My Little Pony: Rebellion is Magic

by MetaLord395


Chapter 6: A Visit From the Grand Master

“Has anyone seen Twilight and the others?” Sabine called.

“Negative, Sabine,” Kanan called. “Chopper, any luck?”

From somewhere else in the castle, Chopper warbled something along the lines of, “No, nothing here.”

Kanan sighed. “Chopper didn’t find anything. Where could they have gone?”

“You got me,” Princess Celestia responded. “This isn’t like her at all. She’s not one to just take off without letting anypony know. That’s Rainbow Dash’s job.”

The rebels had just finished planning the evacuation of Ponyville with the alicorn princesses. At noon tomorrow, the citizens of Ponyville would leave in droves for other parts of Equestria. Some would take up temporary refuge in Canterlot; others would leave for the Crystal Empire farther up north; still others would head for other parts of Equestria, the cities of Baltimare, Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia, and so on. If all went according to plan, there would be very few, if any, casualties, and the Empire would not have to mar this utopia with its militaristic ways.

Now there was just the problem of how to drive the Empire away from the Equestrian dimension.
While the rest of the rebels searched the castle from top to bottom for the Mane Six, Ezra and Zeb quietly stole off into one of the rooms adjacent to the throne room. “Come here,” Ezra motioned to Zeb quietly. “I want to show you something.” He motioned toward two
tapestries, both of which displayed the alicorn sisters in their proud, regal beauty, situated on either side of a painting of a weirdly-designed tree. Zeb noticed a book sitting on a pedestal that was stationed in front of the painting. He dusted off the cover and read aloud,

“The Journal of the Two Sisters.” He turned to face Ezra. “D’you suppose it’s referring to them?”

Ezra shrugged. “Must be. I mean, who else has a sister that we have met?”

“Fair point,” Zeb admitted. “Want to take a look at it?”

“Why not?” Ezra said. “Let’s check it out.”
But there was no need for them to even touch the book, because, as if it had a mind of its own and had heard what they had said, the book flipped its pages and sucked them into them. Ezra felt as if someone, something, was blinding him, felt the winds whip up around him and Zeb as they fell. . . .

And they were standing in a throne room, but in a different castle. Ezra saw Princess Celestia and another mare facing other, the latter wearing a look of jealous anger on her face, which Celestia was returning with an imploring look. The second mare had dark colored fur and wore cyan armor with batlike wings sprouting from its back. It looked so much like Princess Luna, and yet . . . it wasn’t. Her eyes had been changed to the wide-eyed slits which emanated a cold disregard for compassion, and her mane and tail seemed to be more . . . ethereal. And just like that, Ezra felt the cold come over him again.

“Luna! I will not fight you!” Celestia was saying to the dark-colored mare. “You must lower the moon! It is your duty!”

“Luna?” the other spat out, as if the name was a disgusting Loth-rat. “I am Nightmare Moon! I have one royal duty now: To destroy you!” She fired a magic beam at Celestia, who quickly took to flight and fled through a hole made in the roof overhead. Nightmare Moon grinned, clearly enjoying the challenge. “And where do you think you are going?” she called, almost mockingly. She pumped her batlike wings, and chased after her sister.

From what Ezra and Zeb could make out from the ground below, the two sisters appeared to be engaging in a spectacular duel, with Nightmare Moon going on the offensive. Celestia fired a few shots back at her sister, but, for the most part, seemed unwilling to hurt her sister. At last, Nightmare Moon managed to land a blow on Celestia, who fell through the hole and crashed onto the floor, out cold. The two rebels looked up in horror as Nightmare Moon laughed overhead.

“Karabast,” Zeb muttered.

Just then, Celestia got up and looked away from the mare who was once her sister. “Oh dear sister,” she said, tears stinging her eyes. “I am sorry, but you have given me no choice!” Her horn glowed, and from a trapdoor, a stone globe holding six jewels emerged. They levitated toward towards her and circled her body until light began to glow. With her newfound power, the white alicorn headed up to Nightmare Moon, a looked of pained regret on her face. As Nightmare Moon fired a powerful beam at her former sister, Celestia used the jewels to send her own laser, which eventually began to overpower and drive back Nightmare Moon’s. Eye slits narrowing, the fallen alicorn could only watch in horror as her offensive faltered, screaming as she was transported to the moon.

“We think,” said a new voice that made the pair jump, “that you’ve seen enough.”

Ezra turned around to see that Princess Luna had somehow been transported right behind them. With a solemn expression on her face, Luna closed her eyes and white magic glowed from her horn. Soon, the three of them were back in the room. Luna levitated the book and put it back on its shelf, then turned to face Ezra. “So,” she said at last. “We see you’ve witnessed our past as Nightmare Moon.”

“Nightmare . . . Moon?” Zeb asked uncertainly.

“Yes,” Luna sighed. “For one thousand years, we were trapped in the moon, with nothing to keep us company but envy and loneliness.
Then, a few months ago, we were purified by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, thanks to the Elements of Harmony.”

“Elements of Harmony?” Zeb asked, confused.

“The jewels that our sister used against us in that fateful battle,” Luna explained. “Of course, in the present day, they have taken on different forms, but in the past they were the source of all harmony throughout Equestria.”

“And . . . um, what was it like being stuck in the moon for a thousand years?” Ezra asked.

“It was cold,” Luna said, simply. “And lonely. We actually think Celestia may have wished she hadn’t sent us there. It must have been hard on her.”

“Hard not to see why,” Ezra mumbled. “We’re sorry for being curious.”

Luna smiled a little. “Curiosity is not a sin, Ezra Bridger,” she said. “But it must be exercised with great caution. Now, come. Let us find Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

All three of them exited the room, where Kanan and Hera were waiting for them. “Well?” Hera asked. “Did you find them in there?” The trio shook their heads. Hera sighed. Where could they have gone?

“Well, I just did a scan of Canterlot and I didn’t find anything,” she said. “So if they aren’t in here, I guess we should just-“

Just then, Kanan’s comlink activated, and Chopper said something. “What is it, Specter-3?” Kanan said. Chopper warbled some more, and Kanan got a shocked, dumbfounded look on his face. “They WHAT?!?” he shouted, loud enough to scare a couple of birds away.
“Whatever it is, it cannot be good,” Zeb muttered to Ezra, who nodded and turned back to Kanan.

“Who told you they were going to do that?” Kanan demanded. Chopper whistled in reply. “Spike? He told you this?” The astromech warbled in agreement. “Okay, we are on our way. Meet us in the Phantom in five.” Chopper signed off. Kanan turned to the others.

“You’re not going to believe this,” he told them. “Apparently, they’re trying to take on the Inquisitor with these things called the Elements of Harmony. I don’t know what those are, but if the Inquisitor is fighting them, then it CANNOT be good. Let’s leave immediately.”

“Karabast! Did they even listen to us?” Zeb growled.

“Apparently not,” Kanan said. He activated the comlink again. “Specter-5, meet us at the Phantom soon. We have a rescue mission to undertake.”

“I’m on my way,” came Sabine’s reply.

“Perhaps we can be of assistance,” Luna said to Kanan.

“I appreciate the offer,” Kanan said, “but leave this to us. We have more experience with these matters.”

“Oh . . . okay,” Luna said, a bit disappointed. She had been hoping to go on this mission in an effort to restore her good name. But it seems like now was not the good time.

“Zeb, Ezra, Hera, let’s leave,” Kanan ordered, signaling to the door. The three rebels ran towards the main doors. As he frantically bolted, Kanan’s head spun with a million questions. What did those ponies hope to achieve by doing this? Did they honestly think they could delay the Empire’s arrival by stopping him? Hadn’t they realized that they had pretty much made things worse for them? He made a mental note to chew them out on this once they were safe.

All he could do now was hope that he wasn’t too late.

--break—

The ponies were losing.

The Inquisitor was so thoroughly enjoying fighting them that he seemed to have made a sport of trying to see how many cuts he could land on them. Every time one of them would charge at him, he would simply Force push them into the Ghost or each other. Every time they tried to flee, he used the Force to bring them back to the ground. One time, Rainbow Dash charged at the Inquisitor, but he deftly dodged her assault and gave her a nasty cut across the cheek before pushing back onto the side of the Ghost, next to Rarity, who had lost a large section of her mane.

“Still think it could get worse?” she snidely asked her companion, who was now struggling to get up on her knees.

“Nope,” the cyan pegasus responded weakly, now struggling to stand up.

Applejack charged toward the Inquisitor and threw a lasso at him. For a second, it seemed that she had won; but then the Inquisitor simply sliced off his bonds with his lightsaber. Grinning cruelly, he faced the cowgirl and made a three-fingered gesture at her. Instantly, Applejack was lifted off the ground, and she felt something strong- no, powerful- closing in around her neck. Horror setting in, she realized that this must have been what killed Celestia’s guard last night.

“Ah yes,” the Inquisitor said as though he could read her thoughts, “you feel it, don’t you? That power you feel closing around your throat? It’s called the Force. It’s my anger reaching out to end your life. It would be pointless to let you live after you should have stayed away when you had the chance.”

Applejack couldn’t hold it any longer. The Force was crushing her neck, crushing it, crushing it . . .

WHAM! Rainbow Dash had managed to slam herself into the Inquisitor, breaking his hold. She managed to jump away before the Inquisitor managed to cut her hoof off. Seeing that this would be a challenge, the Inquisitor faced her, smirking evilly. He clicked another button on his saber handle, and the two blades started to spin around on the axis.

“Oh, come on!” Twilight moaned. “Enough with the surprises!”

The Inquisitor advanced on her, slowly, slowly, aiming for the kill . . .

BLAM! Twin lasers blasts came out of nowhere, taking the Inquisitor by surprise, who held his spinning saber up to deflect them. He looked up and saw the Phantom, its engine roaring and its back door open. There stood the Jedi, his lightsaber ignited and a look of absolute fury on his face. The Jedi turned towards the ponies. “Come on!” he shouted.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy each picked two of their friends and struggled to make it to the Phantom. The Inquisitor snarled at the foolish attempt to escape. He had come so close; he was not going to let them get away! He hurled the spinning lightsaber at the Jedi, which tore through the yellow pegasus’s pink tail; Fluttershy let how a howl of pain as it did so. Just before the lightsaber could impale Kanan, the Jedi struck the red lightsaber with his own and it changed course, heading back to its owner.

“Does yours do that?” Rainbow Dash asked Kanan.

“Just get in!” Kanan groaned.

At last, everypony managed to board the Phantom. Stormtroopers had arrived, and they had started firing at the Phantom, but their shots unsurprisingly failed to hit any of the passengers or the ship itself. The ship flew over into the sky, leaving behind a trail of smoke and dust.

“Leave them,” the Inquisitor commanded his men. “We know exactly who is hiding them.” He seized a bundle of Fluttershy’s tail hair and walked off, smiling.

Meanwhile, on board the Phantom, Rainbow Dash turned to Kanan and Hera, both of whom were fuming with anger. “Thanks for the save, Kanan. How did ya know where to find us?”

“First, we need to get you girls to the hospital,” Kanan started, his angry expression unchanging. “Then, you have a LOT of explaining to do.”

--break—

“You’re lucky he didn’t chop any of your heads off!”

Kanan was seething. He was outright furious at the fact that the ponies disobeyed a direct order and tried to take on a dangerous Imperial operative. That was nothing compared to the ire of the rest of the rebels, who sported looks of rage and fury. Even Chopper made his displeasure known with a long continuous growl. The only person who wasn’t angry was Spike, who just wore a look of extreme disappointment on his face.

“What were you thinking?” Hera yelled. “What made you think you could take on a dangerous Jedi hunter by yourself? It’s a miracle he didn’t choose to end you right then and there!”

“I tried telling them,” Spike said, rolling his eyes.

The ponies were in critical shape. Applejack’s and Rainbow Dash’s bodies sported multiple cuts and bruises, and two of their hooves were covered in casts. Rarity, meanwhile, had managed to end up with a brace around her neck and a large section of her mane cut off. Pinkie Pie now displayed a cast that covered her front left hoof. Fluttershy ended up with a broken wing and whimpered pathetically at the sight of her now-frayed tail; the ends of it glowed red-hot from where the Inquisitor’s double lightsaber cut it off. Of the six ponies, Twilight was the least injured, suffering only a few minor cuts and a back injury, but her expression was one of catatonic shock. For the first time ever, the Elements of Harmony- the keys to all their previous victories- had failed them. If they were worthless against the Inquisitor, then what could make her possibly hope that they could stop an entire invasion?

“That’s not all!” Rarity bawled. “Look what that ruffian did to my mane! He cut it off! Of all the things that have happened to me, this is the WORST . . . POSSIBLE . . . THING!” She leaned back on her hospital bed as if it were a fainting couch and bawled in an exaggerated, over-the-top manner.

“Well, I’m glad someone has their priorities straight,” Sabine snarled, rolling her eyes as well. “He could have killed you and you’re more concerned about your appearance?”

Says the one who got a makeover from Rarity, Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

“Bottom line is you shouldn’t have gone after the Inquisitor yourselves,” Zeb continued. “You should have let us handle it ourselves.”
“Well, why not?” Rainbow responded. “We had the Elements of Harmony, and they never failed us before.”

Ezra let out a hollow, mirthless laugh. “You thought that these Elements of Harmony would save you? You actually believed that this ‘power of friendship’ would work on someone who’s been capturing and killing Jedi for fifteen years now?”

“Elements of Harmony?” Hera and Sabine asked Ezra, confused. Even Chopper turned to face him, curious.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Ezra promised them.

Rainbow Dash was about to protest when a powerful voice spoke to her within her mind. Foolish it was, to go after the Inquisitor.

”Does anypony else hear that?” she asked aloud.

“What in tarnation are yah talkin’ ‘bout, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked, bewildered.

“This . . . voice,” Rainbow responded. “I just heard it. I can’t explain it, but I feel like it’s talking to . . . me.”

“I think somepony’s been hit a little too hard on the head,” Pinkie Pie chuckled, but the same disembodied voice said to her,

Who are you? she thought back, surprised.

Revealed, all will be, in due time, the voice said. Rest for now, you must. Bigger trials, you and your friends will face.
“I know this sounds weird,” Pinkie Pie said, “but maybe she’s not crazy. That same voice is talking to me now too.”

“What voice?” Kanan asked. He closed his eyes and focused. At last, the former Padawan heard a voice say, Good it is, to see you again, Kanan Jarrus.

Kanan had to stifle a gasp; he had not heard that voice in a long time. Master Yoda? he thought back. Is that really you?
Yes, the old Jedi Master said warmly. Found some new friends, I see you have.

You know? Kanan said, taken aback at this revelation.

Everywhere, the Force is, even in other dimensions, the old master said, almost mischievously. Have faith in these ponies, you must. The Force is strong with them.

“What are you talking about?” Kanan muttered, almost aloud. Then he must have realized that he said it for everyone to hear, because the rest of the room stared back at him curiously.

“What is it, Kanan?” Ezra asked his master.

“Kid, you won’t believe this,” Kanan said. “Master Yoda knows about our friends.”

“Who’s . . . Master Yoda?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Master Yoda is one of the oldest and most powerful Jedi to have ever lived,” Kanan explained. “He is also one of the most powerful Force wielders.”

“But what does he want?” Twilight asked, coming out of her shock. “What does he see in us?”

“I don’t know,” Kanan said. “He said something about the Force being strong with you.”

Applejack stared back at him in confusion, then to her friends. “What does that mean?”

The ponies stared back blankly. “I don’t know,” Twilight started, “but something tells me we’ll get a lot more than what we bargained for.”
--break—
Back on board the Lawbringer, Kallus was in deep conversation with the Inquisitor. They had just finished going over the whereabouts of the rebels and finalizing the invasion plans.

“Please take note, Agent Kallus, that in this dimension, the rebels are not alone,” the Inquisitor cautioned the ISB operative. “They have the assistance of these . . . ponies.” The projector flashed an image of six creatures, all of whom Kallus had never seen before in his life. The creatures all had thick hair on the back of their necks and had thick tails as well; they also appeared to go around on all fours. Two of them had wings sprouting out of their backs, and two others also appeared to have long pointy things coming out of their heads. Kallus also noted that all six of them had pictures of ordinary objects on their back legs; he eyed these with a mild curiosity.

“And what did you say the name of the dimension was again?” he asked.

The Inquisitor blinked. “Equestria, I think,” he said, taking care to conceal his uncertainty. “I met them on the outskirts of a city called Ponyville.”

Real original, Kallus thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

“And please note, agent, that the ponies are not to be underestimated,” the Inquisitor continued. “They may look harmless, but they actually can put up a very decent fight.”

Kallus smiled, recalling how he had fought the Lasat guardsman when the Empire had reduced Lasan to nothing. “Of course, Inquisitor. When should we invade this . . . Ponyville?”

“As soon as possible,” the Inquisitor answered promptly. “Lord Vader and Governor Tarkin expect to have full control of the area by the
end of the week.”

“Acknowledged. Kallus out.” The agent switched off the holoprojector and activated another one, displaying the image of another Inquisitor, this time masked by a helmet which made his expression nigh-indeterminable- the Eighth Brother.

“Agent Kallus. What a surprise,” the Eighth Brother started.

“Are you and the Sixth Sister ready?” Kallus asked.

“Yes. She has already assembled a squad of our best troopers and pilots, and she has located the hideout of the rebels.”

“And have you made plans on how to deal with their allies?”

“I leave that to you and Governor Tarkin. We shall soon see if any more of their kind will dare to stand up against the Empire.”

“Has the Inquisitor briefed you on what to expect?”

The Eighth Brother paused. “Yes.”

“Good, in that case you are aware of what Lord Vader and Governor Tarkin expect?”

The image of the Brother’s helmet nodded.

“Good. Be sure to burn the city to the ground when you arrive. It will be a welcome present for Lord Vader. Now get the men ready.”

The Eighth Brother bowed and disappeared.

Kallus stared out of the window of his ship, smiling. So, the rebels were desperate enough to enlist the aid of ponies? And even if they could put up a fight, he would show them just who was on the top of the food chain. The ponies were, in his mind’s eye, doomed to fall.