My Little Pony: Rebellion is Magic

by MetaLord395

Chapter 5: The Inquisitor Strikes

“Kanan?” Spike asked. “Kanan, you okay?”

Kanan groaned, rubbing at his temples. “I’m fine. I just felt a great disturbance in the Force.”

“What do you mean?” Spike continued curiously.

“I felt . . . as if an enemy from my past, someone we had just battled, has found us here,” Kanan said. “It felt so familiar . . . but who is it?”
Spike kept quiet, unsure of what to say.

The gang was all back at the library. Celestia’s sunlight had graced the morning and filled every inch of the room with its warmth. Twilight was poring over the schematics of the Ghost, her pet owl Owlowiscious perched right beside her on the floor. Pinkie was curled up into a ball, rocking herself back and forth on the floor with dread. Zeb, for his part, kept stealing shifty, nervous looks at Hera, who seemed to be deep in conversation with Applejack at the moment.

“And did Chopper behave as he promised, Applejack?” Hera was asking.

“More or less,” Applejack replied.

Hera raised an eyebrow. “More or less? Are you certain?”

“Would ah lie to you?” the cowgirl replied; as the Element of Honesty, she found it near-impossible to tell any lies. Well, she had lied while under Discord’s influence, but that was another story.

Hera didn’t say anything. “Okay, if you say so,” she said at last. Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. She had not been looking forward to diving down into specifics.

Ezra lay down on the floor besides Twilight. “Whatcha lookin’ at, Twi?”

“The plans for your ship,” Twilight responded. “Spike and I had a mishap yesterday, so now I’m studying the plans so I don’t delay repairs any further.”

“I see.” He noticed the owl beside her. “Who’s your pet?”

“Hoo?” the owl responded, looking at Ezra.

“I’m talking to you,” Ezra told the owl.

“Hoo?” the owl responded, yet again.

“You,” Ezra repeated, now impatient.

“Hoo?” the owl repeated.

Ezra was about to repeat his answer in exasperation when Twilight interrupted, “Ezra, this is my pet owl, Owlowiscious. Owlowiscious, this is Ezra, our guest.”

“Hoo?” the owl asked, curiously.

Ezra was about to open his mouth, but then changed his mind and said, “You know what? Never mind.” He plopped down on the floor and
started to explain to Twilight the different parts of the ship.

Meanwhile, from the base of the stairs, Rainbow Dash was watching Ezra intently. The boy had not known that she knew what happened to his parents. And until the time was right, she was going to keep it that way.

“What are you looking at, Rainbow Dash?”

Sabine had just come downstairs. Rainbow had just enough time to register her new appearance, which was, in her opinion, bizarre. Well, I see somepony’s been hanging out with Rarity, she thought to herself.

“Oh, nothing,” she lied. Sabine narrowed her eyes.

“It’s Ezra, isn’t it?”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Okay, you got me. Kanan told me what happened to his parents. And I just wanted to say I’m very sorry about what happened.”

“That’s nothing,” Sabine replied. “You should have seen what the Empire did to my family.”

“What exactly did the Empire do to your family?” Rainbow asked.

Sabine was about to open her mouth in reply when Spike suddenly burped out another letter in green fire. He opened it, scanned it, and passed it over to Kanan. “This should interest you,” Spike said simply.

Kanan read the contents of the letter to himself, a look of fear blossoming forth in his eyes as he did so, the same look of fear that appeared in Twilight’s the previous day. “Oh no,” he said at last. “It’s worse than I imagined.”

“What is it, love?” Hera asked.

“Celestia wants another audience with us,” Kanan said. “Apparently, one of her guards was killed last night while patrolling the Ghost. She wants to know why and how this happened.” At this, Zeb and Pinkie exchanged nervous glances. Neither of them had the courage to come forth about their encounter with the probe droid, and neither of them was sure if this was the right time to do so.

“How was the guard killed?” asked Fluttershy, now a bit apprehensive.

“That’s the thing,” Kanan continued. “The guards can’t really explain. According to this letter, the victim was levitated up into the air and choked, but nobody was actually there.” He faced the rest of his team. “I think we all know what this means.”
The rebels murmured in assent.

“What does this mean, exactly?” asked Applejack, plopping herself down beside Ezra.

“The Empire knows we are here, Applejack, which means it’s far too risky to keep staying with you,” Sabine clarified. “We need to leave as soon as we can, or else innocent people-er,ponies-will start dying. We already lost one; we are not ready for the death toll to keep rising.”

“Oh, come on!” Rainbow Dash interceded. “Where’s your sense of adventure? I bet I could take those jokers on without even breaking a sweat!”

“I appreciate the misplaced foolishness,” Zeb started, “but these Imperials are more dangerous than anything you could have possibly faced before! You have no idea what they are capable of!”

“Zeb’s right, Rainbow,” Ezra agreed. “You haven’t seen the size of their fleet. I doubt that you and your friends could do so much as a dent against their navy.”

“It doesn’t matter who is right or not,” Kanan interrupted. “Right now, we need to see Celestia so that she can find us a quicker way to get offworld. I suggest we leave immediately.”

Hours later, the Ponyville train disembarked at the station and everyone got out. They trudged up a short distance up to the castle, where Princess Celestia and Luna stood waiting for them at the front door, right next to the Phantom. After the rebels paid their respects, they all went to the throne room. The princesses turned to the rebels, and at last, Celestia spoke.

“You got my letter, I assume?” she asked, addressing Kanan.

Kanan nodded. “We’re sorry to hear of his death. But we believe that this will be the first of many in the days to follow.”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked.

“The Empire has tracked us here,” Kanan continued. “Once they arrive, they will bomb this whole country into submission. And our ship has
not yet been fixed. If there is any way to get us out of here faster-“

“But there isn’t,” Luna cut him off. “All methods of interdimensional travel have been cut off as soon you informed us of the Empire’s imminent arrival. Unless-“

“The wormhole,” Sabine suddenly said. Fourteen pairs of eyes stared back at her, some curiously, some demanding an explanation.

“What do you mean, Sabine?” Hera asked.

“Sometime before we crashed in Equestria, I noticed that a wormhole opened us in front of us just before we entered hyperspeed,” Sabine explained, rather ashamedly. “I was about to warn you, but we jumped before I could get the chance.” Hera put an assuring arm around her.

“It’s okay,” she assured her. “You did fine. The only question remains as to how they were able to track us that quickly. It should have taken at least three days, given the size of this place.”

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering the same thing, too,” Ezra said.

For a long time, no one spoke. Zeb coughed, then said, rather nervously, “Funny story about that, actually . . . “

“Zeb?” Hera asked. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Zeb protested. “We came across a probe droid the other day and Pinkie may have gone near it . . .”

“WHAT?!?” the other rebels shouted.

“I tried to restrain her, okay?” the Lasat defended himself.

“Garazeb Orrelios!” Hera angrily shouted.

Nobody laughed this time; there was no mistaking the anger and deep-seated disappointment reflected in Hera’s voice. Pinkie shot nervous looks at the rest of the team, some of whom were glaring at her, others just shaking their heads in disappointment. At last, she took a deep breath.

"Don’t be mad at Zeb,” she said at last. “It’s mainly my fault, I thought the droid was one of yours, and I guess I may have been a bit too eager to befriend it. I really didn’t know where it came from.” She shrank.

Hera glared at Pinkie Pie. For a long time, no one spoke. Then, Sabine started, “Hera, these Imperials are persistent. Even without Zeb and Pinkie, they would have found us.”

“Art thou saying that it was the Empire that killed Lord McIntosh?” Luna asked Sabine.

Sabine nodded. “It was. Most likely, it was the Inquisitor.”

Kanan snapped his fingers. “I thought that disturbance was familiar!”

“What is this . . . Inquisitor?” Celestia asked.

“The Inquisitor is this Imperial darksider who is tasked by the Empire to hunt down any surviving Jedi,” Ezra said, turning to Kanan. “We’ve
encountered him for, what, three times?”

“Gosh,” Fluttershy said, a bit fearful, “he doesn’t sound like a very nice person.”

“Believe us, that would be an understatement,” Sabine replied.

“And now, if he has found us, it means that the full force of the Empire is going to be right behind him,” Zeb added. He turned to the princesses. “Is there any emergency plan of evacuation that you have in store for your subjects?”

“Yes,” Luna responded. “Come with us.” The princesses turned to leave with the rebels. The six ponies attempted to follow, but Celestia turned to face them. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I am afraid that this time, you and your friends have to stay put. This is beyond what you and your friends have faced until now.”

Twilight opened her mouth in protest. “But-“

“No buts,” Celestia repeated firmly. “Spike, see to it that they stay right here.” Spike bowed and said, “Yes, Princess.”

And with that, the others left, slamming the door behind them. Rainbow paced back and forth, obviously annoyed at not being allowed to do anything. “Well, this stinks!” she finally erupted. “We’ve saved Equestria many times over, and now we’re being treated like we can’t even handle an entire invasion! Who do these rebels think they are?”

“Rainbow Dash, that’s not the case,” Spike argued. “Kanan and his crew obviously have better experience with these Imperials, so it’s better that you girls sit this one out this time.”

“But why?” Rainbow shot back. “We’ve taken down the freakin’ spirit of Chaos, for Celestia’s sake!”

“Only after a failed attempt or so, and need ah remind you, you wasn’t bein’ very cooperative either!” Applejack snorted.

“Oh come on! He tricked me into thinking Cloudsdale was falling apart! Can you really blame me?” Rainbow replied.

“Girls,” Rarity started, but her interruption was lost in the ensuing argument.

“From what I hear,” Rainbow continued, rather heatedly, “you have been acting like a chronic liar. I mean, fighting Discord single-hooved? How is that even possible?”

“Girls,” said Rarity, almost yelling. Twilight could feel the rage building up in her blood. She hadn’t felt this angry since she was forced to accept that there was no scientific explanation for the Pinkie Sense.

“And what about you, Fluttershy?” Rainbow turned on the yellow pegasus. “Weren’t you the one who was acting like a complete brute while Discord had you under his spell?” Fluttershy whimpered; those few moments that she was forced to act like the complete opposite of her true self were some of the worst of her life thus far.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie intervened. “That’s not very nice!”

“That’s a lot of talk, coming from the grump,” Rainbow Dash snapped. “You have been really cheerful to the rest of your compatriots while I was away ‘protecting Cloudsdale’.”

Twilight could no longer contain her fury. She flew into the air, flames erupting all over her body, and yelled, “ENOUGH!” The ponies stopped arguing amongst themselves and looked up at their friend, sheer terror etched in their faces. Even Spike looked up at her in shock, stumbled backward, and said, “Uh oh! Rapidash is back!”

“Twilight, please calm down!” Rarity implored, now positively sweating in fear.

After burning up for a few minutes, Twilight’s body started to simmer down as the fires died out. She took a deep breath, then said, with an air of strained, forced calm, “Sorry. But Kanan and Celestia made it very clear that we’re not to go after this Inquisitor. I mean, if that’s what killed Celestia’s guard, then who knows how we would fare against it?”

“But, Twilight, just think,” Rainbow interrupted. “If we take down this Inquisitor now, then the Empire won’t be able to come to Equestria, and Kanan will thank us for doing his work for him!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “And just when have things been that easy, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow paused. She would not admit it, of course, but Twilight had a point. In every one of their challenges thus far, they have had a major obstacle. And who’s to say that this would not be as hard as the others?

But, as always, her pride and eagerness for battle overtook her senses, and she said, somewhat dismissively, “Suit yourself, Twi. But you are surely going to miss out on a lot!” And with that, she took off out of the great doors of the palace, leaving behind a rainbow-colored trail.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called after her. But she did not look back. Twilight sighed. She had been foolish to think that her friend’s eagerness for battle would not get the better of her. Reluctantly, the purple unicorn turned to the remainder of her friends. “Well, what do you think? Should we stay here, or should we go after her?”

The four ponies looked at each other uncertainly. At last, Applejack said, “Well, ah don’t feel good about this, but if Rainbow Dash wants ter have a go at the Inquisitor, the very least we can do is at least be there for backup.” The other ponies murmured in assent.

“But girls!” Spike protested. “Kanan! Celestia!”

“Sorry, Spikey-poo,” Rarity said. “We have already made up our minds.”

“But if we are going after her,” Twilight insisted, “then the least we can do is get the Elements of Harmony. I have a feeling we will need them this time.”

“All right,” Rarity agreed.

Spike opened his mouth to protest again, but it was too late. The remaining five ponies had teleported themselves away from the castle with a teleportation spell. Spike slumped down on the floor and sighed. He could only imagine the world of hurt that would ensue from both the fight and the displeasure the girls would receive from Kanan and the crew later.

A few minutes later, the five ponies met up with Rainbow Dash outside the crashed wreck of the Ghost, each bearing her respective Element. Twilight handed the necklace of the Element of Loyalty to Rainbow Dash, who motioned to the corpse of Lord McIntosh with her hoof. At once, Twilight knew at once why the death was unusual: There was no sign of any cuts, burns, or any other indicators of injury; in fact, the victim looked perfectly healthy-aside from the fact that he was dead, of course.

“What do you think did this?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight, now studying the corpse intently.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But something was here earlier. And it feels . . . cold.”

All of a sudden, Pinkie’s entire body started shaking. To the unfamiliar viewer, this would have come off as weird, but Twilight knew that the Pinkie Sense was acting up again.

“Pinkie’s picking up something,” she noted. “But what is it?”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie noted. “But whatever it is, it is sure is gonna be a doozy.”

“How perceptive,” drawled a cold, emotionless voice that made everypony’s fur stand up on end. They all turned to see a new figure approach them slowly. The newcomer wore a gray bodysuit complete with black armor and boots. His gray face sported red tattoos and his yellowed teeth were bared in a hideous, wolflike smile. And his eyes- Twilight had never seen anypony, or anyone, with eyes like that- were black, the pupils of which were gold with blood-red rims. In his right hand, he carried a disk-like instrument with a handle. At last, Twilight found the courage within herself to face him. “Who are you?” she asked.

“You don’t know?” the newcomer responded. “Let’s change that. I am the Inquisitor.” He ignited the instrument in his hand, and a long red blade came out. “I came here looking for Jedi to hunt. Instead, I get to have the pleasure of dealing with you.”

“Oh, you mean Kanan? He’s not the Jedi you are looking for,” Pinkie chuckled nervously. Rarity shot her a quelling look.

“Yes, I bet you have,” Rainbow Dash replied, eagerly looking to battle him. “It’s like losing a few bits and getting a whole treasure chest of them.”

The Inquisitor chuckled coldly. “If you say so. Show me what you can do.” He held his blade in a defensive stance, nostrils dilating in anticipation.

“Of course,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “All right, girls! Let’s show him how we deal with creeps like him, Ponyville style!”

The Elements activated to release a powerful rainbow that was headed straight for the Inquisitor, but he was ready. He held up the blade in front of him as soon as the rainbow came closer and blocked it. After the rainbow collided with the saber, the Inquisitor struggled to keep his footing, and, what seemed like a costly effort, sent it back at the six ponies right in front of him, who all crumpled against the Ghost. The Inquisitor flashed them a nasty grin as they struggled to regain their footing.

“Is that all you’ve got, ladies?” he said. “I really expected more of a fight coming out of you.”

“Believe me, that was just the beginning,” Rainbow Dash grinned back. “Now we’re gonna do this the hard way!” She flew straight at the Inquisitor, who held out his hand at her; instantly, the pegasus felt as if something invisible was pushing back at her, a big, powerful invisible something. Rainbow flung back against the Ghost, evidently taken aback by the display of power.

Twilight and the others turned to face the Inquisitor, now more determined than ever to bring him down. “You think you can just march in and take over our home?” Twilight said, a fierce resolution burning in her eyes.

The Inquisitor held out his hand at the ponies. Instantly, all six Elements flew off of the ponies and into his grasp. Twilight flashed him a nervous smile that poorly disguised her shock at the fact that, for the first time, the Elements hadn’t done their job properly.

“I believe I can,” the Inquisitor said, smugly, “especially when my enemies wear these . . . necklaces.” He spun around and flung the Elements into the Everfree Forest with an inhuman force.

What in tarnation is he? Applejack thought to herself, now worrying her head off. How powerful must he be to not be affected by the magic of friendship?

“Well,” she said at last, “this is gonna be a while.” She didn’t know how, but she hoped that she could at least stall for time until actual help arrived.

“Look on the bright side, AJ,” Rainbow Dash said. “At least it couldn’t get worse.”

As if he had been waiting for her to say that, the Inquisitor held out his lightsaber and clicked a button on the handle. Instantly, a second, long red blade extended out of the other end. The ponies looked on with varying degrees of terror. Rarity shot Rainbow Dash a dirty look.

“Rainbow,” she started, “please be a dear and don’t say anything you will end up regretting!” She was clearly agitated by the fact that the odds were undoubtedly not in their favor.

The Inquisitor looked at the girls with a cruel amusement. “Now, what was it you were saying about me not coming in and just taking over?”

Rainbow Dash gulped. “Oh karabast.”

Comments

[grouchopony]

Even Spike looked up at her in shock, stumbled backward, and said, “Uh oh! Rapidash is back!”

Such a quote from a MLP character simply does not belong in this story.