All around the Sonic Rainboom were drifting pieces of rock. They floated by in loosely organized rows; big ones, small ones, some only as big as Angel Bunny's head. If not for Rainbow Dash's old habit of raising the deflector shields before returning to realspace, the freighter would've faced instant destruction. Celly stared out the cockpit windows, a look of concern worked deep into her face as Rainbow and Big Mac instinctively launched their ship into evasive maneuvers. Twilight Sparkle could only sit and stare, gaping at the latest sign that, yes, her day had just gotten worse.

"What just happened?" finally asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Hay if I know," Rainbow snapped as she dodged another asteroid, steering towards a less dense portion of the field of rocks, "We've exited hyperspace into one of the worst asteroid storms I've ever seen! Nothing I can't handle though."

"But isn't there supposed to be a planet there?"

"Eeyup", was the reply of Big Macintosh as he looked back at the other ponies, his face full of disbelief.

"B-but, this makes no sense!" Twilight stammered, "Whole planets don't just suddenly disappear!"

"This one did," retorted Rainbow Dash. She took another look outside. "Actually, from the looks of things, I'd say Aldermare was…blown away."

"Destroyed, by the Empire," Celly agreed grimly. She continued to stare out at the swirling lumps of rock, all orbiting around a common center which marked where Aldermare, until recently, had been.

"But that's impossible!" Twilight shook her head, "Destroying a planet like that would require over a sextillion million tons of explosive energy! Where would the Empire get that sort of power?" She stopped as she noticed both Rainbow and Big Mac staring at her. "I read it in a book once," she said sheepishly.

"What if they knew we were coming?" Twilight continued, close to hysterics. "What if they're lying in wait just beyond the debris field? We'll fly out and then…! And then…!" Unable to finish her sentence, she started to hyperventilate.

"Twilight, calm down," Celly admonished her. "Things aren't that bad yet."

"I don't see how they could get any worse!"

Muffled alarms began sounding as if in response. Before anypony could react, a huge flower of destruction battered the freighter. A tiny, double-winged ball raced past the cockpit port.

"I knew it! They followed us!" Twilight cried out.

"No way!" objected Rainbow Dash, "Not through hyperspace."

Celly studied the small crafts profile as it raced off towards the distance. "Indeed, Ms. Dash. It's a short ranged Pie fighter."

"But where did it come from?" Twilight wanted to know, "There aren't any Imperial bases anywhere near here."

"Doesn't matter," dismissed Rainbow Dash, "If it identifies us we're in big trouble. Big Mac, jam it's transmissions."

"Eeyup," Big Mac acknowledged as Rainbow began to pursue the small fighter.

"It might be best to let it go," Celly ventured thoughtfully. "It's already well out of range."

"Don't worry. I'll catch up in no time."

Several tense minutes followed. Nopony spoke; merely they kept watching the Pie fighter ahead as it tried to avoid its pursuer. The pilot had first tried a complex evasive course that Rainbow Dash easily followed, continuing to close the distance between them. Seeing that he couldn't shake the surprisingly maneuverable freighter, he opened up his tiny engine all the way.

"Umm, excuse me," a small voice broke the silence, causing Twilight to jump; she had forgotten completely about Fluttershy and Angel in the excitement as they entered the rear of the cockpit. "What's going on?" asked Fluttershy to nopony in particular. Celly leaned in close to explain their situation, so as not to disturb everypony else.

One of the multitude of stars ahead was steadily becoming brighter. Twilight frowned; they were moving fast, but not nearly fast enough for any heavenly object to brighten so rapidly. Something here didn't make sense, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Okay, we know it's impossible for a fighter that size to be this deep into space on its own," Twilight observed, "Since we know it didn't come from Aldermare, how'd it get here?"

"Maybe he's gotten lost," ventured Fluttershy.

Rainbow's comment was gleeful, "Well, wherever he came from, he won't be around long enough to tell anypony about us. We'll be on top of him in a few more seconds."

The star ahead continued to brighten, its glow assuming a circular outline.

"He's heading for that small moon," Twilight murmured, "That's strange. Aldermare didn't have any moons." Angel started to bounce up and down excitedly on Fluttershy's back.

"If you say so, egghead," Rainbow teased. She shrugged it off, "Galactic topography wasn't my best subject, but I think I can get him before he gets there." She leaned further forward, as if she could coax more speed out of the freighter.

The Sonic Rainboom steadily drew nearer. Gradually, craters and mountains became visible to the ponies inside. Yet there was something odd about them; the craters were far too regular in shape, the mountains too vertical, canyons and valleys impossibly straight and regularized. Nothing as capricious as volcanic action or erosion had formed those features.

"That's no moon," Celly breathed softly, "That's a space station."

"It can't be!" Rainbow objected, "It's too big to be a space station!" Twilight just sat in shock, trying to reconcile what she was seeing. Rainbow was right, she thought to herself. This is just an abnormally large imperial base on a previously undiscovered moon of a planet that just exploded…no, that made even less sense.

"I hope this doesn't get any worse," she finally commented.

Abruptly, the usually calm Celly was shouting. "Rainbow Dash, turn the ship around! We must leave this place, before it's too late!"

"Yeah, I think you're right. Full reverse Big Mac."

The stallion started adjusting the controls, and the freighter seemed to slow, before instantly returning to its previous trajectory towards the monstrous bulk ahead of it.

Twilight tapped her hoof in both impatience and anxiety. "Any time Rainbow."

"Why are we still moving towards it?" asked Fluttershy, her worry evident.

"We're caught in a tractor beam-the strongest ever. It's dragging us in," the pilot muttered as she sat back in her seat.

"You mean, there's nothing you can do?" Twilight felt unbelievably helpless.

"Nnope," simply stated Big Mac.

"We're on full power ourselves," Dash explained, "and we're not going anywhere. I'll have to shut down our engines before they melt themselves. You just had to say that didn't you?"

"What?" asked Twilight before realizing what she meant, "Okay, fine; I'll never say that again. Happy?"

Rainbow nodded before turning back to the fields of grey in front. "If they want us that badly, then they'd better watch themselves," she muttered after a few seconds, "They're not taking me down without a fight!" She started to vacate the pilot's chair, but was restrained by a gentle hoof on her shoulder. An expression of concern was on Celly's face-and yet, a suggestion of maybe something somewhat less funeral.

"This fight you cannot win. But then, there are alternatives to fighting…"

The true size of the station was becoming more and more apparent as the freighter was pulled ever closer. Running around the station was a large canyon, docking bays waiting to receive the willing, and unwilling guests to the station. Now only a miniscule speck against the gray bulk, the Sonic Rainboom was drawn toward one of these chasms and finally swallowed by it. A lake of armored plating sealed off the entryway, and the freighter vanished as if it had never existed.

---

Nightmare Moon stared at the motley array of stars displayed on the conference-room map while Blueblood sucked up to Octavia nearby. Interestingly, the first testing of one of the most powerful destructive weapons ever created seemingly had no effect on the map at all, which only represented a tiny fraction of the known galaxy. It would take a micro-breakdown of a portion of this map to notice that one of the planets, Aldermare, was missing. Aldermare, with its many cities, farms, factories-and traitors, Nightmare reminded herself.

Despite its advances and intricate technological methods of annihilation, ponykind remained unnoticeable to the vast, uncaring universe. She was well aware that, despite their intelligence and drive, this fact was lost on the two ponies who continued to chatter like foals behind her. Octavia at least may be talented and ambitious, but she only saw things on the scale of pony pettiness. It was a pity, Nightmare Moon mused, that she did not have the scope to match her abilities.

Still, neither pony was an alicorn. As such, little more could be expected of either of them. They may be useful now, and dangerous, but someday they, like Aldermare, would have to be swept aside. For now, she could not afford to ignore them. While she would've preferred the company of equals, she had to admit with a smirk that, at this point, she had no equals.

"The defense systems on the traitor world of Aldermare were, despite some claims to the contrary, as strong as any in the Empire," Blueblood was saying, "Our demonstration was as impressive as it was thorough."

"The Empress is being informed of our action at this very moment," Octavia nodded, "Soon we will be able to announce the destruction of the rebellion itself, as soon as we have dealt with their main military base. With their main source of munitions destroyed, the rest of those systems with secessionist delusions will fall in line soon enough." She turned to address an officer as the door to the room opened, "Yes, what is it?"

The unlucky pony wore the expression of walking into a dragon's lair. "Governess, the advance scouts have reached and circumnavigated Dantawleed. They have found the remains of a rebel base…which they estimate has been deserted for some time. Possibly years. They are proceeding with a survey of the remainder of the system."

Octavia's face darkened into a fine pomegranate of fury. "She lied! She lied to us!"

Nightmare Moons laughter echoed throughout the conference chamber. "Didn't I tell you? She'd never consciously betray her little rebellion, unless she thought it would destroy us."

"Terminate her! Immediately!" Octavia was losing her ability to form complete sentences.

"Come now, calm yourself," Nightmare advised her, "You would throw away our only link to the real rebel base so easily? She could still be of value to us."

"Bah, you said it yourself: we'll get nothing more from her. I'll find that hidden fortress if I have to destroy every planet in the sector! I'll-"

A quiet yet demanding beep interrupted her. "What now?" Octavia inquired irritably.

"Sirs, we've captured a small freighter that was entering what's left of the Aldermare system. A standard check indicates that its markings apparently match that of a ship which blasted its way out of quarantine at Morab Eisley, Tolfetooine, and went superlight before the blockading vessels could intercept it."

Octavia looked at Nightmare Moon, puzzled. "Morab Eisley? Tolfetooine? What is this all about, Nightmare?"

"It means, Octavia, that the last of our unresolved difficulties is about to be ended. Someone apparently received our missing data disks, learned of who transcribed them, and is now trying to return them to her," Nightmare Moon explained with an evil grin, "I believe we can…facilitate their meeting with Princess Rarity."

Octavia started to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, she nodded and turned back to the map. "How convenient. I'll leave this matter in your capable hooves."

The Mare of the Moon bowed slightly, then spun and strode from the room, leaving Blueblood looking from mare to mare in confusion.

---

Author's Notes:

All characters from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic are all owned by Hasbro, Inc.

Original story Star Wars: A New Hope by George Lucas

A short one. I just wanted to get something out since it occured to me that I haven't done anything with this story since mid-October. Between then illness and now Skyrim, most of my free time was swept away.

For the record, the P.I.E. in PIE fighter stands for Piloted Internally by Equines. As opposed to PIG fighters, piloted by griffons. :)