I woke up the next morning and turned myself over to the clock on the wall to find that I’d gotten a grand total of four hours of sleep. I groaned in frustration as the sound of water falling caught my attention. A few moments to clear my head helped me to trace the source back to the bathroom which meant that there must have been a shower and Applejack was more than likely using it. It was then I realized...I had to go. I’d been here for almost a day and nature was calling. Given that Applejack was in the middle of a shower, I had no idea how long she’d be. Finally, I made the decision. If I just snuck in quietly, with all the noise she’d be none the wiser I was there.

Making my way down the hall, I approached the door and used the force to slowly activate the tumblers in the door and opened it silently. I peeked inside to see that the curtains of the shower were closed and Applejack was still in the midst of her task. I looked over to the right and found the toilet close by. The loud raining of the shower would prevent her from hearing me and then I could close the lid, slide out and lock the door and she’d never know I had intruded. I put the seat up and slowly unfastened the button on my pants to take care of business. Ah, relief at last. After finally doing my business, I re-button my pants and put the toilet lid down, but I didn’t flush it, because I understand that flushing a toilet can affect the temperature of the water in a shower, as I’ve learned that the hard way back home. I then make my way to the door, and quietly shut it behind me as to not disturb Applejack.

5 minutes later, Applejack steps out of the bathroom in the same green shirt, and dark green skirt she was wearing last night. “Good morning, Jacen. I knew you had come into the bathroom. You didn’t have to be sneaky you know. You could just yell through the door,” she said, walking towards the kitchen.

“Oh, my apologies. I’ll keep that in mind next time. Did you sleep well? Because I sure didn’t. I’m surprised I got any sleep at all,” I replied. Applejack opened the door that led to the kitchen, and she gestured for me to join her. Reluctantly, I followed. After entering the kitchen, I’m astounded at the look of it. It looks kind of fancy. “What a nice place. Does anyone else live in this building?” I asked as Applejack was opening one of the cabinets.

“No, actually. This apartment complex was abandoned when I arrived, but with all of the boxes of gems I had brought over with me from Equestria, I bought the whole building. I may be the only one here, but that’s better than the entire complex going to waste. Whenever I need money, I go to exchange gems for cash. I got 3 full boxes in the closet,” she replied, then pulled down a box of some kind of food.

“Sounds like you have everything figured out.” Applejack opens the box and hands me something wrapped in plastic. “What’s this? I asked.

“It’s a chocolate chip muffin. Try it, it’s really good,” Applejack replied as she began to unwrap one for herself. Alright. I unwrap the muffin she gave me, and I then took a bite.

“Wow, this is pretty good.” This muffin is pretty tasty, but I better finish it before I start talking again. After we both finished our muffins, Applejack had gotten us both a glass of what appears to be milk. Funny, as I’m used to seeing Blue milk, not white. I take the cup from Applejack, and begin to drink the milk to help wash down the muffin. “Applejack. Pardon me for asking, but why were you crying last night? Are you ok? Because I felt concerned about you” I said after finishing my cup of milk.

“It was just a nightmare, that’s all,” she said as she stared down at the floor for a moment. “I get them every so often, same as anybody. Don’t worry yourself about it.”

Her response didn’t fill me with much confidence. “Are you sure, because…” I was cut off as she slammed her fist down on the table and spilled some of her drink.

“Tarnation! Can’t ya’ll just leave it alone?” There goes that accent she seems to hide. Probably not the best time to push her either after all that’s happened. She calmed down, straightened her hair out and took a deep breath. “Apologies. I just...don’t feel like talking about it right now. Think I’ll head out. Got a lot to do at school. Help yourself to whatever you want and you can use the TV in there. Should be home late.”

I turned to the table where I’d left the holocron under the papers. Staying cooped up in this place wasn’t exactly going to help me in finding my way back home, provided there was still a home to go back to. “Perhaps...I could accompany you? I might be able to be of service.”

“While I appreciate that, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Well, she is stubborn, I’ll give her that. I decide to pull out the oldest trick in the Jedi book. “You will let me come with you.” I said as a subtly waved my hand.

“You can come along if you really want.” She gestured for me to get myself in order and we could get on our way. I should feel slightly guilty but there is something going on with this girl and whether she admits it or not, she needs my help. I put the cup in the sink, and went back into the living room. Leaving the holocron out wasn’t going to be the best idea. No telling who might be drawn to this thing or stumble upon it if there was a break-in. So I tuck the small device in my pocket and proceed to follow Applejack to the door and outside.

A bit of walking got us back to the school building. Hard to believe that just the previous night it was ground zero for a monster attack followed by a laser light show that would have decimated a small village. Now that we are arriving in the early morning, I can appreciate the architecture of the facility much more. She led the way as the two of us entered the school amongst the swarm of activity from the student body, many of which stopped what they were doing almost immediately once they caught sight of us, mostly Applejack I presume. Various whispers and murmuring then filled the halls as we walked passed the many eyes that were now locked on us. Applejack simply raised her nose in the air and carried herself with surprising dignity as she walked to the principal’s office.

When we arrived at the office, Applejack knocked once and waited. “Come in.” came the voice of the principal from the other side as we entered the room. “Hello, miss Applejack. What can I do for you and your friend?” she asked.

“Hello, ma’am. I was here about my punishment and to see if my...friend here, Jacen would be able to attend.”

“I see. How old is he, and how is his name spelled?”

“I am 18 years old, ma’am. My name is spelled J-A-C-E-N,” I replied.

“Normally I wouldn’t so soon, but since he was kind enough to repair the damages done to the school I think we can make an exception. He will need to take an aptitude and placement test as well as help getting caught up with many of his classes. Jacen you will be several months behind no matter what grade you end up placing in and you will need to work to get your credits.”

“I understand. Whatever it takes.” As little as I understand about this universe, it can’t be all that more difficult from what I’ve learned before. Right?

5 minutes later, Applejack had left to go to her classes, and Principal Celestia escorted me to an empty classroom. She asked me to take a seat at any desk and so I chose a seat near the front. I waited as she went through a stack of papers in her hands and set a few in front of me. “Here’s your test book and answer sheet. Just answer the questions to the best of your ability. I’ll be here if you need anything. You have one hour.” She then moved to the teacher’s desk and sat quietly as I opened the booklet, grabbed my pencil and began. To grasp the pencil a little better, I undo the metal clasps on my glove and take it off, revealing my copper-plated cybernetic arm.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Celestia who looked up with a bit of concern and fascination. “It’s a prosthetic. I’ve had it for a year now. I hope that won’t be a problem, ma’am.”

“Not at all.” Celestia went back to reading her book, and I went back to completing the test.

I opened the test booklet and was a bit shocked to see some of the complex work and wording. This may have been a bit more than I expected. I take a short breath and get back to the test. More time was needed than I originally thought but after I’d looked over the sample problems it was a cinch. I blazed through the remainder of the test with several minutes to spare. “Completed the test, Principal Celestia.”

“Very well. We’ll tally up your score and see where you place.” She led me out of the room and into the office area and placed the test in some form of scanning machine. After a few minutes the results popped out of the top. “Wow. I’ve only seen this score for one other student. You scored a perfect 100 out of 100.”

“Well I just tried my best, that’s all.” I said humbly.

“You’ll be happy to know that I can place you in our senior class.”

“Really? That’s...good, right?” I was honestly a bit puzzled.

“Exceptionally. You’ll only have to complete this final school year. You will of course have to take our advanced courses to get you caught up with the others. For the time being, follow me and we’ll get you assigned to a locker as well as get you a class schedule.”

“Of course, Principal Celestia.” I put my glove in my other pocket, and follow Principal Celestia out of the room. After getting my locker and schedule I followed the directions to my first class. I was met with some peculiar looks from the class, one of them I recognized from last night, the girl with the rainbow colored hair. The principal briefly introduces me before I take an available seat and class continues. One by one, I encountered the girls from last night in my classes. They are definitely people worth getting to know...in time.

Soon, lunch had arrived. After getting my food, I looked around for seating. Sure enough, there were open seats at the table where those girls are sitting. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“Of course not, darling.” The purple haired girl with the fancy clothing said and gestured for me to take a seat.

“Thank you.” I take an open spot next to the girl with puffy pink hair. She offers me a pastry of some kind but I politely decline. The group engages me with no end of questions, which is good since I have quite a few of my own and we spend more time talking than actually eating.

“What’s with the outfit? Are you pretending to be a Jedi or something?” the rainbow haired girl asked, who had introduced herself as Rainbow Dash.

“You know of my Order?” I take it she was joking afterwards as her and the other girl’s expression were of confusion. “Oh I mean…”

After a short moment of silence, I take a deep breath. “Ok, I think it’s time I reveal where I came from. Before I was pulled into this world, I was meditating in the Meditation chambers in the Jedi Temple on my home planet of Coruscant. Everything went hectic as I had run out of the chambers and saw 2 other padawans gunned down by clone troopers, part of our Republic’s military. When I reached the main part of the temple, clones were everywhere, wiping out everyone. I tried my best to save as many as I could, but there were too many of them and not enough of us.

“I was soon made a prime target by the one person I least expected: Anakin Skywalker. He was a Jedi like me but he betrayed all of us. Anakin had turned to the dark side. I fought for as long as I could but soon I was backed into a corner and I managed to get this.” I pulled out the holocron. “This saved my life. It brought me here for some reason.” The girls stared at it with amazement and curiosity.

“So cool. Can I hold it?” Rainbow asked as she reached out to touch it.

My body was instantly screaming to keep it away from her. “No, it’s mine!” My outburst didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the students and I had to quickly compose myself. “I mean, it’s a bit dangerous if you aren’t careful. I apologize for my outburst.” I spotted Applejack off on her own eating lunch and decided to change the subject. “If you’ll excuse me. I should be going.” I pick up my tray, and walk over to where Applejack is sitting. I sit down in an empty seat in front of her. “Why are you sitting alone? You could’ve come sat by me and those girls,” I said.

“I don’t want to be around those...girls right now. All I want right now is to enjoy my lunch, finish my classes and go home.” As Applejack continued eating, I spoke up.

“That’s ok. And I just want you to know, when you need to talk to someone about anything, you can trust me. I want to help in any possible way I can.” After I said that, Applejack actually cracked a smile.

“I appreciate that. Thanks. But right now, I just want to be left alone.”

“I understand.” I told her before I got up and headed on my way. It was going to take time to figure her out and one thing was for sure. No amount of force abilities were going to pry anything from her.

2 and a half hours later, the school day was over, and I made my way to my locker. I went to retrieve my things, and pulled out my lightsaber. I should probably not think about leaving that at the apartment. I also retrieved my cloak. “Not sure that’s the latest fashion around here.” I was shocked as Applejack was leaning on the locker next to mine.

“Have to hand it to you. It’s not easy to sneak up on me.” I admitted.

“Uh huh. Let’s get moving. Forecast says the weather’s gonna turn soon and I don’t plan on getting my hair wet.” She gestured for me to follow her as I collected my things. Once we exited the school, I had noticed some of the clouds were grey. “Hurry it up.” She demanded as I picked up the pace.

When we finally entered her apartment, Applejack decided to speak about what’s been troubling her.

Author's Note

Well, that was Chapter III. I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter will be done as soon as possible.

Keep being awesome everyone, and Brony on /)(\