Chapter 16: The Desert World
The Golden Phoenix came out of a hyperspace jump from the planet Tythorn and was heading towards the desert world known as Trotooine. In the ship's cockpit, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in the twin pilot seats as Twilight and Garret watched the sand-filled planet begin to encompass all the view.
"Well, there it is, Trotooine," Dash announced. "The desert frontier where farmers come to in hopes of making a life or hunters that come chase down the most exotic creatures in all the galaxy. Also famous for their cantinas and races."
"Races?" Garret asked.
"Yeah, they have some of the best swoop racers around these parts," Dash explained. "Hoovris is best known to be the central point of all the swoop racing but Trotooine was one of the few planets that started making race tracks."
Garret thought about it for a moment and a small smile appeared on him. "We still have the swoop bike that Gadon gave us. It would be nice to race around again."
"Huh, I wondered where we got that bike from but it didn't bother me at the time," Dash said. "So Gadon from the Beks gave it to you? When did you race?"
"He gave it to me after we got back a prototype engine that the Griffons took from them and he let me use it to race in the Grand Swoop Race. It was basically my first race."
"Oh, that’s cool. No offence, but I'm pretty sure you lost that race since it was your first time." Dash grabbed a nearby drink of soda. "So, who won? I never did find out since I was locked up by Bluejerk himself."
"I did."
Dash was gulping down her drink and when Garret answered her, she gagged on it and spit it out on Applejack's face. "WHAT!?!?" she exclaimed. Applejack had a deadpan expression on her while Dash's drink was dripping down her face. "HOW!?"
"It's kinda a long story," Garret said. "Sorry that I never told you. I guess since we've been busy a lot, I never did have the chance to tell you."
"I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna know!" Dash repeatedly said as she was face to face with Garret.
"Alright, I'll tell ya," Garret let out a small laugh.
"Ah'll just land the ship myself," Applejack said. "I know where the town is anyway."
The ship entered the planet's atmosphere and was traversing the skies of Trotooine over the sea of sand. Over the horizon was a small town that was surrounded by tall walls. There were hangar platforms that were in the shape of round circular arenas and the ship was hovering over one. It started descending down into the hangar and let out its landing gear. The ship softly landed and the ramp came open revealing Twilight, Garret and the rest of the crew behind them. They came out of the vessel with Twilight leading and they all gathered in front of it
Twilight then turned to the the crew behind her. "Alright everypony, listen up. We're going to search around and see if anypony might give us a lead to where this star map is. Also, while we're here, we should grab what supplies we can but getting only what we need."
"Then that goes double for the pink mare," Canderous commented.
"Pinkie? What makes you say that?" Twilight asked, curiously.
Canderous pointed behind Twilight and she looked over to see Pinkie Pie trying out a showmare's outfit that had purple colored skirt attached to a black chest piece with a purple choker necklace around her neck with a purple feather in her newly styled mane.
Twilight smacked herself in the face.
"Ooooh~ I like it!" Pinkie exclaimed. "How much was it again?"
"Two thousand credits," the sales pony replied with an unwavering expression.
"Deal!"
"PINKIE!!!" Twilight shouted.
"What?"
"What did I just say!?"
"But Twilight, I neeeeed it~" Pinkie defended.
"For what!?"
"For the upcoming song I was going do in this story arc."
"WHAT!? I-I don't- NO!"
"Awwwww." In one instant, Pinkie undressed herself out of dress and gave it back to the salespony. She walked back over to the group with a frown on her complexion.
Twilight let out a sigh. "Does anypony have a question?"
"Didn't Garret say that it was somewhere out in the desert?" Dash asked. "Why don't we just use the ship to scan the planet and find it that way? It'll take like ten seconds flat."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Twilight replied. "This is a recently discovered planet and the Republic hasn't had a chance to map out the areas with the war going on, so we would have to scan the entire planet for weeks or months to find those areas. Moreover, from what we've gathered from the vision that Garret and I had seen it’s within a cave and our scans would be less than likely pick it up because of the interference."
"Woah. That sounds complicated and boring," Dash commented. "So, if we can't do that, then how are we going to find it?"
"Like I suggested, we'll look around here and see if we can find any clues and ask around to see if there is somepony who knows of any caves nearby," Twilight explained.
"I guess we should start looking then," Dash said. "I'll fly up and see what this town has to offer." She looked up to sky and flew up towards the sky in a flash leaving behind a trail of rainbow light.
Applejack let out a whistle. "I have ta admit, she really is fast when she wants to be."
"There was never any doubt, AJ," Scootaloo said. "Right, Big Z?"
Zaalbar let out a roar in agreement.
"Well, in either case, we better get moving and search around," Twilight said. "Garret, Applejack and I will go find whoever is in charge of this town and see if they know anything."
"An excellent idea, Twilight," Rarity complimented. "If you don't mind, I'll take charge of gathering supplies for the ship and keep in check of credits."
Twilight nodded. "Alright Rarity, you can take charge of that. Everypony else can explore the town for a while but we'll need to meet back here before dawn," she said. "Understood?"
All of the crew nodded in agreement.
"Alright then."
The crew soon exited out of the hanger and into the town after they paid for the landing fee and the additional days they might stay in the hanger. The crew made their separate ways and formed three different groups. Twilight, Applejack and Garret began their search for the leader of the town or anyone that was in charge. Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike and T3 went along with Rarity to help out with securing any supplies that was needed. Trixie, Zaalbar and Scootaloo decided to search around town and find out any information that would be useful. Canderous was the only one that decided to stay behind and keep the ship safe while the others were gone.
After sometime of asking and looking around, Twilight, Applejack and Garret were able to find out that the town had a mayor that was in charge and knew where she was. The three were able to find where the mayor's building was and were able to meet her since she didn't have any business at the time. When they walked into the office, they saw an earthpony mare sitting on a chair behind a desk. She was a middle age looking mare that had pale tan fur and grey mane. She had on a pair of small glasses over her blue eyes and her cutie mark was that of a scroll with a blue ribbon tied around it.
"Hello there, I'm Mayor Mare and I welcome you to Anchorhead, the finest town on Trotooine," the mayor said. "What can I do for you today?"
"Hello mayor, I'm Twilight Sparkle, a member of the Unicorn Order, and I was hoping that you might help us."
"A member of the order out here?" Mayor Mare questioned. "Well, this is a surprise for me. How exactly can I help?"
"Has anypony found any kind of ancient maps or mysterious artifacts out here or in the desert lately?"
"Ancient maps? I'm afraid I haven't heard anything about that nor have I heard anything about mysterious objects."
"Would you know of anypony that would?" Twilight asked.
"You would more than likely have a better chance at speaking with some of the hunters here about that. They're the only ones that go out into the dune seas because of regulations," the mayor explained.
"Regulations?"
"Yes. Only hunters or business ponies are permitted to go out into the desert to either hunt down some of the dangerous predators that lurk around here, transporting cargo goods from other nearby towns or are taking care of the sand buffaloes."
"Sand buffaloes? What are those?" Applejack asked.
"Very large bison creatures that live out in the desert wearing nothing but clothes all over their bodies and wear some kind of masks over their faces. They've been very territorial and we've always tried to stay away from them but recently they've been attacking our transports from the other towns and shoot just about anyone that gets in their range," the mayor explained. "I've made contracts with a business called Czerka to take of it in exchange of some mining rights but so far they have been unsuccessful at stopping them and now they're rewarding any hunters that kill a buffalo and bring back their gaffi sticks."
"Is there any way we could help?" Twilight asked.
"We would be more than welcomed to have a Solar Knight to help us," Mayor Mare said. "You will need to speak with Weather Beak. She's in charge of the operation for Czerka and will need to talk to her about letting you go out into the desert."
"Can't ya just give us permission to go? Ya are the mayor after all," Applejack said.
"True, but I left Weather Beak in charge of letting who would go out. She's much better at it than I am," the mayor admitted.
"Weather Beak is a strange name for a pony," Garret commented.
"It would be if she was a pony," Mayor Mare said. "She's actually a griffon."
"A griffon?" Applejack asked raising a brow.
"Well, Czerka is mostly a griffon made business so it would make sense for them to have a griffon in charge of it here," Mayor Mare explained. "You don't have a problem with that do you?"
"We just had some griffon problems in the past when we were on Hoovris," Applejack explained.
"I can assure you that if these griffons harm you or anypony in any way they will have to answer to me," the mayor assured.
"Just asking ma'am."
"Thank you for your help, Mayor Mare," Twilight asked. "We appreciate it and we'll see if we can do anything about your buffalo troubles."
"You're welcome Ms. Twilight and-" the mayor paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't get the rest of your names."
"Garret, ma'am. Also a member of the order and a Solar Padawan."
"And I'm Applejack."
"Applejack?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Umm, by any chance do you know an Applebloom?"
Applejack's eyes widened with shock. "Y-Yes, I do. But it can't be the same Applebloom I know."
"Are you sure? She is around fourteen."
"F-Fourteen?"
"Yes."
"I-I.....Twilight. Garret. Can you two leave me with the mayor for a few moments?" Applejack asked with concern in her voice.
"Applejack, what is going-"
"Of course, Applejack," Garret interrupted Twilight. "We will leave you with the mayor."
Garret guided Twilight out of the mayor's office and closed the door behind them with his magic.
Applejack looked at the mayor with a stern look which was making her nervous. "Please, tell me everything you know," she said.
Outside of the office, Twilight looked at Garret with a puzzled look.
"Garret, what's going on? Who is Applebloom and how does Applejack know her?" Twilight asked.
"Applebloom is Applejack's little sister," Garret replied. "She told me about her around the time when I first became an unicorn."
"Okay, then why did Applejack not know that Applebloom was here?" Twilight asked. "If she's her sister, surely she would have known where-"
"Twilight......Applejack thought she died seven years ago," Garret replied.
Twilight eyes widen in horror. "W-What? What do you-"
"Are you aware of the planet, Telos IV?"
Twilight nodded. "It was one of the first planets to fall under Moonlight's armada after he bombarded the surface and left it almost barren."
"It was also where Applejack lost her family," Garret added.
Twilight ears lowered and her shock expression quickly turned into a sorrowful one. "I feel so sorry for her. Another tragedy that Moonlight has caused in the galaxy."
"It wasn't Moonlight that caused the planet to fall," Garret corrected.
Twilight looked up to Garret confusedly. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"While Moonlight did lead the attack, he had somepony on his inside that gave him access around the security systems of the planet and helped him launched a surprise attack on key locations of the Republic's defenses," Garret explained.
"A traitor?"
Garret nodded.
"Who was it?"
"He was a former mentor to Applejack and was once a trusted friend," Garret replied. "His name was Soul."
"Soul. I know that pony," Twilight said. "He's the Imperial fleet's high admiral and a shared second-in-command to Moonlight. He served the Republic before the Diamond Dog Wars and was greatly rewarded for his dedication during it. But now as you can guess, he now serves the Imperials and is part of the reason why they have been successful in this war."
"From what Applejack told me, he did it so he could prove his loyalty towards Moonlight and tried to recruit her."
"Wait. She was aware about Soul's intentions and never mentioned them?"
"She didn't think he was serious and thought his age was getting to him after the war. This was before the Imperials started invading the outer colonies," Garret explained.
"How many of her family members were there?" Twilight asked.
Before Garret could say anything, the door to the mayor's office was opened and Applejack came walking out with a concerned look on her. She looked up from the ground to see her two friends looking at her with looks of concern. "We better get a move on, we don't have much time," she said walking by the two.
"Applejack, was it her?" Garret asked.
"Yes and we don't have much time," Applejack replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Just gather up the crew and I'll explain then," Applejack replied and led the way back towards the ship.
"Pinkie, no!" Rarity said to Pinkie as she was trying to buy a large amount of baking supplies.
"But Rarity, we need these for all the unexpected surprises and last second parties," Pinkie pleaded. "Do you know how hard it is to come up with a party from out of nowhere? Well, it's easy but I need supplies to make as many cakes as possible! You can't have a party without cake!"
"I said no!"
"Awww."
Rarity had taken her group to the food market to replenish their supplies and to make sure that everything was what they needed and let the exception of some of the crew to but small things for themselves. Sweetie Belle only wanted to have a bag of candy, Fluttershy was getting carrots for her pet, Angel, and T3 was getting motor oil while Spike brought his own bag of gems so he didn't have to get anything. Pinkie, however, was making it difficult for her as she was trying to get five times of everything. Luckily, Rarity was able to prevent Pinkie from doing so and kept a constant eye on her.
In the corner of Rarity's eyes, she spotted Rainbow Dash flying around the market stands searching frantically for something. Dash looked down to see Rarity and the others and flew over to them. She landed right next to Rarity and spoke up. "Hey guys, what's up?
"Nothing much. We were just getting some supplies around for the ship," Rarity replied. "So, how was your flight?"
"Eh, it was good being able to fly around and all, but unfortunately they have these sentry droids to prevent any pony from leaving the city without permission," Dash explained. "Something about safety protocol or something."
"I can understand why they would do that. It could be dangerous outside of these walls if we're not careful," Rarity said. All of a sudden, her commlink started to make beeping sounds and she grabbed it swiftly to see what was causing it.
"What is it, Rares?" Dash asked.
"I'm getting a call from Twilight," Rarity replied. She turned on the device and a small hologram of Twilight appeared over it. "Twilight darling, is there something you need?"
"Yes, we need everypony back at the ship as soon as possible," Twilight said. "We might have a clue on where to start but something just came up."
"What is it?"
"Applejack will explain when we all meet up," Twilight replied and the hologram disappeared.
Rarity placed the commlink back into her robe and looked over to Dash. "Well, you heard her, we better head back right now," she said. She turned towards her group. "Alright everypony, we better head back to the ship."
"Why? Did something happen?" Spike asked.
"Twilight wanted every one of us back at the ship. Apparently something must have come up," Rarity explained. "Now then, let's get- Wait a moment. Where's Pinkie?"
Rarity looked around to find the super hyper active pink pony but was unable to find her along with T3 being missing as well. "Oh Tartarus," she cursed.
On the other side of town, Pinkie and T3 were strolling along the sandy streets as they were sight seeing the town and looking for things to buy. Pinkie was 'oohing' and 'awing' at everything she was seeing, thus making it harder for her to decide what to buy. T3 was strolling along side her and would catch a glance at something that seemed interesting to him. After some time of walking, they both came to a stop for a moment in front of a droid shop and were looking at all the shut down droids and parts.
"Beep boo boo beep."
"Oh, don't worry, silly," Pinkie said with a giggle. "You're the only droid I want. I just wanted to check out some of them and see if we can get you any upgrades you might like..........or at least find a way to turn your chest into an oven so we can make all the baked goods on our super adventures!"
"Beep boo."
"Yeah, yeah. I know I'm hoping for too much but you have to admit it's a pretty cool idea," Pinkie retorted.
"Beep."
Suddenly T3 was receiving a transmission of some kind and from his optics he projected a holographic image of Rarity.
"Oh, WOW! Rarity, when did you begin living in T3? And why are you so small and blue?"
Rarity smacked herself in the face. "Pinkie, I'm talking to you through T3 transmission. All droids have them!"
"Even mouse droids?"
"Well, I uh....Okay, never mind. Not all droids have them, but that is not the point," Rarity replied. "Twilight wants us back at the ship now, so come on back." The image of Rarity disappeared and T3 looked over to Pinkie.
"Aawww man, we just started looking for that oven too," Pinkie complained. "Oh well, might as well get going."
Pinkie trotted back on the path she came and T3 followed her as they both went straight past a rusty-looking orange droid pony that was shut down and simply stood there lifeless.
After sometime, Pinkie was bouncing up and down with T3 until she saw the ship with everypony gathered up in a group. Every one of them looked over to see both Pinkie and T3 coming towards them. Rarity had an annoyed expression and walked over to the pink pony.
"Pinkie! Why did you leave the group? Don't you know that's dangerous?!" Rarity shouted. "What were you thinking?"
"But I really wanted to check out more of the town," Pinkie defended. "And T3 wanted some upgrades."
"Fine. But don't go running off without me knowing again," Rarity said. "So what did you get for T3?"
"Well, I tried to get an oven for him but it wouldn't stick or anything like that," Pinkie replied. She then let out a sigh. "There's only so much space duck tape that you can use."
Rarity just stared at Pinkie with half lidded eyes and a blank expression. She let out a sigh. "At least you didn't spend any of your credits on it."
"Oh, I did," Pinkie corrected. "The oven is right here." She stepped aside to show that the oven was right behind her with T3 pulling the thing with a rope tied around his torso. "I payed three thousand credits for it, sounds like a sweet deal, right?" she asked having a beaming smile on her.
Rarity's left eye twitched for a moment and had her mouth open and closed as she was trying to find the right words to say to Pinkie. Unfortunately there were none to be found as she was at the end of her breaking point - which she didn't think she had before.
"Can we please get back to what's important here!" Applejack more announced than asked. "I would like everypony to pay attention."
Pinkie nodded and bounced over to the group with T3 right behind her dragging the oven while Rarity let out a low growl and joined them.
"What exactly do you want from us?" Trixie asked. "Trixie was in the middle of proving to this diamond jerk here why Trixie is so great and powerful." There was a pause in her sentence. "And to win some bets with him as well."
"No pony cares," Applejack harshly said. "We're going to start up a rescue operation!"
"Rescue operation?" Canderous said. "For who?"
Everypony attention on Applejack as it seemed she was struggling to find the words in her mouth. She let out a sigh. "We're going to rescue my sister, Applebloom."
End of Chapter