Author’s Note: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is owned by Hasbro. Star Wars is owned by Lucasarts and Disney. I only own Flame, Nix, R4-A4, and a few other background characters. As well as this, I own this story. Please don’t sue me Disney/Hasbro. Please enjoy the story.
I strolled onto the bridge of the Venator class star destroyer, Sentinel. Another great day for deep space cruising, I thought to myself as I looked over the officers. The morning shift was just beginning, and the well-rested officers were replacing their sleep deprived counterparts. Then an officer’s console started flashing.
“Sir,” he said, “you might want to take a look at this.”
“Pull it up on screen” I replied.
Nav coordinates appeared on screen. There appeared to be a large disturbance near the ship, just what we were sent here to look for. I sensed out into the void of space with the Force. This was no regular disturbance. Lately, the Separatists I joined the Grand Army of the Republic to fight had been experimenting with worm holes to move their troops unobstructed through the galaxy. Now that we had found one we could find out where the experimental forces were, and destroy them.
“Okay,” I said, “I’ll lead a detachment of fighters to check out the disturbance before the cruiser moves in.”
The officer who had found the disturbance announced over the intercom for purple squadron, my hand-picked squad, to meet in the briefing area in five minutes. I left the bridge and took a turbo lift to my cabin. I quickly added the special mandalorian iron plates to my membrane skinsuit that all standard clone troopers wore. The plates were given to me by the Mandalorian training instructors that helped the non-clone troops prepare for the GAR. Then, I slowly lowered my gaze to the storage compartment under my bunk. I wasn’t supposed to have it, but the Order didn’t know that I had it. I slowly raised my light saber out of the compartment. I flinched as I heard an annoyed string of beeps and whoos.
“Hi, R4 how’s your morning?” I said, with a sarcastic smirk under my helmet.
He made some more beeps and whoos that roughly translated into basic as “Time to go”.
“Fine,” I replied, “let’s go.”
We made our way to the turbolift going directly to the hangar. There I met my squad mates as we made our way to the briefing area. Purple squadron consisted of the best pilots on the ship: Cutter, Lucky, Ace, Lace, and me. Now was time to start the briefing.
“Okay guys,” I started, “This morning we picked up a disturbance in space that we think may be a worm hole. It’s half a kilometer away from the ship and we need to do some readings of it before the cruiser moves through.”
“Why do we need to do readings? It can only be Separatists.” Ace asked.
“Because,” I said, “If we can get readings we can figure out how to engineer our own device.”
“Then we can hit key targets deep in Separatist space.” Cutter finished.
“Okay, time to launch, boys.” I finally said.
I jumped into my Delta-7B Aethersprite class interceptor as the rest of the pilots dashed to their respective ships. The Sentinel’s launch bay doors opened as I lined up on the launch bay. As we left the ship I ordered a loose V formation. We rocketed towards the coordinates of the disturbance.
R4-A4 booped over the comms.
“I know buddy,” I said, “I don’t like this either.”
“We’re coming up on it now. Guys, get the scanners ready” I said.
We came up right to the coordinates and went into a drift.
Cutter said, “I don’t see it.”
“We should be right in front of it.” Lace replied.
“Maybe it was a glitch in the scanners on the ship.” Ace said, trying to explain.
“Well, whatever it was it’s gone now,” I said, “Let’s head back.”
The others started to turn around and land back at the Sentinel. I guess I should head back, I thought. Well, maybe we can find the Separatists elsewhere. I moved the ship forward to begin an arching turn back to the Sentinel. But, just as the Force had confirmed seconds before, I shot through the portal. We had been a few feet away from it the entire time.
“R4, divert power to the front shields!” I screamed over the comms, “whatever is on the other side is about to have an uninvited guest.”
Then I had a few seconds to observe the wormhole itself. It was a stunning shade of purple. How did this slip through the scan? Then the color of the wormhole began to change to a bright white. This must be near the end, I thought.
“R4, cut the engines, we don’t want to crash at this speed if we hit something.”
I felt a slight decrease in the turbulence. Then we came crashing out through the other side. I barely had time to register the landscape before the ship slammed into the earth and I lost consciousness.
I woke up in a daze; everything was out of focus and hazy. I shut my eyes and instead let my other senses take control. I smelled clean sheets and blankets; some other kind of aroma wafted throughout the room. I opened my eyes again and identified some kind of pastries. I shut my eyes again and I could feel the bed underneath me. Well, whatever planet I landed on seem to be beyond a hunter gatherer society. I felt the sheets again, they were very high quality fabric as was the texture of the mattress. It had had to be feather; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a feather bed. Even with all the diplomatic missions that I went on as a Jedi, feather beds were so ornate and expensive that even royals of the richest worlds considered them a waste of credits. I started to open my eyes again. The haze from before had cleared up.
Then, I noticed my body. While I had been meditating and losing myself in the surroundings, I neglected to notice my own body. From inside my helmet I could just see the tip of a new bony appendage. I reached up to examine it with my hands. However, the changes didn’t stop at the “horn”. I examined what was left of my hands; it appeared that my fingers and hands had morphed into each other. I tried to flex them, where there were once backward bending joints there were forward bending joints. I noticed a mirror, maybe I could look myself over in that. Then, I realized, how I could feel the texture of the sheets. I was in armor, that wasn’t possible. I turned my head; two completely new bone structures had erupted. My eyes widened. What have I become, I thought.
I staggered to the mirror, being what I assumed was a quadruped, would take some getting used to. I gazed into the face of what I had become. My face had become elongated, ending in a snout. At my forehead a horn protruded from my helmet. The armor I was wearing had changed as well, snugly fitting the contours of my new equine body. The back plate and helmet had even formed gaps for my new appendages to protrude. I then turned around to examine the room. The bed was next to the nightstand with cupcakes on it, on the opposite side was my light saber. It fortunately, had not changed in the slightest. Considering that I had hooves now, I figured that the Force will be needed to grip it. I tried levitating it over to me. As I did my horn and the particles around the horn start to glow the same purple color of the wormhole and my blade.
This only confirms my suspicion that I was sent here for a reason. I look past the bed and notice a door. As I walk over I start hearing conversation outside the room. I followed the noises out of the room and through the hall. I ended up in front of a huge doorway; the noises were coming directly from inside there. I pressed my ear to the door; they seemed to be having some sort of discussion. I couldn’t make out many words and everything sounded garbled.
“What happened 3 weeks-”
“-can we do?”
“Time will only tell-”
I struggled to find some sort of context to put the fragments of conversation into, but found nothing. Alright, Flame, time to man up and get some answers, I thought. I stopped, wait are analogies the same here? Never mind, I told myself, time for answers. Since I didn’t have hands anymore, I edged the door open with the Force. I crept silently into the chamber. The creatures seemed to be so engaged in their conversation that they paid no attention to me. From the shadows, I examined them. They seemed to be the feminine versions of the species that I had transformed into. They had many colors and body types; one was the brightest of white, while another was a shade of orange.
Now may be as good a time as any to make myself known, I thought. I stepped into a lighter part of the chamber. I was going for answers, and the best way that life had taught me to get them was with a healthy dose of fear.
“Hello,” I said, attempting to conjure an intimidating voice, “I have some questions and you’re going to answer them.”
They spun around, gawking at me.
A yellow one with pink hair, rather, mane, exclaimed, “No! You aren’t due to be awake for another week!”
Despite the urgency in her (assuming it was a her) voice, the sentence was almost inaudible. By this time the others had had time to register what had just happened. I readied myself for an attack. Instead, a pink one with a matching mane bounced up to me.
Her face in mine she screamed, “Yay, the stranger’s finally awake!”
The white one walked up, “Pinkie dear, give him some space, he’s still recovering.”
This had gone far enough, I decided. Lifting all of them up in the air with the Force I set them on the opposite side of the chamber.
“Where am I?!” I asked, my voice seething with rage.
Several things happened, in that minute. A purple one with similar body characteristics as my own started to struggle, almost breaking free with her own Force energy, I added more rage to my own Force. This abruptly stopped her, at this time the yellow one from before started bawling. I felt bad, but my mission was more important and I needed to leave. The others started to physically struggle, as well. I dropped the grip I had on them. I didn’t need enemies, I needed information.
“Look,” I pleaded, “can we please just answer my questions, I have to go home. I’m sorry for restraining you guys, I don’t like being smothered.”
“Okay, we’ll answer your questions, as long as you answer ours.”
“Deal,” I nodded, “what do want to know?”
The orange one started to speak.
“Wait, what are your names?” I cut her off.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” the purple one stated, she gestured to the others, “that’s Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. What about you, what's your name?”
“Thank you Twilight Sparkle, my name is Flame.” I replied, “Please continue Applejack.”
“‘Kay,” she said in a obscure accent, “how’s about ya tell me why you crashed into mah orchards?”
“Simple explanation,” I started, “I had no control over my ship when I crashed, the only reason that I didn’t die on impact was because R4 boosted the shields and cut the engines before the crash.”
“Oh,” she huffed, “Ah guess that explains the crater that your ship caused.”
This time the others besides Twilight and Applejack had edged up to me. They ushered me to the circle of chairs with a seemingly holographic map in the center. Now it was my turn for a question. I decided to cheat a little.
“Okay, where am I,” I said, and then gesturing my body, “what am I, and how long have I been out for?”
“You’re in Ponyville.” Twilight answered.
“You’ve been unconscious about three days.” Fluttershy piped up.
“Darling you’re a pony, what else would you be?” Rarity added.
“Ask away” I said.
“Why are you an alicorn?” Twilight asked.
“Why would I know? I have no idea what your subspecies are.” I replied.
Suddenly a purple and green reptilian came bursting into the chamber. A small avian creature was on top of his head pecking him repeatedly. I studied the comical scene. Do all animals have a conscience here? I thought. I examined the bird from afar. It was a bluish purple with black stripes in its feathers. All of a sudden it looked up, then flew over to me and landed on my back. It started chirping at me. It took me awhile to realize with the change of form and the now organic nature of the chirps, the bird was R4.
R4 chirped, “I was right.”
I nodded in response, “I agree with you. You changed worse than me, buddy.”
Turning back to the ponies I spoke, “This is,er, was my droid, R4-A4.
The looked in amazement, Fluttershy finally said, “You can talk to him? How can you do that? In the three days I’ve had him, I haven’t been able to understand a thing from him.”
“That’s because he’s using a different language format.” I began, “You see he uses a code system, series of short and long chirps are strung together to form a series of letters and words. I was taught it when I was notified that he was being assigned to me.”
“Wait,” she said, “he was assigned to you?”
“Yep, he helps me pilot my ship and several other tasks assigned to me.”
“How does he do that? I don’t think he’s big enough to get into that thing, as none of us are.” Twilight cut in.
“Where I come from,” I said, “Beings have different physical forms than they do here. In my home you would be big enough to fit into that compartment and pilot it. R4 would be a mechanical being known as a droid.”
“I doubt that,” the reptilian interjected, “That bird doesn’t seem to be good for anything besides pecking me.”
“You can talk?!” I shouted.
“Yeah, who can’t?” He replied.
Twilight stepped forward, “This is Spike, and he is my dragon.”
“That’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen.” I muttered, “Anyway, can we go see my ship, now that I have R4 I can do a damage assessment.”
“Okay, door’s that way.” Rarity said.
All of a sudden Rainbow Dash, seeming to grow bored of the conversation burst out of the chamber through a window. I flexed my wings. No use having these things if I’m not going to use them, I thought. I let natural instinct take over, spread my wings to their full length, crouched, and sprang out the window. Furiously beating them, I followed her to the orchard. R4 caught up and hovered beside me. I hovered high above the ground, and finally got a look at the environment in which I had landed. It was beautiful; I saw lazy rivers that pooled into small lakes and ponds. There was a small village in the midst of it all full of basic cottages and the large gleaming castle from which I came. I felt myself do something I hadn't done for years: smile. By this time R4, Fluttershy, and Twilight caught up to me.
I landed slowly, testing the strength of my new appendages. I set my hooves on the ground and sighed. That was fun, I thought. I snapped back into a more stable frame of mind. Right now the more important thing was the damage assessment, I reminded myself. I walked to the part of the orchard where the craft had left circle like scar in the earth. The shields appeared to have held right to the end of the crash. I looked over my fallen craft. For the most part, it looked okay. R4 chirped a ready call for the damage check. We climbed over the craft. I settled myself into the cockpit and engaged the starter. The panel lights flickered on and off, the flickering got less constant and stopped. I checked over the readings; the engine was busted, shields could function well enough, and the electronics were about to overheat. I quickly shut off the systems.
“Well,” I said popping out of the cockpit, “I don’t think I’m going to be leaving for a while.”
“Good,” Rainbow Dash replied, “You can help us clean up the mess you made landing.”
“Oh, joy.” I replied sarcastically.
“Not quite,” Fluttershy interjected, “You still need rest, you did just survive this happening” She gestured to the crash.
The ponies with horns and no appendages arrived at this time. They gathered around the others. Rarity seemed to be wearing some kind of bag. She approached me.
“You’ll need this.” She said, pulling out a black cloak.
“Why would I need to wear this?” I asked curiously, “Am I in some kind of danger?”
“No, it’s not that,” she said, trying to explain, “ You need to cover either your horn or your wings.”
“Why do I need to do that?” I asked.
“In Equestria, only royalty are alicorns. Since you’re not royalty you need to choose, unicorn or pegasus,” she explained.
“I’ll take using the force in open to flying.” I said, taking the cloak and wrapping it around myself.
We began walking back to the castle. Unfortunately, as the crash site was on the other side of town, we had lots of walking to do. As we began to enter the main part of town I saw that the ponies seemed to live in houses that vaguely resembled the huts of Corellia. They had exposed timbers, thatched roofs, and on average four windows. Quaint, I thought to myself. I thought back two years, I had stayed in something like this, until I decided to get back on my feet and join the GAR. The past was in the past, I need to get off this rock and find the Separatists. We passed a building that seemed to be made entirely out of windows.
“This is the Carousel Boutique,” Rarity piped up, “ I own and run it.”
“What do you do there?” I asked, “We don’t have boutiques where I come from.”
“That’s where you buy clothes, silly!” Pinkie Pie answered.
“Where do you get yours?” Rarity asked, seemingly hurt by the fact that our outfit acquisition methods were different.
“In my case,” I started, “I got most of the clothes I’ve ever worn issued to me by the orders I’ve been part of. When I was growing up, I got my robes from the students older than me in Jedi academy. When I joined the Grand Army of the Republic I was issued an orange training jumpsuit to use at their facilities, and shortly before deploying to combat, I bought what I’m wearing now from a man looking to leave Deathwatch.”
They stared at me in silence. Oh right, they don’t know any of those organizations, I mentally reminded myself. Soon they asked me what the Jedi were and GAR. As I explained they slowly came to the conclusion that I was a soldier. Eventually the question I was dreading was asked.
“We know what the Jedi and what your army is, but what is a Deathwatch?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Deathwatch is the order that I was in before I joined the GAR,” I began, “we were a mercenary group that lived on a moon orbiting the order’s original home planet. The planet's populace was against the philosophy of using violence in any way but for defencive means. So the order was expelled to the moon. I left after a person came to ‘lead’ us to power.”
They looked at me in horror.
“Were you the…. um… b- badguy?” Fluttershy peeped.
“Sometimes, I don’t know.” I paused, “But when Maul showed up, I knew we were going to be in the end. So I left, and I’ve been trying to atone and forget ever since. I know now that some of the things I did were atrocities. First, I went to Corellia, the Jedi said they found me there. Eventually, I decided to join the GAR and fight for something better than a feud between the same people…. I was a monster.” I finally choked out.
I was assaulted by the repressed memories of some of the things I did when I was with Deathwatch. The faces, the smells of burnt flesh. I stood in the street with them. The moon was rising now. Then, they all did something that even a force sensitive wouldn’t expect. They encircled me in a hug. All I could do was go limp. It felt good, and I felt like I was a good person again.
“Well,” Twilight said, “You seem to be in just as much trouble as us.”
We eventually went to our respective lodgings. I went with Twilight and Spike to the castle. Once I got to the room I was staying in, I felt a tingling sensation that drew my attention to my flank. I took off my helmet; what ever had happened was beneath my armor. I slowly removed my plates and the membrane suit. I had seemingly gotten a mark. It resembled several insignias. I could pick out the Republic insignia, the Mandalorian insignia, and the Jedi insignia. I stared blankly at it. Not the weirdest thing to happen yet. I’ll ask Twilight in the morning, I thought. I then launched myself onto the bed, and faded into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke with a yawn. I slipped into the top half of my membrane suit, and attached the chest and arm plates to it. I strapped on the cloak and left my helmet on the bed. I strolled down the hallway into the chamber. Twilight and Spike were waiting. I seated myself and fumbled around in my utility belt for something to eat. I found a protein block and began to munch. Twilight was looking at me uneasily.
“What,” I asked, “Oh, do you want some? I think I have extra.”
I began to fish around in the belt again.
“No it’s not that,” She began, “We all just wondered what you looked like, we were afraid to take off your mask when you were recuperating.”
“It’s a good rule of thumb,” I began, “ Some people from where I come from, use masks as breathing apparatus.”
“Why do people need masks to breath?” She asked, confused.
“Some species we live with don’t breathe oxygen like us. In more unfortunate cases, the person's lungs have been so damaged that they need a second filter to get the oxygen in the air.”
“Oh, but why do you wear a mask?” she started, “you obviously breathe the same air as us. Also, you don’t look damaged.”
“I wear mine for protection, as do most soldiers like me.” I stated.
By this time the others were starting to join us in the room. They sat in their respective chairs.
“Excuse me,” Fluttershy whispered, “you’re in my chair.”
“Oh, no problem.” I said, easing out of the chair.
I stood in between Fluttershy’s chair and Rainbow Dash’s chair.
“I did most of the talking yesterday, now it’s your turn.” I said to them, “You said that you were in just as much trouble as me. Care to elaborate?”
“About three weeks ago,” Twilight started, “ I got a report from Canterlot that large things started appearing in the sky there, but before we could try to contact them, they started to shoot at the city. Princesses Celestia and Luna reflected the shots away from the city. The things fled and haven’t been seen since.”
“I think I might know what could have appeared in the sky.” I replied.
I left the chamber and went into my room. I fished around in the bag I had brought from the crash and found a small holoprojector, it was preloaded with Separatist ship images. I also took the liberty to grab a few ration bars as well. I hurried back into the chamber with my prizes in my mouth.
“Okay,” I said, plunking the projector on the table. I flicked it on and started flipping through images. “do any of these look like the ships?”
“That's the thing,” Rainbow Dash said, “None of us were there when the things appeared. We wouldn’t know.”
“You’re right,” I said, “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who was there? I need to know what the threat is before we deal with it.”
“We could take you to the Princesses.” Twilight said, “ Besides, they would have questions for you too. It’s not every day that an Alicorn pops out of nowhere.”
“Then let’s work on getting the answers we both need.” I replied, “ Then, if they are the Separatists I’m looking for I can destroy them.”
The rest of the day went fast. I found the library in the castle and started to read the history of what the natives called Equestria. It seemed that the ponies were intelligent enough to start their own government. This was headed and run by the two matriarchs, Princesses Celestia and Luna. For a time, all was well with this world, but as the time passed Luna grew jealous of her elder sister’s power and tried to usurp her. She transformed into a demon like creature called Nightmare moon. Eventually, Celestia won the fight by banishing Nightmare moon to the Moon.
That’s strange, I thought. If Luna and Nightmare moon were banished to the planet's moon, then why was she in power with Celestia again? That will have to wait for tomorrow, I thought. I glanced at the analog chronometer mounted to the wall; it was one in the morning. I left the library and returned to my room. I set my wrist chronometer alarm to go off at seven. I’d slept on less.
I awoke to my chronometer beeping angrily at me. I slapped the off holo button for the alarm. I grabbed the bag with my supplies and left the room. I walked into the map room, no one was there save R-4. It seemed he had built a nest in one of the arches of the ceiling. I called for him. As he fluttered down to my back I spoke.
“Hey buddy,”I said.
He chirped a greeting to me.
“We are going to their capital city,” I started, “We need to be on our best behavior. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves in front of the rulers of this world.”
“I’m a bird, remember,” He chirped, “the only one who can screw up is you.”
“Thanks for the reassurance.” I responded sarcastically.
I started to munch on a protein ration as Twilight came in.
“Are you nocturnal or something?!” She exclaimed, “ You never seem to sleep unless you receive a life threatening injury.”
“I got six hours,” I started, “sometimes you don’t get any, if you need to work on a problem. The first thing you do is start forsaking sleep.”
“I guess you're right,” She responded, “However, you are still recuperating. Fluttershy says, you should have woken up today under normal circumstances.”
“The force provides.” Was my response.
“What is the force?” She asked, “You always talk about it but you’ve never explained.”
“I thought you would have known,” I started, “ you and Rarity use it all the time. I thought that it was called the force here too.”
She looked at me in surprise.
“Magic is the Force?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” I nodded, “I thought it was called the force everywhere. However, having force sensibility doesn’t usually physically manifest.”
“So basicly people in your home can use magic but you don’t need horns.”
“Bingo.” I stated flatly.
By this time Fluttershy had entered the room. She was carrying two sets of saddle bags. One had the same markings on her flank. The others had the mark now residing on mine to match.
“Here,” she said, “ Rarity made this for you to use for the trip.”
“I’ll have to thank her later.” I said making the appropriated mental note, “ Where are the others, anyway?”
“They’re all busy.” she responded, “ Applejack is preparing for cider season, Rarity is busy with an order for Sapphire Shores, Rainbow Dash had to see to an emergency in the rainbow factory, and Pinkie Pie will be here any minute.
“Okay,” I replied, “ So how do we get to this Canterlot of yours anyway?”
“There is a railway connecting Canterlot and Ponyville, we can take that.” responded Twilight.
With that we settled down to wait for Pinkie Pie. Spike also was coming with us; he had packed his bag joined us in the chamber. After about fifteen more minutes Pinkie joined us. We walked to a station of some sort and waited for this “train”. This train is most likely a non-hover vehicle, I thought to myself. I toyed with the idea of flying to Canterlot; however, Pinkie didn’t have wings and we couldn’t leave her. Eventually, the train puffed up to the platform we were standing on. A pony in a uniform exited and started calling for the passengers. We began to walk forwards, as we boarded the uniformed pony bowed to Twilight before resuming his task.
As we seated ourselves in the the car. The wheels squeaked and groaned as we started with a jolt. Another uniformed pony came pushing a tray of food. Pinkie grabbed some items off of the cart and gave the pony a few gold coins.
“What are those?” I asked Fluttershy.
“What, the candy?” she responded.
I nodded in confirmation.
“Oh,” she said, “ they don’t have candy in your home. That isn’t right, even I need candy sometimes.”
“My home is in the middle of a civil war,” I said, “ we don’t have the time or the people to make candy.”
“Oh,” she said, crestfallen, “why is there a war in your home?”
“A group of bankers, war criminals and other evil people decided they wanted their own government.” I started, “My government didn’t want them to go, so they declared war on the people who did. The people who wanted to leave became known as the Separatists. The Separatists built themselves a droid army, and they were meant to be used to destroy the Republic’s smaller peacekeeping army. The Jedi got involved and someone suspecting that this would happen had commissioned a clone army to be made in secret. The Jedi and non-clone soldiers became Generals that lead the clones in the war.”
“What’s a clone?” Fluttershy inquisitively asked.
“They are a copy of a single person,” I responded, “The scientists got some cells from a mercenary, then they cloned thousands of copies of him. They trained them with memory flashes and aged them twice as fast as normal people to fight for the Republic.”
“That’s horrible!” she exclaimed, “An army made up of thousands the same person! That’s so cruel. What if they didn’t want to fight?”
“They never questioned,” I responded, “It was in their genetics, they were trained to die if necessary for the Republic. Inevitably, many of them did. We never bothered to question the ethics of the project. At that point we needed them; if they didn’t fight, we would have been annihilated by the Separatists.”
“Did they all act like the same person?” she said, cooling her anger.
“No,” I said, “ the cloning process only went as far to make them physically the same, they all developed their own separate personalities.”
“Oh,” she said, “ It’s still sad.”
“War is a sad thing.” I said, trying to comfort her.
We sat in silence for the rest of the ride. Then, the train started slowing down. We pulled into a similar platform as the one in Ponyville. We disembarked from the train and retrieved our bags.
“This way,” Twilight called to us, “ we need to get to the palace, the princesses will be there. I had Spike send a message on the train to them.”
We walked along the streets of the city, towards the palace rising above it all. This place reminds me of Coruscant, I thought to myself. We made the journey to the entrance of the palace in about a half an hour. The guards opened the doors for us as we walked in. We followed a series of corridors into a large throne room. There in that room were two of the most powerful force presences I had ever felt. I felt their force senses wash over me. They was searching for me through the force. I made myself known and decided to sense for details in their presence.
One felt like the sun, light and nourishing. However, it could turn scorching if it so willed. The other felt like the cold shining of the moon, but the darkness also felt safe and secure, like hiding under a blanket. They had the same presence as the masters, with a past that the beings of this time could not remember. I looked at them, unsure whether to speak or to wait to be spoken to.
The decision was made for me. They too bowed to Twilight before addressing anyone. The one of the sun spoke first.
“Hello traveler, I am Princess Celestia.” she said.
“Greetings your highness” I said attempting a bow.
The one of the moon spoke now.
“Hello warrior, We are Princess Luna.”
“Good morning, nice to meet you.” I said with a bow.
“You’ve come a long way,” Princess Celestia said, “ you must have many questions. We do as well.”
“Okay,” I said, “ my questions can wait. What do you want to know from me?
“Most of our questions can be summed up by, who are you and why are you here.” Luna said.
“I am Flame, and I have come here to hunt an enemy down. I believe that the things that attacked your home is the group I have been seeking.”
“Then, maybe we can help each other,” Celestia said, “ we will let you pursue your quarry, if you agree to observe my student Twilight. She wrote to me in a letter that you seemed to not know the power of friendship.”
“I was taught to never keep mortal bonds,” I responded, “ they influence your decisions too dangerously.”
“Perhaps thou may teach us thou ideals in turn.” Luna interjected.
“Okay,” I said, “ we have a deal. I’ll chase down your attackers, and we can teach each other our world secrets.”
“Also,” I said, “ don’t engage them in open combat; they don’t take prisoners.”
“Thank you for the advice, Flame.” Celestia said.
“Can you also explain why I have these?” I asked, spreading my wings out from under the cloak.
“It….it means that thou art a prince in this world.” said a visibly shocked Luna.
“The question is, what is he a prince of?” Celestia said to Luna.
They called Twilight up to their thrones and talked in hushed voices for several minutes. Both Luna and Celestia seemed to be listening to Twilight explaining something. I started to look at the stained glass windows that adorned the throne room. They appeared to depict major events of the history of Equestria. I noticed that several had Twilight and her friends in them. Whoever I’ve fallen in with, they seem to be the power players in this world, I thought to myself. Then, the Princesses turned around.
“Fate has decided that we need another monarch,” Celestia decreed, “ it will be you.”
“What,” I blinked, “ I’m not a Prince. I wasn’t born into royalty. I’m only here to find the Separatists, not to be a head of state!”
“It doesn’t work that way in Equestria. You can become a monarch through birth, or by being chosen.” Twilight said.
“ Each monarch has an element that they are the patron of.” Celestia added, “ Twilight is the Princess of Friendship, Luna is the Princess of the moon, and I am the Princess of the Sun.”
“Then what am I?” I asked.
“That is for thou to find out.” Luna answered.
“How do I do that?” I asked.
“You must find out what your purpose in life is.” Celestia responded, matter-of-factly.
“Okay,” I said, “ I guess the first step in finding that out is learning about this place.”
I turned to leave the room, with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie following. We walked back to the train platform. I had many questions; What did a prince do in this world anyway? As we boarded the train, I felt the Princesses watching me. I masked my force presence from them. I don’t need spies right now, I thought to myself. We boarded the train to Ponyville.
“I know how you feel,” Twilight said, “ I was made a princess not so long ago.”
“Then you know how confusing it is,” I responded, “Waking up to find out that your body has completely changed, your enemy is here and you have to face them all by yourself, and to top it off, you’re also a monarch and are expected to figure out what your purpose is.”
“That’s what friends are for,” She said, “ my friends helped me with my problems.”
“That’s the thing,” I said, “ I was never a friendly type. We were allowed to have friends in the Jedi Academy, but I advanced so quickly that I never got to know any of my peers. In Deathwatch you were expected to fight and that was it. In the GAR I was a general; the troops needed a leader, not a friend. I was expected to deal with my problems alone.”
“That can change.” She said, “ Maybe you were sent here for a reason. Use this chance at a new beginning to change yourself. Be friendly, try to make friends. Besides, that was your end of the deal.”
“Yeah,” I said, “ I think you’re right.”
I went over to where Pinkie and Fluttershy were sitting.
“I have a favor to ask of you two.” I said.
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah, tell us, tell us!” Pinkie chimed in.
“Can you teach me how to make friends?” I asked.
“Sure,” Pinkie said, “ it’s natural for me.”
“Okay.” Fluttershy said.
“So how do we start?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, I can take him,” Pinkie said to Fluttershy, “ I can teach him how to start a conversation.”
“Okay,” she responded, “ the day after that I can have him meet Discord, it’s Tuesday tea.”
The train was beginning to grind to a halt. I shrugged in agreement and moved towards the exit of the car. I caught up to Twilight who had left just before me.
“I’m keeping my part of the bargain. After I’m done, just sic me on the Separatists and they’ll be out of our manes forever.”
“Do you think they can be reasoned with?” she asked.
“No,” I stated, “ they don’t have a conscience, they kill because that’s what they were programed to do. They can never be reasoned with.”
“How can they live without a conscience?” Spike cut in.
“That’s the point,” I said, “ they aren’t living. They were built in a factory by the millions.”
“That’s terrible,” he said, “ how did you fight them?”
“We did what they did to us.” I said, “ We killed them without remorse, just as they would have done to us. Eventually it became a war of attrition. The side that could inflict the most damage would be the eventual winner. That’s when the weapons programs became so important. They became world-destroying, that’s why my task force was made. We were sent to find, destroy or capture as many Separatist weapons as possible.”
“Wow,” he said, “ you had lots of pressure to deal with. That responsibility, it must have chewed at you. The fate of billions of lives in your hands.”
“Don’t remind me,” I laughed, “ the pressure was hard enough to deal with in the moment.”
We walked back to the castle. I said goodnight to Twilight and Spike, and went to bed. I was in darkness. I could see flashes around me, hear bits and pieces of a conversation. Then as soon as it began, I was sucked away.
I woke up in a cold sweat. I looked around, light was filtering in through the window. I looked at the chrono, a quarter past eight. I rose from the bed, remade it. I dressed in the previous day’s attire. I did a few quick stretches to loosen up the new muscles in my back. I went into the dining area. Silently eating my last protein ration I decided to set off. As I walked into town I stopped. Wait, where does Pinkie live, I thought. I continued into town, looking for her. Surely she can’t be that hard to find, I thought. Another five minutes and I found her. She was walking out of a bakery.
“Hello,” I said, “ I never did find out where to meet you.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, “ I figured that Twilight would tell you.”
“It’s okay,” I responded, “ so how do we start the lesson?”
“We don’t need to work on your people skills.” she started, “ We do need to figure out your approachability. We can solve that easily, you need to start dressing like the rest of us.”
“I can’t take off the cloak, remember?” I responded.
“Fine then, lose the armor.” she said.
“No.” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
“My armor is part of me.” I responded.
“Fine, at least come with me to meet Rarity, she can do something to make you look less like a soldier.” she said.
“I am a soldier.” I said, indignantly.
I decided to concede defeat. Inevitably I would lose the armor, there was nothing more I could do. I went to the boutique with Pinkie to meet Rarity. She was working on a large frilly dress when we walked in. Well, that is quite possibly the most unnecessary thing I’ve ever seen, I thought.
“Hi Rarity,” I said, walking in. “ Pinkie says I need to work on my approachability. She says I should loose the armor for now. What do you think?”
“Your armor is marvelous.” she started, “ However, I see her point. It does make you seem a tad intimidating.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I said, “ I can’t wear it, but I have to wear the cloak, both of which carry a large factor of this so called “intimidation””.
“Well, the circumstances around the cloak have changed.” she said, “ Now that you have talked to the Princesses, you should be okay to take it off.”
“Oh,” I said, “ in that case I can store the armor and cloak in my room.”
“What about your, uh, light thingy?” Pinkie asked.
“That stays with me, no compromise.” I said.
“Great, now we can mingle!” Pinkie said.
“Thank you for the advice Rarity.” I said exiting the store.
“Bye.” she said.
We spent the rest of the day conversing with the locale. It seemed many of them thrived on trades massively dependent on nature. I saw a good few shops that sold flowers, both edible and inedible. I guess eventually I’ll have to try these things, I thought. Pinkie had also taken the liberty to show me the bakery she worked in. The ponies could seemingly deviate from the normal equine diet to eat sugar filled delicacies such as cake. I found this all particularly intriguing. How would this agricultural town stand up to the planet’s winter season, I wondered?
“Well, now that I’ve made some acquaintances and brushed up on my conversational skills, I think I’m ready for tomorrow.” I said, satisfied with the day’s activities.
“Flame, what exactly are you doing tomorrow?” Pinkie asked.
“Fluttershy said something about meeting a friend of hers over Tuesday tea.”
“Oh no, I can’t stop you from going. Just prepare yourself for some of the weirdest things you’ll ever see.” she said.
“I take it she hangs out with a odd group?” I asked.
“He’s much more than odd, Flame.” she said, “ He can match me for craziness.”
Hearing this from a pink pony who ran a bakery, had a paper cannon of some kind and seemed about as friendly as she was crazy, I had a few second thoughts running through my head now. He, whoever he was, couldn’t possibly be more odd than Pinkie Pie, could he?
“Okay Pinkie, I’ll watch myself, and Fluttershy too.” I said.
Upon saying goodbye and walking towards the castle, I was left alone to my thoughts; what had I just gotten myself into? What if he’s some kind of psycho, I thought, could I be walking into some kind of brutal killing? Wait a minute, I should ask Twilight. I bounded up the steps, not much use being quiet. I went causally into the chamber, looking for Spike or Twilight. If I can juice these guys for some information I can at least have an idea of who this guy is, I thought. I found them in the kitchen making some kind of pastry.
“Hello,” I said, “ I just got back from town.”
“Hi Flame,” Twilight said back, “ did you learn much?”
“Yes,” I said, “ Pinkie and I worked on my approachability.”
“Oh,” Spike said, “ no more armor, huh? Well it was for the best, you looked like a walking weapon.”
“That still doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you without it.” I said, “ Anyway, since I’ve talked to the Princesses I can ditch the cloak, right?
“Yes,” she said, “ since the Princesses know you exist and acknowledge you as an alicorn, you can take the cloak off.”
“Nice,” I said, “ also, who exactly am I meeting tomorrow at Fluttershy’s?
“Discord,” she said, “ he’s an old enemy who we reformed by having Fluttershy befriend him.”
“That seems like a problem waiting to happen.” I responded, “The chances of him corrupting her are far more possible. We tried that with the Sith thousands of years ago. It was more like running a recruitment drive for them.”
“I thought the same thing,” she said, “ but Fluttershy did it and he has been mostly clean ever since.”
“Mostly?” I asked.
“He helped a magic-stealing demon almost take over Equestria. As well, he brought a sentient goop creature to a very important event for me and Princess Celestia. He is a chaos spirit after all, it’s his nature.”
“Yeah, his nature,” I said, “ I did read your history texts; I thought he was imprisoned in stone?”
“That was the case until a while ago.” she said.
“So, I’m going to go to bed now,” I said, “ I want to be as prepared as I can for this guy.”
I left the room and rounded the corner to the hallway to my room. I folded my membrane suit and stored my armor plates in my original bag from the ship. I sunk into a sleep; the dream returned to me. I see the flashes more vividly, hear more sounds like a voice of some kind. The darkness surrounding the flashes was clearer. More shapes were coming out of it. I wanted to look, but before I could move, it stopped. I opened my eyes, feeling well rested. No use dwelling over a dream that I can’t decipher, I thought. I glanced at the chrono, eight o’clock precisely. I stretched and walked out of the room. I went in the dining hall to find Spike and Twilight waiting for me.
“Morning.” I said suppressing a yawn.
“Morning.” Twilight said.
“I ran out of rations yesterday, so no breakfast for me.” I said.
“Here, try these.” Spike said, handing me a plate of flatbread-like objects.
“What are they?” I said, sniffing at them.
“Pancakes,” Twilight said, “ it’s a breakfast food.”
“Thanks.” I said, taking a bite.
They tasted amazing, after two years of protein rations. It was a welcome sensation.
“These are great,” I said in between mouthfuls, “ I haven’t had anything sweet in years.”
“Good for you, Flame,” she said, “ soon enough we’ll make good on our side of the deal.”
“It isn’t that bad here in Ponyville, really,” I said. “ There hasn’t been a war here in centuries.”
“How often is there war where you're from?” Spike asked.
“It never ends, Spike,” I said, “ it never ends.”
“You’ve seen a lot, haven’t you?” Twilight said.
“Yes,” I said, “now wheres R4? I want him doing a topographical scan while I’m gone. Also, you wouldn’t happen to know where Fluttershy lives?”
“He’s in the castle somewhere. I’ll tell him that when he shows up. Fluttershy lives in a cottage near the Everfree forest.”
“Alright,” I said, “ Cottage near forest, got it. I’ll be off then.”
I left via a window and gained some altitude to look for Fluttershy’s cottage. I buzzed over the border of the forest and Ponyville. I found it soon enough, and landed on a natural land bridge leading to the front door. I knocked on the door, which opened by itself. I was greeted to a room of floating furniture. I guess he beat me here, I thought. I passed the threshold, and found Fluttershy and Discord seated at a table across the room. As I flew up to them, a third chair scooped me up and brought me to them.
“Good morning.” I said.
“Hi, Flame,” Fluttershy said, “ it’s go-”
“Hello Flame,” Discord said, “ it’s so good to meet you.
“Discord, I presume,” I said. “ It’s nice to meet you to.
“So you’re the new prince, eh?” he said.
“I guess s-” I said, but was abruptly cut off as Discord teleported beside me, he examined my wings and horn.
“You seem to be legitimate.” he said, “ However, you haven’t been assigned your element. Oh, well, that will have to wait.”
“Agreed,” I said, “ let’s just enjoy the tea.”
“I noticed you aren’t wearing your armor.” Fluttershy said as we ate.
“Rarity and Pinkie Pie convinced me to stop wearing it.” I explained, “ They said something about it intimidating other ponies.”
“Oh,” she said, “ so you are trying to keep your end of that deal.”
“I don’t see why I had to make it.” I said, “ The Separatists are a threat to us all, so why did I have to do it?
“You were the one who made it, not them.” Discord said, “ I was told the whole thing.”
“That was my own mistake, I guess, maybe a break will do me some good.” I decided.
“Also, you are a prince now,” Discord said, “ finding your element should be up on the list of your priorities.”
“That’s more easily said than done, Discord.” I said.
“I can help.” he said, “ I can bring out the strongest negative in a person, which is the inverse of their personality’s strongest positive. A pony’s element is often times their strongest positive. Also, I’ve been dying to do this again.”
“What do you think, Fluttershy?” I asked, “ Should I go through with this?”
“I don’t know,” she responded, “ he did it to me and I didn’t like it, but it helped me understand my element more.”
“Fine,” I said, “ but as soon as you figure it out, snap me out of it. Fluttershy, I need to trust that if he won’t, that you will make him.”
“Okay,” she said, “ as soon as we figure it out.”
“If all else fails,” I said, “ just call me Drakeon until I snap out of it.”
“Why?” she asked, confused.
“That's my real name,” I said, “keep it secret, keep it safe.”
“Do it.” I said, nodding to Discord.
He taped my head, and I felt the world spin. I felt like I was restrained; I could see, but it was like looking through a screen. I couldn’t move; something else was moving for me. I looked around, but all I could see was an unfathomable darkness. Not much to do, I thought, preparing for a wait. I looked through my screen eyes again. I was still at Fluttershy’s. I could see her, as well as Discord. They both looked perplexed, as if they were sizing me up. I felt my lips moving, forming sounds into words. I ignored the sensations, for I couldn’t control them and it was therefore useless to feel them. I kept looking through my eyes, now Discord was ecstatic, Fluttershy looked concerned. I tried to figure out what I had just said. I could hear the conversation like my ears were being muffled. It sounded like I had just said something pretty disturbing. I kept my eyes glued to what was happening. They were speaking to me basic questions. I felt myself say more to them, and whatever I had just said had set off a bomb. Fluttershy was crying, Discord was distracted between comforting her and figuring out what my element was. Then I heard it, she was saying “Drakeon!” That was the only word that was coming through clearly. I started to fight, ripping at the invisible fetters. I felt them loosen after a while. Eventually, Discord did something indiscernible, and I was free.
“What- what just happened?” I said panting.
“Well, Flame, if that’s even your name,” Discord said, “ we just met the darkest part of you.”
“Well,” I asked, “ how was it?”
“You really were a monster.” Fluttershy said.
“I-I know,” I said, “ but what did other me say to make you cry and get Discord so excited?”
“You don’t know?” Discord answered, “ From that rant you gave us, we figured out your element.”
“Wait,” I said, “ I was only gone for a few minutes, that doesn’t make sense.”
“The process has a side effect,” he explained, “ it speeds up your perception of time. A few minutes on your end was actually about an hour to us.”
“Okay,” I said, “ so what is my element?’
“It’s simple, really,” he said, “ when we talked with you, I saw a general disregard of other’s lives in you. You went on about how it wasn’t worth it to protect anyone anymore. You were tired of having to put your life on the line for others.”
“Okay,” I said, “ how does this tell us my element?”
“This means whether you show it or not,” Discord said, “ you enjoy being a protector.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” I said, looking back on the things I did, “ I’ve done some very aggressive things.”
“That’s not the point,” he interjected, “ a better question is why were you doing them?”
“Oh, I see,” I said, “ you’re saying I become aggressive when I want to protect something.”
“Exactly,” he said, “ you are the prince of protection.”
It all made a gruesome amount of sense. The only reason I joined the GAR was because innocent people were in danger. Maybe that's why I was here, innocents were in danger of being attacked by something that had nothing to do with them.
“What did I say to make her cry?” I asked, gesturing to Fluttershy.
“You told us what you really did in Deathwatch, whatever that is.” he said.
“You said how you destroyed entire communities just like this because someone was hiding in it.” Fluttershy sniffled.
“You wish how you wanted to go back to those days,” Discord continued, “ you wanted to kill for practically sport.”
“I know I’ve done some bad things,” I said, “ but that wasn’t me. I left for a reason, I realized that I was ruining other’s lives just as much as the Jedi ruined mine. All I’ve done since is try to correct for my wrongs by focusing my anger, and turn it against those who did what I did.”
“I believe you,” she said, “ I was pretty nasty when I was like that too.”
“What were you like?” I asked.
“I am the element of kindness,” she said, “ so my inverse is cruelty.”
“Oh,” I said, “ I honestly can’t imagine you being cruel to anyone.”
“Same for you,” she said, “ I couldn’t imagine you being so hurtful.”
“I am a soldier,” I laughed, “ hurting people is my business.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to like it.” she pouted.
“Maybe,” I said, “ Anyway, I’m gonna go now. It was nice meeting you, Discord.”
I moved out of the chair. As I fluttered down to the floor; the world spun out from under me. I was in darkness again. Then, the flashes returned. This time, there was more clarity, I could see what looked like buildings and fields. There were objects in the sky, but not much I could discern. I felt myself being pulled away from the dream.
I opened my eyes, feeling a dull pain in my head. I looked around, and found I was still in Fluttershy’s house. The furniture was on the floor this time. That probably means that Discord left, I thought. I looked around, I seemed to have been moved from the main area of the house to somewhere else. I seemed to be lying on a bed. Maybe this was a spare room? I attempted to rise from my resting place. As I got to my hooves I felt my head throb. I must have banged myself harder than I thought.
I steadied myself, as the pain slowly ebbed. I hope I don’t have a concussion, I thought. I looked around, the room was dark. I felt instinctively for my light saber. Wait, I thought; if I have a concussion, I don’t want to ignite it. I felt at my belt, luckily it was still there. I closed my eyes, and hit the button on the hilt. I heard the comforting whir of the blade. I opened my eyes slowly, letting them become accustomed to the sharp increase in light.The room was now bathed in a dull amethyst light. I looked for a light source, and found a solitary switch on the wall. I trotted carefully over to it. At least I can balance on three legs, I thought, holding things as a non-unicorn must be a pain. I was really missing my bipedalism. I planted my hoof on the switch and turned off my saber. I hooked it on my belt as I flipped the switch.
The room was now lit by several lamps in the corners. I walked over to an overlooked window. What time is it, was the main question on my mind. I lifted the curtain and was greeted by a starry sky. Great, I thought, I’m at a mare’s house in the middle of the night. I let the curtain drop, and turned back to the room. My reputation is officially ruined, I thought. My one hope was that the beings in this world were not nearly as perverted as in my galaxy. Probably not, I thought.
As I looked up from languishing over my newly found social life, I felt a wave in the force. Something bad just happened, I thought, something very bad. I searched the force more. It wasn’t coming from here. It must have been from home, I thought. I could sense the fear, and the death. I felt farther, felt it amplifying, whatever had happened wasn’t over yet. I withdrew myself from it; I didn’t want to feel that fear anymore.
Suddenly there was a shriek. My mind rushed back to the current situation. I ran to the source: a room a flight of stairs above mine. I entered, looking for the source. A pony held a sharpened hand spade to Fluttershy’s neck. My vision adjusted to the dimmer light of the room. The pony from before was a mare, and she was clad in black.
“Gimme all your bits.” she said in a musky accent.
“And if I say no?” I asked, annoyed.
“Then she gets it.” she replied, and I sensed her anger growing.
“This is how this is going to happen.” Ripping the spade from her grip with the force, I said, “You are going to release my friend. Then, you will leave, and never return here again.”
She charged at me, intent on throwing me down the stairs. I stopped her with the force, holding her aloft. When was the last time I killed someone, I thought to myself.
“Lets try that again.” I said, drawing my saber and igniting it, “ I’m giving you one more chance, leave or die.”
She struggled against the force grip, thrashing her limbs in mid air. They never learn, I thought. I forced the air around her neck to compress, causing a choking sensation. I held the blade up to her stomach area.
“Leave,” I persisted, “ or this is going to get nasty. Personally, I don’t want to kill you. However, if you leave me no choice....”
She nodded in defeat. I released the force choke on her, and started walking down the stairs. I found my way to the main room, opened the door and placed her outside. She ran off without another word. Well, I thought, maybe I can be a peace keeper. I trudged back up the stairs. I passed the spade. How uncivilised, I thought with a smirk. I made it back to the room.
“So,” I said, flicking on the lights, “ how did you sleep?”
“You really are the prince of protection.” Fluttershy laughed.
“I wouldn’t be much of one if I didn’t intervene.” I said, “ Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine,” she answered, “ you?
“Besides a killer headache I’m fine.” I responded, “ So, how did I get here anyway?”
“You hit your head falling,” she said, “you’ve been asleep ever since.”
“Okay,” I said, “ the adrenaline is already pumping, so I’m done sleeping.”
“Oh,” she said, “ I have food in the kitchen.”
“Thanks,” I said, “ see you in the morning.”
I went back downstairs. I picked up the spade, no use having it around to trip on. I went into the main room. I opened a window and tossed the spade out, Good riddance to bad rubbish, I thought. I found the kitchen tucked in the far corner of the house. I looked for supplies to make something; caf, maybe? Hopefully, ponies had discovered the deliciousness of caf. I had been raised on a vegetarian diet in the Jedi academy. However, after I left, I moved into a normal omnivorous diet, caf included.
Unfortunately, I found no caf. What I did find was mostly vegetables. She must grow these, I thought, remembering the gardens around the house. I made a salad of sorts, not much of this stuff was from my galaxy. I made most of my decisions based on an occasional nibble on the item in question. I can’t really cook, I thought, but at least I can make a decent salad. I sat down in the main room and began to eat. Thankfully, Fluttershy seemed to enjoy labeling her crops, as I learned their names from them. I was enjoying a chunk of onion, as a small white being hopped up to me. It thumped its leg at me, as if it was angry. I remembered the Jedi teaching me how to empathize with animals through the force. It’s worth a shot, I decided. I reached out with the force, and found that the animal was indeed angry. I looked to my bowl and back to the creature. I held up the onion, the thumping and anger increased. Next, I tried a carrot, and the animal stopped its thumping. I tossed it to the being. It began to eat beside me. Not bad, I thought to myself. By now the sun was rising. I glanced at the a chrono in the room; six o’clock.
I stood up, walking to the door. I took off into the sky. As, I flew I noticed the ponies in the town below beginning to stir. I didn’t feel like returning to the castle yet. So I searched for any kind of distractions. I landed on one of the huts roof tops, content to watch the town slowly awaken. It’s peaceful here, I thought. That's something worth protecting. I thought of the Separatists; they wouldn’t spare anyone if they got here. I saw the visions of Ponyville in my head when the Separatists came: the modest huts burning, ponies being slaughtered in the streets. The droids would march into the town, they would call any sort of leader in front of the surviving towns people. Then, they would kill him or her, moving on to the townspeople next.
I stood, confident in my decision. If the GAR wasn’t here, then I would make something else. After all, I thought, I have force sensitives who can help me. The others can be taught to defend themselfs as well. I took to the skies once again. I would need lots of crystals for my plan. Soon, I would be ready to hunt. I flew back to the castle, intent on telling my plan to twilight. I landed in my room. I burst into the chamber, and found her.
“I just had the best plan.” I said.
“What?!” she screamed, “ Where were you?”
“Not important,” I said, “ is there any kind of army here?
“Very important, actually,” she said, “ you can’t just disappear!”
“Well yeah,” I said, intrigued, “I’m not a consular.”
“Not what I meant,” she answered, “but why didn’t you come back?”
“Relax,” I said, “ I was at Fluttershy’s house.”
“What?” she said blankly.
“Long story short,” I said, “I kinda knocked myself out.”
“Okay,” she said suspiciously, “ so, what was that about a plan?”
“You wouldn’t happen to have crystals, would you?” I asked.
“What kind of crystal are you looking for?” she responded, “ We have lots.”
“Perfect,” I said, “ I need all the crystals you can find.”
“Why?” she asked.
“I’m going to make these,” I said, pulling out my light saber, “lots of them.”
“You never told us what that was,” she said, “ and we treated it like the mask and didn’t touch it.”
“Good,” I said, “ hit a wrong button and you might have been down a few limbs.”
“What does it do? she asked.
“Why don’t I show you?” I said.
I took a few steps back, and ignited it. I waved it in her direction. She walked over with wide eyes.
“Don’t touch the blade,” I explained, “ it's made of photons in an uninterruptible circuit. Touching it would temporarily break the circuit, thus causing the energy to be redirected, into you. That causes a cutting action, but because the photons give off lots of heat, The cut is instantly cauterized, drawing no blood.”
“Wow,” she said, “ I haven’t seen anything that advanced, ever. You’re going to make more of them?”
“Well actually,” I started, “you are. I’m going to make training ones, they only cause bruising. Then, I’ll teach you how to make yours.”
“Why,” she said.
“Theres only one of me,” I said, “ against thousands of droids. I need to even the odds, I think this is the best way.”
“So you’re going to train us to fight with you.” Twilight said, drawing to my conclusion.
“Exactly,” I said, “ the Separatists are a threat to you to. It would be logical to show you how to help.”
“So how are you going to do this?” she asked.
“Well,” I explained, “ First, I need crystals, that’s what the sabers use to make the blade. Then, I need as many ponies as possible. While it's tradition to only teach force users, I can make an exception. After that, we find the Separatists and take them down.”
“What else do we need to make the sabers?” Twilight said, getting a quill and parchment.
“Not necessary,” I said, “ my ship should have most of it.”
“Okay,” she said, “ Tomorrow we can start collecting parts. Until then, you need to start talking to Applejack. Your ship is still on her family's land.
“Alright,” I said, walking towards the door, “Lets get to it.”
I departed the castle, and took off to the crash site. Wait, I thought, she must have a residence elsewhere. I looked over the orchard from the sky, spotting a complex of agriculture buildings not far from my ship. That’s as good a place to start, I thought. I landed by the main building of the complex. It appeared to be a large predecessor of an agridome. I hope I can reason with her, I thought. Something told me that she wouldn’t be too happy about the damages I inadvertantly caused. I was shocked back to reality by an old mare.
“Well, Sonny,” she spoke in an accent similar to Applejack's, “ you just gonna stand there?”
“O- oh, sorry,” I said, “ I’m here to-”
“No need to apologize,” she cut me off, “ come on in.”
She grabbed me by the hoof and directed me inside. Even for her old age, she was still strong. Guess you really can’t keep a good work animal down, I thought. The inside of the agridome was furnished. Rustically, even for this area. I remembered Rarity and Fluttershy’s choices in interior decor. I wasn’t an expert but this stuff was old. She sat me down at a table, and spoke.
“Now Sonny,” she started, “ whaddya want?”
“I wanted to speak to Applejack abo-” I said.
“Sorry,” she cut me off, “ she’s out apple bucking.”
“What are apples? “ I asked.
“What,” she said, going as bug eyed as rodian, “you don’t know what an apple is?
“They don’t have them where I come from.” I answered.
“Boy, where are you from, outer space?” She said.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I muttered.
“Was that sass?” she said, unamused.
“No Ma’am.” I said, nervously.
“Good, now eat these.” she said.
She placed several dishes on the table in front of me. The only thing I could tell from their looks was that they all had some red ingredient.
“Now,” she started, “ the beauty of the apple is their variety. You can make any kind of food with an apple. Apple pie, fritters, cider, and much more.”
“I’m not really that hungry-” I started.
“Now, it’s not polite to refuse hospitality.” she said, “ They never teach y’all younguns right, Eat up.”
“Okay.” I relented, “ Can you at least tell me you name?”
“Granny Smith.” she answered.
“Flame.” I replied, taking the first bite of a “fritter”.
I was assaulted by good tastes. However they made food here must have been lost to the ravages of time in my galaxy. Most of the treats had a filling of the same taste. This must be the apple.
“Where do apples come from, anyway?” I asked between mouthfuls.
“Apples,” she started, “ come from the trees.”
She gestured out towards the orchard, and I noticed the trees had red objects on them. I was eating seed capsules from trees. That explains why we don’t have these, I thought. Most beings back home wouldn’t know how to do any of the work of maintaining a farm.
“Thank you very much,” I said, “ are you sure I can’t talk to Applejack right now, it’s very important?”
“Well,” she said, “If you want to help harvest the apples you can. Then, you can talk.”
“Fine,” I said, she must be satisfied getting free work out of me.
She walked me out into the orchard. Next, she stood me near a tree. The apples were practically dripping from the branches. I looked at them in their natural state. I’d still eat that, I thought.
“Now,” Granny Smith said, “ what ya want to do is buck them apples.”
“How do you do that?” I asked, looking for a machine of some sort.
“Ya got back legs,” she said, “ use ‘em.”
“How ‘bout I do this my way.” I said, this’ll be good, I thought.
I reached out with the force. I gripped the apples on the tree. I gave a tug and they were aloft, held by the force now. I stacked them into the bucket on the opposite side of the tree.
“How’d ya like them apples?” I said, imitating her accent.
“Well Ah’ll be.” she said in wonder.
“I can do this on a larger scale.” I said, flexing my back.
“Well what are ya waitin’ for?” she responded.
This time I extended my force presence through the entire orchard, and I felt only three other sentient life forms. I grabbed the apples once more and pulled.
“Where to?” I asked holding the apples aloft.
“The silo.” Granny Smith answered.
I gathered the apples in the air to me. From there I funneled them through the silo, gently placing them down.
“There,” I said, wiping my brow, “ can I please talk to Applejack now?”
“Very well,” she said, “ it may be weird, but at least you can work.”
She lead me back to the agridome. I had no better term to call it by. Granny Smith went into the agridome again. I thought she said that Applejack was in the orchard. I followed her into the agridome.
“Applejack, you have company.” she hollered up the stairs.
“Be down in a sec.” came a reply.”
“Well played.” I nodded to Granny Smith.
“Ah had ya goin, didn’t Ah?” she smirked.
Applejack came down the stairs.
“Oh it’s you.” she said, not exactly the happiest tone in her voice.
“I came for my ship...rather, what's left of it.” I said, “ While I was at it. I’ve taken care of your entire harvest.”
“Fine, you can have your “ship” back.” she conceded.
“Thank you.” I said, turning to the door, “ I’ll just get it and be on my way.”
“ How can you move it anyways?” she asked.
“Same way I moved your apples.” I responded, matter of factly.
I went to the crash site. I felt bad, I didn’t meant to plow through her orchard. Considering I lost control of the ship, I don’t think I had much of a say of the matter. Lucky for me, the ship wasn’t buried too deeply in the soil. I saw that Applejack and Granny Smith were following. If they’re this intent on seeing me do this, I guess I can’t stop them, really. I extended my sense once more. I surrounded the ship. I gripped it, harder than the apples. I pulled, I felt the ship give a meter or two. I heaved at it, intent on it moving. The ship responded. It was out of it’s resting place in the hole. I kept it a meter above the ground.
“Thank you for your time.” I said.
“Uh… okay.” Applejack said incredulously.
`I started walking towards the castle. I had to get this to a place where I could enact my plan.
“What a nice colt.” I heard Granny Smith say behind me.
I walked across the fields outside of town. I couldn’t risk dragging the wreckage through Ponyville. Firstly, it would warrant too much attention. Secondly, it might not fit in between houses. I walked to the rear of the castle. Here will do, I thought. I set the ship down. It creaked as it settled into what would probably be it’s final resting place. I went inside to get R4; he would need to help. I need him for the electronics, I thought. I found him perched in my room.
“R4, did you get those topographical reports?” I asked.
“Yes.” he chirped.
“Okay,” I said, “ I’ll need those later. Now, we need to dismantle the ship.”
“Why?” he chirped., “ we need that to get home.”
“For now,” I replied, “ this is our home. We need to help defend it.”
“Fine.” he chirped.
We walked back out to the ship. I climbed onto the hull.
“Dismantle everything but the weapons systems and their electronics.” I ordered.
I unhooked my light saber. R4 disappeared into the cockpit, unhooking the weapon control from the central console. I started cutting the blast plate away from the main hull. I made a pile of the metal sheets. Now with the wiring exposed from the hull, R4 moved from the cockpit, following the weapons control wires. I moved onto the bottom of the craft, cutting the heavier blast plates away. I’d have to switch to my lightsaber to the back up power cells stored in my survival bags after this. It would be worth it. Later I could jury rig a charging port.
Now, the Aethersprite was a literal skeleton of itself. R4 had unbound the weapons controls and was working on removing the canons from the superstructure. I could see he was having trouble. As much as I had changed, he had gotten the worst of it.
“Need help?” I asked, now done with my task.
“Yes,” he chirped, “I miss my tools.”
“I miss my hands.” I said, unscrewing the bolts with the force.
“I guess we all have to adjust.” he chirped.
“Hey,” I said, “ you got a personality out of it. Look at me, I’ve made friends for the first time in my life.”
“I had a personality before the change,” he protested. “ Mr. I-don’t-wipe-droid memory cores.”
“Well said,” I admitted, “ I picked that one up from Anakin. He got on well with his R2 unit.”
“Maybe we’re luckier than we thought.” R4 suggested, tapping me with his wing; he gestured to a hill top.
On the hilltop, was Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. They were walking towards us. I waved to them and hopped down from the hull.
“Hi everyone,” I said, “ how’s it going?”
“You saved Fluttershy!” Twilight exclaimed, “ Why didn’t you tell us?”
“It didn’t seem all that important.” I answered.
“It really was,” Fluttershy insisted, “ who knows what would have happened if you weren’t there.”
“Don’t you guys have a police force?” I asked.
“No, ponies just aren’t like that.” Rainbow Dash answered.
“Really?” I said. An area where beings rely on merit instead of brute force, interesting.
“So what are doing?” Pinkie asked, drawing out the ‘are’ much longer than it should have been.
“I’m getting parts,” I said, hopping back on to the superstructure, “ for more lightsabers.”
“Why?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Because,” I answered, going into the inner workings of the ship, “ I’m going to teach as many of you as possible to fight.”
“Flame,” R4 reported, “ weapons systems removed and intact.”
“Good,” I said, “ get that off to the side, I’ll work on it latter.”
“Yes, sir.” He chirped, “ I will enlist the ponies to help.”
“Be careful,” I said, “ make sure that it’s safe for them.”
I got more wiring and other electronics essential to lightsabers from the hull. I began working my way to the engine core. I would need the fusion reactor in it to power the machines and the recharge stations. I went over the machines I would need to fabricate parts. I cleared out all nonessential wiring. The reactor was about the size of my head. I started by unscrewing the bolts that kept it in place. Lucky for me, the structure had not been compromised in the crash. Since the support systems were inside the protective casing the entire reactor was a self sufficient machine. I lifted it out of the superstructure, and placed it onto the ground.
“What now?” Twilight asked.
“I start working on my workshop.” I stated.
I went into the castle and got my bags. I set them down with the pile of scrap metal. I looked in the bag. I found the synthi-weave tarp that I had put in the bag. I went over to the frame of the Aethersprite. I cut four two meter poles. These would be the roof supports. I embedded them into the ground. I then levitated the tarp atop the poles to form the roof.
“R4, get the weapons systems under there.” I ordered.
“Yes, sir.” he chirped.
I started making framing for the machines I would need. Since we had scrapped the electronics, I started rewiring them to suit the needs of the machines they would complete. By the end of the day, I had made a smelter, and a recharger for my electronics. They were both connected to the reactor’s power output device via the wires. I walked back inside. I was covered from horn to hoof in grease, oil, and dirt. I need a bath, I thought. I yawned, it’s too late for that. I collapsed into my bed.
I was in the dark for a moment. This time, the darkness disappeared completely. I didn’t like the darkness, but what appeared wasn’t much better. A once gleaming castle was under attack. The Separatists were there, in the low atmosphere firing on the castle. I could see fighting in the streets. The ponies were trying their hardest to fight back. I saw beams of some sort coming from the castle, striking the ship's hulls.
“That would be Cadence.” a voice said from behind me.
“What the-” I said spinning me around.
Princess Luna stood behind me, a bemused look on her face.
“Princess Luna?” I asked, “ Are you part of my dream too?”
“I am the Princess of the Night,” she responded, “ it is only natural for me to walk in dreams.”
“Why are you in mine?” I asked. Only a master in the force could have such a power.
“Your dreams are different, Flame.” Luna answered, “ they offer distorted looks into the future.”
“That’s not really that odd where I come from,” I said, “ force sensitives often have prophetic dreams or visions. They offer us insight in dark times.”
“Oh,” she responded, “ it seems that both our worlds have different aspects of magic.”
“I guess,” I said, “ yesterday, I felt something troubling. I felt a sense of fear, and then death. Lots and lots of death. Did you feel it too?”
“Yes,” she said, “ my sister and I felt the shudders. We didn’t feel it was from this world.”
“It’s from mine.” I said, “ I have great concerns for my former comrades in the Order, and outside of it.”
“I see,” she said, I felt the slightest hint of confusion in her voice, “ my sister must be notified.”
“Please,” I asked, “ only tell who you must. This is a problem for my galaxy, bringing this one in would only complicate things.”
“Very well,” she agreed, “ I hope that your friends are safe.”
I felt the pull of reality.
“ Goodbye, Luna,” I said, “ I will keep watching this dream.”
“Goodbye, Flame,” she bade, “ well, actually, good morning.”
With those words I was gone. I rose from my bed, still as dirty as last night. I walked out of the hall. I went into the kitchen. Spike sat at the table, enjoying some pancakes. I sat across from him. He looked up at me, his eyes widening. I know I look bad, I thought. The whole look of disgust wasn’t necessary.
“Wow,” he said, “ you need a break.”
“No.” I said, getting a plate of my own from a equally shocked Twilight.
“Well,” she said, “ The girls and I are going to get crystal for you. So Spike can take you to the spa.”
I knew that spas were around on Coruscant. However, when the war started, they were only rarely visited by the wealthy and powerful. I myself had never been to one.
“How are you going to find the crystals?” I asked. I’m not giving up that easy.
“Rarity can find them with her magic.” she said.
“I guess.” I relented, I guess they did have force variations here.
“Come with me.” Spike said, grabbing my hoof.
He lead me out of the caste into town. Not much I could do to avoid it now, I thought. Oh well, I really could use some rest. Spike lead me into a building, two mares with oddly styled manes sat in the front.
“How can ve help you?” one asked, in a accent more foreign than Granny Smiths.
“Give him the works,” Spike said, “ it’s on the Princess.”
“Okay,” she said, leading me back, “ Ve vill make you look beautiful.”
They plopped me into a large heated tub. I made no attempt to resist; the water was rather comfortable. They slapped two cucumbers on my face, and covered the rest with a paste. This is quite a change, I thought. The GAR used group showering, since the most of the soldiers were the exact same person. Considering the last shower I had taken was with twenty other males, and the hot water had a cut off, This was a large step up from that to be sure.
“Next,” I heard them say, “ let’s get rid of his trojan horse. That mane style was so last year.”
I felt myself being moved from the tub to a chair. I felt cream being lathered onto my head. Then hooves began rubbing the cream in. Then, something was placed onto my head. I felt my mane hair softening. By trojan horse, they must have meant my mane. Apparently, regulatulation GAR buzz cuts transformed to some kind of mohawk here. Not much I could do, I wasn’t a specialist in either place. The object was being removed.
“Vhat beautiful, natural hair. If only he had left it down.” a voice said.
“Well, let’s correct his mistake. Leave it down.” another replied.
“Yes, vhat a good idea.” the first replied.
The cucumbers were removed, and the paste was wiped away. I blinked a few times to become accustomed to the lights. They ushered me to a table of some kind. It looked like something you would see in an interrogation room. Before they switched to using droid, of course. Then they began pressing on my back with their hooves. A half hour later, I was released. They gave me a mirror, I looked completely different. My mane was now down, falling across my forehead. Spike was waiting outside for me.
“Looking good,” he said, “ like a whole new stallion.”
“I feel violated in so many ways.” I said taking a deep breath.
“Don’t be such a downer.” He insisted, “ The girls got plenty of crystals, all different colors too.”
“All I need are the blue and greens. The rest can be saved for later. Except red, those can be thrown back in the ground for all I care.”
“Why don’t you like red?” He asked.
“Red is an evil color.” I answered, “ Only the Sith use red crystals. Jedi can never use them.”
“Can I have them?” He asked, “ Rubies make the best after dinner treats. Garnets make great lunches too.”
“You eat crystals?” I asked.
“Yep,” he said, “ all dragons can.”
We returned to the castle. He lead me inside, back to the chamber. The others were inside. They looked at me in awe.
“You look different.” Twilight said.
“I feel like some senate guard,” I said, “ forced to wear fresh armor, unnecessary helmets.”
“Darling,” Rarity said, “ you look positively gorgeous.”
“I liked my old look.” I pouted, “ Are there at least crystals for me to use?”
“Yep,” Applejack said, gesturing to a cart full of them.
“We found plenty in the hills.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Good,” I said, “ now I can start forging the metal. I might be awhile.”
I left dragging the cart full of crystals behind me. I went to the tent and powered up
the reactor. I put some of the plating into the forge. It would take an hour for the plate to become a liquid. I started on making the molds and asked R4 to find some wax for me. He had gotten someone to drag a block of it out to me. I started shaping the wax to have hollow cylindrical pieces. These would form the outside of the saber, while the circuits and crystals would make up the hollow space. An hour slowly ticked by, I got the molten metal out of the forge. I began pouring it into the molds. All four molds where done, they would need a while to cool. Not much I could do until then. Well, actually, I corrected myself, I could sort the crystals.
They had brought back several kinds of crystal I had never seen. Luckily, I had seen several kyber crystals. There were about 20 red gemstones, Spike could handle those. Honestly, I was looking forward to seeing how he ate them. Did he have some kind of stomach acid that could be used to digest them? What was a crystal’s caloric rate anyway?
I put twenty blue and green crystals in a pile. The others I put in a storage container. They would be for their final assessment. I put the container away; the cylinders should be done now. I broke open the wax: four lightsaber chassis sat before me. I got out some power cells, the circuits, and two crystals for each. I inserted them into the cylinders. I held one in my hoof. Let’s hope this works, I thought. If not, I could lose a limb, the safety inhibitors hadn’t been installed yet. I closed my eyes and ignited the blade. I heard a whir of it, and I opened my eyes. It had worked, I had made a suitable training saber. I deactivated it, and enabled the safety. I repeated the process the rest of the day. In the end, I had made twenty lightsabers to train a fighting force. I went to bed content with my work.
Then, I was in a different place. I didn’t recognize this as the vista from earlier.
“It’s been some time, Drakeon.” a voice said from the darkness.
“So you finally found me.” I said, “ it took you longer than I thought.”
Mace Windu stepped out of the darkness. He looked directly at me.
“It’s been months since you disappeared, old friend.” he said, “ even the Jedi were called to search for you.”
“What,” I said, “ that can’t be right. I’ve only been here a little more than a week.”
“Drakeon,” he said, “ things have changed. Be it a week, or the four months on our side. The war is over, but you might not like how it ended.”
“How did it end?” I asked. “Surely we couldn’t have lost.”
“The Republic is gone.” he said, “ The war only ended in darkness. The Separatists were crushed, at a price. Palpatine betrayed us, he was a Sith. He seized control of the senate. Then, he executed contingency Order 66.”
“No.” I said, Order 66 was never meant to be used, “ That shouldn’t have happened. He can’t do that, he couldn’t.”
I remembered learning that Order in training. The way the Kaminoans had taught us, it was never more than a formality. He could activate it, but the Jedi would never commit treason.
“Wait,” I said, finally drawing the conclusion, “ you’re dead, aren’t you?
“Yes,” he admitted, “ I tried to strike down Palpatine. I had him, but I was betrayed.”
“By who, Master?” I asked.
“Our greatest hope.” Mace concluded.
“Anakin?” I asked, “ I know he was rash, but betrayal?”
“Palpatine corrupted him,” he said, “ enticed him to join the dark side.”
“What of the others,” I asked, thinking of my friends and elders, “Surely some survived?”
“Master Yoda hides in the Dagobah system.” He said, “ Master Kenobi watches over our last hope on Tatooine. I don’t know of any other survivors.”
“There’s me.” I said, “ once I destroy these last Separatists, I will return.”
“No, young one,” he said, “ while we have our vessel of hope, we need a vessel of knowledge. You shall be it, for wherever you are is slowing your aging. I will teach you the old ways, to help him when he is ready.”
“Yes, my Master.” I said, “ I will be ready to show him our ways.”
“Good,” he said, “ you will be his guide to giving light to a galaxy cloaked in darkness.”
I woke in my bed, refreshed for a new day’s work. I went to the forge to collect the training sabers. I would need a place to set up a training field. Also, I would need actual initiates as well. All in due time, Drakeon, I thought. I went inside. The others were in the chamber.
“I’m finally done,” I said, “ now all I need are ponies to train.”
“Who can?” Rainbow dash asked.
“Anyone who is willing,” I said, “ Unicorns here have developed their own way to use the force. I don’t want to ruin your ways by introducing my own.”
“Well then,” Rainbow dash said, “ sign me up. Fluttershy and Twilight told us how you use that light sword. I want to learn how.”
“I want to learn too.” Fluttershy said, “ I don’t ever want to be in danger anymore. When you saved me from that bandit I realized, I want to be capable in self defence.”
“It’s part of the cultural exchange,” Twilight said, “ you should teach all the princesses.”
“Ah want to too,” Applejack said, “ that’ll come in handy in a tussle.”
“I want nothing to do with those things.” Rarity announced, “ They are so barbaric.”
“Okay,” I said, “ nopony is forcing you.”
“Can I?” Pinkie asked.
“Of course.” I said, “ however, I still have spaces for twelve other ponies. Any suggestions?”
“Why not put up posters?” Fluttershy suggested.
“Good idea,” I said, “ I’ll start on them no-”
I was interrupted mid sentence by my cutie mark. It was literally vibrating on my flanks. I looked at the others, who returned looks of confusion. Except for Twilight, she was looking out the windows. It seems that there was a larger vibration. My cutie mark stopped vibrating, as we walked over to the window with Twilight. There was a new structure on the mountain that Canterlot was perched on. On the far side of the mountain I recognized the towers of the Jedi temple on Coruscant.
“What just happened?” I asked no one in particular.
“The Princesses were wondering when this would happen.” Twilight said.
“What, wondering when what was going to happen?” I asked.
“This world has accepted you as a monarch, by giving you a palace.” she responded.
“I hate monarchy.” I grumbled.
“Well,” Fluttershy said, nudging me out the door, “ let’s go see it.”
“I wanna see that house too.” Pinkie chirped in.
“We may as well make a trip out of it.” Twilight said.
I spent most of the train ride to Canterlot in denial. There is no way that’s mine, I thought. Fate can take it back. Those towers stirred up too many memories. I drifted back to my days as a youngling. I had always been too curious. I remembered being caught sneaking into a council meeting when I was seven standard years old. Mace found me hiding behind his chair. Instead of chastising me, he let me sit in on the meeting. They were gone now. All those smiling, sometimes angry faces. I had left them in their hour of need.
The train stopped, but instead of going through the gates, the eight of us doubled back around the mountain. Fate had been kind enough to leave us a path, at least. I walked behind them. I faded back into my memories, to when they had caught me using the dark side. I was brought before master Yoda. I remembered how I was angry because they hadn’t given me a post as general. I had let off a burst of lightning in my quarters. Unfortunately, one of my past instructors had heard. Yoda lectured me on how I could turn away from that path. I stormed out of the chambers, grabbed my saber, some food, a secret credit stash, and left on the next transport.
We rounded the last bend in the path, it lead to a parade ground leading to the entrance of the complex. On the banners, instead of the Jedi order’s insignia, was my cutie mark. I made a mental note to tear down those banners. I walked inside, the others intently following. They oohed and ahhed as we walked along. I rushed into the main corridor, and found that everything was the same. Except instead of the statutes of the the former masters, there were all statues of me.
“The similarities are uncanny.” I said, marveling at the detail.
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“This is an exact replica of the temple I grew up in.” I mused.
“Yes,” I said, “ save the statues and the banners, they could be clones.”
“Were there others?” Rarity asked.
“Hundreds of temples, thousands of other inhabitants.” I said, “ They are all gone now.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, “ how could they all disappear.”
“No” I said, quietly. “ they’re all dead.”
“How do you know?” Twilight exclaimed.
“I had a dream last night,” I said, “ I was visited by my former master. He told me of the Jedi’s demise at the hands of the Sith.”
“What’s a Sith?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“While the Jedi trained in the ways of the light,” I explained to them, “ the Sith trained in the dark side. They, Jedi and Sith, have been at war for thousands of years. Honestly, I thought that they were all dead. I was very wrong, and now the Jedi have paid for that mistake.”
“But you’re still alive,” Fluttershy said, “ that must mean something, right?
“Now there are only a handful left.” I said, “ I can’t even help them.”
“You can always have hope.” she said, giving me a hug, “ I hope you feel better, Flame.”
“You’re right,” I said, “ I can at least help you guys, and I can teach.”
“Yeah,” she said, “ as long as you're around, then there are still Jedi.”
“Well,” I said, “ by holobook definition, I’m neither. I use both sides of the force.”
“Well then, you have a lot to teach us.” she said.
We explored the rest of the temple. We lost Twilight to the Temple’s library. Pinkie was somewhere in the kitchen. Rarity was exploring the personal rooms. Rainbow Dash was in the armory somewhere. Applejack was exploring the training grounds. Fluttershy and I were in the council chamber.
“Typically,” I explained to her, “ only the Jedi council is permitted in here.
“Wow,” she said, “ this place is so beautiful.”
“I know,” I chuckled, “ but you may think otherwise when training starts.”
“We still need more ponies.” Fluttershy said.
“I’ll deal with that in the morning.” I decided, “ For now, I want to sleep.”
“Me too.” she agreed.
I gathered the others in the council chamber. I dismissed them to the sleeping quarters. Training would start tomorrow. I chose the room that I used to sleep in. The others spread out down the halls.
I was on the hill again. I saw the castle gleaming in the mid afternoon light. It looked quite picturesque. Then the ships appeared again, I saw the exchange again. I couldn’t move, only watch. Whoever these ponies were, they weren’t giving in that easily.
“We’ve come to check again, Flame” Luna said, stepping out to my side.
“Where is this place, Luna?” I asked, intent on knowing where the Separatists would strike.
“This is the crystal empire, Princess Cadence's home.” she responded.
“Hey, Luna.” I said, “ can you check on me tomorrow?”
“Why?” she asked.
“I have a feeling that this won’t be the same tomorrow.” I said.
“Very well.” she said, giggling,“ thou palace hast caused quite the commotion. Thou art going to have quite a few visitors tomorrow.”
“Great,” I said sarcastically, “ that’s all I need.”
“They could be prospective students,” she suggested, “ treat them well.”
“Okay.” I said, feeling the pull, “I think it’s time for me to go.”
I awoke to Pinkie Pie screaming outside. I could only hear bits and pieces from inside my room. Something about visitors, I remembered what Luna had said. I rose from my bed, I exited my room.
“Flame!” she said bouncing up to me, “ You have company.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
“Applejack and Rainbow Dash are stalling them on the parade ground.” Rarity said, poking around the corner.
“Alright,” I said, “ just let me handle this.”
I walked out to the parade ground. There was a group of twelve ponies. They were looking around, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash trying to keep them in one place. I walked out to them, there were four of each subspecies. Time to turn on the charm, I thought.
“Hello,” I said, trying to be polite, “ can I help you all?”
“Prince Flame,” one said, “ we all came to help you.”
“With what?” I asked.
“To help protect Equestria.” she said, matter-of-factly, “ Discord came to Canterlot a few days ago proclaiming you Prince of Protection. Then he said how he had seen you vanquish a bandit. We want to help.”
It suddenly clicked, that mare was Discord. I had played right into his hands, now everyone knew who I was. This was bad, if they knew, then the Separatists did. Well, I guess I did have my recruits now.
“I guess,” I said, “ What are your names then?”
“My name is Nix,” she said, making gesture to all of them, “ that’s Vanilla Bean, Candied Cream, Ice Drop, Skyset, Dragster, Munch, Troph, Draego, Siblin, Greeny, and Teeny.”
“Do you know what you are doing?”
“You’ll teach us how to defend Equestria.”
“Good” I said, “ Come inside, we can start as soon as we’ve all eaten.”
“Okey Dokey,” Nix said.
We all sat in the dining hall of the temple; I didn’t think the initiates had eaten breakfast. After breakfast, I lead them to the training ground. As they were migrating there, I stopped in my room and grabbed the training sabers.
“Now,” I asked, “ Have any of you used a sword of any kind?” I asked, getting a sense for what I was working with.
“No.” they all said in near unison.
“Well,” I said, igniting a practice saber, “ This is you new tool.”
“How do you use it?” Fluttershy piped up.
“There are seven forms of technique.” I said, “ Take a saber, everyone must learn the first. It focuses on the most defensive implements of combat.”
They each got a saber. I took a stance with my back to them. I showed them the various stances of the form. I showed them the attacks to complement the form. I let them pair up and practice. I left the fields to see if the library had anything fruitful. I saw that they were filled with holobook shelfs. I found a console in the back of the room. I searched it for records on Palpatine, though it would be fruitless. Or so I thought--there were records of his total takeover of the Republic. He had renamed it the Empire, and had renamed GAR the Imperial Army. I was seething in anger. First he kills the Jedi, now this! I took pleasure in the fact that I would have a part in erasing him from history. That would be the fate of his memory.
I returned to the initiates. They were slowly getting the hang of Form I. I’d give them a few weeks of practice and a year of maintenance, and they would be masters. Of course, they don’t have that much time. Something told me the Separatists were already itching to leave this place. They wouldn’t like what they found back home. Either way, I would find them. I dismissed them to lunch. A half hour flew by, and they were rearing to go. I have to give it to these ponies, I thought. They had what it takes to succeed in this lifestyle. They know how to defend against each other. Tomorrow I would teach them attacks. I hoped they wouldn’t batter each other too much.
I went to sleep in my quarters. Let’s see if my hunch was right, I thought, closing my eyes. I opened my eyes to darkness. I had been right; now, my dreams were alternating. I took a few steps forward. At least I could move on my own here.
“Luna,” I whispered, “ are you there?”
“What is this place?” she said, appearing out of the darkness beside me.
“I have no idea.” I replied, “ My best guess, I’m subconsciously communicating with the spirits of my masters.”
“Very inquisitive, Drakeon.” Mace said, strutting forward to us.
“Hello, Master Windu.” I greeting him. I turned gesturing to Luna, “ This is Princess Luna, one of the natives of this world. Luna, this is Master Mace Windu. He was my master when I was young.”
“Hello,” Mace said, “ it is an honor to meet you, Luna.”
“The same for you, Master Mace.” she replied.
“I have come to report that I am teaching the natives the ways of the force.” I said.
“Why do this, Drakeon?” he asked.
“There are Separatists here,” I said, “ I followed them through the wormhole. The ponies need protection, so I’ve been teaching them how to defend themselves.”
“Very well then,” he said, “ kneel, Drakeon. Since the Order here is no more, I will transfer control to you.”
“What do you mean, Master?” I asked, kneeling before him.
“With Princess Luna as my witness,” He started, “ I give you, Drakeon Aladeen, title of Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Rise.”
“Thank you.” I said, rising to meet them.
“You still have room to learn.” he said, “ When I see you next, I will begin teaching you the secrets of our Order.”
“I agree,” said, “ I will see you in the future.”
“I will leave you to explain this event to your companion.” He said, fading into darkness.
“Please,” Luna said, “ do explain.”
“Mace made me leader.” I said, still shocked, “ I now lead the remnants of our Order, and the one I started in Equestria.”
“I see,” she said, “ thou hast the the authority to command your pupils.”
“Yes.” I said, in dread, “ In my galaxy, I am now one of the most powerful people there.”
“Ah,” she said, “ is that not good?”
“The opposite,” I said, “but it makes me a target. Mace is using the position to ensure that I stay here, at least until he says to leave.”
“That is troubling,” she said, “ but you will see that these Separatists are dealt with?”
“I will keep my word,” I said, “ what concerns me is what will happen after.”
“You are welcome to stay as long as long as you like.” she said.
“Thank you.” I said. I knew I would have to leave them, but not now.
I awoke, feeling refreshed in the body. However, my mind was as tired as ever. I rose from my bed, remembering my plan to teach my students attack forms today. I think they deserve to know who I am, I thought. They had all come willingly, so they would soon know what hardships lay ahead. I stepped into the dining hall, as the students would be in shortly. I would wait. Fifteen minutes later, everyone was there. Even Rarity, who insisted on staying to organize the temple’s wardrobes.
“If I could have everyone’s attention, please.” I said.
I felt their gazes drift to me.
“I have never formally introduced myself to you all.” I started, “ If we are to become comrades, this needs to be done.”
“Flame,” Nix spoke up, “ we already know who you are.”
“Not exactly” I answered her, “ only Fluttershy knows my real name. I took the name Flame as an alias. My real name is Drakeon Aladeen, Grand Master of the Jedi Order.”
“Why tell us this now?” Twilight asked.
“I hadn’t earned your trust, nor had you earned mine.” I said, “ When you volunteered to come here and learn, you earned mine, and I hope by teaching you, I will earn yours.”
They nodded, and moved to the training grounds. I taught them Form III, the most aggressive form. After lunch, I sent them to spar, and I watched them. They were improving, I watched Fluttershy and Nix. They were trading blows unlike the others. Each going in for attacks, while defending from each other. It looked like it would be a stalemate. They were experimenting against each other. Trying to flip around their opponents, an impressive display. I could use some training, I thought. I went over to them.
“Master,” they said, bowing in unison. They were catching on to the Jedi thinking.
“Good work,” I said, “ would you like to try your skills against me?”
“Yes.” Fluttershy piped up.
“I’ll wait my turn.” Nix admitted.
“Very well then.” I said, “Fluttershy, take your stance.”
I felt bad for using a form she hadn't learned against her. However, in combat, that would likely happen. I decided that using my modified style of form VI would do. I rushed forward, our blades met in mid sprint. I jumped, flipping over her back. That must have caught her off guard, I thought. She took a few cautious steps back, ready to defend. I used the force to fling the saber from her grasp. I saw the shock in her eyes as I charged. I held the blade inches from her neck.
“I think I win.” I said.
“How did you do that?” she asked, going to retrieve her saber.
“It’s my favorite form, it uses implements from the previous five.”
“When did you learn that?” she asked.
“Years ago,” I said, “ I chose it as my advanced form. You see, all Jedi learn Form I, then you are allowed to choose a more advanced Form to finish your learning. I’m showing you the Forms that will be of use to you.”
“Um... Master,” she said, “ the other students are staring.”
“Back to training,” I said, addressing the others, “ someday you can learn how to do that too.”
“Thank you for doing that,” she said, “ I can’t stand when people stare.”
“I see.” I said, “ You do realize that people, no matter where you are, stare at Jedi.”
“We are different,” she agreed, hoisting her saber, “ I don’t think many ponies have seen one of these.”
I moved on to spar with Nix. She took her stance, I moved into mine. Since Nix was a unicorn, I decided to use some force attacks on her. I pushed the air around her, knocking her back. She charged at me, trying to end the duel before I could outmatch her skills. I wheeled her defence with downward slashes. She attacked with upward slashes, intent on getting under my defence. I leaped, enhancing my acrobatics with the force. I landed, behind her, I swept her legs from beneath her with the force, and stood over her, with my blade positioned for a would-be killing blow.
“Well done to the both of you,” I said, “ now back to sparring.”
“Yes Master.” Nix said, picking herself up from the ground.
I left the field to research the Empire.
“I stayed in longer.” I heard Nix brag to Fluttershy.
Rivalries were never condoned at the temple. They’ll be fine, I thought. Maybe they would provide an example for the others. They too were advancing. I spent the following months teaching, while in my sleep I learned from Mace. So far he had decided to teach me Form VII, telling me I was qualified because I had mastered Forms I, V, and VI. While it lacked defence, in combat I could switch between that and Form I. The stress was starting to get to me, however. The students’ hunger to learn was growing, as they were starting to only practice earlier techniques I had shown them. My self discipline was being tested by learning Mace’s Form. It induced falling to the dark side at the slightest misstep. I had done that once, but I wouldn’t disappoint Mace or my new friends by doing it again. It felt good to learn a Form exclusively mastered by two before me.
I walked into the dining hall. I made myself a salad for dinner. I was beginning to grasp the Equestrian writing system now. I didn’t need R4 to translate texts from their writing system to Aurebesh. I looked at the labeled baskets of vegetables. I selected the ones I wanted and put them in a bowl. I sat with the students. They were becoming increasingly more sage. They had impressed upon me that they were finally ready.
“Attention, please.” I called, “ I have decided that you are ready for your final trails. Tomorrow, you will begin making your own lightsabers.I have all the materials in the machine shop, and there are records of schematics in the library.”
They nodded, squaring the task up in their heads. I finished my meal and retired to my room. I did not feel the pull of sleep, so I sat. I would do some breathing exercises, to try and calm my mind for the night’s training. I heard hoof beats outside of my door, then a knock.
“Come in.” I called to the knocker.
“Hello, Drakeon.” Fluttershy said, entering.
“Hi, Fluttershy, what brings you here?” I asked.
“I wanted to ask,” she said, “ how did you make your lightsaber?”
“Why?” I questioned. Usually, the initiates were busy making their plans by now.
“I’m afraid,” she admitted, “what if I fail?”
“You won’t,” I said, “ I have faith in all of you.”
“But what if mine doesn’t come out right?” she persisted.
“If it’s right to you, than it’s right to me.” I said, “ lightsabers are meant to be individuals, just as their users.”
“Oh,” she said, her mood improved, “ no matter what, it’ll be right?”
“Exactly.” I said, “ To be honest, you have it easy. When I made my lightsaber, I was sent on a ship to a planet called Illum. We were shoved into a cave and told not to come out until we had our crystals.”
“That’s not nice,” she pouted, “ why couldn’t they give you one?”
“It was a psychological test.” I said, remembering my trial, “ It was meant to confirm our faith in the Force. The cave was dark and we all got separated. I was lost in the depths for what felt like hours. Then, when I was about to give up, I sensed it, my crystal. It was shrouded in a purple glow. I reached out for it. I heard whispers, feeding my doubts. They got louder, almost screaming. As soon as I had the crystal in my grasp, they disappeared.”
“Wow,” she said, “ if that’s how important this is, I’ll take it seriously.”
“Do you have any stories?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure.” she said, “ Once upon a time, there was a mare. She was scared and shy. After sometime, the mare made five very close friends. They had many adventures together. One day, the mare was sitting in her cottage. Her friends burst in, they told her that a stranger had crashed in her friend’s orchard. They went to the thing the stranger rode in. They looked in, and found the stranger, hurt. His bird fluttered around him, trying to wake him up. They hauled the stranger to her friend’s castle. The mare was curious as she treated the stranger’s wounds. Despite their severity, they healed fast. The mare wanted to see the stranger’s face, and know the things he knew. She looked after him, until he woke up. Despite his cold exterior, he was very nice. He even saved that mare’s life. He showed her the way he was raised. The mare liked learning. She and a new friend competed to out learn each other. The mare knew she wanted to live that way, being a protector, for the rest of her life.”
“That was a really good story.” I choked out. She really felt that way?
“Thank you.” she said.
“I have a question,” I said, “ who was the stranger, did the mare really know?”
“Yes,” she said, “ after a few tries, she got the stranger to open up about himself.”
“I have a story,” I said, if she wanted to play that way, so be it. “ Once, there was a colt. He grew up in an Order. He learned and he trained, waiting for the day he would fight. When he felt the Order could teach him no more, he started seeking forbidden knowledge. That knowledge, was made by very evil people. The colt thought he could use that knowledge to help people. However, that knowledge corrupted him. He became angry, and prideful. He left the Order in a fit of rage. He used that knowledge to hurt people, to make money. He started seeing those faces in his dreams. So he stopped, intent on helping people, not hurting them. He joined an army, he finally felt he was doing something. Then, he crashed, on a odd little planet. In that planet, he saw what he was protecting. He was befriended by the ponies he was protecting. It invigorated him, gave him a passion he hadn’t felt in years. He started teaching them his ways, for an enemy was lurking in their midst. He was prepared to meet those enemies. Soon, he would leave, going back to where he came. He was to to help spread light through his galaxy, which had been cloaked in shadow. He was dreading the day he would, but knew he couldn’t avoid it.”
“I’ll come with you,” she said, “ back to your home.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, “ I can’t guarantee that we will be able to come back.”
“I’m still coming.” she said.
“Alright,” I agreed, “ but you may not like what you see.”
“I’ve made my choice.” she said.
“I’m going to sleep now .” I said.
“Goodnight.” she said before leaving.
I had lied, I wasn’t all that tired. Had she really meant that? I thought. My galaxy did hold beautiful things, but it was more brutal than she thought. Maybe with my help she could adjust. No, that wouldn’t work. Jedi weren’t supposed to have families. I don’t know what to do, I thought, distraught. I could travel with her, but I had to help the jedi. Wait, maybe I could do both. I could show Fluttershy my home, she would just have to help me teach. She was a fine student, I’m sure she could help. I made up my mind. when I left, Fluttershy would come with me. She would help me restart the order. Then, we could travel to our hearts content.
I finally gave into sleep. I was in the forest, Mace was there with Luna.
“Hello Drakeon,” he said, “ I have news. Luke Skywalker has just blown up the Death Star.”
“What’s a Death Star?” I asked.
“It was a planet destroying superweapon.” he explained, “ Luke Skywalker, our hope, has destroyed it. He will be ready soon, and so you must prepare to leave.”
“I know,” I said, “ but I need more time. I am ready to fight the Separatists. They are about to strike, I can feel it.”
“I instruct Obi Wan to send him to Yoda when he thinks he is ready.” he said, “ that is the most time I can give you.”
“Good.” I said.
“Now, take your stance.” He said, moving into a fighting position.
I got into position. Our blades met, cloaking each of our faces in a purple light. Luna enjoyed our bouts, marveling at our inhuman speed. Mace had the power to make me human in my dreams. He had been doing so to teach me the Form. Our blades clashed endlessly. We were feeding on each others feelings. At first, our duels were short, Mace swiftly overtaking me. Now they were indefinite. I felt as if days were trickling by in the span of hours. We agreed to a stalemate again, each of us powering down our blades. We bowed, and Mace left us.
“Are you ready for the Separatists?” Luna asked.
“My Jedi are,” I insisted, “ And as such, so am I.”
“Very well, Drakeon,” she said, “ Good morning.”
“Same to you.” I replied, feeling the pull.
I awoke in my chambers. The initiates would be waiting, I thought. I walked into the dining area. The initiates all looked as if they had been up, drafting their light sabers.
“Well,” I said, addressing them, “ what are you waiting for?”
They nodded and went into the machine shops. I would leave them to their tasks. They needed to concentrate. In the library, I hacked into the Empire’s mainframes again, intent on finding out what the Death Star was. I found schematics, lots of them. Some dating as far back as when I had left the galaxy. It had been over twenty years. I should be in my forties, I thought, chuckling. I think this place has tempered my mental state more than those twenty years could have. At least I got some friends out of it. They were a good bunch of ponies. Maybe in another universe, I could have stayed with them. I have my duties, I thought, looking over the schematics. They had theirs, especially here, where force sensitives had to raise the sun and moon. At least Fluttershy would accompany me. That was a consolation to having to return. I would try to come back. This was Fluttershy’s home, and it was important to her, and that made it important to me.
Whoever this Luke was, he had done the galaxy a favor destroying this thing. It was a space station, a giant one, capable of destroying entire planets. Not something you would want to see popping out of hyperspace.
I heard cheering from down the hall, most likely one of the students. They should be done by now. Nix burst into the room, ecstatic as usual.
“Master, look.” she said, thrusting her newly made saber into my hoof.
“Very nice,” I said, “exquisite craftsmanship. I see you based your design on my own. An appreciated gesture. When you have your own padawan, they should do the same.”
“Thank you, Master Drakeon.” she said, taking her saber back.
“You’re very welcome, Nix.” I replied.
I walked down to the shop. Hopefully the others had finished by now. They were all admiring their new weapons. They would be ready. Fluttershy approached me, holding her new saber. It was silver, the hilt simple yet expertly crafted.
“Hi.” I said, not really knowing what to do.
“Hi.” she said, reaching the same conclusion.
“So.. how did my story help?” I asked.
“Yes,” she agreed, “ no self doubts.”
“Good,” I nodded, “ we should test it.”
“Okay.” she agreed.
All of a sudden, Spike ran in. He was waving a letter.
“Here,” he said, giving it to me. “ you’ll want to hear this.”
“Dear Drakeon,” I said reading out loud, “ reports are coming in to me of spaceships attacking the crystal empire. Please sally forth at once. From, Celestia.”
“Everyone, to the trains.” I said, “ the Separatists have initiated their attack. Congratulations, you have all become Jedi.”
I rushed into my quarters. I donned my armor. Today, my Jedi’s training would be tested, in a crucible of plasma. I met the others at the parade ground. Together, we rushed to the train station. We easily commandeered a train. I entered the engine and slammed the controls to send the train at it’s highest speed. Every second we weren’t there meant the more innocents that would die. I went back into the passenger cars. My fellow Jedi looked grim as we rocketed towards the battle.
“I won’t lie.” I started, “ Ponies will die. All I ask of you is to fight. If we don’t stop them here, The gates to Equestria will open. There will be no one who can defend against them like us. I’ve taught you the ways of the Jedi over these last few months. Make our brethren proud.”
“I’m with you all the way.” Nix said, followed by the others.
“If we don’t win here,” Fluttershy said, “ I won’t get to see your home.”
“Good,” I nodded, “ today, we start protecting Equestria.”
I turned to the window. The empire was on the horizon now. A few more minutes and battle would be upon us. I thought back to my first days here. I keep them safe, I would protect this land as long as I could. I brought the train to a halt and hopped out. I had stopped on a rise overlooking the city. They had set up a barrier of landing craft around the city. I sighed; this would be the last thing my bag of tricks held. I walked up to the train, I pulled out a thermal detonator, and a fixed it to the train. I needed to have a way for the civilians to flee, and for my troops to get in. I saw that on of the landing craft landed on the tracks, perfect. I detached the passenger cars from the engine. I slammed the instruments to top speed as I was jumping out. I watched as the train barreled towards the landing ships. If there were pilots in those ships, they didn’t notice the high speed bomb heading their way. I smiled under my helmet as the train met the ship. It exploded ten times as much as it should have, thanks to the detonator. The ship sailed into the one beside it, which exploded as well. It was beautiful, I thought. Explosions were like living organisms, showing their true brilliance at their peak. In the end, it left a swath of destroyed ships, making the perfect path.
“Charge.” I ordered them.
My Jedi galloped towards the freshly made carnage. The pegasi Jedi took flight to reinforce the castle’s defences. Whoever this Cadence was, she would have plenty of help. I too galloped down the hill. It had been too long since I had fought. By the time I had gotten through the gap, they had already cleared a path for me. I looked at the destroyed droid chassis. They too had changed. Now they resembled mechanical pony skeletons. Gross, was the only thought that came to mind. Now was not the time for thinking, I saw a squad of battle droid that my Jedi had missed.
I charged, intent on cleaving them. One fired at me, trying to alert the others. I ignited my light saber, deflecting the bolt of plasma back at its shooter. It struck the droid in the head, leaving a satisfying scorch mark. I jumped into the middle of the squadron. I cut them in horizontal halves in a swift spinning motion. I unignited the blade and continued to walk. My Jedi were turning the tide against the droids, on the ground at least. I made my way to the castle in the city, cutting down the droids that crossed my path. Soon, I would be at the main gates. It was apparent that the operation on the ground was becoming a mop up.
I entered the bastion of defence that was the castle. Like most of the buildings it was made seemingly entirely out of cyber crystal. I saw the guards manning the ramparts looking in awe at me as I requested entrance. I heard a heaving from the inside as a large door was dragged open. I went inside, the guards ushering me to the balcony where Cadence was. She and a white stallion were standing, looking at the battle ending below.
“We’ve come to break the siege.” I said, drawing their attention.
“Hello Flame,” Cadence said, “ Celestia and Luna told me about you.”
“Then you know why I’ve come?” I asked.
“These are the Separatists you are looking for.” she answered.
“In the flesh,” I said, making an attempt at humor, “or rather, the circuits.”
“Well at least somepony has had time for jokes.” The stallion said.
“Well, for the moment,” I said, chuckling, “ we have the upper hand over the Separatists. However, we need to launch a counterattack in the air, they keep the droid A.I core there. We destroy that, and the droids go offline, permanently.”
“How do we do that?” Cadence asked.
“Simple,” I answered, “ the markings on the ship give away which one has the A.I core. If we crash it, then that makes our lives much easier.”
“Easier said than done,” the stallion countered. “ That thing is massive.”
“We have two alicorns and a unicorn.” I said, “ Nothing is impossible, and I never did catch your name?”
“Shining Armor,” he said, “ let’s give this a shot.”
“Help me.” I said, gripping at the comms ship.
They joined me in gripping the ship. The crew didn’t realize it, but they were in a strangle hold. I pushed the ship away from the city, to ensure no civilians were crushed. Then, with some heaves, we began to push the ship into the ground. The crew of it were firing up the boosters, but it was too late. The momentum carried them into the ground. The ship exploded, thanks to the active engines, a brilliant flash lit up the sky. The droids on the remaining ships would be useless now.
“Good,” I said, “ now we can proceed.”
“To the skies, then.” Cadence said, ordering her guards to accompany me.
I ordered them to destroy the last cruiser. I would go for the Dreadnaught. That would be where my prize was. I flew towards its massive landing bays. Luckily the ships still had power. I landed in the bay, vulture droids littered the ground. Some had crashed in mid take off. Looks like I got them offline in the knick of time, I thought. I walked into the interior of the ship. Droids were laying offline on the ground everywhere, it gave the ship an unnatural eerie tone. I walked silent as death through the corridors. I made my way towards the bridge. I had the feeling that I still wasn’t alone. I made it to the bridge, the doors sliding cleanly to let me in.
The bridge was a mess, in addition to the disabled droids everywhere. It seemed to have been converted into some kind of research station. I trotted to a computer and powered it on. The project files were still open on it. I scanned over the aurebesh characters. They had been doing research on the differences in pony DNA to Human DNA. They were studying its conversion as well. The change from human to pony had no side effects besides the possibilities of extra appendages. However, the change back could have life altering side effects. It seemed that they theorized that the change back would cause telomeres in the genome to loop and fuse, producing an aging effect. The theory was that the body would cease to age.
“By the force,” I muttered, “ what will happen to me when I return?”
“We don’t really know.” A female voice said behind me.
I knew it, I thought. The Seps would have stationed at least one human aboard the ship. I turned to look for her. A unicorn stood in front of me, she was wearing a Sith mask. A lightsaber hung from her side.
“What are you?” I said, “ One of Dooku’s violations of the rule of two?”
“Maybe I am.” I heard her mutter.
“Nevermind,” I said, “ the device now.”
“You really think I would let you have it.” she said, flinging a crate at me.
I jumped, but she caught my wings underneath it. I felt the fragile bones cracking underneath the weight of the crate. I was pinned to the ground.
“I’m not going to kill you now.” she said, trying to be reassuring, “ I’ll do that when we are human again.”
I decided that silence was the best response to the situation. She walked to me, looking me over under her mask.
“Maybe I’ll keep you around.” she said sadistically, “ I could always use a plaything.”
What have I gotten myself into, I thought.
“What, not talking to me?” she pouted, pressing the crate down with her hoof.
I felt the pain increase tenfold. Bones were snapping and popping. I resisted the urge to scream in pain. I had to get out some how.,
“A tough one, aren’t you?” she remarked, going to a console, “ maybe something more personal. You know that device wasn’t the only thing I was working on.”
She pressed a few buttons on it. An array of holograms came up. Each had a picture of one of my Jedi on it.
“Which one do you want to die first?” she asked me innocently.
I answered with silence.
“Fine, I’ll choose.” she said, pressing more buttons,“ How about Nix? I don’t like that name.”
A beam exited the ship and struck a clueless Nix. One moment she was in the streets of the crystal empire. The next, she joined us on the bridge. The Sith attacked her, Nix only had a split second to react, bringing her own guard up.
“Nix,” I choked out in pain. “ remember your training.”
“Yes master,” she said, focusing on the Sith.
I worked on my wings. They were definitely crushed. I would probably never fly again, I thought. Then again, I had never done that as a human either. I had to help Nix, she wouldn’t be able to hold her own against that crazy Sith. I tried to move my body, my wings seared in pain. I heard clashing behind me then, nothing. I turned to see Nix clutching a cauterization hole in her side. No, I thought in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. Nix looked at me, I could see the sadness in her eyes. No no no, this couldn’t be happening. She collapsed on the floor. I made my decision. I ignited my saber, I wheeled around and slashed at where my wings met my back. I was free, but at a tremendous cost. Where my wings once resided, were two scars. I let the pain into my soul.
“Wow,” the Sith said, “ I didn’t think you would take it that far.”
I closed my eyes and removed the helmet. I wanted to kill her face to face. I felt the sadness of seeing Nix struck down turn to rage. I opened my eyes, it was like seeing through a red filter.
“Those are some creepy eyes.” she remarked nervously.
“You can hurt me,” I growled, “ but when you hurt someone I care about, you’ve crossed a line. That was the worst mistake you could ever make.”
I felt my rage multiplying. I did something I hadn’t done in years. A bolt of unnaturally purple lightning raced from my horn into her body. She would die today. I raced towards her, saber in hoof. I let out all of my pent up aggression in my strikes. She did her best to defend, a useless action. Our sabers locked, I kicked her underbelly. She reeled, I ripped her saber from her grasp.
“How do you work the device?” I growled at her.
“Input the coordinates you want to jump to,” she started, her voice obeying her fear, “ turn the knob and you’ll be on your way. Please, spare me.”
“Did you spare her?” I asked, not waiting for an answer.
I plunged my blade through her gut. I watched as the life drained out of her. I let the anger go. Nix was avenged, I went to her body. I kneeled by her, looking in sadness. I heard a ragged wheezing, coming from her. I quickly turned her to face me.
“Did we win?” she wheezed.
“Yeah, Nix,” I said, “ we won.”
“Good,” she rasped more, “we’re safe now.”
“It’s thanks to you.” I said.
“Master,” she rasped, “ I’m tired now. Can I take a nap?”
“Yes,” I conceded, “ you deserve a rest.”
She closed her eyes, for what would probably be the last time. Her wheezing stopped, now there was nothing. I cradled her head in my hooves. I had never had a pupil before, much less have one die in front of me. For the first time in years, I cried. No one but me deserved to die because of this. I went to the controls. I eased the ship towards the ground on a field outside of the empire. I lowered the boarding ramps and turned to the bridge. I walked past the dead Sith. I picked up Nix’s remains. I exited the ship, the others would be here soon. I went back to the ship. The device was a small box wired into the navigation console. I would keep the coordinates to this place saved in the machine’s memory cores until the end of time. I placed my helmet back on and let the last traces of red leave my vision. I walked back down the ramp. The others were gathered around Nix now.
“What happened?” Fluttershy asked, bleary eyed, “ One minute she was with us, the next she was gone.”
“A Separatist invention.” I stated.
“Okay.” she said, the air was tense.
“Jedi,” I said, drawing their attention, “we have won the day, at a price. I too am leaving you. I can finally return home. I leave command of the Order in the stead of Princesses Luna and Celestia. If anyone asks, I died in the fight, you sent the ship with my body back to my home. It is better for my existence to remain a secret.”
I turned to walk up the ramp.
“Can I still come with you?” Fluttershy spoke up.
“No,” I said, “ I won’t put anyone else in danger.”
“I can fend for myself.” she protested.
“So could Nix,” I snapped, “ look where that got her.”
I closed the ramp. It would be better this way. I could live in secret in my galaxy; no one there had seen me in at least twenty years. If the ponies here thought I was dead, that would conceal me from prying eyes for the rest of my life. I could train Luke in secret, then I could fade into obscurity, my final reprieve. I powered up the sublight engines. I took off into the atmosphere. I put coordinates for Corellia in the box. I turned the knob, and the rift opened. I eased the ship into it. Soon, the pull was doing the work of the engines. The ride was smooth, the device being meant to transport large ships. I felt guilty leaving Fluttershy. She had wanted to come, and I had snapped at her. I’m a terrible person, I thought. I could have let her down easier. Grand Master, I thought. Coward was a more suitable title. I went into a deep sleep in the vortex, to allow my body to change back to normal.
I awoke in the bridge, my horn was gone. I stood up, on two legs this time. I checked myself over, the spots where my wings had been still burned like a thousand suns. I stripped to the waist and looked at my back through the viewing window’s reflection. I had two scars down my mid back, a permanent reminder of my time in Equestria. Well, I thought, at least I didn’t lose any of my other limbs. My gaze fell on the corpse of the Sith. I dragged it to the trash dump. I threw it in. I returned to the bridge.
“As protocol states,” I muttered, pressing the eject button, “ routine garbage dump before hyperspace jumps.”
I set coordinates in the hyperspace computer. Deep space, here I come. I engaged the jump. I would set the cruiser adrift to see if the sep’s non-ageing theory was correct. I would send my presence through the force. If Luke felt it, he would come. Maybe I would return, visit my friends in secret. If they still called me a friend, I thought with remorse. Why would they? I had left them and hurt the feelings of one of their friends. I couldn’t do anything right, could I?
“A shame, really,” a familiar voice said, “ You could have been so much more.”
“Discord,” I said, keeping my emotions in check, “ you really shouldn’t be here.”
“Actually, I should,” he insisted, “ I’m the spirit of chaos. I’m anywhere, yet also nowhere.”
“You did this,” I said, “ if you hadn't played genderbender dress up, I could have figured out a better way deal with the Separatists.”
“How is this my fault?” he asked innocently.
“Because of our actions,” I said, “ innocent ponies died. If you had given me more time. I could have done something.”
“You don’t understand,” he said, “ I was just eliminating the competition.”
“What kind of sick game are you playing?” I snapped.
“Oh, it’s nothing really.” he said.
“This game killed one of my pupils and friend.” I said, “ I want to know who’s playing.”
“That’s an easy one.” he said, “ there are only three players. Fluttershy, you, and me.”
“I never wanted to play a game that got my friends hurt.” I said.
“You made it that way,” he said, his voice turning icy, “ you were the one hogging all the attention.”
“You petulant child,” I said. He had crossed a line. “Do you really think that I was trying to steal her from you! Did you once ask her on her feelings on the matter? I bet you that you didn’t. You treated her like a thing, only caring about yourself.”
“Says the pony who left her in a different dimension.” he replied.
“I’m a man,” I said, “ and I left to keep them from harm.”
“I beg to differ,” he said, “ you left because you were afraid. You were afraid of the emotions. That’s why I don’t like you, you shut your emotions out.”
“I left because I had a mission.” I said, “ I have other duties than to play house with a bunch of ponies.”
“Were they really just ‘a bunch of ponies’?” he asked, “ I think that they were your first friends.”
“That’s why I have to leave them.” I said, “ If I expose them to my world, they would be changed forever. According to this research, I will never age normally again because of this.”
“You don’t have to do this,” he said, “ what have the Jedi ever done for you? Why should you help them?”
“They gave me a home,” I said, “ and I intend to make good on that debt. Then, I’m out. I’ll come back, then I’ll watch over your world. Being in the shadows is the best thing to do right now.”
“Fine,” he huffed, “ I’ll pause our little game. I’ll tell Fluttershy, she’ll understand for you. If you don’t make good on your word, I’ll drag you to Equestria myself.”
“Then we have a deal.” I said, holding out my hand.
He took it in his eagle claw, he disappeared soon after. A shame, I thought. Even for the annoyance he was, it was good to talk to someone. He was right, I thought. I was afraid. Discord also had made a good point. Mace had kind of forced this on me, why should I help them? While they had given me a home, it was one that was long gone. But Empire murdered the Jedi in cold blood. I may not have agreed with them. I knew what it felt like to kill like that, I had changed. I was better now, and what I did was inexcusable. So if I was doing it for anything, let it be to avenge the innocent.
I kneeled in the bridge; meditation time. I would send out one force pulse per day. When the kid was strong enough to sense it, he would be ready. I felt the days pass, time felt distorted here. This ship isn’t good for me, I concluded. It was messing with my head. I was no good to anyone if I went crazy now. I stopped eating, it wasn’t like I had that much food anyway. The ship had a small food store, most likely for the sole human inhabitant. I would run out if I wasn’t careful. I slipped in and out of delirium, the daily force pulse was the only maker of time now.
“There is no Dark Side,” I muttered, voice no more than a whisper, “ nor a Light Side. There is only the Force. I will do what I must to keep the balance. The balance is what keeps me together. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet emotion. Serenity, yet peace. Chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch, lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, soldier of balance. I am a guardian of balance. I am a Grey Jedi.”
“That sounds neat.” Discord said, appearing out of nowhere. “ Where did you hear that?”
“My lessons on Coruscant,” I said, “ that old creed was one of the few things I never fully understood. I guess something you just have to live through.”
“I see,” he said, “ so, how are you?”
“Malnourished as ever.” I chuckled.
“It’s only been a week.” he said, “ stop being so melodramatic.”
“It’s been two months.” I muttered.
“Not for us.” he said, “ Also, a little birdie told some ponies in high places that you’re alive.”
“You didn’t.” I said, standing and stretching.
“Oh, but I did,” he giggled, “ it gives you more reasons to stay here.”
“I’ll face the consequences.” I said, “ I don’t see why you make a deal with me. Then start playing mind games with me to entice me to stay.”
“I’m bored,” he said, “ fighting for attention was much more fun than this. Also, I like to make you tick.”
“It isn’t really working.” I smiled.
“We will see.” he muttered.
“So how mad were they?” I asked, any news was good news.
“Well, you got your own memorial statue.” Discord said, easing into giggles, “ when I told them, Celestia’s jaw just about hit the ground. Luna looked like she might rip the statue limb from limb.”
“Let her,” I said, laughing, “ I never really liked statues anyway.”
“Wow,” he said, “ you really are stone cold.”
“At least I can still bust out laughing.” I said, responding to his pun.
“Besides that,” he said, “ I have a gift from Fluttershy.”
He gave me a basket of fruit and vegetables. She had really done this for me? I really did miss her, and Twilight. They had been the closest beings to me in a long time. Then there was Nix, I missed her too. As well as Luna, I had gotten used to seeing her in my dreams. Now they were empty.
“I give her my thanks.” I whispered.
“Well,” he said, turning. “ I’ve got to be going now,more chaos to spread.”
“Say hi to her.” I said, bidding him farewell.
While Discord was my rival of sorts, at this point any sentient contact would have been nice. I could have brought R4, but he had become a true sentient organism upon arriving in Ponyville. I wasn't going to rob him of life to keep me company. I picked up the basket. A piece of paper fluttered out from its contents. I picked it up; it was a handwritten letter. I read through it a couple of times. It was from Fluttershy. Well played, I thought. Using Discord as an unwilling dimensional mail man.
Dear Drakeon,
It’s been a little more than a week since you left. The Jedi told the Princesses of your death. They kept the memorial ceremony under wraps, most ponies never knew you existed. The temple disappeared after you left. The Princesses took it as a sign that you really were dead. I hope you aren’t, Discord says you are still aboard that ship. I will wait for you, until then, all I can do is wish you luck. Then, Discord decided to tell the Princesses. They are fuming at your trick. Celestia has stripped you of your title of Prince. Luna got rid of your statue. She is still searching for you in dreams. As far as I know, she hasn’t found you. Please be safe.
Love,
Fluttershy
I read it a few more times, munching on a carrot. They really were mad. Why should they be, though? I made it perfectly clear that I would go home after the Separatists were dealt with. That worked out for me well enough, however. I would be erased from history in both worlds. I could go into hiding in Equestria and no one would know. Well, maybe Luna would figure out where I was. I doubt that her powers could permeate different dimensions. Then again, she and her sister were walking deities.
I looked in the bottom of the basket, there was a pencil and paper. Thank you Fluttershy, I thought silently. I placed the food on a small table. Now at least I could tell her my thoughts. I started to write. I had to remind myself not to write in my native Aurebesh.
Dear Fluttershy,
Thank you for the much needed food and the letter. I appreciate the outside contact. While it has been a week for you, it has been a few months for me. I live in isolation, but soon, I hope, I will initiate contact with a boy I am to train. I still feel troubled over Nix’s death; if I had acted faster she might still be with you. I meditate and train most of the days; this routine is only interrupted by sleep. As of yet I haven’t seen Luna in my dreams. For now it seems I have evaded their wrath. I am intent on returning soon. Then, I can live in peace. My home assumed that I died when I disappeared. If they are still searching, they are looking for a much older man. If I had stayed, I should be in my forties or fifties by now. It seems ironic, I would have given this opportunity to any other Jedi, they probably deserved it more. I await your reply.
Love,
Drakeon
I placed the letter in the bottom of the basket and folded the cloth above it. Discord would be a mail man again. I chucked to myself, the poor guy didn’t even know. I ate a cucumber, not much else to do today. I checked the galactic network, I scanned for any news. My eyes widened. The Emperor’s death had been announced to the public. Now, the Empire was on the run. It seemed that the Rebels, if that’s what they should be called now, had turned the tide. I could finally send out stronger force pulses. There was no Emperor to fight now. Luke would focus on rebuilding the Jedi. I started sending pulses on an hourly basis. He would notice them very soon.
A few days later, a small ship requested permission to land.
“This is Luke Skywalker,” the comms beeped, “ requesting permission to land.”
“Permission granted.” I said, making my way to the landing bay.
He taxied his ship in. It was a older model, something that wouldn’t have been out of place in the clone wars.
“Are you the presence that I felt?” He asked, stepping out of the ship.
“Yes, Luke.” I said, “ I was given the mission to train you by the masters.”
“Why now?” he asked, “ why not when I was fighting the Empire?”
“I am to teach you how to restart the Order.” I said, “ All the knowledge you need resides in me now.”
“What is your name anyway?” He asked.
“Flame.” I said. It wasn’t much use if people here knew I was alive.
That was how we met. He told me his father was Darth Vader-Anakin’s alter ego after Palpatine corrupted him to the Dark Side. Luke told me how he had been trained in the Light. He was a master of Form VI. He was even better than me at saber combat. I tried to use Form VII on him. However, the kid showed no emotion. He was on his way to becoming a master. I showed him the other forms, to teach his future students. One of the few places I had him beat was force offence. He had a stalwart defense, but years of training had made my offence better. We learned from each other. I improved on defense as he improved on offence.
Occasionally, in the early hours of the morning, Discord would stop by. Almost always, he brought a basket full of food, as well as its hidden letter. I, in turn, would give him the previous empty basket, with my hidden response. I would train Luke by day, and write to Fluttershy by night. I felt at peace, having finally accomplished my mission. Soon, I could be at rest.
“Master,” Luke said, after a particularly intense sparring session, “ sometimes I can sense darkness in you. Never for very long, but it is always there. As if it hides under the surface.”
“I see,” I said, “ I suppose it's time you knew the truth. I went to the Dark Side some time ago. I turned away from it, but it will always be at the back of my mind. A little voice, saying it will give power if I let it take control.”
“Have you ever given in?” he asked, curious about this delve into my past.
“I can count the times I have on my fingers.” I said, “ However, it has always enhanced my abilities. I control it, let it work for me.”
“How do you control it?” he asked.
“There is a fine line between letting emotion work for you, and you being a slave to emotion.” I said, “ Most Jedi seal their emotions far away from them. Sith willingly accept the bonds of slavery. I sometimes must simply let them go, cleanse myself of these things.”
“I see.” He said, pondering.
“You have done well, Luke.” I said.
“You will make a good master someday.” I said, sensing that my stay here was at an end, “You have passed your training. You are dismissed, return to the Rebels. Help them mop up what is left of the Empire.”
“Yes, Flame.” he said, “ Thank you for your training.”
“Tell you what.” I said, “ You take the Dreadnaught, I can take your shuttle into hiding.”
“Sure,” he said, “ I have a good name in mind, how does the Sentinel II sound to you?”
“Where did you hear that name?” I said, remembering my ship from the war.
“The Sentinel was a ship crewed exclusively by clone defectors.” he said.
“Imagine that.” I smiled.
I gathered my belongings, and unhooked the box from the nav computer. I carried them to the shuttle. It would be less conspicuous than the Dreadnaught. I wired the box into it’s new nav computer. I input the coordinates that would bring me to Ponyville. Hopefully, this time, I won’t have as rough a landing, I thought. I bade Luke goodbye through a viewing port. I eased the ship out of the landing bay. I went into hyper speed, my destination was to Corellia. There I could by the last of the supplies that I needed.
“Home, here I come.” I sighed, looking back at my native galaxy for the last time.
I turned the knob. The rift opened, and I eased the ship through. I closed my eyes in preparation for the intense physical changes that would happen in the following seconds. I opened my eyes, and the ship was hovering over Applejack’s farm. The crater from my first entrance had been filled in but the dirt was fresh. I piloted the ship to the thick forest outside Fluttershy’s cottage. Right under their noses, I thought. I chuckled at the thought. I had finally done it. I had disappeared. I landed under the thick trees. The ramp lowered and I walked out into the forest. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was back. My body had changed, my horn was back. The wings were gone. I leaped with joy. The planet didn’t even recognize me as a monarch any more. I could live in peace. I walked to Fluttershy’s cottage.
I heard her humming in the garden. I would surprise her, I thought snickering. I crept around the back of the house. She was picking a basket of vegetables.
“I hope you washed those first.” I laughed.
“You’re back!” she said, spinning around.
“Yeah,” I said, “ how’s everyone dealing with me being dead?”
“Don’t joke about that.” She scolded.
“Why not?” I asked.
“You worried me.” she sniffed.
“I’m here now.” I said, “ and I’m not going anywhere else.”
“Good.” she agreed.
“I missed you.” I muttered.
“What was that?” she asked.
“I missed you.” I said.
“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” she said, playfully.
“Okay,” I said, playing along. “ I, Drakeon Aladeen, missed you, Fluttershy. Happy?
“Never better.” she said, giving me a hug.
“Good.” I said, hugging her back.
“The Princesses are gonna be mad.” she said.
“Let them.” I said.
“Fine,” she said, “ you can stay here tonight. But, in the morning, we need to find you a permanent place to live.”
“I can throw something together in the forest.” I suggested, “ That should give me the isolation that I want.”
“Not from me.” she pouted.
“Never.” I reassured her.
I spent that night in her guest bedroom. It seemed like such a long time ago that I had woken up there after meeting Discord for the first time. I slipped into sleep after a hearty salad courtesy of Fluttershy’s garden.
I was in the forest again. I sighed, what could Mace want this time? He appeared out of the shadows.
“You have done well, Drakeon.” he said, “ Luke Skywalker will rebuild the Order.”
“Good.” I said, “ In that case, I renounce the title of Grand Master.”
“What?” he said, doing a double take.
“I don’t wish to be affiliated with the Jedi anymore.” I said, “ I have repaid my debt to you. Now I wish to continue my life.”
“Very well.” he sighed, “ I suppose I can’t change your mind.”
“No,” I said, “ I’ve had months to decide this. My life is here now.”
“Says the one who faked his death.” Luna said, announcing herself.
“It was for the best.” I said, she would just have to accept that.
“No,” she said, “ thou caused a load of trouble. Blowing up a train, we only have so many of those.”
“That’s what you’re angry about?” I laughed, “ would you rather the Crystal Empire be burning? Be honest.
“Fine,” she huffed, “ We liked visiting your dreams. It provided valuable insight on your culture.”
“Well I’m back now.” I said, “Why does it matter?”
“We were all very sad, those of us that knew of your demise.” She said, “ when Discord told us you were alive. We felt as if you had played a cruel joke on us.”
“Is there a chance that I can get off with a slap on the wrist?” I asked. I still didn’t want to be on her bad side.
“Not a chance,” she said, “ remember, this a dream. We can do anything we want and there will be no physical effects.”
“I’m gonna go now.” Mace said, slipping into the shadows.
“By the Force.” I muttered, and then it began.
She made the forest disappear, in its place was a pit filled with spikes. I felt myself falling as she bucked me into the void. I felt the spikes pierce my flesh. I should have been dead, considering there were two spikes penetrating my skull. I felt the pain, I heard myself yell the appropriated scream caused by it. Luna flew down to me. She sat on my diaphragm, grinding the spikes deeper. My screams intensified.
“Now,” she said, “ Apologize.”
“I’m sorr-” I said, I would have finished but coughed out a blood clot.
“Good enough.” she mused.
I snapped awake, drenched in sweat. What a nightmare. It was six in the morning. I rose from the bed. I would have much work to do today. I had to erect some kind of shelter, I didn’t want to wear out my welcome at Fluttershy’s. I went to the kitchen. I left a note asking Fluttershy to get R4. I went out to the forest, I would get trees from the deeper thicker parts of the forest. That way, no one could see me from the air. I started gathering trees, cutting the supple wood with my light saber. I levitated them through the forest and brought them to the ship. I would set up in the small clearing that the ship occupied. I started cutting the wood into rough planks. I started digging the trench for the foundation.
Over the following days, I finished the groundwork. Using pourstone I brought from my old galaxy, I made a foundation. As it was drying, I sunk the support logs. Fluttershy helped me as well. She would go into town and get the supplies I needed. Luckily, physical credits turned into what the ponies called bits. I used the nails she brought to make a roof structure and nail down the exterior planks. I had a good sized hut to live in, R4 had already made a roost in the rafters. I covered the shuttle from top to bottom with vines and leaves. I asked Fluttershy to fly up and see how it looked.
“I can barely see it.” she said landing.
“Good,” I said, “ I can become the specter of the Everfree forest.”
“That’s spooky,” she said, “ don’t you want any visitors?
“You’ll do,” I replied, “Maybe Twilight when she has the time. Otherwise, I’m content.”
“Oh, okay.” she said. “ Just don’t give her quesadillas.”
“Quesadillas?” I asked, what did they have to do with anything?
“Nevermind.” she giggled.
I bade her goodnight. She would be back to her cottage far before sunset. She had told me how she never really liked being out here in the night. The only other person who lived here besides me was a Zebra. Whatever those were, apparently she was very solitary. Good thing too, we could avoid each other in peace. I moved a bed from the crew compartment into the hut. Besides that, there was a table, three chairs, a small wood burning stove, and a chest for my more personal items.
I walked over to the chest.
“I guess it really is time to leave the past behind.” I said, placing my lightsaber in the chest with my armor and membrane suit.
“At least you have a future.” R4 chirped from above.
“What do you mean?” I said looking up at him.
“I see the way you look at her.” he chirped, “ I may have been a droid, but even I can see love.”
“I’m not taking advice on my love life from a former droid.” I said.
“Harsh, man,” he replied, “ for all you know, I could have a nest full of eggs.”
“I don’t want to think about that.” I said, shuddering.
“Hey,” he said, “ it may be metaphorical, but I got farther than you.”
“Wow,” I said, “ I’m not wanting to compare love lives with a bird either.”
“Just sayin’,” he admitted, “ when it happens, which it will. I called it.”
“Fine.” I groaned.
I reclined in the bed. I silently debated on on going to sleep, or breaking into my emergency caf supply. If Luna was going to go farther than she did last night, caf seemed like the ideal option. However, I had been working the whole day, I was tired. I finally closed my eyes and let the pull of sleep take over.
I opened my eyes to darkness. This wasn’t the forest; it didn’t seem natural. I looked around, no Luna either. I heard whispers, which at first were indistinguishable. Slowly, they morphed into two distinct voices, both of which I recognized. I stumbled forward in the dark.
“Just let us enact one more.” one said.
“No,” said the other, “ what you did last night was disturbing enough.”
“Why don’t we ask him?” the first said.
The darkness faded, revealing the forest. Nix stood on one side while Luna stood on the opposite. I made a mental note to never start doing stims. This couldn’t be possible; Nix was dead. She couldn’t be standing in front of me. Well, maybe she could, I thought, remembering Mace. He would have been dead over twenty years.
“Well what’ll it be?” Nix said, “ another round of torture by our sadist princess,or relief?”
“How are you alive?” I asked, “ Only natives from my galaxy should be able to.”
“Well, I’m not really alive.” she said, “ I’m really just a figment now. A thing that your subconscious threw up to stop Luna.”
“Oh,” I said, “ I guess it still wouldn’t hurt to say I’m sorry for what happened.”
“That’s okay,” she said, “ I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Okay.” I said, “ but that’s only for you. I’ll take the torture, I deserve it.
“No!” she said, fading, “ You don-”
“I really do.” I muttered.
Reality blinked and I was in a pit, no spikes this time. Luna was standing above me. She fluttered down.
“Thou would do all this for my entertainment.” she asked.
“You're a psychopath if you think that I’m doing this for entertainment.” I said.
“Thou art a masochist for going through with it.” she replied.
“I’m doing it to remind myself that I lost.” I said.
“Thou won the battle.” she said, confused.
“I lost a pupil.” I said, “ That’s a loss in my holocron.”
“Oh, deal with it.” she said.
A spike sprung up through the earth, impaling me. What was her fascination with spikes anyway?
“Say thou art sorry.” She crooned.
I spit sickly black blood in her face. I felt my face turn into a pained smile. It was as if the blood was sticking to my teeth. She looked at me in shock, I started to laugh.
I woke up, out of breath. That mare wasn’t good for me. I looked around, light was filtering in the windows. I donned a cape to cover the large scars covering my back. I would go to Twilight, she would know what to do. I honestly had no idea. Luna was mad, dangerously mad. I had to make things right. Maybe Twilight and Fluttershy could help. I went to Fluttershy’s house first.
“Fluttershy,” I said knocking at the door, “ you there?”
“Of course I’m here.” she said, letting me in, “ I usually feed the animals this time of morning.”
“Sounds relaxing,” I said, “ mind if I join you sometime?”
“Sure.” she laughed, “ I can use all the help I can get.”
“That’s not the reason I came though.” I said, “ the last few nights, Luna has been tormenting me in my dreams.”
“Why would she do that?” She asked.
“I think me faking my death,” I said, “ it messed with her. More than she let on, even to Celestia.”
“Why tell me now?” She asked, concerned.
“Because my subconscious is fighting her.” I said, “ I let her have her way. She’s been getting worse. We need to talk it out. It’s starting to scare me.”
“Okay,” she said, scratching her mane, “ what can we do?”
“We need to get Twilight to have her visit.” I said, “ Then, we can figure out what’s wrong.”
“I’ll get Twilight.” she said, turning to leave, “ you stay here. Please, be safe.”
“I will.” I said giving her a nuzzle.
She came back with Twilight a half hour later. I filled her in on the details.
“That is concerning.” Twilight muttered, “ If we don’t stop her, she could revert back into nightmare moon.”
“That can’t happen.” I said, remembering the legends.
“I’ll contact her.” she said, “ Get her to the castle. You wait there, then we can try to reason with her.”
“There is no try,” I recited, “ only do or do not.”
“Where did you learn that?” Fluttershy asked.
“An old master.” I said.
I walked to the castle, keeping my cowl over my face at all times. The castle loomed over me like the impending meeting. I hope she understands that I had left for their own good. I could have told her, I thought. But it was easier for everyone to think I was dead. I had no idea when Luke would show up. I could have been there for decades. Then, at least, no one would have waited for me. Then it clicked:This was Discord's plan all along. How did he even know I had survived? He wasn’t there when I left. Then again, I could never be sure. He had turned into a pony, perhaps he could turn into anything. For all I knew he could have been a bush. He had been watching me from the start of my stay here. He was trying to make me a social pariah. Then again, I thought. Jedi are really only a step up from that to begin with.
What ever Discord’s ‘little game’ was, it was near the end phase. I was losing, unless I convinced Luna to forgive me, Discord would win. He would be a step closer to forcing me out of Equestria. I could hide in my home, but it would be much harder. I would also be forced to leave my friends, Luna included.
I reached the castle, I silenced my thoughts. I would need to concentrate on the matter at hoof. I sat in one of the thrones. Now all I could do was wait. About fifteen minutes later, Luna walked in.
“Hi Luna.” I said, “ how are you?”
“We could be better.” she responded curtly, “ How are you?”
“I didn’t sleep as well as I liked last night,” I said, “ I think you know why.”
“Drakeon,” she said, taking a seat, “ We think we have a right to be mad.”
“Oh, you do.” I agreed, “ That’s the reason I’m here. To convince you to not be mad.”
“How art thou going to do that?” she said intently leaning forward.
“Explaining why I did what I did and how it benefits all of us in the long run.” I said, going with my first plan.
“Thou hast the floor.” she conceded.
“Okay, look,” I said, no more useless pleasantries, “ it was a hard decision to make. I still think it was for the best. It is better that everypony thinks I’m dead. I took my time training Luke, he is ready. I didn’t know how long it would take.”
“No,” she said- what did she mean no? “Thou were being selfish. Taking that burden on thyself only alienated thou further. Thou broke thou end of the deal, you could have left with a hero’s farewell, not in secret.”
“You’ve seen my dreams,” I said, “ you’re delusional if you think I’m a hero. I’m a coward, I always will be. But, I never meant to hurt you or anyone else.”
“Thou did,” she said raising her voice, “ when you left. I thought I lost a friend. We were sad, thou were so patient. Letting me see thou dreams, meeting Mace. Allowing me a glimpse into thy own world. I thought we were friends.”
“We are,” I said, “ you helped me find my way home. It would have taken much longer to figure out that dream without you.”
“What about when thou up and leave again?” she asked, simmering down, “ Wilt thou at least tell us?”
“I’m not leaving.” I laughed, “ I realised something when I left. I felt more at home here than I did there. I’m not leaving, never again. That is if you and your sister will have me.”
“Really?” she asked, “ Thou may stay with our permission, though my sister is still angry. She felt very betrayed that thou hast broke the deal.”
“Will you tell her that I apologize?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, “ We shall also stop tormenting you in your dreams.”
“Good,’ I said, getting up and giving her a hug, “ friends?
“Friends.” she agreed, hugging back.
“In that case, I’m going home.” I said, laughing, “ I have some sleep to catch up on.”
“Very well,” she said, “ good day Drakeon. I wish you well.”
“Thank you Luna.” I said, all was well.
I strutted out of the chamber, Fluttershy and Twilight were outside.
“So how did it go?” Twilight asked.
“Are you okay.” Fluttershy asked, scooting next to me.
“I can sleep easy.” I said, “ I am forgiven, Luna will tell Celestia I apologized for faking my death.”
“Good,” Twilight said, “ how did you do it?”
“I told her the truth,” I said, “said I was sorry. I also used my second plan as well.
“What was that?” Fluttershy asked.
“When in doubt,” I said, “ hug it out.”
“Good logic.” she said, giving me a hug.
“The best.” I said, hugging back.
“What will you do now?” Twilight asked.
“I’m retired,” I said, “ but I guess it isn’t my nature to just sit back and watch. I’ll be around watching, I’ll help if Celestia asks. I can rest now, I finally am free.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, “ goodbye, Drakeon.”
“I’ll see you around, Twilight.” I said, turning to leave, “ Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”
I walked out of the castle with Fluttershy. I looked into the sky. A blue streak was in the sky, heading for Canterlot. I smiled, It was a beautiful day in Equestria, my new home. I looked over at Fluttershy. She shared my smile. Everything had ended out alright, life was good. I walked to the Everfree forest, my new life awaiting me.
The End.
Epilogue: 30 years later.
I had been living in Equestria for decades. I had been forgiven by Celestia and Luna. I was, however, banished from Canterlot. Oh, well, we can’t have everything perfect. Discord and I had finished our game in the following years. We had decided to call it a draw. Fluttershy was still Discord’s best friend, and I was her companion. Three decades, four foals later and we still lived in her cottage by the edge of the forest. I was happy; the dark side in me was near expelled by the light. I would always have it in me, no Jedi that turned would ever be free of it. But I still don’t really care. I had finally found a long lasting peace. I haven’t gone back to my original galaxy since, millennia could have passed in my absence. As I am writing down my journal of these events, I feel as if I am laying to rest the memories of my past: Deathwatch, the Order, all of them.
“What are you writing?” Fluttershy asked, coming in the door.
“A journal of sorts,” I said, “ a recollection of events from our youths.”
“Why?” she asked, “ you feel too old to tell our grand foals yourself?”
“No,” I laughed, “ I guess it was just something I needed to do. You have to admit, it makes for a good story. Why not write it down?”
“You have a point.” she said, “ But you have to let me write something.”
“How about that first time you went to the Crystal Empire?” I asked; that was my favorite one of her stories.
“Alright,” she said, sitting beside me, “ let me see the book.”
“Here,” I said tossing her the book, “ write away.”
Author’s Note: Hello, all of you readers. It’s me, Lethal, I’m here to thank a few good friends. Firstly, I’d like to thank my editor Ben. He has been a great help, none of this would be possible without him. Secondly, I’d like to thank my friend Magnum Drag0n. He helped me with some Brony related things. Lastly, I’d like to thank my friend Penny Write, she gave me much of the critiquing that I needed to develop my writing style. To be honest, I started writing this story to keep me sane in the busy final exam season last year. In the months that Ben and myself have labored over this I have come to realise that I love being a writer, even if I never become a pro. I look forward to writing many more stories in the future. Naturally, I have room to improve my style and stories. So please, review and provide useful criticism. I will read every review that is left on this story.
Until next time,
Lethal.
