Star Wars: The Dark Vector

by Barrobroadcaster


Chapter 2: The Preparation

Two Days Later...

Pegasi and unicorns had a bit of an advantage in the supermarket: pegasi could fly and unicorns could use their magic to get items off the shelves. Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed as she examined two different cans of canned bread. "Hmm..." She looked at the backs of both. "Which one would you say is better for toast? Seven grain or five grain?"

"Which one is cheaper?" Reena Varsen, a human friend of Twilight's asked.

"The five grain."

"I'll take the seven, then," Reena said, accepting the can. "Grex and Avin could probably use a couple extra grains anyway." They put both cans in their shared cart.

"I heard that!" Grex, Reena's boyfriend and wingman yelled as he rounded the corner, arms laden with goods. He dumped his load into their cart on top of everything else they'd carefully gathered. The pilot plunged his arm into the pile of goods and somehow pulled out the can of seven grain bread. "And we should get the whole grain. Whole grain products use all parts of the grain instead of just a bunch of different ones, making them a bit healthier usually."

"They don't have whole grain," both girls replied.

Grex dropped the can back into the cart. "I like the seven grain, then." He ran off to go collect more stuff.

It had been a couple weeks since Bold Squadron had exposed the plot by their own informant to manipulate the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire to continue fighting on Equestria. Since then, fighting between the Rebels and Imperials had ceased, at least on this one particular planet, and both sides seemed committed to making things easier for all those who called Equestria home.

Reena Varsen was a dark-skinned human female from a former Separatist planet in the Outer Rim. She grew up opposing the Empire, even when she was forced to join it briefly, but was rescued by the Rebellion and has served in Gold/Bold Squadron ever since. Her boyfriend, Grex Corsa, was a very light-skinned human with a slight beard and the attitude/behavior of an adult kid. He grew up on Corellia where ideals like "freedom" and "democracy" and "equal representation, fair justice" and "private property" are being stifled, oppressed and/or destroyed outright by the Empire right now. They were both part of the Alliance's Bold Squadron(formerly Gold Squadron), a group of bomber pilots who usually fought the Empire, just not at the moment.

Right now, with the unofficial ceasefire in place, there were talks of a more long-standing truce, at least on Equestria. The Rebels and their pony allies were taking the time to relax, do some shopping and prepare for the upcoming holiday, Nightmare Night.

Meanwhile, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were busy loading up a pair shopping cart with stuff of all sorts from every aisle. The two zipped back and forth, blurs of rainbow and pink color. Most of the Mane Six were shopping, except for Rarity, who was busy making new costumes for the weekend. They were a train of five shopping carts, each moving slowly through the aisles of the Ponyville Neigh Mart.

Applejack pushed her cart behind Twilight, ducking and dodging Pinkie and Rainbow as they rushed past her. She had to grab her hat to keep it from getting blown off. "Y'know, it's hard enough of to shop with these two without both of ya stopping every other moment."

"Sorry Applejack," Twilight said over her shoulder.

"I thought we were just gettin' party supplies," AJ said.

"We are!" Pinkie said. "So far, I got forty-four different types of candy, FIFTY-four different types of chocolate, SIXTY-four different types of ice cream and both punch and lemonade in case anypony likes both!" she exclaimed with a squee.

Applejack huffed, adjusting her hat. "Normally, I'd call that excessive, but I guess since we're supplying all'a downtown Manehattan, I guess you're on the right track."

"We're off to a good start. I got eighty cases of the new Mountain Dew flavor to take with us," Rainbow said, hovering down with a tower of sodas. "Mountain DARING Dew Adventure Fuel! This Nightmare Night is gonna be sweet!"

"Mm-hmm! We're gonna have this Nightmare Night in Manehattan all covered!" She said, disappearing in another blur of pink.

Fluttershy, behind them, had only pet food in her cart. "I hope I have enough birdie seed for all the owls," she said. She held up two different cans of feed. "Applejack? Do you think the birdies in Manehattan will like the five grain or the seven grain bird seed?"

The cowmare sighed. "I think either one's fine." Applejack herself was in charge of jack-o-lanterns. Ever the farm girl, she was committed to making sure the pumpkins she'd been growing were perfect.

"I'll get the seven, then."

"Alright, that looks to be about everything on the list," Twilight announced.

"I'll go find Grex and we'll get this stuff loaded up."

"Thanks."

Reena turned back to her just as she got to the end of the aisle. "Hey, um..."

"Something wrong?"

"Well," she rubbed the back of her neck, "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for getting you involved. With the raid, the Rebellion, the soap and... well, everything."

"It's okay," Twilight said. In front of them, in an aisle across from them, were a pair of stormtroopers inspecting something. Twilight watched them as they too, examined cans of bread. "I have a feeling we would've been involved anyway."

They checked out and took their grocery train to their waiting ships. Bold Squadron was currently using a U-Wing gunship for transport, which they'd parked out in front. Grex had also brought his customized BTL-M9 Y-Wing, parked right in front of the other ship, in the unlikely event they needed fighter support.

The rest of Bold Squadron was already loading their costumes onto the U-Wing when Twilight arrived with the groceries.

"Um, do be careful with those!" Rarity said.

"Oh. Uh, sorry," Brullen, the strongman of Bold Squadron said, gently lowering the next box into the ship.

Rarity held her forehead with a hoof. "Dear or dear..."

"Are those the costumes?" Twilight asked, walking over.

"Yes, that would be them," Rarity responded.

"And I helped make them!" Spike added. "Making them unique for all of us was a pretty big challenge."

And with that, Rarity gave Spike a hug. "And I would have never gotten it done so quickly without my Spikey!"

Spike blushed hard. "Can I look forward to more of this at the party?"

"Essentials packed for the trip back to Sigma. We're ready to go!" Grex announced, slamming the trunk of the Y-Wing.

Reena checked to make sure everything on the U-Wing was ready to go. "Everything looks secure," she said. Her squad mates got on board, carefully maneuvering around all the boxes. She stood in the doorway as Twilight hopped off. "We'll see you at the party, okay?"

"Absolutely!" Twilight exclaimed. "This is the first Nightmare Night you guys have celebrated on Equestria, right?"

Reena laughed. "I think it's the first Nightmare Night we've celebrated. And our first time to Manehattan."

"Oh, you'll love it, darling. As well as the outfits I've made for- they'll be absolutely gorgeous!" Rarity said.

Twilight laughed. "Rarity's the best fashion designer in Equestria. I bet even the Imperials will be impressed!"

"I don't doubt that!" Their human friend smiled. She was still uncomfortable that Imperials would even be at the party, but not as uncomfortable as it would've been a couple weeks ago. She slid the door shut and both Rebel ships took off. Despite the fact they were well within range of Imperial guns and that TIE Fighters were flying nearby, they were perfectly safe. Whatever the Empire was doing on Equestria, it still wasn't something they were quite used to, but they were well on their way.

They delivered their supplies to Sigma Base, the Rebel Alliance's base in the Everfree Forest. After that, Reena and her squad had a chance for some rest and relaxation. Grex popped open a can of bread and made a sandwich.

"Hahaha, no more reconstituted protein and calcium supplement slices!" Grex said happily, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Want one, Reena?"

"Sounds good to me. Not the reconstituted and supplements, gimme the real thing."

"Oh, sweetie, you always know I keep the real thing just for us!" he said, kissing her playfully and putting a sandwich into her gloved hands.

Avin smiled slyly at both of them. "Looks like you two aren't the only couple in Bold Squadron any more."

They both looked over to him. "Oh really?"

The cunning slick-haired human was Grex's wingman. Like Grex, he liked to have fun, though he was more of a prankster-type. Right now though, it didn't look like he was joking. "That's right. Me and Pemma are dating. Gonna be going as two-of-a-kind to the Nightmare Night party."

"Pem's dating you?" Reena asked. "You're sure it's our Pem, right? She hasn't been using any of Commander Reknaw's soap, has she?"

Grex and Sonders laughed. "No," Avin retorted. "She was impressed by my charm, as usual."

"Me, I'm too busy to date," Sonders, the tactical officer of Bold Squadron said. "We might have a real shot at peace with the Empire. That's going to take a lot of work, a lot has to go right for that to happen."

"Peace? It'll never last," Brullen said, leaning back in the circular couch. "One Moff's decision on one planet doesn't mean much when the rest of the galaxy is under the Emperor's thumb."

"It's a start," Reena said. "A good start. Ponies here have freedom, more or less. Even better in some ways since the Empire."

Brullen shook his head. "It won't last. They'll do something, screw something up and then it'll be back to business as usual."

"We'll see," Reena said.

The intercom beeped. "Bold Squadron, please report to the main conference room. Repeat, Bold Squadron pilots, to the conference room."

They all looked around at each other. "What do you think this could be about?" Avin asked. "I thought operations were on hold."

Sonders picked up his datapad and carried it with him. "You remember when I said a lot of things had to go right?"

"Yeah?"

"I think something just didn't." They all made their way out of their amphitheater to the main conference room.