Star Wars: the "long" war and friendship
"Sys-sys-sys-sys-" A weathered old hand swatted the side of the computer in the barely held together scrap heap of a ship. "-Tems rebooting, Target is still venting atmosphere-ere-ere-ere-ere-" The hand swatted it again before reaching up and stroking a bushy beard.
"Do we have forward batteries online?"
"Y-y-your 50 day free trial has expired-" The computer fuzzed up and spoke in the same poor quality tone he remembered so well. "57 years ago. Woul-woul-would you like to pay fo-fo-for a-"
"Nope!... computer set date back a year, alter base programming to ignore date actual." The computer buzzed and sparked before simply burning out and catching on fire. "...hrmm... well honestly I dont know what to say about that..." His old green eyes peered out at the small Frigate he had chased to the ends of his galaxy, into the next, through wormholes and past gas giants, nebula and quasars. A soft chuckle sounded at knowing that he was not always the one chasing.
"Another casualty of the war huh... you little red bastard... this cant really go on forever... can it?"
Steady thin frail looking hands held the perfect crimson thread firmly as something other than patience guided it through the eye of the needle. "Tears... burns... wearing through... blast it all....this robe was made from Insetia nettle silk.... you would think that bone headed human would have known to be more careful with it... Who in space throws their boot at an enemy when they run out of ammo?...popped this precious seam...it will take forever to get this back to 100%"
Careful hands gently smoothed over the black silk that showed decades of wear and tear. The old humanoid's focus was crashed when the once almost seductively wonderful sounding voice of his computer shrieked into his ears. "Life support failing master, estimated 2 minutes of oxygen left."
"Oh Terjiknine... I see you still have the voice of an angel.... that you know... happens to have a damned terrible voice..." He sighed tying what he had into a knot so his work could be continued later. "I thought you said that the damage would not effect us for another week..."
"Master... that was exactly seven days and fifteen hours ago.."
The old robed man reached out and grasped his old battered mask fitting it into place under his hood before bringing up the mapping software. "Here!... that looks like its liveable... lets crash there...."
"Mast-t-t-t-t-t-t-" He swatted the console in frustration. "-ter! There is no telling if that world is safe... odd solar activity suggests that there is a black hole in the system, whatever miracle of s-s-s-s-s-s" He beat the console with a hefty wooden stick he picked up on the last life bearing planet he visited and it sputtered before continuing "-Science is keeping that world from being effected by whatever massive force of gravity is yanking its sun around may not spare the world for lon-on-on-on-" He raised the stick again but before he could vent more frustration the computer sputtered out the last of its sentence. "-ong! It is unwise to simply trust that everything will be fine."
"Terjiknine?....shut up and crash my ship into the planet before I fry you and do it myself."
There was a moment of silence before the dying computer sputtered out an answer "...Ver-ver-ver-very well master route engaged.....your friend is following suit....engaging hyperdrive" The old ship hummed up and shot forward as just a few hundred kilometers behind the light brown patchwork ship did the same.
There was no sound but the calm wind rustling over the air. Just outside of Fluttershy's cottage everypony had fallen asleep watching the stars after a short and somewhat private celebration. The yellow Pegasus still had the party hat on sleeping sounding in the warm summer night under the stars. Only one set of eyes stared up at the beautiful night sky. Whispering a silent 'thank you' to her friend and teacher's sister for making the night so beautiful for Fluttershy's birthday. It was a fun day, and a fun night. Twilight had left Spike and Owlolicious back in the friendship castle with Big mac and the CMC. She didnt know really what they were doing there but Spike seemed to just want to have some guy talk and it was too hard to say no to Sweetie Bell's sad puppy eyes. So she agreed and let them run rampant in the castle. It was no big deal, it was not like they would burn it down or anything. They had their cutie marks now, ever since that happened there was a great deal less chaos and property damage in ponyville.
The telescope tilted up as a tired eye looked through contently. Twilight yawned and smiled. She had shared all she knew to her friends about the stars and the sky, but she knew none of them would remember any of it. It was just good to have somepony who would listen. "Oh?...hello there." Her voice was extra hushed. She rubbed her eyes and took a peak through the basic alignment scope to see a star she had not seen before. "Oh... maybe Luna will let me name it...." She lowered her head to look through the main scope and froze. She didn't see a twinkling star, she saw a ball of fire. Shaking herself awake she looked again, Sure enough. A ball of fire, heading right for their position.
"GIRLS!!! WAKE UP!!!" Everypony at once shot up in fright before their eyes followed Twilight's pointing hoof at the fire in the sky which rapidly approached. It did not take long for panic to set in as ponies ran left and right in panic split between trying to run for their lives, going back for the leftover cake, saving the animals, or going back to sleep. Though the chaos was shattered as the ball of fire changed course just barely missing fluttershy's cottage and landing with a heavy boom in the everfree forest. Everypony let out a long sigh of relief, that is until the second fireball blasted past nicking the cottage, taking the very top off before it too crashed in the everfree forest. However, something caught Twilight's eye. Not only was she almost certain that the fire was coming out of what looked to be a shaped piece of metal, but she could have sworn she saw something on top of the second one, something standing on two legs holding what looked almost like something out of Vinyl's laser display.
"Come on girls.... we have to go!"
"Go where Twilight?.... seriously.. not to put a damper on your mood sugarcube... but yeah... a meteor or two just came down.... its a bit of a fright but no... I kinda just wanna go back to sleep... it was fun... but we should all get back to sleep...Flutters... do you mind if I crash on your couch?"
Twilight stamped her hoof. "No! I saw somepony riding the fireball! This is no joke...somepony could be hurt out there, we have to go, and think about it... those were really big fire balls... they could catch the everfree forest on fire.... heck look at Fluttershy's house... ITS on fire right now!"
They all looked up to see Rainbow Dash nudging a dark cloud which rained on the small bit of flames at the roof.
"Oh ... dear... I mean... if... if somepony really was out there... it would be so mean to just ignore them... they could be hurt"
A flash of rainbow colors and the nearby blue Pegasus zipped up. "until forty seconds ago we were all asleep...sure MAYBE there is a fire hazard... but the forest doesnt touch anypony's home... it will be fine... lets just go back to sleep.... we will look in the morning"
"Zecora lives in the forest if it burns down she will die!"
The tired Pegasus was running out of excuses not to go into the forest. But she had at least one more in her. "Oh come on... Zecora will escape easily ... she made it through the forest with all her stuff in tow when the hole thing was overrun with discord's plants that were trying to eat everypony. Shes tougher than anything you give her credit for.... come on now, lets go back to sleep. In there is nothing but trees, parasprites, and poison joke"
Everypony's eyes shot wide as there was a booming roar, almost like Tirek reaching max power, then a boulder nearly the size of Fluttershy's cottage smashed through the trees and landed a few dozen yards from where they were all standing. They all stared with wide eyed horror before a torrent of lightning shot out over the horizon.
It did not take long after that before the group, some far more willing than others, decided to head into the forest to more or less, 'save the day'
"Silk?....you are mad about SILK??? half the galaxy is probably still in flames and you are worried about your pretty dress?"
A frail arm swung upwards like a over extended uppercut and a boulder deep underground uprooted and flew at the old human on the other side of the clearing. "IT IS INSETIA NETTLE SILK!!! AND THESE ARE ROBES!!! ROBES THAT COST MORE THAN YOUR FLAG SHIP I CRASHED INTO THAT DAMNED MOON!!!"
"That is right you still owe me for that flagship... the republic doesn't just go handing out flag ships you know!"
"Oh my goodness that was SIXTY SOMETHING YEARS AGO YOU OLD FART!!! GIVE IT A REST!"
A blue blade of energy shot forward at amazing speeds, barely able to be deflected by a beam of blood red energy. The blades locked and the two beings leaned in, something other than physical force pressed in so hard that the ground behind each of them rumbled and tore apart before the two energy weapons sizzled and went out. The bearded man pulled his hand back and threw a balled up fist into the hooded mask of the other man. There was a loud crack and both men reeled back in pain.
"Bloody hells my face... you dented my mask!!"
"Ahhh! my fist... I thought that was made out of bone not some metal... what the hell oh bloody bloody hell my knuckles..." The old man's eyes went wide as the masked foe drove his frail but telekinetically enhanced foot up into his foe's groin.
"Blaaaaaahhhhh!!! my foot....why do you STILL wear that bloody cod piece!"
The other coughed and groaned rolling about before leaping out and landing on the other trading blows until they were too tired to continue. It was not until the bearded man was halfway through gnawing through the hood while getting swatted with the handle to the dead energy blade that they both looked to the side to see what looked to be half a dozen colorful equines staring down at them with a surprisingly large amount of facial espression.
"....um...this is weird... why are they staring?...."
One of the smaller animals with bright pink fur and an overly happy look on its face turned to one of the other animals and spat out a long line of syllables the two foes could not understand.
"That sounded like words.... a language... are these quadrupeds sentient?"
"And what is so damned surprising about that?..."
"Get off me you oaf!" He kicked the old man once more and stood up brushing off what remained of his robes before giving a bow and opening his mouth beneath his mask.
"Hek'jzar henikji bvaar tun'kecha que tora'chunnatta? Phen tora chun pa-" Twilight snapped out of the slight daze that the others had not yet and cast a translation spell. "-eat and mighty empire! so I ask of you oh so kindly, if you have any silk to spare for this mindless buffoon has gone and ruined my best robes... granted they are a little past worn but still..."
Twilight could almost feel the almost petty sadness rolling off of him as he looked at the torn and battered robes which honestly she and rarity could surely tell were once quite beautiful.
"They cant understand Ancient Sith you egg headed little priss!"
"Well Im not using YOUR guttural language when I speak to a new race... SOME people like to be graced with tradition and beauty when addressed. Not some dumb as a sack of hammers backwards hick that by sheer luck was discovered by the Jedi order just in time for the war."
"Try galactic basic.... simple things are used by EVERYONE for a reason... because its simple... easy to learn and easy to teach. You dont need to trip over yourself with all your fancy prissy fru fru crap... just find out what needs to be done and do it!"
"Sorry, I cant understand barbarian... why dont you go be a good little boy and play in the dirt over there!"
"I don't care if my saber is broken or not I will gnaw off your head if I have to right in front of these little pony things over here!"
"Um... excuse me... I see you are having some... um... problems... just letting you guys know that we are still here..." Twilight spoke with some rather difficult to hold back frustration.
Both warriors stopped and glanced in Twilight's direction. "Did that pony just use galactic basic? HA! I TOLD YOU!"
"What are you talking about that was OBVIOUSLY ancient Sith... I told YOU!"
"ENOUGH!!!" Twilight's outside voice shook their inner ears and easily caught their attentions. "Ok.... now look, why don't you both just stop arguing for a moment.... and we can settle this all in the morning, get some sleep.... and we will make all this hostility go away in the morning..."
"Im not sleeping within 100 yards of that prissy little whiner."
"And Im not sleeping within 200 yards of that bone headed buffoon!"
Twilight's teeth ground tautly before she took a deep breath and opened her mouth, but Pinkie beat her to it. "Oh oh oh oh! why dont you sleep over at sugar cube corner? and he can sleep at the Boutique that is EXACTLY 201 yards away from eachother!"
"Boutique?.... do you happen to have black silk there?"
Rarity though still rather unsure took a look at Twilight who gave her a pleading look that screamed 'Please just anything to make this problem go away'
"oh... um.. yes.. indeed.. the FINEST of silks...and gemstones, the likes of which you have never seen..." Rarity offered a warm and happy smile giving a 'you owe me' glance at Twilight.
"Sugar Cube corner?... I assume that is... a sweets shop or something?"
"Oh like you would NEVER believe!!!"
"Hrmm... ok I'm in... I haven't had any sweets in about 40 years... I could use some about now...."
Twilight gestured to Applejack Rainbow Dash and pinkie for them to head off with the bearded warrior as She rarity and the still scared senseless Fluttershy went off with the masked warrior.
"Goodness... this is QUALITY.... ma'am... the emperor himself would have hired you in a second." The tall thin bipedal man looked about and Rarity legitimately felt flattered. He did not touch but carefully inspected her every stitch on some of her finer work, more drawn to the longer darker pieces. "Species intent aside had this visit been on the less problematic side I could spend half my fortune at this shop alone...this... this silk.... it looks finer than any I have ever seen... how do you get the color to stay so rich?"
Rarity now completely forgetting about all the conflict before happily replied leaping into the conversation with vigor and passion. Happy to see that this bipedal being was obviously of high class and had an eye for the finer things in life. So long as his previously violent display was not something he brought out everywhere she was sure they would be fast friends. Twilight and Fluttershy on the other hand still stared from a distance, not quite sure how to go about the whole ordeal.
"Oh goodness... this IS delicious...." The old man wiped the frosting beard off of his actual beard, followed by Pinkie who wiped her frosting beard off of her fuzzy pink coat. Only one action was performed with a tongue and the other performed with an invisible telekinetic force.
"So you like parties too?" Pinkie happily buzzed.
The old man brought up a heavy smile. "Oh course! who doesn't love parties. Granted the last party I had was around 13 years ago... that world really knew how to party....a little heavy on booze but still good party none the less...it is QUITE overdue for another party...all this fighting really drags one's spirits down..."
"Brother you came to the right place!!!!" Pinkie slapped a party hat on top of the old man and let off her party cannon before dancing about singing and dancing to his legitimate delight.
"Um... mister... I don't mean to interrupt the party here but...I do have a FEW questions to ask... you know just for the whole safety of the world sort of thing..." Applejack did not want to give the old man a reason to jump back into defensive combat, she had no idea who or what this man was. She had never seen anypony like him. The words he spoke and his previous fight with the other bipedal gave significant reason to worry.
"Oh... no worries" He beamed back happily. "I am Jedi Master Shen Tsetsuhara of the republic...They call me... bleh the war sage.... but heck... honestly I'm just a farm boy from Alderaan...my parents were nerf herders... and hey a Jedi came poking around and found me when I was just a boy... took me up and started training me just in time to see the Sith Empire invade... oh goodness. Never go to war its really not worth it...." He paused waving a hand about grumpily. "But then... on the battlefields of Toran's third moon I think... I met him...and our rivalry began...."
Rainbow Dash peeked in a little closer somewhat entertained by the idea of noble battles and elite troops. "Who?..."
Shen downed another cupcake before staring back.
"Darth Sanguine, the seeker and the keeper, grand lord of the Sith and member of the dark council..." Sanguine gave an illustrious gentlemanly bow after his answer to Fluttershy's question. She seemed a little more at ease with his open friendliness.
"I see..." Twilight remained a bit cautious. "And why did you come to our world?" She held her breath hoping that he didn't say anything along the lines of conquest.
"Oh.. I need a new ship, and honestly... this was the closest habitable world so really... I had no real choice but to land here...as did that Buffoon.... bleh I really cant stand that guy...." Sanguine reached within his own hood and pulled off his mask setting it to the side. Running his fingers over the dent he let out a sad sigh. Finally he pulled his hood back to reveal blood red skin, wrinkled and spotted with age. A perfectly hairless head, his eyes were sleek white iris's over yellow whites and complimented by golden jewelry that fitted gently under his skin at his eyes tracing down. The only thing that seemed unnatural for him at least, was the large darkened lump on his cheek that coincided with the dent in the mask.
"I do hope you don't mind if I take advantage of the fact that you have a demigodess of fashion here? I NEEEEEED new robes and this seems like just the place." He offered a somewhat off putting smile. "Oh and don't you worry about payment, I may not have whatever your kind uses for currency but I can very easily supplement that with what I CAN give..."
He reached out and touched a bundle of rough trash cloth within Rarity's rejected box. Instantly the fabric flared up changing, pulling tight and smoothing out until it gave off a smooth silky feel and soft ruby glow. "Sith Alchemy is quite worth its weight in gold I would think....as well, I am quite out of practice but I am more than willing to grace cloth with my touch if it earns me my place here... at least until I can leave..."
Rarity beamed with delight at the prospect of having somepony of such high standards in her shop helping. She was about to pull Twilight aside to explain that she needed to let Sanguine stay. But the look on Twilight's face showed she already excitedly agreed.
"You can do magic?... you have no horn... this ... this is fascinating!!! you just have to show me more!"
He smiled with a little scoff. "Magic?....no no no these are the sacred Sith arts.... not something as illusive and nonsensical as-"
"Magic?... oh no... its just the force.... see?" Shen's hand extended and the apples pulled firmly off the trees and into the bins. "Pshaa... magic... there is no such thing..."
Rainbow laughed giving him a nudge. "Oh you are in for a surprise... almost EVERYPONY here can use some sort of magic... heck Twilight and Rarity both use magic every single day...how do you think you are understanding us? Twilight cast a translation spell on you both."
Shen picked up the large buckets hefting it over his shoulder. "Really?... odd... I have some troubles believing it... heh.. magic... then again sentient Equines are not exactly common place on most planets... most.."
Applejack yawned looking up at the rising sun almost wishing she would have been able to sleep the whole night instead of deal with all of the ruckus. Thankfully this old man knew his way around a farm. "Hey, by the way Shen... me and the family sure thank you for offering to help out..."
"Oh certainly... um.. Applejack was it?... yes Applejack.. you see its what my father always told me... if you dont work you dont eat... and well.. I ate... I ate a LOT.... so I need to work... its only proper" He hefted the apples up into place making sure they were with others of their kind, being new he was unsure of where everything went but it was easy to be confident that those apples went specifically there with the others.
Applejack peered over the man in curiosity. She had found that his eagerness to help and general excess of positive energy made him very favorable to be around. Though looking at him she was sure he was even older than Granny, but built more muscular than even big mac. If he were a pony he would certainly be a site to behold even in his old age.
"So... uh... Shen... if you don't mind me asking... what is this whole thing with Sanguine about?" Rainbow Dash hovered above the man rather eager to hear the story of action and fighting.
"Oh?... well.. that is kinda... um... a hard question to answer... you see back a long long time ago in what I assume is a Galaxy far far away there was the republic... and the Jedi who lived there kinda serving as protectors.... then there were some... lets say unsavory types... within the Jedi. They wanted to use their powers for something else. And well Im no historian but things happened and they got kicked out of the republic. Banished to outer space, as they flew off they found a world called Korriban and it had a whole bunch of red people on it, eventually the two groups became one and they came back for revenge against the republic. But... that is just the Hyperspace war... at least I think that is what they are calling it... stupid name....all that started before I was born... I don't know if its still going on or not... heck it could be over, the Sith could have won, or the Jedi... I honestly don't know... I just know that me and my men fought against Darth Sanguine and his men... Then after we got lost in the worm hole I'm pretty sure we ended up in another galaxy. He had seven ships and I had ten. We fought so often that after the first few years we only had one ship each and a small handful of crew... that and our apprentices. A few dozen more years and it was just us and our apprentices. Then when we crashed on the same planet... HA!... our apprentices fell in love and decided to stay on that world. We didn't mind all that much. We would continue..."
"But.. um.. why?" The pink pony tilted her head in question, she was rewarded with a similar head tilt from the human.
"... hrmm.... well... there is a lot of reasons..."
"Can you name one? Cause honestly this sounds kinda..."
"Silly?.... oh no... the war was not silly, I can still see that flag ship of his burning.... nothing about war is silly. When I fled he gave chase... our personal battle lasted for over 78 years. We have been lost for most of that!"
"That is what I'm talking about... why fight for so long? why do you want to kill each other so badly?"
"Kill each other?..."
Shen fell back in his chair laughing loudly. "KILL EACH OTHER? HA!!!" He rolled about laughing and chuckling till he nearly teared up. "I was forced into the Jedi order...all my men wanted to fight but still. I was just a boy, 14 years old on the battlefield... I have no loyalty to a group that does that to something as innocent as some poor farm boy... I fight because of Sanguine...."
"Um... pardon?"
"He intrigues me... Never once had I ever come across something that was so opposite to me that I did not want to destroy. Everything about him. I was 37 years old staring down at this boy who had just effortlessly cleaved through an entire battalion of Sith troopers to get to.... can you guess?.... my lunch box. And he wasn't even hungry. He was just curious as to what Sith ate. At first I thought it would be a cinch to just brain wash him or fight and dominate him... but... we fought to a stand still. Afterwards we just talked... He was bland, straight forward, prudish.. but still he was a good lad"
Sanguine pulled the silk firmly over the makeshift mannequin as the others listened to him continue with some still confused faces. "We are rivals yes... but honestly... I would be utterly-"
"-Disappointed if the old bag of bones died. Yeah.. he killed, he hurt people but it was his orders, as was the case with me. you cant blame the soldier for what the general orders. We fought all the time over the past age... but honestly... we never have actually tried to kill each other. I am a Jedi yeah... but I didn't ask to become one. I was made into one...for how high and mighty the Jedi pretend to be they certainly got their bloodshed out of me.....but... Sanguine... Sanguine could see it... we were so different and yet... so similar...."
"was he forced into combat too?"
"Oh heavens no... I was ordered by Naga Sadow to develop and use artifacts on the field of battle, Originally I was not even a combatant. But then finally I joined in on it, after Shen caught my eyes... Goodness I had never seen a man do the things that man has done...It... it kinda made me feel... complete."
He looked over Fluttershy who had just entered followed by Angel bunny. "Dear sweet darkness.. what is that?....so much malicious power built up inside it... its diabolical and fluffy... I love it!" He scooped up angel bunny who started to throw something of a fit before Sanguine's eyes glared wide, It was something akin to the 'stare' but more or less he was simply using the force to make it clear how powerful he was and the bunny had two choices. Enjoy being pet or stay out of the way. Angel obediently sat and accepted the petting.
"You like animals too?"
"Oh of course... I once tamed a Tarentartak. It still ate my old master's brother but I think that was the reason my master let me keep it... not quite as fluffy but still... one never forgets his first pet." He looked down almost longingly as his mind went back to Shen.
"Rarity... Twilight... do you know what my name MEANS?"
Twilight gave a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Um... it.. its the color of blood isnt it?"
He grinned. "Yes and no.... it is indeed the color of blood... which was why I chose to keep the name when I took it from my master.... but, Sanguine also means something else... something important. And it was Shen who taught me this simple... simple thing..."
He reached out at the rising sun with a warm happy smile feeling the warmth on his skin. "Happiness... even in the face of all that is horrible... the darkness, you can still be happy....."
"......Almost nothing made me happy.... parties, women, alcohol, nothing... it just felt hollow. But then I met him and the fighting... it wasn't real anymore. I fought to see him again, I fought because it was fun. I met someone who could think like me without being LIKE me. I mean we still kinda hated each other, but heck... just knowing the other is there is fun. The one great constant. It was a... happiness. You just gotta enjoy the simple small stuff in life. You are rarely EXACTLY like your best friends, heck the best of friends are nothing like you." He stared out at his old scarred outstretched hand.
"There is no Emotion.... there is only peace...."
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion... Through passion we gain strength..."
"There is no ignorance, there is only knowledge, there is no passion, only serenity..."
"Through strength we gain power... Through power Victory.............."
"....There is no chaos, there is harmony.... there is no death, there is only the force."
"And through victory, my chains are broken, the force has freed me...."
"These words were supposed to mean everything.... but they came from those who would steal children in the night to put out in war...."
"......Fools who would never seek peace.....yes... true peace is impossible... but its an admirable idea..."
"... peace is impossible but that is the balance of it. I know because of Sanguine, you cant control other people. War happens... death is as natural as life and you cant stop death just like you cant stop war... "
"Seek peace... but know war....Me and that man... we know war. its all we know these days. And its not a bad thing, OUR war is just how we live our life. Sure he is a pain in the ass, damages my robes and all the such. But honestly he is my best friend. Hes like a brother to me... and what two good brothers don't fight?"
Sanguine laughed happily pulling the last stitch taunt before knotting it. "Hrmm... do you happen to have anything... durable... something bland in color, gray or brown?.... that old bone headed geezer probably has not had a real change of clothes for ten years..."
"Heh... enough talk for now." He tossed the last bale of hay all the way across the field into its spot as part of the little game Rainbow had requested. Even without his powers which he agreed not to use, he almost beat her every time, stealing victory twice out of the fifteen rounds of chores they turned to games.
"I suppose Ill have to go to Sanguine to get my lightsaber fixed Ill let him rest a bit though.... 115 years old...Ha! I've seen younger dirt! but he knows his stuff." He kicked back happily against a tree and closed his eyes.
"Thank you dear... it is magnificent... I am in awe of your talents...."
The new Sith robes kept his usual dark color scheme and general design, only it had much more focus on trimmings and ease of use, flexibility, and Rarity had replaced all the red with a deep violet which Sanguine was actually rather happy about.
"Well then... I believe I should have a few hours to meditate... then Ill deliver this foolishness to Shen....then we can see what we will do... as far as I can guess you don't have any shipyards on this planet..."
"Um... no..at least not what I think you are referring to."
Sanguine just chuckled and sat down calmly in the further corner and closed his eyes in meditation, then eventually, sleep.
"I seriously doubt he is really any serious threat."
"Which one?..."
"Either, or... well both.. they are just... well kinda strange... but lets let the professionals decide..."
A purple dragon burped a spout of green flame and the message plopped into eager waiting hooves. * Dear Twilight, I have seen the dreams of the two strangers you mentioned, and honestly I can tell. Blood and war are thick in their past. But despite this, they have kind and kindred souls. We will do our best to help them if they will accept it. But keep an eye on them for now. I am going back to sleep. Love luna. *
"Well... I guess that is that...." Twilight yawned and nearly jumped out of her fur when Pinkie gave a shout.
"There they are!!!!"
"Shhh... listen..."
The two men stared at each other for a moment before Sanguine handed over a soft bundle of clothes. He happily took it up and handed over his lightsaber. Many ponies stared from the distance at what they could only assume was some subspecies of Minotaur that they had never seen before
"Thank you... and goodness.. I kinda hope there is no way off this world... heh... Colorful ponies...its kinda fun..."
"You know... you are right, but honestly... we don't belong here. Nothing about US... belongs here." Sanguine gave the saber a swat across his palm before frowning. "Unless these ponies know how to repair a stage four power supply I doubt either of our lightsabers will live again."
Shen laughed. "Oh no worries... Ill still fight you with a stick and rocks." They both chuckled before Shen looked up with some sorrow on his face. "Do you think it was all worth it?..."
Sanguine's smile faded. "....no... not even close...I didn't even get to say goodbye to my wife before the mission on the Trinitie's Breath. We had to have been presumed dead decades ago... the only peace and solace we have is that your girl...is probably up to her eyeballs in grand children right now.... "
"Was your apprentice really that... um... oh never mind.. I hope they are happy."
"As do I...they deserved more... we deserved more..."
"Hey now... you're a Sith... don't go all soft of us now..."
Sanguine laughed loudly before looking out at the world around them. "It's beautiful....goodness Shen... we don't have much time left in our lives... my power has been running on empty for the last ten years... as has yours...there is no way off this world... why not just..."
Shen smiled. "Have fun... live it to its fullest for what is left of it?..... sure... lets do that.... plus 100 credits says your ugly ass dies of old age before mine!"
"Oh you are so on...."
Back inside the castle the ponies eavesdropping passed about confusing looks. "That... is kinda a weird friendship...but so long as they don't kill anypony or catch anything on fire Ill be happy." Applejack spoke in her still drowsy state.
Twilight nodded looking down at them through the window. "Not everypony is like us... friends come in every shape and size. You just gotta make due with what you got"
~~The End~~