Flashback. 13 days ago.
Wilhuff Tarkin was putting the guns away in the armory when Applejack walked in there.
"Tarkin," She whispered to him."Ah was hopin' ah could borrow one of these guns." She said.
"Is it supposed to be a secret?" Tarkin asked her, wondering why she was whispering.
"Vanto's asleep." She told him.
"More target practice?" Tarkin asked, handing her a rifle.
"Ah just want to stay sharp." She said."Hey, can ah just get a couple of these bullets? I promise I won't-" Applejack then purposefully dropped the box of bullets but made it seem like an accident.
"Darn! Ah'm sorry." Applejack apologized.
"It's alright. I got it." Tarkin said, bending over to pick up the bullets.
Applejack then hit him on the head with the butt of the rifle, knocking him out. The orange mare then ran to the computer. She started typing nothing appeared.
"Come on. Where are you?" She said, hoping her sister would answer her.
Finally, Applejack was able to type into the computer.
"You okay?" She typed.
"Ok, no time, come soon?" The computer showed.
"I'm ready. Coming now. You said north. North where?"
"When they take me out. There's huge rocks with a big HOLE in the middle by the beach. You'll know when you see." Said Applebloom on the computer.
"It's gonna be okay. I'm coming." Applejack typed into the computer.
"Ah'm coming, Applebloom." Applejack said.
"Tarkin." She heard Vanto's voice.
Applejack grabbed the rifle and went over to the living area to see Vanto in the armory with the unconscious Tarkin.
"Tarkin." He said.
Applejack cocked the rifle. Vanto looked at her."Stay in there." She warned him."Stay..."
"Applejack, what are you-"
"Stay in there, Vanto!" She said to him.
"Hey, whatever's going on-"
"Look, ah'm going after my sister. Ah'm going after mah sister and nobody is going to stop me, okay?!" Applejack yelled.
She then closed the door to the armory.
Present
Olee Starstone and Suri Polomare's bodies were covered with blankets. They were on some stretchers.
"How many?" Vanto said to Valance, asking him how many guns they had.
"Rifles and pistols? 11 total." The cyborg told him.
"That's it?" Said Vanto.
"That's it. In case you forgot, they took 5 of them right off us." Valance said.
Vanto looked at Applejack."How long would it take us to get to their camp?" He asked.
"We leave now, move fast? Middle of the night tomorrow. Look, they have no idea I know where they are. They won't be expecting us. So we get the guns and we go. Right now. Just the 6 of us." Applejack said to them.
Vanto shook his head."No, no, 6 is not enough. You said there's at least 20 of them. They've got our guns and we're not even sure if what you saw was-"
Hey, ah know what ah saw!" Applejack interrupted him."We take too many people, they'll hear us coming. Ah'm not taking an army across the Island, Vanto."
"Applejack, you sure you're in the best place to be making decisions for all of us right now?" Vanto asked her.
"Mah sister is captured." Applejack told him.
"They're dead!" Stuhlinger said angrily to them."Starstone and Suri are dead. I mean, we haven't even buried them yet."
They were all silent for a long moment.
Vanto looked at Stuhlinger."Me and you will take Suri, okay?" He then looked at Luna."Can you?
She nodded."Yeah, of course."
He looked at Valance."Valance, would you?
"Yeah." Valance said as they went to carry the bodies.
Vanto looked at Applejack."You should stay here. We'll bury them tonight, then we'll figure out what's next." He told her before he left.
As they left the Hatch with the bodies, Applejack looked at the blood on the floor that belonged to Suri.
Flashback. 13 days ago.
Applejack galloped through the jungle, running north.
She stopped when she saw someone.
It was a human man who didn't notice her since he was peeing.
Applejack quickly aimed her rifle at him."Hey!" She said. The human man turned around to look at her."Put your hands up. Put 'em up! Don't move." She warned.
The man slowly put up his hands."Relax, buddy. I ain't movin'. Why don't you just put that down-"
"Shut up!" She yelled.
She didn't want to kill a living being but she needed to find her sister.
"You're Applebloom's sister, aren't you?" The man said calmly.
"What?" Applejack said, caught off guard by the question.
Suddenly, a bearded man behind Applejack tried to take the rifle away from her. Applejack and the bearded man fought for control over the rifle, shooting it into the air. Applejack noticed more humans. The bearded man then finally took the rifle. Applejack quickly ran away from them.
The bearded man then threw a slingshot-type strap that wrapped around Applejack's legs, tripping her.
"Bag her quick." The bearded man ordered his men."Her friends are right behind us."
Present
Applejack was cleaning the blood off the floor when she saw Sev walk into the Hatch.
"Hi." She said to him."Did you find him? Henry?"
"No." Sev said.
Good, Applejack thought.
Applejack went outside of the Hatch and walked through the jungle. The orange mare thought of her family and her friends if they knew what she had done.
What would Twilight say? What would her family say?
I had to do it. I had to save my sister.
She then stopped and threw up. Vanto, who was walking by, noticed this.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked.
She looked at him and nodded."Yeah."
"I was coming back to check on you." Said Vanto.
"Yeah. Ah had to get out of there. Just...ah have to get mah sister back."
"We're going to help you do that, Applejack." Vanto told her.
"But it's got to be the way ah said. Just the 6 of us. Otherwise, it won't work. It won't work." She told him.
"I promise. We're going to figure that out." Vanto said.
"No, ah already have figured it out. It's got to be just the people who already know. You, me, Luna, Valance, Stuhlinger, and Redheart. That's it. Anybody else...look, it puts her in more danger. You don't get to decide this. It's mah sister. It's mah call. And that's the way it has to be." Applejack said.
Vanto was silent for a long moment.
"Then that's the way it'll be." Vanto said.
Applejack then went to the beach. There, Doctor Whooves and Derpy saw her.
"Applejack!" Derpy said as they ran over to her."Are you alright?"
She nodded."Yeah, ah am. It's just...Ah'm fine."
Derpy then noticed Princess Luna and Stuhlinger digging graves.
"Who?" Derpy asked, knowing that someone had died.
"Starstone and Suri." Applejack told her, surprising them.
"What happened to them?" Derpy asked.
Applejack was silent for a moment.
"They were murdered."
Flashback. 13 days ago.
Applejack woke up and saw that there was a hood over her head. Someone took the hood off and she was looking at the bearded.
"Hey there, Applejack." The bearded man smiled at her.
She spit on his face.
The bearded man was calm."Not going to hold that against you. Fair's fair. I took your sister. But don't do that again, okay?"
"Where is she?" Applejack said angrily to him.
Applejack then saw the man who had been peeing earlier walk over to them with Princess Luna with a hood over her head.
"Hey, look at what I found? She was following her friend about a half a click behind us." The man said.
Applejack wanted to say something but the bearded man stopped her.
"You make one sound you'll never see your boy again." He warned. He looked at the man."Gag her. Get ready with the torches. I'm going to talk to her people."
As they left, Applejack saw a young woman with a rifle. She gagged him.
"I think we'd better head back." Tarkin said.
"What?" Said Valance.
"Just find the trail, Tarkin." Vanto said to him.
"I've lost the trail."
"You don't just lose a trail!" Vanto yelled angrily."You just don't want to find her."
"Yeah, that's right, Vanto. I've been running in the jungle toward the sound of gunfire because I don't care about Applejack." Tarkin said before walking away.
"Don't turn around on me." Vanto said, angry with Tarkin.
"You're not going to get her to come back and you know it." He said.
"You know what happens if we just turn around and go back? We're never going to see her again. And that's going to be on us. On you, and on me."
"You're exactly right, Vanto!" A voice suddenly said near them. They aimed their weapons at the man who had talked. They couldn't see his face in the darkness but they could see he had a beard."But if I were you, I'd listen to Mr. Tarkin."
"Who are you?" Vanto asked the man.
"He's the man that shot me on the raft." Valance said, angry. He moved forward to shoot him with his palm blaster.
"Why don't you point the gun down?" The man suggested.
Suddenly, a bullet hit Valance's chest. It didn't pierce through his armor but it was powerful enough to move him back. Vanto and Tarkin looked around, trying to find the shooter, but it was too dark.
Applejack and Luna, who still had the hood on, jumped a little when they heard gunshots.
"It's okay." The young woman assured Applejack."He's just delivering a message. He has to scare your friends to do it."
Vanto smiled."I don't believe you."
"You don't believe what?" The bearded man asked.
"I think you've got one guy up there with a gun." Vanto said."I think there's more of us than there are of you. I think if you had any real strength, you wouldn't have had to send a spy, Ethan."
"That's an interesting theory." The man said. He raised his arms up."Light 'em up!" He yelled.
Suddenly, torches were lit around them. People appeared out of the jungle.
"We've got a misunderstanding, Vanto. Your people, my people." The man said."So listen carefully. Right here, there's a line. You cross that line, we go from misunderstanding to something else. Now, give me your weapons, turn around, go home."
"No." Vanto said to him.
"Vanto, maybe-" Tarkin said.
"No!" Vanto interrupted him.
"I hoped it wouldn't come to this." The man said."Bring her out, Alex!"
The young woman looked hesitant.
"Go on." Said the man with her.
"You." She said to him.
"Come on, Alex." The man said.
"Please?" The young woman, named Alex, asked.
The man was silent for a moment before he grabbed Luna."Let's go." He said. He left, taking Luna with him.
Alex looked at Applejack."Is Jeela okay? Did she have the baby? Is it okay? Is it a boy or a girl?" She asked him.
Applejack was confused by this.
"Like I said. Curiosity." The man said. He pulled the bag off of Luna's head.
The three dropped their weapons.
"You and I aren't done yet." Valance said to the bearded man.
The bearded man grabbed all the guns. All the torches went out. The bearded man let go of Luna and walked away into the jungle.
Applejack saw the bearded man return.
"Her friends are going home." He said. He then put dropped some guns on the ground."Divvy them up."
The bearded man looked at Alex.
Alex looked at Applejack."Sorry." She said.
She then knocked out Applejack with her rifle.
Present
Applejack was at the beach with Winona.
Vanto was looking at the guns they had in his tent. Valance looked at Vanto.
"So what happened out there in the jungle?" The cyborg asked.
"Exactly what she said happened. She found their camp-"
"I'm not talking about Applejack." Valance said."You and Luna. Before you found Applejack, you all were gone all night."
Vanto was silent for a moment."We were caught in a net."
Valance was confused."What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means we got caught in a net." Vanto told him.
"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Valance said.
They left the tent and saw Zuud walking over to them.
"Is it true? Henry's gone?" She asked.
Vanto nodded."Yeah."
"Who's going after him?" Zuud questioned.
"Tarkin and Sev went out in the middle of the night, but..."
"But we haven't seen either of them since." Said Valance.
Zuud saw a bag they were carrying."Those are the guns, aren't they? What are you doing with them?"
"What do you think we're doing? It's time to finish this." Valance said.
"When do we leave?" Zuud asked.
"In the morning." Said Valance.
"You're not coming, Zuud." Vanto told her.
Zuud was confused."Excuse me?"
"Applejack wants to keep it small. Me, Luna, Stuhlinger, Redheart, and him." Vanto pointed at Valance.
"We'll need Zuud." Valance said."She may be an Imperial but she knows how to fight."
"It's Applejack's call. She knows where we're going." Vanto said.
"It is not her call, Vanto. It's ours." Zuud said.
Valance handed her a gun."Welcome aboard."
Later, Valance went over to Applejack, who was putting supplies in her pack.
"Zuud's coming with us." Valance told her."We go at sunrise."
Applejack looked at him."You told Zuud?"
He nodded."Yeah, I told Zuud."
"You shouldn't have done that!" She said, angry.
"Zuud will be good to help us fight the Others. Is that a problem?"
Applejack was silent for a moment."No, it's not a problem."
"Alright then." Valance said before he left.
Flashback. 11 Days ago.
Applejack and the group of Others walked. The orange mare tripped and fell.
"Get up." The man said, picking up Applejack.
"Get off of me!" Applejack said angrily.
"You got a problem, Applejack?" Asked the bearded man.
"You march me day and night without any rest. Yeah, mah problem is ah'm tired." Applejack said.
"Well, I'd offer to knock you out and carry you, but we're here." The bearded man said.
Applejack then saw a stone wall in the distance with a hole in it.
That must be what Applebloom told me to look for, She thought.
Applejack was brought to a camp where she saw some huts. There, she saw more humans who were all wearing raggedy clothing. As she walked through the camp, she noticed two humans with rifles guarding a metal hatched door.
"Put her right over here." The bearded man said. They made her sit down on the ground. He looked at Alex."Tell her we're here."
Alex nodded and left.
The man who had been peeing earlier then had a needle."I can't promise this won't hurt." He said, putting the needle into her arm.
"OW!" She yelled in pain.
"Relax, just taking some blood." He said.
"Taking some blood for what? Who are you people? Where's mah sister?" Applejack said.
The man took her blood and left.
A human woman with blonde hair and blue eyes walked over to Applejack.
"Hello, Applejack." The blonde-haired woman said to her.
"Where's mah sister?" Applejack asked.
"My name is Joy. I was hoping you might help me answer some questions. About Applebloom." She said.
"Where is she?" Applejack asked.
"Did she have any illnesses growing up? Headaches? Fainting spells?" Joy asked.
"Ah want mah sister! You bring her to me right now! Ah want to see mah sister!" Applejack yelled.
Joy was silent for a moment before she left.
Present
Zuud was at the beach, preparing her stuff. Applejack walked over to her.
"Hey, you're not coming." She told her.
"Welcome back, Applejack." Zuud said.
"Look, ah know Valance told you, alright. But it's not going to work. You're not coming." Applejack said.
"And why is it that I'm not coming?" Zuud asked.
"Because you're going after the guy that escaped. And ah'm going after my son." Applejack told her.
"Are you implying I'd let a desire for revenge compromise Applebloom's safety?"
"Ah'm implying that ah decide who stays and who goes. And you stay. Ah know you want to help, right? But Ah've got to do this my way." Applejack said.
Zuud was silent for a moment before nodded."Of course. Good luck, Applejack."
At the Hatch, Vanto saw Sev who was at the computer.
"You were supposed to come right back. You were out in the jungle all night. What happened?" Vanto asked.
"We were unable to find Henry's trail." Sev said.
"Yeah, I got that. Where's Tarkin?" Vanto asked him.
"I don't know." Said Sev.
"We're burying Starstone and Suri at sunset." Vanto told him.
"Alright." Sev nodded.
Vanto and Valance were preparing their guns.
"Who's going to talk?" Valance asked.
"What?" Vanto said, confused.
"The funeral. Who's going to talk?" Valance asked.
"I'm sure Stuhlinger will want to say something about Suri." Said Vanto.
Applejack walked over to Luna and Stuhlinger, who were still digging graves. Redheart was already going to go with them across the Island.
"Vanto fill you in on the plan?" Applejack asked.
"What plan?" Asked Luna.
"We're leaving first thing tomorrow. Back across the Island to their camp." Applejack said.
Luna nodded."Okay."
Applejack looked at Stuhlinger."What about you? Are you coming with us?"
"Why would I want to go?" Stuhlinger asked.
"Because they killed her!" She told him.
"Applejack, come on." Luna said to the element of honesty.
"What do you say, Stuhlinger?" Applejack asked him.
"I'm sorry about Applebloom. But I'm not coming." Stuhlinger said.
"You're sorry-"
"Applejack." Luna said to him.
Flashback
It was nighttime now. Applejack was inside one of the huts.
Joy walked into the room."Dinner time." She said, handing her some food.
"When are you going to do it?" Applejack asked.
"When am I going to do what?" Joy asked.
"Kill me." Applejack said."Ah've seen where ya' live. Ah know how to get here. You have been asking me asking me questions ah don't know the answer to for a week. Ah don't even think mah sister is alive."
"She is alive, Applejack. She's standing outside right now." Joy told her.
"What, do ya' think ah'm stupid?" Applejack said.
"There's been a development since you came here, Applejack. One of our people was captured by yours." Joy said.
"So, go get him back."
"We can't do that. But you can. And if you do, we'll let you and Applebloom go free."
"I want to see mah sister." Applejack said.
"Applejack-"
"Ah want to see her! If she's is out there, you bring her in! You bring her in here right now!" Applejack shouted.
"Pickett!" Joy called. She looked at Applejack."You have 3 minutes."
The man who had been peeing earlier came in with Applebloom.
"Applebloom." The orange mare said, glad to see her little sister.
"Applejack." The yellow filly said.
"Let him go! Let him go! Get your hands off her, right now!" Applejack yelled in anger.
"Sis, don't." Applebloom said calmly.
"Are you okay?" Applejack asked her sister.
Applebloom nodded."Yeah.
"I just...did they hurt you?"
"They make me take tests." Applebloom said.
"They make you what?!" Applejack said, confused.
"We're not going to talk about that." Joy said.
"How's Winona?" Applebloom asked her sister.
"Winona. She's great. She's great. She misses you." Applejack said."Hey don't-don't-don't be scared. Don't be scared. It's going to be over real soon, okay? Ah'm going to get you out of here, okay?"
"They're not who they say they are. They're pretending." Applebloom told Applejack.
"Applebloom!" Joy said."Do you want me to put you in the room again?"
"Pretending? Pretending what?" Applejack asked.
"That's it. We're done." Joy said.
The man named Pickett started to take Applebloom away.
"No, wait. Hey, wait, wait, wait. Come here, Applebloom. Applebloom, come here, Applebloom." Applejack.
Applebloom got away from Pickett and ran over to her sister. Applebloom hugged Applejack.
"Sis, don't leave me. Help me, please! Don't leave me!" She said to Applejack.
"Ah won't. Ah'm going to take-Ah'm going to get you out of here. Ah promise you, ah will get you out of here." Applejack said.
Pickett then grabbed Applebloom.
"Sis! Sis!" Applebloom yelled.
"Let her go! Applebloom, wait! Let go of her!" Applejack yelled.
"Ah love you!" Applebloom said to her.
"Applebloom, I'm going to get you out of here!"
"Ah love you!"
"Applebloom! Ah love you too, Applebloom!"
"Let me go! Let me go!" Applebloom yelled to Pickett.
"Ah'm going to get you out of here!" Applejack said.
Applebloom was then taken out of the room.
Applejack sobbed.
"After you release our man, I'm going to need you to do something else." Joy said to the orange mare.
"Whatever you want." Applejack said, still crying.
"I'm writing 5 names down. 5 of your friends. We need you to bring them here. You have to bring only these 5 people, Applejack. Just them. If you don't bring all the people on the list, you will never see Applebloom again."
"Okay, okay." She said.
"Do you understand, Applejack?"
She nodded."Yes. What do ah tell them?"
"It doesn't matter. Make up a story. They will be angry enough to believe whatever you say." Joy said. She then showed her a piece of paper with names on it.
ELI VANTO
REDHEART
LUNA
SAMUEL J. STUHLINGER
BEILERT VALANCE
"If ah do all this...if ah do what you say..."
"You get your sister back. You both go free."
"Then I want the boat." Applejack said.
Present
People at the beach were going to the funeral. Tarkin was at the beach when he felt his leg getting better.
The Grand Moff got rid of the splint and walked away.
Vanto and Zuud were walking to the graves.
"Before we woke up on the Island, I was going to bury my father on my home planet." Vanto said.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Zuud said.
"Yeah. It seems like such a long time ago now. I was going to go right from Nar Kaaga to my homeworld but I had no idea what I was going to say. Here we are again." Vanto said.
"I think Applejack has been compromised." Zuud told him, causing Vanto to stop walking and look at her."Let's keep walking, Vanto." She said.
They kept walking.
"What do you mean "compromised"?" Vanto asked.
"Her actions are not those of a...being who is telling the truth." Zuud said.
"Why would she lie to us?" Vanto questioned.
"Because I believe she would do anything for her sister. Because I believe Applejack may have freed Henry. And because I believe she is leading you into a trap." Zuud told him.
"You believe a lot, Zuud." Vanto said.
"I also believe that Henry was one of them." Zuud said.
"Alright, let's go talk to her." Vanto said.
"No, she must continue to believe she's in control." Zuud told him.
"Why would we want to do that?" Asked Vanto.
"So we can create an advantage." Zuud said.
"How?"
"I don't know yet. But we have one more night to figure that out."
Almost everybody was at the funeral. Vanto was the first to speak.
"Olee Starstone was...before we woke up here, she was a Jedi. I don't know that much about Jedi but I know they were warriors during the Clone Wars. I don't think it was easy for her being here. But I think she did the best she could. She was a woman of few words and I'm going to follow her example. Rest in peace, Starstone." Vanto said.
It was now Stuhlinger's turn.
"Suri was-she was-she...she was a fashion designer. She helped me. She was my friend. It's not fair that this happened to her. It's not."
Stuhlinger then looked at Applejack."I'm going with you."
He then looked at Suri's grave."Goodbye, Suri."
Derpy then noticed something out on the water.
"Boat. Boat!" Derpy pointed.
Everybody at the beach looked at what she was pointing at and were shocked to see a sailboat near the shore.
