knights of the old republic: The lost exile

Chapters

Prologue: Starfall
Chapter one: Star-fall part 2
Chapter 2: The Arrival
Chapter two: The Exile

Prologue: Starfall

It was most often during the night, that Princess Luna felt at home. Though one could hardly blame the Alicorn Princess, co-ruler of Equestria, alongside her sister, Princess of the Sun. Since returning from her..."Absence," as her sister called it, Luna had felt like she belonged in the night. Luna smiled slightly as she watched the moon rise the horn on top of her head surrounded by the light blue glow of magic. The light played off her ethereal navy blue mane and fur. The princess regretted not lighting a fire in the fireplace. Despite Luna being responsible for the raising of the moon and the custodian of the night, Luna was not responsible for the loud winds that whistled about the high-rise towers of Canterlot castle. Luna smiled slightly. The castle, whilst annoyingly large, the castle was still her home. Full of good memories. The Night Princess often wandered the halls, remembering how her and her sister would play through the halls. Chuckling to herself, the Night Princess moved to her balcony and spread her wings, enjoying the breeze flitting through the feathers. It wasn't often that the princess got the chance to take a moment to relax as the duties of a Princess kept her busy. The wind always calmed her. She was no Pegasus, who were renowned for their love of the sky but the winds that whistled around her tower always provided a relaxing air. Her thoughts were interrupted by several loud knocks on her door. She turned back and used her magic to open the door. One her night guards was standing in the doorway. Dressed in lavender armor, with his tufty ears raised upwards, the bat-like wings folded and a respectful smile on his face, the night guard saluted.

"Princess, we're ready to begin our patrols." The guard said, giving a slight bow of his front legs. Luna smiled. Despite what any-pony said about the guards supposedly arrogant personalities, the guards were good at their jobs. "The shower should commence soon Princess." The Guard said, with a tip of his helmet. "Will you want regular reports?" Luna shook her head and dismissed the guard with the wave of her hoof. As the guard walked away, Luna turned back to her balcony. Of course. The Shower. Several days ago, the royal astronomers had discovered a meteor shower falling to their planet. Though Luna had been surprised at this. It was her job to look after and monitor all aspects of the night including the stars. Though going past the moon was a bit beyond her or her sister, Luna viewed it as her job to look out for these things. So it was to her embarrassment that she found out that the astronomers had also discovered, what appeared to be...flashing stars. Luna frowned slightly as she returned to the balcony and looked up at the dark sky. The astronomers had been baffled. Not one of them could explain how or why the stars were flashing, as they named it. It seemed wrong though. Luna knew that stars did not flash in the way that these had. It was like the flickering light of a torch. A torch that was about to go out. Luna shook her head. She had talked to her sister but even she could not calm the worried masses. An anomaly like this never seemed to foreshadow good news. Luna shook her head, feeling frustration boiling up inside her. She was the guardian of night, yet she seemed powerless to control these strange happenings.

"Twists and Turns." Luna muttered to herself. It was an ancient concept but it was something that she had learned to cope with since her return from...her absence. The concept dictated that life was like a labyrinth. Full of twists, turns and hidden traps. Whenever things did not go as planned, you either learned to adapt to circumstances, or suffered the consequences. Though Luna felt that this was slightly unfair on both her and her sister. Surely, as Princesses, they could be expected to have a little leeway in that department. It made her blood boil sometimes that life could be so hard on them. There was always one problem or another that had to be fixed. Though because both her and Celestia were leaders of their country, those problems tended to be bigger then most other problems . And this...shower. It was fishy. Luna almost always knew when a meteor shower was going to occur. Though this...this unexpected fall was very unnerving. Things like this didn't just happen by coincidence. "Hidden traps..." Luna mumbled. That concept was coming to haunt her. She supposed that this shower could be a hidden message or...something else. Luna shook her head. She was being silly. Nature was always an unpredictable force. Like life, it was full of twists and turns and could sneak up on you when least expect it. "Its just my imagination." Luna mumbled again. The statement felt as though she was reassuring herself, much like a child. It was something that did not normally occur for Luna. It unnerved her when that happened. Celestia had taught her that to be a leader, she had to be calm, collected and full of confidence in herself. Though when this feeling of self-reassurance happened, it disturbed her. If she was so full of confidence, how could she feel the need to repeat her choices. It was like when she was becoming...Luna shook her head fiercely. "It's just a feeling!" she told herself fiercely. "It will pass!" She couldn't allow herself to sink into that line of thought again. Luna supposed that even Celestia sometimes had these problems.

"P-Princess?" A voice stammered behind her. Luna turned again. The Night guard had returned without her noticing. He was looking nervous. She turned back to the guard, allowing the frustration to boil away. "The shower...seems to be a lot larger than we thought Princess." The guard said quickly, taking a harried step into the room. Luna froze. Larger? The Astronomers had claimed that even though the shower was unexpected, but it was not so large to cause any significant problem. Larger showers could cause a problem. A big problem. The guard answered her unspoken question as she jumped down from the balcony and moved over to him. "No, the lookouts are sure that the shower isn't large enough to cause significant damage but..." Luna almost bowled the guard over in her rush to get out of the door. The guard watched the small dust-cloud that his Princess had left behind. "W-What?" He stammered stupidly.

Luna charged through the corridors, feeling frustration and fear boiling up inside her again. It had been so stupid of her not to expect this situation. A larger shower was way more dangerous. If a meteor hit one of the towns, it could cause a massive amount of damage to both Ponies and property. She had to warn her sister. She knew Celestia would still be up, despite it now being night. She was almost always up due to paperwork or other such duties. She could've used magic to teleport though she considered it rude to just randomly appear in her sisters chambers. She ignored the guards stationed at intervals along the corridors, who bowed to her as she passed. Now wasn't the time for pleasantries. She had to get to her sister. The need to warn the other Princess was driving everything else from her mind. Then she stopped dead, almost skidding into another of the guards. Something...cold had just past over her. It wasn't the perceptible kind of cold, that made goosebumps spring out on bare flesh, or the sharpness that made you shiver. It was a quiet thing. Something small but precise. Luna waited for a few seconds but the feeling did not subside. The night Princess, taking several slow breaths began to move forward again. Though it was wrong. Something had happened. It was as if the motions had slowed, freezing her in place. She wasn't sure how but she finally got to the door of her sisters chambers. A small golden sun was painted on the wood. This time, without waiting to knock, Luna pushed the door open.

The door crashed open, hitting the opposite wall hard. Luna burst in, eyes darting around the room. Celestia was sitting out on her balcony. The pure white fur shone in the moonlight. Her iridescent mane billowing in the small breeze. The golden plates covering her hooves also shone in the moonlight. The Alicorn had not turned from the open balcony as Luna had made her entrance. Luna glared at her sister, outraged that the other Alicorn could be so calm in this situation. Then again, Celestia seemed to possess an infinite amount of patience even when Luna's began to run dry. Her older sister was always like that. A beacon of calm even in the most troubled of times. But right at this moment, Luna wasn't totally convinced that this was the right time to be calm. She moved over to her sisters side, ignoring the welcoming smile that her sister bestowed upon her. Luna was not in the mood for any more pleasantries.

"Greetings sister." Celestia said courteously, leaning forward to give her sister a welcoming nuzzle. Luna gave a loud snort of indignation. Was Celestia really going to act as though nothing was wrong. She opened her mouth to argue her point but Celestia raised a hoof, her violet eyes shining with amusement. "Do not fear Lulu." Celestia said comfortingly. "I have already taken the steps needed to protect our little ponies." She smiled slyly at her sister. "Do give me some credit Luna. I do have some skill at this." Luna blushed, lowering her head in shame. She had been so preoccupied with the shower that she had not had the sense to remember that her sister had, slightly more experience at handling these events than she did. Being...Absent for over a thousand years will have a negative effect on ones ruling skills. She looked up at Celestia who had returned to looking up at the sky. "That said," The sun princess murmured watching as what appeared to be a stat detached itself from the heavens and began to fall. "I still have a feeling that this is no ordinary meteor shower. We should watch this shower with interest." Luna nodded. The two Princesses had mastered the ability to communicate silently long ago. Now, with the unspoken agreement between them, the two princesses sat together, watching quietly, as the first of the shining meteors began to fall.

Chapter one: Star-fall part 2

The Republic Battle cruiser Star-Arrow, glowed like a gem in the large sun as it traveled through the system. The long ship was studded with several fins along its body, curving in high arcs, with a thick crescent shaped head and two large square shaped engines at its end that blazed with fiery energy. Along its long, thick body, were dotted several large, double barreled cannon-like objects that, fixed to circular studs, rotated regularly in circular patterns. Colored the deep red and white of the republic space fleet, the ship carved through space swiftly, like an arrow loosed from a bow. The engines roared with power as it ploughed on through its journey. The sun that the ship was flying around, glowed with the sustained rage of a star in its prime, throwing off giant loops of fire. None reached the ship however as each time the shots of fire got close to the metal work, blue light, almost like a shell, appeared wherever the heat touched it, shielding the ship from the fire. The long cruiser continued on its way, like a gigantic metal fish, swimming its way through the vastness of space. Slowly however, the blasts of energy propelling the ship began to lessen, until the engines shut down. The propulsion stopped. The ship slowed. Then it ground slowly to a stop.

Admiral Kern frowned as he stood on the bridge. Several humans, mixed with a few other species of the republic wandered across the bridge, checking the screens around the bridge for data. The low babble of talk echoed around the bridge, some in the basic language for humans, others but mixed with other, more exotic languages. Kern's ship had been traveling for what accounted to 3 weeks now. It was harder to tell out here on the outer Rim. But the Republic needed the exploration missions. Since the end of the Jedi civil war in 3958, the Galactic Republic had been desperate for more resources. It wasn't like the Jedi were around anymore to keep the peace. But something was off. Just a few seconds ago, the ship had shut down its engines. Then its weapon systems had shut down completely. It wasn't right. Kern didn't like it when things went wrong on his ship. Not in a cascade failure case. The ship had been checked and double checked before it had left the republic. The human hadn't felt this sense of unease for a long time. Not since....The human turned to look out of the view-port. The glass window showed a planet. It was an odd looking thing. Larger than most of the planets in the galactic sector, it was dotted with large splotches of land, some colored green, some brown. Kern shook his head. Straightening the golden star on his jacket, Kern to the door. The large circular door slid apart with a hiss. The rectangular ship was lit with large light strips fixed to the ceiling. Kern noted the worried look on his crews face. Things hadn't been the same ever since...he'd booked a seat on the ship.

"It can't be him." Kern mumbled shaking his head. "Since when was I this worried about stuff like...exiles...." Kern bit his lip. It had been a habit ever since he was a kid. As he wandered down the length of the ship, the captains thoughts strayed to the bottle of Corellian Whiskey that was stashed under his desk. His private quarters were just next to the bridge. Maybe he would go back after visiting the passenger. A few shots would get him...Kern stopped. He couldn't think about drinking at this time. As he wandered down the ship, he took in the familiar smell of engine oil and the clinking of wrenches as the technicians made their rounds, attempting to fix the problems the cruiser had developed. It was always the same in ship life. A daily round of technical difficulties, sleepless nights and the smell of engines. Kern shook his head, smiling. Despite its name, the Star-Bow wasn't the most glamorous of ships but Kern felt a strong attachment to it.His walk had taken him to a door centered about the middle of the ship. He reached out to knock on the door but hesitated. Something about going into the room made him hesitate. The passenger had been booked before they'd left but why the passenger was allowed on Star-Bow was something his superiors hadn't bothered to told him. As a model soldier, Kern didn't bother to ask...but despite it being an order, Kern had felt the urge to ask his superior who this passenger was. Nobody ever booked passage on Republic war cruisers. It wasn't done. Kern, mustering his courage, reached up and knocked on the door. His knuckles made a loud clanging noise on the metal door. No answer came from the inside. Kern grunted in annoyance, pressing the keypad set into the door. There was a click and the door slid open.

A rather unpleasant smell hit his nostrils. A mixture of fermented alcohol and...Kern wrinkled his nose. Unless he was very much mistaken, the smell of waste was what was hitting his nostrils. Kern took a step into the darkened room. Several bottles clinked around his feet. The single light shone from the small desk in the corner. A robed figure was slumped over at the desk, the face hidden in shadow. The smell of alcohol was emanating from the figures robes. Kern sighed to himself. Still no response. Shaking his head, Kern turned from the room and walked out. The door slid closed again. Kern felt his impatience rising. If he wasn't a model soldier he would have dumped the drunken fool on the first abandoned moon they came too. But...he supposed orders were orders. Kern made his way back up the ship. Perhaps he would go to his cabin and get the Whiskey. Even being near the passenger had revolted him. The Admiral shuddered. How anyone could choose to live like that...he had no idea. Kern stopped dead. Something smelled wrong. It wasn't engine oil. It was smoke. Now he was actually focused on the ships corridor, he could see that thick clouds of smoke were pouring out of rents in the walls and floor. Kern looked about. He knew if he could find a technician, then he'd be able to find out what was wrong. But there was no-one in sight. Apart from the hissing of the damaged machines, the corridor was silent. That was unnerving. Silence on a battle cruiser was something that always unnerved Captains. When things were silent, that meant there was nobody to maintain the ship. Nobody alive. Kern knew what he most do at once. He'd run to the bridge, check what was happening and resolve it.

Kern took a step forward. Then screamed as pain shot through his chest. Kern fell to his knees, still screaming. He had just enough sense to look down. A sword was sticking out of his chest. Kern felt the pain spike as who-ever was behind him ripped the sword from his body. The Admiral fell forward, his hands attempting to stem the rapid spread of blood across his uniform. Crimson liquid poured out between the fingers, drops hitting the floor. His vision began to blur. Kern grunted in pain, trying to roll over onto his side. Then he screamed again as the blade stabbed him through the back. His vision darkened as the blade stabbed Kern again and again. Blood fountain-ed, spraying across the walls, staining the whitewash walls red. Kern was dead before the blade stabbed down for a fourth time. The figure standing over the dead, admiral, clothed in black robes stalked past Kern, pausing only to wipe the blade on the motionless admirals, already bloodstained uniform.

The figure in the foul smelling room of the Star-Arrow raised its head. The hood of the stained robe fell back slightly, allowing the figure a brief glimpse of the room. A pale of brownish-green eyes shone out from underneath the ragged hood. The foul but familiar smell of Alcohol, waste and...The figure paused for a second. Blood? He could smell blood. That was new...and not entirely welcome. The figure reached down underneath the desk, exposing a pale skinned, five-fingered hand. The was a scraping noise and the figure pulled a sword from under the desk. It was a simple sword, with a bronze cross-guard and a handle made of stiff brown leather. The figure rose unsteadily to his feet using the sword for support. He had a bad feeling he knew what was going on. Just as this thought entered his head, a loud voice sounded outside his door.

"He's in here! He's in here! Kill the exile! KILL THE JEDI!"

"C'mon Girls we're gonna miss it!" Pinkie Pie called as she climbed the hill. The Pink Pony's Poofie mane and tail bounced as she bounced up the hill, just behind the town of Ponyville. Since the meteor shower had been announced, the ponies of ponyville had been frantically trying to look for the best spots to see it. Though Pinkie Pie's famous happy-go-lucky attitude was starting to wear the pink earth pony's companion down. The purple unicorn that was standing behind Pinkie, frantically setting up a telescope gave a hearty sigh. Twilight Sparkle, the well-read but slightly knowledge obsessed Unicorn pushed a few strands of her purplish mane out her eyes, grinning over at Pinkie.

"We know its soon Pinkie but we still have a few minutes before..." But the Unicorn was interrupted as a cyan blue Pegasus landed next to Pinkie with a loud Thump. The rainbow mane and tail quickly identified the Pegasus as Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus chuckled slightly as Twilight, whose telescope had been blown over by the force of Rainbow hitting the ground, gave her a scolding look. "Do you have to do that Rainbow? Now i'll have to spend another five minutes setting it up!" The Unicorn groaned, casting her battered telescope a defeated look. Rainbow simply chuckled, whilst Pinkie-Pie, in typical Pinkie Pie fashion, started laughing rather hysterically, falling to the grassy floor and kicking her hind legs into the air, so that her cutie mark, three balloons of varying colors, flashed once or twice. The Unicorn frowned in annoyance. "Really?" Demanded Twilight but the tirade she was clearly wishing to say, was interrupted once again by the arrival of two more mares. One was an orange earth pony with a whitish blonde main and a stetson hat positioned on top of her head, slightly hiding her leaf green eyes. A set of three apples was emblazoned on her flanks. The other was a unicorn with Alabaster white fur and a purple mane and tail that was expertly curled in several places. Three diamonds were emblazoned on this mares flanks. The Unicorns blue eyes narrowed slightly in bemusement, at the sight of Pinkie Pie, rolling around on the floor, kicking her legs with laughter. Twilight gave them a cheery wave. "Rarity. AppleJack." The Unicorn said cheerily. The two new arrivals smiled and waved their own hooves back at them.

"OOOH!" Yelled Pinkie, who was still on the floor. The others turned to look at Pinkie, confusion on their faces. Pinkie was pointing with her hoof up into the sky. "Look at that!" The Pink Pony said, an expression of rapture upon her face. The rest of the group turned to look up at the sky. It was one of the meteors. Twilight frowned as she watched the ball of flaming light scorch across the sky. The Unicorn was pretty sure that the shower report had said that the shower wouldn't be arriving for another forty minutes. It was with a sense of shock therefore, that Twilight saw that this meteor was different. The meteor wasn't flying, safely across the sky. It was coming down. It was aiming straight for Ponyville! Twilight, Rainbow Dash, AppleJack and Rarity, as though by an unspoken agreement, began to run down the hill, back towards their home-town. But too late! The flaming projectile crashed down, right into the center. There was a colossal explosion. The five ponies stopped as they watched as a ball of fire was spat up into the sky, followed by a thick plume of smoke. The five mares looked at one another in horror, before starting to run. The five weren't sure what they would find but they all hoped that nobody had been hit by the meteor.

Chapter 2: The Arrival

Rainbow gaped at the scene in front of her. Since her and her friends had returned to Ponyville, she'd been worried sick. The Rainbow maned Pegasus had quite a lot of friends in the little town and the meteors hadn't left much unscathed in its crash. Several of the thatched cottages that made up the town were on fire, their straw roofs sending up plumes of thick black smoke that obscured the sky. Several of the towns occupants were running about, each carrying a bucket slopping over with water in an attempt to put out the blaze. The mare was secretly glad that the meteor had hit somewhere away from the outskirts. Her friend, Fluttershy, a timid yellow Pegasus, owned a house on the outskirts of the town. She didn't want the Pegasus to come back from her vacation to find that her house had been demolished by a rogue meteorite. Rainbow Dash, being the brash Pegasus that she was, flew straight to the center of the town. That was where the thickest column of smoke was. She was surprised to see that the meteor had hit not only several of the houses but it had also hit the town hall. The once majestic hall now had a thick smoking hole blasted through the top. The meteor had come to a stop a little ways off. Steam rose in thick curtains around it. Rainbow frowned at the wreckage as Twilight, Rarity, AppleJack and Pinkie Pie finally arrived at the scene, some Rarity and Twilight both breathing heavily after the stretch of running. Rainbow was easily the most athletic out of her whole group of friends.

"What...what....is that?" Twilight gasped, her head lowered as she struggled to regain her breath. Though her voice was so low due to her lack of breath that it was drowned out by the high amount of shouting. Pinkie, who had quickly recovered her breath, bounced over to the crater and looked down into the hole though it was impossible to tell what was actually in the crater due to the obscuring clouds of smoke. By this time, several other ponies had moved over to the hole in an attempt to get a view of the meteorite. Twilight, finally recovering from the stitch in her side, made her way shakily over to the crater. "That doesn't look like a..." But she stopped. The Unicorns mouth fell open. The smoke had finally started to clear. The crowd gasped. There was no splintered shards of rock or even the gigantic chunks generally associated with meteor showers. Instead of rock, a large, metal, cylinder lay amid the burnt soil. Pieces of molten metal lay, some sticking up from where they'd shot into the ground, looking like bright red lanterns. Some ponies were approaching these pieces but seemed unable to go near them, as they were nervously skirting around them. Some of the braver ones were poking at the pieces with sticks they'd picked up. Rainbow and AppleJack moved forward. Rainbow reached out with her hoof but Twilight, her horn glowing with purple light, wrenched the Pegasus away. "Don't touch it!" The unicorn said hurriedly. Rainbow huffed lightly turning her head away, though keeping one eye on the metal meteor. Twilight walked around the strange cylinder. The end facing the small group was the source of the thick cloud of smoke though the cloud was dissipating. From what Twilight could see, there was a circular piece of glass set into one side. Pinkie Pie was attempting to look through it.

"Ooooh!" Pinkie squealed, screwing up her eyes in an attempt to see into the cylinder. "I think there's something inside there!" Pinkie began to jump up and down in excitement. "Is it a new friend...A BRAND NEW FRIEND!" Pinkie shouted happily. The others sighed. Not even a meteorite crashing right into the center of Ponyville could dissuade Pinkie from her hyperactive attitude. But then the other mares each stiffened. The reality of what Pinkie had just said sank in. Something was inside that cylinder. The others all crowded round the glass window. It was actually quite amazing that the glass hadn't shattered during the crash. Though the glass was covered in such a thick layer of muck, that it was almost impossible to see what was inside. Though, when the group of mares attempted to peer past the muck, they could see a a shadow of...something large and misshapen, occasionally jerking about. AppleJack, her face screwed up with the effort of seeing through the muck, reached up and tapped the window. The shape inside suddenly jerked more violently than before and hit the window with a harsh thump. The group jumped backwards with a with collected shout of fright. "I-I don't think that it likes that AJ." Pinkie said nervously, watching the shadowy lump moving about. "Maybe we should...." But suddenly, the lump gave another thrash and the glass shattered. The group screamed, narrowly avoiding the spray of glass. Something thick and black was now sticking out of the hole that the window had once been. After several seconds of tense silence, Rainbow and AppleJack made their way cautiously toward the thing sticking out of the window. It was an odd looking thing. It was long, covered in what looked like brown faded fabric but ended in a strange, flat, black...thing with several ridges on the underside. The flat object wiggled slightly. There was a soft groaning noise coming from the inside of the strange cylinder.

"What...the Hay is that?" Rainbow Dash asked, moving forward and poking at the thing with her hoof. Twilight and Rarity looked at one another. The Alabaster Unicorn had covered her mouth with a hoof and was looking slightly green. Twilight couldn't blame her. A disgusting smell was emanating from the smashed opening. A stomach-churning combination of wine and....Twilight covered her mouth as well. The Unicorn thought she was going to be sick. Unless she was mistaken, a smell of wine and waste was pouring out of the hole. It was like some-pony had taken the cover off of a manhole and left it to simmer in summer. Holding their noses, the mares moved forward ever so slightly, not feeling as keen as they had done. Twilight frowned as the object continued to wiggle about. The groaning noise was getting louder now that they were closer to the metal cylinder. Rainbow Dash was continuing to poke the object, with an amused expression on her face. "This looks like one of those hoof-boots we have to wear in Winter." Rainbow muttered, smiling as she poked the boot again, watching it wiggle about. Twilight, Pinkie, AppleJack and Rarity, rather than risk inhaling the horrible smell all gave soft grunts of agreement. Twilight stole a glance at the brown robed part. If the black thing was a boot, then the brown thing was obviously a leg. Rarity, who was known through-out Ponyville for having a Phobia of dirt and muck, moved closer, holding her breath and examined the black leather boot.

"Whoever made this...thing," Rarity mumbled, her upper-class style of talking adding a slightly snobbish accent to the words, "Has to be the worst fashion designer I've ever seen." The others stopped to stare at the Unicorn. They knew Rarity had a tendency to focus on the material things like fashion but that really was the limit. The mares couldn't believe that the Alabaster Unicorn was looking at a shoe when there was a possible new form of life in front of them. Rarity grinned sheepishly at her friends. "Well I mean..." Her voice tailed away slightly as the deadpan looks on the other mares faces did not fade. "I-I mean," the Unicorn stammered, "Well, first impressions and all that." Twilight raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Rarity, giving a soft squeak of embarrassment turned back to examine the boot. The Unicorn, now blushing with shame, pulled a piece of the brown fabric that was covering the leg and began examining it. "Bit tacky." The Unicorn mumbled, the styled curls of her mane helping to hide her red face. Twilight, who by now had acclimatized to the disgusting smell, moved forward to take her own look at the leg. Then she jumped as another voice, this one slightly slurred and most definitely male, sounded from inside the metal cylinder.

"I swear....If whatever is out there doesn't stop poking my foot, I'm gonna stick this vibro-sword somewhere very painful!" The five mares turned to look at one another. Each one could guess what the other was thinking, based on the expressions of surprise and confusion plastered across their faces. Pinkie Pie, ignoring the warning stares of her friends, moved forwards and pushed her head cautiously closer to the opening. The Pink mare drew in a deep breath and then shouted, as loud as she could:

"EXCUSE ME MISTER?! WHAT'S A VIBRO-SWORD!?"

Princess Celestia jerked her head up from the desk. The Alicorn had been sitting at the desk in her chambers, writing up reports and deciding whether or not it was worth falling asleep for a few hours to spare her the agony of spending another fifteen hours writing up the reports, when it had happened. It wasn't something physical. It was as though something invisible, almost like a ghost had blown gently into her ear. A shiver ran down the Princess's spine. Things like this, an invisible thing, made her nervous. It couldn't be dispelled by magic or written away like a report. It was an internal thing, something that wormed into her soul and eroded her concentration. It was a powerful foe. Unable to restore her focus to the report in front of her, Princess Celestia put her quill down, noting with some annoyance, that the ink had dripped all over the parchment, leaving large, thick dots and looked around. The fire she had lit in the hearth, which had been blazing merrily a moment before, was now flickering as though a fierce wind had blown through the chamber. The golden hoof-plates clipped to Celestia's hooves clinked slightly as she got up. The reports could wait. Whatever was bothering her was more important though she couldn't be sure why.

"EXCUSE ME MISTER? WHAT'S A VIBRO-BLADE?!" Demanded Pinkie-Pie loudly through the smashed window. The others stared at the Pink Pony in surprise. The mares were used to Pinkie's disregard for caution and tact but this was a new-low. After whatever was in the metal meteor had delivered that threat, every single pony in the group had agreed that it was better to stay away from the unknown creature. But Pinkie did not seem scared at all. Instead, she pushed her head slowly closer to the opening, smiling expectantly, as though expecting to see another smiling face pop out at her. Instead, the leg that was sticking out of the window shifted slightly and the male voice spoke again. This time however, it was more cautious instead of threatening.

"You...You speak basic?" The mares looked at one another. Twilight frowned. She had never heard of a language called basic. She knew that most ponies spoke Equestrian, the native language but she had never heard of Basic. "Hey, anything there?" Shouted the voice. The mares traded uncertain glances. They weren't against helping ponies in need per-say but an unknown element wasn't grounds for throwing away their safety. "YO!" Shouted the voice, now losing some of its slur. None of the mares moved forward now, not even Pinkie, who had pulled a confused face at the word Basic. A sloshing noise was now coming from inside the cylinder, rather like something heavy moving through water, while the leg that was still sticking out of the smashed window, moved backwards and forwards. Grunts coming from the inside the cylinder, told the gathered mares that the creature inside was attempting to pull itself out of the cylinder. However, there was a loud crunching noise and a shout of: "DAMN IT!" Made the mares gathered around the cylinder back off. Twilight, feeling the familiar urge to gather knowledge about the unknown creature, moved forward, careful to keep her snout away from the opening, in case something nasty appeared through.

"E-Excuse me?" She called, trying to ignore the muffled grunts and oaths that were pouring out of the opening. "Are you okay in there?" The creature inside stopped grumbling and the sloshing noise stopped. The creature inside was clearly listening to what she was saying, though whether or not this was a good thing, she couldn't be sure. "Um..." she mumbled, doing a pretty good imitation of her friend Fluttershy, "Um...What's your name?" Twilight ignored the scoffing noises her friends made. She wasn't really sure what you should say to a potentially dangerous creature that you couldn't see. There was a silence for a second, then....

"I'm called The Exile." The creature grunted, the leg next to Twilight once again attempting to pull itself back into the cylinder. "And no I'm not okay! I've just sat on top of a bottle and its piercing through my robes....And i'm soaked in oil." Twilight guessed that was what was making the sloshing noise. But her musings on this were stopped when the Exile, as the creature had called himself, spoke again. "Listen, I don't suppose you could give my leg a tug could you?" the Exile mumbled, sounding embarrassed. "I'm stuck in the seat of this blasted pod and I can't get out." There was silence for another few seconds before the Exile mumbled another word, so quietly that Twilight could barely hear it. "Please?" Twilight pulled her head back to look over her shoulder at the group of mares standing behind her. Twilight shrugged, motioning with her hoof, before enveloping the leg with her purple magic. Rainbow, AppleJack and Rarity, all wearing expressions of disgust, took hold of the leg and pulled. The was a loud shout of pain, before a large figure slid out of the smashed window and hit the ground in front of the mares with a loud splat. Spread on the ground, in full view of the crowd gathered around the crater was....

"Hey, It's a Monkey in clothes!" Rainbow said loudly. Twilight sighed. Sometimes she really didn't know why she ever bothered with Rainbow Dash. She really did not know.

Chapter two: The Exile

The crowd that had gathered around the crater all gave a collected gasp. Twilight, Rarity, AppleJack and Pinkie Pie all stared at Rainbow Dash, all stunned at the Pegasus's rude behavior. They were completely astounded that Rainbow Dash, who admittedly did have reputation for action before thought could have said something so stupid, especially to a new and possibly dangerous life-form. The Pegasus, who was still grinning down at the creature that had spilled out from the metal cylinder, did not seem to notice the extremely aggravated looks that the other mares were giving her. Instead the Rainbow-maned Pegasus resumed poking the black boots covering the Exiles feet. The Exile, as the creature had called himself, was still spread out, rather limply on the muddy ground. The Exile was a rather lanky creature, with two long arms and legs, which was covered with the same brownish robe that the group had seen on the leg sticking out of the cylinder. The arms ended in two, five fingered appendages, rather like claws without the sharpened nails. They reminded Rainbow Dash of the hands that Monkeys had. The Exiles head was covered with a shock of what looked like black hair, while a pair of brownish-green eyes stared at Rainbow Dash in slow-minded indignation. In place of a snout, a small nose stood out over a pair of reddish lips. Pushing himself up into a more dignified sitting position, rather than being sprawled flat-out on the ground, the Exile continued to stare at Rainbow Dash, his mouth hanging open stupidly.

"A horse....with Wings....and a rainbow for a mane..." The Exile mumbled, shaking his head slowly like a dog trying to rid itself of water. Then, to every-ponies surprise, the Exile brought one of the "Hands" to his head and bashed himself hard on the forehead. The cracking noise was surprisingly loud. The Exile, wincing in pain from the blow, looked back up at Rainbow. "So....I'm not dreaming then." The creature said matter-of-factually. Rainbow who was clearly struggling not to laugh from the Exile's antics, moved forward and waved one of her cyan hooves in front of the creatures face. "Stop doing that," The Exile grunted, sticking a pink tongue out of its mouth. "It's not nice doing that in front of a drunk man." Rainbow stopped waving her hoof, and retreated a few steps, as though the Pegasus thought that the Exile might suddenly spring forward and attack her. Rarity however, moved forward and tugged slightly at the brown fabric, some of which was now spattered with mud and churned up grass.

"Excuse me...erm...Exile was it?" The Unicorn asked cautiously. The Exile turned his head to look at the Unicorn. Rarity took a step backwards. Twilight couldn't blame her friend however, as the look the Exile was giving her was rather frightening. The green eyes had widened so that they looked like giant, brownish-green saucers. A slightly maddened smile had spread on his face, revealing slightly yellow, filth stained teeth. But at a slight nod from the Exile, Rarity moved forward again and pointed with her hoof at the muddy fabric, which now Twilight only realized, was the source of the nasty smell of wine and waste. "Well..." Rarity said, screwing up her snout in a expression of disgust. "Why in Equestria are wearing such disgusting garments Darling? They look absolutely hideous!" The Exile burst out laughing. The change was so sudden that the crowd around the crater all jumped back. In contrast to his downtrodden appearance, the loud, happy laugh that was bubbling out from the Exiles lips as he toppled backwards into the muck was incredibly surprising. Pinkie Pie, who AppleJack was trying hard to restrain, in case Pinkie's famous, though entirely over-the-top way of greeting people startled the Exile, finally managed to break free from AppleJack's restraining grip and jumped over, joining in the Exile in laughter.

"Wow, He laughs." The Pink Earth Pony said happily, as though no other creature was capable of laughing. Though the Exile, who was now finally starting to calm down from his laughing fit, suddenly returned to his silent, wide eyed staring act. Pinkie, sensing something was wrong, moved, almost uncomfortably close to the Exile's face. "What's wrong friend?!" She asked, leaning in slightly closer, her mouth stretched wide in a friendly smile. The others glanced at one another, before each of them moved backwards. Twilight, who had been examining the Cylinder that the Exile had fallen out of, tried to wave at Pinkie to attract her attention. But Pinkie had eyes only for the Exile who's eyes seemed to grow ever wider as the pony moved closer. "What?" Pinkie asked pulling her head back from the Exile, who had still not moved. AppleJack, sensing something was brewing, moved forward and finally managed to drag her friend away. In place of Pinkie, AppleJack watched the Exile as he attempted to right herself.

"Sorry about that Sugar-cube." AppleJack said to the creature, who was now eyeing her cautiously. "Pinkie's got a weird way of greeting new...er?" She seemed unable to finish that sentence, as they still had no idea what sort of creature the Exile actually was. To cover her confusion, the Stetson wearing pony moved her head slightly, so she could see the metal cylinder. "So...um...what is that thing. Your' home or somethin'?" The Exile shook his head, turning his head to look up at the night sky. AppleJack watched the Exile curiously. Then, the Exile shook his head and pointed over his shoulder with one of his fingers at the cylinder.

"That's an escape pod." He said, looking back into AppleJack's eyes. Since he was sitting, AppleJack was about the same height as the Exile, though Twilight was convinced that if the Exile managed to stand up, the creature would tower over the whole lot of them. "The ship I was on was traveling through this sector when it was attack. I climbed in and the Pod landed on this planet." The Exile turned on his backside for a second to appraise the "Escape Pod" before looking back at the group of gathered mares with a contented smile on his face. "Pray tell, what Galactic sector are we in?" The group of gathered mares all looked at one another, all sharing the same expression. Galactic sector? None of the five mares knew what the creature was talking about. The Exile cleared his throat for a second still smiling the same contented smile though it had become slightly fixed. "OoooK.." he said slowly, clearly not liking the confused look on the mares faces. "Where's the nearest comm station? Is it close? I need to call the republic for help." The mares continued to stare blankly at the Exile. The Exile's face fell slightly. He stared at the ponies in front of him, a disbelieving look on his pale face. "Please tell me you're not being serious. You do HAVE a communication station here don't you?" The mares looked at one another for a third time, then Twilight, looking slightly nervous, approached the Exile.

"Well," The Unicorn began, looking up into Exile's face, which was rapidly losing the smile and was growing increasingly red with anger. "We do have ways of sending messages. Like," She said, growing increasingly alarmed at the look on the Exile's face. "We use parchment with ink and..." But the rest of her words were drowned out as the Exile let a roar of fury, jumped to his feet and ran at the metal cylinder behind him. The Exile drew his long leg back and gave the Cylinder an almighty kick. There was a painful crunching noise and the Exile crumpled to the muddy ground again, clutching his foot, still screaming in pain. Twilight looked over at her friends who were all glaring at her now. "What did I say?" She asked helplessly.

The chamber was dark, cold and uninviting, cloaked in shadows so deep that it would be impossible for any intruder to see. It was completely silent inside this room. So quiet it could be described as unnerving. A single light shone from the center of the room, where a crimson crystal was hanging weightlessly, twirling slowly as though suspended by an invisible line. The crimson light that was shining from the crystal threw its light on metal walls. The metal was made of some black material which, in the light of the crystal looked like thick coats of oil. A figure was sitting just underneath the crystal. Hunched over slightly, the figure was garbed in a black robe, that obscured every inch of the figures body. The crimson light emanating from the crystal above the figure revealed a large black robe covering the figures head. The only thing that escaped the obscuring folds was a pair of pale skinned hands, clasped together as though in prayer.

"My lord." The crackling voice had spoken suddenly as though it had just entered. The hood rose slightly, revealing a pair of blue eyes. Standing in front of the seated figure was a shimmering hologram. The blue light that the holo was made up of, mixed with the crystals red light, turning it an ugly purplish color. The holo showed a large figure with what looked like pieces of chunky armor covering the long legs and arms. The new arrivals head was covered by a thick helmet, shaped like a birds head, with a sharp, beak-like part protruding from the front. "We've completed our search of the wreckage." The voice had an artificial, grating quality to it. "There's no sign of the Exile." The clasped hands tensed up slightly. "I mean," The hologramatical figure said quickly as though determined to find something positive with the report. "We did find several of our soldier slain, so he must have been..." But the shimmering figure fell silent. One of the hands of the robed figure had risen and waved at the hologram. "Y-yes sir." The hologram shut off with audible click. The room returned to its state of silent semi-darkness. The hood lowered but the eyes stayed open.

"So you hide from me do you Exile?" The voice that emanated from under the hood was soft but deep. The blue eyes narrowed. "I sense you Exile. I see you. You shine to me. I'll find you Exile. You will be mine." The crystal floated down from its position and into the figures open hand. The crimson light faded, returning the room to constant darkness. "Just one more." The voice whispered into the darkness. "One more. Then the march of the darkness can begin."

Twilight sighed as she sat on the hospital bench. Since the Exile had kicked the "Escape Pod," Twilight and her friends had taken him to the Ponyville hospital. Taken...may have been the wrong word however. The Exile had been yelling with anger and pain so much that Twilight had been forced to summon a stretcher and tie his limbs down. The purple Unicorn shook her head as she heard another roar of pain from the Exile's room. Pinkie and Rarity had dashed over to the Ponyville library, Twilight's home, to fetch Twilight's assistant Spike, a baby dragon who would be able to send a message to their Princess. Twilight was confident that her mentor would know what to do. Though what exactly they were going to do was something that Twilight hadn't figured out yet. Rainbow who was sitting next to her gave a great groan of boredom.

"Why'd you have tell him that Twilight!" Demanded Rainbow, turning an angry glare upon Twilight. Twilight stared at her in disbelief. "I don't think he liked what you told him Twilight." The Pegasus shook her head looking annoyed. "Listen Twi," Rainbow said cautiously turning her head slightly with one eye closed. "I know it's a bit rich of me to say but, maybe you shoulda' just offered to help and left it at that." Twilight got up off the bench and walked off down the corridor. She wasn't sure why but what Rainbow had said had really affected her. It was like a pain. Like some-pony had hit her. As the Unicorn wandered down the hall, a disturbing thought entered her mind. Was Rainbow starting to doubt her again? It wouldn't be the first time. Twilight shook her head. She was being stupid. Her friends had doubted her once and that had almost led to the end their civilization. It couldn't be happening again. Could it?