Chapter 1
The war against Tirek’s Empire had taken a turn for the worse. The Equestrian fleet was ambushed and almost wiped out, many of their ships fleeing to the far reaches of Equestrian space. Many of the brave Equestrian Knights were lost against the large numbers of Tirek’s dark side users. All in all, it was a dark time for the Equestrian Republic.
On the cruiser Lunar Strike, one Equestrian Knight was looking out the window at the endless voids of space. The ship was placed at the head of another fleet that was guarding the peaceful planet of Naboo. Naboo was the last line of defense in this sector, keeping Tirek’s Empire away from the Mid Rim.
The knight’s name was Crimson Crown. His dark red hair stood up on end, showing that he had not gotten any sleep the past few days, maybe even the past week. His battle armor and robe still had blood on it from the battle against his old friend when his ship was boarded. The scar under his eye still hurt, but was fading, leaving just a small line, but would forever be there no matter what he would do.
Another reason that his fleet was here was because Princess Luna was visiting one of the planets in her jurisdiction of the galaxy. Many knights were assigned to this region to protect her, but the others were on the ground, defending in case the planet was invaded. Meanwhile, Crimson was ordered to take some of the fleet to the battle. Only the Lunar Strike and Solar Fury survived of the group. The other knights blamed Crimson for the loss and ordered him to remain on the fleet, stating that he would only fail on the planet just as he did in the Battle of the Smuggler Way.
“I need to do something,” Crimson began. “If I can only find out where Tirek’s fleet will strike next, I might be able to intercept him before he reaches his destination.” He pulled his robe closer. The bridge was cold and lifeless, with only the occasional droid moving around, keeping the cruiser cleaned. He was the only one on the bridge, the crew having gone to bed for the night.
“What’s the use,” Crimson finally admitted. “I’ll just lose the fleet and the Equestrian Republic will end up falling. Might as well just resign and leave the Order.”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” a voice said from behind him. Crimson turned to see Princess Luna Solar, the whole reason for him even being in the system.
Crimson sighed, knowing that she most likely would’ve heard his whole debate with himself and decided to just get straight to business. He looked her straight in the face, his mouth only forming a line.
“You heard everything, didn’t you,” Crimson stated.
“Pretty much,” Luna replied, walking over to him. “You know that the others all fled before the battle even started, right?” Crimson stated in shock, his eyes almost the size of dinner plates at the news.
“What do you mean they fled?” he asked. “They told me that they were delayed getting the fleet into position here.”
“More like chatting it up with the people in the bars on Nar Shaddaa,” Luna replied. “Celestia is going to make sure they’re punished for not supporting the fleet when they were needed.” Crimson only looked away, closing his eyes while taking a few deep breaths.
“Highly doubt it’ll do any good,” Crimson replied. “We’ve lost too many of our Order. Now we need every Knight we got. If she punishes them, they’ll just leave to join Tirek.”
Luna frowned, knowing what Crimson said was true. One thing she never did doubt was Crimson’s ability to know what would happen if any member of the Order was pushed too far or if another member screwed up. Many times a Knight made a mistake, Crimson knew exactly what would happen as a cause of it. Many Knights knew to not make any mistakes when they talked with Crimson, but others wanted Crimson gone, not wanting him to gloat.
While Crimson had gloated when he was younger, he stopped when he noticed that the others would shun him when he was proven right. Many others still would not forgive him, even after all these years.
Suddenly, Luna had an idea, one that she hoped would help cheer Crimson up. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him away from the window, much to his surprise, nearly causing him to fall at the sudden jerk.
“Where are we going?” Crimson asked as Luna led him to her personal shuttle. She had parked it in the side hanger, asking the hanger guards and operators to keep her arrival a secret. She knew that he would lock the bridge if he found out she was there, and she needed to get him off of the ship to make sure he was OK after the fight.
As they boarded the shuttle, Luna took note of Crimson, looking over him for any injuries that she was kept from knowing about from the briefing that he was ordered to not attend. The moment she saw the scar near his eye, she immediately used the force and began to heal it, doing what she could to keep it from getting worse. As she began, Crimson took her hand and pulled it away from his face.
“Leave it,” he said. “It’s a reminder of what happened out there and what the dark side could do to those we care about.”
Luna could only nod and turn around and walked up the ramp, Crimson following and sitting in the back, keeping to himself.
‘There has to be some way to cheer him up,’ Luna thought. ‘Hopefully taking him someplace where we can be ourselves will bring the old Crimson back.’
Luna landed the shuttle just outside of Theed, dragging Crimson to the Naboo Falls. As they exited the shuttle, Luna let go of Crimson’s hand and looked out to the falls.
“Welcome to my get away from the stuck up Order,” she said. “It helps when I want to be alone from the knights that escort me everywhere. Well, all of them except you and maybe a few others.”
“Let me guess,” Crimson said, a smirk forming. “Trilby, Stone, Dusk, Moonlight, White Rose, Pop Tart, and me?”
“Pretty much,” Luna replied. Both of them laughed at the joke, knowing how it was just those few that Luna could stand. They began to walk through the fields, enjoying each others company just as they had as kids. This was one of the few times that they could just be themselves, not a leader or knight of Equestria. Luna stopped as Crimson walked on a few more steps before he felt something hit the back of his head. He turned around, seeing Luna holding a small pebble in her hand and another pebble on the ground next to him. Crimson only smirked as he pulled out a few dirt balls that he had from a few weeks ago. He used the Force to throw a few at Luna as she did the same with her pebbles. This went on for a few minutes until Crimson tripped.
“I hate my life,” Crimson commented as he got up. Luna came over and helped him up, both smiling from their little war.
“At least we got to enjoy ourselves again,” Luna said. Crimson nodded and began to walk over to the falls, Luna following. As they looked out towards to falls, Luna rested her head on Crimson’s shoulder, something that they did when they were teenagers, just resting and getting ready for what their lives would be one day.
“Thanks for getting me off that ship,” Crimson said. Luna smiled and poked him in the head, causing his head to bend back.
“I had to find some way to get you out of your misery,” she replied. Both laughed as they went back to looking at the falls. “I’m just glad you’re feeling better now.”
Crimson turned to face her and Luna looked at Crimson. The sun was beginning to set as an orange hue illuminated the sky. They soon drew closer and closer, eyes slowly closing as their faces neared, until their lips met in a sweet kiss, Luna’s arms moving around Crimson’s neck as Crimson moved his arms around Luna’s waist, pulling close to his body, allowing her to feel the warmth coming from him.
They soon broke the kiss, staring into each other’s eyes, blushing at their embarrassment.
“Sorry,” Crimson said, turning his eyes away, afraid of what Luna would do. He was shocked when Luna placed her head on his torso, leaning into him.
“Don’t be,” Luna replied. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while. I just never got the chance to do it before you were sent off to that fight.” Luna raised her head to face him, smiling at the person she cared about.
Crimson moved to capture Luna’s lips again, this time, the kiss turning more passionate. This went on for a few minutes before the two needed to breathe. Both gasping for breath as they looked deep into each others eyes, seeing nothing but love and admiration for the other.
“I better get you back to the capital,” Crimson said, walking Luna to her shuttle. As they boarded the shuttle, Luna turned to face Crimson.
“No matter what happens,” she began. “I always have faith in your abilities. I know you can find a way to stop Triek’s fleet.” Luna kissed him one more time before walking up the ramp, Crimson following her.
Luna went to the pilot’s seat as Crimson sat beside her. As they flew to the capital, they both knew that no matter what, they would work together to stop Triek and see what the future would hold.