Cray sat in the Shadowdancer's cockpit, staring out at the various ships being prepped for battle. He wondered how many of them wouldn't come back. How many of those pilots would fly out of here and never see friends or family again? How many more had to die before this insanity ended? Alderaan, Sunset's Bothan friends, who could begin to guess how many others... hadn't enough beings died already?
"Obviously not," he thought aloud. He'd been here since he told Sunset that he wasn't going to stay and fight, hours before. He'd basically told her... and himself... that once the 'dancer's hull was fixed, he'd put this whole mess as far behind his thrusters as he could. She obviously hadn't liked that, but she didn't argue. He realized now that he'd wanted her to argue, to try to convince him to stay, so that he could give his justification again... that he really wasn't a fighter... and see if it sounded as hollow to him as it had the first time.
"Parody?" The soft alto voice startled him; it was the last thing he'd expected to hear. He turned to find Sunset standing beside and slightly behind the co-pilot's seat. "One of the deck crew told me the repairs are done..."
"Yeah," the earth pony replied sullenly. "Isn't the briefing for the big fight starting soon? I figured you'd be there, since you brought the key information and all..."
"Just started a bit ago," the unicorn nodded, then grinned just slightly. "Twilight said the same thing; she and the others got back about an hour ago."
This piqued Cray's curiosity a bit. "Did they get Solo?"
Sunset nodded again. "Captain Solo's safe and sound... and Jabba's dead in the bargain."
This didn't cheer Cray as much as she'd apparently expected. "Yet another," he said more to himself than her, then shrugged. "At least he deserved it, I guess..." He then returned his full attention to Sunset. "You said the princess thought you'd be at the briefing, too... what'd you tell her?"
"You're not there," she said simply. For someone attuned to a mystical energy field surrounding all living things, the mare clearly wasn't very good at predicting ponies' reactions, based on her surprise when the stallion narrowed his eyes at her.
"Don't even think about trying to blame me for anything, Sunset Shimmer; I..."
"Parody, please," her tone was soft and controlled, but her eyes were pleading with him. "Just hear me out, okay? That wasn't what I meant..."
Cray simply stared into her eyes. Gradually, his deep purple eyes melted under the pain and... fear? Yes, fear... in her aqua orbs. That was when something suddenly struck him as odd. "Y'know, that's only the second time you've ever called me Parody?"
Sunset tilted her head slightly, clearly caught off-guard by the sudden topic shift. "When was the first?"
"When you walked in..." a small hint of a smirk teased his lips, but there was little humor in it.
"I guess that's kind'a connected to why I came down here," she explained, nodding. "When you said you'd spent your life running and hiding, it got me thinking... and I realized I've been doing the same thing."
Cray scoffed. "The way I understood it, you've been fighting the good fight all this time."
Sunset shook her head. "I mean, I've been running and hiding from myself... from my feelings. I've always sort'a... closed myself off from everyone... except Twilight and the Bothans... until recently." She gave him a slight, self-deprecating grin. "Did you know you buying me that drink in the bar on Coruscant was the closest thing I've ever had to a date?"
"It's true," she continued when he looked at her skeptically. "Lord Vader's personal assistant doesn't get asked out very often... like, ever... so, I was thinking, if that offer of the co-pilot's position was still open..."
"Let me get this straight," said Cray, one eyebrow raised. "You'd put aside everything you worked for... everything your friends died for... on the eve of what could be the deciding battle of this whole mess..." he paused, virtually forcing the last two words out of his mouth, "... for me?"
A wave of emotion swept over Mon-Teel Cray, the likes of which he'd never felt before, as the unicorn before him simply nodded. He started formulating a plan as he noted two figures outside starting to move away from each other: one heading for an Imperial shuttlecraft and the other toward a ship that looked a lot like the one Cray and Sunset were currently aboard.
"So, if I make you my co-pilot, I'm still captain, right?" he asked leadingly. When she nodded, he asked, "So you'd have to do what I tell you, right?"
"Yes..." answered Sunset hesitantly, not certain where he was going with this.
"Beautiful; you're hired." As Sunset moved to take her position, however, Cray jumped from his and bolted past her, calling over his shoulder, "Now follow me!"
"Wait, wha... WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" she stammered, but he was already halfway down the corridor to the boarding ramp.
The now thoroughly confused mare caught up with the stallion on the flight deck, just as he was approaching another earth pony; this one was also male, with a chocolate coat and black mane and tail.
"Lando!" Cray called. "Hey, Calrissian!"
The other male turned, curious at first, then lit with a beaming smile. "Cray! Good to see ya, buddy; glad you could make it!" He glanced over his fellow Corellian's shoulder at the approaching unicorn. "I take it this lovely creature is our informant?"
"We'll worry about intros later; let me spit this out before I lose my nerve." Lando nodded, letting Cray continue. "You know the Shadowdancer doesn't carry weapons, so, I was wondering if... maybe... you might need a couple extra pair of hooves on Lady Luck..."
"Actually, the Lady's sitting this dance out," Lando told him, "hyperdrive overhaul".
Cray tilted his head slightly, confused. "Well, then, what are you..." A small grin spread across Lando's features as he gave a telling glance toward the other YT-1000 freighter in the hangar bay. "No way..." His eyes widened as Lando's grin spread further. "Solo's letting you take the Falcon?!"
"He practically insisted," Lando laughed. As Cray gaped in shock and the unicorn with him looked on, still confused, Lando caught the attention of a passing Sullustan pilot. "Hey, Nien, quick word..." The Sullustan paused and greeted Calrissian in his own language. "I need you to grab Higgins and the pair of you take a couple of the retrofit A-Wings." Nien looked at Lando, apparently confused, and asked him something in Sullustan.
"Don't worry," Lando replied, then grinned toward Cray and Sunset. "I just got two new flight crew members, but neither of 'em are fighter pilots..."