//------------------------------// // Return to Endor // Story: Star Crossed Ponies // by MillenniumFalsehood //------------------------------// Chapter 23 “Through my research, I have determined that galactic historians had long considered Tatooine one of the most disproportionately important planets in the galaxy. This is due to its central role in many of the galaxy's most important events, including being the place where the great hero Luke Skywalker was born. However, for my friends and I, Endor seemed to be the locus of everything we experienced, and we ended up being drawn back to this planet where we were enslaved and tortured in order to help bring an end to the reign of the Empire." -Twilight Sparkle, On Extra-Galactic Voyages, p. 876 The Imperial Shuttle glided through space with all the grace of a white swan, its three wings arrayed in an inverted Y. Despite its Imperial affiliation, the ship's cargo was decidedly Trojan. Filled to the brim with Rebel soldiers, the vessel was on its way to the greenish blue orb that hung in orbit of a white-gray gas giant: the sanctuary forest moon of Endor. Twilight Sparkle was staring at it through the large canopy, the sight of the moon filling her with a sense of dread. Here was a place that represented the worst experience of her life, a time when she and her friends were treated like animals and forced to work in wretched conditions. This time though, things were different. This time she had a militia behind her, with soldiers, fighters and warships, all ready to fight and die to wipe out the Galactic Empire. Tens of thousands of lightyears away, the Rebel fleet hung in space, poised for the attack on the Imperial battle station which now floated lazily in orbit around the moon. Its hull was much more complete than it was when they had left so many weeks ago and was now guarded by a small flotilla of Star Destroyers, including Darth Vader's personal command vessel Executor. "There it is," said Han Solo as he looked at the Death Star. "Big as life and twice as ugly." "We have to be careful not to tip off the Imperials," said Twilight. "Relax," he replied. "I've flown through more Imperial blockades than you can imagine. Trust me, this'll be a cakewalk." Twilight nodded, but she didn't feel any less anxious. Han's own nervousness bled through his voice when he said, "If they don't go for this, we're gonna have to get outta here pretty quick, Chewie." The Wookie grunted back his agreement. Suddenly the communications system sounded a whistle, indicating that the Executor was contacting them. "We have you on our screen now," said the security officer on the other end. "Please identify." Han pressed the comm key. "Shuttle Tyderium, requesting deactivation of the deflector shield." There wasn't an answer for a moment, then the officer replied, "Shuttle Tyderium, transmit the clearance code for shield passage." "Transmission commencing," said Han, then he activated the transmitter. As the system hummed, Leia muttered under her breath, "Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid." "It'll work," said Solo with a smirk. "It'll work." Luke looked at the Executor floating with its attendant Star Destroyers. "Vader's on that ship," he intoned. Twilight glanced at him nervously. "Now don't get jittery, Luke," said Han. "There are a lot of command ships." He then looked at his Wookie copilot and said, "Keep your distance though, Chewie. But don't look like you're tryin' to keep your distance." Aroooogh! said Chewie. "I dunno! Fly casual!" Twilight wasn't really paying attention to them. She was concerned because she had felt what Luke did when he announced the presence of Darth Vader aboard the enormous navy blue vessel in front of them. The techniques she'd learned from Luke, though they were limited, were nonetheless useful, and she'd detected the dark lord shortly after Luke did. She shifted as she wondered with dread whether Vader possessed the same talent. ----- All seemed normal aboard the Executor as the massive vessel lazily glided near the Death Star in its patrol orbit. However, one figure aboard it knew things were not as they seemed. Vader strode over to the communications console. Admiral Piett was standing over the shoulder of the operator and monitoring him like a gaunt vulture. "Where is that shuttle going?" asked Vader. Piett pressed the comm key. "Shuttle Tyderium, what is your cargo and destination?" The scan report scrolled by on the screen displaying schematics of the passing ship while the captain of the vessel said, "Parts and technical crew for the forest moon." Admiral Piett leaned back and gave Vader a silent Satisfied? "Do they have a code clearance?" pressed Vader. "It's an older code, sir. But it checks out," said Piett. "I was about to clear them." Vader was about to tell the admiral to lock a tractor beam onto them and pull them into the hangar bay, but something nagged at the back of his mind. He felt several presences in the Force, and he also felt something else. Something that stilled him and told him not to interfere with them. ----- Aboard the shuttle, Twilight glanced to her right as Luke said, "I'm endangering the mission. I shouldn't have come." "It's your imagination, kid," said Han with a twinge of worry in his voice, as though he were trying to dispel Luke's suspicions. "C'mon, let's keep a little optimism here!" When Twilight tapped Luke on the shoulder, he turned to look at her, his face a mixture of confusion and trepidation. "What is it?" asked Twilight. He looked a thousand yards away. "I'm not sure. I felt a disturbance in the Force from ... from a man I have faced before." "Darth Vader," said Twilight flatly. He nodded, his eyes locked on the dreadnaught. "A few years ago, I had a battle with him. He gravely wounded me, but he spared my life in order to offer me the chance to join him." Twilight nodded in amazement. She'd read many tales about Lord Vader and how dangerous the dark lord was. That man had been responsible for many atrocities, and his own personal power was so great that he had been able to take down many Jedi over the years since the rise of the Empire. "And you think he will come after you?" "He senses me with the Force. He must, if I can sense him." Twilight looked away from him toward the enormous blue arrowhead floating before them. "Then I hope we can complete the mission before he does anything to stop us." Luke just sat and stared out the window. ----- Aboard Executor, Vader was still thinking about what to do with the shuttle and its occupants. "Shall I hold?" asked Piett. He waited a few moments for the dark lord to answer. "No," said Vader finally. "Leave them to me. I will deal with them myself." Piett looked surprised, but replied, "As you wish, m'lord." Then he addressed the communications officer. "Carry on." Vader looked at the communications screen long enough to make the man sitting at it sweat visibly. Then suddenly he strode into the corridor toward his quarters, where he would sit and brood until the Force told him it was time. ----- On the shuttle, Han Solo shared a worried look with Chewbacca. The Imperials were taking far too long to respond. Han and Chewie had sneaked past many Imperials in the past and had conned their way into and out of many situations, and usually when they took this long to say anything they were readying some kind of ambush. "They're not going for it, Chewie." As he weighed his options, the communications system sounded. "Shuttle Tyderium..." He reached to set a course back to the Rebel fleet. Maybe if he─ "Deactivation of the deflector shield will commence immediately. Follow your present course." "Okay," he said, his voice filled with relief. "I told you it was gonna work! No problem!" Twilight looked up at Luke and saw that the tension had not drained from his face. He must have felt the same thing she had: Vader had not been convinced. He was merely waiting, like a black panther readying to pounce on its prey. She sat back and reflected on the meaning of this while the ivory shuttle slipped out of orbit and fell down into the moon's gravity well. ----- The ramp of the shuttle lowered, its tip made contact with the damp soil, and the Rebel commando team disembarked the stark white Imperial ship, its paint job contrasting sharply with the browns and greens of the forest around them. Grim expressions were on every face in the team. Each one of them knew the danger surrounding their mission to the forest moon, but they knew the consequences of failure meant an almost certain Imperial victory and the utter destruction of the Rebel Alliance. Somewhere in the dense forest was a base containing the main power generator for the enormous deflector shield projector towering in the distance. Its 500 meter dish was pointing up and wrapping the Imperial battle station overhead with a powerful shield which could annihilate a starship on contact and protect its charge from the most powerful of assaults. The very same base Twilight and her friends all helped construct. Unless they could destroy the generator, the Rebel fleet would have no way of engaging the Death Star and ending its threat before it was completed. Twilight and Princess Celestia both shuddered as they disembarked the Imperial transport, memories of their time here flooding back to them like a shadowy, black wave. In the distance, Han Solo lead the strike team. Twilight was wary of that man and his hairy companion, but if Luke Skywalker trusted him, then she did as well. As he signaled them all to get on the forest floor, she heard C-3PO say to R2-D2, "Oh! I told you it was dangerous here!" You have no idea, she thought to herself as she knelt down into the moss. She felt a presence sidle up next to her. "Ah sure hope this works," said Applejack. "This ain't gonna be no Spring picnic." "I know," said Twilight. "But we have to try. Princess Luna and Spike are both counting on us." Applejack nodded. "We'll save 'em, Twilight. Don't you worry none." Twilight smiled at her, happy to have somepony nearby to at least try and make her feel better. They all started to follow along with the Rebel troopers as they began to walk along the forest floor again, whatever danger Han had sensed having passed. After walking through the woods for nearly half a kilometer, they all stopped again as Luke and his friends saw something ahead of them. Twilight and the other ponies carefully walked up the line of Rebels, curious about the reason for them stopping. "Should we try to go around?" said Leia. "It'll take time," replied Luke as the ponies silently approached and wondered what was stopping them. "This whole party'll be for nothing if they see us," said Han. Chewbacca growled in agreement. Twilight approached the log they were kneeling beside and peered over. In the clearing beyond were two Imperial Scout Troopers. Applejack saw them at the same time Twilight did. "Hey," she whispered, "Them's the same kinda troopers we saw before!" "Chewie and I'll take care of this," said Han quickly. "You stay here." "Quietly!" admonished Luke. "There might be more of them out there." "Hey," said Han with a smirk, "it's me!" Then he disappeared off into the woods with his Wookie companion. Rather than try and stop the man, Luke simply looked at Leia and sighed. Twilight shared his discomfort with the situation, but there was nothing to do but watch. She knew that the best chance they had was to simply let those two take care of the problem as quickly and quietly as possible. Down in the clearing Han and Chewie sneaked behind a small stand of trees, inching their way toward the pair of Imperials. Twilight watched as they gingerly made their way over to a pair of redwoods that were right behind the two scouts, and then Chewbacca gestured at them. Han nodded and started to move toward them with his blaster drawn. Then a twig snapped beneath his foot. He glanced down long enough to give the trooper he was tailing a chance to turn around and quickly knock him to the ground, his blaster hitting the forest floor and going off. "Go for help! Go!" shouted the scout. The other trooper sprinted off toward his speederbike. "Great," groaned Luke as he gestured to Leia and the ponies. "Come on!" As they all made their way down to the clearing, Han shot up off the ground and grabbed the scout trooper's arm. He swung him around into the trunk of a tree, the trooper's armor crunching into the bark and cutting into him. While Han dealt with that trooper, the other one mounted his speederbike and quickly activated its repulsors, sending it careening through the forest like a bullet. There was little time. Chewie rapidly raised his bowcaster and fired off several shots at the speederbike, scoring several hits and causing it to explode under the trooper and send him crashing to the floor in a neck-breaking fall. As Han slammed the trooper into the tree again, Luke, Leia and the ponies arrived in the clearing. But Leia's eyes were alerted to a streak of white. "Over there!" she shouted, pointing at the two scouts on speederbikes. "Two more of them!" In an instant they were both shooting through the woods to warn their superiors. "I see them," said Luke, then Leia ran toward the remaining speederbike. "Wait! Leia!" he shouted at her. They both mounted the speeder bike, with Luke struggling to maintain a hold on Leia's waist. Applejack saw them both and took off after them. "Wait! AJ!" shouted Twilight as the cowpony streaked off. Years of practice for rodeos made it a simple matter to leap into the air and grab hold of Luke. "Hey, wait!" said Han as he raised his hand at the quickly shrinking speederbike. He was cut off by the scout trooper, who reached up and grabbed his shoulder. But the Imperial found himself being flipped over and slammed into the ground by Han, his back hitting the forest floor with great force. As the unconscious trooper rolled to a stop at Twilight's hooves, she worriedly looked up from him and off into the distance as the speederbikes shrank to a pinprick. ----- Navigating through the trees at two hundred miles per hour was not an easy challenge. Leia and Luke flew through the trees on their speeder, their wake pressing down on the bushes and moss as it streaked past them. The trio of Rebels struggled to catch up with the scout troopers. "Quick," said Luke, "jam their comlinks! Center switch!" Leia hit the lever quickly, and then ducked beneath a fallen tree. He felt a squeeze on his waist as Applejack struggled to keep hold of him. Whipping his head back toward the troopers in front of him, he had an idea. "Move closer!" he shouted above the whine of the bike's engine. They slowly pulled up toward the enemy bike, and Applejack strained to look ahead at the scout and see if she could do anything to him. As the bikes screamed through the forest, Applejack soon saw an opportunity. Slowly standing up on the back of the bike, she carefully balanced on her two back legs, the wind whipping by and threatening to send her crashing to the ground at any moment. She crouched for a moment, then took a flying leap toward the repulsorcraft. The Imperial didn't know what hit him as Applejack's hooves made contact with his midsection and ignited an explosion of pain. She barely managed to hold on as the speederbike careened through the forest, and for a moment Luke thought she would hit a tree. But she maintained control long enough to fly next to Luke and Leia's speeder. She was unable to hit the accelerator with her hooves however, and she was forced to leap off the doomed bike. Luke caught her outstretched hoof and helped her back onto their speederbike just before the other craft slammed into a tree. While Applejack situated herself on the back of the bike, Luke looked up at the other Imperial scout. "Get alongside that one," he said. Leia did her best to comply, inching closer to the trooper. Luke watched, waiting for the right moment to strike. But the scout noticed them, and as they approached he started to slam his bike into theirs, trying to knock them into a tree. Leia fought to keep the bike steady, crying out as an impact nearly sent their bike into a log. Luke then leaped onto the other bike and shoved the trooper off. They both heard a loud crack as his body hit a tree at more than two hundred miles per hour. "Yee-haw!" shouted Applejack. Luke couldn't share in her enthusiasm, his mind concentrating on not colliding with the surrounding brush. An explosion rocked his bike as a blaster bolt hit it from behind. Luke, Leia and Applejack looked behind them to see two more Scout Troopers tailing them on speederbikes. "I'll take them!" shouted Luke as he hit the brakes and shot backwards. The troopers both whipped their heads around as he did so. Luke shot at one of the troopers, who veered off into the forest. The other one kept going after Leia and Applejack. Realizing that the escaping trooper would likely reach his base if he didn't pursue him, Luke reluctantly peeled off and went after him. ----- Leia and Applejack wove through the trees, trying to evade the Scout Trooper behind them. The soldier was not easy to shake, doggedly staying on their tail as they bobbed on their bike. Yellow blasts of energy ripped past them, slamming into trees and spraying them with showers of bark and timber. "We gotta do somethin'!" shouted Applejack as she held up a foreleg to shield her eyes. "I know, I'm trying!" said Leia as she pulled the speederbike into a new course through the trees. More laser blasts shot past them as the scout maintained pursuit. Applejack looked back at him, hoping none of those blasts would score a hit on them. She thought for a second about jumping from the bike and trying to land on the trooper behind them, but all he'd need to do was brake and she'd end up skewered on the forks in front of his vehicle. She needed another plan. As the trooper sent another volley of lasers flying at them, she had an idea. "Leia! Ah'm gonna jump!" "Are you crazy?!" shouted the princess as she juked the bike. "Trust me! Ah'm gonna hop off, and you're gonna lead him back this-a-way! Ah have an idea!" Leia shook her head, wondering if the little pony truly had lost her marbles, but she nodded. "Okay, I'll swing back around. Be ready!" Applejack nodded, then leaped off the bike into a roll through the forest. Leia looked back for a moment, then hit the accelerator pedal, sending more fuel to the engines and causing the bike to rocket forward. The scout had little trouble keeping up with her, but she was counting on that. She led him through a winding path through the forest, and hoped that her sense of direction was good enough that she was leading him toward Applejack. As she led the scout trooper, Applejack looked up into the trees. "Come on... one o' y'all needs ta have somethin' Ah can use!" Suddenly her eyes lit up as she noticed something in the trees, and she looked off in the distance, hoping Leia could see her. Leia scanned the forest, trying to spot the orange blob that would be Applejack. Soon she found the little pony, and shot toward her at high speed in a straight line. The scout noticed her slip up, and smiled beneath his helmet. "Rebel scum," he muttered to himself as he gripped the trigger, sending an unending stream of laser blasts rocketing through the forest. Leia hoped Applejack's plan, whatever it was, would work. As she passed Applejack, she watched her get up on her forelegs, then buck the tree she was standing next to. A crack resounded through the forest, followed by a snap and several more cracks. She didn't have to turn back to see the massive branch fall out of the tree and hit the scout in the face. Bang! She felt the impact of the laser on her speeder and cried out, then leaped off the bike into the forest. Hitting her head on a rock as she landed, she maintained consciousness long enough to see her bike crash into a tree, vaporizing as the fuel cells detonated. ----- Two speederbikes pulled into a loop, one of the riders trying to evade the other. Luke jerked his speeder around, trying to shake the scout. The scout hit him with his bike, ramming with the engine housing and trying to force Luke into a tree. Luke gave as good as he got, slamming his own bike into the scout. A tree split them up, forcing Luke to take the path on the left and the scout to go to the right. The Jedi dodged trees and pulled his bike into a path that would take him back toward the scout. He knew if the trooper got too far from him he would get out of range of Luke's jamming field and report back to his base, giving away the Rebels' position. Soon he caught up with the trooper and began to ram him again, pressing his attack and trying to force him to crash. The trooper however was not going to back off without a fight. He slammed his own bike into Luke's, making new dents in its casing. Without warning the steering vanes on the front of the bikes interlocked. Luke tried to pull the bike away, coming within centimeters of catching a loose vine or a tree trunk. Just as the bikes separated, Luke and the scout both saw a tree coming toward them. Luke leaped off his own bike, sending it slamming into the tree and hoping it would take the scout with it. He had no such luck, however. He saw the trooper shoot through the forest and swing around to come after him again. He ignited his lightsaber. The scout bore down on Luke, centering the digital sights in his helmet on the Rebel. He tightened his grip on the trigger, sending a volley of yellow bolts flying straight at Luke. Luke brought up his saber, deflecting each shot as though it were never there. As the trooper flew by he brought his blade straight down, separating the steering vanes from the front of the bike and sending it into a flat spin toward a tree. The trooper couldn't even jump off his bike as the vehicle slammed into the trunk in a fiery conflagration. Breathing a sigh of relief, Luke extinguished the blade of his sword, then set off into the forest to find the Rebel encampment. ----- Han and Chewbacca both stood next to a tree with the other Rebel troopers, worried and bored. Han, a man of action, thought there couldn't possibly be a worse combination of emotions. He was used to being able to do something, and up until he met Luke Skywalker all those years ago he hadn't really been worried about anyone except for Chewie and a few choice people he'd met along the way. Lando, Bria, that kid who called himself "Solo" on the off chance that Han might fall for it and think he really was related to him... he'd worried about them all at one point or another. But this was a different sort of worry, though the worry he'd felt for his old girlfriend Bria Tharen came close. He just knew something terrible had happened to Leia. He didn't know what exactly. Maybe the troopers had shot her down, or she misjudged the distance from one of the myriad trees in this gods-forsaken dump of a moon and died on impact. As he thought about her fate, he felt the brush of something hard, yet soft against his thigh. He turned to see one of the horses who had accompanied the team looking up at him sympathetically. It was the purple one with a large horn on its head like some mythical animal. "Yeah?" he asked, a little more brusquely than he'd intended. "Are you okay?" asked Twilight gently. Han sighed. "Yeah, fine," he said quickly, not even convincing himself, then turned away again. Twilight glanced away, as though she wasn't sure if she should press the issue on her mind. Looking back up at him, she said, "Are you worried about Leia and Luke?" Han didn't answer as he leaned forward and shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn't like this at all, but there was little more to do than wait. Suddenly, R2-D2 started beeping and warbling. Rarity looked up from where she was sitting on the moss. "What did he say?" she asked, her eyebrow raised. C-3PO looked at her. "Miss Rarity, Artoo says that somebody is coming!" That got Han's attention. He pointed at the guards who were stationed at various points around the edge of the clearing, gesturing at them to raise the alert, then got into position with the rest of the soldiers to attack whatever might be heading their way. He watched for what seemed like minutes, but soon his patience was rewarded by the sight of a familiar man jogging toward them on one of the few clear paths through the forest. "Luke!" shouted Han with a wide grin as his friend walked up and greeted him, but the smile quickly disappeared as he realized Luke was alone. "Where's Leia?" Luke looked as surprised as the rest of the party. "What, she didn't come back?" "I thought she was with you," said Han, the concern he felt slipping into his voice. "We got separated!" said Luke defensively. "Hey, we'd better go look for her." Han motioned a commander over. "Take the squad ahead," he said as he started to walk off with Luke. "We'll meet at the shield generator at oh-three-hundred." "Come on Artoo," said Luke, "we'll need your scanners." The Rebel forces all started to pick up their gear and move out, following along close behind them. The barrel-shaped astromech bleeped in response. As the ponies joined Han and Luke, C-3PO waddled along behind them with R2-D2 in tow, gesticulating at his master. "Don't worry, Master Luke. We know what to do!" Turning to look at his companion, he muttered, "And you said it was pretty here. Gah!" ----- "Leia!" Applejack had been searching for the princess, but there wasn't much to go on. She didn't even know which direction they'd come. Suddenly she smelled something that reminded her of the battle she'd had with the Empire months ago. Turning her head left and right, she spotted a few wisps of acrid smoke trailing through the forest. She hoped it didn't mean what she thought it meant. Trotting gently so as not to disturb the trail, she followed the smoke to a smoldering tree. A fairly large chunk had been blasted out, and mechanical parts littered the ground, but there was no sign of Leia. Applejack started to get worried as a search of the immediate area turned up nothing. "Leia!" she cried as she looked around frantically. "Oh, this ain't good." She glanced in random directions, calling her name out, but nothing answered. Darn those camo-pattern dusters they were wearin'! After what felt like hours of searching, Applejack spotted something that didn't belong laying next to a moss-covered log. "Leia!" she shouted as she knelt next to the princess. She started to nudge her. "C'mon! Get up!" But before she could arouse the princess, she felt an impact on her head and slumped to the ground. ----- The cloudiness in her head started to clear as Leia awakened to the sound of a strange alien dialect being spoken. As she looked up, she saw what her addled brain first assumed to be a stuffed toy leaning over a bright orange lump of fur in the moss. The toy started to poke at the lump with its spear. "Hey!" she shouted. The toy turned around, and Leia saw that it was some kind of short, furry alien armed with a spear and wearing a leather hood. The dark brown fur on its body contrasted with the cream-colored fur on its face, and its big, wide eyes were admittedly disarming. Are we just attracting all the cute critters in the galaxy to our cause now? As she signed with relief, she looked over at Applejack and walked over to pick her up, but the alien growled at her and held her at bay with its spear. "I have to help her," said Leia gently, trying her best to appear as non-threatening as possible. The alien didn't back down. Leia looked at Applejack. She didn't appear to be seriously hurt. Sighing again, Leia sat on the log next to her. "Well," she said to the creature, not really expecting him to understand her, "looks like I'm stuck here. Trouble is, I don't know where here is. Maybe you could help me." The alien cocked its head. Leia patted the moss next to her. "C'mon. Sit down." The creature pointed his spear at her and growled low. "I promise I won't hurt you, now come here!" He growled louder and again shoved the weapon toward her. Leia smiled at the little creature in front of her. It reminded her of a pet Jarkeel she'd had as a little girl. It would sit in her lap, its enormous brown eyes staring quizzically up at her. It would tilt its furry little head from side to side when she made unusual noises, making its big, floppy ears flip up and down. And when she wanted it to come to her, she always knew the trick to get it to obey. "Alright," she said to the creature. "You want something to eat?" She dug into her rations kit and pulled out one of the small food disks from a pouch in the side, then held it out to the creature. The little furry alien looked at the piece of dried ration and started to move cautiously toward Leia. "That's right," she said as he made his way up onto the log. She took a bite from it to prove that it was harmless. He inched closer. "Come on," said Leia gently, as though she was talking to her pet. Getting as close as he could without daring to get next to her, the creature grabbed the piece of food from her hand and started to sniff it, then he took a tiny nibble of it. When he was sure it wasn't a trick, he sat on the log and began to munch on the disk. "Goonda," he said. Leia wasn't sure what it meant, but judging by the tone he used it meant that he liked it. Satisfied that he wasn't going to run off, she started to remove her helmet. "Aaaiiee!!" screamed the creature. He jumped off the log in a flurry and again pointed his spear at her with a growl. The sudden jumpiness of the critter startled Leia, but she guessed why he was upset. She held out the helmet so he could examine it. "Look, it's a hat. It's not going to hurt you. Look." With trepidation, the creature slowly walked back over and climbed back on the log, then he took the helmet in his hands and started to look it over. "You're a jittery little thing, aren't you," said Leia, more to herself than anything else. Suddenly the alien became alert, dropping the helmet with a cry and grabbing his spear. Leia looked at him in surprise. "What is it?" she asked in confusion. He replied, "Ah Kyah-tah." Leia scanned the forest, trying to ascertain what it was he had seen or heard. She looked between the trees and into the bushes. The damp, earthy smell of the forest filled her nostrils. She strained her eyes, trying to see what had alerted the little guy. Seeing nothing, she turned to look at the alien. He seemed to still be on alert, meaning that whatever was out there was still─ A sudden blast of laser energy exploded against the log they were sitting on. Both of them tumbled back behind it and crouched. The alien was the first to raise his head up to peer over the log. "Eee-cha wamma." Leia drew her blaster and popped up over the log, squinting her eyes to see who had fired at her. Try as she might, her attacker was too camouflaged to make out. Another shot rang out in the clearing, hitting the log and causing them both to duck again. This time the creature rolled under the log and hid himself away. "Freeze!" Leia whipped her head around to face the scout trooper who was pointing his blaster at her. "Come on, get up," he commanded, taking her blaster as she stood. He glanced over at the still-out Applejack laying in the grass. Below them both, under the log, the alien was waiting for an opportunity. Off in the clearing, the scout's partner who had been shooting at them walked into view. "Go get your ride and take 'em back to base," he said. "Yes, sir," replied the other trooper as he went back to his bike. Then the scout turned back to watch Leia and make sure she didn't try anything funny. They both stared each other down. Leia hoped the trooper would make a mistake, but she knew better than to expect or count on it. Still, something had to give. That something was a spear coming out from under the log and smacking into the trooper's ankle. "What the... ?" Acting quickly, Leia grabbed a broken limb laying next to the log and brought it upside the trooper's head, knocking him unconscious. As he fell she grabbed her pistol out of his hand and started to fire at the other scout, trying to score a hit. Suddenly the bike exploded, thrusting the trooper who was riding it into the air and onto the ground, the impact snapping his neck. Slowly the remains of the bike settled in the forest, the skirmish over. The creature then slid himself out from under the log and saw the exploded speederbike and the downed troopers. He gave a cry of victory, pumping his spear into the air. "Come on," said Leia as she helped him down off the log and walked over to Applejack. Bending down and hoisting the pony up and over her shoulders, she looked down at the alien and said, "We gotta get out of here." She started to walk in what she thought was the direction of the camp, but before she got far, she heard the little creature start to chatter at her insistently. He pointed in another direction. Her curiosity piqued, Leia decided to follow him. ----- Aboard the Death Star, Lord Vader was stepping out of a turbolift into the dark chamber in which the Emperor brooded. Striding across the catwalk leading away from the lift and up the stairs, his chest was tightened and his mind filled with fear. His master would not be pleased that he had disobeyed him and left the Executor. But he had a concern, a matter that he thought would only be appropriate to discuss in person. He stood across from the throne, its back facing him. He waited. The shadow in the throne spoke. "I told you to remain on the command ship." "A small Rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor," said Vader. "Yes, I know," replied the shadow impatiently as the throne rotated to face him. "My son is with them." Palpatine's eyes squinted ever so slightly. "Are you sure?" "I have felt him, my master," said Vader. "Strange that I have not," said the Emperor. He leaned forward. "I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader." Vader's anger rose at the implication. He was the Dark Lord of the Sith, and his control over the Force was matched by no one save the Emperor himself. He sated the fires burning in his chest and calmed himself enough to speak. "They are clear, my master." "Then you must go to the sanctuary moon and wait for him," the Emperor said as though it were obvious. "He will come to me?" asked Vader. The last time Luke and he met, the boy had lost a hand and chose death over joining Vader and the Empire. The Emperor leaned back in his chair. "I have foreseen it. His compassion for you will be his undoing. He will come to you, and then you will bring him before me." The condescending tone with which he was being addressed, as though the Emperor were speaking to an underling instead of a friend, was causing Vader's anger to rise again ─ which he supposed was the point ─ but he calmed himself and said, "As you wish." As he left the throne room and his master, his mind was on his son. He desperately wanted his son to join him, and he knew that with the proper ... persuasion, he would. ----- Walking through the woods, Luke spotted something unnatural in the ferns next to a large fallen tree. Bending down to pick it up, he saw that it was a helmet, and not an Imperial one. It was the one that Leia had been wearing when he last saw her. Immediately his mind conjured up images of Leia in an Imperial holding cell, a torture droid hovering over her and doing unspeakable things to her. His vision was thankfully cut short as he heard Han cry, "Luke!" He ran toward Han's voice and passed the droids. C-3PO said, "Oh, Master Luke." The tone 3PO used was melancholy, and when he looked where Han was standing he could see why. There in the clearing was the mangled wreckage of a speederbike. Rarity and Twilight were standing next to Han and looking at the crashed bike with concern. Chewbacca moaned balefully. "There's two more wrecked speeders back there," said Luke, then he held up the helmet. "And I found this." He tossed it to Han. The smuggler's face grimaced, his forehead furrowed. "I'm afraid the Artoo's sensors can find no trace of Princess Leia," said C-3PO, R2-D2 mournfully wailing beside him. "I hope she's alright," Han said. Twilight put a hoof on his thigh, sharing his concern, and Luke nodded in agreement. Suddenly Chewbacca howled and walked off into the woods. "What, Chewie?" said Han, wondering why his friend was suddenly not concerned with Leia's whereabouts. Chewbacca didn't stop, however. "What, Chewie?" repeated Han, his voice raising to get the Wookie's attention. But Chewie didn't stop. Luke, Han and the ponies all followed him into the woods, where he eventually happened upon a large branch jammed into the ground. When Han saw it, he immediately knew why Chewie hadn't stopped. Wedged into the crook of the branch was the remains of an animal of some kind, its meat exposed and the smell of its flesh wafting into the air. Han's face was a mask of confusion. "Hey, I don't get it. It's just a dead animal, Chewie." As he said that, the Wookie grabbed at the hunk of meat on the branch, not realizing it was connected to a cord of hemp. Luke, however, noticed. "Chewie, no! Wait, don't!" His words were drowned out by the noise of the mechanism holding the net down as it retracted up into the canopy, hoisting Luke, Han, Chewbacca, the droids, and the ponies into the air. "Nice work," said Han, the sarcasm cutting into the air like a knife. "Great, Chewie! Great, always thinkin' with yer stomach!" "Will you take it easy?" said Luke. "Let's just figure out a way to get out of this thing! Han, can you reach my lightsaber?" He knew he could get them out of this mess if he could just grab his weapon, but his arms were caught in the net and there was no way he could free them. "Yeah, sure!" said Han, anxious to get out of the net. He reached around and tried to maneuver Luke's waist around so he could extricate the metal baton at his hip. Wedged between R2-D2 and Twilight, Rarity was slowly freeing herself from the trap. Wriggling her way out from between the droid and her friend, she suddenly snapped free. "Ha! Worry not, my friends! I shall free us from this abominable device!" As she examined the mechanism of the trap, Artoo popped out a small circular saw out of one of his many compartments. When Rarity saw this, she bopped the droid on the head. The audacity of the gesture caused Artoo to pause what he was doing and slowly turn his head to look at her with his radar eye. "This requires a more delicate touch," she said simply, then began to charge her horn and aim it at the system of pulleys at the top of the net. Twilight happened to look down just as she was doing this. "Rarity! No!" Rarity however had already released the spell. It impacted the wooden pulley and turned it into a small sculpture of a pony. Suddenly there was no more support for the net. "Uh-oh," said Rarity. With a crack, the entire assembly plummeted to the forest floor, with everyone sprawling over the moss and ferns. Groaning, they all glared at Rarity, who was standing up shakily, a sheepish grin on her face. Before they could mob-rush her, she spotted something moving in the bushes. Squinting, she realized that she recognized what they were: Ewoks. "Oh! It's our friends!" Her welcome was not matched by the Ewoks as they surrounded the Rebels and pointed spears at them. They all had a decidedly aggressive look on their faces and muttered amongst themselves as the moved in. "Okay," she said as she backed up into the small huddle of ponies standing next to the other Rebels, "maybe they're not our friends." Celestia laid on the grass next to them, her flowing mane waving past the ponies. She extended her wings to cover them. Luke and Han both started to sit up. Having never seen Ewoks before, they both reacted with bemusement at the small creatures who wore animal skins and skulls. As Han started to pick himself up off the grass, an Ewok with dark grey striped fur and an animal skull on his head shouted, "Ee-cha eh!" He thrust his spear into Han's face. "Hey!" said Han as he shoved the spear to the side, "Point that thing someplace else!" An Ewok with a tanned leather headdress started to argue with the grey-striped one, and then he pointed his spear at Han again, repeating his warning. Han shouted, "Hey!" again and grabbed the spear, drawing his blaster in the process. Before he could fire off a shot, Luke said, "Han, don't! We'll be alright." The grey Ewok wrestled with Han for a moment before common sense won out and Han let go of the spear. As he did, one of the Ewoks came up behind him and grabbed his blaster. "Chewie," said Luke, "Give 'em your crossbow." Reluctantly, and not without growling out a stern warning not to mess with it, Chewie handed over his weapon, an act which appeared to satisfy the Ewoks. Suddenly C-3PO sat up, his systems finally having kicked into gear after the impact. "Oh, my head," he exclaimed, which caused all the Ewoks to gasp and take a step back. "Oh my goodness," said 3PO. He turned slowly and looked at all the tiny creatures around him, wondering why they were reacting that way. Two of the Ewoks started to chatter, and when they reached a conclusion all of them started to chant a mantra and bow to the droid. Twilight and Rarity both looked around at Ewoks, as did Pinkie Pie. Celestia maintained a stoic attitude. Luke frowned at the Ewoks as Han sat and smirked at their behavior. "Treetoh dograh," said 3PO. "Ee-soyotoh abunah nokup." Two of the Ewoks nodded in agreement. "Do you understand anything they're saying?" asked Luke. "Oh, yes, Master Luke!" said C-3PO proudly. "Remember that I am fluent in over six million forms of com─" "What are you telling them?" asked Han. 3PO paused for a moment. "Hello, I think." He cocked his head. "I could be mistaken ─ they're using a very primitive dialect ─ but I do believe they think I am some sort of god." Luke had to suppress the grin on his face at the thought of anyone mistaking a droid for a god, which was more than Chewbacca was capable of. He snickered and laughed to himself as Twilight and Rarity giggled. Even Celestia chuckled at the idea. Han put on his "forced patience" face and looked at 3PO with a rather frustrated grin. "Well, why don't you use your divine influence and get us outta this?" he said. "I beg your pardon, General Solo," said 3PO in his usual insufferable snootiness, "but that just wouldn't be proper." "Proper?" repeated Han. "It's against my programming to impersonate a deity," replied C-3PO. Han shot up off the ground, his anger at the droid flaring up. "Why you... " He was cut off by a half dozen spears being pointed at his face, each one tipped with a razor-sharp stone head. Putting up his hands and freezing where he was, he said, "My mistake." He looked at one of the Ewoks and gestured at 3PO. "He's an old friend of mine."