The Force In Harmony (update 2)

>The trek through the Everfree was mostly uneventful.
>Rainbow Dash had flown ahead early on, and has probably gotten a good look at the crash site by now.
>Hopefully she remembered your warning to not get too close in case there was anything dangerous.
>For that matter, hopefully you remember it yourself once you get there.
>It was all so exciting!
>First the object's impact in the middle of the night, then a letter from Princess Celestia in the morning.
>Whatever it was that fell from the stars, it was manufactured, and well beyond anything known to ponydom.
>More importantly, Princess Luna had sensed the dreams of an unknown creature at the site of the crash, and included notes of what she had observed.
>'It would take far more time than we've had to get a proper impression of the creature through dreams alone, but it is intelligent on par with known species, and likely well beyond, given the exotic materials its vessel is composed of. Physically, it bears a resemblance to apes, but stands upright, like a minotaur. The dream itself revealed little of its nature or intentions, but it seemed to be searching for something. Additionally, I believe it to have some degree of magical ability.'
>A creature from a different world!
>You just had to find it, help it if it was injured, and figure out if it was dangerous.
>"We may have a problem, Twilight!"
>A sudden breeze and the impact of a set of hooves against the ground accompanied Rainbow's announcement.
"What happened? Did you see it? Was it hurt?!"
>"I don't know. There was a set of tracks, I'm pretty sure they were heading away from the crash, unless there's an animal in this place brave enough to try climbing into that giant metal... thing. Anyway, if those tracks keep going in a straight line through the forest, it looks like they'll reach the old castle, BUT, there's something weird in the way. It's like a lightning cloud got loose and decided to pretend it was fog or something, there's a bunch of dead trees, with zapping electricity all over the place."
>"That sounds like the old zapapple grove Granny found back in the day, but the trees don't normally act up unless... We need to hurry."
>Applejack takes off towards the grove, and the rest of you quickly follow.
"What's going on, why do we need to hurry?"
>"We never let any nest near our orchard, but zapapple trees attract varmints. They're lizards, they look mighty cute, but they'll zap ya if you get close, and when they group up, they zap harder. If they've got the trees helping..."
"Rainbow, fly ahead. If the alien made it out of the grove, we need to know where."
>A nod and a rainbow trail sees her off on her new task.
"Fluttershy, any ideas on how to deal with these lizards?"
>"I've had some lizards come from the Everfree occasionally, but none of them ever zapped anything, so I couldn't say if they're the same lizards or not."
"What about some general information, you don't know the exact details of a critter when you first meet them, what do you do then?"
>"Well, for little critters, it's important to remember that you're bigger than them, and that can be really scary, so you need to look and act as friendly as possible. Offering some food can help, but you need to have a wide selection until you've worked out what they like."
"So what sorts of food do lizards tend to like?"
>"The lizards I've met have all been carnivores, so meat, I guess. I'd have some back at my cottage, but with Luna's description of the alien, I didn't think we'd need any along."
"Ok, so pacifying them with food is out. Applejack, how do you keep them from nesting at your zapapple orchard?"
>"We chase 'em off. They'll try and stand their ground if they aren't alone, but once you swat them around a bit, they get the message and run back into the Everfree. Mind, that's if there's just two or three. Wasn't close enough to get a count, but I've seen a group of the things force a manticore to abandon its lunch, then tuck in themselves."
"So if there's a lot of them, we need to keep our distance. How close do they have to be to join their shocks together?"
>"Pretty close. A few feet at most."
"Hmm. Ok, I think I have a plan. These lizards know they need to group up to handle threats, so we need to force them apart so they'll scatter. Since we can't get close or we'll get zapped, it's mostly up to my magic to handle that. Have your rope ready Applejack, if you can snag some and pull them away from the group, do it. Fluttershy, while we distract the lizards, you and Rainbow need to reach the alien and help him get to safety."
>Rainbow returns once again, a little out of breath.
>"I didn't get a clear look at it, but I'm pretty sure I found our alien. Once we've saved it, I wanna race it at some point, I've never seen anything without wings move that fast, especially through a forest. It's heading straight for the old castle, and it's got a load of lizards after it."
"Right, lets pick up the pace. Rainbow, once we get there, you and Fluttershy are getting the alien to safety. Don't get too close to the lizards, I don't know how powerful their shocks are in a group that size, and I really don't want to find out the hard way."
>No more breath was wasted on communication as the four of you sped off towards the old castle.


>These lizards were annoyingly persistent.
>If they were just defending their nest, they'd have stopped chasing you once you were gone.
>Most predators would have broken off by now as well, realizing you showed no indications of stopping.
>Endurance hunters, perhaps?
>With their electrical discharges, they must be literally full of energy, which would allow them to chase prey until it can't run anymore, then shock it to submission and feed.
>The other possibility that came to mind was that something, some/one/ was behind them, ordering them after you.
>Beastmasters weren't unheard of, though you'd seen no sign of one.
>Whatever the reason was, if they were still after you by the time you reached the ruins you'd seen, you'd have to stand your ground and fight.
>A clearing opened up ahead, with a chasm cutting through it.
>Beyond was the ruined castle.
>Perhaps you wouldn't need to fight after all.
>Putting on one final burst of force-enhanced speed, you prepare to leap across.
>As you pass into the clearing, a rope bridge across the chasm comes into sight, and you turn slightly, putting your intended landing spot at the far side of the bridge.
>You reach the edge of the chasm and jump, readying your lightsaber as you reach the apex.
>Making your landing, you immediately turn and sever the ropes securing the bridge, and it falls away just as the lizards burst into the clearing.
>They approach the edge of the chasm and stop, still chirping away.
>A few attempt to shock you across the gap, but the distance is too far for them to manage.
>It seems you've made it to safety, if they knew of another way across the chasm, they would have gone for it by now.
>You begin to turn your attention to the ruins behind you, but a change in the noise the lizards are making turns you back to them.
>Their attention has been taken from you, and as you follow their gaze, you find what grabbed it.
>Further down the clearing, a set of four colorful creatures has emerged from the forest.
>They're too far away to make out any significant details, all you know for sure is they're very colorful and they've got a small horde of lizards bearing down on them.
>You're ready to write off the new arrivals as more local wildlife when one of them fires a blast of energy at the charging lizards.
>If they had blasters, they must be some of the local sentients, probably investigating your crash site.
>More blasts follow, and it's stopping some of the lizards, but not nearly enough of them.
>Dropping your pack, you take off into a dead run, pushing your body as hard as you can before reaching the chasm and jumping.
>Your leap carries you well over the chasm, towards the locals.
>As you overtake the lizards, you throw your lightsaber, guiding its path telekinetically.
>The saber sinks into the ground right in front of the pack, giving the leader no time to react before its momentum carries it to a crackling green death.
>You immediately twist your saber into a horizontal slash, bisecting several more lizards, before pulling it back to your grip.
>It returns as you make your landing, and you assume a defensive stance, putting yourself and your blade between the lizards and the locals.
"Go!"
>You have no clue if they even understand Basic, but hopefully they'll get the message.
>Suddenly losing half their number seems to have been what it takes to get the lizards to reconsider their actions.
>They're staying well away, slowly circling around you.
>You circle along with them, keeping yourself between them and the locals, who have made no attempt to get away.
>It shouldn't take much to scare off the lizards at this point, you aren't prey any more, you're a threat.
>With a yell, you charge forward, keeping your blade up to deflect the worst of their inevitable retaliation.
>One, two shocks, and then they scatter right as you get close enough to attack.
>A slower lizard loses the tip of its tail, but the rest escape unscathed into the forest.
>You wait a few moments for them to be well and truly gone before extinguishing your saber and turning to the locals you'd saved.
>They were... an odd bunch.
>Quadrupeds weren't exactly common as far as intelligent species go.
>Then there was the extreme variations in color, though that may be cultural rather than genetic.
>Less likely to be cultural was that two of them had wings, while one had a horn.
>The main point of familiarity was in their reaction to seeing a jedi in action for the first time.
>Shock, awe, fear.
>It happens a lot in your journeys.
>On many worlds, jedi are known only through stories from passing travelers.
>Less common are worlds where they simply aren't known at all.
>Kneeling down to be at eye level, you focus on the nearest of the four, the purple one with a horn.
"Are you hurt?"
>Your words bring Purple back to reality, and their gaze focuses on you as they slowly back away.
"Do you understand Basic?"
>Purple stops, eyes darting between you and the pieces of lizard behind you.
>"Y-yes."
>The accent was rather heavy, but there's no mistaking her answer.
"Are you hurt?"
>"...No."
>With the question answered, you finally allow yourself to relax.
>You shift into a sitting position, grunting a bit as your body lets you know that you shouldn't have pushed it that hard while it was still hurt from the crash.
>Once you're settled, you look over the others.
>They all had the same general shape, so if Purple was female like she sounded, the others likely were as well.
>The cyan and orange ones were gaping at you, while the yellow one approached what was left of the lizards.
>"W-why would you do this?"
>Yellow sounded like she was ready to start crying, and a closer look saw tears in her eyes.
"I wasn't about to stand by and let those lizards overtake you."
>"You didn't have to /kill/ them! You d-didn't have to ch-chop them i-in-into..."
>Her admonishment ended prematurely, interrupted by the tears which now flowed freely.
>The sobbing snapped Cyan from her staring, and she trotted over to comfort Yellow, giving you a glare as she passed.
>You were pretty sure that with how persistent the lizards had been, anything short of killing some wouldn't have dissuaded them, but trying to explain that would probably only make things worse, so you didn't.
>Instead, you got up and walked over to the chasm, leaping across it for the third time today, and retrieved your dropped supplies.
>From there, you went to the entrance of the ruins, and looked over at the locals until you saw one of them looking back.
>Once you were certain they were paying attention, you entered the ruins.
>They clearly needed some time to themselves, once they're ready, they'll come find you.
>Until then, perhaps you can find some useful knowledge in here.