Star Wars: Ponies of the Old Republic

by BlueSun52

Chapter 20: Old and New Bonds

Chapter 20 Old and New Bonds

After dealing with the Buffalos and bringing the prisoners back to Anchorhead, the gang was getting ready to head out towards the desert. Meanwhile, Applejack was giving Apple Bloom the tour of the ship and introduced her to most of the crew.

“Canderous isn’t much of a talker, is he?” Apple Bloom asked, walking beside her sister.

“Nope,” Applejack replied. She then spotted both Garret and Twilight and a bright smile appeared on her. “Apple Bloom, Ah want ya to meet my friends, Garret and Twilight.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Apple Bloom,” Twilight said.

“Your sister told us a lot about you,” Garret said.

“It’s nice ta meet you both too,” Apple Bloom said. “If ya don’t mind me asking, what kind of name is Garret? It sounds kinda weird for a pony.”

“It’s really just a name that got stuck with me,” Garret replied. “My real name is Solar Recon.”

“Whoa, that sounds way better than Garret.”

“Everypony’s a critic,” Garret said as he let out a light chuckle.

“Ya have ta admit, it still is kinda weird to use a bland name like that,” Applejack pointed out. “But since we’ve used it so many times, Ah don’t see a reason to change that.”

“Especially after what we’ve been through,” Garret said.

Applejack let out a sigh. “Tell me about it,” she said.

Apple Bloom looked between the two adults as they talked. Something caught her eyes and she looked closely at Applejack to see that her cheeks were lightly tinted red. She then looked to at where Applejack was looking at but only saw Garret in her line of sight. Apple Bloom scratched rubbed her chin a few times until a thought had popped into her head.

“Hey Applejack, is Garret your coltfriend?”

Applejack froze with her mouth hung open and her irises shrunk as her face was becoming bright red. Garret had a puzzled look plastered across his face and Twilight tried to hide her blush and rid her mind of some rather peculiar thoughts that came up.

“Um, what makes you think I’m her coltfriend?” Garret asked, still as confused as ever.

“It’s just-” Was all she could say before Applejack covered Apple Bloom’s mouth with her hoof.

“You know how fillies get when they imagine something,” Applejack said, having a nervous tone in her voice.

“I uh-”

“If y’all excuse me, Ah have ta show Apple Bloom around,” Applejack said as she shoved Apple Bloom in front of her and turned around the corner.

Garret raised a brow. “Well, that was weird,” he said.

“Y-Yeah,” Twilight stuttered.

“By the way, why were you blushing?”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked up at the male unicorn in front of her. “Uuhhhh, nothing. It’s just so hot in here,” she said, pulling around her neck collar pretending to be hot.

“Hot? But the ship has a constant temperature of-”

“Well, would you look at that? I have to start writing down my report on our progress. Can’t keep track of our progress while standing around now can we?”

“But-”

“See you later,” Twilight said, hurrying towards a random direction. ‘What the heck is wrong with me? And why did I feel jealous of Applejack just now?’

Twilight went out of view and Garret still had on a puzzled look. He looked back between where Applejack had gone and where Twilight went. He gave out a defeated sigh and shrugged it off.

---

Applejack shoved Apple Bloom into the starboard dormitory and closed the door behind her while making sure it was locked. She then faced Applejack with a flustered expression as Apple Bloom had a sheepish smile.

“Why the hay did ya have to ask something like that?” Applejack asked. “What even gave ya that idea in the first place?”

“Well, you kinda blushed when you were looking at him.” Applejack couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. “Also, Ah kinda notice you were ogling him.”

“Wh- A-Ah was not!” Applejack said as her face scrunched up.

“Sis, we may have been apart for five years, but Ah know when ya are lying,” Apple Bloom said. “Also, Ah’m fourteen, Ah know ogling when Ah see it.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Oh, so ya some love expert aren’t ya?”

“No, but Ah have ogled a few colts from time ta time,” Apple Bloom replied with a sly smile.

“But you’re fourteen!”

“My point exactly!”

Applejack let out a growl. “What were you doing here anyway? Ah thought you died back home all those years ago,” she said.

Apple Bloom lowered her ears and made a frown. “Ma’ and pa’ were able to get me onto an escape shuttle before the city was destroyed. But they couldn’t get on because too many ponies were on it,” she said. “They said they were going to follow me on the next shuttle. But….When we took off and were far enough away, Ah-Ah saw the city being destroyed.” Tears were developing around her eyes and running down her cheeks. “Ah...Ah-”

Applejack wrapped her hooves around Applebloom and gave her a gentle hug as she stroked the little filly’s mane. After a few moments, Applebloom wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Ah’m sorry, it’s hard to talk about it.”

“You've got nothing to be sorry about, sis,” Applejack said. “Just take your time.”

“Alright.” Apple Bloom sniffed and wiped away the last of her tears. “After that, Ah wasn’t able to find anypony else and was left alone. Ah was able to find some relatives of ours and they brought me with them here.”

“We have relatives here? How come we haven’t seen them then?”

“....They’re dead. They were killed by the buffaloes and they took me as a hostage to keep the authorities off of their back.”

Applejack frowned. “Ah’m sorry to hear that,” she said. She wrapped her hooves around Apple Bloom. “No filly should go through what you had to.”

“It’s okay, at least some good came off of it,” Apple Bloom said. She then returned the hug with her own.

“Awww.”

Applejack and Apple Bloom’s eyes were wide open as they looked up at the top bunks to see Pinkie and T3 watching them.

“Pinkie!? What are ya doing up there?” Applejack asked. “And how did you get in?”

“I was in here the whole time, silly,” Pinkie replied. “You just never looked up.”

Applejack stared at her for a moment before smacking herself in the face because it had dawned on her that she never did check to see if anypony was in the room.

“Ya would think with years of training, ya would have remembered how to check a room before hoof,” Apple Bloom commented.

“Hush ya mouth,” Applejack said. “So, Ah guess ya heard the whole thing?”

“Yepi do!” Pinkie replied. “I would have said something but it was both sad and heartwarming, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Well Pinkie, as much as Ah like your company,” Applejack began to said as she pressed on the door controls. “Can ya kindly leave so Apple Bloom and Ah have some-”

As soon as Applejack opened the door, Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo fell on the floor inside of the room

“Oh, for corn sakes!” Applejack cursed. “Were y’all eavesdropping on us?”

Rarity got up with a nervous smile. “Oh, heavens no! We were just, um, passing by and um-”

“We were? But I thought we were listening in on them like you were doing before Scootaloo and I-”

Rarity shoved a hoof in Sweetie Belle’s mouth as sweat began forming over her forehead. “What Sweetie Belle meant to say is that there was something I wanted to talk to you about, but when I saw you had the door closed, I patiently waited for you and did not lean against the door and was not using my magic to listen in on your private conversation.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “That’s a very specific explanation there, Rarity.” she said.

“Only because it’s true,” Rarity retorted.

“She’s right, you don’t even need magic to listen through these doors,” Scootaloo said, earning her a glare from Rarity but she ignored it. “They’re so hollowed out, you can pretty much hear anything through them. Even hear Garret sing while he’s in the shower.”

Everypony in the room went silent

“He sings in the shower?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well, that’s not important right now,” Applejack said. “So, what was it that ya wanna talk about, Rarity?”

“I just wanted a moment of your time by ourselves,” Rarity said.

“Alright,” Applejack said. “Ah’ll be back in a sec, sis.”

“Okay,” Apple Bloom replied.

Rarity led the way and she followed her down the hallway. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked up to Apple Bloom.

“Hey there, my name is Sweetie Belle.”

“And I’m Scootaloo,” she said and puffed out her chest. “The second most awesomest pony in the galaxy.”

“Who’s the first?” Apple Bloom asked.

“That would be Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo replied. “The awesomest pony in the entire universe and an even awesomer pilot than all the Wonderbolt pilots combined.”

“Wow, she sounds amazing,” Apple Bloom said in a not convincing tone. “Ah did see she had a cool-looking cutie mark. Ah bet you got an awesome-looking one too.”

Scootaloo had a nervous look as her eyes looked back and forth in random directions. She rubbed the back of her head. “Y-Yeah, Ah would if um-” she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Is something wrong, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Can you girls keep a secret?” Scootaloo asked.

“Of course we can,” Apple Bloom replied. “Ya can trust me with anything.”

“I swear on the Unicorn Order not to tell anypony,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Pinkie said and motioned her hoof as she spoke and touched her eyeball at the end. The three filles winced when she did so. That stuff was not natural.

“Alright.” Scootaloo took a deep breath. “I don’t have a cutie mark,” she said and closed her eyes. For a moment she thought they were going to make fun of her and laugh but neither of them did. She opened her eyes to see them with raised eyebrows.

“So?” Sweetie Belle said. “I don’t have mine either.”

“Wait, you don’t?”

“Yeah, see?” Sweetie Belle lifted the back part of her robe and showed that her flank was blank.

“Yeah, me too,” Apple Bloom said and moved the back part of her clothes to reveal her flank as well; showing that it was blank.

“Wow! I thought I was the only filly here who didn’t have a cutie mark,” Scootaloo said. “But I kinda thought Sweetie Belle here would have one since she’s part of the Order.”

“Well technically, my sister is part of the Order,” Sweetie Belle said. “And I’m just an initiate who just got started recently, so I can barely use my magic right now.”

“So all three of us don’t have our cutie marks?” Apple Bloom asked. The moment she said those words, an idea popped into her head. “Girls, Ah just thought of something!”

“Is it a bubble gum making device?” Pinkie asked. “I could totally install one in T3…...In fact, I’m going to do it right now.” Pinkie hopped off the bed and started bouncing out into the hallway. “T3! I HAVE ANOTHER IDEA!”

Apple Bloom raised a brow and look to the other two fillies.

“You get used to it,” Scootaloo said. “So, what’s this idea of yours?”

“Ah thought that since all of us don’t have our cutie marks, we could work together to get them,” Apple Bloom said. “You know, like a group that is dedicated to getting cutie marks.”

“That sounds like a sweet idea,” Scootaloo said.

“I think we should give ourselves a name,” Sweetie Belle suggested. “How about the Cutie Mark Three?”

“No, wait! How about the Galactic Cutie Hunters?” Scootaloo suggested. “That just sounds awesome!”

“That makes it sound like we hunt other ponies’ cutie marks,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Oh, good point.”

Apple Bloom scratched her chin for a moment as she pondered on a name. After that, an idea popped into her mind.

“Ah got it!” Apple Bloom said. “We’ll call ourselves, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Yeah! That sounds perfect!” Scootaloo commented.

“It’s going to be great!” Sweetie Belle said.

“Now all we need is mascot,” Apple Bloom said. “But who could be perfect?”

*BOOM!*

“The bubblegum device didn’t work!” Pinkie shouted.

Coming into the room, T3 was covered in both ash and bubble gum as his optics were going around in circles. The three filles looked at T3 for a moment and they all had bright smiles on them.

“Hey T3, wanna be a mascot?” Apple Bloom asked.

-A Few Moment Ago-

“So, what was it that ya wanna talk about, Rarity?” Applejack asked

“I just wanted a moment of your time by ourselves,” Rarity replied.

“Alright,” Applejack said. “Ah’ll be back in a sec, sis.”

“Okay,” Apple Bloom replied.

Rarity led the way and she followed her down the hallway. When Rarity was sure they were out of earshot of anypony, she stopped and looked to Applejack.

“I just wanted to say how sorry I was about the whole desert incident,” Rarity said.

“Ah, this again?” Applejack said. “Look Rarity, Ah understand you were out of your element and Ah shouldn’t have been pushing you further than Ah needed to. Yes, my sister was in danger, but it wouldn’t have done her any good if Ah didn’t have a good team to back me up on.”

“Exactly, I was being the opposite of a good team member,” Rarity said. “First I complained almost non stop across the desert, came up with designs that should have endangered the entire team and was giving you a hard time while your sister was in danger. I can’t call myself a Solar Knight if I keep on giving in to my own desires.”

Applejack remained silent for a moment. “That’s not true…..Well, some of it is, but not all of it. Ah may not have seen what you guys were up against when Ah was getting the speeder ready, but Twilight told me that you fought in a way that rarely any Solar Knight can fight. And even though you still got on my nerves, you were the first to apologize even when Ah was the one at fault. Despite all that happened, you can be a very generous mare.”

“Well, thank you, Applejack,” Rarity said. “I’m glad to hear such comforting words from you and you are right. I am very generous mare and I’m going to prove it.”

“But you already-”

Before Applejack could finish, Rarity gently placed a hoof on Applejack’s lip’s and leaned over to her ear.

“He’s all yours,” Rarity whispered. She then turned around with a content smile and trotted away down the hallway.

Applejack froze in place as she was processing what Rarity said.

“.......What?”

*BOOM!*

Applejack whelped as she heard an explosion go off. Coming around the corner, Pinkie had a face shield on and when she lifted it up, her eyes were spinning around in opposite directions from one another.

“The bubblegum device didn’t work!” Pinkie shouted before collapsing onto the ground.

---

After sometime had past, most of the crew gathered around in the main hold while Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight and Garret were on the bridge.

“All systems are ready to go,” Applejack said. “Did you set in the coordinates?”

“Piece of cake,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Did somepony say cake?” Pinkie popped her head through the door.

“It’s a figure of speech, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Darn it, I hate those!” Pinkie said before leaving.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Let’s just take off.”

Rainbow Dash pressed on a few of the ship's controls and the engines started to ignite. The Phoenix lifted up into the air and when it was high enough, it flew forwards into the desert sky.

Rainbow Dash looked over the map and kept control over the ship. She saw how close they were to the location and a smile crept on her.

“Looks like we’re about here,” she said. “I’ll be sitting her down soon.”

Applejack looked over her controls and she furrowed her brow. “Hold on a sec, Ah got some readings on here,” she said.

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“There several lifesigns near the destination,” Applejack said. “Lots of them for comfort. We better get the gang ready.”

“Agreed. If it’s Moonlight’s doing, than we’re going to have to fight our way through them to get to the star map,” Twilight said.

“Whoever we’re dealing with won’t know what hit them,” Garret said.

Applejack looked at the monitors some more and all of a sudden, she had a frightened expression on her.

“Ah, guys? We may have a problem,” Applejack said before she switched the monitors to the ship’s feed to show what she was looking at.

The monitor showed various ponies and griffons with weapons and heavy armor on. Speeders were set up as barricades around the caves entrance. There were also four mounted turrets set along the barricade.

Twilight gulped. “This might be a problem,” she said.

End of Chapter

Author's Note:

Sorry that it's been a while, but here is the latest chapter!

I want to thank Higherbeach and rhinotaz for their help!

Comments

[Grey Dawn]

Rarity led the way and she followed her down the hallway. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked up to Apple Bloom.

Indent.

it flew forwards into the desert skies.

*sky. There is only one sky on the planet.

Well, I have to admit there were some problems with this chapter. For starters, Applejack and Apple Bloom's talk. You were telling us Apple Bloom's moments during the bombardment on Telos, mentioning her and AJ's parents death. You then take the (forced) comedic route instead what should have been heartfelt and touching moment. I cannot help but feel like comedy has higher priority in this chapter. We already had a comedic moment early on. Why not have it on the backburner for a chapter or so?

Secondly, Rarity abandoning her interest in Garret. Why does she do this? What is her logic behind her action? Is she doing it because she recognizes Applejack's integrity and sturdiness makes her a superior participant in the waifu race? Or is she doing it because she feels guilty and she is just doing it as a form of punishment for selfishness? I feel like I am repeating myself here, but I can't help but feel Rarity's motive is a forced one.

Lastly, the wording. I have noticed this in the previous chapters, but your wording seems elementary and sounds rather awkward at times and also...well, rushed. Your description of the barricade and scenery aboard The Golden Phoenix, and dialogue between the characters are prime examples of this.

I know writing is tough, but you if you take the time to describe the imagery and scenes better, you will feel more accomplished. Take this from someone who does write. And once again, it's your story, tell it how you want to tell it. I know I already said that, but I really can't emphasize that enough.

Overall the chapter was decent, but it could be better.

[BlueSun52]

5683624 Thank you for the review. I agree with you on the comedic part now that you pointed that out. I'll make sure that nothing like that happens in other heartwarming situations again. As for Rarity's reasons for leaving her interests in Garret for Applejack, it was mostly because she felt guilty and realized that Applejack was the one (Who didn't want to admit it) has feelings for him since they first met. I will add that reason in the story at a later time. And the last part, yes, I've notice that it is elementary writing but that's mostly because this is literally the second story I have ever written and it's still new to me. While I have improved a lot over the year, imagery has seem to be my biggest problem in writing. I will try to make improve attempts too fix that and hopefully that'll mean longer chapters and something new to try out.

Again, thank you for taking the time to write out your concern It helps to see someone does still care for the story.

Besides the people who help me with writing the story of course.