The Art of Friendship

"But it was so artistically done..."

It was indeed... It was indeed.

As the world went black around him, Grand Admiral Thrawn accepted his imminent death with his final sigh, embracing the darkness and allowing it to consume him. This was the end, and he knew it, and strangely enough... He found himself welcoming it...

It was over. He was over.

Twilight Sparkle was excited, and nervous, what did Pinkie call this feeling? Nervcited?

She had an actual student now. Somepony to teach about the magic of friendship and how amazing it truly was.

The lavender mare sat at the dining room table of her castle with Starlight sitting to her left in front of her, and Spike sitting to her right, as they ate breakfast in relative silence. It had only been a few days since Starlight's reformation, so the mare was understandably a little timid.

"Princess Twilight?" Her voice brought the alicorn out of her musings.

"Starlight, it's just Twilight. You don't have to call me princess." The alicorn said with a smile.

"Sorry, Twilight, I'm just wondering... What and when will our first lesson be?" Starlight asked.

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I... Am honestly not sure. Nothing has come up yet that might make a good learning experience for you." She replied.

"Do you think something will come up soon?" Starlight asked. "This castle is nice and all, but just sitting here with nothing to do is pretty boring, honestly."

"Have you read any books?" Twilight asked.

"Only the ones that looked good to me." Starlight replied.

It was then that Spike piped up. "Maybe she can help Applejack at the farm sometime. She could always use some help."

Twilight brightened up. "That's a good idea, Spike!" She said, patting him on the head. "That could help Starlight pass the time!"

"Sure. I'm up for that." Starlight smiled in agreement.

"Then it's settled, after breakfast we are going to Sweet Apple Acres!" Twilight said.

When breakfast was finished, the dishes collected and cleaned, the three set out to visit Sweet Apple Acres.

Ponyville was lovely that morning, the market was open and bustling with ponies, while the weather team above was hard at work keeping the sky cloud-free as per their schedule, Sugarcube Corner appeared as busy as usual, with ponies trotting in and out to get the Cake's sweets, Carousel Boutique was full of ponies ogling Rarity's latest designs, all was well as they moved through town.

It did not take them long to reach their destination, but something was afoot as they came onto the farm, for Applejack and Big Mac were exiting the house and following a frantic Apple Bloom who was running to the east while saying. "Ah just found him there! He's wearin' this weird outfit and he wouldn't wake up no matter how much ah shook him! Ah think somethin' might be wrong with him!"

Twilight spread her wings to take off, flapping to the front of the filly before stopping her in her tracks. "Whoa, Apple Bloom, who is he? What's going on?" She asked as Spike and Starlight caught up.

"Apple Bloom says she found an earth pony passed out near the east orchard while she was doin' her chores." Applejack said as she skidded to a halt alongside her brother. "From what she's describin' he could be either hung over or sick. Ah don't know which it is quite yet." She responded.

"Lead us to him." Twilight ordered the young filly.

They ran towards the east orchard in unison, before reaching the Pony in question, who was still on the ground.

He had light blue fur, with a mane and tail that was a blackish shade of blue, and he was wearing an outfit Twilight had never seen before.

It was white, all around, with a black belt around his waist and some sort of symbol on his flank where his cutie mark should have been. It looked like a gear of some kind. Maybe he worked with machinery? Twilight also noted some bars on his chest. Six blue bars in a stack of three next to three red bars under three yellow bars. Twilight's limited knowledge and experience with the military made her estimate that these were an indication of rank, this was some kind of military uniform, though from where she could not say.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a slight movement from the stallion in front of her, causing her to step back, before she watched as his eyes opened.

It took all of her willpower not to do one or more of three things.

1. Scream.

2. Run.

3. Hide.

Because the eyes she looked into were red, completely and totally, they had no visible pupils or sclera. These eyes were intimidating, analytic, and curious. Twilight felt the fur on her neck stand up and her ears fold back against her head as the stallion went to stand.

At first he went to stand on his hind legs in a weird manner, before he fell back down onto all fours due to his body's anatomy and weight, and he looked down and studied himself. Twilight watched as his eyes widened, before she saw his features shift into that of curiosity, and he turned and studied her and each of her friends in turn.

Applebloom, Applejack, and Big Mac were all three frozen in fear and shock at the pony's appearance, Spike and Starlight were not faring much better in the situation, and Twilight herself could only breath as she stared back at the stallion as he examined her finally. The creepiest part was that she could not see where he was looking, since he had no visible pupils, only those unpony-like red eyes that seemed to pierce her very soul.

Without warning, he suddenly spoke, in a voice that was calm and collected.

"I am Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Imperial Armada. And I desire to know where I am."