Anakin and Ahsoka stepped through the long octagonal door as it slid open and entered the bridge’s control room, where Commander Cody and Admiral Yolaren stood.
“What is our status report, Admiral?” he requested.
Admiral Yolaren turned to him and replied, “Nothing yet, sir.”
Obi-Wan came in behind them and sighed as Anakin brought up the holomap.
“Which Republic fleets were closest to us prior to our crashed?” He asked.
“Master Plo Koon and the 104th Battalion are currently located on Bunduki. Grand Master Yoda is on a diplomatic mission to Houche,” Yolaren replied.
The map zoomed in on the area of where they were in the galaxy.
“Both of those star systems aren’t far from us,” Obi-Wan commented. “Depending on the vessel and hyperdrive class, they could be here within a few hours to a week.”
“If the Separatists do find us first, I don’t know if Master Yoda will have enough reinforcements,” Anakin responded.
The communications officer at the comms station turned around to face them.
“We sent our message to all of the nearest fleets. If they received it immediately, it shouldn’t take long for a reply,” he stated.
Anakin then heard the familiar woo, wah, woo sound come from behind him. When he turned around, he saw the white and blue astromech droid, R2-D2.
“Good to see you, old friend,” he said with a smile.
The astromech replied with a few excited beeps.
“R2, you’re coming with us.” He told him.
The droid expressed his enthusiasm by letting out a few happy chirping noises and swaying a little from side to side.
“Keep us informed of any new developments by comlink,” Kenobi said.
“I will, General,” said Yolaren.
The group left the ship and headed in the direction of Ponyville.
It was the middle of the afternoon when the group of three Jedi, one clone trooper and one droid entered Golden Oaks Library, where the mane six and Spike were still present. Twilight smiled as she saw them enter.
“Good news!” she exclaimed as she used her magic to hold up the letter, “Princess Celestia and Luna have agreed to meet with you in Canterlot.”
“That’s good news indeed,” Obi-Wan replied.
WOOO, BEEP, BEEP, BOOP!
“What was that?” Fluttershy was startled by it and asked.
R2-D2 rolled out from behind his companions. The astromech matched the ponies in height. The ponies stared at the droid as they tried to understand what the mechanical machine was.
Anakin put his hand on him and said, “This is R2-D2. He is a droid, a machine.”
R2 glanced over the room, getting a feel for his surroundings. His head spun three hundred and sixty degrees. They had a look of surprise when this happened. The only thing that came close to doing that was Twilight’s pet, Owlowiscious. Twilight was very curious about the droid, wondering just how it worked. She had an interest in technology and had built some machines of her own. The astromech turned his head towards Anakin and made a few curious beeps.
“Yes, R2.” He made several fast jabberings.
“You can understand him?” Fluttershy asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, I can,” he replied. “This little droid has saved us countless times.”
Ahsoka asked Twilight, “So when do we leave?”
“We leave immediately on the next train,” she answered.
When they arrived at Ponyville’s train station, which, like most of the buildings in town, was brightly colored, including the train itself, it still relied on wheel-powered train cars and railroad tracks. Unlike the hovertrains they were used to, which utilized repulsorlifts and a track or none at all. They boarded an empty passenger car with the six ponies and Spike. The group took a seat.
“So how were you able to get a message out to the princesses?” asked Anakin.
“I’m Princess Celestia’s personal protégé. I was a student at her School for Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot before I was selected by her and moved to Ponyville to study friendship,” Twilight explained.
“You must be extremely gifted to have such an honor,” Anakin commented. He certainly understood being the Chosen One.
Ahsoka raised a brow in surprise. “Study friendship?” Her voice sounded slightly confused.
Rarity came to Twilight’s defense. “Well, Twilight isn’t exactly the most outgoing pony around and would prefer to read books.”
“What exactly are the princesses?” Kenobi asked.
Twilight answered, “They are what are called an alicorn.” She explained, “They are a combination of all three pony species. Princess Celestia has been the ruler of Equestria for over a thousand years.” There were several species in the galaxy who lived several hundred years, like Wookiees or Master Yoda’s species, but species that lived several thousand years or more were few, such as the Hutts.” “Princess Celestia controls the sun and Princess Luna controls the moon,” she told them.
The four of them, especially the Jedi, glanced at each other. They found that very hard to believe, as anyone capable of moving celestial objects had to be extremely powerful in the Force.
The ride took a few hours for them to arrive at their destination. When the group arrived at the Canterlot station, they got off the train. It was early in the evening now, as the sun had started to go down. The sky was turning into a gradient of pink, orange and blue. The city of Canterlot was large and mostly consisted of white buildings. Many of them had turrets and ivory towers, which added to their elegance, especially when the spires were gold in color. They walked along the city’s cobblestone roads. Most of the pony residents were unicorns with some pegasus and earth ponies. The castle itself was massive and majestic, towering above the rest of the city. There were white tiled floors and large stained glass windows throughout the castle. They followed the central red carpet to the throne room doors.
A guard pony trotted in before them and announced, “They are here, your highness.”
“Send them in,” Celestia said.
When the doors opened, they saw a large room that ended with a ramp to a raised throne. There were more stained glass windows on both sides of the room. On either side of the room, there were ponies in armor as guards. The ponies trotted in front of the group with R2 rolling in the back. The princesses trotted down to meet them. Their manes moved without the aid of the wind. They both had wings and horns. The taller, white pony almost met them at eye level. She had a long rainbow mane. The dark blue pony was half her height and had a blue mane with what seemed like shimmering stars.
“Welcome to Canterlot,” greeted Celestia. “I’m Princess Celestia.”
“I am her younger sister, Princess Luna,” stated Luna.
The visitors bowed to them to show respect.
“It is an honor to let us meet with you, your highnesses,” Obi-Wan said. “I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex and R2-D2,” he introduced.
“Regretfully, our ship crashed south of Ponyville,” Anakin stated.
“We apologize for any damage caused,” Kenobi added.
“Yes, we saw when it happened and wondered what it was,” Luna said and continued, “We have never seen species like yours before.”
Ahsoka clarified, “I am a species called a Togruta. They are called humans and R2 is a droid.”
“You have never had contact with the wider galaxy?” Kenobi asked.
“We are not aware of the wider galaxy. There is no record of having any contact outside of our world in our history,“ Luna replied.
“R2, bring up the map,” Anakin said.
The droid rolled in front of them as he shined a small light and brought up a holomap of the galaxy. They never thought that it would be so large.
He went on to say, “Yours is just one of the many millions of star systems and one of the billions of life forms living in the galaxy.” He showed them the area where they were located.
“Where do you come from?”
“We come from the Galactic Republic,” Kenobi explained and continued, “The Republic is a democratic government that has stood in the galaxy for over ten thousand years. We are a part of the Jedi Order. We are the peacekeepers and guardians of the Republic. We are allied with the light side of the Force.” “The Force gives the Jedi their power and lives in all living things,” he said.
“So it isn’t magic?” Twilight asked.
“The Force and magic are two very different things,” Anakin answered. “With the Force, I can sense things before they happen. The Force can do many things magic is incapable of.”
“This is a lightsaber, the weapon and tool of a Jedi. The blade is made of pure plasma energy,” Kenobi said as he took out his shiny metal lightsaber and activated it. The blue blade hummed to life. “There are few materials that can block a lightsaber.”
“The galaxy is currently embroiled in a three-year long war known as the Clone Wars between the Republic and the secessionist Separatists,” Anakin told them.
“The Separatists are led by a former Jedi, Count Dooku, who has fallen to the dark side and is a Sith, the enemy of the Jedi. They have a mechanical droid army,” Kenobi explained.
“The Grand Army of the Republic consists of clones that were created by using a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Jango Fett.”
“That makes me think of the time Pinkie used the Mirror Pool to make copies of herself,” Dash replied.
“But those were totally different and also got out of hoof,” Pinkie commented.
“We are hoping to be rescued by nearby Republic forces, but we fear that the enemy will find us first before they do,” Rex stated.
“We do not want to drag you into our conflict, but it might become unavoidable,” Kenobi remarked.
Celestia nodded her head, saying, “I understand. Pony kind has had major conflicts with each other in the past, over a millennium ago. We have solved situations with peaceful negotiations for a long time with other species, but that doesn’t mean we won’t fight if necessary.”
“It will be nightfall by the time you arrive back in Ponyville. We can accommodate you here at the castle for the night if you wish,” she added. Luna turned and nodded her head in agreement. The Jedi exchanged glances with one another.
“We are humbled by your offer,” Kenobi responded, before adding, “We accept.”
“Wonderful,” Celestia replied.
“Thank you for your time,” Kenobi said.
“Thank you, it has been an honor to meet you, your highnesses,” Anakin remarked. They all bowed to the princesses.
The cool evening air passed by Twilight as she opened her castle room door out to the balcony. A slight shiver ran down her back. As the moonlight illuminated the night sky, it was filled with glowing stars. They looked like millions of tiny pinholes in a darkened fabric. She was pondering over the information she told earlier that day at the meeting. Her ears twitched as she could hear the sound of hoof steps approaching her.
“Ah, I knew you were still awake,” the voice said. She turned her head to see Princess Luna standing in the room.
“Oh, good evening, Princess Luna.”
“Good evening to you as well,” she replied. “My sister just went to bed after wishing your friends and our guests a good night,” she told her.
“May I join you?”
“Of course,” Twilight answered with a smile.
She trotted out to join her on the balcony, staring at the stars. A shooting star streaked across the sky. “Beautiful night it is tonight,” she said. Twilight stayed quiet, focused on the stars, she was deep in thought wondering which stars she was seeing had planets with other life forms on them. She finally broke her silence.
“It makes you look at the sky differently now, doesn’t it?”
She turned her head to Luna.
“There was an entire galaxy of other beings out there and we never knew it. All our history, we never thought about it or were visited.”
Luna smiled. “I’m not certain. I’m sure some ponies thought about it, but just not seriously,” she replied.
“You should get some rest.”
Twilight trotted back inside and got into bed. Luna followed her and made her way to the door.
“Good night Princess Luna,” she said and closed the balcony door with her magic.
“Good night Twilight.” Luna smiled and said, “Sweet dreams.”
She closed the chamber room door behind her and went down the hallway.