//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: To Walk The Sky and Catch The Moon 
// by Celestial king turles 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 3

“Wait a minute — are you absolutely sure about this, Obee?” Luke asked the droid. “You’re positive that these readings are accurate?”

Obee was silent for a moment as if Luke asked a very dumb question. “When aren’t my readings accurate!?” The droid shot back rather testily. “I have double checked, triple checked, even quadruple checked! I even ran these readings by Kyugee, and he couldn’t find any error in my own circuits or the sensors’!” They had been having the same argument for the better part of an hour now, ever since the Nubian’s sensor suite had been reactivated by Anakin’s skilled hand. After spending the better part of a day in the uncharted system, they could finally peruse their surroundings with more than the naked eye. The sensors had immediately begun feeding data to Obee and Kyugee as soon as they went online. One such finding had sparked a long and heated argument between Jedi and droid.

“But Obee, according to these readings, that star shouldn’t even be there! How do you explain that?”

“I have no clue, you’re the Jedi! Use the Force to find out, or something!” Obee flipped a manipulator dismissively at Luke. The sounds of a hydrospanner came in from a nearby compartment — Anakin at work once more.

“That’s not how the Force works!” Luke yelled, grabbing handfuls of his hair. He normally wasn’t so argumentative, but there was something about the astromech that had Luke immediately feel like an argument was on the horizon.

There was a loud ZAP from the other room, and Luke could hear some of the most impressively colorful examples of Huttese that he had ever heard. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. They had distracted his father from his work again with their arguing. Sure enough, Anakin stormed into the lounge, hydrospanner in hand, a spot on his shoulder still smoking. Before Luke could even open his mouth, he found his rear firmly glued to the couch without warning, while Obee was just as suddenly stuck to the wall dome first.

Anakin spoke in an annoyed, manic tone. “Can you both shut up and sit down! I have been shocked by that kriffing panel for the fifth damn time! Now the two of you will shut up and talk calmly like civil adults so I can get this panel fixed, or so help me, the next time I have to come out here I will WELD YOUR KARKING MOUTHS SHUT!” The menacing sparks the hydrospanner gave off as he finished his rant added some emphasis to his threat — particularly since hydro spanners did not spark like welding torches. 

Luke and Obee could only give a mute nod (or a faint beep in Obee’s case) in answer. Anakin slouched back into the compartment he was working in, muttering to himself. When a mouse droid cheerfully went into the compartment some minutes later, Luke heard his father snarl, “DON’T make me turn this starship around!” and the droid literally screamed back out into the hallway and out of sight. Luke winced and, sharing a look with Obee, decided to make himself scarce and find something to — anything to avoid disturbing his Father again.

Outside, the corridor was in shambles. Where before there were spotless halls and smooth walls, now there were open panels every few feet, scattered tools and scorch marks from blown wires. In some compartments, things were so disheveled it looked like a hurricane had passed. In one such compartment Luke found Teefour sorting through a jumbled pile of all the things that had been flung about by the sudden halt. The bonds on multiple, heavier crates had failed from the strain and had sent them flying; some things were fine, others however were broken, some beyond repair — but they will be recycled for reuse.

Teefour had been ordered to put the broken parts on a different pile for recycling, on account of actually having thicker and stronger arms, as opposed to flimsier manipulators. He found another broken instrument, letting out a dramatic sigh he tossed into the broken pile. “Another one bites the dust…”

Luke leaned in to take a look. “Mind if I help out?” he asked. “I'm good with machinery, and you look like you could use a hand.”

Teefour flipped his hand dismissively.

“Do as you will, young master,” he grumbled. “It's not as if any of us have anything better to do…” He fell into unintelligible mutterings, with words like “physicals” and “bacta” audible here and there.

“Well, maybe together, we can cut the time needed to finish this by half, and you can get back to the medbay,” Luke chuckled, sitting down next to the droid and picking up a broken coupling to toss into the trash pile. He could hear Anakin tinkering away in the other room as he continued to work. He didn't keep track of the time, but he couldn’t have been working more than fifteen minutes before his father’s voice whispered in his thoughts.

Luke.

Luke looked up on instinct, then stretched his thoughts out toward the contact. 

Yes, father? he replied telepathically.

Can you come in here and give me a hand? There’s a part that needs fixing, but I can’t remove it alone.

I’m coming, father.

Luke got to his feet, quickly telling Teefour he needed to take care of something, before heading to the room his father was in. He found Anakin, sans cape, crouched over an open panel. The hydrospanner was on the floor next to him, while the cyborg wrestled with something beyond Luke’s field of vision.

“Come take my spot,” Anakin said quickly to Luke without even turning to look at him. “I need to remove this part here for a bypass,” he indicated a blackened circuit board, “but its companion conduit is fused to it. I need you to uncouple the conduit while I disconnect the board — I can’t do both at once, and your hands are slimmer than mine. You’ll have better leverage.”

Luke nodded and moved to where Anakin had indicated, looking in the panel. Sure enough, the conduit was practically welded into the board on one end, with the other coupling in a smaller space than Anakin’s massive cybernetic hands could permit. Luke carefully moved his hand through the cramped space, reaching out with his senses to guide his hand to the coupling. 

The Force had some very useful applications at times. 

Luke could feel his father’s amusement in the Force as he worked at the coupling. He ignored it for the moment, and focused on the task at hand. A few twists more… Finally, it came loose, and Luke heard his father grunt in satisfaction next to him as the circuit board was at last removed. Anakin quickly threw the useless mess over his shoulder before pulling some conduit and a new board to him, and started to make some adjustments while Luke watched. It was silent between the two at least for a moment, until Anakin spoke up. “So Luke, what were you and Obee arguing about?”

Luke gave a sheepish chuckle. 

“Yeah… sorry about that by the way,” he said meekly. 

Anakin waved him off. “It is done and over with, and you learned your lesson — at least I hope you have," he added, leveling a look at his son that could be felt even with the infamous mask obscuring his face. "But yes please, do explain.”

Luke gathered his thoughts. “Well,” he started, “Obee used the ship’s scanners to get a readout of the system, see what we’re dealing with. The planet is pretty typical for a Mern-class planet — by all accounts, it’s not much bigger than the likes of Naboo. It’s got one moon, and aside from an odd one second blip that’s probably a fault in the scanner, there’s nothing really special about it.” 

Anakin could hear the ‘but’ coming.

“But the star, however…”

Anakin looked at his son. “What about the star?”

Luke let out an explosive breath and turned to look at Anakin. 

“Father, what’s the smallest you’ve ever heard a star get?”

Anakin tilted his head at the odd change of subject, but humored his son. 

“Compared to say, the gas giant Yavin, in terms of mass I would say…”

“About 30 times. Obee told me,” Luke finished. “And that’s for a red dwarf, the smallest kind of star out there, right?” Anakin nodded. “Well,” Luke continued, “Do you want to guess how massive the yellow star in the center of the system reads as on the scanners?” Anakin didn’t answer, staring at Luke. Luke held up both hands, fingers up. “Ten.”

Anakin looked at him in confusion. He asked, “Ten times a red dwarf's mass?” but Luke shook his head. 

“Nope,” Luke clarified. “Ten times the mass of Yavin.”

Anakin reeled at the idea. “But that’s—”

“Impossible, right? I thought so too, and so did Obee.” Luke shook his head. “He ran the scans four times in a row and it was exactly the same each time. He and Kyugee can’t find any fault in the scanner, so it isn’t that either,” he added, guessing correctly that his father was about to point out that possibility. “Whatever is happening out there to make it happen, that mass has the same radiation and heat output as a Grek-type star, but the mass barely makes brown dwarf territory. Obee can’t explain it.” Luke rubbed his head. ”Neither can I, for that matter. I’ve never heard of anything like this. Ever. By all accounts, and based on everything known by science, that star shouldn’t even be a star! Could the Force possibly have something to do with it?”  Luke asked, turning to his father.

Anakin also tried to think of something, even though he hadn't seen it and he doubted Luke was joking judging from his tone. The idea of the force keeping a star alive — not only alive, but as bright as any main sequence sun — despite its mass being barely in the range of a brown dwarf was unheard of. He had to wonder if Yoda or even his former master knew of such a phenomenon?

Somehow he doubted that…

“We will…” he trailed a bit awkwardly. “Figure it out soon, in the meantime let’s finish up some repairs and find a way to land on the planet.” Luke nodded as he continued to help his father.

As they worked together they suddenly felt something...off. Shrugging the odd sensation aside at first, they continued repairing, now with Obee’s aid. Suddenly,  the sensation returned without warning — a sensation of wrongness, a nagging feeling that almost felt like it was boring into their skulls.

Luke spoke up first. “Father… Do you feel that?” He looked at him.

Anakin didn't say anything at first, just the sound of air filtering through his mask. There was something, something was off. “Yes… Let me…" 

He began to expand his senses with the Force. He didn’t know why but he needed to do this just to get that feeling out, to seek out the source of this nagging wrongness --

Wait… what was that? 

Anakin stiffened suddenly with an indrawn breath as something brushed against his senses. 

“Luke.” His voice sounded hoarse and low, even through the vocoder. “Expand your senses,” 

Not questioning his father's order, Luke did just that. his eyes slightly widened. Another precenes but not on the ship but outside. Further, and further, towards the planet — no, not there.. Luke followed the whisper of the Force to the moon, a lone sentinel against the void..

And on that moon…

Luke nearly gagged as he encountered the Thing that had so startled his father.

Cold. 

Cold, unlike what Luke had ever felt in the cave at Dagobah; the damp kind that warned, that revealed, that admonished, that neither supported or opposed, was neither good nor evil, but merely was — the unforgiving, yet neutral Cold of the universe itself.

Cold, unlike what Luke noticed, would follow Vader like a funerary shroud wherever he went; cold burnt out cinders and endless agony, angry and bitter and sorrowing without end, hating all that existed in equal measure, but none so much as Anakin himself — the Cold of a broken man, that tore and gnawed at itself.

Cold, even unlike what chilled him to his core in the throne room on the Death Star, standing next to the Emperor, the Dark Side incarnate; oily and deep, a cold that consumed, that took in all under its shadow and hungered for more, ever feasting, never once relinquishing that which it engulfed — a black hole in the Force. 

This Cold, this darkness, was different from all Luke had encountered. Unlike the Cold of the Dark Side that surrounded Vader and the Emperor, passive auras and nothing more, this Cold was alive. It wasn’t the Cold of Grief, or the Cold of endless Hunger, or Avarice. It was harsher, more warlike.

It was the Cold of Iron.

It was tough and strong, like the hardest armor. revealing nothing of itself but blood-freezing anger. It bit deeper than the sharpest blade, freezing one to the core with an endless, frigid wrath. It was focused, singular in Its intent. Immediately upon his sending it, it launched a staggeringly powerful mid-probe that nearly had both father and son on their knees. Like a spear, it stabbed towards them, driving through their hastily erected defenses, reaching for their minds. 

Luke felt ghostly talons rake across the innermost walls around his thoughts and shuddered from the sudden feeling of cold that rushed over him like a breaking wave. Again, and again, the probes stabbed at them. Luke felt his father’s presence next to him,and leaned into it for support. Anakin, surprisingly, responded in kind. They covered for one another, each warding off a probe meant for the other, pooling their efforts into resisting the stronger attempts to break into their minds. Whatever the Thing was, it was persistent, Luke understood that with grim certainty.

Suddenly, the Thing lashed out again. Both Luke and Anakin braced for the imminent attack, but it never came. Before either of them could consider what that meant, the ship shuddered beneath their feet. They looked down at the deck, as if they could see through to where the tremors came from. A horrible realization began to build up, and they gathered their thoughts to resist. Just before they could act, another barrage of attacks had them hunker beneath mental shields.The ship shook again, and Luke, even though he was standing still, felt the distinct sensation of moving sideways, that could only mean one thing.

They had changed course.

There was a terrified screech and babble of binary as Kyugee zoomed into the compartment, Obee hot on his wheels. Kyugee whistled and squawked and blarted so fast, gesticulating violently with his manipulators, that Luke couldn’t make out what he was saying. He did have an idea, however, and he hoped he was wrong. 

Obee quickly dashed those hopes as he quickly translated in a frantic tone. 

“The ship is changing course, accelerating,” he began hurriedly. “We can’t figure out  why, but it’s almost like we’re in a tractor beam, though we can’t find any energy signature! Through means neither of us can detect, this entire vessel is on a new course, like it is being pulled!”

“To where?” Anakin interrupted. Both he and Luke, however, already knew the answer before Obee confirmed their suspicions.

“At our current course, we will intersect with the planet’s moon, sir.”

Luke and Anakin looked at each other grimly as they considered their options. The Thing on the Moon wasn’t going to be dissuaded so easily by their resistance, so It reached for what couldn’t fight back — the ship that carried them. It was clever, but that was the least of their concerns. Now, fleeing what was left of the Empire and the death-storm of the Emperor, they had stumbled across something just as terrible, if not worse — an Entity the likes of which neither father nor son had ever encountered before. It was far more direct and determined than Palpatine had ever been, at the very least, not afraid to get Its hands dirty. Luke couldn’t discern much else of it, but he knew enough from the brief flashes of intent he felt from the Thing.

It was old.

It was powerful

And It wanted them.

He only hoped that they were strong enough to keep It from getting what It wanted.







She gathered her strength to herself, and flung it at the vessel, still so distant. Her horn blazing a ghostly dark blue, she bent her will upon the thing of metal and wires, and commanded it to come. It turned, slowly but obediently, towards her, and she smiled. Resist her, would they? Defy her will, would they!? 

Well, she thought coldly, they would know the error and futility of their ways soon enough. When they stood before her and saw her majesty, the strength of her will even so bound, and the rightness of her crusade, surely they would kneel before her! Surely they would pledge themselves to her cause. She was mighty enough alone, but the two she perceived aboard that ship had strength that combined could surely match her own! 

Despite the distance, she could ‘see’ their figures, so to speak. She can feel the full spectrum of emotions — such was the power of Dreams. What had intrigued her was the flashes of insight she had gained from her constant attempts to reach them, to know them. Both of them were as different from each other as the sun and the moon — an irony among ironies! 

And yet, they had a similarity that mirrored one she knew long ago.

One of them felt cold — not the type of cold one would feel if they were outside in winter, no. It was the bleak cold of the eternal void. She could sense the emotions that made up this cold — a long-standing pain… and boundless rage. It was the kind of rage that made her fury look like a candle compared to the suppressed inferno that eternally threatened to explode forth, and consume all. And the pain... there was so much of it; pain to the point that it was life threatening, the fact it was even alive was shocking. These were years worth of emotions, how many years she did not know, for all she knew it could have experienced centuries’ worth of grief. What she did know was that she could feel the inky fingers of betrayal that stretched like the void. His betrayal, or another’s? Perhaps both?

It saddened her black heart, because she knew its pain keenly.

The other was quite different. It seemed… younger. Calm and warm and bright, like that blasted sun had stuffed itself inside. Like a massive rock in a river current, it merely let the probes roll off to either side, infinite in its serenity. It reminded Nightmare of her, and it was sickening. She had sent the more vicious probes her way, taking satisfaction from the younger’s struggle… until the elder sent an attack of its own, snarling and rabid like an angry dragon. It had almost blown completely through her guard and used her mind as target practice. The worst part was that she knew, she knew, beyond all doubt, that It could have brought more power to bear.

It hadn’t been an attack — it had been a warning, and she had the distinct feeling that she wouldn’t get a second.

She had balked at that for a moment. The two shared a bond… one strong enough, at any rate for one to be quite protective of the other. That was unexpected to say the least, given their inherent dichotomy. 

But then again, hadn’t it been the same way with her and…?

She snarled and banished those thrice-damned memories. Thinking of such things only wrought sadness and pain, both unwanted and unneeded. She didn’t know what annoyed her more — that they resisted her advances, or brought those useless memories and distractions forth in her mind. She directed her annoyance and irritation into the command she threw once more at the vessel.

Come to me!

She laughed soundlessly into the void as the ship inched ever closer to the moon. Soon, they would learn who the true pinnacle of might was! Their power was great indeed, but they seemed reluctant to bring it to bear — a pity. It would be their undoing. She would enjoy beating the will to resist out of them, of course; but she hoped that the fight wouldn’t be too short. It had been too long since the last time she had a good, old-fashioned brawl. She looked forward to the more direct contest of might that was imminent — the most entertainment she had had in a millennium! She would savour it, nice and slow.

She stopped in her exultations and frowned as something crossed her senses. Far off in the distance, the Two were gathering their strength once more. Their power intertwined with one another this time, weaving together like the strands in a basket, interlocked and stronger together than alone, like well-woven ropes of pure thought. Interesting… so they weren't planning to be pulled before her star-dusted throne without a struggle, were they? She smirked as their conjoined might flared: a direct challenge. Very well… she would humor them. After all, it wouldn’t be very sporting if she crushed their attempts to fight back before they could get ready... let them show what they could do. The result would be the same no matter their plan. She spread her wings and marshaled her strength once more, magic flaring like a newborn star on the face of the Moon.

The challenge was accepted.

Let the game begin.







Ding!

“AND — THEY’RE — OFF! Star Blazer of Cloudsdale in the lead, followed closely by Appleloosa’s Tail Wind and Mighty Meso trailing third —”

Twilight ignored the enthusiastic commentary from the radio atop her bookshelf and continued to stare blankly at the long-cold mug of coffee like she had for the past hour while Spike sat next to her with a worried look on her face. Presently, he poked her on the shoulder and said “Come on, Twilight, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Yes it is,” was her dull reply.

“She didn’t say it was stupid or anything!”

“She didn’t even look at it, Spike.”

“Maybe it’s because oh, I don’t know, that you woke her up late.” He deadpanned at her.

She huffed slightly and rolled her eyes. “Wasn’t that late…”

“It was 2:30 in the morning,” Spike pointed out flatly, pointing to himself. “I should have been asleep by then.” He yawned and stretched. Even now he still wanted to sleep due to the lack of it he had recently. “I’m surprised you aren’t tired as well.”

Twilight bit her lip. In hindsight, it probably hadn’t been her best idea to sprint through the castle at 2 in the morning, waking up half of Canterlot in the process, and going right up to the Princess’ chambers and slamming her hoof on the door until her mentor answered. She couldn’t actually blame Her Highness for barely even glancing at the image slates before telling Twilight in no uncertain terms that while yes her discovery was certainly noteworthy, Twilight was certainly tired just like everypony else was – HINT HINT –so they could discuss it further tomorrow morning and right now, the best thing she could do was to get to the observatory and go. To. Bed.

Twilight wasn’t sure if what convinced her was her teacher’s frazzled mane, the faint twitch in her left eye, the very sweet tone in her voice that was only present when Blueblood galloped across her nerves – AGAIN –, or the ever-so-faint curl of smoke from her horn, but next thing she knew she was bolting for the tower like a rabbit chased by a fox, Spike trailing behind her.

She hadn’t been able to sleep well, tossing and turning in her bed before getting up at around 6:30 in the morning to pore over the image slates again.

So here she was, with barely four hours of sleep, reduced to staring at a coffee cup with her mind spinning with thoughts she couldn’t even hope to organize. But she wasn't about to admit defeat to Spike yet — she had powered through sleep deprivation before.

“Fatigue is for the weak,” she said stiffly, turning her nose to the air haughtily. Her stomach suddenly growled, and her stubborn expression turned sheepish as Spike rolled his eyes.

A plate suddenly appeared under her nose, and the wonderful scent had her staring transfixed and cross-eyed at the blueberry scones like she had never seen pastries before.

“Well, having a need for food doesn't seem to be just for us mere mortals at least,” a new voice cut in; smug, familiar, annoying and welcoming at once. Twilight’s head swiveled like a gun turret until her eyes fixed on the armored white stallion leaning against the doorway, grinning at her teasingly. 

Twilight glared at the unwelcome invader, then turned her nose to the air. 

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Captain," she said primly. "I certainly don't need any food at this moment."

The Captain raised an eyebrow at the stiff-backed mare in front of him. Then he gave a bright and cheerful smile and pulled the scones away from her, noting the way her eyes followed the pastries. He then said in the most chipper tone he could manage, "Okay miss, my mistake! I’ll just have to eat these scones aaaaaallllll by myself! All these hot, tasty, fresh-from-the-kitchen scones!” He pretended to ignore how she flinched at each word he emphasized as he turned to Spike. The dragonet was visibly trying not to laugh.

“It’s just too bad, too,” he continued in a loud dramatic voice, making sure that Twilight could hear him. “I really wanted to share these… Would you like some, Spike?” he asked the dragon, all innocence, while giving him a sly wink. 

Spike understood immediately and played along.

“Why certainly, Captain!” Spike answered just as loudly. “I’d be happy to eat these with you!” If Spike had been facing Twilight at that point, he would have broken down with laughter at the utterly betrayed look she gave her assistant. The Captain, thankfully, was too disciplined to give in to the temptation — yet — and instead nodded. He bellowed, “Excellent! Let us go down to the hill outside and enjoy the nice weather as much as we will enjoy these scones!”

“Oh yes, let’s!” Spike replied.

Both let out an exaggerated “HA HA HA HA HA!” of laughter and slowly began to march to the door with the plate of scones hovering between them, completely ignoring Twilight gaping at them. The Captain caught Spike's eye and mouthed, Wait for it.  Spike nodded and looked straight ahead, pretending not to hear the little whimper behind them.

He was glad he was facing away from Twilight so he wouldn't have to see the look on her face; he was already having trouble keeping in a cackle.

The Captain, who was now fighting to hold back his own grin, mouthed again at Spike, counting down.

3… 2… 1…

"Wait!"

Twilight walked over to the two conspirators, who slowly turned to her with matching pleasant smiles.

"Yes?" They said at the same time. "Was there something?" The Captain asked pleasantly. A bit smug

Twilight mumbled something incomprehensible. The Captain leaned closer, an ear raised.

"Come again?"

Twilight's face turned a spectacular shade of maroon and she repeated herself more clearly. "I said, can I have some scones too?"

The stallion looked at her for a moment.

He raised his brow and squinted. “Hmmmm...I don’t know... should we?” He turned to Spike with a serious look. "What do you think? Can she have some?"

Spike also puts on his thinking face, contemplating if he should. “I don’t know ehhhh…” he made the mistake of looking at the despair on Twilight's face. He started laughing so hard that he fell to the floor, rolling on the ground. 

The Captain couldn’t contain his mirth anymore as soon as Spike started laughing. He trotted up to Twilight and lightly booped her nose. 

"Gotcha, Twily," he chuckled as Twilight's face flushed deeper. She turned away from him in a huff, muttering "That was a low blow, Shining, tormenting your little sister like that."

Shining Armor grinned mischievously, then looped an arm over his sister’s withers and gave her a noogie. Twilight squeaked in dismay and tried to squirm out of her brother’s grasp, but the older stallion's greater strength prevailed. Finally, Twilight lost her patience, and lifted Shining off her with magic.

“Ok, that’s enough! Seriously, what are you doing here?” She punctuated her last word by releasing her magic, letting drop to the ground with a plop. He got up and dusted himself off.

"Well, I heard my dear baby sister was in a big funk, so I figured coming over and giving her some classic brotherly love should help! Aren't I a good BBBFF?" He looked at her with a pout.

"An annoying one is more like it," Twilight remarked drily.

Shining beamed at his sister. "Good, then I'm doing my job right!" He snickered as she rolled her eyes.

Shining took a breath to calm down. “Alright, alright all jokes aside what's going on? I haven't heard much except you woke the Princess up in the middle of the night and she sent you away." He gave her a sidelong look. "Something happened with a project?"

“You can say that again.” Spike started with a gleeful tone, before he was quelled by a Look from Twilight.  

“Oh? What happened?” Shining asked with a raised brow.

Twilight then began to explain the situation from earlier in the morning. “Me and Spike were taking pictures of the blue flash on the moon.”

Shining interrupted for a moment. “Wait, you mean that old story that dad always tells us? The blue flicker that causes nightmares?” Her sister nodded. “But...I thought that was a myth.”

"All myths have a basis in reality," Twilight pointed out. "I wanted to find out what that basis was, and —"

A white hoof immediately covered her mouth while Shining chuckled. "OK, ok, I get it, but before we get into a conversation this heavy I think we all need something in our stomachs." He gestured to the door and the walkway outside. "I actually have a picnic set up outside, so we can eat and continue the conversation outside with some fresh air." 

Twilight pinned her brother with a very flat look. "You plan for everything don't you?" she said drily

"I learn from the best!" Shining gave a toothy smile that, despite Twilight's best efforts, sent her laughing.

"All right then, lead the way, Captain!" She gestured grandly to the door.

Shining marched through, saying  "Don't mind if I do!" and the trio began to set off down the walkway, laughing as they went. Shining took the lead, Spike carried the plate of scones next to him, and Twilight trailed behind them, shaking her head even as she kept grinning. Between Spike and Shining, it was a wonder that she hadn’t gone nuts from their antics every time they were in the same room. 

Even so, they were family, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey, Twilight!"

The call broke her out of her train of thought and she looked ahead. They had reached the base of her tower and were making their way to a small knoll not too far away. At the top she could see a spread out blanket, some baskets, and a white unicorn waving at them, her pink mane waving a little in the breeze.

Twilight blinked in confusion as they reached the picnic spread. "Twinkleshine?”

“Hey Twinkleshine!” Spike greeted her happily.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked with a tilted head.

“Well I was around, Shining asked me if I wanted to join for a picnic with You and Spike, I said yes and well here I am,” Twinkleshine simply replied with a smile.

In fact, it had actually been Twinkleshine’s idea to start a picnic to lure the elusive Twilight Sparkle out of her lair — er, study — with the prospect of food and fresh air. Unfortunately, Twilight had a bad habit of being too engrossed with her studies, or experiments, depending on the subject. 

To that end, she had gone to Shining Armor for some help; if anypony had ways to get Twilight's purple horn out of her books, it would be her brother. 

Though, Twilight didn’t really need to know those little details to know that, so Twinkleshine put on the most innocent smile she could muster while Twilight stared at her like one of Princess Celestia’s pop quizzes. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Twilight let up and settled onto the picnic blanket next to her brother.
 
“So Shining, what did you bring this time?” She asked.

“Nothing fancy.” His horn glowed, getting the assorted food out. “We got 4 apple juices, 4 daisy sandwiches, grapes in a bowl and last but not least!” He pulled out another bowl this time full of colorful gems and rubies. “Some exquisite crystals for our dragon!” He mocked in a fancy tone while also giving the little dragon a teasing hoof noogie.

“Hey!” Spike pouted a bit while trying to bat away Shining’s hoof, though his mouth started to water at the thought of eating those delicious crystals.

Twilight deadpanned a bit. “You are gonna spoil him at this point.”

“Oh come on sis, he’s like a brother to me of course I’m gonna spoil him.” He gave a cheeky laugh. 

Twilight rolled her eyes at his remark and turned to her daisy sandwich, fishing a few scones from the plate. Twinkleshine decided to start the conversation. “So how are you guys?”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. Spike however spoke for her. “We are doing okay, sleepless nights notwithstanding.”

“What happened?” Twinkleshine asked.

Twilight swallowed her mouthful of sandwich and was about to explain, then froze. “Oh no!” she cried, grinding her hooves into her hair. “I forgot to bring —”

“These?” Spike smoothly interjected with a cat’s grin, holding up the image slates in front of him. Twilight looked at him, eyes round, before gingerly taking the image slates and laying them out in front of her like objects of worship.

“What are those?” Twinkleshine asked. 

“Do these have to do with the Blue Flash like you mentioned before?” Shining asked thoughtfully, prompting an odd look from Twinkleshine.

Twilight nodded, and gestured to a slate in the middle. “Look at this one, just up and to the left of the moon,” she said, stepping back so Shining and Twinkleshine could look.

“I don’t see anything out of place...” Shining said after a few seconds.

Twilight nodded. 

“Now look at the next slate, same place.”

Twinkleshine was the first to notice the difference. “There’s something there that wasn’t before!” she exclaimed. 

“Exactly.” Twilight began to pace back and forth, some of her earlier excitement revived.

“What?” Shining went to take a look and indeed there was something there. At first he thought it was speck of dust, but on closer examination it had a very distinct shape but also it seemed to be shining. Like how some of guard ponies’ golden armor would glint brightly from the sun sometimes, this was exactly that but it seemed brighter.

He huffed a bit in disbelief. “No way...this can’t be real, Twilight are you pulling my hoof?” 

“What? No!”

“But what is it?” Twinkleshine interjected. “Is it an asteroid, or a comet?”

“Oh, please!” Spike said in a joking tone. “Nothing so mundane! It’s obviously an alien spaceship!” He started to laugh at his own joke.

“Actually, I’m starting to think that’s exactly what it is.”

Jaws dropped and eyes popped. Absolute silence reigned for a few seconds. It seemed that even the birds were silent from the sheer ridiculousness of Twilight’s statement.

Finally her brother broke the silence. “Am I dreaming? Did you actually say that… that...” 

“That I think it’s an actual spaceship?” Twilight finished. “Yes. Look at the gleam, the shape of it. There are metallic asteroids out there, and there are even icy comets that might  have a similar shine, but that’s unlikely. Even a metallic asteroid won’t shine that brightly — it’s like a refined metal shell as opposed to ore. And a comet this close to the sun would have a vapor corona and tail, and that isn’t present.”

Shining, Twinkleshine and Spike could only stare.

“As for the shape —” She laughed sarcastically. “Can you explain how an asteroid not only looks smooth, but has a symmetrical arrowhead shape?” She didn’t get an answer, which was, of course, her point exactly. “So YES, I genuinely believe it’s a spaceship.” She looked at the three of them. "Any other questions?"

Twinkleshine blinked, then put a hoof to her chin in mock thought. "Um… yeah I can think of something like, oh I don’t know, why is the flying rut up there in the first place???"

Twilight raised a single hoof and opened her mouth to answer, while Spike, Shining and Twinkleshine leaned in expectantly. 

"Not a clue!" Twilight exclaimed brightly, causing all three to face-fault. To think Twilight doesn’t know, and she was happy about it. Is the world ending now? "But I do have a few ideas." 

"Care to elaborate?" Shining prompted.

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, then looked around suddenly. "What's that?"

Twinkleshine looked a little worried. "Um, Twi, maybe you should sit down for a bit —"

"Don't you hear that?" Twilight asked her. "That rumbling noise?"

"Twilight, I don't hear any—" Spike began to say, before Shining cut him off.  "No, no… I hear it too." He looked up at the clear skies. "It can't be thunder," he said. "Not a cloud in sight." 

"OK, now I'm hearing it! What is that!?" Twinkleshine was looking around, a note of worry in her voice. "Is it me, or is it getting louder?" 

All three ponies looked around for the source of the noise, seeing nothing even as it grew louder and louder to them. A sense of dread began to build up in all Spike looked on in bewilderment. "What's going on? What noise are you talking about?" 

Twilight turned to him in amazement. "Spike, how can't you hear that, it's —"

Then the world, the very air around them, suddenly screamed. It was as sudden as a thunderclap, and more jarring than any explosion. It tore through the mind and ravaged all thought like a rabid beast, robbing any sensation but pain. All three unicorns dropped to the ground as the sound that was not a sound tore through their ears. Their horns rang and vibrated like bells, and their limbs had no feeling. 

Twinkleshine crouched over and groaned as her horn felt like it was driving through her skull like a giant nail. Through tears and unfocused eyes, she saw Shining clutching his head with both hooves, yelling as his horn flickered and sparked with faint blue light. Was he having a magic fit?

Twilight was arguably the worst of them. She had curled up into a ball, twitching violently and spasming uncontrollably in the grass as she screamed herself hoarse. Her horn was glowing so brightly that it looked like a spine of magenta sunfire on her forehead, molten sparks flying off into the grass and smoldering. Twinkleshine wanted to get up and help her, but she couldn't move. Spike was next to Twilight, shaking her shoulder and yelling, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

The screaming waxed in volume, and there was a sense of pressure, a crushing feeling, of two forces straining against each other, building up further and further, greater and greater— and then, with a sudden, furious wrenching, the pressure released, and the screaming and pain abated. Twinkleshine went limp, gasping for breath as her vision blurred. She couldn’t tell how long she laid there.. She could hear screams and shouts in the distance. She could hear Spike yelling for Twilight to get up, and she could dimly see her friend prone and motionless in front of her.  She wanted to get up, to help her friend, but she couldn't move, and was so tired… She felt like she had been trampled by a manticore.  She saw Shining struggle to his hooves, looking around before shouting and waving to the distance. Another guardspony, a pegasus, had landed in front of him. Twinkleshine's vision and hearing cleared up as Shining barked orders at the Pegasus.

"... every available medic into the city now! And get a medical chariot over here now! We have injured!" 

"Yessir!" The pegasus took off without another word.

Twinkle tried to stand, but then Shining was there, gently pushing her back down. "Don't push yourself right now," he said hoarsely. "Wait for the medics to arrive."

"SHINING!" Spike was grabbing onto his shoulder, tears running down his cheeks. "Shining, she's not waking up! She's not —" 

Shining pulled him into a tight hug and Spike broke down into his chest. "It's okay, Spike. She's— she's going to be okay." It sounded like he was saying that to himself more than Spike. "The medical chariot will be here, and she'll be in good hooves." 

Twinkleshine groaned as she strained her neck to look up at Shining. "What happened?"

The guard captain shook his head and looked down at his sister’s still form. "I have no clue. I have no rutting clue." Then he looked up and Twinkleshine could see a fire build up in his red-rimmed eyes. "But I'm going to find out."

A noise caught their attention, and the medical chariot dropped out of the sky, a pair of earth pony medics jumping out and galloping to them before the wheels even hit the ground. The guard pegasus from before brought up the rear and addressed his captain even as the medics lifted Twilight onto a stretcher.

"Sir!" The pegasus saluted. "The medical corps is already heading into the city to assess casualties! Her Highness also requests your presence immediately!"

Even after the ordeal he had just been through, his horn still sparkling a little, Shining Armor was still every bit the E.U.P. Captain at that very moment. "Very well, Lieutenant," he replied. "I will see these two escorted to the royal infirmary, then I will go to Princess Celestia. Spike," he turned to the dragonet he still had a hoof wrapped around, "you'll stay with Twi, ok?" Spike nodded. "Head to the garrison and tell everypony that I'm putting the guard under high alert. Everypony needs to be read at a — are you paying attention, Lieutenant!?" 

The lieutenant, who had been staring over Shining’s shoulder with large, horrified eyes, lifted a trembling hoof to the sky.

"S-sir… look."

Shining turned and froze, gaping. Twinkleshine turned her head to look as the medics, about to lift her onto the chariot, also froze, one of them gasping in horrified amazement. Everypony who could look stared, unable to pull their eyes away.

The morning sky above was perfectly clear and cloudless, the mighty summit of Mount Canter splitting it like a giant knife. Further up, bright azure darkened toward deeper navy blue, a gentle, soothing gradient in the heavens. Above the mountaintop, almost like a crown, a golden shard of sunfire cut a crimson gash in the deep blue sky.