superiors. This would more than make up for her failure to secure the Voss initiate. Another world, another galaxy would soon belong to the Empire. This had been only a raid, when the Empire returned it would crush the Voss and the Republic at the same time. The rest of the fleet continued to engage the Republic but the Venomous broke away from the battle and made for open space. The sacrifice of the remaining ships and crews was well worth the price for this victory.

Republic Thranta-class corvette Redemption, Voss low orbit

Captain Ressia watched on the bridge as one of the Imperial cruisers broke formation and headed into orbit. They couldn't let them get away with whatever they took from the portal but right now it was more important to secure the space around Voss and then provide aid for those who needed it, both on Voss and beyond that portal. Hopefully the natives of that world had survived. Attacking the innocent... hopefully this proved to the galaxy the attrocities of the Sith.

"Sir! Priority communications on encrypted channel!" the comm operator shouted from his terminal. "Somethings wrong. We're recieving it from one of the enemy ships." "Put it through." the captain said. The holoterminal in the center of the bridge lit up with the image of Jedi Master Zequill. His image flittered with static but his voice was clear and calm. "Can you hear me? Any Republic forces respond immediately." "Master Zequill? You mind telling me what you're doing on the enemy's flag ship?" "Captain, the Sith have captured natives from beyond the portal! You must stop this ship before it reaches Imperial space! I've activated my homing beacon." "But that will give away your position!" "It's more important to stop this ship Captain. We cannot let the Sith get away." the captain nodded. "Ensign, lay in a pursuit course. Follow that ship." "Sir, we can't match that ship's firepower. They'll tear us apart." the executive officer said behind the captain. "We don't have to outgun them commander we just have to get close to them. Tell Donair Squadron to sit tight in their shuttles." "Sir." The XO's face went blank. He knew what had to be done.

Equestria, Ponyville

Derpy Hooves was having quite the strange day. It seemed Ponyville was having a fireworks celebration again, even though they had one last week. Also, the fireworks seemed to be going off in the day time. This seemed quite silly, the gray pegasus thought as she made her way towards Ponyville. Wait, no, these weren't fireworks at all. It seemed the buildings of Ponyville were the fireworks today. That made more sense, the explosions weren't at all colorful. It was strange though, she didn't see anypony else around. Where was everypony? She continued her appointed rounds, delivering mail despite several of the houses were nothing but burning wrecks, piles of ash or smoldering craters. What a strange way to remodel, Derpy thought. And still nopony was around. Still, the mail had to be delivered.

Derpy delivered her last letter into a mailbox that had snapped off at the base and lay on the ground. She looked up and finally she saw somepony, well, not a pony but some sort of strange creature on two legs wearing some kind of strange heavy-looking clothes. He seemed to stumble as he walked towards her and was clutching his side. "Hi there mister!" she called to him. "He-... hello..." the blue skinned creature said to Derpy. "I don't think I've ever seen anything like you before mister. What's your name?" "My... my name is Sark'ava'enora. I... people call me Kaven... or Karux." "Haha, that's a lot of names mister. My name's Derpy Hooves. I'm Ponyville's premier mailcarrier." "Ponyville? That's what this place is called?" "Yeah. Are you okay mister?" "I... I don't know... I just..." "Why don't you come with me? I know a nice place you can rest just around the corner. And they have muffins!" "Rest... muffins? I don't-..." "It's this way mister! Come on!" Derpy said, taking the blue man's hand and pulling him in the direction of what remained of Sugar Cube Corner. This man clearly needed some help.

Venomous

Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous, Voss orbit

Captain Zoellen furrowed a brow as she looked at the display. One of the Republic ships had chosen to pursue them into orbit. She was in charge now that both her superiors had been incapacitated but she had been ordered to return to Imperial space immediately. With most of her guns facing the opposite direction, the small corvette had the cruiser at a disadvantage. One that Captain Zoellen knew how to compensate for. She ordered the helmsman to perform a 180-degree rotation and reverse engines. This way, the forward batteries would face the oncoming corvette. Undoubtedly, the Pubs would flee in the face of such firepower. And if they didn't they'd be destroyed, all while Venomous would continue on its course. She smiled at her own brilliance. It took more than the Force to win battles.

Captain Zoellen watched the display as her ship turned to face its pursuer. They weren't slowing down. She ordered power to shields and told the gunners to fire as soon as they were in weapons range. It looks like their cargo was important. The corvette came under fire the moment it was in weapons range but it didn't return fire. Shots from the batteries bounced off the bridge shields of the smaller vessel. The smaller ship seemed to be approaching faster. It closed the gap between the two ships but didn't fire a shot. It dawned on Captain Zoellen just what the enemy was planning, one second too late. If she had the Force, she might've seen it coming. Then again, probably not.

The Thranta-class corvette's hammerhead features made it look more like an arrow than the flying creatures with huge wingspans that they took their names from. The Redemption may have been smaller than the bulky, triangular Imperial cruiser but what it lost in mass it made up for in speed. The arrow side just under the bridge of the Redemption smashed into the Imperial cruiser's bridge with so much force that both ships were sent into a slight spin. The hulls of both vessels buckled and the arrowpiece that had smashed into Venomous broke off completly. The bridge had been narrowly missed by the impact but the bridge's control of the ship was now very much inoperative. While both ships were now more or less disabled, the hangar bays of the Redemption opened up and drop ships flew towards the crippled Imperial vessel.

Kess was knocked to the floor of the hangar deck. She'd gone down there to check on her cargo, maybe do a little interrogation with the prisoners but cleary the Republic wasn't giving up so easily. She tried to contact the bridge but got no response. The Republic must've had reinforcements that just jumped in. Captain Zoellen hadn't been fast enough for some reason. They should've been in hyperspace minutes ago. She made her way to the transports where the prisoners she captured were. They were both hyperdrive equipped but she'd only be able to fly one of them out. Of course, she picked the one that held the VIPs.

Kess opened the shuttle doors and when she entered she was immediately blasted by a loud voice. "RELEASE US THIS INSTANT!" Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot voice. Kess grabbed her ears and cursed. She turned off the sound filters of her helmet and entered the cockpit. She looked out the viewport to see Republic assault shuttles entering the hangar deck. She'd never get out of there now. She quickly turned around, her mind racing. Her mission was about to end in failure. If she couldn't get off the ship with her prisoners, she'd have to destroy them. She unlocked the hoversled that contained the big white one, the leader if the guard's information had been correct. She had tricked the gaurd into giving up the information but based on how regal the creature appeared, she had to believe it was accurate. She pushed the hoversled with the creature in stasis out onto the hangar deck and into the halls of the ship as Republic troopers piled into the ship.

Virko's sled had been knocked over when the two ships collided and the stasis field had been deactivated. It was then easy enough to pick the locks on his restraints. He had to dislocate his hands but clearly the Empire wasn't familiar with Voss anatomy. He slipped out of his stun cuffs and then popped his wrists back into their proper position. As he exited the shuttle to see the Imperial Agent carting off one of the creatures. He had to stop them. The Empire wouldn't harm another innocent while he could do anything about it.

Brazon drew his rifle and jumped out onto the deck of the Imperial cruiser, Commander Carwin right beside him. Ramming the enemy ship had pulverized their guns and communications, now all that was left was to get the prisoners out and off the ship. They should still be nearby but time was of the essence. It was just then the Jedi appeared before them. "You've really got to stop doing that." Brazon said to Master Zequill. "Quickly, we must secure the prisoners and get them back to Voss." "Right, let's move!" Carwin announced. Behind them, the hangar blast doors closed. "Blast! Imps have locked us in." Carwin said. "They're magnetically sealed. There's no way we'll be able to blast through those." Brazon said. "We'll get the prisoners out on the escape pods." Carwin suggested. "It's too risky; if they get the guns back online they'll vaporize the pods before they enter the atmosphere." Brazon said. "We have to take the bridge. It's the only way." "We have to move fast. Free the prisoners first."

"RELEASE US THIS INSTANT! SURRENDER OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!" Brazon fell to the ground as he heard the familiar voice. "It's okay! We're here to get you out!" Brazon said back. "That's right you are! And release my sister you fiends!" "We're not with the people who captured you. We're trying to save you!" Brazon deactivated the sleds one by one. "How do we know we can trust you?" Luna asked. Brazon looked at the purple one. "All I want is peace. Remember? I wanted to protect your world, your peace." Twilight nodded. "I remember. I see now why."

"Now hold on a second, yer sayin' we're on a ship with a bridge?" Applejack asks. "Bridges go over the water, ships go on the water." "It's a different kind of ship and there is no water. We're in space." "We're IN space?" "Yes." Brazon answers. "Well, now I think I've seen everything." "They took the princess! I don't know where but one of them took her and the thing she was in out of the shuttle! We have to rescue her!" Twilight says. "This ship is huge, we'll never find her if we just randomly search. If we take over the bridge, we can use their security systems to find her." Zequill says. "I'd guess a ship with a bridge would be pretty big." Applejack says. "We'll need your help to get out of here. Please, can you help us?". Brazon realized he was essentially asking innocent civilians to fight the Empire. But there was no other choice. If they were going to live to see peace, they would have to fight their way out. This was the only way they would get out of this. "I trust you. We'll work together to find the princess and get out of this." Twilight said. The others nodded in agreement. "Thank you." he said.

"All right, Donair Squadron on me, the rest of you protect the hangar and get the rest of the prisoners out." Carwin announced. "Shining, stay here and protect them." Twilight said to her brother. "Not a problem." "The rest of us will get to the bridge and find the princess. All right everypony, let's move." Brazon for a moment wondered if it was Twilight or Commander Carwin that was in charge. He followed both out of the hangar into the ship. Things were about to get interesting.

Donair Squadron lead the ponies down the corridors of the ship to the bridge. The Imperials still hadn't mustered any defenses but occasionally a wayward Imperial would run into them to get blasted by either Brazon or Commander Carwin or got knocked down by Master Zequill. They ran up to a turbolift to the bridge and keyed the pad at the side to open the doors. The doors slid open to reveal no lift but a shaft that seemed to go down forever. "Spast. The bridge is up there but it looks like the lift got knocked out when we rammed them." Carwin said. "I think we can handle that." Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy picked up Brazon and Carwin by the wastes and carried them up the shaft. "I was going to say we could just use our grappling hooks but I guess this works too!" Carwin said as he was being lifted towards the bridge. Luna carried the others using a a magic spell with Zequill on her back. Brazon tried not to look down as he ascended rapidly.

The group exited the turbolift shaft into a corridor that lead directly to the bridge. Brazon and Carwin checked the corners with rifles drawn as the group quickly advanced on the door. They reached the door to find it was a blast door, not quite as thick as the hangar blast doors but still too much to blast through with a rifle. "Radio back to the hangar. Tell them we need some satchel charges up here and-" "I think I can handle this." Luna said as she strode between them. Her horn glowed a dark blue and then the door did the same. Luna gritted her teeth and her eyes became slits. The door began to buckle as if it was being pulled inward by two giant hands. It ripped open and the two pieces snapped off and fell to the floor. "There we are. Onward!" Luna announced. Brazon and Carwin stepped through first.

The bridge was a big area but appeared to be completely empty. Consoles for the crew were in two large lowered pits that ran parallel to the bridge with a walkway in the middle leading to the main viewports. The blast shields on the view ports were down because of the attack but no one was at the helm, or any of the controls for that matter. Brazon and Carwin made their way across the main walkway with the ponies behind them. As they did, a grenade dropped down from the ceiling. Zequill pushed it into right side pit with a swipe of the Force. It exploded, a flash of light erupted and Imperials sprang up from behind the consoles with weapons drawn but some in the pit were blinded by the flash. The ones on the other side fired right at the group from behind computer terminals. At such close range, they couldn't miss but Twilight and Rarity were faster, using their magic to create barriers that reflected the shots. Luna created a barrier on the opposite side and Carwin and Brazon used them both for cover.

"Grenades sir?" Brazon asked. "Good thinking." Carwin answered. Brazon and Carwin threw grenades into the two pits, but these weren't flashbang grenades. They exploded, taking out systems consoles, computer terminals and the Imps that were using them as cover. After quickly examining the bodies, they walked over to the main controls at the end of the bridge. The console had a blastershot right through the center of it. "Now this is a problem. These are the main controls of the bridge and it looks like they've been blasted." Carwin said. "I can't access security with the controls like this. I can slice Sith consoles but repairing them is beyond me." "Please, help me." A voice said behind them.

Brazon and Carwin spun and pointed their weapons at him in one motion. Zequill had his saber drawn. The Sith Lord Lahk stood in the doorway, clutching his stomach. "I mean you no harm... please, I... I... I can't make it stop." Niether Brazon nor Carwin lowered their weapons until they noticed what the Sith Lord was talking about. He was crying. Tears were streaming down his face. Brazon had never been more confused and amused at the same time. A Sith Lord, in front of him, crying. He found that more unbelievable than the collection of brightly colored four legged aliens behind him.

"Please... make it stop. I can't stop the pain." "You're emotions are no longer under your control it seems." Zequill said as he lowered his saber. Carwin and Brazon lowered their own weapons. "What must I do?" The Sith asked in a weak tone. "There are Jedi techniques for calming the mind. They can help you control your emotions." Zequill said calmly. "Is that what you mean when you said there is no emotion there is peace?" Lahk asked. Zequill nodded. Lahk utters something between a chuckle and a cough at the remark while still weeping. "You win Jedi. Please, teach me." "I will but first we must use this terminal to access the ship's security systems." "I can help you do that." Lahk said.

Lahk approached the terminal and took off the blasted display. He began repairing the console. After a few seconds, the main screen lit up. "There. Now we can access security." "You sure have some interesting skills for a Sith Lord." Brazon said. "I'm usually sent out to break things like this. I learned how to fix them in case I ever needed to undo the damage I caused." Lahk said. "This would be the first time I've ever used them though." he admitted. The console turned on and began cycling through various images through the ship. After a few seconds, the image froze in engineering. The camera zoomed into a hoversled parked next to the reactor core's main console. Kess looked up, smiled and waved at the camera as she held a gun to Princess Celestia's head.

"Attention Republic and alien forces. Transfer control of the ship to the reactor core terminal or I will execute this hostage." Kess said as she knelt down and stroked the mane of the imprisoned ruler. "You're bluffing." Brazon said at the image. "If you kill, you'll have nothing to bargain with." Kess frowned and turned back to the terminal. On the viewscreen, another figure appeared from behind the hoversled.

Virko lept at Kess, saving Princess Celestia as he'd saved Luna. Kess dropped her blaster and it skidded across the floor. Virko delivered a punch to Kess's jaw and tried to grab her head. In one motion, Kess drew a knife and slammed it into Virko's side. He gasped as his body was sapped of strength. She pushed him off of her and grabbed her jaw. She snarled at the young man. She returned to the terminal and began typing in console commands. Alarm klaxons began sounding and the lights of the ship turned red. She looked up at the camera and smiled, bleeding at her lip a tad.

"I've just disabled the reactor core's safety protocols and set it to overload. Surrender control of the ship to me or we will all die." Kess declared. "I don't think she's bluffing now." Lahk said over the sounds of the alarms on the bridge. "What do we do? We'll never get to engineering in time." Carwin said. The lights on the bridge flickered and an automated voice began speaking, "Warning. Critical systems failure, main reactor overloading. Evacuate immediately."

Magic and Force

Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous, Engineering deck

Escape pods launched from the cruiser, the ship's crew evacuating. Captain Zoellen didn't know what was going on. She wasn't going to stick around to find out. Republic forces, aliens, Jedi, Sith. Too much for one ship to deal with. Her escape pod launched and fell towards Voss. It got maybe a few hundred meters away from its berth when it stopped dead in space. As if gripped by an invisible hand, it was pulled away from the planet and up into the bay of the Republic corvette that had followed them along with the other escape pods.

The alarms echoed off the walls of the engine room. Kess was sweating. She wiped off the blood from her knife and holstered it. She'd been dumb enough to let herself be followed TWICE by the young Voss incompetent and had let him get the drop on her both times. He was a resililant little whelp, she had to admit. No wonder he hadn't died a week ago when she'd tagged him. She didn't have time to think about that now. The Pubs would transfer control of the ship to the terminal she was next to and she'd shutdown the reactor and put out the call for reinforcements from the Empire.

Kess wiped the sweat off her forehead. She looked at the camera knowing the Pubs would be watching her. She'd show them she was completely serious. Soon, she would be a hero to the Empire. Her name would be remembered for generations as the conquerer of two worlds and the discovery of a new universe. She let heself smile. Her victory was so close. The alarm klaxons continued to blare and she momentarily lost her focus as she fantasized about being rewarded from her exploits.

Virko coughed up blood. His vision was blurry but that didn't matter now. He had to act fast. He rolled over onto his side. Kess would've been able to hear the noise if not for the sound of the alarms. His breathing came laboured and his limbs were on fire. He clutched at the wound and his torso exploded with pain. Blood gushed from the wound, he put pressure on it. Anything to buy another moment. Carefully, he pulled himself up using the sled. It was difficult to stand. He spared a quick glance at the captive on the sled. She looked back at him with watery eyes. He focused on the back of the Chiss woman's neck as he made his way toward her.

Once again, Virko tackled the Agent with all his body weight. Kess was tired of this. The young man feebly clutched her torso, trying to pin her. She grabbed a grenade off her belt and primed it. He lunged at her again and grasped her hand. They struggled with it before she tossed it high into the air. She grabbed him by the throat and prepared to smash his head into the deck. That was when he reached for something at her belt. He gasped for breath as he felt the world close in on him. He let go of her hands at his neck for one moment and grabbed the knife on the agent's belt. With a quick thrust, he drove the blade into her stomach and looked away as her eyes went wide in shock and disbelief.

The grenade bounced off the hoversled and landed next to the reactor terminal. It made a shrill noise as its timer concluded and the device exploded, showering the room in smoke and debris. The reactor terminal was reduced to a smoldering mechanical stump in an instant. The hoversled carrying Princess Celestia had been jostled in the blast and it rolled forward. Virko coughed up more blood and did his best to stand.

Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous, bridge

Lahk worked at the bridge controls. The blastshields over the viewports raised but no picture on the terminal appeared. The grenade that went off in engineering knocked out the viewscreen to the bridge and now Lahk was struggling to get a picture back. They only had mere minutes before the core went critical and turned the entire ship and all of them aboard it into hot dust. Lahk reconnected a wire and the screen turned on again. The camera was still focused in on the reactor. The group gasped as they saw the combined sights of Kess's body, the destroyed terminal and Virko pushing Celestia on a hoversled out of engineering.

Engineering, reactor core meltdown imminent

Virko couldn't feel anything below the waist. The pain in his torso was cold as he pushed the hoversled out of engineering. He deactivated the sled's stasis field. The creature was truly beautiful, he thought. Like an angel almost. She got up and said, "Thank you." to him. He wish he had time to get to know them all but now, time was not on his side. He had a matter of minutes. The reactor core's terminal had been destroyed but as with all ships, the reactor core could be ejected into space in an emergency like this one. Unfortunately, that meant the entire engineering section would be launched with it. But at least, Virko thought, the others would be safe. He ran over to a panel on the wall and activated the magcon field generator that seperated engineering from the rest of the hall. She paused in front of the red energy field, not understanding. Virko placed his hand on the lever underneath it, the emergency release.

Bridge, approaching critical systems failure

The camera zoomed in on the face of the young Voss as he spoke. "I'm sorry." he said to Princess Celestia from inside engineering. "In our universe, the war is consuming everything. I... I searched for a world with peace and found yours. I saw your world in my dreams. I hoped that if others saw it, they would stop this fighting. But instead I only brought the fighting to you. I'm sorry." Virko said. "In our unvierse, peace is a lie. But it isn't in yours. You can teach them, you can help them. Please stop the spread of war. Let our worlds know a time of peace like what I saw in my dreams. Make peace true again." Virko put both hands on the release lever. "I will." The princess said. Virko mouthed the words "thank you" and pulled the lever.

Explosive bolts fired on the engineering section and it slid out of the ship. It flew through space, a satellite if only for a few moments. Virko sat down where he was and began to meditate. He didn't hear the sirens echoing off the walls, he didn't feel the heat from the reactor about to explode, he didn't feel the fatal wound in his side. He focused on his own thoughts and nothing else. He began to dream. Those last few seconds might as well have lasted an eternity. In his mind, he saw a young Voss playing on a sunny green world, surrounded by friends. The peaceful creatures were there, as were the Voss and even other people. Was this the future he saw? The past or present of some other dimension? An alternate reality? Was this vision caused by the Force, magic, lack of blood, some other random factor? It didn't matter. He saw it and for that brief moment Virko Sav was at peace. The core exploded.

Bridge, emergency power online, reactor not responding

Voss temporarily was bathed in the light of a small star in orbit. Alone in the twilight, a twinkling sparkle. Brazon found his own eyes watering as he watched the display. The young man who he saved just last week had now saved his own life and the lives of everyone aboard that ship. Brazon stared out the main viewport at the explosion. He had seen a lot of deaths but this one was the first one he'd felt in a long time. Another first, he didn't have any desire to drink this problem away. He let the tears fall.

"Peace. Can it be made true?" Lahk asked. "I'm willing to work for it." Brazon said. "We'll help you. Together we will make peace true for both our universes." Twilight said. "So it is settled. We will work together for peace." Lahk announced. Everyone and everypony nodded. Brazon looked out the viewport again. Voss seemed to be moving. Or rather, the ship was moving. "Uh, guys." He pointed at their rapidly descending view. "We can't maintain orbit! Without the reactor, we can't get the engines running!" Lahk shouted in panic. "Escape pods?" Carwin asked. "Without main power, we can't launch pods, shuttles or anything!" Lahk yelled. "There has to be something we can do!" Brazon said, his own voice panicking.

"The helm! Maybe we can perform a crash landing!" Carwin suggested. Behind them, the planet grew larger as the ship angled down. The pointed bow faced the surface as the planet before them grew rapidly closer. The hull of the ship began to burn with the heat of reentry. Lahk moved to the helm controls. "The helm's not responding! I can't extend the manuevering wings!" Lahk shouted and almost punched the terminal. Zequill grabbed his arm before he could hit the machine. "That's not going to help anything." he said calmly. "We have no power, no engines and no shields? Will anything help?"

That gave Brazon an idea. "The shield! Can one of you make a shield to surround the ship?" Brazon asked the ponies. "My brother might. I'm not familiar with that spell though." Twilight said. "It's worth a try!" Luna said. The ship pierced through a layer of clouds and the hull glowed bright red. The geography of Voss was now visible from the bridge.

The ponies from the hangar bay along with the Republc troopers assembled on the bridge. "What's wrong? Why haven't we left ye- is that the planet?!" Shining Armor said as he entered the bridge. "Shining, we need you to put a shield around the ship!" Twilight said. "I'll give it a shot but I've never done it on something moving before." "You can do it Shining. We know you can." Shining Armor closed his eyes, his horn lit up and he cast the shield spell.

A pink shield enveloped the cruiser as it fell. The bubble quickly turned into an oval and heat blistered along its edges. The pink surface of the shield bubbled and cracked as the ship fell. They all watched as the shield broke apart around them. "It's too much heat! The shield can't take it!" "Is there anyway we can make the shield stronger?" Twilight asked. "Maybe... we can use the Force to bolster the shield." Lahk suggested. "I... I can't see the shield. I can only percieve things through the Force." Zequill admitted. "I'll be your eyes then. Focus with me." Zequill nodded. "Brazon, I could use a hand with the helm!" Carwin shouted." The release lever for the emergency flaps is jammed! I can't move it!" Brazon and Carwin both pulled down on the large lever.

"Maybe we can help." Applejack lassoed the lever. Ponies grabbed on AJ's lasso as Brazon and Carwin pushed down. Together, they slammed the lever down and it locked into place. The drag fins on the ship extended slowly and Brazon and Carwin grabbed the manual controls. Shining Armor groaned and summoned the shield a second time. Side by side, the Jedi and the Sith reached out a hand and gripped the shield. The shield once again bubbled and blistered with heat but no cracks appeared in it. Zequill and Lahk gritted their teeth, doing their best to hold the shield together. The pink sphere became an oval once again as the ship attempted to glide. The ship was now in the lower atmosphere. The makeshift bridge crew braced itself for impact. The oval became narrower slowly and the sides began to press against the hull of the ship itself. Brazon and Carwin pulled up on the yolk.

The bottom of the shield touched ground and began digging a trench as the ship descended. The bulky cruiser flew over a field miles away from the capital. A moutain range rapidly approached the ship as the pink shield pressed against the bottom of the hull and the ship dug into the ground. The cruiser's speed carried it all the way into a treeline at the base of the moutain where finally the shield fell to pieces and the ship ground to a halt.

The bridge let out a colllective sigh of relief as the ship stopped moving. "We... we've landed." Brazon says, looking up from the controls. Several joyful outbursts were erupted from the crowd but most were too exhausted to say anything, so they smiled. Shining Armor, Lahk and Zequill collapsed where they stood on the deck. "You guys did it. We landed." Brazon said, congratulating the group. Twilight ran over and hugged her brother. "We all did it." Shining said. "That was... most educational." Zequill said. "Can we please get off the ship now before something else happens?" Lahk asked but Carwin had already used his rifle to smash out view port and rappel down. Pegasi followed him, as did Republic troopers. It seemed they were all eager to leave. "Wai-wait for me!" Lahk said as he ran to follow them.

Ponies and people made their way out of the ship. Pegasi flew together, eager to test out a new sky. Brazon looked out at the masses gathered near the hull of the ship. Commander Carwin, exhausted, exasperated, put out a distress call. "Republic command, this is Donair Squadron 1138 on priority channel. Requesting evac, our position is near the... wrecked Sith cruiser that just fell out of orbit. Look for the rising smoke and flying ponies, over." Carwin said into the commlink.

Princess Celestia walked along side her sister Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor and all their friends. "Our world seems to have gotten much bigger." Celestia said. "We've become part of much bigger picture. This galaxy is full of conflicting elements, too big to ignore." "How will we ever bring peace to them or even return peace to Equestria?" Luna asked. "As always little sister, I trust my faithful student and her friends to do what is right." Celestia said, looking at Twilight. "What will they do?" Luna asked. "They will teach them."

The Treaty of Canterlot

Voss, near crash site of Imperial Dark Destroyer-class vessel Venomous

Brazon was relieved as he spotted the two dropships fly towards them. This time, Republic dropships. General Tethra stepped out of one of them onto the Voss soil. Brazon and Carwin saluted her as she approached. "Ma'am." they both said. "At ease, at ease. You both just captured an Imperial flagship, rescued an entire alien civilization and survived a crash landing from high orbit." "We had a lot of help ma'am." Brazon said. "No doubt. Now, how to get these..." "Ponies ma'am." "Ponies home, who is in charge of them?" "I believe I have that responsibility." Celestia says walking over.

"Miss, on behalf of the Galactic Republic, we would like to apologize for your peoples' involvement in this crisis." General Tethra says, a hand over her heart. "I am relieved that none of our people were harmed." "That's not entirely true." Celestia said, looking to the stars. "It is our desire to cooperate with the Republic in creating a lasting peace for both our universes." Celestia said. "Peace is a lie." They all turned to see Lahk approaching from behind them. "We must all work to make it true." he said. "Agreed. Let us all work together to make peace true on every world." Celestia said. "And I know exactly how to start." Lahk said with a smile.

Canterlot Castle, live holonet broadcast

"This is Barroh Catasbrod for Republic Action News. The conflict on Voss has ended today following the discovery of a new dimension a week earlier. The inhabitants of this parallel universe were captured and taken aboard an Imperial cruiser but have since been rescued and returned to their world by Republic Special Forces. The leader of this new world has prepared an announcment for the galaxy, we now go live to Canterlot Castle for the report."

The courtyard of Canterlot was packed with ponies and members of the Republic, diplomats and representatives from across the galaxy and across Equestria had filled the castle town. Cameras pointed at the stage as General Tethra and Princess Celestia came into view and took the podium. "People of the Republic, ponies of Equestria, honored guests from the far reaches of existance. We are gathered here today to make a historic announcement." The crowd grew quiet as the general spoke.

"Our galaxy has become a much larger place. We now have new friends, new allies from another dimension. As we look to the future, peace doesn't seem like a dream anymore. It is my pleasure to announce that the Republic and the sovreign world of Equestria will work together to make peace a reality across both our universes." Applause erupted from the audience. "It is with that in mind that the Republic has passed a new legislation, the Treaty of Canterlot, to signify our goal to work together towards peace!"

"This treaty, signed by representatives of Equestria, the Republic and the Empire and ratified by the Senate establishes Equestria as a sovreign world and an official member of the Galactic Republic!" The crowd erupted with joy. Darth Karux took the stage with a smile on his face. "As a member of the Dark Council, I would like to announce that the Empire officially recognizes this treaty." Derpy flew near him. "The Empire would also like to announce that it offically apologizes for attacking Equestria and will aid in the reconstruction of Ponyville on the neutral planet of Voss." The Wonderbolts flew overhead at the announcment. Princess Celestia took the podium. "We are also happy to announce that we have chosen Princess Luna to represent us in the Galactic Senate! Presenting, Senator Luna!" "IT IS MY HONOR TO ACCEPT THIS POSITION ON BEHALF OF ALL EQUESTRIA!" Luna said in the Royal Canterlot voice. The crowd was momentarily deafened to be followed by outbursts of laughter. Princess Celestia returned to the podium. "Thank you Luna." she says into the mic.

"And finally, this treaty allows the people of Voss free passage to Equestria and establishes Voss as neutral territory in the war between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire." Celestia said. "The Republic and the Empire are two conflicting elements. This war has taken a toll on us all. We may never know a galaxy without conflict but we can know a galaxy with peace. Peace is not the absence of conflict but merely the times when conflict is resolved enough that we are able to enjoy tranquility. For now, our conflict is too big to ignore. We must work together to resolve it so that we may all enjoy peace once again." Celestia concluded her speech to more applause.

Brazon sat at a stone table in the back with Carwin, Zequill and even Lahk. He sipped on his drink, some kind of purple concoction the locals made. It tasted sweet and he was happy he didn't crave some form of alcohol. "You really think there can be peace between the Republic and the Empire?" Carwin asked. "Well, I represent the Republic. Lahk, you represent the Empire still right?" "Don't remind me." Lahk said. "What I mean is, we're getting along just fine right now. Isn't that peace between the Republic and the Empire?" "I'll drink to that." Lahk said. They clicked their glasses. "I'm done with the Sith though. I've joined the Jedi. They made me Master Zequill's padawan. Besides, he needs someone to see for him anyway. At least when he's here." Zequill nodded. "I don't need sight to tell me you still cry at night." "Hey!" Lahk said. "There is no emotion, there is peace. Fear not my apprentice, we will work on it." Zequill said as he patted the big Sith's back.

General Tethra approached along with Princess Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet the newest members of Donair Squadron." Brazon and Carwin turned to look. "You're going to be taking on missions directly from myself and the princesses from now on." Brazon and Carwin stood and saluted. "It will be a pleasure to work with you Sargent. For peace on all our worlds." Twilight said. "For peace." Brazon said. "Peace?! Who needs peace and quiet? Right now it's time to PARTAY!" Pinkie said, wheeling the Party Cannon into the courtyard and launching it. The group laughed as fire lit the sky above Canterlot, fire of peace.