Gusts of wind from the great beast’s wings buffeted the young padawan as it slowly descended before her. Jem scrambled, limbs flailing madly as she struggled to back away from the imposing sight. The creature finally touched the ground, standing impressively on all four hooves. It looked down its muzzle at her, and in those eyes Jem saw a righteous fire. Wings spread wide, the terrible pony took a step towards her. The tip of its long horn gleamed in the sunlight, and the ground shook as its voice rumbled forth, a tremendous wave of power rolling behind each word. “I am Princess Celestia, Diarch of this world, and I know well of your kind. Your villainy will not be tolerated. Leave now, or I will kill you, and any more of you that show your faces here.”
Jem gasped, struggling for breath as she felt the monstrous presence of the pony settle upon her shoulders. Panic welled up inside her, the aura of this great being threatening to drown her. It was as if all the lines of the Force in the entirety of this planet flowed through this one being, this single manifestation of moral hatred and indiscriminate justice that loomed above her. Quickly, she closed her eyes, and forced herself to take a slow, deliberate breath. The words of the Jedi Code raced through her mind. There is no emotion. There is peace. She opened her eyes, fighting away the fear that had threatened to overtake her, and looked back up at the celestial pony. Beside her, she could feel her master, still within his trance, not aroused by Celestia’s cataclysmic entrance. His presence gave her strength. Shakily, she spoke up, trying her best to remain composed and calm “We are friends, not enemies. We come spreading peace and harmony.”
As soon as the words left her lips, a blast of energy collided with her, sending her body flying backwards. Once more, Celestia’s thundering voice shook the world, as she collided with the ground, skidding into a patch of dirt. “Lies! I will not tolerate it!” As soon as Jem hit the ground, she knew that the peace of this situation had broken. She silently begged her master’s forgiveness for her failure, and leapt to her feet. Her hand went to her hip, grasping the hilt of her lightsaber. Years of training went into effect as she set herself in defensive combat position, the soft blue blade of energy flaring up from the hilt to meet her call of need.
Off in the distance, she could see the smaller ponies watching on in horror at the erupting violence. They had shown her kindness, they had wished for friendship. There was no evil at work here. There must be a way to resolve this situation peacefully. And in this place she felt no darkness. Even from the terrifying princess pony before her, there was no darkness. Her thoughts were cut short, as Celestia began to charge her. Hooves rumbled against the ground, propelling the princess towards her at frightening speed, her head lowered, the spear of her horn leveled at her. Closing her eyes, Jem set her mind firmly. If her master could call upon the Force in this place, so could she. She reached out, and the barest trickle of will flowed through her, guiding her. The edge of her blade swung upwards, deflecting the tip of the royal pony’s horn as she deftly sidestepped. Without thinking, she ducked low, narrowly avoiding the outstretched wing that had threatened to collide with her neck.
As Celestia passed her, her hooves kicked up a cloud of dust and ripped up more than a few flowers, her whole body twisting to turn and face the alien threat once more. Jem leapt from the maddened equine god, summoning a burst of energy from the Force around her, launching herself away.She landed several meters away, her feet plowing into the ground as she struggled to maintain balance. She held up her hand towards the princess, and shouted across the distance between the two “Please! We come as friends! We come peacefully! We do not intend any harm!” She glanced towards her master, still undisturbed from his trance. Now would be an awfully convenient time for him to awaken and come help her.
Celestia spread her wings wide and with a mighty flap, launched her body upwards. The sun glinted off of her pearlescent feathers and with another heave of her wings she sent her body once more racing towards the Jedi. The enraged alicorn had her horn leveled at Jem like a javelin thrown from on high. She held up her lightsaber once more, planning to parry the blow just as before. But as Celestia came in closer, Jem could see a brilliant glow surrounding the tip of her horn. Recognition of the fact barely had time to register in Jem’s mind before Celestia was upon her. Just as before, Jem flicked the end of lightsaber upwards to deflect the blow and sidestep her charge. But unlike before, as soon as the blade of Jem’s lightsaber touched the glowing horn, she was rocked by a powerful impact, a radiant burst of light knocking her back. A wave of energy rippled forth from the glowing horn, and Jem felt a cool tingle envelope her body. She was immobilized as a shimmering field emanating from the tip of the horn surrounded her, catching her before she hit the ground. Jem struggled, attempting to move her limbs, but the glistening energy field held her in place.
Celestia stared at her, contemplating as she held the captured Jedi in her magic. Jem looked up at her, pleading in her eyes, hoping once more to convey her message “We come in peace! Please let me go!” A single derisive snort was all that Celestia offered in way of comment, before raising the Jedi higher in the air, flying with her. They rose up several meters, Celestia dragging her all along. Just as Jem was about to attempt once more to communicate with the pony, she felt her magical cage jerk. Celestia twisted her whole body and grunted with effort, bending her neck back and swinging it at the ground. Following her motions, Jem was helpless to do anything but watch and try to brace herself as the ground rose up to meet her. A hideous cracking noise filled the air as earth met body. As Jem’s body rose once more in the magical grip of Celestia, she coughed, a trail of blood splattering down her front as she did so. She cried out in a low moan, the very act of breathing sending spears of pain shooting through her torso, signaling a broken rib. Another cough and a labored raspy breath confirmed her suspicion that one of her lungs had been punctured and was slowly filling with blood. A single red drop falling in front of her vision informed her that the sharp pain above her brow would have to be a gash.
Jem coughed once more, and grasped at straws within herself. Her body was once more rising into the sky. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind. She could not think her way out of this. As conscious thought fled her mind, one memory lingered a half a second longer than the others. It was a simple moment, from years ago, when she had first graduated and become a padawan. Duel after duel, hours of sparring with her new master, with other padawans, and even with younger initiates, had all ended in her defeat. She had been ready to quit. And then her master had revealed to her the simplest of truths. “What you have to understand, little Jem, is that we never truly fight. All you do, all you see, hear, breathe, feel - you must do it all through the Force. All we ever do is listen. We feel the flows of the Force moving through us. What we do with our sabers and with our bodies is simply the byproduct of listening to the symphony of the Force. We are simply dancers, all of us.” The Force in this place was a slow plod, and it was hard to hear. Instead of the lively flutes and flitters and the constant bright hum of energy that flowed through all the rest of the galaxy, all she could hear was a dull buzz. It was soporific and slow. She reached out through the ocean of dull noise, trying to find anything she could latch on to, anything she could dance to.
She could feel her master nearby. Through his own mastery of the Force, he had managed to froth the energies around him into a steady pulse, though still not very lively, and not at all loud. Off in the background, she could feel the two friends she had almost made. Pinkie Pie and Rarity, they had said they were called. They were a serene waltz juxtaposed next to a passionate and ad libbed rhapsody. But still, they were both muted, as if playing their song from the bottom of a deep well. And then her attention latched onto the terrifying princess who had her in her grasp. She was by far the loudest thing she had encountered on this planet. She was a whirlwind of energy, a hundred different rhythms all working as one. Jem reached out and touched the edge of Celestia’s aura, tapping into the incessant pulse. Suddenly she knew what to do.
Her body twisted as she called upon the flowing cadence, and she pushed outwards with her consciousness. At first she felt resistance, the vicegrips of energy keeping her confined tightly. But as she gave herself over more to the beat of the Force, the links of the chains surrounding her groaned and bent, and with a final push of willpower, snapped. Her limbs stretched free as the magical energy surrounding her dissipated. Air flew past her face as she fell from the heights to which she had been raised. She had broken free, but she knew these were just the opening steps of her dance. She twisted in the air, moving to land on her feet. As soon as her feet hit the ground, however, she launched herself back upwards, legs pushing down with a massive effort, springing her back into the air with incredible speed. The Force guided her towards the princess, who had watched on with shock as her magic had been broken. Jem flew towards the magical pony, her lightsaber held at her side, ready to strike.
As Jem came level with the flying princess, her body twisted, the glowing blade of her saber soaring straight for Celestia’s chest. The shocked princess barely had time to react, her neck twisting to send her horn to meet with the edge of the blue edge. The lightsaber hissed and spat as it encountered the rare substance it could not cut. Jem’s blade bounced away from the now glowing horn with force equal to that she had put into her swing. Unfazed, she let the momentum of the deflected blow carry her into another blow, her blade now coming to bear on the pony’s flapping wing. Celestia twisted her body, the meat of her wing just narrowly avoiding the blue blade. The saber instead grazed upon her side, searing the pearly white skin, leaving a blackened scar in it’s wake.
Celestia cried out in pain, her body writhing away from the burning blue ember. Jem was now falling towards the ground, the momentum of her leap now succumbing to gravity. She looked up towards Celestia where she was still flying. All she managed to see was Celestia’s twisting body and powerful hind legs tensing and springing before a hoof landed squarely against the side of her face. A cracking sound echoed through her skull, and streams of crimson spewed from her nose, staining the white hoof that had struck her. Her balance gone, she soared downwards, straight into the ground. Her chest slammed heavily into the dirt with a meaty thud, and agonizing razors of pain shot through her as the rib she had broken earlier screamed its injury louder than any willpower she had to fight it down. A sob of pain and a weak groan escaped her lips into the grass as she lay there and bled, the blade of her lightsaber dying with her descent.
Behind her she could feel the air currents flow over her as Celestia landed behind her. Fear gripped her heart as she attempted to move, to flee. She struggled to her hands and knees, and had already begun to call upon the Force to help launch her away from the mad god, when she felt the hard impact of a hoof push her to the ground. The shadow around her ominously spoke of the murderous pony above. She was about to struggle once more to her hands and knees, when a meaty thud and a sickening crack sounded in the air above her. Shock-numbed pain rocketed up her back as a powerful hoof clove its way into her spine, right above her waist. She could no longer feel her legs.
She was going to die. This white pony was going to kill her, and she would become one with the Force. In a way, she almost looked forward to the peace. There would be no conflict, no pain. Simply the Force. She could simply be. There is no death, there is only the Force.
As she accepted her fate, and the peace of unbeing washed over her, a powerful blast of energy tossed her into the air. As she flew away from the stroke of death, her eyes rolled around to search for the source of the interruption. A robed figure flew through the air towards Celestia, a crimson blade carving the air as it flew at her. Jem hit the ground with a painful thud, her vision blurring for a moment as the searing fire of her rib and lungs brought her close to unconsciousness. The blurred image came into focus as she saw Celestia back away from the swarm of strikes and slashes, the red blade relentlessly flowing into attack after attack. A grin spread across her face as she watched. Her master had come to save her.
Celestia looked frantic as she dodged swipe after swipe, and twisted her neck this way and that to parry the multiple blows that rained down upon her. Atoka’s blade flowed like a river of precision as he pushed the princess back. Strike flowed into slash, one after another with no hesitation or pause, like a perfectly choreographed performance. Every parried blow had an immediate response, and every dodged swipe of the blade carried into another with fluid grace. Yet even as he kept up his relentless assault, somehow his saber never touched Celestia directly. As he pushed her back, she seemed to feed off of his energy, responding in kind with movements that became ever more fluid and graceful. Whereas her first parry was a desperate attempt at survival, every one thereafter became quicker and more fluid, until it seemed that she was as much part of the dance as Atoka. As Jem watched, she became disheartened. Her master was slowing in his advance as Celestia grew more skillful in deflecting and dodging his blows.
The whirling onslaught of red that was Atoka’s lightsaber had been slowed to a standstill. Celestia was no longer simply dodging his blows, and had begun to counterattack. She parried a blow and responded with a riposte, attempting to gore him with her horn. Thus did the onesided assault become a proper duel, as he dodged her, and sent a strike of his own back towards her. The storm of red and white brewed in a whirlwind of attacks and dodges, parries and counterattacks. They traded blows back and forth, neither side able to land a proper injury to the other. After a few moments of tiring battle, first blood was drawn as Celestia managed to tear at the Jedi’s shoulder, ripping the sleeve of his robe and slicing shallowly into the skin of his arm. Without missing a beat, he responded in kind, his own blade kissing the side of her neck, leaving a black singe where it had failed to impart serious injury.
Jem closed her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath. As her master dueled, she could find a way to make herself useful. The rhythm once more called to her, and she allowed it to breathe new life into her. Bone ground against bone, and blood wept openly from the gashes across her face. The pain nearly blinded her, but she had to press on. It was not her own action, but the Force flowing through her that pushed her body into an upright position. She clamorously pushed herself up, and with a massive grunt of effort erected herself into a standing position. The first step was like pushing her limbs through wet gravel, but the second was easier, and the third something less than impossible. She tightened her grip on her lightsaber, the blue blade roaring once more to life in her hands. She dared not even think about her actions, as the pain and fear may overwhelm her. She would only do as the Force directed. She would dance once more.
The blur of red and white strikes was her destination, and she intended to join in to overwhelm the white force. She managed to force herself into a run as she moved towards the fray. Right as she reached the scene, and was about to enter her blade into the battle, a fresh gout of red and a shattering cry force her attention ahead. Celestia’s horn was coated in dark crimson, the same shade as the fountain that now poured out of her master’s side. He groaned and stumbled backwards, his flow broken by her successful strike. Jem gasped and sprinted the final meters to him, crying out as she did so. Atoka ignored both the wound and her, and instead leapt back into his assault. The brief moment of interruption brought by his injury, however, turned out to be the moment Celestia had been waiting for.
The mighty white pony leapt back away from the fray, her great wings propelling her into the sky above them. As she hovered, her front hooves collided with each other to produce a massive peal of thunder. From the powerful clap, a shockwave extended out towards the two injured Jedi. Jem and Atoka were both blown back by the blast of energy, nearly knocking them over. Her voice rumbled forth, shaking the lines of reality as she spoke with the authority of the planet “Enough! I will not tolerate this any further! By my holy fire, be cleansed from here!” With those words, her horn began to glow, a dense red light shining down from her radiance. Suddenly, the sun above them seemed to come alive with a light it had not had before. All around them, everything was aglow with furious shades of red, as an unbearable heat shone down from the tyrant sun above them. The red fury came from the sun itself and bathed all around them in it’s oppressive glow. As Jem and Atoka simmered under the hideous heat, they looked up at the offending star. But as they looked up, they saw that the light had coalesced. The bath of righteous hate had pooled in the sky above them, and taken physical form. Floating in the air above them, standing twin to the sun was a massive ball of fire. Celestia’s horn grew brighter, and the ball of flame shrunk, pulling in on itself, growing brighter and more intense as its power was reigned in.
With a snarl and a flick of her mane, Celestia used her magic to throw the ball towards the Jedi, the searing inferno sphere heading straight towards Atoka. It flew like a bolt straight towards the weary Jedi. Instantly, his saber blade flew up to deflect the attack, but the very instant the miniature holocaust touched his blade, it vanished, overloaded by the intense energy of the white hot sphere. The orb of fire slammed directly into Atoka’s chest, sending his body crashing to the ground with a thud. Jem, watching her master fall as if in slow-motion, cried out for him, but her voice was quickly drowned out by his own. As his body fell down, he was contorted in visible agony, and his voice was the sound of torn and bloodied vocal chords as he screamed in hellish pain. The ball of white hot energy, instead of searing through him, had latched onto his body, and sent tendrils of radiant energy across his torso and limbs, wrapping him in a net of pure burning torture. Jem went to her knees, eager to try to help him, wanting to end his pain, protect him, anything to save him.
The holocaustic tendrils burned and seared his flesh, black char growing around them in a network of ash that spread across his body. Jem was forced to watch, unable to do anything else, as the white vines of agony slowly seeped into his body. The energy gradually dissipated, the white hot cords turning yellow, then orange, then red, and very slowly fading from existence. As the vile filaments faded, Atoka’s screams ceased. His body was limp, his eyes closed. Jem could detect only the barest pulse of life from her master. Quickly, the hope that had sustained her continued fight faded from her body. She turned around and saw that the princess pony had landed behind them. She was walking towards them calmly. Celestia knew as well a Jem did that they were about to die. Peace. All Jem wanted was peace.
Jem struggled to her feet and turned to the advancing pony. The lightsaber fell from her grip, landing upon the ground with a thud, its blade immediately shutting off. Jem fell as well, landing on her knees. She opened her arms wide in a clear gesture of submission. She closed her eyes, and slowly deliberately spoke, begging the only way she could. “Peace. Knowledge. Serenity. Harmony. We want peace. We want harmony. We want.... friendship.” She could feel Celestia had stopped, only a few meters in front of her. She went on, the calm of the Force flowing in her voice, no desperation in her words “We came in peace. We wished for friendship. Kill me if you must, but I will fight you no longer.... We came in peace.... We came in peace.”
A moment of silence passed as Celestia contemplated the prostrate figure before her. To Jem it seemed like an eternity within seconds. She was at peace. If she died here, she would die as a Jedi should: With no hate or fear in her heart. She opened her eyes and looked up at the princess with no fear, no hatred, no darkness in her eyes. The face before her, painted in shades of white, crowned by gold and ethereal glow, seemed conflicted. Her eyes, twin orbs of pearl and amethyst, mused the terrible situation as they looked down at Jem. They questioned, they screamed in rage and misery, and wept at the monstrosity they reflected, both without and within. Celestia took a single step back, confused by the sight before her. Her brow furrowed and she seemed to panic at the image of the defenseless creature. She quested for meaning in this inglorious conclusion that had been presented to her. Celestia’s eyes welled with tears, and spoke, her voice weak and unsure, intoning with the pain of a shredded resolution, and the bitter anger of millenia gone by “You... you must.... I have to protect my people” Her hoof raised apprehensively as she prepared to end it.
Before the princess could carry out the evil deed, however, Jem’s vision was obscured by a cloud of pink fuzz. The pink pony she had met before, Pinkie Pie, was standing between her and Celestia. The pink pony was standing on her hind two legs, upright, the front two legs outstretched protectively, to shield her from the Princess. Beside her, the white one, Rarity, had come up as well, and was standing resolutely beside Pinkie, one motherly hoof resting on Atoka’s chest. Pinkie was first to speak, her high-pitched voice sounding hurt “Princess, stop it! They didn’t hurt us! They were gonna be our friends and eat cupcakes with us.”
Rarity spoke next, turning to more properly face the diarch, removing her hoof from Atoka “Your Highness, please, listen to Pinkie. We know that these ‘creature’s’ arrival comes at a bad time, but they mean no harm. They walk on two legs, but they elsewise look nothing like the invaders you spoke of. And, they were behaving perfectly civil up until your arrival! “ Her voice was at once chastising and reverent, torn between adoration and admonition.
“They were just learning to talk, and they like cupcakes, and they wanted to be friends, and we were gonna ask them to play some games with us! They aren’t hurting anypony! They weren’t even being meany mean-pants, not even regular mean-pants! The only pony here being a meany mean-pants is you, Princess! They said they wanted to be friends, like, a hundred times, and you wouldn’t listen!” The pink pony let out her tirade with full force, not attempting to mince her words as Rarity did.
Celestia backed away, stunned by the display of her subjects. Her hoof was raised apprehensively, and her wings were tucked against her body. Her ears lay flat against her head as she looked with confusion at the invaders and the ponies protecting them. Her eyes darted between all of them. She looked at Pinkie Pie, so uncharacteristically fierce, and Rarity, breaking etiquette to help protect these aliens. Her eyes fell on the burning scars all across Atokas body, and a visible cringe of guilt emerged on her face. Finally,her eyes fell on Jem, and Jem looked back up at her. Celestia stepped forward, slowly, her wings tucked away, her movements calm. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Pinkie Pie sidestepped to watch what would happen. Celestia bent her neck down to look into Jem’s eyes. Even after the fierce battle she had just fought, Jem had to admit that her eyes were remarkable. Dark pools of black surrounded by the richest amethyst she had ever encountered stared into her, examining her intensely. Jem simply sat there, allowing herself to be looked into, opening her soul for the white princess to see. The words that came from Celestia were small, contrite. “You don’t want to destroy us, do you?”
Jem answered with perfect honesty “No. We wish only for friendship. We came to learn of you”
Celestia raised herself back to her full height and nodded, her mind apparently made up. She turned away from Jem and Atoka and took several steps away. Jem held her breath, awaiting the princess’s verdict. Celestia paused, apparently examining the world before her, before turning back to them “Come, Ponyville is close. We have ponies there who can help to heal you.”