Falling from the Stars

by Wannabe Scholar

Chapter 3

This forest was certainly... something. Ren could not find the right word to describe it whilst he carefully marched on the dirt. In the time since he left his men and Padawan, Ren felt the ebb and flow of the Force echoed with every step he took. It permeated the air all around him and it came off of the various flora all around, so much it could have almost deafened anyone. Ren had felt similar, but nothing quite as potent as he felt right now.

Coming to a stop, Ren stretched out with the Force. Immediately, he caught onto the presences from before, the ones detected by the shuttle's machinery. They were up there, high above, but not too high for him to feel several minds. One mind stood out from the rest of the groggy and irritated, yet tempered, bunch. Curious, Ren creaked his head upwards.

Lo and behold, there they were, flying over the tree tops and their stretched wings flapping in the night sky. Ren quieted his mind and extended his touch to his auspicious target. He could feel the edges of the strange conscious, picking on some sounds and even an image of a fort. Steeling himself, Ren prepared to connect him mind with the other.

That was when he heard a slight growl from behind.

---

Turbulence shook the Sith shuttle and everyone inside its dimly lit hull. As it did, Eliza held onto her seat and held in an irritated grumble. It did not go unnoticed for Rendar, who had his helmet in his lap, asked, "General, are you alright?"

Eliza glanced down to him and the ebon-armored soldiers lined up against the hull. "It's nothing sergeant," she said, more for everyone to hear than just Rendar.

Everyone went back to checking their rifles and power packs, wondering over the "nothing." But it was just "nothing," Eliza knew. What she felt was not motion sickness, but the Force. It was all over. Wild and untamed. There was no polarization of either the Dark or the Light Side, but a mixture.

“How long will it be before we hit ground?” Eliza called out.

“Fifteen standard minutes, my lord,” a distant voice spoke from the pilot’s chair, much to Eliza’s disappointment. “We’re coming up on the surface. It appears to be some kind of forest. I’ll look for a clearing to land and… wait…”

Her eyes darted to the cockpit’s threshold. “What is it this time?”

The pilot spoke with a sudden uncertainty. “There’s something on the radar. It’s not a fighter or a ship. It might be some bird or something–”

THUMP!

A loud bang interrupted the pilot. The few Sith helmets rolled onto the floor when the entire team, including Eliza, went on their feet. “Did something hit us?” Rendar called out. “Pilot?!”

“The signal’s gone off the radar, sir!”

While her crew prepped their blasters, Eliza closed her eyes and stretched out with the Force. A moment later, she opened her eyes. “Something’s out there. It’s closing in.”

THUMP!

“There it is again!” yelled another soldier among the frantic group.

“Calm down!” Rendar bellowed.

Eliza glanced around, trying to pinpoint the source. The presence she felt was strong and nearby. Right, left, up, down–it buzzed around like a speeder. It was fast, very fast. Eventually, it would have to stop. Maybe in a few minutes…

“Uh, general? You should come see this.”

Or right now.

Entering the cockpit, Eliza stood behind the pilot’s chair. “Well,” she asked, “what is it?”

“Well, um…” the pilot hesitated to find the right words, his pale face filled with surprise at what he stared at. Turning, Eliza’s own face matched the pilot’s.

Something hovered outside the viewport. A creature of sorts in front with four limbs and blue fur. Certainly not dumb beast because Eliza saw armor gleaming in the moonlight. Eliza also noticed another detail.

Wings. It had a pair of wings, one sticking out each side and flapping away.

A tongue stuck out mockingly before its owner left in a blur, buzzing around the shuttle once again. “Lower the ramp. I’ll take care of this,” Eliza ordered.

“Uh, y-yes,” and the stammering pilot reached for the control switch.

The Sith soldiers curiously watched their general walk for the far end of the shuttle. “My lord, will you need help?” Rendar inquired.

“Only when I fall off, sergeant,” Eliza smirked before the landing ramp opened with a slow creak.

Wind rushed into the hull and blew back Eliza’s long cape and red hair. Her armored boots carefully clanked down the ramp. Stopping mid-way, she gripped onto an extended pole with her left hand and looked around.

A yellow trail blazed past, and Eliza’s eyes trailed after. Its source no longer circled around the shuttle and flew through air with ease. It stopped every few moments to give a face under its helm; a raspberry here, an evil eye there. All of them mere child’s play, and not worth Eliza's time to grab her lightsaber. Instead, Eliza stood firmly and waited.

Eventually, the creature stopped buzzing around and focused on Eliza, its face flickering with confusion and curiosity. Then, annoyance and anger flooded its gaze, and Eliza smirked inwardly. Her mere presence, her stance was a challenge to its ‘might,’ one that it would not ignore.

The creature dived in, just as Eliza expected, nose first to tackle her. She calmly stretched out with her right hand and with the Force. She yanked her target towards her, and its face fell into the Sith Lord’s free hand with a muffled yelp.

The ramp closed behind Eliza, and she strode into the hull, the creature kicking out its limbs in a vain attempt to escape. The Sith soldiers moved aside for their general, whose free hand grabbed the helmet’s crest.

The helmet tossed aside with an audible clunk, a pair of ears stuck out of a lush mane. The legs, armed with hooves, failed to free itself from the ebon gauntlet grasping the blue muzzle, and the face, though resembling an equine, twisted like an angry human.

Eliza stared at its cerulean eyes, dumbfounded. This was what attacked her shuttle? An equine barely half her size and weight? Sure, it was putting up a fight, and she noted its armor gave it away as some kind of soldier, but what was its reason to attack? What did it have to gain?

“My lord, what…” one soldier said only to stop and watch with the others when Eliza rested a finger on the equine’s furry temple.

The rest of its body slightly froze and its eyes widen. Eliza closed her own and began probing with the Force. Neighs and whinnies met her, and she faced them with slight unease. “What are you?” she spoke clearly, imposing the question into the equine’s mind with the Force.

The equine spoke in a muffled, yet masculine voice. The sounds shifted until a word came into her mind: 'Pony.'

Eliza pursed her lips, but continued sifting through the equine’s mental cacophony for the language centers. The pony’s voice came through again, only from its mind into Eliza’s.

‘Metal beast… Warning… Councilors...’

Finally, Eliza released her grip. The primitive armor clanked when the equine, a male, thudded on the floor. Once boastful, the cerulean eyes fearfully stared up at Elize, who gave him an indifferent gaze. The equine would speak but its "words" were an incoherent jumble, nothing to reply to, so Eliza did not. She had enough information. She knew what to do.

"Pilot, set a new course! We have some friends to meet!" Eliza ordered to the pilot, then to Rendar, "Sergeant, secure the prisoner, and make sure he remains unharmed."

The command was carried out, and the Sith soldiers surrounded the equine, who watched Eliza retreat into the cockpit.

---

With a flap of her wings, Pansy did her best to keep up. Flying was natural to her, but it was hard to fly at the same pace with the Pegasi of Storm Squadron. The said Pegasi who surround her, normally among the best flyers, did their own to keep in pace with the Councilor.

"Councilor, you must head back. We can take it from here!" she heard.

Pansy turned to Red Fire, who insisted to fly at her side. She could see the wind blowing in his impassive face. “No,” Pansy insisted. "I'll be fine!"

If the captain had anything to say, it was cut off when one of the flyers announced, “Captain, there’s something up ahead!”

The two of them turned, Pansy holding up a hoof to protect her eyes from the wind. The tree tops of the infamous Everfree Forest passed beneath them, as did several clearings. One clearing lied ahead, and looking down, Pansy saw there was something in it, a little brown blob running forward. It stopped in place, and Pansy swore she saw a pair of eyes staring up at her.

'Come down.'

Pansy blinked. What was that? It was certainly a voice, clear and masculine, and no louder than a whisper. However, the voice rang in her head, not in her ears. Was she going crazy?

'Come down,' the voice entered her mind once more. It was peaceful and calm, and it sounded more like an invitation than a command.

Again, Pansy blinked, this time to the obscured figure down below. Her mind connected the pieces, and soon, she turned to her side. "Captain! We have to go down there!"

"What?" Confusion flashed across Red Fire's muzzle. "Whatever for?!"

"I think whatever's down there is related to what we saw earlier!"

"How do you know that?!"

"A gut feeling!"

The answer did not seem to do much for Red Fire, but Pansy was relieved when he called out to his squadron, "Flyers! Land at once! Surround the area, and be ready for any hostilities!"

As Storm Squadron's Pegasi began to dive down, Pansy hoped it would not come to that. She flew in sync with the others, slowly descending to the Everfree Forest. They past the canopy and in no short time, they already touched the ground. Red Fire was the first to land, Pansy second, and the rest followed after.

Upon landing, Pansy trotted past Red Fire and approached the figure with a smile. "Greetings," Pansy said, "I am Councilor Pansy of Equestria, and I greet you to..."

The words died when Pansy realized whom she was looking at. There was a large cloak draped around a tall body, but instead of a calm gaze, Pansy found herself staring into a pair of eyes as wide as hers and horns atop of a tattooed face that scrunched up into shock.

---

The moment the Republic shuttle descended down to land, Elara wanted to get off and explore was what out there. She wanted to know the reason why the Force was so strong on this world, and she was even more anxious to leave with her master and face any danger. Her master, ever the worrier as she thought he would be, ordered her to stay.

Elara would have if she actually listened to him. After her master was out of sight, Elara left the shuttle. What her master did not know would not hurt him. That was what she told herself and her men whom she ordered to stay behind.

Her plans to follow, sadly, took a back turn when Elara found herself lost in a forest and her master beyond her reach. Which was why she was taken aback upon seeing a bunch of equine, with wings no less, landing right in front of her.

Their breast plates and war helms gave that sense to Elara, whose unease equaled the emotions she felt through the Force. Yet, she did not sense any hostility. They would not attack, unless if she did first, and vice versa, so, they stood there for many moment, staring at each other.

At last, the first equine to step forward, a female with its petite form and soft feature, managed to blink its wide eyes. The gaped mouth moved to speak. The only thing Elara could was nothing more than snorts and grumbles. "What?" was her response.

The equine mimicked Elara's reaction with a whinny of confusion. Elara glanced around, meeting more bewildered looks glancing at her. "Look, I'm lost," she said, with some hope of understanding these beings. "Maybe you could help me, and I'll..."

Elara stopped. Something was off, she could feel it in the Force, and it was coming closer. Quickly, she turned around to meet it.

A loud roar echoed, from neither equine nor her own, and Elara nearly yelped. Wind and stench breezed over her tunic and through her cloak, and she just gaped at what she saw, unaware of the fearful looks from the others.

The creature hunched over on its furry paws, its fangs baring, its nostrils flared, and its mane wild like a Cathar's. The reptilian wings fluttered on its back and... and was that a scorpion's tail? Whatever kind of Sith spawn this creature was, Elara's hand went for one of the hilts on her belt, ready to fend it off.

Then, the creature lowered its back, and a familiar robed figure riding atop it. Elara stopped herself from pressing the stud on the hilt and said, "Master?"

Ren slid off the creature's back and gave a small smile. "Elara! Good thing I found you!"

"Uh, master..." Elara's unsteady glare focused at her master's side.

"Don't worry, Elara. She won't do any harm." Ren patted a hand on the creature, to which he said, "Go."

The creature huffed, turned around, and carried its massive body back into the forest's darkness. Ren walked forwards, stopping short of Elara. "Nice to see you're making friends," he spoke, nodding his head to the equines.

Only then did Elara take time to notice those with her. The equines, some of them stalwart soldiers, had expression of disbelief at the Jedi Master. While Elara herself could barely believe what happened, she was just glad to be safe and alive.

Elara looked back at him. "Master, I-"

"We'll talk about it later. For now, we need to move before anything else happens."

Ren noticed Elara flinch from his slight stern tone before she moved aside. Ren noted it and stepped forward to the equines, looking down at one specific female from the group. "I wondered when you would get my message," he said kindly.

Elara was taken aback by that. "Wait, you called them here?"

"I called them," yet the answer left the Padawan more confused than satisfied. Did he know about her disobedience the entire time? Was this whole encounter meant to be a test?

Elara's left boggled, she just stared at her master, who knelt before the female equine. He put a hand on his clothed chest and enunciated, "Ren... Ren."

The equine in the spotlight hesitated for a second. She copied the same action and returned, "Pansy."

Author's Note:

After two months, here's chapter 3... rushed and somewhat jumbled.

My bad, but I would like to know what you think about the chapter. Understandably, there are some areas that need fixing, and hopefully, I will get to that in time. For now, what did you like/dislike about it? Please let me know.

-W.S.

Comments

[Bronzer]

I'm glad you're not having the ponies speak Basic.