//------------------------------// // Qat Chrystac // Story: Star Crossed Ponies // by MillenniumFalsehood //------------------------------// Chapter 13 “Planets in that galaxy ran the gamut from glistening jewels of splendor to rugged, barren wastelands. I recall visiting planets made entirely of ocean, with their surface covered in water deep enough to contain massive creatures that could swallow a dragon whole; planets that had cities on them which had towers of glistening gold and marble that dwarfed the largest towers in Manehatten; planets so small that they could no longer be considered planets, but asteroids and planetoids, with gravity barely sufficient to hold on to a wisp of an atmosphere. If we hadn't been so concerned with running from the Empire, I would have visited them all and seen everything that galaxy had to offer.” -Twilight Sparkle, On Extra-Galactic Voyages, p. 332 Flashes of white and blue gave way to a familiar curtain of pin-pricked night as the view in the cockpit of the Maximum Thrust switched from the realm of hyperspace to that of realspace. Junas flipped a few switches and opened circuits, and suddenly the entire ship went quiet. Twilight noted that it was so quiet that she could hear the other ponies in the ship moving around through sound conduction in the walls of the ship itself. Junas shutting the ship down was a little perplexing, however. "Junas? Why did you shut down the ship?" "Well, we're not exactly alone in this system. The Empire and the Rebels are constantly contesting it, and even though there's a base here, it's not likely to welcome a newcomer and I don't exactly carry Alliance ID with me, being a scout and all." "They why are we here?" He gave her a half grin. "I didn't say that we were heading to a manned base." Twilight understood immediately. An abandoned base would contain secret hiding places full of supplies and fuel that the Empire might have missed when they raided it, plus heading toward an inactive base would ensure that they didn't land in the middle of a war zone. The saucer-shaped spacecraft glided on inertia through space, lazily drifting. Junas watched the sky, noting small flashes which appeared intermittently. "Looks like they're at it again." He pointed a finger at the small flashes. Twilight couldn't make out individual ships; even in a universe where ships could be miles long, she knew that at these distances they would be infinitesimally small. But the explosions produced by the deaths of such large metal behemoths could be seen for many thousands of miles. She sat back in her chair, at once in awe and terror at the sheer level destruction taking place in orbit. She turned and looked at Junas with concern. "Are you sure they can't detect us as we glide in?" "Their sensors will pick us up, but we'll look like a rogue asteroid or meteorite. It's a classic smuggler's trick, and always works because nobody would want to waste time and fuel chasing after thousands of rocks on the off chance that one of them might be a smuggler's ship." Twilight nodded, then turned her head back to look at the display of carnage which grew larger as the ship approached the planet. With no ion engines burning to propel the ship through space, the trip from the hyperpoint to the atmosphere took a lot longer than normal, which gave Twilight plenty of time to reflect on the current situation. She desperately wanted to know what had become of Luna. Ever since that particular Nightmare Night where she had rescued Luna from her own sense of self-doubt, she had kept the navy blue alicorn in mind. The ancient princess wouldn't have changed after one incident like that, and with the current predicament she probably was in a state of worry and fear. But even so, Twilight had faith that Luna would not succumb to it. Her constitution was strong, and her will stronger, and if Twilight knew the princess, she would be focusing her fear and worry into finding a way out of whatever prison she was being held in, though if what Celestia had said was true, there was no chance of escape through magical means. That fact was interesting to Twilight. She had seen magic being blocked, even back in magic kindergarten when filly unicorns were struggling to understand how to control their magic and the teacher would put up a force field to deal with the occasional burst flying through the room and knocking the building blocks and books off the shelves. But these humans couldn't do magic. Even though there were once thousands of people who called themselves Jedi and used the Force, though the facts she was able to glean about them from the library were few and far between, that was still not enough to explain how the princesses were not able to break through the Imperials' technology. These questions would have to wait for the time being. Junas was preparing to enter the atmosphere and start the landing cycle. ----- The ride through the atmosphere was bumpy and intense due to the lack of engine control and the unavoidable thermal updrafts caused by the molten parts of the planet's surface, and the ship's outer hull and armor were glowing red hot from the friction that would normally have been negated by the aerodynamic shield. But three minutes into their free fall Junas cut in the repulsor drive and gently set them down at the base of an obsidian crater. Twilight unbuckled her seatbelt and breathed a sigh of relief. "I’m really glad your ship survived the descent. I've seen meteorites burn up in the atmosphere of Equestria dozens of times." Junas nodded. "Yeah, but ships are generally built to be landed without shields if necessary. The structure is strengthened with certain alloys like Molybdenum-Duranium and the outer hull armor will absorb the heat, which allows you to land safely in an emergency, but you don't want to do it more than a couple of times." The lavender unicorn's relief was tempered by the idea that they might easily burn up or the ship might break up around them if they have to do that many more times. The pair exited the cockpit and walked down the corridor. "You know Twilight, you're a pretty good person to have in the cockpit with me." She blushed. "You really mean that?" "Sure. You're smart, good at the stick even in a combat situation, and can read a star map. You mind being my copilot? At least until we get to my home base." She stopped, looking at him with an unsure expression. "I dunno, Junas. You sure you want me?" He stopped with her and nodded. "Absolutely, kid. Besides, who else am I gonna ask? Spike?" She giggled at him. "Well, he does have thumbs." "True. But what do you say? I could really use the help up there." She considered the responsibility for a second, then looked up at him with a small smile. "I'll do it." Junas grinned. "Good to hear." They got to the lounge, where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were sitting at the table, which had small transparent figures on it, apparently trying to figure out how to play the game which was contained in the table. Rainbow looked up at Junas confusedly. "Hey Junas? How do you work this thing?" She punctuated her sentence with a shake of the table, causing the figures to momentarily disappear in a field of static. "Look under the table." She frowned, but did as he said, then came back up with a manual in her teeth and an embarrassed expression on her face. "It should have both Aurebesh and High Galactic lettering in it." "Heh, uh, thanks Junas." She set the small booklet on the table and began to read it. As she did so, Applejack motioned to Twilight, her body language suggesting that she didn't want Rainbow Dash to hear what she had to say. The lavender unicorn walked over to her friend and sat down next to her. "Twi, Ah think we need ta git to a hospital soon. Ah'm gettin' mighty sore under this here bandage. Ah think it might be infected." Twilight shook her head. "But you've been changing the bandages!" "No, Ah haven't. Ah've been given most of 'em ta Rainbow Dash. T’weren't many of them in there ta begin with, and Rainbow is mah friend. You do the math, Twi." "Applejack! Why would you do that?" "Ah jest toldja, Twi! Ah'm not about ta let Rainbow bleed out in this here hold! But don't you say a word ta her." Twilight opened her mouth for a moment as though she were going to object, but then closed it again and nodded. "My lips are sealed. But you need to take care of yourself, A.J. I don't think Big Macintosh can handle the farm without you." She blushed. "Well, he is the strongest earth pony Ah know, but he's too shy ta sell apples. We'll probably have a pile o' rotten apples when we git back." They both giggled a bit. Rainbow looked up at them. "Hey, what're you guys whispering and laughing about?" Twilight shook her head. "Nothing, Rainbow." Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked over at Junas, who was fiddling with some spare oxygen tanks. "Hey human! This lettering is all gibberish!" He scowled. "Just play with the controls until you figure it out." She stuck her tongue out at him when his back was turned, then started flipping the switches, getting more and more violent with each flick, then finally she slammed her hoof down on the table, causing the holographic figures to disappear, a burst of static to play through the speaker, then a wisp of smoke to trail up from the ruined processor. Junas turned back and glared at her with a "You better not have broken my game table" look. Rainbow's eyes bugged out, and she ducked under the table, a slight yelp of pain emitting from her lips as she did so. Twilight shook her head at her friend's antics, then got up and walked over to the storage cabinet where Junas was pulling out all the ship's enviro-suits. "Um, Junas? Do you think those will fit us?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I think with a little ingenuity and some syntherope we can get them to fit you guys." As he was saying this, Rarity, who had overheard them in the corridor, trotted into the room, levitating a suit and hauling it after her as she did. Junas noticed. "Hey! Give that back!" She looked back at him with a deadpan expression. "Darling, I may not be a soldier or a pilot, but I am good at one thing: making clothes." He wondered for a second where she was going with this, then gasped as she used her magic to separate the fabric of the suit at the seams. "Hey! Those suits cost a thousand credits apiece!" She rolled her eyes at him. "Ugh, honestly darling. It's not like I don't know exactly what I'm doing. I don't have my dress form, but I should be able to remember the patterns from memory." His heart skipped a beat at the word "should", but he watched as she deftly bonded the cloth with a magical flourish, and in minutes the suit was no longer in the shape of a humanoid, but that of a pony. He admired the craftsmanship. "Well I'll be a son of a gundark." Rarity smiled and winked at him. "Yes, quite remarkable, wouldn't you say?" She left the newly-completed pony suit on the floor and trotted over to the pile to make more. ----- After ten minutes of crafting, Rarity had managed to rebuild two more suits in order to fit ponies, even adding in an adjustable set of sleeves that the original designers had failed to include and crafting hoof-shaped boots out of spare material left over from the creation of the suits. Junas' jaw was slack by the time she had finished. "Well I'll say this for you, Rarity: if I ever need someone to fix my clothes, you'd be the first person I'd call." She blushed a little. "I might have rushed things a bit, and I really wish you had some purple and red ribbon and gems to give them a little flourish, but I am glad you appreciate my hoofdiwork." He nodded, once again doing a slight double-take at the juxtaposition of "hoof" into a word in place of "hand." He probably would never get used to it. The Rebel turned and looked at Celestia and Twilight, who had finished putting their suits on and were levitating the helmets into position. "Okay you guys, you know what to do. Rarity and I will scout to the north of where the scanners indicated the base was, and you two will scout to the south. One of us should eventually run into it, and when they do, the unicorn in the group will send a signal using their magic. The helmet comlinks will have only a few meters of range due to the radiation in the atmosphere, so that will have to work. Can you guys use your magic through those helmets?" Celestia and Twilight looked at each other momentarily, unsure if it would, but then clicked the seals on their helmets into the locked position and fired off a magical burst which materialized out of thin air above their heads and exploded harmlessly in a shower of sparks which appeared to be a pair of gold and purple fireworks. Celestia looked at Junas. "Will that suffice?" He nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for it. In the mean time, watch yourselves. Qat Chrystac is a Rebel holdout for a reason. The world is a radioactive ball of wasteland and volcanoes, and it was a miracle that we could find a safe landing spot here. The Rebels who manned the base were usually ferried in on a ship, then the ship would take off without landing. So make sure you play it safe. Stick with your partner, and keep an eye out for each other. You don't want a bit of lava spurting up and burning a hole through your suit." They all looked at one another nervously, then back at Junas. Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to explode. "I still don't see why you don't let me go with you! I could scout from the air and find the base in no time!" Junas sighed. "First of all, for that to work you'd need to compromise the suit with holes for your wings, which makes the point of a hazard suit kind of moot. Second, the base is buried beneath the rocks and only someone on the ground has a chance of seeing it. Finally, the bacta patches on your blaster burn are impregnated with a local anesthetic to take away the pain, which makes it feel better than it actually is. If you get up and fly, you'll re-injure yourself and possibly harm your body even more. Understand?" Rainbow huffed, then plopped back down grumpily on the sofa, forelegs crossed, muttering something sarcastic about how the Element of Loyalty sure is demonstrating her loyalty right now. Junas ignored her, turning back to the other ponies. "Anyway, be safe out there. Keep an eye on your partner and your environment, and don't get cocky. This planet is a monster, and even with enviro-suits, it's still a nasty place. Are there any questions?" They kept silent. "Let's go." ----- As the airlock door closed behind them and the boarding ramp lowered, Twilight saw clearly that she had gravely underestimated just what Junas had meant by "hostile". Even as the ramp lowered to the ground she could feel the heat through her suit, the cooling systems struggling to keep up with it. She lead the way down the ramp, looking over the angry red and black landscape, observing the steam vents and the occasional lava flow with nervous trepidation. Her boots touched the ground, and she said a quick prayer that Rarity's crafting would hold up in this nasty landscape. Junas followed behind her, with Princess Celestia and Rarity bringing up the rear. The white and purple fashionista was visibly nervous. "A-are you sure we have to do this? I mean, surely there are other bases we could visit." Junas was not looking at her, but answered anyway. "Yes. Not only do I need to get some materials to repair the ship, not to mention a new laser cannon, but we didn't get much fuel when we docked at Ergo either." The unicorn nodded in understanding, but still thought this was too risky. "I still think we could find a more . . . friendly location from which to find supplies," she muttered under her breath. The ponies and the human fanned out. Junas scanned the horizon, then looked down at the two datapads in his hands to get his bearings. He held out one to Celestia, who enwrapped it in a bright yellow aura. "We'll rendezvous here in four hours. May the Force be with us." As he said this, a column of lava shot up into the atmosphere a mere fifty meters away. "Please be with us . . ." ----- Twilight and Celestia walked at a careful pace. They kept an eye out for the base, as well as volcanic activity and steam vents. As they walked, Twilight was thinking. She was thinking about what happened back at the Imperial base during their escape. The lavender unicorn had put it out of her mind during the past couple of days since they blasted away from Endor, but now that they were relatively relaxed, not to mention alone, she could let her mind drift back toward the behavior her princess had exhibited during the battle to free themselves from their captors. Twilight remembered with slight dread the dramatic change that had come over her teacher, the fire that burned in her eyes and the ferocity with which she had dispatched their aggressors. It was so shocking because of what she had been taught all those years by Celestia: fear and anger lead to nothing but suffering and hatred. No good can come from violence, much less war, and when a problem is solved through discussion and friendliness that great bonds can be forged and ponies who were once enemies could become allies. It was how Celestia had kept the peace through Equestria and the world during her reign, and even though some shunned her friendship and wished to take over their prosperous nation, such as the Changeling queen Chrysalis, most who came in contact with Equestria throughout the millennia held good relations and were good friends with Celestia and her subjects. Which contrasted so heavily with the way their first contact with the Galactic Empire had gone. It was something Twilight was desperate to understand. Even the direct attack by the Changelings had gone unanswered, Celestia feeling that the Changelings would eventually overcome their hunger and jealousy and see the benefits of alliance. Her behavior in the battle to escape had been the exact opposite. She had a vengeful attitude, her magical bursts designed not stun or wound. But to kill. Upon reflecting on this fact, Twilight looked up at her teacher and shuddered. If such a wonderful pony as this could succumb to such rage, could it happen again? To her enemies, or . . .or even her own subjects? Celestia seemed to sense her student's concern. "My dear, what is troubling you?" Twilight wasn't sure how to answer her. "You are concerned about my behavior during the battle to escape the Empire, aren't you." It was a statement, not a question. Twilight nodded. "I thought you would eventually bring this up." Twilight looked up at her. "Please, princess. I want to understand." Celestia sadly looked at her student, then took a deep breath. "I do not believe in violent solutions, Twilight. You know that. But my experience with the Imperials and their henchmen led me to conclude that they were beyond reason, beyond friendship. They saw me as nothing more than a common animal, my subjects as less than animals. On our world, I and other monarchs treat each other with the utmost respect, even if we do not like each other. We can sit down and discuss our problems and come up with reasonable solutions. But with these humans, we have no voice. Our rights are nonexistent, our thoughts on the matter irrelevant, regardless of how intelligent we are. Any pleas for mercy and a safe return to our world would be met with sneers, followed swiftly by rapid re-enslavement. Therefore, there is no recourse but to meet fire with fire, if only to protect ourselves from the flame." It took a few minutes before Twilight fully processed what her ruler was saying, but in the end, she saw her teacher's point. If the Empire wouldn't see reason, then the only response was to ignore what they knew and stoop to conquer. It didn't mean she had to like it. "Princess, I understand why. But I still don't want to use my magic to kill. They may be evil, but they're still living things." Celestia eyed her student. "Do you suggest that I was too harsh in dealing with the Imperials?" Twilight shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I'm just not comfortable taking a life, that's all." The great alicorn nodded her head in understanding, then smiled down at her student kindly. "Then perhaps it would be best, my student, if you use your abilities only in ways which you are comfortable with. I do not wish to impose upon you something which you would not agree with." The little pony smiled back at her loving teacher, grateful that she understood her position on the matter, and continued walking, searching for any sign of the rebel base they had landed here to find. ----- "Darling, do we have much further to go?" "I told you, Rarity, I don't know where the base is. We'll find it when we find it." "Ugh, well we better find it soon. My hooves are killing me!" Junas was thankful he didn't have his blaster handy, or else he might have to explain why he returned without Rarity. "Look, you were the only one who could accompany me, and I need the extra set of eyes. Fluttershy had to stay behind and look after Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and, well, would you want Pinkie Pie helping you look for something?" Rarity thought about the time she had to help Pinkie Pie propel a hoof cart down the railroad track to Ponyville and how she almost went completely crazy listening to the ditzy pony debate endlessly about names for her newest confectionary treat, then she decided to refrain from making her physical condition known for the time being. "I suppose I see your point. But my dear, I must once again remind you that I am a fashionista, not a mountain climber." "I know. Believe me, I know." He sighed. "Just keep an eye out for the base, will you?" She rolled her eyes, but continued to scan the horizon. It wouldn't be such a bad place really (the red of the lava sort of complimented the black of the volcanic glass, in a grim, dark sort of way), if it weren't for the constant rumbling and such from the ground. Not to mention the oppressive heat and radiation. Rarity quickened her pace a bit to keep up with Junas, who had pulled ahead of her momentarily. She wished that human would remember that her legs were shorter than his and she couldn't walk as fast as he could. But she mused that at least she didn't have to worry about keeping her balance with four legs to provide stability. She stole a few glances at those gangly appendages. Why would any sane creator make his creation walk about on two legs? Wasn't it safer having four? At least stairs would be easier to traverse with only two legs; simply put one in front of the other. But other than that, Rarity saw no immediate advantage to fewer than the quartet that graced her undercarriage. Her stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten much in the last few days. Humans seemed to have an affinity for meat, and she couldn't stomach most of what the food locker contained. She made do with the supplies he had, though apparently he was mostly carnivore, but she sincerely wished they could stop on a more lush world. At least the rumbling of her belly was masked by the constant vibration produced by the magma flows underneath their boots. It wouldn't do for a lady to constantly allow her bodily functions to make themselves apparent. Wait. Something was off about the way it sounded. She tried to concentrate on the sound and isolate why it was bothering her, then she realized it was a build up to an eruption. Before she could warn Junas, the ground a dozen meters away exploded in a shower of red hot glowing grenades, each the size of an orange and each quite capable of melting through the suit and cooking the occupant alive. She acted quickly. Using all of her mental might she grabbed each rock as it fell and deflected it. Some of them escaped her notice and scorched their suits, but she kept them from being pelted by the molten lava raining down around them. As the last of it subsided, Junas, who until this point had been sheltering himself with his arms, looked at Rarity in surprise. "Whoa. Thanks!" She gave her mane a fling to get it out of her face. "Don't mention it darling. I'm just glad I had the reflexes to catch that shower before it landed on the both of us." Junas looked at the steaming piles of still-glowing rock and breathed a sigh of relief. "So am I. Let's get going before that volcano decides to erupt again." Rarity nodded, and then the two of them walked off together, their pace quickened by the sudden reminder of the dangerous nature of their current location. ----- The swirling currents of blistering heat were beginning to take their toll on the cooling systems in Twilight's environmental suit. She was confident that she and Celestia might be able to compensate with magic somewhat, but eventually their reserves would run dry. She looked up at her teacher with a worried expression. "Princess Celestia, this heat is really getting to our suits' systems. I fear that it will soon overtake them." The great alicorn nodded. "Indeed, my student. We must find that base as soon as possible." They both walked along the base of a crater, noting the slight glow of the surrounding rock. Twilight was grateful that this universe's materials science was as far along as it was to allow heat-proof boots. Even though she had hooves, walking on such rock without the benefit of boots would surely have caused great pain, even without the oppressive heat and deadly radiation. If Twilight was honest with herself, she would admit she was not hopeful. A base which was meant to be hidden would not be easy to see, either from the ground or from the air. There would be measures in place, the purpose of which was to conceal and deceive, and when somepony really doesn't want you to find something, they usually pull out all the stops to ensure that their efforts are as successful as possible. Then again, this world was hostile to sensors and masked even natural features with radiation and heat. Any ships that hoped to land at the base would need a guide of some kind, even if they had precise coordinates. They would have to have a physical object to guide them to the landing pad or docking collar, and that being the case, it would have to be visible somehow. But there were no technological devices visible from orbit, and even their descent through the atmosphere revealed nothing which might indicate the base. This meant the marker was geological in nature. "Princess Celestia? I think we need to look for a distinct geological feature which would indicate a place to set down. Radio signals wouldn't be able to burn through this radiation without being so strong that they would broadcast the base's location, and sensors are useless for detecting anything." Celestia's face morphed into a contemplative expression. "Yes, my student. That seems to be a logical conclusion. Have you seen anything that might be the feature meant to guide pilots?" Twilight shook her head slowly. "No, I haven't. But it should be visible from the ground, because soldiers from other bases might need to find this one." "I agree. Let us continue. Perhaps we will locate it soon." They continued walking, the orange and red glow of the surrounding terrain giving their surroundings a hellish glow, the smoke from freshly opened volcanoes making the sky as black as the iron gates of Tartaros. ----- Junas was getting worried. They should have found the base by now. If their speed were holding steady at 4 klicks per hour, which was his normal walking speed, then they should have seen something to indicate the base: an antenna, a scanner dish, heck even an anti-collision light for incoming traffic. Yet nothing was presenting itself. Rarity was apparently getting concerned as well, as the look on her face was showing. "Junas, do you think we've come too far?" "I don't know, Rarity. We might have, but we also might be ignoring something, too." She nodded. "Well, I hope it doesn't take much longer. I can feel the heat coming through my suit." Junas had noticed this a few minutes ago, but hoped it was just his brain telling him that the environment surrounding his suit was hot. However, a look at the sensor display panel confirmed that the internal temperature was indeed increasing. "Let's keep looking. I know this base has to be around here somewhere. Just think about how cool it will be inside and how nice it will be to rest our feet." He hoped that would reassure Rarity. It wasn't doing much good to reassure him. He knew how close he was to death here. Suits like these were designed to resist heat and radiation, not hold it back indefinitely. Even if they made it back to the ship, they had little fuel left in the tank, so if they didn't find the base they would be stranded on this planet. The worst part was that he was supposed to relay the location of the new Death Star to the Rebels, and he couldn't do that if he were an irradiated corpse on some Force-forsaken world in the middle of the Outer Rim. So he pressed on. ----- The heat was becoming unbearable. Twilight desperately wished she could wipe the sweat from her brow and keep it from trickling down into her eyes. Even her magic wasn't enough, as she wasn't able to see the sweat and telekinetically banish it, and she wasn't about to blindly use magic, risking pulling out her coat or even her skin just to relieve some discomfort. So she put up with it for the time being. Celestia for her part was tolerating it, but even a sun goddess is not immune to heat and pain. The great alicorn was obviously getting exhausted, and Twilight figured that the torture inflicted on her by the Imperials must have left some permanent damage. "Princess? Do you need a break?" "No, my student. Finding this base is the only thing that will keep us alive on this world, and the sooner we find it the sooner we may leave this wretched place." Twilight understood, but she still wished Celestia would take it easier. She didn't want the greatest pony she'd ever known to risk injury or death, for if she succumbed, then their world was doomed. They kept walking despite the growing discomfort that was rapidly becoming intolerable. Twilight gazed around the landscape, desperate for some sign that they were getting near their goal. A drop of sweat fell into her eye, causing it to tear up and burn. She squeezed it shut hard to force the offending liquid out of her eye, then continued looking across the alien world around her. She thought to herself how the color of this landscape was playing a similar trick on her eyes that snow did in wintertime. Her vision was getting highlights of blue-green as her retinas were struggling to cope with the overwhelmingly orange landscape. Again she wished she could rub her eyes so that the strain would go away, and mentally cursed the clear lens in front of them. Twilight wondered how long they had been walking. The display indicating the time was in that alien script, and without a lexicon it was hard to remember what the symbols meant. She had an electronic version which used visual cues to help her understand what they meant that she found in the library (she guessed it was there in case a freighter captain also happened to be the parent of a young child still learning their written language), but she hadn't had time to outright memorize it. Still, judging by how the numbers had ticked by at the same rate a similar clock in Equestria would, she estimated they had been out here for several hours, and her oxygen supply was limited. She couldn't tell by the gauge, which was also in alien letters, but it did appear to be near the PNR: the point of no return. It didn't take a magical genius to know that once you crossed that red line there was no going back. And the needle was dangerously close to that red line. Twilight was trying to keep a level head, but it was getting harder to banish self-destructive thoughts from her mind. What if she didn't make it to the base before her air supply ran out? What if they encountered a volcano with no warning? What if . . . they all died here? The growing anxiety was becoming manifested in her pace and breathing. Celestia took notice. "Calm yourself, my student. You mustn't breathe up all your air in a fit of hysteria." Twilight however wasn't able to concentrate on her teacher's voice. Her breathing was intensifying, and as she listened to herself breathing she realized that it meant she was consuming more precious oxygen, which made her hyperventilate even faster, causing a vicious cycle to form. "Twilight?" The purple unicorn didn't acknowledge. Instead, she ran off. "Twilight!" The young student however was not listening. She ran hard and fast, and Celestia ran after her. Eventually Twilight tripped and rolled several times, allowing Celestia to get close enough for her magic. The alicorn telekinetically lifted her student up and quickly brought her in front of her face. "Calm yourself!" The shock of hearing Celestia raise her voice at her snapped Twilight out of her panic attack. Her eyes darted momentarily, then she refocused on the beautiful, yet stern, face in front of her. "I'm sorry, Celestia." Twilight looked at her teacher with a shameful expression as she felt her hooves make contact with the hot obsidian beneath her. "It is alright, Twilight. Just don't let your fears get the best of you again." Twilight took a deep breath, aware that it was an expensive luxury to spend one's atmosphere on. "I promise." "Good. In the mean time, I believe we have found our destination." She pointed to a spot on the horizon. Twilight squinted to see what it was that Celestia had been pointing at. Off in the distance, she saw three stone columns. They didn't appear to be any different from other projections of rock she had seen back home in Equestria, and then it hit her: that's what made them distinct! Every other rock on this planet was black obsidian or pumice, not granite. Yet here was a trio of granite columns that were not native to this planet! They must be the markers! Her eyes grew large. "Is that what I think it is?" "Yes," said Celestia with a smile. "I believe it is." ----- A beam of reddish orange light blasted through the dark as Celestia and Twilight forcibly opened the unpowered door to the base. As they peered through the door, it was apparent that the base had been deserted for some time. That didn't mean it was actually bereft of danger. Twilight looked nervously at her teacher. "Princess . . . do you think it's really deserted?" Celestia didn't say anything for a few moments. "I don't know, Twilight. But we must make sure the base is clear before we signal Junas and Rarity. There is no reason to endanger them, and I am sure I can handle anything the Empire can throw at us." Her student nodded nervously, then followed after her teacher, casting a glow on the walls with her horn as she went. Several tense minutes of searching later, they found no trace of intruders. Celestia turned to address Twilight. "I think it is safe to say that this base is well and truly deserted, my student. Let's go back to the entrance and send up a signal for Junas." ----- After sending up a burst of magical energy into the air, Celestia and Twilight waited patiently at the entrance for Junas and Rarity to find their way to the base. They sat there for what seemed like an eternity in the oppressive heat, but eventually their friends made it to the Rebel holdout. As soon as they were inside, Junas closed the door with a manual system designed to work in the absence of energy from the power generators. When it was sealed, he turned to the trio of ponies standing in front of him. “We’re going to have to find the power generator, but in order to turn it on we’ll have to have someone in the control booth operating the main switches and someone hitting the corresponding activation switch elsewhere. They both need to be turned on at the same time, so we’ll have to coordinate.” Twilight held up a hoof. “Why would they design a system to only work when two positions are operated?” “Because if the base is infiltrated you don’t want to make it easy for the enemy to shut down your power, the same power that is driving the air scrubbers and light sources.” The lavender pony nodded in understanding, then turned to her comrades. “Come on, everypony. Let’s get to that generator and turn it on so we can get those supplies and get out of here.” They all shouted affirmation, then headed deep into the base to find the power core. ----- “This base is a lot bigger than I thought it was,” said Twilight. “It’s a supply depot. It’s got to be big to house all the supplies that the Rebels would need. Trouble is, it’s designed so that we can’t open the doors unless the power core is functioning and at full capacity. Otherwise, any old pirate or Imperial might be able to access the cargo bays and raid them for supplies and equipment.” Satisfied with the answer Junas provided, Twilight returned her gaze to the corridor in front of her. The lamps on either side of her helmet provided plenty of light with which to see by, with the lamps of Rarity and Celestia in front of her and Junas behind her adding to the light to illuminate the dark gray corridor, almost as though the overhead lights were functioning. She knew however that she had a limited amount of power left in her batteries. Just as she thought this, she saw a small red light appear on the console and a small klaxon sound through her helmet’s speaker system. “Junas? What does this red light mean?” He jogged to her position and looked into her helmet. “Low power cells. You’re gonna have to find a power source.” Rarity and Celestia stopped and turned back to look at Twilight, the smaller of the two wearing an expression of concern. “Don’t you have any spares?” “No, never did. I didn’t think I’d need any.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any suggestions as to where we might find power cells with which to power Twilight’s suit?” Junas thought for a second. “Look for a small gray and green cylinder with a glowing red light. That should be a power cell. A droid would also have power cells.” They started looking in every nook and cranny to find any object matching Junas’ description. They knew that without that power cell, Twilight’s oxygen scrubber and pump system would fail, and it would only be a matter of time before she succumbed to CO2 poisoning. Celestia overturned a box to peer inside while Rarity hopped up into a small cubby hole and looked around. Twilight popped her head into several small storage cylinders, and Junas pried open loose panels on the wall in the hopes that they contain secret areas where Rebels would store emergency supplies. Suddenly Rarity called the team over to a crate she had opened. “Everypony, look! Is this something that might contain a, what was it called?” Junas didn’t bother to supply the phrase she was looking for. He raced over and looked in the box at what Rarity was pointing at. “I think that might work!” He reached in and extricated a small, yellow boxlike contraption with a glass lens on the front and several silver bits connected to the surface. “It’s a scrubber droid. Looks like it’s never been activated, either. It should have a power cell we can use.” The ponies watched as he flipped it on its back and pried open a panel on the belly, revealing a small cylindrical device with a group of glowing green lights on the side. “Look at that! Full power readout! Come here, Twilight.” She trotted over, and as she did she could hear her suit’s cooling fans and oxygen scrubber cycle off, and then her lights flickered out. Finally, the console in front of her face went dark. She was without power. “Junas!” “It’s okay, don’t panic. Just let me exchange the old power cell for a new one.” He began working on the small metal backpack on Twilight’s shoulders, trying to get the power pack opened so he could exchange the power core. However, the hatch was jammed. Try as he might, he could not get the metal panel to budge. He looked at the backpack. It was covered in scratches and abrasions. “Twilight, I can’t get the power cell door open.” “WHAT?!” “Calm down! It’s okay! Did your suit get damaged somehow?” “No, it’s NOT okay!” “Twilight, you’ve got to focus! You’re using up your air!” The unicorn appeared ready to run off, but she calmed herself. “Okay . . . okay, I’m good.” “Now, did you damage your suit?” She thought for a couple of seconds. “Yes. I tripped earlier and rolled along the ground.” “That must have been what did it. I’ll have to force the door open. Hold on.” He searched his pocket and produced a small kit which he opened, revealing a set of tools. He passed his hand over them, trying to find the correct one. In the mean time Twilight was beginning to breath more heavily. Rarity and Celestia looked at each other with concern, and Rarity put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Are you alright, dear?” Twilight looked at her, trying to get precious oxygen as she did. “I . . . I don’t . . .” Her eyes rolled back and her legs gave way, and it was through sheer determination that Rarity was able to keep her from hitting the floor hard as she collapsed. The white unicorn turned violently to look at Junas. “Hurry up!” “I’m trying!” He dug around, then found a small pry bar. “Got it!” He scrambled to Twilight’s backpack and jammed the small metal bar into the hatch. He tried to force it open with all his might. “It’s jammed pretty good. Can you two help me?” Celestia stepped forward, then projected an aura around the hatch. She was careful not to blow apart the backpack in the process, but it was difficult all the same to find that sweet spot where the metal would give way without destroying half the backpack in the process. Rarity was peering into the glass faceplate over Twilight’s helmet, trying to assess her condition. “She’s turning blue! Oh Celestia, please!” The alicorn didn’t answer. She just concentrated. Almost . . . “She’s not going to last much longer!” Almost . . . Celestia’s eyes were squeezed shut in concentration. If she could just find that spot . . . Got it! The small door flung open and Junas quickly removed the old power cell and popped in the new one. Nothing happened. “Well?!” Rarity was looking at Junas expectantly. “Why isn’t it working?” Junas then remembered. He pushed the system reset, and suddenly the lights and mechanisms on Twilight’s suit came back to life. Twilight herself however remained still. Junas wasted no time. He flipped Twilight on her back and began doing slow chest compressions on what he hoped was her lungs. After several tense seconds Twilight gasped hard and then started coughing. She looked up at everyone surrounding her with a dazed expression on her face. “What are you guys doing in Canterlot gardens?” They looked at each other, momentarily perplexed. Rarity gave her a quizzical look. “Darling, what’s the last thing you remember?” Twilight thought for a second. “Oh dear. What happened to me? Why am I on my back?” “Darling, Junas saved your life!” Twilight was startled by this, but then the memory of what had happened finally returned to her. She looked up at her savior, giving him a grateful smile. “Thank you.” He shook his head. “Don’t mention it. But we need to hurry and get the base’s power core back up and running so we can get to the supplies before everyone else’s power runs out.” He extended a hand and helped Twilight back to her hooves. After Twilight shook off the slight wooziness from the sudden onset of oxygen to her brain, they all trotted and walked down the corridor to find the base power core. ----- Many twists and turns later, Junas, Celestia, Twilight and Rarity found the power core. As the manual control for the door creaked into an open position in Junas’ hands, the giant metal door slowly cycled open, revealing an immense metal cavern covered in pipe and conduit. At the center of it all was a huge metal cylinder with a central ribbed section and twin bulges at the top and bottom. A single catwalk encircled the structure, leading to a control room at the far side of the massive chamber. They all carefully made their way around the catwalk, and after nearly slipping to her death fifty meters below, Twilight wondered grumpily why anypony with any sense would build a catwalk with no rails. As they piled into the room, it was clear that they had their work cut out for them. There were several banks of consoles with holographic displays, but the holograms were dark, bereft of power. “There’s got to be an activation lever somewhere,” Junas observed. “Fan out and search for it.” They all started examining the consoles, using their helmet’s glowlamps to shine bright beams of light on them, but a familiar problem reared its ugly head: save for Junas, none of them could read the alien script scrawled on every button and switch. “Junas, darling,” said Rarity. “I don’t suppose you could describe this switch we’re looking for. None of us know what any of these letters mean.” He shook his head. “I have no idea what it looks like. Just look for a big, important-looking switch. Once we locate that, we can look around for the other one and then activate the power core.” Twilight for her part was doing her best to recall the letters and what sounds they stood for. She hadn’t taken much time to learn the alphabet these people used, but some of the letters were close enough to Equestrian that she could recall a little of what she learned. The T was basically the same letter but upside-down, the A was like a capital A turned on its side, and so forth. Using this knowledge, she looked over every console, searching for familiar letters amongst the controls. Suddenly she came across a large metal box. The lettering on it was not understandable, but the switch looked big and important. “Junas! Over here!” The human walked over to the box and read the label, a smile bursting on his face. “Good work, Twilight! Rarity, let’s go look for that second switch.” He turned to the purple unicorn. “Twilight, you stay here with Celestia and man the switch. I’ll give a count of three, and on three we throw them simultaneously. It should restart the reactor core and get the power generator up and running.” “Right!” With that Junas turned and motioned for Rarity to follow. ----- The hunt for the other switch lasted longer than Junas had anticipated. He knew the importance of making sure other people couldn’t use the base if it were abandoned for some reason, but it would have been nice if they’d left some kind of a code or signal to point him in the right direction. “Junas, do you have any idea where this other switch is?” said Rarity. He shook his head. “I’ve never been to this depot, and no two bases have the same layout.” “But there must be something to indicate where it is, shouldn’t there?” “I don’t know. They would probably have a handful of engineers in charge of the power core who know where it is, but as this is war and the Empire favors torturing its victims, they would probably be the only ones who know precisely where it is.” Rarity shuddered a bit, a sudden wave revulsion at how the Empire had treated her and her friends washing over her. “Well, I do hope we find it soon. This is simply a dreadful place which I would like to leave as quickly as possible.” Junas thought to himself how much he agreed with that sentiment. They headed around another bend in the corridor, being careful to mind the odd floor panel that had come loose and threatened to trip them. Junas knew that the switch had to be close enough to their location that it didn’t need to rely on comlinks to get the signal, yet far enough away that it wouldn’t be found before whatever defenders the base had on hand had beaten back their opponents. Yet all the doors in all the corridors leading to the reactor proved fruitless, without so much as a door chime. And that was just the ones that had a manual override. He thought to himself for a moment. This didn’t make any sense. Why would they put it in a location that . . . He paused his train of thought, an idea suddenly springing into his mind. “Of course!” Rarity watched dumbfounded as Junas immediately whirled around and ran back to the reactor chamber. She had barely gotten through the door to the control booth when she saw Junas at a small computer console, Celestia and Twilight standing there staring at him with bewildered expressions on their faces. He had taken his datapad out and plugged it in, using the small device’s power supply to feed the computer behind the console and bring up a map of the air ducts. “I say, darling, whatever are you up to?” “I’d kind of like to know that, myself,” said Twilight with a hint of sarcasm. Junas didn’t answer, but instead ran his finger over the readout on his screen, then smiled to himself. “It’s got to be that one.” He unplugged the little machine and stowed the cord in a compartment in its side, then walked quickly out of the room, beckoning the white unicorn with a finger. “Come on, Rarity. I think I’ve found the switch room.” She shook her head and trotted to catch up to him, muttering, “When we finally get back on the ship I am taking a five-hour beauty nap . . .” ----- They ended up back at one of the rooms they had been to previously, a fact noticed by Rarity. “Darling, I hate to break this to you, but you seem to have led us to a place we’ve been to already.” He rolled his eyes. “I know that, but now that I know what to look for, I can narrow the search down.” He turned and reached up with his datapad and rapped on the vent cover. “Did you hear that, Twilight?” A faint yes was heard over the comlink. Junas smiled to himself. “Okay, great! Now here’s what I want you to do. Pull on the switch, and I’ll see if anything in this room turns on.” The concept hit Rarity like a ton of bricks: the switch was hidden somehow, keeping the Imperials from seeing it if they attacked the base! As she was marveling at the ingenuity, a small wall panel opened up revealing a small metallic lever with a knob on the top. Junas grinned and pulled the switch, and suddenly a low thrum followed by a metallic grinding noise filled the base. Eventually the grinding ceased, and suddenly lights all over the base turned on, flickered for a bit, then glowed steadily. Rarity found herself smiling, the completion of their immediate goal flooding her with a feeling of accomplishment. Junas’ expression matched her own. “My goodness, Junas! We did it!” “Looks like it, sister! Now, let’s go get the atmosphere purifiers going and then we can begin looting the leftovers.” ----- After meeting up with Twilight and Celestia and then activating the air purification system, they all stripped themselves of their enviro-suits and stretched a bit. Twilight then got a surprised look on her face and then started violently scratching her nose. The rest of them turned and looked at her as she finished relieving the irritation, then she looked up dreamily and said, “I’ll never take the ability to scratch my nose for granted ever again.” They all rolled their eyes as Twilight blushed. After having a little chuckle at Twilight’s expense, Junas looked around the corridor, surveying the situation. “Well, I suppose the first thing we need to do is find a repulsor cart. I think this base should have several. Let’s head back to the cargo bays and see if they left us much of anything.” The quartet of Rebels walked down the corridor and eventually ended up at the first cargo bay. As Junas opened up the door, they all held their breath, but the breath turned to disappointment as they discovered that the bay was almost completely empty. The only thing in the cavernous room was a small group of repulsor carts and a few stray cargo crates. As the ponies displayed their dismay, Junas walked over to the crates, popping out a vibro-knife. “Well c’mon girls, there might be something useful in these.” Not likely, thought Twilight. She knew that if these crates were left behind they were most likely filled with common items like water canisters and foodstuffs. But she complied, using her teeth to cut the seal on the crates and popping open the lid. As she suspected, it was just grains, useless for their purposes. She nevertheless took a bite out of them, a small reward for the effort to open the crate in the first place. As she replaced the lid, she noted that the others were having similar luck. Rarity was making a face at hers. “I think I might have stumbled upon fertilizer.” Junas got up and looked at what she was staring at, and recoiled in disgust. “Looks like we have an infestation of Womp Rats, and this one didn’t make it.” Celestia put the lid back on her crate, then looked at Junas with a deadpan expression. “Perhaps we should explore the other cargo holds and see if we may find something useful.” Junas nodded in agreement, then they all headed to the next cargo storage hold. ----- The next four cargo bays were either empty or had nothing but useless items. Junas had been hoping for something, anything useful, but he began considering the idea that this base was abandoned simply because the supplies ran out. “I really don’t have much faith that this bay will contain anything worth toting back to the ship, Junas,” said Rarity. “We’ve got to at least find the fuel pods. The Empire will surely be watching ships coming in for fuel, and if we land at a fuel depot I have this sneaky suspicion that we’ll be shot on sight.” Twilight looked at Junas worriedly, hoping that he was simply exaggerating to keep Rarity from complaining. She couldn’t deny the logic of his conclusion, though. As Junas opened the bay door, he was prepared for another empty hold. Instead, he found a large stack of containers. His excitement was palpable, and his companions mirrored his state of mind. Celestia, master of understatement, said, “It would appear that our problems are solved.” Junas didn’t pay attention to her, his focus being directed at the nearest crate. He pried it open, and was pleased to discover a stack of raw armor plate. It was generic stuff, nothing designed for his YT-1300, but it would serve to replace some of the panels that were blown off by TIE Fighters. He turned and looked at the ponies excitedly. “Come on, open some more crates!” They all rummaged through the stack of crates, looking for anything useful, and they found plenty: a welding kit, several crates of fresh vegetables in stasis (Rarity insisted on bringing them back to the ship), a crate of blasters, and the item Junas was most anxious to find: a brand new double laser cannon, which would increase the former firepower of his ship twice over. The most exciting find however was sitting in the corner of the cargo bay. “Junas,” said Celestia, “I believe these canisters will prove most useful.” He ambled over to where she was standing and examined the labels on the canisters. His expression immediately went to joy. “Fuel canisters! Enough to fill the ship at least ten times over!” The ponies looked at each other, sharing in his excitement. ----- One by one the crates and canisters were loaded on to the repulsor carts. Junas was quite grateful that the ponies were capable of telekinesis, as this made the job of loading the carts that much quicker. As the last canister of liquid metal fuel was loaded into the cart, Junas wiped his brow with a rag he found draped inelegantly over the handlebar of the cart. “Looks like this is everything we need, ladies.” Rarity and Twilight nodded with a “Mm-hmm.” Celestia meanwhile projected an aura around the cart and looked at Junas. “And now it would be prudent for us to be on our way, wouldn’t you say?” “Certainly do, Celestia.” They all pulled their helmets back on, then grabbed a cart, metaphysically or otherwise, and headed toward the entrance at a brisk pace. As the huge metal door creaked open, Junas held the ponies back. “I need to check and make sure the Empire hasn’t planned a welcome party for us.” He looked upward, scanning the heavens for signs of starships, hoping that his eyes wouldn’t make contact with an Imperial TIE Fighter. Luckily, no ships could be seen in the sky for miles around. Satisfied for the moment that they were still incognito, he turned back to his pony companions. “Let’s go.” ----- The walk back to the Maximum Thrust was relatively uneventful, a rare moment of peace in what Twilight had a deemed a thoroughly unpleasant and turbulent experience. My gosh, I hope we get home soon, she thought to herself. Things were never this bad at home, even during the Discord incident. She shook her head, marveling at her own foolishness at thinking that such encounters with evil were anything compared to the horror of war. She counted herself incredibly lucky not only to have survived their Imperial internment, but that her friends were all alive. I hope Applejack and Rainbow Dash are alright. The thought of the Empire wounding two of the best friends, indeed the only friends, she had ever known was enough to cause feelings of anger and resentment to churn and boil in Twilight’s stomach. She tried to suppress it, to push it away. No. She mustn’t let that feeling go away. It was driving her, giving her motivation to find Luna and return home. She wasn’t going to let it go completely to her head, but she had to hold on to that fire so that she had the passion to continue. They all arrived at the base of the boarding ramp as the sun had begun its wane toward sunset. As Twilight looked up at the reddish-orange orb, her heart felt strangely saddened and empty. She tried to understand why, and in a moment the reason presented itself. It was a stark reminder that they were far, far away from home, perhaps even in another time period entirely. Equestria, with its natural beauty and pleasant environment, contrasted so sharply with this hellish landscape, and the last few days aboard a starship staring at rusty, oil-speckled metal walls hadn’t helped her feelings of homesickness. She was the last to push her cart through the airlock and into the engine room so Junas could fill the fuel tanks manually. As she put her cart down beside Celestia’s, she began to turn and walk toward the lounge, a tear rolling down her cheek in response to her heartache. She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and then turned and looked up to see Celestia looking at her with concern. “What’s wrong, my student?” Twilight fought to control herself, knowing that the main corridor would conduct sound and transmit it to her friends in the lounge area, but it was hard to keep her voice from cracking. “I . . . I’m scared, Celestia. I don’t know where we are, or even if we can get back home! I just . . . I want to go home!” The tears started to flow more freely, and Celestia bent her neck to gently nuzzle her heartbroken subject. “I know you feel saddened, Twilight. But you must remain strong. Regardless of your own sense of self-worth, you have been thrust into position as the leader amongst your friends, and despite your sadness, you must remain in control. Any sense of doubt or fear will bleed into your friends and cause them to feel similarly, and we cannot afford to allow this to happen, for the sake of the group. Do you understand?” Twilight quickly nodded. “I understand. But I still feel so hopeless.” “I know, Twilight.” They continued their embrace, time stopping for a moment as Twilight let loose a torrent of tears and sobs. Celestia felt badly for her young student. The introverted unicorn never showed this much emotion, preferring to keep her feelings bottled up inside. To be driven to break down and cry like this indicated a soreness of heart comparable to when she had been forced to banish Nightmare Moon to her lunar imprisonment. Her empathy with her little pony was strong enough that Celestia allowed her to remain at her side, letting all the pain and anguish the last several days had caused to flow out of her. After a few moments more, Twilight calmed herself through no small effort, then wiped the moisture from the fur on her cheeks. She cleared her throat and looked up at Celestia. “Thank you. I guess I better go check on Rainbow and A.J.” Celestia nodded, then watched as she walked out of the engine room. After she was certain Twilight was out of earshot, she spoke. “You may come out now, Junas.” The scruffy human ambled from the other corridor entrance on the opposite side of the engine room and stood next to the white alicorn. “Was it that obvious I was listening?” “I would were I in your position. Besides, I saw your shadow on the deck.” He chuckled to himself at Celestia’s perceptiveness, then looked toward the portal to the corridor Twilight had used to walk back to the lounge, a mixture of concern and empathy playing on his face. “Poor kid. She doesn’t deserve this war.” Celestia nodded. “But she must remain strong, if only outwardly, in order to survive this expedition.” Junas nodded back, then walked over to the bulkhead and pounded a fist into it. “Dammit, you shouldn’t have to know the Empire and what it’s like!” Celestia looked at him. “I appreciate your concern Junas, but it is not necessary. We have dealt with evil governments bent on our destruction, and I’m sure you’ve noticed that I and my subjects can handle ourselves in a firefight.” “I’ve noticed. But it just isn’t fair to you. You never asked to be sent here.” “And yet, here we are. We must look past fairness and think about how we might return home. Life is not fair in the best of times, Junas.” He closed his eyes, accepting the truth of that simple truism. “I know.” He breathed deeply, then let it out in a sigh. “I suppose I should go start the repairs. Could you put the fuel in the tanks for me?” “I think I can manage that,” she said with a wry smile. He returned the expression, then headed to get some help in repairing the ship. ----- With Applejack and Rainbow Dash out of commission, Twilight was the best choice once again to help Junas. They had finished patching the battle damage to the armor and were on top of the hull, Twilight levitating the new laser turret while Junas finished connecting the data lines and power cables. He was immeasurably grateful that systems like this were relatively modular, and if the connectors weren’t compatible, he could simply cut the connectors off and hard-wire the systems. Twilight for her part was remarkably patient, looking on as Junas finished buttoning up the connections. “Okay, now lower her slowly while I guide it on to the bolts.” Twilight nodded, then started slowly lowering the half-ton weapon into the socket, with Junas guiding it by hand on to the attachment bolts sticking up out of the weapon mount. He’d had to do a bit of machining with a rotary tool to get the bolts in the correct configuration, but it appeared his measurements were not off by more than a millimeter or two. Black, viscous sealant oozed out from between the plates as the cannon’s base plate made contact with the hull formers. With a few turns of the hydrospanner and the snap of the hull panels, Junas finished attaching the gun and stood back with Twilight to admire their handiwork. “Sure looks pretty, don’t it?” Twilight’s face contorted. “Um, ‘pretty’ isn't the word I’d use to describe it.” Junas mentally kicked himself for forgetting that these ponies were usually pacifists. “I mean, it’s great to see our work complete.” She mentally conceded that it was a job well done. “I agree. Now, let’s get back to the top hatch and get off this rock.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she heard an all-too-familiar wail in the atmosphere. Junas heard it, too. “We just can’t catch a break, can we?” The raced over to the metal hatch in the docking arm as a TIE Fighter roared overhead, doing a flip and heading back to its origin to report the discovery of the Rebel ship. ----- “Everybody get strapped in!” Junas was running through the ship toward the cockpit, Twilight close behind him in a steady gallop. Of course, it wasn’t a straight line to the cockpit access tube, and they nearly tripped over Pinkie Pie, who had become bored again and had begun bouncing along the interior of the ship. She shouted a “Hey!” in their direction, but neither Twilight nor Junas was in any mood to apologize for knocking her over. They flew into the cockpit and quickly plopped into the chairs. Junas began flipping switches and hitting buttons. “At least it won’t take long for the engines to warm up in this heat.” The joke was lost on Twilight as she strained to look out the window for Imperials, hoping that their base was far enough away that they wouldn’t be back until she and her friends were long gone, but fearing that they would be fast enough to be back in time to get a few shots at them. Her fears were confirmed when she saw two H-shaped dots on the horizon which were slowly becoming bigger. The ships fired several green energy blasts at them as the Maximum Thrust slowly climbed into the atmosphere and began accelerating into orbit. Junas banked and weaved to keep the Imperials from getting a solid lock on him, then flipped some switches on his console. “Let’s see how well those new guns perform.” On the outside of the ship, the main turret zipped around, pointing at their pursuers. Junas hit a command key, then the turret started firing wildly, showering the Imperial fighters with blasts of energy. Neither of them were able to maneuver away in time. “Woohoo!” exclaimed Junas, seeing the huge clouds of glowing debris. Twilight wasn’t quite as enthusiastic, but she was glad that they had some form of protection from the Imperials. Their minor victory was quickly overshadowed however by a new sight on the horizon. An Imperial Star Destroyer was heading right for them, its engines flaring and accelerating the massive warship to intercept them. “Junas!” “I see him! I see him!” Junas flipped the ship violently and tried to get away from the mile-long behemoth. But the Star Destroyer was getting steadily closer. “How can that huge ship possibly be gaining on us?” Twilight exclaimed. “They may be big, but they’ve got the engines to match. We still need to wait on the coordinates.” Twilight’s body was tense. Before, she’d never encountered an Imperial ship and wasn’t aware of what they might be capable of. Now she was terrified, for she knew exactly how dangerous those things were. Energy shots were now flying all around them, and any moment one might collide with them and destroy them. A huge hit impacted the ship, sending it reeling. In the lounge, everyone felt it, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The pegasus however was in no mood for action, especially action she wasn’t taking part in. “HEY! Can you keep this thing steady?” Fluttershy looked up from attending to Applejack’s bandage. “They’re doing their best, Rainbow.” “Ugh, I know, but I just wish I could get out there and kick their human butts!” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Darlin’, ya do realize there’s no air out there in space, right?” Rainbow let out a low growl, then angrily laid back down on the couch. In the cockpit, things were getting more tense as Junas checked the shield indicator. “Looks like that last hit almost knocked out the shields.” He hit a few controls to reroute the shield power to the rear grid, then looked at the navicomputer readout. It displayed a reading of 89%, though he knew that a computer’s estimation sometimes was not exactly indicative of its true progress. “Come on!” Another hit on the back quarter coupled with a huge lurch intensified Junas’ sense of urgency, and he desperately wished that he could simply will the computer to go faster. Luckily, he didn’t have to. “That’s it! The calculations are done!” He entered the coordinates into the computer as Twilight juked the ship around, then just as a new barrage of energy shots was released at them, Junas pulled the silver levers and the surrounding space was transformed into a billowy tunnel of blue-white energy. ----- As the ship drifted lazily in hyperspace, Twilight allowed herself a moment to relax. It wasn’t easy. After all this experience with the Empire, she was beginning to wear thin. Her nerves were shot, and she desperately wished that she could grab a few days’ worth of sleep back home in her library. Home. The tiny four-letter word was deceptively simple, yet contained so much meaning to Twilight. She hadn’t considered what her home truly was until she had been forcibly ripped from it. Her heart was in Equestria, and she desperately wished to return there. But she realized that now her reason for returning wasn’t the same as the reason she had been thinking about during her time as an Imperial slave. All this fighting and warfare was draining, and she just wanted to step into a magical portal and get back home. She had considered trying to make the spell happen again that transported them here, but several considerations had stopped her. For one, it was a total accident, and not even Rarity could fathom what she had done to make the spell suck them into this universe. For another, even if they could return, they were still missing Princess Luna, and if they did travel back home they might not be able to find the exact universe were they were at that moment, trapping Luna here to meet her fate. Besides that, she was losing hope that they would even have a world to return to. They had been gone for over two weeks, and she knew that in that time the sun being locked overhead would surely turn the side facing it into a barren wasteland. She hoped against hope that Ponyville and Canterlot had somehow been trapped near the terminator, thus ensuring that they never experienced the full potential of the sun’s lethal energy. It was only after she had considered all of that that she realized how hopeless their situation truly was. If Equestria was destroyed, then there was no reason to return. All her friends were probably . . . She fought back tears, and succeeded only in making Junas look over to her with concern. “You alright, Twilight?” The fact that he used her name indicated how much concern he had for her. “No . . . no, I’m not alright. I’m stuck in a universe where evil people want me and my friends dead, I can’t return until we find Luna, and even if we could return my home world is probably a ball of fire and ice by now.” She sniffed, then wiped the tears from her eyes. “I know how painful that must be, Twilight. The Empire destroyed my home a long time ago.” She looked at him, surprised. “Really?” “Yeah. They razed my town, took away everything I held dear. All because of some stupid Imperial captain who had nothing better to do.” Twilight considered this. It wasn’t like his whole world was destroyed. However, the destruction of his town was just as senseless and was still a terrible tragedy. “I’m sorry to hear that.” “It’s in the past. I still get angry thinking about it, but if I can somehow help the Alliance destroy the Empire then maybe that will be of some small comfort.” “I hope so,” said Twilight. She looked at him with understanding for a moment, then went back to staring out the cockpit window. ----- Squeaky clamps loudly clanged against the hull as the prison ship docked to the mooring tower. The sounds reverberated through the hull, and Luna guessed that they might even have been enhanced somewhat to generate a modicum of fear in the prisoners’ hearts. She was above such things, however. She was a princess, a member of royalty, and would not cow down to these Imperial ruffians. That didn’t mean she didn’t have fear. There was a ball of it in her stomach, which was generated by the fact that she had no idea where she was or why she was here. Or what they had in store for her. Yet she was determined to keep her dignity, or what was left of it, and so held her head high as the Stormtroopers opened the door. When they reached inside, she dodged and flew up into the air, and in the Royal Canterlot Voice she exclaimed, “THOU WILT NOT TOUCH ME! I AM NOT AFRAID OF THEE, THOU INSOLENT INSECTS!” The sheer force from the blasting voice was enough to overwhelm the internal speakers in the Stormtroopers’ helmets, and as they fought to stop the ringing in their ears Luna calmly walked past them toward the door and into the corridor, holding her head up and wearing an expression of arrogance. As she approached the door, two more Stormtroopers met her, but having seen what happened to their partners, they were content to walk alongside Luna to escort her to her cage for transport. They allowed her to step into the energy cage, closing the door behind her. As she laid down in the center, a single thought occupied her mind: Where art thou, Celestia?