//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Past and future // Story: Shadow of the old empire // by Bronycommander //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Past and future The light of the morning sun shined within the space of Scootaloo’s bedroom, with the sound of a rooster crowing from a chicken coop of someone’s house close by. Slowly, Scootaloo opened her eyes and sat up in her bed as she awoke from her sleep. She gave yawned and stretched herself before rubbing the sleep out of eyes. Scootaloo then looked out of the window to admire the rising morning sun. Birds flew in the trees outside making chirping sounds as they did. She noticed too that the sky was clear, meaning the local weather patrol had cleared the clouds early that morning. “Looks like it’s going to be a wonderful day.” Scootaloo thought to herself. A sudden yawning sound greeted the Pegasus filly’s’ ears. She turned her head to the bed next to her where the yawn came from. Her brother, Ray, sat up in his bed next to her, rubbing his eyes from sleep, until he noticed Scootaloo, and smiled at her. “Good morning, Sis.” Ray said. Scootaloo smiled back at Ray. “Good morning, brother.” A female voice called out to them from downstairs. “Ray! Scootaloo! Are you awake? Breakfast is ready!” “Coming!” Both Ray and Scootaloo moved the blankets off of their bodies, and hopped out of their beds. As they opened the bedroom door, they could smell the breakfast cooking in the kitchen downstairs by their parents. They went down stairs, and turned into the kitchen where their parents were, where they had just cooked breakfast. Sitting at the table was Scootaloo’s father, along with Ray’s mother and father, Miro and Forren. Scootaloo and Ray then saw the cooked breakfast food set up on the same table. Their parents had cooked a big breakfast made up with fried eggs, pancakes with butter and syrup, hash browns, toast, orange juice, and fresh coffee and tea. As well as bacon and sausages for humans. Their parents noticed them standing in the kitchen doorway, and greeted them both. “Morning, children.” “Good morning, daddy!” The filly smiled warmly at him and the others. “Good morning, mommy! Good morning, daddy!” Ray smelled the hot breakfast food. “Oh, boy! This looks good!” “Let’s dig in!” Scootaloo said. Both children went into the kitchen, and took their seats at the table. They began to pick whichever breakfast item they wanted, and began eating, with their parents having a chuckle. It was typical of children to eat like they were, and they knew these two children of theirs were no exception. A hot breakfast that looked as good as theirs could get any child up in the morning. Soon enough, everyone at the table had finished breakfast. “So, sweetheart, what are you gonna do today?” Miro asked her son. Ray wiped his mouth with a napkin as he finished his meal. “Playing with our friends outside.” “Yeah,” Scootaloo added. “We’re going to meet Dinky, Pip, and Lucy in the meadow outside Ponyville today.” “Then you two will definitely need your strength today.” Forren raised his coffee mug, and nodded happily at Ray and Scootaloo. “Have fun, you two!” “Of course, daddy!” Ray got up from the table along with Scootaloo. “Bye!” “See ya!” Scootaloo said. The young boy and his Pegasus filly step-sibling went out of the kitchen, and out the front door, where Scootaloo’s scooter was stationed in the front yard. Ray got on a cart attached to Scootaloo's scooter, before putting on their helmets. Soon, the two were off down the road, with Scootaloo’s wings buzzing like a go-kart, as it propelled the scooter. High above in space, the Imperial I-class star destroyer, known to many as the Stormy, stayed in a stationary position above Equestria. The bridge crew reminded hard at work monitoring their scanners, along with keeping the warship operational in Equestria’s orbit. The main doors of the command bridge opened with Captain Ian Takan appearing. He walked on to the bridge where the crew remained at work as their captain greeted them. “Good morning, crew. Anything to report?” “No sir, everything is quiet.” A fellow officer replied. Ian stopped in front of the command bridge, and stood there watching out of the windows into space, with the planet visible on the side in their line of sight. Since they stayed at Scootaloo’s home a year ago, they had dedicated themselves to be the planet’s first line of defence against anything that may threaten the planet. So far, things were quiet most of the time. Although, sometimes, a smuggler or hunter came past here, but did not stay long, since the sight of an Imperial star destroyer most likely scared any scum away from coming very close to the planet. Apart from that, nothing else very eventful had ever happened. Not that any of the crew minded it. They enjoyed the peace. Yet, they keep themselves sharp, training and patrolling. Even on the surface, they enjoyed helping out the authorities. It kept the troops sharp and the citizens safe. However, despite all this peace, they still wondered at times what happened to the Empire since they got told that their universe was a movie on the planet where the other humans came from. Not that they would ever know. Ian’s’ train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the voice of another fellow officer as he entered the warship’s command bridge. “Sir, there is someone wanting to speak to you.” Ian turned around to the officer who reported to him. The captain then saw a red figure moving in behind the officer. A being humanoid in shape, with the head looking like a helmet with a smooth glass dome. It mildly resembled the Royal Guards of Emperor Palpatine. Ian’s eyes mildly widened, for he knew what the figure that appeared before him was. An imperial sentinel messenger droid of the Empire. “You will verify with blood.” The messenger droid spoke in a mechanized voice. “Of course.” Ian said. Without wasting a moment, Ian removed the glove on his right hand. The droid approached him as Ian held out his right hand to it. The droid used a retractable needle from a finger on its hand, and pricked the captain’s finger to collect the small blood sample. There was a pause from the droid for a moment as it analysed the captain’s blood. Ian and everyone else on board the bridge watched as the glass dome on the droid then started to flash. Being a holoprojector and the face of an elderly man appeared. “Captain Takan.” It spoke with the chilling voice of the Emperor himself. “You, and a handful of others unknown to you, have been selected for a particular honor.” “Operation: Cinder is to begin at once. Resistance. Rebellion. Defiance. These are concepts that cannot be allowed to persist. You are but one of many tools by which these ideas shall be burned away. Heed my messenger. He shall relay you to your target.” The holoprojection of the Emperor face in the messenger droid’s glass dome went static and vanished as the message ended. And with that, the droid turned away, and made its way towards the main doors. When the droid exited the bridge, the doors closed, leaving Ian and the bridge crew in silence. For moments, everyone quietly tried to take in the Emperor’s message that was just played before them. “So…it happened at last.” An officer commented on it, breaking the silence. “Yes, but we are no longer with the Empire.” Ian pointed out. “So we just ignore it?” Another officer asked. Ian nodded “That’s right. We don’t think their ways. Besides, I think we would have not survived Endor. It's hard to believable, but whether it was fate, or anything else, Scootaloo may have been indirectly our salvation. Continue at your stations.” “Sir.” The officers nodded. With that said, the bridge crew returned to their stations, and continued monitoring the planet’s sectors as usual. Ian sighed as he turned back to bridge window. The thought of the Emperor’s message plagued his mind, and a small unsettling feeling crossed him. One he could not understand. Looking out the bridge window into space, he thought in his head, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Meanwhile, back on the planet surface, Scootaloo and Ray continued to race through Ponyville. Ray cheered with delight as they passed by many ponies within town. He always enjoyed riding in the wagon with Scootaloo pulling it along with her scooter. Scootaloo enjoyed it just as much, whether it was with her brother, or even with her best friends, it was just as much fun. After several minutes of riding, they soon reached a meadow outside of town. When seeing that Dinky and Pipsqueak, together with Lucy, standing there waiting, they knew they were in the right place. They raced towards their friend, until they stopped, screeching to a halt right in front of them. Scootaloo smiled as she climbed off her scooter, and removed her helmet, while flipping her mane. “Hey, guys.” Scootaloo said. Lucy smiled back. “Hi, Scootaloo. Hi, Ray. Nice to see you.” Ray got out of the wagon, and undid his helmet. He then turned his head left and right a few times, as if he seemed he was looking around for something or someone. “Where are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?” Ray asked. “I thought they were coming today.” “I am afraid they’re busy. Apple Bloom said that she has to help Applejack with chores on the farm, and Sweetie Belle promised to help out Rarity with a big order of filly sized dresses and model for them. They said they won’t be able to meet us until later.” Dinky explained. Ray frowned. “Ahh, pity.” Pipsqueak spoke out positively. “But don’t worry. We can still have fun until they get here, right?” Scootaloo nodded. “Of course.” She then turned to her brother. “Oh, by the way, Ray?” “Huh?” Ray looked at Scootaloo who suddenly crack a mischievous smile at him. And before he could question it, Scootaloo quickly tapped him with her hoof while saying “Tag! You’re it!”, before running off laughing. Dinky, Pipsqueak, and Lucy quickly got it, and followed the running pegasus filly laughing also. “Hey! No fair! You got a head start!” Ray shouted, amused and slightly annoyed at the same, as he ran after everyone else in the game of tag. For hours, the children enjoyed playing tag in the sunshine until they laid down laughing, tired, and out of breath. Before they knew it, it was now noon, and they were now hungry. Pipsqueak and Lucy soon laid a picnic blanket on the grass, and unpacked sandwiches, baked potatoes, and cartons of fruit juice that Pipsqueak’s mother Nancy had prepared and packed for them in a picnic basket before they left. The children all sat round the blanket, and began to enjoy a nice picnic lunch together. They took the first sips of their juice carton through their straws, with each of them sighing from satisfied thrust. “It’s really a nice day, isn’t it?” Lucy asked. Scootaloo nodded. “Yep!” She then looked at her right wing, and began to move it. She raised an eyebrow as it began to make a few sudden jerks, for it was her cybernetic wing prosthesis. “I better fix this.” With that said, she got up, and walked over to the wagon attached to her scooter, where she brought over a saddle bag, and sat it down beside her and took out some tools. She then removed the synth flesh off of her wing prosthesis. With the synth flesh off, the prosthesis made very faint high-pitched whirring sounds with each movement she made it do. Scootaloo then removed it off of her body by pushing a button on the base of her prosthesis located on the stub where her real wing once was, before placing it on the picnic blanket beside her tools from her saddle bag. Everyone watched as Scootaloo began to do some maintenance work on her prosthesis. She had a little knowledge of mechanics, so basic maintenance was no problem. And it helped that the medical droid on board the Stormy gave her instructions on how to do it. Although, it was a pain sometimes, compared to not having a wing at all, it was a minor inconvenience to her. Pipsqueak let out a sigh at remembering the tale of her wing. “What happened to you, Scootaloo, was horrible.” He looked at his leg, which was fully restored not long ago. “I was lucky it could be restored at all. Still, I can understand that you don’t want to risk losing your flying ability.” “Yeah…” The Pegasus sighed. “But at least, it can be upgraded to fit when I get older.” “I’m sure if you asked, Princess Luna could restore your real wing back with the same spell she used to restore my leg.” Pipsqueak said. Scootaloo ponded for a moment as she finished her adjustments. “Yeah, I could…” She then picked up her wing prosthesis, and attached it back on her right side as she spoke. “But I don’t know. I guess I’ve gotten so use to it that I don’t think about it.” After attaching her prosthesis back on, Scootaloo then slipped the synth flesh back on, and made some test movements. After seeing that it was in perfect functioning order, she smiled while looking at it. “Besides,” Scootaloo said. “I think it looks cool. But, who knows? Maybe I might decide to have my real wing restored one day. But this will do for now.” “Good attitude, sis.” Ray praised her with a proud smile. The happy atmosphere was interrupted when suddenly, without warning, a loud bang echoed throughout the area. The noise startled the children. They looked around themselves, trying to locate where the loud bang came from. “What was that?” Lucy looked around in alert. “I don’t know.” Dinky said, as she looked around herself. She looked up into the sky, and spotting something strange. “Look!” Everyone looked up to where Dinky was pointing to with her hoof. The children’s eyes widened as they saw what it was. Up in the sky, a large blue hole had mysteriously formed. It was like a wormhole vortex, and moved a spiral motion, resembling water going down a drain. “This doesn’t look good!” Scootaloo said. “We should report that.” Dinky added, knowing from her last experiences that this could not be good. “I agree!” Pipsqueak exclaimed. “Let’s get out of here!” With that said, the children began to try and make a run for it, leaving their personal things behind, with Lucy taking lead. They had only managed to make over a dozen meters away from their position, when suddenly, Pipsqueak felt like he was being pulled by some strong, unknown force that stopped him in his tracks, and it was pulling him towards the wormhole. The small pinto earth colt shouted “Help!” to the others, as he was being drawn towards the wormhole. Lucy quickly turned to see Pipsqueak in trouble. “Pip! Grab my hand!” She reached out and tried to grab Pipsqueak by his front hooves, but was not quick enough as she had missed. Dinky, Scootaloo, and Ray felt the same way, and did not have enough time to grab hold of something. They all screamed as they were also drawn towards the wormhole. Lucy could do nothing but watch helplessly as her brother and friends disappeared into the wormhole, with the wormhole slowly closing until it disappeared. “PIP! NOOOOO!!!!” Lucy screamed out at the top of her lungs, as tears formed in her eyes, and trickled face at the horror she had seen of what had happen to her brother and friends. Her cries echoed as if it could’ve been heard for miles. Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, Dinky, and Ray groaned as they began to come round. The four children then began to hold their heads, as they each felt quiet dizzy. They did not recall much, for they had blacked out just seconds after getting sucked into the wormhole. “Ugh…What just happened?” Ray asked. “I don’t know.” Scootaloo turned her attention to Pipsqueak and Dinky. “Dinky, Pip, are you guys okay?” “I think so.” Pipsqueak said with a groan. Dinky rubbed her head. “I’m alright.” When the children felt fully aware, they began to look around themselves to get their bearings. The room they were in was large, and dark, save for some faintly lit up with small white glowing lights, making anything barely visible to see. There was also a what appeared to be a door, similar to that of a blast door that they have seen on a star destroyer, only it had no buttons on the wall to open from the inside. It was also filled with shelves, and placed in rows that formed corridors. In addition, every shelf was stocked with boxes filled with food and all other kinds of supplies. “Where are we?” Pipsqueak asked. “I don’t know.” Scootaloo walked over to one of the shelves. “Looks like some kind of storage room.” Scootaloo and her friends looked at the boxes curiously. The boxes were dark in color, and each of them had an insignia on it. Despite their being not much light from the glowing white light, they could make out what it was. The insignia was a red colored sixteen-rayed symbol inscribed within a black field in a hexagon with borders were also colored red. The look of the symbol gave the children an uneasy feeling, and they all had a feeling that they had seen it somewhere before. However, none of them could recall where. “Mom?” A young female voice suddenly cried out within the room, getting the children’s attention. The voice sounded scared, sounding identical to a child. “Dad?” Another unfamiliar voice cried out soon after it, this time, a young male voice, that also sounded scared and childlike. The two voices that called made Scootaloo and her friends curious as to who they belonged to. Looking at each other, the children nodded. Silently agreeing to investigate the voices, figuring that they are not alone. They carefully followed the voices to where they believed came from. They made their way through a corridor of shelves that lead them to the other side of the room. The other end was as wide and spacious as the side they were previously on, only it was too dark for any of them to see. Scootaloo turned to Dinky, and whispered to her, “Hey, Dinky. Light up your horn.” “Right.” Dinky said with a whisper. Dinky lit up her as she used an lamination spell, and began to direct the light around the dark space in the room like a flashlight. The back space in the room was similar to the other side as they had seen through the light. A sudden tap noise from their left got their attention. Dinky shined the light from her horn to the direction the tap noise came from along, with the sound of children whimpering in fear as the light revealed two figures. The two figures that the light revealed before them were two foals, each one looked around their age. One was a unicorn colt with a grey coat, grayish olive eyes, and a brown mane. The other was an earth filly with a brown coat, moderate aquamarine eyes, and magenta mane. Both were trembling, and covering their eyes from the light from Dinky’s horn. Scootaloo, Dinky, Pipsqueak, and Ray’s eyes widened at the sight of the two foals, for they now knew for sure that they were not the only ones here. Scootaloo blinked. “More ponies.” “It looks like the blue hole in the sky got these two as well.” Pipsqueak said. The two foals slowly looked up at Scootaloo and her friends, still struggling to see from the light shining in their eyes, as the unicorn colt spoke out. “Who are you? What do you want with us?” “Please don’t hurt us.” The earth filly fearfully said. Dinky adjusted the light on her horn into a spreading lamination field so that the scared foals could see them. All while Scootaloo said, “It’s okay. We won’t hurt you. I’m Scootaloo.” “I’m Dinky.” “And I’m Pipsqueak. We’re ponies like you.” “And I’m Ray.” The foals looked at the four children, all while blinking at them in confusion. “Scootaloo, Dinky, and Pipsqueak?” The earth filly asked with a confused look. Pipsqueak nodded. “Yeah. That’s us.” The unicorn colt tilted his head. “It…it is you. But you’re all…younger.” “Younger?” Scootaloo asked. “Huh?” Both foals turned their attention to Ray. “But what are you?” “Yeah, you’re not a pony.” The unicorn colt said. Ray chuckled. “No. I’m not a pony. I’m a human.” “A human?” The earth filly tilted her head. “What’s a human?” “Huh?” Ray looked at the foals with an unsure look. “You really don’t know what a human is?” “And how do you two know about me and-” Scootaloo’s question was suddenly interrupted by a loud alarm blaring, startling the children, and causing them to jump. The twins whimpered fearful as they covered their ears with their hooves from the noise. The whole room then began to be lighted with red lights, along with yellow flashing lights. A loud voice on an intercom then suddenly called out a moment after. “Alert! Alert! Intruders have been detected in the storage area of deck seven, in sector two! All available units, report at once to engage and intercept! This is not a drill! Repeat: This is not a drill! Treat intruders as hostile!” Scootaloo and her friends were concerned about the words from the voice on the intercom, especially from how there was no escape or anywhere to hide in the room they were inside. The two other foals showed great fear and confusion on what was happening with Dinky and Pipsqueak tried to their best to calm them. Scootaloo and Ray peeped their heads around the shelf and looked down the corridor at the blast doors. Watching and waiting for whoever or whatever was going to come through those doors. A few moments later, the blast doors opened, and several humans in white armor moved in. They looked identical to that of Imperial Stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire, only the armor they wore was different. The helmet was slimmer in shape, the eyes on their helmets were larger, and the armor featured an updated joint design. One of the troopers looked in the direction of the children looking down the other end of the corridor, and pointed at them while yelling, “There they are! Over there!” The children quickly ducked their heads back behind the corner, and came over to the others, as they heard the sound of fast paced footsteps of multiple troopers coming down the corridor towards them. A moment later, the troopers reached the same side of the room. “Freeze!” One of them yelled, as he and the rest of the troopers aimed their blasters at the children. Their blasters made a cocking sound, along with a brief, high pitched, electronic, humming sound as if charging up, ready to fire. Scootaloo and her friends obeyed and stayed still, while the two other foals held each other in fear. Two troopers came up to the foals a moment later, and grabbed them. Forcing them both up, they shoving the two foals with others facing the corridor that faced the opened doors. Dinky and Pipsqueak whispered calming words to the two foals, but they were too scared to react. A Stormtrooper with a black colored pauldron on his right shoulder of his armor pulled out a comlink, and spoke into it. “Grand Admiral, we have captured the intruders.” “Very good, Sergeant.” A male voice said on the comlink. “I’m on my way down. Hold them until I arrive.” The children stayed in place as the troopers held them a gunpoint as the alarm was shut off. The two foals were scared and confused, and had no idea what was going on. Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, Dinky, and Ray stood with them. Although they also were slightly scared, they tried not to show it, and to stay brave. Yet, the troopers that were holding them at gun point made the group of friends realize something. Those troopers were First Order Stormtroopers. A new version of Stormtrooper that are better trained, so much that they would make Imperial Stormtroopers of the Empire seem like cream-puffs in comparison. The insignia on the storage boxes made it all so clear to each of them. Scootaloo, Ray, Dinky and Pipsqueak had only seen The Force Awakens before, brought by James during one of his visits, but they only saw the movie once. They were never really interested into the lore of the First Order, but they did know a few things about them. Like how they are the bad guys, their leaders, and so on. It made them wonder in which year they had landed. None of them could tell, but they did know one thing for sure. That this was a dangerous situation that they were in. They had remembered what the First Order did in the movies, especially to helpless people, so they knew it was bad all of them. Several moments later, through the legs of the sergeant Stormtrooper standing in front of them, they saw a man walk in through the opened doors. He was wearing a dark-colored officer uniform that consisted of a high-collared tunic, flared-hipped breeches, knee-high boots, a crested command cap, and a charcoal gray colored braided cuff title on his uniform's left sleeve. The uniform looked almost identical to one worn by an Imperial officer, only the sides of the cap were peaked. He was dark-skinned and muscular, his hazel eyes had a neutral look and his copper-brown hair was visible under his cap. He was followed by another slimmer man with light brown hair, blue eyes, and wearing the same uniform, only the braided cuff title on his uniform's left sleeve was light gray in color. The sergeant Stormtrooper stepped aside saying “Intruders secured, sir!” as the dark-skinned officer came passed him to see the intruders, with the younger officer by his side. His eyebrows rose with confusion at seeing the captured intruders being held at gunpoint by the Stormtroopers. Scootaloo, Ray, Dinky and Pipsqueak looked at him with slight expressions of unease, still trying to stay brave, yet feared the worst. “Please, we don’t mean trouble, we are lost!” The earth filly pleaded with fearful tears in her eyes. “Don’t hurt us, please!” The dark-skinned officer’s expression became surprised for a moment at the sight of the scare foals. It was there the officer realized that these were not dangerous intruders, but scared, confused, helpless children. Although he could not identify the specie of five of the six them, he could clearly see that they were children. He then turned to the Stormtroopers. "Lower your weapons! They pose us no threat!" The Stormtroopers did so as they were commanded, with the second younger officer looking confused to the dark-skinned officers sudden order. The dark-skinned officer turned his attention back to the scared foals. "I would never hurt a child. Though I’m more curious to know who and what you are.” He said in a calm tone. “Well, we are ponies. I am Scootaloo, and those are my friends Dinky and Pipsqueak.” Scootaloo introduced. “My name is Ray, I am Scootaloo’s stepbrother.” The boy added. With a slightly shaken voice, the unicorn colt spoke up. “My name is Keen Eye, and this is my sister Lily Pad.” The dark-skinned nodded. “Nice names. Grand Admiral Harmon Sloane, commanding the Augur. Now, why don’t you tell me more with a cup of cocoa?” “Huh…” The younger officer said. “But Grand Admiral, we should be arresting them, and imprisoning them in the detention area.” Harmon glanced at the younger officer. "No, Lieutenant. These are children, not dangerous intruders. And they are to be instead treated as guests on my ship.” The lieutenant turned to Harmon. “But Grand Admiral, the First Order’s policies clearly state-” Harmon cut his lieutenant off before he could finish speaking. “Well, how about I clearly state this: This is my ship, and I make the orders. And my orders are for these children to be treated as my guests. Now move along, Lieutenant.” “This is highly improper!” The lieutenant yelled. Harmon turned his head towards his lieutenant with a look of irritation in his eyes. “I said move!” The tone in his voice of one starting to lose patience in his officer’s arguing, making the children cringe a bit. “Or would you prefer to be working on trash detail?!” Groaning with reluctance, the lieutenant gave in, and turned to the Stormtroopers. “Let’s move out. Direct orders.” With that said, the young lieutenant, and Stormtroopers marched out of the storage room at their Grand Admiral’s orders, leaving Harmon alone with the children. Harmon then turned his attention back to the children, who were slightly uneasy from the way he raised his voice at his young lieutenant previously. “I’m sorry about that.” Smiling slightly to make them feel more calm, the Grand Admiral made a gesture to follow. “This way, now. Follow me.” The children looked at each other. Each were unsure of whether or not if they should follow this man. While knowing they should not trust strangers, somehow Scootaloo knew that the officer was honest. Turning to the others, Scootaloo spoke quietly to them. “Let’s follow him.” “Follow him?” Dinky asked. “But Scootaloo,” Pipsqueak whispered. “You know what this man is. And you know what these guys did in those movies James showed us. They’re the bad guys.” Scootaloo turned to the others. “Yeah. But this guy stopped his men from getting us, and possibly killing us. He seems pretty cool to me. He can’t be all that bad.” “Scoots is right.” Ray said. “He seems honest at least. I think we should at least give this guy the benefit of the doubt.” “I guess you’re right.” Pipsqueak turned to Keen Eye and Lily Pad. “And you two should come with us too.” Both foals nodded. “Okay.” With that said, the children began to follow Grand Admiral Harmon Sloane as he led them out of the storage room. The doors of an elevator opened with the Grand Admiral inside, and being accompanied by children made up of five foals, and a human boy by his side. There, the children found themselves in a corridor that went left, right, or straight ahead. All the corridors were V-shaped, with grey colored walls, and lights within the V-shaped support beams. The corridors were also covered with hard black floors, and was patterned with a glowing floor that was met with each V-shaped support beam, and was glowing with the same lights. “Here we are.” Harmon Sloane said. “My personal quarter is just down this corridor.” Scootaloo and Co followed Harmon down the corridor that went straight ahead. They passed numerous officers and first order Stormtroopers patrolling, each one giving them puzzled faces as they glanced at them. Unlike the officers however, it was hard to make out what the Stormtroopers expressions were due to their helmets covering their faces. Though, they did get the feeling that their expression was just the same, even if they only saw their helmets follow in their direction. Soon enough, the Grand Admiral stopped at a door the left hand side of the corridor, making the children stop as well. They then watched as Harmon took out one of the four short cylinder objects on the front of his uniform. He then inserted short cylinder into a control panel next to the door, before he pushed a few buttons on the panel as if putting in a passcode, and finished by pushing a blue button. The doors opened instantly as he took the short cylinder out of the control panel, and put it back into the slot on his uniform. Harmon then turned to the children. “Come in, children.” The group walked into what seemed to be his personal quarter. Whilst inside, Harmon closed the door, and went to make them some cocoa, as he had promised them. The children looked around the Grand Admiral’s quarter. It had sofa suite, made up with a large sofa, a small sofa, and a single sofa chair. It was also placed around a small table. There was also an office desk close by. And the room was also decorated with all kinds of art on the walls, and in the wall shelves. There was also a door that Scootaloo and her friends assumed lead to Harmon’s sleeping chamber. “Looks nice.” Keen Eye commented. “Thank you.” Harmon Sloane walked up to them, carrying a tray with seven cups, and a metal jug. “Have a seat.” All six children walked over to the sofa suite, and sat themselves down. Scootaloo, Keen Eye, Lily Pad, and Ray sat on the big sofa, Pipsqueak and Dinky on the small sofa, and Harmon Sloane joined them on the single sofa chair, as he placed the tray on the table. He then poured the jug of cocoa into all seven cups, and placed each one in front of each child, and himself last. All six children then picked up their cups of cocoa, and took a sip. They found that the taste of the cocoa to be quite enjoyable, perhaps the best cocoa they have ever tasted. They then began to calm themselves down a lot more so. Harmon noticed this, and decided that it was now time to talk. “Now then, where do you come from?” Sloane asked before taking a sip from his cocoa himself. “Our world is called Equestria.” Scootaloo said. “The four of us live in a town called Ponyville.” Lily Pad’s eyes perked up, as she turned to Scootaloo at mentioning the town name. “Ponyville? That’s our home town too!” Ray looked at Keen Eye and Lily Pad with a puzzled look. “Strange, I can’t remember that I ever saw you two before.” Dinky thought inside her head at processing what was being said between Scootaloo, Ray, and the filly named Lily Pad. “What Ray said is true. None of us have ever seen these two foals before, but they seem to know Scootaloo, Pip, and myself. And what they said about us being younger. Is it possible they’re from the future? Or are these two from another universe?” Harmon cleared his throat. “As strange as it is, one thing at a time, children.” Keen Eye nodded. “Of course. In Equestria, ponies live together in Harmony. There are earth ponies like my sister, pegasus ponies, and unicorns like me. We unicorns can use magic, while pegasi can manipulate the weather. And earth ponies are known for their strength and making things grow. The special talent of a pony is represented by a cutie mark on their flank, but neither of us hasn’t gotten one yet. My sister and I are twins; in case you couldn’t tell. We live in Ponyville. Our dad is an earth pony stallion named Abacus Sum, who’s an accountant and tax agent, and our mom is a unicorn mare named Lawful Eye, she’s the detective and chief of police in Ponyville. And there is also Rex, our dog.” Keen Eye then looked at Scootaloo. “And back home, you, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle of the Cutie Mark Crusaders are teenagers. Same for Pipsqueak and Dinky too.” “Interesting. Though our story is…complicated.” Scootaloo said, sounding unease. The two foals and Harmon listened as Scootaloo slowly talked about her Equestria for many minutes. Explaining how they landed here, what they each went through, and how Ray became her brother. Yet she had left out the part of her lost wing. “Fascinating…Officially, the Stormy was reported lost, along with its crew, far in the Outer Rim.” Harmon commented on it. Ray turned to Harmon blinking with surprise. “You knew my father?” “Not directly. My mother met him and Captain Takan once. But I’m afraid you are a long way from home now.” The Grand Admiral told, the tone of his voice on the last sentence was one with regret. The twin siblings stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process the information. The thought of being so far away from home was quite scary for both of them. On top of that, there was also the fear that they might never see their friends and parents again. Lily Pad sniffled, trying to hold back a sob, before she and her brother huddled together as they realized how far away from home they were. Keen Eye tried to be brave by not crying, but a few tears escaped his eyes, and could not hold it any longer. Scootaloo and Ray, seeing how scared, and upset Keen Eye and Lily Pad were, did not hesitate to put their hooves and arms around the twins, and hug them. They whispering comforting words to them, as the twins cried on their shoulders. “Shh… It’s okay.” Scootaloo said, patting Keen Eye’s shoulder. Ray gently rubbed Lily Pad’s back. “Please don’t cry.” It was heart-braking for Pipsqueak and Dinky to watch, seeing two foals they had only just met cry. Scootaloo and Ray felt just the same for these two poor foals. After a few minutes, the twins began to calm down, as their sobs faded. Keen Eye smiled, as he sniffled and wiped his eyes. “Thank you.” “It’s the least we can do.” Scootaloo said. “We’re all in this together.” Ray nodded. “Yeah. We just have to keep our cool. That was the first thing Dad learnt while being a trooper: never panic.” Lily Pad wiped her eyes, sniffled, and nodded, as she replied, “Okay.” Out of the corner of Scootaloo eyes, she noticed that Harmon was sitting there smiling at the scene before him. The others noticed it too soon after. Noticing the children looking at him, Harmon cleared his throat after finishing his drink. “Well, it seems that you children have been through a lot. So I think you should get some rest. I’ve got an extra quarter for you, and it is just across the corridor next to mine.” The children nodded, as they soon finished their cocoas. They then got up from the sofa, and followed Harmon out of his personal quarter to a door across the corridor. Harmon once again took out a short cylinder out from a slot on the front of his uniform, and inserted it in the panel where the doors opened up. The other room was filled with recreation lounge that was fitted with a dejarik table, chairs, computers, and holoprojector computers. There was also sleeping bunks fitted in the walls, and eating table, and a bathroom. “Wow…” Pipsqueak said. Harmon put the short cylinder back into the slot on his uniform. “Yes. Usually this quarter is reserved for bodyguards, but being as I don’t have any, you can use it. Which reminds me.” He reached into his pocket, and took out six short cylinders. “These are code cylinders for each of you to enter this room with. These will also give you access to the database on the computers, and to certain parts of the cruiser.” With that said, Harmon handed each code cylinder to each child, placing them in their hands, and hooves. “Thanks, Grand Admiral.” Scootaloo, Dinky, Ray, and Pipsqueak said unison. “No need to be so formal. You may call me Harmon. Well, I must get back to my duty, so I will leave you to rest.” Harmon turned around towards the door. When he got outside of the room in the corridor, he turned back to them. “I will also make the orders for all personal on board to not harm any of you, as you are guests. So you’re free to wander around the cruiser as you please. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Rest well. We’ll talk more later.” Afterwards, the door to the room closed shut as Harmon turned to leave, leaving the six children alone in the room. Once alone, the children looked at the code cylinders that were handed to them. “It’s great we now have these.” Scootaloo commented. Dinky used her magic to levitate her code cylinder. “I know.” As she levitated it, she blinked, as if she just realized something. She then turned to Keen Eye. “Hey. Keen Eye, is it? You can use magic, can you?” The unicorn colt nodded. “Uhh…yes.” Keen Eye’s horn lit-up, and began to levitate the code cylinder in his hoof. Only his magic aura around his horn and the code cylinder was faint, and flickered as he was barely moving it around. “Actually, I’m still learning.” “It’s okay. It took me a while to learn basic levitation too.” Dinky said. For a long while, the children made themselves comfortable. Scootaloo, Ray, Dinky and Pipsqueak used the database on a holoprojector to informs themselves about where they were exactly and what the First Order was. Scootaloo and her friends also used the time to teach the twins, Keen Eye and Lily Pad the language Aurebesh. It was so they could read everything, for Aurebesh was the language in the galaxy. Aurebesh fascinated the twins. Scootaloo and the others even showed them how their names would be spelt in that language. “Quite an interesting language.” Lily Pad commented. “Yeah. And all this technology. It’s amazing!” Keen Eye sighed. “If only Mom and Dad, and our friends were here. They would be so fascinated; they wouldn’t believe it.” Dinky nodded. “Yes.” “So, what did you find, Dinky?” Scootaloo asked. “Well, let me show you.” Saying that, Dinky activated the holoprojector she was at. The holoprojector computer showed many images and documents as she explained. “According to the database, the First Order was sort of a successor of the Galactic Empire. It was established by Imperial officers, nobles, and technologists around five ABY, after the Emperor was killed in the battle of Endor in four ABY. It scattered the Empire into several remnant and warlords, with one large remnant having made a last stand during the battle of Jakku.” Pipsqueak tilted his head. “Jakku?” “It’s a remote desert planet located within the western reaches of the galaxy's inner rim.” Dinky explained before continuing. “The Rebel Alliance, by then formed into the New Republic, managed to defeat the Empire here. Yet, those who survived, as well as many other imperials who refused to accept the defeat, relocated from Imperial space to the Unknown Regions and formed a new Empire, which is now known as the First Order.” “So that’s how the First Order was created.” Scootaloo said. “Well, we’ve seen what the First Order is like in this movie James showed us. The sooner we get back home to Equestria, the better.” Hearing Pipsqueak’s words, Dinky looked at him, Scootaloo, and Ray. “There’s something else too.” Seeing the others confusion, she then pointed to a spot on the hologram. “Take a look at this.” The others looked at the spot on the hologram Dinky was pointing at. There on the bottom left hand side of it, there was numbers along with Aurebesh writing. Knowing how to read Aurebesh, as well as knowing it was where the present time and date was located, they processed what it said. Their eyes widened with shock at reading it, as they all looked at Dinky. “Is…is this right?” Ray asked. Dinky nodded. “Yes. According to this, it is thirty-four ABY. While back home, it was four ABY.” Pipsqueak blinked. “So…we landed in the future…” “Yes,” Dinky said. “We are now about thirty years into the future.” “Thirty years?” The voices of Keen Eye and Lily Pad, who were listening to everything, got the attention of the others. They had almost forgotten that they were there. The twins could not believe any of it. They began to feel sad and worried about the whole thing again. “So not only are we so far away from home, but even if we find a way back, it will never be the same…” Keen Eye said. Lily Pad turned to Keen Eye, looking down-hearted and distressed. “And Mom, Dad, and all our friends back home are older, or…or even…” Seeing the twins worrying, the others came over to them to comfort them again. They too felt just the same about it this whole reality. Dinky placed a comforting hoof on each of the twins’ shoulders. “I know it’s not looking good, but…there’s hope. My dad could find us and reverse all this. And if not, I am sure the ponies of the present Equestria will help us.” Keen Eye and Lily Pad sniffed and wiped away a tear each of their eyes. “R-right…” “Okay.” Keen Eye said. “It’s hard to take, but we should all get some rest, could help to get our heads clear.” Everyone nodded at Dinky’s suggestion. They all did feel exhausted, and felt that a good night’s sleep could help them. The children turned towards the sleeping bunks when Dinky leaned in towards Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, and Ray. “Guys?” Dinky whispered. “Can we talk, privately?” “Huh…” Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, and Ray said in unison. “Shh…” Dinky tilted her head, directing them to the bathroom as she whispered. “I need to speak to you guys about something. Just you three. It really important. Please.” Although they were puzzled about what Dinky was saying, they nodded, and began to walk towards the bathroom. Keen Eye and Lily Pad had just got to the sleeping bunks when they noticed the four making their way towards the bathroom. “Where are you going?” Keen Eye asked. Dinky turned to the twins, acting as calm as she could. “Oh…I just need to talk with the others about something personal. We’ll join you two in a minute.” Keen Eye and Lily Pad watched as the four children went into the bathroom. Dinky then lit-up her horn, and with her magic, she pushed the button on the panel that closed the doors behind them. The twins were left alone, wondering about what the others wanted to talk about. Inside the bathroom, Dinky used her magic to push the electric lock on the door to insure that the twins could not barge in. After that, Scootaloo, Ray, and Pipsqueak gathered in front of Dinky, each of them curious as to what Dinky wanted to talk to them about. “Okay, Dinky, what did you want to talk to us about?” Scootaloo asked. Ray spoke out. “And why did you want to talk with us, and the other two-” “Shh.” Dinky shushed them to keep their voices down as she put on a hushed voice, in case the twins were trying to listen in. “That’s what it’s about. It’s about those two ponies.” “What about them?” Pipsqueak asked. “Doesn’t something seem odd about them? Like how they knew us, but we don’t know them?” Scootaloo rubbed her chin at Dinky’s question. “You might be on to something. They also mentioned about us, along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle being teenagers.” Pipsqueak blinked. “Wait. Are you saying that those two foals are from the future?” He looked at Scootaloo and Ray. “If that’s the case, that explains how we don’t know them yet. They must be from some years’ time-” “No, they aren’t, Pip.” Dinky said. Pipsqueak tilted his head in confusion. “No? But why? How else could they know us?” “You’re forgetting something.” Dinky pointed out towards Ray. “Remember what they said when they saw Ray?” “But what are you?” “Yeah, you’re not a pony.” “No. I’m not a pony. I’m a human.” “A human? What’s a human?” “Huh? You really don’t know what a human is?” Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, and Ray blinked as they recalled what the twins had said in the storage room. They mulled it over that they had no idea what a human was, let alone seen one. “I remember.” Scootaloo said. “They said they never saw a human before.” “Hey, yeah. I almost forgot that.” Ray turned his attention to Dinky. “How is it that they don’t know what a human is?” After a moment, his eyes widened. “Are they saying that humans back in Equestria are all gone? That means Mom and Dad, all the crew of the Stormy, and even Pip’s sister could be-” Dinky cut Ray of by saying, “No. Not exactly.” “Well, what are you getting at Dinky?” Scootaloo asked. “Remember what James told us about alternate universes?” Dinky explained. “How his crew in his world told about traveling to a different universe of our world?” The three children processed what Dinky had brought up. They did recall James talking about how his squad have time and interuniversal traveling technology, and how they used it once to travel to an alternate universe, particularly an alternate universe of their world of Equestria. Their eye widened, for they each had an idea at what Dinky was getting at with this. “Wait. Are…are you say…” Dinky nodded at Pipsqueak’s question. “Yes. I believe Keen Eye and Lily Pad could be foals from Equestria, but from alternate universe.” Ray blinked. “An alternate universe? Wow! Really?” “That could explain a few things.” Scootaloo said. “But how did they end up here with us? And how do we explain this to them without causing them to freak out?” Dinky sighed. “I really don’t know. I guess we have to ask them questions on how they got here, and about their world. Then we calmly tell them the truth of their situation the best way we can.” “And if they do come from an alternate universe, how do we get them home?” Pipsqueak asked. “Can we even get them home?” Dinky lowered her head with unsurely. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.” There was a moment of silence, before Scootaloo spoke out. “Well, we’ll worry about that later. Right now, let’s go to bed.” The four children nodded in agreement. Afterwards, Ray opened the door to the bathroom, and they all walked out of the bathroom towards the sleeping bunks. They returned to see that Keen Eye and Lily Pad were laying in two of the bunks fast asleep already. They smiled at how peaceful they looked sleeping, but also feeling worried about their safety and how they would take the reality of being in an alternate universe. From what Scootaloo and her friends saw, Keen Eye and Lily Pad seemed quite nice foals. Scootaloo and Ray quietly came over to the twins, and gently covered them with a blanket, while Dinky shut off the lights in the room. They all then quietly went into their own bunks, and got themselves comfortable. Within minutes, the four children fell asleep, and hoped for the best.