The empire was not the one to discover them. Kind jedi found the small planet of Equestria in a secluded portion of the transitory mists, a portion of the galaxy that is difficult to traverse and home to the Hapan Consortium, a kingdom built by pirates. In the system were various planets, all rich in minerals and gasses that the rest of the galaxy would make large profits from if given the chance. The jedi however feared what might happen if the world was made known to the galaxy, especially since a sith apprentice was recently found and defeated. So, they came up with a different plan.
Landing on the planet, the jedi were surprised for various reasons. First, there was a lack of fear amongst the indigenous race. The populace had only just reached the farthest planet in their system and had a budding space port, and yet they reacted to the jedi and their ships with curiosity and kindness, a reaction unlike any the jedi had read of prior. The many faces, and the bodies attached, were close to those of humans except that they were covered in fur, had equine ears, furry tails, and hooves for feet.
Then came the second realization for the jedi. The “ponies” ,as they chose to refer to themselves as, came in four variations, and each of these variations came in every shape and color. Having found this place while on a secret mission, no one came looking for the jedi as they overcame the language boundaries and became acquainted with the different races amongst the ponies.
First, there were the unicorns. They seemed to be the race that led in the intellectual endeavors of the race, although there were exceptions. The most remarkable characteristic was that they could all use telekinesis and others had more powerful abilities. One was brought in with the specific ability to link minds with others but without the ability to read memories or invade. The jedi thought that they had found a race that produced force users by the hundreds, but most were far more limited and lacked the force sensitivity of someone who could become a jedi.
Unicorns, with their glowing horns, weren’t the only race here that shined particularly brightly in the force though. Pegasi, a winged race that flew through the skies, were quite the oddity to the jedi. The wings weren’t the right size, the air sacs inside them weren’t big enough, and they weighed too much for flight to be possible. Yet, day after day, the jedi watched them take flight. They rejoiced in the freedom their flight offered them and watching their worry free flying made it hard for the jedi who stayed there to want to go home.
Even the ones they called earth ponies, the ones with no horns and no wings, seemed to have more of a presence. They tended to the lands and seemed to have slightly higher strength and stamina than their fellows, traits that could go exponentially farther as well. The three races lived in harmony; no pony felt constricted or restrained by what race they were born into. There wasn’t even any hate or prejudice that so many other worlds had showcased to the galaxy.
The perfect example of this were the rulers. Only a few days after the jedi’s arrival a handful of beautiful, graceful figures approached. Each had not only a horn but a pair of wings as well, and a very proficient use of both. A royal class, these alicorns showed how accepting and kind the race could be, never once fearing the jedi for what they were. It was from amongst this race that the first of the Equestrian jedi came.
As the years passed and more and more civilian minds were placed in danger by the sith war against the old republic, the jedi who had stayed there returned to the rest of the galaxy. While they kept the location of the planet secret they snuck engineers, doctors, and scientists in ones and twos to help the Equestrians continue their accelerated pace towards catching up to the rest of the galaxy. Finally smugglers who wore armor, Equestrians in disguise, took over for the jedi by offering safe haven for the persecuted as the jedi all went off to war, leaving their apprentices and the one Equestrian master to their own devices. The planet as a whole weeped at the horror that was order 66.
The empire rose and it was from those they brought to the small planet the Equestrians learned of the danger the sith and their plans. For the first time ever, the four races united, focused on preparation for an incoming war rather than their normal co-existence. After many years of expecting a vicious assault, it finally came and the empire was very surprised by what they found. The newly built star destroyers, frigates, cruisers, and even X-wings crushed the small exploratory force that had tripped upon the new system. The empire, still dealing with the height of the Rebel Alliance’s power, waged a small war in the system. However, they used far fewer resources than was required. The Equestrian losses were far higher than any other commander would have allowed to happen, with their lack of military experience showing through.
That was when one of the smugglers, an alicorn who refused to sit around ruling, hired the mandalorians. Under the guidance of the mandalorians, the Equestrian forces crushed the much smaller imperial force, and the Equestrians learned what it meant to have true allies in the galaxy. When Palpatine finally fell and the Rebel Alliance became the New Republic the Equestrians came in, providing relief, helping mop up the imperials, and establishing themselves as a kind and harmonious force in the newly settling galaxy. Thus, the Equestrians spread to the rest of the galaxy and helped re-establish the jedi order, lore, knowledge, and training, having been maintained by the jedi order that had independently survived through all of this.
-Final historical summary of the discovery and growth of the planet Equestria and the Harmony System
Chapter 1
In space approaching Obroa-skai, aboard the ship Violet Sunset
Meditation was a great way to focus, her teacher had taught her that time and again. While meditating you could sort out your problems and decide how to deal with your upcoming mission. Jedi used meditation to find their center in the force and to help them make the decision on whether or not something was on the light side. Time and again her teacher had taught her the importance of meditation.
That didn’t mean Twilight wouldn’t rather read though. Every time she began slipping into the proper meditative trance her mind drifted to her task, and she began to twitch and think through all of those book titles. She had gone through every book, making sure every last one of them was there 3 times during the short trip from Yavin 4 to Obroa-skai. They were delivering texts that were recently bought from the Hutts, sacred texts they had stolen over hundreds of years from the five holy cities of Obroa-skai. Twilight was helping because she wanted to make sure, as a lover of knowledge, that the books made it to the grand library safely. It would then be their job to keep them safer than last time.
“Hey Twilight,” a teenage voice from the cockpit called, mildly exasperated, “these guys are being painful. Mind coming up here and using your jedi-ness to get us a proper unloading bay. Apparently they think I look shady.” Twilight sighed, getting up off the spot on the floor where she had been using the force to keep herself rooted in place. Picking up her robes, she began walking towards the cockpit. As she pulled on her robes, she took a second to look at herself in the mirror to make sure she hadn’t messed up her hair while meditating.
She ran a hand down her rich, waist length purple hair, trying to straighten out the streaks of lighter purple and pink hair, her hand bumping against her light purple horn more than once in the process. She smoothed out her violet fur wondering if it needed a trim. Hearing her pilot whine again, she grinned in the mirror, the amusement easily reaching her violet eyes, and finished pulling her gray and black jedi robes over her flight suit. Making her way up to the cockpit she thought again to how uncomfortable the traditional style robes were with her straight tail that fell down to her heels.
“Now, now Spike. Patience is a very highly regarded virtue,” she said as she took the copilots seat. Spike, a draconian who was from the mountainous regions of Equestria, was a childhood friend who had been raised at the jedi temple after he was found abandoned. He was found by Twilight’s teacher, Master Celestia, an alicorn princess who had opted for the way of the jedi instead of the throne. He was sixteen, three years younger than Twilight. As a race, draconians were similar to other reptilian races but with a taller, straighter posture. Dark green spines went up Spike’s back, purple scales on most of his body except his belly, chest, neck, and lower lip which all had light green scales. His head had frayed ears coming away from the sides and the ridges ended just before the forehead. His jade eyes were looking very unimpressed.
“Yeah but I spent most of that making sure you didn’t get shot or anything on Nar Shadaa when we picked up these stupid books. Now,” gesturing at the screen, “please convince them to let us on the planet and get rid of these things.”
Twilight sighed and activated the comlink, the holographic image of an arconan in a port security uniform appearing in from of her. He immediately looked shocked, something not easily seen on his scaleless reptilian face.
“Hello there sir,” Twilight began, taking a strong but still friendly tone rather than the playful one she had been using with Spike. “I’m sorry that there were problems with our credentials. While I congratulate you on your caution I would love it if we could get permission to land at one of the docking strips.” She smiled at the arconan as she watched him become even more surprised, probably because he finished running her through a record of known jedi. Spike started grinning in his seat.
“Yes, of course, Jedi Knight Twilight. I’m sorry for doubting you and I’ll arrange for one near your destination. Where is it you’re going Ma’am?” The poor man was panicking a bit and Spike was beginning to chuckle in his seat, taking way too much pleasure in this then he should. Twilight used the force rather than her horn to smack him with a stack of flimsi, a semi-transparent, extremely thin item that was almost always used for written media, as he sat there trying not to laugh too loudly.
“We are delivering these wonderful books for the grand library,” she said, applying emphasis on wonderful to get back at Spike for the “stupid book” comment. “I have some authorization codes that my pilot Spike would have given you, but right now he needs to focus on a proper landing.”
“Yes of course Jedi Knight Twilight. Expect a docking beacon in the next minute or so.” He saluted clumsily before cutting out. Twilight leaned slowly back into her chair, content that no one else was going to force her to act like she was in charge. Spike leaned back too, using his claws to guide it towards the planet. After a minute or two, as promised, the beacon came up on the screen and he began moving towards it.
“You know,” he began, sounding extremely bored, “I could probably land this with my eyes closed. Or you could. Either way, I thought it wasn’t the jedi way to lie.” Spike was obviously enjoying the chance to get at her for a break in conduct, the ridge above his right eye raised and a broad grin sitting on his face. Twilight stayed relaxed though, far more confident than she had been a few weeks ago when she had still been trying to finish her apprenticeship to Celestia.
“He was the one who held us up and we got a docking bay that is almost directly attached to the library. It would seem to me that he made up for the time he wasted.” Spike grinned and looked back at his controls, now taking it by both hands.
“Sounds fair enough to me. But Twilight?” He paused, obviously waiting for her to ask. Sighing, she relented.
“Yes Spike?”
“Celestia would tell you that you need to zip up your flight suit and stop showing off so much cleavage.” He sounded very wise and when she looked down, she saw a bit of violet. Yelping a little bit, she began frantically pulling up on her flight suit, which was already fully zipped up, accidentally kicking off the floor with her legs in panic and sending her tumbling onto the floor. Lifting herself off the floor she glanced at her tail, the thing that had confirmed her panicked thoughts. She then cast her glare over at Spike.
“You know Spike, if everybody got as much amusement from messing with jedi that you did, the order wouldn’t exist.”
“Quiet Twi. I need to focus as I land this thing,” he said, desperately trying to keep his voice from cracking from the laughter. Twilight glared at him as she took her seat again.
Empty space between hyperspace lanes leading to the Hutt worlds or to the Kuat System
“So, why are we waiting for these people again?” The voice came from the co-pilot chair and the pilot herself took a minute to think about whether or not to respond. Her co-pilot knew the reason but she was obviously almost as bored as the pilot, Rainbow Dash.
“Well, it improves our chances of getting these spices to Coruscant if we blow straight through the Kuat system and we don’t get paid if they don’t make it. Not to mention we would get arrested and maybe even blown up if we don’t have someone else to take some of the hits.” She looked over and met eyes with her co-pilot, Lightning Dust. She was extremely attractive, her turquoise fur a little more green than Rainbow’s light blue and it was almost always a little messier than it should have been from her endless twitching. Her orange and yellow hair was kept back from her face due to the massive amounts of hair spray and product she used to keep it there. The two spent so much time in their flight suits it made everything lower uninteresting after three years together. “And you’re too pretty to risk that.”
“Have to admit, our dance cards would be awfully full if we got put in prison.” The two heard a clanking from the back of the frigate, alerting them to another member of the four man crew coming forward. Looking more annoyed than normal, a Barabel came on deck, his tongue flicking in and out of his tongue. The two girls grinned at one another as their large ears twitched.
“Can we help you Braggen?” He grunted angrily as Rainbow batted her eyelashes at him.
“Can you two please talk about something else? This one is sick of hearing you whittle hours away talking your way to mating. It would at least be better if you both just did it and talked about something useful!” Like all barabels he was large, reptilian, and his mouth looked like it could snap you in half. The two girls blushed before Lightning Dust responded to their crew mate of one and a half years.
“Come now, I’m sure Trufeg enjoys our little talks. Besides, we both want to find something more than just physical attraction, and the two of us,” gesturing between her and Rainbow Dash, “will never be more than best friends.” Before Trufeg could put his two cents in Rainbow Dash raised one of her hands, cutting the conversation off. She couldn’t help but wonder for a minute what had made Braggen so touchy but decided to shrug it off.
“We’ve got company ladies and gentlemen and they seem to want our attention.” Turning on the comlink Rainbow Dash waited to make sure a connection was established and cursed under her breath when there wasn’t a picture of whom she was talking to. They really didn’t need a fight today. Sensing her mood, Braggen walked into the back portion of the ship, picking up the poor little furball that was the ewok Trufeg. Seeing the two of them, it looked like a giant reptilian monster holding its teddy bear, something neither one were willing to comment on with Braggen’s current mood. Lightning Dust began checking the shields and weapons to confirm that they were all still ready. Unmuting her side, Rainbow Dash said, “Hello newcomer, this is Rainbow Dash, captain of the Light Streak. I have boys in my upper and lower turrets. Turn on your transponder and identify yourself or you’re getting turned to space dust.” There was a small delay before a familiar transponder came on screen. A familiar voice followed a moment later.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. No need to shoot, I’m sorry. I forgot to turn it on thats all. DON’T SHOOT!” Saorin, a male Equestrian who looked a lot like Rainbow and Lightning but his hair was a dark blue and he had a bit larger build, said over the speakers in a panicked voice. The three even shared being pegasi and smugglers. “Man, Rainbow, I thought it was nice seeing your crazy rainbow hair and that old YT-1300 of yours. Thanks for giving me a heart attack.”
Lightning leaned over and said more then loudly enough for Saorin to hear, “You know, we could shoot him down anyways just for those two comments.” Leaning back into the copilot chair she added, “Oh and hi Saorin. You sound well.”
“I’ll be better in a minute and Rainbow, you know I meant that with respect.” Rainbow snorted a bit at that comment.
“Saorin, you’ve never known what that word means. So why can’t we see your ugly mug?”
“Camera’s busted. My poor little ship got beat up pretty bad last time I made a run and I haven’t finished all the repairs yet.”
“If you need a few credits I’d be willing to loan you some, Saorin. That ship is your livelihood after all.” Rainbow Dash had softened her tone, remembering all the times she’d gone frantic from Light Streak not working perfectly. Her softer expression went out the airlock when she heard him laughing.
“Your almost as broke as I am, Rainbow. Neither of us have ever pulled a job big enough for that kind of thing. This run will give me everything I need don’t worry.” Before either Lightning or her could respond, new ships started appearing on screen. Rainbow Dash spent the next five minutes getting all the identification sorted out, stopping herself from screaming at the disrespectful morons who couldn’t maintain some kind of discipline for two seconds. A pretty girl seemed to be more than most smugglers seemed capable of handling.
“Alright,” said a human captain named Karl, “got those co-ordinates ready for us little lady?” Rainbow Dash ground her teeth as she double checked that all six ships were here and that they all had proper links.
“Yes we do. My co-pilot should be transmitting now. Since we’ve got the fastest light speed drives-” Rainbow Dash sighed, seeing two or three of the ships already taking off for Kuat. “Alright, everybody else take off. The timetable is apparently pointless.” The other captain grunted and took to hyperspace but Saorin decided to stick around a little longer.
“You know you’ll probably still beat us there, right. Not to mention they’ll probably want to leave all the painful stuff to you. Most of the other smugglers don’t like us Equestrians.”
“That’s only cause we can get paid for learning how to fly and our home world enjoys employing smugglers after knowing how important these skills can be. Besides, we’re not the only ones who need to worry, you’re just as fuzzy as we are.”
“Yeah, but at least you two got each other. All I got is this ship and I’d rather go down then know you all got hurt.” Rainbow Dash sat there stunned, wondering when he had actually became mature. It was stupid, sentimental, and a little sexist but she couldn’t help but get touched by the sentiment.
“Don’t get hurt Saorin. The galaxy needs more people who know what their doing.” She saw the transponder disappear and looked up to see Lightning Dust looking at her. For a short time neither said anything and simply watched the chrono for when they should leave.
Finally Lightning Dust looked over and said, “Remember that time when we were still in flight academy and we saw him sneaking away from the cafeteria with a bunch of free food while wearing an old uniform for the navy?”
“Yeah. We would’ve taken him in but instead he convinced us to let him teach us how to fly a little faster.”
“Those were some great lessons.”
“I had never felt so free or exhilarated before in my life. I knew right then that although flight academy was fun, smuggling was the life for me.”
“Thanks again for bringing me along. I think I would have been like Saorin, alone, if you hadn’t.”
Rainbow Dash found her throat catching and when the words finally came out, they sounded strange. “No problem. You’re a great co-pilot and a great friend.”
“Isn’t it time to go yet,” roared Braggen from the back of the ship, him and Tarfeg having left the turrets. The moment broken, Rainbow Dash looked back at the chrono as it counted down the last few seconds, and hit the hyperdrives. Space elongated into lines of light and Rainbow Dash walked back into the hold to sleep.
One of the lunch rooms on the Kuat Drive Yards
Watching the Kuat noble women as they went from one ship to the next to “inspect” them, AppleJack couldn’t help but get bored out of her mind. She didn’t feel like touching the food in front of her, not because it was bland or tasteless (although it was) but because it was at the perfect point to leave her looking casual while she sat there. For the tenth time she had to mentally slap herself as she wished for her helmet, something she had been forced to leave behind on her ship. It would have made her stick out like a sore thumb if she had.
She stretched out, checking her chrono as she did so and those around her in the process. As careful as the men in the cafeteria where, she still noticed them checking out her form, hoping to get an impression of what she looked like. Her orange fur and flicking equine ears didn’t seem like enough to keep the humans disinterested, especially these ones that were so interested in any woman that wasn’t trying to make them a veritable slave. She lifted her light orange, almost blond, ponytail from hanging over her shoulder onto her back. The baggy clothes she wore made her look a good twenty or thirty pounds larger than she actually was. For giving them a good view of her upper body she was rewarded with all of them looking away disinterested. She smiled to herself, content that she had successfully made herself a part of the room again. There was only one person who was supposed to pay her any attention after all.
“Finally here, eh,” she muttered to herself, making a face like she was expecting something bad to come. One of the waiters noticed and looked around and saw the Kuati noblewomen walking over to her table. The woman was certainly good looking, wearing a long green and black dress that showed off a body with curves that a Hapan woman might kill for. Her long black and green hair fell down her body as though it was an obedient part of her outfit, matching and framing her human face perfectly.
“On your feet worker,” the noblewoman said with a harsh tone. AppleJack responded by promptly getting up, careful to stumble a little in the act. She snapped to attention, her ears no longer flicking about and her tail lifting a little as her muscles tensed. The woman had green eyes darker than AppleJack’s, which must have been due to contacts because AppleJack knew humans were not born with that eye color naturally. The woman’s breath smelled of some expensive meat that AppleJack couldn’t quite place. All in all, the woman was everything A.J. couldn’t stand in a client except for one specific thing that was particularly important. Her entire ensemble and presence screamed money, meaning that this was going to be worth her time.
Lowering herself to a kneel AppleJack said, “Hello, my lady,” careful to make her tone sound exasperated as according to the script. The woman cast her angry eyes around the room, glaring down at each and every one of them. The workers all seemed to get the message and turned towards their own business. After all, you did not want to upset one of the noble women on a matriarchal planet like Kuat.
“You’re four hours late! You were supposed to maintenance my ship by now! Now I’m late for an important meeting and someone needs to take the blame.” The woman’s voice had an odd melody that struck AppleJack as both memorable but it also seemed to change as she spoke. Security officers must love her.
“Seems like your boss is a pretty big hard-ass,” AppleJack said quietly but still loud enough for the surrounding people to hear. There were some gasps at her insolence and her employer’s body tensed from head to toe. “Just like a certain green haired stuck up,” she whispered to herself. Her employer responded with a smack that sent her tumbling to the ground.
“He is hardly my boss and I refuse to be treated with such insolence! He is the head of an extremely important corporation, one that has been making every history book for the last fifty years! Now, how long should I expect it to take for my ship to be finished!” She screeched this last part, a break from the normal composure of most kuati women which meant she was either risking some of her reputation or this was an act all the way down to the one who picked it. AppleJack barely suppressed a smile at the thought.
“Well, I will need to prepare some special materials and the costs will be higher than previously expected. I think two or three or-” Another vicious slap to the right side of her face cut her off there. Her employer looked close to murder.
“I have had enough. I will rent a shuttle until I can find a proper employee. Your finished though and I expect you off this station by the end of the day!” She spun on her high heels and trotted away, glaring at a male server that sent him scurrying. AppleJack watched her with what she hoped was a properly stunned look. Of course, she was stunned. The slap should have come at two and the woman almost let her get to four. Standing up she began to trudge towards her ship, slowly picking up her pace and straightening her back as she got farther from the cafeteria. This was going to be an interesting job.
The message that had brought her here was the standard for this kind of meeting. Things had to be discreet so it had two identities, a location, a time, and an amount of credits. The woman did her homework properly for the discreet kind of meeting she’d wanted since she didn’t once slip up during the exchange. Like a few times in the past she thanked her bounty hunter teacher Beviin for helping her come up with the code for these meetings.
When was she supposed to perform the job? The target would arrive in four hours and she’d have only a short time to get the job done. Where? Anywhere on the station but she had to keep it away from her employer. What was she supposed to do afterward? Leave the system by the end of the day, probably meaning that’s how much pull her Kuati friend had. How much was she getting paid? The original amount was two million credits and since she got cut off at three then she would be getting paid six million instead. She whistled to herself as she stepped on board her ship, an enforcer class ship made by Mandalmotors that she had named Apple One.
The who was the problem of course. The head of a company that a noble woman hated and had been writing history books for the past fifty years. Not the military, which inherited what the rebellion had started as far as making a mark in history went. She would like them, same goes to the New Republic’s politicians. That left one group. The jedi. She nodded to herself as she began planning how she would kill Grand Jedi Master Kyle Katarn.
