//------------------------------//
// Act Five: Proposal 
// Story: Finding a New Order 
// by Crystal Night 
//------------------------------//

It had been a month but after some discussion on what to do, Captain Silver informed Celestia he would take on the offer.
The stormtroopers and princesses stood outside of the Friendship Castle waiting for the door to be opened. 
The Solar Monarch had sent a letter ahead, informing Twilight of what was going on.
"How is this princess different than the usual?" - inquired Silver.

"Oh, you will see." The smile she gave him made him somewhat nervous.
The doors opened, revealing a purple alicorn and by her side, a strange small creature.
"Welcome Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Even though she tried to hide her excitement, her voice was a clear indication. Her eyes looked up and down towards the grey trooper.
'What did I got myself into...'





Silver sat on his private office dealing with some paperwork. Who know that working with Princess Twilight would giving him this much work. He's wasn't complaining either, he enjoyed it. At first he had some doubts, of course the princess had a thousand questions for him, but that was a bit normal giving they didn't know much about the galaxy. Twilight also shown to possess a lot knowledge over several subjects.
What he really enjoyed doing in their spare time was trading informations with each other. Afterall, it wasn't every day you got the chance to do such a thing.
A knock on the door got his attention.
"Come in."
Scorch got inside and saluted him.
"Sir."

"Scorch, how's the forest perimeter?"

"The perimeter is secure. No signs of anymore timberwolves."
Not much happened in Ponyville, minus some timberwolves attacks or even bigger beasts, something that the princess and her friends could deal with.
For the most part they would secure the citizens into a safe spot and provide some protection.
After a while, Twilight suggested expanding the ranks, add ponies. Silver wasn't sure that would be a good idea, but those ponies managed to prove him wrong. If he had to admit, they were quite good.
Needless to say with the growing platoon, they had to ask Mayor Mare permission to build a local garrison and a training area. They even got to carry the crashed ships back to the castle where the pilots did their best to fix them.
The jet troopers were very happy to have some competition against the pegasi.
Meanwhile the earth ponies had become somewhat a support for the heavy troopers being able to carry heavy equipment without breaking a sweat.

Their armor had also received some changes. In order to show their loyalty to the princess, the gloves, knee-caps and shoulder plates were painted in purple with Twilight's cutie mark on the chestplate. The ponies had the same paint job as well, with slight armor changes.
Silver's armor was same as well, however he had one purple stripe across his helmet and a black cape with one border being purple, it was similar to Captain Phasma in a way.
"What about the new recruits? Are they doing well?"

"Well as they can be." - a new voice joined them. 
The unicorn guard saluted as Silver nodded.
"Lieutenant Shield, having fun pushing them around?"

"Not quite yet, maybe soon." - the older stallion smiled. "By the way captain, Princess Twilight wants to see you, she's in her office. She seemed...worried."

"Did she tell you why?" Shield shook his head. "Very well, keep up the training and stay sharp troopers."

"Sir, yes sir!" - they saluted and went back to their affairs. Silver placed his helmet back on and made his way.
Silver reached her room where one human and one pony stood guard. The duo saluted him as he knocked on the door.
"Come in please."
Silver closed the door as he got inside and noticed Twilight sitting on the balcony.
"You called princess?"

"You know you don't need to be formal when it's just us right?" - Twilight smiled as she levitated a spare pillow for him.

"Old habits die hard I guess." He took a seat and removed his helmet. "Lieutenant Shield said you seemed worried. What's wrong?"

"I had this question for quite some time now," the princess gazed at the small village. "but if your superiors one day show up or you find them, will you return to them?" - she inquired looking back at him.

"Honestly..." Silver let the pause sink in. Things had been going well so far. This place was peaceful, no Resistence, no battles and everyone was very friendly. "Probably not. I doubt my men would like to go back."

"E-even if?"

"Yes, even if." He didn't let her finish, but he knew exactly what she meant. "I like this place too much to let it go, but don't tell the others." They shared a quick laugh.
"Wanna come with me and grab something to eat?"

"Of course Twilight."





The ball droid rolled at the speed of light through the castle hallways looking for the captain. After a few quick hints and directions, it knew where Silver was.
BB-6S had picked a some faint signals coming from deep space. The most interesting part it seemed to be First Order signals.
The droid finally reached his objective and with many loud beeps trying to explain what it found.
"Slow down, I can't understand." - said Silver. The ball relayed his information, leaving Twilight and Silver looking at each other. "That's a bit unusual. From the looks of it, it seems like the First Order is retreating and lost, I wonder why though."

"Maybe the Resistence won?" - Twilight inquired.
He tilted his head in thought.
"It's hard to tell...Maybe we should contact them?"

"You know them, I trust in you to make the right call." - she said with a smile and a nod of approval.
After many seconds in silence and thinking to himself, the captain gazed at the ball droid and spoke.
"BB-6S, send the coordinates."





It had been a couple of hours since the droid sent the message back, and yet nothing so far. The troopers stood guard, mostly watching the skies, waiting for any indication for ships or even starfighters.
"You sure they received it?" BB-6S beeped confirming the message was indeed sent however the signal was still very faint to fully confirm that. "I guess all we can do is wait."
That was the least of his concerns, how would he address about their situation? By all accounts they were traitors, and there's only one price for that.
"Sir, we are picking up two signals!" - stated one of the pilots. The droid confirmed it as well, further stating they were about to jump from outer space.
True to his beeps, two large triangular shapes appeared out of nowhere.
"I can't believe it." - Scorch said out loud. "It's a stardestroyer."

"I see four tie fighters and two transport ships heading this way in the scanners."

"Scorch, have the troopers ready." The man in question saluted and followed the orders. "I just realized something Twilight."

"What is it?" - she gazed at him.

"We forgot to inform to the princesses about this." The look on Twilight's said everything he needed to know. "Yeah..."

"Spike can you..."

"Already there." - the small drake replied, quickly writing down a letter and sending it to Celestia. 
The platoon of troopers stood outside the castle, even Silver had to admit the numbers went up quite a bit. Still he was very nervous about this and a quick glance at Twilight showed the same.
The group could see the transports starting their descent while the tie fighters flew overhead, their loud engines proclaiming their arrival.
"Those things are loud." - observed Twilight.
"It's a lovely sound." The captain placed his helmet back on and nodded at the princess. "We got this."

As soon they landed, the doors of the transports ships opened and more troopers clad in white and black showed themselves.
An aged officer stepped forward.
"Are you Captain Silver?"

"Yes sir."

"I'm officer Sheron from what remains of the First Order."
They shook their hands.
"Officer Sheron, this is Princess Twilight of Equestria."
Sheron did a low bow.
"Your Majesty."

"Pleasure to meet you officer Sheron."

"Tell me, what was happened to the First Order? We haven't received any news since we got stuck on this planet."

"It would appear the Resistence won. Most higher ranking officers are either dead or missing during a battle on Exegol."

"But what about the Supreme Leader and Captain Phasma?" Sheron shook his head. So the Resistence did win, who could've guess this was going to happen.
"Even the emperor."

"The...emperor? Do you mean-?"

"Yes, somehow...Palpatine returned."
Now that was unexpected, the emperor was alive until now? They certainly missed a lot.
"Please, let's talk inside, there's a lot to be discussed." The officer nodded as the group returned to the castle.
They had been talking for quite a bit until Celestia and Luna showed up.
"Got any plans for the future?" - asked Celestia. 
The grey trooper stole a quick glance at the solar monarch, wondering what she was thinking.
Sheron placed his hat on the table, looking somewhat conflicted.
"I don't really know what to do now. Our purpose is gone. What can we do now?"
Celestia looked back at Silver and nodded.
Was she trying to offer the same proposal to them? Well, it wasn't a bad idea overall but...
It was still worth a shot anyway.

"Officer Sheron, I have an offer for you."