The weekend had finally rolled in for our heroes, as the Equestria Express moved along the rails as the engine huffed and chuffed. And inside the third coach from the tender, was Sturider, Rax, and The Crusaders were seated on one seat as Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant, Spike. Whom of which got acquainted with Sturider the other day, and was more than impressed by him. As the train rolled on, Sturider watched the landscape moving along through the window as he looked towards the front where the engine continued chugging along.
"I must say that the landscape of Equestria is very fascinating. It reminds me of a lot of many planets I visited during my time. And the trains here are very unique." said Sturider.
"Why? Don't you have trains where you come from?" asked Spike.
"Well, yes we do. But the trains from where I come from don't run on steam. They run on electricity or other types of fuels." said Sturider.
"Oh, that's interesting, I've only seen trains like those in my comic books," Spike said in response. "Are there any other transports you have in your home?"
"Oh, many types. From speeders, shuttles, cruisers, etc," replied Sturider. "And of course we do have animal transports too on most systems."
"Animal transports you say?" asked Twilight. "Like what?"
"Well, on Tatooine, they have large, four-legged, omnivorous, cold-blooded reptiles called Dewbacks. Most people use them for transport across the big desert plains on Tatooine," said Sturider.
"Interesting, we normally pull our weight in most cases but for farther travels, we use trains, boats, Zeppelins, and Hot-air balloons," said Twilight.
"Hmm I'd take any one of those transports myself, except the hot-air balloon of course," said Sturider.
"Why? You aren't afraid of heights are you?" asked Scootaloo.
"No, I'm not afraid of heights. I'm just not comfortable with using a floating basket attached to a balloon that has no preposition system as transport," explained Sturider. "Besides, it would be dangerous if it got into a strong wind current or even a cyclone, the ropes holding the basket might break from the high speeds."
"Hmm, I can see your point on that one," said Twilight.
"Anyway, moving on, could you tell a bit about the Princesses so I know what to expect?" asked Sturider.
"Of course," said Twilight. "Starting with Princess Celestia, she and her younger sister are the rulers of Equestria. She controls the sun, her sister the Moon. They both are over 1000 years old and are Alicorns."
"1000 years old?" asked Sturider with fascination. "That's very impressive. They're almost as old as Master Yoda."
"Really?" asked Spike with an arched eyebrow. "And how old is this: "Master Yoda"?"
"As of now, I say he'd be 887 years old by now," replied Sturider.
"887 YEARS OLD?!" shouted the Crusaders in unison with awe.
"Oh yes, Master Yoda is the oldest living Jedi in the Jedi Order to this day," added Sturider.
"Wow, I'm sure that if your Master Yoda ever were to come here, I'm sure he and the Princesses could get along just fine," said Twilight.
"I bet they could. But back to the Princesses, you said both were Alicorns." said Sturider, "But you didn't tell about that kind of species when I first arrived. What are Alicorns?"
"Alicorns, are kinda like Flying Unicorns, but they're a mixture of all of the pony races here. They have the magic powers of unicorns, with the flight of a pegasus, and the strength of an Earth Pony," explained Twilight. "And they are very powerful in magic capabilities."
"I see," said Sturider. "Well, I'm not sure of how much power their magic would have, but I have to believe that Master Yoda's mastery of the Force would probably give them a run for their money."
"Hey, are you saying Master Yoda is more powerful than the princesses?" asked Spike, eyeing Sturider with suspicion.
"Spike! " chided Twilight.
"No, I am not," said Sturider. " I do not know the capabilities of your Princesses' magic, so I couldn't say if Yoda is more powerful than them or not."
"Oh, sorry," said Spike with an apologetic look.
"It's fine. But I will note that Master Yoda is quite an outstanding warrior. During the Clone Wars, he took out an army of 10,000 Battle Droids, on his own." said Sturider.
"Whoa!" said the Crusaders in unison.
"Oh yes, many think that because of his age, Master Yoda is too crippled and infirm to fight, but Yoda is not to be underestimated. That's why he's the Grand Jedi Master." said, Sturider.
"Say, I was wondering, from some of the Jedi you mentioned to us, I could imagine there being quite a few of them. How is it that you can rank each Jedi in your whole Jedi Order?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Excellent question, young one. Well, to start, we have a Jedi Council. They're the main Jedi in charge of the whole Order, where 12 Jedi masters oversaw and governed the whole Order. Many of the Best Jedi Masters were among." replied Sturider.
"12 Jedi Masters?" asked Spike. "Geez, and we just have 2 Main Princesses overseeing Equestria, with other delegates in their respective homelands."
"The Same thing can be said the Republic Senate, each star system would have a Senator from their respective homeworld in the Senate. But I don't know all that much about it, I'm not really into Politicians. I'm just fine with being Jedi Master." said Sturider.
"Were you a member of the Jedi Council?" asked Apple Bloom.
"No. Well, they did offer me a spot once before, but I turned them down. I wasn't ready to take that responsibility, even if I was one of the few Jedi to wield a Blaster. But I admit, even after getting their approval on it, most of the Jedi Masters were distasted that I carried a Blaster." said Sturider.
"Even Master Yoda?" asked Scootaloo.
"Well... at first, but then after seeing my fighting style in one battle, he was very impressed. And since then the Council often assigned me on some pretty unique missions. But, there was a time I was enraged at the Council." Sturider said and then practically snarled when he finished the last sentence.
"Why? What did they do?" asked Twilight.
"Well, just before we begin to really get a winning strike in the Clone Wars, there was a bombing at the Jedi Temple. And then Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano seemed to be the culprit." started, Struider, as The CMC gasped while Twilight covered her mouth in shock. "The Council expelled her from the Order and put her on trial, and she was sentenced to death. But then, Anakin exposed the real criminal, it was none other than Padawan Learner Barriss Offee."
"But why would Barriss bomb her own colleagues?" asked Scootaloo.
"From what she said, she believed the Jedi Council believed in violence and were responsible for the war. But regardless of Barriss being revealed as the traitor, Ahsoka left the Jedi Order completely because of it," added Sturider as a tear came to his eye. "I hated the Council for that. Ahsoka needed them, and they turned their backs on her! Even Master Plo Koon! The very one who brought Ahsoka to the Jedi Order in the first place!" snapped Sturider as he slammed his fist on the table. Before taking a few breaths. "Barriss may have betrayed the Jedi Order, but in a way, she was right. But, to my POV; the war had caused the majority of the Jedi Order to take darker turns, even try to use their own power against others. I began seeing it too. So, in my downtime, I would train myself to control my emotions and anger and only rely on them when I needed to. Especially since I was using Vappad as one of my combat forms."
"So, what happened to Ahsoka?" asked Twilight.
'I don't know, I never saw her again. Well, I did hear stories she helped out in more of the war, but since I wasn't as present in the Jedi Temple as much, I was inclined to believe those stories weren't real." said Sturider.
"You must really miss Ahsoka, don't you?" asked Sweetie Belle, resting a hand on Sturider's own.
"I do. I really do. Honestly, I even had feelings for her." said Sturider. "But I was always too shy of admitting it. So I kept it to myself."
"I'm sure you 2 may meet up again someday," said Twilight Confidential.
"Maybe, I'm not sure how. The only way we could meet is if I can fix my shuttle and fly out into the Galaxy again." said Sturider, "But I'll worry about that later. It's better if I take things slowly at the time being."
"I couldn't agree more," said Twilight.
"Says the mare who constantly stays awake 3 days in a row when she's in a deep, deep study session," said Spike, smugly as Twilight sheepishly blushed.
Soon, after 30 minutes, the train pulled into Canterlot station. As everyone departed the train, Sturider stood in awe at the majestic city before him.
"Enjoying the view?" asked Twilight.
"Totally. This city is just as magnificent as Coruscant but on a higher level," said Sturider, as Rax rolled up alongside him, constantly turning his head to look at the views and sights.
"Well, wait till we get to the castle," said Twilight as she started walking out of the station, as Sturider, Rax, Spike, and the CMC trailed behind.
As they walked through the city, Sturider was observing many of the locals, as he then noticed the majority of them were dressing in very formal outfits, from fancy suits, high-class dresses, and even lined with expensive jewelry. As he looked about, many of the locals looked towards the group, while some were a little interested in Sturider's unique species, and his wardrobe. They snuffed at the sight of Rax, rolling along with the group. As some of them turned their heads away and held their snouts high in a snotty pose. And Sturider could even hear some comments.
"Well, that is a very interesting species walking with the Princess' pupil."
"I say, I've never seen a unique style of an outfit with those shades of blue before."
"Whatever is that rolling mechanical bucket of bolts? He's a clash to this fine city."
"Why is the Princess' Pupil hanging around with nosey children and an odd-looking creature of that class? So undignified."
But then, his thoughts were rudely interrupted when 2 high-class mares stepped up to him and tapped his shoulder. As he then looked to his left, he could tell these mares were high class, judging by the various jewels they wore on their wrists, necks, and even ears. And they both wore expensive-looking dresses, and even their sunhats looked expensive.
"Pardon me, sir. But what is a fellow of your class doing here in the City of Canterlot?" said the first mare.
"Yes, judging by your outfit, and those odd-looking accessories hanging from your belt, including that pistol upon your right leg, I can say you're a foreigner from somewhere in the lower class of things." said the second mare.
"Well, I am a Foreigner. But I come from somewhere far, far away. So far, that not a lot of individuals know of it." said Sturider.
"Hmm, try me. I've heard of interesting named places before." said the first mare.
"Well, if you insist. I dwell from the City of Coruscant," said Sturider.
The 2 mares were about to say something but nothing came to their mouths as they both looked at each other and arched an eyebrow before they looked back at Sturider. "Coruscant? That doesn't sound like a real city. But regardless, with the way you're dressed, you seem like you could be a monk."
Sturider was a little impressed as not most addressed a Jedi as a monk before. But that wasn't what he was. "Well, I may look like a monk, but I'm not a monk. Monks are a completely different individual than I am. But they do sorta wear robes like mine. But I'm from a different group." Sturider then explained.
"I see. Well, we'd love to ask you more about your culture but we must be off for a music show. So we bid you; Good day." said the second mare before they then turned away and walked in a different direction.
"Twilight, are most citizens in Canterlot like that?" asked Sturider.
"Well most of them, but there are some who are a little bit too snotty for their taste. I'm surprised that those 2 mares didn't even utter an insult," answered Twilight.
"Say, you didn't feel insulted for being called a monk, do you?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"No, not at all. Like I've told you before, I've had worse thrown at me. If I were in Mos Eisley, it would be a different story. There's no bigger place of crooks, brutes, and thugs than that town." said Sturider.
"Sounds like the lower parts of Canterlot and the Badlands," said Spike. "They have the same kind of folk in those places."
"Well, good thing we aren't heading in that area," said Twilight.
After a little bit, the group soon came to the Castle Grounds, which Sturider was even more in awe at the sight of the castle, just the sight of it alone made the Jedi Temple and other Royal Palace he'd seen look like minor buildings. The way the castle was built looked so majestic, and the many green gardens surrounding it were a sight to behold. "Now, this is really a magnificent sight to behold. I have never seen anything so beautiful built-in my whole life. Not even the palace of Naboo has anything on this." said Sturider in awe.
"Oh yes, I used to live in this palace myself. And there's a lot more to see inside it," said Twilight. As she leads them to the main gates where 2 armored guards stood.
"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. The Princess is expecting you." said the first guard.
"Hmm, who do we have here?" asked the second guard as he eyed Sturider, resting his hand on his sword. "What's your business here, sir?"
"It's alright, he's with me. The Princess requested I bring him to introduce him," explained Twilight.
"Alright, you may pass, but if you try another on the Princesses, you'll regret it." said the first guard as they both opened the gates.
"I understand, good sirs. Good day to you," said Sturider but as they started walking in, the second guard noticed Rax and drew his sword and then blocked Rax with it.
"Hold on, a minute! What is this contraption? Is this a secret weapon?!" stated the Guard.
"No, that is no weapon, it is an astromech Droid. And he's my assistant, and before you ask, he is not carrying anything lethal. If he was, he wouldn't be accompanying us." said Sturider.
The guard looked at Sturider and then to Rax, who only beeped as he turned his head to the guard, who then put his sword back into his scabbard. "Alright, but no funny stuff!"
"Thank you, sir," said Sturider. As the group then ascended the short staircase, as the guards at the doors, opened them and saluted, as they walked down the hall, the many guards saluted them, as Sturider observed the fancy works the castle had to offer, as they passed some through another set of doors, where they came to what seemed like the Throne room. As Sturider then looked forward and saw 2 tall figures. The tallest was a mare, but she stood at least a head taller than Sturider was, as she had a white coat, a longhorn, and huge majestic wings. And she was dressed up in a fancy white dress with golden accents, and a royal golden necklace with a single purple gem in the middle of it. And she also had golden cuffs on her wrists. And she had a golden Crown which looked more like a tiara on her head, but her mane and tail were another stories, they were colored, pink, light blue, and teal green and they flowed like the wind but it did it on its own. While the mare wore a warm smile as she looked upon Sturider with interest with her purple eyes.
As the shorter mare looked to be as tall as Sturider himself. As she had a midnight blue coat, a just as longhorn, and medium-sized wings. Her outfit consisted of a dark blue dress with navy blue accents. While her own necklace was black with a white crescent moon on the center of it. She also wore a crown, but it was much smaller than the older sister's. Like her sister, her mane and tail also flowed, but they were colored more like a majestic night sky, they even had twinkling stars included. She too looked upon Sturider with her teal eyes.
"Twilight Sparkle, so nice to see you again." said the taller mare.
"It is a pleasure, Princess," said Twilight in return.
"And you must be the Jedi Knight, my student has told me about." said the mare, addressing Sturider.
"As I am, your grand royal highness. It is a grand pleasure to meet you at long last," said Sturider as he got down on one knee and bowed to the Princesses.
"We are very pleased to meet thee, Master Jedi." said the smaller mare, speaking with an older royal vocabulary.
"Thank you, your majesties," replied Sturider as he stood back up.
"Anyway, I am Princess Celestia, Princess of the day." said the taller mare.
"And We are Princess Luna, Princess of the Night." said the shorter mare.
"I am Jedi Master Sturider Thom, Jedi Knight of the Jedi Order from the City of Coruscant," said Sturider.
"Crusaders, nice see you 3 again," said Princess Celestia addressing the Crusaders. "You 3 staying out of trouble?"
"Yes, princess." The Crusaders said in unison as golden halos appeared over their heads. As Rax beeped and whistled, catching the attention of the 2 Alicorns.
"Oh, and what might this unique individual be?" asked Celestia.
"This is R3-X3 or Rax. My astromech droid," answered Sturider as he patted Rax's head. "He's my assistant."
"How interesting, a sentient machine as an assistant? This is very unique," said Luna, kneeling to examine Rax. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Rax," said Luna as Rax beeped and whistled, as Luna arched an eyebrow. "Pray tell, what language is this? No one here even speaks in beeps and whistles."
"Well, Rax, as well as astromech droid, speak in binary. Which consists of beeps and whistles," answered Sturider. "It may not be easy to understand at first, but when you work with Rax as long as I have, you start to understand him."
"Hmm, we should learn this language ourselves. That way we can commune with other beings who speak in binary," said Celestia. "What other languages do you know?"
"I know, some other unique languages, such as Twi'Leki, Wookiee tongue, and some other ones. But they're exclusive to other species out in the galaxy," said Sturider.
"Impressive, you should share these languages when you can," said Celestia. "Anyway, why don't we show you around the castle?"
"Charmed, lead on," said Sturider. As the Princesses lead the group through the hall and out the doors.
As the group walked through the castle, as Celestia and Luna explained various things to Sturider, he could only listen in awe, the Jedi Temple was quite fancy but this castle was something else. Not even the Palace of Naboo could shape up to it. As they walked through one hallway, Sturider noticed there were huge stained glass windows in this hallway.
"Wow! These stained glass windows are amazing!" exclaimed Sturider.
"Thank you," said Celestia. "This is one of our memorable locations in the castle, as these windows depict events that happened in our kingdom."
"What kind of events?" asked Sturider.
"Well, mostly ones where several threats were vanquished," answered Luna. "Like this one here," she added as she indicated one window that had a large mare in the middle, and surrounded by the mane six. But there had colored jewels on golden necklaces and a tiara. There was an orange apple, a pink butterfly, a red lightning bolt, a purple diamond, a blue balloon, and a magenta six-pronged star, like what Twilight's cutie mark was.
"What are those necklaces and tiara Twilight and her friends are wearing?" asked Sturider.
"Those, are the Elements of Harmony," answered Celestia. "They are powerful reelects that we use to fight against evil beings. They each resemble a trait of friendship. Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, and Laughter. And they are all lead by the element of magic, the most powerful of all."
"Hmm, interesting. We don't have anything like that, we Jedi just use the Force and our Lightsabers. But whose that large mare in the middle?" asked Sturider as he pointed to the mare in question. Luna's ears drooped as she got a look of sorrow.
"That mare.... was me," said Luna, sadly.
"YOU?!" shouted Sturider, completely shocked. "It can't be!"
"As much as I wish it wasn't, it was me," said Luna. "But that was years ago."
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly do you mean?" asked Sturider.
"Do you want me to tell him, Lulu?" asked Celestia looking at her sister.
"No, I should. It's my story," said Luna. "Years ago, before Twilight Sparkle even existed. My sister and I ruled over Equestria. Tia ruled in the day, and I ruled at night. But, while all of the citizens worked and played in the day, they hardly had activity at night. I felt underappreciated and jealous. My loneliness leads to my growing hatred, then one day. My hatred and anger grew to dangerous levels when I transformed into Nightmare Moon. And I planned to overthrow my sister and make an eternal night, where no sun would shine anymore. So, then Celestia had no choice but to use the elements to incapacitate me. By banishing me to the Moon for a millennium." explained Luna as tears came to her eyes.
"Banished to the moon?!" said Sturider, shocked. "That's awful. You got seduced to the Dark Side of the Force. You even had the same levels that lead to it."
"What do you mean?" asked Luna.
"Your loneliness led to anger, then your anger grew to hatred. Till finally, you got to suffering. 1,000 years on the moon on your own, that would lead me to suffer. said Sturider. "So, how did you get free?"
"When the time came where I was freed from the moon. I tried again to make an eternal night, and at the same time, Twilight had been studying the elements, which were located in our old castle. When she found them she realized that the elements needed bearers to be used. Which in turn would be her friends, and then they used the elements to remove all darkness from me. And now, I'm back to ruling the night. But I do have lots of admirers now."
"Wow, if only that power was used on Count Dooku, I bet if he had been opened up to such power of friendship, he may have seen a new light. But, he sealed his fate when he murdered several Jedi. But, compared to Darth Sidious and Darth Maul, Dooku was more civilized." said Sturider.
"My word and all I planned on doing was making an eternal night, I never murdered anyone," said Luna. "But how worse were this Sidious and Maul?"
"I'll explain later. Anyway, I got a question on this window," said Sturider as he walked over to another window with the mane 6 on it, but this one had the weirdest creature he ever saw. He had the head of a goat, with a deer's antler, a curvy horn, a lion arm, a clawed arm, an alligator leg, an equine's foot. While he had a dragon's tail, a pegasus wing, and a dragon wing. "What, in all of the Force, is that thing?" asked Sturider pointing to the creature. "I've seen pretty ugly-looking creatures, but this guy, I have no comment."
"That is Discord. The Spirit of Chaos," said Celestia as she walked over. "He was another threat to Equestria."
"What did he do?" asked Sturider.
"He uses his magical skills to create chaos and disharmony. When he was around, he threw things out of balance in the land."
"Oooh, upsetting the balance of nature is never a good thing, it can lead to serious consequences," said Sturider.
"That's not all, he can corrupt other beings through hypnosis, that turns to turn the opposite of who they are," added Twilight.
"Oh my. Well, what happened to him? Was he banished to the Moon too?" asked Sturider.
"No, in fact, he's here in Canterlot now," said Luna.
"What? How can a villain be in a place and not be causing trouble?" asked Sturider.
"I think it's better to show than tell," said Celestia, starting to walk again. As Sturider and Rax followed the group, they walked for a bit before coming to the main castle gardens, where they came to one section that had several statues in it. And then they came to one that looked like Discord, but he looked like he was in horror, as if a squad of battle droids was about to open fire on him.
"You turned him into a statue?" asked Sturider as he walked up to the statue and gently knocked on one of the legs. "Well, this is a unique way of defeating an evil threat."
"Yes, and it's better than being banished," said Luna.
"I conquer," said Sturider as he turned and went to rejoin the group as they started walking out of the gardens. "Have you ever encountered threats that are extremely dangerous before?"
"Well, just recently, we had to fight the evil King Sombra," said Twilight. "He is an evil unicorn that has a huge amount of dark magic that allowed him to enslave the Crystal Empire. And he can also strike fear into others."
"Kriffin' heck, I bet Darth Sidious and him would get along just fine if they met, Sidious is kinda the same way," said Sturider. "Where is he now?"
"He's gone," said Celestia.
"Gone, as in banished or imprisoned?" asked Sturider.
"No, gone as in," said Luna as she then did a slitting motion over her throat, meaning Sombra was slain.
"Oh, that gone. Personally, I think it's better that way, if he were imprisoned, I could imagine he could escape."
"Yes. It sounds very likely," said Celestia. "But he's not as dangerous as Tirek."
"Tirek?" asked Sturider.
"Yes. Tirek is one of the most dangerous threats we've had to face," said Luna.
"What makes him so dangerous?" asked Sturider.
"Unlike all other threats he has the ability to suck the magic out of ponies," explained Celestia.
"Even pegasi and earth ponies?" asked Sturider, as the 2 alicorns nodded. " How is that even possible? I mean, not only in lines of being able to suck the magic out of beings, but I thought unicorns could only conjure magic."
"Nobody knows how Tirek has this ability, especially since centaurs are not common individuals to conjure or wield magic," said Celestia.
"As for earth ponies and pegasi having magic, the earth ponies have some magic in them, which is how they get their cutie marks. While pegasi use magic for helping them walk on clouds," added Luna.
"Oh, that makes sense. And I'm guessing the more magic Tirek steals, the stronger his own gets?" asked Sturider.
"That is correct. And he also grows bigger with each amount he obtains," answered Celestia.
"Well, to you all that does sound threatening, but to a Jedi Knight like me; it doesn't compare," said Sturider.
"What? What do you mean?" asked Luna, sounding offended.
"Hold on, I didn't mean it like that!" exclaimed Sturider waving his hands defensively. "I mean, compared to what the Force can allow a Jedi and Sith do, Tirek would be given a run for his money."
"How so?" asked Scootaloo.
"I agree with young Scootaloo," said Luna. "From what Twilight told us about some of the things you can do with the Force, it pretty much could also be done by Tirek using magic."
"Well, can Tirek shoot Lightning out of his hands with magic?" asked Sturider smugly.
"No, he cannot," said Celestia, sounding surprised at such a statement.
"Or, can he mind control others with magic from the equines here?" added Sturider.
"Well, no unicorn has ever been able to do that but Sombra, so no," said Luna.
"How about mind probe other individuals?" said Sturider.
"Well, he kinda could, be only remotely," said Twilight.
"Well, there you have it," said Sturider. "The Force can allow Jedi or Sith to do such tricks, while Magic can't."
"How exactly does one know if they are one with the Force?" asked Luna.
"Well, Stu said that it depends on if it's in your blood," said Sweetie Belle.
"Precisely, Sweets. But there's more to it than that. It mostly depends on the Midi-chlorians count in your blood." said Sturider.
"What are Midi-chlorians?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Midi-chlorians are a microscopic life-from that resides within all living cells," said Sturider.
"Even us?" asked Spike.
"Yes, they live in your cells. And we are symbionts with them," added Sturider.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Scootaloo.
"Life-forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist and we would not know about the Force. They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the Force. When you learn to quiet your minds, you'll hear them speaking to you." answered Sturider.
"My word, there is a lot to the Force, isn't there?" said Celestia. The group was now walking back into the castle. "All of this would make a fine book for our castle's library."
"I'm sure it would. Maybe if I have the time, I could help you write one," said Sturider.
"That would be splendid," said Luna.
As the group walked down the hall of the castle, they were now heading towards the library part of the castle, but as they approached, Sturider saw something interesting inside. Or more appropriately, someone.
"Hey Twilight, you didn't tell me there was a third alicorn here," said Sturider.
"Huh?" asked Twilight, as she looked where he was, as Celestia and Luna eyed each other knowingly. As Twilight gasped in happiness. In the library, sitting at 2 of the many chairs in the room was, in fact, another alicorn. But this one had a light pink colored coat. While she had a long, curly mane, colored pink, purple, and yellow. And like Celestia, she had purple eyes. But she wore a small crown with purple jewels on it, with a golden necklace. And also had a majestic crystal blue colored dress. And seated next to her was a unicorn stallion, who looked quite muscular. He had a white coat, with his mane cut short, colored three shades of blue. And he also had blue eyes. While he was wearing what looked like a soldier's uniform. With a straight red jacket, blue pants, and a white-colored belt that had a sword hanging from it. As the 2 started to take notice of the group, the alicorn got up and walked over as Twilight rushed over to her.
"Sunshine, Sunshine. Ladybugs, awake. Clap your hands, and do a little shake!" recited Twilight and the alicorn in unison, doing a little hop, then covering their eyes, and peeking out, then clapping their hands, and giving their hips a shake. Before they embraced each other. Before the stallion walked over as Twilight then hugged him, as he ruffled her hair.
"Hey kiddo, surprised to see us?" asked the stallion.
"Are you kidding?!" stated Twilight. "I wasn't expecting you 2 to be here!"
"Well, Auntie Celestia told us about an outsider visiting the castle, so she invited us over to meet him." said the pink alicorn. "Plus, she wanted to surprise you."
"Well, I am surprised!" said Twilight as she then leads the 2 over to the group as Sturider stepped forward.
"Hello, there. I am Jedi Master Sturider Thom, Jedi Knight of the Jedi Order from the City of Coruscant," said Sturider to the two.
"Pleased to meet you." said the stallion as he shook Sturider's hand. "I am Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire."
"And I, am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But, you can call me "Cadance". said the pink alicorn, shaking Sturider's hand.
"Very pleased to meet you. And this guy here is my Astromech Droid. R3-X3 or "Rax". said Sturider indicating Rax as the droid rolled over, as he bleeped.
"Wow, this is a very interesting individual," said Shining Armor as he examined Rax. "I never thought the day to see a sentient machine."
"Well, I'm pleased to hear that. And what is your position here?" asked Sturider, as he examined Shining Armor. "You look like a soldier. Are you a commander?"
"Well, I am a soldier, but I'm not a commander. I'm Captain of the Royal Guard," answered Shining Armor.
"As for me, I am the harbinger of affection. I'm the Princess of Love," said Cadance.
"Princess of love?" question Sturider. "What kind of princess is that? What do you do, exactly?"
"I spread love to other ponies and individuals," said Cadance. "And I can also free individuals from dark magic and end arguments between loved ones."
"Wow, that is very unique," said Sturider. "So how is it you two are acquainted with Twilight?"
"She's my sister," replied Shining Armor.
"While I use to foalsit her when she was living in the castle, studying under Celestia's wing," said Cadance. "But now, she's my family too. As I'm now with the love of my life," added Cadance as she and Armor held up their hands to show wedding rings on them.
"You're married!" exclaimed Sturider.
"Correct," said Shining Armor. "She and I have been together for years."
"And Cadance is our niece," said Celestia as she and Luna walked over, with Spike, and the crusaders following behind.
"The whole family," said Sturider, as he then looked around the castle. "But, I'm curious. If you, Luna, and Cadance are princesses; where are the King and Queen?"
This question caught Celestia and Luna off-guard, but then they bowed their heads down. "Sadly, our mother and father, have gone missing when we were only fillies," said Celestia. "We got separated from them during a major war, and when the war was over, we were long lost. We haven't seen them for a long time."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring some painful moments," said Sturider.
"No, no, it's okay," said Luna. "The important thing is, is that our parents are still out there, we just haven't located them yet."
"Well, my own parents are gone too," said Sturider. "I lost them both when I was first brought into the Jedi Order."
"That's so sad," said Apple Bloom.
"Indeed it is. But I haven't let it get me down," said Sturider.
"That's good," said Luna.
After conversing for some time, Twilight, Spike, and the Crusaders had stepped out for a moment. Sturider explained to the Princesses all about the Jedi Order and how it worked in their training.
"My word, your training almost sounds close enough to how I was training Twilight in magic skills when she was a filly," said Celestia.
"Well, I bet if you were Jedi Master in the Order, you could be a good teacher to many of the younglings, princess," said Sturider, leading Celestia to chuckle warmly at this.
"Say, Thom. When you asking me if I was a commander, does it have something to do with any military you had in Courascant?" asked Shining Armor. This question sparked a tug at Sturider's mind but he was still willing to answer the question.
"Well, yes it kinda does. But our military was very different," answered Sturider.
"How Different?" asked Cadance.
"This one was a massive army of Clone Troopers. Soldiers cloned from a Bounty Hunter by the name of Jango Fett, breed to fight for the Republic, during The Clone Wars," added Sturider.
"Wait, you can clone living organisms?" asked Luna.
"Well, the scientists of Kamino can. Why do you ask?" said Sturider.
"It's because one of our close friends who were hermit tried that, but it failed. He tried to clone a sheep once. Unfortunately, it had a short life span and died after spending 3 weeks being born." explained Luna.
"Wow. I'm afraid I can't explain how the cloning on Kamino works. I was never interested in it." said Sturider. "Plus, I was a little unsure of these Clones."
"Why's that?" asked Celestia. "They were bred to fight for the Republic, were they not?"
"They were, but the commission to make the army was done by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyos, but, he died before the army was complete," explained Sturider. "When I first heard about this army, I was impressed with this. But, I still think the Kaminoes should've at least kept in contact with Sifo-Dyos. But I don't know much on the matter, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker did more background research on this than I did. And I was on a solo mission when they doing it. But deep down, I felt like something was off about them."
"I'm guessing you were not too fond of having Clone Troopers serve you, I bet," asked Shining Armor.
"I was, but I did make some friendships with some in particular. Like, Captain Rex, Fives, Echo, Commander Wolfe. As well as a few from my own squadron, like Captain Takson, Tep, and Uno." said Sturider.
"Hmm, so many of you Jedi Knights had all their own squadron of these Clone Troopers?" asked Shining Armor.
"More than just Squadrons, there were also Battalion Legions, Platoons, etc.," said Sturider.
"My word. That sounds like quite the amount of soldiers," said Luna.
"Indeed. There was quite an amount of them and more and more were being made as the War went on," added Sturider.
"What kind of assignments did you and your Clone Battalion get assigned to?" asked Shining Armor.
"We were often tasked to reinforce other battalions. I was often stationed with the 501st and 212th at times with Anakin and Obi-Wan. Even Anakin's padawan, Ahsoka Tano. And then I was with Master Kit Fisto once. But other times I was sent on solo missions." answered Sturider.
"Then does that mean you came to our kingdom on a mission to discover new locations?" asked Celestia.
"No. I'm not here on a mission. In fact, the Republic, Senate, or Jedi Order even knew this place existed. I am the first and only Jedi to discover it." explained Sturider.
"Really?" asked Cadance. "If no one knew of Equestria, then how is it you came to be here?"
"I wasn't really going anywhere in particular. I ended up here out of nowhere," said Stuirder.
"Well, if you aren't here on a mission, and no one in Coruscant knows about this place; then why were you flying in space in the first place?" asked Shining Armor.
This question hit Sturider like a blaster bolt, he knew why he left. But could he share it with individuals of this land? What would they think then? Sturider was unsure but he knew in his heart that if he didn't share. Then the princesses and captain would only pursue the question harder. So Sturider made his decision.
"Truthfully, I had to escape with my life," answered Sturider, leading the group to gasp.
"WHAT?!" asked Celestia.
"What do you mean?" Asked Luna.
With a sigh of sadness, Sturider began, "It was at the end, the end of the War. We had just gotten word Obi-Wan had slain General Grevious. I was flying back to Courscant in my shuttle after finishing a mission. Then suddenly, I started feeling pain, suffering, and death from my Jedi brethren. Then I found out the truth when I made it back to Coruscant, our fellow soldiers; the Clones. The ones we Jedi fought side-by-side with, suddenly turned and backstabbed us. With no question, they gunned down their Jedi Generals in a second!" as Sturider was sharing this heartbreaking story, Twilight, Spike, and the Crusaders stepped back into the library and listened in, shocked upon hearing this. But Sturider still had more to tell. "I was confused, about why the Clones would do this. So I went back to the temple on foot to get some answers and what I saw was much worse."
"What?" asked Shining Armor.
"In the temple, all Soldiers of the 501st Legion were murdering all of the Jedi Masters. But not just the men. The Women, Children, and Younglings too." added Sturider, Cadance gasping in horror at the mention of children and younglings.
"I couldn't move or do anything. I just watched," said Sturider. "Then sneaking out of the temple, I went to the Senate House where on the ground I found Mace Windu's Lightsaber. As I raced in, avoiding the Coruscant Clones, I saw the bodies of Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Sasee Tiin. As I could sense the Dark Side of the Force in the room. But then I managed to sneak to the Senate room to see if I could find Senator Amidala. When I witnessed one of the most tragic things. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine claimed the Jedi had betrayed and tried to murder him. Then upon a closer look, I saw the unmistakable Sith Yellow Eyes on his face. It was then I knew, we were deceived. Palpatine was really the Sith Lord we were searching for all this time. He had fabricated the whole war and the Clones. And now he had obtained the ultimate power of the whole Galaxy. As the Republic became the Galactic Empire."
"That's beyond awful," said Celestia. "No words can describe how I feel about this."
"That's even worse than all the crimes I committed when I became Nightmare Moon," said Luna, a small tear came to her eye. "Compared to what that Sith Lord did, it makes my actions look like child's play."
"So, how did you escape?" asked Shining Armor.
"Upon learning this truth, I snuck back to the temple, gathering what I could from Holocrons, Lightsabers, even a few blasters," said Sturider. "Then I went to my quarters to get some of my items. However, by the time I was ready to leave the Coruscant Clones had found me. I demanded to know why the other armies murdered my Jedi Brethern. They said they had chips implanted in their heads which made them do it and had no choice. But I wasn't going down without a fight."
"What happened?" asked Cadence.
"I gave a Force push to the group, knocking them down. Then I drew both my blaster and one of my Lightsabers. As they opened fire, I returned Fire and deflected blaster bolts as I ran. But when I was reaching my shuttle one Clone threw a grenade at me. Rax had seen it, and without hesitation, he shoved me forward as it went off. The Explosion killed most of the clones and critically damaged Rax. But the Commander remained, as he raised his blaster pistols at me, I then Force pulled him in. Then used my blaster to pistol-whip him. Before I jammed my Lightsaber blade into his chest and fired a single shot to the head. Once he fell I picked up Rax and flew away." said Sturider. "Then I ended up here. I just pray that the Empire will not find this land of Peace and harmony. Your kind doesn't deserve to suffer the same fate as I did." he finished as tears came to his eyes before he collapsed on the ground and hugging himself, he began to cry.
Neither Celestia nor Luna could find words in their mouths, hearing such a tragedy was too much for them as tears were now streaming down their cheeks. Shining Armor was trying hard not to cry, but hearing how loyal soldiers were forced to murder their Generals was making it hard for him. Cadance was beyond shocked, she was in deep sorrow. It was one thing to have close friends murdered, but children? That was going too far. With tears streaming down her face she crouched down and pulled Sturider into a hug, rubbing his back, trying to soothe the heartbroken Jedi. As she then let out her own tears. Twilight, Spike, and the Crusaders were emotionally hit by this. Spike was hugging Twilight as she rubbed his back, letting tears fall from her face. Sweetie Belle had fallen to the floor and started crying, forming a small puddle on the floor. Apple Bloom sniffed as she pulled out another handkerchief and blew her nose before crying into it. Scootaloo was trying hard not to cry but couldn't hold in as she fell to her knees and covered her face, letting out quiet sobs.
The room was now filled with nothing but weeping and crying as no one could find words to hearing this sad story. But no one cared, they needed to let emotions out now.