My Little Pony: Exiles of the Empire

by Hikarikurai24587

Bonds

Chapter Thirteen: Bonds

Anakin turned to face Luna, her leg was pinned under a fallen beam. Her wings wrapped around in front of her. A console off to the side sparking as Anakin moved to get the beam off of her. He used the Force to lift it off the sound of metal creaking around them. Luna moved her wings revealing Spike, his eyes were shut tightly.

“Spike, I cannot move until you can.” Luna panted, this caused Spike to open his eyes and scrambled forward. Turning around he helped pull Luna out. Anakin released his hold on the beam causing it to slam down. Part of the roof collapsed as well letting in a little bit of sunlight.

“Are you alright?” questioned Spike as Anakin examined the wound. Cuts marred Luna’s flesh a particularly bad one running down her leg. Anakin looked around for anything to bind it with before tearing at his own robe. He knelt down as Spike ran his claws through Luna’s mane.

“I will heal.” Luna answered looking around. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure, there was no warning, nothing to indicate we were attacked.” Anakin sighed looking around. “I will be able to get a better idea of what happened once we get out of here.” His eyes locked onto the hole in the ceiling. Once he was done tending to Luna he moved to investigate it. Spike wrapped his arms around his knees as Luna looked at him.

“Spike.” she spoke softly causing him to glance at her. “Do not close yourself off from him. He is your teacher, you need to trust him as he needs to trust you. Do not use this as an excuse to not talk to him. My sister and I used to tell each other ‘Do not put off tomorrow what you can do today.’ It was used more as a joke when we wanted to slack off.”

Luna chuckled before giving Spike a serious look. “I kept putting off telling Celestia how I felt. I thought she would never understand, that she wouldn’t listen. It ate me up inside, speak to Anakin. He knows how you feel, more than you know.”

Spike looked at Anakin who jumped down from the beam saying. “Well, the hole is big enough that Spike can fit through no problem. I could cut through it with my lightsaber but… I don’t want to risk everything collapsing. I can’t tell how bad the damage to the rest of the ship is.”

Luna looked away as she focused on the minds of other ponies feeling great sadness overwhelming her. She let out a mournful groan. “We have lost many and so many are lost in the debris. I can not tell anything else from that.”

“Princess Luna, can you get us out of here?” Spike asked and Luna tried to get to her hooves almost collapsing. She was caught by Anakin as she said. “I do not have the strength for the three of us. Even if I did, I would only slow you down with my injury. I must rest and recover, however I am not suggesting we let young Spike go by himself.”

“What are you suggesting?” Anakin asked a feeling growing in his stomach as Luna looked at him saying. “Spike will go through the hole and I will teleport you with him. Find my sister and bring her back here. She will know what to do.”

“What?!”

“No way!”

“ENOUGH!” Luna commanded the force of her Royal Canterlot Voice almost knocking them back. Anakin’s hand reached for his lightsaber in reaction but still it as he looked down at Spike. “We do not have the time to argue about this. I will be fine but we will not be unless you get help. Now go!”

“Understood.” Anakin said after a moment of contemplation, Spike nodded his head sadly as he flapped his wings flying towards the hole. Luna made sure he was out of earshot as she told Anakin. “Guide him, he will need your help, and please bring Celestia. My wounds are not serious, but something here troubles me.”

“I’ll let her know.” promised Anakin, Luna nodded her head and Anakin backed away as she cast her teleportation spell. It was like a galaxy wrapped around Anakin as his body merged with the magic and passed through the hole. When he appeared on the other side he had to get his bearings for a moment. They seemed to be in a highland of some sort, though they probably did destroy some of the forest that was on this cliff.

"We better get moving, we can't keep Luna waiting long." Anakin pointed out, looking down at Spike. Spike nodded his head as he surveyed the damage the sky beginning to darken. The two set out heading towards the closest section. A thick tension surrounding the two of them, Spike glanced over noticing a pouch hanging from Anakin’s waist. He knew what was in it, the sadness starting to surge forth. ‘The shards of the Elements of Harmony.’ he thought before looking forward trying to focus on the journey ahead.

"I know that you probably still have a hard time trusting me and believe me, I have a hard time trusting myself too after... well, Ahsoka. But I promise not to make the same mistakes, and train you well. I know it seems like a bad time, but I think it's time for your first lesson." Anakin said, kneeling down to look at Spike. Spike looks up at Anakin giving him a raised eyebrow asking. “I thought the previous lesson was the first lesson.”

"Never mind that." Anakin answered. "Through the Force, we can feel connections to those close to us. I want you to close your eyes and in your mind, concentrate on Celestia. Try to pinpoint which direction she is."

Spike closed his eyes and began to focus on Celestia. At first nothing happened, this earned an angry huff. That was when he stopped to think about her, the warmth and kindness. Her motherly personality, how she always just wanted Twilight to understand. His shoulders relaxed as he began focusing on that. Her presence like the sun, grand and glorious, it was like he could almost touch the warmth.

Anakin closed his eyes as well after seeing Spike relax. "Very good, now focus on looking for her and let your mind guide you on where we need to go."

Spike followed the instructions getting a feeling of where she was. A soft voice piercing his mind. He pushed it back when he realized someone was actually singing nearby. He couldn’t make out the song just yet so they weren’t that close. He breathed finally finding where they were supposed to go.

“She’s that way.” Spike said pointing in the direction, where some of the ship was hanging off the cliff. “Do you hear that?”

"Hear what?" Anakin asked curiously. "I don't hear anything."

Spike looked around frustrated when he saw it. A light in the distance and the familiar magic of… “Flurry Heart. We need to see if she’s alright, we can’t leave foals by themselves. Even if it is one as powerful as Flurry Heart.”

"Perhaps they might know something too, you know, seeing as it's the same direction." Anakin pointed out as he placed his hand on Spike's head. "You did really well by the way. I understand that you are not Ahsoka, so I will train you differently than Ahsoka and hope to be as good a friend and master to you as the ones before me were to me."

“Thanks and I’m sorry for getting so mad at you. It’s just hard you know, everything is changing so fast, I don’t think I gave myself enough time to process everything. Including Twilight’s death, I’m not going to be able to get over it right away.” Spike told Anakin looking up at him. “So just be patient with me and help me through those moments where I do lash out in anger and grief.”

Anakin smiled as he looked at the young Spike. "Believe me, I know how you feel. I will do the best I can and more for you. Now, let's save some friends!"

Spike nodded his head a look of determination on his face as he began in the direction he saw the magic of Flurry Heart. He was hoping it wasn’t just her and the other foals. ‘I don’t think we have enough arms to carry them all.’ he thought as he began to hear the song in its entirety.

“...Round and round they leap and spin

Dancing wildly in a merry frenzy.

Quickly now they jump and dive

On this enchanted night!”

The song was being sung by a mare with a light purple coat her hooves and her muzzle a light pink. Her curly mane was a pale yellow with bright yellow highlights. She danced around the fire two gold bangles jingling as she danced for the small baby ponies. One with wings and a horn who would cast magic into the night. Sitting behind the foals was a shorter but chubbier orange pony with a mane that blended into the shadows though from the firelight he could tell it was bacl with deep green highlights. She was clapping her hooves together cheering on the dancing pony.

"I can hear what I think you were talking about Spike." Anakin told him looking where the song came from. Spike nodded his head as the mare stopped her dancing, her head turning until she looked at them a wide grin spreading across her face as she spoke. “Oh look sister! Guests!”

“Luminous, we talked about this, no crazy eyes when meeting ponies for the first time.” the shorter mare spoke as she got up and turned to look at them. “Sorry about her, she gets excited when meeting new ponies.”

Anakin turned to Spike. "Me?" He pointed to himself. "And you?" He pointed to Spike. "Ponies?"

“Sorry, it’s the dark.” the shorter mare chuckled before casting a light spell revealing her mane pulled into a pumpkin shaped bun. “Well you are not ponies at all, are you? So sorry, I’m Frumpy Pumpkin and this is my younger sister Luminous Song.”

“Hello.” the purple mare said before going back to her dancing and singing. Spike chuckled nervously. “I’m Spike and this is my teacher Anakin Skywalker.”

“Fascinating names.” Frumpy Pumpkin stated before looking around. “I’m glad to see creatures and ponies walking around. There was a signal earlier but we can’t really move from this spot. Too many foals wanting to escape from the levitation spell and I’m all out of saddle bags. Now if I had one of my pumpkins that would be a different story. Can turn that into a carriage in no time at all. Alas all I have are the seeds. Well if you go find the others can you see if our older sister, Hallow Glow, is alright? Also let her know that your friend here isn’t a pony. She’s not that observant when it comes to most creatures. She can tell a Sphynx from a lynx but a… person like your teacher from a pony… as long as you talk she doesn’t notice. Though she’s fine with dragons.”

"I guess you wouldn't know where Celestia is huh?" Anakin asked as his head turned to look at Spike. "At least we know what direction she's in, and maybe this Hallow Glow is with her."

“You never know unless you look.” Frumpy Pumpkin told them, giving them a nod before using a spell to put one of the foals back down in front of the fire. “We’ll be fine here, though be careful of the ground. Not all of it is dirt, there might be holes.”

"We'll be careful and thanks for the warning." Anakin told her. "We should get going, I wish we could stay longer but Luna is in trouble."

“Best be on your way.” sang Luminous Song as she danced around not even glancing at them. Spike chuckled nervously. “Yeah, we’ll do that.” Anakin gave a wave as the two of them continued onward. Spike waved to the foals hearing Flurry Heart let out a cry wanting to go with them.

“I think, once you get used to teaching again you can help her.” Spike suggested looking at Anakin.

"I dunno, you're quite the handful." Anakin said jokingly. Spike grinned before hearing the familiar teleportation spell as Flurry Heart appeared in front of him hugging the dragon. Spike sighed as he hugged her back saying. “I know Flurry, I know, but I’ll be back. So just stay with your friends.”

Anakin smiled as he looked at the both of them but still urged Spike that time was of the essence. Flurry Heart looked at Anakin before teleporting back, Spike waved to her before nodding his head.

After moving forward about a mile, Anakin could feel a difference in the soil they were on. "We should be careful, this must be what we were warned about."

“Could it be there’s something under here?” Spike asked looking at Anakin.

"It's possible, if there's as many holes around as it sounds like." Anakin answered. "I just hope that whatever made these holes isn't more of a danger than us falling in one." He added as his hand hovered by his lightsaber. Spike stayed close to Anakin saying. “It could be because of the crash.”

"That's my first guess but we shouldn't let our guard down." Anakin warned. "Can you tell how close we are?"

Spike closed his eyes as he began to focus he took a deep breath. “They’re close.”

Spike let loose a spit of flame up into the air. A signal went up shortly afterwards as he pointed towards it. “There!”

"You're good, maybe there's not much I will have to teach you after all!" Laughed Anakin. Spike shook his head saying. “Nah, that’s just a survival skill that even I had to learn. Especially when Twilight decides to explore an apple orchard late at night just to find out what has been ruining it.”

Anakin was worried at the mention of Twilight. He could see the brave expression but the suffering inside he must still bear… Spike took a deep breath as he headed that way before hearing a familiar nickname being shouted out. “Spikey-wikey!”

“Found them.” Spike said seeing lights fill the air as Rarity ran towards them pulling Spike with her magic so she could give him a hug. Anakin smiled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's great to see you but we need to see Celestia. Luna is in trouble." Anakin warned Rarity. "There's also a Hallow Glow we need to talk to as well."

“Yes, yes, this way.” Rarity said leading them back to where she had come from. “Is Hallow Glow a peculiar mare who keeps referring to Hunter and the others as ponies?”

Anakin chuckled as he said. "Definitely fits the description alright."

“Then yes, she is here.” Rarity sighed as a camp came into view, Celestia helping the nurse ponies with tending the injured. Anakin waved in the direction she was in. "Celestia we need to talk!"

Celestia looked at Anakin and nodded her head before excusing herself. Quickly walking over to Anakin saying. “What is it?”

"It's Luna. She was in the wreckage Spike and I came from and is hurt bad. She requested your help." Anakin warned her. "Unfortunately we couldn't get her out so she sent us."

Celestia used her magic to produce a map of the crash site that she had seen saying. “Where is she?”

Anakin's finger pointed to the area they were in. "There." His head turned to Rarity as he said. "Can you inform Hallow Glow that in the direction we came from is a site where a Frumpy Pumpkin and a Luminous Song were with a bunch of little ones?"

Rarity nodded her head before rushing off. Anakin turned to look at Celestia again awaiting her plan of action.

“What section of the ship were you on?” Celestia asked looking at a sleigh knowing she had to bring it.

"We were at the Bridge at the time." Anakin answered.

“Structural damage to the bridge?” Celestia asked looking back at him.

"The best answer I can give for that is...unrecognizable." Anakin responded with a frown. "We're lucky to have survived. Most of the damage on the ship during the crash happened there since it's the front section of the ship."

“Then we will have to be careful. Teleporting her out will be dangerous. I will need your help.” Celestia explained pulling the sleigh over. “Get in….”

Celestia’s eyes looked at Spike before glancing at Anakin questioningly. Anakin noticed the look as he said. "Spike is with me." He hopped in the sleigh and gestured for Spike to get in. Spike climbed on and Celestia ran forward before taking off in the direction that Anakin had shown her on the map.

Comments

[Shadowpony300]

10629985
Your doing great. Keep it up.👍