//------------------------------// // A Threatening Meeting // Story: Unlimited Power // by DarkZonker //------------------------------// Anakin looked at the pile of "ponies," as Spike called their species, as he dropped the grasses and twigs he was going to use to start the fire. A few hours have passed since the ponies attacked him and Obi-wan and the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, bathing the sky above in red light. Anakin focused on the kindling in front of him. He set up the sticks and grasses in a pyramid but with enough air to light and breathe. Anakin reached into his tool belt and pulled out his firestarter. Moments later, Anakin had a small fire in front of him. Anakin sat back and leant on his palms. He looked out to the nearby grove where his master was gathering larger pieces of wood with Spike. With the fire started, Anakin decided to check his equipment. His lightsaber was low on power, thankfully he found some extra battery packs in his belt and switched out his current battery. In his belt pouches, Anakin took out his liquid-cable launcher, aquata-rebreather, and the last of his protein cubes. Some groans sounded out from the pile. Anakin gathered his items and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. Anakin pulled out his comlink and quietly informed Obi-wan. He walked to the edge of their clearing and hid in the grass. The ponies crawled off of each other grumbling about how they had awoken. "Would ya get offa me, Rainbow," said the orange one angrily. "Only if you! Uh..." the cyan one with the rainbow hair trailed off, "Only if you get out from under me first!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Yeah, thats it," she finished under her breath. "That doesn't make sense, Rainbow," said the orange one as Rainbow hopped off and flapped her wings. As soon as she was in the air her wings seized up and she fell to the ground.          "Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" said the orange one worriedly as she limped towards her friend. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a couple of bruises, nothing I'm not used to. But what about you! You're limping, Applejack," said Rainbow. "Ah'm fine, but whatever that thing was that hit me is gonna regret it," she fumed. "Come on, let's check on the girls." The two ponies went about checking on their friends. Slowly, all of the ponies were awake and talking about what they were going to do to the monsters that did this to them. It was with that, that Anakin decided not to confront them until Obi-wan came back. "Hey, what's that?" Asked the pony that Spike referred to as Twilight. "Looks like smoke ta me," replied Applejack. "Let's go check it out then!" said Rainbow Dash. The ponies walked to the edge of the clearing with the fire and sneaked into the grass. With a yell, all of them but one burst into the clearing. A second later, the last one hopped in with the quietest yell Anakin had ever heard. They looked around the clearing, and finding nothing, they sat down around the small fire. The pink one stood up and looked around. Anakin saw her look right at him and stop. They waited like that for a minute, just staring at each other. "Uh, Pinkie? What are you doing?" asked Twilight, who looked very confused. That seemed to snap Pinkie out of her staring match with Anakin as she turned around to her friend. "Oh nothing. It just felt like someone is watching us," said Pinkie happily and went back to sitting at the fire. “Those … things must have made this. They can’t be too far off,” remarked the ‘Rarity’ pony. “Well, let’s go get ‘em!” cheered Rainbow, jumping into flight and hovering above her friends. “Wait, Rainbow,” Rainbow floated back down to the ground. “Those creatures jus’ beat us inta th’ dirt,” reasoned Applejack. “We cain’t jus’ go off fightin’ em, we gotta have a plan.” Rainbow Dash nodded, bringing a hoof to her chin and thinking about how to beat the Jedi. The rest of the ponies also joined in by performing their own thinking motions. Fluttershy, however, was the only one not contributing because she already had an idea of her own. “What if we just…” Her already soft voice getting even more quiet with each word. Her friends all looked at her, barely hearing the soft-spoken pegasus. Fluttershy’s eyes widened now that she had their attention, so instead of continuing her sentence, she retreated into her long, pink hair. Rainbow Dash, seeing her friends distress, quickly made it to Fluttershy’s side and comfortingly rubbed her back. “Hey, it’s okay ‘Shy,” Rainbow said as she tried coaxing her friend out, “What did you want to say?” Fluttershy slowly made her way out of her hair and looked at her friends. “Well, I was just trying to say that… Well, what if we just talk… to… them?” She squeaked and hid once again, trying to get out of the spotlight. A chorus of “yeah”s and “okay”s followed Fluttershy’s proposition, prompting her to return to her friends with a small smile on her lips. The ponies gathered in a circle around the fire discussing how to approach the Jedi after attacking them earlier. Slowly, one by one, the ponies nodded off as the dusk turned into night, moon rising high into the sky. Anakin watched the ponies for the whole time, waiting in the grass and mud. His pants and tunic were soaked plus he hadn’t moved in over three hours. He slowly stood up, attempting to wring the water out of his clothes. Anakin heard static from his comlink and held it close to his ear. Suddenly, the comlink chirped loudly, making Anakin jerk his head away from the device. The sudden movement making him lose his balance and fall back into the mud with a wet splat. Anakin cursed at himself for his incoordination. If his friend, Tru Veld, had seen him just now, he would have cracked a joke at Anakin’s expense then helped him back up. But Tru wasn’t here, and neither was Obi-wan, it was only Anakin. Anakin heard the ponies stirring and mumbling to each other about the sounds. His comlink chirped again as Anakin tried muffling the sound with his hands. The ponies, more awake now, heard the noise and cautiously moved to inspect it. Obi-wan’s voice rang out, catching the attention of the ponies who were slowly closing in on Anakin’s position. “Anakin? We’re almost back at the camp, keep watch and make sure nobody can find you. We have enough wood to last the night and I can’t stress enough how important it is that we attempt communication together,” the muffled comlink still loudly conveying the message to the immediate area. ‘Oh crap,’ Anakin again cursing himself for not turning down the volume. He knew that we was surrounded by the ponies, he could hear them shuffling around in the grass all around him. Instantly he knew how he could appease their hatred for him, “I surrender!” He called out, standing up and putting his arms above his head. Anakin felt something hard prod his back, indicating that he was to move into the clearing. He obliged, knowing that it was the best way to stall for time until Obi-wan and Spike got back. Anakin walked over to the fire and sat down on the heat-warmed soil. He looked at the six ponies that were giving him stares that could kill a rancor with a glance. “What did you do with Spike, you Monster?” Twilight asked as her horn lit up with magic. “So then what happened?” Obi-wan asked as he readjusted the bundle of logs under his arm. “Well, the girls just blasted Discord with the Elements of Harmony. Then I guess all that magic just turned him into stone,” Spike said nonchalantly as Obi-wan gave him a disbelieving look. He liked Obi-wan, the alien had some really cool stories about his adventures but Spike thought he just topped Obi-wan with the story of how Twilight and her friends beat Discord. Obi-wan seemed really interested with Discord. “I’ve never even heard of the Force being able to turn a being into stone. Or even manifesting itself as a rainbow of friendship. I guess the Force works in mysterious ways,” Obi-wan replied. He hadn’t heard back from Anakin since he sent his padawan the update, but he knew that Anakin could take care of himself. “Hey, Obi-wan? I’ve heard you talk about this ‘Force’ a lot but i’ve never even heard about it, and I live in a library,” Spike said as he caught the two logs he was carrying as they started to slip. “Well, Spike, the Force is what gives Jedi their powers. It’s an energy field that surrounds us, binds us, and penetrates us. The Force binds all of the universe together.” “What makes the energy field?” “Every living organism contributes to the Living Force, Spike.” “Even me?” Spike pointed at himself, dropping one of his logs. The two stopped for Spike to pick up the wood and continued walking once he was ready.         “Even you, Spike. As well as Twilight and all of your friends,” Obi-wan nodded.         “Wow,” Spike was blown away by the fact that he was a part of something so colossal. They walked in silence as Obi-wan let Spike soak in the new information. Obi-wan enjoyed this planet, it was very refreshing. Every square inch of the world was bursting with life. Just being on the planet rejuvenated Obi-wan.         “Come on, I can see the firelight from here, Anakin must be getting impatient by now,” Obi-wan said as he picked up his pace, making Spike have to nearly jog to keep up.