“And that’s how the war began!” Bob had just finished explaining how the Republic joined the war. Hunter walked down the ramp with a scared Dinky in his arms. The other ponies gasped in surprise.

“Who is that?” Luna asked. Rainbow squinted and flew up to Hunter.

“Looks like Ditsy Do’s kid.” Hunter put Dinky down on the ground carefully. Dinky was still scared for her life. “What are you doing here kid?” Dinky looked up at everyone and swallowed air.

“I- I wanted to see the ship. It looked so cool.” Dinky gave a weak smile, hoping she wouldn’t get into trouble. Hunter looked at her and shook his head.

“Does this mean we’re at war, Hunter?” Celestia asked with a chuckle. Hunter sighed.

“No. It just means I have to set up a warning system.” Hunter kneeled down next to Dinky. “Listen, kid. I don’t want you on that ship anymore. Only me and the droid. Okay?” Dinky looked down and sighed.

“Yes, Mister Alien.” Hunter nodded, stood up, and turned to Celestia.

“I have the communications array back up and running, but it’ll have to charge for a while before the long range communicator works.” Celestia smiled and asked,

“Will any energy do?” Celestia charged up her horn and sent a beam of energy to the ship. Hunter and Bob stepped back in surprise. Hunter looked down at a tablet that had ship info on it. The array was fully charged and ready to talk to anyone.

“Wow.” Was all that Hunter could say.

“Agreed.” Bob said. Hunter shook his head and started typing things into his tablet.

“Sending a transmission to Coruscant now.”

“The Republic Capital?” Rarity asked.

“You’ve all been reading? Good. Don’t need to explain a lot of things then.” Hunter ran aboard the ship and pulled out a “Holopad”. It could show Holographic images of the people the caller calls. “I’m going to try and get in touch with High Command. This first contact would go a lot better if official Republic Representatives did the contacting.” Celestia smiled.

“I don’t know. Besides a few bumps here and there, you’re doing alright.” Hunter chuckled.

“Trust me, ma’am. You’d want a Jedi over me any day of the week.” The communicator started to bleep. “Looks like they’re picking up.” An image flashed on the projector of another Clone Trooper. Twilight tried to close her mouth, but she was still amazed. This transmission was coming from the center of the galaxy. Her world just became that much bigger. The Clone on the other end began to speak.

“CT-6547, we’re receiving you. What happened to you?” Hunter cleared his throat.

“Sir, we were investigating a gravitational anomaly when our ship was struck by rogue meteors.” Luna’s head sunk a bit when she heard that. “I lost my co-pilot when the ship began the descent into the atmosphere.”

“Blazer’s dead? He was a good kid.” The Clone shook his head. Hunter nodded.

“Yes sir. After crash landing the ship, I tried to set up a perimeter, I encountered local wildlife and had to engage. This caused me to accidentally meet the local civilization.” Hunter increased the scope of what the Clone could see. He saw all the ponies there.

“You met . . . cattle?” the Clone asked. All the ponies huffed at the unintended insult.

“They’re quadrupeds sir. And they appear to be force sensitive.” Hunter pointed to Celestia and Luna. “These two, ‘ponies’, with me are the leaders.” The Clone shook his head.

“You’ve appeared to skip a few steps with first contact, 6547.” Celestia stepped forward.

“Please, soldier. I’d like to speak with the leadership as soon as possible.” The Clone shook his head.

“I don’t understand her, 6547. Could you interpret?” Twilight stepped forward toward the terminal.

“I think I can transmit the knowledge of Equis into the machine. Would that make him understand?” Hunter stroked his chin.

“That just might work. Give it a try.” Twilight’s horn shined with a purple light. She blasted the machine.

“Can you understand me now, soldier?” Celestia asked. The Clone nodded.

“Did you fill the translator with your language? That should have taken hours.” Hunter nodded.

“Long story sir. Regardless, you can understand them now, right?”

“Yes.” The Clone pulled a tablet out and typed into it. “We’ll have linguists analyze the language at once.” Celestia cleared her throat.

“Well, now that the language issue has been cleared up, I’d like to speak to someone in the leadership.” The Clone shook his head.

“I can’t get anyone from the Senate immediately.” The Clone stroked the chin of his helmet. “But I might be able to get a Jedi. And one might be readily available!” The Clone typed into the Tablet a bit more. “I’m going to speak with the Jedi. I’ll call back in a moment.” The holopad turned off. Celestia turned to Hunter.

“Do Jedi really have the responsibility to speak to new planets?” Celestia had been a creature of being all knowing. To not know was very exciting for her.

“The Jedi are guardians of the galaxy!” Everyone turned to Dinky. She immediately shrunk down again. “They defend the Republic. That’s what the machine said at least.” Hunter nodded.

“Right. They speak on behalf of the Senate in some cases.” The communicator started to blink. Hunter activated it. The Clone appeared once again.

“Good news, I’ve got a Jedi Master on the line. I’ll patch him through now.” The image started to fizzle. A small creature took the Clone’s place. The ponies looked confused, while Hunter gasped.

“Ma- Master Yoda!” While Hunter had never even seen Master Yoda, he knew OF him. A leading member of the Jedi, Yoda was perhaps one of the greatest Jedi who had ever lived.

“Hmm.” Yoda hummed. “From the Republic, I send greetings.”

“Greetings, Master Yoda.” Celestia spoke regally. One had to in a situation like this. “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria.” Yoda smiled.

“Princess, an honor it is.” While Yoda and Celestia conversed, Rainbow Dash poked Hunter in the side.

“Hey,” she whispered. “Why is he talking so funny?” Hunter shrugged.

“No one knows. It’s just how he talks.”

“Trooper.” Hunter snapped at attention when Yoda called him.

“Yes sir!” Yoda chuckled a little.

“Relax, trooper. A request I have for you.”

“Yes sir!” Hunter replied. Hunter would follow the command of a Jedi to the letter. The only power with more authority was the Chancellor of the Republic.

“Friends with Equestria the Republic would like to be. Up to you to ensure safety of leadership it is.” Hunter nodded and saluted the Jedi Master.

“I understand, Master Yoda, sir!” Hunter turned to Celestia and bowed. “Princess, I am at your command.” Celestia bowed in return.

“I thank you for your services, Hunter.” Celestia turned to Yoda. “But I do not need further protection than I already have.” Yoda closed his eyes and hummed. Dinky stepped forward and looked at Yoda. One would see a green creature small enough to be a young little pony. Dinky saw a wizard that appeared far wiser than even Celestia. Yoda looked at Dinky, who in turn gasped. Yoda nodded and laughed. “However, I’d like to suggest Hunter protects the newest princess of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked surprised, but she walked to the hologram.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, Master Yoda.” Yet another reminder of her position. Twilight sighed inwardly. Yoda smiled.

“A valid suggestion this is.” Yoda looked back over to Celestia. “Protect you,” Yoda looked over to Hunter, “Hunter will, until we arrive.” Celestia bowed her head. “May the Force be with you.” The hologram flicked back to the Clone.

“With the war as it is, we won’t be able to send anyone out there for quite a while.” The Clone tapped on his tablet to transfer information to Hunter. “You’re charged with defending the royalty. Any and all threats must be stopped. Is that understood?” Hunter looked at the tablet. The information stated that Hunter was no longer a part of the Surveillance Corp. Rather, he was a full fledged soldier. CT-6547, nickname: ‘Hunter’, tasked with defending Equestrian Royalty. Hunter’s shoulders slumped. His old life was over. Now, he was a guard. Hunter stood at attention and saluted.

“Yes sir! As ordered sir.”

“At ease, soldier.” Hunter relaxed. “You’re also being advanced to the rank of lieutenant to reflect your new position.” The Clone looked up from his pad. “Congratulations.” He said dismissively. So the rank means nothing out here then. Hunter thought. “If you can, render repairs to your ship.” Hunter looked over at his ship. Without the proper tools, it was going to take quite a while. “I also don’t need to remind you to write field reports. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” The Clone saluted. “Good luck. Command out.” The holocommunicator turned off. Everyone stood there with shock.

“THIS IS SO AWESOME!” Pinkie cried out. “More aliens that are friendly!” Pinkie gasped deeply. “A party must be planned! The First Contact Party will have to be mixed in with it.” Pinkie trotted to Hunter. “Is that okay, Hunter?” Hunter struggled with his words.

“Um. I suppose?” Pinkie laughed and bounced around.

“I can’t wait!” Pinkie rushed towards town. “I have to begin planning right away!” Pinkie then disappeared. Celestia and Luna walked over to Hunter.

“Do you require help with your ship? This is hardly the place to render repairs.” Luna looked around the forest. It wouldn’t be long until the creatures came back. And in greater number. Hunter sighed and looked at his ship.

“You’re right, ma’am. I need to move it to a place with decent cover.” Hunter stroked the chin of his helmet.

“Would a barn do?” Applejack suggested. Hunter turned around.

“How big of a farm do you have?” While the ship wasn’t as big as most other starships, it was still quite large. Applejack gave a long hmm.

“We have an older barn a long ways away from the farm. We were going to tear it down. But it should be in good enough condition to keep your um- ship intact.” Applejack smiled. Hunter nodded.

“Problem is, I don’t know how we’re going to get the ship over-” A loud sound made Hunter turn around. Celestia and Luna had lifted up the ship and flew in the air with it. “Wha?” Hunter asked in disbelief.

“Applejack?” Luna asked. “Where is the barn?” Applejack grinned.

“About five miles south of the southern orchard.” Luna landed.

“Hop on to my back. You’ll need to direct us.” Applejack hopped on while Twilight loaded the holocommunicator and Bob on to the ship. Bob waved.

“Don’t worry, Hunter!” Bob called out. “I’ll set up the security system so no one gets in! See you soon!” Celestia and Luna floated away with the ship. Hunter fell on his butt.

“That’s incredible.” Hunter watched at they flew away in the distance. Twilight laughed.

“They are two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria.” Twilight trotted over to Dinky. “Now I believe it’s time for you to be going home.” Dinky was still stunned at everything that happened. She shook her head to concentrate.

“Do I have to? I want to learn more!” Dinky ran up to Hunter. “You’ve got to tell me more!” Hunter looked down at the small filly. He stood up.

“I’ll tell you what I can. But you have to get home.” Hunter look over to Twilight. Twilight smiled.

“Why don’t you take her home. I still have to get your guest room ready.” She looked over to Spike. “Want to help me get our new roommate’s room ready?” Spike smiled.

“Sure.” Spike looked over to Hunter. “As long as he doesn’t eat me.” Hunter was glad he had a helmet on. Nobody would be able to count how many times he rolled his eyes.

“Ma’am, I’ve been assigned to protect you. I better-” Twilight held up a hoof.

“There’s hardly any danger for me. But for a little filly, the danger is far more real.” Twilight picked Spike up and put him on her back. “We’ll see you back at the Library. You remember right?” Hunter nodded. Spike whispered into Twilight’s ear.

“You’re sending him away so we can get the place clean, right?”

“Oh yeah.” Twilight smiled and disappeared into the woods, followed by the rest of her friends. Hunter looked down at Dinky who had a wide grin on her face.

“Let’s get you home then- um…” Hunter realized he didn’t really know her name.

“Dinky Do!” She laughed. “I’m sorry for being trouble for you, Mr. Hunter.” Hunter smiled. Dinky was just a kid after all.

“No trouble, kid. Lead the way, and I’ll keep you safe.” Dinky smiled and walked down a path that led back to Ponyville. Hunter looked back at the woods. Something was changing. It felt a bit more natural. He was glad he didn’t have to disturb a place like this any longer. They left, and as they did a sense of stillness overtook the area. Though many creatures roamed the area, silence ruled.

Author's Note

And there we go! Another one up before Valentine's Day. Hope you all enjoy it. Be sure to comment below and discuss things.