//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: Securing the Palace // Story: Logic and Friendship. Roger! Roger! // by Anaylze //------------------------------// Celestia blasted the 2nd to last droid with her magic, leaving only a single B1 Battle Droid left.  "Uh oh!" The droid said, as it began to run away only to be kicked out the window by Rainbow Dash  "OH, MY GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The droid cried, as it fell out to window where it smashed on the stone flooring hundreds of feet below.  Dash collapsed on the floor once more, moaning in pain.  Celestia, Luna and the rest of the Mane 6 nearby rushed over to her.  "Rainbow Dash, are you alright?"  Dash groaned and attempted to pick herself up only to fall. She tried once more, this time managing to stand up and brace herself well.  "My wing…" she said, flexing her left wing and wincing in pain,  As the wing unfolded it revealed several burning holes through penetrative it, exposing bone in some areas, and going through others.  They all gasped, it was unlikely that such damage could be healed  Dash spat on the body of the Commando Droid that shot her in the wing, before sitting down again by the window.  "We need to get her to the hospital" Twilight said  "Ah'll take her. Don't worry about us, y’all go find Flutter shy and Pinkie." Applejack said, picking her friend up off the ground and offering her support as they walked towards the medical wing…  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cadance's senses slowly came back to her. At first everything was fuzzy, and there was a loud ringing in her ears. Her body ached all over, and she struggled to take in her surroundings. Cadance was confused, she had no idea where she was. She tried to stand up, only to feel a strong tug around her legs. Cadance looked down, to see 2 sets of handcuffs like restraints bound together by beams of energy around her front 2 and back 2 hooves, binding each pair together and restricting mobility. She tried to open her wings only to discover they too had been bound to her back in a similar manner. She looked up to see one of the black machines from earlier standing over her, with its weapon trained on her.  Cadance turned to look the other way, noticing several other Commando Droids nearby. Suddenly it all came rushing back to her. She remembered the attack on Canter lot, and the brief fight against the droids who seemed to have taken her prisoner.  "Wh… where am I?" She asked  "You have been captured by the Separatist Alliance. You will be taken into custody and questioned" the droid behind her said in a deep voice.  Cadance tried to break free from her restraints, only for them to get tighter.  "The restraints are specially designed for force users. Your struggle is pointless." The droid continued.  She tried to use her magic, but she couldn't concentrate enough due to the pounding headache she felt.  She accepted that she was helpless and at the machine's mercy.  The flight of the shuttle continued for a few more minutes before the shuttle shook with a series of thuds as it extended its landing gear and touched down inside the hanger bay of the Providence Class Carrier 'Enforcement'.  A door to her right opened and she was pulled up by her mane by the droid behind her and onto her hooves, before being shoved forward onto an exit ramp.  "Move."  She stepped slowly off the ship and into the massive hanger bay of the Separatist Dreadnought. She looked to her right and saw various machines and ships occupying the hanger bay, with the dark vacuum of space beyond some sort of blue energy barrier. She looked to her left, seeing the same, as the hanger stretched through the entire width of the vessel.  Cadance slowly walked forward, several of the hanger crew droids gazing at her defensively, ready for her to try and make a move. She didn't; she knew she was as good as dead if she tried anything. The Commando droid behind her shoved forwards her once more.  "Alright, I'm moving, you don't have to be so mean"  "Quiet."  They approached a door which opened automatically, revealing a seemingly endless corridor of hallways that she was ushered through…  Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Rarity stepped through the Canter lot Castle's massive entrance doors outside into the cold night. In Front of them in the courtyard lied Flutter shy and Pinkie Pie embracing one another in a hug as Flutter shy cried. The two ponies were surrounded by the bodies of 6 royal guards, and the rubble of a fallen castle tower was piled nearby.  The group quickly ran to the aid of their friends.  "Flutter shy, Pinkie Pie, are you alright? Where's Princess Cadance?" Twilight asked.  "Shes… gone… they took her" Flutter shy said sniffling "we're okay though."  "It appears as though the droids have escaped with TF as well" Luna said.  Celestia looked over her dead guard's ponies saddened before turning to her sister.  "Unfortunately, that does indeed seem to be the case."  There was a pause  "So, what do we do now?! They have TF, AND Cadance!" Twilight said, beginning to panic and breathe more rapidly.  Spike grabbed Twilights face by her cheeks and pulled her down to look him in the face  "Remember what she taught you, how to be calm under pressure!"  Twilight nodded slowly and placed a hoof to her chest, before taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.  "As I was saying Princess, what do we do now?"  "We will have to get our bearings first and tend to our wounded."  Twilight remembered that Rainbow Dash had been injured and nodded.  "Let's see how Rainbow Dash is doing."  They headed back inside...