Imperials in Equestria

Twilight gave the biped a puzzled look. "Why are you so surprised?"

His left eye twitched, but barely noticeably. "Well, um, you see, where we come from, quadrupeds don't usually talk."

"Where did you come from, anyway?"

"We were on a transport mission for the aforementioned Galactic Empire. It's a collection of planets and stars ruled by the almighty Emperor Palpatine. At least until those blasted rebels killed him."

The unicorn recoiled in shock. "Killed him!? Why in Equestria would they kill their own ruler?"

He sighed. "The rebels were discontent with the Emperor's rule. They yearned for the days of the corrupt Old Republic. They were unwilling to make the personal sacrifices necessary for there to be order in such a massive Empire. They fought under the banner of lies, like democracy and 'freedom for all races.' It's all bantha fodder."

"But aren't those good things?"

"They may work on a small scale, like on a planet, but on the galactic scale, all it is is a breeding pit for corruption and malice."

"I see we have quite different moral standards. Here in Equestria, we understand that the power of friendship can overcome all problems."

"Power of friendship?" he scoffed. "Power of friendship!? That's laughable. Can friendship fire a frickin' laser beam that obliterates your enemies?"

"Yes. Yes it can."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If my five friends," she motioned to her companions, "Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash don our respective Elements, that, combined with our friendship, can create unstoppable power."

Kael drooled a bit. "Unstoppable power. Unstoppable power," he regained his composure. "How does that, um, work?"

Twilight gave him yet another puzzled look. "Well magic, of course! Don't tell me you don't have that where you come from!"

"Not really. Could you, um, maybe give me a demonstration of this 'magic,' please?"

She smiled. "Why of course," she told him, as her horn and a nearby pebble began glowing magenta, and said pebble rose above the dirt road. All of the bipeds expression simultaneously turned to shock and surprise.

Faroamer slowly backed away, shivering. "Sh-she's a-a J-J-J..."

"JEDI!" EB-942 broke in, aiming his blaster at the purple unicorn. TN-861 and CJ-125 followed suit, but JM-465 did not. He was aiming his blaster at the clone. "Trooper!" he yelled at him. "Aim for the Jedi, not me."

He lifted the blaster's sights to his eye. "No," he said defiantly. "I'm not a murderer." He fired at the commander's blaster, making it explode in his hands.

"Gaaah!" he screamed in pain, as the other two stormtroopers pointed their weapons away from Twilight and towards the traitor. The captain turned to face him.

"JM-465! What is this treason?" he yelled at him.

"Don't call me that," he told the moustached human. "That's not my name, and you are not my superior," he said as he removed his helmet and belt. He threw them at his feet. "Nothing personal, but it's my mission," and with that, he fired a blast at Faroamer's leg. He fell down in pain as the rebellious trooper ran away.

Twilight saw him writhing in pain and immediately ran up to him, her horn glowing. She cast a basic healing spell, and the injured area began to glow. "What the kark are you doing!?" he asked frantically.

"It's a healing spell, I'm trying to help you!" she explained, trying to hold him still. She took a quick look around, assessing the situation. Fluttershy was hiding behind a crate, Rarity had fainted, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had taken defensive stances, and Pinkie was gone. The other two troopers were assisting the one called Ee Bee Nine-Four-Two, and the humanoid in black was also missing.

Pinkie bounced around Sugarcube Corner, Zan following behind her. "Nice place you've got here," he complemented, observing the various treats around him.

"Thanks!" she responded. The pink pony had taken the arrival of the mysterious strangers as an opportunity to make some new friends. She chose Gilder because he seemed the nicest of the bunch. Looks like she was correct. She pointed to the bathtub. "And this is Gummy!" she told him.

He gave her a skeptical look. "You named you bathtub?" he asked her.

"No, silly! Gummy's in the bathtub," she said, lifting the small green reptile out of the tub.

He smiled at him. "Aww. He looks like a little dewback!" he noted, reaching over to pet him. The alligator bit his arm as soon as it was in range. "Ah jeez!" he yelled, trying to shake him loose. "Ow ow ow ow ow wait a minute," he said, as he stopped shaking his arm. "That doesn't actually hurt."

"Of course, silly! Gummy's toothless! Why else would I name him Gummy?" she explained.

He nodded. "Hm, he looks like less of an herbivore and more of a carnivore, I suppose he's less dewback-like than I thought," he said.

Pinkie turned her head to the side. "What's a dewback?" she asked him.

"Dewbacks are large, lumbering reptillian herbivores, native to Tatooine. They make great mounts."

"Where's Tatooine? I've never heard of a country by that name." she inquired.

"Tatooine isn't a county, it's a planet. The whole bloody place is a desert. Really hot too. It's got two suns."

"Wow. Celestia must work hard on that."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Who's that?"

She gasped. "You don't know who Princess Celestia is!?"

He shrugged. "Not, really, I guess."

She gasped even louder. "How could you not know who Princess Celestia is!?"

"I've just never heard of her."

"Well, in that case, I'll just have to tell you. Princess Celestia is our benevolent ruler, who raises and lowers the sun. She lives in the city of Canterlot."

"Is it on a mountain?"

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"Well, it's pretty big and obvious when it's on a giant mountain looming overhead!"

She began laughing. "Oh yeah! Say, I wonder where Celestia is? I thought she was coming here to help."

Zan shrugged. "Probably just slept in."

The white alicorn burst into the darkened room, a panicked expression on her face. She looked around, observing her surroundings. Three cloaked figures were seated. She approached the center of the room, regaining her composure. They all respectfully nodded at her. A striped mare in a cloak welcomed her. "Master Celestia, filled with heat, please relax and take a seat." Celestia obeyed and sat down in an empty seat.

Celestia nodded to her, and began to speak. "Master Zecora, I come with grave news. They have arrived."

They all looked worried. "The Imperials?" a mint-green unicorn asked.

"Yes." she responded, her tone deeply serious.

A brown Earth pony colt spoke up. "There are six of them. Five are natural, one is a clone," he said, shocking the Princess. Their knowledge never ceased to amaze her.

"Yes. They arrived in a small transport ship. It crashed right outside of Ponyville. Two are injured, and one ran off. I believe he is a Rebel agent." she told the council.

A navy-blue alicorn chimed in. "Does Twilight have it under control?" she inquired.

"It appears so, at least for now."

The brown colt closed his eyes and looked skyward. "I sense both good and bad shall come out of this. But I cannot sense anything beyond that."

Celestia nodded. "I sense it too. But what about the rebel?" she asked.

Zecora spoke, again in that mysterious rhyming of hers. "So that none shall be killed, we can send our apprentices, if it is willed."

"Alright, that is if they're ready." she asked.

Master Whooves nodded. "I think Derpy could use some field work to help sharpen her skills with the Force."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know she'll just go for the lightsaber."

"I've been training her to rely less on it," he retorted.

"I believe Octavia is also ready," Luna said.

Celestia spoke up. "Then it's settled. Derpy and Octavia shall go find the Rebel agent."

"Agreed," they all said.

"Meeting adjourned," the white alicorn said. "May the Force be with you. Always."