The conference table was as soulless and unyielding as the mood of the various aristocrats and officers surrounding it. Stormponies stood guard at the entrances to the room, which was poorly lit considering somepony might be expected to read in there. One of the newer arrivals was speaking; he exhibited an attitude of one who had been given their position in life. Senator Blueblood didn't have what one might call genius, but he did have a certain charisma that had helped to secure his position. The other things were best left unsaid in pleasant company. And though his uniform was neatly molded and his body cleaner than anypony else in the room, a certain sliminess clung to him, an inferred sensation rather than tactile. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, many respected him. Or feared him.

"I tell you, she has gone too far this time," Blueblood was insisting, "This 'Nightmare' inflicted on us at the urging of our Empress will be our undoing. Until the Great Sphere is operational, we shall be vulnerable."

An older pony, whose facial scars hinted at his experience, shifted in his chair. "Dangerous to your security fleet maybe, but not to this battle station. I think that-"

"Excuse me," ventured another Senator sitting across the table, "but why is this station called the Great Sphere anyway? Surely a more appropriate name could've been chosen."

"Because," began a worker pony introduced as Arnie, "when the Empress commissioned it she wanted it to be called 'The Great and Powerful Sphere', but unfortunately that wouldn't fit in the allotted space, so she was convinced to go with the shortened name."

"As I was saying," the general spoke up again, "I happen to think that Nightmare Moon knows what she's doing. The rebellion will only continue as long as they have a sanctuary to relax in and-"

"I have to disagree," rudely interrupted Blueblood, "The construction of this tacky ball is more to do with the Empress's ego and Governor Octavia's bid for personal power than any sort of military strategy."

"Then perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on what we should be doing instead, Senator," came a voice from the door. Everypony in the room fell silent and turned to face the sound.

The two ponies standing there were as different in appearance as they were united in cause. Nearest to Blueblood was a grey bodied earth pony with a face that hardly ever changed its stony expression. The Grand Moff Octavia, governor of numerous star systems, was dwarfed by the tall, slender bulk of Nightmare Moon. For a minute, she stared directly at Blueblood, who had been cowed into silence, and then looked away as if nothing had happened.

"Fillies and gentlecolts," Octavia began, a small smile forming on her lips, "I have just received word that the Great and Powerful Empress has dissolved the Imperial Senate; the last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away."

"What?" exclaimed now former senator Blueblood, "How is that possible? How will she control the bureaucracy? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO FOR A LIVING?"

"I am sure you can think of something." Nightmare Moon was enjoying watching as the stallion's world crashed down around him.

"At any rate," continued Octavia, "regional governors now have direct control over their territories. From now on, fear will keep the populace in line, fear of this battle station."

"And what of the rebellion?" ventured somepony that Octavia didn't bother to identify.

"Any attack made against this station would be a useless gesture," began Blueblood, obviously trying to avoid his impending unemployment, "regardless of any technical data they have obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe!"

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've just started supporting," responded Nightmare Moon with contempt, "the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of Discord."

"'Discord' and 'Friendship'," Blueblood sneered, "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerous ways. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion hasn't allowed you to conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you the clairvoyance to locate the hidden rebel ba-" Blueblood's eyes suddenly bulged and his hooves went to his throat as he began to turn blue.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing," ventured Nightmare mildly, her horn glowing black, "as I do your lack of respect."

"Enough of this; release him," ordered Octavia, "this bickering amongst ourselves is pointless." Nightmare Moon shrugged and released her hold on Blueblood's trachea. Blueblood slumped forward, rubbing his neck and looking with newfound fear at the night pony.

"Nightmare Moon will provide us with the location of the rebel's hidden fortress. That done, we will behead this pathetic rebellion in one swift stroke," declared Octavia, commanding attention, "Are their anymore objections?" One look at Blueblood dissuaded anypony's questions.

---

"It just isn't fair!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as she slammed the door behind her. A sudden squeak reminded her that there were others in her room this time.

"I-Is there anything I can do to help?" meekly asked Fluttershy after a moment.

"Not unless you can use those wings and fly me off this rock," Twilight snapped back, before softening her expression. "Sorry; I'm not mad at you. I've just had a really bad day."

"It's okay but, um, why are you so upset?" Fluttershy asked, giving Angel a carrot.

"Well, when your pod flew over, I accidently, uh, let one of Uncle Oaten's vaporators explode. I tried to tell him it wasn't exactly my fault, but he didn't listen; he never listens." Twilight sighed, and then continued; "Now I'll have to go out there again tomorrow, instead of going to the library in Stableage. Honestly, I think he cares more about those vaporators than he does about me."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy began, "I mean, umm, I think he's just trying to help you learn about responsibility. Maybe, in my opinion I mean." At Twilight's look of incomprehension she continued, "You know, when I took care of animals back home, sometimes, I'd keep them in their cages so that they wouldn't get into other ponies' gardens. But I'd let them out to have fun if they promised not to go dig them up." She smiled wider as a look of comprehension dawned on the other mare's face. "Besides," she said, "it looks like you already have a library here."

"Oh, yes!" Twilight exclaimed quickly, "I have over two hundred titles ranging from archeology to zoology, and most topics In between. I've just been so excited when a new library opened up in Stableage that I wanted to see if they had any new books right away."

"Oh, that's…um, nice." Fluttershy stammered as looked at Angel for help. Angel just looked back up at her, still munching on his carrot. She turned back to Twilight hoping to be able to keep the conversation to topics that she could understand.

"So, if your family is made up of farmers, um, how did you get all of, umm," Fluttershy gestured around at the stacks of books all around the room, "these? You know, if you don't mind me asking."

"Well," Twilight slowly began, "I got a couple of books from simply asking around in the neighboring towns, but mostly they were given to me."

"Oh? Who gave them to you?" Fluttershy asked inquisitively, her curiosity making her forget for a minute that she was talking to a pony she met just hours ago.

"She's a strange hermit pony," Twilight explained, "Most ponies around here call her the Mare of the Sands, but I think she'd rather be called 'Celly'."

At the sound of the name, Angel almost gagged on what was left of his carrot. He started rummaging through his pack until he found a small metal disk, and as the two mares continued to talk, discreetly turned it on.

Both Twilight and Fluttershy jumped at the sound of the device beginning its playback (Fluttershy much higher) and turned to stare at it. A three dimensional image of a pony had suddenly materialized out of the projector on the floor. Twilight noted that, despite its superficial sharpness, it looked to have been recorded quickly and on a lower quality device than what was found at nearby holo-theaters. However, she was still enraptured by the snow white mare on the floor, and it was a few seconds before she found her voice again. "What-?" The question was never finished, as the image began to speak-seemed to speak, rather. Twilight recalled that the audio would be generated from a speaker concealed somewhere on the projector disk.

"Help me Celestia!" the mare's image implored, "Please please please please!" It looked off to the side before a burst of static momentarily disrupted her image. Momentarily it reappeared and repeated its dialog.

Twilight kept staring at the hologram for what seemed like to Fluttershy a short eternity as it continued to play and replay its message, so she asked, "Angel, what is that you have there?" Twilight finally tore her eyes away from the moving image to see Angel making a complicated series of gestures.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy turned to Twilight, "Maybe we should stop watching. Angel says it's a private message to a pony named 'Celestia' who lives somewhere nearby. I don't know anypony around here with that name, do you?"

"Not that I know of," said Twilight as Angel started banging his head on the wall softly, "Celly might know, but my uncle keeps running her off before I can get a chance to talk to her. Maybe we can visit her hut out west, but it would have to be after I help my uncle fix his vaporator."

"Twilight!" called a voice toward the kitchen, "it's time for dinner! Ask your new friends if they would join us please."

"Alright Aunt Mareu, we're coming!" Twilight called back, and then turned to Fluttershy. "So, do you want to come? We're having an alfalfa salad tonight."

"Oh I'd like some, thank you." responded Fluttershy, "Are you coming, Angel?" Angel glared at her for a few seconds before scooping up the holodisk and storming off. "I'll take that as a, no."

---

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

Oh wow, I finally got around to writing this chapter. I never realized how much movie there was before Mos Eisley before writing this; there're still 30 pages to go in the novelization that I'm using before we get there. Here's to hoping I get there before Season 2 starts :)