Star Wars: The Friendship Unleashed

“Aw come on Kurt!” Rainbow Dash shouted while she hovered in the air a few feet in front of him. “We’ve been your students for nearly ten years! How come we can’t be knights yet?! It isn’t fair and you know it!”

“Rainbow, please,” Said Twilight “You can’t talk to our master like that! Just be calm.” Rainbow flew in front of the purple mare and glared at her.

“Aw come on Twilight! You know you want to be knight too! Don’t lie to me!” She snapped. Twilight blushed in embarrassment.

“I-- I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She said looking away from her pegasus friend “I would neve-”

“Twilight, Rainbow, that’s enough.” Kurt spoke as he stepped forward “I know both of you want to become knights, especially you Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow scoffed.

“No kidding.” She replied “So when do we get promoted?”

“Rainbow, you will refer to me as master,” He said shaking a finger at her “Why must I tell you this every day? Also, I do not know when you will be promoted.” Rainbow growled at Kurt.

“Well why not? Don’t you just have to put us through the Trials? We’re more than ready for them! You know that!”

“Don’t be so sure of yourself, my young padawan. How can you be so sure all of your companions are ready?”

“What the hay do you mean?! Don’t you remember how Pinkie handed your butt to you on a silver platter the other day?!”

“Rainbow, we were sparring! Not trying to kill each other! Of course Kurt would go easier on us than if we were actually fighting!” Twilight interjected.

“Alright then! Fine!” Rainbow said flying over to the door of the library and opened it “If you were holding back this whole time, why don’t you show me just what you can do?!” Rainbow Dash flew out the door, leaving a rainbow where she stood. Twilight sighed.

“Master, forgive me for her behaviour.” Twilight said “Also, if you don’t think I’m ready to face the Trials, I under-”

“Twilight, I believe you and your friends are all ready for the Trials.” Kurt said interrupting Twilight “However, I do not know the means by which to put you through them.”

“But… Why? Didn’t you face them?” She asked.

“I did face them, my student.” Kurt replied “However, I did not face them in the same manner as the majority of Jedi did. I faced them through battles I took place in throughout the galaxy rather than under the supervision of the council. That is why I am not sure how to put you and the others through the Trials when I do not know what the council would do when putting padawans through them.”

“But surely you must know what one must do in order to pass them.”

“In that case, go find the nearest battlefield and defeat an army of one thousand hostile foot soldiers by yourself.” Kurt replied flatly, Twilight frowned and hung her head “I’m sorry Twilight, but until I find a way to test you and your friends, I cannot promote you to the rank of knight.” Kurt walked towards the library door.

“Master, where are you going?” Twilight asked.

“To teach Rainbow Dash a lesson.”

“But mas-”

“Don’t worry Twilight, I won’t hurt her.” He replied walking out the door waving a hand to her.

“Ugh… They’re both so brash…” Twilight said to herself closing the door with the force rather than her magic.

The late afternoon sky was a dim orange, it wasn’t quite sundown yet, but it was close, only an hour left until Celestia’s day would be replaced by Luna’s night. As Kurt walked down the streets of Ponyville following the rainbow trail left behind by his student, his mind was racing with questions.

Where and how could I properly test their skill? He asked himself. Surely not through fighting me, I’m getting close to being an old man. They’d gain nothing by it. Also, we've all sparred together so many times, there's no point to it. Kurt thought as he stroked his greying beard. His once blonde hair was now a mix of silver and blonde. His face was also starting to wrinkle.

I could send them into the Everfree Forest for a few days I suppose. He thought. It seems logical; the forest is home to a great many beasts and could easily serve as a means to go through the Trials. If only I had a goal for them other than to defend themselves from any monsters they find. Kurt sighed. His once viable method was now useless until he could find a proper mission for them.

Kurt continued following the rainbow out of Ponyville, he passed his ship, giving it a nod as if to acknowledge it. The ship had not been used in several weeks. It was still used whenever Kurt would need to go to Cloudsdale or Canterlot or generally anywhere far outside of Ponyville. A few years back, he had taught Spike how to fly the ship. He wasn’t sure how often Spike took the ship for a fly-around, but Kurt knew that Spike loved flying it. He seemed to love it almost as much as he loved eating gemstones.

After a few more minutes of walking, Kurt had reached the grassy field where he would hold sparring matches with his students. The evening sky was a bright orange and the sun hung just slightly over the horizon. Across from Kurt hovered Rainbow Dash, her lightsaber switched on and held in her fore-hooves, the blade’s cyan colour almost matching the colour of the mare’s coat. Her expression was one of complete determination, one that showed how much she wanted to prove to her master that she was ready to face the Trials of the Jedi. Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash, her master already knew that she was ready.

“Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to fight me.” Kurt stated.

“Well too bad! I want to fight you!” She shouted in reply. Kurt sighed, dropping his cloak to the ground and taking his lightsaber from his belt.

“I suppose there’s no convincing you otherwise.” He said switching on his lightsaber, revealing the glowing green blade “If you can get my lightsaber away from me, you win. If I get yours away from you, I win” His student smirked and chuckled, closing her eyes and landing on the ground softly.

“You will try.” She said flatly.

A rainbow burst erupted from where she had been hovering and a streak of cyan flew towards Kurt who jumped to his right, landing on his stomach after avoiding what would have been a painful attack to survive through. Kurt hopped to his feet and looked around to see Rainbow Dash flying towards him from above; he quickly sidestepped as the pegasus made a loud stomp on the ground upon landing. She turned on her lightsaber and flew towards Kurt with it, slashing away as fast as she could at him. Kurt blocked every blow while attempting to hold one position on the ground, but to no avail as he was forced to move back with each attack.

Rainbow’s onslaught of quick slashes continued, instead of speeding up, she was slowing down now, she was getting tired. Kurt kept blocking until he was able to knock Rainbow Dash back slightly with a well-timed parry which caused her to grab her lightsaber with both hooves to prevent it from slipping out of her hoof and fly back a bit. Kurt turned off his lightsaber and held back both his arms. Rainbow Dash turned to face Kurt again only to see him thrust his arms forward, sending her flying backwards across the field. Kurt ran after her, seeing her fall to the ground several meters away, she sprung to her hooves switching her lightsaber on again.

Kurt was on the offensive now, using strong swings at a moderate pace in an attempt to knock Rainbow’s lightsaber away from her. The strong swings were working, albeit not as well as Kurt would have hoped. The attacks were making her tired, but they were having the same effect on Kurt. Rainbow Dash blocked one strong swing that came from Kurt’s right, stepping into the blow as she blocked it sending Kurt off balance. She dashed around Kurt in a circle and taking to the air, leaving a tall and rainbow coloured flame in place of the circle she had run around Kurt.

Rainbow Dash took to the sky above her trapped master. She then flew down towards the center of the ring of fire on the ground at top speed, using gravity to help her speedy descent towards Kurt. Kurt floated himself a few inches above the ground and curled himself into a ball. Rainbow Dash closed in on Kurt, hardly seconds away from impact. Suddenly, Kurt outstretched his limbs and a burst of energy erupted from him, sending Rainbow Dash hurtling through the air screaming.

Kurt’s feet touched the ground again. The rainbow fire that had surrounded him had been put out leaving only scorched ground where it had previously been. A soft thud came from Kurt’s left. It was Rainbow’s lightsaber. Kurt smiled to himself. He was quite proud that he still had his skill, although he needed to work on his endurance. He was getting old, so that was something he had to cope with. He picked up the lightsaber and walked off to find Rainbow Dash. After only a couple minutes, he found the cyan pegasus lying on the grass, looking up at the clouds blankly. Her gaze shifted over to Kurt, she looked to Kurt’s left hand where her lightsaber was held loosely.

“Aw horse-apples…” She stated, she sighed heavily and moved her gaze back to the clouds “I was hoping it was just in the grass somewhere around here…”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Kurt started “I simply needed to get this out of your hoof, remember?” He sat down next to his student on the grass, holding out her lightsaber for her. She took it and put it beside her on the ground.

“So, I guess I’m not cut out to be a knight then…” She said with another sigh.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m certain that you and the others are all ready to become knights, I just need a proper way to test it.” Rainbow Dash thought for a moment.

“Could fighting you be a way?” She asked. Kurt chuckled as he lay back on the grass.

“No, I’m afraid beating an old man wouldn’t be much of a challenge.” Kurt replied.

“Aw come on, I couldn’t beat you! It must be a real challenge if I can’t do it!”

“You weren’t trying to kill me. If you were, you just might have won the fight.” Rainbow Dash sat up on her haunches.

“Why would I try to kill you? I’d never do something like that!”

“I know that, my student. You are the most loyal of my students, although you may be hard-headed at times, you are still the student I am most proud of. I forsee you will become a powerful Jedi, possibly even more powerful than Twilight.” Kurt replied smiling, Rainbow Dash blushed.

“Oh, come on Kurt, you’re just saying that.”

“Yes, that's true.” Kurt said as he looked away. He turned back to Rainbow, looking at her with a smirk. She hit him with a hoof on the shoulder. Kurt rubbed his shoulder, feigning a pain that wasn’t there. Rainbow Dash broke out in laughter which Kurt joined in.

The two watched the sun set over the trees on the other side of the field. Now Luna’s night had begun. Trillions of stars shone in the night sky, dimly lighting where the master and student lay talking.

“It’s getting kinda late, we should probably go before the others come looking for us.” Rainbow suggested.
“That’s a good idea. By now, they probably think we’ve killed each other.” Kurt said standing up.

“Hey,” Rainbow started as she stood up “Let’s go to Fluttershy’s. She’s pretty close by, you wanna go?”

“Sure, why not?” Kurt said in agreement.

The two took a ten minute walk to Fluttershy’s house. Upon reaching the house, they found the lights all turned off. Either she wasn’t home or she was asleep.

“Well, time to break ‘n enter.” Rainbow said as she flapped her wings, lifting herself off the ground.

“Rainbow Dash, what do you think you’re doing?” Kurt asked as Rainbow Dash flew up to Fluttershy’s window. Inside, she could see the yellow pegasus fast asleep in her bed.

“I’m waking her up, of course.” Rainbow replied as she distanced herself from the window. After a few moments, she sped towards the closed window at top speed. Kurt used the force and grabbed Rainbow's tail stopping her inches from the window. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Okay, fine, you win." She said "Can you let go of me now?" Kurt obliged and allowed Rainbow Dash to move around again. She flew to the ground and landed softly.

“Oh well, so much for hanging out with Fluttershy.” Said Rainbow “Come on, let’s go.” She turned and headed towards Ponyville. Kurt started to follow her, but something felt horribly out of place to him.

“Rainbow Dash, wait.” He said stopping in his tracks “Do you sense it?”

“Sense what?” She asked.

“Something… In the forest… Something powerful.” He replied.

“The Everfree forest is full of monsters, Kurt.”

“No, not those, it’s something bigger. Whatever it is, it’s deep in the forest.” Kurt took a step towards the tree-line “Rainbow Dash, go home. I need to find the source of this.”

“By yourself?” She asked “It’s too dangerous!” Kurt stopped and turned to face his student.

“I’ll be fine Rainbow Dash, don’t worry about me. I bid you farewell, and, good night.” Kurt said as he disappeared into the forest. Rainbow wanted to shout to her master and tell him to come back. But she held her tongue, she knew he would be fine. He was strong, even though he was getting old, the forest wouldn’t claim him tonight. She decided to obey her master’s request after a few moments of hoping he would return and headed for Ponyville. She took to the night sky.

“Be safe…” She said quietly, she knew he wouldn’t hear it, but she needed to say it to put her mind at ease.

Kurt walked through the Everfree forest. The sounds of the creatures that lived inside stalked him wherever he walked. He followed the source of this dark power he had sensed outside the forest. As he walked he wondered how he had never sensed it until now. He had been to Fluttershy’s house on several occasions. He had also been inside the forest a few times. He had never sensed this dark presence before however. It scared him.

After about an hour of trekking through the forest, Kurt had reached the source of this dark presence. It emanated from an old and abandoned castle. Kurt made his way inside the castle. The first room Kurt entered seemed to be the throne room. The room looked like it had been the site of a huge battle. Windows had been shattered, statues broken, walls broken, cracked and stained with what seemed to be laser blasts. The dark side was strong here. Kurt looked back to what Princess Celestia had told him about her father and the battle with the Sith that had occurred on this planet before it had been moved far beyond the outer rim. Kurt could almost see and hear the battle that had taken place here.

Kurt closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them the room no longer looked abandoned. It was pristine and clean. Red and gold banners hung down from the ceiling. The windows were no longer broken and there was no rubble or broken statues adorning the floor. On the floor was a long red carpet that led to the throne. In front of the throne, he saw a large number of Jedi knights standing in a defensive formation. Behind the Jedi stood a black-coated alicorn with a bright orange mane that reminded Kurt of the evening sky. The alicorn was wearing golden armour with a red symbol.

“This is it men!” One of the Jedi at the front of the group shouted. “Protect the royals with your lives! Hold off the Sith until the elements can be used!”

Suddenly, Kurt heard the large wooden door of the room crash open. Sith warriors charged through the large doorway and ran towards the defending Jedi. The battle raged on, the Sith and Jedi were locked in battle in every corner of the throne room. A rainbow of lightsabers clashed against one another in fierce conflict. One Sith jumped out of the main battle and attempted to kill the King but was defeated when the alicorn lit the Sith on fire and threw him out of the closest window with his magic. The king continued firing bolts of magic at the Sith warriors. The majority of the Sith were able to deflect the bolts or stop them using the force however. From behind the king, Kurt saw another alicorn appear; however this particular one was a filly. Her coat was white and she had a flowing pink mane. The filly tugged at the older alicorn’s leg. The filly seemed to be yelling at the older one. Kurt couldn’t hear what she was saying over the sounds of battle around him however. The alicorn picked up the filly by the scruff of her neck in his teeth and galloped out of the room with her, narrowly avoiding a thrown red lightsaber that flew back to its owner like a boomerang.

Kurt followed the alicorns out of the room, leaving the battle behind him. He ducked out of the way as he saw a Jedi thrown towards him and planted in the wall. Kurt knew that it was only a hallucination, but everything he saw and heard seemed incredibly real. Kurt followed the galloping alicorn into a bedroom. He saw a Sith standing over a white alicorn with a dark red mane who clutched a dark blue baby alicorn against herself. The king alicorn put down Celestia softly and then stomped his hoof heavily on the ground. The Sith turned to face the king.

“Well, isn’t this a treat?” Chuckled the Sith “I get all four of you all to myself! All four! I’ll definitely be promoted to a master when I finish you!” The Sith rushed at the king with his lightsaber drawn, activating both blades, one blade was orange and the other yellow. The king took out his own lightsaber using his magic revealing a white blade and swung at the attacking Sith who clashed with it, attempting to overpower the king’s magical hold on the lightsaber.

“Go! Quickly!” The king shouted to the other alicorns. The others ran out of the room. The Sith thrust his hand towards the door they had escaped through and sent a bolt of red lightning towards it, missing the alicorns. He snarled in frustration.

“You’ll pay for that!” The Sith said angrily. He thrusted his free hand towards the king, sending him back with a powerful push. The door behind the king burst into splinters as he crashed through it. The Sith leapt towards him, bringing one of the blades of his lightsaber down on him in a stabbing motion. The King picked his lightsaber back up and swung again, slicing the Sith’s lightsaber in two, making the lightsaber switch off for good. The Sith flinched in surprise and growled angrily when he could not reactivate his weapon. The alicorn gave the Sith a buck to the chest which sent him back into the bedroom, hitting the wall at the other end of the room. The Sith coughed up some blood into his hand as the black alicorn approached him with his lightsaber at the ready.

“NOOOO!!” Shouted the Sith as he thrust both hands forward sending red lightning bolts at the king, making his lightsaber fly out of his magical grip. The Sith then sent the lightning at the king who was now defenseless. Kurt watched in horror, wanting to intervene and save the king from certain death. The Sith stood back up laughing maniacally, lifting the king into the air with the force as he continued to electrocute him.

“Celestia no! Come back here!” A female voice shouted. A small white filly ran through the doorway which she had previously escaped through and tackled the Sith warrior, sending him to the ground with the filly. The king slumped to the ground in pain, still twitching occasionally from being electrocuted. The filly got on top of the Sith and started hitting his head with her hooves as hard as she could between her tears.

“STOP HURTING MY DADDY! STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!” She shouted as she pummeled the Sith with her tiny hooves. The Sith growled and grabbed the filly by the throat and threw her off of him into a dresser on the other side of the room. She fell to the ground after smacking into the dresser with a loud whack and a yelp. The Sith stood again, blood pouring from his nose and his right eye slightly swollen and bruised. Celestia cringed as the Sith walked towards her.

“Oh don’t worry, little girl.” He said “I’m not going to hurt your daddy anymore…” An evil grin adorned his face as he levitated the king’s lightsaber into his hand “In fact, he won’t even feel a thing… And neither will you!” He raised the lightsaber above Celestia, cackling maniacally.

“CELESTIA!” Screamed a female voice as a large white alicorn jumped in between Celestia and the Sith who was about to swing his lightsaber.

“ENOUGH!” Shouted the Sith who proceeded to lift the alicorn into the air and throw her across the room into the wall. He then sent the king’s lightsaber into the alicorn’s stomach impaling her. She tried to scream, but no sound came from her voice as the lightsaber was pulled out of her. She fell to the ground as the lightsaber came back to the Sith’s hand.

“Now DIE!” Shrieked the Sith as he raised his lightsaber above Celestia again. Suddenly the Sith burst into flames, making him drop the lightsaber to the floor as he screamed in pain. A dark red aura surrounded the burning Sith as he was lifted off the ground. The king levitated his lightsaber in front of the Sith, switching it on making the blade impale him immediately. The king then threw him out of the nearest window and into the courtyard below, leaving the lightsaber stuck through the Sith.

The king gasped for breath as he collapsed onto the floor. In front of him sat Celestia who nuzzled his neck. He smiled. His daughter was safe. Something suddenly struck him. He frantically looked over to his queen who lay bleeding on the floor.

“No… No…” He said to himself as he dragged himself over to his wife. Celestia got up and ran over to her mother.

“Mommy?” She asked, the alicorn gave no response, her breathing was faint “Mommy, get up! Please mommy!”

“Tia…” She uttered “Mommy… Mommy will… Be… Okay…” Three unicorns entered the room.

“Your highness! Are you alr-” Asked one of the unicorns who stopped when they looked to their queen.

“Queen Faust! King Dusk!” The unicorn exclaimed “Get the doctor! Quickly!” The unicorn ordered to the other two. The king and queen looked to each other and smiled at one another even though they were in great pain.

Suddenly a white glow enveloped the king and queen. The two lifted off the ground, their eyes emitted white light as a rainbow coloured energy enveloped everything around them. Kurt shielded his eyes from the bright light…

When Kurt opened them again, he found himself in an abandoned bedroom. It was bare except for the pieces of broken glass on the floor and a large and broken stone block that sat on the floor beneath a gaping hole in the ceiling of the room. Kurt rubbed his eyes wondering what made him see all of this. After a moment, he decided to resume searching the castle.

Kurt exited the room and continued exploring the castle. Every room was practically the same. No furniture, broken glass and missing chunks of the walls, ceilings or floors. Kurt entered a chamber with a large stone monument. On the monument sat six stone spheres. Each stone had a coloured emblem on it. The emblems reminded Kurt of his student’s cutie marks. In this room he sensed the dark presence far less than in the rest of the castle. He looked through a missing section of the wall and saw a tower in the distance. Kurt decided to make his way there.

After several flights of stairs, he reached a room at the top of a tower. Across the room were several pieces of broken armour. The dark presence was completely absent from this room. Kurt went to examine the broken armour more closely. Suddenly, Kurt saw Princess Celestia appear next to him. He gave a small bow.

“Princess, what is this pl-”

“Princess Luna.” She spoke. Kurt shook his head, he looked to the other end of the room noticing Princess Luna who lay on the floor near the broken armour. Luna gasped as she recognised her sister’s voice “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this.” Luna cringed as her sister drew nearer and sat in front of her “Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?” Celestia asked as she stood back up. Luna continued to cower in front of her. Luna looked up at her sister, then to the floor. She was on the brink of tears, she looked back to her sister and jumped to her hooves, bounding over to Celestia.

“I’m so sorry!” Luna said, with tears streaming from her eyes as she nuzzled Celestia’s neck “I missed you so much, big sister!” Celestia’s eyes had tears in them as well now.

“I’ve missed you too…” She replied. The visions of the two princesses faded away.

“Pray tell, Kurt,” Luna’s voice echoed through the room “What brings you here to my father’s home?” Kurt looked around the room to find Princess Luna standing behind him.

“Good evening, Princess.” Kurt began “I sensed a presence in this place. The presence of the dark side of the force, I came to investigate the cause of it.”

“Have thou found the source?”

“No, not yet.” Kurt replied “However, this room, doesn't have the dark presence in it.”

“I see…” Luna said with a bit of concern in her voice “This place has been abandoned for several thousand years. Ever since our father died, this place has held an evil presence within it ever since. It corrupted the forest surrounding this place, turning it into a home for every beast imaginable.” Luna kicked a few pebbles that lay on the floor of the room “This is the final resting place of my mother and father. I hate the fact that their home has become home to so many abominations. If you could, Master Kurt, please purge this place of the evil that has plagued it for so many years. Please Kurt, you’re the only hope this place has.” Kurt turned away from Luna for a moment. His mind raced.

He knew he couldn’t do this. He was getting too old, too old and too weak. He knew that and had come to terms with it. He thought of Rainbow Dash, she would do whatever it took, regardless of her knowledge of the situation. She was loyal to her friends, and to the princesses, and to Kurt. Suddenly Kurt had an idea.

“I cannot do it.” He stated “However, I know some ponies who can.” He said with a grin appearing on his face.

“Who?” Luna asked.

“My students, of course.” Kurt replied still grinning. Kurt was going to allow his students to take up this task. They were all more than capable. This mission would certainly prove that they are worthy of being called Jedi Knights. Tomorrow they would purge the evil that has consumed the old castle for several millennia…