//------------------------------// // 4 - Fashionable Apprentice Pt. 2 // Story: Rowan's Star Wars // by RowanSkie //------------------------------// “Let me tell you a few things about this place,” Luna told the others as they rode the newly cleaned four-person transport speedster towards the mountain. “This place was known was the country of Equestria. The town near where we fought was once known as Ponyville, a simple town founded by apple farmers. The mountain we are heading is named Mt. Canter, and the castle seemingly built in its side is a city known as Canterlot. It was once the dazzling jewel of Equestria, the capital.” “Huh, so the trees were apple trees?” Twilight asked. “I’ve never seen them before.” The dark blue alicorn stared at Twilight. “Hailing from Tatooine, I presume?” Twilight nodded. “I see, and I knew why I guessed you came from Tatooine due to your dress. For your question, not all of them are apple trees, youngling.” Luna landed the speedster on a large balcony where it seemed like a few droids were cleaning up the place. “Just those trees with red ball-like items hanging from it. Trust me, you’ll want them sooner or later. They’re edible and so have a wonderful taste.” She went out of the speedster after a droid connected it to a fueling pod. The three followed and Rarity went to Luna’s side. “So… where’s your sister?” Starswirl wondered. “When I was under your tutelage you were rather shot me than letting me know how she looked like. Twilight looked back, jumped and elbowed her master. “Right behind you, master.” Starswirl looked back to find a white pony which towered him. He saw that this pony had a horn and wings like Luna and saw her mane and tail with three colors as it waved in the light. She had the kindest smile. What made her different from her sister is that she wore a vest containing various materials which he saw were tools and a modified blaster. Starswirl looked back at Luna. “Your sister is a smuggler?” Starswirl clarified, having taken notice of her sister’s clothing. Luna nodded. “Why?” “Equestria’s a smuggling country these days,” the white alicorn answered with a voice which seemed to be softer than Luna. “Seeing the New Republic fall into another Empire made our visitors permanently call this country a smuggling zone. Welcome to Equestria, Jedi. Luna.” “Celestia,” Luna greeted. “This is my padawan, Rarity Belle, my former padawan, Starswirl, and his own padawan, youngling Twilight Sparkle.” “Greetings, I am Princess Celestia. I was once known by my little ponies as the Sun Princess, but I fear that ever since the Empire tried to take everything I had to drop the title. For now, I am merely a smuggler keeping the Canterlot Jedi Temple clean because I’m bored,” Celestia introduced herself, going a little flat on the end. “I’m bored and I miss being a ruler of a state.” Starswirl looked around. “I’m planning to rebel against the Star Empire,” he announced. “If that helps. Maybe you can be part of something.” With ludicrous looks pointed to him, Celestia couldn’t help but tell her own idea, if she was right about what he meant. “I was thinking of a royal republic after we have arrived on this galaxy… However, since this planet was uncharted, I couldn’t just present the idea. Now that it seems like it has turned into an empire, maybe we can overtake this one out,” she explained. “But… that’s impossible to do without like an army or something!” Twilight protested. “Not to mention, the fragments of the old Empire joining this one out is just gonna make this worse! Unless we have some sort of spy inside or some knowledge how we can beat them.” Rarity had an idea. “How about master Luna’s invitations?” she suggested. “There’s rumors about one of the Old Republic’s old senators making steps against the Star Empire. General Leia, I think.” “General Leia?” Luna wondered. “I’ve heard of that name. She, along with the last Jedi of the Old Order and a smuggler, destroyed the Death Star and Death Star II, or so they say.” “Hmm. I see.” Starswirl looked at Twilight Sparkle suddenly, like something disturbed him. “Padawan, mind talking to you in private?” “Yes, master,” Twilight answered. The two dismissed the area and headed into the depths of the surprisingly decent Jedi Temple. As they walked towards a small training chamber as shown, Starswirl spoke first. “Remember when you ran to your father when I said you were the Chosen One?” Starswirl asked. Twilight nodded. “You woke up after blacking out,” she reminisced. “Why? Is that why you picked me as your padawan?” “I was referring to my Force vision where I saw a violet unicorn, probably you, bring balance to the Force and to the galaxy,” Starswirl explained, nodding. “I suppose your father reacted?” “Well, he gave me this holocron…” Twilight began. “I played it. Then I kept it in my bag. Afterwards, I kind of left my back from the speedster.” “Can you bring it here?” Starswirl asked. “I would like to see it.” After arriving on the room, Twilight looked at her back then summoned her bag. Starswirl placed his hoof on her shoulder with a small frown which Twilight didn’t noticed at first. “You should minimize the use for magic,” he began as he took the bag off Twilight and went to place it in one corner. “It is not healthy for an adept to use magic. Try to use the Force. There is a reason you are just as good as magic.” “How do I use the Force?” Twilight asked. “I thought it controls everything.” “But the Jedi can also control the Force and the Force can flow with them,” Starswirl explained. “You must focus enough and have the correct conditions which I know you already know. Now, for your training, you must unlearn what you have learned and learn what you have not learned.” “Trust my instincts,” Twilight interpreted. “I’m not sure how this will work out, I am a sort of scholar.” Starswirl answered by picking up a discarded resistance helmet lying around with its blast shield down and slid it out to her Twilight’s head. Afterwards, he handed his practice saber which had been on his belt along with his own lightsaber. Twilight blinked and tried to peek only to feel a hoof sliding the helmet back down. “I can’t see in this thing,” Twilight complained. “How can I even start and activate this… hilt?” “Trust in the Force,” he instructed. “Once you have activated that practice saber we can move on to the next training; defense.” After a few minutes, Celestia and the others wondered what was going on until Luna felt a small disturbance in the Force. This caused her to gallop inside the temple and saw why they were taking a long time to return. She saw Starswirl training Twilight Sparkle in a vacant room, their materials on one side. Luna also saw Twilight with Starswirl’s training saber, which made her confirm that she was actually training. While she watched, Rarity and Celestia galloped and passed by silently and caught up with Luna. “Are they training?” Rarity whispered. Luna smiled. “Yes, my padawan.” She took a note on how her former padawan teached his padawan before noticing something about her current padawan. “Where is your lightsaber, miss Belle?” Rarity moved her hooves around her belt and gulped her throat as she had indeed lost her lightsaber. “I think in our haste we had left my lightsaber over the castle ruins, master.” Luna muttered something Rarity would find too gross before running off to their speedster. Rarity, knowing what it meant, soon followed with click-clacks of their hooves echoing the chamber as they immediately focused on taking back Rarity’s lightsaber. Both of them knew that the first lightsaber is always special and if it were to be destroyed, then they would only make another one. Twilight Sparkle, wearing the modified resistance helmet, tried her best. The blast shield interrupted both her magic and her instincts, and her Master Jedi said that she should tap into the Force. She was having doubts about how this would work since she just heard of the Force yesterday and read about it just a few hours ago. And now, she was told to activate something she had on her hooves. She concluded that it was a lightsaber as she inspected and checked what she was holding. The design felt simple and thought it was a practice saber hilt. “Once you have activated that practice saber we can move on to the next training; defense,” he had instructed. She groaned on the inside. She wasn’t cut out for this, but she was already in another planet, not in her father’s settlement. Seeing only one option, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. At first, she felt nothing of interest nor any suspicious feeling that the holocrons told her until she felt something. Once she had opened her eyes, she noticed that the shield had seemingly become translucent. Taking notice, Twilight activated the saber. “Good!” her master praised her. “Now, what did you feel?” The translucence of the shield disappeared. She took notice of it. Twilight answered, “I felt like I can see the saber I had.” Twilight swung the saber a few times before she took full curiousity to focus on what she had in her hooves. “What’s difference between practice saber and a real lightsaber?” “You curiosity is commendable,” he commented before answering, “the difference, my student, between the lightsaber and the practice blade is the intensity of the plasma blade. The lightsaber can cut through materials and vaporize your hooves while the practice saber can only give a slight burn on the fur. Now that you have learned to tap into the Force, avoid the lasers.” “Lasers? What laser— Ow!” Twilight instinctively faced left as something felt like burning. “Ow! Master, what are you doing?” Twilight faced right only to feel something on the left again. “I requested Celestia to shoot you some sting shots,” he answered. “Wait, what?” Twilight tried to look to her master only to end up getting hit in the back. “When did you—?” Twilight let out an audible groan for once. Focusing, she then immediately blocked something afterwards. “I see that my sister was good in not letting themselves get hurt,” Celestia commented in sarcasm. Star Swirl blinked as he healed his hoof which was hit by Twilight in defense. “It was fortunate that you were merely using stun shots, but it still burned my skin.” Starswirl looked over to Twilight. “You can remove your helmet now, Twilight.” Twilight Sparkle removed the helmet and stared at Starswirl’s burnt hoof as she deactivated the practice saber. “Uh… Did I do that?” she asked. Star Swirl nodded. Twilight Sparkle immediately panicked and tried to apologize. Celestia couldn’t help but laugh in pity, noticing her cutie mark, which was a pink starburst surrounded by five small stars in different colors. She couldn’t help but remembering one of her old friends which also had a similar cutie mark only with white small stars. She also noticed how the padawans were named and wondered if it was a coincidence or a planned event.