My Little Pony: Exiles of the Empire

by Hikarikurai24587

Rising Darkness

Chapter Two: Rising Darkness

All eyes were on Spike, who just stared at his hands. He was scared, scared of this new found power. One that none of them, except for the humans, had any knowledge about. Daring to glance up, Spike saw Twilight shaking. She took a deep breath before letting it out. “General Skywalker, I think it would be best to continue this conversation somewhere safer. With the way your… umm… vessel is I don’t think it would offer much protection from the elements. Especially inside of the Everfree Forest.”

Skywalker looked at the other humans before saying. “Just Anakin, I’m pretty sure you don’t want me calling you Princess Sparkle all the time.”

“Twilight is just fine.” Twilight replied before showing them out of the forest. Once out they were on the familiar path back to Ponyville. The ponies from the town gasped as they whispered amongst themselves when they saw the humans. Anakin looked at them, causing them to shy away. Twilight glanced back at him before offering him a smile telling him. “Sorry about them, they’ve never seen a human before. Nor anyone with so much armor.”

Anakin felt dread wash over him, just from his initial observation this was really a peaceful society. One that he feared was doomed to fall to the grasps of the Empire if they were ever tracked here. ‘Keep calm. They must have some way to protect themselves.’ he thought as they approached a castle that seemed to be a cross between a tree and crystal. Close to the castle seemed to be a school where many young creatures seemed to gather.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think you even know what we are.” Twilight’s voice snapped Anakin’s attention back to her. “We’re ponies of Equestria, one of the many species living on our world. I noticed you were looking at the School of Friendship. It doesn’t have many Griffon or Changeling students. We even have a Yak and a Dragon, but most of the students are ponies wanting to learn about friendship.”

“Why is friendship so important to you that you made an entire school dedicated to it?” The human with the strange equipment inquired. Twilight paused to think about how to word her explanation.

“Friendship and the bonds it creates has been an important part of our culture since Equestria was founded. If it wasn't for the magic that the bonds of friendship created none of us would be here. It is also important to me, if it wasn’t for my friends I would have ended up differently… alone, Equestria would have been destroyed many times over.” Twilight explained thinking back to the alternate timelines she had bore witness to. A shiver ran up her spine before she continued. “I decided to create the School of Friendship to teach the other races what my friends and I have learned.”

The worry that Anakin felt was growing stronger as the doors to the castle were opened. Another pony was pacing in the hallway, though she stopped when she saw Twilight. A look of relief crossing her face as she ran up to the group. “There you are! Is everything alright?”

She paused as she saw the unfamiliar party members. “And why are humans here on Equestria?”

“They crashed here,” Twilight sighed, glancing up at them and giving them a friendly smile. “They are under a translation spell until they can learn our language. Oh, this is my student Starlight Glimmer, Starlight this is…” Twilight trailed off realizing she hadn’t been fully introduced to the humans just yet. Anakin, seeing the look, decided to be the one to introduce his group. He gave a bow saying. “Anakin Skywalker. This is Rex, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo.”

“Hello.” the nervousness in Starlight’s voice was hidden well but the question in her eyes was obvious. Twilight glanced at the humans before explaining quickly. “Something happened in the Everfree Forest. I’m not sure how long they’ll be staying here but I’m going to need you to adjust some of the bedrooms for them. Also give Rex, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo a tour. I think they’d appreciate knowing where they are going to stay.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Starlight told Twilight before looking at the other humans. “This way.” Twilight nodded her head watching them being led away from the main hall. She looked at her friends instructing them. “We’ll meet in the Throne Room. I’m sure there is a lot that I’m going to learn.” Before any protest could exit the mouths of Rainbow Dash and Applejack they were swept away by the others. Twilight decided to take Anakin and Spike to the library, not only so she could write a letter to Princess Celestia and Luna more quickly but it was one of her more private rooms. She was silent as she led them there, despite wanting to barrage Anakin with questions then and there. Once they were at their destination and Twilight closed the door she turned around the questions erupting from her mouth. “What is the Force? How can Spike use it? Is it like magic?

“Right, how’s the best way to explain it?” he muttered almost absently, this concerned Twilight deeply and it showed on her face. “The Force is something that is all around us. It moves through us and it binds the universe together. There are individuals more sensitive to its presence able to use it. Uhhh, Spike was it?”

Twilight nodded her head before Anakin continued. “He is one of these individuals. With your permission I would like to train him before he is discovered by the Galactic Empire and the servants of its Emperor.”

A chill ran up Twilight's spine, the weight of his words getting to her. She began to pace thinking. Spike looked at both of them before asking Anakin. “What is going to happen to us? I mean you couldn’t understand us when you crashed here.”

“And that almost didn’t end well.” Twilight admitted and Spike looked at her. “I didn’t ask, but I think that to these humans we sounded strange and almost hostile to them.”

“It was eerie, as if you were calling out in pain and your soul was tormented yet there were no words, just noises that one would hear from an Uxibeast or a Bantha.” Anakin said before taking note of the confused looks on Twilight’s and Spike’s face. “Mammalian animals that I don’t think are native to your planet.”

“Oh.” Twilight nodded her head before looking to the side. “I will have to talk to my friends to see what they heard. I want to try and figure out why we couldn’t understand each other. Our languages don’t sound too different….”

Twilight turned around as the door opened revealing Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. This surprised her, she hadn’t gotten to writing the letter just yet. The look on not only Luna’s face but Celestia’s as well spoke of the seriousness of the situation. Luna was the one to answer Twilight’s question.“That is because of the barrier that protects our planet.”

Luna’s tone was strained, her eyes watching as Twilight looked at Anakin. “I do believe we have told the Jedi that this planet is ours to protect.”

“Luna,” Celestia’s voice cut through the air causing Luna to grow silent as Anakin returned Twilight’s questioning look with a shrug. “My apologies, it has been a long time since anyone from the Jedi Order has graced our presence.”

“Over five thousand years.” Luna added as she walked around Anakin looking at him closely. Celestia smiled gently as she continued. “Yes, it has been over five thousand years that we raised the barrier to protect and hide our world from the influence of the galaxy warring outside. It is odd that you crashed here, you would not have known that this planet was inhabited.”

“We were actually looking for a place to hide.” Anakin explained, looking at his hands. “The Jedi are no more.”

Luna’s eyes widened as Celestia approached Anakin, her wings tilting his head up. “I am sorry.”

“Whoever defeated the Jedi must have been following you!” Twilight realized feeling her chest tightened as Celestia looked at her saying. “The Dark Jedi, the Jedi exiles.”

“They are known as the Sith.” Celestia looked at Anakin who climbed to his feet. “I have put you all in danger.”

“We know how to protect this planet.” spoke Luna causing Celestia to shake her head, saying. “We do not know what we will be going against. Twilight, go to your friends. Explain to them what is going on, we will need the Elements of Harmony once again.”

“Princess Celestia… how did the first Jedi leave this world?” Twilight asked and Celestia looked at her before glancing out the window. “His ship never left, there was an undamaged shuttle. we gave it the ability to perform one jump away from our world.”

‘That ship crashed as well.’ Twilight thought as she left the room. ‘That means it is still out there. I will need to find out where it is. Just in case, I mean if nothing happens with this Empire maybe I can find out how it flies and… explore beyond this world.’

“I don’t trust them.” Rainbow Dash huffed as she glanced at the door. “They’re obviously hiding something.”

“Ah know how you feel Rainbow, but they are suspicious of us as well.” Applejack pointed out as Rarity buffed her hoof. “Though now that I’ve calmed down… we might be getting back into Zecora levels of not bein’ able to trust them. We all know how that turned out.”

Rainbow huffed as her tail twitched in displeasure. Her ears moved as the door to the Throne Room opened and Twilight walked in with a strange look on her face. Everyone knew that look meant trouble. Fluttershy was the first to speak up. “Is everything alright?”

“Celestia told me that we are going to need the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight told them as she moved towards her throne. “Something is coming, something that chased Anakin and his men all the way here. Danger is coming.”

“We can take them!” Rainbow Dash pointed out and Twilight smiled nervously. “We’ve taken on plenty of baddies. We can take on these guys!”

‘I hope you’re right, Rainbow Dash.’ Twilight thought as she looked out one of the windows towards the sky. The sun setting on the horizon. ‘Let’s just hope we’re ready by the time they get here.’

Deep within space an ominous vessel appeared at the edges of the solar system. A figure dressed in black stood on the bridge, her hands behind her back. A man approached her saying. “Darth Cyrin, we have tracked the Jedi and the traitors to a world in this solar system. Yet there seems to be a shield of sorts blocking all of our scans.”

“Send down probe droids. I will contact my master for our orders.” Darth Cyrin said, moving past the man who bowed. Her gold eyes narrowed as she left her fingers digging into her palms. She walked into the communications room and knelt saying. “Master, we have tracked Skywalker and the Clone Troopers to a planet. Their current location is unknown as a barrier is preventing any scans of the surface. We are preparing probe droids to scout the planet.”

“Excellent, soon Skywalker will learn the error of his ways.” a man wearing a cloak spoke and Darth Cyrin nodded her head asking. “And if the planet is inhabited?”

“They will serve or they will fall.” her master replied.

“Yes, master.” Cyrin said as the image faded and she rose to her feet.