//------------------------------// // Ch. 24; Welcome To The Academy // Story: Star Wars: A Second Chance // by Dorath //------------------------------// Almost a dozen ponies waited in various states of boredom or nervousness in the empty classroom in WestHoof Academy. They ranged from a fourteen-year-old earth pony colt with the overawed look of somepony who had never been to a town bigger than Ponyville, to a jaded-looking unicorn mare in her mid-thirties, who was wishing that she was back out in the field with her Magus Corps peers. “So,” a teenage pegasus spoke up as she idly scratched at her red and orange mane, “Does anypony know why we’re all here?” Her question brought a disdainful sniff from a blue-coated unicorn stallion that looked to be only a few years older than she was, “We are here because the Princesses specifically chose us to train in a newly discovered form of magic.” The stallion looked down his muzzle at the younger mare, “I should think that would have been made clear enough from the letters we received, even to such an apparent ignoramus as you.” “Wow, does that stick up your plot make it hard to sit down?” the pegasus retorted, drawing snickers from several of the listening ponies, “What I meant was why us? If this is a new type of magic, what are pegasi and earth ponies doing here instead of just unicorns? And just who is this ‘Revan Vao’ pony that we’re supposed to be learning from, anyway?” “Oh, oh, I can answer that!” a tiny unicorn teen bounced eagerly in her seat, waving her hoof in the air, “According to the Canterlot Times and Equestria Daily, she’s a non-equestristrial life form that emigrated to Equestria and has since taken service with the Thrones. While the Manehatten Post says that she’s actually a soldier from an alien army that was shipwrecked in the Everfree Forest, got adopted by the town of Ponyville, and has sworn her personal loyalty to the Princesses. In addition, the Stalliongrad Informer says that she’s a one-pony apocalypse that singlehoofedly defeated an entire army that was trying to foalnap the Bearers of Harmony and that she’s the greatest necromancer Equestria has seen since the Magus Corps defeated Honey Grace five hundred years ago. Oh, and the Star has been printing that Revan Vao is actually a spy sent by evil alien powers to gain our trust, corrupt our culture, undermine the morals of our youth and national heroes, and weaken Equestria’s defenses in preparation for an invasion by her masters and their changeling collaborators.” “Okay …” the pegasus looked at the little unicorn in slightly overwhelmed confusion, “Well, thanks for all that … uhm ….” “Licorice,” the teen replied, waving happily to the other ponies, “Hi!” “Hiya, Licorice-whip, name's Blaze,” the pegasus shook her head, “So, an honest-to-Celestia space alien huh? Sounds like something from out of the comic books,” she observed, while some of her fellows nodded in agreement. The sound of approaching hoofsteps drew everypony's attention to the side door, which shortly opened to admit a raspberry red unicorn mare with her pale green mane tied back in a bun and an earth pony stallion with a yellow coat and a short-cropped dark blue mane. As the two arrivals made their way to the front of the room, the door opened again, causing everypony to scramble to their hooves as the two Princesses and a strange blue biped with an eyepatch walked in. The three exchanged nods, then the biped walked over to stand with the other two ponies at the front of the room and said “At ease,” with an amused smirk, while Celestia and Luna took seats in the front row of desks. “Good morning, everyone,” the biped continued, “And welcome to the first class of the Equestrian Force Academy. I'm Revan Vao of the twi'lek species, newly commissioned as Legate to lead the Academy and oversee your training. These are Madam Moonlit Prism of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and career Sergeant Courage from WestHoof Academy, and they'll be helping me train you ponies.” Revan hopped up to sit on the instructor's desk, ignoring the irritated looks she received from Moonlit and Courage, “So, here's the intel, it turns out that some of you ponies have the ability to wield a power that the rest of the galaxy knows as the Force.” Seeing the expressions on the listening ponies’ faces, she merely grinned and shrugged, “Yeah, it's a less than inspired name, but what can you do? Anyway, I've been asked to teach you how to control your talents, as well as how to use them responsibly. There's been plenty of Force-wielders who were complete bastards, and we'd like to keep the number of them that come out of Equestria to a minimum.” The legate looked over her audience as several shot awed glances at the princesses in their midst, “You seem to have noticed senior apprentices Celestia and Luna,” her grin grew as the ponies started at her words, while Celestia smiled kindly to her fellow ponies and Luna gave them a shy wave. “It's thanks to their efforts and sacrifices that we managed to reduce the fatality rate of the training regime by thirty-percent,” Revan's smile became, somehow, even wider and more toothy as the ponies gaped at her in shock, while Moonlight, Courage and Celestia favored her with exasperated looks and Luna indulged in a very non-regal facehoof. “Do I have everyone's full attention, now? Good, because I wasn't kidding. Back when I was an apprentice, maybe sixty-percent of a class would make it through the Trials, and a lot of those who didn't wound-up as corpse meat. So, yeah, Celestia and Luna have been training the old way so we could develop a better method for teaching you and those who will follow after.” Revan gave an exasperated sigh, “Look, I've been told that these things normal go with the headmaster or whoever giving a speech to welcome the new students, maybe give them a brief rundown on what they can expect for the year, and try to inspire them to dive into their studies. Clearly I am crap at that, so why doesn't everyone grab a chair and huddle-up, and we'll do a little q-and-a.” The gathered ponies looked at each other, and then shifted to form a rough semi-circle around the desk Revan was still perched on, while Luna moved forward to poke the twi’lek in the shoulder with a hoof, “That is twice that thou owe the swear jar, Revan Vao.” The legate grumbled as she dug into a pouch and handed the smirking alicorn a handful of bits, while several of the ponies chuckled at the byplay. As the group settled back into their chairs, Revan looked down at them with a small smile, “So, who’s going to be first? Ah, let’s go with you, Wiggles, is it?” “Yes, Ma’am,” the lavender earth pony mare replied, “What kind of magic are you going to teach us, and, well, are you really sure that earth ponies can do it?” “Just Revan will be fine, Wiggles, or Legate if you really feel a need to be formal,” Revan replied, “Old Jutzu would love this, say it was my well-deserved comeuppance,” she added under her breathe before she turned her attention back to the mare. “Okay, time for a quick lecture, the Force is an energy field created by, and connecting, every living thing. While most folk don’t have the ability to manipulate it, almost every species has the potential, so, yes, earth ponies are just as likely to be Force-sensitive as a pegasus or a unicorn. As for what I’ll be teaching you, that varies, all Force-wielders share some basic talents; enhanced physical abilities, situational awareness and sensitivity to others’ emotions, telekinesis, extended lifespan, and the ability to manipulate the weak-minded. Beyond that, it will depend on your individual gifts; healing, of yourself or even others, commanding lightning, creating illusions in others’ minds, and even foreseeing the future are all possibilities.” “You said something about responsibility earlier,” the older unicorn mare spoke up, her eyes slightly narrowed as she considered Revan, “So there is a risk of corruption with this training, then?” “Every skill or talent can be misused or turned to ill intent, River Breeze,” the twi’lek responded, “And the Force responds, not only to what you do, but to why you’re doing it. Calling on the Force out of anger, fear, hate, greed, aggression or other negative emotions will open you to the Dark side, and those emotions will begin to fuel your abilities and color your thinking. Go too far down that path, and you can be lost in the Darkness.” Revan looked at the gathered ponies, catching each of their eyes in turn, “I want you all to understand, being a Darksider does not automatically mean being a monster. They can still be capable of compassion, love and self-sacrifice, and people have left the Dark and returned to the Light, or even wielded the Dark for what they believed to be a greater good. That being said, without an anchor in the Light, truly heroic willpower, or the pure dumb luck to be shown what they are becoming before they slip too far, anyone who calls too heavily on the Dark side runs a very real risk of those same raw passions and negative emotions that give them their strength twisting their perceptions and personalities and turning them into horrors.” River’s features hardened slightly with disapproval, “You were one of these Darksiders.” “Yes, I was one of the monsters, the SoulTaker of Comzelar actually, but I managed to leave that way behind and tried to embrace the Light for many years, although my success is debatable. The Dark still comes easily to me, however, and it is what I am best at,” Revan looked around the little group again, “We, Moonlight, Courage and I, intend to teach you the ways of the Light and, hopefully, how to avoid slipping into the Dark. Still, who knows, maybe one of you will learn what has eluded me and be able to balance the Light and Dark, drawing on the strength of each without having to fight not to lose yourself. And even if you resist all of the temptations and complete your training, even the gentler Trials used by the Light have broken aspirants, so if any of you think the risks are unreasonable, please say so and you may leave and never waste another thought on the Academy or anything we’ve discussed so far.” The ponies exchanged uneasy glances as they considered the legate’s warning and offer, then Licorice piped up, “If we stay, does that mean we will be studying alongside the Princesses?” “As a matter of fact, it does, for that matter, Celestia and Luna have already spoken to me about offering tutoring to any of their junior apprentices who might need additional help.” Licorice’s hooves flew to her muzzle as she let out a happy squeal, causing Luna to cock an eyebrow at her sister, “Was Twilight Sparkle like this when she was thy student?” “Very much so, Sister,” Celestia replied with a small smile, “Personally, I always thought it was rather endearing.” Revan silently watched the seated ponies for a few minutes, causing many of them to shift nervously, then grinned, “So, apparently I haven’t scared any of you off, good, you'll need that bravery during your training. What's on your mind there, Silver Chaser?” “Just how much time is this training expected to require?” the blue unicorn asked as he reached up to brush a lock of his silver mane away from his face, “Some of us have already spent many years in scholastic endeavors, and were looking forward to the chance to apply our educations and make our marks in the world.” “Dunno,” Revan replied with a casual shrug, “What the Shadow Academy did in four years, the Jedi Temples do in fourteen, but based on how well Celestia and Luna have been coming along, you ponies learn very fast, so we'll just have to wait and see.” Silver crossed his forelegs with a disgruntled snort as the twi'lek turned her attention to the young earth pony teen sitting anxiously next to Celestia, “You have a question for me, Bouncer?” “Yes'm,” the colt dipped his head respectfully, “Miz Licorice said that you was a necromancer, and I was jus’ wondering if you would be teaching that as well?” “That is a rather unusual question, my young pony,” Celestia observed gently, “May I ask what inspired such an interest?” Bouncer glanced away from the princess as a blush darkened his yellow-brown coat, “My grandpa was killed on the road when he was away on a long trip, and one of them necromancer ponies found his spirit lost and wandering and led him back home sos that he could say goodbye.” Bouncer turned back to face them, “It meant a whole lot to my family, and I want to be able to help other ponies like that.” “I'm sorry, Bouncer,” Revan gave the colt a sad smile, “My 'necromancy' as you ponies call it, is just the brute-force giving and taking of life energy, I don't know how to lay the dead to rest or give peace to the living, but that's a noble goal you have there, and I wish you luck with it.” Bouncer nodded unhappily, his blush darkening as Celestia laid a comforting wing across his shoulders. “So,” the legate suddenly clapped her hands loudly, “Let's wrap this up, WestHoof has graciously provided us with housing and access to their library, mess hall, laundry facilities and training fields, along with classrooms to use. Moonlight has your keys and rooming assignments, and my office is number two-fourty-two-West, in case you need to talk to me outside regular training hours, although I normally take the seven-fifteen train back to Ponyville, so if you slack-off, you'll need to wait until the following day to see me. I suggest that you get moved in and spend some time learning the Academy's layout, and then grab some sack time. Your actual training will begin at eight-o-clock sharp in this room tomorrow.” Revan hopped off the desk to grin rakishly at the ponies surrounding her, “Welcome to the Force Academy, my ade.”