DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars Rebels or Friendship is Magic. That would be Lucasfilm/Disney and Hasbro, respectively.
In the deepest dark of space, several TIE fighters converged on a solitary craft that was trying to evade a menacing Star Destroyer. Shots were exchanged as the ship maneuvered its way through the flurry of gunfire to get its crew to safety without getting damaged. In other words, a typical day for the Ghost rebel cell.
"Hera!” yelled Kanan Jarrus, a twenty-eight-year-old human male who was the leader of the team. “I'd appreciate it if you could find an opening!"
"Buy me some time, love!” yelled Hera. “Zeb! Ezra! Man the backward gun!"
"Karabast,” muttered Garazeb Orrelios, a Lasat warrior. “Come on, kid.” He and Ezra, a blue-haired teenage Padawan from Lothal, went to the Phantom and started firing the gun at the incoming TIEs. Meanwhile, Sabine Wren, a sixteen-year-old Mandalorian artist, went with the astromech C1-10P, aka Chopper, to the main engine room to fix the shield and communications.
"Ghost to Phoenix Squadron,” Hera spoke through a communicator. “We're kinda busy at the moment but we will meet you in a safe haven."
"Acknowledged, Ghost,” came Commander Sato's voice. “We will be waiting for you."
Meanwhile aboard the Star Destroyer, the Grand Inquisitor stared very intently at the Ghost. What move would the Jedi and his Padawan make next?
“All guns, focus fire on their fuel tanks,” he commanded in a cold voice devoid of any compassion. The Star Destroyer focused its forward firepower on the Phantom.
"Hera?” Ezra Bridger called nervously. “Where is that opening?"
"Found one!” yelled Hera. She flipped some controls and the Ghost began its jump to lightspeed. Unfortunately, a shot from the Star Destroyer's ion laser hit the back of the ship at the moment, damaging the hyperdrive so that it went too fast, even for lightspeed standards. Out of the corner of her eye, Sabine noticed a wormhole open up right in front of them.
"We're about to enter a -” she started, but it was too late. The Ghost entered the wormhole and started spinning out of control. Ezra, desperately holding onto a railing for support, felt as though he were being separated into blobs of putty and then reassembled.
Meanwhile, on board the Star Destroyer, one of the officers said five words that he knew the Inquisitor would not want to hear.
"The Jedi have escaped, sir."
The Inquisitor scowled, furious that his prey has escaped.
“Ezra?”
Hera’s voice called out to him. Ezra did not respond.
“Ezra, are you okay?”
Ezra groaned. He opened his eyes groggily to see that Chopper landed right on top of him. Surprised, he got up and shoved Chopper off him. Chopper warbled a growl, evidently displeased that he ended up on him, and sent an electric shock headed his way.
“Ow! Hey!” Ezra yelled. Chopper giggled.
“Kid, enough fooling around,” Kanan called. “Sabine, how is the Ghost?”
“Well, we are in a better condition than it is,” Sabine replied. “I just ran a diagnostic. Even though the exterior is in one piece, we are going to be stuck here until we can get the main engine fixed.”
“That’s just brilliant,” snarled Zeb. “Are you saying we won’t go anywhere?”
“Not for a while,” Sabine confirmed.
“Great,” Zeb groaned. “Now we’ll be stuck here, without any help, in the middle of wherever here is!”
“Where is here, exactly?” Ezra asked. He opened the door of the cargo bay. And what met his eyes next overwhelmed him.
The Ghost had crashed in the middle of a field. To the far right, a dark forest towered over them like the Imperial buildings on Lothal. Nearby, a winding, snaking river flowed as rapid as a Loth-cat. But the weirdest part was the population. As far as he could see, Ezra saw horses of every size and color walking about, most of them with weird symbols on their back legs. It was apparent that he and the rest of the crew were the only bipedal creatures around.
“Where- where are we?” he asked.
“I don’t know exactly,” Kanan answered uneasily. “We’ll see if we can find some help. And keep your weapons handy. I got a bad feeling about this,” he added, checking to make sure both his lightsaber and blaster were handy.
The loud noise had woken Rainbow Dash from her usual afternoon slumber. She could see a large cloud of smoke coming up from somewhere in the field. As always, Rainbow’s first instinct, being the daredevil that she was, was to check the site out for herself.
When she arrived, she was surprised to see an orange and grey spaceship, which had to be as big as Canterlot, lying nose-first in the dirt. One of the doors was opened, possibly by force. Rainbow, too fascinated to think of anything else, dashed inside.
She saw arrays of computer terminals whirring and beeping to life, the stuff that she knew that her friend Twilight would have gone gaga over. She walked on farther down and saw four rooms with unoccupied beds, one of which had colorful artwork all over the front door, which she found rather impressive. But the weirdest sight of all had to be the six mysterious figures she saw walking away from the cruiser.
Are my eyes deceiving me? Rainbow asked herself, eyeing the mysterious green creature with two tentacle-like extensions coming out of the back of its head. She also got an eyeful of a . . . purple haired creature with something on its back? And what exactly was that short orange thing?
“This is too weird,” she said to herself. “I need to find out who these people are. And hopefully Twilight will be able to clear this all up.”
Ezra was getting nervous. He had never felt like an outsider before, and that was excluding all the time he had been on his own on Lothal. With each passing minute, he could feel that he and his friends were drawing more and more unwanted attention to themselves. Sure enough, some of the locals were throwing looks of mingled curiosity and fear their way. A few of them were whispering, muttering, muttering about them, perhaps? His hands automatically went to his lightsaber-stun blaster, but Kanan placed a hand on his back, and he knew that now was not the time to use it. He closed his eyes, and tried to tap into the Force, but for some reason, this place was not as strong with it as Lothal was.
“Hera?” he asked nervously. “Where are we, exactly?”
“I don’t know,” Hera answered with a distinct unease, eyeing the horses around them curiously. “Let’s just find someone who can help us fix our engines. Then we can leave.”
“The question is, can someone help us?” Sabine asked, twirling her blasters. “We seem to have jumped back way into the past.” She motioned toward the horses carrying carts everywhere. Some of them had weird pointy things sticking out of their heads. A few others had wings sprouting from their backs. One thing that most of them had in common, however, is that they had weird pictures of everyday objects on their hind legs.
“I dunno,” answered Zeb sarcastically. “S’pose we can try asking someone around?”
“It’s worth a shot,” Ezra replied. “As long as you don’t try to scare anybody around here. Remember what happened back on Lando’s farm?”
“I . . . wha . . . it was not my fault!” protested Zeb.
“It’s your face’s fault,” replied Ezra smugly.
Zeb growled in anger. “Kid . . .”
“Enough, both of you,” Hera interrupted. “We need to keep walking.”
So they kept going through the town, hoping to find someone who looked like they would have at least some idea of how to fix a starship engine. But as time passed, the town grew less and less crowded, and the Ghost crew’s hopes faded and faded.
“Well, this was a waste of time,” Ezra grumbled as they reached the outskirts of a city called Ponyville.
“If you ask me, this whole place is a giant riddle.”
“If it’s a riddle,” Zeb asked, “what’s the question?”
Ezra smiled mischievously. “Why is Zeb acting like such a . . . WHOA, GET DOWN!” he yelled as a sky blue blur dove straight down from the sky at them. Instinctively, the Ghost team, save for Chopper, sprawled onto the ground. The blur did a few loop-de-loops before stopping in midair to reveal a sky blue winged horse with violet eyes and a rainbow colored mane and tail. Both Ezra and Kanan got up turned their lightsabers on, preparing to defend themselves from the winged creature. Hera and Sabine, meanwhile, drew out their blasters (Zeb took his Bo-Rifle out and turned it into a rifle). Even Chopper got in on the act, activating his electric shocker.
“Well,” the blue winged horse started, “I have seen a lot of strange things all over Equestria, but out of all of them, you guys definitely take the cake.”
“Karabast! Are you saying that I am strange?!” roared Zeb, aiming his Bo-Rifle at the winged horse.
“All of you are,” the horse retorted. “And what in Celestia’s name are those things?” It motioned to Ezra and Kanan’s lightsabers.
“None of your business,” snapped Ezra. “We are in need of some assistance, in case you have not noticed!”
“Yes, we are,” Hera affirmed. “Our ship has crashed in the middle of the field and we need some assistance fixing both our hyperdrive and engine.”
“Huh,” the horse said. “I did not understand what you just said. Fortunately, my friend Twilight Sparkle may be of some help to you.” It did a few loop-de-loops in midair. “My name is Rainbow Dash. Who are you?”
“My name is Jabba. Jabba the Hutt,” snarked Ezra, who found the horse’s name to be truly ridiculous. He pointed to each of the members in turn. “And these are Kanan, Hera, Sabine, Chopper, and Zeb. Where are we, anyway?”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Well, Jabba, you and your friends are in the land of Equestria. Ponyville, if you want to be more specific.”
“Ponyville?” Ezra asked Kanan, who shook his head and said, “Kid, don’t ask. I have never heard of that place.”
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Rainbow Dash replied. “You are evidently not from here, judging by the fact that you all aren’t ponies.”
“This . . . Twilight Sparkle, I take it she can fix our ship?” Kanan asked.
“Well, she is the most eggheaded pony I know, so she has a better chance of solving your problem than I do,” Rainbow replied. “Want me to show you the way to her place?”
“Thanks, but no,” Zeb replied gruffly. “We’ll take our chances on our own.”
“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked. “It’s almost sundown, and almost nopony else is out in the streets at this time.”
“Nopony?” questioned Ezra, who found the word very unusual.
“And this will be okay with Twilight somehow? She won’t be upset with us just going into her house like that?” asked Sabine.
“Nah, I am sure she’ll be okay,” Rainbow dismissed her concerns. “Follow me.”
Twilight was exhausted. She and her assistant Spike had just spent the entire day alternating between reorganizing the entire library and trying to deal with the damage Discord had given her. She sighed, longing to hope for things to return to normal, yet knowing that the possibility was, at best, a distant one. The last thing she wanted was for any anomaly to happen.
As always, it was too soon for her to say that.
A loud knock came from the front door, followed by a familiar voice. “Hey Twilight! It’s me, Dashie!”
Twilight opened the door. She was always happy to see her best friend, but she was definitely not ready to meet the strangers who followed her into the library.
After Rainbow Dash flew in, five of the strangest creatures, who Twilight had never seen before in her life, entered. Except for a small orange thing that rolled around on wheels, the strangers all walked on their back legs. But what struck Twilight as really weird was that two of the newcomers were unlike the others: one of them was a weird purple creature in a green uniform with fur on its face and something long strapped to its back. The other was a tall, slender, green-skinned woman in a brown-and-orange pilot’s uniform who had goggles on her forehead and two long green extensions coming out of her back. The other three creatures were all decked in the strangest sorts of clothes that Twilight had ever seen in her life.
“Um, Dash?” she finally managed to ask. “Who . . . who are these guys?”
“Strangers from . . . out of town. Their ship crashed near the Everfree forest,” Dash answered. She pointed to each of the strangers in turn. “Say hello to Kanan, Sabine, Zeb, Chopper, Hera, and Jabba.”
The robot named Chopper warbled.
“And I take your name is Twilight Sparkle?” the girl named Sabine asked.
Twilight sighed. “Yes, it is, but what is it that you ask of me?”
“As your flying horse friend just said, our ship crashed and we were under the impression that you would be able to help us,” Ezra explained.
“I am a Pegasus, thank you very much!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Yes, thank you for the completely unnecessary and redundant rehashing of what she just said, Ezra,” the creature called Zeb snapped.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow interrupted, pointing an accusing hoof at Ezra. “Your name is Ezra? You said your name was Jabba!” Ezra sighed and facepalmed, clearly frustrated by the creature’s inability to understand his sarcasm.
The situation also seemed to be getting on Twilight’s nerves as well. “Look, can somepony, anypony, please tell me what in Faust’s name is going on?”
“Somepony?” questioned Zeb. “Karabast! What’s with the vocabulary around here?”
“Karabast, karabast! What does that word even mean?” Rainbow Dash yelled in annoyance.
“It means right now, there are gonna be some fists flying if you don’t explain what is going on here!” retorted Zeb.
“Can this situation get any more awkward?” lamented Ezra.
As if to answer his question, some new voices came out of the blue.
“Honestly, Pinkie Pie, you need to be a bit more careful-“
“It wasn’t my fault, Rarity-“
“Actually, I think Rarity’s right-“
“Listen to yerselves, y’all are acting like a bunch of fillies now- Howdy, who are ya and what are y’all doing here?”
Twilight’s remaining friends-Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack-had just come into the library,and judging by the looks of surprise on their faces, they were obviously startled by the presence of the newcomers; indeed, Pinkie Pie jumped up and gasped, then ran out of the room, while Rarity seemed to be eyeing Zeb’s and Sabine’s uniforms with a mixture of revulsion and intrigue. Ezra and Zeb looked at each other, silently wondering whether it was their bickering that scared the pink pony they saw out of the room.
After what seemed like a long time, Rainbow Dash finally broke the silence. Pointing to each of the ponies in turn, she said, “Oh hey girls. Guys, meet our friends, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, who you just saw run out of the room.”
“Oh my. What is that you are wearing?” Rarity asked, pointing at Sabine.
“This?” Sabine asked. “It’s my Mando armor.”
“Well, it looks absolutely dull, darling,” Rarity responded. “Come over to my place and I will be sure to dazzle it up.”
“Thanks?” Sabine responded, unsure. “But it is fine the way it is.”
“Yeah, Rarity,” Applejack said. “Yah can’ just go around forcing yer fashion ideas onto everypony who comes by. They may not appreciate it.”
“Applejack, darling, you should know me by now. I was only trying to help,” Rarity countered.
“Anyway,” prompted Spike, who had just finished cleaning the bookcases, “who are you guys and what are you doing here in Ponyville?”
Kanan was about to open his mouth and repeat what Hera had said to Rainbow Dash a few minutes ago when suddenly Pinkie Pie came back with what looked like a cannon and started saying in a really fast and high-pitched manner, “These-guys-are-a-rebel-cell-from-the-planet-Lothal. Their-names-are-Kanan-Ezra-Sabine-Zeb-Hera-and-Chopper-and-they-are-fighting-against-the-Galactic-Empire-which-is-this-group-made-up-of-really-big-meanies-who-want-to-oppress-their-world-and-so-many-others. Kanan-and-Ezra-are-two-Jedi-who-use-the-Force-which-is-this-magical-field-that-allows-them-to-move-things-from-a-distance-and-occasionally-have-visions. Zeb-was-a-Lasat-Honor-Guardsman-who-witnessed-the-Empire-massacre-his-people. Sabine-is-a-Mandolorian-artist-who-was-an-Imperial-Academy-student. Hera-is-a-Twilek-who-keeps-the-team-together-and-who-is-an-amazing-pilot. Chopper-is-an-astromech-who-served-during-the-Clone-Wars-and-was-found-by-Hera-when-he-was-shot-down-over-Ryloth. And-now-they-are-here-because-they-had-a-fight-with-the-Empire-and-their-ship-was-sent-into-a-wormhole-and-crashed-near-the-Everfree-Forest-so-now-they-need-Twilight’s-help-in-getting-their-ship-fixed-so-they-can-go-back-to-their-world-or-else-the-rebellion-is-doomed-to-fail.”
Silence. Nobody spoke. At last, after seemed like an eternity, an impressed Hera started, “Wow! That was pretty much accurate! How do you know?”
“Oh, just a hunch,” Pinkie smiled, a childish spark in her innocent blue eyes. “And now, let me show you how we ponies welcome newcomers into Ponyville!” She lit the cannon, which shot out a cake, balloons, party favors, punch, and all sorts of presents onto a table in the far side of the room. Everyone on the Ghost team, even Zeb and Chopper, were impressed. Kanan turned to Pinkie and said, “Wow, Pinkie! Do you do this often?”
Pinkie giggled. “I do this all the time, silly! Just look at my cutie mark!” She pointed to a design of three balloons on her hind leg with her pink and bushy tail.
“Cutie mark?” Ezra asked, confused. He was starting to get the feeling that nothing in this world would ever make sense.
“A cutie mark signifies what a pony’s special talent is, darling,” Rarity answered, fluttering her eyelashes.
“For example, my cutie mark signifies my exceptional skill at fashion. Pinkie Pie’s is representative of her love of fun and parties. And-“
Her words were drowned out by a long shriek coming from Fluttershy. “Who is that?” Fluttershy squealed, pointing her hoof at Chopper.
“This is Chopper, as I’m sure your friend told you,” Ezra answered.
“I never saw his type before,” Fluttershy cooed. “Hello there, little buddy. I am Fluttershy.”
Chopper warbled a warning that was lost on the yellow pegasus’s ears. “Aw! Isn’t he the cutest thing?” Fluttershy smiled.
Seeing that Fluttershy was not in any way listening, Chopper gave her a quick electric shock, sending the pegasus yelping and running away.
“Chopper!” Hera snapped. The astromech warbled an angry protest. “I don’t care! You can’t go around tazing people-or ponies-like that! Apologize!”
Pinkie was suddenly in front of Chopper, a very angry expression on her face. “Nopony hurts my friends! NOPONY!”
Chopper returned a series of beeps which said something along the lines of, “Oh I can’t, can’t I?” Then he sent another electric shock into the air flying at Rainbow Dash.
“YEOW!” Rainbow roared in pain. “Chopper! I’m gonna dismantle you with our bare hooves!” She dove straight down at Chopper, who had already started rolling away very quickly with an angry Pinkie in pursuit.
“Leave a few parts for me, girls!” Ezra ran off after the two ponies, eager to get his revenge on the droid for shocking him earlier that day.
Twilight sighed and buried her face in her hooves. “There goes my peace and quiet for tomorrow.”
Chapter 2: A Visit to Royalty
If Twilight thought that she could dismiss the previous night’s events as hallucinations brought on by a lack of sleep due to studying too much, the following morning would show her just how mistaken she was. She was having a wild dream about going on an adventure with her favorite historical wizard Starswirl the Bearded when two loud voices popped her blissful imagination like a helium balloon.
“Pinkie Pie! My paint is not a toy!”
“I’m sorry, Sabine, I wasn’t aware that your paint was explosive!”
“Well, it could be, if it was in the wrong hands- er, hooves!”
And just like that, the dream was over. Resignedly, Twilight got out of her bed, dreading the horrors that would come with the advance of daybreak. It’s a miracle that Celestia hasn’t sent me a letter yet, she thought, shuddering at the mere prospect. Who knows what would have been her reaction to six alien strangers crashing unannounced in her kingdom? She headed downstairs to find the Ghost crew and all her friends, sans Rainbow Dash, at the table where Pinkie Pie had put all the party food the previous night. And that could only mean one thing: Breakfast was cake and punch.
At the table, Spike, who had somehow gotten the idea that Lasats could crunch down on minerals just like he could, kept trying to offer Zeb some jewels, to which Zeb responded, in an effort to be polite with his host, that he would rather have food he could actually eat. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was chatting animatedly with Kanan and Hera about their work in the Rebellion, but shot a dirty look at Chopper every now and then; it was clear that she wanted to pay him back for hurting Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Indeed, whenever Chopper made so much as a grunt, Fluttershy would yelp and hide under the table until she was convinced that Chopper was not going to attack her.
Meanwhile, at the other side of the table, Ezra was entertaining Applejack and Rarity with tales about his tutelage as a Padawan and his adventures with the Rebels over platefuls of chocolate cake and glassfuls of fruit punch. The two mares listened with rapt attention as Ezra regaled how he had once infiltrated the Imperial Academy on Lothal as a cadet in order to get important information regarding khyber crystal shipments, and how recently he and the team have stolen shipments of supplies from the Imperial authorities.
“Seems like y’all have been having a mighty grand time,” Applejack started, a few crumbs of cake on her lip.
“You make it sound so glamorous,” Rarity agreed, taking down a sip of punch.
“Oh, come on, now,” Ezra chuckled, in an effort to stay humble. “Sure, it might have been awesome, but it also has been pretty dangerous. I can’t count the number of times I nearly lost my own head battling the Empire. In fact, more than once, we have had to fight an Inquisitor who was intent on converting me to the Dark Side of the Force.”
“Ooohh, sounds scary,” shuddered Applejack. She took another bite out of her cake.
“What is an Inquisitor, by the way?” inquired Rarity, not taking her eyes off him as she sipped her punch.
“It’s . . . well . . . well, let’s just say that if you do see one, it is best to scram right away,” Ezra answered. “In fact, once I actually used the Dark Side thanks to him. Luckily, Kanan was there when it happened.”
“What did it feel like?” Applejack asked.
Ezra paused. “I don’t remember,” he said slowly, as if recalling something unpleasant. “But I do remember that when I woke up, I felt . . . cold.” He shivered. “That is something I have trying to work on ever since.”
Twilight let out a huge yawn. “Morning, everypony . . . and everybody,” she started, eyeing Kanan and Hera. She took an empty seat in between Pinkie Pie and Chopper. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”
“Probably oversleeping again,” Applejack mused. “Chopper, see if you can bring her down here.”
Chopper giggled, probably at the prospect of trolling the pegasus again. He went to the middle of the room and flew up to the second floor.
“Why do ah get the feelin’ somethin’s gonna go wrong?” Applejack asked uneasily.
“He’s Chopper. You can never expect him to do anything without doing something to you,” Zeb answered matter-of-factly.
“Y’all sound like this has happened before,” Applejack noted.
“It has,” Zeb, Ezra, and Sabine answered bluntly.
“Well, I’m surprised he managed to last this long with you,” Rarity said. “If he did something like that to me, I would have-“
But what Rarity would have done, they never got to learn, because at that moment, a big metallic CLANG echoed throughout the room, followed by the shouts of Rainbow Dash struggling. Then Chopper rolled in with Rainbow Dash holding onto him and tapping him with her hooves. It could not have been clearer that she was trying to get revenge on him for shocking her last night.
“Nopony is gonna save you this time-“ Rainbow Dash started, but Chopper, apparently begging to differ, spun around quickly and threw her into whatever was left of the cake and punch, spraying Zeb and Ezra with bits of chocolate. The two Ghost members glared at Rainbow, who grinned back at them sheepishly. Zeb grabbed one of Rainbow’s hooves and was about to punch her when Hera interceded,
“GARAZEB ORRELIOS!” Pinkie Pie burst out into hysterical laughter. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity looked as if they would die of amusement if they didn’t stifle their mouths. Even Twilight managed to crack a smile for the first time in days.
“It’s not my fault!” Zeb protested. “Rainbow managed to cover me and the kid in cake! What was I supposed to do?”
“Don’t blame me!” Rainbow argued. “It’s that twisted, sick tin can of yours who’s at fault here! What does he have against ponies?”
“She has a point, Zeb,” Kanan conceded. “I suggest you apologize to Rainbow.”
“Thank you!” Rainbow sighed.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Dad!” Zeb snapped back. “But did Chopper just make a fool out of us in front of them?” He motioned angrily to the ponies on the other side of the table.
“All the same,” demurred Kanan, “it is not like she intentionally did that on purpose. In fact-“
Just then, Spike made a face like he was about to vomit, but instead burped out a few flames of green fire, which formed into a scroll. Ezra grimaced, noting to himself that he should tell Spike that there were better alternatives to communication that he could show them.
“Letter from Princess Celestia,” Spike announced. He handed it to Twilight. “It’s for you.”
Twilight opened the letter. As she read more of its contents, her eyes shrank in terror.
“Everything okay, Twilight?” Hera asked, concerned.
“Read for yourself, please,” Twilight responded rather shakily. She handed the letter to Hera, who read it loud for the whole table to hear.
My dearest Twilight,
There have been reports of a strange rock crashing near the Everfree forest. The whole of Canterlot is abuzz with worry, as some ponies, Luna included, believe that this will mean ill for all of Equestria. Furthermore, Spike has informed me that you have hosted six extraterrestrials last night. May Luna and I please request an audience with you and your new friends? I wish to learn the intent of these strange individuals.
Please wait outside the Royal Palace at twelve noon. We will be waiting for you then.
Regards,
Princess Celestia
“I’m dead,” Twilight said hollowly when Hera had finished. She had been dreading this moment from the minute the sun had illuminated the whole of her room that morning.
“Who are these Princesses Celestia and Luna?” Hera asked Twilight.
“They are these princess sisters who rule all of Equestria,” Rainbow responded when it was clear that Twilight was not going to respond. “Celestia is in charge of moving the sun around its path, and Luna is responsible for the path of the moon.”
“And these princesses of yours want to see us?” Zeb questioned.
“So that they can be sure that you mean them no harm,” Pinkie responded cheerfully.
“A-and what if they decide that we are unfriendly and decide to kick us out?” Ezra asked nervously. “W-where will we go then?”
Rainbow laughed heartily. “Jabba, you are starting to sound a lot like Twilight here. We all will vouch for you and your team. Besides, if anypony –or anyone, in this case – has to go, it has to be this bucket of bolts right here.” She motioned over to Chopper, who growled menacingly at her. But one stern, piercing gaze from Hera forced him to calm down.
“Besides, Princess Celestia is a kind, honest, and fair ruler,” Rarity continued, finishing the last of her punch. “She will hear you and your friends out. I should know; I spent some time with her myself.”
Ezra let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know.”
“Okay, then,” Kanan said. “I suggest that we decide how all of us will get over to the Royal Palace. Zeb, you, Hera, and Sabine will take the Phantom; at least that ship is still operational. Chop, you will go with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, since they are the only horses- er, pegasi around. Ezra and I will go with the rest of the ponies.”
“Sweet!” exclaimed Pinkie. Fluttershy and Rainbow, however, were less than enthused.
“Do I have to be stuck with it?” Rainbow complained, pointing to a now growling Chopper. Fluttershy glanced nervously at the droid, and it was clear that she wished she had been assigned to either the Phantom or Kanan and Ezra.
“My decision’s been made,” Kanan said in a tone of absolute finality. “I suggest we leave as soon as we can.”
And with that, everyone but Chopper and Rainbow got up and turned to go. Rainbow turned to Chopper menacingly.
“Just so you know, don’t even think of hurting me or Fluttershy,” she whispered. “I have my eyes on you.”
And with that, she turned to leave, but not before giving the droid a smack with her tail.
A few hours later, everyone was standing in front of the royal palace in Canterlot. Zeb and the girls had parked the Phantom on the royal garden next to a gushing fountain where a pair of fish was playing. Kanan was getting nervous. He had never been in the face of actual royalty before, not unless you counted Queen Amidala from Naboo. Hera and Sabine, meanwhile, were doing something you usually would not find them doing: acting concerned over their appearances; indeed, both of them were asking Rarity if they looked all right. Even Zeb and Ezra were doing their best to make a good first impression; it wasn’t every day that they were visiting royalty.
At last, the palace doors opened, and two stallions covered in gold royal armor came out like a procession. Following them were the two most magnificent-looking unicorns Ezra had ever seen: one was a beautiful-looking white unicorn with a blue, purple, and sea-green tail and mane wearing a crown and a golden necklace; and the other a dark blue winged unicorn with a tail and a mane of midnight blue, who had an image of a moon on her neck. Both horses wearing surveying the Ghost crew members intently.
“You are in the presence of Princesses Celestia and Luna!” Spike hissed in Kanan’s ear. “Kneel!”
Picking up this cue, Kanan knelt to the ground. One by one, the other rebels followed suit, even Chopper, who bowed so low that he practically touched the ground.
“Rise, strangers,” the dark blue unicorn started solemnly. “Who art thou?”
Kanan went up to the unicorn and bowed. “Greetings, Your Majesty. I am Kanan Jarrus of the planet Lothal. And this is my band of rebels.” He motioned to the rest of the team.
“What is thy business here in Equestria?” the unicorn asked. “Wherefore art thou here?”
“Sister,” the other unicorn started, “thank you for your introduction, but I will take it from here.”
The other raised an eyebrow, suspiciously. “Very well then, I will wait for thee inside.” She turned around and went into the castle.
The white unicorn turned to the team. “Forgive my sister,” she said. “But she is still recovering from spending one thousand years in the moon.” Zeb looked at Ezra, who responded with a confused shrug.
“My name is Princess Celestia,” the white unicorn continued. “I see you have had the pleasure of meeting my sister, Princess Luna. Follow me.”
They all followed Celestia into the palace down the hall to her throne room. Ezra looked around, marveling at the sheer magnificence of the place. He noticed that almost everywhere were stained-glass of Twilight and her friends defeating monsters or demons. He tapped Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “I notice that you and your friends are everywhere here.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Don’t you know it. We’re awesome.”
At last, Celestia ascended to her throne with Luna standing right beside her. She turned and faced the rebels. “I believe you need to explain to us why you are here,” she addressed Kanan.
“Your Majesty,” Kanan began, “we came to your world by accident. We were fighting the Empire when our ship received quite a blow to our hyperdrive. Next thing we knew, we ended up next to a forest and we were hoping you could help us get it up and running again before the Empire tracks us down here.”
“The Empire?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. “As in the Crystal Empire?”
“No, Your Grace,” Hera intervened. “Kanan is talking about the Galactic Empire, which is the oppressive regime that has reigned in our galaxy for at least fourteen years now.”
“And the big rock near the Everfree forest, I presume it was thy ship?” Luna asked.
“Yes, Your Grace,” Hera answered.
“But wherefore should we help thee?” Luna responded. “How is Equestria to be harmed if we do not help you?”
“Luna,” Celestia said in a warning tone. Luna backed down submissively.
“I don’t mean to be rude with Your Grace,” Sabine started, “but the Imperials are not the kind of people who give up. They have tracked us all over the galaxy, and they have slaughtered thousands, perhaps millions of rebel sympathizers. If they track us here, they will not care who is innocent and who is not. If you can grant us some protection while we make some repairs, we will make sure that no harm befalls your subjects.”
“How do we know that you are not Imperials yourselves?” Luna shot back. Ezra was rather taken aback, rather stunned to be associated with the very people he was fighting against.
“Your Majesty,” he spoke up, “with all due respect, I lost people I cared about to the Empire. We all lost people we cared about.” He struggled not to tear up. Applejack and Pinkie Pie watched him out of the corners of their eyes, concerned. “A-and I know you know these ponies and I know we’ve been here for less than a day, but the Empire doesn’t care about anybody. The Imperials don’t even care about their comrades. If innocent ponies die because we led the Empire right here, we wouldn’t be too happy with ourselves. And I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t, either.”
Celestia turned to Luna, exchanging solemn glances. The two of them furiously whispered. The rebels waited with bated breath, waiting, waiting-
“All right, I have made my decision,” Celestia announced. “I’ll be assigning you six royal guards for your protection. If it is true that this Galactic Empire you speak of cares nothing about friendship, then I suggest that you learn more about each other, strengthen the bonds of camaraderie that you forged last night. For we can only fight a true force of chaotic evil by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust.”
“Yes!” Rainbow Dash flew into the air, excited. “I can’t wait to show these guys my Sonic Rainboom!”
“We’ve all seen you do a Sonic Rainboom,” Rarity responded, rolling her eyes.
“I meant them!” Rainbow motioned over to the rebels. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
Soon, all of them walked out of the palace after saying their goodbyes and paying their respects, now accompanied by six of Celestia’s guards. Pinkie Pie walked up beside Ezra, who was now really struggling to hold his emotions in. “Ezra, are you okay?” she asked, concerned.
“I’m fine, Pinkie,” Ezra responded in a tone that indicated he was not up for talking. “I really am.”
“Okie dokie,” Pinkie replied slowly. She shot Applejack a look that clearly said, You have to confront him about this later.
Applejack nodded in silent agreement.
The ISD Lawbringer hovered in orbit over Lothal. In the bridge, Agent Kallus paced to and fro, growing more and more impatient by the second. What in blazes was that damned Inquisitor doing? Did he not catch the rebels yet? Did he not realize the importance of the task they were given?
A second man came up to him. “You have an incoming message, Agent Kallus.”
“Thank you, Konstantine,” Kallus answered. He activated the central communicator, which now displayed a holo-image of the Inquisitor.
“This is the Inquisitor calling ISB-021,” the image started. “I have news regarding the Lothal rebels.”
“You finally caught them?” the ISB agent asked, eager to find out.
The Inquisitor’s face contracted into a frown. “No,” he said at last. “The rebels have temporarily eluded me, but not for long.”
Kallus was not pleased. “Need I remind you that Governor Tarkin expects us to bring this cell down within the next 72 hours? Need I remind you that as long as that they are free, they pose a threat to our security?” he pressed on. “You wouldn’t want to end up like Aresko or Grint, now, would you?”
The Inquisitor paused, forcing himself to absorb and appreciate the cruel irony of the ISB operative’s words. “No,” he said at last. “However, my pilots have reported that they were last seen going into a wormhole. I can’t say where it leads yet, but it is still open. What should we do?”
Kallus felt a grin open on his face, the same grin that was present when he fought the accursed Lasat. “Dispatch a probe droid. Find out where the rebels are hiding. If anybody is hiding them or giving them shelter, seek to destroy. Once we locate their hideout, we will come in sheer force of numbers and claim it in the name of the Empire. We will snuff the spark out before it catches fire.”
“Of course. Inquisitor out.” The image bowed and faded.
Kallus stared at the planet Lothal below, smiling. The rebels were no longer safe, even if they jumped into the wormhole. Once he found them, he would destroy the rebels’ allies and leave them at the mercy of the Grand Moff himself. There was nowhere left for them to run.
