Jedi Storytime: Pods & Ponies

Our Town, Our Family

Featured song:
"Our Town" by James Taylor
—————————————————————————
Anakin and Citrus followed Padme and Lavendera down a path that went out of the borders of the building filled part of town. They both started out with the horses simply walking down the path. There were lots of beautiful trees along the way, and some patches of grass too all underneath a beautiful blue sky filled with puffy white clouds.
"Okay, you got us out here. Now what?" Anakin asked.
"I don't know," said Padme, though she sounded like she had something planned.
Anakin had Citrus walk a little faster, going just a little ahead of Padme. Padme then got a little mischievous and got Lavendera to move ahead of Citrus. Confused, Anakin made Citrus move faster again before Lavendera started to run.
"Oh!" Anakin gasped. Then he laughed and told Citrus, "Run like the wind, Citrus!"
Citrus started to run faster. And at first, Anakin felt worried, but when he felt the wind running through his hair, he started to have fun, and he began to laugh again as Citrus continued to run and catch up to the girls.
The two horses and their humans continued to ride down the path through more paths filled with trees, and more grass and flowers along the way too. The horses ran through some puddles with a big splash that ended up wetting Anakin's boots, and then they rushed through a pile of leaves, some of which got into Anakin's hair.
Anakin groaned and shook the leaves out of his hair, which made Padme laugh. The former couldn't help blushing when he heard her laughing. And Padme decided to really show off her skills as a rider by having Lavendera fly as they came to a beautiful lake of crystal water. Lavendera looked so graceful as she soared above the water, turning so her wing glided across the water and making a splash of water that made a rainbow with the sunlight.
Anakin was impressed, although, he quickly found himself in the splash zone.
"Hey!" Anakin whined as he and Citrus were both wet.
Citrus laughed too.
"That was refreshing!" said the earth stallion.
Padme flew Lavendera up ahead, making Anakin get Citrus to run faster to catch up, and in hopes that the wind would dry them off. Anakin started to think, maybe horseback riding really was in him, and after learning of his father's past, it didn't seem that surprising. It wasn't long before the two horses and humans came across a bridge that passed by a marvelous waterfall where an even bigger rainbow appeared as the mist caught more of the sunlight.
"Wow..." Anakin gasped.
"Like what you see?" Padme said.
"It's the most beautiful sight I've ever beholded," sighed Anakin, looking at Padme.
As you might've guessed, he wasn't talking about the waterfall.
Anakin and Padme soon got off their horses as they came across a new sight somewhere into the mountain ranges nearby. It looked like an abandoned building of some kind. There was a sign above it that said it was called the Sun Rose Inn. It had a symbol that looked like a rose of red, orange, and yellow, like a sunrise.
"What's this place?" Anakin asked.
"Sun Rose Inn. Used to be a real beauty back in the day." Padme said.
"Really?"
Anakin had a hard time believing it at first. The whole place was falling apart! There were pieces of old wood everywhere, plants growing all over, wilted rose petals all around, and there were a lot of bugs around there too. Luckily, Citrus and Lavendera used their tails to brush them away.
"Huh. I guess your tails are more than just for beauty." Anakin observed.
"Natural fly swatters for us, they are." Lavendera said.
"It sure was," said Padme. "My grandmother once stayed in this very hotel when she was young. It was where she and my grandfather first met. But I never got to see if for myself until a few years ago."
"Where did you live before?" Anakin asked.
"Well, I actually lived in a gated community in Crystal Lake Acres." Padme said. "It was me, my parents, and my older sister. A long line of successful people, and many others in our neighborhood."
"Wait a minute, so you're from a high class family, and you came to the countryside? How did you go from country clubs to countryside?"
For Padme, it was a bit of a long story. The pressure was on when you came from a family like hers. And Padme got the natural success genes alright. She had straight A's in school, won class president, graduated valedictorian, and got accepted into the best university and the finest law school which helped her become an attorney at a huge law firm. Sure, the money was good, she helped justice be served to a lot of people, and a lot successful and handsome men sought her hand (though she rejected every man who practically begged on their knees to take her out)... but Padme found that it didn't really feel... happy.
"So, one day I just packed my bag and drove as far as I could until my speeder broke down. I didn't have anywhere to go, there weren't any towns nearby I could see. But then... I ran into Lavendera. She said she knew a town near where her herd liked to run."
At first, Padme had been hesitant. She'd ridden horses before, but that was in dressage and classy horse rides. Never in the countryside, much less on a wild horse without a saddle. But, her speeder obviously wasn't going anywhere. So, she took what she could fit in her bag and got onto Lavendera's back, and the pegasus gave her a ride to a town she'd never seen before.
"Obi-Wan and Caroline nursed me back to health, Plo and Shaak took me in... well, they all did. Lavendera stayed to be my steed, and I never left." Padme said.
Anakin could sort of see why Padme would need to get away. It seemed even rich people had their moments of feeling like prisoners; they might not have lived their lives in chains, cages, or being forced to wear transmitters, but societal expectations and peer pressure had their ways of mentally imprisoning people, and it took a very strong individual to break out of them.
"Hey, I think I understand you needed a little R & R. But after a while, why didn't you... go back?" Anakin asked.
Padme took a breath and said, "I fell in love."
"Oh..." Anakin looked down in disappointment.
"Yup."
"Who is he?"
Padme chuckled in said, "Not who. What."
Padme stepped closer to an old fence and motioned for Anakin to come closer.
"I fell in love with this." Padme smiled.
Anakin got next to Padme and looked out at the view. It was amazing! You could see so much down below. Trees, flowers, the fields of horses running free, and birds flying by too.
"Wow!" Anakin gasped. "Look at that."
He then saw an interstate road where lots of vehicles were driving right by the town, all of them going faster than the horses, but also way too fast to realize what they were missing. Unlike a speeder, horses had the ability to know when something worth seeing was near and could show their riders what they were missing, but also sense danger and guide their riders to a safer path.
"They're all speeding right by. They have no idea what they're missing."
"You have no idea." Lavendera said.
"It didn't always used to be that way." Citrus added.
"Really?" Anakin said.
"It's true." Padme said. "Almost three decades ago, that interstate didn't exist. Back then, the road didn't move through the mother earth. It moved with it. It rose, fell, curved. It was all so beautiful. And there were a lot more horses running all around town too."
Back then, people didn't go through town to make great time, they came through to have a great time.
—————————————————————————
Thirty years ago...
Long ago, but not so very long ago
The world was different, oh yes it was
You settled down and you built a town and made it live
And you watched it grow, it was your town
Naboo Springs was a lot different many years ago. Back then, businesses were booming all around, and this was sometime before some of the younger citizens were even born. There used to be more residents there too, and just like now, all of them saw each other as family, including the horses. In fact, the horses were one of the biggest tourist attractions there.
Sometimes, wild horses would slip into town, where the citizens would feed them some of the fruits and vegetables they grew, and children who came to town were always curious to see the beautiful horses there. They even used to give tourists tours out to watch the running of the horses and pegasus migrations. It was always so beautiful, and sometimes people collected the pegasus feathers that fell from their wings. Pegasus and alicorn wings were some of the softest feathers in the world, and very tickley too!
Time goes by, time brings changes, you change too
Nothing comes that you can't handle, so on you go
You never see it coming when the world caves in on you
On your town, there's nothing you can do
Some years went by, and like pretty much everything in nature and even in civilization, things began to change. Zam and Jango soon found they were going to have a baby, and a couple years later another that turned out to be quadruplets. Qui-Gon and a baby Carmine also moved in. But they weren't the only ones who got blessed with children. Bookstore owner Ki-Adi Mundi one day went out into the field to take some pictures of the horses (photography was a hobby of his, and he loved to take pictures of plants and animals the most), but during that trip, he discovered a lost foal who was Comedia, who ran from the orphaned foal home, trying to find her big sister after they got separated in an adoption. Ki-Adi couldn't help find her sister, but he did take Comedia in, gave her a bath and chose to care for and raise her as his own daughter.
Plo Koon and Shaak Tii were also blessed with a little Togruta girl named Ahsoka.
And from the moment the children came along, everything was perfect.
—————————————————————————
Present Day...
"Well, what happened?" Anakin asked, imagining how nice and thriving the town must have been so long ago.
"The town got bypassed just to save ten minutes of speeding down the road." Padme said.
"On mindless vehicles," said Citrus.
"Which are a lot easier to crash and lose control over, since they don't have minds of their own," added Lavendera. "Only programming to do as their drivers say, regardless of oncoming danger."
—————————————————————————
Past...
Main street isn't main street anymore
Lights don't shine as brightly as they shone before
Tell the truth, lights don't shine at all
In our town
One day, the residents of Naboo Springs learned that a new interstate road was being built. At first, they were excited because it meant more people would be coming to town, or so they thought. The residents of the town prepared a nice banner to welcome the travelers of that road too. Even a then nine-year-old Echo and his seven-year-old quadruplet brothers joined in painting it.
Sun comes up each morning, just like it's always done
Get up, go to work, start the day
You open up for business that's never gonna come
As the world rolls by a million miles away
Sadly, the banner making and cleaning up of all the stores was all for naught. Soon after the interstate was finished, fewer and fewer tourists came to Naboo Springs, to the dismay of its residents. Eventually, things got so bad that the town was off the map completely, and many businesses had to shut down with the lack of customers.
Main street isn't main street anymore
No one seems to need us like they did before
It's hard to find a reason left to stay
Many residents began to move away in favor of looking for work in places that were still on the map. Only a few remained out of loyalty to the town and each other, and because they held hope that their home would get back on the map if they just worked really hard. But it wasn't just for them, but for the horses too. Because of that interstate, it also became harder for the horses to run through the land with all the vehicles that endangered them, especially the babies. The winged equines could easily fly to the other side, but those without wings needed a little more help.
The town was one of few places the wild horses knew they could find food and medical attention if nature wasn't able to provide enough for them on their side. So, the residents stayed to help them in any way they could.
But it's our town, love it anyway
Come what may, it's our town
—————————————————————————
Present Day...
Padme and Anakin soon rode back into town, this time the latter seeing the town in a new light as he imagined how beautiful it must have been back in the day.
"Wow. What would I give if I could've seen this place in its hey day?" Anakin said.
"I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed of that." Padme said. "But one day, we'll find a way to get it back on the map, just like we'll find a way to find your mom."
"Thank you. That means a lot. And thanks for the ride. I never realized how great it is to slow down once in a while."
"You're welcome," smiled Padme.
Anakin sighed as he watched Padme walk away with Lavendera.
"Well, I guess we better get you back to your owner."
"You think you might wanna find a horse of your own?" Citrus asked.
"Maybe. But, I don't know what kind I'd like." Anakin said. "I think I have the hang of riding an earth horse. But, I'm not sure yet if I'd rather get a unicorn, a pegasus, or an alicorn. I don't even know how many kinds of equines there are or how I'd choose just one."
"Well, it's not so much the breed of horse that matters as much as the personality of the horse."
Citrus told Anakin that every good rider-horse pair had something in common: each pair was a mix of different personalities. It is often said that opposites attract, and this is true because opposites help create balance.
For example, Citrus was a bit of a wild card who didn't always have self-control, mostly when it came to treats. But Plo Koon was pretty level-headed and patient, which helped Citrus learn to keep himself under control, and in turn, he taught Plo Koon to let loose once in a while.
Or take Sheriff Windu and Strawberry Sundae. When you think of pink ponies, you probably picture them belonging to little girls or a pretty princess with golden hair or something, right? Not a policeman or someone who can be a little grouchy at times. But, Strawberry was a perky spirit with enough sweetness to turn even the most sour lemon sweeter. As the saying goes, 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' And Strawberry had a real gift for helping Mace not be so serious all the time when he wasn't working, and find a brighter side to things.
Anakin, however, wasn't sure what kind of horse, personality-wise, was right for him. How do you find the right kind of personality to match with yours when you spent your whole life not being allowed to have a personality of your own?
Citrus was soon brought back to Plo Koon, but Anakin soon saw that everyone was helping out to gather some fruits and vegetables and put them in baskets.
"What's going on here?" Anakin asked.
"It's almost feeding time for the herd." Ahsoka said.
That's right. Anakin remembered what Padme said about the town providing food for the herd of wild horses that came by at times. Seldom did any of those horses stay; most of them just continued on their way or migrated to other lands. Anakin was curious about this, and decided he wanted to take part as well.
"Can I do anything to help?" Anakin asked.
"We could use a little help moving these baskets," said Shaak. "We expect a lot of hungry horses to come by, and they eat a lot."
"It's true." Ki-Adi said. "Comedia and I never have to eat leftovers because of her appetite."
"Hey, I'm a growing mare," Comedia said. "I need my vitamins and minerals like any living thing."
Anakin chuckled and picked up a basket filled with apples and moved it to a designated area. Horses turned out to like all kinds of different fruits and vegetables. Apples, pears, carrots, celery, oranges, peaches, even lots of different kinds of berries. They also filled all the troughs around town with lots of fresh water for the horses to have a drink.
Suddenly, the ground started to shake, and the sound of whinnies filled the air.
"Here they come!" Omega shouted excitedly.
"Sides of the roads, kids!" Jango exclaimed, getting his youngest children off the road so they wouldn't get trampled by all the horses.
Anakin couldn't believe his eyes when he saw so many horses come into town. There were all kinds of horses running all about, and all of them were going for food and water, as well as curiously sniffing around the residents and the town. There were big horses, small horses, horses with long manes, horses with short manes, horses with curly coats, horses with spots, horses with patches, even horses with sparkly wings and features.
"Look at all these horses!" Anakin said, and then he felt something pulling on his jacket.
Anakin looked down to his left to see a small brown horse chewing on his jacket.
"No, no! That's not for eating." Anakin said, trying to pull his jacket from the foal.
But the foal thought Anakin was playing with him and started a tug of war, which made Wrecker and Ahsoka laugh.
"Looks like Skyguy found out the hard way that foals aren't too different from human babies in terms of curiosity."
"Aside from the fact that foals chew on things rather than suckling," said Obi-Wan.
Ki-Adi came over and gave Anakin a little help getting the foal to let go by offering the baby horse a bottle of milk.
"Over here, little one. Milk."
Smelling the fresh bottle of milk, the foal let go of Anakin's jacket and started to drink the milk.
"How did you know to do that?" Anakin asked.
"Experience." Ki-Adi said. "Comedia used to do this often when she was small. Foals have a natural urge to chew on things, either out of curiosity, hunger, or teething."
Anakin soon became curious and followed some horses outside of town to an area with a lot of dirt with just a big round patch of grass with some wild flowers in it. But, Anakin's attention was eventually turned away from the horses when he spotted a single horse and a familiar human male. Curious, Anakin hid behind a bush and watched his father get on Orpheus' saddle and look out to the dirt road with a sigh.
"Come on, Dad." Anakin whispered. "Ride."
Qui-Gon seemed hesitant at first, but he suddenly looked determined.
"Ready, Orpheus?" Qui-Gon said.
"Ready when you are." Orpheus replied.
Orpheus dug his hoof into the dirt and positioned his body to get ready to run. And then, Qui-Gon snapped the reins and got Orpheus to run.
Anakin watched as his father and the big pegasus raced around the dirt. It was amazing! Qui-Gon had such quick reflexes when it came to steering and signaling Orpheus to turn and jump. Orpheus was so fast too! Anakin couldn't take his eyes off how amazing the two worked together, especially when Qui-Gon had Orpheus perform an outstanding trick where he spread his wings up into the air and they soared through the last turn with an aerial spin and landed on the ground with a slide that ended their race with style.
"Wow!" Anakin gasped, approaching the two, surprising them. "That was amazing!"
But Qui-Gon started to walk away without a word.
"Wait, Dad!" Anakin said, following his father.
—————————————————————————
Qui-Gon definitely seemed upset about something, but Anakin wasn't sure why his father was upset. He was a racer before, and the way he was racing with Orpheus now, it served as proof he still had it in him, and deep down probably missed those days.
Anakin followed Qui-Gon into the forbidden storage area where he'd found the old news articles.
"Dad, hey. You've still got it! You were amazing out there."
"Wonderful. Now let me be." Qui-Gon said sternly.
"Dad! Come on. You're a racer, I'm a racer. I mean, you raced horses and I did pods, but something about racing just felt right to me, and now I know why. It has to have come from you. Underneath, we're the same."
"We may be biologically related, but we are not the same." Qui-Gon said.
"But, Dad! You were such a great racer. Just look at the things people wrote about you. Why did you stop? What happened? You were at the top of your game, and you just quit?"
Qui-Gon froze at that, and Carmine inconveniently walked in just in time to overhear, and he and Orpheus both had a look that clearly said, Uh oh! Now you've done it!
"You think I wanted to quit?" Qui-Gon said, seeing as his son didn't have the whole story.
And then, Qui-Gon pulled out an article Anakin hadn't seen before.
Justice is Dead, Jinn Broken was the headline.
Anakin looked at the picture on the page. In it was Qui-Gon being loaded onto an ambulance, but when Anakin read the article, he couldn't believe what it said. Apparently, about three years before Anakin and Carmine were born, Qui-Gon and his horse Justice had been in another race, when some reckless pod driver drove right into the track and caused a lot of damage to both the track as well as the stables. Much of the structure collapsed, and Justice threw Qui-Gon off her back, out of the way of much of the falling rubble to save his life, but not from severe injury.
Justice was confirmed dead at the scene. Qui-Gon broke his leg and his arm in the wreckage and might have died had he not been brought to the hospital in time. He was beyond devastated when he learned what had become of his beloved horse.
"They drove me away the moment they came to tell me I could come back as soon as I healed." Qui-Gon said. "They told me all I needed to do was find a replacement horse."
Qui-Gon explained to Anakin that the day he learned that, he realized those people in charge of the races cared more about the image of the race than the relationship between the horses and their riders.
"Justice was more than a ride to me. I told them that if equipment was all Justice was to them, I wanted no part of racing anymore, and until things would change, they could forget about me joining any more races. And it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, that I soon found out when I got to the hospital. That was where I first met your mother."
According to Qui-Gon, Shmi was the nurse who took care of him while he was in the hospital. As he progressed in his healing, the two got to know each other, then one thing led to another, and eventually Qui-Gon asked Shmi to marry him, and they were even happier when their twins were born. But then Qui-Gon was left with yet another tragedy shortly after when his wife-to-be and one of their babies was kidnapped while they were on their way to a new city to find work and get married.
Qui-Gon was met with one tragedy after another in such a short time. And he kept that article to remind him never to look back.
"Carmine was all I had left before we met our horses. I chose to raise Carmine here because it was the farthest out of the old world I lived in. But, I never expected it to find me here."
"That's why you never wanted to leave town?" Carmine said. "Because you were protecting me?"
"Yes. These people are good folks who care for one another, and who understand the real meaning of family. No trophy is worth the lives of loved ones. You've managed to understand that with your concern for your mother, Anakin. I swore to Shmi the day you two were born that I would make sure you were kept safe and loved. For nearly twenty years, I've only been able to keep half that promise. And now that you've come back, Anakin, I need to keep you safe for her."
"But your friends don't know who you are? How is that helping anyone?" Anakin said.
"Just drop it, Anakin." Qui-Gon said. "I need to get back to work on finding your mother."
Qui-Gon left without another word.
Carmine sighed. Ever since he was small, Qui-Gon was very protective of him. Now he could see why.
"Dad means well, I know that." Carmine said. "It's sad knowing there are others who mean the opposite."
"You have no idea." Anakin said. "At least you get to choose your bride. Who knows what Watto is doing with Mom right now!"
"Hey, I admit I don't know Mom like you do, but if she's as amazing as you say or anything like either of us, she'll pull through."
Carmine pulled his brother into a hug, Anakin returning said hug. He knew his twin was right; their mother was stronger than she looked, and a smart woman. She would find a way to survive and hopefully find a way back to her babies.
—————————————————————————
Qui-Gon sighed as he sat outside alone that night, looking up at the moon. The love of his life was out there somewhere and he had to find her, but first and foremost he needed to ensure their children were protected; he knew that's what she would want more than her own freedom, but that didn't mean he was going to go down without a fight for her.
Qui-Gon walked back inside and walked by Carmine's bedroom where he was sleeping, cuddling with a stuffed rabbit. He was a very peaceful sleeper. But when he looked in Anakin's room, Anakin didn't look nearly as peaceful as his twin. He was tossing slightly and talking in his sleep. It was clear to Qui-Gon that Anakin was having a bad dream. So, he did what a good father would do.
"Shh. It's okay, Anakin." Qui-Gon whispered.
He gently ruffled Anakin's hair, Anakin initially seeming startled at first, but calming down with the gentleness of his father's touch, especially after he planted a kiss on his head, like Shmi always would do to comfort Anakin when he was little.
Qui-Gon looked at his son with clear fatherly love in his eyes. He missed out on so much of Anakin's life, and all that lost time with him was something he could never get back. He never got to see Anakin's first words, his first steps, or take him to his first day of school or even home school him like he did with Carmine. He did know one thing for sure though, the most important prize he would race for now would be for his family to live together and be free.