CHAPTER 18 - SEA OF SAND
The binary suns that the planet Trotooine orbited around were high up in the sky as their light continued to burn down on the desert. Hovering across the sandy surface of the planet was a small sail barge holding within it a hoof full of ponies and two of their droids. The barge was long in length and had sails over it to keep its passengers shaded from the two suns' intense heat. At the front end of it was Applejack, looking through an electro-binocular as she was keeping an eye out for anything in the far distance. Pinkie Pie was playing ‘I spy’ with both T3 and HK over by one of the sides of the barge. Rarity and Fluttershy were watching on the port side of it the barge and were mostly silent as they both took in the beauty of the sandy sea. Garret was operating the barge, keeping his hooves on the controls while Twilight was looking over a datapad with details of their location and where their destination was.
"Applejack, have you spotted anything yet?" Twilight asked.
"Nope, not a single thing," Applejack replied. "How far are we from the buffalo's village?"
"We still have a lot of ground to cover."
"Don't you mean sand?" Pinkie questioned.
"Pinkie, sand is......You know what, yes, I mean sand," Twilight replied, not wanting to explain anything to Pinkie and to get into a pointless argument with her.
"So, how long do ya think it will take us then?" Applejack asked.
"Maybe a couple of hours, give or take," Twilight replied.
"Then why don't we go any faster?" Pinkie asked. "Can't this thing go any faster?"
"Pinkie, this thing can't go any faster," Garret replied. "It's a barge, they don't go as fast as a regular speeder because of its size and the type of engine they used to-"
Pinkie shoved Garret as she took a hold of the barge's controls. "Step aside, let the extraordinary pilot, Pinkamena Diane Pie see what she can do," she said.
"Query: Do you know how to drive a barge, master? Or, for that matter, do you know how to drive at all?" HK asked.
"I drove a bumper car one time when I was a filly."
"Statement: Master, I don't think that's the same as-"
"Oh~ What does this button do?"
"Pinkie, don't!" Twilight and Garret shouted as Pinkie pressed down on one of the control's buttons. One very big and red button.
Suddenly the barge's engines started going on and off until they remained off and the whole barge hovered over the desert for a few seconds before crashing down on it. The tip front of it landed in the sand and caused it to flip over forward, causing the group to fly through the sails and into the air. It barrel rolled across the surface and began slowing down until it came to a halt still upside right. They soon found themselves landing in the hot sands with their supplies conveniently landing near them as well. They all gave out groans of pain while they attempted to get back up.
Twilight shook her head around hoping to get rid of the thumping pain in her head and looked to Pinkie with an angry glare.
"Pinkie! Why did you do that?" she asked.
Pinkie had her head stuck in the sand after she had landed and pulled herself out. She hit the side of her head a couple of times to let the sand out of her ear. "Sorry Twi, can you say that again?" she asked.
"I said, why did you do that? You didn't even know what it was!"
"Well, if you told me what it was before I pressed it, we wouldn't be in this mess now would we?" Pinkie retorted with a face of mock indignation.
Twilight smacked herself in the face. "You didn't give us the chance to say anything and you should have asked!" she countered.
"......By the way, what did I press?"
"You pressed on the emergency brakes!"
"Ooooh, so that's why the engines stopped," Pinkie said. "Now it makes perfect sense."
Twilight let out an irritated growl as her unicorn training urged her not to strangle Pinkie with her bare hooves. She took a deep breath and waved her arm in front of her while she was breathing, a trick that she had learned from a very close friend she once knew. She turned back to face everypony. "Is everypony okay?"
"I think I am," Garret replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ah think Ah got a crick in my back," Applejack replied. She rubbed her back a few times to get the stress out of her until she found a pressure point near her back and pressed on it. A small pop sound was made when she did so and she felt better. "Never mind, Ah'm good."
"Oh, I got sand in my mane," Rarity complained. "It'll take me forever to get it all out with a brush." She reached into her saddle bag and used her magic to levitate a brush out of it. She brought the brush next to her mane and made a few soft and slow strokes to it.
Hovering in the air was Fluttershy as she slowly descended towards the ground and lightly landed on her hooves. "I'm fine....If anypony was interested in knowing."
"Diagnostic: Systems still function, all four mechanical appendages are operating, optics are functional and nonessential components are covered in mineral deposits. Conclusion: I am fully operable but am disappointed that the screaming has stopped."
"Why would you say that?" Pinkie asked.
"Answer: Oh, nothing that you would be interested in, master."
"Okie dokie then! Hey, where's T3?"
"Um, he's over here," Fluttershy said as she stood next to an upside down T3 while he was stuck halfway into the sand.
Pinkie let out a gasp. "Hang on, T3! I'm coming!"
Pinkie grabbed onto one of T3's appendages and pulled as hard as she could. Seeing Pinkie having a hard time pulling him out, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around Pinkie's waist and tried to help pull T3 out of the sand. With all their strength in pulling T3, he came out of the sand with a loud popping sound causing both mares to fall on their backs and him to land right side up.
T3 shook his head around to get the sand off of him and looked at the two mares on the ground. "Beep boo."
"No problem, my little buddy," Pinkie gleefully replied.
"Umm, Pinkie? Can you get off of me if it's not too much trouble?" Fluttershy asked with Pinkie now sitting on top of her.
"Oh, sorry." Pinkie got off of Fluttershy and helped her up to her hooves.
"Bad news, everypony," Garret said as he shut a door panel on the side of the sail barge. "The engines didn't take too kindly on the sudden stop and it burnt the circuits. So we can't use it anymore and half of the barge dug itself into the sand." He pointed at the front half of the barge that was buried in the dunes. "Looks like we have to walk from here on out."
Twilight let out an irritated groan. "We just rented this barge and now we have to pay it in full when we get back."
"If only there was some way we could have prevented that from happening," Pinkie said.
Everypony in the group, except Fluttershy, glared at her with annoyance in their eyes.
"What?"
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Applejack shrugged. "Let's get a move on then."
"Right, I agree with Applejack here," Rarity said. "Just let me grab some of my suitcases and we can-"
"Sorry, Rarity, but we have to carry all essentials with us if we want to get to the enclave in time," Applejack pointed out. "We can't afford to bring anything else."
Rarity twirled her mane nervously. "By essentials, you mean-"
"No manesprays, no fillers, no mirrors, no makeup or anything that has nothing to do with surviving the wilderness," Applejack clarified.
"Please! You have to at least let me bring my curling iron with me!" Rarity pleaded as she got down to her hind legs and gave Applejack her best puppy eyes with a pout.
Applejack looked down at Rarity's eyes. 'Aw, that's so cute,' she thought. "No."
The group was now walking across the desert with the determined hope that they would be able to reach their destination or at least go as far as they could before the twin suns were down. Twilight, using her magic, held up a datapad that had a display of the surrounding area and kept looking at it for directions with the others right behind her. They all knew that it was going to be a long journey now and were more than ready for it. But they also had to put up with Pinkie.
"I spy something soft," Pinkie said.
Twilight let out a sigh. "Is it sand?"
"Yes! Now I spy something bright."
"Is it the sun?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah! I spy something purple."
Twilight let out an irradiated sigh. "Is it me?"
"Yep! You guys are so good at this game!" Pinkie said. "It's like you aren't even trying."
Twilight and Applejack rolled their eyes and continued to walk on hoof.
"I'm so tired," Rarity complained. "My hooves are hurting and the sand is getting into my fabulous boots. Can’t we take a break?"
Applejack turned her head while she cocked her brow. "Rarity, ya do know that we just started walking, right? Ah can still see the barge behind us."
Rarity looked back to see that the sail barge was still in full view which indicated that they only walked for a few minutes. She let out a huff. "Well, if you would have let me bring some of my supplies with me, I wouldn't complain so much."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen. Besides, you're a Solar Knight, you unicorns are trained to survive in harsh terrains like this," she pointed out.
"That doesn't mean that we like it," Rarity defended.
"Just stop complaining and get a move on," Applejack said. "We're wasting time and my little sis is in danger. Would you like it that Ah kept complaining while Sweetie Belle was in danger?"
Rarity's ears lowered. "I'm sorry, Applejack. It does sound very selfish of me to act like this, especially when your little sister is in danger. I promise to keep all my complaints to myself and focus more on the mission at hoof."
"Thank ya, Rarity. I appreciate it," Applejack said.
"I spy something big and on huge wheels."
"PINKIE! We’re not in the mood to......Wait, what?"
“Statement: I believe the master has found a land vehicle up ahead.”
Applejack quickly grabbed her electrobinoculars and looked through them to see a massive rectangular vehicle standing still in front of the group.
A huge, toothy smile appeared on Applejack’s face. “Yee haw! We found us some help!”
“Pinkie, you’re a lifesaver!” Twilight graciously said and hugged Pinkie.
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Pinkie said.
“It looks like a sandcrawler from what Ah can tell,” Applejack described while still focused on observing the vehicle..
“Wait, it’s a type of bug?”Pinkie asked.
Applejack shook her head. “No, Pinkie. It’s a type of vehicle that can get around the sand and desert areas with more ease.”
“Are you sure it’s not a type of bug?”
“Yes Pinkie, Ah’m sure it isn’t.”
“We better get to it before it starts moving again,” Garret said.
“Right, let’s get to it.”
The group then headed towards the sandcrawler without realizing that something in the far distance was watching them.
As soon as the group got closer to the sandcrawler, their feelings of hope were quickly replaced with fear and caution as they began seeing signs of blaster fire alongside the lower parts of the hull and the dead corpses of - what at least seemed to be - Czerka employees laying on the ground. Small pits of fire that were still present around the area indicated that the battle was recent.
“We better keep our eyes out,” Applejack said. “There’s no telling if the same ponies that did this are still around.”
“It’s so scary here,” Fluttershy said. “Maybe we should keep on moving on hoof.”
“No, they may have a speeder or something that we could use to get around in,” Twilight pointed out. “Applejack, T3, we’ll check around the sandcrawler to see if they have speeders in the loading dock. Everypony else will check around for supplies and see if we can give these poor souls a proper burial.”
Garret nodded. “Alright, we’ll see what we can find.”
Twilight and her group went around to the back of the sandcrawler while Garret and his group were checking around.
Fluttershy saw all the dead Czerka employees on the ground and she was beginning to get sick to her stomach. She never got used to seeing other dead beings around her and she believed that she never would. She was close to vomiting until Garret walked up next to her.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked.
“No, not really,” Fluttershy weakly replied. “Is this how it’s going be? Will we keep on seeing others.... die whether something has killed them or it is by us?”
“On the kind of journey we’re on, yes. We’ll be facing others and they’ll try to stop us. If we want to live and do what we can to save the Republic, then we must get past our fears and give up some of our beliefs in order to protect others. We do this so that others won’t need to make the same choices and mistakes that we make. That is the path we’re following now and I’m afraid there’s no going back.”
Fluttershy hid behind her pink mane. “I don’t think I can make choices like those and I don’t think I’ll ever get over my fears.”
“Hey, you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for and at least right now you don’t have to worry about making them. But there will be times that you will and everypony here will be counting and believing on you.”
“You really think anypony will believe in me?”
“They will and so will I.”
Fluttershy smiled while she blushed at Garret’s answer.
“Warning: Detecting movement at the south-east.”
“Do you know what it is?” Garret asked.
“Answer: It’s either a Czerka team that has come to retrieve their dead and sandcrawler or more than likely that it’s the same attackers that killed this group.”
Garret grabbed his comlink. “Twilight, we got trouble. Did you find what we’re looking for?”
“Yeah, we have one speeder here but it looks like it isn’t working yet,” Twilight replied. “T3 and Applejack are going to see what they can do. I’ll come back around to help.”
“Right,” Garret said and looked back Fluttershy. He used his magic to pull a nearby blaster from the ground and handed it over to Fluttershy. “Looks like it’s time to see what you can do.”
“But, but, but-” Fluttershy frantically was saying until Garret held onto her hoof.
“Don’t worry, I got your back,” he said to her in a calm and reassuring voice.
Fluttershy looked at the blaster for a moment and looked back up to Garret. “Okay…..I’ll try.”
“Statement: All threats will be dealt with most painfully and as horrifyingly as possible.”
“C-Can you not make it so painful for them? Please?” Fluttershy asked.
“Answer: Only if the masters say so, skinny meatbag.”
“Well, I say you don’t make it so painful,” Pinkie said.
“Disappointment: Very well, master. I shall obey. Initiating assassination protocol”
HK got up and stood on his hind legs and a long rectangular object came out of his back. He grabbed it and when he held it in his arms, it extended out a long barrel in the front while the back transformed into the stock of a weapon and coming out of the top was a round scope. The weapon had transformed itself into a sniper rifle.
“Impressive,” Rarity admitted. “I’m normally like to use a blaster or anything but I must admit that the sniper is probably the most elegant weapon to use.”
“Gratitude: Thank you, meatbag.”
“Would you please stop calling me that?!” Rarity hissed.
“Clarification: Sorry, it is a phrase that my original master had coded into me.”
“Well, can you at least try?”
“Weary Response: *Sigh* Very well, I will try…….meatbag.”
Rarity growled quietly as she pulled out her lightsaber hilt.
“I-I think I see them!” Fluttershy shouted, pointing at a general direction.
Everypony looked over to where Fluttershy was pointing and they saw a small band of large looking creatures that were wearing wrappings all around their bodies and robes with patches of hair showing. They were also wearing large masks over their heads with their horns sticking out on the sides. The apparent leader of the group had a long staff in his hoof and pointed at them to indicate to charge.
Garret and Rarity ignited their lightsabers while Pinkie pulled out a blaster from her mane and Fluttershy nervously held onto her blaster.
“Statement: Targets confirmed to be sand buffaloes. Engaging with extreme prejudice.” HK said and fired his weapon at the incoming band of sand buffaloes.
The shot hit one of the buffaloes, who came tumbling down to the ground dead, but the rest still came running towards them.
HK was about to fire again until a few shots whisked past him and he turned to see four other buffaloes firing at them with strange looking rifles that seemed to be refitted for them to use. He turned and pointed his weapon at the new threat, firing shots at them while avoiding their shots at him.
One shot him right in the shoulder but his armor plating prevented any external damage it might have done and he returned the fire right back at the buffalo in the head. Pinkie joined in the fight and fired her blaster while she took cover behind some crates. Fluttershy felt terrified and hid behind a pile of scrap metal.
“Looks like we have to deal with the ones with the staffs,” Garret said.
“I’m right behind you, darling,” Rarity said.
One of the buffaloes came charging towards Rarity and it was about to ram her with its head until she jumped right over it high into air. She spun around mid-flight and threw her lightsaber right into the back of the buffalo, causing it to fall to the ground dead. She landed on the ground softly in a ladylike fashion and used her magic to pull the lightsaber back into her hoof before another was about to strike at her with its staff but was parried by her lightsaber, thus she took the opportunity to precisely stab it in the forehead.
A buffalo tried to strike Garret with its staff but he did a barrel roll over the staff and slashed across the buffalo’s torso. After Garret did that, he blocked another buffalo’s staff and tried to hold his position but his attacker was twice as strong and was able to counter Garret’s block and rammed its head towards his torso. The force caused Garret to be pushed back and fall onto the ground making him drop his lightsaber.
Garret looked up to see the buffalo about to strike him down with its staff but he managed to roll from side to side to avoid the incoming strike. The buffalo was able to pin him with the other hoof and raised its staff for a final strike until it was shot a couple of times in the side by a blaster. The buffalo fell over dead on its side and Garret looked over the dead body to see Fluttershy with her blaster raised nervously while smoke slowly came out of the barrel. She lowered the blaster down as she let out a sigh of relief and looked at Garret with a small smile.
But her smile was cut short when a barrage of blaster fire zoomed past her and she once again ducked behind the pile of scrap in terror. Garret used his magic to levitate his lightsaber back to his hoof and ignited the violet blade once more.
Rarity was getting surrounded by three buffaloes as they were now circling her. Garret ran over to help her but was cut off by two more of them and raised his lightsaber in defense.
‘There are too many of them,’ he thought.
Twilight came running towards the battle and saw that both Rarity and Garret were getting overwhelmed by the sand buffalos numbers. She increased her pace as she was now charging towards the battle. When she was close to the buffaloes fighting, she jumped high in the air while pulling out her lightsaber. But unlike before, it was a different lightsaber as the hilt was longer and on each side was a slot. She ignited her lightsaber and both sides came ablaze with blue blades.
Twilight landed down behind Rarity and attacked the buffalo behind her. The buffalo tried to parry her first attack but she spun around and slashed it across the face. Twilight jumped backwards and blocked the buffaloes that tried to attack Rarity at the same time. She was able to parry the staffs and stabbed one of the buffalo’s sides while Rarity slashed across the other buffalo while keeping her blade straight in a fencing style.
Garret stood his ground as his two attackers crept closer to him. The one on the left was the first to make a move, as he charged right at him hoping to ram to the ground but Garret spun around to the side and made a quick slash on the charger’s side. The other one tried to land a blow on his back only for his staff to be swatted away from its hoof by Garret’s quick parry and was slashed across the face.
HK fired his weapon once more and killed the last of the buffalo snipers. Done with the meatbags, he looked around the area and scanned it.
“Analysis: All targets have been terminated,” HK announced. “Statement: That was most invigorating. Can we do it again, masters?”
“I don’t think we can HKie,” Pinkie said. “I don’t think they can move anymore”
“Statement: How disappointing. Oh well, no point in beating a dead meatbag.”
“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked, concernedly.
“Yes, darling, we are,” Rarity replied. “But since when did you started using a double lightsaber?”
Twilight held her still ignited lightsaber and deactivate both blades. “While we were back at the enclave, Celestia advanced my studies and she taught me how to use it. She thought it would be wise to train somepony to use a saber like this in case we might run in to some difficulties on the way and she thought that I was perfect for it,” she explained.
“Well, it does suit your style. I have never seen somepony use one so gracefully,” Rarity complimented.
“Thank you.”
A couple of beeps came from Twilight’s belt and she grabbed around for her comlink. She held it up to her muzzle. “Twilight here.”
“Ah got the speeder working,” Applejack said. “We can get on moving again.”
“Alright, we’re on our way,” Twilight said and placed her commlink back on her belt. “Let’s get moving, everypony.”
Everypony started making their towards the back of the sandcrawler and when they got there, they saw Applejack on the driverside of the landspeeder while T3 was resting on the back of it.
“Oh, it would be so good not to walk on these delicate hooves again,” Rarity said.
“Rarity, you just fought against a bunch of giant bulls,” Applejack said.
“I did it in the most delicate fashion possible, Applejack,” Rarity defended.
Applejack rolled her eyes.
“Um, it looks like there isn’t much room,” Fluttershy commented. “If that’s okay?”
“It is on the small side but it’ll take us to where we need ta go,” Applejack said.
“Then let’s get going,” Twilight said. “There’s not a moment to lose.”
“I agree,” Rarity said. “Just as soon as we go back and get our stuff from the barge.”
“No, Rarity we’re not going back,” Applejack said.
“....Can we at least-”
“NO!”
Everypony climbed on to the landspeeder and returned back on course towards their next destination while Rarity whimpered to herself quietly.
After some time of traveling across the desert, it was getting dark as the two suns were beginning to set over the horizon and the group decided to make a campsite for the night. Because it was night time, it became cold out in the desert and they were able to set up some tents and a fireplace for the sudden change in temperature. Everypony was huddled around the fireplace except for Applejack as she was keeping watch over the camp by herself. Twilight would have checked to see if she was alright by herself but she was preoccupied with something else at the moment.
“Twilight, why is the desert so cold now?” Pinkie asked as she shivered because of the cold. “I mean, it’s a desert, right? Isn’t it suppose to be super hot and not super cold?”
“Well, the reason why it’s like that is because of the lack of clouds here. When the two suns shine their light on planet’s surface, obviously it becomes hot. But when the suns are gone, all heat escapes back into the atmosphere thus leaving the surface to cool or possibly freeze depending on the terrain and environment. Also, the sand could only hold so much thermal energy at a time and would have to force the excess energy back to the surface.” Twilight explained. “Now if the desert was made of sodium, the heat capacity of it would be 1.23 J/goC and it would keep the desert warm throughout the night period.”
“Ooooh, I see,” Pinkie said. She leaned over next to T3. “Not really,” she whispered to him.
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“So how come the animals are able to survive out here then?”
“Well, you see-”
“Now, that I think about it. What’s so important about this planet anyway? It’s just a dried up rock.”
“It’s important that we-”
“Does it even have anything good out here?”
“If you would let me explain-”
“I think that it’s a waste of my taxes, that’s what it is.”
Twilight let out a groan and got up on her hooves. “If anypony needs me, I’ll be with Applejack.” she said and walked away.
“WAIT! We still need to talk about the facts and mysteries of life!.......What are they?!” Pinkie shouted as Twilight was walking from the camp.
“Think I should go along?” Garret asked, laying down next to the fire. “I don’t know much about Applejack herself besides what happened to her, but she might need somepony she’s comfortable with.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure Twilight knows what to say,” Fluttershy said.
“Indeed she does,” Rarity said as she attempted to snuggle up against Garret. “Besides, I want to know everything about you anyway.”
Garret let out a nervous chuckle. “Like what exactly?”
“Whatever you want to tell me,” she replied, fluttering her eyelashes.
“Beep boo beep.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Pinkie whispered. “She’s trying too hard.”
“Beep bee boo boop bee.”
“Of course Garret is going to be with her, but not yet, silly. That won’t happen until-”
“Umm, Pinkie what are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked as she overheard some of the conversation.
“Oh, nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” Pinkie said, patting the top of Fluttershy’s head.
“Oh, Okay.”
“Statement: This would be most interesting to see,” HK said.
Out on the outskirts of the camp, Applejack sat on a nearby hill and watched out over the darkened land with the eyes of a hawk and the hope to see her little sister again. ‘We got a lot to catch up on little sis,’ she thought as she let out a heavy sigh. She then heard something next to her and turned to see Twilight starting to sit next to her.
“Shouldn’t you be resting with the others?” Applejack asked, already knowing why Twilight came.
“Shouldn’t you be doing the same?” Twilight retorted. “We can have HK or T3 keep an eye out. They don’t need to rest like the rest of us do.”
“I can do this better than any droid can,” Applejack stated with a huff. “T3’s fine but he ain’t much of a fighter like us and he can’t move around the desert as fast as we can and HK…...Well, to be frank, Twilight, Ah don’t trust that droid enough to even sell him for spare parts.”
Twilight giggled. “I know what you mean. HK seems to be different from what the other droids are.”
“Ya can say that again,” Applejack giggled. “Look, Twi. Ah’m okay if that’s what you were wondering. Ah’m just…..a little anxious right now.”
“I know and if you don’t want to talk to Garret about some things, you can come talk to me,” Twilight offered. “I’m your friend too.”
A small smile appeared on Applejack. “Sure Twi, Ah’d like that.”
Twilight nodded. “Is there anything you want to talk about right now?”
Applejack opened her mouth as she was about to say something but her mind was against it though. “Not right now, but maybe another time. It’s something Ah need to sort out some more on my own.”
“Well, alright,” Twilight said and got up. “If you need anything, let me know and I’ll be ready for it.” She then walked away back towards the camp.
Applejack once more looked out to the desert and, as if for the first time, started to feel the cold around her. She got up and turned back towards the camp. ‘Ah guess Ah can let HK watch over us. After all, he may not be the most trusting droid Ah ever met but ironically he’s the most loyal of us when it comes to protecting his masters,’ she thought. She then trotted back at the camp to join her…...friends. It was something she never thought she would have again.
After coming out of hyperspace and going through the planet’s orbit, Calo’s ship flew high above the endless sands towards an unknown destination where Calo believed he had an idea on how to track down Twilight and ensure her capture. But first he had to get rid of some ‘cargo.’
“Are we there yet?” Snips asked.
“No.”
“Are we there now?” Snails asked.
“No.”
“Are we-”
“LOOK!” Sunset snapped. “When we get there, we’ll get there! So, SHUT! UP!”
“Sorry,” the two said in unison.
Sunset let out a heavy sigh and leaned back on her seat. She had her back and fore hooves crossed and after a moment of silence, she turned to Calo. “Um, when will we be there?” she asked.
Calo looked at her with a raised brow.
“Oh come on, that’s a reasonable question,” Sunset defended.
Calo let out a sigh. “We’ll be there momentarily but I need to do something before then,” he explained.
“Like what?”
Calo then set the ship to hover over the ground; high in the air and got out of his seat. “Follow me and I’ll show you,” he said.
Sunset rolled her eyes and followed him with her guards joining her. The all walked into the back of the ship and into the cargo bay where Calo was at a nearby control panel while Sunset watched him curiously.
Calo pointed over to a spot while still pressing a few buttons. “Why don’t you all go over there, it’ll just take a sec,” he said.
Sunset mimicked Calo’s voice quietly and complied with his request. She and her guards stood where he wanted them to be. “So when are you going to tell us what you’re doing?” she asked, impatiently.
“I think this will explain everything,” Calo said and flipped a switch on the control panel.
Underneath them, a door opened up with Sunset and her guards looking down with wide eyes of terror and falling down from the ship while they were screaming. They crashed down roughly in the desert, forming holes in the shape of their bodies on the sandy expanse. Sunset climbed up from her hole while her eyes rolled around with dizziness and shook her head.
She looked up at Calo with fire in her eyes. “CALO, WHAT THE TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING?!”
“I have some personal business to deal with and you’ll just get in the way,” Calo replied. “Don’t worry, your precious Twilight will be captured alive and I’ll collect my pay.” He then reached into his coat’s pockets and threw down a datapad at Sunset; landing on top of her head. “That should take you to the nearest town, in case you can survive that long.”
Calo closed the trapdoor and the ship flew off. After stopping her eyes from spinning around after being hit by the datapad, she looked up towards where Calo’s ship was still visible and raised her hooves up high.
“I WILL MAKE YOU PAY, CALO! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!”
Snips and Snails climbed out of their holes too and quickly shook of their dizziness as well.
“Um, is there anything to eat here?” Snails asked.
“Yeah, I’m starving,” Snips added.
“GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
END OF CHAPTER