//------------------------------// // 3 - The Fire // Story: Star Wars: Equestrian Empire // by Octavia_Melody //------------------------------// Celestia teleported Twilight, Spike, and the droids out of the caves, back to where they had started. The three organic beings sniffed the air and noticed a cloud of smoke. "What's cookin'?" Spike asked. Twilight's mouth hung open in horror as she saw the Canterlot Library engulfed in flames. "The library!!" she screamed, "MOM!! DAD!!" Twilight galloped as fast as her legs could carry here. She also teleported to and fro where she could before she finally collapsed in front of the burning building. "MOM!! DAD!!" Twilight called out, "Where are you?!" A crowd had started to gather and ponies were already retrieving buckets in a desperate attempt to put out the blaze. A red carriage with a loud clanging bell was being pulled by the fire chief, a large, gruff stallion wearing a red fire cap. Two other firefighters jumped down from the carriage and hooked a hose to a nearby water pump. Celestia managed to conjure up a rain cloud but all that was left of the building was charred rafters and piles of ash. "MOM!! DAD!!" Twilight called out again. "Twilight..." Celestia started to say. Twilight trotted into the now soaked husk of a building and lifted a pile of wood with her magic. Underneath it were the charred skeletons of what had once been a stallion and mare. Twilight collapsed to the floor and cried. "Mom...Dad..." she whispered, "No..." "Twilight..." called a voice from behind. Twilight slowly turned around and saw Celestia looking over her. The princess hugged her student with her wings and Twilight wrapped her hooves around Celestia in return. She cried until eyes could produce no more tears and Spike looked at her, wiping his own. "This wasn't an accident..." Twilight muttered in anger. "No...I don't think that it was." Celestia admitted. "This was Vader..." Twilight concluded. "It...may have been..." Celestia mused. "I'll find him..." Twilight resolved, "I'LL KILL HIM!!" "Twilight..." Celestia started. "Somepony must've seen what happened!" Twilight realized, "I'll interrogate the whole town if I have to!!" Twilight galloped back outside and noticed one of her friends, Lemon Hearts, standing nearby. Lemon Hearts was a yellow unicorn with blue mane and blue hearts on her flank. She looked at Twilight and then looked down in remorse. "Lemon Hearts!!" Twilight shouted, "Lemon Hearts!! What happened?! What happened to Mom and Dad?!" "There were these weird creatures..." Lemon Hearts started, "They walked on two legs, they were white, looked kind of like tortoise shells. They kept asking about...those things...I think..." Lemon Hearts pointed at the two droids and looked away again. "I think they were looking for those two guys...all I said was that I saw them standing in front ot the library. They went inside and when they came out, a fire had started..." "You told them?!!" Twilight screamed, "YOU TOLD THEM?!!! YOU GOT MOM AND DAD KILLED?!!" Twilight's horn started to glow in anger but Celestia put her hoof on Twilight's back. "It's not her fault, Twilight." Celestia said, "They would've killed whoever they thought had the creatures they were looking for." "Where the hay did they go then?!" Twilight demanded, "I'll turn them into zap apple jam!!" "I think they flew away on their...flying thing..." Lemon Hearts started, "Looked kind of like a dragon but stiff...I guess..." "We've gotta track them down!!" Twilight said, "I've gotta avenge Mom and Dad!!" Before Twilight could say any more, an exasperated stallion galloped up to her and stopped short just in front of Celestia. The stallion was tan, with brown mane, wearing a green bowtie, and had an hourglass on his flank. "I'm not entirely sure if we've met before." the stallion spoke up, "But my name is The Doctor. We need to talk."