Ponyville ponies were no strangers to cleaning up the town after disasters. There was times when Discord would make houses float away, an infestation of parasprites would EAT the town, or just simple storms that they themselves have created would cause havoc. So this mess, created by the Timber Wolf, was an easy fix.
Sweep the wolf away and use it as wood chips for a garden, repair the houses that were destroyed. It's all very routine to them. What wasn't routine was what was standing in town square. It was up to five ponies and two princesses to decide what to do next.
"Why have you come to our planet?" Luna was always direct.
"Your planet had strange readings. Me and my partner had to investigate." Twilight stepped forward when Hunter finished speaking.
"Your partner? Where is he?" Hunter looked down.
"When we were in orbit, a meteor shower came out of nowhere and struck our ship. He was blown out into the void." Luna's eyes widened. "After that, the ship was pulled in by the planet's gravity."
"I'm afraid that, this was my fault." Luna looked up at the night sky. "I created that meteor shower to celebrate Twilight's Ascension." Luna bowed before Hunter. "Forgive me." Hunter stepped back.
"You mean- YOU pulled those meteors towards the planet?" Hunter asked.
Luna nodded.
"You must be some kind of Jedi." The seven ponies looked at each other in confusion.
"What's a Jedi?" Rainbow asked. Hunter struggled for an answer.
"They're kind of like… monks. Who can use the Force." Twilight looked especially interested when he mentioned the Force.
"What's the Force?"
"It's like your magic. It's all around us, or something like that." Hunter rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, I don't know much about it." Twilight sighed and stepped back.
"Hunter, what brought you near us in the first place? Besides our, 'strange readings'?"
"We were sent to scout for new resources for the Republic. We need-"
"I'm sorry darling," Rarity interrupted, "but what's, 'the Republic?'" Hunter sighed and pull out of his pocket, a holo-projector. He clicked it to reveal a map of the galaxy.
"Your world is one of several within the galaxy. Many of those stars up there," Hunter pointed into the sky, "have life giving planets that came together to form a governing body." The projector then changed to a symbol. The symbol of the Republic. The ponies stared wide eyed at the flag, still processing the information they had just been given. Luna was the first to speak.
"How long has your, 'Republic', been around?"
"Over twenty five thousand years ago." Everyone gasped. The age was almost impossible to think of.
"And you've only now begun to run out of resources?" Twilight asked.
"Things have become a bit more complicated recently. We're at war."
"A war?" Fluttershy asked in shocked.
"Yes, a war with several systems that have broken from the Republic. They're called, Separatists. They're led by an evil man named, 'Count Dooku'." Pinkie Pie laughed at the name. "Something funny?"
Pinkie snickered. "Dooku? The evil is named, Dooku?" Pinkie continued laughing.
"You don't know what he has done." Hunter said sadly. "That man can be held accountable for so many terrible things."
"Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"Terrorism for starters. Attacking civilian homes, enslaving neutral worlds, testing weapons of mass destruction on those worlds, and standing in the way of peaceful negotiation." Hunter then showed a picture of Count Dooku on his projector. "He's responsible for the war. I'm part of an army that was made to fight this menace." Twilight cringed a bit. Remembering something from the memory spell transference.
"You're a clone, aren't you?" Hunter looked at Twilight with a hint of confusion. "I saw it when I was in your head. Your whole army is made up of you. Clones of you!" Hunter shook his head.
"No. I'm one of the clones. The clones were made up of DNA from a powerful warrior." Hunter pulled his helmet off, revealing a man with brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes. "The species I'm a clone of, is called, 'human'." Twilight's mouth hung open in surprise.
"How many species are in the Republic?" Fluttershy asked. Hunter chuckled a bit.
"Far too many to count." Hunter put his helmet back on. "Speaking of the Republic, I'll need to get in touch. Hopefully, I can still contact them." Hunter looked back at his ship in the forest. "I might be able to get a message out to my leaders."
"Do you need any help?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll need you all to stay away from the ship. There's protocol to follow." Hunter began walking back until a pink blur stopped in front of him.
"Can we PLEASE come with you?" Pinkie gave Hunter an extra wide grin for hope. Hunter would have none of that.
"No." He walked around Pinkie, but was then stopped by Twilight.
"Please? There's so much we can learn." Twilight gave a whimpering smile to coerce Hunter.
"No."
"Allow me darlings." Rarity stepped in front of Hunter and gave a seductive look to him. "Surely, you don't mind letting a few ladies watch a big strong um… human work?" Hunter shook his head. He walked around Rarity and turned back to them
"You don't get it. I'm the only one allowed on board. You can take it up with command. But for now, none of you are allowed to come."
"I'm afraid we're going to have to insist." Hunter turned around to see a giant white creature stand before him. It was large, commanding, and very powerful. Hunter gulped.
"Twilight!" Everypony turned to see Spike come from behind Celestia and hug Twilight. "Is it really aliens?" Hunter tilted his head and crouched down.
"What's a baby Trandoshan doing here?" Hunter poked Spike a little who backed away in fear. Hunter pulled his finger back and held his hands up. "Don't worry little guy, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I'm glad of that, Hunter." Celestia looked down at Hunter and smiled. "I am Princess Celestia, leader of this land. Please allow us on board your ship. We need to know if you truly mean what you say." Hunter stood up and shook his head.
"Look, you can all come and stay outside the ship, but I'm the only one allowed on board." He looked at everyone for agreement.
"And if we choose to step aboard?" Luna asked.
"Then I have to defend my post." Hunter pointed at his holstered gun. He pointed at it, not in a threatening way, but rather in a sad way. Everyone cringed, with the exception of Celestia, who just stood there with a frown.
"Very well." Celestia said calmly. "We'll respect your rules. So long as you respect ours."
"I understand. If you would follow me then." Hunter walked around Celestia and led the ponies away, towards his crashed ship. Behind some debris, however, a pony was listening. A little filly, with gold eyes.
"Space ship…" Dinky looked at the group of ponies with their guest. He was certainly strange, but from what she could tell, not a real threat to anyone. "I wonder what's on board?" Dinky could only imagine what was on board, but she knew she couldn't go.
"Dinky?! Dinky?!" Dinky's mom was calling her. Ditsy looked very scared. An alien visit, right after a Timber Wolf attack did not do well for the nerves.
"I'm right here, Mom!" Dinky called out to her. Ditsy looked over and smiled. She flew over and hugged her daughter.
"Don't run off on me like that." She hugged Dinky even tighter. Dinky hugged her Mom back. She loved her with all her heart. But sometimes, Dinky thought her Mom worried too much. "Let's go home, Dinky." Ditsy placed her daughter on her back and started fluttering home. Dinky looked towards the forest. She frowned.
Maybe I should make a visit tonight after, Mom goes to sleep. Dinky looked at her Mom and sighed.
!
Hunter led the ponies through the forest with his gun unholstered. He stayed on guard, knowing that anything could pop out. The others seemed to be pretty calm. He looked behind and asked:
"Aren't you all scared of another attack?" He had to know.
"Nah." Applejack replied. "Ah think that was just a freak attack. Most of the animals have left the area." Hunter shrugged. She wasn't lying, but he decided to keep his gun out. Just in case.
Finally, they came back to the ship. It wasn't very damaged, but still damaged enough to not fly again. Hunter patted the ship and walked towards the hatch. He looked back at the ponies who were staring in complete surprise with their jaws open. Hunter decided to break some sort of ice.
"This is a Kappa- class shuttle. Designated: 'Shuttle 73476'." This seemed to have calmed them down a bit. Breaking things down for people is the best way to calm anyone down.
"Why is the ship name so boring?" Pinkie asked.
"Excuse me?" Hunter was kind of thrown off.
"Your ship name. It's just a bunch of numbers. Why?" Hunter looked back at his ship, and then back at Pinkie.
"It's just a shuttle. Names are for the ships that accomplish something." Luna looked at Hunter with a rather quizzical look.
"Is that another Republic regulation?" Hunter looked at Luna, and struggled for an answer. Truth is, the Republic would name many things big or small, if they accomplished anything or not. He remembered a tug ship called, 'Endeavor', that hadn't done anything besides hauling ships. But he respected the name. They had earned it. All he had done was look at a few planets and crash on one. He wasn't worthy of a name.
"It's what I believe, to be honest." Hunter got to the watched and started walking up. "It'll just be a little while. Bear with me, please." Hunter stepped inside his ship and walked to where the communication grid was located. He walked past the Medical Room and saw the stationed Medical Droid turned off. He looked back at the door and thought about the ponies. They'd be bored out there. He decided to grab a tablet of information about the Republic and activated the Medical Droid. It blinked to life with a few sparks flying here and there.
"Wha wha wha?" The droid spoke. Hunter stepped back. That wasn't what the droid was supposed to say. "Oh! I'm awake! Excellent!" The droid looked around the Med Bay and laughed. "My office is a little shook up, but it should be okay." The droid turned to Hunter. "You must be the pilot! I am Bob!" Hunter pulled the manual for the droid of a drawer and looked at its designs. There was nothing about a personality being present within the droid.
"You're the Medical Droid, MD785 correct?" Hunter asked.
"If we're being so formal, yes I am!" Bob scanned Hunter. "And you're CT-6547. No nickname. That's boring." Hunter sighed.
"Are you malfunctioning?"
"Yes! But in the best way possible! I can feel!" Bob laughed and walked around the ship. "Crashed the ship right good, didn't you. Although the log says we've been down for quite a bit of time. Why didn't you check in earlier?"
"It's a long story." Hunter tapped Bob on the shoulder. "Can you still perform medical duties?" Bob laughed.
"Does the Chancellor poop in the woods?" Hunter facepalmed. "Yes I can, soldier."
"Good." Hunter handed the pad full of Republic information to the droid. "There are some civilians out there that need to be entertained." Hunter looked back the array. "I need to repair the ship to send out a message. Head out there and do what you can."
"Are they more fun than you are?" Bob asked. Hunter scoffed.
"Just get out there." Hunter walked over to the communications array and got to work. Bob shook his head and walked off the ship. He looked outside and saw a bunch of colorful creatures waiting.
"Fascinating! Colorful creatures! This is amazing!" Bob hurried off the ship towards the ponies. "Hey everybody! Bob is here!" The ponies all screamed in fright. "What? It's not like you haven't seen a medical droid before, right?" Celestia aimed her horn at the droid. Bob held his hands up. "Maybe you haven't seen a med droid." Bob bowed. "My name is Doctor Bob. I'm at your service." Celestia pulled her head back while the other ponies looked at one another with uncertainty.
"Forgive us, Doctor Bob." Celestia looked at Bob from head to leg servo. "We haven't ever seen a person such as you. You startled us." Bob laughed.
"I suppose even someone like me can be intimidating. The battle droids are the ones you have to fear though." The ponies looked at one another.
"Battle droids?" Luna asked.
"Basically robot soldiers. But I'm not into that. I am a doctor. I will not harm anyone. That part of me works, anyway." The ponies smiled and encircled Bob.
"So, what exactly are you?" Twilight asked.
"I'm a Medical Droid, designed with the function of treating patients." Bob tried to hand the ponies the tablet, but found he couldn't hand it to any of them. "Maybe I can hold it in front of all of you?" Celestia chuckled.
"That will not be necessary." Celestia used her magic to take the Tablet from Bob, which startled him.
"Force users eh? NEAT!" Bob began scanning the anatomy of the ponies. First he scanned Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, and then Pinkie Pie. "Fascinating! Three of the same creature, but very different at the same time." He then scanned Twilight, Luna, and Celestia. The scans showed a combination of the three he scanned earlier. "Now that's wizard!"
"Pardon me, Doctor Bob." Bob turned to Twilight, who was poking at him. "What exactly is, 'a droid'?" Bob tapped his chassis.
"Would you like the official definition?" Twilight nodded. Bob's voice changed to an unknown voice. "A mechanical and/or electronic construct designed and put into service to assist organic life." Bob's voice changed back. "Satisfied?" Twilight nodded. "Well then, that's splendid! In any case, please look at the tablet I gave you if you'd like more info about the Republic. If you have any questions, just ask me and I'll help you out."
Bob continued talking, while Hunter continued working. Hunter overheard everything Bob was saying. Hunter couldn't stand droids with too much personality. He didn't need another person, he needed a machine that could heal him. He rolled his eyes and got back to work.
!
Dinky opened her eyes. It had been an hour since her Mom had said good night. She was probably asleep. To be sure, Dinky tiphoofed to her Mom's room and looked in. Fast asleep. Dinky pumped her hoof in success. She quietly went to her room, opened her window, and climbed out. She quickly made her way through the town and looked around at the damage the wolf had the damage was bad at first, the town was quickly making repairs. Dinky smiled at the town's success.
Suddenly, she heard two ponies coming towards her. Dinky dived into some shrubs and hoped they didn't hear her.
"Crazy night, eh Buckle Tight?" The first voice was male.
"You mean a typical night, right?" The second was female.
"No, I mean crazy. We've got aliens!" The male cried out.
"It's probably a species from a different continent. Can't assume anything different is from outer space." The two came into Dinky's view.
"Yeah, but if it is aliens-"
"If it is aliens," the female interrupted, "then what's going to change? We have a new princess, and all that has changed is a new celebration. Trust me, like the new Princess, nothing is going to come of it." The two ponies finally left earshot. Dinky wasn't sure what to make of everything they said. But Dinky had a sense, and it was telling her something was brewing, about to begin. She couldn't figure out what laid in store for her, but nothing like this had ever happened before.
Dinky ran through the town and finally made it to the edge of the Everfree forest. "Now, where did they go…" Dinky looked around the edge of the forest to see some type of path, but unfortunately for her, there were many paths to take. There was a great chance that she would get lost. Dinky sat down and tried to think. Think Dinky, where did they go? Dinky looked at the paths before her. The smoke from the thing that fell wasn't around, so she couldn't use that as a landmark. She couldn't get a grown up to help her, they'd send her back home.
Dinky did however have one trump card. It was something that coincided with her senses. Unicorns had a spell that could help them track ponies or things. Dinky didn't know that spell, but she did have a sense. She reached out with her hoof, and tried to feel where they were. She breathed in, trying to concentrate. She closed her eyes to visualize where they were. Her head was full of images of trees and mud, until she saw a bright white object with nine Equestrians standing beside it. She had found them, and she could see the path. Dinky opened her eyes and let go of her breath. She smiled in excitement and trotted to the proper path.
The forest was dark and quiet. Usually, the forest was bristling with life. Animals of all shapes and sizes made this place their home. But recent events had changed things. Something different has scared the chaotic forest. She followed a path and saw many interesting sights. Paw prints from the wolf, burn marks on the ground that had gone cold, and hoofprints. Dinky followed them until she found what she was looking for. Dinky stayed in the bushes and watched the other ponies talk to some metal statue. She snuck around the tree line and tried to get closer to the white object. She couldn't risk being seen. She'd be sent back home and grounded. There was a big distance between her and her goal. She moved quietly, hoping the statue would distract the ponies more. Finally, she made it to ramp of the ship and walked up it.
Inside, she found herself surrounded by metal. Metal that had blinking lights of all colors, each giving off sounds more unique than she had ever heard. It all surrounded her and amazed her at the same time.
"SHALL I CONTINUE?" Dinky jumped. She looked around to where the voice came from.
"REPUBLIC DATA DOWNLOADED TO TABLET. SHALL I DOWNLOAD DATA ON JEDI?" Dinky looked towards the front of the ship. There was a screen with a bright green light blaring from it. Dinky walked towards it.
"Hello?" Dinky asked. "Did you say something?"
"GREETINGS, NEW USER. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE DATA ON JEDI?" Dinky's face scrunched into a frown.
"What's a Jedi?" The computer blinked into like.
"JEDI: A MEMBER OF THE MYSTICAL KNIGHTLY, JEDI ORDER… TRAINED TO GUARD PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE UNIVERSE." Dinky looked at the images that went with the definition. Creatures adorned in brown robes, holding swords of light, doing heroic acts. It amazed her.
"They guard the universe?" Dinky asked.
"JEDI ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GUARDING THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC AND KEEPING THE PEACE. THEY ACT AS NEGOTIATORS." The computer then changed an image to a creature holding out a limb towards a floating rock. "JEDI ARE CAPABLE OF USING THE FORCE TO HELP IN THEIR ENDEAVORS." Dinky touched the screen with her hoof.
"The Force… can you tell me more?"
"SHALL I DISPERSE IT INTO A TABLET?"
"A what?" Dinky asked.
"A tablet." A voice from behind Dinky said. Dinky swung around and saw the white alien standing before her. She shrunk down into a ball.
"Please don't eat me! PLEASE!" Hunter sighed and picked her up. He rocked her into his arms to calm her down.
"Come on, let's see where you came from." Hunter was about to walk down the ramp, until the Computer blared a mini alarm. Hunter looked over to see it had made a data tablet. Probably filled with data on the Jedi. He picked it up and brought it with him.