The walk back through the forest was one fraught with never-ending questions to Jorcen from a certain bookish pony.
“Are there more like you?” She wasn’t even walking anymore. She would teleport beside Jorcen, ask him a question, get left behind pondering his answers, and repeat.
“There is a whole order of Jedi. Though not all are like me.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean there are other aliens who call themselves Jedi and that not all of them are as strong as me.”
“Are they stronger than you or weaker than you?”
“Both.”
“Holy smokes! There are aliens stronger than you?” Spike asked from beside Jorcen.
“Indeed. Grand Master Yoda leads the order and I don’t believe myself powerful as other Jedi like Master Kenobi or Master Windu even though I share their rank.”
“I…I just don’t understand. How are you so strong? You can’t even use magic.”
“A Jedi draws their strength from the Force, an energy field present in all living things.”
Twilight was having a hard time breaking down the scene she just witnessed. This alien had stood on equal ground with Princess Luna and he wasn’t even the strongest of his order.
“A-are you invincible?”
“Of course not Twilight. I age as all life does and I can be killed. Many people of the galaxy see the Jedi as unbeatable heroes of the Republic but we are not invincible.”
“The Princesses were supposed to be!” Twilight yelled without thinking. A shocked expression formed on her face before slowly melting down to regret. “I’m sorry Jorcen.” She held her head low in shame.
Jorcen stopped and placed a gentle hand on Twilight’s back. “I’m the one who should be sorry. My presence seems to be disturbing your longstanding beliefs. Cultural contamination is no longer a concern in the galaxy today but it would seem otherwise. For that I apologize.”
Twilight lifted her head and gave Jorcen a far-off look. “It’s all too much too fast.”
“I know. I wish things could have been different. We could have handled first contact better than my crashing into your world.”
“Are you gonna be ok Twilight?” Spike placed a claw on her legs, looking up at her with worried eyes.
“I’ll be fine Spike. I…I just need time to wrap my head around all this.”
“C’mon let’s get back to the library so you can rest.”
The rest of the trip proceeded in silence. Twilight slowly regained her composure along the way, a fact that was of great relief to Jorcen.
As they neared the library, Twilight seemed to notice something and smiled. She slowed her pace and fell behind Jorcen, letting him take the lead as they reached the door. Jorcen thought nothing of that and opened the door.
“SURPRISE!!!” Yelled a high voice followed immediately by confetti cannons firing across the room. Jorcen’s instincts kicked in and before he knew it his lightsaber was in his hand and held in front of him, humming softly and eliciting a cry of terror from the one who yelled.
“Whoa Jorcen take it easy.” Spike tentatively patted him on the leg trying to calm him down.
“What…what just happened?” Jorcen asked dumbfounded that he let this startle him.
“It was supposed to be a surprise/glad you’re out of the hospital/welcome to Ponyville party.” A pink maned pink furred pony said, poking her head out from under a nearby table.
“Why couldn’t I sense you?” Jorcen said to himself more than anyone else.
“Because it wouldn’t be a surprise otherwise.” The pink pony stated happily, hopping over to Jorcen. He extinguished his blade and turned to Twilight, his expression begging her to explain. Could this pony conceal herself with the force?
“This is Pinkie Pie, party planner extraordinaire. She did something similar on my first day in Ponyville.”
Jorcen looked around the room and saw the decorations that were strewn all about. Balloons were everywhere, banners were hung from the ceiling proclaiming welcome and in the center of the room was a large table covered in colorful sweet smelling confectionaries next to a glass bowl filled with a red liquid.
“Apologies for my reaction.” Jorcen bowed as was his traditional greeting. Pinkie Pie stopped hopping and waved her hoof dismissively.
“Eh don’t worry about it. Just watch where you swing that glowy stick you had. You might pop a balloon!” She said excitedly, pulling a small cannon from behind her and firing it into the air and giving the room a new coat of confetti. “Now C’mon it’s supposed to be a party!” Pinkie disappeared and reappeared near a contraption connected to a couple speakers which started playing whimsical music.
Twilight and Spike gladly partook in the festivity while Jorcen was admittedly uncomfortable. Though it would be rude to decline food when it was offered to you he thought. He cautiously picked up a plate with a colorful array of small edibles.
“What are these treats called?” He asked inquisitively. Pinkie zipped over to him in a blur giving a look of absolute shock.
“You don’t know what a cupcake is? What kind of alien doesn’t know what a cupcake is!?” She looked to the others in the room who looked back at her with disbelief. “Oh right hehe alien.” She looked back at Jorcen sheepishly for a moment before a large smile broke out on her face. “Well? Go on! Give it a try.”
Jorcen was surrounded by expressions of expectation as they waited for his reaction. He grabbed one of the cupcakes and gave it a brief inspection before taking a small bite. The taste was incredibly sweet but was balanced by the less sweet moist cake beneath.
“This is wonderful. Thank you.” Jorcen finished the confectionary and folded his arms in his robes.
Pinkie stared at him like he was an alien…even to aliens.
“That’s it? Not even a smile?” Pinkie was in his face with a concerned expression.
Jorcen forced a smile and bowed his head slightly. “Apologies Pinkie, I have dedicated my life to the Jedi and I’ve learned to suppress my emotions as a result of my training.”
“Suppress your emotions? Even happieness?”
“To an extent. It’s a demanding life.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask Jorcen.” Twilight stepped forward. “You’re not common in the rest of the galaxy are you? The Jedi I mean.”
“No, the restrictions on Jedi recruitment keeps our number low.”
“How low?”
“Let me put it this way. There are many planets upon which an individual has never seen a Jedi and even more planets that have never heard of the Jedi.”
“Before you told me that Jedi were the peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic. How can there be planets where your order is unheard of?”
“The Jedi Temple is on Coruscant, the galactic capital. The capital has a population of approximately one trillion. The Jedi Order numbers in at about ten thousand individuals. As much as I’d like to share the history of the Jedi with you Twilight, everything you could want is in that datapad I gave you.”
“I imagine I’ll have a lot of studying to do then.” Twilight said, unloading her belongings in the corner of the room.
“Soooo…can you do any tricks?” A sudden Pinkie Pie said from Jorcen’s shoulder.
“Tricks?”
“Yeah! Tricks, like you had that cool light stick thingy before. What else can you do?”
Jorcen was once told that the force was not to be used in petty ways such as tripping a fellow Jedi or parlor tricks. However Jorcen was no longer a padawan and his master was not around to chastise him.
He outstretched his hand and closed his eyes, focusing on the piles of confetti that littered the floor. The confetti blew and swirled on an invisible breeze and began to dance across the room. He floated them into a myriad of shapes, including galactic landmarks and amazing creatures. He opened his eyes and saw that Pinkie was in a stunned silence as she watched his display with childlike awe. It was then that he noticed a third pony in the room. Standing in the doorway was a white unicorn pony with an elegant purple mane. She looked on with an equally starry eyes expression. Another few minutes passed and Jorcen was done with his ‘puppet show’ throwing the confetti into the air, showering the room for a second time. Everyone in the room gave him a round of applause to which he simply bowed.
“That was beautiful Darling.” The white unicorn said, finally making her way out of the doorway. “I was afraid you were going to be some kind of brute but I’m glad to see you possess a degree of elegance.”
“That’s very kind of you to say miss…”
“Oh excuse me, where are my manners. My name is Rarity.” She whipped her mane with a flourish and struck a slight pose.
“Lovely to meet you miss Rarity. I am Jedi Master Jorcen Alketses.” Jorcen bowed to her as was his custom. He wondered if there would ever be an end to it.
“Such a gentleman but may I ask you a question darling?”
“Certainly.”
“How did you do that without a horn? It’s almost like magic wasn’t involved at all.”
“It’s some kind of energy manipulation he calls the Force.” Twilight answered for him. “With that power he was able to fight evenly with Princess Luna.”
“My goodness, Master Jorcen is this true?”
“Your princess forced me to defend myself yes and while I came out ahead I don’t believe she was using her full power.”
Twilight found that bit of information relieving. Ever since she witnessed the fight she began to question the power of her monarchs, something that rattled everything she thought she knew about magic. For now though her thoughts were temporarily appeased.
“So what brings you by Rarity?” Twilight asked, eager to change the subject.
“Oh…well to tell you the truth Twilight dear, I don’t remember. My apologies but I suppose that show Master Jorcen performed distracted me.”
“No worries Rarity. C’mon upstairs and let’s see if we can’t figure it out together. Jorcen? Will you be ok down here for a bit?”
“I’ll be fine. Best of luck to you two.”
And with that Jorcen found himself alone with Spike and Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie while I appreciate the welcome party I’d very much like some time to meditate. Would it be alright with you if we reschedule another occasion such as this? Perhaps with all of your friends?” With the force to guide him he knew just what to say to the pink party mare to send her into a long gasp and momentary jaunt into the air
“That’s a great idea!” She cried in delight and zipped out the door, leaving a puff of dust in her shape behind her.
“What a curious little creature.” Jorcen bemused to himself.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Spike watched her go with a tired look on his face. However he was quick to recover as he wandered to the side of the room and took out a colorful picture book and quietly began reading it. Jorcen was quick to follow suit and found himself a nice spot to sit and calm his mind. Collecting himself in his mind, with the force to guide him, often lent him to curious visions of what was, what is and what could be. Though this time despite his desire he could not find peace. Something was interfering with his meditation. Something…on the planet. What could it be? He thought. Even a planet such as this was not safe from the cloud of the dark side. Though try as he might he could not breach the fog to find its source and before he knew it hours had passed and a particularly worried looking unicorn was tapping his leg impatiently.
“Yes Twilight? What is it?”
“What do you mean ‘what is it’? You’ve been sitting there with your eyes closed all day.
Jorcen looked out the closest window and saw that it was indeed late, the sun painting the skies the colors of dusk.
“Forgive me. A Jedi can spend hours, if not days meditating.”
“Well I’m glad you’re alright. I’ll know now for the future but now that I have your attention I have another question.”
Jorcen knew this kind of hunger for knowledge and gave Twilight a knowing smile. “Just one?”
“Well…just one for now. Your datapad said that for a Jedi to attain the rank of Master they have to train an apprentice to knighthood. If that’s the case, where is your apprentice?”
“She’s not my apprentice anymore but I imagine she’s helping the Republic’s war effort. We would often join our forces together but I haven’t seen her in months.”
“I hope she’s alright.” Twilight’s concern for someone she had never met was appreciated by the older Jedi. Jorcen knew in his heart that she still lived and was fighting to put an end to this war. With nothing else important to attend to Jorcen and Twilight figured out a place for him to stay for the time being.
***
Ryloth Space, Outer Rim Territories.
Jedi General Norana Venn had just docked the last troop transport ship into an Acclamator class assault ship following the successful defense of her homewolrd of Ryloth. With this sector of space secured she was to return to Coruscant and receive new orders from the Jedi Council. Norana retreated to the quiet of her personal quarters, sitting on the floor, legs crossed where she would meditate until her fleet exited hyperspace. Once her mind was calm and her senses open to the force, she saw herself standing in a cloud of thick, dark smoke. Her yellow skin and brown vest were barely visible to her through the cloud that obscured her sight. It was then that she caught a glimpse of something, something that put her at ease. It was as if this feeling was familiar to her, a distant echo of a presence she knew very well. All came rushing back to her as she was shocked out of her meditative trance with a feeling that left her lekku twitching in confusion.
“Master?”