[FFML] [fanfic][Star Wars][My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic] MARE WARS, Equisode IV: A Pony Hope

[Mythril Moth]

Here's my secret project, three months in the making.

I *STRONGLY* recommend reading the HTML version of this story instead of the 
FFML copy, if only because the online version has a multimedia opening crawl 
that I put a lot of work into.

To read this story at MythrilMoth.net, click this link:
http://www.mythrilmoth.net/marewars/equisode4.html

Otherwise, read on.

C&C welcome, whichever way you choose to read...

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far pinker and sparklier...

?

            M   A   R   E      W   A   R   S

EQUISODE IV: A PONY HOPE

It is a period of pony civil war. Pony Rebel spaceships, striking from a 
hidden pony base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic 
Equire. During the battle, Pony Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to 
the Equire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH SPUR, an armored space stable with 
enough power to destroy an entire pony planet. Pursued by the Equire's 
sinister agents, Princess Rariteia races home aboard her starship, custodian 
of the stolen plans that can save her ponies and restore pony freedom to the 
galaxy . . . .

Also, pony.

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Weapons fire blazed back and forth between the stockade runner and the 
Equirial Starbucker. Explosions rocked the smaller ship; the suited 
spacepegasi pulling the beleaguered little ship whinnied in alarm as 
burrolaser fire spat forth from the Equirial ship, striking them along their 
suited flanks, scorching holes in the protective material. The stockade 
runner lurched violently to starboard; the crew struggled to maintain their 
footing as they rushed about, attending to various circuitry fires.

Two battered droids had been thrown against a bulkhead by the latest blast. 
One, a squat, shiny gold-colored droid in the shape of a cute baby dragon 
with luminous pale green optics featuring slitted pupils, yelped in an 
electronically synthesized voice. "This is crazy!"

His companion, an even smaller, round-bodied blue and white droid that 
vaguely resembled a trash barrel with a toy robotic owl's head, righted 
itself on clawed feet and hooted softly.

A small herd of Rebel ponies stampeded past, knocking the tiny droids askew 
again. The owl-droid hooted indignantly; the dragon-droid moaned 
plaintively. "My Princess...how are you going to survive this?"

The burrolasers suddenly fell silent, and the crew waited nervously...

A cutting beam glowed white-hot, tracing a line through the sealed airlock 
blast door, which exploded inward, smoke billowing as several large ponies 
in full-body white armor galloped into the corridor. The Rebel officer on 
deck whinnied to his men, and bolts of blaster fire spat out to intercept 
the Equirial steedtroopers, whose training allowed them to dive behind 
obstacles in the narrow corridor and return fire with only slightly less 
chaotic results.

"Oh man, oh man...I knew we shouldn't have come this way!" the dragon-droid 
moaned, scrambling to avoid being hit by any stray shots. His companion 
hooted furiously and flopped over on its side as a near miss rocked its 
servos.

Just as suddenly as the firefight had erupted, the blasters fell silent. The 
corridor was filled with acrid smoke and the stench of scorched plastoid 
armor and pony flesh.

The loud, rasping hiss of a mechanical respirator announced the entrance of 
a large, imposing figure: a black-armored mare, covered head to tail to hoof 
in leather and metal. The glossy black steel of her horn and wings shone in 
the bright white light. The Pony Rebels exchanged nervous glances, 
whickering and whinnying in alarm at the appearance of the most fearsome 
being in the Equire: Nightmare Moon, the Empress' right front hoof herself.

In the midst of this new spectacle, nopony noticed as a shimmery blue-white 
aura surrounded the two squat droids, who were abruptly jerked into a side 
corridor.

The gold droid recovered first, staring in worry and reverence. "Princess! 
You gotta hide, it's--"

"I know, Spike-Threepio," the elegant white unicorn said softly and 
urgently. She opened a panel on the dragon-droid's forehead and quickly 
jammed a data disc into a slot, before closing the panel again and gently 
kissing the little droid's forehead. Spike-Threepio's eyes glowed more 
brightly for a moment.

"You must hurry," the Princess whispered. "Owltoo-Detoo, please watch over 
my little Spikey-Wikey, okay?"

The owl droid hooted purposefully.

"Spike-Threepio."

Owltoo hooted again.

"The little gold dragon right next to you."

Owltoo hooted again.

"Oh, nevermind, just...into the escape pod before it's too late!"

The two droids hustled down the corridor as fast as their servomotors could 
carry them. Watching them go, Princess Rariteia swallowed thickly and turned 
to survey the carnage just around the corner. Almost all of her loyal pony 
guards were dead or dying. Nightmare Moon strode amid the strewn bodies, 
masked face surveying the scene.

A steedtrooper loped up to the Dark Lady. "The Death Spur plans are not in 
the mane computer."

Nightmare Moon's head snapped sharply to the left, and her horn began to 
glow an evil blood red. A matching aura wrapped itself around a Pony Rebel 
who lay slumped against the bulkhead; the ensnared pony was sharply dragged 
upright, pawing the air uselessly with his hooves as his neck started to 
twist in an alarming fashion. "WHERE ARE THE TRANSMISSIONS YOU INTERCEPTED?" 
Nightmare Moon bellowed, her booming voice causing the entire corridor to 
vibrate. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE STOLEN PLANS?"

"We...we didn't intercept any transmissions!" the Pony Rebel choked out. 
"We're just a consular ship! On a diplomatic mission!"

Nightmare Moon was not convinced, and the Pony Rebel's panic and pain became 
even more pronounced. "THEN WHERE IS THE AMBASSADOR?"

A wet gurgle was her only response as the light of life faded from the 
captive rebel's eyes; with a snort of disgust, Nightmare Moon threw what was 
left of him against the bulkhead hard enough to make a dent. "COMMANDER! 
TEAR THE PASSENGERS APART UNTIL YOU HAVE FOUND THOSE PLANS. AND BRING ME THE 
SHIP, I WANT IT ALIVE!"

The steedtroopers all stared in confusion at their master. "YOU FOOLS! I 
HAVE ISSUED AN ORDER, AND YOU DO NOT OBEY? I--oh wait, I got it backwards, 
didn't I?--YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT, NOW DO MY BIDDING!"

Saluting hastily, the steedtroopers scrambled to obey their terrible master.

The unicorn princess nervously adjusted her hood and tried to trot silently 
away before--

"There she is! Stun her!"

With a searing jolt of electric pain, the princess slumped to the deck.

"Inform Lady Nightmare we have a prisoner," the steedtrooper commander 
ordered.

Nopony noticed the silent, unremarkable launch of an escape pod, which 
rocketed into the gravity well of the large planet below...

(SCENE WIPE)

"There goes another one," an officer on the command deck of the Equirial 
Starbucker commented, watching as another escape pod launched from the Pony 
Rebel ship.

"No life scans aboard. Must've short-circuited."

"Shouldn't we shoot it down anyway? I mean, because we're evil and all?"

The captain turned to look at his lieutenant in disdain. "And exactly how is 
destroying an empty escape pod evil? Who does that torment? Who does that 
benefit? You still have a lot to learn about being evil."

"Sorry, Captain."

(SCENE WIPE)

Two droids looked out at the ships rapidly shrinking from sight as their 
escape pod streaked away from the stockade runner.

"Wow, it doesn't really look as bad from out here," Spike-Threepio 
commented. "You'd think somepony didn't want to pony up the cash for a more 
damaged-looking filming model of the Princess' ship."

Owltoo hooted inquisitively.

"Yeah, I'm gonna break the fourth wall a lot."

(SCENE WIPE)

A lavender unicorn peered curiously up at the overly-bright sky, shading her 
eyes with one hoof while magically holding up filtered binoculars. "Looks 
like one hay of a battle went on up there..."

She replaced the binoculars in her saddlebag with a sigh. "I don't have time 
to worry about things like that...too many chores and too much studying to 
do..."

(SCENE WIPE)

Princess Rariteia was in a foul mood. She had been fettered, ponyhandled, 
and her stylish glossy purple cinnamon-roll mane buns had stray hairs 
sticking out all OVER, she just KNEW it. It was perhaps this mood that let 
her show more indignation than trepidation as she was brought to a halt in 
front of the most evil, dangerous creature in the galaxy.

"Lady Luna--"

"I NO LONGER RESPOND TO THAT NAME AND I'm pretty sure nopony's even supposed 
to know about that until the next episode..."

"Well that may have been true thirty years ago but it is most certainly NOT 
the case now, what with the prequels and all--"

"WE ARE NOT DOING THE PREQUELS!" Nightmare Moon bellowed. "AND I AM MOST 
DEFINITELY PROBABLY NOT LUNAKIN SPARKLETROTTER..."

Rariteia raised an eyebrow. "NOW who's giving up spoilers in the first act 
of the first movie?" she asked archly.

"*ENOUGH!!* SINCE WE BOTH KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO FEIGN IGNORANCE ABOUT 
RECEIVING STOLEN TRANSMISSIONS--TAKE THIS TRAITOR AWAY!"

As Rariteia was marched away by steedtroopers, the officer at Nightmare 
Moon's side commented, "Holding her is dangerous. If word got out, it could 
generate sympathy for the Rebellion--"

"SHE IS MY ONLY LINK TO THE SECRET REBEL BASE!"

"And she'll die before she betrays the Rebels to you."

"LEAVE THAT TO ME."

A second Equirial officer joined them. "Lady Nightmare, we've searched the 
entire ship. There's no sign of the stolen plans. It does look like an empty 
escape pod was jettisoned..." The officer paused, then facehoofed. "And the 
plans are probably inside, aren't they."

"NO. REALLY. WHAT A SURPRISE." Nightmare Moon snorted. "SEND DOWN A 
DETACHMENT TO SEARCH FOR THE STOLEN PLANS. THERE WILL BE NOPONY TO STOP US 
THIS TIME."

"Has...there ever even BEEN anypony to stop us?" the commander wondered. "I 
mean, it's pretty much been the Empress' show for the last twenty years..."

"NOPONY ASKED YOUR OPINION. GO DO YOUR JOB."

"Yes, my Lady."

(SCENE WIPE)

The escape pod containing the two Rebel droids landed with little fanfare 
less than ten meters from a large moisture vaporator. The surprised pony 
repairing the ungainly machine jumped in alarm. "What the...?"

The pod's hatch opened, and two droids stumbled woozily out. "Ohhhh, my 
head...oh great, is this a sand planet? I hate sand planets..."

Setting her tools aside, the unicorn trotted over to the two droids. "Are 
you alright?" she asked. "What're two droids doing in an escape pod? Is 
there somepony else in there? Did you come from the Pony Rebel ship I just 
saw getting boarded?"

The owl-droid hooted sharply, dome spinning. The dragon-droid held up its 
stubby-clawed hands. "Please, Miss...Miss...?"

"Twilight. I'm Twilight Sparklehopper."

"Miss Twilight, then," the dragon-droid continued. "I am Spike-Threepio, 
pony-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, Owltoo-Detoo."

Owltoo hooted.

"You. You're Owltoo," Spike replied.

Owltoo hooted again.

"Do you have an extra GOTO 10 line?" Spike demanded hotly.

Twilight facehoofed with a groan. "Oh for...cut it out, you two!"

"My apologies," Spike-Threepio said. "I am dreadfully sorry, but we have an 
important mission to attend to for Princess Rariteia of Alderaanch."

"Oooh, you're from Alderaanch? I've heard it's a nice system..."

"Yes, it's very nice, but more importantly, we have a mission for the 
Princess--"

"And you belong to a Princess too! Oh, you must be thrilled to be owned by a 
Princess..."

"Well, actually we belong to the captain of the stockade runner, but--"

"Oh, so you spend a lot of time in space?" Twilight interrupted again. "I've 
always wanted to go into space..."

"Will you PLEASE listen?!" Spike-Threepio cried. "We're in a big hurry here 
and it's really important we find--"

"And you're on a secret mission for a Rebel operative! That's so awesome..."

"Yeah we're leaving. C'mon Owltoo."

Owltoo hooted.

"Don't start that again."

"Wait, wait!" Twilight cried, holding a plaintive hoof out to the droids. 
"Maybe I can help. I mean, you need a native guide, right?"

Spike tilted his head in thought. "Well...I suppose it would be convenient 
to have a guide take us to the spaceport instead of trying to cross the 
apparently endless desert and running into whatever sort of really bad thing 
droids run into here. We don't even know what planet we're on."

"Well, if you're looking for the bright center of the galaxy, this planet is 
the farthest from it," Twilight muttered.

"Miss Twilight? I believe if we're going to work well together, actually 
providing information instead of disgruntled opinions would probably help."

"Uh...right, sorry," Twilight said sheepishly. "This is Trotooine. More 
specifically, the Cake farm. I live here with my Uncle Carrot and Aunt Cup."

"Trotooine...not an Equire system, then?"

"No, and that's about the only good thing you CAN say about this place."

"Wow. That bad, huh?" Spike-Threepio asked.

Twilight nodded.

"So...anywhere we can try to get information and passage off this 
litterbox?"

"Well, Moose Eisley is the nearest city with a spaceport, but...this isn't 
the kind of place two droids want to be caught running around alone, if you 
know what I mean."

Spike-Threepio sighed. "It figures."

"TWILIIIIGHT!" a male voice called from the low house in the center of the 
homestead. An unkempt graying stallion loped up into the bright daylight. 
"How's it coming with the--oh hello, what have we here?"

"Hey Uncle Carrot!" Twilight called. "These two droids just lan--" she 
caught herself. "--just wandered in from the desert. It looks like they 
don't have owners and probably had a bad memory wipe. What do you think?"

Carrot frowned. "Well...I *am* tired of getting ripped off by those..." He 
tapped a hoof. "You droids unowned, you say?" He cast a wary eye at the 
escape pod standing right in the middle of his property.

Twilight surreptitiously motioned for Spike-Threepio to agree. The 
dragon-droid promptly launched into a spiel. "Indeed we are, my good sir! I 
am Spike-Threepio, pony-cyborg relations, and this is my counterp--"

"Yeah, whatever. Do you speak Zebra?"

"I'm a protocol droid. I'm fluent in many forms of communication, including 
Zebra."

"Binary?"

"I *am* a droid, sir."

"Raxacoricofallapatorian?"

Twilight facehoofed. "Uncle Carrot, do we even *know* any 
Raxacoricofallapatorians?"

Carrot chuckled. "Just having some fun. Alright...looks like we just scored 
ourselves some free droids. But if anypony comes lookin' for 'em..."

"Got it," Twilight replied.

"Good, now get those two cleaned up, then come inside for supper."

(SCENE WIPE)

"I'm sorry, Miss Twilight, but I fail to see how being claimed as property 
on your farm helps us carry out our mission."


"Well, it gives you a safe place to stay until you can find what you're 
looking for and be on your way," Twilight offered as she diligently cleaned 
the two droids, who in only a few minutes on Trotooine had managed to gain a 
two-inch thick layer of crusty sand each.

"Good point..."

"So, what ARE you looking for?"

"We were tasked with delivering a message..." Spike-Threepio began, then 
trailed off. "Here, I'll just play it for you..." He popped the data disc 
from the reader slot in his own head and popped it into the similar one on 
the owl-droid. The owl-droid's eyes lit up and began projecting a hologram 
of an ivory-colored unicorn with an oddly styled mane.

//Help me, Ali-Corn Celesti. You're my only hope. Help me, Ali-Corn Celesti. 
Help me, Ali-Corn Celesti. Help--//

"Uhh...looks like he can't handle the format. You know how it is with these 
iDroids." Spike retrieved the disc and carefully slipped it back into his 
own reader.

"Ali-Corn Celesti..." Twilight trailed off. "Now why does that name sound 
familiar..." She paced for a moment, her dark purple mane and tail swishing. 
"I wonder if she means Sunny..."

Spike hopped in place. "You know who she is?"

"Well, I don't know an Ali-Corn Celesti, but I do know old Sunny Celesti. 
She lives out in the wastes..."

"Twilight! Finish up with those droids and come up for supper, dear! And 
clean yourself up too, we're having company!" Aunt Cup's voice dopplered as 
she bustled about upstairs.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "We'll talk more after supper," she informed the 
droids.

"Thank you, Miss Twilight."

(SCENE WIPE)

Twilight stared in flat disbelief at the guest who had joined them for 
dinner.

"Now, Twilight, dear. Don't be rude. You remember Sunny Celesti, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I was just talking about her with somepony," Twilight 
said dully.

"Oh, really?" the graceful, frail-looking mare across the dinner table said, 
sipping from a glass of blue apple juice. Sunny was a fairly old mare; her 
flowing mane had once been a sweeping spray of vivid pastel colors, but the 
Trotooine suns had bleached those hues to a pale shadow of their former 
selves. She also tended to always wear a heavy old burlap cloak and blanket 
that covered everything but her head and hooves. "Nothing too unkind, I 
hope..."

"No, it's..." Twilight trailed off. "I met somepony today who's looking for 
somepony named Ali-Corn Celesti. I just thought--"

Everypony fell unnaturally silent, stiffening in their seats.

"I see," Sunny said.

"Master Celesti," Carrot said with a hint of warning.

"Oh, stop that, Carrot. You knew right from the start this was going to 
happen. It was just a matter of when."

Twilight looked back and forth between them. Cup Cake, for her part, was 
beginning to sniffle. The lavender unicorn's ears flattened. "Am I...missing 
something here?"

"Twilight, *I'M* Ali-Corn Celesti," Sunny replied with a tired smile. "But I 
haven't gone by that name in many, many years..."

The door chime sounded. Everypony looked at one another in surprise, 
frowning. "Now who could--?"

"STEEDTROOPERS! OPEN UP OR WE'LL BLAST OUR WAY IN!"

Cup paled. Carrot frowned. Sunny sighed. "I'll handle this."

"Sunny, I mean Ali-Corn...wait!" Twilight called. But it was too late; the 
old pony had trotted to the door and opened it.

"Anything I can help you with?" she asked sweetly.

"An escape pod landed in the middle of this farm. Two droids were inside it. 
Do you know anything about it?"

"There are no droids here," Sunny said, waving a hoof in front of the lead 
steedtrooper's face.

"There are no droids here," the trooper repeated dully.

"The escape pod had a dog turd in it and nothing else."

"The escape pod had a..." the steedtrooper trailed off. "Okay wait, lady. If 
you're gonna pull that old mind trick stuff on us, at least make it make 
sense."

Sunny laughed softly. "Sorry, just having a bit of fun. Okay then, how about 
this...the escape pod was stolen by scavengers while you were taking a leak, 
and none of you heard it because you were whistling the My Little Pony theme 
song."

"I can totally buy that," the steedtrooper replied.

"Okay then, that's what we're going with, right?"

"Right. Goodnight, then." The steedtroopers left, and a few seconds later, 
just as Sunny was closing the door, the family inside was treated to the 
amusing sound of Equirial soldiers whistling a cartoon theme song. Sunny 
turned brightly to them. "Well, then! I guess we all know what happens 
next."

"You take Twilight away from us, expose her to the truth we've carefully 
sheltered her from her entire life, completely shatter her world view, and 
drag her into the middle of some epic battle for the fate of the entire 
galaxy?" Carrot suggested.

"Actually, I was thinking about the blue cupcakes over on the counter, but 
yes, the rest of that after the cupcakes."

(SCENE WIPE)

After dessert, Sunny went down to the garage with Twilight. "So these two 
droids were sent here to find me?"


Twilight nodded. "They have a message from a Princess, asking for your 
help."

"I see." The older mare looked over the two droids, then calmly said, "It 
certainly has been a long time, hasn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Spike-Threepio said. In a 
stage-whisper, he added, "We're not doing the prequels, remember? And even 
if we were, I'd have had my memory erased after Mustangfar!"

"Oh, right, sorry. One does forget." Sunny chuckled.

Twilight stared at the older pony and the little dragon-droid. "Everypony in 
this system is CRAZY," she moaned.

Spike coughed. "So, you ARE Ali-Corn Celesti, then?"

"That's right."

"Okay. I'll play back Princess Rariteia's message. I can't show you the 
hologram since Owltoo has the hologram system and the disc isn't formatted 
for him, so..." Clearing his throat, Spike-Threepio spoke in the lilting, 
regal voice of an elegant unicorn:

//General Celesti. My name is Rariteia, Princess of Alderaanch. Years ago, 
you served my father during the My Little Clony Wars. Now, he begs you to 
help him once again in his struggle against the Equire.

//I regret that I must contact you in such a disrespectful manner, but that 
awful, awful, simply AWFUL Nightmare Moon has just attacked and boarded my 
vessel, and I fear I will not be able to meet you in person. I have hidden 
the secret plans for the Equire's most terrible weapon in the memory systems 
of this droid. Please deliver this droid safely to my father on Alderaanch. 
He will know how to retrieve the data. This is, without a doubt, THE. MOST. 
IMPORTANT. THING. EVER!! Help me, General Celesti. You're my only hope.//

After Spike fell silent, the others took a moment to digest all that.

"Pretty long-winded for a Pony Rebel Princess in immediate danger of capture 
or death, isn't she?" Twilight said.

Ali-Corn studied Twilight intently for a long moment. "You must learn the 
ways of the Horce if you are to accompany me to Alderaanch."

"The Horse?"

"No, the Horce. With a C. Like Force."

"Oh. Okay. So...what's the Horce?"

"The Horce is a powerful force, of course. It surrounds all living 
things...it's part of the very essence of the universe. It is what gave the 
Cuti Knights their power, long ago. Through the Horce, you will become the 
master of your surroundings, gain insight into the workings of the universe 
that others lack..."

Twilight frowned. "That sounds too complicated. Can't I just use unicorn 
magic instead?"

"Suit yourself..." Ali-Corn trailed off. "Oh, that reminds me..." One of her 
saddlebags opened, and a scroll floated out, landing in front of the younger 
pony. "This belonged to your mother."

"What is it?" Twilight asked, opening the scroll and studying it.

"It's a hornsaber spell," Ali-Corn replied. "The hornsaber was the spell of 
choice for the Cuti Knights. Far more accurate than a blaster at close 
range, and more dignified and elegant as well."

Twilight took a deep breath and concentrated. Her horn flared with purple 
light...that extruded into a long, tapered violet blade shape with a loud 
*snap-hiss*. She tossed her head slightly to and fro, listening to the 
deadly magical energy hum with power, before ending the spell. "So, you knew 
my mother? Uncle Carrot always told me she was a navigator on an alfalfa 
freighter..."

"Oh, no no no," Ali-Corn said. "Your mother was a powerful Cuti Knight, and 
my fiercest friend. She was like a sister to me."

"So...what happened to her?"

The older mare hesitated. "A very young and very foolish student of mine, 
Nightmare Moon, fell to the Dark Side of the Horce and...murdered your 
mother."

Twilight looked down, tears in her eyes. "I never even knew my mother..." 
she whispered.

"Come with me to Alderaanch, Twilight Sparkletrotter," Ali-Corn suggested 
gently. "The Rebellion desperately needs all the help they can get, and I'm 
getting too old for this sort of thing."

Twilight shook her head. "I...I don't think so. I mean, I've got studies, 
chores, I'm just not sure my aunt and uncle will--"

(SCENE WIPE)

"Have a safe trip to Alderaanch, dear. Be careful out there." Aunt Cup 
hugged Twilight fiercely, sniffling. "It's cold up in space, so take extra 
blankets."

"Make sure we get our niece back in one piece," Carrot admonished Ali-Corn 
sternly.

"Of course."

"Well then, you'd best be off. You want to make Moose Eisley before midday."

With a last round of tearful hugs, Twilight Sparkletrotter turned and left 
her home, the only home she had known in her entire life--a home she was 
uncertain she would ever see again.

As the two mares and the two droids left the Cake farm, Twilight's nose 
wrinkled. "Does it smell like pee out here to you?"

(SCENE WIPE)

In a conference room aboard the Death Spur, a heated argument was brewing.

"Until this battlestable is fully operational, we are vulnerable! The Pony 
Rebels are far more dangerous than you realize--"

"Dangerous to your starfleet, Commander, but NOT to this battlestable!"

"The Pony Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Equirial Senate as 
long as--"

The doors hissed open, and the arguing ponies fell silent as a thin, 
dour-faced old donkey trotted in, followed by the ominous (and noisy) 
presence of Nightmare Moon. The donkey settled in at his place at the table, 
smoothing down his ridiculously thick toupee before speaking. "The Equirial 
Senate is no longer of any concern. I've just received word that the Empress 
has dissolved the council permanently."

There were gasps. "And the Senators just went along with this?" the fleet 
admiral asked incredulously.

The donkey peered sternly at him, frowning. "Like I said, she DISSOLVED the 
council permanently."

A few rather ill reactions met this comment.

"But without the Senate, without the bureaucracy, how will Her Majesty 
maintain control--"

"Through the regional governors," the gruff donkey said. "Through direct 
control of the territories. Through fear. Fear of this space stable."

"And the Rebellion?" the admiral asked. "If, as we fear, they have obtained 
a technical readout of the Death Spur, they might find a weakness--"

"DO NOT CONCERN YOURSELF WITH THAT MATTER," Nightmare Moon thundered. "IT 
WILL SOON BE DEALT WITH."

The battle commander of the Death Spur snorted. "Let them try to attack. 
They will fail, and they will die. This stable is now the ultimate power in 
the ponyverse."

"DO NOT BE TOO PROUD OF THIS TECHNOLOGICAL TERROR, COMMANDER. THE POWER TO 
DESTROY A PLANET IS NOTHING WHEN COMPARED TO THE MIGHT OF THE HORCE."

"Oh, please," the stable commander scoffed. "Don't try to frighten us with 
your sorceror's ways, Lady Nightmare. Your sad devotion to...to that..." His 
eyes bulged as he began to gasp and choke for breath.

One of the aides rushed over and performed the Heimlich manuever on him. An 
apple core flew across the room, striking the dour donkey directly in the 
toupee.

"...much...better," the battle commander wheezed. Pausing for a breath, he 
continued his tirade: "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion hasn't 
helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or find the Pony Rebel base, or 
improved your cupcake recipe, or cured the Trots, or made it so you can 
breathe without that infernally loud and annoying mask..."

The stable commander's eyes bulged again as, with a terrible spray of blood 
and gore, the skin and flesh of his head peeled away from the skull, 
splattering on the floor and table.

"I FIND YOUR LACK OF FACE DISTURBING," Nightmare Moon informed the now very 
dead commander.

"Oh great, now I've got to get someone in here to mop up this mess," the 
donkey muttered.

(SCENE WIPE)

Princess Rariteia faced the cell door with defiance as it opened and several 
steedtroopers entered. Her face faltered, lip quivering and eyes watering, 
at the horrible sight of the torture droid that was rapidly filling the 
remaining empty space in her cell.

"AND NOW, PRINCESS RARITEIA," Nightmare Moon thundered from behind the 
droid, "WE WILL DISCUSS THE LOCATION OF YOUR HIDDEN REBEL BASE..."

A stiff-wire brush and a humming electric clipper head emerged from the 
droid, which advanced toward the young Princess like an oncoming storm. The 
cell door then closed, muffling her screams of anguish...

(SCENE WIPE)

The suns blazed overhead as a purple hot-air balloon drew within sight of 
Moose Eisley. Twilight gently set the balloon down on a massive dune 
overlooking the sprawling township.

"Moose Eisley Spaceport," Sunny said softly from beside her. "You will never 
find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy..."

Twilight stared down into the wretched hive. Pretty pastel pink and yellow 
roofs that looked like frosted gingerbread, window trim that looked like 
candy canes, and lawn gnomes shaped like gumdrops stared back up at her.

"We must be cautious," Sunny said gravely as she trotted down the dune and 
into the city.

"She must be nuts," Twilight muttered in disbelief, following her.

Closer to, Moose Eisley was only slightly less cheery and peaceful than it 
had seemed from above. Desert mice were running wild all over the place. 
Some of them had wicked little knives; Twilight watched one tiny little 
mouse shout at a hulking Buffa, which toppled over dead, crushing its rider. 
Steedtroopers were roaming the streets in pairs, but every time a patrol 
came near their party, Sunny's horn glowed faintly and the Equirials veered 
away without seeming to notice them. "The Horce is a powerful ally," she 
said quietly to Twilight.

"So is a basic perception filter spell, which is what that was," the younger 
pony pointed out.

"...well, okay, YES. BUT! The Horce is STILL a powerful ally, as you will 
learn." She gestured with her chin to a nearby bar with foamy pink and blue 
bubbles painted on the door. "We should find a pilot here that can get us to 
Alderaanch."

The two mares trotted through the door and into...

Twilight stared in horror. Sunny paled. "Er. Wrong bar." They slowly backed 
out, eyes wide and alarmed.

Inside, dozens of huge, well-endowed stallions wearing rather suggestive 
leather goods and huge, bushy mustaches had been...

But anyway, nevermind that. Two addresses over, they found the bar they were 
really looking for.

"Is this...is this really the bar we're looking for?" Twilight asked, 
staring around in wide-eyed shock and confusion. There were menacing-looking 
ponies in black masks and suits all over the place; there seemed to be a 
party in progress, as the band on stage was playing a lively, upbeat tune 
and the various stallions and mares at the most lively table surrounded an 
absolutely breathtaking, almond-coated pegasus with her glossy black mane 
pinned up with chopsticks and a beautiful silk kimono draped about her.

Sunny frowned. "I could've sworn this was--"

A blood-spattered mare in a sleek yellow track suit charged into the middle 
of this bar from seemingly nowhere, a katana clenched in her teeth, and a 
gory spectacle of mayhem, murder, and martial arts mastery erupted.

Twilight and Sunny VERY *QUICKLY* backed out of this bar, shuddering at the 
screams wafting from inside.

"Well *this* is certainly helping us get to Alderaanch," Spike-Threepio 
commented snarkily, claws on his hips.

"So you wanna go to Alderaanch?" a voice asked from behind and slightly 
above.

The party turned and looked up. A sky-blue pegasus with a wild, 
rainbow-colored mane looked down at them.

"We're looking for passage, yes," Sunny said. "The two of us, plus our two 
droids here, and no questions asked."

"Ooooooh, so YOU'RE why there's so many steedtroopers runnin' around today, 
huh?" the pegasus asked, rolling over lazily on her back in midair. "If the 
Equire's involved, it's gonna cost you plenty."

"How does six hundred bits now and another thousand on arrival sound?" Sunny 
asked.

"Sounds like you just hired me," the pegasus said. "Name's Rain Bolo. Soon 
as you're ready to leave, meet me at docking bay 7." With a jaunty wave, she 
flew off, a blurry streak of rainbow trailing behind her.

"Well, that was easy," Sunny commented.

(SCENE WIPE)

"HER RESISTANCE IS CONSIDERABLE. IT MAY BE SOME TIME BEFORE WE CAN EXTRACT 
ANY INFORMATION FROM HER."

Nightmare Moon and the dour donkey stood on the command deck. The donkey 
frowned, rubbing his chin with a hoof. "Then perhaps we should try another 
tack."

"SUCH AS?"

The donkey turned to address his officers. "Set course for Alderaanch. It's 
time to show these ponies what this space stable can do."

(SCENE WIPE)

"HOW THE HAY DID THEY FIND US?" Twilight screeched. She and Sunny were 
galloping full-speed through the streets, droids on their backs, searching 
for the docking bay, steedtroopers hot on their hooves and raining blaster 
fire down on them.

The older mare's horn flared, and a shaft of pure white light extended, 
spinning wildly around to deflect blaster bolts. Without breaking stride or 
looking around, she pressed on with determination. Twilight could only stare 
in awe.

"This...would be...a lot easier...if I could still fly," Sunny muttered.

Twilight nearly broke stride at that. "Fly? What? You're a unicorn, not a--"

"Nevermind that now!" Steadily gaining ground as some of the less 
Equirial-minded citizens around them started subtly obstructing the 
troopers' path, the two mares found the dock, and what could only be...

"Oh, there you are. You're in a big hurry," Rain Bolo said as she saw her 
fare approaching. Then she realized WHY they were in a hurry, and spat out a 
curse. "Hurry up, get on," she urged.

The party charged up the entry ramp, which Rain hastily closed. "Get us the 
hay outta here, Macky!" she bellowed.

"Eeeeyup," a deep voice belonging to a burly red stallion rumbled from the 
cockpit. The engines hummed to life.

"Can this old piece of junk really even fly?" Twilight asked dubiously as 
she stopped for breath.

"Piece of JUNK? I'll show you!" Rain said hotly. "Punch it, Macky!"

"Eeeyup!"

Without waiting for takeoff clearance, and without bothering with such 
niceties as taking off at speeds that didn't send everypony for a kilometer 
scrambling for cover, the freighter, roughly a flat disc shaped like a large 
silver apple with a bite taken from it, angled up and shot straight through 
Trotooine's atmosphere and into the black of space, alarming the Equirial 
patrols in orbit.

Rain grinned. "Sit back, relax, and leave the flying to us. Welcome aboard 
the Millenium Rainboom."

"Well, you'd best be ready to rainboom those interceptors," Sunny remarked. 
In the cockpit, the proximity alarm went off even as the ship rocked from 
laser fire.

"Oh, you little punks do NOT shoot at MY ship!" Rain growled, charging into 
the cockpit and taking her place at the helm. The ship suddenly lurched 
sharply to the right, then veered off at a crazy angle. The two passengers 
were thrown roughly around the cabin, and the droids raised a din as they 
rattled around like dustbins. "Macky, get to work on the happyspace jump 
while I keep these jokers busy."

"Eeyup."

"I think we'd best strap in," Sunny suggested. Twilight nodded dumbly, eyes 
spinning.

The next few minutes were the most intense experience of Twilight 
Sparkletrotter's life. It occurred to her that Rain Bolo must indeed be 
incredibly skilled, and her ship far less a piece of junk than it appeared, 
but it also occurred to her that the brash pegasus was completely reckless 
and insane. Explosions danced scant meters from the skin of the ship, but no 
impacts were felt; occasionally Rain made a manuever that tricked the 
Equirial fighters into blasting each other, resulting in one spectacular 
fireball as an interceptor was destroyed by friendly fire. All the while, 
the Millenium Rainboom darted back and forth so crazily that the passengers 
were repeatedly thrown sharply into their harnesses.

Then, Rain gave a triumphant cry from her chair, and Twilight dared to look 
directly forward at the main viewport. The stars were replaced by brilliant 
streaks of multihued light, extruding away into the distance and forming 
what looked for all the ponyverse like a big rainbow tunnel in space.

And then the Millenium Rainboom was in happyspace.

(SCENE WIPE)

Alderaanch was little more than a blue-green blotch on the main monitors as 
the Death Spur approached the peaceful pony planet. The doors to the bridge 
hissed open, and the donkey observing the approach turned, raising an 
eyebrow at the spectacle that had just trotted in.

Princess Rariteia was in far more ragged condition than when she had first 
been brought aboard. She was still fettered, and her defiant gaze had become 
more sullen than furious.

Her mane had been absolutely destroyed.

When she was first brought aboard, her long, deep purple tresses were 
expertly braided and rolled into tight, perfect buns on the sides of her 
head. Now, the buns had been completely undone, and the flowing hair had 
been butchered into clumps of uneven lengths. Split ends abounded. In one 
area, a few uneven lengths had been styled into frizzy dreadlocks. In 
another area, a shorter section had been tightly wound around an ornamental 
lacquered horseshoe. Still another section had been shaven bare; one of the 
longest remaining locks had been pulled to its full length, frozen in place 
with probably every ounce of hair gel in the entire Equire, and painted neon 
lime green.

And lastly, to add insult to injury, a live chicken had somehow become 
entangled in her tail.

Still, her stare remained fierce and defiant, her spirit apparently unbroken 
in the face of this...indignity.

"Crank Mule Donkin," Rariteia spat venomously. "I should have expected to 
find you holding Lady Nightmare's reins. I thought that foul stench meant it 
was bean soup day in the cafeteria, but now..."

The governor's right eye and left ear twitched. "That. Is. NOT. My. NAME. 
You. LITTLE. BRAT!"

"That isn't your hair either, unless some sort of furry rodent mated with 
your head."

The donkey started to retort, then shook his head with a gruff snort. 
"Enough of this. I did not summon you here to exchange ridiculous insults. I 
just thought, before your execution, you might be my guest of honor at a 
litle ceremony. One that will make known to the entire galaxy the power of 
this battlestable."

Rariteia lifted her chin in defiance. "If you think for one second that the 
decent ponies of the galaxy will be afraid of this little toy..." She 
trailed off, then smirked. "But then, nopony has EVER been afraid of *your* 
little toy, have they?"

Grand Mule Crankin ground his teeth furiously. "You know, Princess, I *was* 
going to offer you a choice to surrender the location of the Pony Rebel base 
and spare your own home planet, but now?" He turned and addressed the 
officers at the control monitors. "Fire when ready."

Rariteia gasped. "What--? No--!"

"IT IS TOO LATE," Nightmare Moon rumbled. "YOUR WORLD IS DOOMED."

The unicorn princess watched in growing horror as all around the command 
deck, banks of indicators lit up, klaxons sounded, and officers pulled 
levers and flipped switches. Each of the sharp "points" of the Death Spur 
lit up with a brilliant column of green light, which crackled with plasma as 
they streaked from the tips to the center of the stable. A final loud chime 
sounded, and a powerful beam erupted forth from the battlestable. The beam 
struck the peaceful, defenseless little planet on the viewscreen...

Alderaanch JUMPED, as would a pony suddenly jabbed in the sides with sharp 
spurs, and broke its orbit, rocketing off haphazardly into the galaxy.

All present on the bridge stared.

"...CRANKIN."

"Y-yes, Lady Nightmare?"

"WAS...*THAT*...SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN?"

Crankin swallowed thickly. "Uh...n-no, my Lady. It was supposed to, y'know, 
blow up."

Rariteia just stared, slack-jawed. A weird mix of horror, confusion, and 
hilarity flooded her mind.

"Ah...Lady Nightmare?" one of the bridge officers spoke up hesitantly.

"YES? SPEAK IF YOU DARE."

"Um...it's just...this might actually be better than the planet exploding."

"HOW," Nightmare Moon roared venomously, picking the hapless officer up with 
the Horce and shaking him like a rag doll, "IS AN ABSOLUTE *JOKE* LIKE THE 
ONE WE JUST WITNESSED A *GOOD* THING?"

"Ah, well," the officer said nervously, "everypony on Alderaanch is still 
gonna die without a sun, and now we've got a rogue planet flying around out 
there like an out of control bowling ball. Just--just think what kind of 
chaos that'll cause."

Nightmare Moon did think of what kind of chaos that would cause.

So did everypony else on the bridge.

And Nightmare Moon...laughed.

(SCENE WIPE)

Twilight watched the little floating seeker ball warily, trying to 
anticipate which direction its bolt would come from. She quickly parried two 
shots, then leaped into the air and somersaulted into the seeker, bisecting 
it.

"Nicely done," Sunny commented. "Nice...nicely...oh. Oh..."

"What's wrong?" the younger mare asked, trotting over to examine her new 
mentor with concern.

"I...I'm not sure," Sunny said. "For a moment...it felt like millions of 
voices suddenly cried out in terror...and are now simply confused. And yet, 
danger looms in the Horce...I fear something terrible has happened."

Twilight observed her with a troubled look, and was about to start 
practicing the hornsaber spell again when Rain entered the room.

"That's it, we should be clear all the way to Alderaanch," she said. "So, 
whatcha think? Am I good? Huh?"

"You are...a somewhat talented flyer," Sunny admitted, though her voice was 
somewhat distracted. "I have seen better. Not many." She smiled suddenly, a 
bit of the warmth and life seeming to return to her eyes. "Seven, eight 
thousand at most."

Twilight laughed, while the blue pegasus snorted and kicked back lazily on a 
fluffy little cloud. "Yeah well, I don't expect a unicorn to know nothin' 
about good flyin'," Rain said sulkily.

Suddenly, Twilight remembered something, and turned to face the older mare. 
"Sunny," she said, "back on Trotooine, when we were running from the 
steedtroopers...you said something that I wanted to ask you about." She 
loped around to face her mentor squarely. "You said it would be easier if 
you could still fly. Would...would you mind explaining that?"

Rain leaned forward with interest. "Huh? A flying unicorn? How the hay...?"

Sunny sighed tiredly, smiling sadly. "Twilight," she began, "help me with my 
cloak and blankets, if you would please..."

With the younger unicorn's help, Sunny removed her heavy cloak and 
threadbare old blankets, and Twilight and Rain both stared in wide-eyed, 
shocked disbelief.

Twilight had known there had to be something special about a unicorn with 
such a long, grand horn and such a beautiful, vibrant mane.

Now she saw that her mentor and former Cuti Knight was no unicorn at all.

The older mare sighed heavily as she extended one full, broad, feathery wing 
above her left flank, sweeping the feathers past the bright golden sun mark 
emblazoned there.

On her right, however, was a ruined, mangled mess of a wing, most of which 
had been amputated and stapled down a very long time ago.

Rain gasped in horror as she beheld the ruined wing. "How--how did THAT 
happen?!" she squeaked.

"More importantly," Twilight asked, voice full of wonder and awe, "you're 
a...but no, it's impossible, the only one in the entire ponyverse is a 
cyborg, so hers aren't even real..."

"Oh, hers WERE real," Ali-Corn said as she preened the feathers on her good 
wing. "The ones she has now are mechanical, yes, but long ago, she and I 
were both very much..." Tears filled her eyes and she sniffled. "But that is 
in the past. It doesn't matter."

"What're you two talkin' about?" Rain asked, head tilted in confusion.

"Ali-Corn Celesti...actually *IS* an alicorn," Twilight explained. At Rain's 
blank look, she blew upward at her own bangs. "You know, a pony who's both a 
pegasus and a unicorn?"

"Oh." Rain paused. "I didn't know there were any ponies like that."

"It's because there aren't," Ali-Corn replied. "At least, there aren't 
supposed to be. And after what happened to the only two of us in the entire 
ponyverse, I learned *why* we can't be." She looked up at the younger mares 
with sad, pain-filled eyes.

"You see, I have a sister. You know her as Nightmare Moon."

The younger ponies gasped.

"And when last we saw one another, many years ago, I deprived her of far 
more than the one wing I lost to her blade."

"Sunny..." Twilight breathed. "I..."

"But that story can wait, because I believe we're about to approach 
Alderaanch," Celesti said primly, folding her good wing against her body 
once again and donning her blankets and cloak.

"Actually, we're still about what, three hours away?"

"Eeyup," Rain's co-pilot said as he nudged at a control stud on a gameboard 
which sat between him and Owltoo. The owl-droid hooted thoughtfully before 
making a countermove. Bigmacca snorted. "Good move."

Twilight blinked. "He actually TALKS?"

"Eeyup," Bigmacca replied.

Rain snickered.

Suddenly, the proximity alarms blared, and the ship shuddered violently. 
"What the--?!" Rain yelped. She dashed to the cockpit, Bigmacca hot on her 
hooves, and started checking various scopes and navigational readouts.

The Rainboom immediately dropped out of happyspace, and the occupants were 
alarmed to see a blue-green planet rushing up at them fast...

...and then zooming past them.

Twilight frowned. "Rain...were your happyspace calculations off?"

"No chance," Rain replied, rechecking her instrumentation. "We're still on 
course for Alderaanch..." She frowned. "Except...that WAS Alderaanch."

"Yes, it was," Sunny said, frowning. Her gaze was fixed intently in the 
direction of the rogue planet which just buzzed them. "But we're not in the 
Alderaanch system yet, and...it's...."

"Moving," Rain and Twilight finished.

"How can a planet be moving?!" Rain asked.

"Planets ALWAYS move, Rain," Twilight explained. "It's just--"

"I KNOW THAT!" Rain cut across her. "I mean what the hay is a planet doin' 
moving outside of its orbit? Macky, you got a track on that planet?"

"Eeyup," Bigmacca replied, punching up a course chart on a monitor. The 
chart showed Alderaanch flying away from its system and out into space, in 
almost the direction they had just come from.

"It's really haulin' ass," Rain observed, impressed.

"That explains the strange disturbance I felt in the Horce," Sunny said.

"It's almost like something *kicked* Alderaanch out of orbit," Twilight 
mused. "But that's...that's impossible, right?"

The group sat in silence for some time, the Millenium Rainboom stopped dead 
in space.

"So...what do we do now?" Twilight asked. "Do...do we follow Alderaanch?"

"I don't think so," Sunny said. "I think we need to keep going to the 
Alderaanch system. Whatever happened to Alderaanch, we'll find the answer 
there."

"But what about everypony on Alderaanch?" Twilight asked.

"There's nothing we can do for them, not at the moment anyway," Sunny said. 
"And I know this sounds cold, but...for the moment, they're in no real 
danger."

"No real DANGER?" Rain exclaimed.

"It'll take a while before losing their sun affects life," Sunny explained. 
"They should be able to construct geothermal safe-shelters to hold out 
against the loss of sunlight, and there are no small number of systems that 
will attempt relief. So for now, our concern needs to be what CAUSED that."

"...I'm so gonna regret takin' this fare."

"Eeyup."

Sighing, Rain returned to the cockpit and reinput the course for the 
Alderaanch system. Twilight continued practicing the hornsaber spell; 
Bigmacca and Owltoo continued their game. Meanwhile, Ali-Corn went into deep 
meditation.

They had just arrived at the Alderaanch system when Ali-Corn suddenly gave 
an alarmed snort. Twilight halted her practice. "Sunny?" she asked. "What's 
wrong?"

"A presence," the older mare said. "One I have not felt in quite some 
time..."

The proximity alarm sounded again. "BUFFA CHIPS, WHAT NEXT?!" Rain cried in 
exasperation.

A short-range interceptor flitted past the Rainboom. Ali-Corn frowned. "Now 
wherever could *that* have come from?"

"Probably from that spur-shaped space stable up ahead," Twilight pointed 
out.

The ponies and droids looked at the structure looming large before the ship.

"I have a VERY bad feeling about this," Rain said.

The Rainboom shuddered. "What was that?" Twilight asked, alarmed.

"We're caught in a tractor team!" Rain replied, furiously fighting the 
control board. Outside, suited spaceponies had attached a dozen space oxen 
to the ship, and the oxen were dragging it close to the ominous-looking 
space stable.

"Can we break loose?" Twilight asked.

"I don't think so," Rain said, grimacing. "They've locked burrolasers and 
we're flanked by fighters. Can't jump to happyspace either, the tractor 
team's too strong...like it or not, we're goin' in."

The party watched, a feeling of doom settling over them, as the space stable 
loomed larger and larger...

(SCENE WIPE)

The Rainboom was towed into an expansive docking bay, where it was quickly 
surrounded by a legion of steedtroopers, blasters at the ready. A deck 
officer marched down from the control booth and began issuing orders; the 
troopers forced the landing ramp of the freighter open and lined up to board 
the ship.

After nearly thirty minutes, the last troopers emerged from the Rainboom. 
"The ship is deserted," one troop reported to the deck officer. "The crew 
must've abandoned ship after launch, set it on remote--"

"Ohhhhh no, we're not falling for the same trick twice in one movie," the 
officer replied. "They already pulled that stunt with the droids in the 
escape pod back on Trotooine. This ship isn't empty."

"But sir, we searched every--"

"Do you want to tell Lady Nightmare that?"

The trooper gulped. "No sir," he replied. "We'll search again."

(SCENE WIPE)

Aboard the Rainboom, the ponies and droids were huddled in a concealed hold, 
hidden beneath a deck panel. "Something's wrong," Twilight whispered. 
"They're not leaving."

"They're smarter than I gave them credit for," Rain replied. "Any ideas?"

"Patience," Sunny advised.

Rain rolled her eyes. "Swell."

Overhead, they could hear the heavy thudding of armored hooves as the 
steedtroopers searched the ship. The deck plate covering their hiding place 
shuddered noisily. "I have an idea," Twilight whispered suddenly. "Next time 
they pass right over us, let's buck the plate as hard as we can."

"So they'll be confused, and we can take 'em down before they know what hit 
'em!" Rain said enthusiastically. "Nice thinking!"

They waited quietly for several tense moments. The plate vibrated again as 
the troopers passed overhead. "NOW!" Twilight shouted. She, Rain, Bigmacca, 
and Sunny reared up and kicked the plate hard with their hind legs. The 
troopers above whinnied in alarm as the floor was abruptly thrown out from 
under them and they were tossed into the bulkheads.

Several minutes later, two steedtroopers emerged from the ship, a huge, 
fettered red stallion between them and two droids behind them. The deck 
officer raised an eyebrow. "So, you did find them after all," he remarked. 
He trotted up to the captive pony, twitching an ear. "Take this scum down to 
the prison level--"

He was cut off as suddenly he was lifted off his hooves and thrown across 
the bay. The remaining troopers on deck snapped to attention, blasters at 
the ready, but the intruders quickly got the upper hand.

"Quickly, let's secure the control room," Sunny whispered as she cantered 
down the ramp and joined the party. "We can make our escape plan once we're 
safe behind a blast door."

It took less than five minutes to barge into the control room, subdue the 
officer on watch, and lock the blast doors. Twilight and Rain took off their 
stolen helmets, while Sunny unchained Bigmacca. Owltoo rolled over to the 
computer access terminal and plugged in. A moment later, he began hooting 
rapidly. "Owltoo says the ship has been secured with a magnetic mooring 
field, and the bay itself is sealed by a magnetic force shield. There are 
three power terminals; if you shut down one of them, the magnetic fields 
lose power and we can escape."

"I'll handle the power terminal," Sunny said. "You three wait here with the 
droids."

"Shouldn't I come with you?" Twilight asked. "It could be dangerous--"

"It's best if I handle this alone," Sunny said. "I sense a presence on this 
stable...one I have not felt for some time..."

"Nightmare Moon is here, isn't she," Twilight stated flatly.

The old Cuti Knight sighed. "Yes. Yes she is." Shaking her head, she trotted 
over to the door. "Stay safe," she advised before leaving.

As the door closed behind the alicorn, Rain leaned against a control 
console. "Some friend you got there," she said. "She's completely insane. 
You know that, right?"

"She's not insane!" Twilight retorted hotly. "She's a great warrior, and 
very wise--"

She was interrupted by an excited shout from Spike-Threepio. "She's here! 
She's here!"

"Who's here, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"The Princess! Owltoo says she's..." The dragon-droid trailed off, slumping. 
"She's in the detention level," he said quietly. "They're gonna kill her."

Twilight reared up in alarm. "We've gotta rescue her!" she declared.

"Are you *NUTS*?!" Rain asked. "We're in the middle of an Equirial 
battlestable, with thousands of steedtroopers swarming all over the place, 
we can't even get OURSELVES outta this mess, and you wanna try to pull off a 
jailbreak?!"

"Yes," Twilight replied.

"We've gotta save her!" Spike wailed. "We've just gotta!"

Rain rolled her eyes. "I suppose you're gonna vote for playing hero too?" 
she asked her co-pilot.

"Eeyup," Bigmacca replied.

Rain sighed, blowing on her rainbow bangs in frustration. "Alright. FINE. 
We'll save the stupid Princess." She glanced over at Twilight, twitching her 
tail. "So, what's your big plan?"

"Um...gimme a minute, I'm working on it," the farmpony said.

"Put those helmets back on, chain me up, and pretend you're transferring a 
prisoner," Bigmacca suddenly spoke up.

Twilight blinked. "That's...a pretty good plan."

"Yeah, that could work," Rain said. "Let's see, where're the binders..."

Several minutes later, Bigmacca was fettered and the two mares had replaced 
their stolen helmets. "I hope this works," Rain muttered.

"What about us? What if they find us here?" Spike asked.

"Lock the door," Twilight suggested.

"And pray they don't have blasters," Rain added.

Owltoo hooted dubiously.

"The steedtroopers. The ones trying to kill us all?"


"Nevermind that, just...hurry!" Spike urged.

Owltoo hooted again. Spike kicked him over onto his side.

(SCENE WIPE)

The pair of imposter steedtroopers and their "prisoner" drew curious glances 
as they descended to the detention level, but nopony seemed interested in 
stopping them. "How does anypony see anything out of these helmets?" 
Twilight wondered.

"You don't have your display cams on, idiot," Rain replied.

"...oh. ....Okay, yeah, that's better."

The lift tube they had entered brought them to a security station full of 
guards and laser gates. "This isn't gonna work," Rain muttered.

"It'll work," Twilight replied. "It has to."

Suddenly, an officer loped up to them. "Where are you taking this...thing?" 
he asked.

Bigmacca snorted. "I'm not a 'thing', I'm a stallion. And at least *I'm* a 
pony."

"Sh-shut it, you--!" the officer--a goat--replied testily.

Rain jabbed Bigmacca in the flank with her stolen blaster. "Sorry, sir. 
Prisoner transfer from block 1138."

"I wasn't notified," the goat said. "I'll have to clear it--"

The officer and the guards suddenly found themselves thrown into the laser 
gates, which sparked and hissed loudly. They fell to the deck, stunned and 
smoking. Rain stared.

"Clear THAT," Twilight said, cantering over to the security console. "Now, 
where's the princess--"

"You're as crazy as that old mare," Rain said wonderingly.

"Eeyup," Bigmacca agreed.

"Found her," Twilight said, ignoring the commentary. "Let's move." She took 
off down a corridor at full gallop. Rain unlocked Bigmacca's shackles, and 
the two followed in her wake.

(SCENE WIPE)

Rariteia looked up as the door opened. A steedtrooper stood in the 
doorway--except this one seemed a bit on the small side. The trooper stood 
staring at her for far too long a moment for the princess' liking. "Aren't 
you a little short to be a steedtrooper?" she asked archly.

"Huh? Oh, the uniform," the other pony replied somewhat stupidly. She 
removed her helmet, revealing a young violet unicorn mare. "I'm Twilight 
Sparkletrotter, I'm here to rescue you."

"You're who?"

"Twilight Sparkletrotter. I'm here with Ali-Corn Celesti--"

"Well why didn't you say so?" Rariteia demanded, rising to her hooves and 
trotting to the cell door. "Where is she?"

"I'll take you to her," Twilight replied. "Come on, let's--"

A blaster bolt exploded in the corridor.

"Twi, I think they know we're here!" Rain yelled, flying at speed down the 
hall and returning fire.

(SCENE WIPE)

Nightmare Moon paced restlessly in the small conference room near the 
command bridge. Her respirator hissed noisily as she pawed at the deck in 
frustration.

"SHE IS HERE," the Dark Lady suddenly said, rearing up on her hind legs and 
spreading her wings. "ALI-CORN CELESTI IS ABOARD THIS STABLE."

"What makes you so certain?" Crankin asked.

"A TREMOR IN THE HORCE," the Dark Lady replied. "A PRESENCE I HAVE NOT FELT 
SINCE..."

"But surely she must be dead by now?"

"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE HORCE."

"The Cuti are extinct," Donkin pointed out. "Their fire is gone from the 
ponyverse. You're the last--"

He was interrupted by the buzz of a commlink.

//Governor Crankin, emergency alert in detention block AA-23!//

Crankin's ears twitched. "The Princess! Put all sections on alert!"

"ALI-CORN IS HERE," Nightmare Moon thundered. "THE HORCE IS WITH HER."

"If you're right, she mustn't be allowed to escape--"

"ESCAPE IS NOT HER PLAN. I MUST FACE HER ALONE." With that, the Dark Lady 
stormed out of the conference room.

(SCENE WIPE)

The four ponies charged full-tilt down corridor after corridor, trying 
desperately to evade the pursuing, trigger-happy steedtroopers. "This is, 
without a doubt, the WORST! RESCUE! EVER!" Rariteia complained.

"Well, I'm SO sorry this is SO much worse than you rotting in a cell until 
they make glue out of you!" Rain retorted hotly.

"Ponies!" Twilight called. "Quiet down, we need to--" A blaster bolt singed 
a few hairs of her tail, and she growled. "OKAY, THAT DOES IT!" She spun 
around and cast the hornsaber spell, repelling blaster bolts with expert 
swings. Troopers began to fall to their own fire.

Rarieta's mouth dropped open. "How in the--"

A scroll floated towards her, supported by a violet magical hue. "Take it!" 
Twilight ordered, voice strained. "Use it and help me out here!"

"I--I don't know if I can--"

More blaster bolts rained upon them from the other end of the corridor. They 
were trapped.

"We're trapped!" Rain cried.

"I have an idea," Rariteia said suddenly, snatching Rain's blaster and 
blowing open a grate in the corridor wall near Twilight. "Quick, everypony 
in there!"

The ponies ducked into the opening the princess had made, and quickly found 
themselves flank-deep in foul-smelling, filthy water full of various refuse, 
waste materials, and other things best left unidentified.

"Ugh!" Rain complained. "Wonderful idea, Princess. What an incredible smell 
you've discovered!" She snatched her blaster back from the white unicorn, 
and advanced on the large hatch at one end of the garbage room. "C'mon, 
let's--"

"WAIT!" Twilight cried. "Don't--"

Rain fired at the hatch; the blaster bolt ricocheted wildly around the room, 
forcing the ponies to duck into the foul sludge.

"It's rayshielded," Twilight finished lamely.

"Well you coulda told me that in the first place!"

"I was trying to!"

Suddenly, something in the depths of the garbage swamp let out a terrible, 
bloodcurdling groan.

"There's something alive in here!" Twilight exclaimed.

"No way, it's your imagination--"

Twilight was pulled under by her imagination.

"TWILIGHT!" Rain raised her blaster, trying to figure out where to shoot...

Suddenly, a muted snap-hiss sounded, and the muck began to turn to steam. A 
horrific screech rent the air; a moment later, Twilight emerged from the 
filthy sludge, extinguishing her hornsaber and looking decidedly displeased. 
"Like I said, something WAS alive in here."

"Well, at least it can't possibly get any worse," Rain said.

The walls started to rumble.

"You were saying?" Twilight asked archly.

(SCENE WIPE)

The commlink Spike-Threepio had left on the computer console buzzed 
urgently, Twilight's voice calling out faintly. The two droids, however, 
were nowhere to be seen...

The door suddenly exploded, and a squad of steedtroopers burst through. 
"Secure the office! See to the wounded!"

A trooper opened a rattling supply closet, and two droids stumbled out. 
"They're crazy!" Spike-Threepio ranted. "They busted up the office then 
stormed the detention level! You gotta stop 'em!"

"Alright, you ponies, with me," the lead trooper said, gesturing with his 
blaster. "You there, stand guard here."

One trooper remained; Spike stealthily retrieved the commlink from the 
console. The trooper nearly caught him, but Owltoo covered his actions by 
hooting wildly and spinning on his clawed legs.

"Oh! All the excitement has overloaded my companion's circuits!" Spike 
exclaimed.

Owltoo hooted.

"You."

Owltoo hooted again.

"I already said you!"

The owl-droid hooted once more.

"See what I mean?" Spike asked tiredly. "Let me take him down to 
maintenance, alright?"

The trooper nodded, gesturing to the door with his blaster. "Go ahead."

(SCENE WIPE)

"This. Is. Without. A. Doubt. THE. WORST. RESCUE. *EVER*!!" Rariteia 
complained as the garbage mashers closed in. The other ponies were busily 
trying to find something--anything--to use to jam the mashers.

"Spike! Come in, Spike!" Twilight called into her commlink. "We need help! 
Where are you? SPIKE!"

//Twilight?// Spike's voice replied over a hiss of static from the commlink. 
//Where are you? We're down at the ship--//

"Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!" Twilight 
ordered.

"Owltoo, shut down the garbage mashers!"

Owltoo plugged into the computer terminal, hooting dutifully. A tense moment 
later, exuberant cheering erupted from the tiny commlink. "Spike, we're 
alright!"

"Oh, thank goodness," the little gold dragon replied.

(SCENE WIPE)

Sunny loped gracefully, silently through a massive service trench filled 
with the buzzing, humming, and clacking of power equipment. Finding a 
control panel connected to several massive power cables, she made several 
adjustments; the lights on the panel changed color, and the pitch of the 
electrical humming changed.

(SCENE WIPE)

After exiting the garbage pit, Twilight and Rain removed their stolen 
steedtrooper uniforms; Rain and Rariteia retained the blasters. "I don't 
think I can use that spell, Twilight," the princess said. "My magic...it 
just isn't that strong."

The purple mare lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I forget that sometimes I pick 
up on things more quickly than other unicorns..." She then looked up in 
guilty alarm. "I didn't mean to rub it in, I--!"

"Save this for later!" Rain snapped. "We gotta get back to the Rainboom, and 
pray the old mare came through!"

"You're right," Twilight said. "Come on, let's--"

"It's this way," Rariteia interrupted, primly cantering off down a corridor. 
The other ponies looked at one another, shrugged, and followed...

(SCENE WIPE)

"There's the ship," Rain said happily as the quartet reached a bay window 
overlooking the hangar where the Rainboom was under guard.

Twilight pulled out her commlink. "Spike? Do you copy? Where are you two?"

//We're in the main hangar, across from the ship,// Spike replied.

"We're right above you," Twilight said with relief. "Stand by."

"You came in *THAT*?!" Rariteia asked, looking at Rain's ship with an 
expression of supreme distaste. "How thoroughly tacky and unstylish!"

"Well EX-CUUUUUSE me, Your Worship," Rain retorted archly. "Maybe you'd 
rather stay here instead of leaving with us?"

"Um...all things considered...I suppose I'll stick with you," Rariteia said.

"Hooray."

"Will you two KNOCK IT OFF?" Twilight hissed. "They're gonna hear you 
bickering and--"

Twenty steedtroopers suddenly appeared out of nowhere and opened fire.

"And that," Twilight finished tiredly, igniting her hornsaber. Bigmacca 
unlimbered an ungainly-looking horseshoe-throwing weapon from his saddlebag, 
and Rariteia took cover and began returning fire. Rain, for her part, took 
to the sky and charged the troopers with a mighty bellow, firing away with 
her stolen blaster. Steedtroopers fell back reflexively from the aerial 
onslaught; Bigmacca galloped after the captain, plowing through the troopers 
and knocking them all over the corridor as he and Rain disappeared from 
sight.

"She certainly has courage," Rariteia remarked.

"Yeah, but what good'll it do if she gets herself killed?" Twilight replied. 
"Come on--"

Rain and Bigmacca suddenly reappeared, more troops behind them.

"Hey, Twilight!" Rain exclaimed. "Why the hay don't you use that hornsaber 
thingie to break that window? Then we can go right down to the ship instead 
of, y'know, getting chased around by these jokers!"

Twilight blinked. "Uhh...good point."

Less than a minute later, the renegade ponies were in the hangar bay, 
surprising two droids and a whole platoon of steedtroopers.

(SCENE WIPE)

Sunny slipped silently past a steedtrooper patrol...and ran right into 
Nightmare Moon.

"SO, MY OLD MASTER, WE MEET AGAIN, FOR THE LAST TIME," the Dark Lady 
thundered. "WHEN LAST WE MET, I WAS BUT THE LEARNER. NOW, I AM THE MASTER."

"Only a master of evil, Lunakin. And bad fashion sense," the older alicorn 
retorted.

Nightmare Moon responded only by igniting her blood-red hornsaber.

"Wait, wait..." Ali-Corn said. "Before we begin..."

"YES?"

"Well, the last time we fought, back on Mustangfar, we fought like true Cuti 
Knights. Fast, efficient, unstoppable forces of nature." Ali-Corn tilted her 
head. "Rather than fight like a couple of foals waving broomsticks at each 
other..."

"A TRUE DUEL OF THE FATES, THEN?" Nightmare Moon asked.

"Something like that, yes," Ali-Corn nodded.

"INTERESTING. SO BE IT." An orchestra rose from the depths of the reactor 
pit. An off-white unicorn with an electric blue mane and a musical note mark 
on her flank raised the conductor's baton clenched in her teeth, and the 
orchestra began performing "Duel of the Fates". Raising an eyebrow, Ali-Corn 
activated her own hornsaber.

The two warriors circled one another warily, each probing the other's 
defenses through the Horce. Suddenly, they blurred into motion, hornsabers 
humming and hissing as they swung through the air and clashed against one 
another, showers of sparks raining down on the deck beneath them. After a 
full minute of fierce hornsaber combat, the two old enemies backed away from 
one another warily. Suddenly, a heavy panel ripped free from the bulkhead 
and hurled itself at Ali-Corn, who deftly waved it aside and retaliated with 
a bundle of loose cabling, which snaked around the Dark Lady. With an angry 
hiss of her respirator, Nightmare Moon freed herself, then lunged forward, 
hornsaber blazing as she tried to gore her former master.

"YOU HAVE GROWN FEEBLE AND WEAK," Nightmare Moon declared.

"We'll see about that..." Ali-Corn's hornsaber was a blur of light as she 
launched her own counteroffensive, driving the Dark Lady back. Soon, their 
duel spilled over from the corridor into the main hangar...

(SCENE WIPE)

"PRINCESS RARITEIA!" Spike-Threepio exclaimed happily, rushing forward and 
launching himself at the unicorn princess in a fierce flying glomp.

Rariteia smiled as she nuzzled the little golden droid. "Oh, my little 
Spikey-Wikey, thank the heavens you're alright!"

"Yeah, Twilight took real good care of me and Owltoo."

Owltoo hooted.

"Twilight Sparkletrotter."

Owltoo hooted again.

"The purple unicorn right over there."

The owl droid hooted once more.

Spike groaned. "Aren't we running this joke into the ground?"

"Are they always like this?" Twilight asked Rariteia in a stage-whisper.

The princess rolled her eyes. "You have NO idea."

"Hey, everypony, somethin's up. Look at the troopers."

Indeed, the troopers had entirely forgotten about the freighter they were 
supposed to be guarding. A few seconds of looking around told the party 
exactly why.

"Oh my goodness," Rariteia breathed. "Is that...is that General Celesti?"

"Yeah. And...and she's fighting Nightmare Moon!" Twilight exclaimed. "I 
gotta help--"

Bigmacca grabbed her by the mane. "Nnnnope."

"But--! Let go--!"

"Macky's right, Twi. There's nothing you can do. She's got to deal with this 
by herself..." Rain sighed. "I just hope she knocked out that forcefield..."

(SCENE WIPE)

The furious flashing of hornsabers strobed off the bulkheads, the 
steedtroopers' armor, and the hull of the Millenium Rainboom as the two 
warriors waged a furious battle, belying their respective ages and 
infirmities. However, Ali-Corn's strength was beginning to flag, and a 
glancing blow dug a deep gash in her side, searing the flesh. She dropped to 
her front knees and her hornsaber extinguished.

"AND NOW IT ENDS," Nightmare Moon declared.

"Go ahead, then...but know this: if you strike me down, I will become more 
powerful than you can poss--"

Ali-Corn's last words were cut short as Nightmare Moon beheaded her.

(SCENE WIPE)

"SUNNY! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed.

Suddenly, the steedtroopers remembered they were there, and trained their 
blasters on the little group.

With Bigmacca grabbing Twilight by the tail and dragging her, the party 
galloped up the open ramp of the Millenium Rainboom, Rain and Rariteia 
returning fire as Bigmacca closed the ramp.

"Sunny..." Twilight whimpered.

"Get her strapped in!" Rain snapped at Rariteia. "Macky, get up here! If the 
old mare got that shield down, we're bustin' outta this corral!"

"And if she didn't?" Spike asked fretfully.

"Then at least we'll go down fighting."

"Eeyup."

The Rainboom's engines roared to life, and Rain grabbed hold of the 
controls, rearing back hard on the yoke. The ponderous freighter lifted free 
of the deck, and with a fiery burst from its thrusters, shot out of the 
Death Spur hangar and into space.

"WOOHOO!" Rain cheered.

"This is hardly the time to be cheerful!" Rariteia huffed. She turned her 
attention to Twilight, eyes sad. "She gave her life to protect us," she said 
softly to the other unicorn.

Twilight sniffled. "Sunny..."

The ship suddenly rocked violently, and the proximity alarms went off.

"DAMN!" Rain snarled. "We've got company! Macky, get on the shields while I 
fire up the guns!" Not waiting for a reply, Rain charged into the central 
hold.

The unicorns looked up as the pegasus bore down on them in a frenzy. "Twi! 
Snap out of it, I need your help or we're still gonna die!"

Twilight looked up, and nodded sharply. "Right." The two ponies made their 
way to the gunports, while Rariteia and the droids headed for the cockpit to 
help Bigmacca.

Outside the ship, Equirial interceptors--tiny pink ships with an 
apple-shaped central hull and two ion propulsion sails shaped like pie 
tins--swarmed in formation around the escaping freighter, laser bolts 
strafing the larger ship. With a deft hoof on the controls, Bigmacca made 
the Rainboom bob, duck, and weave, evading most of the PIE fighters' shots; 
whatever did hit scored glancing blows off the deflectors. In the gunport, 
Rain adjusted her headset. "Ready, Twilight?"

//Affirmative,// Twilight responded.

"Great, stay sharp!"

//Here they come!// Rariteia called from the cockpit.

Two PIE fighters flew past the freighter, rear lasers locking on target. 
Before either could get off a shot, Rain locked on to the interceptor on the 
Rainboom's port side and opened fire. The tiny pink ship exploded in a 
brilliant fireball. On the starboard side, two laser blasts skimmed past the 
second fighter; the third struck dead center, destroying the second ship.

Four more PIE fighters hovered around the ship, spitting laser bolts. 
Twilight fired at one and missed; the return fire scored a glancing blow 
near the cockpit.

//Watch it, kid!// Rain snapped.

"Sorry," Twilight replied.

The Rainboom rocked under enemy fire; the two gunners locked onto the 
fast-moving, tiny targets and managed to take two more out. Still, the 
remaining two PIE fighters had managed to flank the ship on each side, and 
were scoring hits on the larger ship's hull.

//We've lost lateral controls,// Rariteia reported from the cockpit.

"Don't worry, she'll hold together," Rain replied. The ship shuddered again, 
and the sound of a control panel exploding made the pegasus cringe. "Hold 
together, baby, hold together..."

Owltoo busied himself with extinguishing the flaming control panel, while 
Spike fretted and hovered nervously around the princess.

Both gunners tracked the ships hovering just ahead of the Rainboom; both 
turrets spat out laser fire which caught the PIE fighters dead center, 
scoring two more kills. Rain let out a whoop of triumphant laughter. "We did 
it!" she yelled. "Macky, get us the hay outta here."

"Eeyup." The Rainboom streaked away into the blackness of space, leaving the 
Death Spur far behind.

(SCENE WIPE)

Nightmare Moon cantered onto the bridge of the Death Spur, coming to a stop 
beside Crankin, who was watching the starfield through the forward viewer.

"Did they get away?" Crankin asked.

"THEY HAVE JUST GONE INTO HAPPYSPACE," Nightmare Moon replied.

"Are you sure the homing beacon is secure? I'm taking an awful risk here."

(SCENE WIPE)

Bigmacca and Owltoo were effecting repairs when Rain returned to the 
cockpit, grinning insouciantly. "Not bad, huh? Sometimes I even amaze 
myself."

"I'm certain you do," Rariteia replied snippily. "They let us go. Why else 
do you think we got away so easily?"

"You call that EASY?!"

"They're tracking us," the princess stated.

Rain shook her head and snorted. "Not this ship, sister."

Rariteia huffed, tossing her damaged mane. "Well, at least my little 
Spikey-Wikey is safe. And more importantly, so is the information he's 
carrying."

"Which is?" Rain asked.

"A full technical readout of that battlestable," Rariteia replied. "I only 
hope that once it's analyzed, a weakness can be found. This is not over 
yet!"

Rain snorted. "It is for me. I ain't crazy enough to fight the Equire. I 
took this job for the money, and once I get paid, I'm gone!"

"Money? Is that all you care about?" Rariteia demanded hotly. "Well then, if 
that is all you care about, then that is exactly what you'll receive!" She 
stalked stiffly from the cockpit.

"Uhh...YEAH, that was kinda the point," Rain muttered after her before 
returning her attention to the control panel.

(SCENE WIPE)

Coming out of happyspace, the Millenium Rainboom descended gracefully toward 
the fourth moon of Hayavin, soaring over the dense jungle, approaching an 
ancient temple overgrown with vines and shrouded in mist. Upon landing and 
disembarking, the group were greeted by Pony Rebel soldiers, and escorted 
aboard the brightly painted, heavily armored Freedom Train, which bore them 
into the temple proper, and the hidden Pony Rebel base.

The train came to a stop in a massive hangar full of starfighters. As the 
group disembarked, a zebra loped up to Rariteia and nuzzled her familiarly. 
"Princess! You are safe! We had feared the worst! I am so full of joy, my 
heart could burst!" She stepped back, lowering into a formal bow. "With what 
happened to Alderaanch, we feared it too late...that you were not spared 
your father's fate..."

"Actually, we're fairly certain everypony on Alderaanch is still alive," 
Rariteia replied as she examined her repaired mane in a magically-levitated 
hoof mirror. "It's just..." She shook her head. "Nevermind. I am certain the 
Equire has tracked us. We have very little time to prepare our assault!"

"Yes, of course, you are quite right. Let us see those plans, then prepare 
to fight!"

(SCENE WIPE)

The Death Spur crept slowly through space, approaching the Hayavin system.

"The Rebel base is on the fourth moon," a tech officer reported to Nightmare 
Moon.

(SCENE WIPE)

In the crowded briefing room, Zecora stood before a giant viewscreen, 
displaying the technical schematics of the Death Spur.

"The battlestable's defenses truly impress. I fear our cause may be in 
distress! We have but one chance to survive its wrath." She squeezed a 
remote control between her teeth, zooming the display. "Here, at the hub, 
lies our victory path!"

On the display, an impossibly tiny target was marked with a large red X.

"Our cause is in danger, but far from lost. Here, at the center, lies a 
thermal exhaust. It leads directly to the reactor core. With but one direct 
hit, the Death Spur is no more!"

"Wow, she can really rhyme on a dime," Spike commented aside to Owltoo.


Owltoo hooted a reply.

"Zecora. The zebra giving the mission bri--you're just screwing with me now, 
aren't you."

The owl-droid twittered saucily.

"The shaft is rayshielded. Lasers are of no use. Only a torpedo hit will 
cook their goose! But listen well, my little ponies: you will need to evade 
the Equire's cronies! Interceptors and burrolasers will hound your attack. 
You must all be prepared, you will need to fight back!"

"Wow, that gets annoying in a hurry," Twilight whispered aside to Rain and 
Bigmacca, who were loitering in the back of the briefing room.

"Eeyup."

"The shaft is only two meters wide," Zecora continued. "You must aim 
carefully to get inside!" The screen dimmed. "That is all, my briefing is 
through. Go now, Pony Rebels, and may the Horce be with you!"

"Thank goodness THAT'S over," Spike muttered.

(SCENE WIPE)

As the Death Spur drew nearer to Hayavin, Nightmare Moon and Crankin watched 
the computer display showing their position relative to the fourth moon.

//Orbiting the planet at maximum velocity,// an intercom voice droned. //The 
Pony Rebel base will be in range in thirty minutes.//

"THIS WILL BE A DAY LONG REMEMBERED," Nightmare Moon informed Crankin. "IT 
HAS SEEN THE END OF CELESTI, AND IT WILL SOON SEE THE END OF THE REBELLION 
AND A WORLD RECORD BOX OFFICE TAKE."

"The Horce is strong with this franchise," Crankin said sagely.

(SCENE WIPE)

Twilight and the two droids walked briskly into the bustling hangar, where 
crews were busily outfitting P-Wing starfighters for the impending mission. 
Deep in the recesses of the hangar, Twilight spotted Rain and Bigmacca 
loading several cargo containers onto a cart.

"So...you're just leaving?" Twilight asked. "You got your reward, and that's 
it? You're gone?"

"Yeah, that's right," Rain said. "I got debts to pay, an' I sure as hay 
ain't dumb enough to stick around for THIS party." Shoving a box forcefully 
into the cart, she turned to Twilight, smoothing out her bangs with a hoof. 
"Say, why not come with us? You're pretty handy in a fight, we could sure 
use you..."

Twilight snorted angrily, pawing the deck with a hoof. "Rain, look around 
you! Don't you see what's happening? Everypony here is risking their lives! 
We need all the good pilots we can get, and you're just gonna fly off?"

"Yeah, well, what good's a reward if you ain't around to use it?" Rain 
retorted. "Besides, I've seen more than enough of that stupid battlestable 
already. Goin' back ain't brave, it's suicide."

Twilight turned her back on Rain. "Well then...take care of yourself. I 
guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?" She trotted away, head held 
high and stiff.

Rain sighed. "Hey, Twi? May the Horce be with you."

Twilight paused, turned, nodded at Rain, and went about her business. Rain 
shook her head, then caught Bigmacca's stern, disapproving expression. 
"What're you lookin' at?" the smuggler demanded. "I know what I'm doin'."

"Nnnope."

(SCENE WIPE)

"Twilight! How the hay'd YOU wind up out here?" a jovial voice called.

Twilight turned to the source of the voice and beamed broadly. 
"THUNDERLANE!"

The slate-grey pegasus reared playfully at the unicorn. "So, you're going up 
there with us?"

"Of course," Twilight replied. "I've got some stories to tell, you wouldn't 
believe--"

"Twilight Sparkletrotter?" a mare interrupted.

The young unicorn looked up to see a pegasus with a bushy fiery-orange mane 
in a flight suit. "Yes?"

"Have you been cleared for flight duty?"

"Yes ma'am!" Twilight replied, saluting.

"Twi's a great pilot," Thunderlane vouched. "With her up there with us, we 
can't lose!"

The mare nodded, smiling. "I met your mother once, when I was just a filly. 
If you've got half her skill, you'll do better than alright."

Twilight ducked her head. "I'll try my best."

With that, the fighters all hurried to their ships. As Twilight approached 
her fighter, the crew chief flagged her down and waved a hoof at Owltoo, who 
was being fitted into a socket on the P-Wing. "Sure you don't want a new 
droid?" he asked. "This one looks a little..."

Twilight laughed. "I'll take my chances."

With Owltoo secured in place, Twilight teleported into the cockpit and 
magically lowered her flight helmet onto her head. Below, Spike-Threepio 
watched them prepare to depart.

"Miss Twilight?" he called.

"Yes, Spike?"

"If you do get shot, try to get hit directly on Owltoo."

Owltoo screeched at him.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "GoodBYE, Spike. Take care of the Princess." With 
that, the canopy of her P-Wing slid shut and sealed tight. All around, the 
hangar crews were disconnecting hoses, moving equipment out of the way, and 
readying lighted batons to guide the fighters out of the hangar.

{{Twilight Sparkletrotter. The Horce will be with you, always.}}

Twilight blinked. "Sunny?" Shaking her head, she tapped at her commset with 
a hoof. "Must be a glitch," she muttered.

(SCENE WIPE)

In the war room, Rariteia, Spike, and Zecora watched the large screen, 
displaying Hayavin and its moon system. A large red blotch on the display 
indicated the approaching Death Spur; several green dots erupted from the 
fourth moon, on an intercept course.

//Death Spur approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes. 
...not that it matters. We know it can't really blow up planets. So just 
ignore that.//

(SCENE WIPE)

"Lady Nightmare, a thought occurs to me," Crankin said suddenly.

"YES?"

"What exactly are we planning to do to the Pony Rebel base?" Crankin 
frowned. "I mean, the Death Spur's main weapon is a failure. Their base is 
bound to be shielded against burrolasers. I guess what I'm saying 
is...what's the point in us even coming here?"

Nightmare Moon was silent for a long moment, save for her respirator.

"YOU COULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT A FEW HOURS AGO," she said at length.

Alarm klaxons rang. "Rebel fighters approaching!" a lieutenant shouted.

"Well...I guess as long as we're here, we might as well kill some Rebels," 
Crankin said.

"INDEED." The Dark Lady turned and swept from the room.

"Wh-where are you going?" Crankin demanded.

"TO KILL SOME REBELS," Nightmare Moon replied. "HAVE THE DECK CREW PREPARE 
MY FIGHTER."

"At-at once, Lady Nightmare!"

(SCENE WIPE)

//All wings report in.//

//Chestnut Ten standing by.//

//Chestnut Seven standing by.//

//Chestnut Three standing by.//

//Chestnut Si--can I be Pecan Six or something? I don't really like 
chestnuts--//

//Sure, we can call you Truffle Six, porky...//

//Alright, that's enough. Lock P-foils in attack position.//

Twilight shook her head at the comm chatter and flipped a row of switches. 
The sleek wings of her fighter expanded into broad, segmented wings 
reminiscent of steel-feathered pegasus wings. All around her, the other 
fighters in Chestnut Squadron did likewise; the reflected sunlight off 
Hayavin gleamed along the edges of the P-Wings as the fighters glided 
towards the Death Spur.

As they approached, some of the pilots began to chatter nervously about the 
size of the battlestable; Chestnut Leader quickly and sternly silenced them. 
//Cool it, you guys, we're on a mission here.//

The fighters approached the surface of the Death Spur and entered a long 
trench running along one "point"; five other Rebel squadrons had entered 
along each of the other points.

//Okay, this is it! Good luck, my little ponies!//

As the Rebel fighters dove into the trench, burrolaser fire ripped through 
the space between them, and PIE fighters emerged from numerous docking bays 
like clouds of gnats.

//All wings, we have incoming. Watch your tails!//

Chestnut Squadron broke into four groups of three; the wingponies harried 
the PIE fighters so their comrades could focus on evading burrolaser 
barrages and trying to reach the target safely. Thunderlane and the hapless, 
porky pony nicknamed "Truffle Shuffle" were Twilight's wingponies; she 
deftly spun her P-Wing out of the way of burrolaser fire, picking off some 
of the PIE fighters with her lasers as her starfighter danced out of danger.

//Nice shooting, Twi, but save your energy for the target!//

"Guess I've gotten too used to shooting these guys down," Twilight replied.

//You really DO have some good stories...I can't wait to hear--//

Thunderlane was cut off abruptly as a glancing shot took out his comm 
system; a screaming burst of static filled Twilight's headset. "Lane? You 
okay? Lane?!"

//I've got visual on him, Chestnut Five,// Shuffle piped in. //He's on fire, 
but he's okay. His droid's getting it under--//

Shuffle was cut off as a PIE interceptor came up from beneath him and ripped 
him apart with a quick succession of laser blasts.

Twilight stared at the fireball visible to her port side, cringing. "Poor 
kid..." Squaring her jaw, she locked onto the guilty party and sent the 
pilot to hell.

//--shot, Twi...sorry I di . . . t get him bef . . . was a good kid--//

"Don't worry about it, Lane, just get your damage under control and stay on 
those interceptors!"

Two more PIE fighters converged on Twilight; with some fancy flying, she 
tricked them into manuevering right into the path of a burrolaser blast from 
the Death Spur. She then plunged into a suicide dive right at the bottom of 
the trench, pulling up just before impact. "I'm making my run!" she 
announced.

//Good luck, Twi!//

Twilight sped along the trench as lasers and fighters exploded above her. 
She saw the target ahead: the tiny thermal exhaust port. She rapidly 
calculated her firing trajectory on her targeting computer, carefully took 
aim, and was just about to squeeze the trigger when her fighter suddenly 
rocked with a tremendous explosion.

She heard horrendous electronic screeching from above and behind her. Owltoo 
had taken a direct hit; most of his dome was missing and he was on fire. 
"OWLTOO!" she screamed. She pulled up suddenly, instinctively dodging a 
second shot which would have ripped through the cockpit. Spinning her 
fighter, she levelled out and took a shot at her pursuer, but the 
interceptor was nowhere to be seen.

And then it swooped down from above, and it was no ordinary PIE fighter. Its 
glossy black finish shone in the reflected lights from Hayavin and the Death 
Spur. The cockpit had a roughly diamond shape, and the propulsion fins, 
rather than the typical pie-plate shape of Equirial interceptors, were 
shaped like crescent moons.

She felt a sudden, terrible pull, and though she had not experienced it 
before, she knew what it was, and why she was in very real danger.

//Don't worry, Twi, I see him, I've got--//

"NO!" Twilight cried. "LANE, GET OUT OF HERE! THAT'S--"

It was too late. The black interceptor contemptuously evaded Thunderlane's 
attack, and destroyed him with one hit to the cockpit.

Screaming in rage and grief, Twilight fired off two shots at the black 
starfighter, then peeled up and away into space, weaving a dangerous course 
between the spitting burrolasers, hoping to draw her deadly adversary into a 
deathtrap. Of course, the warrior pursuing her had far more experience with 
the Horce than she herself, and easily kept up with her.

"Come on, come on, get OFF my tail, get OFF my tail, get OFF my tail..." 
Twilight chanted.

And then suddenly, miraculously, the Millenium Rainboom burst out of 
happyspace with a blinding flash of prismatic light, right in front of the 
black interceptor. A laser blast caught one of the moon-shaped sails, 
sending the little ship tumbling away into the blackness of space.

//You're all clear, kid! Now blow this thing and let's go home!//

"RAIN!" Twilight cried happily. Swinging her P-Wing around, she grinned 
predatorially as she began recomputing her targeting...

{{Let go, Twilight. Use the Horce. Trust your feelings.}}

"Sunny..."

With a somber nod, Twilight switched off her targeting computer.

(SCENE WIPE)

"She's turned off her computer," Rariteia announced.

"Twilight Sparkletrotter, whatever is the trouble? Reactivate your targeting 
computer, on the double!" Zecora commanded.

//There's no trouble. I'm alright. Just...trust me.//

Fifteen seconds later, the Death Spur exploded.

The group in the war room blinked.

"That...that's it? It's over, just like that?" Spike asked.

"Well, that WAS the point of all this," Rariteia reminded him.

"Yet, for all our cunning tactics, the victory itself 
seems...anticlimactic," Zecora said.

"What, you'd rather our base be bucked halfway across the galaxy like 
Alderaanch?" Rariteia asked.

"I never said that, don't be mistaken. I suppose the sudden victory just has 
me...shaken."

"...we really need to cure you of that..."

//Great shot, Twi! That was one in a million!// Rain Solo cheered over the 
Pony Rebel comm frequency.

//Thanks. And thanks for coming back. I knew I could count on you,// 
Twilight replied.

//Hey, what kinda jerk would I be if I left my friends hangin'?//

Rariteia smiled.

As Twilight flew a lazy victory loop before setting course to return to the 
Rebel base, a last echo of Sunny Celesti flitted through her mind:

{{Remember, the Horce will be with you, always.}}

(SCENE WIPE)

The entire Pony Rebel Alliance gathered in the grand reception hall. Owltoo 
had been repaired and cleaned, and stood proudly beside a freshly polished 
Spike-Threepio. At the end of a long purple velvet carpet, Princess 
Rariteia, in full royal regalia, awaited the heroes of the day.

Twilight Sparkletrotter, Rain Bolo, and Bigmacca, all dressed in finery 
designed by the Princess herself, strode up the carpet. The Rebels saluted 
them as they passed. When they reached the dais upon which the princess 
stood, they turned, faced the Rebels, and returned the salute. With a 
beaming, sunny smile, Rariteia placed a gleaming medal around the neck of 
each pony. Once the three heroes had received their awards, the assembly 
sent up a great cheer.

The Pony Rebel Alliance had won this day. The war against the Galactic 
Equire was far from over, but for the first time in many years, there was a 
new hope...

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY

MYTHRIL MOTH

BASED ON "STAR WARS" BY

GEORGE LUCAS

AND

MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC

(CREATED BY LAUREN FAUST)

CAST

TWILIGHT SPARKLETROTTER . . . . . . . Twilight Sparkle

ALI-CORN CELESTI . . . . . . .

Princess Celestia

RAIN BOLO . . . . . . .

Rainbow Dash

PRINCESS RARITEIA . . . . . . .

Rarity

SPIKE-THREEPIO . . . . . . .

Spike

OWLTOO-DEETOO . . . . . . .

Owloysius

NIGHTMARE MOON . . . . . . .

Nightmare Moon

GRAND MULE CRANKIN . . . . . . .

Cranky Doodle Donkey

ZECORA . . . . . . .

Zecora

Also Starring

Spitfire

Thunderlane

Truffle Shuffle

DJ-P0N3

Carrot Cake

Cup Cake




==================
Mythril Moth
www.mythrilmoth.net