With Charming Thunder gone for three years, Twivine hunts him down while Starlight leads a search team with the help of the princesses. The situation changes after finding out that a droid carries a map to his location.
Charming Thunder has been gone for three years and has not returned. Worried about what happened to him, Starlight helps search for him with the help of the princesses. Twivine Sparkle hunts him down and will not rest until he is destroyed. Now their focus is a BB unit that carries a map with the location to Charming Thunder's whereabouts. Who will find the droid first? The hunt is on.
Charming Thunder has vanished. Three years later during his absence, Mephiles sends Twivine Sparkle to hunt down the king of Equestria and will not rest until he is destroyed.
With the aid of the princesses, Starlight Glimmer leads a search team to find the king and hopefully regain his aid to destroy the Mephiles Alliance.
In the town close to Manehattan, an old ally of the Equestrian Empire has discovered a possible clue to find Charming Thunder and shares the information to the princesses....
A vast Interdictor Cruiser sits in the sky as four military transports fly out towards a small part of town next to Manehattan. Inside the transports were war droids standing in rows as they readied their blasters.
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A green stallion was on a holo call with the princesses as he made a report to them. "Thank you for contacting me," he said. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet in person."
"An old friend of the empire is always welcome to speak to us," Cadence said.
"What information do you have for us?" Luna asked.
"All I know is that a droid has the map to Charming's whereabouts," the stallion replied.
"A droid?" Celestia asked.
"A droid he made himself. A BB unit. Unlike an astromech, its domed head is mounted on the spherical body but smaller than the astromech itself." A holo image of the droid he described.
"I never knew that he had that droid for the past few years," Cadence said.
"And where is the droid now?" Celestia asked.
"Some say that Charming released it somewhere in Equestria before he vanished." The stallion heard engine sounds coming from outside and looked out the window to see ships heading this way.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked.
"It's the Mephiles Alliance. Find the droid. Find your king." The stallion grabbed his old blaster off the wall and armed himself for battle.
"What about you?"
"I'll fight them off as long as I can." The stallion ended the transmission and stepped outside with his blaster rifle in hoof. The transports land and droids came out firing their weapons. Some villagers fired back as the stallion did the same at the incoming droids. The droids changed their targets towards the stallion and charged at him. He took cover and fired at the droids as long as he could. As the battle continued, an X-70B Phantom approached and landed next to the droid transports. The ship's ramp lowered and Twivine Sparkle came out along with two alien soldiers as her bodyguards. The droids eventually captured the stallion and brought him to Twivine as she approached.
"Just the pony I wanted to see," Twivine said.
"Did you have an apointment?" the stallion joked.
"You know what I have come for."
"I have no idea."
"The map to Charming Thunder. We know you know something about it. And now you will be so kind to share it with the Mephiles Alliance."
"The Mephiles Alliance rose from the dark side just as you did before."
"I'll show you the dark side."
"You may try, but you cannot deny lies your master has told you." Twivine turned her bodyguards and gestured them to deal with the stallion.
"Bring him on board my ship." The soldiers grabbed the stallion and dragged him to Twivine's ship. Twivine turned to the droids who were surrounding the rest of the villagers. "Kill them all." The droids aimed their weapons and fired at the villagers leaving nothing behind before they leave. Twivine boarded her shuttle as the droids went to their transports and flew back to their capital ship. After landing, the stallion was being escorted from the hangar and was thrown in a cell.
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At the deserts near Appalossa, a lone BB droid made its way way through the canyon. In the distance, a small pebble tumbled down the mountain as a figure darted into the darkness. The droid stopped for a moment and looked around without knowing that it was being watched. It continued along the rugged path when a hooded pony popped out behind the rocks and fired its magnetic ray at the droid, engulfing it with an eerie glow. The droid shook and beeped uncontrollably as its lights flashed on and off until its head tilted forward to the ground. Out of the rocks scurried three small, cloaked figures; Jawas. They holstered their weapons as they approached the collapsed ball droid. They began to chatter in guttural language as one of them lifted the droid off of the ground and carried it down the trail. They approached their sandcrawler and puts the BB unit down. They then welded a small, round disk onto the droids head then puts it into a tube, sucking it into the massive sandcrawler.
Inside the sandcrawler, the BB unit began to regain consciousness and readjusted itself back up then made its way through the mass of decaying droids knowing that there was no way out. It eventually stood next a random astromech droid as the sandcrawler bounced and jostled across the desert sand.
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The stallion was strapped to a chair covered with bruises and starts to wake up. "I had no idea that we brought aboard a once proud soldier of the Equestrian Empire," Twivine said as she stepped out of the shadows. "Comfortable?"
"Not really," the stallion replied.
"No one has been able to get out of you the location of the map. I'm impressed."
"Then I suggest you rethink your technique." Twivine says nothing as her horn glowed and reach out to the stallion. He flinches as she came closer.
"Where is it?" The stallion continued to struggle the torture spell Twivine was using.
"Equestria will not be intimidated by you."
"Where. Is. IT!?" The stallion couldn't take it anymore and began to scream in pain.
After the brief interrogation, Twivine left the cell with the stallions corpse now laying on the ground. She turned to a unicorn wearing black robes and explained what she found out, "It's in a droid. A BB unit."
"Then we must search around Equestria for it then," the unicorn said.
"I will leave it to you, Thexan. Maybe if we find your traitorous brother; Arcann, you can kill him." Twivine walked past Thexan and turned her head towards him. "Oh and have someone clean up the mess. If you know what I mean." Thexan bowed and Twivine continued to take her leave. He then looked at the corpse and gestured some soldiers to carry the body and throw it out of the ship.
The BB unit stood in the room full of droids as the sandcrawler came to a stop. It then activated itself and wondered why. A dozen or so Jawas began to make their way into the room, grabbing various droids and herding them towards the door, where the morning light poured into the dark space. It was led outside by the Jawas and made to stand in formation with a motley assortment of other droids at the town of Appaloosa. The townsfolk noticed the Jawas and the fillies rushed over to look at what droids they brought over as the adults followed to do the same. Out of one of the small buildings, a tall blue unicorn mare with a symbol on the pupil of her right eye and wearing a purple with yellow outlining with a cape barely covering her cutie mark which symbolizes a sword. On her belt was her sword in the sheath. Jawas sputtered a sales pitch out loud to the people of the town as she approached. She looked at the droids that are lined up in formation and noticed the BB unit. She approached one of the Jawas and asked as she pointed to the droid, "How much for that one?" The Jawa sputtered the price to the mare a price. It was enough so she gave the Jawa a bag full of enough bits to buy the droid. They shook hooves and the mare then approached the BB unit and gestured it to come with her. The droid beeped a cheer and rolled with her back to the house she was visiting. She was visiting her cousin; Braeburn from Ponyville so she could get to know him more. Braeburn noticed that she brought home her new droid and was impressed.
"Wow," Braeburn said with surprise. "That is a droid model I have never seen before. You are very lucky, cousin Lucina."
"Thanks, Braeburn," Lucina said. "It does have a head of an astromech, but I don't know what to call it." The droid beeped at Lucina and rolled in front of her. "BB-8?" The droid nodded. "Okay, BB-8. If I may ask, who created you?" BB-8 beeped as Lucina listened. "Classified, huh? I'm actually from Ponyville. I only came to Ponyville because my mom wanted to get to know one of the members of the Apple family. That's Braeburn by the way. He's one of my cousins." The droid turned its head to look at Braeburn and beeped a greeting to him.
"Pleasure to meet ya, BB-8," Braeburn greeted. Lucina levitated a bucket of water with a cloth and used it to clean the sand off of BB-8 as they talked some more.
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Rarity worked on a dress and placed some gems on it while Spike organized the fabric on the shelf by color. Spike looked worried as she saw the look on Rarity's face and bothered to ask, "What's wrong, Rarity?"
"Nothing, Spikey," Rarity said as she wiped a tear off of her eye. Spike walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Rarity..."
"I am worried about Twilight, Spike. She has been quiet since she heard that Charming Thunder vanished. I know that I miss him too, but..." Spike used his claw to lift Rarity's chin to his eye level.
"I'll go talk to her. See what I can find out. I am worried as much as you as well." Rarity hugged Spike tight and cried on his chest.
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Arriving at the castle, Spike saw Twilight sitting on her throne looking at the map with a look of depression. She then noticed her faithful assistant enter and wiped the tears off of her eyes. "Spike, I din't see you come in," Twilight said. Spike smiled and sat on his chair next to her.
"I know, Twilight," Spike said. "I miss him, too." Twilight looked back at the map then looked down.
"If only I could see my husband again. Spike...." She then got off her throne and walked towards Spike. "What if he never comes back after all these years? What if it was because he had to kill Danny?"
"Twilight, I'm sure that's not why." Spike wiped a tear off of Twilight's cheek. "Besides, I just got off of a holo call with Dragon Lord Ember. She knows everything about what's going on, too. Let's just say that Ember and Charming knew each other before from the old days."
"How?"
"It's a long story. But to be honest with you, she was raised with him just like you did when you hatched me from the egg."
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Protoss soldiers along with some droids searched the desert for any clues about the droid. A Protoss looked through the binoculars while the other one found a trail left by something. "The droid must have been here," it said. "But the trail ends here with hoofprints." One of the droids found a piece of metal that was lying on the track and showed it to their commanding officer.
"Look sir, droids," the droid said. The holo communicator beeped and the Protoss answered it to reveal a holo of Thexan.
"Report, commander," Thexan ordered.
"We found a trace of where the droid might be heading," the commander said. "I believe that it is at the town of Appaloosa."
"Head to that town and bring that droid alive. Ask the townsfolk if you have to, but don't fail me."
"As you wish." The transmission ended and the search party began to get ready to go to Appaloosa.
Lucina continued polishing BB-8 as she noticed some strange battle damage and moved on to cleaning that spot. "You've got a lot of carbon scoring here," she said as she worked. "It looks like you have been through a lot of action, huh?" BB-8 beeped an explanation on what it went through before he ended up with her. "I'm sure that the Tusken Raiders were a lot of trouble as you passed by." BB-8 gave a few beeps as Lucina continued to clean its domed head. "Well, my little friend, you've got something jammed in here." A fragment suddenly broke loose and sent Lucina tumbling head over hooves. She sat up to see a three dimensional piece of the map of Equestria that looked similar to the one she saw back at Twilight's castle. "What's with the map of Equestria?" BB-8 beeped a reply as she took a closer look at it. She sees tiny dots like a map on a piece of paper blinking a trail one by one and stops at the edge of the map where it is cut off. "Is there more to this map?" BB-8 beeped again and nodded its head. "I think you lied to me about your creator. Whoever left this in you, somepony wants to find someone or something." The droid then did a series of beeps which sounded like a confession, but was interrupted when they heard chatter going on outside. Lucina looked out of the window to see two tall creatures holding weapons talking to a citizen. The citizen pointed to their direction and the creatures began to approach the house she is in. "Friends of yours?" BB-8 nodded and began to shake a little. "Don't worry, little guy. I'll get you safely back home at Ponyville away from these guys and keep you safe." A knock was heard on the door and Lucina removed the restraining bolt on it then gestured BB-8 to follow her throught he back door and started to go through the side of the house. She peeped her head to see the two creatures waiting at the front door and kicked the door down to enter. The creatures searched the house and found the restraining bolt on the ground then turned to see Lucina along with BB-8 running away from the house. The creatures gave an order in a strange language and aimed their weapons at Lucina and BB-8.
Lucina and BB-8 hid behind a barrel as the creatures ran past them. "Never seen these creatures before," Lucina whispered. BB-8 beeped something important to her about those two creatures.
"Mephiles Alliance? Here? That's not good then. We need to get out of here pronto then. But we need a ship." Lucina and BB-8 walked out of hiding and used her magic to make a mask magically appear on her face. Her mane had been adjusted to hide herself as well. "I know just the one that I have enough credits for. Follow me."
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Arriving at a Docking Bay after paying for the ship, Lucina and BB-8 got a glimpse at the YT-2000 freighter . BB-8 beeped a comment about the ship as it followed Lucina. "She'll make point five beyond the speed of light," Lucina said. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. The previous owner made special modifications to it. Let's get on board and leave." BB-8 gave a series of beeps as they boarded the ship. "Braeburn already knows that I'm leaving so soon." She then sat on the pilots seat and pressed some buttons to get the ship started up. She then noticed the same creatures from before and started to open fire at the ship. Lucina raised the shields on the ship and its engine roared to life as it rose above the dingy slums and began to disappear into the morning sky. "Hang on, BB-8." She then noticed something on the ship's radar. "Looks like an enemy cruiser. You must be really important, buddy. Hang on. I'll try to loose them." Lucina piloted the ship through the desert as a dozen of fighters began to pursue. She activated the ships defense systems and the guns began to fire at the pursuing fighters. In the cylindrical corridor, BB-8 rolls to the ceiling as Lucina piloted the ship. She did the best she could avoiding the laser fire from the fighters and flew through the desert canyon hoping to loose them. The guns continue to fire as the ship flew through the canyon. She then flew inside the cave and avoided obstacles. One of the fighters crashed into a rock formation in the cave while the other fighter was careful enough to fly past the rock formations. The freighter was the first to leave the cave and pulled up. The fighter flew out of the cave and fell for the trick Lucina pulled as she aligned the ship to fire at the fighter. She fired at the fighter's wing which caused it to spin out of control and crash on the ground. Lucina cheered as she did a u-turn and plotted a course to Ponyville.
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The Protoss commander; who returned from Appaloosa approached Twivine; who was gazing out of the window of the ship's bridge. It was nervous about how she will react as it reported, "We were unable to acquire the droid we found at Appaloosa." Twivine slowly turned to face it. "It escaped capture aboard a YT-2000 freighter."
"The droid....stole a freighter?" Twivine asked calmly.
"Not exactly, sir. It had help." Twivine activated her turqoise bladed trident lightsaber and used the long end of the hilt to slice down a console next to her. The commander got nervous even more as he watched. The rage stopped when she deactivated her lightsaber and placed it back on her back. She then turned back to the commander; who was still nervous.
"Anything else, commander?" The commander gulped and wiped off its sweat off its forehead.
"It was accompanied by a mare." Twivine used her magic vine to violently pull the commander towards her and lifts it off the ground.
Lucina piloted the ship and landed at a destroyed town that looked a thousand years old to make some repairs on the damage caused by the pursuing fighters. She walked down the ramp levitating a tool box and teleported to the top of the ship and began to fix the damage. After a few minutes of repairing, Lucina teleported the tool back back into the ship and suddenly heard a strange sound coming from away of the ship. She jumped down from her ship and began to investigate along with BB-8; who followed her. The town looked like it had been through a lot a long time ago as she looked at buildings that were covered with vines and trees that are grown next to some destroyed buildings. She heard the sound again and turned to see a pony with a hoof on what appears to be a wound. She rushed on over to the pony, but was stopped when the pony warned, "Don't come any closer! You'll get infected like others who once lived here."
"What has happened here?" Lucina asked. BB-8 hid behind her leg.
"This once great city was bombarded a long time ago. I was only sent here to recover some data, until a rakghoul attacked me. I managed to get away but--" The pony groaned in pain and started to change into a strange creature. The creature roared at Lucina along with BB-8 began to flee from the creaure and hid behind some rubble. The creature ran past them without knowing that they were hiding and stopped to take a sniff around. It then turned to see them and charged at them, but it was suddenly shot in the head out of nowhere. Lucina peeped her head to check where the shot came from and saw a blue dragon wearing gold armor holding an E-5s sniper rifle. The dragon flew down and approached them to see if they were alright.
"Good thing that you weren't bitten or scratched," the dragon said. "You would be infected by then." Lucina slowly got up and wiped the sweat off of her forehead with relief. "What are you doing out here anyway?"
"I was just here to make repairs to my ship when I fled from the Mephiles Alliance," Lucina said.
"You had an encounter with the Mephiles Alliance? Then you must be very lucky to flee from them. I'm Ember, Lord of Dragons. And what is yours, my friend?"
"I am Lucina, daughter of Twilight Sparkle and Charming Thunder."
"Charming Thunder. Charming. Isn't the whole empire looking for him?"
"I believe so. Did you know him once?" Roars of rakghouls echoed the destroyed city.
"Let's get to your ship and leave this old city." Lucina led BB-8 and Ember the way to her ship and left the ancient city. A probe droid hid in the shadows as they left and sent what they found to its master.
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The ship traveled across the land of Equestria on auto pilot while Ember and Lucina were in the crew lounge. "To answer your question from earlier, I did know your father," Ember explained. "He was the one who raised me when he was young before I was returned to my father."
"Just like Twilight took care of Spike," Lucina added. "You missed him after he gave you away to your kind, did you?" Ember sighed.
"I did, but I got over it. That was until I met Spike before I became Dragon Lord. He reminded me so much about your father. I wish I could see him again." BB-8 gave a series of beeps. "So why was the Mephiles Alliance after you?"
"They wanted my droid. It carries a map to something I don't know about and I need to get to Ponyville as quick as possible before my mother is worried sick about me."
"What map?"
"Show her, BB-8." BB-8 nodded and revealed the hologram map of one part of Equestria filling the room. Ember examined the map as she walked.
"This map's not complete. It's just a piece. Ever since your father disappeared, people have been looking for him for three years."
"Why did my father disappear?"
"Well rumors say that he felt responsible for your uncle's death and fled to find a way to bring him back."
"Danny?" Ember nodded.
"Those who knew him best, they thought that he was looking for some sort of temple."
"I wish I'd known him."
"He was the best war hero who started the Equestrian Empire. And a cunning warrior. And he was a good friend. Right now, half of the Equestrian Empire led by Starlight Glimmer went off to find him and I volunteered to help. That was where you came in." BB-8 deactivated the holo map and rolled past the two. "If this droid is important, we need to bring it to Twilight and the princesses. Maybe they will know something about this piece of the map." Lucina nodded and walked to the cockpit of the ship and plotted the course to her hometown of Ponyville.
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Twivine and Thexan stood in a dark space looking up at the hologram of Mephiles. He had the stab wound still regenerating for three years ever since the Dark Forge battle. "The droid will soon be delivered to the princesses," Mephiles said. "Leading them to the king of Equestria. If Charming Thunder returns, all hope for the Mephiles Alliance will be lost."
"Master, I take full responsibility for the--" Thexan said until he was interrupted.
"THEXAN!!" Mephiles took a deep breath and held his regenerating wound. "Our strategy must now change."
"The weapon on the Hammerhead cruiser. It is ready. I believe that the time is now to use it. We shall destroy the heart of Equestria; Canterlot. Without the princesses to protect Equestria, the empire will be vulnerable and we will stop them before they reach their precious king. "
"Go and oversee preparations then."
"Yes, master." Thexan bowed and took his leave leaving Twivine alone with Mephiles.
"There is something more to this, Twivine. The droid we seek is aboard the YT-2000 freighter. In the hands of this so called daughter of Twilight and Charming." Twivine reacts with subtle, but looked surprised.
"She means nothing to me," Twivine said.
"Even you, Highlord of the Tal'darim, have never faced such a test."
"I will destroy this mare if it means to lure her father back."
"We shall see. We shall see." The hologram of Mephiles faded as Twivine left the room.
The YT-2000 arrived and landed at a docking bay in Ponyville where Twilight, Applejack, and Sunset waited. The ramp lowered as Ember and Lucina walked down. Lucina noticed them and rushed over to give them a group hug as Ember stood next to BB-8. "Are you alright, Lucina?" Sunset asked
"Are you hurt?" Applejack added.
"I'm fine, mom," Lucina said. "Besides, I think I found something you might be interested in." BB-8 rolled up towards them and beeped a greeting.
"It's the droid we've been looking for," Twilight said.
"I know. It holds a map, but it's not complete." Twilight lowered her head in shame. Lucina lifter Twilight's chin up and wiped a tear off of her face. "Don't worry, mom. We'll find him. We just need to share this information with the princesses.
"I'm just glad that you are not hurt." Twilight noticed Ember and smiled. "And it is great to see an old friend of Charming's."
"The honor is mine, princess."
"I will call the rest of my friends to let them know the good news and contact the princesses about the droid."
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At the castle, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were called and sat on their chairs for a meeting. Twilight informed them about the news about what Lucina found while she was away. "It's great to hear!!" Rarity shouted with excitement.
"Yay," Fluttershy said.
"It makes me so happy I could explode with confetti," Pinkie said.
"Celestia and the others have been informed about this as well and has called Starlight and the others back to recover the droid for research on the map the BB unit carries for tomorrow.
"How it ended up in the droid is a mystery," Applejack added. "But I have faith that we will find Charming. Wherever he is."
"Speaking of Lucina, where is she now?" Fluttershy asked.
"She is at the history museum with Lord Ember checking out that new exhibit that was recently opened. For now, let us hope that Starlight and the others arrive on time tomorrow morning." Everyone noticed Rainbow a little quiet after hearing the news. "Aren't you excited too, Rainbow?"
"I am," Rainbow said. "But..."
"But?" Applejack asked.
"I just feel bad about what I said to him after the murder of my husband. What if he will never forgive me. I feel like I blame myself for his absence."
"It's not your fault, sugarcube. He blames himself for his brother's death and I'm sure that he will forgive you once we find him."
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Ponies looked around at the new exhibit in the museum while Lucina and Ember looked at the new exhibit labeled 'History of Charming Thunder'. The exhibit had history info about his past life and had some of the items he used during some wars. Ember was impressed when he saw armor in the glass display. Lucina walked up next to he to look at it as well and asked, "That was my father's armor he once wore during the Lunar Wars, is it?"
"Indeed it is," Ember replied. They then moved on to see the lightsabers he collected from his enemies, armor soldiers previously wore, and then they came across a life-size model of his TIE Advanced X1. Some kids took turns to go inside and look inside a cockpit and pretended to be like Charming Thunder as they sat which made Lucina giggle a little. "I'm gonna head back to the castle. You coming?"
"You go ahead. I'll meet you there once I'm done looking around more.. Ember nodded and exited the building as Lucina continued to explore the exhibit. That was when she encountered an old family photo of him with Twilight and the rest of the family. She saw a black stallion in the photo and asked the pony next to her, "Excuse me? Who is that black pegasus in the photo?"
"That my dear is, Danny Eclipse," the pony replied. "He was his brother before he died. It's a shame really to see his own brother die by his own hoof. Some ponies say that it is the reason why our king vanished."
"I could imagine how that feels." Lucina looked back at the family photo and then walked to look at more items in the exhibit to learn more about his father.
As the sun began to set, Lucina returned to the castle and walked with Twilight in the hallway to her room talking. "I must thank you again to finding the droid, Lucina," Twilight said. "I promise to let the princesses give you the credit. How did you find it anyway?"
"It was during my visit with my cousin at Appaloosa," Lucina said. "Some Jawas came with some droids to sell."
"Those disgusting creatures? Ugh. I just can't stand those guys.."
"Anyways, I saw BB-8 over there and I bought it with enough bits I had. I hope you didn't mind, mom."
"No it's fine. You should get some rest. You had a long day and we have to be ready for the princesses once they get here." Lucina opened the door with her magic and gave Twilight a hug before she went into her room and levitated her hairbrush and began to brush her mane before she went to bed with a book in her hoof. She began to read her book until she felt tired so she could get some sleep.
In the dream world, Lucina entered a room where she sees a chest in the middle of the room. She stepped up to it and slowly opened it to find a lightsaber hilt inside. She reaches for it very slowly without hesitation. As she grabs it, the ignition sound of the lightsaber was heard and she moves her hilt away as she heard mechanical breathing echoing as the room began to change into a hallway where Charming Thunder faced King Sombra for the first time. Voices of Sombra, Chrysalis, and Celestia echoed as Lucina runs down the corridor. The room tilts and change as she tripped and fell on the floor of the castle she is currently in. She looked up to see a hooded pony making a droid which looks like BB-8 while Charming Thunder's scream echoed. The room then started to rain as she turned around to see Equestrian soldiers getting killed by Twivine's lightsaber in a nighttime environment. Lucina was frightened as she looked around to see corpses lying on the floor. She shuts her eyes and opens them again to see that she is standing in a hallway of a ship. She runs through the hallway when suddenly, Twivine emerging from the corner with her trident lightsaber active. Lucina screamed and falls back and the room changed into the crystal heart under the castle of the Crystal Empire. She turned to see a pony who looked a lot like her cousin; Flurry Heart grown up running out of the door past the crystal heart until a light shone in front of her. Lucina hid so that she wouldn't get caught as well. Flurry looked up to see a TIE Advanced X1 slowly landing to the ground with an armored figure that looked similar to the one Lucina saw at the museum on top of the fighter with his lightsaber active. The armored pony leaps off of his ship as it was about to touch down. Flurry jumped out of the way and activated her lightsaber. "You have unlocked the secret of the kingdom," the pony said. "How did you accomplish this?"
"You're smart," Flurry replied. "You figure it out." Flurry swung a strike at the pony, but he blocked the strikes and pushed her forward. Lucina watched as the duel started.
"No matter. The power within will soon serve me."
"I am not afraid of you."
"Then you will die just like your mother and father." The pony gave a few strikes as the duel continued. They then clashed their blades together and the pony pushed Flurry back destroying her lightsaber in the process. Flurry crawled away from him with fear as he approached. "Perhaps I was wrong." He raised his lightsaber and readied the killing blow.
"Leave her alone," Lucina shouted as she came out of hiding. The armored pony turned to face her as Flurry saw her walk out.
"I was beginning to wonder when you would be here. Our long-awaited meeting has come at last."
"I hope that was something to look forward to." The pony deactivated his lightsaber and took a step forward.
"We need not be adversaries. I will show you mercy if you tell me where Celestia can be found."
"I would not let give you that information and let you kill Celestia." The pony turned to look at Flurry who was still crawling.
"Perhaps the daughter of Cadence and Shining Armor will confess something you would not."
"I was beginning to believe I knew who you were behind that mask, but it's impossible. My father would never be as vile as you." The pony turned his gaze back to Lucina.
"Charming Thunder was weak. I destroyed him." Lucina closed her eyes and sighed.
"Then I will avenge his death."
"Revenge may not be the Jedi way, but you are no Jedi." The pony activated his lightsaber as Lucina drew her sword and got into his battle position. Lucina charged at him and was the first to strike. The pony blocked her strikes as he backed up. He tried to strike, but Lucina ducked and blasted him with her unicorn magic. The pony looked up to see her coming towards him in the air and blocked the incoming strike. They then clashed their blades and took their duel away from the crystal heart. They soon arrived inside the castle clashing blades. They destroyed objects in their surroundings in the process during the duel. Lucina held her ground as she clashed her blade together. The pony broke the clash and force pushed her out of the window safely landing on the ground unconscious. He then leaps out of the window and walks to the crystal heart where Flurry was trying to flee. Lucina soon regained consciousness as he walked past her. He used the force to lift Flurry in the air and slam her to the ground.
"No!" Flurry shouted as she tried to break free. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Lucina got up and dashed towards the action. The pony turned to see her heading his way. Lucina jumped in the air and slashed him in the face and fell to the ground at the other side of him.
Lucina slowly got up and grabbed her sword when the pony said, "Lucina!" She had a shocked expression and turned to wonder how he knows her name. Breathing sound was different as he slowly got up. He turned to face her to reveal his exposed eye. "Lucina." She recognized the coat color and was shocked.
"Father," Lucina said as she got up. Charming Thunder got up as Lucina sheathed her sword. "I am not killing you. Not my own father." He breathed heavily as he looked away from Lucina. He then looked back at her to reveal his eye color turned orange.
"Then you will die!!" Charming Thunder activated his lightsaber and walked up to her, but was stopped when he began to glow. "NOOOOOOO!!!" He then disappeared and the room changed once again to a starry sky. Princess Luna appeared and walked up to her.
"Calm yourself, Lucina," Luna said. "It was just a nightmare you had."
"What was all that I just witnessed?"
"What you have seen was memories of the time before your father vanished three years ago."
"You mean the Charming Thunder I faced....was his dark side?"
"Correct. And I take it that you saw Twivine?"
"Who's Twivine? To me she looked a lot like my mother, but darker."
"She is the princess of the plunder seeds. Your father once faced him along with his brother and succeeded. Before she vanished, she asked Charming Thunder if the next time she would ever returned, he would reform her. But now things change."
"What do you mean, Aunt Luna?"
"With Charming missing for three years, he would not help now. That was when I had a vision of a mare would defeat Twivine and reform her. And that mare was you, Lucina."
"Me? How am I supposed to reform her? I have seen what she is capable of."
"The lightsaber you have seen was your fathers and it calls to you."
"Twilight held on to it ever since Charming Thunder switched to his cross guard lightsaber. Take it and reform Twivine. For it is your destiny." The room began to flash white as Luna flew away from Lucina.
---------------------
Lucina woke up in the morning and jumped out of bed after knowing what she has to do. She noticed Twilight enter as she fixed her mane. "Bad dream?" Twilight asked.
"More than like a nightmare," Lucina replied. "Hey, mom. Do you have my father's first lightsaber."
"Why do you ask?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Lucina then began to explain Twilight about what Luna revealed to her in the dream world.
A massive hologram of Thexan stood in front of thousands of Protoss soldiers, battle droids, Supremacy starfighters, and vehicles. "Today will be the end of the empire!" Thexan said as his voice echoed. "The end of a regime that acquiesces to peace and order! Soon, a kingdom far from here will soon be destroyed by the Alliance's new weapon. This fierce machine which you have built, which you see above you, will bring an end to Equestria! To their cherished princesses! All remaining kingdoms will bow to Mephiles! And will remember this...as the last day of the empire!" The army cheered as they watched the fleet flying over them. Twivine's Interdictor made the jump to lightspeed as the rest of the fleet made preparations for their assault to the capital of Equestria; Canterlot. "ALL HAIL MEPHILES THE DARK!!!"
---------------------
Lucina ended her explanation to Twilight and the others about what Luna told her in the dream world about a destiny she must fulfill. Some were shocked to hear about as some agreed to the idea of reforming Twivine. "I agree with Lucina," Rainbow said. "She did say to Charming and Danny before she vanished that if she ever returned, she wanted to be reformed."
"But how?" Applejack said. "She is too powerful even for Lucina to face."
"If it's what Princess Luna desires, then Lucina has to fulfill it," Ember said. Sounds were heard coming from outside of the castle. The group got up and rushed to a window to see a fleet of ships heading towards the town. The fighters began firing at the town which started to cause a panic in the streets. The destroyer flies in the back of the Everfree forest as the droid transports along with Twivine's ship flying behind the fighters.
"This is not good," Twilight said. She turned to Lucina. "Lucina, you need to run now. Run as far away as possible. Fight your way through if you have to, but don't come to help us."
"Are you sure, mom?" Lucina asked.
"We'll be fine, sweetie," Sunset said. "Now go!!" Lucina began to run through the halls of the castle and run out of the front doors to see droid and Protoss forces approaching. She made her way around the houses and entered the Everfree forest. Two Protoss soldiers noticed her running and chased after her into the forest. She hid behind a trunk of a tree and noticed that there are Protoss approaching the area. She drew her pistol and turned the safety off. The Protoss began to open fire as she took cover. She then got out of cover and shot a Protoss in the head and the other in the chest. Once they were all down she continued to make a run for it.
Twilight chopped down some droids with her lightsaber while Applejack and Ember sniped with their rifles above ground. Rainbow Dash punched some Protoss and did an uppercut; causing it to fly into the air and land on the ground. Advanced war droids approached the battlefield; firing missiles at the approaching Protoss and droids.
Twivine arrived to the battlefield and watched as her forces marched through town. The Protoss commander approached her and reported, "Your highness, the droid is not among them, but someone has run off into the forest. She maybe trying to find some help." Twivine turns back sharply towards the Everfree forest and flew in the air to find Lucina.
The war droids got destroyed as the enemy closed in and surrounded Twilight and the others. "Drop your weapons," a Protoss said. Twilight and the others lowered their weapons and placed their hooves on their heads. The Protoss shouted in their language a report and half of the soldiers stayed with the group while the others ran off getting into positions as they heard something approaching.
Twilight recognized the sound of what's coming and whispered, "It's the Equestrian Empire."
"It almost sounded like," Rainbow said as her eyes widened. "My ship!!"
The Millenium Phoenix leads the squadron of TIE Fighters covering their transport ships. Sonic piloted the freighter along with his best pal; Tails as they approached the battle. "Go straight ahead and don't let these dogs scare you!" Sonic said with a smile.
"Copy that," Soarin said in the mic.
"We're with you, Sonic," Fleetfoot added. The squadron of TIE Fighters began their dogfight with the squadron of Supremacy starfighters and other fighters that are piloted by the Protoss. One of the TIE Fighters flew down and fired at the infantry that were around Twilight and her friends.
"Quick!" Ember shouted as the others grabbed their weapons and continued their battle.
---------------------
In the darkened woods, Lucina is terrified as she aims her blaster around for any more pursuers. A unique sound suddenly echoed the forest as she darted left and then right. She is even scared as she stepped back slowly. As she turned behind her to run, Twivine appears from behind the tree and Lucina fires at her. Twivine deflected the shots as she slowly approached her. Lucina kept on firing at her, but she still keeps coming. A vine grew out of the ground and grabbed her hooves and legs; making her unable to move. "The mare I've heard so much about," Twivine said. She then walks around Lucina as she struggled to break free. She comes around and aimed the trident point of the lightsaber under Lucina's neck. "The droid. Where is it?" She then sensed something in her mind and used her magic to read it and turns off her lightsaber. After a beat, surprised by what she finds, her horn stops glowing. Lucina was relieved, but still afraid of Twivine. "The map. You've seen it."
A squad of droids approach Twivine and reported, "Your highness, its the empire. We need reinforcements." Twivine smiled and turned back to Lucina.
"Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need." Twivine used her magic to release Lucina; making her unconscious.
---------------------
TIE Fighters swoops down and fires at the Supremacy fighter and makes it crash to the ground. On the ground, Twilight continued to hold the line, but notices that the troops are falling back. She then turned to see Lucina being carried to a ship by Twivine. Twilight runs towards the ship she is being taken in through laser blasts. "No!!" Twilight shouted as she ran. "LUCINA!!!" She arrived too late as the ship takes off along with the droid transports and fighters. After the battle ended, the transport ships arrived and landed on the ground in front of the castle. The ramp lowered and a squad of Equestrian troops walked out. Starlight was the next to step out happy to see Twilight. BB-8 rolled out of the castle as it beeped sadly. "I know. I know."
"I see that the droid has been found," Starlight said as she knelt down to BB-8 and patted its head. "Celestia has been looking for that ever since she heard of the droid."
"Starlight, I saw Twivine take Lucina."
"That's bad to hear." Arcaan walked down the ramp and approached Twilight.
"We must go to Canterlot at once," Arcaan reported. "Celestia and the others are waiting for us to deliver the droid." Twilight nodded and followed him aboard the transport as they began to depart.
The Millennium Phoenix along with the transports and surviving TIEs arrive at Canterlot with its shield up and the fleet protecting it. The ships went through the shield and some of them landed in the hangar at the castle. Twilight and the others exited the transport as Rainbow walked past them to her ship. There she sees a familiar face that she hasn't seen for three years. Her son; Sonic, exited the Millennium Phoenix and took notice of his mother. "Sonic," Rainbow said as she rushed over to him and gave him a tight hug. "It's been too long."
"I know, mom," Sonic said.
"What did you do to my ship?"
"Nothing, mom. No scratches or anything you should be concerned about."
"Good, boy."
---------------------
In the briefing room, Celestia talked with Arcaan while Luna spoke with the other leaders of the Alliance about their next plan of attack. Twilight and the others arrived to the room while Cadance walked up to them. Cadence hugged Twilight and greeted, "It is great to see you here."
"It is, but Lucina--" Twilight said.
"I know. Arcaan told us everything. He know something about an upcoming attack to Canterlot. But for now, we need the data from the droid."
BB-rolled up while the princesses including Chrysalis gathered around a base computer. Twilight levitated out a chip from it and inserts it into the computer. "Celestia, I regret to inform you, but this map recovered from BB-8 is only partially complete," Twilight reported as the hologram of the map appeared on the computer. "And even worse, we don't even know where in Equestria that ares is on the map."
"I can't believe that we were so foolish to think that we would find Charming Thunder and bring him home," Luna said.
"Maybe there is still hope," Celestia said. "I could have some experts look at it and the whole map of Equestria so they could figure out where the piece goes, but it will take time." A changeling arrived in the room and whispered into Chrysalis' ear about something important.
"Celestia, my spies have returned to report a possible weakness on this weapon and that it is on its way," Chrysalis said.
---------------------
Lucina opens her eyes and sees she is on a cliff, looking down onto Ponyville. "So, we finally meet at last, Lucina," a voice said from behind. "I heard a lot about you from everyone's memories." She looked behind her and sees a black pegasus stallion with a white mane and tail and had a black and white 'D' symbol. Around his neck was none other than the Medallion of Unicron itself. Lucina recognized him from the picture she saw at the museum.
"Are you my uncle?" Lucina asked.
"Yes, I am." Danny walks up next to Lucina and looks down onto Ponyville. "Being in the Realm of Shadows is no fun."
"Realm of Shadows?"
"It is the world of neither living nor dead. I am supposed to be dead but the force spirits that I tethered to prevents me from joining the force, magic, or all spark however you want to call it. At least I'm not alone here. Isn't that right, Unicron?" At that moment, the medallion released a sphere of purple and black and it formed the said entity as he was just a few inches higher than Princess Celestia and the creature looks down onto Ponyville.
"We have been trapped here with no way to return," Unicron explained. "When we realized that Charming had gone missing, no doubt looking for a way to return us to the living world, but the only problem is..."
"There is no normal way for me and Unicron to return to the living world. To bring us back alone would require lots and lots of Cosmic energy, something that doesn't even exist on Equestria." Danny looks at Lucina. "But we can continue on that topic later, for now, you must prepare yourself for my dark sister, Twivine."
"But to defeat Twivine is nearly impossible!" Twivine said. "I can't compete against her in battle!"
"Lucina, your father didn't even fight her. He fought me because I was under the influence of a mind control spell. However, there is one that has fought Twivine before. It is your uncle, Phantom Lord. And you mustn't fight her alone. I will be in your mind until the time comes to where I will leave you. For now, I keep your mind safe and your wounds healed with seconds. Twivine won't be able to enter your mind, control you, or even hurt you. But before you confront Twivine, you must learn of the Protoss society." Danny began to explain a few things to Lucina as she listened.
---------------------
Lucina opened her eyes again to find herself restrained on a chair in a dark room. "Where am I?" she demanded.
"You're my guest," Twivine's voice said.
"Where's my family?"
"You mean the ones we call enemies of the Mephiles Alliance you call friends and family? You'll be relieved to hear that I have no idea." Lucina is now more curious. "You still want to kill me."
"Says the pony who couldn't come out of the shadows." Twivine then steps out of the shadows and into the light where Lucina can see her. She was stunned to see her as Twivine approached.
"Tell me about the droid."
"He's a BB unit with a selenium drive and a thermal hyperscan vindicator and--"
"And is carrying a section of a navigational chart and somehow you convinced the droid to show it to you. You. The daughter of Charming Thunder. You know I can take whatever I want." Twivine's horn glowed and slowly approached Lucina. Lucina quietly strains in agony as she tried to resist. "You never knew your father, did you? You see Twilight feel so desperate when she knew your father left. You were so desperate to sleep you imagine an ocean. I see it....I see the island." Tears stream down Lucina's face as she resists. "And the princesses. You feel like that they would protect you as Danny did to protect your father. If he saw you, he would've been disappointed."
"Don't listen to her," Danny's voice said in Lucina's head.
"Get out of my head," Lucina demanded. Twivine stood back a little; still using her magic on Lucina.
"I know you've seen the map," Twivine said. "It's in there...and now you'll give it to me."
"Don't give in," Danny said. "It's what she wants."
"Don't be afraid. I feel it too."
"I'm not giving you anything," Lucina said as she resisted.
"We'll see." On Twivine's face, her confidence begins to melt away as she slammed into a barrier into Lucina's mind. Suddenly, Lucina did the unthinkable and went into Twivine's mind. She was amazed at what she saw in her head.
"You're afraid." Lucina smiled. "You're afraid that you will never be as strong as my grandfather; Sombra." Twivine withdrew her magic and takes a step back. Lucina's body was released as her powerful eyes gazed at Twivine; who had the look of shock.
---------------------
In the assembly room, the giant hologram of Mephiles stood as he was angry with the news he heard from Twivine. "The daughter of Charming, resisted you?" Mephiles said with anger.
"She is strong with the force like my brother," Twivine explained. "I don't know how, but she is stronger than she knows."
"And the droid?"
"Twivine thought it was no longer valuable to us," Thexan said as he entered and stood next to Twivine. "That the girl was all we needed. As a result, the droid has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already." Mephiles now looks even more furious hearing this.
"Then the princesses and the empire must be destroyed before they could reach Charming Thunder," Mephiles said.
"We already know that they are at Canterlot. The fleet is already on the move to the capital right now."
"Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon."
"Master, I can get the map from the mare," Lucina said. "I just need your guidance."
"If what you say is true about the daughter of Charming Thunder, bring her to me."
---------------------
Lucina was still strapped to the chair as she struggled to break free. "Struggling won't help," Danny's voice said. "You need to make that guard release you from this cell."
"And how pray tell am I supposed to do that?" Lucina whispered.
"The force was strong with you when Twivine used her magic on you. The mind trick will be your best way." Lucina studied the guard and took a deep breath.
"You will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open." The guard turned to look at her.
"What did you say?" the guard said. Lucina's eyes are still trained on him.
"You will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open." The guard moved to the side to get a good look at the prisoner at the other side of the force field.
"I'll tighten those restraints, imperial scum." Lucina stares intently at the Protoss guard and calms herself to try again.
"You will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open."
"I will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open." The guard opened the cell and approached Lucina to free her from the restraints. He then began to walk out as Lucina forgot one thing.
"And you will drop your weapon."
"And I'll drop my weapon." The guard drops his weapon without turning back. Lucina was amazed with the power she bears. She grabs the weapon and makes her way through the hall to make her escape.
A few minutes later, Twivine entered the detention center and approached the cell that was left open. She entered with anger in her eye and activated her lightsaber furiously. "No!!" she said. In the corridor approaching the cell, two Protoss soldiers walked when they suddenly heard destruction noises and yelling. Some debris flew out when they stopped in fear as they watched the display. They slowly turned the other direction and walked away; minding their own business and avoiding the carnage.
All members of the Alliance and pilots gathered around the map table as they plan a counter strike against the Mephiles Alliance. "The data brought to us by our spy confirms our suspicions," Luna said. "They've somehow made a weapon that can penetrate our shield defenses."
"A piercing laser cannon?" Chysalis asked.
"We're not sure how it works, but we do know that it is attached to a Hammerhead-class cruiser." A hologram of the Hammerhead cruiser appears on the table.
"All we know is that after it is fired, it can instantly deactivate the shields," Celestia said
"So how do we stop that from happening?" Shining asked.
"Twilight and I will infiltrate the ship with a shuttle we stole from them years ago," Arcaan said. "Once inside, we can sabotage the weapon and destroy the reactor core."
"And hopefully find Lucina while we are in there," Twilight added.
"I can disable the shields before the battle starts. Then you can start your attack."
"So they disable the shields and the weapon, then we come in and attack while they take out the core," Spitfire said. "All right. Let's go!" Everyone began to split up and get to their stations.
---------------------
At the hangar, the mechanics make adjustments as the crew fuels up the fighters. Pilots prepped their ships into take off formation. Engineers prepped the shuttle while the crew began loading explosives crates into the shuttle Arcaan and Twilight will use. "What will you do when you see your brother, Arcaan?" Twilight asked.
"Do whatever it takes to join our side," Arcaan replied. "If he doesn't, he will have to die." Twilight and Arcaan got onbard the shuttle after the cargo was loaded onto the shuttle and activated the ship's engines. The shuttle took off and made the jump to the location of the enemy fleet.
---------------------
Thexan stood at the bridge as the cruiser continued to move to its destination. A beeping sound came from one of the terminals as a droid checks what's going on. "Incoming ship," the droid reported. "One of ours." The shuttle appeared out of lightspeed and slowly made its approach. Thexan began to sense something familiar on the shuttle and smiled.
"Let them come," Thexan said. "They are probably one of the late soldiers returning from the assault at Ponyville."
The shuttle landed undetected in the hangar bay of the cruiser as Twilight and Arcaan grabbed some charges from the crates. The ramp lowered and they walked out of the shuttle undetected as they entered the hallway of the cruiser. "The controls to the shields are to the right," Arcaan said. "Once there we can disable the shields and signal the fleet to begin their attack." Twilight nodded and followed Arcaan to the doors to the shield generator. Arcaan placed a breach charge on the door and stood back to let it explode. He then activated his yellow lightsaber and chopped down some droid engineers and Protoss soldiers that were in the room. Once the room was cleared, Arcaan approached the console and pressed buttons to shut down the generator. "Give me some cover." Twilight nodded as she watched the door. She heard blaster fire coming from the other side of the door and readied herself for anything that comes through. The doors opened and Lucina entered the room which startled Twilight and Arcaan.
"Lucina!!" Twilight said with glee. She then ran up to Lucina and gave her a hug. "What happened? How did you escape?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lucina said.
"Save hugs and kisses for later," Arcaan said. "Right now our fleet is on the way as we speak. We need to disable the weapon next."
"Where to?" Twilight asked.
"I know where it is powered. Follow me." Arcaan and the others rushed through he hall and made their way to the weapon controls.
---------------------
A fleet of Star Destroyers popped out of lightspeed and began to fire at the enemy fleet while fighters began to deploy from the ships. Wonderbolt sdquadron took point and focused on the Hammerhead cruiser to take out as many guns as possible. The others focused on the Protoss battleship escorts with the Star Destroyers as they made their approach. Enemy fighters came out of the cruiser and headed towards their targets. "We got company!!" Spitfire said as she piloted her fighter. The battle has begun while Arcaan and Twilight continue their sabotage mission.
---------------------
Arriving at the super weapon power room, Arcaan looked around the huge room and had an idea. "Let's split up and take out the weak points of the weapon," Arcaan said. "I'll head down while you two take the above. We meet back here." Twilight and Lucina nodded as they split up to place charges some spots in the room.
Protoss soldiers stand alert as Thexan aprroaches. The doors opened as he went through followed by the soldiers as they entered the super weapon power room. Thexan comes to a stop and looks around to scan the structure. He then senses something and motions his troops to go up. "Find them," he ordered. The Protoss soldiers rush past him while he goes down to the lower level of the structure. Arcaan looked down to see Thexan enter the room as he placed another charge. Twilight and Lucina placed charges up above without knowing that they are in the room with them. Once Arcaan got to the level where Thexan is, he hid as he walked across a flat bridge over the large hole of the structure. Arcaan steps out and stood at the edge of the catwalk as Thexan walked across.
"Thexan!!" Arcaan called out. Thexan stopped as Arcaan's voice echoed the room. Twilight and Lucina were high above after finishing up placing charges and watched as Arcaan confronts his twin brother. Thexan turns and stood far away from Arcaan.
"Arcaan," Thexan greeted. "I've been waiting this day for a long time." Arcaan slowly walked across the catwalk as Thexan stood. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up and ruin the fun. Why do you join the enemy, brother. You know we could rule Equestria at Mephiles' side together."
"That's what he wants you to believe, but I have seen the lies he brought before he returned to this world."
"Don't you see; Celestia is using you for power. When she gets what she wants, she'll cast you aside." Arcaan stopped in front of Thexan. "Come on, brother. you know it's true."
"It's too late."
"No it isn't. Come back home to us. I miss you." Arcaan wanted to believe it what Thexan is saying, but he knows that it is too late to ask him to switch sides. He then decided to play along.
"I have been torn apart. Ever since Mephiles killed our mother and father, I wanted to be free from this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"
"Anything for my brother." Arcaan slowly unholsters his lightsaber and lets Thexan grab it. The time came for Arcaan to do the right thing as he gripped the hilt of his lightsaber tight and turned it to point it at Thexan's chest. At that moment, the blade ignited and pierced Thexan's chest. The Protoss noticed Arcaan killing their leader and stood idly by as Thexan dies within his brother's blade. "Forgive me, brother." Arcaan pulled the blade out of Thexan's chest and deactivated it. Thexan touched Arcaan's face one last time as his life slipped away. He then collapsed over the catwalk and fell deep into the depths of the structure. Arcaan turned to see the commander of the Protoss approach him and glared at it.
"You have slain our leader," the commander said. "Without him, there is no leader. You are now our leader of my kind."
"Thexan was a traitor to me and will be missed," Arcaan said. "Inform your soldiers that they work for me and the empire now."
"As you wish." Arcaan walked past the Protoss commander and gestured Twilight and Lucina to meet him down back to the starting point.
"Was that the right thing to do?" Twilight asked. "He was your brother after all."
"Traitors die," Arcaan said. "Now, shall we leave?" Twilight and Lucina nodded as they left the room. Once they got far away as possible, Arcaan pressed the button on the trigger to blow up the weapon structure powering the super weapon.
The dogfight continued as some of the fleet got destroyed by the Star Destroyers. The pilots noticed that the Protoss have turned against the Mephiles Alliance and targeted the enemy ships. They were surprised at first, but they are glad to have more allies with them now. The Protoss battleships targeted the other Hammerhead cruisers avoiding the one with the now sabotaged super weapon.
---------------------
Lucina, Twilight, and Arcaan made arrived at the reactor room. As the doors slid open, Twivine stood in the middle of the room at the other side of the door with her lightsaber and anger in her eyes as they entered. "We're not done yet," Twivine said. "It's just us now. No one is going to save you this time, Twilight." Lucina aimed her blaster as Twilight reached for her lightsaber, but was stopped when Twivine used her vines to flick them out of their hooves and hit them across the room; knocking them out. This action also caused Twilight to drop another lightsaber to the ground that was meant for Lucina. Arcaan rushes over to them to see if they were alright as Twivine slowly approached. "TRAITOR!!!" Arcaan looked up and slowly got up after her shout echoed the room. He then turned to face her and activated his lightsaber. "I should've killed you when I had the chance."
"Well here's your chance," Arcaan replied. Twivine charges at him and lunges her trident lightsaber at him as Arcaan blocked the incoming strike. Lucina recovered as she got up to see Arcaan fighting Twivine. Their weapons clash as Arcaan was cornered to a wall. Twivine then unleashed more strikes at Arcaan. He dodged one strike and forced Twivine to slice at the wall. Arcaan attempted a lunge attack, but Twivine used her vines to grab him and pound him to the ground a few times and throw him to the wall. She then approached him and readied to strike at him, but was interrupted when a lightsaber flew past her face. She turned to see Lucina holding the lightsaber she needed from her mother to face Twivine. Twivine was shocked as Lucina activated the crimson blade with fire in her eyes. Lucina was the first to charge and strike an attack at Twivine who immediately goes on the defensive against her attacks. Twivine was kicked back by Lucina's attack and lands on a terminal. Lucina leaps in the air to go for a slice attack, but Twivine avoided the attack which caused the strike to hit the terminal. The alarm began to sound as the duel continued in the room.
---------------------
The Super Star Destroyer arrived to the battle as reinforcements for the air assault as the squadron of TIEs continued their dogfight. A squadron of bombers flew out of the Hammerhead cruiser hangar and headed towards the big destroyer. Pilots of the Wonderbolt Squadron flew towards the bombers and blows them out of the sky one by one. The pilots noticed escape pods leaving the cruiser and swoops down to take them out before they could land on the ground. "Come on, princess," Spitfire said to herself. "Where are you?"
---------------------
The duel continued in the reactor room as Lucina blocked the incoming strikes with her lightsaber. Twivine pushed Lucina as she laid some strikes on her. She then used her vines to whip Lucina away and hit a wall. Lucina was on the ground, panting and looking at Arcaan on the ground unconscious. She held Charming Thunder's old lightsaber that she managed to get earlier tightly as Twivine stood above her with her lightsaber, ready to end her life. "Prepare to die," Twivine said. "Its a shame, you could have been my apprentice..."
"LUCINA!!!" Twilight and her allies arrived with a squad of Protoss Sentinels. Twivine growled and raised her lightsaber to strike down Lucina. However, time seemed to freeze around Lucina. She looked up and noticed her frozen surroundings. That is when Danny appeared next to her.
"I can save you and everyone you care for and more." Danny whispered. "I have the power and skill to defeat Twivine. All I require is your body. You will still have the power to restrain me and assume control, but the only thing I will do is disarm her and weaken her considerably for you to free her from Mephiles' grip." Lucina began to think her options and nodded.
"Do it," Lucina said. "Don't kill unless its the enemy Protoss forces."
"Gladly." Time resumed as Lucina begins to feel another presence take control and she begins to feel very powerful. Danny force pushes Twivine back and gets up. She raised her left hoof to Twilight and her lightsaber leaves her and lands into Lucina's grip and he activates it. Twivine stares at Lucina before gasping, noticing the left eye of Lucina was purple while the right eye was neon green.
"Danny," Twivine whispered before chuckling. "Come back for revenge, brother?" Everyone was confused and looked at Lucina. Lucina didn't say anything but charged forward. She goes for a swing and Twivine blocks it, only to see the other lightsaber goes in. Twivine backs off but sees Lucina dashed towards her and began to spin into a blur. Twivine jumps up and takes to the air. Lucina smirks before a pair of spectral magical vampire wings appeared on her back and she dashed up to give chase. Twivine gasped in shock and Lucina came above her and brought both lightsabers down on top of her. Twivine blocked the attack but was knocked towards the ground. Lucina teleported on the ground just before Twivine made impact and performed a powerful force push and made Twivine skit across the walkway and on the ground. Lucina used the force to collect Twivine's lightsaber and he walks over to her and Twivine stares up to her. "Are you going to finish me?" Lucina felt herself regaining control and the ghost of Danny appeared besides Twivine, smiling.
"Why would I want to kill you, dear sister?" Danny said with a smile. "I love you too much to kill you," Everyone who was watching saw Danny's ghost appeared and Lucina ignited her horn and placed it on Twivine's forehead and the dark memory spell that Mephiles placed on Twivine was removed and Danny absorbed the darkness. When Lucina finished, Twivine opened her eyes.
"W-Where am I? What is this place?" Twivine asked before had a realization face. "Mephiles...he brought me back from the dead and placed a memory spell on me...I remember everything..." Twivine began to cry and she covered her eyes. "I-I've killed so many Equestrians..." Danny embraced her and Twivine looked at Danny with shock.
"Do not worry sister, I am here. I will always be here." Danny looks at Lucina. "I have done as we agreed. Now, go find my brother. I will always be here if you need any advice or need to improve your connection to the force." Danny disappeared back into Lucina and she turned to look at Twilight.
"What was that all about?" Twilight asked as she approached.
"I'll explain later," Lucina said. "For now we need to leave as this ship's reactor is disabled."
"She's right," Arcaan said as he rubbed his head from the attack he got hit by Twivine's magic. The group along with Twivine then made a run for it back to their shuttle in the hangar and boarded as the hangar began to collapsed. As they flew out, two TIE Fighters flew next to the shuttle and escorted them away from the exploding ship and jumped to lightspeed back to Canterlot.
The shuttle landed among the remaining returned ships. The princesses arrived to see Lucina and Twivine come out first and approached them. The soldiers had their weapons trained on Twivine, but Luna raised her hoof and ordered, "Lower your weapons. Princess Twivine will not cause trouble anymore." The soldiers obeyed and lowered their weapons. "It was just as I foretold. You have fulfilled a promise your father made to her."
"But there's something we must know," Celestia said. "During the battle, I felt a familiar presence. Tell me Lucina, did you have anything to do with that presence?"
"You won't believe me if I say this, but Uncle Danny's spirit helped me redeem Twivine." The princesses including the Mane Six gasped.
"It's true," Twivine said as she stepped up. "I saw his spirit when my duel ended with Lucina as she was possessed by him."
"It was the only way I could redeem her."
"I hope it doesn't concern you, your highness." Celestia stepped up to Lucina.
"If it had to redeem Twivine, his help is fine with us."
"What matters is that Twivine has joined us in a new leaf," Cadence said.
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In the briefing room, the techs analyzed the map as they looked at the map BB-8 had. They swiped on the screen each location on the Equestria map and looked at the piece of the map to see it is similar to the piece. The monitor beeped as they found a match on the map. The techs were excited and one of them rushed to Celestia; who was talking to Luna and Cadence; holding Flurry Heart. "Your highness," he said. Celestia turned to look at the pony. "We found Charming Thunder's location." Cadence looked surprised hearing the news and stepped up.
"Show us." The pony nodded and walked up to the map console and entered the coordinates on the terminal. The map popped up and a blinking light appeared at the marked location. Cadence began to tear up. "Charming...." She then looked down to Flurry and nuzzled her. "We found your uncle, Flurry." Flurry giggled as a response.
"Inform everyone that we have found Charming Thunder," Celestia said.
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Twivine stood at the balcony at the castle and watched as the fleet flew by. Lucina entered the room and announced excitedly, "Good news, Aunt Twivine. We found him. We found my father's whereabouts." Lucina walks up to Twivine and places a hoof on Twivine's shoulder. "I have volunteered and I'm going to bring him home."
"That's good news," Twivine said. "Can I ask you for one thing?"
"What's that?"
"Tell your father that I am sorry for all I have done." Lucina nodded and hugged Twivine before she took her leave.
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Lucina made her last minute checks on her Z-95 Headhunter as she sat inside the cockpit of the ship. Twilight approached with BB-8 and looked up to her and said, "Lucina." Lucina turned to Twilight. "May the force be with you." Lucina smiled gratefully and looked at BB-8 who beeped at her. She nodded and closed the cockpit as the engines began to start up. The ship rises and slowly flies out as Twilight and the others watch. Lucina plotted the coordinates in the navigation computer and made the jump to lightspeed. She flipped switches as the ship flew through lightspeed. The ship then came out and arrive at a forest area with a temple structure in the middle. She landed the ship into the forest and got out to make her way through the trees. She then arrived to the structure and approached the stairs before she walked up. Once she reached the top of the temple, she sees a cloaked pony looking out on the edge. The pony looked up for a brief moment and slowly turned to come face to face with Lucina as the pony had his helmet on under the hood. She stepped up a little as she knew who it is. He then lowers his hood and removes his helmet to reveal himself as Charming Thunder himself. He had a beard grown on his face and his mane looked a little messy. Lucina then pulls out her lightsaber and holds it out to her father without saying a word. Charming Thunder was amazed and conflicted at what he sees. Tears fell out of Lucina's eyes as she held the lightsaber to him and smiled to seeing her father for the first time in three years. He then smiled as his small cape flowed through the wind as he took a step forward to her.
"You deserved better than a lightsaber and a world of troubles," Charming Thunder said. He wiped off the tears off of Lucina's cheek and smiled. She then gave him a tight hug as she cried.
"Father!" Lucina cried. Charming Thunder caressed Lucina's hair as he embraced the hug from her daughter. After three long years, Charming Thunder has finally been found, but the war was just the beginning.
