As the Clones returned to the Sentinel, Commander Gale immediately headed to the bridge.
"Commander, sir!"
He turned to see another Clone run up to him and salute.
"We've gotten a transmission from General Marchen. He's finished up his business in the capital, and he's returning to Ponyville for pickup."
"Roger." Gale said. "Prep a Gunship, I'll go get him."
"Yessir!"
The Clone headed off, and Gale sat down on a crate for a few moments. Looking down at his Z-6, he sighed.
"I think I do need to talk, Fluttershy." he said quietly.
Leaving his Z-6 mounted on a weapons rack, he picked up a standard DC15 Rifle and headed to a waiting gunship.
====
"Commander Gale, report." Kyris ordered over the comlink from a Solar Guard Chariot. The holographic image of his second-in-command soon appeared.
"Sorry, sir." Gale said. "I'm en route with a Gunship to pick you up."
"Thank you, Commander." Kyris said. "I've been given clearance from the Equestrian Crown to bring the Sentinel to these ground coordinates. Sending them now."
"Roger, I'll relay them to the bridge." Gale saluted. "Anything else, sir?"
"Not a thing, as of the moment." Kyris said. "Proceed with operations at your leisure."
"Yes sir, Gale out."
As Kyris pocketed his Comlink, Princess Luna turned to him.
"Who was that being you spoke to? One of your Clone Soldiers?" she asked.
"Yes, Commander Gale." Kyris said. "He's served with me for quite a while. A solid, dependable Clone through and through."
"I'm glad to hear it." Luna said. "And here we are!"
As the Chariot landed, Kyris and Luna disembarked and headed into the town.
====
The citizens of Ponyville stopped all activity as a large, arrowhead shaped shadow covered most of the sky. Soon, it set itself over a large rocky plain west of Ponyville, and it was out of sight. As they looked to each other, Kyris spoke up.
"That was my ship, the Sentinel. Rest assured that it is merely setting itself down on the ground."
The ponies nodded, but they were clearly spooked. As Kyris and Luna continued to walk, a Gunship soon landed and Gale disembarked.
"General." he said. "We're setting up a perimeter around the Sentinel as we speak. We're also combining several of our field bases into one large settlement. Power shouldn't be a problem, but we will need food and water among other supplies soon once we run out."
"Good man." Kyris said. "Walk with me."
"Yes, sir."
As the Clone greeted Princess Luna, and they set off towards the Sentinel, meanwhile in Canterlot Celestia was having a major headache.
Mainly because of her nephew and his posse of supporters. They were practically tearing her apart for more information about the Jedi and the Clones, and Celestia was near her boiling point.
"I will say it again, Auntie, are these creatures even trustworthy?" Blueblood asked. "After all, they're not even Equestrian in origin…"
Then, there was a cracking noise, a gust of air, and Blueblood fell over his own four hooves. Celestia had ignited her lightsaber and sliced the table they sat at clean through. As the table fell to the floor in a heap, Celestia advanced on her nephew, lightsaber held high.
"Blueblood, I have told you many times, and now I tell you again for the last time." she spoke. "I trust General Marchen, I trust the Clones, and now I am asking you to drop this issue. Permanently."
"But…" Blueblood replied. "Surely they intend to exploit us…"
"Enough." Celestia said in such a tone that made the Prince freeze in his tracks. "Jedi Master Kyris Marchen and his Clone Soldiers are my honored and welcome guests. They are to be treated with dignity and the utmost respect. Any attempt on the part of anypony to treat them otherwise will be met with severe consequences."
Blueblood backed up slightly, moving towards the door as Celestia's tone darkened.
"I have not heard from the Jedi Order in many, many years." she said. "For one of them to visit in their hour of need and be turned away would be against every fiber in my being. You disgust me, nephew. I intend to welcome General Marchen and his troops into Equestria as welcome citizens, and you are not to interfere."
"Am I understood?"
"Yes, Auntie." he replied, trembling. As he and his posse left, Celestia collapsed at her desk with a sigh.
"Looks like I'll need to keep an eye on you, nephew…" she groaned.
====
As the Clones from the Sentinel, under the watchful eyes of Princess Luna, General Marchen, and Commander Gale began unloading supplies and munitions into their improvised perimeter, Gale felt a stirring feeling inside.
"General?" he asked. "Would you mind if I headed out for a moment?"
"Go ahead, Commander." Marchen said. Gale saluted and walked back towards Ponyville. As he entered the plaza, he sighed at the feeling of the wind blowing across his armor.
"Gale?"
He looked up to see Fluttershy appear, with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, Fluttershy." he smiled. "I just wanted to talk."
"Sure." she replied. "What's on your mind?"
Gale sighed and looked at the pegasus with a faint smile.
"You know, I've been thinking hard." he said quietly. "About what we Clones are supposed to do now. We were only meant to be soldiers, Fluttershy. What happens when the war's done and the mission is accomplished?"
Fluttershy put a hoof on his shoulder in a reassuring way.
"I may not be a Royal Guard…" she said. "But shouldn't you rest when you're done fighting?"
"Yeah...rest does sound nice." Gale said. "Would you mind showing me around town?"
"Not at all."
====
"And there's the schoolhouse." Fluttershy said. "Miss Cheerilee's been teaching here for a good while now. She's really nice and her students love her."
"Good to hear." Gale said. "Surprisingly, apart from basic academics, the only things we learned in the grand scale was related to the military. Tactics, specialized training for certain Clones, the works."
"I see." Fluttershy said. "I would ask if I could teach you, but I'm not sure I'd be the best tutor."
"It's fine." Gale nodded. "I've got plenty of learning materials aboard the Sentinel."
At that moment, the bell rang and a large assortment of foals walked outside for recess. Miss Cheerilee looked surprised and shocked at the sight of Commander Gale, but a nod from Fluttershy convinced her to say quiet and head back inside.
"Heh." Gale said, sitting on a picnic bench. "Reminds me of a mercy mission we had to run a few years ago. The Separatists were bombing a city on a distant world, and they were targeting some civilian positions. We had to search for survivors inside a ruined school."
"Did they survive?" Fluttershy asked.
"We got out as many as we could find." Gale said. "Those kids saw us as heroes, saviors. It was tough when we had to go back to the front."
Fluttershy sat next to him and they watched for a while, until Gale stood up and stretched his arms.
"I should go." he said. "I bet General Marchen's wondering where I am."
"Okay." Fluttershy replied. "Come find me anytime, Gale."
Gale nodded, and was about to walk off when a voice cried out.
"Leave me alone! Hey, give that back!"
"Or what, Blank-flank? What are you going to do, cry on me?"
Gale spun around and began to walk towards the voices, which were coming from two groups of foals. As Gale approached, he could see one of them, a pink filly with a rather expensive looking tiara, had stolen a hair ribbon from another one and was currently taunting her with it.
"That's my mother's ribbon!" the yellow filly cried. "Give it back!"
"Oh, really?" the tiara-wearer said with a cruel tone. "Why should I?"
"Because if you don't give that ribbon back right this instant, I'll make you give it back." Gale said, breaking into the conversation. As the students stopped what they were doing in an instant and stared, Gale approached the pink filly.
"Let me ask you something." he said in a grave tone. "What gives you the right to take something that's not yours?"
"Because they're dull, stupid blank-flanks!" the filly responded. "They're worthless!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gale asked. "Blank-flank? Never heard that one before."
The pink filly and another filly with a gray coat were speechless as the students whispered among themselves.
"It means they don't have their Cutie Mark." Fluttershy said, approaching. "It's a image that represents somepony's special talent."
"I see." Gale said. "So, you think that just because they don't have a tattoo on your rear end, you're instantly better than them?"
Gale scoffed and got down on one knee.
"I thought so." Gale said at the two fillies' speechless looks. "You're not better than them. In fact, the only thing keeping me from being harsh with you is the fact that you're just kids. But that doesn't excuse your behavior towards them."
"Here is what's going to happen." Gale said. "You're going to give that ribbon back, and apologize to those three right there. Am I understood?"
"Why should I?" the filly scoffed.
"Because that wasn't a suggestion." Gale said, rising to his full height. "It was an order."
"You're not the boss of us!" the gray one replied.
"That's true. But I think Princesses Luna and Twilight would like to hear about what I saw, and they can have words with you. Would that be more to your liking?"
The two fillies paled.
"I thought so." Gale smirked under his helmet. "Give it back and apologize, and I'll leave it at that. If you don't, I'll get the Princesses. Am I clear?"
The pink filly scowled as she tossed the ribbon pack to the yellow filly, who affixed
it in her mane with a sigh of relief.
"Good." Gale said. "Now, I suggest you stay away from them for a while. I'll be keeping an eye on you two."
Gale shot them one last look of warning before walking off with Fluttershy.
====
"There you are, Gale." Kyris said as the two of them approached. "Where have you been?"
"I took a walk." Gale replied. "I'm sorry that I'm late, sir."
"It's nothing." Kyris said. "Let's get some rest, Commander. Personally, I am quite tired."
"Yes, sir." the Clone nodded. "I'll see you around, Fluttershy."
As Fluttershy and Princess Luna waved goodbye, the two of them headed to a waiting Gunship, that flew off towards the Sentinel.