Star Wars: Knight of Friendshipby OuijaSilverstarChapters00-Escape01-A Usual Landing02-"Am I Dead?"03-Meeting the Natives00-EscapeRepublic Gunships and Battle cruisers roared over what was left of the Jedi Temple. Clones marched in and out with some of them having bags draped over their shoulders. I watched behind a pile of rubble with my reprogrammed battle droid as the Clones looted every last holocron the Jedi fought and protected for centuries, now a smouldering ruin. “So, um...what’s the plan, master?” My skittish Droid asked me in a nervous tone. My droid is a heavily modified B1 Battle Droid with grapple and jetpack attachments and a reprogrammed thought process with every Clone combat and tactical protocol with Order 66 deleted with all other Separatist combat droids I could find that weren’t activated. “Same plan we make, Six; Improvise our way out of this mess.” “By improvise, you mean…?” “No; we can’t pull this one off with blasters ablazing; we’ve fought with them before.” “Drat! They know our every move.” “Exactly, I was a damn fool for trying to get some info on my father; I’ll never get in, now.” “Where are the rest of the droids?” “They’re in blocks all around the Senate building. We need to regroup during Phase 3.” “Which is?” “Create a Riot.” With that said, we went away from the pile of rubble to an edge to the deep city below. I cringed at the drop and instead focused on an adjacent building from us. “Fire a grapple at the top of that window!” I commanded. “Roger, roger,” Six responded by firing the hook from the barrel below the handle of his blaster. As I heard a faint clang and torn metal being crunched, I took my lightsaber from my belt and held both ends of it with the hilt on top of the wire. “When I get to the window, detach the cable and jump.” “B-but, I’ll fall, master!” “Have faith in me. Ready? NOW!” I kicked off the edge and slid down the wire at a rapid speed. The wind in my face, combined with my fear of heights, game me the massive adrenaline rush I need to pull Six to me in less than 5 seconds. I held my feet to the glass, completely shattering the window as my ride ended. I spun around to see my loyal droid leaping over the edge after detaching the cable. I held out my hands and the force guided his descent to my level. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple of Clones looking at me. “It’s General Smiyh! Open fire!” As Six got into the room with me, I pushed him down with me below the windowsill. My eyes lit up when I saw one of them reach for a thermal detonator grenade. “HIT THE BUTTON!” I shouted. Six staggered across the room, blaster bolts barely missing him. He tripped over a broke lamp and hit the switch before crashing into a table. The blinders folded down, muffling the detonator blast with a nice impression where it exploded. I turned on my lightsaber to help navigate the dark room. Since my communicator was on the same frequency as the clones, I pressed the button to tune in. Clone radio chatter; never used it until now. “Where is General Smiyh?” “He’s in an apartment complex! Level 328!” “We have an attack squad on the way!” I kept the chatter on, but muted my microphone. I ran over and tried to open the doors, but they couldn’t budge. “Damn!” I thrusted my lightsaber through the edges of the door, crackling of heat and electricity and leaving behind a molten cut. I thrusted my arms forward, the force flinging the door across the open corridor. Sensing a small group of clones coming up the elevators, I clipped my lightsaber to my belt and pulled out my DC17m Blaster from its holster on the side of my backpack. I hid behind the opening, slightly peaking around the corner to see the doors open. I signaled Six to be on the opposite side of the opening, so he won’t be fried by any stray bolts. Shortly after hearing the ding and the doors clanking open, I poked the blaster out and around to open fire. Blaster bolts bounced off the edges of the opening, leaving myself temporarily blinded by the bright sparks. I heard the screams of the few inept clones that didn’t get out of the way in time. “Watch it! Engage hostile!” the Sergeant barked out to the surviving grunts, continuing their marks. “Six! Grenade!” I called out to him, reaching my hand into the air. He slightly panicked at my order, frantically fumbling around his belt until he found a spare Thermal Detonator. When he detached the belt, I pulled it from his robotic grip with my force. My hand twitched as it armed its pulsating clicking noise of a delay timer, to which I tossed at the adjacent wall. It bounced off the walls from the strength of my throw and landed near the Sergeant. He tried to pick it up and throw it back to me, but it detonated itself in mid-throw. The explosive force rocked the whole floor, causing the lights to flicker and buzz. I signaled Six that the coast is clear and emerged into the fallout. The leftover smoke burned my lungs and left me coughing like I had Pneumonia. I slammed the base of my fist at the down arrow button and to my surprise, the elevator was still intact. The doors opened, wafting the smoke away to make me a direct path. I entered the lift with Six behind me. Now lies one tough question: Up or Down? If I went up to the roof, I would have to deal with gunships and jet troopers or escape through the Lower City and deal with the rioting scum of the galaxy. “Pick my poison,” I said with a quick sarcastic laugh. I hit the top floor button while switching the blaster attachment to the launcher attachment of my weapon. I searched my belt for ammo, but found none. “Hey, Six?” I asked, getting the droid’s attention. “You need ammo?” “Yeah; do you have any spare explosive rounds on you, by any chance?” “No; you gave most of them to Steele and Xero for Phase 1 and we used the last of our explosives on our way to the Jedi Temple.” “Well, do we have SOMETHING?” “Only EMP rounds.” “If they are using their gunships, I can shoot one of them into the engines to make them crash. Then, we make a break for it,” I explained, loading the round through the back of the tube. When it clicked into place, the small blast shield folded out in front of the back. I then sensed it; a couple of clones are waiting for me and Six. I holstered my weapon and forced the emergency hatch open. I pulled myself up and Six along with me, who still doesn’t like it when I use the force on him. “I hate it when you do that,” he complained. “Quiet! We’re here.” The lift slid to a stop with the doors opening to the sounds of a panicking city along with distant blaster shots and explosions. Right on cue, the two clones carefully inched into the elevator with their weapons drawn. I swung my arms over one another, forcing them to slam their heads together, instantly knocking them out. With the way cleared, I gestured to my loyal droid. “After you.” “You first; you’re the badass Sith.” “EX-Sith,” I corrected him, pushing him onto the lift floor. I gently landed on my feet and pulled him up to his own, dusting his shoulders off. “Are you ready, you bucket of bolts?” I asked sarcastically, drawing my weapon. “No-I mean, yes.” “GO!” I shouted, sprinting out of the lift and straight into the chaos with Six on my...six. To my crazy dumb luck, the clones completely ignored me and went straight to the Lower city and other blocks in the distance. The chaos that was supposed to ensue when I signaled my other droids to detonate their payloads all over the district, but done so way too early, leaving me frustrated to my core. “Ugh, those dumbasses,” I growled, “I told them to wait until I GAVE them the signal.” “Maybe they got bored,” Six attempted to rationalize the situation by his response. Mine, had me facepalming. I walked to the edge, looking at the speeders zooming by in all directions. “Master, please don’t tell me…” “Yes we are; give me your arm, please,” I requested, grabbing ahold of Six’s left arm before leaping off the edge into traffic. I focused our fall into an open cockpit speeder that looked fast, but we kept missing many to which can’t break our fall. Halfway down, we landed into an open speeder, knocking out the driver. “Sorry; need this,” I said, throwing him overboard. As we were maneuvering through and around traffic, a thought just clicked in my head. “Deja vu,” I said out loud. “What?” the confused droid asked. “This whole thing seems familiar!” “What does?” “The whole...jumping into a speeder...flying dangerously in...and around traffic,” I struggled to explain, focusing on what was around me, “Or maybe it has something to do with where we are right now and the way this speeder looks.” “You seem too calm for this!” “Yeah, but have it occured to you that we get into jams like this on a daily basis?” I explained, pulling up on the wheel, the G-Forces leaving my voice strained, “I should be scared, angry, distraught and depressed at what’s happening, but really I am tired and annoyed.” The moment we made it through the traffic and slightly above the canopy of the city, my communicator started beeping again. I moved my wrist close to me to see the projection and sound of my communicator. What came online was Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, but his hood was draped over. “Master Kenobi?” “Courvin Smiyh?” He asked, shocked, “Where are you? Staying off their radar, I hope.” “Eh, kinda.” “What do you mean? Why do I sense fear in you?” “Fear? Me? No; I’m still finding a way off Coruscant!” “What!? Didn’t you see how the clones acted? They are KILLING any Jedi in their path!” “Yeah; I took notice. I shook them off my tail, but they might find me again if I’m not careful. By the way, were there any survivors?” “Yes, but they are few and far in between. Master Yoda is okay as well and well hidden too.” “That’s good to know. Where are you?” “On Tatooine.” “Why the hell are you on a backwater planet like that?” “Smiyh, listen carefully, because you are the only one I’m telling this secret to: You know Anakin Skywalker?” “Yes.” “He turned to the Dark Side; he’s Darth Vader.” A sense of dread flew through my gut like a blaster bolt. “Is there any silver lining?” “He had children, twins, with Senator Amidala.” “That explains why he always made up excuses just to be with her. Where is Amidala and her children?” “Unfortunately, she passed away, but I put her daughter, Leia in the hands of Senator Organa. I put her son, Luke, in the hands of a young farmer couple miles outside Mos Eisley.” “Do you think there is some way to fighting this?” “A rebellion will rise; I have no doubts about that, but you need to get off that rock and go far away to the fringe of the galaxy.” “What about that rumored system that nobody ever returns from?” “Great blazes boy; that’s suicide!” “Better than dying at the hands of our newly formed Empire.” “I guess there’s no talking you out of it, then. You learned more from Anakin than me. Good luck and may the force be with you, always.” When he hung up, I replayed his last words: ‘May the force be with you.’ From the past 4 years up until a week ago, I had no memory of my life before. I found a lost holocron and I now knew what I was; a Sith. The unknown time before I lost my memory and the Jedi Order took me in as a Padawan. I look back on it now that this whole piece of my life was just a facade for something much darker. Something of a web spun by the new Emperor Palpatine or Darth Sidious. I have arrived at the entrance to the Senate Building to see the rest of my droids and a oddly convenient inactive Republic Cruiser beside them. When I landed the speeder and me and Six climbed out, I saw a man in black robes with an oddly shaped helmet. I sensed his force and it made my stomach turn inside out. “M-master?” “Courvin Smiyh, we meet again,” he spoke in an intimidating voice made possible by the device on his chest. “What happened to you Master?” “The Jedi have conspired against me, and you.” “That’s a lie; they’d never do that kind of thing.” “You were there with me and Obi-Wan to make sure that when your memory came back, you wouldn’t be able to attack the Jedi. When you thought you were a Jedi, you believed you would become a Jedi Knight and uphold the force, but the Council kept you from advancing; they kept on throwing you into situations that made you use the dark side of the force, then they would scold you and assign you elsewhere. They won’t allow users of the force like us to balance it ourselves, they shun those who use their emotion, those who love, those who show their true colors. Now they attempted to execute us, but we know better.” “Yes,” a distant voice agreed with Vader’s speech. I looked past my master to see an old man with a pale white scarred face with orange eyes and black robes...Darth Sidious. “Master,” both me and Vader acknowledged his presence and bowed. He then focused on me. “The Jedi now hide on all corners of the galaxy in fear of their lives; how ironic. Now then, what’s this I hear about you being behind the bombings?” My chest sank low, I tensed up and shook violently; I knew what he was going to do. “A good idea; if we scare the people into thinking the Jedi are hunting innocent lives, then we, the Empire have hunted them down and they would kneel to our bidding.” “What?” “You have executed one of my many plans to keep in power and with no better timing I might add. That reminds me, I have tasked both of you to hunt down the remaining Jedi. Go and gut them like the spineless slugs they are. There’s a Jedi hidden on Kashyyyk. Vader, find him and eliminate him. As for you, Darth Kain, explore this ‘unknown system,’ if any Jedi you find are hiding there, kill them.” “Yes, my master,” me and Vader said in unison. Vader left along with his escort which left me alone with Darth Sidious and his escort. “I will be giving you this Cruiser for your crusade. It is armed to protect yourself from any threat. Remember; anger and hatred will fuel you.” “Yes master,” I said, bowing one last time before he and his escort have left in the opposite direction. I turned and walked straight to the rest of my droids. On the very left is Xero, a Magnaguard bodyguard that acts like my escort if I wanted to make an entrance like Vader and Sidious. Steele is a Super Battle Droid with an interchangeable left arm. Burner is a Commando Droid in charge of stealth and more hands-on wetworks, as well as fixing our weapons. Last is Speedy, a droideka that can throw portable shields and is the fastest in the group, aside from my force thrust. I looked at them, crossing my arms and furrowing my brow. “Care to explain what happened?” “Clones found us,” Steele explained, “They made Xero press the detonator button.” “That all doesn’t matter know; let’s get the hell out of here.” We all boarded the cruiser and made it straight to the cockpit. Only me and Six were in it, the rest have hooked up to a droid docking bay. When we made it to the cockpit, I opened the door to the Captain’s storage to find a large box labeled: “Courvin Smiyh.” Strange was all I could think of it and oddly convenient. I sat down in the chair, flipping switches that kicked the ship’s engines on. When the cruiser lifted off the ground and jetted into the air, I sensed a disturbance in the force. Whatever it was seemed distant and out of my control, but I’m worried about that Jedi on Kashyyyk. I know damn well what Vader is capable of and that part scares me the most, but all I can do now is hide. There’s no possible way for me and a handful of military droids can take on a massive Empire spanning nearly the entire galaxy. The very thought of it is just eating me up the more I thought about it. After the cruiser left the planet’s atmosphere, I turned to look at Six. “Set a course for the unknown system and punch it to hyperdrive after doing so.” “Roger, Roger.” Six punched in coordinates on the navigational computer in a room behind me and I pulled a lever that shot us into the black abyss. Whatever awaits me in the mystery region, Jedi, Sith, monsters, smugglers, death, I felt afraid of what’s in store for me in the future, but I knew I can find a way out of a mess like I usually do, but this seemed different. I can’t be sure until I see this for myself and I will have to charge into danger like I always do, and that’s what I always live for: the thrill of battle as it has always been for my Mandalorian ancestors and my late parents. I would be safe, knowing the force is my ally and left to the freedom to use it in any way I please. Fate awaits my descent into the dark depths of space and I welcome that with open arms above all else. What could go wrong? STAR WARS EPISODE I KNIGHT OF FRIENDSHIP Author's Note Welcome to yet another bright idea brought to life! I wonder if this will take off and not get canned like A Clockwork Fursona. As always, comment me what you think and I hope you enjoy this story. 01-A Usual Landing(Third Person POV) Smiyh awoke from a vision in the force. He pointed his blaster at the windshield, drenched in a cold sweat. His droid companion, Six seen his sudden wake and pushed his master’s arm down. “Master! Master! It was just a dream!” “I had it again,” he struggled to say, “The same one for a month, now. The screams, the blasters, explosions; I can’t get it out of my head.” “Master, it’s not your fault. This whole situation has been out of our hands.” “I know that and good riddance to it! They can rot for treating me like rubbish!” He yelled with much venom in his words. Six was taken back a bit by his sudden aggressive tone. ‘If only I hadn’t engaged the Jedi when I was a Sith,’ He thought to himself, ‘Maybe I known and would’ve informed them of Order 66 when I had a change of heart.’ “We’re coming up close to the undocumented system.” “Good; I can’t take another cycle on this damn ship.” With their destination closing in, the number of stars grew less and less until the former Sith turned to his Co-Pilot again. “Hey Six, how much further until we reach our destination?” “Nearly there,” he simply stated, “We just need to get out of-” His sentence was cut off by the sudden halt from hyperspace back into realspace along with the entire ship’s power. “...hyperspace.” “What the hell is going on? Tech scan, immediately!” “I-I can’t!” Six yelled, pressing buttons and pulling levers frantically, “Nothing’s working!” “Damn!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the console, slightly denting the frame. “What’ll we do!?” “We stop panicking,” Courvin suggests, keeping his droid still with his hands on his shoulders, “If the manual controls still work, we can land this bird safely on the nearest habitable planet, diagnose the problem and fix it.” “Easier said than done.” “It won’t be the first.” With the cruiser inching closer to the planet in question, Smiyh closely observed the colors. It looked much like Naboo with it's lush, green appearance, along with one moon to boot. His quiet observation was interrupted by the ship violently jerking forward into the planet’s atmosphere. “This is where the fun begins,” He sarcastically joked, “Six, strap in and engage manual controls; this bird is landing hot!” “Roger roger,” he said, pulling a lever beside him back. The sound of heavy metal grinding was nearly drowned out by the noise of the flames surrounding the cruiser’s hull. Twilight Sparkle, resident Unicorn in Ponyville and student of Princess Celestia, was cooped up on the balcony of her home, spending the majority of the morning reading and occasionally glancing over on the crowded streets below. Her assistant, a baby dragon named Spike, is snacking on a large gemstone as a reward for helping out in the past events. He stopped eating and looked up at the sky seeing a massive fireball drop down from the sky. He immediately panicked and scampered over to the Unicorn, shaking her. “Twilight! Twilight! You gotta see this!” he repeated until he got her attention. She carefully closed the book and set it on a nearby table by the glow of her horn. “What is it Spike?” “It’s a meteor! Come, quick!” She leapt out of her chair and galloped over to the telescope. Looking through the eyepiece, she focused at the fire-drenched mass and saw through the flames, machinery? “Spike, this is not a meteor; it is a space ship! That means...aliens!” “AHH! Do they come in peace? Are they here to suck out our brains!?” “There’s no time for that!” She yelled, predicting the ship landing into the Everfree Forest, “Inform the princesses; this “alien” may be in trouble!” “Yes Twi.” With that, the galloped out of her house and towards the potential crash site. ‘Oh I hope they’re friendly,’ she thought. Now that the atmosphere entry was over, nearly all of the flames were doused out on the ship. Few sparks jumped and arced from one part to the next the longer the cruiser endured. “Six! When I give the signal, we drop into the pod and eject.” “What about the others!?” “They’ll be safe in a secured room at the center of the ship; we're at the tip of the spear and will not be safe the longer we stick in here! This cockpit will take the strongest force of the crash and I would like to die another day, thank you.” With the ship below the clouds, Courvin slams his fist on the eject button. “NOW!” Both the human and droid were thrown from their seats down retracted ducts into the projector room. “ The Emergency Harness, master!” Six reminded the former Sith. “Not enough time!” he protested, slamming the emergency button. The outer rings on the connecting hull shot out, releasing the bottom area of the ship. Luckily, it slowed down the fall as he planned, but forgot the repercussion. The nose of the pod pointed to a downward angle, aiming directly for a distant farm. “Oh, this can’t be good…” he grimaced. “It’s not like you can give the controls a bit of a shock to power it for a couple seconds,” Six rationalized sarcastically. “That’s it!” he pointed his hands at the console and focused his fear onto the force. Purple lightning shot out of his fingertips and lit up the console, lighting the whole of it up. “Six! Pull the lever!” “Roger roger!” Six exclaimed. Pulling up on the lever. He felt the momentum shift slightly upward, but started going back to the same speed. He sensed a bunch of trees and held onto the hologram table. “Oh, shi-” Rainbow Dash, self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria and supervisor of the Ponyville Weather Team, was relaxing on a cloud when she noticed her close friend, Twilight running across the treeline of the Everfree Forest. She leapt off the cloud and glided over to her. “Hey Twi! You saw that cool-looking meteor too?” “That was no meteor; that was an alien ship and it’s about to-” Her explanation was interrupted by the impact of the Republic Cruiser rocking the whole of the forest and the pod crashing close to the house of their timid friend, Fluttershy whom was a mile away. “Gah! What the buck was that!?” Rainbow yelped. “It seemed that somepony that was on board of the ship, tried to escape in a pod. That pod sounded like it crashed near Fluttershy’s cottage.” “WE NEED TO GET THERE NOW! Gimme your hooves!” Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around her friend’s waist and sped off along the treeline towards the crash site. Courvin pulled himself up to his feet, groaning in pain. There was a deep gash above his left eye and he felt that his right arm has dislocated from the shoulder. He placed a piece of scrap metal into his mouth and bit down onto it. He held onto his elbow and mentally counting to three before jerking it upwards. He screamed in agony as the bones popped into place. He punched the table a few times before spitting out the metal and using the right sleeve of his shirt to make a makeshift sling. He drew his blaster with his left hand and limped to the other side of room to pick up his slightly damaged sidekick. “Master! You can barely walk!” “You can’t; I see that the impact broke your joints.” “I can repair them, though.” “First, let’s just get out of this thing and find a safe spot to hide.” “Roger roger.” Twilight and Rainbow made it to the crash site. Luckily for them, it had missed Fluttershy’s cottage by a quarter mile. They walked up near to a red, cone-shaped pod with a door on the back, surrounded by several jets. The sudden opening of the hatch startled the entire group as a bipedal, hairless creature with a robot slumped over him emerge from the wreckage. The creature appeared to be bipedal, wearing loose dark clothing with only one sleeve and strange markings running up his arm. His eyes looked a deep umber color and short messy black hair. He had pale skin, probably from his injuries caused by the crash, or that may possibly be his natural color. Many questions formed in Twilight’s head. She felt like approaching the creature, but hesitated, afraid he would attack. He noticed the ponies in front of them and his first instinct was to draw his weapon. He dropped the droid and fell to the side of the opening, pointing his blaster at the curious ponies. His vision doubled and grew more blurry the faster his heart raced. His hand trembled and grew heavy from exhaustion and the pain of his dislocation and relocation of his shoulder. He lost his grip of the blaster and balance on the side of the pod's hull and fell forward into the soft grass, unconscious before impact. “Master!” the droid called out to him, crawling frantically towards his master. “Wait a minute!” Rainbow realized, “You can speak our language!?” “I'm sure you're aware that the majority of lifeforms in the galaxy speak Basic.” “We call it Equestrian and no, we weren't aware of any life outside of Equis," the purple unicorn explained, slightly annoyed. “Great blazes! This really is a hermit system!" "Wait, wait, wait," Rainbow said, flying in between the two, "There's more than just where you came from!?" "Of course; there's a whole galaxy of life and planets and...what am I doing!? We got to help him!” “Okay,” Twilight agreed, “Rainbow, help me get them safely into Fluttershy’s cottage.” “Oh yeah? Well how do we know that these two come in peace? That..thing looked like it pointed some kind of weapon at us.” “He’s in shock from the crash,” the droid explained, “We mean you no harm; we're just lost and confused rejects that were reduced to scrap metal. We need a safe place for him to rest and I don’t know how advanced your medicine is and I can’t afford for him to get sick and-” “Alright, alright,” The impatient Pegasus waved her forelegs up at the droid face, ”I trust ya. Just get on my back and shut up.” “Roger, roger.” 02-"Am I Dead?"(Courvin POV) I slowly woke to the sounds of birds chirping from the outside. It seemed the other side of my head has been wrapped, so I can only see out of my left eye for now. I scanned the ceiling and part of the wall along with a fireplace and concluded I was in some kind of bedroom. I felt around for a bit and it seemed like the bed was too small for me and my lower legs were over the front of the bed and on a chest. Well, whoever took me to a safe place while I was vulnerable, I need to thank them and be on my way. Then it hit me like the delayed pain in my forehead; my damn ship. I’m sure whoever took me in knew where it was. Of course, I could always ask Six, if he managed to fix his legs and followed us here. When I pushed myself up, I felt a familiar pair of metal arms pull me in and hug me tightly. “MASTER! YOU’RE ALIVE!” he screamed gleefully. “Of course I’m okay. What ensued while I was unconscious?” I asked, putting my shirt back on. Whoever checked me for injuries, must’ve known about my...arm.” “Well, a couple of her friends went inside of the pod and got all of our tools out to fix me and you up.” “Does our benefactors know about my arm?” “No, I told them not to remove the sleeve; it’s up to you, as always if you want to show them.” “Then they must be stark curious, by now. Where are they now?” “One of them are outside, feeding her many pets.” “Okay, that’s all I want to know,” I said, climbing out of the bed and rotating my right arm on the shoulder joint. It felt swollen and sore from the crash, but luckily it still functions. Skimming over the details in the house, I carefully sauntered down the steps to a double door. Ignoring its strange design, I went through the door into the...very colorful outdoors. Six pointed to a tree near the land bridge covered in birdhouses. “She’s the one who watched over us overnight,” he explained, still pointing at a yellow furred, pink-maned, horse thing with wings and big blue eyes and a butterfly tattoo on her flank. “Okay, am I dead? Because there is no way in Hell that those...things are actually living creatures in the galaxy.” “We are not dead,” Six reassured me, “Yes, what you are looking at is no joke.” “Does she speak Basic, at least?” “Yes, but the natives here call the language, Equestrian.” “You conversed with the natives here?” I asked, wide-eyed, “Then we know what system this is, then.” “Well, the purple one told me that this country we’re in is called ‘Equestria’ and this planet is ‘Equis’.” I cringed and rubbed my eyes with my forefinger and thumb at the name of this system. “Are you joking!? This whole world looks like it was manifested from a youngling’s imagination! All these bright colors are burning my damn retinas!” The yellow horse-thing jumped at the loud noise of my complaint. I sensed its fear and knelt down at its level. “Sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you.” The native said nothing and looked away but didn’t try to run. “My droid informed me that you watched over us while we were unable to move, is that correct?” She slowly nodded. “Can I know the name of my savior?” “F-Fluttershy,” The creature quietly mumbled. I could barely make out what she said, so I asked her again, “I’m sorry; can you tell me again?” “M-my name is F-Fluttershy.” Fluttershy...REALLY!? I really AM stuck in a little girl’s imagination-created world! I decided to be nice since she really didn’t have to help us and I commend that tremendously. “It’s a cute name,” I complimented. She made an eep sound and tried to cover her blushing face with her long mane. “Thank you for helping me and keeping me safe.” “Y-your welcome.” “Can you point us in the direction of the nearest town, Fluttershy?” “I-its down the road, called ‘Ponyville’.” I am really getting sick of the names here, but said nothing of the sort, in fear of upsetting my host. “Thank you, I will be back in a little while to repay my debt to your service.” “Wait!” she stopped us with a slightly louder voice. I listened and turned to her. “What’s wrong?” “What if the locals don’t take kindly to you? They might call the guard on you!” At that moment, I realized I felt no weapons on me. ‘Ah, SHIT!’ I yelled in my head. I said nothing as it might get this pony suspicious. “What can we do, then? Spend the rest of my days cooped up in a house? Then again, if they see me unarmed, that could quell suspicious for them, for the most part.” I lied about the no weapons part since I keep a punching dagger made of vibro metal hidden in a secret fold of my right boot for last resorts and prison escapes. Luckily I only had to use that six times total in the Clone Wars. The Jedi always told me that it was a dishonorable thing to use while in a dual, but the Sith never used mercy, to begin with. “Well, a few of my friends helped me carry you two here to my cottage,” she explained, “They are supposed to be here in an hour to check in you two and to ask questions.” “Are they the Guard you mentioned earlier?” “Oh, Celestia, no; they’re just my friends, but I would steer clear of your ship-thingy for a while.” “Why?” “The Guard is looking for whoever was on that ship.” “They won’t be able to find anything; that whole thing must be FUBAR’d.” “What will we be able to do in the meantime, master?” Six asked me. “I’ll do what I always do while we’re waiting; I meditate until help arrives or something interesting comes along to keep me busy.” “Okay; I’ll be playing Holo-Chess while we wait,” he mentioned, going back inside the cottage. I walked over to the center of the small land bridge and sat down, legs crossed with my arms at my sides. “What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked me curiously. “Meditating.” “What for?” “To help strengthen my concentration, to temporarily augment my channeling of the force.” “What’s the force? Is it some kind of magic?” “The force is an invisible energy. It is what gives beings like me my power. It is a field created by all living things like you, me and those birds in those little houses you made for them. It surrounds us and penetrates us, and it binds the galaxy together if they would so choose to feel it.” “I don’t really understand.” “It takes a user of the force like me many years before we are able to truly understand what the force is. What it does. What it is capable of. How to bend it. The great beauty created by it.” “What do you mean by people like you? Are there more of you?” I had to avoid telling her of past galaxy events in fear of rattling this planet. They must’ve not known about the Clone Wars or Order 66. I regret lying, but it is my only option in doing so before they are ready to hear of my grim reality. “They are called the Jedi.” “Jedi?” “They use the force and keep the peace within the galaxy. Those who are adept in using the force can calm many hostile creatures into being friendly with only them.” “They must be powerful with this ‘force’.” “They are, indeed. I can use it too, but I am nowhere near powerful as them. On my own, it will take me a good few decades to understand the force a bit more than I already do. It’s complex like that.” After an hour has passed of me calmly listening to the various noises around me and feeling the life force of all of the animals Fluttershy kept with her, I sensed two creatures like Fluttershy down the road. They stopped and looked at me. I sensed their awe expressions. “Hello?” one of them said. I opened my eyes to look at the two. The one on the right was purple with matching eyes. Her mane and tail consisted of a darker violet color with a pink strip near the middle. She had no wings, but a horn. The one on the left had blue fur, magenta eyes with a rainbow mane and tail with wings like Fluttershy. The purple pony was levitating a notepad and a pencil with some kind of the force and a big smile was sprung across the rainbow-maned pony. “I am pleased to meet you two,” I complimented. “I’m happy to see that you’re okay,” the purple pony stated, relieved. “I can’t believe aliens are real!” the rainbow pony exclaimed, happily, “This week just got 20% cooler! “I’m flattered that my presence brings you both joy.” “Allow us to introduce ourselves, my name is Twilight Sparkle and my friend over here is-” “Rainbow Dash!” the rainbow pony butted in with a boastful tone, “The greatest flier in Equestria!” “Allow me to introduce myself,” I said, standing up and bowing, “My name is Courvin Smiyh.” “What a weird name,” Rainbow Dash commented, “But fitting for an alien.” “I could say the same, Rainbow Dash.” “With introductions out of the way, we would like to ask you a few questions.” “So I heard. Of course; ask away.” “What planet are you from?” “I was born on a planet called Shogun. I was told that my parents left me with the military, so they can go out and fight their next war, but they never returned. I got left behind on Tatooine, but got taken to another planet by a Jedi where I traveled the stars ever since.” Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof and Rainbow felt somewhat uneasy by my answer. They turned around and whispered to each other. They think I can’t hear them, but I can with the force. They then turned back to me to ask more questions. “What is the force?” Rainbow asked, eyebrows arched, “It sounds like a type of magic.” “As I’ve told Fluttershy, the force is an invisible field composed of the life force of all beings. Those like me who are sensitive to it can manipulate it to perform amazing feats or terrible destruction.” “How do you use the force?” Twilight asked me sincerely, “I ask that because I don’t see a horn on you anywhere.” “Look at those pile of rocks over there and you can see for yourself,” I gestured, slowly concentrating on the gravity of the rocks and they slowly lifted off the ground with a wave of my hand, stunning both of them on the spot. “That’s impossible!” Twilight protested. “I don’t give a damn if that’s possible, Twi,” Rainbow rebutted, “He’s an alien and he can use his mind to lift stuff. Ergo, he’s instantly cool in my book.” I smiled and pressed the send button on my communicator. “Six, can you get me my lightsaber?” “Yes, Master.” Twilight noticed me talking into my device and stood next to me, looking at it. “What is that thing you were talking into?” “It’s my communicator. It allows me to talk to my droids from a long distance using radio waves.” “Interesting,” she said, jotting down more information on her notepad. Six arrived behind me, handing me my lightsaber. It was a special custom-made prototype lightsaber. The hilt was a cross-shaped black with a silver power button. It had three emitters rather than one. The middle harnessed the real blade while the two sides housed tiny blades. The blade, of course, has a red color which is standard for Sith. The design was codenamed “Renegade,” by Mace Windu who planned to modify his lightsaber but gave me the prototype by mistake. When I did try to return it to him, I discovered that Darth Vader already killed him and suggested I kept it and even gave me the Kyber Crystal for it. “What is that?” Rainbow asked, cocking her head slightly to the left. “This...is a lightsaber,” I explained, holding it out for them to see, “It is a weapon of the Jedi. Not as primitive as a sword or a spear; a fancy weapon from a once civilized generation.” “That little thing is a weapon?” Rainbow smirked, “That looks like it can barely crack the skull of a snake.” I smiled and pressed the button on the hilt, the blade crackled to life, humming in the breeze. Rainbow’s jaw looked like it hit the ground and Twilight’s eyes lit up, mesmerized by its color. “I stand thoroughly corrected,” Rainbow realized. Twilight said nothing but later responded with a slightly off-topic question after writing a couple paragraphs. “What are the Jedi?” Twilight asked, still writing frantically. “The Jedi Knights were keepers of the peace and enforcers of justice for thousands of years...before the times of war...before the Empire.” “What is the Empire?” I hesitated a bit, realizing a made a mistake. At the right time when they’re with me and I speak to the leaders of the country before I inform them of the Empire outside of their system. “I’ll tell you later, but first, can you accompany me through Ponyville?” I asked, switching my saber off and clipping it to my belt, “I don’t know my way around and it would be best so that ponies don't get spooked.” “Sure, I’ll introduce you to my other friends.” “But master?” Six butted in, “What about our gear?” “Like I said, we go into town lightly equipped to avoid causing hysteria. The last thing I want is another planet’s military up my ass.” “Then it’s settled,” Twilight placed her notebook in her saddle, “Fluttershy, you coming along?” “Sorry, not right now; I still need to finish feeding the rest of the animals.” I nodded in agreement. I would like to meet the rest of her friends. I have a feeling I’m going to be stuck here a long time and it will be a good idea if I get on this planet’s good side. We gathered up and set out for the town. I felt nervous at first, but safe, knowing that I am out of the Galactic Empire’s reach; a feat only the bold could accomplish. But for now, I need to be cautious; even though they say that they're friendly, I fell to subsequent traps of the similar facade and I won’t fall for one this time. As I told Six before, this won’t be the first time I would have to improvise my situation and this one is indeed suspicious. 03-Meeting the Natives(Courvin POV) On our way into town, we slowly came up to a farm gate. “Mr. Smiyh,” Twilight said to get my attention. I cringed at being called “Mister.” “Twilight, call me Courvin; Mr. Smiyh was my father.” “Where have I heard that before?” Rainbow pondered, putting a hoof on her chin. “Anyways, is your friend a farmer?” I asked my horned friend. “Yes; Applejack’s family runs the orchard.” With a wave of my hand, the gate opened on its own. “After you,” I gestured at the gate. “Thank you,” they both said, smiling. The longer we went further into the orchard, I could spot scores of trees all in neat rows with round red fruits hanging from the branches. Judging by the size and number of the trees, this farm must’ve been here for a good few centuries. There seemed to be no boundries that I could see with my eyes and assume that the property line keeps on expanding with each new harvest. With that in mind, I wonder how long this orchard is anyway. Getting closer to the family house that looks more like a barn, I heard the sound of wood cracking in the distance. “Who’s chopping wood?” I asked out loud. “Must be Applejack applebucking,” Twilight concluded, “Sounds like she’s over there.” After a couple of minutes looking for the sound and moving closer, I saw an orange-furred, blond mare wearing a strange hat that looks a smaller version of that one bounty hunter I chased a couple of years ago. I believe the hat is referred to as a Stetson if I’m not mistaken. “Hey Applejack!” Twilight called over to her friend. She noticed her voice and turned to face her. As soon as she saw me, her look of happiness suddenly turned to that of someone who can’t figure out a complex mathematical equation. “Howdy Twi,” she said, still looking at me like a Jawa finding an unbought droid, “Who’s the funny-looking alien and the robot? Do they have something to do with that meteor that crashed in the Everfree yesterday?” “Yes, they’re stranded here for the moment,” she sadly explained, her ears folded down. “Allow me to introduce myself,” I announced, holding my hand out to Applejack “My name is Courvin Smiyh and this is my droid, Six.” She gripped my hand hard and shook it violently. “Well howdy-do, Courvin!” She said in a lively southern accent, “Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine!” “Anyways, why is your droid called ‘Six?’” Rainbow asked. “My serial number is FB-66-6,” Six explained, “Master here just called me Six after the last digit.” “Still, what kind of droid are you?” “Guess I forgot to explain on the way,” he realized, tapping his head, “I am a B1 Battle Droid; I am an Infantry Militarized Droid, reprogrammed, of course.” I noticed Twilight immediately pulling her notepad out of her saddlebag and wrote down Six’s background and original programming. “Hey Twilight,” I tapped her shoulder, she looked up to me to hear my question. “What’s with the notes?” “Since Equestria has never encountered extraterrestrial life, I thought it would be appropriate to make notes for my mentor when we get you three to meet one day.” “What kind of government does Equestria have?” “We have two Princesses that rule Equestria. Celestia, my mentor and Alicorn of the sun and the day, and Luna, Alicorn of the Moon, night and dreams.” “Are they fair rulers?” She was taken back by my simple question, as if the very thing deeply offended her. “Why would you even ask a question like that!?” I sighed and looked away. “Let’s just say me and royalty do not get along.’ “Oh. Past events?” I hesitated for a few moments, but proceeded to answer her question. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She nodded in contentment with my reason and turned back to her farmer friend. “Well, we’ll be going into town to visit the others, would you like to join us?” “Sorry, I can’t; gotta finish this section of the orchard first.” “What about the section near the gate?” I asked. “Big McIntosh’s got that covered.” “Who’s that?” “My big brother.” “What does he look like?” “Look behind ya.” I turned around and jumped at the size of the stallion. His head went up to my neck whereas the other ponies went up to my gut. He had a solid red color for fur. He had green eyes like his little sister and the same blond mane only a slightly darker shade. “How long you’ve been here?” “As long as you expect.” “Pleased to meet you.” “Eyup.” “Stallion of a few words, are ya?” “More or less.” “Anyways,” Twilight reminded us, “We’re going, see you later, AJ.” “See ya, Twi! Pleased to meet ya two!” “I got to get goin as well; the weather team has an overcast planned for the afternoon. It’s a pleasure getting to meet you, Courvin.” After 15 minutes of walking on the dirt road, I started seeing buildings in the distance. They appeared to be slightly primitive compared to native settlements I’ve seen in my travels. The various shapes differed from house to house, but they all were built with the same materials. Hay roofs, wooden details and sandstone walls. I was quite impressed by the ponies’ skills in building their settlements with the lack of hands and opposable thumbs. As we entered the town, me and Six got very mixed reactions varied from fear to curiosity. Few ran into their homes and locked their doors. This reaction garnered a look of confusion from Twilight. “What’s with everypony today?” she asked, frustrated over the ponies’ overreaction. “I know I’m stretching it a bit, but it might have something to do with me or Six.” “At least the rest are curious,” Six rationalized, “Look behind us, some are following us.” “Really?” I asked, seeing a small group of mares behind me or at least I assume they’re mares since I mostly see females around here, “Well, that’s strange.” “We’re the strange ones.” “No shit.” A light pink colored mare with puffy dark pink hair hopped happily toward Twilight, humming a happy tune. “Hey Twilight! Whyaresomanyponiesfreakingout? Isitsomethingaboutthatmeteorthat’sactuallyaspaceship?” She rapidly noted in about 5 seconds. She glanced over to me and leapt up into the air, gasping loudly, dashing away from me in a cloud of pink smoke. I blinked a few times, scratching my head in confusion. “Six, did you get all that?” “She was speaking too fast for me to process.” “Twilight? Who the hell was that?” I asked, shaking my head. “That was Pinkie Pie,” she stated, sounding somewhat embarrassed, “The wildest party mare. Even I have no clue on what’s her issue.” “Did you even know what she was saying? Since you know her more than me?” “Even I don’t know; I tried to understand her mannerisms, use science to figure her out, I followed her for days, having all sorts of things fall on my head, I tried for hours figuring out an equation, just one final answer, but I just said, ‘Buck it; It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.’” “Seems you had a fun time trying to figure her out.” “Fun time!? More like a last minute study session on a final exam the next day.” “Anyways, who’s next on the list?” “The nearest one is Rarity. She’s a seamstress that runs the Carousel Boutique about a couple of blocks from here.” “I wonder if she could fix my shirt.” “She could, but she would probably want to take your measurements first.” I stopped in my tracks, holding my arm. She noticed and gave me a concerned look. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing...it’s nothing, let’s continue.” “If you have anything you got to talk about, you can always talk to me.” “I said, its nothing.” “Something is seriously bothering you, I’m not going to let you alone about it either.” “I don’t know you that well, yet. All I am telling you is I used to run with the wrong crowd.” “That’s all?” “Maybe if I know you longer and more comfortable talking about my feelings, maybe I could tell you the whole story.” “That doesn’t make you any more suspicious than you already seem to me.” “I’ve done things I’m not proud of and I just want to start with a clean slate. Does that make you happy?” “A Little.” I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the building where this “Rarity” mare lives/works. I raised an eyebrow at the flashy design of the building. It looked like a merry-go-round, a castle tower and a flashy holovertisement from Coruscant was thrown into a painter’s mixer. I was dumbfounded that nobody didn’t take a look at the joint once and laughed. Then again, I’ve been to stranger places, so I’m not as flabbergasted as I would be. Twilight turned around and noticed me with my eyes open so wide, they could pop out of their sockets if I so much as sneezed. “I’m sure you’ve seen stranger things, right Courvin?” “Yeah, but I’m surprised that she can afford all of that from what I have seen with all the other homes.” “Well, she has contracts from all over Equestria for her to design all sorts of fashion for any kind of occasion; she makes a decent living on her talent.” I hoped for my sanity’s sake that she isn’t as stuffy as many of the high society bigots I was hired to guard in the past. I can’t tell how many times they whined about every single trivial matter like it was superficial. Hell, one of my Jedi partners was forced to return to my former Master when they refused to work with Togruttans. We went through the door, triggering the bell which called out to the seamstress in its high chimes. “Coming,” A posh voice called out from a distant room. I heard a door click shut and the sounds of hooves clopping on the tiled floor. When she emerged she looked different from the rest of the ponies I’ve seen so far. She has white fur with curly royal purple hair, sapphire blue eyes and...is she wearing makeup? It does look good on her, though. She also appears to have a horn like Twilight. I should probably ask her on the different races of ponies sometimes. The fancy unicorn didn’t say anything; she just looked into my eyes, looking like they had a sparkle gleam over them. I loudly cleared my throat, breaking her from her stupor. “I’m sorry, darling; I just never seen somepony like you before,” she apologized, “You seem so...strange.” “You and me both, but that’s not what I’m here about.” “Then what is it? I see you’ve already met Twilight.” “Yes; she helped drag my unconscious ass from that spaceship that crashed yesterday.” “Wait, so that wasn’t a meteor like everypony said?” “Nope, that was me and Six, here,” I explained, pointing to Six next to me. “You even have a robot? How advanced are your kind?” “Advanced enough to get multiple planets into fighting each other, I guess.” “Really? Such petty violence is unacceptable and low for anypony of any race to envelop in and I look down on that kind of thing, to be frank.” “Yeah; if it were up to me, war would be a bad word across the galaxy.” “So there really are more planets out there than just us?” “Yes, but most of them are far from friendly like me. I can assure you, that those planets are on the other side of the galaxy. I’m surprised there was even a system way out here on the fringe, to be honest.” Twilight grew surprised by my swift confession. “Really? All those years of those Jedi and they never knew about Equis?” “We were probably too busy with war that we didn’t stop and explored more of the galaxy.” “What kind of war was it?” “I’ll tell you while I’m getting my shirt fixed.” Rarity realized my reason of visit and changed the subject. “Oh? You’re here for just a patchwork? You sure you don’t want anything else like new attire?” “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” “No offence, but that outfit makes you look like you’re here to take souls to Tartarus.” “Well this attire is standard Sith clothing.” “What’s the Sith?’ I tensed up at my accidental slip of the tongue. Dammit, brain! This was why I was never allowed to handle top secret information and covert missions. I have no choice to tell them the whole thing, now. “How about I tell you while you’re taking my measurements?” “Okay; follow me.” “I’m coming along,” Twilight mentioned, “I want to document this.” I signaled Six to stay in the lobby while I get my measurements. He seemed cautious, but held himself in respect of my command. I knew what he thought, since I programmed him and fought alongside me for a year. “Oh darling, I never caught your name.” “Courvin Smiyh.” “Exotic…” “...but fitting for an alien. Yeah; I get that a lot.” Rarity pulled back a curtain to a distant room with her horn, which makes me curious on the ponies with horns. We entered a room with soft purple carpet, a small round pedestal with three mirrors in front of it. “Now, she began, “Can you please remove your clothes while I take your measurements?” “Oh,” I blushed, “O-okay.” I awkwardly removed my shirt and pants, while both mares watched, blushing intensely. What was left was my underwear and my covered arm. “What are those markings all over your body?” “Like I said, I used to run with the wrong crowd years ago.” “Is it something to do with the Sith you mentioned?” I hesitated for a moment, but it was pointless dodging the question. “Yes...you are correct.” “Can you tell me more about them? Please?” I nodded, knowing that the information I will share may disturb them, but since they’re adults, I’m sure they can handle it. “The Sith are the polar opposite of the Jedi. Where Jedi are the peacekeepers of the galaxy, the Sith want to rule it with an iron fist...no pun intended. I used to be a Sith, but lost my memory after losing a duel with a Jedi Master. I regained it not too long ago. For the past three years I fought in a galactic conflict called The Clone Wars. The Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order fought against the C.I.S., or Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Sith. Billions of lives were lost. I fought alongside the Jedi, thinking I was one of them, but found out they lied to me through the whole war. If they told me outright that I used to be a Sith, maybe I would’ve came to their aid when the purge occurred.” “What happened to the Jedi?” “Order 66; the Jedi Purge. The Chancellor, leader of the senate was really a Sith Lord and turned the Republic's troops on its own Jedi. I don’t know how many were killed, but all I know is that my former Master and myself have survived. The new government is now known as The Galactic Empire.” I felt a gentle embrace from both mares, feeling Rarity’s tears on my shoulder. They were obviously afraid. I would be too if I were in their hooves. “Do they know about us? Do they know where we are? Are they interested in our planet?” “I highly doubt it; the Emperor himself, personally told me that he doesn’t care about a system that no one ever returned from.” They jumped away from me like I had a contagious disease. “Relax; I have no love for the Empire and I simply swindled my way out of his reach, mind you.” They both calmed down, their fears quelled at me being a threat. “We’re sorry, about asking you of this,” Rarity’s head hung low. “It’s okay; it’s all behind me, now. It’s best not to focus on the past, but I will never forget what I was.” I looked at my hands and closed them tightly. “Me, today, in this world, cut off from the rest of the galaxy, potentially stuck here permanently, I want to practice the force in peace and possibly teach what I know to other ponies that are sensitive to the force. I could probably live a peaceful life here, despite what’s happened outside this planet.” “You may want to read up on Equestria’s history,” Twilight suggested to me. Her take on my philosophy shocked me. “Excuse me?” “Discord, the Windigos, The Sirens, Nightmare Moon, Equestria had its own share of problems too. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised me and my friends survive the daily problems we get into.” “Wow, seems like Ponyville isn’t all what it seems?” “That isn’t much to worry about now, darling; what needs to be done is fixing your clothes.” “Oh yeah; I got caught up on talking about the Clone Wars, I forgot about it. “It seems so, but first things first, can you please remove that cover on your foreleg?” “It’s called an arm and no; I’m not comfortable showing you my left arm.” “Pretty please?” she requested in a sultry tone. I gave up, knowing I can’t resist a woman’s request, or in this case, a mare’s. “Alright, but don’t look away; I want you to see the symbol of my mistakes during the clone wars.” I slowly peeled away the sleeve and glove off my arm, revealing machinery up to my shoulder. It held a silver-like color and shown an appearance similar to clone armor. Twilight’s eyes glowed at my arm. I raised my arms and Rarity got to work on measuring my body. “Why do you keep that arm covered?” she asked, “That looks like some impressive technology. It could even help many of the soldiers all over the world who were injured in their duties.” “Possibly, after I meet this Celestia, I will be more open about my arm. Though everytime I look at this arm, I always think of war and its destructive use of machines, but I also think of its practicality and use in everyday life, so much like a double-edged sword.” “Well, that’s one way of putting it.” “There,” Rarity concluded, “I’m am done with your measurements. I’ll be taking these into my studio and your clothes will be fixed in about a few minutes. Do you have the torn fabric?” “Yeah,” I nodded, “It’s in one of the pockets. I had to make a sling for my arm after popping the joint back in place.” “Okay; I will be back in but a pinch, darling.” After she left, Twilight went back to inspect every inch of my body, still wanting to know more about me even after spilling my guts. “I never heard you explain about those tattoos all over your body,” Twilight mentioned, “I know it may be a bad memory, but you can tell me anything if you want to.” “These tattoos are Sith related. They show your allegiance to them after completing a Sith Lord’s training. Something I have come to accomplish in a previous lifetime. I was known as Darth Kain, taught by Darth Tyranus, a Sith Lord killed by a Jedi who eventually turned to the dark side of the force. The greatest shade of irony.” “There’s so many of them.” “Indeed; a shame I can’t go back in time to tell myself how stupid they look,” I lightly chuckled, leaving Twilight to smile as well. Some time has gone by, filling the room with the stagnant air of silence. It was shortly broken with Rarity entering the room with my fixed clothing all neatly folded. “Here you go, darling,” she cooed, “Those should fit all snug on your muscular figure.” “Thank you,” I said, quickly dressing myself. I also noticed my metal arm sleeve was connected like my other arm with the glove stitched except for right glove. “Rarity, why stitch the left glove at the cuff, but leave the right one removable?” “Think about it Courvin, the arm?” “Oh; yeah. Thanks again for the fix. I’ll let you know if I need more clothing.” “Of course; I’ll be more than happy to design various outfits for you. This one is free, of course; to give a good impression on my work.” “You do a good job; you might be the only one I’ll trust to my outfit commissions and fixes.” “Thank you, darling,” Rarity blushed. “We need to be going Rarity,” Twilight concluded, “I need to see if Spike didn’t wreck the place while I was gone.” “Alright, see you later Twilight. Oh and Courvin, nice to meet you.” “Likewise.” The three of us left the boutique and continued on a different dirt road. “So Courvin, what do you think of my friends so far?” “Friendlier than the chaps I fought with in the war.” “That’s nice to know.” “Where are we going next?” “We’re picking Spike up at my home, then we’re going over to Sugarcube Corner for something to eat. You must be hungry after enduring through that crash.” Then it hit me; my food was in the damn cruiser that crashed. “Ah, shit!” “What’s wrong?” “All of my food was on my cruiser; they probably haven’t survived the explosion.” “Well, there must be something you can eat over at sugarcube corner.” “I can’t eat grass and hay.” “There’s other things than hay over there. There’s all kinds of sweets and treats.” “Okay; been awhile since I had something sweet.” We eventually arrived at the Golden Oaks Library which happened to be Twilight’s home. The design of her house made me raise an eyebrow as it bears a resemblance to the Wookee homes on Kashyyyk. Twilight opens the door and goes inside with me following suit. Inside, I have seen strange, rectangular objects all stocked on shelves on nearly every wall in the room. At the top of an open staircase, there was a bipedal reptilian creature sweeping the floor. It took a few moments until he noticed me and stopped. He set down the broom and sauntered down the wooden steps, not breaking his concentration on me. “Twilight? Is it that alien?” he asked, I sensed the fear in his tone of voice. It seemed that he was too curious to run either. “Spike, this is Courvin Smiyh and his droid, Six.” “Cool,” he beamed, “An actual robot! It’s like one of Fluttershy’s Manegas!” “What’s a Manega?” I asked. “They’re comic books imported from another country, Neighpan,” Twilight explained, “They’ve been translated to Equestrian as well. Some of them are really good reads.” “Maybe I should read a few to pass the time.” “You should borrow some from Fluttershy; she’s got a mountain of them.” “So Spike, what species are you?” I asked the little reptile, changing the subject, “I haven’t seen any of your kind in the whole galaxy. “Really? There are no dragons in any other planet?” “Huh,” I curiously pondered. I decided to get some fresh air and to familiarize myself with my surroundings in this town. “Am I able to explore the town without causing trouble?” “I couldn’t see why not,” she said, “They will be curious of you, though.” “I took notice; I’ll be back in a few hours.” (Third Person POV) As Courvin and Six left the library, Twilight got out a sheet of paper and a quill. “Spike, when I am done writing this note, send it to Princess Celestia,” Twilight informed the little drake, “We need to find out if he really is a threat.” “He seems fine to me, why are you so cautious of him?” “I sense something...dark inside him; like a demon waiting to be released.” “Well, I guess you could say that his clothing screamed evil, but…” “You think he’s reformed?” “Yeah.” “We’ll see, until now, keep your distance from him.” “So master, what are we going to do?” “Dunno; I felt like familiarizing myself with the layout of this town. We’re going to be stuck here for a long time and it’s best to prepare for a worst-case scenario.” “Like being stuck here permanently?” “I thought of worse hells; I can manage this cutesy pastel planet. Better this demise than falling to the lightsaber of the Sith.” “Uh, master; they’re looking at us.” He quickly looked at the growing groups of ponies looking at the duo. He then looked back at his companion. “Let them look; more friendly we appear, the more they’ll fuck off.” “I don’t even think they’re hostile at all.” “All the more reason not to use the dark side of the force.” They entered into the town square where many shops and carts with many wares were being bought and sold. Most ponies were busy to the point where they ignore both the human and the droid. Some started with the usual look, but went back to their business. “I’m hungry, let’s grab a bite to eat.” “But master; I don’t think they take Republic Credits.” “That’s why I have this,” he grinned, spinning around a big of gold coins. “H-how did you get that?” “I...may have ‘borrowed’ it from an unsuspecting pony; it’s for the greater good.” “Your greater good is getting yourself thrown in prison and me being turned into scrap metal.” “You forget; I can be slick sometimes.” “What about that little incident at the shipyard in Coruscant?” Courvin tensed up by the bad memories flushing back into him. “Yeah, but that guy had a five million credit reward on his head.” “I know that, but what about the bill for the shop you trashed? Or the medical bills from the few cops you injured? I may be forgetting a few dozen traffic fines and...oh, that one cruiser you totaled as well?” “Yep...that killed all of the dough.” “Maybe it’s time to play by the rules for once?” “Renegades don’t play by the rules, Six,” Courvin snapped at him, pointing at the droid, “You know that better than everyone else. We survived by thinking outside the box, hell, we caught a few high profile criminals by breaking multiple laws to get to them. No government coups, Bounty Hunts, or planets from a little girl’s imagination will ever keep me from living life by the lightsaber.” “You have a point, master, but you should take into consideration that we are in very deep sh-” “Shh!” he hissed, cupping his hand over the droid’s mouth, “I sense trouble; keep a few meters from me.” They hid in a bush and waddled closer to a commotion going on in a distant booth where dog-like creatures shook down a shopkeep of her money. They appeared to be armed with steel curved swords and ran off with a few bags of money. Corvin stepped out from the brush and stood in the middle of the row. The two stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed the former Sith standing with a blank expression on his face. “What the heck is this thing!?” one yelped in a raspy voice. “Whatever he is, he has loot! You! Give us your money or die!” With a wave of his hand, he spoke in a calm, demanding tone. “You will cease your life of crime and hand over the money you stole.” “No way! We stole it, fair and square! Nyemich! Teach this fool a lesson!” The other anthro dog unsheathed his sword and rushed the man with a diagonal slash. In a flash and a loud crackling sound, he noticed his sword was cut in two from the hilt. Courvin then swung the lightsaber at the dog and stopped, just an inch from the base of his neck. The stunned dog shook like a leaf, feeling the intense heat that the blade radiated of. The former Sith turned his head to the other dog and stared him down with the same blank expression. “Now, I will not ask again,” he implored with much more venom to his words, “Leave this town with the stolen money behind, or you leave this town without your heads.” “Gato, g-give him the money,” the held-up dog begged, “This guy is not joking!” The other dog hesitated for a moment before setting down the sword and the bags. The lightsaber deactivated and he clipped it back onto his belt. “Now, LEAVE!” The dogs ran off, screaming bloody murder. His act of heroism garnered a few cheers and applause from various onlookers. He felt annoyed by the altercation with the two thieves and voiced his inconvenience out loud. “Geez, I’ve been on this planet for a frickin day and already run into trouble. At least I stopped a robbery.” With another wave of his hand, the bags lifted off of the ground and floated back to the shopkeeper, astonished by his display of justice. She had arctic blue eyes and a light apple colored coat. She had cobalt blue hair with a light fuchsia stripe down the middle. “T-thank you,” she stammered, “Oh, Lyra wasn’t kidding about your kind.” “What about my kind?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. “I have a close friend that was or rather is, obsessed with Humans, that is what you are, right?” “Huh, I’m surprised that some of you Ponies know about Humans, considering that where I come from states this system is a Hermit System.” “Meaning?” “We have no records of the flora and fauna, let alone know if sentient life existed on it. That is until I crashed down on here and met a few of your kind.” “Strange, we thought Humans were stuff of legends; I guess that’s false information.” “Anyways, the name’s Courvin Smiyh; pleased to meet you.” “Bonbon.” “Yes please.” “Nonono; my name is BONBON.” “Oh; I guess you sell sweets, then.” “Yep; Sweetie Drop Candies. I have a large selection of sweets for you to enjoy, if you have the coin, but after stopping those Diamond Dogs, I’m offering a treat, free of charge just this once.” His eyes skimmed over the various candies all assorted in trays of various sizes all conveniently labelled. “Hmm, jelly beans sounds pretty good. I’ll take a pound of the pear-flavored jelly beans, then.” “Okay, here you go.” She handed him a bag full of the beans where he took one out and tasted one. His eyes lit up from the sweet, juicy taste. “I chose the right flavor, then. Thanks, by the way.” “No; thank you.” “See you, then.” “Bye.” The Human and droid met up at an adjacent road near the candy stand where Courvin was happily snacking on his bag of jelly beans. “There you are, Master!” Six wiped the top of his head in relief, “I’m surprised by the way you handled those robbers. “Didn’t expect I had to bust out on one of the old Sith tricks of ‘Persuasion’,” he muffled, “At least I won’t be bored living here.” “Oh!” Six exclaimed in excitement, “I have an idea; with those bits you have, we could probably rent an apartment in this town and set up a little safehouse for us before we go looking for the Cruiser.” “Or, we can convince Twilight or one of her friends to take us in.” “That could work; let’s do it.” They both resumed on their journey back to the library to discuss their next move, satisfied by the day’s turn of events. Author's Note Well, here's my first story update in months. If you wonder why it took so long, please read my latest blog. I kind of spilled my guts over what's happened to me in the last six months. Sorry for the inconvenient Hiatus.😥
00-EscapeRepublic Gunships and Battle cruisers roared over what was left of the Jedi Temple. Clones marched in and out with some of them having bags draped over their shoulders. I watched behind a pile of rubble with my reprogrammed battle droid as the Clones looted every last holocron the Jedi fought and protected for centuries, now a smouldering ruin. “So, um...what’s the plan, master?” My skittish Droid asked me in a nervous tone. My droid is a heavily modified B1 Battle Droid with grapple and jetpack attachments and a reprogrammed thought process with every Clone combat and tactical protocol with Order 66 deleted with all other Separatist combat droids I could find that weren’t activated. “Same plan we make, Six; Improvise our way out of this mess.” “By improvise, you mean…?” “No; we can’t pull this one off with blasters ablazing; we’ve fought with them before.” “Drat! They know our every move.” “Exactly, I was a damn fool for trying to get some info on my father; I’ll never get in, now.” “Where are the rest of the droids?” “They’re in blocks all around the Senate building. We need to regroup during Phase 3.” “Which is?” “Create a Riot.” With that said, we went away from the pile of rubble to an edge to the deep city below. I cringed at the drop and instead focused on an adjacent building from us. “Fire a grapple at the top of that window!” I commanded. “Roger, roger,” Six responded by firing the hook from the barrel below the handle of his blaster. As I heard a faint clang and torn metal being crunched, I took my lightsaber from my belt and held both ends of it with the hilt on top of the wire. “When I get to the window, detach the cable and jump.” “B-but, I’ll fall, master!” “Have faith in me. Ready? NOW!” I kicked off the edge and slid down the wire at a rapid speed. The wind in my face, combined with my fear of heights, game me the massive adrenaline rush I need to pull Six to me in less than 5 seconds. I held my feet to the glass, completely shattering the window as my ride ended. I spun around to see my loyal droid leaping over the edge after detaching the cable. I held out my hands and the force guided his descent to my level. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple of Clones looking at me. “It’s General Smiyh! Open fire!” As Six got into the room with me, I pushed him down with me below the windowsill. My eyes lit up when I saw one of them reach for a thermal detonator grenade. “HIT THE BUTTON!” I shouted. Six staggered across the room, blaster bolts barely missing him. He tripped over a broke lamp and hit the switch before crashing into a table. The blinders folded down, muffling the detonator blast with a nice impression where it exploded. I turned on my lightsaber to help navigate the dark room. Since my communicator was on the same frequency as the clones, I pressed the button to tune in. Clone radio chatter; never used it until now. “Where is General Smiyh?” “He’s in an apartment complex! Level 328!” “We have an attack squad on the way!” I kept the chatter on, but muted my microphone. I ran over and tried to open the doors, but they couldn’t budge. “Damn!” I thrusted my lightsaber through the edges of the door, crackling of heat and electricity and leaving behind a molten cut. I thrusted my arms forward, the force flinging the door across the open corridor. Sensing a small group of clones coming up the elevators, I clipped my lightsaber to my belt and pulled out my DC17m Blaster from its holster on the side of my backpack. I hid behind the opening, slightly peaking around the corner to see the doors open. I signaled Six to be on the opposite side of the opening, so he won’t be fried by any stray bolts. Shortly after hearing the ding and the doors clanking open, I poked the blaster out and around to open fire. Blaster bolts bounced off the edges of the opening, leaving myself temporarily blinded by the bright sparks. I heard the screams of the few inept clones that didn’t get out of the way in time. “Watch it! Engage hostile!” the Sergeant barked out to the surviving grunts, continuing their marks. “Six! Grenade!” I called out to him, reaching my hand into the air. He slightly panicked at my order, frantically fumbling around his belt until he found a spare Thermal Detonator. When he detached the belt, I pulled it from his robotic grip with my force. My hand twitched as it armed its pulsating clicking noise of a delay timer, to which I tossed at the adjacent wall. It bounced off the walls from the strength of my throw and landed near the Sergeant. He tried to pick it up and throw it back to me, but it detonated itself in mid-throw. The explosive force rocked the whole floor, causing the lights to flicker and buzz. I signaled Six that the coast is clear and emerged into the fallout. The leftover smoke burned my lungs and left me coughing like I had Pneumonia. I slammed the base of my fist at the down arrow button and to my surprise, the elevator was still intact. The doors opened, wafting the smoke away to make me a direct path. I entered the lift with Six behind me. Now lies one tough question: Up or Down? If I went up to the roof, I would have to deal with gunships and jet troopers or escape through the Lower City and deal with the rioting scum of the galaxy. “Pick my poison,” I said with a quick sarcastic laugh. I hit the top floor button while switching the blaster attachment to the launcher attachment of my weapon. I searched my belt for ammo, but found none. “Hey, Six?” I asked, getting the droid’s attention. “You need ammo?” “Yeah; do you have any spare explosive rounds on you, by any chance?” “No; you gave most of them to Steele and Xero for Phase 1 and we used the last of our explosives on our way to the Jedi Temple.” “Well, do we have SOMETHING?” “Only EMP rounds.” “If they are using their gunships, I can shoot one of them into the engines to make them crash. Then, we make a break for it,” I explained, loading the round through the back of the tube. When it clicked into place, the small blast shield folded out in front of the back. I then sensed it; a couple of clones are waiting for me and Six. I holstered my weapon and forced the emergency hatch open. I pulled myself up and Six along with me, who still doesn’t like it when I use the force on him. “I hate it when you do that,” he complained. “Quiet! We’re here.” The lift slid to a stop with the doors opening to the sounds of a panicking city along with distant blaster shots and explosions. Right on cue, the two clones carefully inched into the elevator with their weapons drawn. I swung my arms over one another, forcing them to slam their heads together, instantly knocking them out. With the way cleared, I gestured to my loyal droid. “After you.” “You first; you’re the badass Sith.” “EX-Sith,” I corrected him, pushing him onto the lift floor. I gently landed on my feet and pulled him up to his own, dusting his shoulders off. “Are you ready, you bucket of bolts?” I asked sarcastically, drawing my weapon. “No-I mean, yes.” “GO!” I shouted, sprinting out of the lift and straight into the chaos with Six on my...six. To my crazy dumb luck, the clones completely ignored me and went straight to the Lower city and other blocks in the distance. The chaos that was supposed to ensue when I signaled my other droids to detonate their payloads all over the district, but done so way too early, leaving me frustrated to my core. “Ugh, those dumbasses,” I growled, “I told them to wait until I GAVE them the signal.” “Maybe they got bored,” Six attempted to rationalize the situation by his response. Mine, had me facepalming. I walked to the edge, looking at the speeders zooming by in all directions. “Master, please don’t tell me…” “Yes we are; give me your arm, please,” I requested, grabbing ahold of Six’s left arm before leaping off the edge into traffic. I focused our fall into an open cockpit speeder that looked fast, but we kept missing many to which can’t break our fall. Halfway down, we landed into an open speeder, knocking out the driver. “Sorry; need this,” I said, throwing him overboard. As we were maneuvering through and around traffic, a thought just clicked in my head. “Deja vu,” I said out loud. “What?” the confused droid asked. “This whole thing seems familiar!” “What does?” “The whole...jumping into a speeder...flying dangerously in...and around traffic,” I struggled to explain, focusing on what was around me, “Or maybe it has something to do with where we are right now and the way this speeder looks.” “You seem too calm for this!” “Yeah, but have it occured to you that we get into jams like this on a daily basis?” I explained, pulling up on the wheel, the G-Forces leaving my voice strained, “I should be scared, angry, distraught and depressed at what’s happening, but really I am tired and annoyed.” The moment we made it through the traffic and slightly above the canopy of the city, my communicator started beeping again. I moved my wrist close to me to see the projection and sound of my communicator. What came online was Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, but his hood was draped over. “Master Kenobi?” “Courvin Smiyh?” He asked, shocked, “Where are you? Staying off their radar, I hope.” “Eh, kinda.” “What do you mean? Why do I sense fear in you?” “Fear? Me? No; I’m still finding a way off Coruscant!” “What!? Didn’t you see how the clones acted? They are KILLING any Jedi in their path!” “Yeah; I took notice. I shook them off my tail, but they might find me again if I’m not careful. By the way, were there any survivors?” “Yes, but they are few and far in between. Master Yoda is okay as well and well hidden too.” “That’s good to know. Where are you?” “On Tatooine.” “Why the hell are you on a backwater planet like that?” “Smiyh, listen carefully, because you are the only one I’m telling this secret to: You know Anakin Skywalker?” “Yes.” “He turned to the Dark Side; he’s Darth Vader.” A sense of dread flew through my gut like a blaster bolt. “Is there any silver lining?” “He had children, twins, with Senator Amidala.” “That explains why he always made up excuses just to be with her. Where is Amidala and her children?” “Unfortunately, she passed away, but I put her daughter, Leia in the hands of Senator Organa. I put her son, Luke, in the hands of a young farmer couple miles outside Mos Eisley.” “Do you think there is some way to fighting this?” “A rebellion will rise; I have no doubts about that, but you need to get off that rock and go far away to the fringe of the galaxy.” “What about that rumored system that nobody ever returns from?” “Great blazes boy; that’s suicide!” “Better than dying at the hands of our newly formed Empire.” “I guess there’s no talking you out of it, then. You learned more from Anakin than me. Good luck and may the force be with you, always.” When he hung up, I replayed his last words: ‘May the force be with you.’ From the past 4 years up until a week ago, I had no memory of my life before. I found a lost holocron and I now knew what I was; a Sith. The unknown time before I lost my memory and the Jedi Order took me in as a Padawan. I look back on it now that this whole piece of my life was just a facade for something much darker. Something of a web spun by the new Emperor Palpatine or Darth Sidious. I have arrived at the entrance to the Senate Building to see the rest of my droids and a oddly convenient inactive Republic Cruiser beside them. When I landed the speeder and me and Six climbed out, I saw a man in black robes with an oddly shaped helmet. I sensed his force and it made my stomach turn inside out. “M-master?” “Courvin Smiyh, we meet again,” he spoke in an intimidating voice made possible by the device on his chest. “What happened to you Master?” “The Jedi have conspired against me, and you.” “That’s a lie; they’d never do that kind of thing.” “You were there with me and Obi-Wan to make sure that when your memory came back, you wouldn’t be able to attack the Jedi. When you thought you were a Jedi, you believed you would become a Jedi Knight and uphold the force, but the Council kept you from advancing; they kept on throwing you into situations that made you use the dark side of the force, then they would scold you and assign you elsewhere. They won’t allow users of the force like us to balance it ourselves, they shun those who use their emotion, those who love, those who show their true colors. Now they attempted to execute us, but we know better.” “Yes,” a distant voice agreed with Vader’s speech. I looked past my master to see an old man with a pale white scarred face with orange eyes and black robes...Darth Sidious. “Master,” both me and Vader acknowledged his presence and bowed. He then focused on me. “The Jedi now hide on all corners of the galaxy in fear of their lives; how ironic. Now then, what’s this I hear about you being behind the bombings?” My chest sank low, I tensed up and shook violently; I knew what he was going to do. “A good idea; if we scare the people into thinking the Jedi are hunting innocent lives, then we, the Empire have hunted them down and they would kneel to our bidding.” “What?” “You have executed one of my many plans to keep in power and with no better timing I might add. That reminds me, I have tasked both of you to hunt down the remaining Jedi. Go and gut them like the spineless slugs they are. There’s a Jedi hidden on Kashyyyk. Vader, find him and eliminate him. As for you, Darth Kain, explore this ‘unknown system,’ if any Jedi you find are hiding there, kill them.” “Yes, my master,” me and Vader said in unison. Vader left along with his escort which left me alone with Darth Sidious and his escort. “I will be giving you this Cruiser for your crusade. It is armed to protect yourself from any threat. Remember; anger and hatred will fuel you.” “Yes master,” I said, bowing one last time before he and his escort have left in the opposite direction. I turned and walked straight to the rest of my droids. On the very left is Xero, a Magnaguard bodyguard that acts like my escort if I wanted to make an entrance like Vader and Sidious. Steele is a Super Battle Droid with an interchangeable left arm. Burner is a Commando Droid in charge of stealth and more hands-on wetworks, as well as fixing our weapons. Last is Speedy, a droideka that can throw portable shields and is the fastest in the group, aside from my force thrust. I looked at them, crossing my arms and furrowing my brow. “Care to explain what happened?” “Clones found us,” Steele explained, “They made Xero press the detonator button.” “That all doesn’t matter know; let’s get the hell out of here.” We all boarded the cruiser and made it straight to the cockpit. Only me and Six were in it, the rest have hooked up to a droid docking bay. When we made it to the cockpit, I opened the door to the Captain’s storage to find a large box labeled: “Courvin Smiyh.” Strange was all I could think of it and oddly convenient. I sat down in the chair, flipping switches that kicked the ship’s engines on. When the cruiser lifted off the ground and jetted into the air, I sensed a disturbance in the force. Whatever it was seemed distant and out of my control, but I’m worried about that Jedi on Kashyyyk. I know damn well what Vader is capable of and that part scares me the most, but all I can do now is hide. There’s no possible way for me and a handful of military droids can take on a massive Empire spanning nearly the entire galaxy. The very thought of it is just eating me up the more I thought about it. After the cruiser left the planet’s atmosphere, I turned to look at Six. “Set a course for the unknown system and punch it to hyperdrive after doing so.” “Roger, Roger.” Six punched in coordinates on the navigational computer in a room behind me and I pulled a lever that shot us into the black abyss. Whatever awaits me in the mystery region, Jedi, Sith, monsters, smugglers, death, I felt afraid of what’s in store for me in the future, but I knew I can find a way out of a mess like I usually do, but this seemed different. I can’t be sure until I see this for myself and I will have to charge into danger like I always do, and that’s what I always live for: the thrill of battle as it has always been for my Mandalorian ancestors and my late parents. I would be safe, knowing the force is my ally and left to the freedom to use it in any way I please. Fate awaits my descent into the dark depths of space and I welcome that with open arms above all else. What could go wrong? STAR WARS EPISODE I KNIGHT OF FRIENDSHIP Author's Note Welcome to yet another bright idea brought to life! I wonder if this will take off and not get canned like A Clockwork Fursona. As always, comment me what you think and I hope you enjoy this story.
01-A Usual Landing(Third Person POV) Smiyh awoke from a vision in the force. He pointed his blaster at the windshield, drenched in a cold sweat. His droid companion, Six seen his sudden wake and pushed his master’s arm down. “Master! Master! It was just a dream!” “I had it again,” he struggled to say, “The same one for a month, now. The screams, the blasters, explosions; I can’t get it out of my head.” “Master, it’s not your fault. This whole situation has been out of our hands.” “I know that and good riddance to it! They can rot for treating me like rubbish!” He yelled with much venom in his words. Six was taken back a bit by his sudden aggressive tone. ‘If only I hadn’t engaged the Jedi when I was a Sith,’ He thought to himself, ‘Maybe I known and would’ve informed them of Order 66 when I had a change of heart.’ “We’re coming up close to the undocumented system.” “Good; I can’t take another cycle on this damn ship.” With their destination closing in, the number of stars grew less and less until the former Sith turned to his Co-Pilot again. “Hey Six, how much further until we reach our destination?” “Nearly there,” he simply stated, “We just need to get out of-” His sentence was cut off by the sudden halt from hyperspace back into realspace along with the entire ship’s power. “...hyperspace.” “What the hell is going on? Tech scan, immediately!” “I-I can’t!” Six yelled, pressing buttons and pulling levers frantically, “Nothing’s working!” “Damn!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the console, slightly denting the frame. “What’ll we do!?” “We stop panicking,” Courvin suggests, keeping his droid still with his hands on his shoulders, “If the manual controls still work, we can land this bird safely on the nearest habitable planet, diagnose the problem and fix it.” “Easier said than done.” “It won’t be the first.” With the cruiser inching closer to the planet in question, Smiyh closely observed the colors. It looked much like Naboo with it's lush, green appearance, along with one moon to boot. His quiet observation was interrupted by the ship violently jerking forward into the planet’s atmosphere. “This is where the fun begins,” He sarcastically joked, “Six, strap in and engage manual controls; this bird is landing hot!” “Roger roger,” he said, pulling a lever beside him back. The sound of heavy metal grinding was nearly drowned out by the noise of the flames surrounding the cruiser’s hull. Twilight Sparkle, resident Unicorn in Ponyville and student of Princess Celestia, was cooped up on the balcony of her home, spending the majority of the morning reading and occasionally glancing over on the crowded streets below. Her assistant, a baby dragon named Spike, is snacking on a large gemstone as a reward for helping out in the past events. He stopped eating and looked up at the sky seeing a massive fireball drop down from the sky. He immediately panicked and scampered over to the Unicorn, shaking her. “Twilight! Twilight! You gotta see this!” he repeated until he got her attention. She carefully closed the book and set it on a nearby table by the glow of her horn. “What is it Spike?” “It’s a meteor! Come, quick!” She leapt out of her chair and galloped over to the telescope. Looking through the eyepiece, she focused at the fire-drenched mass and saw through the flames, machinery? “Spike, this is not a meteor; it is a space ship! That means...aliens!” “AHH! Do they come in peace? Are they here to suck out our brains!?” “There’s no time for that!” She yelled, predicting the ship landing into the Everfree Forest, “Inform the princesses; this “alien” may be in trouble!” “Yes Twi.” With that, the galloped out of her house and towards the potential crash site. ‘Oh I hope they’re friendly,’ she thought. Now that the atmosphere entry was over, nearly all of the flames were doused out on the ship. Few sparks jumped and arced from one part to the next the longer the cruiser endured. “Six! When I give the signal, we drop into the pod and eject.” “What about the others!?” “They’ll be safe in a secured room at the center of the ship; we're at the tip of the spear and will not be safe the longer we stick in here! This cockpit will take the strongest force of the crash and I would like to die another day, thank you.” With the ship below the clouds, Courvin slams his fist on the eject button. “NOW!” Both the human and droid were thrown from their seats down retracted ducts into the projector room. “ The Emergency Harness, master!” Six reminded the former Sith. “Not enough time!” he protested, slamming the emergency button. The outer rings on the connecting hull shot out, releasing the bottom area of the ship. Luckily, it slowed down the fall as he planned, but forgot the repercussion. The nose of the pod pointed to a downward angle, aiming directly for a distant farm. “Oh, this can’t be good…” he grimaced. “It’s not like you can give the controls a bit of a shock to power it for a couple seconds,” Six rationalized sarcastically. “That’s it!” he pointed his hands at the console and focused his fear onto the force. Purple lightning shot out of his fingertips and lit up the console, lighting the whole of it up. “Six! Pull the lever!” “Roger roger!” Six exclaimed. Pulling up on the lever. He felt the momentum shift slightly upward, but started going back to the same speed. He sensed a bunch of trees and held onto the hologram table. “Oh, shi-” Rainbow Dash, self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria and supervisor of the Ponyville Weather Team, was relaxing on a cloud when she noticed her close friend, Twilight running across the treeline of the Everfree Forest. She leapt off the cloud and glided over to her. “Hey Twi! You saw that cool-looking meteor too?” “That was no meteor; that was an alien ship and it’s about to-” Her explanation was interrupted by the impact of the Republic Cruiser rocking the whole of the forest and the pod crashing close to the house of their timid friend, Fluttershy whom was a mile away. “Gah! What the buck was that!?” Rainbow yelped. “It seemed that somepony that was on board of the ship, tried to escape in a pod. That pod sounded like it crashed near Fluttershy’s cottage.” “WE NEED TO GET THERE NOW! Gimme your hooves!” Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around her friend’s waist and sped off along the treeline towards the crash site. Courvin pulled himself up to his feet, groaning in pain. There was a deep gash above his left eye and he felt that his right arm has dislocated from the shoulder. He placed a piece of scrap metal into his mouth and bit down onto it. He held onto his elbow and mentally counting to three before jerking it upwards. He screamed in agony as the bones popped into place. He punched the table a few times before spitting out the metal and using the right sleeve of his shirt to make a makeshift sling. He drew his blaster with his left hand and limped to the other side of room to pick up his slightly damaged sidekick. “Master! You can barely walk!” “You can’t; I see that the impact broke your joints.” “I can repair them, though.” “First, let’s just get out of this thing and find a safe spot to hide.” “Roger roger.” Twilight and Rainbow made it to the crash site. Luckily for them, it had missed Fluttershy’s cottage by a quarter mile. They walked up near to a red, cone-shaped pod with a door on the back, surrounded by several jets. The sudden opening of the hatch startled the entire group as a bipedal, hairless creature with a robot slumped over him emerge from the wreckage. The creature appeared to be bipedal, wearing loose dark clothing with only one sleeve and strange markings running up his arm. His eyes looked a deep umber color and short messy black hair. He had pale skin, probably from his injuries caused by the crash, or that may possibly be his natural color. Many questions formed in Twilight’s head. She felt like approaching the creature, but hesitated, afraid he would attack. He noticed the ponies in front of them and his first instinct was to draw his weapon. He dropped the droid and fell to the side of the opening, pointing his blaster at the curious ponies. His vision doubled and grew more blurry the faster his heart raced. His hand trembled and grew heavy from exhaustion and the pain of his dislocation and relocation of his shoulder. He lost his grip of the blaster and balance on the side of the pod's hull and fell forward into the soft grass, unconscious before impact. “Master!” the droid called out to him, crawling frantically towards his master. “Wait a minute!” Rainbow realized, “You can speak our language!?” “I'm sure you're aware that the majority of lifeforms in the galaxy speak Basic.” “We call it Equestrian and no, we weren't aware of any life outside of Equis," the purple unicorn explained, slightly annoyed. “Great blazes! This really is a hermit system!" "Wait, wait, wait," Rainbow said, flying in between the two, "There's more than just where you came from!?" "Of course; there's a whole galaxy of life and planets and...what am I doing!? We got to help him!” “Okay,” Twilight agreed, “Rainbow, help me get them safely into Fluttershy’s cottage.” “Oh yeah? Well how do we know that these two come in peace? That..thing looked like it pointed some kind of weapon at us.” “He’s in shock from the crash,” the droid explained, “We mean you no harm; we're just lost and confused rejects that were reduced to scrap metal. We need a safe place for him to rest and I don’t know how advanced your medicine is and I can’t afford for him to get sick and-” “Alright, alright,” The impatient Pegasus waved her forelegs up at the droid face, ”I trust ya. Just get on my back and shut up.” “Roger, roger.”
02-"Am I Dead?"(Courvin POV) I slowly woke to the sounds of birds chirping from the outside. It seemed the other side of my head has been wrapped, so I can only see out of my left eye for now. I scanned the ceiling and part of the wall along with a fireplace and concluded I was in some kind of bedroom. I felt around for a bit and it seemed like the bed was too small for me and my lower legs were over the front of the bed and on a chest. Well, whoever took me to a safe place while I was vulnerable, I need to thank them and be on my way. Then it hit me like the delayed pain in my forehead; my damn ship. I’m sure whoever took me in knew where it was. Of course, I could always ask Six, if he managed to fix his legs and followed us here. When I pushed myself up, I felt a familiar pair of metal arms pull me in and hug me tightly. “MASTER! YOU’RE ALIVE!” he screamed gleefully. “Of course I’m okay. What ensued while I was unconscious?” I asked, putting my shirt back on. Whoever checked me for injuries, must’ve known about my...arm.” “Well, a couple of her friends went inside of the pod and got all of our tools out to fix me and you up.” “Does our benefactors know about my arm?” “No, I told them not to remove the sleeve; it’s up to you, as always if you want to show them.” “Then they must be stark curious, by now. Where are they now?” “One of them are outside, feeding her many pets.” “Okay, that’s all I want to know,” I said, climbing out of the bed and rotating my right arm on the shoulder joint. It felt swollen and sore from the crash, but luckily it still functions. Skimming over the details in the house, I carefully sauntered down the steps to a double door. Ignoring its strange design, I went through the door into the...very colorful outdoors. Six pointed to a tree near the land bridge covered in birdhouses. “She’s the one who watched over us overnight,” he explained, still pointing at a yellow furred, pink-maned, horse thing with wings and big blue eyes and a butterfly tattoo on her flank. “Okay, am I dead? Because there is no way in Hell that those...things are actually living creatures in the galaxy.” “We are not dead,” Six reassured me, “Yes, what you are looking at is no joke.” “Does she speak Basic, at least?” “Yes, but the natives here call the language, Equestrian.” “You conversed with the natives here?” I asked, wide-eyed, “Then we know what system this is, then.” “Well, the purple one told me that this country we’re in is called ‘Equestria’ and this planet is ‘Equis’.” I cringed and rubbed my eyes with my forefinger and thumb at the name of this system. “Are you joking!? This whole world looks like it was manifested from a youngling’s imagination! All these bright colors are burning my damn retinas!” The yellow horse-thing jumped at the loud noise of my complaint. I sensed its fear and knelt down at its level. “Sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you.” The native said nothing and looked away but didn’t try to run. “My droid informed me that you watched over us while we were unable to move, is that correct?” She slowly nodded. “Can I know the name of my savior?” “F-Fluttershy,” The creature quietly mumbled. I could barely make out what she said, so I asked her again, “I’m sorry; can you tell me again?” “M-my name is F-Fluttershy.” Fluttershy...REALLY!? I really AM stuck in a little girl’s imagination-created world! I decided to be nice since she really didn’t have to help us and I commend that tremendously. “It’s a cute name,” I complimented. She made an eep sound and tried to cover her blushing face with her long mane. “Thank you for helping me and keeping me safe.” “Y-your welcome.” “Can you point us in the direction of the nearest town, Fluttershy?” “I-its down the road, called ‘Ponyville’.” I am really getting sick of the names here, but said nothing of the sort, in fear of upsetting my host. “Thank you, I will be back in a little while to repay my debt to your service.” “Wait!” she stopped us with a slightly louder voice. I listened and turned to her. “What’s wrong?” “What if the locals don’t take kindly to you? They might call the guard on you!” At that moment, I realized I felt no weapons on me. ‘Ah, SHIT!’ I yelled in my head. I said nothing as it might get this pony suspicious. “What can we do, then? Spend the rest of my days cooped up in a house? Then again, if they see me unarmed, that could quell suspicious for them, for the most part.” I lied about the no weapons part since I keep a punching dagger made of vibro metal hidden in a secret fold of my right boot for last resorts and prison escapes. Luckily I only had to use that six times total in the Clone Wars. The Jedi always told me that it was a dishonorable thing to use while in a dual, but the Sith never used mercy, to begin with. “Well, a few of my friends helped me carry you two here to my cottage,” she explained, “They are supposed to be here in an hour to check in you two and to ask questions.” “Are they the Guard you mentioned earlier?” “Oh, Celestia, no; they’re just my friends, but I would steer clear of your ship-thingy for a while.” “Why?” “The Guard is looking for whoever was on that ship.” “They won’t be able to find anything; that whole thing must be FUBAR’d.” “What will we be able to do in the meantime, master?” Six asked me. “I’ll do what I always do while we’re waiting; I meditate until help arrives or something interesting comes along to keep me busy.” “Okay; I’ll be playing Holo-Chess while we wait,” he mentioned, going back inside the cottage. I walked over to the center of the small land bridge and sat down, legs crossed with my arms at my sides. “What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked me curiously. “Meditating.” “What for?” “To help strengthen my concentration, to temporarily augment my channeling of the force.” “What’s the force? Is it some kind of magic?” “The force is an invisible energy. It is what gives beings like me my power. It is a field created by all living things like you, me and those birds in those little houses you made for them. It surrounds us and penetrates us, and it binds the galaxy together if they would so choose to feel it.” “I don’t really understand.” “It takes a user of the force like me many years before we are able to truly understand what the force is. What it does. What it is capable of. How to bend it. The great beauty created by it.” “What do you mean by people like you? Are there more of you?” I had to avoid telling her of past galaxy events in fear of rattling this planet. They must’ve not known about the Clone Wars or Order 66. I regret lying, but it is my only option in doing so before they are ready to hear of my grim reality. “They are called the Jedi.” “Jedi?” “They use the force and keep the peace within the galaxy. Those who are adept in using the force can calm many hostile creatures into being friendly with only them.” “They must be powerful with this ‘force’.” “They are, indeed. I can use it too, but I am nowhere near powerful as them. On my own, it will take me a good few decades to understand the force a bit more than I already do. It’s complex like that.” After an hour has passed of me calmly listening to the various noises around me and feeling the life force of all of the animals Fluttershy kept with her, I sensed two creatures like Fluttershy down the road. They stopped and looked at me. I sensed their awe expressions. “Hello?” one of them said. I opened my eyes to look at the two. The one on the right was purple with matching eyes. Her mane and tail consisted of a darker violet color with a pink strip near the middle. She had no wings, but a horn. The one on the left had blue fur, magenta eyes with a rainbow mane and tail with wings like Fluttershy. The purple pony was levitating a notepad and a pencil with some kind of the force and a big smile was sprung across the rainbow-maned pony. “I am pleased to meet you two,” I complimented. “I’m happy to see that you’re okay,” the purple pony stated, relieved. “I can’t believe aliens are real!” the rainbow pony exclaimed, happily, “This week just got 20% cooler! “I’m flattered that my presence brings you both joy.” “Allow us to introduce ourselves, my name is Twilight Sparkle and my friend over here is-” “Rainbow Dash!” the rainbow pony butted in with a boastful tone, “The greatest flier in Equestria!” “Allow me to introduce myself,” I said, standing up and bowing, “My name is Courvin Smiyh.” “What a weird name,” Rainbow Dash commented, “But fitting for an alien.” “I could say the same, Rainbow Dash.” “With introductions out of the way, we would like to ask you a few questions.” “So I heard. Of course; ask away.” “What planet are you from?” “I was born on a planet called Shogun. I was told that my parents left me with the military, so they can go out and fight their next war, but they never returned. I got left behind on Tatooine, but got taken to another planet by a Jedi where I traveled the stars ever since.” Twilight covered her mouth with her hoof and Rainbow felt somewhat uneasy by my answer. They turned around and whispered to each other. They think I can’t hear them, but I can with the force. They then turned back to me to ask more questions. “What is the force?” Rainbow asked, eyebrows arched, “It sounds like a type of magic.” “As I’ve told Fluttershy, the force is an invisible field composed of the life force of all beings. Those like me who are sensitive to it can manipulate it to perform amazing feats or terrible destruction.” “How do you use the force?” Twilight asked me sincerely, “I ask that because I don’t see a horn on you anywhere.” “Look at those pile of rocks over there and you can see for yourself,” I gestured, slowly concentrating on the gravity of the rocks and they slowly lifted off the ground with a wave of my hand, stunning both of them on the spot. “That’s impossible!” Twilight protested. “I don’t give a damn if that’s possible, Twi,” Rainbow rebutted, “He’s an alien and he can use his mind to lift stuff. Ergo, he’s instantly cool in my book.” I smiled and pressed the send button on my communicator. “Six, can you get me my lightsaber?” “Yes, Master.” Twilight noticed me talking into my device and stood next to me, looking at it. “What is that thing you were talking into?” “It’s my communicator. It allows me to talk to my droids from a long distance using radio waves.” “Interesting,” she said, jotting down more information on her notepad. Six arrived behind me, handing me my lightsaber. It was a special custom-made prototype lightsaber. The hilt was a cross-shaped black with a silver power button. It had three emitters rather than one. The middle harnessed the real blade while the two sides housed tiny blades. The blade, of course, has a red color which is standard for Sith. The design was codenamed “Renegade,” by Mace Windu who planned to modify his lightsaber but gave me the prototype by mistake. When I did try to return it to him, I discovered that Darth Vader already killed him and suggested I kept it and even gave me the Kyber Crystal for it. “What is that?” Rainbow asked, cocking her head slightly to the left. “This...is a lightsaber,” I explained, holding it out for them to see, “It is a weapon of the Jedi. Not as primitive as a sword or a spear; a fancy weapon from a once civilized generation.” “That little thing is a weapon?” Rainbow smirked, “That looks like it can barely crack the skull of a snake.” I smiled and pressed the button on the hilt, the blade crackled to life, humming in the breeze. Rainbow’s jaw looked like it hit the ground and Twilight’s eyes lit up, mesmerized by its color. “I stand thoroughly corrected,” Rainbow realized. Twilight said nothing but later responded with a slightly off-topic question after writing a couple paragraphs. “What are the Jedi?” Twilight asked, still writing frantically. “The Jedi Knights were keepers of the peace and enforcers of justice for thousands of years...before the times of war...before the Empire.” “What is the Empire?” I hesitated a bit, realizing a made a mistake. At the right time when they’re with me and I speak to the leaders of the country before I inform them of the Empire outside of their system. “I’ll tell you later, but first, can you accompany me through Ponyville?” I asked, switching my saber off and clipping it to my belt, “I don’t know my way around and it would be best so that ponies don't get spooked.” “Sure, I’ll introduce you to my other friends.” “But master?” Six butted in, “What about our gear?” “Like I said, we go into town lightly equipped to avoid causing hysteria. The last thing I want is another planet’s military up my ass.” “Then it’s settled,” Twilight placed her notebook in her saddle, “Fluttershy, you coming along?” “Sorry, not right now; I still need to finish feeding the rest of the animals.” I nodded in agreement. I would like to meet the rest of her friends. I have a feeling I’m going to be stuck here a long time and it will be a good idea if I get on this planet’s good side. We gathered up and set out for the town. I felt nervous at first, but safe, knowing that I am out of the Galactic Empire’s reach; a feat only the bold could accomplish. But for now, I need to be cautious; even though they say that they're friendly, I fell to subsequent traps of the similar facade and I won’t fall for one this time. As I told Six before, this won’t be the first time I would have to improvise my situation and this one is indeed suspicious.
03-Meeting the Natives(Courvin POV) On our way into town, we slowly came up to a farm gate. “Mr. Smiyh,” Twilight said to get my attention. I cringed at being called “Mister.” “Twilight, call me Courvin; Mr. Smiyh was my father.” “Where have I heard that before?” Rainbow pondered, putting a hoof on her chin. “Anyways, is your friend a farmer?” I asked my horned friend. “Yes; Applejack’s family runs the orchard.” With a wave of my hand, the gate opened on its own. “After you,” I gestured at the gate. “Thank you,” they both said, smiling. The longer we went further into the orchard, I could spot scores of trees all in neat rows with round red fruits hanging from the branches. Judging by the size and number of the trees, this farm must’ve been here for a good few centuries. There seemed to be no boundries that I could see with my eyes and assume that the property line keeps on expanding with each new harvest. With that in mind, I wonder how long this orchard is anyway. Getting closer to the family house that looks more like a barn, I heard the sound of wood cracking in the distance. “Who’s chopping wood?” I asked out loud. “Must be Applejack applebucking,” Twilight concluded, “Sounds like she’s over there.” After a couple of minutes looking for the sound and moving closer, I saw an orange-furred, blond mare wearing a strange hat that looks a smaller version of that one bounty hunter I chased a couple of years ago. I believe the hat is referred to as a Stetson if I’m not mistaken. “Hey Applejack!” Twilight called over to her friend. She noticed her voice and turned to face her. As soon as she saw me, her look of happiness suddenly turned to that of someone who can’t figure out a complex mathematical equation. “Howdy Twi,” she said, still looking at me like a Jawa finding an unbought droid, “Who’s the funny-looking alien and the robot? Do they have something to do with that meteor that crashed in the Everfree yesterday?” “Yes, they’re stranded here for the moment,” she sadly explained, her ears folded down. “Allow me to introduce myself,” I announced, holding my hand out to Applejack “My name is Courvin Smiyh and this is my droid, Six.” She gripped my hand hard and shook it violently. “Well howdy-do, Courvin!” She said in a lively southern accent, “Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine!” “Anyways, why is your droid called ‘Six?’” Rainbow asked. “My serial number is FB-66-6,” Six explained, “Master here just called me Six after the last digit.” “Still, what kind of droid are you?” “Guess I forgot to explain on the way,” he realized, tapping his head, “I am a B1 Battle Droid; I am an Infantry Militarized Droid, reprogrammed, of course.” I noticed Twilight immediately pulling her notepad out of her saddlebag and wrote down Six’s background and original programming. “Hey Twilight,” I tapped her shoulder, she looked up to me to hear my question. “What’s with the notes?” “Since Equestria has never encountered extraterrestrial life, I thought it would be appropriate to make notes for my mentor when we get you three to meet one day.” “What kind of government does Equestria have?” “We have two Princesses that rule Equestria. Celestia, my mentor and Alicorn of the sun and the day, and Luna, Alicorn of the Moon, night and dreams.” “Are they fair rulers?” She was taken back by my simple question, as if the very thing deeply offended her. “Why would you even ask a question like that!?” I sighed and looked away. “Let’s just say me and royalty do not get along.’ “Oh. Past events?” I hesitated for a few moments, but proceeded to answer her question. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She nodded in contentment with my reason and turned back to her farmer friend. “Well, we’ll be going into town to visit the others, would you like to join us?” “Sorry, I can’t; gotta finish this section of the orchard first.” “What about the section near the gate?” I asked. “Big McIntosh’s got that covered.” “Who’s that?” “My big brother.” “What does he look like?” “Look behind ya.” I turned around and jumped at the size of the stallion. His head went up to my neck whereas the other ponies went up to my gut. He had a solid red color for fur. He had green eyes like his little sister and the same blond mane only a slightly darker shade. “How long you’ve been here?” “As long as you expect.” “Pleased to meet you.” “Eyup.” “Stallion of a few words, are ya?” “More or less.” “Anyways,” Twilight reminded us, “We’re going, see you later, AJ.” “See ya, Twi! Pleased to meet ya two!” “I got to get goin as well; the weather team has an overcast planned for the afternoon. It’s a pleasure getting to meet you, Courvin.” After 15 minutes of walking on the dirt road, I started seeing buildings in the distance. They appeared to be slightly primitive compared to native settlements I’ve seen in my travels. The various shapes differed from house to house, but they all were built with the same materials. Hay roofs, wooden details and sandstone walls. I was quite impressed by the ponies’ skills in building their settlements with the lack of hands and opposable thumbs. As we entered the town, me and Six got very mixed reactions varied from fear to curiosity. Few ran into their homes and locked their doors. This reaction garnered a look of confusion from Twilight. “What’s with everypony today?” she asked, frustrated over the ponies’ overreaction. “I know I’m stretching it a bit, but it might have something to do with me or Six.” “At least the rest are curious,” Six rationalized, “Look behind us, some are following us.” “Really?” I asked, seeing a small group of mares behind me or at least I assume they’re mares since I mostly see females around here, “Well, that’s strange.” “We’re the strange ones.” “No shit.” A light pink colored mare with puffy dark pink hair hopped happily toward Twilight, humming a happy tune. “Hey Twilight! Whyaresomanyponiesfreakingout? Isitsomethingaboutthatmeteorthat’sactuallyaspaceship?” She rapidly noted in about 5 seconds. She glanced over to me and leapt up into the air, gasping loudly, dashing away from me in a cloud of pink smoke. I blinked a few times, scratching my head in confusion. “Six, did you get all that?” “She was speaking too fast for me to process.” “Twilight? Who the hell was that?” I asked, shaking my head. “That was Pinkie Pie,” she stated, sounding somewhat embarrassed, “The wildest party mare. Even I have no clue on what’s her issue.” “Did you even know what she was saying? Since you know her more than me?” “Even I don’t know; I tried to understand her mannerisms, use science to figure her out, I followed her for days, having all sorts of things fall on my head, I tried for hours figuring out an equation, just one final answer, but I just said, ‘Buck it; It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.’” “Seems you had a fun time trying to figure her out.” “Fun time!? More like a last minute study session on a final exam the next day.” “Anyways, who’s next on the list?” “The nearest one is Rarity. She’s a seamstress that runs the Carousel Boutique about a couple of blocks from here.” “I wonder if she could fix my shirt.” “She could, but she would probably want to take your measurements first.” I stopped in my tracks, holding my arm. She noticed and gave me a concerned look. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing...it’s nothing, let’s continue.” “If you have anything you got to talk about, you can always talk to me.” “I said, its nothing.” “Something is seriously bothering you, I’m not going to let you alone about it either.” “I don’t know you that well, yet. All I am telling you is I used to run with the wrong crowd.” “That’s all?” “Maybe if I know you longer and more comfortable talking about my feelings, maybe I could tell you the whole story.” “That doesn’t make you any more suspicious than you already seem to me.” “I’ve done things I’m not proud of and I just want to start with a clean slate. Does that make you happy?” “A Little.” I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the building where this “Rarity” mare lives/works. I raised an eyebrow at the flashy design of the building. It looked like a merry-go-round, a castle tower and a flashy holovertisement from Coruscant was thrown into a painter’s mixer. I was dumbfounded that nobody didn’t take a look at the joint once and laughed. Then again, I’ve been to stranger places, so I’m not as flabbergasted as I would be. Twilight turned around and noticed me with my eyes open so wide, they could pop out of their sockets if I so much as sneezed. “I’m sure you’ve seen stranger things, right Courvin?” “Yeah, but I’m surprised that she can afford all of that from what I have seen with all the other homes.” “Well, she has contracts from all over Equestria for her to design all sorts of fashion for any kind of occasion; she makes a decent living on her talent.” I hoped for my sanity’s sake that she isn’t as stuffy as many of the high society bigots I was hired to guard in the past. I can’t tell how many times they whined about every single trivial matter like it was superficial. Hell, one of my Jedi partners was forced to return to my former Master when they refused to work with Togruttans. We went through the door, triggering the bell which called out to the seamstress in its high chimes. “Coming,” A posh voice called out from a distant room. I heard a door click shut and the sounds of hooves clopping on the tiled floor. When she emerged she looked different from the rest of the ponies I’ve seen so far. She has white fur with curly royal purple hair, sapphire blue eyes and...is she wearing makeup? It does look good on her, though. She also appears to have a horn like Twilight. I should probably ask her on the different races of ponies sometimes. The fancy unicorn didn’t say anything; she just looked into my eyes, looking like they had a sparkle gleam over them. I loudly cleared my throat, breaking her from her stupor. “I’m sorry, darling; I just never seen somepony like you before,” she apologized, “You seem so...strange.” “You and me both, but that’s not what I’m here about.” “Then what is it? I see you’ve already met Twilight.” “Yes; she helped drag my unconscious ass from that spaceship that crashed yesterday.” “Wait, so that wasn’t a meteor like everypony said?” “Nope, that was me and Six, here,” I explained, pointing to Six next to me. “You even have a robot? How advanced are your kind?” “Advanced enough to get multiple planets into fighting each other, I guess.” “Really? Such petty violence is unacceptable and low for anypony of any race to envelop in and I look down on that kind of thing, to be frank.” “Yeah; if it were up to me, war would be a bad word across the galaxy.” “So there really are more planets out there than just us?” “Yes, but most of them are far from friendly like me. I can assure you, that those planets are on the other side of the galaxy. I’m surprised there was even a system way out here on the fringe, to be honest.” Twilight grew surprised by my swift confession. “Really? All those years of those Jedi and they never knew about Equis?” “We were probably too busy with war that we didn’t stop and explored more of the galaxy.” “What kind of war was it?” “I’ll tell you while I’m getting my shirt fixed.” Rarity realized my reason of visit and changed the subject. “Oh? You’re here for just a patchwork? You sure you don’t want anything else like new attire?” “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” “No offence, but that outfit makes you look like you’re here to take souls to Tartarus.” “Well this attire is standard Sith clothing.” “What’s the Sith?’ I tensed up at my accidental slip of the tongue. Dammit, brain! This was why I was never allowed to handle top secret information and covert missions. I have no choice to tell them the whole thing, now. “How about I tell you while you’re taking my measurements?” “Okay; follow me.” “I’m coming along,” Twilight mentioned, “I want to document this.” I signaled Six to stay in the lobby while I get my measurements. He seemed cautious, but held himself in respect of my command. I knew what he thought, since I programmed him and fought alongside me for a year. “Oh darling, I never caught your name.” “Courvin Smiyh.” “Exotic…” “...but fitting for an alien. Yeah; I get that a lot.” Rarity pulled back a curtain to a distant room with her horn, which makes me curious on the ponies with horns. We entered a room with soft purple carpet, a small round pedestal with three mirrors in front of it. “Now, she began, “Can you please remove your clothes while I take your measurements?” “Oh,” I blushed, “O-okay.” I awkwardly removed my shirt and pants, while both mares watched, blushing intensely. What was left was my underwear and my covered arm. “What are those markings all over your body?” “Like I said, I used to run with the wrong crowd years ago.” “Is it something to do with the Sith you mentioned?” I hesitated for a moment, but it was pointless dodging the question. “Yes...you are correct.” “Can you tell me more about them? Please?” I nodded, knowing that the information I will share may disturb them, but since they’re adults, I’m sure they can handle it. “The Sith are the polar opposite of the Jedi. Where Jedi are the peacekeepers of the galaxy, the Sith want to rule it with an iron fist...no pun intended. I used to be a Sith, but lost my memory after losing a duel with a Jedi Master. I regained it not too long ago. For the past three years I fought in a galactic conflict called The Clone Wars. The Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order fought against the C.I.S., or Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Sith. Billions of lives were lost. I fought alongside the Jedi, thinking I was one of them, but found out they lied to me through the whole war. If they told me outright that I used to be a Sith, maybe I would’ve came to their aid when the purge occurred.” “What happened to the Jedi?” “Order 66; the Jedi Purge. The Chancellor, leader of the senate was really a Sith Lord and turned the Republic's troops on its own Jedi. I don’t know how many were killed, but all I know is that my former Master and myself have survived. The new government is now known as The Galactic Empire.” I felt a gentle embrace from both mares, feeling Rarity’s tears on my shoulder. They were obviously afraid. I would be too if I were in their hooves. “Do they know about us? Do they know where we are? Are they interested in our planet?” “I highly doubt it; the Emperor himself, personally told me that he doesn’t care about a system that no one ever returned from.” They jumped away from me like I had a contagious disease. “Relax; I have no love for the Empire and I simply swindled my way out of his reach, mind you.” They both calmed down, their fears quelled at me being a threat. “We’re sorry, about asking you of this,” Rarity’s head hung low. “It’s okay; it’s all behind me, now. It’s best not to focus on the past, but I will never forget what I was.” I looked at my hands and closed them tightly. “Me, today, in this world, cut off from the rest of the galaxy, potentially stuck here permanently, I want to practice the force in peace and possibly teach what I know to other ponies that are sensitive to the force. I could probably live a peaceful life here, despite what’s happened outside this planet.” “You may want to read up on Equestria’s history,” Twilight suggested to me. Her take on my philosophy shocked me. “Excuse me?” “Discord, the Windigos, The Sirens, Nightmare Moon, Equestria had its own share of problems too. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised me and my friends survive the daily problems we get into.” “Wow, seems like Ponyville isn’t all what it seems?” “That isn’t much to worry about now, darling; what needs to be done is fixing your clothes.” “Oh yeah; I got caught up on talking about the Clone Wars, I forgot about it. “It seems so, but first things first, can you please remove that cover on your foreleg?” “It’s called an arm and no; I’m not comfortable showing you my left arm.” “Pretty please?” she requested in a sultry tone. I gave up, knowing I can’t resist a woman’s request, or in this case, a mare’s. “Alright, but don’t look away; I want you to see the symbol of my mistakes during the clone wars.” I slowly peeled away the sleeve and glove off my arm, revealing machinery up to my shoulder. It held a silver-like color and shown an appearance similar to clone armor. Twilight’s eyes glowed at my arm. I raised my arms and Rarity got to work on measuring my body. “Why do you keep that arm covered?” she asked, “That looks like some impressive technology. It could even help many of the soldiers all over the world who were injured in their duties.” “Possibly, after I meet this Celestia, I will be more open about my arm. Though everytime I look at this arm, I always think of war and its destructive use of machines, but I also think of its practicality and use in everyday life, so much like a double-edged sword.” “Well, that’s one way of putting it.” “There,” Rarity concluded, “I’m am done with your measurements. I’ll be taking these into my studio and your clothes will be fixed in about a few minutes. Do you have the torn fabric?” “Yeah,” I nodded, “It’s in one of the pockets. I had to make a sling for my arm after popping the joint back in place.” “Okay; I will be back in but a pinch, darling.” After she left, Twilight went back to inspect every inch of my body, still wanting to know more about me even after spilling my guts. “I never heard you explain about those tattoos all over your body,” Twilight mentioned, “I know it may be a bad memory, but you can tell me anything if you want to.” “These tattoos are Sith related. They show your allegiance to them after completing a Sith Lord’s training. Something I have come to accomplish in a previous lifetime. I was known as Darth Kain, taught by Darth Tyranus, a Sith Lord killed by a Jedi who eventually turned to the dark side of the force. The greatest shade of irony.” “There’s so many of them.” “Indeed; a shame I can’t go back in time to tell myself how stupid they look,” I lightly chuckled, leaving Twilight to smile as well. Some time has gone by, filling the room with the stagnant air of silence. It was shortly broken with Rarity entering the room with my fixed clothing all neatly folded. “Here you go, darling,” she cooed, “Those should fit all snug on your muscular figure.” “Thank you,” I said, quickly dressing myself. I also noticed my metal arm sleeve was connected like my other arm with the glove stitched except for right glove. “Rarity, why stitch the left glove at the cuff, but leave the right one removable?” “Think about it Courvin, the arm?” “Oh; yeah. Thanks again for the fix. I’ll let you know if I need more clothing.” “Of course; I’ll be more than happy to design various outfits for you. This one is free, of course; to give a good impression on my work.” “You do a good job; you might be the only one I’ll trust to my outfit commissions and fixes.” “Thank you, darling,” Rarity blushed. “We need to be going Rarity,” Twilight concluded, “I need to see if Spike didn’t wreck the place while I was gone.” “Alright, see you later Twilight. Oh and Courvin, nice to meet you.” “Likewise.” The three of us left the boutique and continued on a different dirt road. “So Courvin, what do you think of my friends so far?” “Friendlier than the chaps I fought with in the war.” “That’s nice to know.” “Where are we going next?” “We’re picking Spike up at my home, then we’re going over to Sugarcube Corner for something to eat. You must be hungry after enduring through that crash.” Then it hit me; my food was in the damn cruiser that crashed. “Ah, shit!” “What’s wrong?” “All of my food was on my cruiser; they probably haven’t survived the explosion.” “Well, there must be something you can eat over at sugarcube corner.” “I can’t eat grass and hay.” “There’s other things than hay over there. There’s all kinds of sweets and treats.” “Okay; been awhile since I had something sweet.” We eventually arrived at the Golden Oaks Library which happened to be Twilight’s home. The design of her house made me raise an eyebrow as it bears a resemblance to the Wookee homes on Kashyyyk. Twilight opens the door and goes inside with me following suit. Inside, I have seen strange, rectangular objects all stocked on shelves on nearly every wall in the room. At the top of an open staircase, there was a bipedal reptilian creature sweeping the floor. It took a few moments until he noticed me and stopped. He set down the broom and sauntered down the wooden steps, not breaking his concentration on me. “Twilight? Is it that alien?” he asked, I sensed the fear in his tone of voice. It seemed that he was too curious to run either. “Spike, this is Courvin Smiyh and his droid, Six.” “Cool,” he beamed, “An actual robot! It’s like one of Fluttershy’s Manegas!” “What’s a Manega?” I asked. “They’re comic books imported from another country, Neighpan,” Twilight explained, “They’ve been translated to Equestrian as well. Some of them are really good reads.” “Maybe I should read a few to pass the time.” “You should borrow some from Fluttershy; she’s got a mountain of them.” “So Spike, what species are you?” I asked the little reptile, changing the subject, “I haven’t seen any of your kind in the whole galaxy. “Really? There are no dragons in any other planet?” “Huh,” I curiously pondered. I decided to get some fresh air and to familiarize myself with my surroundings in this town. “Am I able to explore the town without causing trouble?” “I couldn’t see why not,” she said, “They will be curious of you, though.” “I took notice; I’ll be back in a few hours.” (Third Person POV) As Courvin and Six left the library, Twilight got out a sheet of paper and a quill. “Spike, when I am done writing this note, send it to Princess Celestia,” Twilight informed the little drake, “We need to find out if he really is a threat.” “He seems fine to me, why are you so cautious of him?” “I sense something...dark inside him; like a demon waiting to be released.” “Well, I guess you could say that his clothing screamed evil, but…” “You think he’s reformed?” “Yeah.” “We’ll see, until now, keep your distance from him.” “So master, what are we going to do?” “Dunno; I felt like familiarizing myself with the layout of this town. We’re going to be stuck here for a long time and it’s best to prepare for a worst-case scenario.” “Like being stuck here permanently?” “I thought of worse hells; I can manage this cutesy pastel planet. Better this demise than falling to the lightsaber of the Sith.” “Uh, master; they’re looking at us.” He quickly looked at the growing groups of ponies looking at the duo. He then looked back at his companion. “Let them look; more friendly we appear, the more they’ll fuck off.” “I don’t even think they’re hostile at all.” “All the more reason not to use the dark side of the force.” They entered into the town square where many shops and carts with many wares were being bought and sold. Most ponies were busy to the point where they ignore both the human and the droid. Some started with the usual look, but went back to their business. “I’m hungry, let’s grab a bite to eat.” “But master; I don’t think they take Republic Credits.” “That’s why I have this,” he grinned, spinning around a big of gold coins. “H-how did you get that?” “I...may have ‘borrowed’ it from an unsuspecting pony; it’s for the greater good.” “Your greater good is getting yourself thrown in prison and me being turned into scrap metal.” “You forget; I can be slick sometimes.” “What about that little incident at the shipyard in Coruscant?” Courvin tensed up by the bad memories flushing back into him. “Yeah, but that guy had a five million credit reward on his head.” “I know that, but what about the bill for the shop you trashed? Or the medical bills from the few cops you injured? I may be forgetting a few dozen traffic fines and...oh, that one cruiser you totaled as well?” “Yep...that killed all of the dough.” “Maybe it’s time to play by the rules for once?” “Renegades don’t play by the rules, Six,” Courvin snapped at him, pointing at the droid, “You know that better than everyone else. We survived by thinking outside the box, hell, we caught a few high profile criminals by breaking multiple laws to get to them. No government coups, Bounty Hunts, or planets from a little girl’s imagination will ever keep me from living life by the lightsaber.” “You have a point, master, but you should take into consideration that we are in very deep sh-” “Shh!” he hissed, cupping his hand over the droid’s mouth, “I sense trouble; keep a few meters from me.” They hid in a bush and waddled closer to a commotion going on in a distant booth where dog-like creatures shook down a shopkeep of her money. They appeared to be armed with steel curved swords and ran off with a few bags of money. Corvin stepped out from the brush and stood in the middle of the row. The two stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed the former Sith standing with a blank expression on his face. “What the heck is this thing!?” one yelped in a raspy voice. “Whatever he is, he has loot! You! Give us your money or die!” With a wave of his hand, he spoke in a calm, demanding tone. “You will cease your life of crime and hand over the money you stole.” “No way! We stole it, fair and square! Nyemich! Teach this fool a lesson!” The other anthro dog unsheathed his sword and rushed the man with a diagonal slash. In a flash and a loud crackling sound, he noticed his sword was cut in two from the hilt. Courvin then swung the lightsaber at the dog and stopped, just an inch from the base of his neck. The stunned dog shook like a leaf, feeling the intense heat that the blade radiated of. The former Sith turned his head to the other dog and stared him down with the same blank expression. “Now, I will not ask again,” he implored with much more venom to his words, “Leave this town with the stolen money behind, or you leave this town without your heads.” “Gato, g-give him the money,” the held-up dog begged, “This guy is not joking!” The other dog hesitated for a moment before setting down the sword and the bags. The lightsaber deactivated and he clipped it back onto his belt. “Now, LEAVE!” The dogs ran off, screaming bloody murder. His act of heroism garnered a few cheers and applause from various onlookers. He felt annoyed by the altercation with the two thieves and voiced his inconvenience out loud. “Geez, I’ve been on this planet for a frickin day and already run into trouble. At least I stopped a robbery.” With another wave of his hand, the bags lifted off of the ground and floated back to the shopkeeper, astonished by his display of justice. She had arctic blue eyes and a light apple colored coat. She had cobalt blue hair with a light fuchsia stripe down the middle. “T-thank you,” she stammered, “Oh, Lyra wasn’t kidding about your kind.” “What about my kind?” he asked with an eyebrow raised. “I have a close friend that was or rather is, obsessed with Humans, that is what you are, right?” “Huh, I’m surprised that some of you Ponies know about Humans, considering that where I come from states this system is a Hermit System.” “Meaning?” “We have no records of the flora and fauna, let alone know if sentient life existed on it. That is until I crashed down on here and met a few of your kind.” “Strange, we thought Humans were stuff of legends; I guess that’s false information.” “Anyways, the name’s Courvin Smiyh; pleased to meet you.” “Bonbon.” “Yes please.” “Nonono; my name is BONBON.” “Oh; I guess you sell sweets, then.” “Yep; Sweetie Drop Candies. I have a large selection of sweets for you to enjoy, if you have the coin, but after stopping those Diamond Dogs, I’m offering a treat, free of charge just this once.” His eyes skimmed over the various candies all assorted in trays of various sizes all conveniently labelled. “Hmm, jelly beans sounds pretty good. I’ll take a pound of the pear-flavored jelly beans, then.” “Okay, here you go.” She handed him a bag full of the beans where he took one out and tasted one. His eyes lit up from the sweet, juicy taste. “I chose the right flavor, then. Thanks, by the way.” “No; thank you.” “See you, then.” “Bye.” The Human and droid met up at an adjacent road near the candy stand where Courvin was happily snacking on his bag of jelly beans. “There you are, Master!” Six wiped the top of his head in relief, “I’m surprised by the way you handled those robbers. “Didn’t expect I had to bust out on one of the old Sith tricks of ‘Persuasion’,” he muffled, “At least I won’t be bored living here.” “Oh!” Six exclaimed in excitement, “I have an idea; with those bits you have, we could probably rent an apartment in this town and set up a little safehouse for us before we go looking for the Cruiser.” “Or, we can convince Twilight or one of her friends to take us in.” “That could work; let’s do it.” They both resumed on their journey back to the library to discuss their next move, satisfied by the day’s turn of events. Author's Note Well, here's my first story update in months. If you wonder why it took so long, please read my latest blog. I kind of spilled my guts over what's happened to me in the last six months. Sorry for the inconvenient Hiatus.😥
