I lay there, crying... For what I saw... For what I did... I deserved no-one... My daughter and her friends were all around me... the elements were there as well. I wept, I wept for all the dead young ones that I found in the caves... their half eaten forms strewn about the deepest caverns... I killed them all... I killed every single one of those Chakaar's! They deserved the deaths I served them... all the pain, suffering and death I delivered to them... The pain I felt as I killed each and every one of them... It will haunt we till the day I die. Nothing will ever dull that pain.

My daughter had run up and tried to see if I was okay... but once she felt the darkness on me she backed away. She and her friends all backed away from me, those that could feel it anyway. Feather, or least I think that was his name, and the other six mares came up to me and pulled me to my feet. Everyone gasped as they saw all the blood and tares on my clothes... almost none of it was my own... save for the blood dripping from my wounds...

I was in such a daze that I didn't even hear what any of them were talking about. That is till I felt a hoof prod my chest, I looked down and saw that it was Rarity's hoof... her face held pity and fear... along with kindness and love... It made me cry even more.

"Deary... why are you crying... Please, tell us what happened dear..." the girls brought me over to a log and sat me down, it was easy for them, seeing as I was unresponsive.

"I...I...I killed them..."

"You what dear?" She hadn't heard me, or at least pretended not to.

"I. Killed. Them..." Everyone stared at me like I had grown a Second head.

"B-but that just doesn't s-sound like you..." Fluttershy said with a strained smile.

"Why, that sound preposterous Ryan dear... You aren't capable of killing... it's just not in your nature!" Rarity said disbelievingly.

"Yeah pardner, you're as capable of killin' as we are... and you know us!" Applejack exemplified, trying to rationalize what they were saying.

"Dude..." Rainbow saw the look on my face, her ears drew back, her eyes watered and her lip trembled. She fluttered down and enraptured me in her wings. She hid her actions from everyone else with her wings as she rested her forehead on mine and whispered words of comfort and sorrow... She saw how much pain was in me... and even though she is a prideful bitch sometimes... she does have her moments of clarity to certain situations, this one chief among them.

Twilight on the other hand was in the same boat as her other friends, trying to rationalize a way out of what I had just told them.

"I'm so sorry everyone..." I looked into Rainbows eyes and smiled weakly, "Take the children back to the library... If I don't come back give this to Celestia..." I handed her a note, detailing some personal things.

"About what dear..." Rarity smiled weakly as rainbow sighed and flew off wit the children.

"I did kill them..." they all gasped, "But they deserved it!" the conviction in my voice broke their budding arguments. "If you all had seen what they had done down there... I know a few of you would have simply lost your marbles... I will skip over most of what I did... But you must remember this... I killed them... and now they will never be able to harm fillies and colts ever again..." They gasped and looked at each other, a little faint.

"W-what d-d-did you f-f-find?" Surprisingly it was Fluttershy that spoke first.

"Bodies.... Hundreds of bodies... all of them... all of them were smaller than any of you... ...they were foals... fillies and colts alike..." The girls all went a little green after hearing that, Fluttershy's eyes hardened and she nodded for me to continue...

"They were eating them... They were eating the children that they were capturing... I saw their leader... I asked him where the little ones were... He told me that he knew not where his men were taking them... But the bastard lied to me... even after I took down twenty of his men... he lied, even though he knew I would kill him for such..." Rarity Fainted after hearing that, Applejack and pinkie just ran over to a bush and tossed their lunches into the forest. Twilight and Fluttershy were the only ones sitting there listening to what I was saying at that point, though I could tell Twilight was in shock and not actually listening.

"I see why you killed them Ryan..." Fluttershy trotted over slowly and draped a wing over my back and held me close.

"After I killed him I went looking for the other two... I killed all who opposed me as I moved through the tunnels, not caring if they were armed or not... They had done who knows what to those children before killing them... Some of the Fillies I had found... They had bruises on their decaying bodies... You can imagine where..." I clenched and unclenched my fists in an attempt to relieve my anger.

"Ryan... I forgive you..." She whispered into my ear as she wrapped me in her fore legs, embracing me in a strong, yet gentle, hug.

"That is why I killed them, All of them... and leveled their entire tunnel network on their heads." I sighed and embraced Fluttershy in turn for all the comfort she had given me...

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie, walked on in front of us, Fluttershy was still beside me as she comforted me in my time of need. We were making our way down the dirt road back to town, I could feel the sadness permeating the air around me, The four mares in front were covered in it while Fluttershy was not. She is usually a timid and frightful mare... being to kind and soft spoken to be thought of as someone of a strong center and even stronger mind... She held wisdom in actions and in the way she moved... unlike those who showed wisdom in knowledge... she showed it from experience.

She was also a calm center in the force, emanating a sense of peace and serenity that quelled my anger and sadness, almost to the point of none existence.

"Thank you, Fluttershy..." I bent down and quickly kissed the top of her head, showing my gratitude to the cannery yellow pegasus. She eeped at my show of gratitude and then giggled quietly, not arousing any looks from our friends.

"You're welcome Ryan, and thank you..." she said quietly, as per usual.

"For what Flutters?" I used her RD given nickname, making her blush slightly.

"For what you did to the dogs... I-i can't believe another thinking creature could do that to another..." she shivered slightly and went a little green. "Just know I will forgive you... even if they don't..." she gestured towards our friends as they talked among themselves... looking back at me every so often.

"Fluttershy... do not let their judgment of me change your relationship with them... You lot are the most powerful set of guardians for Equestria right now..." She nodded her head slowly and gave me a small smile.

"I won't."

My dad... my dad felt... Evil...

"Luna... what was that... your dad... he... he..." Spike was passing left to right, Sweetie, Scootaloo, Featherweight, and Applebloom had gone up to twilight room with Rainbow, all of them were going to try and comfort Sweetie and Feather, and help them with their traumatic experience. I looked at Spike with a blank stare as he just stood there in front of me.

"LUNA, Gaia to Luna, come in Luna!" He yelled, trying to get my attention

"Yes?" I said blinking at him a few times.

"What do you make of what we felt... I... I just can't make heads or tails of it..." He frowned and stared at the floor.

"He felt evil, Spike..." I looked at him as he paced, trying not to cry from what I had felt in my dad... It hurt to think about it and what it implied.

"Yeah... But WHY is my question... there has to be a reason that he would have felt evil to us... We'll just have to ask him when they get back..." He stopped passing and sat down next to me. We were sitting on the steps to Twilight's room, I could barely contain my crying anymore as a tear fell unbidden from my eye. Spike saw this and gently used one of his claws to wipe it away.

I blushed slightly at the kind gesture and tried to hide my face in my mane, which to my annoyance, didn't work. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and brought me in for a hug, one that I didn't want to get out of.

"S-spike... you know Sweetie likes you too right?" I said after a few seconds.

"Yeah... and I like her too... but I also like you..." He said... his voice sounded tired and drawn, like he had just woken up and was not fully aware.

"R-really?" I asked, blushing even more than before.

"Yeah, I mean... You both are beautiful young mares... And I know everypony thinks that I still like rarity... But I don't anymore... we had a talk not to long ago and I found out that she has the hots for another guy here in town named Thunderlane..." He sighed and leaned back into the steps.

"I'm sorry to hear that Spike..." I said as I leaned into him and nuzzled his chest.

"It's okay Luna... But we need to talk to your dad first..." he got up and helped me to my hooves. "And find out what the hay just happened." I nodded in agreement, suddenly the front door opened, breaking our little bit of peace and quiet.

"Hello everypony... we're back." Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack walked through the door, all looking worse for wear.

"What happened to you guys?" Spike and I asked simultaneously.

"Just talk to Ryan and Fluttershy... they'll fill you in..." Twilight said, as if she were in a daze. the four of them went to the kitchen and go themselves something to drink.

"Um... Okay..." we looked to each other and shrugged, not really understanding what they meant by that.

Then Fluttershy and my dd walked in, both looking haggard and worn from what ever it was they talked about... My dad was covered in all kinds of cuts and blood spots... he looked like he had gone through hell and back.

"Hello Spike, Luna... I need to talk to you all for a minute... without everyone else..." My dad looked down to me with sorrow in his eyes as he headed back out the door. I looked over to spike and he to I and we walked out.

"What's wrong daddy?"

"I have... done something terrible today... and you two need to know what it is... I know you two had gone into the tunnels for Sweetie and Feather..." we looked to each other nervously at that, but my dad stopped us from commenting. "I am proud of you both... For if you had not done that I would not have been able to find them... Now... for what I must tell you..." He sighed and rubbed his neck, most likely trying to come up with a way to tell us.

"I Killed today..." he said in a low voice.

"You what?" Spike and I asked, wide eyed.

"I killed the Diamond dogs... All the ones in the mines... every single one of those pedophile sick kriffers... they were eating and bucking their captives down there... I could not leave them alive after finding that out... I just couldn't stop myself..." He cried as he looked down to us.

I had never seen my father cry before, in all the months and weeks I've been with him... I have never, not ONCE, seen him cry in front of me... I had also never head about him, or anyone for that matter, killing another person... Me and spike were just sitting there staring at my dad with our mouths agape and eyes wide, trying to comprehend what he told us.

"Ryan... You... you killed them... Why?" Spike said softly.

"I saw the bodies of hundreds of foals..." We both kind of fell on our flanks and stared at him. "All of them... I could feel their lasting pain in the force... their want for revenge... I could feel what had been done to them... And I just couldn't stop myself... from carrying out... their wishes..." My dad said between sobs, We could both feel that he hated himself for what had happened; that he knew that he had done, how he had killed the dogs... But we did not hate him for it... I could feel the kindness emanating from Spike as he processed what my dad had told us.

"Dad/Ryan" We said at the same time, making us halt just a little bit in our words.

"We don't hate you..." I said, letting spike have the next say.

"We understand why you did it..." spike continued.

"And we want to thank you..." I looked over to Spike to see if he agreed with what I said, He nodded.

"When... When did you two get so mature...?" My dad asked as he fell to his knees and embraced us.

"When we figured out you were right..." I said as we hugged my dad back. Each of us cried over the loss of life, but not over the dogs... they deserved what happened to them, and yes you may call me a bitch for thinking that... But it is true.

I stayed in the boutique for days after, just keeping to the room Rarity was letting me and Luna use while we lived here... I was hoping that i would be able to save up enough to bu us our own home soon... But after this... I don't know if I should leave the girls...

(Knock, Knock, Knock.) I walked over to my door and opened it, not wanting to be a burden to Rarity I had been doing everything I could to help around the house and the town. But what awaited me on the other side nearly made me jump.
Princess Celestia was standing there, looking at me with an angered glare.

"Ryan, WE need to talk." She walked in and sat down opposite me as I closed the door and sat on the bed.

"What is it Celestia..." I asked, looking down towards the floor.

"I know what happened last week... and I know that you have been holding yourself up here in this room... barely making time for you friends and my sister... I decided to over look the fact that you killed those Dogs... especially after what twilight and Fluttershy told me... BUT you need to stop your damned sulking and get out of this house!" Celestia growled at me.

We may have never been on the best of terms, but we were getting closer, slowly, but we were.

"Celestia, I just haven't been able to find my center... After what happened... I know I have lost what I used to be... I need to Find that again... But with everything here in the town I can't..." I sighed and looked her in the eyes. "I need my place of solitude... where I can Meditate and find my center..."

She nodded, and went into thought for a few moments before continuing our conversation. "Ryan... Where you were from... was there a place that you could go to find this 'Center' of yours? Like a place of worship or cave... or something like that?" She asked, giving me a curious glance.

"Um... actually... there was... The temples... they were where a Jedi could go and find his center and rekindle his connection to the light side... But there is..." I stopped as I went wide eyed with an idea.

"A temple you say?" She sounded curious about such a thing, and I hoped against hope that she was going to say what I thought she was. "What If I gave you a space to make a temple?"

My eyes bugged out at hearing that, I was ecstatic! Celestia giggled at my reaction and her mood lightened.

"That would be wonderful Princess... and I have the perfect place..." I smiled as I remembered the Castle out in the depths of the forest... It was a center of great force energy, just like where any other temple was made.

"Oh, and that would be?" She asked, curious of my answer.

"You do remember the Castle out in the forest, right?" I asked, a sly smile creeping across my lips.

"Ye... You want to build it there?!" She asked, slightly flabbergasted by this. "That place is dark and in the middle of the EverFree forest! How could you want to be out there!"

"I am a friend of the forest Celestia... I am able to go in there without being harmed... for I have demonstrated my power to the creatures there... and those with a mind to think do not touch me." I say with a confidant air.

"Then I will grant you this... BUT, as a condition... You must come into town everyday... and keep my old home safe... It has many memories stowed away in its walls... some that I wish to remember... and other..." She let her words trail off as she looked at me with slight pain in her eyes.

"Ryan... Before I leave I must tell you this... DO not forget who you are, who you were, if you ever forget... then you will have lost yourself... I can tell taht you are troubled by what happened, but you must not let it shape you in the negative. Push back, fight that feeling and control it." She walked over and gave me a quick friendly embrace before stepping back and teleporting away.

It had been weeks since the Incident and we were all coming back from the low of that... Me and Spike were trying to to get sweetie to come out of her house... hard as it was. After a few hundred tries we finally got her to come out an play, but we stayed close to the boutique, just for Sweeties sake... She was still scared of being to far from the house... But the two of us promised to protect her with our lives if we had too. After that she felt a little better an started going on little adventures with us again.

My dad had started to go into the forest after his talk with Celestia, biding everyone a good day before making his daily excursion. Today we, the crusaders, Spike and I, had decided to follow my dad into the forest and see what he had been up to for the last couple of weeks. It was a slightly grueling trek through the forest, but it was well worth it once we got there. On a small island surrounded by a gorge with a raging river, was a castle; the castle was magnificent, The towers had been rebuilt. two of them were white with blue stripes on them while the other two had gold stripes. They were beautiful. the rest of the castle had been restored to its past glories, standing tall with gold and blue trimmings around the moldings. The double doors were engraved with a sun and moon one the left and right side... making two double half circles.

"Wow..." we all said in unison, we laughed and began walking towards the castle. The massive doors opened, revealing to us an extraordinary garden, there were trees of all kinds there, the grass was trimmed and there were fruit bushes all over the place with lovely flowers of all kinds dotting the landscape. Paths were made through the garden with large irregular flat rocks, each worn smooth. Each rock was big enough for all five of us to stand on them at once.

There was also a large stream going through the center of the garden, and through the walkway itself as there was a bed of stepping stones placed in the walk way to allow the water to flow freely through. we walked around the gardens for what felt like ages, just soaking in the relaxing vibe that the place gave off. As I stood in the middle of the garden, I noticed that the entire place was, the castle included, was surrounded by a giant wall. The wall was about ten feet tall and smooth on both sides, I had also noticed that it was almost ten feet thick... it being thicker than the walls used at the gates of PonyVille by at lest half.

The place radiated security, on an almost primal level, the gardens prompted peace and relaxation while the high walls promised protection... It was almost like a fatherly embrace, being calming and promising protection at the same time.

As I stood their taking in the sights, I caught eye of Sweetie and spike talking. She was laughing and he was making all kinds of hilarious looking gestures, I giggled at a few as they continued on. It was endearing to see Sweetie so at ease, being as far from the boutique as she was. Then the second set of double doors opened, revealing my Dad standing there, looking at us with absolute glee etched on his features.

"Hey, how are my favorite Crusaders doing?" My dad asked, no sign of wiriness about him, he seemed calm and collected, even happy.

"Good Mr. Reiks!" Applebloom shouted from across the stream, she was with Scoots, eating some of the wild berries from one of the bushes.

"Good, good... would you all like to know what this place is?" My dad asked with glee.

"Would we!?" Scoots yelled, she, AB, Spike, Sweetie, and I ran over to him and sat on the steps below him.

"Okay, who here knows what I am?" Dad asked us, we looked to each other and shrugged, he had told me once... but I forgot... oops?

"Okay, I, am a Jedi. More specifically, a Jedi Knight."

"Your a knight? Wheres your armor then?" Scoots asked, giving my dad a curious look, I just sighed and shook my head, smiling all the while.

"Well, if I were in a war I would have a form of armor on, but, seeing as there isn't a war on..." He smiled, leaned over and tussled Scoots mane and leaned back in his seat. "A Jedi Knight is a rank that I acquired in my home galaxy... I am a protector, I settle feuds, stop riots, end wars and prevent them... Or fight in them should the need arise..." we nodded and ah'ed at the right parts as we listened to my dad explain his 'history' to us.

"Jedi are one of the few being in the universe that can use the force..." He reached out with his hand and took a levitated a rock from the stream behind us and floated it over. "What I am using right now is the force..."

"Wait... I thought it was magic?" Sweetie asked from beside Spike. She was looking at the stone, astonished that someone, other than a unicorn, was able to lift such an object.

"Yes, well, I have come to realize that this planet, or universe really, has two forms of energy flowing through it... One is chaotic and makes a mockery of things... while the other is harmonious and allows for steadier control... from what I have seen, I use the Harmonious one while the rest of the inhabitants use the chaotic one..." he shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, the rest of us just looked at him curiously.

"I know that it sounds ridiculous and all, seeing as your society is based on harmony and the power of friendship and all that jazz... But it is what I have felt for the entirety that I have been here." Sighing he looked back towards the castle and smiled.

"But, as I was saying. The force is a tool that the Jedi use, it is their greatest strength and our greatest weakness. Their is a light and a dark side to both our energies... Like how their is dark magic for you... their is the dark side for us..." He paused and took in a breath of fresh air.

"But, that is a story for another time... Right now I would like to show you all around the Temple!" he shot to his feet and started walking inside.

We all looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him in. This was going to turn out to be a very interesting day... Very interesting indeed.

Author's Notes:

(Part one of the two part Temple reveal scene.... Hope everyone likes it!)