Star Wars: The Friendship Unleashed

Rainbow Dash flew after the ship she was nearly knocked out of the air by only moments before. There was no way she was going to be beaten in a race by a hunk of flying metal. She fast approached the ship, flapping her wings as hard and fast as she could as she tried to take back the lead.

“Come on Rainbow!” She said to herself “You can outrun that hunk of metal!” Her pace picked up after she had coached herself aloud.

Meanwhile, onboard the ship, Kurt monitored Rainbow Dash’s progress on a screen. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack stood close to the front of the cockpit, looking out the window, watching the clouds zoom by. Pinkie stood beside Kurt observing the screen, cheering on Rainbow Dash.

“Woohoo! Go Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cheered happily.

“Uh, Pinkie? Whose side are ya on exactly?” Applejack asked the pink pony.

“I don’t know, hey!” Pinkie exclaimed “How close is she to us?”

“She’s very close,” Kurt replied “I should probably push the throttle a bi-”

“Kurt, I wouldn't do that if I were you.” Twilight interrupted “Rainbow Dash is very competitive, she’s not exactly a good sport about losing. I’d say let her win this one. That is, if she can outfly us at our current speed.”

“Alright then, Twilight, I’ll listen to you.” Kurt replied “If she can fly faster than the speed of sound, then I’ll allow her to win.”

“That’s how fast we’re goin’? Hoo boy, Ah didn’t think we were goin’ that fast!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Well, you’re certainly in for a surprise, Mr. Cloudrunner.” Rarity stated with a slight grin.

“Ooh! A surprise? I love surprises!” Pinkie said joining the conversation “What is it?”

“Oh Pinkie, it wouldn’t be a surprise to you.” Twilight stated shaking her head “I think Rarity means the Sonic Rainboom.”

“Ohhhh!! Silly me, I forgot!” Pinkie said putting a hoof to her head chuckling “Well, it’s not much of a surprise now Twilight! You just said what it is!”

“It doesn’t make that much of a difference Pinkie. I don’t know what this ‘Sonic Rainboom’ is. So in a way, she hasn’t ruined it yet.” Kurt replied trying to reassure Pinkie.

“It’ll still be a surprise to him, Pinkie.” Twilight stated “Trust me.” Kurt noticed Rainbow Dash was no longer in sight of the rear-view camera. He started flicking around on the ship’s targeting system until he found a life-form moving near to the speed of sound located just next to the ship. Outside the ship, Rainbow Dash could see Canterlot in the distance.

“Come on Dash, you can do it! One Sonic Rainboom and you’ve won this thing!” Rainbow said coaching herself again. They would soon arrive at Canterlot. She wasn’t going to allow herself to lose this race. She accelerated just a little more, a Mach cone started forming around Rainbow Dash. Her wings were beating as fast as they would allow and maybe even a little more. She had almost overtaken the ship “Just a little more! COME ON!!!” Rainbow yelled at herself.

“Impressive.” Kurt said looking out the window to see Rainbow Dash neck-and-cockpit with the ship. He observed the cyan pony for a few more seconds when suddenly, a huge explosion appeared where Rainbow Dash had once been flying sending out a rainbow-coloured shockwave through the air. The ship shook violently, making all the ponies who were standing around the cockpit fly into the walls or ceiling. Kurt quickly grasped the controls and leveled out the ship. He then observed the vivid rainbow that stretched across the sky directly towards Canterlot castle. Rainbow Dash no longer appeared on the targeting system.

“Well, that certainly was a surprise.” Kurt said after a few seconds of silence as the ponies got back onto their hooves “What did you say that was called?” He asked Twilight.

“Well, she calls it the ‘Sonic Rainboom’.” Twilight replied.

“Amazing.” Kurt replied “I suppose I’ve lost the race at this point, we may as well get there a little faster now. We wouldn’t want to keep her waiting too long, now would we?” Kurt pushed the throttle to 100% and followed the rainbow to Canterlot Castle.

In the castle garden, Princess Celestia and Luna were having tea and daffodil sandwiches. The air was peaceful and quiet. The only audible sounds were those of conversation and the occasional gentle touch of the Princess’s teacups clinking against their saucers.

“Tell me, sister.” Celestia said while telekinetically setting down her teacup “What has been troubling you recently?” Luna gave her sister a surprised look.

“Nothing’s been troubling me, Tia.” She replied “Why would you think that?” Celestia sighed.

“Sister, please don’t hide things from me. I know something has been bothering you recently.” Luna looked at the table, out of her peripheral vision, she could see Celestia still looking at her patiently awaiting her response “Well, sister?” Luna sighed. She could see there was no getting around this.

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” Luna finally replied looking up at her sister, Celestia smiled back at her. Luna looked to her sister, as if she were awaiting some kind of signal for her to begin speaking.

“Go on, Luna.” Celestia said with a slight chuckle.

“Alright sis.” Luna said at last, she took a breath and exhaled “I’ve been having these dreams recently. Not really dreams, they’re more… Nightmares.” Luna looked to her sister.

“What did you see in the dr-, err, nightmares?” Celestia asked. Luna took another breath. It was clear to Celestia these dreams must have disturbed Luna greatly.

“Well…” Luna started “The nightmares start with you, me and the holders of the Elements of Harmony. The eight of us are gathered in the great hall of the castle. Outside, there are large ships of some kind. They were large, metal and triangular. The size of them blocks out the sun and casts darkness over our land. From them come many smaller ships that were attacking our buildings from the sky. Other ships come down from the sky and leave many humans on the ground to invade our towns and cities. All of them in full white armour and weapons that shoot red beams. They reach our castle. Another man is with them this time. One clad in black armour. He carries with him a weapon, like a sword, except it glows a bright red. Our guards try to fend him off, but he stops them all. Some with his sword, others with… Magic.”

“What happens to you after that?” Celestia asked.

“I’m not sure.” Luna replied “After he enters the room, I see the suffering our people go through under their rule. We no longer have reign over this planet, only that black-armoured man.”

“I see.” Celestia replies calmly “I wouldn’t worry about those dreams, sister. The last time we have interacted with humans was when we were fillies. After our father moved our planet out here, into the far reaches of space, no other species have been able to find us here.”

“But surely they could, couldn’t they?”

“It’s possible but not likely, sister. Don’t worry too much about it, alright?” Luna sighed. She knew Celestia was right; there was no point in getting so worked up over a simple nightmare.

“WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” The calm air of the Princess’s lunch in the garden was interrupted by a scream followed by a large splash in the garden’s pond. A rainbow hung in the air that led to the pond.

“Sister?” Luna asked.

“Yes Luna?” Celestia replied.

“Was that the holder of the Element of Loyalty?”

“Yes it was.” There was a brief silence. Both sisters stood from the table they were sitting at and walked over to the pond to find Rainbow Dash floating in the water looking at the rainbow trail she had left behind.

“Whoa…” Rainbow Dash said to herself, her eyes shifted from the sky to the two alicorns standing at the edge of the pond looking at her “Agh! Err, Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean t-”

“Are you alright Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked.

“I’m fine, but I ju-”

“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, you didn’t do any damage to the garden.” Celestia interrupted, lifting Rainbow Dash telekinetically out of the pond and onto dry land “Now, tell me, what made you fly in here in such a hurry?”

“Well…” Rainbow Dash started. Before she could start her story, a circular shadow covered the garden. Celestia, Luna and Rainbow Dash looked up to see a metal ship preparing to land in the garden.

“Yeah… That thing.” Rainbow Dash said flatly. The princesses stood in awe of the large metal vessel landing in front of them. The air was filled with the loud, whirring sound from the engine of the ship that ceased shortly after it landed. Luna jumped in front of her sister and her horn glowed a bright blue.

“Tia! Rainbow Dash! Leave this place at once! I will hold them off!” She said sharply. A hatch on the ship opened slowly, lowering itself to the ground.

“Luna, there’s n-”

“It was wise of you to bring this threat here, Rainbow Dash. Now I must ask you to leave! I will handle this!” Luna barked back as her horn shone brighter.

“But L-” Rainbow Dash stopped as she saw Pinkie bounce happily out of the ship humming. Luna turned to see Pinkie Pie, Luna’s horn stopped glowing and her mouth went agape.

“Pinkie…? This is your ship?” Luna asked slowly, Celestia stood behind Luna and chuckled.

“What? No silly, this isn’t my ship! It’s his!” Pinkie said pointing a hoof to Kurt who was exiting the ship with the rest of its equine passengers. Luna looked up to see a human standing in front of her. Celestia stepped forward and smiled.

“Greetings, young Jedi knight. What brings you to our world?” Celestia said bowing slightly. Kurt was pleasantly surprised; it seemed that somepony at least had knowledge of his kind.

“Wait a min- Tia! What’s going on?!” Luna asked sharply.

“Luna, calm down. This young man means us no harm.” Celestia replied.

“Princess, what did you call him?” Twilight asked.

“This young man is a Jedi knight, isn’t that right?” Celestia said looking to Kurt.

“Yes, that is correct your majesty. You must be Princess Celestia. My name is Kurt Cloudrunner.” Kurt replied bowing to Celestia.

“Yes, I am Celestia and this is my sister, Luna.” She said gesturing to Luna who once again stood with her mouth agape.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both.” Kurt stated giving a smile. Luna finally regained the ability to speak as well as her basic motor functions.

“How do you know what he is Tia?! How do yo-”

“Luna, you wouldn’t remember the Jedi because you were only a baby. That’s why you don’t have a recollection of when father moved the planet far away from the outer rim or the invasion of the Sith that preceded that.”

“This planet was moved? How?” Asked Kurt “Also, I’ve never seen any of… Your kind, if you will, mentioned in the archives of the Jedi. I’ve never even seen any of your kind before today. Would you please explain these things to me? And the Sith?” Celestia raised a hoof to silence Kurt’s barrage of questions.

“I will tell you everything once we get inside, it would be better to discuss these things elsewhere.” Celestia motioned for everypony to follow her as she left the garden. The seven ponies and human followed Celestia out of the garden and into the castle.

After a short time, they had arrived in a large chamber. The chamber was decorated with several stained-glass murals depicting the history of Equestria. Several of them featured the two princesses. Two of them showed the six ponies Kurt had met outside of Ponyville. In one of these, they were shown standing around a pony that resembled their princess Luna. While in another they were in a creature whose head resembled that of a dragon and the body of different animals. That creature also appeared in another mural with Celestia and Luna. At the end of the chamber was a large double door. Three circles adorned each side of the door. A large sun with a hole in it was in the center. Celestia stood facing the door for a moment. She turned to face the seven ponies and one human who had accompanied her into the chamber.

“Master Cloudrunner, do you remember the Great Galactic War that took place over three thousand years ago?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, I can remember some stories about that war.” Kurt replied.

“Do you remember the Battle of Equii?” She asked with a bit more curiosity in her voice. Kurt paused for a moment.

“I… Can’t say that I do, no.” He replied after his brief silence.

“Good, it would seem the Jedi did hold up their end after all.” Celestia said letting out a small sigh of what Kurt believed to be relief.

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked. Celestia took a breath.

“At the beginning of the Great Galactic War, the first planet that was attacked by the Sith was this planet. The Sith attacked this planet in the hopes of destroying the Elements of Harmony. The Elements of Harmony are amplifiers of what you know as ‘the force’. I’m sure you have sensed it in my little ponies already.”

“Yes, their connection to the force is incredibly powerful.” Kurt replied turning to the six ponies that stood in a line behind him. He turned back to Celestia “But continue your story.”

“Of course,” Celestia replied “Now, the Sith planned to destroy the elements in hopes of crippling the Jedi’s connection to the force, and if possible, strengthening theirs if they could find a way to harness the element’s power.”

“Excuse me princess, but what are… The Sith?” Twilight asked stepping forward.

“I’ll answer this one, princess.” Kurt said turning to Twilight “The Sith are users of the force that use the ‘dark side’ of the force. The dark side is a very addictive side of the force that is, arguably, more powerful than the ‘light side’ that the Jedi, like myself, use. Those who use the dark side of the force are driven by their anger or passion and through use of the dark side, whoever they were before ceases to exist and all that is left of them is a corrupted version of the person they once were.”

“That sounds very familiar…” Twilight said rubbing her chin with a hoof. Pinkie gasped.

“That sounds like what happened when Discord made us all into those grey meanie versions of us!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like!” Twilight replied.

“Who is this Discord?” Kurt asked. Luna pointed a hoof to a mural of the princesses and a dragon-like creature.

“That is Discord.” Luna replied “He is the spirit of chaos. He thrives off the disharmony and suffering of ponies. He has magical powers which allow him to turn the world around him into whatever he desires.”

“Yeah! He made these cotton candy clouds that made it rain chocolate milk! But that wasn’t really a bad thing!” Pinkie interjected. Everypony gave Pinkie a stern look. “Okay, maybe it was a teensy-weensy-itty-bitty bit bad.” Kurt turned to Celestia.

“Do you think Discord was possessed by the dark side of the force?” Kurt asked.

“Well… I’m not sure.” Celestia replied “It’s not important now however. May I continue with my explanation from before?”

“You may.”

“Very well.” Celestia said taking another breath “The Jedi had a strong presence on this planet and they had planned on building a temple here due to our planet’s connection with the ‘light side’ of the force. These facts did not deter the Sith, however. They attacked anyway and nearly defeated the Jedi. That’s when my father and mother wielded the Elements of Harmony and drove the Sith from the planet. At this point however, the Sith had already gravely injured my mother. She passed only minutes after summoning the elements and banishing the Sith from our world. My father told the remaining Jedi to leave the planet and erase all existing information about our kind and any kind of involvement in the galaxy’s history. After the Jedi left, my father used all the magic he could muster and moved this planet from the Outer Rim deep into Wild Space where we could not be found. And here we have lived for thousands of years without any visitors. We too erased all evidence of other species involvement on our planet other than those who were indigenous. A few ponies occasionally tell stories that have been passed down about humans, however those who do tell them are passed off as lunatics for thinking of such, ‘odd’ creatures, compared to us.”

“Wait a minute! So-”

“Aw man, so Lyra was really on to something this whole time?” Rainbow Dash said interrupting Twilight’s exclamation with her own putting a hoof to her head out of guilt.

“More than likely, yes.” Celestia confirmed “You should probably apologise to her for anything you may have said about her. Especially since you have living proof of her being correct.”

“Sister, how come you never told me any of this?” Luna asked.

“I didn’t think it was necessary to burden your mind with such a time in our history. Especially one that according to our history books doesn’t exist.” Celestia replied. "Also, whenever I would try to bring up mother and father in the past, you would stop me before I could speak of them."

“I just have one question.” Kurt stated “Weren’t other ponies spread across the galaxy? Surely there must have been some who had gone to other planets.” Celestia shook her head.

“Nopony ever left this planet. Not even my parents left. My father made strict laws about ponies leaving this planet. From what it sounds like, seeing as you’ve never seen our kind, his laws were upheld quite well.” Kurt shrugged and nodded.
“So, what is your position on me staying here?” Kurt asked.

“You haven’t told us about how you managed to get here or any of the circumstances. Please enlighten us.” Celestia replied. Everypony looked intently at Kurt.

“Throughout the galaxy for the past few years, there has been war. The conflict has been dubbed ‘the Clone Wars’. This is because of the Republic’s army being made up of clone soldiers. The Republic was at war with the Separatists for four years. Each side struggled to take or hold control of their planets. Only a handful of Sith remain in the galaxy. And now even less Jedi, who numbered in the hundreds, must have dropped into single digits at the most. Today everything changed…”

Kurt proceeded to tell the eight ponies about the events that had unfolded in his life that day. When Kurt spoke of his friend Jason, he struggled to hold back tears yet again. He told them everything that had taken place up until when he entered the atmosphere of their planet.

“… Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. Please, all I ask of you is to allow me to stay in this land of Equestria for the remainder of my days, and if fate sees fit, the day when the Jedi can rise against the Sith once again.” Kurt said kneeling before the princesses.

“I don’t see any reason why he can’t stay here.” Luna said to her sister.

“Nor do I.” She replied “Master Cloudrunner, we grant you permission to stay in Equestria for as long as you please.” Kurt smiled.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia and Luna.” Kurt said.

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight spoke as she moved towards her “Can Kurt stay with me at the Ponyville library? I’m sure he’ll be able to learn plenty about ponykind if he stays with me.” Celestia chuckled.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?” She said gesturing to Kurt. He chuckled lightly.

“Twilight, I’d be happy to accept your generous offer. Thank you very much.” He said with a smile.

“You girls know what this means don’t you?” Pinkie asked grinning “It means we have to have a welcome to Ponyville party for Kurt!!!” She exclaimed jumping into the air as streamers and confetti exploded from behind the pony. Kurt had found a new place to call home…