> Unlimited Power
>  by DarkZonker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Enter Jedi [R]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
The Republic is in full swing!


Five years after the Battle of Naboo, Chancellor Palpatine has reigned in the Senate making it much more effective, but under the surface it has become even more corrupt than before. For the past five years Obi-wan Kenobi has trained Anakin Skywalker in the ways of the Force, trying to mold him into the Chosen One he needs to be. Two warring factions have requested Jedi assistance to mediate a peace treaty on a world on the edge of Republic space. The Jedi Council has sent two jedi pairs to assist in the negotiations but other parties have different plans… 


Anakin sat in the republic cruiser’s astromech bay as it sped through hyperspace, tinkering with with the tool arms of a blue astromech. Fixing things or droids always helped him focus before a mission. He reached into his tool box, not finding anything he looked up only to see his friend, Tru Veld. He had a smug look on his face as he held a hydrospanner just out of Anakin’s reach. Tru twirled the tool in his hands as he inspected Anakin’s work on the astromech. 

“Anakin, if you wanted to overclock it’s processor, all you had to do was remove this right here,” He reached into the droid and swiftly removed a circuit board. “There, now it’ll run even better than before,” Tru said, spinning the hydrospanner.

“Yeah, it will,” Anakin was always amazed by his friend’s technological prowess. “I’ve been working on this droid for the past hour, how’d you know to do that, Tru?”

“I found a manual a year or so back.” Tru said very matter-of-factly. Tru’s ability to photographically memorize anything he read often helped Anakin whenever he was stuck on a droid. No matter how much he tinkered, Tru could always find out what was wrong before Anakin.

Anakin waved it off. “How far away are we from this planet? You must have come down here for some other reason than to bother me,” He flashed his friend a smile.

“We’re coming out of hyperspace soon. Master Obi-Wan told me to tell you to gather your things,” Tru recited.

“Well, it’s about time. I was about to die of boredom in here,” Tru turned and left with a smirk leaving Anakin to put back all of his tools. 

Anakin went to his quarters and grabbed all of his necessary gear. He hooked his lightsaber onto his belt, stocked his protein cube stash but really hoping that he wouldn’t have to eat any, and put on his cloak. Anakin made his way to the cockpit where his master, Tru, and Tru’s master, Ry-Gaul, all were. The door opened with a hiss and Anakin walked inside to see Ry-Gaul in the pilot seat, Obi-Wan in the co-pilot’s and Tru in the passenger’s seat behind them. Anakin sat down in an open seat next to Tru and clipped the crash webbing in.

“Ah, Anakin. How nice of you to join us,” Obi-Wan said, his Coruscanti accent bounced musically in the cabin. Some would say that it was an upper class accent, but Anakin knew his master better than some rich snob. “Welcome to Barungana. Now like Master Yoda said, our mission is to delegate peace treaties between the native Barun and a group of human colonists. So no causing trouble, we don’t need an intergalactic incident on our hands,” He stared daggers at the young boys behind him.

“Since when have we ever caused an incident? We’ve never caused any problems right Tru?” Anakin winked, signalling Tru to take the lead.

“Well ... there was that one time wh-” Tru began, not seeing Anakin.

“Anyway,” Anakin drew out the word. “You don’t have to worry about us, Master.”

“Good, because we’re entering their territory now.”

Anakin looked past Obi-Wan to the blue-white-green marble floating in space. It didn’t look like anything bad could happen there but from far enough away, anything looks perfect. He looked at Tru, who was also admiring the planet with a glint of adventure in his eyes. Anakin turned his gaze back to Barungana knowing that with each new planet he visited, there was always a new adventure.

The Jedi starship cut through the cloud layer like butter. Anakin could see a dense jungle as far as the eye could see. As they neared the colony, Anakin could pick out the small Prefab huts and shelters surrounding the medium sized spaceport that was mainly used for supply shipments. The Jedi touched down and the landing ramp lowered with a hiss.

The Jedi walked down, padawans following behind their respective masters. an oppressive, humid heat pressed down on Anakin like a garbage processor after the cool, sterile atmosphere of the ship  A large group of humans stood a distance away from the ship but at the sight of the Jedi, a portly man with slicked back, black hair and a golden sash across his belly came to greet them. He was followed by two nervous looking aides who moved with small shuffling steps. 



“No need to thank us, mister Mayor. We are only doing as the Force wills,” Obi-Wan bowed in return followed by Ry-Gaul, Tru, and Anakin. “I am Obi-Wan Kenobi and this is my padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker. My quiet friend here is Master Ry-Gaul and his padawan learner, Tru Veld. We would very much like to end the hostilities here as soon as possible.”

“Of course, of course. I am pleased that the senate has responded so quickly, I would have expected to get a response after this mess was over and too many lives had been lost,” Cervean responded, indicating with a wave of his hand for the Jedi to follow. Obi-Wan quickly fell into a pace next to the mayor, his fellow Jedi closely behind. “And even then I would not have expected them to send Jedi! Most people on Barungana, including my aides here, think that you are myths.”

Obi-wan chuckled. “I am not surprised, many beings have never seen a Jedi in their entire lives. The senate, as well as the Jedi, want to stop this conflict quickly, especially before it gets too bloody.” 

“Well, at least we have the same goals in mind. After the Barun’s started attacking our convoys and outskirt villages for no reason, we had no choice but to fight back. Unfortunately, things have gotten out of hand. I’m just glad they agreed to some kind of peace talks.”

“As am I, Mayor. When are the talks going to be held?”

“They are scheduled for two days from no--,” A red blaster bolt hit Cervean’s head cutting him off and burning a charred, black hole deep into his brain. He crumpled into a heap onto the ground. The Jedi ignited their lightsabers and collapsed into a tight circle where no angle could escape their sight. Someone from the crowd screamed and suddenly they all bolted in different directions. More blaster bolts screamed down at the civilians randomly. 

Anakin saw the blaster bolts coming from the roof outside of the landing port. Some of the bolts were directed at the Jedi, which were all deftly deflected at the ground. A missile roared from somewhere outside of Anakin’s vision. A hand grabbed Anakin’s hood and pulled him to the ground.

Anakin watched as the missile impacted the fuselage of their ship and erupt in a massive, fiery explosion. The shockwave knocked the wind out of Anakin and he saw spots in his vision. Anakin shook the cobwebs from his mind as he shakily stood up. He saw his master and friend farther back following his lead, but Ry-Gaul was still on the ground. 

Anakin’s stopped breathing as he saw Ry-Gaul sprawled out on the permacrete behind him. He must have taken the shockwave for me, Anakin thought, awestruck. 

Anakin knelt down next to Ry-Gaul and pressed his fingers to the taller man’s neck. The steady beat reassured him and stood back up in time to see an armored being jetpack down from the roof pulling two blaster pistols from hip holsters. Obi-wan and Tru had already ignited their lightsabers, which cast a green and crimson hue on Anakin and Ry-Gaul, and deflected the unending stream of red that sped towards them.

Anakin flipped Ry-Gaul onto his back elevated his head. Ry-Gaul’s eyes slowly opened to the sight of a worried Anakin and dozens of red blaster bolts flying overhead. A blood red bolt flew by Anakin’s head, close enough to feel the heat wash over the top of his head and smell a bit of burnt hair.

Anakin ducked as more bolts flew where he used to be. He knelt next to Ry-Gaul and cupped the master’s face with his hands, looking into his eyes. His eyes were focusing and he seemed alert, that was enough for Anakin. With a snap-hiss, Anakin ignited his lightsaber and stood shoulder to shoulder with Obi-wan and Tru. 

Together, the three of them pushed towards the onslaught of blaster bolts. Anakin felt a hint of fear coming from the mercenary as they started to close in on him. Anakin felt the Force tug at him. He looked to the right, on the edge of the spaceport hangar in the rafters was thin being holding a long, thick rifle. He reached out and pulled, the being falling with a scream that echoed in the empty chamber and uselessly firing his rifle in reflex at the ground.

Anakin saw the burning wreckage of the ship that brought them here and felt a little sad. All that work on that droid and its destroyed, he thought. He heard a blaster discharge behind him and spun around, catching the bolt that was meant for the back of his head. The bolt ricocheting back into the being that fired it. More beings flowed from the entrance to the spaceport firing their decades old blasters at the Jedi. Most of the shots went wide but the few that were even close were deflected by Anakin and a recovering Ry-Gaul.

“Master, there are more of them,” shouted Anakin over the roar of blasters, fire and lightsabers.

“We have to fall back and regroup,” Obi-Wan shouted back. “There’s a service entrance to your right,” Anakin took a quick look at the small door imbedded in the wall, “If you can open it, we can get out of here and contact the Council for reinforcements,” Anakin nodded as he bolted to the door, deflecting the ever increasing amount of blaster bolts in the air. He slid into the door’s alcove and pulled off the keypad that was mounted on the wall. Tru ran in next, his lightsaber still ignited, providing cover for Anakin. 

Anakin stripped the wires and brushed them past each other as they erupted in a shower of sparks. “C’mon. C’mon, work you hunk of junk,” he muttered.

Their masters stood next to Tru, completely blocking off the doorway with their width. Anakin took a moment and looked through their legs, and saw the growing number of beings that were taking cover behind the wreckage of their ship taking potshots at the Jedi. The armored one from before was leading the group firing practically the only accurate shots. Anakin turned back to his task at hand and repeatedly struck the wires together. The door beeped and the red light on the keypad turned green. 

“Let’s go,” He shouted as a bolt hit the wall next to him. The Jedi backed into the dark maintenance hallway and closed the door. Ry-Gaul touched the tip of his lightsaber to the seams of the door, The molten durasteel quickly welding the door to the frame. Frantic pounding on the door and some muffled yelling in a foreign language signaled the Jedi’s time to move. 

Motion sensors in the lighting above kept a steady light bearing down on the Jedi as they rounded corners blindly. After running for what felt like a sufficient amount of time, and not hearing anything other than the sounds of their own heavy breathing, the Jedi stopped.

“What’s next, Master Obi-Wan?” Tru asked curiously as he peered down the dark corridor that they had just come from.

“We have to contact the Council and the Senate, this situation has gotten too far out of control,” Obi-Wan looked down the direction they were heading, no lights, it was as black as night.

A deep voice spoke up, “We split up. Obi-Wan, you take Anakin and find a way to contact the Council. Tru and I will stay and organize a defense with the locals.” 

Anakin had never heard Ry-Gaul speak before, the tall, imposing man had always prefered to stay quiet and only spoke when really needed.

“Good idea, Ry-Gaul. You find a way into the colony proper, while Anakin and I find a ship.” Obi-Wan and Anakin flew down the hallway into another doorway. They opened the door to the sight of a large, blocky, dilapidated freighter. The pilot was kneeling with his arms behind his back, a blaster pointed at the back of his head by one of the beings that had attacked the spaceport. Another was looking through what appeared to be the ship’s manifest. This time Anakin was actually able to take a good look at them.

The beings were roughly bipedal, their knees bent backwards. Their skin was a light green and their heads were bald. The hands that gripped the blasters had long multi-jointed fingers and their feet were club-like providing a solid support for the strange leg shape. 

“Are these the Barun’s, Master?” Anakin whispered.

“Yes, though I am curious as to why they attacked when they wanted peace,” Obi-Wan said as he stroked his beard

Anakin was curious as well, it just didn’t make sense. “Maybe these colonists have been stealing their land?” 

“I have a feeling that it was the armored one who led the attack. It is entirely possible that these Barun’s aren’t affiliated with the group that contacted the colonists,” Obi-Wan said ominously.

Anakin nodded in understanding. It made sense that these being have been the ones behind the attacks that the mayor was talking about, and that the Barun’s as a whole wanted to let the colonists know that they weren’t behind it.

The Barun ahead who has holding the manifest tore it in half and started yelling at the pilot in his native language, snapping Anakin out of his thinking. The pilot flinched and spoke back in the Barun language, Anakin could tell he was worried. The head Barun barked and order at the one with the blaster, gesturing at the pilot. The gunman talked back and shook his head, making the leader bristle with anger. The leader struck the gunman, then kicked the pilot over onto his face. He wriggled, trying to get up without the use of his arms and legs, which Anakin could see now that they were bound. The gunman held his face and Anakin could see his eyes harden from the door. The gunman pointed the gun at the pilot and readied his shot. 

Anakin shared a glance with Obi-Wan who nodded back. With a gesture, Obi-Wan used the Force to jerk the blaster out of the gunman’s hands, as Anakin burst out of the doorway igniting his lightsaber with a snap-hiss. The leader looked up in shock and backpedaled. He drew his own blaster and aimed at the pilot, pulling the trigger and ending the pilots life with a flash of red, then aiming at the quickly approaching Anakin and squeezing off four quick shots. Anakin redirected one of the shots at the gunman who had recovered his blaster, the shot hit him in the chest and with a short scream fell to the ground, unmoving. The other three shots Anakin batted back to the leader, who ducked under one but caught the other two in the chest as well. He fell to the ground with a gasp and drew one final rattling breath, exhaling in a long wheeze.

Anakin extinguished his lightsaber after a quick survey of the scene. Obi-Wan caught up to his padawan and knelt next to the pilot checking his pulse but from where Anakin was standing he could tell the pilot was dead, not many people can live through a blaster bolt to the heart.

Obi-Wan stood up, closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath. He didn’t like it when beings had to die and even more when his padawan had to kill, but it was unchangeable he supposed. “Let’s go, we’ll use this ship to contact the Council. Somebody must have heard all of the noise we made,” He said sadly.



	

The freighter was as disgusting inside as it was on the outside. Clearly, the pilot had been a grimy individual with grimy tastes. Anakin could see empty deathstick tubes and lines of spice in the living area, no doubt that the pilot was a smuggler. He entered the cockpit and swept the trash off of the switchboard. Anakin warmed up the engines in preparation for takeoff as Obi-Wan sat in the co-pilot’s seat tuning the comms.

The blast doors for the hangar groaned, audible from the cockpit. The door sliding  upwards slowly into ceiling as long, green arms poked under with blasters. Anakin rapidly flipped switches as green lights lit up on the dashboard. A rumble echoed throughout the freighter followed by a high pitched whine. Good, there’s the engines, he thought.

The blast door was halfway up and already the Baruns were pouring in en masse. blasterfire pinged off of the thick, blocky durasteel plates. Anakin had time but he knew there wasn’t too much left, they would probably start bringing more rocket launchers to deal with them.

The repulsors came to life with a cough, lifting the freighter half a meter off of the ground in a split second. The landing gear groaned in protest as the weight of the freighter rested on them once more. With a sputter, the repulsors came on fully and lifted the behemoth of the ship slowly away from the crowd peppering the hull with small arms fire.

As they hovered over the spaceport, Anakin watched as a sleek, severely modified, disk-shaped starship lifted off in the jungle. He powered up the sublight engines and flew as fast as he could out of the atmosphere. The nose-cone turned red as air was pushed out of the way. Anakin looked at the sensor screen, the starship was following right behind, rapidly closing in on cannonfire range.

“Master, are we ready to send that message yet?” Anakin was feeling anxious. Getting into a firefight with that starship could only end badly, and being in a large, slow target didn’t help either, just thinking about it made Anakin’s hands sweat.

“Almost. It just needs to be calibrated to our frequency,” Obi-Wan fervently worked on comm board. “And… there!” He exclaimed.

“Masters, I’m afraid that we’ve encountered some troubles on Barungana. We’ve been-” The ship shook and the comm board’s lights immediately shut off. Anakin could hear the shriek of tearing metal above him.

“Anakin, what just happened.”

“Umm, our long range communications array seems to have been destroyed,” Anakin said after a quick glance at the damage report. 

“We’re going to have to jump to Coruscant,” Obi-Wan said determinately as he punched in the coordinates.

A warning light started flashing. “Uh, that might be a little hard, Master. Sensors indicate three starships exiting hyperspace right in front of us,” Anakin’s hands started sweating more as he jerked the ship around sluggishly avoiding laser blasts.

“This is a smuggler’s ship isn’t it?” Obi-Wan asked, his eyes lighting up with an idea.

“Yeah, I assume so,” Anakin replied, his voice dripping with curiosity.

“Don’t most smugglers have hideouts on unknown planets?” Obi-Wan continued.

Anakin’s eyes lit up in realization. “Try to find a system with a special symbol next to it, Master. The loners usually need some kind of help,” It was times like this when Anakin was slightly glad that he had been a slave, other padawans didn’t have the same worldly experiences that he had, or at least hadn’t eavesdropped on talky freighter pilots for years like he had.

The new arrivals didn’t waste any time assaulting the Jedi, making Anakin, as swiftly as he could, turn the boxy ship around. Another laser blast rocked the ship. Anakin glanced at diagnostics, which said that deflector shields were down to forty-eight percent in flashing red letters. With these guys on our tail, we’ll be stardust in no time, he thought. Suddenly, an idea sprang to Anakin’s mind. His eyes scoured the dashboard for the right button. Finally, he found it. It was a red button with a label above it in poor handwriting saying, Under no circumstances do you push this button. It had to be it. Anakin pressed the button and an alarm whooped in the cockpit.

“Anakin! What did you do?” Obi-Wan demanded as he was nearly deafened by the speaker right next to his ears.

“I opened the cargo doors,” Anakin said with a challenging smirk on his face. “We just need to buy some time. Trust me.”

Obi-Wan nodded as Anakin took evasive maneuvers, his face feeling a little green.

“I hate flying,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Anakin looked at the sensors, one ship had collided with the debris from the cargo bay and had exploded into smithereens, damaging another ship close to it, while the others peeled off and went around it, buying the Jedi much needed time and distance.

“Anakin, I have the coordinate all set for the smugglers den. Go to hyperspace when we are clear,” Obi-Wan said, not looking up from the keyboard as his fingers flew across the display. Anakin nodded and pushed the lever forward. The small pinpricks of light that indicated life light years away elongated into lines and turned to a swirl of blue.
 
“Hyperspace achieved, Master,” Anakin leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, all anxiety had washed away. He looked to his master who had an equally relieved look on his face. A light blinked into existence on the dashboard, Anakin immediately sat up straight and looked at the diagnostics screen. They were low on fuel barely enough to get to the star system the were headed towards let alone Coruscant.

“What is it, Anakin,” Obi-Wan asked a look of worry flashed across his face.

“We’re nearly out of fuel. We have just enough to get to where we’re headed. I hope there’s fuel at this guy’s base.”



	

The planet was unremarkable, just another garden world. It had one moon, 3 continents, and a few oceans but the oddest thing was that it didn’t rotate on an axis, it appeared as though the star and the moon orbit the planet.

“Master, there is something seriously wrong with this system.”

“Yes, it would appear so. Let’s take a quick scan of the planet, I sense a disturbance in the Force.”

The scan showed small settlements all over the planet, one was even located on a mountain! There were forests and mountains all across the planet and it didn’t appear as though there was advanced technology anywhere. 

“This is where he had his base. Seems really inconvenient with a native population,” questioned Anakin.

“To each their own it seems,” said Obi-Wan as he stroked his beard. “He chose a planet that is very strong in the Force.”

Anakin closed his eyes and extended his senses out to the planet. The intensity was akin to a blinding light in total darkness. Recoiling, Anakin pulled back his senses, but at the same time, he felt invigorated to be in the presence of such a place. Opening his eyes, Anakin saw the place in a new light. As he continued to look, the perfect surface was not as perfect as it once seemed. There were spots and speckles of darkness but it seemed to complement the light. Dark and light working together, in harmony. The sight and newfound knowledge left Anakin breathless.

“Let’s go in for a closer look, eh Master?” Anakin asked, the wonder still prevalent in his voice.

“How about here?” Obi-Wan pointed to a large mountain surrounded by plains with a waterfall feeding into a lake. There was a city embedded into the mountain and scans showed a considerable number of cave structure inside the mountain.

Anakin brought the ship down carefully near the mountain’s peak. There was a large cave that was empty and was fairly hidden from the town below. The ship touched down with a creak of the landing gear and the tinkling of small metal shards littering the ground around it. Maybe now, Anakin thought, we won’t have to deal with the usual craziness. Just some simple repairs. 


	



In Canterlot


Princess Luna walked down the hallway to the celestial balcony, her starry blue mane blowing in the ethereal wind. Flanked by two night guards, she passed the many murals and stained glass detailing the achievements of the pony race. The most recent detailing the feats of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. It was time to raise the moon and for her subjects to dream, her domain. Something felt wrong however, something she just couldn’t put her hoof on. Maybe her sister, Celestia, knew what it was. It was as good a place as any to start. Ahead was the balcony, and on it was Celestia. Just as tall and blindingly white as always, her own multicolored mane flowing in a non-existent wind.

“A little late tonight, aren’t we? I lowered the sun a minute ago.”

“Yes yes, it’s a bit of a walk from mine room,” Luna fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling a shiver pass through her spine. “Sister, tell me, have you felt anything different lately?” asked Luna quizzically.

“I have felt something strange. Perhaps there is an imbalance in harmony?”

“Impossible. There has not been an imbalance since Discord escaped.”

“While it is not as drastic an imbalance as when Discord broke free from his prison, something is different nonetheless.”

Luna rolled her eyes and preceded to raise the moon. Maybe Celly is right. I will have to look into it tomorrow. I’ll have to meditate on this tonight.
	
	



> Follow the Force [R]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Golden Oaks Library
Observatory Balcony


Twilight Sparkle sat on her upper balcony watching the sunset, waiting for the stars to come out to find the new constellation Princess Luna mentioned last time she was in Ponyville. The sunset cast beautiful shades of red and purple on the horizon and Twilight couldn’t remember the last time she watched a sunset this beautiful. Twilight noticed that the moon rose a little later than usual but thought nothing of it. As the moon finally rose above the horizon, Luna painted the stars into sight. She saw her telescope pointing to the heavens, just waiting to be analyzed. Giggling in excitement, Twilight pulled out a notebook and a quill, and rested her rump on a nearby stool.

A magenta glow enveloped her horn as she peered into the eyepiece. The glow spread to the dials, which were attached to the hinges of the telescope, and started spinning. The white pinpricks in the sky slowly resolved into many large and small dots, some red, a few blue, but mostly white. She dialed in on the constellation and began writing in her notebook. She had scrawled five pages of shorthand when a shadow moved slowly across the stars. Twilight looked up from the eyepiece and at the sky. Not a cloud in sight. Looking back in the telescope, the shadow had resolved a little. It was a large brown geological shape. Twilight had never seen this asteroid before. She began to fervently take down notes, estimated size, estimated speed, and visual composition. 

Dials spun as the telescope tried to keep up with the orbit of the asteroid. Just barely staying within Twilight’s vision, the asteroid started speeding up. Three cones of blue light erupted from the back of the asteroid as the image grew. It’s moving closer? What the hay is this thing? Twilight racked her brain for an answer but came up with nothing.

She looked away from the telescope and saw the… thing. She couldn’t call it an asteroid anymore. It was flying into the atmosphere, smoothly cutting across the night sky leaving an icy-blue contrail behind it. The… whatever it was, was intelligent as it flew across the sky. It sped towards Canterlot mountain cutting a tight circle around the mountain face and disappearing behind it. 

Twilight’s breathing quickened as the implications of this discovery made itself real. Aliens. Real live aliens. And she found them first. Her! Twilight giggled like a maniac. But what if they’re hostile? What if they’re here to abduct everypony and perform experiments on us. A hair sprung out of her mane, then a whole lock of hair popped out of place. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks as they scoured her notes.

The Princesses need to know about this! Twilight thought hurriedly as her horn lit up. With a pop, the next thing she saw was her desk, her parchment and quills ready. She dipped the levitating quill into the inkwell and scrawled three quick words, the quill breaking as she pricked the parchment with a period and making a large, dark splatter. Twilight didn’t care, she just slapped her notes onto the ink soaked letter and rolled it up, she had to get this to Princess Celestia as quickly as possible. 

She picked up Spike’s basket, that he was still sleeping in, and tipped him out onto the ground. He fell with a hard thud and jerked awake with a start.

“Ugh, why do I always have to wake up like this,” He muttered, rubbing his head.

“Spike, you need to send this letter to Princess Celestia. Now! It could be a matter of national security,” said Twilight manically, gripping him tightly by the shoulders, the hooves digging painfully into his scales.

“Ow! Okay, Twilight. Just let go of me for a second,” Spike sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth as she squeezed a little harder then let go. “Jeez,” he muttered as he rubbed his arms.

Twilight levitated the scroll to Spike who pinched it between his thumb and index claw. He took a deep breath and exhaled softly, but intensely. A thin gout of emerald flames erupted from his pursed lips and enveloped the scroll. It burned quickly, the ash that fell from it was quickly grabbed by a nonexistent wind and floated out of an open window.

As Twilight watched the scroll disappear, her mane slowly fell back into place and her pupils dilated back to their normal size. Her horn glowed, and with a pop and a bright light that momentarily blinded Spike, was back on her balcony, combing the night sky for any sign of the… Aliens.

Spike rubbed his eyes and shrugged.

“Who?” A hoot came from Twilight’s bed.

Spike looked over and saw Owlowiscious perched on Twilight’s footboard. “It’s Twilight,” He stated.

“Who?”

“Twilight,” Spike was already getting irritated, it was too late for these kinds of shenanigans.

“Who?”

“The crazy pony who just woke me up in the middle of the night, that’s who!” He growled at the owl, who just cocked his head. Spike let out a huff of anger and crawled back into his basket, mad because now he knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day.



Freighter Cave
Morning


“Master, our comm array is shot,” Anakin remarked as he looked into the sparking, charred mess that used to be their communications. “We need to send out a distress signal, but I doubt it can reach to Barungana, let alone all the way to the Temple,” said Anakin running a grease stained hand through his short hair. A moment later he stood up from behind the complicated machinery covered in grease and oil. He grabbed a nearby towel and started wiping off his face and hands, but it did little more than just move it around.

“Maybe the locals have something to transmit off planet. It’s possible they aren’t as primitive as we think they are.”

“Let’s hope that’s the case, Master.”

The pair walked out of ship’s landing ramp and into the brisk mountain air. Snow whipped around Anakin already chilling him to the bone. He pulled his cloak tighter around him to fend off the biting wind, but to little avail. Obi-Wan led the pair to a cliff overlooking the hanging marble city. Anakin pulled out his macrobinoculars and saw the residents, which looked like brightly colored splotches against the white background. He zoomed in and increased the resolution, training it on what looked like a market setting. There were hundreds of brightly colored four legged animals. The strangest part was that they wore only half of some outfits, like only a vest and a tophat. One such being pulled in a rickshaw by another dirtier looking one. Like a primitive taxi, Anakin thought

“Wow,” said Anakin breathlessly. “I’ve seen a lot of different species but these take the cake. They’re all so colorful, it’s like watching a kids holodrama.”

“They are certainly different,” Obi-Wan said a he focused his macrobinoculars on a squad of golden armored beings wielding some pointy looking spears that were clearly on the lookout for something. “It seems that we are being hunted, and I have the feeling that they don’t just want to talk,” He clipped the binoculars back onto his belt and moved to sit cross legged.

“What’s the plan, Master?” Anakin asked curiously.

“We trust in the Force to guide us,” Obi-Wan said sagely, motioning Anakin to sit across from him. 

Anakin sat down and rested his palms on his knees. 

“Clear your mind, and let the Force flow through you,” Obi-Wan said as he took a deep breath. Anakin followed his master’s lead and calmly breathed. He hadn’t realized he had so much anxiety, fear and adrenaline cluttering his mind, until it had flowed away. It felt like a breath of fresh air, and he felt the steady beat of the Force enter him. The cold he was feeling earlier melted and Anakin was filled with energy. He felt a small tug, barely even perceptible with all of the perceptions the Force was giving him, but he felt it nonetheless. Anakin opened his eyes and looked towards the pull. It was a large, dark looking forest bordered by a small town. The town was sandwiched between the forest and an expansive orchard that stretched for acres.

“Now what is the Force telling you?” Obi-Wan asked.

“There, Master Obi-Wan,” Anakin pointed to the forest. “We need to go there.”

“Very good, my young padawan,” Obi-Wan smiled. “I also felt the pull to go there.”

The praise warmed Anakin further, who hopped to his feet in one swift motion. “Well let’s go, what are we waiting for?” Excitement dripped from Anakin’s voice.

Obi-Wan chuckled and stood up as well waving Anakin to follow.



Fwip Fwip! The two liquid cable launchers shot into the rock, anchoring themselves into the wall. The lines pulled taut as the Jedi swung across the chasm. A roar echoed from the bottom of the chasm, shaking some stones loose, falling into darkness. They walked without incident to the foot of the mountain that led to the outlying plain. The grass was taller than Anakin’s head, but Obi-Wan’s just peaked the golden sea that stretched for miles. They occasionally saw a primitive train that pumped sickly looking black smoke into the sky roar past in the distance every hour or so on the train tracks that connected the orchard town and the mountainside city. As they neared the forest, the hairs on the back of Anakin’s neck stood on end. Goosebumps broke out on his arms and an otherworldly chill passed over him. 

“Master, something’s wrong here. This isn’t a normal forest,” said Anakin warily.

“Yes Anakin. There is darkness here, but the Force called us here for a reason. This is a test, it seems, that we must pass.”

“Yes Master,” said Anakin as he readied his hand over his lightsaber, ready for anything.

The two Jedi made their way into the forest, and were slowly swallowed by its darkness. The trees curled around the humans and bramble bushes cut and scratched them. Tree branches, claw-like in appearance, hung above the Jedi ominously. Deeper and deeper into the forest the Jedi went; silhouettes dashed at the edges of their vision. Hands drifted to the lightsabers on their hips, and remained ready to defend themselves. The faint sound of screaming came from deeper into the forest. Without hesitation, the peacekeepers dashed off into the darkness to either rescue the poor soul or guide its passing into the Force.

What they found was a small, bipedal lizard. It was screaming for help in Basic, running on stubby little legs into a dead end. The Jedi put away their shock that it spoke Basic and focused on the moment. The lizard had backed itself into a rock wall that curved around it like a U. The reptile was below them while the Jedi were up at the top of the wall. A moment later they found out why the reptile was running away, three predators covered in sticks and tree bark burst out through the bushes growling and snarling.They circled the lizard cutting off any hope for escape at that point; the lizard cowered, putting his arms in a protective shield around his head.

The Jedi jumped down from the wall and landed right behind the lizard, and without missing a beat activated their lightsabers. Anakin took the larger one, which was closest, while Obi-Wan herded the other two back. 

Dodging a swipe from some dangerous looking claws, Anakin swung his lightsaber diagonally across the creature. The blade missed the head of the wood monster, but cleaved the long sticks that jutted out from its withers. The creature howled and stepped back. Seeing his opportunity arise, Anakin swiftly beheaded the wood monstrosity, the wood of the body bursting into flames while the head fell apart into the sticks and twigs that composed it. Anakin looked to his Master and saw him gracefully chop the wood monster into three clean parts and Force push the last one into a very large tree.

“Come, Anakin,” Obi-Wan ordered, and Anakin obeyed.

The two shot off into the dark forest leaving the reptile confused, afraid, and relieved all at the same time. The reptile brushed itself off and looked into the woods and jogged after them.

Once they were sufficiently deep into the forest, the two Jedi stopped. “You did well Anakin. You kept your emotions in check and let the Force guide you, you are learning well,” said Obi-wan.

The padawan beamed at the praise given to him, but his thoughts were interrupted by his Master’s voice, “-but there is still more at work in this place than saving that being.”

“I feel it as well, Master. It feels like the Force is pulling me this way,” Anakin pointed into a lighter part of the forest, where the trees were a little younger letting thin shafts of light into the underbrush. Ahead, Anakin could see a dilapidated rope bridge barely holding together. This is going to be a long trip, he thought tiredly.
> Uncovering the Past [R]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The forest only became darker after the bridge. Anakin saw the wood beasts farther off of the trail, stalking them, waiting for a moment to strike.  The hate emanating from the animals gave his brain a prickly feeling. It was like the feeling he got whenever Watto would come back from a bad game of sabacc or the races. A roar echoed out from deeper in the forest, shaking some acorns and dead leaves off the branches overhead. 

The path that they were walking on was slowly being absorbed by the life around it. Tree roots snaked in and out of the packed ground and sprouts of grass sprung up on the edges of the trail. In the distance, Anakin could see a dilapidated wooden sign standing in the middle of a fork in the path. 

One way went to a deeper, darker part of the forest while the other looked like it looped around to the edge of the forest. Obi-Wan caught the wood wolves stopping behind them, then carefully backing away.

Obi-Wan stroked his beard. “Well, that’s never a good sign.”

“What isn’t?” Anakin asked, turning his head but still walking forward to the signpost. 

“Those beasts just ran away,” Obi-Wan replied.

“And that’s bad because…?"

“In my travels with Qui-Gon, I learned that animals usually have good sense of where is safe and where isn’t.”

“Huh. Is the Force leading us into the rancor’s den?” 

“It would seem so,” Obi-Wan said.

Obi-Wan let Anakin take the lead; he could feel the Force gather around his student, it eddied and flowed like a great river of life energy through him and around him. As Obi-Wan followed, he could sense Anakin slip deeper into the Force as it guided him. Anakin's emotions poured into the Force. He could feel Anakin’s eagerness to move on with the mission, the longing to return to the Jedi Temple and his friends, and the love he felt for his mother, Shmi.

“Master, I can feel the Dark side up ahead. This is what the Force has been guiding us to, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, I believe so. Tell me what else do you sense?”

“I sense a being full of... sadness and... pain and... and anger,” Anakin replied.

“I feel that one of the trials the Force has given us on this planet is confronting this poor soul, do you feel it also?”

Obi-wan felt Anakin draw on the Force once more to determine it’s will.

“I do, but it’s one of many trials.”

“Indeed, and we’ll confront them together,” Obi-wan replied as a father would to a son.

“Absolutely!” said Anakin with a goofy, lopsided grin.

After walking through the forest for the next thirty minutes in a comfortable silence, the two Jedi broke into a clearing that held a dilapidated shack with a tree growing out of it. 

The shack was a simple wood structure; one of it’s two windows was broken, the door was hanging off its hinges, and shingles had fallen off in clumps which revealed a large hole in the ceiling. The tree was another matter entirely; it was three times as wide as a normal tree and it towered over everything nearby. Large and gnarled, the tree bent and was twisted in a way no normal tree should have grown. Obi-wan knew why it had grown this way; it had developed in the presence of a large Dark side Force nexus.

“It seems like we found our trial, Master. A broken down shack and a funky tree. A real test,” Anakin scoffed. He walked over to the shack and poked his head through the doorway, “What are we supposed to do? Fight the house?” 

“There is more to this place than meets the eye, keep your wits about you Anakin,” Obi-Wan said as he walked over to inspect the tree.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Anakin said as he stepped into the house, “I just don’t think this place has anything special about it,” he muttered.

Anakin inspected the house from a step inside the door frame. There was a bed in the far right corner next to a bookshelf, although the books looked like decomposed piles of matter and the bed had the appearance of being home for vermin. There was a kitchen with a wood stove, sink and a table with a single chair. A small fireplace in the back middle of the room ashes were spilling out, making small tornadoes with the flow of the wind. Anakin focused himself and reached out with the Force. He felt a large, chilling Force presence beneath him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Click!

“Oh, bantha poo-” Anakin managed to partly curse as a floor panel fell out from underneath him.

“Don’t swear Anakin, it’s unbecoming of a Jedi,” there was no response. “Anakin?” Obi-wan walked over to the shack and saw the hole in the floor, the stale air whistled out of the tunnel; the air smelled of death and decay. 

“Oh, what a wonderful smell he’s discovered,” Obi-Wan groaned

He looked into the hole, gathered the Force and leaped in, robes billowing as he fell.

Obi-Wan guided his fall using the Force and landed gracefully at the bottom of hole. He looked up and saw that the panel was closing itself. As soon as the hole closed it became so dark that Obi-wan couldn’t see his own hand in front of him.

He pulled his lightsaber off his belt and pressed the ignition trigger. A green blade sprang up with a familiar snap-hiss. It was his old master's, Qui-Gon’s, blade. After losing his lightsaber on Naboo to a red, tattoed Zabrak sith, Obi-wan used his own masters’ blade to kill the sith and he's kept it ever since. 

The lightsaber cast a pale green glow across the chamber, and Obi-wan looked around. There were piles of bones lining the floor of the chamber, most likely the quadrupeds he and Anakin saw earlier or of the various animals that inhabited the forest.

Obi-wan looked closely at the bones and saw tiny bite marks on all of them. Wondering what kind of animal could do this, Obi-wan started looking for Anakin. He held his lightsaber over his head with the hope that it would help him see farther. Obi-wan found a tunnel leading out of the chamber; he saw boot prints in the dirt on the floor and deduced that it was probably Anakin. The tunnel led to another small chamber that showed many other tunnels that led into multiple of directions. Obi-wan opened himself into the Force and reached for Anakin. As soon as he opened up, the power of the Dark side hit him like a wall. The intensity of it made him feel like he was trapped in a burning building full of smoke but instead of fire, it was a cold malice.

Obi-wan attempted to search for Anakin, but all he could feel was the oppressing darkness. Off in the distance Obi-wan felt a brilliant spark of light in the darkness and honed in on it. Walking briskly, the Jedi Knight passed dozens upon dozens of tunnels which would, undoubtedly, keep him wandering for days to come, but Obi-wan passed them by without a second glance. 

At the end of the tunnel he found a large iron door, and could feel his padawan on the other side battling with a storm of his own emotions. Obi-wan attempted to open the door but it didn't budge. A quick look confirmed that it was rusted shut. He plunged his lightsaber into the iron, instantly letting out an ear piercing screech and hiss as the burning plasma of the blade cut a red-hot square.

The makeshift portal fell through to the other side with a loud clang that reverberated and echoed throughout the corridor. Being very careful not to touch the superheated edges of metal, Obi-wan stepped through. Obi-wan found his student inspecting a tapestry on the wall of a treasure room using his own blue lightsaber for light. He quietly walked over to his Padawan and draped his arm around his shoulders. Anakin was deep in thought, contemplating the pictures on the tapestry. 

The tapestry depicted a starship shaped object crashing into a town of the quadrupeds, obliterating it. Two figures crawled out, surrounded in dark auras, holding red lightsabers. Blades looked ancient, using power packs attached to their hips to power their lightsabers. It continued on to show the two ancient Sith, Obi-wan assumed, enslaving the quadrupeds; making them build massive monuments to the Sith. One of the Sith was holding beakers then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and reappeared as a mangled mismatch of animals. It then proceeded to disrupt the natural order of the world with the Force. Then two larger Quadrupeds appeared in a halo of golden light and defeated the mismatched monster and remaining Sith. The Sith ran away into a new forest that was growing and waited out the rest of his days.

“Master... What does all of this mean?” asked Anakin, still trying to absorb all of the information that had just been unearthed.

“We have stumbled upon a mystery that would most likely be better left hidden. But we must follow through, as the Force wills. It is only in the unknown where we can discover who we truly are,” Obi-wan replied.

Obi-wan felt the Force tug him along into a new corridor, Anakin felt the pull as well and let his Master take the lead. Obi-wan kept his senses tuned to any discrepancies in the quiet hallway. The corridor led out into a crumbling throne room, where the Sith that ran away sat on a grandiose throne. He looked as if he hadn’t aged a day, with a bald head, swirling black tattoos that covered his pale skin, and yellow eyes that stared blankly off into the distance. Obi-wan and Anakin took defensive stances, ready to cover each others weak spots. Anakin reached out with the Force and touched the Ancient Sith.

“Master, I think he’s... dead,” he said warily.

Obi-wan searched the supposed corpse for any indication that he was alive, there was none. There was, however, a pyramid clasped in his left hand. Obi-wan tipped his head to the sith and Anakin nodded. They moved side to side up to the throne ready for any surprises. Obi-wan pulled the Pyramid out of the death-grip the corpse had on it. Obi-wan stowed the Pyramid in his cloak and backed away slowly. The Jedi were about to leave the way they came when they heard some rustling behind them.

The corpse had stood up, was pointing to the Jedi and wheezed out the last breath it had ever took, “You... Will die.” 

The Sith proceeded to age countless years in a few seconds, collapsing into dust and floated with the small air current of the tunnel. Secret panels in the walls and ceilings slid away revealing sinister, foreboding darkness. Chittering, scratching sounds echoed out of the wall holes.

“Run,” said Obi-wan and Anakin simultaneously, and took off down the opposite hallway.

The cobwebs were thicker in this hallway. As the two Jedi broke through each barrier of silk it stuck to them, covering their cloaks in the material and matting their hair. Even with the bothersome webs, Obi-Wan and Anakin were barely even slowed down. With every step more panels opened in the walls. Obi-Wan didn't stop to inspect them, but he knew that they could only contain more of what was chasing them. The hallway stopped and split into two different directions. Obi-Wan decided to trust his instincts, feeling that a right was the correct way.

"Anakin! Right!" Obi-Wan's voice strained a little with exertion. He heard a shout of agreement behind him as the split neared.

As the corner came up Obi-Wan grabbed it, his fingers grinding against the rough stone. He could feel the calluses skin tear and break. The grab worked though as he swung around the corner at full speed. Obi-Wan spared a quick look behind to check on Anakin, who had ran halfway up the wall and sprung off with one leg. He landed on his other leg an wobbled slightly but quickly found his balance again when he used a small push of the Force.

This hallway was long and dark but at the end Obi-Wan could see a tiny sliver of light cutting through the darkness. 

“Let’s go!” Obi-Wan called back.

The chittering behind them had grown so large and loud that it made it hard to even think. The Jedi were more than three-fourths of the way there. Obi-Wan outstretched a hand and pushed with the Force, throwing open what ended up being a dilapidated wooden door. Light flooded in, illuminating the hallway past the running Jedi. Whatever was behind them screeched, an ear splitting sound that gave Obi-Wan a headache. The chittering sound had stopped following them. Now the only sound that echoed throughout the corridor was running boots.

Obi-Wan shot out of the hallway and into fresh air. He waited until Anakin exited as well and closed the wooden door. Almost immediately, dozens of something scratched all over the closed door. 

"Come, Anakin. I believe that it would be better to leave."

"Agreed," Anakin nodded. "What were those things?"

"I have no idea," Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "But they sounded like something we should look out for."

Anakin hummed in agreement. He looked up to see a hole in the high walls of a massive stone pillar that surrounded them. A single pillar of light shown down through an arrow slit directly on the door. Anakin could see the sun through it and it looked like it was starting to set.

Obi-Wan found another door just around the side of the pillar and motioned Anakin to move forward. He stepped through the door and was greeted by the sight of a large throne room that was currently in a state of decay. The ceiling had large holes all over giving it the appearance of Swiss cheese. Tattered tapestries hung precariously on the walls and the stone bricks all around we're coated in a thin grime and were spotted with mold and lichen.

Anakin closed the door behind him. Obi-Wan could see a sturdy looking plank of wood on the ground near them. He picked it up and propped it against the handle of the door. A quick tug on the handle confirmed that it was wedged. Half rotted pews were strewn randomly around the room, one however, was still in good enough condition to sit on. Obi-wan sat down on the pew and motioned for Anakin to come over. The young padawan sank into the hardwood, practically melting into the contours of the pew while breathing out an exhausted sigh.

“What a day,” Anakin stretched. The kind of full body stretch someone did when they needed to work out all of the kinks in their joints. “How about we head back to the ship, maybe wait fruitlessly for a reply from the temple.”

The corners of Obi-Wan’s mouth tugged into a smile. “Sounds like an amazing plan.”

Obi-Wan heaved himself up from the pew and started walking towards the back of the room, where a large archway, whose doors had long since rotted away, led to the outdoors. Anakin followed close on his heels. Obi-Wan could feel his student’s curiosity bubbling, threatening to break loose.

“So,” Anakin drew out the vowel, a little bit of excitement painting his face. “Master, what was that pyramid you grabbed and how did that Sith come back to life?” He asked quickly, the questions babbled out like they were being shot from a blaster rifle. 

“This, my student, is a sith holocron. I’ve never actually seen one before, but I know the temple has a few deep in the library vaults. My guess is that that man put all of his and his master’s knowledge into this holocron to pass on to future Sith. As for him coming back to life, I suspect he was already dead for a long time. A person with knowledge of the Force can work many wonders,” he said breathlessly. “Come Anakin, we must get back to the ship before dawn.”

“Of course Master,” Anakin said with a slight bow of his head.
	
> Bad Decisions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Spike wandered, lost, down a deer trail in the Everfree Forest. After being chased and being subsequently saved by… something, he ran the events of the day through his mind.
 
Spike woke up from a good night’s sleep fully rested, even after Twilight woke him up in the middle of the night, and prepared for the mountain of chores Twilight had prepared for him. Crawling out of his basket, Spike stood up, stretched his arms and chest, and then ran a paw through his spines. He walked down the stairs ready to find a list of chores a mile long, but instead saw Twilight laid out on the couch in the foyer with at least a dozen books opened around her. Spike sighed and put back all of the books she had taken out.
 
He decided to let Twilight rest, mostly because she never got enough because she was constantly having late night study sessions. Spike walked past the library area and into the kitchen and pulled out his stash of gems. He quietly pulled out an amethyst and popped it in his mouth. It probably wasn’t the healthiest breakfast Spike could eat, but gems just tasted so sweet; probably better than Pinkie Pie’s sweets.
 
Spike decided that today would be a day off, figuring that Twilight would be asleep until the evening anyways. He looked at the grandfather clock that Owluicious was perched on; it was only 8:45. All of his friends just got to school and all of Twilights friends were probably working, except maybe Fluttershy. That’s what he would do! Spike could help her take care of some of her animals or something. I hope Fluttershy actually does need help, he thought.
 
Spike walked out into town and looked around as he took in the fresh air. There were very few ponies out and about; overall a very laidback weekday morning. He walked down the main road and through the farmers market. Waving at the ponies he knew, Spike leisurely walked to the dirt path that led to Fluttershy’s cottage. As he got closer to the cottage, Spike saw more and more animals.



Spike walked up to the door and swung the knocker that hung there, making three short claps. Immediately after Spike knocked on the door, a cacophony of animal sounds went off. The door opened a crack and a small, white rabbit hopped out. “Hey Angel, is Fluttershy home?” Spike asked hopefully.
 
Angel hopped out of the doorway and pointed his paw towards the Everfree Forest. Spike gulped, his Adams apple bobbing, he knew what monsters lived there. Spike looked back to Angel who had crossed his arms and was tapping his foot impatiently.
 
“Well, what is she doing? I was hoping that I could help her out today.”
 
The rabbit acted out a bear cub being sick; it had taken a moment for Spike to figure out what it was, but he got it eventually. Giving Angel his thanks, Spike walked towards the Everfree convinced that Fluttershy needed his help, which was the only way to gather enough courage to go near that awful place. After being attacked by Timberwolves in the Everfree, Spike almost never went near the sinister forest. As Spike neared the entrance of the forest, he felt fear grow in the back of his throat and stomach. Mustering his nerve, the purple and green dragon walked into the Everfree.
Spike had helped Fluttershy in the past and tried to remember where the bear cave was.
 
“Straight to the creek, then upriver, hang a left on the first trail, then right at the giant rock, then I’m there,” he said nervously, as he repeated the directions to block out the sounds of the forest.
 
Spike was walking up the creek and suddenly he felt like he was being watched. Spike picked up his pace and found the first trail. He heard a twig snap off to his left and his heart jumped into his throat. Spike stopped and swung his head over to where he heard the sound; he saw a bush rustle then everything in the forest went still. Spike started jogging down the trail, shaking with fear. He heard more movement in the trees and looked over the undergrowth. A deer stepped out from behind the bushes and ate some greenery. Spike stopped to catch his breath and laugh his fear out. The deer’s head snapped up from the forest floor and she bolted away from the vicinity. Spike felt the fear build again because he knew that wild animals only ran like that when predators were around.
 
Deciding that meeting up with Fluttershy and the bears was safer than making his way back, Spike kept his course on the trail. Spike took a step but heard a sound behind him. He turned around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. A sense of uneasiness rolled over Spike; he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned back around when he ran into something large and hard. Spike opened his eyes and saw a pile of sticks and bark that had been pulled into the shape of a wolf. It breathed out a green cloud of haze that smelled like decomposition and made Spike’s mind grow fuzzy.
 
He snapped out it just in time to see a maw of razor sharp teeth rushing at his face. Spike jumped out to the side and dodged the mouth. He got back up and started to sprint down the trail. The timber wolf howled and pursued its prey. Spike heard two more sets of footfalls behind him, and guessed that he now had three Timberwolves chasing after him. He saw the giant rock up ahead. Left at the giant rock and then I’m there, Spike thought hopefully as he almost wet himself in panic.
 
Spike took a sharp right at the boulder and started running paralell to the rock face that should hold the bear cave. “Help, help!” Spike yelled, trying to grab someone’s attention, hopefully Fluttershy’s.
 
Spike looked farther down the rock wall, not seeing any cave entrances, fear and panic welled up inside the young dragon when he realized something was wrong, uh oh, I took a left instead of a right at the rock. This is how I’m going to die, he thought morbidly.
 
The wall led to a dead end, so Spike slowed down enough to turn. As Spike was about to run into the forest, which was the only place he could go, when a timber wolf jumped out and cut him off. Spike yelped in surprise and fell backwards onto his backside. He scrambled backwards then stood back up, turned around and ran to the wall in an attempt to climb it. He heard more shuffling behind him but instead of the padding of wolves, it sounded more like capes billowing then dulled hoof steps, like something was covering them. Spike looked back around and saw two fairly tall, although one was slightly shorter than the other, bipedal things, with hoods that covered their features. They had fingers like him, and were holding silver cylinders.
 
Suddenly bright tubes of light burst out from them with a loud snap-hiss, one tube was a lime green and the other was a light blue. The shorter guy, biped, thing, dodged a swipe from a timber wolf. It then swung his tube, which made a sound kind of like Vzzzzm, across the timber wolf’s muzzle, a leg, and along it’s back. The marks the tube left looked like a burn mark and left little fires all across the wolf’s body. The wolf yelped and moved backwards. The short one stepped forward and moved his tube through the timber wolf’s neck, causing it to catch on fire. The wolf’s head fell off, the end on fire, and its body fell apart into debris. Spike looked over to the taller thing and saw it cut a timber wolf, which had lunged at him, into three parts; then use magic to throw the last timber wolf into a fairly large tree, which made the timber wolf explode into bits of tree.
 
The taller thing called back to the smaller one in accented equestrian, and then they ran off into the forest and were swallowed up by the darkness. Spike sat down, feeling the adrenaline wear off. His lungs were burning from the running and his legs felt like jelly. He was going to have to tell Twilight about this for sure. Spike picked himself back up and looked around; he had no idea where he was or where he needed to go. Seeing a trail, Spike hoped it would take him out of this Celestia forsaken forest.



After wandering through the Everfree for what felt like hours, Spike sat down on a stump. I was wrong before, this is how I’m going to die, Spike thought dejectedly.
 
Spike picked himself up and kept on trudging, no amount of moping was going to help him now, only work. Spike saw a particularly thick hedge ahead and decided not to go around it, but through it. He stumbled out from the hedge and looked up. Spike had found the Broken Castle. A great feeling of dread welled up inside Spike. He knew that this is where Twilight and her friends beat Nightmare Moon. Spike didn’t want to take any chances on meeting any evil super villains; he’d already had enough excitement for today.
 
Off to the right, in the corner of his eye, Spike saw two brown splotches come running out of an underground tunnel and block off the entrance. He looked closer and saw that it was the two things that had saved him earlier. The taller one pulled out something from its cloak, talked to the smaller one, then put whatever it was back. They started to leave and Spike saw his chance to get out of this forest leave with them. If they were nice enough to save me from the Timberwolves, then maybe they can help me out of the Everfree, Spike reasoned, as he started jogging towards the brown coated things.  


> Life-Debts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Why... can’t... they slow... DOWN, Spike thought as he ran his stubby little legs off trying to catch up to the brown robed figures. They kept a much quicker pace than Spike could hope to match, most likely because of the longer legs Spike saw. They also never ate, it seemed, and Spike’s stomach was shooting spikes of pain throughout his body with each breath. His lungs were burning from the overexertion and the creatures were getting farther and farther away. Spike kept on running and running even though his body was threatening to quit on him.
 
They had left the Everfree Forest hours ago, but nowhere Spike was familiar with. He had hoped that he could catch up to the figures and ask them to help him back home, but Spike couldn’t catch up. The only answer, it seemed, was to keep on running. Keep on running, keep on running, running, running, was the chant that echoed throughout Spike’s head.


	
Anakin was getting bored with the march back to the ship. It was just step after step, I hate monotony, he thought. Anakin looked off into the distance and then everything became unfocused.
 
Boom! Explosions blossomed around the sleek Sekotan spaceship. Anakin deftly maneuvered his ship, the Jabitha, through the asteroid range to escape the squadron of pirates. He spotted a significantly larger asteroid with deep valleys to hide through. Anakin dived into the crevice dodged the dangerous rock outcroppings. His ship noted that one of his pursuers had perished, and Anakin felt a minor relief that there were now only eleven dangerous pirates planning on killing him.
 
Anakin managed to pull ahead of the pirates and flew out of the trench. He warmed up the lasers and executed a U-turn to bring the fight back to the pirates. The first pirate moved up and out of the crevice and Anakin fired. The ship exploded into fiery little bits of shrapnel. Anakin fired again but this time at the rock wall, causing boulders to fly off into the trench. He saw, with satisfaction, multiple fireballs lit up the dark valley. Anakin turned and flew towards the mother ship and fired a proton torpedo at the bridge. An explosion appeared and Anakin could see debris and bodies get sucked out into the cold expanse. The ship went dark and listed to the side. The Jabitha warmed up the hyper drive while Anakin put in the coordinates- Anakin, stay focused!
 
“Wha-huh?” Anakin flew back into reality with a start.
 
“Anakin, you must be focused on the present. Not on what could have been,” Obi-wan playfully admonished his Padawan. He could sense the longing in Anakin, “We are on a very special planet, rich with life and the Force. Reach out and tell me what you feel.”
 
“Yes Master,” Anakin expanded his awareness and felt the Force flow through him. “I can sense the Holocron, of course. The life here coexists peacefully and without anger or fear... and I can feel a very frustrated presence about half a kilometer behind us.”
 
“Yes, I felt the same presence while you were off daydreaming. What do you propose we do?”
 
“We should set a camp and confront it. I don’t think anything on this planet can be dangerous, except maybe that forest.”
 
“I agree, but what should we do if it’s a native?”
 
“We should hide, to determine whether it is a native or not.”
 
“A sound plan Anakin, let’s see if it will work.”
 


Spike saw a fire in the distance and new energy flowed through him. He picked up his sluggish pace and focused on the warmth that could get rid of the chill that had wormed its way under his scales. As the fire got closer and closer, Spikes hope for getting home soared. Spike ran into the clearing that held the fire, the grasses had been trampled and a small pit had been made that held a couple logs. There was nobody around the fire that cast a soft glow around the clearing. Disappointment and anger welled up inside Spike. “Ahhhhhh,” Spike yelled as he kicked around the grasses in the clearing. He collapsed to his knees and started pounding the ground with his fist. Spike grabbed a log from the fire and threw it into the tall grasses, “Ouch!” a voice yelped in the distance.
 
Spike gazed in the direction of the sound. He cautiously stepped over to the edge of the clearing and peered over the grasses. Spike saw the log still burning with embers casting a faint light over a figure cloaked over in a brown robe. There were still embers broken off on the figure and were burning small holes into the fabric. A small smile crept onto Spike’s face as he began to walk toward the figure. A green-white tube of light leapt in front of Spikes face. Spike remembered that these tubes could cut through the hard wood of Timberwolves like a hot knife could through butter. The fear of being chopped up formed a hard ball in the back of Spikes throat. “Sit down and put your arms behind your back,” said a calm, even, masculine voice with an accent not unlike Rarity’s.
 
“Y-yes s-sir,” Spike stuttered as he shook with fear. Spike did as commanded, and then the one behind him put some kind of hoof cuffs that fit to his wrists.
                    
“Anakin, you can get up now,” said the voice behind Spike.
 
The figure in front of Spike stood up and brushed off the embers in his cloak. It walked into the clearing and stood in front of Spike. Its face looked weird, its eyes were small, but they had a spark of intelligence and adventure in them. It had a nose that extended from its face about an inch out, and stopped above its lips. Its mane was a dark brown and was very short, and there was a thin, but long, braid that came from the back of its head and fell down its chest. It was furless and its skin was a pale pinkish color. It looked like it was growing and in its teenage years because it looked awkward and gangly.  It glared at Spike, probably angry that there were now smoldering little holes all around its cloak.
 
“So you’re the little lizard that’s been following us for the past eight kilometers,” Anakin took off his cloak that revealed a beige tunic that crossed all across its chest, and held it up to the firelight, “Oh come on! I had just patched this robe up from the last mission, “So, Master, what are we gonna do with him?” Anakin looked Spike up and down, “You are a male, aren’t you?” Anakin questioned.
 
“First things first. One, I’m a dragon not a stupid lizard, and yes I’m a guy,” Spike said calmly, “And two... please don’t kill me! Please please please please just let me live!” Spike continued to beg and plead until the tube shut off and the one behind him stepped forward and covered Spike’s mouth with his hand that shut him up. Spike looked up to the other creature and inspected its features.
 
This one looked older, taller, and carried itself with much more certainty and authority. It had the same skin color except it had fur on its face as well as a longer mane. Granted the fur didn’t cover its whole face but most of it was. Its eyes were the same as the younger one but were harder, more judgmental.
 
“We are going to feed him then send him back the way he came,” said ‘Master’ gently, then he gained a far off look in his eye, like he was remembering past events.
 
“Master, you can’t possibly expect us t-” Anakin began but the other one cut him off.
 
“Anakin, we might have a mission to do but we still are Jedi,” admonished ‘Master’.
 
 Anakin looked down in shame at the tone his master used, but Spike was still hung up on the word “Jedi”, is it some kind of religion or is that the name of their race? Spike contemplated.
 
“Well Mr. Dragon, what’s your name?” ‘Master’ asked warmly.
 
“My name’s Spike,” he stated proudly, “What are yours? I mean if you want to tell me that is,” Spike asked meekly, even though they said he wasn’t going to be hurt, Spike was still afraid.
 
“My name is Obi-wan Kenobi, and this is my Padawan learner Anakin Skywalker,” Obi-wan said with a chuckle.
 
“Padawan? Is he your student? Oh wait, does it have something to do with Jedi?” Spike questioned earnestly.
 
Obi-wan merely chuckled, picked up Spike and put him in the crook of his arm. They walked over to the fire and put Spike down, then sat down themselves around the fire. The three of them were arranged in a circle around the fire pit.
 
“Yes, he is my student, and yes, being a Padawan has something to do with being a Jedi,” Obi-wan looked at Anakin with an amused expression then back to Spike, “let’s start with Jedi. A Jedi is many things; we can be diplomats, warriors, peacekeepers, and scholars. We are an order made up of many different species that protect the galaxy.” Obi-wan explained.
                    
“Wait, galaxy? You two are aliens?” Obi-wan nodded. Spike couldn’t believe it, actual aliens! “Wow, so you’re pretty much the royal guards but with more stuff to do?” Obi-wan nodded again.
 
Obi-wan took the young dragons silence as a sign that he could continue, “As Jedi, we follow the Living Force,” Spike looked confused, so Obi-wan elaborated, “it’s the energy that surrounds us, binds us, and penetrates all living things.”
 
“So it’s magic,” Spike stated in a very matter of fact tone.
 
“No, it’s the Force. Can you influence minds and move things with your magic? Huh?” Anakin piped up.
 
“I don’t know about the whole mind control thing, but you can move things with magic,” Spike responded, he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to get along with Anakin all that well.
                    
“Stop bickering,” Obi-wan broke in before the argument got out of hand, “I believe that your Magic and our Force are one in the same. So tell me Spike how many beings in the population here can use magic?”
 
“Well, pretty much every species on the planet uses some form or another of magic. Some use it to speed plant growth, others can manipulate weather with it, and more use it the way I think you Jedi do,” replied Spike, as he tried to dig into the information Twilight was always rambling on about.
 
“Interesting,” Obi-wan stroked his beard in a contemplating fashion; he would store this information away for later use. “So do you still want to know what a Padawan is?” Spike nodded, “a Padawan learner is to be taught the ways of the Force by an older Jedi,” Obi-wan finished.
 
“We still haven’t eaten! Here let me take care of those stun cuffs,” Obi-wan waved a hand and the cuffs sprang off Spike’s wrists and floated over to Obi-wan’s open palm.
 
Obi-wan reached into his tool belt and pulled out a few protein cubes. He offered one to Spike.
 
“What are those?” Spike asked as he reached tentatively towards the cube.
 
“These, my friend, are protein cubes. They provide all the necessary nutrients for a being with minimal mass. They do lack a certain flavor though.”
 
“What flavor?” Spike asked.
 
“Exactly,” Obi-wan deadpanned.
 
Anakin snickered, he almost never heard his Master joke and the lizard was just so naive. Spike popped the cube in his mouth and all he tasted was rocks and sand, but he did swallow it because he guessed it was good for him.
 
“Those taste awful! How can you stand to eat those?” Spike exclaimed as he tried to scrape the gritty flavor off his tongue.
 
“We’re trained to be able to eat them, they can be a real lifesaver when there’s no other food,” Anakin stated.
 
The fire started to die down so the Jedi got their things together. Anakin put his robe on and put up the hood, obscuring his outline in the darkness. Obi-wan talked to Spike to try and figure out where he lived.
 
“So you say your town is next to that forest? Anakin, do you remember any villages next to the forest in the scan?” Obi-wan called out to Anakin.
 
“Huh? Oh yeah, its south of us by about 12 klicks,” Anakin called back
 
Spike was about to go when he remembered his dragon code, he looked back around to the Jedi, but they had already started to leave.
 
“Hey, wait,” Spike yelled, they turned around and waited for the stubby dragon to catch up with them, “I can’t leave you guys. You two saved my life, so I am now forever in your debt,” Spike concluded with an elaborate bow.
                    
Obi-wan sighed and pinched his nose, “by the Force, not another one. Why does every species have a life-debt honor code,” he muttered.
	

> A Dangerous Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Anakin walked behind the strange native as Obi-wan led the way back to the ship. The small lizard came up to a little past his knees and had boundless energy for his size. Anakin felt a small twinge of unease, like something or someone was watching them. They were still walking through the plain, and nothing was around them for miles. Anakin looked up to the small, fluffy, white clouds searching, for whatever set off his danger sense, and saw a streak of rainbow. It was odd, but it fit in with they way the rest of this world worked. Anakin looked back to "Spike" who was currently asking a never ending stream of questions to Obi-wan who was patiently answering all of them.

Anakin pulled out a protein cube and popped it in his mouth. It tasted like sand and rocks. It reminded him of the sandstorms of Tatooine and of his mother. He remembered the long days at Watto's Junk Shop then coming home to dinner. Anakin would always take his mother’s time at the shop so she wouldn't have to work as hard. Anakin planned to follow through with his promise of freeing her when he became a Knight, no matter what.


	
Twilight Sparkle's hair was frayed and her pupils were dilated as she ran all across Ponyville looking for Spike. All of the other ponies had seen her this way before and didn’t want to know what made her so frazzled and just stayed away. Spike had been gone for a day and a half now and Twilight had searched at least half of Ponyville at this point.

Pinkie Pie had offered to help but Twilight didn't know how much good that would do but who knows, maybe Pinkie’s randomness would come in handy in the search. Twilight had also woken up Rainbow Dash when she was searching the park and Rainbow brazenly took the whole search into her own hooves.

Twilight was about to give up on searching in the town when Rainbow Dash touched down in front of her, blowing up a small cloud of dust. Twilight coughed as the dust got in her eyes and mouth.

"I found him, Twilight!" Rainbow dash exclaimed.

"What? Where!"

"He's walking through the fields in between here and Canterlot! I think he was foalnapped by some brown monsters," said Rainbow Dash.

"Let's go gather the girls and get him! I don't care if he was taken by aliens from space, we're getting Spike back no matter what!" Said Twilight determinedly.



Anakin felt a surge in the Force and shared a look with his master. Anakin rested his hand on the pommel of his lightsaber. They stopped and spike was sandwiched in between the two Jedi. Obi-wan and Anakin unhooked their lightsabers but did not power them, then assumed a defensive stance around Spike.

A rainbow streak shot out from the grasses at Obi-wan which he deflected with his forearm. The streak grunted and crashed into the grasses. Anakin felt his danger sense spike and prepared. He ignited his lightsaber just as reddish lasers shot towards him from the grasses again. Anakin intercepted the lasers with his lightsaber, deflecting them back towards their origin or into the sky. One of the lasers hit a low cloud and something yellow and pink fell down to the plains.

A shared gasp rang out from the grasses, followed by a collective growl. The reddish lasers and now blue lasers shot at both Anakin and Obi-wan, who both deflected them easily. Then, what looked like food items flew out and mostly missed the Jedi but one hit Anakin's robe, leaving a sticky, wet stain.

Anakin deflected a blue laser back where it came from and a gasp greeted his ears. With that opposition over with, Anakin turned his attention to where the food was flying out from. He grabbed a piece of food with the Force and threw it back with much more force than it had been thrown at him with. The food stopped flying at them.

Obi-wan leapt towards where the reddish lasers were coming from and disappeared into the tall grasses when he landed. Anakin looked to where his master was and saw the lasers flying out of the grass.

Anakin's danger sense acted up again. He gathered the Force around him and jumped straight up into the air. He heard a huff of expelled air and something fall on the ground. Anakin landed behind an orange blob as it started to get up. It was one of the native quadrupeds that was apparently wearing a wide-brimmed hat. It turned to look at him, then turned back around. Anakin was curious to what it was going to do when it reared forward. Anakin back flipped out of the way of the kick and the legs hit empty air. Anakin gathered the Force again but this time he turned it into a wall and pushed. The orange quadruped flew backwards and carved a ditch into the ground. It tried to stand shakily onto its legs but it could not hold its own weight up and collapsed.

Obi-wan walked back to Anakin with a purple one slung over his shoulder. Obi-wan put the purple one down on the ground and told Anakin to gather the rest of them. Once the two Jedi had collected all of the attacking force, they tied the quadrupeds up and arrayed them in a line. There was the purple one, the orange one (who was covered in dirt), a blue one with rainbow hair that had a leg bent in an unnatural position, a white one with purple hair that had a tiny scorch mark on the forehead, a pink one that was covered in frosting and a rapidly forming black eye, and finally a butter yellow one with a pink hair that had a fist sized scorch mark on its chest.

Anakin looked at Spike, who had dug a little hole and curled up inside of it. Anakin lifted him out of it with the Force and set him down. Spike still had his eyes closed and tail curled around his body. He peeked out through a gap in his fingers and didn't see any more fighting.

"Is it s-safe n-now," he stuttered out.

"Yes," Obi-wan replied. "But we would be grateful if you could identify these beings."

"Twilight?Girls!" Spike ran up to them. "What did you do to them?" He said accusingly.

"We only non-lethally dispatched them. They're still alive, I can feel it," Obi-wan replied.

Anakin could feel the anger boil inside of Spike.

"You hurt my friends," Spike said angrily.

"Control your anger, young one," Obi-wan said disapprovingly. "They attacked us.”

"Okay," Spike let out a huff of breath, Anakin felt the anger leave spike. "Can you at least wake them up?"

"No, we can't. We don’t have the time, Master. We have to repair the ship," Said Anakin.

"Anakin is right, Spike. We must get back to the ship."

"But you have to take responsibility for your actions! You guys have to at least stay here until they wake up," Spike pleaded.

"Master, we can't."

"No, Anakin. Young Spike is correct. We might be stuck here and it would be good to have allies. Don’t you think?"

"Of course, Master," Anakin said obediently.


> A Threatening Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	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.

> Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Anakin sat calmly as the ponies surrounded him. Twilight’s horn was glowing with withheld magic, ready to destroy the padawan at a moments notice. The remaining ponies were cautiously watching him for any movements.

        Anakin moved to sit cross legged, sending the ponies into a nervous scramble, and began to meditate. He was only waiting for the questions that wouldn’t come anytime soon. Clearing his mind, Anakin opened himself to the Force. The life energy around him pouring into his body. He suddenly felt lighter, more awake, more ready for anything life could throw at him. He continued to sit with his eyes closed but listened to the conversations that were happening around him.

        “What dreadful clothing. One would think that being an alien would entitle oneself to better clothing,” said Rarity, or at least that who Anakin thought it was.

        “Yes, but maybe he’s just not very rich,” Fluttershy replied quietly. So quietly, in fact, that Anakin could barely even hear her. Anakin scowled at the direction this conversation was taking.

        “They’re just robes,” Anakin muttered.

        Rarity walked closer and lifted a section of his cloak for a closer inspection with her hoof. Twilight’s horn glowed a little brighter in case Anakin tried something. Anakin however remained completely motionless, intently watching the white unicorn. “This material is awful. Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

        “Not really. I’ve learned to deal with it,” he replied nonchalant. Rarity huffed and walked back to the comfort of her friends. 

        Anakin returned his gaze to Twilight who had relaxed somewhat but still ready to incapacitate the Jedi at a moments notice. He noticed the grasses rustling behind her and the brown hood just peaking over. He smiled knowing that his hostage situation was over. Twilight saw him smile and was immediately confused by it.

        “Hey! What’s so funny, wise guy?” demanded Rainbow, who also saw the smile and quickly got in Anakin’s face.

        The rustling grasses got louder finally attracting the attention of the ponies. Twilight turned to face the new threat and poured magic into her horn making it glow extremely bright. Whatever was in the grass was getting closer making more and more noise. The sound of footsteps was rapidly approaching. Fluttershy cowered behind Applejack, who braced herself for whatever was coming. Pinkie Pie squirted whipped cream into a pie pan and readied it to throw. 

        The figure burst out of the grass, stray blades flying into the clearing. 
        “Hiya, girls!” Spike shouted as he ran to Twilight and wrapped his stubby arms around her neck.

        Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise and looked down at her number one assistant and wrapped a foreleg around him, nuzzling his head. 

        “Twilight, it’s good to see you!” He grasped her harder. “You were pretty scary when you were attacking the Jedi. Oh, I see that you already made friends with Anakin.”

        “Jedi? Anakin? That’s your name? Why didn’t you tell us?” She asked, nearly shouting by the end of it.

        Anakin shrugged. “You never asked.”

        Spike cringed at the volume of her voice and shot a worried look at Anakin. He’d only ever seen Twilight this mad when the world or her friends were in danger. This was turning into a not very great situation for his new friend.

        The grass rustled again startling Twilight out of her haze of anger. She looked to the grass and waited for the next curveball. 





Obi-wan watched from the other side of the clearing behind Anakin, who had been slowly inching his way to the grasses and to his master. He disappeared silently into the grass leaving the ponies and Spike watching the the other side.

         When they were finally far enough away Anakin let out a sigh. Obi-wan looked out of the corner of his eye at his padawan. He was trudging through the grass, had deep, dark bags under his eyes, and was covered in dirt. Today probably was not the best day for his padawan, but after every valley the road can only rise.





        Twilight, as well as her friends, continued to stare at the grass. If it was more of these Jedi, there was going to be trouble. The young one, “Anakin” Twilight remembered, would probably know if there was going to be any more.

        “Hey, Ana-” Nopony was there. Anakin was gone. “Where is he? Where did he go?” Twilight whirled around searching for signs as to where he went.

        Pinkie Pie bounced over to her friend, “Oh, he left with his master and are going to return to their ship,” She gave Twilight the biggest smile her face could hold, then added ominously, “They use the Force, OooOOooh.”

        Twilight’s ears perked up, maybe they weren’t lost after all. “Pinkie, did you see where they went?”

        “Nope!” A smile

        A frown, “Do you know where their ‘ship’ is?”

        “Nope!” An even bigger smile.

        A deeper frown, “What’s the ‘Force’?”

        “No idea,” Pinkie shrugged and bounced away.

        “Great. Now I’m left with even more questions,”

        “It’s alright, Twilight. I’ll still help you,” piped Spike, hugging his sisters legs.

        “Yeah, you’ll always be there for me won’t you, Spike?” She hugged him back, her chest tightening.

        “Just like you’re gonna always be here for me,” He said, gripping a little tighter. The dam inside of Twilight broke, letting out all of the feelings of fear, anger, and desperation. 

        Something wet fell on Spike’s face, he looked up and saw Twilight crying. He resolved to never scare her like that again and held her tighter to show her.