The Star Destroyers loomed menacingly over Ponyville. The entire team ran out to witness the magnificent sight. Ezra felt a cold knot form in the lump of his throat. Pretty soon, unless they drove the Empire out of here, Ponyville would be nothing more than a city of pockmarked ruins and burnt roads.
“What do we do now?” he asked.
“Ezra, you and Sabine stay with me,” Kanan commanded. “Chop, you go with Hera and the rest of the Squadron to the ships. Twilight-“
“I’ll stay here and provide backup with Zeb,” the lavender unicorn finished.
Kanan nodded. “Let’s go!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “If you’re guys are going the least you can do is bring me along. I bet I could bring down one of those ships in ten seconds flat!”
“It’s too dangerous,” Kanan ordered. “And I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna happen.”
“At least bring me along,” the pegasus complained.
Kanan sighed. “Fine! You can come! As long as you can actually deliver on that promise. Come on!” He, Ezra, and Sabine ran off to confront the stormtroopers now approaching them. Rainbow Dash followed.
Twilight turned to the other rebels. “I hope this works,” she said. “I’ve never tried this on anypony else before.” She closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. Instantly, a flash of white light appeared and the group disappeared; she had obviously tried using a teleportation spell on them, hoping to get them to their ships in time. She didn’t know whether it worked perfectly, but there was now no time to figure out. Already white-armored men were racing towards them holding blasters- the stormtroopers. Zeb felt a smile crawl across his face; finally there were bucketheads he could bash to pieces. With a loud whoop, he charged forward and started firing his Bo-Rifle at them. Rarity shot Twilight a slightly mischievous look, then ran off; she had been looking forward to dearly taunting the troopers about their terrible aim.
Pinkie Pie had already whipped out her party cannon and had started shooting at the enemy; already some of them had crumbled under the sheer weight of the party favors, balloons, and cake stored in her weapon. Fluttershy, meanwhile, started using Twilight as a rapid-fire magic machine gun and returned a flurry of magic blasts; she was determined to make the Empire pay for what they did to her.
While Zeb was busy bashing bucketheads, Rarity had noticed two stormtroopers who had already locked onto him. Before they could fire, she called out to them in a sweet, girlish voice.
“Oh boys, you seriously aren’t going to consider shooting, are you? Because you both know that you are horrid shots, so why bother?”
The troopers saw her and fired several laser blasts, all of which she managed to evade with ease. They scanned for her, hoping to catch her off guard.
Unfortunately for them, she got the drop on them first.
“You call that shooting? I think you need to spend more time on the practice range. And don’t get me started on your outfits. All white? Ha! That went out of style years ago!”
The two stormtroopers looked around for the source of the voice. As soon as they saw her, they fired, but Rarity managed to evade them.
The two bucketheads looked wildly around for her, but the white unicorn’s voice rang out again, a mockingly sweet tone.
“You are too predictable, my darlings! Always by the book! I read your book! It was very poorly written!”
One of the troopers spotted her and fired, but just like last time, she managed to get out of the way. The trooper, having long given up on shooting her, opted to just stun her so that at least she would not insult his aim. Before he could fire the blue halo, however, he felt something strong grip the side of his helmet; within seconds, the two bucketheads were knocked out cold. Rarity turned to see the figure of
Zeb facing her, a sly, mischievous, cat-like grin on his face.
“I see you like to fight bucketheads too,” he grinned. “Who knew you had it in you?”
“Oh darling,” Rarity blushed, “you should thank Sabine. She’s the one who told me about their horrible aim.”
Zeb chuckled. “She did, eh? Good for her.”
Just then, Applejack and Pinkie ran up to them, gasping for breath. At last, Pinkie managed to pant out, “Ezra . . . Kanan . . . fighting . . . Inquisitors. . .” She gasped, then fell down in exhaustion.
“Inquisitors? Karabast,” Zeb said, slinging his Bo-Rifle over his shoulder. “Come on, girls.” He ran off in the direction of his teammates. The ponies quickly followed.
-break-
Meanwhile, while Rainbow Dash and Sabine were busy battling Stormtroopers, Ezra and Kanan were having problems of their own. Two new Inquisitors had also joined in on the invasion: a Kaminoan referred to as the Sixth Sister and a Terrelian Jango Jumper known as the Eighth Brother. The new Inquisitors seemed to have a penchant for spinning their lightsabers rapidly, for the Jedi were desperately trying to keep up with their enemies’ style of attack.
“It was foolish of you to think that you would be safe here,” the Sixth Sister hissed. Her Inquisitor armor was covered with tubes that contained some kind of gas and were connected to two tanks placed on her back. She took out a pod and hurled it at Ezra. The pod exploded, releasing some kind of gas that made the boy’s eyes water and his eyes sting like crazy.
“Yeah, well, our friends . . . are more powerful . . . than you believe them to be,” Ezra managed to cough out. He deflected another lightsaber blow and used the Force to send another gas bomb back at the Sister, which exploded in her face. Then, he switched to his blaster mode and started firing blaster bolts at the female Inquisitor. The Sixth Sister rapidly spun her lightsaber to nullify the blasts, but the effects of her own armory were too much for her and her she sank to her knees.
With the Sister down for the time being, Ezra focused his attention on helping Kanan fight the Eighth Brother. This Inquisitor seemed particularly fond of using explosives in addition to his gyroscopic saber.
“What did you hope to achieve by hiding here?” he asked Kanan, biting scorn in his voice. It was clear that he did not have a high regard of the city in general.
“You’re intelligent, figure it out!” Kanan snapped back. He and Ezra charged forward wielding both of their lightsabers. But the Brother was ready. As soon as the Jedi came close enough, he jumped back and sent three bombs headed their way. The pair dropped down and rolled away to minimize the effects of the blast. As soon as he landed back on his feet, the Brother prepared to strike them down when new laser blasts flew his way. Deflecting the attacks with his lightsaber, he saw four more combatants approach him: a creature that he could only describe as a cat-bear mix with green eyes, and three creatures that went on all fours; one was orange with blond hair and had a hat on its head, another bright pink with dark pink hair and blue eyes and holding some kind of cannon, the fourth white with a purple mane and blue eyes as well. All four of them faced him menacingly, looks of fierce hatred in their eyes.
The Eighth Brother weighed his options. He could stay and try to fight the four new opponents, or he could retreat and live to see another day. He brandished his lightsaber at his foes, but two soft groans told him that the Jedi had survived and had gotten up to fight.
Uh-oh, the Eighth Brother thought to himself. He was not ready to fight a battle that he knew he was going to lose. Rather than risk the odds, he turned to the Sixth Sister. “Fall back!” he commanded. “We’ll fight them all another day!”
The Sister reluctantly nodded. Turning towards both rebels and ponies, she narrowed her eyes malevolently. “This isn’t over!” she hissed, pointing a long, bony finger at them. Then, both Inquisitors spun their lightsabers rapidly and flew off into the sky, while Zeb yelled, “COWARDS! COWARDS!”
Applejack turned to Ezra and Kanan. “Both of yah okay?”
“Yeah,” Ezra said. “Nothing too serious.” He turned to Zeb. “Thanks for the save.”
“No problem, kid,” Zeb replied. Just then, Sabine and Rainbow Dash came over.
“Everyone all right?” Sabine asked.
“Well, we are now, thanks to Zeb,” Kanan answered.
“We’d better get moving,” Sabine warned. “Pretty soon, the bombs are going to start coming down, and . . . “
Suddenly, the ground shook violently. Everyone and everypony looked up to see that the Star Destroyers had started raining their lasers down on the entire city. On top of that, TIE fighters had been dispatched to accompany the Destroyers on their campaign of terror. Rainbow Dash growled. Those fools were going to endanger Cloudsdale! Who knows how the pegasi would fare against something far more advanced than they were! It was a miracle that everypony had evacuated the city before they arrived!
“We’re gonna have to do this the hard way!” she declared. She turned to Kanan and Ezra. “Let me show you why having me beside you was a good idea!”
Before either Jedi could protest, she flew off at top speed, a rainbow-colored trail behind her. Everyone waited, apprehensive about what would happen. But a few seconds later, a rainbow-colored circle appeared in the sky, followed by what was by far the most magnificent sight they had ever seen.
The Star Destroyer . . . started exploding in midair. The cruiser erupted in flames as it started descending down , obviously now a ruin of its former terrible power. Smoke came out in large volumes, and the entire thing shattered, now a husk of its previous glory.
“Did she just . . .?” Kanan asked, who couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Yeah, she did,” Ezra responded, just as awed.
“She brought an entire Star Destroyer down,” Zeb said in wonder.
“With one Sonic Rainboom,” Rarity added in amazement.
The team looked at each other, not saying anything. At last, Sabine turned to Kanan.
“We definitely need her on our team.”
Kanan nodded.
At last, Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, a cocky grin on her face. Aside from some dirt and a couple scratches, she looked no worse for wear. She turned to face the team.
“See? What did I tell ya? Ten.Seconds. Flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hangin’!”
Kanan nodded. “You did well. Unfortunately, there are more where they came from.” He motioned to the other Destroyers in the sky.
Rainbow gulped. There was no way in all of Equestria that she would have enough energy to bring all of them out of the sky.
-break—
Meanwhile, on board the ISD Relentless, an officer approached the Inquisitor. “You have an incoming message from Lord Vader.”
The Inquisitor gulped. If his master was contacting him right now, then it could not possibly be good.
“Very well,” he replied, in an attempt to mask the fear in his voice. He activated the holoprojector and before him stood the image of a black,
sneering skull-like mask with red eyes- the Lord Darth Vader, who was, at the moment, most displeased by the embarrassment that had happened on the Inquisitor’s watch.
“Lord Vader.” The Inquisitor quickly attempted to straighten himself. “This is an unexpected surprise.”
“You may dispense with the pleasantries, Inquisitor,” Darth Vader snarled. “I’m here to put you back on track. Already a Star Destroyer has been lost and you haven’t even captured the rebels.”
“I assure you, my lord,” the Inquisitor said, more nervous than ever, “all of our forces have been dispatched. We’re working as fast as we can. We’ll have the rebels captured in no time.”
“The Emperor does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation,” Vader countered. “He expects you and your men to double your efforts.”
The Inquisitor gulped. “In that case, double our efforts we will.”
The hologram of the Sith Lord made a three-fingered gesture. Suddenly, the Inquisitor felt a powerful, invisible something force down on his throat; his eyes widened in fear, for he knew that his master was giving him a sample of the punishment he would receive if he were to fail him.
“I hope so, Inquisitor, for your sake,” Darth Vader growled menacingly. Then the transmission ended. Another officer came up to the Inquisitor, who turned to him.
“Tell Agent Kallus to confront the Jedi before they get away.”
The officer nodded, then went away to relay the order.
-break—
Back at the royal palace at Canterlot, Celestia and Luna were getting more worried by the second. The Equestrian Royal Guard had been sent forth to take out the TIE Fighters, but half of them had gone down within the first few minutes. Who would have thought that the enemy would have been this strong?
At last, Celestia turned to her sister.
“Luna,” she said, evidently pained. “I can’t stand by like this and watch our country suffer. I’m now forced to do the unthinkable.”
The dark alicorn gasped; she knew all too well what her sister was planning. “Thou art not seriously suggesting releasing him, art thou?”
“I’m afraid that if Equestria is to survive, then we have no other choice,” Celestia sighed.
“But sister,” Luna protested. “Surely thou knowest what he did the last time he was set free, do you not?”
“Yes,” Celestia acknowledged, “which is why I have set up some safeguards. Get him ready.”
Luna did not like where this was going, but obviously made no effort to protest. She hurried off into the castle while Celestia levitated a quill and paper and began dictating words to be written down.
“My dearest Twilight, it is imperative that you respond at once . . .”
-break—
Meanwhile, on the streets of Ponyville, the Jedi and their allies continued to drive the stormtroopers back. They had succeeded in knocking all of them out when out of the blue, Twilight teleported in a purple flash with Fluttershy and Spike, who was carrying a scroll.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Twilight started. “Celestia wants us in Canterlot Castle immediately.”
“Why?” Ezra asked, surprised. Was now really the time for another visit?
“She didn’t really say,” Spike said. “All she said was, ‘Meet us in the castle as soon as possible’.”
Ezra and Sabine sighed, especially the latter. She hated being kept in the dark about anything.
“Fine,” she sighed, turning to Twilight. “Think you can get us there?”
Twilight nodded.
“All right,” Kanan said. He activated his comlink. “Spectre-1 to Ghost, we’ll be in Canterlot . Try to meet us there as soon as possible. ”
“Copy that, Spectre-1,” Hera’s voice said over the intercom. “I’ll let the others take care of the situation from up here.” The comlink turned
off. Kanan, Sabine, and Ezra nodded at Twilight, who closed her eyes and focused with all her energy; instantly, the seven of them disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Zeb, Applejack, and Pinkie turned to Rarity, who was about to do the same thing when an approaching figure in and ISB helmet caught the corner of Zeb’s eye; the last person he wanted to be alive and one who he dearly wanted to pay for his crimes.
“You! Lasat!” Kallus drew out his Bo-Rifle. “REMEMBER ME?!”
Rage overwhelming him, Zeb drew out his own Bo-Rifle and charged toward the ISB agent. He had been looking forward to fighting him for quite a long time. This did not go unnoticed by Applejack.
“Wait!” she called.
“Zeb!” Pinkie Pie called. But the Lasat did not heed either of their cries. He delivered a roundhouse kick that sent Kallus sprawling.
“You have no business here!” Zeb snarled at Kallus.
“Actually, I believe I do!” the ISB agent laughed. He rolled away and got back up on his feet, sneering at Zeb. “Soon, the Empire will claim this pathetic little world, and once they do, your pony friends will be the first to go,” he whispered menacingly.
The look of unbridled fury on Zeb’s face told Kallus that he had succeeded in provoking him. As his opponent swung his weapon wildly at him, Kallus countered with his own Bo-Rifle blows, and even managed to deliver a swift kick to the center of his chest. Zeb growled and charged forward. But the agent did a sweep kick that sent Zeb to the ground.
“Honestly, he’ll get himself killed!” Rarity growled in disgust as Zeb got back up.
“I was there when Lasan fell,” Kallus continued. “And soon, this pathetic little world will share its fate.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Zeb replied. He and the ISB continued to grapple, but Kallus finally hit him square in the chest, and Zeb fell down, defeated.
Kallus raised his Bo-Rifle, ready to finish Zeb off. One good shot and he would be gone. Ready . . . Aim…
“NO!”
Pinkie Pie held out both her front hooves as if she were trying to stop Kallus. Amazingly, something invisible pushed the ISB agent back. Kallus sprawled onto the ground, stunned, trying to comprehend what had just happened. The pink pony stared back at her friends, who looked back at her as stunned as she was.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked, amazed.
“I don’t know!” Pinkie Pie said. “How did it happen?”
“Not sure,” Rarity answered. “But we need to get ourselves to Canterlot before any more bucketheads arrive!”
The other two nodded. And with that, the three friends circled Zeb and the whole group teleported themselves to Canterlot and to safety.