//-------------------------------------------------------// Equine Wars Episode I: Sunset of the Empire -by Atlantis Productions- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// The Temple //-------------------------------------------------------// The Temple Twilight jumped out of her Jedi Starfighter (a Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor to be exact). “So, this must be the temple,” she said, marvelling at the structure in the mountainside in front of her. It wasn’t much, just an old Jedi Temple that hadn’t been used in years, overgrown by plants from the jungle surrounding it. Tessa Rim was an ocean planet with many tropical jungle island, so this wasn’t surprising. “Um Twilight, are you sure about this?” asked SP-K3, Twilight’s loyal astronomical droid. “I’m sure, Spike. Master Celestia wouldn’t have sent me here if it wasn’t important. The only question is, “What was it that was so important?” “Well I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” “Actually Spike, I want you to stay with the ship. Make sure everything's in working order.” “Alright, fine. I guess I can do that.” “Okay, I’ll be back as soon as possible.” With that Twilight entered the temple. The inside of the temple was dark (unsurprisingly), so Twilight used her lightsaber to light a few torches. Once the room she was in was light enough, she noticed some strange markings on the wall. “Huh, burn marks,” she said, inspecting the marks. She reached up to touch the marks and the moment her finger made contact with the temple’s stone wall, she had a vision of a girl with a red lightsaber, yellow Sith eyes, and fiery hair. “Oh dear, this isn’t good,” she said, shocked by the image she saw, “But what would a Sith want with a Jedi Temple? I have a bad feeling about this.” Twilight then noticed more burn marks along the floor. They seemed to be marking a trail deeper into the temple. Curiously, but cautiously, Twilight followed the trail. It twisted and turned countless times to the point where Twilight would never be able to find her way back to the entrance without it. But finally the trail ended just outside a room deep in the temple. Inside this room, the walls were lined with torches and on a pedestal on the other side of the room was a mysterious, glowing purple sphere. “Well, well, well. I wondered when you would arrive, Twilight Sparkle,” said someone in the corner of the room. That someone was a girl with yellow skin, fiery red hair with yellow stripes in it, and yellow Sith eyes. She was dressed in a simple black Sith robe and had a six-foot long pole on the back. It was the girl from Twilight’s vision. “Who are you? How do you know my name?” asked Twilight, readying her lightsaber. “Hmm, that is not important as of this moment. What you should be focused on is why I haven’t yet used this,” the girl said, gesturing to the purple orb. “Why? What is that?” “You don’t know? This is physical manifestation of the Force itself, and now that I have it, I will unleash my own true dark side!” Twilight had very little time to react before the Sith girl grabbed the orb and was enveloped in a column of blue light. After a few seconds, the column disappeared and where the Sith girl uses to be there was a red demon with red skin, leathery wings with a few holes in them, hair that acted just like fire, and a tail to match. The eyes were almost exactly the same, but with black corneas. The demon wore a red and yellow dress similar to the hair and tail, black, fiery boots, and a tiara that had a large, purple, six-pointed star-shaped jewel in it. Twilight was dumbfounded, she had not expected this, though who would? “Hahahaha! I can feel the Force flowing through me. Yes. Now, young Jedi, prepare to meet your doom.” The Sith demon girl picked the pole that she had been carrying off the ground from where it had fallen when she transformed. Pressing a button on the pole, a red lightsaber blade extended from one end. The Sith girl charged at Twilight. Luckily, Twilight’s reflexes were razor sharp, so she was able to activate her lightsaber and counter the Sith’s first strike before she even knew what was happening. Twilight rushed to the side, dodging a jab from the Sith. Twilight was fast, but she knew she couldn’t keep dodging forever. But it wasn’t like this would be easy if she took the offensive either, especially because her opponent had a much longer reach. The Sith launched another attack, which Twilight countered. Seeing the opportunity, Twilight uses the Force to catch the Sith off guard and push her back a bit. Twilight then uses this opening to launch her own attack, which is easily countered. “I must admit, I did not expect you to be so tricky. It shall be disappointing to see you die. Unless, of course, you wish to join me and cross over to the Darkside.” “I will never join the Darkside. Never!” Twilight swung her lightsaber, but it was countered. “How hypocritical. I can feel your anger. Anger towards the Darkside. Oh, the irony.” “Stop! I will not succumb to your evil tricks. I will not!” Twilight swung again, angrily. Again too, her attack was countered. “Ha! You amuse me. I will let you life, for now. I’ve already accomplished my mission.” The Sith started flying towards the center of the chamber. " I am Sunset Shimmer. Remember my name, for it shall be the name of your undoing.” With that the Sith girl flew passed Twilight and out of the chamber. Suddenly the temple began to rumble and shake. Twilight knew what that meant. The temple was caving in. So, like any logical person, she ran for the exit. As I said before, it’s a good thing there was that burn mark trail, otherwise Twilight would have been trapped in the temple forever. Though it wasn’t easy keeping track of the trail and running at the same time. But, nevertheless, Twilight was able to make it out of the temple, and just seconds before the temple came crashing down. Twilight looked back at where the temple had been. Now, as one would expect, it was filled rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. “Twilight, are you okay?” asked SP-K3, rolling over to Twilight. “Yeah, I’m okay, Spike,” answered Twilight, “Come on, we need to get back to Master Celestia.” To be continued... Author's Note So, what do you think? I have big plans for this story, some you might expect, others you might not. What happens next is anyone's guess. //-------------------------------------------------------// Uniting //-------------------------------------------------------// Uniting Previously: Jedi Knight Twilight Sparkle traveled to the Jedi Temple on Tessa Rim where she met the Sith, Sunset Shimmer. Sunset used an unusual orb, apparently a physical manifestation of the Force, to transform into a demon creature. Twilight barely escaped the temple as it collapsed around her. Now she is off to Coruscant to meet with Jedi Master Celestia… Twilight stood in the council room of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The only other person in there was Master Celestia, a tall, white skinned woman with flowing pink, blue, and green hair. “Master Celestia, when I was in the Jedi Temple on Tessa Rim, there was someone there. A Sith,” said Twilight, cutting right to the chase. “Hmm, did this say who they were?” asked Celestia. “Yes, actually. She said her name was Sunset Shimmer.” “Sunset Shimmer? Well, I haven’t heard that name in years.” “What do you mean?” “Sunset Shimmer was an old student of mine. She became began her training not long before you, Twilight. I could sense that she was strong with the Force, but I failed to see just how strong he actually was, and soon, it was her greed for more power that pushed her to the Darkside. I tried to help her, but she eventually decided to abandon the Jedi ways and pursue her own path. One that has apparently lead her to becoming a Sith Lord.” “I see. Master, when I was there, Sunset used a strange purple orb to transform into a demon-like creature. She said the orb was a physical manifestation of the Force. Would you happen to know what that orb is exactly?” “I do. The orb was an Element of Harmony. There are six known Elements, and that purple one is the most powerful of them all, the Element all Magic.” “Magic? But there’s no such thing as magic,” said Twilight. Wow, never thought I’d write that. “On the contrary, one could argue the the Force is magic.” “Okay, I get your point. So, what are we to do?” “Good question. I am tasking you with finding and collecting the five remaining Elements. I will arrange for you to have some assistance from other Jedi. Come back here in one hour and the team should be prepared.” “Okay, but I’m not sure it’s entirely necessary for me to have a team. I prefer to work alone.”Twilight exited the council room and went to prepare for the journey. An hour later, Twilight returned to the council room to see Master Celestia alongside three other Jedi. “Ah, Twilight you’ve returned,” said Celestia, “I’d like you to meet three of your partners for this mission.” The first Jedi had pink skin with curly, darker pink hair and blue eyes. She seemed very jittery, to the point where she could start bouncing off the walls at any moment. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie,” she said, “It’s nice to meet you.” “Um, you too.” The second one had white skin with purple hair that curled at the end and blue eyes. “Nice to make your acquaintance, Twilight. I’m Rarity.” The third Jedi had yellow skin, pale pink hair, and green eyes. She seemed rather shy of Twilight. “Um, I’m Fluttershy,” she said, barely audible. “I’m sorry, what was that?” “My name is Fluttershy,” she said again, slightly louder this time, but not by much. "Didn’t quite catch that.” “I’m Fluttershy.” This time it was merely a quiet squeal. “Okay, well it seems we have a team, so let’s get going,” said Twilight. “Just a moment, Twilight,” said Celestia, “I want you to have something.” Celestia gave Twilight a portable hologram projector. “This hologram projector holds a map inside of it that will lead you to the Elements. Also, there are two other members to your team, Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They are already preparing the ship you’ll be taking for this mission.” “How will I know them when I see them?” “One’s named Rainbow Dash. I’m pretty sure you’ll know her when you see her.” “Fair enough. Come on, let’s go.” “Good luck, Twilight. May the Force be with you.” Sunset Shimmer walked onto the bridge of a Star Destroyer. “Ah, Lord Shimmer,” said a metallic voice, “I’m surprised to see you so soon. I take it you were able to recover the orb.” “Actually yes, General. It just so happens that I ran into a Jedi. You’d never guess who it was,” said Sunset. “You're right, I wouldn’t guess. Who was it?” “This Jedi was the sister of Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle.” “Shining Armor’s sister is a Jedi?” “Yes, that’s what I just said.” “This could prove disastrous for us, you know?.” “Oh, I do. But this could also be a good thing for us.” “What do you mean?” “Think about it. If we could turn Twilight over to the Darkside, the Solar Empire would lose one of it’s best Jedi and we could gain a powerful ally.” “That is a good idea, I admit. It’s definitely better than just killing her.” “Very true,” said a new voice from behind them. They turned to see a black skinned woman with flowing hair that resembled a night sky. It was Darth Moon. “Lord Moon,” they both said, bowing to their master. “Sunset Shimmer. General Minux. What have you two to report?” “Well, I have retrieved the Element of Magic,” said Sunset, gesturing to the crown on her head. “Very good. And you, General?” “Nothing so far.” “I would expect you to better.” “Of course, master. Of course.” “Very well. Now, I must go. I have things to attend to.” With that, Darth Moon walked away. “What do you think she needs to attend to?” Sunset asked. “I don’t know, but I’d rather not question it. For my own sake,” answered Minux. Author's Note One question you might be asking right about now is, "who is this 'General Minux' guy?" Well, that's not important right now. But trust me when I say that the identity is going to be revealed sometime in the future (naturally). And I will deliver it in the sequel to this (if I don't decide to cancel the story and move on). Also, expect some longer chapters as the story progresses. That's all.