Celestia nodded graciously to the ponies she passed as she strode through the halls of Canterlot Palace. Reaching the antechamber she had been seeking, the solar diarch paused to observe the folk within, Revan was discussing political systems with Count Fancy Pants, in particular, they were comparing the Senate of the Galactic Republic with the Diarchy and House of Lords of Equestria.
She quietly observed the lively discussion and good-natured chaffing for a few minutes, before she used a bit of her magic to slip in unnoticed, “Did somepony say my name?” Celestia carefully hid her smile at the startled looks her sudden appearance had engendered, truth be told, her habit of mysteriously appearing out of nowhere was one of her guilty pleasures. Well, that and cake. And the trashy romance novels she kept on the locked shelf of her bookcase.
“Good evening, your Highness,” Fancy bowed to his sovereign, while Revan gave the salute she used during informal occasions, “We did, indeed, mention you during our debate.” Turning back to Revan, the unicorn gave her a friendly nod, “As I suspect you have other engagements, we’ll have to continue our discussion another day.”
“Looking forward to it, Fancy,” the Jedi grinned at the aristocrat, “Next time, though, we need some booze,” the stallion shook his head in amusement as they parted ways.
“I’m glad to see you and Count Fancy getting along so well,” Celestia observed as the pair headed for the private wings of the palace.
Revan nodded as she strolled along beside the princess, “Yea, he’s a good sort, for a spook.”
Celestia’s ear twitched as she shot the twi’lek an arched look, “Spook? I find nothing particularly eerie about Count Fancy.”
“A spook, an operative, an infiltrator, a cypher, an intelligence agent. You know, a spy.”
Celestia stopped to face Revan directly, “And just how did you know that Fancy Pants is part of the Equestrian Intelligence Service?”
“I can smell ‘em, spooks,” Revan frowned as she resumed walking, “But just spies and undercover security. Assassins, conmen, all that other clandestine crap, and I got nothing.”
“Hmm,” Celestia mused on this admission as they continued to their destination, the small dining room that she and Luna used for private gatherings.
Entering the room, Revan gave a cheery wave to the lunar diarch, “Heya, Spooky!”
“Will thou ever stop referring to me with that foalish nickname?” Luna asked with a long-suffering sigh.
Revan considered the idea as she and Celestia took their usual chairs, “Nope,” Celestia broke into giggles while the twi’lek grinned impishly at the younger alicorn. Leaning back in her chair, she looked at the diarchs, “So … why are you two spending so much time on me?”
Celestia blinked at Revan, her cup of tea paused half-way to her mouth, “I’m not sure I understand your question.”
Revan waved a hand at the two princesses, “You two rule the nation and control the movement of the frelling Sun and Moon, yet every week when I come up to see Hopeful, you ask me by for dinner, I know I’m fascinating, but come on.”
“Still so leery of others,” Luna shook her head in disappointment, “When mine sister and I called thou friend, did thee not believe us? Thou are right that ‘Tia and I have many duties, but that is exactly why we look forward to such engagements with those who are dear to us.”
“To be honest,” Celestia added, “At least part of our ‘fascination’, as you put it, is because you are one of the few who will actually treat us as just ponies rather than as ‘the Princesses’. Even dear, faithful Twilight and her friends can’t completely get over their awe of us,” Celestia took a sip of her tea, “Does that satisfy your curiosity?”
Revan ducked her head sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to come off hostile or be an ungrateful little shabuir.”
Celestia waved off the Jedi’s apology as she dug happily into her eggplant parmesan, “So, how is your education in discretion going?”
“Twi’ told you about that?” Revan asked, clearly glad for the change of subject, “Rares and AJ are trying but … it’s a work in progress.”
“We noticed,” Luna observed, “Thou has only used two profanities since thou sat down,” she smirked at Revan, eager to get the twi’lek back for her earlier teasing.
Celestia watched the two banter back-and-forth for a time, before she cleared her throat to get their attention as they finally began to wind down, “Actually, Revan, Luna and I had a proposal we wanted to make you,” seeing the Jedi’s sudden eagerness she hastily elaborated, “For employment, of course.”
“Sure, get a girl’s hopes up,” Revan grumbled, “So, who do want me to kill?”
“… What?”
Revan merely shrugged and reached for another slice of bread as the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon stared at her in baffled disbelief, “It’s not like you have much other use for me and my talents. Well, I suppose you could want me to rough someone up or threaten some poor bastard, but that doesn’t really seem your style, and you have plenty of command staff, so it’s unlikely that you’d need me to lead troops for you.”
Luna glared as she pointed an angry hoof at the twi’lek, “Firstly, Revan Vao, if ‘Tia or I should ever decide somepony must be killed, we will handle it ourselves! Secondly, I am quite tired of listening to thou slighting thyself! Thou are not a monster, and there is more to thee than just thy warrior’s skills!” A look of disbelief briefly crossed the Jedi’s face before the force of Luna’s irate outburst drove her back into her seat, while the lunar alicorn merely continued on with her tirade, trampling over any reply Revan might have tried to make, “Thy heart hates thyself, Revan Vao. Thou hate thyself for the horrible things thee have done, both during war and during thy time as a Sith and a Jedi, and thou hate thyself even more because thou would do them again if thee had too. Thou hate thyself for being alive when so many of thy comrades are not, and thou hate thyself for 'betraying' those lost friends by daring to make new ones. Thou hate thyself for those things that thou still will not share with us but keep locked away festering within thy soul. All of this loathing thou have for thyself is toxic, and I say thee enough!” Luna reached out a wing to grip Revan’s shoulder, “Thou railed at me for reproaching myself for the Nightmare’s actions, now thou must understand that thou are not irredeemable. Thou have to forgive thyself, Revan Vao.”
Reaching out her own wing, Celestia griped the twi’lek’s other shoulder, “Luna is right, even if she is being rather vehement, like many ponies, you are flawed and damaged, but you are not the villain you see yourself as, trust us on this, please.”
The princesses pulled back their wings and shifted in their seats to give the dazed Jedi some space to recover her composure, “Well,” Revan finally replied, her voice hitching as she brushed a suspicious bit of moisture from her eye, “You said you had some kind of work for me?”
Celestia exchanged a glance with her sister, but yielded to Revan’s desire to change the subject – for now. “Yes, we were hoping that you would be willing to develop and oversee a training program to teach ponies in the use of the Force,” Celestia’s hopeful smile slowly faded from her face as the Jedi sat there staring at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head.
“You want me to train ponies in the Force? Do you have any idea how many things are wrong with that idea?” holding up a hand, Revan began to number off her concerns, “I don’t know how to sense Force-potential, which means we’ll waste months, maybe years, trying to teach ponies that never could have learned in the first place, and that’s assuming any even can. The only way I know to do the early training is the way that I was taught, and that was by the Sith, and their methods don’t just have a washout rate, they have a fatality rate! The Force can be corruptive, even properly trained Jedi have fallen, and I’ve walked too far down the Dark path to ever leave it completely, so anyone I train will probably be all the more likely to fall. Oh, and least we forget, the Force abilities I’m most capable with, and therefore best suited to teach, are almost all combative, since I trained as a warrior and not as a sorcerer or sage.”
“We are aware of the issues, Revan, after all, Luna and I did not decide upon this as a lark,” Celestia shook her head as she gently chided the Jedi, “Your unlucky encounter with poison joke showed that ponies can wield the Force, and also put an obligation on Luna and I to ensure both that our little ponies have the chance to reach their potential, as well as to guarantee their safety. But you are right, developing a spell or method to identify those ponies who are Force-capable is likely to be a long and frustrating process. That is simply the way it is, unfortunately. As for initial training, we intend to bring in instructors from West Hoof Academy and Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to help you refine what you know into a less … ruthless teaching style.”
“We share thy concerns about possible corruption,” Luna added, “Magic can also be abused and corrupt those who use it carelessly, but that is why we have the Magus Corps, to monitor those ponies that are at risk and to deal with those who fall. We hope to expand the Magus’ numbers, training and jurisdiction to include Force-using ponies. As for thy own history, having an instructor with a … checkered past will help thy students learn the warning signs they should be aware of, as well as show them that a pony who falls to corruption, the Dark as thou call it, need not be lost forever.”
“As for your last concern,” Celestia said, “while I would like this Force-training to produce sages, scholars and seers, having it prepare ponies to defend the realm and each other as members of the Guard, the Reserves, or simply on their own, is far from the worst way to begin.”
Revan chewed on her lip absently as she considered the Princesses’ offer and arguments, “Would I have to leave Ponyville?”
“Not at all,” Celestia gave the hesitant Jedi a warm smile, “We would set you up with rooms and an office, of course, probably at West Hoof, but there is nothing stopping you from taking the train from Ponyville and back each day.”
“Alright,” the twi’lek finally sighed, “I’ll do it. I just hope we don’t all come to regret this.”
Even as she and her sister nodded to Revan in approval, Celestia’s thoughts drifted back to the doubts she had seen on the Jedi’s face earlier and she winced inwardly, ‘She thinks we are cowards for not confronting Equestria’s threats personally, even if she will not say it, and that makes it all the harder for our words to reach her. She is so convinced that having power also means leading the charge. I hope that one day she will understand that Equestria depends on Luna and me too much for us to have the luxury of risking ourselves when others are capable of standing in our sted, and maybe she and the others will even forgive us for it …’