Meanwhile far, far away from earth...

Cruising through the cosmos, the Costarika (sometimes referred to as just the Costa) cut through the void like a knife through butter, maneuvering around a gas giant and speeding through the rings of a planetoid. Within, the ship was a colorful display of light and sound, as a disco ball hanging from the ceiling lit up the air, while music blasted from the loudspeakers set up on both sides.

A cheerful bit of rock music from the planet Equestria, light-hearted and fast-paced. Which fit the Guardians perfectly. They were an odd bunch, to be sure. A pegasus pony from Equestria. A Daughter of Tirek. A griffin with a grudge. An adorable rabbit who could (and often would) just as soon blow you away as look at you. A DJ unicorn. And a hippie pony from the planet of Groot.

The Pegasus pony, with brown eyes and black hair. He has a sunglass on his head that he never uses.
Beside him was another earth pony. Her hair was brown and so does her eyes. She was once the most dangerous killer in the universe but switch sides when she found a special somepony. A snore can be heard as the pegasus pony glanced at the sleeping rabbit below him.

Yes, the guardians of the galaxy are a weird combination of people, but for Spike, they were family.

Cheerfully, he sang along with the next part of the song. And to his delight, Dove was even bobbing her head and lip-syncing with the music, showing she was finally starting to relax and appreciate his Equestria tastes in music. Gilda meanwhile was just rousing, grumbling angrily.

"Why are we doing this again?" she asked.

Dove shot her a glare. "It's a distress signal, Gilda. Someone could be hurt."

"I get that but... why do we care?" the Griffin replied.

"cause we're nice," their captain chimed in, all charming like. Being the only stallion in a crew of mares had its advantages. "And maybe whoever it is will pony up a little cheddar cheese for our help," he added, rubbing his hooves together to indicate money. Gilda gives a nodded of approved.

Dove didn't. "Which isn't the point," she grumbled.

Before Flash could placate her, Vinyl, sitting behind them, tapping his shoulder, and indicate the screen in front of him.

Catching her meaning, he nodded. "Ah, nearly there. Right, Guardians. Don't forget, this could be dangerous, let's put on our mean faces"

"Arriving in three..." Vinyl said

"Two..." Spike slowly reduces the ship power to exited from the hyperspace they were in.

"One"

As the ship fell out of hyperspace, and they beheld the devastation. Whatever it had been, the ship had been big, but it was blown to pieces. It was like flying through an asteroid field of broken metal and flying debris. And uncomfortably, more than a few bodies as well. Ponies froze solid drifting through the void, silent screams trapped in their frozen throats as the Costa maneuvered between them.

"Guess that puts the kibosh on our rescue effort," Spike said, glancing at Gilda.

Angel Bunny glanced his way, and even the psychotic rabbit looked more than a little subdued.

Then he nearly jumped clean out of his chair when a pony smacked into the windshield. There was chaos on the bridge as the Guardians flailed randomly for a few minutes, scared or confused as the orange pony with the yellow mane just hung there, suspended on the plexiglass of their viewport.

Then her green eyes flew open. She was still alive.

_______________________________________

After successfully bringing the mare inside their ship (without any incident whatsoever) and was unceremoniously dropped down in the middle of what Spike called their 'living room' on the central table.

"How in the hay is this pony still alive?" Gilda asked.

"This...this isn't a pony," Spike said with amazed. "You're a pony-"

"I'm a griffin"

"This...this is a mare. A beautiful... Muscular mare..." He said with dazed on his face. Dove glare at him, making him flinched.

Gilda, a bit offended by the statement quickly added: "I'm a mare"

"Who are you kidding Gilda? You're one chocolate away from fat!"

The Griffin scoffed. "Yeah right"

Dove consulted a medical device, studying the reading on it as it ran up and down along the orange pony's form. "Well her body is intact, at least. She's been badly beaten but she's already recovering at a phenomenal rate. I imagine she'll be in perfect health within days."

Vinyl nodded in agreement, a hoof pressed against the mare's head. Partially telepathic but mostly empathic, Vinyl could sense emotions. When she looked up, they reflected in her sunglasses. The images there were not pretty: anger, loss, guilt. Spike reluctantly decided they needed more answers. Clear answers.

"Wake her up," he instructed the DJ.

She nodded, setting a jack inside the ear of the orange-maned pony, and clicking start. Whatever song she'd decided to pick, its effects were near instantaneous, as the pony launched herself out of sleep and into fight-or-flight mode instantly as she rolling off the table. For a long moment nobody spoke, then her green eyes cleared, and Applejack came to her senses. On a strange ship, surrounded by strange ponies (and others).

"Who the hay are you guys?"

_______________________________________

Explanations followed, along with introductions. Applejack, meet the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Dove, however, explained the very worst of it. The fact that the mad centaur was seeking the Elements of Harmony, and had just plundered one from the Cloudsguard Princess.

"The entire time I knew Tirek, he only ever had one goal: To wipe out half the life, and let the other half suffer. On every world."

"Including my own," Gilda said gruffly. The sorrow of her lost family still weighed heavily upon her.

Dove nodded. "If he gets his hoof on all of the Elements of Harmony... he could do it with a snap of his fingers"

Hunched in the corner, blowing on some hot tea to cool it, Applejack glanced her way, suspicious. "You seem to know a great deal about the Tirek," she remarked, hoping to sound casual.

If they were going to play some game of half-truth and lies, Gilda put an end to that immediately. As blunt as a hammer, she spelled it out for the Cloudsguard ruler. "Dove is the Daughter of Tirek."

And then the whole ship got quiet. Deathly so.

Applejack shrugged off her blanket and advanced on Dove angrily. For her part, she stood her ground, even managing to stand tall as Applejack moved towards her with violence intent in her every move. Spike quickly moved to try and separate them.

"Hey, whoa, relax, she's not with him, she hates him as much as you do."

Applejack brushed him aside with almost comical ease, then... sighed and nodded, putting a hoof on Dove's shoulder. "Family can be hard... I know. Just before my own father died... well... it's not important. But I guess what I'm saying is... I can relate."

"We'll stop Tirek together, " Dove agreed. "But that means we need to find out where he's going next, we need your help for that, Applejack"

"Apple Star," she muttered, already looking for something else.

"I thought your name was Applejack ?" asked Gilda, confused.

"No, I mean Tirek is going to the Apple Star." It wasn't a well-known destination, though the Guardians had been there before. Sort of a Las Pegasus in space, the planet without a name that circled the aptly named Apple Star had lots of tourist attractions and games and rides... all for a price, of course.

"Why would he go there? It sucks," Spike remarked. His last experience there hadn't been a grand one.

"Because the Element of Honesty was recently left there with a pair of businessmen. The ones who run the entire star system."

Spike grimaced. If it was the ones he was thinking of... "Flim and Flam aren't businessmen, they're scavengers. Only an idiot would give those two an Element of Harmony."

"Would you even consider those two has one of the most powerful artifacts in the whole universe?" Applejack retorted. Gilda and Spike glanced at each other, Gilda gave him small shrugged and said: "she has a point, you know"

"How do you know Tirek isn't going for one of the other Elements?" demanded Dove.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Look, there are six Elements out there, alright? Tirek already has the Laughter Element because he stole it last week when he ruined the Dragon Realm. He stole the Loyalty Element from me, destroyed my ship and murdered half my people. The Magic and Kindness Elements are safe, they're on Equestria with the Avengers."

"Avengers?"

"Uh, Equestria's Mightiest Heroes," she clarified.

"Like Donut Joe?" asked Gilda, remembering a story Flash had once told her.

The earth pony shrugged, not recognizing the name. "He might be on the team now, I haven't been back in a while. As for the Element of Generosity, well, no one saw that one... no one has any idea where it is. Therefore, Tirek can't get it. Which means he'd be heading to Apple Star. You're welcome," she said, bowing her head theatrically once she was done with her explanation.

"Then we have to go there now," Dove said.

Again, completely missing the point. "Wrong," Applejack corrected. "Where we have to go... and by us, naturally I mean me... is Amphitheater"

"A what?"

"Amphitheater". All the guardians raise their eyebrows. She let out a sighed. "Its a place. North of this icy little moon in... what was the name? Well, it doesn't matter, I know the way. But only the Gift Givers can help forge the weapon I need to defeat Tirek," Applejack explained. "There's no other choice."

"That might not be a bad idea," Dove mused. "If legends are true, the being there make some of the most powerful, horrific weapons in all of creation... but if we don't go to the Apple Star and Tirek gets the next Element... he'll be too powerful to stop."

"He already is," Applejack reminded them, not anxious for another bout against the mad centaur. "Look, I'm going, and if..."

She paused as she felt something nudging her foot. The tiny little white rabbit was pointing at herself and Comet Strudel (who was, rather obliviously, paying no attention), and then back at Rainbow.

"Oh, you two want to come along?"

Angel Bunny nodded eagerly.

"Well then, guess the rabbit comes with me. The hippie too. The rest of you can try to stop Tirek or slow him down or whatever... but I am out of here," she said, stepping into the escape pod on the Costa.

"That's our pod," Spike protested half-heartedly. If anything, he might have been anxious to get rid of Applejack, she was starting to annoy him.

"Not anymore," she said, daring him to stop her. When he didn't, and Angel and Comet had climbed aboard, Applejack grinned and bowed her head. "Fare thee well and good luck. Trust me, you're gonna need it."

With that, the three of them departed, launching the pod, leaving the other four Guardians dumbfounded.

What the hay had just happened?

_______________________________________

There was a clatter from the galley, and Dove glanced up from her musings, her reflecting on her past. Spike stumbled into the room, trying to look nonchalant about the bowl he'd just knocked over. He was busy tying some explosives to his flank, no doubt gearing up for an encounter with Tirek. But he took the time to smile at her in that endearing, dorky way he did. So earnest, so free of darkness. Even after all that had happened with his mother, and later his father, he still smiled so easily and freely. And she found she could too when he was around. He was the light to her darkness.

Which made this next part so much harder than it should have been.

"Spike... I need to ask you a favor."

"Yeah, sure," he replied, not really listening.

"One way or another... the path we're on leads us to Tirek," she explained, as much to herself as to him. "If things go wrong, and Tirek takes me... I want you to kill me."

That got a reaction. He paused in what he was doing, glancing up at her "What?"

"I know something he doesn't, " Dove went on. "If he finds out... everything we hold dear would be in danger."

"What do you know?" Spike asked.

She shook her head. "If I told you, you'd know too."

"Shouldn't I? If it's so important?"

"Only if you want to die," Dove said solemnly, having no intention of letting that happen.

"Why does someone always have to die in this scenario?" he asked, still trying to find his loophole.

His third option, his win, his cheat. Dove found it endearing, how whenever the universe dealt him a bad hand (and it did often) he tried to cheat. Or bluff. Or flip the table and shoot the other guy. But this wasn't something he could win, and neither could she. Not unless they killed Tirek first.

"I need you to trust me on this," she said, her hoof coming to rest on his shoulder. "Promise me."

Spike hemmed and hawed, unable to bring himself to do it. "I mean... I'd like to..."

"Swear to me," she told him, hoof tight on his shoulder. "Swear to me on your mother."

There were few higher deities in Spike's personal faith than his mother, who was an angel and saint (more so after he'd had the misfortune of meeting his birth father) and so to swear that was a promise that was downright unbreakable. He could tell Dove Velvet really meant this, needed this, and so there was only one thing he could say:

"Okay," he agreed. "I promise."

With that, the tension seemed to dissipate, flowing out of Dove, and she relaxed. Even allowed herself to be pulled in by Spike's gently hoof on her cheek for a kiss as the two savored this rare, quiet moment.

The quiet before the storm.

_______________________________________

I was having second thought whether I should continue or not. But here you go. Enjoy and comment on what you think.

PS: "Dove" is my OC's friend. Thanks for letting me used your OC!

Stay love and brony on!