//------------------------------//
// Chapter III - Meetings 
// Story: Harmony in Force 
// by Khandnalie 
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	The shuttle touched down in the middle of the clearing, the grass beneath it flattening as the engines slowly throttled down the thrust. Metal feet extended from the belly of the ship, meeting the grass and supporting the structure above it, the engines cycling down, and the full weight of the shuttle coming to rest on the ground. The muddy clay beneath the grass dented and threatened to absorb the metal foot of the landing gear, but persisted in its support. With a tell-tale hiss of decompressing gases, the belly of the shuttle opened up, a ramp lowering down to meet the ground. From the interior of the ship, two figures emerged. One, a scrawny young woman, with slender limbs and medium-length blonde hair, bounded out of the ship energetically, eager to explore the new world. The other, a tall, well-built man, with a bigger belly than most, and a scraggly mane and beard of wavy grey hair, strolled calmly after her, content to explore the novelty of this place at a much slower pace. “Calm, young Jem. This planet is hardly going anywhere, and I am sure we will have plenty of opportunity to explore as we make contact with the equids. It is best to let the world show itself to you, than to rashly seek out every corner of the world before it is ready to be seen.” Atoka gently chided his padawan as they began to journey away from the ship.
Jem gave a small sigh, and nodded, slowing her pace to match his. “Yes, master” She replied, reeling in her excitement. What she really wanted was to run up ahead and see what the native life was like, or see what all kinds of trees she could find, but she knew from experience that listening to her master tended to produce the best results. She breathed deep as they walked and closed her eyes, attempting to center herself as she had been taught, and had practiced so many times. She could feel the Force all around them, very slowly, grudgingly stirring at their presence. It felt cool and still, like a bath of water that had been laid out hours ago, and never used until it had long grown cold. When she called upon it, she could feel only the feeblest of streams of energy flow through her. “Master…. Why is it so… still here? The life all around me feels, well, alive. Virile and fresh. Yet the energy that connects it all… it is so stifled and sluggish.”
Atoka nodded and looked out solemnly at the forest around them “Yes, I feel it too. And I do not know… Even in all my time among the archives, and all my travels across the galaxy, I have never encountered a place like this. It is not dead in the Force, nor is it a wound in the Force, nor even a place of darkness. It is simply… sluggish. It feels very much like the dream.” He reached up to stroke his beard contemplatively as they walked. A break in the treeline appeared before them, and they adjusted course to move towards it. “The answers to our questions are not yet before us. This will require meditation and further exploration of this world.”
Jem sighed. Meditation and waiting seemed to be his answer to everything. It wouldn’t bother her so much if he didn’t usually turn out to be right. She often liked to joke that he was the galaxy’s best procrastinator. Dozens of various missions, she had spent with her master, patiently sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the situation to resolve itself. She knew that it wasn’t quite that simple, and that they had definitely swayed the outcomes of hundreds of diplomatic meetings, and more than a handful of wars-that-never-happened could be attributed to her and her master. A handful of casual words whispered in the right ear at the right time, manipulating this and that situation in the subtlest of ways, changing just a few words in a report to this politician, and a few more to another; these were the weapons her master preferred and he was deadly with them. Still, she often wished that their lives would include a bit more action, and a bit less waiting. As she pondered her master’s ways, and they passed out from beneath the cover of trees into a wide open meadow, she turned to him inquisitively “So, we know that these, err…’ponies’ share some sort of root language with Basic. Or, well, theyre related somehow. But that doesn’t exactly translate to, well, translation. How are we planning on speaking to them?”
Uldir looked down at her and gave a small grin “Ah, yes, very perceptive. This is actually something I have been wanting to try for quite a while. You are familiar with the tale of Revan, correct?”
Jem nodded, frowning slightly “Yeah, the prodigal knight. He led the Republic forces during the Mandalorian Wars, then turned to the dark side and tried to start a new Sith Empire, and started the Jedi Civil War, then later turned back to the light and helped us defeat the Sith he created. What about him?” She looked up at him in confusion.
He nodded approvingly “Very good. Yes, he did create a new Sith Empire. It wasn’t the one we’re fighting now, though. No, this was a different entity. You haven’t progressed quite this far in your history studies yet, but Revan’s Empire was fueled by an ancient artifact of great power. He had recovered it from the remains of a civilization far older than even the Republic. While recovering this artifact, he encountered the last living members of that civilization on a planet deep within the Unknown Regions. They had never spoken with anyone from modern civilization before, so they naturally had no language in common. Revan, however, was able to use the Force to bridge the gap between them.”
Jem raised a brow at him and gave him a smirk, crossing her arms “And so, all-knowing wise and powerful master, you plan to use an ancient secret dark-side technique known only by one of the most powerful Force-users in history, on a whim, to talk with some ponies?”
The older Jedi chuckled and reached over, playfully rapping his knuckles against her head as token punishment for her faux disrespect. They walked through the meadow, out into the open sunny field as he explained for her “Before he departed Republic space once more, he did spend a short amount of time at the temple on Dantooine, relaying tales of his travels. Luckily for me, and the entire Jedi Order, he did record a brief description of the technique. From the way it is described in the archives, it is essentially a form of battle meditation. But, whereas battle meditation is used to coordinate forces on a battlefield and lower the morale of your enemy, this technique gathers the ideas and meanings associated with words, allowing you to adopt an alien language, and slowly implants the same into nearby minds, allowing them to comprehend you. Somewhere in the middle, mutual comprehension.”
Jem nodded, finally understanding “Ahh. Yeah, that makes sense.” She looked up at him to raise a brow “So, uhh, when have you had a chance to practice it?”
Uldir coughed lightly and gave her a sheepish grin “Well, seeing as I know most commonly spoken languages already, and first contact with a new civilization is a rarity in the modern age… I haven’t. This will be the first time. But, I am confident. The Force has guided us here for a reason, and I am fairly certain that our purpose here lies with these colorful little equids.”





“Pinkie, darling, why is it again that we simply must have this little picnic of yours? And why it absolutely has to be way out here?” Rarity was beginning to tire, as she followed the energetic pink mare out to the predetermined, yet unrevealed picnic spot. She normally adored picnics of any kind, especially if Pinkie Pie was hosting, but brunch seemed a bit early in the day to be heading out of town.
Pinkie snortled good naturedly as she hopped along beside her friend, a picnic basket piled high with various baked treats threatening to topple with every bounding jump of the pink mare, yet inexplicably maintaining balance. “Because, silly-billy, my left knee got all itchy, and that means that we’ve just gotta no-question-about-it absoposilutely go on a picnic! And when I woke up this morning, I couldn’t feel my back left hoof at all, so that means there’s gonna be a super-duper awesome hay of a doozy at the end too!” It would be worth noting that Pinkie was absolutely brimming with excitement, were that not her normal state of being. 
Rarity simply let out a small sigh and resigned herself to having a good time. As she eyed the large jug bouncing along on Pinkie’s back, she was glad atleast that they brought some iced tea. The day was slightly warmer than usual, and some tea would perk her up and put her in a much better mood for her friend. “Well, then, why didn’t we invite Rainbow and Twilight and the others?” She wondered aloud.
Pinkie managed to slow herself down to trot beside her friend, dialing back her energy enough to explain “Well, Applejack and Rainbow both had really important things to do for work today – something about coordinating the fall thunderstorms with the peak harvesting times for applebucking season – and Twilight says she has a really big mirror experiment she’s been setting up for since Celestia called us to Canterlot, and Fluttershy, well, she didn’t really have anything planned, but she said she just kind of needed a day by herself, which I suppose makes sense seeing as she’s a bit of an introvert, and she’s been hanging out a lot the past few days. And besides! You and I never spend much time alone, and you’re totally one of my favoritest, most friendliest prettiest thoughtfullest friends ever, so I thought, if nopony else can make it, we can still have a totally super-duper-awesome time just the two of us! “ The words fell out of her mouth like a waterfall of compressed information. Despite having never paused for breath during that entire tirade of explanation, she picked up her normal hopping gait without ever missing a beat.
Rarity smiled at her explanation, a small blush appearing on her cheeks at her friend’s compliments. “Well, Pinkie, that is just so dear of you to say. It is a shame none of our other friends could make it, but you are absolutely right – we should certainly find more time to hang out with just the two of us. Perhaps we should make this picnic a recurring thing – though, perhaps, a bit later in the day? Mornings and the outdoors simply do not agree with me, darling.” She looked up, noting that the sun had nearly reached its apex in the sky. Well, early was a relative thing, afterall.
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically at that idea, bounding along happily “Absopositivilutely! Picnics are my favorite! Oh, except for parties and baking and maaaybe swimming – but it’s still pretty far up there! Maybe us hanging out more was the doozy? Maybe., but I don’t think so, that’d be kind of sappy and lovey-dovey, and this story isn’t supposed to have any romance in it.” The pink mare bounced along obliviously as she babbled on.
Rarity raised a brow at the strange turn of phrase, sure she had misheard something “Romance? What in Celesia’s mane-oof!” Rarity was cut short as she bumped into the hind quarters of her friend, who had very suddenly stopped.
Pinkie jumped up in a vague bucking motion, tossing the precarious stack of picnicking goods off of her back. In clear defiance of all probability, all of the various baked goods and snacks landed on the ground in a neat row, ready to be unpacked and laid out. “Twitch-a-twitch wiggle itchy-twitch! We’re here!”
The two set about putting their picnic together, Rarity spreading the cloth, while Pinkie set out all the food she had packed. After a few minutes busy work, they sat down and admired their effort. The majority of it was baked goods, supplied by Sugarcube Corner, and almost certainly Pinkie’s own hoofwork. A few apple fritters from Sweet Apple Acres and a couple of daisy-and-daffodil sandwiches ensured that the meal was also edible to ponies without Pinkie Pie’s sugar-tolerance. “Well then! Now doesn’t that just look lovely?” Rarity sat down beside the vase of orchids – her personal touch – and levitated  a sandwich to her mouth for a delicate nibble “As they say in Prance – bon apetit!”





The Jedi and his padawan crested the small hill to look out over the plain before them. The grass and flowers spread out in every direction, gently rolling up and down. A gentle breeze pushed a rolling wave lazily across the meadow. Off in the distance, they could make out the outlying structures of the settlement they had seen in the video feed from the droid. As Jem came up beside her master, she shielded her eyes against the sun and peered across the sea of blades and blossoms. Her eye caught on a splash of color, a bit more intense than the flowers of the meadow, about half way between them and the settlement. She reached into a pocket at her side, and withdrew a small electromonocular. She looked through the lens, twisting the dial on the side to zoom in close. There, she could see two of the colorful equine creatures, one white and purple, one a brilliant shade of pink, sitting together. “Master, over this way. I can see a couple of them.” Uldir nodded approvingly, and they set off.
Minutes passed as they closed in on their destination. They traveled quickly, the flat terrain doing little to impede their approach. The white one was the first to notice them, as they came within fifty or so meters of the two resting ponies. As they drew closer, she could see the white one go to stand up. The pink one beside her quickly followed suit. The wind carried them sounds of their odd-sounding language, spoken in what Jem would swear sounded like feminine voices. The two ponies stood alert, keenly watching the two Jedi as they came to a stop, twenty meters from them.
Uldir nodded politely to them, and offered a smile, hoping that their race recognized that as a friendly action. “And now, I meditate. Keep watch, and try to be as friendly as possible.” He murmured softly so that only his padawan could hear. He then went to his knees, in the classic meditative position used by Jedi for centuries. Jem nodded, and plopped down beside him in a much more casual position, offering the two equine creatures a smile that she hoped was amicable.
The two ponies looked back and forth between the two Jedi and each other, words passing between them in their native tongue. Jem watched as the pink one jumped up and down several times during the course of the conversation. She gave a small grin, finding the pink ones antics amusing, even as without-context as they were. Beside her, she could feel her master beginning to work. The Force in this place was slow and languid, not dead, but it was still difficult to call upon. She raised her brows as she felt the slow whirlwind of energy beside her that was her master. It was not often that she got to see Uldir display his mastery of the Force in terms of sheer raw power, but every time, it gave her goosebumps. Her skin prickled as she mentally tugged on the tendrils of the Force about her, feeling them almost unresponsive, and realized the staggering mental effort her master must be undertaking to channel the Force as he was now. She turned her attention back to the equids to see that they had sat back down, and were now eating, lifting what appeared to be baked goods to their muzzles, and taking small bites. She once more offered them a friendly smile, and, without thinking, held up her hand to give a small awkward wave. She could barely keep her jaw from dropping as the pink one leapt up and emphatically waved back at her.





“Hellooo over there!!” Pinkie had hopped up onto her hind hooves and was waving enthusiastically back at the strange bipedal creature.
Rarity gave a small chuckle at her friend’s over-bubbly nature and took a sip of iced tea, turning back to face the two strange creatures. She couldn’t help but wonder what they were, or what they wanted, but they seemed harmless enough. Both Twilight and Celestia had warned all of them to be over-cautious about any new faces in Ponyville, but these two looked nothing like those dreadful Rakata creatures the Princesses had shown them. And besides that, Pinkie had said that they were related to her super-good-doozy she had ultimately been dragged out here for. She scrutinized the two of them as best she could from the distance they were at. Aside from their questionable fashion tastes – she couldn’t quite pin down her opinion on all-brown with lighter brown accents, but she knew it wasn’t positive – she could not help a feeling of general respectability about the pair of creatures. She was at a loss of words to describe it, but it seemed as if the sunlight was just slightly brighter around them, with most of the light seeming to center around the larger one. As she was pondering this, her pink friend spoke up.
“I like them. I can’t put my hoof on it, but they just seem really nice. You know? Like, I mean, I bet if we invited them to a party they’d be super nice to everypony and bring snacks for everyone even though it was a real last minute invitation and we said they didn’t have to bring anything, but they did anyways because they’re just so nice.” Pinkie pie had ceased waving and sat back down, scooping a handful of cookies from a nearby plate and shoving them in her mouth as she did so.
Rarity nodded her agreement, taking a delicate nibble of a cookie from the same plate. “Agreed. There’s just an air of dignity about them I can’t quite place…. You know, darling, it’s getting to be right around noon time, and wherever they are from – be it the stars or Saddle Arabia – they must be famished. Why don’t we bring them something to nosh on?”
Pinkie Pie gasped and jumped up to her hooves, nodding emphatically “That’s a great idea! I bet they like cupcakes!” Without further deliberation, Pinkie scooped up a nearby plate of cupcakes, carelessly balancing the plate on her head as she hopped on over to the friendly looking creatures. Rarity chuckled softly to herself and followed along, determined to convince these new strangers that Ponyville had a fair bit more elegance than Pinkie Pie was currently showing.





The moments passed peacefully, as Jem watched the two equids converse. The shock of the pink one waving back at her had worn off quickly. She knew that similar gestures had evolved independently on countless worlds. Still, she found it rather odd that these creatures behaved so familiarly. She was certain it was just her mind playing with her, but she could have sworn she saw them smiling at one another off in the distance.
She raised her brows in mild surprise, as she watched the creatures rise and begin to walk towards her. She couldn’t help a small giggle at the sight of the pink one balancing a platter of what appeared to be very colorful food atop its head. She knew it wasn’t an appropriate reaction, all considered, this being first contact with a new species and all, but she couldn’t help it; the sight amused her. She quickly cleared her throat and turned to face the ponies properly, automatically resting on her knees in the same position as her master, displaying a hopefully polite and respectful position.
Beside her, the old Jedi was still deep in his trance. She couldn’t tell if his technique was working or not. She didn’t feel any different. Then again, she had never been under the effects of battle meditation before either, and so she didn’t know if it was supposed to feel any different. All she could feel was the torrent of Force energies flowing through her master, answering his call as he dove deeper into his meditation.
The ponies by that point were within a few meters, and would certainly expect a greeting. She couldn’t tell if she would be understood or not, but she supposed it would be worth a shot. She took a deep breath to center herself, and announced in her calmest, most diplomatic-sounding voice “Hello! My name is Jem and I’m very glad to meet you.”
The ponies stopped abruptly in front of her, now within a couple of meters. They looked back to each other, then back to her. The young padawan was now sure that her mind was not playing tricks on her. What she saw on their equine faces was the unmistakable expression of shock, and what erupted on the pink ones face could not be taken for anything but a smile. It came up to her, the plate of food atop its head teetering perilously to this side and that. The creature walked so haphazardly, she was shocked every time the platter didn’t come tumbling down to the ground. It finally stopped right in front of her, well within touching distance. Jem couldn’t help but notice that the pink creature was just slightly closer than she would have considered comfortable conversing distance.
She smiled politely, and for the first time since their arrival, was able to get a good look at the creature. It was shorter than most sentient creatures she had seen, measuring a bit under one and a half meters. Light rosy fur covered its whole body, save for its mane and tail, which sprouted a much thicker, curlier fluff of darker, more intense pink. It opened its mouth, and spoke to her in its native tongue. While she was sure it was perfectly intelligible natively, she could make neither heads nor tails of it. The pony just kept talking, apparently oblivious to Jem’s own obliviousness. Jem sincerely hoped her master’s meditation would kick in soon.
As the pink one was talking, the other one came up as well, standing beside it’s friend, though at a slightly more respectful distance. It craned its neck down to the ground, its hoof bending inward in an elegant gesture which Jem couldn’t help but interpret as a bow. This one was white all over, her downy pale coat shining in the sunlight. Its mane and tail were much different from its companions. Deep purple swirls of finely brushed, gracefully waving hair sprouted from her neck and hind quarters, curling into stylized swoops and coils. Just as they had seen on the bridge, there was a difference in anatomy. The white one had a horn cresting from it’s head, a pointed spiral of smooth bony material. This one spoke next, again incomprehensible to the young padawan. However, she could tell a clear distinction in its speech from the pink one. It spoke at a much slower, more deliberate pace, and its voice was just slightly lower that the other one. As it was concluding it’s ill-understood speech, however, Jem, sat bolt upright in surprise. Two words near the end, she recognized. She could swear she heard her say ‘gift’ and ‘friend’.
Jem sat there for a moment, containing her excitement. Perhaps her master’s technique was beginning to work. She took a deep breath to find her calm, and responded, slowly enunciating to try and make herself understood, for now simply repeating back the only two words she had recognized. “Friend. Gift.” She hesitated for a half-second before continuing, placing her hand on her chest, attempting to indicate herself “I am a friend.” She smiled, pleased with her diplomatic efforts thus far. The pink one seemed very excited to hear her respond, jumping up and down a few times, its curly tangled mane bouncing up and down with her, the plate atop its head once more threatening to fall. Just as Jem was about to hold out a hand to catch the surely ground-imminent plate of goods, the pink one reached up and swiped the platter from its head, setting it down before her.
Jem looked down at the plate in front of her. There were several colorful objects on it, each little one displaying a swirl of two colors, each one brighter and more contrasting than the last. They looked very much like baked goods with icing on them. In fact, she was quite sure that’s what they were. As she was about to try and question the ponies as to what exactly they were, the pink one nudged the plate towards her insistently. It the swiped one of the colorful objects off of the plate and popped it in its mouth, noisily chewing on the pastry. It then hopped up on its hind two hooves and rubbed one hoof on what was presumably its belly. It then spoke in a string of once more unintelligible words. However, Jem was now certain a few were getting through to her. Chief among the words she was able to discern from the pink pony’s speech were ‘tasty’ and ‘cake’. The sweet smell that she could notice wafting up from the colorful treats seemed to confirm her suspicions. She was being offered a pastry.
She looked back to the pink pony and smiled, bobbing her head, before reaching down and tentatively picking one of the colored pastries up off the plate. It was small, roughly the size of a fist. The bottom half seemed made of a sort of yellow sponge cake, while the top was clearly some variety of icing. She held the pastry up to her mouth and slowly sunk her teeth into the small confection. She closed her eyes and could very nearly die for the culinary bliss in her mouth. Never in all her travels across the galaxy had she tasted anything so intensely sweet and delicate. It was a sugary rush of fruity flavors and supremely saccharine sensations that, impossibly, managed not to be in the least bit cloying. She swallowed her first bite, and quickly dove back in for another, eagerly chewing the delicious pastry. She swallowed once more and piped up, sincerely hoping that they could understand her “This is really good!”
“Thanks! I made it myself!” Came the response from the pink one. It took Jem a full second to realize that she had fully understood that last sentence. She was already in the process of responding, when the revelation struck. She leaned back in shock, gasping. The pink pony in front mirrored her actions, leaning back, its mane and tail fluffing up higher than before as it realized what had just happened, a long drawn out gasp coming from it.
“You understood that! I understood you!” Jem babbled after a moment passed, allowing her to get past her intial shock. She grinned broadly and clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing up and down in her seat. “It’s working, it’s working!” She could practically squeal with giddiness. She looked to her master, still deep within his meditations, and smirked. The old man had some new tricks after all.
The white one was far more composed than the pink one, though it too raised a hoof daintily in astonishment at the newfound communication. It spoke, and once more Jem heard the odd assortment of syllables that comprised their alien language. Jem nearly deflated, thinking she might have jumped to conclusions about her master’s power too soon, but the next sentence from the white one came out more clearly, with only a few spots lapsing into illegibility “I’m not sure how you’re understanding us, #@&%$^!, or how we’re understanding you, @*! $^ @^( #*!^), it is certainly nice to meet you.” Now that she could partially understand, she was all but certain that both of these creatures before her were feminine.
The pink one was now practically vibrating with excitement, jumping up and down in place in front of her, happily talking, its speech still somewhat incomprehensible, though this time it was more from the speed at which it spoke than the language barrier “Oh, goody goody super-duper awesome! I knew that there would be a &*!#) $^!#)&$#!@ #^!() when we got out here and I was right! Two new friends!” It stopped bouncing, though it still positively hummed with energy, and held out it’s hoof to Jem “Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie and this is Rarity, and I hope we can be the bestest of totally bestest friends!”
Jem grinned, thoroughly amused by the pink pony’s antics. She held out her hand, intending to take hold of the pink hoof offered to her. She opened her mouth to respond likewise, but was cut short, as a blinding flash of light, and a thunderous crack of sound tore out of the sky up above them. Jem immediately snapped her gaze upwards, trying to shield her eyes from the intense flare of light. The sky darkened, and there up above her was another pony. This one, however, was different from any of the ponies she had seen thus far. It was at least twice again as large as the two before her.  It flapped two great wings to stay aloft, easily hovering in the air above them. It had a coat of the most brilliant, pure white Jem had ever seen. Every inch of it seemed to radiate light. Its mane and tail, instead of being the hair she had seen on the other ponies, was a flowing spectrum of brilliant colors. Shimmering fields of pink, blue, and green poured from her neck and tail, glittering and sparkling with energy. Also unlike the others she had seen, it wore several pieces of golden jewelry. Golden plates with elaborate curved points adorned its hooves and fetlocks, while a thick band of solid gold with a single inset jewel hung from its long neck. A heavy golden tiara atop its head completed the regal image.
Just as Jem was regaining her vision, the angry look on the newcomer’s face one of the first things for her to register as the spots faded, a thundering voice resounded throughout the meadow, shaking the ground beneath her. It was louder than anything she had ever heard, and shook her to her core “Rarity, Pinkie Pie, back away from these monsters! You there, villains! Defend yourself, for I will show your kind no mercy.”