Star Wars: Tales of the Hunter

Scootaloo had lost count of how many bugs she had caught in her mouth. The walker had been going so fast, and she had been screaming so much. The machine chimed in.

“Please calm down.” The machine continued to spout off random statements of encouragement, not meant for fillies. “Continue your progression and there is a 36% chance of progression towards promotion.” Scootaloo shook her head. They were rapidly approaching Ponyville, and they showed no signs of stopping.

“HOW DO WE STOP THIS THING?” Applebloom shouted. The three looked at each other for answers, finding few choices.

“WE COULD JUMP!” Sweetie Belle suggested. The three looked at the fleeting ground. They would surely hurt themselves if they did jump. Scootaloo looked back at the computer.

“STOP THE RIDE! PLEASE?” The computer chimed.

“Unable to comply. Exercise will terminate when pilot takes control of the vehicle properly.” Scootaloo’s eyes widened.

“WE JUST HAVE TO GRAB THE CONTROLS AND MAKE IT STOP!” Scootaloo lunged forward and pulled the controls. But the walker didn’t appear to slow down.

“WHY ISN’T IT SLOWING DOWN?” Applebloom asked. The computer chimed.

“Please grasp the controls with your hands.” The three looked down at their hooves.

They gave a collective, “Uh oh” as they saw Ponyville coming closer and closer.

!!!!!

“What’s that?” Twilight asked. Hunter patted the speeder.

“It’s a speeder. We’ll catch up with them and use your magic to get them off.” Hunter revved the engine. “I need your help, Twilight.” Applejack tapped Twilight.

“Sugarcube, there’s no other way to catch up. Ah have no idea where Rainbow is and you can’t fly good yet.” Twilight stomped her hoof. Applejack was right, she was unprepared. But she didn’t have to criticize herself, she needed to save the fillies. She fluttered on to the speeder and grabbed Hunter’s torso.

“Let’s go.” Twilight solemnly said. Hunter nodded.

“Hang on tight.” Hunter revved the engine and took off, leaving Applejack and Bob staring blankly with wonder at the speeder. Applejack, for never seeing anything like it, and Bob at the wonderment of how worried Hunter was. His sensors saw his heartbeat, and they were high.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Applejack asked. Bob nodded.

“We can get over there as soon as possible.” Applejack shuddered.

“If they don’t stop that thing-” Bob spoke up.

“We’ll be there to congratulate them for saving them and stopping the walker. They won’t fail.” Bob walked over to this ship and grabbed some medical supplies. “C’mon. Let’s get going.” Applejack smiled and nodded. She looked over towards Ponyville.

“It’s a long way. And you move pretty slow like.” Bob looked at his small legs. He could move around, but not at a great distance. To his surprise, he suddenly found himself on Applejack’s back. “C’mon partner! We’ve got to get going!” With that, they set off on their way. Bob looked towards the town.

This is a pivotal moment Hunter. Don’t mess this up. The gravity of the situation hit Bob. Now that the Republic was officially in support of Equestria, this was a chance for the civilian population to see the Republic defending them. Bob nodded as Applejack trotted towards Ponyville.

!!!!!

The speed they were going at was unmatched by most ponies. Twilight had seen trains go extremely fast, but the speeder did so with ease. She looked at Hunter’s legs. I suppose with those legs, a regular human could never reach the speed of a regular earth pony. Nevermind a pegasus pony. Twilight looked ahead and saw the walker sprinting towards Ponyville. “There it is!” Hunter nodded.

“We need to move fast!” Hunter looked back at Twilight. “Use your power to grab them off the walker when we get close!” Hunter looked forward and sped up to the walker. The three fillies looked down at Hunter and Twilight with relief in their eyes.

“SAVE US TWILIGHT!” The three screamed. Twilight nodded and focused on the three, lifting her up into the air with her magic. The fillies legs wobbled with fear, a moment of concentration loss could be the end of them. But Twilight, being in her element, brought the fillies on to the speeder. The three were still shaking from fear, as the Speeder wobbled a bit from the change in weight distribution. Hunter looked towards the walker, it was speeding all the more towards Ponyville. Hunter moved the speeder closer to the walker. He turned around.

“Twilight! I need you to drive the speeder!” Twilight looked flabbergasted.

“WHAT?!” Twilight, having no experience with vehicles whatsoever, felt the pressure.

“I need to stop the walker before it gets to Ponyville! Can you do it?!” Twilight looked back and forth between Hunter and the speeder. Suddenly, Scootaloo weaseled her way towards Hunter.

“You pull back on those sticks, right?!” Scootaloo asked. Hunter looked down at the hijacking filly. He may not like it, but she was right. He nodded. They found themselves at the edge of town,

“Twilight, just pull back on the sticks! I’m heading over!” Hunter stood up on the speeder. Twilight, seeing him struggle, steadied him as he leaped over to the walker. Twilight took the controls and pulled back on them as hard as she could, making the speeder slow to a complete stop. Hunter landed on the driver seat with no problem and grasped the controls.

“Thank you for grasping the controls with your hands.” The computer chimed. “Now, simply pull back to stop the walker. Hunter looked up and saw he was just heading towards the fountain in town. Ponies were screaming and running out of the way. A purple pony with a flower on her head screamed and went prone, covering her eyes. She was laying on the walker’s path. Hunter gasped and pulled on the controls as hard as he could. The walker slowed and slowed, with the purple pony getting closer and closer. Just before the walker was about to make the purple pony a pancake, the walker stopped.

He pulled on the controls and walked it away from the pony, putting it into a stand by mode, making sure to lock the controls in case any other member of the ponies would try to hijack it again. Hunter sighed and looked towards the town. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, and nothing was damaged. The ponies all looked afraid of him, stepping backwards. He sighed. This is not going to go well for relations. Suddenly, Twilight and the three fillies ran to Hunter.

“Hunter! Are you alright?!” Hunter looked back towards where they ran from and saw the speeder idling. He breathed out in relief.

“I’m fine, how are the four of you doing?” He looked at the three fillies and saw them look at the ground with guilt. They stepped forward. Applebloom looked up and sighed.

“Sorry about driving your walker. We wanted our cutie marks so badly.” The other two nodded to confirm. Hunter stared at them dumbfoundedly.

“What’s a cutie mark?” Hunter looked at Twilight. She pointed at the mark on her body.

“It appear when a pony finds their special talent.” Hunter rubbed the back of his helmet, not really understanding.. “I can explain more later. It’s magic.” Hunter nodded and looked at the three fillies.

“I understand you wanted to find something to be good at, but you put a lot of lives in danger. Plus, you stole a piece of military equipment.” That could be charged with treason against the Republic. They could have been arrested. “From now on, if you want help learning something from me, just ask me, alright?” The three looked down at the ground dejectedly.

“We’re sorry.” They said in unison. Hunter nodded and looked towards the crowd. They had smiles on their faces. The pony the walker was about to step on walked up towards Hunter.

“Thanks for saving me!” She hugged Hunter, leaving him a little confused.

“But- I thought-?” The purple pony looked at the gathering crowd.

“Let’s hear it for the alien who saved the town again!” The crowd erupted into cheers of happiness. Hunter chuckled a bit, though still confused. Well, can’t argue with results. Hunter heard heavy trotting and looked to see Bob and Applejack coming towards them. Applejack stopped and looked extremely angry.

“THAT WAS VERY STUPID OF Y’ALL! Y’all could have been killed!” The three fillies could not shrink anymore even if they tried. Hunter was about to stop Applejack, but Bob stopped him.

“You have to let the elders in a species scold the children. Make the lesson stick.” Bob looked around and saw everyone was okay. “Nice job by the way. That’ll go a long way for us.” Hunter nodded and found the purple pony looking at him with a smile.

“Can I help you, miss?” The pony shook Hunter’s hand. I guess hoofshakes and handshakes are relative to different ponies. Odd.

“It’s Lily.” Lily then pulled out a card and gave it to Hunter. “And that’s my address. Come visit sometime, hero.” She waggled her eyebrows and walked off. Hunter stood there with a blank expression. Twilight stood next to him with the same expression. Twilight chuckled.

“Looks like you have a fan. This planet has many different species, so some ponies are bound to be attracted to um- someone exotic?” Hunter stood there with the address still looking blankly. He shook his head and sighed.

“I’m going to bring the walker back to the barn.” Hunter walked over to the walker and clicked a few characters on his wrist and then on to the walker’s control panel. Both pinged in unison. “Walker: begin follow mode.” The walker pinged into life. As Hunter walked away, the walker followed. Bob laughed.

“That’s how you do it, trooper.” Bob, Twilight and her friends followed along, returning to the barn with Hunter.

!!!!!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, an old man was standing in a dark chamber, awaiting for words from his master. This old man, was Count Dooku, a master of the Dark Side. Some knew him as, ‘Darth Tyranus’, a name given to him by the Lord of the Sith, ‘Darth Sidious’. A holocommunicator blinked and pinged, waiting for Dooku to answer it. He clicked it and kneeled in front of the communicator. It was important for an apprentice to show reverence for his master. The communicator revealed a hooded man in the darkness. Said darkness was covering his face.

“What is thy bidding, my master?” Dooku asked.

“There has been a radical change in the flow of the Force.” The image replied.

“I have felt it my master.” Dooku’s voice was deep and calm. He was a master orator.

“The Republic have discovered a planet full of Force Sensitives. They could ruin our plans.” Sidious’s voice was lighter, though far more menacing.

“What would you have me do, my master? Shall I send our forces to the planet to claim it?” The image shook its head.

“No. Go there yourself. Though the planet is strong in the light, darkness exists there that could plummet the planet into our hands.” Sidious hummed. “I sense powerful creatures on that planet. Do not underestimate them, my apprentice.” Dooku nodded.

“I understand, my master. I will leave at once. Though it will take time.” Sidious held a hand up.

“It matters not. Leave instructions with your generals to continue their plans. This one single planet could change the very course of events.” Dooku nodded.

“Will the Republic be an issue?” Dooku asked.

“No. I have made sure the Jedi and Republic forces are far too busy to get to the planet. There is one solitary trooper on the planet. He will not be a problem for you, a Sith Lord.”

“I understand, master. I will leave at once.” Dooku stood up and left the chamber. The communicator blinked off. Dooku smiled and thought about his mission. For his goals to succeed, he could not afford to fail. He made his way toward his ship to depart for the unknown mysterious planet…